13. Reunited
Ratchet closed his com line and cursed silently to himself. They had barely gotten a grip on the human situation the first time and somehow they had immediately lost control in the worst possible way. He pinched the bridge of his noseplate, scowling to himself in frustration. It seemed his long run of quiet, peaceful nights had come to an end.
"Primus, I really don't need this right now." he muttered, realizing he had the unenviable task of having to break the news to Wheeljack. They'd both been wrong it seemed. For a brief moment Ratchet's hand hovered over the console and he contemplated contacting Prime first. Optimus needed to know immediately what had transpired, as he would likely opt to return in the wake of this new development. But, Ratchet hesitated, thinking it best to get the more personal conversation out of the way first. Telling Optimus would practically be a reward.
Decision made, Ratchet navigated back through the infirmary and through the tucked away corridor that led to Wheeljack's laboratory. The passageways were less open here, reinforced with a hefty amount of blast shielding in the hull for the obvious reason that taking out the entire ship would have been a massive hindrance to their survival. As it had been for nearly the entire time since the human had left their midst, the doors were closed. Ratchet suspected he knew what Wheeljack was doing in there, but he had thus far opted not to share it with anyone else.
Ratchet banged on the door, and almost immediately Wheeljack responded with a confirming click in his internal com, though it was obvious he was distracted. Verbal communication was obviously too inconsequential at the moment. Without wasting time, the medic took that as permission to enter.
"We need to talk."
"I always have time for you, doc." There was flippancy in the reply that only Wheeljack dared to employ against Ratchet. Their long history together meant that they more readily butted heads, but tempers quickly cooled out of the intense amount of respect they had for one another. The environment had been a great deal more stressful as of late, so tensions were high. Wheeljack often responded to such external stressors with sarcasm. "In fact, you're just the mech I wanted to see."
"Wheeljack, this can wait—" Before Ratchet could get a word in, Wheeljack was already talking, leaning over a chaotic disaster of a worktable. As with the rest of the room, there was an assortment of tools, machinery odds and ends, chemical containment vessels, and half finished projects strewn about as Wheeljack's focus shifted between them. Ratchet was certain there must have been some form of organization to the mess, but only Wheeljack knew what that was. Just about the only space that was clean was the floor, and Ratchet was grateful for at least that safety precaution.
"I've been messing with the energon cube, you know, the one that blew and caused this whole mess—"
"Ohh, I remember, despite my best efforts to forget." Sure enough, in front of Wheeljack amidst the stuff strewn about, a single energon cube lay dormant; presumably it was the energon cube, the offender of the crime of ruining Ratchet's peace and quiet.
"—Still can't quite figure out what happened. In fact, everything about it seems perfectly normal—except—the energon we collected from Allison is pure. It's not the synthesized sludge I've been dealing with all this time—" Wheeljack had picked up a much smaller vial, presumably aglow with a faint pink phosphorescence from the very energon he was referring to: what they had collected from Allison.
"Slow down, and start from the beginning," Ratchet raised his hands in defeat, scowling as an optic twitched. "We still don't know why the energon cube had a reaction to a human?"
"Correct." Wheeljack posited, but quickly corrected himself. "Technically, the cube was acting within its normal parameters. It overloaded because I wasn't watchin' it, and initiated shutdown procedures on its own to avoid catastrophic explosion. Normal stuff." Wheeljack rubbed at his battle mask in contemplation. "And I do mean catastrophic." He muttered, as if the very utterance was merely an extension of his own internal processing; an after-thought. Perhaps he saw Ratchet's expression of annoyance, because he continued. "Fact is, I still don't know why it did what it did to Allison. Maybe it was a complete coincidence. Maybe it's something biological or genetic with organics. I need to do more testing and unfortunately for that I'd need a human."
"Out of the question." Ratchet said abruptly, thinking Wheeljack was insinuating an actual test subject if not for the fact that would have been completely out of character. He was about to add to his statement, but Wheeljack cut him off again.
"Then, there's the issue of the energon quality. It's real. For some reason whatever that cube did to her deposited pure energon into her system."
"Also, out of the question. For one thing, Prime would forbid the whole endeavor, as we are not about to use humans as a resource. Second of all…"
"I know," Wheeljack said abruptly, suddenly deflated. "I wasn't suggesting what you think I was suggesting." He seemed to be frowning. "If I could speak to her, I could at least study it more. Find a workaround for a more permanent solution. If the 'Cons get ahold of this information, it wouldn't just be Allison in danger..."
Ratchet realized this was the only opening he was going to get to say what he really needed to say.
"I'm afraid that might be a foregone conclusion," He started, thinking of a delicate way to word the news before opting to simply come out with it. "There's been a Decepticon attack."
