Paige leaned against the railing of the catwalk and thrummed her fingers against it. She fought back a yawn. Sleeping in the hangar was… not ideal. It was the same as taking a nap on the couch back at the old base - it would leave you with stiff muscles if you're not careful, and possibly restless. Which she had been, especially after learning about Solus Prime. She tried sifting through what little knowledge she had, but she couldn't find much on the Prime herself. Unless that was intentional. It could very well be that Solus Prime didn't want her to know certain things.
The sound of the ground bridge opening pulled her from her thoughts. She turned to watch as Ultra Magnus drove through, carting a single Energon cube. Bumblebee stepped up to take it so that he could transform.
"We didn't find much else in the rubble of the former base," he informed the team as they walked up to greet him.
Wheeljack stepped through next, having gone with the commander to sift through the wreckage for supplies. "You call this 'not much else'?" He held up the bane of Ratchet's existence - the lobbing ball. And he promptly twirled around and threw it as hard as he could at his lobbing partner.
"Huh?" Bulkhead was not expecting the ball to come his way. It bounced off his chest and came flying straight at the three teens on the catwalk.
"Look out!" Paige threw herself onto the nearest body, shoving herself and Miko down to the floor as the ball lodged itself into the wall where they had just been standing. Luckily, Jack was able to dive out of the way as well.
Knockout bristled at the idea of Paige getting flattened. "Watch where you're throwing that thing!"
"Wheeljack! You could've caused serious damage," Ratchet scolded.
Paige and Miko helped each other up and brushed themselves off. "Yeah, to us," Miki added angrily as she placed her hands on her hips.
A door opening caught their attention, and Agent Fowler's voice echoed out from behind the ball - where it had lodged itself into the doorway of his office. "A little help here?!"
Paige cringed, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he assured her with a sigh. "But my office needs to be rearranged."
"What were you thinking, soldier?" Ultra Magnus' voice caught their attention, and Paige turned to see the commander reprimanding Wheeljack while Swiftblade walked over to help dislodge the ball.
"I was thinking Bulk can catch that lob."
"Allow me to make myself clear." Magnus' cyan optics narrowed with a stern frown. "As Optimus Prime's Second-in-Command, I have no intention of tolerating Wrecker behavior!"
"Some things never change," Wheeljack spoke after a moment, causing the air to grow tense.
"Jackie," Bulkhead warned.
Ultra Magnus growled at the Wrecker's tone. "Need I remind you that it was Optimus Prime himself who assigned me to command the Wreckers back on Cybertron and get you loose cannons under control. An effective combat unit begins with discipline. If you won't accept that, feel free to choose the path of least resistance - as you did before."
Paige frowned and gripped the railing, feeling unsettled by the tense atmosphere between the two bots.
"If my ship weren't a twisted wreck at present, I'd do that. Sir." Wheeljack then turned and walked away stiffly, clearly upset and not wanting to talk to anyone.
Miko nudged her friend's arm to get her attention and spoke quietly. "You should talk to him."
Paige gave her an 'are you serious right now' look with a raised eyebrow. "Who, Ultra Magnus? He's a commanding officer, Miko. We're not soldiers, and definitely not his. I have no business telling him how to deal with his troops."
"Yeah, but- Can't you just make a suggestion or something? It's more tense in here than when Smokey or Doc Knock first joined the team."
The brunette rubbed her face with a sigh, not even bothering to give a response.
"So," Ultra Magnus spoke, changing the subject to clear the tense air. "Any word from Optimus?"
"He's investigating recent Decepticon activity," Ratchet informed him. "Hopefully, an Energon mine."
Miko nudged her friend's arm before climbing down from the catwalk to jog over to the team. Paige sighed and followed her more slowly, fighting back another yawn. "How rad would it be if you all had jet packs like Optimus?"
"Quite 'rad', Miko." Hearing Ratchet use such a term was nearly the same as how it feels to hear the older generation trying to be 'hip' like the younger generation. It was unnatural and almost cringe. "But the Forge has been completely depleted of its power to do that."
