For the millionth time, Prowl double checked the possible outcomes of the battle as Skyfire flew a bunch of Autobots to the distant location of a Decepticon raid. A handful of bots where chosen for this mission, including tough guys like Ironhide, as well as a medic in case of injury. So, Bumblebee now sat waiting for their arrival while stealing glances at Ratchet.
If it weren't for the hurt of the rejection, Bee would normally be helping the medic prep things. Now, not even a sideways glance was given to him from his crush, and this left Bee pretty spark broken. Even though only a few orns passed since the incident in the med-bay, it felt more like vorns. He couldn't help how he felt, but part of the little yellow bot wished he didn't say those three letter words.
"Alright Autobots," Optimus said with a booming voice as Skyfire descended and landed with haste. "Transform and roll out!"
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker where the first to zoom out, speeding out in their sleek alt modes. Prowl, Optimus and Jazz were the second wave. Bee transformed and joined in with Ironhide and Huffer, leaving the last group consisting of Ratchet, Brawn and Mirage bringing up the rear. The group of bots made their way into the cave toward the weird energon readings Teletran 1 had warned them about.
Nearly stopping dead in his tracks, Bee saw a handful of Decepticons led by Soundwave scurrying about. There was something different about him this time. Soundwave had always kept his cool, and rarely did Bee see him scrambling while calling back for his cassetticons when there was a battle to fight. Bee wondered why there was no Megatron-
Suddenly, something hit him hard enough to knock the yellow Volkswagen off the cliff. Bee transformed in mid air preparing for an impact that never came. Black hands gripped him roughly around his ankle. Snaking his body around, Bee discovered his capture to be none other then Skywarp.
"Ready for payback you pathetic scrapheap?" Skywarp snarled as he slammed him into the ground. "I'm gonna rip out those ugly optics of your face!"
Bee scrambled out of Skywarps charge only to be grabbed by Astrotrain. The triple-changer kindly held the Autobot for Skywarp to pummel. What a time for the 'cons to decide to be nice and help each other out!
"Decepticons: Retreat." The monotoned voice of Soundwave called out. "Operation: Hinderance. Strange energon is unstable. New Command: Destroy." With a growing charge, Soundwave makes to blast at the chunk of raw energon.
Bee was dropped as Astrotrain transformed into his shuttle mode and Skywarp follows. Sunstreaker even bolts away for safety. However, the little yellow bot is regaining his composure, right in the way of the explosion of the unstable energon. As the last blast from Soundwave's blaster caused the energon to explode, Bee was blinded by the bright light, but saw a dark shape come towards him from his left side. He quickly noticed it was Ratchet coming to his aid. The medic shoved Bee out of the way and took the full blast of unstable energon himself.
When the smoke cleared, Bumblebee saw Ratchet laying on the ground unmoving. Tears welled up in his optics as he ran to his friend and scooped his head into his lap. "Ratchet," Bee said. "Please... Don't leave me." He gently stroked his helm while hoping for any signs of life. No response. "Oh no..." Bee wasn't able to hold back the sobs anymore. He sat there bawling over the loss of his crush, but more importantly, his best friend.
A flicker of the medics optics occurred, and a grimace appeared on the medic's face. Slowly, the face of Bumblebee came into focus and a slight smile appeared. "B..Bee?"
"Ratchet," Ironhide yelled and knelt down beside them. "Are you alright?" Ratchet groggily nodded his head, not really able to take his optics off of Bee. Ironhide asked the same of Bee, who said he was alright, and Optimus quickly helped Ironhide to lift the medic up. As they carried him outside of the mine, Bee couldn't help but notice Ratchet looked different. Bee reset his optics, but Ratchet still appeared to look different.
The medic looked younger. Bee tilted his head in confusion. That was what looked different! Ratchet was still him, but looked as if he traveled back in time and returned with his youthful body. All the signs of the worn down frame had simply vanished. Bee gave a little chuckle as he caught himself staring at a much younger looking aft.
Ratchet was placed in the med bay for repairs to the damage that was on his frame. First Aide ran diagnostics on him, but everything was coming up clear. Bumble Bee watched from the sidelines, and was simply told he needs time to recover. With a nod, Bee left the med bay.
A few joors later, Ratchet woke up dazed and confused. "What... What happened?"
"The weird energeron exploded," First Aide answered, placing his hand on his boss in comfort. "You took the brunt of the blast." Ratchet tried to get up, but Aide pushed him down. "You need more time to recover Ratchet." When First Aide was comfortable the CMO wouldn't get out of the birth, he wondered off to do some work elsewhere, leaving Ratchet alone to his thoughts.
Those thoughts came to Bee. The medic hoped he was safe and unharmed from the blast. From what he remembered, the little yellow bot was right there in the way, unable to move due to being held and beaten by two 'cons. Ratchet had feared he wouldn't reach his friend in time and just had to take action.
Carefully, Ratchet rolled over to his side and was shocked when he saw himself in the mirror on the wall. His body looked different; it no longer belonged to an aged mech but rather looked like the days when he had first attended the University. He ran a hand down his chest, and then traveled down his side, checking to make sure what he saw in the mirror was real. It sure was.
