Ok! This one may be just a little shorter than the other episodes have been, since Robyn and Mayfly aren't heavily involved in the events of the episode, but I hope you all like this chapter regardless!

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

After the adventure on the warship, things settled down and resumed a normal flow (or what passes for normal when you hang around giant sentient alien robots).

I notice Mayfly is a little more protective of me, but she doesn't overstep, which is nice.

The kids start learning how to use the ground bridge and comm systems after we lay down firm rules about leaving the base unmanned and leaving with the Autobots after being told no. Of course, Jack and Raf had no problem following the rules, but Miko grumbles and complains about how I'm 'ruining her fun' and 'a total killjoy'. I point out that she can be killed, but she just thinks I'm overreacting.

So I resolve to keep a close eye on her, but things are fine and I don't have to remind her of the rules much at all.

The kids are with the rest of the team working on science fair projects, a task I had offered to help with, but they refused. I told them if they were not making progress by tonight, I'd help out since the projects are due soon, if I remember right.

Uncle Will and I had to go and deliver that in-person report Uncle Will had promised, which meant that General Bryce got the story of the kids' getting involved and how Team Prime accepted responsibility for their wellbeing, as well as our capture and subsequent rescue. He was surprised and tried to bring in the military again but I told him Optimus' rationale for not involving the army/Pentagon…again. There was some grumbling from both men, but they soon stopped and the meeting went on.

Soon enough, I was dropped off back at the base, where I sit on the couch typing up a few sparse reports on recent activity.

When I finish the last report, I notice Optimus standing apart and looking a bit down, but Ratchet approaches before I can say anything.

Optimus has been even more somber than usual since the Space Bridge exploded. I chalked it up to losing a method to get to Cybertron and sadly didn't know what to say to him.

So I stand up and walk over, resolved to at last try.

"Optimus, why so glum?" Ratchet asks. "This planet-all planets-are finally free from Megatron's tyranny!"

Optimus looks up a little and I swear if he were a human, he would've sighed. "I do not disagree, Ratchet. It's just…a small part of me hoped to change Megatron's mind, not extinguish his Spark."

I had heard little of the background of the war on Cybertron from Mayfly (who acknowledged she didn't know much about it, either, as she came out of the Well with Bee not long before the Well started fading), and even less of what Megatron and Optimus were like before they became enemies. Just that at one point, they considered each other like brothers and had worked together to better Cybertron for a time, before things came to a head and they became enemies, Optimus being made Prime being the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.

So I could be sympathetic to Optimus' feelings on the matter, and acknowledge the complicated emotions Optimus must be feeling.

Ratchet, however, rolls his eyes, rocking his head back as if in exasperation. "Optimus, his vileness was not slain by your hand, but by his own twisted arrogance!" Ratchet gestures a bit angrily, eyes narrowed.

"Tell us how you really feel, Ratchet." I quip under my breath, but Optimus just hums almost sadly.

Thankfully, Ratchet realizes his insensitivity and backpedals a little. "I'm sorry. I know the two of you had quite a history."

Optimus shakes his head. "But the Megatron whom I once fought beside perished eons ago, the day he chose to become a Decepticon." I struggle to find something to say, but then Optimus changes the subject and I lose my chance to say something. "The Decepticons may be in disarray, but they are not without leadership." He turns to Ratchet, "And while Starscream is no Megatron, he is far from predictable."

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and Ratchet's instant reaction is to assume it was a Con attack and rush over with Optimus.

"Decepticons! We're under attack!"

I take a slower approach, chuckling as Raf is revealed, coughing as his attempt at a volcano is left a melted, charred mess. Bee stands beside his friend, looking just as confused as Raf.

"It's no attack, Ratchet." Raf explains. "It's my volcano. Or…was."

"How on Earth did you manage to do that?"

"It just exploded!" Raf replies, sounding a little disheartened.

Ratchet looks so confused, I nearly burst out laughing as he glances around as if just realizing the kids are working on projects.

Unphased by the explosive volcano, Miko dips a brush in red paint, turning back to Bulkhead, who is holding up a rough model of the solar system. "Hold still, Bulkhead! Jupiter needs its red spot!" The paint drips onto the floor. "Whoopsie."

Ratchet frowns. "What in the Allspark is going on in here?" He demands.

Jack pauses trying to assemble a motorcycle with Arcee. Or was it fix a motorcycle? Either way, the pair are hopelessly lost. "Our projects are due tomorrow." He replies.

I sigh. "And yet you didn't want me to help."

"Well, we thought we could handle it." Jack protests. "They're our projects."

"And yet, it's totally fine to get help from the Bots?" I press, raising a brow.

"That's why we thought we could handle it!" Miko chimes in, finally adding that red spot to Jupiter.

I shrug. "I guess that's fair, but still."

