Some fans have been getting upset with me because I don't update as frequently as I used to and I apologize. I do intend to finish all of my stories, it's just that I have a hard time getting inspiration and finding time to write. I was taking summer courses and the semester starts back up on Monday. Last one, yay! I probably won't be able to update during the semester due to the fact that I am going to be extremely busy, but after that I should have time. Thank you for putting up with me.

17.

Red Handed

"Hey Jetfire, you want to watch a movie when you get done in here?"

Optimus couldn't help a glance as he turned away from what he was doing at the computer console to observe his second. Rae had been there an awful lot lately, more so than usual. It was almost like she lived there again. And, though Jetfire had informed him that it was because Rae was on summer break, Optimus had other suspicions.

"Yeah, sure Rae. I'll see you in about an hour."

"Okay, see you around."

Optimus watched as she left the command center. Rae was certainly an interesting human, partly because he knew so little about her. However, out of all the Cybertronians that wandered the base, she acted like Jetfire was the only one that existed. Jetfire and Rae's relationship seemed casual enough. But, he knew little what happened between them behind closed doors.

"Just how much does Rae mean to you? I could feel what you were feeling."

The second in command stiffened, "Optimus I would never intentionally disobey an order—

"Jetfire, I didn't ask if you had disobeyed an order."

He sighed heavily before saying, "Honestly, I like her a lot more than what I should. But don't worry, I know what you said."

"Your spark was prepared to merge, that only happens when someone finds their spark-mate. Have you found yours?"

"Yes, sir," he replied, "I just recently realized."

"Hm," Optimus mused to himself.

Rae was surprised to find a voicemail had been left on her phone when she got back to her room. Thinking it was a telemarketer or a wrong number, she tapped on it, planning to delete it. However, when the screen came up revealing the identity of the caller, she paused. She hadn't been expecting a 10 second voicemail from Connor. She paused before holding her phone up to her ear to listen to the message.

"Rae," he said, and then he paused for a moment, "Call me back. I want to know what is going on."

She pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at it. He still sounded like Megatron. She shook her head. No, it couldn't be, could it? Yes, Megatron was interested in her. Yes, Wheeljack had stolen the pretender technology from Jetfire.

"I'm a soldier as well, higher ranking. I don't know Jeffrey well but I do know of him. Like I said, he's no friend of mine."

How could he possibly know Jeffrey if Jetfire had never been in the military as a human? Maybe Jeffrey bore a resemblance to a different Jeffrey that Connor knew that also happened to be a red head. She didn't want to believe—refused to believe that she had slept with Megatron. It made her insides twist with unease. Just why would Megatron be interested in her anyway? It didn't make sense. She was Jetfire's spark-mate; there was no reason for Megatron to be interested in her like that.

"Call me back."

She felt like throwing up as she pressed the callback button. Even if this was Megatron, she would let him know that she was no longer available and never would be again, especially for the likes of him.

"What is it now?"

Rae jumped a bit, surprised at the harshness of Connor's voice. "Um…" she said, suddenly losing her all her courage, "It's me…did I…call at a bad time?"

"Rae," he remarked, his tone suddenly friendly, "About time you called back."

She decided to get right to the point. The sooner she got off the phone, the better. "Uh, right. Sorry about that, I was busy. I need—

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you around."

"About that. You see, not to be a dick or anything, but whatever is going on between us, it can't." She listened as he growled and then quickly continued, "I'm involved with someone else. He's been my friend for a long time; he's helped me through a lot—

"Is it Jeffrey?"

She stopped, but she knew as she hesitated that her silence was only providing the answer. She sighed before saying, "Yeah, it is." She cringed as he snarled.

"Don't get comfortable with him, Rae. It will not last."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You will see very soon."

The line went dead. Slowly, Rae pulled the phone away from her ear. She stared at it a moment before finally hanging it up and setting it aside. She turned around and gasped, startled to see Jetfire standing there.

The look in his golden optics was fierce, but his voice was gentle. "Who was that?" he asked.

"Connor," she replied, "He had called me and I tried to tell him that it wasn't going to happen. He knows I'm with you…well, Jeffrey at least."

