Chapter 6: Ratchet

Disclaimer: I own Transformers and Can't Be Tamed! NOT!

Legend: Thoughts, "Speech", Lyrics.

Wrenchie Claus is coming to town… Sorry. Couldn't resist singing that. YAY! We're halfway through the story! In this chapter, we will be having the one, the only… RATCHET! Put your hands/servos together folks! Mwahahaha! Anyways, a big THANK YOU to my reviewers icesong180, DoctorWhoRulez, KeepingThemAtBay, Golden Eagle 603, darkpoisonivy, PoetofMercury, MiniAjax, Fallen Angel 1243, Spirit Kiss and my mystery guest reviewer for reviewing! Y'all make my day. Read on!

Special 爱 to: KeepingThemAtBay for le inspiration~

I took off my shoes and placed them on the shoe rack outside. Aunt Sarah was extremely house proud and wouldn't hesitate to painfully maul anyone who tracked mud inside. I was tackled yet again by a happy and hyper Annabelle as soon as I got inside. She was slowly stopping the blood flow to my right leg as she hugged it tightly. "You've had too much sugar, haven't you?" I grinned as I noticed the tell-tale cookie crumbs on her face. "Come on. Let go before my leg is squished by you." Shaking her head, she squeezed tighter and I sighed in surrender. Gently easing her off, I headed towards the dining room while carrying a giggling and squirming Annabelle.

Entering the dining room, I felt multiple eyes on me and broke my gaze from Annabelle. I was now the center of attention and I wasn't enjoying it. Nope, not at all. "Hannah! Glad you could make it!" Uncle Will thankfully broke the awkward silence that had descended on the group. He walked up to me and took Annabelle from my arms.

Grinning, I said, "You'd better hope that I don't find out that you've eaten all the cookies unless you want to say hi to Wrenchie!" There was laughter from behind me and I turned around to find Sam, Bobby, Skipper, Mack, Sid and Jasper on the floor in various stages of hysterics. Orion and Ron were busy trying to smother their smirks and Richard was arching an eyebrow at my choice of words. I blushed and glared at Uncle Will, who was also trying not to laugh. But, his heaving shoulders told me otherwise.

"What did I do?" I hissed at him. This only caused him to laugh harder and he slid down to the ground while holding Annabelle, tears of mirth rolling down his cheeks. I growled and retreated to the kitchen, hoping for some girl company. "Hey Aunt Sarah!" I greeted her as I walked into the kitchen. She was busy washing some dishes, but at the sound of my voice she turned around, a motherly smile on her face.

"Hi Hannah. What's up?"

"Nothing but the sky," I snorted. "Anyway, I just mentioned whacking Uncle Will with my wrench and the army guys started laughing like crazy! What's wrong with them?"

Aunt Sarah smiled and said, "Did you know Richard is the medic of the base?" I opened my mouth to ask her what anything had to do with that when she quickly continued. "He uses his wrench to whack the other army guys on the head whenever he feels like it." I pulled a face in sympathy. Even I wasn't that violent. The highest I'd hit would be the shoulder. No wait, I think I hit that one guy on the head before…

"Sounds… painful." I chose my words carefully, remembering that the others could hear me through the open door.

"Believe meh, lil lady. It is painful. Old Hatchet has a heck of a throwin' arm. Darn had a processor ache for a week straight." I stiffened and slowly turned around to see Jasper leaning against the doorframe. He grinned roguishly at me and I was sure my face could rival a tomato's. A wrench soon connected with the back of Jasper's head and he yelled out. "Ow! What did ah do this time?"

"Nothing except for tarnishing my reputation," came the dry reply. Richard came into the kitchen, looking me with a strange look. Is that… respect in his eyes? Damn, I have to stop taking so much sugar.

"Anyway, good job givin' the twins- ah mean Chevys a lesson. They really needed dat." Jasper had bounced back rather quickly from his injuries and was busy grinning like the cat that had gotten the canary. "Um… Uh…" I stumbled over my words, not sure what to say. I could listen to his accent all day! My inner self sighed dreamily. An awkward silence descended on us and I very nearly thanked my savior out loud when he broke it.

"Hannah, I'm eating the cookies!" Uncle Will called cheerily from the dining room.

"Oh no, don't you dare!" I squeezed through the door and threw my wrench blindly at my Uncle, aiming for a certain spot on his back. You see, as clumsy as I was, I still was great at aiming with my wrench and other throwing projectiles. I was rewarded with a satisfying "Ow!" and quickly retrieved my wrench. "What was that for?" He whined, rubbing his spine.

