I've received a few complaints that Nightspark has been going too slowly and needs some action. To not disappoint, I have decided on a compromise. I've taken the next three chapter, put them together and condensed them considerably into one long chapter. As a result, Chapter 7 will finish the ties needed to give way to the anticipated arrival of 8. Chapter 8 will consist of the much craved for action where our story will begin to take it's turning point.
Last but not least, a few fellow Barricade fans have asked when he will make his appearance. I have tried to respond to each personally but I feel a few may have slipped my grasp so I just want to make it known now. Barricade will be appearing, nothing will change that. However, his appearance might require your patience for a few more chapters. He may appear as early as Chapter 10 or as late as Chapter 15, but he is coming. Also, he will be a major character in the story from then on.
If there are any more question or concerns I haven't addressed, let me know. If not, read and enjoy, and please leave reviews. You guys did such a good job with chapter 6 that I would love to see the same response to chapter 7 if not more!
The temporary patch helped buy more time for Ratchet and First Aid so that the youngling was still stable when the shipment came in, and when it did Optimus and Wheeljack immediately brought the energon and medical supplies straight to the CMO.
"How is he?" Optimus asked, setting a crate down as he looked over at Bumblebee who was just lying still staring at the ceiling.
"Not too great, he had another bad attack earlier but it's been calm for the moment, and I've got a pause to get this energon sorted out and dispersed."
"Just do what you need to. Primus knows I'm not going to get in your way. The Autobots haven't received a blow this hard in ten vorns and I want a good out come this time around," Optimus said.
The medic stopped for a moment as the memories washed over him. It was the last time Ratchet had ever been so stressed like he was now with Bumblebee. The CMO hadn't had the time to recharge as he and First Aid jumped back and fourth between ten critically injured Autobot officers including Optimus as well. The leaders of the faction had gathered, as they did once every hundred orns, but that meeting had been a trap. A disguised Decepticon sneaked into the room acting as if he needed to grab a left behind data pad and instead detonated an energon infused bomb that killed one leader instantly and three later due to injuries. Those that had survived the meeting instructed all future plans for gatherings would be once, maybe twice a vorn. Also, those attending were the only allowed anywhere near the area, for the meetings were now conducted in total secrecy.
"The first to get this energon are the injured and seriously deprived. That means Ironhide. I don't care if he complains, you force this down his mouth," Ratchet told Optimus sternly clearly expressing with his tone that the leader would regret it if he didn't follow the medic's orders to the letter. For once, Optimus was under Ratchet's command since the ship was in a medical crisis.
"Wheeljack, you are paired with Optimus on this one. I need you to watch over him and give proper amounts so that none will get energon toxicity,"
"Understood," he said, still sorting out the energon.
"Next, Optimus, I want you, Prowl, and Red Alert to take a share. No arguments. Even though energon is going out right now, we'll still need some in charge while they recover. Wheeljack, that means you and First Aid too. He's near his limit, I can tell."
Wheeljack nodded and tossed one of the energon cubes he was sorting through over at First Aid who was instead going through medical supplies and taking inventory, yet the young medic still caught it one handed easily.
"After that, it's pretty simple, just pass it out to the rest of those on the ship and make sure no one gets left out. That means you need to go room to room and check on each Bot to make sure they are still conscious. Primus knows we might have had a few crawl away and lock themselves in their rooms as they wasted away."
"Understood, Ratchet. Anything else before we head out?"
"Yes, when all that is done you and Prowl are to report directly to the med bay for a proper recharge. Do not argue!" he snapped grabbing a wrench nearby when Optimus opened his mouth to complain, "If I find out that you're avoiding coming back I will hunt you down and drag you back by your aft after disconnecting your vocal cords and using them as a personal leash to tie you down in bed."
Optimus nodded swiftly but was unable to erase the look of alarm on his face as he darted out with Wheeljack on his heels. First Aid chuckled but was silenced by Ratchet's glare and quickly found himself following after the two mechs the next klick.
With a sigh, Ratchet left the crates for a moment to check on Bumblebee.
"Bee, can't you recharge?"
"Nope, sorry. It's not anything that I can tell. I just can't get my program to run."
