Chapter 4 – The Spill
Monday afternoon 3:00 pm…
The school day seemed extra-long than usual and it was difficult for three students of the Jasper County School to keep their minds on their books. All they could think about was what awaited in a certain Autobot bunker. From his seat in math class, Jack could see Miko continuously doodle little sketches of what appeared to be a roly-poly baby robot in every margin of her notebook. After the school bell went off, the two along with Rafael wasted no time in rushing through the doors to their bikes and were soon peddling as fast as tires could go down the street. As they had promised, they kept a sharp eye out for any possible unfriendly vehicles in the area; but the trio arrived safe and sound at Jack's house without a trace of trouble and hastily stashed their bikes in the garage.
Miko was literally bouncing up and down. "I thought class would NEVER end!"
"I'm surprised. It's actually one of those rare occasions where you didn't get detention," Jack teased as he closed the garage door, shutting them away from any prying eyes outside.
Miko gave him a face. "Ha ha. Very funny."
The garage door leading into the house opened and June Darby stepped out with a smile. "Hey kids. How's school?"
"Hey Mom," Jack greeted back. "It was good. We're about to leave again though."
June noted the shut up garage. "Going to go see the sparklings?" Her son had told her all about it the night before.
"Yes!" Miko squeaked.
Jack nodded. "Also to see if Optimus has been able to get any more information on the relic so we can turn them back into full-size again."
The Japanese girl rested a hand on her jutted hip. "You can worry about that doohickey all you want, but while this lasts I am going to enjoy every second of it! I can't wait to see baby Bulkhead again! He's the cutest thing ever!"
There was a soft motherly laugh. "Well if they're that cute I may have to come see them for myself sometime. And tell Optimus that if he needs any motherly advice to just give me a call. After all, I do know a thing or two about raising kids." June playfully ruffled the black hair of the teenage boy beside her.
"Ah Mom," Jack moaned, but a slight smile on his pink blushed face. "I'm sure Optimus is handling it just fine."
"Mm hm," June hummed. "Well you tell him anyway."
"We will, Mrs. Darby," Rafael confirmed.
Jack opened his phone and dialed a special number. It rang … and rang …
"Uh, isn't he answering?" Rafael asked.
"Not yet." Another dial tone.
Miko's hazel eyes turned anxious. "Do you think something could be wrong?"
June held up a palm, quite unconcerned. "Just wait a moment. I'd say right about … now."
There was a click and they could hear a deep muffled voice answer.
"Hey Optimus. It's Jack," the teen greeted, side glancing inquiringly at his mother who just stood smiling with arms folded. "Yeah. We're ready to come over now … Okay. We'll be ready." He hung up. "Optimus said he's opening the ground bridge for us now."
Miko raised a thin brow as she turned to the adult. "How did you get that so perfectly timed?"
June gave the girl a sly wink. "Like I said; I know a thing or two." She gave a wave as she went back into the house. "You kids have a good time and be sure to help out if you can."
"We will!" Miko exclaimed.
Seconds later a swirl of green hues appeared in the middle of the garage, making the dim room glow in shades of emerald. The portal opened and the three walked in, still carrying their school backpacks.
"Wonder what kind of wreak we'll find the place in," Miko joked.
Jack grinned. "Well, we're about to find out, but I'm sure it won't be that bad."
Seconds later the tunnel of swirling green gave way and they stepped into the bunker. They all stopped short, jaws dropped.
Miko had to blink twice to make sure her eyes weren't messed up. "Woah! What machine shop blew up in here?"
"Wreak" seamed an understatement. It was the perfect picture of chaos. The "toys" were scattered everywhere along with rocks and four tires (there was a story to the extra two). The homemade bottles lay about as if they had been carelessly tossed and left there. One's lid was off and a trail of the blue liquid led from the overturned container to a smeared puddle of splattered energon. The smaller workspace in the med bay was tipped over and everything that had been on it strewn in with the mix, including three semi-large metal boxes that were overturned and open. But that wasn't the big part. Covering the entire scene was a sea of thousands of lug nuts spread in every direction. Apparently they had been the contents of the now empty boxes that had fallen with the workspace. The floor was nearly unseen in some areas they were layered so thick. The four sparklings sat in the middle of the whole mess, picking up the nuts and tossing them into the air like confetti and laughing hysterically at the clattering noise they made upon their descent, completely oblivious to the chaos around them.
