What Have I Done?

Chapter 27: Grief for the Living

He felt like he was drifting.

In and out of existence.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

If only his breathing could drift as thoughtlessly as his mind.

I made him a criminal.

Another round of sobs.

I almost got him killed.

Another gut-wrenching cry.

I betrayed him.

Another few lines of paint peeled from his helm.

Orion sat, quaking, shaking, crying—screaming out his agony. He was pressed tightly into a corner and his heels dug into the ground as he tried to somehow push himself further into it. His servos were on his helm. At first it had been to calm him, but now his digits dug into the paint, scrapping it away as if it were a parasite.

His breathing calmed again. He onlined his optics for second and his frame ceased it's quivering. Orion's mind drifted.

Then the pain came back, driving into spark like a razor. It refused to be pushed away and ignored.

What worse criminal is there than someone to take a hero and call them a monster?

A hero who wouldn't have even been in that council chamber if it were not for Orion. He should have taken the offer to run away when he had the chance. Now it was too late. It was far, far too late.

The door to wherever the hell he was opened and Orion glanced up, his face streaked with silver lines. He blinked rapidly, trying to see who it was that stepped inside, but it wasn't until the blurry figure knelt down in front of him that Orion could see well enough.

"Rat–" Orion hiccuped, "chet?"

"I'm here," Ratchet wrapped his arms around Orion.

"G-get off of me!" Orion shoved Ratchet back and glared, "I hate you!"

Ratchet pursed his dermas and looked away, "You made a hard decision today."

"You wouldn't know," Orion sniffed. "You betra... you..."

"Made a choice to protect you and payed the price," Ratchet looked down. "I suppose it runs in the family."

"We aren't family," Orion glowered.

Ratchet winced and the room became silent, aside from a few hiccups and sniffles. Orion wiped his face and turned away.

"Why did you do it?" Ratchet asked quietly. "We both know Megatron didn't do any of that."

"It's none of your business," Orion snapped. "You wouldn't understand."

Ratchet sighed, "Orion... I won't apologize for what I did. From the day I first took you in, I have always looked out for your best interests. You were trying to go to war against the most powerful people on Cybertron. Did you expect me to encourage you?"

"I expected you to do what was best for the people you took an oath to save," Orion stated.

"I promised your carrier that I would save you," Ratchet said, "and that promise meant more to me than anything else."

Orion glared, "How can you do that? How can you turn your back on everyone for just one worthless mech?"

"You are not worthless, Orion. You–" Ratchet blew his breath, "you were just chosen by Primus himself as worthy of a Prime. You are the most valuable bot on this entire planet. But even before that, you were the most precious mech to me anyway. I raised you, Orion. I would do anything for you."