Greetings. This chapter was originally slated to be quite a bit longer, but since I didn't want to leave anyone waiting I decided to post a little ahead of schedule. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 31: Hospital Visitor

Starfall was dreaming. It was not a typical dream where other people interacted with one's subconscious self in a hallucinogenic story-like representation of reality. Starfall had no sense of self in his dream. There was no sense of purpose for him being there, no ultimate goal for him to complete before he woke. Instead, his dream consisted of sensations and colors. There was soft light all around. He had no sensation of a body. He imagined the sensation of bobbing, like his subconscious had become a buoy on an ocean of the celestial ether of the universe. He felt no pain or worry. There was no desire or fear. There was only light and warmth and the gentle bobbing of nothingness.

Awareness began to return as the slow dimming of the ethereal subconscious light. The gentle bobbing sensation faded and was replaced with the slow returning sense of his corporeal body's weight laying face down on a padded surface. The warm light of his dream faded to nothingness, leaving Starfall in momentary darkness before the presence of light returned to his groping senses. This light was not the same as the light in his dream, however. This light was colder, harsher. As Starfall groggily flickered his optics online the last vestiges of his dream left him, leaving him with only a vague, indescribable sensory memory of water and light.

Starfall lay where he was for a moment of quiet uncertainty. His body felt heavy and weak, like all his limbs had been filled with lead. His right cheek plate was pressed to a padded surface. Slow, rhythmic beeping registered in his audios somewhere off to his side. For a split second Starfall thought it was his father's alarm clock, urging him to get off the berth and ready for school. The tone was off, though. The beeping didn't sound urgent. It was too quiet and slow to be an alarm. Instead, the muffled beeps made Starfall feel only more tired than he already felt.

Starfall didn't know where he was. It was not his berth at home. His own berth was squishier and didn't smell like antiseptics. It took effort for Starfall to muster the will to move. He felt strange. As he weakly forced his limbs to respond to the electrical signals of his processor, Starfall moaned at the wave of pain that rolled over his body. His entire body hurt. It felt like he'd been hit by something, but everywhere. His arms, legs, sides, chest, and head hurt. His joints ached as if he hadn't moved for a very long time. But the worst throb of pain radiated across his back with an achy fierceness that seemed to stab through his frame all the way down to his sparkchamber.

"Ughhh," he groaned into the berthmat. He squirmed uncomfortably, which only made the pain in his back hurt more. He gasped, startled by the sharpness of the pain that answered his attempt to move.

There was movement by the side of his berth. "Star?"

"Daddy?"

Starfall felt the immediate presence of his father beside him. It was strong and reassuring. Blinking his optics, Starfall craned his head off the berth enough to see Ironhide leaning over the side of the berth. His father looked tired. The protomatter around his optics was a sickly gray color.

"Don't move, Star," Ironhide hushed. He placed a hand on Starfall's shoulder joint.

"You're alright, Star," another voice said as Optimus appeared beside Ironhide and leaned down towards Starfall. "Your father and I are here."

Despite his father's warning, Starfall strained his neck cables to look around the room. He wasn't in his berthroom. "Where 'm I?" he murmured, confused and slightly scared. He was so tired. It seemed to take all his strength just to try and get his bearings. He felt drugged and so incredibly weak.

"You're in the hospital," Optimus explained. His face looked as haggard as Ironhide's Starfall realized with a surge of concern. "Don't you remember waking up before?"

Starfall reluctantly sunk back down onto the berthmat. It was too much for him to stay that way. He felt completely drained from just trying to lift his head. He was so tired. It felt like something was weighing on his processor, making it impossible to completely wake up. Groggily, Starfall thought back. He vaguely remembered waking up in this room before and being told he was in the hospital. He remembered waking up numerous other times after that – always hurting and crying in pain in one of his fathers' arms as they tried to soothe him back to sleep. All his memories were blurry and disjointed, like a never-ending nightmare he only now had been able to wake from.

