Ratchet looked down to the floor as he began shaking more. "I'm fine, Skye... don't worry about me." He muttered, knowing she had to go. It scared him. He wanted to beg her to stay again but it was no use. He took a few breaths before opening the door slowly. He hugged her tightly. "Be safe." He whispered seriously.
She looked at the door as it opened then stepped back for a moment. She blinked in surprise and hugged him tightly as she buried her face in his neck. "It's okay... I always come back..." she muttered. "Enjoy your time with the family... I'll be back." She promised.
He held her tighter, frowning deeply. "I know... but I can't ever be too sure." He whispered, referring to how he was close to losing June and Optimus... and possibly Smokescreen. He didn't let her go.
She stared blankly for a moment then hugged him tighter as she shook with fear. "I don't want to go... but I have to help..." she whispered.
"I know." He muttered quietly. "I can't stop any Darby." He snorted a little, smiling a bit. He gently began stroking her hair. "We... will be here." He whispered sadly.
"I know... I don't want to lose my family... I just got them back." She choked and looked at him. Her phone beeped again and she sighed forcefully then fought back tears. "I love you..."
Ratchet cupped her face with his hands, rubbing her cheek gently. "I love you too..." he whispered and began letting her go slowly.
She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded slowly. "Stay here with them... please..." she whispered knowing he wanted to leave. She looked at him then went to say goodbye to her family. She hugged her mother and explained things then looked to the boys and hugged them. They wanted to go with her but she knew they couldn't. She shook her head and told them to see Jack first.
The doctor frowned and watched her go. He went to his room. Her older brothers hugged her tightly. "We will." Hunter muttered. "Just be careful..." he said worriedly. "We just got to be together again."
"I'll be back... I promise." She whispered as she hugged him tightly then hugged Adrien. She smiled sadly and left the home. Silently hoping Ratchet would take the time to appreciate the family being together. She feared he wouldn't and feared she wouldn't return.
Hunter sighed and went to the couch, sitting on the armrest next to Wheeljack as Adrien sat down next to the couch. "So, are you guys hungry? I'm sure you all want showers and rest." Sari smiled as she looked at them, glad they made it here.
"Please..." Miko whispered and looked at her. "We need to see Jack soon..." she whispered.
"Let me see what I can do. And we have two showers for you guys to use." Rafael said as he smiled slightly. "I'll be back. Make yourself at home and get something to eat." He said as he smiled and glanced to the other room. He was worried about Ratchet and went to make some calls.
Sari nodded. "I know..." she spoke quietly and then looked to her husband then back to them. "Rafael is right. Make yourself at home and we will handle Jack's situation." Sari added. Riley nodded a little in agreement.
"I... I'll head back to the military base, where he is located. I can try to do more for him." Riley spoke softly, adjusting her glasses as she grabbed her bag and phone. "I'll come back with news." She said calmly and began leaving the home.
Adrien sighed, looked exhausted. "I want a long nap." He muttered, rubbing his brown sleepy eyes. "Why do things have to be difficult? We're already back home and together. What would they want with Dad?" He frowned.
"It's.... complicated..." Raf said as he looked at them then went back to the other room.
They spent the next little while getting cleaned up and taking naps towards the afternoon. Rafael and Quinn cleaned up a little as everyone went down for bed. Sari sat at the table helping with dinner as the room remained silent. Between Raf, Riley and Fowler they got permission to move Jack back over and free him. They didn't see anything wrong and found him innocent, for now. Bumblebee was a harder case at the moment. The young father looked at Quinn then quietly went to talk with Ratchet. Worried he was upset now.
The doctor was laying on his bed, his back facing the door. He fumbled with his wedding band, staring at it distantly. He frowned deeply, his eyebrows knitted together. He hadn't left his room since Skye left. He didn't want to and didn't know what to say. He loved his family and was glad to see everyone, but it really hit him hard that June wasn't present.
He closed his eyes tightly as he gripped the ring, shaking. He wished he wasn't so closed off when upset. Optimus was the only one he talked to when upset, then it became June. But now both people had disappeared somewhere and he didn't feel ready to open up to someone new. But he felt he did need to move on, he began to sit up, putting the ring back onto his finger. The old doctor wanted to see his grandsons. He got up and opened the door, surprised to see Raf but wasn't too surprised.
The father blinked in surprise as he stared at him, his fist raised a little to knock. "Ratchet... are you okay?" He asked quietly, wanting to tend to his friend. Or at least help him.
Ratchet blinked then nodded, then smiled a tiny bit. "I'm alright... I.... I apologize for... just coming into my room. I... needed a moment to myself. Where is Hunter and Adrien?" He asked as his curiosity perked, glancing around.
"It's okay... I know it's overwhelming..." he whispered quietly and gently gripped his shoulders. "They and the others are sleeping for now." He whispered as he watched him. "Come... join us while we wait for everyone to get back... if you'd like to." He said gently.
