Beta updated 2/9/19
Sorry guys, but I've been having issues re-typing chapter 5 and I hate not updating for a month. I think it's only been three weeks... sorry. That being said, I've finally got an idea so I'm working on that and I hope I'll be able to post on time next time.
Huge thanks to L.J. Gryphon who I've dumped all my chapters on to beta. Means a lot even though I posted this before I sent it to you... I went and tweaked it again... *heh heh*
Reviews! I love you guys!
Princess Kassie: I love this story, I really do and I want to finish it. That being said, my writing style has changed so much from the old chapter 1 to where I got on chapter 20-something that I just had to rewrite it and tweak stuff to make the whole thing make more sense.
Guest: I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.
Answerthecall: Yeah, he has a lot to learn. And it's so much fun rewriting everything. I just have to laugh.
Neon: Yes he still is. I'm going off of movie-verse with whatever the heck I call what I'm doing but basically, I kinda figured that Ratchet and Ironhide are about the same size, about twenty feet tall while Prime stands at about 25. That being said, at this moment, Ratchet's about 17 feet tall and Chrome is 20.
Child of John snow: Yes, something like that does happen and actually, I've completely tweaked it. You'll have to see what I do with it. :)
With the legalities out of the way, Chrome's gaze released Ratchet and transferred to Carbon, completely ignoring Battleship sputtering in shock and anger on his berth.
"What are you doing here?" asked the medic, arms crossed over his chassis.
Ratchet sidestepped to allow Chrome a better view of Carbon.
"Found something of Sterling's. Thankfully, it's still salvageable," Carbon said as he subspaced a mesh wrapped object.
"Ya found mah arm?!" Sterling demanded, sitting up.
"What's left of it. Your bracer's gonna need to be beat out and I doubt the subspace pocket is functional," Carbon said with a shrug.
"There's your first job, Royal. You know how to prep a new limb?" Chrome asked, gaze sliding back to the bright-yellow mech.
"Yessir?" Ratchet replied nervously. He really did know how, but his unease in the medbay, surrounded by so many huge, hostile mechs, made the statement sound more like a question than an affirmation. Nevertheless, he took the wrapped object. A look of surprise at its weight crossed his faceplates before being replaced by nausea.
"If something's salvageable, I flush it, repair whatever's damaged, and reattach it," Chrome said, eyeing the mech closely. Surely if the youngling could handle Dusty, he could handle reattaching Sterling's arm. He eyed Ratchet, noting the sickened look. "You gonna purge again?" Chrome asked at the look on Ratchet's faceplates.
"No. . ." Ratchet replied hesitantly.
"Work on the counter then, I want to make sure you do it right," Chrome said.
With a slow nod, Ratchet started toward the counters by the sink. He held the bundle gingerly in both arms.
"What about Battle?" Chrome asked, turning his attention back to Carbon.
"Still looking. Anything of Dusty that isn't connected to him we'll have to scrape off the wall," he said, wincing when he heard Ratchet's vents choke.
"And Piper?" Chrome asked, switching to comms for his—Primus help him—new apprentice's sanity.
"He was burned pretty badly. There's nothing we can salvage," Carbon replied, anger flashing in his vivid red optics.
"Frag."
"Yeah. I need to get back up there. Things are going slow enough as is. Dusty's gonna make it right?" Carbon asked. "Have you even gotten any recharge?"
"Course he'll make it. It may be a while before he's back up on his peds, depending on if and when Arachnid comes back into town," Chrome said with a sigh, ignoring Carbon's second question. They both knew the medic hadn't moved from Dusty's side since he was delivered to the medbay.
"You do have the parts, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. I have most of them. Worst case scenario: I rebuild his frame from scratch. I might have to kidnap Axil for that, but I'll figure something out. After all," Chrome said with a chuckle, "I just got a fraggin apprentice. Primus, I must be glitched."
"You need the help Chrome and don't deny it," Carbon said out loud. He turned his back on the medic when Chrome opened his mouth to object. "Oh, Sterling. Here." Carbon walked over to his best friend. He subspaced something that Chrome couldn't see from his angle but Sterling's optics lit up.
"Ha! Ah hoped it was still in one piece," Sterling said with a grin, accepting the gift from his friend.
When Carbon moved to leave, Ratchet caught a glint of a serrated, razor-sharp knife edge before it disappeared into subspace. It was the knife that had been stabbed into the mine-shaft wall for Ratchet to hang the IV bag on.