"You mean Megatron knows."

"We don't know if—

"I'm telling you, Rae."

She looked down dejectedly and was quiet for a moment before saying, "I just don't want to believe I—

"Rae."

She looked up at him as he took her in his arms, immediately feeling better. "I don't hold it against you," he breathed, his facemask retracting as he pressed his lips to her forehead. "I had you first," he said, "And I'll have you last."

"Jetfire…"

He swallowed her lips in a kiss. She sighed as she leaned into him, returning the kiss. Large, metal hands eased their way down thin, pale arms. His large frame pushed her back, guiding her to the bed where he eased her down onto it, carefully positioning himself above her. He decorated her with kisses, smothered her with them, and he could smell her arousal heavy on his olfactory sensors. She could feel the heat radiating off his frame, hear the sound of his cooling fans working to calm his highly charged systems.

"I want you," he breathed, voice dripping with desire, lust burning in the golden orbs that made up his optics.

"Jetfire…"

His fingertips thumbed around her waistline, tempting the edge of her shirt and dipping beneath the edge of her shorts. Slowly, he eased a servo up her torso and cupped her breast, giving it a firm squeeze. He moaned a sigh as he did so. "Primus," he said under the ventilated air that came out of his intake, "You're so soft."

"We were going to watch a movie," she said in a small voice, trying to distract him from his lust for her.

He hung his helm as her words sank into him. "I wish there was a way," he sighed, rolling over and settling beside Rae on the bed.

She sat up and looked to him, "I told you I would have sex with you like this, but—

"But I don't want to hurt you," he said, finishing her thought for her, "Our bodies reach high temperatures during interface, I don't know if my transfluid would be poisonous to you, and I've already electrocuted you once when you touched my spark."

This time she gave a sigh, murmuring what Red Alert had once told her, "Biologically incompatible."

"Come on Rae, stop looking for reasons for this not to work. All we have to do is get the pretender technology back from Megatron—

"Wheeljack," she corrected him.

He quirked an optic ridge at her before continuing, "Megatron and then we'll be all set."

She rolled her eyes as she shook her head. Not wanting to continue the conversation she asked, "Alright, what do you want to watch?"

"You know I can pirate anything off the Internet," he said.

"Pride and Prejudice," she said almost immediately, "Sorry I love chick flicks."

He chuckled and gestured for her to bring over a datapad from her desk, which she did. She brought it over to him and he took it, gently pulling her down beside him. Rae settled beside him as he pressed a few buttons and in no time had the video playing on the screen.

However, just like the last time they had watched this movie, Rae fell asleep right before it ended. Jetfire grinned over at her and shut down the datapad, setting it aside, before he took her in his arms and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "I love you," he breathed as his optics went offline, "Sweet dreams."

"It's called karaoke," Billy whined, "Come on Fred, get with the program will ya?"

"But Billy I'm hungry. When I'm hungry it doesn't let me think right."

Jetfire listened as a few of the Autobots laughed, however, his optics were focused on Rae as she moved about the rec. room, tidying up a bit before sitting down on the couch. There were balloons filled with helium tied all over the place. The humans were celebrating a birthday, Rad's apparently, and he was turning 14.

"Is this thing on?" Billy said into the microphone, only to produce a loud squeak, which caused everyone to simultaneously groan.

"Hey, do you mind?" Hotshot asked, "Our audios are sensitive too."

"Sorry," Billy remarked before looking up, "So who's singing first?"

"You should sing a duet with Fred," Carlos replied, "Something by Britney Spears."

"No," Rae said smirking, "Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot."

"Yes!" Carlos replied, immediately agreeing.

Before Billy or Fred had a chance to protest, microphones were thrust into their hands and the song was turned on. However, neither of them really attempted to sing, and instead purposely butchered the song, leaving everyone nearly choking from laughter. When they finished, both Billy and Fred turned the microphones over to Carlos and Rae and Billy said, "For revenge, the two of you are doing a duet. Barbie Girl by Aqua."