"Now it's only good for pounding out dings," Bulkhead told them.
They turned at the sound of an engine revving outside. And in sped a racecar, spinning out until it drifted to a stop in front of Miko and Paige. Miko stepped out of the way to avoid being hit but Paige simply placed a hand on her hip without moving, knowing the vehicle wouldn't hit her. The vehicle itself was mainly blue in color with yellow and white racing stripes.
"Smokescreen?" Paige asked, causing the vehicle to transform into the bot in question.
"Aw, what gave me away?" He asked, sounding a bit dejected that she had figured it out. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Come on! Robots in Disguise, right?"
She snorted and shook her head in amusement. "You're still a racecar, silly."
"Well-" He cut himself off as Ultra Magnus stepped up to address him.
"Where have you been, soldier?"
"Scanning new warpaint," Smokescreen told him. "Thought it'd be proactive to follow Optimus' lead. And Bumblebee's."
Bumblebee turned at the mention of his name after setting down the Energon cube. -Looking good, Smokescreen!- He chirped, causing the rookie to smile a bit.
"Now you can look your best while stacking those empty cubes." Ultra Magnus nodded to the pile in the corner.
"Yes, sir." Smokescreen began walking away and Paige frowned at his stiff back, only to blink in surprise as she heard his grumble. "I was almost a Prime but somehow I'm still a rookie…"
Did-... Did I hear him right?
"What was that about a Prime?" Ratchet asked, having also heard him.
Smokescreen turned and tried to cover it up. "Uh- time. Time to… stop acting like a rookie," he corrected himself before turning back to the task he was assigned to.
Paige frowned at his retreating form. Something must have happened in that cave with him and Optimus.
"Smokescreen was the only one who went back," Arcee spoke up suddenly, catching the brunette's attention. "If it weren't for him… Optimus might not be with us today."
Paige glanced back, and her eyes caught Ratchet's optics. She quickly turned and walked away to avoid hearing the rest of the conversation. I had a hand in Optimus' decision, but not Smokey's, she mused with a small sigh. She stopped when she felt a nudge against her side.
Miko pointed her thumb over towards another part of the hangar. Paige followed her line of sight and frowned worriedly, seeing that Ultra Magnus was now talking to Knockout. And by the irritated scowl on the red bot's face, it wasn't anything good. "You better go save your boyfriend before Ultra Magnus makes him storm out next."
Paige rubbed her face tiredly. Guess I'm not getting out of this… With another sigh, she shooed Miko away. "Alright, fine. I'll talk to him." Her friend gave her a double thumbs-up before walking back to the catwalk to possibly bother Jack. Alright… Here goes nothing. She turned back to the scene in the corner of the hangar and headed over to the two arguing bots.
"Like I told you before - I am working. There's something I have to research regarding-"
"What does researching human biology have to do with helping the war against the Decepticons?"
Knockout visibly bristled at the commander's condescending words, his shoulder plates pointed high. And although he was glaring at him, the red bot did nothing more than scowl. "If you haven't noticed, the humans are an important part of the team. And one in particular needs my help."
"Watch your tone, soldier," Ultra Magnus scowled back, narrowing his optics.
Knockout stepped closer until they were mere inches apart, not at all phased by the commander's towering height. "I'm not your soldier," he growled.
"Knockout!" Paige called abruptly, gaining both bots' attention. She smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you for defending me, but please don't fight."
Knockout scoffed and half-turned away from the commander. "I would if someone-" He cut himself off when she pointedly cleared her throat, and his shoulder plates sagged as he let out a sigh. "Yes, darling…" Without so much as looking at the commander, he trudged away with a small grumble in his tone.
Once he was out of earshot, Ultra Magnus looked down at the brunette with a disapproving frown. "I don't need a human to do my job for me."
Paige frowned back and crossed her arms carefully. "With all due respect, sir, your 'job' was mainly on Cybertron. Some of us don't know you besides what we hear in passing from the others," she told him. "This is Earth. And with a new planet comes new allies and new rules - rules that even you have to follow."
