Chapter 70 - Question of a Lifetime
(MPOV)
I took a deep breath, and felt new. Optimus' spark hummed close by, and his holoform was wrapped tightly around me. I listened to his spark for a long moment, there was a familiar, disturbing hum to it.
Indecision. Worry. I opened my eyes to look at him worriedly.
"Are you alright?" I asked softly.
His holoform's eyes snapped open to look down at me. A small smile touched his lips.
"I'm just fine," he said softly. The hum continued.
"Optimus," I gave him a firm look, "you're undecided about something and worrying, I thought we weren't lying to each other?"
"You do realize that you are the only one who knows me that well?" he rumbled, the smile spreading to his eyes.
"Ratchet and Ironhide know you just as well," I laughed softly, cupping his cheek. "Now what are you fretting about?"
"How best to ask you something," he rumbled, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to my lips. "Come for a drive with me later?"
"You've got it," I smiled, pulling myself up by his shoulders to kiss him back.
I stood up out of the hammock and quickly pulled my clothes on. I grabbed my iPod and punched in some powerful music as his holoform watched me with a broad smirk.
"What?" I asked with a laugh.
"You're back," he rumbled with a grin.
"And I'm going to go service some jeeps, drop by and I might find something to do to you too," I purred, leaning down and running gentle hands over his seat. I pressed a kiss to his mark, etched deeply on a panel as he tried to suppress a shudder.
I climbed out of his cab and made my way to the work-area Ratchet and I shared.
"Morning Ratch!" I called out with a grin.
"Go eat!" he shot back at me grumpily.
"Oh come on!" I pouted, "you honestly expect me to digest things this early in the morning? What's on the menu?"
Ratchet glanced up for a second and shrugged.
"Services and a few servos to strip, slow day. Fine, but you're eating lunch!" he grumbled.
I punched my hands in the air in victory.
He stared at me and burst out laughing.
"Missed you Kae," he rumbled, I trotted over to him and hugged his leg.
"Missed you Ratch," I smiled. There was a strange hum coming from his spark. I narrowed my eyes at him as he grinned down at me. "You're keeping secrets," I stated calmly, a little bit of guilt came into that spark resonation.
"I am not telling you." Ratchet stated, crossing his arms.
"I'm not asking," I shrugged, grinning up at him. "I'm just making sure that I have that resonation pitch correctly translated."
"What-? Scrap!" Ratchet shouted.
I laughed, gave his calf a gentle whack and walked to the first hummer scheduled for servicing today. We worked in relative silence for a few hours, I could hear Ratchet stewing in curiosity.
"Why aren't you asking?" he finally demanded. I looked up at him with a smile as Optimus rolled in.
"Turnabout is fair play," I stated blandly. Optimus' air-brakes burped slightly as his spark resonated with recent memory. I shot a mischievous wink at him as he transformed. He straightened and shot a glance at me as he strode into communication central. I went back to servicing my final vehicle of the day. He was detailing the use of energon sensors to a committee over the video communications.
Ratchet was chuckling softly as he worked on a prototype sensor array.
I thought of something and froze.
"I'm not going to be able to travel anymore!" I said in a shocked tone.
"Hmn?" Ratchet looked over at me as I closed the hood on the jeep.
"They're putting Energon sensors in all of the cities, airports and things, right?" I said with raised eyebrows. "Where am I gonna be able to go without tripping that array?"
"We'll just have to give you an – oh scrap you're right," Ratchet stated, I watched him wrestle his face into a frown. "I can't really give you an access tag, you're fleshy." he shrugged. "I'll figure it out, Either way, what are the chances that you'll be travelling without one of us tagging along?" He grinned down at me.
"True," I said with a laugh, picking up a screwdriver and flipping it around in my hand idly as I looked around the workspace for something to do.
"C'mere and tell me if you think you can put this together using an average human's intellect." Ratchet called over to me. I laughed and narrowed my eyes at the array, Cybertronian symbols danced in front of my eyes, detailing it's construction.
"That looks good," I said with a grin, "but don't forget to put an anti-tamper on it. You never know what radical might look at that thing and think it's for monitoring humans."
"Really?" Ratchet asked in shock.
"Big brother is watching you!" I told him, holding my arms out and putting on a spooky voice. As expected, his optics dimmed for a second before he snorted.
"That's just taking it to creepy levels," Ratchet stated, chortling. "What is it with sentient races? You humans have world domination urges written everywhere!"
"Lack of openness about sex," I murmured back to him, below human earshot. His spark was humming with suppressed laughter.
::. I heard that.:: Optimus told me over the iPod.
"Sorry," I murmured with a small grin, biting my lip. I patiently began working on a memory chip, delicately inspecting it and cleaning away the grime, looking for any flaws in it's wiring. Finally, I found the corroded line, I carefully cleaned it and laid down a new line of silver on it before handing it to Ratchet.
He scanned it and grinned, bagging the chip.
