More problems
"Status." said Prime as he rose to his feet and stepped over to the computer.
"He is getting better," replied First Aid. "Ratchet insisted on moving him back as soon as he was better, he is back in the east wing."
"Good," replied Prime. "I just sincerely hope Rodimus does something to keep that kid out of trouble. Knowing him right he will," added the commander before the other one got a chance to reply.
***
"Is it done?" asked Rodimus.
"It's done," replied Ratchet, staring at Duo through the glass. "But I can seriously say that I don't understand how this is going to help him."
"Just think of it as a favor. And make sure that someone investigates what went down in the bar. I don't accept that kind of behavior."
Ratchet just stared at him.
"I'll get someone else to take care of it." He thought for a while. "You didn't by any chance leak any of this to First Aid?"
"Don't worry, sir, Prime will never know. But I must admit I don't understand why this is to be kept from Prime. I don't understand it and I don't like it. My experience in such matters is that this will eventually jump up and bite us in the ass, sir."
Rodimus smiled. "What makes you think that? The reason why I have decided to keep this from Optimus is because he has enough to worry about for the time being and he gets so utterly concerned and involved that he neglects other things. Don't worry, Ratchet, we have done nothing wrong. We have appointed ourselves the saviors of Duo."
"And what about Andrea? What will happen when she finds out you did this without consulting her? After all she does outrank you, sir, and she has taken special interest in this Duo case."
"Yes, why is that you think?"
"I'm not in the liberty to say, sir. But what I can say is that if something goes wrong you won't be let off the hook so easily. You might find her charming, loving and compassionate right now, but if you put as much as a toe out of line with that female she will eat you for breakfast, sir. And I believe she will turn to Prime if Duo's condition gets worse." Not half of what Ratchet had said was true, but he hoped the second in command would buy it. Andrea wasn't half as bad as he and Blaster had made people believe.
"Don't worry, doc, nothing could possibly go wrong, we're just doing the poor sucker a favor."
"I sincerely do hope so, sir. Excuse me." he strode past Rodimus to check on his patient. Why don't you bite my ass, sir? He added silently as he turned to Duo. "How do you feel?"
"The same way I looked when they brought me in I would assume. How DID I look by the way?"
"I don't think we should discuss that right now. What I would rather discuss is what you saw. Who did this to you Duo?"
Duo looked down. He wanted so badly to find the nerve to tell the good doctor who did this to him, but as he opened his mouth he found that the little nerve he had had escaped. "I don't know, sir, I never saw them."
Ratchet didn't believe him. "Are you sure? You know that if you don't tell me who did this to you the possibility of ever finding them is like a 1000 to 1. People on this planet mostly mind their own business and stay out of trouble. Nobody is going to talk unless you do."
"I'm so sorry, sir," stuttered Duo. "I never saw them."
Ratchet had never felt this sorry for another being for as long as he could remember. He himself had never experienced what most of the others would characterize as true fear, but apparently this Autobot had, and he was about to be torn apart by it. It was just a question of time before the youngster broke down completely.
He wished he could be able to pressure him a little more, maybe scare the truth out of him, but he had received strict orders from Rodimus not to push this one too far. "If you say so," he said calmly while his insides were screaming out; WHY THE HELL CAN'T YOU TELL ME WHO DID THIS TO YOU, WHAT ARE YOU SO GOD DAMN SCARED OF? YOU HAVE THE ENTIRE AUTOBOT LEGION IN YOUR BACK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
Then another voice popped up in Ratchets head; Does he, really? The truth scared the doctor more than anything; almost none of the Autobots cared about what happened to Duo. "Just get the hell out of here," said the doctor with gritted teeth.
Duo thought Ratchet was mad at him and hurried down from the table and out of there. Once he was at a good distance from Ratchet's Med Bay he leaned up against the wall and waited. Then he heard a familiar laughter from somewhere down the hall. INDRA! That meant Wheeljack was back.
