you know you are as small as the things you let annoy you {backdated before robot prom}

[asafepairofhands]

It's a little while after Sixshot has dug all of the medics up from whatever underground art bunker they had been briefly trapped in, miraculously without anyone killing each other, and Ratchet is back in the medibay at work. He is still half-legless and especially foul-tempered, especially considering the upcoming festivities, which he plans to avoid as completely as possible.

COME BOTHER HIM



[CLOSED TO RODIMUS]
It's not long after the medics are back that Ratchet sends a message to Rodimus privately, apropos of what seems like nothing.

Come to the medibay. I need to check something.

Comments

[wreckers]

"I know that, I-"

And then time itself seems to just come to a screeching halt fast enough where Verity can't process a reaction beyond the ice slithering up every vein in her body.

"He," She's shaking as she runs through the entire gambit of emotions with disbelief and anger neck and neck in the lead, "What?"

[asafepairofhands]

"Well, he conned Rodimus into it, at least. So if you hear Drift trying to take the blame, know it's a load of scrap--he's a bit behind the curve, temporally, and it hasn't happened for him yet. But yeah."

Ratchet just looks tired, though his optics are intent on her face.

"Prowl was trying to do some research into Phase Sixers and wanted Overlord off planet, so he stuck him with us. It took everyone we had to get him back off the ship, Fort Max included--he's awake again, now, and understandably, hm, upset. Overlord's dead now, as far as we know. Or he'd better be. His cell was shot after we jettisoned it, with another crewmember who helped seal him in still inside, locked in with him. Probably the kind thing to do."

[wreckers]

"'The kind thing to do.'" Verity echoed in a hollow voice as if she hadn't seen first hand the way Overlord laid up Fortress Maximus as the crown jewel of the nightmare that was Garrus-9.

She hated that a part of her agreed. Not just that it was a mercy to be killed before falling into Overlord's hands, but that the Phase Sixers had the Autobots outmatched in spades.

"Yeah, well, this wouldn't be the first time Prowl's maneuvered someone into dealing with Overlord for him."

[asafepairofhands]

"His name was Rewind. The mech trapped in the shuttle. It was his conjunx endura that shot it out of the sky, so nobody argued," Ratchet says, before he shakes his head a little, a weight pressing to the top of his tanks.

"...I heard about Garrus-9," he says after a long moment. "I read the medical reports after we collected Max, after--" He cuts himself off, looking down at his hands.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, knowing she'll probably throw it back in his face again and not caring. "I wish I'd been there. I might have been able to do something for Ironfist, at least. Just--I'm sorry."

[wreckers]

Verity hummed low in her throat concerning Rewind. Not a name she knew but conjunx endura and other elective partnerships were not a new concept to her. What kind of blow that was and how, of course, it all led back to Prowl.

"No - you don't." Verity countered, gently compared to how heated she had been, because she knew Ratchet meant well and would have committed if he had been there. But no one wishes to go back to Garrus-9. Even as a memory.

"Ironfist was on his way out." She intoned, eyes going a bit darker. "He had the luxury of knowing. Not them. Not Rotorstorm or Twin Twist and all the others that died in stupid, pointless ways. I still don't even know what happened to Springer."

[asafepairofhands]

"In a coma, still," Ratchet reports, almost automatically. "Stable, has been for a while, but not awake. I... honestly think First Aid developed spark-jumping to try and wake Springer. That's how we got Fort Max back."

"Knowing's not always a luxury," Ratchet says slowly, thinking of Tailgate and his near-catastrophic failure there. "But--I know what you mean. Known enough mechs who died in stupid, pointless ways." He cycles his vents carefully. "Doesn't make it easier, but--I know."

[wreckers]

"Max was in a bad way when we found him." Suffice it to say, "First Aid must really be something if he can undo something like that."

Verity rapped her fingers on the countertop, sorting out her thoughts to a steady rhythmic sound.

"Ratchet," Verity looked back at him with a depth that conveyed the empathy she felt towards him that wouldn't come out in words, "I have the last copy of the Aequitas trials."

[asafepairofhands]

"Yeah, well. It was stupid, and reckless, and completely brilliant, but I suppose that's why he's got my job now. My old job," Ratchet corrects himself, then freezes.

"You--what? How did you--" He stops himself, looking thunderstruck, then scrambles to collect himself as pieces start clicking into place. "Hell. Oh, hell. Does Prowl know you have them? No wonder he finally sent someone to Garrus-9." Ratchet has always hated politics, but that doesn't mean he has a poor grasp of them. He reaches up, scrubbing one hand roughly over his face. "Do you have them on you? No, don't--don't answer that. I don't know what's in them, but I'm guessing it's not good."

He cycles his vents for a long moment, then drops his hand away from his face, his expression suddenly serious.

