Disclaimer: I do not own "Transformers" in any way, shape, or form. They are the property of Hasbro, Michael Bay, and all the other masters of the craft. I am just a humble college student and make no money from this.
The Moonlessnight: To all those ho have been wondering where Ironhide has been hiding, I hope this is to your liking. He is one disagreeable character when it comes to his 'voice' in this story. He doesn't like to talk to me until I strike the proverbial nerve, so yeah. Sorry Hide. When you refuse to work with me, you get what you get.
This picks up just a short while after where chapter three left off, so don't let it confuse you. Enjoy.
Booted
The streets were dark and deserted. Discarded newspapers carried on the wind skittered across the blacktop in a scritch-scratching stumble. A dog bayed mournfully off in the distance where it sat entrapped by high fences and a thick chain. Taking it all in, the black truck bearing the name of Ironhide could not say that he blamed the animal. Admittedly, he felt a little trapped at the moment himself. A prisoner behind high, barbed wire fencing held shackled by an insidious device of human design.
Shifting on his tires only to have the device dig into his undercarriage, Ironhide amended his earlier thought. This thing, this implement of torture, certainly came from some Decepticon infested pit. No human could have come up with something so cruel. He was trapped. Unable to transform and unable to move, Ironhide did the only thing he could.
He screamed in frustration, and then he called for help.
>>
Optimus rested soundly, dreaming in the Autobot way of the day's occurrences. He relived the scenes, seeing the lake, his comrades, and Sam pass before him like wisps of smoke. Their images appearing quickly only to dissipate as the next image took shape, one right after the other until he found himself once again in the field watching Ratchet work. The mech shuddered at the memory finding it much too recent to face. A cold, Ratchet had said. It was a simple organic 'virus' that the boy would recover from quickly. Still, Optimus could not help but worry. Sam was only human, after all.
He watched once again as Ratchet knelt to gently prod the boy, checking for any obvious injuries even as his scanners finished their sweep. The medic was nothing if not through. Optimus made a mental note to compliment the medic on that trait when he awoke and prepared for the scene to scatter as all the others had done. He waited in vain.
The scene suddenly froze, Ratchet cradling the unconscious boy in his hand and Bumblebee just beginning to unfold into his mech form. For a moment, Optimus did not know what was happening and felt his pump quicken in his chest. Then, it dawned on him. He was being brought out of his recharge cycle early. Now, he only needed to know why.
As his systems came online, Optimus cast his eyes to the bundle of blankets that was Sam Witwicky. Momentary fear gripped his spark when he realized Ratchet was leaning over the boy, but he quickly realized that his fears were unfounded. The medic moved too slowly for any emergency to be taking place, trying not to wake the human while he checked his vitals. If it was not Ratchet who had awakened him, then who was it? Bumblebee had retreated back into recharge shortly before he had, so it was not him.
Blinking in confusion, Optimus toyed with the thought of running complete systems diagnostics on himself before he noticed a blinking icon on his heads-up display.
He had a message from Ironhide.
The last of his systems just coming online, Optimus activated the proper cipher channels and watched as the letters began scrolling before his eyes. As Optimus read the message he felt the energon turn cold in his circuitry. "Ratchet, have you ever known Ironhide to ask for help?"
Ratchet almost jumped out of his shell, and probably would have had his hand not been poised over Sam's heart at that moment. Silently thanking his long vorns of battlefield experience, the medic glared at his leader. "I hadn't realized you had come online, Prime. I must admit, you scared me nearly out of my processor just now." Finishing his scans, Ratchet pulled his hand back with a nod. "Sam's fever has broken, I think. His core temperature is beginning to stabilize within his species normal levels. Now, what is that you were asking?"
Wishing he could feel more relieved at the moment, Optimus repeated his question, "Have you ever known Ironhide to ask for help?"
"No." The answer came quickly, without a second of hesitation. "Why? Has something happened?"
Rereading the message even as he spoke, Optimus nodded his head. "Something isn't right. He sent me a coded message just now. I've ran it through the cipher program twice now. I just can't believe what I'm reading."
