| abstract
| - October 01, 2011 (Repair Depot, Iacon) --- Robustus follows Horizon quietly through the hallways of Iacon until he leads him to the repair depot. He barely gives the room itself a glance, more intent on where First Aid is among the rooms. Horizon remained fairly quiet as he shows Robustus in to where he can finally meet with First Aid. He stands at attention at the doorway, not needing to really be privvy to the conversation, but patiently waiting to escort Robustus back to the Inn or be dismissed of his duties. First Aid is sitting on a berth near the door to the darkened CMO's office, talking quietly with another mech. The missing plating on his torso and shoulders has been replaced, although not yet painted, as has the missing optic, and his faceplates repaired. His arms are tucked against his sides, his hands- whether or not they've been repaired- not visible from a distance. Groove leans closer to his brother with a small smile, saying something two quiet to hear. He pauses when he catches sight of the two mechs who just entered, and he tilts his head a little in confusion. "Hello?" He greets a bit warily, vaguely recognizing the truck from before. Robustus gives Horizon a nod in thanks, then takes a long, slow look at the condition of the young mech before he approaches. No doubt seeing what repairs have been done and to what degree they have been done. He stops beside the medical berth, "First Aid." he intones softly, placing a hand on the youths' shoulder. The other mech is given a nod and smile, indicating he is aware he interrupted their conversation. "Hello." offered back. The mech no long bears the hated sigil of the other army, his chest once again bare metal. First Aid looks up, slightly startled at how close someone had gotten without him noticing, but covers the twitch with a geniune smile. "Robustus." Groove just watches silently, though there's the hint of a frown on his faceplates, as if he's not quite sure what to think of what he's seeing. Robustus's fingers flex gently against the mech's shoulder. His smile is as geniune, "It is good to see you awake and alive." he notes, "I wish I could have helped with your repairs..." he drifts off and vents softly, ".. but I understand why I could not. I am just thankful you are back here with your friends." a glance given to Groove, "and those that could take care of you." First Aid nods, ducking his head and venting slowly himself. "I- thank you. For helping get me out, and for what you did for me, there." He looks at the bare patch of metal on Robustus's plating. "Lifeline said you left. I... I'm glad." Robustus states, "You are welcome and we all left, First Aid. Shred covered our escape. I..." he frowns slightly, optics turning burnished pewter in shade, then powers them back to normal hue and decides not to say what he was thinking, ".. am hoping to start anew, soon as Autobot security clears me to depart the confines of Iacon. Until then, I'm here if you want to talk." "Shred?" First Aid asks- he's heard the name, but he can't remember where. "Thank you, Robustus, for everything. Good luck starting over, too. I... I should probably be sorry you have to, but I'm glad you're not a Decepticon anymore." Groove's frown deepens, and he looks between First Aid and Robustus with some concern. "You were a Decepticon?" He asks quietly, keeping his tone neutral despite his expression. Robustus flexes his hand on the younger medic's shoulder and shakes his head a bit, "Don't be sorry for me. I didn't belong there anymore than Lifeline or you did." then looking toward Groove he gives a nod, "Civilian medic for them, yes. They did not own my spark and I owe them no allegiance." A soft vent given, "Sometimes the medical oaths we medics take are rather restrictive in regards to what actions a medic can take. It was clear to me that if I stood by and let them kill a fellow medic then I was no better than they were." he looks First Aid in the optics now, "For awhile I really wondered how far I had sunk into the madness that is Polyhex." First Aid looks down, reaching over to rest his hand against Groove's arm, taking support from his brother's presence. "Oh- sorry-" He says after a moment. "This is Robustus- he-" He pauses, struggling to find the right word. "He helped me in Polyhex." Groove stays silent for a moment, raising one hand to curl over First Aid's on his arm as he examines Robustus critically. "Why?" He questions finally, still frowning. Robustus shakes his