Work Text:
Fuel reserves at 18%
Ratchet dismissed the warning with barely a glance.
He also ignored the sharp pain of his fuel tank, and forced his processor to focus on the task at hand, instead of letting it needlessly worry over a situation that he had perfectly under control, thank you very much.
Fuel reserves at 17%
Recharge was eluding him. His fuel tank felt like it was entirely empty. A void, a black hole, it was pulling on the nearby organs in a desperate attempt to feed on something.
In the privacy of his own room, he took to chewing on an old nonfunctional stylus, just to make the tank think its torture would end soon.
Frame efficiency down 30%
That was more worrying. If there was a Decepticon attack, or even a need for him to be on the field, he would only be a liability.
But he couldn't fuel, not now, not when Arcee and Bulkhead were just back from a mission and would likely go back out soon. His own needs could wait.
If he kept telling himself that the craving for energon didn't exist, maybe he could ignore it enough to recharge tonight.
Fuel reserves at 16%
Frame efficiency down 50%
All his fuel saving programs were running overtime, and it wasn't enough. The hunger pangs were now constant, and an uncalled-for distraction. The red warnings simply didn't want to disappear from his field of vision, no matter how insistently he closed them. Even his usually steady hands had began trembling. Not much, nothing that could be noticed by anyone else, barely enough to be picked up by his sensitive sensors. But it was there and he could only force himself to ignore it for so long. It was only a matter of time before the minuscule vibrations had an impact on the equipment he was trying to repair.
His empty fuel tank began rumbling all of a sudden. In the empty room, it would echo horribly and betray his underfueled condition to everyone, so Ratchet suddenly slammed the wrench over the table, to cover the sound.
On the other side of the room, Bumblebee jumped, then beeped a worried interrogation.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Ratchet handwaved his concern away.
This time he took the time to go into his deeper-coded settings, and remove the warnings at their source.
Fuel reserves at 15%
Frame efficiency down 80%
Shutdown imminent
His movements were slow, too slow. If anyone saw him, they would immediately know that something was wrong.
Ah. What a joke. As if anything wasn't wrong, Ratchet thought as he went past empty dusty rooms, full of broken machines that the humans hadn't thought worth keeping when they abandoned the place. Useless stuff. Just like me, he almost thought before catching himself. He certainly needed to fuel soon, if his processor was straying so much. His thoughts were pinging with all kinds of wrong assessments. Dangerous, very dangerous, can't take any wrong decision.
At least, the energon reserve should be quiet at this time of the night cycle. He really didn't want to have to explain his personal refueling schedule.
Frame efficiency down 85%
Shutdown imminent
The warning popped even bigger in his vision. He could remove it, or he could spend that time walking to the supply room.
Shutdown immin-
He threw his hand against the wall when his hip servomotor gave up, and he didn't even hear the sound.
Fuel reserves at 16%
It wasn't much, but it was already better. The biggest popup disappeared, leaving only the myriad of smaller ones. One thing at a time, though.
Fuel reserves at 17%
The ache in his fuel tank was slowly subsiding. It wouldn't disappear, not unless he fueled completely, but that wouldn't happen today. It couldn't, he reminded himself, mentally counting how much energon was in stock. It was nowhere near enough to fuel five bots.
Fuel reserves at 18%
Already his processor threads felt clearer. His fueling gauge wasn't in the clear yet, but at least he was out of immediate danger.
He dismissed the warning about his consistently lower reaction speed.
Fuel reserves at 19%
He let out a sigh when the sensation of a slowly-filling tank finally registered in the rest of his frame. His struts relaxed (dangerous, what if something happened and he wasn't ready to react?), and he felt his weight settle more comfortably on itself. Risky, that. He shouldn't get too relaxed, what if the Decepticons did something?
…But maybe just tonight was fine. He'd know it if there was an attack. So he forced himself to drink from the cube slowly, to let his fuel tank get itself reacquainted with the sensation.
Fuel reserves at 20%
But of course, his peaceful secret refueling couldn't last. A shuffling of careful heavy feet announced Optimus's arrival before his friend even arrived in the room.
"Ratchet? Are you alright?"
Ratchet huffed. "Of course I am. Shouldn't you be recharging anyway?"
Optimus walked up to him, with his perpetually concerned face and his always bleeding spark. "I can go with some less recharge. You, on the other hand, seem troubled."
"You don't need to worry about me, Optimus. I can take care of myself."
Fuel reserves at 21%
It wasn't enough. Even with his fuel saving routines, this much energon would only get him fueled for a couple days at most, maybe even less. The hunger pangs would begin again with a vengeance, he thought, and that realization made him stop.
He should fuel more tonight. He knew that, it wasn't good for his frame, he knew exactly what the consequences of underfueling were, both immediate and long-term, physical and psychological.
"I know you can, old friend," Optimus said carefully.
Fuel reserves at 22%
"Can I still stay with you while you refuel?"
But the academic knowledge didn't measure up to the very concrete consequences if he fueled more. If Bulkhead's or Arcee's portions were smaller, they would lose in power and resistance. If Arcee's or Bumblebee's portions were lesser, they would lose in speed and precision. If Optimus's portion was…
Anyway. He just couldn't take more than what he'd calculated was his maximum amount.
"If you want," Ratchet answered, trying for a middle ground between the warmth he always felt for Optimus and the cold hard fact that he couldn't stay longer. "But I'm done fueling for tonight."
A processor thread, one he still hadn't figured out how to shut down, screamed at him to pick the cube back up and get more energon in his frame. He squashed the thought out of pure habit.
"Are you going back to recharge, then?" Optimus asked. Scrap.
"No," Ratchet admitted. "I have to continue working on a program."
When Optimus's eyebrow plates took that angle that meant more worry than disappointment, he added: "If I can figure out how to locate energon deposits before the Decepticons do…"
"Yes, of course," Optimus nodded.
Inside Ratchet's program, his fuel gauge hesitated, blinked between two numbers, then settled on a percentage.
Fuel reserves at 2221%
Time before shutdo——
He shut down the warning.
"I wish you good luck, then, old friend," Optimus said with the smile that Ratchet knew was only for him.
"And I wish you a good recharge," Ratchet dismissed him, with the smile that Optimus knew was only for him.
Before he had fully left the room, Optimus turned back to him, and his gaze went over Ratchet's entire frame. Inspecting, thinking. Ratchet let him look silently, then Optimus talked for the last time.
"Please, feel free to fuel as much as you need."
Ratchet had tested the Matrix extensively when the artifact had decided to bind itself to Optimus, so he knew for a fact that the thing didn't give its holder any mind-reading ability. But sometimes it still felt like it did.
His fuel gauge was still solidly in the red, and he could only hope that the sound of his fans was enough to hide the soft growling of his frame. Hope that the distance with Optimus was enough to hide the strain that the ache was putting in his smile.
"Of course, Optimus, of course."