The medic nodded some, wanting to join him. He followed the man into the main room, looking around. He noticed Quinn was awake and smiled a bit, walking to the girl, sitting down at the table beside her. "Hello Quinn, how are you?"
"I'm amazing." She grinned up at him as she colored. She loved to color and seemed to get better each time. "How you?" She asked and looked at him.
Ratchet watched her draw then looked at her. "I'm well." He said calmly then looked back to her drawings, curious. He tilted his head to try to see what she drew from her angle.
She was drawing him as a robot and he was sitting in the grass staring at the sky. "Him sad." She said as she colored some flowers. "He missing something." She mumbled and looked at the doctor.
Ratchet blinked, surprised. He frowned a bit, looking at Quinn. He thought for a moment. "Why draw him sad?" He asked quietly.
"He always sad in pictures." She said and looked at the drawing then at him. "Miko said he never happy... but daddy said he was once... but he always sad." She said and grabbed a blank paper before drawing again. "Him heart sad and missing things..." she whispered quietly as she drew a heart to show him what she meant.
His eyebrows furrowed. "That isn't true..." he muttered but he never noticed. Was he always sad? He looked at the drawing quietly. "Why would Miko tell you that I-er- he is sad?"
"She said he always yell and angry... but I think he just sad. Because Daddy say he misses him home and family." She explained and went to the other drawing. "See? He looking for his home." She said.
The old doctor watched her quietly, his chest tightening a bit. His eyebrows furrowed as he watched her. "Well... you are quite smart aren't you?" He smiled a bit.
"No. Daddy just told me stories and Mikos phone showed me pictures." She said as she smiled brightly and looked at him. She kept coloring and he noticed a black figure with a red eye and purple eye. He was standing over a field and looking at it. He looked as if his intent was one of evil.
Ratchet's eyes narrowed as he looked at it. He gently pointed to it. "And what is this?" He asked quietly, glancing at Quinn.
"Him bad guy." she whispered and looked up at him. "He fights hero and he not nice." she said as she pulled it out then another that looked like Optimus was fighting a black figure with red eyes. "He's mean to nice bot." she explained and colored more.
"Why does he have a red and purple eye?" Ratchet asked, blinking. Megatron only had red eyes. Was she thinking of someone else?
"He has red eyes but they turned purple once." she said and looked at him. "Miko said so. She tell tons of stories when I asked her about pictures on her phone." she grinned. "I love stories."
He huffed, rolling his eyes, of course Miko did. He shook his head and sighed. "I see..." he muttered. "Well.... do they scare you?"
She stopped coloring and thought of her nightmares from the stories. "Yes... mommy and daddy say they real... and that's scary... they so big and can hurt me.... because I small... I heard mommy and daddy talking... um... about... Skye dad... how bot steppeded on him." she said with tears in her eyes. "they step on me if I go up to surface...." she whispered.
Ratchet eyebrows furrowed, reminding himself to have a serious talk to Miko about when to hold her tongue. No wonder Riley grew up with so much anxiety, she probably heard from Miko and lived through scary incidents. "You don't need to worry about anything, Quinn. Everyone is safe and we're all together. Nothing is going to happen to us, especially with Wheeljack and Bulkhead in the same house." He smiled a bit, rubbing her cheek. "But that is also why we do not go near the tracks and why we stay underground. Understand?"
She nodded quickly as she watched him while tears filled her eyes. She whimpered quietly and hugged him tightly as she buried her face. "But... what about Skye? She always goes up to the surface with the robot bad guys.... the good bots are gone..." she whispered.
He hugged her tightly, frowning as he gently stroked her hair. "Skye is much older than you and can do as she pleases. She is trying to save people and find more good bots... the good bots haven't all gone." He whispered toward the end, smiling a bit. "Who do you think the bots in the photos are?'' He asked gently. "I'm Ratchet, the orange and white bot you see. This is only a holoform I'm stuck in." He informed her calmly.
She looked at him and pulled away as she stared at the man. She frowned deeply and glanced at the pictures. She looked at him again and furrowed her brow as if trying to see it. She gripped his old wrinkled face with her tiny hands as she studied his face. She cocked her head and moved her hands a little as she made him smile. She then looked into his eyes and grinned. "There you are Ratchet." She said as she smiled brightly.
He couldn't help but chuckle at her innocent behavior. "What do you mean?'' He asked as his smile became real. "I don't look like this in the photos."
She giggled and set her thumbs under his eyes. "You have pretty eyes... blue eyes like robot. But you happy now... you not sad anymore." She whispered quietly.
"Well yes, you are making me happy... Quinn... just because I seemed sad all the time and angry from those photos and stories... doesn't mean I'm always like that." The old doctor said as he gently leaned into her touch, smiling more at the young girls hands and how adorably tiny they were. "I was happy at times when I was a... robot." he told her gently. "I was with my family. I only missed my home."
