Chapter 3: Hostility
Ratchet's optics scanned the strange femme over, he recognized her but knew it couldn't actually be her. Her frame looked the same but the color of her armor was different. She had more dark gray armor with touches of blue, orange, and white across it. Especially with more scars between her armor and especially across her left optic. Ratchet scanned the femme to see if there was anything that would come up in the Autobot database of soldiers. He stared at the screen as Bulkhead and Wheeljack talked about previous battles and whatever else the Wreckers usually rambled on about. Ratchet's optics widened as the profile appeared on the screen. "No…" he mumbled as his spark seemed so close to bursting out of its chamber. "He lied to us…" Ratchet said quietly as he glanced over to the other Autobots and made sure they couldn't hear him before he began looking over the profile that appeared.
Name: Gadget Pax
Aliases: Pax
Biological Sex: Femme/ Carrier
Primary Color: White
Secondary Color(s): Orangish Red and Blue
Height: 23 ft
Optic Color: Blue
Equipment: Side Blades, Handheld Blaster, Medical Kit
Rank: Warrior
Job: Triage Medic
Carrier: Unknown
Sire: Unknown
Status: Offline
Cause of Death: Unknown - Body Never Recovered
Ratchet glanced down at the white armored femme and frowned, "It is her, but how is she..." he mumbled quietly. Ratchet walked out of the medical bay and towards Optimus, Arcee, and Bumblebee, who had just returned from searching for energon but came up empty-handed. "Optimus, may I have a word with you about the bot that Wheeljack brought in? I figured you could use an update about their status and what I have found out about them to get your opinion on what is the best course of action for this bot" Ratchet asked as he looked up towards the Prime. His optics say something much different than his body language. His blue optics pleading for his sparkmate to comfort him, but his frame remained strong and stoic.
Optimus nodded and stepped past the other Autobots to head towards the medical bay. Optimus made it to the end of the medical berth and froze as his optics widened as if he had just seen a ghost. "She is supposed to be offline.." Optimus said in Cybertronian to the medic. None of the others amongst the group knew a lot of older Cybertronian like those from the previous eras did. Optimus had so many emotions rushing through him and Ratchet could easily sense it through their bond. "She is supposed to be offline….did Sentinel Prime lie to us?" Optimus said out loud as he clenched his hands into fists. "We held a memorial for her, we mourned her in secrecy," Optimus whispered as he looked at his sparkmate. "Is it actually her or some Decepticon trick like it was with Makeshift when Wheeljack was first coming around?"
"I am aware of all of the facts. She is here, our daughter is alive rather than with the allspark like we have thought for many cycles," Ratchet said quietly as he glanced over and made sure the rest of the team was occupied before he went and held Optimus's hand to help the Prime calm his raging emotions. "The team will find out sometime, we shall see what she wants to do when she wakes up, though it will be hard for us to hide the fact that she is our daughter. It was hard enough on Cybertron to not reveal her or her brother as our children," Ratchet said before he moved his hand away from his sparkmate. "As for it being a Decepticon trick, they couldn't have replicated all of our data on her let alone know her real name besides Pax," Ratchet elaborated. "Only a small number of Cybertronians know her for being Gadget during the war or even prior to the war." Ratchet's optics drifted back to his daughter, "I am unsure how long I can hide that fact from the group, she acts like us…and I am tired of being her carrier and not treating her like my daughter," Ratchet frowned.
Optimus released a sigh, "I am aware, especially with how close you both were, you make the best option on what to reveal. I trust your judgment on this more than my own. My relationship with Pax has been strained since I became a Prime and chose Atronous as my heir." Optimus said quietly before turning and walking back to the remainder of the team. "The Autobot shall remain here until she wakes up and is healed, and then we shall see if she and Wheeljack will stay or go back on the ship," Optimus said calmly even though his mind was racing. "Wheeljack you are welcome here as usual," Optimus said as he looked towards the Wrecker. Wheeljack smiled before Bulkhead smacked him on the back.
"Where did you even find her?" Arcee asked as she stood beside the pair of Wreckers.
"She was just drifting in a space pod, I met her a couple times on Cybertron when she was with that triage team. Since then we have been traveling together and fighting cons. Frag she even patches my wounds better than sunshine," Wheeljack said with a smirk.
"Triage team? Didn't that team die out on Cybertron during the war? I heard all of the members either changed teams or were murdered," Bulkhead said as he looked down at Wheeljack.
Ratchet rolled his optics, "I would hope she would patch them just as good if not better, I am the one that trained her to be a medic and put her on the damn triage team in the first place," Ratchet said, a little irritated. He hated not being able to talk about his and Optimus's offspring and hiding their relationship. Their family had to hide everything since the war happened. "But that doesn't mean that I knew her on a personal level, she was a great student and medic," he said as he looked down. "As for the Triage Team, many members did die on Cybertron during the war due to the severity of many of the rescue missions on Cybertron. Scarcity of these teams are common, I mean look at how many Wreckers were lost during the war."
Pax groaned a little before sitting up and rubbing her optics. She looked around before pulling the energon IV out of her arm before standing up. Her stance waived slightly as she regained her balance. She took a couple steps out of the medical bay and saw the small group of Autobots. Her optics scanned across the group before they landed on Ratchet. She froze as a frown formed on her face plates. "Carrier?" she whispered not knowing if the old medic could have even heard her.
Ratchet turned around and his optics widened slightly before walking over and stood in front of his long lost daughter. "You're awake," Ratchet said quietly as he clenched his fists to stop himself from hugging her. Ratchet looked closely at her optics and noticed her left optic where the scar lined her face was yellow but the other the regular blue. "You've changed…," he mumbled as he glanced over his shoulder towards the Prime. He released a sigh and moved his hand up and cupped her cheek and wiped her stray tear away. "You're also alive," he said as he released a sigh before pulling the darker armored femme into a tight embrace. Pax froze for a few moments before relaxing in the embrace.
"They seem closer than student and teacher," Miko whispered to Jack and Raf. Jack elbowed her as they looked up at the two Cybertronians hugging. "What? What did I say?" Miko grumbled.
Pax pulled away before looking around and seeing Optimus. Pax took a step backward as the two made optic contact. Pax looked over at Wheeljack, "You failed to tell me who your friends were we would be coming to see to help me get treated," Pax said quietly. Pax's breaths increased as she took another step back as Optimus came closer.
Ratchet stepped in between the two and glared up at the Prime. Optimus stopped and narrowed his optics ever so slightly. "Not now," Ratchet growled as his optics narrowed more. "We just got her back, now is not the time to interrogate her like she is just some random soldier."
