Vigil, Part 2
Title: Vigil
Rating: PG
Warnings: Just a bit of language, throughout.
Main Character(s): The Dinobots, Wheeljack, Ratchet, Optimus Prime
Genre: Introspective-y Drama
Summary: Swoop mostly dies. Everyone else spazzes out.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
The first sight that greeted Wheeljack when he walked into the Dinobots' lair was Grimlock. He was huddled on the floor, and his shoulders were slumped dejectedly. Swoop's relatively small body was sprawled awkwardly across his lap, his head resting in the crook of Grimlock's elbow. His body was twitching randomly, but he was unconscious. Sludge was right. It appeared that he was very sick, indeed.
With Sludge trailing anxiously on his heels, Wheeljack approached Grimlock, who tensed and laid one protective arm across Swoop's body until he realized who it was that was standing over him. He looked up at Wheeljack, and Wheeljack was stunned to see worry and naked fear in Grimlock's somewhat limited expression. He'd never thought to see Grimlock afraid before.
"Swoop dying, Wheeljack!" Grimlock cried with uncharacteristic anguish. "He won't wake up! He not allowed to die, Wheeljack!"
Wheeljack laid a reassuring hand on Grimlock's shoulder as he knelt down next to the big Dinobot commander and his smaller, helpless burden.
"Easy, big guy," Wheeljack murmured, pulling a medscanner out of the small kit he'd hastily put together and brought with him from his lab. "Let's just have a look here..."
Wheeljack ran the scanner over Swoop's inert body. And then he winced as the small device immediately began to blare dire warnings about Swoop's condition, which, as Wheeljack discovered, was not good at all. Swoop's systems were indeed crashing, one after another, at a dizzying pace. So far, his vital systems were unaffected, but from what Wheeljack saw on the medscanner's read-out, that was soon to change. It was only a matter of time, maybe minutes. And he had no idea what to do to stabilize him.
C'mon Ratchet, Wheeljack silently urged. Where the hell are you?
Grimlock was staring at the medscanner, meanwhile, alarmed. He knew what plaintive scanner sounds meant, after all.
"Not good!" Grimlock bellowed. "You, Wheeljack, fix him now!"
"I can't, Grimlock!" Wheeljack snapped back, more irritated with himself than with Grimlock, because all he could do was sit and ineffectually watch Swoop die by inches. "Ratchet's on his way."
"But Ratchet no like Dinobots!" Grimlock protested. "Call us 'bubbleheads.'"
Wheeljack sighed exasperatedly as he continued to monitor Swoop's condition, watching in helpless concern as more and more of his subsystems crashed.
"Only when you act like bubbleheads," he answered, annoyed. "Like you are right now. Why do you always assume that someone doesn't like you just because they point out to you that you're acting like an idiot?"
Grimlock was silent for a moment, actually thinking about Wheeljack's question.
"Not know," Grimlock finally concluded. "Must be design flaw."
Wheeljack glanced up at Grimlock then, stunned. Is he teasing me? he silently asked himself. Maybe he is learning...
Before Wheeljack could comment, though, Ratchet skidded into the room. He nearly plowed headlong into Slag, who'd been edging slowly closer to Swoop and Grimlock since Wheeljack had arrived, curious despite himself about what was going on with his flying comrade. Ratchet pulled up just in time, muttered a half-hearted apology to Slag, who ignored him, and went over to crouch down next to Wheeljack, who growled at him like...like a Dinobot.
"'Bout time you got here," he groused. "What'd you do, take the scenic route?"
Ratchet chose not to answer, attributing Wheeljack's uncharacteristic surliness to his concern for Swoop. Ratchet could understand. He was concerned himself. He'd had a rather large part in the Dinobots' creation, too, and of the five of them, he was most fond of Swoop. He was an intensely curious soul, like Ratchet himself and, lately, he'd developed a habit of hanging around the medical bay, silently watching what the medics did for hours on end, even if they were just going about routine business. Lately, Ratchet had started to give him small, simple tasks to do around the bay, just paying attention to him in general.
