I'm in a good mood so I posted early.

Literally just finished this chapter.

I just had my birthday on the 22nd so i'm posting a chapter for both my FF.

anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, I needed the support about my 3rd person writing. Ehh, I will already warn you, I might switch back to 1st person at some point. But I will warn you in advance.

and on with ch 4!


"You needed me though?" Ratchet asked, walking over. Chrome nodded, returning to the work table he had been at.

"I've rebuilt both his entire pelvis region and shoulder socket." Chrome said, gesturing to the table. Ratchet stared at it in shock. It was nearly complete. Only a few sections of the main support struts were visible as multicolored wiring, tubing and various pistons and motor relays made up the rest of the rough frame.

"When did you do this?" Ratchet ask, his optics going over every detail. It was rough, very rough, but it would work.

"Soon as you left." Chrome said with a shrug. "It needed to be done. But I want you to help me start welding it to the rest of his frame."

"Really?" Ratchet asked, surprised.

"Yes. It is easier with two mechs and it's even easier when both mechs know what they are doing." Chrome said, his engine rumbling slightly in annoyance. He shook his helm sharply, turning back to Ratchet.

"You ever done something like this?" He asked.

"Again, not this serious. I've done limbs before but not half a mech's side." Ratchet replied.

"No time like the present." Chrome said in a way to cheery voice, scooping up the half-frame and walking away. Ratchet followed after him, wondering why on Cybertron he was suddenly in a good mood.

"Good news, I finished your side. Better news, the kid here is gonna help me put you back together." Chrome said, walking over to Dusty. To Ratchet's surprise, Dusty's faceplates split into a grin.

"Ahh. You ever put a mech back together?" Dusty asked, watching a very nervous Ratchet.

"Nothing this serious." Ratchet confessed, wondering what the Pit he had missed.

"Trust me, if you're gonna learn on one of us, I'm the best mech for the job." Dusty said, still grinning. Nervously, Ratchet glanced between the two grinning mechs. He didn't want to say anything because both mechs were freaking him out a little. Especially because Chrome had just chucked him against a wall.

"You really need to calm down before you glitch on me or something." Chrome muttered, still with a smirk. "Dusty is the only mech that will allow me to put him into stasis for repairs. Sterling will if you bribe him, Axil if you threaten him and Jigsaw of you whack him over the helm hard enough." Chrome explained.

"Hey!" Said mech yelled from his berth down the hall.

"That's the truth and you know it!" Chrome yelled back as laughter from the two other conscious mechs greeted Chrome's statement.

"Not my fault you had to take my fragging legs off!" Jigsaw protested as his fellow miners laughed.

"Ah mute it about your legs already." An annoyed voice growled, Ratchet recognised him as Scavenger.

"And I won't offline you if you screw up the first time." Dusty added with a smirk as the miners continued their argument in the background.

"And he won't offline you if you screw up." Chrome confirmed. Ratchet nodded in understanding even as the scarred mech took a needle from subspace. He injected the contents into the IV in Dusty's side.

"See ya in the morning." Chrome said simply as Dusty's optics went dark and his servo went slack.

"So what's the first thing you need to do?" Chrome asked. It took a moment for Ratchet to realise he was being spoken too.

"Huh?" He asked stupidly.

"You're taking the lead in this. Like Dusty said, he won't kill you if you screw up." Chrome said, almost all humor gone and the same kind of concentration that Ratchet saw at the mine collapse back in place. Ratchet stared at Chrome.

"You're serious?" He asked. Chrome didn't respond. "You are serious." With another sideways glance at his mentor, he took another cautious step toward Dusty, running his own medical grade scans over him.

"The first thing is to make sure the patient is stable, but you already took care of that as well as sealing off all the energon lines in his side and rerouting them back into his frame." Ratchet muttered, half to himself and he walked past Chrome to get a better look.

"Why." Chrome asked. Ratchet glanced at him surprised. Then Dusty's words came back to him. Chrome was still testing him.

"Because he needs to be moved to a flat surface like an operating table so that we can make sure that everything lines up like his joints and such." Ratchet said.

"Good. Because I've already worked on him, I know that if we just pick him up there will not be any more internal damage then there is already. Most mechs…" He trailed off.

"You have to use a stretcher in case there is more internal damage then we know of." Ratchet finished.

"Correct. Then let's move him." Chrome said, already walking up beside Ratchet to take Dusty's bad side. Ratchet obediently went to the other, sliding his arms under Dusty shoulder plating and under his knee joint. Chrome also slid his arms under Dusty, but taking the greater weight of his chassis. The two slowly made their way to the slightly more private operating table and gently set him down.

"Now what?" Chrome asked, taking a step back to allow Ratchet to resume his task.