Ratchet frowned but decided to check on how the youngling was still holding up internally. This time giving painkillers, Ratchet checked and found Bumblebee's main line was half way ripped. Frustrated at that he could dono more till the surgery, Ratchet had nothing to do but finish First Aid's inventory. He was disappointed he didn't get all the medical supplies he requested but figured it was good enough for now and began putting it all away until he realized he was missing the most important item needed.
"Slag it!" Ratchet cursed just as Prowl entered supporting an unsteady, but no longer deprived, Ironhide with him.
"What's wrong?" Ironhide asked with concern, unable to stop himself from looking over at his charge.
"They didn't send the part I needed for Bee. I don't have what I need," Ratchet said sounding utterly defeated as he leaned against the wall for support trying to think of other procedures he could use to help the youngling.
"What are you saying Ratchet! Can you not help him?" Ironhide yelled, his infamous temper rising along with his panic for Bumblebee's life.
"Slag it, I don't know Ironhide. I'll try all I can. I have to go through my supplies and see what I have on hand," Ratchet answered facing Ironhide squarely, glaring over at weapon specialist while his own rage rose dangerously, "But I am not giving up!"
Realizing that he was pushing Ratchet to a dangerous edge, Ironhide backed away and let his anger drain out and the medic responded in same, calming as he allowed training and experience to finally take a hold of his processor again. It would do Bumblebee no good for the two mechs to start fighting over something they couldn't control.
"Hide?" Bumblebee's voice called out when he realized the loud voices were coming from his guardian and the CMO.
Immediately, Ironhide forced his panic down from sight and made his way over to the youngling with the help of Prowl.
"How are you?" he asked, and Prowl sat him down next to the youngling. However, he couldn't stop his optics from flicking over to the monitor for Bumblebee's vitals and sighed.
With a frown to his guardian's reaction, the yellow mech only nodded a silent response.
"That's good," Ironhide said absently, not even noticing the movement and responding automatically. His gaze was held fast to the monitor as he read and reread the deteriorating condition his charge was still in.
"Are you in pain?" Ironhide asked a breem later, finally looking down at Bumblebee.
"It's not bad anymore," he told the guardian with a rough voice.
"Don't worry, the hatchet's gonna fix you up real soon and you'll be able to get back out there," Ironhide promised with a smile, "Primus, I'll even train you myself."
Bumblebee's optics brightened to their bright energetic blue for the first time in orns at the promise.
"Really?" he asked quietly, fearing to believe it.
"Yes. I should have been the one training you since the beginning. If Sunny and Sides hadn't realized I was neglecting my duties you wouldn't be here now and more mechs might be hurt or dead."
The smile on Bumblebee's faceplates hadn't faded and instead seemed to increase as his guardian reassured him his word was true. For a while, Ironhide stayed with Bumblebee, talking lightly and taking care to not trigger more attacks from the youngling. He learned that they mostly occurred whenever the mech became excited and began talking fast or was laughing.
A few breems later, Ratchet interrupted their conversation of the best way to trick a Decepticon by standing before them with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for them to stop talking and acknowledge his presence. What the medic didn't expect was for the two mechs to only spare him a brief glance before continuing as if no one was there. Bumblebee moved on to explain his favorite move to Ironhide when Ratchet grumbled an incomputable noise and threw up his hands in irritation before storming off.
The youngling and Ironhide roared with laughter at the dramatic departure of their medic knowing full well he was there and that ignoring Ratchet would irritate the CMO to no end.
"Come back, Ratchet," Bumblebee called once he recovered from his brief coughing attack, "We were just messing with you."
"It's highly illogical to do such to the mech who is caring for you," Ratchet huffed walking back over, this time with a long, thick, cylinder, metal, tube in his hand. Thankfully not a wrench, Ironhide noted. Though anything metal, or hard, in Ratchet's hands could be just as deadly.
"Anyways," Ratchet sighed, shaking his head, "I think I have found a solution but the recovery time will be near doubled if not longer."
"What is it?" Ironhide asked, standing up.
"Nano medic drones. They are a recently created item, by Wheeljack himself in fact, and have been very successful in near all cases," he answered.
"Nano what?" the weapon specialist asked, making it clear that he had completely no idea what the medic was talking about.
"They are tiny Cybertronian drones programmed with a sole purpose of repairing injuries that are hard to replace or heal on their own, such as Bee's main line," he answered, rolling his optics as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.