"A mech grabbed you from school and hurt you," Ironhide said. His hand still rested on Starfall's shoulder, like a protective shield. Starfall took comfort in his father's touch.

"I kinda remember…" Starfall murmured uncertainly. He tentatively tried to move again, which only made him wince in pain. He went still again to make it stop.

Both his fathers leaned closer, concern swimming their optics.

"Does your back hurt?" Optimus asked.

"Yea. Whenever I try to move," Starfall murmured.

His fathers shared an anxious look.

"We should call Ratchet and Lightningstrike," Ironhide said. "Tell 'em Star needs more pain killers. Lightningstrike said she might need ta up Star's meds."

Optimus nodded in agreement. He disappeared from Starfall's berthside, but Starfall could still hear him moving around on the far side of the room. He lifted his head just enough to see Optimus punching a series of numbers into a portable vid-comm system.

"Just relax, Star," Ironhide urged. "We'll get Ratchet or Lightningstrike ta make yeh feel more comfortable." The hand on his shoulder moved to gentle stroke the back of his helm.

Starfall couldn't help but melt under his father's touch. As Starfall tiredly soaked in his father's attention he heard Optimus speaking to someone over the vid-comm in a hushed voice. He was too tired to try and make out what he was saying. Venting a tired puff of air, Starfall tried to do as Ironhide said and relax. When he didn't move his back didn't hurt that much, but the dull ache was just enough to make it difficult to completely relax. Starfall tentatively tried to move his wings. Maybe it was whatever the medics had given him for pain but he couldn't feel them. A sharp sting deep inside him was the only thing to answer his processor's command to move. Starfall's ventilation system hitched in surprise.

"What's the matter?" Ironhide asked.

"My wings. I can't feel them." Starfall ignored the stabs of pain as he drew his arms underneath him to push himself off the berthmat.

"Star, no. Don't do that," Ironhide said, gently trying to push him back down. "Yer gonna hurt yerself. Yer gonna pull yer bandages loose."

"I can't feel my wings," Starfall stubbornly whimpered. "I don't like it." He craned his neck around, desperately trying to see behind him. His shoulder vents prevented him from seeing anything. As he moved he became aware of the disturbing absence of weight hanging from his shoulder struts.

There were hurried footsteps before Optimus appeared once again by his berthside.

"Dad, I can't feel my wings," Starfall whimpered, becoming frightened now. He couldn't feel anything on his back. He couldn't even feel the familiar pull of the internal gears of his wing wells. There was nothing there. Panic began to blossom in Starfall's spark. "Why can't I feel my wings?"

Optimus leaned down over the edge of the berth and placed a hand on the back of Starfall's head. Starfall went still under his father's touch and desperately stared up at him for answers.

Optimus vented a pained sigh before meeting Starfall's optics. "You can't feel your wings right now, son, because you don't have any. They were badly damaged. Ratchet had to remove them."

"What?" Starfall's voice was nothing more than a stunned squeak. He stared at his father. For a moment he thought maybe he'd just misheard Optimus, or that his father was playing some kind of joke on him. But Starfall knew Optimus would never joke around about something like this. He knew how much his wings meant to him. Optimus's solemn expression confirmed Starfall's growing fears. Even though he was laying down Starfall suddenly felt as though he was falling, like he'd been dropped from a tremendous height and there was nothing underneath to catch him.

"My wings are gone?"

Optimus nodded.

The sick feeling in Starfall's fuel tank worsened. Starfall's throat line began to tighten and before he could even try to stop it an anguished sob bubbled out of his mouth. Another sob followed that, followed immediately by another. Starfall buried his face in the berthmat as helpless sobs began to quake his battered body. He offlined his optics, desperately hoping that when he activated them again he would find this had just been a horrible dream.

"Star, hey, com'on, it's okay," Ironhide's voice said close beside his audio. His father's hand returned to his shoulder, trying to offer comfort. "Ratchet's gonna get yeh a new set 'a wings. We even got a Vosian medic ta help. She's the best there is. She said she's gonna fix yeh up real quick."

