Transformers Prime: Result of Impact

Ch. 25

"What an unfortunate turn of events." The dark laugh that escaped Megatron sent a wave of grief through Ratchet, as fiery red optics fixed on him. "What a way to go! Admittedly, I'm impressed that he lasted that long..." A shaky sigh escaped the medic he taunted, and a sudden change in tone occured. "I am sorry for what this must be doing to you, Doctor. It's a shame you couldn't save him. This is gonna haunt you for the rest of your life, isn't it?" The sympathy in his voice was merely a cruel act of taunting, said the glint in Megatron's optics. Ratchet gritted his denta.

"Damn you," he whispered, voice shaking and cracking a bit.

"Oh, don't be like that... Now you get to go back with them and grieve, together, as a family. That is far more generous than what I could be doing, am I correct?" Megatron pressed tauntingly. "You want to be with your team, don't you? Or are you afraid of the guilt of failing to save your leader?"

Despite the fact that Ratchet knew it wasn't true, and that he wasn't to blame, he still felt a crippling guilt wash over him, and he couldn't resist a sharp exhale of pain, as he turned his helm away. It took a moment for him to collect himself enough to speak, "What about Jennie? Do you expect me to leave her with you?" His voice was a broken murmur, that made Megatron's smirk widen.

"She stays on the Nemesis... I don't intend on releasing her. Perhaps you can redeem your loss by keeping her safe, by continuing to give me everything I want." He replied, casting his gaze over to the others. "Is that clear? I will let this week slide, considering Optimus Prime's death, use it to your advantage. However, I will not be so generous when we meet next."

"Generous?" Arcee tightened her servos into fists. "You call yourself generous?"

::Arcee...::

"Cee, this isn't worth it, let's just get it over with," Bulkhead and Bumblebee spoke up, though they looked equally upset.

Ratchet waited a moment before turning to look at Megatron. "Let us leave now." He said quietly.

"Caving in that quickly?" The warlord taunted. Ratchet didn't answer him, only narrowed his optics as his cuffs were removed, so he could turn and reunite with his team. They were silent, but they welcomed him back respectfully, and without another word to Megatron, they left through the bridge behind them.

The meeting was over.

Now, it was time to face the crippling guilt that waited for him back in the base. The walls of his home weren't welcoming, like they should've been. His gaze immediately went to the medbay, where it settled on Optimus, who was still resting on the medical berth. He tensed a bit, holding his breath, but the steady beeping of a medical monitor caught his attention. Why was that still on? If Optimus had offlined, the monitor wouldn't be picking up any life signs-

Ratchet stopped. His gaze slowly shifted to Arcee, who was already staring at him, as were the others. "I-Is... He..." Ratchet whispered slowly.

"Dead? No. It was Wheeljack's idea to convince Megatron he was dead, so perhaps we could pull an unexpected move on them and maybe turn the tables back... and it worked better than we expected. Now, we have you to help him." Arcee answered, the ghost of a relieved smile on her face.

He's alive.

He's ALIVE.

Ratchet sighed heavily with relief, the panic and utter horror leaving him instantly, before he re-collected himself, turning away from her and rushing to his leader's side. It was time to get to work. Primus, Optimus' energon levels were low, and his bandages weren't working at all. Immediately, Ratchet began removing them and welding the wounds shut before bandaging them again, tighter, more efficiently, until his wounds were properly dressed. Now, he had to work to restore his energon levels... of course, they didn't have those resources. Ratchet stepped back and thought for a moment, before remembering the cube he had in his subspace. As he removed it and administered it to the unconscious Prime, another idea crossed his mind- a transfusion. "All of you," he called to the others, who were watching from a distance. "If we all give a small amount of energon, I can stabilize him... not one of us can give enough alone, though, you all need your strength to restore our resources." He explained quickly, pulling out the tools to perform the transfusion.

"You got it, Doc," Wheeljack was the first to step forward.

"Don't call me that." Ratchet muttered as he pulled out a needle. "Arm." He pointed to Wheeljack's left arm. From there he pushed the needle in and let the energon flood through the tube, into a large container, from which he would give it to Optimus. Taking the small amounts of energon from each one, including himself, took around half an hour, and then, he was finally able to administer it to Optimus.

As energon flooded back into their leader, the room became a beacon of relief and gratitude. "I can't believe we didn't come up with that." Bulkhead shook his helm. "You are a total genius, Ratch."

Ratchet, who was watching Optimus, looked over at him. "It is my job," he raised an optic ridge, smiling a bit.

"Thank Primus we got you back when we did." Arcee placed a servo on Ratchet's shoulder. "We could've lost him..." She shook her helm, before glancing at Ratchet's back, where the gashes Megatron had left were caked in dried energon. "Let's get that taken care of..." Ratchet cast a look back at her, and nodded, giving his permission. Arcee started working, taking Ratchet's tips and advice and instructions, and taking the opportunity to learn the skills.

As the day passed and the evening came around, Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Bumblebee had gone out to try to collect energon, and Arcee had gone on patrol. Ratchet was left to keep a watch on his leader- who was now stabilized- and work on the monitors. There was a heavy silence in the air, other than the monitors, and that was slightly hard on Ratchet. For the past length of time, he had had Jennie at his side to talk to. It had been a long time since he had worked in absolute silence. Now, he was away from Jennie again, and he couldn't protect her anymore. They had to find a way to get her back... perhaps without Optimus. He would need time to recover before he could return to his responsibilities as leader. That wouldn't happen overnight. At least, now, Ratchet could tend to his team.

A soft groan broke the silence, and Ratchet jumped slightly in alarm. "R...R...Ratch...Ratchet..." It took several tries for the word to be formed through a heavy layer of weakness.

"Optimus," Ratchet immediately was at the Prime's side. He hadn't expected him to be awake so soon, he needed all the rest he could get.

"You...-"

"I'm back. Megatron is convinced you are one with the Allspark, thus he let me return. Jennie is still with him, however..." Ratchet cut him off and explained. "The others are working to bring in energon. Our sources are depleted, but I was able to get together enough to stabilize you. You need rest, though. Save your strength. You are going to need it."

Optimus shifted a bit, listening tiredly. He didn't argue, and by the time Ratchet had finished, he was returning to recharge. Seeing Ratchet there had definitely been a surprise, and it relieved him a great deal to see his medic back to his faction.

There was still the task of getting Jennie back, however.