Author's Note: This is just a fun little one shot I thought up after watching TFP. :) I've actually never seen the original Tranformers series from the 80s so apologies if anyone is OOC. I tried to keep them all in character from what I've seen other people portray them as. Hopefully I did okay. Thanks and enjoy!

Jack closed his book quickly as the final bell rang, its chime signaling the end of another school day and a mad dash to the exit by the entire class populous. Pushing his chair in as he stood, he watched as they shoved each other roughly out of the way, each wanting to be the first to escape the interminable boredom of Trigonometry and begin another summer day of fun. Jack himself was looking forward to the break, for as much as he loved school, there were far more exciting things waiting for him once he left the premises…exciting things that stood dozens of feet tall and came from another world.

Glancing over to his left, he saw Raf slip his laptop into his backpack and hoist it over his thin shoulders, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he did so. Catching his friend staring, the young hacker smiled over at him.

"You coming to the base today, Jack?" he asked, not bothering to lower his voice since everyone had already left the room. "Ratchet says something big is happening."
"Yeah, definitely." Came the answer as Jack slid his arms through his backpack straps. "It's gonna have to be a little later though. I promised I'd help Mom with the food shopping."

Raf nodded, seeming to understand his feelings on that but knowing that Jack was not one to shirk responsibility. The older teen looked around and glanced out into the hallway.

"Where's Miko anyway?" he asked. "I haven't seen her all day."

"Detention." Came Raf's shrugged answer. "Again."

Jack sighed, startled to hear how much like Optimus the noise had made him sound.

"She's gonna have to start getting serious now that finals are coming up." He said. "Getting left behind's not gonna go over too well with the Bots."

"I know." Raf agreed. "Bulkhead would be happy to help her with the homework though."

"He'd just Google it." Jack chuckled. "He'd rather be out watching a monster truck rally too."

Then he shook his head, pushing a chair out of his way as he and Raf walked to the classroom door and headed out into the hallway.

"I don't know who's a worse influence," Jack said. "Wheeljack on Miko or the other way around."

Raf fixed his glasses again, smiling at the remark.

"They're not that bad, Jack." He said. "They just like the same types of fun."

He turned to face the older boy as they strode out into the sunlight and stopped on the school's front steps.

"Me and Bee are the same way." Raf continued. "We like going for drives and video games. Wheeljack, Miko and Bulkhead just…are different."

He didn't seem satisfied with his own explanation and frowned slightly at the sidewalk as he tried to think of a better way to put it. Jack smiled though and nodded.

"You're right." He said. "After all, Arcee and I like to do our own thing."

Then he glanced at his watch.

"Speaking of which, where is she anyway?" he wondered, looking around. "Bee's not here either."

"Maybe they're prepping for that thing Ratchet was talking about." Raf suggested and Jack glanced at him.

"Yeah, about that," he said. "Did Ratch say what the big surprise was? Don't tell him I called him 'Ratch' by the way."

"No, he was pretty busy when I asked so he didn't answer." Raf said. "He might not have heard me."

"Oh, he heard you." Jack deadpanned teasingly. "Ratchet's audio sensors could hear a pin drop on the moon. He probably just was too busy to answer."

Raf chuckled at the joke.

"He did seem kind of in a bad mood about the whole thing." The young hacker said. "Kept muttering something like 'Obnoxious, good for nothing slaggers' and something else I couldn't quite hear. Optimus seemed to find it funny."

"Optimus has a sense of humor?" Jack smirked and Raf laughed again. "Apparently." He agreed. "Everyone else seems pretty thrilled about whatever the big surprise is. Ratchet's the only one who's not."

Then he paused.

"Well," he amended with a shrug. "Arcee seems a little tense too but…"

"…but that's her constant state?" Jack finished. "It's okay. I know. I'll try and get her to loosen up a little when I get to base, maybe rope in Bee and Smokescreen to help."

Checking at his watch again, Jack looked around for any sign of his guardian in the parking lot. Nothing. Just old Ford Focuses and mid-90s lemons that somehow were still hanging onto life.

'Welcome to Jasper, Nevada.' He thought sarcastically.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a bunch of other students congregating around the far parking lot, a group of them milling around something he couldn't quite see and pointing at it excitedly. Standing up, he caught Sierra by the arm as she was passing by.

