Fluffiness and super minor, blink-and-you'll-miss-it-angst. Recovery and small stepping stones to friendship. That is all. That's it, there's no plot. Enjoy! My gratitude to everyone who left a comment, it's always super awesome to see what you have to say!
Upon waking, Switchshade knew instantly that something was wrong, and it took a klik for him to realize that the sensation was actually the absence of 'something wrong'. His frame felt complete, and when he was able to rise to his pedes with his usual lithe grace, the black mech couldn't suppress a tiny grin from making its way across his faceplates. He took a moment to shift and flutter his looser armor plates, enjoying the simple feeling of just being able to move without pain, and so when a heretofore unnoticed mech spoke, he couldn't be blamed for spooking just a bit. "The Doc wasn't too happy with you."
Switchshade yelped quietly and instantly spun to face the voice, Arcee's distinctive frame coming into view as the femme leaned against the wall near his berth. Tensing, Switchshade did not drop his gaze, though he was careful to keep his servos loose and unthreatening. Thus far, the femme had proven to be a capable warrior, and despite her ability to kill, she had made no move to harm him in all of his time with the Autobots, further proving Lord Prime's claims that such was not the Autobot way, but the black mech remained wary. There was an exception to every rule, and something about Arcee set him on edge, though he couldn't have specified what.
When he made to move to reply, instead choosing simply to watch her quietly, Arcee shrugged. "Ratchet put you in a medically-induced stasis until your frame had fully integrated. One too many escapes from berth-rest. He said if you had over-strained your frame even one more time after that whole Wheeljack escapade, he'd have needed to overhaul your whole frame from protoform." Now Switchshade's optics widened in surprise, and he searched the femme's face and frame, but there was no hint of a lie in her field or visage. "How long was I out for?" he asked, very quietly.
"Nearly two weeks." Arcee replied, watching him closely to catch his reaction. "You missed quite the commotion too. We compromised our cover with a group of humans, ironically enough known as 'MECH', and then Bulkhead and Miko took a fieldtrip to the earth region of Greece." Switchshade cycled his optics in shock, attempting to take in this information, when Arcee raised an optic ridge. "The humans are all fine, as are the rest of us, though Cliff and Bulk both took a beating from Knockout and Breakdown. Friends of yours?"
Switchshade shook his helm slowly, trying to fit together the pieces of what he knew of the two mechs in question as well as any information on their previous interactions with the Autobots. "Breakdown has a… history, with Bulkhead, and Knockout is the CMO on the Nemesis. Beyond that, I fear I have little knowledge of either that can be of use, and all that you might need to know could be accessed with ease, especially if you were to recruit Rafael or Ratchet." Even as he mentioned the Autobot CMO, Switchshade felt his spark sink. "Is he… still very angry with me?"
Arcee ex-vented heavily, finally uncrossing her arms and moving to slowly, carefully lay a surprisingly gentle servo on the ex-'Con's shoulderplating. "He's a medic, he's used to dealing with stubborn patients. Trust me, aside from normal levels of Ratchet-grumpiness, you'll have nothing to worry about." She moved over to the doorway, keying it open and gesturing for him to follow her as she continued. "Besides, compared to some of what the doc's had to deal with over the vorns, you weren't even on the top 100. Have you ever seen a Prime with cosmic rust on his-?"
"Arcee! And Switchshade! Awake and aware once again, I see! How are you feeling? Did you dream while you were in that coma? What did you dream about? Were there monsters? Are there monsters on Cybertron? I'll bet they're huge! Wanna hear what Bulk and I did while you were out? Do you know Breakdown? Bulkhead says that he's…"
Miko all but literally jumped on him as soon as the two bots emerged into the common area, already speaking faster than a turbo-rat on jet fuel, and Arcee cut herself off and just offered a grin to Switchshade before moving to stand beside Cliffjumper where he was currently facing off with Rafael in a racing video game. As Switchshade attempted to begin to decipher what, exactly, the tiny human currently attempting to climb his pedes had asked, Bulkhead straightened up from where he had been watching the game with a smirk, moving to stand before the ex-Con with an oddly solemn expression.
"Hey Miko, you wanna go talk with Jack for a bit? I need to have a word with Switchshade." The human nodded agreeably, willingly bounding over to the older human and beginning to tease him about a recent race, completely oblivious to the sudden utter terror that had washed over the mech she left behind.
Switchshade held entirely still, the energon frozen in his lines, as that phrase rang over and over through his processor. 'I need a word with Switchshade', 'I need a word', 'We're just gonna have a little… talk…', over and over again. A thousand different variations, all with one crystal clear intent behind them. Still, no other 'Bot made any move to stop the Wrecker or to interfere at all, and the black mech straightened up, determined to take whatever was thrown at him with dignity. Enough cowering, at least from those who are not Chosen of Primus. I have taken damage from Lord Megatron himself, whatever pain might come my way now, I will endure. Though, Lord Prime swore I would not be harmed. Does Bulkhead act without permission? But then, why did no other move to interfere? They do not fear him, this much is clear, and yet…
"Listen, Switchshade, I wanted to apologize." With that simple phrase, all of the dark mech's worries dispersed to a simple 'What?' Oblivious to his companion's strife of mind, the green Wrecker continued. "I don't know how much you'd heard, a couple weeks back with Jackie, but when you first tried to warn Ratchet about that imposter, I… Well, I didn't react like I should've. I… called you some pretty nasty things, and…" The Wrecker trailed off, clearly struggling to find the words to accurately express what he wanted to say.
"Cast disparity upon my credibility?" Switchshade finished with a small smile, realizing that the Wrecker was genuine in his remorse, and feeling oddly touched by the strange sentiment of actually apologizing for such a minor slight. "All is forgiven, Bulkhead. I understand that it must have been difficult to trust a mech with a past like mine over what you believed to be one of your dearest friends. I took no offense, and I'm just glad now that everything has been put right." Bulkhead nodded with a matching grin, clearly vastly relieved now that the 'emotional/touchy-feely' discussion could be considered concluded, and unthinkingly clapped Switchshade affably on his arm plates before moving back over and engaging Miko in a bet regarding the winner of Rafael and Cliffjumper's race.
For his part, Switchshade stood frozen in place for several seconds, warmth and affection and joy all blooming in his spark when he realized. Bulkhead didn't harm me. He apologized for doubting me. And best of all, I didn't cower, didn't even think to flinch when he reached for me. With the Autobots, I really am safe!