Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated. I've been really busy with Uni work and everything.

I wanna take this moment and say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic. It means a lot to me that so many of you are enjoying it. Keep it up, guys!

Right, mushy stuff out of the way, on with the story!

Disclaimer: All rightful property of Hasbro et al!

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Ratchet woke with a start, feeling something shift beside him. And then he remembered; Lyn. Looking down upon the sleeping female, he smiled softly. Performing a quick scan, he noticed that something was off. Her temperature had risen, which was a relief, but it was that that was worrying him. She'd developed a slight fever. Cursing slightly, he pulled off a couple of the blankets, pushing them to the side. She shifted again and coughed slightly before settling back down. He sighed, hoping against hope that everything would be quiet today. Primus knows she needed the rest………………no such luck. At that moment, the med bay doors slammed opened and two very loud, very annoying twins barged in. The racket woke the paramedic up with a start. She instantly regretted it, squeezing her eyes shut as a headache ensued. The twins suddenly stopped talking. When Lyn opened her eyes, she saw them looking at her. But why? She felt something shift next to her. Turning her head, her flushed complexion burned a darker red. Ratchet was in her bed.

"Well, well, well, looky here, Sunny!" Sideswipe smiled, or at least tried to smile, triumphantly.

"We don't wanna know what you two were up to last night," Sunstreaker added, a sly grin on his face.

"What the slagging Pit do you two want?" Ratchet growled, his holoform returning to his robotic form. Lyn didn't say anything.

"Aw, don't be like that, Doc! We just wanted to come and see if Gorgeous was doing alright. But, it appears you're doing that pretty well for us." Sunny smirked at his brother's vain attempt to conceal his jealousy.

"Look; no matter what the slag you two think, nothing happened last night."

"Sure, we believe ya, Hatchet." The CMO growled low in his throat. Cycling air through his intakes as a sigh, he straightened up and looked the two mechs in the optics.

"Are you injured?" he asked calmly; a little too calmly. The Twins looked at each other. They knew where this was going.

"Well…" Sideswipe started.

"…I wouldn't say we were exactly injured, but…"

"Then get out."

"But Ratch…"

"…we only wanted to see Lynx!" Sunstreaker protested indignantly, a very similar expression on his face to the one on his brother's. Lyn giggled slightly, which soon turned into a cough, at how they tried their level best to talk the medic round. Her coughing caught the attention of the mechs. Before Ratchet or even Sunstreaker could react, Sideswipe was immediately by her side, activating his holoform.

"Whoa, hey, easy there. What happened to you last night, anyway?"

"What do you mean last night?" Ratchet asked, feeling slightly nervous, but not letting it show.

"Well, Blue told us that she'd done a runner and got caught in that storm." Sunstreaker replied. Ratchet nodded, turning to Lyn. He caught Sideswipe glaring at him.

"That's not all he told us." Lyn looked up to the medic and then to the red Lamborghini's holoform.

"So c'mon, Gorgeous, what happened last night?" Lyn looked to the hi-vis green medic. She'd never seen such anxiety in anyone's eyes before.

"Nothing. I just got scared, that's all. I'm not exactly used to being in a war situation."

"Oh yeah? So what about all the commotion Blue heard? Hot Rod was there too." He was once again staring hard at the medic.

"Just call it a 'medic's tiff', ok? I'm the same if someone invades my area while I'm working on someone. Like I said, nothing happened. We were both pretty stressed." She caught sight of the venomous look the red warrior was giving the medic. "Look, if you two were medics, you would understand." The irritation in her voice caused Sideswipe to stop and think about what she said. With a sigh, he looked to her.

"You know, I'll never understand you medics." Lyn smiled tiredly. Sideswipe's holoform disappeared, returning to his robot mode. Lyn lay back down in the bed.

"Right, the both of you, out now. Let Lyn have her rest... Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" The Twins had taken hold of Ratchet's arms and lead him, quite physically, from the med bay. Lyn, too tired to actually be concerned, let herself drift back to sleep.

--

Ratchet found himself pinned to the wall outside the med bay by two very serious Lamborghini Twins. And that was the scariest part about the whole thing- the Twins were never serious.

"What in the Pit do you think you're doing?!" he barked. Sideswipe gave him the hardest glare the medic had ever seen, which even made the battle-hardened and irritable medic flinch.

"Now listen up, Doc. You'd better take good care of Lyn, 'cause if you don't…."

"…..we won't be very happy. And you know what happens when we're not very happy," Sunstreaker finished.

"Are you threatening me?" The medic's optics narrowed accusingly.

"We're warning you, Ratch. After whatever happened in the med bay, we wanna make sure that Lyn isn't going to get hurt. Right?" The CMO, for once, actually felt extremely threatened by the Twin Terrors. It wasn't everyday that they were this serious about something.

"What the slag brought this on, anyway?" the medic growled. The Twins looked at each other and then back to their captive. It was Sideswipe who answered.

"It's obvious that Lyn likes you, and no amount of flirting on my part will change that. So instead, I'm gonna be a real good friend. Both me and Sunny. And we always look out for our friends. Right Sunny?"

"That's right, bro."