Chrome smirked. The glitch would finally relax now that he had his precious blades back. "How you doing Ratchet?" he asked as Chrome marched back out the bay doors.
Ratchet quickly returned his attention to the mesh-wrapped object. "About to find out," Ratchet replied.
Sterling chuckled.
"Well, unwrap it," Chrome ordered. "I want to see how badly Carbon had to butcher it."
With slightly-shaky servos, Ratchet started to peel back the mesh. The outer layer of wrapping was relatively clean but energon and coolant spots increased in number and size the more he unwrapped. Soon, his digits were covered in liquid as well. He pulled back the last energon-soaked wrap and stared at what was left of Sterling's arm.
"Can Ah keep it or not!" Sterling demanded, his angle preventing him from seeing the counters properly.
"What's your opinion, Ratchet?" Chrome asked, shifting over to see.
Ratchet sidestepped to allow him a view as his own optics darted over the mangled limb.
"Serious lacerations to the main strut and hydraulics. Fuel lines, circuitry, and the like might need to be replaced because of that fire," Ratchet said, medical coding racing to catalog the damage. "Bracer is crushed, probably damaged the subspace pocket underneath." He reached out a servo to touch the grey metal. Without fresh energon pumping though the lines, the armor plates had taken on the same flat, grey shade of a terminated mech.
"But. . ." Chrome prodded.
"The servo, wrist joint, and elbow joint are intact and those are the hardest to repair," Ratchet replied, glancing up at Chrome for approval.
"Your diagnostic?"
"I think it can be reattached," Ratchet hesitantly said, unsure if he was making the right decision. He had been through almost two metacycles of classes at the Academy before he had even been allowed to make a proper diagnostic without a professor or qualified medic hovering over his shoulder guard.
"Good. Axil is pretty good with armor so he'll take care of Sterling's bracer when he finds the time. Dusty's priority number one though." Chrome replied, giving Ratchet a nod of approval. "Clean it up, flush the lines and see what needs to be repaired or replaced and what's still in working condition. The rest is just like if you were attacking a new factory limb."
"Where do you keep your supplies?" Ratchet asked.
"You know where the templating is. I keep rags both in the workshop and in here; do not get them mixed up," Chrome said. "I'm not telling you where anything is because I expect you to figure it out and know this place as well as I do. Everything you need is in those cupboards."
"Oh, an' don't mess up 'is system," Sterling added. "Ee gets cranky when mechs mess it up."
Chrome didn't say anything, so Ratchet gave him a quick glance. The medic was smirking, optics focused on Dusty. Even though the other two were treating it like a joke, Ratchet knew that the medic would be watching him like a cyber-hawk.
While Ratchet had prepped new factory limbs before, it was a little unnerving to do an arm that he knew had been attached to Sterling. He turned the taps of the sink on, letting the solvent get warm before carefully, and with obvious hesitation, picking up the severed arm and cleaning off the grime and fluids. He added some cleaner from the bottle beside the tap and worked his digits into the gaps of the thick armor, making sure that the metal was clean and wouldn't cause an infection in the future.
The feeling of stiff, energon-deprived protoform would have disgusted most mechs but Ratchet was more aware of the fact that it had been alive not even 24 joors ago than its present inflexibility. What fluid was left leaked out of the torn lines as Ratchet worked the cleaner deeper into the circuitry to get the fine dust and residue out.
"Well?" Chrome asked fifteen klicks later.
"Almost done. The hydraulics are being a pain to clean out," Ratchet replied. "They're pretty gummed up."
"Do what you can, and if you're still having problems, I have a heavy-duty degreaser in the workshop. It's not medical grade but it'll get it clean and I've had no problems with it yet."
"I think I finally got it," Ratchet said, flushing the fluid lines one more time before reaching for a clean, dry rag.
"What's it look like?" Chrome asked, pausing to glance up.
"Most of the damage is on his bracer," Ratchet said, carefully dabbing the rag against the exposed hardware. "The circuitry's crushed but I don't think it will be that hard to rewire. The hydraulics and strut are pretty jagged—"
"That's good," Chrome interrupted.
Ratchet gave him a confused look, not quiet brave enough to outright contradict him.
"Right. You learned that a clean break is easier then a jagged hack job." Chrome stated absent-mindedly.
"That's one way of putting it."
