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TFP| The Gifted Chapter Five

Deviation Actions

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    A soft moan escaped his lips, as he slowly opened his optics. Ratchet began to sit up but was struck by an unbearable pain around his chasis. He clenched his denta, grunting from the pain before slumping back down on the berth. This pain was all too familiar to him. He had injected himself with the incomplete formula of the Synthetic energon and arrogantly faced Megatron all by himself. And his cockiness gotten him wounded in the process. Ratchet felt such a fool, and to think he could be of any use for their team. He was just their medic.



“Ratchet.” A soothing voice called out his name, which was right next to his left audio receptor. Turning his head to glance down at Lucy, whose small figure was close to his face plates. His optics widen.



Lucy's eyes began to water as she blinked several times for her to see him better, but her watery eyes wouldn't let her. Her quivering lips formed a relieved smile, yet her tears began to flow down her ivory complexion. She was glad he was still breathing. His little stunt worried her to the very bone, and it scared her deeply. Lucy hadn't realized that she had begun to sob uncontrollably, choking onto her breath as she covered her face with both hands.



Ratchet could only watch as the young femme began to quietly cry next to his face plates. He furrowed his brow-ridges' together, his lips forming a sorrowful frown. The girl wiped away her tears, yet more began to escape as it traveled down her cheeks. Her teary eyes focused onto his beautiful colored optics and smiled warmly.



“You're…alright.”, her voice cracked, as the lump in her throat tightened. Her tears flooded like an endless river and began to sob uncontrollably. Ratchets' frown deepened, feeling more conflicted as he continued to watch her. “Do you have any idea how worried I've been?” She said, pressing her small hands onto his silvery metal features.



The girl's touch surprised him. His optics widening and his lips were slightly parted. Her dampen hands gently caressed his left cheek, as his lips twitched by the gentleness of her delicate fingers. The 'bots gaze relaxed. What happened next would have shocked the world. Ratchet raised his left servo as it ever so gently hovered over her, pulling her closer towards his left side of his faceplates. Lucy's eyes shot open, surprised to feel the medics hand around her figure.



“I'm s-sorry.” he stumbled over his words before continuing. “I did not know I worried you this much. Please don't cry.” his soothing tone had calmed the femme underneath his servos, her slight trembling coming to a halt.



The girl sniffed, wiping away her tears with her long sleeved, cyan colored sweater. “Don't ever do something so reckless.” She gently caressed his lower eyelid. His optics observing her slim face. “Promise me you won't do something like that.”



She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, silently pleading with him. The thought of losing him was something she could not handle. She grimaced inwardly at the thought. His fingers curled around her, gently pushing her forward towards him. The girl happily complied, leaning on top of his ‘L’ curved metal. Pressing her forehead against the cold metal surface, a few strands of hair fell forward, tickling his cheek slightly.



He hesitated for a moment. Speaking softly. “I promise.” Lucy smiled, relieved swept through her body. She closed her eyes, never moving from her position. He too shut his eyes, as he pressed his side of his helm gently on her forehead.



Both smiled, with their eyes firmly closed and keeping each other company. The rest of the group weren't present to witness them. Though, inwardly they were glad no one barged in on them. And soon enough, Lucy began to slowly fall asleep next to the 'bots head. Ratchet silently watched from the corner of his optics as she fell asleep. His eyes grew heavy and soon drifted off into a deep recharge, removing his servo that covered her tiny frame.





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                …

        …





Two days after his injury, the old 'bot was up and walking again. His armor now fully repaired along with an energon transfusion. Lucy was currently the only human in the base, usually, she would be around Ratchets side. Thus, today she has been occupied by her online classes. The girl was on the couch with her legs crossed, her laptop on top of her legs with earphones plugged in her ears. Listening intently to the Biology professor through her plugs and blocking all sounds from the outside. Thanks to Raf's knowledge of computers she could use the Wi-Fi inside the base with no trouble.



The weather outside has been somewhat chilly, so she wore some comfy clothes. She wore a green hooded sweatshirt, and underneath it was a white sleeveless shirt. Along with some red sweatpants, which had a circular logo located on her left femur. Lastly, she had black fluffy wooly warm boots.



