Hi everybody! I had a freakin' great weekend! I had won a couple of tickets off a radio contest to see Pentatonix at the Resch center in Green Bay and it was awesome! I took my mom, we got in our seats and I found out that both Citizen Queen and Rachel Platten. I didn't know that off hand so like, yeah, bonus! XD

As for the story in this chapter, we actually dive into a little of Silvia's past, and even find out a few things about Ratchet… And a few surprises towards the end… Oooooo…

No special shout outs here, but don't let that discourage you from leaving a comment or asking questions in the reviews. I love to hear from my readers!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any stocks, trades, or licensing from the Transformers franchise. All rights are reserved for HASBRO entertainment.

MERCY

Chapter 23.3

Autobots: Ratchet and Optimus; Silvia

Six days after Ratchet was brought back to the base, the old Bot was feeling well enough to go back to work. Optimus tried to offer him more time to rest, but the medic didn't just find strength to get back on his pedes, he also found enough energy to become his stubborn self again. He didn't want to worry his bond mate though, and he encouraged the Prime to go on his patrol duties early. Once he was gone Ratchet headed straight to the main area. He was still achy and sore, and it was very apparent on his faceplate when he walked down the corridors. He would occasionally wince and quietly grunt when he stepped down the wrong way, but soon Ratchet found his pattern. It wasn't a graceful entrance to his workstation, but he was proud of himself when he finally limped over to his console. First thing he did was write his experiences on the Synth-N in his log, or at least everything he could still remember. Everything that had happened felt like a dream in the end. Nothing seemed to have really happen and he would've believed it was all a delusion if it wasn't for the pain in his chassis being a constant reminder.

He was nearly halfway through his note taking when he heard a sudden clattering sound to the side of his helm. It had come from the couch on the upper landing, and he realized the noise was a clipboard sliding out of Silvia's hand. Ratchet didn't even notice the ebony haired woman sleeping on the sofa, and he wasn't quite sure how he really felt about it. He knew the two of them would eventually run into each other again sooner or later, but part of the medic was really hoping it would be later… Much later. But she was also asleep for now, so he could just ignore her until she woke up. Let Silvia rest and come back later to talk things through… In another six days or so.

"No…" The ebony haired woman moaned, alerting Ratchet back to his awareness of her. He noticed right away that she was still dreaming and was only talking in her sleep. Onward she mumbled and even began to toss and turn. "Mmm… N-no… Ratchet… Ratchet…!"

"Silvia?" The white mech slowly crept over to the opposite side of the landing and gently rested his servo over the edge of the high rise. "Silvia? Can you hear me?"

"No… D-Don't leave…!" Silvia began to cry. "Not again…! Ratchet…! Joshua…!"

That name again. The sound of it vibrated through Ratchet's mind when he remembered it was the last thing he heard before he fell unconscious. Who is Joshua? What does he have to do with the medic at all? Of course, before he could ask Silvia anything, he needed to wake her up first, and he made the decision at just the right moment. Carefully, Ratchet nudged two of his digits on the back of the couch and slowly rocked his knuckles between the cushioning and metal railing behind it. All the while Silvia continued to toss and turn through her nightmare.

"Silvia? Wake up." The white mech whispered but gradually raised his voice. "You're having a bad dream. Wake up, Silvia."

"NO!" The young woman's green eyes flashed open and she nearly flew off of the sofa. Ratchet quickly switched his thumb over to the other side of the railing and half caught Silvia under her arms. The ebony haired woman realized right away that she was falling, so she clung to the first thing she could get ahold of. She just didn't know she was grasping Ratchet's digit. She was still unaware of her surroundings as she hyper ventilated over the dark silver metal, clutching it like it was her only lifeline in a strong storm.

"Easy Silvia." Ratchet soothed her as he gently lifted the Captain back on the couch. "You're safe here… It's okay…"

She didn't say anything. All she did was heave heavily as she held him tightly. Silvia had been made aware of Ratchet's presence, but she was too preoccupied with calming the loud pounding in her chest to really acknowledge the concerned bot. Eventually her breathing started to even out and her grip around Ratchet's thumb slowly loosened, however, she never looked up at him. The white mech furled his optic ridges and sighed sadly. It was obvious Silvia was still upset with him, but although Ratchet didn't blame her, he found he was still having difficulty confronting the issue at hand.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?" He asked, avoiding the subject as long as he could. "Is something wrong with your housing upstairs?"

