6: Trouble with a Capital 'T'

Chapter 6

Trouble with a Capital "T"

Springer finished filling out all the necessary paper work that was needed to make sure that all lose ends were tied and that everything that was promised would be put into play before the end of the week.  "Is there anything else I need to sign?" questioned Springer as he hoped that he didn't need to.

"Not by the look of things," answered Ratchet.  "Everything is in order and we will see to it that the sparkling sitting services will be available to you by tomorrow at the latest."

"Thanks Ratchet," said Springer.  "By the way, where is the little femme?"

"You're never going to call her your daughter… are you?" asked Ratchet.

"Sorry, but I just don't like the thought of even saying it," stated Springer.

"Well… you're going to have to start soon or she is going to be very confused as she grows older," explained Ratchet.  Springer sighed and knew that he was right, but just the thought… it bugged him greatly.  As he was about to re-ask Ratchet where his daughter was, a sharp, loud and piercing shrill echoed through the halls.

"What the slag???" questioned Springer.  "Did someone have their arm ripped off or something?"

"No… that was your daughter getting her shots," replied Ratchet.  "She did the same thing when I gave her a shot to help boost her immune system."

"She must have one strong vocal synthesizer on her or something," stated Springer as he began to wonder if this was a mistake.  Slag… if he wasn't careful, she could probably wake up the whole planet.

"Don't worry," said Ratchet.  "She's very mellow for the most part, so you shouldn't have any trouble."

"That's if she doesn't wake up everyone on the planet," uttered Springer.  "I have a bad feeling she's going to be a very big handful."

"She's really not that bad," said Shaman as he walked in with the little femme in his arms.  "She's very subtle when she needs changing or feeding."  Springer sighed again, and then turned his attention to the femme.  She was still crying over receiving the shots to help boost her immune system, which bugged Springer greatly.  He didn't want a weak sparkling that would cry over little things to raise.  He wanted a sparkling that would stand up and fight.   But then again, she wasn't even a full week old yet.

"Well, aren't you going to hold her Springer?" asked Ratchet.  Springer backed away from the femme, but he knew that he would have to sooner or later.

"Fine," he uttered, completely annoyed.  As Shaman placed the femme into Springer's hand, he didn't feel anything.  "I'm waiting."

"Springer… she's in your hands right now," stated Ratchet.

"What?" he questioned as he looked down at his hands.  Sure enough, there she was, just looking at him with big emerald green optics.  There was no denying that she was just as perplexed about Springer, as he was about her.  "She's so light.  Is there something wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure," said Ratchet.  "I'm guessing that this is probably normal with femmes when they are born… but then again, she's the first femme to ever be born so… there is going to be a lot of guessing work with her."  Springer was not comfortable when it came down to guessing work, but in his line of work, guessing wasn't something he was ever comfortable with and couldn't afford.  "Just remember, you need to fill out a weekly report on her so the council can see the progress she's had."

"I'll remember," grumbled Springer.  "I've barely had her and I'm already being nagged about the reports. Sheesh."  As he closed his optics to try and calm down a little bit, he felt the femme squirming around in his hands and chirping directly at him.  Opening his optics, he looked at her and saw that she was investigating his hands a little bit.  She was in awe as to how big they were, but was curious as to how they got so big.  "Is she normally like this?"

"She was like that when I was watching over her," said Shaman.  "She's very curious about her surroundings and is a little mischievous as well."

"Does this mean I'm going to need to request the whole Cybertronian army to keep an optic on her?" asked Springer.

"No," chuckled Shaman.  "She's also surprisingly intelligent.  If you tell her 'no' or 'leave it', she will do so."

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Springer, who was skeptical about it.

"Anyways, Shaman, did you prepare a bag for her yet?" asked Ratchet.  

"Yes sir," replied Shaman.  "Let me get it."

"Bag?" questioned Springer.  "What bag?"

"Oh, I had Shaman put together a bag for her so you would have enough supplies to last until we can send you everything to keep her healthy and happy," explained Ratchet.

"But… we don't have an extra room for her," stated Springer.  "She would have to sleep out in the living room."

