Almost an Earth week was gone, and First Aid's nerves were beginning to stretch thin. Not a sol went by without his thoughts full of worry and unease every time he spotted Smokescreen talking with Skyfire. The shuttle wasn't closing himself off again, which was good. Though the more time went by, the more the deadline also closed in as it meant Smokescreen didn't bring up any of Skyfire's injuries.

Ratchet told him to calm down, but it was hard to do when Skyfire was his patient, and this was ultimately on First Aid if things went wrong. He hoped, he hoped so much that it wouldn't. First Aid almost jumped when the medbay door opened, and he relaxed only marginally when Smokescreen walked through.

First Aid set down a cloth he'd been using to sanitize his work station. "I take it you're here because of Skyfire?"

"You mean I can't be serious about asking you out?" Smokescreen grinned. First Aid put his hands on his hips. The other mech chuckled. "Alright, you got me. I am here for Skyfire; I've got a plan for speeding things up and I need your help."

First Aid's spark thrummed. "What kind of plan?" He really didn't like that bright gleam in Smokescreen's optics.

"Skyfire's been progressing, but he needs to have that final push towards realizing Sunstreaker's hurt him, right?" The medic nodded hesitantly, and Smokescreen continued, "And Sunstreaker can't stand you because he thinks you're trying to put the moves on Skyfire, right?"

First Aid wanted to grimace. "Yes."

Smokescreen crossed his arms, a smug grin crossing his lips. "Then I'll request for Skyfire to have a supervised visit with Sunstreaker, but I'll 'conveniently' have to leave so you'll take my place. Sunstreaker sees you and flips out, probably yelling at you both, and Skyfire sees his image of Sunstreaker was flawed all along. Problem solved."

First Aid stared at him. So many emotions flooded through him, coiling in his tank as his vents started to heave. One feeling surged to the front, above the fear and worry and dismay; anger. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this rush of boiling fury swell within him. First Aid's fists clenched. "No, that's not going to solve anything!"

Smokescreen jerked back, apparently just as surprised by the outburst. "Of course it will; Skyfire's so deep in denial that he needs to be brought back to reality."

"And you think traumatizing him further will do that? You're asking Skyfire to confront his abuser before he's ready." First Aid retorted. His fists began shaking. "This plan is cruel and manipulative, even for you."

Smokescreen glowered at him. "Well it's not like you're offering up any solutions. My job is to get Skyfire to see how things are."

"And Sunstreaker likely threatening us will do that?" First Aid asked dubiously. He shook his helm. "It won't help. This situation is delicate, so many things could go wrong. Just because the deadline is getting closer, it doesn't mean shortcuts should be taken."

"You think this is easy?" Smokescreen crossed his arms again, but his mouth was set in a firm line. "I've had to listen to Skyfire talk about what a great bot Sunstreaker is, that he's so caring and sweet when he got hurt on missions and how their dates are." His frame tensed, the frustration growing in his voice. "I have to see how Skyfire tenses when someone gets too close, or he rubs his joints where those injuries were-and keep my mouth shut because I know saying the wrong thing will just have him shut down."

First Aid's anger drained, leaving a hollow void of despair and unease behind. Smokescreen might be everything the others accused him of being; a cheater, a liar, a gambler and a snitch-but he was also an Autobot. 'Perhaps I'm just overprotective towards Skyfire.' First Aid thought. His shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry for losing my temper."

Smokescreen shrugged, but his frame also relaxed just a bit. "I'm honestly surprised it took you this long." He vented slowly, optics narrowing. "Alright, I'll ax the plan."

First Aid nodded, but realized perhaps Smokescreen's rush to a solution was a misunderstanding of the situation. "Smokescreen," he said quietly, "just getting Skyfire to admit what Sunstreaker's done isn't some instant cure."

The other mech frowned. "If Skyfire acknowledges it, then that means he knows he's been hurt."

First Aid vented slowly. "It will." He admitted. "Though admitting what's happened and healing from it are two different things. Skyfire recognizing what's been done to him is just the first step. It'll take so much longer for him to recover from this."

Smokescreen vented deeply, glancing away as he rubbed his neck. "Some social expert I am. I guess this case is really frying my nerves."

'You're not the only one.' First Aid thought. "Despite this…hiccup, let's call it, you're very clever. You've managed to get Skyfire to speak with you and helped him out of his shell."

"Actually, that's been all him." Smokescreen looked proud of that fact. "He's talked about how much he likes being able to spend time with Beachcomber and Hound, taking in the landscape or travelling to other parts of the country on their downtime to gather organic samples. Grapple also spends time with him when not on duty," Smokescreen smiled sardonically, "they talk about the buildings Grapple built back on Cybertron."

First Aid's sparked swelled at the knowledge Skyfire truly was growing more confident in himself. "He talks more about Cybertron?"

Smokescreen nodded. "Skyfire was cagey about it at first, like you saw when we played Jenga, but then he got more used to it. I suppose it helps with coming to terms being…displaced, so to speak."

Right, Sunstreaker wasn't the only problem Skyfire was dealing with. Though there was hope if Skyfire was already learning to reconcile with his not-so-distant past to the vastness of time which stretched between then and now.

"I guess the real problem is figuring out when the right time to ask Skyfire about Sunstreaker's treatment is. Too late and we're screwed, too early and Skyfire's going to shut down." Smokescreen said.

That…was the ever-present problem. First Aid understand that Optimus needed to be even-handed in dealing with his troops, but he knew what Sunstreaker did. What he had done-to him, to Cosmos and Hoist-so didn't that warrant more brig time than a month?

"You're the social expert," First Aid repeated the mech's words, "you'll be able to figure it out. Especially now that you have a better understanding that accepting a fact doesn't equate to remedying it."

He just hoped Smokescreen's next idea didn't leave him wanting to throw a wrench at him. First Aid leaned against his work station, shakes still going through his frame from the lingering anger. He was going to leave that to Ratchet.