It really wasn't a surprise, but First Aid still wasn't ready for when the medbay door opened, and Hot Spot walked in. The medic checked his chronometer again, and winced. It had been a while since he'd gone back to their home base.

"'Aid, working hard?" his brother asked.

First Aid nodded, and made sure to check over the last of Cosmos' welds while the saucer recharged. He tried not to let the worry seep into his spark at the thought of what came next. Sunstreaker's sentence might have been extended, but it wasn't going to last forever. "I know I haven't been around lately, but this is important."

"I'm sure it is," Hot Spot said, "but I do hope you're thinking of your own welfare too."

"Of course I am. I take my allotted rations, get my required hours of recharge-"

"And take breaks or time off?" Hot Spot added.

First Aid paused. Well, that was a bit harder to shrug off. "I take what time I can."

Hot Spot rested his servo on the medic's shoulder, and he resisted leaning into it. "I just don't want you to run yourself ragged. We've been seeing it enough with the human emergency services we've been helping. And I know you can't talk about a patient, but we've all felt the worry you try to hide from us."

First Aid wilted. He thought he was doing an okay job at concealing his piece of the gestalt bond from his brothers, but apparently not well enough. "I don't have a right to say my tiredness is worse than…what my patient is going through."

"Yet you can't help someone to their fullest unless you also take care of yourself." Hot Spot said, his tone kind but firm.

First Aid knew he was right. "I'm…just scared of what might happen. I leave the base, and what if something terrible happens?" He already felt guilty about not seeing the signs of Skyfire's abuse. The medic didn't doubt how skilled Ratchet was at fixing bots, but the last thing Skyfire needed was his blunt beside manner. One wrong thing could end up demolishing all of the shuttle's progress.

"Or," Hot Spot said, "you could leave and nothing happens." He tilted his helm, and squeezed First Aid's shoulder. "And even if does, we're here for you. We'll do whatever we can to make things right. This is clearly important to you, so it's important to us."

A warm thrum pulsed through First Aid's spark. Just for a moment, he let his brother's feel all the gratitude and love he could muster for them. It was returned in varying degrees, and he basked in it before closing the bond again. 'Time to take your own advice.' First Aid thought. "Alright, I'll talk to Ratchet about if I can return to our base for at least a sol."

Hot Spot nodded. "Just comm. when you're all set."

First Aid nodded, and with one final pat on his shoulder, his brother left. Venting slowly, the medic steeled his resolve and knocked on the door to Ratchet's office. The older mech called him in, and First Aid found his mentor looking over a datapad. "I need to talk to you."

"Same here." Ratchet lifted the pad for him to see. "Just got a report from Prowl. Skyfire requested time last night about going on a scientific excursion with Hound. They left just a little while ago." The medic canted his helm. "Now, you wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"

First Aid's visor blinked. "I only gave Skyfire advice," his tone warmed, "but I am glad he took it." The other medic nodded, but First Aid noticed an odd discrepancy. "Wait, why is Prowl sending you a report?"

"To keep track of how Skyfire is doing." Ratchet answered bluntly. First Aid stilled, and the other medic shook his helm. "Don't give me that judging silence-you think no one's noticed how you always look at Skyfire?"

"Skyfire's not the one who did anything wrong." First Aid said quietly.

"I never said he was." Ratchet retorted, optics narrowed. "Until Skyfire is ready to talk about what Sunstreaker did to him, it's better to keep an optic on how both of them are doing in case…something happens."

First Aid vented sharply. Both them? "Like…what?"

"It probably wouldn't take much for Skyfire's newfound self-confidence to shatter, and he could end up closing himself off again and refusing to refuel." Ratchet said. "I know Sunstreaker isn't vain enough to damage his finish, but it's common for abusers to threaten to hurt themselves to maintain control. Right now, that's the last thing he has. Gossips travels fast around here, and it'd just take even a rumour to do it."

How could that have slipped his processor? First Aid had been worried enough about Skyfire, but the possibility of Sunstreaker doing that just to hurt the shuttle… The medic's tank churned. "Who all knows about what's going on?"

"Don't worry, we've kept the mechs in the know small. Prowl, obviously, and also Optimus. Jazz has been monitoring Sunstreaker- would have gotten Red Alert to do it, but he'd probably freak out once he knew why. Mirage has been following Skyfire around, just to get a grasp on how he's been doing."

First Aid started. Mirage? 'I hope he wasn't around when I've been talking to Skyfire.' It was a faint hope, of course.

"And at your call, Smokescreen."

First Aid jerked back. "Smokescreen?" he repeated, surprised. "Why would he be brought into this?"

"He might be a gambling, liar and cheat, but Smokescreen knows how to get bots to open up. Hubcap does too, but Smokescreen's wouldn't weaponize it against them." Ratchet replied. "Smokescreen also has more tact, and he already maintains communication with Optimus about how mechs around here are doing."

"I don't know, Ratchet. Skyfire doesn't really know Smokescreen." First Aid.

"Which is why I need to know if you feel comfortable making this call." Ratchet said, and the junior medic's visor flashed again. "This is your case; do you think Smokescreen could be able to get Skyfire to at least open up about Sunstreaker?"

First Aid carefully weighed the options. It was underhanded and slightly manipulative to get Smokescreen to do this, but the clock was ticking. Each moment Skyfire lived with the assertion that Sunstreaker loved him and wasn't hurting him, it would only get worse once the yellow mech was finally let out of the brig. How long before something really bad happened-Skyfire's torn energon line hadn't been for a vital area, but who's to say the next one wouldn't be?

'The one time I get to make a decision; it has to be the most important one right now.' He thought. First Aid could live with Skyfire despising him for interfering with his life. As long as he just lived. "Smokescreen shouldn't mention Sunstreaker at first. Skyfire didn't take it well when I tried the first time to suggest Sunstreaker was hurting him; it's still too soon since Skyfire's been getting his confidence back, so Smokescreen shouldn't come on too strong either."

Ratchet nodded. "And what was it you wanted to talk about, 'Aid?"

First Aid was almost left dazed by the question. That's right, he'd come in to ask for time off. His fists clenched. Maybe during his down time, he could try and live with what he'd just done.