The Complications of Life

By: Nightelfcrawler

Disclaimer: I do not own, merely covet adoringly.

Authors' note: This is a re-telling of the movie-verse, given that do not assume any of it happened the same way. I'm writing from scratch with all new secrets. And while certain characters have been included, do not assume end results.

Warnings: Contains a background of slash relationships.


Chapter Six

Imbedded into the cliff head-first was what appeared to be a massive ship with obvious engines jutting out. At one glance she knew that this was a ship of unknown make, something entirely alien. The rocks didn't appear to have been displaced around the ship either, which puzzled her. It was as if it had simply slid through the rocks, pushed them aside to make room and stuck there… or that the rocks had moved to make way for the ship, formed around them. Either way, she knew what she was looking at: a space ship. It was of similar design to the one her partner had crash-landed in, only many times it's size. As they drew closer, the ship only seemed to grow larger. A small opening between the rear engines loomed tiny in comparison, still large enough that Optimus Prime would have been able to jump and not brush his head with the ceiling. As Ratchet slowed near the entrance, she caught sight of Optimus Prime and Ironhide paused behind them, her partner still securely strapped to their beds. She reached out through their link to touch his consciousness, and was met with nothing in response. He was still dead to the world. Sighing, she blinked as the door slid open beside her. "Hop out. I'll want to oversee them moving him into the med-bay." She obliged, exiting his interior and stepping back giving him room to transform back into his robot mode. Once he finished he strode over to the waiting pair and began to assist Jazz and Bumblebee as they un-strapped the unconscious mech and lifted him carefully off the beds and up through the entrance. Alexis briefly considered following them, but one glance told her that unless she flat-out ran, she'd never be able to keep pace. Instead, she decided to wait as Optimus Prime and Ironhide finished transforming into their bipedal modes and approached her.

"If you like, we can provide you with a place to rest and clean." Optimus rumbled as he knelt down beside her, Ironhide hovering nearby, watching her with curious blue optics.

"Thank you, but if it's all the same to you I'd rather remain close in case he wakes."

"Of course. I will speak with Ratchet to ensure it is safe for you to do so." A very large hand was lowered down to the ground. "I will bring you there so you may watch the proceedings."

Alexis was hesitant at first, but seeing as she had little other option she finally climbed into the massive palm offered to her and settled herself comfortably in a seated position as Optimus straightened back up to his towering height. It was slightly disconcerting to see the world from this height, but at the same time it matched. Everything here was far larger, and from this vantage point it seemed more normal as Optimus moved through the halls. The craftsmanship was far superior to human crafts, the hallways were smooth silver metal lit by lights imbedded in the ceiling above that brightly lit the passage. There were strange symbols marking the walls at intervals, in their native language she assumed. It reminded her of a blend between Chinese or Japanese Kanji, Braille and binary. There were marks of color along with the writing here and there, but for the most part the ship was very singular without decorations. She saw no one else as they walked, but her ears could pick up the unique language of theirs echoing from down other hallways. "How many others are here with you?" She asked quietly as they walked. "This ship is much too large for just five of you."

"We have a great many here with us." Optimus agreed. "A full ship's compliment of capable mechs."

"And why exactly are you here?" She asked at last, the question having been burning in her head since Ratchet had turned down her request for that very answer.

Optimus' calm gaze lowered to study her with a thoughtful expression. "I am not certain how much you know of our politics, nor how much you wish to know… suffice it to say we are here searching for an important relic that will hopefully allow us to end the war between our two factions."

Alexis blinked. A relic here on earth? "From your planet?" She asked aloud.

"It is. It likely came here long before your people even existed. We were able to trace it's energy signature here, but we cannot yet pinpoint it's location. We have sent teams all over your planet to search for it. Our hope is to find it before the Decepticons realize why we are here in the first place. So far we have managed to lay low… however with your friend's arrival, I begin to wonder if it might draw unwanted attention."

"Maybe." She murmured. "He may have been followed."

"That is our thought as well." Optimus agreed. "We have been scanning the skies for any sign of pursuit since his arrival, fortunately there has not been any yet. However, the Decepticons are also very stealthy. They may find ways to sneak through our search grids."

