Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Cover Me ❯ Friends in Tight Spaces ( Chapter 17 )

Cover Me

By Black Dragon Queen

Author's note: Welcome to chapter seventeen I hope no one was too on edge from waiting! I have to take a moment to say thank you for all who answered my question. While I am updating their vehicle modes to a more modern day version, I am still trying very hard to keep to the original character concepts so I think I'll keep Preceptor as a microscope. Well, please enjoy the chapter!

PAIRINGS REVEALED THUS FAR:

Wheeljack x Ratchet, Inferno x Red Alert, Past Prowl x Jazz

Font Index:

“Speaking”, `Thinking', “-Radio Transmissions-”, “Cybertronion”

~*~

Chapter Seventeen: Friends in Tight Spaces

Barricade had been watching the three heat signatures within the human building very intently as he waited for the arrival of the Autobots. Either the distant wail of sirens he was hearing was them or they were signaling that the humans were en-route which, with a damaged mech, was not a good thing. Barricade sighed as he continued his observations. He really should have been leaving to go back to the Witwicky house and their wonderfully, boring garage now that he knew that it was Autobots and not Decepticons that had arrived but his slagging curiosity practically ensured that he was going to stay parked right where he was. He wondered briefly who it was that was injured. It was so odd... While during the war Barricade would have felt completely ecstatic at the thought of another Autobot on the brink of Offlining but right now however he just felt numb at the notion that another of their kind could possibly be lost; even if it was an Autobot.

Slipping back deeper into the shadow, he stared in disbelief when he saw through his scanners that the two `Bots actually were actually exiting the building courtesy of a hole they had blown in the farthest back wall. They were obviously on the move, probably trying to get the injured mech to safety before the planets native inhabitants arrived. “Slag, have to move,” Barricade growled as he started pulling out of the alleyway… only to throw himself into reverse and scuttle back into the blessed darkness as an ambulance, a fire SUV and a very familiar Camaro screeched into the parking lot. “Slag.”

Staying in the gloom, Barricade was suddenly surprised as each one of the newly arrived Autobots instantly pulled out their weapons after transforming and fell into a standard defense formation. Barricade watched puzzled as the two rescue vehicles started a sweep of the area while it looked like `Bee was actually arguing with Sam who kept pointing at the building and yelling back at his guardian. With a mental smirk, `Cade switched on his audio receivers once again.

~*~

“Sam, for the last time, stay here!” Bumblebee instructed as he glared down at the small human standing on the blacktop. “We still don't know the situation.”

“I am not going to be left behind!” Sam protested. “You brought me this far!”

“Sam, I will not have you in danger!” `Bee shouted at the boy.

“I will not be shoved aside now!” Sam shouted right back, completely unfazed. “I want to go!”

“Sam,” Ratchet tried as well only to have the human whirl around to glare at him.

“I will not be kept locked up like I'm made of glass!”

Red Alert glanced at him puzzled before going back to his sweep. “Well, of course you're not made of glass, you are an organic creature that-”

“Thank you! Somebody agrees with me!” Sam exclaimed as he whirled around once more to glare at `Bee.

“Sam, it may be Decepticons,” `Bee tired one last argument. “We still don't know for sure-”

Ratchet had turned to watch the building intently during the continued arguing when he suddenly cried out in surprise. “Yes, we do! It's Wheeljack!”

The others all spun around just in time to see him take off around the building at full speed and disappear. Startled, `Bee and Red both scrambled after their medic and flew around the building with Sam rushing desperately to catch up. Gasping for breath, Sam rounded the corner and froze at the sight of two more mechs, one red and one a silver and green standing in front of a large hole that had obviously been shot out of the wall of the building behind them. The silver green mech held a third mech in his arms, still in his original state as he was obviously unconscious and unable to scan another form for himself to alternate into, while the new red mech was standing in front of the other two protectively, cannons primed and aimed at `Bee and the others.

“Halt, who are you?” The red mech shouted in Cybertronion holding up his blaster threateningly.

“Sideswipe, let `em through! It's Ratchet!” The second mech shouted, instantly setting his burden down on the ground.

The red mech almost dropped his cannons in shock, practically collapsing with the sheer relief. “Thank Primus! Ratchet! You have to help! Sunny!”

