When Life Turns Upside Down Chapter 23: confrontation part 2, a transformers/beast wars fanfic

Hey guys! Sorry about the cliffy. (Evil grin) here's the second half!

Disclaimer: Don't own! Only Lyn and her team belong to me!

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Ratchet ignored the speeding laws. He had to get to Lyn! Starscream seemed to be trying to block himself from the Autobot's sensors, making it difficult to trace him completely. Where the slag were the others!?

: Ratchet to Ironhide. Where the fragging pit are you?!:

: We're held up at the moment. The pit fragger Sky Warp won't stay still!: Ratchet growled. He hadn't realised that it had been audible, noticing the startled looks he received from his human passengers.

: Slagging hurry up! Lyn is in danger!: The Weapons Specialist cursed, cutting the link. The medic's holoform turned to the humans.

"Hold on." He swerved round the corner, ignoring the cries of the woman.

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Lyn backed away as the menacing form of Starscream stalked towards her. She didn't care if her uniform was dirtied or torn. That was replaceable. Her life wasn't. He could have shot her by now, but he clearly had other things in mind. The thought turned her blood to ice. She had to get away! She had to find a way out of this!

"You do realise that you won't be alive by the time they find you, don't you. You made a very foolish mistake challenging me, flesh creature. Very foolish indeed." His faceplates contorted into a sick imitation of a smirk. Lyn didn't like this. She didn't like this one bit. Stay calm, Lyn. That's it girl, stay calm. Keep a level head. Think. You're good in the challenging situations; you're good at sorting your way through them. So think, woman. Find an escape. That was easier said than done. The Aerial Commander was all but looming over her, making his approach painfully slow. She gulped and took a deep breath. Relax, Lyn. Just relax. She opened her eyes in time to see Starscream's foot crashing down towards her.

Ratchet didn't like the silence that had descended inside his alt mode. The humans were shaken, terrified. They had to help Lyn!

"Don't worry, we'll save her." They nodded. The medic growled something under his breath as they turned yet another corner.

"LYN!" Ratchet's holoform flinched, instantly grabbing his ears. His audios were ringing from the woman's yell. And now she was screaming and Jack was staring. Why? Oh. Slag.

"Ratchet! You're not holding the wheel!!" He instantly grabbed it.

"Yes I am, Shannon."

"No you weren't! The wheel was turning by itself! And you weren't holding it!" Slag. Slag, slag slagging slag!

Lyn didn't know where the sudden burst of energy had come from. All she knew was that one minute she was about to be flattened by the irate Air Commander and then the next thing she knew, she had rolled out from underneath him and was now on her feet. Starscream roared, bearing down on her once again. He would punish her for making a mockery of him! He would! He would have his revenge! This time, she had to think fast on her feet. Starscream had decided that enough was enough, and began shooting at her. So angry was he that he didn't even pick up on the energy signature of the approaching Autobot.

Ratchet swerved to halt as he rounded the corner, opening the door and practically shoving the two humans out of him.

"Run! Get Lyn and get to safety!"

"But what about you, Ratch?"

"Don't worry about me. I've handled this slagger before. Now go!"

"But, Ratchet..."

"I said GO!!" They did just that, fighting their instincts to run away from the giant robot that was at this moment shooting at their friend. Something began shifting behind them. They didn't look back, they couldn't. The youngest of the team glanced at the tall dark technician next to her. His jaw had set, his deep brown eyes glowing with something that looked a lot like anger and determination.

Lyn cried out as a bullet nicked her shin, causing her to topple. She hissed as she landed, the Decepticon's cruel laughter ringing in her ears.

"And now, flesh thing, you pay." Lyn snapped her eyes shut, bracing herself for the killing strike. Instead, she heard an angry roar followed by a heavy crash as something impacted with him, causing the ground to rumble. Something grabbed her under her arms and hauled her on to her feet.

"Lynx! C'mon, girl! We gotta go!" Her eyes snapped open.

"Jack! Shannon! What are you guys doing here?"

"No time for questions right now. C'mon! We gotta find shelter!" She nodded, letting the younger woman support her as she tried desperately to keep up with them. Behind them, the sound of metal colliding with metal and the screeching of metal being torn rang out. Shouts and cries of an alien language mixed in with the already unnerving sounds. Something was kicked, and it collided with the ground with a loud crash, making them fall.

"Guys, I'm slowing you down. Get to shelter."

"We are. C'mon, Lyn. A couple more steps and we're there. See?" Jack pointed to a rather dilapidated, two-storey building just in front of them. He had already managed to kick the door in. Hauling her to her feet once again, they entered.

