First Aid's self-pity about completely messing up his chance to talk to Skyfire was turned into guilt the second he came into the medbay for his evening shift. Unease churned in his spark as he took in Cosmos' state. The mini-bot was hooked up to a spark monitor, vents slowly being cycled through by the autopilot function, as his newly replaced optics were dark. There were dozens of dents marring his frame, faint cracks in the plating still visible despite both Ratchet's best efforts and Cosmos' own self-repair.
If he looked this bad after being repaired, First Aid dreaded to know how bad things were before.
Ratchet was no where to be found, and given how tirelessly he must have worked on getting Cosmos stablized, First Aid didn't begrudge him a small break. When the doors opened to the entrance, he did wish the older medic was here to deal with this mech.
It was unprofessional and judgemental, but First Aid found himself unable to make direct optic contact with Sideswipe. The resemblance was just too uncanny, even more so with how...subdued he seemed. The red mech's gaze fell on Cosmos, and a flash of pain flared in his optics; he visibly stepped back, but his features hardened and he walked up to First Aid's side.
Neither of them spoke, and when Sideswipe finally broke the silence, his optics never left Cosmos. "Why would Sunny do this?"
First Aid almost jumped, but restrained himself-and just barely at that. He'd heard Sideswipe was many things, but from the sound of his voice right now, he never expected him to be so-so- so lost. And with that came just a sliver of suspicion; didn't he know what Sunstreaker did? "He didn't tell you why?"
Sidewipe frowned, his lips tugged down in annoyance. "Despite what everyone thinks, we are capable of keeping things from each other. I mean, you have a gestalt bond and you don't tell your brothers everything, right?"
"I suppose not." First Aid said quietly. 'Not right now anyway.'
The red mech's optics narrowed minutely, and his fists clenched as his lips curled into a slight scowl. "I don't understand though. I tried asking Sunny why, but he won't tell me."
First Aid realized something odd about the statement, and it hit him like a punch to the gut when he found why that was. "I..." he couldn't just flat out ask, he needed to ease into it, "forgive me for sounding so skeptical, but you both do have a rather well-known dislike of the mini-bots."
"I know, but it's because most of them act so uppity." Sideswipe crossed his arms, frame tense. It was clear even he realized this was a weak excuse. "Why the pit did he fly off the handle like this? Even the most annoying mini-bot here doesn't deserve this; we might dent some of them but you don't attack a comrade."
First Aid stared at him, because it sounded more and more like his suspicions had been incorrect. He wouldn't commit to it, because still needed to ask. "There seems to be a general concensus that Skyfire might be to blame, given the evidence on the tape."
Sideswipe scoffed harshly. "What's there to blame? Sunny's the one who did this; at most Skyfire just freaked and ran." he frowned and glanced away. "I would too if I didn't know Sunny could get like that." he muttered, and his fist clenched, jaw tightening. "Frag it all, he's supposed to be better now though, he actually found someone who makes him happy."
"Happy?" First Aid tried not to flinch, but the word just didn't register when he thought of Sunstreaker and Skyfire's 'relationship.'
Sideswipe nodded though. "Sunny actually surprised me; I thought Skyfire would be like the rest. Sunny sometimes took bots on dates, so it wasn't really shocking he took Skyfire on one. In fact, when Sunny let it slip through our bond how happy he was during the date, I figured he'd slept with Skyfire and that would be it." he shook his helm, features some what incredulous. "I'll admit that even I thought Sunny was playing some game with drawing it out...but then-then he started changing..." he trailed off, and First Aid felt what little hope he had die with it.
"He was mellowing out, you know? He didn't talk much about their relationship, but Sunny did tell me he felt more right than he had in a long time." Sideswipe vented, and rolled his shoulders. "Which is why this doesn't make any sense. He couldn't have done it just because he got possessive."
'Yes, he did.' First Aid kept it to himself though, because right now he wasn't sure what to make of what he'd heard. It had gave him the briefest flicker of hope that Sideswipe would be the one person who could understand, who might have believed what his twin was doing after all...but now it sounded like denial.
He couldn't risk a breech of privacy on a mech who was so conflicted about what happened.
First Aid just hoped that when-if-the truth came out, he still wouldn't blame Skyfire.
