Well, I just had to keep writing, because otherwise, I'm going to lose what I have in mind. In the last chapter, Ratchet's frustration got the better of him, and now Lyn is lost and alone in the mountains. Its cold and a storm is threatening to set in. the question is, can she be found in time?

Disclaimer: Don't own, so don't sue!

"Talking"

Thinking

: Comming:

. . . , , , ,. . . Change in place and time

. . . . . . . . . .Change in POV

Ratchet had searched the entire base for the human female. He was racked with worry. He hadn't meant to scare her; he didn't want to hurt her. She meant more to him than anyone else ever did, and that was after knowing her for almost two weeks! And he just had to ruin it. He prayed to Primus that she was alright. Finally, he came to the entrance of the base.

"Looking for someone, Ratchet?" The CMO span round, coming face to face with Bluestreak.

"I'm looking for Lyn. Have you seen her, Blue?" The silver and grey Ferrari shrugged. The CMO couldn't help but feel that he was scrutinising him.

"Last time I saw her, she was speeding out this way. I don't know exactly what you said or did, but she sure was upset. In fact, I'd say she was terrified. She completely ignored me and Hot Rod and Sam and Mikaela, and we were all waiting outside the med bay." Ratchet felt his wires twisting in panic. If anything had happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

"If I were you, Ratch, I'd find her quick. There's a storm brewing out there. I'll help you look, but you're doing the making up." Ratchet was slightly grateful for his company, but this was something he wanted to do alone. Not wanting to argue, he simply nodded, all but running out of the base. He had to find her, he just had to!

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Lyn came to almost ten minutes later. The wind had increased in ferocity, and it had gotten colder. On top of that, it had started to rain. She shivered violently, pulling herself up into a sitting position and looking at the angry rolling storm clouds. If I get caught out here in that storm, I'll never make it back. Rubbing her torso, trying to warm herself up, she hauled herself up onto her knees and, with every bit of energy she could gather, pushed herself onto her feet. The rain seemed to get heavier with every passing second, and lightning began to flash, followed by the deep throated rumble of thunder. The rain was icy cold against her already stone cold skin. She pulled the thin denim jacket about her, raising her shaking hands to lift the collar. Not that it helped much. By now, the rain was falling in fat drops, splashing on the ground and soaking her to the bone.

"Ok, Lyn. You've got to keep moving now. Keep yourself warm. The last thing you want is hypothermia. Especially when you're on your own." She started pacing the ground, trying to get feeling back into her body. Tiny rivulets were beginning to flow down the sides of the cliffs. "Oh no. I've got to keep moving, or I'll get caught if there's a flash-flood." The sudden ground-shaking rumble of thunder made her mind up for her. Trying her best to retrace her steps, Lyn made her way up the cliffs. It was so dark; her only source of light was the occasional flash of lightning. She stopped when she came to a dead end.

"Ok, ok, stay calm Lyn, breathe slowly, and just relax. Panicking is not going to do you any good right now, is it?" She turned and made her way back. A flash of light caught her eyes. She shook her head, trying to flick her hair out of her eyes. Droplets of water were sent flying from her drenched hair. It was probably just lightning, because it wasn't there anymore. Little did she know that it could have been the sign of rescue.

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

Ratchet and Bluestreak searched the mountain paths in hopes that they could find any sign of the missing female. Bluestreak's less sturdy frame was constantly rocked and buffeted about by the building wind.

: Ratchet, I'm going to head back. I can't drive through this. I'll send Ironhide or someone out: he called over the comlink. Ratchet simply grunted in reply, too caught up in his search to actually pay much attention to the younger bot. Bluestreak turned, his headlights shining on a rock face below them. He stopped suddenly. He was sure that he had just seen something. He shone his headlights down on the rock face again. Nothing. Must have been my imagination. He turned and made his way back to base. Ratchet kept going, further and further up the mountain, keeping a careful track on where he was going, forming a map in his CPU. How he wished to have Hound's tracking capabilities. But he didn't want anyone else out with him. Not in this. And not since he was the one who caused her to run in the first place. The others would never look at him the same way again if they found out what he had done, that he'd nearly hurt a human. Not just any human, but one of their friends. If she was hurt, he would never forgive himself.

