A/N: Written as part of a Gift Exchange at Ao3, in response to my giftee's request for a Dinobot story. Was kind of glad to try my hand at writing one of these characters again, something I haven't done since Paenitentia many moons ago. ^_^. In here, I used the fanon of Swoop as a medic or at least a medic in training. ^_^

And I do apologize if Grimlock seems out of character, as I've never written him before and am using what I've seen of characterizations of him as a guide.

"You don't need anybody's permission to prove yourself, just prove yourself." ― Amit Kalantri

"Why you Swoop want to do this?"

The pteranodon Dinobot stood as straight as he could in front of Grimlock. "To show we Dinobots can be more useful."

The Dinobot leader didn't reply for a moment as he studied his team mate's posture. "Him Ratchet could say no."

"Him Ratchet will not. Him Ratchet like us Dinobots."

Grimlock said nothing in reply immediately as he looked down at Swoop. He supposed he should have seen this coming. Ever since their creations, they had been subjected to every name in the book: stupid, idiotic, brainless, violent...The list went on. Grimlock had learned to ignore them, not feeling them worth his time to reply to, not to mention he felt that many of those names could be applied to certain other Autobots as well. Slag and Snarl also did for the most part, though Slag had been known to pick fights over the insults from time to time, resulting in his ending up in the brig afterwards. Sludge ignored it completely, though Grimlock didn't even think he knew he was being insulted most of the time.

Swoop had been the most sensitive of them to the insults. Grimlock had seen the dejected look on his face at times when said certain other Autobots had thrown back his efforts to be friendly in his face. Over the past month, though, he'd noticed his teammate had been spending time in his room more often when they weren't being called in to fight the Decepticons. He'd decided not to do anything about it unless it became an issue, though he had wondered what had been occupying Swoop's processor.

Apparently, this idea of his was it.

While Grimlock couldn't argue with Swoop's statement that Ratchet might well have no issues with his wanting to be a medic, as he did certainly like the Dinobots and Grimlock had heard him complain about being short-handed before, the T-rex couldn't help but wonder if the notion of wanting to be useful would be enough for Ratchet to take Swoop on. He might understand, but Grimlock knew that simply wanting to prove oneself might not be seen as a good enough reason for their Creator. He'd once overheard Ratchet describing his becoming a medic as something he'd felt called to do, that he'd had a strong desire to help others.

Wanting to prove oneself, while Ratchet might find that admirable, would not necessarily make him willing to take Swoop on. He would want to know that Swoop had that Sparkfelt desire he did, Grimlock suspected.

He focused his gaze hard on his teammate.

"You Swoop want to become medic," he repeated.

"Yes."

"To show we can be useful besides fighting."

"Yes."

Grimlock let out a huff. "You Swoop really think him Ratchet will accept that reason for wanting to become medic," he said dryly. "Him Ratchet said being medic was calling, not way to shove something back in a face."

To his credit, Swoop didn't back down. He drew himself up and stared straight into Grimlock's visor. "Me Swoop am going to ask. Him Ratchet say no, me Swoop find another way."

In spite of his doubts, Grimlock felt a spark of respect kindle at the determination in the younger mech's words. "Then me Grimlock say go ahead and ask."

As Swoop turned and strode out of the Dinobots' quarters, Grimlock's respect for his teammate grew. He'd never seen Swoop so focused on something outside of battle before, and certainly his teammate seldom did anything to stick up for himself.

He would be watching carefully to see how this played out.

For Swoop's sake, Grimlock hoped this went well.

The following morning, Grimlock found a brief note in his message queue upon waking up from recharge:

See me in my office. - Ratchet

He couldn't say he was surprised to see that message, though the terseness of it made him wonder exactly just how Swoop had put his arguments yesterday when he went to see the medic.

In any case, he headed down to the Medbay, smirking behind his mask as other Autobots scattered to get out of his way.

Upon arriving, he found Ratchet cleaning off one of the berths, a thoughtful expression on his face. Otherwise, the Medbay seemed to be pretty much empty.

That worked fine for Grimlock, if the discussion was going to be about what he thought it was anyway. He cleared his intakes, and as Ratchet looked up, he spoke. "You Ratchet wanted to see me Grimlock?"

Ratchet's face became pensive. "Yes. I did. If you wouldn't mind stepping into my office?" With that he turned and headed to the back of the ward, Grimlock giving a small shrug and following a moment later.

When they got to Ratchet's office, he wasted no time in coding the door behind them and turning to face Grimlock. "Have a seat." He motioned towards a very large bench that was against the wall next to the door. Grimlock vaguely remembered hearing Ratchet ask Grapple to create one for his office soon after the Dinobots had officially become part of the Autobot, but he hadn't thought too much about it at the time, and since he'd never had reason to come in here, hadn't really given it another thought since. With an internal shrug, he took a seat as Ratchet leaned against his desk, bringing the two to equal optic level.