“I know!” Ratchet snapped already on the ground kneeling next to his patient.

“Thank Primus you're here,” Wheeljack murmured. “We've been trying to find you. I don't know how much longer he would have lasted if we couldn't find you.”

“Well you found me,” Ratchet muttered as he continued checking over his patient. “Slag, it looks like some of his fuel lines are punctured!” he growled as he did a quick scan.

“Can you fix him?” Red asked, unknowingly speaking in English due to his worry. The other two glanced at him briefly at the strange language before returning their attention to the unconscious mech.

“I'll do what I can,” Ratchet muttered. “He must have taken one right in the chest, his plating is pressing against his central core processor.”

“What about his spark chamber?” Bumblebee suddenly asked in English purposefully so the others would understand what he was asking. `Bee looked down at the unconscious mech fearfully, thinking that this was far too close to what had happened to Barricade. “That's still alright, right?”

Ratchet glanced up at the youngling surprised before he yanked out a master scanning panel and passed it over the prone mech from head to foot. “No damage, thank Primus,” he announced and Red, `Bee and Sam all sighed in relief.

“What?” Sam watched worriedly as the red mech began yanking on Ratchet's arm. “What's wrong?”

“Damn it `Sides, give me room to work here!” Ratchet shouted. “Red! Grab him!” he ordered as he pulled out a cutting torch and got to work prying the mechs chest plate open, the silver and green mech leaning down to assist him. Red reached down and dragged the still panicking mech to his feet and pulled him back from the others, giving them more room to work on the third.

“What is it? What's wrong with him?” Sam softly called upwards to `Bee from where they stood a little ways away from the small group.

Bumblebee reached down and lifted Sam off the ground so they could speak more clearly and also to ensure that Sam did not get underfoot of the working mechs. “His name is Sunstreaker. The one that Red's holding back is his twin brother Sideswipe,” `Bee told him solemnly. Sam nodded as he came to the conclusion that the third mech had to be this “Wheeljack” that had originally made contact earlier that day. “Apparently, Ratchet thinks his fuel lines were hit.”

“What?” Sam gasped in surprise. “Is that why he's in Stasis Lock?”

“Sam!” Ratchet shouted in shock though he never paused in his work. “How in the world did you learn that phrase?”

“Oh. Uh,” Sam and `Bee glanced at one another anxiously. “Um… I think I heard Ironhide say it once. I asked `Bee about it,” Sam tried to explain.

Ratchet did pause for a split second now to glance up and glare at `Bee. “You couldn't have just lied to him?” he growled out as he went back to his work.

“I never lie to Sam, you know that!” `Bee protested. Ratchet said nothing as he continued on working on his patient but `Bee knew that this particular conversation was not over. The medic finally got a piece of the paneling off and handed it over to the other mech behind him as he began pulling different wires aside and pulled up a rather large tube.

Sam gasped as he now could clearly see the gashes cut into the piece and a fluid of neon pink was spurting out of the holes. Ratchet cursed as he clamped a hand on a majority of the holes to try and slow the leaking as he snapped something to his companion. Sam was watched the proceeding apprehensively now that he knew what the pink colored liquid was and just how dire the situation was. Sunstreaker was losing Energon.

Wheeljack took hold of the tubing and placed his hands over Ratchets as the medic slipped his hands out and retrieved a rather odd gun like tool from one of his side compartments. Sam watched fascinated as he began filling in the holes with some black tar like substance, both mechs muttering softly as they worked. They both worked fluidly and hardly without any pause to clarify something. Clearly they were use to working together.

“What in the world is going on?” Sides' was shouting behind Ratchet as the two mechs working on his brother purposefully placed themselves in front of his vision, blocking his view of Sunny. “What are you talking about? What's going on? What's wrong with him?”

“I've got most of it but he's still leaking fluids somewhere. I'm going to have to go in deeper for the last one,” Ratchet muttered as he activated a different scanner and checked the different areas of Sunny's inner workings. “Slag,” Ratchet muttered as he moved some different wiring. “I almost have to do a full scale operation! It's so far in that I would have to remove some of his internal working first before I would be able to reach it.”

