His optics were refusing to online.
In most cases, he would have been concerned, but he felt too disoriented to understand what was happening around him. He felt himself moving, but he wasn't making himself do so. He felt the ground beneath him rub against his frame, but he couldn't think of a reason why before his systems returned to shut down.
Ratchet's processor had cleared the next time he had regained consciousness, but the clarity was soon dulled out by a pain in the back of his head. Ratchet groaned lightly, lifting a heavy arm to rub the injury, only to realize that he could not. Ratchet forced his optics open, waiting a Klik for his blurry vision to clear.
It was dark. Ratchet briefly wondered if his optics had not yet been onlined, before they began adjusting to the lack of light. He was in a large room. He couldn't tell if he was above or underground. The room was almost completely empty, and whatever items there seemed to have been scattered or tossed onto the floor without a second thought. The darkness and mess of the room made Ratchet go ridged at the thought of it being caused by another Energon explosion. His breathing quickened and he looked around rapidly, trying to find a living form, praying that he hadn't lost anyone else. He tried to find Orion, to make sure that his sparkling was alright, but he found nothing, and that frightened him.
The thought of something happening to Orion almost threw Ratchet into a panic. He tried to walk around and look for his charge, but when he tried to do so, he found that something was holding him back. Ratchet felt pressure on both his arms and legs, and he looked to see why.
There were chains holding him to ceiling. They were not like the ones used in a prison facility, which had electric currents holding the criminals in place, but just chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles keeping him from touching the ground. He began to pull against the chains, trying to free himself, but it was no use. The more he struggled, the tighter they seemed to latch onto him. Ratchet quickly figured out that he wasn't going to get out of the chains, so he stopped fighting, instead looking at his surroundings.
He didn't recognize where he was. He was obviously not in the Medical Center. It was dark, and it was unfamiliar, yet he seemed to remember that place. He felt like he had been there before, but he couldn't have. He didn't recognize the area at all.
Ratchet frowned, looking down at the floor, once again pulling at the chain with one arm, as if he hoped that it would break and he could slam his fist onto the ground in aggravation.
"It's no use, doctor."
Ratchet's head snapped up at the voice, and his optics widened at who he saw standing in the middle of the doorway.
"Hello, Ratchet," Tanker said with a smirk. Ratchet only stared at him as he continued. "Or do you prefer 'Ratch''? I've heard Voltlock call you that name before."
"Tanker...?" Ratchet vocalizer was quiet from lack of use. He was unable to think of anything more intelligent to say. He was too surprised to really say anything else, processor going completely blank.
Tanker's grin grew much larger. "Oh, so you recognize me? That's good. It'll help. You should recognize me. That's why you're here, isn't it?"
Tanker let out a chuckle, but Ratchet didn't know what was so funny. Ratchet watched the mech for a moment longer, noting the dilated optics and leaning posture. Ratchet could immediately tell that something was wrong with the black and white mech.
There were so many things Ratchet wanted to say. He wanted to know why he was in chains, why Tanker was there, where Orion was, but only managed to ask one simple question. "Where am I?"
"This is where I live," Tanker answered, glancing around, unimpressed. "It's not much. Haven't been here in a while. I was busy looking for you."
Ratchet still stared, unsure of what Tanker meant by that.
"Well, I already knew where you were, but I had no excuse to speak with you face to face," Tanker continued. "I hadn't gotten injured, and there was no way I would resort to self-harm."
Tanker watched Ratchet's expression change to one of confusion. Ratchet didn't understand why Tanker was telling him any of that. Tanker let out an exasperated breath.
"Did you know I had to take up an entirely different profession because of you?" Tanker chuckled lightly. "Well, it wasn't really a profession. The Guilds had designated me a miner, after all. I had to teach myself how to work with machinery, when I found out that there was an abandoned power station underneath the Protihex Medical Center. Perfect access."
Ratchet didn't really listen to all of that, the fact that he was trapped sinking into his processor. Ratchet's optic ridges narrowed, but for some reason his voice contained an unimpressed laugh, perhaps from a lack of Energon or the fact that he was beginning not to care. "Tanker, what could you possibly want from me?"
Tanker's smile faded slightly, but returned in less than a Nano-Klik. Tanker's voice remained rather joyful and soft. "I want you to remember, Ratchet. I want you to remember what you did, and once you do, I'm going to make you feel every ounce of pain I felt."
