For a few moments only sounds in the repair bay were cooling fans and heating metal.
Then the sound of armor shifting broke the relative silence and Ratchet went to work.
Rough voice groaned, but the Medic didn't acknowledge it.
He worked silently and with swiftness that said lots about his experience.
"So?" The same rough voice asked.
Ratchet sighed and then he cursed loudly as there was loud clanking noise… and then a wail split the air.
"Would you hold still? I'm trying to take him out without damaging his protoform."
"Him?"
"It's a mech Ironhde, loud one…" There was a soft clicking noise as Ratchet plugged sparkling transfer cable into Ironhide's medical port and the wailing subsided to be replaced by soft clicking noises. Cooling fans still worked and the armor was still slid apart over the place where Sparkling had been growing inside Ironhide and Ratchet was sure it had to be uncomfortable at least but Ironhide was sitting already, cradling the tiny black and yellow form in his arms.
"Thank you Ratchet" The weapon specialist said softly, blue optics never leaving the sparkling.
"Are you going to tell me who his other creator is?" He asked, "I see the yellow strips over all the black… and I will never forget THIS particular shade of yellow."
Ironhide was silent.
"How is that possible? He was declared deactivated…"
Ironhide looked at the medic sharply and Ratchet went silent. The black mech seemed to consider his option before finally sighing in resignation and smiling to the tiny mech in his arms.
"I trust you not to tell, but you better sit down, it's a long story"
***
Ironhide was with Mirage, Jazz and Jolt as they tracked some Decepticons into a new sector of their galaxy. They found them alright and it wasn't long before they were engaged in a fierce battle. It was surprisingly and worryingly equal, Decepticons responding with fire that was short of taking the Autobots offline, but it wasn't enough, Autobot team destroyed the enemy troops eventually. The victory however was short lived.
They were leaving the planet, thinking they were safe when Ironhide found himself being shot out of nowhere. Ironhide would swear later that whichever Decepticon shot him down, he had to have Mirage's cloaking ability. One moment there was an empty space and then there was a gun firing at his spark. It took all the war-experience the weapon's specialist had to dodge the fatal blow and take the fragger out but then Ironhide's systems collapsed one after another, HUD showing warning after warning at him as he plummeted to the planet below.
By the time Ironhide hit the ground he was on the verge of stasis lock. The last thing Ironhide saw before going offline, was a yellow, somehow familiar shape.
- - - -
Bumblebee had come out of his little cave when he saw something entering the atmosphere. What in the name of Primus was that?
When Bee scanned the falling object realized it was a Cybertonian, whoever it was had to be injured, or deactivated, falling like that.
Moving as quickly as he was able, Bee tracked the mech and was there within minutes of the crash landing.
Primus, the armor was destroyed, with a gaping hole in the place of spark and, chalked Energon around the hole but he would know that mech anywhere… it was Ironhide. Bee couldn't find any Energon leaks, the hot entry must have cauterized the lines, but the eerie blue light of Hide's spark, seeping from between his armor and from the hole in his chest meant that his old friend was in shape that was much worse than bad.
With some effort Bumblebee had to drag the heavy mech to his cave before getting rid of the drag marks. He had to do something, leaving Ironhide offline was out of the question. It wasn't like he had the tools, but he had to do something.
He cursed his slowness, being nowhere near as fast as he used to be, as he moved and scanned Ironhide.
Damn he needed help but he knew there was no medic…but there was a mechanic, linking into a secure line a distance away a phone began ringing.
Mikaela Banes grabbed her cell phone recognizing the ID. "Hey Bee what's up?"
: Mikaela I need your help:
"Of course what do you need"
:I need you to come to the place with your tools:
"Are you hurt?"
:I'm not but my friend is, please hurry:
"On my way Bee" Mikaela said before hanging up and began packing every tool she had that she may need and hopped on her bike pushing it to get to the alien robot she happened to call friend.
Bumblebee tried to do what he could as he waited listening for the sound of Mikaela arriving. It seemed like forever but finally she arrived bringing the bike inside and seeing a very large robot laying there. "What happened to him?"
"I don't know he must have been in a battle, you have to help him Mikaela"
"I'll do everything I can Bee but I'll probably need your help"
The yellow Autobot nodded and stayed ready to assist and cursed hours later when his internal systems were telling him to recharge. He did his best to ignore the warnings.
Mikaela worked for hours and went to ask Bumblebee something when she saw the look on his face. "Rest already would you I don't need two of you down"
Bumblebee looked at the small human female she was right and reluctantly he nodded and slipped into recharge before his systems forced him to.
Mikaela shook her head only taking a break to take care of nature and did all she was able to do until she found out where else there might be damage that she couldn't see. She grabbed the sleeping bag and pillow she kept there and laid down while she waited for one of the two mechs to wake up. She couldn't help but compare the two little things like size difference and the fact that the black one seemed to be packing a lot of weapons. With those thoughts going through her mind she ended up dozing off.