Interest piqued, Ratchet smiled. "Don't tell me he's driven into a ditch. He teased Gears mercilessly when he did that back on Phraxus." A slight shake of the head from Optimus and Ratchet frowned. "Well then, did he get his wheel stuck in a rut? Did he get a flat tire? What happened?"
Finding the word he was searching for online, Optimus chuckled. "He's been impounded."
Silence hung in the air as Ratchet processed what he had just heard. "He's been what?"
"For lack of a better term, Ironhide has been arrested. He was picked up for lack of 'plates and tags', whatever those are." Optimus added inquiring about plates to his growing list of things to do. "The humans are holding him in an inner city impound lot. He says he can't get out and wants me to go get Captain Lennox."
There was another stretch of silence as both mech's tried to fathom what force could hold Ironhide prisoner. Ratchet shuddered and Prime cringed, their imaginings traveling down some very gruesome paths. Finally, Ratchet pulled a device from a space on his arm and tossed it to Optimus. "Something tells me you are going to need this."
Accepting the device with a nod, Prime transformed and shifted into gear. Pulling out of the field, he was not surprised to hear Ratchet call after him. "Tell that addle-chipped pile of scrap if he doesn't get his aft over here to see me after this, I will personally scrap his cannons."
"Will do, Ratchet." Prime hollered back, dropping into third gear as soon as his rear tires touched pavement. The speed with which Optimus traveled that night would become a thing of legend among his fellow Autobots, but he could do no less.
Ironhide had asked for help and, by the spark within his chest, Optimus Prime intended to be there for him.
>>
Ironhide tried to enter his recharge cycle and failed miserably. An attempt at moving four breems ago had lodged the device deep in his undercarriage where it refused to come lose. What had began as a minor discomfort rapidly built upon itself until all the unfortunate Autobot knew was pain. It consumed his world, filling his senses in such a way that he failed to notice when the gate to his prison rattled open.
"Ironhide," a voice came softly to his right, "are you all right?" Shaking out of his semi-unconscious state, the black GMC Topkick shuddered in response. Captain Lennox patted the truck's hood in an attempt to offer comfort. "I imagine that parking boot they have you in can't be terribly comfortable, but don't worry. We'll have you out of here as quickly as possible."
Lennox strode quickly out of the impound lot, heading to the office to pay the fines and reclaim 'his truck'. He made a short stop near the gate, reaching into the cab of a large red and blue eighteen wheeler to retrieve his wallet, whispering to it softly. "He doesn't look good, Prime. That's the first time he hasn't greeted me with a growl, if you know what I mean."
"It's the first time he's been held captive for so long." Prime whispered in reply. "What ever this 'boot' is that you described, it is beyond our technology. Nothing we have can keep Ironhide down. …You humans are truly amazing creatures."
Shaking his head, Lennox suppressed his laughter and stood. "Sometimes the simple way is the best, Prime. I'm going to take care of things here and be right back. Wait for me here." Accustomed to giving orders, Lennox made the last sentence an order without thinking and cringed when he realized it. "Sorry. Wait for me, please?"
Optimus chuckled quietly and gave the affirmative before turning his attention back to his comrade in the impound yard. Lennox was right. Ironhide did not look good. Perhaps a little conversation was in order. "How are you holding up, Ironhide?" Prime sent via text.
The answer came quick and curt. "With all respect Optimus, get me the slag out of here!"
Prime almost chuckled. It had been nearly a vorn since he had heard his friend so perturbed when not in the presence of a Decepticon. The last incident had involved Sideswipe and a missing ration of high grade if he recalled correctly, but that was beside the point. "We're working on it, old friend. Just hang in there."
"You try just 'hanging in there' when you have a slagging piece of scrap shoved up in your undercarriage!" Ironhide snapped. "It is rather uncomfortable…sir."
Taking note of the angle the parking boot had lodged at, Optimus had to agree. Having learned a bit about Transformer physiology in the field, he judged that it had wedged itself near a secondary energon line. If the humans were not careful removing it, they would sever that line. Suddenly glad of the emergency welder Ratchet had given him, Prime replied. "I know it is, Ironhide. I know."
