When Optimus got the message from Jazz, he had never been more frustrated with himself. He let the shard get taken, and Mazikeen is now in danger. He walked into the medical bay to see Jolt packing medical supplies and Ratchet helping him.
"Why are you packing the supplies?"
Jolt looked over at him,
"I am going over to the tower to help Eddie with the injured,"
Optimus nodded,
"Okay, that is a wise choice...the shard has been taken,"
Ratchet closed his optics for a moment and let out a giant sigh,
"Yes, we heard from them."
Jolt saw that they needed to talk and quickly left the two old friends. Ratchet put a servo on Optimus's shoulder,
"Optimus, what are you thinking?"
Optimus sighed and closed his optics,
"That Mazikeen is in danger...and I am unsure if we can do anything to help her,"
Ratchet immediately shook his head,
"Optimus. We will not let anything happen to her, we have all given an oath and we intend to keep that oath."
Optimus looked at him,
"We did not protect the shard well enough. A Decepticon was able to breach the security of this island. What is to stop it from happening again?"
"We will. We will increase patrols around this island and the base, Mazikeen will not be left alone. However, she is always around someone. We will not fail that child,"
Optimus nodded,
"We need to start those patrols immediately,"
Ratchet nodded,
"Go gather everyone up, I will remain here for the injured. Do you know if Tex retained any injuries?"
Optimus smiled,
"So, he did grow on you?"
Ratchet narrowed his optics at him,
"No, I am in charge of healing all of us, and that includes Tex. I know he was stationed at the towers ordered by Maze,"
Optimus nodded,
"He is alright, I am not sure if he retained any injuries, and I am positive that Jolt will see to them,"
"RATCHET!"
Ratchet and Optimus turned to see Epps, Will, and Mazikeen walking in, Mazikeen looked very dazed. Ratchet brought his servo to pinch his nose,
"By the All Spark, what did you do this time?"
Will glared at Mazikeen,
"I ask myself that every day,"
Mazikeen shrugged,
"That's a long story,"
Ratchet sighed and set down his servo for the three to climb onto. He set them down on the bed and Optimus watched them carefully. Epps sighed,
"She got slashed by that Decepticon while fighting him, Eddie said that she needed stitches because the gashes are deep,"
Ratchet narrowed his optics at her,
"Did you fight a Decepticon WITHOUT Phoenix or backup?"
Mazikeen looked down and Will sighed,
"The claws pierced through Phoenix, Jazz was following behind her,"
Ratchet's optics widened in shock,
"Through Phoenix?!"
Will nodded and Optimus spoke up,
"Commander Lennox, Captain Epps, we must talk about security,"
Will and Epps shared a look but nodded and they were quick to climb onto Optimus's servo and the three left. Ratchet turned on his holo-form and brought out his kit to stitch her arm. He unwrapped her arm and sighed,
"Maze. What happened to the shield that Phoenix has?"
Mazikeen refused to make eye contact with him and he sighed softly before reaching over and lifting her chin up to meet his eyes. He saw the fresh tears in her eyes and he frowned,
"Maze, talk to me,"
"I-I...I took off the shield s-so I could finish your shields faster,"
Ratchet frowned,
"Maze-"
"N-No! Don't say it. Please don't say it, not you too,"
Ratchet felt his spark drop at her words and he sighed,
"I won't. But you need to fix that now. Okay?"
Mazikeen looked down,
"I don't want to,"
"Why not?"
"I...I failed Ratch. I'm no All Spark. I let you all down."
Ratchet narrowed his optics and put his hands on her shoulders,
"Mazikeen. Look at me,"
Mazikeen slowly lifted her head back up to look at him,
"You are not a failure. You are our friend. We all care about you and not just because you have the powers of the All Spark. You are my friend. Don't repeat these words to anyone, but I care about you. You are a human being, Mazikeen, you told me that you humans have a saying, and that saying is, 'I'm only human,'. You have been doing everything you can to help us. You saved human lives by sending Tex to the tower earlier, let us do our job and help you back,"
Mazikeen said nothing and she stood back up and hugged Ratchet. Ratchet patted her back as she finally cried. Ratchet knew that Jazz and her two brothers would be there soon, even he felt the utter despair through his small bond with the girl.