"That's right," Optimus joined in. "This is not permanent. They said you will have a new set of wings by the end of this deca-cycle."

But Starfall could find no comfort in his fathers' words. All he could think about was the disturbing lack of weight on his back - about how something that was so essentially him was now suddenly gone. Somehow knowing there was no appendage there made the aching of his back even worse. Starfall's anguish only grew in intensity. He felt as if his world was slowly fracturing around him, splintering into a thousand miniature pieces no amount of platitudes could ever hope to put together again.

"Shh, Star, it's alright," Optimus hushed, gently stroking the back of his helm.

"What's going on?" a third voice suddenly said from the far end of the room. Starfall refused to lift his head to see who it was. He was too consumed with grief to do anything more than mourn his loss.

"Ratchet,' Optimus said. "Star just found out about his wings and is upset."

Starfall heard movement over the sound of his sobs and lifted his face off the berthmat to find two new bots standing next to his berth. He recognized the older mech from the anniversary party and vaguely from several times he remembered waking up in a pain-filled haze of delirium. The other made Starfall's ventilation system momentarily hitch in surprise.

"Hello, Starfall. My name is Lightningstrike. I'm one of your medics."

Through the static clouding his visual readout Starfall stared at the black and silver femme leaning over the side of the berth.

"You're a seeker," Starfall observed, his voice watery and weak.

The femme offered him the tiniest smile. "I am. I'm from Vos and will be assisting Ratchet while you're in the hospital. How are you feeling?"

The tightness in Starfall's fuel line returned. An unbidden sob slipped past his lips. "My wings are gone."

"I know," Lightningstrike sympathetically nodded. "But Ratchet and I are working to fix that. A new set of wings is being shipped here from Vos right now. The Emirate wants to help you get better. Once they get here Ratchet and I will attach them."

"But they're not my wings," Starfall angrily sobbed. He buried his face back in the berthmat, choking down his despair.

"These wings will be even better," Ratchet said. "Lightningstrike said they're going to be top of the line, specially made for you."

"I don't want other wings! I want my wings!" Why couldn't they understand? His wings had been the one thing he'd been the most proud of. He had come online with them and were a part of his identity. Who was he if he didn't have his wings? Starfall didn't think he'd be so upset if he had lost an arm or leg. Wings were more special than either of those. At least if he didn't have an arm or leg he could still fly. Without his wings he would never get off the ground on his own power again. He was grounded. How could he ever go flying again if he didn't have wings? What about Skyfire? He'd never be able to go flying again with Skyfire if he didn't have wings. His wings had been even more special because Skyfire had given him his first set of wing stripes. Even if Ratchet and Lightningstrike got him new wings he'd never be able to get Skyfire's wing stripes back. Those wing stripes represented the first time Starfall had ever had someone recognize his frametype as a good thing – something to be proud of! And now they were just gone.

Somehow that, more than anything else, made Starfall incapable of listening to anything else the adults were trying to tell him. Their optimism and reassurances felt like a cruel affront to the precious things he'd lost.

"But-"

"No, Ratchet," the female seeker sharply hushed. "Let Starfall be. He's upset and for good reason. Wings are an extremely personally piece of anatomy for a seeker to lose. He's not the first patient I've had who's had a hard time being told he's lost his wings." Lightningstrike's voice became more gentle as she turned her attention back to Starfall. "Your new wings should arrive by the end of the orn. If everything is on schedule we should have you in surgery by tomorrow morning to attach them. Until then, do you want me to give you some more neural serum to help you recharge? Or is there something else we can do for you?"

Starfall's answer was immediate. He was slightly startled by how quickly he made up his mind. "I wanna see Skyfire!" Starfall's voice was partially muffled into the berthmat and heavily laced with sobs but it still rung like cannon fire through the room.

"Skyfire?" Lightningstrike murmured.