"That's got some retrievable information on it," he rumbled, "nice fix." I laughed softly and frowned again. I was out of even the make-work jobs. I thought of Anabelle, and the bear hug Will had given me the night before. I thought of something.
"Hey Ratchet?" I looked up at him curiously, "could I use my pack for a minute?"
"What do you need?" he asked curiously.
"I haven't sewn anything in years," I shrugged, "I thought I'd make a Christmas present for Anabelle, but I need to put together some cloth and things."
Ratchet grinned and offered me a neural fibre in his hand. I touched it and laughed softly as it slid into my wrist.
"Just think of the cloth you need," Ratchet grinned ::.I'll download and make it, I've got a load of excess carbon that I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of.::
::. Ratchet, you're the best.:: I smiled silently, imagining a soft, pale ivory fur. In front of my eyes a large bolt of fabric materialized on Ratchet's hand.
I reached out and touched it with gentle fingers.
"That is absolutely perfect," I smiled up at the medi-bot as the neural fibre retracted back into his hand. I lifted the fake fur from his hand and set it down on my workbench. I glanced at the inside of the fur and began laughing.
"I saw the pattern in your mind," Ratchet shrugged, "thought I'd try to save you a bit of time." I walked over and wrapped my arms around his calf.
"You're the best Ratch," I grinned up at him. I quickly stripped out of my coveralls and snatched up a pair of scissors, carefully cutting out the first few pieces I'd need.
Within minutes I was humming under my breath as I fell into the rhythm of stitching together a piece of love, completely zoning out.
"Kae, food!" Ratchet commanded, I jumped and stared at him.
"I'm not doing anything strenuous, can I wait until dinner?" I pleaded.
"It is dinner time," Ratchet laughed, pointing at the clock. It was six in the evening.
"Oh." I said with raised eyebrows as his holoform winked into being beside me. He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
"And unless I am very much mistaken, you also have research to do."
I looked up at him and thought for a moment before grinning.
"You are absolutely right, Ratchet," I laughed, beginning to walk to the mess. "I need to check what colour Will's eyes are."
"What what now?" Ratchet's holoform frowned in confusion, "I thought you were going to try to figure out what Optimus is going to ask you tonight."
"You're meddling Ratch," I stated blandly. "Optimus is still trying to figure out how he wants to ask me, and you know it. I'm not going to pressure the bot."
"How did you know that!?" Ironhide demanded, winking in beside us.
"You just told me," I smirked at Ironhide.
Optimus onlined his holoform beside the two deeply frustrated senior officers. He looked at Ratchet's puzzled frown and burst out laughing.
"Why Ratchet, I do believe you've met your match." Optimus stated with a broad grin, wrapping his holoform's arms around me for a moment. "But while the four of us are here, Kae, I need to ask you something."
I turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. He gently took both of my hands.
"Mikaela, in no way do I ever want to put pressure on you," Optimus stated quietly, "and we all will understand if you do not wish to take this path, but you are a part of our family now, and we would like to keep you. As one of us." he reached up and cupped my cheek.
I stared up at him uncomprehendingly for a long minute, turning his words over in my head. Ironhide's words to me, as I'd stood in this same place two months ago crashed into my mind.
"As an Auto-bot!?" I squeaked in shock. Optimus nodded, I could see the worry in his eyes. "but what happens when you get tired of me?"
Optimus stared down at me in shock for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"How the pit could I grow tired of you?" he demanded. "How could I grow tired of my soul? Of my light?"
I stared at him, frozen in shock. I thought back for a long moment and turned, punching Ironhide's arm firmly.
"You knew you right prat!" I told him with a laugh before hurling myself on Optimus' holoform. He lifted me into the air with a rich rumble of laughter.
"Please tell me that's a yes," he grinned at me.
"No," I said calmly, "it's an absolutely honoured definitely." his face fell for a fraction of a second before the grin renewed itself.
"Is that a yes?" Chromia shouted from across the hangar.
"It's a yes!" Optimus roared, lifting me into his holoform's arms and spinning me around. I wrapped myself around him, hugging him tightly. The Auto-bots rapidly transformed, onlining holoforms and sprinting toward us.
"I get to keep my big sister!?" Bumblebee shouted, hurling himself against Optimus' holoform. I caught him with one arm as every holobody pressed in against us.
Still in Optimus' arms, I could see the grins on several soldier's faces. Lennox was beaming.
"You knew too!?" I demanded of the man.
"Yeah, but do us a favour and stay human for Christmas," he shouted.
I laughed and leaned down, catching Optimus' lips in a delicate kiss. His eyes danced, and I had a hard time catching my breath as I looked into those expressive eyes.
"Go for a drive later?" he murmured.
"You don't even have to ask," I smiled, sliding down somewhat to press a kiss to his jaw. The femmes were beaming at me as the sweet, beautiful tones of contentment resonated from both he and his holoform.