Azura stared at the open vortex with both curiosity and worry. She did not know if things will go as well as Bulkhead seemed to be implying. She also did not know how Wheeljack was going to be with her. She knew that he loves sparklings, that was not the issue. She was curious to know how rough he could be. She knows, from observation, that the fun uncle can be rough at times. Although, it does create the best memories, from what she understands, so she hoped for the same thing. Still, the fact there were cons on Wheeljack's tail as he crash landed, just seemed to be something that was making her worry. She didn't want to lose anyone before they arrive.

"Azura…" She flinched and looked up at Optimus as she stood by him. He had knelt down to look at her more closely with a gentle smile upon his face. "I see you are worried. I want you to feel reassured that Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead brave warriors, and they will stop the decepticons from destroying Wheeljack."

"I know, I guess…" She turned her head to look back at the vortex. "Well, anything could happen when you go through that, daddy. I…I learned that a long time ago. I know it isn't your fault at all, but it still worries me. You did almost freeze to death last time, so why should it be different any other time?"

"I am not surprised that the recent experience has affected you so deeply, Azura," Optimus said gently as he gazed down at her with sad optics. "I think back to it a lot too. I am fully aware of what happened, Azura, and that we both could have lost everything. But you must not believe it to be the case every time we go through the ground bridge. We do need to find more energon, and it is the only way to reach it."

"I know…" Azura did not want to seem like she was going to always be worried, but she truthfully was likely going to worry each time the bots go through the ground bridge. "I do have some confidence they will come back. I just don't know what the manner of their return will be."

Optimus softened his gaze and stood back up, looking at the vortex with confidence. "Your concern and fear are all valid, Azura. I believe you having nothing to fear. I agree, we do not know what is going to happen, but I have much confidence they will return soundly. You will see."

She simply clutched her toy as she stared at the vortex. She did not know what to expect at all. And she didn't even know how she would react to meeting Wheeljack for the first time. Bulkhead might have said a lot, but Azura was going to see for herself if she would like Wheeljack. She felt that she would like him, but she might be shy towards him at first. She would have to wait and see on that as she waited for the bots to return through the ground bridge. Everyone was practically staring with anticipation, especially Miko.

Azura was tempted to ask Optimus to hold her while they wait, but she decided to remain on the ground. She wondered what Wheeljack looked like. She never really asked Bulkhead if he had a picture somewhere of his friend, but she guess he did not. And she guessed he could be about the same size as Bulkhead, given they both are wreckers, so she did imagine him to be that way. But she did know about every single wrecker, so she could only go off of Bulkhead's appearance, which probably wasn't a good thing

It took about five minutes before Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee run back through the vortex, and behind them was Wheeljack. Azura smiled in relief as she saw Wheeljack. And she saw that Wheeljack was a little shorter than Bulkhead, and leaner too, but she knew that war never really cared about one's appearance. His finish is while with red and green markings on his arms, chassis and legs. And there seemed to be a friendly expression on his face.

When Ratchet shut off the ground bridge, there was a visible electric surge from the bridge itself. Azura saw the electric bolts sparking around the tunnel and from the bridge control itself. She was not entirely surprised as Ratchet had been working on fixing the bridge back to its former state for the past week, among all the other things that they needed to do as well to repair the damage from the scraplets. At least it was able to remain on for as long as it did to allow travel for the autobots.

She looked at Wheeljack as he was looking around the base curiously while Bulkhead walked beside him. "Jackie, come here, meet my other best buddy…" He gestured to the stairs as Miko walked down a few flights with a smile on her. "Miko. She can wreck with the best of us."

The girl gave Wheeljack a polite wave. "Hi yah."

Wheeljack stepped closer with a smile on his face. "You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?" He asked as he playfully gestured to the green bot.

Miko chuckled lightly in response to his question. "I try, but trouble finds us anyway."

That satisfied the wrecker's question, Wheeljack looked at Bulkhead in amusement. "We're gonna get along just fine." He turned to face Optimus as he had noticed him upon walking into the base and approached him. "Optimus Prime, it's a privilege."

Optimus nodded in acknowledge of the bot's respect to his presence. "Likewise, soldier. What have you to report from your long journey?" Azura was curious as well, as she was sure he had a lot of stories to tell. And she hoped that he would tell them to her.

"Been bouncing from rock to rock, searching for signs of friend or foe…" He glanced behind his shoulder to glance at Bulkhead briefly as a responded before looking back at Optimus. "Now I find both." Azura was not really sure how she felt about his rhyming, it sounded a little strange to her, but she said nothing as she listened.

