"Normal Talk"

"Bee's Talk"

"Bee's Talk Holoform"

"Other Side Over the Phone (Comms)"

'Thoughts'

~Bond communication~

~Telepathic communication~


School Shopping

One Month Later, August 14, 11:00 pm, Ratchet's POV

I groan as a cry cuts into the night. I'd just gone into recharge. I sigh before standing, and cross the room before shifting into my holoform and reaching down to my daughter, who's wearing a yellow and white short sleeved striped onesie with a duck, yellow footed pants with duck face feet, since its 76 degrees tonight. "Mari?"

"Dada!" She cuddles into me before clinging to me. "'Cawy!"

"Another bad dream?"

She nods. "S'ay Dada?"

I sigh before nodding. "You can stay with me for tonight, but we can't make a habit of this, Mari. You know that." I return to my normal form and set her, complete with her teddy bear and blanket, into my berth before lying beside her. She lies down, and quickly rolls over when I start rubbing her back with a finger and singing one of the lullabies I'd found last month.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry

Go to sleep my little baby

When you wake, you shall have

All the pretty little horses

Dapples and grays, pintos and bays

All the pretty little horses

Way down yonder, in the meadow

Poor little baby crying Mama

Birds and butterflies flutter round his eyes

Poor little baby crying Mama

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry

Go to sleep my little baby

When you wake, you shall have

All the pretty little horses

Dapples and grays, pintos and bays

All the pretty little horses

Once she drifts off, I pull her blanket up before letting myself recharge. Hopefully, she won't have any more nightmares tonight. We've got the wedding rehearsal tomorrow evening, and I need her alert.


August 15, 7:30 am

I wake up to a tiny foot moving just under my plating. From its jerky movements, I'm certain it's stuck, tangled in my nerve cables. "Stop it, Mari." I grumble at what I know has to be my daughter, not bothering to open my optics as I reach down to disentangle my daughter.

The moment I get her unhooked, she scrambles around before stopping once she's on top of me. "Dada!"

I open my optics to see her sitting on my chest. "What is it?"

"I up."

"I can see that." I groan before sitting up with her in my hand. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Dada up! Wan' baba!"

I glance at the clock Maya insisted on hanging on the wall with a heavy sigh. '7:30. Slag it…' After last night, we both managed to oversleep. "All right, I'm getting it."

"Dada okay?"

I sigh heavily. "I'm fine, Sweetspark. Just tired." I stand and carry her over to the changing table before changing her, then dressing her in a red cap sleeved tunic with flowers on the main part and red top and bottom with white polka-dots, khaki capris with a white floral print belt, and red sandals, then hand her a bottle.


7:45 am

I step into the main room and set her into her pen so she can play. "Ratchet?"

I sigh and turn to Optimus. "Sorry about—"

He shakes his head. "It is no problem, Ratchet. I am aware of Mariposa's nightmares."

"That doesn't allow me to oversleep, Optimus."

He lays a hand on my shoulder. "You have been up all hours with Mariposa because of her trauma. You have more than earned some time off."

"But Optimus—"

He sighs. "It will only be a week, and I doubt you will be leaving the base for very long because of Mariposa's age."

"But if she wants to leave, when she's older?"

"Then we will manage without you while you are gone."

I sigh heavily. "I guess there's no way to refuse…" He shakes his head. "Fine." I pick her back up and start for my room. "It's too hot for me to take her out, and I won't risk her life by taking her to the beach near her house again, so I'll be in my berth room if you need anything."

"Dada? We go?"

"We're just going back to my berth room. Optimus gave me the week off."

"P'ay me?"

I shrug. "Why not?"


I set her inside the white fence, then shift into my holoform before joining her. I can't help but smile when she toddles over to me with her hands full of blocks. I reach over and grab the bin with the rest of them, then settle on the floor.

It only takes me a few minutes to have a tower built near where she had dropped the wooden blocks. She looks up at me with a smile before knocking it over and into my lap. I give her a look, but she only giggles.

I sigh, and laugh softly. "I guess it was kind of funny." I look up at a knock. "Yes?"

