Right, so minor update as to formatting, normally when I'm representing different languages I used different fonts, which I can't do with this program. So, in clarification:
∂Common∂
ƒFemmespeakƒ
ΩSpeaktruthΩ(the language of the primes)
=scout=
~Spoken between sparks~
::. Commlink.::

Just felt like writing that down, because in all honesty, I've started mixing my own brain up, and I wrote the darn thing! Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programme :)

Chapter 43 - Healing

(MPOV)

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. I was surrounded by light, I could feel Optimus' presence beside me.

"Oh god, Optimus no, you didn't follow me in death!" I whimpered. "You should be alive. I don't want you to be dead!"

"You don't want me to be with you?"

"You're twisting my words, I said I don't want you dead!" I stated irritably.

"You don't want me to follow you in death?" Optimus asked sadly.

"Oh for Primus sake Optimus. I follow you, not the other way around! I'm human! We die easily! I didn't want you to limit your lifespan to another eighty years at absolute best! I wanted you to live! I want you to continue to be the 'bot I fell in love with in life!" I ranted.

"Yep, that's the Kae we know and love," Ratchet's voice said from somewhere.

"Oh Primus, you didn't die too!" I moaned.

"Nope," Ratchet said cheerfully. "But Optimus is going to keep you captive in his spark chamber until you've healed properly."

"Until I what?" I growled.

"You destroyed your cardiac, respiratory and nervous systems, and you're not allowed to use that flight deck anymore," Ratchet stated cheerfully. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are carburetters to clean, this blasted sand gets everywhere."

"I am not going to sit idle while there's work to be done!" I ranted, squirming slightly and running my hands along the inside of the chamber, looking for the opening. Optimus groaned, I froze.

"Just stay still for a few minutes," Optimus rumbled in a strained voice.

"Oh Primus I'm hurting you!" I whimpered.

"You will be if you leave me like this," he groaned. I got the sense that he was walking. "Do you have any idea how incredible you feel? Your hands are so gentle."

"So where are we going?" I asked in a soft, teasing voice, running gentle fingertips along the etchings on the walls of his spark chamber. His spark coalesced beside me, his human avatar catching my hands and bringing them to his lips.

"Somewhere I promise that you will not be sitting idle," he rumbled, the vibrations of his voice shooting straight into my abdomen.

I closed my eyes with a low moan as the tendrils of light slid into my skin, following the path the vibrations took.

§Carbon child§

I knew that voice. The presence beside my own felt amused.

But it wasn't Optimus. It was dark. I was... fairly certain I was asleep.

§Carbon child you need not open your eyes to pay attention§ Mico murmured in my mind.

I couldn't help but smirk slightly at that, good, I really didn't want to open my eyes. Or move really, I felt weightless, my body numb in a way I couldn't really remember. Not numb, I just didn't hurt. Which was weird, there really wasn't a day that went past where I didn't have sore muscles, or when my shoulder didn't twinge and ache.

§Carbon child your body is too fragile, you must change soon§

That was confusing.

"What do you mean, mother?" I asked softly. The presence laughed softly.

§Rest§

The presence within my mind was gone, not gone, simply receded back where she usually remained.

Hers was a command I couldn't refuse, so I didn't bother trying.

I woke up again.

"Kae, you've fully regenerated," Ratchet's voice stated calmly. "You can come out now."

"Okay," I groaned, opening my eyes. I looked down, then around. "Just how many humans can hear me right about now?" I asked in a remarkably calm tone.

"Not one," Ironhide called out calmly, "they're off sleeping at the moment."

"Good," I said patiently. "Optimus, where the hell did you put my clothes?"

Optimus coughed. The resonation of embarrassment was almost deafening in here.

"Ratchet?" I called out.

"Mikaela?" Ratchet called back, I could hear him suppressing laughter.

"Optimus is either looking sheepish or smirking, which is it?" I asked curiously.

