Chapter Text
After a whole day on the mission, what everyone wanted to do is just relax. For Heatwave, that would be sparing in the one ‘gym’ section of the basement. For Chase, it’s organizing files and looking over force codes. Blades sits on the couch watching movies and TV shows. And Boulder paints out on the balcony. Kade usually goes on dates. Dani watches some movies with Blades, or is in her room. Charlie cooks something to eat for the family. Graham either studies or actually rests. (Shocking for someone in the Burns family)
What does Cody do? He hangs out with Frankie.
Earlier that day he had invited her over for a sleepover. Despite the trouble during today’s mission, the whole thing was still on. Usually on sleepovers, Frankie chooses a movie and brings it over. But today a marathon of the two’s favorite show was on TV. So, they kind of had to make Blades move over. (He decided he wanted to see it too)
After raiding Cody’s bedroom, they had a collection of pillows and blankets at their disposal. Using their materials, they built a miniature fort for themselves. It was a little lumpy and multi-colored, but it was comfortable. His dad made it a personal goal to cook them the best popcorn they have ever tasted. It took him an hour to get everything right. He even delivered it in one of those huge buckets you can get at theaters. Then Charlie, being the dad he is, made sure they had plenty of napkins for the marathon. Frankie laughed, and pressed play.
And everything was going fine. Until they ran out of popcorn about three hours in. Blades shrugged and picked up the empty container.
“Are you sure you want to leave right now? It’s getting good,” Frankie had noted. He just laughed a little.
“Just tell me what happened when I get back!” And then he had left the room. Probably going into the kitchen or something.
Looking back, maybe that was a good thing...
Frankie giggled at the captain’s antics on the screen. The light from the TV not quite filling the whole room. Sharp shadows made everything look more dramatic. Light flickered into different colors, shifting from the show’s space background to the ship.
On screen were people arguing over rations. Something the people were running out of. The emotion almost seemed real. Even to Cody, who choose to deal with angry citizens with the rescues.
“If we give more to the younger-”
“Then we will starve!”
“No offence, but it seems like a few people could deal to lose a few pounds!”
The two children gave each other an amused glance.
“Are you saying I’m-”
The TV burst with a sudden string of static. Cody jumped in place, head snapping to the screen. Black and white fizzled over until… until something faded in. A contorted person, behind a desk with papers in their hands. Frankie sat up stiffly, eyes wide.
Turning to the boy she murmured in confusion, “What is this?” Cody turned to look at the screen, it was clearing up. He shrugged and focused on the face. Both of them were startled when the bright red alert of ‘BREAKING NEWS’ lit up the room. The face-- a woman-- straightened her spine, looking straight into the room with papers clenched in her hands.
“I am live from Nevada, where a hidden military base was found and bombed,” the women on the TV spoke calmly. “Or is it more? Terry, tell us what you see from the copter.”
The screen was overtaken by another video. The screen was shaking over the roar of rotor blades. “Terry here at the wreckage! Just look at this!” Zooming in, the fuzzy video took in charred walls. Desert winds lapped around, sometimes throwing smoke into the sky. Some fires were still burning. A corner of the rubble seemed to churn fire into different colors. Purple, blue, and green filled the vision.
Then, Terry shifted the camera to focus on the middle of the whole thing.
For a second Cody thought he was seeing things. But then Frankie snatched the remote and shakily pointed it at the screen. Everything stopped.
And on screen was the symbol that Cody knew too well. Charred and smudged. The symbol didn’t belong there, didn’t belong on the floor instead of one of the bot’s bodies.
He stared at Frankie in horror, reaching into his pocket to press on the com he always carries. He shakily lifted it closer to him. “Everybody come to the TV room… please. It’s- it’s an emergency,” he stammered into it. It glowed green, like the fire next to the burnt symbol that didn’t belong. Cody could distantly hear crashes and scuffing throughout the firehouse- looks like they took the emergency part seriously.
