Ironhide slowly onlined, his body ached. he wasn't entirely sure what was happening. he couldn't move or transform and appeared to be upside down in his alt form. he was in the middle of what looked like a rode and realized something, Will was laying in him. he was bleeding and his scanners shower he was severely injured. he tried to move, but was unable to. the ground started vibrating under him and he could blurrily make out what appeared to be Ratchet. the medic knelt down he could see the mechs mouth plates moving, but couldn't really hear him.
"Ironhide? Ironhide! can you transform?" Ratchet ask, looking him over Ironhide managed to focus on him.
"can'.... Will...." Ironhide managed quietly. the medic was immediately alarmed, prying the Topkicks door open carefully removing Will and shouting for a human medic. Jazz drove over and trasformed quickly, standing over Will to protect him.
"lets get him flipped back over." Ratchet ordered as others came over. Ironhide mumbled as his friends flipped him back over on to his tires, ignoring the unsual sounds of pain coming from the mech. his alt started shaking before his front axel gave out and broke, his passenger side wheel falling off. the entire passenger side was caved in. his windshield all but gone. his other windows cracked and shattered. his steering wheel was laying five feet away on the ground. the mech sank lower on his back tires, both appeared to be flat. the bed of the truck was bent in a nasty way. his hood was broken in half and his head lights were completely gone.
"Ratchet what happend?" Optimus ordered.
"I'm not sure." Ratchet said worriedly. "Ironhide can you start up?" Ratchet ask, watching the fluids leak from the truck. Ironhide gave a weak try, but didn't ever turn over.
"Will?" he managed after a moment.
"he's got a few broken bones and a concussion. some internal bleeding. he'll be fine." Jazz said. Will laid unconscious on the ground until he was taken away. as soon as he was gone Ratchet ordered them to move Ironhide.
"Prime, be careful, just push him a little out of the way. Bumblebee gather the soldiers and pick his parts up off the ground." Ratchet ordered. the scout saluted and ran off to do as told. Optimus touched Ironhide's tailgate, ready to push him, but it fell off and Ironhide gave a low whine. "I said be careful!" Ratchet growled. Prime nodded and carefully pushed Ironhide off onto the side. "he's going to need a tow to the base." Ratchet said.
"no, look." Optimus said, pointed to their comrade. his back axel had fallen completely off.
"alright. let's load him up on your flatbed and move him." Ratchet said. they were careful when they moved him, strapping him down firmly, but carefully. the mech hissed slightly, his driver side mirror breaking off and hanging by a few weak wires. Ratchet bent down beside him gently. "try not to offline before we get you back to the base." Ratchet murmured quietly. Ironhide couldn't manage an answer, but Ratchet heard his engine clicking rapidly, trying to start up. "give it a rest Hide. I'll have you fixed up in no time." Ratchet assured. the truck whined quietly, a sound that was much more appropriate coming from Bumblebee, not the usual ass kicking weapons specialist.
"is he ready Ratchet?" Optimus ask.
"yes, take him home and be careful Prime. don't do to fast, he's lost enough parts as is. Jazz go behind him, if he loses more-" Ratchet said.
"I got it." Jazz assured. Optimus took off slowly, too afraid to go more then 20 miles an hour. he'd tried a little faster, but the audible pain coming from his friend, made him slow down. Jazz followed careful to watch for debris.
"Bumblebee take Sam and get to the hospital, be there for Will." Ratchet ordered.
"right away." Bumblebee said. he pushed Ironhide's parts to the medic, then transformed. he threw his drivers side door open as he drove past Sam and the boy jumped in. they took off quickly to the hospital. Ratchet, and the rest of the group, gathered everything up and took off to the base, sirens blaring. he sped past Optimus and settled infront of him to keep a check on Ironhide. the weapons specialist groaned lowly.
"Ratchet, he's got a pretty bad energon leak back here. he probably ain' gonna make it back to the base if we don' pull over and fix it." Jazz warned, cleaning the energon off his windshield.
"Optimus pull over. let me see what I can do for him." Ratchet said. they pulled over quickly and Ratchet worked quickly, stopping the leaks he should've already stopped. it took him nearly an hour, but they were immediately back on the road as soon as he was done. the base was utterly silent as they unloaded Ironhide and quickly, but carefully carried the truck in. Ratchet made an emergency call for Wheeljack to come help, then locked the medbay doors. Wheeljacks spark was hurting just seeing the destroyed mech.
