TransWarped

Chapter 12: One-Two P.O.K.E.

There was a weird tension in the base when Wheeljack returned. At some point during the hours Wheeljack was away, Magnus deemed the red-haired human hybrid a threat and pissed off the "new" Ratchet. Wheeljack , like everyone else, thought Ultra Magnus was being overly paranoid but there was nothing he could've said to change Magnus's mind. So, while Miko, Raf, and the two newcomers were still away, Wheeljack accepted the task to retrieve a newfound Predacon bone. Smokescreen and Arcee joined him while Ultra Magnus stayed behind to "monitor" Ratchet.

A heavy silence filled the interior of the Iron Will as soon as they took off. Wheeljack preferred it over useless small talk. Arcee was also silent and focused her attention on the passing clouds. Smokescreen, on the other servo, was noticeably uncomfortable. Despite sitting outside of Wheeljack's range of vision, the Wrecker would still tell that Smokescreen was squirming and fidgeting in his seat. Wheeljack was too focused on getting to their destination to comment on Smokescreen's uncomfortable shifting.

About 20 minutes into their flight, Smokescreen broke the silence with an exasperated huff. He crossed his arms and pouted. "Okay, I can't take this anymore-"

Quick as a whip, Wheeljack had a reply for him. "If you don't like it, you can always leave. There are exits on all sides-"

"No, you know that's not what I meant!" Smokescreen glared at the back of Wheeljack's head. "I meant I can't handle the fact that we're not talking about the warwhale in the room here! No one will talk to me about it! Bumblebee won't talk, Prime won't talk-"

"Because they've both been on patrol all day." Arcee deadpanned.

"Okay, so then can we talk about it? Now?"

"No," Wheeljack stated firmly.

At the same time, Arcee sighed and finally turned to look at Smokescreen. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about the fact that we have a Bulkhead from another dimension who is a super smart space bridge genius? And we have a Ratchet who is even older and weirder smelling than the one we had before? And also the super strong techno-whatever with blasters in her arms? These all seem like conversation-worthy topics, don't you think?"

The bot had a fair point. Wheeljack wasn't going to admit it out loud, but he could admit it internally.

Smokescreen continued, "Seriously how can you guys be so calm about this?"

"I'm not calm, I'm just not flying off the handle. It's hard to be calm about your friends disappearing into a ground bridge."

"At least they're alive." Smokescreen huffed with relief.

"Probably." Wheeljack couldn't help but tack on.

Arcee gave Wheeljack a deliberate and exasperated look. Even Smokescreen gave him a sour look.

The grey bot bristled. "What?" He demanded.

Arcee pursed her lips and gave him a critical once-over. "You're not still upset at Bulkhead are you?"

"...If this is your attempt to goad me into a conversation, you need to try a different approach."

"Oh yeah Miko mentioned you and Bulk were fighting! Is that why you were out all night?" Smokescreen leaned forward on his elbows. He was either purposely ignoring Wheeljack's warning or being blissfully ignorant that the warning was given at all. "But you were always gonna come back. It's not like you'd abandon Bulkhead, right?"

The Wrecker's grip on the ship's controls tightened. His jaw clenched as he tried not to snap and overreact. "Of course not."

"Right! And you wouldn't do it now of all times, not when Bulkhead is....y'know"