"Then that does propose a problem," said Shaman as he entered the room with the bag.  "Ratchet sir, do you think that you can ask the council about getting them a bigger apartment so they can raise her?"  Ratchet sat down and thought hard about it.  The council had already made on very large deal for Springer and his team to claim the femme.  But it would be worthless if the femme didn't have enough space to grow, and the guys didn't have enough of their own personal space.

"I'll see what I can do with getting a bigger apartment for you and your team Springer," said Ratchet.  "But I don't know if the council will grant such a request, but I'll pass it by them to see if they will allow it."

"Thanks Ratchet," said Springer, as he still held the little femme away from him.  She again cooed, chirped, and tried reaching for him, but he was still uncomfortable about holding her close to him.

"Is something wrong Springer?" asked Shaman.

"I'm not very comfortable with her," uttered Springer bluntly.

"Quit holding her like that," stated Ratchet as he looked over at Springer.  "She's going to get very angry with you if you continue holding her that way."  Springer looked back down at the little femme who was now squirming uncontrollably and clicking angrily at him.  He looked at Ratchet who motioned how to hold her properly.  Springer looked back at the little femme who was no kicking angrily at him.  Not wanting to anger Ratchet or Shaman, he begrudgingly did as Ratchet motioned to him to do.

As Springer held the little femme close to his chest, she stopped.  He then heard giggling coming from his arms.  Looking down, there was the femme, snuggling close to him.  "She likes you Springer," said Ratchet.

"I wish she didn't, but I guess it's good to make sure she does," grumbled Springer.

"Don't worry, she'll grow on you," said Ratchet.  "Just don't go losing your temper around her.  She doesn't like it when anyone gets angry around her, so watch it."  Springer only nodded as he watched her continue to snuggle him and coo happily at him.  Sighing deeply, he grabbed the bad and left medical with his daughter in arms.  Just as he was stepping out of medical, his com-link go off.

"Yes?" asked Springer, not sure who it was.

"SRINGER, WHERE THE SLAG ARE YOU?!?!?!"  yelled his boss.  "I NEED YOU TO COME IN RIGHT NOW AND TAKE A MISSION!!!!!!  NO ONE IS TAKING IT AND I NEED YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO TAKE IT NOW!!!!!  I DON'T NEED THE COUNCIL BREATHING DOWN MY NECK ABOUT THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!"  Springer about fell over onto the floor with the flood of yelling that went into his audio receptor.

"Sir… I have something that just came up and I can't… well… drop it," said Springer as he tried to explain.

"I DON'T WANT YOUR EXCUSES!!!!" yelled his boss.  "GET DOWN HERE OR YOU AND YOUR TEAM ARE FIRED!!!!"  The com-link shut off just as quickly as it had come on, and Springer wasn't sure what to do.  He couldn't leave the femme with Ratchet and Shaman due to all the wounded.  And leaving her at home would be a big mistake.  She could get into things that would injure her or worse.

"Looks like you're going to come on a mission with me," sighed Springer as he looked at his daughter.  She only smiled and giggled happily as she enjoyed being in her father's arms for the first time.  Making his way over to the docking area, he met up with his team.

"Hey Springer, what took you so lo…," began Blurr, but was cut short as he saw the femme sleeping in his arms.  "Um… Springer… why is…"

"Let's just go before things get worse," whispered Springer, not trying to wake his daughter.  Everyone just stepped onto the ship and nothing was spoken until they were away from Cybertron.

"So… why did you bring your daughter with us?" asked Kup quietly, so as to not wake the sleeping sparkling.

"I couldn't leave her at the apartment, and I couldn't leave her with Ratchet and Shaman," stated Springer.  "Right now, medical has so many wounded that if I left her there, she would be a burden upon them."

"Well, she's asleep right now, so this should be an easy mission as long as she stays this way," said Drift.  

"There's just one problem… I'm holding her and I need to be on the ship to fly it back to Cybertron," stated Springer.

"Hey, just stay on this ship while we check out the other," said Kup.  "It will give you some time to bond with her."

"I can't communicate with you guys while holding her and making sure I'm not waking her up," said Springer.  "You know that when any of you get out of range, I have to yell so you can hear me."

"That's true," said Perceptor.  "If we are even just the slightest out of range or in an area where the signal is being blocked, he will have to yell at us."