Behind the frozen humans, the ground bridge closed and Optimus turned from the control panel. He just viewed the stunned expressions without a word, apparently waiting for them to make the first move.
Miko was the first to break the awkward moment. "I was about to ask how the botsitting was going, but …" she didn't know whether to be horrified or burst out laughing, "I think I got my answer."
"What the heck happened?" Jack asked as he nearly slipped on lug nuts as the three came in further.
"A few of Ratchet's fasteners were spilled," Optimus answered shortly.
Miko just gawked. "That is SOOO an understatement! There must be millions of 'em!"
"I don't think there's that many," Rafael said, though his tone suggested he too didn't think that was too far off from how it looked.
Jack looked up at the tall mech. "Uh, maybe this is a bad time to ask, but have you found out anything about how the relic works?"
The Prime's helm shook three times. "Not anything that will assist us at the moment. Its internal mechanisms are more complex than anything I have encountered before. And …" a glance in the sparklings' direction, "I have not attained much time to study it."
"I can believe that," Jack said as he took in the scene. "Well, I guess the first thing we should do is clean up this mess."
"Awww!" Miko whined with a huff. "I wanted to play with Bulkhead!"
Jack leaned close with a frown as he whispered. "Hey! It's not easy taking care of four babies by yourself. So let's give him a break and help out."
"Alright, alright," Miko muttered and stood straight as she put on a visibly fake smile. "Of course! I'd love to clean up hundreds of bolts all day!"
Jack face palmed.
"Actually they're lug nuts," Rafael corrected. "It's a specific type of nut to secure a wheel onto a vehicle."
Miko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever." Shoulders slumped as she sulked at the impending task before her.
Jack carefully walked across the hazardous floor. "We'll just put out packs away and then we'll help clean this up."
Optimus gave a nod and waited patiently.
The kids hurried up the platform steps and took their backpacks off and set them on the couch there. Rafael noticed the fire extinguisher sitting in the corner, and its punctured end. He pointed. "What happened there?"
"A … minor difficulty." They all noticed the blue optics flicker towards the little green sparkling.
Miko snickered. "That's gotta be a good story. Um…" she was at the railing near the back of the platform and pointed to the back wall where the blankets that had been washed the night before still hung over the upright paneling. "Why is there literally a clothesline back here?"
"Another difficulty," answered.
"Oo, that one must'a been worse," the Japanese girl calculated. "It wasn't even labeled 'minor'."
Jack noticed something else. "Why are the tubs out? I thought we put them away yesterday." After cleaning the bedding, Optimus hadn't put the tubs he'd used back where they had been before.
"More difficulties."
"Ooo! Even worse! Now it's more than one difficulty!" Miko's curiosity was about to burst. "Okay! I can't stand it anymore! I have to know everything right now before I do any kind of work!" She rushed to the platform's edge nearest the Prime, leaning on the railing as she looked expectantly at him with sparkling eyes. "C'mon! Everything is pointing towards a great story here! I know it!"
A strange expression crossed the mech's faceplates. "It has been, as your human saying goes: A long night."
The boys joined Miko, who was wiggling in excitement; their curiosity also aroused. "So exactly what has happened since we left? And," Jack gestured to the wreak of a bunker, "how did all this happen?"
"Situations escalated rather … quickly." Optimus began telling the whole story play by play; from the first tiff over the ball, all the way to the reason for the blankets still hanging in back. "By the time I had finished that task and put the bunker in order the sparklings had woken wanting more nourishment…"
…
That morning 8:30 am…
He was debating whether to take a short recharge or use the time to continue the scans that were still paused on the computer's monitors. Wailing cries from down the hall at that moment decided for him.
"Apparently it shall be neither," Optimus said aloud and went to collect the sparklings.
