Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers

Bee continued to stand and gape at Ultra Magnus until eventually he grew irritated and said, "Are you going to just stand there like a moron, or are you going to get on?" He gestured impatiently, "We came all this way to get you."

"Forgive me..." Bee stumbled onto the ship and the hatch snapped closed behind him. "Haven't…seen you…in a long time…sir," he paused. "What do you…mean…'we'?"

The familiar helm of a medic popped out from behind the pilot's chair, "You didn't think he'd have been able to find you without me, did you?"

"...Ratchet!" Bee said happily.

Ratchet grinned, "Good to see you, scout" He noticed Magnia in Bumblebee's arms, "Primus, what happened to her?" Bee glanced down, seeing Magnia had fallen unconscious, and made a series of urgent beeping noises.

"Right," Ratchet said hastily. "Ultra Magnus, if you would be so kind to take the wheel, so I can care for these two?" Ultra Magnus nodded and stepped forward, but as he did Magnia shifted in Bee's arms, revealing the Decepticon symbol etched on her shoulder.

Ultra Magnus froze, optics widening, before yelling, "She's a Decepticon!" and instinctively shooting at the two of them. Bumblebee jumped out of the way, and quickly ducked behind some crates, optics trained on Ultra Magnus, who still had his cannons raised.

"ULTRA MAGNUS!" Ratchet burst, seething. He whacked the commander on the helm with a wrench and continued yelling at him, "What were you thinking? Where is your processor at, you moron? Why would you shoot at a wounded soldier, when we are in a moving aircraft that does not currently have a pilot?"

"But…she is a Decepticon," Ultra Magnus said, looking so bewildered. No one had ever talked to him like that before, but Ratchet had always had his own ways of evading the chain of command.

"We know, you moron," Ratchet rolled his optics. "Now, sit here, pilot your ship, and try not to blow anything up. All will be explained later when I don't have two patients critically in need of energon."

Ultra Magnus' optics darkened, "How dare you be so disrespectful, medic? I am your commanding officer, and I can easily have your sorry aft kicked off the Autobot team if I wish!"

Ratchet stared him down, "My commanding officer is Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus. If you have a problem with my attitude you can complain to him when he returns. You cannot seriously expect to have been gone for so long and to come back and have everything exactly as it was."

Ratchet left Ultra Magnus sitting in the pilot's chair, stunned, and went to get Bumblebee, who was still crouching with Magnia behind the crates. Bee stumbled wearily behind Ratchet to a small room full of crates.

"Well, it's certainly not the Medbay," Ratchet said wistfully, "but it'll have to do." He arranged some of the crates into a raised flat surface, and Bee laid Magnia on it, before collapsing against a nearby wall.

Worriedly, Ratchet tried to hand him some energon, but he refused it. "Help her…first," he panted.

"Bumblebee, she is stable," Ratchet said impatiently. "Her wounds are great, but they are already beginning to heal, which is why she went into recharge. You, however, are dangerously low on energon. Drink."

He offered him the cube again and Bee tentatively accepted this time. Ratchet walked back over to Magnia and began to examine her wounds further, "Let me know if you start to feel faint, because you need to stay awake."

Ratchet frowned, looking at Magnia's leg. It was so badly bent that the only way to right it would be to snap it back into place in one quick, painful, and difficult move.

Bee looked up inquisitively as Ratchet said to the unconscious Magnia, "Apologies in advance, my dear." Then he placed both servos carefully on either side of her leg and quickly twisted.

"Aghhhhh!" Magnia yelled, optics snapping open. "Primus, what the frag?! Owwwww! Ratchet, what in Pit are you doing?!" She collapsed back onto the makeshift berth, holding her leg, "Frag that hurt!"

"Sorry," Ratchet handed her another cube of energon. "I had to get your leg back in the proper position before it healed wrong, and unfortunately I don't have the correct medical equipment with me."

He began rummaging around and found a rudimentary first aid kit, and used the gauze to start bandaging Magnia leg, "I don't have anything to help smooth out your wing, so it would appear you will be flightless until it either heals by itself or you receive medical attention…elsewhere."

There was an awkward silence as they all remembered Magnia was a Decepticon. Magnia cleared her throat and murmured, "Thank you, Ratchet."

Ratchet waved it off, "It's my job." He turned to Bumblebee, "Have you heard anything from Optimus?" Bee shook his helm and Magnia told Ratchet about how she hadn't found any forms in the wreckage.

Ratchet sighed, "I've managed to locate all of the Autobot's life signals except his and Smokescreen's. That would mean they are either too far underground or...offline. Ultra Magnus and I are currently trying to find and pick up all the remaining Autobots."

