Miko gestured for Bulkhead to accompany her to a quiet place so that no one would hear them.
"Dude, what was that all about?" Miko asked him after they were out of earshot.
"Sorry, I'm very scared of stepping on something rusty." Bulkhead apologized as Miko raised an eyebrow.
"Not that. I meant when Ratchet asked who wanted to volunteer. We had a deal, man. You would tell him that you and I would volunteer both. You almost blew up our whole plan." Miko scolded him as Bulkhead sighed.
"Sorry. I get nervous, at least now I won't have to worry about Ratchet yelling at me because I broke something he needed." Bulkhead said honestly as Miko agreed with him there.
"Yeah, that's a relief. So are you ready to go ahead with the plan?" Miko then asked excitedly.
"Yeah, you could say that." Bulkhead said a little hesitantly.
"What's wrong now?" Miko asked him curiously.
"Are you sure it's a good idea? You know how much I hate it when that stuff gets in me." Bulkhead asked her as she gave him a thumbs up.
"You're gonna be fine." Miko reassured him as Bulkhead was still pretty unsure of the whole plan Miko had in mind.
"If you say so. You got the stuff?" Bulkhead asked as she nodded.
"You betcha. Give me a moment." Miko said as she went to where she had hidden something that had to do with her plan.
Both her and Bulkhead had agreed on spending a day in a nice place. They could've gone to the beach but that wasn't the best option since beaches are sometimes full of people.
If they saw Bulkhead, word about aliens living among humans would spread all over and the secret would stop being a secret. So to avoid getting caught, Miko had decided that the best place they could go was to enjoy a nice beach day at an oasis in the desert of the Sahara.
Miko had recently heard in Geography class that the desert of the Sahara has many oases. So she thought that she could go with Bulkhead and spend a whole day on a nice Oasis, take a sun tan and perhaps a swim.
For that matter she had all her stuff for it. During that week Miko had put everything she needed for the desert and the oasis in a single duffel bag. When she was done with gathering everything she needed.
She brought it to the base and hid it in a place where no one would find it so that way no one would find out about her plan of using this unique occasion to slack off and avoid doing chores.
"Here it is. Everything I need for our beach day at the Sahara." Miko said as she put all the stuff away for a beach day.
A swimsuit, 3 bottles full of water, sun tan lotion, sunglasses, a beach ball and a wireless bluetooth speaker.
"You got everything?" Bulkhead asked as she nodded.
"Yeah. Although I should tell you that most of my stuff is your trunk." Miko told him as he blinked in surprise.
"Wait what? You mean you put some of your stuff in my trunk without even telling me?" He questioned her in disbelief.
"Uh, yeah." Miko said with a grin.
Bulkhead began to check his trunk and found out that Miko did put certain stuff in his trunk like her summer chair and parasol.
"A little warning next time?" Bulkhead said as Miko raised an eyebrow at him. She did give him a memo for that.
"I left you a memo, dude. In a yellow post? I put it on your front window." Miko said as Bulkhead just looked at her blankly.
"You do know that I can't read your small writing right?" He stated as Miko laugh sheepishly at him.
"Right, whoopsie. Anyways, let's get this beach day ready." Miko said but Bulkhead stopped her.
"Hold on, young lady. I hope you did what I asked you to." He reminded her.
"Oh that? Pfft no probs. It's all in here." She said as she tapped the side of her head with her finger.
"That's a surprise." He said in slight suspicion.
"Hey, for a free day of no chores. I would study the whole theory of relativity." Miko said with a shrug.
"Oh really?" Bulkhead raised an optic ridge at that.
"Don't start getting any ideas on that big head of yours, big guy. Anyway, it looks to me like our plan is a go." Miko said as Bulkhead agreed with her on that. He just hopes it doesn't blow at their faces.
"Yeah. I just hope it won't end badly." Bulkhead hoped.
"Stop being so negative, bro." Miko said with a puff of her cheek.
"Okay, okay, I'm just saying." Bulkhead said with his servos up in defense.
"Too late to back down. And even if it was, we're not backing down anyways. We're this close from a vacation day." Miko said with a grin.
"And what will we tell the others if they get too suspicious?" Bulkhead asked as he looked at her.
