A Soldier's Will (Transformers Prime Fanfiction)

Spending Time with the Children

Weeks went by and Claire had grown accustomed to American life. She still spoke in French from time to time, but that was the only thing that was different. She managed to handle Jasper, Nevada well. She kept in touch with her commander, despite being in America. She even kept in touch with Agent Fowler.

Claire left the house early in the morning, letting her mom sleep as she left a note for her. She called Smokescreen on her phone.

"Hey Smoke," Claire said. "I'm waiting outside my house. Come and pick me up please."

"Alright Claire," Smokescreen replied. "I'll be there soon."

"Thanks Smoke."

Claire waited for him while she was scrolling through her messages. She got some from the kids, some from Agent Fowler, and even some from Commander Zwei on occasion.

Eventually, Smokescreen arrived within a few minutes. Claire looked up and smiled, seeing him. She walked over to him as the door opened.

"Hop in sergeant!" Smokescreen said.

"Smoke," Claire said with a sigh. "You know you can just call me Claire right?"

"Of course I know that. I just like using the title from time to time."

Claire got into the car with a chuckle, then closed the door. Smokescreen then began to drive to the base. During this time, Claire put in her earbuds. She was listening to one of France's most popular songs. Her mind was wandering as she listened to the song. She then felt tired, yawning. Her eyes felt heavy and soon she fell asleep with the song playing on repeat.

Wherever Smokescreen got inside the base, he woke her up. She rubbed her eyes, then got out of the car and took out her earbuds. She stretched, yawning.

"How long was I asleep Smoke?" Claire asked.

"You fell asleep in the middle of the ride," Smokescreen replied. "I can safely say you slept for a good while."

"Well then... It was nice of you to not wake me up Smoke."

"No problem Claire. You looked like you needed some rest."

"You could say that."

Claire looked around, seeing that the base was somewhat empty. She saw that Ratchet was working on the monitor. Then, she noticed three children.

"Smoke," Claire said. "Who are those kids...? Did they find out about you?"

"They found out about us before I arrived," Smokescreen replied. "Their names are Jack, Miko, and Raf. They might like you. Try and talk to them!"

At first, Claire was nervous about talking to them. She was so used to talking to a French military team. She was afraid that she would mess it up. However, she knew these children were high school students. She knew they were her peers. She felt a little better as she walked over to them.

"B-Bonjour," she said with a stutter.

Jack and Miko looked at Claire, quite confused. They never heard of her talk like this before. Heck, they never met a French teenage girl before either.

The first person to approach her was a young boy wearing glasses. He smiled at Claire, happy to see her.

"Hello!" He said with a smile. "My name's Raf. It's nice to meet you!"

Claire smiled some. She felt better about this and worked on saying hello.

"H-Hey..." She said, feeling slightly shy. "M-My name's Claire. It's a pleasure to meet you too."

Suddenly, a girl with the pigtails and the rocker type of outfit came over. She was super excited to meet her.

"Hi!" She said. "My name's Miko! It's great to meet you! You're a soldier right?!"

"...Yeah," Claire said. "The name's Claire. Nice to meet you."

Miko would be asking Claire so many questions from her military status to where she came from. It almost made her head spin. How did this girl have so many questions?!

Soon, she was saved from all the questions thanks to a teenage boy.

"That's enough Miko," he said. "I think you're making her head hurt."

"Hmph," Miko said. "You're no fun Jack!"

Claire looked over at Jack, raising a brow in curiosity. Jack would look at her and smile.

"Hey," he said. "Name's Jack. Nice to meet you Claire."

Claire nodded. "The same goes to you," she said.

Claire eventually got better with talking to them, and she connected with them. In a way, it was like her connecting with her soldiers, but less professional. It was nice, in a way. She would get comfortable with them as she talked more with them and played video games.

During the gameplay, which was when they played the racing game, it was cutthroat between Raf and Miko. Jack and Claire watched, cheering one or the other on.

"Come on Raf," Jack said. "You got this!"

"Show them what for Miko," Claire said. "Score one for the girls!"

The cheering continued on as the race between them got intense. The four of them were truly bonding over this, much to Ratchet's displeasure.

"Can you please keep the noise down?!" Ratchet asked, quite irritated as he turned his head to them. "I am trying to get work done!"

Claire chuckled. "Apologies Ratchet. Didn't mean to make so much noise."

Ratchet grumbled before turning back to the monitor. Soon after, the race ended with Miko winning.

"Yes!"

"Ah man!"

Claire chuckled at the two, smiling genuinely for once. Maybe being in America wouldn't be as bad as she thought after all.