Ultra Magnus stormed into the room and in response to Ratchet's glare snapped, "The ship is on autopilot. Now, would someone kindly explain to me why there is a Decepticon femme still online on my ship?"

"Um, well," Ratchet sputtered, glancing at Bee, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"It's because I know the location of Optimus Prime," Magnia said suddenly. "They've been trying to torture it out of me; didn't you hear me screaming just a moment ago?"

"I did," he turned to Ratchet, who had a completely blank look on his faceplates. "Is this true?" Magnia quickly winked at the confused medic, who had to hide a grin.

"Of course it's true," he said, managing to maintain his usual bluster.

"I'll never talk!" Magnia seethed. "You may as well offline me; you'll never get anything out of me!"

"Bumblebee," Ratchet said calmly. "If you are feeling better, maybe you could escort our prisoner to the holding cell? I think I'm done with her for now."

Magnia kept her act up, cursing all Autobots to the Pit for Ultra Magnus' benefit, until Bee playfully dragged her out of audio range.

Ultra Magnus raised an optic ridge at Ratchet, "I'm surprised at you, medic. I didn't know you had that in you."

"Actually," Ratchet leaned his helm toward Ultra Magnus conspiringly, "I would rather you not tell the rest of the Autobots about our prisoner? I wouldn't want to get their hopes up in case the femme is lying and Optimus is well, you know…Plus, I don't think they'll come to me for checkups anymore if they know what I'm capable of." He flashed his phoniest grin and Ultra Magnus seemed to buy it completely.

"Of course. Why don't you lock her in one of the lower cells," Ultra Magnus handed him a ring of keys and nodded to the medic. "I should be getting back to the cockpit." He strode out of the room and Ratchet breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly ran to catch up with Magnia and Bee, who hadn't gotten very far because Magnia had to limp.

"I told him not to tell any of the other Autobots about you," Ratchet said.

Magnia looked at him confusedly, "Why?"

Ratchet huffed, "Well, don't you think they would all recognize you as that crazy Decepticon femme Bee dragged into our base one time and set off like a million alarms? And most of them will not be as forgiving toward a Decepticon as I am, after their base has just been destroyed and their leader is missing by Decepticon servo."

Magnia sighed and nodded, so Ratchet continued, "I would suggest you stay down here, and recharge and heal. Bumblebee can come visit you if he wishes."

Magnia stopped walking, "Ratchet?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you so accepting of me?" she asked. "Why do you help me so much?"

Ratchet pondered, "I suppose three reasons. One is you are very important to Bumblebee."

Bee blushed at this and tried to protest but Magnia smiled and cut him off, "Don't deny it; you know it's true." Bee sighed and Ratchet continued,

"Another one is, being a medic, I don't really have as much rage as the Warrior class does towards Decepticons. If I see someone in need of medical help, I help them. It's my job," he shrugged. "And the last one is you remind me of someone. But I can't for the life of me remember who it is!" He stared at her, tapping his chin plate thoughtfully, "It's been bugging the scrap out of me."

Magnia chuckled, "Well if you think of it you know where I'll be."

They had reached the cell and Bee looked at it disdainfully. There was a metal berth, almost no room to move around, and only a small bucket which he assumed was for waste.

"She doesn't….really have to…stay here…does she?" Bee pleaded with Ratchet.

Magnia raised an optic ridge, "Bumblebee, I have most definitely seen worse." She entered the cell and sat down on the berth, "Don't worry about it."

"Gonna…go get some…blankets…or something," Bee turned and clomped up the stairs, leaving Ratchet with Magnia.

"So," Magnia nodded to the door. "I suppose you better lock me in."

"I suppose."

It took a while to find the right key on Ultra Magnus' giant ring of keys, but he finally did, locked her in, and turned to leave. But he paused and turned back, observing her for a moment.

"When I said you were important to Bumblebee," he mused, "you obviously are. But I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Is he important to you?" Ratchet narrowed his optics.

Magnia sighed, casting her optics away, "Let's just say more than I care to admit."

"Because if you break that poor mech's spark…" Ratchet trailed off. "I will offline you. Medic or not."

Magnia smiled, "You are a good friend to him, Ratchet."

Ratchet sighed and shook his helm, walking away. Why in Primus is that femme so familiar to me? he wondered. It's not her paint job; no femme I've ever known has had 's just the way she acts is so familiar, the shape of her faceplates; I can't place it! Fuming to himself, he went to help Ultra Magnus locate more of the Autobots.