This chapter is dedicated to journal 129, who roleplayed this chapter out with me. Much of First Aid's dialogue is hers, or inspired by hers. Thanks, buddy!
First Aid felt a sense of foreboding as Ultra Magnus approached. He gulped and hastily saluted. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Come with me, please. Your presence is needed at an inquiry."
That didn't sound good. First Aid glanced at the working Vehicons, trying to scrounge up an excuse. "I—I'm very sorry sir, but I can't just leave them. What if there's an accident? What if I can't get back here fast enough?"
"This won't take long." Magnus replied shortly, already walking back to the ship.
"But, sir—"
"This is an order, First Aid. Not a request." The nurse shrank beneath the commander's stern gaze. Reluctantly, his subspaced his medical kit and followed the larger mech back to the ship. Magnus' office was easily identified—it was the only door labeled with a placard. As they entered, First Aid noticed two other mechs sitting across from the desk. One of them turned to watch them as they walked in. Aid immediately recognized him as Ratchet—the Autobot CMO was renowned. And next to him was…Knockout.
First Aid's spark pounded. He stood frozen as Ultra Magnus took a seat behind his desk. Knockout stared straight ahead, not looking at anyone.. Aid could practically feel the animosity rolling off him in waves.
"Sit down, First Aid." Magnus ordered. Ratchet indicated a chair on the other side of him, the furthest seat from Knockout. The nurse reluctantly took a seat.
"I've called this inquiry due to rumors of an incident in the med-bay. First Aid—" Magnus fixed him with a penetrating gaze. "Why haven't you been in the medbay for the past week?"
"I've…been attending to the Vehicons." First Aid said slowly. "You know how accident-prone they are; I figured it would be better to have a medic on-site to deal with problems immediately. More efficient."
"Is that the only reason?" Ultra Magnus continued before Aid has a chance to respond. "One of the Vehicons reported hearing yelling in the medbay a week ago. He witnessed you running out—'in a panic,' were his exact words. And, as far as I can tell, you haven't returned to the medbay since. So I ask—did Knockout assault you?"
First Aid fidgeted, staring down at this hands. "Well...the definition of assault is physically harming someone...so...no?"
Ratchet narrowed his optics. "You're hedging."
"Nothing happened! Not a mark on me, see?" First Aid insisted. Neither of the Autobot officers looked convinced. Knockout continued to stare ahead of him. His expression was inscrutable.
"Bulkhead said you seemed frightened," Magnus prompted.
"Frightened? Me? Nonono. I'm...I'm just the nervous sort of mech. That's all." First Aid insisted. "Ask anyone who knows me. I'm skittish."
Ratchet gave him such a forceful glare that Aid could feel the doctor's disapproval piercing his soul. "There's something you're not telling us."
"I…I…" First Aid shrunk before the scrutiny. "Why's it so important, anyways?"
"If there's danger to any of our teammates, it must be addressed, and the perpetrators dealt with." Magnus glanced at Knockout as he said this.
First Aid fiddled with his fingers. "I—it was a misunderstanding, sir. I broached a sensitive topic and it upset Knockout. He made it clear that I'd crossed a line, and I overreacted. It was all my fault, sir."
"Hmm." Ultra Magnus looked at Knockout. "Do you have anything to say, Knockout?
Knockout heaved an exasperated sigh. "I threw a knife at him."
The officers tensed up as if they'd been jolted.
"He threw a knife at you?!" Ratchet demanded.
"It was a scalpel…and I'm pretty sure he missed on purpose. It's not a big deal."
"Like slag it isn't!" Ratchet gave Knockout the evil eye. The scarlet mech didn't meet his gaze.
"Ratchet is right. I threw a scalpel at an innocent bot with no provocation. I'm a bad, bad Autobot." Knockout said in a monotone. Ultra Magnus scowled.
"Well, then. First Aid—you'll be training under Ratchet for the foreseeable future. You two are dismissed."
Ratchet stood to leave. First Aid remained in his seat. He glanced guiltily at Knockout, who hadn't moved at all during the inquiry.
"Knockout-this is a serious offense and a violation of your probation." Ultra Magnus said sternly. "You're confined to quarters until we can decide on the consequences of this crime."
"What?" First Aid jumped up. "Sir, I didn't press charges—!"
