It had taken the better part of the night to convince himself to talk to Optimus, and another hour at that to get a meeting with him. It was a late night though, and not many mechs needed his attention. Still, First Aid felt the same trepidation he'd felt standing in Optimus' office that he'd felt with Prowl.
Only this time it was about himself, and that made him feel guilty. He didn't go to Optimus for Skyfire, but he could do it for himself…
'No, to be there for Skyfire, I have to take care of myself. Hopefully the added pressure will keep Sunstreaker from hurting him.' It was a faint hope, but it was all he could do for now with confidentiality in place. He straightened up in his seat, and met Optimus' solemn gaze.
"First Aid, is there a problem with the medbay?"
"It's not about the medbay." First Aid replied steadily. "It's about me-Sunstreaker threatened me if I went near Skyfire, and I'd like to file a complaint against him." There, he worded it in a way to ring alarm bells if something ever happened-which he sincerely hoped wouldn't.
Optimus vented heavily. "It seems Prowl was right." There was a touch of dryness to his tone, but underneath he was still serious. "Is this the first time it has happened? Were there any other incidents?"
Yes, he wanted to shout, yell as loud as his vocalizer could go, just so that everyone would know how reprehensible Sunstreaker really was in that one word. Those thoughts unfortunately would need to be tempered until he could find an opportune moment to really talk with Skyfire-alone.
"No, this is the first time." First Aid said.
"I see." Optimus said thoughtfully. "Very well, I will make a note of this and inform Sunstreaker he will be serving brig time should another incident like this occur. While I cannot stop roughhousing, I will not condone threats made to fellow Autobots." He inclined his helm. "Dismissed."
"Thank you, sir." First Aid left the office, unsure ultimately of how to feel. He did the right thing, but that right thing was probably going to bite in him the aft given that at the current time Sunstreaker would know it was him even with his name left out.
His journey back to his quarters on the Ark was quiet, so of course it would only seem fitting that one of his brothers showed up. It was probably about not only why he'd been spending all his time here, as even before the Skyfire incident he'd go back to base, but about why he was keeping his end of the bond so tightly regulated.
Hot Spot was leaning against the side of his doorway, shoulders slumped and his optics dimmed as though he'd been standing there for hours. First Aid felt a pang of guilt; for all he knew, while he'd been out debating about what to do, Hot Spot likely had been waiting for him to come back all this time.
"Hot Spot?"
His brother jerked away, tensing before he relaxed upon seeing First Aid. "Hey, thought I'd catch you here."
Eventually was left unsaid. First Aid though didn't want to draw attention to it.
"I was busy." He said vaguely and let the door slid open. "Come in; was there something you needed to talk about?"
Hot Spot's expression was grave. "It's about you, 'Aid. We're all worried you've been working yourself too hard. You don't come around anymore, and you've been keeping your end of the bond closed."
His brother certainly knew where to make his points. 'I didn't want you to know what I know, see what I saw or hear the things I've heard.' It would get his brother's on his side, even if he suspected Blades didn't need a justification to go beat up Sunstreaker, but he took Optimus' words to spark.
"I've been busy with a patient," First Aid began, his tone careful and considerate, "and I don't want you all having to feel what I do when I'm with them. It isn't fair to distract you and that's not even taking into account the breach of privacy."
And just like that, Hot Spot looked like he got it-in part. "I see; you don't want to embarrass your patient."
"It's a…delicate situation." First Aid said, his choice of wording making it sound important but not dangerous. If he made it seem like he was in danger, then his brother would only press on further. And that was the last thing he wanted. "I have a long day tomorrow, but it's also a long way back to the base, so you can spend the rest of the night if you want."
Hot Spot smiled faintly. "That would be nice, but I don't want to trouble you, I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
First Aid didn't answer for a moment. "As you can see, I am fine. Your concern is noted and I will do my best to come around soon."
"Patients first though, right?" Hot Spot asked, his expression approving despite what he'd come here to do in the first place.
The medic nodded. "See you later then."
Hot Spot nodded back, and First Aid vented in relief when he was out of audio range. His brothers would all find out eventually about what he'd been doing and they'd be hurt by his reluctance to confide in them, but he needed Skyfire to trust him.
And he couldn't break that trust before he even got it.
When he stepped into the rec room, First Aid noticed how…off it seemed. There was a palpable tension in the room, but there was also animated chattering and whispers being tossed around. It put him on edge about what they were all talking about.
So wrapped up in their own conversations no one noticed him walking to the ration dispenser, but he was all too aware of them. And then it happened-he froze as three distinct words managed to pierce through the tension and put him into a full on panic.
"Sunstreaker," "beating," "medbay."
He immediately turned to the closest table. "Who did Sunstreaker put in the medbay?" he winced when he got several incredulous stares from some very startled mini-bots. First Aid cleared his vocalizer and did his best to play it off as simple medical concern. "I was not called in about an incident, could you please explain what happened?"
