So anyways my nets down for the next week or so till the network can figure out wth is wrong with it XD. But hey I did work on this shiny new chapter for you all. I hope it will do since I didn't get to post this weekend... (I had a very stress filled weekend even if is was one of the less busy Black Friday I've worked yet. Hell Thanksgiving was worse than Friday.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers.


Chapter 8: Pain in the

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Seven... no there's eight... Nora counted the multiple sets of eyes watching them. Three women and five men all with eyes in varying degrees of blue. She was more than certain that they were holoforms... But why were they watching them? She shrugged it off and switched her attention to the twins. Dion was already on his second plate wolfing down the food as fast as he could, and Sam was completely ignoring her own breakfast as she sat there reading a mystery novel they had found in the rec room the previous day.

"Dion chew with your mouth closed. Sam, no reading while you eat."

"But-"

"Your thirst for knowledge can take a ten minute break long enough for you to finish your hash browns. And no sass."

The girl glowered at her before setting aside her book. "I don't want hash browns..." Sam muttered.

"... If you'd prefer I could get you some soy milk and cereal instead but you're still going to eat. I'll not have your mama thinking that I've let you starve yourself." Nora gave her a pointed glare before pointing at Sam's plate. "Now eat."

Sam grumbled before taking the fork in hand and poking at the food. Nora shook her head and nursed her aching legs. She hadn't intended to get the kids up so early... but when she woke up them up with a loud screech as both of her legs seized in charley horses at six thirty in the morning, they were up, bright eyes and bushy tailed... Unlike herself, Nora looked ready to collapse even through the weak façade that she put on.

How in the hell did Miki raise them and me I'll never know... but she is now my freaking hero... Nora thought as she clutched the cup of black coffee tightly in her hands. It had only been three days and Dion was trying to find new inventive ways to sneak away from her, Sam was being defiant and was making rather legible arguments... And when she finally got them to listen to her they were arguing...

"Hey there Nora." Nora smiled up at Eject.

"Good morning Eject. How's it going?"

"Ratchet asked me to bring you and the twins over to the med bay around ten."

Nora glanced at her watch. "It's only 7:30... Don't you think you're a little early?"

The blue and grey mech shrugged as he sat down on next to their table. "I figured I'd hang with you for the meantime."

"Sam stop playing with your food and eat it." Nora glared at her.

"But I don't want it."

"Samantha, you're the one that chose the hash browns, now eat them and be grateful you have food to eat. Eating is a necessity as much as it is a luxury. There are kids who would be overjoyed just to get breakfast."

"..."

"Eat or I'll take your book away." Blue eyes widened as they met serious brown ones before the girl gulped and began to eat. Nora sighed before grimacing as the muscles in her calves decided to spasm again. She groaned as she began to massage the aching muscles.

Eject looked at her in worry. "Are you okay Nora?"

"Yeah..."

"Are you sure...?"

"It's just a charley horse... A muscle cramp. I haven't been able to really get a good run in the last week or so and my legs aren't agreeing with me. I'll be fine once it passes." Nora winced as she hit a particularly sore spot.

"I see..." He said glancing over the worn teenager. "I believe they have a indoor training room somewhere on the base. I could show you to it after the children finish eating if you'd like."

"Cool! Do they have an obstacle course? Oooh! How about a rock climb thingy?" Dion asked as he finished inhaling his second plate.

"Dion, you couldn't do the obstacle courses they have for the men here. They use barbed wire you idiot." Sam pointed out.

"Don't call me that!"

"Sam, Dion no fighting or so help me god I'll tie the two of you back to back together and put you in a corner." Nora growled before turning to Eject with a weak smile. "I think I'd like that."

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"Wow..." Dion stared at the training room with wide eyes. There were people spread out evenly throughout the room, some preforming drills, other sparring. There were a few jogging around the track that encircled the hangar. "So how many laps are you doing today Nora?"

"Hm... How many do you think I can do?"

"Thirty!"

"More like twenty four." Sam muttered from her book.

"Hey Eject could you time me?"

:Sure. How long are you running for?"

"An hour. That way I can finish my book." Sam cut in as she blinked up from the thick tome.

"You think you can finish that book by then?" Nora grinned.

"I thought that we were supposed to be in the doctors office in two so I figured an ho- Hey!" Sam cried as Nora snatched the book out of her hands.

"Now who said I was running laps alone?" Nora grinned as she held the book out of the girl's reach.

"Give me back my book!"

"You need exercise Sammie. If you can catch me I'll give it back." Nora said as she bolted down the track.

"NORA!" the girl growled as she darted after her cousin. "Give that back!"

