Hello one and all! I forgot to finish this chapter before posting chapter 33 for MERCY. Behold! All the fluff I could muster for the past three months! I am sorry it is so slapped together. XD
Ratchet has a moment with Silvia, then a moment with Optimus, and Silvia gives Fowler more grief. Bottom line really. Have fun!
No special shout outs here, but don't let that stop anyone from reviewing and asking questions. I love to hear from my readers!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any stocks, trades, or licensing from the Transformers franchise. All rights are reserved for HASBRO entertainment.
MERCY
Autobots
Chapter 32.2
Saturday nights were mildly chaotic in the Autobot base, especially when Silvia granted Miko a slumber party with the boys. A small routine was forged from this tradition. When the children finally 'settled' into their video games, movies, and snacks, Ratchet would move some of his calculations to a datapad then retreat to Optimus's quarters. Sometimes he would work on some miniscule work, and sometimes, if Optimus showed up, he would spend time with his mate. Often times they would talk and reminisce, and sometimes they would just hold each other in what remained of the quiet (since they could still hear the children down the hall). More often than not, this led to one or two of the veteran Bots to fall into recharge. A small nap to reward themselves from such a long day.
As for the rest of the bots, they usually had patrol duty, but now and then they would stop to participate in the festivities. Bumblebee loved playing racing games most of all, while Arcee and Bulkhead had fun playing guessing games with their own human wards. The main rule to these slumber parties was for the children to end them at ten at the latest, which is why Ratchet found it odd that he could still hear the television set when he roused himself from his recharge. The noise was faint enough to not really bother him, but when he checked his internal clock, he noticed the time was well past eleven. Why were the kids still awake? And why didn't Silvia break up their party when it was getting late?
The medic thought to himself that he may as well go check on them now that he was awake. Carefully he slid away from Optimus's form, gingerly kissing his forehelm before standing and walking away. He wobbled in the halls a moment when the little lifeforms in his gestation tank began to swirl and somersault. They knew that Ratchet was awake, there for, they must also be awake.
"Oomph… Settle down you two." Ratchet patted his abdominal plating. "We're not going on a very long trip after all."
Though it was not a long trip it soon developed into a lingering one. Stepping into the main area he discovered all three of the human children fast asleep on the landing. Silvia was also there, propping heads with pillows and lacing long blankets over them. She was in the process of carefully removing Raff's glasses before she noticed her Autobot friend softly treading to the balcony.
"Hey." She whispered as she tucked the glasses over the television. "I lost track of time while I was doing some paperwork and forgot to check on the kids. Looks like the sandman beat me too them."
"Sandman?" Ratchet whispered back, more or less confused.
"I'll explain later." Still she spoke softly while she dropped the last blanket over Miko. She then stopped to brush some of the sleeping girl's hair back tenderly. "They look comfortable where they are. It should be alright if they sleep here tonight."
"I don't see a problem with it." The white bot replied in agreement. "As long as they clean up the mess they made in the morning."
"You know they will." The ebony haired woman quietly chuckled while reaching for the remote. "They're good at that."
"Oh, don't worry about turning the set off." Ratchet rose his servo and waved it a little. "You might accidentally wake them up."
"Ah." Was her response in agreement. "Good point." The remote was placed back on the table, then she tip-toed over to the railing to speak with the medic quietly without disturbing the sleeping lambs.
"How are you feeling?" She asked and leaned over the railing beside Ratchet's helm.
"Much better." Ratchet sighed over a weak smile. "Silvia… About what you did for me…"
"You don't have to say anything Ratchet." Silvia patted the railing closest to her friend's faceplate. "If the situation was reversed, you would attempt to do the same for me."
"Attempt would be the key word." The mech's smile deepened slightly. "I don't know a thing about human anatomy, and if I ever tried to help you, I might accidentally squish you." His optics dipped low and he tapped his index finger next to the Captain's hand. "I still want to say thank you, if I haven't already."
With a soft look in her emerald eyes, Silvia closed the distance between them and kissed the side of the white mech's faceplate. "You're welcome Ratchet." She stepped closer to nuzzle her forehead over the spot she kissed and rested there for a moment. The digit Ratchet left on the railing slid closer and curled around her shoulders. It was a very, very rare show of affection from the veteran medic, especially towards a human, but as long as no one was around to witness such affection he didn't mind expressing it. He thought he was safe until he heard what sounded like a cellphone snapshot.
"It's a Kodak moment." Miko snickered mischievously from her position on the couch, her cell held in her hand and pointing it like a western showdown. In her mind, she just won at the stroke of noon.