He brought them back into the main room and filled the bottles again. As they began their meal Optimus took advantage of the opportunity and went to his station. He had only just resumed the scan when a light tapping bumped his tread. Bumblebee was trying to crawl atop while clutching his bottle in one arm. He slid back down in another failed attempt and looked up with large sad eyes. Little digits reached up, begging with tiny grabbing motions. Optimus felt the tug in his spark at the picture and lowered a servo.
"Very well. If it will assist you to eat."
Chirping happily, Bumblebee quickly climbed in and was soon snuggled against the red chest plates, suckling contentedly, listening to the faint thrumming of the Primes spark. Optimus continued to work with his one free servo and it was surprising how the handicap didn't slow his pace. After his years as a clerk he was skilled at being fast with one servo as he would have often been holding datapads in the other. Through his thoughts he could hear the soft suckles and tiny noises. It was strange how it was difficult to keep focus. He could almost feel the sparkling's gaze as it ate, and he kept wanting to look down at the little one in his arm.
He did have to pause his work once to fill the bottles before the sparklings had had their contented fill. It seemed two refills was their limit and Optimus had calculated that held them for about four hours or less. Noting this, he had mentally begun making a general schedule so he could anticipate when they would be wanting to eat. When they had finished, they immediately scampered to the tub where their "toys" were stored and Bumblebee wanted down with a little whine so he could join them. The emptied bottles had been abandoned on the floor and Optimus rinsed them out before putting them away, taking a moment when done to observe how it had merely been a matter of minutes and already every toy and rock was scattered about. The Prime gave a slight ex-vent when he remembered how orderly the bunker had been as he returned to his station.
Surprisingly for a long while all was peaceful with the only sounds being of the sparklings playing with giggles and chirps. Optimus was vigilant about keeping a closer optic on them this time, and it was a good thing too as more than once had to chase after Bumblebee who decided to crawl down the storage hall again. Unfortunately, good things don't last. A while later he had to break up another tiff between Ratchet and Arcee when they began debating loudly over ownership of one of the tires as Bulkhead had clearly claimed the other as his. Optimus's efforts to control the situation were less than effective, but he managed to appease them by bringing out two more tires so each could have their own if they desired. Ratchet accepted this and the squabble ended.
Peace reined again until the basic instinct of all young children began to take precedence – curiosity. They wanted to explore and look around the large interesting base, to check every nook and cranny; and Optimus was kept incredibly busy the rest of the morning just trying to keep them all contained. No sooner would he bring one back when two more would be crawling off with optics wide and wandering. They thought it was funny, giggling with glee when the Prime was forced to chase them down. By the time 1200 hours finally ticked around the sparklings' tanks were again empty and another feeding ensued. Optimus noticed their optic lids becoming heavy and put them back in their beds straight afterwards for a recharge nap – after emptying their disposal chambers (no way was he making that mistake again). During the next two hours of blessed silence he got a reasonable amount of work done. He was beginning to understand the structure of the relic, but as to how it actually worked was still a mystery. The next step was deciphering the old Cybertronian dialect covering its eon worn surface.
He hadn't gotten far before quiet time was up and calling whines announced the sparklings were ready to play again. But as before they were more interested in exploring then anything and again the game of chase continued, and a few times Bumblebee got a good distance down the storage hall before the mech could catch him.
It was nearly three o'clock and the sparklings were just finishing up their second helpings of energon of a mid-day snack. Optimus keep a close eye on them as he squeezed in a few minutes of research. Bulkhead was still sucking down the last bit of his meal, but the others had finished and were playing happily together for a change. Everything was going so smoothly until somehow Bulkhead, with his wreaker baby strength, managed to pry the lid off his bottle when the Prime wasn't looking and a puddle of blue splashed on the floor. The green mech giggled as he thought it was all very funny and tossed the empty container. It rolled a few feet, leaving a dripping trail of energon behind. Optimus wasn't even really surprised, expression not even shifting as it was all becoming rather normal. He simply came over and set Bulkhead aside so he wouldn't get into the spill. He was about to find the rag blanket he now used to clean anything up when a spot of yellow disappearing down the storage hall caught his attention. He hesitated as he eyed the spill a moment before going after Bumblebee and hoped the other sparklings would leave it alone until he came back.