His optics narrowed. "I don't need you to tell me what I already know, and I don't appreciate you inserting yourself into my business."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the air grow tense between them. When she opened her eyes again, she met his gaze with a hard glare and scowl. "Ultra Magnus, I respect you because you're a commanding officer in the military, and I know that you've known some of this team for longer than I have. But what I don't respect is someone from the outside coming in and creating bad blood with my family."
He blinked, momentarily confused by her words. "Your… family?"
She let out a sigh, allowing her tight shoulders to sag with the action. "Team Prime, sir. And the other humans currently taking shelter in this hangar with you." She glanced over her shoulder with a fond look at both the Autobots and the teens milling about on the other side of the hangar. She then turned back to the commander, seeing him look back down at her after following her gaze to the others. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, rethinking her words. She ran a hand through her hair with a tired sigh. "I'm going to be frank with you - don't be a drill sergeant. Maybe ask Optimus for some tips on how he leads the team but- don't keep getting under everyone's armor. We're all tired… We just got back together after being on the run from the Decepticons."
Ultra Magnus frowned and raised an optic ridge. "And you think it's only those of us on Earth running from them?"
"That's not-" Paige paused and scrubbed her face tiredly. "That's not what I meant." When she dropped her arms back down, she accidentally bumped her bruised arm and winced at the shot of pain it gave her. She quickly hid that arm behind her back and the fact that it had indeed still hurt. She just hoped it wasn't noticeable. "What I'm trying to say is - stop being so hard on everyone," she told him.
"And who are you to tell me how to do things around here?" Ultra Magnus asked, an edge to his voice. He definitely did not like her sticking her nose into his business.
Paige felt a spike of anger within her. But when Solus Prime's warning echoed in her mind, she had to force herself to relax. This isn't worth having another hallucination episode… No one else needs to know about that. With that thought in mind, she couldn't hide the shadow that fell over her face as she turned her back on the commander and started walking away - leaving him to stare at her back. "No one important, sir."
She didn't know why that got under skin so much. She just told him not to do it, and he did anyway - with her! She clenched her fists tightly before forcing herself to take a deep breath to calm her temper. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed heavily. What is wrong with me?
The sound of the ground bridge opening startled Paige awake. She sat up from leaning against the nape of Knockout's neck, blinking the remainder of sleep from her eyes. She hadn't meant to doze off, but his presence was comforting and he hadn't complained about her resting on him - perhaps he figured she needed the rest. She then spotted Optimus walking out of the portal.
"Optimus," Ratchet greeted as he and Ultra Magnus turned away from the terminal. "Did you find Energon?"
"No," Optimus answered as he walked over to a large table and set something down. "But I did uncover this."
Paige leaned forward as she blinked in surprise. "Is that a… skull?"
"Sure looks like it," Knockout answered her quietly.
"It cannot be," Ratchet breathed in shock.
"Be what?" Jack asked from his spot on the catwalk, confused.
"The ancient remains of a Predacon," Optimus answered.
Paige's eyebrows shot up in her shock, staring at what was now clearly the skull of an ancient Cybertronian beast. She patted Knockout's shoulder plating a few times without taking her eyes off the skull, and he silently obliged her request by walking over and carefully setting her down on the table so that she could get a closer look. As he stepped away, she was soon joined by Miko, Raf, and Jack on the table as they examined the large skull closer.
"Though it remains unclear why such a skull would be found on your planet, its presence reveals all too much about the Predacon which Megatron recently sent in pursuit of us," Ratchet said thoughtfully, walking around the table.
"You mean that dragon-bot we put on ice?" Miko asked.
"Exactly," Paige answered for the CMO, a hand on her chin.
"Except, the Predacons have been extinct since… well…"
"Since before most life began on Cybertron," Smokescreen helpfully supplied.
"They're like Earth's dinosaurs," Raf realized.
"Which means, for you guys, running into one would be like us meeting a T-Rex," Jack added.