"Okay," Ironhide said slowly as his processor managed to sluggishly absorb the information while Bumblebee had to fight to hide a smile at how slow his guardian grasped the foreign medical knowledge, "how do they work?"
"Simply, I will place them in predesignated areas and over time the drones will multiply and combine, closing the wound or completely rebuilding it. It's a very long and tedious process and even longer with the more serious the injury but it is incredibly effective. The specifics, such as basic programming, are complicated but I'm willing to tell you that as well if you like."
"No!" Ironhide said quickly and threw up his hands, alarmed he might have to learn more confusing medical information, "I think I understand it well enough. So how long till Bee completely recovers?"
"It's difficult to say. Over half his main line has been cut and torn so it will take about half a vorn to completely seal and after that he'll need to wait till his systems learn he's healed and finally calm down. In the end, Bee should be back up and running at one hundred percent after three quarters of a vorn."
"Primus, Ratchet, that's a long time. Will he still suffer from these attacks during recovery?"
Ratchet nodded sadly, "It's all we've got."
"Do it," Bumblebee said, startling them. They had completely forgotten that they were having the conversation right in front of the youngling.
Ratchet nodded, expecting no less from the yellow mech.
"Now, Ironhide, you need to recharge. You're surgery will be soon. We need you on your feet soon. Bee's surgery will be after yours since he'll need more than just the Nano medic drones and a reserve replacement."
Ironhide was reluctant to leave Bumblebee but after a few words of comfort from his charge, he gave in.
"Ratchet, everything is going great. I think every mech and femme has received energon to some degree," Optimus said, coming in with Wheeljack and an armful of left over energon.
"Good. Now I'll brief you on Bee's situation," Ratchet said, taking the energon from the Bots before sitting them down.
Ratchet quickly explained the shocking discovery and his new plan for Bumblebee. They took it well, seeming relieved that the youngling would finally be getting help despite the initial set back.
"Now, Optimus, and Prowl, I am activating my previous orders for complete rest for one orn and to be absolutely sure you will follow it I am not giving you clearance to leave my med bay."
The two mechs looked at each other in defeat before nodding meekly back at their medic.
"What about Red Alert?" Prowl dared to ask wondering why he and Optimus were suffering the medic's wrath and not him.
"He'll get his rest after yours. We still need some one to watch over the ship and you two have been the ones longest without proper rest. I know Red Alert has been using his recharge to its fullest capacity and thus is in better shape than you two," he answered, "Don't be upset. You two have taxed yourselves hard and the crew knows it well. They will be fine for one orn under Red Alert's presence."
Prowl gave Ratchet a skeptical look as if the CMO had lost his processor. The Artemis, safe under the sole protection of suspect-even-a-turbofox-of-Decepticon-trickery Red Alert? They were so slagged if an astroid so much as drifted in front of the paranoid mech in the wrong way.
"Will you be doing Ironhide's surgery tonight?" Optimus asked, trying his best to not think of all the things that could go wrong at Red Alert's percautions if left alone for only a joor, let alone near an entire recharge cycle.
"Yes, once First Aid returns. I want to wait till Hoist is good to go before doing Bee's. Now pick a bed and stay there."
Optimus quickly took the other bed next to Bumblebee, the second being occupied by Ironhide, so that now two guardians flanked the yellow mech. When he saw Ratchet wasn't looking, Optimus slipped out and disappeared behind Bumblebee's curtain.
"Hey," he said quietly when he saw the youngling was still awake, "I hear you're gonna be fixed up soon. I want you to listen to Ratchet's orders. Even after this you'll be out of it for a while."
"I know but I'll be fine," Bumblebee said with a sigh.
Optimus watched youngling for a moment before hunkering down at his side in silence. The youngling didn't mind, and just enjoyed Optimus' presence for the moment.
"Optimus! Bed! Now!" Ratchet yelled and the commander barely ducked a flying wrench that seemed to materialize from now where, "Bumblebee needs his rest, I will not have you weakening his system! He hasn't recharge in an orn."
The Autobot leader gave Bumblebee another glance over and noticed the exhaustion upon his face mirrored by the tired look in his baby blue optics.
"I didn't know," Optimus defended and ducked yet another wrench. Ratchet's arsenal was never empty of projectile weapons.
