Author's note. Suggestions are very welcome.

Part of this chapter was inspired by a scene from 'Balance of Two' a story I'm co author on. It's about if both teams had a Femme and the adventures they have together. It's posted by Mediziner, check it out if you're interested. She's also posted another story I co author called 'Accidental Hunger' a story where Armada Megatron has been turned into a vampire and honestly, it's much better than that sounds.

Enjoy and please review.

It took the kids a couple of weeks to completely recover from their ordeal at the hands of the Decepticons. Thankfully, they only missed a few days of school although they remained quite stiff and had to be excused from PE. Luckily, it wasn't anywhere near an exam period so they were able to catch up on their work quite easily.

The Autobots had worked tirelessly to ensure that they were comfortable and had plenty of support, they helped with their homework, gave them warm baths, rubbed oils into their sore muscles and cooked them dinner. Alexis felt a little guilty that they were putting so much effort into this, she was really grateful but she couldn't help it. Optimus assured her that it was their pleasure to take care of them like this, it made them feel more than just soldiers in a war.

"It's no trouble at all to take care of you," Optimus said, stroking her head gently. "Don't worry about us Alexis, just concentrate on getting better."

She'd nodded but had still felt a little bad so talked it over with the boys.

"Hey don't worry about it," Carlos said consolingly. "They like taking care of us, it's no big deal."

"I know but...," she said, biting her lip a little. "I still feel guilty, Megatron probably wouldn't have bothered with us if it hadn't been for me."

"Alexis, it's not your fault, you just happened to be holding the Minicon," Rad told her. "It made sense at the time for you to throw those flares at him; he wasn't expecting it and you could use the Minicon to hide them. If Carlos or me had been holding that Minicon, then it would have been one of us he'd be pissed off at."

"Oh," she said slowly, she hadn't thought about that. "Your right, I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"No problem," Rad said with a smile. "Megatron really went overboard on that whole thing, there's no way we could have known he'd do that."

"Totally," Carlos agreed. "He blew that way out of proportion. But I think he's gotten over that now."

He ruefully rubbed his behind as he said this.

"Yeah," Alexis agreed, resisting the urge to rub her own rear and feeling better internally.

"Hey!" Scavenger greeted. "You kids manage your chores today?"

"Sure," Rad said with a smile.

"Good, glad you aren't trying to dodge out of it," Scavenger said with a grin. "You wouldn't believe the number of rookies I've had that milked their injuries for all they were worth."

The kids laughed at this as Carlos said reassuringly.

"Don't worry; we won't shirk our chores or anything."

"I'm glad to hear it," Scavenger said with a small smile just as the Minicon alarm went off.

"Huh, looks like we've got another hunt," he mused, straightening up but still looking at them. "You kids up for coming?"

"We can come?" Alexis said in amazement and he nodded with a smile.

"Sure, Optimus is fine with you coming as long as you keep out of the Decepticon's way," he told them, as he turned and headed in the direction of the Warp Room, the kids happily running after him.

"Hey guys, you ready to kick some Con behind?" Hotshot asked with a grin as he came jogging along.

"You bet," laughed Carlos as Rad asked. "You know where you're going?"

"I do," Sideswipe piped up as he appeared from out of another corridor. "And I've already programmed your uniforms."

"Really?" Alexis said excitedly, their uniforms were only changed when they were going to a particular environment which required something different. They'd once been given special scuba diving suits when they'd located a Minicon in a large but shallow sea. Now that had really been an adventure and they had the photos to prove it.

"Yep," Sideswipe said with a goofy grin. "You'll never guess where we're going."

"Come on, give us a clue," Carlos jokingly pleaded but the young Autobot just laughed.

"No deal Carlos, you'll just have to wait and see."

"Aww," Carlos groaned, still grinning as they hurried to the transformation panels.

They jumped onto them and watched as their bodies were bathed in a glowing light, transforming their clothes into a brand new set. They gasped in delight as they found the clothes had been transformed into warm parkas with fur lined hoods that enclosed their heads very snugly. Their thick tops and trousers also clung to their bodies, ensuring that no cold air could enter or any heat escape. Already, their bodies were warming due to their attire complete with thick gloves and boots.

