A/N: Update time! Sorry it's been ages! Let me know what you think!
Chapter Six:
Together Again
"Once a deep and powerful connection between two people has been made they become a vital part of each other's lives and there is no separating them. No measure of distance or duration of silence can prevent the outbreak of smiles and laughter or the strong desire to leap into each other's arms when they come together once more." –Beau Taplin
"No, I said no. You can't do that anymore."
"You human not boss of me, Grimlock. Me Grimlock, boss of you!"
I heaved a sighed, but I couldn't help the smile I could feel creeping onto my features. Currently, I was lying in my med-bay bed with a laptop resting on my stomach. Although, the laptop could hardly be called a laptop. When I thought of the word laptop my mind automatically would go to the sleek, silver MacBooks I used to see all the time. This thing was hardly that. It was a black, metal board, a little longer than a ruler and about half a foot wide, with light blue letters glowing where the keyboard was supposed to be. The corner of the board projected a holographic screen above it that I was able to interact with, supposedly. Technology hated me back in my universe, and that hadn't changed at all. In fact, now it seemed to hate me more.
The holographic screen was showing a video chat with Grimlock who could only be partly seen. It was almost comical seeing his T-Rex alt mode bent over, metal tail in the air, as he tried to get his entire face in view. Granted, all I could actually see was his glowing white eyes and rows of metal teeth. So maybe not so comical and more terrifying.
"You cannot chew on the tanks." I argued, "They're never gonna let you come visit me or vice versa if you eat all their toys."
Grimlock let out a huff of indigence and I chuckled in response. I grinned at him, "So do I get to meet the other dinobots yet?"
"No."
I pouted, "How come I can't talk to them over the video feed, Grimlock."
"Because Grimlock is talking to you." He huffed again, "You human unhappy? Grimlock not enough for you, Aj?"
I rolled my eyes at him, "Don't be silly, Grimlock. You know you'll always be my favorite dinobot."
This seemed to appease the dinobot. We chatted for a few more minutes before Grimlock snarled at someone off to the side and then just walked off. The two of us never really did goodbyes. Our chats usually ended with him just getting tired of staring at the screen.
I sat up and tried to find the exit button on the fake screen to no avail. With determination settling in my body, I searched every square inch of the stupid system looking for an off button.
"Having issues?"
My head snapped up to the doorway to see Annabelle standing there with a teenage boy with dark skin. The laptop slipped from my hands and clattered to the floor. I glanced down at it sheepishly, "Uh, well it's off now."
"It's also broken." Annabelle replied. She walked in, "I sent you a message, but you didn't reply."
I glanced at the teenage kid again before reached over to my nightstand where my phone sat. After already breaking one of those xScreen phones that everyone uses, Wheeljack had put together an old iPhone for me to use. Well, it technically wasn't an actual iPhone since Wheeljack made it himself from scratch, but it looked and worked nearly the same. The only noticeable differences was the quality of the digital screen, the lack of any apps other than call and messages, and instead of an apple on the back Wheeljack had installed a glowing blue Autobot symbol.
"Sorry, I put it on vibrate while I was talking to Grimlock."
"What is that?" The boy asked with a puzzled look. His gaze was focused on my hand. Slowly, his eyes darted back to me and widened, "Uh, if you don't mind me asking that is."
I shook my head with a laugh, "It's fine. This is my phone. Courtesy of Wheeljack."
"Wheeljack?" He asked again.
"Yeah, it only took him three tries before the sparking and flames stopped." I glanced at the phone in my hand, "Now there's only 45% chance it'll catch fire in my hand and a 10% chance it'll poison me with some form of radiation."
The kid's eyes widened a bit more before Annabelle rolled her eyes, "She's not serious."
"How dare you." I retorted.
"Aj, this is my friend Eli. Eli, this is my aunt Aj." Annabelle motioned from me to him and then back again.
I set my phone down and gave a small wave, "Hi there. Nice to finally meet you, Eli, I've heard a lot. I even met your dad too!"
"Really?" Eli said, "He didn't mention you. Then again, I uh, I didn't know you existed until about, um, twenty minutes ago?"
Eli wrung his hands together as he spoke, but as the words came to a stop he rubbed the palms of his hands against his side briefly. He was nervous about something. Meeting me? That didn't make sense. I wasn't that intimidating was I? His dark brown eyes darted from me to Annabelle and back again. I offered him a reassuring smile. He looked about Lex's age, around 15-ish, and he didn't look much like Epps. They had a similar face shape, but his features were different. I assumed that meant he looked more like his mom.
"So, how come you two aren't at school?"
Annabelle dropped down into the seat by my bed and patted the armrest. Eli rocked on his heels before coming over to sit next to her. Annabelle smiled at me, "It's a teacher's workday. No class, and I'm pretty sure I mentioned this to you at one point yesterday."
