The other bots were always making remarks about how quiet and sweet and shy Eclipse was, especially considering what she had been through in the past.

Of course, they never got the chance to see what she was like when they went on patrol.

"Don't touch that," Ratchet snapped, batting Eclipse's servo away from his wrench. "I need it."

"But you're not even using it," Eclipse whined, her servo twitching. "And it's so- it's so shiny, too."

"I will be using it in a second," Ratchet muttered. "And when I do, it might just accidentally hit you in the head."

Eclipse huffed and backed away, watching as Ratchet used the sparkling tool to twist a nut and bolt into the side of whatever metal thingamabob he was tinkering with now. What it was didn't really matter to her.

What moment would be perfect to snatch that shiny wrench away from Ratchet was of greater concern.

Eclipse circled Ratchet's workspace. The medic was muttering to himself, kneeling down on the floor of the Autobot base to get better leverage. His back was to her; he was completely oblivious to her slow approach to his position, utterly engrossed in his work.

She tiptoed behind him, watching his movements observantly. Her optics widened with glee as he set the wrench down on the table beside him, grabbing another tool instead.

Eclipse smiled.

Ratchet grumbled to himself. "And if I just pull this out here... And tighten this one here... And- oh, I need my welder," he sighed, standing up. "Eclipse, can you get that for me?"

There was a pause as Ratchet waited for a response. "Eclipse?"

Ratchet's audio receptors picked up some faraway laughter. Sighing, he finally looked up.

"Eclipse, where are you? I need my welder. I think I might've put it in one of the storage closets- Hey, where'd you run off to?"

Ratchet stood up, surveying the empty base. "Where are you? And- wait, where'd my wrench go?"

Eclipse's giggles echoed throughout the base. "Come and find me!"

Ratchet rolled his optics. He didn't want to chase her now; he had important work to do.

Important work, he thought, but it still requires both a wrench and a welder.

Ratchet sighed and shook his head. "Alright, Eclipse. I'm coming to get you."

Eclipse snickered. "Okay, Daddy, but I bet you can't find me!"

"We'll see about that."

Okay, where in the world was she?

Ratchet tramped out of one of the base's various hallways for the umpteenth time, back to the main area where he had started. Eclipse hadn't been in any of her usual hideouts, and Ratchet was sure that he had checked all of them. He had already tried bribery ("If you come out I'll give you a belly rub!"), threatening ("I won't give you any more belly rubs today- no, for the next week- if you don't come out right this second!"), and even begging ("Please, Eclipse, I really have to get this done… Please, please, please just come out now…."). To his surprise, none of them had worked. He had even attempted the more scientific method of following the sound of her giggling, but with the all the echoing, he couldn't pinpoint where she was.

And anyway, she had been rather quiet recently…

Ratchet shook his head again. This was getting ridiculous.

He decided that instead of just hoping that he would be able to find Eclipse - and then hoping that he would be able to catch her- he should just get what work he could get done while he had the peace and quiet. He had his welder, after all.

He turned to the table where he had set it down and froze in his tracks.

"Eclipse! The welder, too?!" He shouted. He really needed to have a word with that little bot.

Ratchet crossed his arms, wondering what to do now. He needed to finish welding before he could continue with tightening the bolts and sorting out the wiring. Now that welding wasn't really an option, he-

Tap, tap, tap.

The noise echoed off Ratchet's helm. He looked up to see a gleeful Eclipse hanging by her tail from the ceiling, with wrench and welder in tow.

"Eclipse!" Ratchet reached up and tried to snatch the wrench out of her grip. She yanked it away, but the welder she had used to tap him on the helm fell with a clatter to the ground.

One down, one to go.

Eclipse tumbled down from the ceiling, landing gracefully. Ratchet gave chase, but Eclipse quickly flipped and scurried away. He reached for the wrench, but Eclipse stopped, arching her back, and then hissed dangerously. "My shiny!"

"Oh, no, that's not yours!" Ratchet wagged a digit at her. "Drop it."

Eclipse smirked and dangled it from her servo tantalizingly. Then, with a wink, she scampered off.

"Gimme that!" Ratchet shouted, chasing after her. He swiped at her with his servo, but she danced out of his reach, his wrench clenched between her teeth. With a quick leap, she jumped up onto one of the base's computers as Ratchet grabbed at her pedes, hoping to knock her off balance. In his furious motions he hit a button on the side of the computer. Suddenly, the screens flashed red and a loud beep blasted from the failing software. Ratchet paused, slightly dumbfounded. Eclipse took the opportunity and made off with her stolen "shiny," giggling excitedly; however, Ratchet didn't exactly feel the same way.

