It wasn't easy to be an apprentice – especially to a mech that viewed you so highly and always expected you to catch onto whatever he was explaining without help. Spark-aching was an understatement when he would manage to screw something up and the larger ambulance would scowl and have to correct him. Or if he accidentally knocked something over…that was pretty embarrassing as well since it was such a stupid thing to do – and it hadn't exactly helped that it had been a stack of data pads either that had [i]just[/i] been neatly ordered.

No, it wasn't easy at all to be training at something Ratchet had known for practically his whole life – healing others was what Ratchet was born to do and he was slagging good at it. He was a miracle worker and it was under his hands that all of the Autobots within the Ark's walls placed their bodies, their sparks, their lives…

Yet he was supposed to be Ratchet's 'second in command' so to say, ready to take over for the CMO when the dreadful day finally came and Primus collected the mech to join the well of sparks…that thought alone made his tank lurch.

He wasn't Ratchet.

He couldn't heal any mech, couldn't pull them from the brink of death, couldn't run out into a battle to help his comrades as gunfire rained down all around…that wasn't him and it never would be him. No matter what Ratchet would teach him or show him, he would never know as much as his mentor and he would never be able to replace him.

The white mech drooped faintly, fingers idly tracing the material of the untouched energon cube sitting before him on the table's surface. What would happen once Ratchet did die? Optimus really wouldn't make [i]him[/i] Chief Medical Officer, would he? Maybe they would get another medic…from Cybertron – that would work. He could just apprentice under him then. His blue visor dimmed, lips forming a frown beneath the white mask that hid away the entire lower half of his face from the rest of the world.

It still wouldn't be the same. And he doubted Cybertron could spare a medic…

"Hello! Earth to First Aid, come in First Aid!"

The young mech jumped in his seat, visor flickering in surprise and he fumbled rather quickly to stabilize the energon cube he had been partially holding, barely preventing it from spilling all over himself. His gaze snapped up to the mech that had disturbed his thoughts and Blades grinned happily.

"Hot Spot was calling you Aid – you alright? You were totally zoned out bro…"

First Aid sat up a little in his chair, trying to relax a bit, though he doubted that would help – Blades always had a knack for peeking in on him through the bond he and the other Protectobots all shared…

"F-Fine, just got lost in thoughts, that's all."

"Well, now your un-lost, so come on. There's a flood hazard in town that we need to take care of and we need you."

The helicopter gestured for the other to follow and First Aid glanced at his full cube with a longing frown. He should just down it and –

"Aid!"

"Coming!" First Aid abandoned his energon, ignoring the grumble of complaint from his tank that answered the action. He would get some energon once he got back, no big deal. Besides, it had been a rather quiet week due to lack of Decepticon attacks…worrying and relieving, though this little assignment would hopefully calm him a bit. At least with his brothers he always felt needed…and if he ever needed help, they were right there without hesitation.

The ambulance followed his taller sibling out of the rec. room, Blades leading the way to the entrance and glancing back at him with a brightening of his blue visor,

"Its about time we get some action! Come on, the others just left – we'll be able to catch up with them without problem." He said and First Aid nodded. Hopefully this situation wasn't too bad – otherwise he'd be busy transporting humans all night to the hospital and that was never a good time.

[b]~*~*~*~*~[/b]

The river had overflowed, the heavy rains that had been cursing the area having been far too much for the river-bed to contain as it now decided to empty it contents into the town. The main road had been washed out, making it impossible for any regular vehicles to get in and out – though to make matters worse, the threat of everyone drowning in their own homes was a very really worry as the weather only worsened.

Hot Spot was helping to move the sand bags, building the wall up tall as Groove and Streetwise tried to round up all of the townspeople into the school to keep them safe while they worked…though there were several human males assisting them in building their wall – not that they were too much help, but the Protectobots did appreciate their efforts.

He shivered in the rain, frowning as he glanced up at the black clouds that hung in the sky heavily, lightening streaking across the sky and lighting up the area eerily…First Aid glanced back down as he felt icy water suddenly touch his pedes and he felt a flare of panic to see water sloshing in as some of the sandbags were pushed over by the force of the river.

