*This One-Shot is NOT based on any specific book. Basically an add on to the episodes.*

"This is boring!!" the teenage Japanese girl cried, flopping over the railing at staring at the agitated medic.

Ratchet sighed for what felt like the thirtieth time the last time minutes, swiveling his helm away from his work to glare at Miko. "Says the human that just ran around the base screaming while spray painting the walls in pink," he growled.

She pouted and crossed her arms. "I wasn't screaming," she protested. "I was singing some of my favorite songs."

Jack walked up behind her with a hint of a smirk playing his lips. "Which is basically a bunch of screaming," he tossed at her.

Raf, silent as ever as he sat on the couch farther away, laughed a little, quickly trying to hide it by slapping a hand over his mouth and focusing his eyes back on his laptop.

Miko pouted harder, narrowing her already thinner hazel eyes. "You don't know art." She turned her head back to Ratchet. "And neither do you, Dr. Grump!" she whined.

The medic merely rolled his optics as he turned back to the monitors. "Nor do I care to learn it."

"And that is why it is so boring when you're the only one at base," Miko retorted. She turned her back to him and huffed, still crossing her arms. "Seriously, couldn't anyone else have stayed behind tonight?"

Ratchet sighed but didn't look back to her. "As I'm sure you've been made aware of before, I am not most qualified in the field, at least not as much as the rest of the team are. My greatest strengths comes in places like this, not battle."

Jack nodded. "And none of the other bots are as good at the stay at home work as he is," he added, throwing him a small, helpful smile.

The rocker groaned, uncrossing her arms. "You guys aren't getting my point," she drones in annoyance. "I'm bored! Why did all the fun ones have to leave tonight of all nights?"

Raf sighed and got up from his seat on the couch. "We get your point, Miko," he said as he bent over and gently put his laptop in his bag. "It's not like we are having the time of our lives either. But it's better than going on a scout mission late at night in Russia. At least, in my opinion," he added with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"It totally isn't!" Miko shot back, hunching her shoulders and clenching her fists.

"Why did you want them all here tonight, anyway?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's not like we don't see them everyday."

This earned an optic roll and scoff from the medic. "Yes, what could possibly be more important now than all the other days you are here?" he groaned.

The teenage girl flung back around to him. "Because Optimus said that the team was going to just relax tonight!" Miko shouted. "I thought it would be fun to do something different for once and have a chill night!"

"Woah, you want a chill night?" Jack said sarcastically. "What have you done with the real Miko?"

"Ha Ha," she said, just as much sarcastic dripping from her mouth, if not more. "I can relax, you know. I mean, does sitting on the couch, watching a movie, and just, I don't know, talking sound so bad?"

There was stunned silence from the other kids, and even Ratchet had to admit that he hadn't expected that from the punk rocker girl. He turned his helm and raised an optic ridge as the other boys looked at her with shocked and confused expressions for another moment.

"N-No," Jack said finally. "That actually sounds great..."

"Yeah, I know," she huffed, slouching over dramatically and dragging herself over to the couch. "But looks like that's out of the calendar, at least for another few weeks."

Ratchet watched as the other two moved to join her. "Optimus was also surprised when Agent Fowler contacted them, but it was too high of a risk to pass up."

"A scouting mission was too high of a risk?" Miko said dryly. The others didn't speak up, but similar expressions rolled across their face.

The medic grew more annoyed now that he had to give them an explanation. "There hadn't been any recent activity, so yes, it counted as a 'scouting mission', but the Energon stored their indicates that it once had lots of activity, and could in the future. Plus, it could give us an edge in the Energon department if we seize it for ourselves," he added, a bit of hope slipping into his voice.

Miko sighed and slumped on the couch, defeated. "Yeah, I get it."

Ratchet watched as the children's faces each got a little more crestfallen. He cursed at himself in his helm as he felt his spark sting for them a little bit. It wasn't as if he didn't hope for those kind of days, too. Granted, his idea mostly consisted of more silence, but the general idea of relaxing had always been a find thought to him. He could understand where they were coming from, and honestly felt a little bad that those moments had been stolen from them. He sighed, also feeling himself slouch slightly as he realized what he was about to do.

"If you want to watch the movie yourselves and stay the night," he said slowly with another sigh, "I will tolerate it. This one time," he added, holding up a digit.

