Run for a Fall
By SMYGO4EVA
They have all the time in this alien world called Earth, it seemed, except the time they want to survive this war. Both for the Autobots and the Decepticons….
More than enough, more than enough planning time, more than enough still time. Time frozen, time lost, time smashed into smithereens.
There are the things Ratchet left behind, and the things he couldn't bear to part with, ever since Cybertron was led to its downfall and ruin. He had to choose. It's all about time, but it's never about the time they had. This was all he could use, all that was there.
For Soundwave, all his rage was useless before the gladiator fights and the Great War. He learned to control himself. To watch. To wait, into the fraying ends of patience and despair. To stand by what was power and freedom for the rightful cause.
For Ratchet, he repressed any negative stirrings that would interfere with his medic work, sick and terrified. But the demon called anger and loss had power—and though he couldn't remember why, he always felt like he needed it.
Freedom was a concept that both the Autobots and Decepticons had learned never to discuss. It meant different things to different species, which were all willing to argue at length about it. To what was worth fighting for and to see the end of the war.
Time skipped a beat, and in their struggles, the absence of what was considered family had indeed taken a toll on them.