As Ratchet's human holoform stepped out of the car, Gregory and Elizabeth Darnell did the exact same thing. Bumblebee was quick to also step out, but he didn't leave his main body; he was just observing for now, ready to step in if he needed to. Ratchet stepped in front of the emergency vehicle he had taken the form of, and his face contorted into an angry scowl. He was not impressed that Alice's parents had managed to track their daughter down, especially because he wanted them to leave her alone. He should have known that they wouldn't; they were persistent people.
"Come to attempt to get your daughter back?" Ratchet scowled as Alice's parents walked over. "I won't let you have her. She deserves better than what you two are capable of giving her." He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "So just try and get her back."
Gregory didn't need telling twice. He pulled something out of his pocket and pointed it right at Ratchet's human holoform's head. The medic knew that he should have been afraid, but for some reason he wasn't. The other members of Team Prime, however, were scared; they knew that a human holoform – as much as it was supposed to be a remote control vehicle – was able to be harmed and even killed. The bot, however, would only receive damage to their frame – they would not die – and lose their holoforms for long periods of time. That was still bad; if Ratchet didn't have use of his holoform, then blending in on Earth would be difficult, and compromises were more likely to occur.
"You have no right to take my daughter!" Gregory hissed, his eyes narrowed and his finger lightly touching the trigger of the pistol.
"Really now?" Ratchet asked, not scared even though the gun was pointed right between his eyes. "I think I have every right to take her away from an environment that is detrimental to her." His eyes narrowed as Gregory and Elizabeth both stiffened. "And I know I'm right."
"So what if you're fucking right?" Elizabeth scowled, stalking forward until she was mere inches in front of Ratchet, ignoring the fact that her husband was now pointing his gun at her head. "That is our daughter, and we have legal custody over her!"
Ratchet scowled. "She told me once that you didn't have custody over her and that she was taken out of that unhealthy environment," he said, still not unnerved. "And honestly, I don't know how you proved that you could care for her how she needed to be cared for."
That seemed to really anger Elizabeth, and Ratchet didn't even get time to react before Alice's mother swung her fist and slammed it into the medic's cheek. Ratchet cried out, more in alarm than pain (he had quite a good pain tolerance) and stumbled backwards. When he managed to stabilise himself, he gently touched his cheek and winced when a small jolt of pain went through it. Then he looked back at the woman and the man. Gregory had put his gun down and gave an unamused snort.
"You're not so tough," he said, walking over so that he was standing beside his wife. "Then again, you're an old geezer; we shouldn't have expected much from you." His voice was cold and gruff as he spoke, and while anger bloomed in Ratchet's spark (or, in his human holomatter's case, heart), he kept his face smooth and calm as he composed himself.
"I'm stronger than I appear to be," he said simply, which only served to infuriate Elizabeth and Gregory. "Besides, I don't think you want to mess with all of us," he said, looking back very briefly at the other members of Team Prime. Ultra Magnus' human holoform had gotten out of his truck and was now standing nearby, keeping a watchful eye on the event unfolding before him. Bee had clenched his hands, and Bulkhead and Arcee – whose human holoform was the only one to be named, holding the name Sadie – were still with their vehicles. Wheeljack, having June in the driver's seat of his car mode, was the only one who hadn't initialised human holoform, and frankly he preferred that. He didn't like using it.
Bumblebee walked over to Ratchet and deftly signed something to him, and Ratchet nodded, although didn't bother to translate what the bot's mute human form had said. It was not something that Alice's parents needed to know, and the other members of Team Prime had understood him well enough.
Raf had taken matters into his own hands, and had called the police. Now, all that Ratchet needed to was keep Elizabeth and Gregory Darnell busy until they actually showed. He did that successfully when he said, "Is that all you've got, anyway?" He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest again. "Because that was pathetic."
Gregory growled and thrust his gun into his wife's hands before stalking over, wrapping his hand around Ratchet's throat, and shoving Ratchet against the hood of his true body. Ratchet tried to suck in air as Gregory strangled him, but to no avail; the human man's grip was far too tight. Ratchet didn't necessarily need oxygen, but it was uncomfortable for him to not breathe, even if he didn't take anything in at all. Plus, it was better for Gregory to believe that he was strangling the life out of the medic; it gave the police more time.
Bee decided to make Gregory believe that he was killing Ratchet even more by running over and trying to tug the human man's hands off, but he was also doing that for another reason. The human holomatter form could only take so much strain, and then it would disappear. Bee was trying to relieve a bit of that strain, so Ratchet's disguise wouldn't be blown.
But it didn't work. Ratchet's hand started to flicker, and the medic's eyes widened as he realised what was happening mere seconds before he disappeared. Gregory's eyes widened in shock, and the rest of Team Prime were horrified.