Optimus seemed satisfied with the response though. "We are few, but strong. We have suffered losses…" He glanced at Arcee who looked away from Optimus with a sad expression as she remembered Cliffjumper. "But we grown…" He glanced towards Jack and Raf as he spoke about the growth in the base. "And reunited with family…" Azura flinched as Wheeljack looked down and his optics light up when he saw her thanks to Optimus gesturing to her by him. "We all would relish welcoming a new into our fold."

"I would be honoured," Wheeljack responded politely before leaning down slightly to look at Azura. "And here is the little sparkling you told me about. Wow, she's so cute!" Azura smiled and shrugged at him. "She's so small! To think she was just a spark the last time I knew of her."

"It seems destiny made sure that the two of us would meet again on this planet. And I am very happy to say that Azura has settled into her life learning about Cybertron and Cybertronian ways well…" She could not help but feel a bit shy as Optimus spoke to Wheeljack about her. She could tell Optimus was proud as spoke about her, and she did not mind at all. "She did not have a great time during the first years of her life, but she is home with us."

Wheeljack's smile widened as he listened to Optimus. "Well, I have no doubt she is already so strong. Nice to meet you, Azura…" She looked at his optics before looking away. "There's no need to be afraid of me, youngling, I love sparklings. I used to babysit so many back on Cybertron, and so many of them were just like you. Always so shy when they first meet me. Well, you are in for a wild ride…so long as your carrier allows it of course."

"You will have to run activities and games by me before you proceed, Wheeljack," Optimus said in a gentle, firm tone, getting the bot's attention. "Azura is still an infant, and she is recovering from a scraplet incident that occurred a week ago…" This seemed to surprise Wheeljack and there was a hint of amusement as well in his expression, though Azura thought she was seeing things. "Bulkhead has already intended on entertaining her too."

"I am well aware, Optimus, and you have my word, that I will be extra careful with Azura." Wheeljack crouches down and opened his arms to her. "How about a hug for your uncle Wheeljack, hmm? And that toy of yours looks really nice too. I wouldn't mind a closer look at it."

Azura tightened her grip on the Stitch toy as she listened to him. She took a couple steps forward, looking at him curiously for a moment. She wanted to hear more about his adventures and spend time with him. But as she stepped closer, she suddenly had a gut feeling that something was wrong. And it immediately made her nervous. She didn't know if this was due to Wheeljack himself, but she whimpered and ran behind Optimus's leg suddenly. She peered from behind Optimus's leg to see Bulkhead looking at her in amusement.

"Aw, Azura, Jackie is not going to hurt you," Bulkhead said in a reassuring tone to the girl. "I know new bots are scary. I suppose he does look scary…" Wheeljack gave Bulkhead an amused glare at Bulkhead's words. "But I assure you, Jackie might be a great fighting machine, he is a big softie underneath all that metal."

Azura did not respond and glanced up at Optimus as he was looking down at her in amusement. She nibbled at her index finger for a moment before lifting her hands up to him silently as she wanted him to hold her. Optimus complied as he shifted gently so he would not step on her accidently and picked her up. "I think it is best to give Azura time to get used to you, Wheeljack. She is intrigued about you, so give her a bit of time." He held the girl against his chassis and Azura relaxed a bit as she was now in her carrier's arms. "She took a lot of time to warm up to us."

"Alright, I will give the little one some space." Wheeljack chuckled gently as he straightened up and stepped closer, making Azura tense a little again. "There are so many stories that I want to share with you, youngling. When you feel ready to hang out with me and Bulkhead, just give us a shout." She did not respond as he winked at her playfully.

"Then let's get this party started!" Bulkhead exclaimed happily with a smile on his face as he slapped Wheeljack's shoulders suddenly, which was a surprise to Azura. Though it was a playful slap as the two suddenly chest bump each other. "I hope you don't mind joining in the party at least, Azura."

"I…I won't mind," She responded in a rather small tone. She looked up at Optimus. "You will…you will stay? Right?"

Optimus knew tht it was normal to assume Primes don't party. Optimus did enjoy parties, but he avoided them solely for the reason of patrolling and keeping an eye out for danger. But he could see he might not be able to this time. Azura seemed to be shy and nervous around Wheeljack, and he didn't want to make her feel too upset. He did not know that Azura would have reacted like this, but he knew she would warm up to him soon.

"I will remain here for you, Azura," Optimus said gently as he proceeded to move closer to Ratchet. "I am not much of a party goer myself, but I will ensure that I will remain here to keep you company. I know Ratchet is less than pleased about having to deal with a wrecker party."