As he searched, the storm got increasingly worse. The tiny rivulets were now forming bigger streams, rivers in some areas. Pretty soon, the surface water was going to flood the area. He had to find Lyn. He was NOT going to give up! Primus damn it, he cared about her more than he ever cared about any femme on Cybertron! He didn't know why. Perhaps it was because she wasn't afraid to stand up to him, or she had some of his mannerisms. Maybe it was her bravery, how she cared about everyone, placing herself in danger to get to a fallen friend or a complete stranger. She was just like him, in so many ways. And yet, she was different. She had patience, and her bedside manner was almost impeccable. But it was the fact that she wasn't afraid to work, she wouldn't give up. She was just so…so…so determined. He just hoped that she was as strong as she was strong-minded, and that he found her before this storm finally caused him to turn back.

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

The cold was beginning to become unbearable. Lyn's hair was plastered to her face with the rain, rainwater dripping into her eyes until she wasn't sure if they were tears falling or the rainwater itself. Maybe it was both. She hugged herself as she made her way over the treacherous rocks. She became increasingly afraid, and yet focused. One false move, one slip, and she'd go crashing down the side to certain death. Shivering, she made her steps very slow and very careful. She couldn't see in this dark. She stuck her foot out to step on what she thought was solid rock. A flash of lightning proved to be her saviour, illuminating the terrain for only a split second, but it was long enough for her to spot the near vertical drop that she would have plunged herself down if she hadn't pulled back in time. That was, until she stepped awkwardly onto the rock behind her. Her foot flew out from underneath her, sending her crashing down, winding her. She slid down the slope, rocks and stones stabbing and scraping at her back, falling with her. Using the reflexes the she had honed, she grabbed hold of a stone ledge, swinging herself round and grabbing hold of it with the other hand. She tried her best to find a foothold, but the rock was just too slippery with rainwater and loose dirt. She tried to haul herself up, but she wasn't strong enough. Instead, she let herself hang there by her arms, panting. The streams splashed down over her, soaking her already saturated body with more ice cold, dirty water. And, with horror, she realised that she was losing her grip.

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

Ratchet transformed, kneeling down, trying to make his form smaller against the wind. He had sensed something falling. Something close by. He heard his comlink crackle to life and Ironhide's gruff voice sounded through it.

: Ratchet, where the slagging pit are you? Bluestreak said that you could use some help out here, and he looks pretty banged up!: Ratchet sighed. This was just what he needed.

: I'm in the mountains, 593.25 metres South East of the base:

: What in Primus' name are you doing out here, anyway?: Ratchet hesitated.

: Looking for Lyn: he replied quietly.

: What?:

: Looking for Lyn!: He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to calm his fear. The rain was not helping matters at all. It usually didn't bother him, but at the moment, it was so heavy that it clanged against his armour, making listening for any small noises particularly difficult. He closed his optic shutters, only for a moment, pulling himself together. I'll be of no use to Lyn if I'm panicking. That's when he heard it. It was faint against the wind in his audio receptors, over the heavy rain on his metal body, but it was there. A hoarse cry for help. And it was nearby.

: Ironhide, return to base and tell Wheeljack to get a bed ready:

: What for?:

: Just do it, Hide!: There was a grumble before the comlink was shut off. Right now, Ratchet didn't care. Scanning his surroundings, he carefully made his way towards the direction he had heard the cry of help come from, powerful headlights lighting up the path in front of him.

