Together Again

++ Free Clinic ++
Flat, dull gray inside and made of the same cobbled together materials as  the rest of the area, the Free Clinic is a haven of help for the           downtrodden that live in this area. Staffed by kind-sparked mechs and      femmes who volunteer their free time and materials to help, Empties can    find live-saving medical help here, as well as energon supplies when they  are desperately low. There aren't many circuit slabs here, and everything  from the equipment to the tools are donated, but they all function as      needed. Chairs for waiting rest against the wall near the door, while a    recovery ward in the back sees patients that need time to rest and reboot  from serious medical trauma.                                               
Exits:O [Dead End]                       
It was out of nowhere that Wheeljack would recieve a short radio message from Torque, the femme sounding tired when asking him to go to Ratchet's clinic. Nothing would be elaborated on, however, Torque simply asking he go there.
He would surely get a surprise upon entering the empty clinic that had yet to open, finding Torque sitting upon one of the medical berths while attempting to patch the hole in her chest fully on her own. Medics really are the worst patients, so one can see why she'd just up and do it herself.
Only when the door opens does she look up to spot Wheeljack there. She expected him, but.. Primus it was still a huge relief to actually see him again. "Wheeljack.." His name is muttered past a tired, yet growing smile as she stands and swiftly moves to him, catching him up in the tightest hug she can manage.. without hurting him too much. "Primus.. You have no idea how good it is to see you again!"
It is an understatement to say that Wheeljack raced over here. He's no Blurr but still, his alt mode is made for some measure of speed, which he put to use getting over here. If he were organic, he'd be huffing and puffing as he enters. He comes in slow and careful though, not wanting to startle who he expects to find...
All that caution melts away though as she moves and wheeljack is there to catch her. He gives a little 'omph!' at the squeeze... but he doesn't mind as he embraces back.
Pharam did it! Torque did it. She still functions!
"As good as it is to see you," he soothes, his faceplate snapping out of the way. He gives his own, smaller, squeeze before he means to back up a little so he cn get a physical, real-time view of that hole in her chest. There is no hope of hiding the concern on his face. "we should find a way to make your exterior as hard as yer spark."
Torque can't help cracking a wider smile and chuckling softly at the armor comment. "We probably should. I'd definitely last longer in a fight that way." Sighing, she rests her forehead against him a moment, the weight of prevous events almost visible on sinking shoulders. She needs at least a full day of recharge, that's for sure.
But after a moment she springs back to something closer to her usual self and smirks up at him. "Gonna be a long story, telling you what happened, but first..." She moves from his grasp and turns to show him the damage to her back, the large gash looking like it'd been burned and exploded to some degree and not very well patched. "Hate to ask, but d'yah mind helping me fix this? I can't quite reach it all that well."
Wheeljack will stand guard over that recharge. In fact, he tries to lead her back to her seat already. Not that he doesn't want Torque to lean against him, he does, but right now he has a more pressing concern than his own desires. Then her back too! Wheeljack gasps.
"How are you even walkin'?! Did you alt form to get here or walk the whole way!" He's guessing the latter from what he's seeing. Already he's shaking his head... and reaching for the tools he'll need to get this patched up. "Where do you want it first? Yer front or the back?"
Torque sits with a heavy sigh on the berth once she's led back there, her posture bowing slightly with weariness. "I actually.. well, I took a transport from where I was being held. I'll probably just leave it somewhere far away for them to find. And ah.. back, please. It's been hurtin' all day."
Tow boom shifts up out of the way and Torque glances over her shoulder at Wheeljack as he gets to work, a worried frown on her lips. "Wheeljack.. When I was back there I.. I did something terrible. I.. was forced to kill Pharma.." She bites her lip hard, as if to punish herself for admiting that. "And then Starscream tried to kill me, but.. I guess Pharma sabotaged the device because it backfired on him."
"You want the transport to go 'way? I might know of a way to take care of that for ya'." An explosive way or two. What could happen? Wheeljack could get in MORE trouble? Besides, Torque has way more than enough to deal with on her own. The least he can do is help. "Which... might be wise to do sooner'n later, since I told that copbot (Prowl) to come by here and he ain't showed up yet."
He watches as she lays down and then, well, his hands fidget. He can do this. He has to. Look at that damage! Wheeljack looks away as he assembles all the tools he'll need.
"Oh, that all? Well, good!" He seems far less concerned about murdering Pharma than she is. Why? "He said he had some way t'resurrect himself, or suggested it anyway. When I told 'em 'bout the attack he didn't seem worried." So why should Wheeljack? "It was his idea you should blsat 'im." So it sounds like that part of things worked out just fine. "Which reminds me, I should tell ya' that in order to get close t'warn Pharma I had to take Prowl's offer..."
He touches the tow boom first, to let her know he's there. And ready to begin. Wheeljack drops the tool he was holding and quickly fumbles to pick it up. "Sorry," he mutters as he leans over to begin to delicately tend to that back-gash. If it's in a place that's hard to reach then likely it's hard to see. So, Wheeljack's mug is hidden? Well, as he grumbles, "Too bad that ws all Jerkscream suffered."
