A Test of Loyalty

Ch. 37: Talks and Rocks

Paige didn't know what compelled her to follow Miko, but she was glad she did. She hadn't been able to sleep anyway, so she had been leaning against the railing while her friends were sound asleep on the couches behind her. Her mind was full of thoughts about Knockout's findings.

Her cells were slowing down. In normal cases with humans, that would mean she was on the cusp of dying. However, her cells were also supercharged - whatever that means. Which places her in a very unique and tricky predicament. Right now, she was an entirely unknown variable. And until Knockout could find out more about it, there was no telling what that would mean for her, or her future.

She had been brought out of her thoughts when Agent Fowler had summoned the Autobots to investigate two separate locations due to Decepticon activity. It was no surprise that his loud, commanding voice would wake up one of the teens. It was just surprising that it was only Miko that woke up - apparently the boys could sleep through just about anything. That, or they were just dead tired. Regardless, Optimus, Bumblebee, Swiftblade, and Smokescreen were ground bridged to one of the locations while Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead, and Wheeljack took the commander's ship to investigate the other location.

And it was at that point that Paige had caught Miko running after the Wreckers and followed her. But to think that Miko had simply run up to ask Wheeljack if she - they, because Paige wasn't going to let her go alone - could come, and Wheeljack had actually agreed, baffles the brunette. He didn't even give it much thought. Just a "Why not?"

Paige was even more worried for their safety.

And that was how she found herself in the dark confines of Wheeljack's sparkling chamber. Right next to Miko. She sat with her back against the wall and her arms crossed, giving her friend an unimpressed frown as they listened to the outside world echoing into the chamber. Miko, for her part, was leaning against the opposite wall and pointedly looking away from the brunette.

Paige took in a deep breath and let it out as a quiet sigh, keeping her voice low to not be a distraction to Wheeljack. "What am I going to do with you…?"

Miko fiddled with her fingers, keeping her voice equally low when she responded. "Love me?" She sent a hopeful grin her friend's way.

Paige scrubbed her face tiredly. "Remind me again, why you thought this was a good idea?"

"Come on, Paige… I haven't seen a smackdown since before the team got back together!"

"That was literally only a few days ago."

"So? I know you wanna see some action too. Don't tell me your boyfriend made you soft?" When Paige sent a glare at the girl for that comment, Miko immediately held up her hands in surrender. "Whoops, sorry! Touchy subject."

Paige rolled her eyes and crossed her arms carefully. "K.O. didn't make me 'soft'. I just- I realized some things about my health and I have to be more careful." She couldn't tell the full truth. Not when there wasn't much information to go off of.

Miko opened her mouth to reply but they were cut off by Wheeljack's shout. "Yeehaw!"

And then both girls had to brace themselves as they were almost sent to the floor of the chamber. When everything settled, Paige held her finger to her lips in the universal sign to be quiet. And with the dim light from Wheeljack's spark at the back of the chamber, Miko saw the signal and nodded in agreement. They sat back against the walls and listened.

"Jackie, wait up," Bulkhead called in a hushed tone. "Ultra Magnus wants us to-"

"Blah, blah, blah," Wheeljack interrupted, causing the girls to exchange a glance. Paige simply shrugged in response. "Wrecker Fact #17?"