Ratchet's optics were a burning white, contrasting with Starscream's smouldering crimson ones. He was currently crouching on the floor, his machine gun pointing at the Seeker as Starscream's was pointing at him. The medic had put up a pretty good fight, his saw tearing through Starscream's armour and numerous dents and gashes adorned the Air Commander's chassis. However, Ratchet was the worse off. Parts of his armour had been slashed by the Seeker's claws, nicking a few of the minor energon lines. Starscream smirked victoriously at the CMO.

"Give it up, Autobot. You've lost. You're little friend shall pay for making a mockery of me. You could have spared your own worthless life by staying clear. But now, you shall be terminated!"

Lyn had torn part of her uniform and wrapped it around the deep cut in her shin, though she had to have help because of her wrist. Thankfully it hadn't gone any deeper than a centimetre at the most, but it was deep enough.

"That's going to require stitching. Wonderful. More time off work." She smiled, trying her very best to lighten the matter. Jack smiled slightly, but it didn't really reach his eyes. Shannon was far away and shaking. She jumped when Lyn rested her hand on hers.

"Shan, we're going to be alright."

"How can you say that? How can you know that we're going to be alright? Have you seen outside, Lyn? There's a freaking giant metal monster out there that was trying to kill you!!" Lyn nodded.

"I know. But, trust me. We'll be ok."

"There's something else, Lyn. Something about Ratchet." She looked towards their team leader. Lyn simply cocked her eyebrow.

"What about Ratchet?" A crash startled all of them, the building encasing them shaking. It was no wonder this place hadn't been used in a while. Bits of plaster showered down as the building shook, but it held firm. But for how much longer? Shannon was shaking and on the verge of hysterics.

"Lyn? Please tell me you know what's going on out there? What are those things?" The paramedic sighed and pulled the younger assistant towards her. It wasn't very professional, but right now she didn't care. She held her to her as the woman began sobbing. Jack knelt next to them both and threw his arms around the both of them. Lyn kissed the top of her head, shushing her and rocking her, all the while listening to the shouts and the sounds of guns and fighting outside. Every time one of them collided with the ground, the building shook, raining more plaster and some (frighteningly) larger pieces upon them. Please be alright Ratch.

"We're going to be ok, guys. We're going to be ok. I promise."

"And if we're not? Then what Lynx?"

"If that happens, Jack, at least we're all together."

Starscream never got the chance to shoot. Ratchet beat him to it, firing a round into the Decepticon and rolling to his feet. He performed a quick scan on his own body. Nothing that couldn't be repaired...if he survived. His thoughts reached out to Lyn. He had seen her limping; he had seen the blood staining the lower leg of her uniform. He had picked up on the bruising around her wrist, as well as the swelling. He had also seen where all three of them had gone. He growled at the self-proclaimed leader of the Decepticons.

"Sorry to disappoint you Screamer, but I'm not going down that easily." Starscream cried out in unholy rage and leapt at the CMO, knocking him back to the ground. Ratchet sensed the building behind him begin to shake again, silently praying to Primus that it was stable enough to stand up to the vibrations they were creating. He had almost lost Lyn once, due to his own actions. He was not going to lose her again! He fought back as best he could, but his mind was distracted. Starscream, it seemed, had the upper hand. So Ratchet was very, VERY surprised when something exploded against the Seeker's chassis, propelling him forward with a screech. Ratchet turned to the source of the explosion.

"About slagging time!!" he hollered, pushing himself to his feet. Ironhide simply grinned. "Where are the others?"

"On their way. We got separated. It appears there are more Decepti-creeps than we first thought." The older mech turned on the Air Commander. The Seeker forced himself to his feet with a snarl, though it quickly turned into an awful, sickening smirk as his sensors picked up something very useful to him.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. I've just this minute found your friends." He pointed at the building behind him. Ironhide growled and charged up his cannons. Ratchet froze for a brief moment. Brief as it was, it didn't go unnoticed. Starscream cackled.

"Touched a soft spot have we, Medic? And you dare to judge me on MY actions?" He pressed his clawed hand onto the roof of the building. "Oh look, more of you."

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bumblebee, stand down." The Lamborghinis and the Chevrolet turned to the medic with an incredulous look in their optics. "You'll be putting Lyn in danger." Starscream grinned as the Autobots begrudgingly lowered their weapons. Sunstreaker growled and went to leap at the Air Commander, only for Ironhide to hold him back.

"Good little Autobots. Now, say goodbye." With that, he slammed his fist into the side of the shop, causing the wall to cave in and taking a good portion of the roof with it.

"NO!! Lyn!!" Ratchet roared and opened fire on the retreating Decepticon, as did the others. He cleared the distance in two strides and dropped to his knees, tearing at the ruined establishment.

"Lyn! Jack! Shannon! Can you hear me! LYN!!"

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Yikes! I'm so evil, I scare myself!

Hope you enjoyed it guys and gals!