The Diego Diaries: Home (dd7 220)
=0=Hospital
They sat around the corridor on the floor and benches, in chairs and nearby in a lounge for those waiting for patients. The hospital whirled on around them as they gathered to wait for the word on Optimus. The big mech was in the theater nearby with Ratchet and some specialists getting patched, repaired and prepped for more work the following orn. It was quiet among the mechs and odd femme as most of them talked together off line.
Prowl leaned against the wall as he waited.
Nearby, Bluestreak was keeping Kes, Tagg, Venture and Miler company in a lounge.
They'd caught up on all the mundane things regarding home and hearth since being gone for what had seemed like months. In the space of a few orns they had moved two planets, confounded a big and potentially lethal enemy and missed Christmas Surprise. It felt like they hadn't been home and seen their kids in vorns.
The door opened as Ratchet walked out. Everyone quieted as he turned to Prowl. "We debrided all his wounds and repaired them. He has medicinal putty over them along with medicinal metal patches which he'll absorb over time. We all know what that's like," he said as several around the area nodded. "We replaced three struts, one in each leg and one in an arm. He cracked his hip. That had to be replaced. Right now, his audials are cleared out and packed with medicine to get a jump on the protoform, prevent infection and make him ready for replacements tomorrow. He came through just fine."
"Thank, Solus," Tagg said from a doorway nearby.
Kestrel who looked solemn nodded silently.
"You can go in, Tagg, Kes," Ratchet said. "He's was awake a moment ago and pretty unhappy about being admitted but he is. We'll see how long it takes before he can go home to Healthcare attention. I put him back in a light medical status but he might feel you there and answer. I'm not sure but you can try. It helps his automatic healing processes to be in that state."
Tagg and Kestrel walked toward the door, hugged Ratchet, then entered with Miler and Venture behind them.
Prowl squeezed Ratchet's arm, then joined them.
Everyone looked at Ratchet who grinned back. "Who wants to be there when I see Ironhide?"
They all did.
^..^
Moments later in Auntie Lissie's room…
He hung upside down in the grip of his grandfather and great uncle. He was smoldering with unresolved fury. "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PUT ME DOWN!?" he demanded.
"I don't know, Raptor. How about tomorrow?" Sun said as he held Ironhide's ankle. "I could do this all orn."
Raptor had grabbed the other one when they tackled him after Ratchet filled him in on the sit-rep. He shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
Ironhide hung upside down, something that had been a huge laugh for him as a sparkling. It wasn't now. It was some indication of his elder's brute strength that they were able to hold 4.9 metric tons upside down in the grip of one servo apiece. He stared at Ratchet as he hung there surrounded by huge laughter. "SLAGGER! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO BE FREE!"
Ratchet peered over the top of his camera. "Hold still. I want some snaps for the next Christmas Surprise card."
"You never looked better," Sunstreaker said as he stood beside his brother who was bent over with laughter. "Get videos, someone."
"We did." -everyone
Sun and Raptor gently lowered Ironhide to the floor. He rose up like Vesuvius turning on Ratchet with a dark expression. "You just said I could've gone home the second orn."
"You could've but what would be the fun of that?" Ratchet said with a grin as he subbed his camera.
"I'm going to kick your aft," Ironhide said darkly.
Ratchet unsubbed his little frying pan with Ironhide's name inscribed on it. "Bring it, big boy."
Huge laughter and guff greeted that as everyone turned to look at Auntie Lissie sitting on the berth with a big smile. She waved her good hand. "Little mech was my hero. You'd be so proud of him."
Everyone glanced from her to him, then her again.
"He took such good care of me. I haven't had such a good visit in ages," Lissie said as she dug Ironhide out of his own hole.
Ironhide grinned at her. "You're the only relative that I have that I like. The rest of you are fragged."
Jack slapped him on the back. "You're always going to be our little mech, slagger. Get used to it."
"Frag that," Ironhide said as he smirked at Ratchet.
Ratchet smirked back.
"I'm starving. Let's go eat," Steiner said. "Can Lissie come with us?"
