Author's Note: You didn't really think I'd leave it at that, did you? I may be particularly cruel, but I'm not that cruel. Either way, I finally have a bit of a plot floating around in my head. I'm not entirely sure it can be called that… let's call it a pre-plot, shall we? This is my first crack at a fanfiction that isn't a one-shot. Got a lot of the fifth chapter written – it was originally part of this one, but then this one suddenly jumped to nearly seven thousand words, so I split it into two. Reviews are love! They fuel my creative muse and make me want to update.
"Mikaela…"
"No… Don't touch me!"
"Mikaela!"
Mikaela jolted awake and shot upright, flinging herself from the bed and backing up against the wall, dragging ragged breath from her lungs as she frantically took in her surroundings. The panic she felt vanished when she realized that she was in the inn that they had stopped at that night. Ratchet's holoform stood from the edge of the bed slowly, holding his hands out toward her in a nonthreatening gesture, as though he was approaching a terrified animal. Mikaela exhaled sharply.
"Ratch?"
She sagged against him when he stepped close enough and he put both hands on her shoulders to steady her, his unnaturally blue eyes gazing at her pallid face in concern.
"You had a nightmare," he said. It was not a question.
"Yeah," Mikaela said finally. She brought a shaky hand up to wipe at the cold sweat forming on her brow and realized that her cheeks were wet with tears. "A really bad one."
"Would you like to talk about it?" He asked gently. Mikaela shook her head silently, her hair falling in front of her eyes. She felt nauseated and feeble as she pulled herself out of Ratchet's grasp and stumbled across the hotel room to collapse on the foot of the bed and lean forward to angle her head between her knees in an attempt to stop the encroaching queasiness. She sat this way for several moments, eyes shut and swaying gently before sliding off the bed suddenly, wobbling in place for a moment and walking quickly across the floor, toward the end of the room.
"I think I'm going to be sick," she explained simply when Ratchet looked after her questioningly. She reached the bathroom, knelt before the commode and heaved, wincing when nothing came up. Ratchet was at her side in an instant, pulling her hair to the back of her neck with one hand and rubbing reassuring circles on her back with the other.
"Shhh," he soothed as she choked again, whimpering. "It's alright."
She fell back onto his chest in exhaustion, shaking and trembling in waves against him. He immediately hefted her shivering form into his arms, carrying her back to the bed. After securing her beneath the blankets, Ratchet left the bedroom, returning a moment later with two washcloths and a glass of water. The holoform sat lightly on the edge of the bed, tucking the covers tighter around her and using one of the cloths to wipe her face. He helped her sip the water before folding the second damp cloth and laying it across her forehead, smoothing her hair as he did so.
"It will pass, Mikaela," he said reassuringly, patting her on the hand. "You will feel better in the morning."
"Okay," she conceded, too tired to tell him that that particular notion did nothing for her at this time. "Stay with me, kay?"
Ratchet studied her with kind eyes and Mikaela felt like he may have known exactly what her nightmare had included, somehow. She quickly shook the thought away and the images that had returned to her mind with it. The pain had seemed so real, to have lost so many close to her in such a short time, and so brutally… Her thoughts trailed off and she was startled when Ratchet reached forward with a tissue from the nightstand to wipe at her face. She hadn't even realized that she was crying.
"Everyone died," she told him softly, before she could stop herself.
"Everyone?"
"Well, no… I guess Optimus was okay, and Sam and… Well, Bee and Jazz died and," she rambled, trailing off and turning pleading eyes on Ratchet.
"And?"
"And Ironhide," she said, wincing. Ratchet continued to gaze at her evenly. "And you. I woke up and you said that the base had been attacked, and then Starscream and Sideways and Barricade showed up and killed you, right in front of me."
She was beginning to fall into hysterics and her breathing hitched as she sat up, coming in sharp inhales and long exhales. Ratchet wrapped his fingers around her chin, tilting her face to look at him, his blue eyes shining in the dim light.
"Mikaela," he said gently, "I am here. Nothing happened. I spoke to Optimus less than two hours ago, to inform him of our location and situation and everything on the base is as it should be."
"Yeah," she said stiffly, but Ratchet noted some of the tension leaving her limbs.
"Nightmares can seem very real," he continued, removing his hand from her chin and patting her hand again. "But I assure you, Mikaela, it was only that; A nightmare."
"Okay," Mikaela conceded, her features finally slackening.