Arcee, still focused on the motorcycle, grabs a spare part lying on the floor. "Maybe it needs one of these doohickeys?" She offers, frowning.

Jack smirks at her. "You're a motorcycle, Arcee." He quips. "Shouldn't you know how to build a motorcycle engine?"

"You're a human, Jack." Arcee retorts without much patience, hand on hip. "Can you build me a small intestine?"

"That's not exactly the same thing, but whatever." I chuckle. "Let me know if you guys want help."

Ratchet splutters. "Hold on just a moment!" He protests hotly. "You can't work on those projects in here! You're…making a mess!"

"But the science fair is a big part of our grade!" Raf protests.

"Yeah!" Miko adds, "If Bulkhead doesn't help me finish this solar system-"

"Oh?" Ratchet interrupts. "And what does Bulkhead know of your solar system?" He asks rhetorically. "Or Bumblebee of your volcanoes, or-"

"Arcee of our motorcycles?" Jack interjects, smirking at Arcee, who just rolls her eyes.

"Precisely!" Ratchet agrees. "We're not Earthlings!"

"No need to remind us." I grumble. He always talks negatively of Earth, our technology, and how odd he found us as a species. Would it kill him to try looking at things from our perspective for once? "They can still help though." I point out a little louder.

"They're not scientists."

"What do we need scientists for?" Mayfly asks, walking in from a quick patrol.

I smile. "Hey, partner! The kids are working on their science fair projects, and Ratchet is saying the team shouldn't be helping since they don't know much about Earth and they're-"

"Not scientists. Got it." Mayfly chuckles. "Lighten up, Ratchet. It's not gonna take 'em that long to finish."

"But they're making a mess!" Ratchet protests, bring us full circle.

I snort. "You didn't even know they were here til the volcano exploded. And I'm sure they'll clean up after themselves when they're done." I direct that last bit to the kids, staring pointedly at each of them in turn.

"Yes, ma'am." Jack replies, smiling a little.

"Easy on the ma'am, Jack." I shoot back.

Optimus has apparently reached a decision, turning to Ratchet. "The Autobots are their guardians, Ratchet." He points out. "Would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their schoolwork?"

I nearly laugh at the mental image of Optimus and Ratchet trying to make a volcano and failing, but manage to reign it in.

"Well, maybe our young friends should try learning more of Cybertron." Ratchet grumbles, knowing he was being overruled, but determined to get the last word in.

Before I can reply, my phone vibrates in my pocket and I check it. "Oh, crap!" I jog over to grab my water bottle, purse, and shoes.

"What's wrong?" Mayfly asks, slight concern on her face.

"I forgot Uncle Will asked if I'd want to test a plane with him! The guy who was supposed to do it with him bailed cus of a family emergency, so he asked if I wanted to fill in."

Mayfly tilts her head. "You didn't tell me you were a pilot."

I chuckle, grabbing my shoes and hopping a bit as I put them on. "I'm not. I'm only certified to sit there and make sure the other seat and controls are operational, but I won't be in total control of the plane. Uncle Will will be."

"Sounds like fun." Mayfly muses. "Sometimes I wish I came out of the Well a Seeker, so I could fly around instead of being a car."

I snort. "I don't see you as a Seeker any more than I could see Ratchet as a school teacher."

"I heard that!" He protests.

"See you later, Mayfly." I call, chuckling as I head outside the base, where Uncle Will was going to pick me up so that Mayfly didn't have to bother with it.

I wait a few minutes, but soon Uncle Will pulls up, leaning over and opening the door for me. "Howdy, hun." He greets.

"Hey, Uncle Will."

"You ready?" Uncle Will asks, smiling.

"Yup! This'll be fun!"

"Were the kids at the base?" As usual, Uncle Will is nosy about the kids. Just because we've told him they're perfectly safe with the Autobots doesn't mean he believes it. He still thinks it's foolish to let them be at the base so much, but there's nothing really he can do about it.

"Yeah, working on their science fair projects, if you can believe it." I chuckle. "Ratchet nearly blew a gasket. Said they were making a mess and the kids should learn more about Cybertron, which probably wouldn't be the worst thing."

"I don't know about that. I say just let them be kids."

"They are being kids, Uncle Will. It's just that they get to hang out with the Autobots while being kids. That's all."

"Sure." He drops the conversation, knowing that neither of us would be able to convince the other of our side.

Soon, we reach the airbase and he signs us in after I scan my badge.

That done, we're cleared to head to the airstrip, where we find the plane in the middle of its preflight checks.

"How's it looking?" Uncle Will asks a technician.

"Ready as it'll ever be, sir." The technician replies.

"Good!" We soon take off and perform the standard tests for a while. It always takes forever.

But once we're done with the tests, we're cleared to use the remainder of the fuel to do whatever we wanted as long as it was within military regulations.

