Hey everyone! I'm back! I want to thank you guys for sharing your ideas with me for Rock Bottom. I will have both Stormracer and Sierra join Bulkhead, Arcee, Jack, and Miko. Still need to decide on what will happen, but I know I will have fun writing it.

Anyway, here is chapter 22! It's not a long chapter, but I hope you still like it!

Transformers Prime: The Medic's Assistant

Chapter 22: Metal Attraction

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime

Ratchet was at the computer when he picked up something coming in close proximity to the base.

"Arcee, a vehicular form is approaching," the medic said.

Jack and Arcee made their way over. "Decepticon?" Arcee asked.

Zooming in, they saw a familiar white car driving off road and towards the entrance.

Jack groaned. "Mom," he said.

"Again?" Arcee asked.

"She worries."

Once she made her way into the main hangar and parked her vehicle, June Darby stepped out. "Hi, honey," she said to her son.

"Hey," Jack said as his mom made her way over and gave him a big hug.

"Finished my shift early at the hospital, so I thought I'd swing by," June said before looking over at Ratchet, "Good to see you again, doctor."

Ratchet barely turned around, but still gave her a nod.

The nurse then looked up at the two wheeler. "Arcee."

Arcee gave her a smile.

"So, where's Optimus?" June asked.

"On a scouting mission with Bumblebee," Ratchet said, "sorry to disappoint."

"And I wore heals and everything," she said teasingly.

"Mom!" Jack exclaimed.

Carrying two large boxes, Stormracer walked into the hangar and noticed their guest. "Oh, hey June!" she greeted.

"Hi Stormracer," June said, "you know you really shouldn't be carrying two boxes at once."

"Don't worry," the femme said, "I've done this a bunch of ti- eep!" Stormracer nearly dropped the boxes as she tripped, making everyone flinch. The femme stumbled but soon regained her balance. "I'm good! I'm good," she said.

Ratchet vented as he shook his helm. Just then he picked up something on the computer. "That's odd," he said, "this is an extremely unusual magnetic flux for any planet."

Soon Bulkhead entered the base and drove into the main hangar with Miko, Sierra, and Raf. The humans laughed as they hopped out before the big bot transformed.

"Did you feel the G's on that last turn?" Miko asked Sierra and Raf, "Bulkhead's an animal!"

The three then noticed Jack's mom was back, making their smiles disappear.

"Remember when this used to be a secret clubhouse?" Miko whispered to the other two.

Sierra sighed, but still gave June a friendly smile. "Hi, Mrs. Darby," she greeted.

"Hello again, Sierra," the older woman said.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Darby. We were wearing our seatbelts," Raf assured her.

"I'm sure you were, Rafael," June said. She looked at Miko. "Hey Miko. How's school going?"

"Why?" Miko asked as she got defensive, "what'd you hear?"

"Let's do this thing Jack," Arcee said to her human friend.

June looked at Jack. "But I just got here," she said, "I brought sandwiches."

"Mom!" Jack groaned, "look, I need to help Arcee test her upgrade tracking system."

"Well, just be careful," she said, not wanting him to go.

"There's nothing to be careful about," Arcee said to her as she and Jack walked away, "it's a routine diagnostic."

"Are you sure you need Jack for that?" June asked.

Arcee stopped in her tracks. Seeing an aggravated look on her face, both Stormracer and Bulkhead took a big step back as the two wheeler let out a vent.

"Bulkhead," Ratchet said, looking at the green bot, "I need you back in the field to investigate an odd magnetic disturbance."

"I'll go with!" Miko said as she rushed over.

"Whoa!" Bulkhead said, stopping her, "stay here, Miko."

Angry that she couldn't go, the girl made her way back over to the others.

"Why aren't you going with him?" June asked.

"Someone thinks its not safe," the exchange student said angrily.

"But it's safe for Jack to go with Arcee?" the nurse asked.

"Mom, totally different," Jack told her.

"Oh? How?"

Arcee was getting more annoyed. "Mother knows best, Jack," she said, "wait up, Bulkhead. I'm going with."

"Wha-" Jack groaned as he watched as his partner follow after Bulkhead. He looked at his mom and slightly frowned.

"What'd I say?" she asked.

Jack sighed as he made his way up the stairs to the platform, his mom following after along with Sierra and Raf. It wasn't long until someone asked the question.

"Where's Miko?" Raf asked, making everyone look around to see the girl was missing.

Jack looked at Sierra. "I thought it was your turn to keep an eye on her," he said.

"I thought it was Raf's turn," she said.

Ratchet groaned. "I'll notify Arcee and Bulkhead," he said.

"I'm sorry, what's going on?" June asked.

"Miko has this thing where she likes to follow Bulkhead on his missions," Sierra told her.

"Does she do this often?"

"Too often," Raf said.

"But Bulkhead usually has her sent back to base soon as he sees her," Jack said.

Soon as Ratchet contacted Arcee, she informed him she and Bulkhead were allowing the girl to remain with them during recon. Ratchet and Stormracer continued their work as the humans chatted away. After a while, they received a call from Bulkhead and Arcee.

"Ratchet," the green bot said over the intercom, "we have a situation."

Everyone listened to Bulkhead explaining what had happened, leading up to his and Arcee's current problem.

"You've been magnetized?" Ratchet asked in disbelief, "together?"

"They're inseparable," Miko said.

"And the device that did this is on its way to Megatron," Bulkhead said.

"A polarity gauntlet," the medic identified, "a deceptively simple, but diabolical creation."

"Just tell us how you can unhitch us, Ratchet," Arcee asked dryly.