"Now, get some sleep. You will feel better in the morning and we have a long day ahead. I will stay right here."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Mikaela was out like a light, falling into a deeper, dreamless sleep.
She was roused early the next morning by Ratchet shaking her shoulder gently. She cracked her eyes open with a groan, noting dully that it was barely light outside.
"What time is it?" she croaked, wincing at the dryness in her throat.
"It's six in the morning," Ratchet said quietly, handing her a glass of water and flipping on the lamp that sat on the bedside table. Mikaela winced, wiggling into a sitting position and sipping warily at the water.
"Fuck, that's early," Mikaela said, deciding to pretend she didn't hear Ratchet's amused snort. She swore that she hadn't been asleep for more than five minutes.
"How do you feel?" Ratchet asked.
Mikaela considered this for a moment, tilting her head and swallowing a few times. "Better," she finally said, pleased.
"Good," Ratchet replied. "Time to get up. We need to try to be out of here in half an hour. I'm going to go check out with the inn keeper. Will you be alright here?"
Mikaela nodded distractedly, throwing the blankets off and rolling out of the bed with a long groan. Ratchet gave her one last amused look before leaving the room to check out. Continuing to grumble loudly, Mikaela made her way to the small bathroom. Ratchet had set her bag on the sink counter for her, and she pulled out her hair brush, wincing as she ripped out what felt like dozens of hairs by their roots as she tried to tame the tangles that had nestled there overnight. After wrestling with it for the better part of five minutes, she finally had it tamed enough to look at least halfway like she wasn't a crazed mental ward escapee. Frowning, she pulled out her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth zealously; removing any traces of the previous night's… escapades.
No sooner had she idly began to wonder when Ratchet would be back than his holoform wandered back in through the door, shaking his head and muttering to himself about human females. He stopped as he walked by the open bathroom door, turning to face Mikaela as she brushed her teeth and just watched, squinting slightly at her.
Mikaela threw him a look, eyebrows raised as if to say 'What the hell are you looking at?'
"Human hygiene is intriguing," he explained, holding a hand up in self defense. Mikaela would have snorted if it weren't for the fear of spraying minty bubbles through her nose by doing so.
She rinsed her mouth and tossed her toothbrush and effects back in her bag, zipping it up and slinging it over her shoulder.
"What about human females, now?" she asked.
"Oh," Ratchet said, clearly not expecting to be overheard in his muttering. "The… the female at the desk asked me on a… an outing."
"An outing," Mikaela repeated as she cocked a hip and looked at Ratchet, humor dancing in her eyes.
"Yes, an outing."
"You mean she asked you out on a daaate," Mikaela drawled, teasing.
Ratchet gave her a withering glare and Mikaela burst into giggles. Somehow, through her laughter she managed to pat him weakly on the shoulder. He only managed to look more miffed.
"Laugh about it all you want. It was awkward."
Mikaela laughed herself all the way to the front door before quieting down and then, turning around and taking in the stricken look on his features, couldn't help but laugh some more. Ratchet bopped her gently on the head as he walked out after her, shutting the door behind him.
Mikaela finally got a hold of herself, taking a moment to breathe in the fresh air outside. She didn't know why she was surprised to find that there was no forest outside of the inn, as there had been in her dream. This was a desert, after all… the dream had just seemed so real. She shook her head again, offering Ratchet an overly bright smile as his holoform came to carry her bag back to his waiting alt. form. She followed him around to the parking lot and climbed in as the holo dissipated, unable to stop a small sigh of relief from escaping at the feel of returning to somewhere familiar and safe.
The rest of the drive passed with relatively little incident, though Mikaela did catch Ratchet breaching the speed limit a few times. The CMO grumbled and muttered as she teased him relentlessly, threatening to "go and tattle to Optimus."
"Tattle all you want, youngling," he said. "We are late."
"My bad," Mikaela replied, feeling a little honest guilt work its way into her psych.
She could almost feel Ratchet scowling at her reprovingly when he said "It was not your fault, Mikaela. Those things are beyond your control. Although… Don't let me catch you eating that slag again!"
Mikaela had laughed good-naturedly and smacked at his dashboard, insisting that she rarely got sick from fast food – at which point, Ratchet chose only to grumble on to himself.