"What?!" The energon cube now completely forgotten, Wheeljack straightened, stepping away from the table as if to give himself space for the crushing weight of the news.
"Bumblebee called in the alert just now. It seems Soundwave made his presence known." Ratchet could see the emotion of processing this information pass over Wheeljack's face before he continued. "...Bumblebee was watching Allison as of this morning, and for some reason she was attacked. I don't know all the details because there wasn't time, but Sideswipe and Sunstreaker followed him and there was a fight." Ratchet watched as Wheeljack's optics shifted between surprise, then quickly to anger.
"Those idiots!" Wheeljack slammed his fist on the table in front of him, his sudden, powerful rage making even Ratchet jolt in alarm. It didn't help that a near-perfect indentation of said fist now decorated the surface in front of him. "I told him specifically not to follow her and put her at risk—" As if only just realizing what he'd done, Wheeljack's optics turned mournfully down at his ruined table with an annoyed warble.
Ratchet held up his hands, hoping to calm things down. "I'm not sure that's the case, Wheeljack." He thought back to what Bumblebee had managed to share, wondering further on details he would have to get from the scout later. "Bumblebee seemed to think they were already waiting for her before he arrived, and it sounds like it was the energon. If the twins hadn't snuck off and followed him things might have gone very differently. For Allison and for Bumblebee."
"So…she's alive then?"
"Yes, she's alive. She was with them when they reported in." Ratchet remembered Bumblebee saying Allison was hurt, but he chose not to add that detail. He needed Wheeljack focused, because he was becoming emotionally compromised. "I don't think they were expecting to find a human, if Bumblebee is to be believed."
"Next time, start with that." Wheeljack growled, throwing the instrument he'd been holding in his other hand back onto the table, where it bounced with a clang. "Where are they now?" He made a move to push past Ratchet through the door, his intentions obvious.
"They're on their way to a rendezvous point and we're meeting them there." Ratchet stopped him with a firm hand on his chassis, feeling the weight behind Wheeljack's single-minded purpose push him back. "Right now we need to focus on the energon problem. It seems we didn't remove the energon like we thought."
There was a pause, where Wheeljack was absorbing this information. His optics shifted, dimming before he looked downward where Ratchet's hand was still pressed against him. "This is my fault…"
"It's not."
"If I hadn't been so careless, she—" He finally stepped away, throwing his hands up in defeat. Returning to his table, he picked up the offending energon cube and held it aloft, his grip tensing. Ratchet suspected he knew what was about to happen.
"Destroying it won't solve our problems," Ratchet chose his words carefully, not wanting to cast the blame solely on Wheeljack's shoulders. As much as he was loath to admit it, this was everyone's problem now. Their very presence, and by extension, their technology is what had put Allison at risk, regardless of who amongst them had been the catalyst. "It definitely won't give you any information about how to prevent it from happening again."
Wheeljack vented air, setting the cube back onto the table. "I did everything I could to make sure this didn't happen…"
"And you can't control everything. What's done is done." Ratchet internally processed how much time had passed, not wanting to put off necessity any longer. "Bring that cube, and let's go." Ratchet turned to leave, with every expectation that Wheeljack would follow him. He needed to collect the EM absorption ray he used on Allison before. They needed to find another solution, fast, because he did not look forward to having to use it as frequently that he feared would be required.
Wheeljack's voice prevented Ratchet from leaving, his musings almost directed at no one in particular. "But why send Soundwave after an errant energon signal? It makes no sense." Wheeljack folded his arms across his chassis, looking away. He was obviously troubled, the sarcasm now replaced with anger, which Ratchet knew was just a placeholder for how distressed he was. "Soundwave is a top lieutenant. Megatron doesn't send him out to do their shopping. If he was there—" he paused, knowing he was getting ahead of himself. Wheeljack knew the odds of a human surviving such an encounter, especially if the Decepticon had deployed his minicon scraplets, were slim at best.
"They protected her, Wheeljack." Ratchet said, the words sitting heavily on his own spark. Troublesome as Allison had been so far, she did not deserve this. The medic was afraid he was growing fond of the little human, who had so far kept them all rather busy. "Let's go."
This time Ratchet encountered no further impediments to his necessary task, and that was to collect the tools he needed.
Eventually Wheeljack emerged from the back passageways to his laboratory, and whatever mood he was in before had significantly been diminished. Ratchet thought back to Wheeljack's concerns about his spark, and the medic suddenly found himself worried that this would exacerbate what was already proving to be a mystery. He had not yet found any supporting literature in Teletraan-1's archives to explain what Wheeljack was experiencing. There was no Cybertronian research on such an anomaly, so it would appear that Wheeljack was… unique.