"Hey, Sierra," he said, trying to ignore the flutter his heart gave when she met his gaze and smiled. "What's going on?"

"None of your business, Darby." Vince suddenly cut off her answer as he passed by behind her. "You've got that stupid motorcycle. This one is gonna be all mine!"

Trying to ignore his Neanderthal classmate, Jack looked back at Sierra, who was busy getting pulled away by a friend.

"Jack, there's a really hot car over in the senior's lot and – " she started and then was mobbed by a group of her friends and pulled in the direction of the throng, making Jack glance at Raf and exchange a shrug with him.

'Might as well see what this is about.' Jack thought and stood up, leaving his backpack on the steps as Raf pulled out his computer and started playing a game where he sat, clearly not interested enough to make the hike across the large school parking lot.

Still not seeing Arcee anywhere, Jack began walking across the mostly empty teacher's parking lot, stretching his neck lazily with a pop as he did. Then, however, Fate decided that Jack Darby needed to be taught a lesson. Why he never knew, but the series of events that followed happened all the same and would become a Jasper, Nevada legend for years afterward. From right behind him, a loud, aggressive engine rev erupted with a silence-shattering roar and Jack jumped with a startled yelp of surprise. Before he could turn to see what had caused it though, something knocked his legs out from under him and the teenager found himself perched on the hood of a low-riding sports car, a gold-painted monster that picked up speed as it suddenly flew across the parking lot, aiming at the congregating group of students at the far end.

Yelling in terror as he hung on for dear life, Jack saw the crowd turn in clusters to look over at him in confusion, clearly wondering what was going on, before another engine roar sounded abruptly and they scattered like ants, scampering off to either side quickly as another car suddenly emerged from their epicenter, launching forward at great speed and aiming directly at where Jack and his attacker were also going.

"Dude, it has no driver!" he heard someone yell. "Ghost car!"

That made Jack freeze up where he sat. There was only one thing those 2 words could mean. Before he could voice his fear aloud though, the car coming at him suddenly skidded in a 90 degree turn and popped its passenger door open, seeming to aim the opening right at where Jack himself was being chauffeured. He found out why seconds later.

"Arms and legs tucked in, squishy!" a smug voice sounded from right beneath him. "Scratch my paint and you die."

Then his ride suddenly came to its own screeching halt, sending the unfortunate Jack flying forward headfirst like a missile, a scream of terror tearing itself from his throat as he flew at his own death in the form of a red Lamborghini Aventador. Somehow though, by some miracle, he managed to do as the strange Cybertronian told him to and flew precisely through the small opening, smashing into the driver's seat and door as the red Lamborghini immediately floored it and sped out of the parking lot. Floundering as he tried to right himself in the seat, Jack managed to catch only glimpses of his fellow students staring after him in awe as the school disappeared quickly behind him, his brain struggling to catch up with what had just happened.

"Gooooooooood afternoon, Jack!" came a mirth-filled voice from the radio suddenly, its tone almost as smug as the other one's had been. "I can call you 'Jack' right? Whatever, you can't stop me anyway. So, we've heard a lot about you and your first question is: Who's better looking? Me or my brother here?"

At that, the yellow car that had hit him from behind pulled up alongside them, matching their speed and course with practiced ease. Other than color, it seemed identical in every way to the one he was in, and Jack found himself looking for the Decepticon crest on its sleek form as they sped down the road. How fast were they going anyway?

"Wh-Who the hell are you?" Jack sputtered, letting out a grunt and gasp simultaneously as a seatbelt came out of nowhere and pinned him firmly against the seat. "Did Megatron put you up to this?!"

The red car laughed audibly.

"You hear that, Sunny?" it said. "He thinks we're Cons!"

"That's adorable." The golden one deadpanned. "Remind me to smite his squishy aft when we all get out of jail."

Jack sucked in a breath.

"Jail?!" he demanded. "What do you mean jail? What's going on?!"

"I heard you liked racing, kid. That right?" the red one said, not giving him a chance to get a word in edgewise. "Course that's right. Why wouldn't you? And we're a slag of a lot faster than Arcee, I'll tell you that much."

