-1Chapter 19: Can you blame him?
"Ratchet!" That shout was loud enough to be heard throughout the Ark in its entirety, and the tone of complete and utter panic brought even Optimus running, since the words 'panic' and 'Megatron' didn't even seem to belong in the same sentence. Anyone unfortunate enough to be in the hallway between the commons area and the repair bay practically got trampled as the thoroughly freaked-out Decepticon, seemingly dead human in hand, sprinted as if his very life depended on it. He barely noticed any of that. The only thing on his mind was how utterly silent and still Sarah was, no breath, no life, nothing…
"Ratchet, you've got to help her," he said in a voice filled with stark terror. The words came tumbling out in a swift, jumbled rush, gaining in pitch with each word. "I don't know what happened because I just came in from patrol and I found her like this and she's not breathing or responding to anything and I didn't know what to do so I brought her here thinking maybe you could do something…" Whatever composure he'd been able to keep was swiftly disappearing even as Jazz, Bumblebee, Ironhide and Optimus himself entered the area, so the Autobot leader did the only thing he could think of to snap him out of it… He hit his brother. In the face. The sharp clang of metal striking metal filled the smallish room and drew a wince from everyone present save Ratchet, Optimus and the Decepticon in question. Taken completely by surprise, Megatron fell down to land on his rear, one hand held against the side of his face where Optimus had slapped him, eyes wide with shock. Out of all the things his brother could have done at that point, this had been by far the least expected. All was quiet for a moment before he slowly stood up, much calmer now. "Thanks, Optimus… I guess I needed that." Off to the side, Ratchet quietly busied himself with a comprehensive scan of his newest patient as Megatron stood back up. "…I don't know what I'll do if she's gone. She's our only hope of restoring our world and you know it… and it was my job to protect her, to keep her safe. Where did I go wrong? Did I miss something? Was there anything I could have done to prevent this?" Finishing up his scan, Ratchet interrupted him. "She's in stasis lock. All her internal organs have become mechanical in nature, and that change is currently taking place in her brain, hence the need for stasis lock. Her musculature and neural pathways appear to be adapting themselves for extra-atmospheric travel. The All Spark seems to be preparing her body for the journey home. It's my opinion that she'll wake up good as new once her brain is through the conversion process." Almost as if cued by that statement, Sarah abruptly sat up. "Hey, what the… How did I get here?" There was a second loud clang as Megatron found himself back on the floor again. "Oh, I'm so relieved."
After a great deal of explaining, Sarah was allowed to go on her way. It unnerved her slightly to learn that she was becoming something other than human, but as long as she stayed herself that didn't mean much to her. After all, with the powers she had been given, wasn't she already something other than human? Gifted with memories of alien life more ancient than the Earth itself, standing astride the boundary between life and death, she had lost all normality the moment she first touched the Shard. Now she lived among giant mechanical alien beings, she was taking part in a war, someday she would travel to the world she had previously seen only in dreams to bring life to a land ravaged by death… This was her life. She was still Sarah Hornsby; she could still look in the mirror and see the same tanned skin, the same blue eyes… And yet she was now so much more than Sarah Hornsby, more than human, more, perhaps, than mortal…
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Given what almost appeared to happen, I think he had every right to panic. The prospect of losing a friend can do that.
There's gonna be some serious action coming up!