"You little scrap!" Ratchet grumped but stifled himself when Raff began to shift in his sleep. Silvia still shushed him before walking over to Miko and taking her phone away.
"You'll get this back in the morning… If I feel like giving it back."
"But Silvia—." The little girl protested weakly but was also hushed back into silence.
"Go back to sleep…" Silvia whispered as she tucked her young ward back under the blankets. "Sunday is chore day, remember? You're going to help me clean out the industrial vents."
"Are they high up?" Miko smiled tiredly and closed her eyes when her guardian stroked a finger lightly over the bridge of her nose.
"Very high…" The woman above her answered. "And Bulkhead is going to assist us this time, so you need to rest because I can't give him a hard time all by myself."
Miko was asleep again before she even heard the last statement, and Silvia stood carefully away. She glanced at the phone in her hand and smiled at the picture still visible on the screen. "I think I might keep this photo. It's a nice shot."
"Please don't." Ratchet shook his helm in annoyance, but Silvia just giggled.
"I'm going to bed now." She tucked the flip phone away in her back pocket. "You should go back and recharge too. You need to get as much rest as you can… So you can keep up with those two light balls brewing in your tank."
"Maybe the 'sand man' can help me out." The white mech waved goodnight to Silvia as she entered the elevator and giggled a little louder.
"Good night Ratchet." She mouthed before the lift doors closed all the way.
"Good night Silvia." Ratchet whispered back. He was almost out of the room when he walked away, but one more voice stopped him.
"Good night Ratchet…"
"Good night Miko." He replied. "Go back to sleep now."
Ratchet was barely halfway down the hall before he was intercepted by his mate. Optimus yawned tiredly but expressed his relief when he found his Bearer safe. "When I didn't find you in our berth, I was afraid you might not be feeling well again." The Prime grazed the back of his servo over Ratchet's faceplate, taking note of the medic's smile. "You appear to be alright."
The shorter mech wanted to answer him positively, but there was a sudden jump in his stomach. He braced himself against Optimus, shocked for a minute, but then started to laugh.
"My goodness..." The white mech blushed a little, slightly embarrassed by his weakness. "These two act like they're ready to come out and see the world now. If I didn't know any better, one was doing cartwheels and the other tried to leap up through my intakes."
His mate chuckled and Ratchet instantly relaxed into his frame. His voice was so soothing and deep, the white mech hardly noticed Optimus's arm move. Not until a servo affectionately circled over the rounded swell in Ratchet's torso.
"Hush now my little ones." The taller mech hummed as he kissed the top of Ratchet's helm. "Be still now. It is time to rest."
It was amazing how quickly the sparklings stopped their swirling and settled into an easy swim. Now relieved of the tiny lifeform's mischief, the medic could properly embrace his lover and found enjoyment from the irony.
"Don't ever go far when they are born," Ratchet huffed, "I know for a fact that they are going to be a hand full… And I'm almost certain they are both femes. Femes always listen to their Sires."
"But always look to their Bearer's for guidance." Optimus's helm dipped lower, and he breathed in his mate's sent. The mech swooned on his exhale, the warmth of the exhaust making his knee joints weak. Ratchet sighed peacefully and rested further into the Prime's arms. He wanted to stay that way forever in his lover's embrace, warm and safe from the rest of the world.
"Optimus…" He whispered as he slid his servo over his mate's. The swimming under the plating virtually stilled, but playfully shivered under the mesh.
Optimus laced his digits with Ratchet's as he continued to swirl his other large hand comfortingly. "Is something wrong my love?"
"No…" Ratchet leaned his helm up and he could feel his mate's spark skip a flux under his broad red chassis. It was strong and the old war veteran's greatest comfort. A long time ago, Ratchet was able to record the Prime's spark for his health profile, and when no one was around he would play it. In fact, that is how they decided to bond, because Optimus walked in on him listening to it. An embarrassing argument and a storm off through the ground bridge later led to their union. At the time it felt like an uncontrollable surge that just exploded out of nowhere and both bots were holding it back for too long.
But ever since Ratchet's incident with the Synth-N, he could barely feel the connection the two of them had created, and because he was carrying, they would not be able to bond. If the two lovers tried before there sparklings were delivered there was a high chance they could hurt them. So far, the white mech's best connection to his mate was the sparklings. When he wasn't as close as he was now against Optimus's frame, he was able to feel his spirit through the playful fluttering in his tanks. Ratchet knew the difference between the twins because of it. One was energetic and bold, the braver of the two, and the other was more strategic. This little one moved around just as much as it's sibling but did a better job of planning out his or her strikes. Somersaults and cartwheels were the daily routine and every bump, and every swirl reminded Ratchet of the love he had for Optimus… And the love he knew the semi had for him.
