Alright, for those of you who have been waitin for it, here it is, and I know you know what I'm talkin about. Anyways, this is my first time writing something like this so again let me know what you think so I can fix it. GIVE ME THE INFO PEOPLE!! Ok I'm done.

Chapter 21 - Firsts

Ratchet ran to his med bay office with Wheeljack in tow and sat behind his desk. He started to initiate a search for Joe on his desk console when he realized that the femme had not been fitted with a locator yet. "Frag!"

"Calm down Ratchet, let's think this out. Her usual spots are here in the med bay, her quarters, and the rec room right? Since I was in the med bay we can rule that out. I don't even think she can fit in her quarters anymore. And since we haven't heard a bunch of alarms or mechs runnin' around freakin' out about a femme I'd say she hasn't stopped by the rec room." Wheeljack leaned back on the wall with optics dimmed and ran a hand along his mask. "She's either hiding, which I don't think she'd do, or she's left the base."

Ratchet sat up straight "I know where she is. I'm stepping out. I'll send a line when I find her."

"Be careful 'Ratch. She's probably scared outta her processor. It's not every day you wake up discovering that the weird dream you had about being turned into a robot is in fact a reality."

"The last thing I want to do is scare her." Ratchet transformed and sped out of the base. He knew where Joe would be. He was a little hurt that she had left in secret and was worried about why she had left to begin with. 'Does she blame me for what happened?'

Ratchet reached the canyon and transformed looking around for some sign of his runaway. A red cybertronian leg swinging idly over the canyon's top ledge caught his attention. "Joe!" The leg froze then disappeared onto the ledge. "Joe, please! We need to talk!" Ratchet cycled his vents when it became obvious that Joe had no intention of cooperating. He approached the canyon wall and began to climb. "How does she do this?" he muttered as he struggled to reach the top. Ratchet hauled himself over the ledge and spotted Joe sitting close by with her arms wrapped around drawn up knees. He walked over and sat down next to her.

The two of them sat in silence watching the sun set into the distance until only a brilliant red line of light remained. "Joe, why did you leave? You had Wheeljack and I scared sparkless." She shrugged in reply keeping her optics on the fading sunlight. Ratchet gently cupped Joe's cheek with one hand turning her head to face him. "I can't even begin to comprehend what you've been through, what you're still going through, but I want you to know that we are here for you. I am here for you."

Ratchet had been fond of Joe's green eyes when she was human; he silently cursed the Allspark for transferring that particular trait to her new form as those green optics were making his spark flip within it's casing. His thumb caressed her jaw before he forced himself to draw back and stand. "It is Joe I love. Not the human named Joe, not the cybertronian called Joe, just Joe." He walked back to the canyon wall he scaled earlier and lowered himself to the ledge to climb back down.

"Wait."

Ratchet turned and stood as Joe walked up stopping just short of their chassis touching. Her back blades were held high and tense but there was no expression on her face plates.

"You love me" Joe said quietly. It was more statement than question but Ratchet nodded anyways. She raised a hand to Ratchet's neck and caressed his neck cables before pulling his head down so that his chevron met the diamond shaped crest on her forehead.

Ratchet shuddered as he tried to maintain a hold on his logic circuits. "Joe…I don't want to take advantage. You…"

"My life has been pretty messed up. From losing my family to losing the ability to use my arms; but it was my life" she paused briefly and looked at her cybertronian hand "can I even still claim it as my life? I cannot even claim my humanity anymore." She cycled her vents and looked back into Ratchet's optics. "I've changed on the outside but the inside remains the same; my feelings remain the same. I love you" she whispered as she pulled Ratchet down to her lips for a chaste kiss.

The delicate hold Ratchet had on his logic circuits ceased to exist as he gave into the kiss. He slowly wrapped his arms around the femme. Joe responded by tilting her head and deepening the kiss. Ratchet vaguely wondered if all humans could make a kiss this passionate or if Joe was just that good. Unable to resist, he ran a hand along her armor until he found a gap and stroked the wiring within.

Joe broke their kiss with a gasp and looked down at Ratchet's hand in surprise. Even after all her time spent amongst the autobots, it still surprised her how much cybertronian bodies could actually feel. As a human she was an experienced adult woman but now she was in unfamiliar territory. She wanted so much to be with Ratchet, to please her new lover, but she was embarrassed to admit that she really had no idea how to go about doing this. Swallowing her pride she decided to play student once again. "Teach me" she whispered into Ratchet's audios.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Love, this is the only thing I am sure of anymore."