"Leave it to me." Miko said before they both heard Ratchet calling them.
"Bulkhead! Miko! Where are you?" Ratchet called them.
"We're coming, Ratchet!" Bulkhead exclaimed before both him and Miko winked at each other.
Ratchet had called them since he had found his tools and he wanted them and everyone to get ready. Miko and Bulkhead went to see what he wanted. Everyone was there and getting ready for duty. Bulkhead joined his fellow Autobot companions while Miko joined her friends
"So... where do you plan on going? To a huge cliff and make bungee jumping?" Jack asked as he guessed some ideas.
"Very funny, Jack." Miko said with a pursed of her lips.
"Not to encourage Jack's lousy yet accurate sense of humor. I gotta admit that I do share his curiosity. Where do you plan on going, Miko?" Emily asked as she was curious on where Miko and Bulkhead plan on going.
"Nowhere, we're just going... exploring." Miko said as Raf looked at her.
"Exploring?" He asked as Jack and Emily looked at her like she grew another head before the three burst out laughing.
"You can't be serious. You never do exploring or anything like that." Emily said as she calmed down from her laughter.
"Well... I decided to start today." Miko told her before Arcee approached them.
"What's going on, guys?" She asked curiously.
"Believe it or not, Miko and Bulkhead are going on exploration." Jack said as Arcee looked at Jack like he was crazy.
"Jack, I know you're trying to be funny. But your sense of humor needs improvement." Arcee told him as he was confused.
"Nothing's wrong with my sense of humor. Right?" He asked as Emily and Raf shrugged.
"I would rather not answer." Raf said with a nervous laugh.
"It's true, Arcee. Bulkhead and I are really going on an exploration trip."
"Is this true? Bulkhead?" Arcee asked as she turned to the green wrecker.
"Yeah, I felt like Miko could use this chance to explore new things and learn too and I thought that I could do the same thing, you know, that way I could learn about earth." Bulkhead replied as this caused Arcee to chuckle a little.
"Hahaha, okay, I don't know how you came up with this but there's no way I'm buying that." She said while crossing her arms.
"What is it, Arcee?" Cliffjumper asked as he and Smokescreen came towards her as he became curious about what was funny.
"Bulkhead and Miko are going on exploration." Arcee said as Smokescreen snickered.
"Hahaha really? Exploration? Get out of here." Smokescreen said with an amused smirk.
"These two are going on an exploration trip? Yeah right, like that will ever happen." Cliffjumper said as he didn't believe it.
Ratchet comes in with his toolbox. When he saw the humans and bots laughing, he went to them to ask what it was all about.
"What's the meaning of this nonsense?" He asked as everyone turned towards him.
"Bulkhead and Miko are planning to go on an exploration trip." Smokescreen told him as he was in disbelief.
"What? Are you serious? Those two? Exploration trip? Hahaha. I gotta say both ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. How in Primus did these two ever come up with that idea?" Ratchet said in amusement before a sharp whistle from a certain Japanese exchange student grabbed their attention.
"Hey, Doc, we're right here. And we would appreciate it if you stopped talking to us as if we weren't here." Miko said as she crossed her arms while raising an eyebrow.
"Ooh busted." Cliffjumper winced playfully.
"Yup." Smokescreen said in agreement with Bumblebee agreeing.
"Don't worry, Ratchet. We acted the same way you did. In fact I think they're both hiding something about this supposed exploration trip. If you ask me, I'd say that by exploration they meant to have fun in a nice place full of sand." Emily said as she looked at both Bulkhead and Miko.
"Full of sand? Come on, that's a big cliché. That place could have rocks, small rocks, big rocks. A nice mountain view. A nice forest full of trees, with squirrels and chipmunks. Maybe a nice field with lovely flowers and a nice herd of... deers." Miko said as she tried to come up with an excuse.
The others didn't say anything and just kept looking at Miko with a serious look in their eyes that led her to believe they didn't believe anything she said.
"You guys don't believe me, huh?" Miko deadpan.
"What gave us away?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Come on, Miko, you can tell us." Emily told her with a smile as Miko gave up.
"Okay, well, we plan on going... sand surfing." Miko said as Raf blinked.