“Wha-What?” Sides shouted. “Can't you fix him? You're the best medic in existence! You have to be able to fix him!”

“Damn it Sideswipe!” Red Alert growled irritably, surprising the other mechs at his deep tone. “Let him do his job!” Sideswipe quieted down, but he still shifted nervously as he watched the others work.

Ratchet was checking the different lines when Wheeljack leaned towards him. “Will you be able to save him?” he whispered.

“I have to try, Wheeljack. The last part that's been ruptured is in the far back and if we don't get it closed soon, his primary systems may offline.” Ratchet replied determinedly. Wheeljack nodded and held up the paneling so Ratchet could have both hands free as he made his way through Sunstreaker's inner working. He went slowly as he pushed aside the wires and tubing piece by precious piece as he worked his way further in. “Slag, it's too deep for me to reach and I can't take out any more of his core wiring to get to it, there's no time!” he declared as he scanned the mechs vitals once again. “He's too close to the end!”

“There must be something we can do,” Wheeljack muttered.

Ratchet stared down at the small gap within the unconscious mechs wiring before he suddenly jerked up in stunned surprised and whirled around to stare at the other two in the small group. “That's it!” he cried out, startling `Bee and Sam as he stood up and quickly made his way to their side. “Sam, you're the only one who can reach the puncture!”

“What?” Sam cried out in shock.

“The puncture is so deep within his chest cavity that I can't get to it with the small amount of time we have. I need you to climb in there and plug the leak.”

Sam bit his lip, as he looked down at the unconscious mech. So alike yet so different from when Barricade was trapped in the same position in that dingy underground garage. “What do you need me to do?” he asked determinedly as he stepped from `Bee's hand and onto Ratchets.

“Right now, I need you to just get down there and see what exactly the damage is. All I know is that his Energon levels are slowly dropping but I can't find the source of the leak.”

Sam nodded as he was brought over to the mech and set down on the open chest plating. He stared down at all the expose wiring. “Wait, what if I accidentally yank something important?” he suddenly cried out frantically. “I'm not a mechanic!”

“Sam, right now the most important thing is to get his levels back up to norm. You have to try,” Ratchet told him solemnly.

“You can do it Sam.” Sam glanced back at `Bee who was now closer to the small group. “You're the most stubborn person I know.” He grinned. “You must get it from your mother.”

Sam gave him a watery smile as he took a small, tentative step and made his way towards the small hole that he could just barely wiggle through. Lights suddenly lit up on the comatose mech for him and he glanced up to see Wheeljack standing behind Ratchet with two spotlights that were apparently situated on the side of his head like a pair of giant “ears”. In the darkness, Sam had not seen that particular feature. Sam nodded gratefully and laying down on his stomach, he slowly began lowering his top half down into the darkness.

“What the slag?” Sideswipes suddenly shouted angrily. “What is that thing? What's it doing going into Sunny? What in the Matrix is going on?”

“Sam will help fix him, Sunny,” Ratchet told the panicking mech soothingly. “He can get closer to the problem than I can at the moment.”

“But…” Sides trailed off.

“Sideswipe,” Bumblebee suddenly said in Cybertronion startling the others. “Put your faith in Sam.”

Sides looked around at the three mechs confused before glancing back at his teammate. “Wheeljack?”

Wheeljack gave a reluctant sigh. “If they say we trust this `Sam', then we can trust him.” Sides looked unconvinced for a moment before he finally nodded in resignation.

“Red,” Ratchet suddenly said in English. “Let him go.”

Red Alert turned to Ratchet in surprise. “But you said…”

“I know, but were now past that point,” Ratchet explained. Red frowned but nodded as he let go of the other red mech. Sides turned to look at him gratefully before he quickly moved next to his brother, reaching down and cradling his head in his lap. Ratchet watched him sadly before he turned back to Sunny's chest and activated his scanners in order to watch the proceeding within.

