Chapter 7 - Acceptance

-Don't even think it, Deuce. –

Deuce sighed, eyeing the door. It had only been a few minutes since Ratchet had left the youngling alone, and he'd started to eye the door, knowing the medic had left it unlocked.

–Oh come on! You're just as annoyed as I am. –

-We're in enough trouble already, – Hax whined.

Deuce jumped off the berth and headed for the exit.

-Please, how much more can they punish us? And I am tired of being the last to know what's happening to me. They'll spend the next million vorns tiptoeing around me and not telling me anything. I have a right to know. WE have a right to know. -

Hax groaned. -Its not like I can stop you. –

-That's the spirit. –

The silence of the control room was almost palpable, only broken by the sound of repetitive thumping. Bumblebee had leaned against the wall, hitting his head on it.

"Once, just once, I'd like us to catch a break."

He crashed his arm into the wall in frustration, causing the others to flinch.

"Ratchet, your thoughts?" Optimus asked.

"I hate to say it, but Rhinox's theory is sound," he replied. "I'd have to perform a few more tests, but if I know what I'm looking for, I could prove it."

Jazz hated to ask, but…

"And if it is true?"

The medic sighed. "Then we have a serious problem. We could lose both of them."

The Pontiac tensed. "How? I thought the Lookout problem wasn't causing any actual problems."

"Yes, but the Lookout program wasn't sentient," Ratchet snapped back. "Right now two minds are effectively becoming one. Assuming the two don't destroy each other in the merge, what we'll end up with wont be either of them."

Ironhide frowned. "So what do we do? Separate them?"

Ratchet shook his head. "It's impossible."

"Don't want to hear that!" Ironhide snapped.

"Technically its only implausible," Rhinox admitted. "But you're asking your medic to pioneer an unheard of form of spark surgery, with little to no medical support, in a building that is completely unsuitable for delicate work."

"Not to mention I haven't performed spark surgery since the early days of the war," Ratchet muttered. "Creating simulations to test possibilities, constructing a clean room, training up for the procedure…even in the best medical facilities on Cybertron this would take months…years to prepare."

"They don't have that long," Rhinox butted in. "Hax is becoming the dominant base mind. At this rate Deuce could only have 6 earth months before his psyche is gone completely. Hax, or whatever he's become, will take over."

Optimus rubbed the bridge of his nose, starting to agree wholeheartedly with Bumblebee's earlier statement.

Suddenly, there was a crash from outside, and the Autobots looked at each other.

Bumblebee opened the door, only to jerk back in shock. Deuce was on the ground, having tripped over his own feet, and was staring up at the mechs in horror. Before anyone could say anything, the motorbike had transformed and sped off, leaving nothing but tire tracks.

"Deuce!"

Seconds later, a yellow Camaro was chasing after him, leaving the others in his dust. They weren't entirely sure who spoke first, but agreed whole-heartedly with the statement.

"Slag."

-Deu…-

-Shut up! – Deuce shrieked, accelerated another ten miles per hour. –Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! –

Dimly, through his red haze, he could hear Bumblebee chasing him, quickly closing the gap between them. He wouldn't have time to vanish into his hideaway.

Instead, he made a sharp turn for the entrance, shooting out only to turn again, heading deeper into the desert, heading for a rock formation. When he reached it, the Ducati jumped, shifting into its bipedal form, and screamed, slamming his hands down on the rocks.

Behind him, Bumblebee slowed, coasting to a halt before transforming, watching the youngling take out his frustrations the only way available to him.

Deuce slammed his hands down again, punching the rocks to dust, his vocal processor never ceasing in his screeches. Inwardly however, he was slightly more coherent.

-WHY? Whywhywhywhywhy?! –

Hax wasn't answering, hovering in the back of his mind, guilt and sadness sinking through to his host. With one final punch, Deuce dropped to his knees, curling into a ball.

Taking in the trembling form, Bumblebee took his chance, and stepped towards him.

"Deuce, I'm sorry you heard that."

Slowly, the youngling's head lifted up, optics staring into Bumblebee's own, betraying his fear.

"I don't want to disappear, Bumblebee," he whimpered. "I don't want to be like Sam."

Bumblebee flinched, but knelt down by his side.

"You won't," he soothed. "If Rhinox is right, and this is happening to you, we will fix it, I promise."

"But what if you don't? What if you can't?"

"That. Won't. Happen."

"But-"

"Deuce," Bumblebee replied as firm as he could. "You will be okay. You and Hax will be okay. I don't care what we have to do, you will never have to worry about this."

Deuce blinked, shivering as he stared up at the yellow 'bot. For a moment, Bumblebee thought he hadn't gotten through to him, that he would run off again, only for Deuce to wail and jump up, clamping himself to Bumblebee's neck in a vice grip.