"Sand surfing?" He asked curiously.
"Hmm. That seems... more logical." Emily said with her arms crossed.
"Where do you plan to do your sand surfing?" Raf asked her curiously as Miko thought of one desert.
"In the... desert of the Sahara." Miko said as they looked at her in disbelief.
"The Sahara?" Jack questions in surprise.
"Are you serious?" Emily asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, why? It's the perfect place for sand surfing." Miko said as she put her hands on her hips.
"So that's why you wanted to volunteer? To go on a stupid human activity?" Ratchet couldn't stop himself from asking.
Optimus comes in worried about what's going on.
"Is everything okay?" He asks in concern as everyone turns towards him.
"Well you see, Optimus-" Ratchet started but Bulkhead cut him off.
"It's okay, Ratchet. I got it." Bulkhead said as Miko face-palmed.
"Oh brother..." She groaned as Arcee kept her arms crossed.
"This is gonna be fun to watch. Unlike Miko, Bulkhead has no lying bone on him,or in his case, servos." Arcee said.
"I'm not surprised. The big guy can be so nervous sometimes." Cliffjumper said truthfully.
"Yeah." Smokescreen nodded in agreement.
Bulkhead walked up to Optimus to tell him what was going on. He knew that he wouldn't agree with such use of the ground bridge but Bulkhead believed that he could convince him that it wasn't a bad idea at least.
"It's like that, Optimus. Miko wanted to, uh, do a fun activity. Something humans call sand surfing." Bulkhead said as he finished explaining.
"And where will you be doing that activity, might I ask?" Optimus asked while raising an optic ridge curiously.
"In the desert of the Sahara." Bulkhead replied.
"Bulkhead, I do not need to remind you that this is only a check up. And therefore, we cannot afford using the ground bridge to go on frivolous adventures." Optimus reminded him as Bulkhead nodded.
"I know, Optimus. But it won't just be for amusement. The girl could actually learn something. From what I've heard, the Sahara is one of the world's greatest deserts. Going there could help Miko learn something important for her school." Bulkhead said as he looked towards Miko who was tickling Bolty who let out sounds that sounded like laughter.
Bulkhead was pretty convincing even though it was a fun activity. Optimus still felt hesitant but Bulkhead had put up a good argument. So after careful consideration, he had come to a decision.
"Very well, you may proceed." Optimus said as both Miko and Bulkhead perked up at that.
"Really? Thank you, Optimus." Bulkhead said with a smile as Miko was practically jumping in excitement.
"Sweet!" She cheered.
"Hold on a second. I said you could proceed. However, that's not my call. Only your supervisor can give you the proper authorization. What do you say, Ratchet?" Optimus said before turning to Ratchet to see what his answer is.
"To be honest, I do not like using the ground bridge. Still we need to do this for the check up. Plus I admit that Bulkhead gave quite a convincing argument there. We all know Miko needs to be reinforced in her school studies." Ratchet said as Miko cleared her throat while giving Ratchet the look.
"Dude, you're still talking as if I'm not here." Miko said as Ratchet looked apologetically.
"Oh sorry. Anyway, you both have my permission. Just as long as you don't make a habit of it." Ratchet said as both Miko and Bulkhead smiled.
"You got it, Doc." Miko said with a thumbs up.
"Very well then. I shall program the coordinates of the Sahara. I do hope you can give me the precise coordinates this time and not say a few kilometres." Ratchet said as he reminded Miko who puffed her cheeks. That was one time!
"That only happened once. Besides, I studied the coordinates of the desert." Miko said as Jack look at her incredulity.
"Coordinates? Studied? You? No way." Jack said in disbelief.
"For your information I did study them. So go on, doc. Type down what I said. Longitude 11.288452. Altitude 23.806078." Miko said proudly before telling Ratchet the precise coordinates.
The whole team was completely silent in shock after witnessing that amazing demonstration of knowledge Miko had shown. They all had a hard time believing that for that matter Miko had memorized a full set of coordinates. Not even the kids could believe it.
"Did she recite a full set of coordinates all by herself?" Jack questions in shock and disbelief.
"I saw it but I still can't believe it." Emily said with a disbelief look but with a smile.
