Hello! First, I want to tell you that this isn't the full chapter, but it turned out to be so long that I decided to split it in two. The other part I will upload today or tomorrow, whenever I have time to finish it.
Have a nice day!
IV.
June Darby was certain she was going to be a nervous wreck by the evening. The last time she read so much was back when she was studying to be a nurse and even then she didn't feel so anxious. She kept starring at the datapad Ratchet had given her with pictures of his processor and the analysises he had made so far. June sighed; she wished she could consult with a doctor, have a neurosurgeon help her figure out what these blank spots could mean in the brain that was so similar to theirs. Those patterns reminded her of something, she knew she had seen MRI pictures of neurological diseases that appeared to have the same spots that Ratchet's processor had, but she couldn't remember the name...
All of a sudden, the nurse got up from the table and hurried into her bedroom. She still had her books from her college years that she had studied from and she remembered one that had various pictures from diagnostic machines in it - her heart was pounding hard against her ribs when she found the book and sat down on her bed to look through it. There must be something in it, she knew it; there was an educational image, that had to be the one. She just hoped it would be in that book and a new wave of excitement washed over her as she rushed through the pages until she found what she was looking for.
Yes, it was there. It wasn't the perfect quality, but it was still good enough to make a comparison of the two pictures. The book identified the image as an MRI of a patient with multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis...
June had never dealt with anyone with that kind of disease and she didn't remember exactly the signs, but she did know it was a variable illness. She activated the datapad again and brought together the list of Ratchet's and Starshadow's symptoms, then activated her own computer. She eagerly searched the medical sites to look for the possible causes, signs and progression of the illness. She downloaded all she found onto the datapad and sat still for a long moment.
She didn't know if she should feel relieved, didn't know if her discovery was good news at all. After all, no cure existed for multiple sclerosis, but maybe it would give them direction where to search for the cause of Ratchet's condition and if they succeed, that could provide them with enough knowledge to create a cure as well. June got up from her bed and clutched the datapad to her chest as she ran out to the garage.
It made both Jack and Arcee jump when the door burst open and June stormed in straight to her car. In her hurry, it took her a moment to notice her son and his motorcycle sitting on the table and the floor respectively, with both giving her strange looks.
"Is there an emergency, mom?" Jack asked. Since his mother moved to the emergency room, she had moments like this when she just rushed away to the hospital after recieving a call from the doctors for serious accidents, but this was different. Those times, she was stern and collected, fully in control of her emotions; now, her eyes were wide and her face red and she clutched the datapad as if she was holding on for dear life.
"No... nothing like that." June answered and took a deep breath to calm down a little. She raised up the datapad, "I just found something and I need to tell Ratchet. The sooner the better."
"Can I give you a ride?" Arcee offered.
"Yes." June nodded with a smile, "That would be nice."
Seeing how excited she was, maybe it was for the better she didn't have to drive. She climbed up behind Jack when Arcee was finished transforming back to her alt mode and they started driving out of Jasper.
"It was an original House-moment back home, mom." Jack chuckled, "Is it good news?"
June sighed. "Ratchet will decide that. I just hope we can use it."
"Ratchet," Optimus' voice reached his audios, "Knock Out is coming back online."
It was the Prime's turn to watch over the Decepticon medic since he was forced into recharge by Ratchet so he could work on him without disturbance. Now Knock Out groaned as his systems came back online and his face pulled into a painful grimace as he started coughing violently. He felt someone push his helm to the side as half-processed energon trickled down his chin and the side of his face, when his crimson optics lit up as well, he saw the Autobot medic, Ratchet holding him in place. Knock Out spat the last of the energon into the bucket that was held up for him and wiped his face with the cloth Ratchet had given him.
"So... it wasn't just a nightmare." he growled.
"Unfortunately." Ratchet grumbled back, "Your fuel tanks were damaged badly, but your auto-repair system is working just fine." the older mech raised up a cube of energon, "So, are you ready to take it orally or should I give you an IV?"
Knock Out eyed the energon and winced. His systems reported that most of the damage had been dealt with and repair nanites were working on the wounds; his energy levels were low, but his body was still sore and weak and just the thought of drinking the cube sent a queasy wave through his tanks.
"IV." he replied, "But not with those shaking hands of yours. I'd rather not have another ruptured vein."
Ratchet had been up all day and by then, he felt pretty tired and irritable - he concentrated on keeping his servos steady while he repaired Knock Out, but after all that, he did not have the strenght to do so anymore. He felt fatigued and the last thing he needed was some Decepticon rubbing his weakness in his face. His mouth pulled into a thin line and he threw the IV bag onto Knock Out's chest.
