It was a short three days after the snow-filled day with Optimus and the kids that everyone was back to their usual routine at the base. That afternoon, Raf was house-hunting with his family leaving Miko, Jack, and Torryn as the only humans residing in the base.

Ratchet was typing away on his computer, images of encryptions and codes which Torryn wished she could decipher constantly flashing around on the screen. The codes were moving so fast that she wondered how the hell Ratchet was even able to keep up with it but considering he was technically a robot (even if they hated being referred to as such), she was not necessarily surprised.

Bumblebee and her guardian; Smokescreen, were off driving around the desert searching for any energon signals. That left Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead who were all training in the training area and refused to allow the children to watch. Sometimes, when the 'bots were taking it easy, they would allow for the humans to watch; however, considering today was three fierce warriors, Optimus did not think it wise to let the children anywhere near. The last thing any of them wanted was for an accident to occur and the humans to get injured.

Therefore, much to Ratchet's despair, they were left in the main part of the base under his watch. Or, in other words, Ratchet had to make sure none of them — particularly Miko or Torryn — did not try to run off to the training area.

Even Jack had to admit with the sounds of metal clashing and heavy grunting leaking from the training room and into the main part of the base, the idea of secretly sneaking off to watch the Autobots train was enticing. However, considering he was the "mature" one of the group, he ignored his own curiosity and made sure to help Ratchet in keeping the two girls he called his friends by his side.

"Bah, this blows!" Torryn groaned dramatically, flinging a hand over her face. "Smokescreen's off and the others are all training and we can't even watch! Like what the hell has the world come to?" She cried earning a nod of agreement from Miko.

"Oh, stop your complaining, just because the others don't want to expose you to—" Torryn rolled her eyes at Ratchet's droaning from where he was still typing on his computer, zoning him out as she began moving her lips as if to impersonate the grumpy medic.

Miko laughed at this, covering her mouth and Jack, though he shook his head, could not stop the small amusement from seeping into his gaze.

Torryn was currently taking up the whole couch by lying on her back, her arms folded behind her head as she wiggled her toes. Her converse and socks were discarded by her bag in the corner, her red hair fanning out over the back of the arm of the couch. Glancing at her backpack, Torryn glared at the swirling cotton-candy theme, hating that her unfinished homework was practically screaming at her.

No, she was not going to do it, she was already taking online classes and that was all that mattered. Memorial High was unneeded for education, all she used it for was social purposes.

Reminding herself of this, Torryn looked away from her backpack grinning when Miko shoved her feet out of the way and plopped down on the other side of the couch. Jack sat in the armchair, his attention now fixed on the soccer game he had turned on almost an hour ago (much to the girl's displeasure).

Placing her feet on Miko's lap, Miko scrunched her nose at the sight of Torryn's well-pedicured feet sitting on her, but did nothing to move them away. Torryn hummed a random tune, unable to focus whatsoever on the soccer game but rather the noise coming from the training room.

She could hear Bulkhead's laughter as well as Arcee and Optimus grunting, the sound of metal clashing on metal had been going on nonstop for the past hour, taunting Torryn that something interesting was taking place right under her nose and she was not there to see it. But she was oh so close.

Scowling at this thought, Torryn turned back to the television which Jack had managed to become completely enraptured by while Miko only messed around on her phone mindlessly. Breathing out, Torryn lifted her butt up to reach into her back pocket. Pulling out her smartphone, the girl sat back down with her white iPhone in front of her.

Looking through her apps, Torryn found herself loving the fact that despite the precautions of the base, she still had data. With her father's contacts, he had managed to give Torryn and himself such a strong network of data that it took a lot to actually block the signal. Therefore, while her friend's cellphone signals were blocked in the base, Torryn's still held strong. Not that any of them knew that, though.

Besides, Jack, Miko, and Raf were still sporting flip-phones, Torryn was the only one who actually had a smartphone.

