The past few days had been excruciatingly dull for Hysteria.  After her meeting with Dinobot, she had begun to wonder if she had been demoted from soldier to Megatron’s personal pet.  From the moment she returned to base that morning to the moment she went to recharge and the days that followed, Megatron demanded her attention.  Under the guise that he was priming her for her imminent promotion, he kept her by his side, filling her audials with classified Predacon intel than she knew how to process.  It was difficult for her not to be suspicious of this wealth of knowledge.

The constant proximity had become suffocating.  She needed a break from this incessant narcissism.  She found herself zoning out as he spoke, thinking back to her time with Dinobot.  If he was subject to this same torment, there was no wonder he challenged Megatron.  As she appeased him with smiles, nods, and forced laughs, she fantasized about being the one to take him down.  She knew it wouldn’t be as easy as pulling her blaster on him when he turned his back.

Hysteria hadn’t the slightest idea what Megatron was droning on about when Terrorsaur burst into the corridor like a bat out of the pit. 

“Megatron!” he squawked.

The two looked at him as he stumbled into their presence.  It was clear he had been attacked from the burns and blasts he was sporting.

“CR Tank’s down the hall,” Hysteria joked, bringing a snort from her superior and a growl from the other Predacon.

“I do hope this is important,” he said.  “Report.”

“Maximals at coordinates 5, 3, 9.”

Megatron pulled up the holo-grid and focused on the coordinates that Terrorsaur had provided.

“Subsector theta again,” he said, stroking his chin.  “Hmm…”

Hysteria tried to remember if Megatron had mentioned anything special about that area during one of his spiels.  She did tune in each time he mentioned the Maximals, so it was unlikely he would have brought this up without her noticing.

“That’s like the third time this week, is it not?” she asked.  “What’s down there?”

“Oh, but that is the question, yes,” Megatron replied.  “I expect whomever I send to get to the bottom of this.  Terrorsaur, who was among them?”

“Dinobot and the rodent.”

The sound of his name elevated her desire to be chosen for the mission to new heights.  For the first time in days, she felt a glimmer of hope at the prospect of both escaping Megatron’s smothering presence and seeing Dinobot once again.  The idea of even getting a klik alone with him was enticing.  She wagered that would be all she needed to get a message to him.  Hysteria cleared her throat.

“Allow me,” she said, taking a step closer to Megatron.  “I can lead the attack.”

Both Megatron and Terrorsaur turned to her.  While Terrorsaur wore a look of irritation, Megatron’s optics narrowed.  She felt the heavy weight of his scrutiny.  If she had to endure much more of this, she’d risk it all to shut him up.  Being offline would be preferable to entertaining him any longer.

“After all, it was Scorponok and I that faced them there the first time,” she continued.  “I take that as unfinished business.”

“A fine idea, Hysteria,” Megatron eventually purred with a grin.  “What better opportunity for you to show your ability to lead than to have you face against my former lieutenant.  Take charge of this mission, and bring Waspinator with you for backup.  I wouldn’t want your ambition getting the best of you.”

Hysteria tried not to express her disappointment.  After all, Waspinator was likely the lesser of all evils.  He didn’t have the brains to outsmart her, nor the brawn to overthrow her.  If she had him focus on the other Maximal, she could have Dinobot all to herself.

“As you command.”

“Excellent.  I will summon Waspinator at once.”

“Have him meet me outside.  If those two are already out there, time is of the essence,” said Hysteria.

“Your ambition truly knows no bounds,” Megatron said with a laugh. “Very well.  You are dismissed.”

With a convincing bow, she made her exit, and not a moment too soon.  All she had to do now was wait for her bumbling backup so they could depart.  She paced back and forth outside of the entrance of the Darksyde, trying to formulate a plan in her mind.  She hadn’t the slightest idea how she would be able to stealthily give him information without the others hearing.  It wasn’t like she had his neuro-coordinates.  If she had a little more time and privacy, she could have possibly slipped him a datastick.  She had to get creative.  By the time Waspinator joined her, she managed to come up with an idea.  Though it was not the most secure, nor the most effective, it would have to do. 