"Well, I'm pretty sure you didn't, smartaaa….butt." I finished lamely.
Eli cracked a smile and Annabelle rolled her eyes, "I'm 17, Aj, and I go to public high school. No curse you say is going to poison my oh-so innocent ears."
"Yeah, well, your stepmom would murder me if she knew I was cursing around you kids." I argued. "Or worse, she'd lecture at me for God knows how long."
Eli chuckled again, "That's worse than murder?"
"I don't like listening to Aubrey's lectures. It's not fun." I shrugged, "So where's your third musketeer? Lex?"
This time Eli was the one to answer my question, "She's actually with Taylor right now. Her and Ratchet are doing some sort of check up on Blaster in the medbay below and sometimes Lex gets to watch."
"Neat-o." I replied. "So tell me a little about yourself, Eli."
His eyes widened almost comically as he shifted in his seat, "Um, ok? I- uh, I go to high school with AB. I'm going into the 10th grade after the summer. Hmm, my guardian is Blaster, but maybe you know that already…"
"I didn't!" I cried in surprise, "I can't believe Blaster never mentioned that."
"So you've met him?"
"Yeah, I hang out with him sometimes. Sometimes I just hang out with Steeljaw or Eject. I haven't hung out with Rewind yet though."
Eli's face lit up, "Rewind is so great! I mean, they're all great, don't get me wrong. Rewind helps me study though, he knows trivia about everything."
"Everything?" I pressed.
Annabelle nodded her head in exasperation, "Everything. No exaggeration there unfortunately."
"Alright", I nodded, "So what about music or movies?"
"Oh", He nodded and seemed more comfortable talking, "I like Triplus. They're music is pretty good. Movie wise? Uh, maybe that new movie with Thomas Bates? I can't remember the name, but it was funny. He's a really great actor."
My face was frozen in confusion. Triplus? Thomas Bates? Oh God, I was like an old lady who never kept up with the times. I was officially no longer hip. This was the most depressing revelation I've faced all day.
Annabelle, either noticing my confusion and trying to move past it or not seeing it at all, immediately jumped into a story she had wanted to tell me. Her voice was filled with excitement as she used her hands to speak. I listened intently, but couldn't help notice the way Eli watched her speak. There was so much admiration in his eyes, and he seemed so relaxed by her side. All nervous ticks I had seen from him earlier were non-existent as he listened and occasionally spoke up. Though my love life was far from extensive or remotely good, I knew a crush when I saw one, and this boy was crushing hard on my new niece.
Tyler slowly opened his eyes and lazily stared at the shapes and shadows formed on his ceiling from the artificial sunlight glowing across the room. Being that his room, like every other living person on base, was underground the need for artificial light was strong. For as long as he remembered the strange windows had been built around here. They must have come from Wheeljack, or maybe even Perceptor. Tyler couldn't remember nor did he care enough to try. With an inaudible groan, he sat up and rubbed at his face. He had set his window to match the sun's travel across the sky, so based on the light filling the room it was probably around 0900.
Shit. 0900?
He glanced over at his alarm clock sitting on his bedside. The black box read '0924' and the way it lightly rocked against the wood meant it was probably blaring. It probably had been since 0850. He reached over and hit the button on top before jumping out of bed.
God knows where his hearing aids had gone, but if Wheeljack didn't get him some new ones soon he'd be out of a job. It took only ten minutes for Tyler to wash up and change into his Army combat uniform, but that was only because he made the decision to skip his morning shower.
Tyler slung his dog tags around his neck and jogged out his room while simultaneously sending out a text to Peter that he was on his way. It was then that he noticed he had multiple texts from his older brother, but it would only waste time to read them now. Tyler was fully aware of what they probably said.
As he hurried down the hall he passed a few people. Some smiled and opened their mouths to speak, but his speed kept him from being able to focus hard enough to understood what they said.
Being deaf didn't bother him like it used to.
As a kid, it was the worst thing in the world. He distinctly remembered feeling helpless and confused as the world around him began to grow quieter and quieter. Tyler remembered being scared for ages, but then Wheeljack and Perceptor introduced him to his newly made hearing aids. The technology was beyond what humans had and it was the product only two genius Cybertronians could create. It gave him back his hearing almost completely. It was damn near miraculous. Back in those days, he never would've ever lost track of his hearing aids. They were his rock, his shield, and his last tether to being completely normal. Well, as normal as a kid with metal alien best friends could be.
It was also around that time that his mom decided he needed to go to a different school than his sister. Up to that point, him and his twin had always been in the same class. Always. The decision made no sense to him at the time. Reading lips, thankfully, had come rather naturally to him and though it was still a tough thing to do and it required a lot of focus, he picked it up quickly. Still, mom had been adamant. It didn't matter that his magic hearing aids fixed everything and it didn't matter that he could read lips. She wanted him to attend an all deaf and hard of hearing school.
