Raphael once again glanced over to where Optimus had placed Bumblebee in stasis to recover. Bumblebee finally looked peaceful as he rested, whereas before his faceplate had been twisted in pain. Arcee was now getting her leg injury melded by Optimus, who had presumed charge of the medic station. She was pretending that it didn't bother her at all, staring off into the distance, but Raf knew it was hurting her. Jack knew as well, watching Arcee intently as she remained quiet. Miko and Bulkhead had gone over to the human section to watch some monster truck rally to lift their spirits, but Raf didn't hear their usual excited cheering this time. The mood had hardly lifted at all, if it hadn't gotten worse.

Optimus finished fixing Arcee's leg, telling her to take it easy for a while. She only gave him a brisk nod and looked down at her newly melded leg, relief trickling into her optics. Jack gave her a small smile, which she returned. Their spirits seemed to become a little lighter, but Raf's still felt dark and moody.

He sat on the ledge watching Bumblebee in silence until he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder. He jumped and looked up to see Jack standing above him solemnly.

"Optimus said that Bumblebee should be fine, as long as he rests," Jack paused to sit down next to him, legs dangling over the edge. "I guess you didn't hear."

Raf's chest flooded with relief, but something inside still held doubt. "Thanks," he told Jack, giving him a smile, but it felt forced.

It looked forced, too. Jack slid an arm around his shoulder and hugged him gently. "It'll be okay, Raf. We'll figure this out."

Miko, who had lost interest in the rally, plopped down on the other side of Raf, her legs crossed. "You worry too much," se told him in what he guessed was supposed to be a joking tone. "Bee's fine. He's been through a lot worse anyway."

Raf looked down at his alien friend. "Yeah, I guess."

For a moment, silence held between the three children. 

"But what if Ratchet never comes back?" Raf said quietly, bringing his legs to his chest and hugging them. "What if he... you know?"

Miko looked at Jack over Raf's head worriedly. She too slung an arm over the young boy's shoulders. "Like I said, you worry too much. Ratchet should be fine."

"Ratchet's a tough Autobot," Jack agreed in assurance.

"But he's not a fighter," Raf argued, not just because he was angry, but because he was worried. About Bumblebee. About Ratchet. About all the Autobots safety without the medic.

"From what I heard, he was a beast with those blades the time he fought Megatron's zombies," Miko said, her sense of awesomeness and awe returning.

"He got hurt," Raf told her, as if she didn't remember.

"Raphael."

Optimus' voice startled the three children. They all jumped and found that he was watching them from the medical station.

"You are correct, Ratchet is not of the warrior class, however, this does not mean he is not capable of protecting himself and fighting when it is necessary," Optimus told them. "He knows when it is needed."

The kids all blinked at him, taking the words in. Miko turned to Raf with a big smile on her face.

"See? He'll be fine!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ratchet was not fine.

Nearly another whole day had passed, and his whole chassis still wasn't well enough to move. If he knew how he had been injured, he could probably assess how bad his injuries were and plan accordingly. However, he could only tell from the pain he felt, which was not decreasing as fast as he would like. 

Alpha and Omega's bickering wasn't helping, either. 

Ratchet sat back up again, venting slightly. He was hurting and tired, but he needed to find out where he was and how to get back to base. Swinging his legs over the bed once more, he placed his pedes on the ground and slowly let his body rise. His legs began to cripple under the weight, but he forced himself to remain standing. He looked around for anything he could access, his optics resting on the blank computer. 

Let's hope it still works.

Taking a shaky breath, he barely lifted one pede off the floor and leaned forward. He managed the step without falling. He slid his next pede across the floor, then the next. It wasn't really walking, but it was a start. His legs were shaking weakly and his chassis throbbed in aching pains. He finally made it to the computer. As his servos rested over the keyboard, a sensation of familiar comfort flooded him. 

He tapped the board with a digit, hoping to bring it back to life. After a few moments, he feared it was too far gone, but then it flickered on brightly. His optics blinked, adjusting to the light. He allowed himself a moment to be relieved before he got to work. He tried looking for com link stations, Groundbridge controls, anything that could get him in contact with his team. Nothing came up. Nothing on his network or that actually was functioning, anyway. He groaned in frustration and went to his next plan. He knew that the nations on earth each had flags that represented their countries, or something like that. He looked up the colors and order that Omega had mentioned the day before.

Netherlands?

Not knowing exactly where that was on this planet, he searched how far Jasper was from the Netherlands. The results sent him reeling.

Over 5,222 miles.

Ratchet vented and brought a servo to his faceplate in exasperation. Now his helm was aching even more. There was no way he could get there without a Groundbridge in his condition, and he couldn't drive over water.

"What are you doing?" Alpha's voice came suddenly, sounding stressed.

The young Autobot startled Ratchet so sharply he felt his legs give out. With a grunt of pain he teetered forward, but Alpha rushed forward just in time to catch his chest chassis. 

"What in the name of the Allspark are you doing?!" Alpha asked, slinging Ratchet's arm over his shoulder plate. Omega heard the commotion and raced in. She brought a servo to her mouth.

"You know you aren't well enough to be standing, let alone walking!" Alpha shouted, clearly upset. "You're a medic!"

"Alpha..." 

"Seriously, what were you thinking?"

"Alpha!" Omega cut him off. He stopped and glanced up at her, anger draining. She pointed to the screen, where the map was displayed.

"It's so far away.." Ratchet muttered, still in shock.

Alpha sighed, losing his will to argue. Omega looked at him sorrowfully, ordering him with her optics to drop it. She walked over with quiet pedesteps and placed a servo on Ratchet's chest chassis to help steady him.

"Let's get you back to the medical bed. You shouldn't be up," she told him. Her voice was stern, but gentle and sympathetic.

Ratchet really had no choice to comply.

Optimus. What in the name of the Allspark happened to me?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poor, monitor loving Ratchet. So far from home.

(He really loves hos monitors, though.)

So this chapter turned out really well! I'm very proud of it. Even at the end.

I love little Raphael, he's so sweet. I almost regret doing that to Bumblebee.

Also, big thank you to @Bumblemus_Prime for everything she has done for me! She has helped me with some important details and given me good hints that I very much appreciate. The new cover is hers! It's so amazing and perfect for this story.

Thank you all! See you next chapter!

*waves*