"No…" Silvia spoke softly. "I've been having a lot of bad dreams lately and my room is right next door to Miko's. I already scared her awake once this week, so I've been sleeping down here until my nightmares subside."

"Are you okay—?"

"I'm fine." She didn't shout, but Silvia was very stern with Ratchet and even shoved his servo away so she could stand. She really didn't intend to be so mean, but she couldn't hold back her frustration. She was glad to know that her friend was up and, on his feet, and even though she could be understanding of Ratchet's aliment at the time. But the things he had said to her still haunted her mind. For the past week, the Captain loomed through the base like a ghost and did her best to hide her anxiety. It was fooling no one, and Ratchet was no exception. He knew that this issue between the two of them would need to be handled head on, so he swallowed his pride and just pushed through the tension, like ripping off dried up mesh sealant over healed wound.

"Silvia…? Who is Joshua?" That got her attention. Immediately the green-eyed woman spun around on a gasp; her ebony hair bouncing over her natural waves and emphasizing her shock from hearing such a question.

"How…?" She stammered. "How do you know that name?"

"I heard you mention it back in the mines." Ratchet answered as honestly as he could. There were some things about what had happened he had trouble remembering yet. "And just now you said the name in your sleep."

Silvia didn't appear to be angry. She didn't seem to be upset at all, but the look on her face was completely unreadable. It was a mix of surprise, anger, and for some reason, relief. After a brief moment of silence she slowly walked along the length of the railing, staring down and off into the distance before finally settling against the steel banister. Her back was now facing Ratchet and she crossed her arms defensively while sighing heavily into her chest. This was very hard for her, the medic could tell, but he waited until she was ready to talk. If she could be patient with him, then Ratchet could be as well.

"…" Silvia sighed some more before she finally resigned herself to her mild angst. "Joshua… Was my fiancée…"

"Fiancée?" Ratchet tilted his helm. He had heard of this human custom before, but he couldn't remember what it meant. Fortunately Silvia was aware of this and explained as she continued her confession.

"It means someone you intend to merry. Marriage, for humans, is kind of like a spark-bonding for Cybertronians, except it's not quite as permanent. Not unless the two of the 'bonding' decide they want to work on their relationship and stay together for the rest of their lives."

"But you were just intending to marry him at the time?" The mech tried his best to follow her explanation. "Does this mean you decided not to stay together?"

"More like fate decided for us…" Silvia closed her eyes and tilted her head upward. The room became just as still as the Captain as she reminisced through her memories. "Joshua was the leader of our division, and twelve years my senior when I was assigned to join the team. I was very young at the time, and I didn't have a lot of options for myself when I first started. In fact, I was literally the youngest person in the world to join a classified military crime division, and it was very hard to convince people around me to take me seriously in the beginning. But Joshua was the first, and perhaps the only person that bothered to give me a chance."

"How old were you at the time?" Ratchet asked to show he was still listening to the young woman attentively… And was nearly shocked out of his armor by the answer.

"Thirteen." She replied placidly, not even noticing the white Bot's widening optics. "I graduated high school when I was eleven and because my grandfather was a General Officer at the time, he was able to pull some strings and I was given the chance to work for the Las Vegas military crime lab while I was taking my college courses."

The medic was beyond dumbfounded by everything he was hearing, and even found it a little hard to believe. Then again, he was also a little bit impressed, so he powered through his astonishment to hear the rest of Silvia's story. "So, what did you do when you first arrived at the lab?"

"For the first year I was just a lab tech, but it took me at least half that time to be trusted completely with my assignments alone." She paused a moment and even smiled a little when her thoughts trailed off to her more pleasant memories. "Joshua was always the one giving me the most leniency. He saw something in me that no one else bothered to search for, and because of it, when I turned sixteen, I was trusted to go out and work in the field. Two years after that I was finally able to legally carry a firearm and got to contribute more and more to the lab. All the while, I was finally gaining everyone's trust, but what really kept me going was the trust Joshua already had for me. When I received my final doctored in phycology, Joshua kissed me for the first time. Our relationship had been a strange one, but we both knew something was there. We were just too stubborn and perhaps afraid to do or say anything, but I guess he felt it was time to stop beating around the bush… He proposed to me that day. I said yes and that night we… Well…"

"What?" Ratchet foolishly asked before he realized how ridiculous he was for even asking. "Ohhhh… Never mind." He coughed into his servo as he stepped closer to where Silvia stood now. "So, what happened after that? Did things just not work out? Did you leave him? Did he leave you?"

