Ratchet

I was getting frustrated and frantic, and annoyed at myself. How in Primus could I have forgot? Granted, I had been practically busy with some other things, namely fixing some equipment Bulkhead had broken again, but I was still shocked with myself. I had gone to get her every other time that week, ever since she had started going to school. The looks I would get could be annoying, but it wasn't going to stop me. Apparently, getting distracted is what stopped me.

I was getting seriously ticked off as drove around Jasper looking for her. When I had rushed over to the school and found her missing, I had instantly assumed the worst. How could I not? She would have told me if she was going anywhere, and it wasn't like she had anywhere to go. From what I knew, she didn't have any new human friends from school, aside from Jack, Miko, and Raf. She wouldn't have just walked off either. Taylor wasn't like that. 

I had been driving for nearly an hour before Arcee commed me, saying that Agent Fowler had dug into the security cameras at the school. I screeched to a halt at the side of the road.

"And what did you find?!"

"She was kidnapped," Arcee growled from the other end. "By MECH."

My spark froze. MECH had taken her? For what purpose? What in the name of the Allspark could they need my charge for?

"You might want to come back to base," Bulkhead joined in. "We could use your help pinpointing some MECH locations."

My tires immediately started screeching as I put my engine at full throttle. "On my way."

Please let her be safe.

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It wasn't long after that each of the Autobots had been deployed to the possible locations. I had stumbled across another while they were gone, and despite my distaste for being on the field, I put the coordinates into the GroundBridge and raced out. If there was any chance this is where she was, I was going to take it.

The stars were shining dimly above me as I exited the Bridge, and unintentional panic began to fill my chest chassis. I hadn't realized it was that late already. Taylor had been missing for a nearly a whole day? I took a deep vent as I also took in my surroundings. I was inside a canyon, rock surrounding me. I figured there had to be an opening somewhere, and that was where MECH would be. I growled to myself as I began my search.

I heard a noise behind me and turned sharply, drawing my blades. On edge, I squinted as I tried to make out the small figure standing off in the distance. I quickly recognized the silver hair and small stature, relief flooding my spark.

"Taylor," I sighed, putting my blades away and walking to her. "There you are."

She didn't run towards me, as I had expected. She stood stone still, and as I got closer, I realized her blue eyes were almost glowing, her gaze hardened. At her hand there was an odd, yet familiar, blue glow, and I heard a hum through the air. Finally, she took a step towards me.

"Taylor, what is that?" I asked, suddenly nervous. Something was off. Why wasn't she saying anything?

She instead raised the blue glow, and I realized with horror that it was a blaster. Her eyes narrowed just before she shot, blasts ringing against my arms, which I had thrown in front of my helm. I grimaced in pain, backing away even though I wanted to run out and take her.

"Taylor, what are you doing? Where did you get that?"

She didn't reply, racing forward with her blaster raised. I couldn't make myself run, merely dodged the shots. She was too quick, however, and because she was so small it was hard to see her. Plenty of blasts still hit me, making me cry out in pain. I started backing into a wall of rock, fear flooding into me. She approached slowly, her eyes dead and hard, gun still raised.

"Taylor," I found myself pleading. "Taylor, please, I don't know what they did to you, but you have to stop. Fight it!"

She flinched for a split second, but still kept coming. I cursed my luck as I tripped, falling back and landing in a sitting position against the canyon. She took the opportunity and jumped, surprisingly high and quick. I flinched, scooting away just in time. I was shocked to see she also had a blade where her other hand was supposed to be, which was stuck in the rock where I had been a mere moment ago. She pulled it out harshly, her head turning sharply. She looked almost.. angry. I stumbled to get up, raising my servos.

"Taylor, try to remember!" I pleaded, feeling lost. "It's Ratchet."

Emotion finally showed on her face, but not the kind I wanted. She looked furious, ready to kill, and lurched forward with a battle cry. I shuddered as I backed away, the noise not something I had ever expected to hear from her. This continued for several more minutes, her racing at me with a look to kill, while I tried desperately to reason with her. I took many blasts and a few slashes along the way, but I was unwilling to leave her.

She finally slowed to a stop, her breath heavy and panting. I was also nearly out of vent, seeing as I kept trying to dodge the quick human while shouting to her. She bent over slightly, catching her breath. I took the chance and approached her slowly.

"Taylor," I whispered, reaching out. "Please, come back to me."

She looked up slowly, her blue eyes void of emotion. She looked dead and lost, but I swear I saw a brim of tears in her eyes. My chest chassis sparked with hope as I continued to go forward, praying I had reached her. She was still, watching me intently but making no move.

Just as I was about to pick her up, she slapped my servo away with the side of her blade, her eyes turning hard and cold again. It was far too late for me to back away however, as she jumped forward with such speed, crying out fiercely. Blasts hit my sides and near my helm, and I instinctively reached up to try and block them. This left me open for attack, which she took. With another angry shout, she jumped up and swung her blade. It landed in my abdomen, leaving me to gasp in pain and surprise as I fell over. Her gaze hard as she stared directly into my optics, she twisted the knife from inside of me. I couldn't help and cry out in agony, squeezing my optics shut. She took the blade out quickly before stabbing me again, this time slicing through. I fell limp, my helm landing on the ground as I grunted, tense with pain. I could feel the Energon rising in my throat. I cursed as I realized she had hit a vital spot, and knew I would require medical attention soon.

"Taylor," I rasped in a last hope to get to her as she continued to stab me. "Taylor, please, stop."

The knife froze just above my wound, allowing me to vent deeply and look up, straining my neck cables weakly. Taylor had frozen, a look of horror on her face as she stared down at my gash. I flinched when she looked up at me, but her gaze was no longer cold. Her eyes instantly welled up and spilled over. I breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she was back.

"Ratchet!" she cried, her blaster and blade disappearing. She looked down at them in horror, her mouth twitching. "Ratchet, I did this to you!"

I weakly reached up with a shaky servo. "No, they did this to you. MECH did something to you.."

She flinched away from my grasp, afraid. "No! I hurt you, and I couldn't.." she trailed off into a fit of crying, weeping into her hands.

I sat up slowly, letting her fall into my servos. I made her she stayed away from the Energon as I gently wrapped my digits around her. "It's not your fault," I whispered, my voice weak and shaky.

She reached up for my faceplate, desperate to get to me. I let her, and she hugged me tightly, crying harshly. "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry! I didn't want to.. I didn't want to!"

I closed my optics as I held her up. "It's alright. I'm not upset. I'm just glad you're alright."

I suddenly heard lots of guns cocking and looked up quickly. Soldiers with guns aimed at me where surrounding us. A few farther away even had rocket launchers. Their red dots landed on my helm and chassis, while I quickly shielded my crying charge.

"Disappointing," said Silas as he approached behind one of his men. "Fire."

Despite the pain, I got up as quickly as I could and raced off just as they started blasting. I felt some of them hit, but didn't stop. I ran through the canyon, my spark sinking as I heard the launchers go off. I saw an opening in the rock, just big enough for me, and turned sharply. I got in just as the rockets hit the roof, sending rocks tumbling down. 

I heard Taylor scream in my servo just before one hit my helm, sending spots into my vision. I felt myself stumble before everything went black.

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Wow, this was a longer chapter. YAY!

Lol, I Don't Know Why started playing as I was writing about how Taylor was attacking Ratchet. Go listen to the song. I was laughing at how perfect it fit.

Yeah, laughing while writing a bad part. I'm crazy.

See ya next chappy!

*waves*