The darkness was overwhelming. The pain even more so. Redalert tried to push his systems into startup but was always pushed back into stasis by his emergency core. He needed to online. They needed him. Redalert pushed again, seething in agony as he tried to breach the surface again. Just when he thought he had it again, he was plunged back into the dark and nothingness overtook him.


It had only been a week and the mech had made a few drifts in and out on consciousness. Ratchet was surprised. He had fully expected it to take much longer or for it to not happen at all. The femme was still in the same catatonic state, her neural readings hadn't changed and she was completely unresponsive. He hoped that if he could get the mech at least someway functional that he would be able to help stabilize the femme more than he already had. Ratchet had been able to make a mold off of the mech's old chest armor and create something that could cover him. It wasn't of the same magnitude and certainly didn't have the same strength as the previous but it would do to keep the mechs temperatures stabilized. He had been hesitant to do the same for the femme since he didn't want anything inhibiting his access in case she went into shock again. She had a lot more damage in her chest cavity and any hints of previous armor had been nonexistent. For now she remained wrapped in thermal blanketing to prevent her core temperatures from dropping any more than they already had.

Ratchet sat with his brow furrowed as he studied the schematics he was able to piece together of the scans he had taken of his two patients. There was just so much of it all. He couldn't make sense of it. Why in the krell was that even needed? And what function did that circuitry have?

"Nnnghh."

Ratchet was brought out of his rampant trains of thought by a muffled groan across the medbay. He jumped up out of his chair, sending it toppling over, and ran almost tripping over his of peds over to the nameless mech that lay on one of the medical berth. The mech in question vented a hiss of air but seemed to be in stasis other than that. Ratchet felt his spark pounding rapidly in his chest and cursed himself. Now he was just being silly. That mech wasn't coming online for a very long time. He sighed and began to make his way over to his abandoned desk when he felt his lines freeze.

"W-… sskkss..where."

Ratchet whipped around and stared at the mech with optics as wide as they could possibly get. The mech repeated himself as his visor onlined, flickering, in a deathly dim shade of blue.

"Where-sskkssh…guhhh." He said again as his vocal processors laced with static.

Ratchet forced himself to overcome his shock and slowly let himself become visible in the mechs range of vision in an attempt not to startle him.

"…safe. You're somewhere safe."

-Optimus get down here now.-Ratchet transmitted inaudibly.

-On my way.-

The mech made a sound of acknowledgement before venting air again in attempt to cool the pain flooding his neural nets and systems. Ratchet moved a little closer and began to check the monitors hooked into what he had guessed was the mech's vitals before turning his full attention to his patient.

"What's your name soldier?" He inquired. The only response he received was a grunt of pain and another hiss of air. He frowned and rested a hand on the mech's shoulder. "It's okay. Take your time."

The mech grimaced in pain and ground his dente together as he tried to push past the agony. Ratchet tried another question. "Your systems are a bit different than mine. What is a better pain-relief compound for you?"

The mech's visor continued to flicker as he ground out, "Poly…nitrozyno… 49."

Ratchet's optic ridge quirked upward. Uh. What? "I'm sorry I don't follow. I've never heard of that compound before-"

"Polynitrozyno 49." The mech ground out for forcefully, irritation and pain obvious in his vocalization. "Composed of BE-…342… EU-12… IR-09878… and RA-76."

Ratchet stared at him blankly as he filed away what the mech had just rattled off. "Right. I'll get that right away for you," he bluffed. "Can you tell me your name now soldier?"

"…Redalert. Identification code 0367-9812-88012-0095….I am… a medic."

The mech was met with another blank stare as Ratchet tried to take in what he had just heard. "Can you tell me your name again soldier."

"Redalert…"

Ratchet nodded and stood back slightly. This mech was a lot more damaged than he let on. Cybertronian names were never repeatedly given unless it was to honor fallen lineage. Apparently there was serious neural damage that he had not been able to come across due to the scientific gap in their bodies. This mech didn't even know his own name. "Alright Redalert. Before I get you your sedatives, can you tell me who that is?" Ratchet questioned as he motioned to the berth some feet away from the one he was currently standing over that was occupied by the femme.

'Redalert' turned his head with a groan and stared as his visor fought to focus on the berth next to him. Ratchet silently cursed at Optimus for not getting there faster.

As Redalert's visor completely focused in on the transformer next to him, he began to panic and fight to sit upright to Ratchet's dismay.

"Woah take it easy. You're not going anywhere. I need you to calm down and relax." Ratchet gently nudged at the mech's shoulders to coax him to lie back down.

"S-skkkkshh- Scale..blade. …My patient. I need- skkk to help."

"You need to rest, understand? We will get to fixing her but first I need your help in mapping out your systems for me so I can repair you. Then once you are running efficiently, we will repair the femme, er… Scaleblade, together. Alright? I've done as much as I can on my own, I need your help but only once you're fully functional." Ratchet insisted.

Redalert resigned in pained defeat at the loss of an argument and at the unwanted abandoning of a patient. But he ultimately knew he was in no condition himself to take on any work. The pain shooting through his body was so intense it was making his vision haze over. It was then that Optimus finally made his arrival while simultaneously shooing others away from the medbay doors. Curiosity over the newcomers hadn't died down since their arrival.

