The Diego Diaries: Pat Pat (dd7 92)
This was supposed to go out last night. See note at very bottom. :D:D:D NOW ON WITH THE SLAGGING!
=0=Ravel
He walked through corridors asking here and there the direction to go. It was colossal the amount of space these vessels had and the many different directions one could go. But the time Ravel stepped off the elevator onto the bridge he had come to regret his impulses.
That is, he regretted coming here. This was another world, the domain of his son and the miracle workers that he had passed and now watched around him. This world didn't allow him to enter but for his desire to speak to Ratchet, this world of violence and precision timing in combat and the peace. He admired the technical skill around him, he himself was a master technician but the violence of it repelled him deeply.
His outrage, however, was a good and raging thing. Staring at the legions of workers doing important things to save the big ship, he spotted his son hunched over a computer, plugged in, typing furiously and unaware of most of the activity around himself.
He stared at his son, the treasured and rambunctious little mech, the gangling and fearless sub adult who grew into the finest doctor Cybertron ever created. His son was his world. The idea of him remaining on a ship ready to fall into a fireball on the viewing screens of everyone including himself was gnawing at him.
He glanced around, then back to Ratchet. :Ratchet:
Ratchet paused his typing, looked up, then around. He glanced with great surprise to see Ravel who then stepped back into the elevator. Ratchet rose, hurried to it, then entered as the door closed behind him. He stared down at his ada who stared up at him as the vehicle began to move onward again. "What's wrong?" he asked with surprising anxiety.
"You. You were on that ship. You could have died and then what would have happened to us? We didn't survive on Cybertron, then come here and build our family back again for you to take these kinds of chances. What about the children? What about Ironhide? Your family and your atar?"
Ravel was really angry, motivated by fear and it was clear to Ratchet that he was. Ratchet reached out to his ada but Ravel stepped back.
"I know," he said.
"I know why you did it but I tell you, Ratchet, you can't do that anymore. You're no longer free to play like this. You can't play with your life and our sparks. We can't go through anything that terrible again. We have all suffered and I don't tell you that to make you sad. Its the truth. We are one, Sonny. You have to remember that none of us are expendable," Ravel said.
He looked drawn. "When Corr was so sick and he fell, I thought the despair that I left behind was gone forever but it came at me like a freight train. That we should survive to come here and this happened … it wasn't right, Sonny. I'm so used to love. I'm so used to being needed and feeling happy again. How could anyone ever be happy if you did something like this and it all went wrong?"
Ratchet reached down and hugged his father. "No one would be," Ratchet said. "When I was there, he thought I was someone else, someone he loved and missed. He told me he loved me, that he didn't want to die alone. Then he went off line in despair. I couldn't leave him. I knew he wouldn't be held, that he would fall. I devised a momentary respite using his thrusters. It would be enough to get him lifted again. It was a plan, Ada. He was so broken."
Ravel stared at Ratchet. "I know. I also know that you'll do what you think is right no matter what. It makes me afraid. But you are who you are. Just remember us when you do."
"I never forget you. All of my life missing you … all of the thoughts about what happened to you … all of it is still here. The kids … they needed you and they didn't even know that they did. Always, always and ever, all of you are in my spark and thoughts. But I'm a soldier and have to save lives. I know what that means, Ada, and I'm sorry."
"I can't expect you not to be true to yourself, Sonny. I just want you to know that if you left, a lot of the rest of us would as well," Ravel said as he hugged his son tightly.
Ratchet hugged him back.
=0=Far away
Springer walked out of a bar where he'd been drinking with a number of criminals who were supplying the Imperialis brothers with lots of things as they continued to build up their base. He walked down the street to a corner that led into the part of the settlement they were too big to enter. When he arrived he called the others to come.
It would take a bit.
=0=There
"And this is the section where we have to upgrade his coils to allow a faster teleport," Ratchet said as he showed his little ada what he was doing. They walked along hand-in-hand as he pointed out this and that. It was incredibly complex and his little ada, as ever, was totally impressed.