And with that, he floored the accelerator and Jack was flattened further back against the seat. Reaching up to grab the steering wheel tight enough to whiten his knuckles, the teen felt his eyes widen as he saw 185 mph read on the speedometer, the number doing nothing to soothe his already frayed nerves.

"Are you crazy?!" he yelled. "Slow down! We're gonna kill somebody!"

"Nah!" the car chuckled non-chalantly. "We got this. You and me, squishy. Besides, if they get in my way then they brought it on themselves. And oh look! We've got our first contenders!"

For a second, Jack didn't know what the car was talking about, but then he heard sirens behind him and felt his stomach drop down to his feet.

"No." he said fearfully. "No no no no no no! Son of a – Why would you – Darn it all!"

"Ah c'mon, Jack." The unknown Autobot said cheerfully. "You can curse in front of me. I'm not shy. Here, I'll do it with you! SLAG!"

"Stop!"

"Stick it up your tailpipe you aft-faced son of a glitch! See, it's fun!"

"You're gonna get me arrested!"

"Go frag yourself in an acid bath you pit-spawned humper droid!" came the reply.

"God damn it! Listen to me!"

Miko yawned as Bulkhead pulled into the Autobot base, stepping out of the green Wrecker's passenger door as soon as he came to a halt.

"I'm telling you, Bulk." She complained as the Autobot transformed behind her. "They just have no taste in music. I try and enrich their lives with Slash Monkey's greatest hits and what do I get? Detention. Again."

She sighed.

"Some people are just no fun. …Maybe I should've gone with the Napoleon Blown-Aparts instead."

"Miko, you've gotta start taking this seriously." Bulkhead scolded lightly. "Your finals are coming up!"

The girl waved a dismissive hand at him.

"What are you, my mom?" she asked irritatedly. "I'll pass 'em no problem! I'm good at tests! And if I can't well…Raf'll do 'em for me."

Bulkhead sighed.

"Miko…" he started, then saw who Optimus was talking to over by Ratchet. "Prowl?!"

The Autobot 2nd-in-command turned upon hearing his name, his servos clasped behind his back.

"Hello, Bulkhead." He said in his even voice. "It's good to see you again."

"When did you get here?" the Wrecker asked with a laugh, smiling broadly as he trotted up to his 2 commanders. "I thought you were still 2 days out!"

"We cut some time off our approach with a change in strategy."

Suddenly, Miko broke out of her stupor and ran forward.

"No way!" she said excitedly, talking at 200 miles per hour. "New bots?! Are you a cop car? You look like a cop car! What weapons do you have? I bet they're really strong! Can you show 'em to me? Don't worry, I can handle the explosions!"

Prowl turned to Optimus and raised an optic ridge, making the Prime chuckle and gesture to the girl.

"Commander." He said. "Meet Miko, one of our human allies and Bulkhead's partner."

"Is she always so…animated?" came the wary reply and Optimus's smile widened knowingly.

"I'm afraid so, old friend." He said. "But you'll find that she's a valuable ally nonetheless…and a good friend."

"Who else was with you?" Bulkhead asked, making Prowl's helm turn towards him again.

Before the dark-armored Autobot could reply, a beeping sounded from the base's main control panel. Reaching over from where he stood by the groundbridge, Ratchet hit it before anyone else there could do so, knowing immediately who it was.

"What is it, Bumblebee?" came his gruff reply to the hail. "I'm currently engaged in important research into possible synthetic Energon enhancers."

::Uh, Ratchet,:: came the scout's clicks and beeps, his tone sounding uneasy. ::I'd turn the news on if I were you.::

This made the Autobot medic straighten up in confusion and Optimus quickly strode over next to him, Prowl doing the same.

"What is the situation, Bumblebee?" Optimus asked in a pure leader's voice. "Why should we observe the news stations?"

::You'll know it when you see it.::

"I thought you were picking Raf up from school." Ratchet said. "What trouble could you possibly have gotten into there?"

::I didn't do anything.:: Bumblebee protested with a huff. ::And I did pick up Raf from school. He's with me now. Poor Jack, on the other hand, seems to have met our newest additions to Team Prime a bit prematurely.::

"Oh Primus…" Ratchet said, his optics widening where he stood. "What did those slaggers do?"