>>
Nearly an hour later, Captain Lennox emerged from the office building with a human woman in tow. Wearing grimy orange coveralls and carrying a ring of cylindrical keys, Optimus correctly identified her as the impound guard. She wasted no time in crossing the lot to the black GMC, smiling the entire way. Apparently she found the captain attractive, chatting with him jovially as she worked. The human male hardly heard a word, intent upon her hands that were prying at the metal boot none too gently.
"Do you think you could be a little more careful with that?" Lennox asked her. When she gave him a quizzical look, he frowned at her. "It's a new truck and my wife will kill me if it gets scratched. It's bad enough it got taken here before I could get it to the DMV for plates."
Thoroughly abashed, the woman pulled the boot loose with a jerk. There was a gasp, she assumed from the man, as shimmering blue liquid spilled onto her hand. "What the-?"
Thinking on his feet, Lennox spat a curse and wheeled on the lady. "Now you've done it! You went and shattered the neon lights I just installed! They were supposed to be a surprise for Sarah and now I'm going to have to go and replace them."
The woman stammered her apologies, backing slowly away. "I can have the cashier refund some money for the damages."
"Forget it. I've had a bad day and I just want to get home." Opening the driver's side door, Lennox climbed in and slipped the keys into the ignition. Ironhide sprang to life with a vicious rev of his engine, only Lennox's foot on the brake keeping him from speeding out of the lot right there and then. Rubbing the stirring wheel in what he hoped was a calming way; Lennox cautiously moved his foot from the brake to the gas pedal and eased the truck out and onto the street.
The impound guard jumped when the eighteen wheeler the captain had arrived in, the same one she had thought to be empty, revved its own engine and followed the GMC. A friendly looking man with dark hair and bright blue eyes waved to her from the window as it drove away and she wondered just how she had missed him. Shaking her head, the young woman headed back to the office for a cold glass of water.
>>
A few blocks from the impound lot, Optimus signaled for Ironhide to turn off the main road. Lennox let his hands fall from the wheel as the mech took control, slipping into the first neighborhood that offered relatively empty streets and a wide enough road for a diesel. Pointing out an alley to the mech, Lennox tried to keep the worry from his voice as he spoke, "There's an alley up here where you can keep out of sight long enough to patch whatever that was, Hide."
A grunt was his reply, and the captain was soon climbing out and pressing himself against the wall. Two massive Autobots transforming in tight quarters was truly a sight to behold, but he hoped never to be that close to them during the process ever again. Ironhide's foot had brushed within inches of his face. Peeling himself from the wall with a force of will, he watched in curiosity as Optimus probed a spot on Ironhide's shoulder. A panel opened near the shoulder joint and more of the strange liquid dribbled out, as an iridescent blue in the dim light of the alley.
"It's not as bad as it looks," Prime murmured after a moment. Pulling Ratchet's welder from his storage compartment, Optimus made quick work of patching the leak. Ironhide flexed his shoulder with a grim expression and nodded his thanks.
Inching his way forward, Lennox took a closer look at the fluid on the ground. Somehow, it had lost its shimmering quality and now looked like common window detergent. Seeing his confusion, Optimus explained. "It's energon, Captain Lennox. I would search the net for the human equivalent, but I'm sure Ratchet could explain it better."
Lennox nodded. "So, it was just a scratch then? What that thing did to you?"
Having seen the concern in Prime's optics and run a self diagnostic, Ironhide shook his head. "She tore a secondary line. That is something a bit more than a scratch."
"How bad is it then?" Lennox felt like a preschooler asking all these questions, but he had to know.
Ironhide simply transformed, leaving Prime to answer for him. "It's bad enough that Ratchet will have my head if we don't get a move on it." Opening his driver side door for Lennox to climb in, he revved his engine. "Let's roll out!"
>>
Ratchet sat in the open field, idling away his time by searching the net for any and all information on impounded cars. His first finding was a picture of a booted car being rigged for toeing. He shuddered at the sight, reminded of a past comrade hauled from battle with shrapnel lodged in his casing. The medic moved on to the next site, suddenly glad that Sam and Bumblebee were not present.