Dani was the first one through the door, which she slammed open. The sharp smash from that filling the previously quiet room.
“What’s wrong?” Dani sounded breathless. Some part in Cody’s shocked brain recognized that she probably ran all the way from her room.
“I’ll rewind it, we’ll wait for everyone to come down,” Frankie mumbled to herself, pressing the rewind button on the remote. Blurring over the symbol that didn’t belong, the abnormal fire, and the crumbled walls.
It didn’t take long for the others to rush in. All the while frantically looking around for any threats in the room. (Some of them almost seemed disappointed from there being nothing but two spooked children, a concerned sister, and a paused TV)
Kade, his older brother, huffed and gave the two a very unimpressed look, “This better be important, I was getting ready for a date!”
“If it’s an emergency, that date can wait,” Graham, his other brother, briefly scolded. His gaze flickered to the paused television. His eyebrows furrowed as he analyzed the screen. “What’s that you got on there?”
Frankie shifted in her seat, hand still clamped on the remote. “It’s uh…”
“The emergency,” Cody spluttered out. The rest of the spectators turned to look at the TV, where the woman and her papers still sat. Quickly, now that everyone’s attention was on the screen, Frankie hit play.
“I am live from Nevada-” He shut out the noise and focused on the other’s faces. His own family were intent on discovering what had gotten him and Frankie all rolled up. Each family member seemed to react differently to the visible carnage that Terry had revealed. Cody could see the colored fire without even looking at the screen. Every single color, dancing in their eyes.
He could hear when the bots realized what was on the screen. It was a soft scrape of metal, and when Cody glanced over he could see that their jaws dropped. The bots’ eyes, wide with alarm, snapped to each little detail.
“Isn’t that…”
Heatwave snapped up sharply. He straightened himself and faced the Chief with a carefully stoic face. Before he could get a word out, Chase spoke up.
“Permission to leave the room, sir?” Cody could tell that his dad had no idea why they were acting the way they were. He gave them a stiff nod. And that is all it took.
The bots scrambled for the door. A couple of them tripped over their own feet in their sudden desperation. Heatwave raced ahead with the rest of them hot on his tail.
And everything else carried on. His family continued to watch the broadcast, looking for something they must’ve missed. Cody could see their confusion, which was almost as bright as the blaze on the screen.
He jumped when a hand clasped around his arm. He whipped his head around to figure out who had grabbed him. All he saw was Frankie’s almost frantic eyes. “We have to go after them!” she hissed beneath Terry (who was still freaking out over the destruction). The two hopped out of their seats together, already racing towards where the bots disappeared.
Cody didn’t even remember most of the sprint. All that really mattered to him was that he got where he needed to go. Walls blurred beside him, and the floor flew beneath his feet. If he was correct, the bots would probably be at the communications center. Though, part of him wanted to be wrong.
But life never would be all sunshine and rainbows.
He and Frankie skidded to a halt when they heard the first crash. Cody could hear someone (probably Heatwave) shouting Cybertronian and Earth curses alike. The two didn’t even have to look at each other to know they had discovered where the bots had gone. The door (which was Cybertronian sized) was swung open from their rush. Little pieces of drywall that were scattered around suggested whoever opened it used a lot of force to do so.
“Fraggit… PICK UP!” a voice from inside roared. Yup, definitely Heatwave.
Frankie tiptoed to the door frame, stepping over crumbly white powder. She turned to look over her shoulder and motioned Cody to follow. His mind, still a little bit scrambled at the scenario, compiled without a question. The two snuck over to the best of their ability. Though, through all of the cursing and banging that wasn’t so difficult. Just peeking over the door frame, the two eagerly took in all of the sights.
Cody really wishes he hadn’t.
There was another loud crash as Heatwave slammed his fists into the concil. His snarl of frustration lit up the room more than the blaring red sign on the coms screen. A picture of Optimus flung to the side, the yellow scout popping up next. After a minute, the same red sign popped up again. Heatwave optics narrowed in his rage, fingers digging into the metal and crumpled it up .