Prowl, meanwhile, clenched his fist tightly with a scraping of metal on metal.

"They swore." He said furiously. "They swore they wouldn't."

Optimus simply let out a long-suffering sigh and addressed the young scout.

"What channel should we turn on?" he asked.

::It doesn't matter.::

Able to pick up parts of the conversation and not knowing what was going on, Miko ran to the television where Raf and Bumblebee regularly played video games and switched it on quickly, turning to the first news station that came up in the feed. She then nearly dropped the remote in shock.

'LIVE: CAR CHASE IN PROGRESS' read the headline at the bottom of the screen and behind it, shot from the point of view of a helicopter overlooking the scene, was a clear video of two fleeing sports cars. One was red, she saw, and the other gold. Both were gorgeous looking and stood out easily on the screen as they weaved in and out of slower traffic. Behind them, their lights and sirens blaring like a swarm of angry hornets…were about a dozen police cars. Turning up the volume, she and the others listened in to the news announcer's narration with growing dread.

"All right," the man's voice said. "If you're just tuning in, our aerial unit is covering a bizarre car chase in rural Jasper, Nevada. Currently fleeing authorities are two Lamborghini sports cars, one driven by what appears to be a teenager."

The camera zoomed in and Jack's simultaneously terrified and furious face came into view, his mouth moving silently as he spoke to someone in the car.

"Scrap." Multiple voices said at once around the room and Miko held her arms out, turning to Bulkhead.

"How come we never have fun like that when we drive?" she asked and the Wrecker gave her an insulted frown.

"What makes this particular chase so strange," the announcer continued, "Is that the second car, the gold one, appears to be driving itself. There is no one visible in the driver's seat or anywhere else in the car that we can see and yet it is clearly operating as if it were being driven. In fact, from up here they seem to be working together. We will keep you updated on this situation as it unfolds."

Optimus and Prowl turned to each other and locked gazes firmly as the volume was muted on the TV.

"Forever." Prowl said in a deceptively calm voice. "That is how long they will spend in the brig for this, Optimus. I give you my word."

"Unfortunately, we do not currently have a functioning brig." The Prime replied and it was clear that he was also angry. "A fact that the Twins have clearly taken advantage of. However, now that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe have arrived on Earth I believe it would be prudent to construct one."

"I shall get started right away." Prowl said and walked away, heading towards the vaults where they kept any Cybertronian relics found on Earth, gesturing at Bulkhead to come and help him as he did.

"Stay here." The Wrecker said to Miko sternly and followed his commander, leaving the girl to give a pouting face and cross her arms in irritation as Optimus turned to Ratchet.

"Ratchet," he said. "Call Arcee back from the children's school and then contact Agent Fowler. I have a feeling we may need his assistance very soon."

"Holy slag, they're like Scraplets!" Jack's car kidnapper sounded amused as he looked at the increasing number of flashing lights behind them. "There's a million of 'em!"

"I'm dead." Jack moaned. "I'm so, so dead."

"You sure we can't just squash 'em?" the golden car's voice huffed vainly over the radio. "I'm getting sand all over my finish!"

"The Prime'll throw a hissy fit." The red one replied, his voice sounding almost disappointed. "Ah frag it! That rock just dented my bumper!"

"Why couldn't this dirtball be made of steel?" the golden one commiserated. "I hate organic planets!"

"Suck it up, Sunny." red said. "At least this one has some potential."

"Don't call me 'Sunny'!"

"I'll never drive again." Jack groused into his hands, which were currently covering his face. "I'll be the youngest person in prison and then my mom will kill me."

"Well, we shouldn't keep her waiting then should we?" the red car's voice teased cheerfully and he began to slow down. "I think we've won this race 'fair and square' as you humans say. Time to go listen to these fleshies whine."

"No!" Jack cried. "Floor it! Get back to base! You can outrun them easy! We can't be caught after all this!"

"Sorry, Jack, but we must take responsibility for our actions." Came the mocking tone. "Think about what Optimus would say. See you back at base, Sunny!"

