after returning to the base, Ratchet found he couldn't forget the little furball that had been so attached to him. Clank, as Will so affectionately named him, had quickly joined them at the base. becoming the Autobot medbay mascot. the cat had been completely unaffected by Ratchets change, he'd probably seen Ironhide do it quiet a few times, and was still firmly attached to the medic. a care team had been immediately brought in for the cat, setting up parts of the base with safe things for the creature, though most of it's items were in the medbay or Ratchets room. there was a 24 hour team for the cat, that was mostly there in case anything happened but they did take care of cleaning Clank and the litter box and whatever mess the creature created, things that Ratchet could do if he had time, but would rarely ever have time to do. Wheeljack was just happy his bondmate was happy, even if he wasn't too fond of Clank.

"Clank no." Wheeljack glared, moving the creature from his work. Clank stared at him boredly, huffing. "I told you Ratchet is taking a stasis nap. go bug someone else." Wheeljack muttered. he used his holoform to pick the creature up and put him back on his cat tree. he long whiney meow was his only answer. "I'm working. I'm trying to build you a safety suit. stay out of the way, Ratchet would be completely crushed if you got... well... crushed." Wheeljack said. Clank meowed at him. "if he didn't like you, you'd already have been-" Wheeljack muttered. he was thumped on the back of the head hard.

"don't threaten my creature." Ratchet huffed. the cat purred happily, watching the medic. Clank loved the 'my creature' and was probably beginning to think that was his name. he meowed happily as the medic gently ran a finger down his back. Wheeljack sighed grumbling about his project. "c'mon Jack, lets go get a cube." Ratchet said, nodding the inventor towards the door.

"but I-" Wheeljack tried as Ratchet dragged him towards the door.

"a break could do you some good." Ratchet said. Wheeljack sighed and let his bondmate drag him off. they got to the rec room, both grabbing a cube, and looked around. it was pretty empty today. Ironhide, with Will on his leg, was sitting on the couch boredly watching tv. the lambo wins were wrestling over in the corner. Optimus was reading quietly. Prowl, an Autobot who had landed recently, and Jazz were chatting quietly, though the TICs doorwings were twitching. Prowl was clearly annoyed.

"why am I out here?" Wheeljack mumbled.

"because you need a break Jack. you've been working on that three days now." Ratchet said. Wheeljack shot him a dirty look but sipped his cube, before pausing. something seemed wrong, very wrong. "Wheeljack?" Ratchet ask.

"somethings not right." Wheeljack frowned quietly. Ratchet probed the bond, the inventor was on edge about something.

"Jack are you-" Ratchet tried. a loud explosion rocked the base, coming from towards the medbay.

"my invention!" Wheeljack shouted. immediately everyone in the room raced towards the explosion. the medbay hall way was engulfed in flamed. there was medical equipment everywhere. "slag! my invention! the medbay!" Wheeljack said staring in shock. he could feel something from Ratchets side of the bond, looking over the medic stared in horror at what was left of his medbay. "i-it's okay Ratch we can fix it." Wheeljack tried.

"you idiot! Clank was in there!" Ratchet shouted angrily running towards the flames as their friends quickly started putting the fire out. Wheeljack followed him.

"if that thing was in there, I doubt it's in one piece." Ironhide muttered, looking at the wreckage. Will was sad to admit the same feeling.

"Clank!" Wheeljack shouted, lifting up pieces of rubble. with the fire out, the others joined in the search of the medbay. scanning the rubble, picking pieces up, searching for the medics missing feline.

"Clank!" Will shouted, looking around from his perch on Ironhide's shoulder. the stuff in here was far too hot for him to walk around on his own. he noticed Wheeljack still some and look away with a wince. "Wheeljack?" Will ask. Wheeljack gave a sad00/guilty look.

"found him..." Wheeljack managed after a moment. that wasn't encouraging. Ratchet immediately came over, it was clear the cat was gone.

"okay lets get the medbay cleaned up." Ironhide said, quickly grabbing hold of Ratchets shoulders and steering him out of what was left of the medbay. the medic seemed blank. Will recognized he was putting on his 'war face'. it was an expression Will noticed the medic used when one of his friends was injured or had offlined. the medic turned abruptly, smacked the black mechs servos off him stubbornly, and went back to help clean up the medbay. Wheeljack was gone when he came back, the body of his friend gone as well. it was silent as they cleaned up.

*a few weeks later*

Ratchet stayed in the medbay. Wheeljack stayed in his lab. no one had seen either in over two months, except the occasional visit to the rec room for a cube. but the entire base knew Wheeljack was working on something, something big apparently. he poked his head out of the lab and inched towards the rec room, after making sure Ratchet wasn't there, he walked in.

"Will." Wheeljack said. the man looked up at the inventor. "can you come with me?" Wheeljack ask.

"yeah. sure whats up?" Will ask, letting the inventor scoop him up.

