"Wheeljack? Know what Halloween is?"

Punching it down the road to the base, Wheeljack snorted at her question. "What the frag is a "Halloween"? Sounds ridiculous."

Miko grinned. "That's kind of the point of all human holidays, Jackie."

Wheeljack rolled his optics. "Sounds great. So what's a Halloween?"

"Halloween is my favorite holiday," Miko proclaimed. She lounged back in her seat, watching the Nevada landscape whiz by. "Basically, your dress up in a costume, go from house to house asking for candy by saying 'trick or treat' and you've gotta TP at least one house. Or egg. Shaving cream works, but that gets messy on yourself too."

Wheeljack gave a bemused rumble at the utter pointlessness of the holiday. "Seriously? Okay, then what's TPing a house? And egg and shaving cream?"

Miko grinned. "You throw eggs at someone's car and leave them the mess to clean up in the morning. Same thing with shaving cream, but last time me and a couple buddies did that we ended up having a shaving cream fight and getting it all over each other." She rolled her eyes. "One guy slapped it right into my boobs in my witch costume and I almost broke his nose. TPing is when you throw streams of toilet paper all over a random house. Or a friend's house. Just to piss them off." Miko suddenly jolted upright and snapped her fingers. "Oh, man, Jack has got it COMING!"

Wheeljack chuckled and inwardly rolled his optics. "Seriously? Miko, that's stupid."

"And that's why we do it!" she laughed. "And guess what I have?"

His speed slacked as he briefly wondered what horrors she could have stuffed in her backpack. "What?"

Her face broke an excited smile as she leaned forward and burst, "The Nightmare Before Christmas!"

He shamelessly passed a slower car in the silence. "I thought Christmas was in December?"

Miko rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Duh. But this is the NIGHTMARE Before Christmas. It's a Halloween movie, Jackie! Tim Burton? I'm going to watch it when we get to the base!"

Chuckling because he could practically feel the excitement rolling off her, Wheeljack commented, "I'm guessing you really like this movie?"

"Like it?" she exploded. "I LOVE IT!" Then, she suddenly leaned forward with a deviously secretive quirk of her brow as she said, "You ready for one of my biggest secrets?"

He revved his engine playfully. "Blinking audio receptors for your secret. What is it?"

A faint blush dusted her cheeks and a rather silly grin crossed her features. "I had a crush on Jack Skellington for the longest."

Wheeljack paused for a moment, looked up said "Jack Skellington" on the internet, and proceeded to nearly bust a gut laughing. "Miko!" he hollered, "he's a skeleton!"

She grinned widely. "I know! C'mon, don't you tell me he's not hot! Pinstriped suit and a bat bowtie?" She snorted she laughed so hard, covering her burning face.

Wheeljack floored it down the long stretch of straight road to the base. "Okay, seriously, Miko, why in Pit did you have a crush on this guy?"

Miko gripped the seat as his speed increased over the 100 miles per hour mark. "J-Jackie, isn't this a bit fast?"

He chuckled, tightening his seatbelt on her. "Hang on," he laughed as the entrance to the base came into sight.

"I'm hanging," she said breathlessly. "I'm hanging."

When they raced towards the entrance, engines screaming, Miko proceeded to add, "Wheeljack, we're getting really close now! Slow down!"

He laughed, recklessly increasing his speed and making Miko squeal. "JACKIE!"

"Here we go!"

Darting at nearly full speed into the base, Wheeljack whipped his wheel to the left and then the right, and bursting into the silo. Ratchet shouted as Wheeljack slammed on his breaks, and they slid sideways to a screeching halt at the opposite end of the silo, nearly on top of Optimus's peds.

Wheeljack hooted as Miko collapsed into helpless laughter, whether from fun or relief she wasn't sure, and the smoke from the ground rose up all around them. Ratchet was hollering at the top of his lungs about how juvenile they were being, but that didn't stop the laughter. Finally they faded down to chuckles and giggles, but a tap on top of Wheeljack's hood made him look up. He felt irritation rise immediately. That Prime was going to be the death of him yet . . .

Transforming up, ignoring the wincing pain in his chassis, Wheeljack held the giggling Miko in his palm. "Yeah?"