"Shhh...it's okay Maze, let it all out,"
He slowly sat them both down as she kept crying into his shoulder. He quickly called Jazz to tell him not to come into the Medical bay and make sure the twins know to not come in as well. He got a protest but he quickly shut down the worried mech. Mazikeen finally calmed down after a few minutes and fell asleep in Ratchet's arms. He laid her down and sighed as he wiped off some stray tears from her eyes. He turned off his holo-form and walked outside of the medical bay to see Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe sitting against the wall opposite of the door. They all looked up at him with concerned optics and Ratchet sighed,
"She needs time."
Sunstreaker frowned,
"But...she will be okay?"
Ratchet smiled sadly at him,
"I hope so,"
Jazz stood up,
"Can we come in?"
Ratchet sighed but nodded,
"Yes,"
Sideswipe was first in as he ran and sat down next to the bed that held Mazikeen. Sunstreaker was next and Jazz was last. He felt a painful tug at his spark when he saw Mazikeen's upset features. Ratchet put a servo on his shoulder,
"Did Optimus give everyone a schedule?"
Jazz nodded,
"Yes...I am not to leave Mazikeen's side under any condition, and the other twins will guard the training rooms, Ironhide will take turns patrolling all sides of the island with the Arcee triplets, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are going to be in charge of patrolling the halls of base."
Ratchet nodded,
"Jolt and I will continue working on melding human metals to make stronger materials for us, and we will try making better weapons as well,"
Jazz nodded,
"Good,"
Mazikeen jumped up with her twin guns in hand immediately. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker held up their servos,
"Hey! Calm down,"
Mazikeen blinked and sighed,
"Sorry, I don't know what that was,"
Ratchet looked at her in concern,
"You need to go back to your room, fix Phoenix, and then go recharge,"
Mazikeen sighed but nodded,
"Okay,"
Everyone's optics widened in surprise at her agreeing with Ratchet, but Ratchet knew why she did. Jazz put his servo by her and she climbed onto it. He left with her and Sunstreaker looked at Ratchet,
"Doc, we felt pain and sadness from her...what happened?"
Ratchet sighed,
"She finally let her emotions out. That kid has been holding everything in ever since Mission City,"
Sideswipe frowned,
"That was months ago,"
Ratchet winced and nodded his head,
"Yes, it was,"
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe shared a look and Ratchet patted their shoulders,
"Maze will be fine, she simply needs time. After things calm down again, I am going to send her to her little brother to take a break,"
Sideswipe smiled,
"Good, can we go with her?"
Ratchet sighed but nodded,
"Yes, just have Jazz give you the okay, he is her guardian and we can not risk all three of you going,"
Sunstreaker crossed his arms,
"He will never allow that,"
Ratchet laughed,
"Yes, I know,"
Sideswipe sighed,
"He even stays in the room with her as his holo-form! Doc, we got scarred!"
Ratchet laughed and nodded,
"I believe most of us heard your scream, Sideswipe,"
Sunstreaker shook his head,
"Listen, we never wanted to walk in to see our sister sleeping alongside someone,"
Ratchet smiled,
"Well, seeing as Jazz has not stayed in his room for a long time, this will not be the last time if you wish to see her in the early morning,"
Both twins gagged dramatically at that. Then Sideswipe pointed at Ratchet in shock,
"You have known for a long time?!"
Ratchet raised his servos in defense,
"Optimus and I have both learned a while ago. Jazz is doing what he believes is best,"
Sunstreaker sighed,
"Yeah yeah,"
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳
Mazikeen immediately started working on Phoenix, she was deployed and very still. Jazz tilted his head,
"That is how you work on her?"
