Hope's Return

Outsmarting A Stubborn Mech

Hope's decision to remain on base as the Autobots leader was applauded by both bot and base personnel. Surprisingly there had been no vocal complaints from Galloway regarding his loss of command over the bots. He rarely left his office anymore except to file paperwork and command of base personnel was given to William Lennox.

Epps mentioned once off handily to Hope that Galloway claimed she had tried to chomp him and that he had no desire to work with the Cybertronians any further.

The dark man roared with laughter when she replied that he would have tasted terrible if she had.  The base ran much smoother without Galloways annoying personality rearing its head.

Due to the relative peace, aside from an occasional explosion from Wheeljack's laboratory,  Hope found herself helping Ratchet in his medical bay once more. Occasionally they would talk but most of the time they worked in friendly silence.

She often wondered what it would take for the mech to open up more to her. He still worked to hard and she finally had enough of his unwillingness to rest.

"Ratchet, you need to go get some recharge."

"I have work to finish first."

"It can wait..."

Her words fell on deaf receptors as he once more busied himself with work. "Damn this mech" she thought, "even Optimus hadn't been this stubborn about getting some rest." Growling a little to herself, she decided to be more aggressive.

Transforming in the small space was difficult but she managed. Hope grabbed the mule headed mech in her jaws and carried him sputtering outside. Depositing him on the ground, she curled around him, effectively trapping him.

"Blast it Hope, let me go!"

Her response was to curl tighter, forcing Ratchet to give up and fume quietly. As they sat out under the night sky, he found himself looking up at the stars. Slowly Hope felt him relax and uncurled slightly, resting her head next to his. She joined him in watching the skies.

"It's beautiful,  isn't it?"

Startled, Ratchet looked up to see her studying the skies. His spark ached being this close to her, not knowing how she'd react if he admitted his true feeling to her. The fear of rejection made him sigh and gaze up at night as if the stars held an answer to his dilemma.

"It reminds me of home though the stars weren't nearly as bright on Cybertron."

"I would spend hours staring at them when I was in human form. Every night I would watch for a certain star. It always gave me a sense of peace when I was troubled. It wasn't until I returned to my proper form that I realized it had been Cybertron all along."

Her optics glowed softly in the dark but held a hint of sadness in them. When she continued, her voice was one of regret.

"A century before I met Sunstreaker,  the star went dark and I wandered lost without it. It felt like I had lost a family member but it never made sense to me until I found out it was Cybertron,  our home planet that was lost."

Ratchet sat, lost in thought as he pondered her words. Shifting a little, he turned to face her. Hope gazed down and sighed a little. Bumping her helm against his, she curled closer and off lined her optics. Ratchet patted her face plate and settled down beside her. His last thoughts before his own optics off lined were of her.

************

Dawn found her brothers searching for her. Blurr was the first to spot her shape in the raising sun. Hurrying towards Hope, he was at first startled and then amused at the sight before him. The good doctor had curled himself into a ball and Hope had wrapped herself around him to ward off the chill of the night. 

Coming up behind him, Sunstreaker skidded to a stop and stared for a moment,  his optics wide in shock. Shaking his helm in disbelief, he yanked Blurr back and pushed him protesting back towards base. Once there, he pulled Blurr behind a pillar where no one could hear their conversation. 

Blurr grumbled in irritation at the yellow mechs actions.

"Have you taken leave of your circuits? We found her and you drag me away!"

Sunstreaker rounded on him in anger.

"The last time I interfered between her and another mech, it went badly. I have no desire to go through that again."

Realization filled Blurr's optics as he thought back to a conversation he and Hope had had on their flight over.

"Was that the time Sideswipe and you weren't listening to her and she turned into a..."

His vocal thought was interrupted by a servo over his intake. Sunstreaker just shook his helm at Blurr.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Nothing. Let her and Ratchet be. If he is where her interest lies than that's her choice to make. She's entitled to her happiness.  Primus knows I won't stand in her way again and if you know what's good for you, you won't either."

Blurr studied Sunstreaker's face plate before nodding in agreement.

"Come on, let's go get some energon. "

"High Grade?"

"Yeah..."

Wordlessly,  both mechs turned and headed to the gallery. Meanwhile Ratchet and Hope slept on, at peace in their own world. Only time would tell what the future held.