-1Claustrophobia
Chapter Three.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Dendey, whose request has shaped part of the direction of this fic. Contains slash.
Ratchet stood in the Base courtyard soothing Starscream, stroking his hide while his processors whirled. He realised that the only way he could treat Starscream would turn half the Base upside down and involve a lot of work, but was effectively the only viable option if they wanted any chance to repair his mind as well as his body.
Ratchet was going to have to construct a temporary open-air medbay.
The logistics were going to be horrible, but he could see no other option short of offlining the Seeker…a betrayal of trust that could take orns, if ever, to set right afterwards. He commed Cliffjumper and Mirage, asked them to bring out the biggest mobile berth he had. He was now doubly glad he'd ordered several of the movable, foldable berths. He had at first ordered them when new Autobots arrived, because they could be folded away flat in storage till they were needed, and he feared not having enough berths if they fought a battle and took heavy injuries. The feared battle had not yet taken place, and the berths had stayed in storage.
He sent another databurst to Jazz, asking him to collect up all the connectable recharging leads he could find, for he'd have to get Starscream recharged out here as well. All the Autobots had originally had to recharge in this inefficient manner, but the leads had been stored for emergencies when the recharge chambers had been installed. As Cliffjumper and Mirage struggled with the folding berth Ratchet had asked for, they both stopped and stared at the intertwined Seeker and medic that stood in the courtyard. Stop staring and set up the berth. Secure it to the floor so it doesn't topple. Ratchet databurst sourly.
Cliffjumper went back into the base as Mirage set the berth up. It was one of those with a tilting surface, Ratchet was glad to note, he wouldn't be leaving Starscream lying flat on his back and thus feeling totally vulnerable. With this system, Starscream could be positioned so he could look at the sky, but step off the berth if he so desired.
Cliffjumper was back out a moment later with Hound in tow: Hound had some very strong adhesive and a bolt gun, which he used to securely attach the berth base to the asphalt of the courtyard. A moment later Jazz came out, carrying a mound of leads. He made his way over to Ratchet, dropped the leads at his feet and said "What gives, Ratchet?" with a pointed look at the clingy Seeker
"Can't say, patient confidentiality, Jazz, suffice it to say that Starscream needs treatment and I will be treating him here." Ratchet told the silver saboteur.
He left the leads where they were, leading Starscream over to the berth, and managed to coax him onto it. He tilted it and locked it so that when Starscream was reclining, he could see the sky, but at such an angle that he could step off and stand. Ratchet was about to tell Jazz to bring the leads over when Starscream suddenly made a grab for him, almost falling off the berth and letting out a scream of terror.
Ratchet almost fell at the unexpected grab and movement, felt Starscream pulling him away. Looking up at the incoherently gibbering Seeker, he followed the direction of his staring optics. When he saw what - or rather whom - Starscream has spotted, Ratchet came out with a curse so colourful that Jazz actually stopped and stared. As Ratchet allowed Starscream to pull him back, but controlled the direction and speed of his retreat, he databurst to both Ironhide and Optimus. Someone get those twin nuisances out of the Base and I mean right out! They are terrorising my patient!
Ironhide was the first to act, opening the gates and grabbing one twin each by an arm. Ratchet hurriedly swung Starscream round so his back was to both the Twins and the temptingly-open gate. He really did not need to go hunting for Starscream in this state. The Twins were protesting, but Ironhide nodded over towards Starscream and Ratchet. The Twins took one look and stopped resisting, much to Ratchet's relief, and allowed Ironhide to take them outside the gates while Cliffjumper ran to close them behind him - probably at a databurst instruction from Ironhide.
With the yellow and red mechs gone, Ratchet was able to carefully and slowly lead the Seeker back over to the berth, and further coaxing got him to lie on it. He wouldn't let Ratchet go, however, insisting on holding on to one arm. Ratchet managed to get Jazz and Hound to help connect the long cables to power points in the med bay, then link several of the cables together so he could clip them to Starscream, for the Seeker was badly in need of recharge.
Starscream's optics fixed on the sky above and he reached out one arm with a keen, and began trying to rise. For a nasty moment, Ratchet thought that Starscream was going to rise and try to fly before Ratchet could fix his wings, and while dangerously low on energy. However, to Ratchet's relief, with plenty of caressing and stroking and whispered assurances that he could fly later once he was recharged and his wings were repaired, Starscream lay back, little tremors occasionally running through his body. Small keens still escaped him, and his optics never left the sky, but he stayed lying down. His other hand stayed firmly attached to one of Ratchet's arms.