"Whoa, must be cold where we're going," Rad exclaimed, feeling the front of his new winter suit.

"You bet, one of the coldest places on Earth," Sideswipe said excitedly as Blurr walked past.

"Enough chatting, we're going," the fast Autobot said pointedly.

"We're coming," Hotshot said, scooping up the kids so they could hurry along faster.

"You kids ready?" Optimus asked, he was already there and transformed.

"You bet," the boys chorused as Alexis added. "We'll keep out of your way and just look out for the Minicon."

"Good kids," Optimus said warmly as Hotshot let them down before transforming so they could enter.

"Is the location set?" Optimus asked Red Alert aloud.

"Yes sir," Red Alert replied, pressing a button and revealing where they were going, it looked extremely white.

"Alright, launch," Optimus commanded and a moment later, the Warp Gate had taken them to the Antarctica.

Half an hour later found the kids trudging along on their own, the Autobots and the Minicons were battling the Decepticons so they'd taken the opportunity to go searching. None of the enemy transformers had gone after them so for the moment, they were safe. Snow gently floated down on top of them, it wasn't heavy snow but it was very persistent.

"Dude, I'm glad we've got these suits," Carlos said, shivering as some more snow dropped onto them.

"You got it," Rad said ruefully as they descended deeper into the icy cavern which they'd just discovered and decided to explore. It seemed like a likely place for a Minicon.

"Is it just me, or is it getting much colder the further we go in?" Alexis asked, shivering a lot more.

"Yeah," Rad said, looking at how smooth the walls were getting, with a deep blue set behind them. "Do you think- AH!"

His sentence was cut off as they rounded a corner only to encounter a steep slope...which they naturally fell down. Yelling, they plunged down the slippery ice slope which curved and sloped sharply at intervals until it sent them shooting into a massive ice cavern.

"Where...where are we?" Alexis gasped, picking herself up and looking around.

"I dunno amiga, but look!" Carlos exclaimed, pointing at the opposite wall and part of the ceiling.

The others looked and gasped in shock, something was moving behind those parts. And with a bolt of shock, they realized that it was the ocean as a dark shape swam by, perhaps a seal?

"Hmm... the ice doesn't look all that sturdy, we should probably be very careful from here on out, so we don't make a loud sound or anything," Rad pointed out after observing the ice for a few moments.

"Right," said the other two, even though they were rather awed by how beautiful this natural structure was. Only a sheet of ice held back the powerful ocean and as long as they didn't disturb it, they could watch ocean life as it swam past.

After a few minutes of gazing in awe, they started to explore the large cavern. The walls glistened with a liquid glaze that shimmered in an eerie blue light. They were surprised at how much light there was, the water beyond the wall must be relatively shallows to allow the natural light in. It was so beautiful that they simply had to keep staring at it, almost tripping on loose chunks of ice lying around.

As they continued to gaze in awe, they suddenly caught catch a small glimpse of a familiar greenish light.

"The Mini-Con," Carlos said in triumph, starting to rush over only to realize...

"It's in the ice," groaned Alexis. "How are we going to get at that?"

"Good question," Rad said. "Come on, let's check it out anyway."

"Aww man...this feels like a job for only us, if either the Autobots or Decepticreeps blasted their way in here, the Mini-Con would possibly smash or get washed up into the ocean...I hate being stuck in things like this, arrrrrgh!" Carlos began messing up his hair slightly before dropping his arms and sighing softly.

"Cheer up Carlos," Alexis laughed playfully as they slipped and slide over to the ice wall. "Think how impressed Hot Shot and the others will be when we get the Mini-Con."

"Ahhh, yeah. But we still need to figure out how to wedge the Mini-Con out of that wall..," he responded.

"Maybe if we carefully chipped it out," Rad suggested. "The wall is pretty thick and if we just did it right where the Mini-Con is, we might be able to pull it out without destabilising things."

"If one of us did it while the others watch the ice, it might work," Alexis agreed with a nod.