They walked to a little lounge, then entered to sit on the couches as Ratchet got together a drink from a dispenser nearby. He took two cups to the couch where Ravel sat, then sat himself.
It was quiet a moment.
"What were you doing before you came here?" Ratchet asked.
Ravel patted his chassis. "I got a snack for dinner. Did you eat?"
"Yes," Ratchet lied. He sat back comfortably. "What's happening in the outside world?"
"Well, other than you making a fool decision, not much. All of the focus is on the ships. School is still out but word is that it might open again orn after tomorrow," Ravel said.
"That's good. Are you using the military day center in The Fortress like I told you?" he asked as they began to descend to the ground.
"We are. Holidays are coming so the work load is getting backed up. Everyone wants something. Its amazing," Ravel said with a look of surprise.
Ratchet snickered. "You have no idea of your own worth. That's a flaw, Ada. Work on it."
Ravel grinned. "If you say so."
Ratchet snickered. "I do."
=0=Way out there
They gathered again several joors later. Meeting up on a corner by the divide between the Cybertronian side and the Land of Lilliput, they compared notes.
:I've been playing cards and 'losing' to a bunch of Imperialis' mechs who are here to trade for some kind of rare thing or other: Springer began.
:Did you lose on purpose?: Elita asked with a smirk.
:Is there any other way?: Springer asked.
Huge laughter greeted that.
Even from Drift.
Giving him the stink optic, Springer continued. :Fraggers. I asked for employment opportunities and they told me Cassio is taking in mechs and femmes for his army. He said its getting to be pretty big. Nothing we can't handle but the owners of this place are sending them back with a message that they're not welcome here with any kind of weapons, both on bodies or ships. I think they worry about his strength overtaking their artillery:
:We got that, too: Chromia said as Maelstrom nodded.
:He also told me that its an all military and criminal operation with them. They aren't allowing civilians to settle. Their energon situation is good but they can't afford civilians. There's few out here anyway and from what they say, they wish they weren't. We need to scan and clear out this area. No civilians left behind. Or anyone else who wants to lay it down either. Every soldier we poach is one less gun against us: Springer concluded.
They agreed, then followed him as they began to leave to go back home. They would make their way to their ship, leave with little trouble, then at some point far enough away call for a bridge to return home again.
It was a flawless perfect mission.
For once.
=0=Mars
Ravel walked in with a box in his servos. Everyone was at Ironhide and Ratchet's house tending to the children including a number of titanic kids who were here before going to the DMZ to help their crews with this and that. All of them out there LOVED the kids and liked to have them around when they had a break or two.
The kids loved them back. Their entire world was that of the World of Adults until coming here and finding others their own age. They were kids through and through, so going to their ships to hang out with the 'mechs and femmes, Appa, the ones who are soldiers full time … its so fun'.
It was.
"It took you a while, Ravie," Tie Down said as he stood by the table with the twinnies, Sojie, Solus and Hero sitting on his arms. They smiled automatically. All of the little mechs including Miracle and Kaon were standing around his peds smiling at everyone.
Dogs, bugs and cats were hanging around as well. It was dinner time.
Halo who was sitting on Tie's ped, a place she LOVED to ride, waved at Ravie, then fell off backwards to land on her tiny helm on the floor.
Everyone froze as they stared at her.
"Appa, Halo fell on her little helm," Hero said with a trace of anxiety.
"She did," Tie said as he laughed.
The girls looked at him, then Halo who was smiling up at them, then Tie again. Then they laughed. It sounded like wind chimes.
=0=Later at the Ops Center, The Fortress, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
They sat at the table in the middle of the room to debrief on the mission, a good half dozen mangy individuals, Prowl Ironhide and Prime.