"Then do it yourself!" he growled forcefully and left the medbay muttering something under his breath. His steps seemed heavy as he dragged himself towards the personal quarters and Optimus sighed as he watched the scene. They had learnt over time not to mention any sign of weakness to Ratchet, especially not when he was in a bad mood.
"Throwing a tantrum again?" they heard Arcee ask as she pulled into the main room. She transformed back into her robot mode and walked into the main room.
Ratchet didn't even turn around. "I'm going to recharge." he grumbled.
"Ratchet-"
"What now, June?!" Ratchet snapped and whirled around to face the woman, "I'm really not in the mood for-"
"If you would be willing to grow up," June's voice cut the air like a diamond, it sent shivers through even Optimus, "I found something we could use, but I need you to check it."
Ratchet frowned and took a deep breath before walking up to the railing. His anger was reduced to a little bit of irritation now that exhaustion took its place again. "What is it?"
"A human analog."
June activated the datapad and gave it to the surprised mech. Ratchet's optics widened when he looked over the pictures and read the description June had gathered for him. His gaze became distant and the woman could almost hear his processor working at full speed, combining and calculating until a shrill voice from the medbay interrupted him.
"Would someone help me with this?!"
Ratchet rolled his optics and trudged back to the berth where Knock Out lay. He grabbed the IV bag from the Decepticon, muttering something about even his grand-carrier having a better aim, and struck the needle with the IV tube into the Aston Martin's arm. Knock Out winced, but didn't say anything this time. He was still weak and outnumbered and thought it would be better not to push his luck. The red mech wasn't stupid; he knew he had no chance of escaping with all of the Autobots around, and not even Soundwave could have detected his signal inside their Base. He was trapped and could do nothing about it - with a deep sigh, he lay his head back down on the berth.
"Who is that?" June asked quietly when she saw the red Decepticon.
"He is Knock Out," Optimus answered for him quietly, "the Decepticon's medic."
Said medic turned his helm towards them when he heard his name, but turned away immediately with a huff when he saw the two humans starring at him. Normally, he liked attention, but here it was different; he was a prisoner, something to be starred at - and by HUMANS at that. It was beyond humiliating, but he wouldn't let them see how uncomfortable he was, instead he just continued listening to their conversation.
Ratchet sat down on another berth and waved to June to come over. The nurse hurried into the medbay with Optimus and Arcee, and Bumblebee soon joined them, too. This crowd started to unnerve Knock Out, and he stubbornly kept his helm turned away from them. There was silence for a while until the old medic spoke with a quiet voice.
"So... it says this multiple sclerosis is an autoimmun disease," he said, still facing the datapad, but it was clear he was talking to June only, "that's when the body's immune system turns against the body itself."
"Yes, to put it simple." June replied, "Does something similar exist in Cybertronian medicine?"
"Yes." Ratchet nodded absently with a distant shine in his optics, "There had been cases when repair nanites turned against the body's own systems... but never the processor."
He stopped a little to think and Knock Out caught himself waiting for him to continue - he may have hated these robots, but he was still a medic and it started to sound morbidly interesting.
"A malfunction in the auto-repair center of the processor could modify the primary programming of the nanites." Ratchet murmured to himself, "But with Starshadow, it seemed her nanites weren't working at all, and we couldn't find any in her energon samples. We thought her auto-repair system stopped working, but that was not the case. In fact, we didn't see any damage in that part of the processor, it was located elsewhere. And... mine isn't damaged either."
"Maybe it's a hidden malfunction." June spoke up, "You said Starshadow got worse after each seizure. Maybe it's the nanites themselves-"
"-that wipe out the neurocircuits." Ratchet finished with a new wave of excitement on his face, "A glitch in the auto-repair center starts the seizure, but the repair nanites that are sent out to stop it or fix the damage disable the connection between the neurocircuits instead. Those are the blank spots on the pictures."
"But then," Arcee interrupted, "why aren't those blank spots on the auto-repair center?"
Ratchet thought for a while, never turning away from the datapad, "The muscolatory circuits twitch during a seizure, and those are controlled by the motor cortex - that's the area that is slowly wiped out. Starshadow's cognitive functions and memories were hardly affected... and that's the same with me."
At that moment, he turned sharply to June who was still standing next to him. "Do you have a method to induce seizure?"