"Slag!" First Aid cursed, setting the sandbag he had just picked up down to move and repair the damage in the wall and Streetwise was suddenly there beside him without warning, mud caking his brother's legs and sides just as stubbornly as it clung to his own armor.

"Aid, secure the bottom bags! I'll fix the top ones, just keep the wall from coming down completely!" the Nissan ordered and First Aid answered in a nod, kneeling into the mud and plunging his hands down into the water to keep the bags stable. He almost forgot what it felt like the be clean, mud and dirty water slipping into the seams of his armor to chill his circuits and gum his gears…another rush of water hit the wall and both mechs gave a curse when water crashed over them along with the ever-falling rain.

Streetwise growled in irritation, quickly sending their leader a message through the bond, [i]'H-Hot Spot! We need help down here or this whole section of wall is gonna come down!'[/i]

[i]'Hold on, Blades is coming to assist you.'[/i]

"Hold on – pfft, easy for him to say!" the police-car snapped and First Aid quivered as he kept knelt down, visor dimming.

"Like we have a choice Street…"

"I know, but if Blades doesn't hurry, we're going to be the ones needing rescued!"

The white mechs gave shouts when they were again drenched to the core in river water, Streetwise stumbling back from the force of it before quickly regaining his position to support what was left of the crumbling wall. "Blades! Fragger, what's taking you so long!?" Streetwise shouted after spitting out water, coughing as he pressed his form against the sandbags, trying to keep them up. If this section of wall went down, the rest of the wall wouldn't last long after and then their efforts would be for nothing.

A sudden pulse through their bond greeted them before Blades stepped up in between them to help, smiling despite the current situation.

"Hey bros, sorry – can't fly in this weather, so I had to walk!"

"Great, now grab sandbags and help! We gotta rebuild the wall!" the Nissan snapped, obviously not in the mood for their brother's optimistic attitude and the helicopter nodded before moving to gather up several of the heavy bags. Soon, First Aid was able to stand as they placed another row of sandbags up to support the first three and the ambulance felt relief when they had a sturdy wall built up to keep the river from flooding the town.

Streetwise turned to them, "Alright, now we head down with Hotspot and Groove – we need to keep up patrols of the wall to make sure it doesn't come down. Blades, can you call Optimus and tell him we've got things under control?"

A nod answered the mech, Blades smiling as he tried fruitlessly to rid his hands of mud, "Yeah, not a problem."

First Aid's attention shifted from his brothers, listening to the roar of the wind, the hiss of the falling rain, and the constant crash of waves of water as it went along the bulging river…yet something caught his audial over it all and the young Protectobot stiffened, visor brightening.

Crying?

He turned, gaze shifting around the dark buildings, street lamps giving some light to the area…though he didn't see anyone. The sound continued however and his gaze turned to the wall they had constructed to realize the crying wasn't coming from in town. Was someone trapped out there? But how – Streetwise and Groove had gotten everyone and there was no report of a missing person…

A touch to his shoulder barely pulled his attention away from the wall, Streetwise frowning.

"Hey, come on First Aid, we need to get back with the others." He said, Blades waiting a few steps ahead of them and the medic looked to them with confusion.

"Don't you guys hear that?"

His 'older' brothers frowned, pausing to listen and Blades shook his helm.

"All I hear is rain, wind, and the river…" the helicopter said and Streetwise nodded in agreement.

"Yeah Aid, come on."

"B-But I thought I heard someone…"

The police-car raised an optic ridge, "What? But everyone is down in the school gym Aid – I took them there myself. Everyone is safe."

First Aid glanced back at the bulky wall they had created, trying to listen again for the sound…though he found he couldn't hear anything now and the ambulance gave a sigh.

"Guess I'm just hearing things…" he said sadly and Blades shrugged, "Its been a long night – but come on, Hot Spot and Groove are waiting for us."

