Meanwhile back at the base, all the bots and humans were helping Ratchet with the ground bridge. Cliffjumper and Smokescreen were removing the panels. Arcee and Bee were piling them up in a safe place. Ratchet was taking care of the sensitive materials. There was a bit of unscrewing but nothing major. Most of the bolts that he had unscrewed were rusty and he gave those to Bolty who was happy to have a snack. The rusty bolts were like a salty snack for him. It made him very happy and perhaps a bit excited too as he munched on it happily.
"Yes, yes, yes, you really like rusty bolts. Don't make a habit out of it." Ratchet told him sternly but he got to admit that he found it amusing that Bolty was enjoying it.
While the Autobots were taking care of the big job, Jack, Raf and Emily were cleaning up just like Ratchet asked them. First they had to pass the broom and the vacuum. Jack was using the vacuum and Raf was sweeping. Emily was waiting for them to finish so she could start to mop the floor. Ratchet saw them and wanted to make sure they left everything spotless.
"Remember, kids, I want everything to be spotless." He said as Jack and Raf rolled their eyes. He doesn't need to remind them.
"Yes, sir." They both said as Ratchet turned to Emily was still waiting.
"Emily, you're not working." He noted as Emily turned to him.
"I can't. I have to wait for Jack and Raf to finish or else mopping won't work." She said as she pointed to the boys.
"I don't recall asking for excuses." Ratchet said as Emily sighed.
"Yes, sir, apologies, sir." She said with a sigh.
Emily starts to mumble out of anger because Mister Sargeant Mad Doctor was telling her how to clean like he actually knew something about it. When Jack saw her mop the floor when he and Raf had not finished yet, he turned off the vacuum so he could ask Emily what she was doing.
"What are you doing? Raf and I have not finished yet." He asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Emily gave him a deadpan look before pointing to Ratchet with her thumb.
"I know that but Sergeant Mad Doctor doesn't want me to stay still and do nothing. So he asked me to mop the floor without giving him any excuses." She said with a small roll of her eyes.
"Jack, Raf, I hope you guys are working too!" Ratchet said while he was doing some repairs at the ground bridge.
"We are." Jack said before he dropped his voice in a whisper.
"Something tells me that this is gonna be the worst day ever." Jack said with a small sigh as Raf agreed.
"Yeah. Miko sure is lucky. We should get back to work though." Raf pouted a little.
"You go there and I'll go the other way." Jack said as Raf nodded.
"Right." He nodded and went to where Jack pointed.
Jack turned the vacuum back on and went to clean another section of the floor and so did Raf, leaving Emily to mop the floor with an annoyed attitude. Smokescreen saw it and was hoping that Ratchet wouldn't start pushing him and the other bots around.
"Sheesh, the doctor is the worst when he starts acting like a drill sergeant." Smokescreen said as he couldn't help but feel bad for the kids.
"Welcome to the club, rookie. He's always like that whenever there's a big job." Cliffjumper said while he continued his part of the assignment.
"Let's just hope he won't do the same with us. I mean, we're the one helping on the big job." Smokescreen said as he helped him.
"Keep dreaming. You have more chances of beating Megatron than surviving a whole day with Drill Sergeant Ratchet." Arcee said as Bumblebee agreed with her.
"To think Bulkhead is out there and we're the one stuck here." Smokescreen said with a small sigh.
"You're one of the fews to complain about it. I don't know about you guys but Ratchet seems happy that Bulkhead isn't here and that's scary. I don't think I've ever seen him smile that much. Thank Primus he's not humming or anything like that." Cliffjumper said as he shuddered just thinking about it.
Grumpy Ratchet was enough for them to handle especially with a wrench in the medic's servo and a Happy Ratchet was something that still weirded him out.
"Speaking of humming. Something tells me that right now, Bulkhead is doing his weird rock noise." Arcee said with a smile of amusement.
Whenever they do something, Bulkhead always seems to have found a way to make it more fun and amusing.
"His weird rock noise?" Smokescreen asked curiously.
"What's that?" Cliffjumper asked Bumblebee who shrugged and whirred that he didn't know what it was.
"You know, that weird rock noise he makes whenever he hears a rock song." Arcee said as Smokescreen got the idea what she meant.
"Oh you mean. WUAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!!" He imitated Bulkhead doing it as Arcee nodded with a small chuckle.
"Yeah that one." She said with a smirk.
"Excuse me." Ratchet said with a raised optic ridge and Smokescreen gulped.
"Uh oh… Doc-Ratchet,I mean, sir, what are your orders, sir?" Smokescreen asked nervously as Ratchet gave him a look.
"My orders are for you all to get back to work and cut the chit-chat." He said as Smokescreen nodded.
"Yes, sir. Cut the chit-chat, sir." He said and got back to work.
"Good, now chop chop, everyone. We got work to do." He said and resumed his work.