"Optimus thank goodness you're-"

Redalert began to attempt to upright himself again while Ratchet resorted to pushing him back down a second time. "Skkk- Optimus- skkkhh-"

Optimus approached the medical berths and pinged Ratchet for a silent debrief on the situation.

-He is conscious but has obviously suffered some serious neurological damage that I had no way of detecting. Says his name is Redalert and the femme is someone named Scaleblade.-

-Redalert?-

-Yes.-

-Oh dear.-

-Yes. And he just asked for you. So this should prove to be interesting to say the least.-

"Optimus. This is Redalert." Ratchet relayed allowed for his patient to hear. "He says he's a med-"

"Optimus-" Redalert interrupted. "What… nngh.. what is the status?"

Ratchet and Optimus exchanged glances before Optimus stepped forward and addressed the mech in question. "Status of what exactly Redalert?" he inquired.

Redalert suffered from a moment of temporary disbelief before he continued. "Primus, Optimus." He retaliated clearly irritated. "The battle-ssskkk… what is the status of the battle. …And where the frag is that Poly 49." He hissed and directed at Ratchet, all but glaring daggers at the mech as pain wreaked havoc on his body. At that Ratchet commed Wheeljack and streamed him the code that the mech had rattled off upon coming out of stasis in hopes that he could make sense of it.

"I'm afraid I don't know which battle you are referring to, soldier." Prime continued. "There haven't been any recently here. Have there been developments on Cybertron?"

Redalert stilled considerably and digested what he had heard while running internal diagnostics on Optimus' voice. Something was… off. "Wh-… what do you mean? Where are ssskkkshh we?" He couldn't suppress the strange feeling that began to swirl in his tanks.

Optimus threw a glance at Ratchet once more before focusing on Redalert once more. "We are on Earth… just as I have instructed to everyone in my absence on Cybertron." He explained, hoping to reignite some type of comprehensive memory from the mech.

His words hit Redalert like the heaviest weight he had ever felt. All in an instant he knew exactly what this was. Him and his comrades had experienced it not hours before this happened. Unicron was inside his mind and had plunged him into some sort of twisted dream reality like the monster had before. Unicron must have been trying to get some sort of information from him, their battle plans or weaponry, and was projecting this situation in order to extract what he wanted. He should have known. Redalert cursed himself inwardly for his stupidity for not realizing it all sooner. His patient next to him in the last state he saw her, the medic's incompetence and asking for 'maps' of his systems, his blurred vision, Optimus' distance and change in voice. It all made sense. And it was the only plausible explanation.

-Hey Ratch'. I analyzed what you sent me. I traced the codes to certain elements. I'm not sure what the numbers are, maybe more advanced breakdowns and associations of those particular elements, but I was able to put together something on the basic levels. Want me to bring it down?-

-Wheelkack- Ratchet vented a sigh of relief. –You are a life saver. Please. As soon as you can.-

Redalert resigned to removing his attention from the mechs in front of him in an attempt to distance his mind from Unicron's trickery. Optimus and Ratchet stared at the mech awaiting a response only to be left hanging and confused.

Oprimus stepped closer to the medical berth. "Where you somewhere other than Cybertron before you got here?" To his dismay he was only met with silence. He glanced to Ratchet in concern and the medic moved to the monitors to make sure the mech hadn't slipped back into stasis. He shook his head at Optimus indicating that the mech as fully conscious and his vitals had not changed. Optimus frowned beneath his battle mask and tried again. "Can you tell me how it is you got here? The soldier who retrieved you said it looked like you came in through a space bridge portal."


"Get back yah bunch ah rabid fiends!" Ironhide bellowed as he cleared the doorway for Wheeljack to get through. "Y'all should be ah'shamed of yer'selves."

Wheeljack punched in the code to the medbay doors, careful to shield his concoction from prying eyes of onlookers. Once the door was opened just barely enough to let him slip through unscathed he did so, quickly closing and locking it and leaving Ironhide to continue his guarding.

Ratchet turned his attention to the newcomer and quickly made his way over to Wheeljack while Optimus continued to try and coax a response from the unresponsive Redalert. "Thank goodness you're here. It's a sedative for his systems," he said as he walked over to the medical supply cabinets and recovered an unused syringe. Filling it with as much of the substance as he could, he hurriedly made his way back over to his patient. "Redalert. I have the sedatives for you. I apologize for making you wait." He made to grab the mech's arm.

-Let's hope this doesn't explode.-

-Hey!-

-Ratchet. Be nice.- Optimus chided.

Ratchet smirking victory was quickly pulled away from him however as Redalert pulled his arm away and glared at Ratchet. "Don't. Touch me." He seethed.

Ratchet stared at the mech in shock, forcing words past speechlessness. "…but these are the sedatives you requested. You are in serious pain, you need this," he stated while grabbing the mech's arm once more before it was yanked away again.

"I said-sskkk don't touch me."

Ratchet frowned. "Don't force me to do this. I can and will pull rank over you if you resist medical attention that is needed. You need to relax and this is going to help. After this we can get started on trying to repair your systems together." He moved toward Redalert again, this time only to be met with a well-aimed, swinging fist to the face.


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