“It won’t do much good if you break it,” Boulder hummed before placing a hand on the firetruck’s shoulder. Boulder himself looked worried, but the different worried. The worried you would have if you couldn’t find an object. A hopeful kind of worried.
“They didn’t give us a warning… that rules out relocation,” Chase hissed from the corner. He was pacing holes into the floor. All of his steps in rhythm. It sounded like a clock, ticking down on and on. He kept on muttering under his breath: codes and regulations. He must be trying to find a solution. Trying to find out the problem in the first place would be the most difficult.
But then a sound from the far left sent shivers down Cody’s spine. It was unlike something he’s ever heard before. It was something… staticy. Little bits and pieces popping in like a normal voice. Straining to look over the other bots in the room, he saw a little bit of white. Maybe if he could just-
Oh. Oh no.
And there was Blades with his head in his hands. His cockpit pulled over his head just so you could barely see it. Rambling under his breath, with bright blue liquid dripping from beneath his hands. He let out the sound again. And with a start, Cody realized he was crying.
The sight didn’t belong. Nothing about this seemed right. The bots never cried before. Something was extremely bad.
A hand on his shoulder made him jump. His family all rushed in, questions muddling together. Someone was pulling him away from the room.
Huh.
He never knew robots could cry.
Later, it was explained that Nevada was where the Autobot Base was stationed at. An Autobot symbol in the middle of a burning wreckage. No one was picking up on their coms. And the fires: burning the color of energon. Every single sign pointed to the Autobot cause being no more. That everyone who was protecting the Earth was gone to the winds.
No one slept that night.
At three A.M that night, a light lip up on the energon sensor. Chief Charlie Burns, who was sitting at the desk, jumped up at the sharp ring. His tired fingers slid over the buttons on the keypad. At first he had to squint at the screen to see what was going on. Then with a start, he clicked the broadcast button (specialized to send data to the bots quicker than a com call).
Not even minutes later, the entire firehouse was gathered in the basement. The bots shifting pede to pede. Heatwave in particular seemed especially anxious to get moving. When the Chief strolled in, eyes snapped to him like a stretched rubber band. The Chief was dressed in his police uniform, as though this was like any other mission. Meeting the eyes of the bots (who were all distressed on some level) he spoke the best he could. Considering he was running off no sleep, a couple of coffees, and an off brand Red-Bull.
“What’s the game plan?”
Heatwave didn’t even wait a nanoklik to reply. “It depends, we have no idea who is out there. It could be anything at this point,” he started, “Cons would be the most likely-”
“But we cannot forget that there’s a chance it could be an Autobot!” Boulder spoke up.
Blades squeezed himself around the others, “It could be the worse Cons we’ve ever even encountered! It could be-” the copter bot wavered, “it could be Megatro- ”
“By himself? Not likely,” Chase mumbled from the corner. The heli huffed, mumbling under his breath. “A more likely case is a scout-”
Cody’s head snapped up. Even though it was three in the morning and the boy had no sleep didn’t stop his inquisitive nature. “Like, Bumblebee’s type of scout?” A couple of the bots winced a bit, but that didn’t even compare to Blades’s reaction. The poor helicopter cringed, his rotors tucking behind him as he slunk back behind the other bots.
“Technically, yes…” the police car trailed off, giving Heatwave a brief glance. Said firetruck’s optics glinted as a plan began to form once again.
Kade raised an eyebrow, “I’m sensing a but?”
“But that would mean they’re still looking for us,” Heatwave began with a fire in his optics, “if we get the drop on that con, they wouldn’t go back to tell that mangy rust covered-”
“Did you guys forget this bot could be friendly ?” The bulldozer, who was previously forgotten, argued.
“If it is friendly, I want to meet them!” Cody chimed in, shooting his very disgruntled family a smile.
Kade scoffed, “You? No. Me however? Count me in!”
