Swoop’s words from the night before echoed in his processor, the Protectobot frowning now as he stood in the entrance of the Ark, visor seeming to brighten as the world outside was lit by the first beams of sunlight.

He would do something about it.

He was sick of just being the one to fix up his friends and brothers after they were hurt and he refused to just sit by while his brothers searched for Blades. Even if he couldn’t do much help by assisting in the search, he could sure do a pit of a lot more out there than here at the Ark. First Aid waited a moment longer, scanning himself once more to make sure he would be fine for the drive before he moved forward and folded down into his alt. mode smoothly.

With a rev of his engine, he started away from the crashed Autobot ship and off towards where the battle had taken the day earlier. That information he had easily gotten from Teletran One and it made logical sense to begin searching there for any signs of what may have happened to Blades. What he could find that Hound, there best scout, and Jazz, there saboteur and special op., couldn’t…he didn’t know. Yet he refused to just sit here, at least searching for clues would help calm him and give him something to do, he only hoped Ratchet wouldn’t need help in the medbay today as he continued driving as the sun began to ascend into the sky.

[b]~*~*~*~*~*~[/b]

“First Aid! Hey…you alright? I know you probably miss your brothers, but…” the door to the Protectobot’s quarters opened and the inventor paused in surprise to see the area was empty. Wheeljack’s optics flickered, ear panels on either side of his helm giving off a brighter glow as he held the energon cube in his hands that had been meant for his youngest creation.

“...hm.” Wheeljack vocalized, frowning softly before he turned and quickly headed down to the medbay, hoping to find the ambulance there.

Though his questioning of where the young medic was only brought more confusion as Ratchet folded his arms on his broad chest and shrugged.

“How am I supposed to know where he is? I thought he was in his quarters.”

The Lancia shook his helm, “He isn’t though. I went down to check on him since his brothers are busy helping with a fire and didn’t return…but he wasn’t there. And I logically thought he would be in here if he wasn’t in his room.”

Ratchet frowned at that, glancing around and only seeing Swoop…

“He may be in the rec. room refueling – or outside for some fresh air Jack. Stop worrying, I’m sure he’s fine, he isn’t foolish enough to try anything while he’s still recovering from that flood incident.” The CMO said, turning his attention back to the tools he had been cleaning before being interrupted.

What the two mechs didn’t notice was Swoop’s gaze shifting from the data pad he held to them, a soft frown crossing his features as his optics dimmed in worry.

The white and gray Autobot sighed and nodded, “Yeah, your probably right Ratch…I’ll keep an optic out for him. I just hope he’s not taking this business with Blades to hard…

[b]~*~*~*~*~*~[/b]

The scene where the battle took place was rather gruesome, the young medic frowning as he tried to avoid stepping in the old energon that stained the ground, oil tainting the sand in splattered remains. First Aid hated fighting, hated battling…and seeing the grounds where yet another battle had taken place was rather disturbing to him as he walked around.

He felt lost, not really knowing what to look for. He was a medic – a medic in training none the less – not a tracker like Hound.

First Aid’s visor dimmed, his gaze continuing to shift about…pieces of chinked armor speckled the ground, giving some color beside black and brown, but it didn’t help his thoughts. There were plenty of white fragments that could be from any of his comrades…or even a Decepticon, so he tried to ignore that.

Though the sun continued to climb higher into the sky as he searched the area, scanning every now and reaching out to try and feel Blades through the bond…

Nothing.

The medic was getting discouraged rather quickly, starting to feel foolish for driving all of the way out here and wasting time when he could be helping Ratchet in th – his thoughts suddenly stopped as he stopped beside a puddle of oil, his gaze lingering on it for a moment before he knelt down.

It was thinner than the others, a different kind of fuel maybe…helicopter fuel? His brother was definitely one for fighting and it wouldn’t be a shock if he had been hurt. But as he looked around, he saw the same fuel leading away from the area, the consistency of it making it a bit easier to pick out among the darker, thicker splotches of oil.

His brother was the only one with a helicopter alt. mode and he rather doubted it was jet fuel…not that he knew what jet fuel looked like…

First Aid stood, refusing to begin doubting this find. He would follow it – if it turned out to be nothing, then so be it, but he wasn’t going to regret at least [i]trying[/i] to find his brother. Transforming, the ambulance was quick to follow the faint trail of fuel that littered the ground, heading towards the rockier region of the area.

It wasn’t long before he noticed the clouds that were rolling in, frowning inwardly at the thought of rain as he transformed. The fuel stopped here. Just stopped and a scan around for the same substance proved useless, there were no traces of it anywhere else except for the way he had came…he drooped.

He had been expecting this, but after having driven this distance he had at least hoped for something, [i]anything[/i] to bring back and tell the others that may help in the finding of the helicopter. First Aids glanced around, noting a few trees and dozens of rock formations, though for the most part the land dropped off far below into rocks and a river that seemed rather small up from this height.

