Heart Wrenched Chapter 3 (ratchet & connie's tornado escape, 4 (ratchet talks with Ironhide)
~~ "And so, that's my story, Ratchet." She doesn't tell Ratchet about curse she carries. She's heard enough about him through Shockwave's rants during her time of planning and creating of the poison. Connie is in awe of just sitting here with him.
Ratchet lays his head back against the beam and rolls it softly from side to side closing his eyes, "I'm sorry Connie. I wish we had known. Maybe we could have-"
"Ratchet, you are no fool. Neither is Prime. No, you wouldn't have rescued me. And I don't want you to rescue me now. Just, go." Her voice almost waivers. Ratchet reaches out and lays a tender hand on her. Now she does let off a hint of a sob and pulls out of his touch. Touch. It's been so long since one of her own has touched her in kindness. And the cruelty of fate is his touch. She slinks away from him and Ratchet just watches her hide in shame.
She was also privileged enough to over hear an Autobot commander's planning session a few years ago. They thought it was a secured location in an Oklahoma field before they split off to the four Autobot cities. She had sighed heavily that night. The medic had enraptured her attention with his forceful tone about saving a member of their team over the validity of the mission. And his was respected enough by Prime, that he got his way. Many may see the gruff and grouchy 'Bot. But she saw through all that. His spark was more loving and compassionate than many and had to be gruff to save his own sanity. Connie found that admirable.
She sighs heavily, if only she had known what the Autobots were all about, in the beginning. If only she hadn't been deceived by the Decepticons. If only, if only…
That day in the field, she watched them take off to the four winds helping the humans and combat the Decepticons to retake Cybertron. She was of no use to anyone now. It fueled her drive to help these humans. If she couldn't help her own kind, maybe she could help these partners of Cybertron's saviors. It gave her hope. It gave her a new lease on life, doomed and trapped or not.
That one commander, out of the four from that day, stuck in her mind. The one bound and determined to help. The one who was not only a commander, but a true medic. One who was constantly helping… saving lives. Human and Autobot. Sometimes, even Decepticons. Time had caused her imagination to wander and with the stories she heard and what she had witnessed with her own eyes. The thought were weaving from her brain and down around her lonely spark. Truth was painfully clear…
Now he was sitting before her. If he knew her curse, he would feel obligated to help. Even at risk for himself. No, she wouldn't let him take that risk. His life was a hundred times more important than her own existence.
"I'm begging you, leave me in peace. It is my duty to help provide for these humans in penance for all the harm I have caused. Please, just go," she tries to sound desperate enough to get him away from her as fast as possible.
Ratchet ponders her words carefully. Then he scans her. "You are running low on Energon."
She smiles, "I don't use much in this mode. Beside I hibernate during the off season."
He pulls up a gauntlet, "Even so…" He extracts some of his emergency Energon store and gives her a shot. She sighs in revitalization and the compassionate touch.
He places two fingers on the dog on her nose. She screams in pain, "Don't!" He jumps back.
"I have to get you out of here." He warns her, bordering on an order.
She whimpers, "I told you to leave me alone." It's a stale mate. "I don't want your help. My life is fine. Don't change me."
He looks at her very confused. There is something in her inflection that makes him push the issue. "Aren't you tired of the bondage? Isn't that what the war was all about? Bondage? Why are you allowing the Decepticons to keep you in bondage?" She doesn't speak, afraid if she does, she will spill it all.
That night they just wait it out. The next day, as she is getting ready to head out to work, but the weather changes drastically. It looks mean and vicious out there.
"Tornados are coming," she sniffs. "Big one, too."
Ratchet looks around at her warning and finishes with his own, "That's not all."
"This is your fault," she can feel it too now.
"Mine?" He unfolds and warms up his guns looking to the sky through the cracks of the barn roof.
"You just had to drop out of the sky in my field and attract them." She tries to keep the tension off the incoming attack. She knows if they find her, they will not hesitate to capture her for the toxin. They will not hesitate to kill her either. They would love to use Ratchet as a test subject. "You have to leave now."
