Smokescreen's p.o.v

I stirred slightly as I came to and I noticed that there was something on my chest, something warm, soft, small and smooth. I also noticed that I was sleeping on the floor instead of my berth. I blearily opened my optics and realized I wasn't in my berthroom either.

Then the events of last night came back to me. I moved my servo away from my chest and saw Eve sleeping there soundly, her cheek smushed against my plating and her hair loose.

I smiled. Then I realized that with her there, getting up is goanna be a problem. I wanted to get up since the floor wasn't exactly comfy but I couldn't find it in myself to wake Eve up.

I didn't have to worry about that when I saw Eve stir. Then I saw her eyes groggily open up and she yawned while stretching her arms out as though she were a cat.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty." I said.

"Mornin' to you too, Prince Charming." She said then she covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a yawn. She got up and the blanket draped over her fell off.

I couldn't help but stare and suddenly I felt like I just drank three bottles of energon. With Eve's long brunette and sky blue hair in a bedhead, her half-awake half-closed warm brown eyes and seeing her slender figure through the loose clothing with some small natural curves, she looked beautiful.

Okay, wait what?! This again?! Oh come on! Why do I keep thinking stuff like this?!

'Maybe Breakdown whacked me harder than I thought.' I told myself but still she really did look pretty cute like this. I wanted to hug her and keep her to myself an-wait what in the what?! Did I just think that?!

'Bad Smokescreen, bad, bad, bad. What the frag is wrong with me?!' I thought.

"Um, Earth to Smokes? Hello? You still there?" Evelyn asked then I realized she must've been talking while I was staring at her like an idiot.

"Oh, sorry, what were you saying?" I asked.

"I asked, did you have fun last night?" Eve said.

"Of course I did. It was wicked. Though the horror movie was an exception." I admitted. "Still, it was funny and freaky at the same time."

"I know right, I mean, did you hear Bulk scream?" Eve said with a happy smile and a small giggle.

"I know he so sounded like a little girl." I said and we both laughed as we remembered it.

Then we heard a groan and turned around to see Bulkhead coming to. "Looks like the little girl's waking up." Eve said.

Miko was getting up too. She sat up and the blanket fell off as she stretched her arms over her head. She turned around and saw us. "Mornin'." She greeted.

"Morning guys." Bulkhead said.

"Morning." We greeted back.

"I am never watching horror movies again." Bulkhead said and shuddered. "That movie's goanna give me nightmares for who knows how long!"

"Don't look at me, it was Miko's idea." Eve said.

"How nice of you to throw me under the bus." Miko said.

"Can't say I blame you, Bulk. Boy, I didn't know humans can make something so scary!" I said and shuddered as I thought back to how real the monsters and demons had looked. Thank god it's just fantasy and myth.....hopefully.

The others began to wake up too. "Morning lugnuts. Sleep well?" Arcee asked as she got up and stretched.

"No nightmares after watching that horror so yeah." Raf said.

:I am never watching horror movies again.: Bumblebee said.

"Never again." Jack said.

"Here here." I told him.

Soon everyone was awake and we all went to do our morning routines. I came back and noticed that now Miko, Jack, Raf and Eve were back in their normal clothes.

Then I remembered something.

"Eve, c'mere for a sec." I said.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I wanna show you something." I said. "Hop on." I said and offered her my servo. I've been waiting to show her this for a while, might as well show it before she leaves.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To my room. Never got a chance to show it to you." I said and opened up the doors. "Here we are."

My berthroom was nothing much honestly, if anything it was pretty boring. There was a screen on one of the walls that acted as a window that was connected to the outside world. I also had a berth tucked into a corner, and a table attached to one wall. There was also a locker/cabinet with drawers at the bottom for me to put my stuff.

"It's....homey." Eve said.

"I know, it ain't much but I'll work with what I have." I said. I was used to living in small quarters, I had to get used to it back in the Elite Guard Academy. All I had back then was a berth and a locker to keep my stuff in. Having my own room, even if it is small is already considered a luxury.

