"So!!" Miko shouted, jumping onto the couch beside me, causing me to jump. "You've been Ratchet's charge for three days now! Have you guys done anything excitiiiiiing?"

Jack rolled his eyes, copying his guardian standing behind him. "Miko.." he groaned. He was leaning on the rail behind the coach.

Raf chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Taylor. You guys get plenty of quality time here at base right?"

I nodded, sitting between the younger two. "Yes, but..." I sighed, looking down at my feet. "Not for much longer, since Agent Fowler is putting me in school next week, now that I'm healed up and everything..."

Jack shot me an assuring smile. "Don't worry, it's not as hard as it sounds."

"No, it totally iiiiiiiiis," Miko groaned, dramatically falling onto my lap. " I can't take iiiiiiit."

Raf shrugged. "Naw, I can help if you need it. You get to be with us too!"

I smiled at him, while Miko squeezed me into a hug. "Yay!!" she squealed.

I giggled, wrapping my arms around hers. "Yeah... I'm mostly worried he won't want to pick me up from school..."

The three of them cringed. "Yeeeaaahhh..." Miko said slowly.

Jack waved his hand dismissively. "Arcee was a bit... against being a guardian at first, too."

Arcee, who was standing with Bulkhead and Bumblebee behind the human area, acted as if she hadn't heard, but her faceplate hardened a bit. I held back a small giggle.

Bulkhead shrugged. "Aw, don't worry about Ratch. He's gonna have to live up to his expectations."

Bumblebee turned to me and buzzed something cheerfully. Raf listened before also turning to me with a grin on his face.

"He says that if Ratchet doesn't come, he can drive you back to base," he translated.

I grinned gratefully. "Thanks, Bee!"

Miko suddenly jolted, a buzz sounding from her pocket. "Aw, it's my host parents." She took out her phone and glared at the message. "They want me home. Ugh." She turned to Bulkhead.

He gave her a thumbs up. "No problem." He instantly transformed into his alt mode, Miko running down and jumping in.

"Turn up the music!" She shouted, waving me goodbye before slamming the door shut.

Jack looked at his own phone, checking the time. "I should probably head out, too," he said with disappointment. "I have work soon."

Arcee gave a small grin, quickly transforming. "Don't forget your helmet," she teased.

"Yeah, yeah," he groaned, snatching it off the desk table in front of us. He waved back at us. "See you guys!"

Raf waved back. "Later!"

"Bye," I said.

He grinned as he put his helmet on, and a moment later the motorcycle Arcee raced away.

I got up from the couch. "I'm going to go see what Ratchet's doing."

He stood up with me. "I'll go, too! Race you!" He took off, the little guy surprisingly quick for such a young boy. I snickered, jogging after him. Running was still out of the question for me.

"Hey, Ratchet," Raf said as he beat me to the place Ratchet had dubbed his "lab". "Is that.. Synthetic Energon?"

I smiled as I reached the area. Ratchet had been working on it for days, and was pleased with the progress he had been making.

"Oh," he said, looking up. "Yes. In fact I'm preparing to test a sample." He took out a...thing, twisting a container into it. "I see you come equipped with protective goggles."

I pretended to cover my eyes, peeking through holes in my fingers.

"We can watch?!" Raf said excitedly.

Ratchet chuckled, putting the thing in another thing. (AN: Not only does she not know what the things are, but neither do I. Sorry! ;P) Hopefully he was chuckling at my goofy "goggles", too.

"We just add this to a test engine.." he told us, injecting it into a make shift machine. I had seen him building it earlier. We all watched it with anticipation, excited. After a few moments, it burst to life. I cheered inside my head, looking up to the medic, happy for him.

"It works!" Raf said happily. "Bee!"

"Ep ep ep!" he chastised, stopping him. "This requires further trail, before we can even thing about using it for..."

As Ratchet began to explain it to Raf, I turned when I heard Bulkhead and Arcee return. Optimus walked up to them, just before an alarm started blaring. I jumped, covering my ears at the noise. Optimus quickly turned to shut it off.

"More Energon on the move," Arcee observed.

"Again?" Bulkhead groaned.

I turned to look at Ratchet, knowing that the topic was sensitive. Their own Energon stash was really low, which worries me and the bots. He gave me a tired look, before turning to stop Optimus. I sighed, deciding to go sit down. My legs were starting to get a little wobbly, and I didn't want to strain them.

As I hit the bed, my eyes closed as my mind went deep into thought. The last couple of weeks had completely changed my life. I missed my mom, so much. Thinking of her still brought tears to my eyes. Her warm interior, her cheery eyes, her laughing voice, her compassion. She had never turned her back on me, even when everyone else had. When everyone had turned their backs on me, she was the only one I could turn too. The only one that kept me from losing myself.

