Wheeljack came back alone from his mission with the wreckers, but left promptly with Arcee after another signal was detected.
Ms. Darby showed up and came up behind her son who was on the couch playing video games. "Nice shooting Tex," she said.
"Hey Mom, what's up?" asked Jack.
"Nurse Darby, what brings you here?" asked Fowler strolling up as he straightened his tie.
"The medical supplies you so graciously offered to donate that Jack keeps forgetting to bring home. The hospital appreciates your generosity Agent Fowler," she replied.
"Please, call me Bill," said Fowler.
Jack glanced behind him in suspicion.
"Guys, I found a Predacon talon in a museum. Scientists were totally stumped when they excavated it in 1922 so it's in storage," said Raf looking at his computer.
"But we're fresh out of beast hunters," said Jack.
"I didn't choose emergency as my vehicle mode for laughs," said Ratchet stepping away from his computer.
"Not sure you need a bot," said Fowler.
"Maybe you should all just wait for Optimus to get back," said Ms. Darby.
"I'll have you know Nurse Darby that I was an Army Ranger and federal agent for unit E three decades before I even heard of the name Optimus Prime. I'm more than equipped to handle a milk run. In fact, why don't you tag along?" offered Fowler.
"Oh, I don't know about that," said Ms. Darby uncertainly.
"Absolutely not, Mom I don't want you anywhere near anything Con. It's not," said Jack.
"Safe," said Ms. Darby cutting off her son. "Is my teenage son seriously going to tell me that it's fine for him to travel all the way to Cybertron, but his mother can't be trusted to go on a, a, milk run," she said when Fowler supplied the word.
"No, it's just you're lactose intolerant and I," said Jack trailing off.
"Come on Agent Fowler," said Ms. Darby.
Paige laughed from where she was leaning against the wall. "No worries Jack. I'll go with them. I can't go inside, but I can provide backup if they need it," said Paige walking over. Optimus wasn't here to tell her no and Paige knew that Knockout would be there without any backup. She also owed June for the clothes alterations and the food she had helped provide recently.
xxx
Paige could only laugh as she thought about it. She was now routinely getting soup with vegetables and meat to add to her protein powder. It was the best thing she'd eaten in a long time. To be honest she had almost forgotten how enjoyable food was as the protein powder she was surviving on was mostly tasteless. June had also gotten her one of those large chocolate sauce bottles and Paige had drained it in two minutes flat. She had missed the taste of real food terribly, but she had missed the taste of chocolate even more. She had practically collapsed against the wall head leaning back as she savored the chocolate flavor. Her actions had alarmed Ratchet and he had immediately asked if she was okay.
"I'm fine Ratchet," said Paige sighing. "I think I can die happy now."
"I fail to see how imbibing that concoction would make it okay for you to offline," said Ratchet looking at the bottle. "The sugar content alone makes it unhealthy."
"It's only a saying and I could use the calories," said Paige. "Chocolate for the majority of females on this planet is a must. It activates the serotonin in our brains and makes us feel happy. It's not the only thing that can do it, but it's one of the easiest and safest ways. I don't think I've felt this content since I got here."
"Not that there's much to be happy about," said Ratchet looking back at his computer.
Paige got up slowly and moved to stand next to him. She placed her hand gently on his side and he startled slightly. "I understand how you feel, but you're not the only one that lost their home Ratchet. I didn't have a lot to leave behind, but that doesn't mean I don't miss it everyday. You still have a good chance to get your home back. I won't likely see mine again since there are no clues to how I came here in the first place so I'll take the little happy I can get." She patted his arm comfortingly and moved away from him returning to her corner.
"Perhaps I can ask Agent Fowler to get you more of this chocolate," said Ratchet without looking at her.
Paige practically melted at that. Ratchet could be so sweet sometimes when all the angst and gruffness wasn't getting in the way. "If you did that, I'd love you forever," said Paige smiling widely.
xxx
Pulled out of her thoughts Paige turned her attention back to Raf as she approached the portal slinging her now mostly empty purse over her arm.