After that, the bots resumed their work. Optimus, who walked in, was checking if everything was okay and had seen that Ratchet's commanding method wasn't very well appreciated. True that since he was their commanding officer for this task, it didn't mean that he had to breathe on everyone's neck when they were having a conversation. So he felt like he had to have a little talk with Ratchet to give him some pointers on how to be a proper commander since he had some experience.
"How are you holding up, old friend?" Optimus asked as he approached Ratchet who didn't need to look up from his work.
"Well, so far nothing unusual. The ground bridge looks functional but like humans sometimes say. Better safe than sorry. Hopefully nothing will go wrong." Ratchet said as he sighed.
"Let us hope you're right." Optimus said.
"So, is there anything you wanted to tell me?" Ratchet asked as he looked up to the prime who nodded.
"As a matter of fact there is. I understand that this check up is very important to you. But I would suggest you try and be a little less tight with everyone. You're their commanding officer on this assignment, but acting tough won't make them work faster. I understand that some of our elements can be driven by certain foolery. But we must not forget that each one of them is capable of doing great things if given the chance to let them do so. And you should try and let the kids do their work. When it comes to human matters, it's best to let them be." Optimus explained as Ratchet contemplated this.
"I... guess you're right. Sorry if I seem a bit under pressure. As you well know our resources are very limited. With every battle that comes we have to struggle. This Ground Bridge is our only advantage against the Decepticons. Without it, who knows how we could even fulfill our missions. If it starts to fail, then this whole team shall fail." Ratchet said after much thought.
"That much is true. But a team is more than the resources they use. A team's greatest and most powerful resource is unity and the ones who fight together. No matter what." Optimus said as Ratchet nodded.
"Yes, you are. The team sure is strong. I just hope that same strength might help us make sure the ground bridge gets operational. There's a lot of work to be done." Ratchet agreed with a nod as Optimus was glad that he understood before asking.
"Do you require my assistance?" He asks since he's the only Autobot who wasn't assigned for a task.
"Everything's good here. But thanks for trying to help out. Maybe the kids could use your help." Ratchet said as he looked to see where the kids were.
"Good thinking. I'll go check." Optimus said as he started to walk to where their three human friends are doing their part.
As Optimus started to walk away, Ratchet felt like he needed to thank him for trying to see that he was probably doing something wrong.
"Optimus." He calls as Optimus stops and turns around to listen to whatever Ratchet wanted to tell him.
"Is something wrong, Ratchet?" He asked in concern as Ratchet shook his head.
"No, I just... wanted to thank you for what you said earlier. I really appreciate it." Ratchet said with a grateful smile.
"My pleasure, old friend." Optimus said as he returned the smile.
Optimus resumed his walking while Ratchet returned to work on the ground bridge. By that time, Emily was mopping the floor as she was passing by the areas that had already been broom and vacuum by Jack and Raf and still mumbling about Ratchet's leading method.
"Who does he think he is? Telling me how to mop a floor. I mopped tons of floor long before I met him." Emily grumbled in annoyance.
She then heard the loud steps of a bot and thought that it was Ratchet and it caused her to groan silently.
"Look, Ratchet, I'm sick and tired of you breathing down my neck. I know how to mop the floor!" Emily said as she closed her eyes before she turned around.
"So could you please? Just let me do... my..." Emily said as she opened her eyes only to trail off.
When she saw that it wasn't Ratchet to whom she was talking to, she was a bit surprised and quite embarrassed. She started to blush a lot since she had seen that she was talking to Optimus without even knowing that it was him.
"O-Optimus, it's you. O-Oh my gosh, I-I'm so sorry f-for what I said. I-I really thought you were Ratchet. Please forgive m-me. I-I didn't mean to." Emily stammered while trying to stop the heat from rising to her cheeks as Optimus just smiled softly.
"It's okay, I know you didn't mean any harm." Optimus reassured her.
"Y-Yeah..." She nodded while blushing and turned her head away to avoid any more embarrassing situation.
"Way to go, Emily. That was really embarrassing." Emily muttered in embarrassment.
Just like that she got back to work but Optimus felt like something was bothering her and he wanted to ask her if she was doing okay.
"Are you doing okay?" He asked in concern as Emily looked up to him before letting out a sigh.
"Yeah, sure. I'm good. Nothing like mopping the floor on a regular weekend." Emily said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Don't hold a grudge against Ratchet. You know he didn't mean to hurt you." Optimus said as Emily sighed.
"I know... It's just that I hate it when people tell me how to do the things I already know how to do. It drives me sick when people think I don't, that's all. Sorry, don't mind me. I'm just being silly here." Emily said with a small laugh while Optimus gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's okay, I know you're upset and there's nothing wrong with it. I just wanted to make sure that Ratchet didn't mean no disrespect toward you." Optimus said as she shrugged.
