One day at the Academy, the young medic bot known as Medix just seemed unlike himself. "Yo, Medix! You wanna play some Cube with me?" HotShot asked.

"No, HotShot. I just wanna be left alone." Medix replied, glumly. HotShot frowned, feeling dejected and worried, but he left.

"Why so glum, HotShot?" Hoist asked.

"I asked Medix if he wanted to play Cube with me, but he said he wanted to be alone." HotShot replied.

"That's weird." Whirl remarked.

"What is weird, Whirl?" A deep tone, Optimus Prime, asked.

"Oh, HotShot asked Medix if he wanted to play Cube, and Medix said no. It's the weekend, so no lessons, no training, nothing." Whirl replied.

"I will go talk to him right away." Optimus stated, walking off. He had a hunch why Medix wanted to be alone, but he didn't wanna jump to conclusions. 

"Frag." Medix cursed, holding a wrench.

"Medix? Is everything okay?" Optimus asked.

"Oh! Uh.. no. I miss my uncle Ratchet. I also fear for him and his safety." Medix stated.

"Safety? Is he in danger?" Optimus asked.

"I... I don't know. Do you know the mech he's with?" Medix asked.

"Yes. I believe his name is... Stormrunner." Optimus replied.

"I.. I think Stormrunner is abusing Uncle Ratchet. Everytime I've seen him in the past, since he first got with Stormrunner, I've seen him covered in bruises, dents, heck, even one of his optics and his mouth was bleeding. I think Uncle Ratchet is too scared to leave him, but I'm just jumping to conclusions. But how would that happen coincidentally? I've heard them argue before, I've heard Stormrunner threaten him, and he has not once ever left. But I have no proof of physical abuse." Medix explained.

Optimus felt his Energon boil. He had known Ratchet since sparklinghood, how DARE someone hurt him? "I will see what I can do to protect your uncle, Medix. However, we both know how stubborn he can be." Optimus chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. He says I get his stubbornness naturally." Medix replied. 

A few weeks later, Ratchet became a small professor at the Academy. Medix was happy, but at the same time, he wasn't because Stormrunner also moved in with Ratchet. Stormrunner was a built mech, dark blue as his main color, silver as his secondary color, and dark blue optics. He had a commanding tone, and he was intimidating.

"I need help." Wedge stated, looking at a question on his worksheet.

"What question is it?" Ratchet asked.

"Uh, number seventeen." Wedge replied.

"Oh, that's easy, Wedge!" Whirl smiled.

"What part are you stuck on?" Ratchet asked.

"Whirl said she'd help him, Ratchet." Stormrunner snarled. Ratchet backed off, looking at the floor, a terrified look in his optics.

"Optimus, I think Uncle Ratchet's being abused. Wedge needed help earlier, and Stormrunner growled at Uncle Ratchet, and, even though he was looking at the floor, I could see he was scared." Medix stated.

"I will see to it that--" Optimus started.

"OW! LET ME GO!" Ratchet yelled.

"SHUT UP, BITCH!" Stormrunner snapped. He shoved Ratchet onto the floor, quite harshly, and pinned him. 

"Uncle Ratchet!" Medix exclaimed, pounding on the door. When it was opened, Stormrunner was on the berth beside Ratchet, who was reading.

"We heard yelling in here. Is everything okay?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah." Ratchet replied.

"Damn, Ratch'. Where'd you get that shiner?" Heatwave asked.

"I just tripped recently." Ratchet stated, putting on a fake smile.

The next morning, Ratchet mainly kept to himself. "Uncle Ratchet?" Medix asked, walking over. Ratchet turned, and smiled at his nephew.

"Yes, Medix? Did you need something?" Ratchet asked.

"I have some questions for you. I need you to be honest with me and Optimus." Medix stated, Optimus standing beside him. Ratchet nodded, allowing them to continue.

"Ratchet.. it has been brought to our attention of your past injuries and current ones. Now, please be honest. Has Stormrunner ever hurt you?" Optimus asked. Ratchet tensed up, quickly.

"Uh... w-well.. Yes, he has. He doesn't do it on purpose. He hits me on accident, and then he apologizes right after." Ratchet stated.

"Ratchet, he is abusive. He is hurting you, and manipulating you." Optimus frowned.

"He loves me.. at least I think he does..." Ratchet stated. Again, that night, Ratchet and Stormrunner were arguing, but however, Stormrunner had beat Ratchet to a pulp. 

"Optimus! Help!" Medix cried, desperately trying to open the door. Optimus rushed over, and was horrified. Ratchet was laying motionless on the floor, Stormrunner still beating him horrendously. 