The children's expressions immediately brightened, Miko bouncing off the couch and clasping her hands in excitement. "Really?!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, really," he answered dryly with a wave of his servo. "Raf, you should probably contact your... parents."

The little boy nodded his helm, beaming happily. "I'm sure they won't mind this one time!" he said as he reached into his pocket for his cell phone, walking away to talk to them. Ratchet realized he would need help since their would be no bars inside the base and shuffled after him with a small groan.

Miko turned on one heel to Jack. "So, which one should we watch?"

Jack blinked at her, a small blush rising to his face as she got closer. "Y-You brought more than one?"

"Duh!" she cried, hurrying over to the TV and pulling out a few disks. "I have the first Avengers movie, a couple horror ones, and a newer racing one I thought looked cool!!"

The older teen shuddered. "Let's leave the horror ones for sometime Raf isn't here," he said, adding a and myself included inside his head.

She tapped her chin in thought for a few moments before nodding. "Probably a good idea." An evil grin slipped across her face. "I should give Bulkhead a good scare with these.."

Jack once again shuddered. "Again, when Raf isn't here."

She smirked. "Scaredy-cat."

"I-I am not!" he protested loudly, walking over to her. "Look," he sighed in exasperation, "let's just watch the Avengers one. I bet Raf hasn't even seen it yet."

Miko's face turned shocked. "What?!? That's it, we are watching this one, then!"

"Watching which one?" Raf asked, looking down at them from Ratchet's open palm. "You brought more than one movie."

The medic moaned as he set the boy down next to the others. "My limit is two at the most," he told them.

Jack and Miko shared a look as Raf laughed at Ratchet, clearly able to see how much the two respected each other. They said nothing of it and instead nodded at the younger boy.

"Yep!" Miko chirped. "We're gonna watch the first Avengers movie!" She held up the disk triumphantly.

Ralf's face lit up. "Cool! I've never watched any of those movies before!"

Ratchet held back another groan, having no interest in hearing more about whatever these "Avengers" were. Instead, he straightened himself and began to head back over to the monitors, figuring that he could at least get some work done while the children preoccupied themselves.

"Hey, Doc bot!" Miko called just before he left he human area. "Where are you going?"

He turned his helm back to her and gave her a dull look. "Back to my work, obviously."

All three of their faces fell a little bit, Miko looking a bit hurt as she pouted. "Aw, come on! You don't want to watch it with us?"

He furrowed his brow and frowned. "No, I do not have any particular interest."

She moaned dramatically as she put the disk into the TV. The boys gave him a longing look as they trudged over to the couch. The old medic cocked an optics ridge at their odd behavior. He hadn't expected them to become upset again. A moment ago, they had been overjoyed to watch the movie and stay the night.

"Why do you all suddenly seem upset again?" he asked as the girl plopped down beside the raven hairs boy. He couldn't help the curiosity that edged into his agitated voice.

Raf looked away sadly, a little embarrassed to actually say anything as he twiddled with his thumbs and stared at his lap. Jack opened his mouth to say, but then thought against it and stopped, much to Ratchet's confusion. Miko, however, was not as meek, and was also honestly surprised that the doctor couldn't see it for himself.

"We wanted to watch the movie with you," she said plainly, tilting her head to the side as she stared at him blankly. "We thought... maybe we could have fun with you for once.." It was then that she did grow a little shy, frowning in annoyance and scouting farther behind Jack.

Ratchet blinked a few times in surprise. "With me?" he said in disbelief. Honestly, he had expected the children to share the same distaste towards him as he often did to them.

"Yes..," Raf said quietly, glancing up at him behind his big glasses. "I mean.. we're always with our guardians, so we don't get to hang out with the other boys much.."

"Believe or not, Optimus has even had his moments with us," Miko said, confident again as she leaned out from behind the older teen.

Jack nodded his head. "It's true."

Ratchet listened closely, actually surprised and interested in what they were saying to him. His plates relaxed a little, much to his surprise, again. Almost against his will, his helm cocked to the side a little. "So you wished to spend this night with myself if nothing else?" he inferred.

The three of them nodded almost simultaneously. "Come on, Ratchet," Miko begged, giving him a pleading smile that normally didn't fall upon her face. "Just this once?" she added, holding her finger meekly with a teasing smirk.