"Out of here and into your bed now!" Ratchet growled, a third wrench all ready out and bouncing with the anticipation to be used on his palm.
Optimus winced at the thought of the well-known sting that object made when it was guided by Ratchet's hand. Thinking it best to not put his dodging skills to the test a third time, Optimus gave Bumblebee's hand a quick squeeze and darted away.
Ratchet went to Optimus' bed a few breems later and the commander shrank back in fear and thought only of protecting his head from dents.
"Relax, Optimus. I'm just going to check over you to make sure these last orns weren't too hard on you and damaged anything," Ratchet said, putting the wrench away and pulling out a scanner.
"All clear, some wear and tear but that I can patch up at your next check in. Now, get some rest."
With a heavy sigh, Optimus allowed himself to relax and drift off into recharge.
A few joors later, unknown to the sleeping commander, Ironhide's surgery ended smoothly and had his systems set to not allow the weapon specialist to wake till the next orn.
"How are the others?" Ratchet asked once First Aid finally came back.
"Doing well now. Most were only in the beginning stage of deprivation and were online within the joor. There is only a handful that might take an additional orn or two till they are fully functional."
"That's good news. Are you prepared to help me with Bee's surgery?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you up to date with the technology of the NMDs?"
"Wheeljack's work? Oh yes. I have studied it very closely and am impressed. He's a good catch. Too bad he's not an actual medic, he would be a very good one."
"Yes, well, he's very good at what he does too," Ratchet said, smiling at the thought about how his partner would spend joors at a time locked away in his specially designed lab until the medic dragged him out with orders to get rest.
"I should get some rest before the surgery."
Ratchet wished him well and went through a round on his patients.
Optimus and Prowl were comfortably in a deep recharge, and Ironhide seemed to be doing fine. To his disappointment, the exhausted youngling was still online.
"Bee, are you trying?" Ratchet asked, slightly frustrated.
Bumblebee nodded slowly but didn't speak. Ratchet could tell he was truly tried if he wasn't even trying to crack a joke to lighten the mood.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to force you into recharge. It's not something I want to do but it has to happen."
"That's fine," he said, managing a shrug.
Sighing with relief, Ratchet dropped himself into the chair next to Bumblebee's bed. He almost feared the sedatives wouldn't work on the youngling, but the yellow mech was offline finally. Ratchet stayed at Bumblebee's side, thinking about the coming surgery and delicate procedure instead of slipping into a recharge.
Optimus came online smoothly and felt at his best. Filled with fresh energon and having medical orders to rest, who wouldn't feel the same? Stretching, he decided to check on Bumblebee.
He almost let a chuckle slip as he saw Ratchet slumped forward in his seat, head on Bumblebee's bed, clearly in recharge but the youngling's optics were lit up brightly.
"Shh," he said told Optimus quietly.
"How long has he been out?" Optimus asked quietly, tip toeing over.
"A joor. I woke up just as he fell into recharge," Bumblebee answered.
"Why don't you try resting," Optimus suggested.
"I want to, but can't. Pain keeps me alert," Bee explained.
Optimus sighed and looked around when he heard the door to the med bay open.
"Ratchet?" Wheeljack called out.
Darting out, Optimus put his hands up to silence the mech so he wouldn't wake Ratchet.
"He's in recharge," Optimus explained when he saw Wheeljack's confusion, "Just went offline after watching over Bee all that time."
Wheeljack nodded that he understood. His partner always took his job seriously and was especially dedicated to Bumblebee now. They hadn't been together in some time because the medic's presence was always required here for the youngling.
"I just came to tell him his medic would be good for duty and help with the surgery."
"I'll let him know when he wakes. Try and put the word out for no one to come over and disturb the med bay."
"Yes, sir," Wheeljack said and left just a quickly as he came. The good thing about Wheeljack was that he took Optimus' orders as seriously as Ratchet's and the message spread throughout the ship quickly.
Taking the opportunity of Ratchet's inability to restrict them to the med bay, Prowl and Optimus made for a quiet getaway.
A few joors later, Ratchet finally woke and realized he was still next to Bumblebee.
"I didn't think I would fall into recharge," he muttered to himself and looked over at Bumblebee to see the yellow mech gazing at him with a smirk, "And did you get any rest?"
