AH! I have a monster of a sociology test tomorrow. Those who've had it before have given witness to its terribleness. It has 25 multiple choice questions and 5 essay questions, and you only have 50 minutes to do it! O_O

And thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter. I loved them! (No time for answers right now, I have to study for the aforementioned test.) (Last week's speech went well, though, btw. :))

Anyways, here's some fun for you guys. :)


Chapter 48

Visitor

Prowl came into Med-Bay the next day and found the four patients off their berths and well occupied. His entrance went unnoticed, however, and he stood quietly and watched.

The three mechs, as well as Jolt, Junior Medical Officer, were in car mode, parked in a circle with their fore-bumpers facing inwards, and there was an empty space in the circle. Auri was also in car mode, but she was in motion, driving slowly around the outside of the circle.

She halted behinds Sunny. "Bot." she said then pulled forward to Bee. "Bot." She said again, then went forward again, stopping at Jolt. "Bot." Then she went to Sides. "Con!" she said, then squealed her tires as she hurried to get away before he could pull out of the circle.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Sunny cheered.

"Come on, Auri!" Jolt called.

"EEEEE…!" Auri squealed as Sides gained on her.

*Bump* He tagged her gently before she could pull into the circle. She sighed, and he parked, and she went back to circling the parked bots.

"Bot…" She said to Sunny.

"Con!" She bolted away from Bee. Bee gave a good chase, but he didn't catch her, and she pulled into the circle safely.

Bee was it.

"Bot." Bee said, then pulled forward. "Bot."

Prowl permitted a half-smile, and then he moved on quietly so as to not disturb the players. He found Ratchet in his office.

Ratchet looked up with a grin. "Didn't join the game of 'Bot, Bot, Con'?" he asked teasingly.

"No. Sparklings' games do not quite befit a Second-in-Command." Prowl replied, but he wasn't haughty. "I did watch a round though, and they seem to be enjoying it greatly."

"They enjoy anything that gets them off their berths." Ratchet said, stacking some files.

"I take it they are improving quite well –since you have let them up to play." Prowl asked.

"They haven't improved that much." Ratchet said, "I was just SICK of listening to cartoons. I swear, if I'd had to hear the theme song of "Spider-Man, the Animated Series" again, OR the theme song to "Spectacular Spiderman," OR the theme song of "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" I would have completely lost all tolerance for ANY cartoon whatsoever! I mean, the 1990's music? 'Spiiiiiderman-Spiiiiiderman- Spiiiiiiderman…' that is not proper lyrics for anything! Not even a theme song. As for Spectacular Spiderman, it's a little better, lacking the heavy synth background noise, but still…! 'Spectacular, spectacular, Spiderman! Spectacular, spec…' really, the repetition is…" he trailed off as Prowl raised an optic-ridge and gave him an odd look.

"Nevermind." Ratchet said. "When I turned the cartoons off, the younglings just got too rambunctious that I thought it'd be better to let them strain themselves just a little with a sparklings' game, than to have them tear something while wrestling. And they are playing the game in car-mode, so they aren't moving around very much."

"So they will be fine until someone tags too hard and a fight breaks out."

"That's why Jolt is playing with them." Ratchet said with a little mischievous twinkle in his optics. "But don't tell them that."

"I will not." Prowl said, reaching out to straighten a data-pad.

Ratchet swatted his hand. "So, what are you doing here this time?" He asked.

Prowl gave his hand a rub before answering, "I am coming to get clearance for some guests to visit Med-Bay."

Ratchet had given orders that guests had to have permission before visiting. Having Ironhide constantly lurking around Med-Bay had given the medic the creeps. And he'd tripped over Mirage and several of the other mid-sized-car mechs too many times. Also, Flareup had made him uneasy with her hair-trigger temper, and protective Chromia had him paranoid.

Ratchet cocked his head. "You know I can be reached by phone or intercom, Prowl." he pointed out softly.

"It is unnecessary to point out the obvious, Ratchet." Prowl replied, staring hard at the crooked data-pad.

"You could just come to see her."

Prowl shook his head negatively.

"And why not?" Ratchet probed gently, knowing that Prowl would flee if he was to rough with him.

"I have already come once. I only visit anyone in Med-Bay once; there is no call for me to visit again." Prowl stated.

"But… Prowl, you do want to see her …Don't you?"

"I cannot deny that I am accustomed to her presence and feel its lack. I do not need to see her, however; it is not vital that I see her."