Jack almost didn't notice that the golden car had sped off and was no longer with them, but listened in long enough to hear the reply of:

"I'll meet you in the brig! And don't slagging call me 'Sunny'!"

Then he vanished into the distance and as Jack's vehicular abductor slowed to a complete stop at the side of the road, another voice shouted from behind them, this one sounding equally as angry.

"Driver, get out of the car and put your hands on your head!"

Jack glared down at the radio, not knowing where to direct his furious frown at as he let his hands slip off the steering wheel and flop into his lap disgustedly.

"I hate you." He deadpanned. "I don't even know your name, and I hate you already."

"Call me Sideswipe." The Autobot said brightly, laugher evident in his voice. "And I think we're gonna get along juuuuuuust fine."

"Driver, get out of the car!"

"My mom's gonna kill me." Jack lamented again.

"Welcome to the Autobots, kid." The red menace chuckled, a self-satisfied smirk evident in his voice.

Then there was a figure standing by the window and Jack looked up to see a gun in his face.

"Get outta that damn car right now!" the police officer yelled, his voice angry and hoarse from overuse.

"I'm so sorry, Officer!" Jack tried pleading, knowing he was well and truly screwed. "I – I just…uh…the throttle stuck!"

The next thing Jack knew, he had been pulled forcefully from the driver's seat and was being slammed face first into the ground, 3 burly men jumping on his back to immobilize him as his arms were yanked backwards and handcuffs were slapped on his wrists tighter than was needed. As he was pulled back to his feet and half dragged over to a waiting police cruiser, Jack could've sworn he heard Sideswipe snickering softly, his whole gorgeous form trembling with suppressed laughter at the young human's expense. Jack sighed. Yup, he decided, Fate absolutely hated him.

The afternoon sun blazed brightly overhead as Jackson Darby emerged from the Nevada Highway Patrol's headquarters in Carson City, its light level bright enough to force him to shield his eyes with his hand as he looked around for his ride. After arriving there the previous day, over 200 miles away from where he had started in front of Jasper High, he had been screamed at for a good hour and a half by the officer in charge and finally dumped in a holding cell with a couple of drunks and a street racer, the latter bombarding him with excited questions after having seen the chase on TV. He had hoped at first that the Jasper Police Department could be reasoned with, seeing as he had grown up there his whole life and was known for being a genuinely good kid, but because the chase had gone as far as it had, he had been turned over to the NHP and that had been that. At least until Agent Fowler had shown up that morning to finally bail him out. As he took his hand down from his face and let his eyes adjust to the brightness, he saw the agent leaning against a nearby police cruiser, a sympathetic look on his face that seemed to be warring with an amused smirk.

"Glad to see you're still in one piece, son." He said, clapping a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Sorry for the wait. The NHP didn't particularly like the explanation we gave them. Did everything they could to slow us down."

"That's fine." Jack said, not sure how to feel about the whole thing. "At least I'll have a story to tell my kids one day. What did you tell them?"

"That your two 'rides' were a top secret government project that had had some technical problems." Fowler smiled, seemingly pleased with himself. "Remotely driven cars that had computer malfunctions and ran amok."

Jack nearly gaped at him.

"They bought that?" he asked and Fowler nodded, glancing at him as they walked into the parking lot.

"Yup." He replied. "Told them you were a technical analyst that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which isn't too far from the truth."

"Tell me about it."

"They didn't wanna play ball at first but I told them that if they didn't like it they could kiss my star-spangled shorts." The agent finished. "That finally shut them up and here you are."

"We taking your helicopter back?" Jack asked.

"I am." Fowler said. "As for you, there's someone who wanted to drive you so you two could talk."

Shoving down the pang of dread in his stomach, Jack looked to where the older man had gestured and saw a blue and red colored big rig idling in a parking space nearby, its detailing looking newly polished and slick. Heaving a sigh of relief, he headed towards it and waved goodbye to Fowler, who walked towards a black SUV parked a few spaces down instead. As Jack reached the passenger door of his own escort, it swung open at his touch and he hoisted himself up into the interior, settling down into the comfortable seats as soon as he had.

"Hello Jack." Optimus's warm baritone emerged from the radio. "I'm glad you are all right."