"You should know. All that time you were awake," Bumblebee frowned.
"Right…sorry. I should get moving and check on Ironhide."
"Is he alright?"
"Yes. The surgery went well. He'll just have to keep it light for a few orns till his systems start accepting the second reserve and fall back into normal routine."
Bumblebee smiled slightly but it vanished.
"Bee? How bad is the pain?" Ratchet asked, immediately concerned.
"It's alright," he murmured.
"Bee, if it hurts let me know. I can ease it," Ratchet said, his spark twisting at the thought of Bumblebee trying to be strong for the older mechs in an attempt to prove himself, "Many mechs wouldn't be able to handle your pain. You don't have to prove anything to any one. You have already done that."
The youngling shook his head firmly.
"No, I'm fine, I promise," he said then curled up slightly, coughing rough for a moment.
Ratchet cleaned the energon away and watched Bumblebee sadly for a moment before leaving when he heard the familiar groan of Ironhide waking up.
"That little bot is too tough for his own good," Ratchet growled quietly to himself as he checked over Ironhide but the guardian heard.
"What's going on? What did Bee do?"
"He won't take meds thinking he still needs to prove himself," Ratchet said angrily.
"Prove himself? He's already gone and done that," Ironhide said in shock.
"I tried telling him that."
Ironhide frowned. Bumblebee wasn't usually like that. Once he was given a rational reason for something he usually went with it.
"Are you sure it's not something else? Maybe the pain isn't really that bad."
"Ironhide! He's curled into a ball hacking up energon!" Ratchet snarled.
Ironhide winced, immediately shrinking back. He knew that if he tried to argue back to the medic he might end up leaving more injured than he came in.
Instead he dared a more reasonable question, "Have you specifically asked him or just assumed?"
Ratchet opened his mouth to argue but then said nothing, glaring at the weapon specialist; he hated being shown he was wrong.
"That's what I thought. Ratchet, you have just been on edge for a while because of all that's going on and I can tell your wires are fried but you need to take a break. Let First Aid watch over him till the surgery while you spend some time with Wheeljack."
"I…I just don't trust anyone to do it right. He needs me."
"He'll be fine. Go relax, First Aid and I can watch over him till then."
Ratchet realized he was stuck between his frame screaming for rest and the logic of Ironhide's words. With a defeated sigh he set all his medical equipment down and walked slowly to the med bay door. Ironhide had never seen such a dramatic departure as Ratchet's when the medic stood out in the hallway looking into the med bay with a sad, lost look on his face as the door slid closed.
"That was unnecessary," Ironhide said with a laugh before hopping down off his bed and instantly regretting it as his bad leg locked up at that exact moment. With a surprised cry, Ironhide toppled over, taking a few monitors with him and effectively creating a very loud and damaging crash.
"Hide?" Bumblebee's voice called out in alarm.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he reassured his charge as he came limping over to his side.
"What happened?"
"Nothing, just not as young as I use to be," he said with a shrug before looking down at his leg. It took a few moments of digging about and pushing the right areas for his leg to unlock. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.
"So, how are you feeling?"
"Fine."
"Answer me truthfully Bee, are you in pain?" Ironhide asked.
"Ratchet," Bumblebee grumbled.
"Bee?" Ironhide pressed.
The yellow bot looked at him with tired optics before he summoned up the strength to reply, "Why don't you guys believe me? I think I've gotten use to it. It's just bad when I cough."
Ironhide had to look away for a moment. His beloved youngling had just said he was use to the constant pain he was in. No mech should ever have to say such. Slag, he just wanted to find Primus and tear that aft a new one. Primus should be ashamed for what he was putting the youngling through; it was his fault.
"Don't say that," Bee said, a whimper escaping him for a moment, "I tried telling Ratchet Primus isn't at fault."
Ironhide realized he had spoken his anger out loud and looked at Bumblebee in surprise to his reply.
"How do you know anything about Primus' plan anyways?" Ironhide asked a second later.
His charge looked at him for a moment, unsure how to answer before shrugging and deciding to respond with a question of his own, "How do you?"
Ironhide looked at him, silent as he thought over the question but the youngling spared him from answering by breaking the silence a few breems later.