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

Lyn held on as much as she could. Her fingers were losing feeling from the cold, and she realised, with horror, that if they went numb, she would lose her grip and plummet to her death. She prayed to any God that was listening that she would survive. All she wanted was the chance to tell the CMO how she felt. She prayed that someone had heard her cry out above the wind and the thunder and the rain. Her feet scrabbled for a foothold, anything she could use, but to no avail. The stone was too slippery, too weak, and her surroundings were starting to flood. Flash floods rushed past her, engulfing the rock in their fury. She couldn't see them, but she could hear and feel them. The power of the flood waters were threatening to pull her down with them. She whimpered and cried as she tried her very level best to keep hold, screaming when one hand gave out. The thunder and lightning had died for now, but the wind was still buffeting her against the rocks, wrapping itself around her hand, trying to pull her off the rock face. She was suddenly aware of the sound of not only rushing floodwaters, but also of rocks. A rumbling that sounded like numerous landslides had started nearby, and she hoped against hope that it wasn't above her. But that was the least of her worries. She could feel her hand giving out. Gone was her calm paramedic façade, now she was terrified.

"Please! Somebody, help me!" she cried out, ignoring the burning pain of her dry, raw throat. She could taste blood, and realised that her throat was so raw that it was bleeding. Above the wind, she was sure that she could hear someone calling her name.

"Help me!" There it was again! She wasn't imagining it! Someone was coming for her!

"Lyn! Where are you?" Over the wind, she couldn't tell who it was. And she really didn't care. Because at that moment, her hand gave out.

Ratchet heard her scream, heard her shout for help. But he couldn't see her. The wind and the rain were annoying; he couldn't hear anything over them. Instead, he scanned the area, hoping and praying to Primus that he would be able to detect her body heat through this, the wet rocks shining in the beams of light. There! He'd found her! But she was falling.

"Lyn!"

Screaming, Lyn plummeted downwards, crashing against the rocks, splashing into the flood waters where they had joined to form one great, roaring river. She heard someone make an effort, as if they were leaping, but she wasn't in the right mind to pay it much attention. There were several rocks looming towards her, and she braced herself for the impact. She hit something, but it wasn't rock. It was metal. She felt herself being moved upwards, almost cradled against yet more warm metal.

"I've got you, Lyn. Just hold on," she heard a familiar voice say. But who was it? She was tired, she was aching all over and she was too cold to make any sort of rational thought process. She felt the metal lurch forward as if a giant being was leaping from the rock face. Weakly, she opened her eyes, looking up into bright, soothing blue optics. They impacted with the ground in a huge splash and the giant seemed to be running. She breathed deeply, looking up at the robot. Her eyes were blurry and unfocused as exhaustion set in. She caught the bright blue of the optics, even over the brighter beams of light shining from above her, gleaming off familiar yellow-green paint.

"Ratchet," she said hoarsely, slipping into unconsciousness.

Ratchet stared in horror when Lyn went limp in his hands. She'd said his name. Finally, he came to an area that seemed to have been sheltered from the storm, transforming and activating his holoform. He opened the back of his alt mode, pulling down the steps and gathered her up in his arms. He gasped as all sensors finally rested on her instead of their surroundings. She was so cold! And in the light of his alt mode, he could see that she was so pale, a slight blue tinge appearing around her lips. Performing a quick scan as he approached the back of his vehicular form, he became aware of the fact that her body heat was lower than usual. He prayed that she could hold on, just until he they got back to base.

"Please, Lyn. Stay with me. I'm so sorry."

Once he had placed her onto the stretcher, he deactivated his holoform and raced back to the base. Ratchet turned on his heaters to full blast while searching the net to find out what was wrong with her. One condition caught his eye- hypothermia. Her body temperature was low, and her heart and breathing rate had slowed down. Scanning the symptoms, he found that she was in the first stage- which meant she had a chance. He would have thought she was sleeping if she didn't look so pale. The journey to the med bay seemed to take forever, especially since the rainwater had flooded many of the pathways he had used to get there. But finally, they made it. Not bothering to transform, Ratchet sped into the med bay, siren blazing, almost crashing into a couple of mechs who failed to notice him in time. He ignored anything they shouted; his main priority was Lyn's welfare.

"Please, Primus, help me! She has to be alright!" he prayed and pleaded.

Will she forgive Ratchet? Will their friendship hold out? Find out in the next chapter!

Maybe a little Ratchet X Lyn fluff, we'll see.