Author's Note: This was inspired from watching BBC's Sherlock episode, The Final Problem. I do not own Sherlock or Transformers.
Optimus Prime sat back in his chair with a tired sigh. It was late and the base was mostly quiet save for the few patrols on the grounds outside.
He glanced back at the reports that had been handed to him during the day before standing up. He clenched and unclenched his servos, thoughts flooding his processor. They had gone three days with no Decepticon activity. Optimus was unsure if he should feel relieved or wary of the sudden silence behind enemy lines.
His best option was to be wary. Only a fool rested in the middle of battle. And this war was far from over.
He strode toward one of the windows, opening it to allow some air in. The silence of the room was becoming too much for him and the sounds of the night was a welcome distraction for his tired processor. He closed his optics, feeling the breeze lightly touch him with its cool air. He heard someone enter the room, their pede steps soft. Optimus knew who his visitor was the minute they walked in.
"Optimus Prime," Prowl greeted as he entered the room with a datapad.
Optimus smiled at the sight of his fellow Autobot. "Prowl," he greeted, turning away from the window. "What have you to report?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary, sir," Prowl answered simply. He paused. "Though Ironhide did say he had something interesting that you must be made aware of and he requested my presence as well."
Optimus frowned. "How strange. I was not made aware that he wanted to see me."
"Because I needed to speak with you and the ninja-bot alone," a sudden voice said. Both mechs looked up to see Ironhide stride in, closing the door right behind him. "What I have found is...disturbing."
Optimus frowned once more as he looked at one of his oldest and most trusted friend. "What have you found?"
"My sources have told me that the Decepticon scientists are working on recovering space bridge technology," Ironhide said, his voice grave. "I have also received proof of these reports but I cannot be sure how far along the Decepticons are in their project."
Prowl frowned. "Who is leading the operation?"
"Shockwave," Ironhide said simply, the name carrying an omen.
Optimus closed his optics at this news. The name Shockwave was familiar, but beyond that, Optimus knew very little of the new Decepticon arrival. "What do we know of him?"
"Not much," Ironhide admitted.
"What of Red Alert?" Optimus asked suddenly. "She knew him before the war."
Ironhide only shook his helm, showing that he had yet to speak with the Autobot nurse.
"I have actually spoken with her," Prowl said suddenly. "What I have heard is...concerning. Shockwave carries no feelings, no emotion. Anything and everything he sees holds no value except to further his quest for knowledge and to warp his subjects into his own, twisted creations. Tampering with creation does not bother him if it means his work will move the Decepticon cause further on."
"In a nutshell," Ironhide said. "He's bad news."
"A threat that must be taken care of," Optimus said. "We must find the location of this space bridge technology and either take it, or destroy it."
"So," Ironhide said with a smirk. "When can I bust up the Decepticons?"
Optimus was about to answer when the distinct sound of buzzing reached his audio receptors. He cocked his helm, frowning at the odd sound. Prowl and Ironhide also looked around in confusion, hearing the sound as well.
"There!" Ironhide shouted, pointing outside the building.
Optimus turned sharply, noticing a small object flying through the window he had opened before landing in the middle of the room. "It's a drone!" Prowl exclaimed, startled.
Ironhide activated his weapons, ready to shoot at the drone that had now gone silent.
"Ironhide! Don't!" Prowl exclaimed. "No one move!"
Everyone went still, doing as Prowl said as soon as the drone started beeping a red light. Optimus stiffened up, optics flickering around to see Prowl crouched down, while Ironhide had his weapons online, though they were not raised.
"Prowl," Optimus hissed. "What is this?"
"It's a motion sensor bomb," Prowl said, his voice soft as if any loud noise might activate the weapon. Optimus felt his spark go still at Prowl's words. He glanced to see Ironhide looking at him, his face stoic, though there was fear in his optics.
"So what do we do?" Ironhide asked. He had his weapons online, but they were not directed at the drone. If he were to try and shoot at it, the bomb would go off before his blasters could even hit the drone.
"There is nothing we can really do," Prowl answered, his voice hushed.
"What is the blast radius?" Ironhide whispered.
Prowl glared. "Why are you asking me? Shouldn't you know?"
"You were the one who recognized that it was a motion sensor bomb!"
"You're the weapons specialist!"
"Okay, fine!" Ironhide grumbled. He stared at the drone, his helm cocked as he examined the weapon. "I can not make much out of it. But if I am going to take a guess, I would say that the blast could damage the rooms right next to the one we are in, though it should not cause much damage to the levels below us."
"We are on the top floor, which is only two stories high," Optimus said. "So we will not need to worry about bringing the building down then."
"Who else is in the building?" Prowl asked.
"The building we are in is currently empty. Ratchet is just finishing up with the last of his patients though," Optimus answered.
Prowl frowned. "How can you be so sure?"
"You can hear him hollering in the med bay across the hall," Optimus simply answered, his voice hushed.
"You were told to take these pain relievers daily!" Ratchet yelled. "I don't care if they don't taste good at all or if they are hard to swallow! They are supposed to help and make sure you survive this war!" He glared at the trembling rookie. "Don't give me that look! You don't know how lucky you are to have me as your medic. I can assure you that the Decepticons don't take nearly as good enough care with their patients as I do! Why, if it weren't for me, you'd be in the scrapyard by now!"
He stalked over to a cabinet, snatching up his supplies, grumbling all the while about rookies who were fresh out of the academy. "Now, do your best not to forget again to take your meds! Or the next time you come into my med bay, I'll have to give you something for that fading memory of yours!"