After a few Orns, Ratchet was released. The first thing he wanted to do was to find his little yellow friend to make sure he was alright. In fact, that is all he could think of while in med bay, well, aside from what happened to his body. The medic made his way down to the mess hall figuring there was a chance that perhaps Bumble Bee was there. While on his way there, Jazz greeted him.
"Hey, Ratchet," the black and white mech beamed. "How you doing?"
"Fine," Ratchet muttered off. The look Jazz was giving him made his plating crawl. 'Primus, was he just checking me out?' Ratchet thought. Jazz rambled on, but Ratchet did his best to tune him out. The unwilling pair entered the mess hall, Jazz actually placec his hand on the medic's back to coax him to sit as his table. However, that hand slowly crept down his back, fingers tickling softly and eventually slid upon his aft.
At that moment, Ratchet stepped away from Jazz, and bid him farewell. Walking fast, the CMO walked to pour himself a cube from the dispenser, then searched the room for the yellow bot. He thought he found him, but it was really Sunstreaker instead. With a sigh, Ratchet plopped himself down at an empty table wanting some private time to think to himself.
Was Bee hiding from him? Of all the bots that visited him in the med bay, Bee wasn't one of them. He wished he knew why Bee wasn't visiting him. Ratchet really missed him. Over all these years, Bee proved to be his most trusted friend. The two could talk about anything under the sun. Bee really knew how to brighten his mood even if he may not always show it.
"Hey, buddy!" Ironhide's voice boomed, waking the medic from his thoughts as he sat down right next to the other. Literally, so close to him that their legs touched. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Ratchet said again, but with a little more annoyance as he scooted himself away from the red weapons specialist. "And you?" Ratchet figured he should at least fake being polite.
"Oh, just dandy," Ironhide responded and inched his way closer. A grin appeared on his face. "Hey I was wondering," The red mech started, but then placed his hands on the medic's thigh. Ratchet grimaced a bit, but also wondered where the other was going with this. "How'd you like to come back to my place..." Ironhide continued on, and squeezed his hand on the other's leg. "...And watch some movies?" Soon enough, the red mech was fondling the other's thigh.
Ratchet let out an aggravated sigh, and grabbed the other's hand and pried it of his leg. With no single word escaping his mouth, he stood up, grabbed his energon cube and walked away. Out of the corner of his optics, he noticed a few bots staring at him when he left. Feeling more like some flashy eye candy just because of a freak accident turning back time on his body rather then a respected medic, Ratchet decided perhaps it would be best to just lock himself up in his quarters.
Luckily, the halls where rather dead which allowed the grumpy medic to be alone. Finally, he had some breathing space without any bot putting their hands all over his body. He strolled down the halls, looking down at the floors. Deciding to take the back way to his room, he hoped he wouldn't run into any unwanted attention. Ratchet rounded the corner and attempted to shout when a set of hands grabbed him from behind.
"What th-" Ratchet hollered but was cut off by a servo clasping across his mouth. He felt a warm body press up against his back while another set of red hands invaded his chest, making their way down lower.
"You like that, don't you?" A voice rang, and identified one of his captors as Sideswipe. "Flaunting your new body all around... It's not fair to tease us, but never allow us to touch." The wandering hand made its way between the medic's legs- which snapped tightly together to avoid being groped. However, a pede from behind kicked the legs apart, and the hands resumed its course. The panel's seems where traced as it was attempted to be opened against the owner's will. The other bot licked and bit at the medic's neck cables.
"Leave him alone!" A shout came from the right, and Ratchet instantly recognized that voice to belong to Bee. The short thrill of finally finding his friend was short lived. Ratchet didn't want Bee to see him like this. He didn't have much time to ponder that as Bee quickly slammed himself into Sideswipe, knocking him off his feet. With hatred glaring in his optics, Bee pummeled the red bot with heated punches and kicks. Sideswipe had been too preoccupied with fondling the medic to really have planned out a defence and instead just threw up his arms and mindlessly tried to kick back. Bee landed a perfectly aimed kick to the back of Sideswipes head which caused the bot to go offline.
The bot that was restraining Ratchet let go. Not wishing to get in a fight, he retreated down the hallway at full speed. Glancing quickly, Ratchet was shocked to discover the other bot was Smokescreen. "Fraggin' no good afts... Scrap..." Ratchet let out a string of obscenities.
"Are you OK Ratch?" Bumblebee asked. He placed a hand on the angry medic in comfort. "Did they hurt you... Or...um."
"No, Bee." Ratchet grimly replied, shaking with anger and humiliation. "They didn't do anything but touch me...weather I wanted it or not." The CMO brushed at imaginary dirt in attempts to get that feeling off him. "You came just in time, Bee. Thanks."
"You're welcome. Just returning the favor." The yellow bot replied. "Want me to walk you back to your room?" Thinking, Ratchet didn't reply. "I'll make sure now one else bothers you."
Ratchet laughed at the thought of a mini-bot being his guardian, but humbly agreed with a smile. Ratchet was glad to finally see his friend again. It's been way too long since the chipper bot and himself enjoyed each other's company. The thought of why the distance between them popped up, and Ratchet hoped it wasn't because of his new body. Once the door to his quarter's appeared, Ratchet pushed in his code, and happily welcomed the yellow mini-bot inside.