The next morning.

Optimus walked out of his room as he straightened his shirt. He stopped as Smokescreen and Bumblebee raced passed him and into the kitchen. He smiled a little and followed.

"I won!" Smokescreen yelled as he jumped into the chair.

"No you didn't!" Bumblebee protested as he climbed up.

"Ya huh!"

"Nah uh!"

"Ya huh!"

"Nah uh!"

"Stop it!" Arcee snapped. "You're both so annoying!" They glared and stuck their tongues out. Elita sighed in exasperation as she handed them their food. Bulkhead sat down to eat, he was still covered in mud.

"You need to clean up before you can eat." She said giving him a look. Optimus hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek.

"But moooom." The boy protested. His father gave him a look. "Okay..." he muttered and walked off.

"Morning dear." Elita finally greeted. He smiled slightly and kissed her.

"Eww dad that's gross!" Arcee said as she made a disgusted face. The two boys giggled and tried to copy her. She sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. Optimus smiled a little more as he continued to hold his wife.

"Dad? Can uncle Ratchet come play today?" Bumblebee asked as he looked at him. His father thought for a moment and looked at Elita.

"I don't see why not." She said. "But I'm sure he's really busy." She muttered.

"He's never busy." Smokescreen said as he flicked food at Arcee.

"I will talk to him and see if he can." Optimus said as he shot them both a look. Arcee was about to dump her plate on her brothers head. He kissed Elita again and waved goodbye before heading off to work.

~

Nothing too eventful happened that day, except for calling Ratchet. The doctor didn't really want to go anywhere that night, but couldn't think of a good excuse. He eventually agreed and said he'd be there later.

Optimus pulled up to his house and thought for a moment before going in. It was chaos. Toys were scattered everywhere and he could hear arguing. Arcee and Bulkhead were fighting about something in the other room. He calmly walked into the kitchen and raised an eyebrow. Bumblebee was sitting on the counter as his mother carefully pulled something out of his hair. The boy was glaring down at his brother who was insisting that he wasn't at fault.

"I was trying to help." Smokescreen protested. "You said he needed a hair cut." Bumblebee folded his arms and pouted as his mother cut a few locks.

"Yes I did." She admitted calmly. "But you don't cut people's hair and then try to glue it back on." Smokescreen sighed and stared at his toes.

"But the monkey glue said it worked the best." He mumbled.

"You used Gorilla Glue on your brother's head?" Optimus asked as he finally walked in. Smokescreen nodded slowly as he stared at the floor. His father raised an eyebrow but didn't question him further.

"Go pick up your toys and we'll talk about this later." He said sternly. The boy simply nodded and took off.

"How was your day?" Elita sighed as she cut more globs of glue out. He hugged her from behind and watched her for a moment as he thought.

"We can talk about that later." He said and kissed her cheek before going to see what the other two were fighting about.

It took a little bit for them to get the house all straightened out. Elita did her best to even out her son's hair then cleaned up the mess. Optimus got the kids to pick up and started on dinner. Pretty soon everything was ready and they were all in a better mood. There was a knock and Elita smiled as she opened the door and saw the man.

"Hello Ratchet." She greeted and invited him in.

"Elita." He nodded once. "I apologize for being late." He muttered.

"You're fine." She smiled. "Optimus is in the living room." She said as she walked back to the kitchen.

Ratchet walked into the said room and stared at the scene. His friend was on his hands and knees as his children climbed on him. Bulkhead was on his back while the two youngest held on to his arms. They were all laughing happily as they tried to get him on the ground. Arcee let out a battle cry and rammed into his side. Optimus grunted as he fell over and they all dog piled on top of him. He chuckled softly as they tried to tickle him. Optimus looked up and smiled a little at his friend.

"Evening Ratchet." He greeted as he smiled. The kids stopped and looked up at the new comer.

"Ratchet!" Smokescreen yelled.

"Get him!!" Arcee shouted. She ran over and pulled on his arm as she tried to get him on the floor.

"I don't think so." The doctor grumbled. The two youngest each grabbed one of his legs and pulled. Bulkhead hugged him. He rolled his eyes and looked at his friend.

"Alright, go sit down for dinner." Optimus said as he got up. They all groaned and walked to the table.

"How are you Old Friend?" He asked as he shook his hand.

"After that encounter? Alive." Ratchet said as he smiled a little. Optimus smiled slightly and they walked to the table.

Ratchet smiled a little as he sat with the small family. There were times when the children annoyed him, but he knew their intentions were good. Smokescreen kept talking to him about what he imagined or did during the day. But he wasn't really listening. The doctor was quiet most of the time only asking questions when it suited him. After dinner the kids took off and disappeared in their rooms. The adults cleared the table and sat down again to talk. The conversation had somehow drifted to the doctor.

"How did it go with Tracey?" Elita asked curiously. He gave her a look before glancing at his friend who was trying not to smile.

"How is this important?" The doctor asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Just wondering, that's all." She said as she smiled.

"I was too busy for her." He mumbled as he scratched at something on the table. The room was quiet for a few minutes.

"I know this girl-"

"Elita please..." Ratchet said as he looked back up at her. "I'm not the type of person, that your friends seem to like. I appreciate what you're trying to do. But.... I can't right now." He mumbled then stared back at the table. She looked at Optimus and he shook his head, silently telling her not to press the matter.

"DAD!!" They heard Bumblebee yell. "THERE'S A GIANT SPIDER ON MY WALL!!!!" Optimus smiled a little knowing it was probably only as big as his finger.

"I'll get it!!" They heard Smokescreen shout. There was a thud followed by another one.

"Eeewww!!" Both boys said, then went silent after that. Ratchet chuckled quietly and glanced down the hall. They listened to the children play for a moment.

"Did Megatron go back today?" Elita asked curiously.

"No." Optimus muttered and furrowed his brow. "I tried contacting him several times, and so have a few others. But no ones been able to reach him." She frowned as she listened.

"It's like he just..... vanished?" She asked. He nodded slowly and stared at the table. "Doesn't that make him guilty.... or at least appear that way?" He only nodded again.

"Don't worry about him, Optimus." The doctor mumbled. "He'll show up again in a few days." He suddenly felt a little hand tug at his jacket. He looked down and raised an eyebrow.

"Uncle Ratchet, can you fix this?" Smokescreen asked. He set a broken toy on the table next to his hand. The doctor just looked at him for a minute.

"Please?" The boy begged. Ratchet smiled a little and ruffled his hair. He pulled a little tool kit out of his pocket and got to work. Smokescreen watched intently as he worked.

Elita smiled at Optimus. They wondered if he had intentionally broken the toy so he could watch the man work. The boy found it fascinating and never left until the task was done. It was the only thing that kept him still for a long period of time. Smokescreen had mentioned before that he wanted to fix things like Ratchet when he got older.