Authors Note: Hey everyone at fanfiction, it's been a very long time since I've written anything to post here, and I've got the itch once again! So I've decided to try my hand at a Transformers fic. I also have a series planned for the Transformers fandom. But we'll see if I can get my lazy but in gear to actually write it. There is hope though, I have actually began planning the stories to come in a note book. Huzzah.

So, without further a due, here is my first attempt at a Transformers fic. Hope someone reads it and enjoys the two shot.

Update November 11,2011: I would just like to thank Shantastic, who is so fantastically awesome, that she edited chapter one! How awesome is that? So again, thank you Shantastic, you rock my socks!

Important information:

"..." Speaking

:...: comm. link

'...'bonded speech

'...' thinking

Astrosecond- 2.5 earth Seconds

Klik- 150 earth seconds/ 2.5 earth Minutes

Orn- 150 earth minutes/ 2.5 earth Hours

Joor- 60 earth hours/2.5 earth Days

Metacycle- 17.5 earth days/2.5 earth Weeks

Vorn- 10 earth weeks/2.5 earth months

Stellercycle-30 earth months/2.5 years

Breem-slang for a moment/minute.

Night Cycle: star down to star up

Day Cycle: Star up to star down

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, that right belongs to other people. Hasbro and IWD. Oh sadness.

Summary: After being transferred back to the Iacon base, Ratchet was forced to leave the twins behind in Tarn. But it was only suppose to be for a few metacycles at most, until they too could be transferred. Then Ratchet received an urgent message from Sideswipe...

The base was quiet that night cycle. Well, as quiet as the Iacon base could be with so many young mechs around. Fits of giggles, amateur pranks and fights were a common sight within the base. It was the last way for the Autobots to cling to what was left of their past lives as civilians. That was why, the commanding officers were sure, Optimus Prime allowed these goings-on to occur so often.

But that night cycle, all was quiet. No giggling. No pranks. No fights. Nothing. Just... silence.

That was the reason, Ratchet was sure, why he couldn't concentrate on his reports. The silence stretched out into the dark night, disturbing the old medic deeply. He was not used to this kind of deep, dark silence. Not any more, anyways. This kind of silence only ever occurred after something bad happened, usually a battle with heavy casualties. So to have such a silence and nothing wrong, put Ratchet on high alert.

The mostly white mech vented air through his intakes, and leaned back into his grey chair. He crossed his thick arms over his chest plates and glared at the incomplete data pad. Crimson digits drummed on white plating in a small attempt to make some sort of noise to distract himself.

The action only served to aggravate Ratchet more. This kind of silence never occurred back in Tarn, not near him in any case. Not with them following him everywhere like a pair of turbo pups. They would have never allowed this kind of silence to go on for so long. They would have aggravated him to the point of throwing wrenches, and calmed him enough to complete his reports. They, however, were still back in Tarn.

Ratchet gritted his dental plates, when he thought of Tarn. It was once a proud military stronghold that had since been twisted and tainted for Shockwave's, Tarn's leader, enjoyment. The deadly gladiator pits were still a major attraction to the citizens of Cyberton, and no other city was more proud of its pits than Tarn. Despite the fact that a war was looming between Tarn and Vos, Cybertronians sill flocked to the city nightly to watch.

Ratchet had hated Tarn on sight; the entire city was made up of long, low buildings that were grey and void of life. The only beauty that existed in the city was the appearance of the high walled coliseums, which Ratchet found to be overly ironic. The most beautiful buildings, with their decorative gems and crystals, were the venue of some of the most horrific events in Cybertronian history. The coliseums, at least to Ratchet, were a constant reminder that the deadly gladiator fights were still alive and well.

Having only gone to a gladiator match once, and that had been more out of curiosity then anything, Ratchet had despised the pits right from the start. He had been disgusted by the show of unnecessary violence, and the crowd's joyful reaction to watching one mech rip apart another. It went against his core programming to just sit there and watch the horrendous display.

The only reason that Ratchet had ever stepped a pede in Tarn was because Optimus Prime had sent him to the Autobot base there to help prepare the base for evacuation. Optimus knew that it was only a matter of time before Shockwave would join Megatron, and the Prime had wanted as many of his people out of there as possible by the time that occurred.