"That was something…" Raf said as he tried to find the right words.
"Strange?" Emily suggested.
"Strange and impressive." Raf said as he snapped his fingers with a smile.
"Agreed, Rafael. I'm glad that for that matter you decided to learn something useful. It's nice to see that you accord importance to proper learning for once." Ratchet said and started to type something on the ground bridge.
Ratchet starts to upload the coordinates properly and make sure everything is okay before the transportation.
"Thank you, Ratchet." Miko said with a smile.
Miko winks towards Bulkhead who gave her a thumbs up like a proud dad. He was proud to see that by making Miko study she would be able to prove how smart she can be if she makes the effort.
"Gotta hand it to you, Bulkhead. Miko did a really good job." Arcee said with a smile while crossing her arms.
"But that's because he did a good job." Cliffjumper said with a grin.
"Way to go, big guy." Smokescreen said with a wide smile with Bumblebee buzzing and beeping to congratulate his friend.
"Aww, come on you guys. It's not that big of a deal." Bulkhead said with a sheepish smile.
"So, Miko,… since you'll be going to the desert to do sand surfing. You must've brought a sand board right?" Jack said and that made Miko nervous.
Miko started to become a bit nervous since she didn't think of bringing a sand board. In order to not let the others find out her true plan, Miko must act as if she brought a sand board with her.
"Yeah, I did." Miko said with a small grin.
"Wow cool. Can I see it?" Raf said excitedly.
"Me too, I wanna see how it looks." Emily agreed with the 12 year old.
"Ooh, guys, I wish I could but it's in… Bulkhead's trunk right now. So..." Miko said as they understood what she meant.
"Oh… okay." Raf nodded in understanding.
"I would let you see it but it's not actually my board. It's a rental and I don't want anything bad to happen to it." Miko said with a shrug.
"That's understandable." Emily said as she crossed her arms.
"Are you sure you have everything you need? That desert is tricky. Not to mention hot and dangerous." Jack said as his voice was filled with concern for their friend.
"Be careful of mirages." Emily said with Jack agreeing.
"And venomous creatures like cobras and scorpions." Jack said as Miko motioned for them to relax.
"Hey, guys, relax. I'll be fine. We'll be just doing sand surfing and exploration." Miko said with a smile.
"Maybe you should bring some clothes for the hot temperature." Raf added with a smile as Miko returned it.
"Thanks for the tip, little guy. But I got it covered, trust me." Miko said while ruffling his hair.
"Okay, well, have fun. Just not too much." Jack said as Miko grinned at him.
"I can't promise you that." She said with a mischievous grin while Smokescreen approached Bulkhead.
"Hey, Bulkhead, think I can come with you? I always wanted to see the desert." Smokescreen asked.
"I've seen a desert once. That's one heck of a story. I was stuck in the Sea of Rust with no one to talk with." Cliffjumper said as Arcee rolled her optics at him in amusement.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah you told us that one a dozen times." Arcee said with Bumblebee agreeing.
"Okay, fine, geez, bunch of story killers." Cliffjumper said with a small pout.
"I'd love for you to come, Smokes, but since Ratchet gave you all an assignment for this work. I'm not really sure he would approve of you leaving like that." Bulkhead said as he didn't want Smokescreen to not do his assignment.
"Oh come on. The doc is old and rusty. I doubt he'll even notice." Smokescreen pouted as Arcee raised an optic ridge.
"Notice what?" She questioned him.
"Notice me leaving. All I gotta do is transform and drive toward the portal fast and that's it." Smokescreen said as Cliffjumper shook his head at him.
"Wow, Smokescreen. You still act like a rookie. Ratchet is not that easy to pass by. The doc might be old and rusty but trust me. He's no amateur." Cliffjumper said with his arms crossed.
"Oh please, he is slower than a rusty gear. I'm the fastest one around here." Smokescreen said confidently as the others saw who was behind him.
"Is that so?" Ratchet asked.
Ratchet, who was right behind Smokescreen, had surprised him and the others. No one saw him move from the consoles of the ground bridge.
"Ahhh!!!! Oh, Doctor, I mean, Ratchet, Doctor Ratchet. I didn't notice you there. Is there something new with you? That paint looks freshly new." Smokescreen yelped before smiling nervously.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, rookie." Ratchet said with an unamused look.
