Author's Note: As promised here is the first side story for So Not Fair. If anyone has any suggestions for more of these please leave a review or message me. I'm open to suggestions on what you, my readers, want to see from the series while you wait for the main story to come off hiatus.

Disclaimer: I own none of the Transformers characters. I do own my OCs so if you use them you need to ask me first, please and thank you.

Labtech knew that if he set fire to their quarters one more time while conducting one of his experiments then he would be grounded so hard it wouldn't even be funny. It wasn't his fault though! That last time had been all Trapmaster's fault since she had knocked over the small engine he had been working on. The time before that was Carbonation hitting him with a Mountain Dew can which knock the small scientist into his barely functioning radio, covering both him and the opened device in the disgustingly sticky stuff. Granted most of the fires, power outages, and explosions were his fault, but that came with the creation process!

Still, he hadn't done any experimenting in months for fear of something going wrong and getting grounded.

Statistics were not on his side if he chose to experiment.

So imagine the little red seeker's surprise when his mother basically ordered him to work with Wheeljack. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to think of the adult mech. He was short like Ratchet and had wild blue follicle-like structures that resembled hair, almost like he was trying to be like Albert Einstein. A very metallic, blue colored Albert Einstein.

Yet there was a thrill that surged through his circuits at the thought of getting to do some servos on science again. He missed working with his servos and actually piecing everything together physically instead of in his processor. If he had to work with an adult in order to do what he wanted then so be it. At least Wheeljack was a scientist. Sort of. He claimed to be more of an inventor which in Tech's mind meant the blue mech was a scientist that created new things.

Sort of the same thing.

Anyway, Tech quietly waited on his mother's shoulder as she knocked on the door to the hanger that served as Wheeljack's lab. It had taken months since he arrived for the base to build the structure. There was a dangerous sounding hiss that instantly sparked intrigue in the small mech's circuits. Was the mech already working on something? He had only received the building this morning, but if he was anything like Tech then there were probably millions of ideas in his processor that needed to be worked on. There were frantic footsteps and words before the hissing stopped. A few seconds later the footsteps came to the double doors and one side opened to reveal an oil covered Wheeljack.

"Are we interrupting something?" Jade asked. Even though he couldn't see from his angle, Tech knew she had an optic ridge raised and a smirk on her derma.

"No, no. Just a temperamental project you see. Nothing to worry about," the mech laughed and rubbed the back of his helm.

"Good, because I brought Labtech to start his apprenticeship with you." Tech blinked at his mother. Why was she calling it an apprenticeship?

"This is not an apprenticeship. This is a chance for the little one to learn about a section of Cybertronian science. Once he has sampled all forms and decided on which he prefers, then he will enter an apprenticeship with a mentor to guild him," Wheeljack corrected.

"Either way, don't get either of you killed." Taking his cue, Tech hovered in front of his mother and hugged her face plates before quickly landing onto Wheeljack's shoulder. He may be the best at flying out of his siblings, but that didn't mean he was going to chance falling. "Have fun, Tech. I'll see you both for lunch and dinner." She turned a glare at the blue mech and Tech felt him shiver. Here was no way for them to skip meals with that threat hanging over their heads.

After Jade turned and left them, the adult out of the two reentered the newly built science building. Tech felt like he had found Nirvana. There were chemicals, metals, tools, computers with blueprints, and grease and other random liquids all over the place making stains by the nanoklick. Wheeljack walked to one bench that had a strange box on it that was humming steadily. Tech was picked up and placed on the bench before the adult took a seat on a stool.

"Alright then. Tell me what ideas you have swimming in your processor, Lad. I know the look of a starved scientist when I see one."

With that the little mech launched into detail about each and every one of his projects; including the nineteen that his siblings had helped destroy. Wheeljack listened and nodded at the right moments, observing the sparkling as he chatted away about his experiments. He reminded the older mech of a certain seeker that used to prattle on about his projects. Quite the promising scientist that short flyer was. Shame he became a Decepticon, but then again Starscream did always have his reasons for things. That was how he got away with dangerous experiments that bordered on deadly. That seeker could talk his way out of almost anything.

"While I really desire to work on the ideas I came up with over the last few decacycles; what I really desire is to finish my long range com system that will work without fail or interference. I know I do not have the means of testing it between galaxies, but if I can convince Starscream to take it to the edge of this solar system then I will consider it a success," Labtech finished.

Well that answered the unasked question of what Starscream was up to lately.

"Well then, why don't we work on that device then? If we can make that then Optimus could make clearer messages to the other Autobots. The one we got was faint and filled with static that took me joors to decipher." It didn't help that he wasn't really that good with communications. That was more Blaster's area of expertise.

The grin that the little sparkling gave him was worth putting aside his energon converter. It was supposed to take oil and convert it into energon, then eventually be able to do the same with the natural sunlight the Earth got so they wouldn't be using so much oil. He would work on it some other time since he was pretty sure Jade wouldn't let her sparkling spend all on his time in the science laboratories.

So they started on the improved basic blueprints that Labtech had from when he originally tried to make to device. First they worked with metal to make a casing for the first prototype. Labtech drew out the patterns and Wheeljack did the cutting. They decided to make it about the same size as the sparkling. If they could get it to work at a larger size then they could work on making a working model that would be small enough to install within the processors of willing Cybertronians.

It was when they were working on the wiring that a distinct hissing started on the bench behind them. However, they were too absorbed in their current project to notice. Not even when smoke started to billow out of the temperamental energon converter did they turn their attention elsewhere. Only when a loud screeching whine began did they look over. Wheeljack only made it one step before the device exploded.

Smoke smelling distinctly like a horrible mix between oil and unrefined energon filled the building while pieces of metal and tiny flames flew all over the place. Labtech gave a startled gasp, after which he promptly started coughing due to inhaling the smoke. The small mech was scooped up and carried out of the flung open double doors. With leaking optics the little red mech looked up at the coughing blue mech. He was covered in a foul smelling sludge that Tech was sure also covered his own frame.

"Really? You couldn't go one day without blowing something up?"

Both sets of leaking optics turned to the Autobot medic who had both his servos placed on his hips. Tech had to refrain from laughing since he was pretty sure that was a habit the older mech got from Jade.

"Well to be fair it has been awhile since I had access to a laboratory," Wheeljack grinned as his unoccupied hand rubbed the back of his helm.

"What happened this time?" the other adult curtly demanded.

"Well the energon converter was more temperamental then I originally thought."

"It apparently did not like the fact that we were working on something else. Or Mumma would say something like that. I still do not understand why she speaks of inanimate objects as if they are capable of cognitive function," Tech cut in, coughing up a small cloud of black soot."

"Both of you get cleaned up and in my medbay ASAP!" the medic growled while pointing a digit to the showers for Cybertronians.

Once they were out of audio range Tech said, "I believe he spends too much time with Mumma, he is starting to act like her."

Wheeljack laughed, "Do not let him hear you say that." He had forgotten what it was like to teach a young one and he had to admit it felt nice to do so again. It would seem that he owed Jade for bringing some entertainment back into his life.