Nakadai Secrets

Chapter 13: Reunion

Ratchet's POV

Frag.

I drove around, looking desperately for my charge.

Frag, frag, frag!

I completely froze up and let her get away. Kat needed my help and I just stared at her, probably making her feel worse.

I shivered, remembering the murderous glint in her eyes as she relentlessly attacked me. My ankles groaned in protest to the hurried driving I was doing, but I ignored them.

She had seemed so furious, so heartless and intent to kill. Kat seemed completely fine when she fell asleep. She had been fine on the drive back and when I put her down to sleep.

But when she woke up, it was like a whole other person- no, demon- was there. Not Kat. Not the Kat I knew.

Those rage filled eyes flashed through my mind again and I sped up, knowing that Kat was in bad shape. The trauma she must have experienced to have such a horrible awakening was unimaginable.

Suddenly, her lies to not be around Smokescreen seemed so trivial. She was trying to protect us from the truth.

Kat thought she didn't need our help and for the most part, I had believed her, but none of us really realized how truly broken she was. Kat hid her pain away and it was costing her.

She needed our help. My help.

And I had let her run away.

The chances of me finding her in this blizzard were horribly low. She was a ninja. She knew how to disappear.

After a few hours of searching, I reluctantly returned to the base, feeling utterly guilty. I didn't know whether to be disappointed in myself for not knowing it sooner, relieved that I found out at all, or ashamed that I had not respected her wishes to sleep away from others.

I could see why she didn't want us to know. If the others knew, they would treat her like she was a vase on the verge of shattering. And even though she kind of was, that would only make Kat more furious.

▪️◾◼⬛◼◾▪️

The next morning, the skies were clear and the air was crisp. I had fallen into recharge at some point and when I woke up, I immediately noticed Kat working on the groundbridge.

I stepped forward quickly and opened my mouth to apologize, but she beat me to it.

"Goodmorning, sleepy head." She smiled, "You looked like a ghost over there."

I paused, no sure what to say. Kat continued.

"Hacking into the ship failed, but we at least have eyes and ears until the signal is completely lost. On the other hand, the groundbridge is going quite well." She informed me.

So she didn't want to talk about it. I relented, knowing that I was just a medic. Not a therapist.

"How long do you think it'll take to finish?" I asked.

"Few more days, if we give it our full attention." She shrugged, "But hopefully, we won't need to."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"I picked up a signal earlier. Faint. It's one of the trackers I have on your Autobots. I thought they were all broke, so it must be Jack, Raf, Agent Fowler, or Miko." She explained.