"Eclipse! Eclipse! Oh, come on!" he roared, torn between getting his wrench and analyzing the state of the computer. He could hear Eclipse's fading cackles as she ran off down the hallway of the base. There was no way he'd be able to catch up to her now.

Dejected, Ratchet surveyed the damage. The screens were all black now; he probably just needed to reboot the system.

He commenced the reboot. The screens blinked on once, then turned back to black.

"Are you kidding me?" Ratchet groaned. Like he needed another thing to fix.

He slumped to the floor, tired of working, tired of things breaking, tired of running after Eclipse. Maybe if he waited long enough she'd simply wear herself out and bring him the wrench on a silver platter.

With a heaving sigh, Ratchet leaned back against the broken computers and shut his optics.

"Daddy?"

"Hm!" Ratchet awoke with a start. Two giant green optics filled his vision.

Eclipse blinked, and then giggled. "Did you fall asleep?"

"I was…. just taking a quick break," Ratchet said unconvincingly, standing up and stretching. He looked at Eclipse's bare servos. She must have hidden the wrench somewhere.

Eclipse raised an eyebrow.

"Listen," Ratchet started. "Y'know, the team's gonna be back from patrol soon, and when they are, I need to have this finished and cleaned up." He gestured to the mess they had made. Then, he knelt down to Eclipse's level, speaking slowly. "But to have it done, I need my wrench first. Can you please go get it for me?"

Eclipse's expression changed from alert to guilty. She looked away, reluctant to tell him where she had hidden it.

She expertly raised her head so that her two big optics would look even sadder. Ratchet barely managed to refrain from giving in- those sad puppy-dog eyes usually got him. But with difficulty, he held strong, and said, "Go get it."

Defeated, Eclipse trudged down the hallway. She returned soon after with the stolen object clutched tightly in her servo.

Ratchet held out his servo, and Eclipse hesitantly placed the wrench in it.

"Bye, bye, shiny," she murmured, watching as Ratchet knelt down and once again resumed his work.

It hurt Ratchet's spark to hear that, and he immediately felt guilty. He sighed, standing up, and put the wrench on the table. "Come here," he called to Eclipse.

She did, albeit rather sadly, even as Ratchet picked her up and squeezed her in a big hug. "It's alright, Eclipse. Here, I'll even scratch you."

Ratchet scratched under her chin, and Eclipse couldn't help but let out a small purr. Ratchet laughed at that; and soon Eclipse joined in.

He then moved his servo up to pet the top of her head and scratched behind the part of Eclipse's helm that stuck out like little cat ears. They twitched as he moved his hand.

Suddenly, Eclipse's optics grew large as Ratchet's servo progressed.

Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunka-thunk-thunk.

Eclipse's leg began shaking, hitting the floor in a steady rhythm as Ratchet scratched. Ratchet tried to suppress a chuckle, but Eclipse's awkward expression and spastic leg soon became too much for him and he doubled over in guffaws.

"E…Eclipse!" he exclaimed breathlessly between bouts of laughter. "Eclipse… what was… what was that?"

Eclipse's faceplate was quite red by now, but she couldn't help but laugh along with Ratchet. "I… I don't know," she giggled, watching as Ratchet steadied himself, leaning on the computers. He shook his head, chortling.

Just then Team Prime pulled back into the base. They quickly transformed.

Arcee paused. "What's with you guys?"

Ratchet and Eclipse looked at each other, trying to suppress their laughter. "Well…"

Arcee raised an eyebrow.

"Alright," Ratchet said, watching as the other bots gained interest. "Come on, Eclipse, show them." He reached to scratch her behind the ears again.

"No!" Eclipse shrieked, giggling embarrassedly, noticing that all of Team Prime was staring at them. She dodged Ratchet's hand.

"Oh, come on, Eclipse!" Ratchet said. "It was funny."

Eclipse looked at Ratchet, then back to the team. She glanced back at Ratchet again, and then something caught her eye.

She dashed at the startled medic and leaped over him, grabbing the wrench off the table and fleeing happily down the hallway, laughing up a storm.

"Eclipse!" Ratchet complained. "Eclipse! Oh, not again!"

He sighed as the rest of Team Prime (excluding Optimus, of course) began chuckling.

"That worked out well," Arcee said. Behind her, Bulkhead snorted.

Ratchet gave her a look, and then shook his head, smiling wryly. "What can I say? She's spirited."