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"Sam looks like she's gonna cry..." Eject noted the distraught look on the girl's face as she sped after the older one.

"Eh... She's not. She's actually having fun even though she's not showing it." Dion grinned. "Sam hates having to run. That's why she's angry."

"I wouldn't have guessed that. She seems to like playing soccer well enough."

"Oh well Sam likes soccer but she really wants to finish that book..." Dion shrugged. "She get's mean when it comes to reading. If you spoil the book on her... it's scary what she does. There was this one time me and Nora was watching a Harry Potter Marathon, and She hadn't gotten to finish the last book... Let's just say she threw a fit."

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"Come on chickadee! You gotta catch me!" Nora teased as she paused long enough in her running to start running backwards. "If you want to find out how it ends you better catch up before I start reading aloud..."

"Don't you dare!" The girl sped up. Nora laughed as she turned around and jogged while laughing. Sam grinned as Nora reached the point where they had entered the training room.

"Di!" Sam yelled.

The boy grinned as he caught on to his sister's idea and pushed himself to his feet.

Nora only saw his shadow as the boy tackled her, landing on top of her with a triumphant cheer as Sam ran the last few yards to snatch the book from her cousin. "Cheaters." she groaned as the boy climbed off of her.

"Ouch." Eject commented as she picked herself off of the floor.

"You didn't say any rules." Dion grinned broadly.

"Point. Now that my warm ups out of the way, are you going to time me or not?" Nora glanced at Eject.

"I started back when you stole Sam's book." the bot grinned.

"You're all against me!" she growled before taking off around the track.

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Ratchet watched Mikaela carefully out of the corner of his optics as she wandered around the Autobots med bay. He had allowed her out of bed when she finally told him that she couldn't take anymore lying around. She was currently looking at a datapad that he had stored information of the current bots and NEST personnel on base.

"That youngling is late." Ratchet grumbled.

"Um... Ratchet... how much longer am I stuck in here?"

He glanced over at her. "So eager to leave my care are we?"

"Ratchet, you're my guardian. I don't think I'll ever be out of your care so long as we're both in agreement on it." Mikaela smiled.

A pang went through Ratchet's spark at her words, and he turned away so that she wouldn't see the pain that flashed into his optics at her words. The oor opened as the children bounded in shortly followed by Nora and Eject. His optics narrowed on the teen as she leaned against wearily against the wall.

"Youngling, your heart rate is high."

Nora blinked up at the chartreuse bot. "Yeah well I did just run about seven miles in under a hour. So I would think my blood's a pumpin'."

"I told you she couldn't do thirty laps."

"Yeah well she did twenty nine before Eject called it. If he hadn't started timing her so soon I woulda won my bet." Dion stuck his tongue out."

"Please don't argue..." Nora pleaded as they started a glaring match.

"Knock it off you two." The children snapped their gazes up to meet Mikaela's

"Yes momma." "Yes mom." They said automatically, Nora staring at them half dubiously, half venomously.

Of course they listen to their mother... "So doc bot, what pleasure do we have of being here today?" Nora said as she crossed her arms and gazed up at him.

"I need to run some tests on the children."

"Is it because of that-"

"Ep, ep, ep, I'd prefer to just leave it as it is. Now Nora, I believe that you have a meeting with Colonel Lennox, Eject will escort you to his office."

"What? But-"

"Now out you get." Ratchet said pointing at the door.

Nora glared at him before glancing at Mikaela who offered her a weak smile and a nod. Nora vented a sigh through her nose and turned around marching out the door without a further word.

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"Aren't you supposed to be off for a week son?" Ron asked as Sam was attempting to escape Judy's iron grip. "You've only been home a couple days. Take advantage of it. You work too hard."

Sam squirmed in as his mother sobbed again and squeezed tighter. "Yeah and the longer I stay the worse she's going to be. Come on mom I'll come home for Christmas... Especially since we've moved to the old base here in Nevada."

"I don't want you to go..."

"Mom, come on you gotta let me go. " Sam glanced over to Bee who was sitting in the driveway, his altmode quivering in unvocalized laugher. 'You could help.' Sam mouthed.

"Judy come on, Sam's right. Besides he's got to go back to work sometime you can't keep him forever."

"No! He's my baby boy! I can keep him as long as I damn well please!"

Sam groaned as her grip tightened even more. "Mom, you're hurting me..." he wheezed.

"Judy.." Ron pulled on her arm.

"No damn it!" the woman snarled.

Argh this is going to take awhile... Sam thought as he gave up trying to get out of his mother's death grip.