Ratchet couldn't stand the quiet. He couldn't stand the emptiness. The overstock even made him shake. It was so easy to share energon now. They wouldn't have to stock up for three Earth months.

He hadn't touched any of his tools in a mega-cycle. Maybe more. How many days had it even been? He didn't even know what day of the week it was. Normally he knew only because the children seemed to get lazier closer to the weekend. He knew Arcee had been out to see Jack a few times, and he didn't ask about Miko or Rafael.

Digits curled on the keyboard. The silence rang in his audials.

He made sure to set the bridge to wipe its coordinates once he'd been transported. The stiff air hit his sensors in a crash. Only white was visible for miles. Ice crunched under his pedes.

"Arcee!"

Bumblebee was too heavy. Her arm joints popped.

"Go through the portal! Now!"

The medic wiped snow from his optical ridges. Some manner of arctic creature roared in the distance and he didn't bother cataloging the sound print for research. There was a small hill of ice jutting out and he dragged his legs towards it.

Screaming. Someone was screaming. Ratchet shook Arcee's shoulders.

"They terminated Megatron—they pulled the plug—"

Every pair of optics and human eyes widened. Bumblebee's body was on the Nemesis. His mind lost. Optimus was no longer alert on the berth behind them.

He settled under the hill. There was a telling beep-beep and the medic flipped his HUD open. Core temperature low.

"You need to leave! Go through the bridge now!" Ratchet screamed at the children. He didn't give a scrap if they were their human allies. This was an Autobot matter. This was death. This was family. This was private. He couldn't stand their presence any longer.

"But what about Bumblebee?" Tears ran down Rafael's face, and he fought Jack's hold.

"He is gone, Rafael!"

Miko rose up now, face also marred with grief. "You're just giving up like that? So Bumblebee is gone and now Optimus is going to die?" she shrieked back. Bulkhead tried to console her with a hand.

Ratchet shifted his legs as snow started to build around him. He heard the beeping again and disabled his audials.

Arcee was curled by the medical berth, frame rattled by sobs. Ratchet's scanner shorted from overuse and he slammed a fisted servo down. The normally shining optics of their Prime were unlit. He buried his faceplate into a large, slack servo.

It became difficult to keep his optics at full mast. There was a stiff strain spreading through his plating and he became agonizingly aware of his sparkpulse. He didn't even have the strength to open his HUD panel again.

The bot's processor slowed and a few strings of code activated random mismatched memories. Cybertron. Iacon. Bumblebee's... vocalizer? Or was it optics? He couldn't remember now. He remembered Optimus though.

Fatigue saturated the Autobot. It felt good to rest his helm against his frozen arms. Sleep would be nice. A quick recharge and he'd wake up on Cybertron again. Earth would be but a vague dream.

That was a good idea. That sounded nice.

Okay, then.

It was time to rest.