Return (A Ratchet TFP Fanfiction Story)

Chapter 11

Ratchet could feel Omega's curious gaze from behind him, sending an annoyed tingle down his backstrut. She was watching him work with wide optics, and while she was remaining silent, her stares were so hard he could almost see the expression on her faceplate. He sighed and took his servos from the console.

"Omega," he groaned. "Must you watch the entire time?"

The young femme started when he spoke to her, blinking. "Uh, sorry. Is it bothering you?"

"Yes," he muttered.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Stop that."

"S-" she started before slapping her servo over her mouth.

Ratchet sighed again and returned to his work. He was mostly frustrated with how long the task at hand was taking. It was a lot harder than he had expected it to be. While the monitor was now functioning much better, its higher functions were still damaged. He was struggling to get them back online, so that he could at least gain some access to the Groundbridge they had on ship. The process had so far taken an entirety of two days without pause, and the work was barely done.

The medic groaned and rubbed his faceplate tiredly. On top of that, he was still struggling with his own damages. While he was healing better now, his systems were slower and weaker than previously, and occasionally his chassis would ache. Not to mention the nightmares he had been experiencing. The same nightmare had been playing over and over in his head, even though he hadn't recharged in the two days he had been working.

"Maybe you should take a break," Omega said gently, suddenly next to him. She glanced down at his servos, worry gleaming in her optics.

A bit confused, he looked down to where her gaze was cast. He found that while he was typing, his servos were shaking slightly. He froze, glaring at them, but when he stopped they started shaking harder. He hadn't even realized.

"I.. I'm not sure if I should," he said with a sigh, glancing back up at the screen. He seemed so close, but at the same time so, so far away. "Who knows what could happen to my progress.. there is always the possibility the information could delete itself.."

Omega giggled and took his servos, pulling them away from the monitor. "I'll save it. I can keep an optic on it, too, if you want," she offered with a smile. 

Ratchet felt his optics begin to droop at the mention of rest, but forced them back open. "I... have to finish."

She sighed. "I know a lot of things depend on this information, Ratchet," she told him, using his name for the first time. Still gripping his servos, she pulled them up to a little and rubbed the digits gently. "But.. I'm more concerned for your health."

He blinked, surprised. Why would a young femme who barely knew him be so worried about him? 

"You were so badly injured when we found you, and we were afraid we couldn't save you," she explained, her voice raising a bit. "You weren't responsive for a week, but there wasn't anything else we could do without hurting you-"

"A week?!" Ratchet cried. This was the first he had heard of it. So much time had passed; the Autobots could be injured, or worse..

Omega cocked her head to the side a little. "We didn't tell you?"

Ratchet pulled one of his servos away and brought it to his faceplate, groaning. "This was the first I was made aware of it." He felt his knees begin to rattle and cursed at himself.

The femme, this time, was not gentle, but instead pouted and tugged his servo, forcing him to take a few shaky steps away from the console. "If you won't listen to me, I'll drag you!"