"...You're staring, Grimlock."

Grimlock snapped back into reality, grimacing as he realized the other dinobot was right. "Sorry, Swoop..."

Swoop looked up from the cleaning of his blade, a look of sympathy passing across his faceplate. "It's weird for me too... When I realized it was you, I almost didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to be reminded of those days." He looked down at the blade, at his own reflection. "...The rest of you were lucky... When you were resparked, you didn't bring that trauma back with you."

"...What was I like?"

"Stubborn, fearless... Loved finding things to punch."

"Sounds like I haven't changed much."

"There are some things...You're softer; you're much gentler with people you care about than you were then... But your past life is not what you should focus on." Swoop stood up, "...I just hope I can uncover what my mission back here in the living realm is."

"Maybe it's just to have another chance at life."

"Maybe... But I feel it's more important than that."

They both turned to the command center as Bumblebee entered the clearing, Optimus close behind.

"Anything new, Fixit?" Bumblebee inquired.

"It's slight," Fixit pulled up a map on the holoscreen, "But I am picking up a faint signal of some sort of weapon, under Crown City."

"I'm up for some spelunking!" Sideswipe announced, a wide grin on his faceplate.

"It could be nothing," Fixit reminded.

"But it also might be something. If we can pick up the signal, then Shockwave and his remaining goons probably can too."

"Good point..." Bumblebee rubbed his chin, "...Alright, you and Strongarm head over there. Be careful, and scout it out first. Don't go running in without a plan."

The pair gave salutes to their leader, and then transformed and drove off out of the clearing.

"You think they'll be alright out there?" Swoop worried.

Grimlock grinned, "Don't worry, Strongarm and Sideswipe may argue sometimes, but they're a good team. They'll be fine."

A smile appeared on the pterobot's faceplate, "Well if you're not worried Grim, then neither am I..." He stood up, putting his hands on his hips. "Would you be interested in sparring a little? I have some stiffness I need to get loosened up."

"Sounds like a plan!"

"Please don't break anything in the process!" Denny hollered from the Command Center. "I'm still replacing stuff from the last time...!"

Transmutate shook her helm, "Swoop is careful... He won't."
Her gaze moved back to Ratchet as he did a more thorough evaluation of her frame, trying to uncover the source of her twitching. Flashdrive sat beside him, her optics watching his hands with interest. "Find anything?"

"Yes." Ratchet announced with a smirk, "Finally, something about you that I can do something about... It'll only take a few minutes, but it should reduce your twitching significantly."

"That's the best news I've heard all day." Swoop replied, "Come on, Grim. Let's go get some punches in."

"Oh yeah!"

________________________________________________________________________________

"...You're awfully quiet all of a sudden."

Sideswipe had been lingering some distance behind Strongarm ever since they'd left the Scrapyard and he'd allowed her to take point. No revving engine, no snarky attitude. It was kind of worrying her.

"What's the matter?" Strongarm asked, "You coming down with something?"

"Bee told us to scout it out, and that requires stealth, which requires silence." Sideswipe answered quietly, "...Also I've noticed that any time I open my mouth, you get mad at me, so..."

"That's not... It's not every time. You just get on my nerves."

"And I'm trying to avoid that, so just let me be submissive to your commanding force in peace, okay?"

"Well...Fine."

Strongarm picked up the pace, and Sideswipe followed suit. Neither one spoke for several minutes, just making their way down the road in silence.

The silence was finally broken by Fixit's voice ringing through their comms. Fixit to Away Team.

"We hear you, Fixit." Sideswipe answered, "What's up?"

I'm picking up the signal again, more strongly this time... It's on the move.

Sideswipe groaned, "The 'cons must have beaten us to it."

"Fixit, is there any way we can intercept them?" Strongarm inquired.

If you pick up the pace, you may be able to reach them just before the Crown City Bridge.

The pair revved their engines and shot forward down the road. "We can't let Shockwave get his hands on this tech, whatever it is."

"Right." Sideswipe pulled up beside her. "So what's your plan?"

"Get that tech and get it back to base. Simple."

Sideswipe flashed his lights in response, pulling back behind her once more.

The bridge came up on them quickly, and they saw a large cybertronian vehicle rumbling back across the bridge from the city.

"Hold it right there, Decepticon!" Strongarm barked as she transformed into bot mode, holding out her pistol.

The decepticon sighed, transforming into bot mode as well and holding a large helmet-like device in one hand. "They send two sparklings to do a warrior's job...I thought you Autobots were smarter than that."

"Drop the artifact."

The decepticon placed the device down on the asphalt. "...If you insist."

The autobots dodged as he fired at him with a laser rifle, rolling to the side. Strongarm fired at him, but her shots only seemed to bounce off of his armor. "Nice try."

Strongarm tilted her helm in confusion, what kind of armor was he wearing?

It distracted her long enough that she didn't notice the explosive before it was too late.

"Strongarm!" Sideswipe cried as his teammate was blown back and tumbled off the bridge, splashing into the water below. He whipped around to block the attacker's blade with his own; Strongarm was probably fine, she could wait for help.

He knew this second decepticon, and the pair of them dueled, dodging and striking in turn, but Sideswipe pushing him back until the treeline blocked him from falling back further. "Fracture! What're you up to!?"

Fracture grinned, "You'll never see it coming, Autobot...!"

Sideswipe heard a click behind him, but was unable to dodge the shot that was fired. His vision shorted out as the projectile slammed into his helm, and then he collapsed onto the ground, his systems shutting down into the cold darkness.

Treadmark replaced his rifle in its holster, kicking Sideswipe to ensure he was out. "Think Shockwave will want this guy?"

"Tempting, but let's not take on more responsibility than we need..."

"What about your associate?"

Fracture chuckled, "He won't be bothering us anymore...Now, where's the Automator?"

"It's right..."
The bigger decepticon looked over where he'd placed the device, but it was suddenly missing. "...It was right there, I swear!"

Fracture growled, looking around for their quarry, but not seeing it. "Never mind that. We'll come back for it; the rest of those Autobots are probably not far behind."

The two decepticons then drove off, leaving the scene before anyone else could catch up to them.

________________________________________________________________________________

Strongarm had been stunned by the landing, but only for a moment. She'd found herself at the bottom of the bay, but not too far from shore. She'd also seen the device resting a few dozen feet from her.

She grabbed it, slipping it into her subspace before scrambling up the rocky slope towards shore; Sideswipe might still need her help up there.

The second her helm broke the surface, she was listening for a fight, but it was uncomfortably silent. She'd been washed a little ways downstream, but the bridge was still in sight. She pulled herself up onto the shore, her chassis pouring out water as she stumbled up onto her feet. It weighed her down, making her a little unsteady on her feet as she limped towards the bridge.

"Sideswipe?" She hollered, looking around the road for her teammate. "Sideswipe, answer me! Oh please don't be botnapped or something... If you're playing with me, I'm gonna-"

She turned as she heard Sideswipe gave a terrified wail, and she ran towards the sound. "Sideswipe!?"

Sideswipe was struggling to get up from the ground, his arms and legs shaking underneath him. "I-I can't...I can't-"

Strongarm helped him to sit up, "Sideswipe, are you-"

Strongarm's optics widened as she looked at Sideswipe's and he shrieked in terror... His optics were gray, with no light behind them.

"I CAN'T SEE!!!"