Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

17. Ties

        JewelBlade couldn’t explain it in any other way but to describe the sensation as drowning. Not that her lungs were filling with water, simply because she didn’t have any, but she felt submerged. It felt like fluid was rushing into every crevice of her metal body, and she was simultaneously weightless. It was a wondrous and nearly terrifying sensation, yet so easy to give into. The dark shadows danced across her optics, even though they were closed.

        The longer she spent underwater, the more liberated she felt. Her strength was returning to her. It wasn’t until she managed to open her optics that she saw she truly was underwater, or, under some sort of fluid that was cleansing her of whatever had been sapping her energy.

        And Optimus was the one holding her under. He was the one who’d liberated her of the pain and weakness. Closing her optics, she tried to allow her systems to right themselves. She didn’t want to fight Optimus anymore. Of everyone who’d come crashing into the base, the Prime had made her his priority for care. He was here for her. For her over BlackLight.

        As petty as it made her feel, it gave her a fair amount of comfort.

        ~~~

        Meanwhile, Ratchet and June Darby were administering care to both BlackLight and Angel. Their mixed anatomy required expertise in both fields. Everyone who wasn’t required was banned from the room. JewelBlade’s path to recovery was fairly simple. She merely had to be decontaminated from the dark energon that had laced itself over her armor. BlackLight and Angel, however, were less resilient and had to be taken care of for injuries sustained during the crash.

        “Do you have the patient stabilized?” Ratchet asked, his own hands working ably on BlackLight, who was still unconscious, and while damaged, was no longer in critical condition. Her armor had protected her from most of the damage.

        The medic’s concern lay with the young woman who didn’t have armor to shield her from the crash. Though she was techno-organic, she didn’t have the extra layer to keep herself safe like BlackLight did.

        “She’s damaged, Ratchet, but she’ll be okay.” June didn’t dare mention to Ratchet the small bits of shimmering light she swore wove through Angel’s body every so often. It wasn’t something natural, but it was fairly obvious this girl wasn’t normal in either world. June brushed it off. Either she was imagining things, or the girl had something going on inside her that was tied to her mixed heritage, quite possibly something else entirely. “She just needs more rest.”

        “Excellent,” the medic murmured, relieved that their patients had recovered. “Optimus, how is she?” Ratchet called over the com link. “Optimus?” Ratchet vented when there was no answer. “I suppose I’ll go have to check on them in person.”

        “Where did you say you sent them, again?” June asked, monitoring Angel’s vital signs carefully.

        “I had Optimus take JewelBlade for a decontamination,” Ratchet replied smoothly. “Similar to the one both BlackLight and Angel had upon entering the base, before their primary care. The dark energon worked its way in between her servos, draining her energy and weakening her spark. With any luck, the decontamination was all she needed.”

        ~~~

        Reluctantly, Optimus lessened his hold on JewelBlade, allowing her back above the fluid as her processor and gears began functioning properly again. She looked at him cautiously, a newfound vulnerability in her optics. Something the Prime had not seen from her so blatantly in ages. So often lately, she’d fronted that vulnerability with a fiery attitude and a distance that made her difficult to approach, much less understand.