Transformers: Prime doesn't belong to me.

We don't belong to anybody! Humans especially.

Er... Ratchet... we may need to talk later.

What Raf's trying to say is: You are part of a franchise based on a toy line AND owned by Hasbro Studios.

What?!

Lizzie! I was going to break it to him gently...

I know. :P

...

I think you knocked him speechless.

Wait until he hears Jade isn't dead...

What?!

Heh... enjoy reading everyone!

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"Okay, Optimus. Be careful." The Prime nods as he follows Bumblebee through the groundbridge, acknowledging Ratchet's warning.

Soon after the bridge closes, sparks start to shoot out of the communications panel and groundbridge controls. "Ratchet, what's happening?" Raphael; at the moment the only other occupant of the base, Arcee, Bulkhead, and their charges being out on recon, leaps over the couch where he was sitting and runs over to the balcony.

The medic looks over at him, taking his attention off the screens for a brief moment.

"What do you mean-?" He starts to ask, frustrated by the interruption. Then he notices the sparks and panics a little. "Scrap!"

Raf watches, worried but knowing better to speak and distract the grumpy 'bot, as Ratchet types madly into the controls, vainly trying to contact the other members of Team Prime.

"It's no use. I will have to hurry to fix this before they try to contact us." The medic quickly walks into his medical bay, and Raf can hear him muttering quietly to himself as he searches for tools. Suddenly there's a loud crash. "Frag it!" The base suddenly gets very quiet as the medic realizes that he just seriously swore in front of a child.

Raf chuckles a little, but his smile fades as Ratchet calls quietly, "Rafael... could you please come here?" His voice sounds strained, like he's in pain.

The boy runs toward the med bay, stopping in shock as he sees the medic sitting up against the wall of the room off the main area, clenching his teeth together in pain. "Ratchet?"

"Are... are you okay?" The boy walks carefully up to his second favourite Autobot, stopping a little distance away.

Ratchet looks up at him and shifts slightly. "I seem to have injured myself." The medic is obviously uncomfortable with the fact. "I-" He grimaces, and this time it isn't from the pain. "I... require your assistance."

Raf backs away quickly. "What? I can't... how could I help you?" The boy's face is losing colour as he backs into a large object behind him. "I can't."

He meets Ratchet's curious gaze briefly, then looks away. "I can't. I'm sorry."

The Autobot sighs, then moves his leg the slightest amount he can and still look at the sore spot. "Raphael, I just require you to be my optics. I cannot spot what is wrong with my foot."

The boy closes his eyes. "I... what if I cause more damage?"

"I will give you instructions." Ratchet is watching him with curiosity. Rafael is acting a lot like Jade the first time he required her to assist him in the med bay. He shakes the thought of the girl out of his mind, not wanting to go down such a dangerous path at the moment. "Rafael..." He feels obligated to ask the boy's welfare, being as he had caused him to be frightened. Of what, the doctor has no idea. "Are... are you alright?"

Raf has slid down into a sitting position, his back against the very object that had tripped Ratchet. His arms are crossed over his head which is bent down into his knees, which are pulled up against his chest. "Yeah. Peachy." The twelve year-old sighs, lifting his head to look at the medic. "I... just... you're not a human. You're a giant alien robot! I can't even preform simple first aid on a human my age! How am I supposed to-"

Stopping him with a cough, Ratchet moves into a slightly more comfortable position. "I'm not asking you to preform first aid at the moment, Rafael. Just to tell me exactly what you see. You do not even need to touch my foot if it makes you uncomfortable."

Raf sighs and stands up slowly, shaking a little. There is a tight feeling in his stomach as he nears Ratchet. "Where am I looking?"

The medic smiles just slightly, covering the pain. "Do you see where the white plating overlaps the rest of my foot?" The boy nods slightly, pushing up his glasses. "I need you to tell me if there's something lodged in there or loose."

Swallowing nervously, Raf puts a hand on Ratchet's foot gently, just enough to steady himself as he twists into an unnatural angle to peer between the armour plating. The 'bot is very careful not to shift even slightly, not wanting to inadvertently harm him. "There... there's a... it looks like a piece of what's it called, plating? Twisted and is pushing into you... and there's something wedged between it and your foot as well." Diagnosis done, Rafael backs away quickly.

Ratchet groans and puts his servo to his head. "Scrap." He knows that he cannot fix the groundbridge if he cannot walk, and based on Raf's reaction earlier, he's not going to like what the 'bot needs him to do now. "I may need you to assist me again."

"No. Way." The boy turns away. "I can't! I could barely... I can't help you Ratchet!"