Rae rolled her eyes as she and Carlos fulfilled their challenge, though extremely off key. Hotshot had to wipe a lubricant from his optic before he said, "If you guys sing anymore of these ridiculous songs I am going to break a gasket."

"Then that's a good sign we should break into the cake instead," Alexis spoke up, "But not without singing happy birthday first."

The boys immediately groaned and Rad quickly added, "That isn't necessary, Alexis. I mean, Hotshot already said if we sing anymore he'll bust a gasket."

Alexis rolled her eyes and picked up the lighter that was on the table next to the cake. "Fine," she said as she lit 14 candles and then smiled as she pushed the cake towards Rad, "Make a wish!"

Rad paused for a moment before he inhaled deeply and expelled the air forcefully, blowing out all the candles, causing the rest of the kids to cheer. "Wait a second," Sideswipe said, "What was the purpose of that?"

"Purpose of what?" Alexis asked.

"Lighting those sticks on fire and blowing them out?"

The girl shrugged, "Nothing really, it's just a birthday tradition to light candles on a cake, make a wish, and then blow them out. However, the wish supposedly only comes true if you can manage to blow all the candles out."

"You humans have a lot of traditions that deal with wish making," Sideswipe mused.

Alexis shrugged, "It's a birthday; why not try to get some extra fortune?"

"Who cares!" Fred exclaimed, "Just give me a piece of the cake!"

However, before Rae could get her piece of cake, her cellphone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out, dread crawling through her veins. She was surprised to see it was Jetfire calling. After doing a double take, she looked back to Jetfire only to watch him motion to be silent. After a moment her phone stopped vibrating and not long after, a voice mail appeared on her phone.

Finally, she placed the phone to her ear and listened to the message. "Pretend your mom is calling you and let's get out of here, Barbie girl." She rolled her eyes before saying to the others, "Hey guys, I'm going to take my cake and run, mom called."

"You sure?" Fred asked, "I mean, there's no cake left and I'm still hungry."

Rae shook her head and gave a small smile, pushing her piece over to Fred, "Alright. Just don't rub in my face how good it was." And with that, she got up and headed out the door, Jetfire following after her claiming that he was her guardian and needed to stick with her. However, as soon as he was out the door, he shrank down to her size and seized her in his arms.

Rae hadn't had a chance to put her phone back in her pocket yet when she felt Jetfire's powerful arms wrap around her, enveloping her in his embrace. She managed to squeeze her phone back into her pocket as she walked with him, albeit slowly, back towards her room.

"I saw the look you gave me when I called you Barbie girl," he ventilated against her neck once his facemask had retracted.

She rolled her eyes as she turned to face him, "I'm no Barbie."

"I don't know what a Barbie is," he chuckled as he kissed her, pressing her against the wall outside her room. The kiss was powerful, heated, much like the one he had given her when his spark had been preparing for a merge.

"Jetfire…" she breathed as he kissed down her neck.

Hands. His hands were suddenly everywhere, groping at her, teasing her, tugging at her shirt as he resumed kissing her. "Let me try something," he said as his fingertips thumbed along her waist.

"Out here?"

"We'll hear someone if they come along."

"Okay," she replied, "But if I say stop—

"Then I will stop," he said, finishing her sentence. He pressed his lips back against hers and felt a charge prickle through his chassis as he eased his hand under Rae's shirt, sliding it upwards until his fingertips grazed her bra. Carefully, he dipped his fingertips beneath, cupping the breast in his hand.

"Nnh," Rae softly moaned as digits delicately teased her nipple, starting her senses on fire. She leaned into him, letting her hands roam his frame for any place that might further ignite his charge. Instead, he fought her back with a kiss, his charge building on its own as the scent of Rae's arousal met his olfactory sensors.

However, his charge was destroyed in an instant.

Neither Rae nor the second in command had heard the footsteps approach as they had been too focused on one another, lost in the heat of their passion. And that's why both of them immediately jumped and broke away from each other when the voice of the Autobot commander suddenly and harshly reprimanded, "Jetfire!"

