A/N

Guess who was rereading my stuff and was inspired again! Let's see if I can revive this shit!

XI

Ratchet sat up quickly, eyes darting around. It felt like his mind had been torn in two, body and spark ripped apart and forcibly reconnected. He couldn't feel his body. Sitting up took all his strength. He looked around but couldn't understand his environment. Eventually things started making sense again as he noticed Knockout in front of him, hand on his shoulder, shaking him. His mouth opened, shouting but the words were completely overshadowed by white noise. Ratchet shook his head, shutting his optics and trying to reconnect to the world. What was happening?

"Ratchet!"

Finally, the words reached his audio receptor. It seemed unnecessarily loud, but considering Ratchet's earlier response, this made sense. Ratchet nodded slightly, trying to find words somewhere in his head. Remember. Looking around, everything was slowly coming back. Shady lab, shady procedure, shady doctor, shady scientist. Shady everything. Ratchet groaned, feeling a weight upon his body. Knockout grinned, patting Ratchet on the shoulder.

"Welcome back!" nodded Knockout, stepping back.

"Did it work?" whispered Shockwave.

"Yes," groaned Ratchet, pulling a leg up to his chest, "I think so."

"Orion is still coming around," Knockout instructed, pointing to the adjacent bed.

Ratchet looked over. The dream. The memory. The voice. Everything that had just happened suddenly came rushing back as Ratchet turned quickly to Knockout and Shockwave.

"Primus!" he shouted. "Oh, my…it was Primus." He placed a hand to his head, feeling overwhelmed. "Primus…is literally in his head."

Knockout and Shockwave exchanged looks. Based on their expressions, Ratchet could see their doubt. Ratchet shook his head, slowly sliding off the berth and getting to his feet. He felt sore all over. Nothing felt right. It was like waking up in someone else's body. He looked back over to Orion.

"I know what I heard. I know what I saw," Ratchet nodded. "Optimus Prime. He's a real Prime. He's the real thing."

Knockout leaned against Ratchet's shoulder.

"And you're sure about this?" Knockout hummed, raising an eyebrow.

Ratchet nodded.

Knockout shrugged, stepping away.

"Why not?"

"You can't be serious?" snapped Shockwave. "Primus is a myth. Primes are a myth. We can summarize this as delusions of grandeur, correct?"

Knockout shrugged again.

"I'm no psychologist, but he doesn't seem the kind of bot to be insane."

"And what does insanity look like to you?"

Knockout rolled his eyes, thinking a moment before pointing to himself. Ratchet chuckled lightly, shaking his head and grinning. Shockwave threw his arms up in exacerbation. Knockout gave a sly grin, nudging Ratchet as if for him to agree with this response.

"I'm sorry, Shockwave," Ratchet sighed. "We thank you for this patch thing but…I think Orion and I are going to pursue this. Whether you come with us is up to you."

"I'm in!" cheered Knockout, raising a hand. "I got nothing better to do. Though I gotta visit my buddy first. I'm sure he'll be up for this too."

"If I'm reading this situation correctly," snarled Shockwave, stepping forward aggressively, "this idea of yours, about Orion being some Prime chosen by Primus, if will end with you confronting the council."

Ratchet nodded. Knockout stepped back. Shockwave stood directly in front of Ratchet, one hand on the berth, and leaned in closely. The single optic made it hard to gauge emotions. After a deep sigh, Shockwave stepped back and crossed his arms.

"I suppose I must agree with our doctor here. I have nothing better to do," he shrugged. "I owe Orion a debt for not only releasing me from my imprisonment but also for testing my invention. Assuming, he wakes for this plan to proceed."

The three glanced over to the still slumbering Orion. Ratchet moved over, resting a hand on Orion's shoulder. Knockout stepped away, pulling out a small pad. Shockwave recollected the tubing that once connected between the two. Knockout stepped beside Ratchet, handing over the medic pad.

"Scans are clear," Ratchet remarked, sliding through the screen. "Levels are good. Brain activity is steady. Nothing appears to be wrong…unless…"

Ratchet flipped through the screens rapidly, moving to the final scan, which scanned over the spark readings. This scan was primarily used to scan dying bots, gauging how long the spark had to live, how far it was fading and diminished. This was what he used when they originally met. That seemed so long ago. How much came out of that single moment?

"He's having an episode," whispered Ratchet. "We must've jump started one after disconnecting."

"How bad do they get?" Shockwave perked, stepping up. "What exactly happens during these episodes?"

"He sees visions," Ratchet explained. "We think it might be an alternate timeline, possibly the correct timeline."

"Correct timeline?" Knockout hummed, raising an eyebrow.

"Meaning this one has been altered," Shockwave whispered. "By who?"

Ratchet stopped, looking over to Shockwave. They hadn't thought about that. After all this time, it hadn't occurred to them to actually figure out how or when time had changed or more importantly, why? He lowered his head, looking over the screen again. Snarling, Ratchet looked up again.

"The Councilman…"