A/N: The author just got over a cold and the beta's still sick with one so here, have a sadistic medic! :D (Sorry to anyone who hoped for smut in this chapter ^^; )

Ironhide had always suspected that Primus hated him. Evidence of this particular theory currently came in the shape of the embodiment of the wrath of Primus – that at this particular moment happened to answer to the designation 'Ratchet' – and that string of curses that followed as said medic removed one bit of Ironhide's shoulder plating none-too-gently and set to work on the lines and wires underneath.

"Imbecilic front-liner," Ratchet growled and twisted something tightly around Ironhide's damaged Energon line. "It's a wonder you haven't offlined yourself aeons ago."

Whatever he had done to the line, it hurt – not enough for Ironhide to bother complaining about, because the medic undoubtedly knew already and didn't care, but enough to be annoying – and Ironhide bit down a snarl before it could make its way to his vocalizer. The pain wasn't as familiar as most kinds were but then, most of the time when he needed Energon lines fixed, the rest of him was in pieces, too, and he would be out cold or have much more painful things to worry about.

A painful jab of something against the line, and Ratchet kept cursing all the while.

"Plate-headed-" Jab. "Aft-minded-" Jab. "Spawn of a drone."

A particularly painful jab concluded the tirade and this time Ironhide yelped in surprise.

"Watch it, medic!"

"Then stop provoking him!" Ratchet snapped right back. "Perhaps this will get it through the bits of scrap you call a processor. At the rate this is going, you two will cause more damage to yourself and each other than a full-scale Decepticon attack, you antiquated piece of scrap."

There wasn't really anything to say to that so Ironhide bit back an insult to keep from annoying the medic any further and settled for silence as one injury was patched up and Ratchet continued on to the next one, marginally less vicious about it this time.

"It's mostly superficial," Ratchet continued, a bit calmer. "He has no serious injuries, so I'll deal with him afterwards. The wings will annoy him until then, but that might teach him to think before he acts next time." Another, fainter twinge of pain followed as a string of sensor nodes lit up again after Ratchet reconnected a torn wire, then faded again as the initial flood of information returned to normal levels. "Most of your injuries are superficial as well. This is the only serious one you had. From the looks of it, he didn't aim to harm you, but it is a vulnerable spot and his grip is more vicious than he likely knows. Also, be grateful that it was the human in charge out there. If not, it wouldn't be that flying pest you had to worry about."

Ironhide just nodded, accepted the threat for what it was – genuine concern about their new brother-in-arms – and let Ratchet finish up with the wires in silence. It didn't take long – a testament to how often Ratchet had performed a procedure that would only occasionally have been needed before the War – and then there was the absurdly relieved feeling he always got when he felt his armour click back into place. It wasn't a big piece but he still felt vulnerable without it and he didn't like it one bit.

"There, you big sparkling," Ratchet added with a bit of disgust. "I'm done. You can handle those scratches on your own."

You fix Will's scratches, Ironhide sent over their bond and very firmly did not let the faint, sulking feeling he had come through as well... not that he doubted that Ratchet didn't already know, Pit-spawned, all-knowing medic that he was.

Will doesn't squirm so much that I have to knock him out to get any work done, Ratchet sent back with a snort. Fix it yourself, you sparkling. I'm in no mood to do it today when you caused those issues yourself.

Medics. Ironhide huffed and while he was tempted to just leave, there was something that had been nagging him since his ruffle with his new human-turned-Seeker partner. Two ways to handle a sulking Seeker, his aft.

"You could have told me," he said, a bit annoyed. "Ignore them or grovel, you said. You didn't mention beating him up would fix his issues a lot faster."

Ratchet snorted again, and Ironhide never ceased to be amazed just how much of an insult the medic could put into that one gesture when he put his mind to it – and right now, he clearly had. "What you just did to him was the equivalent of asking for an interface. By proving your dominance, his instinct would be to yield and prove to his mate – that would be you, in case you wondered – that he submitted."

