Chapter 159
-0-Early morning a couple days later
The jet taxied forward coming to a halt before a small group of officials that were waiting. Inside were the members of the Senate Committee that oversaw the special relationship based on treaty agreements between the United States and the Autobots. Senator Andrea Hoxley acting on an offhand remark made between herself and Ratchet had arranged to have a personal visit of two days duration at Diego Garcia.
She'd invited all the members of the committee and secured eight acceptances. Just before they nailed down the arrangements for the visit Weaver and Brinks asked to be included. Instead of nine Senators there would be eleven who would be staying for two days getting the tour. They would have opportunities to see what the base and her personnel did to protect the world from Decepticon tyranny.
No one was happy with them being there, particularly on the military side but they had to make due in the name of public relations and helping allies help them. Andrea Hoxley and most of the committee were among their strongest supporters.
Fulton and his staff met the plane and took the guests to their quarters in the visiting VIP barracks which just happened to be next to Daniels' own. Lunch would follow, then they'd be taken on tours before meeting up with Ratchet at the door to the Autobot Embassy.
Ratchet for his part was pulling a shift in Ops Center giving advice and analyzing information from the rescue teams. He watched the monitor that showed the dignitaries and considered what it would mean having three deeply negative members of the committee on base.
It was going to be interesting.
-0-The night before
"What are you doing, Ratchet?"
"Cleaning this place up," Ratchet replied as he picked up a bit of Ironhide's slag.
Ironhide was nearby sitting at the table working on a gun. Orion was propped up by pillows on the couch. The little mech was watching both with his binky firmly in place as his tiny bright blue optics followed them around.
"Why?"
Ratchet turned to look at him with a shake his head. "Because I think we owe it to the sparkling not to live in crap and if the visitors tomorrow come over to the quarters I don't want them to think we like slag all over the place."
"What slag? I took everything to the locker."
"And brought some of it back."
"Are you saying I'm messy?" A bemused optic fixed on a white aft slagger who was chucking things into a small pile by the door.
"Yes," Ratchet said not skipping a beat.
"Where?" Ironhide asked more to be devilish than for information. He knew he was messy. He just didn't care. There were more important things in life than cleanliness. A good munition, a feisty bond, a mellow sparkling and the love and admiration of his fellows was all that he needed. He was a mech that had it all.
Ratchet looked at him with a smirk. "So you wanna play this game? Look around here and tell me where and how I keep my stuff."
Ironhide glanced up from the gun sight he was tooling to look here and there, then back to the gray chevron of his most dearly beloved one, the one that was quivering with barely suppressed battle lust. "I don't know what you mean."
"Look over the couch. Look at the shelf."
Ironhide did and grinned. "That slag belongs to Orion."
"You're teaching him to be a slob at a very tender age, Ironhide. It won't bode well for our future."
"Those are his toys."
"Those are shell cartridges."
"Empty ones. He likes to roll them and some day he can count them. Lots of possibilities for his education." Ironhide considered his own shell casing toys made by his Appa Raptor once upon a time. He preferred them over his family's expensive ones. But then, he preferred sitting in boxes to toys half the time. He was a complicated mech.
Ratchet grinned. "Thinking ahead are you?"
"Always," Ironhide said rather triumphantly.
"Well, think on this. When the senators come by and they might, how will I explain that I allow the sparkling to play with ordinance canisters?"
"Just tell them he's military. That seems to carry some weight on this world," Ironhide said leaning back to grin broadly.
Ratchet grinned back then tossed a duffel bag at Ironhide. "You have an answer for everything."
"I try, Ratchet, I try," he said. He glanced at his sparkling who was stuffing a ped in his mouth. "That sparkling is one gifted hombre."
"Hombre?" Ratchet asked pausing to admire his sparkling's joie de vivre.
"Clint Eastwood."
"Ah. A role model, I suppose," Ratchet said turning back to his cleaning.
"Of course. When you're through there, play misty for me," Ironhide said looking at Ratchet's aft through his scope.