Sam, meanwhile, was having some trouble getting down to the source of the puncture since he didn't want to damage anything further as he followed the tubing down into Sunny's chest. Reaching out, Sam placed his hand against a panel to steady himself when he suddenly felt a warm heat radiating though his hand. Glancing over to the side nervously he froze as he saw the small chamber that housed the mechs spark. Amazed, Sam looked down to where his hand was resting as he suddenly felt the plating began pulsating under his hand. Shaking his head to snap himself out of the awe he had begun feeling, Sam reluctantly removed his hand and turned back to his task as he began to search the tubing for any signs of leakage.

It didn't take him long to find it and he blinked in surprise. A shard of silver metal about the size of his head was sticking out of the tubing with the precious pink liquid oozing out around it. Sam cursed as he thought quickly and yanked off his shirt to wrap around the shard and stem the flowing liquid. “Ratchet!” he called upward. “I think I found it!”

The three mechs side in relief as Red quickly translated the discovery to the other two. Sideswipe nodded that he understood as he began stroking his brother's face in a comforting manner. “Sam,” Ratchet called down. “Can you plug it somehow?”

“I'm not sure!” Sam called back up as he held his shirt against the edges. “There's a piece of metal stuck in the tubing! I don't know if I should yank it out or not!”

“Slag,” Ratchet muttered. “Don't do anything! We'll have to deal with that later! See if you can climb back up here and get some sealant!”

“Okay!” Sam shouted back. Winding his shirt around the metal, he knotted it as tight as he could before he turned and began the climb back up. Once on the outside, Ratchet took the sealing gun and poured some into his own hand before holding it out for Sam to take as much as he could. Scooping up an armful, Sam winced as the hot, sticky substance clung to his bare chest as he carefully made his way back down towards the hole.

Getting back to the puncture, he carefully balanced the goop in one arm as he reached out and yanked off his ruined shirt with the other. Hooking his feet on two sturdy looking bars, he began carefully patting the gooey substance around the metal shard, covering the edges with as much of the black goop as possible. Pressing it firmly, he made sure that absolutely no pink was showing anywhere before he grabbed his shirt and began climbing back up and out of the hole.

The other mechs were watching all this intently before Red Alert suddenly straightened and looked back the other way. “Inferno!” he gasped in surprise before he turned back to the others, “and it seems that Optimus is with him.”

“Well, go get him,” Ratchet said exasperated. “What? You need my permission?”

Red nodded and quickly disappeared around the corner of the building as Sam finally emerged once again. Sam sighed in relief as he heard what Red had said and he looked over at Bumblebee, glad that Optimus had finally arrived. `Bee gave him a small smile as he reached down to lift Sam up just as Optimus and Ironhide came around the corner followed by two new mechs who all froze at the sight of them.

“Optimus,” Ratchet murmured and they all turned to look at him, panic practically radiating off of them as they all waited for the verdict. “He's out of Stasis Lock, he's just in recharge now. He should make it,” Ratchet announced and all of them just about collapsed at the news.

“What happened?” Optimus asked as he was the first to recover. “What's the situation?”

“Most of his center line was ruptured,” Ratchet declared gravely and they all gasped in surprise. “They've all been temporarily sealed but Sam said that there's a metal shard embedded further down the line but he managed to stop the flow.” Both Ironhide and Optimus turned to stare at Sam in surprise and he blushed in embarrassment, quickly figuring out what it was that was being spoken of as he tried to wipe off as much of the goop as possible with his shirt.

`Bee set him down next to the two Rangers who both quickly moved next to him. Will instantly began fussing over him. “What's going on?” he asked as he took off his own jacket and handed it to the boy. Grateful, Sam quickly threw the larger coat on as he quickly explained the situation.

“Unfortunately the shard will have to wait until after we return to the base before I can get in there and replace the line,” Ratchet was explaining to his leader.

“But how do we get him there?” Inferno asked. “If he's still out of it…”

“What I want to know is why the humans aren't here yet,” Ironhide growled out as he looked around. “We weren't at the school ten minutes before they showed up.”

“I deactivated their summoning device,” Wheeljack explained. “It was a simple thing.”

`Hide tilted his head. “And it didn't blow sky high?”

“If you don't mind, we have other things to worry about,” Ratchet interrupted. “I have to see if I can get him back up and online long enough to do a scan of something.”

“Couldn't that wait?” Perceptor asked him, confused. “I would think getting that shard should be your first priority.”