Tyler had been different than a lot of the kids there. Most of the ones in his class were kids who were born deaf or lost their hearing as babies. He was the only one who grew up hearing and speaking.
A slow smile spread across his face as he turned the corner and slowed his pace a bit. Thinking back on those days always made him feel blessed. Thank God his mom sent him to that school. Not only did that school teach him how to communicate without words or hearing, it taught him that he wasn't broken. Being deaf wasn't a disability; it was a part of who he was. It just came to him a little later than it came to others.
Now it didn't bother him to walk around without his hearing aids. Sure, it was a bit of a pain only because the military base wasn't built to accommodate someone like him, but he made it work. Plus, Prime and Prowl had worked so hard alongside Lennox to put in regulation that helped him.
A hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back a bit, startling him out of his thoughts. With wide eyes, he whipped his head around but the panic died down when his eyes landed on Riley who was grinning up at him with both her hands softly wrapped around his own.
She spoke and Tyler had been so focused on staring at her pretty brown eyes that he forgot to watch her light pink, shiny lips move.
"-find hearing aids? When…you…new ones?"
He quickly connected the dots in his head and nodded, "No idea, Jack said he was working on 'em."
Tyler could feel the vibrations of his throat when he spoke, and it was with those vibrations he was able to keep his voice as steady and level as possible. He couldn't hear how loud or soft he spoke and he couldn't tell if the words flowed smoothly. It was only by sheer practice and attention in the moment that he could get through a conversation without someone noticing something off.
Riley's lips twitched up in a smirk, "Well, how…after work today, me and you go…."
It was hard to read the end of her sentence. She must have tried to say it under her breath because her lips made small movements in a quick fashion. Based on the look in her eyes and the way she leaned closer to him though while batting those long lashes at him, it was in Tyler's best interest to agree.
"Whatever you want, doll." Tyler grinned and leaned toward her. As much as he loved reading those cute lips there was something he'd much rather be doing with them. Before he could lean down and kiss her though, she took a step back and motioned behind him with a sheepish smile.
Tyler turned to see Peter standing by the meeting room door in his navy suit. He looked put together and professional as usual, and Tyler was hardly surprised to see the stern look on his older brother's face.
"Bye, Riles. I'll text you later." He said with a wave and walked forward, unaware if she replied to him.
Peter uncrossed his arms and began to sign at Tyler.
'You're late.'
Tyler scrunched up his nose in distaste. If Peter used ASL then he couldn't claim to misunderstand his brother. He sighed and signed back, 'Didn't hear my alarm go off. Guess it wasn't loud enough.'
Peter rolled his eyes and began to mumble something. Tyler could only catch the word 'ass' and he was able to speculate from there. Peter pointed into the meeting room and Tyler grinned at him before slipping in.
Luckily, this morning wasn't a super important meeting. It was a rather casual one between some of the higher ups. The only higher ups that were present for today's briefing though were family.
Optimus sat at the head the table in his holoform with Prowl's holoform to his left and Lennox to his right. Lennox's gaze drifted over to him and it was filled with a mix of commander frustration and stepfather worry. Tyler made a fist and rubbed it in a small circle against his chest, finger side down. His apology was replied with by multiple nods. Peter took a seat beside Prowl and Tyler grabbed the seat beside Lennox.
Normally, this wasn't the kind of briefings he was privy to, but with Jazz and Bumblebee gone the responsibility fell upon him.
Peter waved to get his attention and began to sign at him, 'While Lennox talks I'm going to sign to you. Pay attention, moron.'
'Rude.' Tyler quickly signed back with a smile. Lennox tried to learn sign language, but didn't really pick it up. He knew basics, but it was hard for him to follow when someone else signed and in Tyler's opinion he signed painfully slow.
'The first item on the agenda is Aj.' Tyler blinked in surprise, but didn't interrupt, 'The paperwork has gone through and no red flags have gone up, but our favorite government liaison will be here soon.'
The sneer of disgust on Peter's face as he signed the word favorite made it clear who was being spoken about. Peter continued, 'He'll be here at the end of the month and we're going to have to introduce him. Hiding Aj is no longer and option we can continue on with.'
Tyler threw his hand up and glanced around. Focus had been turned on him and it didn't look like anyone was speaking anymore. He coughed to clear his throat before speaking, "Maybe I missed it and Pete just signs slow, but are you suggesting we tell Aj about the secret we've all been tip-toeing around?"
"…she react to that news?" Lennox turned to face Tyler entirely about halfway through the sentence, but Tyler still figured it out. He continued, "Wouldn't it be best if we…. to…. keep her ….the dark?"
