"I happen to know exactly what I'm doing in a kitchen!" Sgt. Lasky exclaimed proudly.

Rachel nodded her head emphatically. She was still busy stuffing her maw, but she also heard every word that was being spoken.

"Rachel agrees with you and so do I. These are great!" Lisa said with a grin.

"Go ahead and eat Rachel, because once you finish that pan, I think it's time for bed." Moonracer instructed.

"The werewolf has a bedtime?" Sgt. Lasky asked in surprise.

"Yes… she does! And my niece is going to listen to Moonracer or she'll be in a heap of trouble!" Rachel O'Donnell said firmly.

Rachel nodded her head as she looked first at Moonracer and then her Aunt, before looking back at the mess Sergeant in front of her and shrugged.

"I take it that you're going to abide by the bedtime?" Captain Langston asked amusedly.

Rachel looked over at the woman in uniform and nodded her head. A slight chuckle made her look at the source. When she did, she saw Sarah smothering a laugh with her right hand. Rachel turned back to eating and finished the pan of hamburger patties quite rapidly.

When she was done eating, Rachel picked up the pen and pad of paper. She quickly scribbled a note, which she then held up for Sgt. Lasky to read.

'Thank you a bunch!'

"Hey, you're welcome." Sgt. Lasky said with a grin. "Not every day you get to feed a werewolf."

Rachel tried to smile, which didn't work out very well since she only ended up baring her teeth, so she jumped up on Moonracer's shoulder. Realizing that there was one thing she could still do, she waved at her aunt and cousin.

"Before you leave… I'd like to ask you something." Mrs. O'Donnell called out to Moonracer.

"Certainly. What do you want to know?" Moonracer answered.

"How old are you?" Mrs. O'Donnell asked in a suspicious tone.

"I am well over two million of your years old… why?" Moonracer returned curiously.

"It's just that you have the same voice my sister did." Mrs. O'Donnell replied in confusion.

"That would definitely explain why Rachel thought I was her mother until she actually saw me."

"I don't know what made you give my niece a chance, but thank you." Rachel O'Donnell said sincerely.

"The first time I saw your niece, she was already in a great deal of pain due to her pending transformation, but she still tried to warn me away. I knew absolutely nothing about werewolves at all, so I had no opinions one way or the other." Moonracer answered candidly.

"Thanks for giving my cousin a chance. No one else would have done that for her." Lisa interjected fervently.

"You're welcome. But I'll say now that the transformation I saw Rachel endure looked extremely painful! I didn't have a single clue as to what was happening to her, but I was not going to allow her to go through that alone. I'm glad I stayed." Moonracer said with a smile before turning to head to her quarters.

Rachel stayed where she was on Moonracer's shoulder for the walk. She really liked Moonracer, and it wasn't simply because the bot sounded like her mother. Moonracer had a personality that she thought was just wonderful and they got along great.

Moonracer entered her quarters with a touch of a melancholy air. The rather small room was nothing like what she'd had on Cybertron. There, she'd had an actual home. It wasn't anything even close to being one of the better homes on the planet, but it had been hers. She had spent countless human hours decorating it and getting it set up just the way she wanted it. Almost everything was now gone. It was either lost to time or destroyed by war and she saw no way of reclaiming any of what had been lost. She stood at her desk and looked down at what little was there.

Rachel scampered down Moonracer's arm to the surface of what she thought of as an over sized desk. She turned around and looked up at the femme sadly. Annabelle had told her what the war had done to the world Moonracer had come from. She pulled the small note pad and pen out of a skirt pocket and quickly wrote on it.

'I'm sorry.' Rachel wrote before holding up the note so Moonracer could see it.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't cause this." Moonracer stipulated irritably.

'I didn't do it, but I don't like it. You nice. You don't dezerv this.'

"I don't think either one of us deserves what has happened to us Rachel, but this is what we have, so we have to make the best of it." Moonracer replied candidly.

'You nice, so I still don't like it.' Rachel wrote unhappily.

Moonracer realized that Rachel was trying to commiserate with her.Even without a scan, she knew that Rachel had truly meant every word she'd written. The little organic being had known her only for a few short days, but that meager length of time apparently meant nothing to Rachel. The girl turned werewolf clearly considered her a friend and would stand by her side.

"I don't like this any more than you do Rachel, but there is nothing we can do to change it, so why don't we just get ready for bed?" Moonracer answered.

Rachel nodded her head and jumped from the desk to the floor. She scampered under Moonracer's bed to her dresser where she pulled out her pajamas to get ready for bed.

"You'll probably get too hot if you try to wear anything over that fur." Moonracer warned when she saw what Rachel was doing.

