Really, Margo wasn't that interested in parties. She very deliberately avoided everything to do with them. So when Wheeljack's party started, she turned to Optimus and begged him to take her with him on his drive. He wasn't exactly a party animal either.

The drive was calm. At one point, she asked to get some food, and they pulled in to a drive-through. She ordered food. It took about five minutes for it to be ready. His insides smelled faintly of grease when he called rolled into the base again.

They had quite the story to come back to.

Apparently, the Wheeljack they thought was Wheeljack wasn't actually Wheeljack. The decepticons had kidnapped him, replaced him with a Shifter, and at the last minute were saved by the real Wheeljack, who'd freed himself and defeated his doppelganger.

"Is the fake Wheeljack still here?" Margo asked, pointing upwards.

Bulkhead twitched rather violently at the subtle mention towards the scraplets. Wheeljack looked up, but could only see the same roof as always: covered with little metal raised dots.

And then he realized they were covering the platforms, too, except for the one which was tall enough to permit eye contact with the bots. The walkways, the platforms, the support beams, the rock, were all covered with the odd raised dots.

His optic narrowed as he looked closer, and then yelped and pulled his blaster. "SCRAPLETS!"

"Oh, god, again?" Bumblebee groaned dramatically.

Bulkhead covered Wheeljack's blaster with his left hand, and gripped Wheeljack's left wrist with a firm servo before he booked it. "Calm down! They're not going to wake up unless Margo orders them to. Yes, it's creepy, but they're useful, and a real asset against people who don't live inside a rock, rely exclusively on technology, don't have any humans to defend them, and are made of fragging metal!"

Wheeljack's blaster twisted back into a servo. "You're sure they're not going to wake up?"

Margo nodded. "Yup. As long as I have this on, they're asleep," she gestured to her headband. "And seriously, I can't believe you didn't tell him."

"It never came up!" Raf squeaked defensively.

"This kind of information withdrawal isn't exactly good for my joints," Wheeljack said. "Is there anything else you're keeping from me that I should be aware of?"

Miko bit the inside of her cheek before replying somewhat meekly, "does 'the decepticons are turning fallen cybertronian soldiers into terrorcons with dark energon and were planning on using them to raise an undead army before we blew up a space bridge' count?"

Wheeljack turned a stink eye on Bulkhead. "Bulk, you should teach your human to lie better."

"Not a lie," Arcee said.

Wheeljack opened his mouth, but found no words, glitched, and fell flat on the floor. Raf, the only human in the way, was pulled out of the way just in time.

Optimus hummed. "That happened quickly. I was certain it would take at least five more stories before he glitched."

"I'm getting Prowl flashbacks," Bumblebee said.

~?~

"So, I'm gonna head out. I'm not exactly comfortable staying in a base full of scraplets. Maybe you are, and more power to you, but I'm gonna try and find a rock not infested with the blasted things."

Margo growled and kicked Wheeljack's pede. "Hey, fuckface! No one insults my hive but me, ya got that?"

Wheeljack looked confusedly at Bulkhead. "Was she like that before being connected?"

"Aggressive, adversarial, and swear-your-head off incredible?" Miko sighed. "Absolutely."

Wheeljack chuckled and stepped back. "Right. Well, I'm perfectly capable of repairing the Jackhammer on my own, no need to help."

Margo sighed. "Bitch, I will have my hive eat your ship if you don't let Bulkhead and Ratchet help you."

Wheeljack did not capitulate.

Margo lived up to her threat.

And now he lived inside the base.

With a sleeping scraplet hive controlled by a vengeful youngling.

Joy.