The other two watched him with big eyes, obviously wanting him to stay as much as the Japanese girl did. The medic continued to stare at them for a few moments more, unsure of how to reply, before he finally sighed, his shoulder plates relaxing.

"Alright, just this once." Honestly, he could take a break from his research anyways. The stress had been piling on him a lot lately, and he could use the break. The constant all nighters and late nights as well did tire him out, yet another reason for him to stay back at base.

They all perked up immediately. "Alright!" Miko exclaimed, while the boys gave him big grins, Raf's the brightest. The teen girl snatched up the remote and immediately started up the movie. Ratchet held back another sigh as he walked over to a space behind the couch, a place where the guardians often watched their charges play video games.

For the next hour, Ratchet's optics went back and forth between the screen and the children. He honestly held barely any interest for the movie, but there were a few parts that caught his attention, and the overall idea wasn't bad. The kids, however, were extremely interested, especially Raf, since he had apparently never seen the movie before. At some of the better parts, the kids let out a few cheers, to which Ratchet couldn't hold back a small smile. The ending was not a bad one, though the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Miko put in another movie, claiming that none of them were tired enough to go to bed now. Ratchet only grunted in response as she fell back onto the couch next to Jack. The medic had to admit, this one wasn't nearly as intriguing as the previous one, and the younger ones certainly thought the same. Slowly, they flopped over each other on boredom, one by one falling asleep that way. Miko was leaning on Jack's shoulder, while Raf had laid out across his lap, his head in his arms. Jack was leaning his head on Miko's with a calm expression, his arms draped over each of them. When Ratchet noticed that they were no longer awake, he considered going back to his work for a moment. With a shrug of his shoulder plates he decided against it, instead reaching out for a blanket to cover the humans with. None of them stirred as he laid it over them. The medic then leaned on the railing, resting his helm in his arms, and tiredly tried to focus on the movie, though it didn't interest him whatsoever. His optics hazily fell over the children again and he smiled softly, closing his optics for a brief moment. He honestly enjoyed the stillness, but more so was he grateful for the company. The calming quiet was peaceful, and soon the sounds of the movie drowned out of his audio receptors as he continued to fully gaze down at the sleeping children. Occasionally he startled himself awake, not wanting to fall into recharge just yet.

~

"...chet? Ratchet?"

The tired doctor woke with a start, raising his helm out of his arms sleepily but sharply at he sound of his designation. As he was continued to be called, he recognized the voice to be that of Optimus', and sometimes an interjection from the guardians. He pushed himself off the railing quickly, shaking his helm from sleep. The medic noted that the children were still out, though he had no idea what time it really was. He hurried over to the monitors, quickly turning them on and getting a GroundBridge open.

"You're clear, Optimus," he called through the commlink, hoping that the tiredness in his voice was gone.

The four others arrived back at base, worried expressions on their faceplates as they glanced around. They seemed surprised to see him standing at the controls, and the children peacefully resting on the couch. The guardians went over to where they lay, examining them thoroughly. Optimus walked over to his old friend.

"Why did you not answer us, Ratchet?" he asked quietly. "We were calling you for a short time before you replied."

The medic quickly came up with an excuse. "Lost in thought, Optimus," he said with a blank look. "It seemed my work took over my processor. My apologies."

The Prime raised an optic ridge, but didn't say anything more as he nodded his helm. "The area was heavily invested with Energon, though I'm not sure how much we will be able to harvest tomorrow before the Decepticons discover our actions."

"Let's focus on that when it comes," Ratchet said with a sigh, much to the larger mech's surprise. "You could all use a recharge."

Optimus again said nothing against it and turned, telling the others that they best head to their berthrooms. When they looked over to their sleeping charges with worry, Ratchet explained that he had told them that they could stay the night. They each looked at him in shock, but remained silent as they followed their leader back to their berthrooms in the dark.

Once Ratchet was sure that they had all fallen into recharge, he shut the monitors off and walked back over to the children, peering at them closely. They were in the same positions, too deep in a comforting sleep to move. A twitch of a small smile was on their faces, to which Ratchet let one fall upon his own faceplate. He once again leaned on the railing, this time resting his helm in one of his servos. This time he wasn't afraid of closing his optics and letting recharge overtake him.

As long as he was careful to wake up earlier than the others, he could enjoy this for a little longer, right...?