Ratchet slumped down at his desk, eyeing the massive stack of reports awaiting completion mulishly as he did so. He had just had officially the worst day. Ever. First the twins got into a brawl, resulting in a lot of scratched paint (much to Sunstreaker's rage and chagrin) and a fractured strut for Sideswipe. What should have been a quick fix soon turned into much, much more, once Grimlock got involved.
Somehow (and Ratchet still wasn't sure how), Prowl had managed to get into a scuffle with the massive Dinobot, resulting in injuries to the police mimic, Optimus, Ironhide, and several other mechs called in to help subdue the raging Grimlock.
Cursing his bad luck, the chief medical officer called in Jolt and First Aid, sending them to finish with the twins and a few of the lesser injuries from Grimlock's rampage while he handled Prowl's repairs. He was forced to drop the 'Bot into forced stasis just so he could stabilize him.
In the midst of that chaos fell Chromia and Elite-One. The two femmes had been out doing battle practice when a cannon misfired, leaving both 'Bots severely damaged. Snarling curses under his breath, Ratchet pulled Jolt to start on Chromia, leaving First Aid to finish with the last of Grimlock's victims while he continued working on Prowl. He had no choice but to leave Elita-One to wait, stable but badly needing attention all the same.
It had taken the entire day and well into the night for Ratchet and his team to finish with all the repairs and to get their patients settled for the remainder of the night, but finally, all was quiet in the Med-Bay. Sending his two exhausted assistants to their quarters for some much-needed recharge, Ratchet turned his attention to the waiting paperwork, and he cursed again, almost wishing that another injured 'Bot would need his skilled attention so he could put the reports off a little longer. A mere few moments later, he regretted that thought.
Staggering slightly under the weight of the wounded femme on his back, Keystone stumbled into Med-Bay, Shadowfang at his side as Warrior Star's energon leaked down the black mech's armor like some gruesome form of paint. Ratchet's jaw dropped in shock, and he stared at the three wolves in utter bewilderment, and then Keystone spoke.
"Medic…she needs your aid badly." The guttural grunt of the mech's voice, and the strain that was so easily heard in it, snapped Ratchet out of his funk and he instantly sprang to his feet and hurried to the shaking mech's side.
"Primus, mech! What happened? She only just left my Med-Bay a few days ago!" Ratchet cried, his blue optics wide as he took in Warrior Star's newest set of injuries.
"She found Steelbite." Shadowfang said, and the look in his flame-red optics was enough for Ratchet to understand. He nodded grimly, motioning Keystone in the direction of one of the few unoccupied berths in the bay.
"At least that's one less demon to haunt her. Put her on that berth, and then each of you find one of your own. I'll get to you just as soon as I can." Ratchet swiftly went to work, pulling armor plates off of the wounded femme and tossing them aside carelessly as he worked to seal torn lines, hoping against hope that he could keep Warrior Star from bleeding out. Roused by the noise, Optimus and Ironhide both blinked the fuzziness from their optics, raising their helms as they tried to figure out what was going on. Ironhide figured it out first, having spotted the swiftly growing pile of bronze armor on the floor near Ratchet's feet.
"Warrior Star? What happened?" The battle-scarred black mech asked as he struggled to sit up. Optimus, alerted by the alarm in his weapons' specialist's voice, quickly sat up as well, his optics widening as he saw the damage to the femme's armor and the energon all over the floor.
"Sister found Steelbite." Shadowfang spoke from several berths away, his optics locked on the eerily still frame of his sister as Ratchet worked feverishly to stabilize her.
"And…?" Optimus couldn't help but ask, his deep blue optics locked on the femme as well. Keystone opened his mouth to answer, but another voice beat him to it.
"Steelbite has been slain. The Guardians shall be hunted no more." Breaksteel growled as he and Moonflight entered the bay, and all optics went to them. Ratchet unleashed another series of curses once he saw the state that the storm gray mech was in.
"Get on a berth, you. Moonflight, do not let him move. I'll get Jolt and First Aid back in here…Primus what a day…" Ratchet snapped, still cursing as he opened comm links with his two medics and told them to get back to Med-Bay, on the double.
Breaksteel dubiously eyed the berth but complied with the medic's order, though he needed help from Moonflight to actually get on the berth. He settled quietly, his light yellow optics locking on to the bronze femme as Jolt and First Aid hurried in. Ratchet started barking orders immediately, and the two medics fell to work swiftly.
"I'll need you to lay on your side." The voice from next to him startled Breaksteel out of his reverie, and his optics met the electric blue that was unique to Jolt. Fidgeting under the mech's gaze, Jolt repeated his order, and after a long moment the storm gray mech complied. Without even speaking, Breaksteel laid his head down, his gaze going to Warrior Star again as First Aid set up machine after machine, hooking them to the femme to monitor her vitals as Ratchet worked tirelessly on her injuries.
Breaksteel could feel his spark whirring uneasily in his chest, calling for its match almost desperately even though Warrior Star was only a few yards away. His uneasiness grew when it occurred to him that her spark wasn't responding…he would know if it was. He nearly jolted in shock when Ratchet suddenly snapped at First Aid to stop what he was doing and help him, and then he tensed with dread as one of the machines Warrior Star was hooked to started to shriek.
Across the room, Shadowfang and Keystone scrambled from their berths, hurrying to the bronze femme as Ratchet erupted into a fit of curses again. Breaksteel lifted his head, completely ignoring Jolt's warnings to lay still as he realized what the machine was that was still shrieking. It was a spark monitor.
"Hold on to her, you two! Give her as much strength as you can; if she gets any weaker, her spark will give out under the strain." Ratchet's voice reached Breaksteel as if from afar, and somewhere deep in his processor, he heard that little voice again.
Reach for her, mech…reach for her… Without even thinking about what the consequences could possibly be, Breaksteel felt himself reaching out, just like he used to do with Steelbite when the two mechs were much, much younger and one of them was afraid or in pain. His spark seemed to understand what he was trying to do, and immediately it sought out the feather-light connection that had formed when Warrior Star's spark matched with his.
Breaksteel felt it when their sparks connected, heard the sharp intake of air as Warrior Star's cobalt blue optics shot open, and for just a second he saw the world from her perspective, saw everything through her optics. Then her gaze found his, and he knew that she knew what he had done. Nothing around them mattered at that moment; all Breaksteel saw was Warrior Star. The sheer untamed power that he felt from her was as awe-inspiring as it was terrifying. A second later, her emotions bombarded him, leaving him trembling under the strain. It was a combination of fear, anger, and not a small amount of outrage. Her voice reached him a moment later, and the anger and dread in her tone made him cringe.
Mech…what have you done?
A/N: And here's a chapter! I've been trying to sit down and write one for awhile but my roommate and I share about a ten by ten foot space...that we both live in...and I can't freewrite when I have someone breathing down my neck. So...had to wait until she was gone before I could settle down and get to writing.
Anyway! Breaksteel might have just gotten himself up a creek without a paddle here...anyone want to take a guess why Warrior Star is reacting the way she is?
To my lovely readers, reviewers, favoriters, and followers, thank you as always for your loyal readership! Ya'll are amazing!
As always, love if you will, hate if you must. I will take anything that you care to dispense.
Until we meet again...
Kani