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'What'll you have?' Swerve asked as First Aid approached the bar.

'Engex...'

'Coming up,' Swerve said, turning to the refinery at the back of the bar and drawing a glass of glowing blue liquid. 'Here...'

'...thanks,' First Aid said, downing half of it in one go and Swerve frowned.

'I heard that you've been shut in with Rung ever since you got back from Shojezuno. You okay...?'

'Yes...' First Aid said, without looking up from his drink.

'Come on. What happened? You can tell me...'

'Nothing happened!' First Aid snapped, coming to his feet so fast that he knocked over his stool. 'And even if it did, I don't want to talk about it...'

He slammed his glass on the bar so hard that it shattered and stormed out, his half-drunk Engex pooling on the floor...

################

'You're back early,' Rung said, as he opened the door of his office to find First Aid outside. 'Do you...feel ready to continue...?'

'...yeah,' First Aid said and Rung nodded.

'Very well,' he said, ushering First Aid inside. 'Sit down...'

First Aid dropped back into the chair, sitting forward and staring down at his hands.

'...alright,' Rung said. 'Wire wanted you to harvest components from the dead mechs. Let's pickup from there...'

################

First Aid willed his hand not to shake as he removed the shoulder joint from the last mech, dropping it into the crate with the rest of the components that he had harvested. Closing the lid, he looked around at the remains of the scavenged mechs, closing his eyes for a second before rapping his knuckles on the door.

'I'm done,' he called. 'Clang, open the door...'

There was silence, so he hammered on the door.

'Clang! This isn't funny. Let me out of here...' he shouted, just as the door ground open.

'Don't blow a spark plug,' Clang said as First Aid backed out, dragging the crate behind him.

'What will happen to them?' he asked and Clang shrugged.

'They're no use, now. They'll be melted down for reforging...'

'You can't...!' First Aid cried and Clang turned with a punch that lifted him off his feet.

'You'd better get back to the Medbay,' he said, standing over him with a cruel grin. 'The next round of fights is about to start...'

################

'Hey,' Snap said, from where she was leaning against the wall outside the door to the Pit. 'I'm up next,' she said, gesturing over her shoulder towards the heavy steel door. 'Shouldn't be long, now. There's some little runt of a mech in there who'll be an oil stain on the floor in under a cycle...'

'Why do you do this?' First Aid asked and she shrugged.

'What choice do we have? If we don't fight, Wire will kill us and find someone else. Besides, if we win enough fights, we earn our freedom...'

'Has anyone survived long enough...?'

'...no,' she said, just as the door to the Pit ground open and she picked up her mace.

'Well, gotta go. I'll see you...'

Yeah... First Aid thought. One way or another...

################

First Aid watched with his fists clenched as Snap squared off with her opponent, a hulking cyborg with an armoured chest and cybernetic limbs. Snap raised her mace and lunged towards him as his arm shifted shape, transforming into a crude cannon that sparked at the end. Before Snap could dodge, the cannon released an arc of electricity that struck her chest plate and lifted her off her feet. Springing back to her feet, she charged again, rolling left as the cannon fired, leaving a charred mark on the floor where she had been. Coming to her feet, she brought her mace down on his arm with a crushing blow, servos sparking as she reversed the mace in a savage strike to the side of his head. The cyborg collapsed, the glow fading from his eyes and the crowd cheered as Wire's minion came and dragged his body away. However, Snap's eyes were already on the entrance to the Pit, which ground open to reveal a tall, sleek black mechanoid with an energy whip in one hand. He advanced towards her, cracking the whip beside him to leave a charred slice in the ground and Snap stepped back, raising her mace. Faster than First Aid could follow, the whip sliced out and wrapped around her knee, pulling her off balance. The black mechanoid advanced, raising his whip and Snap kicks out to his hip, putting all her weight and power behind it, the force of the blow buckling his armour and bending it inwards. Before he can recover, her mace swings up in a vicious arc that takes his head from his shoulders and he collapses. With a grunt of pain, Snap pushes herself to her feet and hobbles out of the Pit towards First Aid.

'Here, let me...' First Aid said, starting forward to help her, but she shook him off.

'Leave it,' she snarled. 'I'm fine...'

'You're not,' First Aid said. 'Your knee joint is damaged. I'll need to replace it, but this will hold it for now...'

'Fine,' Snap relented as he grabbed a wrench and started tightening the bolts around her knee joint. Then, she looked up as Blunt walked past them into the Pit, a blaster pistol clutched in one hand. Already waiting was a hulking mech armed with a spear and shield. As First Aid watched, Blunt charged towards him, his pistol firing, only to be absorbed by the mech's shield. Trying to get around it, Blunt dodged left, but the Mech thrust out his shield, sending him stumbling backwards. Before Blunt could recover, he stabbed him through the chest with his spear.

'No...!'