Rachel thought about it and realized that she was wearing a very thick fur coat across her entire body. If she did put anything on top of that fur coat she would be sweltering in no time. She felt very weird going to bed without any clothes on, but that was what she did.

xXx

Rachel O'Donnell was drinking a cup of coffee in what she'd been told was called the 'recreation room' or 'rec room' for short. Her daughter Lisa sat next to her eating a breakfast that was much better than simple cereal. Waffles, bacon, sausage, hashed browns, milk and apple juice made for the kind of breakfast that Lisa didn't often get. Looking around the room, she could see a few military personnel, but not very many since most were already on duty or in the cafeteria.

A rather strange sound drew her attention to the doorway where an instant later, her niece was sliding through that doorway. Hazel eyes went wide as Rachel watched her niece spin in a 450 degree circle while coming through the doorway at high speed. A complete circle and an additional 90 degrees so that the werewolf was facing into the room while still sliding very fast across the tile floor of the rec room.

"If she's that good at sliding around on her claws, I wanna see what she can do with some roller skates!" Lisa murmured in awe.

"I would imagine that she'd be much faster than she already is." Moonracer said as she entered the rec room. "I'm seriously doubting that you could find some to fit her unusual feet though." She added with a smile.

"You're right… but still… I'm bettin my cousin would almost fly!" Lisa said with a touch of awe.

"Of that you should have no doubt! She's already been told to slow down several times… which she has done. So yes…. she's already a lot faster than what you've seen." Moonracer replied mirthfully.

A strange coughing sound was heard, and Lisa looked over at the source to see her cousin making that strange sound in an attempt to laugh.

Suddenly, Rachel caught the smells that were wafting up from the bar. She couldn't stop her sensitive nose from twitching as she stuck her nose in the air and savored those wonderful smells. She went up to the bar and put her hands/front paws (she wasn't sure what to call them now) on the glass while gazing hungrily at the variety of food in front of her.

"Fuck!" One of the Privates yelled as he backed up quickly. "It's a god-damned werewolf!"

"Watch your mouth Mister!" Rachel O'Donnell snapped. "That werewolf happens to be my niece. Neither she, nor my daughter need to hear that kind of language!"

"My cousin wouldn't chew on someone as stringy as you anyway. I bet that bacon smells better than you do too… especially if Sgt. Lasky cooked it!" Lisa snipped with a scowl as she walked up to the food bar.

Rachel nodded her head enthusiastically because she heartily agreed with her cousin. Grabbing the note pad and pen from the pocket of the blue skirt she'd put on, she wrote…

'Bacon smells good, sausaj smells better!'

Lisa read the message and smiled. "Okay, so we get some bacon and sausage. What else?"

Rachel sniffed the air for a moment before she pointed at the scrambled eggs.

"Eggs are always good at breakfast. What else should we get?" Lisa asked.

"Rachel…" Moonracer spoke up in a warning tone. "Ratchet said you can't have any eggs. They made you sick the last time you ate them as a werewolf. We call what you did 'purging' but Humans call it 'vomiting'. I don't want to see you go through that again."

Rachel nodded her head very reluctantly. Those eggs smelled good, and she wasn't very happy about having to miss out on them. That was when she caught a whiff of a familiar scent. It was a human scent that she remembered. Looking around, she spotted Sgt. Lasky with a large covered pan in his arms and let out a short howling bark.

"Just the girl I wanted to see!" Donald Lasky exclaimed with a grin. "I know it's not a typical breakfast, but a friend of yours brought me these asked me to cook them for you, so I did."

When the Mess Sgt. Put the pan on the serving line and took the lid off, Lisa's mouth dropped open. A glance at her cousin showed her doing the same while they both stared at the contents of the pan.

Pressure cooked in a marinade before being placed in an electric smoker, the ribs were tender and succulent looking… and they smelled wonderful!

"Who asked you to fix that?" Lisa asked in awe as she stared at the ribs.

"A young Lady by the name of Mikaela Banes. She's one of the Ambassadors to the Autobots and apparently a friend of Rachel's." Lasky replied.

'She nice. I like her.' Rachel scribbled on the note pad quickly.

The Sergeant read the short note and nodded his head. "Yes Ma'am, she is nice. That's part of the reason she was chosen as Ambassador."

"Sir? Are you seriously having a little chat with a werewolf?" Private First Class Peters asked in doubt.

"Yes Private. I am. Just look at what she's wearing. If the clothes don't tell you something, then the fact that she's standing next to a young girl should!" Sgt. Lasky replied sternly. "Besides, with what I already see in front of me… I refuse to lose any sleep even if I see Elvis and Darth Vader walk in holding hands!"