"They don't have civilians. He's keeping it lean until he fixes his energon supply. For now, it looks good to go. They must be flexing their muscles because the settlement isn't allowing them to come anywhere near them, either on foot or by ship with arms," Springer said.
Prime nodded. "That is good news."
"We have to scour the area and get the few civilians there out. They're there but he's not bothering them for now," Drift said.
"The Knights have the edge there and we can check the list that Sun and Jack gave us when they came," Ironhide said. "We can run fast teams out to get them. We can calculate what its going to take in transport and manpower. I'll get with them right away."
"Good," Prime said. "We need to take this down right away. He is building from strength to strength."
Everyone chatted a moment more, then rose to leave.
"Anything happen that I need to know about?" Springer asked with a grin.
"Well, now that you asked," Prime said with his own grin …
They stood on the platform together, one side of it peopled by a group of gangsters and the other, Prime, Jetta, Mack, Hercy and Kup.
Hercy was deliberately engaging them, the slagger. "So, how's your lives going, infants? School? Work?" he asked.
One of them stared at him cool as a cucumber. "Work's good."
"That's good. Mech should be a positive asset to the sitchiation," Hercy said as Kup nodded.
The others watched with veiled amusement.
Hercy walked over to stand beside them. "My old mech once told me that a mech who can't pull his weight is a dead drop into a volcano. A mech who say … was a gangster or a criminal should be on the radar of the good guys and when they get out of line, then chop their slagging head off." He grinned. "My old mech was a caution. He didn't believe in being a ruffian but he knew how to fight and he knew how to keep younglings in line. I loved my old mech. What about you? Do you have families?"
They stared at him with discomfort. They nodded and murmured assent.
"Good. My old mech once told me that if a youngling failed it was because their genitors were failures. I don't know about that. I know a lot of good genitors who have bad kids. Sometimes a kid is just bad," he said. "What do you think, younglings? Is that something you can get behind?"
They stared at him, some of them shifting their peds in discomfort.
One of them turned to him. "What do you want, Abba?" he asked uncomfortably.
"I want to know if you can still feel shame. If I had kids who were gangsters, parasitic leaches on the hard work of others, I'd be ashamed. What about your genitors? Do they know you're gangsters? Are they ashamed of you like I would be? Understand, infants. I would shoulder the lion's share of the blame. Infants don't grow up by themselves. It takes a family and love to make a good youngling. Take Prime over there," Hercy said as they all looked at Prime.
"He's the best mech I know and his infants are jewels. They don't have to be pretend tough mechs acting like criminals and stealing the peace and hard work of others. They aren't cowards running in gangs, hurting others because they might like it. They're on the harder road, the one where you care about others, do your best and make things better just by being there. I don't suppose you know that road exists being gangsters and all," Hercy asked them.
They stood around him close enough to fight him but he was fearless.
No one answered but they were very very uncomfortable. One of them looked down the track but their train wasn't there yet. It was deeply uncomfortable.
For them.
"Yes … my old mech was a tough old codger but he was completely good and decent. He worked for everyone. Still does." Hercy grinned. "Check out my tats, infants."
They stared at him, then his tattoos. It made them more uncomfortable. One of them stared at him. "You're exempt."
"That's right. Guess who my old mech is?" Hercy asked.
They glanced at each other, then him. "Who?" one asked.
"Why, Primus Himself. I was one of the first ever to come from the Well," he lied. That is, he lied about Primus being his direct old mech. His old mech and ada got his spark from the Well but they were his genitors. It was a technical 'fib' rather than a complete untruth. "When I talk about things, I speak to you over oceans of suffering and war. Oceans of slaggers hurting others and taking what wasn't theirs because they were too lazy, mean and lacking in self respect to do otherwise. Why are you idiots in a gang? Do you really think they're necessary here?"
No one spoke a moment, then the one who seemed to be their default spokesman did. "Abba, we've always had to protect ourselves. How could this be different?"