"So… then, what were Dinobots?" Miko asked, turning to look at her guardian.
"Totally different," Bulkhead told her with a wave of his hand.
"With Megatron's seeming new interest in the excavation of prehistoric skeletons, and a certain scientist back among the Decepticon ranks-"
"It would stand to reason that Shockwave cloned the beast from one such find," Optimus finished Ratchet's statement.
"Now, Megatron's looking to clone another," Ultra Magnus spoke up.
"What makes you think Buckethead would stop at just one," Wheeljack asked him.
"We could have Beast Wars on our hands," Bulkhead realized.
"If Shockwave only requires a single strand of CNA from which to clone a beast," Ratchet began.
"He already possesses what he needs to engender this one," Optimus finished. He turned to the team. "Autobots, we must become Beast Hunters."
"One thing still doesn't follow… Predacons went extinct on Cybertron," Smokescreen said. "So, what would their bones be doing here?"
Paige hadn't removed her gaze from the skull of the ancient Predacon, even as she opened her mouth to speak. "What makes you think that was Shockwave's first clone?" When her words were met with silence, she turned and met the Prime's curious gaze. "If the Energon Harvester was placed amongst human history, that means so much more of our mythologies could relate back to Cybertron. And dragons have always been a big part of our folklore."
Ratchet gave an intrigued hum before turning and walking over to the terminal. He typed something in and easily pulled up a few images of ancient drawings of what were clearly dragons - or at least, what was thought to be dragons. And in another window, he pulled up a few more similar images that he pointed to. "These are from our historical texts."
"But those are… metal versions of creatures from our Greek mythology and medieval literature," Jack pointed out.
"Not dinosaurs," Raf added.
Optimus hummed in contemplation. "Paige may be correct. It would stand to reason that Predacons did indeed walk upon this Earth in ancient times, as they seem to have been the basis for much of humankind's folklore. Illustrating once again that the pasts of Earth and Cybertron are inextricably linked."
Miko nudged her best friend's side playfully. "Dude, your elephant memory strikes again."
Paige snorted at the comment and couldn't help the smile it brought to her face. "I guess so," she giggled quietly.
"Sir, may I speak to you for a moment?"
Ultra Magnus' voice caught her attention and she turned to watch as both he and Optimus walked away from the group to talk in private. She had to look away to keep the dark emotions from earlier bubbling up again. Maybe Optimus will give him more helpful advice than I did, she mused with some bitterness. She then shook her head. I need to clear my head. Why is he getting under my skin so much?
"Paige." Knockout's voice drew her attention to him as the team slowly dispersed to talk amongst themselves or do other things. "May I request your and Miko's assistance with my studies?"
She tilted her head curiously, welcoming the chance of a distraction. "Of course I'll help," she smiled, earning a smile in return from him.
Miko looked confused, stepping over to stand beside her friend. "You want my help with a science project?"
"Just a small sample of your DNA will do," Knockout told her.
The girl looked skeptical for a moment before shrugging. "Eh, sure. Whatever." When she received a playful shove from Paige, they both giggled and climbed into Knockout's hands once he offered them a lift. He brought them over to a table in the back of the hangar with a few machines on it. He set both girls carefully on the table and they turned to watch him grab what needed. "So… what do you need from us? A strand of hair? Spit?"
Knockout rolled his optics at her questions before transforming and allowing his holoform to appear next to them in a flash of blue pixels. "Just a piece of your skin will do. This shouldn't hurt too much." He grinned as he held up what looked like a needle in one hand and a few bandaids in the other.
Miko shuddered, "You know, you really look like a mad doctor when you smile like that - especially with that needle." She hesitantly held out her hand towards him so he could take whatever sample he needed.
Paige snorted in amusement, placing a hand on her hip. "She does have a point, K.O. You do look a little too excited about this."
Miko snickered as she glanced at her friend, successfully distracted by the banter. "Like that one time when Ratchet took control of our science proje- ow!" She yelped suddenly and looked to see Knockout was already placing the bandaid over the spot on her arm he had plucked. "A little warning next time?"