"something big." Wheeljack said, heading for the lab. "for Ratchet.... I still feel really bad about Clank." Wheeljack said, looking away guilty. Will seemed confused and looked at him.

"oh are you making him something to remember Clank?" Will ask.

"sort of..." Wheeljack trailed.

"what do you need me for?" Will ask.

"to make sure it works." Wheeljack said. Will was immediately nervous.

"uh I don't think thats-" Will cut himself off when he saw it. there on one of Wheeljacks work benches was a large creature, looking much like Ravage, but more cat like. it appeared to be sleeping. "Wheeljack?" Will said. Wheeljack sat him on the work bench.

"Clank hated me.... but he liked you..." Wheeljack said.

"did you..." Will trialed. the creature onlined, bright green yellow optics that reminded him of Clanks eye's.

"I just need to see if he remembers." Wheeljack said quietly, stepping back. the creature stretched in a cat like motion and looked at Will.

"Clank?" Will ask. the creature let out a semi distorted meow and walked over to him, sniffing him, seemingly confused as to why Will was so little now.

"it works. he works." Wheeljack grinned. Will was in awe, patting the creatures head. it rubbed against him. "I gotta take him to Ratchet!" Wheeljack grinned, scooping the creature up and running off. Will stared after him in shock.

Wheeljack raced into the medbay.

"Ratch!" Wheeljack shouted, putting the creature down on the floor. he ran to Ratchets office and poked his head in. Ratchet looked up from the datapad in his servo, giving his bonded a blank look.

"what?" he muttered.

"I have something for you!" Wheeljack grinned excitedly. Ratchet sighed and got up and walked out into the medbay. he looked around.

"okay?" he ask.

"c'mere!" Wheeljack called. something walked closer to them and Ratchet stepped back.

"Ravage got into the base!" Ratchet shouted.

"no. not quite... it's... it's Clank." Wheeljack said. Ratchet's optic twitched.

"thats not funny you stupid slagger! Clanks dead!" Ratchet shouted. Wheeljack frowned slightly.

"just... trust me... he won't come to you if you say his name. you know that." Wheeljack said.

"that is not my creature Jack." Ratchet hissed. immediately it came closer to him, rubbing against Ratchets leg. he looked up at the medic watching him, with a distorted meow.

"he... he isn't your creature... I can't rebuild organics... but he does have your creatures memories, personality, and pretty much everything else.... he's just not organic." Wheeljack said. Ratchet knelt down, looking the creature over. its ear flicked at the sound, propping itself up on Ratchets knee. the medic looked it over, tilting his head slightly. the creature copied the movement, like Clank used to. it reached up one of its big metal paws towards his face, like Clank did with his holoform. it leaned forward and licked the medics nose. he broke out in a smile.

"Clank." Ratchet said, patting the creatures head. he distorted meow made his spark soar.

"I... I couldn't get his vocal cords right, but I know you can do that. recalibrating things is one of the things you're great at. he's not perfect... but it took forever to get his memories so they might be a little corrupt." Wheeljack said. "Ratch... I.... I never meant for him to get hurt. I didn't like him but I'd never want him-" Wheeljack started. Ratchet stood and hugged his bondmate tightly.

"I know you never meant for him to get hurt. it's okay Jack. thank you." Ratchet murmured. Wheeljack smiled and hugged back. they separated after a moment and the medic scooped up the creature. it gave a purr and cuddled him, giving Wheeljack a dirty look. the inventor patted his head gently.

"good to have you back bud. he could probably use some energon though...." Wheeljack said. Ratchet nodded and put him back down.

"come on Clank. we're going to the rec room." Ratchet said. the creature as on his heels immediately. Wheeljack smiled watching him. the war ridden medic sometimes showed his true personality, from before the war, that Wheeljack feel so deeply in love with. he followed behind the medic happily, only stopping Clank for a moment. he put a large red metal collar around the creatures neck with CLANK clearly visible and then nodded, following Ratchet. the rec room got quiet when the three walked in. Sam looked up from Bumblebee's lab and grinned, jumping and running over.

"Clanks back!" Sam shouted, as though the large metal cat was the most normal thing in the world. the cat headbutted him carefully in the middle. "holy shit! how'd you do this?" Sam ask, looking at Ratchet. the medic gave a one shoulder shrug.

"wasn't me. Wheeljack just showed up in the medbay with him." Ratchet said. Sam grinned at the inventor, who watched his bondmate with a happy smile. Ratchet walked over and opened a cube in a way that Clank could drink it and sat it on the ground.

"I didn't know Ratchet could smile." Sam said.

"never would've known he was the happiest mech alive before the war." Wheeljack said, arms crossed over his chest. he didn't miss the tired look the Prime gave him. he gave a sheepish smile. the Prime sighed and shook his head, looking at the medic. a smile crossed the Primes faceplates, seeing one of his oldest friends so happy in the middle of a war, was nice. he shook his head and nodded once at Wheeljack and chuckled, sitting down with a cube. maybe Clank would be a nice addition to the team.