A/N: IMPORTANT! IF YOU ARE READING THIS AS IT COMES OUT PLEASE GO BACK AND READ THE LAST PART OF THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER AS SOME HAS BEEN ADDED TO IT SINCE I POSTED IT. THANK YOU!
Sorry for the all caps and bold, I wanted to make sure the first part of the note caught attention for those of you following along as this story is being posted. Initially I posted chapter 5 as just Shadebreaker's mission with Ratchet to fetch the Phase Shifter. And then I made the solid decision to write out the scenes with the Star Saber and Forge of Solus Prime and then upon writing them and sorting out exactly how they go, I realized I didn't have a way to drag them out for an entire chapter. It would've been way too short of one. And it would've felt weird to be on the beginning of this one. Out of place. So I went back and added them to the previous one, where those scenes made sense. I made that mistake again, where I looked at the word count and said "This chapter's long enough, I'll pick up the rest next chapter." and it ended up biting me in the butt. Oops. I'll eventually learn.
Chapter 6: Aftermath (if you skipped the author's note please read it this chapter)
Getting everyone back to base turned out a lot easier than expected. The discovery that Shadebreaker could open portals was going to be vastly useful until they got their Ground Bridge built and operational again. Assuming she agreed to transport them around on the regular and it didn't prove too much on her.
"You did well to recover the Immobilizer so we could unfreeze Bulkhead, Bumblebee," Optimus praised his scout, placing his hand on the Praxian's shoulder. "Do not worry about the loss of the Forge. I feel we do not need to immediately fear Megatron's possession of it."
Bumblebee whirled his appreciation of his words.
Optimus turned to take stock of his team. Ratchet was monitoring Bulkhead as the mech tested his mobility after being returned to normal while Arcee observed. Ratchet himself was sporting some healing injuries from a battle he'd been in.
Optimus frowned when he realized the absence of one of the team. He looked again at Bumblebee. "Where is Shadebreaker?"
Bumblebee shrugged, whirling quizzically.
"She slipped out while you were debriefing Bumblebee," Ratchet said, having heard him. "She's…having a hard time right now."
"What happened?" Arcee asked.
Ratchet paused, clearly weighing his words. "I can't say for certain of the trigger for her behavior," he said. "She hasn't said a word since she returned from wherever she disappeared to the first time she portalled. She answered some questions through writing, but I made her stop cause it was hurting her hands. I can tell you everything I saw and give you my hypothesis."
Optimus listened to Ratchet explain what happened in Manhattan with a solemn spark. The loss of human life saddened him greatly. It saddened him even more to hear the already quiet femme was falling more into herself just as she had been making progress to opening up.
"I believe she may be blaming herself for the death of the humans," Ratchet said softly. "Like she does Cliffjumper."
"She blames herself for Cliff?" Arcee asked. "But that wasn't her fault. I mean, even if what she said about knowing how he died in some other reality is true…how does that connect to what happened being her fault? I was there. She couldn't have moved any faster, especially given her condition. No one would've expected her to do more than stay alive in that scenario."
Ratchet sighed, looking frustrated. "That's what I told her," he said, sounding frustrated. "I think having the knowledge she does she feels a burden to prevent as many bad things from happening as she can, so each time one happens, she feels like she has failed. That's the impression I get, anyways. She's eager to make a difference and is grappling with the fact that for all of her knowledge there's only so much she can do."
"And what gives you that impression?" Bulkhead asked, rubbing his helm. He hadn't really talked to the new femme much so Optimus wasn't surprised he was confused by Ratchet's assumptions.
"She reminds me of Optimus in the early days of the war," Ratchet replied. "Always burdened with every decision, every life lost, pouring over every scrap of information."
"Optimus is still like that," Arcee said, lightly teasing.
"Difference is, Optimus has the experience, and the Matrix, to help shoulder those burdens," Ratchet said. "I'm worried Shadebreaker may break under them. Her muteness worries me. She was just starting to come out of her shell before our mission to Manhattan. This is why I didn't want her to go. I fear rushing into her first mission may have been too much for her."
Optimus listened to his team talk and considered their viewpoints and what her knew of their newest member. He had his own suspicions of what was troubling her. Not necessarily instead of Ratchet's theories, but on top of.
"Ratchet," Optimus said, breaking into a silence that had settled as the team contemplated what to do. "Did you tell Shadebreaker your discovery from when you tested her nanobots?"
Ratchet looked caught and he couldn't look him in the optic. "I-" he cut himself off. "Not yet, Optimus. I…wanted to find out more."
