A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! ^^ Without further ado, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 20

Ratchet sighed out of the relief. The medic hadn't had any idea of just how much he'd really needed that. Sitting on the floor of his private washroom really wasn't the most comfortable or appropriate of places but at the moment he didn't care. Getting up again the ambulance opened the faucet in meaning of washing his hands when he suddenly halted as the realization finally hit him. After so many vorns, literally centuries of absolutely nothing and now all of a sudden… The very thought made Ratchet grimace out of disgust. He couldn't even think about it; shouldn't even think about it. Then why in the slagging pit was he behaving like a pubescent youngling? It didn't make any sense.

Contemplating about it any further would prove futile though, he decided as he let out a dramatic sigh. The only logical conclusion he could come up with was that the glitch in his systems must have been worse than he'd originally thought. There was nothing else behind it, couldn't be anything else behind it.

Now feeling very foolish for letting himself be betrayed by his body like that the mech decided to take a full-on shower while he was at it. One thing was for certain though; he was too old for this slag.

He'd been bathing for a good while until suddenly he heard someone calling his name.

"RATCHET? I swear to Primus this is the worst time to be having a temper tantrum! We need you here, now!" It was Arcee.

The medic closet the flow of water immediately and ran to his door and opened it while still trying to dry off his dripping wet armor with a towel he'd grabbed off. The astounded look on Arcee's face was worth seeing. She recovered quickly though.

"What on Cybertron compelled you to be taking a shower now of all times?" she demanded, being obviously quite agitated.

"Uh, trust me. You DON'T want to know." was his awkward reply as he tried to avoid looking at her in the optics.

"And don't even get me started about leaving your post like that? We needed you here breems ago and now we're one bot short on the battlefield because I had to stay here to operate the bridge!" she raged on, but Ratchet barely paid attention.

His optics were locked on her arms that were vigorously waving in the air in between them and knowing the damage the lithe femme could create with them given the proper stimulus, Ratchet really didn't feel like being in the receiving end of that scenario.

"Battle?" he suddenly perked up. "What is going on?"

"Wheeljack was out with Jack and ran into 'Cons. Optimus and the others are now out there trying to save him." she explained as her gaze softened, genuine worry swiftly spreading on her faceplate accompanied by a delicate frown. You didn't need to be a psychic to know which 'him' she was referring to.

"Oh, slaggit!" Ratchet grimaced when he heard this.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" the old mech rebuked internally, having lifted a hand on his optics in shame while shaking his helm in disbelief. OF COURSE something like this would happen. What a brilliant idea had that been!

"What about the item?" he hesitantly asked, while peeking through in between his digits.

Arcee's mouth fell open from the shock.

"You KNEW about the item? You KNEW they were out there alone!? Why didn't you tell anyone! And why the frag didn't you return to your post! Ratchet, you if anyone should know this type of negligence is unforgivable!" she raged, Ratchet's helm sagging lower in shame by the minute. He really didn't need more reasons to be cursing himself into the pit as he apparently was half way going there already anyway.

"I… I know, and you're absolutely right. I can't even begin to tell you just how sorry I… I just… I know it's not a proper excuse by any means, but I... something came up and I just… forgot. I can't believe I let it happen but it's the truth." the ambulance apologized, his tone full of regret.

Seeing the old medic mentally kicking himself on the aft like that was something one didn't see every day, but Arcee was too furious to pay much attention to it.

"Well, there's no time for lamenting about it now! What's happened; happened. But for your sake, Jack had better be alright." she barked, walking restlessly around the console, glancing at the screens every few seconds.

"If it weren't for Optimus' orders, I'd have already rolled in by now. But I guess I just have to wait and hope for the best." she continued, wrapping her arms around her midsection as if she was feeling cold, and sighed.

The minutes passed by in silence. Ratchet tried to be keeping himself occupied so that the atmosphere wouldn't feel even more awkward than it already was. And, it made sense to make preparations in case something happened.

Suddenly, the console began beeping and Arcee rushed to answer. It was Smokescreen.

"Need a bridge, fast! I got Jack! He's fine, but we need to get out of here, now!"

The femme didn't hesitate but hurried to open the bridge as the young mech rushed in, let out his passenger and transformed.

She was seemingly relieved to see her human partner was alive and okay.

"Go!" Smokescreen urged her. "Optimus needs you!"

She didn't need to be told twice as she transformed immediately and drove into the vortex. It was time for some punishment!

Smokescreen was going to return right on her tail, but Ratchet rushed in and stopped him.

"What happened out there? Are you… and the others, alright?" he asked, worried.

"Soundwave had Jack but I managed to save him. The 'Cons have the item and Optimus is taking on Soundwave. Wheeljack looked pretty beat up when we arrived but nothing serious. And I'm fine, just some scrapes and dents, mostly." the younger mech assured.