"Right. So, I'll be blunt with you, Ratch. You hurt her, we hurt you. Got it?" It didn't seem to matter to them that they were threatening a higher ranking officer, and the infamous medic no less, but Ratchet knew what they were talking about. They were, after all, from a pretty rough and tumble family, and one that you didn't mess with. So he merely nodded.

"Promise?"

"Of course, Sideswipe. Sunstreaker. I won't, and would never, harm her. But why are you telling me this?" The Twins laughed, letting the medic go. Ratchet rubbed the tops of his arms. The Twins had held onto him hard enough to dent the metal slightly.

"Oh, come off it, Doc! Surely you know what we're talking about?" Sideswipe stated, while laughing.

"We've seen you two together. You were practically made for each other!"

"Yeah! C'mon, Hatch, think about it. That lady loves ya!"

"And you love her. Right?" Sunstreaker raised an optic ridge questioningly at the medic. Ratchet was speechless.

"So, you make it right with her. I mean it, Doc. She's chosen the better 'bot. Don't let her down." With that, they both turned and retreated down the hall. Ratchet simply stood where he was, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. Shaking his head, he re-entered the med bay.

--

Lyn was half awake when Ratchet came back into the med bay. He had a troubled look on his face. Slowly, she sat up again, trying to ignore the aches and pains in her bruised body.

"Ratchet? What's the matter?" she asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Ratchet sighed and activated his holoform, walking towards her as he did so.

"Lyn, you know I would never hurt you, right?" he asked. Lyn looked confused.

"Of course you wouldn't. It's not in your nature. What's the matter, Ratch?" The medic sighed again and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"What…what happened yesterday was completely uncalled for. I should never have gotten angry with you, especially since all you were doing was trying to help. And, I don't know what I was doing when I threw that wrench." He noticed how Lyn shivered slightly at the memory. "I could have severely injured you! I'm so sorry, Lyn, I really am." He bowed his head in shame, only looking up when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Ratchet. You don't have to apologise."

"But I do. You could have been killed out there, and it would have been my fault! I caused you to run away, I scared you into running out of the base. It was my fault, Lyn, it was all my fault…" his voice broke as he bowed his head again, turning it away slightly so that she couldn't see the tears in his eyes. Lyn sighed, coughing slightly, and moved up towards him.

"In all honesty, Ratch, I knew what would happen. I knew I would get in the way. I tried telling Mikaela and Sam that, but they were adamant that I came down to see you. And…" she paused, pulling the blankets around her. She was developing a cold, she could feel it. The pause seemed to catch his attention, as he had turned back to her. She sighed at the tears in the holoform's eyes.

"…it wasn't just you that caused me to run. I mean, ok, to be truthful, some of it was you, but not for the reasons you think."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I've…I've been really stressed lately. I'm like you Ratch; I keep things bottled up for far too long. In away, you helped me, Ratch, more than you'll ever know." She smiled at him. He didn't smile back, still looking distressed. Lyn sighed again. "I suppose, what I'm trying to say is, well, I forgive you." That came as a surprise to the medic.

"You forgive me? After how I nearly hurt you?"

"Yes."

"Really? How can…." He never finished his sentence as at that moment, Lyn leaned forward and placed her fingers over his lips, silencing him.

"Ratchet, I said I forgive you, and I mean what I say." The intensity of the meaning in her voice, coupled with the strength of emotion in her eyes silenced the medic better than anything ever could. There was silence, such an overwhelming silence that seemed to ring around them with the emotion. Lyn felt her heart pounding in her chest, not sure if it was from anxiety, excitement or something else. All she knew was that it seemed to last an eternity.

"Ratchet, I…" she couldn't find, nor form, the words, feeling herself becoming lost in those deep, bright blue eyes that mirrored his optics. Ratchet leaned forward, cupping her cheek in his hand. They said nothing, neither of them wanting to spoil the moment, and neither knowing what to say. The air itself seemed to be ablaze, and finally, the invisible wall between them crashed down with Ratchet pulling her towards him and Lyn meeting him half way. Slowly, almost unsurely, they closed the gap between them, their faces so close that their noses were brushing. Lyn gulped. And finally, in a blaze of glory, their lips met. They melted into each other in a passionate, fiery clinch that neither wanted to end. All the sorrow they each had ever felt, all the fear, the anguish, the loss, everything coupled with the complete sincerity of the feelings they felt for each other, but neither had been brave enough to admit, seemed to pour into that one kiss, heating it and intensifying until it was more than they had ever felt before. The intensity of it brought tears to Lyn's eyes, sent shivers down her spine and sent heat through her whole body. And then, all too soon, it was over. They broke apart, coming up for air, both of them panting as if they had ran a great distance.

"I love you, Ratchet," Lyn sighed, finally catching her breath. Ratchet smiled; relief and so many other emotions washing over his features.

"I love you too, Lyn." And they fell together once again.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

And that's 14. Once again, I know it's short, but after that, how do I write more without another chapter?

Hope you all enjoyed it. I know I did. And I'm the one writing it! Lol!

Just a small warning now- one of the next few chapters may get, how shall we say, a little more steamy. I'll warn you when that chapter comes around.