Boom, next chapter! Hope you enjoy :)

Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields and Chase Sanders. Electra belongs to my sister.

The Prophecy

The events of this chapter correspond to the episode "One Shall Fall"

By now, pretty much all of Reese's things had been moved into the base, since it really wasn't practical for her to go back to living at her own home. Even she agreed that it was too dangerous to try and go back there, at least at the moment. With MECH still looking for used to the base, and actually quite enjoyed living among the Autobots.

Things at base went about as usual. The children came and went, the autobots went on missions, and Ratchet was working on experiments to complete the synthetic energon formula. He had actually gotten pretty close to getting a complete formula, but when he tested it on himself, the results weren't pretty. Now he was limiting experiments to just machines, not Cybertronians. Other than that, everything was as it should be. Though, there had been some disturbances in the area, caused by minor tremors. It was odd, but they weren't strong enough to cause any real damage. Other than that, things had been going quite smoothly, that was, until Optimus called an important meeting with Team Prime. Even Reese found herself invited into this important meeting, considering that she was now permanently living at the base.

"Thank you all for postponing your other duties to gather at this meeting. I am sure that you are all aware of the tremors that we have experienced of late. This rather strange phenomenon has not just affected us, but the whole world, and I believe it has something to do with the planetary alignment and the prophecy of the coming darkness," Optimus prefaced the purpose of the meeting.

This was news to Reese. She had no clue what Optimus was talking about. "Wait, what prophecy?"

"There was a prophecy on Cybertron that when the forty stars aligned, a war would break out on a planet forged of chaos. Unfortunately, only the strong would survive, and the weak would perish."

"How long do we have until the planetary alignment is complete?" Arcee questioned.

"According to our astronomical charts, a few days at most," Ratchet answered her as he motioned to the screen where the astronomical chart was displayed.

"And you are just warning us of this now?!" Reese stared at Ratchet and Optimus, dumbfounded. How could they have not mentioned this sooner?

"As unsettling as this revelation may be, I am more concerned about those who would believe that the prophecy speaks to them alone."

"You mean Megatron," Reese put the pieces together.

"Yes, unfortunately, the prophecy does not say anything else about what will be to come. We must hope for the best and prepare for the worst," Optimus affirmed Reese's suspicions.

Reese looked down worriedly, trying to take in the information. This was all so sudden. Everything was fine, and then suddenly, she was being told that there was some huge prophecy about a great calamity that was about to strike earth. It was almost too much to take in at once. "Is there no way to stop the prophecy from coming to fruition?"

"I'm sorry, Reese. I wish I could provide more information, but you now know as much as the rest of us, regarding the situation. We just have to be as prepared as we can be, and we must remain strong," Optimus replied, looking down at Reese with sad optics. He wished there was more he could do, but alas, there just wasn't much to be done.

Reese paced back and forth around the platform, brainstorming ideas for possible ways to prepare for the coming calamity. Nothing was coming to mind. Maybe, if she had known sooner, there would have been more time to come up with some kind of plan. With a frustrated sigh, she plopped down on the sofa in defeat.

"Hey, Reese, wanna look for Bumblebee sightings with us?" Raf asked as he came over and sat down beside Reese on the sofa. He was followed by Jack and Miko.

"Wait, you mean, on the Internet? What are Bumblebee sightings doing on the Internet? Bee, you have some explaining to do!" Reese turned from Raf to Bumblebee, who ducked sheepishly in response to Reese's disapproving glare.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! Its not like I'm trying to get caught on camera!"

"My gosh, Bee, you're hopeless! You know that?" Reese gave an exasperated sigh and ran her hand down her face. She then turned to look at the screen of Raf's laptop, which now displayed one of the more popular conspiracy websites.

Lo and behold, Raf hadn't even scrolled down to the end of the page before a picture of Bumblebee showed up on the screen. "Haha, Bee, the camera sure does like you," he laughed.

"Wait, did you say that you found a picture of Bee on the internet?" Ratchet suddenly jumped into the conversation.