Paige rolled her eyes lightheartedly and offered up her arm for the sample to be taken, not even looking in his direction. "That's the point. You're not supposed to know when it happens or else you'll be too focused on how it feels." She winced at the prick she felt, only looking when she felt Knockout gently place the bandaid on her arm. She smiled at him.
"Then how come it didn't hurt you?" Miko asked accusingly, crossing her arms.
"I have more pain tolerance?" She shrugged, not sure what other answer to give.
Miko decided it was satisfactory and shrugged as well. "Are we done yet?"
"Yes," Knockout replied with a lazy roll of his eyes, already turning to start his work. "Now you can go bother everyone else while Paige and I talk."
"You mean flirt," Miko grinned as she nudged Paige's side playfully, causing all three of them to laugh lightly - and Paige to blush. "Alright, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." She waved over her shoulder in farewell and was set back down on the floor once Knockout had transformed again.
Paige watched her friend jog back over to the team before turning back to watch Knockout place both DNA samples on a petri dish. Once he was done, he placed it in the machine and looked through the scope. "So," she spoke up after a moment of silence. "Ratchet let you take the lead on this one?"
"He agreed that I have more knowledge of humans - even if it is mainly due to films I watched at drive-in theaters," Knockout answered, still focused on his task. "But he also acknowledged my interest on the subject because of you."
Paige blinked in surprise, not expecting his words. "Me?"
The medic pulled away from his research to smile at her. "He knows."
She blinked at him a few times before blushing and running a hand through her hair, causing him to chuckle fondly at her embarrassed reaction. "H-how, uh… How did he react?"
He shrugged, his shoulder plates flicking with the action. "Honestly, he didn't give much of a reaction. He just… knows. And he trusts me to solely work on researching the changes in you from Vector Sigma."
"Oh…" She wasn't expecting that, but she also didn't expect anything less from the Autobot CMO. Ratchet loved science, yes, but he wasn't stupid in other areas. She knew he would figure it out due to the first - and last - visit he 'chaperoned' with her and Knockout. When he came to tell her that Breakdown had been offlined. While Ratchet may have his attention solely focused on his work most times, he was also very observant when he wasn't. And even when he was focused on his work, he tended to pay attention to certain things when they least expected it.
She just… wasn't expecting him to be so accepting of their relationship.
I swear, they keep surprising me, she mused as she watched Knockout look back through the scope.
After a few moments, he gave a contemplative hum that had her tilting her head in curiosity.
"What is it?" She asked.
He pulled away from the scope and placed a hand on his chin with a thoughtful frown. "Your cells… They've… changed."
She frowned, not liking the sound of that. "Changed how?"
"When compared to Miko's cells, yours are multiplying at an exponentially slower rate." He went quiet for a moment, and his frown deepened into a concerned one. Maybe even a little confused.
She didn't like that look. "What does that mean?"
He glanced at her briefly. "Well… According to articles I found online, that would mean your body is beginning to fall apart."
She felt like a weighted stone just dropped to the pit of her stomach. Does that mean… I'm going to die?
"But," he continued, already seeing where her thoughts were leading. "They also appear to be… supercharged, in a sense."
She pulled a confused face. "Huh?"
He sighed and rubbed the back of his helm. "I'm going to ask for Ratchet's thoughts on it, but don't start going down that dark hole just yet," he told her, gently chiding her for her earlier thought process. She played with her bangs in embarrassment. "Your cells look different than anything I could find online." He met her gaze and lifted his hand up to gently tap the top of her head. "This could mean Vector Sigma had an entirely different effect on you… but we don't know for sure yet. So don't assume your life is dwindling."
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, allowing her mind to clear of the previous bad thoughts she had. She reached up and grabbed his finger, leaning into his gentle touch with a small smile. "Okay… I won't. Thank you… Knox."
A purr immediately vibrated into his hand as he smiled fondly down at her. "Of course, my dear. Anything for you."
