Uff sorry for the delay! My bunny died so I was stuck T.T
Well, enjoy!
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astrosecond: Cybertronian .498 Earth seconds
breem: Cybertronian 8.3 Earth minutes
cycle: Cybertronian Earth hour
megacycle: 12 Earth hour
klick: Cybertronian: Cybertronian Earth minute
nano-klik: Cybertronian Earth second
jour: Cybertronian Earth day
orn: Cybertronian 13 Earth days
vorn: Cybertronian 83 Earth years
solar cycle: Cybertronian Earth year
Ironhide winced as another dent was popped. No matter how gentle and careful one was, popping out dents would always be either uncomfortable or a bit painful. And the grey mech had to admit that the new med bot was being very careful and the yellow youngling seemed to only be in a bit of discomfort.
This surprised him a great deal. Almost all the med bots that had come to this school had been abusive and didn't really care about the younglings. There had been some med bots from the clinic who did truly want to help. But the youngling's fear of medics quickly had them plotting to get the med bots to leave. And of course, those pit spawned twins from the third sphere didn't help matters at all.
He watched the med bot work. When Orion had told him the new med bot (and this was the only thing he had told him), was from the Upper Levels, Ironhide had expected to meet a snobby stuck up mech who wouldn't survive the jour. But Ultra Magnus had said this new mech was different. And different he was. When the director had left, Mendless (and Primus how he hated that mech), had started trying to tell Ratchet off, trying to make him submit to his will. Surprisingly, the only thing that earned him was a rather loud and long lecture that had Mendless running for his office.
He chuckled, remembering that moment. That small performance had earn the medic a little of his respect. There weren't many that dared to put up with the medical assistant,
"Primus youngling, some of these dents are orns old! Have you got nothing better to do then to get yourself kicked around?" Ratchet asked irritably as he worked on a dent on his back, though Ironhide noticed a bit of hidden concern in his expression. Tilting his head to study the medic better, he wondered what mask was the real one.
Bumblebee jumped at that, shocked. He turned a little to be able to see the med bot's face. "How did you know these dents are from being kicked?"
Ratchet sighed, angry at how this youngling had been treated. "Don't get too attached." He reminded himself. "I bet almost all the younglings are in a similar state or worse." The thought made him ill but at the same time more determined that coming here had been the right thing to do.
"I just know." He responded not really wanting to get into the difference of how a dent looked like or the depth it had from a kick, punch or from a weapon.
"Oh." Bumblebee thought for a second and then, smiling he brought his arm up and pointing at a dent on his forearm. "Can you tell how I got this."
Ratchet glared at the youngling. "It's not funny." He said seriously, though seeing the sad pout on the yellow bot he relented. "Probably when you were hit with something long and thin."
Bumblebee clapped his servos together amused. "You're good." He said. He had seen a lot of medics in his time. A lot. And most of them hadn't even been able to tell a dent from a scrap.
Ironhide watched silently impressed by the medic's knowledge and character. He seemed to truly want to help though his manners were a bit lacking. He was no fool, he could see all the snark remarks he had wanted to throw at the youngling but had controlled himself.
His optics turned to the yellow youngling. He fought to understand the sudden urge to protect him. He barely knew the mechlet though he had caught glimpses of the bot being bullied several times. Not only that, but he looked strangely familiar. But…. nah it wasn't possible.
"Do you have any life threatening injuries I should know of?" Ironhide was interrupted in his thoughts by the medic's words. Crossing his arms he smirked at the medic. "What? Cant' you tell?" He asked teasingly.
Glaring at the slightly larger and bulkier mech, he ran his optics from his helm to his pedes and with a frustrated sigh went back to popping the youngling's dents while speaking in a casual manner.
"Your right knee joint needs replacement, you hip joint is dislocated which is why you walk with a slight yet almost undetectable limp. Your left shoulder plate twitches once in a while which means you have a bunch of circuits caught against something, no doubt you rammed into or were rammed by someone. Apart from some minor dents and cuts here and there, your right cannon is malfunctioning, the scorch marks melting with your paint-job are a proof of that." He looked up from an opened mouth, wide optic youngling to stare at a shocked and gaping Ironhide. Ratchet couldn't help the smug grin that decided to grace his features.