"Chase!" Heatwave yelled. The police bot came in, and instantly placed handcuffs of Stormrunner, dragging him out of the room.

"You!" A voice yelled. Stormrunner looked at the source of the voice; Medix. Medix whamed Stormrunner with several wrenches. "Keep your filthy servos off my uncle, or I will be your worst nightmare!" He snapped. 

Ratchet emitted a small whimper at being touched. "Medix, come see if Ratchet will calm down for you." Blades stated. Medix growled at the handcuffed mech, but went into the room Ratchet was in.

"I'm here, Uncle Ratchet. You'll be okay." Medix soothed.

The next morning, Medix was even more of a wreck. "How's Ratchet?" Hoist asked.

"Not good. He was in so much pain Professor Blades had to sedate him to just do the minor repairs. We hope he'll make a good physical recovery, but as for mental and emotional... I saw the signs before, but.. I couldn't prove it.. maybe if I had said something sooner, this could've been prevented... but I didn't say anything, not until up to a few weeks ago to Optimus." Medix whimpered, tears starting to slide down his faceplates.

Hoist, being the sweet boi he is, hugged Medix to comfort him. Whirl joined in the hug, koala hugging Medix. Soon, Wedge and HotShot also joined in the hug. "Ahem." Blades stated.

"How is--" Medix started.

"Ratchet's going to make a full recovery. Optimus is with him now. He's awake. You can go see him." Blades stated. Medix didn't need to be told twice, and he rushed to his med-bay.

"Uncle Ratchet?" He asked, walking in.

"Medix.. there's some things I need to tell you." Ratchet stated. Medix crawled up into the berth with his uncle, being extremely careful.

"Stormrunner has been abusing me, ever since I got with him years ago. He threatened me a lot, which is basically why I never left him. My family basically disowned me, and your carrier is dead, your sire didn't want you, so I had nowhere to go to. He stole every paycheck I got, so I had to scavenge for spare money to buy you shit. I tried to give you a decent, happy life. I figured I'd put up with the abuse just so you could have a home, so you could have Energon in your system." Ratchet admitted.

Medix looked at him in shock. "You stayed with him, not only from fear, but.. so I could have a good life?" He asked.

"Yeah. I didn't wanna lose the only family I had, so... You may not remember, but he once sparked me. He got me so stressed out that... that I miscarried." Ratchet stated.

"I remember." Medix replied, nuzzling under his uncle's arm.

A few days later, Ratchet had been discharged, and he had fallen for Optimus. Unbeknownst to him, Optimus had fallen for his former CMO too. One day, Ratchet was carrying something heavy, and Touch Luck Chuck ran around his legs, causing Ratchet to fall. Optimus, however, caught Ratchet before he could fall.

"Uhh..." Ratchet stated.

"Quite the predicament." Optimus chuckled, helping him back to his pedes. Ratchet was blushing heavily, and was pretty sure by now, Optimus knew he liked him. He let out a whimper, feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

"S-sorry, Optimus. I'll leave you be now." He stated. Optimus suddenly smashed his lips onto Ratchet's, but the CMO relaxed, allowing Optimus to touch him, kiss him.

"Remember, make sure you use protection. Unless you really want sparklings." Blades teased, walking through the hallway. Within a few months, Optimus and Ratchet were happily together. Optimus had never even thought of hurting his beloved CMO, and if he ever did, he'd shoot himself.

Medix happily accepted Optimus as another uncle, happy to see Ratchet so happy. However,, that doesn't mean he didn't threaten Optimus with every inch of his life. Ratchet could only watch in proudness as his nephew made Optimus fear him.

"Uh.. who exactly is his carrier?" Optimus asked.

"His sire is my brother, and his name is Torch. His carrier was a femme named EbonyRage." Ratchet replied.

"Um, Uncle Ratchet Care to explain why there was a positive carrying test on your desk?" Medix asked.

"Oh! I'm sparked! I thought the first one, the one you found, was wrong, so I took another one not too long ago, and it also came back positive." Ratchet replied. Medix turned to Optimus, who at this point, wanted to run.

"Op.. fair warning. I'd run if I were you." Ratchet chuckled. Optimus bolted, Medix chasing after him, and literally tackling him to the ground.

"You, my friend, are fragged." Heatwave snorted, amused. Optimus was now left questioning why his mate had such a crazy nephew, not that he was complaining. A few months passed, Medix was highly anxious, but excited. His little cousin was on the way, and despite being excited, he hated the pain Ratchet was in.

About seven hours later, he was finally allowed inside the med-bay, and his spark practically melted. Instead of one cousin, he had two! Oh yeah, Medix was now a proud, yet crazy, cousin.