And he loved attention, soaked it up as a human soaked up sunshine while lying on a beach. So few of the Autobots paid attention to him or to any of the Dinobots, after all. It really was a shame in Swoop's case, at least, for Ratchet had discovered that he could be rather endearing. He reminded Ratchet of a Great Dane puppy - big, awkward, rambunctious, and completely heedless of his own strength, but hopelessly eager to please. And now...Now it was particularly disturbing to see him in such bad shape, more disturbing than he might have expected. Over the last year or two, Ratchet had gotten used to his curious, ever-cheerful presence.
Without a word, Ratchet snatched Wheeljack's medscanner out of his hand, and ran it over Swoop's twitching body, as Wheeljack had done. Just as he'd begun to interpret the medscanner's findings - not at all liking what he saw - Swoop's body suddenly went into a fit of powerful convulsions. It was all Grimlock could do to hold on to him, despite the fact that he was twice Swoop's size, and the medscanner began to have an hysterical fit, blaring warnings more dire than ever.
"Damn!" Ratchet cursed loudly, drawing alarmed glances from both Wheeljack and Sludge.
"What?!" Sludge demanded to know. "What wrong with Swoop?"
Ratchet had no time to answer. He twisted around and started rummaging frantically through the kit he'd brought with him from the medical bay. Various pieces of medical equipment went flying everywhere as he dug through the kit, hoping that he'd thought to toss in the device that he needed. With a relieved sigh, he finally located it buried in the bottom of the kit. Haste making him clumsy, he grabbed the small, box-shaped device, pulled it out of the kit, and quickly unwound the cable that was wrapped around it. Turning hurriedly back to Swoop, he popped open a small access port at the junction of his shoulder and his neck and, while Grimlock held him as still as he could, attached the device to him. Almost immediately, Swoop's body relaxed and some of the medscanner's frantic bleating subsided. Ratchet sat back on his heels, momentarily relieved.
Wheeljack was watching Ratchet warily, not particularly wanting to hear Ratchet's diagnosis because he was already fairly certain what it would be and it wasn't good news. But he had to know.
"It's cascade failure, isn't it?" he asked quietly.
Ratchet nodded miserably and sighed.
"I'm afraid so," he said sadly.
"Damn it! What'd I do wrong?" Wheeljack suddenly exploded, smacking a fist against the floor, making Sludge, who was crouched next to him, jump. As Swoop's designer, Wheeljack apparently felt that Swoop's problem was his fault, although Ratchet couldn't begin to understand why.
Grimlock, meanwhile, glanced between the two Autobots who had, between them, designed and built him and the other Dinobots. Sludge, however, asked the question that Grimlock wanted to ask before he could ask it.
"What wrong with Swoop?!" Sludge demanded to know. "What is...cascade failure?"
Wheeljack and Ratchet exchanged a look. Wheeljack shrugged, deferring to Ratchet. The Dinobots deserved to know what was wrong with their comrade, and Wheeljack knew that Ratchet would be able to explain it to them far better than he could.
Ratchet sighed, taking a moment to put into extremely simple layman's terms what had happened to Swoop.
"You know that all Cybertronians live and behave the way they do because of the...programs that are encoded in their circuits, right?" At Sludge's wary nod, with a glance at Grimlock to make sure that he was still following, too, Ratchet continued. "Well, sometimes what happens in one of those programs can affect what happens in others. It's called being interlinked or interdependent. And sometimes, something goes wrong in one program that happens to be interlinked with others, and that one problem ends up spreading through all the other interlinked programs until, finally, the entire network of operating programs ends up failing."
"And then they die?" Grimlock asked quietly, anxiously cradling Swoop more tightly against his chest as if that would protect him from further harm.
Ratchet nodded.
"Sometimes," he said gently. "If help doesn't arrive in time to stop their central operating programs from crashing, then yes, they usually die."
Both Grimlock and Sludge looked troubled, exchanged a distressed glance. Wheeljack asked the question that they were apparently afraid to ask.
"And Swoop?" he asked quietly. "Did help arrive in time for him?"
