A/N: Sorry took me quite a long time, but my internet connection has been really nasty. Now it's back to normal though. So here is the new chapter. Also thanks for the reviews - they are loved and red while I'm doubting if I ever should write this thing. Also thanks for the countless favs and alerts.
Eventually Ratchet and Ironhide had completed their basic studies. Ratchet had gotten excellent marks, while Ironhide did a passable job on his. The help Ratchet had given him probably had come handy. They both had applied to the academy: Ironhide as an enforcer and Ratchet as a medic, both mechs meeting the entrance standards for their respective programs.
This is what Ratchet had been wanting to do. Studying medical knowledge was so natural for him that it was impossible to tell his creators were engineers who specialized in making gigantic machinery. They weren't build for delicate work involving live bots like medics were. Being accepted to the medical program was one step closer for solving the troubles with Ratchet's creators. They had been getting worse after Ironhide had moved in. Especially his mother; she kept forgetting things that had happened recently. It was really agonizing for Ratchet. He couldn't do anything except watch from the sides when they were slowly but surely heading toward their graves.
Ratchet was beginning to worry about his own health. He had just learned the condition his creators had was most likely be genetic, which meant there was a possibility for him to have it as well, which wasn't a very pleasing thing to know, actually it was making him paranoid. The white bot started observing for possible symptoms occuring on himself, but for now there was none to be seen. It was giving Ratchet another burden to carry, as if there weren't enough of them already. All of that was turning him much grumpier than what he used to be, despite the fact he felt at home with the medical instruments they were taught to use. Other bots were pretty much avoiding him, because they didn't want to be verbally assaulted; no wonder he quickly received the extra name Hatchet. Only bots who dared to approach him were Ironhide and the older medics in the academy.
Ironhide was a big help to the white mech. He helped to take care of his creators like they were his own. Also Ratchet's creators had, in a way, adopted the red mech and treated him exactly like their own son. Unfortunately, they were forced to live very tightly and cut their consumption even more to support the red mech too. Ironhide sometimes blamed himself on the sufferings Ratchet and his creators were going through.
The red mech really liked Ratchet's creators. They were giving him the care he had been lacking for a really long time. They didn't mind Ironhide's social awkwardness either. Then there was Ratchet, who had become very special for him. Ironhide wanted to protect him with all of his might, which sometimes lead him to trouble. He had gotten many preaches from his friend because of his constant over protectiveness. Ironhide couldn't help it it was like it had been written in his programming.
If Ratchet was threatened in any way, Ironhide would just automatically run over and start defending the white bot. He didn't need much of aggravation for that to happen. Even a simple inflammatory comment from someone would be enough to set him off. Ratchet of course made it clear that he didn't like Ironhide meddling with everything he was doing, but secretly he was enjoying the special attention he was receiving.
Ironhide hadn't made many friends in the academy, which didn't bother him because there was always Ratchet. But the bots in the enforcer section seemed much more mature than the ones he had been dealing before. All that mattered now was how one performed. Ironhide wasn't very agile like most of the bots, but he could certainly land a punch. Overall, both of them did fairly well in their own areas. They even had some classes together, mostly general things like calculus or history, but most of the time they were studying separately.
Some time had already passed when a new bot was transferred to the enforcer section. She came from Altihex, the same city Ironhide was originally from. Of course this made Ironhide curious. He hadn't seen any other bots from his creation place in ages. He had been surrounded by Iacon-bots for a really long time and only things reminding him of his origins was his thick accent and the memories he had from that time.
The femme was called Chromia. She could fight better than most of the students and beat their afts any day. She was merciless in her tactics and processed the situations very fast. She also enjoyed kicking aft as much as any bot in the enforcing department. And on top of everything, she was very appealing to look at. There was no mistaking in that.
She quickly aqcuired many fans among the students. Her popularity wasn't really a surprise, since there weren't many femmes among the enforcers. Like most of the mechs, Ironhide was very attracted to her. Well who wouldn't be attracted to her. She was hot to say it shortly. Ironhide was lucky, he had something the other mechs didn't. He shared the same creation place with Chromia.
"You are from Altihex, aren't you?" she suddenly asked Ironhide before a lesson. Ironhide had never expected her to talk to him and looked surprised.
"Yes, though it's been a long time since I've been there," he answered truthfully.