The scenery passed slowly and another two and a half hours rolled by before they reached Flagstaff, Arizona. Mikaela convinced Ratchet to stop here, so that she could relieve her screaming bladder and grab a bottle of green tea, looking at Ratchet as though he had sprouted several more heads from random places on his frame when he asked her why she hadn't gotten anything to eat.
"I don't want to be puking the rest of the way there, Ratch," Mikaela snorted. "And I doubt that you want to deal with stopping every ten minutes."
"Your stomach is still not settled?"
"It's not really that… I mean, I only feel a little queasy now, but I don't want to chance it."
"You'll have to eat soon, Mikaela," Ratchet warned her.
"Yep, I know. I'll grab something light before the end of the day… some crackers or toast or something."
Ratchet merely resumed his grumbling as they pulled back onto the road. From Flagstaff it was another hour and a half (and another two bottles of tea, per Ratchet's orders) to another circle of civilization called Holbrook. Holbrook was a small town outside the Petrified Forest, which, as Mikaela soon realized, was not really a forest at all, but a National Park founded on fossilized trees that had fallen thousands of years ago. She gazed raptly at the fossilized trees as they swept by, earning a small grunt of displeasure from Ratchet as she pressed her face against the window eagerly.
"Hey Ratch, can we-"
"No."
"But-"
"No."
"Could we just-"
"No."
Mikaela sat back in her seat, crossing her arms and pouting. "You're no fun."
"We're running late, Mikaela," Ratchet insisted.
"I know," she sighed. "Maybe we can see it on the way back?"
"Perhaps."
Mikaela loosed a dramatic, long-suffering sigh and leaned her head against the window again, staring through the glass for a few more moments before falling into a doze. When she woke up, it was to the sound of a nearby horn honking and several resounding loudly in response. She blinked heavily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the back of a hand and sitting up straight to look out Ratchet's windshield.
"Where are we?" she asked, not bothering to stifle a yawn.
"We're in Albuquerque," Ratchet informed her, sounding annoyed.
"New Mexico?" She asked incredulously.
"Yes. You slept for about four hours."
"Holy crap," Mikaela said, blinking. "I think I'm turning into a narcoleptic."
Ratchet didn't have a response for that, instead focusing on the back up of traffic that they had somehow found themselves in. He growled and grumbled at other cars (and sometimes their drivers when they didn't move fast enough or dared to honk at him) as they moved along – Mikaela thought they were probably going a whole fifteen miles an hour down the interstate through town.
Two hours later (and now more time behind schedule) saw them within Santa Fe city limits. It was here that Ratchet decided that Mikaela needed to eat and refused to heed her protests when she said she didn't want anything. He pulled up to a relatively small general/grocery store off the freeway and Mikaela grudgingly hopped out.
"Get something light, at least," he said as she walked away. "And no junkfood!"
Mikaela shoved her hands in her pockets, muttering angrily to herself as she walked through the automatic doors and into the store, tossing a dirty look at the rep. behind the customer service counter when he tilted an eyebrow at her in amusement.
She emerged from the store fifteen minutes later, climbing into Ratchet's cab (still muttering) and dumping her bag's contents – a box of saltines, two bottles of 7UP, a banana and some antacid- across his seats.
"Happy now?" she asked, annoyed.
"Much better," Ratchet replied mildly, seeming amused at her offense.
Mikaela merely continued grumbling at muttering, nibbling at her crackers as they resumed driving and Ratchet could not help a mental grin at the thought that his assistant apparently picked up his behaviors very easily.
It was another three hours and two hundred miles or so to the Colorado state line, into a town called Trinidad. By the time they had crossed over from New Mexico, the sun was dipping low below the horizon and Mikaela, stiff, sore and sleepy, was getting more and more cranky with every moment that dragged by. Ratchet, ever observant, broke the long silence as they left Trinidad, heading north.
"Once we get to Pueblo, we'll get you a room for the night," he said, and Mikaela thought he sounded tired, but, knowing that he would probably argue, couldn't muster the will to comment on it. "Our guide has been informed that we are coming in now, but it's getting dark and will be too late for us to do what we came for. We will have to wait until tomorrow, when it is daylight."
"Do we know where we're going?" Mikaela asked, stifling a yawn with her hand. "Where we're staying, I mean?"
"Yes, they've procured a room for you for the duration of our stay at a hotel on the northern end of town called Holiday Inn," Ratchet explained.
"And what about you?"
"I was offered board in a warehouse just outside of town at the airway museum. They had it set up to suit my size."
