Ratchet's Story TSOL Part 4

Ratchet could feel his Spark pulsing in his chest as he and Wheeljack finished adding the final touches to the Energon Booster at long last. This was the day, not the day the Energon Booster would help the Autobots (Ratchet didn't give a dam about that) this was the day he was going to bare his Spark to Wheeljack and declare his love for him. He had been planning it all day and night, after they tested the Energon Booster on a Energon Cube he was just going to grab him, pull him into an embrace and tell him right there that he loved him, not caring what would happen. He was a little worried about rejection but Jazz had told him that he doubted that Wheeljack would say no, he had a feeling that the mechanic liked Ratchet. At first ratchet doubted that but for some reason he too felt that deep down Wheeljack had similar feelings for him. The medic chose to forget these feelings and tried to think positive thoughts, he was actually very excited about telling Wheeljack at last.

'Finally it's finished.' he sighed as he stood back to marvel at his new contraption.

Wheeljack stood back with him and looked at it up and down, pleased that Ratchet was happy it was finished at long last. He then said something that made Ratchet feel a little giddy inside.

'It's gonna make my inventions look like scrap!' chuckled the mechanic.

Ratchet almost blushed at the comment and he placed an arm round Wheeljack's shoulders, the mechanic almost flinching when the arm was set on his back.

'Couldn't had done it without you pal.' chuckled the medic.

At first ratchet thought that this would be a good moment, the perfect moment. However he had chose to say it after the Energon Booster was tested, he knew how excited and giddy Wheeljack got when his inventions worked. Ratchet release his grip on the mechanic and walked over to grab the Energon cube that Prowl had allowed them to use, the officer was a little picky about handing out energon cubes and he didn't like it when they went to waste. He promised that Wheeljack and Ratchet could only use one, which didn't bother them a bit. The medic walked over to the Energon Booster with the cube.

'Ready for this Wheeljack?' he asked.

Wheeljack nodded and stood back a little, not because he thought the thing was going to blow but as a safety precaution. Even Perceptor had told him to be careful today, the mechanic had a habit of making things go boom. Ratchet smiled to himself as he walked over to the machine, ready to test the Energon Booster and ready to declare his feelings. As he got closer his Spark pulsed faster with excitement but he frowned when he heard his name called out of the Speakers in the room.

'Ratchet, this is Prowl. Report to Prime's office on the double!'

Rtachet felt like killing Prowl right about now, he was ruining everything. Right now he could be holding Wheeljack and telling him how much he meant to him but no, he had to go and see Prowl about something. he looked over at Wheeljack, who also looked disappointed with the sudden request from the officer.

'Keep an eye in here while I go see what this is about, OK?' asked Ratchet, setting the cube down.

Wheeljack smirked under his mask and gave Ratchet the thumbs up.

'Don't worry Ratchet, this ain't going nowhere!' he replied.

Ratchet smiled and left the workshop, locking the door behind him as he ran down the hallways to find out what Prowl wanted, his smile now a grumpy frown. As he ran, he crashed into Jazz, the younger officer yelping as they knocked into each other. Ratchet would of apologized but he was a little angry after being called into the Prime's office for who knows what. Jazz smirked as he helped him up.

'Well Ratchet my main bot, you told him yet?' chuckled the younger officer.

Ratchet grumbled as he continued walking with Jazz following.

'No, we were about to test the machine and then Prowl calls me up to Prime's office for who knows what!' grumbled the Medic.

Jazz chuckled, he wasn't surprised that Ratchet was now in a very bad mood, he had been planning this for a while. He had to leave him though and continue guard duty, wishing Ratchet good luck as he ran down the hallways. Ratchet didn't have time to wave and he just barged into the office to see Prowl and Prime waiting.

'Yes what is it?' he quickly demanded, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.

Prowl looked up from his paper work and smiled a little, he was tired but he and Prime had a few mugs of hot Energon next to them, the Autobot leader offered one of them to the Medic.

'Need a good jolt Ratchet?' asked Optimus.

'No sir, now please tell me why you called me in here?' replied Ratchet, his tone now frustrated.

'We just wanted to check how everything was going with the project.' answered Prowl, taking a sip of his Energon.

Ratchet's jaw dropped after hearing the request and then his optics filled with frustrated rage. Thats why they called him in? For a small check up? Ratchet made a small growl before he answered.

'I was just about to test it!' he almost snarled.

'Oh good, bring back the results when you're done!' said Prime, turning back to his paper work with Prowl.

Ratchet sighed and left the office in a huff.

'And they say I'm rude!' he muttered.


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Jazz whistled as he walked down the hallways, keeping his optics open for anything even though he doubted anything within the base would happen. He continued walking around until he saw a tired Bumblebee walk round a corner, a little grumpy about something. Jazz decided to cheer the little guy up.

'Hey Bee, what's up?'

Bumblebee looked up and yawned before smiling up to the young officer.

'Nothing much, however Spike's been bothering me lately. Told me he found ANOTHER abandoned cassette player out in the desert and now he's lost it somewhere in the base!'