"If there's one thing I've learned from experience, it's that a jagged break, while it's more annoying to have to prep, heals a lot faster and it's stronger," Chrome explained. "Not to mention it saves a pit of a lot of time and material just welding the ends back together instead of having clean ends, then having to add a piece to bridge the gap."
Ratchet thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Sounds legitimate," he said as he finished up on Sterling's arm.
"Course it does," Chrome snapped. "I've been doing this longer then you've functioned. Now if you're done with that, prep Sterling."
Ratchet hesitated for a moment before nodding and moving to Sterling. He set the now-clean limb beside Sterling on the table.
At some point, the silver mech had already removed his thick shoulder guard before laying down on his back to be at a better height for Ratchet to work on. He was also taking a moment to catch some recharge.
Ratchet gently placed a servo on his shoulder guard and Sterling onlined with a jerk and a flare of his armor.
"Aw frag, Ah wanted tah say off fo' this," Sterling grumbled. Slowly, with several creaks and pops, his armor settled.
"Sorry. Didn't want to surprise you when I started working," Ratchet said, hiding a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good thing too." Sterling shifted once before settling, shuttering his optics again. "Well, get on with it. Ah'm bored o' laying 'ere."
Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle at his bluntness.
"He hates being idle—part of the reason I want him out so bad. Battleship at least keeps his mouth shut," Chrome said, Sterling.
Ratchet nodded in understanding and set to work.
With Sterling's shoulder guard already removed and his pain receptors still offline, it was quick work to clean up the edges of the hacked-off struts and hydraulics and restrip the wires. He was about to turn back to Chrome when he was interrupted.
"Keep going. There's no reason why I should intervene now," Chrome said.
Ratchet couldn't help the small whine that escaped his engine.
Chrome glanced up again, studying Ratchet for a moment before sighing and extracting his servos from Dusty's chassis. "Alright, I'm coming to hover. But you're still doing the work," he said, walking over to the sink to wash his servos and bracers. "What's the first step?"
"Reattach fluid lines to enable the protoform to soften up and be easier to work with," Ratchet responded, metacycles of studying medical datapads coming back to him. "It's also the cheater's way to see if there are any broken lines."
"Correct," Chrome replied, moving to Ratchet's side. "Start with that."
Ratchet hesitated for a moment before Chrome snorted. "I already gave you slag. Either you know what you're doing or you don't."
"Yessir," Ratchet replied nervously. He shifted the limb over to Sterling's battered shoulder and set to work reattaching fluid lines. It was a simple job of clamping the line, cutting off the self-sealing end, and heating the ends with a soldering iron before letting the half-melted tubing fuse together. As soon as it was, he removed the clamp, letting energon flow back into stiff protoform.
"Make sure you get them all. We're not standard frames," Chrome warned when he saw Ratchet eyeing an energon line he wasn't familiar with.
Ratchet nodded even as he found the other end and fused the tubing together. The secondary lines repaired, he moved onto the three primaries that ran parallel to the main support strut. One was for feeding energon down his arm and the other two were hydraulic and coolant lines for his subspace and other systems.
Primary lines didn't self-seal off like secondaries and someone, probably Carbon, had tied the lines off. Ratchet set small clamps designed to not crush the lines in place before working the knots free and reattaching them.
"Good. Now open up the IV so that you can compensate for the fluid loss he'll have when you remove the clamps in his shoulder," Chrome directed.
Ratchet nodded dutifully, reaching for the IV bag and turning the dial.
As Ratchet removed the clamps on the primary energon line Sterling winced, a grimace crossing his faceplates. A quick scan revealed that his fluid levels had dropped a bit. The IV was quickly making up for it and Ratchet carefully watched the partly reattached arm in case there were any leaks.
"Any leaks?" Chrome asked.
His voice sounded far away and Ratchet startled a bit when he realized his new mentor was back by Dusty. "Uh. No. Not yet," he stammered, any and all confidence he had draining into the floor.
"Then there won't be. If a line will burst, it will be when you restore the fluid lines," Chrome said, glancing up at him. "The struts and hydraulics are next. And for Primus sake, remember to release pressure in the cylinders first."
At the reminder, Ratchet flinched, optics flitting up to Chrome before back down to Sterling.
"Everyone makes mistakes and has to learn from them," Chrome said quietly. "You just have to learn faster than the average mech."
"Yessir," Ratchet muttered before burying himself in the job.