"Everything is perfect…" The ambulance whispered with the most genuine smile on his faceplate. "Let's go back to bed—."
"You have a lot of nerve coming down here tonight!" Silvia's not all that quiet whispering echoed down the opposite side of the halls. The agitation in her voice was so clear it encouraged his little life forms to announce their presence once more. "I told you the children were staying the night! You couldn't let this wait until the next morning?!"
"And give you an opportunity to flee! Not a chance!"
"Was that Fowler's voice?" Optimus questioned while stroking Ratchet's back. The sudden rush of energy in his stomach nearly knocked the swollen medic off his pedes.
"I think so…" Ratchet replied to let his mate know he was alright and didn't stay winded for long. "What is he doing here in the middle of the night?"
Both mech's walked towards the voices that sounded as if they were drawing closer and became even angrier as they approached. Just at the turn off to the main area the two humans stood close enough to hit each other and Ratchet feared for a moment that they might. The Bot's couldn't hear everything that was said, but apparently one thing led to another and Fowler reached over to grab Silvia by the arm.
"Don't touch me!" She hissed and backed away. You have no right to be here right now anyway! I still out rank you and didn't give you permission to be here!"
"You're rank means nothing when I have permission from your higher officials to come down here and retrieve you!" The agent wasn't backing down and went against Silvia's orders. Pulling out a pair of handcuffs from his jacket, Fowler again stepped in front of her and tried to restrain her. "I'm taking you in—Oomph!"
He barely took hold of the ebony haired woman's wrist before he was spun around and forced face first into the wall behind him. Silvia had pinned his arms behind him and cuffed the agent with his own cuffs. "I told you not to touch me!"
"What's going on here?" Optimus startled the duo of humans and earned their attention without any opposition, but the tension held between the organics weaved into the air like water rushing between tightly placed rocks.
"It's nothing Optimus, really." Silvia sighed tiredly. "It's just a misunderstanding, and Agent Fowler was just leaving."
"Err! Not… Without you… Urgh! In my custody!" The large man in his own restraints grunted as he struggled with his hands behind his back. Silvia was quick in her defense and immediately rebuffed everything Fowler accused her of.
"I didn't do anything wrong Bill! This is a huge misunderstanding! All I did was change my last name. A lot of people do it, even in the military."
"But most people in the military don't change their name because they have a flag on it!"
"Shut up!"
"Silvia!" Quickly, but carefully, Ratchet placed his ped in front of his hot-headed friend and stopped her from swinging at the Agent. While Optimus was still steadying him with a servo, the medic knelt to one knee and offered his free hand in comfort for her. He had never seen her so upset before, but then again, he only knew Silvia for a few months. There was probably a lot about the emerald eyed woman he didn't know about. What he did know was how close they had become in their short time together, so Ratchet wasn't ready to doubt her. Not when she took hold of his digit with shaky hands and looked up at him with a heartbreaking look in her eyes. She was afraid, and her eyes glistened like glass almost begging the white mech for help. "Calm down… Explain what happened and we'll straighten this out."
"Forgive me…" Silvia sighed again and patted the metal of Ratchet's index digit. "I'm mostly upset for the children. Agent Fowler should have waited until the children were not in the base to drudge this issue up."
"What issue are we dealing with?" Optimus questioned and subtly lifted his own ped to catch Fowler before he lost his balance.
"First things first, could you?" The older Agent grouched and gestured to Silvia to undo his bindings. Curling her lip she practically spat her answer.
"When I feel like it…"
Seeking reinforcements, Fowler glanced between the Autobots. "Uh-uh…" Ratchet huffed. "Don't bother looking at us. Just start explaining."
"I was given an order to bring Silvia back to the State base in Hawthorne." Fowler gave up his fighting and tried to point at a manila file on the floor. Reluctantly, he allowed the woman that cuffed him to pick up the folder and open it for all to see. Silvia scoffed instantly and held the paperwork up for the giant's to see for themselves that she had nothing to hide.
"This is all a mistake." She glared at Fowler and gave him no room to dodge the fury of her gaze. "Before I was sworn in as Captain and sent out to work with you guys, I had filed to change my last name. If I didn't, I wouldn't be allowed to work here, so I took the name from my mother's side of the family. Bella. You know Bill, like General Bella? My grandfather! If you would have just called him before coming here, we could have avoided this mess."
"This says you signed your transfer papers under a false name." Optimus observed the file after adjusting the visuals in his optics. "Did you sign with your original name or with your new name?"