Private Peters looked at the werewolf who was wearing a black T-shirt and a blue knee length skirt. A single pocket in the skirt allowed the werewolf to carry a pen and small note pad that was being used to communicate. The whole situation was definitely strange, but given the base he was assigned to? Strange was a given!

With a disbelieving shake of his head, Private Peters went back to the other end of the serving line.

Sgt. Donald Lasky shook his head at Pfc. Peters as the man walked to the other end of the serving line. "Don't waste a thought on him Young Lady. These ribs are something better to think about."

"You can say that again! Those smell great!" Lisa stipulated with a wide smile.

Rachel nodded her head while pointing at her cousin. Her cousin had just said everything she needed to say.

"I take it that you agree with her?" Sgt. Lasky asked with a smirk.

Rachel nodded her head emphatically. Those ribs smelled so good to her that she was swallowing a lot of drool!

Sgt. Lasky gave a chuckle. "Well… let's get you set up then shall we?"

The Mess Sergeant picked up the pan of smoked ribs, rounded the serving line, and walked over to a table to put the pan down near the woman he'd seen the night before who'd claimed to be the werewolf's aunt. He was followed by Lisa who had a pair of plates and by Rachel who was busy trying not to drool everywhere.

"Now if that isn't enough, just let me know because I literally have enough to feed an army!" Sgt. Lasky said proudly as he stepped back.

"Actually Sergeant, that should be plenty because her metabolism should be dropping back to normal soon… if it hasn't already." Moonracer stated before anything else could be said.

"So she doesn't eat like that all the time?" Lasky asked interestedly.

"Only after a transformation. So when she changes back to a girl again, she be just as ravenous as she was lat night." Moonracer answered.

"Good to know. I'll be ready for it. If you can find a way to give me a heads up on that, I'd appreciate it. I can talk to Ratchet and find out exactly what kind of food she needs so she's not filling up on stuff that won't do her any good." Lasky replied seriously.

"Sir?" Mrs. O'Donnell said as she turned around in her seat. "Thank you for being willing to help my niece like this. She can't say it, so I'll say it for her… Thank you!"

Rachel let out a short yapping sound to get the man's attention before she pointed at her aunt and nodded her head.

"You're both welcome! My job is to feed an army. I do it very well so I got no problem with feeding a werewolf at the same time." Lasky said seriously. "I'm allergic to dogs and cats, but apparently… I'm not allergic to werewolves. Besides… this gives me an excuse to cook something besides beans!" He added with a laugh.

"I can't remember a time when I've even seen beans served in here." One of the soldiers from another table piped up.

"That's because I flat refuse to have anything to do with that stereotype that says we cook nothing but beans!" Lasky shot back with a glare before he turned and went back to the kitchen.

Rachel sat down at the table, took a plate from her cousin and quickly put half a dozen ribs on it. With the very first bite, she was giving off a soft contented growl. Noticing a strange sound, she looked over at her cousin to see the girl moaning in delight. Rachel couldn't blame her in the least… the ribs were that good!

Mikaela had gone unnoticed as she entered the rec room and got her breakfast. When she sat down at a table across from the werewolf, she was very surprised to see the clothes were being worn. There was a young dark haired girl sitting next to the werewolf that she knew as Rachel and a woman sitting on Rachel's other side. The woman looked a lot like Rachel with the same dark blonde hair and same hazel colored eyes.

As soon as Mikaela sat down across from her, Rachel waved to the young woman. She immediately grabbed the pen and note pad to write a message for the woman.

'Thank you for the ribs! These are great!'

"You're welcome." Mikaela replied with a chuckle. "I'm sorry that nothing was cooked the other night, but we were a little short on things like time because you were really hungry."

"Rachel's not kidding. These ribs really are fantastic." Lisa grinned. "Sgt. Lasky sure knows what he's doing."

"Oh he's good in the kitchen alright. That's why I asked him to cook those ribs, but I know someone who can put him to shame on a BBQ pit." Mikaela said with a smug grin.

"Better than this?" Lisa asked in disbelief.

Rachel was gaping wide eyed at the woman because she didn't really believe it either. The ribs were perfect as far as she was concerned. She couldn't think of any way that they could be improved.

"He'll even admit it." Mikaela smiled as she nodded her head.

"Wow!" Lisa breathed silently, before turning to look at her cousin who was looking back at her just as stunned.

"Okay… I'm gonna make sure you got my phone number, because when that BBQ pit gets used, you call me!" Lisa told her cousin emphatically.

Rachel just nodded her head because she had no idea how to respond to that.