"So I take it you are the… Autobots?" She said, digging through her memories of what she'd been told. "You're the ones who were in power before the rebellion?"

"That is correct." Optimus agreed. "We were the reigning force on our planet. The Decepticons started their rebellion out of their own desire for change without going through the proper political channels, I'm afraid. Things have been very complicated since."

"I'll bet. Politics usually are." She muttered, running a hand over her face.

"I regret you had to become involved in our affairs. We have made a point not to involve ourselves with your people or reveal ourselves in any way. Up until now we have succeeded with that mission."

"How have you kept anyone from finding this huge craft?" She asked, morbidly curious about how anyone couldn't notice such a huge ship as this, even though it was half-hidden in a cliff.

"When no one needs entrance or exit we project more of the Cliffside around it, much like you saw on the exterior. It is a series of matter-holographic projections. The ship is not physically imbedded in the cliff at all, but rather the cliff is false."

"I see. Well that makes much more sense." She mused, though her head immediately tickled about the idea of a matter-hologram, wondering how it was done, how effective it was, and whether she could take a look at it some time.

However, any thoughts along that tangent were pulled as they abruptly stopped in front of a door with large bold lettering plastered above the door. She had no doubt that it said medical ward, or something like it, for as they entered she saw Ratchet bending over a table where her companion lay prone on his back. Ratchet spared one glance in their direction before going back to meticulously studying the mech before him, muttering in his native tongue as he went, punching in notes to a computer terminal. Optimus waited patiently with Alexis as the medic moved about, until at last he turned to face them both. "How is he?" Optimus asked quietly.

"Stable now." Ratchet agreed, turning to gesture at the various lines with blue fluid attached to the mech. "I've got him on some energon feeds to replenish his fluids. Aside from the damage to his lines, he's not in too bad of shape. There's quite a bit of structural damage still to repair, but at least he's in no immediate danger any more." Ratchet punched up some schematics onto the screen next to them and pointed. "However, as I indicated before, his structure does not match his internals. This mech has been reformatted from his original model, and not very well I might add. Additional panels, struts and parts have been added on top of his old design in order to make him appear different, bigger, and give him a different alt mode. But as I said, the work was not as top of the line, but rather the hands of an amateur."

"You think he was trying to hide who he was?"

"It's possible." Ratchet agreed. "There would be no need to alter one's appearance or alt-form unless he was specifically disguising himself." He shifted a little, his stance suddenly uncomfortable. "There is evidence that he may have been a Decepticon dissenter at one point. His right optic was shattered, but his left semi-intact. It's a red crystal. I'll have to replace both in either case as they're too damaged to provide functionality. But I also discovered that his entire communications' system was basically shredded. It shows evidence of attempts to repair it, and there may have been some basic functionality before his crash-landing, but it's useless now. It'll have to be replaced. In addition, it seems he's been making do solely relying upon his communications system… seeing that his vocalizer is completely missing."

"Missing?" Optimus said, clearly surprised. Alexis frowned, trying to follow the damage report as best she could. If she understood properly, it explained why he had injected her with nanites in order to communicate, if both his vocal and broadcast systems had been disabled. "Did this also happen in the crash?"

"No." Ratchet said grudgingly. "It's very old damage. This happened before his crash."

"Why didn't he have a medic construct a new one?"

"Vocalizers are complex parts. He'd have to go to a surgeon to have one built, and even then the parts are hard to come by especially with the war going on. If he was hiding from being found he wouldn't have access to a medic skilled enough to build one, nor the parts required. I've run into the same problem with Bumblebee, as I lack the parts to properly repair his own vocalizer. It's just too hard to come by rare elements, Optimus. In addition to his communications problems, it's going to take some time to rebuild those wings of his. They've sustained significant damage. I can re-build them thankfully as they're simple parts that I have on hand, but I'm going to have to detach them and strip them. It'll be restructuring it from scratch, essentially, the same goes for that right thruster of his. It'll take some time, but time we do have. What I'm most concerned with is his sub-structure…." He hesitated, staring at the schematics with a puzzled frown.

