(see previous chapter for disclaimers)
In the med bay, Aquaformer slowly roused, after having been thoroughly repaired by Ratchet and Sparkplug. She could feel the energon drips running into her systems as she woke out of temporary stasis lock. Her first concern was where she was at and it showed in her optics. "You are at the Autobot base on earth" Ratchet stated, knowing an angry and confused femme was a dangerous one.
Aquaformer turned to look at the bot who had spoken. She recognized him from eons ago. "Hatchet?" She asked in her deep yet feminine voice, "that you?"
Ratchet remembered how he had earned that nickname. He didn't care for it, but Aquaformer saying that made Ratchet realize that this femme bot really was Aquaformer, the femme commander. "Yes, and please don't call me that."
Aquaformer always knew Ratchet hated that nickname, but she had used it to tease him when they were working side by side as medic and nurse. Aquaformer smiled. "Why am I on drips?" Aquaformer asked.
"Because your systems lost a lot of energon from all of your wounds" Ratchet responded.
Aquaformer nodded. "I guess that makes sense" Aquaformer answered before trying to sit up. She felt a bit of a rush and some dizziness, but managed to maintain a sitting position. Sparkplug just watched as the femme he had helped Ratchet with was now coming to. The Aquaformer stood up and Sparkplug was in awe. The femme bot was taller and bigger than Ratchet. Ratchet just smiled – as he knew Aquaformer was a stubborn femme if there ever was one.
"Now that you are to your feet, Aquaformer, I have a few questions for you" Ratchet stated.
Aquaformer glared at the medic, as she didn't like answering personal questions for anyone. "And what might those be?"
"Well, first off, how did you survive?" Ratchet asked.
"Not telling, as that is my little secret" Aquaformer asked, knowing the answer would get to the doc bot.
"Ok, round two, why are you here?" ratchet asked.
"I reassigned myself" Aquaformer answered, again sarcastically as she wasn't about to tell Ratchet the truth.
"Okay, round three, why didn't you contact us when you arrived?" Ratchet asked, hoping to get some useful information out of the femme. He knew she could be sarcastic and a tough nut to crack but this was getting ridiculous.
"I am a commander myself, I don't have to tell you bots anything if I don't want to" Aquaformer answered, unaware that Ratchet had a reasonable suspicion as to why the femme was here.
"You can't fool me, Aquaformer. With my medic background and tools, I can sense your inner protocols are at work and very hard at work at that. And I am guessing they are what drove you off Cybertron and here to earth" Ratchet stated, putting Aquaformer in a corner. Aquaformer hated being pinned like that and Ratchet knew it, but he also knew he needed to somehow get some useful information out of the femme bot.
"And so what if they are?" Aquaformer asked, dodging the implication that thankfully went over Sparkplug's head. She didn't want to have to explain this whole thing to a human.
"I can help you if you but let me" Ratchet stated, much like Aquaformer had stated to Ratchet when Ratchet was first learning to be a medic. "I can be your friend here."
Aquaformer sighed and then nodded. She needed a friend right now and so far, Ratchet was the only one to extend the olive branch to her. "Fine" Aquaformer answered shortly. Ratchet was careful, as a volatile femme could be dangerous, but it was clear that Aquaformer was fighting against herself.
"tell you what, how about I introduce you to the other bots in the base? Maybe one of them will be good enough for you" Ratchet offered.
Aquaformer looked at the medic and then at the human. She saw that this human was an older human. "I think you should let Ratchet help you" Sparkplug offered up. Aquaformer was shocked, though it didn't show. Aquaformer then nodded.
"Prime, to the med bay" Ratchet called, wanting Optimus to meet the femme first. Little did Ratchet know how the two would react to each other.