The base was completely quiet. The sun peeked over the horizon. Silences cannot go uninterrupted forever, though.
"WAKE UP!" Simultaneously, Epps and Will bolted up right and were suddenly on the floor, staring up at their best friend's niece. "IT'S CHRISTMAS!"
The two girls grinned at each other as they dragged the half asleep men out in their boxers, which hadn't improved since last time. Ellie and Leon turned to the door across the hall and kicked it open.
"FIG!"
He was upright instantly grinning at them as he threw himself out of bed.
"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" The three screamed at each other before racing to give rude awakenings to the other soldiers and their three guests, Sam and his parents, Judy and Ron. They'd showed up yesterday claiming they were there for Christmas and filled the base with loud exclamations.
Luckily, Ellie and Leon had been given enough warning that the two were included in their secret Santa.
The two young women practically skipped over to the Autobot side, where they shared grins and pulled air-horns from out of nowhere. The two women stepped in and pressed down on the buttons.
Ironhide was up in two seconds flat, cannons aimed at the noisy devices.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS, 'HIDE!" They yelled over the blasting noise. The weapons specialist glared and he straightened, before finding the nearest wall and slamming his head against it.
Optimus chuckled good naturedly as he subspaced his own guns.
"Merry Christmas, Boss bot!" Leon waved as she raced out the door, heading for the cafeteria.
By seven (Leon, Ellie, and Fig had started their rounds at six), all of the bots and humans were gathered in a loose circle in the rec room.
Will and Epps were seated on Ironhide's leg in the corner, Graham and Fig were sitting on his foot, Ellie was seated on Mirage, and Leon was sitting quite happily on Sideswipe's shoulder. The other bots were scattered throughout the room, as were the soldiers.
"Let's exchange presents!" Leon cheered. "Sunny gets to go first!"
"Don't call me that!" He grumbled. The golden mech subspaced a large box of washing detergent and slid it over to Graham. "I heard you complaining the other day about people stealing yours. Here."
"Thank you, Sunstreaker." The British man smiled, and then crossed the room to First Aid. The MIT smiled and carefully opened the wrapped present. A pair of red fuzzy dice with medical crosses on them appeared and the two laughed.
First Aid turned to Ironhide, smirking as he handed the weapons specialist a pair of cards. The black mech looked at them curiously before subspacing them.
"I've always wanted some of these." He chuckled, and then turned to Anthony. The man received a very nice bazooka, and gifted Jolt with a card for a free wash.
Jolt, in turn, handed Fig a box very carefully.
"Don't shake it." The blue mech warned as Fig gave him a curious look, before opening his gift.
"PIE!" Fig lifted the fork in the box and shovelled a spoonful right from the middle. "Alligator pie! Just like my Mama makes!"
"I phoned your mother and asked for the recipe."
"Ain't my Mama great!?" Fig grinned, placing the pie box aside to run over to the corner. Will stood to help move the enormous slab, and carry it over to Mudflap, who's blue optics widened.
"Whoa, man!" The red Tiny Twin stared and then promptly ripped the wrapping paper off. "Yeah! Leon, you finally did it!"
Leon glanced up from where she was rubbing paint off her arm.
"Fig convinced me. Merry Christmas." She grinned, and then went back to scrubbing her arms. Mudflap turned the large board around. The Autobots blinked while Fig and Leon shared grins.
The board depicted an amazing city view, taken from the street level. The spires and towers were made of shining silver metal and crystal willows dotted along the street. The graffiti was more like art, and was three-dimensional. Glimmering multicoloured lights dotted the street, casting pools of colour along the road. Shop fronts proclaimed their wares, but where closed for the night and two moons hovered in the sky.
"Where is that? It's amazing." Lennox leaned forward.
"That's Cybertron." Ironhide's voice was thick and the other Autobots were silent.
"Now look what you've done, femme!" Ratchet threw up his arms. "You've made them cry!"
"I didn't mean to!" Leon yelled.
"Lion," Sunny leaned forward to look at the tiny human on his twin's shoulder. "How did you know what Cybertron looks like?"
"Uh...I've been listening in on the conversations Ironhide's been having. I kind of winged it. It's okay, right?"
"This looks exactly like Cybertron." Jolt leaned forward to look at Mudflap's gift.
"EPPS!" The red twin bellowed, and threw a bundle of dark blue material at the black man, who was knocked flat. "Think fast! Like a ninja!"
The look on his face when he held up the ninja suit was priceless.
"Nin-nin!" The Sargent yelled. Epps turned to the Asian man next to him. "Lau, have some Christmas sushi."
"Dude, I'm Korean." Lau shook his head. "I'll eat it while on patrol with Larry later. I'm so glad Leon finally got him fixed."
"Yo! Witwicky!" All three of the Witwickys looked over. "Sam, here."
A book slid across the rec room and Sam lifted it.