Cybertronians couldn't cry, but the whimpering coming from the youngling's vocaliser was just as painful. Slowly, Bumblebee's hands came up to support the smaller body, and slowly made his way back to the base.

'I've got him,' he commed to the group. 'Do you want him back in the medbay?'

'Yes' Ratchet replied. 'We need to confirm Rhinox is right. If he is, we can work on exactly how and what we're going to do about it.'

'I'll wait with him,' Bumblebee commed back. 'He really shouldn't be left alone right now.'

'Understood,' Optimus answered. 'But keep your comm. open. The matter of the Decepticons still needs to be discussed.'

'Yes, Prime.'

The briefing was strained, Rhinox and Ratchet leaving to see Deuce, Ratchet eager to get back to Deuce, only to inevitably confirm Rhinox's hypothesis an hour later. Their two younglings were ticking mental time bombs.

But there was also the issue of those two beacons, heading straight for them.

It would be weeks, close to two months before the two actually made it to earth, but it was two they would have to dedicate to saving Deuce rather than hunting Starscream. It couldn't have come at a worse time.

If Starscream met up with loyal reinforcements, that would bring his number up to at least four. They had six not counting Deuce, but, if it was the seeker's trine, the extra numbers wouldn't add up to much. A trine could be twice as deadly as the singular bots on their own.

And Starscream would come to the base. It was an inevitable fact. And then there was the matter of Deuce, who still refused to talk about his 'rescue', or the sigil that had been branded on him for such a short time. Deuce could not be left defenceless with such a threat waiting in the wings.

His training had to start. Ratchet was furious, angry at the notion, storming out when it was clear their minds wouldn't change. As far as he was concerned, Deuce was still his patient, and no mech in his condition should be expected to learn how to fight. Optimus, hoping for a peaceful resolution, took him to his office to try and convince the medic otherwise.

"No."

"Ratchet..."

"NO. This shouldn't even be up for discussion! I agreed permit training once he was psychologically better and out of medical leave. He is neither!"

Optimus sighed. He'd known Ratchet had been against training ever since Ironhide had tentatively brought it up a few weeks ago – it had taken days to convince him of the necessity. But now that Ratchet had confirmed Rhinox's hypothesis, they knew Deuce's condition wasn't exactly physical, and the youngling was in danger if left alone.

"What choice do we have, Ratchet? Starscream has reinforcements arriving, and he knows where our base is, while we have barely been able to track him. Once his numbers are up, he is going to attack, and Deuce will be a defenceless target.

"You conceded when it was Bumble-"

"Bumblebee was a completely different situation! He was older than Deuce, not to mention he was within a secure base for a vorn before we even discussed it. And he wasn't having to prepare for probably the most dangerous operation ever performed in our history!"

"I'm aware of this, but, Ratchet, he needs something to focus on. Finding out about his condition has broken him, his confidence is gone. Training could give him back what he lost, as well as ensuring his safety."

Optimus had commanded thousands in his life, his voice a beacon of trust. One that even the harshest mechs stopped to consider, to acknowledge a different view. But given the tenseness of the medic's frame, Ratchet had heard it one too many times.

"I won't let you do it. I don't care if I have to chain him to my side – I won't let Ironhide teach him how to use those weaons. Not yet."

Optimus stared at his old friend, before wilting.

"You really won't stand down?"

"This war has made me throw away a thousand moral principles Optimus. I wont add another to the pile. Deuce cannot be trained until the spark surgery has been performed."

"There's no reasoning with him when he gets like this, Prime. You of all mechs should know this."

Both Autobots jerked up, only to catch the smirking gaze of Ironhide, leaning against the doorframe arms folded in amusement.

"How long have you been there?" Optimus asked, smiling to match despite himself.

The weapons specialist pushed off the wall and joined the two. "Long enough. What say we come to a…compromise of sorts?"

Ratchets optics narrowed. "What do you have in mind."

Ironhide shrugged. "I'll agree to hold off on weapons training if you agree to let me work on his defence. Evasion, camouflage, scouting…kids already got most of those skills from whenever he wanted to 'play' with us. Given the strength of the weaponry he's got, he needs it more. Just let me make sure he knows how to keep himself from getting hit when the 'cons show up."

Some, but not all of the intensity left the medic's face, and Ironhide went in for the kill.

"We'll teach him how to run, how to hide. Your morals can't argue with that."

And he was right, the slagger. "Only evasive manoeuvres?"

"Kid won't have to activate his gun once."

Ratchet turned to Optimus, and their Prime nodded.

"I can't argue with that."

The medic sighed, and held out his hand.

"Then I guess I can't either. Primus help us all."

To be continued…