Ratchet simply smirked at Optimus's comment and looked at him. "You can say that again, Optimus. But I will not be that kind of bot and prevent Bulkhead from spending time with Wheeljack. I will tolerate it for that reason, but I am already looking forward to peace and quiet." Ratchet looked at Azura with a smile. "Maybe I can watch her while…" The girl quickly shook her head with a frown. "Right, I have my answer, hmm…"

Optimus nodded with an amused expression. "So it would seem. Though…" He looked at the ground bridge control with concern. "It seems the ground bridge only lasted a single jump. I suspect you will be working on fixing it."

"Yes, Optimus, it is much better use of my time than focusing and complaining about this party. Besides, having you both here will be nice. After all, Azura has not experienced a party either." Ratchet grimaced for a moment and looked down as the hitch pitched sounds filled the room as Miko set up the speakers and her guitar. "Oh, joy…"

Azura chuckled a little as she watched Miko set up her guitar and began to play it. Raf walked down to the floor to listen to Miko with a smile on his face. She didn't see anyone dancing yet, but Miko was actually playing some good tunes. The last time she played her guitar, it was a bit overwhelming, but it seemed as though she has worked it out and it was good. She couldn't help but enjoy the music as it was nice.

"Head's up!" She turned her head as she heard Bulkhead's voice and flinched when she saw a large, metal ball being thrown across the room. Wheeljack caught it, which caused him to skid backwards along the ground from the impact. Bulkhead laughed excitedly and held out his hands to catch the ball back. "Just like old times."

Wheeljack threw the ball back at Bulkhead, and he caught it. Azura watched as the ball was tossed multiple times. It seemed to her this was the Cybertronian version of catch. Though she's heard the word lob thrown out a few times by the bots, so she guessed that was the name of the ball, or maybe the act of throwing the ball, she was not sure. Still, she was surprised that they were doing this in the lobby. It seemed to be a bit dangerous in her mind, but it certainly seemed to be entertaining the wreckers, which was good.

Arcee and Bumblebee were off to the side, watching the two wreckers throw the ball. Optimus was also watching, mostly to ensure this would not turn dangerous. The only one who was really playing music and dancing was Miko at the moment. She did think about whether or not she should try to do something. And yet, her gut was still telling her something was odd. She did not know why, and she disliked that a whole heap. She hoped the feeling of unease will settle and not ruin the entire day. She just wanted to remain with Optimus for now.

As the wreckers continue throwing the ball, Azura looked up at Optimus curiously. "Am I to guess that this is a game of catch, right?" He glanced down at her as she asked him the question in a soft, quiet voice. "Was this something that Bulkhead wanted to play with me? Kind of seems like they're throwing a little hard…"

"It is pretty much the same kind of game as catch, Azura. It is called lobbing, it was a favorite pass time among the warrior class. And from what I understand, favored heavily by the wreckers." The made sense that it was the first thing Bulkhead and Wheeljack decided to do if it was a favorite sport among them. "Bulkhead did want to teach you to lob, but he would not be using that with you. You would be crushed if he were to use it."

"That's what I thought." Azura looked back at the bots as they keep throwing it. "This is something…what about you, daddy? Was there a sport you enjoyed?"

Optimus hummed softly as he seemed surprised by the question and thought back on it. "I must admit it has been a long time since I had done anything like that, so I am afraid I do not know if I can answer that for you, Azura. After the war began and I became a Prime, my priorities did not include downtime like that."

Azura stared at him in surprise as she listened to him. "That's kind of sad. No fun, even when you had time…well, maybe when we go to the island, we could find something. We don't have to do sport, but things like building a sandcastle, collecting shells and swimming are all things we could do. Though I am not sure if saltwater is good for the protoform."

"We do not rust like metal beams and cars. Rust takes a very, very long time to set in our bodies, and it is easy to manage. Though it will eventually consume us and make us extremely stiff, like Ratchet's pistons…" The medic scoffed in amusement and rolled his optics as he listened to Optimus respond to Azura's question. "It is not something you need to worry about, Azura. As long as you keep up with ingesting energon, you won't need to worry about that. And I will consider doing many different activities with you."

"Have you started her with the basics of Cybertronian?" Ratchet asked suddenly as he remained focused on his task. Optimus and Azura look at him curiously. "You said you were planning on starting to teach Azura the Cybertronian alphabet, so I was wondering if you were going to do that."

