"Okay. C'mon, 'Jack." Bluestreak grunted, gripping the underside of Wheeljack's shoulders and half-lifting, half-dragging the wounded mech towards the entrance, leaving a thick trail of energon in their wake. Quickly realizing that dragging the engineer would take too long, Bluestreak managed to haul him to his pedes and drag him along by slinging one of Wheeljack's arms around his neck and one of the Datsun's own arms around Wheeljack's waist. He then proceeded as quickly as possible through the city, attempting to avoid being dragged into the battle that surrounded them.
"Bluestreak! Over here!" Inferno called from the mouth of an alleyway. He nodded to Red Alert and they provided cover fire until the gray mech was able to haul Wheeljack into the alleyway and set him against the wall, slumping against the wall himself. "Wow. He sure is a mess." Inferno said, "Are you attemptin' ta get him ta the medbay?"
"Yep. It shouldn't be far." Bluestreak answered, looking at Wheeljack.
"Are you sure you want to save him?" Red Alert asked softly from his position at the edge of the alley. "What do you mean?" Bluestreak narrowed his optics. "Wheeljack is sufferin,' Blue. It might be best to let him deactivate peacefully, ya know?"
"Besides," Red added, "Ratchet is probably dead, along with everyone else on the ship. Do you really think that 'Jack will forgive you for saving him if he survives?"
"No." Bluestreak snapped, picking up Wheeljack's limp servo and clutched it to his chestplates, "I WILL save him. We'll go to the medbay, and First Aid or another medic will fix him."
Inferno sighed and flashed a quick glance of understanding with his bondmate, then reloaded his gun, "On the count of three, we'll bolt for the alley across the street. That should lead us right in front of the medbay. From the looks a it, Wheeljack doesn't have much time." Bluestreak glanced at Wheeljack. Energon was pooled around his wrecked chassis and was trickling from his wounds. He hauled the Lancia up trying to do it as gentle as possible and not make the wounds worse. Inferno joined Red Alert, firing his servo-gun at Dirge, who was cackling as he fired his lasers at any Autobot who dared show their faceplates.
"One.." Inferno mouthed, firing another shot that hit the Conehead's wing. "TwoThree!" Inferno darted out onto the street as Dirge howled in fury and continued firing. Bluestreak followed closely, backed up by Red Alert.
"I think we can I think we can I think We can." He muttered under his breath as they hobbled as quickly as they could. Blasts pummeled the orange-gold metal around them, catching Bluestreak's servo and Wheeljack's winglet. The mech had began mumbling, his audio fins flashing a dark, murky red. By then, Inferno had reached the safety of the adjacent alleyway and was attempting to provide cover fire. It seemed to take an eternity, but Bluestreak finally managed to heave Wheeljack into the alley, setting him on the ground and rubbing the scorch mark on his servo. Only Red Alert was still in the street, darting back and forth around the street with his servos covering his helm and his sirens wailing loudly.
"Dance Autobot! Dance!" Dirge cackled madly.
"Dance ta this!" Inferno pointed his servo-gun and fired wildly at the jet, hitting him in several places. Dirge veered out of control, screeching, then hit a building and fell all the way to the ground. Inferno rushed out to his quivering mate, wrapping him in a tight hug. "Are ya a'right?" Bluestreak watched the pair wistfully, not saying a word for once. Turning his gaze back down to Wheeljack, he saw that the mech had slipped back into stasis lock.
"We better get movin'." Inferno and Red were heading back towards Bluestreak. Turning his helm so he couldn't notice, he nodded, "Okay. The sooner we get to the medbay the sooner we can get Wheeljack fixed. I picked up Blaster over the comm and he was trying to send a message to Optimus Prime. Hopefully we won't all be scrap by the time he gets here."
"Ya got that right. Let's go." - Wheeljack felt himself being pulled to a state of partial-consciousness by a flash of pain in his winglet. "Sorry 'Jack!" A voice, the same voice from earlier, hissed in his audio receptor.
"Hnng." He mumbled, still only half-conscious. He could faintly detect noises, all around him. Yelling and laserfire. Onlining his optics was a worthless endeavor, all he saw besides static was pink and orange-gold. He felt another flash of pain, this one originating from his spark and offlined his optics again. A feeling of emptiness followed, and for a moment Wheeljack thought that his bondmate, Ratchet, was gone. He grasped for the fading shreds of the bond and nudged the medic through it. Panic clawed at him for a few moments when Ratchet didn't answer. When he finally did the engineer almost drowned in his own relief.
I'm so sorry Jacky.. That relief was quickly replaced with sheer horror as Wheeljack realized what Ratchet was apologizing for.
No! No! No don't leave me alone! He clung to the rapidly fading bond desperately. I.. I love you, Wheeljack. Ratchet's voice, and their bond, faded despite Wheeljack's attempts to hold on. They disappeared completely, leaving a hollow, aching emptiness in their place. Then with a fierce crack, the bond snapped.