Ratchet sighed again, smiled faintly and tiredly. "Just barely," he said. "If I'd gotten here half a minute later, his central operating program would've crashed and we'd never have gotten him back. For now, this bypass," he continued, gesturing at the small box that he'd attached to Swoop, "is keeping the failure cascade out of his most vital systems, but it won't work forever. I've got to get him to the medical bay and see how much damage has already been done."
"So Swoop will be OK?" Sludge asked brightly.
"I hope so, Sludge," answered Ratchet fervently. "Grimlock, will you carry him to the medical bay for me?"
Grimlock nodded, adjusted his grip on Swoop, and then stood up, gently cradling the fallen Dinobot in his arms. Sludge bounced to his feet, too.
"Sludge come, too!" he announced.
Grimlock nodded, then aimed a glower at Slag, who was close by now, and then at Snarl, who was still off in a corner, ignoring everything that was going on around him. Grimlock was still blaming Slag and Snarl's argument for Swoop's trouble and his own inability to recognize that something was wrong with him sooner, even though he knew the accusation was completely illogical. Still, Grimlock wanted the two more troublesome Dinobots with him, so that he could watch them. He didn't trust them alone.
"Us all come," Grimlock announced, glaring at Slag in particular as the others headed for the door. Snarl shrugged indifferently, then stood up and began to follow the others, but Slag stayed where he was, arms folded defiantly across his chest, optics narrowed furiously at Grimlock and his chin raised belligerently.
"Not want to!" Slag spat vehemently. "Not care about Swoop! He weak. Weak should die!"
But Grimlock was having none of it.
"Now, Slag!" he bellowed, not even bothering to debate Slag's theory on the survival of the fittest. After a moment or two of hostile staring at one another, Slag growled and headed for the door. He nailed Grimlock with a furious glare as he walked by, though, as if to say that the argument wasn't over.
Ratchet, meanwhile, sighed as they left the Dinobots' quarters.
Great! he thought to himself, glancing heavenward as if in search of divine help. Just what I need. A bunch of big, bickering, over-protective oafs rubber-necking while I try to save a life.
It was the start, Ratchet was certain, of what promised to be a very long, very bad afternoon...
* * * * * * *
Optimus Prime was in the Control Room of Autobot Headquarters when he heard the news.
Ostensibly, he was listening to daily status reports from Ironhide and Prowl, but in reality there wasn't much for the two of them to report. Everything was operating smoothly at Autobot Headquarters and had been for weeks. And the Decepticons had been curiously quiet for almost nine weeks now, something that was both a relief and a nagging worry for Prime. It was a relief because he hadn't had to deal with Megatron and his merry bunch during that stretch of time, but it was a worry because Megatron's continuing silence made Prime wonder what his Decepticon counterpart was dreaming up now. Megatron's most successful, most devious schemes had always come after long silences such as this one. Prime was, in general, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop.
But today, Optimus Prime was in a particularly mellow mood. Ironhide's and Prowl's "reports" had degenerated into a light-hearted, three-way discussion about Saddam Hussein and his similarities to a certain Decepticon leader. The three of them were laughing uproariously when Jazz poked his head into the room and loudly cleared his throat to get their attention. Instantly, all of Optimus' attention was focused on Jazz. He expected that Jazz was about to announce that the other shoe had just dropped, so what Jazz eventually told them was a complete surprise.
"Hey, guys!" Jazz said. "You all heard the news?"
"Aw, what news, Jazz?" Ironhide drawled lazily, leaning back in his seat and lacing his fingers behind his head. "There hasn't been any 'news' in weeks. It's been so damn boooooring."
"Yeah, well, this is news, my man," Jazz said with a grin. He leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb, crossed his arms over his chest, and dropped his bomb. "Something's wrong with one of the Dinobots," he announced. "Like big-time wrong."
"What?!" Prime exclaimed, completely surprised. "Which one? What's happened to Slag now?"
"It's not Slag, Prime," Jazz said pointedly.
"Grimlock, then," Optimus Prime said.