Optimus looked pointedly past Wheeljack's shoulder, and Wheeljack followed his line of sight to where black tread marks covered the floor from his flashy entrance. He groaned even before he heard Optimus's words.

"I think it would be best if you cleaned up your own mess, Wheeljack," Optimus stated. He kept his face carefully neutral. "After all, neither Ratchet nor I am your maid."

Wheeljack rolled his optics, grumbling, "Yeah, I hear ya, I hear ya . . ."

Setting Miko down on the couch, Wheeljack arched a brow at her. "So? You never did tell me why you had a crush on him."

Miko crossed her arms haughtily. "How could I not? He's the freaking Pumpkin KING, inquisitive, charming, science-oriented, ambitious, modest, loves deeply, and sings so frikin gorgeous. And he's got a cute dog. Zero."

Wheeljack blinked owlishly at her before rolling his optics. "Right. I think you just have a thing for guys with the name Jack. First this skeleton guy, then me, and now Mr. Darby? Yeah, I think you've got a thing for guys with the name Jack."

Miko blushed brightly and sputtered, "Th-There's nothing going on with me and Jack!" and she whirled, digging the movie out of her backpack. Finding purchase, she brought the DVD out. "Besides," she added, turning to the TV, "Jack Skellington was always MY knight in shining armor. Or a pinstriped suit." She snorted and pushed the DVD into the slot.

Wheeljack watched with bemusement as Miko watched her favorite movie. And, to his astonishment (but perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised) she began to sing the words. EVERY. WORD.

"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween! This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!" Wheeljack stifled his laughter when she even changed her voice to match which one was singing. "This is Halloween! Everybody make a scene! Trick or treat 'till the neighbors gonna die of fright!"

As this movie educated him on Halloween in less than five minutes, Wheeljack waited impatiently for her Jack Skellington character to show himself. Instead, he got werewolves, witches, pumpkins, things under the bed and on the moon, hanging trees and hanging people, and then, finally, Miko jumped up on the couch, hollering out,

"In this town, don't we love it now? Everyone's waiting for the next surprise! Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your SKIN!"

And, Wheeljack still tried to keep from laughing. She was enjoying it too much, and he knew laughing would just make her mad, but . . . this was ridiculous! Like a child's show! And the animation was awful and choppy, but hey, her favorite was her favorite, and he figured only Miko could have a favorite movie such as this mismatched thing . . . a montage of Halloween and Christmas both.

Wheeljack crossed his arms, leaning on one hip as he watched Jack received warmly for a deathly scary Halloween and an assortment of starry-eyed, ugly as hell witches and a rag doll, and he felt himself puzzled as Jack slipped away from the festivities to a graveyard.

"This is my favorite part," Miko said suddenly, and Wheeljack lifted a brow. Already? Well, suit herself . . .

And, it was another song. Wheeljack groaned inwardly. The thing was like a musical. But, Miko began to sing with the Skeleton Jack, "There are few who deny at what I do I am the best, for my talents are renown far and wide . . ."

And, the skeleton pontificated about how he didn't like his fame-filled life because he was tired of the same old thing. So, he wanted something to fill his life. Still, Wheeljack could only think to himself, just go with the rag doll chick! She'd give him something new, and she seemed nice and on her toes even though she was being a creeper stalking Jack like that, but hey, that was probably flattering to a Halloween town person.

Miko was practically swooning. "Oh there's an empty place in my bones, that calls out for something unknown. The fame and praise come year after year, does nothing for these empty tears . . ."

Wheeljack arched a brow at Miko sitting on the couch who was completely star struck. Yeah, she still liked him. A cartoon skeleton. Wheeljack snorted to himself. Would wonders never cease?

No, wonders didn't cease. Why? Because Skeleton Jack walked all night, found trees with emblems emblazoned on them, opened the door to the Christmas Tree tree, and fell into Christmas Town.

Now, was that not illogical and stupid?

Wheeljack couldn't fathom the movie, especially as Miko burst, "This is the cutest part!" and his rapidly percolating mind had to rewind because Miko had actually said CUTE.

He thought he would shut down when the most obnoxious song he had ever heard came on.

Miko sang with gusto. "What's this? What's this? There's color everywhere! What's this? There's white things in the air! What's this? I can't believe my eyes, I must be dreaming, wake up Jack, this isn't fair! What's this?"