"Yea, we have been talking about it this whole time, where were you?" Reese quirked an eyebrow at Ratchet. He had been there the whole time. Had he not been listening?

"Well excuse me for being a little preoccupied with the coming calamity," Ratchet snarked back.

"We found a picture of him on a conspiracy website where people go to post pictures and articles about alien sightings. Don't worry, though, I will just scrub his pic and replace it with something much less incriminating," Raf assured as he deleted the pic of Bee and replaced it with a gif of a talking cat. He held up his laptop and showed the gif to Ratchet.

To the surprise of all four of the young people, Ratchet let out a short laugh at the gif. He quickly stopped himself, though, and turned back to studying his astronomical charts.

"Ratchet, I think that is the first time I have ever heard you laugh!" Reese chuckled. She would have never guessed that Ratchet would laugh at a cat video, of all things.

"Pffft, I don't know what you're talking about," Ratchet denied his laugh, despite the clear amusement still evident on his face.

"I wonder if it will work on Optimus. I would love to see him laugh," Jack thought aloud as he turned to the Prime. "Hey, Optimus, do you want to see something funny?"

"No," was the Prime's response. Just a flat-out no.

"Oh," Jack looked away, a little disappointed.

"Don't take it to seriously, Jack. Primes don't laugh. I don't think I have ever seen Optimus laugh, or show much of any emotion, since I joined this team," Arcee came over to comfort her disappointed charge.

"Well, I have known Optimus much longer than the rest of you, and I can say that he was much different before he became a prime. On Cybertron, one isn't born into greatness as some would believe, but it must be earned. Before Optimus became a Prime, he was actually a lot like Jack." Ratchet recalled.

"Like me?! I… I'm nothing like Optimus," Jack stammered.

"Not the way he is now, no, but he was a lot like you before he was endowed with the matrix of leadership." Ratchet explained. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but a call coming in over the comm link drew his attention. It was Agent Fowler.

"Prime, there have been some tech heists of late. I told you about them earlier. We thought that MECH was behind them, because of the stealth tactics that were used in the thefts, but we received some startling video footage that tells otherwise." Fowler pulled up an image of Soundwave. "The con without a face stole a cutting-edge phase conductor, and here is a punch list of everything else we have registered as stolen to date," Fowler sent a file containing the list of stolen items.

"A plasma injector, neutron shield, and a Tesseract? These are all things that the cons would need to build a new spacebridge!" Ratchet exclaimed as he read off the list of stolen items. "There is only one thing missing if that is indeed what they are intending to build, and that would be an ample power source!"

"Well I will let you know if there are any further attacks on our military bases, and I will be sure to keep closer tabs on our bases that contain possible power sources that they might go after. Fowler out." Fowler assured before cutting the feed.

"What do you think the decepticons are trying to accomplish by building a new space bridge?" Arcee asked, looking to Optimus for answers.

"I do not know, but I fear it has something to do with the coming fruition of the prophecy. We need to be on high alert for the time being."

The afternoon crept on without a word from Fowler, and the team was getting antsy.

"Optimus, I'm going to go on patrol. I need some way to release some of this pent-up energy," Bee said as he came up to his leader.

"Very well, Bumblebee, but remain in communication range. We will need you if the decepticons decide to show themselves," Optimus consented.

"Will do," Bee nodded to Optimus before turning towards Raf and Reese. "Hey, you two want to come with? I will just be patrolling the area, letting off some steam, so it should be fine."

"Heck yea! I will bring my RC cars too, just in case we find a good spot to do some racing!" Raf jumped up from the sofa happily, grabbing his remote-controlled cars from where they sat beside the TV.

"And you, Reese?" Bee turned specifically to her.

"Yea, I might as well. Otherwise, you might end up on another conspiracy website as a self-driving car, again," Reese teased as she also got up from the sofa.

Both She and Raf climbed into Bee's vehicle form, Reese getting into the driver's seat, while Raf climbed into the back. Once both were buckled in, Bee revved up his engine and sped out of the base.

Once out on the main road, Bee let loose, driving as fast as he could down the empty desert road. He even let Reese take the wheel from time to time. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves, that was, until Bee got a call from Ratchet.

