Carry The One

Con Job

“Alright, chores are done,” I heard Miko cheering as her and Bulkhead walked down the hall towards the hangar. I smiled when I saw she was sitting on his shoulder, much like Optimus and I took a liking of doing. “Now can we do some dune bashing!?”

“Eh,” Bulkhead replied hesitantly. “I don’t know, Miko. Last time, I spent a week picking sand out of my articulators.” Miko visibly sagged, and I felt bad for the both of them. They both wanted to spend time together, and I could understand Bulk’s hesitation. Optimus had gotten sand in his systems, and the dummy wouldn’t let anyone know about it. I had to make him allow me to crawl under him to blow it all out. “But… there’s a monster truck rally in town?” Bulk offered with a smile.

“Optimus,” Ratchet called. My resting place turned away from Miko and Bulk who had paused with Ratchet’s tone. I turned to see the medic still in front of the computer system. “I’m receiving a signal on a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a starship inside this solar system.” He messed with a few more controls, showing a digital image of earth with something flying around it. “It’s an autobot identification beacon…”

Jack and Raf turned on the catwalk to face us. “So, there’s more of you out there?” Jack asked.

“The masses scattered to the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark,” Arcee replied, her and Bumblebee appearing out of thin air. “But, cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons,” she looked up at Optimus with a hopeful glance.

I studied the bot, his face filled with worry and hope. His eyes -- or optics, I learned -- narrowed slightly before he turned to the system. “Unknown vessel,” He addressed in his leader voice that made my heart melt. “This is autobot outpost omega one. Identify yourself.”

An old, raspy voice replied, hoarse from what I was assuming centuries of battle. “I’ve had warmer welcomes from decepticon combat brigades,” it said in a sarcastic tone.

“Wheeljack!?” Bulkhead shouted, leaping forward. Miko frailed, grabbing a hold of the metal as she wavered unsteady on her perch. “You old con crusher! What are you doing all the way out here!?”

“Bulkhead?” it replied, relief clear in his tone. “That you? What’s with all the security?”

“The rock we’re on is crawling with cons,” Bulk replied, angering me a lot more than I’d hope… the rock. “How soon can you get here and even the odds?”

“Sometime tomorrow if I put metal to the pedal.”

“Another autobots coming here? How cool!” Miko cheered, resettling into Bulk’s shoulder.

“Wheeljack….” Optimus rumbled thoughtfully. I turned to the bot with a worrisome expression. “I know of him by reputation only. Can you verify his voice print?” he asked, looking to Bulk.

“He is 1000% the real deal, Optimus,” Bulkhead assured him.

“We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack,” Optimus then told the screen.

“1000% isn’t a real fraction,” I muttered to myself. Optimus looked at me hesitantly, observing my features as I slouched against his neck. “Something seems off,” I told him.

“Something always is wrong with you,” Bulkhead protested defensively.

“Yeah, and last time I was right, wasn’t I?” I argued, watching as he rubbed his left arm where Jack and I had worked together to weld one of the open wounds from the scraplets.

“See you soon, buddy!” Bulk suddenly told Wheeljack as the communication signal offlined.

“So, who’s the boyfriend?” Arcee asked, smiling up at Bulkhead. I stifled a laugh as I watched Bulkhead’s flabbergasted expression before he visibly shook his head.