There was a new week ahead of them, and today she had to adjust to life around the bots for the most part as the human children were off to school and Nurse Darby was at work. So today it was going to be Ratchet's turn to check her shoulder and change the bandages if need be. The dragon was a bit worried about this, because of the ridiculous size difference; but she had to trust Doc-Bot.
It wasn't his first time dealing with delicate procedures, probably. No, that wasn't what worried her, what worried her was the stark difference between Cybertronian physiology and Organic physiology. Where he would have probably welded an open wound shut on a Cybertronian, the same logic wouldn't apply to living flesh. (Or any flesh for that matter)
Maybe she's just overthinking things...yeah, that's probably it. He's seen Nurse Darby do this many times over, he's bound to have understood the steps she took, right? Zucky was debating in her head whether or not she should offer to help with the smaller detailed work, like the wrapping of the bandages. Wouldn't want him to tie the things too tight and cut off the blood circulation to her arm!
Then it struck her how gentle these metal behemoths can really be when they have to; when she was out cold from exhaustion, they had to handle her body in order to get her into the medical bay, right? And even though, it was June who put the bandages on her, Ratchet was probably the one who was examining her injuries and vitals before the nurse got a chance to help out...at least that's what she thinks happened. She was see-sawing between reality and fever dreams at that moment in time.
Her mind could have probably fabricated what she believed happened that day in the medical bay. She was lost in thought, mulling over the events that seemed to have merged into one heck of a confusing trip, that she didn't even notice Ratchet standing next to the platform.
"Good Morning, Zucky. I trust you had a peaceful recharge session, given by the fact that you didn't vocalize and/or tossed and turned throughout the night." Ratchet finally said.
The dragon flinched a bit and held a hand to her chest and another to her mouth so not to yelp. The medic noticed this and cringed a bit, anticipating a shrill shriek from the miniscule being, but it never came, so he vented in relief. He always hated it when humans scream... especially the females. It always hurt his audials.
"Sorry, I didn't notice you were still calibrating." Ratchet apologised.
"Cali...? Oh...I was more...lost in thought." Zucky replied. And yes, I did sleep well last night."
Ratchet walked around to the stairs of the platform and placed a servo for Zucky to climb on. "Is Knockout still bothering you?" he asked.
The dragon climbed on and sat down. "He won't anymore, I seemed to have effectively scared him off for now..." She answered.
Lifting her up to about Sparkchamber level, Ratchet started making his way to the medical bay. It was a relief to see he was doing a lot better now and that his back strut wasn't bothering him anymore.
"How so? You didn't leave the base last night." Ratchet asked as his optic ridge raised a bit with the question.
"No, of course not. I didn't have to; he came to me, in my dreams...again..." Zucky began to explain.
The medic still listened to her but kept his optics ahead, so he doesn't walk into anyone or anything on the way, as Zucky explained what transpired in her dream last night. It wasn't too long of a walk over to the medbay, so Ratchet deposited her onto the berth and started undoing her bandages after a quick overall scan.
As her shoulder was exposed to the open air again, she was feeling a bit more relieved now the pressure and stiffness that the bandage provided was lifted away. Ratchet's optics changed again as he took a closer look at the scarred tissue. It was a testament to how easily Knockout's handsaw slices through his victims. Cybertronian or Organic.
He frowned at the thought. Being a field medic, Ratchet knows what it's like to be sliced open by a sharp weapon in the battlefield, and that's with their tough armour protecting their inner workings! He can only imagine how excruciating it would be for these organics with their soft fleshy exteriors... no hard protective shells of any kind.
Zucky told him how she was able to overpower Knockout in her dream. None of it made sense; how can such a tiny fragile creature, overpower a full size healthy transformer in the prime of his functioning life?
According to her, in the dreamscape; nothing makes sense. The laws of physics, logic and what-have-you don't apply, and the person dreaming, is able to manipulate the 'reality' of that dream, if they have a strong sense of imagination and willpower.
Does he believe any of this? Of course NOT! Ratchet may be old and perhaps getting a bit rusty, but he is not a few microchips short of a motherboard, not by a long shot! But maybe...that's just it; they may not have the hardware, but that doesn't mean they're missing the powerful software.
"Fascinating..." He mumbled under his vents.
"What's weird about this whole thing, is that he didn't seem to be aware of having slipped into my mind. He kept insisting that it was me who somehow sneaked into his dream instead." Zucky said. "I don't know...but he's dabbling in some dangerous practices, I know that much."
