Sunstreaker's P.O.V.
"No, I'm not leaving," I insist as Sideswipe and Rung walk down the hall, "who knows what Yazmine said, but we know Jasmine's mental state will be terrible. I-I fear it's to where she's a danger to herself and others."
"But she'll panic if we take Audrey with us," Sideswipe adds, "I'm staying here," Rung doesn't argue. He continues down the hall. Likely reporting the situation to Optimus and Lennox, "did that glitch finally win?" Sideswipe worries.
We know this could go two ways; serious depression or violence. Either way isn't good for Audrey or Jasmine.
I quietly get my knives from the room and put them in my subspace. Debating on if I should take Ratchet's gun for now.
"What are you doing?" Ratchet whispers.
"I thought you were asleep. Cleaning my knife collection before Jasmine wakes up. We will need to talk later."
With that, I leave the room.
I want the two femmes staying with Sideswipe and me, but I know the others will say I'm the worst, not for Jasmine right now. She'll need to be guarded to ensure she can't hurt herself. It's hard to think that at least she's not attacking others — yet — when the alternative isn't great. No one is going to believe that I want to help Jasmine. I feel like she's a fraction of myself and fear she could get worse, putting Audrey in danger.
"... and you are not a danger to her?" Ironhide asks, "you're the worst bot for her to be around right now!"
There's no arguing with this.
"I don't think Jasmine can deal with new bots being with her, and clearly we can't leave Jasmine alone," Rung argues, "and even with Jolt, Ratchet can't stop being our medic for who knows how long."
"We have twenty patients now, and we don't know if Ambulon or First Aid is even alive. Even if they are, we can't contact them," Jolt argues, "even with help from the hospital, Ratchet will not step away from the medbay."
Optimus agrees with Jolt and Rung. There's a chance Jasmine will hurt herself and not think I did it. Rung agrees with this. We inform Ryley about this, but not why the others disagree with this arrangement. The plan is for Optimus to tell Ratchet while Sideswipe and I are with Audrey and Jasmine.
"I worry they just lost everything," Ryley sighs, "two weeks isn't enough to help Jasmine. Even if she is not violent, there's no chance of visitation rights."
We know there's a lot of work to dodo. Even before what happened, there was the concern that the judge will expect a full recovery, which would not happen in a month, but now...
"You're not going on a mission to find them!" Optimus orders.
"I should, but I can't leave Jasmine," I admit, which surprises Optimus.
Ratchet's P.O.V.
I couldn't sleep for long. Afraid Jasmine would wake up and hurt herself, I don't think she'd hurt Audrey. The baby is asleep in her crib, and I'm terrified she'll be taken away from us. That Jasmine will be sent to a mental institution.
Sideswipe's P.O.V.
"I worry things will not end well for them," I tell Sunstreaker as we walk down the hall.
"All we can do is hope—."
"Ratchet!"
I rush to the medic sitting on the floor, hyperventilating.
"Ratchet, calm down."
"They're taking both of my femmes away."
"I've alerted Rung," Sunstreaker tells me and goes into our room, "both femmes are asleep," he adds and closes the door.
I do not know what to do, but I hate waiting for Rung.
"Ratchet, hey, look at me," Rung instructs as he sits on his knees in front of Ratchet.
Sideswipe, is Rung there yet? Sunstreaker asks through the bond.
Yeah, he's trying to get Ratchet to calm down.
I hope it's before Jasmine wakes up. She'll still be shaken up from the attack.
Ratchet struggles to relax. I wish we could get answers, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ratchet had already tried to figure out what the judge is looking for. Surely, the judge knows there's no way Jasmine will be fully recovered from what her sister put her through in a month.
Optimus Prime's P.O.V.
I never would expect to find out Ratchet is having an anxiety attack after all the centuries of war and worrying about Compass. Unless he worried about her in secret. I can contact the lawyer dealing with this case, but I don't think I can present any arguments or evidence that Jasmine won't be fully recovered; we will help her and keep her and Audrey safe.
"Alex, come in," Florence greets me and allows me to enter her office, "I hope I can help you, Optimus," she adds once the door is closed.
I sit on the chair in front of the desk while Florence sits behind the desk, "how can I help you?"
"I'm not sure if you can. Do you know what the judge is looking for to rule that Jasmine and Ratchet can adopt Audrey?"
"Unfortunately, I do not. All I can do is strongly urge the judge not to expect a full recovery, but anything that would put Audrey in danger won't be good."
"As I thought, thank you."
"As a friend, not a lawyer, I want to ask, what happened?"
I can tell she will not turn around and use this against us, but she also believes if Jasmine is too depressed to care for Audrey most of the time or is violent, then that'll be used against Jasmine and Ratchet. I know Rung will not lie in his report, no matter how much he doesn't want Audrey to be taken away from Jasmine and Ratchet.
I can only order Ratchet to take time off and get help from the hospital, but I know Ratchet will refuse to do that.
"Yeah, he will not do that," Jolt confirms when I tell him the only way we can help Jasmine, "even while he's terrified to lose everything. To him, he's failing the patients if he walks away, even if it's helping his family."
It's hard not knowing how to help Jasmine and Ratchet. Just watching and hoping the judge will understand a full recovery would not happen in a month. There has to be something that we can do to help the case and that I can do to help Jasmine and Ratchet.