Beep. Beep. Beep.

Sideswipe's optics powered on a little slower than usual. It took a brief moment for the blackness in his vision to fade completely.

His body felt numb meaning painkillers were probably involved. He flopped his right arm back and began prodding at the back of his neck before finding where the neural buffer wire was jacked.

Nice.

He could hear the beeps and hums of varying machines and the room smelt strongly of antiseptics and the fear of grown mechs.

Obviously he was in the Medical bay.

He began the arduous task of sitting up first by rolling onto his side. If it wasn't bad enough that he felt weak as a kitten from, well, whatever the hell had happened to him, he also had a plethora of tubes and wires attached to his body weighing him down even more.

"Well ain't this just sugar and candy, and everything dandy?" he grunted before he moved again.

His body creaked and squealed in protest but he managed to get himself in an upright position.

From there he took inventory of his injuries. There was an insane amount of weld marks that hadn't been sanded down yet on his body. A particularly gruesome one seemed to encircle his entire left thigh, right above where a blue plastic tarp was draped over his knee and shin guard.

He inspected the dents, the still partly open gashes on his arms and prodded the horrific scrapes and weld marks that were on his back. Bits and pieces of his armor were missing. Most notably his right armguard was absent as was most of his red chest plate. The softer (and still torn up) black and white dermal plating of his chest was revealed under what little red remained there.

Slowly he traced his fingers up the side of his face, and the wires attached to his arm clicked and clattered together as he did so. He felt the roughness of a weld mark on his right cheek but other than that his face seemed ok. There was a nasty fissure on the side of his helm though. He must have hit his head.

Really, really hard.

Sideswipe let his arm drop and gave an impressed whistle. He almost felt like applauding whoever managed to do this to him because by George, beating up Sideswipe was no easy feat. And whatever good fellow managed to get the drop on him had been thorough.

"I am so glad someone invented pain killers."

This was just… horrific, he thought as he tapped the lip of a rather deep cut in his arm. Even he wasn't dumb enough not to realize how bad he must've been hurt. He couldn't even think of the last time he had been this beat up.

He prodded the thick welding scars on his thigh.

Oh thank the heavens for painkillers.

"Wait until Sunny sees-" Sideswipe froze, looked around hysterically, and almost fell into a mad panic when he realized that he didn't see his brother anywhere.

'Oh no. Oh no. Where's-?'

"Well it's about time you woke up."

Apparently Sideswipe had been looking at the wrong side of the room.

As if on cue his brother sauntered across the space and stopped just short of Sideswipe's berth. Other than the nasty scowl on his face he was looking flawless. There was not a scratch marring his gold paint or single dent in his armor. It almost was like he never even went into battle at all.

Actually, maybe he hadn't been in that battle, or whatever it was that had steamrolled Sideswipe into the land of (almost) no repair. He didn't exactly remember what happened, or where anyone was at the aforementioned time. The red mech had a sinking feeling that the fact that his helmet was almost cracked in two had something to do with that.

"Hi, Sunny." Sideswipe waved as a greeting. The wires attached to his arm followed the motion like a bunch of colorful streamers.

"You're a moron."

Sideswipe winced and retracted his hand. "Ouch. You hurt me, Bro. Devastation has just swept through my heart like tumbleweed. I'll never recover, Sunny. Never!"

His brother glared.

Seeing as Sunstreaker was having none of it, Sideswipe dropped the theatrics. "Oh come on. What did I do?"

An ugly fury crept across Sunstreaker's face. Not saying another word he angrily gestured his arms at Sideswipe.

"What?"

"Have you even looked at yourself?"

"Hey. You worry about your own looks. Just cuz you're obsessed with cleanliness doesn't mean we all have to be OCD too. All things in moderation you know."

"You," Sunstreaker jabbed a finger accusingly at Sideswipe, "Look like you fell in a pit full of Sharkticons."

He shrugged. "I may have for all I know. By the way, how come I feel like I got into a sixteen Mack- truck pileup and you look like you just stepped out of a car wash?" Sideswipe, stiffly and slow as he did it, tried turning his body to face his brother. He managed, but he also managed to get himself tangled in the wires that were crisscrossing his form like a malevolent, multicolored spider web.

His brother grumbled, "How the hell am I supposed to know what you got your idiotic self into if you don't know?"

Sideswipe pouted and swatted a pink wire out of his face. He tried detangling the colored strands attached to his body but it was proving to be a futile task.

"Some help you are." First he glared, then his optics widened as he realized something. " Holy cow, I can't feel my left leg."

"I mean really. Where is your head half of the time?"

"It's above my shoulders. Sunstreaker, I can't feel my leg."

"What are you griping about? It's still there. Ratchet just hasn't finished attaching all the wiring and stuff."

Sideswipe froze like a pond in December. "Sweet, Primus. Ratchet's gonna murder me."

