The next morning, Danny woke slowly, his head pounding. He could hear the quiet thrum of a spark beat, slow but steady. Why was he close enough to a spark beat to hear it this loudly? He shifted slightly, cold metal pressing against his side; he knew the shape of this chest plate—Starscream?
Danny's eyes opened slowly, noting the absence of purple that he associated with the Nemesis. Where was he? He groggily turned his gaze down to Starscream. Why was he sleeping on Starscream's chest? He focused on the silver frame, the plating was dented, marred with scratches. What happened?
Suddenly, memories of the previous day came rushing back like a tidal wave. He bolted upright but immediately regretted it as pain shot through his arm, and his head spun. Normally, with his powers, the ache would have faded by now, healing his body naturally, but this time it stubbornly lingered.
Danny took in a few shaky breaths. Placing both palms against Starscream's chest plate to hold himself up, he focused hard on Starscream's unconscious spark beat beneath him. Knowing he was alive helped calm Danny and ground him. Once his vision stopped swimming, Danny started glancing around the medbay. Starscream was lying bolted down to a medical berth. Right… they did that yesterday to make sure he didn't hurt Ratchet.
Danny grimaced at the sight of the large cables running from large machines set up next to them, leading towards Starscream's frame. A few of them were attached to Starscream's energon lines in his inner elbow joints. A few others connected just under his neck, likely reading processor activity.
Danny's gaze followed a few particularly large tubes and cables that trailed up Starscream's frame and slithered under his chest plate. One of the bottom plates had been slightly opened, leaving just enough room for the cabling to make its way in, likely to feed energon directly into his spark chamber and get readings.
Danny heard the light clanging as tools were being organized. Something he heard all the time when Knockout was anxiously reorganizing his medbay for the fifth time that week. He looked over and spotted Ratchet, who was standing not too far from the medical berth with his back to Danny and Starscream, seemingly unaware that Danny had woken up.
Danny watched the Autobot medic for a long moment. He seemed like an older mech, someone who had been through a lot. He was much more boxy than the pointy, sleek Decepticons Danny had spent the last year of his life hanging out with. Eventually, Ratchet turned around and caught sight of Danny staring at him. "You're awake." He placed down one of his tools on the desk and fully turned to face Danny.
"I am," Danny replied before pausing, his expression puzzled. "Have you been here this whole time?" Danny fully sat up and crossed his legs with his hands on his knees as he looked up at the medic.
Ratchet huffed, picking up a cloth from next to the berth and rubbing his servos with it. "Of course I have. This whole Starscream situation has thrown a wrench in my schedule." He tossed down the cloth on the desk and started looking over the machines attached to Starscream. "And now I have to keep an optic on his vitals instead of getting my work done." He scoffed as he fiddled with one of the connecting cables.
Danny tilted his head. Had Ratchet really been up all that time? "Don't you need some recharge?" Danny asked.
"—Ratchet often refuses to recharge when there are patients in the medbay." A deep, rumbling voice spoke up behind Danny, making him jump. Danny spun around and looked up as Optimus stepped into the medbay.
"Says the biggest hypocrite of them all." Ratchet scoffed, rolling his optics and continued working on the machines. "Not like he ever listens to my medical advice." He grumbled to himself.
Danny chuckled at Ratchet's reaction, the sound surprising even himself. "Starscream does that too." He gestured vaguely towards the seeker. "Never listens to me or Knockout. But if I'm hurt—oh no, then I'm not allowed to move a muscle. I have to follow instructions. 'Don't stress your injuries. You know how easy it is for you squishies to hurt yourselves.'" Danny mimicked, pointing his finger around dramatically. He glanced down at Starscream with a soft, bittersweet smile. "Hypocrite," he muttered fondly.
Optimus followed Danny's gaze, his expression briefly shifting to something unreadable before he spoke again, drawing Danny's attention. "I realize we have not yet officially introduced ourselves. My name is Optimus Prime," He pointed to himself. "And this is Ratchet." He gestured toward the medic. "May we ask your name?"
Danny hesitated, his eyes narrowing slightly as he debated his response. Finally, he sighed. "Danny. Just Danny."
As soon as he said that, something familiar clicked about those names. 'Optimus Prime.' His eyes suddenly widened. "Wait— Optimus Prime? As in the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime?" Danny asked, horror bleeding into his tone. This mech shouldn't be near Starscream. This mech… shouldn't be here at all, actually. From what he had been told, Optimus Prime was the leader of the entire opposing faction — the Megatron of the autobots — and never once had Danny seen Megatron come to the med bay unless it was to berate Knockout about something or other.
