When Optimus had called Moonracer into his office a few days ago in the Iacon base, she was slightly nervous. She was afraid it might have been because she had accidentally shot Sunstreaker in the aft when they were out on a mission yesterday. She knew Optimus couldn't be that mad, but seeing as this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, she was worried his temper might have been raised a little.

Moonracer, although she wasn't exactly a shy femme, generally kept to herself. Her only friend was a ninja bot named Windblade, and the two were an inseparable pair. The only bot Moonracer felt she could talk to and confide in with the same ease was Optimus.

She knocked hesitantly on the Prime's door and entered with a resigned sigh.

Optimus was at his desk, working on datapads as usual, and he glanced up when she came in, "Good afternoon, Moonracer."

"Hey Prime." She fidgeted guiltily and then blurted out, "If this is about Sunstreaker, I'm really sorry. He startled me, and I thought he was a Decepticon, and I-"

"Wait, wait." He waved a servo, "What happened with Sunstreaker?"

"You didn't know?" Moonracer face-palmed. She had basically just tattled on herself, "Oh, nothing really happened…"

"Moonracer." Optimus raised an optic ridge and she winced.

"I might have, ah, shot him. In the aft. Sir."

"You shot-" Optimus scrubbed his faceplates with his servos, "Oh Primus."

"It was an accident." She said helplessly.

"You know what," The Prime sighed and stood up, "This proves the reason I called you in here well. Although you have a kind spark and care much about your fellow soldiers, you yourself are not the best soldier I have."

He was smiling a little, but Moonracer was still unsure if this was going down a good road or a bad road.

"However," He continued, "One thing you are very talented at, and seem to enjoy, is caring for others, medically. For example, after you shot Sunstreaker, I'm sure you kept him from bleeding out from his….wounds."

"Well, yeah." Moonracer said uncertainly, "Where are you heading with this?"

"You know of Ratchet, the medic stationed on Earth?" Optimus said, "He is one of my oldest friends."

"Ratchet?" Moonracer's optics grew huge, "The best medic on Cybertron? Is he your oldest friend like you've known him longest, or is he just really old?"

Optimus considered and then chuckled, "Both. Although he would not be happy about the second part. But I was going to say that I've arranged for you to have an apprenticeship with him, if you would like to."

"If I would like to?" She whispered excitedly, "Are you crazy? Of course I would like to! I would love to!" She bit her lip guiltily, "But don't you need me here? You don't have many soldiers."

"Yes, but what I have even fewer of are medics." He sighed and smiled at her, "Although you will be sorely missed, Moonracer, you will make a much better medic than a soldier, and I'm sure a lot of the bots in the base would agree with me."

"Sunstreaker included." She said sheepishly and he laughed a little.

"And in case you were unhappy about leaving Windblade behind," He added, "I have also secured her an apprenticeship on Earth with Drift. She is packing right now. Why don't you go join her?"

"Gah!" Moonracer exclaimed happily, barely able to get the words out, and hugged the surprised Prime, "Thanks Prime. I am so ready for this!"

She practically skipped out the door, leaving the Prime standing there, smiling a little. Although he would never admit it, the young bots were always his favorite soldiers. They were always so happy and full of life. The war wasn't weighing heavily on them quite yet.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Moonracer burst excitedly into her best friend's quarters as Windblade was packing one of her swords. Startled, the ninja bot whipped the blade around and pointed it at Moonracer's nose.

" 'Blade!" Moonracer said happily and Windblade lowered her sword.

"Hey Moon." She smiled, "Excited for Earth?"

"Yes!" The green and white femme pumped her fists.

"I can't believe it." Windblade sat on her berth and Moonracer sat next to her, "Drift is one of the most amazing ninja masters that have ever existed."

"And Ratchet is the best medic on Cybertron!" Moonracer said excitedly, "I can't wait! Only…"

"Only what?" Her companion asked.

Moonracer's shoulders slumped, "What if I mess this up too? I mean this is the opportunity of a lifetime, but I don't have the best luck with...well, anything."

"You won't know until you try." Windblade tried to cheer her up, "And at least you know you can't shoot Ratchet in the aft. You won't even be in the field!"

Moonracer laughed, brightening a little, "I'm sure I would find a way."

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Moonracer had been very excited to meet Ratchet and get started on her apprenticeship for the entire night and next morning. Finally, it was time for the two to leave and they said goodbye to everyone and stepped through the spacebridge. Moonracer hugged Optimus again.

In the base on Earth, the two femmes were escorted to their new quarters by none other than Arcee herself, who Windblade was very excited to finally meet. She had arrived on Cybertron after the team for Earth had already departed, and so she had never gotten to meet the legendary femme warrior.

On the way they passed three small, curious looking organisms, who were apparently the inhabitants of this planet, called humans.