Jazz's smile suddenly turned into a frown, an abandoned cassette player meant only one thing but before he could jump into action Bumblebee shook his head with a small smile of reassurance.

'It's OK, it wasn't dark blue, it was green.' chuckled the smaller Autobot.

Jazz relaxed a little but he decided to go tell the small human off when the alarms suddenly went off. After a moment of deafening sirens, the two bots heard Teletraan-1's voice echo round the base.

'Alert, Alert. Unidentified personal within the base. Unidentified personal within the base. Possible Decepticon Activity. All Autobots eliminate the threat.'

Jazz and Bumblebee looked at each other before pulling out their blasters and running off to the sector 4. When they arrived Bluestreak informed him the area was already sealed off and informed the two of them that he saw Soundwave walking around but he was green! Jazz growled in frustration while Bumblebee muttered his frustration. After sorting it all out Bumblebee went to check sector 2 while Jazz ran off to sector 5, hoping that if it was indeed Soundwave, he wasn't near Wheeljack's workshop.

'Slag!' thought Jazz when he suddenly heard blaster fire.

He quickened his pace and up ahead saw a GREEN Soundwave ran down the hallway towards the exit, following behind him was a very pissed off Ratchet, his optics ablaze with rage. Jazz continued to follow and fired angrily at the Decepticon.

'You sneaky, son-of-a-scrap pile!' yelled the Porchse.

The two bots continued chase until they chased Soundwave out of the base where he got away. Jazz grumbled in frustration and to his shock saw Ratchet punch a rock, smashing it into pieces. He had seen the Medic get upset before but right now he was looking very, very angry.

'Hey Ratchet relax man! He didn't get anything!' chuckled Jazz, his tone was a little nervous.

Ratchet glared back at him and the young officer jumped back a little. Ratchet looked very pissed off, he wasn't in the best of moods today it seemed. Ratchet then turned to face him and growled angrily.

'Oh really! He was peeping into the Workshop a second ago!' snapped the medic.

Jazz's jaw dropped in shock. Within the workshop was the secret project, The Energon Booster. If Soundwave saw that, reported it to Megatron then the Autobots would be in a whole lot of trouble.

'Wha-what! I thought you said you locked it!' wailed Jazz, a little panicked.

'I did! I left Wheeljack in there and...'

Ratchet suddenley paused and looked up at Jazz with a shocked face. Jazz looked at him in confusion and was almost freaked out to see a sudden spark of anger in Ratchet's optics, the medic was very scary when he was angry. Ratchet suddenly cried out again, making the young officer jump back.

'He left the door open, I know it! When I get my hands on him I'm gonna wish he was never rolled off the commission line!' snarled Ratchet, stomping back into the base.

Jazz knew that trying to reason with an angered ratchet was pointless but if he was about to take it all out on Wheeljack then his chances of getting together with him were nil. The young officer tried calming him down and talking him out of it but the medic ignored him as he stomped towards the Workshop. Jazz looked up and grimaced, Wheeljack and Prowl were standing outside the Workshop. Wheeljack seemed to be talking to Prowl about something and as they got closer he could make out what they were saying.

'Did he get anything?' asked Wheeljack, a little concerned.

'HE ALMOST DID!' cried Ratchet, who had also heard the whole thing.

Prowl and Wheeljack looked round to see them and Jazz began to try and signal to the mechanic to ran away or he'd face the wrath of an angered medic. However Ratchet had stomped up till he was glaring down at the mechanic and Jazz knew it was too late, Ratchet could never control his emotions. Prowl seemed to be concerned with what Ratchet was saying.

'What do you mean "almost" Ratchet?' he demanded.

Ratchet didn't look at Prowl but answered as he continued to glare down at Wheeljack, the mechanic looking back up confused while Jazz muttered into his hand.

'This nutcase left the Workshop door opened and I got back just in time before Soundwave could waltz in there!' bellowed Ratchet, his voice even making Prowl jump back a bit.

Prowl gasped and suddenly shot a glare back at Wheeljack, Prowl hated it when someone didn't follow protocols. Ratchet continued to glare down at Wheeljack, who looked back with guilt in his optics. Ratchet had been mad with him before when he blew up parts of the lab or when he almost blew himself up but this was different. Wheeljack tried to apologize.

'I-I'm sorry Ratchet. I just rushed off to get another Energon cube for the-'

'What happened to the other one?' snapped Ratchet.

Wheeljack scratched his head in embarrassment.

'I drank it. Sorry.'

Ratchet couldn't believe it, he drank the one and only Energon cube that Prowl allowed them to use and then ran off leaving the door wide open to grab another one!? In anger he suddenly smacked Wheeljack round the head and snarled, his actions shocking the two officers either side of him and making Wheeljack look back up in pain and horror.

'Sorry? You're sorry? The Decepticons almost got their hands on MY Energon Booster because YOU have a habit of screwing up!' yelled Ratchet, his anger taking over.