"This is bad," Ultra Magnus hissed as he ran over to the emergency vehicle. Gregory, after realising that Ratchet was now out of the way, had started to stalk towards the vehicle Alice was cowering in, but he was stopped when Ultra Magnus leapt at him, tackling him to the ground. "Don't you touch her!" the warrior growled as Gregory tried to squirm and escape, but the lieutenant refused to let him. Ratchet reinitialised his human holoform and rubbed his neck, then looked at a stunned Elizabeth.
"Y-You…!" she gasped, pointing at Ratchet's human form in horror.
He smiled, although it came out as more of a grimace. "Yeah, that happens sometimes," he said just as the police pulled up. Ultra Magnus didn't look at them, still completely focused on holding Gregory down, but Elizabeth was still too stunned to event react to the police arresting her. Before they hauled her over to the car, Ratchet walked over and stopped them, then said, "If you tell anyone what you saw, I will hunt you down and kill you," in a voice so low and dangerous that only she heard. Then he walked back over to Gregory, who seemed stunned to see Ratchet again, and repeated what he'd said to Elizabeth.
After Ratchet walked back over to the passenger side door and spoke gently to Alice, Ultra Magnus dragged Gregory to his feet and handed him over to the police, who took him and put him in the car alongside his wife. Then, after each of the members of Team Prime answered a few questions (Bee was the only one exempt to this, as his human holoform was mute), the police departed.
That didn't calm Ratchet down, however. He was quite angry, and really wanted to chase them down. It was only his duty as an Autobot – to protect life, not to destroy it – that prevented him from going after them. He knew that Alice wanted them dead, and so did he. Irrationally so. He'd never wanted to kill someone so much, and as he got into the car, he tried his hardest not to chase after them.
A tap on his driver's side window startled him, and he looked over to see Ultra Magnus standing there. The clothes that his human holoform were wearing – nice, neat, semi-formal (which didn't match the truck driver description) – were all scruffy and dirty now, but he didn't appear to care about them. He had a concerned frown on his face, and Ratchet sighed as he rolled the window down.
"Do not, under any circumstances, go after them," he said, as a cold wind blew. It was beginning to get extremely dark, and Ultra Magnus knew that everyone would need to get some rest soon. "They will receive what they deserve, and it is the humans that must administer it."
Ratchet shook his head. "I can never forgive them," he said, looking over at Alice, who was looking in the direction the police cars had gone with a relieved expression on her face. Then he looked back at Ultra Magnus. "Not for what they did to her."
"As much as I do not know about past events, Ratchet," Ultra Magnus said, his voice kindly, "I can see that something terrible happened in Alice's past." He cast his optics over to the human girl, who looked away. "But you must refrain. We are robots in disguise, and if you killed a human…"
"I know," Ratchet said, grimacing. "I would be no better than a Decepticon. I'm aware." He shook his head. "But still, I just—"
"I understand that you want to protect her," Ultra Magnus said, his voice still soft, "But killing humans was not the way to do that. At least this way, they will be held away from her." He shook his head. "I am not happy with the fact they are alive, either, but this is the way that it must be done."
Ratchet sighed, but said nothing more on the matter. Ultra Magnus, after all, was correct, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Instead, he sighed and said, "Should I see if I can contact Optimus and Vesper again?"
Ultra Magnus, although a little shocked by the sudden change of topic, nodded brusquely. "Of course," he said, before turning on his heel and walking back over to his truck form. As soon as he reached it, the human holoform disappeared, but the truck didn't turn on; he was tired, and needed to recharge. The others went along with what he did, saying their goodnights as they de-initialised their human holoforms and went to sleep. The humans drifted off into sleep as well, which eventually left only Ratchet and Alice awake.
The two didn't speak immediately, as Ratchet attempted thrice to contact Optimus and Vesper, but there was little to no point… considering that the ones he was trying to contact were currently stuck in the middle of a raging storm.
They had been huddling under an alcove for the duration of the storm, praying to Primus himself that it would lighten up soon, but that didn't appear to be happening any time soon. In fact, it was getting worse; the rain was pouring down like Niagra Falls. The clouds were just getting uglier and darker, and the winds were picking up. Lightning lit up the sky at brief, second long intervals, and thunder rumbled.
Vesper whimpered as she buried her head into Optimus' side, and he sighed sadly and rubbed her shoulder. He could feel that the storm was not going to pass for some days, and that thought really worried him.
"Vesper, please," he said softly, his voice concerned and gentle. "It will be alright. I am here for you." Even if that little voice in the back of your mind tells you otherwise, he thought angrily. He hated that little voice for trying to ruin his sparkmate's life.
"Thank you, Optimus," Vesper sobbed. She hated thunder and lightning with a passion, always had been afraid of it. She was grateful that Optimus was with her, and she was trying her hardest not to let the voice ruin her happiness. It hadn't spoken again yet, but it was only a matter of time.
And Vesper dreaded that moment, for she knew not what it would say next.