"So, what you're saying is, that he's going to lose control of his own processor if he keeps at it." Ratchet tried understanding.
The dragon nodded. "I warned him to stay out of my head, but I have a feeling he's not going to, even after what I put him through last night."
"I'm afraid you're right, kid. Decepticons rarely ever listen to reason." Ratchet confirms her suspicion.
Zucky's ears drooped. "And it doesn't help that we're connected now..."
"Don't you say that. Just because you have Con-En coursing in your fuel lines, doesn't mean that you're a con in there." The medic pointed at her sternum, which would have been where the spark chamber is, if she was a bot.
She grabbed hold of his digit and moved it to the left side of her chest. "My heart is actually here..." She sheepishly said. "But I got where you were going with that." she finished with a small soft smile.
Ratchet's Optics widened a bit and then softened. "Either way, being a Decepticon is a choice, Zucky...one that I doubt you'll make, if your willpower is as strong as you just claimed." He said. "Even if you one day; Primus forbid, started being one up here," He pointed at his helm. "I will always believe you will never become one, in here." And then pointed to his Spark Chamber.
"Now, don't you ever forget that, understood?" Ratchet leaned in closer to drive the point home. Zucky nodded in confirmation.
"Believe it or not, you humans are stronger than you look...And that's not something I always say out loud." The medic whispered.
"Thank you, Ratchet. I needed that." Zucky was thankful for the motivation. Ratchet chuckled to himself.
The medic carefully cleaned the scar and carefully looked at the tissue. It looked like a scar shaped bald spot, but other than that she healed nicely and now, according to what June had told him, Zucky can safely go without the bandages now. That way the skin will be able to finish healing properly, regain it's natural color and the hairs can grow back over everything.
"Well then, speaking of being resilient; your wound has healed nicely and now we can remove the bandages altogether." Ratchet began. "Just don't go gung-ho and attempt anything crazy now, you hear?"
The dragon nodded as she beamed.
Meanwhile on the Nemesis...
Knockout has been antsy all day, since waking up that morning. Any sudden sounds startled him, and he hasn't attempted to try and find the dragon's location. This worried Breakdown as he knew that if Megatron found out, the poor Con medic's skid plate would be as good as scrap.
Knockout paced back and forth in his Quarantine cell. He has been doing so for hours now, and this was becoming evident from the scuff marks on the floor of the cell. The Medbay doors opened, which caused him to jump several feet in the air and yelp almost as high pitched as a frightened femmebot.
"Woah! Sorry KO, didn't mean to startle you." The blue bot said as he pulled a stool closer to the cell, so he could sit for a while.
"No...No, no...I'm just...a little...stressed! Yes, that's the word I'm looking for." Knockout, who's normally very smooth with his words failed miserably with trying to remove attention to the fact he just shrieked.
"I don't think so, friend. You're wound up; yes, but not the stressed kind of wound up, you look like you've seen a ghost." Breakdown wasn't buying it.
Knockout's pedes collapsed under him as he finally allowed them to rest from the strenuous workout they just endured. "You're right, Breakdown, I'm not stressed. I'm scared! There, I said it!" The Con medic blurted out as he covered his faceplate with his servo's out of embarrassment.
"Scared? of what?" Breakdown wanted to know.
Knockout vented deeply as he adjusted his position on the floor.
"What happened?" The blue bot pushed for an answer.
The Con medic finally started explaining what happened last night, how he might have lost control of his own processor, and ended up crossing over into the dragon's dreams. He described what he saw and experienced, sparing no detail as he did. When he finished up, he finally pushed himself up off the floor, but sat back down onto the berth.
"And it's not like I can stop. Megatron would tear me apart if I do." Knockout finished.
"You're right there...But think about it, Knockout; She may have been able to alter the battlefield in there, but that's the extent of it. In the end, she's just a bag of flesh and bones; easily squashed into a pulp." Breakdown explained emphasizing with his fists. "You're at the better advantage here, cause you have the best of both worlds: "You're clever AND you're tough. I mean you're a Decepticon, for Primus sake! Scourge of the Cybertronian race we are, no mere fleshling can stand in our way and live to tell the tale!"
"Uhm...Breakdown..." Knockout looked at his fellow decepticon with a cocked optical ridge. "She just did..."
"That's besides the point! Megatron just wants her back to further the decepticon cause, after that, he'll probably dispose of her." The blue bot said.
"I guess you're right..." Knockout was looking at the tips of his peds. Breakdown seeing his friend like this decided to tell him what he knew.
