It felt like it had been ages since Jennie had had bonding time with her guardian.

Now that he was awake and doing better, his side was where she lived. This made it a challenge to get any rest.

"So, when do you think you'll be up and moving again? I've been keeping a list of things we need to do together. It's been a while since we went to the beach. Do you like going to the beach? I love the beach. It's so nice." The young girl rambled endlessly, making enthusiastic hand gestures as she went.

Ratchet hid his face behind the datapad he was reading with a loud vent. "I'll take you to the beach when my condition has improved. And that will be some time."

"You're so awesome!" His charge beamed up at him with a wide grin. "You'll get better soon. You only got electrocuted, after being malnourished and stabbed once in the side." She waved a hand dismissively, winking.

Scoffing, Ratchet buried himself impossibly further into his datapad. "'Only' my aft, it fragging hurt." He muttered. "And don't even get me started on laying on the floor, stuck in the same position for days at a time, I was cramping like you wouldn't believe-"

"Yo Jen! You're on TV again!" Miko's shout from the couch interrupted him. He shot an annoyed look her way.

"What's that about?" Ratchet asked Jennie.

A long, heavy sigh escaped Jennie. "Ugh, my dad made it public that I've been 'kidnapped,' and ever since then, pictures of me have been showing up on TV, and there's a search going on and an Amber Alert, and it's pretty frustrating. Nobody knows that he was abusive, his friends won't say anything about it." She crossed her arms.

"Look at that, your dad is crying. He says you're his angel and he misses you." Miko said in a mocking voice. "Those monsters took my girl away! What a crap actor!"

Ratchet snorted at that. "If only they knew."

"The worst part is not being able to come forward. I'd be pushed into foster care." Jennie kicked at the ground in frustration. "I can't go back to school either, I'm a missing person." She flashed him a smile. "You'll have to be my full-time teacher."

"Primus, Jennie." Ratchet vented. "We'll figure something out." He opened his mouth to say more, but the proximity sensor went off, and the elevator hummed. The medic set his jaw. "Agent Fowler."

The elevator opened, and the agent stepped into the base, face grim.

"Hey Fowler!" Miko threw a piece of popcorn at him; it bounced off his chest. His face didn't change.

"You," Fowler pointed to Jennie, "Are in deep trouble."

Jennie looked at Ratchet nervously.

"I have no idea what to do. If our superiors found out that we are the 'kidnappers' of the missing girl, she'd be sent back to her father, and Prime would get into big trouble. Harboring civilians is bad enough, harboring a missing person?" Fowler leaned against the railing, groaning. "What are we going to do?"

Ratchet straightened up, wincing in pain. "We keep it a secret. She's changed her appearance, they won't find out. We had Raf, Jack, and Miko hidden for a while, we'll keep Jennie a secret as well. We just won't slip up." He answered firmly.

"Yeah, as long as they don't know and as long as I'm not recognized, it'll be fine." Jennie nodded. "By the way, you like my hair?" She smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. Fowler looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Orange and white?" He asked. "Looks a little familiar." Ratchet rolled his optics.

"Don't look at me, I was unconscious."

Jennie laughed. "We're matching, it looks awesome."

Fowler crossed his arms and shook his head, smiling a little. "It suits you." He sighed. "Keeping Jennie a secret is a terrible idea, but I don't have any others. Let's see how long we can get away with this. Keep me posted."

And with that, he was gone.

"Y'all are in deep scrap." Miko called.

Ratchet shook his helm and chuckled.

"Oh, believe me, we know."