SURPRISE! I updated somewhat fast this time! :D I figured I wouldn't keep you all waiting after that last chapter, especially with so many of you upset that I "took Ironhide out of the story." But I didn't do that! He's dead, not erased from the storyline. Goodness, I couldn't do that to this story!
Another shout out to Kibble Beast, the awesomely talented writer that she is. I LOVE YOU TOO! *returns love across the Atlantic* :D And I definitely stole your idea towards the end of this chapter. I thought it would add a nice touch of humor to an otherwise serious chapter. Not quite the same as THRUSTING in resurRECTIONS of DOOM, but it still works xD
...I still command all of you to read and REVIEW The Edge of Reason if you haven't already. It's something you can't miss out on. Seriously. Like, your life will never be complete without reading it. :P Now we don't want that to happen, do we? Of course we don't.
Anyway, hope you all enjoy chapter 12!
**Fixed the minor grammar mistakes (hopefully lol)**
No one moved.
A suffocating silence descended upon the base. Finally Perceptor, Wheeljack, and Jetfire silently stood up and moved away, but Ratchet, Jazz, and Artemis remained on the floor next to Ironhide, still as statues.
The medic's processor was blank, except for one thought that kept repeating itself over and over in his head… "You failed. You let him die. You failed. You killed him. You failed…"
Ratchet couldn't bring himself to look at anyone. He failed them as a medic. He didn't work fast enough, he didn't work hard enough, he didn't…
"Ratchet," Optimus said, kneeling next to the CMO. "This isn't your fault--"
"Yes it is."
"No, its not. You can't expect to save everyone. No medic can prevent death forever."
"But--"
"No buts, Ratchet. I know this is hard on you. It's hard on everyone. But look," Optimus pointed to where Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jolt, and Bumblebee were lying. "They need your help now. You need to go to them."
"I…I can't."
"Yes you can."
"No!" Ratchet cried, "You don't understand! I can't!"
"Yes. You. CAN," Optimus said strongly.
Ratchet leapt up and yelled, "No I can't! I failed! Failed! He's gone because I didn't do my job right! He's dead because I messed up! I killed him. I killed Ironhide. I--"
"Ratchet!"
"No! It's true! You know its true!"
"Its NOT true, Ratchet! Listen to me!" Optimus shouted over him, grabbing him by his shoulders.
"No, YOU listen to me!" Ratchet shouted back, violently struggling to get out of the commander's grip. "You should know what it FEELS like to lose someone because of you! Especially after you lost--"
Smack.
Ratchet abruptly stopped his yelling and fighting, shocked at what just happened. Optimus had slapped him. Optimus never slapped anyone. Ratchet really crossed the line this time.
The commander looked just as shocked to have lost control. He blinked a few times, then stuttered, "R-Ratchet, I…"
"It's okay. I deserved it."
Optimus sighed, deciding to discuss that particular moment later. "They still need you."
Ratchet looked up to his commander, almost pleadingly. "I can't."
"Think of all the good you've done for us. It outweighs your faults by far."
The medic shifted uncomfortably under Optimus's piercing gaze. "Have Perceptor and the others help them."
"They can't do it without your guidance. They're scientists, not medics."
When Ratchet was still unsure of himself, Optimus said, "You know I don't like using my title, Ratchet. But if I have to order you to help them, then I will."
"No…you're right. I have to help them," Ratchet sighed. "I'm just afraid I'll mess up again."
"Look at it this way. Without you, they definitely won't make it. You can only give them a much greater chance by going to help them."
Ratchet nodded in defeat, and silently made his way over to the others. He was quickly followed by the scientists.
Hours later, Ratchet and the others managed to patch up every member of the team and sent them to the medbay for the night. That is, except for Jazz and Artemis, who hadn't moved an inch since Ironhide's death.
Jazz knelt at his brother's side with Artemis. Both were staring blankly at his body. The felt absolutely nothing. They were numb to the world around them.
Optimus had tried talking to the two, but after an hour of urging them to move, neither gave him any recognition. It was like they couldn't see him…Jazz's optics had dimmed and Artemis's eyes had glazed over.
The leader placed a hand on his second in command's shoulder and gently squeezed it before leaving with a sigh. It was hard enough for him to lose such a close friend…he couldn't imagine the pain Jazz and Artemis were going through. He shook his head sadly deciding to go check on the others and how they were coping with their loss.
