The klaxon alarm shrieked loudly that night. Ratchet remembered it as if it were yesterday.

There were scores of soldiers to fix up as they came in from the Battle of Tyger Pax. Many were dead as soon as they reached the doors of the med-bays. Ratchet couldn't remember how many he had to put into the morgue that night, but it sent a shudder down his back strut every time he recalled it.

One of his colleagues told the medic to take a short break. The orange and white mech was relieved to get away from the macabre in his station for a few moments.

Fate rarely called upon a moment if anyone's choosing.

As soon as Ratchet exited his med-bay, a stretcher hastily swept past him. What he saw in that gurney would forever seal his fate.

"Oh that poor youngling-"

"Is he going to make it?" Ratchet halted as two assistants sprinted past him. Dear Primus, he thought, a youngling?

"Word is that he was interrogated by Megatron himself!" That shushed a great many.

"Get back you your stations! Scat!" Ratchet commanded. That sent his coworkers dashing. The medic immediately made a beeline to the holding room where they kept the youngling. He peeked through a small opening in the window.

Ratchet's optics widened at the severity of the mangled wires coming from the young mech's throat. The poor yellow and black soldier would never speak again.

"Ratchet?" The medic didn't hear her at first. He busily ran through the possibilities of how one could repair the damaged the bio-tech.

"Ratchet." The voice was more adamant now. He still didn't hear. No, nothing short of a matching donor would be able to fix the poor soul in that room.

"SIRE!"

The medic jumped at least three feet into the air. The old mech whipped around. He couldn't believe his optics. He rebooted them, and yet she was there.

"What are you doing here Rāśi?" Ratchet questioned, incredulous. She was supposed to be in a Special Ops meeting right now. His daughter was supposed to be anywhere but here.

Upon first look, no one could have guessed the two were related. But, they were family by an artificial spark bond. Ratchet had found her in the wreckage of a Neutral territory that was now underneath a Decepticon camp. No matter what he did, the femme followed him everywhere. Over time, Ratchet's paternal side flourished. The two remained close, even when they were on opposite sides of the planet.

The tone she used wasn't one of normal visitation. "I need to talk to you." Immediately, Ratchet guided her to a secluded hallway that no one used anymore.

"Were you in Tyger Pax?" Ratchet questioned. A quick once over revealed that Rāśi had no obvious wounds.

She avoided looking at him. Her EM field and her side of the bond were utterly terrified. "Then, what are you doing here?" Ratchet grunted. He crossed his servos over his chest and squinted at her.

"It's him." Ratchet stared at her. "The youngling you were looking in on. It's him. I guarantee you, Sire."

The medic's processors were about to crash, but he forced himself to stay online. He placed a hand on the wall nearby to steady himself.

"The sparkling you gave away?" he whispered. "You said you didn't have a good look at him!" Ratchet did everything in his power to slow his intakes.

"I didn't, but I know what his Sire looks like, Father," she exhaled. "The resemblance is uncanny."

"Rāśi, need I remind you I never got to meet the mech you sought after because he was killed two deca-cycles later?" She bowed her helm as he continued, "And then, you had the gall to tell me more than half past the duration of your carrying that you were sparked!"

Ratchet stopped himself from going any further. He could see the drops of lubricant welling up behind her optics. The medic sighed. "All right, I'll drop that topic. Why are you here?" he asked again. He uncrossed his arms and planted them on his hips.

"I just got out of a meeting of what's left of my squad," the femme explained. "We're going on a mission." She swallowed, hard.

It took just seconds for the orange and white mech to realize what she meant.

"Primus above, no." Ratchet grabbed her shoulders and shook her. For a mech his age, the strength he put into the action was astounding. The femme was akin to a rag doll in his servos. "Do you realize what you're going to put an old bot like me through?!"

Rāśi didn't falter. "It was put to a vote; I agreed to join them-"

"Are you trying to put me through anther spark break?! If what you're insinuating right now is true, I forbid it!" His voice was shrill.

Suddenly, the femme pushed her Sire off of her. She dug into a small panel on her side. Ratchet stared on in horror at what had been implanted into her.

Three.

Three compact, round bags were neatly tucked into her derma-plating. They were wired together. The severity of the situation rang loud in Ratchet's mind.

"Mine is the least compared to the others," Rāśi explained stoically. She bowed her helm as she approached the mech that gave her a home, all those stellar cycles ago.

Ratchet let out a shaky exhale. "You do know what this will do to me?" Sadness and terror flooded into his voice.

The femme's tears finally spilled over. They two hugged each other tightly. Ratchet's servo found the back of Rāśi's helm as she cried onto his shoulder. I love you. I'll miss you. Be careful. Their EM fields were full of static by then. Ratchet released her when he heard his name being called.

