"Wheeljack! You could've caused serious damage!"

Ratchet's voice suddenly blared right after Wheeljack had spontaneously and recklessly thrown a lob ball to initiate a game. Although, it didn't go as he had planned before it bounced off Bulkhead's chest plate and then came hurtling towards Miko and Jack. Lucy happened to be standing near them and because of her fast reflexes she had instantly shielded them with her body. The lob ball had landed mere inches away from harming them, including herself.

Lucy separated herself from the two who had now risen from their fall and she sent them a concerned glance. "Are you two all right?"

"Apart from almost getting crushed, doing great." There was a hint of sarcasm in Jack's voice. Nonetheless he's grateful for Lucy's quick-wittedness.

"A little help here?" Fowler's muffled voice came from behind the lob ball which was lodged right in front of the entrance to his office.

"I'm on it." She grabs a hold of the lobbing ball and carefully removes it from the hinges. As she places it on the floor is when she failed to hear pedes approaching her.

"Lucy, were you harmed?" Her helm perks up and turns to see Ratchet kneeling next to her.

She sent him a reassuring smile, "I'm alright, Ratchet."

Ratchet offered his servo and as she took it, he gently hoisted her up. Even when she was now standing beside him their hands remained, with her palm facing downward and his digits lightly wrapped around the top of her servo. It still baffles her how easily his hand dwarfed her own and was secretly savoring the warmth that his hand radiated.

However, the moment was instantly shattered by Ultra Magnus who had inquired about Optimus's whereabouts. Ratchet turned to face the commander and then his servo that held her own was pulled away. The absence of his warmth left a cold spot in her spark and had involuntarily reached out to grab his hand but stopped herself. Her digits being mere inches away from touching his own, and she's secretly thankful that no one had seen what she did. The thought of holding his hand again made her heart bubble with anticipation but she instantly pushed down her own selfish desire.

Lucy went off to do her own deeds around the base, double checking their equipment and made sure that the monitors were working like they're supposed to. She was no mechanic but knew the basis on how to make sure the equipment is in proper working order. After finishing with her tasks, she sat down on a large human platform in front of Ratchet watching as he was currently preoccupied in piecing together a piece of equipment.

"How rad would it be if you all had jetpacks like Optimus?"

There came Miko's voice, however, Lucy wasn't paying too much attention to their conversation. Her mind was wandering elsewhere until a familiar loud engine revving came to a tire squealing halt beside them had caught her attention. It was Smokescreen in his alt form however his original paint job was replaced with a darker blue hue as well as yellow on top of his front bumper.

"Smokescreen?" Arcee inquired in surprise before he suddenly transformed.

"Aw, what gave me away?" Smokescreen extended his arms forward to which Arcee gave him a smile. "Come on, "Robots in Disguise", right?"

Then Ultra Magnus approached them and stood in front of the rookie before asking, "Where have you been, soldier?"

"Scanning new war paint. Thought it'd be proactive to follow Optimus' lead… and Bumblebee's." Smokescreen gestures his servo at Bumblebee to his left and the scout lets out a soft beep in return. Although, Ultra Magnus didn't seem to be impressed in the slightest.

"Now you can look your best while stacking those empty cubes." Ultra Magnus directs his optics towards the cubes behind Smokescreen.

"Yes, sir."

Ultra Magnus proceeds to walk away and then Smokescreen starts to head over towards the cubes before grumbling under his breath. "I was nearly a Prime, but somehow I'm still a rookie."

Even when Ratchet was constructing something, he had still managed to overhear Smokescreen as he was walking away. Ratchet's help perked up and is now staring at Smokescreens' back frame curiously. "What was that about a Prime?"

Smokescreen suddenly paused in his stride and then swiftly turned around to correct himself. "Uh… no, time. Time to stop acting like a rookie."

When he was far enough, Arcee had walked over and was now standing beside Ratchet. The sounds of his drill could be heard as he continued to tighten the screws of the small mechanical claw in his servo.

"Smokescreen was the only one who went back. If it weren't for him, Optimus might not be with us today." Arcee helm hung slightly forward where her optics stared down at the floor.

Ratchet ceased what he was doing and proceeded to say, "Arcee, we were under the strictest of orders. The three of you had your human partners to protect. But we are fortunate that Smokescreen is inexperienced enough not to have followed protocol."

"Speaking of Primes,"

Everyone turned their helms down towards Miko who had a grin plastered on her face.

"Optimus isn't the only one in Team Prime anymore."

Ratchet scoffs at Miko's declaration, "That's absurd. Optimus is the only living prime left after the matrix was bestowed upon him by Primus himself right before Cybertron went dark."