"Your accent is still quite thick, you know," she remarked while wearing a smirk on her faceplates. She was great. Somehow they ended up talking about quite a lot of things, mostly Altihex because Ironhide wanted to know what had been going on there while he had been away. It was nice. He hadn't been able to talk about his old home for a really long time.
They also started socializing otherwise during the academy hours. That meant Ironhide had somehow managed to make another friend. It did some real good for Ironhide, who had been spending all his days with an ever-crankier Ratchet. Before the white bot hadn't had any friends. Chromia's company was so fresh, and it made him forget all his worries every time they were talking, sparring or doing something else together. It also meant that he was now sharing his attention for two bots.
This didn't go past Ratchet's attention either. To put it nicely, he didn't like Chromia at all or Ironhide socializing with the femme. He was feeling very inferior like she was taking his friend away from him. 'What right does she have for Ironhide? I've known him much longer than her and we've been through some hardships together,' Ratchet thought. His bad attitude was just getting worse from the situtation the red bot was in. Ironhide had unintentionally just added more weight to Ratchet's shoulders.
The white mech was feeling jealous even though he didn't admit that to himself. He just cursed quietly everytime he saw Ironhide alongside with Chromia. He just wanted to run between them and kick the femme against a wall. Nobody touched and talked to his friend with that sort of familiarity except him. Nobody, not even a femme from his friend's home city.
Chromia hadn't really done anything to deserve Ratchet's wrath. Still, Ratchet kept giving her cold shoulder or sometimes when aggravated by Chromia's familiarity with the Ironhide he gave her unwelcomed remarks about various things. The white bot hated it when Ironhide stood for, the femme after Rachet's nasty remarks, even though he knew perfectly well that he was the one to be blamed up for. He just was scared that the two of them would fall in love and start a relationship, leaving him all alone. He knew he couldn't compete with a femme like Chromia; she was nearly perfect and she came from the same place Ironhide was originally from.
Ironhide didn't understand what had gotten into his friend. Ratchet was hostile towards Chromia without any apparent reason. Ratchet just insulted Chromia all the time and when he wasn't doing that, the white bot was ignoring the femme's existence. Sometimes Ironhide got angry with Ratchet's taunts, he didn't let it slip and got back to the white bot. It seemed that every time Ironhide stood for Chromia he was making things more complicated with Ratchet.
Why Ratchet was feeling like this? He didn't know the answer either and sometimes questioned himself on it. Because Ironhide wasn't tied to him, he was free to make friends and even have deeper relationships with others. It wasn't like they were bonded or even going out anyway. 'Why I am even thinking about things like this? What am I to Ironhide anyway? And what I do feel for him, because this doesn't make any sense. I think I need to find Ironhide and have a good talk with him, because I need to clear up this mess or I might end up making him miserable in the process too.'
Somebody caught him staring at Chromia like he was trying to burn the femme with his gaze. The mech probably tought he was staring in awe at her.
"Isn't she gorgeous? Look at that those curves," another medical student whispered to him with adoring voice.
"Yeah. As gorgeous as a Turbofox's aft," Ratchet spat with venom in his voice. The bot who had dared to approach him quickly disappeared. Good, one less annoyance left for him to deal with. He decided to close the disance between him and Ironhide, since he had something to speak with him.
"Ironhide?" he asked casually while ignoring completely the femme in his friend's company.
"Yeah. What is it?" Ironhide answered looking a bit bothered by the interruption.
"Come on. We need to talk," Ratchet said firmly: "Alone."
"What kinda thing it could be, since Chromia isn't allowed to hear it? She's my friend like you are," Ironhide answered, irritation resonating in his voice.
"HA! She's your friend? What am I then? I'm not allowed to have secrets with you, but you are allowed to speak slag about some stupid pit ridden city all the time which I have no clue about, because you never tell me anything about it," Ratchet shouted at Ironhide while furiously glaring at the femme. After saying that he ran away instantly. He shouldn't have had such a break down like that. He could hear Ironhide yelling something at him, but couldn't make out the words, nor he did want to know what he was saying. He crashed into various mechs on his way into somewhere. He had no idea where he was running except that he wanted to get as far as possible from Ironhide at the moment.
Ratchet's spark was aching. He felt he was being so unreasonable, but at the same time he felt like he had been hurt badly. The feelings inside him were chaotic. He also felt horrible for yelling at Ironhide, his only friend. Why he had burst out like that when he loved his friend almost more than his creators? The white mech felt like he deserved to rust in the pit until there was nothing left of him.
What was wrong with him?