"Nope."
"Snarl?" Prowl guessed.
"Nope."
"Sludge?" Ironhide ventured.
Jazz just shook his head sadly.
"Not Swoop!" Prime exclaimed.
"And how many other Dinobots do you know, Prime?" Jazz asked wryly.
"What's wrong with him?" Prowl asked before Prime could reply.
Jazz frowned. "Word is," he said with a shrug, "cascade failure. Ratchet's working on him now."
"Will he be all right?" Prime asked.
Jazz just shrugged again. "I dunno, Prime," he said. "I don't think anyone knows yet."
With that, Optimus Prime got up out of the seat in which he'd been lounging. With apologies to Ironhide and Prowl for leaving them in the middle of their "reports," he left the Control Room, breezed past Jazz in the doorway, and headed for the medical bay. He thought about the Dinobots in general, and Swoop in particular, as he walked the corridors of Autobot Headquarters.
The news of Swoop's illness was more troubling to Optimus Prime than he might have expected. He made no secret of the fact that he didn't entirely trust any of the Dinobots. They were far too strong and far too powerful for his comfort, given their often erratic, troublesome, and sometimes downright rebellious behavior. At one point, he thought he'd made a huge mistake in giving Wheeljack and Ratchet permission to create them, after he'd nearly met his end at the hands of Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. Granted, they'd been influenced by Megatron back then, at a time in their development when they were still very new creatures, very vulnerable to suggestion. And granted, the five Dinobots had come a long, long way since then. But there was still an edge to them, a distinctly rebellious streak that arose at the most inconvenient of times, and that made Prime just a tad nervous.
So he was surprised that, upon hearing that one of the Dinobots was ill or injured, the first thing that he'd felt was...regret. And then after that, worry. And then, to hear that it was Swoop who was in danger... Well, that was just plain upsetting, not to mention surprising.
Of the five Dinobots, Optimus Prime knew that Swoop was the quietest, the least violent, the least likely to get into a scuffle. It was due, in part, to the fact that he'd been created after Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. Wheeljack had designed him and Snarl to be slightly less hotheaded and gullible and slightly more cautious than their brethren, for safety's sake. In Snarl's case, the relative lack of aggression had ended up translating into a lack of any outwardly passionate emotion whatsoever, and he tended to be aloof and antisocial. But in Swoop's case, it had been nothing less than a blessing.
Optimus Prime harbored the suspicion that Swoop was the most intelligent of the Dinobots, more intelligent than Grimlock, although he could never physically challenge him or any of the other Dinobots. When he wanted to, he could easily speak like a normal Autobot, with correct grammar and in complete, unbroken sentences. He'd mastered that ability years ago, although it was something that the other Dinobots were only just beginning - very reluctantly - to learn. Swoop was also watchful, curious, and eager to learn, completely unlike his "brothers" in that regard.
And, when he wanted to, Swoop could learn very quickly. It hadn't surprised Optimus Prime at all when Ratchet had casually mentioned that he'd begun to hang around the medical bay. Nor did it surprise him when Ratchet told him, several weeks later, that he thought Swoop might one day be an ideal candidate to be taught the fine art of medicine. Optimus Prime knew that he could be as quick to learn in the right environment as he was quick to go for the kill on the battlefield.
So when Jazz had announced that a Dinobot was in trouble, Prime had immediately assumed that it would be Slag, most likely, or Grimlock or even Snarl. He didn't think that it would be Sludge, who was the most simple-minded of the Dinobots but who was also essentially non-aggressive unless provoked or goaded by the other Dinobots. And Prime definitely hadn't figured that it would be Swoop who was in trouble. The fact that it was Swoop, the Dinobot for whom Optimus Prime held out the greatest hope of eventually leading a normal life as an Autobot, was distressing to him. Frightening, even. Optimus Prime quickened his pace toward the medical bay. He wasn't sure why. He just felt like he had to hurry.