head again, "Not enough for my liking. I could have done more if they let me. But if I did, not only would I have not been able to assist in the escape, I suspect they would have made you suffer more because of my interferance." he pauses and let's his hand slide off the younger mechs shoulder, "I shall make it up to you some cycle. I failed you as your medic, and I failed my oaths as well. I can only pray and hope Primus.. and you.. can forgive me." he looks to Groove, "WHy what?" "Why would you join them at all?" Groove asks bluntly, tightening his grip on First Aid's hand slightly. "If your oaths as a medic truly mean so much to you, why would you join the people who torture and slaughter for their own amusement?" Something else Robustus said clicks, and his frown deepens. "Primus will forgive you when you truly repent, and only then." Robustus frowns slightly at the latter part of what Groove has to say to him. "Because they asked me to as their CMO was very ill and their other medic was literally crazy. A medic cannot refuse treatment of anyone, even if it is for an army that is is taking part in methodically destroying our world." then a pause, "I didn't know they did such things until First Aid came to Polyhex. In a way... not did I rescue him.. he rescued me." then a nod, "I do repent, with all my spark." First Aid looks visibly uncomfortable with all of the talk of Primus and repentance. "I- I don't know anything about Primus, Robustus. But.. you didn't do anything to me that you need to repent for. You helped." Robustus smiles a little at First Aid, "Not to you." he agrees, "Nothing that would have broken my oaths. Though they were mightily tested the time you were there." Groove's optic ridges draw down, and he stares at Robustus intently. "I don't wish ill upon anyone, but evil befalls evil." He says quietly, trying and failing to keep a hard edge out of his voice. "You could have walked away. You /should/ have. Instead you stayed, and you aided those destroying our home. How can you claim your oaths mean anything if you're willing to let them kill us all?" Eon enters the repair depot, the young mech looking around as he does so it being the start of his duty shift. Seeing first aid still here, and Robustus, he frowns before approaching. "Ahem. " he coughs in greeting, "And who are you?" Robustus narrows his optics at Groove ever so slightly, then shutters them and vents, "I guess I deserved that." then jerks a bit at the question behind them all, his optics coming back online as he looks over at the questioner. "Just a visitor. I shall be leaving momentarily so not to outdo my welcome.. such as it is." Horizon's optics snap to Eon as he enters, and when he approaches Robustus, he watches him very carefully to be sure that no trouble arises. He is not so personally acquainted with Eon to know if he might be one to stir things up with an ex-decepticon. Horizon otherwise remains still and quiet, waiting. After all it is not his place to prevent people from interrupting. It's just his place to escort Robustus. Eon hmms, his optics roving over Rob's form for a long moment, before he nods, with a faint smile, "I see. Nice to meet you Visitor. Name's Eon. " ten he looks to aid, "Hey Aid.. How are you doing?" the simple truth is eon does not know robustus was once a decepticon. because of that, he has no reason to be hostile towards him. "Doing better, thank you, Eon." First Aid says politely. "I haven't seen you around since the last time you and Ratchet got into that argument over your optics. How is your work going?" He tucks his left arm a little more tightly against him, not afraid, but uncomfortable at the scrutiny. Is there snyone who /doesn't/ know that he's been in the medbay all week? Robustus inclines his head politely to Eon, then looks to Horizon as the escort steps over. "I should let you rest, First Aid. I'll be around for awhile yet. If you get free of repair bay before I leave, ask Horizon here where we are.. that is if you don't mind Horizon?" Groove looks over at First Aid apologetically, squeezing his hand gently. "Sorry, Aid. Didn't mean to upset you." He smiles softly, trying to force himself to calm down from his small rant. Horizon shakes his head. "No, I do not mind." He glances beyond Robustus to First Aid. "I imagine as medical staff you already have my frequency," Horizon says. He nods politely to First Aid before turning his attention to Robustus. "Shall we?" Eon smiles, "It's going on ok, First Aid. So