"He.. What??" Torque almost jerks off the table at the news. "Pharma had this all planned? You mean.. I didn't really kill him?" She stares wide-opticed at the mech above her, completely and utterly stunned. So.. So that means he'd be okay..
Every tense nerve in her body releases in that instant and she almost sinks on the table, sighing deeply as all the pent up worry and guilt pours out of her. "Thank Primus.. I was so afraid I'd actually killed someone.. I.. I wouldn't have known what to do with myself if I actually did. ..To be honest I really did wish Starscream's device worked after I did that to Pharma."
As for the talk of Prowl, Torque eyes him again, looking concerned. "..His offer? You mean.." Then realization hits and she stiffens. "Wheeljack.. You're not giving away your inventions, are you?" He didn't.. That was his life's work! Did he really give it up for her..?
"Oh, maybe you did," Wheeljack soothes from behind as he lays a hand on Torque's shoulder, urging her to stay in place. "I mean, I ain't seen him since I told 'im 'bout all of that. He didn't seem worried 'bout it, and said he had some way to come back. He wanted Starscream to *think* he was dead, which is why I couldn't tell you *that* part of it." He winces. A lot. He hates that he did that but...w hat else could he do? If it was a way to get Torque back...
He touches, gently, with a soft little caress to her least injured shoulder. "I... I can't imagine you'd ever do *that* Torque. If you did, it'd be for a better reason than savin' yourself," he frowns. "To save someone else maybe, if ya' had to. You fix bots," he says with certainy, as he doesn't believe she'd do anything to contradict the oath she took.
He then shrugs as he gets back to work working on her back. "Small price t'pay," he grins a little. "I'm at the Kimia Facility now. Don't know that I can have visitors so don't know I can show it off to you... ain't been there much. Been busy worryin' 'bout something else," he winks, if she can see it or not. Wheeljack shrugs again though. "It's just stuff. Ideas. Things. Ain't even near the same amount as ... well, *everythin'*," he stresses as he looks down to, well, who he means for that to apply to. "I can always come up with more stuff, but I ain't ever gonna' find another Torque."
Torque had done it for a better cause, actually. To protect Wheeljack. And in the end it seems she did just that with the added benefit of not really killing Pharma. Maybe tonight she can actually get some proper recharge now that her mind is a little clearer. Smiling thoughtfully to the mech, Torque turns her head to rest it upon her crossed forearms, sighing softly. "....Wheeljack, I don't even know how I'd even begin to thank you for doing that for me. I know it was just stuff, but.. it was /your/ stuff. ..I'll help you come up with more, though, I promise."
Hearing he's been moved to Kimia is interesting news, though it's a shame she likely won't be able to visit. ..Which in the long run may be the most appropriate. But another thing still plagues her mind, making her quiet a few long moments with only the sound of his repairs filling the empty air until she speaks. "...When the device backfired on Starscream.. he was badly damaged. He was.. gonna die. Someone else in my position might have let him, but I.. I took him back here and I fixed him. I still don't know why, but I just couldn't allow someone else to die.."
"You did promise you'd help me build a spaceship," he reminds her.
Wheeljack goes silent for a moment then. Then another. He doesn't answer as he works on Torque's back. Maybe he's just focusing as he gets a good chunk f it patched up. Finally, though, he sighs. "I would have too." This causes him to sigh again. "I'm... I'm sorry Torque. Even after this, I..." He shakes his head at himself. "I don't forgive 'im, I can't. What he did, to you... I can't ever forgive that. But..." He stops working. "I don't know how to handle it. I've tried to think it through but I mostly just ignore it."
"I haven't forgiven him either, and I made sure to tell him that." Torque eyes him over her shoulder, offering a reassuring smile with a slight twitch on antennas. "I think he was grateful, but that doesn't excuse what he did. Jack.. it's okay not to forgive someone if they did something like that and.. and I'm sorry that it had to be someone you really did admire."
Warm expression fades into something more serious, Torque giving him a stern nod. "I think the only thing we can do is just show him that what happened hasn't broken us and never will. I'm prepared to fight him on every front if that's what it takes."
He really, really did. Wheeljack is still processing how to tell Starscream that, or if he should. He's never had to forgive anyone before. He's let down a lot of bots himself and been a source of disappointment for many in particular, like Sparkplug. He's never had the tables turned on him though and been the one that needs to let someone else off. Whenever others have been mad at him, it's been justified.
Wheeljack is quiet again for a moment, going back to work to finish up on Torque's back. "I need to do more than that. I just... I got too much t'say to 'im, even if I ain't sure what all I have to say." He steps away to fetch another tool, something to help patch up the plating. "But this shouldn't been 'bout me 'nd what I'm feelin'. *You*'re the one that went through this. All that 'n you're still concerned 'bout 'im rather than *you*... how are *you* doin' with all this?"
Torque fidgets some on the table once Wheeljack ducks out to get another tool, never one to enjoy laying around doing nothing. But she calms when he returns and smiles up at him. "I know it isn't easy, but I hope you know I'll be right there to help you through it." She wasn't about to let Wheeljack carry any sort of weight without being right beside him to offer help. They were in this together, after all.