Optimus gave him a look that read clearly as "I'm disappointed in you." Then he turned. "I'm going to find Shadebreaker and talk to her," he said, not missing the way Ratchet flinched and looked down.
Optimus left the tent to the sounds of the team quzzing Ratchet about what he meant. The question had two purposes. One was to inform himself if Shadebreaker even knew where her portals may have come from. The other was to let Ratchet know the relation wasn't classified amongst their team. Everyone on their team currently were bots he knew could be trusted with this information and he knew Shadebreaker was going to need the support of these trusted bots.
Stepping out of the tent, Optimus looked around, but did not see Shadebreaker anywhere around. There were some humans gathered around outside the human tent, however, gathering some more things that were being moved to the parts of the human quarters that were completed. He moved toward them and they immediately took notice of his approach, coming to attention and saluting.
"At ease, soldiers," Optimus said, finding it strange not for the first time to be commanding such small beings. He crouched down to be more at their level. "Have any of you seen Shadebreaker?"
The soldiers all shared a look, questioning each other silently before one of them looked up at him and shrugged. "Sorry big man," he said. "Most of us just got here. We haven't seen any of you bots leave or enter your tent till you."
"I understand," Optimus said. "Thank you, for your time."
He stood back up and considered this. Then, he decided to take the easiest route and commed her.
.:Shadebreaker, where are you?:.
The reply came not in words, but a set of coordinates. Optimus recognized it immediately as the location of the bot designated beach. Moving away from the humans, he transformed and then drove off in the direction where he'd find the femme.
When Optimus came close to the beach, he transformed back in bipedal mode at the crest of the hill. He looked over at the beach to see if he could see Shadebreaker and there she was.
Her back was to him as she stared out at the water, standing pedes shoulder width apart with her arms wrapped behind her back, bandaged hands clasping her forearms just under where her wings connected to her chassis. Her wings were held low compared to their usual set, as were her shoulders. He could see where one of them was patched from a wound she'd sustained and he could see bandages peeking out from under her armor. Evidence, even from this angle, of the damage she had sustained protecting the humans from further loss.
He approached her, careful to make sure she would be able to sense him so she wouldn't be startled. His spark felt heavy at the way she shrank a little, as if expecting him to lay into her with his words, or, perhaps, with his fists—it was hard to tell.
"Shadebreaker," Optimus started as he took up a spot next to her, gazing out at the ocean with her.
She flinched at his voice and he realized if he drew it out the more she would suffer.
"You did well today," he said softly.
She hesitated, as if afraid if she looked at him he would take it back. Or maybe she was waiting for a but. When he said nothing more for a long moment she finally peeked up at him in perplexion. She had truly been waiting to hear him chew her out. Ratchet was right, then. She blamed herself for the humans. And she expected him to blame her as well.
"If it were not for your quick action, we would've lost more than we did today," Optimus replied. "You were willing to sacrifice your well-being to keep the humans safe and, from my understanding, without you, we may be down our medic as well."
Shadebreaker's mouth had fallen open and her uncovered optics—Optimus assumed her visor needed repairs—were wide and perplexed. They darted from one side to another rapidly as she processed his words and her thoughts in rapid succession. He gave her time, seeing that despite how much weight she'd given his words thus far she was still having a hard time.
"But…without me…none of them would've been in danger in the first place," Shadebreaker said quietly.
Optimus's spark hurt for her at those words. He knew that feeling all too well. And he knew why she felt that way. She had argued for the humans' right to choose to join the fight for their own planet. She was the carrier of the information that led the Decepticons to those tunnels. She was the one who asked to be put on that mission so a third relic would not end up in Decepticons' hands as a "freebie" as one of the humans had put it. And it proved Ratchet right even more, about just how much she was like how he was at the start of the war. Taking responsibility for that which was not his fault.
"Did you start this war, Shadebreaker?" Optimus asked, deciding to take a page out of Ratchet's book.
Shadebreaker shuddered and Optimus could see tears welling up in her optics before she forcefully turned her face away from him, looking down at where the waves met the sand.
Optimus did not press her for an answer. He could see she was struggling to accept that she didn't need to shoulder responsibility for what was lost simply because she had argued for the humans' right to choose. Simply for the fact that her existence in this reality had put everyone at risk because the Decepticons had gotten ahold of her information.
Shadebreaker closed her optics and brought her arms around to wrap around her midsection in front her. As if to guard herself from her emotional turmoil within. Or from the turmoil without. "I certainly didn't help it stop." She said bitterly.