Rad took out his knife and began to carefully scrape and chip away at the ice while the others carefully watched the rest. The last thing they wanted was a crack that could spread and cause the whole wall to shatter.

"Dude," Carlos said, flinching as the ice overhead groaned aloud as the sea moved. "How we gonna get out of here? We can't Warp on our own."

"Oh yeah...," Alexis's expression turning to slight worry. "We'll need Laserbeak to help us find a way back out.

"Yeah and avoid the Decepticons catching us," Rad said, teeth gritted as he tried to resist the urge to hit the ice too hard or sharply. They shivered, remembering the last time the Decepticons had caught them, and they really did not want a repeat of that.

It took a while but they finally were able to chip the Mini-Con shield out of the ice. Rad hadn't been able to avoid some rather deep cracks around the hole he'd taken the shield out of but they didn't look that bad. They now needed to get out, however, they were aware that the comm link, especially in these caverns would be just loud enough to cause the entire place to shake and crack.

"Got it," Alexis said in deep relief as Rad pulled it completely free. "Come on, let's get out of here."

As they made for the entrance, there was an ominous thud from above which caused ice to shake and rain down while the surrounding area groaned loudly. The kids froze; nothing bad had happened yet but they suddenly felt very nervous.

"I think the battle might have moved," Carlos gulped. "To right above us."

"I think your right," Alexis exclaimed. "Come on, let's try this tunnel."

They hurried forward and began to manoeuvre throughout the tunnels until they saw from afar, the exit. The three of them grinned in relief; soon they'd be out of this ice trap. However, their moment was ruined when they could see water rushing towards them.

"Let's get out of here! I'm betting that water is dangerous enough to get us all killed!" Rad cried out as they all ran towards the exit.

They ran as fast as possible but even then they could feel icy jets hitting the backs of their necks and legs. This only urged them to go faster until they were scrambling for the entrance as the water lapped at their feet.

"Come on!" Alexis cried as the boys shoved her out and she turned to help pull them out.

The water rushed out like an angry stampede of animals as soon as they were able to move off to the side then slowly watch as it died down. Quite a distance away the Autobots and Decepticons fighting, unaware of the excitement the kids had just been through.

"Damn, that was close," Rad panted before quickly checking the Mini-Con shield which he'd hidden in the front of his suit for safe keeping. "It looks fine, let's see if we can find Hot Shot or someone and Warp away."

"Let's do it soon, dudes," Carlos said, shivering from his wet boots and shins.

They slowly manoeuvred their way through the snow, while they would have their Mini-Con partners to keep the trail going faster, sadly their forms were useless in the thick snow, forcing them no choice but to walk on foot, boy did they wish they had a snowmobile to get through the snowy terrain.

"We should use Laserbeak and call one of the Autobots. Let's just hope none of the Decepticons overhear us," Alexis suggested.

"Let's just say we almost fell in the water and are getting cold," suggested Rad. "That way, if any Decepticons are listening, they'll think we're just trying to get a warm ride rather than trying to sneak a Mini-Con."

"Let's just hurry...!" Carlos shivered, his teeth chattered and rattled. "I'm n-not sure how long I can st-stand it here anymore, man..." He added, rubbing his arms.

"Y-yeah," Alexis said with her own shiver, it would not be hard to fake distress.

"Optimus? Red Alert? Hot Shot? Jetfire? Come in! Can anyone hear me?" Rad called out through Laserbeak's comm.

"Please, we're freezing and soaking wet, we need a ride," He pleaded, teeth chattering, hoping now of the Decepticons would bother with them.

/I'm afraid I can't as much as I would,/ Red Alert replied. "I'm still under heavy fire.../ The sounds of blasters could be heard on Red Alert's end.

/Hhh... I can't either... I'm pinned down pretty good, too,/ Hot Shot grumbled. The same sounds of blasters within the background.

Optimus Prime meanwhile was battling Megatron still, the sounds of them grappling and fighting were going through his end. /I would come, kids but I'm a little occupied...!/ He grunted. /Hang tight, someone will come for you/

"Wow... Sounds like one nasty battle..." Alexis said, commenting on hearing the commotion before the connection was cut.