Optimus had just scooped up the runaway when a clatter sounded back down the hall followed by a long wail. But this wail was different, it wasn't angry; it was of pain. With a sudden cydrenaline rush, he quickly hurried back to find quite the scene. Ratchet was on all fours on top of his own workspace in the med bay, looking down over the edge (a bit too close for comfort). Bulkhead sat straight below, a little servo clutched against his helm as he wailed long and loud. Beside him lay one of Ratchet's tools. Arcee was just watching the whole thing with a questioning violet gaze.
It only took an astrosecond to figure what had happened. Ratchet had managed to climb the few small crates stacked next to the workspace to get on top and had proceeded to knock the tool off and it had landed on the green mech below (whether it was on accident or on purpose was unclear). A strange protective sensation surged through Optimus's circuits as Ratchet teetered on the edge. In one swift smooth movement, he set Bumblebee back in his play tire before snatching up the orange and white sparkling from his perilous location. Letting out a vent of relief, he set the sparkling on the floor.
"It is too hazardous to be up there. It is safest on the ground for you."
With Ratchet safe he turned his attention to the green sparkling still crying his little spark out, his helm still hurting. A wave of sympathy came over the huge mech, and Optimus caringly took the sparkling against his chest. Bulkhead cuddled against the plating, seeking comfort as his bawling continued. As if some kind of programming had suddenly clicked on, Optimus began to very subtly shift his weight from one tread to the other, swaying back and forth. He didn't even realize he'd done it until reminiscing about it much later.
"There now little one. It is alright," the baritone crooned as he inspected where the tool had struck. "As I expected. There is no real damage and the pain will cease soon. Easy now, there is no need for tears." A large digit wiped away the trails of lubricant from the little faceplate. Hearing the reassuring voice, the cries calmed to little hiccupping sobs. Blue optics cracked opened to pear up questioningly with a sniffle, and the Prime gave a kind smile. "There you see? You are safe and all is well." He rubbed the tip of a digit against the little one's mid-section which brought forth a small giggle. Bulkhead began to forget the ache as the sensation tickled his sensitive circuits and a smile broke through the tears with a twittering whirr.
Optimus saw Ratchet poking curiously as the tool still on the ground and picked it up. He noted that the fall had broken it as he set it the back on the workspace. "I'm sure you needed that." The faintest hint of a smirk shone as he glanced at the moody sparkling who was still sulking about being taken from his perch.
As usual, he noticed a color was missing and quickly scanned to see the femme disappearing down the tunnel entrance. Still carrying Bulkhead who was playing with the mech's thumb digit, Optimus went to fetch her back, making a mental note that the next tasks on the agenda would be to clean up Bulkheads energon spill and gather up the other bottles that had been left on the floor. Upon his return though, now carrying both sparkling tucked in one arm, he stopped short at the sight that met his optics. Bumblebee, having seen Ratchet before, had decided he too wanted to be atop the compelling "mountain" and was on top of the workspace, balancing on wobbly legs dangerously close to the edge as he tried to peer into three stacked boxes set to one side. Ratchet sat off to one side on the floor watching.
"Bee!" Optimus gasped and unintentionally startled the yellow sparkling.
Bumblebee staggered and his treads slipped off the edge. As he began to fall his little servos grabbed the corner of the workspace and clamped there as he dangled from the edge. The sudden weight shift pulling down the heavy side with the boxes caused the whole workspace to begin to tip over. With a speed only possible with the cydrenaline rush that had just burst through his circuits, Optimus bolted forward. But he couldn't catch both as he still carried Bulkhead and Arcee in his other arm; it was either Bumblebee or the workstation. He grabbed the former in a cutting-it-close rescue as the workspace toppled. The large mech winced slightly as the corner banged into the shin of his leg before crashing to the ground. The three boxes smashed against hard concrete and the lids burst open – and thousands of lug nuts went flying in all directions. They spread out like a rolling wave with an awful jingling loud enough to make the audials ring. The spill of energon that hadn't been cleaned up yet became an even larger streak of blue as the bottles were swept up and carried off. Though it seemed longer than the few astroseconds it actually lasted, the chinking of rolling metal finally began to dissipate as the wave came to its end – and a very strange silence descended upon the bunker.