"It may simply be a residual magnetic charge providing your current... attraction."

"They're not attracted to each other!" Miko said in annoyance.

Ratchet rolled his optics. "But I'm afraid retrieving the gauntlet may be our surest bet for reversing its effect," he said, "once Megatron gets his hands on the gauntlet..."

"He'll use it for a whole lot more than attaching notes and family photos to the fridge," Jack finished grimly.

"Jack, I'm not following," June said, not fully understanding.

"Madame," Ratchet said, looking at her, "we are forged of metal alloy. If Megatron could repel us with a flick of a switch, we might never again have another shot at him."

"Instant forcefield," Raf said.

"That, and he could use it to meld us all into a pile of scrap," Stormracer said, "either way, not good."

Ratchet looked at the computer. "The good news is the gauntlet hasn't traveled far. I would strongly advice pursuit."

"We can catch up faster on wheels," Bulkhead said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Arcee said, "and snap me in half?"

"Right," the green bot said.

"Sweet!" Miko said, "I'll take point."

"Not this time, kid," Arcee told her.

"What?!" the girl exclaimed angrily, "but you said-"

"That was recon," the two wheeler said, "this is war. I'm not risking your well-being just so you can hit your daily adrenaline quota. Ratchet, Miko needs a bridge."

"I got it," Stormracer said, making her way over to the groundbridge controls.

"You think Jack's mom is bad?!" Miko asked Arcee angrily with the commlink still on, "you sound just like her!"

Hearing that, June looked over at her son. "Is that such a bad thing?" she asked him.

Jack didn't know what to say as he let out a sigh. "I'm gonna go over here," he said as he walked away.

Miko angrily made her way through the groundbridge where she was greeted by the medical assistant.

"Look on the bright side," the femme said, "you got to see a bit of action today."

Miko only sighed as she made her way up onto the platform.

After a while, Stormracer noticed June sitting off to the side watching Jack talking to the others. Seeing she looked upset, the teal femme made her way over.

"You okay, June?" she asked.

The woman looked up at her. "Be honest with me, Stormracer. Am I being overprotective?"

Stormracer rubbed the back of her helm. "Weeell…" she said, not wanting to sound harsh about it, "a bit, yeah."

Looking more upset, June sighed. "I'm Jack's mother," she said, "it's my job to worry about his safety. Now he's hanging out with giant alien robots fighting a war and I'm suppose to not worry?"

Stormracer vented. "Listen June, I may not have any spark- I mean kids of my own, but I get it. We don't blame you for worrying. But, and please don't get mad me for saying this, but maybe you worry about your son a bit too much. Jack's a smart kid. And trust me June, Arcee can be protective when it comes to Jack. She is his guardian after all."

June was quiet as she thought on it.

After a while, Bulkhead and Arcee returned with the polarity gauntlet, and were thankfully no longer attached to each other. The wrecker handed Miko her phone back while Arcee handed Ratchet the gauntlet.

"Souvenir," Bulkhead said, "but..."

"We don't advice indoor use," Arcee finished.

Miko didn't like that. "Eww, they finish each other's sentences."

"Hey, Miko," her guardian said, pointing at his arm, "check it out. New battle scars."

The girl smiled as she took a picture with her phone.

"Arcee, hey," Jack said as he walked over to his guardian, only for his mom to stop him.

"Let the adults talk," she said before making her way over to the blue femme. "Arcee, I think I owe you an apology."

This surprised Arcee. "You do?" she asked.

"I worry. Especially when I feel like I can't control things which with a teenager is all the time. Jack and I have always been close, especially after his dad left and I guess its just hard to accept that all that's changing. I mean, I knew it would someday, but you're not quite the type of girl I thought Jack would be ditching me for."

Arcee smiled at her. "I think we've all been a little guilty with staying attached to the way things were."

June looked at the others and sighed. "Well, I guess I'll head home now."

Jack stopped her. "You can stay longer if you like. We don't mind."

"We don't?" Miko asked, only for her arm to get nudged by Sierra's elbow, "I mean, yeah we don't mind," she said as she frowned at the redhead.

June smiled at her son. "Well, I guess I can't eat all those sandwiches myself."

(Later)

Done with her work, Stormracer found herself talking to June. While they chatted, they both glanced over at Jack and Sierra who were talking to each other.

"So, what's the deal with those two?" June asked.

"Well, if you ask them, they'll claim to be just friends," Stormracer said, "buuuut..."

"It's that obvious?"

"Oh yeah."

"I see," the woman said as she looked at the two teenagers and chuckled. "They do look cute together." She looked back up at the femme. "Do you have a special man in your life?"

"Me?" Stormracer asked, "no. Maybe one day, but I'm in no hurry. Besides, now's not really the best time to start dating. You know, war and all."

"Well, when you do find someone, make sure its the right one. I learned that the hard way."

"Jack's dad?" the femme asked.

"Yep." June then smiled, "but, even though our marriage didn't work out, at least one good thing came out of it."

"What's that?"

"Jack."

Stormracer smiled as they both looked back at the kids. "You think you'll be okay with Jack being here?" she asked.

"I think so," the nurse said.

"Just remember he has all of us with him and the others. And you are always free to visit whenever you want."

June looked at her and smiled. "Thank you, Stormracer."

"Call me Storm," the assistant said, "everyone else does. Well, almost everyone. But you can call me Storm if you like."

June chuckled. "Alright, Storm. I'll try not to be so overprotective."

"And I'll start making more box trips when I work," the femme said.

"Deal."

And that was chapter 22! I hope you liked it. Next chapter is Rock Bottom! Until next time! God bless!