"Gee, they must all be pinned down," Rad exclaimed, letting out a ghostly breath of air, checking the Mini-Con was safely hidden.

Shivering even more and with teeth chattering, Carlos gasped.

"L-lets f-find some...w-where t-to shelter."

"G-good plan," Rad agreed, unable to stop his teeth chattering slightly.

They started to trudge through the snow, hearing it crunch under their booted feet. The parts of them that had been hit by the icy water were turning into a biting cold sensation. If they didn't warm up soon, they could get a cold or something worse. They glanced back at the fighting transformers, they seemed pretty engaged and probably would be for quite some time.

It was very ironic that both the Autobots and the Decepticons were fighting so hard for a Minicon that had already been found.

"You see anything?" Alexis asked, covering her face as an icy blast hit them full on. "Argh."

"Not yet," Rad grunted through gritted teeth before pausing as he heard the steady thump, thump of an approaching vehicle, probably a flier.

"Is t-that J-Jetfire?" Carlos questioned as he heard it too.

A loud cackle answered him and they all groaned.

"No, it's not him," Rad groaned as Cyclonus wheeled overhead.

"Ha, ha, ha, look what we got here," the mad helicopter laughed. "A trio of tots all alone in the snow."

"Go away Cyclonus," Alexis said irritably, as the wind continued to chill their bodies.

"Aww, what's the matter?" he said in a mock hurt voice. "You don't wanna play today?

"It's too c-cold for that," Rad said sardonically as he scanned the area, looking for a dark area against the white that might indicate a shelter.

This just made Cyclonus laugh again as he cooed.

"Aww, you little punks a bit cold? What a shame...and I don't have anything to warm you up."

"Your concern is more than enough," Alexis told him which of course caused him to cackle even more.

"Yeah, that's me," he laughed. "I just can't stop caring, ha, ha, ha!"

"Sure," Carlos said, rolling his eyes. "Don't you have a Minicon to find or something?"

"Hey, I'll do what I want," Cyclonus declared before saying. "What about you punks, aren't you searching for it?"

"We w-were but we're t-too c-cold now," Alexis said, shivering violently for affect.

"You haven't seen anywhere we could go, have you?" Rad asked as Cyclonus continued hovering.

"Hah, there's nothing out here kid except snow and ice. If you're desperate, maybe I'll take you to Megatron, he'd warm you up fast," Cyclonus replied with a dark chuckle.

"Not unless he fancies being warmed up by Optimus," Carlos shot back making the helicopter exclaim.

"Hey!" Cyclonus exclaimed. "Watch your mouth, punk!"

"Just saying," Carlos defended with a shrug as a shot hit Cyclonus and he yelped with pain.

"Yow! Who did that?" he demanded, spinning around, firing wildly.

"I did," Sideswipe declared boldly as he raced towards them. "Buzz off, Cyclonus."

"Little punk, I'll get you for that," Cyclonus snarled, rising up into the air so he could fire upon the young Autobot.

"You'll have to catch me first," Sideswipe dared as the kids called to him.

"Sideswipe, don't drive away, we're really cold," Rad yelled, keeping up the act.

"Please, Warp us back to base right now," begged Alexis.

"Huh, okay," he replied, doing an about turn and charging for them. Transforming, he scooped them up, dodging Cyclonus's fire as he activated the Warp Gate.

"Bye bye," he called to Cyclonus as the helicopter spotted a glint of green in the kids arms.

"Hey, the Minicon," he exclaimed as Sideswipe and the kids disappeared as he realised he'd been tricked.

"Aww, frag it," he cursed as Sideswipe sent a message to the other Autobots, letting them know what had happened.

Optimus meanwhile immediately punched Megatron off, breaking the grapple after freeing one of his hands. "Looks like you've lost, Megatron.," he said, sternly, straightening himself.

"We'll see about that," snarled Megatron as he jumped back and fired up his cannon. However, instead of aiming right at Optimus, he aimed at the ice below his feet.