"What do you plan to do with them?"

[wreckers]

"No." Head dipped low, she tried to forget when she could see it clearly just behind her eyes. Ironfist hooked up to that damn thing. Verity said barely above a whisper, "Ironfist passed it on to me - no one else knew about the backup. And yes, I have it."

Verity looked back up at Ratchet and already knew the answer without needing to be told.

"And judging by your reaction the records never went public after the war 'ended'." Typical. With Prowl still kicking around of course he tried to bury Garrus-9 before it could upend whatever peace the ceasefire achieved.

"Right now, with everything you've told me, I don't know...but if Prowl finds out."

Verity's throat bobbed as she swallowed before she could finish that thought.

[asafepairofhands]

"Hey," Ratchet says gently, and he can't stop himself from reaching up, one large fingertip brushing her cheek, extraordinarily gently. "You're going to be all right. Not just because I want you to be, either--there aren't that many of us here, and I don't think Prowl's stupid enough to try something when we have so many other more pressing concerns, not after his involvement in so much else has come out recently. Magnus ripped him a new one back on Cybertron in front of a small crowd of people, I only heard about it afterward. Apparently it was really something to see."

He thinks for a long moment, his expression quiet. "No, you're right. They haven't come out. I don't even know if they should." His lips thin, and he regards Verity seriously. "But Ironfist didn't give them to me. He gave them to you. If you do want advice, Magnus would know better than anyone what to do with them, if there's anyone you'd trust enough to share them with. Magnus isn't the Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord anymore, not after Luna-1, but still. And we--we'd never willingly let anything happen to you, all right? ...there are other people here you can trust, too, should you choose to."

[wreckers]

"Don't worry - I learned to be careful." It just took awhile.

When Ratchet gingerly touches her face she leans into it as subtly as she could, still cagey about physical contact but when she raised her hand and it initials appears as though she meant to bat away his hand she pats the side of his massive digit. Ratchet needed to reassurance, maybe even more than she did. The thought of Magnus tearing into Prowl put a smile on her face, even if it was a fleeting one.

"The missing moon?" Verity jerked her head up, pulling a face. She missed more than the end of the war. "What the hell happened?"

[asafepairofhands]

Ratchet does relax when she touches his hand, his face softening helplessly.

"Yeah, it--we found it sort of by accident. Magnus was... badly hurt, in the fight with Overlord. Almost killed. His body disappeared out of the medibay, and we followed it to Luna-1. It turns out that Chief Justice Tyrest was not only set up there, but was also completely crazy and had made a killswitch built to drop everybody who'd been cold constructed dead. We took care of it, but it was kind of a mess. Magnus resigned afterward, gave the position of Duly Appointed Enforcer to... Fort Max, actually. He's doing a fine job, from what I've heard."

Something occurs to Ratchet and he stills, looking down at Verity and biting at the delicate microplating of his lip.

"Verity," he says after a brief hesitation. "...have you ever heard the name Minimus Ambus?"

[wreckers]

"So Prowl's bullshit nearly got Magnus killed." Verity took a sharp inhale through the nose, "Ok." Her set her jaw out and nodded slowly, having come to some quiet conclusion that her already low opinion of the Autobot's intelligence officer took a nosedive.

All that anger fit to kill but when she looked back at Ratchet it fizzled out.

"As in the Ambus test?" She was only connecting the name to what she already knew but didn't quite put two and two together. "Beyond that - no."

[asafepairofhands]

"...I guess I'm not surprised," Ratchet says slowly. "And this is going to be difficult to explain, but--no. That was Dominus Ambus who created the Ambus test. Minimus Ambus was--is related to him." He looks down at Verity, his expression still.

"But Minimus Ambus is also Ultra Magnus. Or--the latest Ultra Magnus. The 'Ultra Magnus' you know is a suit of armor that people have been wearing since the start of the war, based on the original 'Ultra Magnus'--there really was someone by that name. I knew him. I've known every Ultra Magnus, but Minimus has carried the title the longest. Minimus is certainly the only Ultra Magnus you knew."

Ratchet stops, one shoulder shifting in a half-shrug. "Down to the smallest set of armor, Minimus is a little taller than you are. But please understand--this wasn't Minimus' secret to keep, not really. It was a long legacy, and we only found out because Tyrest stripped the armor by the time we'd got to Luna-1. Nobody would have found out if Minimus--if Magnus had a choice in the matter. If you weren't told, that's why, not because you weren't trusted or because it wasn't important. Magnus didn't even know I knew until after the whole thing had blown over."

He flips a hand palm out, offering, watching her face for a reaction. "I figured you deserved to know, after everything. Now that the secret's out. I know Magnus trusts you and would want you to know, if anyone does."