"Ratchet, How Did You Get Up There?"—a TFP Story
Summary: Team Prime's medic is acting down after a personal failure, and it is affecting the whole team. But when he gets mangled up in his work, he receives more than a helping hand. Inspired by an idea from my dear friend :iconEclipsePrime1:
TFP © Hasbro
Lily and Kylie © Me
~Ratchet, How Did You Get Up There?~
When everyone woke up that Saturday morning, it was clear Ratchet was going to be in a foul mood. How they knew? He grumbled rather than return the good morning the others exchanged; he isolated himself in his laboratory; he threatened Bulkhead to strike him with his wrench, even when the Wrecker hadn't done anything; and then he cursed constantly in their Cybertronian tongue when he dropped something or one of his experiments didn't go the way he wanted. He remained clouded in his grouchy fog even when the human children arrived.
"Hey, Ratchet!" Rafael greeted as he and little Kylie climbed out of Bumblebee. The doc bot grunted and grumbled in response. Raf backed up a little, and Kylie ran to Lily, her guardian.
"What crawled up his tailpipe and died?" Miko huffed, folding her arms.
"Ratchet's been like that all day," Bulkhead said. "We don't know why, he won't tell us anything."
"Might it have something to do with last night's incident?" Arcee suggested, resting a hand on her hip.
"You mean the Synthetic Energon ordeal?" said Jack. "I thought he forgave himself for it."
"Apparently not," Raf sighed.
"Ratchet is a loyal member of this team," said Optimus. "He wishes to create something that has no guarantee of mistakes. After last night, he feels that he has failed and continues to punish himself."
"But nothing can ever be perfected without mistakes," Raf stated. "That's why we learn from them." Bumblebee buzzed in agreement.
"While you are correct, Rafael," Optimus continued, "Ratchet is not one who easily openly admits his failures. He tries hard to make something beneficial for us, to aid us in the war against the Decepticons. In his mind, there is no room for mistakes."
Kylie looked to Rafael with a longing look. Raf translated for her, "Kylie wants to know if there is anything can be done to cheer him up."
"Your concern for Ratchet is appreciated," the Prime said, "but would be unneeded to him."
"Meaning, it's best if we just let him sort it out on his own," Arcee said.
"But Ratchet's grumpiness will ruin all our fun," Lily pouted.
"Well, you'll just have to deal with it like the rest of us."
Ratchet switched from tinkering on his tools to trying to perfect the Synthetic Energon formula. When he got frustrated with one, he went to the other to take his mind off of it. Many of his tools were dented or scratched from being thrown or handled too roughly, and he only managed to buff out most of the inflictions before becoming annoyed and moving on to try and perfect the Synthetic Energon.
"Fragging tools, not working right," he growled, refusing to put blame on himself as to why his tools weren't working properly, same with the formula. "Stupid formula, not working the way I want it to…"
After a while, he took a break and had himself a cube of High-Grade Energon. During his break, he heard an odd whistling sound coming from above. He looked to see the ventilation shaft in his lab was dented, no doubt from when he was throwing his tools around. He sputtered a sigh.
"No wonder it's so hot in here," he grunted as he slammed his cube on his desk and began stacking crates for him to climb on and reach the dent to fix it. He brushed away hanging wires falling from the ceiling which appeared from nowhere since he last left his lab. However, as he was working on fixing the dent, one of the crates slipped beneath his feet and caused him to lost balance. He fell forward and became entangled in the wires, and the crates collapsed to the floor. He was left suspended in the air like a marionette.
"Scrap," he hissed. He wriggled and thrashed, but there were so many wires that they didn't snap despite his struggling. He winced, knowing what he had to do. He had to call for help.
"Hello? I am in need of assistance!"
He heard the familiar footsteps of Optimus, but his spark jumped at the sound of small pitter-pattering feet. That meant the children were on their way as well.
When they entered his lab, they were all equally surprised by his situation. After a moment, Lily and the humans started to laugh. "Ratchet," Optimus said, fighting a smirk, "how did you get up there?"