So the medic, who had been needed onsite to prepare sensitive medical equipment for a move to Iacon, had been transferred to Tarn. Optimus had done this as discreetly as possible, so as to not draw attention to the Autobot's sudden departure and keep the Deceptions in the dark as long as possible. But just because he had to be there, didn't mean that Ratchet had to like it.

His only indulgence had become the pit spawned, slagging, hellion twins that Optimus had assigned to him as guards - Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

The ex-gladiators had hated him on sight, had hated that they had to guard such a 'weak' mech. The first few metacycles had been like going through the pit with them, and they had fought him at every turn. At moments Sunsreaker had literally tried to fight Ratchet, and only Ratchet's medical knowledge had saved him from the scrap heap.

But after Sideswipe had been injured during a major riot in the main streets of Tarn, Ratchet had repaired him to a better state then he had been in before. After that the twins had come around, and an odd, delicate sort of friendship had formed.

After the twins decided that Ratchet was 'theirs', the medic never had to deal with the silence. No one could laugh like the twins could when they really got going. Well, maybe not Sunstreaker, but Sideswipe could laugh until the walls shook. And the pranks. Oh the pranks that Sideswipe could come up with would put the mechs in Iacon to shame. The only one that might have been able to keep up with Sideswipe's pranks was Jazz...

Ratchet would still put his creds on the crimson mech though.

Then, of course, there were the fights. Every other night cycle Sunstreaker came limping into the med bay, hissing and spitting about a mech that had damaged his paint job in some way. No mech could fight quite like Sunstreaker could. More graceful and deadly than his older brother, Sunstreaker had become a fierce killing machine during his time in the pits. Some even called him battle crazed and said that he lusted for spilt energon, and that this was only proven by just how easily it was for him to take down an enemy twice his size and weight. But Ratchet had also seen the aftermath of such rages and acts of violence, and a few times had found Sunstreaker having a breakdown in a hidden part of the base. All the white and red mech could do was hold the golden one until the shaking stopped.

But it still had taken time for the younger twin to come to Ratchet for help that first time, much longer than Sideswipe. However, once the proverbial dam broke, Ratchet couldn't get rid of the little glitch. For everything from heavy artillery damage to imaginary scratches in his paint, Sunstreaker would come to Ratchet and only Ratchet. No one else even dared approach the younger twin.

The medic shook his head; none of that mattered anymore. Ratchet had finally been transferred back to Iacon once the medical equipment had been prepared, which had been a delicate process in itself, and shipped to the Autobot stronghold.

The twins had been upset by his departure, Ratchet was sure. Neither would look him in the optic and the crimson twin had mumbled a half sparked 'good bye', while a snide 'good riddance' was all he got from Sunstreaker, though it really didn't have his usual bite. But it had been the sad look in Sideswipe's optics and the completely blank look in Sunstreaker's that had bothered Ratchet the most. He couldn't explain why this upset him, just that it had.

Those looks alone seemed to sum up his awful time in Tarn and had prompted Ratchet to do something he had never done for a frontliner; he gave both twins the frequency of his external communications link in Iacon. They could reach him there from Tarn, but it was only to be used in emergencies. With that, Ratchet had said 'good bye and see you soon'. The twins were part of the second to last crew to leave Tarn, making them a larger target to the Decepticons. That had been almost eight metacycles ago, and in another six the twins would be on their way to Iacon.

Suddenly feeling cramped in his seat, Ratchet stood and stretched. Older gears popped with stress, and the red and white medic vented. A sudden and unexplained pang of loneliness hit Ratchet then, and he wished the twins were already there.

The medic shook his head and rubbed his chevron, trying to release the stress from the long cycle and not really accomplishing that. "They'll be in Iacon soon enough." Ratchet grumbled to himself as he dropped back into his seat. "And then I'll never get these blasted reports done."

He glowered at the data pad, as if to blame it for his unfortunate mood and loneliness, then looked at the external communicator on his desk. Ratchet knew he had told the twins only to contact him in case of an emergency, but he really hadn't expected them to listen to him. They never had in the past, not really, and he didn't think they would start now.