"Shadebreaker," Optimus said. "If I have not been able to stop it in millenia, why would you be able to stop it in a few short months?"
"I don't know," Shadebreaker said forcefully, yet somehow still quietly. Optimus got the impression getting any sound out at all was an active struggle for her, but because he was Prime she felt she had to. "I don't know Optimus. I have all this information. I should be able to do something with it." Her voice was angry now, despite the quietness. "But because the 'Cons got it first all I can do is damage control and it's not fair." She put the heels of her palms against her optics as if it would stop the flow of tears now flooding from her optics. "I lost everything and I can't even use my knowledge to help you stop a fucking war that could've been avoided if Megatron wasn't such a fragging idiot that he couldn't accept not being the one on top. All I can do is try to mitigate as much bad as I can and I can't even do that right cause every time I'm in a battle scenario someone dies."
The crux of the matter. She'd confided in Ratchet that she felt like everytime she turned around she was losing. This must feel like a continuation of that, then. She arrived. She saw a chance dangle in front of her to save someone she knew would die, only for that chance to be ripped from her immediately. Then she argued for the humans a choice. And then she watched humans die as a result of that choice without her being able to stop it. And she almost watched Ratchet die. From what Ratchet said, she had gone pretty feral on Barricade and it had taken quite a bit of soothing tones to calm her out of that state.
"You saved Ratchet," Optimus reminded her. "Without you, he would be offline."
"Without me, he wouldn't have been on that mission," Shadebreaker argued.
Optimus resisted the urge to grind his teeth. Where was the Shadebreaker who took his words seriously? Why was she so determined to dismiss him? He watched her as she shuddered and sobbed silently, rubbing at her optics angrily. Then it hit him that he had not seen her cry the whole time she'd been here. Despite everything she'd been through, this was the first time he'd seen her cry and she was still obviously fighting it and just couldn't anymore. Not after having talked to him. She was fighting him so hard because she was so deep in grief she was incapable of listening to him. It was grief for the lost humans piled upon the grief she had not yet alllowed herself to feel over what she had already lost.
Optimus reached out a hand and didn't stop despite how she recoiled at the movement. His spark hurt to know she expected pain from him, but he had to show her she was safe. And he couldn't do that if he left her like this, if he abandoned her. Some bots required him to respect that recoil, but he could feel the Matrix guiding him to push forward. His hand made contact with her shoulder and her reaction took a turn for the opposite. Instead of recoiling away, she practically fell into him, seeking comfort as a sparkling would from their creator after a hard day.
He was surprised by this, but he couldn't say he was displeased. Not very many bots were comfortable actively seeking out physical touch from him, he reflected as he wrapped his arms around her as he would Bumblebee when the mech needed comfort. In fact, Bumblebee, sweet mech that he was, might be the only bot brave enough to get a hug from Optimus without so much as a word without first being invited in for one. He somehow doubted Shadebreaker would normally just hug him on impulse, but she was in a very vulnerable state at the moment and a hug is what she needed.
"Ssshhh," Optimus soothed, rubbing her arms gently as she sobbed.
It was then he noticed the texture from scratches on her arms. They were superficial, barely marking the armor, but they were fresh based off the fact some of her paint fell away as he rubbed her arms. His spark hurt at this revelation. He didn't know if she'd intentionally done it or if it was a nervous habit, but it was something he'd have to talk to her about.
He stood there, holding her and saying soothing things for sometime, however. The harder conversations could wait until she'd gotten her grief out. It was long overdue for her to do so and he felt he had failed her for not seeing sooner that she had not been allowing herself to feel it for so long. He sent a quick reply when Ratchet sent a worried message his way that he was with Shadebreaker and they were working through it.
Eventually, the sobs subsided and Shadebreaker shifted. Optimus loosened his hold on her as she moved away for a moment, looking a bit perplexed. She looked up at him cautiously and he looked back with a gentle, understanding look.
"Sorry," she apologized, rubbing one last tear from her optic as she moved away.
"Don't be," Optimus said, letting his arms fall to his sides.
She looked frustrated. "I am, though," she said. "You're Prime. You got more important things to do than provide comfort for a screw up like me."
"Is that what you think about yourself?" Optimus asked.
Shadebreaker opened her mouth and for a moment Optimus thought she about to argue or make a snide remark. That's what her expression said. But it was only a moment before that expression fell and she sighed, looking down. "I guess," she said, looking like she was just noticing. "I thought I'd gotten past it…but I guess what happened must've dragged those feelings back." She rubbed her arms, lightly scratching for half a moment before stopping herself and just holding her arm instead.