Ratchet felt like shaking Prowl and shouting at him for being so obstinately emotionless, but he knew that that would only hurt the Bot. He knew why Prowl was the way he was. He knew what had torn the majority of Prowl's emotion from him, knew what made him live in fear, knew what drove him to obsess. He knew more about Prowl than most bots did, and perhaps even more than Prowl knew about himself. And he wished that Prowl would come out of his shell.

"Ratchet," Prowl said.

Ratchet pulled out from his brooding. "Yes?"

"I will move on when I am ready." Prowl had guessed his line of thought.

Ratchet studied Prowl's optics for a moment. "When will that be…?" he asked softly, knowing it might chase Prowl away if he demanded to know.

"When?" Prowl echoed, looking down, "When the fear and pain fade."

Ratchet tried to look understanding, but he felt a bit frustrated.

Prowl went on quietly. "You know what I went through. You know how close I was to those friends that I lost. You know how much my emotion core was damaged. You know how scarred it is. Do you think I would want to risk further such damage?"

Ratchet didn't answer. He knew the answer though. It was 'no.'

Prowl narrowed his optics as he kept them riveted on the crooked data-pads on Ratchet's desk. "What if I did form a strong friendship bond with Aurion?" he asked in order to give the answer himself, "We would have that, and then it would nearly kill her if the Decepticons got their claws in me. She is so small, so vulnerable; her system would not well be able to handle well the trauma of the bond being wrenched and destroyed." Prowl shifted one of the data-pads then went on. "As for myself… I could not take another close bond being torn from me. The guardian-ward bond we have frightens me greatly even though it is a very, very slight bond…" he hung his head.

Ratchet reached out to touch Prowl's shoulder, "Prowl, Prowl… we are gregarious creatures; we're supposed to live close and form bonds. It's right, it's okay."

"It hurts when your companions get killed though. I have had too much of that."

"I can understand that, my friend. But news friendship bonds help repair th…" Ratchet halted as he saw Auri limp into the doorway.

"Our game is over," Auri announced as she came in, blithely unaware of the conversation she was interrupting, "Bee is in recharge, and Jolt put the twins in time out in separate corners becau-" she stopped when she realized Prowl was there. "What is wrong, Prowl?" she asked with concern; his body-language was clear.

Prowl straightened up and folded his hands lightly as he settled his wings. He banished the forlorn flicker from his optics, and gave the impression that nothing was wrong.

"Prowl is just a bit stressed right now." Ratchet answered.

"Aw…" The little femme murmured sympathetically. It saddened her to see anyone unhappy or stressed out, especially Prowl since he always kept away from bots who could help. "I could assist with some of the paperwork if I could use a laptop in here." She offered, hoping he wouldn't say no.

Ratchet gave Prowl a stern, forbidding look. He wasn't going to let his patient go back to work while still quite damaged.

"Ratchet rarely allows his patients to engage in work-related activities while in Med-Bay. Thank-you for offering, though." Prowl said reluctantly.

"Rrrratchet…?" Auri coaxed, widening her optics hopefully and looking very innocent and sparkling-like as she took Ratchet's hand. "Couldn't I please help Commander Prowl just little bit…? Only for maybe half hour? And it will help keep me from getting bored so much, please, R-Ratchet? I promise I won't tire myself out even just a tiny bit."

Ratchet grimaced as his stern resolve left him defenseless. Prowl would have laughed had he been the laughing sort.

Auri played gently with Ratchet's fingers as a sparkling would. "I do get bored and bored tires me…" she said helplessly with a sigh. "Please…?" She pressed the medic's hand to her cheek and gazed up at him disarmingly.

"Alright, alright!" Ratchet gave up. "-But only for half an hour!"

Auri hugged him and beamed up at him rewardingly. "You're just the nicest ever."

"Hah. No. You just know my weakness." Ratchet said crossly.

Auri tugged his hand downward, and he crouched to her height.

"What." He demanded, aggravated at being a softie.

She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Ratchet." She said.

"Thanks nothing." He growled, "I ought to spank you for being a little manipulator."

She kept her arms around his neck and rested her head against his. She knew he wouldn't, and she was very tired.

Ratchet picked her up. "I'll hold your academy award for you until after your nap." He said drily as she closed her optics.

"M… 'kay…" she murmured. Ratchet carried her out of his office and back to her berth. Prowl followed.

The old medic gently settled his little patient in her berth, cautious of her door-wings, and carefully covered her with a light blanket.