Tyler wasn't sure if someone else had already started to answer the question and he didn't look around to see. He wanted his opinion on the matter heard, "No. We should've told her the truth the day she was up and feeling well enough to talk. You haven't known Aj long, Lennox, but all of us should know better." Tyler glanced around the table, "Aj would hate that we were keeping this for her."
"It's for her own good." Peter spoke slowly so Tyler could pick up every word.
Tyler shook his head, "She'd hate that even more."
All eyes snapped over to the door so Tyler followed their gaze curiously. Wheeljack's holoform peeked his head in. It was only then that Tyler realized the Engineer should be in this meeting too. He was a higher up, same goes for Ratchet. Wheeljack's eyes landed on Tyler and he began to rapidly move his lips. Tyler couldn't follow the Engineer's words, but he could see the familiar hearing aids in the mech's hands.
Tyler stood and walked over to take them from him. He quickly slipped them over and into his ears. Once in place, they slowly began to fold inwards to align with his ear canal. He could feel the cold metal wires tracing further down into his ear. Wheeljack lifted his hand forward to touch something on the side and slowly sound began to return. It was slow at first. He could hear the deep rumblings of a voice and the quicker beat of Wheeljack's words. The hum of the lights came next along with the ticking of the clock against the side wall.
"Can you hear me? Hello?" Wheeljack's voice came though loud and clear.
"Tyler?" Optimus spoke from behind.
He glanced over his shoulder with a nod before clapping Wheeljack's shoulder loudly, "Thanks, Jackie. You're the best."
"Of course, anything for you." The Engineer chirped nonchalantly. Tyler walked back over to the table to sit down and Wheeljack took a seat beside him. It always took a few minutes for Tyler to get readjusted to hearing. It was odd to go from nothing to everything. He could hear the sound of Lennox's uniform rubbing against the metal seat as he shifted in place. Peter was rocking his foot under the table, a nervous tick he had picked up, and Optimus was lightly drumming his own holoform's fingers against the wooden tabletop.
"Aj is gonna find out the truth one way or another." Tyler said and it took a second to adjust to the sound of his voice, "She's too smart and curious to stay in the dark. You know that, Optimus."
"I do." Optimus replied softly with a slight nod of his head.
Tyler shrugged, "I just think it'd be better for all of us if she found out the truth from us."
The hallway outside the mess hall was loud and for the briefest moment, Tyler considered pulling out his newly gained hearing aids. It was Tuesday though; his workday, and he'd get a lot more done with them in.
"Yo, Ty."
He glanced over his shoulder in time to see Joey Moretti stride over with a grin stretched across his features. Joey was one of the soldiers that worked directly under Lennox on the main NEST squadron. However, him and Tyler went further back than that. The two of them had actually met during basic training years ago.
"Hey man." Tyler reached out to clasp one hand with Joey.
"Dude, your cousin is so fine."
Tyler blinked in confusion. Cousin? He had a cousin? Joey's dark brown eyes just continued to stare at him. His black hair was as long as it could be without going past regulation and currently it was slicked back. Joey's grin widened a bit, "Hello? Earth to Ty?"
"My cousin." Tyler spoke slowly.
Joey nodded, "Yeah, I saw her limping by earlier on the crutches. I think she was with, uh… Sunstreaker? To be honest, I haven't seen their holoforms enough to tell them apart."
Like a light being flipped on in his head, everything suddenly made sense. Tyler bobbed his head, "Oh, right. That cousin. Aj." He winced a bit and rubbed the back of his head, "Um, yeah."
Joey's grin fell, "Don't tell me she's not single."
"She's way off limits man." Tyler replied with a chuckle, "And she's way too much for you to handle."
"What? She crazy or something?" Joey and him began to walk down the hall, "I mean, I met her mom. Dr. Bradshaw was rough."
"No, not crazy. Just… stubborn, and independent… and she could probably kick your ass."
Joey's eyes widened, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Tyler smirked, "Even with a shit knee, I bet she could whip your ass seven ways to Sunday."
Joey whistled, "With a body like that, I'd let her do all sorts of things to me."
Tyler gave him a pointed look, "Hey, that's my au-…cousin. That's my cousin you're talking about."
His friend held his hands up in mock surrender, "Sorry, man. What's her story then? Why is she on base with a bum knee and how does she know all the bots so well?"
"Er, that's not really my story to tell." Tyler shrugged. It was true. Although, it was mostly true because he had no idea what else to say. The truth, at the moment, was out of the question.
"Well you gotta tell me something about her."
"She's…She's- wait, why exactly do I have to tell you anything about her?"
Joey paused as a sly smile crossed his features, "When you say she's off limits was that like an official ruling or a suggestion?"
"It's an official ruling, jackass." Tyler laughed, "Stay the hell away from my cousin."