"Had?"
"Do you honestly think I would leave you at the hotel on your own?"
Mikaela blinked. "Oh, no, no, no. Ratchet, you are not staying in a hotel parking lot for… for however long we're here."
"I see no other option," Ratchet said dryly, "As I cannot very well fit myself into the room set aside for you."
Mikaela slapped a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "Damn it, Ratchet!"
"Damn it, Mikaela," Ratchet repeated in monotone, unenthused.
"Don't you think you should consider yourself?" Mikaela growled, smacking at the dashboard. "I'll be fine on my own!"
"And if you are attacked by a 'Con? What will you do then? Throw your purse? Stab it in the optic with your lip gloss?"
Mikaela twitched in surprise. 'I had no idea he had it in him,' she thought to herself. 'Okay, maybe I did. But still.'
She pushed her amusement at his comment aside for another time, narrowing her eyes with dangerous intensity.
Ratchet took her silence as submission to his point and said "Exactly. There isn't anything you could do to defend yourself if you were attacked, Mikaela."
Mikaela glared heatedly at the dashboard.
"I don't even wear lip gloss, ya big green jackass! If you've got a problem with me staying at the hotel by myself, why don't I just come and stay at the warehouse thing with you?" She countered.
"I highly doubt they have human beds set out, Mikaela."
"I can sleep on your seats."
"You've been sitting in my cab the entire drive, I am certain you're tired of it," Ratchet pointed out. Then, as an afterthought; "And I can feel the stiffness in your muscles from here."
"So? You deserve a little comfort," Mikaela retorted irritably. "I'm not about to let you sit out in a tiny little parking spot in your alt. mode in the wind, rain, heat and God-only-knows-what-other kind of weather. Think about yourself, for once in your existence."
A heavy mechanical sigh trickled out of Ratchet's speakers, and Mikaela had the distinct impression that the CMO was attempting to curl in on himself. She felt guilty instantly.
"Look, Ratch," she sighed, "I'm sorry. I just… I don't like the idea of you being uncomfortable while I'm comfortable when there's another option. I would be fine with sleeping in your cab for a few days, or however long we're here. You'll be comfortable and I'll be safe at the same time."
Ratchet, unable to further argue her point, conceded with; "We'll talk about this later. For tonight, though, you will have to settle for the hotel. It's already been booked and it would not be fair of us to ask for our receiving organization and guide to change everything at the last moment."
Mikaela, as much as she wanted to, couldn't argue the logic in Ratchet's point. She huffed and flopped back onto the seat dramatically. Cracking open her last 7up and sipping at it moodily, she stared out the window at the scenery as the colors began to change with the setting sun. The vegetation (or lack thereof) had gradually, over the state line, bled into an odd sort of desert-prairie hybrid. When she had asked Ratchet about it, he had informed her that the term was semi-arid desert, and much of the southern and eastern parts of the state had the same terrain.
He also explained that the state was diverse, as far as landscape went. The desert gradually eased and dissipated completely the further east one went, eventually turning into the start of the rolling Great Plains. If the interstate they were currently on were to be followed north, the desert would taper off about halfway up the state before turning into a greener, foot-hill terrain. West were the huge peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the sub-range of the Sangre de Cristo's, constantly looming, blue, on the horizon. Pueblo, Ratchet also explained, was the hottest, driest place in the state, and its largest desert city.
Mikaela huffed, crossing her arms. "Stupid friggin' terrain can't make up its mind."
She knew there was no real reason for her crabbiness, other than such a long and boring car ride coupled with the aftereffects of food poisoning, but that didn't stop her from pouting. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she caught the chuckle Ratchet was apparently unable to hold back.
When they rounded a bend, however, Mikaela's thoughts on her bad mood evaporated in the wake of the scenery change. Looking out Ratchet's driver's side window, she saw the mountains he mentioned, standing in sharp contrast to the dusky sky, the sun setting behind them – casting all of the foothills in the shadow of late evening. As the sun set, the last rays of its light crested the mountain peak, making the clouds above look wavy in the light. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket, switching to its forward-facing camera and snapping a few photos, making a mental reminder to post them for Sam on Facebook later.
Perhaps with an added bit of 'Nyah, nyah, look where I am! Hawaii isn't the only pretty state! Bitch.'