Bumblebee sticks his head in. "Fowler needs to talk with you."

I stand and return to my normal form before walking over to him. "About what, Bee?"

"Me and school, I think…"

"All right. Stay with your sister." He simply nods, and activates his holoform before stepping into the fence and starts another tower.


Main Room, 8:00 am

"Agent Fowler?" I step over to the platform by the monitors, barely paying attention to Optimus and Sunset—the latter playing with a Cybertronian doll while the former watches for Decepticon signals.

"Prime said you were on vacation."

"I was given the week off, yes. Now what did you need?"

He sighs heavily. "June asked me what grade "Bailey" was going into this year."

"He's not in school, Agent Fowler."

"Right." He sighs. "But if he's going to be visiting humans, then you'll have to put him in school, or you could blow your cover." He sighs. "And Mari needs you, Ratchet."

"Would you please get to the point."

"You need to put Bumblebee in school. It starts in two days, but there's still time to get him registered."

"Fine, Bill. I'll get him in school."

He simply nods before setting a plastic card on the platform. "I've been meaning to give this to you."

I look down at it. "What is it?"

"Credit card. General Brice got it so we could fund Mari. I've been using it to pick up what you've ordered for her." He crosses his arms. "You'll need to get school clothes and supplies for Bee, so now you're in charge of it. We're still paying for it, so don't go overboard, but this way, you can get what she needs."

"And if I don't have the time to get to the store?"

"Then I'll take it back. I'd need it." He sighs when I scoff. "Maya's already on my back about spending so much time here, Ratchet. If she leaves, I might never see Steph again…"

I sigh heavily. "Go home to your wife. I'll handle Bumblebee and Mariposa for now."


Ratchet's Room, Mariposa's POV

I look up at my big brother as he picks up a block. "Bumbee?"

"What's wrong, Mari?"

"Dada?"

"He's in the main room. It's okay. Bumbee's here."

"I sa'e?"

"Yep. You're safe, Little Sis. I won't let anyone get you."

"Dada okay?"

Bumbee nods. "He's okay."

We both look up when the door opens.


Ratchet's POV, 8:15 am

"Get ready, Bee. We need to go into town."

"This is about the school thing, right?"

I nod. "If you're not in school, our cover could be blown." I activate my holoform and clip a dark pink pacifier clip to her collar and fasten a "Daddy's Girl" pacifier to the other end. The second she notices it, she sticks it into her mouth. I turn back to her changing table to pack the diaper bag, then grab her stroller. "Grab your sister and let's go. We need to be back before ten so she can have her nap."

"Isn't she getting too old for a morning nap?"

"She is, but she still takes one some days. I don't know about today, since we both overslept this morning, but I don't want her throwing a tantrum in the middle of the store."

"Are you carrying again? You only recharge like that when—"

I sigh sadly. "No, Bee, I'm not." I return to my normal form before taking Mariposa from him, allowing him to—for now—return to his own normal form before leading him into the main room.

"But Ratch—"

"Mari's still not recharging well, Bumblebee. She just had a bad night, and we overslept because of it." I hand Mari and her things to him, then transform. "Quickly, Bumblebee." I wait for him to activate his holoform, and climb in with Mariposa. "She goes in the seat facing the back. You need to buckle too."

"I've ridden with you before, Ratch. I know the drill." He sighs heavily. "What's wrong? You haven't been this snappy with me, or anyone else, since before Mari came."

I sigh heavily. "I was carrying, on her birthday. I lost him right before she was taken. With everything that's been going on—Mari's kidnapping, her trauma, and her injury…you'd think I wouldn't have noticed how close I'd be to delivery, if he'd survived…"

Bumblebee lays a hand on my arm. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't need your sympathy, Bee—yours, or anyone else's." I pull up to Jasper Elementary with a heavy sigh and quickly activate my holoform in case anyone sees into the windows. "Most of the reason I'm "snappy", as you said, is because Mari's not sleeping well right now. She's having nightmares from the week she spent with them, and there's nothing I can do to stop them. She won't sleep on her own, which makes it even harder to recharge, because I'm afraid I'll hurt her." I slip into the back and get her out before motioning for Bumblebee to grab her stroller. Once she's secured, I continue while leading Bumblebee inside.