Wheeljack did not seem to be suffering any sort of spark-induced energy surges, standing in the middle of the infirmary looking rather ordinary. Cursory scans of his vitals and energy reading concluded the same. Ratchet could at least remove that worry for now.
"So Sideswipe and Sunstreaker know?"
"If Bumblebee's report is anything to go by, yes. It would seem they've had first hand experience in having to keep her alive. We clearly can't contain this secret any longer, if you can even call it that at this point."
"So…who is going to tell Prime?" He was asking rhetorically, of course.
"You already know the answer to that one. You need to tell Prime what happened. All of it." Of course, Wheeljack knew what he was insinuating, and that was exactly everything that led them to this moment in the first place. That included, of course, Wheeljack's theft, which the medic knew he had been putting off telling Optimus for as long as possible.
"Yeah. I know."
Arriving at the rendezvous point, all was quiet as expected. It was little more than an abandoned storage building of some kind, almost completely empty and in total disrepair. Whatever the humans had done with it in the past, they had clearly moved on and didn't need it anymore.
Wheeljack opted to wait before contacting any of the Autobots they were meeting, choosing to have any deeply necessary conversations in person. His processor was too scattered and focused on his pathing, worry and fear clouding him enough that he didn't want to add unnecessary conversation to it. Ratchet was the perfect traveling partner when one wanted total silence, the lone emergency utility vehicle traveling beside him on the dark, empty road.
He was finding it difficult to accept that their worst fears were finally realized. The Decepticons had arrived, and worse, they had wasted no time in beginning their search. It was deeply troubling that the first place they'd been led to, was exactly where Wheeljack had desperately wanted to keep them away from.
Allison didn't deserve what happened to her, whether she had chosen to seek him out or not. She didn't deserve to be caught in the middle of their conflict, and Wheeljack blamed himself. He feared what Soundwave had done, even more so, what his minicons had done when he wasn't there to protect her…
Wheeljack's thought processes were shifting, and he took a moment to try and investigate where that had come from. A churning discomfort simmered in Wheeljack's spark, but he ignored it. He had not experienced any further surges, but that did not stop fear from constricting him. The reality was, if Bumblebee had listened to him, and had not left the Ark against his express wishes the consequences would have been far more deadly. The guilt of knowing that weighed heavily on him.
Ratchet was right. He couldn't change what had already happened. Now they needed to focus on ensuring it never happened again.
Transforming in the empty space of the building's interior, the twins were already waiting for them in their primary modes. It was impossible to tell what the two of them were thinking, but thankfully they looked relatively unscathed. That didn't stop Ratchet from first approaching them them to begin more thorough examinations. Between the two of them, only Sideswipe appeared to have minor injuries. Ratchet was less than thrilled when Sideswipe wed him the perfect pattern of small dentae marks on his arm.
"I wish Soundwave would teach that little fragger it's rude to bite," Sideswipe grunted, and it was obvious he meant Frenzy had been running around. Wheeljack thought he had a few screws loose, but that little scraplet was beyond unhinged. He had no idea what had happened to the minicon to unravel his processor, but Soundwave chose not to keep him on a short leash. It was probably more useful to have a minion that savage.
If Frenzy had been deployed, who else had Soundwave sent after Allison? If she'd been unfortunate enough to encounter any of them…
Sunstreaker looked relatively unharmed, save for a few scuffs on his armor. Wheeljack knew the vain Autobot was internally seething at this, but there were no outward signs of how he was feeling about it. In fact, both him and his brother glanced at Wheeljack with an odd sense of worry in their optics, like they knew he wasn't going to like something.
"Outside," Sunstreaker said drolly, perhaps sensing what Wheeljack was going to ask before he could even voice it. Bumblebee and Allison were noticeably absent from the area. Without asking further questions Wheeljack found himself drawn to the other end of the building.
He was afraid of what he would see, perhaps Bumblebee crouched sadly over an unconscious human body, or worse. Instead, he was surprised to hear voices, light and pleasant voices. They were talking.
"—If you have a really good telescope, you can actually see the rings. I've never been able to afford one. Maybe someday…" Allison was sitting on top of what looked like a stack of stone blocks, left behind by whatever humans had once occupied this place. She was leaned back against a bag of some kind. Bumblebee was crouched next to her almost at optic-level. He glanced up when Wheeljack approached, frowning, but he didn't immediately speak. Wheeljack stopped for a moment, tilting his head silently at the scout to let Allison finish her thought.