"What if you get seen?" asked Raf.
"Blame it on Photoshop," said Paige. "I'm a lot easier to explain than he would be," she said nodding toward Ratchet. "Wish me luck."
xxxxxx
Paige waited in the dark alley while Fowler and June went inside the museum to collect the fossil. She spotted Knockout pulling up not too long after and pulled the sharp pieces of metal that she'd taken from Ratchet's worktable out of her purse. While the approaching humans diverted his attention, she quickly threw one sharp piece of metal behind his rear left tire and physically attacked the front left tire with the other causing an immediate flat. He quickly reversed backward away from her and popped the back tire as he did.
As he transformed, a scowl prominent on his face, Paige was already running toward Fowler and June. She picked them up and tucked them into her purse. She was still slightly taller than Arcee at this point so they only came up to her knees. She couldn't help but think about those oversized dolls kids used to carry around with them as she looked down at the two humans in her purse. The theme song from the old My Buddy commercial played in her head as she turned and ran trying to put as many power poles and buildings between herself and Knockout.
"You again," muttered Knockout. He couldn't drive after her with the condition of his tires, but he was taller than her now and he could still catch her. He wondered if the Autobots were actually serious if they were sending a human to go against them even if this one was bigger than the others. The fact that she'd been bigger before didn't escape his notice and fanned his scientific curiosity. Humans didn't have the ability to spontaneously change size. He knew that much.
Paige headed down another alley and quickly let Fowler and June down. She had intended for them to enter the nearby apartment building so they could call Ratchet and bridge back to safety, but they suddenly ran down a side alley instead. For some reason they weren't sticking to the plan. Venting in frustration she went up and over the one story building in front of her with the help of a nearby dumpster. She had the box containing the bone safely tucked in her purse as well as the pepper spray that she had borrowed off of June.
"Do you really think you can hide from me?" called Knockout. He turned the corner to see Fowler slide to a halt while June stood behind him eyes wide in fear. "There you are."
Clinging to the fire escape on the building behind him, Paige dropped her purse strap over his head and yanked back. He was quickly pulled off balance, but he managed to cut the strap with his saw. He turned around to confront Paige, but she and the others had already run off. Knockout rounded another corner and Paige shielded her own face while spraying the pepper spray at his optics. It had worked in the cartoon so she was all for giving it a try.
"My optics," he cried kicking up a fuss. He tried to clear his optics, which were very blurry. "When I get a hold of you," he snarled.
"You'll what?" asked Paige. "You're stuck out here by yourself, you can barely see and your communication system is down. It could be worse. Those two like each other and if you had put them in your trunk, they might have started interfacing."
Knockout shuddered. "Even the thought of that is disgusting," he said. He tried to hail the Nemesis for backup, but he wasn't getting through. "Human, what did you do to the comms?"
"Who knows?" called Paige her voice coming from somewhere else this time. She continued to randomly move around the buildings clutching the crate with the bone in it. She just needed to buy enough time for the others to escape. That's when she caught sight of them again. "What are you doing?" she hissed quietly. "Bridge back to base already. Don't wait for me."
"We're in this together," said Fowler taking the crate from her.
Knockout rounded the corner and caught sight of them.
"Run!" cried Paige.
The game of run, hide and seek continued for a while until Knockout caught Fowler. Luckily he had given the crate to June before he was captured. "Come out, come out or your friend here gets it," said Knockout.
"I'll make you a trade," said Paige from above him. She dropped down from the roof of a nearby building. "Hand him over unharmed and I'll give you the bone."
"Or I could simply shoot you and take it," said Knockout.
"Ah, but it's hidden and only I know where it is," said Paige. "Let him go and I'll lead you to it."
