Chapter 18 - When the past tries to join the present

(OPOV)

Mikaela was up and working beside Ratchet when he brought himself back online. He looked at the lively young femme as she quietly laughed beside the Medi-bot. A moment of reviewing the thoughts he had been processing so late at night proved her correct.

Somehow, in the light of day, they didn't seem so dire, quite so difficult.

"Aw scrap it!" Ratchet growled. "Trust me to pick a project that needs five hands!"

"Hold up!" Mikaela laughed, she squirmed for a second and brought up a bare foot, setting up the clamp she was holding in her right hand between her toes and reaching toward Ratchet with the newly freed hand while the bot laughed.

"Alright, take that screwdriver there and try to thread that screw into the hole while I line them up," the bot chuckled, then grinned as the little femme crowed her triumph. "Excellent, now this one here."

Optimus desperately bit back a rumbling laugh as he watched the two of them re-build a tricky servo, onlining his holoform beside them. Of everything in the universe, nothing irritated Ratchet more than trying to sort out tiny work. Binder cables had no thumbs.

He was learning how to use his holoform as dexterously as Kae used her own hands. Tiny, skillful hands. At this level, that servo was huge, you could see the parts for the servo. The fact that she was capable of using her feet as well though, that was frankly hilarious.

"Excellent! A sixth hand!" Ratchet rumbled with a grin. "Grab that there for a second!"

Between the three of them they got the hand properly aligned. Optimus couldn't resist darting a hand to tickle Kae's foot as she finally replaced fingers for toes on the clamp. She squeaked and shot him a mild glare.

"I will get you for that," she said menacingly before breaking down into a bright laugh and giving his hip a light shove before setting the foot down again.

The fact that she did that without a second thought had Optimus biting down a broad grin at his own inclusion.

Ratchet grinned as he quickly set the last of the screws and bolts into place with the holoform. He looked up and offered her the back of his left hand. Kae looked at him curiously and began to scan the area. Optimus glanced up at them and struggled to not burst out laughing then and there.

"Like this, Kae," he rumbled, threading his arm around Ratchet's so that their forearms pressed together.

"Woo! New social convention!" Mikaela laughed brightly, immediately threading her arm around Ratchet's as he offered it to her. "Bear in mind you still need to correct me if I'm doing it wrong."

"Pull back with a bit more pressure, it indicates trust that I won't straighten my arm to fire upon you," Ratchet grinned. She obeyed and the smile on the medi-bot's face broadened.

"Speaking of social conventions," Optimus rumbled softly, Mikaela looked at him for a second before understanding flashed into her eyes. She nodded with a small smile.

Optimus straightened slightly and walked out of the workshop toward Lieutenant Jacobs as the man wandered in and toward the mess.

"Lieutenant Jacobs!" Optimus called out, jogging a few steps toward the man.

"Prime," the African man stated in a neutral tone. "What can I do for you?"

"I wish to apologize," Optimus stated in a calm, sincere tone, "you offered me your hand to shake seventy-eight days ago, and I have been given to understand that not accepting it is cause for offence in Earth's western cultures. For that, I apologize." Optimus finished, holding out his hand to the man.

Jacobs crossed his arms with a frown, staring at Optimus. The bot frowned, confused. Jacobs was insulting him?

"Lower your hand, give him that wry smile of your's and say 'point taken,' I'll explain it later, oh, and don't read aloud what his handshake says." Mikaela murmured, her voice so low only the auto-bots would be able to hear.

After a second Optimus obeyed, he shot the African-American a wry smile.

"Point taken," he rumbled with a low snort. Jacobs stared at him for a second before his face split into a wide grin.

"Sorry man, caught me by surprise," Jacobs stated in his deep baritone, offering his hand, Optimus clasped the powerful hand and noted the strong, good man that Jacobs was. Confirmation of his own observations.

"Good handshake," Jacobs nodded, "firm grip, never trust a man who don't have a firm grip. Mind if I ask why you didn't shake my hand before?"

Optimus stared at the suddenly amiable soldier in shock before he felt the holoform's face break into a broad grin.

"If you offer your hand like that on Cybertron you would be telling the 'bot you are pointing to that he is your target," Optimus rumbled through that grin.

"Holy shit! You're joking!" Jacobs rumbled, his eyes wide open in shock.