She was completely in recharge now. Ratchet motioned to Prowl, and they went back to his office. "You said something about visitors?" he asked.

Prowl nodded.

"Well, I have to know who they are before I clear them, Prowl, so tell me."

Prowl told him.

"Ah…!" Ratchet said. Then he smiled. "I guess they won't get in the way too much. I let you know when the younglings wake up and they can visit."

"Very well." Prowl said. "Thank-you. Good day to you."

"See you later, Prowl." Ratchet said as Prowl left.

OooOOoOoOOooO

"Yucky." Auri said, scowling at the capsules in Ratchet's hand.

"Nevertheless you will take them." Ratchet said firmly. "No recalcitrance, or I will swat you."

"Re… recalcitrance?" She was immediately intrigued by the new, long word.

"It means not taking orders and being disobedient. Don't get sidetracked. Take your supplements."

Auri squirmed a little. She really didn't like either of the options Ratchet was giving her.

"Hurry with it." Ratchet told her. Then, deciding that bribing might work better than threatening, he added, "There is a surprise waiting."

"A surprise?" she asked eagerly.

"Not until everybody has had their supplements." Ratchet was firm, and Auri was the last one of the four bots who had to take their supplements.

Auri make a face then took the supplements and put them in her mouth. "Mmmmggguhuhuh." She protested.

"Swallow."

She swallowed obediently and grimaced.

"That's my good femme-ling." Ratchet praised. "The surprise will be here shortly."

"But, what is it?" Auri asked eagerly.

"You will see." Ratchet maintained an air of mystery and went into his office.

Auri sighed and looked around. Prowl had brought a laptop for her while she was napping. She felt a little too restless to settle down and work, though. And Ratchet would insist on monitoring her work. She looked over at her fellows. Bee was intent on something on his data-pad, and the twins were having yet another whispered argument. Those two really need to be well so they could run off their irritation on the racetrack instead of hissing at each other.

Auri sighed and gazed at the wall for a while. Then the Med-Bay doors came open, diverting Auri's attention. She twisted around and looked to see who had entered. It was Ironhide.

Auri was instantly delighted, but her greeting died on her lips as she saw that he was occupied with a small human. The small human was sitting on his shoulder like a pet and laughing merrily as she clung to him. She squealed with glee and giggled as he pretended to swat at her while chiding her playfully.

Auri suddenly felt a strange feeling sweep over her, and it didn't feel good. She decided that she must be sick. She really, really wanted Ironhide to look after her, and she wanted the small human to get off of him. And she felt like going away from everybody. She tucked her head back down and hunched a door-wing a little bit.

She heard Ironhide come over after a minute or two. "Are you awake, MyAuri?" He asked.

She nodded her head and shifted a little to look at him. The small human was still on his shoulder, and her eyes sparkled as she smiled at Auri.

"Would you like to meet somebody?" Ironhide asked.

Auri shook her head. "No, I wouldn't. I don't feel well." She saw surprise in her guardian's optics when she said those words. And he seemed a little disappointed.

Ironhide turned his head, craning his neck a little to look at the small human. He put his hands up to her. "Come on down, MyBelle." He said, and she climbed onto his hands, holding on well to his fingers. He lowered his hands to the floor. "Why don't you go say hi to Bee and the twins, okay?"

"Okay." She was out of sight now, but Auri heard her jump lightly to the floor and scamper away.

Ironhide straightened up and looked at Auri carefully. She felt worse. It was confusing and she didn't like it. She shifted in discomfort and looked down at her berth.

Ironhide sat down on the edge of her berth. "What's going on, my little one?" he asked gently, rubbing her arm.

"I don't feel well." Auri said, frowning because the words were too vague. "I don't know how to explain it…" she said unhappily.

"Have you felt like this for a while?"

She shook her head. "Just since you came in…"

Ironhide considered this and cocked his head. "When I came in with Annabelle? –the little girl?"

Auri paused then nodded. "Yes."

"Are you jealous?" Ironhide asked; it was a guess.

Auri thought about this. She knew of jealousy, but she had never felt it. It was an unpleasant emotion, she knew. She studied the definition of the word then felt very sad. She thought she might cry.

"I d-don't want to be j-jealous…" she murmured sadly, "It's a not nice thing."

Wonder washed over the old mech, and joy that he had such a sweet femme-ling followed. He gently took her into his arms and held her close. "It is natural reaction." He told her softly, his face very close to her down-tucked head. "It is how one responds to this feeling that is the 'not nice thing.'" He explained.