"Long story," Ratchet grumbled. "And I would be happy to tell you if you'd help me get down!"
Optimus furrowed his optic ridges in thought, and after a moment he had an idea. He looked to Ratchet with a rather humorous smile. "I would, old friend," he said, "but if I get you down, I could snap those wires. And they may play a crucial part in powering our technology and equipment."
"Then how else can I get down?"
Optimus looked to the human children, still grinning. Ratchet got a funny feeling in his fuel tank. He shivered at the thought of humans crawling all over him, but what other choice did he have? "Fine," he groaned.
Optimus scooped the four human children into his hands; since Ratchet's shoulders was out of his reach, he placed them on the armor covering his abdomen.
"Okay, let's get climbing," Jack said and they headed to where the wires looped around his armor.
Ratchet attempted to ignore the sensation of hands and feet prodding him all over, but it became a bit much the higher they climbed. He looked to Optimus, whose smile went from merely mischievous to outright devious. He had planned this from the get go, hadn't he?!
Before Ratchet could say anything, he shuddered and gasped at the feeling of someone slipping. "Be careful, Kylie!" Lily exclaimed. Kylie had nearly lost her footing while climbing up his windows.
"Watch where you step," Ratchet barked. "Must you move so slow?"
"Hey, we're not professional bot climbers," Miko spat back.
"Just let him be cranky, Miko," Jack said as he and Raf unhooked a wire from the medic's armor. Ratchet merely scoffed and looked the other way.
However, as Kylie tried to free a wire wedged in between his windows, she slipped again. With a yelp, she fell over and got caught behind Ratchet's abdominal plating. Ratchet, stunned by the sudden sensation, jolted with a funny yell and stiffened completely.
"Kylie!" Raf cried.
"Oh, no!" Lily said.
"Get her out!" Ratchet demanded. Every little move Kylie made sent tingling surges through his body, making his mouth quiver. "Quit wriggling in there!"
Just as the other human children started to worry, they saw Optimus smiling. They seemed to easily understand what that smile meant and shared a similar grin. "Okay, Ratchet," said Raf, "we'll get her out." Then they climbed down behind his plating as well to where Kylie was. Ratchet actually expected them to keep their word when—
"Now!"
Out of nowhere he felt those tingling surges violently coursing through his body. He could no longer help it and he burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"AAAAAAAAAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! S-STAHAHAP! STOP IT!" he guffawed.
"No way, Ratchet! You've been a sourpuss for too long!" Miko said and kept going, all of them wiggling her fingers into Ratchet's sensitive wiring.
"WHY YOU-HOOHOOHOOHOO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! O-OPTIMUS! MAKE THEM STAHAHAHAP!"
"I would, Ratchet," Optimus said, "but I am afraid I cannot reach inside your armor. And I would not stop them even if I wanted to."
"WHAHAHAHAHAT?!" Ratchet roared in laughter as he thrashed and kicked and flailed. "Y-YOU CAHAHAN'T JUST S-STAND BY AHAHAND WATCH THIS!"
"Of course, I can. I am allowing it to happen. I believe it will help raise your mood."
"YOU LITTLE, AHAHAHAHAHA! W-WHEHEHEN I GEHET DOWN FROM HEEHEE-HERE, YOU-HOOHOO—YOU ARE SOHOHO GOING TO HAVE A WREHEHEHENCH SHOVED SO FAR UP YOUR—AHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ratchet was soon lost in laughter as the humans' tiny, soft hands wriggled through his wiring to his protoform underneath.
"That's enough talking out of you," said Jack.
"Get 'im, guys!" Lily cheered. "Make him stop being a grump gus!"
"I'LL SHOW YOU A GRUMP GUS WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!" Ratchet shouted amidst his bellowing laughter.
For a solid ten minutes Optimus granted the human children permission to tickle torture the medic. Once Ratchet reached the point when he started shedding tears behind tightly shut optics, he knew then the poor Autobot had finally had enough.