"This is where you sleep?" Eve asked pointing towards the berth.

"Yeah, it's only a small bed enough for one bot though." I said.

Eve snorted. "It's big enough for my entire family and still have room for cousins." She said. I placed her on the berth and she sat there. "So, what did you want to show me?"

I grinned and went to rummage around in the locker/cabinet. I moved away some things and found what I was looking for-The Phase Shifter.

I had to put some stuff over it to hide it but you can never be too careful.

I slapped it on my wrist and showed it to Eve. "This." I said.

Eve blinked. "A.....alien watch?" she asked.

"Trust me, it's a lot more than that. This baby's got a few tricks up its sleeve." I said.

"Like what?" Eve asked.

I smirked and reared my fist back. "This." I said before punching.

Third person's p.o.v

Evelyn's eyes widened as she saw the fist moving towards her. She closed her eyes and instinctively put her hands up, whatever good that would do, and waited for the devastating impact of the punch to shatter her bones and turn her into a bloody pulp.

Instead she felt....nothing? Wait, what was that sound? She heard a small....whirr like a machine.

She cracked an eye opened and gasped. Smokescreen's fist didn't hit her, it went through her!

Smokescreen grinned and brought his fist back....and out of her body. Evelyn's eyes darted to the Phase Shifter to her own body. Her eyes were wide and jaw dropped. Evelyn patted herself down...nope, no broken bones, she was fortunately and very thankfully still in one piece.

"What the he!l just happened?" she said after finding her voice.

"My fist phased through you." Smokescreen said.

"I'm a ghost now." Evelyn blurted out and nodded her head as though telling herself this. "Yup, all of us have died from shock last night and gone to the afterlife."

Smokescreen burst out laughing so hard, tears gathered at the corner of his optics. He doubled over in laughter and clutched his stomach.

"No, silly. It's because of this. The Phase Shifter is one of the relics we found a while ago. It allows someone to phase through solid objects and vice versa." Smokescreen said phasing his arm through the wall and bringing it back as he explained.

"Woah, that is so wicked." Evelyn said as she leaned forward eagerly in barely contained excitement to look at the relic. "Wait, if that's the case then why aren't you phasing through the floor?"

"It works intuitively. So if I don't want to phase through the floor, I won't. If I want to, I can." Smokescreen said.

"Oh my god that is so OP!" Evelyn said. "Can you show me again?" Evelyn asked.

"Sure." Smokescreen said. He bent down under the berth and Evelyn jumped back in shock when his helm popped out of nowhere.

"Boo!" he said.

Evelyn yelped and Smokescreen laughed. "Haha very funny." Evelyn said but she couldn't stop the corner of her lips from twitching up.

"This relic can really do some major pranks." Evelyn said already imagining the numerous pranks she'd play on her brother with this.

"Yeah. The others let me keep it cuz I'm pretty good at using it. Helps a lot in stealth too." Smokescreen said.

"Why didn't you use it when you fought Breakdown and Knockout?" Evelyn asked.

"I left it back at base." Smokescreen admitted and rubbed the back of his helm in a shame. "I got too complacent and thought it'd be easy."

"It's alright, we live and learn." Evelyn said.

'Except we nearly didn't live.' Smokescreen thought but decided not to dwell on it any further.

"C'mon, I think it's time for you to go home." He said.

"Aw, can't we stay a little longer?" Evelyn asked with a cute pout that made Smokescreen falter.

'Primus she looks so cute!' he thought then shook his helm to get rid of that thought. "We can't let your brother and aunt get suspicious, remember?"

"Fair point." Evelyn said with a shrug.

Smokescreen helped her down and they went back to the main room. Miko and Raf were already sitting inside Bulkhead and Bumblebee's alt-modes and Jack was sitting on Arcee with his motorcycle helmet on.

"Bye, Eve. See you later at your house." Raf said. He was going to go over later to help her brother again.

"Ciao, mates." Evelyn said.

Jack and Miko waved back before they drove off.

