A Soldier's Will (Transformers Prime Fanfiction)

Argument

Claire's recovery lasted for a month and a half in the hospital. It would be longer due to Ratchet's constant vigilance during her occasional visits to base. He may not know much about humans as much as he did Cybertronians, but he knew about injured soldiers.

Even so, he hated how she was acting. The carefree nature she put on around him and the Autobots... It felt wrong. There had to be a reason for it, he knew.

However, the two never saw eye to eye, or rather eye to optic, on anything in conversation. It was like how he and Wheeljack didn't get along. Despite that, it seemed to be worse. It didn't help that they were known as the two to argue now, outranking his basic arguments with Wheeljack.

Thankfully, in his mind, these arguments were simple. He didn't think that they would become bothersome. After all, they were resolved for the most part and the two were like doctor and patient. There was always conflict in their views, and one day... It would be no exception.

"Ep pep pep!" Ratchet said, blocking Claire's way. "You need to stay put sergeant. You can't go on missions right now."

"Ratchet, I am fine!" Claire said. "It's been almost two months! Nurse Darby even cleared me to continue my work with Agent Fowler. Can you just let me go doc?!"

"Don't call me doc! You need to stay here so I can double-check your vitals. You may be a soldier, but you are still quite young by human standards. I saw those scars on your back. You shouldn't be carefree about this! Children like you shouldn't be-"

"Be what? Be serving their country or their people?! How I do things is none of your concern, Ratchet! You sound pretentious!"

"Oh, I sound pretentious?! At least I'm not the one endangering themselves all the time! What would your family think?!"

"Chevalier children train for the military from the moment they're thirteen. My father would be proud!"

"What about your mother?! Your brother?!"

Claire had tears fill her eyes, but her expression wasn't saddened. She was furious.

"My brother wouldn't know because he's fucking dead, you fils de pute!"

Ratchet looked at Claire in shock. He knew she was blunt with her words, but she didn't expect her to be furious. He tried to speak, but she cut him off.

"Don't you dare say anything! Just because you're a fucking medic doesn't mean you know anything! My brother was everything to me!" Tears started to fill her eyes. "Because of him, I want to protect the people I care about. Even so, I... I couldn't protect him... I couldn't save him..." She was still angry. "So now what huh?! Do you still think I'm pretentious now?! Do you?!"

Before Ratchet could do anything, Claire ran off, tears falling down her face. Jack and Miki saw Claire run off, and they got worried.

"Claire!" Miko shouted.

"I'll get her," Jack said before going after her.

Miko looked over to see Ratchet, still in his holoform as he looked stunned. Ratchet was trying to think about what he had just did. Why did he say that?! Her brother was quite a sensitive subject. Smokescreen warned him, but he said it anyway! What was he thinking?! A voice soon broke him from his thoughts.

"Ratchet?" It said. "What happened?"

Ratchet looked over to see Miko. He frowned, then scoffed. He really didn't want to talk with her of all people about this.

"It's none of your concern Miko," Ratchet said. "Go bother someone else. Please."

"You argued with her again, didn't you?" She sighed.

Ratchet was about to protest before he heard Smokescreen speak.

"Hey Claire! You here? I wanted to see if you wanted... To..." He stopped before looking around. "Where is she? I just came back from scouting with Bumblebee."

"I... Don't know," Ratchet said, looking at the floor.

"What do you mean you don't know? Did something happen?"

"They argued again," Miko said, crossing her arms. "Mr. Grumpy Pants here won't tell me what happened though."

Smokescreen was a little worried. He knew how those two got during an argument; it was why he warned Ratchet not to bring up her brother in the first place. He had a bad feeling once he asked. It took a few bits of pestering before Ratchet spoke of the recent argument that went on. Smokescreen lost it.

"I told you not to bring that up Ratch!" He said. "Losing her brother impacted her so much that she has nightmares at times! You tell me not to be careless about things like this, but look what you just did! You're such a... What's that word again? The one about being the opposite of something?" He looked at Miko, a little confused.

"Hypocrite?" Miko said.

"Yeah. That," he looked at Ratchet, still upset. "You're such a hypocrite!"

Miko felt her phone vibrate and she checked it to see that she got a text from Jack. She read it over, then sighed.

"Well, she's gone," Miko said. "Jack tried to catch up with her, but she was faster. Also, she wanted him to tell us to not look for her. She was really upset!"

Ratchet looked down, silent. Smokescreen glared at Ratchet before he looked at Miko. He was worried.

"Will she be alright Miko?" He asked. "I just don't want her to be upset..."

"Maybe some time alone might help her out!"

"I don't know Miko..."

"Come on Smokescreen! She's a teenager like me and Jack. Sometimes we need the distance from others to relax. She'll bounce back eventually!"

Smokescreen was still quite concerned, but... What else could he do? Claire wanted to be left alone, and he didn't know where to look if he even wanted to. He sighed, agreeing with Miko. He left her alone, but he did plan to call her after a while. As her guardian and friend, he just wanted her to be alright. He hoped that she'd be alright, despite the recent argument she had with Ratchet...

Who knows where she'd be right now?