She didn’t spare a word to Waspinator as she turned and headed towards their coordinates.  She remembered the route from last time, and it wasn’t long before the two were standing on a cliff with the two Maximals in their sights.  Hysteria transformed and crawled close to the edge.  She watched Dinobot carefully, trying to make out what he and Rattrap were doing down there.  Honestly, it looked like the two were bickering instead of whatever their mission must have been.  She could hear their raised voices, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.  She wasn’t given long to concentrate before Waspinator began to speak. 

“Spot-bot think Maximals close enough?” he whispered.

“Patience, bug brain,” Hysteria replied in a hushed tone.  “Any nano-klik now and they’ll be in perfect position.  Remember, your target is the rat.  The other is mine.”

“Why Spot-Bot give commands?” he grumbled.  “Waspinator been around longer.”

“Because it’s my mission and Megatron sent you as my backup.”

“Because Spot-Bot pretty girl bot that kisses Megatron’s a—”

The words barely had a chance to leave Waspinator’s mandibles before the tip of Hysteria’s blaster was pressed against his head.

“If you don’t watch it, my target will be you and your target will be the CR tank.  Understood?”

His optics widened and his wings trembled, but he was otherwise frozen by fear.  With a growl, Hysteria cocked her blaster and nudged him with it.

“I said, ‘understood?’”

Her so-called comrade nodded, causing a self-satisfied smirk to cross Hysteria’s face.  She withdrew her weapon and transformed back into her beast mode.  Crouching and stepping closer to the cliffside that overlooked the point of interest below, she fixed her optics on the two Maximals that were heading in their direction.  While Waspinator could fly to where they were now, she would need to wait until they got close enough for her to pounce into position and catch them by surprise.  Soon enough, the raptor and rat were practically below and she gave her order to Waspinator.

“Now.”

With this, she jumped off the edge of the cliff, frankly not caring if Waspinator followed or not.  While she hadn’t anticipated landing exactly on target, she did collide with Dinobot, effectively knocking them both to the ground. 

“It’s rainin’ preds!” Rattrap exclaimed when he saw the other get tackled, before a torrent of laser blasts from Waspinator rained down upon him.  “Maximize!”

With a roar of frustration, Dinobot tossed Hysteria aside then transformed and drew his sword on her.  Their last meeting had been so intimate, so… promising.  She spent days wondering how the vulnerability they shared during their rendezvous would translate onto the battlefield, and he didn’t disappoint.  The mech who stood before her stared at her with cold optics and intent to destroy, not a trace of the veiled tenderness she had coaxed out of him the last time they spoke.  She wasted no time switching out of beast mode as well, but didn’t bother with her weapon.  She lunged forward, tackling him to the ground once again.  She butt heads with him, and while he was disoriented, she took control of his sword, holding the blade at his neck as she leaned down and brought her mouth to his audial.  She had no clue if what she was about to attempt would work, but she whispered to him regardless.

「We need to talk… 」

Dinobot tilted his head as she vocalized old Cybertronian.  Admittedly, it was a gamble, only one step up from just outright telling him in plain Cybertronix.  From what she could recall, only scholars and history buffs would know the language of their ancestors.  While she couldn’t exactly recall which one applied to her prior to her time here, she wagered Dinobot was the latter.  For a moment, she began to believe he was less versed than she gave him credit for, or that her cache of the language had been corrupted and she was truly speaking nonsense.  Yet Dinobot didn’t let her down.  His clawed servos curled around his blade on either side of hers, and with vocals low and detached, he answered her.

「Then, speak. 」

The ancient language sounded guttural as he spoke it, sending a shiver down her spinal strut.  She had to fight off a grin to keep up appearances.

「Not now, you idiot, 」she growled in response.  「Alone. 」

To the uninitiated, it would sound like the two were threatening one another.  Waspinator barely had a grasp on modern language, while Rattrap didn’t seem like the type to be cultured in that kind of thing if he could even hear them over the sound of blasts.  Dinobot’s optics flicked to the side, confirming that his ally was distracted by the other Predacon before continuing.

