Disclaimer: I don't own Beast Wars or Transformers, just my OC and this branch-off of BeautyBedamned's AU, Once on this Earth. She also has dibs on Caitlin and Doozy, and UpperTorso owns Dinobot and Rattrap's anthro designs.

The Walls Come Down

“I saw that,” Rattrap grinned, arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his lips.

Dinobot managed to keep his composure, despite being somewhat startled by the rodent's sudden appearance. He snarled, one scythe-like claw scraping noisily against the compacted dirt. “I beg your pardon?”

Rattrap was hardly deterred by the raptor's attempt to come off as something threatening. It was a facade hard to believe when those tell-tale signs were still stuck in the gleam of his red eyes. “I saw the way you were lookin' at her,” he explained, looking past Dinobot and toward the object of his affection laughing with Caitlin and Doozy in the distance.

Dinobot tensed, a low growl rising in the back of his throat. “I was merely observing.”

“Uh huh, sure ya were,” Rattrap laughed and waved Dinobot's see-through notion off. “What exactly were ya observin', then?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow knowingly at the saurian. “I sure as the Pit bet it wasn't the scenery.”

Dinobot's blood felt as though it was running a little hotter through his veins. “That is none of your concern,” he snapped, and regretted those words not seconds later. There was not a single doubt in his mind that Rattrap saw right through what he had just said – and the smug grin spreading across his lips once more confirmed the worst for Dinobot. Rattrap knew, and there was no way around it.

“Get out of my sight, filthy vermin,” Dinobot mumbled, stepping forward and shoving passed the rat.

“S'alright, y'know,” Rattrap said, and though Dinobot's back was to him, he could tell by the sudden change of tone in his voice that the shit-eating grin was gone.

Dinobot stopped a step behind the smaller Maximal. “Excuse me?”

“S'alright to feel the way ya do,” Rattrap mumbled, cocking his head to the side to watch Caty playfully prod Amanda, voicing something that made the older of the two flush and shy away. “An' she's a good kid. For a human.”

Dinobot lowered his gaze to the ground. “If this has any point, I suggest you get to it.”

“I dunno what it is she sees in ya,” Rattrap chuckled quietly, half-heartedly, “but it's somethin' that means th' world to her. An', I'll be slagged, but there's somethin' in her you're seein', too, an' I think it means jus' as much to you as it does to her.”

Dinobot sighed heavily, slowly turning around to stare at the back of his comrade. “Regardless – ”

“Regardless,” Rattrap started, turning on his heel to face the turn-coat, “you're just gonna walk away like it means nothin', right?”

A growl rose in Dinobot's throat. “You tread on dangerous ground, mouse.”

“Yeah,” Rattrap muttered, “your kind never was good at facin' facts.” He sneered as he shoved passed Dinobot, his smaller body barely causing the bigger male to budge, though he did succeed in making his skin crawl. “Jus' swallow your fraggin' pride an' tell her ya love 'er before it's too late. Otherwise,” he paused, glancing back over his shoulder to the other hybrid, “you'll regret it later on. Trust me.”

Rattrap left Dinobot to stare toward the compound door even after he had vanished inside, fists clenched and trembling. One day, he promised himself, he would understand just why Rattrap was able to cut him deeper than any other. Until then, however, he could only stare dumbfounded at the open door that let the warm summer breeze sift through and across the ground level, dreading the pounding in his chest.

Footsteps fast approaching made him whirl around, in time to catch Amanda in his arms as her smaller body collided with his bigger one. He looked from her, then ahead to where Caty decided suddenly to take Doozy by the arm and lead him in a different direction. Growling quietly, he glanced back down to Amanda and helped her to stand properly once again.

“I'm sorry,” she laughed sheepishly, “I should have watched where I was going.”

“You most certainly should have,” he muttered, looking to the side.

She brushed her hair out of her face, tucking a lock behind her ear. “What were you doing out here, anyway? I thought you would have been inside with your teammates or something.”

“I had other business to attend,” he said, slowly looking back to her. The urge to take her wrist in his and pull her forward, closer, was almost too much to bear – and it was in that moment he knew Rattrap's words had a ring of truth to them.

“Oh? Like?”

“There were walls that needed to be bulldozed.”

Amanda cocked her head to the side. “What?”

“Forget it. It's not important,” he said, stepping aside to allow her passage into the compound. “Come with me for a moment?”

She nodded and began to walk slowly inside with Dinobot at her side. “Do you need me for something?”

“Yes,” Dinobot said quietly. “There's something I believe you should hear.”