A/N: I obviously don't own Transformers RID2015, or any of the characters. If I did the hiatuses would kill the fandom. Anyway, had this scene in my head and finally was able to wrap it up and get it out on paper, as it were.
Enjoy!
In Repair:
Getting hurt always sucked. This was a fact that Grimlock had pretty much ingrained in his processor, and this certainly wasn't doing much to shake it. His left side hurt if he so much as twitched wrong, and despite Bee's talk and what Strongarm had said earlier he still smarted in more than just the physical sense. It was just a dumb accident, but then again, the accident pretty much ended with him needing medical attention so…
The Dinobot looked up as he noticed Fix-It beginning to move around again, and though the minicon hadn't deviated from his usual upbeat attitude, there was a change in the way he moved through the makeshift medbay. Not to mention he was gathering a lot more stuff than the Dinobot thought he was going to need-.
Grimlock's curiosity had caused him to shift, straining the injury under his plating and sending zings of pain arcing through his systems. He hurriedly tried to regain his previous equilibrium with a hiss of discomfort, which drew the attention of the small group outside the 'room'.
"Grim?"
"'M fine." He rumbled back, (he's not entirely sure who asks, maybe Bee) as he finds that position where he isn't twisting his injury. The pain begins to fade as he hears Sideswipe mutter.
"How bad did he get hurt?"
"Oh, I assume the initial injury was not so severe, after all, most Dinobots do have quite a bit of heavy armor, and Grimlock's no assumption, absorption, EXCEPTION!" Fix-It responds, chipper and firmly in 'explaining' mode. However, something still nagged at Grimlock, something to do with the mini-con's choice of words…
"Initial injury?" Leave it to Bee to pick up on that sort of thing. Grimlock does his best to try to get a look at what's happening without moving with… minimal success. Through the jolt reverberating from his side, he hears Fix-It's next words clear as day.
"Well, the initial injury did leave some mild damage under the armor, but the stress from the mission does appear to have aggravated the lines and connections that were impaired."
"A-Aggravated? Aggravated how?" Grimlock blurts, voice strained with the fact that he's trying to look in Fix-It's direction without putting himself in even more pain and that he's not liking where this is going. Bee's starting to look more than a little concerned at how the situation is progressing, but he isn't able to stop Fix-It from giving his prognosis.
"From what the systems probe can discern there is a slow leak in one of Grimlock's energon lines, and some of the surrounding circuitry is starting to deteriorate. Not to worry though it can easily be fixed with what I have on hand, though the process will be somewhat more involved so sedation might be required. Grimlock should be fine once he wakes u-."
It had taken a few seconds for the word 'sedation' to set in, but Grimlock's mind immediately jumped to the worst possible thoughts.
"C-C'mon I don't need to go to sleep, I can take it!" If the slight warble didn't clue the others that something was clearly wrong with the idea, the too-wide and strained grin certainly did. And though Fix-It and Sideswipe looked confused, Bumblebee's faceplate broadcasted the feeling that Grimlock would not be getting out of this so easily, though he did seem to sympathize.
"That, probably would not be advisable, Grimlock. I would be working with some very sensitive parts, and if you move too much it will just make your injuries worse." Fix-It pointed out quizzically.
"I won't move, promise!"
"Grim, you're just gonna wake up right there when Fix-It's done, it's not like any of us can move you." Sideswipe's comment didn't really calm Grimlock down, though it gave Bumblebee a few minutes to come up with a compromise.
"Alright, Grimlock, how about this?" He started, coming to stand near where the Dinobot's head lay on their makeshift medical table. "We'll stay right here while you're out, till you wake up…but you need to let Fix-It work."
Sideswipe had come to stand a little closer as a nonverbal way of showing his support, Grimlock looking between the two before finally nodding.
"Okay. I'll do it." But then he added in, "You promise?"
"Promise, Grim."
"Yeah, sure, promise." Sideswipe's response might have sounded half-hearted, but it was good enough for Grimlock, who remained still as Fix-It administered a sedative and began working on isolating the affected area. It didn't take long for Grimlock's optics to grow unfocused, head leaning back as the Dinobot lazily scrutinized the sky overhead.
"You alright there, Grim?" Sideswipe asked, slightly amused at the manner in which the Dinobot's head lolled back on the table.
"Feelin'…alright. Pretty good." Bumblebee couldn't help but let out a staticky snort at the slurred speech, making Grimlock smile even though figuring out the cause was probably a ways beyond him at that point.
For Grimlock the world grew steadily fuzzier and fuzzier until it thinned to grey, and his next immediate memory was coming back online on the same table, more coherent certainly but by no means less groggy. At first it seemed like he was alone, the room quiet and darkened, the sky showing the usual vibrancy of the sun setting on the horizon. His side didn't really hurt anymore, just felt taut and rigid with the new parts in place, hopefully. Grimlock had been about to sit up and take stock when a distinctively familiar pair of yellow and orange appeared out of the corner of his optic.
"Hey, Grim. How're you feeling?" Bumblebee asked, Fix-It immediately looking over some schematics on a hand held.
"Alright…maybe…everythin's fuzzy…"
"The repairs are taking icily, wisely, NICELY, Lieutenant! Grimlock will be completely healed over the next few cycles, provided he does not overstrain himself."
