Chapter 19 - Repairs

(RPOV)

Ratchet couldn't seem to stay in his recharge cycle. He shrugged and came fully online to see his assistant asleep on the makeshift cot in the work area with a book perched perilously on her chest again.

Hmm... Ratchet onlined his holoform and touched her shoulder.

"Morning Ratch," she murmured, opening her eyes and looking bemusedly at the dark.

"Evening," he rumbled softly, "would you mind if I worked on you a bit?"

"You gonna put me under?" she yawned.

"A little," he rumbled truthfully.

"Okay, just don't expect me to eat anything in the morning," she murmured and dropped back into her recharge cycle.

Ratchet smiled down at his assistant and delicately slipped a mild sedative and painkiller into her arm. He transformed and walked toward her quietly, extending neural fibres from his hand to press through her skin. He scanned her constantly, watching her vital signs as he delicately excised the scar tissue from her organs and flushed the wounds with energon, watching the nanites go berserk and healing her. He deposited the pellets in a small jar and frowned at them. Compared to the tiny form, they were huge.

She'd have to stretch her stomach somewhat, Ratchet decided calmly, looking back down at his assistant. But at least she could now. He looked at the implants and decided to leave them. She was incredibly protective of whatever was on those chips.

He'd have to do a bit more research on her.

He sat down on his bench and powered down somewhat, a single processor devoted to monitoring his assistant as she slept the anaesthetic off. He was actually astonished just how little she needed, even for her size. Several hours and it had left her system.

He actually felt quite a bit more rested now, more at ease now that she was in better condition. He watched her sleep now, it was a fascinating study in itself, her brainwaves had slowed substantially, her breathing slow.

But then it changed. She began muttering in her sleep, calling out to someone named Tinny. Ratchet watched in astonishment as tears slipped out from beneath her closed eyes.

"Don't leave me, big-sister," she whimpered softly.

::. She gets chargefrights too.:: Bumblebee sent softly. Ratchet jumped, he hadn't realized that the scout was awake.

::. I did not know she has a sister.:: Ratchet sent curiously.

::. Don't ask her about it.:: Bumblebee sent quietly ::. Not unless you want to spend an orn trying to bring her out of her shell, as far as I can tell her sister either abandoned her or is dead. It's one of the things she never talks about, and I mean never.::

::. Noted.:: Ratchet sent back worriedly, watching the tiny femme again. She was tossing in her sleep still. Her eyes flashed open, she stood up and began walking.

::. Uh oh.:: Bee sent worriedly. He onlined his holoform and walked carefully beside Kae, never touching her. She didn't greet him.

::. Rude...:: Ratchet sent irritably.

::. She's still asleep, Ratchet.:: Bumblebee sent worriedly ::. Humans call it 'sleep-walking,' I once watched her get up and re-build the Witwickey's lawnmower... Oh thank Primus...::

Ratchet watched in shock as Kae made a perfect beeline to the mats, she stilled and began moving through a sequence that quickly registered as one of the various martial arts on this planet. Tai Chi. It was a new shock when she moved directly from one and began on another entirely. Ratchet watched it curiously, he could find no match.

::. She's just doing her sequences tonight.:: Bumblebee sent in a relieved tone.

::. What happened to the lawnmower?.:: Ratchet sent in amusement as Mikaela closed her stance and began walking back toward the cot.

::. Oh she fixed it, turned it on and scared the pit out of herself.:: Bumblebee sent in amusement. ::. Jumped about two feet in the air and shut the lawnmower down again, she didn't know I'd been awake the entire time and apologized for waking me up.::

::. So what did you do?.:: he sent in amusement, turning to begin his first project of the day.

::. Oh I teased her mercilessly for a week when Sam wasn't around.:: Bee giggled ::. Of course that's only because even you wouldn't bother to re-build an engine while you're in the middle of a recharge cycle.::

Ratchet bit back a snort and glanced over at his assistant as she began to wake.