Sending them back to Sam's house so the boy could refuel and collect necessary supplies had had a hidden advantage. They were not there to see him cringing at pictures in a very unprofessional way. Ratchet had a reputation to uphold after all. He was a doctor, and doctors required certain barriers to maintain a professional appearance. Not getting sick looking at a simple image was one of them.
He scrolled through similar sites for another hour, calculating the enumerable ways Ironhide could come to harm while impounded. Many of which he did not have the proper tools to treat. Verbally kicking himself for not setting up a proper medical bay immediately after arriving on Earth, he worried until a cloud of dust appeared on the road in the distance.
Just to be safe, Ratchet dropped down into his alt mode and waited. It was a public road, after all. Bumblebee came tearing up the road a few minutes later, Sam half laughing and half coughing in the front seat. "I swear, Bee! I owe you a complete detail job after that one. I thought mom was going to smother me right there in the front yard."
Bumblebee laughed. "I'll take the washing, but you should really thank Mojo. I just pushed him in the right direction." He chuckled. "I'm just sorry you were the one that had to chase him down."
"Yeah, that was a definite drawback. That little pill moocher sure can run when he wants to, even with that cast." Sam got out of the car, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a box tucked under his arm. Ratchet noticed him favoring his right leg, but decided against berating him for the moment. Instead, he watched as Sam walked farther into the field, setting aside his gear before carefully lowering himself to the ground. Bumblebee soon joined him in mech form, stretching out on the ground to avoid being seen from a distance.
"I'm sorry about your foot, too Sam." Bumblebee's voice was barely more than a whisper but Ratchet's sensitive audio receptors still heard the words distinctly.
Sam only laughed harder, "I have two left feet, Bee. That's all there is to it."
"That's physically impossible," Ratchet scoffed, choosing that moment to remind the pair that he was present. "I can assure you that you have one left foot and one right foot, Sam."
Almost doubled over in laughter now, Sam gasped out an explanation of the saying. He was still explaining the finer points of teenage awkwardness when Prime's voice came blaring over the comm. "Ratchet, this is Optimus."
Fearing the worst, the medic answered, "Ready and waiting, sir. What's his status?"
"Priority three," Optimus replied.
Ratchet sagged, sinking in on his wheels as tension seeped from his body. Priority three meant he was wounded, but stable. "Nicked coolant lines?"
"No. He severed an energon line." The tension came back in a flood. "It is the secondary line, right shoulder joint. He's lost a bit of energon, but I managed to get it sealed."
Ratchet transformed then, cursing vehemently. "Get him here, Prime. I'll be waiting for you. Ratchet out."
The medic spun on his heel to find Bumblebee standing right behind him, worry dimming his usually bright optics. "Anything I can do, Ratchet?"
Remembering hours spent working side by side with the mini-mech in the past, the medic nodded. He motioned to a set of standing stones in the distance. "We'll treat him over there, away from any prying eyes. Knowing Ironhide, he'll be embarrassed enough about the procedure without any strangers watching." Ratchet set about picking various tools from his compartments with a grim look on his face. "See if you can find us an examination table over there. Something about five meters tall by ten meters long if you can. In the meantime, I'm going to set up the ECM at the base of that big stone there. He's going to need an infusion of energon before I'm done repairing that line."
Bumblebee saluted and ran off to complete his task. Sam watched and tried to stay out of the way. There was no way he could help move a fifteen ton boulder and whatever it was that Ratchet was doing looked a bit too complicated to comprehend. At that moment, the medic was clipping together something that looked vaguely cylindrical in appearance, but with tubes intertwined in its innards. The process took about ten minutes, during which dust appeared on the horizon.
Sam alerted Ratchet to the approaching vehicles, and the medic nodded. He did not bother to transform, intent on calibrating the device he held before his patient arrived. Thankfully, said cloud belonged to Optimus and Ironhide. Ratchet activated the device as the pair pulled up behind him and transformed. Not bothering to turn around, he motioned to the rocks Bumblebee was just emerging from. "Go to the rocks, Ironhide. Bumblebee has a place prepared for you."