"I can assure you that you are not," Optimus said. "Like I said, Ratchet would be offline if not for you. A screw up, as you put it, would not have been able to save him. Nor would a screw up have been able to stop that missile from taking more human lives than the first one did. Ratchet tells me you knew where Howlback was before anyone else."
"I heard her," Shadebreaker said quietly, shrugging slightly. "Faintly. But I did. I've gathered over the time I've been here my hearing is more sensitive than the rest of yours. It's a little weird. I'm not used to being the one with sensitive hearing." She gave him a slightly amused smile, but he could tell it was covering her pain.
Optimus nodded. "Regardless, you acted on that input well," he told her, reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Do not be so consumed with failures that you miss your victories."
Shadebreaker looked away again, thinking and Optimus could see that she was weighing his words with a clearer helm this time. Then she sighed. "I suppose you are right," she said. Then she sighed, shaking her helm and running a hand over her face. "Who am I kidding? You're Optimus. You're right 99.9% of the time."
Optimus blinked. If only. He thought to himself.
Shadebreaker looked out at the ocean and then peeked up at him. "You…you really aren't mad at me?"
Optimus blinked at her.
"Or disappointed?" Shadebreaker asked. She flinched a little, wings shifting. "You're not just waiting for me to be ok enough that you think I can handle a lecture?"
Optimus blinked again. "Do you…think you need a lecture?"
Shadebreaker shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I convinced you to let the humans fight with us. Despite knowing you didn't like it, I still argued for it. And, as a result, humans died. And…it's not like I didn't know it was a possibility. Like….this is war. Death happens." Saying that seemed to physically hurt her to her core and she rubbed her chest over her spark.
"But, like," she continued. "I suppose it's different knowing and experiencing. Which I should've known already, but…yeah…but mainly, I expected a lecture about the value of human lives or something, about how reckless and naive it had been to argue for their involvement."
Optimus considered this for a long time. He watched her while he thought and noticed she looked anxious and uncomfortable. It almost reminded him of Starscream when he was cowering under Megatron, except she wasn't quite cowering away from him. He didn't like the comparison all the same.
"Shadebreaker," he said and she flinched again, though not as strongly as before. "Is a lecture all you are expecting?" He kept his tone gentle, careful.
Her optics widened slightly and she took a step away from him as if by asking he'd unlocked a new fear. He felt like kicking himself. "I- yes?"
Optimus made a calming motion with his hand. "I'm not going to hurt you," he told her. He held his hands out to her, palm up and then motioned her back. "You just seem so frightened I needed to know."
Shadebreaker looked at his face, locking onto his optics and searching them. She stepped back toward him, arms in front of her as if guarding. "I…struggle with lectures," she said quietly. "They've been…preludes to traumatic things in the past. So I guess it's not all I was expecting ultimately, just all in the moment."
"I understand," Optimus said. "But know you are safe here and if I ever do need to give you a lecture, it will not be a prelude to worse. You will always be treated with respect and dignity."
Shadebreaker teared up again and she wiped some tears away.
"As for if you need a lecture now," he continued. "I do not believe so. You argued out of a good place. You sympathize with the humans because Earth is your home, too. You value freedom and you felt by denying them the ability to get involved I was denying them their freedom to choose. I could've chosen not to listen to your arguments."
"Why didn't you?" Shadebreaker asked, sounding sad, but also curious.
"In part because we needed human help on at least one of the artifacts that I knew of," Optimus replied. "But also because I realized you were right. I thought about how we Autobots would've felt if another, larger race had arrived on Cybertron and denied us the opportunity to protect ourselves in the same scenario, had we been used to having freedom. And I concluded that we could be unintentionally creating some ill-will among some of the humans by denying them that choice and that could end up 'biting us in the butt someday' as you put it."
Shadebreaker half grinned at that, though the amusement didn't quite reach her optics. "Well, I guess I have a better way with words than I thought," she said. Then her grin fell and she sighed. "Still, though…I can't get those lives back. I feel like I failed them."
"Such are the realities of war," Optimus said. "And command. I fear there will be a great many more casualties before this is over."
"Gross," Shadebreaker said, rubbing her arm. She didn't scratch this time.
Optimus reached out slowly, carefully taking her arm into his hand and lifting it. He held it up with one hand and ran the other over a scratch mark. "Tell me about this."