"Is there anything that we can use for a makeshift bed?" asked Springer.  Perceptor, feeling the strain on Springer, went around the ship finding little things to make a bed.  In the end, he was able to take a box, some thermal blankets and some left over padding into a bed for the femme to sleep in.

"It's not much, but it should work until we get an actual sleeping berth for her," said Perceptor.

"Anything will work for right now," said Springer.  "Thanks, I really appreciate it."  Perceptor only nodded as he went back to his controls.  Springer laid the femme down, thankfully not waking her, and returned to his post and locked onto the ship.  "We should start seeing the ship within an hour or so.  Keep alert if you see it before hand."

"Hey Springer, it's moving," said Blurr.

"It may just be drifting a little," stated Kup.  "Ships do that."

"But it's maintaining 20 knots," said Blurr.  "It's not slowing down."

"Pin-point where it's heading," said Springer.  "If this ship is moving, we need to contact Optimus about this."

"It's heading right toward us Springer," said Perceptor.

"Hold steady and once you see it, find a place to land," said Springer.  "I'm calling Optimus to let him know."  Perceptor maintained a vigilant optic as they continued their course.  Springer went down to the communication center and called Optimus to let him know the status of their mission.  "Optimus sir, come in.  This is Springer, over."

"I hear you loud and clear Springer," answered Optimus.  "What's going on?"

"Sir, we found the ship, but it's maintaining a steady 20 knots," explained Springer.   "Do you want us to continue with this mission, or return to Cybertron?"

"Negative Springer," said Optimus.  "I still want you to go check it out and see why it's still moving.  Contact me once you know if anyone is on the ship."

"Alright Optimus," confirmed Springer.  "We'll let you know once we get to it and are onboard.  Over and out."  Ending the communication, he made his was back up to see the ship starting to come into view.  The whole exterior of the ship was covered in battle scars, but it's energy core was at 78% full.

"Why does this feel oddly familiar?" asked Blurr.

"Just like our mission from 7 months ago," stated Springer, his temper on the rise.  He quickly snapped out of it though, and checked the little femme to see her still asleep.  "I say let's make this quick.  The sooner we know if there is someone onboard, the sooner we can leave.  Perceptor, scan the ship to see if anyone is functioning in there."

"I'm on it," complied Perceptor as he ran scans on the ship.

"Kup, find a place to land," ordered Springer.  "We may have no other choice but to board if there is no one."

"You got it," stated Kup as he began to locate the docking area.  As they did a few flybys, everyone began to feel apprehensive about this mission.  Something wasn't right, and they could all feel it.  "I hope Optimus is willing to give us any backup if there are Decepticons hiding onboard there."

"I just hope there are no Decepticons on board," said Blurr.  "I don't want to go to medical anymore than we will have to with Springer's daughter.

"It's not her fault if she becomes sick," said Drift.  "Like Ratchet said, her immune system is completely shot for the most part, and it's going to take a while to get it back on track.

"There are no signs of life on the ship," announced Perceptor as he finished all the scans.

"Then we had better get onboard to see what the slag happened," said Springer as he began to load up on weapons and ammunition.

"Hold up there lad," called Kup.  "Ratchet hasn't cleared you for any kind of fighting, and I don't want to be the one to try and explain to him what happened."

"I don't think we're in for any fighting on this ship," said Perceptor.  "The engines may be active, but there is no one onboard that ship.  I've scanned it so much that I can guarantee that there is no one on there."

"Fine," grumbled Kup.  "But when we land, who is going to stay here to make sure she stays asleep?"  Everyone looked into the box to see the femme, sleeping peacefully despite all the commotion.

"She shouldn't wake up until all this is over with," stated Springer.  "Now let's get ready to board."

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As the ship landed in the docking area, everyone split up as usual.  Blurr and Drift would check the upper decks, Kup and Perceptor would check the lower decks and the engine room, and Springer would head straight toward the control room.  The little femme was left on the ship to rest in the makeshift bed that Perceptor had made for her, but the issue of how long she would stay asleep would weigh on everyone's mind.  "Hey Springer, we just got down to the entrance to the engine room, but the door is locked," said Kup.

"Try and find another way in," said Springer.  "Just don't go shooting because if one of the engines goes, we're done."

"Understood," said Kup.  "Come on Perceptor, there should be another way in that isn't jammed."

"Roger that," he confirmed and began to find another way in.