Ratchet glanced up with a grim look. “You wouldn't believe it but the longer that he's been in his original form the more likely his main circuits are overloading.”

“What?” Optimus cried out in alarm. “What are you talking about?”

“He can't shift just yet but once I get him operational, he'll have to shift into another form immediately and possibly stay that way for a day or two.”

“What? Why?” Sides demanded even more upset now than before.

Ratchet hesitated a moment before he finally explained. “Something is overloading his core. I don't know what it is exactly but there is defiantly something is messing around with his system.”

“What?” everyone cried out surprised.

“But we were never affected,” Ironhide protested.

“Protocol,” Ratchet explained.“We all scanned an alt form mere minutes after landing in order to blend into the environment. We weren't in our original forms long enough for whatever it was to tinker with our systems.”

“Sunny, hang on,” Sides said as he passed his brother over to Wheeljack and made his way back into the building. “Someone help me with this!” they soon heard him shout back and the others all looked at one another before Ironhide ducked into the building.

“Hey, Will!” Ironhide suddenly called out. “Get in here!”

Will glanced at the other humans confused. Since the Autobots had been speaking in Cybertronion, they were a little lost as to what exactly was going on. Will shrugged his shoulders before he climbed over the rubble and into the building. He froze at the sight before him. It was every man's dream come to life, and some women's too. Supped up, gleaming cars everywhere, even though most of them were covered in dust now. “Wow.”

“Will, stop gawking and get over here!” `Hide growled irritably and Will rolled his eyes as he made his way toward the two Cybertronions who were standing around what had to be the most gorgeous car in the whole building.

Glancing at the tag, Will let out a low whistle. “A Lamborghini?” he asked.

“It's California, ain't it? He'll blend right in,” Ironhide grunted.

Will just shrugged again and slipped into the driver's seat. Nearly melting into the plush, soft leather it took him a few moments to remember the dire situation taking place outside and after some searching, he found the parking brake and managed to get it into neutral. “Okay!” he called out and the two mech began pushing the car towards the gaping hole with Will maneuvering the car expertly.

Both Epps and Sam gawked at the sight of the yellow car being pushed out into the back yard. “I love this job,” Will announced as he hopped out of the car.

“What is that?” Epps asked completely stupefied at the sight of the gorgeous vehicle.

“Tag says it's a Lamborghini Gallardo,” Will called out. “Nice huh?”

Sides left the small group and quickly moved towards his brother, lifting his head up and onto his lap. “Sunny,” he called out. “I need for you to come online for a moment. You have to scan another alt form.”

Optimus moved over towards Ratchet and gently pulled the medic away a short distance from the others. “Are you sure you don't know what's affecting him?” he asked softly and in English as to not upset Sideswipe any more than he already was.

Ratchet turned towards Optimus with a frown. “If I didn't know any better, I would say it was an overdose of raw Energon waves,” Ratchet replied with no small amount of bafflement in his voice.

“What?” Ironhide and Red exclaimed as they made their way towards the soft conversation going on at the edge of the group.

“I thought you said Earth didn't have any Energon,” Sam said as he joined the group followed closely by Epps and Will.

“We did,” `Bee said as he followed his human charge. “Our original scans showed no signs of Energon present anywhere.”

“Then what's wrong with Sunny?” Red asked. “If we're sure it's not Energon…”

“It could be that there's something in Earth's elements that could possibly be close to Energon,” Ratchet mused.

“But we ran multiple scans from both space and on Earth, we found nothing,” Ironhide insisted.

“Well, after everything calms down around here, I'll get Perceptor on it,” Optimus announced as he watched the twins.

“Oh goody,” Ironhide muttered. “That ought to keep him busy.”

“What are you guys whispering about?” Inferno asked as he suddenly appeared next to Red Alert. Red jumped and looked away guiltily.

“We'll discuss it later,” Optimus stated, though it seemed as if Inferno was still not wholly appeased. “Right now we have other things to discuss.”

Ratchet suddenly placed his hand on Optimus' shoulder and shook his head. “That too can wait until later,” he said soflty and after a moments pause, Optimus nodded in agreement.

“Ratchet?” Wheeljack called over. “Sunny may be coming back.”