Ratchet only stared at him, mouth opening to say something, but closing before anything came out. He didn't understand. He was positive that he hadn't met Tanker before that mech saved Orion's life, yet Tanker claimed that Ratchet had known him long before that.
"Do you remember?" Tanker said with a strained laugh. "Do you remember how you failed her? How you just let her go, and you wouldn't let me do anything?"
Ratchet glared. If Tanker was talking about Rooter, then he was wrong. Completely wrong. It was true, that Ratchet had blamed himself for what had happened to Rooter. He was the one who had suggested that they meet at the refueling station, and because they were there, Rooter had perished.
But as he allowed himself to care about someone else, he understood that there wasn't anything he could have done. Rooter could have almost been considered Ratchet's teacher, if her intention had been to teach him, but he was only her assistant. She was his mentor, and she was most certainly his friend. Ratchet hadn't really thought about her that way, keeping distant long before he had even met her, because as an aspiring medic he knew that Cybertronians died, and he didn't want to feel how a bondmate or carrier had felt after losing someone they cared about.
He didn't want to hurt, but it wasn't until after he lost Rooter that he began to fear it.
Ratchet decided that he wouldn't become that close to anyone ever again. Motor had disappeared one day, and while Ratchet wondered what had happened, he refused to let himself be affected by it.
Befriending Voltlock was accidental. Ratchet wasn't even sure that they were even considered friends. It had never mattered to him. They had met when a mining accident had left many injured, and a few offline. After that, Ratchet had forgotten the mech even existed before they met once again when a patient with a damaged processor threw a fit and had to be restrained. That was something Voltlock was surprisingly good at, and he had done multiple times before.
The other medics in the Medical Center knew to keep their distance from Ratchet. He didn't mind that they did, even preferring it, but of course they would treat him in such a way from the moment they first laid optics on him.
Ratchet blinked. He had not been that sarcastic or rude in the longest time. Almost ever since he met Orion.
Orion.
He was waiting for him. Ratchet had told the sparkling where he was going, but that wasn't where he told him he would be. It was more than likely Orion was still seated on the berth, waiting for his caretaker to return.
Ratchet frowned. He wasn't allowed to be Orion's caretaker any longer. Tanker was supposed to pick up Orion and take him away.
Ratchet's optics widened.
He wouldn't let Tanker get near Orion.
He couldn't.
If Tanker would chain up Ratchet, he didn't want to know what he would do to Orion. If anything happened to his sparkling, Ratchet would never forgive himself. Orion meant everything to him, and Ratchet would not let anyone bring him any harm, ever again. He had already felt terrible about Orion getting injured under his care. He had almost believed that Orion would have been safer with Tanker, but now he knew better, and he would never let Tanker take his charge.
The rest of what Tanker said sunk into Ratchet processor, and he blinked.
Tanker couldn't have been there. He said that he tried to help someone, but there was no one really in the refueling station when Ratchet was there, besides a few Cybertronians, Ratchet and Rooter, Oiltrack, a small sparkling, and a large, black and white mech who was having a fight with-
Ratchet froze as the memories came rushing back.
A black and white mech was yelling at Oiltrack. He wanted Energon for the victims of the mine collapse. Oiltrack refused. The black and white mech became furious and tried to shoot Oiltrack. He missed, and the shot hit the Energon stockpile-
By the Allspark.
"That was you?" Ratchet whispered, almost unbelieving.
Tanker's smile grew much larger than it had ever been before.
"You... You set off the explosion." Ratchet said, grinding his teethplates. "All of those Cybertronians! You killed them all!"
Tanker's smirk slowly slid off of his faceplate. He stared in Ratchet's direction, but his optics looked right through him. Tanker began to shiver.
"No." Tanker's voice was quiet, before he gradually grew louder. "No, no, no, no, no!"
Tanker grabbed his head and growled in anger. His breathing was heavy, and he kept his feet planted firmly on the ground as if to keep himself from lunging at his prisoner and tearing out his spark. His growls began filling with static, before he began taking deep breaths to calm himself down. After a moment, Tanker brought his arms back to his sides, but his fists were clenched shut.
"No, that's wrong," Tanker mumbled, mostly to himself. "You're wrong. That's not it. That's not what you're supposed to remember!"
Tanker grabbed something off of the ground, then threw it across the room.