Optimus paused for a moment in the hall. He against the wall for support, closing his optics and rubbing his brow. Lubricant leaked from the leader's closed optics as he mourned. Losing Ironhide hit him just as hard as it did everyone else, but Optimus had to be strong for the others, so he couldn't show his pain and how bad Ironhide's death affected him to the others. He knew they would look to him for strength and guidance during this hard time, and Optimus had to be able to give it to them. He pulled himself together and continued down the hallway.
He found everyone gathered in the medbay, talking quietly with their heads in their hands.
"If only I pressed the button sooner…just one astrosecond sooner, he would be here!" Wheeljack sighed, hanging his head.
"You did the best you could, 'Jack. We couldn't have asked for more out of you," Red Alert replied sadly, giving the scientist a gentle shake.
Everyone nodded in agreement. "You pulled off a miracle today, Wheeljack. The rest of us would have surely died today as well without your help," Optimus added, finally entering the room.
Wheeljack tried to smile back gratefully, but broke down again. Optimus noted Perceptor's somber silence and closed optics, and Red Alert's tired face. Ratchet busied himself with the four battle-injured mechs to keep his processor from dwelling on Ironhide, with Jetfire right behind him. Prowl isolated himself into a corner.
Their human allies had arrived back to base, and were hit with the loss of Ironhide as well. They were sitting among the other Autobots, talking with one another about what happened. Major Lennox was hit especially hard, as he had grown fond of the Weapons Specialist over the past few months.
Optimus looked up as Ratchet approached him. "How are Jazz and Artemis doing?"
"Haven't moved at all," Optimus replied, looking down and sighing. "It's like they've died with him, and left behind empty shells."
"I'm worried about them, Optimus. They don't have any physical wounds I'm worried about, but their heath is still deteriorating quickly, and I fear forcing them to move will only make things worse."
The commander watched as Major Lennox silently left the medbay. "Perhaps he will bring out some sign of life in them."
Lennox slowly approached Artemis, and silently knelt at her side. She made no move to show her acknowledgement of his presence, but he didn't expect her to. He just remained still as well, silently mourning Ironhide's death with the others for a moment.
Finally, the Major spoke. "He was a good mech, by anyone's standards. He still is," he said, looking over to the girl. Artemis was still silent, but Lennox continued. "I heard how close you two were, and I'm sorry for everything you must be feeling right now." The Major noticed her lips quiver slightly as he spoke. He pressed on. "But I know for a fact that he wouldn't want you to waste away like you are. He cares about you so much, and it will hurt him to see you lose the will to live after he sacrificed himself for you."
At this, Artemis finally took her eyes off of Ironhide and looked down, shaking with barely contained grief.
"Its okay to cry. You don't have to prove anything."
Artemis's emotions burst out like a tidal wave, crying and sobbing hysterically as Lennox pulled her into a tight hug.
Optimus and Ratchet watched from the doorway. It was hard for them to see so much sadness and pain in the girl that used to be so full of joy, but at the same time they were glad to see her actually moving. Optimus also noted the slight changes in Jazz's intake levels and his increased Sparkbeat rate, meaning he too had listened to Major Lennox speak. Optimus walked over to Jazz once more and again talked to him. "You don't need to prove anything either, Jazz. Just because Ironhide is gone doesn't mean you have to be tough like him. You can let it out."
Jazz slowly turned his head to face his leader, tears leaking from his visor. "It's my fault."
"No, Jazz, it isn't. It's no one's fault but the Decepticons."
"But only if I--"
"Stop it right now, Jazz. Saying 'what if?' won't bring him back. It will only make dealing with his death harder."
Optimus felt a surge of empathy for his second in command as the silver mech broke down completely, and held Jazz in a fatherly embrace while he cried uncontrollably at the loss of his brother.
Ratchet returned to the medbay, satisfied that Jazz and Artemis would recover well enough with time. He then turned his attention to the only mech he hadn't checked up on: Prowl.
The black and gold Autobot was still sitting silently in his corner, brooding about something. As Ratchet approached, he noticed something about Prowl's optics. They seemed to be glowing much brighter than usual from under his visor, and they seemed to have a different color glow to them.