They started walking, the water just barely over their feet, though it was enough to make the walk rather irritating…yet First Aid came to an abrupt halt when a cry reached his audial. He whipped around, visor bright in the dark of the rainy night. That definitely wasn't his imagination, someone was calling for help.

The sound of splashing caught their attention and the two mechs turned just in time to see First Aid running in the other direction, surprise flickering across their features almost simultaneously.

"First Aid!" Streetwise shouted, though the ambulance kept going, running along the wall as he strained his audio to track that sound and only that sound. He would explain later – but if someone was trapped on the other side of the wall, they were in danger and he wasn't going to just stand by and let a life be lost to the river.

Though a problem arose as he slowed a bit, having tracked the yelling to this area.

How was he going to get over the wall? There was no way he was going to break it down…but maybe there was an opening somewhere – after all, they couldn't build the wall around the entire town, that was impossible. Or so he hoped as he started running once more, mentally trying to remember exactly where they had started building the wall. It took more time than he liked to finally find the dip in the road that was assisting in draining the water and he quickly slid down into it and moved along it until he found himself around the very beginning of the sandbag wall.

Instantly First Aid found himself being forced along with the current of pounding, rushing water and he gasped a bit as his frame was chilled painfully. The river came up past his waist and his feet couldn't find hold on the loose and wet 'floor' as the waves of water pulled at his legs.

"Hello! Is anyone out here?!" First Aid shouted as he struggled to get to the edge of the madness, fearing he might end up being pulled down into the dark rush of water…

"Help!"

He perked up, moving forward and reaching out for the branch of a tree as he was forced to fire on his night-vision to search for the owner of the strained voice. His fingers found purchase on the soaked bark of a tree and the once white mech managed to pull himself from the water onto land and First Aid quickly looked around.

"I'm here to help you, keep yelling!" the Autobot cried out over the thunder. It was hard to keep track of the voice, though as he moved along the bed of the river he began to realize it belonged to a young human – very young from the almost shrillness of the crying and shouting. He stumbled when the ground underneath his foot was ripped away by the river, shouting and falling rather roughly into the water once more…though as he gripped desperately to the dirt and grass, his gaze locked onto a large tree not to far ahead. It had been pulled into the river as the ground it was rooted in was lost to the waters, its form mangled now as a few roots were left to hold it to where it had bloomed to life…though his optics fell onto the small form that seemed tangled in what remained of its branches.

A small, soaked and filthy girl was sobbing fearfully, shivering as she held onto the branches for dear life and First Aid stiffened.

"H-Hang on! I'm coming!" he called, hoping she could hear him and he hesitated before he released the Earth he had dug his digits into, allowing the rush of water to pull him down. He panicked when he was submerged fully for a moment, grasping frantically for something – and he gave a gasp, coughing as he broke the surface and rather painfully hit into the tree. It gave a groan of effort, shifting as the roots holding it loosened and the girl gave a frightened cry as First Aid clung to the trunk for hold.

He looked to her, coughing to try and get water out of his intakes, "Its alright! I'm here to help you – I'm going to get you out of here!" the Protectobot explained, though that didn't seem to calm the little girl at all as she continued crying harshly. First Aid resisted the pull of water, carefully moving himself along the tree until he was close enough to reach out for the child – a horrible shudder went through the tree and suddenly it came loose from what little ground it was clinging onto, the entire thing shifting and moving erratically. A scream left the little girl as she lost her grip and First Aid lunged forward to catch her.

His large fingers wrapped securely around the young human as he fell back into the water, instantly fighting to surface and keep his hand up out of the raging river. All he cared about right now was protecting this little girl and he would be fragged if he let her drowned now that he had her in his hold.

[i]'H-Hot Spot! I need help!'[/i] First Aid cried out through the bond, struggling desperately now as he felt fear and panic claiming his systems as he fought to try and grab onto something as well as keep himself and the child from drowning. Though the threat of that was more towards the girl, his systems filling with water would eventually 'drowned' him as well in a way and that definitely wasn't something he wanted to go through.