"I am still compiling the alphabet to match it with English," Optimus responded with a smile, glancing at Azura as he heard her gasp excitedly. "I am almost done with it, Azura. I am about halfway through now, and I will be able to start teaching you very, very soon."

"Really? You?!" Azura could not help but get excited. "Oh, I am happy! That means…does that mean you'll also start teaching me, Ratchet?" He nodded without looking at her and Azura giggled. "It will make getting up from bed so much easier. This is exciting!" She giggled some more before gasping. "Oh, that reminds me…" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Come on, Raf!" Miko exclaimed excitedly, spinning around as she looked at him with a playful expression. "Show us some moves!"

Azura looked down curiously as Raf responded. "Oh…alright…"

The boy stood up and began to move his arms, which caught Bumblebee's attention. It took a moment for Azura to realize he was dancing like a robot, and she somehow was not surprised. But she was surprised when Bee began to dance along, mimicking Rafael's moves perfectly in sync. This seemed to annoy Ratchet, but Azura could not help but think it was endearing. Bumblebee was a quick learner, and this just happened to prove that. And Raf was able to dance in time to the tune Miko was playing, so that was even better.

"What were you about to say before?" Optimus asked curiously. "You had a train of thought before Miko spoke up."

"Oh, well I was thinking…" Azura was cut off again when she saw the lob being thrown across the room again and as Wheeljack tried to grab it, the lob bounced up into the wall. "Watch out!"

Optimus was quick to move away, covering Azura with his hand as Ratchet also jumped back at the lob almost fell directly onto the ground bridge. She was shocked as that could have completely destroyed the bridge and they would not have any way of transportation to anywhere around the world. She knew it could have been an accident since Bulkhead threw it, but it was still very close, she glanced at both Bulkhead and Wheeljack with a frown.

Ratchet was less than pleased with this as well as he glared at the two wreckers. "I am attempting to perform sensitive calibrations here!" He snapped at them angrily.

"Sorry doc," Wheeljack apologized as he picked up the lob. "Guess we're a little charged up."

"That might be the case, but I do expect both you and Bulkhead to have caution while lobbing here," Optimus said in a stern tone. "Not only do we have sensitive equipment here, we also need to be mindful of the human children present. The lob is not a light object, and it can be as much of a weapon as it is a toy."

"I understand, Optimus, it won't happen again," Wheeljack promised with a smile. He glanced at the bridge and seemed to be impressed as he glanced at Ratchet. "You built this bridge from scratch, huh?"

"I did," The medic responded affirmatively. He was still concentrating as he checked the ground bridge and continued his work on it.

"That's quite a feat of engineering."

Ratchet smiled as he was happy that someone acknowledged it. "Yes, it is."

Wheeljack turned his head slightly to side eye Ratchet. "Something wrong with it? Optimus mentioned something about scraplets, so I am going to assume that is the reason for it to be playing up and such."

"You are correct about that, Wheeljack. The scraplets did a lot of damage to the bridge. However, I didn't care for the way it sounded this last jump, and it seems to still struggle keeping the vortex open. So I put it in shut down while I work on it." Azura didn't realize Ratchet had shut down the ground bridge as it still seemed on, but she was still unfamiliar with the technology. But she was curious why Wheeljack was asking questions.

And why does my bad feeling feel worse? I don't like it.

Wheeljack still seemed too interested in the bridge as far as she was concerned. But she could think of it as genuine curiosity too. "What if you need to use it?"

"Oh, I can't disrupt the defrag process without causing irreparable damage," Ratchet responded calmly to the bot's question. "It almost already had that thanks to the incident last week. I do not wish to make life harder for everyone here, that would be the last thing that I want."

"I guess it makes sense, especially if the little one needs to be taken out once in a while to stop her from going stir crazy." He smirked slightly, not really looking at Azura as she tensed when he spoke about her. "So, uh, how long will the defrag take?"

Ratchet was quiet for a moment before responding to Wheeljack. "A few hours if we're lucky." He shrugged a little as he seemed unsure of the timeline for the bridge to be fixed. "Maybe longer."

Wheeljack seemed to accept that answer, and proceeded to continue lobbing with Bulkhead. Azura still felt very uneasy about all of this. She knew she was going to need sometime to think. "Um, I kind of wanted to do some drawing." Optimus looked at Azura when she spoke. "That was what I wanted to say…uh…it is stupid it took so long to say."

"Do not worry, Azura." Optimus walked over to the platform to place her down on it. "It seems like you need something to occupy yourself with anyway. You seem to be tense." Azura knew he would notice. She said nothing after he placed her down and she walked over to grab an empty scrapbook. "Are you sure you are okay? I promise that Wheeljack will not hurt you."

