Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers

A Flash of Hope


Wheeljack knew that he should feel happy, but he wasn't. In fact, he felt a bit disappointed with himself for having gone so long without causing an explosion.

He chuckled at the memory of last time he ended up in the medbay.

It was getting late and he knew that he should be finishing up for the day, but something kept him going. He wasn't sure of what it was at the moment, but sure enough, as time stretched out before him, his audio receptors picked up the steady footsteps of a mech walking down the hall.

Just as the bot was about to come in, Wheeljack's helm fins flashed in delight as he figured out who it was. Ratchet must have finally allowed himself a break!

Finishing up the project and turning on the device just to see if it worked, an explosion reverberated through the base.

"Wheeljack!" Ratchet bellowed on the other side of the door as Wheeljack fell to the floor, blackened and dazed.

Smoke flowed into the hallway as Ratchet rushed to his side, both scolding him and oddly enough, worried for his well being. He wasn't all that surprised seeing how Ratchet was the only medic who hadn't given up on putting him back together like the other medics had.

Thankfully for him, he ended up in one piece this time. It still didn't mean he wasn't dragged into the medbay by Ratchet for a system checkup.

Taking his time and making sure he got everything right, he glanced over at the clock. It was getting close to noon. Wheeljack shrugged it off; he'd eat later.

He listened to bots heading out of various rooms to refuel, straining to hear if Ratchet was coming. Chances are, the medbot was overworking himself and probably hadn't refueled at all today, let alone thought of it.

When was the last time he had seen, let alone spoken to Ratchet?

He let out a heavy sigh.

Quite a while ago. Last time being… the last time he blew himself up.

Deep within his spark, he knew he missed the medbot and he was even tempted to stop everything he was doing to convince Ratchet to refuel with him. It would be good for the both of them. They'd both refuel, Ratchet would take a break and he'd get to see Ratchet without having to be carried to him.

That sounded like a good idea.

He knew he shouldn't have been, but he couldn't help himself. Why it was that Primus had been giving him such a long streak of good luck? Sure his explosions varied in size and severity, but without a single project going wrong in such a long period of time… He was beginning to worry what Primus had in store for him.

Closing the paneling on his project, he carefully turned it on, watching for any sign whatsoever that it was going to explode.

Nothing happened.

It appeared to be fully functional just like the last project.

Letting out the breath he had been holding, he set it down and turned around to grab a few supplies to test out how well it worked when it happened.

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!


Wheeljack went through his memory banks to figure out what had happened. From what he gathered, it was a very large explosion. He still felt sore from it.

He turned on his optics, questioning where he was, regardless of already knowing where he should have ended up.

A bright light pierced through his vision. It took a while for him to realize he had just gone through surgery. "Fi-First Aid?" He mumbled seeing the medic hovering over him.

He felt his spark drop. Where was Ratchet?

"Good, you're awake."

First Aid left him there for what seemed like an eternity. He couldn't move all that well yet, but he didn't try all that hard either. Ratchet would most likely be upset with him if he did so quickly after what had happened. How'd he know? It was a one word, simple answer.

Experience.

He was tempted to rub his helm in memory of last time he had been smacked with Ratchet's wrench.

Even from afar, that medic had a good aim with a wrench. It made Wheeljack wonder in curiosity how it was that Ratchet had gotten so good with it.

It was then that Wheeljack sensed First Aid coming back with someone all too familiar. Just listening to the footsteps, he knew who it was. Wheeljack could easily name the hints revealing whom it was coming to the medbay with First Aid.

The way the bot walked through the hallway.

The way the bot yelled at the Lambo twins for giving Bluestreak a hard time.

The way the bot grumbled and made snide remarks to himself.

The way Wheeljack's spark tried reaching out to the bot.

Wheeljack knew it would be best to not tell Ratchet.

To tell Ratchet how often it was that Wheeljack thought of him.

How much he worried about the medbot.

How soothing it was to be in his presence.

He wasn't going to tell the medbot that he loved him.

Wheeljack wasn't about to allow the chance for Ratchet to die because he, Wheeljack, died in one of his infamous projects. Ratchet dying or committing suicide due to a link was too much for Wheeljack to think about.

As much as he wanted to be with Ratchet… The Autobots needed Ratchet more.

Ratchet was the best and as the best, the Autobots can't afford to lose their head medic.

Wheeljack knew better than to try and claim the medbot as his spouse. He couldn't act selfish in the one thing that he wanted more than anything.

He absently wondered if Ratchet felt the same way.

What if they were linked? What if they were made for each other?

Wheeljack snorted. The best medic on the Autobot side, possibly even on all of Cybertron, and an engineer whose projects have stubborn habit of going boom on him.

That'd be the day.

Ignoring his inner turmoil, he brightened up at the sight of Ratchet walking into the medbay with First Aid, his helm fins flashing in delight.

Ratchet turned off the light that had, at one point, temporarily blinded Wheeljack. First Aid muttered a short apology in which Ratchet accepted right away.

Wheeljack's optics brightened as Ratchet looked down at him. "How are you feeling?"

"You wanna refuel with me?"