“Absolutely n-”
“No! What in the-”
“ Kade- ”
The voices all mixed together, every other person trying to get heard over the other. Meanwhile, the bots watched the little spat. Boulder had let the others talk away at the possibility of a Decepticon on Griffin Rock, but the energy signature suggested only one bot. There were four bots all together, and if the new bot was friendly…
“What if we brought them along just to check?” Boulder hissed to the firetruck. Heatwave gave him a look, optic ridge raised incredulously.
“If you honestly think we’ll be bringing them along…”
In Heatwave’s defense, Boulder has a terrible knack of having good points. But part of him didn’t believe the whole ‘We can just drop them off!’ side of it. Either way, now he had his ever-so-vigilant partner in the driving seat. Hands clamped down on the wheel with a look on his face that made it look like he regretted everything. Then again, this is Kade… could he even regret something?
He had Blades in the sky with Dani and Cody, looking for the number of bots. Plus, any other details could be good in a fight. If it came to that. (Don’t tell anybody, but he hoped it would.) The others were driving beside him into the forest with their partners. Hopefully, using both the optics in the air and the energon tracker… they’d be able to track this bot down. Then, they had the bot-power to take a Decepticon scout.
A warning beep came from the tracker. Blades’s energon signal was getting close to the other bot’s. Gathering the data into a little packet, he messaged it manually to the copter bot. Heatwave could hear the muttered ‘Oh great.’ over the coms.
:I should be right on top of them, where are they?!:
:Hiding maybe?”
Chase tried to supply,
:Though that isn’t an optimal situation if they knew you were there.:
:Are you saying they could know I’m here?!:
Blades’s panicked voice hissed over the coms.
:It is possible,:
The police car confirmed. Heatwave held in a huff, turning harshly around a tree. The other two followed his lead.
:Look on the bright side,”
The bulldozer chimed in,
: if they do know you’re there they didn’t shoot you down!:
:Boulder... I appreciate it, but that doesn’t make me feel any better!:
Trees split into different designs about a klik later. The taller, softer ones morphed into spiky and sharp ones. The needles swayed with the rush of dirt from their tires. Within the mile radius, a bot lurked in the shadows. If this was a Con’s scout, they were in for a fight for a lifetime. (Heatwave told himself this wasn’t about revenge, but c’mon. You had to see what this is about.)
But then Dani gasped over the coms.
“Right there! Look at ‘em!”
Quickly, Heatwave pulled up the energon tracker onto his main HUD. He turned sharply, tires digging into mud and grass. Kicking it up onto the trees. Driving right towards where Blades was stationed, his engine roared as he accelerated. Ignoring Chase’s mumbling of a speed limit and Boulder’s unhappy comments about the grass.
:What do they look like?:
The firetruck demanded over the twists and turns.
:Um! One bot, they look to have a red and white paint job… uh. OH! They just transformed and are heading your way!:
Another glance to the tracker proved the statement. One blinking red dot moving towards the groop, and showing no signs of stopping. He tightened the seat belt around Kade before slamming on his brakes. Using the momentum to twist and transform mid-motion. The fancy move awarded him with two pedes on the ground and one safe human. (Though he was looking a little green)
“ Never do that again,” Kade groaned, clutching both his torso and his head. His windshield slid down as he dent down onto one knee. Holding out his servo as the redhead climbed out. The others transformed around him, Blades landing a little ways off before doing so. Each and every single one of them taking great care to make sure their charges were safely out.
‘Clearing’ his throat, “Now, you guys hide over in the trees. If this is a con, you simply run away. If it is friendly, we might consider letting you guys chat. Understand?” Heatwave was met with firm nods. The Chief ushered everyone away under one of the droopy spiked trees. Using the shadows to cover them. If things went bad, it would be difficult for the attacker to see them, but easy for them to get away.