Now THAT was a song to want to make him gouge out his audio receptors. Miko was, however, bounding around and bugging Ratchet and throwing faces at Wheeljack, half the time with her head turned towards the TV in the effort to keep Jack in her sights.

And, this song taught him everything to know about Christmas. It was a good movie for quick studies of stupid human holidays. At least they looked fun.

"Oh look! What's this? They're hanging mistletoe. They kiss? Why that looks so unique. INSPIRED!"

Wheeljack snorted before he could stop himself, but Miko was so enthralled that she dismissed it. Mistletoe? Ha, maybe he could get Arcee beneath it. She'd be pissed. Mistletoe had to top the silliest things humans did for holidays. No, getting drunk for the hell of it on New Year's Day. Yeah, THAT topped them.

So he sat through this ridiculous movie with Miko. Turns out, Jack decided he wanted to take and make a Christmas for himself, coerced all the freaks of Halloween Town to make toys (which were frighteningly sick, Wheeljack was particularly fond of the bat and rat hats. Those made him laugh, though perhaps the best was when Santa Jack gave a kid a head). Shot down by the military—which was also funny, though Miko got mad at him for laughing—and then he goes off and saves the rag doll chick from the Boogie Man, lets Santa Clause fix Christmas, lives happily ever after with the rag doll chick like he had predicted, and then, Miko gave a big sigh.

"I love this movie."

There was a pause.

"Did you like it Wheeljack?"

He rolled his optics and snorted. "Amusing."

There was another pause before a cheerful, "Let's watch it again!"

Wheeljack rolled his optics and jerked a thumb back to the silo. "Look, Babe, you enjoy that. I gotta clean up my tire treads if I don't want to get on the rest of the Doc's bad side."

"Please, you've been all over his bad side for so long you don't have a chance at his good side anymore."

Wheeljack chuckled, bopped her lightly on the back of the head with a smart, "I'll be the judge of that," and headed down the silo halls for the cleaning supplies. However, it was easy to hear heavy footfalls behind him, and Wheeljack stopped on the way, turning around and facing Optimus.

Wheeljack arched a brow. "Yeah? What is it?"

Optimus held his silence until he stopped in front of him. Finally, after a moment, he said, "Wheeljack, I need to have a word with you."

"Clearly you've got it," Wheeljack replied blandly. "What is it?" he repeated.

Optimus paused, and he shifted. Wheeljack's optics alighted to his small shuffle, and he narrowed his eyes. The Prime, nervous? "What's going on?" he repeated, albeit rougher this time with warning.

"It is about Miko," Optimus said sternly, and Wheeljack felt himself stiffen for the attack.

"I can handle it, Prime," he snarled. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither is she, you got that?"

"Over a week ago," he stated, and the look he gave Wheeljack demanded silence. Though difficult, Wheeljack set his jaw and waited. "During the duration of time that you and Miko were separate," Optimus said, "I was the one that took Miko to school. However . . . one day, she lost her temper."

Wheeljack gave a shrug. "So? That sounds like her. What's the problem? Spit it out, Prime, I haven't got all day."

Optimus's gaze was flat. His expression didn't even change at Wheeljack's blatant disregard of respect. "When Miko lost her temper, she became very . . . free speaking. She expressed her . . . DISDAIN for those around her, and how worthless she felt."

Wheeljack felt his optics pop, and his arms slacked. "She . . . what?" His spark throbbed in agony.

Aw, c'mon, Babe, you know you're better than that . . .

Optimus nodded in confirmation, but added, "However . . . I do not think that it stems from how we treat her. She also said, and I quote: 'I've always been the failure, haven't I? Just a mistake—"

"Shut it, Prime!" Wheeljack snarled, backing a step away at the words Optimus was saying. He glared, hand slashing through the air. "Miko's better than that slag, and she knows it! Don't you tell me she said something like that!"

Optimus blinked, and that one movement was so full of regret that it hurt. After a moment of tense silence filled with Wheeljack's ragged breathing, a playback of Miko's tear-filled voice filled the secluded hall.