"Hey Springer," called Drift.  "The upper decks look as if more than a war broke lose here."

"Please tell me that none of them are characteristics of Arcee's way of killing," said Springer.  "I don't want to run into her today."

"Springer, I scanned the ship," interjected Perceptor.  "There is no one onboard this vessel."

"But what about last time?" asked Blurr.  "She may be able to mask her signature to make sure no one can see her, sense her, or be able to scan for her whereabouts."  

"If that's the case, then everyone keeps their optics open," ordered Springer.  "I don't want any casualties."

"Understood," said Kup.

"Will do Springer," said Drift.  "Looks like we may have more to worry about if she is on here."

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As everyone swept through the ship to find any survivors, the little femme began to wake from her slumber.  Her optics were still overwhelmed with sleep, but she felt a strange tug on her spark.  She couldn't put her tiny finger on it and began to wonder what was.  Peeking over the side of the box, she saw no one around.  Somehow able to climb over the side, she plopped down on the ground and began to crawl toward the exit of the ship.  Peering out of the doors and down the ramp, her curiosity was peeked as her want to explore began to increase.  Giggling a little, and thinking that maybe everyone was playing a game of hide and seek, she crawled out of the ship and began her search for her father and his friends.

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As Springer came upon the control room, he looked in to see the controls completely smashed.  "Slag it," he uttered.  "Kup, Perceptor, Drift, Blurr, there is no way we can fly this ship back to Cybertron.  The controls are totaled and I don't think there is any way to fix them."

"Try and get Optimus Prime on the comm.," said Kup.  "Let him know the situation and see about getting some back up here."

"I suggest we hold back on asking for back up," said Perceptor.  "Until we can get into the engine room to stop it, we're just going to continue moving.  And I don't think Optimus doesn't want to send anyone to chase a moving target."

"I agree with Perceptor," said Springer.  "Let's first cut the engines and stop this vessel.  Once that is done, I'll contact Optimus about back up."

"Hey Springer," called Drift.  "Do you want us to continue searching the upper decks to see if there are survivors?"

"Yes," confirmed Springer.  "Keep looking.  If you don't find any survivors, get back with me on that."

"Will do," answered Drift.  "Over and out."  

As Springer began making his way back to the ship through the middle decks, he noticed a room that was slightly ajar.  Prying the doors open, he began to look around.  As Drift and Blurr were finishing their rounds on the top deck, they too noticed a door that was slightly ajar.  Opening the doors, they too began to look around.  While down in the engine area, Perceptor and Kup finally found a way in.  "Looks like everything is operational here," said Kup.

"Let's get these engines off line so this will be easy to get to," said Perceptor.  With little trouble, Perceptor shut down the engines.  "That should do it."  As the engines whined down, a video screen popped up over something massive that was bolted to the floor.  In the other rooms, a screen also popped on with something massive bolted to those floors as well.

"Welcome," spoke a very familiar voice.  "I see that whoever you are, was foolish enough to shut off the engines."

"It's Jhiaxus," said Perceptor as the screen cleared to reveal that it was indeed Jhiaxus.

"Now, this is only a recording, but let us get to the point," Jhiaxus smirked.  "Behind these screens are bombs that are set to go off in 20 minutes.  All of them will go off one minute after each other.  Now, the only way to shut them off is to turn the engines back on, but as you can see, the controls to do so are damaged beyond repair."  Perceptor looked at the controls to see that they were damaged beyond any means to fix.

"EVERYONE GET BACK TO THE SHIP ON THE DOUBLE!!!!!" yelled Springer.  Everyone raced back to the ship to still hear Jhiaxus explain his plan.  It all fell of deaf receptors as they boarded the ship and took off.

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The little femme was still on her quest to locate her father and the others when she saw the ship she was on takeoff.  She watched at is flew off at high speeds, completely unaware that she was in extreme danger. Turning back to the task at hand, she continued to navigate around the ship.

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As Springer and his team flew to a safe distance, they all breathed a sigh of relief.  "This should be a safe distance from the ship," said Perceptor.

"Good," sighed Springer.  "Let's just hope it doesn't wake up the kid."

"We haven't heard a peep out of her since we took off," said Drift.  "Do you think she's okay?"  