Arcee along with Cliffjumper and Bulkhead began to laugh. Even Bumblebee laughed too at Smokescreen's little predicament.
"Guess you heard what I said huh?" Smokescreen said with a nervous laugh.
"Every last sentence. And just to be clear. I may be old and rusty but I have the gear to show you a lesson or two." Ratchet said and Smokescreen gulped. Ratchet with a wrench is a scary thing to think about.
"Right… I think I'm gonna…go right there and wait for your orders, sir. Permission to go, sir?" Smokescreen said as Ratchet nodded.
"Permission granted." He nodded.
"Thank you, sir." Smokescreen said and began to walk away, nice and slowly.
Even though he avoided further trouble, there was no escaping Ratchet's gaze since the doctor didn't stop looking at him with a serious look in his optics. Arcee rolled her optics at the rookie before turning to Ratchet.
"You wanted to talk to us?" She asked as the medic nodded.
"Yes, I just wanted to tell you that the ground bridge is ready for transportation. So all of you get ready to assume your positions." Ratchet said as everyone nodded.
"Understood." Arcee nodded as Cliffjumper shrugged.
"When you gotta go, you gotta go I guess. Sand surfing is starting to become a better idea than doing check ups." He said and earned a small punch from the back by Arcee.
"Don't even think about it." She told him in a warning tone.
"What? I'm just saying that it sounds more fun that's all." Cliffjumper said with a nervous grin.
"Yeah right." Arcee said with a roll of her optics.
Arcee, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee began to walk towards the ground bridge controls, waiting for Bulkhead and Miko to leave the base so that way they could begin their assignments.
"So everything's ready?" Bulkhead asked as Miko nodded.
"Bulkhead, you and Miko better get ready to go." Ratchet said as he started to type in the coordinates.
"Roger that." Bulkhead saluted.
He then transforms and opens his door while honking his horn to tell Miko to hurry up and get in.
"Miko, time to go." He called as Miko looked towards him.
"I'll be right there! Gotta go, guys, see you later." Miko said before she grabbed her duffle bag and started running to where Bulkhead is.
"Bye." Raf waved.
"See you later." Emily nodded.
"Have fun, but not too much." Jack told her as Miko went inside of Bulkhead who closed the door quickly.
"Oh man. That was a close one." Miko said with a sigh.
"Keep it down, Miko. We don't want any of them to find out our true plan." Bulkhead whispered as Miko nodded.
"Right." She nodded while buckling up.
"Everything ready, Doc?" Bulkhead asked as he nodded.
"It is. I'm activating the ground bridge now. I wish you both a safe trip. Remember, this check up might take a few hours. During that period the ground bridge will be offline. I'll contact you when the check up is over so that way you'll be ready to come back. Now if you feel or see anything weird during your return be sure to tell me and I'll stop the procedure immediately." Ratchet explained to them.
"Will do, Ratchet." Bulkhead said.
"Enjoy your trip. And, Bulkhead, make sure you don't bring any sand with you." Ratchet warned him.
"Okay." He replied as Ratchet was giving him a serious look.
"I'm serious. If I see even a tiny grain-" Ratchet started before Bulkhead cut him off.
"Yeah, I get the idea. I'll be sure not to bring any sand with me." Bulkhead said as he turn on his engine.
"Be careful, Bulkhead." Optimus said.
"Thanks, Prime. See you guys later." Bulkhead said as the ground bridge came online and Bulkhead drove towards it.
Miko waved goodbye at everyone from the window. After that, Bulkhead drove through the portal and disappeared into the coordinates. When they're gone, Ratchet deactivates the ground bridge with a relief sigh.
"Ground bridge online. Now we can begin." Ratchet said as the others noticed something.
Something weird was going on with Ratchet as he seemed pretty happy for a check up.
"Are you okay, Ratchet?" Arcee asked as Ratchet looked at her.
"I am. Why do you ask?" He asked while raising an optic ridge.
"You seem… happy." Smokescreen noted.
"And even weirder you let Bulkhead and Miko go to a place where they could have fun even though they said they were gonna explore a bit." Cliffjumper added while crossing his arms while the kids turned to them.