"Before attaching the new frame, make sure that the patient is immobilized and his pain relays and his pressure grid are disconnected. And…making sure that all the exposed support struts that we will be welding the new frame to are clean and already prepped." Ratchet was literally going over a mental checklist.

"Why immobilise him." Chrome quizzed. Ratchet answered without even thinking.

"Because when attaching a new limb if the patient wasn't immobilized they might react to the procedure even though they are in stasis."

"In simple terms, so we don't get a ped in the faceplates." Chrome muttered quietly enough that Ratchet almost missed it. Chrome walked over to the counter he had set the new frame on and brought it back, setting it beside Dusty on the operating table.

"I've already gone over everything because I made it. Again, under normal circumstances what would need to be done?"

"Double check the new part in case the technicians missed something or there needs to be a modification that the tecks' didn't know about. Also in case they screwed up and something is medically wrong with the new part." Ratchet replied.

"Correct again. So what's the next step?" Chrome said, watching Ratchet.

"We need the right tools because we can't carry them all in our subspace."

"Good. Tools are in the third cabinet on the left. Go get what you think you'll need." Chrome ordered and Ratchet scurried off. He pulled the cabinet open, mentally going over the tools that he had used to reattach that leg on what's-his-faceplate back at the Academy. He grabbed what he needed before walking back over to Chrome.
"Good. The new part is correct, you have your tools and the patient is stable and ready." Chrome said before he finally walked up beside Ratchet.

"As I said before, this is a two mech job. But you are still taking the lead, just tell me what you think I should be doing." Chrome said. But this close to Ratchet he knew the instant Ratchet's anxiety kicked in.

"Oh no no no no no. Not a chance am I taking the lead on this." Ratchet sputtered, taking a step back and staring at Chrome like he had grown another helm.
"And why not?" Chrome asked, arms crossed over his chassis.

"Because it's not my place! The medics at the Academy would never let me take the lead in an operation I've never done before. Even if they were right there." Ratchet said. "Maybe on a drone but not-"

"What about at the mines? You did fine there. Even when you had to stabilise Dusty by yourself and you turned Sterling into a living IV drip." Chrome demanded.
"That-that-that-that was different!" Ratchet insisted, "I was running off of instinct!"

"Instinct. So why can't you run off of instinct now?" Chrome asked.

"Because…what if I mess up? What if I do something wrong?" Ratchet muttered, looking very miserable. Chrome exvented with a sigh.
"In case you've forgotten kid, this isn't the Academy. Those stiffs you call medics would glitch at the sight of this place." Chrome said. "I am no Academy medic. I won't let you screw up and besides. How will you learn anything new if you're too scared to do your job?"

Ratchet glanced up nervously.
"But-?"

"No buts. Get your aft over here and let's do this. If you're so skittish, I will take the lead for now until I think you can handle it. Ok?" Chrome asked. Ratchet nodded and stepped back over, making sure that he was now on Chrome's left side so he could take the lead.

"The first thing you need to do to is re-weld the support struts. Everything is attacked to that frame and if it's not done right, you're screwed." Chrome said, as he shifted the new frame right up against Dusty's shredded side. Chrome's right servo turning into a welding torch even as he aligned one of the support struts in the new frame to the matching strut on Dusty. Ratchet's optics instantly went darker as the bright light from the welding torch lit up the medbay. After a kilck Chrome was done, his own optics brightening again.

"The welds will obviously be hot so make sure that none of the wiring or circuitry gets toasted." Chrome said as he went to work re-welding the rest of the new frame to Dusty. By that time the first weld had cooled and Chrome ground it down so that it was smooth. He did the same to the other struts before glancing at Ratchet.

"The next thing is we reattach the motor relays. I'll do the first but then you're taking over." Chrome said and Ratchet nodded nervously. It was a simple task to splice the new wiring for the pistons and motor relays into Dusty's already existing wiring system. Ratchet hesitantly took over but as soon as he started, the procedures came back to him and he finished in no time.

"Keep going." Chrome said when Ratchet hesitated. The young medic took a deep vent before he went to work on the energon lines. Making sure that Dusty was on a fast IV drip so that his systems didn't crash as the energon already in his frame was dispersed to the new half of his frame he started replacing the sealed tubing for new ones. The lines would run the energon to the pistons and relays as well as his bracer subspace, weapons and tools when Chrome got around to finish making Dusty a new arm and leg. He was hesitant to ask Chrome for another set of servo but almost as if sensing his nervousness, Chrome was right beside him to help. The next was the pressure grid. It was a bit more difficulty but with a little help from his mentor he got the complex circuitry wired in. The last and most difficult was the pain relays. Screw up on that and the patient would either be completely numb or in extreme pain. Again, Ratchet hesitated, his servos still inside Dusty.