"Let's crank it up!" Smokescreen said before he began to blast 'The Wanted-Chasing The Sun'.

They sang along to the lyrics of that and other songs until they reached their destination.

"Bye, Smokes. See you later." Evelyn said as she got out.

"Bye, Eve." Smokescreen said and watched her leave. Then he went back to his usual hiding spot for curbside duty.

"I'm home!" Evelyn said as she entered her house.

"Eve!" he brother greeted. "Where were you last night?" Edward asked.

"I was at a sleepover at a friend's place, remember?" Evelyn said.

"Well this friend of yours must have terrible reception at his or her house since you didn't answer any of our messages." Edward said.

"Sorry, Ed. I left my phone on silent." Evelyn said which wasn't too far from the truth.

"Eve, what did I tell you about leaving your phone on?" Aunt Selina butted in.

"Look, it's just that once ok? Next time I'll leave it on 24/7." Evelyn said getting exasperated with the conversation.

"Okay. Now, tell us about your sleepover." Aunt Selina said.

"Were there any boys?" Edward asked instantly.

"Yes." Her brother's face became concerned. "But there were also a few girls and we slept in separate rooms." She added quickly.

"Good. If they do anything to you, you tell me alright?" Edward said. Evelyn sighed; her brother didn't have to be so overprotective she can handle herself just fine.

"Ed, they're my friends for god's sake, chill." She said.

"Back to the point, did you have fun? What did you guys do?" Aunt Selina asked.

Evelyn smiled and went on about how she played a duet with Miko and they loved it and about the movie marathon.

"I can't really say the horror movie part was the most pleasant but it was certainly amusing in a way." Evelyn said.

"How?" Edward asked.

"One of the guys screamed like a little girl. Seriously, Ed. He screamed as high as Miko would when she sees a spider." Evelyn said.

(Back at Miko's house, she sneezed. "Wonder who's talking about me?" she wondered aloud.)

Edward's eyebrows rose as he imagined it. "The lad must have a pretty big voice." He said.

'Oh you have no idea just how big he actually is.' Evelyn thought.

"Welp, I'm goanna go clean up. By the way, Raf's goanna come over later to help with your project." Evelyn said.

"Noted." Edward said.

"Hey, kids? I have to do double shifts tonight so I won't be back till tomorrow morning. You guys need anything?" Aunt Selina asked.

"We're good." Edward said.

"No thanks." Evelyn said.

Aunt Selina nodded and put her police cap on. "There's some mac and cheese left in the fridge. Take care, kids." She said before leaving.

Meanwhile in a secret MECH base (That's God knows where in Jasper.)......

Silas's p.o.v

I took a sip from my coffee and once again stared at my computer screen at the three targets.

The three human teenagers, children really, who are associated with the 'Autobots' as they're called.

Getting information about them wasn't too difficult. They weren't politicians or government agents, any basic hacker could've acquired their information.

I looked at the first one. I remember him pretty well from the time I partnered with Airachnid.

Jackson Darby.

I couldn't always remember names well but I could never forget a face.

Then there were the other two.

Miko Nakadai, a Japanese transfer student and Rafael Jorge Gonzales Esquivel, a 12 year old who is surprisingly as good a hacker as any other adult.

Just then, one of my subordinates came in with a tablet in hand.

"Sir, there's a call for you." He said.

"From who?" I asked.

"They call themselves Airachnid." He said.

That instantly got my attention. I haven't heard from her since that failed attempt on killing that female Autobot for research.

"Send me the call." I ordered. He typed on his tablet and brought the call up onto my computer screen. "Leave us." I ordered and he left.

After making sure there were no eavesdroppers, I accepted the call.

"Silas, long time no see." Airachnid said as her face came onto the screen.

"How did you get this contact?" I demanded.

"Oh, I have my ways." She said.

"Quit wasting my time, what do you want?" I asked.

"Just a small favor." She said.

"MECH doesn't do favors. What's in it for me?" I asked.

"Parts, Cybertronian parts. I have a few I can spare." She said and showed me a few mechanic parts I recognize as 'Cybertronian' parts. "What do you say?"