Ratchet looked down at Joe for several minutes then nodded and slowly lowered them both to their knees. "You and I, we are the same Joe. We are designed to be medics and as such our hands are our most valuable tools." He grasped one of Joe's hands and raised it to his lips giving her palm a kiss and drawing another gasp from the femme. "Our hands are sensitive." Joe's optics deepened in color but unlike the indigo Ratchet knew his own had become hers were a deep blue green. 'Like the ocean' Ratchet thought to himself. "Rarely touched circuitry, wiring, and transformation seams are also sensitive as are frame protrusions." He demonstrated again drawing a hand up one of Joe's back blades. His guess about Joe's back blades being as sensitive as door wings proved correct as she arched her back with a cry. Ratchet watched hungrily as Joe struggled a moment to recover then turned feral optics and a wicked grin on him.

"My turn." That was the only warning Ratchet got before Joe surged forward sending the CMO to the ground. He let out a strangled shout as Joe bit into his neck cables just shy of being painful. She traced her hands along the transformation seams leading to his shoulders and dipped her fingers into the wheel wells.

"Ever the fast learner" Ratchet finally managed when his vocals started cooperating again. He ran his hands over her hips activating nodes along the way and drank in the wonderfully erotic sight of Joe arching her back again. She fell forward onto his chest panting.

"That's cheating! You didn't teach me that one."

"All's fair in love and war."

"Duly noted" Joe growled then grabbed one of Ratchet's hands from her hip and swirled her glossa around his fingers. Ratchet moaned and revved his engine loudly. Joe continued her assault on Ratchet's hand and fingers while her other hand found various gaps in his armor putting her newly found skills to use. Joe let out a yelp of surprise when Ratchet suddenly rolled and she found herself pinned to the ground by his greater weight.

Ratchet attacked Joe's mouth with a passionate kiss as he dug a hand into the helicopter cockpit located on her chest. Joe bucked her hips at the new sensation. They continued to explore each other's bodies drawing cries and moans as desperate hands sought and found sensitive areas. Ratchet located and traced Joe's data port and gently locked his interface cable into place. Joe's hands tightened on his shoulders as the connection flared to life.

Their systems synchronized and thoughts, emotions, and sensations passed back and forth between the two lovers. The pleasure built over the link and warnings flashed as systems were sent into critical status. Joe scraped her fingers down Ratchet's back as she succumbed to overload. Ratchet cried out as the shared sensation over the link also sent him over the edge and into darkness.

Ratchet onlined his optics and checked his internal chronometer. He winced when he realized it was almost morning and that he had forgotten to contact Wheeljack. The engineer was probably frying his circuits with worry. He glanced down at the sleeping femme in his arms. She had buried her face into his shoulder and pulled her hands up under her chin. It was quite possibly the cutest thing he had ever seen though he'd never mention that out loud. Cute was not a word Joe liked being associated with for some reason. He tightened his arms reveling in the feel of her body against his. Joe stirred and unshuttered her optics. "Good morning."

Joe looked up and grinned. "Prove it."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "Prove what?"

"That it's going to be a good morning."

"Considering that last night was a good night and that the cause of that night being good is still in my arms, I'd say that's a clear indication that this morning is pretty fragging good."

Joe chuckled against Ratchet's chest. "I concur."

Ratchet gently kissed Joe's forehead. "As much as I'd love to remain like this we really need to get back before Wheeljack blows up my med bay…if it isn't already a smoldering heap."

"What about the others? How do you think they will handle…me?"

"Originally I was thinking of keeping you secret until I was sure you'd be ok. But you seem to be adapting well enough…more than well enough. I was debating on calling an officer's meeting and re-introducing you, if that's ok with you."

"Exactly how much trouble are you and 'Jack going to be in?"

"Don't know and don't care. The autobots now have a working piece of Allspark and I have you. To the Pit with anyone who wants to get mad about that." Ratchet moved his arms so Joe could get up. She stood and stretched in a manner that had Ratchet debating on stalling the return to base a little longer. Sighing he opened a comm. line with Wheeljack. As he suspected the engineer let him have an audio full but eventually calmed down enough for Ratchet to explain that he found Joe and that she was alright. He also asked that he call the officers in for a high priority meeting. He cut the comm. line and stood wincing slightly at stiff joints from recharging on the ground.

"Pretty rough getting up, you're either showing your age or I wore you out."

"Ugh, don't mention age. It's already somewhat unnerving knowing that I'm involved with a femme who is less than two days old. I can't wait for the talk that will inevitably occur over that."

"The body is less than two days old but the stuff floating around in my brain…correction, floating around in my processor is a wee bit older."