The main ward of the medical bay was a crowded place when he got there. Although Swoop was the only patient in the whole complex at the moment, his presence and his predicament were generating considerable interest and attention. All of the medics who were on duty at the time - and a few who weren't - were crowded around the medical berth he occupied, watching as Ratchet and Wheeljack went about diagnosing Swoop's problem and seeing what they'd have to do to resolve it and repair him.
Sensing someone's gaze upon him, Optimus Prime glanced over to one corner of the main ward and noticed that the other four Dinobots were present, too. They were clustered together, separated as usual from the gathered Autobots, and they were watching what was going on with varying degrees of interest. But Grimlock was staring at Prime in that intense, distrustful manner that was distinctly his own. Grimlock's hostility toward Optimus Prime had been tempered over the years by respect, but he still didn't completely trust the Autobot leader. The feeling was mutual.
Optimus Prime nodded with equal respect - and equal distrust - at the Dinobot commander, but decided to deal with him and the other Dinobots later. He pushed his way through the gathered crowd of medics toward the berth Swoop occupied, over which Ratchet and Wheeljack hovered like worried mother hens. They were busy attaching various monitors and diagnostic devices to Swoop's still body and clucking in distress over their read-outs. Ratchet, noticing Optimus Prime's presence, eventually looked up at him.
"Well," he said sardonically, "word apparently travels fast around here."
Optimus Prime nodded, amused. "At the speed of Jazz," he replied lightly. "What's the story here?" he asked, gesturing down at Swoop's ominously still body.
Ratchet frowned as he tapped a few notes into a datapad.
"Not sure yet," he replied with a quick shake of his head. "It's definitely cascade failure, but so far we have no idea what triggered it or where it originated. So as of now we have no idea what we'll have to do to repair him, or even if we can repair him without damaging what's left of his programming, without starting over from scratch." He looked up at the large, murmuring crowd composed of a dozen medical personnel, four Dinobots, and one Autobot leader in annoyance. "It would help," he said pointedly, "if we didn't have an audience."
First Aid, at the forefront of the medic crowd, caught the broad hint easily, and he set about shooing away the gathered medics. They slowly returned to their duties, mundane as they were after nine weeks of inactivity. Soon, the main ward was clear of medics other than Ratchet, leaving only Wheeljack, Optimus Prime, and the Dinobots.
Ratchet turned a slightly softened version of his glare upon Grimlock. He knew that the Dinobot leader was worried about Swoop's condition, but Ratchet also knew that Grimlock could do nothing to help him, that he and the other Dinobots would eventually just get in the way.
Grimlock, though, was adamant.
"Us not leave," he announced emphatically, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly, glaring back at Ratchet.
Ratchet sighed, momentarily glanced at the ceiling in supplication. He knew that it would do no good to try to convince Grimlock to go away, for Grimlock was notoriously stubborn. The only person who had a chance in hell of convincing him to go away was Optimus Prime, and Ratchet looked over at the Autobot leader imploringly. Prime sighed resignedly.
So much for delaying a reckoning with the Dinobots, he thought ruefully. While Ratchet went back to working on Swoop, Prime walked over to the corner of the room where the Dinobots were clustered in a wary knot.
"Us not leave," Grimlock repeated insistently, glaring optics-to-optics with Optimus Prime.
"Grimlock, there's nothing you can do here," Prime argued calmly, patiently. "I'm sure that Ratchet will contact you immediately if there's any change in Swoop's condition. Now why don't you-"
"Is something we can do here!" Grimlock insisted. "Us here for Swoop. He knows that."
"Grimlock, I don't think that he can possibly know anyth-"
"He knows!" Grimlock insisted again, silencing Optimus Prime with the angry urgency in his voice. "Us here so Swoop not be-" He interrupted himself, with a shake of his head and took a few moments to rephrase what he wanted to say into a carefully constructed sentence. Grimlock, after all, wanted his opinion known and, more importantly, clearly understood. "We will...stay here," Grimlock said haltingly, for the grammar was not coming easily to him, "so that Swoop...will not...be alone...when he wakes up."