A chill in the air managed to creep through the seams in his white and red armor, pulling a shiver from the Protectobot. Hound had probably found the trail, had probably traced it here – why hadn’t he just and asked for information first? The ambulance frowned, catching the first signs of a storm as rain began to fall, tapping his armor softly as he activated a comm. link to give the information anyway…

Surprise flickered through the mech as static filled his comm. link, making him cringe and bring a hand to his helm.

“W-What? Hello? Hound?” First Aid said aloud, cringing as he lowered the volume, though it didn’t help. Static filled the line and his confusion was thick before he slowly became aware of the sound of…turbines?

[b]~*~*~*~*~*~[/b]

The pterodactyl flew with a bit of difficulty, the wind not bothering him as much as the chilling rain. So much rain…it was no wonder why so many areas were calling in need of assistance to protect their towns and streets from the waters that continued to climb in the overflowing rivers.

Flapping his wings, he pushed through the down pour of rain, blue optics narrowed as he kept his gaze below. They had waited for a while for First Aid to return to base, the Dinobot having expected him to walk in shortly after Wheeljack had left…but he hadn’t.

For any other mech, he wouldn’t be worried, but after talking to First Aid, he began to realize his friend may have taken his words a bit too literally and had actually gone to do something about his missing comrade. Swoop had left earlier, telling Ratchet he was going to perform check-ups on his brothers while he instead took off to find the ambulance. First Aid had already had one unfortunate accident this weak and in his still recovering state, he feared he might be damaged – especially with how this storm was building.

Reaching the area where the battle had taken place, he transformed and landed on the muddy ground, frowning as he glanced around, though there was no trace that a battle had taken place as the rain cleansed the surface of the Earth.

“First Aid!” Swoop called out, taking a couple steps forward…it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a white mech, even in this storm, right? Though there was no reply to his call as the rain seemed to drown out any noise, thunder rumbling loudly above and the aerial shivered faintly in the rain before transforming and taking into the air once more.

Worry clung to as stubbornly as the rain dripping from his form as he searched the area, unable to try and pick up the mech’s signal due to the storm’s interference and First Aid wasn’t hailing his comm. at all.

Taking several trips around the area proved useless and he stretched his search out further, hoping he would be able to find the younger bot before the storm got any worse.

[b]~*~*~*~*~*~[/b]

A harsh shiver went through the mech, his armor dirtied with mud and energon, sparks dancing up across his frame as his cracked visor continued to flicker despite his want to power it off completely. He could still hear the seekers flying about outside, searching for him…and he’d be fragged if he let them find his little hiding place.

The two rocks he had managed to delve between were small and uncomfortable even for his small size, but right now it didn’t matter as he listened to the Decepticon’s complaining in irritation about the rain.

“He’s gone! Pit, can we head back to base now Thrust? This rain is freezing!”

“Stop complaining Dirge! We’ll head back once we find that Protectobot! Megatron will be happy to have two bargaining chips on his tray – and who will he have to thank?”

“…us?”

“Yes, us idiot!”

First Aid bit back a whimper of pain as his leg sparked once more and he cursed himself for being so [i]stupid[/i]! The seekers had caught him by surprise and he hadn’t even been able to pull out his weapon in time to try and defend himself before he found himself lying on the floor of the canyon he had been gazing down into earlier, the river’s roar bringing him to his senses only to find he had been badly damaged in the fall down – and that the seekers were still hunting him down like a turbofox.

Which led to his current predicament of being crammed in between two rocks as the river threatened to burst at any moment while the three mechs searched for him. He was about to give up hope on them leaving when he heard a rush of panicked words before the activating of turbines…and then silence.

He did whimper now, his visor flickering as it dimmed – why had they left? It made him nervous that three Decepticons had fled without warning and he hesitated in emerging from his refuge in case it was just a trick.

The only thing that reached his audial was the constant pour of rain, the rumble of thunder, and the roar of the bulging river for a couple minutes until he heard something different.

A voice?

Oh no, they had come back! They had been just trying to lure him out into the open…he shivered in the mud, biting his bottom lip behind his mask as he tried to make himself smaller.

“First Aid!”

Stiffening, his visor brightened at the call and the familiar voice…but no, why would he…?

“First Aid!”

The call was louder now and he slowly pushed himself up, his helm bumping the rock above him. “S-Swoop?” he squeaked out, hope flaring up in him. Again the other called for him and First Aid struggled to pull himself from the rocks he had been crammed into.

“I-I’m here! Swoop!” he cried out, the sudden thought of the other leaving sending trills of unimaginable terror through the young medic. First Aid tried to stand and wave his arms, though he didn’t get anywhere close to the second step of that idea as his damaged leg gave out and he fell into the mud with a pained sound.