"Bumblebee, the decepticons are attacking a US military lab, and Optimus might need your help. They are about three clicks north of your current position, just off the highway. If you drop Reese and Raf off at the exit ramp, I can bridge them back to base from there."

"Got it," Bee replied. "Sorry Reese, Raf, looks like our little joy ride is going to be cut short."

"That's okay, Bee. We can go racing another time." Raf assured his guardian.

Reese instinctively unbuckled, preparing to jump out of Bee's vehicle form as soon as he pulled up to the exit ramp. Unfortunately, unbuckling early might have been a bad call.

Out of nowhere, a silver decepticon came flying overhead, shooting purple ion blasts at the car!

"What the heck!" Reese yelled as she looked in the side mirrors of Bee's car form. The silver con was right on Bumblebee's tail, still shooting. "Is that Starscream!?"

"No, it's Megatron!" Bee whirred anxiously, still doing his best to avoid the blasts. Suddenly, one of the blasts nailed him from behind, sending him spinning out of control, and the humans in his interior, flying forward. He immediately activated the driver's side airbag, still struggling to regain control. After a few tense moments, he skidded to a stop, watching Megatron fly off into the distance, undoubtedly to where the rest of the team was located.

He looked inward to check the condition of his passengers, and his tanks dropped at what he saw. Reese was slumped over the steering wheel, despite the partial save from the airbag, and Raf lay unconscious in the back seat. "No, no, no, no, no, please no," He whirred anxiously, honking his horn in an attempt to get either of them to stir.

After a minute or two, Reese groggily sat up, holding her head tenderly. Other than being a little dazed, she looked to be in OK condition. "Bee, what happened?"

Bumblebee didn't respond, rather, he put pedal to the metal, flying down the road at top speed, following the directions that Ratchet had given him.

"Bee, answer me, what is going on?" this time, the panic in Reese's voice was unmistakable.

"I have to get to the others. I have to get to Optimus. He will know what to do," was all Bee would say.

Realizing that she wasn't going to get any further information from Bumblebee, Reese turned in her seat to check on Raf. "Oh God! Oh God, no!" she almost screamed as she saw him slumped over, unconscious in the backseat. "Oh God, please, let him be okay!" She scrambled into the back seat, crouching in the floorboard next to him. She delicately grabbed his wrist, searching for a pulse. There was one, but it was weak. "Bumblebee! We have to get Raf back to base! He is in bad condition!"

Bee didn't respond, rather, he turned off the highway and into what appeared to be the confines of a military base. There, in front of him, stood Team Prime, facing a host of decepticons led by a giant silver con, whom Reese could only assume was Megatron. Bumblebee pulled up to his team and transformed, cradling Reese and Raf gently in his servos.

Optimus turned to acknowledge his scout but reeled a little when he saw Raf. Arcee also ran forward, helping Reese down and then gently lifting Raf out of Bumblebee's servos.

"Aha, so it seems I have swatted a bee and squashed a bug," Megatron gave a sinister laugh as he looked upon Raf's unconscious form.

Now that his servos were free, Bee transformed his servos, readying his blasters. He was prepared to take on the Warlord, all on his own. Bulkhead stepped in and stopped him, grabbing him sternly by the shoulder plating. "Hold it Bee. Don't do anything crazy."

"And who do we have here? You must be the new human pet the autobots adopted. Starscream talks so much about you," Megatron now directed his comments towards Reese, staring directly at her. "I also heard you did a number on my medic, even if it was only cosmetic. You are a feisty one, aren't you?"

Reese instinctively stepped back. Having Megatron's undivided attention was beyond nerve wracking. She felt trapped, isolated. Her eyes widened and her heart rate spiked. She needed to get as far away from him as possible. Thankfully, Optimus felt exactly the same way.

"Ratchet, bridge us back!" Optimus ordered over the comm link, then turned to Reese. "Reese, you go back with Arcee and Bumblebee. Bulkhead and I will stay here."