"You're wrong! It wasn't my fault! If you weren't there, then they wouldn't have had to die!" Tanker slammed his fist into a wall, leaving a huge crack that almost reached the ceiling.
There was complete silence for almost a Breem. Tanker's breathing was labored, and Ratchet couldn't think of anything he could say.
Without warning, Tanker began to laugh. It started out as a small chuckle, then gradually grew into a crazed cackle. Tanker took a step backwards, towards the exit, though he kept his optics glued to Ratchet frame.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," Tanker said with a taunting bow. "I have to go pick up a sparkling."
Ratchet's optics widened and he almost thrashed in the chains in an attempt to stop the insane mech. "Leave him alone!"
"Oh, don't think it's my choice, doctor," Tanker said with a crazed smirk. "I wouldn't be going after him if you didn't care about him. It's your fault."
Tanker's smile wavered, and his expression was quickly shifting to anger, though he tried to hide it.
"It's all your fault, doctor," Tanker almost yelled, static seeping into his voice. "When I get him, I'm going to tell him what you did to her!"
"What did I do?!" Ratchet yelled back, searching Tanker's optics for an answer, but there were none.
Ratchet's desperation seemed to calm Tanker down, as the mech took a few deep breaths before his smirk returned. "You still have time. The sparkling should be enough of a trigger. After all, you met on that day, didn't you? He was a young little spark."
Ratchet frowned, a feeling of unease sweeping over him. "How did you know about-"
"The Guilds of Cybertron told me after Voltlock and I convinced them that you couldn't handle the sparkling. You were killing him." Tanker let out another chuckle. "Well, you're good at that, aren't you? It didn't matter, though. They didn't have to tell me. I already knew."
Ratchet didn't know what to say to that.
Tanker's smile grew, though Ratchet still didn't understand why. Tanker nodded a quick farewell, before he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Ratchet held hostage by chains and the thought of the horrors that awaited his charge.
Voltlock paced nervously in an empty operating room. So many things were going wrong. Tanker hadn't shown up, even when instructed to do so by the Guilds of Cybertron. Tanker seemed like such a responsible mech, saving Orion's life and even opting to take care of the sparkling himself. Voltlock could understand if something came up, but he had received no word from Orion's new caretaker.
Orion was also concerning him. When Voltlock had first came to see the sparkling in his quarters, he seemed completely fine, but when Voltlock returned later on, Orion almost broke down. Orion himself seemed to have trouble accepting what was happening. That was understandable, as Ratchet had raised him from when he was a newborn, and even before that.
Ratchet.
Voltlock was really beginning to worry about his fellow medic. The last time he had seen Ratchet, Voltlock had said so many things that he wished he could take back. Voltlock could understand completely why Ratchet didn't want Orion relocated. How long the defective sparkling managed to stay alive only showed how good of a caretaker Ratchet was. Orion had been hurt, yes, but in most cases Ratchet wasn't even there, though it was because Ratchet wasn't there that Voltlock blamed him in the first place.
Ratchet cared so deeply for Orion. He would never leave the sparkling all alone. If anything, Ratchet would have taken Orion with him, but Voltlock knew that Ratchet wouldn't leave in the first place. The Guilds of Cybertron would track him down. If anyone had seen Ratchet, they would be forced to tell the High Council were the medic and the sparkling had hidden.
Voltlock knew that the only reason he even thought Ratchet had abandoned Orion was because his own fondness of the sparkling clouded his judgment. That, and almost the entire time Orion had been with Ratchet did the sparkling ever seem to get hurt. Seeing the innocent sparkling get injured only helped Voltlock see Ratchet as a villain, and Voltlock knew that Ratchet was certainly not a villain.
Voltlock was also positive that Ratchet didn't kill the Energon sorter. There was no way Ratchet could ever kill anyone. He wasn't a soldier at war. He was a medic. He was a medic who would rather die himself than let someone else get hurt. Voltlock knew that Ratchet didn't do anything wrong.
What would he have had to gain by murdering someone? What good would abandoning Orion even do? Voltlock knew that Ratchet was smarter than that. There had to be something he had overlooked.
Voltlock stopped in the middle of the room and let out a breath of exasperation. He wondered if Ratchet had left because of what he had said. Voltock wasn't really angry with Ratchet. He was just upset over the whole situation.
Ratchet wouldn't have left. Perhaps he went for a walk and stumbled upon a collapsed mine or a rampaging Gladiator, and he went to help.
