Athena walked right into Will's office,
"We need to talk,"
Will looked up in confusion,
"Hello, Aura, what is it?"
Athena plopped down in the seat across from him,
"What is this I'm hearing about May not celebrating her birthday anymore?"
Will sighed as he looked down,
"She stopped celebrating after her second birthday in the army,"
"Why?"
Will sighed,
"Because...we were sent out on our first mission as a squad. We were camping out right next to our tank and quietly singing her happy birthday...then we got attacked. The reason the four of us are so much closer than everyone else that you may see is, the rest of our squad didn't make it...it has been feeling like the universe only wanted us four to survive every tour we went on together. Mynx didn't take it well when we went back to the site to get the bodies of our friends...she said that she was done with birthdays and done with celebrations that were about her. She shut down and worked on her weapons more and we had to stop her from blowing up her cabin from her inventions,"
Athena sighed and brought her head into her hands,
"That's why...you know...when we were younger, she didn't drown herself in her work as much as she does now...All the loss...she took it upon herself to protect her friends and family as much as she can...She has done that all her life with Sam...but now, I guess her family really did expand,"
Will sighed,
"Yes, it did...and I don't know how much more she can take,"
Athena looked up at him,
"She's Mazikeen Witwicky, she will take it on until she can't walk anymore. She's my self-destructing best friend. She is your sister or daughter, I don't know you guys have your own thing,"
Will laughed and nodded,
"Yes, we do. Okay, I'm going to ask Jazz to get Fig, we still can't use the aircraft for them just yet until we get approval from the secretary and the president. So he will have to leave today to get him back tomorrow,"
Athena nodded,
"Okay, good. I'm going to call Sam right now to get him ready for a family barbecue for her birthday,"
Will nodded,
"We will set up a party here, I'll get Kaitlyn to explain it to Ratchet and Jolt so they can explain it to everyone else. I'll get Prime to choose someone to go with Mynx,"
Athena nodded,
"Okay! We got the ball rolling let's gooooo!"
Will chuckled as he watched her run out. He took out his communicator and pressed a button,
"Prime, can you come to my office for a second?"
"Yes, is everything alright?"
"Yes, I will explain an idea that Aura and I got,"
"Okay, I will arrive soon,"
Will put the files he was working on away and looked up when he saw Optimus's holo-form materialize in his office,
"Optimus,"
Optimus nodded,
"William, what did you wish to speak to me about?"
"For a long time, Mynx has not celebrated her birthday. Birthdays are a big custom over here, we celebrate the day someone was born every year, sure, it is not that big of a deal after a certain amount of time. But, ever since we started fighting in a squad together, Mynx has not celebrated, she despises her birthday. Aura took over and immediately decided to throw her a small celebration here. We plan on having her go back home to her biological family for half the day, a small brunch, with someone while Jazz gets Fig from Florida,"
"Why send Jazz to get Fig?"
"Because, Fig has not met any of the new Autobots, and I want to keep Ironhide here, Jazz is pretty good at keeping himself hidden so he can easily sneak away for a while. I wanted to ask you if you had any ideas on who could take Mynx. I would have thought about Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, but-"
"They would most likely try harming her parents with their words,"
Will nodded,
"Definitely, and I am not that familiar with how the others are with her,"
Optimus nodded,
"I will send her with Smokescreen, he is still new and I believe it would be good for him to get used to human customs,"
Will smiled,
"Great, thank you,"
Optimus nodded,
"You are welcome. Is there anything that we should be aware of for birthdays?"
Will chuckled,
"Kaitlyn and Aura will explain, and I have no doubt that Angel will also jump in with her own aggressive way,"
Optimus nodded,
"I will go inform Jazz and Smokescreen the plan,"
Will nodded,
"Good, and please make sure Jazz doesn't try offlining Smokescreen,"
Optimus nodded,
"I am sure he will not try-"
"You see what I see when Jazz is with Mynx?"
Optimus smiled,
"Yes, I do. He is fiercely overprotective, and I do hope that one day he learns why,"
Will smirked,
"You know,"
Optimus nodded,
"I do know, and I am sure some of the other Autobots do as well,"
Will laughed,
"So it's just Mynx and Jazz that are clueless?"
Optimus chuckled,
"It appears so,"
Will sighed,
"Well, they have to figure it out soon. I'm about to lose my money,"
Optimus looked at him,
"Lose money?"
Will nodded,
"We have very vital customs over here. This one is called a bet. We bet money toward how long we think it will take the two clueless to realize what they have,"
Optimus nodded,
"Before the rebellion, we did have what you call a bet, and we used energon cubes as our source of betting currency,"
Will chuckled and nudged his shoulder,
"Well, as I have said, we are much alike,"
Optimus nodded,
"We are indeed,"
Optimus left and immediately asked Smokescreen and Jazz to meet him in his office to discuss something. He got confirmation from the two, and when he arrived at his office, the two mechs were standing there with confused faces.
"Optimus, what did you want to discuss?"
"Jazz, I am sending you to retrieve Fig. Commander Lennox will provide his location. Smokescreen, I am putting you on temporary guardianship of Mazikeen while she visits her family-"
"WHAT?"
Optimus sighed as Jazz narrowed his optics,
"Prime, why is Smokescreen going with Lil M? She is my charge!"
"Because, Fig knows you, I can not go pick him up, Ironhide can not pick him up, Ratchet is needed here, and he is unfamiliar with everyone else."
Smokescreen patted Jazz's shoulder,
"Don't worry, Maze will be safe with me,"
Jazz stared at him dead in the optic,
"If anything happens to her, you got me, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Tex to deal with first,"
Smokescreen nodded,
"I know, don't worry,"
He turned to Optimus,
"Is there something that I need to know?"
Optimus nodded,
"You need to keep watch over her, make sure no Decepticon or human detects you. Mazikeen does not always get along with her carrier,"
Smokescreen nodded,
"Is it just us two?"
Optimus nodded,
"Yes. I also request that you try using your holo-form. I want everyone to work on slowly interacting with the humans through our holo-forms to integrate ourselves with them more. Mazikeen has approved of this. This is to be kept a secret, Jazz you are not permitted to tell anyone that you are getting Fig, especially Mazikeen. It is a surprise for her, it is the day of her birth, it is a human custom to celebrate and Mazikeen has not for a long time."
Jazz sighed but nodded,
"Okay, when do I leave?"
"Tonight, you have to drive straight there because we are not permitted to use the aircraft,"
Jazz sighed but nodded,
"Alright, I'll go tell Lil M that I will be going on a mission tonight,"
Optimus patted his shoulder,
"Do not worry, old friend, Mazikeen is in good hands,"
Jazz sighed and glanced back at Smokescreen momentarily,
"I know, doesn't stop the worry though,"
"I know,"