TG 'verse. Iacon. Aftermath
((takes place five days after this))
Panacea sighed as she gently transferred Sideswipe from the hover gurney to the recovery room berth. "Now you stay here so I can get back to work on your sister, alright?"
Weary blue optics flicked toward her and then shut off as the red femme nodded with mute listlessness.
The Autobot CMO sighed again. "Do you want any more pain killer?"
"You said I have to stay online so Sunny can feel me if she comes out of stasis." Sideswipe's voice was cracked and full of static.
"That doesn't mean you have to suffer. You're healing, too. She's going to need you to be strong." Panacea rested a hand on her shoulder.
Sideswipe shrugged weakly and turned her head away. "Just fix her... please."
"Right." Panacea turned away to go resume the seeming impossible task, her spark heavy in her breast as she prayed.
* * *
Red Alert groaned slightly as the medical drone transfered him to a berth, then lay back wearily and watched it go. His whole body ached and his audio receivers were still ringing from the sonic blast they'd received from a malfunctioning alarm. He was more than happy to rest quietly as ordered. Even Carbombian high grade couldn't lure him out of here this time.
Grumbling to himself softly, he offlined his optics and settled into recharge, only to jerk awake a few minutes later as something intruded on his senses.
He pushed up on an elbow to listen, his brow furrowing in a frown as he realized that someone was crying on the other side of the partition in the room. "Hello?"
The sound continued unabated, and his frown deepened as he realized that it was feminine. Forcing himself up further, he set his feet to the floor and paused a moment with his hand on the berth to steady himself before he walked around the partition to see what was wrong. When he saw who it was laying on the other berth he stopped with surprise. "Sideswipe?"
His former teammate flinched and looked toward him from where she lay curled on her side. "Wha... Red Alert? What are you doing here?"
"I had an accident," he said, frowning as he took in the fresh welds on her, and the cables that connected her to a bank of machinery near the wall. "What happened to you? I thought you and Sunstreaker were leading a unit on one of the borders."
"Glistig Alpha," she said woodenly, her optics shutting off again as tears glimmered in the soft light. "We were."
"Glistig Alpha...!" He started, then winced as he remembered the stories he'd heard about the fighting out on that rough border world. "Where's Sunstreaker?"
A whimper came from Sideswipe, and then she was crying in earnest.
Red Alert's mouth fell open as he stared in dismay, and then he was over by the berth, sitting on the side of it so that he could gather her carefully into his arms and hold her close. "She's not dead?"
She managed a head shake, but then all she could do was cling to him as her body shuddered with static and tears coated her cheeks.
"I can't feel her," she gasped, then keened softly. "I can't feel her!"
Stasis, he realized. If the golden femme was alive then she had to be in deep stasis for the kin bond to be so strained. And if she was that deeply off line....
Inferno and Firestar had never been that badly injured, but he could remember times when something had happened to them, and the sudden emptiness in his spark had nearly put him into a screaming panic.
"Is Panacea working on her?" He gently rubbed her back, trying to emote comfort and then remembering that she wasn't his sister and he couldn't.
Another nod had her head bumping his jaw, and he winced as it made his processor buzz. "She'll be alright, then. Panacea's as good as Ratchet was. She'll have Sunstreaker up and around in no time."
To his utter chagrin instead of reassuring his words brought on another storm of semi-hysterical static and tears. He held her through it, wracking his hard drive for some solution to the problem.
Then he smiled as inspiration hit. "Sideswipe? Do you want to be my sister?"
* * *
Panacea could hear her joints creaking slightly as she made her way slowly into Sideswipe's room to check on her. She was nearly falling into recharge on her feet after the hours she just spent trying to piece Sunstreaker back together, but she just needed to make sure that Sideswipe was al....
"What the fragging $%#%#@?" She stopped short and stared at the scene in front of her.
Red Alert looked up from where he sat with his back against the wall and a recharging Sideswipe snuggled in his arms. "She's clinging to me, so I couldn't put her down."
Panacea's expression softened. "She was crying?"
He nodded, his face full of empathy. "I was afraid she was going to overload something."
She walked over to scan both patients, her brow ridges lifting as she noticed something different about their spark readings.
"I see your family's grown," she said quietly, the smile that couldn't show on her face coming clearly in her words.
"She needs a sibling right now," he responded as quietly. "I know what it feels like when they're hurt. And she's never been alone before."
"No." Panacea gently passed a hand over Sideswipe's head, listening to the red femme sigh and murmur her sister's name.
"How's Sunstreaker?" He willed himself to stay calm so as to not transmit any alarm to his new sister. The kin bond wasn't generally strong enough to feel others' emotions through, but with the way she was sleeping the least little twitch could disturb her.
The white and black medic sighed. "Alive."
Red Alert looked up questioningly.
Panacea shook her head, then rubbed it as weariness seemed to kick her in the processor. "It's going to be a long, hard road. Only a miracle she's alive at all."
"Oh." His arms tightened slightly.
"Yeah," she nodded, then straightened with a groan. "You alright here? Or do you need help getting away?"
"It's not like my legs are going to go to sleep, like Sparkplug and Spike's used to." He shrugged carefully, then murmured and rocked slightly as Sideswipe started.
"Alright." Panacea turned away. "See ya in the morning. If I don't go now Rodimus will be coming to find me face down on the floor somewhere."
"Good rest," he said softly, his attention focused on his sister.
"Yeah." She glanced back, her shoulders drooping with relief as she saw the peaceful look on Sideswipe's face. If they could just keep the flighty femme quiet then she and her sister had a better chance of healing. And maybe with someone to look out for the jumpy security director might have a better chance of keeping himself out of trouble.
Thinking of the current Director of Security reminded her of the previous one.
-Miss you, Kup,- she thought wearily as she passed into the Cybertronian night.