"And what a body it is" Ratchet replied as he wrapped his arms around Joe's waist. "You know, I'm willing to wager your alt mode can support my weight enough to give me a lift so I don't have to climb."

"Yeah, about that. I haven't learned anything about flying yet. More importantly I haven't exactly figured out how to transform."

"Both easily correctable, though I'm surprised my star pupil hasn't figured it out on her own yet."

"Smart aft, you're gonna pay for that later."

"Promise?"

"Well that all depends on if Prowl throws you in the brig tonight."

"Good point. Alright as far as flight, just download it off the internet."

"How?"

"Your brain is a CPU now. You've used computers before; the only difference is you don't need to bother with a mouse or typing. Just thinking about doing it should suffice." Joe narrowed her optics as if concentrating on something. Her optic ridges suddenly shot up in surprise.

"Holy crap."

"Just that simple. Now as for transforming, same thing, just think about doing it and your body should respond." He stepped back and watched with a smile. "I've wanted to see your transformation and alt mode since your change."

Joe smirked then stared down at her feet with a look of determination. Suddenly she leaped into the air her feet rotating back and her knees closing up to bring her split tail rotators together. At the same time her cockpit flipped back and her shoulders rotated onto her chest with her arms folded up inside. She yelped as she landed with a crash on the ground. "Frag, that hurt! If my transformation requires me to leap up like that I guess I need to initiate flight the instant it's complete."

Ratchet was impressed with Joe's transformation but struggled to keep from laughing when she basically belly flopped onto the ground. He walked around the Dauphin helicopter examining the aircraft with admiration. It would not be as fast as a seeker but it would be far more agile. Ratchet hoped she'd never have to square off against a seeker to test the theory. "Very nice. I think you're right about having to initiate flight after transformation but I believe you have retractable wheels should you choose to remain on the ground."

Joe knew about the wheels but was so caught up in transforming for the first time that she had forgotten about them. She deployed the wheels picking herself up off the ground with a sigh. "Well I feel stupid."

"Lesson learned. Now about that lift?"

"I'm workin' on it!" Joe was amazed at the information she picked up off the internet. There was no real learning, it was just as if she had always known once she accessed the downloads. She started her turbines and her blades began to rotate picking up speed quickly. After a flawless lift off she flew a few circles around Ratchet then pulled a sudden nose dive over the cliff.

Ratchet felt his spark freeze as he ran to the ledge. Joe laughed as she hovered back up to his optic level. "You glitched femme! You actually enjoy scaring me half to death don't you?!"

"It's a hobby." She hovered above Ratchet "so do you trust me or did you want to climb down?"

"I trust you with my spark." He held onto Joe and let the femme lift him into the air. She flew over the ledge and slowly lowered the CMO to the ground touching down softly.

"Our frames may be close in height but you are a lot heavier than you let on!"

"I am not built for flight like you are." He transformed and started for the autobot base. He watched with amusement as Joe experimented with her new form in a display of aerial acrobatics during the trip. He pulled up to the front of the base and met with Wheeljack at the entrance.

Wheeljack blinked and looked around. "So where is she?"

Ratchet transformed and turned a circle realizing that Joe had disappeared. He sighed in relief when he spotted her peeking out from some rocks to the side of the base. "Why did you land over there? It's just Wheeljack." He smacked the engineer over the head drawing a string of curses from his friend. "See? No tricks, just crazy mad scientist." Joe stepped out and walked over keeping her optics on the ground. Ratchet glanced over at the Wheeljack. "She's afraid of how others will see her now" he whispered.

Wheeljack nodded. "Love the new look Joe. Once a red head always a red head huh?" Joe's lips twitched threatening to smile as she ran a hand over her pointed red head plates. "It's good to have you back." He surprised the femme with a hug. "You ready to do this?"

Joe cycled her vents and hugged her friend back tightly. "I'm ready."

Ratchet smiled as his best friends separated. He grabbed Joe's hand giving it a squeeze before moving up to walk side by side with Wheeljack indicating for Joe to follow behind. The two mechs led the femme into the base ignoring the looks and murmurs of fellow autobots on the way. They reached the conference room and Wheeljack palmed open the door. He entered first and made enough room for Ratchet as they stood just inside the door keeping Joe hidden behind them.

Optimus Prime sat at the end of the conference table with Prowl standing next to him looking over a datapad. Jazz sat on the other side of Prime and was the first to notice the new arrivals. He reached behind Prime and poked Prowl before returning his attention to the door. Prowl straightened with a frown "alright Wheeljack, what is the reason for this meeting?"

