Achelois

27: Watch Out For The Quiet Ones

So, it actually wasn't that hard to find Smokescreen. He was with Optimus the entire time, except he had to drive, whereas Optimus was now able to fly. Achelois was surprised by his upgrade, as was Dahlia. He had a jet pack and he was taller, and more... rad, as Miko put it. After Ratchet had set up the computers in the new base, he had taken Achelois for a drive to ask her out. And she had said yes. And it had been almost five months since then. There was a lot of Decepticon activity and the bots could not figure out why. But that didn't stop them from relaxing.

Achelois was spending time with Ratchet at the moment, going for a drive as a date.  Ratchet and Achelois had been talking about several different things, but now it was quiet. Ratchet had something on his mind, and Achelois could tell. She could also tell that he was a bit nervous, so she refrained from questioning about it. Finally, after a few more minutes of silence, Ratchet finally spoke up.

"Achelois", he started, his voice quavering slightly. "Do you know what a sparkmate is to cybertronians?"

Achelois nodded. "I do. You taught me, remember?" she teased. Ratchet was quiet for another minute, allowing Achelois to know that he was slightly embarrassed. So she spoke up again. "But yes, I do know what a sparkmate is. It's basically your version of husband and wife. Why do you ask?"

Ratchet was quiet for a few more minutes before finally responding. "I was just curious, Lois."

Achelois smiled at the nickname she had received from him. No one else called her that. Most of the others had just reverted to using her alias, Faria, which she didn't mind. She responded to it just as much as she responded to Achelois or Lois. After a few minutes of slightly awkward silence, Achelois started to ask him something.

"Hey, Ratch?" she asked. "Do you ever think the Decepticons will kidnap me again?"

Ratchet was quick to answer. "I hope not! But if they do..." 

"They better watch out for your wrenches", Achelois laughed. Ratchet laughed as well, but continued his original thought.

"If they do try to kidnap you, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe", Ratchet answers. Achelois smiles at that.

"Thanks, Ratch", she responded before resting her head on the side of the ambulance. The seat belt tightened around her in a form of a hug before loosening. Ratchet pulled into the base, and Achelois was quick to hop out. Ratchet transformed and gently picked Achelois up and placed her on his shoulder. However, play time quickly turned to work as Fowler's voice filled the air.

"Prime", he called as his face appeared on screen. "It's 'cons again! In progress this time."

"Coordinates received Agent Fowler", Ratchet replied as he opened the ground bridge. Ratchet, Ultra Magnus and the humans watched as the bots rolled out. Ultra Magnus didn't go with due to an injury caused by the predacon.

After several minutes, Optimus called back. "Ratchet, open the ground bridge, but ensure that the humans are kept a safe distance", he said gravely. "For we will be returning with a Decepticon prisoner."

Achelois eyes widened at the same time as everyone else's and Ratchet was quick to open a ground bridge and then set Achelois away from the ground bridge so she could be safe from harm.

When they came through the groundbridge, Achelois was shocked to see Soundwave. They contained him on a berth that had energon cuffs and waited for him to wake up from the short power down he had after crashing into some power lines. Lazerbeak wasn't with him, but none of them really thought of that.

When Soundwave finally woke up, he started struggling to get out, but failed. Ratchet spoke to the team, giving them the smallest bit of comfort. "Because we had the foresight to shield our new base, our captive won't be able to transmit his coordinates to the Decepticon warship."