Reese didn't have to be told twice. As soon as the ground bridge opened, she darted through it, glad for an escape from Megatron's unnerving gaze. He made her uneasy in a different way than Starscream or Knockout. He wasn't as impulsive or erratic as they were. He was methodical and planned things out. When he looked at her, it felt like he was staring right through her, reading her thoughts.

On the other side of the ground bridge, Ratchet, Jack, and Miko were waiting anxiously. They assumed that someone was hurt, due to the urgency in Optimus' ground bridge request, but they didn't know who. They watched as Reese ran through the bridge, followed by Bumblebee, and then Arcee, who was holding an unconscious Rafael.

"What happened!?" Ratchet exclaimed in horror when he saw his unconscious young friend.

"Megatron," Arcee spat, looking as if she might purge at the sheer mention of the Warlords' name.

"Quickly, get him into my laboratory!" Ratchet ordered, ushering everyone over to the med bay. Raf was placed onto a gurney and immediately hooked up to scanners. Things looked bad.

"Rafael isn't responding. I need to run scans of his assemblage… er… vital statistics… ARGH My tools, they are all wrong!" Ratchet yelled, throwing his diagnostic tools across the room. He was not handling this kind of crisis very well, but who could blame him? He felt useless to help one of the few humans he truly cared about.

"I'm going to call my mom," Jack pulled out his phone as he realized that human expertise would be needed here.

"Your mother may be a nurse, but does she know anything about how energon effects the human body?" Ratchet ran his servo down his face. He wasn't thrilled at the idea of having to face June. He hadn't talked to her since that night of the MECH incident, when he had snapped at the nurse over Reese's condition.

"Do you know anything about the human body?" Jack countered back, making a valid point. Ratchet only looked away, frustrated that Jack was right.

"Curse my Cybertronian pride! We have accepted these humans to live among us, but I have done so little to learn anything of their science or medicine," Ratchet verbally kicked himself.

A few minutes after Jack placed the call in to his mother, ratchet bridged June to the base, who's car hurtled through the bridge and left tread marks as she skidded to an abrupt halt. She jumped out of the car, not even bothering to turn it off, and ran to Raf's side, instructing Jack to grab her bag of medical supplies for her.

Ratchet was scanning Raf's body when June ran up. "Measuring the extent of the absorption should help in finding a course of treatment," He said, trying to provide some helpful information. June didn't want to hear it, though.

"If I don't get this boy stabilized now, he will not leave this medical table, do you hear me!" She snapped at Ratchet as she took Raf's pulse. Ratchet could only take a step back, since there wasn't anything left that he could do at that moment in time.

Upon hearing that Raf may never leave the table alive, Bumblebee lost it. He jumped up and slammed his fist into the wall. "I'm going to kill Megatron if it's the last thing I do!"

Arcee had to grab him by the shoulder plating and shake some sense into him. "Listen Bee, you think you are the only one who has watched a partner… harmed?" Arcee had to choose her words carefully. She had seen her partner more than harmed, but that wasn't the point. "I know you are angry, but revenge isn't going to help Raf right now. He needs you to believe in him. Got it?"

Bumblebee's shoulders slumped as he put his helm in his servos, coolant welling up in his optics. He stepped out of the med bay for a moment, unable to look at Raf or Arcee.

Reese jumped up and followed him out. She knew he was blaming himself, and that wasn't something she could let him do. She ran up beside him and put her hand against his ped, looking up into his optics.

He walked over to one of the platforms, away from the med bay, down, holding his helm in his servos. Coolant dripped from between his digits. "Reese… how could I let this happen? Some guardian I am."

"Both you and I know that this isn't your fault. You were literally about to drop us off so that we wouldn't be in harms way. Nobody knew that Megatron would show up out of the blue…" Reese tried to comfort her friend but trailed off at the mention of Megatron. She was still pretty shaken up from how he had singled her out.

Bumblebee looked down at his adopted sister, optics full of concern. He had noticed how she just trailed off, and how she was now trembling. "I… I'm sorry. I never thought to ask if you were okay…"

"I am. I think… I don't know!" Reese wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging herself tightly. This whole situation had been just as hard on her as it had been on everyone else.