"I wish I could see Saturn up close. Or any other planet really. I can only imagine what you've seen in your travels…"
"We passed by Saturn after we fled through the space bridge… though I'm afraid there wasn't much time to admire your solar system with our ship being damaged and all…" Wheeljack wondered what the Pit Bumblebee was talking about. He didn't remember that at all… though he'd been too busy putting out fires in the engine room. "Maybe someday we can take you…" Bumblebee said, genuinely. With a pang of regret, Wheeljack thought that was incredibly unlikely to ever be possible.
"Take me?" Allison sounded genuinely disbelieving, and also a tinge fearful. "You mean, to space? Yeah I doubt it." She said. The observation was reasonable.
"Oh, space isn't that bad." Bumblebee threw his arms out wide for emphasis. "Infinitely huge, countless worlds to explore, untold dangers, all sorts of fun stuff!"
Allison laughed, a sound which Wheeljack had not really heard, but found himself relieved at the pleasant feeling that settled against his spark. He didn't really have time to reflect on it further. "Also no oxygen. I don't really belong in outer space. I pull weird shit out of people's video game consoles, which is a job that did not prepare me mentally and physically for zero gravity. I don't even like air travel."
"So, that's a no to the being in space thing," Bumblebee was clearly being playful with Allison, who seemed to genuinely be enjoying the moment. Wheeljack almost feared he was going to ruin it.
"Seeing you on Earth is already a lot for me. Being in space? Deep space? Not happening." Wheeljack heard her sigh, and it sounded wistful.
Bumblebee must have thought now was a good time to alert Allison to his presence, because he chose that moment to finally call attention to it. "Oh, hi Wheeljack." Once his existence was delicately announced, immediately Allison sat up and whipped around. She was alive and looked… relatively okay. Her optics were clear and alert and they found his more worried stare almost immediately. She looked surprised, though surely she was expecting his and Ratchet's arrival. Wheeljack felt air hitch in his vents and he was lost for a moment, suddenly regretting a lot of his behavior recently. He questioned why he was feeling such strong emotions now, unable to really pinpoint where they were coming from, but he was just so relieved…
Frowning, Wheeljack knew there was a lot that could be hidden underneath her bulkier clothing, and Bumblebee looked at him in a way that suggested something… unpleasant when he stood to greet him. It didn't take long to note that the scout looked significantly worse off than the twins. He was favoring one leg, his sensor array panels on his back were hanging limp and there was a distinct buckling pattern on his chassis that suggested a powerful blow. Once he was in reaching distance, Wheeljack clamped a hand on his shoulder, trying to think of what to say. Bumblebee had ignored him, and in doing so, had saved Allison's life.
Thanks weren't really needed, because Bumblebee's optics softened with a frown of his own. He communicated enough silently without having to say it.
"You look like you got pulled out of a Junkion scrap pile," Wheeljack said, wryly. "Go see Ratchet. I'm sure he'll be thrilled."
"You should see the other bot," Bumblebee replied, wincing a little. "Though I think I'd rather face Soundwave again than listen to Ratchet yell." He paused, optics going a little glassy as his expression grew dark. Wheeljack narrowed his gaze, sensing Bumblebee was remembering something that was maybe better left unsaid.
It remained that way, as Bumblebee left to meet Ratchet inside. Now that Wheeljack was left alone, an uncertain rumble passed through him as he approached Allison. There was probably a lot she wanted to say to him. He wouldn't have been surprised if she was upset with him, considering what had happened. He didn't expect to see something else in her optics; something warm and hopeful. And for the love of Primus he still could not figure out why she was so affected by him.
"You know it's spooky when you do that," Allison started quietly, her voice small but edged with something that sounded genuine and light. "Just standing there in the dark like a giant monster." He knew by her tone it wasn't meant as an insult, and he realized she was probably right. He chuffed in amusement, air cycling though his systems as he looked down at her relaxed expression. She looked… happy.
Who was he kidding at this point? Her expression was probably mirrored in his own, if she knew how to recognize it. A rush of warm affection filled him, and there still wasn't time to spare a thought to analyze where that emotion was coming from. Without conscious direction he dropped down in front of her, reaching out to touch her just as she was opening her mouth to speak. The sudden urgency playing across her face was stoppered once his hands grasped her arms on either side. Even though he was mindful of making his grip gentle, she froze, watching him with uncertainty.
"We gotta' do something about that energon signature of yours." Of all the base-level, obvious things he could have said in that moment, that was probably the least helpful. He wasn't sure what else to say, considering his emotions were doing a number on his more coherent logic processes as of late. While he watched her expression change, his optics searched over her for any signs of further injury, but most of her skin was covered by layers of organic fiber. It had been raining, and the nights were cold, he reasoned, but he knew there had to be damage that he could not see.
