Author's Notes: Thank you guys so much for continuing to read this fic! With this chapter I almost gave it a medbay based pun name since most of it takes place in the medbay, but I decided on keeping my working title since my brain gets tired sometimes. I'm glad I could get back to this story since I really like this one. I've had a lot of ideas for a lot of my stories, but this story is probably in my top three for fics I really like and am currently working on. The other two would be "Join Us" and "My Spark Still Shines". Thank you guys so much, please review, and have a great week :)
CodenameAgentC: You mentioned that you liked the title of my last chapter, and then you chanted "fight, fight, fight!" for Gears fighting Warpath. The funny part about that is that I almost named that chapter "Fight, Fight, Fight!" I guess great minds work alike :)
Chapter 14
Choices Made
Warpath awoke to find that Beachcomber was already gone, Seaspray was doing push-ups, and Strider was snoring in his recharge.
"Shouldn't we BLAM wake him up?" Warpath asked as he pointed to Strider.
"What's the point?" Seaspray grunted as he continued his exercises, "He'll just get all grumpy and then go back to sleep. By the way, our physicals are today. You should probably run a self diagnostic before going in to see Moonracer."
"Moonracer is giving the WHAM physicals?" Warpath asked nervously, "But I don't want her to POW see me without my armor!"
"What are you, a prude?" Seaspray asked, "Just do it. We need to be at the top of our game to stop those Decepticons. That's why I'm working out all the kinks before I go in. Don't want to get stuck with a desk job."
"Fine. I'll just go now and ZOOM get it over with," Warpath decided, "Hey, you wanna KLIK draw a funny face on Strider while he's asleep?"
"No," Seaspray replied curtly as he switched to jogging in place.
"You're no fun!" Warpath groused.
Seaspray then tripped over his large blue feet and fell on his face plate, and Warpath had a hearty laugh at Seaspray's expense as he walked out of the room. Seaspray glared at the open doorway, but Warpath had already left.
Warpath walked down the hall to where he would have to get his physical. He saw Beachcomber coming back and stopped to say hello.
"Hey Beachcomber! Did you ZAP get your physical out of the way?" Warpath asked.
"Sure did," Beachcomber nodded and smiled, "That Moonracer is one skilled medic. She says I need to lay off the copper candies though. That's a real bummer."
"Well, at least you're not BOOM sick," Warpath pointed out.
"Yeah, and I finally got my donor card," Beachcomber said proudly as he held up a laminated white card with an Autobot red face on it.
"Your what?" Warpath asked cluelessly.
"My donor card," Beachcomber repeated goodnaturedly, "It makes me feel like a real mech to know that any sacrifice I make will not be in vain. This card states that if I die on the battlefield, or anywhere else for that matter, I posthumously give my permission to use every part of me to help other injured mechs. I'm now officially a parts donor!"
"Parts donor?" Warpath asked incredulously, "You mean...Autobots get a choice?"
"Sure. What kind of lowlife would rip apart a corpse without the consent of the deceased or the family?" Beachcomber asked rhetorically, but Warpath had an answer.
"Decepticons, that's who," Warpath replied with disdain, "I remember when BLOOEY Air Warrior died. He was my best friend, and I just wanted to WHAM see him. He had been gutted...stripped of all but a few spare parts. There wasn't FRAG enough there to tell it was even a Cybertronian, let alone a seeker! I've seen it happen a lot more times since then. Decepticons that die out in the field are considered BANG disposable."
"That's awful, mech," Beachcomber said quietly, a little shocked by what he had heard, "I know you've got to get to your physical, but when you get back we can talk. I'd like to hear more about Air Warrior. If he was your best friend he couldn't have been too bad. See you around, Warpath."
Warpath went on his way to get his physical, and all the while debated with himself whether or not he wanted to donate his parts after he died. He just assumed he wouldn't get a choice. Fear of what would happen when he died was part of what kept him alive for so long. He didn't understand how Beachcomber could feel so happy with the idea of those vultures scrapping him for parts when he died, but then again maybe he did understand. Warpath knew the kind of mech Beachcomber was, and knew he would find great satisfaction in thinking he could give someone something even from beyond the grave. Warpath didn't think he could ever be that selfless.
Moonracer was just finishing up with Warpath's physical. So far she hadn't found anything unusual. He was grateful for that since he didn't want to be transferred to an easier unit. He would be devastated if he got transferred and had to leave his new friends behind, and that fact alone surprised him. He had friends, not just one friend but three! Four if he included Moonracer.
All of a sudden they were interrupted when Firestar opened a public comm channel and told everyone to clear the medbay for wounded. Moonracer grabbed Warpath's servo and dragged him over the the far wall, and he felt himself heat up at her close proximity and forward manner toward him.
Get a hold of yourself, Warpath! Warpath chided himself in his mind. She's dating your friend! You can't feel this way! Oh, but she smells like fresh transmission fluid… No! Stop that! Just stop it!
While Warpath debated with himself Moonracer went to talk to Firestar. Firestar looked worried, but also a little excited. It was very confusing for the medical staff to say the least.
"Are you okay, Commander?" Donut asked from her station in front of a severed arm patient.