"C-Commander," the second in command stated, shocked that he had not only been caught, but had been caught by the last person he ever wanted to know, "I—

"Save it, Jetfire," Optimus scolded, his golden optics ablaze with surprise and anger, "Report to my office immediately."

"Optimus—

"Pack your things, Rae," the Autobot commander said, looking to her, his gaze maintaining its fury.

Despite the tears that suddenly clouded her vision, Rae spared a glanced at Jetfire. She couldn't see his facial expression, but his sudden silence made her feel sick. Without another word, she quickly turned to go into her room, not looking back as Jetfire resumed his full size and followed Optimus to his office.

Jetfire was fully expecting to be killed the moment he walked into Optimus' office. If his commander didn't kill him, then he expected he would receive a punishment far worse than death. Reluctantly, he stepped inside. With a cold glare, Optimus indicated for him to sit, which Jetfire promptly did.

At first, no one said anything. Jetfire stared at his leader, thinking he would cut right to the chase. Optimus stared back, not exactly sure where to begin. Finally, the second in command broke the silence, saying, "I can explain, Optimus."

"I don't really require an explanation," Optimus replied, "I saw full well what is going on between you and Rae. You disobeyed a direct order not to engage in a romantic relationship with her."

"It's not my fault, sir. You know who I am as a person, Optimus. I would never, under any circumstance, deliberately disobey an order."

"Then why did you this time?"

"It wasn't intentional—

"How long has this been going on, Jetfire?"

"A few months."

"Have you had sex with her?"

Jetfire hesitated before admitting, "Yes."

Optimus stared at him in stunned disbelief. It took him several moments before he could finally say, "I'm not sure I even want to know how you're accomplishing that. If you're doing it with her in your robot form, then you're risking her health tremendously."

"No," Jetfire said and decided to just come clean, "I stole the pretender technology. I replaced it with a copy so that no one would figure out it was missing."

"Jetfire…" Optimus stated before finally asking, "How far are you expecting this to go? Just what will you do next? You're only going to end up hurting Rae. This needs to end, and you leave me no choice."

"What are you going to do?" Jetfire asked.

"I will inform Rae that she is no longer allowed in the base. You are no longer allowed to see her and your services as her guardian are no longer required."

Furious, Jetfire slammed his fists down on Optimus' desk before exclaiming, "You can't do that, Optimus!"

"Considering the circumstances," Optimus warned, "It's best you remember your place, Jetfire."

"I am well aware of my place, sir," Jetfire growled, venomously, "Remember when, once upon a time, you fell in love with Elita, how you would've done anything to be with her? Remember how you almost lost your position as leader of the Autobots because it wasn't very exemplary for you, a commander without weakness, to take a mate? But I stood by you, through all of it, because I believed that no one should be denied love. I would consider it betrayal on your behalf if you did not stand by me now, now that I've found my spark-mate."

Optimus fell silent, his anger suddenly replaced with understanding. Jetfire hadn't meant to disobey him because he hadn't chosen to fall in love with Rae. He had stolen the pretender technology so that they could attempt to have a normal relationship; he had stolen it so that he wouldn't hurt Rae. Optimus wasn't a fool, no one could choose who their spark-mate was, it was preordained. There was only one person for Jetfire and it just so happened to be that Rae was it. And Jetfire was right, if he didn't stand by his second in command now, then he wasn't much of a friend. The Autobot leader sighed heavily, relenting.

"I knew from the moment you laid optics on her that nothing was ever going to be the same," Optimus said as he looked to his deputy commander.

"I'm…sorry if I let you down commander, I know it doesn't look good for a guy like me to fall in love with someone who isn't even the same species as me…"

"Jetfire," Optimus remarked sternly.

"Yes sir?"

"I've seen the spark between you and Rae. I don't…" he hesitated, "I don't disprove…it's just…what happens when she gets old? I'm sure you've thought about it."

Jetfire looked down, averting the intense gaze his leader was giving him. "I...am aware that her lifespan is much shorter than ours…" he stated.

"Then why entertain the feelings if it's just going to hurt you in the end?"