Even if that were so, Ratchet wouldn't have been gone that long.
Voltlock let out another exasperated breath. Everything that was happening was tiring him out. He decided that he would go check up on Orion and see if the sparkling wanted a cube of Energon, then maybe he could convince Orion to leave the room and come with him to the refueling station. Orion shouldn't be waiting in one place for so long.
Voltlock stepped out of the operating room, looking both ways before he began walking down towards the main quarters. It took longer than it normally took to get there, because Voltlock wasn't rushing. He could take his time. He had his thoughts to occupy himself.
When he finally arrived at Ratchet's quarters, the firth thing he noticed was that the door was closed. Voltlock raised an optic ridge, but didn't think hard about it. A glitch in the door mainframe was the least of his problems. Voltlock stood in front of the door, and it opened automatically. Voltlock took a step inside, but sight that greeted him made him stop in his tracks.
Orion was gone.
Voltlock couldn't believe how stupid he must have been, leaving the door open even though he knew that the sparkling would try to get out every time he had the chance. Voltlock scanned the room with his optics once again, hoping that they just malfunctioned and he had missed Orion sitting quietly on the berth like he had been before, but Voltlock knew that his optics were fine.
Orion was gone.
Voltlock quickly stepped back into the halls, looked down both ways to see if Orion had just stepped out for a moment, but it was futile. Orion was no where to be seen.
Voltlock felt so hollow. His optics were wide at he turned back around to stare at the room, which had once belonged to both a medic and his patient, then had been a home to a caretaker and his sparkling. The room was empty, and it seemed much larger than it should have been, with the lack of furniture and medical tool scattered on a lone desk. It seemed so lonely, and yet Ratchet had lived there on his own for so long.
Orion was a defective. Orion couldn't survive on his own for long. That's why he had to stay in the Medical Center. If he left-
Voltlock shuddered. It would be so easy for the sparkling to die.
"Voltlock?"
A voice got Voltlock's attention, and he looked down the hall to see a familiar black and white mech walking towards him.
The mechanic that had saved Orion's life, the mech who was going to be Orion's new caretaker. Voltlock suddenly felt a strange hatred towards the mech, because he had helped him take Orion away from Ratchet.
No. Voltlock couldn't be angry with the mech. He hadn't done anything wrong. He was just looking out for a young sparkling. Voltlock couldn't hate anybody for that. Voltlock shut his optics to clear his thoughts, then looked back to the mech standing in the hallway.
"Tanker?" Voltlock said, sounding very surprised. "I didn't expect to see you until later."
That was a lie. Voltlock had expected Tanker much earlier, but he had never showed up.
"I apologize if I have come at a bad time," Tanker started, straightening his posture with a small smile. "I'm here to pick up Orion."
Voltlock's expression shifted to a frown. He didn't know what to say. How could he tell the new caretaker that his charge had gone missing? Voltlock averted his optics before looking back to the mechanic. "I'm sorry, Tanker. Orion's gone missing."
Tanker's faceplate seemed to freeze in his smiling expression, but not of his own accord. Voltlock briefly wondered if Tanker's processor had crashed, then Tanker spoke with a croaking voice. "What?"
"I went to check up on Orion, but he wasn't in his room," Voltlock explained, crossing his arms with worry shining in his optics.
Tanker expression went completely blank, giving no sign to show what he was feeling. He said nothing for a long time, then after a Klik he spoke. "... Where is Ratchet?"
Voltlock's optics were downcast again and he shook his head. "I don't know. He went missing last Orbital Cycle."
Voltlock paused, realization clear on his faceplate.
"It's been almost two, now," He added, just above a whisper. Tanker seemed to snap out of his trance, watching as various emotions played across Voltlock's faceplate. Tanker waited for a moment, then spoke up again.
"You don't think he..." Tanker started, eyeing Voltlock suspiciously. "... Put Orion somewhere, do you?"
Voltlock looked back up at Tanker, and again shook his head. "No. Ratchet disappeared before Orion went missing."
Tanker nodded. "You think he just left the sparkling alone?"
"No," Voltlock answered immediately, no trace of doubt in his optics. He knew that Ratchet would never abandon Orion. He hated himself for taking so long to realize it. He only hoped that it wasn't too late.
They said nothing for a while, both of them trapped in their thoughts. Tanker was the first to move, though he only shifted his footing, but that was enough to return Voltlock to the present. Tanker glanced over to Orion's room, then to Voltlock, voice distant.