"Ways Not To Die For Dummies, by NEST." Sam shook his head with a grin. "Nice guys. Very nice. Leon,"
The mechanic blinked down at him, grinning, and was lowered to the ground.
"I've got a cousin in England. Next time your around there, head to the tattoo parlour called Templar Tattoos. Ask for PJ. Tell her I sent you."
"Free tattoo? Nice!" Leon pumped her fist and then strode to stand before Optimus. "Optimus Prime, Merry Christmas. My gift to you is what we humans call a spa day. Just lemme know when you want a day off!"
Leon winked and skipped back to Sides, who lifted her back onto his shoulder.
"Thank you, Leon." The Prime gave a half bow and then looked at Wheeljack. "Wheeljack, you will find a building about half a breem from here. That is your lab, and I have tested it's resistance to explosions."
"New lab! Ah, I thank you, Optimus! I'll have a look at it later." The scientist grinned, and slid a small box to Bumblebee, who chirped and opened it before his optics went wide and he subspaced the gift.
The yellow scout shifted a moment and then blinked at Chromia, who blinked back. He handed her a large square shaped present, wrapped in snowflake wrapping paper, and rubbed his arm.
The paper was on the floor in seconds and Chromia lifted a shaking hand to her mouth. The blue femme scooted closer to Ironhide, who leaned over her to look. His optics went wide and he smiled.
"Oh, Bee. This is beautiful!" Chromia smiled, showing it to the bot next to her.
"See Bee. I told you she'd like it!" Sam grinned, pumping his fist. Bee nodded.
"Thank you, Bumble. This is the sweetest gift anyone has gotten me in vorns. I'll treasure the memories forever."
"What did he make her?" Ellie climbed rather rudely from Mirage's leg to Wheeljack's, who lowered the book so she could see. "Is that Bee as a baby!? He's so cute! It's a photo album!"
"I have something similar for you, Prowl." The blue femme handed the SIC a data pad which he flipped through with large optics.
"Thank you, Chromia. I'd forgotten half of these moments." Bumblebee peered over his shoulder and pointed at one of the pictures one the data pad, beeping something at the other mech, who nodded.
Prowl glanced down at Judy, and nodded.
"My gift to you is an update on Samuel every week." Judy grinned, eye lighting up before she turned to Ellie, and tossed her a tin.
"What is this?" Ellie asked with a grin, prying the top of the container. "OOOOOHHHH! BROWNIES!"
The mocha woman promptly stuffed five in her mouth and swallowed. How she did it without choking was beyond the humans mental capacity, and some just didn't want to know.
"I was listening to Bob Marley while I made those." Judy pointed, tucking a bunch of hair behind her ear and adjusting her Santa hat.
"Oh no! TAKE COVER!" Leon screeched, leaping off of Sideswipe. He yelped, snatching the flying femme from the air and bringing her to his chest.
"What are you doing!?" He scolded.
"Trying to take cover. You're not helping." She glared, planting her hands on her hips. Sideswipe stared down at her.
"You're an idiot." He shook his helm, and his chest plates slid open before he shoved her in and snapped them closed, all in one smooth movement that no one caught because they were too busy staring in horror at Ellie.
"HEY! LEMME OUT! Oh, wait! Shiny!"
"Don't touch that. It's sensitive." The silver mech hissed, clenching his hands. Sunstreaker gave him a weird look.
"What the frag are you doing?" The golden mech asked.
"Hiding Leon."
"Why?"
"Cause she wanted to take cover."
"Where did you put her, Sides?"
"Um...No where..."
"Sides..."
"Um..."
"Sideswipe."
"In my spark chamber."
"If she offlines you, it's not my fault."
"Why is she so scared of Ellie?" Mirage leaned over. "And what is the problem with the deceased singer Bob Marley?"
"Weed brownies!" Judy cheered.
"Weed-"
"Brownies?" The three mechs' optics dimmed and then widened in horror. "Exile her!"
"It shouldn't affect her for another few minutes." Leon announced from inside Sideswipe.
"Hey," Lennox looked around. "Wasn't Leon just here?"
"Uh...Who?" Mirage scratched his helm. Sideswipe turned around.
"Oh, Leon! Where are you!?" He drew her out of his spark chamber and got a glare.
"It was warm in there, you know." She pouted.
"Sorry."
"OH! UNCLE WILL!" Ellie giggled, earning strange looks. "Hey, hey! Uncle Will! I have these for you!"
She threw him a rather large bottle with interestingly good aim, as it nailed him in the balls. Three seconds later handcuffs nailed him in the head.
"Ellie, what the hell is this?"
"SAFETY PRECAUTIONS!"
"For what?"
"When you take Leon on field trips on the plane, duh!" She snorted, crossing her arms, before she ran off, laughing her head off.