"Sheepish," Ironhide chortled.

"You vaporized my clothes, didn't you?" I accused, fighting back my own laugh.

"A little," Optimus rumbled.

"How do you vaporize clothing just a little? Are there scraps floating in the ionosphere somewhere?" I asked, breaking down into a full laugh.

"No, but I'm pretty sure that somewhere, a primitive species is examining your bra and possibly worshiping it!" Ironhide bellowed, I could hear the crash of him falling over as he roared with laughter.

"Oh smooth move Hide!" I shouted, "Now the whole camp probably knows! Is the coast still clear enough for me to find something?"

"We're far enough out that they won't hear," Chromia's voice called up consolingly. "I've got some clothes down here for you anyway."

"Thank Primus for Femmes!" I murmured. Optimus' spark chamber opened, I could feel a tinge of sadness as I left, an almost silent resonation. I stroked his chamber and pressed a gentle kiss to it. A promise to return.

Arcee, Flareup and Chromia's holoforms supported me as I stepped weakly out of Optimus' hand, his holoform onlining a moment later beside us.

I looked down at my skin. Absolute alabaster, microfine lines denoting where the scars had been.

"I did not do that much damage to myself!" I said in shock.

"We almost had to completely re-build you," Ratchet stated gently, his holoform joining Ironhide's in the group.

"Just please don't do that again," Ironhide added quietly. He reached out and touched my shoulder. "Officially, we brought you out here for a full reprimand."

"But we're not going to do it," Chromia continued quietly, gently helping me dress, "You did not actually disobey orders, you made a difference out there, and the only damage you did was to yourself."

"Mikaela," Optimus said firmly, I turned to face his holoform fully, he reached up and cupped my face. "You are one of our family now, among us it is a physical pain to lose one of our number." he lowered a hand to lightly caress his mark still burning on my chest, the glow faded into a normal tattoo.

"So don't kill yourself again," Ratchet said gently, "I don't want to try to attempt the impossible and find another assistant of your calibre. I've lost one daughter already, I don't want to lose you as well."

Physical pain stabbed into my heart at his tone, I turned and pulled his holoform into a crushing hug. Tears streamed down my face as I pulled back.

"You guys shouldn't have gotten attached to me," I whispered. "You said it yourself Ratch, I'm not built to last more than eighty years more at absolute best. You need to stop caring about me."

"No," Ironhide rumbled softly. "We're gonna love and care about you every second that we have you, and remember you with tenderness if the day ever comes when we don't."

I couldn't suppress the harsh sob that wracked through my body as the six holoforms grouped tightly around me.

"Kae," Ironhide rumbled softly, gently touching my face. I looked at him with grief in my eyes. "Your brother needs you."

"Bee," I whimpered, instantly turning to where I somehow knew my brother's spark was. Optimus gently took my elbow and led me to his truck form, I climbed into his cab quickly and settled into the passenger's seat.

Optimus must have felt my sudden need to reassure my little-brother, driving quickly back toward the camp. Soldiers stared at us in silence as I scrambled out of the cab, making a beeline for my brother as he transformed.

"Kae," he whispered, crouching down to my level.

"Bee," I whimpered. "Oh Bee, =I'm-so-sorry-little-brother.="

His hands reached forward the next second, picking me up and cradling me against his chest as I wound my arms as far as I could reach around his neck as we both sobbed.

"Don't do it again," he sobbed, rocking me. "Don't leave me behind big-sister."

"Never again, little-brother, never again." I whimpered.

(WPOV)

Will stood in shocked silence as Kae scrambled out of Optimus' cab, running toward the rapidly transforming scout. She looked like a ghost, a dark haired ghost.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

"Kae," Bumblebee whispered, crouching down to her level.

"Bee," she whimpered. "Oh Bee," her voice morphed into a trilling string of clicks, it sounded like one word.