"Jack!" The tiny female with black and pink fur on her head complained, "Can't you help me practice guitar for just a second?"

"Leave him alone, Miko." said a small teenaged boy with strange glass frames on his face, hardly even glancing up from his book, "He's studying for his first college midterm."

The conversation of the small beings was completely lost on the two femmes, and they continued on to their quarters, dropping their things off before heading to their first day.

As Moonracer approached the Medbay, she felt a little nervous, but she didn't allow herself to dwell on it long, knocking quietly on the open door.

The mech standing with his back to her was a stark contrast to what she had imagined. She had thought Ratchet would be an old, rusty, bent over mech, shuffling around in a dark and crowded room. She was very, very wrong.

The mech before her stood in a pristine white Medbay with his back straight, helm bent slightly over his datapads. His finish was still a colorful red and white, and he was in remarkably good condition for a mech of his age. He seemed to hold himself with an air of confidence and strength, and when his optics finally snapped up to meet hers, she realized they were a sharp intelligent dark blue. Moonracer was actually thinking maybe this job wouldn't go so bad.

That is, until he opened his mouth.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

The poor exhausted femme did not leave the Medbay until the early hours of the morning. Ratchet had had her working non stop on reports, of which there were huge stacks to be finished, and of course he was looking over her shoulder the entire time, correcting her mistakes. The mech seemed to have no concept of the passage of time, and he demanded absolute perfection and preciseness, which Moonracer wasn't sure she could provide.

He had at least had the decency to tell her not to come in until later the next morning, realizing how late it was. However, Moonracer was still left with the feeling of hopelessness, frustration, and an impending sense of doom.

As soon as she got back to her quarters, she collapsed on her berth. Windblade was still up next door, practicing her training, and she heard Moonracer come in.

"Are you just getting back?" The red femme asked when her friend opened the door.

'Yes." She groaned. She let Windblade in and promptly laid back down on the berth.

"How was it?" Windblade sat worriedly next to her.

"Not the best." Moonracer sighed, "He's a perfectionist, so I seem to do everything wrong. More than usual. And he's starting me off on reports, which is great, but I really want to learn medical stuff, not be a secretary. Hopefully he lets me; he seems like he's just trying to make me stay out of the way."

"Really?" Windblade frowned, 'What an afthole."

Moonracer waved her servo, "I don't really blame him; he didn't even want an apprentice. Optimus forced me on him. I wouldn't want to deal with me either."

"He's not 'dealing' with you, Moon." Windblade argued, "He's lucky to have you. You're already so good at what you do that someday you're going to be the best apprentice he's ever had. Who knows, maybe you'll even be better than him."

"As if that's even possible." Moonracer snorted, "No one could be better than the best." Then she sighed, "I don't know, 'Blade. I just have a feeling that at some point something will go horribly wrong."

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Ratchet finally finished all of the reports at around 4 am(in Earth time), and called Optimus, who he knew would be awake. He fumed to himself as he waited for the Prime to pick up, sourly thinking that he would have finished sooner if he hadn't had to teach that apprentice how to do reports.

"Hello?" Optimus answered and saw Ratchet, "Ah. Hello, old friend."

"Optimus." The medic said shortly, folding his arms.

"How was the first day with Moonracer?" Optimus asked, noticing his friend's grumpy stance.

"Horrible." Ratchet said, tapping his ped, "She is almost completely unknowledgeable about anything medical, she is rude, and she is young and naive. You must take her back."

"Ratchet." The Prime suppressed a smile, "Every one of those statements was a lie and you know it."

"Not every one." The medic grumbled, "She is young and naive."

"Young, yes." Optimus smiled, "But she makes up for it by having a good helm on her shoulders. She isn't a bad medic either, for being self-taught; she's even saved a few lives. Have you tested her medical know-how yet?"

"Not yet."

The Prime gave him a confused look, "Then what did you have her doing all day?"

Ratchet sighed, "Reports. As I have told you repeatedly, Optimus, I do not want another apprentice."

"Give her a chance, Ratchet." Optimus said, "I feel that she will be of great help to you, if you let her. And remember how you never liked any of your apprentices at first?"

The white and red bot sighed wearily, "Fine. I will give her a chance to prove herself."

"Good."

"But." The medic narrowed his optics, "You must promise me, Optimus, no more apprentices after this. She is the last one."

"Why do you not want any more, Ratchet?"

"Optimus, as you keep incessantly pointing out to me, I am very old and tired. I just want to be left alone to…." The medic hesitated and closed his optics, deciding not to scare his friend, "To run my Medbay in peace. Not have to teach bots things constantly. Not have to always be around all these energetic young bots. Just...quiet."

"You were going to say something else." The Prime said quietly

"So what if I was?"

Optimus observed his friend silently for a moment, "Very well. You shall have no more apprentices after Moonracer; she is the last one. I promise."