Auri looked up, searching his face, questioning him with her optics.

"I feel jealousy myself when I see you with Optimus." He admitted, "That is not wrong in and of itself." He explained, "It is a natural reaction. –Just like yelping when getting startled, or flinching when getting struck. Now, if I went over and slugged him then took you back and yelled at him, then that would be wrong. But that's not what I do. I remind myself to think reasonably. I know that he could never replace me in your spark. I know that you have a different love for him, and I know that he would never take you away from me. He is not a threat. Once I recall that, the jealousy slips away like beat Decepticon."

Ironhide watched Auri's face as she thought this through. She shifted her optics as she processed this informative instruction. Then she looked up to him again with a new light in her optics.

"You got it?' Ironhide asked.

Auri nodded. "I think so."

"Can you talk your jealousy away now?"

"I… I don't know." She wasn't sure.

"Annabelle is William Lennox's little girl; you are my little femme-ling. I love Belle and care for her, but she has her own place in my spark, one that does not cut your place out. I can love both of you without taking away from one. And at the end of the day, Belle will go to her Daddy and Mommy, and you will come to Chromia and me. We have our own families. And there is friendship between these families, not rivalry." He finished.

Auri thought about this a little. "Ironhide… loves us both, infinitely." She said softly, "And… he loves us each uniquely. …He can love both of us without taking away from one of us. His love of Belle will not diminish his love for me. There is no threat of him leaving me for her." She finished and looked to her guardian for approval. He nodded with a gentle smile.

"They are good words, but do you believe them?"

She looked down and mulled them over in her mind, trying each one. Then she nodded as her smile came back.

"Alright. Is the jealousy gone now?"

Auri nodded again. "Most of the way." She said truthfully.

Ironhide leaned over and kissed her little forehead. "I love you. Don't ever forget it."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he picked her up to hug her close. When the hug was done, he set her on her feet on the berth.

"Would you like to meet somebody?" he asked as he'd asked before.

"I would!" she replied eagerly. She was a little concerned about meeting a young human, though.

"Alright." Ironhide said, pleased with her transformed attitude. "Annabelle," he called, "You may come meet Auri now."

Auri sat down on her berth with her legs crossed. She could hear Annabelle's little feet scampering across the floor. Ironhide stooped to pick the girl up, and a moment later he was setting her on Auri's berth.

"There you are." Ironhide said to Annabelle. "Auri, here is Annabelle Lennox. Belle, this is Aurion-Blaze. You two can get acquainted; I think the twins need some… ah…"

"Disciplinary actions executed upon their forms." Auri supplied. Belle giggled appreciatively.

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge and left.

"The twins are great, but…" Belle trailed off and rolled her eyes.

"But they have issues."

"Hehehe! To put it mildly."

"Yeah! Tell me about it."

"It would be incriminating. They took me for 'driving lessons' when I was six years old."

Auri widened her optics. Of all the nerve of the twins!

"Then they hacked the city's system to erase the photos that showed us running red lights." Belle said with gusto. The grownups never approved of this story, and she couldn't tell any of the kids; it was delightful to have an understanding audience.

"Dirty sneaks!" Auri squealed.

Belle giggled. "And I had NO clue about any of it! And then one of the other bots caught us, and BOY, were they in trouble then!"

"Did you get in trouble?"

"Nope. Not really, I mean, I wasn't punished. Daddy and Hide and Prowl all told me about the rules of the stop light repeatedly, though. They wanted to make sure I hadn't gotten any ideas from the twins about how to drive."

"Is six an impressionable age?"

Annabelle pursed her lips to the side reflectively before answering. "Hmm… I am not sure. I suppose all ages of kid-hood are impressionable." She guessed with a shrug.

"How old are you now?" Auri asked.

"Ten." The girl replied with a smile. "In the double digits now."

"Practically a teenager," Ironhide said darkly.

The femme-ling and the girl both looked up.

"Well, you wouldn't want her to not grow." Auri protested.

"Yeah! What she said." Annabelle added with a grin.

"True… You'll understand when you have your own kids, though." Ironhide said.

"That's what they always say," Belle whispered to Auri. Auri nodded sagely.

Ironhide chuckled at them and went off. He'd just wanted to make sure that they were getting along well before he went to talk with Ratchet.

Ironhide and Ratchet conversed about Auri's condition and how she was improving. Ratchet was fairly certain that she wouldn't suffer any long-term effects from her fall. They kept hearing girlish giggling from the main room.