But since he'd left Tarn? Not a peep. Nothing from either of them, and the red and white had been so sure that they would at least call once. The red twin had been so cheered by attaining such private information from Ratchet that it had made the medic feel better about leaving them behind.

Sunstreaker had taken the information in his usual cold, indifferent way. But Ratchet had caught the slight twitch in his lip plates before he turned away.

A sudden, high pitched noise startled Ratchet from his musings, causing the medic to jump. Narrowing his optics, the medic scowled at the external communicator on his desk. He made a mental note to change the alert when he was having an incoming call as that was not the kind of noise he wanted to hear instead of the silence.

Giving his helm a hard shake to dislodge his distracting thoughts from his processor, Ratchet activated the communicator.

Prowl's tired face filled the screen, his door wings hanging unusually low. Ratchet could see Jazz still in recharge in the corner of the room behind Prowl's low door wing.

Ignoring the recharging saboteur, Ratchet narrowed his optics at Prowl. White lip plates pulled down hard into a frown, Ratchet said "Prowl, I thought I told you to get a good recharge tonight. Or else I would force you into the medbay." His tone was hard and irritated.

The SIC suddenly snapped upright; his wings coming high and blocking Ratchet's view of Jazz. A mask of cold indifference easily slid into place on his grey faceplates. "I was recharging Ratchet." Prowl said firmly, an air of irritation surrounded him. "But Red Alert intercepted an incoming call from Tarn to your communicator, and since you blocked all calls going to Prime, Red Alert commed me to check the call. As you know, all incoming communications must be checked if they are coming from outside the base to ensure the safety of all here." Ratchet opened his mouth to say something, but Prowl continued his little rant, keeping his voice low, professional and even. "Now, since you have blocked all incoming calls to Optimus, so that he may continue his recharge, I had no choice but to deal with it."

Ratchet sighed and scowled at the SIC. Prowl, unfazed, kept his emotionless mask on, not backing down from Ratchet, not when he was doing his duty.

Worry gnawed at Ratchet, but now he was also irritated at Prowl. Not just for being right, but for not just letting someone else deal with the incoming calls for a single night cycle. The SIC and the CMO would have spent the rest of the night cycle glaring at each other, neither willing to back down, if it had not been for a soft voice calling for Prowl.

"Prowler, what are ya doing? Come back to the berth." Jazz's sleepy voice came across the communicator.

Prowl glanced over his shoulder plate at his half awake mate, and his grey lip plates twitched ever so slightly. His icy optics shifted back to Ratchet, and the medic could see the subtle relaxation in the tactician's stance. "The mech trying to reach you has assured me that you gave him your communication extension. Although he is not on your safe list," at this the monotone mech frowned at Ratchet. "However I do believe that he was one of the two guards Optimus assigned to you while you were in Tarn."

The worry quickly bloomed to fear in Ratchet's chest plates, but years of experience kept if from his face. "Which one?" he grunted.

"The red one, Sideswipe."

Red seemed like such a plain word to describe the usually exuberant mech, but Ratchet let it pass. "Yeah, that sounds like him. Patch him through." Ratchet said, keeping his voice calm.

Prowl nodded briskly, and Ratchet's external comm. went blank for a moment while Prowl sent the feed through to him. The comm. blinked after a few astroseconds and Sideswipe's worried face filled the screen.

"It's about slagging time! The amount of time that it took you to answerer, Primus could have returned!" Sideswipe snarled, his worry turning to anger.

Ratchet scowled at the older twin, but kept a lid on his own anger. Taking in Sideswipe's dirty, grimy, dull armor and the droop in his usual proud shoulders, Ratchet knew something was wrong. "Watch your tone glitchling, I am still your superior officer."

The front liner seemed to wilt under Ratchet's tone. This action had the medic worrying more so, neither twin gave up a fight so easily. "I thought I told you to only call if it was an emergency." Ratchet said firmly, sitting back into his seat and crossing his arms.

Sideswipe glanced around nervously before focusing back onto Ratchet. "Have you been keeping tabs on us since you left...you said you were going to." His voice was oddly low and quiet, and Ratchet took it as another sign that something was amiss.

But keeping his angry front up, Ratchet narrowed his optics and scowled at the crimson mech. "Of course I have, I just haven't received any reports on either of you!"