Her hair was a mess, and she preferred it lose rather than tying it up. Which was time-consuming. Who could blame her? I mean, her hair length reaches down to her knees now, so it's extremely difficult to do anything and avoiding getting her hair getting stuck on things. She doesn't seem bothered by it at all, in fact, it’s surprising that no one commented about her hair length. Not even the 'bots. Though, hair is something they are unfamiliar with and find it quite strange.



Lucy stared at the screen intently, unknowing that Ratchet has been sneaking a few glances towards her way from the main monitors. While Optimus stood on the other side of it, reciting aloud a passage from the covenant of Primus. Which is foretelling that a perpetual conflict will culminate when the forty-seven spheres align.



“And the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness.” Optimus finished the last sentence of the covenant, staring at the screen before him. As Arcee stepped forward, standing behind the old medic. “No skies raining fire?” She asked. Placing her servo on her hip.



Ratchets gaze drifted towards the screen, “Goes without say. It is a doom prophecy after all.” he narrowed his eyes, observing the screen in front of him. Bulkhead spoke, clearly not convinced by the prophecy. “I say it's a load of hooey.” he waved his servo nonchalantly.



The old 'bot turned around, facing the wrecker and the two-wheeler. “I always assumed the ancients were referring to our home planet, but being that Cybertron has been dark for eons.” his optics moved away from the two, landing onto the floor before glancing at Optimus who spoke. “And considering what has befallen this planet since Megatron's arrival here.”



“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Bulkhead interrupted, waving his hands in protest. “We've known about these superstitions for ages and never gave them a second thought!”



“Wild ominous rumblings now?” Arcee questioned, her gaze landing onto the prime. “Because the planetary alignment to which the prophecy refers is nearly upon us.” The primes faceplates hardened ever so slightly.



“And it would seem it's endpoint is earth.” Ratchet raised his helmet, staring off into the screen where he observed a map of the solar system upon the monitor. Earth being what he laid eyes on.



Bulkhead and Arcee turned their heads towards each other, looking a bit perplexed. Well, mostly Bulkhead. “Uhh…crazy coincidence!” he pointed both of his index fingers towards the medic. “Heh…r-right?” stuttering his words before slightly lowering his pointed fingers. Arcee then proceeded to ask as she stepped forward. “How long are we talking?”



Ratchet turned around, staring at the femme. His brow-ridges slightly frowned. “A few days at most,” he stated, which cause both Arcee and Bulkhead to glance at each other.



“However, unsettling as this revelation may be. I am more concerned about those who might believe that the prophecy speaks to them alone.” Optimus explained. His gaze becoming more serious.



After their gathering, both Arcee and Bulkhead left the base to look for their humans. Bumblebee hadn't been around, and that was because he left long ago to pick up Raf from school.



Everything was quiet around the headquarters. Ratchet was at his work area next to Lucy who was now watching a video that was Biology related, and Optimus was standing in front of the main monitors. While Ratchet was typing away on his monitor, he was secretly snuck a few glances towards the girl whose attention was drawn by the screen of her laptop. He slightly frowned, as he pouted, well…almost. So, he decided to call out the girls’ name, but to no avail.



“Lucy.” Nothing. Ratchet soon became impatient. “Lucy!!” the old 'bot raised his voice box, which was loud enough to make Optimus shield his sensitive audio receptors.



The poor girl jumped out of her seat in alarm, dropping her laptop along with her earphone plopped out of her ears. She swiftly stumbled forward to catch the laptop as it almost slipped out of her grasp. Somehow, she managed to catch it before it fell, though she ended up on top of the small sofa. Her elbows rested on top of the sofas rail, while her forearms were outstretched holding onto her laptop, and her legs were sprawled upon the cushion. She looked ridiculous.



Lucy's startled features softened, closing her eyes and sighed in relief. Although, the moment was cut short when she heard someone clearing their throat. Opening her eyes as her gaze landed onto the medic whose face expressed a look of annoyance, though his eyes told her a different story. Slowly she glanced over to where Optimus was. His optics wide, mouth slightly agape. The prime stood there in bewilderment. Who knew a human could move in such a graceless manner.