The mech nodded and complied. Hearing a sharp cough at his feet, Ratchet glanced down long enough to pin Sam with a glare. "You are coming with me, Sam Witwicky, but you must promise to stay out of my way. I'd rather have you where I can see you than out here under the feet of worried mechs."
Seeing the logic in this quite clearly, Sam agreed. He was immediately scooped up by Ratchet, held firmly but not uncomfortably between thumb and forefinger. The hastily assembled device made the trip tucked under the mech's other arm. Both boy and machine were carefully placed on a rock shelf near the slab where Ironhide now lay. The standing stones around them made a convenient curtain for the prone Transformer. Seeing the human perched on the shelf, said Transformer grunted. "Did you have to bring an audience, Ratchet?"
Ratchet harrumphed. "You know as well as I do that Optimus and Bumblebee pace when they are worried. I don't want them pacing on top of our little friend here."
Feeling decidedly unwelcome, Sam fidgeted. "I can turn around if you want, Ironhide. I promise I won't look."
To his surprise, Ironhide laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound akin to a rockslide. "That won't be necessary." Pausing as Ratchet hit a tender spot, the Autobot continued. "Just don't do telling everyone you saw me flinch."
"That was a flinch?" Sam thought, while holding up his hand. "Scout's honor, Ironhide, I will never tell a soul."
"You're a scout? What kind? Are you a field specialist? You are far too gangly to be in special operations." Ironhide asked in a serious tone of voice.
Sam balked, choking on suppressed laughter. "Neither. It's-"
"Don't move Ironhide! I nearly fused your motor servo to your bearings." It was then that Sam realized what Ratchet was doing, delicate tools flashing in hands that seemed two sizes too large for them. Laser touched to welder and welder skimmed the edge of a wire no bigger than a human finger. No wonder he did not want the mech to move. Mesmerized, Sam did not hear it when Ratchet started talking to him.
"-you agree, Sam?"
Sam blinked stupidly. "Huh?"
Sighing, Ratchet repeated himself, "I was just comparing the Transformer bearing systems to a human rotator cuff. There are many fascinating similarities. You weren't listening, were you?"
Blushing, Sam bowed his head. "I was watching, actually. It's really amazing how you can handle something so…well…tiny. You're welding things that, in your place, I would barely be able to see." Ratchet practically glowed, motioning for Sam to come a little closer. The boy gladly did so, hoping down to a lower shelf and carefully making his way around the table. He stopped several feet from the ledge directly above the site, leaning to peer down. "Wow. …What is that blue liquid? It looks almost like it is glowing."
Never breaking pace, Ratchet nodded. "It is. Your optics are good if you can see that in this light. That 'blue liquid' as you called it, is energon. The closest human equivalent is blood, which I understand is red. Your species has truly fascinating hemoglobin. Most planets develop blue blood like us, but not here. Your kind is unique in this galaxy."
Sam nodded, not daring to blink lest he miss something. "What makes it glow?"
"That requires an explanation of Transformer physiology. How much do you want to know?" The smile in Ratchet's voice readily apparent, Sam simply spread his hands. How much are you willing to offer? Ratchet interpreted, openly smiling behind his faceplate. "All right then. Listen closely because I don't like to repeat myself."
The human sat down and leaned forward as Ratchet began his lecture. "Energon, as I mentioned earlier, is the lifeblood of every Transformer in existence. Yet, it does not always exist in the form you see it in here. It begins its life as a liquid akin to your water. This water is fed into a sealed system before a proto-form is first brought online…that is before the Transformer is born.
"When the sparkling is first brought online, a pump located to the left of the chest is primed and the water begins its journey through a complex internal network called the circulatory system. Do you follow?"
Sam's jaw dropped open, but he nodded. "So, you guys do have a heartbeat then? I thought I was just hearing things that time I was kicking back on Bumblebee."
"Our pumps do produce a rhythmic noise, if that is what you are referring to." Ratchet agreed. "But back to the topic at hand. After exiting the pump, the water becomes charged using energy collected from the environment. Sunlight is the preferred source of energy, but ionic or plasma based sources may be substituted when necessary. This charged water is what we call Low Grade. It is energon in its raw form and contains enough power to fry a human nervous system, so I would not recommend touching it if you ever see it."