Joey agreed in good nature and the two of them shared a quick goodbye before heading in opposite directions. The ruling itself was to mostly protect his good friend anyways. Tyler didn't doubt that Aj could do some serious damage to Joey especially now that she was armed with crutches. That wasn't his biggest worry though. Joey was a good guy, respectable. Aj would probably get along with him.
The problem was, Tyler could picture a good number of overprotective, bonded mechs that wouldn't be happy with the idea of some soldier hitting on Aj. God, he could see the glare from Sunstreaker already. Making Aj, his supposed cousin, off limits was a good decision. Besides, it'd be fucking weird as hell if his best friend started dating his aunt. Tyler cringed once before heading toward his station.
Taylor sighed and continued to tap the end of her pen against the table in annoyance. Her job was fun and enjoyable, but every month or so she had to do the only un-fun part of her job.
Supply Count.
At first she was honored that Ratchet trusted her enough to look through the items in the online database and re-order more if necessary. Now though? She was positive Ratchet made her do this simply because he didn't want to do it himself. It was a long, boring process and it meant she'd have to deal with her least favorite human being on the planet, NEST's official government issued human liaison. Luckily, she'd have Sam with her and the Autobot issued liaison had gotten pretty good at dealing with the ass.
Taylor scribbled down a note to order more scrap metal. She lifted her head in time to see Ratchet come into the below ground Medbay through the glass walls of his office. He had set aside a human sized desk on his own large desk for her to work on.
"Youngling, are you almost done?" Ratchet called out.
"Almost. I need you to double check me on a few things though." She called back with a smile. It had been twenty years since they came through that portal, yet the mechs that had lived with them in their own universe still referred to her and her brothers as 'younglings'. Most of the mechs and femmes she had met since arriving no longer called her youngling due to the fact that she was an actual adult. A fact that Ratchet and the others refused to accept apparently.
Another thing Taylor had noticed, years and years ago, was their change in wording. Taylor couldn't really remember the exact details from back when she was six and they were a foot tall, but when speaking to humans they tended to use human words now. For the most part. Things still slipped out and most humans on base understood their terminology now anyways, but it was still a major shift.
The only exception? The bonded humans.
Her, Tyler, Peter, and now Aj still got the Cybertronian words. This wasn't limited to the mechs who lived as toys for a couple months either. Every Cybertronian she has ever met refers to her as femme whereas her mother, stepsister, and every other woman on base are referred to as female. Tyler and Peter were mechs whereas Lennox and Epps were males. Nobody ever commented on it, but it was still something she had made a mental note of. It was a curious thing. Was it because they had bonds with Cybertronians? Was it because they still gave off a slight spark signal that read as Cybertronian? All questions she always meant to ask Ratchet about, but they never came up.
"I'll look it over in a moment." Ratchet replied, "I need you to do a favor for me."
He came over and offered his hand. Taylor pushed away from her desk and stepped into his palm. She nodded, "What is it?"
"I need you to keep your aunt preoccupied. She's supposed to be getting her knee brace today from Wheeljack, but unsurprisingly she isn't being very patient." Ratchet grumbled, "The femme is driving me up the wall. She won't step sending messages with her phone over my comm link channel."
"Where is she?" Taylor chuckled.
"Upstairs. One of the soldier break rooms."
Taylor's eyes widened, "By herself? What if someone-"
Ratchet shook his head, "One of the twins cleared the room for her. Another thing she is showing extreme displeasure about."
Ratchet set her down in the open elevator. Taylor grinned up at him, "Don't worry, Ratchet. I'll keep her busy."
'I can't right now. Maybe later?' Taylor typed the words into her xScreen without looking up. She's been down the halls of this base so many times that she'd bet she could do it blindfolded. As for the people? Well, they were avoiding running into her so it worked out.
A few seconds passed before the reply came in, 'Holding you to it, sweetie.'
The words made a small smile form on her lips and the smile only grew the more she thought about him. Quickly, she shoved the phone into the back pocket of her jeans and picked up her pace. The break room Aj was supposed to be in was just around the corner.
When she did finally turn the corner, Taylor was surprised to see Tyler and Joey standing outside the archway entrance looking in. Both wore their Army uniforms and Taylor found herself once again thankful that Ratchet didn't make her wear any type of uniform other than the protective suit when she was working.
"Taylor, thank God you're here." Joey breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped closer to them. Joey was much shorter than Tyler, but that was probably because Tyler was just so ridiculously tall. The handsome Italian man was still a couple inches taller than her meaning he had to be around 5'8 or 5'9.
Taylor gave him a friendly smile, "Hey, Joe. What's going on?"
She leaned past him slightly to peek into the nearly empty room. The only person in there was Aj who was sitting at one of the tables with her leg perched up on the chair beside her. She was talking into her phone, arguing actually, and Taylor prayed she'd hadn't given up messaging and just called Ratchet.