Scrolling through her apps, Torryn opened WorldStar. Watching a few videos of people either failing or fighting (or in one case running over people with their car), Torryn suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

Smirking, Torryn looked to Jack and then to the remote sitting on the armchair next to him. He was still engaged in the game, cheering every time his favorite team would score. Flicking to her own account on WorldStar, Torryn could see she did not have many videos posted.

The few she did have; however, had many likes, most of which were from people at Memorial High or her old school back in Washington.

Nudging Miko with her foot, Miko looked away from the game she was playing on her phone. Raising a questioning brow, Torryn silently held up her phone showing the girl WorldStar.

"Wait, how do you have data?" Miko quietly asked, Torryn simply bringing her finger to her lips as if it were a secret.

"Don't tell anyone," she muttered before tossing her phone at Miko who caught it effortlessly. "But record this, make sure not to get Ratchet in it though, or we can't post it."

Looking to her friend, Miko leaned her head on the back of the couch. "And what are you planning to do exactly?"

There was a moment of silence before a Chesire grin broke out on Torryn's face. "This," she spoke simply before launching off the couch and stealing the remote away from Jack while flicking the channel to the popular reality television series called the "Bad Girls Club".

Torryn stood with a grin as Jack furiously stood up with a loud cry. "Hey, I was watching that!"

It was definitely not below Torryn to start her own form of entertainment when she got bored enough. In this case, she figured if the Autobots did not want to let her, Miko, and Jack watch them brawl then the humas could have a good smack-down of their own. Not to mention it could get them hella views on WorldStar if it went viral.

Miko perked up, her eyes lighting up when she realized what Torryn was doing, and she was whole-heartedly on board.

Pressing the button to start the video, Miko quickly began recording Jack and Torryn.

   "WorldStar," she said so the camera could hear her, but Jack was too busy arguing with Torryn to hear what Miko had said.

"You've been watching it for the past hour, Miko and I want to watch the Bad Girls Club now, you can watch it too!" Torryn placed her hands on her hips, Miko making it a point to zoom the camera in on Torryn's ass in the short-shorts she was wearing.

She then turned it to Jack's ass in his jeans, snickering silently before zooming the camera back out to the both of them.

"I am not watching reality tv!" Jack scoffed while Torryn crossed her arms, still clutching the remote.

"And why not? What's wrong with reality tv?" She tapped her bare foot against the ground.

Because it was cold metal, Jack, Miko, and Raf had thought to put a rug over their little area soon after they met the Autobots all those months ago.

"Because it is stupid and brain-washing!" He threw his arms up.

"What the hell does that even mean!" Torryn rolled her eyes while Jack only glared.

The soccer game had been a close one and he was wasting time arguing with Torryn when something major could have happened with the game.

"Whatever, give me that!" Jack tried reaching for the remote in Torryn's grasp, Torryn taking a step away from him.

"No way—" she was cut off when Jack used his height over her to his advantage and reached for the remote.

She yelled as he forcefully took it from her, turning back toward the television and flipping the channel. Growling in mock anger, Torryn smirked while glancing toward the camera Miko was holding.

Flipping her hair, Torryn took a few steps backward her gaze focused solely on Jack's back. In a matter of seconds, Torryn let out a war-cry launching herself at Jack and leaping onto his back.

"Ahh! What the—" Jack never got to finish his sentence as he fell to the ground, the remote clattering a few feet away from the two teenagers wrestling.

Torryn sat on top of him, trying to pin him while Jack bucked, both of them screaming the whole time. Well, more like Torryn was screaming as Jack's shouts were drowned out by the banshee's.

"What in the name of the All-spark are you two doing—?" Ratchet cut himself off with a cry as he turned around only to come face-to-face with the brawling duo.

Miko cursed when the camera caught Ratchet, the Japanese foreign exchange student stopping the video and immediately deleting the footage. It was now unusable as there was no way possible she could get around the huge robot's voice and image.