"Pit, it wouldn't surprise me if you needed a full maintenance check."
Ironhide shook himself awake from the sheer shock of being told his injured right down to the last scratch. Oh this medic wasn't good. He was exceptional. Not that he'd say something like that out loud. He had a reputation to keep as the bad ass mech of the school thank you very much.
"Oh? So what are you gong to do about it huh? Medic." He said with a challenging tone.
Ratchet glared at him and realized that this mech was probably very hard to deal with in every aspect.
"Just what I need." He thought tiredly.
"I'm going to treat you of course."
"Ha! Fat chance I let you near me med bot!"
Bumblebee looked at both mechs noticing the tension growing and shrank a little into himself. He was used into getting caught in the crossfire of older mech's fights but, this time one of the mechs was Ironhide. And Bumblebee did not want to get caught in the middle of one of the explosions of the mech's cannons. And Ratchet seemed to be pretty though. For a med bot. No. He did not want to be stuck in the middle of this fight.
"Um, Ironhide? Don't you have class to go to?" He asked tentatively trying to get the mechs to cool down.
Ironhide and Ratchet kept on the glaring contest. Before the grey mech smirked making the medic frown.
"Ya know. I've seen a lot of med bots in my time-"
"I hadn't noticed you were that old." Ratchet cutoff snorting. Bumblebee tried to stifle a laugh but didn't manage it. Though the second his optics met Ironhide's he went quiet. He did not want to die.
The grey mech glared at the medic for interrupting him. "I was gonna say that ya seemed different and all but ah'm starting ta think that ya'll med bots are all cranky nannybots."
Ratchet froze. "Nannybot?"
"Ya heard meh."
"You got some nerve calling me a nannybot when you're older then me!"
Ironhide stood straighter and glared. Both mechs stood, never taking their optics off of the other. Bumblebee could practically feel the energy daggers they were throwing at each other. He tried to make himself as small as possible on the medical berth, trying to get his systems to quiet down. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see that Ironhide would want to fight the new med bot. He was known for getting into fights. The only difference was,that this was the first time he was literally in the middle of it.
Ironhide's cannons powered up, rotating a bit. Ratchet, raising an optic ridge merely grabbed one of his wrenched making the grey mech look at him questioningly.
Too distracted trying to stare the other down, they didn't notice when the bulky form of Mendless came back into the room.
Bumblebee tensed as the shadow of the massive mech loomed over him. Slowly in turned to look at the dark purple mech.
"He- hello Mend- Mendless." He stuttered quietly. Starscream and his trine, he could deal with. They were cowards and even if they liked to treat him as a ball, they didn't inflict the same fear that Mendless did.
"What are you still doing here runt? Get out unless you want some nice cuts to go with you pain." He said sneering. To make his point, his left arm change and twisted until several sharp items appeared.
Bumblebee wilted and was about to bolt when there was a resounding 'clang`followed by a curse and surprised scream.
Mendless, Bumblebee and Ironhide stood shocked at what had just happened. The medic… had just thrown the wrench he was holding at Mendless helm with perfect aim.
Now Ironhide understood what that had been his 'weapon of choice' during their small battle of wills.
"Don't you get off that berth youngling! You are not leaving until I have you fully repaired." Ratchet came up to the youngling, gently making him lie down on the med berth. He frowned as he noticed that the small mech was trembling.
"And you." The power of his glare had to be the most powerful of all glares the mechs in the room had ever seen. Even Ironhide, grumbling about being interrupted from his optic match, was impressed. Mendless even found himself taking a step back, servo still rubbing his sore and dented helm, almost disbelievingly.
"I thought I told you before. Don't ever threaten or mistreat a youngling in front of me, I'll have your backstruts."
Ironhide stood back watching silently. He had to give the mech credit. Even some mechs from the seventh sphere were intimidated by Mendless. To see the med bot not only protect the yellow youngling, but to also threaten and stare down the other mech, and Primus throw a wrench! …. Yep, Ratchet had officially earned Ironhide's full respect.
He had to chuckle to himself at that. There weren't many mechs that held Ironhie's respect. Orion was one no doubt about that. Then there was Ultra Magnus, pit did the mech earn his respect from day one. Trying to keep an organized system to maintain the younglings integrated and coming to school and staying sane at the same time. The mech was a saint.
