-Shockwave's lab, Ratchet's POV-

"What are you- hey!" Ratchet growled as he was shoved forward into the dark room, the door slamming behind him.

"Welcome, Doctor. I suppose you didn't pay me a visit willingly, did you?" A deep monotone voice spoke with a chilling tone to it.

Ratchet looked around, terror rising in his chest. He spotted a huge, lumbering figure coming towards him and froze, covering his hand wound.

Suddenly, his wounded arm was snatched by the mech as he examined it with interest. His one red optic glowed dully, showing no emotion.

"Shockwave..." Ratchet mumbled under his breath, feeling terrified in the presence of this monster.

"The work of Starscream, I presume." Shockwave grunted, releasing Ratchet's arm and pulling him along by the shoulder. "No matter, it won't interfere with the procedure."

"Procedure?! What are you planning to do to me?" Ratchet asked, his voice quavering a bit.

"Don't fret, it's a simple procedure really. All you have to do is relax and allow me to do what I need to do." Shockwave rumbled, shoving Ratchet onto a berth and locking him in the restraints.

"And what if I don't want you to do what you need to do?" Ratchet retorted, immediately regretting his decision afterwards.

Shockwave was suddenly within three inches of Ratchet's face, his red optic seeming to stare into his soul. "I can assure you that terrible things await you, should you not comply." His voice was stern, almost subtle. It was like he was whispering to him, but with a threatening tone.

Ratchet gulped, chuckling nervously. "Alright, point taken..." he sighed, looking around the lab while Shockwave finished up with something on his computer.

Shockwave bent down to pick up a cord from the ground, examining the end of it. Ratchet realized that it was a cortical physic patch, designed to invade the minds of others and pull out the desired information. He heard a light click and felt a pull on his mind.

Shockwave watched in satisfaction as Ratchet's optics flickered and his body convulsed as the patch began digging into his mind. Soon Ratchet lay still, his body no longer resisting the effects of the patch. Now Shockwave could move about freely, scanning through eons of memories and information.

When he got to a sensitive file, he didn't know that as soon as he opened it, the failsafe would be tripped and all the content in that file would be deleted.

If he had a normal face, a look of rage would appear on it as the file disappeared. "You've tricked me for the last time. Now you will feel my wrath..." Shockwave muttered, bringing out some of Ratchet's worst nightmares and replaying them over and over. Nightmares from when he lost friends he loved and the war itself.

The damage was traumatizing. Ratchet began crying out and reaching for things that weren't real. He would shake uncontrollably as the screams of his friends echoed through his mind.

Shockwave chuckled evilly, turning up the pressure. He made nightmares out of good memories, like when Wheeljack bonded sparks with Ratchet. Instead of the happy aftermath, Wheeljack fell back with a gaping hole in his chest and energon rushing out of his optics.

He terrorized Ratchet for 10 agonizing minutes until he fell unconscious again, laying still.

"That will teach you a proper lesson on why shouldn't mess with the ones who have access to your mind.." Shockwave said calmly, returning to his work like nothing had happened.

-Quarantine, Wheeljack's POV-

Wheeljack could've sworn he heard a scream echoing through the room, but decided it was his imagination. What bothered him was how familiar it sounded, it almost sounded like...

"Ratchet!" Wheeljack gasped, sitting up and startling Knockout, who was working nearby.

"I told you, your idiot friend is in a better place. Shut your mouth before I shut it for you!" Knockout growled at him, returning to his work.

"He is not in a better place! I can hear his screams!"

"You must be out of your mind! That sickness has really gotten to your head..." Knockout grumbled, shaking his head.

Wheeljack frowned. "When I get out of here, you're gonna be the first one on my scrapping list."

"You and what army? You couldn't hurt me even if you tried, not with one arm at least!"

Wheeljack huffed, looking away. He quietly devised a plan to escape and rescue Ratchet. While he was thinking, he spotted his severed arm lying on a table not too far from him. Knockout must've fetched it from Predaking's lair for some weird reason.

"If I can reattach my arm in time, I have a fighting chance. Or maybe..." Wheeljack smirked, looking at Knockout. "He can do it for me..."

"What are you blabbering on about now?" Knockout growled, glaring at Wheeljack.

"Don't you think it would be a good idea to reattach my arm? Having an open wound like this is a breeding ground for bacteria."

"I sanitized your wound, you're fine."

"Am I really? Because last time I checked, I didn't see you wash the tools you used on me. I also feel like I'm getting worse." Wheeljack smiled a bit, coughing up more energon on the floor.

Knockout looked horrified. "Are you saying I'm not a good medic who cleans his tools? How dare you!"

"If you want to keep disease from spreading on this ship, you better consider reattaching my arm to cover the wound." Wheeljack said.

Knockout growled and banged his fist on the table. "You win! But don't expect anything else from me! For all I care, you can perish from this stupid sickness!" He rolled Wheeljack's arm over to quarantine and put a mask on, entering the room. He gave Wheeljack anesthesia so he wouldn't scream in pain and began to reattach his arm.

Meanwhile, Wheeljack was laughing to himself. "How stupid can he be? Honestly, I thought he was the smart one!" He thought.