Summary: Red Alert is sure Inferno is plotting against him!
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I've forgotten…

Authors Notes: I paired Red Alert with someone else. This is my penance and apology to Inferno.

Red Alert glared at his security monitors as though they would answer him. He'd watched Inferno talking to Spike and Carly, wishing that he was actually allowed to monitor conversations. Especially after Inferno had glanced up at the security camera in the rec room and grinned. It wasn't that Red Alert didn't like it when Inferno smiled, quite the opposite in fact. But that grin was something else. It spoke of plans that Inferno was making. Plans that Red Alert wasn't sure he'd like.

But there was no way he could find out what Inferno was planning. At least not while he was on duty. He couldn't leave the security office until he was off duty. But by then, Inferno would be out on patrol in Portland with the fire department. Not for the first time, Red Alert cursed his partner's helpfulness.

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He was in recharge when Inferno came back after his shift, the stress of worrying about what Inferno was planning meaning that his recharge was lighter than normal. He onlined as soon as he heard the door-code being keyed in.

"Inferno?"

"Aww Red, I were being real quiet. Jus' go back ta recharge." Inferno stepped inside, letting the door slide shut.

"Not tired." Red Alert murmured, sitting up as Inferno crossed the room.

"Didn't mean ta wake ya." Inferno sat down on the berth and pulled Red Alert closer. "How come ya ain't tired? An' I know ya worked a double shift, so don't say you didn't."

"I saw you talking to Spike and Carly before your shift."

"Ah yeah. Was just askin' them a couple a questions. One a the guys at the station is having a birthday party and I wanted ta know what ta do." There was no indication in Inferno's voice that he was lying, so why did Red Alert still feel like he wasn't being told the truth?

He lay awake long after Inferno had drifted into recharge, processor working overtime. Inferno wouldn't betray him. Inferno wouldn't plot against him.

Would he?

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Over the next few days, their shifts alternated. When one was off-duty, the other was out patrolling or locked in the security room. Red Alert watched Inferno on the monitors every chance he got. He would catch the fire truck talking to others and breaking off as soon as Red Alert moved the cameras to get a better view. If he didn't know better, he'd say that Inferno knew the position of every camera on the Ark (which to be fair, he probably did given the amount of time he'd spent in the security office) and knew how to avoid them. Whenever Red Alert managed to find him, he'd stop talking and glance at the camera. It was doing little to help Red Alert's state of mind.

After a couple more days, Red Alert could stand it no longer. The next time they had time off together, he confronted Inferno, practically accusing the fire truck of plotting against him.

"I ain't doin' nothing of the sort Red!" Inferno protested, sounding hurt. "It's just coincidence, that's all." He murmured, trying to soothe the security director's frazzled nerves.

"You're not plotting against me?"
"Never Red."

"You don't want my job?"

"Heh no. Ain't no-one does that job better than you Red." Against his better judgement, Red Alert began to relax, believing Inferno's words and gentle touches.

"Lemme make ya forget ya even thought I were plottin' against ya." Inferno murmured, nuzzling against Red Alert's neck.

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Red Alert was on duty, sitting watching the security monitors when he noticed the high level of activity in the rec room. Before he had a chance to examine the footage, the screen went black. Muttering under his vocaliser, he tried switching to another camera, only to get the same black screen.

"Fraggit." He shoved away from his desk, intending to get to the rec room to fix whatever the problem with his cameras was and return to the security office.

He reached the rec room quickly, not meeting any mechs on his way. The door to the rec room was shut, something that, while it wasn't rare, was unusual. As he keyed in the door code, visions of a Decepticon attack ran through his processor. What he was not expecting however, was to be confronted by all mechs of the Ark, headed by Inferno shouting 'Happy Anniversary as soon as the doors opened.

Visibly shocked, Red Alert leant against the doorframe, optics flickering against the sudden brightness as the lights had flared to life as soon as he stepped inside the rec room.

"What?" Was all he managed.

"Happy anniversary Red." Inferno stepped forward, holding out a cube of high-grade energon.

"Anniversary?" Red Alert suddenly felt like he was missing an important piece of the puzzle.

"Yup. We've been together fer over a vorn now." Inferno grinned down at him, ignoring the confusion on his partner's face. Quickly Red Alert calculated the date they'd first started courting, finding Inferno to be right.

"But…" Red Alert took the cube of high-grade Inferno was offering, taking a sip as he looked around at the mechs gathered.

"It's called a surprise party Red. Spike an' Carly told me all about them." The look on Inferno's face dismissed any thoughts Red Alert had of getting angry. He had been right – Inferno had been plotting against him. But he found now that he didn't mind quite so much.

"Come on, we can get the party started now yer here." As Inferno pulled Red Alert further into the rec room, Blaster started playing music and conversation returned to the room, mechs coming to congratulate the pair as they moved to sit down.

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"Inferno?" Now that they were alone in their quarters, Red Alert had a chance to talk to his partner properly. The music in the rec room, while not loud (out of consideration for him, something he had actually be quite touched by), had been loud enough to prevent serious conversation. Inferno was sat on the berth, having needed to sit down before he fell down. How he managed to consume the amount of high-grade he did and still manage to make it back to their quarters, Red Alert wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Yeah Red?"

"Thank you… for the party. I… I didn't realise how long we'd been together."

"Heh, neither did I, not til Spike asked. That were when Carly suggested the party when I realised it were close ta the time I started courting ya."

"I knew you were plotting something."

"Ah, but I weren't plottin' against ya Red." Inferno smiled disarmingly.

"But you were plotting." Red Alert pitched his voice low.

"Ya gonna punish me Red?" Inferno stretched out on the berth as Red Alert advanced.

"Perhaps you deserve to be taught a lesson." Red Alert continued, straddling Inferno's thighs. "Or perhaps you just need to be thanked." He stopped any protest Inferno might make by covering his lips and kissing him soundly.