And Jetfire looked to Optimus, glaring. "Sir, if it's anything I've learned from you, it's that anything can happen if you try hard enough, if you believe with everything you have. I won't give up on what I know is real; I won't sacrifice everything because someone says it's impossible. I will make this work, I believe in that girl with everything I've got, and I'll find a way to keep her forever, even if it kills me."

For a moment, Optimus was silent, then he looked to his second in command, a smile in his optics as well as behind his facemask. "Alright Jetfire, you've convinced me. Let's talk to Red Alert, let's see what we can do."

"Thank you, sir. And from the bottom of my spark, I mean it."

"Don't let it go to your head, Jetfire. You will still be punished for disobeying an order. And, before I dismiss you, is there anything else that I should know of?"

Jetfire hesitated for a moment. He had already spilled his guts out to Optimus, and it was best to come clean now before things exploded again. "Wheeljack stole the pretender technology from me," he confessed, "I believe he gave it to Megatron and I believe Megatron has used it against Rae."

Concern and anger both flashed through the Autobot commander's optics. "Jetfire," he groaned, "Rae could be in grave danger, you should have informed me of this sooner."

"I would have had you been a bit more open to the topic."

"Is that why when we powerlinked during that one battle you were so angry? Did Megatron say something to you?"

"He told me that he knew about my relationship with Rae and that I should enjoy my time with her because it won't last. It was after that the pretender technology was stolen and some human suddenly showed up in Rae's life that that sounded just like ol' Megs."

"We do have fully functional duplicates of the pretender technology, just so you are aware."

"…Wait…you do?"

"Yes, though I am not sure if I am ready to grant you access to a set," he said as he rubbed his helm, warding off a processor ache, "You may leave Jetfire, but we will discuss this further at another time. There will be rules, but for now, just keep your relationship with Rae under the wraps. Only Red Alert and I are to know. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, you're dismissed."

Rae was so blinded by tears that she could hardly focus as she attempted to fold her clothes neatly and put them inside her duffel bag. She was so lost in her thoughts, in her fear over potentially losing Jetfire that she nearly jumped out of her skin when familiar arms wrapped around her waist, even familiar lips pressed to her neck.

"Jetfire," she breathed, surprised.

A light laugh escaped his throat, "Going somewhere?"

"Optimus said—

"I know what Optimus said, sweetspark. It's okay."

"No it's not, he told me to pack my things, obviously I have to leave, obviously I'm not allowed here anymore," she said as she turned to face him, tears leaking out of her eyes and trailing down her cheeks. She whimpered on the verge of sobbing, "I don't want to lose you, Jetfire."

"Stop packing, you haven't lost me."

"But Optimus—

"Changed his mind."

She blinked, stunned, "W-What?"

He chuckled, "I convinced him otherwise. I made him see. We have to keep it a secret for now, but we are allowed."

Elation quickly replaced her misery. "Good grief," she breathed, her stomach lurching, "I've gone through such a rollercoaster of emotion it's going to make me sick."

"Well, don't be sick. This is going to work out, Rae. We are meant to be."

"Yeah, well, you're sleeping on the floor tonight."

He groaned, "Now what'd I do?"

"You could have told me right when you walked in here that Optimus changed his mind. You just like it when I spill my heart to you."

He laughed, "Of course I do."

"Like I said, the floor."

"You'll miss me."

She ignored him as she set her duffel bag aside and crawled onto the bed. She kicked off her clothes, just leaving her bra and panties on. "Okay," he said, crossing his arms, "That's not fair."

"You'll need this," she replied, tossing a pillow at him and then turning off the light.

"Wait…I really have to sleep on the floor? I don't think so." And, regardless of what she thought or how she protested, he crawled into the bed beside her, pulling her into his arms.

"You're an ass," she said.

"Aft."

"Whatever."

"I love you, sweetspark."

She smiled, rolling her eyes, finally giving in. She leaned against him, sighing. "I love you too," she breathed, before closing her eyes and falling asleep. Jetfire listened to her breathe and gave her light kiss on her head before he slipped into a fitful recharge as well.

Please review! Expect some Starscream/Alexis in the next chapter.