Omega stared at the orange sky with gentle, sad optics, hugging herself a little as she let her leg swing over the edge a little. The night was beginning to hinder in the sky, bits of darkness peeking at the corners of the sky, while the brightest of the stars began to shine from above. She let a small vent swing from her chest chassis and out her derma, parting them slightly. The area around her was much more comforting then that of the cold and snowy landscape that Alpha's ship had crashed in. 

At the thought of her spark twin, her chassis began to ache, and she pulled her servo to her chest, gently touching the metal plates above her spark chamber. It pained her to remember him, how he had used their dreaded power to save her and Ratchet. It hurt so much to see her brother's faceplate in her processor, his happy go lucky smile still fresh in her memory files.

It was agony to think of her family as broken as it was.

It made her feel heavy when she thought of Ratchet, someone who had become like a sire figure to her, and how much he had done for her in only a certain amount of weeks aboard their ship. How he had begun to heal both of their aching, guilty sparks, and soothed their destruction filled memories.

And now everything had fallen apart.

The femme heard something behind her, like metal cranking and grinding. She turned her helm as it stopped with a loud clang and the hiss of releasing several gears. A small smile reached her derma as she stood up to greet the other femme that had just joined her atop the base, her blue finish glinting in the nearing night sky. Arcee, with concerned optics, returned the smile with a small one of her own as she walked over to the edge beside her, glancing at the beautiful sky herself.

"How are you holding up?" she asked softly after a little while, glancing up at the sky blue femme, who was surprisingly taller than her, and still hugging herself slightly.

Omega sighed again, still looking at the darkening sky. "I'm.. doing alright, I suppose. I'm still online," she added, her tone not betraying the bitterness she felt in her spark.

Arcee could feel her emotion nonetheless. She was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say, before turning to her again and placing a servo on her shoulder. "I.. understand what it feels like to lose friends... family," she said sadly, glancing at the pile of rocks, a memoriam for her fallen partner, Cliffjumper.

Omega also looked that way, her expression turning softer. "It's good to know.. that there are others like us," she said after a while, gazing sadly at the rocks while thinking of her family.

"The war has affected each and every one of us," Arcee told her, taking back her servo. "Everyone.. has their demons that we face."

Omega finally looked at her, nodding with a tiny twinkle in her optics. It was small, but it was a start, something more than the mourning and sometimes dead look that befell upon her faceplate. The two femmes shared a smile, thankful for that moment together.

Finally, Arcee patted her shoulder again and tossed her helm slightly towards the machine that had brought her up there. "Well, we should probably head back inside before Optimus or the others wonder where we are."

Omega nodded, smiling to herself and clutching her servos to her chest. "I.. really can't thank you enough for allowing me to stay," she said quietly as they began to walk towards the elevator.

"Outpost Omega One is always ready to welcome fellow Autobots," Arcee replied. "Given their personality. "Wheeljack was never one to stay put, anyways," she added with a hint of a smirk.

The younger femme shrugged. "I have yet to meet him, but.. he sounds interesting." A brighter smile played at her features, and she found herself hoping to meet him one day.

Arcee tapped at a few buttons on the elevator, standing still as it cranked heavily and began to head down. There was silence for a little while as they slowly went down, neither of them looking at each other for a bit. Finally, Omega looked down at her servo, the one that Ratchet had taken so many times to protect her, and spoke.

"Ratchet.. how come he became so important to me in such a short amount of time?" she muttered softly, her other servo reached up and gently brushing the digits that the medic had so firmly held before. His serious and grumpy faceplate flashed in her helm and she bit her glossa to keep from whimpering.

Arcee's gaze grew sad as she glanced at her again. "I'm not sure, but Ratchet's always seem to have that affect on other Autobots.. whether he knows it or not." She sighed quietly and looked up, at nothing in particular. "He's family, so.. everyone is hurt by this. Not just you."

The other femme nodded. "I know. And.. it's comforting to know that it's not just me."

Arcee said nothing for a few moments as they reached the interior of the base. "You should probably rest for now," she finally said. "You've been through a lot."

She nodded in reply, her words dying in her throat. She cast one longing look at the damaged mech that lay atop of berth in the medical bay, before hurrying away into the hall, not able to hold back the tears of sorrow.

~

The feeling of returning to consciousness was soft at first, like something just gently brushing against him. It was still dark all around him, but slowly, he began to realize that he was laying down, that he was somewhere, that he was still alive. Everything was still groggy as feeling returned to his chassis, the physical pain coming first. He felt a soft groan slide out from his throat, and the rest of his hearing began to return to him as well. He could hear the faint, annoying beeping of a spark monitor, a noise he was all too familiar with. Hearing it made him panic a little, worrying over whoever was on that medical slab, before he fully realized that it was him. The medic thought back, trying to reach the memories that tried to hide away from him, until his processor began to ache and he was a bit dizzy. Some of his memory files finally returned to him, and that's when the ache of his spark came back to him as well. He grit his denta a little as he began to open his optics. The sensors were sensitive after evidently being shut down for so long, and the lights around him made him flinch. After another quiet groan, he lifted his servo to shield himself, blinking a few times until he was used to it.

It wasn't until he pulled his arm away that he realized that he was alone. Unsure of where the others could be, his vision partially blocked from where he was in the medical bay, he shuffled around a little, clenching and unclenching his fists and slowly moving his joints. They creaked a little, but it felt much better afterwards, and he managed to push himself up into a sitting position. Just as he noticed all the medical equipment he was hooked to, he heard an excited and relieved beep from around the corner, and hurried pedesteps a moment later.