"A stupid, filthy, pathetic, disappointment of a girl? I've always been the failure, haven't I? Just a mistake! That's why he sent for an American boy, wasn't it? It didn't matter that he wasn't Asian, just as long as he was a boy!"

Wheeljack recoiled like he had been struck. He staggered back another step, spark hurting so bad for her that he thought he was going to bleed her sorrows. His servos shook.

"She . . . didn't really say that . . ." he finally rasped weakly. He shook his head and looked down on his hands.

Where did I go wrong? What did I say that made her believe that? Why . . .

"Her emphasis on the boy puzzled me," Optimus finally continued quietly. "Neither Ratchet nor I could fathom what the importance was, and a quick usage of Earth's world wide web provided us with an answer." Wheeljack looked up sharply. Optimus looked weighted down with years. "It stems from her Asian heritage. In Asian families, the son is the esteemed child, clearly favored above girls for being male alone because they are the ones that will carry on the family's name."

Wheeljack blinked owlishly, too stunned to really comprehend what Optimus was telling him. "Wh-What?" he finally whispered.

Optimus finally released a heavy vent, filled with confliction. "The role of the female is to be passive and to adhere to husband's family, be subservient to the male, perform domestic chores, and bear children," he said, laying the facts out flat to Wheeljack. "The role of the male is to provide for the family. The primary duty is to be a good son; obligations to be a good husband and father come second to duty as son. The son is always favored over the daughter."

Finally, Wheeljack worked some function into his articulators that choked on shock. "What are you talking about?" he snapped. He threw a hand down the hall to where Miko would be happily watching The Nightmare Before Christmas in the other room. "There's nothing wrong with Miko! I don't care if she's not a boy!"

"Wheeljack, you miss the point," Optimus said gently. "It is not you who would care—it is her parents."

Wheeljack sputtered. "But—Mrs. Davis doesn't have any problems with Miko!"

"Her biological parents, Wheeljack."

Wheeljack stared at Optimus with a mixture of horror and confusion. That was just so . . . unreal. They . . . oh Primus . . . He was no one's fool, and against his will, the dots were lining up.

"Shame and guilt are a common discipline to control and train their children," Optimus said quietly. "And, being a female, Miko would be a thing of shame to her father. And if her mother was not able to bear more children . . . or if she died in childbirth . . . Miko would be nothing to her father. Which is why—"

"I know!" Wheeljack burst suddenly, wincing away. "I know! Don't say it!"

Turning from the Prime with conflicted emotions, Wheeljack pressed a shaky servo to his helm. Dear Primus . . . What had Miko grown up around? A hateful father? Did he abuse her? The thought caused liquid rage to pour through Wheeljack's systems. His jaw tightened, and his servos curled into fists. Miko had told them she came looking for excitement—but of course, it was like Jack had said: Jasper, Nevada wasn't the entertainment capital of the world. And Miko's estrangement with her host parents. Miko hadn't wanted to go to Jasper; her father had made her go because he wanted to be seen with a boy, Asian or not, it didn't matter. He just didn't want his daughter, hated his daughter, viewed her as nothing but shameful no matter what she did to please him.

"I'll kill him," Wheeljack muttered, servos clenched so tightly his arms shook in rage. "That fragging bastard—I'll kill him!"

"You will do no such thing, Wheeljack."

"Oh, stuff it up someone else's tailpipe!" Wheeljack snarled, whirling with blazing cobalt optics at the Prime. "Stupid? Filthy? Pathetic? Disappointment? Who do you think fed her those lies, Optimus! You outta your fragging mind? It was that human wretch that's sucking on his own cock!"

Optimus's optics glinted with steely command. "Wheeljack, I will not allow you to harm an innocent life—"

"INNOCENT?" Wheeljack roared. His spark flared to life with aggressive protection for the human down the halls. "Optimus that fucker is anything BUT innocent! Can you even imagine the oppression she lived under with that beast? He could have beat her, and she wouldn't have said anything because she would have thought she had DESERVED it!"

Optimus's optics flickered, and that one movement was all Wheeljack needed to see to know his words were getting to him. "Be that as it may," he said evenly, "I do not believe revenge is the answer, especially after recent events."