"What is his sub-structure profile?" Optimus asked, studying the schematics carefully.

"That's just it, I can't be sure. He's had enough alterations that it's very difficult to uncover. He's a jet-type, obviously, but he's far too small to be a shuttle, and too bulky to be a fighter. I'm going to have to study each of his struts individually to see which was added at a later date, and which was his original build before I know what his build is. I've never seen such extensive re-building. It's almost like his original form was damaged badly in addition to the alterations, and the repairs were done to accommodate the injuries as well as a re-design."

"If he was a dissenter, it would make sense. Do what you can, and inform me when he's awake again. Until then, Alexis has requested to remain close. Could you see to her comforts?"

Ratchet glanced at the human with a bit of distain, and Alexis had the distinct feeling he didn't like having to baby-sit a human. "I'll see what I can do, but this is a med-bay Optimus…"

"I understand that. Please see to her. We'll need her help when he awakes, given his lack of communicative ability."

"Yes sir."

Optimus turned his gaze back to Alexis, smiling kindly. "If you require anything we can provide, please let me know."

"Just some food would be nice, but I'm sure you don't have any handy." She smiled wryly.

"We can synthesize some nutrients for you, although I cannot promise it will be to your tastes." Optimus offered. "But it will refuel you."

"That'll be fine. I've eaten worse stuff during my training, I assure you."

Optimus left her alone with her partner and the medic, and Alexis took that time to sit down, resting her weary feet. Ratchet eyed her carefully, wiping his hands free of the shimmering blue liquid that matched the feeds going into her partner. "Well, I cannot provide what you humans seem to prefer for recharge, a bed is it? But I can provide soft material for you to lay down upon if that is to your preference. I'm going to be busy here repairing your friend for some time, so anything you need speak of it now."

"That would be fine. I don't need much right now." She assured him. "I'll just watch." Her gaze shifted back down to the prone mech. "So he'll be all right then, I take it?"

"With some work, yes. He's out of danger, which is the most important thing." Ratchet agreed, gazing down across the battle-worn surface of the unconscious mech. "You did well with what you could to enact repairs on him. I'm sure he owes you his life."

She smiled faintly, too tired to really feel the impact of his words. "When do you think he'll wake up again?"

"I'll keep him in stasis until the majority of repairs are finished, which will take several orns…." He mused. "Ah… put in your time table, it won't be for a few days that I would feel comfortable letting him wake."

Alexis felt a bit relieved knowing this. It meant she could rest and relax herself without fear of missing anything. "Good." She murmured. "He deserves a break after everything he's gone through. I feel so bad he had to suffer at my government's hands, whether that was their intention or not."

"Hmph." Ratchet snorted, grabbing a few soft foam pieces and placing them beside her on the table where she sat, raised above his work surface so she could watch the proceedings below. "Your government is much like ours was once… there is many similarities that I see. While you are not yet as technologically advanced as we, you have interesting elements to your species that I as a medic find fascinating."

"Funny, you sound a lot like him." She smiled, nodding to her partner.

Ratchet spared the mech a scrutinizing gaze, taking in the sharp features staring blankly at the ceiling. "Interesting. I suppose scientists and medics have similar interests. However I would not have violated your trust by forcibly injecting you without your consent as he did."

"I don't hold that against him. It wasn't as if he COULD explain." She pointed out. "He did what he had to."

"And dragged you into a complex situation where now your own government likely considers you a fugitive and traitor."

"Yeah." She agreed quietly. "Can't argue there. But given the choice of not knowing anything about extra-terrestrial robots from a distant planet and having a cozy life, or being involved… I would choose the same path any day of the week."

Ratchet smiled at that, a more kind expression filtering over his gruff exterior. "You are a very unique spirit. I can see you would fight well in battle, yet you have the kindness of empathy that might make you a good medic."

"Thank you, I guess." Alexis smiled, then moved over to the foam padding that he'd lain down. "I'm going to get some rest. You'll wake me if there's any significant change?"

"Of course." Ratchet said solemnly. "I can see you care deeply about him. You will know if there is anything worth knowing. Rest well."