"KO..." He signalled for the Con medic to come closer to the barrier.
Knockout was kinda fed up with the conversation already but obliged anyway and approached the barrier with his arms crossed.
"Look, I know you lied...and it surprises me that Megatron didn't notice, but kick the flamboyant tricks, stick to real world street racing, and just scan for her presence outside of the Autobot cloaking devices, okay?" Breakdown urged his friend. "If anything happens, I'll take the fall with you." He placed his large bulky servo against the barrier and looked Knockout in the optics. When he caught the slight shadow of a familiar confident smirk he knows the red bot for, he tapped the barrier twice and left the Medbay.
Meanwhile Starscream was allowed some time to stretch his legs up on the roof of the ship. Still with the cuff around his servos and his wings, he had lost count of how many days it had been. With a Vehicon guard at either side of him he stood there as he watched the other fliers take off on their missions, as Megatron had ordered them, and still others returning back to the ship as they touched down on the landing pad.
He vented deeply as he longed to be amongst them. "Is this what I'm up here for? To be reminded of my being grounded?" The seeker grumbled, his wings droopy from depression.
"Be grateful Starscream, Lord Megatron was merciful enough to order us to give all prisoners at least an hour of daylight, fresh air and the opportunity to stretch their pedes every day." One of the guards answered.
Starscream started pacing again, after a while; he struggled against his bonds as he grunted in pain. The guards lifted their blasters and held the seeker at gunpoint.
"Oh, relax... I'm just stretching my servos and wings as far as I can in these Primus forsaken cuffs! I've been in them for too long... I fear that by the time Lord Megatron decides to take them off, my cables would have atrophied!" He growled at the vehicons in annoyance.
"Sorry, Starscream...M-" The Guard was about to say something but got cut off by the seeker.
"I know... Megatron's orders! Now, let me wallow in my own misery in peace." Starscream snarled as he looked on as a couple other cons took flight. He followed them with his optics until they disappeared into the clouds. Only to lower his optics down to his pedes and start pacing back and forth again.
Back at the Autobot base, Ratchet had brought Zucky back to the common area. The place felt deserted with the kids at school. He placed The dragon back on the platform and made his way to his work area and got started scanning for any decepticon activities. Zucky on the other hand just stood there and looked at the empty seats. The controllers to the video game console were just where they were left yesterday.
She went over and picked them up, and neatly put them away next to the TV with the game console, next she placed the Magazines in a neat stack in the corner of the table. She grabbed her sketchbook and drawing utensils, placed them on the table, sat down and stared at the blank page for a while. Nothing...
The only bits of inspiration she was getting was depressing. She gave it a thought and decided to put them on paper anyway. She doodled away on the page various pieces that invoked loneliness, depression and fear. She kept going until her vision grew blurry and one of the pieces was ruined with a drop of clear liquid.
She stopped. Where was this all coming from? She told Knockout to 'Knock it off' and leave her alone, after all. She didn't feel him anywhere inside her head at the moment, so it couldn't have been him. Another drop fell onto the paper...as much as it was difficult for her to get along with humans again, she has to admit; she missed them. If she could go to school again, she would. At least that way she didn't feel completely alone. Even if school used to feel like a personal hell with a sugar coating.
Time seems to stop as she dwelled in her thoughts. Her feelings...Yes, she's depressed. She doesn't show it, she doesn't admit it out loud, but it's a thing in her life. When was the last time she's been outside? It's only been a few days, but she's beginning to feel a bit stir crazy. She escaped that prison she was in, where they experimented on her; only to be cooped up again?
And it's not like she could do anything around here. Everything is gigantic, and thus too heavy for her to lift or move around. Also, the doc told her not to, and she quotes; 'Go gung ho'. She was bored. She wanted to be a part of the action here, yet she couldn't; even if she wanted to.
The dragon dried off her face, took a deep breath to try and compose herself and wrote down a title: 'Cabin fever'. She got up, leaving her drawing on the table. She looked at Ratchet work from afar. She stood there for a good 15 minutes. It surprised her that she hasn't seen any of the other bots yet, but figured they had to leave early today on their missions.
Zucky sat at the edge of the platform with her legs dangling over it. She hugged the vertical pipe that made up the railing for support and leaned on it as she just continued to stare a hole through Ratchet, who was deep in his work. Bee always told her it was a bad idea to disturb the doc, so even though she had a zillion questions that might show him her interest in whatever it was he was doing, she kept her mouth shut. For now...