"Let's cut to the chase," the CMO said tersely. "Would you happen to know why I was approached by Swoop last night with a demand to train him as a medic?"

Grimlock raised a browridge behind his visor. So Swoop hadn't just asked. Interesting. He must be more determined to do this than Grimlock had believed. Knowing it would do no good to Swoop's cause if he antagonized the medic, Grimock replied simply, "Him Swoop has grown tired of insults from them Autobots. Thinks becoming medic will help us Dinobots and show we not stupid."

Ratchet raised a browridge. "I see." He frowned now. "I take it the comments are coming very frequently?"

Grimlock shrugged. "We Dinobots mostly ignore it. Him Swoop more sensitive. Takes things to Spark."

Ratchet frowned now. "And he didn't simply ask, why? Your team knows me, Grimlock. You all know I would listen to any request of yours without judgement."

Grimlock met Ratchet's gaze levelly. "Him Swoop probably thought you Ratchet would take request more seriously. Knows you Ratchet sees being medic as calling, and not some proving ground."

Ratchet crossed his arms. "You'd be right on that, but I'm the only medic here, Grimlock. If someone has the genuine desire to be trained, I'm not going to simply turn them away." A dangerous looking smile appeared on his features. "And in all honesty, I wouldn't mind seeing a few Autobots squirm myself."

Grimlock chuckled, his opinion of Ratchet shooting up a few more notches. "Me Grimlock thinks him Swoop serious. Said only that him Swoop would ask you, not demand."

Ratchet nodded, the smile falling away to a more thoughtful expression. After about a minute or two of silence, he became serious once more. "Okay, then. Send Swoop down immediately after you get back to your quarters and I'll have a talk with him. If I'm as satisfied as you are that he's serious, then I'll train him. Because I did mean it, Grimlock, I could use some help in here and Wheeljack has his own projects to handle. With Perceptor coming soon, those are going to increase, and I won't always be able to rely on them. As for Optimus and Prowl, in case you were wondering, I'll deal with them if they put up an argument."

Grimlock nodded, though he had to admit he wished he could be present for that exchange between Ratchet and those two. "Me Grimlock will." He stood up as Ratchet pushed himself away from his desk. "Thank you."

Ratchet chuckled. "Not a problem, Grimlock. Glad I could be of some help here."

Grimlock nodded again, and turned to leave the Medbay.

As he walked back to his quarters, he grinned behind his mask.

Them Autobots not know what hit them.

When Swoop returned later that night, he was smiling widely. Grimlock turned from the small TV set he and the others were watching at the back of the lair. "Me Grimlock assume him Ratchet agreed?"

Swoop nodded. "Him Ratchet agreed. Training begin tomorrow."

Snarl and Slag now turned to look at Swoop now, startled by the exchange. Sludge just kept watching the show that was playing. "What you Swoop ask him Ratchet?" Snarl asked.

Swoop glanced over at the stegosaur mech. "Me Swoop ask to become medic," he said proudly.

Slag scoffed. "Why you Swoop do that? Them Autobots not want us around them."

Swoop drew himself up and stared down the triceratops mech. "Me Swoop going to prove to them Autobots that we Dinobots more useful than for fighting."

Snarl shrugged now and turned his attention back to the TV, muttering something that Grimlock couldn't quite catch, but thought it sounded almost like "thought him Sludge was the dumb one."

He cleared his intakes, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Him Swoop approached me Grimlock to tell me about idea and me Grimlock think it a good one. Him Ratchet agrees. You going to argue with me Grimlock about it? Or him Ratchet?"

Silence fell in the room after Grimlock finished talking. Snarl shrugged again, but this time said nothing, keeping his thoughts to himself. Sludge simply turned back to the program. Slag, though, had a rebellious look on his face. Grimlock gave the hothead a hard stare. "You Slag have something to say?" he rumbled in a threatening tone.

Slag just glared back, but to his credit replied, "No. Me Slag have nothing."

"Good," Grimlock replied in a short tone. Turning back to Swoop, he nodded. "You Swoop get some rest. Busy day tomorrow."

Swoop nodded, and without another word, headed for his room.

Grimlock watched after Swoop for a moment before turning his attention back to the TV, lost in thought for a few minutes.

Swoop was going to be taking on a lot, there was no doubt of that, Grimlock knew. But his display of determination convinced Grimlock that if anyone could prove Autobots wrong, it was Swoop.

Once more he grinned behind his mask.

Them Autobots had better watch out.