"I'm listening." I said.

"What do you know about the Autobot's pets?" she asked.

"You mean their human allies? I know there's the boy, Jackson from our last encounter and another two, a girl and a boy." I asked.

"Actually there's another now, a girl who looks similar to the other." She said.

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"Like I said, I have my sources." She said. My best guess is that she got it from the 'Decepticons' if I remember correctly.

"Why are you telling me this? Enough games already, what do you want, Airachnid?

"The human children. Bring them to me, alive." She said.

"What for? Why'd you need them?" I asked.

"That's none of your concern. The more you bring to me, the more parts you get. I don't care which one you bring me, though I wouldn't mind if it was Jack. But you get the point." She said.

"Any one of them will do?" I said as I began to make preparations in my mind for what we'd need and our next move.

"Yes. You've got 24 hours. Find them and bring them to me at these coordinates and don't try any tricks." She said. "See you soon." She said before ending the call.

The only evidence of the call being the coordinates she sent me.

I called one of my higher ranked subordinates into my office.

"Prepare a squad, we're about to go hunting." I said before I got up and got ready myself.

Things just got interesting.

Meanwhile back with Evelyn......

Third person's p.o.v

Evelyn took a quick shower and took a book off her shelf. She made herself comfortable on her bed and began to read 'The Thief Lord'.

Just as she finished three chapters, she got a message. She flipped her cell opened and saw it was a message from Miko.

LetsRockBaby!: Wanna head to the cat cafe for a snack?

GymNast GiRL: Sure. Lemme ask Ed first.

"Yo, Ed? Can I go to the cat cafe with Miko?" she asked.

"As long as you're back before dinner!" her brother shouted back from his room. "And don't go anywhere alone!"

GymNast GiRL: I can go.

GymNast GiRL: What time?

LetsRockBaby!: Now? I'm already on my way there.

LetsRockBaby!: PS could Smokes give me a ride home later?

LetsRockBaby!: Bulk said he needs to go back to base after this.

GymNast Girl: Sure, no prob.

Evelyn snapped her phone shut and gathered her things. She decided to leave her flute case behind and just bring her phone, purse and taser.

"Bye, Ed!" she said.

"Bye, sis. Remember, be back before dinner." He reminded her.

Evelyn went out of the house and walked over to Smokescreen. "Yo, Smokes?" she asked knocking on his window gently.

"Hm? Eve? What's up?" he asked.

"Mind giving me a lift to the cat cafe?" she asked. "I'm goanna go over there to hang out with Miko."

"Sure! Finally I was getting bored." He said and opened up his door.

"It's barely bee an hour, Smokes." Evelyn pointed out.

"Exactly and my processor's already starting to get bored." He said.

"Aren't you an expert in stealth? I thought stealth team members were supposed to be able to wait and stay quiet in a place for god knows how long with a song in their heart." Evelyn said.

"I can but that doesn't mean I like to do it." Smokescreen said.

Soon they arrived at the cat cafe again and Evelyn went inside and saw her cousin already sitting there waiting for her.

They ordered some snacks and began to chat away about all kinds of things from nothing in particular to random things like memes and politics to their lives.

"So, did your brother or aunt grill you about what happened at the sleepover?" Miko asked.

"Yeah, you should've seen Ed's face the moment I mentioned there were boys there." Evelyn said.

"Man, your brother really needs to learn how to relax." Miko said.

"Agreed." Evelyn agreed. Then she felt a weird sensation. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It felt like she was being watched.

She was about to turn around and look for whoever was the cause of this before remembering the advice her aunt once told her.

"If you ever feel like you're being watched, don't just turn your head and look around, you'll give yourself away. Act calm, act natural, act as though you don't even notice. Use your surroundings to help. You can try to get a look at the person using a mirror or your phone." Her aunt had told her once.

Evelyn took her phone out and pretended to take a selfie to post on social media. She snapped a picture and looked down at the picture.

