Hey sorry it has been so long. For some odd reason my normal flow of ideas has been hit with a bad drought. I can't explain it, but I am slowly getting back into things and I hope that you all can forgive me.
Please accept this chapter as a good will gesture.
Ratchet narrowed his optics to the point that they where almost closed. His vision was at its highest magnification while he worked on reattaching the last microscopic wires in Bumblebee's arm. For the most part the task of reattaching the scouts arm had been simple; the only problem had been when Bumblebee's energon levels became too low. But thanks to a generous donation from the medic himself the crisis was averted. Now with only small repairs to do Ratchet let himself relax a little.
His processor was slowly starting to ache with all the problems that had been happening around the base the last few months. Things where bad enough dealing with the sparkling by himself, but with the actions of Barricade today who knew how much worse things could become. They where guaranteed to get bad once word about the attack got to the human government. No doubt they would get a nasty visit from that horrid Galloway human whose sole purpose on this planet seemed to be causing problems for them. Ratchet still had no idea why the humans kept him around.
But worse than that was the fact that if Barricade had found out about the sparkling it was a sure bet that some of the other 'Cons knew. Meaning it would only be a mater of time before Megatron caught wind of the fact. Sighing, Ratchet straightened up with a small groan as some of his older parts complained at the sudden movement.
'Primus I must be getting old.' He thought.
Since he kept himself in the best condition he could, it was a bad sign if his parts where creaking. After such a long time at war it was rare to see any bot succumb to old age but here he was, at the very beginning of that down hill slope.
"If I am starting to get old it won't be long before Prime or even Ironhide start having the same problem." He spoke out to the empty room.
Looking down at the still offline scout Ratchet placed one large servo on Bumblebee's chest right where his spark was.
"If this war goes on much longer, it will only be a matter of time before us old bots aren't here anymore. Then who will guide you young ones? Who will make sure that you don't get yourselves scrapped?"
"Talking to yourself again Ratchet?"
Ratchet didn't need to turn around to know who was behind him; the only other bot besides Optimus who would walk into his med bay unannounced.
"It's been almost twelve hours, shouldn't you be getting ready to blow yourself up again?" Ratchet asked, still looking down at Bumblebee.
"That's not fair; you know I don't plan for all those things to happen." Wheeljack said, walking closer to the medic.
Ratchet snorted not taking his optics from the still form. There was silence in the med bay for a while, until the heavy steps of the other mech broke it. Ratchet stood just a little straighter when he felt the slim servo settle on his forearm. Lifting his head up Ratchet looked into Wheeljack's glowing optics; he could see the concern and worry that where there.
"You keep so much bottled up Ratchet. It can't be good for you." Wheeljack said.
A small chuckle escaped Ratchet's vocals which earned him a glare from Wheeljack.
"The others wouldn't agree, they would say I let too much out."
Both 'bots where quiet as they remembered all of Ratchet's outbursts, they always ended with someone taking his wrench to the face.
"They wouldn't say that if they knew you the way I know you." Wheeljack responded after a moment.
Slowly Wheeljack turned Ratchet around so they where facing each other. Their large bodies almost pressing completely against each other, their chests touched right where their sparks where.
"Wheeljack, what are you doing?" Ratchet asked as he saw an all too familiar look in the engineer's optics.
"Nothing you don't want me to." Wheeljack said moving his hand up Ratchet's arm until it was dipping into the wires at the back of his neck.
Ratchet's body stiffened at the contact and his spark pulsed quickly. The war had left almost no time for any touches that where gentle. No loving strokes or softly spoken words from a loved one; just harsh commands and the painful blows of battle. Even here on Earth in their base there was little, if any at all, contact. The fear of being shoved into battle always hung in the air.
Almost without thought Ratchet's hand began to move up Wheeljack's side gently stroking the metal that was there.
"So long since we have just been together." Wheeljack whispered.
"Too long." Was all Ratchet could say.