Which explained a lot more than Ironhide had really wanted to know, and he had the sudden urge to go beat himself up for doing something as stupid as that... not that he intended to let Ratchet know, whatever other ways the mech in question might have of finding out.

"I knew that," Ironhide muttered and didn't quite lie. He should have known and it did make sense when he thought about it. "You could have warned me anyway."

"I could," Ratchet agreed in a voice that suggested that this particular could of action would have been about as likely as Megatron voluntarily handing over command to Starscream. "I chose not to risk you getting tempted. He had done his best to annoy you for two days straight by the time you showed up to complain to me, and judging by appearances, he succeeded quite well, too. If I had reminded you, you would have tried it when he made too much of a pest of himself regardless of what I told you, and I didn't particularly want to put the human in there through that sort of thing. Yes, they handled themselves quite well when it did happen but it wasn't the way I would have preferred to see if they could actually compromise in a situation like that."

Ironhide was about to argue when Ratchet gave him a Look and cut him off before he could even begin. "You are a front-liner, Ironhide. You shoot first and think later, and if possible, he has even less common sense than you do. It was a medical decision."

Argument over before it could even begin, Ironhide made an annoyed sound but didn't try to object again. It wasn't like he could really have made it credible, anyway. Good intentions or not, he knew himself well enough to know that if he had been told, he would have attacked first and regretted it later. He had less of a temper than he had once had but Seekers could be fragging offensive when they put their mind to it, and Ironhide had never been the type to tolerate that.

"Medics," he rumbled, although there was no heat behind the word, and Ratchet just snorted again.

"Medics," he agreed. "Now out, you big sparkling. Fix your own scratches. I have a patient to take care of."

Ironhide, wisely, did not object.

The wings looked... chirpy. Ratchet really had no other way to describe them. They shouldn't be, not with the annoyance the Seeker would undoubtedly feel from the damaged sensors that covered the wide expanses of grey, but chirpy they were nonetheless. The energy build-up in their owner was all but gone for the moment and there was an almost imperceptible, low rumble of a purr, but the wings were the surest sign of the human-turned-Seeker's mood. Perked upwards, occasionally moving in small, sweeping motions, and most telling moving in tune to that low sound of a purr. The wings looked chirpy and that more than anything was the reason why Ratchet was currently not tearing William Lennox a new exhaust.

At the most he was being a bit more rough with the damaged sensor nodes across Will's throat but even that didn't seem to bother the other mech in the least. If Ratchet hadn't been so determinedly ignoring that faint beginnings of a bond, he also didn't doubt that he would have felt the same emotion echoed there as well.

"You look happy," Ratchet observed after the silence had stretched on for too long and he had listened to nothing but the rise and fall of that low, contented sound as he worked. "Did you finally lose what remained of your sanity?"

The last had been added in a drawl to show that he wasn't completely serious and his patient smiled slightly in response even as those wings kept up their cheerful little movements. "Pissing 'Hide off? He likes it. I had fun. I'm starting to see what the Seeker likes so much about him and I wouldn't mind having another go." A shrug. "I learned some new tricks, too. I don't think I'd get close enough to a 'Con to use them but I guarantee that if I do, they'd get the surprise of their life."

"Oh, I have no doubts about that," Ratchet snorted, and then turned his attention to the wings and pushed aside the tiny bit of him that almost felt bad at restraining such an obvious sign of good cheer. Almost. The other wing kept up those slight movements even as Ratchet kept the nearest one still and he was silent for another long moment. "Are you certain this is what you want?" he finally asked.

"Ironhide?" Will looked bemused at that, glancing at his hands and flexing one absentmindedly in a gesture that Ratchet had learned to recognise as a sign of their new Seeker thinking about his situation. "It's not the Seeker dictating things, if that's what you're wondering."