"Look, Ratchet keeps saying that I'm suffering more than any other mech, and that I should have died a long time ago. I kept from falling into stasis while my system had hardly any energon. My main line is severely ruptured. Yet here I am. Maybe it is by Primus's will I am still alive, giving me a second chance."
Still, Ironhide remained quiet as he recovered from the shock as he was thrown off guard by what the small yellow mech said. Not once had the weapon specialist thought of the situation like so.
The question was still hanging in the air by the time First Aid woke and came over to check on the youngling when he saw Ratchet wasn't present.
First Aid was frowning as he continued checking over Bumblebee.
"What's wrong?" Ironhide asked, finally speaking.
"His vitals aren't doing too good. If they drop even further it will be a high-risk surgery. His spark is already weaker than we would like it for the procedure."
"So then what? When will you do the surgery?"
"Well Ratchet's not here at the moment and I don't have the authority to make that call or the expertise. I've only done one main line repairing surgery in my life and that ended badly. The best I can come up with for now is just having the surgery room ready to go in an instant once Ratchet and Hoist get over here, and until then I'll have my optics on Bee every klick," First Aid said.
The young medic paused for a moment and smiled at Ironhide, "Don't worry. Bee is a tough little mech. No doubt Primus is looking after him."
"That's what I've been trying to tell him," Bumblebee said, laughing lightly.
"You need more," First Aid said, breaking the good mood as he saw the near empty energon containers connected to the feeds on the yellow mech.
A few breems after receiving a fresh batch of energon, Bumblebee couldn't stop himself from falling back into a much-needed recharge just as Hoist arrived with Optimus and Jazz.
"How is he?" Optimus immediately asked when he saw the youngling offline, "Where is Ratchet?"
"I convinced the CMO to get some rest. He was on edge and if he didn't relax he could be too high strung for the surgery. At the moment he should be with Wheeljack," Ironhide told his leader making sure his voice carried so the two medics talking to each other near by could hear as well where their superior was.
Optimus nodded slowly but said nothing, watching the yellow bot from where they sat.
"Vitals have improved slightly with the rise in his temp. He will be stable till Ratchet wakes," Hoist said a few joors later after checking over the youngling again. They weren't taking anything to chance by running scans over Bumblebee at least once a joor and checking his vitals every breem.
"I'm good to go," the familiar voice greeted them.
"Are you sure?" First Aid asked but he could clearly see the change in the medic and from the way Wheeljack was standing by his side at ease said the two were more than ready to get back to work.
"Yes. Prep the room."
"Already done. We feared his condition would worsen quickly and had it ready just in case."
Ratchet was surprised but gave them a rare smile of praise before going over to the drug cabinet to get an anesthetic for Bumblebee. While the CMO prepared the youngling, the two medics and Wheeljack sterilized themselves and waited in the room for him and Bumblebee.
Jazz, with Optimus and Ironhide each took to a comfortable chair in the main area and waited eagerly for a successful surgery.
Several joors later Hoist came out, a worried look on his face but he said nothing to them, completely focused on what he had to do before disappearing back into the room.
"What do you think is going on?" Jazz asked. The light mood seemed to have darkened a bit at the foreboding feeling that was beginning to weigh heavily on them. Ratchet had said the surgery should have only taken three joors.
Their attention was caught by First Aid's appearance next as the medic rushed to the crate of energon and grabbed as much as he could.
"Help me, quick!" he told the three that were watching him in alarm.
Optimus jumped up immediately and ran over with Jazz. Ironhide too was making his way over but just wasn't quiet well enough to be rushing around so quickly.
"Slag it, First Aid!" Ratchet yelled from with in the room, "Get your aft in here!"
First Aid scooped a bit more and disappeared the next klick leaving the three mechs at the crate with out a word. Thinking Ratchet might need more, Optimus took the initiative to keep gathering energon before going over to the door and knocking on it with his knee announcing he had more energon.
"Thank Primus," Wheeljack said, taking it quickly and passing it over to Hoist who was beside him and now had an energon stain smeared across his front.
He couldn't see Bumblebee or the other two medics behind the curtain but Ratchet shifted slightly and Optimus eye immediately caught the energon-splattered medic shaking his head and probably muttering curses to himself or orders to First Aid.