Wheeljack flinched minutely but did not stop his tirade. "And like you treating Jack and Raf like the favored sons wasn't helping anything!" Optimus recoiled, optics widening. "Yeah, you heard me," Wheeljack sneered, narrowing infuriated optics to slits. "The FAVORED SONS. You picked Jack to take that fragging Key to get your memories, trusted him above all the others for the task. You even trusted Raf to take down fragging satellites against SOUNDWAVE of all bots! But how do you treat Miko? She's in the way; she's a nuisance; she's just trouble. That's all I hear from you about her! Just reprimands! You never thank her when she does something right! It's always, the music's too loud; she's always putting herself in danger—ha! Like those two boys haven't done the same thing!"

Optimus stared as evenly as he could at Wheeljack, taking in the accusations with a steady poker face. "Wheeljack," he finally said quietly, "I do not condone any of the children racing out to danger. I want to keep them safe—"

"Safe?" Wheeljack interrupted with a bark. "Ha! You can't keep them safe from the 'Cons all the time!" And then, Wheeljack's brows rose before he narrowed his optics again. "Oh, so that's the heart of all of this, is it?" he asked scathingly. "It's you and your damned insecurities. I'm starting to suspect that you keeping her from me in the first place was more out of guilt of not being able to save Bulkhead!" Optimus flinched and recoiled visibly, optics widening. Wheeljack's lip curled. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You've gotta keep Miko on a leash so tight it's choking her just to make sure your little feelings aren't gonna get hurt if she gets hurt. News flash, Prime," and he hit the Prime's chest, "GET OVER IT! Life's a bitch, and the sooner you realize that and get off this fragging kick of over-protectiveness the better it's gonna be!"

Pushing past the speechless Prime and stalking down the halls, Wheeljack fumed, so hot under the collar he was sure he was steaming. But to the Pit with that Prime! Playing favorites as bad as Miko's father did . . . The anger rose again. By Primus if he didn't grind that puny human to blood and dust beneath his heel . . .

He stopped before he walked into the main room of the silo, hearing the movie singing cheerfully about what presents were and what was inside. Miko. She couldn't see him infuriated like this. Taking a deep breath and trying to quell the turmoil of his spark, Wheeljack took several in cycles, steadying his raging emotions. Stepping in, Miko took one look at him and laughed.

"Smooth, Jackie. You forgot the cleaning supplies."

He blinked stupidly at her, then to the ground where the tire tread was still burned all over the floor, and he rolled his optics and forced a grin her way. "Yeah," he said. "Sorry. I'm just being a blond. Be right back."

This time, when he walked back, there was no sign of the Prime. Instead, as he went to fetch something to scrub the floor with, he felt his shoulders tense and throat grow a lump.

Where did I go wrong? Did I not make it clear enough that you're more special than the world itself? Miko . . . I don't give a frag about what that idiot thinks, you're MINE. Mine. My little girl. Mine . . .

Why don't you realize you're perfect just the way you are?

His spark hurt. He pressed his hands and helm to the hallway wall, sucking in a tight breath and shoulders shuddering. Optic lubricant burned.

I'm sorry . . . Where did I fail you, Miko?

Strangely enough, it was hearing the awful news from Optimus that was the easy part.

The hard part?

Dealing with it. And, breaking the ice enough with Miko to actually face her and talk about it.

Wheeljack didn't know how to approach her. He couldn't just waltz up and say, "Hey, did your biological dad treat you like dirt?" and he didn't like the idea of beating around the bush. And any time he did try to ease into the conversation, he lost his nerve and blew it off. Every time. Miko was starting to think he was losing his marbles, and hey, maybe he was. For over a week Wheeljack tried to say something, but he couldn't. He honestly didn't want to deal with it. He'd rather live on belying his ignorance to the issue at hand, but all he could think was at the end of the school year, Miko was supposed to go back home to Tokyo, right? Nearly half that time was already up. And he didn't know what kind of situation he was sending her back to.

He drove, circling Jasper restlessly. Some kids playing hooky at the KO Burger were betting on how many times he would drive by. Some kid was getting a killing of money on the sleek Lancia. Several times, deep in his musings, Wheeljack cut someone off and they cursed and honked. Eventually, school let out, and Wheeljack received a cheery text of:

Guess who doesnt have detention?

Wheeljack chuckled, and his engine purred at a red light.

Good girl

Pick me up back of school?