Again there was a brief pause as Silvia braced herself for what she would say next, and maybe even giving Ratchet the same courtesy. But the silence didn't last long enough, because the old war veteran wasn't at all prepared for what he heard next.

"He died Ratchet…" She closed her eyes again and tried to ignore the shift in Ratchet's disposition, but she could feel his saddened eyes on her like a shroud of guilt. "Please don't stare at me like that… It was a long time ago." Shaking nervously Silvia waited for the old model to turn his helm. When he did she continued her story. "We… We were following up on a case and doubled back to a crime scene to collect more evidence. The local officer escorting us was supposed to clear the scene according to protocol before we went in, and he did, but it turned out to be an ambush. The investigation was over a drug den explosion, and while we were identifying all of the bodies that got caught in the fire, our coroner discovered that one of the victims died of a gun shot wound to the head. This made it a murder investigation, and we went back to try and find the bullet or a shell casing. When I found the casing under a charred workstation… All hell broke loose. I knew right away the casing belonged to a standard issue 9mm Glock, so it didn't take me long to piece together that our potential suspect was a dirty cop. It just happened to be the cop assigned to us at that moment. Three more of his cronies were hiding and waiting for us. Long story short, there was a shootout. That was the first time I had ever killed a man, but to save both me and Joshua's life I needed to take two. Joshua killed the last one, but the cop was still at large. We both went separate ways and searched the house while I was calling in for back up. I was distracted when my radio went out… I didn't know the suspect was creeping up behind me until Joshua shot him…"

Her voice began to waver as she held her arms closer to her chest. Her self-embrace was very little comfort as she relived the worst moment of her life. "But the cops weapon also discharged… And he shot Joshua in his neck… He bled out and died in my arms." Silvia began to shiver violently, restraining herself from sobbing. It was a feeble attempt, and her face became flushed with tears. "It didn't seem real… Like something you would see out of a terrible drama movie… Every time I close my eyes, I can still see his face smiling at me, and I never want to open them, because when I do, I know he won't be there…! And then when I found you in the mines just lying there… It all just… Flooded back and I…"

Ratchet had stopped Silvia in the most unusual way. The crying woman's sobbing slowed when she felt a light pressure against her back. It was warm and surprisingly comforting, as she realized right away that Ratchet was resting his fore-helm behind her.

"I'm sorry Silvia…" The mech sighed sadly and rested both his servos on opposite sides of the landing. "I am so sorry for what I said to you… What I put you through… I will understand if you never forgive me… I will understand if you never want to see me again…"

"Well… I will have to learn to get used to seeing you anyway." Silvia muttered. "Because I don't intend on leaving just yet… You're not getting rid of me that easily."

It was meant to be a joke, but she could tell the medic didn't find the humor in it, so she finally turned around and placed her hands over Ratchet's helm. She even nuzzled her forehead over his as she leaned in closer, then gently kissed him.

"We're okay Ratchet…" She smiled as the last of her tears streaked down Ratchet's metal. "We're okay…"

Since the two of them were content where they stood, they both stayed there. They comforted each other for as long as they needed and only parted ways when Ratchet finally said, "Thank you…"

Still feeling tired, Silvia went back to the couch and rested for another hour or two. Ratchet really couldn't tell how long since he quickly became lost in his work. First thing he took care of was his self-diagnosis on his systems. It wasn't the easiest thing to do on his own, but because it took the results such a long time to process on his old equipment, Ratchet would have some free time to work on his other tasks. Not long after he finished his personal log on the Synth-N, Silvia had woken up once again. She briefly ruffled her hair then picked up her clip board so she could get back to work. Between the two of them, Ratchet and Silvia bantered with small talk. Eventually, the medic remembered something he meant to ask the Captain.