"Skyfire is a close family friend," Optimus explained to the confused medic. "He's a flier and was actually the one to teach Starfall how to fly."

"I wanna see him!" Starfall angrily sobbed into the berthmat. "I wanna talk to Skyfire!" Right now Skyfire was the only bot Starfall wanted to see. He loved his fathers and didn't want them to leave, but he wanted to see Skyfire more. His fathers didn't have wings and couldn't understand what it was like to lose them. They only knew the ground. They didn't know what it was like to soar thousands of feet above the ground and feel the vastness of the sky. He knew they were worried about him and were upset about his wings but they still didn't really understand. Even Lightningstrike, another seeker, was a stranger. Starfall wanted someone he knew and who could understand how devastating this was to him. That person was Skyfire.

"We can get'cha Skyfire," Ironhide hastily agreed. "He was askin' about yeh before when ah called him. Ah bet he'll come right over when ah tell him yeh wanna talk ta him."

"Until then, I'm going to increase the dosage of Starfall's meds a bit," Lightningstrike said, consulting the array of machines positioned around Starfall's hospital berth. "This is putting too much stress on Starfall's systems. If we want to get him into surgery tomorrow morning, he needs to rest and let his systems self-repair a little more. The more he recharges before surgery the better."

Lightningstrike pushed several buttons on the console of one of the machines. A wave of intense exhaustion smacked Starfall like a physical slap to the face. His optics suddenly no longer had the power to remain online. His limbs felt welded to the berth. His head was too heavy to lift off the mat.

"It's alright, Star," Optimus's voice drifted to him from what sounded like the other end of a long tunnel. Starfall felt the sensation of fingers on the side of his face, gently stroking his cheek plates. "We'll call Skyfire and ask him to come visit."

Starfall wanted to reply but couldn't find the energy to. He was too tired. Everything was getting darker and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his visual systems working. Starfall didn't resist Lightningstrike's medicine's insistent siren call to sleep. He felt too empty and his body hurt too much to try and fight the encroaching darkness.

00000000

Skyfire transformed and landed on the roof of Iacon General Hospital in an awkward crouch. He'd descended too fast for any kind of grace. He'd left his apartment in a hurried rush. The flight there had been a complete blur. After receiving Optimus's call explaining Starfall's request Skyfire's only thought had been to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. He'd had to make a quick stop at a store before continuing on the hospital but Skyfire thought he'd still made good time. He had promised Optimus he would come as quickly as he could. Skyfire was pretty sure the storekeeper had thought he was insane for how he'd barged in, grabbed what he'd needed, paid, and left in a frenzied whirlwind.

Hurriedly righting himself Skyfire scanned the rooftop.

"Skyfire."

There, on the far side of the rooftop Ironhide stood next to an outside elevator bay with one hand raised in greeting.

"Ironhide," Skyfire breathlessly greeted as he strode towards him. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here."

Ironhide hastily waved away his apology. "Thanks fer comin' on such short notice. Yeh actually got here a lot quicker than ah was expectin." Skyfire was slightly taken aback by the haggard aura of exhaustion surrounding the other mech but chose not to comment on it. Ironhide had suffered enough stress over the last two orns and didn't need Skyfire pointing out how he looked.

"When Optimus called me and told me the situation I came as quickly as I could. When you contacted me yesterday, though, I didn't think you wanted Star to have any visitors yet."

Ironhide gave a tired sigh. "Star asked ta see yeh. He finally woke up enough ta get an actual sense of what happened ta him this morning an' didn't take it well. Optimus an' ah tried ta tell him he was gonna get a new set 'a wings but he didn't seem ta even listen. Optimus thinks he just needs ta talk to another flier right now."

Skyfire nodded sadly in understanding. "Having one's wings taken away is more devastating than a non-flier could possibly imagine. It would be like losing your legs and your ability to transform all at once."

"That's why we called yeh. Yer the only one that can help Star. That Vosian medic came in. She's really good, but she's not really the warm an' fuzzy type. Reminds me a lot of Ratchet, actually… She's a seeker but Star doesn't know her. He needs someone he knows right now."