"Wheeljack, I need to tell you…" Allison started, wincing in a way that suggested physical discomfort. Alarmed, Wheeljack was about to remove his hands but he froze when she suddenly lifted her own to stop him. She looked determined, the grip of her smaller fingers on his much larger ones slight and gentle. "I don't think they were expecting to find me. Maybe, just one of you, but—Rumble, Bumblebee called him—was already waiting before I got to work this morning—" He watched as her words began to run away from her, as if she was quickly trying to recount something terrible before it slipped away from her. "...I'm sorry."
Anger rattled through him, sharp and hot. Soundwave was going to pay for this. If he ever got his hands on any of those little fraggers that hid behind him... He didn't know why she was saying sorry, when she was the one that had been attacked.
"Why are you apologizing? This wasn't your fault—"
"—I understand now why you were trying to push me away, and I'm sorry I was being selfish and didn't—" She stopped, losing whatever nerve she had. "...I didn't listen."
Wheeljack thought for a moment, feeling her shift beneath his hands. He couldn't tell if the subtle movements he was feeling was from fear, or the chill of the air. Her optics had left him, looking at nothing at all. "The energon surge was my fault. I should've been paying attention." He finally said, grimly. Allison moved against his palms, inhaling sharply. Her much smaller fingers were squeezing into his joints, the movements so delicate it almost made him angry with himself all over again.
"If I'd never come looking for you..." Her gaze had managed to meet him again. Wheeljack noted she did not as easily hold optic contact with him anymore, at least not since she'd been a child. Her concentration shifted uneasily, seeming unable to focus on one particular thing.
"Stop." The word came out as more of a growl than Wheeljack intended, causing Allison to freeze. There was probably more tension in his hands than he was intending, and worry crept through him that he was scaring her, or worse, hurting her. He quickly pulled his hands away, choosing to rest them on the block near where she was seated. For some reason he didn't want them to be too far from her. "Stop, apologizing." Wheeljack dropped his own gaze, feeling ashamed of himself. "I'm the one who's sorry."
"...For what?" Allison sounded confused, saddened even. "You were doing what you thought was right."
"You're missing the point." Wheeljack rumbled lowly. "It was either push you away so that they had no reason to go after you," His optics narrowed, and he vented air angrily. "Or put you at risk by having you in our presence. In the end it didn't matter." He almost laughed at how absurd it all was, being stuck between two very bad decisions, and neither of them being right in the long run. At least if he had been there...
"I don't think they were looking for me. Just the energon. Or, whatever it would lead them to." Allison paused, frowning, and an odd, glassy look passed over her optics. It almost looked like there was moisture there. "The other one… I think ah, Rumble called him Frenzy … said that I… smelled like you. They knew I'd been around you and I think that made them angry."
Wheeljack absorbed this information, something close to rage but somehow more tempered and dangerous simmered low against his spark chamber as he processed what she meant. Not only was he angry that she had encountered Rumble and Frenzy, but that they had confirmed essentially what he feared all along. Any of his attempts to keep her out of harm's way would have been fruitless because being around them inherently put her at great risk. It was only inevitable that they were going to find her, sooner or later.
He definitely was going to make those little scrap heaps pay for what they'd done, and Soundwave was going to regret setting foot on this planet. Wheeljack was going to make sure of that.
"This is why I was trying to protect you. I need to do a better job of that now."
"You don't need to protect me…" There was something wary and uncertain in her voice.
"I already held you dying in my hands once. I'm not doing that again." Wheeljack had not meant to raise his voice so much, the admission startling even to him as heat flared through his core systems. Allison stared at him now, frozen as her optics locked with his almost transfixed. She said nothing, possibly waiting for Wheeljack to say more but truthfully he didn't know either. Every collective emotion between them had suddenly been burned off and dissipated in the air like smoke. It was almost a mercy when Wheeljack heard Ratchet approaching, and only then did he finally vent the air he'd been holding in his chassis.
"I'm sorry…" He heard Allison finally say, and it was so small he wondered if she even intended for him to hear it.
"Stop apologizing," Wheeljack repeated, this time, more warmly. "Ratchet's here. That should cheer you up plenty."
"Very funny," Ratchet groused. Wheeljack sensed Ratchet's energy waver with a fractured wobble as he reached them, perhaps becoming more aware of Allison's physical state than Wheeljack could detect. Not wanting to be a hindrance to Ratchet's work this time, he left them to it.
"I'll be inside," Wheeljack said. He subspaced the energon cube he'd brought with him and handed it to Ratchet as he passed. He wanted to hear directly from the other Autobots exactly what had happened.
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