Mazikeen sighed as she plopped down on the couch,
"What is it, Maze?"
Mazikeen glanced over at Wheeljack,
"I am completely boreddd,"
Wheeljack laughed and sat down near the couch,
"I thought you were working on something?"
Mazikeen shrugged,
"It's almost finished,"
Optimus walked in,
"Wheeljack, Mazikeen, get ready,"
Mazikeen immediately cheered,
"Mission?"
Optimus looked down at her and shook his head. She immediately groaned and Optimus smirked,
"You will be going with Bumblebee and Bulkhead to pick up the kids. Miko has requested very adamantly that you do so. She wants to show you something in the town,"
Mazikeen tilted her head,
"I thought I was supposed to stay here,"
"For missions. You may leave if you are simply doing human things,"
Mazikeen sighed and shrugged,
"Why didn't you let me go shopping with Miko?"
Wheeljack winced,
"We were saving you,"
Mazikeen chuckled,
"I think I can handle a kid,"
Ratchet yelled,
"Then keep Miko!"
Mazikeen laughed and patted Wheeljack's foot,
"Well, get going Jackie. Let's pick up some kids!"
Wheeljack chuckled and transformed into his alt-mode. He opened the driver's seat door, and Mazikeen looked at it for a second,
"You want me to be in the driver's seat,"
"Yeah, hop in already,"
Mazikeen shrugged and threw on her leather jacket before climbing in. Wheeljack drove off, and Mazikeen smiled softly as she relaxed,
"Man, I miss this,"
"What?"
"Just driving."
"Did you do it a lot back in your universe?"
Mazikeen smiled softly and nodded,
"Yeah. My guardian and I went for a drive every single time one of us was feeling down about something or too stressed. Which did happen a lot, especially as the years dragged on. But then both of us got busy...and we stopped doing it so often."
"You miss him, don't you,"
Mazikeen sighed and nodded,
"Yep, he's the one I always went to, and he always came to me when he had problems. You would definitely get along with him,"
"What's his name?"
"I don't think I'm ready to find out about him in this universe,"
Wheeljack hummed,
"You love him?"
Mazikeen winced and sighed,
"Y-Yeah...I do. Which is so fucking stupid because he's my guardian, and I shouldn't love him the way I do,"
Wheeljack tightened his seatbelt around her in his way of a hug,
"Maze, it's never stupid to fall in love. You have someone to go home to. We will figure out how to get you back to your family,"
Mazikeen smiled and patted his steering wheel,
"Thanks, Jackie,"
"Hey! What are temporary guardians for?"
Mazikeen laughed,
"Yeah, don't even think I'll fall for you,"
Wheeljack grumbled jokingly,
"Damn, there goes my plan to whoo you,"
Mazikeen laughed, and he started laughing too. They pulled up outside the school and Mazikeen spotted Bumblebee and Bulkhead quickly,
"Alright, now what?"
"Go outside and find the kids,"
Mazikeen sighed,
"Fine, fine, giving me PTSD from when I did this with my baby brother,"
Wheeljack laughed. She walked out of the car and slowly walked to the school when she heard talking. She walked to the voices and spotted the three kids with a blonde kid and what appeared to be his friends. Mazikeen crossed her arms and leaned against the wall as she watched.
"Not looking so brave now that no one can hear you,"
Miko glared at him,
"Shut up, Vince, you can't do shit to us,"
Vince glared at her,
"Oh, really? Who's going to stop me,"
Jack locked eyes briefly with Mazikeen and he smirked,
"You won't hit us,"
Vince glared,
"Oh yeah?"
Mazikeen cleared her throat, and everyone turned to her. Mazikeen narrowed her eyes at Vince,
"What are you doing?"
Vince glared at her,
"None of your business, sweet cheeks, walk away while you still can,"
Miko laughed,
"Oh, you are in for it now!"
Mazikeen rolled her eyes and took a step toward Vince,
"You aren't really smart, are you?"
Vince glared at her,
"What the fuck did you say to me?"
Mazikeen simply walked right to him,
"You are clearly not the brightest here. Because if you were. You would notice something very obvious,"
Vince glared at her, and he was nudged by his buddy,
"Vince,"
"Not now."
"B-"
"Not now!"
Mazikeen chuckled,
"I think I would listen to your lil dog right there, Vince."
"Vince glared at her but turned to his friend,
"What?"
The friend pointed to Mazikeen's chest, where two proud dog tags sat, shining in the light. Vince's eyes widened,
"I-I'm s-sorry, m-ma'am,"
Mazikeen crossed her arms and glared at him,
"Now. What were you saying to my dear cousin, Jack? Let's hear it,"
Vince's eyes widened and he looked between the two,
"O-Oh...I w-was just asking for s-some homework h-help,"
Mazikeen raised her eyebrow at him and glanced at Jack,
"Is that so? Jack, what was he saying?"
Jack smirked proudly,
"Oh, just that he wanted some money from my friends and I,"
Mazikeen frowned,
"So. You're just a big fat bully?"
Vince glared,
"Hey! I'm not,"
Mazikeen stalked up to him closer and poked him harshly in the chest,
"Listen closely, Vince. If I hear from my cousin that you are bullying him and his friends again. You got bigger problems than them. I served seven years in the army. I would watch it if I were you,"
Vince immediately nodded and ran away. Miko laughed and ran up to Mazikeen,
"Oh my god! That was so cool! You totally scared the scrap out of him!"
Mazikeen rolled her eyes and chuckled,
"Please tell me that's not the reason I'm here,"
Jack shook his head,
"Miko has a full-out schedule,"
Raf nodded and winced,
"She showed us during lunch,"
Mazikeen raised her eyebrow at the younger teenager and could swear she saw her eyes sparkling,
"It's going to be so much fun! First! Cafe because I know for a fact that you have to be bored of all that grub they been feeding you at the base, then! We go see a movie! Then! We go racing!"
