My take on how a certain Autobot came to the world. Try to guess who the reckless sparkling is. Actually, that would be too easy but please comment on what you think nonetheless. There may be some follow up chapters or short stories, I don't know. Title inspired by an epic music called 'Heart of Courage' by Two Steps From Hell.
Disclaimer : For all the good saying this would do, I don't own the characters, settings and such. Only a few obvious OC's and the writing itself came from my head.
"Ratchet? Where are you?" Prime's concerned voice came through the comm.
"I am nearly there," Ratchet replied, rolling fast back to where the transport shuttles were. "ETA ten breems. There was a downed Autobot near the Well, so I..." He faltered. I couldn't save him...
The Autobot did not stand a chance. All Ratchet could do was to ease the pain so he might pass peacefully.
There was a short pause before Optimus spoke again.
"I see. Do you have backup? Is there someone else with you?"
"No, and I do not require backup."
Optimus sighed at the medic's stubbornness, barely aware of Jazz returning with his own team.
"Ratchet, you know better than to travel on your own."
"For Primus' sake, Optimus. I– WHAT IN THE FRAGGIN' PITS OF-"
Static filled the link.
"Ratchet? Ratchet! Do you read me?"
Optimus tried to contact his Chief Medical Officer but there was no respond. Talk about tempting fate.
"Must be the AllSpark's energy spikes interfering again," Jazz mused, cool-headed as ever. "I'll go find him."
He instructed his team to board one of the ships and turned. Optimus halted his friend.
"Wait, I'm going with you... Ironhide? I need you to return with the wounded." He glanced at the red, intimidating Autobot lounging against the ship's hull.
Ironhide had been blasted in the leg by one of the Seeker's missiles in their latest skirmish. However, the veteran was not one to let something so trivial like a crippled leg from fighting and went on to take out at least three more Decepticons until Ratchet had personally stormed out ahead and drag the wounded Autobot away for repairs.
"What about you?"
"One of my mechs is on standby with a stealth ship," Jazz supplied without missing a beat. "If we need ta, we can hitch a ride."
"Alright, I'll take those ships back to Iacon. Have fun out there," Ironhide grumbled as his two comrades rolled out.
—§—
Ratchet shifted his rear-view as he pushed his wheels harder. Fragging Underworlders, he cursed.
As the war heightened, an unusual number of the creatures from the Underworld started to surface, particularly around the Well of AllSpark. Some said it was a way for the planet to protect the Well. Others said it was Primus expressing his displeasure. Ratchet did not care much for either theories. What really had his gears grinding was that these creatures did not discriminate in their targets, and newly sparked Cybertronians climbing out of the Well made nice, easy prey.
Megatron had enough sense to put up a front to be honouring the cease-fire treaty made within two hundred klick radius of the Well. That is, until he became aware of just how many younglings were pledging themselves firmly to the Autobot cause.
Trust a 'con to be stupid enough to attack an active Well, Ratchet grumbled to himself, watching the Underworlder chasing behind. It leaped, baring its long claws. Ratchet braked and turned sideways, letting the creature sail well past above him. He transformed and shifted his hands to a pair of blades. Well, one mindless beast shouldn't be too hard.
The Underworlder skidded to a stop and turned around, snarling. Ratchet calmly waited for the right moment, activating his battle protocols. The creature lunged, swiping with its claws. Ratchet ducked and stabbed its abdomen. It howled in pain and swiped again at the Autobot. He quickly backed off, but the claws managed to tear out a good portion of his chest armor. He stepped away, cursing himself for not having the foresight to bring his guns. The creature lunged once again. Ratchet side-stepped with a surprising speed for a medic and struck his sword with deadly precision. The blade dented and chipped off, but thankfully it managed to slice away half of the creature's head. Venting deeply, Ratchet turned back towards the direction of Iacon only to come face to face with a barrel of a blaster.
"Thank you for taking care of my trouble for me, Autobot," the Decepticon said. "But I cannot allow you to have one of my findings."
Ratchet glared at the con, trying to think of a way out. The enemy was relatively small. One of their scouts? That would make sense, since Tyger Pax was firmly in the Autobot's grasp. The medic's trained optics noticed that the con was slightly leaning to the left. Right pede slightly wounded, he realised. Not that it helped much. Damaged or not, with a gun held in point-blank range to his head, there was not much the medic could do.
"Your findings?" he repeated.
