Detonation

Transformers Prime- Miko spends some time with Wheeljack during one of his visits. However, she was never warned about his tendency to...invent.

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Miko was bored. And her being bored usually didn't bode well for the rest of the base's inhabitants.

But now the silo was empty, or might as well been, since Bulkhead was gone with Bumblebee and Optimus on patrol, Arcee was taking Jack home, and probably indulging the two of them in a race around the county, and Ratchet was occupied with Rafael as the pair made some modifications to the GroundBridge and computers alike. This left the slim Asian girl bored to death, and she lay upside down on the couch over by the humans' recreational area, long legs dangling over the edge. She groaned loudly every now and then, if only to get on the medic's nerves, searching through channels on the boxy television before her.

It was only after fifteen minutes of her never ending groaning that Ratchet finally snapped, stomping over to the platform, and none-too-kindly demanding that Miko find something to entertain herself with before she gave him a processor-ache. She had then been effectively "kicked out" of the silo proper.

Miko now found herself wandering the halls of the base, perhaps even more jaded than before, her arms folded over her chest as she kicked a stray bolt that had probably come loose from one of the bulkheads above her, muttering crossly under her breath.

"Who does that Ratchet think he is," she groused, the bolt's clanging echoing along the hallway's high ceilings. "He's mad with power," she continued, giving the bolt a particularly strong kick, "thinking he's in charge just because Optimus is gone…" Before the girl could continue cursing the medic's existence, a metallic whirring drew her attention. Miko paused; the sound was amplified by the echoing walls, and she picked up the bolt as she pinpointed the noise, coming from one of the base's spare rooms. Miko made her way over, uncharacteristically cautious, and peered through the open doorway.

The girl released a relieved breath as she recognized the burly white mech, who currently had his back facing her, hunched over a table that had sparks emitting from whatever was atop it, the whirring she'd heard before louder now. She had honestly forgotten that Wheeljack was visiting, as the Wrecker had fled deep into the base several hours ago. Most of the other Autobots probably hadn't realized either. The burly mech would pass through sometimes, in the year since he'd officially decided to stay on Earth, flitting in and out of their lives without much tact or care. Sometimes Miko would miss him entirely when he dropped by, although when he did, it wasn't for very long. Bulkhead has told her once that it was simply in Wheeljack's nature—he was always a reliable 'bot, but had the tendency to…leave a lot. When they were a part of the Wreckers, abandonment was never an option—they were a team, and stuck together. But after the team had disbanded, the white mech could never bring himself to stay; especially when he started becoming attached to the people he was leaving.

It was then that Miko made a swift decision, as was in her nature, and walked deeper into the spacious room. The girl strolled absently past several crates and barrels, most likely left behind by the silo's previous tenants, until she was at the mech's side, albeit a few feet away, since there were still sparks flying from whatever he was working on. After a moment of observing the mech, and understanding that he would never notice her at this rate, Miko raised a hand to cautiously tap Wheeljack's ankle, as high up as she could reach with his advanced stature.

The welding didn't stop, but the mech did glance down at her, mask up, and optics laced with surprise. Wheeljack powered down and set aside whatever instrument he was using and bent down, offering his large, black servo towards the girl. Miko stepped into his palm, sitting down as he brought her up to the table, and allowed her to disembark on her own. Only then did his mask slide away, and he greeted the child with a quizzically raised optical ridge.

"What're you doing this far inside the base, kid?" he questioned, picking up a different tool to continue his work on the device before him. There were no sparks this time, and Miko took her time to answer, looking over Wheeljack's gadget. It looked almost like a gun of some sort…but not quite, as the muzzle was wider and the rest of the thing too circular.

The Asian girl finally shrugged. "I got bored. Every-bot was gone except for Ratchet, and we both know how much fun he can be."

Wheeljack chuckled, picking up a wrench and tightening loose bolts around the barrel of the gun like device. "I hear ya. Can't imagine who in their right mind would voluntarily be near the old docbot…"

"Well there's Raf," Miko supplied, twirling the bolt she found in the hall between her hands.

"Yeah, there's him…" the mech's gaze fell upon the bolt she held. "Hey, I've been looking for that!" he announced, and he held out his servo again. "It must've fallen when I was carrying the rest of my supplies into this cargo hold," he continued as the girl handed him the item. Turning back towards his apparatus, he began screwing in the bolt, mood considerably better. "So how've you been, kiddo? I haven't seen you in… how long was it in Earth time? …..Ah, five months." Wheeljack gave her a onceover, before returning his attention to the device. "You've grown."

Miko rocked back on her heels, shrugging again. "I've been fine. We all have, really. Raf turned thirteen last month, and Jack's in his last year of high school."

"'High school'," Wheeljack repeated to himself, ponderingly. "That's the educational facility you three attend, right? How is it?"

"Ugh, horrible!" the Asian girl announced overdramatically, sagging sorrowfully. "If it was up to me, I'd never leave the base."