There was a slight gap between the strut ends but it was easily within tolerance. Using a type of clamp designed to keep struts straight while they were welded, he set small, hot tack welds before double-checking his work. Careful that the new fluid lines stayed out of the way, he welded the strut together before waiting a few moments to let the hot metal cool down.
The hydraulic shafts went through the same procedure but the third hydraulic had a bit of a bigger gap. He was able to fill it though, using a small sander to smooth down the weld marks and keep wires and lines from catching on any rough parts.
There was always the possibility that if the mech was confused or combative, they would try to move the limb before it was finished, damaging either themselves or the medic. That was the reason hydraulic fluid was never added until the mech was coherent, so Ratchet left the hydraulic shafts alone once he was finished welding.
"I'm reattaching the wiring," he said aloud.
Sterling hummed quietly, vents still deep and steady in a doze.
Ratchet ignored him and focused on his work. There was almost double the number of wires he was used to and Chrome had to come help him sort it out.
"Move your digits, Sterling," Chrome ordered and the miner shifted.
A nano-klick later, Ratchet saw movement in the servo before the digits clenched into a fist.
"Good. Release."
His servo relaxed, then spread out till his servo was spread out flat on the table.
"Any pain, twinges?" Ratchet asked when Chrome stepped back.
"Nope. Feels great. Best job ev'a," Sterling replied.
Chrome reached over, smacking the miner in the side of the helm.
"It's true!" Sterling squawked, snapping his optics online.
"Doesn't mean ya have to say it!" Chrome snapped. He muttered under his breath as he stalked back over to Dusty.
"Hurry up and finish up with the fragger. I want him out!" Chrome yelled.
Ratchet lurched back toward the mech and began wrapping the exposed wire ends in a thin rubber coating to prevent them from shorting out. Eventually, the wires would heal together and the rubber coating would assimilate back into Sterling's frame. He double-checked the cylinders before adding the hydraulic fluid. He made Sterling flex his arm a few times to make sure the right amount had been added before he checked everything again.
"Chrome? I'm going to close him up," Ratchet said, waiting for the medic to come back over.
"Good. Hurry up and get him out," he barked.
Sterling huffed in silent laughter.
"Yessir," Ratchet said, trying to hide his own amusement at the medic's antics.
Thankfully, Sterling's protoform had softened up and was able to be stretched a little, enabling Ratchet to tack the soft metal together. A quick weld around the circumference of Sterling's arm and he was good to go.
"All done," Ratchet said as his optics readjusted to the normal lighting after the white glow of the welding torch.
"Good," Sterling said as he sat up, slowly moving his newly attached arm into his lap.
"What about his armor?" Ratchet asked, turning to Chrome.
"Axil will fix it. Until then you're off for two cycles," Chrome said before the miner could get to his peds.
"Bu' Chrome—"
"No buts!" the medic snapped, spinning around and jabbing a digit at Sterling. "Off for two cycles! You put pressure on that arm when you transform, you know the drill. I don't want to see you back in here for the next groon!"
"Ya, Boss," Sterling grumbled. He finally stood up and twisted his helm to see the weld on his arm. "Looks good. Ya sure it will be two—"
"Get out!" Chrome yelled and the silver miner shot him a look before scowling and walking away. "Miserable fragger."
"Fragg'a yaself," Sterling muttered under his breath.
Chrome abruptly spun around and hurled a large silver wrench at the miner.
Sterling ducked at the last nanoklick.
Ratchet stared at them in open-mouthed shock.
"Out!" Chrome yelled as Sterling shot him a look and left. "Only way to get through to them," Chrome growled, stalking over to the door to retrieve the wrench.
Ratchet shook his helm, somehow not surprised at the medic. He turned back to the table to clean up his tools and wipe down the table and supplies.
"Go home after you clean up," Chrome spoke up. "I have stuff I need to do tonight."
"You don't need help?" Ratchet asked.
"No. Not for what I'm doing," Chrome said, pausing in his work. "You can come tomorrow."
"I'll be here," Ratchet said with a nod.
ooOOoo
He was surprised when he walked into the apartment to see Focus sitting at a chair, trying to rub a wet cloth down the back of his arm.
"What are you doing?" Ratchet asked, letting the door slide shut behind him.
Focus jumped before straitening to give the yellow mech a look.
"Where have you been?" he demanded, ignoring the question.