"Alright, children," he said, "that is enough. You can stop now."
"Aww," Miko whined, "do we have to?"
"Yes, Miko. Ratchet deserves a break. Come on out now."
The four human children ceased tormenting Ratchet's ticklish wiring and protoform and helped each other out through an opening near the medic's side. Once they were out and safely brought to the floor by Optimus, Ratchet panted heavily, shaking a little and appearing lightheaded. The Prime sighed pitifully, and then he turned to Lily.
"Lily, would you mind leading the children to the main hanger?" he asked her. "I wish to speak with Ratchet alone for a while."
"Yes, Papa," Lily nodded and led the humans out.
Optimus then shut the door to Ratchet's lab, and freed Ratchet from his trap by pulling him down, snapping the wires.
"But Optimus…!" Ratchet gasped, worried about the base's power.
"Do not worry," Optimus told him as he brought his friend to the floor. "Those wires are not connected to the base's electrical power supply. They are fakes. I put them there."
"So it was you!" Ratchet exclaimed. "Why?!"
"Because everyone here, including myself, want you to have a lightened mood. It leaves a denser atmosphere among us when you are this upset with yourself."
Ratchet growled and snatched his wrench, attempting to bash Optimus on the head for such nonsense and humiliation. But the Prime caught his wrist before he could do so, gripping him firmly and gently simultaneously. Ratchet glared at him, only to meet Optimus's concerned optics. He rarely received such an expression, and it caught him off guard, causing his ill temper to dwindle.
"Ratchet, please," Optimus implored, "this is not healthy, for anyone. Especially you. You need not burden yourself over what happened."
Ratchet scoffed angrily and tore away. "Oh, really?! Why do I need not to? Because it wasn't my fault?! Well, it was, Optimus! My pointless, careless act of desperation has hindered us greatly, causing us to fall further behind in this race to end the war forever! We are in a tight spot where there is no room for error! No mistakes can be accounted for!" In a moment of rage, he slammed his wrench onto his desk.
"Everyone makes mistakes, Ratchet," Optimus said, "myself included. And we must learn from those mistakes in order to move on. Even the human children know this." The medic scoffed again and turned his back to Optimus, unable to look upon his pitying expression. "Please, Ratchet," Optimus continued. "Stop punishing yourself. Forgive yourself of your errors, and cheer up."
Ratchet clenched his dental plates and fists, fighting away the stinging tears in his optics. Even after everything the others have told him, he still feels responsible that they are all far behind, desperately trying to catch up to the might of the Decepticons. How could they expect him to forgive himself so easily? How could they forgive him?
He was brought out of his thoughts by a gentle touch on the shoulder and turned to see Optimus, now wearing a warm, assuring smile. Ratchet felt he didn't deserve such a kind gesture, but he also knew Optimus was not one to quit easily. He eventually gave in and allowed himself to calm down; at that moment Optimus pulled him into a gentle hug.
"Everything will my alright, old friend," he said. "I know you will make things right."
"How is it you have so much faith in me, after what I've done?" Ratchet asked, his voice cracking.
"Because it no longer matters now. You mustn't let it drive you into the ground, Ratchet. That is what is slowing us down. If we are to win this war, we need to all be at the top of our game. Including you. Unless I need to send the children back in here."
Ratchet shivered at the thought of tiny human hands fiddling with his wiring a second time, causing Optimus to rumble with soft laughter. The medic smiled, then eyed his workstation. "Well, I had better get back to work," he said. "Scram, before I really feel like ramming this wrench up where the sun doesn't shine."
Optimus nodded and left. As he exited the lab, the children looked to him from the couch. He smiled, giving them a single, confirming nod. The humans and little Autobot cheered, congratulating one another that their methods of play and cheering up actually made a difference.
Because the following days after the incident, the pace seemed to have quickened in the base as a busy medic worked endlessly day in and day out, with a bit of optimism in his engineering.
A/N: I hope you guys like it! This was really fun to make ^^