Panacea sighed as she gently transferred Sideswipe from the hover gurney to the recovery room berth. "Now you stay here so I can get back to work on your sister, alright?"
Weary blue optics flicked toward her and then shut off as the red femme nodded with mute listlessness.
The Autobot CMO sighed again. "Do you want any more pain killer?"
"You said I have to stay online so Sunny can feel me if she comes out of stasis." Sideswipe's voice was cracked and full of static.
"That doesn't mean you have to suffer. You're healing, too. She's going to need you to be strong." Panacea rested a hand on her shoulder.
Sideswipe shrugged weakly and turned her head away. "Just fix her... please."
"Right." Panacea turned away to go resume the seeming impossible task, her spark heavy in her breast as she prayed.
* * *
Red Alert groaned slightly as the medical drone transfered him to a berth, then lay back wearily and watched it go. His whole body ached and his audio receivers were still ringing from the sonic blast they'd received from a malfunctioning alarm. He was more than happy to rest quietly as ordered. Even Carbombian high grade couldn't lure him out of here this time.
Grumbling to himself softly, he offlined his optics and settled into recharge, only to jerk awake a few minutes later as something intruded on his senses.
He pushed up on an elbow to listen, his brow furrowing in a frown as he realized that someone was crying on the other side of the partition in the room. "Hello?"
The sound continued unabated, and his frown deepened as he realized that it was feminine. Forcing himself up further, he set his feet to the floor and paused a moment with his hand on the berth to steady himself before he walked around the partition to see what was wrong. When he saw who it was laying on the other berth he stopped with surprise. "Sideswipe?"
His former teammate flinched and looked toward him from where she lay curled on her side. "Wha... Red Alert? What are you doing here?"
"I had an accident," he said, frowning as he took in the fresh welds on her, and the cables that connected her to a bank of machinery near the wall. "What happened to you? I thought you and Sunstreaker were leading a unit on one of the borders."
"Glistig Alpha," she said woodenly, her optics shutting off again as tears glimmered in the soft light. "We were."
"Glistig Alpha...!" He started, then winced as he remembered the stories he'd heard about the fighting out on that rough border world. "Where's Sunstreaker?"
A whimper came from Sideswipe, and then she was crying in earnest.
Red Alert's mouth fell open as he stared in dismay, and then he was over by the berth, sitting on the side of it so that he could gather her carefully into his arms and hold her close. "She's not dead?"
She managed a head shake, but then all she could do was cling to him as her body shuddered with static and tears coated her cheeks.
"I can't feel her," she gasped, then keened softly. "I can't feel her!"
Stasis, he realized. If the golden femme was alive then she had to be in deep stasis for the kin bond to be so strained. And if she was that deeply off line....
Inferno and Firestar had never been that badly injured, but he could remember times when something had happened to them, and the sudden emptiness in his spark had nearly put him into a screaming panic.
"Is Panacea working on her?" He gently rubbed her back, trying to emote comfort and then remembering that she wasn't his sister and he couldn't.
Another nod had her head bumping his jaw, and he winced as it made his processor buzz. "She'll be alright, then. Panacea's as good as Ratchet was. She'll have Sunstreaker up and around in no time."
To his utter chagrin instead of reassuring his words brought on another storm of semi-hysterical static and tears. He held her through it, wracking his hard drive for some solution to the problem.
Then he smiled as inspiration hit. "Sideswipe? Do you want to be my sister?"
* * *
Panacea could hear her joints creaking slightly as she made her way slowly into Sideswipe's room to check on her. She was nearly falling into recharge on her feet after the hours she just spent trying to piece Sunstreaker back together, but she just needed to make sure that Sideswipe was al....
"What the fragging $%#%#@?" She stopped short and stared at the scene in front of her.
Red Alert looked up from where he sat with his back against the wall and a recharging Sideswipe snuggled in his arms. "She's clinging to me, so I couldn't put her down."
Panacea's expression softened. "She was crying?"
He nodded, his face full of empathy. "I was afraid she was going to overload something."
She walked over to scan both patients, her brow ridges lifting as she noticed something different about their spark readings.
"I see your family's grown," she said quietly, the smile that couldn't show on her face coming clearly in her words.
"She needs a sibling right now," he responded as quietly. "I know what it feels like when they're hurt. And she's never been alone before."
"No." Panacea gently passed a hand over Sideswipe's head, listening to the red femme sigh and murmur her sister's name.
"How's Sunstreaker?" He willed himself to stay calm so as to not transmit any alarm to his new sister. The kin bond wasn't generally strong enough to feel others' emotions through, but with the way she was sleeping the least little twitch could disturb her.
The white and black medic sighed. "Alive."
Red Alert looked up questioningly.
Panacea shook her head, then rubbed it as weariness seemed to kick her in the processor. "It's going to be a long, hard road. Only a miracle she's alive at all."
"Oh." His arms tightened slightly.
"Yeah," she nodded, then straightened with a groan. "You alright here? Or do you need help getting away?"
"It's not like my legs are going to go to sleep, like Sparkplug and Spike's used to." He shrugged carefully, then murmured and rocked slightly as Sideswipe started.
"Alright." Panacea turned away. "See ya in the morning. If I don't go now Rodimus will be coming to find me face down on the floor somewhere."
"Good rest," he said softly, his attention focused on his sister.
"Yeah." She glanced back, her shoulders drooping with relief as she saw the peaceful look on Sideswipe's face. If they could just keep the flighty femme quiet then she and her sister had a better chance of healing. And maybe with someone to look out for the jumpy security director might have a better chance of keeping himself out of trouble.
Thinking of the current Director of Security reminded her of the previous one.
-Miss you, Kup,- she thought wearily as she passed into the Cybertronian night.