Return (A Ratchet TFP Fanfiction Story)

Chapter 8

Megatron smirked smugly as he reached out with clawed servos. The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed everywhere. He knew he was feeling pain, but it wasn't really there. He told himself that none of this was real. Megatron drew away with a cruel smile, his sharp dentas shining.

"You are good at keeping secrets," the warlord sneered. "I will give you that."

He knew that he was gritting his own dentas, but he couldn't feel it. He struggled to move, but for some unknown reason he couldn't budge. Megatron seemed to enjoy watching him try to escape, knowing he could not. 

"I'll never tell you anything," he heard himself say. Why did his voicebox sound so.. strange?

"You do not need to tell me, doctor," Megatron hissed. "You just need to break."

He heard his own scream travel through his mind, and a moment later, he felt the pain.

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Ratchet started from his recharge with a soundless gasp. Venting heavily, he took in his surroundings. Whatever he had just seen, he wasn't there anymore. He tried to calm his beating spark and labored breathing, resting a servo on his helm.

Megatron. Surrounded in... red? He couldn't really picture it. All he remembered was the audio and the warlord. A sense of dread in his entire chassis, however, told him that it was something more than a simple nightmare. Perhaps.. a lost memory? He shuddered.

As he blinked, he finally registered where he was. He had accidently fallen into recharge leaning against the wall beside the still barely functioning main console. He guessed from the chilly air and the darkness around him that it was late into the earth hours. He was alone in the room and found himself wondering where the twins were. 

He sighed as his legs ached in protest to him sleeping standing up. He forced his tired chassis to move back to the computer so he could work. Now was no time to be wasting time. Considering what he had just seen, he didn't really want to go back to recharge anyway.

Turning the computer back on, he cursed to himself when it made a small groan with its awakening. He tapped the keys on the console to help it wake, so that he could figure out what was wrong. He must have wired something incorrectly previously.

He bent over again and pulled himself under the console again. Pulling a board away from the main wiring consulate, he examined them carefully. As he grew more and more focused on his work, he didn't hear pedesteps coming his way.

"You're still under there!?"

Ratchet jumped and slammed his helm on the bottom of the console again.

Second time today, he growled in his processor, shaking the red from his optics. He refused to look back at whatever those memories were again.

"What do you want, Alpha?" the medic muttered as he pulled himself out and glared at the younger mech.

Alpha crossed his arms again and gave him an exasperated look. "Looking for you. When Omega saw you weren't in the medical bay she grew concerned."

"She should know where I am by now," Ratchet grumbled, shaking his helm in a annoyance.

"You really should get back to resting, though," Alpha told him, holding out a servo to help him up. "Your recharge readings must be low."

Ratchet glared at him and went back under the console. "I'm busy."

He heard the young bot scoff. "I can see that. I want you to get back just as much as you do, believe me."

"This isn't just about my satisfaction!" the doctor yelled angrily, not coming out from under the console. "Autobot lives are at stake! I cannot allow my hinderance to give Megatron the chance he needs to take out Optimus!"

Alpha remained silent, seemingly stunned. After a moment, he walked away.

Ratchet sighed, not necessarily relieved, but glad he could get some more work done now. What he said was true. The team could be in danger. Optimus was very capable, but he was built for fighting for war, not fixing up his fellow Autobots. 

He shuddered as he imagined Bulkhead stumbling into some ridiculous mess. Miko would no doubt be at his tail end, following for an "adventure".

Miko, he thought worriedly. I hope her and the other children are alright.

The memory of the Rafael's close encounter to death hindered in Ratchet's mind. Megatron had easily nearly killed the boy. Humans were much too fragile. Ratchet had been lucky to save the boy's life in time.

Miko, if you get Raf or any of the others in any kind of trouble, I will personally send you to meet Megatron yourself.

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"Miko, don't you dare!" Jack shouted angrily as he chased after her.

Oh, Miko dared, alright. She hadn't seen any action for weeks, and was getting bored. Plus, the mood in the base wasn't making her time there any more fun. She smirked as she left Jack in the dust and jumped through the Groundbridge.

"Ha!" she laughed excitedly as she made it to the other side, snapping out her phone. "Alright, let's see some 'Con smashing!"

"Or let's not," Jack huffed, taking her arm. He had just barely made it through the Bridge as well.

She struggled in his grip. "Aw, come on! Do you really want to go back to depress-ville? My phone needs some new pics anyway."

Jack didn't respond, just pulled her out of the way of any danger and clicked his phone open. "Raf, you there?"

"Yes," the young boy replied. "Miko went through the Groundbridge again, didn't she?"

"You guys know me too well," Miko smirked, only to get another glare from Jack. "Seriously, you wanna go back there?"

"It's just me at base anyway, Miko, " Raf said over the phone. "All the Autobots are over there."

She hated that he had a point. "Ugh, you guys are just as bad. I just wanna see some cool stuff so I can get my mind off it!"

With a large tug, she managed to pull away from Jack. He shouted something in protest, but she was already long gone as she raced towards the action. Jack groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Raf, keep the link open," he sighed. "We'll probably need a Bridge later."

"... Okay, Jake. Just be careful."

Jack didn't reply. He sighed again as he ran after Miko. 

I am so dead.

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Dang it, Miko. You're scrap metal now. >;P

*evil laughter*