No. they had done so much for him. he couldn't go down there and tell them that they had failed. That would be rude. unappreciative. so not like him. No, he'd better let it be, but it wouldn't hurt to go down there and check out how Indra was doing. He was after all quite fond of the young Amshean.
When he got down to where the small group was gathered he saw that the youth looked much better now than when he had first seen her.
"Hi Duo," she said with a huge smile.
"Hi," he replied.
"How are you doing?" asked Andrea.
"Better," he lied. "I thought you'd be gone much longer than a day."
Andrea frowned. "Duo, we've been gone more than a week."
Duo looked away. It wasn't wise to lie to the most powerful Amsheans stationed on Cybertron. Not wise at all. And now he had done just that. He looked up at her, trying to smile, but it failed. "You know me and time." She had a strange expression on her face, like strict, demanding, but then suddenly her face cracked into a smile. "Of course."
"About time you got back."
Suddenly Duo felt something like electricity surge through his body. He knew that voice; he had heard it so many times before. It was the voice of Red Alert and it had never made him feel like this before.
He felt rather than saw the Amshean captain raise her head to greet her friend. "We couldn't come back sooner. We had collect various things for Perceptor while we waited for Indra to heal."
"How's it going there, Duo?" asked Red Alert, but the other Autobot kept his head down, feeling like this was the peak of his very existence, to be addressed by Red Alert.
Andrea frowned at the young Autobot's behavior. Something had happened while they had been away and she was going to get to the bottom of it. "I guess it's back to work, then," she said to Red Alert as a hint for him to get back.
Red Alert nodded and turned.
"I want to talk to you later," she told Duo before she turned to leave as well. "Indra, come, there's a lot I have to bring you up to date with."
The Amsheans left him alone in the hallway. He looked down the same corridor Red Alert had disappeared into and felt another surge go through his body. What if he came back? What if.
Wait a minute! What the devil was going on here? Was he supposed to be in love with Red Alert?! How, in the name of Primus did this happen?!
"Status." said Prime as he rose to his feet and stepped over to the computer.
"He is getting better," replied First Aid. "Ratchet insisted on moving him back as soon as he was better, he is back in the east wing."
"Good," replied Prime. "I just sincerely hope Rodimus does something to keep that kid out of trouble. Knowing him right he will," added the commander before the other one got a chance to reply.
***
"Is it done?" asked Rodimus.
"It's done," replied Ratchet, staring at Duo through the glass. "But I can seriously say that I don't understand how this is going to help him."
"Just think of it as a favor. And make sure that someone investigates what went down in the bar. I don't accept that kind of behavior."
Ratchet just stared at him.
"I'll get someone else to take care of it." He thought for a while. "You didn't by any chance leak any of this to First Aid?"
"Don't worry, sir, Prime will never know. But I must admit I don't understand why this is to be kept from Prime. I don't understand it and I don't like it. My experience in such matters is that this will eventually jump up and bite us in the ass, sir."
Rodimus smiled. "What makes you think that? The reason why I have decided to keep this from Optimus is because he has enough to worry about for the time being and he gets so utterly concerned and involved that he neglects other things. Don't worry, Ratchet, we have done nothing wrong. We have appointed ourselves the saviors of Duo."
"And what about Andrea? What will happen when she finds out you did this without consulting her? After all she does outrank you, sir, and she has taken special interest in this Duo case."
"Yes, why is that you think?"
"I'm not in the liberty to say, sir. But what I can say is that if something goes wrong you won't be let off the hook so easily. You might find her charming, loving and compassionate right now, but if you put as much as a toe out of line with that female she will eat you for breakfast, sir. And I believe she will turn to Prime if Duo's condition gets worse." Not half of what Ratchet had said was true, but he hoped the second in command would buy it. Andrea wasn't half as bad as he and Blaster had made people believe.
"Don't worry, doc, nothing could possibly go wrong, we're just doing the poor sucker a favor."