Ratchet nodded, but before he had a chance to continue, the youngster beat him to it.

"Would love to chat but I need to go, they need me!" he said, transforming again and driving in after Arcee's trail.

"Keep the comm.-lines clear!"

Ratchet closed the bridge and sighed, looking away briefly as if contemplating on something.

"Of course." he said to no-one in particular, and was suddenly reminded by the presence of the human when he spotted tiny red drops on the floor. That was something that needed urgent attendance.

"And you? Are you alright!? You're hurt?" It was a statement rather than a question. The old mech walked to the boy and lifted him up. His pant leg was torn and a nasty looking wound was oozing blood underneath.

"Oh, I-I didn't even notice that. Just a flesh wound; it's nothing." the boy replied defensively, obviously just trying to act brave. Ratchet figured the boy was trying not to worry him so that he wouldn't tell June, but it was also possible Jack was still in shock for his ordeal so the medic decided not to push it.

He retrieved some of the medical supplies that June had had the foresight to bringing in the base, just in case something like this happened. He let Jack take care of himself as the human's fingers were much better suited for equipment meant for someone his own size rather than a 15-feet tall mech. And Jack probably knew more about human first aid than he did. Ratchet sighed and shook his helm. Since when had he become so useless?

It was then that the console beeped and Arcee's urgent voice came through.

"Ratchet, we need a bridge! Prepare the medbay, Optimus is down."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooo

"What happened?"

Ratchet looked down at the mangled Prime now lying unconscious on a medical berth. Thankfully, the wounds Soundwave had managed to wreak were not fatal and were relatively easy to fix. But why the Prime was currently still offline was mind boggling.

"The item, whatever it was, must have had something to do with it. I didn't really get a good look, trying to avoid getting scrapped by "Slenderman" out there and so on, but... All I saw was that something began glowing around him right after he caught it. Then the next thing I know he fell down, as if weary, and either couldn't or wouldn't get up." Smokescreen explained.

"It was a data-cylinder of sorts, I think." Wheeljack continued. "Not like the ones I remember seeing before though." The engineer casted a questioning look towards Bulkhead, but the other Wrecker seemed just as clueless about it as he did, shrugging deep and shaking his helm, affirming the unspoken negative.

"There's no way of knowing for certain, that's for sure. It's gone. Soundwave took a cheap shot at Optimus and escaped with it." Arcee finished, arms folded neatly under her chest. She'd just returned from taking Jack home and had helped the medic fix up everyone else with Wheeljack; only the Wrecker himself was yet to be attended to.

"That is very peculiar. Anything else?" Ratchet inquired, and the engineer's optics brightened as he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah. It had a carving that looked a lot like that Matrix thingy atop. Maybe it had something to do with the Primes?"

Ratchet looked at the engineer with wide optics.

"It is… plausible." he agreed and was quiet for a while, not knowing what to think.

"But I suppose there's no way of knowing for certain until Optimus wakes up again and shares his side of the story. Meanwhile, I suggest we let him rest for now. Us standing here doing nothing is not going to do him any good, so you all might just go back to your duties." he concluded, beginning to usher the audience away.

The medic couldn't help but think why the item had done this to Optimus and not anyone else, plus the fact that he didn't remember data cylinders ever behaving like this. There was something fishy going on, and he fully intended to… Pity he never got to finish that thought when Wheeljack suddenly said something that made him lose his train of thought.

"Oh, but not so fast there, Ratchet. Aren't you forgetting a little something now, mmm?" the Wrecker sweet talked in a most uncharacteristic low sing-songish tone.

"Everyone else has already been attended to, but look at me! I think I'm still in need of some "special treatment" by your wonder-working hands." The engineer was referring to his still quite mangled state that the medic was yet to fix, but the way he said it was also heavily suggesting towards something else.

Ratchet just stared at the scene in front of him, not believing a thing his optics or audios were telling him.

Thinking he was getting through, the lecherous mech sat down on a medical berth, now feigning dramatically.

"Oh, I think my processor is overheating, I'm feeling faint! Only your magical touch can save me!"

Had Wheeljack seen the fuming look on Ratchet's face, he would have run for exile without a second thought. Now, as he didn't, all the other bots heard was a loud clang of a flying wrench hitting its target dead on; and a vocal high-pitched exclamation that resembled the famous shriek of Goofy's from the old classic cartoons echoing in the calmness of the Nevada night.

Needless to say; a certain Wrecker was going to be attending to his own injuries himself from now on.

A/N: The next chapter should be coming soonish. Meanwhile, I love reading your comments! I just hope you guys had as much fun reading this as I had writing it! XD It's only gonna get better from now on. ;)