On the straight and narrow
Ratchet had to admit afterwards, he had no idea what he was thinking when he thought it had been a good idea to test the Synthetic Energon on himself like that. After all, it could only result in him being confined to the Medbay following the recent 'incident' concerning the Decepticons that he'd intruded upon. He'd felt great, storming in there and slaughtering those filthy 'Cons left, right and centre, and it was all for a good cause wasn't it? After all, he was an Autobot and Autobots were there to stop the Decepticons. But he hadn't counted on Megatron recovering from his initial attack quite so quickly. In fact, he hadn't at all realised what he was getting into until it was too late and his side was in agonising pain. The only thing he felt now was that agonising pain as he lay in the thickening pool of the sickly green Energon, optics slowly and sluggishly closing as he felt himself slipping away into darkness. And he welcomed it after the fool he'd made of himself in front of Megatron and Knock Out, in front of Team Prime… in front of Optimus. That was all his processor could focus on, the idiot he'd been while almost high on the synthetic Energon, and that was all he could focus on that stopped him from slipping unconscious in such a vulnerable state in the heart of Decepticon territory.
"Ratchet!"
"Ratchet? Where are ya buddy?"
"Ratchet, where are you? Can you hear us?"
There was someone calling his name. No, three of them. Or was it four? It was getting harder to see now as he weakly coughed and gurgled out some kind of almost slurred response, vaguely aware of thick green Energon dripping down the softer metal of his cheek as he tried to turn his head towards where the footsteps were roughly coming from but the pain was too much and Ratchet was forced to stay still instead. The sounds and noises around him of gunfire and metal clashing and scraping and voices were starting to blur together before he was found. Optimus ran over to him, optics wide as he tried not to let his emotions get the better of him upon seeing his old friend in such a pitiful state. The Prime was by the medic's side in a matter of seconds, carefully stemming as much of the bleeding as he could before picking his broken body up. The other Autobots were with Optimus in moments, holding off hordes of Vehicons as a ground bridge opened up in front of them.
"Autobots, let's move out and fast. Ratchet is gravely wounded and needs urgent attention." He ordered surprisingly calmly, Bulkhead staring.
"From who? It ain't like we have another medic waiting in the wings back at base is there?" he said, mace still out as he pounded a Vehicon in to the wall beside him.
"No, but Ratchet made sure I knew the basics of medical care. Now let's be swift about this, he's losing Energon." Optimus stated bluntly, carrying Ratchet through the Ground Bridge and back into the warmth of the base once again. The medic stirred only slightly, optics blurred and out of focus almost entirely as he stared up at Optimus blearily while his audios were slightly aware of several gasps from the platform area the humans frequently gathered on so as not to be stepped on or put in danger.
"Optimus, what happened to him?" June Darby gasped, running over to the railings in shock with wide eyes.
"Decepticons. Do not worry, Mrs Darby, he will make it." Optimus calmly reassured her, laying Ratchet down carefully on one of the Medbay berths and attaching numerous pipes to his frame to help the healing process, one pumping out the remains of the synthetic Energon while Optimus himself began removing shrapnel from Ratchet's green-stained wound and reconnecting some of the injured Energon lines in Ratchet's side.
It was a good few hours before Ratchet even remotely stirred again, optics opening blearily as he took a quick look around and even attempted to get up before his frame screamed 'No!' at him. With a pain groaned he slumped back down, drawing the attention of Optimus who was running a few scans just as Ratchet had taught him a while ago. The Prime came over instantly, hushing the medic.
"Don't try to get up, Ratchet. You're still injured." He advised calmly, gently easing Ratchet back down and watching with a slightly pained expression as his old friend fell unconscious before him again, helm laying back against the medical berth.
It was dark, as was all he could register for a while. He was certain his optics were functioning like they always did and without fail too, frowning in the pitch blackness. He turned his head, feeling the almost numb motion but still the darkness didn't change around him. Not even the slightest shift in the light occurred.
"Where…?" he muttered, just starting to speak before a brilliant light flashed in front of his optics. He grunted in pain and on reflex snapped them shut. By the time his optics had readjusted to the registered light frequency, there were voices around him welcoming him back to consciousness.
"It is indeed good to see you well again, Ratchet." Optimus' distinct voice said to him, a hand resting on his shoulder plating as Ratchet forced his optics open and smiled tiredly up at the Autobots that had crowded around his berth.
"It feels much better. Thank you, Optimus, you did a grand job repairing me." Ratchet replied with a smile, the words seeming oddly muffled as if, as humans often described, he were submerged in water. Optimus smiled his small smile as always, nodding as everyone moved back to let the veteran medic sit up and work the slight stiffness from his shoulder joints. There was a slight beat in which no one said a word, not even Miko who was stood to the side on the raised platform with Jack and Rafael too and, strangely, glaring at him. Ratchet passed it off and stood slowly, feeling Optimus lay a broad hand on his shoulder as he did so; it was a relaxing feeling and he did indeed relax to the contact.
"I'm not certain what you were thinking, Ratchet." Optimus started, startling Ratchet a little with the harshness of his tone. "But that was the stupidest thing you have ever done in your miserable life." He growled, optics blazing with frightening fury that Ratchet had never seen before. The grip on his shoulder tightened and Ratchet's optics went wide as he tried to speak, only for his vocaliser to cut out. There was a sharp blow to the side of his face and it registered after a second that Prime had punched him in the face. Ratchet stumbled a little and took a step back, forcing his way out of the Prime's grip with a look of confusion and fear.
"Optimus? What in the Pit are you doing?" he questioned, optics wide as he backed away from where all the Autobots had drawn their weapons with narrowed, red optics and looks of disgust and fury all directed at… at… him. Ratchet was swiftly unnerved as he twitched and his frame tremored slightly, all the while backing away before he felt the wall behind him. He was cornered. Caught between the wall and his friends.
"What the slaggin' Pit is going on?!" Ratchet soon panicked, "This isn't funny anymore, stop it!" he hissed in fear. Miko glared more and cracked her knuckles.
"You're no good. I don't know why you're here in the first place, Ratchet, if you're gonna do stupid things like that." The Japanese girl snarled viciously, actually making Ratchet wince as Raf joined in the insults with Jack too. Soon enough all of them were insulting him and starting to hurt him, nicking valuable Energon fuel lines under his armour and the softer 'skin' metal beneath his armour.
"Stop it!" Ratchet demanded, trying to activate his own weapons. But they wouldn't respond. "Why the slag are you doing this?!" he screeched at them all, Optimus chuckling darkly.
"Because the weak don't deserve to live, nor do those that disappoint me. And you, Ratchet, you have greatly disappointed me." Optimus said with a growl evident in his tone. Ratchet winced and actually felt his optics tearing up a little at such hateful words.
"But…. I…." Ratchet started, swallowing hard. "This must be a dream…" he wheezed to himself, shaking all over now in fear as Optimus towered above him with his Energon sword brandished and sharper than ever.
"No, Ratchet." He said, switching back to his usual kinder tone. "This is a nightmare." Was all that was said before Ratchet made a wheezing, whimpering sound. He slowly and shakily looked down, body convulsing a little as he saw the Energon sword sticking out of his chest directly where his spark was. Vivid blue Energon dripped from the wound and the sword, his hands going up and gripping the blade with another whimper leaving his vocaliser. The world around him started to disintegrate, everyone's faces blurring into one - and that one was Optimus' – screaming and swearing and insulting him over and over and over again with no mercy as his knee joints gave way and he sank to the ground, starting to cough up Energon before collapsing, living no more.