"Morning Ratch," she murmured, yawning.

"Morning Kae," he murmured quietly, looking at her again. "If you feel you can manage any food today, I want you to drop whatever you're working on and go eat. You need to stretch your stomach back to a healthy size."

Mikaela sat up quickly and clutched her stomach. The look of shock on her face was completely worth it.

"It doesn't hurt!" she murmured in shock. Ratchet smiled.

(MPOV)

I woke up on the cot again, Ratchet was already working on his first project of the day.

"Morning Ratch," I yawned.

"Morning Kae," he rumbled quietly. "If you feel you can manage any food today, I want you to drop whatever you're working on and go eat. You need to stretch your stomach back to a healthy size."

I sat up quickly and noticed something immediately.

"It doesn't hurt!" I murmured in shock, holding my stomach.

"It shouldn't from now on," Ratchet rumbled with a smile, looking up at me. He pointed at a small jar on my bedside table. "I pulled those out of your organs, and the nanites got rid of a lot of the scar tissue."

I stared at the buckshot in the jars.

"Did... are those just bigger because of calcium deposits or something?" I asked weakly.

"No." Ratchet stated firmly.

"That... that's buckshot," I whispered.

"From three different shells." Ratchet rumbled, turning to glare at me slightly. "Who has been trying to kill you?"

I froze, staring at the medical officer. His glare softened.

"I'm not going to ask what's on the chips, but I would ask why you're so willing to die to protect them, I won't betray you." he stated gently. I looked at him for a long moment.

"I'm protecting a secret that would change the status quo," I said finally. "Information that could do incredible things in good hands. In the wrong hands..." I wrapped my arms around myself for a moment before touching my stomach. I looked back up at Ratchet.

"This is a souvenir from men who work for the wrong hands," I stated quietly, then shot the worried looking medi-bot a small smile. "One which I find myself glad to be rid of. Thank you, Ratchet." I walked over and hugged his calf.

He leaned down and enveloped me in his hand.

I looked up at him with a grin.

"So what's on the menu today?" I asked cheerfully.

"Three new services and a problem child," Ratchet grinned down at me, blessedly dropping the subject. "If you finish that up you can come help me fix this leg."

I grinned up at my mentor and walked quickly to the first service as soldiers began wandering toward the mess hall. The radio beside me began blaring, I jumped and turned to look at a grinning Ratchet.

"It saves having to hack into your iPod to listen to the music," he shrugged. I began laughing and flew through the services, occasionally bobbing to the beat as I went. I was finished the problem child by the time the soldiers began wandering toward the mess again. I stared at the mess hall for a long moment. Debating myself.

"Hungry?" Ratchet asked me curiously.

"I'm trying to decide on that still," I stated calmly, rubbing my stomach. "Either hungry or still nauseous. Joy."

"Your stomach is empty and healed, there is no anaesthetic remaining in your systems," Ratchet stated calmly. "Try to eat."

I shrugged agreement and wandered into the mess.

"Kae! Fancy meeting you here!" Will grinned, throwing an arm over my shoulders. "You gotta try the mushroom ravioli. Seriously."

I caught the scent of the food and felt my stomach grumble for the first time in years.

"That, sounds like a brilliant friggen idea," I stated with a broad grin. He gave me a light shove into the line and picked up a tray behind me.

"So, why'd you never get fixed up properly?" Will asked curiously. "It's not healthy to just go about with a bunch of scars in your guts."

"It's also expensive as hell to have them go in and clean up the mess," I replied, grinning as the cook plopped a small portion of the pasta on my tray. My size.

"Am I really that bad of a cook?" the chef asked with a frown as I walked past.

"No man," Lennox replied for me. "You weren't around yesterday, Ratchet did a scan on her, turns out our Kae came to us already shot."