"We have three, maybe five minutes before the patient leaves and Ratchet is alone in the med bay," Optimus said.
"How long until he leaves?" Ironhide asked.
Optimus grimaced. "He will wait until I leave. He does not trust me to get a proper recharge and not overwork myself."
Ironhide huffed. "Well that complicates things." His optics widened. "Why not try hollering for the old bot to come in here and help us?"
"What can he do?" Prowl asked. "He won't know how to defuse a motion sensor bomb."
"He could always get the bomb squad up here," Ironhide asked.
"But they won't be able to do anything without triggering the bomb," Optimus pointed out. "We are on our own at this point."
"So that means contacting anyone through comm links is out of the question," Ironhide said.
"Seeing as none of us have our servos next to our helms, yes, it is out of the question," Prowl said. "Any sharp movements will trigger the bomb and destroy everything within its range and kill us all."
"What is the time expectancy until the bomb goes off?" Optimus asked suddenly.
Prowl frowned, though he did not turn his helm to look at Optimus as he did not want to risk triggering the bomb. "What?"
"Once we move, how long will we have until it explodes," Optimus clarified.
"Five seconds," Ironhide answered quickly. "That is the normal amount of time for any bomb."
"Very well," Optimus said. His optics flickered to Ironhide. "Prowl and I will jump out the windows while you run out the hallway and grab Ratchet. I know for a fact that there are many windows in the med bay for you both to jump out of."
Ironhide frowned, blinking in confusion. "Why me?"
"You are closer to the door and therefore the med bay while Prowl and I both have our backs to the windows," Optimus answered.
"But Prowl's faster," Ironhide argued.
"In this situation, the fact that you are closer outweighs speed," Prowl said simply.
Ironhide sighed. "Very well." His optics flickered up to look at Prowl. "I am surprised that you haven't glitched on us yet."
Prowl smiled wryly. "I only glitch when faced with situations that I have never encountered before. Being threatened by bombs has become normal for me, as sad as it is."
Ironhide sighed. "Well that is a relief." A rare, genuine smile came across his face. "It's been an honor."
Optimus and Prowl smiled at that, all sharing the same feeling. "Today is not the day our sparks go out," Optimus said firmly.
All three of them tensed up. Optimus listened intently, hearing the sound of Ratchet's patient leaving, the sound of a door slamming easily heard by everyone.
"On the count of three," Optimus said. "We will make a run for it."
Ironhide made a noise of acknowledgement while Prowl just twitched slightly to show that he was ready. "One," Optimus started, his voice hushed, his spark suddenly pounding fiercely in his chassis. "Two, three!"
Time seemed to slow down as Optimus and Prowl both turned, making a run for the windows. Optimus leapt over his desk, using the momentum to launch himself forward. He dared not look back to see if Ironhide was making it out of the room. Doing so would waste precious time and cost him his life. He hoped Prowl and Ironhide were aware of the same fact and were running forward instead of looking back.
A sudden blast filled his audio receptors as he crashed through the glass. Heat seared into his back, causing him to yell in pain as the glass pierced the front of his armor. He plummeted to the ground, the heat and fire searing at his back and legs as he fell.
He curled up into a ball as he made contact with the ground, rolling to a halt and launching to his feet. "Prowl!" he shouted, his voice filled with worry as he gazed wildly around the fire and rubble.
"I'm here, Prime," the Autobot grunted, staggering to his feet. He looked around the wreckage, blinking his optics. "What of Ironhide?"
"Move it Ratch!" Ironhide bellowed crashing through the med bay and grabbing the medic. It was in that instant that the bomb went off and Ironhide crashed through the window, shielding Ratchet as best he could from the blast. The fire consumed his form as he fell, causing him to let out a scream of pain.
The contact he made with the ground was not as painful as he had landed on top of Ratchet, though the medic might now share his thoughts on the landing. He groaned, his body refusing to move as the pain in his back exploded much like the bomb he had barely escaped from.
"Get off me," he heard Ratchet groan. "What in Primus's name was that?" the medic demanded.
Ironhide groaned, shifting a bit to allow Ratchet to crawl out from under him. "I saved your life," he grunted. "Show some gratitude." A moan of pain escaped his mouth. "And I think I am in need of a doctor."
"I want to know how such an attack was able to take place," Optimus said as he strode through the wreckage. The ceiling had not collapsed, so whoever had sent the bomb had a certain target in mind and did not want to wipe everyone out. How the Decepticons were able to find their base and get a bomb through their defenses was beyond him, but he was not going to stay around for another attack.
"Optimus," Prowl said, limping forward. "You must let a medic attend to you-"
"As should you," Optimus said. "That is an order, Prowl. But at the moment, I am ordering an evacuation. The Decepticons now know where we are and will attack now that this first bomb failed. We must move." He nodded to a nearby Autobot soldier. "Sound the alarm," he ordered. "We are leaving."
Skids and Mudflap could only stare at the wreckage before them. Mudflap dropped the remote he had been holding, kicking it into a pile of wreckage to hide what he and his brother had just done. "Dude," he said. "I thought that was just a drone!"
"Well how was I supposed to know it had a bomb on it!" Skids protested. "What kind of an idiot puts bombs on drones for us to find?"
"You should have known it was a bomb because we are in the middle of a freaking war! Everything around here is a weapon!" Mudflap exclaimed, punching his twin in the face.
"That hurt!" Skids shouted, tackling his brother into the ground.