He was late to pick me up. Again. At least, this time, the others were, too. Miko was standing next to me, tapping her foot impatiently. Jack sat next to me on the stairs, glancing at his mom's text messages that said she would pick him up soon. Raf was behind me, fiddling with his backpack nervously. His parents said they would pick him up, too. Miko was reluctant to ask her host parents, but we had convinced her to anyway. It was obvious the bots were all busy with something. I held my phone in my hand, anxious to see any messages from my guardian. 

Nurse Darby's car pulled up and beeped at us. Jack hurried over, leaning in by her window and saying something we couldn't hear. When he got into the car, June stuck her arm out of the window and waved us over. The three of us got over and walked over to her car.

"I called each of your parents already," she told us. "I'm taking all of you home."

Miko and Raf nodded to the nurse, but I held back. "What about me? I have to get to base.."

She gave me an apologetic look. "I can drop you off, honey."

I nodded, following the other kids into the car. I sat in between Miko and Raf, staring at my hands in my lap as we left. Raf and Jack were quiet despite their curiosity, but Miko, of course, was dying to know and didn't care to wait.

"Why weren't the Bots able to pick us up today?" she whined, looking in the nurse's direction.

June's blue eyes looked at the teen stressfully. "I'm not sure. It was a rather brief message from Ratchet, actually. He didn't tell me why, just that they wouldn't be able to come get you all today, and that you should just head home."

I sat up straighter in my seat. "Wait, Ratchet told you that?" Why had he contacted her and not me? Was something going on?

"I'm sorry about this," she told us, her eyes turning back to the road. 

All of us, even Miko, remained silent for the duration of the ride. The other kids all got dropped of at their homes, even Jack. After June told her son goodbye and that she would be back in a few minutes, we were on the road again, heading straight to base. I could feel her continuously glancing back at me as I fiddled with my fingers. My eyes wandered everywhere but where she sat.

"Taylor," she finally said. "Are you okay?"

I blinked back tears from my blue eyes. "I'm just... worried. What if something happened to them?"

"I'm sure they will be fine," she assured me. "They have fought this war a long time."

I nodded my head, squeezing my eyes shut. "Yeah."

She paused for a few more moments. "Honey.. are you sure you're alright? What I mean by that is.. are you okay living with the Autobots?"

My heart squeezed in my chest. I didn't reply, simply squeezed my hands together.

"I'm just worried that you aren't getting the proper care that a sixteen year old girl needs," she began. "You should be living in a house, getting appropriate sleep, reading books, watching tv, doing your schoolwork... I don't know, honey, the environment your in.. it's different than the other  kids. They do have a home to go back to, and-"

"I do have a home!" I shouted suddenly, my voice raised. "I have a family, and I am being cared for!"

She stopped, her blue eyes anxious. "I... alright. Just.. if it ever gets to be too much for you, you are always welcome to come to our house."

I sat back against the seat, my face red from my outburst. "Okay. Thanks," I said quietly.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence. When we drove into base, she stopped the car halfway down the hall, turning back to look at me. "I really have to get home. Stay safe, okay, honey?"

I nodded slowly as I got out of the car. She gave me a strained smile as she backed away. My own lips turning up a little, I waved at her as she turned the car and drove away. My heart was beating rather violently in my chest out of worry. It was already dark now, and having gotten no messages from Ratchet, I would either assume the worst, or he was seriously busy with something. Clasping my hands at my chest, I slowly started to walk farther into base. When I peeked in from around the corner slowly, I was relieved to see that most of the Autobots were all there. Bumblebee was leaning against the wall, while Bulkhead and Arcee were talking amongst themselves quietly. When my eyes rested upon my guardian, conversing with Optimus grimly, my heart flew to my throat out of sheer relief. A sob burst from my mouth and I rushed over to him. The others all froze and looked at me as I passed them, but I payed that no mind. I thumped into Ratchet's pede, hugging it tightly while biting my lip to keep myself from crying out of relief to see him.

The medic froze when I grasped him, cutting himself off and looking down at me. His expression immediately went from agitated and worried to soft and regretful. He gave Optimus a look, which the Prime returned with a nod and walked off. Ratchet sighed and knelt over, resting a few digits on my head and stroking it. The calming gesture was enough to sooth me, and I quickly did my best to dry my tears and swallow my sobs. I didn't want to cry again, not in front of him. I needed to be strong.

"Where were you?" I asked slowly to keep my voice from trembling. "What happened? You wouldn't answer when I tried to call you, you didn't reply to my texts..."

He sighed again, resting his servo at my feet for me to step on. I did so, sitting down and swinging my legs over his palm to look at him. "I am sorry that I and the others were unable to pick you up from school this evening. We all were... distracted."

I cocked my head, my eyebrows furrowed with worry. "What is it? You can tell me..," I added quietly, blushing and turning my eyes to the floor.

"We learned the location of the last Omega key, right after we lost one to who knows what," he told me grimly, lifting me a bit higher to face him better. "It is inside Smokescreen."

My eyes widened, blinking in surprise. "Smokescreen has it? There's no way he could have known."

"Exactly," he agreed with a nod of his helm. "However, Smokescreen left base a short while ago..."

My gaze wondered around everyone's grim expressions. "And the Decepticons... took him?"

He nodded again. "It is evident that they also learned about what Smokescreen holds."

I looked at him sadly. Now I knew why everyone looked so worried, including my guardian. He would never tell anyone this, but him being a doctor and a friend, he probably worried about the others more than anyone. I stood up in his servo, balancing myself, and waved my hand for him to set me down next to his helm. He set me down and I sat slowly.

"Don't worry to much about him," I said in what I hoped was a soothing way. "He may be a kid, but he knows how to take care of himself." I raised my hand and stroked his metal cheek gently, and although my face was red, I gave him a smile.

His expression turned unreadable, his optics filling with something I didn't understand. "How is it that you.." he trailed off, looking away and closing his optics. I was about to ask when he looked back up at me with a tiny smile. "Worry about yourself." He tilted his helm to rest on me, his arm lifting and servo hugging me slightly. 

I felt the heat in my ears, my heart giddy as he hugged me. Never before had my feelings felt so strong then right now, and I leaned in and kissed the side of his faceplate again. He froze, and I felt his servo falter slightly. When I back away, I saw that a large blush had risen to his own faceplate, blue warmth along the metal. 

"Y-You.." I couldn't finish, cutting myself off by covering my face with my hands. I was blushing like MAD and there was no way I was going to let him see me so flustered. I felt his servo pat my head again.

He cleared his throat as his servo left me. "Well, then. I should probably get to work on tracking him," he said quietly, stuttering over his words. "I appreciate your.. thankful gesture." The last part came out as almost a question.

I gulped and nodded slightly, peeking out from in between my fingers. Oh, Ratchet... if only you knew. Will I ever be able to really tell you?

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(OH YES I DID)

HEY GUYS!! 

LOOK!!!!! I finally updated!!

Sorry for the late update everyone. They will probably be a bit slow until later next week.. I'm going through some stuff (don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds) and I have finals coming up. 

SO STUDY STUDY STUDY!

I'll hopefully update before sometime next week... 

Sorry guys.

*waves*