The dark-painted faceplates twisted into an amused smile.
"So you don't know?" he said softly. "No matter. It does—"
Ting
They both looked down. Just next to the con's damaged pede, a natural silver life form smaller than even a minicon stood by, examining the giant pede in front of him with great interest. He seemed to feel their attention on him and looked up. There was a mixture of curiosity and defiance in the tiny face.
A new-spark, Ratchet realised. Even for a new-spark he was smaller than average. A quick once over informed that the sparkling was barely an orn old. Cybertronians were sparked with the program to stand and walk on two pedes so Ratchet was not surprised to see him standing, but the Well of AllSparks was quite some distance away. Either someone transported the sparkling and left him, or the tiny thing came all the way on his own. His battered state favoured the latter explanation. Ratchet could also see that the sparkling was yet to learn how to transform. He was about to yell at the little one to run away from harm when the tiny thing kicked the Decepticon's pede once more.
Ting
It did not even leave a scratch.
"Hey, back off!" the Decepticon snarled, shaking his pede threateningly. It caught the sparkling and he toppled back, the momentum causing him to tumble backwards several times. A low snarl escaped Ratchet as his core programming protested against the abuse. He curled his fists but the 'con quickly turned his attention back to the medic. The sparkling got back up to his feet and stared up at the two titans before him with a rather frustrated look.
"Whatcha looking at, huh? I said back off!" the Decepticon growled, quickly shifting his gaze between the Autobot and the tiny new-spark.
Paying no attention to the threats, the sparkling instead stared at the thing he kicked. He slowly retreated a few steps, then looked back up, cocking his head to a side and clicking. Then he did something neither mechs could anticipate.
A new-spark, no older than a few cycles and without any proper armour whatsoever, ran up to the Decepticon towering over him and kicked with all his strength for the third time. It was such a bold and reckless move that Ratchet's CPU nearly froze up before he could diagnose an evident glitch in the sparkling's basic survival protocols. There had to be a glitch, because no new-spark with a functioning survival protocol would dare try to attack the first adult Cybertronian he saw. By some divine intervention from Primus, the tiny assaulter had managed to strike some loose wires and a thin metal structure exposed in the 'con's wound.
Crack
"YYAAAAAARGH!"
The Decepticon howled, dropping his gun and clutching the offended limb. Ratchet did not miss the chance. Shoving the 'con away from the sparkling, who scrambled out of the way clicking rapidly in alarm to not get crushed underfoot, the medic kneed his opponent's chest and gave a much harder kick on the faceplate. The Decepticon reeled backwards but he recovered fast, summoning another gun from his subspace. Ratchet planted himself between the 'con and the sparkling, bracing himself for the blow. Before the Decepticon could fire, however, the gun was blasted out of his hand.
"What the—"
He leaped sideways to avoid the blaster fires sent his way by none other than Optimus Prime. The former cursed as a shot found its mark on one of his arm-mounted missile. Sensing defeat, he transformed to run away, only to be pounced by Jazz who had driven straight up ahead.
"Ratchet, are you alright?" Optimus asked urgently, leaving Jazz to finish off the enemy.
"Yes, I'm fine."
Ratchet turned to the tiny lifeform who had, in a way, saved his life. The sparkling had placed himself on top of one of the fallen debris well away from the fight. He watched with wide optics as Jazz easily overpowered the enemy, chirring softly in awe. Feeling the other two bots' gaze, he tensed and took a step back warily. Ratchet noticed an impressive dent on the little one's pede, likely the result from the three kicks he gave that unfortunate Decepticon scout.
"Is that a new-spark?" Jazz wondered, having finished the job and sprinting back to them. "What's he doing up here?"
"Something I would ask him, if only he could speak," Ratchet replied. The sparkling chirped as if to agree with him.
"It appears our troops had missed one coming out of the Well. With all the sudden attacks, I cannot say I blame them," Optimus mused, setting a reminder to tell the remaining Autobots stationed nearby to keep an optic out for any other stray new-sparks.
The sparkling in question tilted his head to a side and made an enquiring sound. Jazz knelt down to match optic-level, the corner of his mouthplates curling up into a soft smile.
"What are ya doing here, little one?" he asked. "This is no place for a youngling like ya ta be alone."
