"Esquivel, you're up."

Those three words made Raf's breath hitch. He gulped as he slowly stepped out of the clump of students in the room and looked up at the long rope that seemed to stretch hundreds of feet above him. Optimus looked small compared to it. He swallowed thickly, before looking at his coach.

"You have two minutes to reach the top and ring the bell. Time starts...now!"

With that, he gripped the rope and attempted to pull himself up, but with his lack of upper body strength, he could only go up barely a foot before the rope slipped from his sweaty palms and he fell to the floor, landing on his feet.

"Time," his coach said just as he was about to try again. He sighed and hung his head in defeat before walking back to the others. Jack placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly. He had done it earlier, and had completed the challenge in a minute and thirty-seven seconds. Vince was next, and Raf watched in slight awe as he watched the redhead climb the rope and ring the bell in less than a minute.

"Excellent. Ferguson, you're up next."

Another one of Raf's classmates went up, and he frowned, feeling like he was the only one who couldn't do this. Everyone else could. Some were slower than others, but they still did it.

***

At the end of the day, the young boy trotted down the school steps and caught up with Jack and Miko, who were talking about their day and how Miko had a "stupid history project to do" and how Jack had Vince as a partner for another project he was doing and didn't really like it. Raf listened quietly until Bee showed up, and he quickly got in and plopped his bag down on his lap.

"Hey Bee!" he greeted cheerfully, and the young scout buzzed happily in reply as he started to pull out of his parking space and headed for the base.

::Hey Raf! How was school?::

"Fine."

::What'd you do?::

"I got a perfect score on a math test and we picked partners for a project in English. And I tried climbing a rope in gym."

Bumblebee noticed the boy's face fall somewhat as he talked about the rope.

::Tried?::

"Yeah. I couldn't climb it at all. And I feel like everyone can do it but me," he replied glumly.

::Raf, I bet that's not true. You can do anything you set your processor to.::

"You think so?"

::I know so. If you can hack an array of dishes in Texas, you can climb a rope. I'll help you practice,:: Bumblebee offered.

"Thanks, Bee."

The scout warbled again as they neared the base.

***

::Just a little higher?:: the scout half encouraged and half asked.

"I can't, Bee," Raf sighed as he gripped the rope. He was only two feet off the ground. Bumblebee nodded silently and Raf let go and landed on the ground, looking up at his guardian.

This was the third time they had done it that day. The two had found a coil of rope in the silo somewhere and adjusted it to make a climbing rope, and they tied an end of the rope to one of Bumblebee's digits to hold it up. Raf hadn't had any luck whatsoever since they started practicing.

"You think I'll ever be able to do this?" Raf asked, glancing at the rope sadly. Bumblebee placed a digit on the boy's shoulder.

::Raf. Don't be so hard on yourself. It's only your first day practicing. You should've seen me the first time I had to shoot a blaster...I was a sparkling and rather small, and my trainer wasn't paying attention...I shot it in a way that sent me flying across the room.::

Raf tried holding back a laugh but failed. "Really?"

::Yeah, and I didn't want to even touch another one ever since. But I learned to get over it. And with practice, I learned how to use the weapon properly. You just need to keep trying. It may take some time, but you'll get it eventually.::

Raf nodded, placing a hand on the 'bot's servo.

"Thanks, Bee."

The scout only smiled at him in reply.

***

::Just a little higher, Raf! You're so close!::

It had been a few weeks. Bumblebee had helped Raf practice every day, which was tiring the boy out, but the effort paid off, and now he was just a few inches away from reaching the top. He quickly reached up and touched Bumblebee's digit, before climbing back down.

"I-I did it!" Raf exclaimed happily, looking up at the rope. Bumblebee smiled.

::Told you you could.::

"Thanks for believing in me, Bee. We're doing the rope again tomorrow. I'll be able to do it then!"

Bumblebee placed his digit out and Raf slapped it, their own version of a high-five.

"Would you two keep it down?" Ratchet complained from his computer. Raf smiled at the medic.

***

"Esquivel, you're up."

Those three words made Raf's breath hitch.

Sure, he had practiced, but his arms started feeling like jelly this morning and he didn't know if he could do it.

::You just need to keep trying.::

Bumblebee's words echoed in his mind as he gripped the rope again and pulled himself up, using the knots in the rope to climb higher, and higher, and higher, until he found himself in arms reach of the bell. He reached up and rung it, before climbing back down.

"Excellent. A minute and fifty-two seconds."

He beamed as he looked back up at the rope. Suddenly, it didn't look so high up. Jack placed a hand on his shoulder in congratulations.

***

When Bumblebee arrived at the end of the day, Raf wasted no time getting in and placing his bag on his lap, and Bumblebee pulled out of the school.

::So how did it go?:: The scout asked excitedly.

"I did it!" Raf smiled. "I actually did it! I reached the top!"

::That's great Raf!:: he warbled.

"Thanks for helping me, Bumblebee. I couldn't do it without you."

Bumblebee warbled happily. ::No problem.::

***

A few weeks later

"Rafael, is the test subject ready?" Ratchet asked, turning to me. I set my remote control car down and moved the joystick a bit, before looking back up at him.

"Check," I replied, flipping a switch. "Long-range GPS activated."

"I have doubts whether my recalibrations have successfully extended GroundBridge range...but, there is only one way to find out," Ratchet said as he turned on the GroundBridge, and the vortex came to life. I moved the joystick up and the car sped forward. I felt Ratchet looking over my shoulder.

"Come on..." I heard him say as the car entered the GroundBridge. I moved the joystick up even more, until the car started zapping with electricity, and then it eventually blew up and pieces were everywhere. The GroundBridge powered down, and I heard Ratchet sigh in defeat behind me.

"It was just the first try," I said to him, turning around.

"No, Rafael, it was pure Folly. A misguided act of desperation. It takes eons to master SpaceBridge engineering," he replied as he turned around, looking at the floor.

"And no one is more accomplished than the Decepticons."

I looked away for a second, before remembering the problem I had with Gym a few weeks ago, and I looked back up at Ratchet.

"You know, there's this thing in Gym Class where you have to climb a rope, all the way to the ceiling. It's really hard, and I've never been able to do it. But...when I told Bee about it, he believed in me, which made me practice a ton. Finally, just a couple of weeks ago, I made it-to the top."

Ratchet turned around suddenly.

"What does any of this have to do with Gym Class?" he asked, exasperated.

"I-I was just-"

Ratchet sighed before turning around again.

"I'll...give you some alone time," I said quietly as I walked away.

"Optimus...I am so sorry," I heard Ratchet say before I was completely out of earshot.

~~~

Alright so the other day I was re-watching the Orion Pax episodes and I came across the scene with Raf and Ratchet, and how Raf talks about Gym Class. Ratchet's response to the entire thing just made me laugh, but as Raf talked about the rope-climbing, a lightbulb went off inside my head and this one-shot was born.

And I completely understand Raf's situation with rope climbing. I lack upper body strength and climbing ropes is not my cup of tea. XD I had to do it at camp a few weeks ago and I failed. And I was the only one that couldn't complete the rope-climbing challenge.

I'll stick to sitting in front of my computer and writing, thank you.