“The bot’s coming!” He didn’t need to be told twice, he could already hear the roaring engine of a bot speeding their way through. Heatwave exchanged glances with his teammates. Chase’s optics held a fierce determination. Blades had uncertainty, but courage as well. An Boulder’s, who had hope and valor. Each and every bot here was ready to fight, even though some of them might not have battle training or any sense of aggression. Heatwave turned to the dark woods with a strong feeling of fortitude in his spark. If this bot made the terrible decision to make them an enemy, you bet they were going to fight back as boldly as any other soldier.
And he knew Optimus would be proud .
The flash of white among the trees almost made it easy to pick up where they were coming from. Maybe they weren’t a threat after all. Or, they were idiotic enough to believe they didn’t see them. The vehicle skid to a halt just beyond the tree line, dust flying out of the shadows. The silence that filled the air was heavy. Both sides sizing each other up the best they could. Then, the familiar sound of a transformation was soon to follow. Strange enough, the sound went on longer than normal. As though the bot was transforming twice . Bright blue optics met Heatwave’s own. In them he could see the distrust, the curiosity, and the aggression . The aggression of a bot that has been through so much, they would fist-fight over the smallest of scraps.
Then the bot took a few steps forwards. Their plating was a mix of white and a red-orange. A compressed chassis with large helm ornaments that almost looked like optic ridges. And, of course, large blades where hands should be . In one moment of clarity, Heatwave realized that the sound of transformation wasn’t elongated at all. The bot had transformed twice: simply different body parts. He swallowed the own apprehension he felt.
The bot’s optics flicked to each bot before deciding to land on Heatwave’s. For a moment there was silence. But then the bot began to speak, “What’re your designations-”
A familiar stubbornness filled his frame. Designations? The bot wanted designations? He’ll give them designations !
Interrupting the bot mid-sentence Heatwave snarled, “We are Rescue Bots! And we will never let you , or any other Con take our home!” Taking a step forward for emphasis, he met the bot’s optics with his own. Said bot let out an unimpressed huff, sparking a flare of anger in the firetruck. He grit his dentae. This mech wasn’t taking him seriously! He’ll show them not to underestimate-
“That’s nice, but I am no Decepticon ,” the mech spat out the last word. Letting his blades transform back into servos. “Chief Autobot medical officer Ratchet, I’d say it was nice to meet you but then I’d be lying. You’re the Rescue Bots if I am correct? I believe I asked for your designations before this mech-” he waved a servo at the affronted Heatwave “-had the gull to interrupt me?” Heatwave spluttered over his own words. Part of him wanted to be overjoyed that this mech was an Autobot, proof that the Rescue Bots aren't totally alone on Earth. But the other part of him wanted to be angry about the fact that Autobots were alive and didn’t even contact them. Though it seemed like the others didn’t share his concern.
Boulder stepped forward with a servo out and a smile. Ratchet paused for a second before shaking it with his own. “Yeah! My name’s Boulder!” The bulldozer stepped back.
Chase took his place, shaking Ratchet’s servo. “Chase.”
Blades had began to walk away to where the humans were hidden. Turning over to call over his shoulder with a wave, “Mine’s Blades!”
Then the mech’s optics landed on him. Well, this was the hill he’d die on (a morbid human saying. Oh Primus he was picking those up now too) “My name’s Heatwave. I’m the leader of Sigma 17, or the bots you can see here.” He shook Ratchet’s servo firmly before taking a step back.
“Figured you’d be in some state of authority,” the mech shrugged briefly. “How you stepped forward towards an armed mech just screams ‘bravery’.”
Heatwave opened his mouth to defend himself-
“Hello!”
Only to be stopped by an enthusiastic Burns family. They all trotted out from behind the tree with Blades in the lead. The helicopter was murmuring something to the family, and a couple of them nodded.
“Humans?!” Heatwave jolted in place ( not because he was scared ) and whipped around to face a distraught Ratchet. The mech was staring at the family with a look that was almost comically startled. Wide optics flickering over every single one in the group, servos up as though that would somehow help. Ratchet took a quick step back when the Chief took one step forward.
