Hey everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews and suggestions. A couple have asked for the pairing to be with Sideswipe, or at least a bit of flirting between them. We'll see. I've tried to add a little humour into this one to try and lighten the stress of the situation, that and the plot bunnies kept bugging me all day with it. I had to put it down before they got mad at me. :P

Thanks again guys, keep the reviews a-comin'!

Disclaimer: Wish I did, but sadly it is not to be.

"Speaking"

Thinking

Two hours. Two whole hours it had taken Ratchet to finally get the human stabilized. She was still unconscious, and the CMO had a feeling that she would be for a while. His holoform sighed; pulling a blanket he had taken out of subspace over her, making sure she was comfortable. With a gentle hand, he brushed some of her fringe out of the way, trying to get a better look at the gash on her head. Thankfully it had stopped bleeding. All he needed to do was clean it and attach steristrips to it in order to close the wound, aiding the healing process. What he wasn't ready for was the slight moan from his patient. Pulling his hand away quickly, he looked down to the unconscious female on the table. Her eyes were fluttering about under her eyelids, showing that she was dreaming. He sighed in relief. The medic really didn't want to have to explain what she was doing in a base full of giant robots under the Hoover Dam at the moment. I'm getting too old for this. It didn't take him long to finish patching the female's head up. He was about to make sure that she was comfortable again when the med bay doors suddenly crashed open.

"Ratchet!" The medic growled, returning to his robot body and turning on the mech who had just invaded his personal area.

"Slag it Ironhide! What are you doing in here! Can't you see that I'm busy enough as it is?" the CMO hollered. The Weapons Specialist didn't seem to take any notice of the tone, already seething enough.

"Those slaggin' pit spawned twins have done it again! Look at my cannons!" He rotated the cylinders out, thrusting them towards the medic. If it had been another mech, they would have already backed away. They all knew what Ironhide was like when he was in this mood, and with the dreaded cannons out no less. Ratchet simply looked at them and found he couldn't help himself. He curled up in fits of laughter. For all over Ironhide's favoured weapons were pictures of cute little unicorns and pixies.

"H-how the slag did they manage that!" he said, unable to contain himself. Ironhide growled, annoyed at the fact that a) the twins had the audacity to draw on his precious cannons and b) that Ratchet, of all mechs, actually found it hilarious!

"I don't care. But when I get my hands on them, you'll be putting them back together for weeks. Now, for the love of Primus, get these things OFF me!" It was more of an order than a plea. Ratchet, still laughing, pointed over to another berth by the wall. He performed a quick scan on the human, now that he was beginning to compose himself. Surprisingly, Lyn hadn't woken up during the ruckus. Either she is completely out of consciousness, or she is extremely tired. Possibly both. Finally getting a hold of himself, the CMO began removing the pictures from the Weapons Specialist's most prized possessions. Well, he will recharge with them out, he thought. At least this might teach him otherwise. He would have to congratulate the twins later when he saw them; they might have saved him the trouble of having to fix the blasted things every morning because of Ironhide laying on them in recharge. And he never thought he would hear himself say that.

"Who's the human?" Ironhide asked suddenly. Ratchet looked over the woman he had saved.

"She had a run in with Barricade," he explained, as if that was all that was needed. Ironhide simply grunted and nodded slightly, not really in the mood to actually want to know about humans in the med bay. "Now will you please hold still, or I'll just leave these things on your fragging cannons."

"You slaggin' well won't!" Ironhide thundered. Ratchet merely smirked. Gets him every time.

"There, it's all off. Now, would you kindly leave my med bay in peace?" he asked. The black mech was still seething, even with his cannons spotless.

