"Here ya go, Ratchet…one left-handed space-bridge calibrator thingamabob."

"BULKHEAD, I NEEDED - wait, what…?" Ratchet stopped in mid-rant. He was used to Bulkhead wrecking his precious tools, not gently handing them to him when asked to.

Ratchet chuckled, musing to himself that the end of the world was upon them…that is, it might be except for the fact that Unicron had finally been defeated and sealed away forever. They had cancelled the apocalypse, as it was eloquently put in one of the humans' so-called science fiction movies.

Bulkhead curiously asked, "You okay, Ratchet?"

"Sorry, force of habit." Ratchet sighed.

Wheeljack smiled sympathetically, "Take it easy, Doc. You're wound up tighter than a turbofox during hunting season. Just relax...Bulkhead and me are here to help you with the space-bridge adjustments however we can."

Ratchet appreciated the assistance immensely. He had been struggling for several weeks to recalibrate the space-bridge in the Autobot headquarters of Hangar E. It still functioned properly, but Ratchet wanted to boost its range and improve its safety margin. So far, he had been unsuccessful.

"Thank you, Wheeljack, Bulkhead. It's not you, it's just that lately I've been…"

Suddenly Ratchet winced as his audio receptors were assaulted by a high-frequency screech.

"…distracted."

The old Autobot medic felt something latch onto his foot...something familiar. He resignedly closed his optics and slowly tilted his head downward, knowing full well what would be there when he opened them again.

A pair of large glowing blue eyes met Ratchet's gaze. Sure enough, it was the baby…again. Somehow the tiny techno-organic child was able to slip away from his parents and once again get underfoot. Ratchet was about to call for help when Bulkhead approached.

"Heyyy, squirt! Whatcha doin'?" Bulkhead was always happy to see the little guy. Not quite two human years old, the half-Human, half-Cybertronian baby possessed astonishing intelligence and seemingly limitless energy reserves. Once he had gotten mobile, he was always on the go…and always looking for trouble to get into.

For some inexplicable reason, he reminded Bulkhead of Miko.

The baby eagerly reached up with his tiny arms and giggled.

"Wanna go for a ride with your Uncle Bulkhead? You do?" Bulkhead reached down and carefully scooped the baby into his huge hands. The child squealed in delight as he was lifted up. He had no fear of the immense size and strength of the Autobots, in no small part to the fact that his Mother was one of them.

"Okay, here we go! Upsy-daisy!"

Bulkhead gingerly hoisted the child high into the air before lowering him again. The baby laughed and immediately wanted more of the same.

Wheeljack smirked, "Kind of like playing with the old lobbing ball…right, Bulkhead?"

Ratchet rolled his optics and returned to his work, grumbling the entire time. He could not suppress the small but unmistakable smile that had somehow appeared on his face.

"Uuupsy-daisy!"

Bulkhead lifted the giggling baby even higher this time. His dedicated focus on the child's safety allowed for a very limited awareness of his surroundings, which proved to be his undoing.

"Put…him…DOWN."

"EEP!"

As soon as he heard the menacing voice behind him, Bulkhead knew he was but a hairsbreadth away from forever joining with the AllSpark. He slowly turned to face the baby's mother.

Arcee did not look happy.

"S-sorry, Arcee. Me and the kid, we were just - "

Arcee was never the most patient of Autobots, and she had zero tolerance for excuses. She interrupted, "You were just about to put my son down…very carefully. Weren't you, Bulkhead?"

"Yes, ma'am." Bulkhead quickly complied, gently setting Arcee's child back on the ground.

"Thank you." Arcee transformed into her human-sized third body, then knelt and held out her arms, saying with a loving smile, "Come here, sweetie."

The baby ran over to his mother and she picked him up, holding him close in a protective embrace.

"Sorry again, Arcee."

"You have to be more careful, Bulkhead. He's still just a baby, and until I say otherwise, no more 'upsy-daisy.' I'm his mother, and you've got to respect that I know what's best for him."

"Preach it, Arcee…let's hear it for underappreciated Mothers everywhere!"

Arcee grinned as she turned to see June and Bill Fowler approach. They were accompanied by June's son and Arcee's Sparkmate, Jack Darby.

Jack looked slightly preoccupied but otherwise seemed fine. He looked at June and asked, "Mom, are you absolutely sure this is okay? We can always - "

June cut him off, "Jack, you and Arcee haven't had a night to yourselves in over a year now…it's your Anniversary, for goodness' sake! Three years ago today you and Arcee finally admitted how you felt about each other and became Sparkmates. You need some alone time...just the two of you!"

Arcee set her child down, who immediately began to play with his Grandpa Fowler.

"I admit, it sounds very tempting. What do you think, Jack?"

Jack didn't take long to decide, as he blurted out, "When can we leave?!"

June smiled, "Besides, Bill and I would love to get some grandparent time in. I promise we'll take good care of our little man, won't we Bill?"

"Uuupsy-daisy!"

Everyone turned just in time to see the giggling baby execute a perfect landing in Bill's strong hands. He looked back at June's seething stare and innocently asked, "…What?"

June breathed deeply and sighed, "With this kind of stress, it'll be a miracle if I live long enough to see my grandson graduate high school…"

Jack suddenly looked as though he had been physically struck. He quickly faced away from the others, hoping no one had seen his pained expression.

Arcee saw.

"Did we miss anything?"

Miko Nakadai and Rafael Esquivel appeared out of nowhere. It didn't take a detective to guess where they had been, however. From their slightly disheveled appearance and Raf's huge grin, it was a fairly safe assumption that they had been making out somewhere inside the base.