Translation – even Will wasn't quite sure what he wanted, then, but before Ratchet could ask, Will had already turned his head slightly to watch him over his shoulder and continued.

"I'm never going to be human again, am I?"

Ratchet froze mid-motion at the question and then a moment later finished with the sensor node he had been working on. He knew the answer, he knew that Will knew the answer, but that didn't mean he didn't need to hear it; didn't mean that there still hadn't been that infinitely tiny spark of hope buried somewhere deep within.

"No," Ratchet finally said and settled for being straight-forward, because he knew the human well enough to know that it would be appreciated, however harsh that truth might be. "You shouldn't even be alive as it is. Primus brought you back in this shape. I... wouldn't know if it would even be possible to create a human body for you. I'm sorry."

Memories of a conversation long since over with-

"Sam got brought back from the dead, too. In his own body."

"Sam actually had a body that could be revived."

- and then Will nodded and turned his head to look at the wall straight ahead again.

"That's what I figured, too." The low rumble had stopped and the movement of the wings had become more muted, even if it was still there. "We've learned to get along. It's a pain to deal with sometimes, like having a six-year-old with weapons, sex drive, and no common sense, but it probably thinks the same thing about me when I frag up. The thing with Ironhide is a bit weird to my human brain but he's attractive, and beating up each other in a make-out session was a lot more fun than I'd thought it would be. We've learned to get along," he repeated, "because there isn't much of an alternative, is there? We're stuck together so we might as well make the best of it. Moping because I'm stuck like this won't do me a slagging bit of good, so I might as well not bother. I took some time to feel sorry for myself; now that time's up and I get to suck it up and cope, because that's life."

"Eloquent," Ratchet said quietly, never stopping his quick, efficient work with the damaged wings.

Will snorted. "That's what Bobby said, too." Silence again. "I'll never be human again, Ratchet. The closest thing I get to a human shape these days is the hologram in my cockpit and even that wouldn't pass inspection up close and personal. Solid holoforms are useful for mechs like 'Bee or you or Barricade, but not for Seekers. We were never built for it, were we?"

Ratchet had wondered before just how much that Seeker had taught their former human and now the question returned with renewed strength, and he kept his voice deliberately low and even as he answered. "It sounds like you already know the answer to that."

Will made a sort, sharp sound of laughter, even if there wasn't the remotest sign of amusement in his voice, and then he sighed, and Primus, but Ratchet had forgotten how fast those things could switch from one emotion to the next.

"Yeah. It takes a fragton of energy and processing power and it's pointless for a Seeker. We weren't built for it. Even if we could work around it and get that mod installed later..."

"It would be a drain on your reserves and processing power better spent focused on flying, it would slow you down in battle, and would be a potentially fatal liability," Ratchet finished, even if he didn't doubt that Will knew that just as well as Ratchet himself did. "As you said, holoforms are worthless in a Seeker's domain. It was never a consideration."

And it had presumably been the right thing to say, because the former human just nodded in response and Ratchet watched the unrestrained wing sag tiredly.

"Is this what I want, Ratchet? I don't know. He's a good friend, he's attractive, and sure, he's a giant, alien robot, but I'm starting to realise that so am I these days. It doesn't change the fact that I still believe myself to be married, regardless of the shape I might have now, and that I'll need time to come to terms with that, too. I'm not going to hurt him, Ratchet, and I know what I'm getting into. I'll never be human again. The sooner I can make myself come to terms with that, too, the better it'll be for everyone involved. We have a bond, too, and I might have gotten better at that, but I still can't block it when emotions run a bit too high, and considering the fact that I'm a Seeker..." A shrug. "I'm pretty much one big ball of emotions. Do you really think 'Hide didn't already know everything I just told you?"

"Point." One wing done, Ratchet set to work on the second one and this time he couldn't quite keep a sigh from his vocalizer. "He does see more than the Seeker in you," he added with a glance at his patient, even if said mech wouldn't see it. "In case you wondered."