"Are you hurt?"

"No… at least, not physically. A little shaken up, yes, but not hurt. I just hadn't expected Megatron to be so… I don't know… terrifying. He singled me out, and when he looked at me, it felt as if he was boring into my mind. I don't really know how else to explain it."

"Megatron is a formidable foe. He has seen a lot, and therefore knows a lot. He knows how to get into people's heads, and how to gauge their response. That is what makes him such a powerful leader, and such a terrifying enemy. I had hoped you would never have to meet him. I'm sorry," Bumblebee looked down at his servos, fidgeting with his digits.

"It's not your fault. I just hope that I don't have to see him again, though I know that is probably unlikely."

"We will do everything we can to keep that from ever happening again."

"Thanks Bee… I, uh, I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm going to go check on Raf. I will be right back," Reese sighed as she slid off the platform, and made her way into the med bay.

As she walked in, she could hear June and Ratchet arguing.

"Rafael needs to go to the hospital! He needs proper treatment by real doctors!"

"I am a real doctor!"

"For robots maybe, but you clearly know nothing of the human body!"

"Well I know more about this situation than any human doctor could. They would need decades of research just to begin to understand what's afflicting Rafael!"

"Well if you know so much, then why don't you cure him!"

Reese had heard enough. She ran up between June and Ratchet, holding out her hands placatingly. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but it needs to stop! Arguing will do nothing but waste valuable time, time that Raf doesn't have to spare. June, you are right, Raf does need medical help from another human, but that human is going to have to be you. Doctors at a hospital won't know what to do. You can't help him alone, though. You have to work with Ratchet. He knows about energon and the effects it can have. If you would stop arguing, and put your heads together, you might actually be able to help Raf."

"But I… Fine, you're right. We are going to have to work together in order to save Rafael," June grumbled. Reese looked up at Ratchet, who also grumbled and agreement.

"Okay, maybe looking back at the initial incident could bring some answers, or at least, a direction to work in. Let's see. Bumblebee was headed for the exit ramp where he was going to drop me and Raf off. Then, Megatron flew in from behind and began shooting purple blasts at us. One of the blasts hit the rear end of Bee's vehicle mode, so that might be why Raf was hurt. He was in the back seat, and thus, closest to the blast…" Reese mused, recounting what had happened.

"Wait, go back a second. Did you say that the blasts were purple?" Ratchet suddenly asked.

"Uh, yea. Now that you mention it, that was kinda weird. Aren't Cybertronian energon blasts normally blue?" Reese tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"They are, unless the Cybertronian has consumed dark energon!" Ratchet quickly turned and pulled up the scan on the computer. "An energon blast on a Cybertronian can be devastating enough, but on a human…" Ratchet trailed off as he looked at the results of the scan. "No, it is as I feared. Raf has been inflicted with dark energon!"

"Hold up, what's dark energon?" Reese looked up at Ratchet worriedly. She had never heard of the stuff since coming to live at the base.

"I don't have time to explain right now, we have to expel the dark energon from Raf's body as quickly as possible! The fastest method I can think of would be to put him in the energon transduction chamber."

"Energon transduction chamber?" June asked worriedly.

"It's a device that atomizes energon, turning it into microscopic particles. These particles, in theory, should be tiny enough to pass through the human body, in the same way that radiation does. You don't feel it, just like you don't feel radiation, but it can still have a huge effect. In this case, the energon particles will draw the dark energon to themselves, like a magnet. Once close enough to the particles of dark energon, the pure energon will bond to it, and pull it out of Raf's body as it passes through. Once the infected energon particles have past through, they can be collected using an air purifier, preventing them from re-infecting Rafael," Ratchet explained, though he wasn't sure how much the humans were understanding.

"But you said that energon was devastating to humans. What makes you think that bombarding Raf's body with particles of energon is going to solve the problem without causing further damage?" June seemed to understand the plan well enough, at least enough to know that she didn't like it.

"That is the one thing I am worried about. I don't know of any other way of purging the dark energon from his body, though, so I don't think we have much of a choice."