"Is it just me, or does anyone else not know what just happened?" Fig frowned, staring as the mocha woman ran into the wall and then got back up, only to run into the door.
"Anyway..." Lennox placed his "gift" to the side, and pulled out his phone. Sideswipe straightened seconds later and grinned, leaning over to whisper to Sunstreaker who also grinned.
"I'm not going to ask." Ironhide shook his head and crossed his arms.
Sideswipe turned to Mirage. The red Ferrari looked disturbed for a moment, until Sideswipe dumped a few things into his servos.
He gazed down at the tiny hula dancer, pair of red fuzzy dice, and the lemon shaped air freshener, before glaring at the smirking twin.
"Thanks." Mirage snorted, subspacing it all to throw it away later.
"Now we can smell when you're coming!"
"Riiiight."
Mirage looked distinctly unimpressed for several moments before he kneeled before Ron, who hesitantly stared up at the cherry red mech.
"I realize that we know nearly next to nothing about one another, Ronald Witwicky..." Mirage began, shuttered his optics as if to steel himself, "But I cannot help but hear about several horror stories about your pathway at your residence meeting tragic ends. I have asked Lennox if it would be possible to rebuild your pathway at no cost to you or your spouse."
Ron's face lit up. Literally, as Sunny found a loose ornament lying near his pedes and held it up to further examine it.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He grabbed Mirage's extended finger and shook it vigorously.
"HEY LOOK! PINK PAINT!" Ellie screeched from beside Ron, who jumped nearly ten feet in the air.
"GAH! When did you get there!?" Ron yelped, grabbing the paint from her.
"IS THAT FOR ARCEE! IS IT!? IS IT!?"
"Ellie, tone it down."
"Yes, sir...ma'am...ma'am!" Ellie saluted towards Leon before running off again. Judy watched, smirking. Ron handed the large bucket of paint to the pink femme near him and she nodded in gratitude before looking at Skidz.
"Skidz, I promise not to boot you halfway across base for waking me up at stupidly early joors in the morning for the next week."
"Ooh! We'd better get to work!" The green twin clapped his servos.
"The promise is you alone." She warned. Mudflap pouted.
"Yo, yo! Hatchet Claus!" Ratchet growled a warning at the excited green Tiny Twin. "Here! I got 'em just fo you!"
Skidz dumped a brand new set of wrenches into Ratchet's servo. The medic stared at them a moment before eyeing all the mechs in the room as though they might try to steal them.
"Sunstreaker," The golden mech flinched as he stared at Ratchet. "I promise not to beat you with your arms should you come in and they've been torn off again while you were fighting."
"WAHAHAHAHOOO!" Leon looked up at Ellie, who was perched on Optimus's head. "WHAT'S FOR DINNER!? I'M HUUUUUNGRY!"
Several hours of Ellie running around the base like a maniac later, she had finally been thrown into the brig and where she was left without her brownies so the effects of the weed could wear off.
Leon was sitting in her hanger when a convoy of pissed off mechs rolled in. She stared a moment and then burst into laughter, falling off the table onto the floor.
"What the hell...happened to you?!" She laughed, staring at the pink decorating Mirage, Sides, Sunny, Bee, and Optimus.
"Ellie."
"She escaped?" Leon raised a brow, pulling herself up from the floor before snickering again.
"Obviously." Sunstreaker growled.
"Prowl is currently keeping an optic on her, down in the brig." Optimus assured.
"You think that's gonna help? Prowl has a glitch remember?"
"Frag." Mirage cursed.
"I've just sent Ironhide, Chromia and Arcee to help him." The Peterbilt sighed, and he rolled into his usual spot. "Do you think you could assist in getting this pink off of our armour?"
"Sure. I don't have anything better to do." Leon shrugged and went for the hose and soap.
Leon hummed along with the music blaring through the surround sound in her hangar, scrubbing through the paint that had mainly hit Mirage's cherry red.
"What did I do?" He grumbled, and Leon snorted.
"Didja catch her?"
"Si."
"That's what you did."
"Oh. I see."
Leon sprayed him with the hose before beginning her scrubbing again.
"I may know a way to get back at her." She grinned evilly. "If, of course, you're interested?"
"Si! Si! Tell me!" He wiggled.
"Well, the next holiday is the thirty-first of December, New Years. And for some people, like Ellie, it's tradition to give the person you like the first kiss of the year. It shows that you love them. You have a holoform, so kiss her on New Year's Day."
"And that will work?" Mirage questioned as the last of the pink flaked off.
"It should put her in a bit of a daze for a while. And if you actually like her like that, it'll help your relationship. Not that I should be giving relationship advice, cause I haven't had a boyfriend since Primus knows how long."
"Grazie." Mirage revved his engine, and allowed himself a mental smirk as he peeled out of her hangar.
Sideswipe wiggled as she approached, spraying his silver paint with cold water, deep in thought.