"I sincerely do hope so, sir. Excuse me." he strode past Rodimus to check on his patient. Why don't you bite my ass, sir? He added silently as he turned to Duo. "How do you feel?"
"The same way I looked when they brought me in I would assume. How DID I look by the way?"
"I don't think we should discuss that right now. What I would rather discuss is what you saw. Who did this to you Duo?"
Duo looked down. He wanted so badly to find the nerve to tell the good doctor who did this to him, but as he opened his mouth he found that the little nerve he had had escaped. "I don't know, sir, I never saw them."
Ratchet didn't believe him. "Are you sure? You know that if you don't tell me who did this to you the possibility of ever finding them is like a 1000 to 1. People on this planet mostly mind their own business and stay out of trouble. Nobody is going to talk unless you do."
"I'm so sorry, sir," stuttered Duo. "I never saw them."
Ratchet had never felt this sorry for another being for as long as he could remember. He himself had never experienced what most of the others would characterize as true fear, but apparently this Autobot had, and he was about to be torn apart by it. It was just a question of time before the youngster broke down completely.
He wished he could be able to pressure him a little more, maybe scare the truth out of him, but he had received strict orders from Rodimus not to push this one too far. "If you say so," he said calmly while his insides were screaming out; WHY THE HELL CAN'T YOU TELL ME WHO DID THIS TO YOU, WHAT ARE YOU SO GOD DAMN SCARED OF? YOU HAVE THE ENTIRE AUTOBOT LEGION IN YOUR BACK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
Then another voice popped up in Ratchets head; Does he, really? The truth scared the doctor more than anything; almost none of the Autobots cared about what happened to Duo. "Just get the hell out of here," said the doctor with gritted teeth.
Duo thought Ratchet was mad at him and hurried down from the table and out of there. Once he was at a good distance from Ratchet's Med Bay he leaned up against the wall and waited. Then he heard a familiar laughter from somewhere down the hall. INDRA! That meant Wheeljack was back.
No. they had done so much for him. he couldn't go down there and tell them that they had failed. That would be rude. unappreciative. so not like him. No, he'd better let it be, but it wouldn't hurt to go down there and check out how Indra was doing. He was after all quite fond of the young Amshean.
When he got down to where the small group was gathered he saw that the youth looked much better now than when he had first seen her.
"Hi Duo," she said with a huge smile.
"Hi," he replied.
"How are you doing?" asked Andrea.
"Better," he lied. "I thought you'd be gone much longer than a day."
Andrea frowned. "Duo, we've been gone more than a week."
Duo looked away. It wasn't wise to lie to the most powerful Amsheans stationed on Cybertron. Not wise at all. And now he had done just that. He looked up at her, trying to smile, but it failed. "You know me and time." She had a strange expression on her face, like strict, demanding, but then suddenly her face cracked into a smile. "Of course."
"About time you got back."
Suddenly Duo felt something like electricity surge through his body. He knew that voice; he had heard it so many times before. It was the voice of Red Alert and it had never made him feel like this before.
He felt rather than saw the Amshean captain raise her head to greet her friend. "We couldn't come back sooner. We had collect various things for Perceptor while we waited for Indra to heal."
"How's it going there, Duo?" asked Red Alert, but the other Autobot kept his head down, feeling like this was the peak of his very existence, to be addressed by Red Alert.
Andrea frowned at the young Autobot's behavior. Something had happened while they had been away and she was going to get to the bottom of it. "I guess it's back to work, then," she said to Red Alert as a hint for him to get back.
Red Alert nodded and turned.
"I want to talk to you later," she told Duo before she turned to leave as well. "Indra, come, there's a lot I have to bring you up to date with."
The Amsheans left him alone in the hallway. He looked down the same corridor Red Alert had disappeared into and felt another surge go through his body. What if he came back? What if.
Wait a minute! What the devil was going on here? Was he supposed to be in love with Red Alert?! How, in the name of Primus did this happen?!