Nexus. Safe house behind Blue's. Needing a boost.

[random_xtras]

((continued from here))

Arcee grimaces as her spark gives another flare. //I'll... never... be up to speed... again. ...Worn out. Worn out.//

The outside door opens, followed by heavy footsteps and an exclamation of surprise in the voice of the big yellow Ratchet. "Columbia, what did you do to this place?"

"Um... it didn't look like this when we left it, Dad. I don't know what happened... here. Somebody's hurt."

"Hrrrm, I see that. Stay here." The footsteps approach the room.

And Kia crawls under her berth.

Comments

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"Because he's my medic," Arcee says softly to Sari, smiling slightly as she does. "And a friend who's pulled me out of most of the mishaps of my old age."

The smile grows a little, though it's uncertain, as she looks up at the end of Ratchet's conversation with Prowl. Still her hand goes toward him to touch his arm comfortingly. "Someone's hurt back at base?"

"I have to go," says Ratchet, rubbing Columbia's back. "But here's my frequency if I'm needed."

"Bye," says Kia, putting a hand on redRatchet's back and peeking up at Sari.

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

While Sari peers back down at Kia, finally taking a moment to get a good look at the little femme, Ratchet nods to his counterpart. "Take care, the two of you. And thanks for the help."

He then turns his attention to answering Arcee's question. "An escape shuttle crashed into the river a few days ago. We don't know where it came from or what happened to it just yet, as we haven't sorted through the recovered ship databases completely. Prime's been working on that a bit, but things have been hectic. There were two femmes on board, both Autobot, but one of them died when her life support system malfunctioned; water got into the lines and caused a surge. The other has been in stasis lock since we pulled her out. She's stable and fully repaired, but we can't get her to come to."

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"It's no problem." Ratchet nods and goes.

"Kia know you!" proclaims the silver youngster, her big optics widening with delight. "Sari!"

"Do you need any help with the data retrieval?" Arcee swings her legs over the side of the berth, but keeps her hand on his arm and her optics on his face as she frowns slightly with concern. "And do you know either of the femmes?"

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

"We were actually hoping the survivor would come to and get us up to speed with what happened, but we're not sure she'll be fully online again anytime soon. We don't know the name of the one who died, but I know the other..." Ratchet casts his gaze aside a moment, frowning. "Her name is Communiqué. She was a wartime dispatch and communications officer. I lost track of her just before war's end and hadn't heard from her since running my last mission under her direction. She had close ties with some of the medical units and local authorities in Iacon. Don't know what she would be doing away from Cybertron..."

"Hey, maybe we should go back and play musical ports on her, too," Sari suggests suddenly. "It worked on Arcee."

"Kay's not damaged, Sari." The medic's ridges lower a little. "All her vitals read fine. What I didn't fix manually, your key repaired. Sometimes when a bot goes into stasis lock and won't come out of it, it's because there's something wrong on a level we can't effect. Something mental, a psychological issue... If we force her too much, we could do serious damage to her base level programming and even her spark."

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Arcee looks away guiltily, the hand on Ratchet's arm curling slightly as she remembers the overriding sense she'd been working under as she'd had the spark attack.

"Like being convinced that your time has come, and that being online just isn't worth the effort anymore?" she asks quietly.

"Sari, look. Bumblebee." Kia holds the doll up, and then points to the desk. "And Ratchet, too." She grins with innocent delight.

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

"Possibly..." Uncertain as to what else can be said, he sighs heavily. Suddenly, he himself feels incredibly worn out, more so than he has in a long time. He supposes a general thought on the matter is probably the best he can manage. "We all have a purpose or a function. If that one runs out on us or is fulfilled, we just need to find another. You could say it's a difference between what we were built for...and what we're meant for."

Sari is a little started and even amused to see the dolls. And she finds she really wants one, too. But it seems the older bots are currently engaged in a conversation that doesn't need to be interrupted, so she nods at Kia and smiles, hoping that's enough.

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The little silver femme glances between the older bots, then reaches up her hands toward Sari and whispers, "Go watch TV. We be quiet."

Arcee looks up again at the weary note in his voice, her faceplate creasing slightly as she berates herself for causing him unnecessary stress.

"You're right." She forces her voice to be lighter and shoves away her uncertainty as she sits up straighter.

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

Ratchet finds there's more he wants to say, but there likely isn't time. And both of them are stressed and worn down, mentally and emotionally. It's just not the time or the place.

"I probably have to go soon, Kia," Sari says as she looks down at the little femme.

"Sari's right. Prowl will probably contact me again if we don't return shortly," Ratchet sighs.

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Arcee pushes herself to her feet, then nods and gives Ratchet a gentle nudge toward the door. "I'll see you later."

She wants to hug him, but she's not sure of doing it with Sari on his shoulder. And she's still feeling guilty for stressing him.

"Oh." It's Kia's turn to sigh. "Sparks. Okay."

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

A hug would be a bit difficult with the little girl balanced on him, but Ratchet does reach out and place his own hand on Arcee's near shoulder for a second or two. "Just don't overwork yourself. You've seen enough excitement in your life, so try and take it easy a while."

Sari blinks at Kia. "Where'd she learn to talk like that?" She then glances at Ratchet automatically. "Wait, I probably shouldn't ask."

Ratchet merely grimaces at the accusation.

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She successfully keeps the sadness out of her smile, instead making it warm. The same to you doesn't fit, so she puts a hand over his and says, "I'm working on it. Be careful, alright?"

"Ratchet and Arcee," Kia tattles innocently.

[critical-medic.livejournal.com]

"Careful as I can be," Ratchet replies, managing a small smile before removing his hand.

"You just don't have any shame, do you?" Sari accuses as they turn back towards the door. "You probably curse in front of Kia like you did in front of me and Eleven that one time."

"Don't believe in that kinda censorship, kiddo. Now c'mon. Let's get back before Prowl actually feels the need to hunt us down..."