"I'm fine," Firestar said as she ran a servo over her face plate, "The wounded are from another world that had to be evacuated. Well, technically a moon. It's Inferno's group, and they're all coming here! I haven't seen Inferno since we parted ways back on Cybertron."
"Who's Inferno?" Moonracer asked, "Is he an old boyfriend?"
"Current boyfriend, actually," Firestar corrected her, "Though we haven't seen each other in forever. I hope being in command hasn't made me look too harsh."
"Not at all. You look great," Moonracer replied, "Just wipe the mud off your pedes and you'll look like new."
"I don't have time for that!" Firestar snapped, but then in a gentler voice said, "I'm sorry Moonracer, but we have wounded coming and I can't afford to worry about my looks like some youngling swooning over a crush."
"I understand," Moonracer replied as she placed a comforting hand on Firestar's shoulder guard, "Alright everyone listen up!" Moonracer then yelled out into the room, "Donut, clear out any patients that aren't priority 2 or above! Steam Heat, sterilize the berths! Windcharger, organize my tools! Warpath, as long as you're here find some medical grade energon and stack it on that table. Move it everyone, we don't have all orn!"
Warpath was surprised to be given an order to do something in the medbay, but he wasn't about to argue. He ducked down and searched cabinets until he found what he was looking for. He would have to be careful with their medical grade energon. It was very hard to come by since the Decepticons had taken over two thirds of Topitron, and if he dropped any it could cost lives.
He placed the cubes gently on the table one by one. He was holding the last one when he heard a scream and dropped it! He gasped, fearing he had broken the cube, but a tool tray floated over just in time to catch it and keep it from falling to the floor!
Warpath just stared at the unlikely levitating tray, but then he saw Windcharger, one of the orderlies, controlling the tray with his hand. He carefully placed the tray on an empty berth, and Warpath grabbed the cube and stacked it where it supposed to go. He waved at Windcharger, and Windcharger nodded in a friendly way before going back to work.
Warpath knew about sigma abilities, and even knew magnetic manipulation was a possibility, but he had never met anyone who could actually do it. This Windcharger guy was such a game-breaker that Warpath wondered why he spent all his time in the medbay.
Inferno's crew finally showed up. There were dozens of wounded Autobots, some in critical condition, and Moonracer ran around the medbay like a fly trying to figure out where to land. Warpath stood back, and looked for an exit, but everything was so crowded by now that he didn't know if he could exit the medbay just yet.
"You!" A large red black and white truck-former grabbed Warpath, "You, are you a medic?"
"No sir," Warpath replied, "I'm just a BAM soldier."
"I need a medic!" The larger 'Bot insisted, "My best friend is bleeding out pretty bad. I patched him up as far as I could get, but he needs to be opened up."
"Follow me," Warpath commanded, "I'm pretty sure I saw where Moonracer went."
"Thanks," The truck-former replied gratefully, "By the way, my name's Inferno. What's yours?"
"You're the commander?" Warpath asked; impressed, "My name is...Warpath." Warpath said it slowly in hopes of not triggering his turrets syndrome when he spoke.
Warpath heard Inferno say some more pleasantries, but he wasn't really listening. He needed to find a medic for the moon commander's friend or he wouldn't make it. He had to find Moonracer! He saw her tending to a blue and white Autobot with scratches and shrapnel all over his body. It looked like something he could handle.
"Moonracer," Warpath tapped her lightly on her back.
"Not now, I have more patients than I have patience!" Moonracer snapped, "What do you want?"
"Inferno's ZORG best friend is hurt," Warpath informed her, "I'll help this guy if you BOOM tend to him."
"You want a patient?" Moonracer asked dryly, "You're not a medic."
"I know, but I've seen these WHAM types of wounds in the field," Warpath explained, "I can fix this, but Inferno's friend is way worse off!"
"Fine, just this one patient," Moonracer said; a warning clear in her sharp tone, "You better not make me regret this."
"I won't! I promise!" Warpath vowed, and then he quickly switched places with Moonracer.
She ran past operating assistants to get to Inferno and the mech she could tell was Red Alert. He looked like he was already dead, but she knew he wasn't due to the color still being in his frame. He wouldn't last long without help though, so she took him off Inferno's hands and got to work.
Warpath, meanwhile, was cleaning energon off the frame of his patient to determine if there were any leaks. He found one near the shoulder strut and applied a hot liquid that merged with the tubing to repair the damage. He then began bending and soldering the plating back together. The mech woke up and grunted in pain, but Warpath ignored him and kept repairing damage.
"Hey, stop!" The patient moaned, "That hurts!"
"Of course it hurts," Warpath replied without sympathy, "You just got CLANG hit with more flying metal pieces than a bartender during happy joor! You'll be fine."
"I don't recognize you," The patient said warily, "Where am I?"
"Topitron," Warpath replied simply.
"Isn't Topitron mostly populated by Decepticons?" The patient asked in alarm, "Am I a prisoner?"
"No, you're in an Autobot medbay," Warpath replied as he continued to work; grateful the conversation was keeping the patient's mind off the surgery, "So, what's your POP name?"