"Because it is, infants. You kids, you're our greatest treasure. You don't think you're protected? That you can do and be anything you want without getting hurt?" Hercy asked. "Do you really think that this mech over here," he said glancing at Prime, "isn't going to make it possible for you to live here in safety? What about your real dreams? Do you have them?"
They stared at him, then a couple nodded.
"Then PURSUE them. I give you my word of honor that you're going to be safe here, that this fake manhood that you're flaunting is not necessary and what you want you can have it you work for it. A real mech doesn't belong in a gang. Do you understand me? Staying in a gang now is stupid."
"Its not that easy, Abba," another said.
"It is with me. See that other mech? Kup? He's as old and mean as me," Hercy said with a grin. "Well, maybe not as mean ..."
The kids grinned in spite of himself.
"That mech, Old Hercy there … he's an Immortal," Kup said as he stuck the needle into their martial ideology.
He scored.
They looked at Hercy with surprise, then astonishment.
"There's no Immortals left are there?" a tough kid asked.
"There's a good dozen living here. You can meet them and hear what they have to say about suffering for everyone, then watching it all go to the Pit because some are too mean and stupid to do that right thing and go down the right and honorable path," Hercy said calmly. "We don't kill easily."
The kids glanced at each other, then him. "Abba ..." one of them said, then trailed off.
"Kup and I are going on our beat. You kids seem the protecting kind. Right?" Hercy asked.
They glanced at each other, then most of them nodded. In an odd way they were.
"Then come with us," Hercy said. "We're patrolling the colony. You ever rode a horse?"
Some of them brightened up. "I have. I like riding," one of them said.
"We have a horse patrol in the Watch. How about seeing what you think about protecting on the right side of the fence. Ride with me and Kup. We have a lot of tough good infants on the patrols now. You'd like them. They're about your age and have a lot of wisdom for infants." Hercy stood beside them, calm, collected and exuding an aura of quiet confidence that everyone on the platform could feel.
It felt good. If felt authentic and real.
"We don't know how to be Watchmen, Abba," one of them said.
"Neither did the infants who are beat cops and horse patrol now. There's a lot of fine jobs in the Watch. We protect The People. Think what it'll mean to your spark to find a lost child, to help an elder get to the hospital or protect someone from hurting themselves. What about that, infant? I wonder what you think."
They glanced at each other, these young mechs, then one of them stepped closer to Hercy. "I'd like to come. I want to see what you do. Mostly, you've been chasing us."
The kids grinned, then nodded.
Hercy grinned back. "I think that would be ultra fine, infants. You can come with us. We'll show you the ropes, then you can make up your mind. What makes your spark sing … being a criminal or mattering to The People in the best way when they need you the most?"
It was quiet for a moment, then a train slid into the station. Prime, Jetta and Mack would enter. Kup would follow. Hercy would join them with the youngling kids.
They would go on patrol with Hercy and Kup, learn a lot about their side of the fence, then join them for a while each night until they could be entered into the new officer intake and learn to be Watchmen.
Just like Hercy knew they would.
=0=TBC 9-21-19
NOTES!
leoness chapter 91 . Sep 20
someone is about to get his hand patted…
ME: He is. :D:D:D:D:D
Dark Mind and Saddened Soul chapter 91 . Sep 19
uh ooohhhh, Ratchet is going to be in troubleeee! PLEASE have Ravel thump him or something, he deserves it after the emotional slag he put us through. I know Ratchet is well known for doing crazy things, but honestly...
lol, so much work has to be done, here's to everyone making progress. now, the kicker would be if Ratchet was sparked when all of that happened...hmmm...lol
Thanks, Lisa :P
ME: HI, LISA! He gets his. Ravie can bring Ratchet to his knees with a look. My mom could. I still remember seeing my brother crawling when she would. LOL! Ratchet has more kids in line. :D He just isn't telling. They need a football team. LOL! HUGS!