"Hold up, let me get this straight. This device is going to turn energon into tiny particles, blast said particles at Raf with enough force to cause them to pass completely through his body, and they are going to pull the dark energon out of him when they pass through?" Reese had an idea formulating in her head, but she wanted to make sure she had the facts straight, first.

"To put it simply, yes."

"Okay, well, if pure energon is too risky, why don't we use mine?"

"I beg your pardon?" June didn't see how Reese's energon would be any different.

"Well, Ratchet said himself that my energon has an organic component to it. It isn't pure, like normal energon is. Maybe, just maybe, that organic component could make the energon less of a shock to Raf's systems, making the procedure less dangerous, right?" Reese looked up at Ratchet expectantly, wondering what he thought of her plan.

"I suppose, in theory, that could work. But that would require you to be in the transduction chamber during the procedure. Normally, I would just take a canister of energon and attach it to the device, but we can't exactly extract a whole Cybertronian sized canister of energon from you, due to your human size. But I fear, putting you in the transduction chamber could be dangerous, and also quite painful, since it would have to pull the energon straight from your body into the air."

"If that's what it takes to save Raf, then I'm up for it. He helped save me back when I had been captured by MECH; I would like to do the same for him."

"Absolutely not! Do you two realize how ridiculous this plan sounds? This device is going to suck the energon out of Reese and then blast it through Rafael? This is crazy! I vote we take Rafael to the hospital and do a full blood transfusion," June clearly didn't like what she was hearing.

"I don't think Raf has that kind of time, nor do I think that would completely purge his system of the dark energon, not like this can. I don't think there are any other viable options at this point," Ratchet vented. He didn't like the plan either, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Fine…" June couldn't seem to come up with any other possible solutions either, so she finally conceded, grabbing another gurney from the supply closet.

Both Raf's gurney and Reese's were wheeled into the transduction chamber. Reese went ahead and climbed onto it, getting herself situated.

"We will be monitoring your and Rafael's conditions from outside the chamber. If there are any complications during the procedure, we will stop it immediately, okay?" Ratchet explained as he hooked Reese up to the diagnostic equipment.

"I'm not worried. I know I'm in good hands." Reese smiled up at Ratchet.

"Alright, lay a still as you possibly can. The procedure should only take about five minutes."

Reese gave Ratchet a final thumbs up as he hurried out of the chamber and to the control panel that would control the transduction process. The doors of the chamber closed, and Reese closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what was about to happen.

As the procedure began, the light in the chamber grew brighter and brighter, and with it, a tingling sensation began to spread across Reese's body. It wasn't exactly painful, rather, it felt more like the pins and needles that would happen when one of her arms or legs would fall asleep.

The tingling sensation quickly began to intensify, though, as the procedure continued. It grew from pins and needles to the sensation of actual needles being stabbed all over her body. She bit her lip as tears instinctively pricked her eyes. She breathed deeply, trying to remain calm. Unfortunately, the sensation only continued to intensify.

She writhed on the gurney, despite the fact that Ratchet had told her to lie still. It was too much. The whimpers that had been escaping her grew into screams as the pain reached an unbearable level.

Just as Reese wasn't sure she could take anymore, the sensation began to ebb, ever so slightly. Another minute or so passed, and the sensation de-escalated back down to the pins and needles feeling that Reese had experienced at the beginning of the procedure. It was over. It was finally over.

Reese felt her eyelids grow increasingly heavy, but still, she looked over to see if the procedure had worked. Raf still lay unconscious on the gurney, but colour was already beginning to return to his face. That was a good sign.

Once he knew that both Reese and Rafael were in position, Ratchet started the transduction process. The doors of the chamber closed, and the light inside grew steadily brighter and brighter. Ratchet kept a close optic on both Reese and Rafael's vitals.

After only a few minutes, everybody jumped as they heard an agonized scream come from within the chamber.

"Ratchet, you have to stop the process!" June grabbed Ratchet's arm nervously.

"I can't. If I stop now, we could lose both of them. Reese knew the risks of this procedure. She will be okay; her vitals are still within the normal range."