Suddenly June ran by carrying the crate. Paige used the distraction to kick a dumpster on wheels into Knockout. She lunged at him and forced his grip open enough for Fowler to fall to the ground. He quickly ran off after June, but Knockout had a hold of Paige now and he slammed her down against the dumpster lid.
"Call your friends back," he demanded. "Or you'll soon find yourself full of holes."
"There's no need," said Paige. "I have what you're looking for right here." She reached down her shirt and pulled out the bone.
Knockout quickly confiscated the bone and tried once again to raise communications, but there was no answer. "What to do with you?" he said looking down where he had Paige pinned. He was interrupted though when a blast nearly nailed him in the head. He dodged back as Arcee and Wheeljack entered the alley guns blazing. He took off with Wheeljack and Arcee in pursuit.
Paige rolled off the dumpster and stretched. "Took them long enough," she said.
Xxxxxx
As soon as Paige went through the portal accompanied by Arcee and Wheeljack and arrived on base, she confronted Fowler. "What was that?" she asked.
"What was what?" he asked.
"The plan was for you two to bridge back immediately if we encountered a Con," said Paige. "What were you doing running around the alleyways? All you had to do was go inside one of the buildings and bridge back."
"I'm a soldier," said Fowler straightening. "I wasn't going to leave an untrained civilian behind."
"You had other responsibilities," said Paige nodding toward June.
"I have to agree with Bill," said June from where she sat next to him. "You're no match for a Decepticon despite your size."
"Paige," said Optimus from behind her.
Paige's back straightened immediately at the call. Turning slightly to see that it was indeed Optimus behind her she bit her lip. "Yes sir?" she asked. She spent the next half hour listening to Optimus scold her for her actions. She didn't get why she had to be reprimanded when Fowler and June got off with a simple your actions were ill advised. Maybe it was because it looked like they had learned their lesson and they were clearly exhausted from running away from Knockout. Miko always did what she wanted regardless of what Optimus said and Paige kind of wished she were in her shoes at the moment because then maybe Optimus wouldn't have bothered with the lecture. "We did bring back the talon we went to retrieve," she pointed out indicating the crate on the table.
"I thought that Knockout took it from you," said Wheeljack.
"No, that was a decoy," said Paige. "What I gave him was a broken part of the skull that Optimus originally found. They already have the CNA for that one so I figured it wouldn't hurt. They didn't get the talon though."
"Good thinking kid," said Wheeljack.
Optimus vented and Paige hugged her arms. She didn't like to disappoint Optimus, but everything she did, she did for a reason.
"Are you injured Paige?" asked Cliffjumper from behind her.
"Huh?" asked Paige turning.
"Your arm," said Cliffjumper pointing.
As she unfolded her arms, she noticed smeared blood on one of her hands. The arm it had been gripping had a short scratch on it and the blood had nearly dried. "Oh, it's just a scratch," said Paige dismissively. "I didn't even realize I had gotten it."
"How can you not know you're injured?" asked Ratchet looking up from his screen. "Are your pain receptors malfunctioning?"
"I was distracted at the time," protested Paige. "So I don't even know when it happened. I'll go take care of it right now," she said quickly seizing the chance to leave before Ratchet could move from his seat.
xxxxxx
The next morning Paige was rinsing down with a hose in the next hanger when Smokescreen came up behind her. He was just returning from a mission and he was covered in dust. She spun in alarm when she heard someone behind her soaking him accidently. "Hey," he said.
She burst out laughing. "A little water isn't going to hurt you. Did you come to take a bath with me?"
Not long after, Bee walked in on the two of them rinsing the soap off of Smokescreen's armor. Paige was now completely soaked head to foot. He beeped something and gestured at them. "Don't be jealous Bee," said Smokescreen borrowing Paige's towel. Paige gestured toward the hose and back at Bumblebee and he quickly headed over. The others later found Smokescreen and Bumblebee nice and clean sitting in a bright patch of sun that made its way into the open hanger door. Paige was reclining between them in her still slightly damp undergarments.