"Oh shit, gutshot? What calibre?" Chance asked with raised eyebrows as several soldiers turned to stare. I sighed and fished out the small jar of bullets that Ratchet had pulled out of me last night, setting them lightly on the table.

"Ratchet pulled the last of them out last night," I said in a resigned tone.

"I knew it!" Lennox stated loudly. "That's friggen buckshot. How many cartridges?"

"Ratchet said three," I frowned, "That just doesn't seem right, I only remember one."

"What do you remember?" Epps asked intently, "this shit should have been reported!"

I sighed and looked around, taking a bite of the ravioli.

"One shot and you can get away with hunting accident, two and it's sketchy, three and people shot you on purpose, what happened," Will stated firmly. I looked at him gravely.

"Hey, we're not gonna rat on you," Epps snorted. "If you said hunting accident it was for a reason. Can see it in your eyes girl, you're not fond of lying."

"True," I snorted, "It sucks ass."

"So what happened?" Will asked again.

"It was the second time I'd had to run," I sighed, "the lot of us went up to moose camp with Brick. I don't know how they found us, or even who they were, really. The best we could figure was that they were the advance, that they'd shot me to pin us down." I gave a harsh laugh. "I felt the first shot, it threw me back against the cabin, next thing I remember I was back on my feet again and running. That's all I really remember. Being thrown on..." I frowned, "I remember being thrown against the cabin, and then... then the ground? the worst stomach ache I'd ever had, and Uncle putting me back together in the van. This pasta is friggen incredible." I added, grabbing another bite.

"Sam said you'd been in the same school since first grade," Lennox stated curiously.

"Hah! Do and expect the unexpected," I laughed. "That's how dad hid me, always the same school, the same address. People in hiding always make the mistake of switching addresses, names, schools. They knew I existed, but no one ever knew my real name. It's so much easier to hide out in the open."

"How the hell does that work?" Epps laughed.

"You stand still and watch the world pass by," Jacobs rumbled. I grinned as he pounded the fist I offered him.

"Okay, zen, right, but how does it work?" Epps grinned.

"Okay, when you're looking into someone's past, and there isn't any record of them from before having arrived in the states from Africa, or Korea, what does it tell you?" I grinned.

"That they spent their life in Africa?" Tibir asked curiously.

"No, witness protection gives you a new name, new story, but it's damned expensive to get all the certifications and things back to the start of your life." Will stated with a nod.

"When you're looking for someone, who doesn't want to be found," I stated calmly, spearing another piece of pasta. "Look for the people who materialize out of thin air. Names, faces, addresses, they're easy to change. History though, history is written by the victorious. When a person is hiding, you can sure as hell bet they didn't win."

"So you guys didn't win," Will stated quietly.

"When a gang banger knocks on your door, Will," I stated quietly. "You're free to call the police. There are people to help you."

"When you grow up in the gangs," Epps added quietly. "you call the police and you're dead. You call your gang, they might wind up dead, but they'll still come."

"So if you'd called the police your gang would have killed you?" Jacobs asked incredulously.

"No," I snorted, "we were a unit. I grew up with a hell of a lot of respect for a good cop. But when there's no option but for us to steal cars to pay for med bills, I call the police and they arrest everyone. Split us up. And a free asset in jail?"

"You call the police, they're dead," Epps whispered. I shrugged.

"Shit Kae," Will murmured.

"Hey," I grinned, "you play the cards life deals you. I'm not in it for a pity party, I'm still standing! And shit, Ratchet just fixed me up, I've eaten more right now, than I ever have at one sitting and I don't feel like throwing up. Doing pretty good I'd say." I indicated the empty tray in front of me.

"Friggen optimist, right here," Epps snorted, jabbing a finger at me.

"Eternal optimist," I grinned, stealing another bite of pasta from Will's tray. "And this eternal optimist is gonna go learn some new shit that up till a month ago? I could only dream of learning. Later boys, save me some dinner!"

I swung out of my chair and jogged toward Ratchet amidst the laughter.