#it fluffy

So one night, Ratchet peers over the shoulders of Miko and Rafael, wondering what it is on the TV that's kept them quiet for such a record amount of time. 

It's dark and it seems...they're watching a particularly disturbing horror movie. Ratchet watches for a little, feeling is plating crawl with discomfort as the minutes pass and a lone boy crawls through the halls, terrified. 

Ratchet swallows, equally as scared. He starts to shake as a shadow covers the boy and at the other end of the hall, no one comes forth. 

There’s a blood-curdling cry for help, then nothing. The medic tightens his grip on the tool he’s holding, wondering why he’s frozen in place like this. The camera pans around to the back of the hall, blood and claw marks scored across the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. 

The....thing everyone's been running from finally rises from the shadows, dripping in fluids Ratchet wishes he knew nothing about. 

By this point, to his absolute surprise, the children are fast asleep, having been bored by the film's initial slow pace.

The thing onscreen makes one horrifying scream and stumbles closer, and Ratchet is Done.

He utters a choked, whimpered noise, feeling his chest tighten. He did not want to see that, he hated it, and that was all he needed to finally snap out of his trance. Dropping his makeshift wielding tool to the ground with a resounding clanging noise, Ratchet transforms impulsively, and leaves. 

In the middle of the night, Ratchet goes for a drive under the stars to calm down.

Optimus hears the commotion from his room and steps out to see. He peaks his head around the corner of the hallway, wondering who--besides the kids--could be up this late? 

Looking around, the abandoned tool glinting in the dim light catches his attention. He strides over and picks it up, knowing who it belongs to. He then notices the small, glowing TV screen, still playing that movie from a while before. Onscreen, Optimus witnesses the monster as it screams again and digs its sharp claws into a human corpse, ripping it apart hungrily.

He instantly knows what had just happened.

Optimus transforms and chases Ratchet down, finding him not too far down the main road near the base. The ambulance driving at a ticket-worthy speed, repeating to himself over and over something in Cybertronian, swerving from left to right just slightly.

He slides up next to him. "Ratchet?"

The medic utters a yelp of surprise, speeding up briefly, then he registers the voice and backtracks, slowing down again. They drive quietly for quite a bit, until Ratchet sighs. 

"I'm no good Optimus, I just get more jumpy as I get older, more afraid of everything. I can't be a real Autobot like this...." He sighs once again, more deeply, shakily, "I'm sorry.."  His voice is a mix of frustration, shame, and sadness. Optimus feels a spark of frustration himself--but not at Ratchet. 

Not on my watch. Ratchet of all bots will not be made to feel unhappy over something like this, something that isn’t his fault. 

"Old friend, you are more deserving of the name than anyone else." Optimus tells him almost immediately, firmly. He pauses, then laughs a little embarrassedly. "Well, everyone on this team is.... don't tell anyone I said that..." he tries almost instantly to correct himself. 

Ratchet feels a twinge of amusement and laughs a little. It reminds him of a mother accidentally telling her favorite that they’re her favorite. 

Optimus feels warm hearing the laugh, relieved that he seemed to be calming down gradually. He finishes what he had meant to say.

"Remember that you must never let yourself think it is a flaw to be afraid, even of small things. All of us fear, and those who claim they do not...have the most fear in their hearts. An Autobot is not how many Decepticons he can stare down without care, it is how many lives he can keep, but at the core of it all, it is really the good intent of his spark. It is that he was given life by Primus, and chose to be an Autobot out of the will to help others and protect them."

Ratchet and Optimus roll to a halt in the middle of the road, feeling a soft breeze dance against their plating. The stars sparkle noiselessly above, like precious stones in a dark cave of rock.

"You...you won't tell the others of this, will you, Optimus?" The medic asks quietly, shifting back a little. Optimus smiles internally, chuckling.

"No. And that is a promise, old friend."

They drive back in silence. Except for the part where Optimus tells him about all the silly things he feared as a young bot, that Alpha Trion comforted him and taught him about.

"I saw a scroll that told of the end of the world, and I believed it! And...." He laughs. "So did Megatron."

"You're joking!"

"I tell no lies, old friend."

“That’s what you two were up to at that park! Now I remember! How long ago was that...” 

///

Back at the base, when the kids wake up in the morning, they find the movie has long finished, and Ratchet is still at his workstation. Optimus is standing nearby. The two of them have funny looks on their faces.

Miko is awake instantly and nudges Raf, who gives a small cry of protest as he yawns.

"You see the way they're looking at each other?" She whispers. "Isn't it strange??"

Raf squints at them, still only half awake.

"Miko, the strange thing here is how Ratchet still hasn't finished constructing his new tool....thought he only had wielding to do..." The boy yawns again, half tempted to go back to sleep. 

The two mechs continually slide (what they think are) hidden glances to each other. Ratchet motions for Optimus to come look at his work from much closer. The Autobot leader complies, placing a gentle hand on the medic’s shoulder. He smiles almost proudly as Ratchet chatters on about the intricate details of it. 

Miko folds her arms.