Shadebreaker flinched, but sighed. "I, um," she said, looking embarrassed. "I might've been a little…emotional…and sometimes when I'm highly emotional I scratch a little." Her wings shifted at his hard stare. "Not with the intention to hurt myself or anything like that. I've only ever left marks before when it was scratching an itch. I just…didn't realize…" She held her free hand up and Optimus realized what she meant.
"The edges of your digits are sharper than you expected," he finished.
Shadebreaker nodded. "As a human, the use of my nails was just a touch more solid of a feeling than my fingertips or I would just use pressure with my fingertips, but again, I would never leave marks. It was about the pressure, not pain. I slept with a weighted blanket a lot if I slept alone, especially if there were no animals either. Just a little pressure to keep focused on the present or to keep grounded or whatever the present need is. I won't tell you I've never been tempted, but I've done my darnedest to avoid going that route for coping. I've seen enough lives be self-destructed to know the dangers of that door."
Optimus nodded in understanding. "If this is too much for you," he said. "If the burden of war and death is too much, I can assign you as Ratchet's apprentice and you won't have to go on any missions. Or, if you don't want to be a medic, we can find something else for you."
Shadebreaker shook her helm. "I don't want to be relegated to the sidelines, Optimus," she said. "This is just new to me and I already had a bunch going on that I wasn't allowing myself to process. Ratchet was right. It was too fast for a first mission. Just…well. We're here now. In the end, we got the Phase Shifter. So success, I guess." She shrugged. "Not sidelined, but I do think training is in order. I was flying by the seat of my pants, as the humans say. I'm sure eventually my knack for surviving things that should kill me is gonna stop just working. Can't just rely on luck forever."
"Indeed," Optimus agreed. "I will speak to the others. For now, there's a very worried medic waiting for us to return. And there's more conversation to be had. There's some information that you should know."
Shadebreaker gave him a curious look at that, even as they both moved away from the water. "Can I ask? Or are we waiting until we're back with the others?"
"We will wait," Optimus replied.
Shadebreaker shifted her qi gs uncertainly. She looked like she might cry again for a moment before she gusted air through her systems. Optimus did not know what she thought she had that had brought on the near tears, but she clearly pushed it to the side, dismissing it. "Ok," she said. "I'm trusting you a lot, you know?"
"I know," Optimus said. He reached over and rubbed her shoulder. "And I hope you will see that that trust is not misplaced."
"I do as well," Shadebreaker said quietly.
They made their way back to the Autobot tent in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable one, however. Optimus could sense that their talk had brought some level of peace back to Shadebreaker. Her volume had come back to a normal level by her last sentence and she was carrying herself with more confidence again. She looked less withdrawn as they walked and more observant of their surroundings, listening to the sounds of nature and watching as the island birds flew overhead. Occasionally she would wave at a human who called out to them as they walked, greeting a couple by name that must've been on the mission with her.
The others all looked up when they entered the tent and Optimus got the feeling they all released a held breath when they saw Shadebreaker didn't appear down in the dumps anymore.
"Welcome back," Arcee said as they approached. "Nice job getting the Phase Shifter." She nudged Shadebreaker with her shoulder.
"Oh, you know," Shadebreaker said, making a motion with her hand. She opened her mouth and then seemed to forget what she was gonna say. So she shrugged. "Mission success?"
Arcee chuckled at the fact she had obviously tried to act with bravado but was not used to such an act.
"I see you're speaking again," Ratchet said, voice filled with relief. He looked a bit hesitant, as if bringing it up might make her stop again.
Shadebreaker's smile wavered slightly, but didn't quite go away. "Yeah," she rubbed her arm a bit. "Optimus and I talked. It helped. I'm still not feeling great, but I'll be ok. I knew things were going to be rough when I signed on. It's war, after all. Knowing and experiencing are just two different ball games. It's gonna be some adjusting. And some grace with myself I was not giving myself."
Arcee reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "No one blames you," she said. "So don't blame yourself."
Shadebreaker placed a hand over Arcee's and gusted air through her systems, closing her optics. She was silent for a moment as if soaking in her words. "Thank you, Arcee. I think I really needed to hear that from you."
"I know," Arcee said.
She looked up at Optimus and he gave her a nod. It was as they had suspected and Arcee extending the same words he had gave Shadebreaker permission to stop blaming herself for Cliffjumper. It was a step in the right direction.
"Now, there's something you should know about yourself," Optimus said. "Ratchet."
Shadebreaker shifted her wings curiously and turned to look at the medic as he sighed. Then Ratchet went on to explain the same thing he had told Optimus that day after her first awakening, when she had first warned them the Decepticons might know their location.