Optimus offered the man another wry grin and turned to the side, showing the back of his hand. "At the academy, we were trained to aim with a straight hand, closing your fist, or folding it back gets your hand out of the way when you fire, but the aim is still where your fingers were pointing." Optimus explained patiently.

"Fuck man! That was totally my bad." Jacobs said suddenly, offering his hand, he looked down, "Shit! How do I shake your hand then without targeting you?"

"Well I know now!" Optimus snorted, fighting back a laugh, he glanced over at the work area as Mikaela and Ratchet finished their traditional morning argument. Mikaela had caved quickly this morning, Ratchet's holoform following her as she made her way toward the mess.

"Mikaela!" Optimus called out with a grin. She changed her course slightly to join Jacobs and him. He turned to the man again. "At home, it is not uncommon for us to range in individual size from smaller than Wheelie to somewhat larger than the one we took down in Shanghai, I suppose it is one of the other reasons we never offer hands. But there are variations of this:" He offered the back of his hand to Mikaela, who smiled and threaded her forearm against his, pulling back strongly in automatic trust. He noted offhandedly in her greeting that she had secrets kept close to her spark.

"Oh so you get to know the secret handshakes and I don't?" Jacobs rumbled at her.

"In fairness I just learned it ten minutes ago," she grinned at him, "for the past couple of weeks I kept thinking Ratchet was telling me to scan the area."

"Is that why you kept looking around?" Ratchet looked down at the femme curiously.

Mikaela looked up at the medi-bot's holoform and burst out laughing, reaching out and wrapping her arms around his waist in a quick hug as Ironhide onlined his holoform.

"Alright, new rule!" she chuckled, "no assumptions without explanations."

"Oh now you are doing my job?" Optimus rumbled at her, throwing a mockingly irritable glare at her. She shot an incredulous look at him for an astrosecond before shooting his glare down with an absolutely adorable little-girl pout.

"Quit playing Prime and get back to being Optimus," she pouted. Optimus stared at her incredulously before his resolve broke. In moments he was howling with laughter. Jacobs, Ratchet and Ironhide stared at the two of them, two grinning, one confused.

Optimus calmed slightly to look at her, she'd held onto the mocking pout, her arms crossed. He looked at her seriously for a second before reaching out and poking at her lip.

"If you do not stop that, your program will freeze that way," he stated with a grin. She burst out laughing and looked at Jacobs.

"I'm sorry, I caught Chance's insomnia last night and we spent a couple of hours hashing out earth's social conventions," she explained with a smile.

"Oh so you're the one who's coaching him!" Jacobs grinned, "did you make him apologize too?"

"You apologized!?" Mikaela asked with raised eyebrows, looking at Optimus in what he found to be an incredible impression of shock, despite her having literally coached him mid-apology. "That's so sweet! Shit, human males could use some lessons from the Auto-bots. I don't think I've ever heard a male admit he was wrong about something."

Ratchet idly reached up and rubbed his throat, glancing at Ironhide. The bot caught the message and simply grinned.

"But yeah, you know what? Thanks man," Jacobs said with a smile, turning to Optimus and offering the back of his hand. Optimus grinned and threaded his forearm with the African's, pulling back and finding himself pleased as the man copied the action.

"So you guys going to join us for breakfast?" Jacobs asked with a broad grin.

"I will sit, but I have plenty of fuel left," Optimus nodded, throwing an arm across Mikaela's shoulders and walking beside Jacobs as Ratchet and Ironhide trailed behind.

"That works, don't that get boring though? Always the same diesel?"

"Gas for me, thanks," Ratchet chimed in. "But yes, it does get boring, it all comes from the same scrapping place! Always the refinery in Florida!"

"Shanghai was weird though," Ironhide rumbled, "Spicy, I had spark-burn for days."

"You can tell the difference?" Jacobs asked in an impressed tone, "hold that thought for a second, Lennox!" he bellowed.

"Jacobs!" Major Lennox bellowed back.

"Shit man! You're not gonna believe this!" Jacobs called out, "Did you know we were technically threatening them when we offered to shake the holoform's hands!?"

"You're fucking kidding me!" Will shouted. He trotted over as several soldiers stood to join the group or turned to watch. "Prime, I'm so sorry," he extended his hand and looked down. "Fuck, I did it again."

Optimus laughed and gripped the Major's hand before he could drop it, enjoying himself immensely as the man immediately returned the shake. Solid, dependable man, firm resolve, neutral give and take. Mikaela observations were three for three, two handshakes and respect for an apology.