She let out a nervous laugh. A tiny drop of sweat appearing on her cheek. “Whoops...my bad.” She carefully placed her laptop and her earphones on top of the wooden table. Ratchet shook his helm, before questioning the girl. “What on earth were you doing?”



Her eyes landed onto Ratchet whose gaze showed displeasure. “I was attending my online course, and the professor requires us to listen to him. Which is why I-um…well, I couldn't hear you.” She smiled nervously. Earning a scoff from the 'bot. “Why is the class important to be attending to anyways?”



Ratchet rolled his optics, unknowing the girls face became serious. Her brows furrowed slightly. “Because I am studying to become a Doctor.” She declared, and to Ratchets utter surprise. He gasped as he now stared at her with wide optics. “It's important for me.” She whispered softly.



When Ratchet was about to speak, a loud honk was heard, interrupting what he was about to say. Lucy turned her head around and saw Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee as their three humans exited their vehicles before transforming. All the young teens, mainly Miko, pounced on her which almost made her fall. Greeting her with a playful nudge. As the two boys huddled around her and were now talking to each other.





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        Night had soon fallen across Nevada. Within the base, the three teens were huddled together on the sofa, and Lucy was quietly reading a book on the small loveseat. Optimus was standing in front of the main monitors while Ratchet was tapping away in the med bay.



Jack and Rafael were glued to the young boys’ laptop. Which they were scrolling down the page they were in. It was a conspiracy website they were looking at, and with each picture, they saw Jack would wave it off. Stating that they were fake or is simply a prank, basically, he found an explanation behind the image. As Raf was scrolling down he landed on a picture of Bumblebee in his vehicle form.



“The camera sure loves, bee.” Jack leaned closer to the screen, his eyes landing on Raf. “What can you do? When you're a superstar your paparazzi bait!” Miko gestured with both hands, a raised pinkie and index; which is normally called the horns.



“Wait, is that bumblebee?” Ratchet leaned to side as he viewed the picture from where he was. “On a conspiracy website where users post evidence of close encounters, but we have it under control Ratchet!” Raf reassured him with thumbs up. “We just scrub and replace bee with-”



An animated image appears on the screen where the picture of Bumblebee used to be. The moving image then spoke out in a silly tone. “Mars Cats says, ‘Take me to your feeder!’”



Lucy smiled at the sound of the squeaky voice, but what surprised her most was Ratchet. She wasn't the only one who stared at him in disbelief. He laughed. It was a short one, yet the sound he emitted was pleasant and it made her chest flutter.



“Did Ratchet actually laughed?” Miko looked over towards Jack and Raf. Her eyes landed onto Lucy for a moment before landing back to the Autobot medic.



Ratchet averted his gaze elsewhere. Shifting nervously from his workstation. His optics landed onto Lucy, and to his surprise, she was staring back at him with a smile on her lips. Ratchet forced back a smile, his optics drifting down at his screen. He could hear the femmes muffled giggles which made his metal cheeks heat up slightly from embarrassment.



Jack's gaze landed onto the Autobot leader. “Uh, Optimus. You wanna see something funny?” almost immediately the prime rejected the boys offer rather flatly. “No.”



“Don't take it personally,” Arcee spoke out of the blue. Walking behind Ratchet with Bulkhead doing the same. “Prime are built that way.” She crossed her folded her arms together. “Haven't seen Optimus laugh, cry, nor lose his cool,” Bulkhead added.



“While Optimus certainly keeps his emotions in check. I've known him far longer than any of you have,” Ratchet turned his head slightly to the side towards Arcee. Then turning his gaze towards Optimus. “and he was different before he was made a prime.”



“Optimus wasn't always a prime?” Raf asked, slightly curious. “How come?” Lucy too asked, tilting her head to the side slightly and closing her book in the process. “On Cybertron, one isn't born into greatness rather one must earn it.” Ratchet said.



Miko then spoke. “So, different how? We talking party animal?” She wriggled her arms in a circular motion. Ratchet simply waved her off with his left servo. “No, no. Optimus was more like…”



The old 'bots’ optics searched for the right person to compare them to Optimus. His optics first landed onto Lucy. In all honesty, she is by far a perfect and strong example to point out towards the children's. Though, in the end, he chose not to compare her to Optimus, even though they shared similar standards he didn't think of her that way. She was unique in his optics. Ratchets gaze landed onto Jack who was facing the other way. “Like Jack.”