"Not doin' that again…" Grimlock groaned out. His systems felt like they were trying to work through slime, processor slow and dulled along with his reflexes. Still, he tried to push himself up, at least into a sitting position, though the fact that he kept sliding awkwardly around from side to side was making him rethink standing.
"Grimlock, hold on-." Bumblebee started, moving to keep the Dinobot from ending up teetering forward and to the floor. Behind him came Sideswipe, dragging a pair of makeshift headphones off his head as he took in the scene.
"What's going on?"
"Wanna go t' my spot…" The Dinobot murmured, more to himself to get an idea of what he wanted apart from being off the medical berth.
"What's…he talking about…?" Sideswipe asked haltingly as he looked from Fix-It to Bumblebee to try to gain some level of understanding. While Fix-It was at just as much of a loss as the other bot, Bumblebee had more of an inkling as to what the Dinobot was trying for.
"I think I know where he wants to go. Give me a servo."
A few minutes of hauling and attempting to stabilize several tons of Dinobot had eventually ended with both Sideswipe and Bumblebee supporting Grimlock under his arms. Strongarm still hadn't come back from patrol, but she'd kept up with reporting in, letting the base know right before Grimlock woke up that she would be back in as soon as she could. Besides, with the sedation still dulling Grimlock's responses, his coordination was not the best at the moment. Trunk-like legs tended to drag and nearly get caught under themselves rather than move in anything resembling walking. Fix-It had scooted ahead of them, going to give the pile a cursory inspection for anything that might aggravate Grimlock's repairs.
"Sorry…" Grimlock groaned as he nearly tripped Sideswipe in his efforts to keep their odd little procession going. The red stumbled, swearing lightly but managing to keep his feet. Bumblebee gritted his denta at the sudden sensation of holding Grimlock up on his own as Sideswipe pulled himself back together, silently thanking Primus the ordeal was only for a few nanocycles. It hadn't been the first time though, and both bots were more or less keeping their attention on getting Grimlock to his…spot, for lack of a better word. Bumblebee was just thankful that any questions seemed to be withheld for the moment. Sideswipe, for all of his periodic tactlessness, did have a growing aptitude for soft spots (at least for Cybertronians that weren't Strongarm). Of course, there was also the fact that the red mech might have figured that Grimlock might not be in any state to answer any questions beyond where he wanted to go next. Hopefully he wouldn't have to field any later inquires, Grimlock had had enough of being made vulnerable to last the rest of the month, at least, and the Dinobot was a terribly bad liar, which would make Sideswipe more interested in what-.
Bee shook his head, trying to refocus on the task at hand. No need to get ahead of himself, especially over a situation that hadn't happened yet. At the same time, Grimlock grunted, slurring an apology as he tried to right his feet.
"You're fine, Grim. Almost there." He murmured in reply, clumsily patting the Dinobot's arm as they plodded along. Grimlock gave a noise that sounded equal parts tired and euphoric, soon rewarded by Fix-It's call from ahead.
"Is this it, Lieutenant?"
A quick glance rewarded him with the familiar pile of junk that Grimlock had claimed as his.
"Yeah, what can we do to make it more comfortable?"
"Just give me a movement, enrollment, MOMENT, to see what we have here…" Fix-It answered, quickly scooting around the pile to assess its contents. A few he simply grabbed outright, relocating them to the other piles, though after a few minutes he simply began to yank on one of the tarps that was lying about the yard.
"Just need to get this on, to dull some of the sharper edges." The minicon said by way of explanation, struggling a bit with the bulky fabric. Bumblebee briefly looked between the besieged Fix-It and his and Sideswipe's current predicament before coming to a decision.
"Sideswipe, go help Fix-It."
Though the thankfulness was debatable, Bee had managed to shift his position enough so that he wouldn't be too overwhelmed when Sideswipe pulled away. Grimlock swayed again, but managed to plant his feet with a groggily determined air. It made the next few moments easier by far, as Sideswipe and Fix-It covered the remainder of the pile with the tarp.
"All set!" Came the cheery cry from the minicon as he grinned over at Bumblebee and Grimlock. Bee had about a second to soak that in before Grimlock suddenly pulled his arm up and over the scout's head, lightly cuffing Bee as he did so. No one really had much time to react before the Dinobot took three surprisingly quick shambling steps forward before collapsing sideways onto the pile, various things giving crunches and creaks in response.
Bumblebee immediately felt something drop in his systems once the scene registered, rushing over though Fix-It's following comment immediately put at least one worry to rest.
"Well, at least he didn't land on my repairs. Goodnight everyone!"
Not to mention that Grimlock was quite clearly 'out like a light', as the humans would say. Moving him if he had landed on his injuries would have been a task at best. Bumblebee let Fix-It roll past him to the ship, Sideswipe following not moments later with a somewhat flippant farewell, though running through his memories he did note an equally scandalized look on Sideswipe's faceplate when Grimlock had been reunited with his 'pile'.
Casting a last look at Grimlock, if anything just to satisfy the more paranoid part of his processor, Bee took stock of the Dinobot's downright insensate state ('sleeping like a rock'). He certainly didn't seem to be in pain anymore, which did take a load off of Bee's mind.
One day at a time, he told himself as he walked back to the Alchemor, one day at a time.