The sparkling clicked and whirled in a rapid but jovial fashion, trying to explain himself. Pointing first at the Underworlder's off-lined frame and then at the Decepticon's, he waved his arms in a flailing motion enthusiastically. The sounds that are emitted made little sense to the adult bots, but Ratchet suddenly remembered his earlier exchange with the Decepticon scout and started having a sneaking suspicion that the sparkling may have been chased all the way up here either by the Underworlder or the 'con. Or, Primus forbid, both. He was now gripped by a temptation to thoroughly desecrate the frame behind them. He could feel the others' disgust as well as they came to similar conclusions at the sparkling's valiant efforts to be understood.
Resisting the urge, he instead carefully approached the sparkling. The latter abruptly stopped his acts and backed away, optics darting back and forth between the big bots. Ratchet's soothing chirr did little to ease the tension rolling off his small frame. His damaged pede caught midair, causing him to fall off the rubble. He landed hard on the ground, rolling backwards once. A surprised yelp escaped Ratchet's vocal mechanisms but the sparkling was quick to recover his footing. His fists were curled into tiny balls and his expression was frightened but defiant, as if daring the adult bots to come any closer. The tiny silver protoform frame was as tense as a cornered turbofox. His posture was low and half-way turned, ready to take off running at any astrosecond. He emitted uneasy whines, forcing Ratchet to stop his advance. Jazz chuckled mirthlessly.
"Got some spunk, don't ya?" he said with a sad smile.
Sighing, Ratchet gave the little bot a once over. Even apart from the huge dent on his foot, the sparkling had scratches and dents all over his protoform armour and there seemed to be an energon leak somewhere on his side. Though his expression was still defiant, there was an unmistakable hint of exhaustion in his dim, flickering optics. Primus, how much has this one's been through already? he wondered.
Instead of approaching, Ratchet scanned.
10 - 15 cycles old, the scanners read.
Energy level : 17%
Energon level : 8%
No internal damage detected.
Further scanning required.
I need to install myself a better damn scanner, Ratchet thought as he read the results. No internal damage was fine. 8% energon level was definitely not. There could be a permanent damage to the circuits unless the sparkling was refueled and recharged quickly. When Ratchet lowered his scanners, the sparkling was on the defense again. He watched the bigger bots warily, unaware of the real danger sneaking up behind him.
"Gotcha," Jazz vented, scooping up the small silver frame by the scruff.
The saboteur screwed his faceplate as a sharp metallic screech hit his sensitive audios.
"Easy there, little one," he tried to soothe the flailing sparkling. "No one's gonna hurt ya." He pulled the silver bundle close to his spark chamber, rubbing the small helm gently.
The sparkling stopped fighting and curled up into a ball against the warm silver chassis. He was too spent to fight any more, but that did not stop him from keep emitting a soft whine.
Ratchet wasted no time in pulling out a cube filled with concentrated energon from his med kit and pouring it into the sparkling's mouth. Please not another one, he prayed silently. Not one so young. The war had not been kind to the weak. When the Well became active again, Ratchet was not sure if he should be glad for extra potential warriors or angry about more bots deactivating so early in their lives. Thankfully, the readings on the sparkling improved rapidly. As soon as the cube was emptied, he completely off-lined his optics and fell into recharge.
"Will he be alright?" Jazz asked with a worried look.
"He's just in recharge for now," Ratchet said. "He should be fine after some repairs."
Optimus glanced at the medic. "You look like you need repairs yourself, my friend. Can you transform?"
Ratchet threw a look at Prime and abruptly transformed as way of reply.
"Get him in," he barked, opening a hatch leading to a compartment inside his vehicle mode.
Grinning at the familiar tone, Jazz carefully placed the sparkling inside before flipping into alt form himself.
"Back to Iacon. Stay in the middle, Ratchet," Optimus rumbled in vehicle mode and took lead in front of Ratchet as Jazz covered the rear.
"So... You gonna tell us what happened anytime, Ratch?" he prodded.
—§—
"...and that's when you showed up." Ratchet finished as they entered the sub route to Iacon. Jazz was laughing so hard he was practically bouncing on his wheels in a way Ratchet didn't even want to know how he was doing it.
"Primus almighty," he managed between fits of laughter. "The sparklet tried to kick him... what, three times?"
"You can take out the 'tried to'. Primus only knows how he hit where it mattered at the third."