"Silvia? Before I forget, could you tell me the ending to that story you were telling Miko the other day?" He knew he had to defend himself a little when she quirked at him inquiringly. "I'm just curious. That's all."

"It's not a very happy ending Ratchet." Silvia replied honestly. "Orion and Apollo briefly became lovers. The Sun God is constantly paranoid of Orion's relationship with his sister, and in a jealous rage he accidently kills his mortal lover. Feeling extremely guilty for his actions Apollo does the only thing in his power to show his remorse and turns Orion into a flower. Some people say Artemis found the flower and scattered its petals over the night sky, creating the group of stars that made up Orion's constellation."

She glanced up from her clipboard when Ratchet didn't put in his two cents like he normally would. The white mech just continued to concentrate on his computer and didn't really pay much attention to Silvia after that. "I told you it wasn't a very nice ending."

"Huh…?" The medic finally acknowledged the woman he engaged in conversation with and realized he had been zoning out. "Oh! No Silvia. I'm sorry, I kind of got lost in my work, but your right. That ending was terrible."

The two of them were both distracted this time when the console on the other side of the room made a random beeping noise out of nowhere. "What was that?"

"My self-diagnostics." Ratchet answered while he still toiled over his other console. "Could you do me a favor Silvia and read off my check list to me. I'm on a roll here and I would hate to stop. You can use the smaller monitor in the corner there."

"Sure, I can do that." She answered rather eagerly as she followed the direction of Ratchet's helm, which he used to point at the old computer system on the landing. The curious woman was rather happy to take the small opportunity to learn more about Cybertronian anatomy, and she was very glad Ratchet was feeling comfortable enough to let her look over something so personal. It was a very good trust exercise Silvia thought as she brought up the screen she needed. She carefully looked it over and processed as much of the info as she could handle, before reading it off slowly to her friend.

"Let's see here… You core pulse is fluxing in the right direction."

"Okay, good." Ratchet responded, but still didn't look up from his station. "Does it say how fast it is pulsing?"

"Um… Yes, it says two hundred over one twenty."

"Hm. That's a little high, but at the moment to be expected. What else does it say?"

The banter between them continued like this for a while, minus the occasional question Silvia had about one thing or another. She was getting rather excited about learning so much about the Autobot's anthropology, she hardly noticed Bulkhead and Arcee entering the main area with their daily rations of energon.

"Your energon pulse is rated at the same speed as your core pulse, your CPU is labeled as running sufficient, your fuel tanks are three quarters full, your intakes are clear and healthy, and your… G-chamber? Is no longer in remission."

Bulkhead was right in the middle of sipping on his rations when Silvia made the very open announcement, and whatever portion he had in his oral cavity then was immediately spewed out onto the floor. Arcee needed to take a step back but did so in understanding. She was just as shocked as the Wrecker by this news, but probably not as shocked as Ratchet was. The old model just stood there with wide optics and his dermas partially parted in awe. Arcee reached out for him while Silvia walked over to him on the other side of the landing.

"Ratchet?" The blue feme placed her servo over the stunned medic's shoulder. "Are you okay? What do need?"

"No…" He finally spoke and gradually raised his vocalizer. "No… No. No, no, no, no, no! That can't be right?! That can't be right!"

"Now stay calm Ratchet." Bulkhead walked up behind Arcee and placed his servo up intending to be sympathetic. "Everything is going to be alright."

Without warning, Ratchet suddenly spun on his pedes and marched towards the dormitory corridor. "When Optimus arrives back to base, tell him to meet me in his chambers!" As swiftly as he turned to leave, he was gone just as quickly, leaving Silvia completely in the dark.

"What is happening?" She asked frantically. "His what chamber isn't in remission? And what does that even mean? Does he have robo-cancer or something?"

"It's… Complicated Silvia…" The larger mech answered vaguely. "But it's probably best if Ratchet was the one to explain it to you."

"Oh what really could it be?" Silvia snorted at her sudden new thought, hoping it would lighten the mood a little. "It's not like the guy's pregnant?"

Bulkhead glanced at Arcee. Arcee returned the stare. Then they both glanced at Silvia and watched her porcelain skin turn even paler. "Holy shit!" She shouted in disbelief. "That was just a joke!"

-To Be Continued-