Everyone starred at him in complete silence as if he had just told them Megatron would give up the war and join the Autobots. His question rang in the air for a long moment, and Optimus was the first to break the tension when he spoke; "But, Ratchet... you said Starshadow got worse with each seizure..."
Disbelief still lingered in his voice. He had known Ratchet for millions of stellar cycles and knew that the medic was willing to go to extremes if he was sure the action would save a life - he even used himself as a test subject when he experimented with that synthetic energon, but it was far more serious now. He deliberately wanted to make himself worse to find out what the problem was.
Bumblebee let out a soft whine-like sound and grabbed hold of Ratchet's arm. The medic sighed and patted the young scout's servo.
"Because this is just a theory," he answered the yellow mech's question, "and I need to prove it."
"By making yourself go into a seizure?" Arcee asked back angrily, but the anxiety was evident in her voice, "Like when you injected yourself with that Synth-En? Really bright, Ratchet, just make yourself sicker than you already are!"
"Arcee!" Optimus' voice was stern for once, a rare occasion that only occured when he himself could no longer restrain his distress, "There's no need to argue."
"Yes, because I'm going to do it anyway." Ratchet got up and walked over to wheel another monitor to the berth he was sitting on. He then turned back to June and asked her again, his tone sharper this time, "So? Do you have a method?"
"Well..." June began quietly, "There is a simple way to cause seizure. But I don't know if it will work on you."
"Try it." Ratchet ordered and sat back down on the berth.
"June-" Optimus was interrupted immediately by the nurse now standing by Ratchet's waist.
"I'm sorry, but I can't see any other way either."
"I need you to stay, Optimus." Ratchet told him, he was trying to make his voice sound gentler than earlier, "Arcee, Bumblebee, please go out. I don't want you to see this."
Arcee and Bumblebee looked at each other with a frown. The yellow scout unconsciously tightened his grip on Ratchet's arm, causing the medic to wince a little. He knew it was hard for him, but he couldn't think of anything else and as crazy as it may have sounded, he needed them to understand why he would choose such a drastic method. "It's merely for diagnostics." he said quietly, "It won't be long, and... I'll be fine."
Not as if you could control it, June thought, but bit her lips before she could say it out loud. She promised Ratchet she would help him in any way she could, and she knew it would be useless to argue with him. It was clear that desperation drove him to experiment on himself, but she was just as desperate to finally find out what was causing his illness.
"You're crazy." they all snapped their heads to the other berth where Knock Out lay. The Decepticon had been watching them for a while, but kept himself from talking so far. This he couldn't hold back any longer; whatever this condition was, he was sure the Autobot medic was losing his mind.
Why can he be here?, Bumblebee finally asked, though his attempt to put anger in his voice was feeble.
Ratchet sighed and turned to talk to Knock Out for the first time. "Ever seen a seizure, kiddo?"
The other medic frowned at being called that and opened his mouth to protest, but then pressed his lips tight and through gritted dentas he only said, "Depends."
"It's like a dying creature writhing in pain." Ratchet murmured and turned back to his comrades, "That's why I don't want you to watch this. Knock Out should have seen worse, I'm not afraid to break his little spark."
The Decepticon medic huffed and turned away again like a sulking child. This reminded June very much of Ratchet when he himself acted like a temperamental, immature youngling, but she kept herself from mentioning the similarities between the two mechs - Ratchet would never talk to her again if she compared him to a Decepticon.
"Don't worry," he gave Bumblebee's servo a squeeze, "I'm not offlining myself. I'll be alright."
Arcee folded her arms around her chassis, seemingly refusing to leave still; she then put a gentle hand on the scout's shoulder and led him out of the medbay. Ratchet sighed and turned back to Optimus.
"Do you still remember how to take energon sample?"
Optimus nodded quietly and walked over to a cabinet to take out an empty ampoule. He showed it to Ratchet and the medic smiled a little. "Good. You have to take a sample from me right after the seizure. Nanites will be flooding my veins and I need to analyse them."
While he was talking, Ratchet attached sensors to his helm and activated the monitor. It showed a steady wave with a few jumps here and there - then the picture moved upwards and below it appeared an image of a processor showing its inner workings. The tiny dark spots - now all of them knew they were groups of inactive neurocircuits - could be seen perfectly. "I set it to recording." Ratchet told them, "I hope it will show the source of the seizure."
The old medic sighed. "We could have never done this to Starshadow. One more seizure could have killed her instantly."
