The Unity Of Two

16: Poor Bulk

Ratchet dragged me in the medbay again, got me to sit on the berth and left. I was told to wait as they sorted out the Iacon stuff. Apparently Optimus had decoded some of it.

Long story short, I was kicked out the medbay as Ratchet dragged Bulkhead's limp frame in.

"What happened?" I asked as I got to helping with Ratchet.

"Prolonged Tox-En exposure and a shot to the backstrut." Ratchet grunted and a monitor started beeping. "What is it?" Ratchet asked Raf as he opened a ground bridge.

"Arcee, Bee, jack and Miko." He said hurriedly as they came through.

They spotted us struggling with Bulk and helped, we got him on a berth as Wheeljack came in. He was dead silent.

"What happened?" Bee asked anyone who was listening. Arcee repeated the question and Fowler explained to them. Miko wasted no time and sprinted over to Bulkhead.

Raf opened another bridge and Optimus came through, he quickly asked for an explanation which Fowler gave him.

I got out of the way, apparently they only got one relic, the phase shifter.

"They can't be successful, can they?" Unicron said.

"Oh shut up." Primus blurted and regretted it instantly. Optimus looked over to me but returned to what he was doing.

"Yup, he can hear you." I confirmed in a whisper.

"Nice going, you sad-sack." Unicron hissed with a hint of pleasure in his voice. The failure of others always lifts his spirits.

The wait was stressful, everyone was silent as they hoped Bulkhead would be okay. Even I cared a little.

Then a presence was in my processor, Optimus. I closed my optics quickly and opened them when he left.

Bee looked at me confused but looked over at Optimus as he brought a servo to his helm. "Helm ache?" He asked.

"My vision went black too." Optimus said lowly.

"You ought to have Ratchet look at that." Bee said.

"Agreed, but Bulkhead is his main concern at the moment." He said and everything went quiet again.

"He thinks he's going crazy." Unicron giggled, Primus huffed but it was barely noticeable.

Then, every helm turned to Ratchet as he came out of the medbay, "He will recover given time." Ratchet said with a frown and proceeded to give a long medical report to Optimus and anyone who cared to listen.

Bee nudged my side, having had enough, "You want to get some energon?" He asked.

"Sure." I told him and got up, Wheeljack tagged along too. "He's gone." I told Primus.

"Who?" He asked.

"Optimus, who else?" I said, did he really forget.

"You're avoiding Optimus?" Bee asked as we walked.

"Sire doesn't like him." I said.

"You got that right." Unicron huffed.

"Do you know what a scrape goat is?" Primus asked.

"Yes." I said.

"So they think that you hate Optimus-"

"Well, I don't like him." I told Primus.

"Maybe, you should give him a chance." Bee beeped, twiddling his digits.

I looked over to Wheeljack, he shrugged, "Does your carrier like him?"

"He worships him." I joked.

"I do not!" Primus argued and Unicron cracked up.

We stayed silent until we got to the energon. "Oh," Bee started, "Ratchet wants to examine you again."

"More I listen, the more he seems like a pedophile." Unicron stated.

"What's a 'Pedophile?" I asked.

Wheeljack choked on some energon, "Under what context is this?" He said nervously, Bee looked confused.

"Sire said that Ratchet seems like a pedophile." I explained, "What is it?"

Bee shrugged and looked over to Wheeljack.

"You should not be teaching him this." Primus hissed to Unicron.

"Cheese." I told him as Optimus came into view. They all gave me a look.

"Ah Optimus!" Wheeljack said, full of relief. "These two have a question..." He said and stepped back.

"What's a pedophile?" Bee asked before I could.

Optimus opened his intake, closed it, and glared at Wheeljack. "Augury brought it up." Jackie said.

"My Sire brought it up." I corrected.

"You're using me as a scrape goat again." Unicron said in a matter of fact.

"Yea," Bee said, "Apparently Ratchet's a pedophile." Bumblebee said, giving some context.

Optimus looked entirely shocked.

"What?" I asked.

"Good luck." Wheeljack said, patted Optimus on the shoulder and left.

"Ratchet is not a pedophile." Optimus started.

"Okay-" Bee started.

"But what is it?" I asked.

"I'll tell you when you're older." He said hastily and nudged me along, "Ratchet wants to do more scans." He explained.

"Why?" I asked, leaving Bumblebee behind as I sipped on the cube.

"Health reasons." He said.

"Wow, I had no idea." I snickered.

"He has summoned sarcasm!" Unicron cheered.

Optimus looked at me, as if the idea of being sarcastic is completely new to him. He stopped, "Your mental health is of concern for us." He said as he looked down at me, I looked up at him.

"That's nice?" I said slowly, "You want a pat on the back?"

"I'm so proud!" Sire wheezed.

Optimus was not too familiar with someone talking back. He opened his intake to say something, but I was interrupted.

Megatron's vision flashed in my optics, he was walking through the hallways but came to a stop. "You again?" He asked, no one in particular-or me.

I was pulled back to the autoboot base, Optimus was staring at me in concern. I was a bit creeped out to be honest. "Are you alright?" He asked as he bent down lower to my level.

"Fine."

"Your optics went grey." He said.

"Looking into Megaron's personal life again huh?" Unicron said in a suggestive manner.

"I'm not a pervert." I told him.

"That's good." Optimus blinked in surprise.

"I don't want to be scanned." I told him, no wanting to linger on that topic.

"That's not good." Optimus said, "However, you will let Ratchet do so-"

"No." I said.

He was about to explode, I swear. Then Bee peaked around the bend behind Optimus, he gave a glare of warning.

"Maybe later?" I suggested, he looked slightly surprised at the proposition but declined.

He pulled me along to the medbay.