Automative Repairs ((TFP ULTRA MAGNUS X OC))

16

June Darby was called to base soon after Ailani and Magnus had made their way through the ground-bridge.

The girl sat on a human-sized gurney as June soothed her already semi-healed burns, white hot rage mixed with something sadder cycling through her system. Optimus had left on his mission with Laserbeak's transponder whilst the other Autobot personnel remained on base, succumb by the thick silence as they kept their optics trained on Ailani's figure. Her head hung low and her free hand gripped the edge of the gurney she sat on.

Magnus had reverted to his holo-form and sat beside her, an arm wrapped securely around her shoulders as she lightly leaned into him. It was hard to miss the tension in her muscles. She was so suffocatingly silent that Magnus had no idea what to do; she wasn't even crying anymore.

What was Ailani supposed to do now? She had simultaneously lost her home and her job in one fatal blow, and couldn't bring herself to stop thinking about August.

At that moment, all she wanted to do was blow his creepy face off. She wanted to do a lot more to Knockout's paint than just scratch it, and she wanted to scream so horribly that her throat ached. As she sat there, Ailani regretted throwing herself into the Cybertronian war, because if she hadn't — she'd still have everything that she lost that day.

Though, she knew it wasn't the Autobot's fault. They've been nothing but kind and understanding to her, and so they didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of her grief and bitterness.

"Alright..." June spoke up after wrapping gauze around her left forearm. "It looks like your Cybertronian side is working at healing up your burns, so you should be good as new by tomorrow."

At the sound of June's kind voice, Ailani finally looked up. Her green eyes were dull and lightless. It sent a chill down even Magnus' spine, prompting him to tightened his grip around her and take the hand that had been clutching the gurney.

"Thanks." The girl managed, trying even then to shine a smile of gratitude to the nurse in front of her.

In return, June set a hand on her leg, thin brows knitting together sympathetically as she stood up to clean her supplies.

Magnus' spark again ached at the sadness filling Ailani's voice. The fact that he had no idea what to do to console a girl whose spirit was usually so high irked him to no end, and he knew that him merely holding her mustn't have been doing much to help. He watched wordlessly as Ailani stared down at the palms of her hands, and only looked up when Agent Fowler had approached them.

"Ailani," he had said, catching the girl's attention once more as she looked at him. "I'm... so sorry about what happened."

He paused to set a hand on top of her head.

"I'll have a chat with the guys back at the Pentagon to get you set up with a new home," he assured her. The promise only managed to lift her broken spirit slightly. "And I'll see what I can do about your shop. I'll do everything I can to get it rebuilt."

Ailani's lip quivered at his efforts, standing to show her gratitude with a hug. Fowler's arms hung in the air around her in surprise, but he soon eased and returned her embrace just as tightly.

"Take this girl to get some air." The agent had instructed, chocolate eyes directed toward Magnus as the mech stood up.

Magnus had nodded in agreement as Ailani parted from Fowler, arm wrapped around her shoulders once more as she slithered hers around his waist.

The sparkmates made their way outside of the hangar and continued to walk in silence for several minutes until stopping behind base. Ailani detached herself from Magnus' side to lean against the wall, and the mech soon followed with his arms crossed, gaze fixated on the side of Ailani's face as she stared down at her boots.