"Thanks for coming to get me, Optimus." Jack said gratefully, then added after a pause. "Though I do have a few questions if that's okay. I'm still kinda confused about all this."

"I would imagine so." The Prime replied. "But before you ask them I would like to deeply apologize for the actions of my subordinates. Rest assured that they are being appropriately punished for it."

"And that's question one." Jack said, grateful for the Autobot leader's apology. "Who exactly are Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum and when can I give them a piece of my mind? You don't even want to know how many points I have on my driver's license now."

"Agent Fowler has gotten those erased from your record." Optimus replied, pulling out of the parking lot onto the road and sounding almost embarrassed. "As for your question, their names are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. They're two of my most talented frontliners and a welcome addition to our team here on Earth. Unfortunately, as you saw firsthand, they also are rather infamous for playing pranks on others."

"A prank?!" Jack sputtered furiously, feeling bad for taking it out on Optimus. "That was supposed to be a prank? They could've killed someone! Me included!"

"You have every right to be angry, Jack." Optimus said patiently. "I said as much to them both before coming to get you. I am quite sure Arcee and Ratchet both said much more. The Twins have played countless pranks in the past on fellow Autobots and it has become almost a ritual for those of us who have lived with them so long. I must confess that I didn't expect them to target you with their latest mayhem."
"They're brothers?" Jack blinked in surprise. "Huh. I didn't know Cybertronians could have brothers. What's a frontliner, by the way, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Of course not, Jack." The Prime said warmly. "You can ask me anything you like. You, Miko and Rafael are part of our family now. And yes, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are twin brothers. It was not common on Cybertron but it did happen. They are both frontliners, which is a class of warrior mech that fights primarily on the frontlines of battle. The Twins are two of the best and fiercest fighters Cybertron ever produced."

"Wow…" Jack said, taking it all in as they pulled onto the highway and started the long drive south back to Jasper. "Did anyone else arrive with them?"

"My second-in-command, Prowl, accompanied them." Optimus replied. "He is a very logical and strategic mind and was less than pleased with their conduct. That, of course, only made the Twins happier. They love to torment him."

Jack caught the undercurrent of affection in Optimus's voice as he spoke and was reminded of a father describing his rowdy sons.

"A second group also arrived last night while you were…indisposed." The Autobot leader continued. "This one consisted of Bluestreak – one of our best snipers, Silverbolt – a flyer under my command, and Jazz – one of my other top commanders and the best spy in our ranks."

"Wow," Jack said again. "Family's getting pretty big, isn't it?"

"It is indeed." Optimus agreed fondly. "They're all unique in their own way and they all would like to meet you. I'm afraid that your little escapade with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker is already the main source of gossip around the base. It very likely will become an infamous story amongst our extended ranks."

Jack snorted, yawning widely.

"Great." He deadpanned tiredly.

Optimus paused for a moment at that.

"You sound tired, Jack." He said kindly. "Why don't you sleep and I'll wake you when we arrive? Your mother will be there to greet us with the others."

The teen didn't need to be told twice.

"Thanks, Optimus." He said, closing his eyes as the seat reclined itself to accommodate him. "Sorry if I smell, by the way. There's no showers in that jail."

"It's quite all right, Jackson. Go and recharge."

"Thank you." Jack murmured.

Then he closed his eyes and was dead to the world.

It was nearly 3 hours later that they arrived at the Autobot base and though it wasn't much, Jack was grateful for the small amount of sleep he had gotten in Optimus's cab, where he felt much safer than he had the previous night in lockup. He had been awakened by a small jostling in the seat beneath him, sort of a gentle prod by the large Cybertronian he assumed, and sat up quickly as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. As soon as they entered the hidden door that led inside the base, Jack saw a mob of bots and people loitering around in the main room, most of them talking amongst themselves in small groups. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company, he saw, and decided not to interrupt as Optimus came to a halt and he jumped down from out of the cab. Almost instantly, he was swept up in a crushing hug.

"Mom!" he said in surprise as she held him tightly, only gasping in a breath when she released him moments later.

"Jackson Darby, you will drive everywhere with an escort from now on." She said sternly and his mouth dropped open in a silent 'O' at the unfairness of it all.

