Twisted Cogs | | Bayverse | | Book 2

Chapter 12 | | A Good Day | |

"A bond formed between family has the possibility to bring light in the darkest of nights."

★☆★☆★☆★☆★

"Am I free to go, then?"

Ratchet vents, skewering his charge with a glare as sharp as his buzz saw. She just offers him a tired smile.

"Oi, Gears," Will snaps his fingers in front of her to regain her attention. "I still need your help."

"Just compress these circuits here and here," she huffs weakly, picking out the messiest circuit boards on the blueprint, "reattach this wire to the energeon source and change this part out with the holographic drive."

"And you're sure about that?" He presses, pointing the end of his pen at her.

She spares him a look of utmost disbelief, bewildered by his lack of faith. "How many hours have I had these prints in front of me as you repeatedly ask me to find a way to make it smaller?"

The engineer blushes pink, averting his eyes from her own in somewhat embarrassment. "I just need you to check the design..."

The woman chuckles dryly, shooting a narrow look at the back of her guardian's helm. She can't do this any longer. She's a person of action and being stuck in a hospital bed with a hovering medic is not doing her any good.

She starts tapping her fingers, too fidgety to remain still any longer. A hand stops her movement and she looks up into the eyes of her best friend.

"Stop it and play dumb," he spares a glance over his shoulder at the occupied medic. "When he's gone, I'll get you out."

A grin fights against her self restraint, making her lips tremble strangely. She hasn't felt the need to smile so broadly for the past two weeks. This is a brilliant start; hopefully it'll end well.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★

"This is a terrible idea," Wheelie adds his two cents as Will helps the inventor walk.

Frenzy nods in agreement.

"Shh!" Toby hushes, glancing down both ends of the hallway with glittering eyes. "You'll get us caught!"

The salvage drone laughs dryly, watching the pair wobble out of the medical bay. He knows pretty well how bad this is going to go, especially since the woman is ol' Hatchet's charge. The medic'll be twice as hard on her than anyone else.

"Ya shoulda been already," he comments before cracking his backstruts and twirling on his wheels. "Welp, I ain't stickin' 'round to get my chassis dismantled."

"Not a word!" She orders him, nearly shoving her friend to the ground to keep an eye on the ex-con screeching around the corner. He merely makes a face before disappearing.

A few moments of silence pass before Frenzy clicks to remind them of his presence. He certainly holds no allegiance to either medic. The fact that he's even witnessing this grand escape is greatly concerning.

"Frenzy," Toby warns, practically perched on Will's shoulders. "Don't."

He stares at her for a few seconds and she can hear the gears spinning and clicking in his processor, see the contemplation in his blue optics. He knows exactly what his options are, but she doesn't know what he's going to do, and that unsettles her.

The pair curse foully as he scurries off, his speed deeming him impossible to catch. If he says anything, they're both scrapped.

"Run!" Will bellows, abandoning the scene as fast as possible, forgetting his friend's handicap.