Still holding two bewildered sparklings in one arm and Bumblebee perched on his other servo, Optimus just stared in disbelief, mouth slightly agape. Below, Ratchet still sat with his usual judging expression, looking from the bunker's new carpeting to the Prime and back again. He crawled forward, lug nuts lightly tinkling the as he made his way through them. He batted a servo curiously at them and looked delighted with the jingling sound they made. The mech plopped down and began scooping up as many as he could and tossing them into the air. Seeing this, the sparklings still in the Prime's hold began to wiggle and jabber, wanting down so they too could join in the fun.
At that instant the monitor began to beep, announcing an incoming call.
Optimus put them down, the three quickly scurrying to their friend while he carefully made his way across the slippery flooring, large treads crunching slightly on the lug nuts. Though having to catch himself from nearly slipping twice, he made it before the last dial tone.
"This is Outpost Omega One. Go ahead."
"/Hey Optimus. It's Jack./"
Of course someone would call at this specific moment. "Greetings Jack. I assume you are through with your daily studies?" He almost hoped he'd say 'no'.
"/Yeah. We're ready to come over now./"
"Very well. I shall open the ground bridge momentarily."
"/Okay. We'll be ready./" There was a disconnecting click.
Optimus turned, wishing what he knew would be there wouldn't be. Unfortunately it was and the sparklings were having the time of their lives in the middle of the disastrous scene. The poor Prime let out a very long, very heavy ex-vent at the thought of others seeing the chaos. How he wished things could get back to normal.
…
The re-count finished as calmly as it had started; of course much of it had been heavily abridged. Optimus just stood looking at the humans with what Miko called his "every-day face"; impassive, showing no real emotion yet not completely deadpan.
All three kids were staring, faces something between shock and amusement.
"Wow," Miko blinked, then nearly giggled. "Talk about a first-time babysitting experience. I so wish I could see that on replay!"
"So that's what happened to the fire extinguisher," Rafael mused, still thinking about the very beginning.
"Man that's like one of the craziest stories I've heard! So then you've hardly gotten any rest at all?" Jack asked.
The Prime was touched by the note of concern for his wellbeing. He could feel the low power in his energy cells, nothing alarming though. "There was little time for such pleasures. But there is no need for apprehension as we Cybertronians can go long periods without rest."
Jack was about to say something more but a voice cut in.
"Um, where's Bee?" Rafael asked as he looked down at the sparklings playing below.
Optimus turned and counted three colors. "One moment, please."
He walked off towards one of the hallways, metal crunching beneath his treads as he carefully walked across the metal littered floor. The last thing he wanted to do was a face-plant in front of the humans. The mech disappeared down the storage hall and the kids came down to where the sparklings sat, giving them hello scratches and smiling when it made them purr. There was a muffling of words being spoken from down the hall, then heavy steps returning and the Prime emerged with the yellow sparkling in his servo. He knelt and set Bumblebee in front of Rafael.
"Bee! There you are," the young boy exclaimed.
The little mech made a series of chirping bleeps, happy to see his friend. He again hugged Rafael like a teddy bear until the others came to rescue him.
"Where was he?" Jack asked, thinking how the Prime had seemed to know exactly where to look. In his narrative, Optimus had only said that Bumblebee kept wandering off but hadn't said to where.
"He seems to have a fascination about making it to the armory, though I have no knowledge as of why. I have already retrieved him from nearly reaching it several times already. They all appear to possess a rather high tendency for not staying in one area for long." As if to prove his point, Ratchet went scooting by at high speed, jingling lug nuts on the way, headed for who-knows-where. Optimus calmly reached out and scooped him up, putting him back with the others.
Miko put hands on hips. "Dude, you really need to consider baby gates. Just really tall ones."
"Your suggestion may be a sound one." Optimus's directed his next words to Jack. "It would have been prudent of me to heed your words from yesterday, Jack. This has all been more difficult than I first anticipated and I confess I was not well prepared. Sparkling seem to always … need something."