"But Mom," he started. "I didn't – "

"Also, you're grounded 'til your 40."

"I didn't do anything!" he protested. "They kidnapped me!"

"We'll talk about this later." She said and whirled on the spot, heading back over to where Agent Fowler was talking to a newly transformed Optimus.

He stared slack jawed after her, only breaking the expression when the others finally came up to join him. Turning to them, the first one he saw was Arcee.

"Hey partner." The two-wheeled femme said with a teasing smile. "You know, when I said watching those Fast and the Furious movies was a bad idea, I meant for Bumblebee, not you."

"Ha ha."

"You okay?"

"I am now." He said, smiling up at her. "…You're not as angry as I thought you'd be."

"Oh, you shoulda seen her before!" Bulkhead said, letting out a laugh. "Sides is gonna be nursing that dent in his helm for a full vorn!"

From her position on the Wrecker's shoulder, Miko waved down at her fellow teen.

"Yeah!" she agreed enthusiastically. "It was like robot pro wrestling! Too bad you missed it, Speed Racer."

Jack grimaced.

"Do I even want to know how much of that whole debacle you all saw?" he asked and Raf walked up with Bumblebee.

"Oh, we saw most of it." He said almost sheepishly. "You guys made the news. I gave your mom your backpack by the way. You dropped it at school."

"We were on the news?!"

"Yeah, the whole school's talking about it too!" Miko grinned. "Jack Darby gets abducted by demon sports cars and leads the police on a high speed chase across Nevada. You're a superstar, Jacko!"

Jack heaved a sigh.

"Hooray for me." He said sarcastically.

Then there were two new bots standing before him and one by one they crouched down to get a better look.

"Hey man!" the first, smaller one said in a lazy drawl. "Ya must be Jack. Heard a lot about ya! Ah'm Jazz. Sorry ya got 'Twinned' right off tha bat!"

Jack smiled and waved a dismissal, liking the newcomer immediately.

"That's okay." He said. "I guess I've been through worse. Though I may have to take liberties with the whole 'giant robots' thing when I tell this story in the future."

"We were watching it this morning on the news!" the second one, a tall, blue and silver Autobot, said at a thousand miles an hour. "That must have been quite some chase! It looked like a race back on Cybertron! I love racing! Used to do it all the time, though now I can't so much because Cybertron is dead and the war is happening and we all need to fight and – "

"Blue!" Jazz barked, his voice still coming across somehow as laid back. "Take a breath, man! He just got back."

The other mech looked sheepish.

"Oh sorry!" he said. "I sometimes get carried away when I talk. It's nothing personal, just a nervous tick I guess. I forgot you must be really tired after that. I know how Sunny and Sides can be. They're some of my best friends after all. But boy that was some chase! I hope things are always that exciting around here! After all, where would we be if everything was boring all the time and – "

Jack tuned him out after that, exchanging a bemused glance with Arcee as the femme leaned against the grinning Jazz and Bumblebee gave the teen a covert thumbs up, his expression clearly one of mirth despite his less than expressive face. Shaking his head, Jack walked past his friends and over to where Optimus had just finished his discussion with Agent Fowler, a third new Autobot at his side.

"Optimus?" he called, and both Cybertronians turned to look down at him.

"Yes Jack?"

"Where did you guys put the Twins?" he asked, already feeling unsure about what he was planning. "I…wanted to talk to them."

The Prime seemed to smile knowingly at that but it was the other bot who answered instead.

"We built a brig in Storage Area 5." he said in an almost perfectly even voice. "They're both currently in there serving out their punishment."

Then he inclined his helm at Jack.

"Prowl." He said. "Autobot 2nd-in-command."

Jack nodded back at him, his hand shooting up to give a respectful salute as he did. The Autobot seemed to appreciate the gesture and allowed his metal face to twist into a very slight smile, deferring back to Optimus as soon as he had.

"Are you sure you wish to speak with them so soon after what happened, Jack?" he asked concernedly and the teen nodded in determination.

"The sooner I get to know them," he said. "The sooner we can get around to putting this behind us."

Optimus nodded in understanding.

"Very well." He said. "Call us if you need anything."