"I will do whatever I can to help," Skyfire readily promised.

"Come on," Ironhide said, motioning to the elevator. "Optimus is waitin' with Star in the room." As Skyfire carefully folded himself into the elevator behind Ironhide, Ironhide gave him a sympathetic look. Skyfire had to stoop at the waist to fit with his chin tucked almost to his chest plate. The tips of his wings brushed against both sides of the car. "Sorry. But it was best fer yeh ta meet me on the roof. There's a permanent crowd of reporters camped out in front 'a the hospital now. When Prowl and Jazz stopped by the other orn they almost got mobbed by 'em. Security already caught two reporters tryin' ta sneak into the patient wing 'a the hospital. They're like a pack of turbo-foxes fightin' over a dead petro-rabbit."

"That is distressing to hear," Skyfire murmured, disgusted. How could people be so desperate for a story that they would try and invade the recovery room of a badly injured sparkling? "I assume Prowl and Jazz or Ratchet have arranged for guards?"

"Yea. Got two of 'em stationed outside 'a Star's room, round the clock."

The elevator dinged and its doors slid open. Ironhide lead Skyfire down a series of identical looking hallways.

"How have you and Optimus been holding up?" Skyfire asked as they walked.

Ironhide heaved a tired sigh. "We're managin'…"

He did not elaborate and Skyfire did not feel right trying to press the question. He wondered, though, how much – if any – recharge the two had gotten since Starfall's return. He couldn't imagine it was much.

They turned a bend at the end of a hallway and Skyfire spotted two armed mechs standing guard on either side of a closed door. Ironhide briefly paused in front of them when they drew near.

"This is Skyfire," Ironhide said, gabbing his thumb at Skyfire over his shoulder. "He's a family friend. He's got both the Prime's an' my permission ta be here. He's gonna be visitin' here a lot so spread the word ta the other guards. He's not ta ever be stopped."

"Yes, sir," both guard obediently nodded.

Skyfire offered a polite smile to both of them as he followed Ironhide past the two guards into Starfall's room. The room was dimly lit. The only illumination was from a single bank of florescent lights at the head of the hospital berth positioned against the far wall and a tele-consol that was playing news on mute in the corner. Optimus sat in a chair close to the side of the berth. His battle mask was contracted over his mouth, but Skyfire could still see the exhaustion clouding the Prime's optics. Thick rings of pale gray protomatter ringed his optics.

"Skyfire," Optimus greeted. His voice was tired. He stood to meet Skyfire. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Of course," Skyfire said. He gripped the hand Optimus offered him in greeting. Closer now, Optimus looked even more tired than he had at a distance. "I would never refuse Star a visit. How is he?"

Optimus glanced over his shoulder towards the berth. Starfall lay face down on the berth. His body was like a tiny island in the sea of the berth's white padded surface. Bandages covered his back. "Not well," Optimus murmured. All the exhaustion of his features seeped into his voice. "He woke up this morning enough to finally be cognitive of his surroundings and found out that his wings are gone. He did not take the news well. He immediately demanded to talk to you. Ironhide and I tried to talk to him, but… he's so upset… I think he just needs to talk to another flier right now…"

Skyfire's spark nearly broke at the helplessness in Optimus's voice.

"I will do what I can," he promised the exhausted Matrix-bearer. He gestured with his chin towards Starfall's berth. "May I?"

Optimus and Ironhide both nodded encouragingly.

With a forced, reassuring smile, Skyfire quietly stole to the side of Starfall's berth. He sat in the chair Optimus had just vacated. Although padded, it was extremely uncomfortable. Were these the chairs the hospital gave visitors? They were horrible.

Focusing on the sleeping sparkling in the berth, Skyfire leaned forward. "Star? Star, can you hear me?" He reached over the railing on the side of the berth and gently ran the back of his fingers along the curve of Starfall's cheek plate. "Star? Wake up. It's Skyfire."