"Prowl?" Ratchet asked, stopping before the mech. Prowl jumped upon hearing Ratchet call his name….he was completely zoned out. "Are you okay, Prowl? Your optics are really bright, and they almost look as if they're a different color. Maybe you should let me take a look at them--"
"NO!" Prowl shouted, jumping up. "I…I mean, no thank you, Ratchet. I feel fine, and I'm sure my optics will return to normal."
Ratchet wasn't convinced. "Wheeljack," he shouted over his shoulder, "Are there any side effects to that machine of yours?"
Wheeljack walked over to Ratchet, scratching his head. "Well, I guess there could be before I refined it to bring you all back here. What kind of side effects are we talking about?…Oooh," he said, noticing Prowl's glowing visor. "Well…I don't know if that was caused by the machine or not. It's hard to tell with an unstable space-time adapter connected to only two nodules."
Perceptor's head snapped up. "What did you say?" he asked, optics wide. "Only two nodules? And you didn't stabilize the adapter?!? You realize the explosion that could go off any astrosecond if you don't disconnect the wires?!?"
"Yes, of course I know!" Wheeljack answered, somewhat annoyed. "I knew what I was doing, and...intended to disconnect everything once you all were safe here!"
"…you forgot to do it, didn't you?"
Wheeljack looked down sheepishly. "Yeah…"
Almost as if on cue, the machine in the back of the room started humming and shaking violently.
Everyone panicked, knowing what Wheeljack's inventions were capable of through stories and/or personal experience. The humans dove behind a metal shelf and the Autobots frantically moved to cover the recovering mechs on the berths.
The machine started humming louder and shook more violently…and then puffed a small cloud of smoke before falling silent.
"…That's it?" Wheeljack said, almost sadly. Everyone started to relax when the machine remained silent. Prowl, using the distraction to escape the medbay unnoticed, quickly started for the door.
"Yeah, its okay, guys," Wheeljack said, picking up the machine. "It's harmless now--" The scientist jumped when the machine beeped loudly and instinctively threw it away from himself, and it landed right in front of Prowl before exploding with a sizeable force.
"Prowl!" Ratchet yelled through the smoke. "Are you okay?"
He rushed over to Prowl's form lying spread-eagled across the floor. Luckily not much damage was done, but he had a few new scratches and dents, and his visor was shattered...
Ratchet stared blankly as the dust began to settle.
"Ratchet?" Red Alert asked, "Shouldn't you be helping Prowl?"
But Ratchet only continued his stare. Soon Red Alert found the reason why, and he too was transfixed with the sight.
"Is everything okay in here? Optimus asked, concerned. He, Jazz, Artemis, and Lennox walked over to where the others were gathering, wondering what happened. "What's wrong?" Optimus asked again. Ratchet pointed to Prowl, who was groggily sitting up in the middle of a pile of debris. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at first…Prowl just had a few scratches, and his visor was shattered so he'd need a new one…wait. His optics…
"Primus…golden optics…"
Ironhide was expecting a lot of pain, but when none came, he slowly opened his optics. He was attacked with a blinding white light. It took his processors a few moments to realize where he was.
"Slag it, not this place again," he grumbled, sitting up. "Anyone here?" he shouted, not really expecting an answer.
"Good, you're awake."
Ironhide immediately jumped to his feet, startled, and charged his cannons. "Who's there?"
"Calm yourself, warrior. We're here to help you," a second voice said calmly.
Ironhide turned around and was greeted with the sight of six tall robotic forms, all with a similar build, but slight differences between them. The original Primes.
Ironhide's arms fell to his sides while he gaped at the six mechs. They waited patiently for him to regain his composure.
"What am I doing here again?" Ironhide finally asked them. "I'm dead, aren't I? So shouldn't I be in the Well of All Sparks now or something?"
"Yes and no," a third Prime said. "You have indeed left the world of the living, but you're not ready to move on just yet."
"What? Why not?"
"Artemis still needs you," another said.
"But how can I help her now? I'm dead!" Ironhide asked, confused.
The fifth Prime smiled. "So naïve."
"You have much to learn, Ironhide," the last Prime stated.
Ta-da! Hope this wasn't a sucky chapter. I tried to make it good.
Reviews? *looks up hopefully*
Come on, I updated in 5 days! That has to be worth something!!!