"She's probably still sleeping," said Kup.

"Um guys…," began Blurr, as he peered into the box.  "She's not in here."  Silence fell over the ship as Springer jumped out of his chair and looked through the box.

"Primus… please don't tell me that she's on that vessel," begged Springer.  Perceptor did a scan of their ship and found that she was not onboard."

"Springer… she's not onboard," said Perceptor as his optic went wide with fear.

"Head back right now," ordered Springer.

"Are you crazy," said Kup.  "Those bombs are going to go off in at least 10 minutes!!!  We won't be able to make it!!!"

"We'll see about that," said Springer as the order to go back was complied to.

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The little femme was stuck on a set of stairs that went to the upper decks.  She couldn't seem to get her leg up and was nervous about going down, considering that this was her first time ever on stairs.  Looking down, and then looking back up, she began to try and climb the stairs, still thinking that her father was still onboard.

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As Perceptor about landed back in the docking area, Springer jumped out and ran off to locate the femme.  "Perceptor, tell me where I need to go to get to her," commanded Springer as he made his way through the ship.

"She's very close to the control room right now," said Perceptor.  "Take the left stairs going up.  Then as you take the right stairs, she should be somewhere in the middle of them.  But you need to be quick.  Those bombs are set to go off in 6 minutes."

"Roger that," answered Springer.  As he made his way around the left and down the right, there was the femme, trying to get a leg up onto the next ledge.  Grabbing her by the scruff, he tucked her under his arm and ran as fast as he could back to the ship.  "I got her!!!  Get in the air because once I'm on, we need to get out of here NOW!!!"

"We're in the air right now," said Perceptor.  "Just get here as soon as you can!"  As the minutes ticked down, the first bomb went off at the bow of the ship.

"SLAG!!!" yelled Springer as he maintained his footing and ran the rest of the way to the ship.  As he jumped on, the second bomb when off in the middle of the ship.  "Perceptor, full throttle and get us out of here now!!!" Springer carelessly dropped the femme into the box as he took his post and made sure everything was clear for the speed they would need to go.  As the final minute ticked down and the last bomb went off, a sonic boom could be felt as they continued to fly away from the ship.  As silence fell over the ship, Springer's temper was beyond any point he had ever felt.  He was more than just infuriated; he was about ready to kill the femme, and the others felt the same way.

As she poked her head out of the box, everyone glared at her.  Sensing that everyone was not happy with her, she ducked back down and tried to hide under a thermal blanket.  "Oh… don't even think about hiding," grumbled Springer as he grabbed her by the leg.  Yanking her up, he glared right into her optics, causing her to become more fearful that before.  Without another word, he went to a spare room and slammed the door.  

"WHAT THE SLAG WERE YOU THINKING!!!" yelled Springer at the tiny femme.  "YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN US KILLED!!!  WAS IT JUST BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO EXPLORE THE SHIP OR SOMETHING?!?!  I SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU AND NEVER HAVE LOOKED BACK OR THOUGHT TWICE ABOUT YOU, YOU FREAK OF NATURE!!!!"  

As more hurtful and degrading words poured from Springer's mouth, he then slapped her down on his knee, ripped her diaper off, and began to spank her as hard as he could.  She screamed and kicked, trying to get away from him.  But his grip on her was too firm for her to escape.  For a full hour, she was spanked unrelentingly.  As Springer finished, he taped the diaper back on her and hauled her out by her arm, not realizing that her feet couldn't touch the ground.  Tears streamed from her face as she clicked and trilled at him, as if trying to apologize for what she did.  But it fell on deaf receptors as she was thrown into a cage and locked inside.

"I'll be right back," said Springer, his temper still ridiculously high.  "I need to call Optimus and let him know what happened.  He is not going to be happy."  As Springer disappeared into the lower decks, the little femme grabbed onto the door and began to try and open it.  For a few minutes, she only jiggled the door in hopes that it would open, and then tried clicking, trilling, cooing, anything to get someone to let her out.  Sadly the only response she received was a very angry 'SHUT UP!!!'.  