are my studies in medicine. " The weapons designer looks to horizon, nodding to him, "What? UYou think I'm going to cause trouble with a guest? Why would I? Especially here in the medbay?" First Aid nods. "Thanks, Robustus." Robustus inclines his head to Horizon, taking a moment to give First Aid's shoulder a soft squeeze with his hand, "Take care." he offers softly, then a nod toward the other two, "And good cycle to you both." Horizon is caught by Eon's questioning, and stares very sternly at Eon for his defensiveness. His expression is reprimand enough, and he does not dignify Eon with an answer, as he has other duties to attend to. Instead he just says "Good cycle," to all present and turns to lead the way out. Eon watches as Robustus leaves, and also Horizon, then he turns to Aid and groove, "It's good to see you again, anyway... uh, who's your friend, Aid?" looking to Groove, he holds out a hand in greeting, "Name's Eon.. " First Aid lets go of Groove's arm to allow him to shake Eon's hand if he wants. "Eon, this is Groove, Groove, Eon." He doesn't provide any more information than that, like how they know each other. Groove doesn't really look like he wanted to let go of First Aid's hand, but he shakes the other mech's hand politely either way. "Pleasure to meet you, Eon." Eon smiles faintly, and he hmms, "So.. who was that other mech? I didn't recognise him, or see any insignia on him.. A new recruit?" The small autobot has to lookup to groove and Aid as he talks, being as he is, essentially minibot sized. First Aid shakes his head. His voice is quiet as he explains. "Robustus is a medic- he was a Decepticon, but he left- defected- after helping get me out." Eon listens, and he nods, his features turning slightly grim. "I see. and you trust him?" His voice is grim, but not hostile. First Aid shrugs awkwardly. "He helped me- he did as much as he could while I was /there/ and getting me out... he gave up a lot. I don't know." His posture is tense, and he inches back towards Groove again. Eon nods, "He can't be all bad then. and if he genuinely has left the cons.. " he shrugs. "Sorry.. just had some bad experiences in the past. bots I trusted.. betrayed me, took some of my work for the cons. " First Aid shakes his head as Eon abruptly leaves. He glances at Groove. "Sorry." Groove gently takes First Aid's hand again, shifting to wrap one arm around his brother's shoulders. "It's not your fault." He says quietly, "I'm the one who should be sorry about that." First Aid shakes his head. "You don't have anything to apologize for." "I made you uncomfortable with the talk about Primus, and with my... Conversation with Robustus. I shouldn't have." Groove points out, resisting the urge to just hug his brother and pretend it hadn't happened. "I'm sorry about that." "It's not you, though- it's just... I don't know." First Aid shrugs. "I don't know if I believe in Primus. I mean, that he exists, yes, but that he cares for us. If he cared..." His voice trails off and he vents hard before continuing. "When I was in Polyhex- when Rob helped me before, he kept talking about thinking about Primus, about Primus guiding his hands, Primus this, Primus that, and... I just... I don't understand it." Groove stays quiet for a few moments, struggling with a way to respond to that. "I... Think you need to come to your own decision in those matters." He says haltingly, carefully picking his words to not upset his brother any further. "You're the only one who can decide what you believe, after all. That's your choice, and only yours." First Aid nods. "It's not even that, really, I don't think. I guess. I'm not sure." First Aid says. "It just... it seemed to make Robustus feel better, but.. I don't know. It's all just one big confused being afraid and hurting and all of the databases say you're supposed to be able to talk about psychological trauma to come to terms with it and I just can't even sort out where to start with it." The last comes out in one big tumbling torrent of words. "Then don't worry about where to start." Groove shifts, wrapping his arms tightly around First Aid. "Just talk. I don't care if it make sense and I don't know if I can help, but I'll listen, and I'll be here." He says quietly, not caring that he has to hold himself kind of awkwardly to make the hug work. "I can promise that I'll always be here for you from now on." First Aid nods and wraps his arms around his brother as well.
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