Bee reached forward the next second, picking her up and cradling his sister against his chest as Kae wound her arms as far as she could reach around his neck. The both of them were crying, clinging to each other.

"Don't do it again," Bee sobbed, his tone wrenching the heart of even the most seasoned soldier. It was the tone of a young boy. "Don't leave me behind big-sister."

"Never again, little-brother, never again." Kae whimpered.

"Ratchet?" Will choked, watching her. She looked like a ghost, there was next to no colour in her.

"We had to almost completely rebuild her," Ratchet's holoform murmured the next moment. He seemed to watch the girl for a long moment before heaving a deep sigh.

"What?" Will murmured worriedly.

"As a medic, I am worried about her," Ratchet stated heavily. "As a father, terrified. She works and fights without concern for herself. Would that she were a bot, and I could run a diagnostic on her preservation circuits." Will turned to look at the medic fully.

"I didn't know you were a father," he murmured in a surprised tone. Ratchet turned to him, and Will felt his heart practically break at the grief in those eyes.

"In eighteen of your millennia," he said heavily. "I have lost more than I could save, buried more friends than I have retained. But my Alia... the loss of my daughter has always been the most bitter pill to swallow."

"Ratch?" Ironhide's holoform murmured gently, onlining beside the medic's and laying a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Old wounds," Ratchet murmured.

"Can..." Will started and broke himself off.

"The how," Ironhide murmured, looking at him with the eyes of an old warrior. Medic glanced at Weapons Master, they seemed to communicate for a half second. Not silently, but the way old friends knew what the other was thinking.

Ratchet remained silent, turning and watching Kae again.

Ironhide caught Will's eyes absolutely. "A group of Decepticons, in translation we refer to them as the Wolfpack. Fliers. Their... specialty, I suppose... is to round up a group and execute them. Anyone with even the remotest connection to a Prime."

Ironhide didn't need to say anymore, Will was able to put two and two together on his own. He reached out and laid a hand on the Medic's shoulder in silence.

Will already felt a sense of loyalty to these bots, God only knew Ratchet spent as much time trying to keep his men as healthy as his mech charges. That the medic had been a father, had lost his child, his daughter... it didn't matter that he was an enormous robot anymore. The bot had been a father.

"And yet gladly," Ratchet husked, seeming to continue Will's thoughts. "Gladly will I avoid further violence. To break the cycle."

"But with our last dying spark-flare, if I ever see those murderers again-" Ironhide rumbled sternly.

"We will destroy every last part of them that remains," Will growled softly. "With my dying breath will I fight against a being that would murder a child."

Optimus' holoform winked into being beside them, standing silently.

"Point," Ironhide rumbled quietly, glancing at him.

"Hmn?" Will murmured, looking at the weapons master.

"Ironhide has a mental tally, he's been keeping it since before Optimus was even online," Ratchet snorted quietly. "Anytime we score a point, he lets us know it."

"That's just cool," Will snorted quietly. "Do we ever get to know how many points we've scored?"

"That is easy," Optimus rumbled in a tone of wry amusement. "The more points you have in your favour, the less likely Ironhide is to beat the tar out of you."

"How many points have you lost that Ironhide still beat the crap out of you?" Will snorted, looking at Optimus' holoform.

"Oh, no that's different," Ironhide rumbled amiably. "Sometimes you have to beat the sense back into someone."

"If he were beating the tar out of me, my holoform would not have even had the chance to fight back," Optimus snorted, laying an arm across the older holoform's shoulders.

"Point," Ironhide rumbled quietly. "Right, let's get the younglings to bed." he blinked his holoform out and transformed.

"Alright my niece, nephew, go recharge," he rumbled quietly, gently touching Bee's shoulder and looking at Kae.

Will watched, entirely impressed as not even Kae offered a single argument, staying awake only to remain with her brother until she deemed him to be asleep.

...

Will bolted awake, listening intently.

"You were dead," Bumblebee's voice was sobbing.