"Can I hook up with your cousin?"
"What?" Taylor blurted rather loudly as her head snapped back around to face the entirely serious soldier.
Tyler crossed his arms, "I told you. She's off limits."
"Yeah, but we all agreed that Taylor has veto powers on this list!" Joey argued with a smirk. He turned back to her with pleading eyes while Tyler rolled his own with a chuckle. Joey was a really good guy, although he did tend to sleep around a bit. Taylor could hardly judge considering her own twin brother was the same kind of guy. She glanced back into the break room just in time to see Aj hang up the phone and cross her arms in frustration. She was obviously annoyed.
Taylor grinned and rubbed Joey's arm encouragingly, "Of course. I give you full permission to go hit on my cousin."
"What?" Tyler cried in shock and Joey mimicked the same question. Apparently, he hadn't expected a positive answer either.
Taylor nodded, "Sure. Go get her, tiger."
Joey pointed at her, "I knew you were my favorite Williams twin."
He stepped into the room and Tyler all but pounced on her, "What do you think you're doing? That's Joey, and she's Aj!"
"I'm aware."
"You're just going to let him go over there and be….well, him? She's already in a bad mood." Tyler argued.
The twins stepped into the doorway to watch as Joey rolled his shoulders once before heading toward her table. Taylor shrugged, "It's going to be funny though when she shoots him down. The sarcastic interaction might actually make her feel better too."
"How do you know she won't show interest?"
Taylor raised an eyebrow at Tyler, "Does Aj seem like the kind of woman that falls for cheesy pick up lines?"
"Fair point."
They both watched as Joey leaned against the back of the chair next to Aj. Her blue eyes focused on him as one of her eyebrows slowly lifted in a questioning manner. Joey put on his normal, charming smirk, "Hey there."
"Hi." Aj replied bluntly.
"What's a gorgeous girl like you doing over here by yourself?" Joey asked while slightly leaning forward. His smirk widened into a friendly smile, showing his straight nice teeth.
There was a heavy pause before Aj broke out into a small smile, "How clever."
"I'm sorry?" Joey pressed in confusion.
"Do you always hit on the ones that can't physically run away from you? I mean, it's a strategic tactic I'll give you that."
Tyler burst into laughter and Taylor couldn't help but feel a bit smug at the whole ordeal. Both Joey and Aj glanced over at them. Taylor dragged the still laughing Tyler over to the table.
"Laugh all you want." Joey scoffed, "Because I'm pretty sure I'm in love."
"Who the hell are you?" Aj questioned with a shake of her head.
Joey grinned and offered his hand, "Right! I'm Joey, Joey Moretti, but you can refer to me as your future husband."
"Oh, I have a different nickname for you in mind, buddy." Aj replied.
Taylor took a seat to Aj's immediate right while the guys took seats across the table from them. Joey, far from deterred, continued, "So, Aj, right?" She nodded in a bored manner, "Tell me a little about yourself?"
Tyler's eyes snapped to meet her gaze and they shared a worried look. Taylor nodded toward Joey and he took the hint. Tyler cleared his throat and clapped his friend on the back, "Joey, why don't you tell Aj more about yourself? It's not like your first impression was all to great."
Joey snapped his fingers, "You're right. What do you want to know?"
"Um, why am I still conversing with you?" Aj asked.
"Good question. Straight to the point, I like that." Joey nodded, "I'm this guy's best friend", he pointed to Tyler, "and since you two are family that means you're going to have to put up with me for the foreseeable future. Might as well get to know one another right? Become friends. Maybe slowly fall in love and once day get married?"
Taylor watched as Aj slowly narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't tell what her aunt was thinking. Aj nodded once, "You Italian?"
"Si, bella." Joey answered. Taylor was 90% sure that was all the Italian he knew how to speak. That and all the curse words.
"Can you cook authentic Italian food?" Aj crossed her arms.
Joey's eyes widened slightly, "Uh, I can learn."
Aj paused in thought before nodding once, "Alright. We can be friends, but only on a trial period. I expect Italian cuisine in the near future."
"Great! And the whole 'slowly falling in love' thing?"
Aj raised an eyebrow at him and Tyler shook his head with a sigh, "Bro, don't push your luck."
From there the conversation flowed rather naturally and Aj's sour mood slowly lifted. It was hard for Tyler and Taylor to both keep the topic from drifting close to who Aj was, and it was stressful every time Joey spoke. The last thing they needed was for him to call her their cousin. Luckily, Aj had gotten Joey talking about his 7 sisters and there was no turning back from there. Joey could talk all day long about his family and he had plenty of stories to tell.
Nearly an hour had passed and Aj was actually laughing throughout the conversation. Taylor beamed at her success at keeping Aj occupied and out of Ratchet's metaphorical hair.