As she stopped jiggling the door, she waited until someone would come by and try to get their attention.  As the minutes ticked by, she waited as patiently as a sparkling could.  Again jiggling the door to try and gain a little attention, she didn't notice Kup walking by.  He was still in a very foul mood and didn't want to hear a peep come from the femme.  Hearing the door to the cage jiggle, he turned around and yelled, "SHUT THE SLAG UP!!!!"  Kicking the door, he didn't realize that he had caught the femme's right middle finger, causing the tip to break off.  The femme shrieked as she pulled her hands away from the door and landed directly on her sore aft.  Pain surged through her whole being and arm as she looked to see the top of her middle finger missing, and bleeding heavily.

She looked up to see Kup walking away in a huff and not even paying any further mind to her.  Tears fell hard from her optics as she didn't understand what she had done that would warrant this kind of treatment.  But not wanting to have anything else happen to her, she curled up in the back of the cage and tried to fall asleep.

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Down in the communications room, Springer had just finished relaying everything.  "So, Jhiaxus is starting to go on the offensive," reiterated Optimus.  "That's not good."

"If he went through the trouble of rigging one vessel to explode like that, then he's going to do this again, but with bigger consequences," voiced Springer, more concerned that others may get hurt if they didn't become more careful about it.

"I agree," said Optimus.  "I'll let everyone know to keep an optic out for anything suspicious.  And I think I'll make it a point to have all ships equipped with bomb scanners.  We don't need a repeat of what happened to you and your team."

"Thank you sir," said Springer.  "We're on our way back to Cybertron right now so, we should be there in an hour or so."

"Good," said Optimus.  "When you get back, go get some rest, and I'll take care of this for you."

"Thank sir," said Springer.  Ending his conversation, he made his way back up to the control room.  "Alright everyone, when we get back to Cybertron, Optimus has given us orders to just go and get some rest."

"Sounds great to me," said Perceptor.

"Agreed," stated Drift.

"I say we go out for a drink when we get back," said Blurr.

"Sound even better," said Kup as he entered the room.  "We'll drop everything off at the apartment, and then we'll head out."  To everyone, having a drink sounded really nice at that time, but as they talked about it, the little femme woke up and over heard the conversation.  Granted, she didn't know what they were talking about, but they sounded like they were in much better spirits than a while ago.  She trilled lightly, trying to get their attention, but was given a nasty glare.  She cringed as their optics fell on her, and she retreated to the back of the cage.  None of them saw the energon that stained her arm, or her injured finger.

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As they finally landed on Cybertron, they covered the cage that held the femme inside with some linen that they would tear up to make rags.  Grabbing their gear and the cage, they headed back to the apartment, where they dumped the cage behind a couch, and kicked it to scoot if further back so no one could see it.  The femme squeaked fearfully, as if begging them to stop.  Again, it all fell of deaf receptors.  She then heard them leave, with the door slamming shut.  The only light that she could see through the sheet was from the kitchen.  Unsure of what would come next, she tried to fall asleep, but was disturbed by her stomach growling.  She hadn't had anything to eat since leaving medical earlier that day, and she wasn't sure if she would get fed anytime soon.

Hours passed as Springer and his team enjoyed a few drinks at a local bar, and came back late at night.  The femme heard them come in, but dared not say anything for fear of being glared at so angrily.  She could smell something that made her nose twitch, but didn't know what it was.  Not sure what else was going on, all the lights went out and she heard some doors shut.  It was pitch black as she tried to remain calm, but the fear of what may be out in the abyss, terrified her.  Knowing that no one would be around to comfort her, she curled up and tried to sleep through the night.  But with her stomach grumbling for food, she wouldn't get much rest.

Springer sat on his berth, angry and stressed out that the little femme placed herself in so much danger.  He began to think that screaming at her wasn't his best move to make her understand, much less spanking her for an hour, but he lost his temper.  "I need a sparkling sitter," he uttered to himself.  Turning on his comm. system, he called the council.   "Optimus, or whoever receives this message first, I need a sitter to keep an optic on the femme.  They need to be able to discipline her and stiff punishments if she doesn't listen.  Please find someone for tomorrow because I will most likely be on another recon mission."  He ended the transmission and sighed again.  His mind buzzed with questions as to whether or not it was worth claiming her, but then again, he had no more say in if he wanted to keep her or not.  She was with him, and he would have to live with it.  "She is going to be nothing but trouble, with a capital 'T'."  Turning off his light, he rolled over and fell asleep for the night.