The stares became tempered, and Bumblebee was the one who answered him, his voice and expression conveying concern and a hint of steel beneath his disposition.
"Last night Cosmos came back from his eight month expedition. No one in the chain of command has said anything, but in the tape Sunstreaker looked like he attacked Cosmos just for touching Skyfire." Bumblebee frowned, and so did First Aid, but it was for a more puzzling matter.
"Tape?"
The yellow bot nodded. "It was caught on the tape outside the science lab. Cosmos walked right up to them, tried to talk to Skyfire, and Sunstreaker threw him off screen!" his voice rose as his expression twisted in anguish. "Poor Cosmos, we don't even know how he's doing since Ratchet won't let us in the medbay."
First Aid felt the inkling of something forming. "Where is Sunstreaker now?"
"In the brig, where that psycho deserves to be." Cliffjumper huffed. "Only problem is that Skyfire isn't there with him." he scowled. "He just stood there and took off when Perceptor came out to see what was going on. No one's seen him since-lousy mech's probably hiding somewhere."
First Aid resisted wincing, and nodded along like he understood their griping. In his processor, the thoughts were centered around one thing-Sunstreaker's in the brig, and Skyfire's not. He could take an educated guess as to where Skyfire actually was, but he would need to move fast. "I hope Cosmos will get better." And he did wish that, just like he kept wishing the same for Skyfire.
Taking his leave, First Aid tried not to break out into a sprint.
When he got to Skyfire's room, he knocked rapidly on the door. There was a rustling inside, but the door didn't slide open.
"Please, Skyfire, I know you're in there." The medic said earnestly. "It's First Aid, I just wanna talk."
A long silence stretched between them, and a tiny hiss from the door opening was the only sound as Skyfire stood before him. The professional in First Aid took over for a moment-he looked over the larger frame for any other discrepancies and stopped himself from flinching when he noticed the odd metal layering on the back of his forearm, and the same layering on his knee joint. The repairs could fool an untrained optic, but not his and it made him uneasy.
Had these been here when he was around last time, or were they added just after his visit?
"Is…" Skyfire looked incredibly guilty and ashamed, "is it about Cosmos? Is he okay?"
To come out and throw it back at Skyfire he could have found out by himself had he stuck around, but to do so would not only be unnecessarily cruel given how shame-faced the shuttle already was, but it was fundamentally counterproductive to earning trust.
"Ratchet will take care of Cosmos." First Aid reassured him, knowing his mentor was fully capable of repairing heavy damage-though the junior medic did dread seeing what kind of damage had been done. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Sunny…attacked Cosmos," Skyfire admitted, his posture reluctant, but First Aid jerked back when almost immediately the shuttle's optics widened and he rushed out, "b-but Sunstreaker didn't know Cosmos wasn't aware he and I are in a relationship-and-and…" he trailed off, wings twitching in distress.
"…and Cosmos deserved to get attacked?" First Aid prodded gently.
Skyfire's wings stilled, and he looked deeply offended. "Of course not; it's not Cosmos' fault."
'It's Sunstreaker's.' First Aid finished the sentence, and now he only needed Skyfire to admit it. "Then whose fault is it?"
The shuttle slowly frowned, his optics dimming. "Mine." First Aid froze, but Skyfire paid no mind to him. "Sunstreaker doesn't like it when I talk to other bots, and I thought if I just tried to ignore Cosmos he wouldn't think I was trying to make him jealous. But…but then Cosmos grabbed my arm and…" he shook his helm, optics dimming further. "I should be the one being punished, not Sunny," his voice lowered to a whisper, "he always did tell me I can't keep from messing things up."
First Aid was speechless. He'd been prepared to support Skyfire, but to be confronted with the reality made him feel helpless. It wasn't just the physical harm, but he could see all the emotional damage that had been inflicted. 'And no one noticed.'
That was the worst part. For all the Autobots were about comradery, friendship, and trust-they had all been blind to the changes happening right in front of them.
"You…" First Aid felt unsure, but he steeled himself to keep going, "you're not to blame. No one made Sunstreaker attack Cosmos."
"That's not true!" Skyfire snapped, and First Aid was taken by how panicked the shuttle looked. His servos wrung nervously and his wings were high and stiff. "It is my fault; Sunny was only trying to protect me."
"And who protects you from Sunstreaker?" First Aid stiffened. That-that wasn't supposed to come out. "I-I-"
Skyfire was a frozen tableau, his entire form still and unmoving. Slowly, a defensiveness that First Aid worried would appear began to show up in the shuttle's optics, his expression otherwise closed. "Sunny loves me." He stated firmly. "I'll thank you not to make such accusations again."
First Aid felt his fists shake as the door slid closed, and his spark thudded in his chest.
This…this was not how it was supposed to happen.
