Skywriter opened one optic, and peered cautiously at the ceiling. She decided to wake up then, and sat up. Immediately, her head swam, and she flopped back down.

"Skywriter! Oh thank Primus you're ok!"

Skywriter looked over at the source of the voice, and saw Sideswipe being held back by a very annoyed Ratchet. She chuckled, and called, "Hey, Sides! Yeah, I'm ok. Ratchet, um…you can let him in…I'm not dying, I don't think." She sat up, slowly, and stood up. She leaned back against the medical berth, and winked.

Ratchet sighed, and moved away to allow Sideswipe inside. The red twin happily brushed past him, over to a giggling Skywriter. She suddenly grabbed his shoulders, and held him out at arm's length. "What happened before, Sideswipe? Are you and Sunstreaker ok? Is everyone else ok?" She took a quick peek around the medbay, and, realizing she was the only one there, said, "Why am I the only one in here?"

"Yes, Sunstreaker is fine. His injuries looked far worse than they were," Ratchet answered.

"That's good. So, how long was I out?" she asked, sounding joking.

"Sky…you were asleep for two days," Sideswipe told her. He wasn't joking. Skywriter looked down, and let her hands fall. Her shoulders slumped. "I…two days? …Wow…I wasn't expecting that." She stood up, and made as if to leave the medbay.

Ratchet caught her, putting a gently forceful hand on her shoulder. "Skywriter, you ought to stay here-" he began.

"What I ought to do is different than what I'm going to do," Skywriter replied icily. She moved closer to the door, but again the medicalbot held her back.

"I should get Prime to order you to stay here," Ratchet said angrily.

"Am I hurt?"

"…Well, no but-"

"Then I'm going," she finished. Before Ratchet had another chance to object, Skywriter walked out of the bay. Sideswipe followed, chuckling to himself. "Stubborn much?" he asked.

"Sometimes, yes, but I have a…problem with medbays," Skywriter answered hesitantly. She looked away shyly, suddenly very self-conscious. She flinched when Sideswipe took her hand.

She sadly took it out. "I-I don't want to talk about it," Skywriter whispered. She fought against tears that threatened to spill out of her optics. She suddenly turned, and ran off. The femme wasn't surprised when she found herself outside, and sat down heavily on a rock. "Why me?" she whispered, letting the tears fall. "Why does everything happen to me?"

Skywriter stiffened as she heard the sounds of a landing jet. She slipped off into the trees, and headed towards the sound. What she saw frightened her. Starscream was half-kneeling in a small clearing, clutching at a large side wound, and moaning in pain.

She watched as he tried to work on them, but the pain proved too much, and he stopped. Skywriter moved closer, into the meadow. The moonlight glinted off her armor, alerting the Decepticon.

"Don't m-move," he stammered. Skywriter ignored him, and moved closer. "You're in no state to fight, myself or otherwise. You ought to let me help, or better yet Ratchet-"

"Stay away!" he hissed. "Why are you c-concerned, anyway?" Starscream glared viciously at her, but she seemed unfazed as she said, "You know very well why, Screamer. And it's no use, I'm helping anyway." Skywriter moved as if to help him, but the Decepticon pointed a very intimidating blaster in her face. She backed up, and placed her hands on her hips. "Fine, be that way then. I'll just be going, and you can depend on whoever you always go to for repairs-" Skywriter continued on, getting in as many jabs and pokes at him and the Decepticons as she could. She transformed into her Lamborghini Superleggera, and started driving off.

"No-wait…go on and fix me," Starscream said begrudgingly. Skywriter transformed back, and walked over to him. She knelt down, and suddenly had a horrible, wrenching thought. She jerked back, clasping her hands over her mouth. "I-I…oh Primus…"

The Seeker shot her an enraged look.

"Sky? Sky, c'mon, please." Sideswipe's voice was getting closer and closer.

"Starscream, let me deal with him, just stay here, please," Skywriter begged. She dashed off when he nodded hesitantly, and almost bumped right into Sideswipe. He reached out, and caught her wrists, holding her there.

"Sideswipe, let me go! I won't run, I promise!" Skywriter sighed when he held on.

"Sky, what happened back there?" Sideswipe asked. He stubbornly refused to let go.

The femme let her shoulders slump, and felt as the red Lamborghini lessened his grip slightly. With a savage wrench, Skywriter pulled herself free. "Look, I don't wanna talk about it, ok? It's…complicated." She felt Energon tears brimming in her optics, and looked away in an effort to hide them. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Sky…it's ok. Just listen-"

"No! Just leave… Sideswipe, this isn't fair! Nothing's fair anymore!" she cried out. Skywriter turned away, and whispered, "Just go, ok?"

Sideswipe backed up, then turned and ran off. The femme let herself fall to the ground, onto her knees, and let the tears flow freely. She didn't move when she heard a noise, but flinched when she felt a gentle hand on her arm.

"Starscream…surely you don't care, do you?" Skywriter still had the sense to sit up, and blink the tears away. She pushed the Seeker's hand away, and said, "You still want me to repair you, right?" He nodded, and she carefully set to work.

After a moment, Starscream decided, albeit hesitantly, to break the silence. "What upset you so much? I've never seen you break down like that." He sounded very hesitant, provided with an awkward situation.

Skywriter mumbled something, then raised her voice a little. "I don't wanna talk about it." She frowned, and blinked hard, trying to clear a few stray Energon tears. She finished her repairs in silence, then said, "Ok Starscream, you're free to go. Be careful, though. I don't want to have to come up with excuses so soon."

The Seeker left without a word, and Skywriter went off to find Sideswipe. Her intuition told her he wouldn't be inside, and she was right: he was on the other side of the base. She could see the pain clearly etched on his face, and wondered how long he had spent away from Sunstreaker. She had guessed they were close.

"Sideswipe?" She inwardly hit herself when he flinched. "Sideswipe, look, about earlier, I'm really sorry, I-"

"Don't. It's obvious you don't care, so take your own advice, and just go." His voice was cold, but layers of pain were hidden beneath.

Skywriter took no notice, and came closer. "Sideswipe, please. I was upset, and…for good reason. I hate medbays, more than you can imagine, and it set me off. The last place I wanna wake up is in a medbay! I'd even prefer Decepticon HQ to there. That's how much I hate medbays." She stepped closer. "Don't you see? I wasn't mad at you, just at myself. I let my hatred get in my way, and I swore not to, but I did again. That's what was wrong, and both you and-" Skywriter broke off, shocked at herself for nearly saying something she hadn't meant to. She hoped he hadn't noticed.

Sideswipe had noticed, though, and said, "Me and who?"

"Nobody-listen. I'm really sorry, ok? Please, fighting with my friends isn't in my top priorities, k?"

He smiled, and motioned towards the spot next to him. "If you're not too upset, what's your issue with medbays? Other than the Medic of Doom being in there?"

Skywriter laughed softly, but then turned serious. "Sides, I really can't tell anyone, ok? It's too personal."

"I understand," he said gently. He reached out hesitantly, and took her hand. She smiled, and whispered, "Thanks for being my friend." The two looked out at the horizon, and watched the sunrise over the hills, bathing them in golden light.

Fluffy chapter!! A little shorter, but I had trouble getting it to flow well, so let me know if it seems choppy, and I'll fix it.

Thanks to tigger79, RumbleStrip, mutated glow worm, and OSR4ever for reviewing!