Optimus raised an optic ridge. "You've heard of me?" Caution tinged the edge of his field.
Ratchet crossed his arms over his chest. "All bad things, I imagine, if it was from the Decepticons," he added offhandedly, field blooming with bitterness.
Danny resisted the urge to snap at the medic. He had been nice to Danny so far. So, he settled for spinning around and shooting Ratchet a glare before turning back to Optimus. "I heard about you from the injuries I work on in the medbay," Danny said, narrowing his eyes at the mech.
The Prime furrowed his optic ridge, and he sent a knowing, concerned look over at Ratchet. "...Danny." Optimus leaned down closer to the human, who remained sitting on Starscream's chest. "There is an important question we need to address…" He paused as if carefully choosing his words. The hesitation only made Danny more uneasy.
"How long have you been in Decepticon custody?" Optimus finally asked.
Danny stared at him, frozen for a moment before a look of offence flashed across his face. "Custody? I wasn't in any custody . I was there of my own volition!" Danny bared his teeth. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Ratchet rounded the table, standing closer to Optimus. "You… went there willingly?" he asked, incredulous. "You chose to stay aboard the Nemesis?"
"Yeah, I did," Danny snapped, crossing his arms. "I could leave whenever I wanted. I wasn't a prisoner."
Optimus glanced at Ratchet, who looked equally baffled, before turning his focus back to Danny. "Were you taken care of? Did you have enough food? Shelter?"
"I. Was. Fine ." Danny punctuated every word. Already on the defensive. "If I needed food—or anything, really—I'd just go down to Earth and grab some stuff. Not that I wanted to go often. But when I did, Soundwave would open ground bridges for me, or Starscream would fly me down if he wasn't busy. It's not like I was trapped." His field filled with indignation.
The two mechs exchanged another glance. Why do they keep doing that? "You must understand our concern." Optimus frowned. "The Decepticons have never shown this kind of hospitality toward a human before."
Ratchet cut in, his confusion palpable. "Why would they let you stay? They despise your kind."
"They didn't have a choice. I wouldn't leave." Danny leaned forward.
Ratchet scoffed, gesturing to the side. "Surely they could have gotten rid of you if they wanted to."
Danny stood up quickly, whole body tense and wound up like a spring. "What if they ended up liking me? What if they wanted me to stay? What if they cared about me?" Danny snapped back. He refused to let his friends be slandered like this. His breathing grew heavy, and if he weren't so drained, he might have started a fight.
"Danny, please," Optimus said gently, meeting Danny's glare. "You must understand. In our experiences with the Decepticons, they have never cared for human life in any way, going so far as to threaten our human partners to achieve their goals. The idea of a human living with them…" He hesitated. "It is not something we would ever expect."
Ratchet folded his arms across his chest plate. "There is a phenomenon humans call Stockholm syndrome—" Danny instantly frowned at where this was heading. "—where captives start to care for their captors, believing that the feelings are mutual. It's a coping mechanism that develops over time."
Danny had already mentally dismissed the notion before Ratchet could finish. "No, I do not have Stockholm syndrome. I am perfectly sane. If anything, I reverse-Stockholm-syndromed them into caring about me by refusing to leave. At least, that's how it worked with Starscream. I promise you I was not held prisoner, and they do care about me."
"—And I care about them." Danny continued, looking back and forth between the two mechs standing over him. "It's not manipulation or due to a threat on my life. They've honestly cared more about me than most people have in my entire life. Which, yeah, is kinda sad—getting more care from a warship full of giant murder aliens than my own parents—but who cares about that? I trust them. And I don't care what you think about it. Maybe when Starscream wakes up, I can prove it. But for now, you have my word: I was, and am, fully willing to be with them."
Optimus's optics dimmed slightly as he processed this information, as though the thought of a human willingly accompanying the Decepticons was still impossible. "Then tell me, if you believe all this," he said, his tone soft but laced with lingering unease, "why, Danny? Why would you choose to remain with them in the first place?"
Danny didn't respond right away, his gaze drifting down to Starscream's unconscious form beneath him.
"They needed me." A protective flicker pulsed through his field.
Optimus glanced at Danny, confusion in his own field at sensing Danny's emotion, before he sighed, stepping back away from the berth. He seemed to realize that this conversation wouldn't lead much further. Optimus straightened, casting a final glance toward Ratchet. "We will not press you further. But I hope you know that you are safe here, Danny."