"Working. You know, that's what you do when you have that funny thing called a job?" Ratchet replied, getting a whiff of the strong polish on the rag as Focus started to polish the back of his arm again. "Since when do you care about your paint?" he asked, walking over to flick Focus on the back of the helm.
"Watch the paint!" he yelped, ducking his friend's servo. "Nova and Quicklight want to meet us at the Market and I want to look good."
"In other words, you're trying to impress Nova again," Ratchet corrected. He received a dark look from his roommate.
"None of your business," Focus grumbled.
"Focus, your trying to win Nova over is just as obvious as her put-downs. Take the hint and leave her alone," Ratchet said, shaking his helm when Focus made a show of ignoring him.
"Eh, she'll start to like me. I know she will." Focus replied with a huff. He finished polishing the rest of his arm. "Go get cleaned up, I'm leaving in half a joor."
"Yes, boss," Ratchet huffed. He flicked Focus again before disappearing into his own room to fix up his paint.
ooOOoo
"Oh is she mad," Focus muttered, shifting to peer over Ratchet's shoulder guard.
The yellow mech turned to see the two silver frames of Nova and Quicklight glide though the other brightly-colored mechs and femmes already at the Market. Even from here he could see the frown on Nova's faceplates as she stormed over to them.
"You aft!" She barked, getting up in Ratchet's EM field. "I can't believe you!"
"What are you—" Ratchet asked only to be cut off as she slapped him.
"Mech, you really fragged her off," Focus said even as Quicklight stared at his sister in obvious shock. His wide optic expression mirrored Ratchet's perfectly.
"What did I do?!" Ratchet demanded, lifting a servo to finger the small dent in his cheek plate. Although it stung, it wasn't a bad dent and would pop out in a few joors.
"You actually went out to the miners?!" she hissed, dropping her tone and jabbing a digit into his chassis. "Are you out of your fraggin' processor?! Those mechs will terminate you just for fun!"
"You told her?" Ratchet demanded, spinning on Focus.
He jumped back a step, servos up in surrender. "Hey, she commed last orn to say that she and Quicklight had a mentor. I just told her where you were."
"You two have a mentor?" Ratchet asked, turning back to the silver femme.
"Yeah. He's designation's—don't distract me!" Nova snapped. "Yes, Focus told me you went out to the mines!"
"Nova, Focus already gave me the lecture and considering I've been there for two orns and nothing serious has happened-"
"Nothing serious? So something has happened."
"Nothing serious. Everything is fine, and, not only that, Chrome's agreed to mentor me." Ratchet felt just a tad smug as Nova's dumbfounded expression.
"That mech agreed to mentor you," Quicklight deadpanned.
"Yes. And what's more, I already have my first patient," Ratchet said, visibly proud now.
"You've been there for two orns and he's letting you work on mechs already," Focus clarified.
"You didn't know?" Nova demanded, turning to the pale green mech.
"I swear I didn't. I just thought he was glitched."
"I am not glitched," Ratchet protested. All three of his best friends turned to give him a flat look. "Kay, maybe a little glitched. But I like the work. Chrome is nothing like the professors at the Academy and I like it."
"Oh, Primus, he's going to get himself off'ed one orn, I know it," Focus mumbled. "Well, before you do, can we at least go have some fun first?"
"Preferably before my sister terminates my best friend?" Quicklight added, earning a burning glare from the femme.
"We'll catch up," Ratchet said, knowing that Nova wasn't done with him yet.
"Works for me. Let's go," Focus said, shoving Quicklight to spin him around and all but dragging the other mech off.
"Ratchet, are you in danger?" Nova asked bluntly as soon as they were out of audio range.
Ratchet's golden optics snapped down to her green ones. "What?"
"Are you in danger? We've all heard stuff about them and I want to know, are you in danger?"
Ratchet thought about it, about what Chrome had said. "No," he said truthfully. "I mean, yes, the others may try to drive me into the ground, but Chrome will watch out for me."
Nova studied him for a few nano-klicks before ex-venting sharply. "Fine," she said quietly. "I know I can't change your processor but...for my own sanity, Ratchet, please be careful."
"I will," Ratchet promised. "I know how to watch myself and Chrome keeps a grip on the other miners. I'm not in danger."
ooOOoo
Nova gently touched Ratchet's bracer to get his attention as they browsed through the aisles, both looking at the merchandise and taking their time in finding Focus and Quicklight.
