Chapter Ten: Scars

Skyfire touched down on what had to have been the most polished walkway he had ever seen and allowed his passengers to step out before transforming. The four jets looked about them in awe at the crystalline gilded city sprawling out about them. Building spires towered high above them, and the city fairly bustled, even at that time of night.

So THIS is what it looked like before the war. Feh! Filthy rich aristocratic Autobots. Even so, now I know why they tried to protect it. Too bad it all gets destroyed… Starscream followed Wheeljack and the others as he led them through the narrow suspended roads and walkways.

"He won't be too happy at me waking him up at this time, but what can I do," Wheeljack motioned to the doorway of a modest looking residence. "As far as I know, he's yet to refuse a patient." He pressed the intercom and waited.

"Ugh…this is Doc Ratchet."

Starscream smirked to himself.

"Hey Ratch', it's me, Wheeljack."

"What the…Wheeljack, do you have any idea how late it is?"

"See, told ya," Wheeljack said to them, fins flashing. The door slid open to reveal a very groggy looking, yet pristine and fairly gleaming Ratchet. "Hey, Ratchet!"

Ratchet glared at his friend, then at the others in turn. "What is this? A military inquisition?"

"Ha!" Starscream scoffed.

"No, Ratchet, this is the mech I told you about. We were wonderin' if you had time for an exam?"

Ratchet returned his glare to his friend. "You're joking, right? Why couldn't this wait until the morning?"

Starscream opened his mouth to speak, but found himself drowned out by Thundercracker. "Look, we came a long way, and we can't wait until morning. Starscream," he motioned to Starscream. "Requires it."

"I'd get on with it, if I were you," Skywarp chimed. Both stepped forward menacingly.

Skyfire and Starscream exchanged glances. "Guys," Skyfire began. "There's no need for that…"

Ratchet didn't seem fazed by it, however, and rolled his optics to Wheeljack, who just shrugged. "Whatever, come in," he moved inside so that the others could follow, with Skyfire ducking through the smaller doorframe. Inside they were greeted by a well furnished reception area, complete with gleaming silver couches. A few empty energon cubes sat here and there. "Have a seat, and excuse the mess, I had a few friends over earlier," he motioned to the couch but frowned when Starscream went to take a seat. "Not you, you come over here," he motioned to a corner of the room. He went over, touched the wall, and a berth slid from it. "I installed this thanks to patients learning where I live," he motioned for Starscream to sit. "I'll be back with some equipment."

Starscream looked over at the jets and hissed. "Thundercracker! Skywarp! What was that?"

Thundercracker shrugged. "We figured you might need some help with that guy. He didn't look very receptive."

"You want us to back off?" Skywarp asked.

Starscream was shocked. "You…are asking me?" he smirked. "Yes, try to behave yourselves." The two nodded. It seems as if I have some semblances of allies now…and they're more respectful now than they were then.

Ratchet returned with tools in tow. "I'm assuming this is just basic? Or do I need to go all out here?"

"They want to make sure I'm not crazy," Starscream muttered.

"Also check to make sure his laser core didn't receive any damage due to his…" Skyfire paused, meeting optics with Starscream, who waved for him not to mention it. "His recent injury."

Ratchet's optics flickered. "Alright…"

"Wait!" Starscream held up his hands. "I don't want you touching me if you're going to fall asleep!"

Ratchet fairly threw up his hands and glared at Wheeljack, who only laughed in response.

"Starscream, you promised," Skyfire reminded.

"I didn't promise," Starscream muttered even as he pulled himself up onto the berth. "I said I would, not promise. And don't just sit there watching like it's some sort of sideshow!"

Starscream heard the snickers of the others even as Ratchet offlined his optics and began disassembling his helm. "I need you conscious for this, but if you feel any pain, be sure to let me…"

"Ow!"

"…know," Ratchet set aside parts of Starscream's helm and began probing inside his cranial casing. Starscream could feel his tools moving about inside; the sensation was grating, sending shudders through his chassis. "Please stay still. If I mess something up, it's not because I'm sleepy or shaky." Silence invaded the room as Ratchet continued. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking for?"

"Defective processors, memory banks, emotion chips," Skyfire suggested.

"Well, for a seeker model, you sure have one massive synapse network going on here, but then again, you seemed wired more for logic and less for whatever it is that seekers do, unless someone planned for you to be some sort of leader. I've seen this in a few mechs, so I am not completely surprised. Nothing cracked, nothing damaged or out of place."

"So I am not crazy?"

"Any mech and his friends who decide to wake me up at this Primus-forsaken hour is crazy," Ratchet paused. "Wait, here's something that could use a little tweaking."

"What? What are you tweaking?"

"It seems as if someone forgot to finish a bit of your personality component," Ratchet set down his tools and seemed to turn to the others. "Does he lose his temper easily?"

"Somewhat, and frequently," Skyfire replied. "Although that wasn't what I was implying that needed examination."