Ratchet snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about but I bet it has something to do with porn."
Ironhide looked at Ratchet sharply, gazing with a tinge of surprise and amusement. "You think I need porn?"
Ratchet looked at him curiously. "You don't? What kind of soldier are you, Ironhide?"
He put the scope down then rose to pull Ratchet into his arms. He leered slightly, a bit of a Satanic effect with his finials. "A chaos bringer, sparker of wild aft medicos and all around mentor of little and big sparklings. Decepticons fear me. Mechs step off the curb when they see me."
"You forgot your energon knives under the couch," Ratchet said swaying in Ironhide's embrace.
"I'll take it to the armory right away," Ironhide said. "Where was I?"
"Curb … fear … wild afts … mechs trembling when they see ya," Ratchet said with a chuckle.
"Oh, right," Ironhide said. "I fear nothing and no one. Even Starscream trembles at my name."
"If he remembers it," Ratchet said gazing at Ironhide's handsomely comical face. "Poor Starscream. He's one damaged mech."
"Got him out of battle alive. Got a lot to be thankful for. I was gunning for him. I intended to get him, too," Ironhide said quietly. "But that changes nothing. I don't need porn. I got you."
"I'm the anti-porn?" Ratchet asked as he nuzzled Ironhide's neck.
"Something like that," Ironhide said grinning broadly. "And if all else fails there's all those medical manuals you have in the backroom of Med Bay."
"Did they give you any ideas?" Ratchet asked with a smirk.
"None I'd try with him around," Ironhide said nodding to the sparkling who was now trying to put both peds in his pie hole. They stared at him mesmerized, admiring his technique, then Ironhide remembered something. "How about a date night when things slow down around here?"
"What's a date night?" Ratchet said savoring the moment as Ironhide's big hands explored his aft.
"We get a babysitter … the femmes over at the HQ volunteered so you and I can go out alone and do something together. Apparently, you have to do this at night."
"What would we do?" Ratchet asked with genuinely intrigue at the concept.
Ironhide shrugged. "Go sit on the beach. Frag under a tree. Anything."
"We'd have to time it so that the satellites don't get an eyeful and we end up on the teevee," Ratchet said smirking. "We can't let others see. Don't want to break sparks all over the place."
Ironhide chuckled. "That's true. Only so many chaos bringers and sparkers of medicos in this world. Can't let the poseurs get out of hand."
"Nope," Ratchet said kissing Ironhide long and slow.
Watching them from the couch, frowning more and more, Orion chirped a loud abrupt sparkling word. They jolted then looked at him. He was lying tipped off his pillows, a ped in each hand and a frown on his face.
"What's with the sparkling?" Ratchet asked.
"Don't know. Sort of listing to one side there," Ironhide said, then he turned back to what they were doing.
A ginormous chirp greeted that action.
"I wish I spoke sparkling. I think he doesn't approve of kissing," Ratchet said leaning against Ironhide in contentment.
"His loss," Ironhide said with a grin. "Better get used to it, sparkling. Your old ada and I have a thing."
"We do," Ratchet said hugging Ironhide tightly. "We sure do."
-0-The Senators
They settled into their quarters, then followed an aide to the mess hall where N.E.S.T. soldiers and regular army including Colonel Fulton waited for them. Lunch was pleasant as they chatted and ate together. When the time came to go they walked across the tarmac toward the Autobot Embassy hangar complex.
Andrea Hoxley was as happy as could be, her anticipation at meeting more Autobots and seeing the facility only exceeded by her anticipation at seeing Ambassador Ratchet once again. As they reached the invisible line of Autobot Embassy territory, a tall white and red figure stepped out of the doorway pausing to watch them with a sweet smile on his sweet face.
"Hello, Senator Hoxley. I'm so happy you could come." Ratchet grinned down at them from 25 feet.
"Hello, Ambassador Ratchet. I'm so terribly delighted to be here."
It was on.
Thank you for reading Book One. Go to the home page and find Book Two. Do all the links, etc. Thank you for coming along. Know you are loved. :D