Ratchet didn't think it was possible, but Sideswipe actually sunk even lower into himself and grief marred his handsome face.

"You need to look at those files now Ratchet." Sideswipe said, desperation creeping into his tone.

Ratchet furrowed his brows and looked confused. "Why Sideswipe? I should have been informed if anything happened to either of you the moment any medic in Tarn entered the report."

"Just do it Ratch!"

"Just tell me what happened." Ratchet growled, as he reached for another data pad that would access medical files from all over Cyberton. If either of the twin's files had been updated, he would have been alerted immediately.

Should have been any ways.

Ratchet opened the appropriate program and easily pulled up the twins files, and froze at the message flashing in bright orange at him.

LOCKED FILE blinked angrily up at him and Ratchet felt his tanks drop. Only Ops mechs could have locked files to ensure their safety and only the medic that had tended to them could gain access to those files. Even if another medic had put an alert out on a particular mech, once that file was locked down, no alert would be sent.

Ratchet stared stunned at the screen of the data pad and the blinking message with a numb sort of detachment. There was no reason that Ratchet could see to lock down the medical files of two frontliners... unless something had happened and the medic treating them didn't want such information to be passed along.

Still staring at the data pad, Ratchet asked "What happened Sideswipe?"
"Open the file."

"I can't." Came Ratchet's bewildered reply.

"Why not!"

"Both yours and Sunstreaker's have been locked down."

"Hack it then!" This time, there was no denying the desperation in Sideswipe's voice.

Using his glossa to moisten his lips plates, Ratchet turned back to Sideswipe and calmly said "If I do that, I will attract the attention of whoever locked the file. What happened Sideswipe?"

Worried blue optics darted around again and Ratchet realized he was making sure no one was around. This meant that the frontliner was hiding.

"It was Shockwave." Sideswipe said suddenly, re-focusing on Ratchet.

Ratchet made an impatient noise and motion with his hand for Sideswipe to continue. "He figured out what Optimus was planning, and approached me and Sunny about it. Wanted us to abandon the Autobots and join him and Megatron." The crimson mech blurted out. "He didn't take it well when we refused."

Sideswipe stopped and looked around nervously again. "So he blackmailed Sunny into going back to the pits."

A panic that Ratchet didn't know was possible ran through him at those words. Sunstreaker had despised the gladiator pits and had vowed to never go back there. He had spoken that vow with such venom and ferocity that Ratchet had never doubted it. So for Sunstreaker to agree to fight... the blackmail must have been powerful.

"What was it?"

"What?"

"The information that Shockwave used as blackmail. What was it?"

"Ratchet, we don't have ti-" Sideswipe was interrupted when Ratchet slammed his crimson servos on his metal desk.

"Don't you give me that Sideswipe! What could be so important that Sunstreaker would actually go back to the pits? You know he would not have done that for just anything."

Sideswipe looked down and murmured "Shockwave told the crowd that he had come out of retirement. Wanted just one more shot at being the best..."

"Sideswipe."

"They cheered Ratchet. They actually cheered when he went back to the pits...they all cheered even louder when he...he lost." Sideswipe's voice actually wavered a little at the end of the sentence.

"Sideswipe, focus! What did Shockwave use as blackmail?"

The frontliner shook his head from side to side. "I can't tell. I promised." His voice was now so quiet and brittle, so un-Sideswipe like.

Ratchet let the blackmail information go... for now.

"How badly hurt is he?" Ratchet asked, his voice firmer as the need to do something welled within him.

"That's just it Ratchet, it wasn't that bad. Not life threatening...minor scrapes for the most part. Some abdominal plating and internal mechanisms damaged. Left audiofin ripped off, but nothing the medics here shouldn't have been able to fix."

"But..." Ratchet prompted.

Sideswipe looked back at Ratchet, his optics becoming sharper, harder. "They didn't do anything."

Dumbfounded, all Ratchet could say was "What..."

"They did nothing. Things changed here Ratch. Once you left Shockwave took over everything, and he knew that Sunny didn't fight as hard as he could have...should have. Shockwave took that as a direct defiance to his order...so he punished Sunny by commanding all the medical staff not to touch him."

Ratchets optics widened, and all the medic could say was, once again, "What..."

