Of This Life and the Next

Chapter 35 : Too Close for Comfort

Location: Diego Garcia- N.E.S.T Main Hangar

Time: 9:00 A.M

Three days after the tension between the younglings and adults had settled, Mikaela found herself all packed and saying her temporary goodbyes as she awaited the okay to board the plane and head home.

"I miss you already!" Mikaela sighed as she clung to Ratchet's holo avatar.

Ratchet chuckled, "I miss you too...but this goodbye is only for a short while. We'll be arriving at the new base by the end of next week." He looked over his shoulder at Optimus, who nodded in confirmation.

Glen groaned, "That's still too long and it's gonna feel like forever!" He whined.

"You'll just have to find something to entertain yourself in the meantime." Maggie suggested as she scrolled through her tablet, reading over her resignation letter for the fifth time. Cody, Tyler and Justin were not going to be happy with her leaving the team, nor was their boss going to take her leave lightly. But with a once in a lifetime opportunity like this, how could she refuse? Plus, maybe if she and Glen played their cards right and did a good enough job, she could convince the higher ups to hire her three equally as competent companions.

Ratchet lifted his chin as he and Mikaela finally pulled away, "By all means, enjoy yourself, but please refrain from staying up late snacking and playing your console games."

Glen leaned towards Colin and whispered, "You see?! I told you he could sense that stuff!"

Colin just chuckled as one didn't need to be a highly advanced alien robot to notice that the young man was sleep deprived. One just needed to look at the small bags under his eyes to guess what was going on.

Mikaela giggled and turned to Medix, who was watching the human interaction with interest, "You think you can stay out of trouble before the big move? I would hate to see you again and the first thing your parents tell me is that you got into another fight..." She smirked as the mechling's optics darted back and forth between his parents.

"I don't believe that's going to be a problem." Moonracer placed a gentle hand on her son's shoulder, "I think Medix's gotten all his aggression out of his system..."

Medix glanced at Ironhide, who paused his conversation with Lennox to send the mechling a frosty look. He shuddered before forcing his smile to return, "Rest assured, I will be keeping myself in line."

"I'll make sure he does!" Whirl added as she wrapped her arms around Medix and cozied up to his side with a purr.

Mikaela pointed at the femme, "And you make sure you don't give your dad a hard time with...all this." She motioned to the younglings that were entangled with each other.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Mikaela!" Ironhide praised. He may have agreed to back off Medix, but that didn't mean he was okay with the two of them flaunting their affection in public, much less, in front of him.

Whirl and Medix heated up as they -reluctantly- disconnected themselves from the other.

"I'll try not to...but I can't make any promises-"

"Whirl." Chromia warned with a knowing look.

"Just kidding! Just kidding..." Whirl relented, not sounding the least bit convincing.

Will patted Ironhide's leg, "Don't worry, big guy. We'll all keep an eye on her."

Whirl pouted, 'Keep an eye on me?' She mouthed to herself.