"Well, it's easier said than done right now. " She said.
"Remember, you two are part of the same team. Therefore any grudge toward each other could affect you and your teammates.
"I... guess you have a point there." Emily said as she looked up to him.
"Ratchet only acted harsh on you because he wants what is best for this team. But even he knows when he makes a mistake sometimes." Optimus said as Emily pursed her lips.
"That's a surprise. But I guess you're right. If Ratchet can learn from his mistakes, so can I. Thanks for the lesson." Emily said with a thankful smile.
"Glad I could help." Optimus said with a nod.
Optimus then started to walk away before Emily called his name since she wanted to ask him something.
"Optimus, wait." She called out as Optimus stopped walking.
He then turned around to listen to what Emily wanted to tell him.
"What is it? Is there something you wanna tell me?" Optimus questioned curiously and Emily could have sworn the metallic fins on both sides of his helm seemed to perk up.
"Well... I wanted to know if you'd like to help us with the cleaning?" Emily asked hesitantly as she looked up to him.
"I... I don't think I can do much to help you guys." Optimus said hesitantly. He wasn't sure how he was going to be of much help with the task.
"Nonsense, with me helping you. You'll do a good job. Being part of a team also means helping those in need. So what do you say?" Emily reassured him as she looked up to him.
Optimus thinks about it. He didn't really think he could be of much help but since Emily wanted him to help out, he decided to join the kids in their cleaning duty. After all, that is what teammates do. They help each other.
"Very well. I will help you out." He nodded and Emily grinned happily.
"Great. Since Jack and Raf are taking care of almost the same task, you could help me mop the floor. Here's your mop." Emily said as she grabbed another mop.
"How do I... mop the floor?" Optimus asked curiously.
"Simple, you put the mop on the floor and pass it all over it. Like this." Emily said and she starts mopping the floor to show Optimus how it's done.
"See? It's super easy. Just try not to step on the parts you mopped." Emily explained before Jack called her over.
"Hey, Emily. We finished passing on these parts." Jack called her as she gave a thumbs up.
"Good work. We got it from here." Emily said as the two blink.
"We? You mean Optimus is helping too?" Raf asked in disbelief and surprise as Emily grinned.
"Sure. I asked if he wanted to help and he accepted gratefully. I figured our team could use some help." Emily said while rubbing the back of her head.
"That's not a bad idea." Jack said with a smile.
"Right. Now you try it, Optimus." Emily said before turning to Optimus who nodded.
He then gently grabs the mop that Emily gave him and he had to use the tip of his two fingers to grab it since it was so tiny for his big servos. After grabbing hold of it, he put it on the floor and used his fingers to move the mop on the floor.
But sadly, he had applied too much strength and that broke the mop. Optimus felt a bit bad about breaking it but however Emily couldn't resist letting out a tiny yet sweet laughter. Optimus didn't quite get it so Emily had to explain that she didn't mean to make fun of him though it was pretty cute at how he looked a little embarrassed for breaking the mop by accident.
"Sorry, sorry. I didn't make fun of you. I just couldn't resist." Emily said with a few giggles escaping.
"I do not understand what's so funny about this... small predicament." Optimus said as he gestured to the broken mop.
"I know. But you see, sometimes it's normal to laugh when a small accident happens. It just means that you're having fun. Even teammates can have a fun time with each other." Emily explained with a smile and he couldn't help but return it.
With what Emily said, Optimus understood why Emily laughed and in a way he was happy to see her being happy and it gave his spark a warm pulse. Since the first mop was broken, Emily gave Optimus another one and helped him not break the other mop. She helped him mop the floor gently as Jack and Raf found it cute that she was helping him like that as they watched the two.
"They're so cute to watch." Jack said with a smile as he watched his two friends help each other out.
He even wondered when will the two confess to each other but he also hadn't confessed to Sierra that he has a crush on her yet so maybe it would take time.
"Yeah. It's a good thing Miko's not here. Knowing her would start teasing Emily." Raf said with a small giggle at the thought.
"I wouldn't worry about that. Seeing how Miss Rebel has a crush on a certain red haired guy at school, Emily would turn her teasing against her." Jack snickered since both Emily and Miko teased each other back and forth about their crushes.
"You're right. Guess it's a good thing she's not here to see that." Raf said with a snicker as he look at Optimus and Emily.
Raf then turned to Jack to see that he had a small troubled look.
"You know what's weird? Is that deep down, I kind of miss her a bit. What's even weirder is that she didn't answer any of my messages." Jack said as he checked his phone after sending another message to Miko after 20 minutes.
"Maybe there's no signal in the desert." Raf said as he tilted his head as Jack shrugged.
"Yeah, that must be it. Either way I'm not complaining much. I just hope she's okay." He replied after putting his phone back into his pocket.