[i]'I'm coming!'[/i]

The mech barely acknowledge the voice of his brother as a sudden mess of dizziness claimed him as he was plunged under the water by the force of the water, unable to tell what was up and down for a sickening moment. First Aid tried to keep his vents shut, tried to keep the water out of his systems, though it was a loosing battle and the water only weighed him down, making it harder for him to move and fight the current.

Fear for the life of the child he now literally held in his hands made itself known – what if he crushed her? Or held her under by accident? All thought however came to a screaming halt when he roughly hit into some rocks and his instinct told him to hang on. With his free arm he grabbed onto the jagged rock that jutted up from the river, coughing and whining for air to cleanse his vents as he faintly managed to pull himself up onto the rough surface.

Opening his hand, he saw the girl shivering in his hold and very much alive as she cried softly, holding onto his thumb rather tightly. "I-Its alright, we'll get out of here soon, kay?" First Aid said, trying to comfort her, though the circumstances weren't really the best he had to admit…

His gaze was caught by movement on the bank and he felt his spark leap to see a blue fire truck tailed by a police car and motorcycle.

"G-Guys!" First Aid shouted, voice crackling from the volume he used – though his vision was suddenly lost as a vicious wave of water came crashing down over him. It was strong enough to pull him right from the rocks he had been gripping and the ambulance began flailing in the water to try and regain his grip before an awful pain stabbed through him and everything slowly went black.

[b]~*~*~*~*~[/b]

[i]"He'll be alright, but its taking time to get the water out of his systems. All of you head back to your quarters and I'll contact you when I feel like it."

"But Ratch – "

"Now! Primus, he needs rest and then you can all see him tomorrow – now get out of my medbay before I give you dents that put First Aid's to shame!"[/i]

The sound of rapid footsteps was what brought the young mech out of stasis, an awful heavy feeling on his frame…though his helm hurt like slag – and his visor was cracked from what his readings said as his optics slowly powered on. His system came on rather sluggishly and a groan left his vocalizer without his permission.

A gentle touch on his arm had his gaze shifting and his broken visor flickered to see Wheeljack leaning over him.

"Hey, welcome back Aid – kinda worried about you, you took some rather decent damage." The mech said, the blue of his ear panels rather hurting the Protectobot's optics.

Confusion cluttered his processor and First Aid frowned.

"D-Damage?"

The inventor nodded a little, optics dimming, "Yeah, your brothers managed to pull you out of the river though – you got some nasty dents from getting banged around on the rocks, but Ratch and I'll will buff 'em out and fix you up good as new."

"Hmph." Ratchet vocalized, optics narrowing as he got tools ready and First Aid looked back to the Lancia before something struck him and he jolted to sit up.

"T-The girl! What about her, is she alright?!" he asked, ignoring the horrible nausea that claimed him from sitting up, though he was laying back on the repair berth within a moment, Wheeljack's hands firmly yet gently on his chest.

"Yes, yes – the child is fine, Groove returned her to her parents. It appears they thought she was with another family…" the engineer answered and First Aid relaxed. He would've never forgiven himself if the little human had died…

Ratchet shook his helm, "That was an idiotic thing to do First Aid. Run off without telling your brothers what your doing and then get caught in the river to help a human child?! Your processor must be glitching…"

The medic drooped a little, though Wheeljack chuckled, "Well, it was stupid, but brave. First Aid is a true Autobot."

"Sadly…" the CMO replied as he glanced faintly at Wheeljack, the inventor's optics crinkling softly to show he was smiling beneath his mask. The elder ambulance only sighed and turned his gaze to First Aid and finally gave him a small smile, "I'm going to put you back into stasis, though you'll be fine when you wake tomorrow. Hopefully you've learned a lesson from tonight Aid…" Ratchet said and the Protectobot gave a small nod.

"I did Ratchet…and thank you, I'm sorry to trouble you both…"

"No worries! Now rest, relax, recharge – you need it if you want to be out of here by tomorrow." Wheeljack interjected with a twitch of his wings.

Movement behind him made him stiffen, though the red fingers of Ratchet at the back of his helm had him relaxing a little before he felt the nimble digits gently press and he felt stasis coming over him gently.