video;

[stubbornandfrustrating]

[The video clicks on and shows nothing but the ceiling of a room for long moments before it rattles and a hand obscures the camera. There's a scrape and a soft groan as Ratchet hauls himself as much into a sitting position as he can manage and finally manages to pick up the communicator and turn the camera towards himself.]

[He looks exhausted, his optics dim and his mouth drawn down. The hand not holding the communicator up is pressed carefully to his windscreen and his ventilations are labored as he wakes up a little more, his optics focusing in the low light of his room. His voice is soft and fuzzy with static when he speaks.]

Hey. What did I miss?




LOCKED to Spinister
I need a status update on Krok. Now, please. I can't get up to go check on him myself.

Comments

video;

[stubbornandfrustrating]

[Ratchet isn't even angry when he answers--just flat and cold, his optics steady on the blank feed, but he knows it's Chromedome's voice.]

Spinister and I were trying to let Krok get some actual rest, so we put him into a medically induced stasis. It worked last time I saw him have a nightmare, so we figured it was worth a shot. Instead, he had an episode while he was under, and the strain of it nearly took out his spark, so I had to open us both up and jump his spark from mine with a pair of human-made cables. You know how painful and exhausting that is under optimal conditions, with equipment actually designed for the purpose. It almost didn't work. We both only now just woke up.

video;

[needlefingers]

You'd... Do this for a Decepticon?

[He says with utter astonishment. Though, come to think of it, it shouldn't surprise him.]

...It's not going to be enough to stop the nightmares.

[stubbornandfrustrating]

Yeah. Yeah, I would. Krok is--

[Ratchet stops, his optics paling.]

...it's not? It won't?

[needlefingers]

I'm very good at what I do.

There's only one way to fix it.

[stubbornandfrustrating]

Yeah?

[Ratchet is shouting now, his voice ragged with static, so angry and desperate he barely knows what to do.]

Why don't you enlighten me then?!

[needlefingers]

[Chromedome flinches a little.]

Not yet. But soon maybe.

[stubbornandfrustrating]

'Soon'? 'Soon maybe'?! You--

[But he's actually too angry to speak, his optics pale with rage and his hands shaking as he fumbles with the comm and slams it down onto the berth before it cuts out.]