"Shh... Bee, I'm here, I'm right here," Mikaela murmured gently. Will stayed put in his tent, certain that he wouldn't be welcome.

That was the downside of having his hearing fixed. He could hear everything now.

And then, a female voice, an angel's voice...

"Roses whisper good night 'neath silv'ry light, asleep in the dew they hide from our view. When the dawn peepeth through God will wake them and you, when the dawn peepeth through God will wake them and you..." the voice sang sweetly, Will felt drowsy just listening to that voice.

"Slumber sweetly my dear for the angels are near, to watch over you the silent night through and to bear you above to the dreamland of love and to bear you above to the dreamland of love."

Will took a deep breath and dropped back to sleep.

(OPOV)

Mikaela was pacing near her makeshift workstation, rubbing her temple and evidently trying to scan the weather with her human senses. Bumblebee was sound asleep again, he'd taken residence beside his big sister's tent, and not a night had gone by that she hadn't sung him to sleep with the promise of being there in the morning.

"Optimus," she murmured softly, crouching beside him. "What's the weather doing?"

"There is a storm coming," Optimus rumbled softly, he onlined his holoform and began walking toward the grouping of tents.

"Thought so," Mikaela murmured, rising and walking beside his holoform. "It's going to hit fast, we'd best batten everything down. Get as much covered as we can." She immediately began tying loose ropes to their moorings and gathering a few tarps. Sideswipe onlined immediately and started his engine quietly, idling until his front was almost wedged between Ironhide and Ratchet. Mikaela began gently moving the Femmes to stand between the medical officer and Weapons specialist. Optimus watched with a small smile as she repeated the action every time; gently running her hand down one's body, murmuring softly before gently wheeling them into place.

They barely woke, slipping immediately back into their recharge cycles, trusting her absolutely as she moved them to a safer harbour.

She stretched an enormous canvas tarp over all of them, Ratchet rousing himself somewhat to send out a few hooks along his side for Kae to tie to. Jolt took up the head, letting Kae cover him along with the group.

Moments before the wind hit, soldiers were stumbling out of their tents, Mikaela grabbed a strip of linen, wrapped it around her face and got back to work, covering everyone's air intakes to keep the sand out.

Optimus kept his holoform beside her at all times and watched with shock as she tore down her own tent and used it to cover him, struggling against the blowing sand.

"Take cover!" Lennox was bellowing, "headcount!"

Bumblebee was online in seconds, roaring toward his sister. Optimus snarled as the wind picked up further and onlined a forcefield. Soldiers scrambled into the solid tent created by Ironhide, Ratchet, Sideswipe and Jolt, huddling alongside the girls.

"Bumblebee! To me!" he roared, struggling with his holoform as the sand battered it, and extending the tent to cover his scout's intakes. Mikaela was immediately tying them in before she raced off to take care of the twins, guiding them to park hood to hood beside Ratchet and covering them. Optimus struggled to keep his Kae located with his sensors, venting a sigh of relief as she made her way directly to him.

"Kae! Where's Kae!?" Lennox was bellowing.

"With us!" Optimus bellowed back over the howling wind, Kae delicately wedging herself underneath his chassis.

"Auto-bots report!" she shouted beneath him. "Are everyone's intakes covered?"

"Everyone is covered," Optimus rumbled above her, passing on the affirmations his unit sent over the primary.

::. Unless you want your paint stripped remember your fields!.:: Ratchet grumbled.

Optimus noted Mikaela squirming forward somewhat, reaching out to gently touch Bee's bumper. The scout calmed immediately as his sister dropped into a half-cycle. Meditating, her only movement an occasional stroke across his bumper.

Three hours later her eyes opened again. She squirmed out and looked up at the stars in the sky, shaking sand out of her clothes and hair.

"Hate. Friggen. Deserts." she grumbled softly before squirming back beneath Optimus. "Wake me up when you guys want to be untied," she murmured before falling asleep.