June looked away, grimacing as she heard another scream come from within the chamber.

After what felt like a lifetime, the lights in the chamber began to dim as the transduction process came to completion. The door of the chamber opened and immediately, Jack, Miko, and June ran in to check on their friends, well, Raf at least.

Ratchet instead went to check on Reese. Her skin was clammy and all the colour had left her face. She trembled ever so slightly, but it didn't seem like she even had the energy to do that. She turned her head as she heard Ratchet walk up.

"Did… Did it work?" She mumbled, barely above a whisper.

"It worked, but it looks like this process has depleted all of your energon reserves. You are running critically low. I was afraid this would happen," Ratchet pushed Reese's gurney out of the chamber and back into the med bay. "Reese, you need to stay awake."

Ratchet's order came too late. Upon hearing that Raf was okay, Reese immediately drifted off, too tired and weak to keep herself awake.

"She needs and energon transfusion, STAT! Somebody get me some energon!" Ratchet barked out to anyone who could hear him.

"Here, take some from me," Bumblebee ran over, holding out his arm.

Ratchet grabbed an energon canister and filled it with the bot's energon. Then, he took the filled canister and attached it to an IV drip, replenishing Reese with the vital liquid.

"I thought you said their vitals were stable," June came over, surprised to see Reese in such critical condition.

"I didn't anticipate the process to completely deplete her reserves. I figured that since Raf was so small, the process would only require a small portion of her energon, but it seems I miscalculated," Ratchet sighed, internally kicking himself for not being more careful.

"You miscalculated? You can't just make miscalculations when someone's life is on the line!" June stomped over to Ratchet, glaring up into his optics.

"Nurse Darby, there wasn't more that could be done at the time. Reese will be okay. Please, I don't have the energy to argue right now." Ratchet vented, exhaustion evident on his facial plating.

June huffed but didn't say anything more about it. Rather, she walked over and checked the drip of Reese's IV. "Why is this drip set to the lowest setting?"

"Because, if I set it any higher, the energon would overload her systems. Keep in mind, she is still half human. Her body needs a chance to adapt the energon to a form that it can use," Ratchet answered, though he didn't look up, he only rested his face in his servo. "Techno-organics are much more complicated than full Cybertronians, as I am beginning to find out."

June looked down at Reese's sleeping form, her eyebrows furrowing a little. Could a techno-organic be trusted? What if Reese lost control of her Cybertronian side. What would happen then? June already had major trust issues with the autobots, and this incident with Rafael did nothing to quell her worries. Could she really fully trust someone who was only part human? She knew that Reese was a good kid, and had a big heart, but now, June just didn't know what to think anymore. She sighed and walked away, going to check on Raf again.

Ratchet was still moping around when a call came in from Bulkhead, requesting pickup. Ratchet opened the ground bridge and Bulkhead came through, looking a little discouraged.

"Bulkhead, where is Optimus?' Ratchet noticed that their leader had not come through with the wrecker.

"He said he had something to take care of, he sent me back to check on Rafael. How is the kid doing?" Bulkhead asked as he made his way over to the med bay. His optics widened when he noticed not just Raf on a gurney, but Reese too. "What happened?"

"We had to treat Raf using… unconventional methods. Reese is the only reason he survived, but not to worry, both of them are doing just fine. Did Optimus tell you what he needed to take care of?

"No, he just ordered me to come back to base."

"I don't like it, I'm going to try and make contact with him," Ratchet turned to the communications console. He could only hope that Optimus was doing better than things had been at the base.

Hope you guys like the chapter. This one came together relatively quickly and easily, thanks to having a good framework to base it on. Unfortunately, the next few chapters are going to take a while. They are covering the Unicron trilogy (One Shall Rise, parts 1, 2, and 3), which is like, my least favorite part of the entire series. I remember the original chapters taking forever, and upon looking at them, I can tell I have my work cut out for me. Just bear with me. We will get through them... eventually, lol. Anyways, thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment telling me how I did, and as always, have a lovely blessed day :) - Lucy