"Mirage," The patient replied, "What is your designation?"
"Warpath," replied the titular tank.
"Warpath!?" Mirage exclaimed as he tried to get off the table, only to have Warpath push him back down, "But you're…! You're a Decepticon!"
"Former Decepticon," Warpath corrected him, "I defected."
"Oh, that's good," Mirage replied; accepting the former 'Con's story, "What made you change sides?"
"Hm…" Warpath thought about it. The question was harder to answer than he would've thought, but finally he said "I didn't like myself. I was just a KAPOW tool for a cause I never really believed in. I was just...tired. Things are a lot WHOOSH better now. I like it here. I feel like I SLAG belong here."
Mirage smiled as he layed back down for the now-Autobot to operate on him. Warpath felt another small victory at being able to help Moonracer and help mechs like his patient. He was accepted here, and that mattered more to him than any amount of power he could've ever hoped to gain with the Decepticons.
It was 5 joors later before everything calmed down. Warpath sat on a bench outside the medbay and heaved a sigh of relief since he was finally able to get off his pedes. He had been in the medbay that entire time handing people tools and searching for supplies. He didn't get to operate on any more patients, but he was grateful that his minor maintenance on Mirage went well.
Donut came into the hall to sit as well, and Warpath was surprised when the timid femme sat down right next to him! That was yet another bit of proof to Warpath that he was finally starting to be considered a member of the team.
"Excuse me, Warpath?" Donut's voice was very soft as she spoke, "Inferno says that Red Alert is awake now. Moonracer was able to save him. I heard you operated on that tower mech they brought in. I'm surprised you knew what to do."
"Well, I'm not a BANG expert, but- wait. Did you say WHOMP tower mech?" Warpath asked incredulously.
"Yes," Donut nodded shakily, unwilling to look at Warpath, "I know military vehicles don't like tower mechs too much, but Mirage seems like a nice guy. I hope you don't hold his privileged upbringing against him."
"Naw," Warpath waved away her concern, "I'll admit I'm a little SLAM surprised, but if I judged him based on what he was born as, I'd be a FRAG hypocrite. I wouldn't want you guys to BOOM judge me based on what I used to be."
"That's a good point," Donut said with a small smile, "I'd better get up now. I have to take Red Alert his energon."
"I'll do it for you," Warpath offered as he stood up and took the cube from her, "I want to see Red Alert anyway."
Donut smiled and waved timidly at Warpath as he walked away. He still made her a little nervous, but she was starting to see that he wasn't trying to hurt them. Many had wondered if Warpath was a spy, but she didn't think he was. She didn't think he could keep quiet about it for that long. Warpath might not have been the most adept when it came to social graces, but one thing about him, he sure loved to talk.
Warpath pulled back the curtain to see that Red Alert already had two visitors; Inferno and Moonracer. She was reading his vital monitor, and Inferno was telling Red Alert what happened to him now that he was awake.
"Hey guys," Warpath announced himself with a quieter voice than he usually used, "I brought our patient some BLAST energon."
Moonracer and Inferno smiled at their new visitor, but when Red Alert saw Warpath his optics grew wide and he screamed in fear! Red Alert tried to get off the berth, but Moonracer and Inferno held him in place.
"Red, buddy, what's the matter?" Inferno asked soothingly, "Are you having another flashback?"
"No, I think my flashback is having me!" Red Alert screamed incomprehensibly as he struggled to get away, "Let me go! He's a Decepticon! He'll kill us!"
"No, you ZOOM misunderstand!" Warpath tried to explain over the shrieking and flailing of the patient, "I'm not a BAM Decepticon anymore! I've changed, and I left the Decepticons! You'll rip open your CRACK wounds again! Be careful!"
Red Alert stopped fighting and looked at Warpath with intense scrutiny. He stared so hard Warpath was actually starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the attention. He didn't protest though since he didn't want to make the unstable mech feel threatened. Inferno and Moonracer shared a look, both confused as to what was going on.
"You don't remember me, do you?" Red Alert finally asked Warpath.
"Remember you? No, I, uh, don't," Warpath stammered.
"I can see why," Red Alert said, much calmer now than a few moments prior, "I wasn't very old then. Still a sparkling, actually. You cornered me in an energon warehouse on a planet called Gorr. My father and I were living there during the drought months when there was no snow. You had to be one of the scariest things I had ever seen at that time. I remember your optics and mask lights were red then. I guess I shouldn't be surprised you became an Autobot. I've never met another Decepticon that would spare the life of an enemy sparkling. I guess I didn't keep my promise though," He added with a slight nervous chuckle.
"What promise?" Warpath asked; having forgotten most of this incident.
"I promised that if you let me live you would never see me again," Red Alert said with a wry smile on his face plate, "I guess I was wrong. Sorry."
"Don't be," Warpath replied, "I'm just glad that you're KABOOM okay. So, is your father still alive?"
"Sadly, no," Red Alert replied solemnly, "He was killed when we were at a shuttle port trying to get a ride off a planet called Tylaria 6. A Decepticon named Sixshot got him. Warpath...are you going to betray us?"
"No," Warpath replied immediately, "I'm right where I BLAM belong."