"What?" Chrome asked, in a similar position.

"I can't. Not pain relays." Ratchet said, the anxiety coming back full force. He had failed the first test at the Academy and even though he had studied hard for the retake and aced it, he was still nervous.

"Understandable. The two most annoying things to work on are wings, whether they be doorwings or seeker wings, and re-wiring pain relays. You did good. Now, pay attention. I will only show you once." Chrome said before turning his attention back to Dusty. Again, the procedure was simple enough, but it was very stressful for the young apprentice.

"And that is how you put a mech back together." Chrome said as once again Ratchet took over to do the final bit of work. "Was that so bad?" He asked.

"No, it was actually a bit enjoyable." Ratchet confessed, still focused on Dusty.

"Good. It should be. If a mech doesn't love his job then why the Pit is he doing it." Chrome growled as he started gathering up the energon covered tools they had used and walking into the shop to clean them.

"When will he come out of stasis?" Ratchet asked as he pulled back. He was actually impressed with the job he had done.

"Whenever I pull him out. I usually do it as soon as medically possible so that I can hurry up and get everyone out of my fragging medbay." Chrome answered, as Ratchet walked over.

"So about a cycle then? Just so that his systems can finish syncing with his new side?" Ratchet asked.

"And so that his systems don't crash from the lack of energon. That drip needs to be gone before I pull Dusty out." Chrome clarified, filling a sink with soapy cleaning solution. "So yeah, about a cycle."

"Do you need anything else done?" Ratchet ask, watching as Chrome started scrubbing at the tools.

"No, don't think so. The only other conscious mechs here are Battleship, Scavenger and Jigsaw. But they have missing legs so they can't walk out of here." Chrome said, pausing and glancing out the door frame at the medbay. "Go home and get some recharge. You still look horrible from yester-cycle." Chrome said with a smirk when Ratchet snorted.

"You should have seen the look on my roommates faceplates when I got home looking like slag. That was funny." Ratchet said as he turned to leave. A stray thought, one that he had been meaning to ask Chrome but had forgotten in the mayhem of yester-cycle, suddenly came to the front of his processor.

"Hey Chrome?" Ratchet asked, turning back into the shop for a klick.

"Yeah kid?" Chrome answered as he rinsed a set of pliers off.

"Can I ask you a strange question?"

Chrome smirked.

"What do you want kid?" He asked.

"Do you know a mech named Drillbit?" Ratchet asked, watching Chrome.

XXxxXX

"Do you know a mech named Drillbit?"

"Chrome!"

"Let him go you fraggers!"

"Pit-spawn!"

Chrome's servos went numb and he dropped the pliers back into the cleaning solution. He spat a curse as it splashed solution over the counters and him.

"No…No I haven't heard of him. Why?" He asked, turning to face the young medic. He was watching Chrome with concern in his optics.

"Just…wondering." Ratchet trailed off as he turned and walked away. As soon as he was gone Chrome shuttered his optics, leaning on the counter heavily as his legs threatened to give way. A million thoughts raced through his processor, the memories replaying themselves before his shuttered optics. He had wiped that name from his processor vorns ago.

Dark green mech with a smile

He thought he had. But that fragging apprentice had to open his mouth!

A smile turned to a cry of pain.

How the fragging Pit did he know about Drillbit?!

A cry for help kicked back by a single sentence.

No...He swore he would never forget him.

We don't want your kind!

With an almost ferial snarl from his engines he swiped his arm over the counter, throwing everything to the floor in a loud crash.

Energon covered servos, and five lifeless frames.

"Primus Chrome! What the Pit was that?!" Axil yelled but Chrome ignored him. Fraggin pit spawn apprentice! If he knew the truth! Chrome froze. If Ratchet knew… he couldn't even finish the thought as a single energon tear slid down his faceplates and he slid to the floor, his back to the counter as he pulled his legs up against his chassis. His helm dropped to his knee joints as he wept silently. No…Ratchet must never know the truth.


And more of Chrome's dark past. Fraggin liar.

Brownies to anyone who can tell me who Drillbit is! Yes he is important and no you do not get to find out who he is for a long time. But he's important!

ahh...right!

There will be a bit of a time jump coming up and I will warn yo once again, you will see a lot of time jumps because I want to get to the 'good' part where Ratchet is actually a part of the Autobot cause.

DONT PANIC YET! It will still be a long time before the War starts don't forget at this point in everyone's lives, Megatron is 9 and not quite ready to take over the planet.

Ha. Funny picture. 9-year old Megatron taking over the universe. *snicker*

Anywhoo!

See you all in a week or if I'm not busy I will try and post again on Thursday.

Till then!

2211Nigthawk