“Swoop! P-Please, I’m here!” he shouted, raising his arm up and he felt a much larger hand grab onto his wrist, his gaze shifting up to see the pterodactyl kneeling down in front of him and he whimpered in relief, the sight of the other a gift from Primus.

“You First Aid…” Swoop said sadly, gently bringing his arms around the damaged mech to bring him closer – and he stiffened when an explosion of sound suddenly reached them. First Aid looked and gave a shout, “S-Swoop! It’s a flash flood!” he exclaimed, panic ripping through him at the sight of water crashing towards them, bursting the river and the mech growled. Swoop brought First Aid’s battered and bloodied form up into his arms and stood, cradling the other close.

“You First Aid hang on!”

The usually white mech didn’t have time to respond as Swoop suddenly transformed. He gave a startled sound, claws securely gripping his shoulders and he felt like he had left his tank on the ground below as Swoop’s wings gusted around him and lifted them both with a bit of difficulty. The icy chill of the water below misted harshly over his frame and damaged leg, making him whine as he shuddered and clung to the pterodactyl’s leg in fear of being dropped.

It was obvious Swoop was having difficult with the gushing below and the rain pounding down from above and First Aid shuddered, the thought of being plunged below and having to experience the helplessness of being taken by wild waters not at all comforting, though slowly the flyer carried them up to the edge of the canyon and promptly transformed.

A pained sound left him as he was rather dropped to the muddy ground, Swoop falling somewhere to his right and he lay still, vents cycling heavily as his systems warned him of the damage and energon loss…

“Swoop?” the medic squeaked out, shivering as lightning flashed above to light the area in an eerie glow and the Dinobot slowly rose up to his hands and knees.

“Me Swoop glad me find you First Aid, me Swoop worry.”

First Aid drooped sadly as he heard the other, optics visibly dimming behind the broken visor. “I’m sorry Swoop, I wanted to try and find Blades, t-to help…” he said and cringed when thunder crashed in the sky above rather harshly and, if it was possible, more rain came slamming down onto them. The medic watched Swoop get up and move over to him and he squirmed faintly in pain when the larger mech picked him up into his strong arms.

“W-What are you doing?” First Aid asked and Swoop smiled softly, blue optics glowing in the rain.

“Me no can fly in storm, not while carry you First Aid. We find place hide for night and keep safe. You no transform, right?”

He gave a small nod and couldn’t help but curl in a bit to the warmth the other gave off despite the icy rain around them. “No, my leg is too damaged, I won’t be able to transform.”

Swoop started walking, gaze drifting around, “Then we hide for night.” He said as though that was clearly the answer. “No comm., maybe storm, maybe Decepticon reason…but me Swoop scare them seekers off and protect you First Aid.”

The Protectobot shivered, trying to ignore the rain that stung at his damages and instead focus on the strange, calming voice of the other.

“T-Thank you Swoop.”

[b]~*~*~*~*~*~[/b]

“What do you mean Swoop isn’t here?!” Ratchet asked and Grimlock frowned, the t-rex’s optics narrowing.

“Him Swoop no here! Him no be here all day!” the Dinobot roared and Wheeljack frowned, wings twitching and he glanced at his old friend.

“Swoops never lied to us before, why would he do something like this?”

Both medic apprentices were missing now and it was rather hard to keep a fact like that hidden when they were constantly assisting Ratchet in the medbay. The others didn’t know yet, but they would the moment someone came in for a check-up.

Snarl gave a growl from his place in the cave, glaring a little and Wheeljack moved closer to Grimlock without a hint of hesitance. “Grimlock, this is bad – Swoop and First Aid are both missing and we need to know where they are.”

This got a small shrug from the large mech, “Me no know where him Swoop and him Protectobot are! It rain, him Swoop no fly good in rain, him no be out there and him no in here.”

Wheeljack glanced down the tunnel of rock, guessing Swoop couldn’t be in the caves the Dinobot’s had carved out into the mountain…Sludge shifted a bit from his place curled up near the opening in the back.

“Him no close enough feel, but him Swoop no hurt. Him okay. He come back, always does.” The brontosaurus said and the inventor’s wings twitched behind him a bit nervously. He didn’t like that [i]three[/i] of his creations were now missing and with this storm, they couldn’t send out any teams to try and find First Aid and Swoop…

Ratchet sighed a bit, rubbing his helm, “…well, lets hope you’re right Sludge. The last thing I want is to have two anymore of our comrades go missing.”

Grimlock frowned, tail swishing heavily behind him, “No more go missing! Me Grimlock go find him Swoop me self!”

Thunder rumbled and the Dinobots all scowled in unison.

“Once rain gone, me Grimlock go.” The t-rex added and Wheeljack gave a small chuckle as he nodded,

“Sounds like a good plan Grimlock.”