Midnight. A deserted highway. The headlights of a single car — a white and orange truck — cut through the darkness. Others would have long since fallen asleep, but not him.

Ratchet drove silently, but you felt him watching your every breath.

"You're acting strange. For a human," — he muttered in a dull, electronic voice, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Your heart rate is elevated. Your pulse is unstable. Did something happen?"

He sounded cold from outside... but you knew him better than that. It was his way of saying: I'm worried.

You sat with your legs tucked into the passenger seat, looking out the dark window.

"I just... feel bad," — you muttered quietly.

"Sometimes I wonder... what I would have done if I hadn't met you. If I hadn't met you."

He flashed his headlights sharply.

"That's a hypothetical, irrational thought."

"You think too much about things that didn't happen."

Pause. A very long one.

Normally, Ratchet would have continued his lecture... but now he was silent. As if choosing his words.

Then, unexpectedly softly:

"But... If you hadn't met us, especially me — then..."

He fell silent again, as if afraid he'd said too much.

Then his voice lowered, became hoarse, almost human:

"...I would worry about you. In this... world. Alone."

You turned to the dashboard, to Ratchet's shimmering blue biot, and asked:

"Why are you so worried about me, doc? I'm just a human."

He sighed — mechanically, but tiredly.

"Because..."

The clicking of servos. Awkwardness, almost embarrassment.

"...You are my responsibility."

You smiled.

"Responsibility?"

A few seconds of silence.

"...And my partner," — he added seriously.

"I trust you more than most Autobots."

You felt something stir inside.

He spoke again, quieter this time, almost like a whisper of engines:

"And..."

"I don't like thinking about a world without you."

You looked up sharply.

"Ratchet..."

He turned on the seat heater — his version of a human "hug." A wave of warmth washed over your legs.

"Just... stay close. For now," — he said.

"That's all I ask."