And then he asks about her and it gives her pause. ...How /was/ she doing? Torque had barely given herself a chance to even process what had happened, so she gives a displeased face when the memories come flooding back in. "I'm.. alright, I think. I was scared, to be honest, but.. I was ready to fight no matter what. And now that I see what Starscream is capable of, I.. I want to fight even more. Fight everything, even the Decepticons. This all has to /stop/, Wheeljack. /We/ have to stop them."
That... it makes sense. It *will* come to it, even if he still holds onto some hope that it won't. It's an inventor. He just has yet to invent the thing that will prevent any of that from being needed but... in the meantime it is bcoming increasingly difficult to rule out the need for the more practical solution. That means there will be a need for those willing and skilled to fight. Which means that this, all that Torque has suffered, is only the beginning. Will he be able to handle that?
Wheeljack approaches the table Torque is on and squats down, so that he's face-level with her. He rests his hands on her elbows, since she rests her chin on crossed hands. "Then I best get to work on that tougher exterior for you," he grins. And he'll have to harden his interior a little. She's going to get knocked around or... worse. There might be a time she doesn't come back. Yet, to deny her the chance to do what she feels she must... he'd lose her sooner. "Maybe you'll let me help you practice, and not pull them punches so much. Or, oooooh, should build ya' a gun, maybe a shoulder cannon... bet that'd be real effective..."
Torque perks up at the sudden sight of Wheeljack before her, but can only grin back. "I think I gotta heal up before we start divin' into that sorta project." A hand reaches out to fondly tweak one of his 'ears', chuckle softly at his suggestion. "Heh, really think you can take a full punch from me? I might have to piece yah back together." As for the talk of a gun, Torque can only grin wider and laugh. "Maybe, but I can't shoot for scrap, y'know. I'm a hands-on kinda femme. But who knows, you teach me to shoot better and I'll teach you some more melee. Deal?"
Wheeljack is no shot either. This is why he (will) like(s) explosioves, because he doesn't have to aim much with those. However, the ear-tweek gives him an idea ... and he leans into that touch. It was a good one! "How 'bout a tractor beam. Instead of shootin' out, you pull 'em in to you. So you can punch 'im!" Already he is liking the idea and drafting several versions of it. He's just stumbled onto your creation day gift! Which makes him realize he doesn't know when that is. He'll have to ask some time. Still, the chance to hang out more and to help Torque with this, or anything... "Deal," he smiles.
For a moment he just stares at her, optic-to-optic. "I'm glad you're okay," he admits. Worry, doubt, those are also new to him. Wheeljack has never stopped to consider failure before or what it would mean. He's never known loss other than what he's caused to be taken away from him. So, he was scared too, even if he can't really articulate that. Yet, "I'm also glad-er? Happier? That you ain't lettin' this slow you down none. If anythin', you're usin' it to become stronger. I should be worried 'bout what you said, 'bout chargin' out to look for more fights now, to sign up but... I ain't. It's actually comfortin', you know? I should be worried, but I ain't so much. I feel more secure knowin' you're goin' to be out there."
"So what do I do with this, then?" Torque's boom waggles a little, the dangling hook swinging. But she only teases, drawing him in now to recieve a soft press of lips to his forehead. "Hm.. But what about a hammer, maybe? Or some sorta gauntlets to give my punch an extra kick?" Now he's got her thinking. "And you bein' all speedy, maybe we can get you some swords, eh?" She smiles wide and chuckles softly, enjoying puting their heads together to come up with stuff.
Settling back down, she resigns to just stare back at him, gladly letting go of her worries and getting lost in those bright blues of his. "..I'm glad you're alright too. I dunno if Starscream would've gone through with hurting you, but.. I couldn't take that chance." Her entirety calms, expression sweet and thoughtful while rubbing a thumb affectionately against his ear. "'Course I wouldn't let it slow me down. You know I don't go down without a fight, Jack, and I'm determined to win this one. ...And I know you're not much of a fightin' mech, but.. well, I want you to be out there with me. You're a lot stronger than you think you are. Maybe not here.." She taps his arm. "But definitely here." A gentle tap to his head as her smiles warms. "We'd make a damn good team on the field. ..So why not come out there with me? I'd never not want you my side."
Oh my, how Wheeljack blushes! Quite the sudden glow he gets under his cheekplates at that waggle!
Ahem.
No use hiding behind his faceplate now. Wheeljack coughs. "What if *that* had a tractor beam?" You could certainly haul in whatever you want with that tow crane! "Swords? Those seem like they'd take some fitese... What 'bout some giant pistons? I'm pretty good at clubbin' things, hah. When I have to give somethin'a good whap to get it goin'. You with a hammer though?" Oh my, that glow is back. He seems to like that idea!
Still with the ear rubs! he might have to start thumping a leg soon as he leeeeeaaaaans even further into that. Just as he leeeeeeans into what she's suggesting. He wanted to avoid fighting but... that's really not possible, not when there is something to fight *for*. "Ya' sold me. Least I can do is carry yer hammer into battle for ya'," he grins.