"That would kinda not make sense what with all the work he put into slapping you together again."

"Don't you understand? That's part of the scheme. He revived me from the brink so he could kill me. Then he'll bring me back and do it again. It'll be an endless cycle!"

Sunstreaker snickered.

Sideswipe continued his rantings, "I mean I understand why he yells at me most of the time but this time I don't even know what I did to myself! Jeez, did I get caught in a turbine or something? Did Grimlock decide he wanted to eat the cherry Lamborghini? Maybe it was Snarl. I get the vibe that Snarl hates me."

"They all hate you."

"Well he hates me more than the others."

"No Dinobots tried to eat you."

"Then what happened? I want to know the charges before Ratchet incarcerates me."

"You think I know?" It was a statement more than a question.

"I was kinda hoping you could fill me in so yeah." The numbness was wearing off and a dull throb of pain began to blossom over Sideswipe's body. "Well there go the painkillers. Do you think if I fake a conniption Ratchet will give me more?"

Sunstreaker folded his arms over. "Can't you ever be serious? You've been completely out for a week."

"What? Ouch!" Sideswipe almost tore the neural buffer right out of his neck when he jerked forward. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Quit moving you, dummy." Sunstreaker sighed and his expression softened. He looked his brother over, "You look like crap."

"Thanks," Sideswipe responded sarcastically though his twin's comment aptly described what he felt like. "And you don't why?"

He shrugged. "I didn't get the same damage I guess. I've been up for a long time. "

That meaning he had plenty of time for buffing and polishing. But that also gave Sideswipe another clue. Sunstreaker had been involved in the fight. He just hadn't seen what happened to Sideswipe.

"Just be glad I even bothered visiting you." Sunny placed his hands on his hips.

Sideswipe gave him a look of mock offence. "What? No flowers? Not even a fruit basket for you poor, crippled brother? Well Gee. At least you decided to grace me with your presence. I feel honored… and like I was hit by a train. You sure you don't want to fill me in on what happe-?"

"I don't know! That's the fifth time you've asked! Stop asking!" Sunstreaker glared. "Is there a problem?"

"Of course not. That's why I'm shaking my fist at you."

"Look. If I knew I'd tell you. So we could kick the ass of whoever did this."

Ah. There it was again. The concern his brother so frantically tried to hide most of the time was gleaming through. Sideswipe snickered. "What if it was a pit of Sharkticons?"

"Then it might take a little bit longer to kick their asses. It's not like we don't have time on our hands," he said in a 'well-duh' voice.

"I guess that's true." Sideswipe traced the edge of a gash on his arm again. "Well, if nothing else, I'm glad to see you took some time out of your busy primping schedule to come visit me, Goldilocks."

A sour look bloomed on Sunstreaker's face. "Don't push it, Gimpy. Injured or not, I'll still push your bed down the side of the mountain if you get too annoying."

"Nooo. Stop channeling Ratchet. It's insanely creepy." Sideswipe frowned and pulled out one of the cumbersome wires attached to his chest. A faint, annoying buzz followed the action as one of the machines stopped getting the readings.

Sunstreaker straightened up. "Ya know speaking of our beloved physician, I'm gonna leave before Ratchet gets here."

"Whoa, what?" Sideswipe looked surprised. "Why? You've been in here for four minutes and you're leaving? "

"Ratchet's in a weird mood. I'd prefer avoiding him."

"Weird as in how? Weird as in 'I'll go ninja on your aft and punt you into the next state' weird?"

"Not exactly. It's sort of hard to explain. You'll probably see for yourself."

"How do you know he's even coming?"

"Please, every medic in the Ark has been frantic over you this past week. There's also that." Sunstreaker pointed to the buzzing, flat lining machine with his thumb.

Sideswipe took a gander at the machine, then looked back to wire he had plucked from his person. "That probably wasn't bright of me."

"No it wasn't."

"Ah well. What can ya do?"

"I'm not sure what you can do but I'm leaving. Bye." The gold mech turned to go.

"Sunstreaker," Sideswipe called, his voice pinched with a girly whine.

"Bye."

"Alright, fine then. Go ahead and flee for your life. I guess I'll just stay here to face my doom."

Sunstreaker gave him one of those rare smiles. "I'll be back to collect your pieces. Maybe make a wall mural out of them."

"You'd better or I'll be pissed."

"Oh," he stopped. "By the way. I'm glad you're ok." The way he said it wasn't anything special. It was just an offhand comment made as he made his leave, but it left Sideswipe grinning like an idiot. Sideswipe knew well enough how concerned his brother probably had been over him. The gold mech just didn't like making a show of his brotherly love. It was a Sunstreaker thing.

Sideswipe would take what he could get out of his sibling.

As Sideswipe watched him leave he caught something strange out of the corner of his optic. It almost appeared as if there was a fissure running down his brother's back.

