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1. Wheeljack
The Wrecker knew he made Ratchet’s energon boil. Between always entering his medbay with a missing limb or two, penchant for wanton destruction and his hard helm, Wheeljack was sure he was going to inadvertently pitch the old medic in the scrapheap long before any rusty Con could. Though, at least he didn’t whine and complain about his antics like Ultra Magnus. Ratchet would just patch him up, whack him on the helm with his wrench a few times and then kick him out the medbay. It was a no brainer for Wheeljack to respect anyone capable of standing up to him and calling him out on his bullslag. Not to mention the bonus points that came from the medic’s tenacity and willingness to take charge in any situation should the need arise. To be completely honest, from the moment Wheeljack heard that Ratchet had a short thread of patience that tended to burn on both ends, he’d immediately written Ratchet off as the type of afthole that needed to be knocked down a peg or two. But after a while, he realized Ratchet wasn’t as bad as he’d thought. He was definitely better than Ultra Magnus.
2.Bulkhead
“I NEEDED THAT!” was a common cry that Bulkhead had heard from the medic. Though, by this point it was more of a force of habit laced in fondness rather than a legitimate burst of anger. Ratchet had always vented afterwards, rolling his optics and fixing whatever Bulkhead broke without making much more of a fuss besides one or two grumbles. Ratchet had never truly chastised Bulkhead for his lack of grace in situations that didn’t require something to be broken. And for that he was grateful. Maybe it was why he tried to be more cognizant of what he was doing and how much strength he used when handling objects. With the way things were headed, the old medic didn’t need the stresses of minor unavoidable inconveniences to add onto that. Still, when he noticed that the old Autobot was getting ready to snap, he’d intentionally crunch something as a distraction. Then Ratchet would yell his usual cry and for a moment all would be right with the world.
3.Arcee
Ratchet was always more than ‘just the medic’, than ‘just the Ground Bridge technician’. He was always the one Arcee went to in favor of slashing the walls of her berthroom. Previous medics Arcee was under did not know about her nightmares, about her excessive anger, about how the weight of everything made her crash. She kept up appearances. A façade of a stable, infallible soldier who had many betting pools placed on just how many Decepticons she could kill. But Ratchet was different. He saw through her right away and Arcee could never be more grateful. She admitted everything to him and the weight that lifted off her shoulders felt as if Primus himself had taken it and squashed it between his digits. Arcee found that a medic like Ratchet who’s horrible berthside manners was a sign of progress was hard pressed to find, one in a million. So, every time Arcee fought, every Decepticon she brought down, she did so with the intention of bringing peace closer to Ratchet just as how he brought peace closer to her.
4.Bumblebee
He was aware that his lack of a voicebox had always been one of Ratchet’s biggest regrets. Although Ratchet had never told Bee directly, it was not hard to deduce that the orange and white medic was the one to save him that horrible sol at Tyger Pax. Bumblebee had always admired Ratchet’s skill, but unfortunately, Ratchet didn’t seem to understand the value and worth of it. He was always beating himself up whenever he couldn’t perfect something instantly and it was hardly a secret that Ratchet was his worst critic. Trying to convince Ratchet to see his worth was like arguing with a brick wall at times, but that did not stop the yellow scout from leaving messages of encouragement and praise of his skill all across the medic’s desk. And when he saw how the medic’s face had lightened after a particularly harsh day, that only increased his desire to make sure that Ratchet’s face lit up like that every single day.
5.Optimus
Ever since he was a youngling, the Prime…well, then Archivist had known Ratchet. They first met when he’d broken a leg after falling down several flights of stairs in the Hall of Records. Ratchet had berated him, stating that he was extremely lucky a leg was the only thing that was broken and from then on Ratchet had become his personal medic. Over time their relationship grew and Optimus had started to look at Ratchet as a father figure rather than some grumpy medic with terrible berthside manners. He’d go to him for advice, wisdom and to rant and vent about things that he’d never dare to admit to Alpha Trion. It was…a bit inconceivable to imagine that a randomly chosen medic for a frankly avoidable mishap would become one of his closest friends and remain steadfast by his side through 4 millions years of non-stop war. He could always count on the ambulance to keep his helm level and to be there as a pillar of support when he felt like crashing. If given the chance, he'd fling himself down that staircase all over again.
6.Smokescreen
The speedster had not known Ratchet long and honestly thought the guy was a massive pain in the aft at first. He was like a fun sponge and never allowed anyone to do anything that would make even the slightest bit more noise than he was accustomed to. But then, Smokescreen saw Ratchet in action. Not out on the field but in the medbay. The old mech’s specialty wasn’t kicking Con aft but managing to ignite hope in the bleakest of situations. Smokescreen had never seen a mech move with more speed, control or accuracy in a medbay than he did Ratchet. Probably because he was in stasis most of the time, but either way Smokescreen and definitely developed a new kind of respect for the medic.
7.Ultra Magnus
As someone whose orientation revolved around order and precision, Ultra Magnus found Ratchet to be…enigmatic of sorts. An air of authority exuded him such in a sense that even the Prime at points had no choice but to obey whatever medical command he had issued despite any reservations. Whenever Ratchet demanded quiet and organization, there was such. He was a mech that prioritized quality work and Ultra Magnus could not help but give his silent nod of approval. His medbay was arranged in a particular order and all hairs would be raised if a single instrument was out of place Yet, on the opposite end, Ratchet himself was perfectly capable and in fact has caused chaos wracking up to a level Wrecker worthy. He raised hell and shouted and made noise. He shouted and pumped fists and danced. It was quite baffling how one could switch so easily. And no, Ultra Magnus did not feel a twinge of jealousy whenever he managed to reel that rambunctious Wrecker in where he had managed to fail.