"So you're just tired?"

"There's no "just" to it, Bailey. I'm exhausted." I sigh softly before glancing down to where Mariposa's dozing in the stroller, her pacifier dangling from the clip, and smile slightly. "But, even now, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Nothing lasts forever… Not even trauma."

"Or cranky sparklings, right?"

"Right." I sigh heavily. "Use that phone when we're in public. We can't blow our cover."

"Ratch!"

"I mean it."

"I hate this thing."

I sigh before running a hand over his head. "I know you do, and I wish you didn't have to use it, but we don't have a choice."

"I know…"

I sigh heavily as I get the forms from the front desk. Hopefully, I'll be able to fill them out without drifting into recharge. Who knew sparklings could be more exhausting than being a field medic ever was?


Tranquility Mall, 8:45 am

I pull into the lot and park before putting Mariposa into her stroller. Once I have her secured, and her diaper bag tucked into the bottom, I start for the doors, leading Bumblebee. "Now stay close. This place is bound to be busy, and you can't ask for help if you get lost."

"That's why Mr. Fowler got me this."

"That's true…" I sigh heavily. "But we don't want to run the charge down too early in the day. It's got to last at least eight hours, and more if you join some club."

"Right… Why are we here, anyway?"

"School supplies, and clothes. School starts in two days, Bailey."

"And Mari?"

"We'll just have to get by without you for a few hours a day. We'll survive." I lead him over to the racks of school supplies, then glance at the list. "Okay… Backpack…" I look up to see Bumblebee holding a yellow bag with black straps on the back. "How'd you know—"

"Jack showed me his a few days ago."

I nod before turning to grab a few things off a shelf, created for packing human lunches. I trust the school's lunch choices about as much as I'd trust Megatron to shelter Mariposa.

Bumblebee looks at the yellow lunch box and matching crayon-themed containers, obviously confused. "What are those for?"

I can't help but give him a look. I'm the half-charged one today, not him. "Lunch." It's blatantly obvious, even to me, what they're for—and I've barely recharged in the last two months. I sigh and lower my voice. "I'm not going to make you eat what the school fixes, and I can't just send you to school with a bottle of Energon." I shake my head. "We'd lose Mari if I did, Bailey."

"Stupid question?"

I glance over the list from the school, then put a few things on the canopy of Mariposa's stroller before answering him. "You think?"

He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry…I guess I'm—"

"Me wan'…"

I look at the colored pencils in my hand before sighing. I'd been so busy talking to Bumblebee that I let her see what I was getting. "You're too little, Sweetheart."

"DADA! Wan' now!" She reaches for the box in my hand, so I set it on the canopy quickly before crouching in front of her. "Mari, you can't have those. You'll get hurt." Of course her first tantrum would have to happen in the middle of a store…even if it is a minor one…

"Dad…"

I look up at him, more than a little bothered—not at them, exactly…more at the whole debacle. "Well?"

He sighs softly. "Jazzy was using some kind of egg-shaped crayons when I visited. June said they were specially made for toddlers…"

I turn back to Mariposa. "How about crayons instead?" She tilts her head to the side, but nods. "Okay, then." I straighten up and lead the two on.

"Pa'pa' to?"

"What?" I'm too tired to make sense of baby talk. I think we both need a nap—and it's only 9:30 in the morning.

"Pa'pa'?"

"I think she's saying "backpack", Dad."

She nods. "Me pa'pa'?" Bumblebee picks up one that looks like a duck. "Ducky pa'pa'!"

I sigh before nodding. I really need to re-think this whole "shopping-when-exhausted" thing. She doesn't need a duckling backpack. She's not going to school, Bumblebee is. "Go ahead." I glance over, and grab a toddler coloring book. Maybe I can keep her from coloring on my walls this way. "Now, let's go pay before she decides she needs anything else."

