Nexus. By the sign. Reporting

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Arcee watches Ratchet walk away from the alternate Prowl and the human woman, waiting till he drew near the couch before she stood and went to meet him, holding out the datachip that she'd come to deliver and offering him a slight smile. She hopes it doesn't look tired.

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She gives another carefully done chuckle. "Of course she likes you. You helped her when she was afraid. You're her one of her favorite people."

She's not telling Ratchet that Bumblebee's the first, despite Kia having never met the little speedball.

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

Something about all this makes him anxious about leaving, but his shift in the Nexus is drawing to a close. The time is marked by the sound of a soft comm beep, which he answers after a moment's hesitation. "Ratchet, here."

"Ratchet? Prowl. I've just arrived in the Nexus, not far from Pyro's. Jazz is with me. Difficult as it is to believe, he has been here before and already has a PIN device with him. We'll be taking the next shift."

"Really? Not something I'd expect." Ratchet's ridges rise in surprise, but at least that saves them the trouble of explaining this place to another Autobot. "Alright, copy that, Prowl. I'll head back shortly, myself."

Clicking the communication link off, he looks to Arcee again. "You know, all the assurances in the world won't keep me from worrying, but I guess I have little choice in the matter. I'll just have to trust that you'll be alright, even out of my reach."

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Arcee listens in silence to the conversation, idly musing over the fact that this will be the last time that she sees her old friend. When he speaks to her again she nearly thins her lips with exasperation, but stops before she starts. Ratchet fusses, it is the way Ratchet is, and part of the reason that she has to be removed from his ken. With assurances of her health and happiness his anxiety should fade, and then he'll be able to focus on his work again.

And Arcee herself will no longer be trapped in an empty existence that threatened to drive her glitchy with boredom.

"I'll be fine." She frowns slightly, forgetting that she'd usually snark at him for such comments. "You just keep your mind on Eleven, and on your work in Detroit."

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

"Easier said than done, though I'm sure the next thing that blows up will probably put my worries in that direction for a while." He tries force a small smile, attempting to joke, but the expression seems a bit empty on the whole. Storing the cell phone away along with everything else, Ratchet sighs as he prepares to dutifully head homeward again. All he can do at this point is hold his arms out to Arcee in an invitation for an embrace before he goes, seeing as how he's not sure he'll see her again before she leaves the Nexus. "One for the road?"

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Her own smile works a little bit better, but that's because there really is nothing behind it.

"Be careful," she tells him as she steps into the hug and gives him a strong squeeze around the chassis. "And take care of yourself. Or I'll call Communiqué about your tendency to forget you need to recharge."

It's perfectly acted... and perfectly empty. No snark, no warning look. Just some gentle teasing.

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

"Kay is almost as much of a workaholic at times, but she's been helping me a little in medbay. We'll spot each other and remind about recharge time," he reassures her as she hugs him. As Ratchet pulls back, he turns a somewhat stern look on her, though he's still smiling a little. "And make sure you do call when you get where you're going. I'm not what I once was, but I've got half a crew behind me who can run for weeks hunting someone down."

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That last gets a scowl. "And what would happen to your city and the Allspark while you were wasting your time on me? Everything's going to be fine. I'm going to be fine."

She pushes away and steps back, feeling reassured despite her anger. There's someone to keep an eye on him and do the things that she can't do. He'll be alright.

"I'd better get back to my monitors."

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

Ratchet mutters something about their ranks being raised by four recently, but says no more on the matter of potential ninjas and a hacker handling such dirty work. Having let that go, he hesitantly turns away to take his own leave. "I'll leave you to your own work, then. Be well, Arcee..."

[random_xtras]

"I will be," she says softly, then looks back once as she heads back to the room over Blue's.