"You noticed it too huh? I found it weird that Ratchet fell for such a bogus excuse. Especially one that came from these two." Jack said.
"Yeah that surprised me too." Emily said while resting her hand on her hips.
"Why don't you tell us what's going on, Ratchet?" Arcee question as Ratchet just sigh
"Well you could say that I was expecting Miko and Bulkhead to volunteer. As a matter of fact I was counting on it. That way none of them won't cause any trouble. Especially Bulkhead. That big lugnut can be clumsy sometimes. I'm not taking any risks with this check up. Everything must go well. If he and Miko had not volunteered, the risk of Bulkhead damaging the ground bridge could've been catastrophic. With him out of the way we can work peacefully without anything getting broken." Ratchet explained as they blinked.
"Wait a minute. You're telling us that you wanted Miko and Bulkhead to volunteer to be out of the base while you guys work on the ground bridge?" Jack stated in disbelief as Ratchet nodded.
"That is correct. But I prefer to use the term, focusing on the strength of others in another area. An area that involves them being very far from the stuff that can easily be broken." Ratchet said with a huff.
"By stuff, you mean, your tools." Arcee said with an optic ridge raised.
"Exactly." The medic nodded.
"Whoa… What you did is just… plain mean." Jack said in disbelief.
"Yeah." Raf agreed with him.
"I agree with them on that one. But I would be lying if I didn't say that it was kind of smart." Emily said with a shake of her head.
"Super smart." Raf agreed.
"It was mean but smart. Good work, Ratchet." Jack added.
"Not bad for an old doctor huh?" Ratchet said with a small smirk.
"Not bad at all. Boy, I sure hope Miko never finds out. Because if she does, she's gonna flip." Jack said as he laughed a little. Miko is gonna flip if she finds out.
"Hopefully I can count you all to keep it a secret." Ratchet said.
"We will, right, guys?" Arcee said before turning to the others.
"Sure thing." Smokescreen nodded.
"Our lips are sealed." Cliffjumper agreed with Bumblebee agreeing while making a zip the lips sign.
"Same goes for us." Emily agreed.
Bolty starts jumping and running around like crazy. It was his cute way to say he wanted to be part of it too. Emily giggled and grabbed him so she could talk to him.
"You too, Bolty." Emily patted his little head.
"Good. Enough talk, let's get back to work, people. Come on, move along, you all know what to do." Ratchet said as they all nodded.
"We're going. Guess the fun's over." Jack said.
"Looks like it." Emily nodded in agreement.
Emily then noticed that Raf had a worried look in his eyes. Like something was bothering him and it concerned her.
"You okay, Raf?" She asks as Raf turns towards her.
"Yeah…" Raf said slowly.
"If something's bothering you, tell us." Jack said gently as Raf pursed his lips.
"I'm a bit worried." He admitted.
"About what? Miko?" Emily asked as Raf nodded.
"Yeah." He said with a worried look.
"Hey. There's no need for you to worry." Jack reassured him as Raf turned towards them.
"Aren't you guys worried?" He asked meekly as Emily just smiled.
"Maybe, but deep down we know that Miko is a tough girl." Emily said with a smile.
"Yeah, but what if something bad happens to her?" Raf couldn't help but ask.
"She'll be fine. If there's anyone who can come back from a trip in the desert, that's Miko all right. She's wild and all but she's tough too. We've gone through worse things. With her and mostly because of her." Jack said with a smile.
"You got that right. I missed most of these wild adventures yet I've been with her long enough to know that despite her wild nature, she's hard as a rock and with Bulkhead watching her. Oh I just realized that even with Bulkhead watching, Miko can become trouble too." Emily said with a small laugh.
"Agreed. Guess these two are one of a kind." Jack said with a roll of his eyes.
"Okay, enough talk, you two. Let's get to work before Doctor Ratchet becomes cranky. You know how he is when it comes to cleaning up." Emily said as she handed Jack and Raf a broom with Bolty on her shoulders.
"You said it. I just hope that the trip to the desert is better than cleaning here." Jack said.
Little did Jack know that cleaning the base was the best thing that could happen to them.