"he'll be okay right Ratch?" Wheeljack ask.
"he's Ironhide, he'll be fine Jack." Ratchet assured. Ironhide was getting notifications and slowly shut down, but not before Ratchet gave him a reassuring smile and helped put him out.
*a few days later*
Ratchet worked for nearly seven days straight on Ironhide, keeping him out. it had taken nearly 72 hours to manually transform the mech, but once he had he'd set to work immediately. he and Wheeljack talked to the injured mech, to make themselves feel better. he finally had Ironhide stable and worked on him carefully. he paused, looking up when the medbay doors opened.
"Bumblebee?" Ratchet ask.
"I-I know you said no visitors... but..." Bumblebee motioned behind him, it was Sam.
"where's Will?" Ratchet ask.
"they finally sent him home and Jazz said he wanted to stay with him a bit..." Bumblebee said. Ratchet sighed and nodded slightly.
"he can come in but it's not pretty." Ratchet said. Bumblebee scooped him up gently and carried him in. Sam sat quietly for a moment, looking at Ironhide.
"what happened?" Sam ask. Ratchet frowned and looked at the mech.
"someone or something hit him. I managed to get the footage from him and... it's awful." Ratchet said. he wasn't lying he and Wheeljack had sat down to watch it and see what happened. Will was happily chatting to Ironhide listening to the radio and laughing one minute and the next all you could hear was the terrified man screaming at the top of his lungs for Ironhide to look out. he was staring at the passenger side from his spot in the drivers seat. they could see the seatbelt suddenly go around Will. Ironhide tried to stop whatever was happening, but then they could hear sickening crunches and Will was tumbling around in the cab, blood and debris flying everywhere. Ratchet guessed they flipped four or five times before they landed upside down. Will lifted his head slowly looking slightly dizzy and injured. he just barely whispered asking Ironhide if he was okay, but whatever it was hit them again and they want spinning. Will slammed his head hard and didn't move. they could hear Ironhide's pained calls for Will slowly fade and they next thing they saw was Ratchet kneeling infront of Ironhide.
"you don't know what happened?" Sam ask.
"we may never no Sam. they're both severely injured." Ratchet said.
"what did you see?" Sam ask.
"I won't show you that." Ratchet replied.
"that bad?" Sam ask looking at Ironhide.
"yeah kid. it's pretty bad." Ratchet said. "hows Will?" Ratchet ask, trying to change the subject.
"bedridden and upset. he's got a broken ankle, some bad whiplash, cuts and bruises, stitches, and a really bad concussion... but he wants to see Ironhide." Sam said.
"not happening. it could trigger him to have a PTSD episode." Ratchet said. Sam nodded slightly. "go back to him. okay?" Ratchet ask. Bumblebee nodded and took him back to Will.
*a few weeks later*
"come on Will a little fresh air would be great." Sam smiled slightly. the wounded man sighed. it was just him and Sam today, Bumblebee had been needed at the base.
"I don't really want to go." Will mumbled.
"just outside." Sam smiled, giving him his crutches. Will sighed and took them, getting up. the boot on his foot thumping against the ground. it had offically been four weeks since the accident and the Autobots were keeping him updating on Ironhide's slowly bettering condition, but still refused Will access to see him. Bumblebee had showed him, about a week after coming home, what Ironhide had looked like immediately after the wreck and Will had lost it. screaming and freaking out, Ratchet had ripped into Bumblebee angrily, then sedated the man gently. Will hobbled out side silently, he looked around then turned to Sam.
"well I'm out here. now what?" Will mumbled. he heard a low rumbling and Sam looked excited, so he assumed it was Bumblebee, but when the tean pointed towards the noise he doubted himself. he turned his head and dropped his crutches in shock. Ironhide revved loudly and rolled into the driveway. "Ironhide!" Will cried. he walked over as quickly as he could, but Ironhide's holoform appeared quickly and hugged him tightly. Will hugged him tightly and almost refused to let go, until his leg gave in and he fell onto the ground.
"see I knew you'd fall for me." Ironhide joked, scooping him up quickly. he nodded at Sam and carried Will in carefully. he set the man on the couch, holding him tightly. thats exactly where they sat the rest of the night, simply happy they other was still alive.
