Clever Thing | TFP AU

Chapter 1

Ratchet woke with a start the following morning when he heard someone banging on the door of his habsuite. Blinking the sleepiness from his optics, he pushed himself out of his berth with a grunt and trudged over to the door.

"What in the Allspark is going on?" He murmured as he peered through the peephole of the door.

It was definitely a shock to see police officers gathered at his door. Why were they there?

Growing more puzzled by the moment, Ratchet opened the door to see what they wanted. "Can I help you, officer?"

"Ratchet of Iacon, you are under arrest for the murder of Councilman Backdraft." The officer stated, then roughly took Ratchet by the shoulder and spun him around so cuffs could be placed on his wrists.

Ratchet was appalled. The crime he had witnessed last night was a murder!

"This is absurd! I would never commit such a grievous act!" He argued as the officer started pushing him to walk. "Let me speak to Optimus!"

"Save it for the judge."

•
•
•

After much arguing and bargaining, Ratchet was able to see Optimus. The officers at the station he was being held at placed him in a room, leaving the cuffs on his hands so he couldn't do anything.

Not that he would, anyways. He was innocent, for Primus' sake!

Ratchet didn't have to wait long for Optimus to show up. Once he'd gotten word of his arrest, he immediately dropped what he was doing and came as soon as he could.

The Prime sat down across from Ratchet, an expression of confusion on his faceplate.

"I would never do anything like this, Optimus. You know that. I was falsely accused!" Ratchet said, breaking the silence that had occupied the room for several minutes.

It was obvious by the look on his face that he was aggravated, but his optics told a different story. A story that Optimus easily picked up on without much effort.

Optimus nodded and folded his hands in his lap, maintaining his calm composure. "I understand." He reassured. "While the officers may think they have reason to suspect you were behind this, I cannot bring myself to believe it to be true. I want to hear your side of the story."

Ratchet let out a soft sigh, relieved that Optimus believed him. That was a big step in the right direction to proving his innocence.

"Last night," He began, leaning back in his chair. "I had just finished up with a student and was heading home. It was late. There was no one on the street. When I was around a half-block away from my habsuite, I heard a noise come from an alleyway off to my right. I stopped to look and saw a mech standing there, energon pooling at his pedes." He paused for a moment to gather himself when he felt a shiver travel down his backstrut, the eerie memory still fresh in his processor. "I didn't know what to do. I froze. The datapads I was carrying slipped out of my grip and alerted the mech to my presence. I ran after that."

"Why didn't you alert the authorities?"

"It wasn't the first thing that came to my processor. I couldn't think straight."

Optimus nodded slowly, gaze still fixed on Ratchet. The medic's story made sense. "I was given this before I came into the room." He said, producing a datapad from his subspace and placing it down on the table for Ratchet to see. "I first saw it on the news broadcast this morning."

Ratchet leaned forward to get the datapad, holding it up so he could see. A grainy image of him running down the street was displayed on the screen, but who took the picture? His energon ran cold for a moment.

"This was taken last night?" He murmured in disbelief, glancing up at the Prime.

"Yes." Optimus said, the apologetic look in his stoic optics becoming more noticeable now than before. "Resources say it was taken by a bystander who witnessed what happened."

"How can that be?" Ratchet sputtered, furrowing his optic ridges. "There was no one on the street at that time aside from myself and that mech! Who turned in the image?"

"We don't know. They wished to remain anonymous."

Out of frustration, Ratchet threw the datapad onto the table and shook his head. After taking a few deep vents, he was able to calm himself enough to speak again.

"Someone is framing me, Optimus. Someone who wants to cover up their crime because they were sloppy. You don't just murder a councilman for no reason." He muttered. "We have to prove that to the public. If we don't, everyone will end up focusing on the wrong story while the real threat continues to grow."

"I know, old friend. Allow me to work this out. You shall be released shortly."

•
•
•

It wasn't common for Ratchet to stop by the bar for a drink, but after today, he needed it. He ignored the looks he got from certain bots and sat down at a table in the far corner. A waiter soon came by with a datapad in hand.

"What can I get you, sir?" The mech said, looking up from the datapad.

"Engex. Mild, please."

"Of course."

Ratchet watched the waiter walk away before refocusing on the table, his mind buzzing with thoughts at the moment. His processor ached because of them, but they just wouldn't leave him alone. Hopefully the engex would help with that. Speaking of engex, his drink was placed before him and he lifted it to his dermas.

But before he could even take a sip, someone interrupted him.

"Well I'll be damned! It's been a while, Doc."

A groan of annoyance immediately escaped the medic and he set down his drink. "What do you want, Wheeljack?" He grumbled, looking up as the wrecker sat down at the table with him, a drink in his hand.

"Figured I'd stop by and see how you're doin'. Why the long face?" Wheeljack asked nonchalantly, taking a sip from his drink.

"Haven't you seen the news?"

"Ah." The wrecker said as he leaned back in his chair. "I thought I recognized the bot in the picture. Are they really that fragged in the head to think you were behind that? All because of some picture?"

"Apparently." Ratchet grumbled, rolling his optics. He took a long sip from his drink. "Look, I don't want anyone else on my tailpipe for something I didn't do. Someone is behind this and I'm going to figure it out."

"How're you gonna do that?"

"First I'll need to do a little research."

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Hey guys! Hope you are enjoying the story so far!

I'll do my best to keep updating this one on a somewhat regular schedule, but no promises! Sometimes writer's block hits or I run out of motivation and updates come slower than I want them to. Just stick with me, okay?

Happy reading!