What Lies Beyond chapter 90 . Sep 19
Okay, quick question- Given that the 'Alien' and 'Predator' titular beings are real in this universe, and have in fact been encountered, is this a case of 'Alien' being a in-universe recent release or a major coincidence? Because I always wondered what would happen if it was the latter, and I can't remember if any of the humans have actually seen an 'acid monster' yet...
Ditto with 'Predator', and to be completely honest I've been wondering about the parallels between the Hu-An and the Na'Vi for a while, too…
ME: They have. Seen them, that is. I wanted this to be a pick up from what the humans already know. The governments knew about them but kept them secret. Morshower's surprise when he learned of them was genuine. I had that problem since Predator was already in the culture before the story started but I saw it as a story based on local legends. Imagine their surprise to find it was real. :D:D:D
Lackwit chapter 90 . Sep 19
Heads up— you have Springer here and at the end of chapter 89 with Prime and the gangs. But you also mention him being with Elita off planet at Broken Hole. He's with Elita if I am not mistaken.
ME: THANK YOU FOR THAT! It made this ending even better. Hugs, Darling Lackwit! :D:D:D
leoness chapter 90 . Sep 19
In high school me and my friends had a sleepover where we marathoned all 4 Alien movies. (1-3 and resurrection). Not too bright. Sleep was scarce and dreams were bizarre.
ME: OMG. I would never be able to survive that. Seeing the predators swim toward the ladder when they were escaping is a nightmare. :D:D:D HUGS!
leoness chapter 88 . Sep 17
The concept of pirates walking inside and cutting them up like that is a visceral kind of horror. That's chest burster Alien type horror, comparatively.
ME: Until you mentioned it, I never thought of that but its a perfect description. YIKES! HUGS! :D:D:D:D
TODAY'S PIECE WILL BE COMING SHORTLY!
Chapter 93: Chapter 93
The Diego Diaries: Mission Again (dd7 93)
=0=Late at night
The lights from towers were throwing strange shadows on the field where the big ships sat. Banner was running on emergency power supplied by ships to conserve what he had and to prevent his functions from working on their own during a period of great disharmony of his overall functioning.
The Dandy was downfield and coming along well. He had a lot of outside wounds and the enemy had boarded but they hadn't disabled his propulsion and steering so he was able to bash them through a set of evasive maneuvers. They were hard to kill, titans and many were the ships that had brutal evasive maneuvers when they were boarded. The enemy hadn't left the ship. They were carted out, two in pieces, to be given a post mortem, then buried in the Crater Mausoleum near Crater District 1.
It would be around this time the next evening when the big ship could lift off and go to his permanent site where more work, both essential and cosmetic would be performed to his everlasting relief and gratitude. His lighted form was sitting a couple of miles away and was as swarmed as Banner was here.
Walking along with Ratchet, Ranger who was a certified doctor for titans being one himself discussed their progress and plans as both headed toward the outside handhold ladder that would take them directly to Banner's bridge. They reached it, then began to climb, stepping out on the top in jig time.
Ratchet paused to look around in the darkness. They could see Autobot City glistening in the velvet night behind them and in all directions the other habitation sites including the human's. There was traffic on the highways leading everywhere, a train was coming overland toward Terra from the Industrial Park Cities and overhead ships came in or took off along with the odd Seeker flight.
It was astonishingly beautiful.
"This is a real sight isn't it," Ranger said.
Ratchet nodded. "When we came here, we were five. Now look at us. Look at Cybertron. All is getting to be well. Your people have finally come in numbers and we're all happy. Its here that matters, here and Cybertron."
Ranger nodded. "I agree," he said as Ratchet walked toward an open doorway nearby. Light poured out of it as they entered, walking onto a bridge being dismantled and re-assembled. There was noise and movement as they walked to Environmental to sit and go over the data once more.
=0=Night
"Atar."
He blinked, then turned his helm. He looked down.
Standing on the floor looking upward at him with little blue peepers, two tiny figures stared upward.