Everyone's eyes landed on the boy who had a surprised expression writing across his face. “What? I-I'm nothing like Optimus-” Jack was cut off by a loud beep and a man's voice was heard throughout the room. “Prime!”



Lucy turned her head around to where Optimus was and up on the monitor. A man's face appeared on the screen, and he did not look happy. As she observes him longer many questions swirled her mind. She hadn't seen him before, nor did the others mention his name. Maybe he was the Autobots designated liaison.



“Those tech heights my department's been tracking. We figured it was mech on account their stealth tactics, until moments ago, when a security feed at the Pennington herbs particle collider captured this.”



An image appeared on the left screen showing a faceless Cybertronian being. Lucy stood up to take a closer look at it, and it was indeed one of the Decepticons. Though, she didn't know who it was. That was when Jack said the 'bots name aloud.



“Soundwave.” Jack walked further away standing right on top of the three large monitors. “Raf can swap that out for you with a funny cat.” Miko smiled hiding her hands behind her back.



“The 'con without a face made off with a cutting edge phase conductor. Here's a lunch list of everything else we've confirmed stolen to date.” The man sent a top-secret file on the monitor to the right with lists of the items stolen by the Decepticons.



“Plasma Injector, Neutron Shield, Tesseract?” Ratchet said as he read the final item on the list before speaking again. “There's only one thing missing if they are intending to build- ”





        …

                …

        …





“The Decepticon Space Bridge 2.0 is nearly ready to launch.” Knockout gracefully announced to his leader. “All we require is-” he was then interrupted by Soundwave who had an image of the item they were currently missing.



Knockout glanced over to the faceless Decepticon, who was next to him before turning his gaze back to Megatron. “What Soundwave said, an ample power source.”



The warships large screen revealed a detailed map of a facility where the missing piece was located.



“This one lies within a high fortified location. By human standards.” Arachnid spoke. Her spider-looking appendages were located on her back, and her piercing purple eyes would make anyone run away. “I can tunnel in.” She said, but not before their leader turned towards her and proceeded to raise his voice. “The time of prophecy is nearly upon us!” he clenched his right servo into a fist.



Arachnid backed away, slightly shocked, and turned her head towards knockout who did the same. The Decepticon leader was fuming with impatience which was written across his faceplates, yet it was accompanied by irritation. “We can no longer afford stealth.”





        …

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        In the afternoon, Lucy was occupying the base along with Jack and Miko. Rafael was out with Bumblebee, and the others were retrieving a stolen piece from the Decepticons. She is lucky to have the whole weekend off and is happily wasting her time by reading a book, like always. Though, today she wanted to do something different and played video games with the other two. It was her first time touching a controller and she lost several times, but it was fun none the less.



Everything was normal, but that didn't last too long when Optimus's voice echoed through the comm link system. The prime sounded extremely concern, yet he kept his voice firm and calm while addressing the medic. “Ratchet, bridge us back now!”



Lucy immediately stood up from the sofa and made her way to the railing next to the main monitors and the staircase. Her worried gaze landed onto Ratchet who was mumbling to himself, no one heard him except for her. Hearing his words loud and clear through her ears that caused her heart to run cold.



“We must have an Autobot down.”



Ratchet opened the ground bridge and waited for the fallen autoboot to enter. Lucy kept her eyes on the portal and could feel Jack and Miko’s presence beside her. She felt anxious and it was eating her as the minutes went by. Ratchet stepped forward and watched Bumblebee and Arce enter from the portal, but she was cradling someone in her arms. It was Rafael. Lucy covered her mouth with both hands, eyes widening and gasping in horror.



“Raf!?” Jack exclaimed. Staring down at the unconscious boy. Miko too saw Raf in an awful state. “No!”



“What happened?” Ratchet questioned the two-wheeler and approached her. Arcee raised her gaze towards the autoboot medic “Megatron.” Ratchet then spoke. “Quickly. Into my laboratory!”