So Uncle Will flies standard patterns until a call comes on the radio.

"Tango 6 Alpha to Central Command: we're picking up transmissions originating from unknown technology, possibly hostile. We are moving to investigate."

"Oh boy…" I mumble. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah…" Uncle Will leans over and patches into the frequency. "Negative, Tango 6 Alpha. This is Special Agent William Fowler intercepting. Strike your report from the records and provide origin coordinates. I'll take it from here."

"I hope it's just the Autobots getting Energon or something." I forget they're helping the kids at the base til after I'd spoken.

"Knowing our luck, it's Cons." Uncle Will sighs, turning the plane when the coordinates are received. "You alright to go with me?"

I shrug. "Not like I have a choice, but yeah I'm fine."

I bite my lip as Uncle Will accelerates. Soon enough, we arrive at the coordinates and find Optimus, Bumblebee, and Mayfly engaging an unknown Decepticon, who's currently on the ground.

The Autobots are momentarily distracted by our arrival, leaving the Con open to scan the plane.

"Agent Fowler, fall back!" Optimus calls on the frequency Uncle Will had given so the Bots can quickly contact him.

It's too late to avoid being scanned, the Con taking to the air in his new vehicle mode. The plane shudders, the electronics momentarily on the fritz.

"Well, I'll be a bald eagle." Uncle Will exclaims.

"Did you not see the Bots scan cars?" I ask.

"Not like that." Uncle Will replies as the Con takes off and levels with us. He then proceeds to say something muffled by the wind rushing outside before swooping away to reengage Optimus and the Twins.

I see Mayfly shoot some larger beams I assume are her sniper shots, but she can't seem to hit him while he's flying through the air, so Uncle Will engages, causing the Con to break off firing at the Autobots, at least.

"Stealing plans for a classified military aircraft will not be tolerated on my watch!" He growls.

"He's getting behind us!" I call worriedly.

"I see him." Uncle Will replies, just as the Con fires missiles at us. "Heatseekers!" He grits, maneuvering the plane around rock formations, then right for a steep wall, banking up skillfully, leaving the missile unable to stop itself from hitting the wall, missing us entirely. "I still got it." Uncle Will smirks.

"Yeah, you do!" I cheer back, my adrenaline making my heart race.

The Con decides we're not worth it and goes back to attacking the Bots, resulting in Mayfly taking a few hits, making her transform and hold her minor wounds.

Bee seems to take that personally, revving up to the top of a formation, transforming to run to the edge of it just as the Con is passing, and jumping onto the Con.

Bee is dragged against the side of the formation before the Con takes him high in the air.

Mayfly, arriving at the top of the formation Bumblebee leapt off, runs to the edge, her finger on her earpiece and looking very irritated. "What in Primus' name possessed you to do that, Bee?" Bee makes a few noises in response. "Just a few scratches! You didn't need to jump on him!"

"Agent Fowler, we require immediate assistance." Optimus calls over the comms and Uncle Will pilots closer to Bee and the Con, knowing what Optimus wanted; us to give Bee a lift back down to the ground.

Bumblebee, for his part, looks like he managed to get a few hits in, judging by the smoke trail rising from the Con.

Bee looks worried when we pull up beside him, clinging to the Con and making those whirring noises.

"Shoulda thought of that before you jumped!" Mayfly snaps.

"Anytime, fella. Ground floor's coming fast!" Uncle Will calls. Bee quickly jumps and the jet wobbles as he lands on it, but it steadies and we watch the unfortunate Con barrel into the canyon in a fireball. "Happy landings, Con."

Bee jumps off near Mayfly, who pats his shoulder as he jogs by to view his handiwork and we land nearby.

I almost feel bad for the Con as we look at the smoking pile of half-transformed metal alien. "What was his name?" I ask.

"Skyquake." Mayfly replies. "I'd heard of him, but hadn't seen him in person before today." She turns away. "Optimus offered him a place with us so he can help us end the war, but Skyquake turned him down. It's a shame." She frowns. "We have too few Autobots these days."

"I'm sorry, but he didn't leave you any choice." I reply.

"Still. I feel kinda bad about this whole thing." She shuffles her feet.

"It was a needless death." Optimus agrees, eying the dead Con. "Had Skyquake chosen to stray from his master's path, we might not be burying him today."

"At least we can give him a proper burial." Mayfly shrugs, starting toward the Con.

Soon, with the three Autobots working together, a large mound of various-sized rocks and boulders was left as an unmarked grave.

That done, Optimus calls Ratchet for a ground bridge.

While Ratchet looks Mayfly and Bee over, Optimus stands behind the medic, eyes narrowed a little in admonishment. "Bumblebee, putting yourself at risk may not have been the wisest of strategies, but you performed admirably."