"I can change it though, if you want. I mean, if he can live with it, I don't think it's a problem, but it's unnecessary to go about your functioning days with a screw loose, so to speak."

"I am fine the way I am."

"See? That node lit up like the town center when ringing in a stellar cycle."

"I am fine!"

Ratchet picked up his tool and Starscream felt a little tug, and suddenly felt calmer. "There, now quit your hollerin'." The medic began to reassemble his helm and brought his optics online before beginning to disassemble the panels of his torso. Starscream watched as his entire cockpit chassis was lifted from his chest. "I don't understand, don't you people have your own medics? Why travel all the way to Iacon from…well, wherever you came from?"

"Vos, and we've all been dismissed from the military. We don't have that benefit anymore."

"Yeah, that's Wheeljack's work," Ratchet fiddled with the fresh repairs, causing a hiss and shudder to come from Starscream. "Oh, quiet. Wheeljack, could you have possibly made this more…more…"

"Spur of the moment? I didn't have all my supplies with me, Ratchet."

"He didn't try any weird experiment on me, did he?"

"No, he just used some…unorthodox methods of patching you up. It's more like a field repair than a long term solution," Ratchet got up and disappeared from the room again, returning with an armful of parts. "I don't have the stuff for your exact model, as flying models aren't exactly thriving here in Iacon, but it will have to do," he began undoing some of Wheeljack's repairs and replacing them with the other parts. Starscream winced under the welder and offlined his optics, not willing to sit and watch surgery on himself.

Soon the repairs stopped, and Starscream felt the outside portion of his spark chamber being lifted off. He brought his optics online to gaze down at his own spark. "Is…it supposed to look like that?"

"No," Ratchet frowned. He prodded about the laser core. Starscream felt his spark react to each touch, and warnings flared up about activity near his core. "Are you getting warnings? Yes? Good. The core is intact and functioning, and everything looks fine…but I don't think I've ever seen this amount of scarring on a spark before." He waited as Wheeljack and Skyfire made their way over. He motioned down a particularly long scratch that marred the surface of the spark. "With this amount of scarring, I would suspect you'd be dead by now. There is no way a spark could survive this sort of injury."

Starscream tried to crane his neck so he could see, but the scar in question was out of his optic's range. Well, of course it is scarred. I died, blown to bits by Galvatron…twice!

Skyfire shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Well? What's it mean?"

"I don't know what it means, other than Primus must really like your friend, or he's really lucky," Ratchet lifted the outside cover into place and began replacing panels and the cockpit. "I would be careful though. I mean…I don't really know what to say, actually. I've never seen this before."

"What doesn't deactivate you makes you stronger?" Wheeljack suggested. The others looked up at him blankly. He shrugged and moved off. "Sorry!"

"So, I am not crazy then?" Starscream pushed Ratchet's hand away after he sealed the last panel.

"Far from it, from what I can see," Ratchet sat back. "Although your systems are teetering on depletion of energy."

"Vos is under some sort of…lock down," Skyfire said. "The prices of energon keep going up. We couldn't afford it there."

"It's fine, I have plenty," Ratchet got up and moved to one of the couches. A compartment opened and he pulled out enough energon cubes to go around. "I'll warn you," he said as he passed them around. "It's a concentrated formula, blended to fulfill your energy banks."

Starscream sipped a bit and made a face. "This is the worst tasting stuff ever."

"I never said it would taste good."

Skyfire waited until the others had had their energon before going to the doctor and pulling him aside and speaking lowly. "Are you absolutely certain you did not see anything amiss?"

"Why? Is there something I should know about?"

"He tried to deactivate himself."

"Hmm, that would explain the proximity of that wound," Ratchet turned to look at Starscream, who was sitting idly. "Was he low on his reserves at the time?"

"Well, yes…"

"Any sort of emotional or stressful event?"

"…somewhat. We had just gotten terminated from military service."

"His personality, while wired for logic, is also highly emotional. I fixed that a bit, so he won't go completely nuts whenever something doesn't go his way, but it is not uncommon for some mechs to be delusional when almost forced into stasis. Starvation and depression could have easily triggered this, and it could happen to anyone put in that situation. Some do handle it better than others, but it is never a pretty position to be in."

"Thanks, Ratchet. What do we owe you?"

"Nothing. A friend of Wheeljack's is…" He looked over at Starscream, then at Thundercracker and Skywarp. "Well…you can be a friend of mine. They can be slight acquaintances."

Skyfire grinned and motioned for the others to follow him. "We've taken enough of the good doctor's time."

"Yes, quite," Starscream walked past Ratchet, thought better of it, and faced the doctor. "Uh…thank you." Oh don't smirk at me. You make me feel almost a little bad for killing you in the future...not a lot of good it did me. The glory and satisfaction of offing a couple of Prime's best warriors and officers was short lived…thanks to Galvatron. Maybe this time…I'll show you mercy.

"It's no problem, just try to plan your visits during more suitable hours," Ratchet replied. He watched as the five filed out and the door slid shut behind them. "I have a feeling I am going to see those military mechs again."