Mazikeen laughed and ruffled her hair,
"Sure,"
Miko gasped,
"YOU SAID YES?!"
Jack and Raf winced at how loud Miko was, but Mazikeen chuckled,
"Might as well, I have gotten tired of hearing Ratch grumble all day,"
Miko smiled proudly,
"Oh my god! You won't regret it!"
Mazikeen chuckled,
"Sure,"
Jack nudged her,
"I'm riding with you, cousin,"
Mazikeen smirked and wrapped her arm around his shoulder,
"You like my cover story?"
Raf smirked,
"It would have been more believable if you said I was your cousin. We have similar hair colors,"
Mazikeen shrugged,
"Jack and I have the same eye color, plus Vince isn't smart from what I could see,"
Miko laughed,
"Oh, he looked like he was going to shit his pants,"
Mazikeen nudged her,
"Hey, watch that mouth, we have a baby in our presence,"
Raf groaned,
"Oh, come on,"
Mazikeen chuckled,
"Don't take it personal, you remind me a lil bit of my baby brother...except he's dumb,"
They all laughed at her bluntness but quickly ran over to their guardians. Mazikeen hopped into the driver's seat and Jack hopped into the passenger seat,
"Thanks for the ride, Wheeljack,"
"No problem, kid, so where are we heading?"
"Just follow Bulk and Miko,"
They quickly got to the cafe and Mazikeen was the first to enter, quickly followed by the three kids. Someone greeted the kids immediately,
"Hey, Raf, Miko, and Jack! Who is your new buddy?"
Jack smiled,
"Estelle, this is my older cousin, Maze. She's home for a bit so she wanted to spend all the time in the world with me,"
Mazikeen smirked,
"Lucky me,"
Estelle laughed,
"Nice to meet you, the usual?"
Jack nodded,
"Yes, also get Maze what I'm getting,"
Miko crossed her arms,
"Hey! I get the best food,"
Mazikeen smirked and looked at Estelle,
"Get me what Raf is getting,"
Raf smiled proudly while Miko and Jack gasped at her dramatically,
"Damn, and after all we have been through?"
Mazikeen simply ruffled Miko's hair, and the group sat down. Jack looked at her,
"When was the last time you relaxed?"
Mazikeen frowned and shrugged,
"I'm not sure...it's been a while,"
Miko frowned,
"But don't you hang out with your friends?"
Mazikeen chuckled softly and smiled at her,
"Miko, remember, my home is different from here. Sure, I have my close friends and my family...but...we do fun things differently, we haven't really had a break in a year...maybe more,"
Raf frowned,
"But doesn't that get tiring?"
Mazikeen sighed and nodded,
"A little bit. But then, when I look at my baby brother, it makes everything I do worth it. Ever since he met our big friends, he just wanted a normal life again, but at the same time, he's a little like you guys. He wanted an adventure, but also...he wanted to be safe and didn't want to have to worry all the time,"
Jack frowned,
"What's his name again?"
Mazikeen smiled softly,
"Samuel. But I call him Sammy, have been since he was born. I'm not worried about him now. I know he's safe."
"Is Bee with him?"
Mazikeen shook his head,
"No, during the week after our last fight. Sammy moved away. He went to London and is with his girlfriend and his best friend,"
"Best friend?"
Mazikeen smirked proudly,
"Yep! I gave him a gift before I left to join the army,"
Miko's eyes brightened,
"What is it?"
Mazikeen smiled,
"His name is Rover. He's a small robot with artificial intelligence, so he is kinda like one of our big friends, but he's his own bot. Also, no harmful weapons but he can communicate with others through a communication device I implanted into him,"
They gasped, and Raf smiled largely,
"That is so cool!"
Mazikeen laughed and nodded,
"I know it is,"
Miko smiled,
"So! Does that mean that you are like a mad scientist? I know you created Phoenix and scrap but that is so cool!"
Mazikeen laughed and shook her head,
"I've been inventing since I was sixteen, planning inventions for longer but it took me a long time to start getting materials to invent,"
Jack smiled,
"That is so cool,"
Raf looked at Mazikeen,
"Can you show me some things?"
Mazikeen slowly nodded,
"Sure, kid, I'll show you some basics,"
Miko laughed,
"Oh! We are so getting a Maze 2.0!"
They all laughed as they finished their food,
"Okay, kids, onto the next task?"
Miko nodded,
"MOVIE TIME!"
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐬
Optimus looked around and spotted Ratchet,
"The children are not back yet?"
Ratchet shook his head,
"No, they are very keen on getting Mazikeen to have fun,"
Optimus nodded,
"Good. For a human, she seems different from the rest that we have met,"
Ratchet nodded,
"I can already tell she has seen things that no one else does. Optimus, she has been scarred by so many,"
Optimus nodded,
"That must be why she is so shielded,"
"I can't tell what she is trying to create, but she does say that it will be a parting gift,"
Optimus tilted his head,
"A parting gift?"
Ratchet nodded,
"I believe that it is her way of...manifesting her leaving into existing,"
Optimus slowly nodded,
"I will say, it is strange that she seems so calm around all of us,"
Ratchet shrugged,
"She has been around Cybertronians for four years, as she claims, it does make sense,"
Optimus nodded,
"Yes, it does...but I can not figure out why she seems familiar,"
"Familiar? You haven't mentioned that before,"
Optimus sighed,
"I just started feeling it a few human days ago. Her presence is familiar, though we all do not recall her. Do you feel it too?"
Ratchet sighed and put down his wrench,
"I guess I do. Maybe it is a part of something she is hiding,"
Optimus nodded,
"It must be,"