"Thanks," Wheeljack said taking that last of the energon and with a small smile, close the door without another word.
However, Optimus couldn't find the programming to move back away from the door to sit down again. He didn't want to leave, more like he felt he couldn't. Ever fiber of his frame was yelling at him to rush in and hold the youngling in his arms and whisper words of encouragement to fight and pull through. But, Jazz was there and put a hand on his arm, tugging him gently, pulling him away.
Eventually, Jazz took him back to his chair and Optimus could do no more but drop into his seat and hide his head in his hands.
So they sat and breems dragged by, melding into joors as a few supporters came and went until no one realized just how long it had been when the door opened again.
They all jumped up, including the new additions of Sunstreaker and Blur.
Ratchet was still covered with energon, and his frame wrought with grief. The others that followed behind him showed the same as the CMO though none were as bloody.
The med bay was absolutely silent as they went to the back to clean themselves off without a word to the onlookers.
The only to come out from the back was Ratchet; the others could be seen hesitating to step into the open. It immediately set Optimus and Ironhide on high alert, causing them to stand quickly, upturning their chairs in the rush.
"Ratchet?" Optimus asked when the medic said nothing. He just stood still and quite not allowing himself to look into the optics of the two most concerned mechs in the room.
The increasing silence began to take it's toll on Ironhide as the weapon specialist felt the paralyzing fear running a course through him, threatening to shut him down.
"Primus, no…" Optimus gasped taking a step back.
"No!" Ratchet yelped, his head snapping up finally looking to his leader, "No, he's alive."
"Then spit it out!" Ironhide roared.
"It wasn't good," he said, his voice strangled.
"Ratchet, please," Optimus begged, he needed to know.
"I replaced the energon reserve successfully and all other damage done to his body has been repaired. It just the critical part of the surgery didn't go as planned."
"Ratchet!" Ironhide growled, ready to throttled the mech for not saying what was really going on.
Ratchet took a deep breath before letting out a shaky response to the threat.
"His main line split."
Ironhide gasped, swaying and Optimus didn't even remember falling until he felt Jazz and Sunny easing him down to a chair. Blur was holding Ironhide up.
"What else?" Optimus managed to ask a moment later.
"He instantly went critical, nearly losing all the energon in his system. I thought…I thought I was going to lose him right then. No one has ever been able to repair a split main line."
"Wait, youputitbacktogether?" Blur gasped.
"Not exactly but yes. It wasn't easy. He might need another surgery later down the road to recovery. With the NMDs in place, they should be doing their job. Right now we're worried about the increase in the amount of energon he is loosing."
"What are you saying exactly?" Sunstreaker asked, "What is going on with Bumblebee?"
"His recovery will be much longer and the damage to his system was very bad. I couldn't do anything to reverse it."
"What. Damn it Ratchet," Ironhide yelled, finally steady again, "just say it!"
Ratchet had to take a step back, as he found himself mute again, but First Aid went to his side, leaving the safety of the curtain hiding the medics.
Grateful for the much needed support, Ratchet took a few more moments to grasp a hold of his emotions better and looked at Optimus directly before managing to choke out the answer, the reason to all the spark ache and pain.
"He's in third lock stasis."
Optimus froze but none were prepared when Ironhide's systems gave an alarming screech and he collapsed to the floor, offline.
CLARIFICATION: I know that there are no stages of stasis normally but I changed it up a bit in this story. (my story, my rules) ;P
First lock stasis: more commonly known as being unconsious or knocked out by medical drugs. (Recharge is sleeping but most know that.)
Second lock stasis: the equivalent to a coma, considered a very serious and dangerous condition.
Third lock stasis: the worst condition for any Cybertronian to be in. It's the same to pronouncing some one is brain dead and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.
Also, I didn't really point it out earlier in the story but the main line (if it even exsist on a transformer) is the same as a human's aortic artery but is just incredibly hard to repair. For those who might not know what the aortic artery is. It's the largest and most important artery in the human body. You could not live without immediate medical help if it severes. You would easily die in seconds due to massive internal hemorrhaging. *isn't medical knowledge fun?* ^.^
So on that happy note, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and it wasn't too confusing. I had to kind of change the tactic of where the story was headed to do this properly but it's not a loss and hopefully will make the story more enjoyable in the long run.
Reviews please!