"My cookies is my cookies. Don't forget that or I'll aim for your head next time." Taking a huge victory bite out of one, I savoured the wonderful taste of it. Sid laughed and said, "Serves you right, Will!" Smiling devilishly, I had a wicked idea and spun my wrench almost casually in my other hand. With a sudden movement, I hurled my beloved tool, aiming at the side of his head. As I expected, the wrench missed his head by a hair's breadth and was embedded into the pillow he was leaning back on.

With a surprised yowl, he fell forwards and landed flat on his face. Seeing this, everyone burst into loud laughter, including Richard and Ron. Orion just shook his head and smiled at the spectacle. "I like this one!" Ron said. "Even though she whacked my bumper…" He trailed off somewhat, and the laughter soon died down. I spotted Mack rubbing his chest in slight pain while Skipp was busy holding his arm and wincing slightly whenever he moved a certain way. I brushed it off, thinking it was because they were wrestling earlier.

"Hannah! You'd better eat quickly! Your lunch is getting cold!" I perked up and helped myself to the food.

After a delicious lunch, I was recharged and raring to finish the day's work. It was about two in the afternoon already, and if Uncle Will hadn't torn me away from Aunt Sarah's cooking, it would have been a whole lot later.

Drenching the Hummer in warm water, I let my mind wander to great and unexplored lands in my mind. I usually didn't do that because I had a rather powerful imagination, but I thankfully settled down on the issue of Richard and his wrenches. I didn't realize that I was thinking out loud when someone came behind me and said, "You're lucky that Hatchet hasn't knocked you on the back of the head with the wrench yet with all those ideas you're getting."

I stumbled and tripped over my own feet in surprise and got tangled up in the hose. Glaring pitchforks at Uncle Will, I snarked right back. "Thank God for that fact. Though, I'm sure that Richard wouldn't mind beaning you on the head. Help me up." Uncle Will helped to untangle me from the hose and pulled me up.

"I'll leave you to your devices. I have to get back in. We're supposed to have a conference after lunch." He walked back to the house.

"Make sure you don't bore them to death! I plan on not being your partner in crime!" I waved. He turned around and yelled something crude at me. Smirking when I saw something of great importance, I replied, "Make sure Annabelle didn't hear that! I'll visit your grave, I promise!" Uncle Will paled when he noticed his little daughter tugging on his pant leg, looking up at him with innocent blue eyes.

Snickering, I started work on the Hummer.

About halfway through, the Hummer gave a sudden jerk and a rev of its engine as I fell back onto the ground ungracefully. "The fudge just happened?" I stood up and rubbed my butt slightly, trying to massage away the dull ache.

There was a loud crackle of static from the radio before it started to play snippets of certain audio clips. "Sorry you – woke me up - I didn't mean to - do it - forgive me?" I tilted my head slightly and smiled. It was sweet, the Hummer trying to apologise for its actions. I nodded and continued washing, even singing a little tune.

"For those who don't know me I can get a bit crazy. Have to get my way, yep. 24 hours a day, 'cause I'm hot like that. Every guy everywhere just gives me mad attention, like I'm under inspection. I always get a ten 'cause I'm built like that-" I stopped my singing suddenly, noticing a strange symbol near the door of the Hummer. It was red in colour and looked eerily like a face. I traced it gently, speaking softly to myself. "Huh. This must be your military's secret symbol. But I wouldn't call it secret if it's so obviously placed. It's real pretty though." The Hummer huffed in- with as much emotion a car could muster- pride at hearing the symbol being praised.

"Yeah, yeah. Been there, seen that." I laughed a little and finished up washing and wiping down the Hummer. Compared to the first four cars I had to wash earlier in the morning, this one was quite tame and I was grateful.

Out of all the cars that I had to wash today, I was really glad that the Hummer was the one that gave me the least problems. Apart from the occasional jerk forwards, it was mostly quiet and reserved. I had a rather peaceful time cleaning it and found myself stopping and staring into space more than once. The Hummer had to bring my attention back to my task by gunning the engine.

I was busy wiping the bonnet of the medical vehicle while thinking about the different types of food that Sarah would probably cook for dinner tonight. I felt my hands stop on the metal as I daydreamed.

A loud blast of a horn shocked the living daylights out of me and I jumped backwards. With my type of luck in these situations, I knocked over the bucket behind me. The disgusting, slimy liquid dripped down my legs, and the stench caused me to gag. "Eww! Gross, gross, gross!" I washed it off with the hose. The Hummer played the clip of gruff laughter before lapsing into silence. I was half-tempted to blast it with cold water, but just shrugged it off. I respected its owner and the fact that the vehicle was willing to put up with my incessant prodding.

Merely sticking my tongue out childishly at it, I huffed and finished up the job quickly.

Ha! Done! In your face, chapter! Once again, the ask box is closed but I welcome suggestions on what mishaps should happen! Especially for a certain Peterbilt… *evil grin* Please R&R!