"I will." Jack promised and walked away down the hall, not acknowledging Prowl as the newcomer called after him:

"Please do not allow the Twins to con you into lowering their cell forcefield. They have attempted to do so in the past."

Jack snorted, not doubting this at all, and turned the corner quickly, thinking about everything he should and shouldn't say to the two apparently notorious hooligans. After all, he didn't have much experience with newcomers, and somehow doubted that it would work the same way for the Twins as it had for Smokescreen and Arcee. Finally, when he was outside the door to Storage Area 5, he stopped and took a breath, releasing it only when he had finally calmed his nerves enough to walk casually inside. Once through the threshold, he immediately saw the makeshift brig, a cordoned off area in the back corner of the room surrounded by 2 large forcefields and populated by nothing but two bored looking mechs, each playing with pieces of rubble from the floor or shooting each other annoyed glances. Jack leaned against a large crate, studying them carefully as he did. When he wasn't busy fearing for his life, he knew how to handle these types – no matter the species.

"Don't tell me you're bored already." He said and two helms turned towards him simultaneously. "This isn't even the dullest room in the base."

A smirk formed on the face of the left-most Autobot and Jack knew instantly that it was Sideswipe by his red armor.

"Look who it is, Sunny." He said mockingly. "Our partner in crime. Out already, huh? Prime's going soft."

"Mmm." Jack replied, crossing his arms. "The police send their regards, by the way."

Then he decided to irritate the red-plated Autobot.

"Though they seemed pretty convinced that Sunstreaker here was the prettier twin." He said. "It must be the yellow."

The mech in question held his arms out to the sides in a "come get me" gesture, the smug look on his faceplate so pronounced that Jack almost laughed.

"What do you know?" he preened. "There's hope for humanity after all."

"Yeah well, they're humans." Sideswipe retorted, tossing a pebble at the far forcefield. "With small processors comes no taste."

Then he seemed to stretch himself lazily.

"Primus it's stuffy in here!" he complained. "Hey kid, could you go over to that control panel by the far wall and hit the red button? My intakes need some air flow in here or I'll go crazy."

"You mean that red button that'll lower the forcefields and let you out?" Jack smiled, seeing through the ruse. "Nice try. Prowl already gave me the heads up to your con techniques…the other kind of 'con'."

Sideswipe vented in a snort.

"Spoil sport." He said, then seemed to study Jack with his optics. "So you and Arcee, huh? That must've been a rough start."

"You could say that."

"That is one hard aft femme, squishy." The red twin said. "She'll bash your helm in if you so much as let your optics wander juuuuuuust a little. Though you seem to have gotten the technique down all right."

"The technique?" Jack echoed, raising an eyebrow.

"C'mon." Sideswipe smirked at him. "We both know it's not her helm you're staring at."

The teen wrinkled his nose at the bot.

"She's my partner," he said firmly. "Not my girlfriend."

"Ah, c'mon." the frontliner goaded, rolling back to a standing position. "Just between us mechs. How does it even work with you two? I mean, Primus, interfacing must be tough…you being a human and all."

"Gah!" Sunstreaker seemed to shudder, breaking his silence. "Don't say 'interfacing' and 'human' in the same sentence! I might purge my tanks!"

Jack shook his head, snorting as he did.

"Keep it up." he said, letting the insult roll off him. "I was just thinking about eventually talking to Prowl and Optimus on your behalf but…keep it up. I might just forget."

Sideswipe grinned.

"Extortion." He drawled smoothly. "There's hope for you yet, squishy."

"Jack." The teen smiled back. "Call me Jack, Sideswipe. I can call you Sideswipe, right?"

Then he turned and walked back to the hallway door.

"Whatever." He said, glancing over his shoulder with a smirk as he reached the threshold. "You can't stop me anyway."

For a long moment, there was silence. Then big grins slowly spread over both Twins faces and they began to laugh, Sideswipe pointing at the human knowingly as he flopped back down on the cell floor and rested against the wall, his servos interlocked lazily behind his helm.

"See you when we get out, Jack." He said as Sunstreaker gave the human a mocking little salute.

"I can hardly wait." Jack replied, walking away down the hallway to rejoin his friends. "I can hardly wait."