Luvyna stared at her book, but she wasn't actually reading it. The page had not turned in twenty minutes. But no one noticed. They were all worrying about something else.
Luvyna was sitting on the floor outside of the medical bay. The Autobots were standing in the same hallway, and it was a little bit cramped. It was so quiet that Luvyna could hear Elita-One's gears whirring as the femme leaned her head against Optimus' shoulder. Cooling fans could also be heard, and it was driving Luvyna crazy.
What could be taking Ratchet so long? Luvyna knew the answer to that, but it didn't stop her from wondering. The CMO was in the medical bay, working to repair Technostrike. It was a sensitive project, and Ratchet had locked them all out of the bay until further notice, even Optimus.
They had now been waiting for five and a half hours, according to Luvyna's watch, and they had heard nothing. Luvyna had not eaten dinner, and she was beginning to nod off. She had not slept since returning to base.
"Luvyna," Optimus said quietly. "Why don't you go to bed?"
"I don't want to," Luvyna signed, stifling a yawn.
"You need your sleep. I promise I'll wake you up when Ratchet comes out, o-?" Optimus stopped talking as the medical bay doors swung open. Luvyna scrambled to her feet to avoid being stepped on as Ratchet walked out. All of the Autobots straightened up, looking expectantly at him.
"Well?" Drifter burst out. Ratchet looked at her, wearing a very serious expression. Luvyna's heart beat a little faster, and she bit her lip nervously. The seconds dragged by as Ratchet stared around at them all.
"I'm afraid…" he began, and Luvyna clapped a hand over her mouth. Arcee's hands clenched into fists, and Chromia pressed her fingers to her lip plates. "…She'll be just fine. All she needs is rest now."
Luvyna felt dizzy, and she leaned against the wall. Arcee put a hand over her optics with a sigh of relief.
"Thank Primus," said Elita and Prowl in unison.
"It was a little tricky," Ratchet admitted. "But I managed to patch her up, and her internal systems will take care of the rest."
"Can I see her?" signed Luvyna.
"You'll all get a chance to see her. Only a few at a time, though. Luvyna, you and Optimus can go in there now, and Chromia, Elita, Moonracer, Firestar and Beta, you can go in after them," said Ratchet. Luvyna dashed past him into the medical bay.
She hurried to where Technostrike was lying on a recharge berth, her optics closed. Luvyna sat in the little space that there was by her Guardian's shoulder, arranging herself into the most comfortable position that she could. Optimus walked up just as Technostrike opened her optics.
"How do you feel, Technostrike?" Luvyna signed.
"So-so," the weapons specialist replied, lifting her head slightly and looking at her chest. Only a few faint weld marks suggested that anything had happened to it.
"Ratchet did a superb job of repairing your armor," said Optimus. "Of course, I wouldn't have suspected anything less of him."
"Me either." Technostrike looked at Luvyna. "How're you feeling, kiddo?"
"Tired," Luvyna signed. "I haven't slept at all." Technostrike gazed at her for a moment, as though she were thinking. Then, she addressed Optimus.
"What's the word on the bodies?" she asked.
"I delegated the task of retrieving both Ironclaw's and Starscream's bodies to your sisters," Optimus said, referring to Elita-One, Arcee and Chromia. "But they wanted to wait until we had word of your condition. And the girl's body is waiting to be buried." Luvyna looked down at the mention of Annemarie. Optimus noticed this, and changed the subject quickly. "I received word that a fair is opening up in the Los Angeles area. I thought it might be interesting to attend."
"A fair? I've heard of those. It has rides and food and lots of vendors, right?" said Technostrike, looking at Luvyna for confirmation. She nodded.
"A lot of my classmates talk about them," she signed. "They say they're a lot of fun."
"Then we'll go," said Technostrike. "Every single one of us."
"Agreed," said Optimus. "As soon as you are recovered, Technostrike." Luvyna smiled.
She signed good-bye to Technostrike and left the bay. As she walked to her room, she thought about her life. How different it was from everyone else's. How it grated against most people's concept of normal. But living in a family made up of both humans and alien robots was Luvyna's "normal." A twenty-eight foot autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron was a familiar sight to her. It wasn't strange to her that most of her family could transform into automobiles.
As she opened the door to her bedroom, she saw Ratchet out of the corner of her eye, walking to the supply room. He looked almost cheerful, something that Luvyna had very rarely heard of him being. She laughed silently to herself.
In her room, she saw two photos on her desk. One was a picture of Luvyna, Mikaela, Sam, the Lennoxes, Epps, Jack, Miko, Miles, Maggie, and Glen, altogether in front of the Aquarium of the Pacific. Mikaela's arm was around Luvyna's shoulders, and all twelve of them were grinning happily at the camera.
The other was from her fourteenth birthday, with twenty-eight people sitting around five end-to-end tables in Applebee's. Luvyna smiled. On the outside, they all looked like perfectly normal, happy human beings.
But there is more to them than meets the eye.