"Dada?" She looks up at me with a huge smile. I actually can't tell if she looks angelic, or just plain adorable.

I tickle her toes, earning a giggle as she kicks her feet. "I just can't stay mad at you, Little One." I pay quickly, then lead the two out into the main part of the mall. I'm trying to find a store that would have clothes for a preteen, but I'm not having much luck.

I sigh, and sit on a bench near a map. 'A little rest, and then—' I look down when I hear Mariposa starting to whimper. "Mari, what's wrong?" She points to a storefront as a tear drips off her chin. I wipe the streak left on her cheek with a thumb. "What's wrong, Little One?"

"Dada?" She holds up her arms. I pick her up and let her cuddle into my chest. It doesn't take long for her to calm back down. "No 'Mo. 'Mo 'cawy."

"Mo?"

She points to the storefront again. "No 'Mo."

Bumblebee leans against the map. "It's the red creature."

"Excuse me?"

"She's scared of the red creature. Jazzy calls it Mo too. It's her favorite."

"She's scared of the red…" I sigh before walking over to the storefront. As expected, she starts crying again. I turn her back to face me, and she quickly buries her face in my chest. "What's he called?"

"Elmo."

She sobs softly into my chest, causing me to scoff. It's all I can do to keep my anger at her biological parents in check until we get home. "Couldn't they notice she was afraid of it?"

"No…"

I look down at her. "Did they make you watch him?"

She blinks up at me as we start back to the bench, and nods. "An' p'ay." She tugs at her shirt. "'Ear…" She looks up at me. "No li'e 'Mo! 'Mo 'Cawy! No wan' 'Mo!"

"You don't have to be around him, Mari… It's all right…" I turn to Bumblebee with a sigh. "Bailey, get her stroller. We have to find this store before she gets any more upset."

I lead Bumblebee to a clothing store, making sure I have what he'll need, as well as grabbing a new outfit for Mariposa—one covered in glitter and rhinestones—just because it would look cute on her. 'Primus…when did I become such a domestic mech that I'd buy something because it's 'cute'? I mean, sure it'll be good for the heat wave they're predicting, but it'll be blinding, too.'


After finding school shoes, and getting him a couple jackets, it's 10:45. I load my vehicle mode with the bags, then climb in and get Mariposa into her seat before sticking the stroller into one of the side compartments in my vehicle mode.


Base

I wait for Bumblebee to get Mari out, then transform and take her. "Take your things into your berth room. I need to get Mari's lunch, then I think we'll both take a nap."

"Ratch?" I turn to where Bumblebee's back in his normal form. "You're sure you're okay? You only—"

"I'm. Not. Sparked." I sigh heavily. I'm about to let him keep Mariposa tonight, let him deal with her nightmares for once, but she'd be likely to wake the whole base if I did that. "Mari's got PTSD. I know you understand that." A hand reaches up to his throat, and I sigh heavily. "I'm sorry, Bumblebee…" I step over and lay a hand on his shoulder. "I was talking about Praxus…not…" I shake my head. "Not your voice box…"

He sighs softly. "I've gotta watch 'Lectro and Sunny for Cee and Optimus."

"Bee…"

"I'm fine—really. It's just…I'd almost stopped thinking about it…"

I shake my head as he walks away, then look down to Mariposa with a heavy sigh. "This has turned out to be quite the pit of a day, hasn't it?" I sigh, and put her little backpack into her closet—the coloring book and crayons inside—then put her new outfit away before setting her on the changing table. Once she's changed, I slip off her sandals and hand her an energon bottle, then glance at the crib before shaking my head, and laying down with her in my berth.

"Dada?"

"Shhhh." I lay her beside me, then rub her back gently. "Go to sleep, Little One."

"U slee'?"

I nod. "I'm going to sleep too."

"No 'Mo?"

"No Elmo."

"Okay." She cuddles closer to me, causing me to tense up. I may be running on three hours of recharge a day, but that doesn't mean I stop worrying about squishing my daughter. I'd never forgive myself—it's bad enough I left one of my younglings scarred…I don't need Mariposa scarred too.