There was something in the back of the medic's mind that was bugging him. Something he felt he needed to remember but for what ever reason couldn't or wouldn't. Nothing mattered at the moment except the hands that made him feel more alive then he ever had before; or the warm spark that pulsed just beyond his own begging to be joined like they used to.
"BUMBLEBEE!"
The loud yell cut through the room like a cannon blast. Ratchet's optics snapped open from the half closed position they had fallen into. He looked around the room wildly searching for the familiar face but not finding it. It was then that the nagging in his head became clear, what he should have remembered. Wheeljack wasn't there. No one knew where he was. He was lost in the endless darkness of space, not one single transmission from him. For all Ratchet knew he could be a floating pile of scrap in some far off star cluster…
Ratchet instantly put a stop to that train of thought. He couldn't let himself think like that, if he gave up hope on Wheeljack he didn't know what he would do. Pushing the thought out of his mind he turned his attention to the source of the shout. His optics fixed on the door leading to the spare room of the med bay.
'That is where the sparkling is.' He thought to himself. 'But he can't be back on line yet.'
Moving quickly over to the door he opened it and his optics rested on what he thought was impossible. The young bot, who had been in complete stasis not minute ago was completely on line and struggling to get off the berth. Faster then one would think he could move, Ratchet got to the sparkling just as he was going over the edge of the berth. Catching him in one hand Ratchet lifted him up so he could examine him for damage.
"Let me go!"
The small bot yelled.
"I have to get to Bumblebee! Barricade is killing him!"
Ratchet stopped what he was doing for a moment as the words sank in. The young bot had just referred to a Decepticon by his name, something that only could have happened if he was able to remember it from when he was Sam.
"Young one listen to me you must settle down." Ratchet tried to sooth the bot but it wasn't working.
"No Bee needs me, he is getting killed and it's all my fault!" He yelled. "Please Ratchet put me down."
Ratchet was at a loss on what to do. Nothing he did calmed the sparkling down. He was just about to try and force him into stasis again when a heavy voice cut through the yelling.
"Stop right now."
Instantly the sparkling stopped his struggling. Ratchet turned and saw the large form of Ironhide standing in the doorway. His face was in a frown and his body was stiff. A chirp came from the sparkling as he looked at Ironhide.
"Ironhide..." He started but he was silenced by Ironhide's glare.
The sparkling settled back into Ratchet's hold and stayed quiet not wanting to get that look from Ironhide again.
::What happened? I thought he was in stasis::
Ratchet got the message and instantly replied.
::I am not sure what happened somehow he came back on line by himself.::
There was silence while Ironhide thought about what Ratchet said.
::Is he alright to take out?::
Ratchet started a quick scan of the sparkling and saw that there wasn't anything wrong. Normally he would have wanted to do a few more detailed scans but the look on Ironhide's face told him that he would be taking his sparkling with or with out Ratchet's permission. Letting out a sigh Ratchet held the sparkling out to Ironhide.
"He is fine but I would like him back tomorrow for a few tests."
Ironhide just nodded his head before taking the sparkling and holding him to his chest. Instantly the sparkling pressed himself against the warmth of the spark and calmed down. A few moments passed and he was back in stasis and Ironhide carried him out of the med bay and towards his private room so the two of them could rest.
Well I hope that you like that. I know not too much happened here but I wanted to give Ratchet a chance to get some musing done and also let you all see way he is more then a little grumpy at times.
Lets all give a big hand to Shinigami Kitten Tvhg who kindly beta'ed this chapter for me. I think she did a great job and I would love to let her do work on my other chapters as well. So thank you very much for you're kindness.
Also just so you can all get to know me a little better I have decided to share with you all something very amazing. Now I don't know how many of you watch Doctor Who but I do and I will admit that this video made me cry. So watch it if you want and enjoy even if it is just for the amazing music that it has.
And remember to review before leaving.
http:// w w w dot youtube dot com / watch ? v = T s V Y i t 2 W S s Y