Sideswipe, now on a roll, nodded. "I...I tried to help Ratch. I did. But Shockwave had me dragged down to the brig. I've been there for four slagging joors! I didn't even receive my energon ration, so I can't even carry Sunny out of here now! A-and worst, the wounds have been left to fester. Rust has seeped into his abdominal armour and eaten away a lot of his circuitry. He can barely stay online now...he's in so much pain Ratch. I can feel it."

Sideswipe's optics unfocused again and Ratchet knew he was feeling what Sunstreaker was feeling through the twin bond.

"Sideswipe I need you to focus a little while longer." Ratchet said with an unusual amount of gentleness in his voice.

Optics sharpening once again, Sideswipe focused back on Ratchet. "Good mech. Are they giving Sunny anything? Anything at all?"

Sideswipe shook his helm. "No nothing...not even pain killing programs so that he can at least rest."

Ratchet cursed as rage thawed his previously freezing tanks. "Is there anything else?"

Much to Ratchet's dread, the older twin nodded. "Shockwave developed a virus that he deployed into Sunny's systems. From what I've been able to gather it's causing his systems to overheat and prevent his self-repair systems from working properly because they are attempting to cool his fragging systems!"

Worry and anger warred on Sideswipe's face as Ratchet leaned back into his seat, stunned by what he was just told.

In a voice that was far too weak, Sideswipe muttered "I didn't know who else to call Ratchet. No one else would have... would have cared enough about us. I didn't know what else to do."

The medic studied Sideswipe more closely again, keeping his own worries and fears hidden from the frontliner. The crimson mech's optics were dim and downcast making the usually powerful Sideswipe look young and vulnerable. How he managed to look so small and weak, Ratchet didn't know.

But what Ratchet did know was that the twins needed his help. And they needed it now.

Being as professional as he could, despite his spark feeling like it was being ripped in two, Ratchet said "It's alright Sides. It's going to be fine." His words did little to assure the other mech "I'm going to come for the pair of you. One way or another, I'm coming. Which medical center do they have him at?"

Still looking down, Sideswipe said "The main medical center by the Mohera coliseum."

Ratchet nodded with a grimace. Mohera was the worst coliseum by far, the fights there more brutal and almost always death matches. No doubt Sunstreaker was forced to kill another mech in order to survive the battle... but then how had he lost? "Go back to your brother Sideswipe. Stay with him. I need to speak with Optimus and Prowl."

The crimson mech nodded, finally bringing his optics back up to meet Ratchet's. "But what if they don't let you come get us?"

"They will." Ratchet said firmly, and any other mech would have taken the medic's no nonsense tone and done as they were told. But not Sideswipe, not when his brother was slowly wasting away in a cold medbay and he himself was so close to stasis lock from the lack of energon.

"But Ratchet, what if they don't let you!" The red mech keened.

"Listen to me Sideswipe. They will let me come for you. But if they don't, I'm coming for you anyways. So be ready to leave quickly. Understand?"

Looking surprised, Sideswipe quietly said "But if you disobey an order-"

"Sideswipe! Get your aft back to your brother and be ready to leave within the orn. Contact me again if anything changes."

Looking worried, Sideswipe nodded and disconnected the feed. Venting a puff of air through his intakes Ratchet growled. He suddenly realized that his servos were clamped his desk, and he'd left two servo shaped impressions in the metal.

Ignoring the dents, Ratchet knew he had to move fast. The twins would not have much time left now, and Primus knows if Sideswipe managed to get a secure line to call out on. Ratchet doubted it, and the call could have been traced. If that had occurred, Shockwave would know that Ratchet was coming for the twins.

Pinging Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide and Optimus, Ratchet waited for a response. Four sleepy variations of "What do you want!" filled Ratchets comm. The medic simply ignored the responses from his fellow commanders and snapped :I need the four of you in the meeting chamber now!:

Not one of them questioned him, and Ratchet knew that his worry and anger had seeped into his tone.

:We are on our way Ratchet:

:I'll be there in a breem Ratch!:

:I'm on my way old friend.:

With a firm nod, knowing that the four top commanders were on their way to talk to him, Ratchet all but ran to the meeting chamber, knowing it would be the safest place to voice his opinions and worries about the twins.

