Rung huddled next to me as he stared at the quaking chief planted in the doorway. Boy, was Ultra Magnus furious. I could see the unstoppable rage manifesting in his glare, his mind whirling. The tips of Rung's feet were vibrating like the strummed string of an acoustic guitar, which meant he was terrified out of his little mind.

"The code states that we firefighters cannot have romantic relations with one another. It distracts from the duties we have. It is an obstacle to saving others," Ultra Magnus snapped, his frown continuing to curl downwards.

"Shouldn't we be close to one another? Doesn't that make a team strong?" Rung, in his stupid innocence, unleashed a verbal war against the captain.

I gave up trying to push against Maggie's strange dedication towards any form of law. The "code" was just an unwritten doctrine that most of the firefighters of Cybertron knew but didn't actually follow word for word. Of course, we promised to stop at nothing to save a child or sacrifice one to save many. But Magnus was obsessed with the creed, and one of the rules was that romance creates distraction.

"We are connected to one another, but this makes you more willing to save Ratchet than, let's say, Rodimus or Red Alert. It creates favoritism."

Rung stood up and pointed an angry, shivering finger at Ultra Magnus. "Ratchet and I have known each other for thousands of years! We deserve to move forward in our relationship!"

"Stand down, Rung!" Magnus stepped powerfully into the room, his mighty chest puffing out. "I am the captain, and if you do not approve of my rulings, then you can transfer to a different station. Ratchet," His optics darted over to me. "do you understand what I am asking?"

"Yes, sir," I replied, and I slipped my fingers around Rung's thin forearm. "Come on, Rung. Let's get you home. I apologize about the disturbance, Ultra Magnus; we'll continue this discussion in the morning when we are well rested."

. . .

"This is bullshit!" Rung cried as we walked along the concrete sidewalk; it was nearing midnight. His burlap satchel gently thumped against his hip.

"I know, but you heard what Magnus said," I replied. "But we can still do this in secret. We just have to convince him that what happened was due to us being exhausted or something."

"Or we can just transfer to another station."

"Ugh, but uprooting takes so much out of 'fighters. There's paperwork, and we risk despising the other captain more."

"I don't think we can get someone who is more anxious or tight than Ultra Magnus."

We stopped in front of Rung's quaint one story home. I always admired the carefully pruned flower beds that decorated the earth in front of his wide wooden porch, and soft lamplight emitted from the faceted bay windows. A dark red roof crowned the lovely home, but I noticed my special friend desperately needed to clean out his filthy gutters. The cherry trees perched in the lawn were busily dropping their beautiful leaves.

"Well, goodnight Ratchet," Rung muttered solemnly as he pushed open a sun bleached gate.

I followed him into his tidy front lawn, and I could smell the sweet scent of freshly trimmed grass. "Rung, can I stay with you?"

"Stay?" Rung slipped his house keys from a pocket on his bag. An overly colorful "Iacon" tourist keychain was slipped onto the keyring.

"Spend the night. It's Saturday tomorrow, so we can sleep in. Have breakfast together or something. I want to finish what we were doing before Magnus barged in."

"Oh, sure."

I walked in line with Rung up to his adorable house, and the loose, unstained boards beneath my feet creaked tiredly as I ambled over them. With a soft click, Rung unlocked the front door and slipped inside. I have been invited over to Rung's house before to have some afternoon tea with rich oil cake. He's is quite an incredible baker, but my now beloved does steep his herbal beverages much too long. I stepped into the perfectly decorated living room, and soft carpeting cushioned my clunky feet like grounded clouds. A vintage television set was dead asleep atop an antique cabinet, and I could smell the beautiful hickory that it was constructed of.

I settled down upon a gaudy couch that was resting before the TV, and Rung snatched a knit blanket off the armrest before wrapping the thick fabric around his small shoulders. I grunted with surprise as he snuggled into my lap, his knees curled to his chest. He grinned up at me before his delicate hands slipped to the back of my head, giving him support while he placed soft kisses against my stiff neck. I was still suffering from the shock that Maggie had delivered.

My optics shut as pleasure spread throughout my body. I pulled my arms around Rung and pushed him further into me, and I could sense the rotation of his bright spark. He was so special to me, and his kisses made their way up to my mouth. I lowered myself to the face of the couch, and Rung laid on my chest while we gracefully smooched each other in the hushed atmosphere of Rung's home. Eventually, we grew weary from our love and the day and fell asleep cuddled in the living room.