For a moment, Optimus was confused, until he heard the loud groans and cracking from the ice, immediately he tried to back up but the cracks soon caught up to him, causing him to fall in with a heavy splash. "Arrrggghhh!" he cried out as disappeared

"Ha ha ha," Megatron laughed. "I may not have the Minicon but I still leave with some small victory. Enjoy yourself, Icicle Prime."

With that, the Decepticon Leader warped. Elsewhere, the other 'Cons also warped out after knowing immediately that their leader had warped out.

"Optimus!" Hotshot cried out in horror as his leader disappeared below the ice.

"Optimus has gone under!" he yelled, rushing forward without a moment's delay.

"Frag," Scavenger cursed, also surging forward. "Jetfire!"

The shuttle came barrelling down from the air, landing heavily before the gaping hole and looking straight down. He saw Optimus right below him, struggling to reach the surface but his movements were sluggish. The deadly low temperature was already having an effect on the Autobot leader as his systems started to shut down into stasis lock.

"Red Alert, get ready," Jetfire commanded as he plunged straight after his leader, his thrusters on at full power. Being a space shuttle, his armour was better equipped to deal with extreme temperatures than Optimus's was.

But even with the extra protection, his systems were almost overwhelmed at the deadly cold which bit viciously at his body, trying to penetrate it. Ignoring the warning signals that his systems were frantically sending to his processor, he plunged down into the deep, trying to reach his sinking leader. Optimus was weakly struggling but his joints were becoming clogged with rapidly forming ice crystals. His optics were starting to dim, they flickered back and forth as he descended.

Grimly, Jetfire put all his power into shooting downwards, he had to reach Optimus soon or he'd be in need of rescue. He saw Optimus try to raise a hand towards him and in return, Jetfire thrust his own forward.

"Come on," he growled mentally. "Come on...!"

There was a moment where he thought he'd miss his friend's hand but then he closed around Optimus's and he managed to yank his body upwards so he pointed to the surface. Gunning as much power as he could, he propelling himself and Optimus to the hole in the ice, knowing they both had to get out soon or they could be done for.

Somehow, he managed to force himself right to the surface before his own systems started to fail but Hot Shot, Scavenger and Hoist were there to grab him. As Blurr came rushing over to help, Hot Shot transformed, a cord attached to Jetfire's arm which helped to haul first him and then Optimus.

"Unngghhh...hurry...warp!" Ice was rapidly forming all over their bodies followed by heavy mists of frost. "This is going to be a nightmare," Jetfire grumbled to himself.

"The gate's open," Blurr stated and they were away from the icy wilderness mere seconds later.

Gasping as he felt how cold they both were, Red Alert said firmly "We need to get them to the Med Bay immediately,"

The kids had been about to say they'd retrieved the Minicon when they saw the state Optimus and Jetfire were in, both supported by two bots. Scavenger and Hoist were taking Optimus while Hotshot, Blurr and Red Alert were taking Jetfire.

"What happened?" Alexis cried.

"Megatron happened," Hot Shot growled.

"Why are they both looking so frozen?" Rad questioned curiously as his two other friends wondered as well. "It looks like they fell into the ice."

"It would appear to be Megatron's way of exacting some revenge," Red Alert explained grimly as they hurried to the Med Bay as fast as they cold.

The kids couldn't believe this had happened, the mission had gone so well and now this had happened. Once they were there, Red Alert started bringing out equipment, including typing in commands which allowed a wall to split away to reveal a massive tub and shower head.

"He broke the ice under Optimus and Jetfire went in after him," Blurr said grimly.

As the kids gasped, Red Alert added.

"We need to warm them up immediately, Sideswipe, Hot Shot, Scavenger, help them into the Energon bath."

"I'll do my best," Sideswipe said doubtfully, his supiror officers were very big. He and Hot Shot along with the others helped Optimus Prime and Jetfire into an Energon Bath, Optimus had to be placed in first as he had a much more critical condition than Jetfire due to being exposed to the cold much longer than the Shuttle.

"Phew, they're in, Red Alert," Hot Shot responded while Sideswipe collapsed to his knees, exhausted.

"Heavy," he gasped.

"I know right?" Hot Shot couldn't help but chuckle before quelling under Red Alert's still look.

