A/N: This is dedicated to Darkeyes17 who gave me the prompt "Flaming Kisses." This will be a three-shot and will (hopefully) be updated every Monday, give or take a day. Anywhoo! Hope you enjoy! Reviews are loved :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers in any form or shape *sigh*

Flaming Kisses: Three Little Words

Saying 'goodbye' was like having your internal structure dumped in a tub full of liquid nitrogen. The results were always fast, sudden, and had you gasping for breath in fear. It left you frozen in the cold and it terrified you more than being surrounded by the entire army of Decepticons with little more than a human blade in your hand.

That is why Red Alert was paranoid. Trusting people, caring about people all meant 'goodbye,' whether they wanted it or not. The others, Prime, Jazz, and Bumblebee, all tried convincing him that caring about people wasn't evil; they tried telling him that the people you cared about gave you strength and was the reason worth fighting the war.

Red Alert wasn't fooled though, they were all wrong. Caring about people was your death. It gave them an open chance to rip apart all of your secrets, scratch and tear and everything that was you and leave you broken and helpless in the dust. How was this strength? The SD had no idea.

When Inferno came into his life, he was anything but welcome. Red Alert sneered at him, ridiculed him, and ripped his small, crude hope that they might be anything into shreds. He made it his personal goal to never be in the same room, or anywhere near the red fire truck. However, when hundreds of vorns passed and Inferno seemed unaffected by his lack of care, Red Alert finally decided enough was enough.

…

"Hey Red! Ya wanna go get some energon with me after shift?"

Red Alert turned slowly and glared at the offending hand that was perched casually on his shoulder joint. The red fire truck, seeing his mistake, hastily dropped his hand and offered him a sheepish smile, "Sorry, Red, Ah forgot that ya're not much on physical contact. So what about that energon?"

The Lambo could only stare at the all too friendly Inferno and couldn't help but think what was wrong with him. "Inferno," he tried to ignore the way the fire truck brightened, "Why are you so intent on getting my attention when I made it so obvious it is not welcome?"

"Well, why wouldn't Ah for starters? Ya looked lonely and Ah wanted ta fix that. Ya seem like a pretty cool mech and Ah wanna get ta know ya better."

The Security Director stared at him disbelievably, "You want to get to know…me? How do I know this isn't some sort of trap?" He couldn't help his paranoia.

"Now why would Ah do that? You've had plenty of vorns to look up anything you wanted of me and Ah know you 'ave. If I wanted something out of ya, don't ya think I would 'ave tried it a long time ago?"

He refused to blush; he had been looking up the strange large mech. The red and white mech searched the other for any trace of deceit; all he found was an honest intent in the other mech's optics. "…Alright, I'll join you for energon after shift. But, I have to be back in exactly 6 breems for my next shift."

Red Alert pretended to ignore the mile wide grin on his new 'partners' face.

…

Hundreds of vorns passed, Prowl and Jazz continued to dance around each other and thankfully, no mechs moved on to the Matrix. Red Alert and Inferno's timid friendship grew until they were barely seen outside without each other; it grew until Red Alert began to realize that Inferno's feelings were reincorporated. The Security Director let a fond smile slip across his faceplates when he recalled the memory of the night they had revealed their feelings.

…

"Hey Red?"

The Lamborghini nodded his head at his friend, his eyes refusing to leave the monitors. As much as his pal was welcomed, the over paranoid mech just couldn't take any chances, "Yes, Inferno? As you can see, I'm still in the middle of my shift."

Inferno felt a smile creep along his lipplates. Oh, Red Alert was just too darn adorable when he was serious!

"Well," he drawled, lazily leaning his side gently across one of Red Alert's monitors, ignoring his pal's glare, "after ya're shift do ya want to watch one of those human films in meh quarters?"

Seeing Red's tilting frown, Inferno quickly added on, "Ya promised last night, 'member?"

The Security Director finally tore his gaze off of his monitors to give the fire truck a shy grin, "I'd love too."

…

They managed to concentrate on the human film for about half an hour before they became distracted by the warm frames next to each other. Somehow during the previews, Red Alert ended up sprawled over Inferno's chest plates while the fire truck slung a lazy arm around his friend's chest plates. Neither had thought about wiping their identical, goofy smiles on their face. Thankfully, the dimness in the quarter meant that neither of them saw it.

The silence in the room, broken only by the softly playing film, was comforting, just the way Red Alert liked it. In his opinion, everything was perfect: The warm weight around his midsection, the softness of the pillows on Inferno's bunk (a guilty pleasure, Inferno admitted), and Inferno's steady ventilation. Everything, in this opinion, was absolutely, indefinitely, fragging perfect!

He wouldn't want it any other way. Inferno was the only mech in the world, not the galaxy, that he trusted other than his Prime. He was the only one the he trusted with his life, his precious monitors, and just about everything he held near and dear. Those were the only reasons that made him totally resolved to admit his feelings. Hopefully, he begged internally, it wouldn't blow up in his face.

"'Ferno," the Lamborghini whispered, breaking the comforting silence. He twisted his helm upwards only to find himself nose-to-nose with the fire truck. Letting out an embarrassed squeak, which amused his friend to no end, he jerked his head back only to find a pair of arms restricting him and a smiling faceplate tilted towards him.

'OH!' Red thought, 'I could get used to this.'

"Yes, Red?" Inferno drawled, idly stroking the Security Director's midsection.

"I just wanted to let you know…"

"Yes?"

"I think I love you…"

This time, even in the darkness, Inferno's grin was impossible to ignore.

"Why Red!" the fire truck said overjoyed, "Ah can't tell you how long Ah've waited to hear that!"

And so ends the first chapter! Up next: First Kiss!

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