"What…?" Ratchet couldn't possibly imagine what they could be so amused about, and he stopped talking to Ironhide so he could listen. Ironhide smiled and remained quiet so that they could both eavesdrop.

"You didn't go for it!" they heard Belle squeak in horror.

"I did!"

"Ooooo…!"

"And they were huge wings. They were cumbersome, and it took forever. And Sides nearly stepped on Chromia's arm."

Annabelle gasped in delighted dread. "She would'a killed him!"

Auri giggled, "That's what I told him! But of course, we were half way done and couldn't go back. And then Sunny banged his shin-plating on the nightstand."

"And it was loud?"

"So loud it made Sides jump, and he tripped over 'Hide's foot and ALMOST fell of the berth."

"Oh- stop-!" Annabelle could hardly speak between giggles. "-I- can't- take- it-!"

"I grabbed his arm, and then I nearly stepped on Chromia's arm."

Still in the other room, Ratchet gave Ironhide an odd look. "This sounds rather odd. When and what was this?" he asked in a low tone.

"I'm thinking this was the time they pranked me." Ironhide replied. "The bat wings prank. You remember me telling you about it."

Ratchet grimaced. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember. Poor Prowl."

"Poor Lennox!" Ironhide said. "I would say. His coffee spilled."

More giggles came from the main room and Auri concluded, "-Right in front of PROWL!"

"NO!" Belle was properly horrified.

"YES!"

"EEEEEK! What as disaster!"

"-And Major Lennox choked on his coffee.-"

"OH, Daddy-!" Belle seemed to think it was outrageously funny, even funnier than Auri thought it was when Chromia made Ironhide choke on his Energon.

"They are very giggly." Ratchet noted drily.

"That's what happens when you put two little girls together." Ironhide said. "Ah, never mind the 'little' part. Chromia and Auri can giggle this much, too."

"Hm."

"Although… I'm thinking maybe the milkshake Belle had on the way probably has contributed to her behavior to a certain degree…" Ironhide mused.

"You're thinking 'maybe'? You could bet on it." Ratchet huffed.

Ironhide chuckled. "I supposed so." He said. Then he heard Auri squeal with hyper-amusement.

"Now what?" Ratchet asked. He and Ironhide paused to listen. Annabelle was talking now.

"… all calmly asleep in our beds when we heard a super-ginormous clatter in the barn. So we all ran out onto the porch as the noise got worse, and Daddy turned on the floodlights and-"

"Oh, that." Ironhide said abruptly to Ratchet. "That was nothing that happened a long time ago. It wouldn't interest you."

The little females in the other room were laughing quite hard now.

"I think it would." Ratchet said.

"I only backed into a plow harrow thing in the dark. That's all."

"That's all?"

"Yup."

"Hm."

"Th-that is SO terrible!" Auri gasped through giggles to Annabelle.

"It was quite caught in his bumper! It REALLY spooked him, and he swerved around the yard a bit trying to get away from this strange earth-monster-thing. –I completely tore up the lawn! We finally got him to calm down, but he couldn't even transform with it stuck like that. So Daddy had to take it off." Annabelle chuckled, "It took Daddy an hour to get it off." Annabelle added.

"That's all, huh?" Ratchet asked Ironhide.

"Yeah." Ironhide said flatly. That went the secrecy of that well covered debacle. "I think I may regret putting those two Energon-thirsty little femmes together. I may have no secrets or dignity left by the time they finished revealing everything about me."

"Ah, they really do love you." Ratchet told his old friend.

"I know." Ironhide replied. He did know it, and he loved them, too, with all his spark.


I think I probably will not be able to post a chapter next week. I've been so busy that I've hardly gotten to work on this fic, and the next chapter isn't written at all, and my schedule is looking VERY full. But there's a slight chance -MAYBE- that I'll get to write… very slight.

I have good news though! I've started a challenge fic; it's called "The Awesome EightyFour Fiction Challenge," and it for you folks. Basically, you just write a drabble that's 84 words long, and send it to me via PM. The complete directions are in the first chapter of the fic. I've already had a few people send in pieces, and it's been great so far. So, add to the fun.

.net/s/7361522/1/The_Awesome_EightyFour_Fiction_Challenge

(Link may or may not work… you can go to my profile and get to it there if it doesn't).

Okay, that's all for this week! Review! XD Send me off with a smile before my Sociology test. :D