Hero.
Halo.
He rolled over to look closer at them. "You need to be in bed. What are you doing whispering to me this late at night?"
"Ada," Halo said quietly as she looked around to see if anyone else was awake.
"Ada is workin'. Just a workin'," Ironhide said. "How about you going back to bed? Prowler will wonder where you are."
Halo who was holding hands with Hero looked up at her sister. "Pow-Pow not doin'. We goin' dere?" she asked as she pointed a fat baby digit at the door.
"Wait a minute, Halo," Hero said gently. She looked at Ironhide. "Can we recharge here? We miss Ada."
Ironhide leaned downward, then scooped them up. He rolled over, then put them down on the bed where Ratchet slept. He pulled the covers up to tuck them in, then grinned. "Go to sleepin'. No pillow talk."
Two tiny femmes smiled at him. "No pillow talk. That's so funny," Hero said.
"No piddow talk?" Halo asked quizzically. She turned her helm to look at Hero. "No piddow, Ho-Ho?"
"No," Hero whispered with a grin. "Go to sleep, Halo. Whistle if you're first to fall into recharge. Okay?"
Halo smiled at Hero. "Okey dokey." Then she shuttered her tiny optics.
Hero smiled, then did the same thing.
Ironhide who was laughing loudly inside shuttered his as well. Then he whistled softly.
Two little girls sat up, got up, then stood beside his head examining his face to figure out how he did it. It would be an entertaining few moments before they were tucked in again.
No one whistled this time.
=0=Brandon Clark
He stood at the big windows of the habitat entrance watching the lights in the distance beyond. He had powerful binoculars and he could see ships flying in freight, some taking winched pallets of burned and seemingly broken things away, flying all of it in low altitudes around the giants. He watched the workers who he could see clearly though the site was far away from where he was.
Turning slightly, he trained them on four big ships that had settled in city mode nearby, their towers and streets lit up by the vessels as they settled into their new homes. A lot of activity was happening there as well as they prepared them to host and to continue their rehabilitation.
The skyline had changed for the better. The desolate beauty of uninterrupted desert was now broken up by the inclusion of beautiful cities. Seven more would come to occupy the space between their habitat and the Tri-Cities. Soon there would be highways and roadways, a couple more huge roundabouts and all of it would include their habitats more fully into the colonial model.
It astonished him, the skill and resourcefulness of the bots as they made the things they needed efficiently and well. Everything had an element of beauty. This would be no different. It would be three more Metrotitan Districts, Districts Five through Eight. They would host thousands and thousands of refugees at some point and offer work and recreation to many more. There would be the usual amenities and lots of possibilities to those who came.
It was fascinating and pretty wonderful.
Behind him, the habitat was in night mode. The crews that worked at night were busy going about their business. A few of the inhabitants were sitting in the main lounge working on laptops and sipping drinks. The cafe was getting ready to close and all of the other businesses shuttered earlier. They kept a schedule as if this were Earth and they were just another little town on a roadway.
He loved this place. His son was born here. He married here and was going to make this home for all of them. He loved the bots. He loved Mars. He loved Earth. Being here drove that home more than anything else.
Nearby watching him with a sweet expression on her face, an older lady in a knit cap stood by the windows. She noticed the same thing. It was beautiful to see for her as well. It had been a long, long time. As she watched him, she faded slowly from view.
=0=Earth2
It was night at Earth2. The downtown business district had closed but for a bar that would shutter at 0100 AM on the TMC. It was a cafe with a bar designed on a European pub model and thus, it was a favorite gathering place for locals. Street lights illuminated the roadways inside the downtown area as night lighting made it appear to be as late as it was. No one was up but the security officers who walked in pairs all over the facility keeping the peace.
The main lounge was empty of visitors as the habitat rolled ever onward into the nighttime. The hospital had a couple of patients, one for a difficult pregnancy and another nursing a broken leg from falling from a ladder.