She noticed something in the corner and zoomed in on it, sure enough, she saw a man who was sipping a cup of coffee but seemed to be staring straight at them over the cup. He wore a cap and it's visor was pulled down low to hide most of his face but she could still see his eyes through the shadow of the visor.

She leaned forward and smiled casually at her cousin. "Miko, do you notice the dodgy lad that seems to be spying on us?" she asked in a lower but conversational tone.

The question and the tone did not match and Miko was caught slightly off guard. She opened her mouth then realized that Evelyn was talking just loud enough for only her to hear and her casual facade was most likely just an act.

Miko went along with it. She pursed her lips and leaned back with a hand on her chin as though she was thinking about an answer to a simple question.

What she was really doing, was leaning back enough to be able to look at the corner mirror in the cafe. She tilted her head slightly and could see it, a man eyeing them before taking a sip out of his coffee.

"I see him." She said with a smile that she hoped hid her nervousness.

"I say we leave before things go all to pot." Evelyn said. It felt ridiculous to talk about such a serious matter in such a casual way.

Miko looked outside at the parking lot and could see a black van parked there. Parked two cars away from it were sleek green sports cars that stood out like a sore thumb.

"MECH." Miko hissed.

"The 'Decepticons in human skin'?" Evelyn asked as her heart hammered against her ribs harder.

"Probably. We need to leave. Now." Miko said all trace of casualness and relaxation in her gone.

"Sounds like a plan." Evelyn said as she got up and paid their tab. It took every ounce of the two girls' willpower to not make a run for it.

Instead, Evelyn and Miko casually slipped their phones out and sent a message.

'We've got a stalker on our tail.' Evelyn's said.

'We think its MECH. Same green sports car, caught a guy spying on us at the cafe.' Miko's said as she sent out their location.

Evelyn bent down and pretended to tie her shoelace and saw the man was a few feet away from them, throwing his coffee cup into a trash bin. His mouth seemed to move as though he were talking to someone. Miko realized that he was and that the black van was no longer in the parking lot.

"They're making their move." Miko hissed.

"What do we do?" Evelyn asked.

"We need to get to Smokescreen." Miko said.

"What if they hurt him? Aren't they trying to hunt him down?" Evelyn pointed out.

"It's either having a titan alien robot by our side that's a target as much as us to hold these guys off, or just us. Take your pick." Miko said.

It didn't take long to decide as they made a beeline towards Smokescreen.

They got inside. "Am I the only one noticing the suspicious guys making their way towards us?" Smokescreen asked.

"No!" They both said.

"They're MECH agents!" Miko blurted out.

"Punch it, now!" Evelyn said.

She wasn't even finished before Smokescreen shifted gears and zoomed off.

"Scrap." He muttered and opened up the comm. "Guys! Does anyone copy?"

"What now, Smokescreen?" Ratchet grumbled on the other end.

Before he could answer, he was interrupted by a bullet whizzing a hair's breath away from him.

"Oh bollocks their bloody shooting at us!" Evelyn said as she turned around and saw the cars were now chasing after them.

There were two men peeking out of the roof of the car and shooting at them. Evelyn saw that they wore a mask of sorts that covered their entire faces and a gun that was definitely not your run of the mill type.

"We've got MECH agents on our tail! We need backup, ASAP!" Smokescreen said into the comm.

"We need to get out of here, there are too many civilians!" Miko said.

"Damn it, hang on." He said and shifted gears before his steering wheel turned sharply.

The next thing the girls knew, they were driving off-road.

Miko yelped as she saw a bullet whiz pass the window.

"Don't worry, they're just warning shots meant to scare us!" Smokescreen reassured. 'I hope.' He thought to himself. The bullets were like hail against his plating but nothing he couldn't take.....until they began to blast lasers at them.

"What do they want with us?!" Miko asked.

"I don't know and don't want to know." Evelyn said she gripped the seatbelt so tight her knuckles were bone-white.

"And we'll never have to!" Smokescreen said. He stopped at a clearing and opened up the doors. The clearing was miles away from the closest road with nothing but sandy rocky terrain. "Here's our temporary stop."