The medic reaches out a hand towards the shaking child gently. "Come here, Rafael."

Raf looks at his gentle expression hesitantly before carefully climbing onto the extended servo, flinching slightly as Ratchet holds him up to eye level. "I can't."

"There is no one else." Ratchet sighs, then grimaces as another wave of pain passes through his foot. "I need you to help me."

The boy shakes his head. "What if I hurt you more?!" Raf looks away again, "You're already in so much pain..."

Ratchet narrows his optics, the curiosity getting past his gruff shell. "What happened, Raf?" His voice is gentle and quiet, startling the human in his hand and almost causing him to lose his balance. "Easy." Steadying the boy with his other hand, Ratchet moves his gaze away from him.

Raf stares in surprise at the normally grouchy doctor. "Are you okay?"

Chuckling sadly, the 'bot nods. "I wasn't always so closed off, you know. War... does that to some."

The young human in his hands nods, and sighs. "I... how did you know something happened? What if I'm just... really sensitive?"

A small smirk grows on Ratchet's face. "You are taking university level biology classes, and you always watch me when I work. It is not squeamishness, Rafael." Raf's face falls, and the medic sighs. "Also... someone I care strongly about once taught me how to read others. Bot or otherwise."

"Who?" Raf winces as Ratchet reacts to his simple question. After shielding his optics for what seemed like forever, the medic carefully places him on the work desk and silently points to a large picture frame leaning face towards the wall. The boy glances back to see Ratchet nodding sadly, then walks nervously towards the frame. It is not too large, just big enough for a bot to be able to hold it without crushing or completely covering it. "Are you sure?"

The boy has reason to question. Once, shortly after the kids found out about Team Prime, Miko had tried to glance at whatever was in that frame. Ratchet had thrown something large at her and yelled for her to stay away from his things. "I won't throw anything at you, if that's what you were wondering." The medic winces as he shifts positions again. "I was... very emotional that day. You all being here... reminded me of her."

Raf turns the frame around, staring at the photo inside. "Woah..." The photo is of a young girl, probably about ten, with curly dark green hair and bright sparkling emerald eyes. She's wearing a bright pink sun dress over a purple long sleeved tee-shirt and yellow leggings. Her arms are around the neck of an older man with curly orange hair mettled with gray. His eyes are a clear bright blue, and he is wearing a stark white lab coat hanging open over a dusty orange shirt and a pair of blue jeans. "Is... that you?"

Ratchet laughs drily. "My holoform, yes. The girl... JadeSpark. My adoptive sparkling."

Raf smiles at the laughing girl in the photo. She vaguely reminds him of someone, but he can't place it. "She looks so happy."

The medic sighs, "Yes... she was always happy. I asked her why once." He chuckles at the memory, "She said it was to offset my grumpiness."

Carefully replacing the photo to where it was, Raf sits on the edge of the desk, where he's just a little higher than Ratchet's line of vision. "What... what happened?"

Any smile on the face of the medic vanishes before he can even finish the question. "Taken from me by Megatron. She was your age." Ratchet looks away, tears forming in his optics. "I promised myself to never grow attached to another human."

"Ohhhhh..." Raf nods, a lot of things suddenly making a lot more sense. "That's why you're always pushing us away."

Ratchet sighs. "You are a bright child." He winces. "What happened to make you be afraid of doing more harm than help?"

Rafael sighs, a tired and determined look in his eyes. "My... my best friend fell off his bike about a year and a half ago. His leg was broken and bent badly." The boy sighs, "I knew how to straighten a broken limb. But... I did it wrong. I just caused him a lot of pain and made the break worse. I had called an ambulance already, but it took them two hours to get there. When they did... they yelled at me for trying to fix it." Raf pushes tears off his cheeks, "When he came back to school, he had a limp. It's permanent. He won't talk to me, look at me, or even acknowledge me." The boy looks away. "I don't want to hurt you."

Ratchet thinks for a moment.

"Rafael... you know how Optimus always calls me 'Cybertron's best medic'?" The boy nods sadly, confused. "He does that to annoy me. I have almost no faith in myself, and find it arrogant and undeserved. The first time I did a simple patch up job on my own, I somehow knocked my patient out."

Raf stares at the 'bot he respects incredulously . "How?"

Shrugging, Ratchet continues. "My... mentor couldn't figure it out either. He punished me well for attempting to do the job myself."

The boy starts to ask another question, but something in the medic's optics stops him. "The point I'm trying to make is, if you let one mistake stop you from trying again, you will never become the amazing doctor I know you want to be."