"I'm going to look for him," Tanker said slowly. He didn't even wait for Voltlock to respond before he turned around and left.
Voltlock watched Tanker leave, unsure of what to say. He didn't know what to do. Two Cybertronians were missing, a caretaker and his charge, and he didn't know what to do about it.
Voltlock stared at the floor.
He didn't know what to do.
Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. There may be a clue in the room that could help him find them.
Voltlock hurried back into the room, looking for anything that could help him, absolutely anything. If there was something he could do, then Primus, he was going to do it. Voltlock looked over the desk, but he could make much sense of what was in front of him. Voltlock saw a few tools, an empty Energon cube, and-
"Voltlock?" A femme's voice reached the said mech's audio receptors, and he turned. An assistant walked into the room, nodding respectfully as she did so. The femme picked up Orion's datapad off of the desk and held it out for the medic to take. "The file that the hacker accessed has been identified."
Voltlock was absolutely furious about being disrupted, but he hid it well, taking the datapad into his hands. Voltlock angrily looked over the datapad, reading over it's information, the anger on his faceplate slowly changing into horror. He stared at the datapad in shock, before dropping it and rushing out of the room.
The datapad's screen cracked as it hit the floor, but Ratchet's medical file hadn't been damaged in the least.
Ratchet didn't know how long it had been.
He highly doubted it had been Orbital Cycles, but the limited amount of Energon flowing through his frame told him otherwise. He felt so tired, and weak, but he stayed strong, if not for himself, then for Orion.
He didn't even notice Tanker return, until the mech was right in front of him.
Tanker strode right up to Ratchet, and without warning he punched the medic across the face. Ratchet let out a quick breath, then after he recovered he stared at Tanker with wide optics. Tanker grabbed Ratchet's chin to make certain that he was looking at him, then Tanker spoke with a tone laced with malice. "Where is he?"
Ratchet said nothing for a long moment, and Tanker raised his arm as a threat. Ratchet took a Klik to formulate a response, getting over the shock of being hit so suddenly. "What?"
Tanker snarled, a sound mixed with static, and he turned around, only to spin back and slam his foot into Ratchet's chest. Ratchet gasped at the sudden pain, clenching his teethplates together to stop himself from crying out. The chains rattled in protest, but they held Ratchet still so he couldn't escape, or try to stop the attacks.
Ratchet could feel Energon begin to fill his mouth. He must have had internal damage. Ratchet didn't let Tanker know, only watching as the black and white mech got unnervingly close to Ratchet's faceplate. Tanker growled. "Where. Is. He?"
Despite trying not to anger Tanker further, Ratchet couldn't help but glare right back. "What are you talking about? Where is who?"
"Orion," Tanker answered, tone dangerously low. "Where is Orion? I know you hid him. I know you did! Where is he?!"
It took everything Ratchet had not to let out a breath of relief. Tanker hadn't captured Orion yet. Refusing to let Tanker know where his sparkling was, Ratchet spoke up again. "I don't know what you mean."
Tanker punched Ratchet again, then he grabbed Ratchet's faceplate and yelled. "Don't you dare lie to me! I went to the Medical Center. He's not there. Voltlock said he's not there! Where is he?!"
Even if Ratchet wanted to respond, he couldn't. He could barely hear Tanker's voice, as what the black and white mech had said almost crashed his processor.
Orion wasn't at the Medical Center.
Ratchet's spark began to ache. He didn't know where his sparkling was. Tanker hadn't reached him, but that didn't mean Orion was safe. Ratchet tried to keep his breathing even. If Orion was hurt, Ratchet had no way to get to him.
Ratchet didn't even realize Tanker had moved until the mech was already standing in the entrance way. Tanker raised a hand, and if he hadn't been standing on the other side of the room, Ratchet would have thought that Tanker was going to hit him again. Instead, Tanker pressed something on the wall, and the chains on Ratchet's arms suddenly loosened, throwing him to the floor.
When he hit the ground, Ratchet held back a gasp as a sharp pain ripped through his frame. He tried to push himself to his knees, but only ended up falling back to the floor again. With blurry optics, Ratchet looked back up at Tanker as the insane mech watched Ratchet with amusement before turning and walking away, but not before leaving the weakened medic with one last remark.
"You will remember her, doctor. It's only a matter of time."