A murmured groan answered him. Turquoise optics groggily flickered online and stared up at him.

"Hello, Star," Skyfire smiled. He tried to control his emotions. For over a orn he'd believed he'd lost Starscream a second time. Seeing Starfall's optics light at the sound of his voice was nothing short of a miracle in his opinion.

"Skyfire?" Starfall mumbled. His voice was garbled and heavily drugged. Skyfire leaned closer to understand him.

"Yes. It's me, Star. How are you?"

Starfall sleepily squirmed on the berth. Skyfire rested one hand on the tiny seeker's shoulder joint where there didn't appear to be any injuries to help focus Starfall's attention on him. Painful looking dents and scratches covered Starfall's entire body from his shoulders all the way down to his pedes. A nest of wires and tubes trailed off his body to a multitude of machines positioned around the berth. The sight made Skyfire's fuel tank turn. He knew Starfall had been seriously damaged, but somehow seeing Crosshairs' handiwork for himself made the reality of what happened even more appalling. Skyfire tried not to focus on the bandaged flatness of Starfall's back where his wings used to be.

"'m tired…" Starfall murmured. He squirmed more and released a soft moan.

"Don't move too much. You're going to aggravate your wounds."

Starfall seemed to wake up a little more. He flickered his optics into sharper focus. As he stared up at Skyfire his face slowly crumbled in agonized misery. "My wings are gone, Skyfire." A heartbroken sob clicked in the back of his throat. "I can't fly anymore."

"I know, Star, but it's going to be okay. Your fathers told me that you are going to get a new pair of wings very soon."

"But they're not gonna be mine," Starfall angrily sobbed, his face half-buried in the berthmat. "Mine had wing stripes. Mine were special."

Skyfire leaned down over the side of the berth so that his face was closer to Starfall's own. He held the upset sparkling's gaze with his own. "I know how you feel. I once badly hurt my wings too. The medics had to replace almost everything except for some of the outer plating. I couldn't fly for almost a full lunar cycle. But once I was released I made those new wings my own."

Starfall lay for a moment of quiet contemplation. "But… what if they can't fix my wings? What if I can't ever fly again? I'll next be able to go flying with you again."

Skyfire gave Starfall a small smile. "I have no doubt in my mind that Ratchet will get you back into the air. He is the best medic I know. He also has a Vosian medic helping him. If they can't make you flight worthy again no one can."

"But what if they can't?" Starfall insisted. His voice cracked with emotion. He buried his face deeper into the berthmat and softly murmured, almost to himself, "If I can't fly you're never gonna wanna see me again…"

Skyfire felt his spark break at the helpless fear in Starfall's voice. He moved his hand to the back of Starfall's head, urging him to look up from the mat and meet his optics. "That will not happen, Star. They will make you fly again. And even if they couldn't I wouldn't want to stop seeing you."

"You wouldn't?"

"No," Skyfire smiled. "I enjoy your company. I promise that as soon as you are well enough to go flying we will go together. I even brought you something for when you're better." He opened a subspace compartment in his forearm and carefully withdrew four long strips of light blue colored enamel.

"Wing stripes?" Starfall said, excitedly pushing himself off the berth to better see. He gasped slightly at the movement, but he seemed too enraptured by Skyfire's gift to properly register the pain.

Skyfire nodded. "I was waiting to give you a new set as a creation day present, but since you will be getting a new set of wings before then, I figured it wouldn't hurt giving you these a little early."

Starfall gingerly reached out and trailed one finger across the shiny enamel surface. "Thank you," he murmured. He looked overwhelmed. A small ring of static circled the edges of his optics. His bottom lip quivered slightly with emotion.