     She followed behind the old ‘bot who was preparing an emergency sick bay for Raf. Lucy ran down the stairs and quickly pulled out a gurney. Arcee gently laid the young boy down onto the gurney before backing away. Bumblebee stood behind the gurney and the scout kneeled in sadness. Lucy took out an autoboot designed heart monitor where she then placed the end inside of Rafael's shirt and onto his chest. She quickly went to work in checking any possible signs of him responding.



     As the heart monitor beeped normally, Rafael was still unresponsive. She furrowed her brows. This wasn’t good. The boy had a small fever, but it gradually increased by the minute. Lucy told Miko to grab a bucket of cold water along with a towel, basically anything to use. She complied and ran off into the hallway where a small bucket was, as she filled it with water. Arcee found a worn-out towel as Miko entered the room with a bucket of water in hand. Lucy dumped the towel into the bucket, then squeezing the excess water out and gently placed it on top of Raf’s forehead.



“He has a minor fever. Nothing too serious.” Lucy stated, in a soft tone. She observed Raf’s breathing and noticed he was having some difficulty. Gently, Lucy caressed the boys’ cheek. He was as cold as ice!



     Jack stood next to Lucy and worriedly stared down at Raf. Ratchet, on the other hand, was beginning to lose his patience and grunted. “Ugh, Rafael isn’t responding!” the medic said, whilst grabbing some of his tools which weren’t suitable for treating a human. “We must run diagnostics of his assemblages, uh, vital statistics.” A sudden realization hit him of the tools he had chosen.  “My tools! They’re all wrong!” he threw them to the floor, which was accompanied by a loud crash.



     Bumblebee beeped sorrowfully, lowering his helmet. The poor scout felt so useless, as he stared down at Raf. Jack moved away and took out his phone. “We need to call my mom.” He proceeded to dial her number on speed dial.



     Lucy didn’t want to question Jack’s decision, but if he must call his mother then let it be. She refuses to let Raf suffer like this. Her eyes landed onto Ratchet, he had his face plates covered by his left arm as he spoke, mainly towards Jack. “Your mother may be a nurse but does she know anything about the effects of energon on the human body.?!”



Jack turned around to face Ratchet and practically raised his voice. “Do you know anything about the human body?!” This caused Ratchet optics to widen with his mouth slight agape before closing shut. Looking away from Jack who then walked away to answer to his mother on the other line.



     The medics arms went down limply. Starring down at the floor, then raise his gaze to where Raf was. He didn’t notice Lucy’s stare directly at him, as he then recited part of the prophecy. “The weak shall perish. Be strong Rafael.”



     Ratchet’s optics drifted down towards his pedes, feeling a warm touch by someone, and that someone was Lucy. Looking up at him with worry written across her face. He furrowed his brow-ridges with a slight frown. It pained him to see that look on her face. Lucy then formed a small smile, as she motioned him to come with her towards Raf. He quickly nodded, walking over to the unconscious boy. The old ‘bot kneeled down in front of the gurney before scanning the boy. That was when nurse Darby came running pass him and Lucy.



“Measuring the extent of the absorption should determine the proper course of treatment.” Ratchet stood up on all pedes, staring down at the nurse who was checking on Raf. The woman turned her head to face Ratchet not looking all too pleased. “If I don’t get this boy stabilized now, he will not leave this table alive, do you understand me?”



     Ratchet's mouth hung open, but said nothing and looked away. Lucy stayed silent and watched the nurse work on Raf. Jack came up to the opposite side of the gurney with a bag. That was when Bumblebee beeped rather angrily, punching the wall beside him. Everyone was startled by the scout's sudden outburst. Arcee basically threw herself towards him, holding onto Bumblebees shoulder-pads.



“Bee, listen! You think I don't know how it feels to watch a partner…harmed.” She took a quick glance over to Raf then back to Bumblebee. “Revenge won't help Raf right now. You need to keep your emotions in check.”



    Bumblebee sadly looked towards Raf being attended by the nurse. He beeped slowly, placing his left servo on his helmet as it covered most of his faceplates. Lucy frowned, clasping her hands together and placing them on her chest. She now stood in front of the gurney and watched the nurse quietly.