It was as quiet as a big facility could be with the most activity in the apartment blocks down the concourse. A few of the locals were sitting in front of their apartments on lawn chairs, chatting together as they shared beer and snacks. Music was coming from a gathering on the top floor, soft and low. It was peaceful and could be any summer evening on Earth.
The night rolled onward …
=0=Unidad Terra 1
Carly walked into the bedroom and climbed in beside Sam. Both of them were working on their laptops when Carly grinned at Sam. "Are you feeling as romantic as I am?" she asked.
"More," Sam said with a grin as he worked on a contract for transmission to Earth in the morning.
They would work side-by-side contentedly.
=0=At a mall in The City
James Brooks-Spencer, Jessie Landon, Niall and Linda Graham along with a couple of bachelors from N.E.S.T. sat together in the McDonalds that was part of the 'Mall of Mars', a space that was created by the bots to allow the local humans to have a place to come and shop, eat, drink, dance and feel more attached to their home world. Corporations had petitioned and after a tremendously exacting vetting process, they were allowed to have 'vanity' stores here at long last. It was a tiny human corporate bastion in the middle of the vast deadly desert that was Mars.
Fifty store fronts, food, bars, clothing and housewares along with a book store, music, electronics outlets and other sundry facilities was among the most popular destinations of humans on world. The kids LOVED it and they could 'buy' things here, the kids, by earning points based on their grades, their care of their rooms and other parentally designated possibilities.
The humans who worked here were some of the family members of locals who lived here full time, lots of them fully experienced in retail and hospitality. They were even finishing up the last bit of remodeling to make a multiplex movie theater for the locals.
"This is good. I never thought I would miss junk food the way I do," Jessie said as she sipped her milk shake. "What do you think of Cinnabon?"
Niall grinned. "Everything."
Linda laughed. "I read that if you want to win a man," she said as everyone smirked at the boys, "all you had to do was make a pumpkin pie or cinnamon buns. Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon were like aphrodisiacs to men. Its real actual science."
"Well, I must get some strange perfumes then," Jessie said as she winked at James.
He grinned at Jessie. "Pie is good."
They would chat a while until the places began to close, then go to the bar until 0100. They were off duty for a couple of days so there was no rush.
=0=Elsewhere
Kestrel crept into the berthroom after finishing his reading assignment. Given that the infants were being farmed out to everyone for the next orn or so, he was pressed to get it done when he could. He walked to the berth, sat, then leaned back.
"Are you finished, Kes?" Tagg asked as he turned over to hug Kestrel to his body.
"I have," Kes replied as he rubbed Tagg's big arm. "When things get back to normal, that will be good. Having the titans here, getting more skyline, that is so nice."
Tagg nodded. "I know. School opens tomorrow. We will have to get the infants to school. When we go, then all will be well. How about window shopping during the morning? Then we can see what is happening at the Senior Center."
"I think that would be fun, Tagg," Kes said. "Christmas Surprise is coming. Maybe we can find something for the babies."
"We will," Tagg said as he began to nod off into recharge.
Kestrel stroked his arm gently as he stared out the window nearby. Lights streamed in, lights were flying away into space and some were coming in to land. It was always so, though the sound outside was muted by their windows. It was quiet and peaceful here. He would drift off himself in no time.
=0=Elsewhere
Ratchet lay on his back working to loosen a bolt. He did so and when he did, energon gushed downward into his face. He plugged the hole with his digit, then called to an orderly. "MICA!"
A familiar face appeared. "What do you need?"
"Well, Partition, a towel would be nice," Ratchet said with a smile. "Pull me out."
Partition grabbed Ratchet's legs and dragged him out from under the cabinet.
He stood up swiftly, input some numbers and the gusher underneath halted. Glancing below, he turned to Partition. "Well, isn't this just dandy."
Partition grinned. "I think so," he said with a chuckle.
=0=TBC 9-22-19