Chapter 11

"Commander Magnus?"

In all the time he'd gotten to know the blue Autobot since his arrival, Raf was certain he'd never looked as flustered as he did now. Part of him knew Miko would have taken pride in the fact if she had been here instead of out with Wheeljack and Bulkhead at monster truck rally. Ultra Magnus's back was to him, but he could see the clear rigidness in his posture before he pivoted to face the small human boy. Even though Cybertronians were incapable of blushing (according to Ratchet's lesson—which was story for another day all itself), he could have sworn Magnus's faceplate was a touch bluer than usual. He was also going to great lengths to shield the screen behind him from view.

"Rafa—Mr. Esquivel," he said, optics looking everywhere but at the brown haired boy.

"What were you looking at?" Raf asked curiously, trying to hide his attempts to look past the Autobot to the screen. It was just the two of them, seeing as it was slow day without any Decepticon activity. Optimus accompanied Agent Fowler under the guise of "testing" his new vehicle mode for the military (only General Bryce was aware it was actually Optimus). June and Ratchet were providing relief efforts for a cave-in nearby. Jack and Arcee had left for the dirt roads outside the base. Smokescreen and Bumblebee were watching a street race not far from here. The young human had seen it as an opportunity to finish some of the materials his parents had him studying.

Ever since Jasper, Nevada's destruction, his parents had been homeschooling him, and his mother had made sure to check his assignments when he got home from his days spent with the 'Bots. He'd never liked Jasper High all that much, mostly due to being the only twelve-year-old in his class, so being taught by his mother was a preferable solution. Besides, she was scarier than bully he might have come across at school.

"No-Nothing," he cleared his throat, banishing the shakiness in his voice. Setting his expression into his usual calculating expression, he said: "Why are you here?"

Rafael frowned at the challenge in his voice, "Why are you?"

"I was," he considered his answer for a moment, "Monitoring for Decepticon activity. It is when they are silent that they are the most deadly."

Raf choked back a laugh—he knew Miko's sides would be splitting at the mere implications of his statement. He liked to think he was too mature for those kinds of jokes, but he was still a twelve-year-old boy and he had his own brand of humor. Even Jack had laughed when Miko recounted the Polarity Gauntlet incident to them (until he was on the receiving end of Arcee's glare).

"Then why are you trying to hide it?" he asked once his composure was regained.

"Any reports on enemy activity are best debriefed when all members of Team Prime are present, when all the information gathered has been properly vetted and reviewed. Premature information can be far more dangerous to an operation than its antagonists."

"Then wouldn't it be better if you had another pair of eyes on this? We could call Ratchet or Opti—"

"No!" Ultra Magnus said abruptly, immediately regretting it. Now Raf was pretty sure his faceplate was a lot more blue. "There's no reason to summon them from their current activites. Ratchet's skills are better used in service to injured or sick civilians and Optimus is aiding Agent Fowler in his duties, no matter how oblique they may appear to be."

At the mention of word, Raf's mind started working and he realized what this was actually about. "You know, my dad did a study of Scotland, so I can probably explain it to you why grown men wore kilts on a battlefield."

Ultra Magnus twiddled his digits with the hook on his hand, "That would be most . . . welcome."