Fixit Meets The Autobots

"I think it looks good!"

"…you're never allowed to pick out my furniture. Ever."

Fixit fumed as she was carried bridal-style into the Autobot base by Optimus, still cuffed. Her engine was growling quietly, but she made no move to try and escape. Been there, done that, failed miserably. Fraggin' wings throwing off her fighting style completely…and stupid Dreadwing and his stupid slaggin' sense of honor. The fragger didn't even have the decency to defect to the Autobots to share in her misery! No, he just handed her over and left to go get himself killed avenging his fraggin' perfect twin! GAAAAAAHHHH!

"Optimus, what-!? Why are you carrying an Eradicon!?" Ratchet exclaimed, staring at his Prime.

Fixit bared her denta and hissed at him, wings flaring as aggressively as they could whilst being held. Ratchet was taken aback, not expecting a drone to have a face.

"Fixit," Optimus reprimanded, causing her to snarl at him before burying her face in his shoulder. He vented heavily, shaking his helm.

"Wait, that's Fixit!?" Ratchet glanced between the back of her helm and Optimus. "The supposedly happy, friendly, and mischievous femme the Cons are lying to?"

"Yup," Arcee confirmed dryly. "Only-"

"You're the liars, not them!" Fixit growled, turning her helm slightly to glare at the medic.

"-he thinks we're the ones lying," she finished, scowling at the Eradicon Optimus had yet to put down. Fixit hissed at the motorcycle, turning her glare to him.

"Enough, Fixit!" Optimus glared at her, causing her to flinch back. She stared at him with wide optics as he began to walk down the hall. "I am taking Fixit to the brig," he announced to his soldiers, pausing in the mouth of the hallway. "But he is not to be treated like a prisoner. He is here for medical aid, and will be treated respectfully. Understood?"

"…yes sir," the Autobots chorused as he resumed walking, Fixit glancing back over his shoulder to eye them suspiciously.

Ratchet (and Optimus)

Fixit rumbled dangerously as Ratchet walked towards her, glaring at him with furious scarlet optics from where she was huddled against the examination table.

"Fixit," Optimus vented heavily. "Ratchet is just going to check-"

"Wait, Rat- Ra- that's the Doctor of Doom!?" the Eradicon yelped, straightening in surprise. "But-"

"Yes, well, whatever lies the Decepticons told you about me, I can guarantee they're false," Ratchet snapped, starting to scan her.

"But…" she protested weakly, staring at him in confusion. After a moment, she glanced over at Optimus helplessly, like her entire world had just been snatched out from under her. "But he's not…"

"Not what!?" the doctor snapped, scowling at the preliminary scan and beginning a new series of scans.

"Y-you…you only have one optic," Fixit said, looking utterly lost. Ratchet's attention snapped to her. "And…and you're white and red, not black and purple…and you're really grumpy, not…not utterly d-detached…I-I don't u-understand-d…you're…are y-you really…?"

"This is Autobot Ratchet, Fixit," Optimus said gently, laying a hand on his horrified CMO's shoulder. He knew Ratchet recognized the mech the Eradicon was describing. "And he has never had a black and purple paint scheme, nor has he ever had only one optic."

Fixit stared, her expression very vulnerable, lost, and young. "…o-oh." She looked down at the floor mutely, remaining unresponsive for the rest of the check-up.

Bulkhead and Miko

"…"

"…"

"So…"

"…"

"…did you really turn Knock Out into a ballerina!?" Miko asked excitedly, ignoring her guardian's exasperated groan.

Fixit glanced over at her briefly, but quickly returned to her defensive position in the corner, desperately trying to ignore the teenager's relentless chatter. Bulkhead, who was her current guard (Optimus may have said she was to be treated like a guest, but her loyalty was clearly still to the Decepticons, and he wasn't stupid enough to leave her unsupervised) shared a commiserating look with her over his charge's head. Primus, the girl was almost worse than Knock Out! (Not Starscream, though- nobody was as bad as Creamer.)

Arcee and Jack

Jack fidgeted uncomfortably, glancing between his scowling guardian and the Eradicon frowning at the ground.

"So…" he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "…you and Optimus really get along, huh?"

Fixit didn't react to his words at all, still staring at the floor. Arcee scowled at her lack of reaction, but chose not to comment. He was reserving judgment on the Eradicon for now.

Bumblebee and Rafe

"Hey," Rafe called out to the Eradicon huddled against the far wall, an untouched cube of energon in front of her. He was perched on Bumblebee's shoulder, the muscle car holding a box of video games. "Um, you're Fixit, right?"

She shifted slightly, her scarlet optics peering over the top of her knees at them. She refused to say anything, simply watching them instead.

"I'm Rafael, but everyone just calls me Rafe," the boy said with a smile. "This is Bumblebee, my guardian."

Bee beeped a greeting, juggling the box to free a servo to wave cheerfully at her with.

"…we were wondering if you wanted to play a video game with us. There's this awesome racing game, and-"

"…how old are you, bitlet?" Fixit asked, propping her chin on her knees as she gazed thoughtfully at him.

"Uh- I'm twelve. And a half," he replied, blinking at her in surprise. She hadn't said anything to anyone- including Optimus- since Ratchet had checked her over.

She frowned thoughtfully. "How did you get caught up in this?"

Bumblebee beeped out an explanation, Rafe occasionally correcting him on a couple small details. She crossed her legs and leaned on them as she listened intently, scrutinizing their interactions carefully.

"…quite the story. Although, how exactly can you understand him? I know humankind has no knowledge of intergalactic binary."

"I don't know," he shrugged, Bumblebee mirroring his movements. Fixit would never admit it, but the two were pretty cute together. Maybe even adorable, under the right circumstances. "But I'm glad I can. It would suck, not being able to talk to Bee."

She tilted her helm, watching them thoughtfully. Frag it, she decided. I can always claim I was figuring out their personalities to better con them later. Slaggin' younglings and their fraggin' adorableness…

"…so what games did you have, again?"

Rafe and Bumblebee both brightened up, happily chattering away as they showed off their many games to her, plopping down on the ground. Fixit smiled indulgently, if a little sadly, and moved forward to sit right next to the bars, directly across from the younglings.

A/N: I meant it when I said I'd refer to all femmes except Fixit as he, in case anyone was wondering why I used a male pronoun for Arcee. Cybertronians don't have gender.

And aww, Bee and Rafe are just so cute together! Between them and Optimus' puppy eyes, Fixit is so totally slagged.