Danny looked suspiciously up at the mech. "And what about Starscream ?"
The Prime's optics flicked over the Seeker's body, hesitating for a moment. "He will remain safe and in our care until he is healed, and we can reassess the situation at that point. As long as he does not harm or threaten any of my Autobots or our human partners, he will be safe here as well."
Danny looked up at Ratchet for confirmation. The medic sighed and nodded before turning back to his work. Danny then glanced back down at Starscream, whose optics were dark as he recharged for healing.
"I'll keep him out of trouble when he wakes up. I promise."
Optimus simply nodded and turned to leave the medbay. Probably to do some Primely duties or something like that. But Danny could tell this topic was bound to resurface, and he was ready to fight it every single time.
x
The medbay was quiet again for a couple of hours, at least enough for Ratchet to get a few small things done. That was, until the human spoke up again, seemingly cooled off from his outrage at the Autobot's implications from before.
"...Do you think Starscream's wing can be reattached?" Danny asked softly.
Ratchet glanced up from his work, following Danny's line of sight. He was looking at the dismembered wing that was sitting on Ratchet's work table. The medic let out a long, weary sigh. "The damage is extensive, no doubt about that." He straightened and put down his tools, contemplating the wing for a long moment. "But Starscream may be stable enough now, that we can take a proper look at it." Ratchet walked over to the medical berth.
Danny perked up instantly. "Can I help?"
Ratchet hesitated, glancing between the human and the damaged Seeker. He could use an extra set of hands... smaller ones might even be beneficial for this procedure. "Very well."
Danny stood up instantly, and Ratchet gestured with his servo for the human to wait a second. "But I want as little energon on you as possible. Here." He reached onto the shelf for one of Nurse Darby's med kits she left for the kids and passed it down to the human. "There should be gloves in there."
Danny eagerly took the med kit from Ratchet's servos and rummaged through it until he found the gloves, pulling them on quickly. "What do you need me to do?"
Ratchet began organizing his tools, and started explaining the process. "We'll need to secure the limb, clean up the damaged connectors, and align the internal systems properly before attempting reattachment. It's delicate work, and precision is everything."
Danny moved closer to Starscream, carefully placing his hands where Ratchet directed. Together, they began their work, Ratchet guiding Danny through each step.
Danny frowned in concentration as he cleaned out a connector, his hands steady. They continued working in silence for a while. Danny occasionally glanced at Ratchet for confirmation, and the medic offered corrections or affirmations as needed.
As they neared the end of their work, Danny spoke up again. "So, when we're done... Will Starscream actually be able to use his wing again?" Ratchet could feel the kid's concern flowing off of him, almost like a Cybertronian EM field.
Ratchet paused, at the strange field before considering his answer. "If the reattachment is successful and he gives it proper time to heal, then yes." He said with a light nod. Turning away from the berth using a cloth to wipe the energon from his servos. "But Starscream isn't exactly known for his patience, so this procedure's success remains to be seen."
Danny smirked faintly. "Yeah, patience isn't really his thing. But I'll make sure he takes it easy. Promise."
Ratchet glanced down at him, a hint of approval in his expression. "You're quite determined when it comes to him, aren't you?"
Danny nodded firmly. "He's my friend. And friends look out for each other." The kid's field flashed protectively.
Ratchet said nothing for a moment, his optics softening slightly as he returned to his work, noting the strange field again. It was hard to sense, but if he focused, he could tell. Something really was different about this human. Maybe when Ratchet was done dealing with all of this Starscream stuff, he could have the chance to get a closer look at Danny.
By the time they finished, Starscream's wing looked functional, at least on the outside. Ratchet stepped back. "Now we wait. If we're fortunate, the systems will integrate without issue." He had almost turned back around when suddenly he felt something gripping his side close to the table. He glanced down with a confused expression.
Danny pulled away from the hug he had just given the medic, looking down at the side. "Thanks, Ratchet. For, y'know, letting me help." Danny shrugged.
Ratchet's own field flickered with care and reluctant acceptance. "Sure, kid. No problem."
Authors Notes:
Ratchet and Optimus are so concerned, lmao! My beta and I kept laughing so hard every time they glanced at each other when Danny said something concerning.
Thanks again all so much for your support! And if you are bored and want some extra content for this series. I also made a one-shot about the Vehicons that you can go check out! It may also add some context to future chapters with the Vehicons in it. Honestly, it's one of my fav things I have written! I definitely recommend it called: "CREATIVITY AND PROTOCOL," And you can find it on my account.