"Has your processor gone whacko?!" Miko asked as she got out.

"Why the he!l are we stopping?! We should be getting away from them not the other way around!" Evelyn said but got out anyways.

Smokescreen transformed back and cracked his knuckles. "Well, if they want a piece of me so bad," he activated his blasters. "they can have it."

"But you're still hurt!" Evelyn pointed out.

"Who says I'll be fighting alone?" Smokescreen smirked. He didn't seem at all bothered by the dozen cars and half a dozen helicopters that were beginning to surround him.

One of the men walked forward with a megaphone. "We have you-" he started but Smokescreen cut him off.

"If you guys are goanna shoot then just shoot already!" Smokescreen said before firing his blasters off. 'Optimus said to never harm humans but...oh screw that!' he thought as cars flipped over and exploded from his blasts.

The helicopters opened fire on him and he used his body as a shield for Evelyn and Miko who went down and covered their heads with their hands.

Smokescreen shielded himself with one servo before blasting at them. His blast hit the helicopter's blades which sent it spiraling towards the other.

Soon the groundbridge appeared and Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee and Optimus arrived.

Bulkhead didn't waste time in smashing some MECH agents and Bumblebee, Arcee and Optimus open fired on them.

"Eve, Miko, are you alright?" Optimus asked as he briefly paused in firing.

"I'm still alive and in one piece." Evelyn said.

"Fine especially now that you're here." Miko said.

"Retreat!" one of the agents ordered. The remaining MECH agents clambered onto any remaining vehicle and drove off.

"Next time tell your wimp of a boss to come himself!" Smokescreen yelled off after them.

:You ok, Smokes? Is anyone hurt?: Bumblebee asked.

"I'm fine." Smokescreen said.

"Miko, you okay?" Bulkhead asked kneeling down in front of his human charge. "Are you hurt? Did those guys do anything to you?"

"Relax, Bulk. I'm fine." Miko reassured.

"So, those were MECH agents, the 'Decepticons in human skin' as you put it." Evelyn said to Optimus.

Optimus nodded.

"No offence but I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I honestly thought they'd put up more of a fight." She said.

Optimus shook his helm. "I believe there is more to this attack then we think, if anything, it was a test at best." He said.

"A test?" Miko, Evelyn and Smokescreen asked in confusion.

"MECH has always been unpredictable with their fair share of ulterior motives. This was nothing compared to other attacks they've launched." Optimus continued.

"Optimus is right, these guys weren't even trying." Bulkhead said thinking back to the fight he once had against MECH when he had to 'save' Breakdown's aft.

"Why were they after Miko and Eve?" Smokescreen asked.

"He's got a point, what would an organization like MECH want with them? Eve's barely known us for two months." Arcee added.

"I believe they were here because of Eve." Optimus said.

"Me?!" Evelyn said pointing at herself in astonishment.

"I am not putting the blame of this attack on you Eve." Optimus explained. "But.....I think MECH may have gotten information from an outside source about your presence with us." He said.

"From who?" Evelyn asked.

"Airachnid." Arcee said darkly as her faceplate clouded in anger. "She's the only con who's ever worked with them. Wouldn't put it pass her to team up with them again."

"But why us specifically?" Evelyn elaborated.

"Yeah, wouldn't she have gone after Jack?" Miko pointed out.

"Whatever reason, we have to remain more vigilant than ever." Optimus said. Then he turned his gaze onto Evelyn and Smokescreen. "Especially the two of you. It's been made clear that now enemies outside of the Decepticons know of Eve's association with us. Smokescreen-"

"I know, Optimus. I'll protect Eve." Smokescreen said. Then he clenched his fist over his spark chamber. "With my life." He said.

They all looked at him and saw no fear, no hesitation in his optics, just determination.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Evelyn said as she laid a hand on his pede.

She spoke out everyone's wish.

But whether that wish comes true or not.......

None of them knew and weren't sure if they wanted to.