Without WorldStar, Jack and Torryn were now wrestling just to wrestle. Shrugging, Miko threw Torryn's phone next to her on the couch before standing and walking a few feet closer to her friends.

This was so entertaining. "Fight, fight, fight...!" She chanted over and over, fist-pumping the air making silent bets as to who would win.

She wished Raf was here so she could bet with him, but seeing the current position of the two, Miko was betting on Torryn to win as she currently had Jack pinned down, but he was not going down without a fight.

"Hey, doc-bot, who do you think'll win?" Miko turned only to see Ratchet had transformed into his alt mode and his holoform was now storming toward them, his white lab coat billowing behind.

Raising a fist, Ratchet began screaming at them. "Stop this nonsense right now!"

However, he was ignored as the fighting only escalated between the two. Torryn had no problem accepting the fact that she was having more fun wrestling Jack then she ever would watching television, and as much as Jack hated to admit it, he was having more fun as well. If the Autobots were going to train Torryn saw no problem in doing a little "training" of their own.

Letting out a grunt, Jack repeatedly began kneeing Torryn while Torryn wailed and grabbed his neck (not hard enough to choke him) and slammed his head onto the rug. Neither party was doing these movements hard enough to actually hurt the other, but rather for their own amusement. Unfortunately, Ratchet did not realize this, but even if he had, he still would not allow it.

"Release each other this instant...—" Ratchet was cut off as he was brought into the brawl, the teenagers trying to ram through him in order to get to each other.

Ratchet yelled, desperately trying to keep both teenagers away from each other. While Ratchet's holoform may have been bigger than both Jack and Torryn, it, unfortunately, was not too much larger than Jack and Torryn was stronger than she looked.

Seeing this, Miko let out a barking laugh, deciding to record this on her own phone so she could go back later and watch it for her own amusement.

"Take em' down, Torryn!" Miko shouted, cheering on her female best friend.

Somehow, their noise level managed to exceed the clashing of metal coming from the training room leading to Optimus, Bulkhead, and Arcee hearing the screams and shouts coming from the main part of the base. The Autobots had been about ready to stop anyway as they were now burning through their fuel quicker.

"Jack, Miko, Torryn, Ratchet!" Arcee gasped when she heard the noise, leading the way as all three Autobots ran out of the training room and into the main part of the base with their blasters drawn.

What came in their line of sight was something nobody was expecting.

Catching wind of his comrades, Ratchet immediately yelled for help. "Optimus!" Ratchet shouted just as Torryn somehow managed to fling herself over Ratchet to get to Jack.

"Suck my balls, Mr. Clean!" Torryn exclaimed while tackling Jack to the ground, Jack punching light-heartedly at the red-head as he went down.

There was no hesitation as Optimus collapsed in his alt mode, his holoform fizzling to life next to Ratchet. In a matter of moments, both Optimus and Ratchet had managed to separate the two; Optimus holding onto Jack while Ratchet held onto Torryn.

"You guys wanna join?" Torryn questioning causing all the 'bots to become gobsmacked at Torryn's offer.

Had the humans gone mad? What in the name of the All-spark was happening!

"Hell yeah!" Miko cheered, ending her video and tossing her phone on the couch next to Torryn's while hurdling herself at Optimus and Jack.

"Woohoo! Go Miko!" Torryn cheered, trying to get back in the action but was held back by Ratchet's firm grip.

"Miko!" Bulkhead gasped, collapsing in his own alt mode, his holoform coming to life.

Quickly, he pulled the small Japanese girl away from Optimus and Jack, Arcee now the only Autobot in her bi-pedal mode standing.

"Miko!" Bulkhead cried in surprise when Miko began wrestling in his grasp, Jack and Torryn doing the same in their respective holds.

"What is the meaning of this?" Optimus's low baritone voice cut through the chaos, his strict tone warning and bringing the humans to an immediate stop.

Torryn was breathing heavily, a grin resting on her face as she gazed from her human friends to her holoform friends. Optimus held a stern look on his face as he gazed at the three human children.