"Hey, Sunny. What's-" he stopped realizing it was too late to ask as his brother had left.

The large med bay felt empty again. He was by himself.

Actually, it was kind of strange that he was by himself.

He felt sort of lonely actually.

"Was I really the only one damaged? How in the pit did I get beaten up so bad when no one else did?"

He was aware of the fact that he was one of the better fighters stationed on Earth. So how on Earth did he get thrashed like a greenhorn while nobody else was even scratched? Come on. If he had gotten hurt at least Ironhide should've been in the med bay too. The Old timer had a habit of using himself as a metaphorical meat shield to protect the other Autobots.

It was getting frustrating. He wanted to know what happened. No matter how much he wracked his brain for some sort of memory he came up with nothing. Whatever he cracked his head against apparently knocked the memories right out of him. All his memories except …

"Asleep in the sand with the ocean washing over."

He went rigid as that thought came and went. It had come out of the blue and disappeared just as quickly. Lyrics were hanging on the edge of his mind, so close but just out of his reach.

Before he could contemplate the matter further Ratchet screeched to a halt at the medical bay's entrance.

The second Ratchet was in his sight, Sideswipe knew something was off in the force.

Ratchet's optics locked on Sideswipe with, and Sideswipe noted how strange this expression was, absolute terror on his face. The panic evaporated as soon as he saw that Sideswipe was in all actuality fine (well as fine as he could possibly be in his situation) and a look a shear relief appeared on his face instead.

For a moment the medic didn't look like he knew what to do. "Your spark monitor flat lined," he stated evenly.

"Oh, well," Sideswipe trailed off, also not sure what to say, and held up the wire as an explanation.

Irritation made itself evident on Ratchet's face but that look quickly withered. It was like he simply didn't have the energy to be mad.

Ratchet always had the energy to be mad. Something was wrong.

"You know what that wire does. Why did you pull it out?" Again his voice was bland, missing a certain something. Sideswipe wasn't sure just what though.

"I wasn't paying attention." Sideswipe dropped the wire and absentmindedly scratched his unprotected chest.

"Sideswipe." Ratchet took a step forward but hesitated.

Something was wrong. Something was wrong with Ratchet. What was wrong with Ratchet?

Ratchet had an ambiguous look on his face which was making it difficult for Sideswipe to determine whether or not the medic was pissed at him.

The look on Ratchet's face softened and he apprehensively walked over to Sideswipe's berth.

Something was wrong. Something was missing in the medic's voice and demeanor. What was gone?

There was an awkward moment of complete silence before Ratchet did something odd.

He slowly sat down on the edge of the berth, his hands together resting between his knees.

Sideswipe was freaked, completely freaked out. What was this? He tried to remain calm though. Medics were known to be able to smell fear.

"Sideswipe." Ratchet repeated.

Against better judgment Sideswipe plowed ahead. "Yes?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

That was an odd question but he answered anyway. "Uh, no actually. Everything hurts and I can't feel my left leg."

"Your leg will regain feeling eventually. I have to connect some wires." He almost sounded relieved by the task ahead of him. Like repairing Sideswipe's leg would be an excuse from actually talking. So he stood and pulled the blue tarp away from Sideswipe's knee.

Sideswipe almost gagged. From his knee to his ankle joint, the armor and dermal plating had been stripped away. Only the most basic skeletal components, wires, and synthetic muscle pistons were left. And the muscle pistons were mostly detached and fanned out on the berth like spaghetti strands.

"Ya know there's no rush on the whole feeling my leg thing."

Ratchet didn't say anything and began the slow process of soldering wires together.

There was silence. A horrible unending silence. It was far from the usual loud verbal abuse and rough treatment but, as strange as it sounded, that spiel was his comfort zone. Not this-

Whatever it was.

He wanted to break the silence. He had to break the silence.

But he didn't.

'Am I going to be in trouble?' That was the first thing that came to mind. Maybe he had done something so incredibly stupid, Ratchet simply was too angry for words. Perhaps this was the silent treatment.

But he didn't ask. Ratchet kept on welding.

It was like that for the next 24 minutes and 52 seconds.

Ratchet stood and replaced the tarp of Sideswipes leg. Sideswipe stared at him searching for some kind of answer in the medic's face.

Ratchet looked unsure, strained. He opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated.

"I'll let those components cool before I reattach the Soleus pistons."

Sideswipe didn't say anything. He was too confused.

"Sideswipe if you…" Ratchet stopped. Instead he rested his hand on Sideswipe shoulder gently. He let it sit there for a brief moment. "I'll be back later. Don't pull on anymore wires."

And with that he left.

And Sideswipe just stared after him thunderstruck. So much so that it never occurred to him to ask Ratchet what had happened to him. He never asked why he was in the medbay.

If it had their Doctor acting like that, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.