Skyfire set the wing stripes aside on a small end table positioned next to Starfall's berth. He reached into his subspace compartment again. "I brought you something else too." He retracted a data pad from its depths. "I know you like to read. I just hope you don't already have this story. I thought it sounded interesting." Honestly, Skyfire hadn't investigated it that much. It had just been the first title to catch Skyfire's eye when he'd stormed into the data pad shop for a get-well present before speeding on to the hospital. He held the data pad out for Starfall to read the front.

"No. I don't have it," Starfall said. "Thank you."

Skyfire smiled, relieved.

"How long are you gonna stay?" Starfall asked.

Skyfire glanced over at Optimus and Ironhide. Optimus had settled himself in the room's other visitor chair. Ironhide stood just behind Optimus, like a sentry protectively watching over his sparkmate and son.

"You are welcome to stay for as long as you want," Optimus said.

"I can stay and watch Star if you two want to go get some fuel or a few joors of recharge. No offense to either of you, but you both look like you need some."

Ironhide leaned over the back of Optimus's chair. "Yeh should get some recharge, Optimus. And some fuel. Yer runnin' on fumes right now." Skyfire could hear the concern in Ironhide's voice.

"So should you," Optimus countered. "You have gotten as many joors of sleep as I have since we got here."

"I can watch Star," Skyfire insisted. "He will be safe with me."

The two hesitated, obviously reluctant to leave their son even for awhile. They shared a silent, searching look with each other. For a moment Skyfire was sure they were going to decline his offer. But then – perhaps recognizing that they needed to tend to their own needs before they could properly care for their son and that Skyfire was the only suitable replacement for themselves at Starfall's berthside – Optimus gave a tiny nod of acquiescence.

Optimus painfully got to his feet and came around to the other side of Starfall's berth. He leaned over and rested a hand on the back of his son's helm. "We will be back in a while. Skyfire will stay with you until we get back."

"Okay," Starfall tiredly murmured.

Optimus glanced over at Skyfire. "Are you sure you're alright watching over Star for awhile?"

"Of course," Skyfire nodded. "Go. Get some fuel and recharge. I'll watch him. I won't leave until you come back."

"Thank you," Optimus gratefully bowed his head. "Ratchet offered us a room near his office to recharge in whenever we finally decided to get some rest. It has actual berths in it instead of just a rollaway. If you need us just contact Ratchet. His number is saved on the vid-com. He should be stopping by to check on Star in a joor or two with Lightningstrike."

"Take care of 'im til we get back," Ironhide sternly ordered.

Skyfire offered him a small smile. "I will."

As Optimus and Ironhide headed for the door, Skyfire returned his attention back to Starfall. "Would you like me to read a few chapters from your new data pad?"

Starfall nodded against the berthmat. "Yea…" His optics were fuzzy around the edges, his voice garbled. Skyfire wondered how long he would actually stay awake once he started reading. Whatever painkillers Ratchet had Starfall on would probably knock him out in a few minutes. The sparkling was hanging onto consciousness by only a thread as it was. Still, Skyfire wanted to do something to help Starfall relax.

Resting his elbow joints on the edge of Starfall's berthmat, Skyfire activated Starfall's new data pad. Starfall stared up at him as Skyfire began reading, his optics slowly fading from light to dark and back again as he struggled to stay awake. Skyfire read, his voice a low relaxing rumble over the soft beeping of the machines around Starfall's bed. Several paragraphs onto the fifth page, Skyfire glanced up to check on the young seeker. As expected, Starfall was no longer online. His vents cycled air in and out in a relaxed rhythm. Skyfire could detect no sign of discomfort in the injured flier's body. He seemed to be resting comfortably.

Turning the data pad off, Skyfire leaned back in his chair and studied the gentle rise and fall of Starfall's back to the rhythm of his ventilation systems. The bandaged section of Starfall's back was still difficult for Skyfire to look at, but at least there was hope of Starfall being made flight-worthy again. There was actually a lot of hope now that Starfall was no longer dead. He had not lied to Starfall when he'd said he believed in Ratchet and his Vosian assistant's ability to repair him. They would make him able to fly again. Right now it was just a matter of patience.

To be continued

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