Chapter summary: Ratchet has known Omega long enough to notice a small change in him.

This Oneshot is set a week after Miracle Sparkling.

"Hello" Normal talk.

"Hello" Talking through the bond.

"Hello" Com-link/Private Com-link.

"Hello" Thoughts.

Ratchet had known Omega a long time, he had met him after one of the battles in the early years of the war and the large mech had sustained an injury, and since Omega had not long transferred over to the Autobots at the time, Ratchet got to know him and it had taken a year for Omega to consider him a friend, he had watched Omega countless times in battle and knew his fighting style, so it was unusual when he noticed a slight change in Omega's fighting style, not many would have noticed since it was quite subtle, but Ratchet had noticed straight away, since he was always in the assigned safety areas so he could treat the frontline soldiers when they got injured, it gave him a chance to notice it, he noticed how Omega seemed to be more deliberate in his steps but still managed to make a perfect shot at groups of Decepticons, but the most obvious change in his mind was the way Omega seemed to favour his chest, like he was protecting it. Ratchet knew that Autobot Guardians were made of some strong stuff, especially their chest areas, so he couldn't fathom why Omega felt a need to protect his chest so much, he snapped out of his musings when another frontline soldier was rushed over with injuries, so he turned his focus back to the task at hand.

When the battle was over, the Autobots could breathe a sigh of relief and those that were injured could get treated, sadly there were a small number of fatalities but it probably would have been much worse had they not got Omega on their side.

Ratchet treated each patient the best he could with field patch-ups and barked orders at the others to get them back to the Autobot base for more treatment, he put his hands on his hips and gave a sigh, then he looked over at Omega who had stayed out of the way, was he imagining it or was Omega discreetly stroking his chest? Maybe he had an injury and hadn't wanted to say anything yet? He may as well try and get to the bottom of this and walked towards his friend.

Omega heard the telltale sounds of Ratchet walking over and looked down to him "How many were lost?" he asked.

"Only a small number old friend" Ratchet replied, knowing it would be pointless to lie to his friend and the fact Omega took protecting Cybertronian life seriously "believe me, it could've been much worse had we not called you in, so I call that a miracle"

Omega nodded "As much as I hate the fact there have been losses, I've come to accept that it can and will happen, when you've seen it as much as I have you get used to it" he replied "all you can do is protect what you can"

Ratchet nodded in agreement "No one is perfect Omega" he said "but you're a great asset to the Autobots, and a great friend"

Omega smiled slightly and nodded "Same with you old friend" he replied.

Ratchet grinned slightly before he decided to address the proverbial elephant in the room, for him at least "Do you have any injuries? Specifically to your chest area?" he asked, raising an optic ridge when he saw his friend tense slightly.

"No, everything is fine Ratchet" Omega replied, part of him knew that Ratchet would suspect something because of the slight change in his fighting style, he had to though to protect his week old daughter in his Spark Chamber, who he felt was recharging in there because of the bond.

Ratchet put his hands on his hips "If it's not an injury, then why have you been protecting your chest so much this battle? You never did before, and I know you Guardians are made of some strong stuff" he replied "so you either have an injury you're not telling me about or you're hiding something" maybe he should not have been so confronting and approached this differently, because he did not expect the reaction he got.

"I'm not hiding anything! I don't have an injury, I'm fine, so just stop asking!" Omega growled, clearly very defensive.

Ratchet couldn't think of anything to say to that since it was so unexpected, he'd never known his friend to get angry like that.

The Autobots that were still around, startled at the shouting and looked to Omega.

"Is...everything alright?" Optimus asked.

Omega took a step back, regretting shouting at his old friend "Yes, I apologise" he replied as he glanced between Optimus and Ratchet "I'll go back to base if I'm no longer needed"

"We're pretty much done here now, I gotta get back and treat those patients at the base" Ratchet replied and smiled slightly, clearly he had forgiven his friend for the outburst.

"Thanks for your help Omega" Optimus added "we may have lost a small number, but we're glad you helped us"

Omega gave a nod "It's my duty Optimus, that's all there is to it" he replied before he walked away from the battlefield.

Ratchet watched him go and sighed a little, he had no idea what exactly was going on with his friend, but he decided not to push it anymore if it got that kind of reaction out of him, all he could do was wait until Omega was ready to talk about it.