When Arcee and Bulkhead hadn't uttered a single word, noticing their cheeky smiles that they exchanged while their gazes landed elsewhere made his optics narrow with suspicion. Ratchet followed where their gaze was staring at until his optics met Lucy's.

"It's true." She tilts her helm to the side and then smiles sheepishly at Ratchet. "In fact, you're staring at the other Prime right now."

Ratchet visibly staggered and did a double take when she broke out the news. Almost dropping the drill and the claw from his servos. Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Miko were quietly snickering to themselves as Ratchet struggled to form proper and coherent sentences only to do so unsuccessfully.

"But… but…how..."

Since Ratchet wasn't present on Cybertron when she had demonstrated to the rest of the Autobots that she is a Prime with the Star Saber, it was unfortunate that he wasn't made aware of this sooner. Due to the severity of their situation back then there wasn't enough time to fill him in on what happened.

"I'll start from the beginning." She suddenly shifted and was sitting closer to the edge of the platform where she sat.

"First you—all of you, need to take into account that this took place back at the former base, before it was destroyed, and before I made my decision to leave." She points this out, noticing that Smokescreen had joined to listen in on her storytelling and Ultra Magnus? He was too busy to care.

"It was the same day when we acquired the Star Saber. Curious like any other person, I wanted to inspect the weapon. Keep in mind, I wasn't aware about my title. Until the Star Saber lit up and had sent me into a trance-like state and then Optimus had to literally pull me away."

Smokescreen took a step forward and expressed his disbelief. "Wait, you mean, Optimus knew this entire time?"

She confirmed this with a nod and then added the following, "Although he hadn't brought it up afterwards. I'm sure he had his reasons, maybe even too stunned to say anything and during the search of the Omega Keys it was eventually left unspoken. Then Megatron came to my home and threatened to hurt Jack, Miko, and Raf... and then well... you know how the rest goes."

"OH! Does that mean you're the boss along with Optimus now?!"

Lucy looks down to see Miko standing right beside her dangling pedes with an excited gleam in her brown eyes. She blinked and was… surprised to say the least from her sudden declaration.

"Um… no. I'm not "the boss", nor will I ever be." She used her digits to signify the air quotes on those two words before her servos rested on her thighs. "Even with my new title it doesn't mean that I'm instantly promoted. I'm… not quite ready to take that kind of responsibility just yet. That is unless Optimus says otherwise."

She could hear Miko whine below noticing how her shoulders were now slumped forward in disappointment. To amend her from the answer, she decided to use her telekinesis on Miko which earned a surprised squeal from the teenager. Then she gently lifts her off the ground and then proceeds to sway her in the air like she was flying on her own. Miko's mood instantly changed with an ear to ear grin plastered on her face. She had begun to shout out references, one notable reference was about Superman, of course.

Much later in the afternoon, Optimus had returned to the military base with his findings, and it wasn't energon. Instead he returned with the ancient remains of a Predacon. While the Autobots discussed the Predacon remain, everyone else had a say to the matter except for Lucy who remained silent during this entire conversation.

Being too shocked to utter a single comment on the matter. It was made apparent that this fossil—a living Cybertronian dragon had been cloned just to target them. This information about the Predacons true nature of its actions left her both deeply confused and concerned.

Soon after their discussion, everyone had gathered around behind Ratchet where he proceeded to show them all about the Predacons from Cybertronian historical texts up on the monitor screen. Hieroglyphics of ancient beasts that had once roamed around Cybertrons metal soil before going extinct during the great cataclysm. The kids were surprised to learn that the creatures of myth were actually Predacons sent to Earth by the Decepticons.

"But those are metal versions from creatures of our Greek mythology and Medieval literature." Jack noted in surprise to which Rafael added.

"Not dinosaurs."

Optimus turns to face the three young humans and states the following, "It would stand to reason that Predacons did indeed walk among this earth in ancient times. As they seem to have been the basis for much of humankind's folklore. Illustrating once again that the past of earth and Cybertron are inextricably linked."

Lucy had been staring intently at the hieroglyphics which were still on display. All she could picture was the Predacon nuzzling on her and demanding to be petted. How can a ruthless beast be so gentle with her… yet still harm her friends?

"I met with the Predacon." She unintentionally blurted out which earned disbelieving expressions from the others.

"You what?!" Ratchet exclaimed, looking absolutely horrified.

Her optics glances over to Ratchet before staring back at the monitors. "I wasn't made aware of its existence, given the situation we were facing before. Until it showed itself to me."

"Hold on a moment. You're telling us that the Predacon just happened to visit you?" Wheeljack remarked with a raised brow ridge.

