Wheeljack was in a lot of pain, so Arcee had little to no choice on what she should do next. She set herself up for surgery, then she put Wheeljack in stasis. She had three Energon cubes by her, what she managed to find in storage and in the RecRoom. It wasn't a lot, and it left no room for error. She had to remove both optics without any mistake. She had to clip the right wires in the right order or else she could risk cutting the wrong wire and making Wheeljack's spark pump the Energon right out of him within moments.

No pressure.

She took a deep breath and she prepared herself mentally before she went about removing the optics.

ooo

Wheeljack woke up slowly. The world was dark, but that had been expected. He had actually grown accustomed to it over the past...how many days has it been? Two? Maybe not even a day? He wasn't sure. He sat up, but gentle servos pushed him back down.

"Easy, Wheeljack."

Arcee. He had forgotten what she looked like, but her voice stayed with him. He smiled. "Worried about me, huh? Silly Arcee. I've gone and gotten blown up before."

"Have you lost both optics before?"

"No, but I've come pretty dang close!" He chuckled and reached out to touch her face. He poked her in the audio. "Primus..." He moved his servo over and drove his thumb into her optic. "Almost there." He felt her servo grab his and guide it to cradle her cheek. "Okay, so maybe I need a little work, but I'll be okay."

"You think so, don't you?" Wheeljack could almost hear her optics roll around in their sockets.

"Where's Prime's big aft?"

"Still looking for Energon."

Wheeljack dropped his servo and he sat up. "Think he's coming back? How many cubes did you use on me to cover up your mistakes?"

"Two. And a half."

"Primus, Arcee. And I thought I was in good servos. You could have killed me!"

He was teasing of course, but Arcee, she flinched. He could feel it, he just wasn't sure how. He knew she was looking away, probably studying the ground or an interesting speck on the wall... "Arcee, I was just kidding. I'm really, really grateful, and to prove them, I'm quitting cold turkey. No more grenades."

He gave it a pause.

"After I blow up my supply. No way am I wasting valuable grenades just because of a little accid-"

He heard engines as they rumbled. He heard tires squeal to a stop and the sound of Team Prime transforming.

There was silence and Wheeljack moved his helm slightly to pick up any sound. It was scaring him, not being able to see or hear what was going on. He decided he didn't like that feeling.

"Arcee? What have you done to Wheeljack?" Ratchet's voice. Not happy. In shock?

"Arcee, why did you not contact us if there was a problem?" Optimus. Concerned. Good old Optimus.

"Jackie, what happened to you?" Bulkhead. Scared.

Arcee's voice was furious and irritated. "I tried to contact you guys, but you didn't respond! Ratchet kept ignoring my calls, Bulkhead, you never answered your comm..." She took a deep breath. Wheeljack knew she was trembling. She was stressed out.

"Guys, I'm fine. Just had a little grenade accident and now I'm blind as a bat, but that's okay. No more grenades. And I'll probably be better as a doorstop than anything else now."

Optimus moved closer. Wheeljack didn't have to see to know it was Optimus. He could feel the floor tremor under his pedes. He tipped his helm back by habit.

"Wheeljack, I apologize for your disability."

"Hey, maybe Ratch' can make some new awesome robot-eyes for you!" Miko, always looking on the bright side. Primus, what did she think they were? Gods?

"Yeah, like how he fixed Bee's voice box. Soon, I'll be able to see through sonar and echolocation."

"Pretty big words for a Wrecker, Jackie. Did you strain yourself?"

Wheeljack reached out for Bulkhead, jabbing Optimus in the belly with his thumb. "You, thumb, and I have some words to say to each other. Bulk, get over here so I can pat your shoulder and tell you something!"

He finally located Bulkhead and he cleared his throat. "Bulk, I strained myself so hard my optics flew out of my helm. No joke, true story, not pulling your leg, I won't even try to look for your leg to pull on it." He patted his shoulder. He groaned when he felt lighthelmed. "Whoa, now..."

Arcee laid him back down and Ratchet was over him in an instant.

"He's low on Energon!"

"Get a cube!"

"Wheeljack, stay with me, okay? Talk to me, how are you feeling?"

Wheeljack sighed softly. "Like my processor dropped out the back..."

"He's fine," Bulkhead said, teasing him. Wheeljack batted at him and smacked Arcee with the back of his servo.

"Primus forbid!"

Ratchet, after he had topped off Wheeljack's holding tank with pure Energon, looked at Arcee. "He's your charge. Help him survive without his sight just as Optimus tried to get you to survive without your legs."

Arcee grunted and looked down at the sleeping Wrecker. "I'm pretty sure Optimus was convinced I'd walk. He didn't really tell me how to live without my legs, he just tried to get me to walk until I could. Can't really do that with Wheeljack. Totally different problem.
Ratchet shrugged and he turned away. "You are still teaching him."

"Great. We'll play Marco Polo." Arcee sat down next to Wheeljack and she touched his cheek gently. "I wish I didn't have to remove his optics."

"You did what you had to do, Arcee." Ratchet turned around and he looked the blue femme in the optic. "You have impressed me."

She blinked in surprise.

"Where was that femme that did almost anything to try to get out of removing my T-cog?"

"She died of fright, but I'm sure I can find her again if you want her."

Ratchet rolled his optics and he touched Arcee's helm as he walked by. "Good night, Arcee."

Arcee smiled at his back, then looked down at Wheeljack, who was still sleeping, but a smile had formed on his lips as if he was peacefully dreaming. Probably of explosions, she thought and she pulled the blankets over him before she laid down on the other med-berth and watched him sleep until she closed her own optics and dreamed.