Life carried on at Autobot headquarters. The Decepticons had been relatively quiet lately, and while that made everybody wary, they were enjoying the break from fighting. Most days were spent on patrols, while occasionally raiding Decepticon mines for energon. Ratchet used this time to do routine checkups on the bots and making repairs as necessary. For Kerri, it meant the chance to practice more of what the manuals taught her. She was becoming increasingly proficient under Ratchet's watchful eye, and the Autobots welcomed her pleasant bedside manner as opposed to the doctor's grumpy demeanor.
"The touch of an angel" is how Smokescreen phrased it. He was laying on the berth while Kerri was patching a cable in the young bot's shoulder joint. He'd injured the shoulder in a rough and tumble wrestling match with Bumblebee, and Ratchet was none to pleased.
"Ratchet, don't your ever let this sweetspark go. I won't mind coming to the medbay as long as I get treatment from her."
"The next stupid thing that gets you brought into medbay will be handled by me and my wrench." Ratchet clanged said wretch off of the side of Smokescreen's helm for emphasis.
"You're all done, Smokes," Kerri said as she finished up her work and climbed down. "Good as new."
"All right, get out." Ratchet dismissed Smokescreen with the wave of his servo. "I don't want to see you back here."
"Anything you say, doc," the rookie answered as he winked down at Kerri, who gave him a smile. He climbed off of the table and strode out into the base.
Ratchet sighed. "That kid is going to knock a few million years off of my life."
"C'mon, Ratchet, he's a breath of fresh air."
"You've forgotten my dear, we don't need to breathe."
"No shit." She climbed up onto Ratchet's table and sat. "He's been a huge help, though. Especially when Ultra Magnus was down. He's young. He'll settle down."
"Hopefully before he-"
"Ratchet, groundbridge, now! The Commander is hurt," Prime's voice rumbled through the base.
Kerri's heart skipped a beat as Ratchet strode over to the controls and activated the bridge.
"Bridge open, Optimus." He turned to the woman. "Get ready," he told her.
Optimus walked through the groundbridge with his arm around Magnus' chest, supporting the bot.
"What happened?! I thought you two were just scouting an abandoned energon mine?"
"We were. Unfortunately, the mine collapsed. The Commander was buried under the rubble."
Optimus helped Magnus to the berth and sat him on the edge. "He doesn't think it's anything serious, but I'd rather you confirm."
"Of course. Kerri, your assistance please."
The woman began setting up machines as Ratchet laid Magnus down on the berth and began his examination. "I'm going to check that new servo first. Hopefully you didn't damage it."
"I'm fine doctor, I assure you. I've been buried under rubble before," Magnus began to protest.
"You may have been buried under rubble before, but you're not a young bot anymore. Pipe down and let us check."
Magnus fell silent as Ratchet and Kerri went about their work. The woman climbed into his palm and began checking the wires and cables as Ratchet examined the other injuries on his armor. He tried to ignore her as she went about her examination, but he kept stealing glances at her as she crawled across his servo. He was enjoying the sensation, but quickly pushed the thought away. For her part, Kerri seemed to be completely focused on her work, and was paying no attention to the Autobot whose servo she was kneeling in. Internally, she was immensely relieved that Magnus wasn't seriously injured. But she had no intention of letting him know that. She went about her task with focused precision, and it didn't take long for her to determine that his servo was undamaged.
After looking at the results himself, Ratchet was satisfied that Magnus would be fine. "But," he told Magnus as he sat up on the berth," I want you to scrub the plates between your armor. The dirt and shards of rock are going to wreak havoc on your joints."
"Ratchet, I don't need to-"
"That's an order, Commander," exclaimed the doctor. "And since you are not going to be able to reach everything yourself, especially your back struts, my assistant will assist you."
Kerri opened her mouth to protest and was immediately cut off by the doctor. "That's an order for you as well."
"Yes, sir," the woman said as she climbed from the berth and walked towards the wash racks. "I'll get everything ready."
Kerri was going to rip Ratchet a new one when this was over. She knew what the doctor was doing and she didn't appreciate it. Magnus had decided, and she was never the type to force her company on anyone who didn't want it. She had way too much pride for that. But orders were orders. She sighed as she loaded soap and a brush onto the platform and raised it. Hopefully she could reach every area without needing to climb onto the Autobot himself.
"I'm going to kill Ratchet," she muttered to herself as she felt heavy footsteps heading her way. With a deep breath, she activated the remote for the sprayer and hot water began to flow.
"Everything is ready, Commander, if you would just step under the stream." As far as she knew, Magnus had not used the wash rack since his arrival, and now it definitely showed. His frame was scratched and dented everywhere, and many of them appeared deep. She could only imagine what his joints looked and felt like.
"I want yo thank you for your assistance," Magnus began.
"Not necessary, sir. Giving sponge baths to 30 foot tall patients is part of my job. If you would just step in…"
Magnus walked into the water and stood still as it ran over his armor. He turned his back to Kerri as she applied soap to the brush and began cleaning. She started at his helm and worked her way down. As she reached his neck cable she pushed the brush in between the thick wires in an attempt to dislodge several large rock fragments. After she cleaned the area, Magnus craned his neck to let the steaming water wash away any remaining debris. Kerri made her way down Magnus' body, scrubbing the armor while picking debris from between the plates on his back and shoulders. Magnus himself was relishing the feeling of being fussed over. He rarely cleaned his armor so thoroughly, and he had definitely never had anyone else do it for him. He fought letting out a sigh as the hot water ran over his armor, and the brush and the woman's hands worked around his sensitive cables and joints. His fans kicked on, but if Kerri noticed, she didn't respond. Hell, maybe she didn't even know why the did, but he doubted that. For her part, the woman merely continued about her task, ignoring the obvious excitement that was growing inside the Commander. She commanded him to turn, and now as he faced her, he could that Kerri's clothing was soaked through, and Magnus couldn't help put notice how it now clung to her body, leaving nothing to the imagination. Her t-shirt was molded around her full breasts, which were rising and falling with the exertion that she was putting in order to clean every area. Often, she would lean in to remove debris by hand, and they would skim along his armor, causing his spark to skip a beat. Her jeans were like a second skin that hugged ever part of her lower body. It was all too much for the Commander. Magnus wanted to put her in his servo, to touch and caress every part of her. He wanted to do to her what she was doing to him. He wanted to make her squirm under his touch. But he knew that she wanted nothing to do with him. She was doing her job. The sensual caresses were too much for the Commander, however, and as the woman worked her way down towards his lower half, he decided that he needed to stop her ministrations.
"Em, " he started, "I believe that I can take it from here."
"The woman set down the brush and lowered the platform to the floor.
"Very well, sir," she responded as she began drying herself off.
"Kerri, I…I want to explain-"
"You don't owe me an explanation, sir," she responded as she began to walk out of the wash rack. "Have a good evening."
Magnus watched the woman walk away as he wrestled with his emotions. What had Optimus said to him about regrets? He had a duty to perform, but theses feelings were too much to ignore. He knew how he felt, but he needed to know if she felt the same way, of if he had lost her by being a fool. Magnus finished scrubbing his armor, turned off the water and dried himself hastily before exiting the wash rack and purposely heading down the dark corridor to the sleeping quarters.
Kerri climbed out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She was physically exhausted. Emotionally she wasn't feeling too hot either. All she wanted now was sleep. She heard her door ping and she swore.
"Cmon, doc," she said as she headed towards the door. "I can finish the reports-".
She opened the door and fell silent. Standing in the doorway was Ultra Magnus. Before she could say a word, he walked into her room and closed the door behind him.