Jazz's vehicle form zigzagged slightly as he chortled. Ratchet shifted his rear view to keep watch in case the other bot accidentally ran into the wall of the narrow sub-route. Not that he was going to help the saboteur if the latter hurt himself due to his own inattentiveness, no, the medic was only keeping an optic so as not to miss the entertainment it would provide when such event occurred. If Jazz managed to crash into a wall or something, he was definitely not going to get help pounding out the dents from the ambulance in front of him.
To Ratchet's inexplicable relief, Jazz soon gained his composure, though he was still bouncing.
"Sounds like we reached there in time," Optimus said. "I have seen that Decepticon in the field. He is not one to be easily defeated and you were already injured by the Underworlder."
"I had it under control."
Optimus knew better than to argue further and let it pass. They were almost there, anyway. The route sloped up and soon the three Autobots were behind the safety of the formidable Iacon walls.
"I'm heading straight to the Medical Center," Ratchet announced.
"Of course. We will see you tomorrow at the meeting."
The medic tore away from the line, leaving the others to go to the command center. He reached the tall, white building that housed all the injured. Rescue jets and helicopters moved in and out, bringing back other wounded Autobots and occasionally some Neutrals who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ratchet drove into his own medical bay and slowly braked, not wanting to startle the life form inside him. As he pulled to a stop, another medic greeted him.
"Ratchet! We were so worried when you didn't come back with the others!"
"I am perfectly fine, Melody."
Ratchet paused, wondering if it was possible for him to transform without waking the sparkling. He decided not to take the risk and opened his hatch.
"Melody, can you get this little one out?" he asked.
Melody's optics widened as she looked inside.
"Is this—?"
"One of the new-sparks, yes," Ratchet replied, a little irritated. "Can you get him out without waking him?"
Melody carefully reached in, but the slightest touch was enough to pull the sparkling out of recharge. He woke with a startled click and looked around frantically. Noticing a pair of big hands trying to grab him, the sparkling panicked and tried to bury himself further inside the compartment. Melody drew back her hands as the little one started kicking at her direction while making distressed sounds.
"Uh, oh, I don't think it's wise for me to get him out," the femme medic said.
"So it would seem," Ratchet sighed.
He transformed back, slowly and deliberately so the still-frightened sparkling would not be thrown out of him but instead end up in his arms. The abrupt change of surroundings did nothing to comfort the little one and it took some time for him to calm down. Melody made a sympathetic clicking noise.
"Both of you could use some repairs and rest," she said softly. "I can look after him while you get fixed yourself."
Ratchet simply shook his head and seated the sparkling on a berth. The little one was looking much perkier than he was at Tyger Pax as he took in the new environment with awe, all previous distress forgotten. It was amazing how swiftly these young processors could be diverted. A medical drone floated above them to assist Ratchet and the sparkling tried to get up for a better look. Ratchet pressed him firmly down, picking up a more delicate sensor.
"No, sit down," he muttered. "You can explore around as much as you'd like after the repairs."
The sparkling obeyed, less because Ratchet was holding him down with a scary look and more because the new device on the medic's hand had caught his attention. His optics tried to follow as the scanning beam roved up and down on his frame.
Ratchet checked the readings and frowned. The scan had detected a particularly nasty wound on the right elbow. There were signs of energon leaks and the marks around it suggested that the sparkling fell and slid some distance on his side. There were also more scratches and dents than Ratchet initially had thought. Wondering what the pit this one had been doing before being discovered, Ratchet started working on the elbow.
There are enough scratches and dents to warrant a premature upgrade, he thought briefly before quickly pushing the thought away. Premature upgrades were never good to a bot's psyche, and adult frame meant joining battles, whichever side he chose. Ratchet was in no rush to introduce a young spark to the horrors of the war, not when it was apparent that the poor thing had already seen too much.
"You are one lucky spark, kid," Melody said, handing a laser scalpel to her colleague. "To have one of the best medics in Cybertron for your first-ever repair." She threw a sly look at said medic.
Ratchet grumbled something incoherent but continued nevertheless. He was soon interrupted again when the sparkling, who had grown bored of watching Ratchet, tried to get up to explore again.
"Oh for the love of—! Stay still!" He hissed as the sparkling protested with a loud whine.
"So this is why you were late," a gruff voice spoke from behind.
"Ironhide," Ratchet greeted without looking. "How is your leg?"
"I can walk," Ironhide replied, leaning at the door. "Jazz says you got your tailpipe saved by a new-spark." The smirk was all but plastered in his voice.