I think that's why, when she died, that I did. I lost myself. I had no one to turn to, and nowhere to go. I had no sense of love or security anymore. But now, even though the circumstances had been heart breaking, I had found the security again. And... I think the love, too. I was still putting myself back together.. I was still a little lost. Still struggling. But... I could do it. I was slowly but surely gaining back my confidence.

The Autobots. The other kids. They are all here for me.

I smiled slightly to myself, leaning my head back.

Ratchet. 

Although he had been gruff at first, he had slowly shown me that he did  care. He was there for me, now more than ever since he was my guardian. I knew so little about him.. he knew so little about me. But I believed that we were there for each other. I cared so much for him.. I hoped that in time, he would share that. I knew he liked me, and I was satisfied with that.. but was it wrong to be hopeful. 

I just wanted someone to love me undoubtedly, like my mom had.

My head was startled out of my own thoughts from a loud thud. I jumped up, panic flooding my chest, even though I didn't really know why. The crash had sounded metal, and heavy. My mind was instantly shooting to worse case scenarios. I ran back over to the lab, not caring about my legs anymore. I turned the corner sharply, my heart stopping as I came across an empty space where my guardian was supposed to be. 

"Ratchet!" Raf cried, running down the stairs. His face was lined with panic. 

I knew I was going to regret it, but I looked down below the rail, my eyes falling to the floor. The container, which had been full of the green formula, was shattered, previously emptied. That, however, was not what made me gasp sharply, what caused my heart to stop. My eyes were wide when they saw Ratchet sprawled out across the floor, optics closed. His faceplate was tight, and his ridge was furrowed slightly. 

I couldn't stop myself from screaming.

While I immediately ran down to reach him, Raf beat me to him and started to shake his servo. "Ratchet? Ratchet, wake up!"

A split second later, I was right next to the boy, taking one of his digits in my own hands. "Ratchet! Please wake up!" I buried my face into it, feeling the tears rise and fall.

Raf gave me a worried look, his eyes pained. "Could you help me up?" he asked gently, reaching out and taking my arm.

I sniffed, nodding. I had to calm down. Crying and pleading wasn't going to bring him back. I helped the younger teen onto Ratchet's side, heaving him up. Raf grunted as he crawled onto my guardian's chest chassis, sliding up closer to his faceplate. He started calling his name, which I followed up with. This lasted for nearly ten minutes, my heart sinking more and more as he remained unresponsive.

I leaned forward again, wishing I could somehow turn back time. "Ratchet..." I whispered. "Please... wake up." An image of my mom flashed into my mind, and I tried to suppress it with a sob.

"Ugh..."

I jolted, scooting back as Ratchet slowly sat back up. My heart instantly lifted, and a relieved sob burst from my mouth.

"How is it that such small beings can be so loud..?" he groaned, starting to stand up.

"Are you hurt? You fell," he said worriedly, backing up.

"I'm fine," he snapped. "I'm... more than fine!" he observed, swinging his shoulder plates. "Energy efficiency is up thirty percent? Motor functions optimal?" He laughed quietly.

(AN: Crazy how I remember this part, of all parts. My memory works in weird ways. *shrugs*)

I burst into more sobs, running forward and hugging his pede. "You scared me so much!" I cried, burying my face into the warm metal. "You had me so worried! I thought you would never wake up.. you weren't responding..." my voice choked out, overtaken by sobs and hiccups.

Ratchet's faceplate gentled as he bent over and reached out hesitantly, unsure how to console me. I continued crying into his pede, the stress leaving my body through sobs. He sighed and finally brushed my hair with digits, pulling the hair out of my face. I sniffed, trying to calm my sobs, as I looked up at my guardian's faceplate. He looked apologetic and even... worried.

"I am... sorry I worried you," he said gently. 

I sighed shakily, letting go of his pede and taking his digit in my hands. I brought it to my face, rubbing my cheek on the warm metal. "It's okay... it's okay.." I closed my eyes, calm finally washing over my body. He was alright. He was fine.

He twisted his servo from my grip slowly, extending his palm out to me. I smiled as best I could, wiping away my tears and climbing into his hand. He stood, lifting me up to his shoulder plate. I slid off into my new regular spot, right between his shoulder pads and neck cables. I took a daring move and leaned on his neck cords, sighing in relief. He stiffened slightly, but turned to the monitor without a complaint.

"I'm so glad you're alright," I said, leaning forward to see his faceplate.

He smiled at me, a full on, normal smile. I cheered up even more; but something was bothering me.

Why are his optics green?

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...... And here I thought this chapter was going to be too short. I'M GETTING BETTER AT THIS!!

I can't seem to stop writing this story. I'm really liking it. Sorry not sorry.

Enjoy!

*waves*