It took a click for Mendless to gather his thoughts. Glaring at Ratchet, he took a few menacing steps forward, making Bumblebee sit up in fear and try to get off the berth again. This time Ratchet didn't stop him. He knew he wouldn't just be able to threaten the other and 'boom' everything would be just dandy. He knew blows would be exchanged and he didn't want the already damaged youngling in the way.
Already having rounded the med berth, Mendless towered over the medic, but Ratchet stood his ground. Trembling in fear for both himself the the new medic whom he had come to trust in the small timeframe they had met, an unusual feat, Bumblebee looked around to see if there was somewhere to run or something he could use as a weapon. He almost jumped when he saw Ironhide coming over. He'd completely forgotten the even bulkier and menacing looking mech.
Ironhide had patiently waited a few paces away as he saw both powers clash. The CMO VS the assistant. Seeing Mendless intentions to 'put Ratchet in his place', he quickly studied the medic's frame. There didn't seem to be any weapons hidden in the mech's armor except for a few medical tools that 'could' be used to do some harm, as recently proven. His armor wasn't strong enough to be useful in a battle. But in a sane world, why would a medic need one?
Mendless spared a glance at Ironhide's direction before ignoring him completely as he stared into Ratchet's, frustratingly fearless, optics with hate.
"Watch yourself Ratchet. You do not belong here and your Upper Level's ideals are trash! There is only one rule down here, if you're not strong enough to survive, you don't deserve to live."
Bumblebee gulped at that, knowing just too well the Lower Level's rule. How he wished his had been sparked with a bigger and stronger frame.
Ratchet fell his anger raising. To imply such a thing in front of him. His scans showed him the youngling behind him was scared out of his processor. He growled, anger rushing through his circuits.
"Now you listen here. I've already told you but it seems your processor must be glitching if don't remember. I am CMO here, what I say goes, who I deem 'worthy' of living is my decision, and if you think you can threaten me to submit to you then you are deadly mistaken. I don't care if you have all those nasty weapons hidden in your armor, I don't care if you are bigger and stronger then me, this is my med bay and in here I am the alpha. So unless you have something useful to say or do, leave immediately." The pure anger he saw in the medic's optics was more powerful then his seething words. For a moment, Mendless doubted. It would be so easy to hurt this mech. He had done it with the medics that had come before this one. Why did he hesitant to lift his servo against this one?
Confused and angry, Mendless, against all his instincts, charged a the medic.
It all happened fast. Bumblebee screamed in fright and ran for cover under one of the med berths. Ratchet, even if he had expected it it had come us a surprise, tried to dodge but there was not enough room, as he found out when his back hit the wall.
Cursing, he prepared himself as best as he could to take the impact, his optics didn't leave those of Mendless, defiant to the end. Raising his arms to lower the damage the impact would no doubly make to his thin armor, Ratchet was surprised when the purple mech seemed to throw himself to the side, crashing into the med berth Bumblebee had been and, sending it crashing into the one next to it along side Mendless.
Surprised and shocked, Ratchet just stared, his arms still raised.
"Fraggin' glitch! Should just shoot ya and end everyone's suffering!"
Ratchet's surprised optics turned to see Ironhide coming to stand beside him, cannon's cracking.
The grey mech cursed some more before turning to look at the medic and smirked at his gapping face.
"What? Forgot 'bout me already?" He teased.
"You- you-" Ratchet knew he should probably thank the mech for, and he was only going to think it once, saving him but, as he watched Mendless try to get up and groaning in pain, the medic in him overtook that knowledge.
"You moron!" Now it was Iornhide's turn to be confused. "Now I have to fix him too!"
"What! I just- You ungrateful glitch!"
"Ungreatful! You just gave me more work! Why on Cybertron should I be grateful!"
While the two mechs bickered, Bumblebee slowly came out of his hiding place behind his seniors completely shocked about what had just happened. He looked back and forth at the two mechs and slowly, a smile came to his face.
"That-"
Both mechs stopped, starring at the smaller bot questioningly. "That was awesome! " He cried, smile wide and optics shining.
"Wow I can't wait to tell the others about this! Wow Ironhide that punch was incredible!"
The grey mech smirked, glad to see that someone at least appreciated what he had done. Ratchet on the other servo was not amused. So the youngling thought that violence was awesome. Great.