"We should probably get going. I think we've put work off enough for one afternoon." Tyler sighed and rose from his chair.
Joey scoffed, "Speak for yourself."
"Come on. Lennox is gonna be pissed at you." Tyler replied. Taylor felt her xScreen vibrate and slowly began to pull it out.
Joey stood up and lightly punched Tyler in the shoulder, "It's alright. I'm besties with Lennox's kid."
"Step kid and I ain't making excuses for you." Tyler laughed. He nodded across the table. "Bye guys."
Taylor smiled at her brother and glanced down at her phone, 'Lunch break without you is awful. I miss you.'
'Aw, don't be such a baby.' She replied.
"Wait, are you really not going to vouch for me? Tyler?" Joey called after his leaving friend. He sighed and knocked his knuckles against the table, "Later, Tay. Bye, wifey."
Aj scoffed, but there was amusement in her tone, "Yeah, I didn't approve of that nickname."
Joey grinned in response and continued on his way out. Taylor watched him go in amusement. She couldn't say her aunt and her brother's best friend getting along surprised her, but she didn't think they'd hit it off so quickly. When she turned her attention back to Aj she jumped in surprise at the sight of Aj already staring back at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Um what?" Taylor pressed.
Aj shrugged, "You've successfully distracted me for about an hour. Congrats." She clapped her hands and sat up in her seat some, "Now let's go see Jackie and my new brace."
"Ratchet said-"
"Either you come with me or I limp there myself." Aj replied and stood up to grab her crutches, "Your choice, Tay."
Taylor sighed and rose to follow her headstrong aunt. This was something that didn't surprise her whatsoever.
'I'm on my way. Tell them to wait.'
Taylor read the text from Ratchet silently. After arriving at Wheeljack's lab she had went ahead and shot the medic a text letting him know what was happening. Partly because he was her boss and she was technically working right now, but the biggest reason was that she knew if she didn't the medic would literally murder them all.
"Hey guys, Ratchet said-" Taylor began, but when she looked up from her phone she realized the eager engineer and excited cripple were way ahead of her. Wheeljack had activated his holoform upon arrival, but now he had Aj sitting on the hood of his alt mode as he screwed the fancy knee brace onto her.
Wheeljack paused and turned around with wide eyes, "Ratchet said what?"
"Nothing." Taylor chuckled. She stepped forward, "It's a little late now."
"This thing is so cool looking, Jackie." Aj said in awe. The knee brace was an opaque white color and Taylor could tell it was Cybertronian metal. This didn't surprise her. Wheeljack always used Cybertronian materials when it came to fixing Tyler's hearing aids, her touch sensors, or Peter's sight ring. It only made sense he did the same for Aj. "How does it work?"
"Simple." Wheeljack chirped as he continued to screw the small metal pieces onto the hinges, "This brace holds your knee in place and locks around it to prevent unnecessary weight from being placed on your fragile bone. This will allow you to walk at a normal gait."
"No limping?"
"None at all!"
"Can I jump and fight and stuff?"
Wheeljack grinned, "Without a doubt! It's also bulletproof!" His smile faltered for a second, "Although, I hardly think you would need to do either of those things. You're safe here and-"
"Thanks, Jackie. I really appreciate this." Aj replied with a soft smile. Wheeljack's worry melted away and Taylor watched his holoform's eyes soften as he replied in kind. Taylor always knew the twins and Jazz were close to Aj. Ratchet too. She remembered those things and anytime Aj came up in conversation over the last 20 years people reminded her of this. She even vaguely remembered Aj saving Wheeljack from being crushed, but she didn't remember them being very close. She thought Wheeljack had been closest to Peter.
"Alright." Wheeljack set down the tool. He picked up a small black chip and slid it into the even smaller access slot at the top of the brace. Aj let out a gasp of surprise as the brace began to shift around her leg. The opaque color slowly began to vanish leaving the metal clear. Taylor's eyes widened at the scar that lined Aj's knee. This was the first she was seeing it.
Aj's eyes darted up to meet Taylor's and for the briefest moment Taylor thought she saw embarrassment. The look faded quickly and Taylor doubted what she saw. Aj didn't get embarrassed.
"Try to stand." Wheeljack chirped.
Aj cautiously slid off the hood of Wheeljack's alt mode until her toes hit the ground. She put all her weight on her good foot first and slowly began to press down on the bad one.
"So?" Taylor questioned. Aj shifted her weight and her eyes widened in surprise. Taylor let out a gasp as Aj suddenly pushed off her legs, jumping into the air, and landing in a slight squat. "Are you crazy?"
"It works." Aj laughed, "This is amazing, Jackie!"
"I'm glad you like it." Wheeljack beamed with pride as Aj began to jog in place.
Taylor nervously bit down on her lip as Aj began to do high knees, "Don't you think you're pushing it a little."