"I am fine, daddy. I am." She looked at him with a smile, even if it was a forced smile. "I just need time to relax and I should be fine. I might go and gravel clean the fish tanks if I get bored of drawing. Besides, I'll have the chance to get to know him a little later. I am just a little…overwhelmed with all this company too."

Optimus thought that was a little unusual for Azura, but he accepted it. "Would a tub of ice cream help?" She looked at him in surprise at the suggestion. "I know you ate a whole tub recently, but I also know there are some more…"

She shook her head with a light chuckle. "No, no, that won't be necessary. I do not need another whole tub of icecream. To tell you the truth, uh…well…I would say my…hmm…" She frowned for a moment as she thought about it. "What is the Cybertronian term for gut? Never mind, I noticed a bit of constipation since this morning…not that you would know what that is. But my body's kind of not had human food for a while, so I guess I should be unsurprised."

Optimus seemed a little surprised and worried as he had not expected that. "Sometimes I forget you can get similar issues as what humans get. Well, we did warn you to not eat a whole tub, though I guess you are facing the consequences for that." She nodded as she sat down and placed the Stitch toy onto a nearby desk as she opened the sketchbook to begin drawing. "Is there anyway to deal with it?"

"Well, I might have more water as well…that has always helped in the past…plus, when I'm back to just low-grade, I should be fine. There's nothing you can really do other than to wait." Azura knew that Optimus would not fully understand, but there really wasn't much they could do.

Optimus accepted it though and turned to keep an eye on the two wreckers. Though Bulkhead seemed to take Optimus's words into account, so he and Wheeljack decide to gather the kids around to tell stories. Azura wanted to, but she had decided against it for the time being, mostly because she still felt unease. She ended up sketching Wheeljack in her book too. She was observing him and noticing how he kept glancing with frowns and irritated expressions in Ratchet's direction. He was waiting for the bridge to be repaired.

She eventually slipped away from the lobby without being noticed to return to her room. She needed to clear her mind and think logically. She did not want to sound like she distrusted Wheeljack. He has not yet given her reason to make them not trust him. But she had senses the bots did not have. The dragon part of her was what gave her heightened senses, and this could simply be one of those times. But she hoped that it was wrong.

Azura proceeded to take the time to gravel clean the fish tanks, clean out some of the algae on the glass and add new water to them. It was way better than trying to think on whether or not Wheeljack was good or not. She spent time cooing over the fish as she took the time to clean the tanks. And she really took her time. The oldest tank had ornaments that needed cleaning too, so that was extra time that she gladly took. However, it was well worth it as the tanks looked almost brand new by the time she finished and added in the new water with conditioning chemicals to keep the fish alive. And she was considering getting new ornaments, but she would have to give that request to Jack about that.

When she finished, she decided to go back to the lobby to see if she could listen in on any of the stories that Bulkhead and Wheeljack were telling. But just as she walked out and the door closed behind her, she was startled by Wheeljack. He had a confused expression on his face as he was looking around until he spotted Azura. She was tempted to turn and run back into the room due to the monitor in the room, but she was frozen.

"Ah, Azura," Wheeljack said with a smile. "I lost track of Miko. She was just showing me around the rest of the base, and she took off. She was shouting about how she wanted to show me something cool, but I don't know what it is. I don't suppose you saw her come this way?" Azura shook her head and stepped back nervously. "Good, good…in that case…" Azura was about to let out a shriek as Wheeljack suddenly snatched her up and pressed his thumb against her mouth firmly. "I would not scream if I were you, little one. Not if you do not want to get hurt, and I do not want to hurt a sparkling." Azura trembled, clutching her toy tightly as she stared at him. "After all, you are part decepticon. So that makes us family."

Wait, what?!

He opened his chassis and Azura tried kicking at his hands to get him to drop her. He placed her inside and looked at her. "You are going to stay there for a while. So be a good girl. You are coming home with me."

He lets her go and closed his chassis. She tried running to bang her hands on the chassis, but she felt something grab her and hold her to the seats. She struggled and tried to get out, but she could not as the belts held her around her waist, ankles and wrists. She could not believe it. Was this even Wheeljack?! She did not know. And she didn't know if the monitor picked up noise outside of the nursery. She began to sob fearfully as she did not know what was going to happen. She could only hope Optimus and the others would stop this…whoever it was. This clearly was not Wheeljack at all, and her gut feeling was right.