Title: Hippocratic Oath, Chapter 2

Author: odd_stick

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Hasbro.

Rating: PG (I'm playing it safe…)

Pairing(s): Relationships, both past and future, are hinted at and include: ScreamerxTCxWarp, StarscreamxRatchet, and TrinexRatchet.

Summary: Skywarp puts things back where he found them.

When Ratchet was grabbed and suddenly gone, the soldiers initially reacted with pointed weapons and shouted calls of dismay. Their training and years of experience held their fire and immediately spurred them into responsive action. Luckily, Ironhide had seen who had kidnapped Ratchet and was able to organize the confused troops while sending an urgent message to Optimus and the other Autobots.

Over an open channel he called out, "Skywarp just kidnapped Ratchet. Orders, Prime?"

From the other side of the base, Optimus simultaneously responded while politely excusing himself from his discussion with a small group of new transfers. "Ratchet has a 'capture, don't kill' bounty on his helm, so I don't think they'll deactivate him. Ironhide - organize a NEST team and debrief them on who Skywarp is and what he's capable of. They will need to be prepared now that we know he is still alive.

Jolt - prep the med bay. Arcee, Sideswipe – run a perimeter sweep." The twins and Bumblebee were currently off base on separate missions, but he sent a data burst to them to keep them informed and to be ready to return at a moment's notice.

The base mobilized with practiced efficiency, ready for anything. What they weren't expecting was that within just a few hours of his capture Ratchet would be returned unharmed. In almost the exact same spot that he had been spirited away, the two mechs warped into view. Skywarp used Ratchet's frame as a partial shield, but made no aggressive moves towards him or the allied forces of NEST which were quickly surrounding them.

When Ironhide raised his cannons and held them at the ready, it was Ratchet that spoke. "Hold your fire 'Hide. I'm not hurt."

The weapon's specialist held his ground with his optics and sensors trained on the black and purple seeker. "He hasn't released you yet."

Skywarp smirked at the Topkick over Ratchet's shoulder as he pulled the CMO back towards his chassis. Switching to Cybertronian, the seeker purred, "Getting jealous Ironhide?" As the blue optics burned, Skywarp reached around and dragged his claws across the chartreuse chassis and over the heavily armored spark.

It was the seeker that was caught off guard as Ratchet's plating shifted and flared like an angry organic feline. The medic turned in the arms encircling him, pulled back his fist and punched the Decepticon squarely in the mandible. The seeker stumbled back, just managing to burn his thrusters enough to keep him from falling embarrassingly on his aft.

The humans' eyes were wide as one of the strangest hostage situations they had ever witnessed played out. Respect and healthy fear rose within each one of them as they saw the wrath of the pissed CMO play out on his supposed captor. None of them understood the alien language the mech's were speaking in, but they had all spent enough time around the Autobots to read the barely suppressed humor in Ironhide's face and posture.

"I don't like what you're implying," Ratchet said as he glowered up at the taller seeker.

Skywarp grinned while he rubbed at his dented plating. "Aw, don't be such a prude. I was just teasing." His bright red optics quickly turned darker as the volatile mech's mood turned more serious. "I'll be talking to Screamer and TC about what was discussed earlier. See ya." Before either Autobot could respond, the seeker activated his warp drive and disappeared. The resultant force released a ripple through the air and nearly knocked the lighter humans off their feet.

"Slaggin' seekers," Ironhide growled in English as he approached Ratchet. He let his energy field brush the CMO's, attempting to receive and offer reassurance to his old friend.

The chartreuse mech let his own energy field respond while he turned and began walking towards the base's interior. "I'm fine 'Hide, but I need to report to Optimus."

"I know," the weapons specialist replied. "I'll take care of the troops then. Comm. me when you're done." He didn't wait for a response and instead lowered himself to one knee in order to speak to the human troops about what the hell had just happened. He left out how suggestive Skywarp's words and actions had been, not wanting to embarrass his friend (or suffer his wrath), but gave them the overall synopsis.

Optimus had received the warning of Skywarp's return so was already heading in Ratchet's direction. They met halfway and ducked into a nearby hangar so that the CMO could make his report in relative privacy.

After a hushed conversation in their native language, Optimus had to ask, "In your personal opinion, do you think they will truly abandon the Decepticons?"

Ratchet cycled fresh air through his vents as he thought. "I honestly don't know. Skywarp was the most loyal to Megatron of the three, but after talking to him…I believe he will try to convince the other two to switch sides. Thundercracker…I don't know. He was so focused on Starscream that I couldn't get a good read on him. And as for Starscream himself, he's stubborn. He's put up with Megatron's abuse for all these vorns and hasn't done anything about it yet. This could very well have been the last straw. He seemed…despondent with the entire situation once he was lucid enough to talk to me.

All in all, Optimus? I just don't know. I hope that they will at least remove themselves from Megatron's grasp, but I think only time will tell. They would prove valuable allies."

The Prime placed a careful hand on his medic's shoulder. He was aware of the broken friendship between the Decepticon Second in Command and his own CMO. "Then we will just have to be patient and hope."