"It feels fine. Better than fine. My leg feels strong." Aj replied.
Wheeljack nodded, "The apparatus will add a bit of strength. In fact, if the occasion were to ever arise and you were falling from a great height or kicking something, I would suggest using that leg specifically. It will bear a great amount of weight before breaking."
"Thank you so much again, Jackie." Aj threw her arms around him in a hug that he happily returned. They broke apart after a moment.
Taylor nodded, "So how do you take it off?"
"I'm sorry?" Wheeljack turned to face her with wide eyes.
"How do you take it off for repairs or upgrades or any check ups she has?"
There was a pause of silence as Taylor and Aj both stared at Wheeljack in question. He opened his mouth once before snapping in closed for a second. He cleared his throat and nodded, "That's what I forgot to do."
"She can't take it off?" Taylor pressed. This meant if an upgrade was needed they'd have to destroy the one on her leg carefully to remove and replace it, and upgrades were a mandatory thing. It was a question of 'if', but more of a question of 'when'.
Aj shrugged, "So I'll just never take it off. No biggie."
The sound of someone entering the passcode into the door meant Ratchet was here. Taylor hung her head in defeat. They were so dead.
Bear whined lightly as he rested his head against the top of my new knee brace. The two of us were sitting on the couch together in one of the smaller break rooms around the base. Taylor was sitting at a table nearby working through some paperwork of some kind.
I scratched around Bear's ears with a small smile. Ever since he got back yesterday morning, on Thursday, he had been stuck to my side. Not that I was complaining about that. I missed my puppy way too much. Bear whined again and licked my clear knee brace above the spot where my ugly surgical scar could be seen.
"I'm fine." I mumbled to him in response. Apparently, my pup was as bothered by the ugly mark as I was. Although, these days I was more bothered by the fact that it bothered me. It was just a stupid scar, yet for some reason I still got chills every time I looked at it.
Wheeljack was working on a new knee brace though. One that would be removable if need be. That was the only big change that needed to occur considering the brace itself worked like a charm. I had gone running yesterday around Ratchet's medbay. Running. It felt amazing, like I was able to truly breathe for the first time in ages.
Despite the brace working more than perfectly, I did ask Wheeljack for one other change. I told him I didn't care what color the next brace ended up being, but I knew I didn't want it to be clear.
"Oh my God."
I turned my attention away from Bear to look over at Taylor. She was grinning at her phone in excitement. I nodded at her, "What is it?"
Taylor grinned at me, "They're back!"
"What?"
"Bee and Jazz!" Taylor laughed, "They're here on base!"
I sat up straight and threw one leg off the couch making Bear rise up in surprise. They were here? Here? A smile crept onto my features in my own excitement. I leaned over and kissed Bear's head before rushing across the room to Taylor.
"Well what are we waiting for?"
Taylor shook her head and motioned for me to sit down. I hesitantly did and Bear walked over to lie on the ground between us, "They just got here, Aj. They're gonna have to be debriefed by Lennox and Optimus first. Plus, Ratchet's going to want to look them over."
I frowned and rested my head against my hand, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, but we can probably go see them in an hour or two!" She tried to cheer me back up.
"Uh huh." I mumbled unhappily. This wasn't that big of a deal. I've been waiting for them for weeks now what was another two hours? Still, it took every urge not to go running out of the break room looking for the two mechs I hadn't seen in what felt like ages. "Fine. I'll just sit here and wait patiently."
Taylor laughed, "When have you ever done anything patiently, Aj?"
"I resent that."
"Sure." She chuckled and went back to her work. However, I could see the smirk on her lips and the bounce of her leg. She was eager to see Bumblebee, I was sure. With a smile of my own I leaned back in my seat and reached one hand down to rub Bear's head.
A couple minutes passed before the sound of footsteps made me glance over at the doorway. Tyler had been here earlier and left his hat so I assumed he was on his way back. However, a different familiar face rushed into the room. My eyes widened at the sight of Jazz's holoform standing there. He looked the same, with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, but now he wore a military uniform similar to the others I had seen. After rushing through the doorway he came to a complete standstill and just stared.
"Jazz?" Taylor questioned in surprise.
Jazz had a look of disbelief as he mouth hung open slightly. The shock surrounding me wore off and I jumped out of my seat, knocking it backwards onto the floor. With my fancy ass knee brace, it took me only seconds to cross the room and tackle Jazz in a hug. It took him off guard and he stumbled back, but before we fell over he readjusted to keep us upright. With a laugh my arms wrapped around his neck as his own arms wrapped around my torso.
"You're…you." Jazz breathed. "You're you and you're here and…"
"And I'm not going anywhere." I replied and pressed my lips against the side of his face. Jazz tightened his arms around me and buried his face in the crook of my neck.
"You're here."