Ratchet held out his free arm, looking back and nodding to Jazz, who brought over the recharge cables and put them in Ratchet's hands. Ratchet quickly found two suitable attachment points, hooking the cables on to the Seeker. He databurst Cliffjumper, whom he'd sent back to the med bay, to turn on the power. As the recharge cables pulsed with energy, Starscream's overstressed systems powered down into recharge, one after the other. All, that is, except the servos of the clinging hand and the arm.
Ratchet huffed air through his vents, Starscream obviously still felt the need to hold onto someone. Ironically, the Seeker, in his madness, needed an anchor, his one connection to sanity, and it seemed that Ratchet was it.
There was only one thing for it: sliding the recharging Seeker over, Ratchet climbed onto the berth beside him, lying down and adjusting himself so they could both be comfortable, and allowed himself to enter first-level shutdown.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
He awoke to find both of Starscream's arms wrapped about him, the Seeker curled against his back spoon-fashion, although his scans revealed that the Seeker was still deep in much-needed recharge. Well, Ratchet was pleased that Starscream was getting the rest he needed, and he fully intended to leave him in for the maximum twelve hours needed for the total recharge of a Seeker. However, he doubted he would be able to free himself from Starscream's embrace without rousing him, so it looked as if Ratchet, too, was in for a twelve-hour period of enforced rest. Or maybe not…
Switching to a high resolution, Ratchet performed a deep scan on Starscream, which gave him a better idea about where to start repairing the Seeker and how, and also used up much of the remaining time.
When Starscream stirred against him, Ratchet reached one hand down to cover one of the Decepticon leader's own, and said "Okay Starscream, I need you to roll on your front for me so I can get on with repairing your wings." He pushed up, intending to roll off the berth, but as he did so, Starscream pulled him back towards him mid-turn, so he was facing the Seeker. Then, before he could react, Starscream's derma hungrily latched on to Ratchet's own.
Ratchet tried to pull back - not that the surprise kiss was unpleasant, it wasn't at all, and Ratchet could tell by Starscream's
technique that he had plenty of experience of how to kiss. However, medical ethics dictated that as Ratchet's patient, and because Starscream was not in his right mind, to continue the encounter would be wrong. There was just one problem: Starscream didn't seem to want to let go.
He pushed harder, managing to get one arm between his own body and that of the Seeker. He used that to gain extra leverage, and began trying to pry the Decepticon leader off him. Starscream uttered a cry, an unhappy little keen.
"Please - I need - please!" he cried.
"No, you don't, this is not right, I need to repair your wings." Ratchet said.
"Please - if I can't yet fly - this will serve to distract me for a little longer." said Starscream, looking at Ratchet. "I need this, it will give me a recent focus to hold on to."
When Starscream locked his optics with Ratchet's own, Ratchet was surprised to see that some of the mad light had left Starscream's optics. For a brief period, the Seeker seemed lucid, which entirely changed the situation. If it was a situation of medical need…
Briefly pausing to file his decision and the reasons for it in his memory, he leaned forwards into the kiss, snaking his arms around the Seeker's narrow waist and reaching up to stroke and caress. This action too could serve a dual purpose: while stimulating Starscream's sensitive flying appendages, he could also use his sensitive, sensor-loaded digits to do a tactile fingertip assessment of the damage to Starscream's wings and fuselage, and unplugged the recharge leads as he did, casting them away before the pair could get tangled in them.
His nimble digits probed seams, both arousing and inspecting the Seeker, as he used his legs to stroke and caress Starscream's own. Their glossas performed a complicated dance around and with each other as Starscream for his part explored Ratchet's plating. Ratchet brought one of his hands back around to Starscream's front, sliding it between the upper shoulder and the folded-down tailfin. Starscream twitched and bucked against Ratchet, that area was very sensitive. As Starscream himself found gaps and chinks to explore in Ratchet's armour, it was Ratchet's turn to gasp.
Ratchet could sense that this would not be long or drawn out, Starscream's isolation had increased his tactile sensitivity, and Ratchet's finger-sensors detected the Seeker's swiftly-building overload. He quickly adjusted his own skin sensor receptors to maximum, not wanting to be left needy. Pressing himself against Starscream, he moved the hand between them down to Starscream's cockpit, probing and feeling for cracks and chips.
The stimulation of the sensitive canopy pushed Starscream over the edge, and he screamed his overload into Ratchet's mouth cavity, as his Spark flared. This in turn stimulated Ratchet enough to overload too, and they shook together on the berth, blue discharge rolling over them both, and then they collapsed into a heap together.
A few minutes later, Ratchet roused, disentangling himself from Starscream, whose overload had thrown him straight into a reboot. Carefully dulling Starscream's plating sensors, and nudging his reboot into a recharge loop, he got out his medical tools, and set to work on mending Starscream's wings.