"I signed with my new name after filing, but sometimes these documents don't get filed right away." Feeling as though she had let Fowler suffer enough, Silvia set the file aside and started searching his pockets for the keys to his cuffs. "I discussed an early transfer despite the late filing with my Grandfather and he granted me a temporary transfer permit. It hasn't even expired yet and I have a copy of the permit in my room."
"Which sort of begs the question," Ratchet chimed in, "why didn't you bring Agent Fowler up to your loft instead of down here?"
"Because I still don't trust him, and he still doesn't trust me." The curl in Silvia's black bangs bounced a little when she roughly removed the cuffs from Fowler's wrists. "Ever since he received word, I would be transferred to the base he's had it in for me. I don't need him in my personal quarters and eyeing everything in sight in the hopes he can use something against me."
"Are you seriously accusing me of slander?" Fowler stood upright and rubbed the base of his hands. "I'm only here based on the facts. Fact is, you entered this base without informing me of this quote, misunderstanding! This base and the inhabitants in it have been my responsibility before you popped in!"
"Don't do that!" If Silvia wasn't defensive before she definitely was now. "If you have a beef with me, then you have a beef with me! Don't be petty and try to cover it up by using the Autobots as an excuse!"
"I'm not just being paranoid about this!" The Agent retaliated with his defense, feeling very offended by these allegations against him. "You joined the army right after you received your last doctorate! Why did it take you so long to file for a proper name change?!"
Suddenly everything went quiet, and Silvia cradled the cuffs she was still holding. She closed her eyes and took a long deep breath, while she tried to ignore the cold draft of air sweeping through the corridor. "Silvia…?" Ratchet cooed and inched his servo close to her once more. "Are you okay…?"
"I'm fine." Silvia flashed her green eyes. Her expression was unreadable, but the red haze over her alabaster skin revealed her conflict. She handed the cuffs back to Fowler, but when his hand was over hers, she encased it and held it for a moment. "I… Was engaged before I decided I wanted to join the army. If I married him… I wouldn't need to change my name, because I would have taken his… I would have if… If he wasn't killed."
"What…?" The tall man was awestruck. He didn't know what to say and he couldn't move. Optimus also expressed his astonishment with a soft lift of his brow. He was also surprised to see how his mate was somehow unaffected by this news. Ratchet appeared saddened for his friend, but he acted as if he had heard about this before.
"Before you ask yes, I knew about the flag on my father's name for a long time, but I was told that I could enlist as long as I used my mother's name. I'm not the first to jump through these ridiculous hoops, and the only reason my Grandfather didn't push the files through his influence is because I told him not to. I didn't want him to get in trouble for favoritism… He already did so much for me as it is." Silvia let go of Fowler's hand and started to walk back to the main area, but apparently the Agent still had one more question that was lingering on everyone's mind.
"What was your last name before you enlisted?" He stared at the cuffs in his hands as if they were a sacred relic. "It was stricken from the files I received, so I don't know why you were flagged."
"Is this some sort of trust exercise for you Bill?" Her emerald eyes reflected a sad smile, but she didn't turn back to face anyone. "If you really must know… It was Hart… And if I kept my name as it was… My full name would be Silvia Pearl Hart…"
"Pearl Hart?" The two Bots were confused, but it somehow held relevance for Fowler. "Oh… Oh! That Pearl Hart?! Famous Arizona stagecoach robber and bad ass female outlaw Pearl Hart!? I thought she was pardoned for her crimes?!"
"You almost sound starstruck." Silvia laughed almost out of sight. "And she was, but the US government still left a marker on her file. Almost one hundred years later, and her descendants are still getting licked for her mistakes."
"Just when I thought you couldn't be more awesome you turn out to be the great grand-daughter of one of the most famous female outlaws of old Western America?" Miko appeared out of nowhere and immediately hugged her mentor with her cat like smirk. There was a chance she heard a lot more than that since her eyes were beaded with small tears. "It is official! You are my real mother!"
"Oh Miko!" Again Silvia laughed and held the little girl's head tight to her and began to pet Miko's hair. "I'm not going anywhere…"
"Good." Ratchet added. "Because I might just lose my bolts if there wasn't someone here to keep an eye on you missy."
"Love you too Ratchet." Miko stuck her tongue out at Ratchet while Silvia lifted her up to rest her head on her mentors shoulders. Her guardian stepped away after Miko hooked her legs around Silvia's waist, but there was still enough time to say one last thing. "Good night."
The medic huffed over a sleepy smirk. "I really do hope that's the last time we say that tonight."
-END-