Ratchet scanned her, then glanced at him. "If we take good care of her, yes. She's getting a servo in a short time. Eat light, Lissie. I'll attach it with a local pain suppressor. That won't make you feel sick then."
"That would be grand, Ratchet. I missed all my mechs," she said as she stood up slightly unsteadily.
"Why is she wobbling, Ratchet?" Steiner said as he gently gripped her arm.
"She got blowed up, Stein. We can go if she takes it easy," Ratchet said.
Steiner gently picked up Lissie, holding her in his broad arms. "How's this?"
"Perfect," Ratchet said. He glanced at Ironhide. "Lead on, Ironhide. You know you wanna."
He did. Grumpily.
=0=Diner At The Corner
They sat in the usual place as they ate breakfast. All of the kids were at school so they would leave them there until they were let out. The stand down was nearly complete though the airfield would have activity there related to the expedition for some time yet. The fleet was parked at their tie downs on the Ready-Go line with the rest heading out to their stations.
Clipper was being serviced at the Big Frame Yard No. 2 and would be there for three orns.
Tennyson would take over his spot and everyone would be on alert for the rift that he guarded at the dimensional break.
All was well, as well as it ever was.
"I do remember some shorties that have names. I wonder if I can still remember them," Ratchet said. "Also … what about football? Don't you have your next game on Cybertron?"
Ironhide nodded. "We play at the Iacon stadium against Nova Cronum."
"That should be a blood bath. The little kids won't be able to come and do triage," Ratchet said.
"They're coming," Springer said. He grinned. "They're … 'part of the team, Commander, and you might need us'. Try and say no to that."
"No thanks," Ratchet said. He grinned. "It might start a kid corps on world there. It wouldn't be a bad thing."
"No," Steiner said as he cut up Lissie's breakfast. "I was in Iacon to go to the Citadel and the amount of completed building there was amazing. I think they said it was nearly 38% complete."
"I haven't been there in a while," Ratchet said. "I may have to go. What about The Jumble? Have they done anything with the big slums?"
"The Jumble is preserved," Alor said. "Its a historical set aside. The one out by the Wells in cleared and being rebuilt for family housing. The one by the airfield is being rebuilt for businesses and work sites for manufacturing. Housing is not being built there because of the airfield."
"Good idea," Ratchet said. "Ships came in so low there that you could see faces in the windows."
"I'd hate that," Arcee said. "Just the noise level in the District … in our building alone was enough."
Ratchet nodded. "I find it sort of hilarious that The Jumble is a historical site."
Jetta grinned. "You and me both. We're preserving the entire district, not just the relevant buildings. We want it to be a museum for the future."
"You can have my house," Ratchet said. "I don't miss it but I will say that I'm glad I grew up there and not in the Diamond District. I wouldn't be Machlis, Fuller or Faber for anything."
"That's going to be a Primal Hearing with Special Circumstances," Springer said. "I don't see them getting out of that."
"No," Magnus said. "They gave up the location of Cybertron and the local group. We have to move them as fast as we can."
"That's a mixed thing, Magnus," Drift said. "What about refugees coming to the planet who won't find it when they do? We need to maker it somehow so they can find us but not allow the enemy to know. I don't know how to do that."
"We make a big heavily armed war world and park it there," Magnus said. "We arm it to the teeth and post a presence, a big garrison with perhaps more dreadnoughts. We can get our people and blow the slag out of anyone who comes at us with bad intentions. I'm getting tired of slaggers shooting us for sport. I'm also glad I won't be on the jury of these three and any others who get charged."
"You'll probably have to testify as an expert witness about the treaties," Ratchet said.
"I can do that," Magnus replied.
"When will you wake up the titans now that we're back?" Hard Drive asked Ratchet.
Ratchet considered that. "I just have to program code and hit send. I can do that here."
"Will they flail? Will they raise up or do something awful like that?" Delphi asked.