Jack gave an insightful smirk. "You do realize that this is all going to be ongoing until we get them back to normal right?" The Prime sagged. Not just a hint, but actually did a full visible shoulder sag, hydraulics letting out a soft hiss as the corner of his mouth came down in uncertainty. Jack quickly tried to console. "But don't worry, Optimus. From what you told us I think you're doing pretty good considering it's your first time babysitting." He gave a slight laugh. "I know from experience it's not an easy job."
Rafael smiled up as he added, "I think you're doing a good job too. First times are always the hardest, but I'm sure it'll get easier soon."
Uncertainty turned into a grateful smile. "I thank you for your confidence in my abilities in this situation, even if they are shortcoming to a certain degree."
"But now that we're here, we'll be able to help watch after them." Jack looked around. "And right now I think the first thing we need to do is clean up this mess. Before the sparklings spread it around any further. And the sooner we start; the sooner we'll be done."
"A sound theory, Jack."
The kids quickly scattered and each returned with a broom and bucket in hand, and together they began tackling the job. Optimus up righted the workstation, replacing everything back on it, and set the three boxes in the middle of the room as the children mopped up the spilled energon and separated the sparklings' play things back into the tub. Then began the task of sweeping up the lug nuts into small piles. They would then fill their buckets and dump the load back into the boxes before starting the process all over again. Optimus helped as much as he could, but his large servos made it difficult to pick up the tiny objects. Also the sparklings were not making the job any easier.
"No Ratchet," Rafael said for the eighth time. "I just swept those up. You can't play with them."
The white and orange mech giggled as he shuffled his hands through the neat pile that had just been made, scattering them in all directions. Rafael sighed and started sweeping them up again. Jack was literally getting chased by Bumblebee who thought it was the greatest fun to try and catch the broom in mid sweep, chirping in laughter every time his servos brushed the course bristles. He reminded Jack of a playful kitten.
Bulkhead wore himself out jumping through the piles as like a kid jumping through leaves and soon curled up on the floor with his clevis (which he rarely parted with) in one of his powernaps. They didn't try to stay quiet as it seemed the green sparkling could sleep through anything, which was confirmed when Miko slipped on some lug nuts and her full bucket went flying, it and its contents crashing down with an awful racket.
Arcee just sat and watch everything with intense fascination.
Jack paused to wipe his brow and stretch his arms which were beginning to ach after nearly an hour of sweeping. He couldn't help but smile when Bumblebee crawled up and batted at the broom with a bleep. The tinkling of metal drew his attention and he saw Optimus trying to scoop up a small pile of lug nuts that Miko had made. The optic ridges frowned slightly at the tiny pieces of metal that kept slipping from his digits, and if he was able to get any it was barely a dozen at a time. Jack grinned when the Prime noticed him watching and looked up with an apologetic expression.
"Don't worry about it, Optimus. We can get it."
Optimus looked back at the pile. It was evident he wanted to assist and not leave all the cleanup to the kids, but the piles were just too small for his large servos to handle properly.
Miko suddenly she laughed and pointed. "Hey, look at Arcee!"
The femme was sitting next to Rafael's bucket, picking up each lug nut one at a time and dropping them inside just like she did with her rocks. The children all laughed at the adorable sight. Jack came over and stroked her blue helm.
"Look at you trying to help out. Good girl," he praised and the femme purred in happy response.
Miko sighed. "Wish we could get them all to do that instead of messing our work all up." She looked frowningly at Ratchet and Bumblebee who were doing just that. "This might go quicker."
"We just need to find something that that'd interest them more," Rafael stated.
"More interesting than this?" Jack said blandly as he gestured to their surroundings.
Miko suddenly perked up pointing a finger in the air. "I got an idea!"
…
Ten minutes later the three kids and Optimus stood watching the scene before them with satisfaction. The sparklings were sitting with optics trained in almost hypnotic fascination on the TV that had brought down from the platform and set on the floor. They were off to one side where the spill hadn't reached but still in sight. The screen changed with scenes of a movie the channel had been set to, casting flickering light on faceplates and wide staring optics.