With his profession in mind, he managed to look neutral as one of his colleagues rushed at him. "They want you to do the surgery for the kid without his voice box," he panted. Ratchet nodded and murmured, "I'll be there."

Once the other medic was out of range, Rāśi requested a favor. He blinked. "Care to repeat that?"

"He'll need a voice-box, Sire," she explained. "I won't need mine anytime soon. And in the Well, I'm sure I'll be able to communicate anyway."

"I'm not exactly sure that will work," Ratchet stated. "You're a full grown femme and he's a youngling. Not to mention there isn't a hundred percent chance that you two are a match-"

"But I'm his Carrier," Rāśi retorted in a whisper. "Please, Sire . . . it's my last wish."

"There's more to it, I believe," the medic countered. "I have a good idea what it is."

"Would you?" Her voice was a desperate whisper.

Ratchet began to walk away, and with him her hope. Rāśi's spirits rose as he turned around.

"You coming or what?"

O*O*O

He decided to place Rāśi beside her son when he would do the operation. He didn't look up as she marveled, "Oh, he grew up so fast . . ."

"I am going to regret asking this," Ratchet admitted as he hooked up the anesthesia to both Bumblebee, which he learned was his name from the Autobots that brought him in, and his Carrier. "Any last words?" he asked. Before Rāśi sank under the influence of the anesthesia, the femme smiled.

"I know you'll take good care of him."

The group of Special Ops trudged into the dark night. Neither of the moons shined, which was an oddity. What gave away their positions was their blue optics.

Ratchet was the first thing Bumblebee saw after the voice box was installed into him. The youngling attempted to speak. However, instead of his voice came the predicted beeps and electronic chirps.

The mechs and femme rounded a corner. They were close to their target area. Rāśi stumbled and a silent swear exited her throat.

"You ok?" asked a comrade. Rāśi nodded as she latched onto his offered arm. The squad continued on. They narrowly missed a Decepticon patrol.

"You were found with your voice box completely torn out," Ratchet explained. Bumblebee began to hyperventilate in terror. The medic went over to the scout and placed a reassuring servo over his helm.

"It'll be all right, young one. That voice box of yours, the one that an anonymous donor gave you," his voice shook a bit, "it's just temporary. It's just temporary," Ratchet promised.

"Target in sight," captain signaled. Everyone's sparks hammered in their casings.

"Say your prayers," he added. He cocked the cannon in his servos. With a war cry, the Special Ops team charged toward the base.

Blaster cannons fired as swords swung out to sink into an enemy's body.

"Beep-beep . . . Buzz?" Bumblebee inquired. Ratchet had a good idea what he asked. "I promise it. Get to your recharge cycle. You've had a long day." Bumblebee's face-plates soon donned a small smile. Quickly, the scout was lulled into stasis.

Rāśi activated the explosive pouches that were embedded in her. Straightaway, she sprinted to a large pool of energon near the center of the camp. Her teammates followed suit.

Ten, nine, eight, seven-

The Carrier tripped, but she was picked up by the largest of her squad and thrown into the pool.

Four, three, two-

"Goodbye."

Ratchet's spark lurched in its casing. He grabbed the top of a nearby counter in order to halt his fall. The medic knew it that what he wanted to do was futile.

Nevertheless, the old mech probed the bond. It's a slap in the face-plates once he is met with static. The medic had barely managed to stagger into a corner in a remote area of the triage facility. There, Ratchet's whole frame shook as lubricant from his optics fell to the floor.

"I'll take care of him . . . I will. Even if it kills me in the process," Ratchet vowed.

A/N: OK! I was inspired by several episodes in the making of this little one-shot. For the earlier episodes, it took several times watching them for me to finally notice it.

First it was in Scrapheap: Ratchet pushed Bumblebee down when he tried to get up as a swarm of Scraplets chased after Bulkhead. Then, in Orion Pax Part 2, I believe, was when Megatron threw off Bumblebee when the scout charged at him. As the Decepticon Warlord takes out his sword and stalks to Bee, Ratchet rams into him to attempt to distract him.

Later, OPERATION: Bumblebee happened. Ratchet said Bee's voice-box was a bio-mechanical part. That got me thinking into a donor sort of thing. In order for the transplant to happen for the patient, you'd need the same part with a matching code or something/other.

Then came the line when Smokescreen said, "The voice-box that Ratchet slapped into your throat". OK, that somewhat put me out as well, but it still got me thinking . . .

And then Deadlock happened and I was soon outlining this little thing.

(Wow that is one long list. O.o I might not have gotten them all but this was what I saw in TFP).

Rāśi means "star" in a language . . . I forgot what it was when I searched it up.

R&R please! :D