Ratchet quickly left the small group and made his way back to his patient. Sure enough, Sunny was slowly but surely coming back online. “Sides, tilt his head slowly towards the car. We have to get him to scan it before we can bring him back to the base.”

Sideswipe nodded as he turned his brother's head. “Sunny? I need you to activate your scanner.” It took a few minutes until blue optics finally flickered and soon there was a soft beep signaling a completed scan before the optics went dark once more.

“Well, now that that's done, how do we get him back to base? It's nearly dawn,” Ironhide asked.

“I have no idea,” Ratchet admitted.

“What is it?” Sam asked confused as everyone was now just standing around. “What's wrong now?”

“We can't figure out a way to get Sunny back to the base,” `Bee explained and Sam blinked in surprise.

They all thought for a while before it was Epps who spoke up. “What about we get him onto Optimus' back?” Everyone who understood turned to stare at the ranger and his shifted nervously under all the unblinking gazes. “I mean when he's in truck form. You know the space where the trailers usually are hooked up too. We could sit him on that, can't we?”

The Autobots looked surprised for a moment before Optimus slowly nodded. “That could work,” he mused before he turned back to translate for the others. “We should bring him to the parking lot first before transforming.”

They all nodded and Sideswipe, Wheeljack and Ironhide lifted Sunny up while Sideswipe cradled his head as they made their way towards the front of the building.

Red Alert took point and looked around the corner and checked for any signs of humans. “All clear.”

Sam and the other humans all followed the group and soon Optimus had shifted into his alt form and the others began trying to find a way to strap him on. Sam made his way over towards `Bee who was standing watch on one side of the parking lot while Red was watching the other direction. “Do you think he'll make it?” Sam asked as Bumblebee bent down and allowed Sam to climb up.

“Ratchet is the best medic that Cybertron had in centuries,” `Bee said softly. “If he says that Sunny will make it, he'll make it.” Sam frowned as he watched the others loading him onto Optimus' back. “Hey,” `Bee whispered down at him. “You did good.”

Sam gave a small smile, still a little unconvinced but reassured nonetheless. Wrapping his borrowed coat tighter around himself, he glanced out at the city beyond before he nearly fell over in shock. “You're kidding me!” he gasped before he whirled around to check on the others to see if they had spotted the same thing he had.

“What? What is it?” `Bee asked concerned as he began searching the buildings before him in search of anyone observing them. “Did you see someone?”

“Oh I saw someone alright,” Sam muttered before subtly gesturing across the street. “Do you see what I see?”

“Slag! What the matrix is he doing here?” he groused as he spotted the rather familiar dented Saleen mustang sitting innocently at the other side of the street. Both glanced hesitantly at the small group that was luckily still trying to get the unconscious Sunstreaker onto Optimus' small “flatbed”.

Glancing back at the patrol car, `Bee sent him a vicious glare and made a shooing motion with his free hand. It would not do to have the Decepticon noticed now of all times, especially with Sunny so injured. The `Con obviously noticed the frantic signaling from `Bee for he blinked his lights once before he pulled back and disappeared down the alleyway.

“Sam,” `Bee muttered. “When we get back to your house, remind me to scrap him.”

“Wouldn't that just defeat the purpose of fixing him up?” Sam mused.

“Not if it brings me enormous pleasure...”

Sam shook his head as the others finally managed to get Sunstreaker strapped in and everyone shifted once again to head for the Autobots base. “Well, they didn't notice him,” he whispered.

“The only good thing to come out of this entire slagging day,” `Bee muttered as they turned back to the group as Ratchet announced that they were all set and ready to go.

~*~

“Well,” Barricade mused as he headed back towards the Witwicky residence. “That was entertaining.” He thought over all the things he had learned as he eavesdropped and began wondering what it was that had all the Autobots in a panic. The fact that there was something that possible had the same side effect as Energon was quite interesting. He would have to look into that later on. However, at the current moment…

“Oh slag,” Barricade muttered as he found both Ron and Judy Witwicky staring at the empty garage in puzzlement. Judy turned at the sound of him pulling up and the woman just glared at him as her hands went immediately to her hips and she began tapping her foot in anger. “I'm in trouble...”

-To be Continued