Ratchet smiled; he had gotten through to her.

Ratchet: “My work can wait.”

And he walked over, sitting down next to the spark-broken femme.

Ratchet: “I know this must be hard on you.”

Shadow: “Completely unbearable.”

She admitted; then she went quiet for a moment, thinking of a way out of her pain.

Shadow: “Hey, Ratchet, do you have any-?”

            He knew where she was going however, and refused to let it happen.

Ratchet: “No. I know what you’re going to ask and I will not help you drug yourself into the land of ‘ignorance is bliss’ nonsense! You have to face this head-on if it’s ever going to get better, MoonShadow.”

            She was stunned silent for a moment before she even tried to respond.

Shadow: “. . . I-I know. I’m sorry.”

She buried the rest of her faceplate in the safety of her knees.

Ratchet sighed, knowing he’d hurt her further just with his vocalizer.

Ratchet: “Shadow, I . . . I didn’t mean to yell, but you know I can’t help you. Not in that way. I . . . never mind.”

            She looked up at him, exposing her faceplate to the world again, but it was because something rang familiar in her hard drive.

Shadow: “What is it?”

Ratchet: “It’s nothing.”

            He refused to say, and wouldn’t look at her now. She was getting desperate to know.

Shadow: “No, Ratchet,”

She grabbed hold of his arm from where they sat, her optics pleading.

Shadow: “please tell me.”

            The medic took a deep intake, then confessed.

Ratchet: “I would love to help you an way I can. Just not like that.”

            And the words rang true with memory, as she fell into her hard drive’s depths.

~Flashback~

            MoonShadow was walking with CliffJumper in a deserted area of Cybertron, the big brother leading his little sister, her steps close behind and a sense of humor in the air.

Shadow: “Cliff, stop!”

She was trying desperately not to laugh, but it wasn’t working so well. A few giggles escaped her.

Shadow: “What if someone hears you?”

            She whispered, as though stressing the fact that someone might. CliffJumper turned around to face her.

Cliff: “Oh, please, do you see how empty it is out here? There’s no one but us, sis.”

            He gestured wildly. exaggerating his point.

Shadow: “Still,”

She did an obviously fake pout; one she often used on her brother.

Shadow: “it’s not nice to tease your sister about her crush.”

Cliff: “Lighten up, short stuff.”

            He said, teasing her again about her height even though she was average for femme height, and he was the one on the shorter end for mechs.

Shadow: “I am not short, you’re just older.”

Cliff: “That’s right, and there’s one thing you should know,”

He turned around, stopping in his tracks, as he grabbed Shadow by the shoulders and looked her in the optics seriously.

Cliff: “If there’s one thing that rigid, stick-in-the-mud medibot and I have in common, it’s that we would both do just about anything for you.”

            And yet, even in that sweet statement, she found fault.

Shadow: “’Just about’ anything?”

            His tone lightened, and he shrugged.

Cliff: “Well, anything that wouldn’t backfire, obviously.”

Shadow: “Obviously.”

            She agreed, a smile on her faceplate.

Cliff: “I know he’d do anything to help you, sis. Even if you don’t know it just yet.”

~End Flashback~

            Ratchet’s voice slowly filtered through Shadow’s audio receptor.

Ratchet: “Shadow? Shadow do you hear me?”

            And he was moving a small light in front of her optics, trying to get her to come back to them. All of a sudden, she jolted back to the world she knew was real.

Shadow: “Huh?”

            Ratchet pulled back the light and put it away.

Ratchet: “Thought I’d lost you for a moment there.”

            And yet, Arcee was there, standing no more than twenty feet away now.

Arcee: “Your shift’s over, anyway, Ratchet. My turn to talk with her.”

            Ratchet looked at Shadow, concerned for her more than Arcee.

Ratchet: “Will you be alright?”

Shadow: “I’ll be fine.”