"Yes. Hearing all of your thoughts about the Predacon being vicious yet it never once tried to harm me." She looked at him straight in the optic and watched him blink in astonishment.

Lucy huffed at the sight of everyone exchanging wary glances, she couldn't blame them for it. Her claim sounded way too good to be true after all which slightly irked her but didn't exactly show it.

She then rubbed the side of her temple where her optics met the floor. "Look, I know it sounds far-fetched but I'm certain that Megatron must have had the Predacon reprogramed because it was determined in taking me back to Darkmount. All I'm trying to say is that I'll be able to tame it and have a significant advantage, maybe even end this war for good."

"It is much too dangerous. Even if the Predacon seems to have taken a liking to you there is a chance that it will harm you or worse." Optimus expressed his concern over her idea to which she frowned. Her idea was a naive one, dangerous even given that it would involve her facing a vicious creature.

Suddenly Ultra Magnus chimed in, his gaze staring questionably at Lucy. "We aren't here to make friends with the enemy, soldier."

Lucy sent him a stern gaze with her lips pressed into a thin line. "That's not what I was implying. I know there is a way we can resolve this entire Predacon situation without the needs of violence. The Predacon isn't a danger unless provoked, it won't harm me."

Ultra Magnus took a step forward, appearing more intimidating. "For you. But for 'us' Autobots it poses a great threat. So, tell me, why don't you simply eliminate it? Since you obviously possess unique abilities to do so, instead you plan on befriending the beast that was sent to hunt us."

She was taken back by his bold statement, staring at him in utter disbelief before gritting her teeth. Desperately resisting the urge to throw him across the room.

"Excuse me!? I absolutely refuse to use my abilities to kill the Predacon!" She spoke back sharply and in turn Ultra Magnus scoffs which further fueled up the anger within her.

Lucy isn't one to get easily agitated but with Ultra Magnus was a whole other story. His overall attitude towards not only her but to the way he treated the entire team had certainly roused an unwanted character from her. Anger certainly wouldn't solve anything, and so she attempted to calm herself down it was working until she had somehow managed to read Ultra Magnus' thoughts for a moment.

"How does Optimus stand for such a senseless femme?"

Being pissed off was an understatement as she glared daggers at blueberry over there. She had her servos balled into tight fists and was biting the inside of her cheek where she could vaguely taste the energon seeping onto her tongue. Lucy very calmly stomped over to Ultra Magnus which caused him to stagger until she quite literally invaded his personal space before jamming her index digit harshly on his chest plate.

"This senseless femme knows quite well what the hell she's doing, arsehole!" She watched as his optics grew wide before continuing with her verbal assault. "I don't take shit from no one, especially from a mech who thinks he knows what's best for the team when clearly he doesn't. Personally, I don't like your attitude and the way you've been treating the others."

"Lucy—"

Lucy snapped her helm over to Optimus, unintentionally glaring at him which made him stagger. "Don't you dare tell me to stop because I won't. Especially when you don't have a single clue on what I just read inside his mind."

Optimus blinked several times from the shock as Lucy focused her attention back on Ultra Magnus. This was the first time that anyone talked back to Optimus in such a manner, in fact nobody had ever seen her this angry before, apart from that one time however that was nothing compared to this.

The commander opened his mouth to speak but was quickly shut down by her. "I'd hold your tongue if I were you."

"I would like to make this clear to you, I don't intend on using my powers to harm anyone, be that native life forms, Cybertronian and especially Predacons. If you have a problem with my choice, then I'm sorry... but frankly not really. Oh, and next time if you have anything to say to me—anything at all, make sure you say it to my damn face, commander." She hissed his alias through gritted dentas. Using the same hand that she jammed her digit onto him and shoved him out of her way as she stomped out of the hanger and then flew off.

(A/n)

In response to Stephanie Phelps question!

Hey, I forgot to ask in my previous review. WHEN WILL Ratchet TELL Lucy THAT HE LOVES HER!? I have an idea for HOW he can tell her. That is if you're taken ideas. Here's my idea he takes her to a place in the park AT NIGHT with a full moon, once they get there after a moment of star gazing he turns to her while saying "Lucy I have something I have to tell you." "But I'm to nervous to say it, so I'm going to have to show you." Then Lucy says "Well then show me." And he slowly takes his arms and wraps them around her and pulls her close and then gets gently kisses her.

Author's response:

I genuinely haven't thought that far! Since I was preoccupied, and am currently, in the brainstorming stages for ideas for this upcoming chapter. However, an idea had just magically presented itself inside my head whilst reading your review! I know the perfect scenario from which 'said confession' will take place, but you'll have to find out in the next chapter. c;