"Well shit, in for a dollar," Epps grinned, "So totally not targeting you," he offered a hand. Optimus shook it, and was surprised to have the man pull away and offer a fist.

"Like I said," Mikaela laughed beside him, "a million different sequential handshakes that Epps would be better able to teach because I have absolutely no fucking clue about them." Epps stared at the two of them for a second before laughing.

"Right then, here, copy the form my hand does," he grinned. Optimus watched interestedly as Epps showed him the sequence, speeding up and executing the sequential 'greeting' the next minute as the man grinned.

"Those are battle commands," Optimus rumbled, "You just ordered the back ten to take flank then charge forward, sort of." he tilted his head to the side.

"Sort of?" Epps grinned.

Optimus held his hands up with a small smile.

"I fire with my right, and sign in silent with my left," he rumbled patiently, signing it.

"All of silent is signed with the left," Ironhide added with a grin.

"Right! Food, Sit, Gossip!" Lennox commanded with a grin, offering trays around.

Mikaela was four for four now, Optimus thought with amusement as Ratchet followed the femme to nag her about not eating enough.

"That's what I said!" the server behind the counter offered with a grin, throwing a hefty scoop of what appeared to be fluffy lumps of pale yellow, two pink disks, brown strips and brown cubes on her tray. The smells were fascinating in here.

"That's the same amount you give Chance and Epps!" she protested, "I'm happy to be one of the guys until you try to make me eat as much as they do!"

"You need food for energy," Ratchet grumbled irritably.

"See? Doctors orders," the server said innocently.

"Traitors!" she growled, winking at the man before grabbing a cup of black coffee.

(MPOV)

Optimus sat down on my left and across from Lennox.

"So how the hell did you know they didn't know all the social conventions Kae?" Will asked curiously, nodding to Optimus as I took a drink of coffee.

Memories struck and I struggled to not do a spit take, failing miserably. Coffee went up my nose, burning and stinging.

"Oh god it burns!" I laughed, tears springing to my eyes as I snatched several napkins up and pressed them to my face.

"Mikaela are you alright!?" Optimus asked in shock.

"I'm fine Optimus," I said consolingly, wiping tears from my eyes and touching his wrist. "The joys of shoddy evolution, if you laugh while drinking, it comes out your nose."

Ratchet chuckled while several soldiers gathered close.

"And anytime something like that happens it's bound to be a good story." Chance grinned, leaning closer.

"If it's alright Optimus?" I looked at him calmly.

"I want to know too," he murmured sincerely.

"Alright, do you three remember when you first arrived?" I asked with a laugh, "Bumblebee brought Sam and I to the hill to watch you enter the atmosphere, and then to the alley where we first met. Now, here's the first social convention you broke. Ratchet, you really really don't announce that 'the boy's pheromone levels suggest he wants to mate with the female.' You very much killed any probability of that for a while!" I lowered my voice as much as I could to imitate him before bursting out into a laugh as the soldiers around us howled.

"The first? That suggests we broke more," Optimus said worriedly.

"A couple, nothing major," I said gently, touching his wrist again.

"Okay, that one was good, but what made you spray coffee?" Chance grinned at me.

"Oh god!" I moaned before laughing again. "Alright, so these guys transformed back into their vehicle forms and took us to Sam's house to get his great-grandfather's glasses. Weird ass mission, I know, but their logic was sound. Sam left me with Optimus to go try to find the glasses and divert his dad. Except of course neither of us had any idea how serious it was at the time. Everyone transforms and begins walking around in the back yard, brand new sod and a concrete fountain. It was an absolute mess!"

"How?" Chance grinned.

"Footprints in the grass, dents and shattered pottery, crushed roses, Optimus stepped on the fountain, Ratchet tripped over the powerlines, it was great!" I laughed again, "but the insurance covered it. Now here comes the good bit. Sam has a dog, Mojo, which his dad had let out. Normal for us, right? Except this stupid little chihuahua pissed on Ironhide's foot." I gestured to Ironhide's holoform.

"NO!" Jacobs bellowed.

"Yes!" I shouted back. "So Ironhide whipped out his cannons, and said-"

"You have a rodent infestation, shall I terminate?" Ironhide interjected. There was another roar of laughter.