She watched him intently and gasped quietly as he spoke. "Wow... so... like... how... some people... around here are sad and... miss their families?" She asked as she looked at him and gently felt his wrinkles with her tiny hands. She kept them on his cheeks though as she watched his pretty blue eyes.
Ratchet nodded a bit. "Well... it is difficult to tell with other families." He murmured, his expression softening. "Don't worry about them, they can make it through their problems as we get through ours... alright?'' He spoke quietly, not knowing how or what to respond with that.
"Okay. Can I see the surface one day?" She asked quietly as she looked at him. "But not the bad robot part...." she said.
"Maybe when you're my age," Ratchet told her quietly. He doubted she would ever be able to. Decepticons plagued Earth and it was impossible to stay up there for more than a month. He wasn't sure how his family did it.
"Wow." She grinned then it faded as she actually thought about it. "Wait... how old are you?" She asked as she looked at him and scrunched up her face. Raf glanced to the other room and smiled a little.
Ratchet looked at her in surprise, his eyebrows shooting up. He wasn't expecting that question. "Well... in my real form, I am over six billion years old. But, in this form, I am roughly seventy-eight." He told her honestly, thinking. Not sure about the human estimate.
Her eyes widened in surprise and she gasped as she put her hands on her own cheeks. "Wow! You so old!" She said and Rafael cleared his throat as he gave her a look. "Oh I mean... um... you classic." She grinned.
The old doctor smiled faintly before sighed softly. "It's alright, I know I'm old." He said gently then glanced at Raf, giving a small look that told him he didn't mind. She was innocent and didn't know better.
"But you still has soooo much to look for." She said as she spread her arms out wide. "I is a baby girl... you still have a... um..." she trailed off as she got lost in her metaphor.
Ratchet blinked, raising an eyebrow. He then smiled a bit. "It's alright, I know what you mean." He said gently. "I'm not upset about my age."
"I am... I four and can't do much." She huffed and pouted cutely as Rafael smiled a little. He went back to helping his wife with dinner. The others would be up soon.
"Well that's because you're only four." Ratchet chuckled a little, looking at her in amusement. Being around the innocent sparkling, seemed to brighten his mood. It was like being around Bumblebee when he was so young.
~
Sari chuckled a little as she cooked the veggies. She glanced at the two by the table then at her husband. "Quinn sure can open him up."
Rafael chuckled again and looked at his wife then at them before it faded a little. "Ya... he needs someone to open up to." He whispered.
She nodded a bit, the red haired woman sighing softly. She looked at Rafael. "He will be alright. He was closed off Raf, we all got separated. He will open up again in time."
He nodded slowly and hoped so as he helped her cook. He rubbed his face tiredly and smiled a little. "I know... thank you..." he whispered
She nodded as she looked at him, a hint of worry in her eyes. She gently set her hand on his, getting him to stop for a moment. "You're welcome, I love you Raf. I don't want you to stress yourself now, enjoy yourself and the time with family."
He gently set his hand on hers then kissed her cheek. "Alright... I'll stop worrying about the others. I love you." He mumbled.
She smiled at him and nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you. I love you too." She said and looked to the hall as Hunter came down the hall, rubbing his face tiredly. His black hair was a mess and his face and arms had marks from the blankets and pillows from sleeping in the same position. "Morning...or goodnight.."
Rafael chuckled softly as he looked at him then looked at his twin as he followed. Hunter had a green streak in his hair, where his brother just had black hair. "It's evening." Adrien said as he glanced at the time.
~
"I can draw, sing, laugh, play, dance... um..." Quinn had counted on her fingers and furrowed her brow. "Um... eat, sleep, talk... um..." she scrunched up her face for a moment.
Ratchet listened to her, amused by her rambles. He wondered how this child wasn't Mikos. "You can stand, walk, and sit. You can blink, breathe, and hear. You can see..." he added to her list.
"Ya! I cam do so much!" She squealed happily and bounced up and down. "I a good four years old." She grinned proudly and put her hands on her hips.
The old doctor laughed, grinning a little, his wrinkles beneath his eyes becoming more prominent. "Yes, yes you are. You are a quick learner."
She squealed and set her hand on his cheeks. "You is so cute." She said as she fingered his wrinkles. "Do I has pretty winkles?" She gasped in surprise.
He smiled a bit. "You don't have wrinkles, but, you have dimples and a few freckles." He said gently, brushing his thumbs over them on her face.
She gasped in surprise and touched her face again then squealed happily and wiggled around. She clasped her hands together and kept giggling.
Ratchet laughed a bit and got up with a grunt. He looked to the twins and smiled a bit, seeing how much they looked like their parents. He stood fully and grunted, his knees aching. He approached them, wanting to greet them properly.