Yeah

Wheeljack pulled around to the back of the school, parking on the outside of their fence where Miko came through. As he waited, he shifted on his axels. Curiosity called, and he pinged a message to the Prime.

Why did it take you so long to say something?

There was a pause as Optimus assessed what he really meant before he received:

It was only a week.

That doesn't answer the question.

There was a lag in the conversation as Wheeljack waited for Optimus's answer, and he was glad Miko was being a little slow. He wanted to get himself together before he saw her, and he didn't want his processor distracted by what Optimus would say.

You and Miko were both recovering, and your spark was violate it was so stressed. I did not see reason in bringing up such a subject while you were just starting to get back to your feet.

The Lancia sank down on his wheels. His engine rumbled in silence outside the noisy school before he sent back,

Fair enough.

Wheeljack's rearview mirrors twitched as he looked for Miko. Where was she? She normally high-tailed it outta that school . . .

He groaned. Frag, had she picked a fight right before she got out? He texted her in search of an answer, but she didn't respond. He groaned on the inside. Did she get her phone taken up too? It would be a long wait if she had gotten detention again . . .

And then, who did he see but Miko, running up with something tiny clutched in her hands and—Primus, was that BLOOD? It absolutely covered her front—no, it covered the bundle. But as she got closer, he saw that she was in fact bleeding from her hands too, and she had a passel of excited kids chasing after her, a teacher too.

He used his hologram immediately for safety's sake and popped open his door. "Miko!" he holler. "What the frag?" When she tried to get in with the bleeding mass that actually seemed to be alive, Wheeljack shut his door enough to keep her from getting in. Blood? All over his insides!

"Jackie, please!" she burst, and to his further astonishment, he saw worked-up little tears beading in her eyes. "You gotta take me to the vet! He's gonna die!"

"What is?"

She shoved the bleeding body forward, and a tail dangled. "The CAT!" she burst. Looking closer, Wheeljack saw that it was indeed a cat, mewling weakly and torn up, patches of thick fur missing completely. "Please, Jackie, we gotta save him, please!"

Though he was inwardly telling himself this was a bad idea—beside the fact that blood would get on his seats—Wheeljack opened up his door and let her clamber in. He buckled her up as she situated the rasping cat.

He set himself on the road for the vet, barking, "What happened?"

Miko sniffled once, neck bobbing as she controlled herself. "A—It was a coyote. It was mauling the little guy so I—I wrestled the cat away from it."
Wheeljack grumbled in disapproval, looking at the gashes on the backs of her hands. "Miko . . . You're gonna have to get rabies shots."

She appeared not to hear him as she cuddled the frail cat close. "Stupid coyote. It tried to get me, but my boots are thick. I kicked it real good and it ran off like a whipped puppy. Suck at attacking unless they're with their gang."

Wheeljack vented in frustration as he narrowly ran a red light. The cat's breathing was labored, and he knew it was going to die. Well, it should. But frag it all, Miko had done went and got attached to the slagging thing! He was conflicted at the thought of Miko putting herself in danger against a coyote but utterly proud that she ran it off with one well placed kick. And, she was right, coyote's didn't like attacking unless they were in a group . . . She sure was a spit-fire, a real Wrecker at heart . . .

Miko had her hand on the cat's neck and had it bunched up close to her chest. Her fingers stroked it gently, soothing it, and he heard her murmuring, "You're a pretty kitty . . . You're a strong kitty, hang in there . . . Hang in there, Bulky, hang in there . . . My little Bulkhead . . . You're gonna be all right . . ."

Wheeljack felt her words sock him in his already sore chassis. Oh Primus, she didn't . . . He drove a bit more recklessly than before, whipping into the vet's office.

"You sure Mrs. Davis is going to pay for—"

"She will," Miko burst, and she was already out the door, rushing into the building with the wounded cat. Wheeljack felt his suspension sink so low his undercarriage met the cement. He began to pray fervently.

Okay, Primus, I've prayed for a lot of things in my lifetime, but this one tops them all. I know I say that every time, but this time it really does. It's not for me this time. See? Not selfish. Just—Just let that fragging cat live! Please, PLEASE just let that stupid cat live, don't let it die, please don't let that stupid cat die . . .