"No." Ratchet grinned. "They're just slightly underwater, actually, once their stuff is replaced, that stuff that was fried. When I send the code I'll attach a message to it to tell them not to flail, that they're not under attack. I've done this a lot and no one has but for a few titans who were shot up so badly that they almost forgot who they were. That's what the fear was with Banner. It was a miracle that he woke up so well. He was so deprived that I worried about the stability of his mental condition."
"Banner is on station with the other ten south of Centurion. That's one huge district available for refugees when they finish setting it up," Hound said as he sat beside Trailbreaker. "There's a huge migration coming on the sensor net. It's coming from the other side of the Rim and we might have a bunch of Seekers as well. They were out of the loop a long time. It's your guess or mine how it will play out when they contact us. Dai Atlas sent them messages the other orn but we're waiting for a reply."
"I hope they come nicely. I want to recharge in my own berth for a while," Ratchet said as the others murmured agreement.
A mech entered the room, then walked to Jetta and Elita. It was Hauser, Jetta's cousin. He grinned at them. "Hey, brother. I need you to help me. Can you come, too, Elita? I have to figure out something."
Jetta who was finished but kicking back to enjoy the moment rose. "Okay," he said as Elita joined him. "What's up?"
"A snafu at the Refugee Center. I don't know what it is but you're public works and the empire's chief engineer so I want you along. I also want Elita along because she's beautiful," Hauser said with a chuckle.
Everyone whistled and agreed as they took their leave. It would be a nice wind down in the Diner for everyone.
=0=Hospital
He lay in a light healing medical status, a silent figure so beloved by those who waited with him. When he came out of it he would be moved to the biggest and best room in the facility, the 'presidential suite' if you will.
Kes held his servo. "You are a good mech, Orion, but I want you to delegate this sort of thing. You are too important to everyone to continue on such ventures. Too important to me and your atar, too."
"I've had this conversation, Kes," Prowl said as he sat wearily in a chair by the window. "He feels responsible."
"He always did," Tagg said as he sat beside Venture and Miler.
"We're going to have this conversation again," Prowl said doggedly.
They would. It wouldn't make any difference.
=0=Refugee Center
They walked into a room where two mechs sat, both of them battered and seemingly much smaller than Jetta had remembered. They were similar to him, especially the taller mech. They were weary and didn't look up when he entered. Jetta slowed before them, stunned into silence. He glanced at Hauser who nodded, then back to the two. Staring at them, he fell to his knees. Reaching out to both, he took one of their servos into his own.
Imaldo who was his atar glanced up at him, staring at Jetta without expression. It was as if he forgot who Jetta was, then he didn't. He stared at Jetta with gathering clarity, then touched his son's face with his free servo. "Jetta," he barely managed.
His bond, a tall mech who wore the same scheme as Jetta glanced up with surprise, staring at the handsome mech kneeling before him. "Jetta?" Corsair, his ada said with a soft voice filled with stunned surprise. He leaned closer staring at his son dumbfoundedly, then it came to him that Jetta was here in this space with him. "JETTA!" he cried as he struggled to stand up. "JETTA! IMALDO! JETTA IS HERE!" He grabbed his son into a desperate hug. "YOU WERE IN THE PRISON! WE DIDN'T KNOW YOU MADE IT! YOU'RE ALIVE!"
Imaldo stood with effort, then hugged both of them.
Hauser who was nearby with Elita walked to the door to lean out into the hallway. "Can we have a medic here, please?" he asked. Then he looked at Elita. "Could you get Mack, Elita? I'll stay with them."
Elita nodded, then walked out the door. She would find him nearby and bring him back. He would see his genitors and fall apart, too. Imaldo and Corsair would end up in the Medical Center under Ratchet's tender care. He remembered them, too. They were the only members of the group's extended family who lived in the same tenement together all that time that Ratchet had ever met. Oddly enough, Imaldo worked with Appa Ratchet on the same jobs and that is how he knew them.
It would be a joyous thing for everyone to hear the news.
Happy Christmas Surprise.
=0=TBC 2-28-2020 Leap year tomorrow. :D 4-1-2020