Mazikeen woke up to a knock on her door. She stood up and opened it, she glanced back at her empty bed and shook off the pang of hurt in her chest,
"Mynx, let's go,"
Mazikeen tilted her head,
"Where?"
Will smiled at her,
"Back to the base, it's going to be new to you, but I'll have people show you around when we get there."
Mazikeen sighed but nodded,
"Alright...you still can't tell me anything, right?"
Will sighed and nodded,
"Yeah, I'm sorry Mynx,"
Mazikeen shrugged,
"It is what it is, I'll just have to learn to deal with it,"
Will nodded,
"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe left already with your cousin and Eddie. Fig and Epps are joining us on our journey back but will leave later today,"
Mazikeen frowned,
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"Fig retired after our second fight, Epps retired a year ago and joined NASA,"
Mazikeen frowned,
"So...it's only the two of us?"
Will wrapped an arm around her,
"The best of the best,"
Mazikeen chuckled,
"Are there other twins?"
Will frowned in confusion,
"Other twins?"
Mazikeen nodded,
"Yeah...Sun and Sides are twins...was there another pair of twins?"
Will felt hope flood through him and he nodded,
"Yeah, Mudflap and Skids...they were always causing trouble...do you remember them?"
Mazikeen frowned and shook her head,
"I...I don't know...I just had a weird like quick dream of them...everything was bright blue...and there were two Autobots standing in front of me, they were twins."
Will frowned before he realized what it could mean,
"Hey, let's just have some food before we go. We can talk to Ratchet about it later, okay?"
Mazikeen nodded,
"Alright...have you seen Jazz?"
Will smirked,
"No, not this morning, why?"
Mazikeen blushed and shrugged,
"No reason,"
Will laughed,
"Sure,"
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚
"Ratchet, I am telling you, I will be fine!"
Ratchet grumbled at her stubbornness,
"Ham, I am telling you. I do not want you to talk to Mazikeen. She won't remember you,"
Samantha rolled her eyes,
"Yeah, you told me that, and I am telling you that I will be fine with that! I have been through a shit ton of scrap throughout my years as a Wizard, I think I can handle a simple person forgetting who I am,"
Ratchet crossed his arms and narrowed his optics at her,
"Ham, I do not doubt your strength, but anyone would break under someone close to them, forgetting they exist,"
Samantha groaned,
"I know, but I will be fine,"
Ratchet sighed,
"Samantha."
"Ratchet."
Ratchet sighed as he finally thought back to the small interaction he had with Mazikeen,
"I am speaking from experience. And, Mazikeen knew me. But not as well as she did. Mazikeen was the first human that I was forced to talk to, she along with her brother, Samuel, were the first humans I grew to care about. Seeing her...knowing what we have been through together...it was not easy. I am trying to help you, Samantha. I don't want you to go through what I just did last night,"
Samantha sighed,
"Please let me see her,"
Ratchet sighed,
"Fine. But no one else. I don't want to cause anyone any pain today,"
Samantha flew up to his shoulder and patted it,
"Come on, maybe I can figure out a spell to heal her,"
Ratchet chuckled,
"I don't believe there will be one for this type of amnesia,"
Samantha sighed,
"I still want to try,"
Ratchet nodded,
"Alright, let's get to the hanger to meet them,"
They left the Medical Bay with Samantha on Ratchet's shoulder and walked out. When they got to the hangar, Optimus was the first to greet them,
"Good morning, Ratchet and Samantha,"
"Morning, Boss bot!"
"Good morning, Optimus,"
Optimus stared at the driveway,
"Do you believe that this is the right choice for Mazikeen?"
Ratchet nodded,
"For her and us."
Optimus nodded,
"Everyone is in the rec room, and we can introduce Mazikeen to them after she settles down."
Ratchet sighed,
"Yes, good idea,"
The looked over when they heard familiar engines. Bumblebee, Ironhide, Jazz, and Barricade came zooming in. Stopping to let the humans inside out. Barricade was first to transform and spotted Samantha on Ratchet's shoulder and frowned. He said nothing as Mazikeen glanced around with a whistle,
"Damn, we got a nice base,"
Optimus smiled,
"Welcome, Mazikeen,"
Mazikeen smiled up at Optimus,
"Thanks, boss,"
Samantha flew down and smiled at Mazikeen,
"Hi! I'm Samantha, you can call me Ham if you want,"
Mazikeen's eyes brightened when she spotted her wings and tail,
"Woah! Are you an angel? Is that a thing now? Will why the fuck did you not tell me we had an Angel friend?!"
Samantha blushed and shook her head,
"I'm a wizard, not an angel,"
Mazikeen nodded her head,
"Still very cool, so how'd you get here? Like involved,"
Samantha felt her heart stop at the question as it finally set in that her first ever friend did forget her,
"Oh...um...I stumbled upon Barricade one day while flying...he took me back here,"
Mazikeen nodded her head,
"Cool-"
Alexandra wrapped an arm around her cousin and dragged her away,
"Come on, I want you to meet my best friend!"
Mazikeen laughed,
"Alright,"
Ironhide picked up Samantha gently,
"You okay, kid?"
Samantha sighed and looked up at him and shook her head,
"Sh-She looked right through me...I...I didn't realize that it was this bad,"
Ironhide sighed,
"Let's go on a drive, okay?"
Ratchet pointed a digit at them,
"No Universe hopping and stay close to base,"
They nodded and left. Jazz sighed,
"Will she remember?"
Will patted his hood,
"She's getting there. Ratchet, I have a question for you,"
Ratchet nodded and looked at him,
"What is it?"
"Mazikeen said that she had a vision. A brief one. It was Mudflap and Skids, and the three of them were surrounded by blue lights, she couldn't see anything else,"
That caused all the Autobots to look at him in shock. Ratchet frowned,
"That...Will, I don't know how that's possible,"
Will tilted his head in confusion,
"What do you mean?"
Ratchet frowned,
"Well...what you might be describing is the Well of the AllSpark. Our afterlife. Mazikeen...her heart stopped for a moment before Alexandra and Samantha returned with the necklace...if what you are describing is where Mazikeen was...She was at the...you could call it a gate. She was at the gate of our Afterlife, and the only two that prevented her from going further were Mudflap and Skids."
Epps frowned,
"What would have happened if she went past the gate?"
Optimus sighed,
"She would not have returned. Mudflap and Skids saved her life,"
Jazz frowned,
"We kept on telling her that they were still online...how the frag did we miss them offlining?"
Ratchet frowned,
"Their deaths are a mystery, one that we must discover. But first, we have to focus on getting Mazikeen back to the way she was,"
Fig sighed,
"Come on, this sounds like an alpha squad job!"
Will glanced at him,
"Alpha Squad?"
Fig glared at him,
"Hey! Don't dig the name after so many years,"
Epps laughed and nodded,
"Yeah, let's go show her ourselves. We have pictures and stories,"
Will glanced at Ratchet quickly,
"Is that alright?"
Ratchet sighed,
"Fine, fine. But be careful,"
Fig winked at him,
"Don't worry, we can take care of our sister,"
Will nodded,
"We will let you know the progress after. But I want no one else in her room until we give the all clear. I'm sorry, Jazz. I'll get you when we are done, okay?"
Jazz sighed but nodded,
"Alright,"
Barricade walked up to Jazz and put a servo on his shoulder as they left,
"Jazz-"
"I don't want to hear it anymore. I'm tired of everyone telling me that it's going to be alright. Don't you get it? I lost her again. I am constantly losing Mazikeen. You should be her guardian. You with that stupid best friend bond,"
He stormed off, and Barricade sighed as he watched.