"How did you-?"Raf's mouth falls open.

Ratchet cuts him off. "It is very obvious."

The boy looks down again. "Oh."

The medic looks at him, almost being able to see the waves of sadness rolling off him. "Rafael. Mistakes are how you learn. You cannot give up on your dream because someone blamed you for an accident."

"It was my fault!" Raf yells at Ratchet. Suddenly he blushes and stands up. Walking a little farther from the 'bot stuck on the floor, he starts to pace. "I did something wrong. I just don't know what."

Ratchet wants to wrap his arms around the hurting child, but doesn't dare. He refuses to get even closer than he already is to the kids. They will just vanish from his life like she did.

He can't bear to go through that again.

"Raf." The short version of his name makes the boy turn around. "I need you to help me. If we don't fix this, I can't fix the comm or the groundbridge, and all the others are trapped."

Rafael sighs. He starts shivering, eyeing the medic nervously. "I wouldn't know where to start!"

"Then I will give you step by step instructions. And Raf, I promise you that it is almost impossible to make it worse, unless you try to cut my foot open with a saw to get the object out. Don't do that."

The boy clenches his hands into fists, but climbs onto Ratchet's now outstretched hand. "You're just as scared as I am."

The medic blinks in surprise before nodding. "But... not of you. I do not enjoy any form of medical experience done by any but my own hand." He winces, "My mentor... was violent and aggressive in choosing my punishments for my many mistakes."

"I still have trouble believing that you made mistakes." Raf stiffens as he climbs off the'bot's hand.

Ratchet points to a human sized door under the desk. "In there is a small toolbag. You'll need it. Be very very careful with it, however. It... belonged to Jade."

Raf gently lifts the bag, "I was going to ask why you have human sized tools in here." He stops a few feet away from the doctor. "Ratchet... I'm so scared of hurting you."

"Then I will tell you this. No matter what you do, it will hurt. If you follow my instructions correctly, it will hurt me more in the moment than if you tried to pull out everything with the jaws of life." Ratchet shudders at the thought of the evil hydraulic weapons used to force poor innocent vehicles open.

"Really? Aren't you being dramatic there?" Raf crosses his arms. "I very much doubt that."

The medic sighs, "A little. But it will hurt. I just wanted you to know, so if I wince..."

Raf finishes for him, "I'll know it's not because I'm doing something wrong?" He smiles a little. "I promise I won't tell Miko that you have a gentle side. Not that she'd believe me."

The medic rolls his optics. "Can we get this over with? I'll give you a basic step by step before you start, then I'll also talk you through it."

"Okay..." Raf breathes in slowly, calming himself, before opening the medical bag and taking out the tools that Ratchet says he needs.

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Raf grimaces as he reaches for the obstruction Ratchet's foot with a pair of pliers. He's bent the metal plating that was out of place back into place, and now he has to remove the large metal spike. "You okay, Ratchet?"

Ratchet mutters something under his breath, then adds in a normal voice, "You are very gentle. I... thank you for that."

"So... you want me to pull it straight back?" Raf grabs the spike with the pliers, gently resting his other hand on the medic's foot.

Ratchet nods. "Yes. And... quickly."

Raf sighs , "And you won't pull your leg back, crushing my hand in the process?"

"No. First, I rarely react strongly to pain, and second, I'm bracing myself against the wall." Ratchet meets the boy's worried eyes. "You're doing great."

Raf clenches his jaw, and pulls straight back, the spike taking a lot of effort to pull out. As soon as it's out, the medic sighs in relief and he relaxes. "Are... you okay?" Raf gently climbs up onto his shoulder. "That... looks like it hurt. A lot."

"It did." Ratchet looks at him, "But, you were right. Not as much as the jaws of death would have."

Raf chuckles, exhausted from the effort and the stress. "Let's go fix a computer console."

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Optimus puts out a hand, and the others all fall silent, their incessant questions stopping for the first time since they got back. "Maybe, old friend, you could just give us an overview of what transpired while communication was unavailable."

Ratchet nods. "Shortly after you left, the groundbridge and communication panels started sparking. It took me quite a while to repair them, based on some... setbacks. Nothing Rafael and I could not handle, however."

A smile passes between the two. They now understand each other in a way that nobody else does. Not even Optimus knows of Ratchet's first mistake, and Bumblebee has never heard about Raf's fear of not being enough.

The End
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Heeeeeyyyyyyy. My name is Jade, and I'm one of Lizzie's fan characters!

Please comment and vote, and tell us if you want more from this storyline!

Aoi Giada Stark signing off: I'll see you all later!