Ratchet watched from where he stood when his thoughts were interrupted by Optimus communicating him from a private comm link. “Ratchet, how is Rafael?” the Prime asked, calmly yet concern was hinted within his deep voice. “It is too soon to know for sure.” Ratchet replied. “He is in good hands.”



The Autobot medic glanced over to the others huddling around Raf. “Not mine, Optimus.” he swiftly turned around, facing away from the others. “Curse my Cybertronian pride! We've accepted these humans into our lives, yet I bothered so little to learn about their science nor medicine.” A deep frown formed across his faceplates.



“Pull yourself together old friend. Rafael needs you.” Ratchet turns away, clenching his servos into a fist. “And I have grown to need him.”, “Lock onto my coordinates and activate the ground bridge.”



    Everyone silently watched Miss Darby using her Stethoscope on an unconscious Raf. Bumblebee had a notable frown upon his faceplates and the others stood close by in silence as the heart monitor beeped throughout the tense atmosphere. Lucy stood next to Miko with both hands hovering on her cleavage. By the looks of things, Miss Darby didn't look all too pleased.



"Jack, help me get Raf to the car he is going to the emergency room," June said as she removed her stethoscope. Ratchet then spoke, "Nurse Darby, your doctors won't be able to comprehend what's affecting him not without a decade of study" she waved him off, "I don't have time to argue!"



    Jack walked over to the gurney placing both hands on the metal bars of it. Meanwhile, Ratchet swiftly turned around to face his monitor screen of Rafael's anatomy and next to it was his heartbeat in which he was monitoring.



"The effects of an energon blast on an Autobot can be devastating enough, but this is a human!", soon after tapping away on the monitor he had discovered a chilling realization. "I'm not getting any readings. How could I not have seen this," he said aloud for the others to hear. He turned around with a deep frown written across his faceplates, "Rafael's been infected with dark energon."



    The others in the room had widened their eyes from the displeasing news that Ratchet had announced. Lucy instinctively cupped her mouth with both hands and her eyes began to quiver slightly. The room went deadly silent still the heart monitor continued beeping like usual. Nurse Darby gazed down at Raf with a concerned look as Ratchet was kneeled in front of the gurney scanning Raf with his right arm when finally Ratchet broke the silence.



"If dark energon is devouring Raf from the inside out we must expel it and fast. The only possible way I know." as he finished with his scan Ratchet stood up then he proceeded to grab a giant empty cylinder. "I need energon!"



June was taken back by this. "Wait! you said energon was devastating to humans." Ratchet gaze down at Nurse Darby. "Under normal circumstances, quite, but I am relying upon the dark matter currently invading Rafael's body to meet it head on."



Suddenly Raf's heart monitor began to beat rapidly. While Ratchet was extracting energon from the young scout, who willingly offered his energon, he swiftly motioned his hand towards the cylinder-shaped repair room, "I need him over here, now!"



    Jack and his mother pushed the gurney inside the room placing Raf in the middle of it. Lucy, Miko, Jack and Nurse Darby were now stood right up against the closed door looking through the clear glass. Ratchet hurriedly clicked a few buttons before pulling up the lever in which the machine activated. The loud beeping of the heart monitor was piercing through their ears until it died down as it was replaced by an odd sound of energon being flowed inside the room. The room began to glow, as well as, the energon and unknowingly Lucy's neckless begun to respond the same way, but was hidden inside her clothing. Soon the light got brighter to the point where everyone had to cover their sensitive eyes from it then the light suddenly engulfed them all in a matter of seconds. Every piece of equipment began to beep uncontrollably at the same time. This caused Lucy to open her eyes widen in shock and gasp silently in horror, but not from the light, no, what she was experiencing was a vision. She could hardly describe the image before her and she couldn't tell if it was real or just a hallucination. A fearful and a mixture of terror was written across her face. The vision before her eyes made her blood run cold. It was Optimus on the ground, helpless, and on top of him was an intimidating enemy with a smirk written across his faceplates and his ped against the primes' chest plate ready for the finishing blow.




To Be Continued...

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pedrofaria339's avatar
Interesting... very intersting