Magnus met his gaze cooly. "A crime has been committed whether you press charges or not."
"But—"
"That's all, First Aid. You're dismissed."
Ratchet grasped his shoulder. "Come on, kid." First Aid followed him out of the office, casting one last hopeless glance back at the mech he'd condemned.
First Aid tossed and turned in his berth. He'd been lying here for hours, trying to go into recharge. He'd briefly considered using a sedative, but those were for emergencies, not insomniac mechs. He sighed. Sleep was apparently not coming tonight.
First Aid slipped out of his quarters, silently so as not to disturb anyone in the adjacent rooms. Maybe a walk would calm his mind enough to sleep. He started toward the main entrance, then thought better of it. Someone was always on guard there and he didn't want to have to explain himself. He turned down another hallway—there was a maintenance hatch down here big enough to be used as a door. There shouldn't be anyone there. Unfortunately, the lesser-used hallway lacked the emergency lights that illuminated the main hall. Oh, well—he could manage. First Aid groped his way down the dark corridor, drinking in the peaceful silence.
Aid paused. He thought he heard another set of footsteps nearby. Probably just an echo—no one else was up this late. He started walking again. The door should be just ahead.
Suddenly, as if responding to his thoughts, a gap opened in the wall ahead, revealing the empty landscape outside. As moonlight poured through the open maintenance hatch, it silhouetted a mech by the control panel. As if sensing that he was being watched, the mech turned around, optics glowing brightly in the dark. Red optics.
First Aid stopped dead. Knockout didn't move. They both stood motionless for what seemed like ages.
"…Well?" The red mech finally snapped. "Are you going to do something, or just stand there like a turbofox in the headlights?"
"I, uh…" First Aid gulped. "What are you doing out of your quarters?"
"I believe it's commonly called sneaking out." Knockout stepped outside, and First Aid found himself following. "If you're going to rat on me, could you wait a couple hours? I need a drive or I'll go insane."
"Oh—no. I mean yes. I mean—I'm not going to tell on you." First Aid sighed. He hated when he floundered. "Actually, since you're here, I—I wanted to say I'm sorry."
Knockout stopped. He gave Aid a questioning look.
"I'm sorry about getting you in trouble with Ultra Magnus…and I'm sorry for pushing you about Breakdown. I know what it's like to lose a friend, and I know it hurts to talk about. I shouldn't have pressed the matter. I'm sorry."
Knockout stared at him incredulously. "…You're apologizing."
First Aid nodded.
"I threw a scalpel at you… and you're apologizing." Knockout sighed. He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "You've got to be the Autobotiest Autobot I've ever met."
"Uh…pardon?" First Aid asked. He flinched as Knockout suddenly grasped his shoulder. But the contact seemed friendly, not aggressive. As he met the older mech's gaze, he saw something in his optics—perhaps not compassion, but as near to compassion as he'd ever seen in Knockout.
"Friendly tip: there's a difference between being polite and being a doormat." Knockout said with a hint of a smirk. "I know they really pound all that 'selflessness and peace' scrap into your processer, but there are times when you need to stand up for yourself. Put your foot down and say 'I'm not going to take this slag anymore.' Have you ever said that?"
"Not…really." First Aid admitted. "I'm a medic. It's in my programming to put others before myself."
"You can't help many bots if you're dead." First Aid couldn't argue with that. A heavy silence hung over them as Knockout removed his hand. First Aid shifted his weight, wondering what to say. The silence stretched longer and his anxiety increased.
"…Who'd you lose?"
"Excuse me?" First Aid looked up.
"You said you lost someone. Who was it?"
"Oh." First Aid hesitated. A dull ache ran through his spark at the memory. "His…his name was Ambulon. He was the ward manager at my first outpost. Kind of a gearstick, but…a good bot."
"Decepticons?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm." Knockout hummed softly. "My condolences."
"Thanks." First Aid met his gaze again. "I'm…sorry about Breakdown."
Knockout didn't respond. The light in his optics dimmed slightly as he stared off into space. "…Thanks for your concern." Without another word, he transformed and drove off. First Aid waved the dust cloud out of his face with a cough. He stared after the red blur receding into the distance, uncertain, but hoping he'd set things somewhat to rights.