“Chief Charlie Burns, it’s nice to meet you sir,” the Chief announced in his official ‘officer’ voice. The other Burns stepped forwards as well, giving the medic a smile (or in Kade’s case, a smirk). “These good people beside me are my family. Kade, Dani, Graham, and Cody,” he motioned to each of the family members on their names.
Ratchet narrowed his optics at the youngest Burns, “Could you possibly tell me why you brought a child out here with you?”
Cody just laughed, smiling up at the medic with a face you just couldn’t stay mad at (Trust him, Heatwave tried) and giggled out, “That’s a long story! How about you just come back with us to the Firehouse?”
Ratchet gave Heatwave a confused look. “Our base,” the firetruck hummed. The medic ‘ah’ed. Twisting his form once again until instead of a mech, there was an ambulance in the middle of the field.
“Then I guess I’ll just follow your lead,”
The youngest Burns ‘ooh’ed before a large grin split his face. “An ambulance , noble!”
The ride back was longer than normal. Boulder decided a little tour wouldn’t hurt and guided the new mech through the town. A couple civilians glanced over, but didn’t seem to mind much. They even drove a little towards Doc Greene’s lab, admiring the view of the building. Though after a few minutes, Ratchet seemed as uninterested as you could possibly be. They wrapped it up and arrived back to the base.
When they had brought the medic down to their energon storage to get the mech some fuel, his optics almost popped out of his helm. Gawking at the supply with his jaw dropped. Stunned, he took the cube without hesitation. Taking a while to rest and fuel up. Answering questions with short and blunt statements. Like how he was holding up, and how he was feeling.
But then Chase got curious. And one question was all it took.
“What happened back on the Autobot base?” the police car had questioned innocently. Genuine concern in his optics. That one question piqued the other’s interest, bots and humans alike leaning in.
Ratchet huffed at the attention, gripping his cube tighter. “What do you think happened? We were attacked by Decepticons!” Giving the police car a dirty look, the medic took a quick sip out of the cube.
Chase nodded, “Indeed, but we were given no message about an attack. Or even relocation. What happened ?”
“We didn’t have the time,” Ratchet began with contempt, “we were…” the medic trailed off, “too busy with a war ship being dropped on our helms.”
“That sudden of an attack?”
“Yes, it was-”
“Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of here!”
The bots in the base paused, optics wide at the Prime’s announcement. Ratchet stared for a second in alarm before he blurted, “We’re abandoning the base?!”
The Prime looked over his shoulder at his medic. “The base is lost, we must disperse and rendezvous at a new location.”
“But shouldn’t we stick together?” Jack muttered in shock.
“All for one and one for all?” Miko chimed in with a pleading tone.
The Prime sighed, “We have more of a chance to all get there in one piece if they must look for us!”
“Where are we going?” Raf hissed out in a small panicky voice.
Ratchet could see the conflicting emotions on the Prime’s face. The face that used to be so kind, but was hardened in war. The face that was expected to be a leader and make the hardest decisions.
Optimus straightened himself, optics breezing over his soldiers. Pausing once at one side of the room, and then on Ratchet. Optic ridges furrowing, “Griffin Rock. I’ll be sending you the coordinates now.”
“Wha-”
A data burst popped up on his screen, showing direct latitude and longitude. The rendezvous was most likely an island off of the human state of Maine. Ratchet internally huffed. If he had to drive all the way through that water, Optimus was lucky if the Decepticons killed him first!
