"Cause it's a breach of security, Wolf", said Optimus, as he walked into the brig.
Both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe looked towards Prime. "I can't believe you would do this to our sister, Prime", Sideswipe said. Optimus knew that Sideswipe was mad.
"Would you do this to your own brother, too?", asked Sideswipe.
"If I had a brother and if I knew he was a security risk, yes, I would", Prime said.
"You'd probably throw your girlfriend in the brig too if she was a security risk, wouldn't you? Hell, I wouldn't put it past you to throw Alpha Trion in the brig", Sideswipe said.
"Sunny, get your brother out of here. All he's doing is pissing Optimus off. I'll see you after the hearing tomorrow, ok", I said.
After they left, I apologized to Prime for Sideswipe's blatant outburst. "He has a right to be mad. But he had no right to get into my personal life. I'll talk to him after I leave here. Which brings me to why I'm here. I'm appointing you an attorney for tomorrow. He should be arriving to Earth soon", said Optimus.
"Who? And why do I need an attorney, anyways?", I asked.
"It's standard procedure for a court hearing. And the attorney I'm appointing you to is a good friend of mine. His name is Ultra Magnus", Prime said.
"I thought you didn't get close to your soldiers, Prime?", I asked.
"He's another exception. He was my attorney when I had to face criminal charges. Of course, this is when I was younger. I didn't realize how much trouble I was in, 'til the charges were brought up against me", said Optimus.
"So, why can't you represent me?", I asked.
Before Prime answered, his comm. went off. "Yes", Prime said.
"Ultra Magnus just arrived, sir", Bumblebee said.
"Thank you, Bumblebee. I'll speak with him shortly. Optimus out", he said.
After Prime shut his comm. off, he repeated the question. "You asked why can't I represent you tomorrow morning, right?", asked Optimus.
I nodded my head yes. "I can't cause you're facing me and 4 other Autobots in the morning. You'll be standing in front of Ratchet, Ironhide, Prowl, Jazz and myself. If you wish, I can arrange to have Sunstreaker and Sideswipe to be there with you", Prime said.
"No", I said, shaking my head.
"Fair enough. I'll see you tomorrow morning then. Try to get some sleep, ok", said Optimus.
"Yeah, I'll try. How does it look for me, Prime?", I asked.
"Honestly Wolf, I can't tell you. We'll just have to wait and see. Good night, Wolf", Prime said.
"Good night, Optimus", I said. Then he left the brig area. Prime knew that it didn't look good for me and he was going to regret giving me the maximum punishment.
After Prime left, I laid down on the cold, hard floor. I tried to get some sleep. I tossed and turned, but couldn't sleep. "The hell with trying to sleep. I need Ratchet to take a look at my right shoulder, anyway", I said, as I rotated my shoulder. It hurt every time I moved it. I opened a comm. line to Ratchet in med bay.
"Ratchet, it's Wolf. You there?", I asked.
"Where else would I be? What do you want?", Ratchet asked. I knew he sounded irritable on the other end of the comm. line.
"You ok, Ratchet? You sound upset about something", I said.
"I'm fine. Now, what do you need?", asked Ratchet.
"I need you to take a look at my right shoulder. It's bothering me again", I said.
"Yeah, I'll take a look at it again. Come on in", Ratchet said.
"I can't", I said.
"What do you mean you can't? What happened to you?", asked Ratchet.
"I'll tell you when you get down to the brig", I said.
"I'm sorry, but my audio receptors must be failing, but I could have sworn you said brig", Ratchet said. "No, you're not losing your hearing. I really am in the brig", I said.
"You pissed Prowl off again, didn't you?", asked Ratchet.
"No. This has nothing to do with Prowl. If you must know, I'm a security risk. I'm facing a court hearing tomorrow morning", I said.
"Not if your shoulder is hurting as much as you say it is. I'll be down shortly. Ratchet out", he said.
A short while later, Ratchet showed up in the brig. "So, how bad does it hurt, on a scale of 1 to 10?", Ratchet asked.
"It hurts like a mother fragger", I said, trying to ignore the pain.
"So, it's a 10, huh? Swing your arm in a pendulum type motion for me, please", said Ratchet.
I did what he asked me to do, and it hurt worse every time I moved it. "Fraggin' hell!", I yelled.
After a minute or two, he told me to stop. "So, what's the verdict, doc? What's wrong with my shoulder?", I asked.
"It's just what I thought. Your entire shoulder joint is in need of total replacement. The gears are worn out. Not even lubing them will make them work again. I can start working on your shoulder tonight and finish it tomorrow by the afternoon. After that, your arm will be in a sling 'til it heals", Ratchet said.
"What about Prime? You're going to tell him, right?", I asked.
"Of course. Right after I get you to med bay", said Ratchet.
"He's probably still in his office", I said.
"That's not surprising. He always overworks himself. It's also his way of hiding from everyone. After he lost Elita during the war, he swore he would never get close to anyone again. There's only 2 Autobots he made that exception for. Ironhide and Magnus", Ratchet said.
"And me", I said.
"And there's a good reason for that. He told me that you remind him of her. I thought it was a nice compliment he gave you", said Ratchet.
"That was a nice compliment he gave me. I'll have to thank him for that", I said.
"I'll tell him for you", Ratchet said.
"You sure you won't mind?", I asked.
"Not at all. I don't mind doing things for my friends. And you are my friend, Wolf", said Ratchet.
I smiled at Ratchet. I wanted to tell him that I have a major crush on him, but I didn't want to scare or shock him. So, I kept it to myself.
When we arrived at med bay, Ratchet pulled out a key and unlocked the door.
"So, when was this put in?", I asked.
"I installed it while you were in school. I'm still shocked that Sunstreaker took that 4 year medical course", Ratchet said.
"I'm glad he took it. I think it made him realize that you're not going to be around forever. I think he's the perfect candidate to take over someday. Don't you think?", I said.
"I agree completely. I'll talk to him sometime tomorrow about it. Right now, I'm going to start working on your right shoulder. I'll work on it as much as I can, tonight. Then before I call it a night, I'll stop by Prime's office and let him know", said Ratchet.
"Sounds good, Ratch", I said.
It took Ratchet about 4 hours to take my shoulder apart. Everything was practically rusted and a real glitch to remove every single part, but he managed to do it with a lot of swearing.