"I never doubted it," Will said quietly. The fixed wing moved a little again, almost hesitant. "It's weird, being like this, but it's not like I've got a choice and it's not all bad. There's slag to deal with, a lot of it, but there are some good sides to it, too."

"Like flying?" Ratchet asked just as quietly as he continued with the minor, but numerous, repairs.

"Like flying," Will agreed, and that free wing spread out and up again to mirror its owner's change in mood for the better. "And 'Hide, and being able to actually do something to keep the rest of you safe without having you worry that the humans are going to get themselves squished." A pause, hesitant again- "I think... even Sarah's getting used to it. She knew I who I was when she married me and she still did it, and she's going to have my aft the first time I do something stupid, and we're still wondering what we're going to do about Annabelle, but..."

"But she loves you," Ratchet finished the sentence. "The human you used to be, certainly, and going by observations, I would say she cares a great deal about this shape you now hold as well."

"She's amazing," Will agreed, almost reverently, and then the wing settled down a bit again. "I was supposed to have died and she knows that. I would have died if it hadn't been for this. Big, alien robot and all... it's still better than being dead. I have her and she has me and I'm not human anymore but at least I can still be there for her."

"Yes." Ratchet tightened his grip on the wing as he handled one particularly damage sensor node, then lessened it again as he continued. "And you are rambling."

"I know." Will fell silent even if the unrestrained wing still spoke volumes about his mood as it moved slowly, thoughtfully, and almost cautiously, and Ratchet once more resisted the temptation to take the easy way out and make use of the bond he still hadn't mentioned to their new Seeker. Then Will sighed and finally seemed to work up the nerves to say out loud whatever was making his wings respond to that degree. "Monogamy isn't a Seeker trait, is it?" he asked quietly.

There were a lot of ways to answer that one but Ratchet already knew from experience which one would work the best.

"No," the medic said and settled for honesty.

It was silent as Will seemed to consider that and then he sighed again. "I sort of guessed that. I feel bad about being attracted to Ironhide, I feel bad about the fact that I'll probably get down and dirty with him eventually... I don't want to cheat on my wife but whenever that thought pops up in my head, the Seeker just wonders why I can't have both of them. Sarah and 'Hide and whoever else it decides to claim. It doesn't want to share those mates with anyone, mind you, but it still wants to claim them for itself."

"It's that Seeker-ego," Ratchet offered as explanation. "It is a Seeker. As such, it should be have its every wish fulfilled and its every whim for a mate granted, and to share would be to imply that something lowly and ground-bound would be equal to it."

"Bird-brain in a nutshell," Will agreed. Another moment of pause as Ratchet finished up with the last of the sensors on the second wing and let go, and both of them stretched out before dropping a bit in what Ratchet recognised as nervousness. "Is that offer of... instructions still open?"

His voice had been quiet but stubborn, determined to ask no matter how stupid or embarrassed he might feel, and that was all Ratchet needed to know that he actually knew what he was asking.

"Whenever you may need them," he confirmed.

Will nodded and when he spoke again, his voice was a bit closer to normal. "Not now, I'm still... figuring out this whole thing; how much is the Seeker, how much is me... rolling around with him out there, I was definitely attracted but it's a bit harder just to go with the flow when my head clears again. I know some of it is me, I just need a little while to figure it out. But later... I'd appreciate it."

"And so would my infirmary, I assure you," Ratchet added dryly, and the words had the desired effect as Will smirked and the wings perked up again.

"Someone needs to give Ironhide's record for repairs a run for its money."

"Not here, they don't," Ratchet snorted. "There, done. Out, you're fixed, go fly. You need it and Ironhide's going to rope you into fixing his scratches if he sees you."

A grin was all the response he got before the Seeker was gone and the roar of twin engines broke the silence not fifteen seconds later. Then they faded and were gone, and Ratchet sent his little kingdom a cheerful smile and set to work putting everything back where it belonged.