Ratchet resisted the urge to throw the laser scalpel to the big mech. He would have done so had he not needed that. Melody straightened herself at once.
"What?" she asked, looking from Ironhide to Ratchet and back with interest. Ironhide just shrugged. Ask him, he knows better.
"Ratchet? What was that?" Melody crossed her arms with a slight smile.
Thankfully for Ratchet, the little patient drew everyone's attention by pointing at the desk with a questioning look and a click. Ratchet stole a glance at his desk, unable to imagine what could possibly catch the sparkling's attention this time. Melody was better at it. She pulled the nameplate that had "Autobot Chief Medical Officer RATCHET" written closer to the sparkling.
"Ratchet, that's his name," she said, indicating the medic who had just finished repairing his elbow. The sparkling cocked his head and tried to follow.
"Aa-teh?"
Melody smiled and shook her head gently. "Ratchet," she repeated.
"Hatceh!"
The sparkling spread his arms wide as he chirped, causing Ratchet to nearly drop the scalpel. The medic's curses were drowned by the collective laughter from Melody and Ironhide. Their laugh only served to further encourage the sparkling.
"Hashet, Hatchet! Hatchet!"
"Sounds about right," Ironhide chuckled.
This time, Ratchet did throw the scalpel.
—§—
Five breems later, Ratchet was in the process of reattaching the outer shell of the sparkling's pede and Melody was still not done pestering.
"You're really not going to tell me what happened, are you? I will find out eventually, Ratchet!"
The other medic paused his work, listening intently on the comms. A smirk appeared on his mouthplates.
"There seems to have been an accident near Perceptor's lab, Melody," he said. "Why don't you head down there and see lend a hand?"
Melody looked as if she could not believe her audio receptors. Then, getting a call herself, she snapped into attention and threw a dirty look at Ratchet.
"Aw, I will get you to tell me what happened sooner or later, Ratch! See you, 'Hide!" She transformed and raced out.
Ironhide grinned, limping closer towards the berth. The sparkling made a series of clicking noise as he looked up at the giant red mech curiously, cocking his head. Ratchet shook his head.
"Femmes," he muttered.
Having finished with the pede as well, he started to tend to some of the nasty scratches his young patient had earned himself.
Ironhide asked,
"You thought of his designation?"
The medic's hand paused as he processed the question. At the beginning of the war, many Cybertronians who were formerly nameless took a designation of their choice. Neither Autobots nor Decepticons raised a problem with it. Both factions' leaders did, after all, had bigger problems than that and they were both supposedly fighting for freedom of choice. The real problem arose as the Well started producing new Cybertronians. Since the new-sparks were generally unable to find a designation by themselves, so there was confusion as to who should take the responsibility for the task. Naming a bot was not something to be taken lightly. It could well determine the individual's fate. However, there was also no denying the harsh circumstances. They were in the middle of a war after all, possibly one of the greatest in history.
"That would be a task for his basic training instructor," he finally replied.
Ironhide snorted. "There's only one instructor left in Iacon and he comes up with the worst names I've ever heard," he said.
"You think he would be left in Iacon?"
"We can't very well send him back to near the Well, can we? Praxus Youth Center is currently full and Jazz doesn't trust any other Neutral city states."
"Optimus is calling a meeting about the attack, isn't he?"
The red warrior nodded. "Yes, that and what to do with these younglings. But only after everything is settled down. There's a mass panic about all the lost sparklings near the Well."
Ratchet revved darkly at the thought of more sparklings like the one in front of him being lost in the middle of nowhere. Finishing the repairs, he straightened up and took one last scan in case he missed anything. His little patient was now staring at his own hands, flexing them and shifting the panels on his forearms around.
"There you go, little one," the tired medic said. "Let's get you down to where the others are."
Ironhide intervened.
"I will do that," he rumbled. "You get repaired and some rest yourself."
Before either of them could notice, the sparkling leaped down from the berth without hesitation and landed on all fours.
"By the AllSpark!" Ratchet exclaimed, bending down. "If I have to repair you again so soon—"
But the sparkling quickly stood up, completely unfazed by the fall he just took. He sprinted away from the medic's hands with a series of delighted clicks and whirls.
Ratchet half-groaned, half-sighed and slumped to his chair, trying to ignore the rumbling laughter from Ironhide.