"Their adrenaline is spiked but other than that everything appears to be normal medically." Ratchet muttered after doing a quick scan.

However, he raised a brow when he caught wind of some sort of medication running through Torryn's system. His quick-scan was not detailed enough to get the full details, therefore he would need to investigate upon it later when he could get a detailed analysis of Torryn's inner-workings.

He shoved it to the back of his processor, all their attention falling to Miko who groaned.

"Well, what do you expect? We were bored and Torryn's good at coming up with games!" Miko exclaimed, Jack silently nodding along.

"Yeah, she started it!" He pointed to his red-haired friend who had no shame in her face.

The autobots threw a soft glare at Torryn.

"What? You all were doing it!" She rose her hands in defense, throwing the look back at Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead.

"Yeah, but we were training!" Bulkhead exclaimed, Miko shrugging.

"And we were doing it for fun,"

"Fun and games?" Ratchet scoffed, releasing Torryn as the others did with their humans. "That is quite a horrible game if you ask me, injuries are bound to happen and I don't feel like dealing with it," Ratchet muttered sourly causing Torryn and Miko to overdramatically groan.

"We could always go back to real-life fruit ninja warrior!" Miko suggested, all the others (including Jack and Torryn) widening their eyes when they remembered the outcome of the game last time.

"No!" They all yelled, Torryn subconsciously rubbing the scar left on her hand from the knife.

Miko shrunk under the intense stares. "Okay, okay, fine, no more real-life fruit ninja warrior."

"No more of this either," everyone turned to Optimus who was staring at the children sternly. "What we do is not something any of you should ever follow, fighting for the sake of fighting is something I don't want to see between you—"

"Can we fight you?" Torryn interrupted the leader with a raised brow causing Optimus to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.

From her place, Arcee could not help but smirk and silently snicker at Torryn's words. After being around her for a few weeks, Arcee learned that there is a lot more to Torryn Wilde than meets the eye. In fact, surprisingly enough, she found herself liking the girl's spunk and caring for her in her own Arcee-way.

"Maybe," Optimus answered, remembering when the four of them play-wrestled him back in the snow a few days ago. He figured that was what they were doing now, but he did not want them doing it amongst each other in fear of them getting hurt. At least if it was with him he could ensure they would not hurt themselves. "The point is, no more fighting, is that clear?"

He looked at all of them sternly, the three teens sighing but agreeing nonetheless. "Yes, Optimus," they repeated like a choir.

When Torryn met Optimus Prime, she was sure he was not going to be able to earn her respect. Yet, somehow, through all of this, he managed to do just that and earned her respect full-force. The girl now saw him along with Ratchet as odd father-like figures.

While Torryn was still stubborn as hell, Optimus Prime along with the other Autobots, including her own guardian, had earned her respect in a way she never thought possible.

"Good," Optimus said before his holoform fizzled away followed by Ratchet and Bulkhead.

In moments, all three stood back in their bi-pedal form.

"Oh, and I almost forgot," Jack, Miko, and Torryn gaped when Ratchet's huge digits grabbed the tiny remote and plucked it away from them.

They stood shell-shocked as Ratchet placed it next to his workspace, a place that was nearly impossible for any of them to reach without the help of their robotic friends.

"No more television for the day since you all find the need to fight over it," the medic smirked before getting back to work as Optimus stood next to him, decoding more of the Iacon database.

Bulkhead and Arcee glanced at each other before shrugging and making their way to the gobsmacked children.

"Boo!" Torryn finally yelled, jumping back on the couch followed by a groaning Miko.

Jack sat back at his place on the armchair, throwing one last glance at Ratchet and Optimus who did not bother to give the children anymore looks. As soon as Arcee and Bulkhead got to the railing, Torryn mindlessly tapped her fingers against her stomach.

"So Jack, how did your date with Sierra go?"