"Activating jet stream," Red Alert said, pressing a button which instantly released a massive burst of warm Energon over the stricken 'bots, quickly filling the tub. The kids watched this in fascination; Hot Shot had placed them on a higher level to observe.

"I hope they'll be okay..." Alexis said, worrying.

"Don't worry, amiga!" Carlos placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think a little frostbite would take down our friends that easily."

"Maybe not but it was close," Red Alert said grimly, checking Optimus as the two bots started to stir as their systems were slowly warmed.

"Look, they're moving!" Rad exclaimed, his two friends' attention was turned back to the two."

Jetfire let out a sigh of relief, that felt much better.

"Man, that feels good. I almost thought for sure I was a goner after getting Optimus out of the ice," he said cheerfully, not sounding all that concerned about the situation he and his leader had been in.

Optimus Prime eventually stirred, onlining his optics. "Mmmhh... What happened? The base...?"

"Ah, good. You're awake," Red Alert said, examining his Leader.

"Red Alert," Optimus croaked, he still wasn't fully recovered.

"Megatron got you sir," Hot Shot cut in heatedly. "But Jetfire managed to drag you out of the ice and we brought you both back here."

"Jetfire? I see... I had wondered who I saw before I went into stasis lock," Optimus responded, pausing for a short moment before asking. "How is our old friend?"

"Fine, just stiff," Jetfire chuckled before coughing. "And who are you calling old?"

The kids relaxed, if they were joking like that, they were going to be okay. As the two bots sank a little lower into the hot liquid, Alexis leaned forward and said softly.

"You had us worried for a moment there."

"Ah, this is nothing," Jetfire said, waving a hand dismissively before sinking it back into the energon. "Been through much worse."

"Teamwork," Scavenger said with a small smile. "That's the key to these situations."

"Too right dude," Carlos said earnestly. "You guys must have gotten him out real fast."

"We sure did," Hotshot said proudly, allowing the kids to go a little closer to their beloved guardian. "No teams better than ours."

"Yeah, I bet Thrust or Starscream couldn't have gotten Megatron out like I did Optimus," Jetfire declared proudly.

"Indeed Jetfire, thank you, my friend. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here," Optimus responded, chuckling.

The two smiled before clasping each other's hand and then relaxing again in the warm Energon.

"Hey, at least we got the Mini-Con," Carlos spoke up. "Just think how pissed off Megatron is going to be about that."

"Where did you find it, kids?" Optimus asked, his voice a little hoarse but still strong.

"In an ice cavern," Carlos said excitedly. "We had to chip it out; we almost got swamped by the sea."

"Yeah, we only just got out in time," Alexis said ruefully. "It was right at our backs practically."

Optimus nodded. "It's a good thing you kids made it out safely, but please do be more careful next time, I don't know what we would do if we lost any of you..." He said, his tone turning grim at the end of his sentence.

"We will," Rad promised solemnly. "We did try to make sure the Decepticons wouldn't come for us when they realised we had the Mini-Con."

"Ah so that's why you were begging for a ride back home," Hoist said with a grin.

"Not a bad ploy," Scavenger mused, sounding rather impressed.

"Yeah, we just didn't want to be clearer in case they figured out what we were up to. We thought if they heard us moping for a lift, they'd ignore it," Carlos stated proudly. "So we got the Minicon right under the Decepticons ugly noses."

"And there's the little guy," Hoist said, lifting up the newly revealed Minicon.

"Hey, what's your name little guy?" Hot Shot asked and the Mini-Con beeped a response.

"Wheeler."

"Nice to meet you," Rad said with a friendly smile. "Hope you enjoy being part of the team.

The Street Action Team beeped in agreement.

"Yeah, you guys are awesome," Carlos confirmed which made the Mini-Cons even happier.

Optimus smiled as he watched the interaction between his men, the Minicons and his children. Despite his brush with possible deactivation, the day had been a success and they had a brand new Minicon with them. And best of all, the kids had successfully did their part while avoiding the Decepticons, he couldn't be prouder.

And proving Megatron wrong always made him feel a lot better.

Author's note. More action next time but what kind? Suggestions are very welcome, until then.