She stuffed her iPod back into her pocket with a self-satisfied little grin. A glance at the clock on the dash told her that it was just after 8pm. "How much longer until… until-"
"Pueblo."
"How much longer until Pueblo," Mikaela asked.
"An hour and a half, conditions permitting."
Mikaela huffed a somewhat irritated sigh, blowing her hair out of her face.
"Almost there," Ratchet said, his voice placating. "Not long now."
"Tell that to my legs," Mikaela grumbled, stretching out across the seat. "So, remind me what the game plan is again?"
"For tomorrow? We will meet with our assigned guide in the morning, and he will take us to one of several points of observation. He has not been given much information on the whereabouts of the signal we picked up, as that has mostly been contained within the Autobots and certain members of N.E.S.T."
"Oh. Well, what are we going to do?"
"We will investigate and use his knowledge of the area, along with what we know, to determine why the Decepticons are here and what they are after."
"And from there?"
"From there we do our best to stop them. We may need to, at that point, call for backup to solve the situation. It depends on how many 'Cons are involved, who they are and if we catch them at all."
Mikaela nodded, trying not to think about Ratchet being outnumbered by multiple Decepticons. She had faith in him, to be sure, but the nightmare had still rattled her and she knew that she was going to be somewhat clingy for a while – part of the reason she insisted on staying with him at the warehouse they had set up, not that she'd ever admit it to him.
She tried halfheartedly to fall back to sleep for the remainder of the drive, but the endeavor proved unsuccessful. Eventually she resigned herself to staring at the window into the darkness, watching as the occasional car passed by in the oncoming lane. She was nearly beside herself with boredom when they finally crested a small hill and a patch of lights in the distance made her sit up and stare out the window.
"Is that it?"
"Yes," Ratchet said, his voice betraying his exhaustion. "That is it. Thank Primus."
"No kidding," Mikaela laughed, slumping back down in her seat with relief. "It's about damn time."
As it turned out, Pueblo was a small town, and Mikaela judged that it took roughly fifteen minutes to get from one side of town to the other. The hotel that she was staying at was, as Ratchet mentioned, the Holiday Inn on the north side (she didn't even know towns this small could be classified as having 'sides'). It was so far north, in fact, that is was on the outskirts of the city limits, looking down on most of the town from a high ridge. Mikaela could see clear to the southern city limits from the parking lot.
Her heart nearly burst in joy as Ratchet's alt. form slowed to a stop and the sound of the engine died. She popped the door open immediately, sliding from his seats and cursing when her legs nearly buckled underneath her weight. It had been several hours since their last stop, and the cramps in Mikaela's legs reminded her of it vehemently. She cursed, limping around in a circle for a moment before leaning stiffly on Ratchet's side.
"Are you alright?"
"Yep," she hissed. "Fine. Just stiff. Workin' it out."
"Go on up and get settled, Mikaela," Ratchet encouraged. "The room has already been paid for. You just need to go to the front desk and get your key cards. The room number is 104, just give them that and your name."
Mikaela dealt Ratchet a hard look, hoping to get the message that she didn't like leaving him out here in the parking lot alone across with just a look. It seemed to work. Ratchet nudged her with the open door, his voice tired; "Go on, youngling. Your room faces the back on the ground floor, so I'll pull around and stay next to your window. I'm going to confirm our arrival with Optimus and fall into recharge immediately. I'll be fine."
"Okay," Mikaela said hesitantly. "If you're sure."
"I am."
"Kay. I guess I'll see you in the morning, then," Mikaela leaned forward against his hood, splaying her arms and legs in what could constitute as a car hug, not caring that she probably looked absolutely insane to anyone who might see her. "G'night, Ratchet."
"Good night, little one. Sleep well."
Mikaela hobbled her way over to the hotel entrance, stopping in the entryway and turning back to deal the Hummer one last smile before stepping inside. The place was immaculate, but welcoming, and check-in went mercifully quick. Mikaela quickly made her way through the halls, finding her door and somehow summoning the dexterity to unlock it with the keycard on the first try. She pushed the door open, and dropped her bag on the couch in the sitting area, kicking off her shoes and dropping her jeans as she stumbled into the bedroom. She looked out the window and gave the Hummer sitting underneath it a thumbs up, smiling when she got a flash of headlights in response. She turned back toward the bed and pulled the sheet and comforter down and flipped off the lights.
She flopped down on the mattress and was instantly carried off to sleep.