"Not without you," he goes into command mode.
"What about my free will?" She tries to argue. The farmer and his family head to the storm shelter.
Ratchet backs out of the barn still searching the sky. "This is not a time to argue with me," he aims up to the sky. The tornado is coming in fast from the south. It least a four, pushing a category five. The doom is coming from the east. That is where he is keeping his focus.
Connie rams him with all her might, "Get the scrap off my farm!"
He picks her up and sets her on a trailer, "Not without you!"
"Ratchet, you have no idea what you are dealing with!" she bellows at him over the roar of the tornado.
Now he understands she holds a secret. He leans down menacingly, "Then tell me. And you better be pretty quick. Either the tornado or the Deceptions are going to reach us any moment." He holds her with his stare.
Calmly she tells him, "If I am shot, it will kill both Autobot and Decepticon. No mercy for either."
He straightens up and puts his hands on his hips. "Well, this is interesting. Who's side are you on?"
"My own." She makes that a firm clear order.
"You need an ally. You can't defend your self right now."
She lies, "I don't want you Ratchet." She wants him with all her spark. Thank the All-Spark he can't see her eyes and she managed to keep a firm tone.
He straightens up just in time to get the first shot off and send the first Decepticon off trajectory. He lands nearly on Connie. The Decepticon back hands Connie sending her rolling into the barn. Ratchet sees it out of the corner of his eye. She remains silent, staying camouflaged. Ratchet is landed on by the next Decepticon. He aims a fist at Ratchet's head. Ratchet manages to turn to the side and then get his saw to slice through the torso spilling vital liquids. The combatant pins Ratchets other arm to the ground. Ratchet fires off a cannon into his face. It takes out one eye. With his fist he beats in the other eye until his opponent howls and releases Ratchet. The third Decepticon is coming in and Ratchet is seriously wondering if he can beat this. The tornado is encroaching.
From the north comes Ironhide, Jolt and Sideswipe. "Miss us?" Sideswipe smirks. They quickly protoform and engage the enemy. Ratchet tries to keep an eye on Connie. She is on her side. She can't move and is in danger of getting stepped on. Ratchet makes a wild duck under another opponent's swing. He fakes a fall and lands beside her.
He whispers to her, "Are you alright?"
"Fine, I concede, get me out of here," she grumbles. He smiles at her. "Don't give me that look," she growls. He nearly gets his head stepped on by a ruckus with Jolt and his opponent. Ratchet tucks Connie close to his chest and runs towards the tornado.
"What on Earth are you doing?" Ironhide bellows.
The tornado is very close. Almost on top of the fight. "We need to go," Sideswipe suggests.
They watch in awe as Ratchet curls himself over the red combine and leaps into the category 5 tornado. The Autobots follow him in. The Decepticons, not to let their opponents leave alive, follow them in.
Ratchet clasps Connie with all his might and takes the tumbling in the spinning swirl of debris and destruction. The Decepticons are all thrown off. Jolt bellows, "I'm gonna loose my Energon!"
Then Ratchet bellows, "NOW!"
He tosses Connie into the eye and quickly fires at every confused Decepticon in range. Likewise do his comrades. They leave the Decepticons dizzy, disorganizes and confused. Then the Autobots, one by one leap to the eye. Ratchet balls himself over Connie. The others latch onto him. The eye passes them by. Together they cling as one unit as the other half of the tornado washes over them attempting to tear them to bits.
As soon is it clears, Ironhide calls it, "Now!"
They alt-form and tear off down the road. Ratchet races behind them, still in proto-form, carrying Connie. He sees a trailer large enough a mile down the road. He drops her on it and quickly attaches it to himself. He tows her the rest of the way back to their base near Alberta. Connie is silent the whole way. She has been silent for so many decades it is no problem for her to do it again. Besides, she's torn between awe, fear, and enrapture. Her role model has just turned to her hero. She prays she won't be his death. She has to get away from him. For his own good. She would never be able to live with herself if he died trying to save her from bondage.