Knock Out found himself no longer able to resist looking towards them. He still had a hard time believing that this mech would deliberately hurt himself just to find out what was making him sick and save his own life - he was either brilliantly brave or gravely stupid. The 'con was sure he would never do such a thing to himself, rather have someone else suffer for his benefit; it was just the way he did everything. Knock Out never gave a second thought to such a thing, but to see an act like this confused him. The human, who he thought must have been a medic of some sort, too, seeing the amount of trust Ratchet had in her, seemed willing help him, and even the big and mightly Optimus Prime stayed to aide him in causing himself harm.
Self-sacrifice for the sake of... the truth? To help?
Ratchet lay down on the berth on his side and Optimus positioned himself above him - he held down the medic's arm and waist gently. The almost emotionlessly serious Prime couldn't hide a worried frown that told June he must have been in just as much distress as Bumblebee was. But he was stronger, needed to be strong for Ratchet's sake. They had been friends for eons, he knew he was the only one Ratchet trusted enough to witness the weaknesses of his body and hold him down during the seizure. He knew Optimus would never refuse to help him, even if he disagreed with the idea first.
June kneeled down next to Ratchet's helm and pulled out her keys from her pocket. She had a flashlight keychain that she hardly ever used and sighed. Ratchet frowned a little when he saw it, but said nothing - he had learnt not to underestimate the humans and just hoped June's method would work on him. There was no going back now.
The woman put a hand on the medic's warm metal face, caressing it softly that sent pleasent shivers down Ratchet's backstrut.
"Are you sure?" she asked one more time, her eyes met Ratchet's optics.
"Yes."
She nodded and held the flashlight to the mech's optics and started rapidly switching it on and off. Nothing happened for a while and Ratchet started to get irritated. He held back a sigh though, but when he wanted to tell June to stop flashing the light into his optic because it was useless, he felt himself growing dizzy and light-headed. There was a light squeeze in his vents that just grew stronger, however, he lost consciousness before he could think of anything else.
When June saw the medic's optics roll back as his vents forced the air out of his systems in a high, groaning wheeze, she jumped away and climbed down from the berth and went to the computer. The waves on the upper monitor jumped frantically and a light spot shone up on the picture of the processor - light waves spread from that source at blinding speed and then, tiny sparkles flooded Ratchet's brain and finally concentrated on the area where June knew the blank spots were.
"The nanites..." she whispered and turned back to Ratchet. The mech's body was still convulsing and Optimus was doing his best to hold him without hurting him. The Prime, though he knew what was happening now, still felt fear clutch his spark as his old friend kept writhing violently under his hands.
He looked up in hope to meet Knock Out's optics - he caught the Decepticon's gaze. Knock Out's own red optics still shone with shock and he saw a strong emotion in those bright blue eyes of the other, pleading to him to understand why they needed his help.
Ratchet calmed down slowly and his body went limp. The Autobot leader still didn't let go of him, it was June who snapped him back to reality.
"Optimus," she called to him gently, "take the sample."
The large mech nodded and carefully struck the think needle into an energon vein on Ratchet's neck. June turned back to the monitors; the nanites still sparkled on the picture, though they weren't flickering as rapidly as before - and in their wake, the blank spot in the medic's processor grew significantly.
It took longer for Ratchet to regain consciousness this time. He online his optics with a groan and attempted to tear off the sensors from his helm. His movements were shaky and hurried as he pushed himself up.
"Bucket." he groaned out.
Optimus grabbed the nearest bucket and held it up for the medic as his tanks forced the raw energon out of his system. His cooling fans started whirring while he purged and he vented violently once he was finished to cool down his overheating systems. He was grateful to Optimus for holding him still as he sat hunched over the bucket, breathing heavily, his tanks still rolling. Ratchet's whole body was trembling like crazy, but he found the strenght after a while to speak.
"So... it was successful?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yes." June answered him, "The computer recorded everything and the sample is ready."
"Freeze it." Ratchet croaked out, "I'll analyse it tomorrow."
He coughed, but his tanks slowly calmed down and he put the bucket away. The medic leant back against Optimus' chest and looked at Knock Out with dim optics.
"I hope you don't need help with taking that infusion out." he grumbled and the Decepticon turned away. He completely forgot about his own pain and the energon drip still in his arm. Knock Out couldn't say anything and did not turn back again to look at the two Autobots.
"Could you help me back to my quarters?" Ratchet asked Optimus, his voice quiet and weak, and the Prime lifted him up carefully. June looked after them as they strode slowly towards the personal quarters.
She hoped dearly that it was all worth it in the end.