Bumblebee rushed towards Ratchet, his big optics expressive with relief. <Ratchet, you're online!> he whirred happily, stopping just beside him. He lunged forward without warning and hugged his arm, chirping a few more excited statements. 

The medic groaned a little, both from pain and slight embarrassment, and pulled away from the scout slightly. Bumblebee hugged him tighter for a brief moment before pulling away with an apologetic look. Ratchet offered him a small smile just before the others arrived as well, all with relief written across their faceplates.

"It is good to see you recovered, old friend," Optimus said, just a hint of a smile playing his derma as he placed a large servo on Ratchet's shoulder plate.

The older mech looked down at all the wires and machines he was hooked to, his faceplate twisting in slight displeasure. "Just how long have I been-"

"Three earth weeks," Bulkhead answered for him quickly, holding up three digits. "You really had us worried there, Ratch."

Even Arcee smiled at him, grateful that he was back. "We found you after receiving a strange interference with our scanners, which revealed a huge Energon surge not long after." She cast a glance at the monitors, remembering. "We still couldn't find your signal, so we didn't even know it was related to you until we arrived on the scene."

<A pretty horrible scene, at that,> Bumblebee added, shaking his helm. <We all thought you had been offlined, and the femme, Omega, was really distraught.>

Ratchet looked away sadly, his spark sinking as he remembered the battle. Alpha flashed in his processor and he grit his derma harder, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately. "Did Omega tell you what transpired?" he asked after a minute, staring down at his servos.

Optimus nodded, his grip on his friend's shoulder tightening slightly. "She told us everything she knew," he answered gently. "We understand her spark twin, Alpha, sacrificed himself for both of your sakes, and to draw our attention."

The medic saw that his servos were now shaking slightly and clenched them. "Did she tell you how  he sacrificed himself..?" he asked warily, wondering if she had informed them of her power from the Decepticons.

"Yes," Optimus said, and everyone looked down at their pedes.

"No kid should have to go through that," Bulkhead said quietly, angrily.

Arcee shook her helm from side to side. "A lot of kids did, Bulkhead. The war was horrible for everyone."

Ratchet was silent for a few minutes more, letting it all sink in. His spark felt like it was being squeezed by a large servo, crushing every good emotion within it and leaving pain in it's wake. He allowed himself to sigh, sadness creeping at every edge of him and seeping into him like water in a sponge. For a moment, he wanted to let the greif completely sweep through him and take him over, but he knew that he couldn't.

"Where is she?" he asked finally, carefully taking out all the wires attached to him. 

The others exchanged glanced, all slightly pitied and worried. Optimus took his shoulder plate away, knowing that he could stop his friend from moving around, but also knowing that the two needed to speak alone. "She is waiting just outside the base." He paused for a moment before adding, "She told us that she had to leave."

The medic looked up at him, slightly surprised, before sighing again and nodding his helm. Without saying a word, he swung his legs over the berth and got to his pedes. He winced for a moment, pain shooting up his chassis like a thousand needles, his servo reaching up and holding his injured shoulder plate. The others took a step towards him, about to help him, but he shook his helm and walked past them, brushing past their concerned servos. He limped out the exit of the base, a few questions and his own concerns pondering through his helm.

When he made it outside, Omega was standing there, her back turned to him, holding herself gently while she gazed up at the blue sky. She turned almost immediately, her optics lighting up as she gasped. The sky blue femme raced towards him, stopping just in front of him and taking his servo. "You're.. you're online!" she cried, her optics watering slightly.

Ratchet wasn't really sure how to reply, just slowly nodding his helm once. "Are you.. alright, Omega?" he asked quietly after a few moments. 

She looked down for a moment, her expressions betraying her as they portrayed just how emotionally hurt she was. Even so, she looked up again, meeting his optics, and her bright smile made him feel relief despite the fact he knew she wasn't really okay. "I'm much better now that you're alright," she answered him, rubbing his servo a little.

His optics grew sad. "I heard you're leaving."

Omega's glance once again went downcast, and she pulled her servo away and backed up. Her smile turned sad as well as she turned, folding her hands behind her back. "Yes, I am. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate everything your team has done for me, and you especially," she added quickly before continuing. "But.. after everything that's happened.. it doesn't feel right. Something's off, and.. I just need to find that.. something I lost after I lost Alpha." She sighed and shook her helm. "It doesn't feel right to stay."

Ratchet opened his mouth to speak, to protest, to argue that her points were invalid, or unnecessary. But he found himself.. understanding her. There were several times he had done something similar during the war, where he had lost too much and had to pull himself away before it got worse. He sighed softly and looked away, knowing that she was right. 

The best thing he could do was support her, and look after her from afar.

"Then, be careful," he found himself saying. Omega turned as he spoke, slightly surprised that he was agreeing. Before the medic could change his mind, he limped forward quickly and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. Omega was stiff for a moment, surprised again, before he felt her begin to shake. She buried her helm into his uninjured shoulder and cried silently, shaking more as she held onto him tightly.

Ratchet held onto her, and although he wished he could never let go, keep her with him forever, he knew that was going to go away. So he had to pray now, and from that time on, that she would be safe.

And maybe, one day, see her again.

~

FINALLY DONE!

I don't even know what to say about this last part. I guess it feels better than the rest of them?

Except for the quick ending..

I can't stop beating myself up over this book...

But I feel accomplished for FINALLY GETTING IT DONE!!

NO LONGER WILL YOU HAUNT ME HAHAHA!!

Thank you, readers, for remaining so faithful to this book. Despite how much I dislike it now, I've been so encouraged by you guys, and I'm so glad you like it!! It means a lot to me.

Again, a big THANK YOU!!!