They arrive back at the base. They protoform. Ratchet turns to Connie and softly asks her, "Are you alright?"
"Let me go," she tries again with hostility.
"I thought you said you concede?" he smirks. They've had this fight too many times in the last couple days. He know he doesn't have all the information, but she also isn't willing to release any more. "Do you have something to say?"
"Prime. I want to see Prime. It is my right." She says nothing else.
Sideswipe turns to Ratchet, "Where did you find this little spit fire?"
Ratchet ignores the jest. "Where is Optimus?"
Ironhide answers simply, "Busy." Ratchet understands: he isn't here.
"Fine." He turns back to Connie, "Let me get that locking pin off you."
In fear she cries out, "DON"T TOUCH ME!" Her loud cry sends all the Autobot back a couple steps. It also brings the others from their work stations.
"Either I see Prime now, or I leave. My right." She sneers with all the warning she can. She even starts whirring her combine blades to keep them at bay.
Ironhide warms up his cannon while turning his voice to Ratchet, "What the slag is going on?" Connie starts to back up.
"DON"T MOVE!" Ironhide and Ratchet bellow at her. Ironhide aims his cannon at her. Ratchet blocks her retreat with his body.
"Am I a prisoner?" she demands.
"Yes!" Ironhide barks.
"No," counters Ratchet at the same time with a soothing tone.
The two friends stare each other down. "She has a secret?" Ironhide tries to grind into Ratchet.
"Yes," smoothly he replies. Then he steps around her to come closer to Ironhide. "We need to know what it is. She said if you fire on her it will kill us all."
Ironhide backs his cannon down to an aim that will wound vs. kill. Then turns his head towards his fellow commander, "Then I suggest you find out what it is before this place is over run by Decepticons."
Ratchet growls at him, "An how do you expect me to do that with you threatening to blow her head off? Doesn't establish a whole lot of trust."
Jolt interjects, "Maybe you two should take this else where?" He indicates the audience they have.
They both point to Connie, "Don't let her move!"
As soon as Ironhide has Ratchet secluded, he slams Ratchet up against the wall with a palm to the chest. "What are you doing? Are you crazy bringing a spy into this base?"
Ratchet shoves Ironhide's hand away, "She's not a spy."
"You do know who she is, right?" Ironhide questions his friend's sanity.
"I know slagging well who she is. I saw her work. I euthanized her work." He turns his back to Ironhide. "You didn't see her in that barn when I found her. She was begging me to leave her be."
"She is still begging that. Why did you bring her here?" Ironhide tries a softer approach with his friend. "Ratchet, you know you are too soft," teasing his gruffness.
Ratchet smiles. He knows he needs Ironhide's callousness to counter his temperament. "And you are too brusque."
"What are we going to do then?" Ironhide crosses his arms and cools down his own temper.
"When is Prime due back?"
Ironhide laughs, "When he's done kicking over a Decepticon ship." Ratchet laughs at that. No one knows when their leader will be back.
"Talk to me, Ratchet. I haven't seen you this bent out of shape in a long time. Why are you so soft on a this Decepticon?"
Ratchet doesn't answer him right away. He looks down at his feet. "I'm not as soft as you may think."
"And I'm not a brusque as you think," he counters.
Ratchet smirks, "Oh, that I know for sure." Ironhide shoves him again. The friends shake their heads again. Then Ratchet holds up his hands, "Alright, let's put her in custody. If for no other reason than for her own protection. Then I need your help in my lab. I need to know everything you and Brawl know about explosive locking pins."
"Explosive locking pins? That sounds like Shockwave's work." His eyes are wide with surprise.
"Exactly. I need to figure out how to release one without taking all our heads off."
"Ratchet, I certainly hope she is worth it." Ironhide shakes his head.
"Ironhide, listen to me. She has bore that locking pin for over two hundred Earth years and who knows how many before then. She tried to sabotage one of Shockwave's bases. It went badly for her. This was her punishment."