A sudden sound to metal grinding against metal caught their attention. The looked back to stare dispassionately at Mendless as he finally managed to get up. His helm was dented form Ratchet's dent and his left arm was smashed, courtesy of Iornhide's punch.
"Why you.." He groaned. "You'll pay for this! Both of you! I'll make sure that you'll never be able to walk again!" As he continued to throw threats, both Ironhide and Ratchet looked at each other. An understanding seemed to pass between the two. Ironhide had always hated Mendless but he had never dared to touch the mech. Not because he was scared. But because he knew if he were allowed free reign he'd end up killing the framer, and until now, said framer was the only one that knew how to tend to serious injuries. Now though, there was a new CMO, one that was actually a medic and who gave a damn about the younglings.
There was no need for Mendless.
After a small moment of staring, Ironhide gave a small definitive nod, one Ratchet returned with gratitude. As one, they turned ready to show Mendless what and where he could put all his threats.
"Alright youngling, you're good to go. Here, this is a pass you can give to your professor so he knows you were here. Though…" He turned to look at the grey mech. "I have no clue if I should give you one."
"Why not!"
"Oh I don't know." Was the sarcastic response as the medic trend to look at the med bay's walls, where there were several scorch marks.
Glaring at the bilker mech Ratchet dared him to say anything. Ironhide had the decency to look sheepish.
"Aww well, least we got rid of that good fer nothing."
"Yeah! Now we can come here and not get kicked! I'm going to tell everyone!" Bumblebee cried excitingly.
Ratchet huffed but couldn't fight the small tug at the corner of his mouth. Smirking, Ironhide knew that things would be better from now on. Then the thought hit him.
"Slag… the twins." He thought with a groan.
"You are late." Professor Preceptor said.
Grumbling, Ironhide decided it wasn't worth making up an excuse and so just walked tot he back of the class, where his seat was. Thankfully, he shared this class with Orion. Let the gossip start.
Sighing, Preceptor went back to his teachings.
::What are we seeing now?:: He asked his friend tiredly over their comm-link.
Chuckling, Orion passed him his datapad knowing Ironhide would copy it's contents to his own. But he didn't care about that right now.
::Where were you?::
::Med bay, met the new med bot.:: He couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face.
::Oh?:: Orion raised an optic ridge at that, suddenly very curious as to what could have happened.
:: He's got a good spark::
::That's it?::
::Yup. Oh and we managed to get rid of Mendless.::
Preceptor stopped his lecture once again to glare lightly at Orion as his arm seemed to suddenly slip of the desk, causing his datapad to fall to the ground. The rest of the class turned to see what had happened, surprised that Orion would interrupt the class. It was usually Ironhide that caused the teacher's wrath.
"Sorry Professor, won't happen again." He said embarrassed.
"Please keep it that way." Replied tiredly Preceptor. Then, after asking if anyone had something to add to his class, he went back to his lecture.
::What you mean you got rid of Mendless?:: He glared at the smirk plastered on his friend's faceplate.
::Oh don't worry, you'll learn soon enough. A younling form the first sphere is no doubt spreading the tale, I want to see how long before it reached our sphere.::
::Younglin?:: He asked perplexed before another though caught his interest. ::Wait, what were you doing in the med bay?::
Sighing, loudly, which earned him a fiercer glare from Preceptor, Ironhide told his friend everything, sending him some video files so he could see for himself how Ratchet had, and how he loved to replay that file, thrown a wrench at the assi- ex-assistant. The grey mech had no doubt that the youngling would be spreading the same files.
Orion had to keep himself from chuckling as he saw exactly what they did to Mendless so he would leave one and for all. Magnus was going to love him.
::Very nice.:: He commented as he finished viewing the file. ::Although I am now more excited to meet the new med bot. Hmm…::
::What?::
::I just wonder how he and Wheeljack became friends, they seem to contrat with each other.::
::Wheeljack? What's he got to do with this?::
::Didn't I tell you?:: Orion asked teasingly, knowing his friend was upset with him withholding information.
::No.: He deadpanned.
::Hmm let's see, where to start?::
Okay here it is? Are you all curious about what happened? Don't worry, you'll know. Next chapter: Gossip, Rumors and Bets
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