(Please see previous disclaimers)
Aquaformer continued to remain out of it as Ratchet, Hoist, Sparkplug, and Wheeljack worked on the femme, hoping that she would survive this ordeal. Ratchet was worried as Aquaformer had taken many blasts, but the one closest to her spark was the worst. HE worked hard with the others as they tried to save her.
"I don't understand" Sparkplug suddenly stated, "why did she take that shot intended for Optimus? It doesn't make sense."
"Proof" ratchet shortly answered, wishing that they had better tools like they had had on Cybertron. the tools on earth were so primitive.
"Proof of what?" Hoist asked, curious about the answer Ratchet gave.
"Proof that she is just as tough as any of us and that just because she is a femme doesn't mean anything" Ratchet answered.
"Why would she need to prove that?" Wheeljack asked, not understanding the finer points of femmes and searching for a mate.
"Because that is the way Aquaformer is. She has always felt that she gets overlooked and pushed aside. She pushes to prove herself in hopes someone will notice her" ratchet answered, having known Aquaformer longer. Hoist and Sparkplug merely nodded.
"She's a femme, what's not to notice?" Wheeljack asked, being the dense bot that he was. Ratchet just shook his helm. If Jack didn't understand, Ratchet wasn't going to explain it, especially with Sparkplug in the room. And so, they continued to work, hoping that they could save her.
Meanwhile, in the command area, Optimus and Ironhide were debriefing from the battle. Both were stunned about what the femme had done, but both understood why she had done it. "I still can't believe she took that shot intended for ya, Optimus" Hide stated. He had an inkling why, but wasn't going to say it. Hide seemed to know that Aquaformer was trying to prove herself to the Prime, but having been yelled at for bringing it up before, Hide said nothing.
"I can't believe she did that either. Most femmes wouldn't have done so" Optimus stated, stating the obvious because most femmes were nowhere near the size Aquaformer was. Aquaformer was truly one of a kind when it came to that.
"I don't think she is like most femmes, Prime" Hide answered. Optimus could only nod in agreement, as he didn't really want to reveal how he felt about the whole thing. "If there's nothing further, I have weapons ta clean" Hide stated. Optimus allowed Hide to leave and clean the weaponry, leaving the Prime alone with his thoughts.
He was trying to figure out why the femme would do something so foolish and then why he reacted in such a manner that he was in a hurry to save her. It didn't make sense to him except that she was a fellow Autobot. Optimus didn't want to listen to his spark, which was pulling him towards this special femme. He didn't want to believe that, as he was still hurting from the rejection from Elita millions of years ago. He had blocked out his protocols, or so he thought, after the rejection but now they seemed to be coming back online around this new femme. He wasn't exactly sure what to do. Mechs and war he knew lots about, femmes and such, not so much. And so, trying to avoid the med bay where Aquaformer was getting worked on, Optimus went to the recharge chamber, hoping that rest would help him figure out just what he should do, in regards to the femme and such.
Back in the med bay, it seemed that Aquaformer was slowly coming back online. With some human ingenuity and Ratchet's medic knowledge, the worst injuries were fixed and Aquaformer was coming around, though she wasn't quite out of the woods just yet. She could feel the pain and knew she was online. She just hoped that this daring act of hers which hadn't cost her life would prove to Optimus that she was more than met the eye and that she was a good choice.