Wheeljack's voice indicators flickered nervously as the rest of the autobots' officers turned to regard him. "Ratchet and I have something to show you." He shared a look with the CMO and then they stepped aside to reveal Joe. Prowl's datapad hitting the floor seemed loud in the silent conference room.

Joe stepped before the table and stood at attention snapping off a sharp salute. "Lieutenant Josephine Reilly formally of the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps, formally of Washoe County Fire and Rescue, and formally of the human race reporting for duty."

Optimus Prime stood slowly and walked around the table to Joe. He looked down at the femme still standing at attention "please, be at ease." Joe dropped her salute but seemed unable to relax her stance. He looked at the two mechs that brought her. "How is this possible?"

"I successfully cultivated a piece of the Allspark from the piece used on Jazz. We used it on Joe hoping it would use the energon in her system combined with the residue from Ratchet's spark to heal her." Wheeljack placed a hand on Joe's shoulder. "What you see here is the result of that."

Optimus' optics went wide at the mention of the Allspark. He looked back at the human turned cybertronian with disbelief.

Prowl walked up next to Prime. "You two somehow cultivated a piece of the Allspark without informing us?"

Wheeljack nodded nervously.

"And then you used it on a human ally without knowing what it would do?"

Ratchet turned his head sharply at the second in command. "We used it to save a friend."

Optimus cycled his vents heavily. "Ms. Josephine, this is not something that has ever occurred in my lifetime or of any other lifetime that I am aware of. I am sure you can appreciate our situation and hope that you don't mind if I discuss this with my officers in private. We will send for you shortly." He started to return to his place at the end of the table when he looked back over his shoulder with a smile unhidden by his retracted mask. "I am grateful to see you unharmed and well. You were missed."

Joe smiled then performed an about face and strode out of the room. She came to an abrupt halt outside the closing doors as numerous mechs in the hallway turned their attention to her. Apparently word spread quickly. "Miss me?"

"Holy slagging Primus! That's Joe!" Sideswipe leaped out of the crowd with a smile and picked the femme up by the shoulders. "Sunny! Look! She's back!"

Sunstreaker shoved his way through the crowd to his brother. "Call me Sunny again and I'll remove you bumper and shove it up your aft." He blinked at the femme dangling in the air by her shoulders. "Lookin' good Joe. Not as good as me, but not bad."

Sideswipe grinned at Joe. "Nice" he said without any attempt to hide his wandering optics on her frame.

"Yeah yeah, put me down you fragger or I will make Sunstreaker's threat seem like a massage."

Hound chuckled from the on looking crowd. "Yeah, that's Joe alright. I've heard that mouth more than once when she was welding me up in the med bay. Good to have you back girl. So you going to tell us what happened or what?"

Joe hitched her shoulders when Sideswipe put her back on the ground. "I think I have to wait until the higher ups have their little chat" she replied as she jerked a thumb back at the closed conference room door.

Sideswipe put an arm around her. "Officer stuff huh? Booooring. This could take awhile. Wanna catch up in the rec room over some energon?"

Joe raised an optic ridge but allowed the Lamborghini to guide her to the rec room. Before she knew it she was sitting at a table and poking a finger at an energon cube in front of her much to the amusement of the mechs that had joined them.

"Just drink it" Sideswipe laughed and took a drink of his own energon.

Joe timidly sipped at the cube and jerked back in surprise. It was not as good as the Chinese food she was fond of but it was not half bad. By the time she finished the cube she felt a hundred times better.

"So what's with the back thingies?" Sideswipe asked as he flicked one of Joe's back blades.

At a neighboring table Bluestreak flinched and twitched his door wings. Being an owner of back protrusions himself he had a good idea of what to suspect. "Sideswipe you probably shouldn't…"

Joe sat up rod straight with wide optics the second Sideswipe made contact. She turned to face the frontliner who looked back with a goofy grin. She leaped into the air transforming and initiated flight at the same instant. She hovered near the ceiling for a moment then dove at the red twin sending him flying backwards out of his chair.

Sideswipe laid on his back staring up at the ceiling in shock when Joe transformed again and stood over him. "No touchy, got it."

Joe grinned and offered Sideswipe a hand pulling the larger mech to his feet. They sat back down at the table and Joe felt her spark warm at the acceptance of her friends and relaxed. She chatted happily with the others until a comm. line opened and Prowl called for her to return. She winced and stood "show time folks." Several of the mechs had to return to duty but a fair amount of them accompanied Joe back to the conference room and wished her luck as she entered officer country.

All the officers stood as Joe entered the room and resumed her position of attention at the end of the table. Optimus walked up with Prowl and Jazz flanking him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Welcome to the autobots."