"Thanks, Ratch. You just keep a look out for those pit-spawns coming in, piece by smoking piece." With that, and one last look at the sleeping female on the table, he stormed out of the med bay. The CMO shook his head. He was so glad that he wasn't Sunstreaker or Sideswipe at the moment. He hoped that they were actually able to keep a low profile, not for their sakes, but for the sake of his sanity.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It had been about half an hour since the trigger-happy Weapons Specialist had burst into the med bay. While Ratchet was busy working on a project of some sort, it dawned on him that it had become quiet outside of the bay…almost too quiet. Perhaps the twins were out on a scout? He certainly hoped so. After all the human had been through that day, he wanted her to be left alone to rest properly. A small groan brought him out of his reverie at the computer. Looking over to the table, he saw that the human was waking up. He braced himself for the impending audio-circuitry ripping screams and shrieks that always seemed to follow them on this planet, and other biological planets for that matter. Slowly, he stood from his work desk and approached the table. She didn't seem to have noticed him yet, which he counted as a very small blessing. After all, the human had only just woken up. While she was scanning her surroundings, he took the chance to scan her properly. The brace he had placed around her chest was impeding her movement somewhat, but at least it stopped her moving too much. The bandages covering her arms and legs, as well as her back, didn't look right on her. In fact, if it wasn't for her now bloodied, charred and dirtied white uniform, he would have almost assumed that they matched her pale skin. Her once perfect high ponytail was now in rat's tails, with bits of deep auburn hair hanging out. He knew she was one of the paramedics from Mission City Hospital; after all, he did offer his help there now that they were accepted by the Government. Have to keep busy somehow, he always thought. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the feeling of someone watching him. Uh- oh. He looked up, his electric blue optics meeting her bright green eyes. Time to speak.

"Er, hi there," he began, deciding to try and keep the initial meeting as informal as he could. He never quite finished as the human promptly fainted. Ratchet slapped his forehead. This is going to be fun.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lyn came round a lot quicker than she had expected. It was only a dream, it was only a dream. I wasn't hurt by a huge robot causing havoc near the hospital, there wasn't another one who came to save my life, I didn't just wake up and see said robot stood opposite me, it was all just a really weird dream. I'm back in my bed, the alarm hasn't gone off yet, I'll be going to the hospital today, working on the ambulances as usual. Normal day. It was just a dream, that's all it was. Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Lyn. She opened her eyes again, looking around. But she wasn't in her room, she wasn't in her bed, she was in exactly the same place that she had been when she woke up the first time round. Oh no. What if that robot had kidnapped her and taken her hostage? What if she was going to be some sort of an experiment, like she'd seen in the movies? Calm down Lyn, there's a logical explanation for this; you just haven't found it yet. She took a deep breath, and immediately regretted it as white hot pain flashed through her sighed. She cried out, clutching her side, feeling the telltale seam of the brace she had placed on so many other patients; ok, so maybe not this exact one, but one like it.

"You shouldn't be moving around with your ribs in the condition they are. I'll give you some painkillers for that." There was a small pause, in which Lyn had closed her eyes again, mentally telling herself to wake up. "You're not going to faint again, are you?" she heard a voice ask over her. Opening her eyes again, she looked up into the same blue optics. This time, she couldn't help herself. She screamed as loud and as hard as her broken ribs would allow her. The robot visibly jumped backwards, clutching what she assumed to be its ears. Her scream echoed throughout the room, and possibly throughout the base. When she finally gave up screaming (it hurt her ribs far too much) Ratchet was more or less standing over the other side of the cavernous room. Slowly and cautiously, Ratchet removed his hands from his audio receptors. They were still ringing.

"Human, you certainly do have a strong set of lungs on you," he growled, rubbing at his audios while performing quick scans on them. He stood up straight and looked over to her. At first, Lyn whimpered and tried to move back, but the pain in her side stopped her from going too far. He sighed.

"Look, human, I'm not going to hurt you. I just saved your life…" Even through her obvious fear, being called 'human' all of the time seemed to have an unexpected effect.

"Hey! I have a name you know!" she yelled. Then, in a quieter voice, she added "It's Lyn. Lyn Xanders."

"And I'm called Ratchet, Chief Medical Officer for the Autobots."

Ok guys, that's the third instalment. Personally, I don't really like it that much, but I can't think of how to improve it. Tell me what you think. As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Please no flames? This is the first type of fic I've done. I usually just right it all out, but I've never really had the confidence to post them. I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far. Thanks for your support guys, I appreciate it. : )