Arcee couldn't resist and smirked, "Apparently we were the ones who missed something…!"

Miko blushed and whispered, "It's not what you think, Arcee! We're both going to wait for that until we get married one day. It's important to Raf's faith and I support his decision. Plus, I love the fact that he respects me in that way. It sure hasn't been easy, though…Raf's gorgeous and he's an awesome kisser! Speaking of which…" Miko had noticed that Raf still had some of her lipstick remaining on his face. She casually but quickly rubbed it off, hoping no one noticed.

"Miko…"

Apparently, Bulkhead had noticed. Miko groaned inwardly as she felt another lecture coming.

"…haven't we already talked about this? I thought we agreed, no PDA's inside the hangar!"

"No, Bulk…that's what you agreed to. Raf and I agreed to nothing of the sort. Why do you think we've been sneaking around the base like this? We're not children anymore, Bulkhead."

Bulkhead winced at Miko's rare use of his full name, something that she only did when she was upset with him.

What was with her? Didn't she know that he had her best interests in mind?

Bulkhead angrily glared at Raf.

"This is your fault. Before you two got together, Miko used to respect me. Now she won't even listen to a word I say! I'll tell you this for nothing, shrimp: if you were even half my size, I'd - "

"THAT'S IT!"

Raf had finally had enough. He had been remarkably patient with Bulkhead's lousy attitude during nearly three years of his dating Miko, but even Raf had his limits.

"Just who do you think you are, anyway?!"

Bulkhead started, "Now look, kid…"

Raf silenced him, "No, you look!"

Everyone stood rooted to the spot as Raf stood his ground and faced down Bulkhead. It was a remarkable sight reminiscent of David squaring off against Goliath.

"It's really sad. You and I never spoke much in the old days…I always thought it would be nice for us to talk and get to know one another. Now I just get sick and tired of hearing your voice and anything you have to say! Miko's right, you know. We aren't kids anymore, and it's past time you got that through your tin-plated skull! Oh, and one other thing: STOP CALLING ME SHRIMP!"

Raf panted for air. He wasn't used to losing his temper like that. He slowly realized that everyone was silently staring at him. They were in awe of the fact that quiet, gentle Raf was capable of tearing into anyone like that, let along Bulkhead.

Embarrassment burned his cheeks as Raf hurriedly made his exit.

Bulkhead tried to stop him.

"Kid, wait…! I - I'm sorry, Rafael…"

It was too late. Raf had left the building.

"…ah, scrap."

Miko moved to follow Rafael but she stopped for a moment. Her eyes swam with angry tears as she glared at Bulkhead, "He was right, Bulk. We aren't children anymore…and you aren't my father. You're my Guardian and my best friend and I love you, but I'm with Raf now. You have to accept that, or else we can't be friends."

With that, Miko left as well.

The awkward silence was deafening.

Bulkhead finally said to no one in particular, "So this is what it feels like…"

"Feels like what, buddy…?" Wheeljack asked his friend.

"…to be small."

Wheeljack smiled as he advised his fellow Wrecker, "You have been riding them both pretty hard, Bulkhead…especially Rafael. You just need to ease off, and the next time you see them you patch things up, okay?"

"I will." Bulkhead promised.

The two Wreckers got back to work on the space-bridge.

Arcee was desperate, "It's getting late...we're never going to make it in time!"

Jack quickly offered, "Why don't we use the old ground-bridge? Ratchet…?"

"Well, it's been awhile since we used it, but it should do the trick and get you where you want to go…which is where, incidentally?" Ratchet inquired.

Arcee smiled, "Same coordinates after you and I left Cybertron…right, Jack?"

"Absolutely." Jack ran into a storage room to get some supplies.

Arcee kissed her baby on the cheek and handed him to June, before going to help Jack.

As the baby yawned and his eyes finally began to get heavy, June smiled reflectively.

"It's funny…I never imagined that my life would ever turn out this way. I'm married to a wonderful, loving man who also happens to be a government agent, my son fell in love with an alien female robot, by some miracle they've been blessed with a beautiful baby, and to top things off I'm a grandmother!"

"Yeah, about that…" Bill struggled with the dynamics of it, "…exactly how did that happen, again?"

"Jack and Arcee both said that the spirit of Optimus Prime somehow appeared to them and gave Arcee the gift of a new third transformation…a body that's basically human, biologically speaking. I know there's more to it than they've let on, but they haven't said anything else on the subject. If and when they're ready, they'll let us know."

Bill grinned, "Well, one thing I do know is that you're absolutely the prettiest grandmother I've ever seen. Mine was built like a linebacker, but God bless America could that woman cook." Bill sighed. "I miss cookie time…"

June smiled seductively and snuggled up to Bill. She murmured, "Well, if we can get our little man to bed by a decent hour I can show you my version of 'cookie time.' And I can promise you this: you'll want seconds."

Bill's brain immediately ceased functioning. It was a wonder he didn't forget how to breathe.

June had intended for her words to be for Bill's ears only. As Ratchet was so fond of reminding everyone, his hearing was as sharp as ever. In retrospect he would have preferred to have missed out on June and Bill's conversation altogether.

Ratchet chuckled, "Humans."

Ratchet finished setting the coordinates just as Jack and Arcee reappeared. They hugged and kissed their son, who happily waved bye-bye to them as they prepared to depart. Ratchet fired up the ground-bridge.

Arcee cried, "Take good care of him!"

June smiled back, "We will! You kids have a good night, and we'll see you tomorrow!"

Arcee looked down at her Sparkmate and smiled.

"You know you want to say it."

Jack smirked. She knew him too well.

"TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!"

Arcee transformed into her motorcycle mode.

They rolled for it.