            She admitted softly. Ratchet nodded and started getting up, but Shadow stopped him, grabbing his arm and holding him near.

Shadow: “And Ratchet . . .”

She whispered into his audio receptor.

Shadow: “you did help. Thank you.”

            Ratchet smiled, and without a word, got up and walked back to the elevator that would take him into the base.

            Arcee took his place beside MoonShadow.

Arcee: “I did everything I could for Cliff. I’d give my spark for his in an instant if I could do it again.”

            Shadow sighed lightly, her intake soft.

Shadow: “I know. But he wouldn’t let you.”

Arcee: “You know, the day he went died, I – well I guess I blocked something out. Heh, it wasn’t until I was sitting on the floor, alone, mulling over what you screamed at me, that it clicked. Cliff made one more connection with me before he . . . went offline.”

~Flashback~

Cliff: “Hey, Cee.”

CliffJumper coughed roughly as he took cover from the active Decpeticon fire behind a few energon shards. Arcee was driving back to base in a mad dash.

Arcee:  “Cliff! Hang on! We’re on the way!”

            But the mech seemed humored, despite his situation, at Arcee’s voice.

Cliff: “Heh, I know. You never give less than your all.”

Arcee: “Don’t give up on me, Cliff. Everything’s going to be fine. Just . . . just keep fighting, okay?”

Cliff: “I’ll do my best, Cee, but-.”

            He needed to tell her something, she knew that, but she didn’t want to hear it.

Arcee: “No buts, Cliff. We’ll be there in a minute.”

            It was an old thing of theirs; they would never talk about offlining, because they saw it as giving up, and if you gave up, you were guaranteed to be a goner.

Cliff: “I know the policy, Cee. Could you remember something for me, though?”

            It was the only thing he could think would get through to her.

Arcee: “Of course, why?”

Cliff: “If you ever run into MoonShadow, my little sister, tell her I love you. Tell her I love both of you, more than you can imagine. And tell her that I let you know before it was too late, like I promised her I would.”

            His vocalizer was growing distant and sad, and Arcee paid more attention to the sound than the actual words.

Arcee: “Cliff, don’t you start this tone.”

Cliff: “Gotta go, love. Decepticon scum’s coming my way. I’ll be seeing you, Cee.”

Arcee: “You just hold on, Cliff.”

Cliff: “Will do.”

            The connection died, and she never heard him again.

~End Flashback~

            All the while, Shadow was stunned.

Shadow: So he did tell her . . .

Arcee: “I just didn’t put the pieces together until today. I always thought he had another sister or something and . . . I just had no idea that it was for me.”

She placed a servo on Shadow’s shoulder, and she felt what JewelBlade had felt before.

Arcee: “Your energy is just like his, you know that? It’s that faint hum of a fighter who’s always ready to leap before you look.”

She smiled at the younger femme.

Arcee: “What do you say we head back inside?”

Shadow: “Of course, Cee.”

            Shadow smiled back, feeling she had someone to connect with again; someone who knew her brother and loved him like she did.

It was only about five minutes after their return that the Prime spoke up.

Optimus: “Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee, we have been requested to leave for the Fairbanks base in order to set up. Maiden has gauged the Decepticon invasion to be about a week from now.”

Arcee: “All right then, let’s head over. Best not to take the others so Megatron doesn’t catch on just how many allies we’ve gained yet.”

            Shadow whispered to Arcee, not liking that the blue femme was  leaving so soon.

Shadow: “You’ll be careful, right Arcee?”

            Ratchet started up the ground bridge, but it was slow to activate.

            Arcee whispered back.

Arcee: “This coming from Cliff’s sister? Have a little faith, Shadow.”

Shadow smiled, knowing it was true that her brother was well known for being reckless.

Optimus: “Is everything all right, Ratchet?”

Ratchet: “This darn thing just needs a tune-up. It’s still plenty capable.”

            Optimus nodded, and walked through the ground bridge with the other three members of his team close behind.