"Told you it'd work," Miko said smugly. "It's what my mom used to do when she wanted me to stay in one spot for a while." She tapped a finger on her chin. "Come to think of it; she still does."
"Well it was a great idea," Jack commended. "We'll definitely be able to get some work done now. I don't think they're gunna move from that TV for hours. Well, all except Arcee that is." He chuckled as they looked back to where the femme still sat filling the bucket one lug nut at a time, completely content to be there instead of joining her little friends.
Rafael smiled with a light arm shrug. "Well at least she's helping."
With the sparklings distracted they were able to pick up the pace. Optimus, after much convincing from the children, had resumed his station at the computer monitors. Though anyone could see that it deeply bothered the mech that others were cleaning up after his responsibilities. By the time six o'clock had come around they were barely a quarter done. Arcee stayed with them the entire time, enjoying this new game while the rest of the sparklings were already on their third movie, still hypnotized as ever.
Miko leaned on the end of her broom handle with a groan. "This is gunna take all day! It just takes so long to sweep them all up." She grinned. "Too bad we don't know a bulldozer then we could just scoop them up."
At that, the Prime's helm snapped up. Jack saw. "Something wrong, Optimus?"
Without a word, the large mech stepped past the children while being careful not to mess up their piles and heading for the back of the bunker. Miko and Rafael looked at Jack questioningly to which the teen just shrugged. A moment later the Prime returned, one of the blankets that had been hanging in back in his servo.
"What's that for?" Miko inquired.
Actions were her answer as Optimus positioned himself at the wave's end near the entrance and crouched slightly, holding onto the blanket by each end. He began moving forward, dragging it across the ground in front of him like the scoop of a bulldozer. The plan suddenly became clear as it began rapidly filling with lug nuts, leaving a completely clean trail behind.
Jack mouth dropped open. "Wow! That really works!"
Miko gave a cheering jump, fist in air. "Woohoo! Go Boss Bot!" Even Rafael gave an applaud.
Optimus began making a spiral pattern, going around every wall and workstation edge, and would push what was gathered into the middle of the room when the load began to spill around the blanket's edges. The kids were already at work scooping their buckets into the rapidly growing pile and emptying them into the boxes as fast as they could while Optimus continued his passes and the floor began to reappear. In no time at all, the last load was shoved to the now very large mound of lug nuts, and the Prime straightened to his full height, an unmistakable satisfaction in the chrome faceplate.
Rafael looked around at the cleared room. "Wow! All we have to do now is just put the pile back into the boxes and just sweep up anything leftovers and we're done!"
"Well let's get going!" Miko said as she scooped and dumped. "Then I can finally get to play with Bulkhead!"
"I believe I can assist here once again," Optimus offered and spread the blanket next to the pile. The mound was so big now it was easy for the giant servos to scoop the tiny nuts onto the blanket. Using it like one of the buckets, he picked it up by the corners and dumbed the load into one of the boxes. Any that escaped were quickly caught by the children – or Arcee. It was only a few minutes before nearly the entire supply of lug nuts were back where they belonged.
"Looks like all that's left is just gathering up the strays," Jack observed. He smiled up at the Prime with a thumbs-up. "Thanks for the help."
"Yeah! That was an awesome idea!" Miko folded her arms with mock annoyance. "But why couldn't you have thought of this earlier?"
The Prime's brow tweaked up, but his expression was much lighter now that he had found a way to help out. He went back to his station and was able to resume his work with a much more contented spark. The children began sweeping under or in any nook and cranny for lug nuts that might have rolled there. Even Arcee helped after observing and began mimicking their actions of looking under any small places. She found one under the med bay berth and proudly held it up for Jack to see with a victorious chirping.
Jack smiled and brought his bucket over. "Very good, Arcee. You're such a good little helper, aren't you?" He held it out and she dropped it in with the others he had found. Jack rewarded her with a scratch behind the audial. "Now keep looking. Find as many as you can," he encouraged and she excitedly crawled off, violet optics peering into any little space and checking behind everything.
