Kerri spent the next few days getting settled into the Autobot base. Miko helped to give the room a "rad vibe", as she called it, which meant painting the room purple and black, and pasting the walls with posters of her favorite bands. The room was large, but sparsely furnished : a bed, nightstand, dresser, and desk were the only furniture, which suited the woman just fine. She had never been one for creature comforts.

Miko came to the base every day after school as usual, but now she spent the majority of time in Kerri's room, much to Ratchet's chagrin. "Now that you've let her down here, we'll never get rid of her," he lamented. "All I know is, I'd better not hear any of her so-called music through the walls."

Kerri herself didn't share Miko's musical or decorating taste, but she did appreciate having the girl around. Truthfully, it distracted her from the sadness she felt about Ultra Magnus. She did her best to keep busy, because anytime she stopped, her mind drifted to him, and her heart felt like someone was reaching into her chest and squeezing it. She was sad, so sad. Miko didn't notice, and Kerri was thankful for that. The girl would have asked a million questions, and the woman knew that she couldn't answer them without breaking down. As angry as she was at him, she missed her friend. They rarely crossed paths ever since Ratchet had cleared him for full duty, and when they did it was painfully uncomfortable. So they avoided each other. During the day, she spent all of time with Ratchet in medbay, and her evenings were spent in her room, studying Cybertronian medical data. She had told Ratchet about the last conversation between herself and Ultra Magnus, but he had wisely not taken sides. He merely attempted to be a good listener. He figured that Magnus had been bending Prime's audials about it, so it was his responsibility to be her sounding board. And he was accepting of that role for several days.

The change came one day when Kerri and Ratchet were pouring over data pads in medbay. They had begun to log Magnus' medical logs from his servo injury and surgery.

"Ultra Magnus has healed well. Your therapy definitely speeded up the process," said the doctor.

"I'm glad I could help, Ratchet." she said quietly. "The others need him out there."

Ratchet stopped working and looked at the woman. "He still hasn't spoken to you?", he asked.

"We avoid each other, Ratchet. He doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Give him time. He'll come around. This is all new to him: Earth, the new team, his injury. It's all been a shock to him."

"That's no reason to just throw away a friend like garbage," she answered bitterly. "I've been through a lot too, Ratchet. We all have."

"That's true. But Magnus is dealing with something that he's never had to deal with. Love."

Keri looked up at the doctor, not quite understanding what he was saying.

"He loves you, and he feels that it's interfering with his responsibilities."

"Is that what you think? That caring about me is a bad thing?"

"I didn't say that..."

"And Optimus?"

"Hmmmm. Optimus was happy that you were making Magnus feel welcome here. But I don't think he expected the big guy to fall so hard. But, as I pointed out to him….he was in love once. And he regretted losing that love."

"You said that to him?!"

"You made Magnus happy. It reminded me of Optimus when he had Elita. And while I don't see the appeal, it is nice to see my friends happy. All of you," he said, looking at Kerri. "Besides, you love him too."

"Thanks, Ratchet," she smiled a little, resting her hand on his servo.

"Yip, yip, yip," he said dismissively. "Anyhow, I believe Optimus has…rethought the situation, to a degree. He did let Magnus back on patrol already."

"Well, I appreciate the effort. But I don't see Magnus coming back,"she said sadly. "He's made his choice. And it wasn't me."

"If that's the case my dear, then he truly is a fool."