Arcee smirked at Torryn's question, remembering how she was the one who technically drove Jack and Sierra to and from their date.

Jack blushed at the thought of the girl who he had been crushing on for so long who he now had the privilege to say he was dating.

"Jack was a mess," Arcee found herself saying with a snort. "He kept skipping over words and blushing."

Torryn and Miko laughed, both of them realizing that sounded exactly how Jack would act.

"Hey, I think that sounds fine, at least Jack has respect for the femme," Bulkhead found himself saying in the defense of Jack.

"Why thank you, Bulkhead," Jack stated while Torryn, Miko, and Arcee looked between each other before bursting out in laughter.

"And are you adept in dating, Bulk?" Miko questioned with genuine curiosity.

Throughout every story she had heard, Miko had never heard Bulkhead mention anything about a significant other. In fact, none of the Autobots had.

Wait, were the Autobots even capable of holding romantic feelings?

As if sensing the question on all the children's minds, Arcee rolled her optics before answering. "Before you ask, yes, we too have romantic capabilities." She explained before Bulkhead smiled.

"Yeah, and I don't mean to boast, but back in my day I was quite the mech with femmes—" Bulkhead was cut off by Arcee's laughing.

"That's an overstatement if I've ever heard one!" Arcee shook her helm causing Bulkhead to scoff while the three humans looked back and forth between the two.

"Wait, you had a girlfriend!" Miko all but shouted, shocked this had never come up.

Why had she not asked this before?

"Yeah, well we call it sparkmating, but I had quite a few sparkmates, none of them really stuck though," Bulkhead ended sheepishly, rubbing the back of his helm.

"Ooh, the ole' hump and dump I'm sensing?" Torryn questioned the large mech who only looked to her in confusion.

"The what—?"

"Ignore her!" Jack yelled while Torryn smirked. Quickly, Jack turned to his guardian. "What about you Arcee, any romance in your life?"

The femme rolled her eyes, but a sullen look took over her face when her thoughts went to Cliffjumper. Her old partner had been much more than just a partner, while she and Tailgate had a more familial relationship, Cliffjumper and Arcee's had been budding into something more. However, the two were never able to deem themselves anything more than extremely close partners who were exploring their sprinkles of affection before Cliffjumper was offlined.

"Cliffjumper and I, well we were almost to the point of becoming sparkmates, but..." Arcee trailed off sadly, Jack's heart swelling with guilt as Bulkhead placed a comforting servo on Acree's shoulder plate.

Torryn frowned, she had heard the story of Cliffjumper from Miko, and she felt bad for Arcee. Truly, she felt bad for the entire team, their lives and the ones they loved had been ripped away by this war.

Clearing her throat, Torryn quickly changed the subject not wanting Arcee to suffer any longer. "So, assuming sparkmates are your version of boyfriend-girlfriend, what comes after that?" She asked, Miko's eyes lighting up.

"Oh, like their version of marriage?" Miko giggled while Torryn nodded.

"Eh, that would be Conjunx Endura, but after the war, no one really bothered doing it, so it's pretty rare to find a Conjunx Endura pair," Bulkhead explained, his optics lighting up. "I think Optimus had one, but she died sometime in the war."

All the humans gaped at each other, none of them expecting Optimus Prime of all mechs to be married! He just seemed so reserved and well... not necessarily one for romance!

'Maybe I should show him Twilight and see how that affects him...' Torryn thought to herself before shaking it away.

"Optimus Prime, married!" Miko hissed in a whispered shout, all of them looking to Optimus who was so far into his work that he did not take notice of the conversation happening a few feet away.

"Yeah," Arcee nodded, a sad look crossing her face when she remembered the days all those years ago that Optimus's partner; Elita One, had lived. "They loved each other a lot, it destroyed Optimus when she was offlined, but I think in a way it pushed him harder, to be better, you know?" Arcee explained as they all looked to Optimus.