"And so there's Sam, standing terrified in front of a twenty foot, pissed on and pissed off Ironhide, shaking the dog and saying 'bad Mojo!" I continued amidst the laughter. "'Hide, I really don't blame you, I would have shot that stupid excuse of a dog myself, but you really don't do that!" I laughed.

"Primus only knows how she still trusted us after that," Ratchet rumbled with a grin.

"You gave me the option," I said sincerely. "Optimus, you offered your hand to me, rather than out and out picking me up to put me through the window to Sam's room. As many differences between our races there are just as many similarities. Perhaps not all the good ones," I added musingly, "But a goodly few."

"Like what?" Epps asked curiously.

"Well, when Optimus shook my hand last night for example," I said patiently, "He was a holoform, and it seems to have been the first time he shook any hand, but he still offered a firm grip and all the markers that I use to identify a good man. Confirmation of what I'd already observed of him."

"He could have tailored the shake," Tibir piped up musingly.

"No," I said firmly, frowning. "no I know a tailored shake when I feel it. But it's not just that," I turned to Optimus, "We share the same standards that define a good person, honesty, kindness, loyalty, friendship. And the same capabilities for hatred and destruction."

I lapsed into silence, thinking.

"How you learn?" Tibir asked suddenly.

"By surviving," I said quietly, I shook myself and looked at Chance. "Hey what are the chances of getting fuel from more than just the Florida refinery?" I asked him quickly.

"Oh! Nice try Kae," Will said firmly, "Survive how?"

I sighed and sagged into myself, pushing my barely eaten breakfast away.

"We fought to get legit years ago," I said softly, "we bought a rundown shop and practically re-built it ourselves. I took care of bringing in the parts, which meant having to deal with the suppliers. There was a time that I could tell an undercover cop from a legit seller and a hacker at one handshake. And I had to, you know?" I sighed, "Can we talk about something else? The past shouldn't define us, I've stolen, lied, cheated... I don't want to be that person anymore. And I really don't want to screw up working here with Ratchet."

"So fuel!" Jacobs grinned, "Seriously man," he looked at Chance, "Can we get anything new in for these guys? I can't imagine eating scrambled eggs day in and day out."

"Chicken," Ironhide rumbled suddenly, "This florida stuff tastes like chicken."

"Wait, you guys can tell where it came from?" Chance asked with a grin. He jumped up from his seat and ran toward the door, stopping in consternation when they didn't follow. "Sorry, you coming or what? It's my job to drain the gas tanks on the vehicles that come in, if I knew you were tired of the same gas I would have suggested this before, we've got fuel from around the world in Jerry cans in Warehouse two! Ratchet'll probably have to scan 'em to make sure they're still good but point stands."

"I call Texas," Ironhide rumbled immediately, standing and striding toward Chance.

"Shanghai," Optimus grinned, I stood up beside him, and he lightly pushed me back into my seat. "Eat." he said firmly.

"I've eaten as much as I can!" I protested.

"No seriously! That's as much as she ever eats, I'm actually starting to think her stomach shrank at some point," the server stated with a frown.

Ratchet growled and looked at me firmly, evidently scanning me. His face registered shock as I somehow knew it would.

"Story for another day," I muttered, standing and darting out of the mess hall.

Ratchet onlined his holoform directly in front of me.

"Why?" he growled.

"I'm not going to allow the past to define me," I growled back, "the external scars were easy to get rid of, please, please don't make me show off the internal ones."

"You have sub-dermal implants scattered around your body, and a great deal of scarring on your internal organs." he rumbled softly. "What is on those chips that you've nearly died several times over to protect?"

"Exactly Ratchet," I said softly, "I've nearly died to protect them, and will likely die because of them, I survive. And I survive to keep them safe, secrets that I have to keep safe until the time is right, because at the time there was no other way. No matter how much I trust you." I reached up and cupped my mentor's face. "Now let's get you guys some change in fare." I grinned impishly.

Ratchet rolled his eyes before offlining his holoform and following the rest of the auto-bots. He leaned down and offered me his hand mid-step. I hopped into his hand easily.

"Why was it never repaired?" he rumbled in a stern tone.

"I'm alive aren't I?" I retorted firmly.

"What?" Optimus rumbled beside us.

"Mikaela has suffered massive internal trauma," Ratchet reported strongly.

"Her spark?" Optimus asked in a worried tone.

"No, this was nine years ago," Ratchet stated, I crossed my arms and glared at him. "I want to know why the damage was never repaired," he added, glaring back at me.

