The first thing to boot up was his audials.

"HeatwaveHeatwaveHeatwaveHeatwaveHeatwave!"

His optics flickered on a klick later, a panicked orange and white face plate filling his vision.

"Blades?" Heatwave grumbled, sitting up and rubbing at his abused audials. The helicopter's ability to sound absolutely hysterical while never going above a whisper had always amazed and irritated him.

"Heatwave!" Blades cried, slightly louder now that the fire truck was online, "You have to help me!"

"Blades, it's the middle of the off cycle, can't this wait?" Heatwave ex-vented, mentally preparing himself for whatever had freaked out his team mate this time.

"No!" Blades hissed, rotors trembling slightly as he scrambled up onto Heatwave's berth, "Heatwave, this is serious!"

"I'm sure it is." The fire truck grumbled, "What horrible, self induced recharge flux have you had this time?"

"It's not a flux!" Blades protested, yellow optics bright, "They're real!"

Heatwave let out a vent. Might as well get this over with.

"What's real, Blades?"

The helicopter glanced around the room furtively, rotors fluttering nervously before he leaned in, as if imparting some great secret.

"Zombie hamsters."

Heatwave groaned, falling back on his berth, "Zombie hamsters."

"Yes!" Blades shifted closer to Heatwave, optics darting around the small room at every little noise, "They're here! In the walls! I can hear them!"

"Blades, it's just the fire house settling. It's an old building. They do that."

"Old buildings don't sound like little pedes. Zombie Ipedes."

"Mice then." Heatwave huffed. He was tired, slag it!

"You don't know that!" Blades whimpered, "You've gotta help me!"

"Blades, if, if, you run into any zombie hamsters just step on them. Hamsters are tiny."

"I can't do that!" The orange 'bot cried, optics bright, "They'll just chew through my pede and get up into my chassis and my spark and-" Blades cut himself off, pitching forward to burry his face in Heatwave's chassis.

Heatwave vented, running gentle servos over one of the 'bot's helm fins. The fire truck had long stopped asking why Blades only came to him when the horror movies he insisted on watching kept him from recharge. It was kind of flattering in a way.

Just not right now, at midnight.

"Alright, fine." Heatwave grumbled, easing Blades off him as he sat up and slid off his berth, "Let's go zombie hunting."

The helicopter's optics lit up as he pushed himself up, staring at Heatwave, "Really?"

"Yes really." Heatwave smiled wryly. The things he did for this 'bot.

They were out in the main bunker before Blades spoke again.

"How are we gonna fight zombie hamsters?"

"Since squishing is out of the question-"

"Yes."

"I could drown them." Heatwave suggested with a shrug, raising a fist.

Blades shook his head, "You can't drown zombies, Heatwave. Everyone knows that. You have to remove their head."

"Squishing would do that."

"No!"

"Alright, alright." Heatwave grumbled, "You're the zombie expert, you lead the hunt."

"Okay." Blades mumbled, edging closer to Heatwave. The fire truck could feel the sweeping scans the helicopter sent over the bunker and, after a sharp glance from the mech, sent out his own to join them.

He got a small blip of movement klicks before Blades let out a strangled sounding shriek, jerking backwards into Heatwave. That was the only reason the fire truck jumped.

Honest.

"Zombie hamster!" Blades whisper-screamed, clinging to Heatwave and staring at the corner the movement had come from.

"We're zombie hunters, aren't we?" Heatwave huffed. He just wanted to go back to berth.

"Yes." Was the whimpered response.

"So we should investigate."

"Yes. Wait, no, I mean-"

Heatwave ex-vented, prying the helicopter off of him and making his way over to the corner. He managed to scoop the source of the movement up before it could scurry away.

"Heatwave, no!" Blades cried, "It'll bite you!"

"I'm fine." The fire truck assured the orange and white 'bot grumpily, "It's not a zombie, or a hamster, look."

Heatwave opened the cage his servos formed just enough for Blades to see the frantic white mouse he'd caught.

"There, you see? It's just a mouse. No zombies." Heatwave opened up the garage door, letting the mouse run terrified outside, "Now will you please go back to recharge?"

Blades nodded, rotors twitching slightly as he turned to head back to his room, "No zombies. Got it."

Heatwave smiled slightly at Blades' back. Now he could get some recharge.

A cycle later, Heatwave lay on his berth, optics online and staring at the celing. Every few breems the skitter of tiny clawed pedes would make itself known. What if they were zombie hamsters?

The fire truck groaned, rolling over to press his face into the berth. It was going to be a long off cycle.