"I didn't tell you before now, because I wanted more information first," Ratchet said with a sigh. "I was hoping something would come along to tell us something."
"What could've come along?" Shadebreaker asked, a slight bite in her tone. Then she seemed to realize that she reacted in anger and stopped, closing her optics and gusting air. "Sorry, I…shouldn't snap." She shook her helm. "I get it, I just…" She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "You agreed to tell me and then didn't. That sorta thing is…triggering…it brings up feelings related to S-" She cut herself off before saying a name and looked highly frustrated. "Damn it. Whatever. I just….don't give me excuses, Ratchet. Just….don't keep things from me if you guys agree I should know cause it could affect me in ways I should have a say in again? Please?" Her wings lowered and her optics were misty with emotion. There was a lot of pain and hurt in her optics in that moment. She was practically begging for honesty from him in the future and it spoke to how many times she must've been lied to in the past.
Ratchet looked very regretful. "I'm sorry, Shadebreaker," he said. "Truly. I didn't keep it from you to hurt you. I hope you know that. And I promise I will not do such a thing again."
Shadebreaker stared at him, optics searching and troubled. Optimus could sense the turmoil within and how it calmed a little when Arcee placed a hand on her arm again. She sighed.
"Ok, Ratchet," Shadebreaker finally said, relenting. "I forgive you."
Ratchet sighed, seeing easily that he had broken some of the trust he had built with her. Her walls were back up, but Optimus believed they would come down again. He knew Ratchet would not repeat this mistake seeing how much it affected her.
"Is this…relation to Vector Prime…the reason I have these….portals?" Shadebreaker asked, looking at her hands, likely remembering opening them to transport them all.
"It's very likely," Ratchet replied. "While there are outlier Cybertronians with special powers, none have had such powers to open portals except Vector Prime. And, if I had to hazard a guess, the relation is likely daughter rather than sister. He would've passed the power onto you. Though, I suppose sister would still make sense, I would've expected you to be among the number of the Thirteen if you were a sister."
"And you really don't think it has to do with the nanobots? The Thirteen are mysterious," Shadebreaker pointed out. "Such has been used as a plot point by fanfiction writers for years."
Optimus somehow got the impression she was thinking of one writer in particular when she said that. He wasn't sure why, though.
"Very sure," Ratchet said dryly. "If it would make you feel better, I could run some test with my energon."
Shadebreaker waved her hands in front of her. "No, no," she said. "No turning yourself into a test subject." She pointed a stern finger at him. "Ever. Period. Nada. Capice?"
Ratchet raised an optic ridge at her urgency about it while Optimus suppressed a chuckle and the other bots did chuckle about it.
"Okaayyy," Ratchet said uncertainly, not sure where this weird overprotective behavior had come from suddenly. It was clear she wasn't just talking about running tests on his energon, but he had no idea what else she could be referring to.
Shadebreaker sighed, rubbing her forehead not for the first time in this conversation. "So many questions this brings up," she said. "Starting with, but not limited to, is the relation because of what Shockwave did. And if not, then a slew of other questions."
"Answers we may never know," Arcee said sympathetically.
"The information hoarder in me trembles in horror at the very thought," Shadebreaker said dryly, clearly making a joke of it to Optimus and Ratchet, but his bots weren't as familiar with her dry humor yet.
Arcee pat her arm sympathetically, despite not fully understanding her words. Bumblebee whirled in empathy for her and gave her a hug while Bulkhead looked mildly confused, but expressed support as well.
Shadebreaker looked mildly amused at their reactions, but also touched and appreciative. She returned Bumblebee's hug gently, lightly touched Arcee's arm in return with a grateful look and gave Bulkhead a wide smile that almost turned into a grin when his own smile widened. She looked a little awkward afterward, as if she wasn't used to so much positive attention being on her, or maybe any attention at all, but she didn't retreat when Bumblebee invited her to play videogames with him and Raf, albeit she had to have Bulkhead translate for her.
"Well, that didn't go so badly," Ratchet said as they watched the four bots leave the tent to go hang out with the human children for a little while before getting back to work. "And Shade's even finally doing something besides work."
"Indeed, Ratchet," Optimus said.
Then Ratchet sighed. "I just hope I can repair her trust with me," he said. "I really messed up there."
Optimus placed a hand on his shoulder. "I believe she will trust you again, old friend." He told him. "For I do not believe you will repeat your actions that broke it today."
"No," Ratchet agreed. "I won't."