Feeling many stares boring into him, Optimus suddenly looked behind him catching sight of over half his team staring at him as though he had a third arm.

Immediately, when they noticed Optimus looking back at them questionably, all of their eyes and optics widened and quickly they looked back at each other.

"Change of subject!" Torryn cried, not wanting Optimus to catch wind of any of them talking about his dead spouse. The others easily went along, none of them wanting Optimus to hear what they were saying either. "Back on topic, so Jack, are you and Sierra a couple then?"

Everyone's attention was on Jack who suddenly sprouted a confident smile. "Nah, we decided to take it nice and steady, keep things moving slow—"

Torryn clutched her stomach and nearly died from laughing. "AHAHA! Who are you, grandpa? HAHA!" She was laughing, Miko joining in.

Bulkhead and Arcee watched with amusement, not exactly seeing what the two girls found so funny but smiling at their laughter nonetheless. Jack scowled, crossing his arms with a glare sent toward his two friends.

"Dude, in this case, slow and steady does not win the race! No girl wants to take it slow." Torryn finally stopped her laughter, her voice turning into a deadpan as she addressed Jack.

Throwing his hands up, Jack shook his head. "Whatever, just cause you'll be ready to get hitched after one day of knowing someone does not mean all girls are like that, Torryn." Torryn's mouth fell agape at the insult, Miko covering her mouth failing to conceal her laughter.

"Oh, burn, he just served you," Miko sniggered while Torryn could not stop the slight quirk of her lips.

"Listen," she held her hands up. "All I am saying is that in this day and age, no girl wants a guy to just date unless we're pulling the ole' hump and dump ourselves, we want a real relationship."

"There goes that term again, what does hump and dump even mean—?"

"So, Torryn and Smokescreen are getting rather close, Smokescreen doesn't happen to already have a Conjunx Endura, does he?" Miko snapped her head to Arcee and Bulkhead who glanced at each other with smiles.

"No, I don't think the kid has ever even had a sparkmate—"

"Oh my gosh," Torryn hated to admit it, but she was getting flustered with where this conversation was headed. "Isn't it like taboo or something for your species to think about organics that way?"

Bulkhead snorted with Arcee. "Taboo? Considering pretty much our entire species is on the path of extinction, I'd say chumming it up with others is actually the opposite. Even if they do happen to be tiny delicate beings like yourselves."

"Aw," Jack cooed mockingly, looking to give Torryn a little bit of payback. "You hear that Torryn? Maybe we should talk to Smokescreen and see what he thinks—"

Torryn flipped Jack off in response, a sudden thought coming to mind. "Hey Miko, didn't you say something about the one Autobot I haven't met yet, Jackwheel or Jackie, OH—Wheeljack, being kind of hot or something—" Miko climbed over Torryn so fast the red-head swore she got whiplash.

The Japanese girl placed a hand over her mouth, her brown eyes wide as she looked back to the gaping faces of Arcee, Jack, and dear god, Bulkhead.

Torryn did not mean to throw Miko under the bus like that, she really didn't, she was truly curious.

"MMM!" Torryn yelled through Miko's hand, the others finally getting a grip of themselves.

"Really?" It was Arcee's and Jack's surprised tones.

"WHAT!" It was Bulkhead's angry shout which caught Ratchet and Optimus's attention, both the older mechs turning to look at the scene before them.

For a split second, the form of Torryn wriggling under Miko made the Prime think they had disregarded his previous words and began brawling again, but when he noticed Miko only holding her mouth shut, he realized they weren't.

"What's going on?" Ratchet demanded upon seeing the shell-shocked faces of the others, staring at Miko incredulously.

Before anyone could utter any sort of excuse, Miko looking as if she had just been caught in the biggest lie of her life, the sound of powerful engines roaring and wheels squeaking against the ground reeled around them. All heads turned to the tunnel where Smokescreen and Bumblebee raced in as their alt modes.

In a matter of seconds, both had transformed, their optics wide with panic written on their faceplates.