Ironhide shrugs, "So? That's the price you pay for working with Shockwave."
Ratchet shakes his head. "Don't you remember? It was serve or die. It wasn't like it was for us. We had a chance to know the truth. She didn't. Until it was too late. And then she tried to change. Pence, she called it. What would you call it being locked into your alt mode for that long?"
"Why doesn't she want you to remove it? I don't understand why she is fighting so hard. If she truly believes we aren't the enemy, then why is she resisting us."
Ratchet raises his finger, "Exactly. That is my point exactly. That is what I am trying to figure out. Why? Why would you?"
Ironhide scratches his head. "You know Ratchet, maybe you aren't as crazy as I originally thought." Ratchet shakes his head in amused warning.
~~ With Brawl and Ironhide's information Ratchet figures out how to release part of the hold on Connie's locking pin. But the catch is, will she let him. He comes to her in her cell while Ironhide and Brawl are away on recon. He crouches beside her . He offers her some Energon. She still looks scared. She doesn't accept it. Instead she pleads with him softly, "Please Ratchet, let me go."
Ever so softly he asks her. His voice is ever so soft, it feels like a caress, "Why?"
She spills it. "The toxin I created is in the pin. If you release the pin it will kill you all. Shockwave felt it was the best laid trap. Please let me go. I can't bare to watch you or your comrades die. I can't bare the guilt. I already have enough I have to pay for, don't ask me to bare that too."
Ratchet sits back. Now he sees it all. But she doesn't see how it hits him in the spark even more. "Let me take that risk. I will bare the responsibility. I will take the blame. I will risk it all."
"I can't let you," she sobs. Her worst fears have come. He knows the truth and still fights for her. He walks out of her cell back to his lab. Her tears cut him deeply.
Ratchet spends the next three days poured over his notes. He doesn't talk to anyone. He doesn't even notice when someone brings him Energon. They practically have to force feed him.
Then he comes back to Connie's cell. "I have it."
"No. I'm begging you for the last time. Please let me go in peace."
"You will be at peace." He strokes her. She shutters. Before she knows it, in his caresses he drips a liquid onto the dog shaped locking pin. Then his soft voice melts her resolve, "Try to transform."
She is terrified, but she can feel the pin releasing a tiny bit. She ever so slowly reconfigures herself. She is weak. Her joins are crusted with dirt and rust and who knows what else. Ratchet has his kit with him and lubes and helps her ease to her protoform. The blades now hang loose upon her head like long strands of hair. Her eyes of tawny amber are open and looking right at him. She gives him a crooked smile. Then she begins to crumble again. She has no arms to help herself. He holds her upright. He puts an arm around her waist and a hand to her chest to steady her. He sees the pin is still there. Dead center in her chest. Right above her spark.
"I can't remove it all the way yet, but I figured you might be more comfortable like this."
She smiles up at him, "Thanks, Ratchet." She can hardly believe she is in his arms. Someone is touching her again. Not just any one. Him. She looks away from him, but he tightens his grip holding her closer. The rest of her resolve is going to falter quickly if she tells him what else she is feeling. She motions for him to let her sit. He eases her down.
"Let me check your vitals." He gets out his monitor. He lifts her chin. He is supposed to check her optics, but her eyes see down into his very soul. He swallows hard. He feels his own resolve beginning to falter. He clears his throat and sits back. "Better go check on…"
"The integrity of the locking pin?" she tries to help. He just nods and walks away. Ratchet makes it outside and finds himself trying to find his own breath. She is stunningly beautiful even in battered shape. Her resolve is so strong. She is so determined. She has a good spark. She wants to help. But she was cursed, and has found a way to live with it. He released her curse. He cares more than he should for a patient. He tries to clear his head but keeps coming up with more questions.
Just as he has gotten his head together he hears Brawl bellow, "Stop or I'll shoot! Escaped prisoner!" They only have one prisoner right now. He dashes out of his lab. Ironhide is three strides ahead of Ratchet.