"It's you again!" Sunbeam yelled, pointing at Starscream.
"Of course it's me!" Starscream shouted back in a rage.
"Well then...what're you planning?!" Sunbeam questioned, kicking him into a tree and collapsing it.
"Please don't destroy the forest," Ratchet warned.
"Have some faith! I have more restraint than that," Sunbeam responded.
"Please, you have as much restraint as a Scrapletts with a metal hammer!" Ratchet retorted.
"I don't know what that means," Sunbeam responded. While her and Ratchet were talking, neither of them noticed Starscream aiming a missile in their direction until Sunbeam just happened to turn at the right moment. "Oh no ya don't!" Sunbeam turned the missile away from them, unknowingly turning it toward the lab.
"Wait!" Ratchet started before the missile fired and collided with the lab in an explosion of blue and white flames, leaving only ash and minimal remnants of a structure. Sunbeam took off running toward the lab, hopeful that there could be at least one survivor. There was nothing. Ratchet arrived only seconds later, Starscream cuffed at his side.
"Hello?! Is anybody there?! Answer me!" Sunbeam called in a devastating, pleading scream.
"There's no way anyone could've survived..." Ratchet pointed out.
"No...no way...someone had to have survived! I just have to find 'em," Sunbeam denied before beginning to dig through the ash and dust.
"You killed humans...not very 'Autobot' of you, is it?" Starscream remarked before getting smacked in the back of the head by Ratchet.
"Let's just go back to base and figure out what Starscream knows," Ratchet suggested.
"Wait...let's not wake up the kids. Let 'em sleep, then we can leave tomorrow. Their parents think they're staying with friends, anyway," Sunbeam pointed out.
"Fine. They need rest, anyway," Ratchet agreed reluctantly.
The walk back to camp was completely silent. Sunbeam trailed behind Ratchet and Starscream, and Ratchet kept stealing glances back at her to make sure she didn't get lost somehow.
"Hey, Ratchet. Hey Sunbeam," Raf greeted them when they reached camp before intensely glaring at Starscream.
"What're you doing awake?" Ratchet asked.
"Miko and Jack snore," Raf responded simply, which caused Sunbeam to giggle a little.
"Here, you can stay next to me and Ratchet, okay?" Sunbeam offered, to which Raf nodded sluggishly. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.
"Do you think they know I didn't mean it...?" Sunbeam asked after a long period of silence.
"Humans have a way of sensing things. I'm sure they figured it out," Ratchet admitted.
"Yeah...they aren't as stupid as I am..." Sunbeam laughed without her typical happiness.
The next morning, Ratchet, Sunbeam, and the kids went back to their base with their new prisoner. However, they didn't get to interrogate him at all before Agent Fowler stormed in.
"Seriously?! I just got word that one of you blew up a military laboratory in Alaska! I get that Prime's gone, but that doesn't mean you can go around blowing things up!" Fowler scolded them. "Now I have to visit 134 families to tell them that a person they cared about is never coming home!"
"134...?" Sunbeam asked, looking at the ground. "That's...that's a lot..."
"You bet it is! Now which one of you did it?!" Fowler questioned, arms crossed over his chest.
"I did...I'm sorry, I didn't—" Sunbeam started.
"I don't care if you meant to or not! The fact still stands that it happened!" Fowler shouted.
"Can I go with you?" Sunbeam asked.
"What?" Fowler questioned.
"You said you were gonna go tell their families that they ain't comin' back...can I go with you...?" She repeated.
"Why would you want to see these people?!" Fowler wondered aloud in shock.
"It's my fault you gotta go talk to all these people...I wanna be there for 'em..." Sunbeam explained.
"Fine. But don't do anything!" Fowler ordered. "You stay in whatever vehicle form you have, and don't make a sound." Sunbeam nodded somberly and transformed into a dog.
Fowler insisted on taking the helicopter instead of the ground bridge, so it took a little longer for him and Sunbeam to reach Alaska. It took even longer to reach the first house, which was a nice little apartment in Fairbanks.
"Let's get this over with," Fowler mumbled before knocking on the door. It didn't take long for a young woman to open it, and her smile dropped even quicker.
"I'm...uh...sorry to—" Fowler didn't get to say any more before the woman sobbed and dropped to her knees, covering her face with her hands. Sunbeam glanced at Fowler for only a moment before stepping forward and nudging the woman's hands from her face before whimpering. She would've said something, but she had to keep up the act of being a dog, and last she checked, dogs didn't talk. The woman giggled a little and pet Sunbeam behind one of her ears.
"G-Good dog," the woman said. Sunbeam barked and wagged her tail.
The rest of that day was the same, every time someone would cry, Sunbeam would put her head on their lap or in their hands.
"How was the trip?" Ratchet asked when Fowler and Sunbeam returned. Fowler shook his head and Sunbeam just slinked off to where they were keeping Starscream.
"I'll just go try to get...the prisoner...to talk," she forced out.
"This is the worst part of my job..." Fowler admitted. "But, people like dogs, so having her there was a little better for a lot of them..."
"I imagine that's the worst part of anyone's job in your position," Ratchet replied. Fowler just nodded.
"It's times like this when I sure miss Prime's pep talks," Fowler joked half heartedly.
"I agree. Though, I don't know if even he'd know what to say..." Ratchet pointed out.
"Well, he'd certainly pretend to...and one could argue that that's better than nothing," Fowler responded.
Meanwhile, Sunbeam entered the room where they were holding Starscream. He was in a large cell made to accommodate Decepticons.
"Hey...you..." Sunbeam started.
"You don't even remember my name?!" Starscream shrieked. Sunbeam laughed nervously.
"Sorry...I wish I could say I did..." she admitted.
"I am Lord Starscream!" Starscream yelled.
"Lord? That's new," Sunbeam replied.
"My name's not Lord! It's Starscream! Lord is my title!" Starscream shouted.
"Oh...that makes more sense. My name's Sunbeam!"
"Of course it is..."
"What's that s'posed to mean?!"
"Never mind that! I imagine you came to ask me about what I want with the Tesseract."
"Nah, I just wanna talk," Sunbeam shrugged. Starscream sputtered out an incomprehensible response.
"You're mocking me again!"
"How is sayin' I wanna talk mocking you?!"
"You think me a fool! I won't fall for your tricks! If you want information, just ask me!"
"...You wanna talk about your evil plan, don't you?" Sunbeam realized. Starscream nodded.
"Very much so, yes."
"You must be really proud of it, then."
"Well, it's practically fool proof! Besides, telling a low level, fake Autobot can't backfire."
"That's true."
"I plan to use the power of the Tesseract to destroy all life on Cybertron and Earth, and rebuild society in my image!"
"That's...interesting. What makes ya think the Tesseract can do that?"
"I have my sources."
"Okay, don't tell me. Ya wanna play a board game?!" Sunbeam asked with sparkles in her eyes.
"Well...I suppose I could use something to stimulate my mind," Starscream agreed, scratching his chin. Sunbeam grinned.
"Perfect!" She ran to get the board game, while also telling Ratchet all about Starscream's plan.
"It was always fairly easy to crack him. He isn't the brightest Decepticon," Ratchet admitted.
"Seemed pretty smart to me," Sunbeam replied.
"Everyone seems smart to you." Sunbeam laughed.
"You're probably right. But, he won't find it in any lab..."
"If you know something, you should let the rest of us know," Ratchet insisted. Sunbeam nodded.
"You're right...I know where the Tesseract is..."