Bee beeps a few times apologetically.

"Bee, you didn't need to hurt him cus he clipped me a few times." Mayfly replies gently. "I'm fine."

Before Bee can respond, there's a few honks from the drive-in entrance.

Instantly, Ratchet whirls to face the entrance. "Ah-ha-ha! There you are!"

I raise a brow at Ratchet's reaction, then realize what must have happened.

Ratchet took over the projects, unable to help himself. He probably claimed he was helping the kids, but…

I snort at the looks on the kids' faces.

Looks like his 'help' might have done more damage than good.

"Well?" Ratchet asks. "How were my-uh, our projects received?"

The kids tell Ratchet that they'd nearly gotten a suspension, especially poor Raf, who's volcano created a plasma-shot through the school's roof. Miko's replica of Cybertron had raised eyebrows and questions Miko had trouble answering, and Jack's machine had nearly cut someone's foot off before Jack managed to turn it off.

I turn to Ratchet, not very amused anymore. "What were you thinking?!" I snap. "A plasma volcano?!"

Ratchet shrugs. "That's how volcanoes are on our planet."

"Not here on Earth!" I press. "Here, they give off lava or magma, not plasma!" Ratchet looks very unapologetic. "Next time the kids have schoolwork, it wouldn't kill you to learn more about Earth before you take over the projects!" I roll my eyes as Ratchet splutters angrily.

"Well, on our planet, they would have been awarded the highest honors!"

"Not after causing damage to school property!" I retort.

"Absolutely no gratitude. See if I help them…" He stalks away, still grumbling.

"Let me guess; he wanted to 'help' and ended up just doing the whole projects?" I ask to confirm

"Yeah…" Raf replies, sighing. "We couldn't get him to let us help."

I roll my eyes. "That's Ratchet for you. Once he gets on a project, you may as well not exist, apart from when he needs an extra hand."

Bee, standing next to Optimus, beeps and whirs, making Mayfly chuckle.

"Indeed, Bumblebee. Our human friends would have been wise to stray from Ratchet's path." Optimus agrees.

I laugh as I start getting some texts about the school from Uncle Will, who'd somehow found out about the whole ordeal at the science fair. "Hang on. Uncle Will wants to call."

He is livid and demands to know what happened. I explain that Ratchet had 'helped' the kids and he starts ranting about this being 'exactly why it's a bad idea for kids to be around those mechs' and 'it's far too dangerous' and on and on.

"Uncle Will, you know how Ratchet gets. He didn't let the kids do anything once he took over. Can you see what you can do?"

He sighs loud and long before replying. "...Yeah, yeah. I'll spin it like they're junior interns and were given access to materials and schematics and star charts they weren't meant to have access to. Don't think the school will buy it, though."

"Maybe, maybe not. I can stop by if that would help."

"We'll see, hun. For now, I've gotta play damage control."

"Alright. Love you!"

"Love you, too, sweetheart. Talk to you later."

"Mm-hmm." I blow him a kiss and hear his blown kiss in response before hanging up and walking back to the kids. "Good news is, Uncle Will might be able to handle the repercussions of the science fair. Bad news is, your grades might have to take a hit. We're not sure yet."

They all groan.

"C'mon!"

"Seriously?! But it's Ratchet's fault!"

"My mom's gonna kill me…"

I put my hands up. "Well, guess this is what happens when people of two worlds try to collaborate on a project." I shake my head. "Regardless, you all should probably head home. It's getting late."

The kids, mumbling and grumbling, gather whatever they'd left here and pile into their guardians and are taken home.

=#=#=#=#=

Turns out, the school did buy the fake internship story, and (provided nothing of the sort ever happens again) allowed the trio to remake their projects, albeit different than before.

Jack did end up figuring out how to fix that motorcycle with Arcee's help after research online, I helped Raf make a detailed solar map that encompassed the entire Milky Way, and Miko ended up making a presentation on how audio waves get translated into sounds in our brains, with her own music as the example, of course. I had to help her research how the ear works, but it was worth the effort and time.

The kids got a better grade and offered to help fix the large hole through the building and the more minor damage Jack's machine had caused.

Because of the fake internship, a portion of the funds allocated to the Autobots was spent on the materials for the repairs and a few specialists contracted through the military actually did the repairs.

The kids kept a low profile and let things die down again after the excitement of Ratchet's projects.

Ratchet still maintains that he did nothing wrong and it was the lousy school teachers that simply didn't understand his work.

He won't listen to any of the explanations about the new projects, which really annoyed me, but I can't force the old dog to learn new tricks, as they say.

All in all, I realize, this new life was far from perfect, but I can't help enjoying the Autobots' company, as well as the kids (even when Ratchet's being a pain in my butt and Miko won't listen to me).

this is a chaotic group, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.