"Why you, Grimlock, talking like Autobot?" Slag taunted before Optimus Prime could reply, which earned him a swift backhand on the side of his head from Grimlock.
"You shut up!" Grimlock hissed, glaring at Slag, who reluctantly quieted. Grimlock turned back to Optimus Prime, who was staring at Grimlock in wonderment.
Grimlock obviously felt strongly about staying with his fallen comrade, strongly enough to make certain that there was no misunderstanding between them. Optimus Prime could understand feeling protective of those under one's command. It was a feeling he grappled with all the time himself, one of the many great burdens of leadership. When he thought about it, in fact, Optimus Prime was surprised to discover that Grimlock was much like himself in many respects. At first enthralled with the power and the "glamour" of leadership, Grimlock was quickly becoming intimately acquainted with leadership's much darker side. The loneliness. The constant worrying about those under one's command. The way one always had to keep up a carefully controlled front of calm, of being in complete control of even the worst situations, keeping up morale in the face of often overwhelming odds. Indeed, Optimus Prime understood completely what Grimlock was going through. But he also knew that Grimlock could be of no help at all in the medical bay.
"Grimlock..." he said gently, compassionately. "I understand how you must feel, but-"
He got no further than that.
"No, you not understand!" Grimlock roared, interrupting Prime and drawing annoyed glares from Ratchet and Wheeljack that Grimlock completely ignored. He stalked around the corner of the medical bay where the Dinobots had gathered, circling the Autobot leader angrily. "You, Optimus Prime, not ever understand anything about Dinobots! You no like us, think us stupid and violent, think us belong in cage unless youneed us. Well, us not stupid and us not belong in cage. Us Autobots, just like you, even though you not seem to think so. Autobots always pick on Dinobots, call us names, make jokes about us. Us not always understand what Autobots say, but us know it not nice. But Swoop smart. Swoop always understand mean things Autobots say about Dinobots, make him very sad. Autobots hurt Swoop. So now me Grimlock not leave Swoop alone with Autobots. If Autobots hurt him, then me Gr-then I-will hurt Autobots back."
Optimus Prime stared at Grimlock, shocked and momentarily dumbfounded. Besides the fact that what Grimlock had just said was the longest speech that he had ever heard Grimlock make, he'd completely misinterpreted Grimlock's motives in wanting to stay with Swoop. It wasn't mere loyalty to or concern for a fallen comrade; it was genuine fear for him. Grimlock intended to be Swoop's bodyguard while he was incapacitated. It stung that Grimlock obviously felt that Swoop needed protection, but he could also see Grimlock's point. One or two of the Autobots, Prime knew, could be downright cruel sometimes. And many others were quick to make jokes, jokes at the Dinobots' expense, jokes that they might not have meant to be cruel but could easily be interpreted that way. While Optimus Prime knew that none of the Autobots would contemplate physically hurting a Dinobot, even if they could, Grimlock obviously didn't know that. He could only go by what little he understood of what was said about him and the other Dinobots.
Perhaps we have been unfair to them, Prime thought to himself. No, strike that. It's not "perhaps." We have been unfair to them, Primus help us...
But Optimus Prime had no idea what to say to Grimlock. He could offer no comforting words, for they would be hollow. He could offer no apologies, for they would be insincere. Because Grimlock, as much as the thought disturbed him, was right. And Optimus Prime had not only condoned such insensitivity on the part of the Autobots, but he had from time to time made a few off-handed derisive remarks of his own. At the very least, he had always been indifferent to the Dinobots, for the most part. Except - as Grimlock had quite correctly pointed out - when he needed them.
But Optimus Prime had no idea how to start making amends. So he just stared at Grimlock while Grimlock stared back and the other Dinobots looked on in awe. Sludge blinked, and was the first to break the silence.
"Me Sludge not let Autobots hurt Swoop, too," he proclaimed, and he advanced a step forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Grimlock, who still glared at Optimus Prime.
Slag, meanwhile, snorted disdainfully.
"Me Slag not care if Autobots hurt Swoop," he said snidely. "Swoop big baby. Swoop weak. Swoop should get hurt."