Alarms clicked on, final warnings to the carnage that was to come. Bots scrabbled to gather their charges, holding them close. Ratchet sharply turned to the concil, servos flying over buttons and switches. Pulling up one location, somewhere in the Midwest of this country, Ratchet tugged the lever down. The bridge roared to life, a vortex of greens and blues shining all around the base. The base they were abandoning…
“Bumblebee, you will go first.” The scout beeped in acknowledgement and the sound of a transformation out-shined the roar of the bridge. Tires screeched as the yellow scout sped out of the base. Hissing through grit dentae as he repeated the process, Ratchet found another location. Once again pulling the lever down and listening to vehicles speed out. His audials missed hushed goodbyes and tearful glances. Missed Optimus ordering Wheeljack to come look at the wreckage later. Missed the rumbles and crashes from outside the walls. The process was almost robotic, repeating the same things over and over-
“Old friend, it is your turn to go.”
Ratchet almost jumped, wearily peering over at the Prime. Some far part in his processor noted that Optimus looked tired. Defeated almost. Then the Prime stepped forward, selecting the very coordinates that he had sent everyone. The rendezvous spot. Looks like the medic was already ahead of everyone.
“I will bridge you there directly. You must find the Rescue Bots and tell them we are coming,” Optimus whispered. Optics abandoning their search of the screen to meet Ratchet’s.
The medic almost nodded before it clicked, “What about you ?”
The Prime vented heavily, “I will ensure the Decepticons can not follow,” he breathed. Staring at a wall as it shook and crumbled. Ratchet took a few hurried steps toward the bridge. He paused just before he walked through, staring into the portal. When he crossed it, he would be leaving everything from before behind. An old friend, a base, a home…
He grit his dentae and clenched his servoes, “I…” he murmured into the chaos, “never imagined it would end like this.”
Gathering his courage, he took the final steps out of the base. The last thing he heard from behind him before it had closed, was a booming implosion.
“Ratchet?”
The mech jumped in his plating, whipping around to stare at yellow optics. Not the optics of his leader, his friends, or his teammates. Just the optics of a young stranger who had no idea how much the Autobots were struggling.
The mech, who was named Chase, seemed almost apologetic. Optics uncertain before uttering, “I… apologize if I brought up bad mem-”
Ratchet scoffed mid-sentence, waving the mech off with a servo. “No worries.”
The silence that filled after was uncomfortable. He must’ve stared off longer than he expected, because all of these bots and humans in this room seemed almost afraid to ask another question. Fine then, he’d answer one he already knew they were wondering.
“This is an Autobot rendezvous point now. The others will arrive soon,” he hummed nonchalantly as he took another sip of energon. The others gawked for a second, before a glimmer of hope split their faces. Primus, he wished he had their same attitude.
“As in the others got out…?”
Ratchet coughed, “Most of them.” The medic had to watch that little flicker get washed away.
“Is Bumblebee okay?” the Helicopter bot (who Ratchet had first thought was a Decepticon) blurted out. Afterwards, the bot looked a little sheepish, but determined to get an answer.
Ratchet considered the question slowly, swirling his cube. Giving the bot a suspicious glance. Last time he checked, no one but Optimus even knew these bots existed. And they didn’t know who he was right off the bat, so unless-
Oh.
Oh when that mech got here he was in for a stern talking to.
“Bumblebee was the first to leave,” The bot- Blades- sighed in relief, muttering a little ‘Thank Primus’ into his servos. The medic downed the last of the energon and placed the empty cube on a counter. Nodding to the green mech who picked it up to dispose of it.
“So what I understand, the whole of Team Prime is coming… here ?” The oldest human questioned.
Ratchet nodded before turning on his heel. “Whether you like it or not. They’re coming. And you lot better be ready for their arrival.” Marching right out of the door and leaving the rest of them to question his answers, the medic closed the door behind him. Sparing a glance at the sparkbeat tracker on his arm. Everyone seemed steady except-
Except for Optimus, Wheeljack and Smokescreen. Optimus he could understand, facing off an entire warship didn’t exactly give you the best odds. Prime or not. But Smokescreen and Wheeljack?
He vented out into the dark hallway. Primus had a cruel way of testing his people. But Ratchet didn’t know how much longer he could stand it.
And- worst of all- he didn’t know if these innocent bystanders could take it at all.
Either way, he guesses they’ll find out...