"There," she said, tilting her helm toward a big, two-tone blue mech deep in conversation with a petite femme.
"The mech is Driveshaft," Nova explained as she angled in their direction. "He's mentoring me and Quicklight. Cloudbreak is the femme. She's the receptionist. Really nice, I like her. I think Quicklight has a crush on her. Driveshaft is pretty cool to for a mentor. He's an amazing teacher."
They were close enough now that the femme saw Nova.
"Nova!" she called out, waving to get the silver femme's attention.
Nova walked over with a smile.
"Cloudbreak, it's been a long time," she said sarcastically. "Only been, what, three joors? Driveshaft, sir, it's good to see you again so soon."
"It is," the mech said warmly. "Just here with a friend?" His optics darted over to Ratchet.
"No, my brother and our other friend are around here somewhere as well. Probably getting into trouble."
"Quicklight? Oh, I just might have to go find him," Cloudbreak said with a mischievous smirk before she bade farewell and left.
"You must be Ratchet, correct?" Driveshaft asked, light-blue optics appraising Ratchet critically.
"Yessir," Ratchet replied, a little off that a complete stranger would know his designation.
"Nova has told me a lot about you. You seem to have a good reputation."
"Reputation?" Ratchet asked in confusion, glancing at Nova. "I was unaware that I had a reputation.."
"Yes. You had quiet the skill level in the Academy. Your grades would make a lot of the fully qualified medics I know look like rookie amateurs."
"I just like to study."
"Ratchet, I like to study," Nova said with a smirk. "Focus likes to study. You're obsessed with it."
"It's a pity all my apprentice positions are taken. I would have enjoyed teaching a bright processor such as yours. You have potential," Driveshaft said with a smile.
"Thank you, sir, for the offer but I already have a mentor," Ratchet replied, keeping his tone neutral.
"A mentor? Oh? When was this?"
"This morning we legalized it."
"Well then, who is this medic that I may congratulate him? I know a lot of medics but not many of them are taking apprentices. That's the reason I took on both Nova and her brother even though I try to avoid teaching siblings for… competitive reasons."
"He isn't a very well-known medic. Runs a small place," Ratchet said, watching the medic very closely. "His designation's Chrome."
Driveshaft's friendly attitude dissolved, his optics darkened and a frown crossed his faceplates. "Oh," he stated finally. "I see. Well, it's been a pleasant talk but I must get going. I will see you next orn, Nova." Then, without a backwards glance, Driveshaft spun on his heel and walked away.
"Well that was odd," Nova said quietly, watching the retreating figure of her mentor. "I don't know why he suddenly got so defensive like that. I thought he liked you."
Ratchet allowed his flared armor to settle. He did not like the mech's reaction at all. "He doesn't like Chrome," Ratchet said finally. "Something happened between them. I'll put credits on it that something happened."
"Why would they have anything to do with each other? Driveshaft's bay is in the middle of Iacon."
"True. They would have never—"
"Hey, Ratch! Nova!" a familiar voice yelled and the mech and femme turned to see Focus and Quicklight moving toward them.
"About time we found you. Having fun yet?" Focus asked as he squeezed between Ratchet and Nova, throwing his arms around their shoulder guards.
"Great," Ratchet replied. "Then you showed up."
Focus stared at him in mock horror. "You wound me!" He cried dramatically as he took a step back and made of show of standing beside Quicklight and completely ignoring Ratchet.
"Yeah, right. You'd be lost if you didn't have me," Ratchet countered, reaching over and shoving Focus hard enough to make him stagger.
"Alright, mechs!" Nova interrupted with a laugh. "Behave already. We're here to have fun."
"What do you call this?" Quicklight asked, earning a laugh from Ratchet and Focus.
"For Primus's sake," Nova huffed, crossing her arms.
Quicklight grabbed her from behind, earning a loud squawk. "Love you too," he said with a laugh as he released her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love you too," she grumbled.
Focus was suddenly beside her, arm around her waist. "What, don't you love me too?" he asked with a sad look.
"About as much as a rust spot," she replied easily.
Ratchet and Quicklight howled with laughter.
"I told you, mech. I told you," Ratchet wheezed, clapping his friend on the back. "I told you it was pointless."
"Oh, well. A mech can be hopeful," he said, cheering up instantly as they followed after Nova and Quicklight though the Market.
Again, sorry about the wait.
R and R people!