Mazikeen laughed,
"What? You thought I would be able to work on her from her compact form?"
Jazz shrugged,
"I don't understand how it works,"
Mazikeen chuckled and glanced at him,
"Yeah, I can tell,"
She handed him a device,
"Here you go,"
Jazz looked at it in surprise,
"Is this the shield?"
Mazikeen smiled and nodded,
"Yeah, do you need help putting it on?"
Jazz scratched the back of his neck and nodded,
"Yeah,"
Mazikeen smiled and nodded,
"Okay, let's go,"
Jazz turned off his holo-form and Mazikeen left her room to see Jazz's alt-mode,
"You have to transform and sit down,"
Jazz did as asked and Mazikeen climbed up onto his legs and he helped her climb up onto his chassis. Mazikeen held the device and glanced at Jazz's optics,
"So, it might feel a little weird for like a sec, everyone has told me that but it goes away as quickly as it comes."
Jazz nodded and smiled at her,
"Go ahead,"
Mazikeen touched his chassis and he felt his spark tug at him and his airconditioners immediately turned on. Mazikeen looked up with a frown,
"You okay? I can hear your AC,"
Jazz nodded,
"Yeah,"
Mazikeen shrugged, and she attached the shield and pressed a button on it,
"Okay, how do you feel?"
Jazz felt a coldness sweep through his mechanics but it went away as quick as it came, which did serve to cool his systems down,
"I feel like a new Cybertronian,"
Mazikeen laughed and patted his chassis,
"Yeah, that's good. You can turn on the shield by thinking about it. I'm still not sure how it works...but Ratch said that you just need to think and shit."
Jazz nodded,
"Yeah, Ratchet is right, now. Let's go back inside so you can finish Phoenix and sleep,"
Mazikeen smiled,
"You finally said sleep,"
Jazz rolled his optics as he transformed back into his alt-mode,
"Shut up, you are infecting me with your language,"
Mazikeen laughed and nudged his hood,
"Come on,"
She went back inside and Jazz's holo-form was quick to follow. It took another two hours before Phoenix was finished and Mazikeen plopped down on her bed,
"Lil M, you haven't changed yet,"
Mazikeen groaned,
"Shhh, recharge,"
Jazz rolled his optics,
"Don't make me drag you off your bed,"
Mazikeen sighed,
"Fine fine, but you go to the bathroom so I can change, I wanna change here,"
Jazz raised his hands in defense and nodded,
"Okay!"
Jazz walked into the bathroom and closed the door. He heard Mazikeen get out of her bed and heard the drawers open and shut. He stayed in the bathroom just looking around to wait for Mazikeen to yell for him,
"Jazz!"
Jazz opened the door and saw a grumpy Mazikeen,
"Lil M, what's wrong"
Mazikeen blushed and sighed,
"My arm hurts too much to move it up,"
Jazz tilted his head,
"Do you want me to get one of the Arcee triplets?"
Mazikeen shook her head,
"They are recharging, I tried texting them,"
Jazz nodded,
"Anyone else?"
Mazikeen shook her head,
"C-Can...can you help?"
Jazz felt his spark stutter and he shrugged,
"Okay, is anyone going to murder me?"
Mazikeen laughed and shook her head,
"No one will,"
Jazz nodded,
"Okay,"
He walked closer to her and grabbed her other shirt, Mazikeen turned her back to him and he softly lifted her arm and she winced,
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just hurts,"
Jazz frowned but slowly got her arm through the sleeve and took it off. He felt something in his spark when he looked at her, he looked at the scars on her back but said nothing as he softly put her other shirt on. When he finished, Mazikeen turned back around and smiled at him,
"Thank you, Jazz,"
Jazz smiled softly at her,
"You are very welcome, Lil M,"
They laid down on her bed and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder,
"Goodnight,"
"Goodnight, Jazz,"