'Hey Ratchet man...cool down alright?' pleaded Jazz, noticing that every word that the medic threw at Wheeljack was hurting him, he could see the tears forming in Wheeljack's optics.

'Why the slag did I even ask you to help me? I was gonna ask Perceptor but no, Prime suggested you! You can't build anything without blowing up in your face!' continued Ratchet, his voice getting louder.

'Ratchet calm down!' snapped Prowl, seeing that Wheeljack already crying, tears running down his face, the poor mechanic was a little sensitive with these sort of things, but Ratchet continued.

'I don't know what Vector Sigma was thinking when he built you but I bet he had a glitch when he did! You're a worthless, useless, piece of-'

SLAP

Ratchet stumbled backwards after a sudden sensation of pain ran across his face and bumped into Jazz. After getting his logic circuits back on and working he realized that Wheeljack had hit him round the face and he got back up to scream back, but what he saw made the anger and hate melt away to be replaced with horror and guilt. The mechanic was crying, tears falling down his face, behind and over his mask and he stood there trembling like a frightened child. Prowl was gob-smacked, he had never seen such a horrible act, the same with Jazz, he knew Ratchet had a hard time controlling his emotions but what he did was bad even for him. Ratchet stood back up, realizing what he had done wrong he tried to apologize, he didn't mean to hurt Wheeljack, he didn't mean to hurt the one he cared for so dearly.

'Wheeljack, I-'

However Wheeljack cut him off and what he said next made Ratchet's Spark pulse painfully in his chest as he stared back into those tear filled optics, filled with pain.

'SHUT UP! I HATE YOU, YOU STUPID, SELF CENTRED JERK!'

Ratchet's optics widened with shock and before he could say anything else, Wheeljack transformed into his Lancia mode and drove off out the base at high speed. Ratchet stared after him, his Spark felt like it had been ripped in two and the young officers around him glared at him, angered for what he done to the mechanic. Ratchet also noticed that Optimus Prime and Perceptor had arrived, the Autobot leader looked angered while the scientist looked upset.

'My office...NOW!' demanded Prime.


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Half the base must of been standing outside Prime's door to hear the Autobot leader tell the medic off. After they all heard how Soundwave snuck into the base, thanks to Spike, and how ratchet blamed Wheeljack for a silly mistake and making him cry the whole base went into shock. Jazz was trying to contact Wheeljack while Prowl sent some Autobots out to find him. Ratchet was in Prime's office, not caring what Optimus screamed at him, what Wheeljack said to him earleir was punishment enough.

'I have never seen such an act of cruelty and ill-mannered behavior, I shouldn't expect this from you Ratchet! I have seen Decepticons do cold things but this so far has taken the cake!'

Optimus continued but Ratchet wasn't listening, all he could hear was what Wheeljack said to him, over and over again. Each word stung painfully and he had only himself to blame.

'SHUT UP! I HATE YOU, YOU STUPID, SELF CENTRED JERK!'

It was his fault, he let his anger get the better of him and now Wheeljack suffered. He didn't mean to do it, he didn't mean to hurt the one he cared for so deeply but the medic knew that Wheeljack couldn't stand him, he hated him. If Ratchet had told Wheeljack how he felt about him after testing the Energon Booster he would of rejected him and push him away, it was so clear now. He was brought out of his thinking by Optimus.

'Do I make myself clear Ratchet!?'

ratchet nodded, but said nothing. If he had said something he'd probably burst into tears and the last thing he wanted was to cry in front of Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader sighed and tried to relax a little, he didn't really like telling his fellow Autobots off but he was their leader and he had responsibilities.

'Good, as soon as Wheeljack returns I want you to apoligize to him! That is all.'

Ratchet took that as his cue to leave and he walked out the office, the Autobots outside running off, not wanting to suffer the wrath of an angered medic. Ratchet wasn't in the mood to tell anyone off, he felt like slag and he wished he didn't exist. Wheeljack, the love of his love, hated him, all because he had to go and blow a fuse and over what? A stupid Energon Booster that might not even work? ratchet sighed as he walked down the halls, bumping into Jazz, a small but faint smile on his face.

'I just got off the line with Wheeljack, he'll be back shortly. You better apoligize when he gets back.'

Ratchet sighed and walked back to his quarters with Jazz following.

'I can't Jazz.' he muttered.

'Can't apologize?'

'No, I can't tell him...not after that! Look at me, I blow a fuse over something that small and he runs off crying! He wouldn't want someone like me for a bondmate.'

Jazz sighed, Ratchet was feeling just as bad. The medic now knew he was in the wrong and he had suffered the consequences, by having his long time crush scream out that he hated him before running off. He gave the medic a pat to the back and smiled a little.

'Ah, don't worry! He'll get over it, he always does. Just promise him you won't do it again!'

Ratchet nodded a little and walked off, Jazz running off to wait for Wheeljack to return. As Ratchet walked into his quarters he sighed again and smacked himself round the face, a loose tear escaping his optic.

'I'm so sorry Wheeljack.' he muttered, before walking into his room.