She ended up over by the platform where a few small crates sat that held some the children's belongings they kept at the base all the time. Miko's sound system were there as well and there was a small crack between a crate with Miko's name on it and the speaker. Wondering if one could be in there, Arcee stuck in her arm. Little digits felt around a moment before they grabbed something and she pulled it out. Violet optics blinked at the object as she stared. Obviously, this wasn't what they were looking for but it was nevertheless interesting to the sparkling. She gave a questioning twitter as she held it up. Jack looked up and gave a slight gasp.
"Arcee, be careful!" It was a mousetrap in the little servo and it hadn't been sprung yet.
Arcee looked it again and, in babyish curiosity, stuck it in her mouth.
"Oh gross!" Miko bent over, hand on stomach, with a dry heave.
"Do not do that there!" Jack ordered as he rushed by. "Arcee! Take that–!"
SNAP!
The mousetrap triggered and the femme's optics went wide as she jumped. The kids cringed, waiting for it. Arcee sat there a moment, unsure of what had just happened. Then the lipplates began to tremble, the optics closed and a shrieking wail of pain sounded.
"Yup, there it is," Jack cringed as it nearly hurt his ears.
Arcee hurled the bad trap away and it went flying across the room. Lubricant tears spilled over as her little servo hovered at her smarting lipplates, they hurt and she didn't know what to do.
Jack tried to rub her helm to calm her. "It's okay, Arcee. It's okay."
But his offers of comfort were in vein as Arcee just pushed him away, flapping her arms. Before Jack could try again, there was the quick steps of heavy treads and suddenly Optimus was there, kneeling down. Without second thought, he scooped the little femme in his arms and brought her to his chest plates. She buried her little helm against him as quivering cries racked her small frame. He offered a finger which Arcee instantly attached herself to as the lubricant continued to spill over.
"Is she okay?" Rafael asked, though his question was nearly drown out.
Jack peered into the mousetrap's hiding place, checking if there were any other nasty surprises still in there. "Why was there even a mousetrap in here?"
Miko spoke up. "I saw a mouse in here the other day and I didn't want it getting into my stuff so I set a trap. When Jack gave a frowning look, she spread her arms in self-defense. "How was I to know the bots would be shrunk to baby-size where they could find it?!"
"Miko I was there when you saw it and that mouse was on the totally opposite side of the base! Why didn't you set it there?"
"Mice can travel! He could've decided to come down here and maybe even bring the rest of his family, and I do not want mice making a house out of my speaker!"
"Miko–"
"Guys!" Rafael interrupted in a type of whisper. He tried to discretely point. "Look."
They all did and were a bit surprised. Optimus was standing with the blue sparkling cuddled in the crook of his arm, a very light sway to his movements. Along with the femme's cries were mixed tones of deep baritone. They couldn't tell what he was saying but they could hear the soothing way it was being given. Slowly, the cries began to die down to soft whimpers.
"Wow," Miko whispered in astonishment. (The Prime had left any mention of this happening before out of his narration.) "Didn't expect that."
"And it looks like she's calming down," Rafael observed, standing on his toes trying to see better.
Jack stepped closer to the Prime's treads. "Is she alright?" he asked with concern. After all, Arcee was his partner even if she was only a sparkling now.
"She will be fine," Optimus replied softly, never taking his optics off the femme. "There is no damage. She is only frightened and confused."
Miko looked up curiously at the large mech. "How'd you know holding her like that would calm her down?"
The blue optics blinked a bit unsure. It had been like with Bulkhead, as if a dormant programming had suddenly kicked in. "I … simply acted in the manner I thought would assistance best." He rubbed a digit against Arcee's mid-section, making her giggle and chased away any lingering pain. A slight smile tugged at the Prime's lipplates as she gave a little whirring click and laid herself against the chest plates in a type of hug.
Miko put a hand to her mouth as she whispered. "You know, I don't think he's as bad at this as he thinks."
Jack grinned back. "You know, I think you may be right," he whispered back and winked at Rafael.
Rafael just smiled as he watched the Prime.
Fun note: The incident with the mousetrap was based off of a real life experience I had babysitting my cousin. LOL But don't worry, Arcee's experience was worse then mine. The trap thankfully didn't go off when my cousin grabbed it, but my mom was about ready to throw up on the spot.