Ultra Magnus had retreated to his ship after being released by Ratchet. His new servo was attached and functioning well already. And tomorrow he would begin therapy with the woman. And he was looking forward to it. The thought was totally confusing to him, but truth was truth, and the truth was, he looked forward to spending time with her. The truth also was that she was all that he thought about for the last few days. He didn't know any words for what he was feeling. He simply knew that her presence sent his senses spiraling in a way that made it difficult to contain them.
"Why does she fascinate me," he muttered to himself. "She's a human, probably no different than the other millions of humans on this planet." But he instantly knew that wasn't true. As he had watched her more and more, he realized that what she didn't say in words, so said in her expressions. Her face, her body language, said exactly what she was thinking. One only had to look. She was very guarded, but occasionally would let that guard down. When she was engaging with the children or interacting with the doctor. He could see the look of concern in her eyes when she spoke with the Autobots about assignments. The way that she laughed at Wheeljack and Bulkhead's antics and Bumblebee's dancing. He had also seen the sadness in her eyes since Wheeljack left. She missed the Wrecker. How could he leave her? He didn't understand.
A knock on the wall of his ship pulled him from his reverie. He looked up and saw Kerri standing in the doorway and his spark hitched in his chest. 'Stop it, dammit,' he thought to himself. 'You're a soldier and she's a human. Pull it together.'
"How may I help you?", he said to the woman as she advanced towards him.
"Well, I just wanted to see how the servo was doing and to talk about tomorrow, "she said nervously. She had never been this close to Magnus outside of medbay, and as large as he was, the confines of his ship made him seem even larger. 'He's almost as big as Optimus', she thought to herself. 'I see why he's Second in Command.'
"Um, Ratchet set me up with all of the manuals that I need. I was a medic in the military, and part of my duty was sometimes helping soldiers with therapy. A servo shouldn't be much different. Just a little bit bigger."
"More than a little", Magnus said. He was staring down at her with those piercing blue optics eyes and her heart skipped a beat. She almost felt like he was staring right through her.
"Do you mind if I take a look at your servo? Doctor's orders," she asked shyly.
"Of course. Perhaps it would be easier if you stood on my ship's console?"
"I think you may be right. Do you mind?"
"Not at all." Ultra Magnus reached his servo down and she climbed into his palm. When it was level with the console he set it down and looked at the human.
"Satisfactory?"
"Yes, thank you." She looked up and him and smiled. "I want to check your wrist connections first. Those gave us the most trouble." Magnus watched as the human walked across his servo and began inspecting the repairs. She became engrossed in her work and Magnus used the opportunity to study her. Her skin was dark, not quite like Agent Fowler's, but close. Her hair, which she usually kept tied back, was dark brown. From what he had seen of other human females, she was tall, and in relatively good condition. As she moved around on his palm, he could feel her light touches ghosting across the smooth metal and wires. His palms were usually very sensitive, and for once he was grateful for the new servo. He hoped the feeling would come back, but for now he was grateful that it could not convey what he was feeling. His spark sounded like it was beating out of his chest, to the point where he was surprised that the woman didn't hear it.
"Looking good, Commander," Kerri started, pulling him from his thoughts." Everything seems to have taken. Ratchet will be relieved. How does it feel?" She looked up at Magnus' face, so close to her own. She was hoping that he couldn't feel her trembling, because she thought that her knees were going to buckle. She felt hot and dizzy, so she climbed onto the console to steady herself and to get away from his touch. She took a moment before looking up again, and almost died. He had a small smile on his face. Oh, dear God, she thought. She had never seen Ultra Magnus smile, and now it was taking her breath away. What in the hell was happening here? How in the world is a giant robot getting me hot and bothered? If his face had been any closer she would have kissed him.
Magnus looked down at her through his smile and said, "It feels good to be fully operational again."
"Good," Kerri stammered. "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing, sir. I will be back first thing tomorrow and we can get started."
"Acceptable." Magnus laid his palm onto the console surface again and Kerri climbed into his palm. "I will take you back into the base."
When they walked back into the base Magnus set her down on the walkway above Ratchet's work station, where she was again eye level with him.
"I never properly thanked you for all that you've done. So…thank you, Kerri," he said, and smiled again. Please, stop, she thought to herself.
Ratchet looked up at her as Magnus walked away. "I take it everything went well?"
"Um, yeah, all good. We're going to get started tomorrow morning."
"Good, good. Are you staying tonight?'
"Uh, no, no. I have some stuff to do at home." Kerri climbed down from the walkway and gathered her things before heading to her car. "Goodnight, Ratchet."
"Good night. Sleep well," said the doctor. As Kerri sped off into the night, a knowing smile crept onto Ratchet's face.
"Well, well, well."