"What damage?" Lennox bellowed up.

"For the love of all the Gods!" I finally shouted at the medi-bot, "Announce it to the entire world why don't you?"

Ratchet stared at me in shock, setting me down on the ground.

"There are reasons why I don't talk about my past," I growled softly, barely above the range that the Major could hear. Lennox was staring at me, "If I could have changed it I would, but you can't change the past. Only work and give for the future."

Optimus looked down at me with knowing eyes.

"What happened?" he rumbled softly.

"Hunting accident," I sighed, hating that I had to lie, and praying that I'd be able to tell the bot the truth. "We were out in the middle of nowhere, Uncle Sho patched me up the best he could. It was only birdshot. I got lucky."

"Where's the scars then?" Lennox asked curiously, looking at my stomach. I shot him a weak smile and pulled up my shirt.

"Mom gave me an interesting genetic trait, I don't get much scar tissue, I pigment instead." I stretched the skin across my side and watched as Lennox went pale, mapping the scars across my stomach. I released the skin and watched as the scars disappeared amid the tan. "Please, don't rat me out Major." I said quietly. "I don't need people's pity. I survived. I don't ride on the wings of others, I earn my own respect. And surviving a gunshot is nothing."

"Those scars aren't a single gunshot," Lennox murmured. "That's a shotgun spray."

"Like I said, I got lucky," I shrugged. "Far enough away that the pellets spread out and lost a lot of force. Birdshot."

"Some of the pellets are still embedded in your organs," Ratchet grumbled down at me.

"Uncle was a bit more worried about stopping me from bleeding to death and making sure the acid in my stomach didn't start eating away the rest of my organs." I retorted.

"Would you at least let me get the bullets out of you?" Ratchet asked almost pleadingly. "Go after some of the scar tissue so that it doesn't hurt so much to eat?"

I sighed and nodded.

"Fine, but if I get fat it's on you," I grumbled at him. Ratchet snorted and watched as Chance ran toward us again.

"Right! I got it sorted!" he called with a broad grin, he looked at Ironhide and was almost bouncing.

"You got Texas?" the bot rumbled curiously.

"Yeah I do!" Chance laughed, running back toward the warehouse again. I laughed and jogged after him.

(IPOV)

Ironhide grinned, he was gettin' some steak tonight. Mikaela, the little femme Optimus was so fond of had surprised him somewhat. A shot like that should have been fatal for her species. But there she went again. Running.

She really didn't stop running. Or moving really. Kind of had to respect that.

And quiet, that was good for hunting. He honestly wondered what she'd do with a gun. You know, besides shoot Starscream in the face. He hadn't ribbed her about that for a while, he made a note to do that later. Ironhide looked at Ratchet's scans curiously. She had implants alien to her body, things that had to have hurt to put in, and her fuel system was absolutely messed up compared to the other soldiers'. She kept on smilin' though, upped his respect for her a notch.

"That pattern," Major Lennox grumbled softly.

"Major?" Optimus asked curiously.

"Did you see the scar pattern on her stomach? That's not a single shot of birdshot from a distance." Lennox stated with a frown. "Even if she healed up well, those holes are way too big for a shot of birdshot. I'm thinking she's still alive because they told her it was only birdshot. That's a tough chick right there."

Come to think of it, that was probably why Optimus liked the little femme so much. Ironhide looked over at the Prime as the bot watched her.

There was worry in them optics.

Chromia transformed with her sisters and shot a glance at him.

Now there was a femme that just kept going. Ironhide eyed her with a smirk.

Gorgeous.

And brilliant. There was an idea.

::. Got a question for you ladies.:: Ironhide sent to their shared private channel.

::. Shoot.:: Arcee grinned.

::. What's the Femme point of view on Mikaela there?.::

::. Don't really know her yet.:: Chromia put in mildly.

::. You lot remember her, but we weren't around when you met her.:: Flare added.

::. She seems to be a good person though, Primus knows Prime has been in better spirits since she showed up.:: Arcee smiled. ::. Ratchet as well.::

Ironhide glanced at the normally dour Medical Officer to find him watching the Femme with a small smile.

Huh. Hadn't really seen that for a while. Ironhide battled down a smirk.

::. Sap.:: he sent to the medic fondly. Ratchet shot him a glare, the half-sparked kind. Ironhide grinned, his friend was back.