「When and Where? 」 he asked through gritted teeth.

Hysteria gave the coordinates, and he recited them back to her as they both feigned a struggle over control of the sword.

「Tomorrow.  Sunset. 」

「You have my word. 」

She was barely given a chance to process this before he surprised her with a shift that knocked her off his chest.  She didn’t mind him getting rough.  Now that she had gotten her point across, she could enjoy the battle.  She regained her footing, and knowing her blaster was no match for his sword, she transformed to continue their game.

When he transformed, they were evenly matched and engaged in a fierce bout that was perhaps more intense than their previous matchup.  A choreographed battle could not have been as fluid and precise as the clash between Hysteria and Dinobot.  As he dove at her and she deftly dodged, she could not help but wonder how coordinated the two could be in battle if they were fighting together instead of against one another.  She had a feeling she’d learn sooner rather than later.  They were in perfect harmony and it seemed their dangerous dance would end in another stalemate, until a blast knocked Hysteria off of Dinobot.  Both she and Dinobot seemed stunned when they looked over to see Rattrap with his blaster aimed at her.

“Don’t think I forgot about the last time we were down here,” he said.  He had incapacitated of Waspinator, and had decided to take care of her next.  Her optics flicked from Rattrap to Dinobot.  She knew he could do nothing to stop this without raising suspicion.  In a flash, she launched herself forward, knocking Rattrap onto the ground before darting away.

“Retreat!” she called to Waspinator’s slumped form as she passed it.  He managed to transform and follow behind.

As Hysteria trotted back to base with him clumsily buzzing along behind her, she couldn’t help but feel triumphant.  Though she knew that she’d get an earful from Megatron for allowing the Maximals to walk away, it did not matter.  If all went well the next evening, she would not have to worry about him for much longer.

“What was all that about?” Rattrap asked as they wandered back to base.

Dinobot stopped in his tracks and he looked back, optics narrowing at his company.  He had been quiet up until this point.  His mind was still reflecting on this latest run-in with Hysteria, while his circuits still hummed with the thrill of the fight.  He could not deny his disappointment their bout was cut short.  If Rattrap had not intervened, the two could have possibly been at odds until the sun fell.

“What do you speak of?”

“You looked like you were enjoyin’ yourself for once back there,” the other said.  “Somethin’ I need to know?”

Dinobot growled at this accusation.  Again, Rattrap was insinuating that there was something more to his affiliation with Hysteria.  With Primal not around to mediate, nothing could spare him after the limits of his patience had been reached.

“Spit out your foolish allegation instead of playing these games, vermin.  What is it you accuse me of?”

“All I’m sayin’ is that I’ve never seen you lookin’ so… smitten,” said Rattrap.  “You two were practically tangoing.  And here I was, led to believe nothin’ fired up those rusty pistons of yours.”

A snort of disgust rose from Dinobot.  The rat’s vulgar nature often revolted him, but with him as the target, he grew enraged.

“Do not twist my focus in the heat of battle with your perversions,” Dinobot replied, his snarl growing more prominent as Rattrap further infuriated him.  “I take combat seriously, as does she from the looks of it.  It is rare to find a formidable challenger in this war.”

A chuckle came out of Rattrap. 

“Uh-huh.  Yeah.  I’m sure you wouldn’t mind exchangin’ a few ‘blows’ with her, huh?  That where you were the other night?”

“You are vile and tactless!” Dinobot snapped.  “I have heard enough of your crude insinuations!  I fight to survive, not to form entanglements— romantic or otherwise!”

As his frustration mounted, it was less directed at Rattrap and more at himself.  This whole situation was absurd.  He was a warrior.  He did not form attachments.  Whatever Rattrap was accusing him of feeling for Hysteria was as far from the truth as possible, and he himself was a fool for beginning to wonder if the rodent’s words carried any weight.  He decided to continue towards base, knowing if he suffered this futile debate any longer it would end with something both of them would regret.