Early 2012, Cybertron

Optimus leaned back in his chair. He was at his house with Elita One and Ultra Magnus. "And so, I told him he could ride in the trailer, but the parking fee would come out of his paycheck!"

Both Elita and Magnus leaned back in their chairs and laughed, Magnus slapping the table. "Oh, Primus. What was his response?"

Anything Prime would've said was cut off by the house's intercom chiming. A viewscreen embedded in the wall lit up and the image of Rung appeared. "Optimus, Elita, Ultra Magnus, apologies for interrupting, but there's some big news at Kimia. Ratchet's awake!"

The jovial mood evaporated. Prime was on his feet, the chair he was sitting in knocked to the floor as he moved to the viewscreen. "By Primus!" he shouted, his optic sensors lighting up. "How is he?"

Rung glanced to his left. "Well, he's-" He reached out. "Ratchet, Ratchet, wait! Get back in your bed! You just came out of stasis lock! Get back-" The image cut out.

Prime turned around. Elita pointed to the door. "Go. He needs you, and you need to see him. We'll be along shortly."

Prime reached out and took Elita's hand for a moment, gripping it before running for the door. As soon as he cleared the threshold, he transformed into tractor-trailer mode and peeled out.

Magnus touched a panel on the side of his head. "Traffic control, clear a lane for Optimus Prime all the way to Kimia Medical.

Rung stood outside Kimia Medical, wringing his hands. His optics brightened as a familiar tractor-trailer pulled up. "Optimus, good. I-"

Prime transformed into robot mode and ran past Rung. "Tell me on the way!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Rung groaned and followed Prime inside, past the reception desk, up several flights of stairs, and down a hallway. "Ratchet's awake and fully-conscious, but he didn't stay down! He asked about the others, learned that Ironhide and Brawn were still in stasis-lock, and went to try and get them online! And you're not the only one I contacted. The hallway outside is-"

The pair skidded to a halt at the end of the hallway that had the room Ratchet, Ironhide, and Brawn had been inside. A rather large, familiar crowd of Autobots waited outside, clustered around an observation window. They all turned their heads as Prime and Rung approached. "Optimus!" Bluestreak shouted. "We all got the word and came running and Ratchet's online and he's inside!"

Huffer crossed his arms. "Oh... I got a bad feeling about this. He just comes online and starts tinkering with the others?"

Goldbug patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, no pessimism allowed, Huffer! Not here and not now!"

Huffer looked away from Goldbug, smiling slightly.

Prime made his way to the observation window proper. Chromia and Prowl stood there. They both glanced at him as he approached. "How are you two doing?"

Prowl nodded. "Good, I think."

Chromia's hands clenched. "If there's two Autobots and humans who can pull this off, they're inside there."

Prime finally looked inside the room. Ratchet was lowering a ceiling-mounted piece of equipment close to Ironhide, while Spike Witwicky was making various repairs to internal components. Meanwhile, Wheeljack hooked a pair of cables to Brawn's fuel pump, while Carly Witwicky closed up a panel on his head.

Prime scratched his head. "Wheeljack? I thought you were at Autobot City."

Wheeljack glanced up, seeming to smile through his face mask. "Hi, Optimus! I was here for a symposium at Polihex and got the call. I came racing fast as I could!" He turned around and looked at a computer screen. "Carly, neural readings are good. Spike, how are things on your end?"

Spike finished his work. "All done here, Wheeljack. Ratchet?"

Ratchet positioned the equipment over Ironhide, pulled out a tube from it, and hooked it into Ironhide's chest. Wheeljack grabbed another tubed and hooked it to Brawn. "Ready as we'll ever be. Carly?"

Carly looked her work over. "Now or never, Ratchet." She slid a pair of goggles over her eyes. "Let's do this!"

Ratchet waited for Spike and Carly to get behind a protective screen before reaching up and pulling a lever on the machine. It hummed to life, and the cables connected to Ironhide and Brawn glowed. "Energon flow stable. Ramping up." He growled. "Come on, you two! Get back online, you hear me?"

Elita and Magnus appeared in the hallway, sliding up next to Prime. "How is it going?" Elita asked.

Jazz shook his head. "That crazy son of a glitch is trying to out-Frankenstein Frankenstein himself."

Both Ironhide and Brawn jerked about. Wheeljack leaned over and flipped some switches on a panel mounted right behind Brawn's head. "No change. I think-" A loud beeping sounded out. "Wait, hold that thought! Neural energy is picking up. Their laser cores are steady and..." He smacked the panel. "Come on, work!"

Ratchet pulled the lever down again. The cables glowed brighter. "Energon infusion number two. Going to 80%. Come on, you two!"

Their chassis jerked around once more. Ratchet looked to a screen. "They should be coming back online. I just-" He suddenly disconnected the cable from Ironhide's chest, leaned over him and slapped him right across the face. "Wake up, you lazy good-for-nothing piece of dross! You're taking up valuable bedspace for someone who's really sick!" He slapped Ironhide again. "Eh, just gonna take it? Just gonna let Chromia and Prowl and Kup and Jazz and Optimus down? Just gonna lie down, rust and go offline? Pathetic!" he backhanded Ironhide, then slapped him...

And on his next swing, Ironhide reached up, grabbed Ratchet's forearm and sat up, optic sensors blazing. "Now what in the Allspark you think you're doing, you rusty old..." He leaned back and groaned. "Oh, my aching cylinders. What happened? Where are we?"

Ratchet looked up at Wheeljack, who nodded and began slapping Brawn. It only took two hits before Brawn reached out, grabbed Wheeljack and put him in a headlock and armbar. "Ow, ow, ow!" Wheeljack cried out.

Prime and Chromia walked into the room. Ironhide sat up. "Optimus! What happened? Where am I?"

Ratchet patted Ironhide on the shoulder. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Ironhide rubbed his chin. "Oh, scrap, the shuttle! Megatron, the other Decepticons!" He tried to get off the bed, but Ratchet and Prime restrained him. "What happened to him? To me? To us?"

Prime scratched his head. "I hate to say it, old buddy, but it's a long story. You're on Cybertron, in Kimia. We won."

Chromia slowly reached out. She abruptly grabbed Ironhide by the shoulders and hauled him almot off the bed. "You damned idiot, if you ever... ever..." She sniffed, then wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Ever..."

Ironhide returned the hug. "Aww, darling."

The others filed in. Gears went over to Brawn. "You know, I could be miserable and complain, but I'm just so happy to see you online again!" He grinned, reached out and hugged Brawn.

Brawn sat in his bed, optic sensors brightening. "Okay... what alternate reality are we in?"

Prowl looked them over. "Like Optimus said, Brawn. It's a long story, but I am damned glad you'll be able to hear it."