The Autobot chuckled. "Learning can be a good thing, sometimes. Of course, it depends on what they teach you."

"Boring stuff," Miko assured forcefully. "Very boring stuff."

"I can imagine," Wheeljack smirked. "The things those fleshies teach could never rival the hands-on learning you get around here. Who knows, maybe you can even get a job like Tiny, only not as stressful."

"Do you mean Agent Fowler?" the girl grinned.

"Whatever."

Wheeljack finally tightened the bolts as he saw fit, and also finished the rudimentary look-over of his device, before inflating with pride and smirking wider. "And there. It's finished!"

"Um... What exactly is 'it', Wheeljack?" Miko murmured, taking a tentative step forward to try and peer over at the mechanism.

The Cybertronian puffed up with even more pride. "An anti-gravity device. Nothing like the horribly outdated scrap your species are currently making."

"And what's it supposed to do?" the girl inquired, curiosity growing in her eyes.

"It's supposed to pretty much lower the gravitational pressure on whatever object it's pointed towards." Wheeljack's following grin seemed a tad too giddily expectant for Miko's tastes. "Do you want to try it out?"

Miko looked over the device again, and a finger rose to her lips in silent brooding, before she said, "It won't hurt me, right?"

"It shouldn't."

Despite the Autobot's weak reassurance, the Asian girl beamed, placing her hands on either hip. "All right. Fire it up, Jackie!"

Wheeljack didn't require further prompting, and he briskly lifted the gun like device from the table, directing the wide muzzle in the teen's direction. He pushed a series of buttons on its underside, before meeting Miko's gaze. "You ready?" She flashed him a thumbs up and a wide grin, which the mech took as further consent to continue. His digit fingered the trigger mechanism, and before he fired, he quickly added, "You might feel a strange pressure along your body, then weightlessness, so don't worry. If your bones feel like they're vibrating, just tell me." And he pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

---

By the time Miko had regained consciousness, she had a pounding headache and aching limbs, but nothing too painful that she could discern. The Asian girl groggily pried her eyes open, yawning from whatever drugs Ratchet had given her, and did her best on focusing on what was going on around her. Her hearing returned first, clearer than any other senses.

"—drag your fragging, scorched self in here more times than I can count with your 'projects', but this time, harming the child was too far!" she could make out the medic yelling, somewhere nearby. Wheeljack answered, if somewhat pained.

"Hey, docbot, easy. At least there wasn't any…permanent damage."

"I'll show you permanent!"

"Ah, wait, wait—the kid's awake!"

By now Miko had indeed made her awaking known, lifting an arm to her forehead, which she found bandaged, and attempted to sit up. She heard Ratchet's gentle voice above her, drastically different from the murderous tone he'd been using earlier, and she glanced further up to look back at him. "Ah, ah, Miko," he reprimanded softly, waving a digit warningly. "You injured your cranium. It's only a minor concussion, which will heal just fine on its own; I don't want you to harm yourself further."

For perhaps the first time, Miko decided it was best not to argue with the medic, and only nodded wearily. "Okay, Ratch'. Can I get some water?"

"Of course."

As soon as the orange and white Cybertronian was out of earshot, Miko looked over at the burly white 'bot sitting on the enormous berth next to her, shoulders hunched. "Wheeljack?" the girl began, hating how weak her voice sounded. "What happened?"

The mech rolled his shoulders, which Miko noticed were coated in various new burns and cuts. "Nothing much, kid. Just a little bug in the anti-gravity device."

"What kind of bug?"

"…The kind were the entire fragging thing gets blown to bits," Wheeljack groaned, lifting a servo to the area where the bridge of his nose would've been, had he been human. "I'm sorry, kid. I always forget that this happens. Every single time. I shouldn't have let you stay when I tested it out…"

Miko shrugged, blinking through her exhaustion. "It wasn't really your fault, Jackie. And you heard the docbot—I'll be fine."

Wheeljack only grunted in response, just as the medic in question returned with Rafael, who in turn carried a tray with a tall glass of water, and a sandwich. Ratchet lowered the boy to the ground, and the small brunette smiled sheepishly as he held out the tray towards Miko. "In case you were hungry," he explained, setting the tray over her legs, and Ratchet helped her sit up.

"Thanks Raf," the girl smiled, before gazing up at the significantly taller medic. "And you too, Ratch'."

Ratchet only bobbed his helm to show he'd heard, while Rafael expressed his welcome in words, and wished her luck in her recuperation as Bumblebee arrived at the base to pick him up. After assuring himself of her stable condition, Ratchet had concealed himself deeper in his lab, leaving only Miko and Wheeljack in the med bay. The Asian girl was currently inhaling her sandwich, before setting her sights on the glass of water and taking a long swing. Her brown eyes flickered to the stoic 'bot after a few moments.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Miko said, "Hey, Wheeljack?"

"Hm?" he began, glancing up at her.

Miko grinned, quite comical when combined with the bandages wrapped around her head. "Next time you make something, can I come watch again?"