Wow, that's tingly!

“Well, no but I still know you! You’re just like all the other Ratchets!” Well, mostly anyway from what she’s seen so far. Grumpy, and old. She likes him already. She pouts when he puts space between them, wings flicking back and forth as she considers.

“Sparky. Sparky, Sparky Sparky. Call me Sparky, I’m Sparky that’s what Ratchets call me. I like climbing you.”

The medic isn’t going to put much thought into ‘all the other Ratchets’ and the large rabbit hole of chaos that goes with the subject. It at least explained how she could both know and not know him.

“But I do know you!” she whines, wings drooping further. She’s getting the look and she knows it well and now she’s wilting. Damn it, she doesn’t like the look!

The field’s familiar though, a comforting wash of Ratchet even if he’s scolding her with it and has no idea that it’s more comforting than scolding in her processor. “I just wanna climb.”

Still somewhat baffled and on edge because of the odd encounter, Ratchet takes a milder, gentler tone, though The Look persists as he eyes her warily.

“…But I told you who I am. Sparkplug. And you’re Ratchet. There, now we know each other.” Assuming that settled it, she immediately climbs back to her feet and darts back in to climb once again.

“So now I can climb and you’ll show me your field right? Field, field.”

“No, no, stop!”

He grabs her by the shoulders before she can get a hand hold to pull herself up.  Sparkplug gets a mild rebuke from his field, there and gone again as he keeps it tight to his frame. He’s a rather private individual, even with those he’s known for ages.

Then she gets The Look.

“What steps?” That’s genuine confusion on the Seeker’s faceplates there. She doesn’t look too happy at being dropped on the ground either, wings drooping in a clear display of displeasure as her field fills with irritation.

“What steps Ratchet?”

“Generally speaking-” 

He pauses a moment, wondering how in the world she knows his name when he hasn’t even given it yet, but decides his reputation has probably proceeded him... again. 

She tilts her head at the command, crimson optics shuttering slowly at him for a moment. “Off?” Sparkplug doesn’t wanna get off! She wants to sit on Ratchet and feel his field and he really needs to let it loose.

With a huff she pokes talons gently at plating. “Field?”

“Yes, off!”

Ratchet reached up and got a good hold of Sparkplug before pulling her down and around to deposit her on the ground in front of him. Holding his hand up before she could protest or otherwise say anything, he gave her his best stern look.

“Climbin’!” she chirps, flicking one wing at him. Not her Ratchet but he’s a Ratchet and that’s good enough. He’s grumpy but he’ll get over it in time, all Ratchets do eventually.

Once she settled in on his shoulders, conveniently ignoring his personal space bubble, the Seeker leaned her head down to peer at him. “I’m Sparkplug.”

Plating drawn in as tight as his field, the medic is at a loss of words for a moment. It’s one thing when it was hatchlings crawling and jumping around on his frame, it was an entirely different matter when a full grown bot did it!

She’s going to pretend he didn’t say that and climb him anyway, because it’s Ratchet and Ratchet is a Good.

And Ratchet is going to sputter in shock and indignation because what is this crazy Seeker doing? He doesn’t even know who she is!

Can’t complain, right? Right. Cade looked at the ambulance and then turned his head. He was very nervous, anxiety taking it to another level. He was hoping that it wasn’t Cemetery Wind- that was the last thing they needed. Yet, he knew that it might very well be Bumblebee. He hoped it was. He looked up at Ratchet and, once the door opened, he thanked him with a nod. He grabbed onto the hand railing and hoisted himself in.

“It might be Bee. Sometimes he doesn’t listen- actually, he never listens. He just shows up when he’s needed and, to be honest, I’m glad he doesn’t listen- sometimes.” He sat in the seat and slammed the door shut. He fixed the gun in front of him and looked out of the window.

“My farm isn’t far, but we’ve gotta lose the tail, if it is a tail. Take this road and make a left. We can catch the dirt road by the train and follow it.” He pointed, then reached out to pat the dashboard. “I got you, buddy. Don’t worry about a thing.”

Despite the tense situation, Cade’s remark about Bumblebee almost made the medic smile inwardly. There was a fondness lurking in the man’s tone that was hard to miss and it eased some of his misgivings for the time being. There would be questions, but they could wait til they were in a secured location.

The rescue hummer was already rolling forward as his door was pulled shut. He headed for the indicated road as he sent out a scan and ping to to identify their would be pursuer. A large part of him hoped it was indeed Bumblebee. The scout would be a welcome sight but the results pulled a low curse out of him instead.

Cade felt apprehension settling in. He was anxious to get moving- to get Ratchet out of trouble. He looked around, checking the area once more. “All right,” he mumbled, slipping the gun on his back, arms held out in front of him. “Take it easy, I’m not the enemy.” He turned his head, hearing the faintest roar of an engine. That wasn’t the enemy. That sounded like Bumblebee maybe.

“My name is Cade Yeager. I’m an inventor- an engineer,” he said, looking up at the holoform. “I protect the Autobots- I mean, I fight with them- wait. Look, I keep them safe, all right? Now, they said that you’re Ratchet, and I’m liable to believe them.” Even though he was sure Ratchet had died. Even so, this wasn’t the time.

“I’m here to take you back home with me.”

Ratchet was keeping close watch of the human’s, Cade Yeager’s, biological processes as he spoke. He was obviously worried about something. An elevated heart rate told him that much, but to his credit it did not spike as he spoke. This, at least, suggested he was not lying.

The sound of a approaching vehicle was enough to make Ratchet take the chance of trusting him. A single gun would not do much damage if he turned out to be lying, and if he was telling the truth, he would not leave the man to deal with a potential threat.

FLAWS

moody | short-tempered | emotionally unstable | whiny | controlling | conceited | possessive | paranoid | lies | impatient | cowardly | bitter | selfish | power-hungry | greedy | lazy | judgmental | forgetful | impulsive | vengeful | stubborn | sadistic | petty | unlucky

STRENGTHS