By the time Ratchet arrived at the meeting chamber, Prowl and Jazz were already there waiting and Ironhide and Optimus were coming down the wide hall.

"What is going on Ratchet?" Came Prowl's calm voice as the other two joined the group.

"Inside." The medic said gruffly, pulling the door wide open.

Prowl gave a sharp nod and walked into the room, followed closely by Jazz. Ratchet saw the saboteur brush his servo against Prowl's and he wondered how much longer it would be before Prowl talked Jazz into bonding.

The medic shook his head and focused again on the twins.

Once the commanders were all inside, Ratchet locked the door and wasted no time, telling them everything. From the moment Prowl patched Sideswipe through to Ratchet, to Sunstreaker's damage, Sideswipe's worry and lack of energon, everything. The more information they had, the better the plan they could come up with. He finished his story with "We have to move them. The sooner the better. It's only a matter of time before Shockwave finds out that Sideswipe has contacted me and he may just deactivate the pair of them immediately if he thinks we are coming for them."

He was met with silence as his fellow officers considered, and a new worry settled in his tanks. Perhaps Sideswipe was right, maybe they would not want to go for the twins and claim they didn't have the resources to do it... not that it was untrue...

It was Prowl who spoke first, his blue optics unfocused and staring at the ground. "No." Was all he said, startling both Jazz and Optimus. Ironhide cast a dark scowl at the tactician, thinking along the same lines as Ratchet.

Ratchet, having kept a firm leash on his anger, finally snapped. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO! We are not going to leave those two poor fraggers in Shockwave's clutches! He'll rip them apart!"

Prowl, ever calm, cool and collected, simply stated "I did not mean no, as in no we will not be going after them. I mean no, I doubt Shockwave knows we are coming. Even if Sideswipe did not use a communicator that was secure, yours is. Shockwave would not have been able to track the call to us. He may know that a call was made, but I highly doubt it. Shockwave believes that he has beaten the twins, and he does not keep tabs on mechs he believes he has beaten."

Prowl's door wings twitched then, ignoring Ratchet's disbelieving look. "Red Alert has also stated that it was odd for his brother to call Iacon, and even odder that he would be trying to reach you. Thinking logically, if reaching out for aid is something that shocks Sideswipe's own brother, I doubt that Shockwave will be expecting it."

"True." Jazz said suddenly, his azure visor glowing brightly. "But tha' being said, we don't want ole Shocky to know we're comin'."

"We also need to think of the other Autobots that are still in Tarn. We... may be able to pull everyone out this night cycle. We may have to. But they will need to be alerted now."

"I can get the minibots out of the city within the night cycle. Cliffjumper has a close knit crew and he has been keeping his reports updated." Ironhide offered, glancing around the room.

Optimus nodded. "Good. But we need to keep this quiet. Any kind of disturbance could cause a riot." The matrix barer said gently. "We need to get our mechs out tonight. It is far too dangerous to leave them any longer."

Ratchet sagged with relief then. He was going to get the twins, and he was actually going to have help to do it.

"Prowl, I would like you to contact Mirage and Hound. Have them gather up the remaining ops mechs and trackers in the area. I will contact Kup and Elita One to get the wreckers, femmes and any other Autobots out of there." Optimus said firmly before turning to Jazz.

"Jazz, I would like you to go with Ratchet and help him with the twins. We shall rendezvous in the borderlands north of Tarn once you have all achieved your goals. Our mechs there have been in a battle ready state since we began the pull-out, they should be ready to move rather quickly. You all have three kliks to assemble your teams, then we leave."

The other officers nodded and quickly left the room to gather supplies and mechs. But as Ratchet moved to leave, Optimus dropped a large blue servo on his shoulder plate, causing the medic to pause and look up at his old friend. "We will get them back Ratchet." The leader said in a gentle tone. But Ratchet could hear the determination in it as well. The medic nodded, and pitied anyone who got in their way that cycle.

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Authors Note: Phew! Well there you go! Chapter one is finally done! (Haha that rhymed.) I was originally going to do this as a one shot, but I liked how this chapter ended so I'm going to do this as a two shot. Hope you enjoyed it! Review!