Without warning, Grimlock turned on Slag again, snarling at him in a dangerously low voice.
"You, Slag, stupid! You always stupid. Slag never think, never learn. Slag only care about fighting. Slag only care about Slag. Well, you Slag go away before me Grimlock hurt you, too!"
Slag snorted.
"You Grimlock not scare me Slag," he said with a contemptuous sneer.
Grimlock had had enough. With a strangled roar, he got a hold of Slag and slammed him head first into the wall with enough force to dent the wall. Slag growled low in his throat, but, momentarily dazed, he could only slump against the wall, sliding down until he ended up huddled on the floor, staring up at Grimlock in surprise. Grimlock rarely resorted to physical violence to keep the other Dinobots in line, after all.
"If you Slag not scared, then you Slag even stupider than me Grimlock think," Grimlock said scathingly. "Go away, Slag. While you still can."
Mustering up as much dignity as he could, under the circumstances, Slag picked himself up off the floor and left the medical bay, heading for who knew where. Grimlock didn't much care where he went so long as it was far away from him. He returned his attention to Optimus Prime, who was still staring at Grimlock.
"Us not leave," he repeated calmly. "Us stay here, stand guard for Swoop. At least one of us here all the time, until Swoop OK."
Optimus Prime sighed resignedly. He felt compelled to grant Grimlock this one relatively small request, felt as if it was the least that he could do.
"Very well, Grimlock," he said solemnly. "But you are not to interfere with Ratchet or the other medics, do you understand me?"
Grimlock nodded grudgingly.
"Understood, Prime," he said. He turned to the two remaining Dinobots as Prime went off to break the news to Ratchet that he would have to endure a constant Dinobot presence in his domain. "Me Grimlock stay here."
"No!" Sludge uncharacteristically protested. "Me Sludge stay!"
"You Sludge go back to Romper Room and stay there," Grimlock ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.
Sludge frowned, but did not protest further. He was obedient to a fault, after all. Grimlock turned his attention to Snarl, who'd been silent since arriving in the medical bay, staring off into space, in his own little world. Grimlock decided it was time to give him something to do, however little Snarl might like it.
"You Snarl find Slag," Grimlock said. "Make sure he not hurting anybody."
"Me Snarl not care if Slag hurt everybody," Snarl replied indifferently. "Me Snarl not care about anything."
"Me Grimlock not care if you Snarl not care! You do what me, Grimlock, say. Now go!"
Reluctantly, Snarl scowled and pushed away from the wall against which he'd been leaning, and, without a word, headed for the exit door. Sludge followed him, giving Grimlock one last imploring look over his shoulder, which Grimlock ignored, before the doors slid shut behind him.
Grimlock sighed as he watched them go and then cautiously approached the medical berth where Swoop lay, where Ratchet and Wheeljack were working on his. They were murmuring back and forth to one another, uttering rapid-fire technical jargon that Grimlock had no hope of understanding. He stood next to Optimus Prime, who was also silently watching the medic and the engineer work.
After a moment or two of standing silently, shoulder to shoulder, Optimus Prime looked over at Grimlock as if he was just noticing the Dinobot's presence.
"Keep me informed, would you, Grimlock?" was all that the Autobot leader said.
Grimlock stared at Optimus Prime for a long moment, and then he nodded.
"Yes, I will do that," Grimlock said solemnly.
"Good," Optimus Prime replied. Then he headed for the door and was gone before Grimlock could say anything else, leaving him alone with Ratchet and Wheeljack, who both ignored all but Swoop.
After a moment or two, Grimlock went back to standing against a wall, leaning his weight comfortably against it. He watched Ratchet and Wheeljack working, although he wasn't really seeing what they were doing. He was going over in his mind the past few days, the past few weeks, trying to remember if there was something that he had missed, some clue that Fate had been about to strike down Swoop. He couldn't remember anything in particular. He supposed that he would just have to wait for Ratchet and Wheeljack's discovery of the cause of Swoop's illness. He had a bad feeling that it was going to be a long wait, indeed...