"What does it look like?" Sam asked warily, edging away from the liquid that had collected a few feet away.
Ratchet chuckled. "It's clear, and don't worry. Ironhide is leaking High Grade. That isn't exactly safe for humans either, but it won't kill you. Your extremities might tingle for a few hours though."
"Oh. How else is high grade different than low grade?"
"It is different in many ways, Sam. High grade is treated energon. It has coolants, lubricants, and other chemicals mixed into it. I won't bore you with the details, but it is a long, balanced list much like the protein to oxygen ratio in your blood." Sam nodded again; glad he had taken biology a semester back. Otherwise, he would have been lost ages ago. "This high grade travels to all the circuitry in an Autobot's system, delivering the proper amounts of energy and other things to each area. Its final stop is, in truth, it's most important one."
"Where is that?"
Ratchet closed the panel on Ironhide's arm, pausing a moment to tap his chest. "Why, to the spark of course." Seeing confusion cloud the human's eyes, Ironhide cut in.
"I've heard Captain Lennox tell his wife some mush about how he 'loves her with all his heart'. Well, to a Transformer, that kind of emotion and everything else that goes with it comes from our spark. It is who and what we are, human. And don't you ever forget that."
Sam found himself nodding numbly, suddenly overwhelmed by the memory of rushing energy swirling violently before imploding on itself. Megatron's spark as he slammed the All Spark into it. His hands tingled at the memory and he quickly tucked them under his arms. The event suddenly had a new meaning to it that he wasn't sure he was comfortable with. It was several minutes before Sam realized that Ratchet had continued the lecture.
"-can make energon on their own, the sealed system running so long as the pump and spark are operational. However, in cases where a Transformer has been injured or their systems are otherwise compromised, new energon must be introduced. That is where the Energy Conversion Machine, or the ECM, comes into play." Ratchet was holding the machine he had constructed and Sam quickly put two and two together. He was talking about a transfusion. "The ECM creates energon outside of the body, storing it until occasions such as this."
Giving Ironhide a quick pat, Ratchet smiled. "You didn't lose too much this time, Hide. Five breems should do it."
Sam watched as Ratchet opened Ironhide's chest, fishing out a length of tubing tucked against a black box. From his vantage point, Sam could see the pump Ratchet had mentioned working away at pushing energon throughout Ironhide's system. It was tucked behind what Sam perceived as protective casing just beneath the metal 'ribs' and adjacent to the black box. For a moment, Sam wondered why Ratchet did not plug the ECM directly into the pump. Then he realized the truth. The new energon was being fed directly into the box; it was hardwired directly to Ironhide's spark. The thought alone gave Sam goose bumps.
He tore his gaze away, feeling suddenly like he was intruding into a private matter. Ironhide's spark, his very soul, was lying open to him. Feeling ill, the boy swallowed mechanically and closed his eyes. Nearly an hour passed before Ratchet prodded him with a gentle finger, softly telling him he was moving him back out to the field. Having never truly slept, Sam simply nodded.
Call it shell shock. Call it a waking nightmare. Whatever one called it, Sam could not escape the feeling of swirling energy and the nagging thought that he had extinguished a soul. An evil soul, granted, but still a soul.
Sleep was long in coming.
The Moonlessnight: Don't ask me where this came from. I no longer have a clue. I thought I knew when I started writing this chapter then, bang, Sam gets shell shocked and goes all catatonic on me. I don't know what happened. I think Ratchet's a little worried too, truth be told. --Moonlessnight shrugs -- We'll see what happens next. My plot, while slightly altered, is still intact. No worries. It will get funny again. I promise.
Before anyone asks, the whole energon system and ECM are my own personally theories. I figure since energon cubes were never brought up in the movie and they are organic metal now, the Transformers must have something internal working for them. So, I based their circulatory system off of the human system with a few alterations. It might be crazy, but it's what I see.
I'll have another chapter or so up between here and next Sunday some time. I just have to figure out how to snap Sam out of the funk I've got him in. …. With that, I am off to sleep. Good night, and don't forget to review. Thanks.