"Smokey?" Torryn sat up with worry, seeing her guardian wearing a face of panic could mean nothing good.

Bumblebee began letting out a whirr of beeps, Smokescreen talking with them.

"He came at me! What was I supposed to do? Let him hit me with the crowbar!" Smokescreen's words were rushed and panicked, Optimus walking up to both of them with Ratchet in tow.

"Calm down, both of you," Optimus ordered, looking at both of the now silent young mechs. "Now, explain to me what has happened."

"Well, Bee and I were driving when this guy suddenly almost hits me—" Bee cut him off with a series of mocking beeps causing Smokescreen to sigh deflated.

"Okay fine, maybe I was speeding just a little—"

Bee once again chirped mockingly at Smokescreen's words.

"—Okay, a lot! But like, nobody was on the road, or I thought so at least!"

Torryn cringed at that, realizing it eerily similar to something she would say. Okay, so maybe she was not the best influence on Smokescreen, especially considering the fact he was still extremely new to this planet.

Everyone else was thinking the same thing, all of them throwing pointed looks to the human girl who shrunk under it. Miko was the only one who found amusement, snickering lightly. Catching sight of the gazes being thrown at his charge, Smokescreen subconsciously stepped in front of her, blocking her out of sight.

"—Anyway, so the guy and I stop, and the guy gets out of this rusty crummy old truck, but like, he had a crowbar, and it's like his old truck, rusty and nasty looking. So he's walking up to me waving this metal bar screaming profanities ready to dent me and I know we're not supposed to reveal ourselves and we have holoforms for a reason, but I was panicking and wasn't thinking! So, I transformed and long story short, I threatened him, you know, to make him go away. I wasn't serious, but Bee took me serious and transformed too and was like 'Smokes, you can't do that!' and I was like 'Relax Bee, I'm just messing around!'..."

Torryn and Miko had both fell against each other, laughing throughout the story.

The sad part was, Torryn could definitely envision this happening. Ratchet was controlling his vents as he tried to stay calm, and Optimus, the ever level-headed leader he was, made sure to only listen attentively to Smokescreen's story.

"So then, the guy brings out a phone and snaps a pic, of course, I had to smile, so I posed for the picture. Then, Bee yells at me and is like 'Dude! What the scrap are you dong, we have to get out of here and tell Optimus!' and I realized he was right, so then we both transformed and raced away and now we're here telling you this story..." Smokescreen ended firmly, his voice holding a touch of innocence as if he did not understand what the big problem was.

Bumblebee had moved next to Bulkhead, and Ratchet and Arcee had taken to gaping at Smokescreen through his story while Optimus was leaning his helm into his servo with a heavy sigh.

"Oh my gosh, Smokey! That's hilarious!" Torryn was cackling, Smokescreen's face lighting up at the sound of his charge's laughter.

"Well, I found the picture," Jack hummed from his place at the base's human laptop where he ultimately found the picture Smokescreen was talking about on the internet. "Old road rage didn't waste any time posting your mugshots," everyone turned to Jack seeing the picture on the laptop.

Narrowing her eyes, Torryn got a closer look before falling backward in laughter at the sight of Smokescreen posing and smiling at the camera next to a panicking Bumblebee.

"Don't worry, Raf will scrub this as soon as he gets back from house-hunting," Jack reassured them all.

Ratchet finally snapped, turning to Smokescreen with a snarl. "Is this what you learned while serving Alpha Trion? I highly doubt he would have condoned such irresponsible behavior!" He yelled, throwing his servos in the air while Smokescreen shrunk away with a guilty look, the reality of his mistake finally hitting him.

Torryn gave her guardian a sorry stare knowing it was no fun to be on the receiving end of Ratchet's wrath.

"Blowing your cover is not okay," Arcee added sternly, placing her servos on her hip plating.

Smokescreen looked down sadly, "Sorry guys, I know I really messed up," he huffed.

"Nah, you should have just kicked the guy!" Torryn exclaimed with a mischievous smile, Smokescreen looking up at his charge who was grinning at him reassuringly.

Smokescreen gave a small chuckle, loving how she seemed to make everything better somehow. Ratchet, on the other hand, was having non of it.

"You," he whirled around, with a digit pointed at the human who was lazily lounging on the couch, "...be quiet, you're already a bad enough influence on Smokescreen. It's still a wonder that you are even allowed to be his charge as he," Ratchet turned back with a glare directed at Smokescreen, "is obviously not mature enough to decipher right from wrong on this planet!"

Taking pity on the young soldier, Optimus walked up behind him. "While Ratchet and Arcee are correct, I believe that we are all equally responsible for this incident." Optimus looked to the entire team who became flabbergasted.

"Us?" Arcee shouted.

"How?" Ratchet demanded.

"We weren't even there!" Bulkhead complained followed by a few beeps from Bumblebee. Looking down at the shorter yellow Autobot, Bulkhead pointed at him while throwing him under the bus. "Well, Bee was,"

Bee let out a series of angry chirps, turning around and hitting Bulkhead's chest.

Optimus looked to them all before answering their question. "Our recent efforts have been so intensely focused on averting crisis that we have overlooked simple matters such as teaching Smokescreen how to best function on this planet. It is an oversight that must be corrected," Optimus said that last part in a thoughtful tone.

"Hey, isn't that kind of your job as his charge?" Jack questioned Torryn, earning everyone's attention.

Torryn only shrugged casually, placing her hands behind her head. "Eh, do I look like I'm made out of metal? Besides, I think Smokescreen's been doing great!" Smokescreen stood straighter at her compliment. "I think he handled the situation fantastically!"

"Ep, ep, ep!" Ratchet yelled, grabbing a wrench and holding it over his helm while looking to Torryn threateningly.

"AH!" Torryn yelped as Smokescreen quickly blocked her from Ratchet once again.

"Optimus, I am honored to train under you and will do whatever it takes to make things right, to make you proud." Smokescreen spoke earnestly, looking to Optimus in a sincere manner.

"Perhaps the best way to make you learn about the human world is from a human," Optimus stated, while Arcee rose a metallic brow.

"Isn't that what Torryn's been doing? Albeit badly?" She questioned.

"Hey!" Torryn shouted. "I think I'm doing an amazing job!"

"You certainly are not!" Ratchet yelled before everyone's attention was back on the leader.

Optimus turned his gaze to Torryn who let out a small "oh, shit," when she noticed his attention had fallen onto her. Miko snickered with Jack, both of them watching the drama unfold.

"Torryn, I do not blame you for teaching Smokescreen as no one can simply change their personality. However, I believe it is wise for Jack, as he seems to be the most mature," Optimus ignored Miko and Torryn's noises of disagreement, "to teach Smokescreen the ways of how to best function on this planet. I am not saying charges will be switched," he threw a look to everyone on the team, "...but, for now, Jack should be the one to teach Smokescreen."

Torryn's mouth fell open in displeasure, the girl suddenly sitting up as a feeling of jealousy spread within her. Smokescreen was her guardian, not Jack's.

"What?" She cried before Jack intervened.

"Um, sure, Optimus. Robots in disguise, traffic laws, don't beat down other people—" he threw a look at Torryn during the last part. "I can bring Smokescreen up to speed."

Torryn watched in shock along with Arcee as Jack climbed down from the rec-center and made his way up to Smokescreen.

"What?" Torryn repeated when Smokescreen gave her a sorry look before addressing Jack.

"Then let's go for a drive, teach," Smokescreen grinned at the teen boy, transforming into his vehicle mode.

Miko placed a comforting hand on Torryn's shoulder as she watched her guardian drive away with Jack, the girl filled with shock and displeasure.

"WHAT!" She finally repeated for a third time with a scream.

Did Jack just steal her away her guardian?