First Aid could only watch helpless as the mech withdrew the spear and Blunt collapsed to the ground, the light fading from his eyes. Even from this distance, First Aid knew that there was nothing he could do. Turning away from the Pit, he glanced at Snap, who was staring at the floor and his hands bunched into fists. Seeing him staring, she got up and walked away without looking back.

Dammit...

################

First Aid stepped into the dingy bar, being greeted by the sharp tang of unrefined energon and motor oil. Snap and Chase were seated at the back, drinking in grim silence as First Aid walked over.

'I'm sorry about Blunt,' he said and Chase downed his drink in one swig.

'It's coming to us all,' he said. 'Blunt knew the score...'

'Maybe not,' First Aid said. 'My friends'll be looking for me. When they get here, we can all escape...'

'No-one can find us here,' Snap said, without looking up from her drink.

'Not necessarily,' First Aid countered, lowering his voice. 'I've got work to do. I need to get back to the morgue...'

################

First Aid stepped into the morgue, stopping dead when he saw Blunt's body leant against the wall. Steeling himself, he knelt down next to him, activating his laser scalpel.

Okay. He's a pre-war Cybertronian, so his RF/E receiver should be here...

Carefully, he cut away his shoulder plate and removed an ovoid device with a depression in the centre. Smiling grimly, he dropped it into the crate.

Thanks, Blunt. This might just be our way out of here...

################

First Aid dumped the crate of components that he had harvested on the table, glancing over his shoulder as he punched the door control, the hatch grinding shut. Opening the crate, he quickly sorted through them, laying four on the workbench. Picking up Blunt's RF/E receiver, he took out his microwelder.

Okay. Here goes...

################

With an acrid smell of solder, First Aid welded the last component into place.

That's one of the ugliest things I've ever built...

A crude assemblage of parts, irregular and bulky, it looked like what it was; a bodge job. Still, it would have to do.

Let's hope this works... First Aid thought, as he flipped the switch on the side. Nothing happened for a moment and then the device began to hum, a red light glowing in the centre.

Okay...

Quickly, First Aid shoved it into a storage unit behind some other spare parts, just as the Clinic door opened.

'Need some help here,' Snap barked and First Aid's head snapped round to see her dragging Chase in through the doorway. He wasn't moving and First Aid could see that his chest plate was badly crushed, the metal bent and buckled.

No...

'Help me get him on the table,' First Aid said, grabbing his legs and together they lifted him onto the recharge slab.

'What happened...?' First Aid asked and Snap rounded on him.

'What do you think happened? Just fix him...'

################

'I've done what I can,' First Aid said. 'He's stabilised now and he should be coming out of stasis lock...'

'Uhhhn,' Chase said, his optics flickering back on and he looked from First Aid to Snap. 'What happened...?'

'You got the scrap kicked out of you, that's what happened!' Snap yelled, turning an storming out of the clinic.

'She's fine ,' Chase said, struggling to sit up. 'So, how bad is it...?'

'...bad. Your torso superstructure is cracked and your internal systems are operating on secondary redundancies. You need at least 2 mega-cycles in Stasis Lock for your CR systems to repair them, but there's nothing I can do for the structural damage...'

'No can-do, Doc,' Chase said, swinging his legs off the recharge slab. 'I've gotta get back to the Pit...'

'Are you crazy?! You're in no condition...'

'Don't have a choice, Doc. I don't fight, Wire'll kill me...'

################

'...you sure about this?' First Aid asked as the door to the Pit ground open.

'I'm fine,' Chase said, hefting his Energo Axe, managing to take two steps before his leg gave out and he would have collapsed if First Aid hadn't caught him.

'You can't do this...'

'Like I said, I don't have a choice...'

'Yes, you do...' First Aid said. 'I'll fight in your place...'

Taking the Energo Axe from Chase, he stepped through into the Pit, the door grinding shut behind him.

################

The door ground shut behind First Aid as he entered the Pit, where an organic with black armoured plates that seemed to have been welded to his skin was waiting. On his right arm, he wore a metal power gauntlet. Without warning, he leapt, First Aid barely managing to dodge aside as his gauntlet struck the floor, buckling the plating. First Aid gripped the Axe in both hands, starting forward, just as the organic struck out with a kick that lifted him off his feet. First Aid struggled to his feet as he attacked again and he brought the axe down in a blow that severed his forearm, the gauntlet dropping to the floor with a clang. Even before he could react, First Aid had buried the axe in his head and he fell to ground, where he lay still. First Aid dropped the axe, falling to his knees, the lifeless eyes of the organic seeming to burn into him.

I killed him...

Then, there was an explosion and First Aid raised his head to see a spherical red and yellow craft that looked like a stylised face smash through the wall of the Pit.

The RodPod...?

The RodPod settled down with a thump and a hatch opened at the back, a purple jet roaring out, followed by a blue helicopter.

Cyclonus? Whirl?

As he watched, they split up, laser fire ripping through Wire's minions as they stormed into the Pit.

'First Aid?' Snap asked, as she helped Chase hobble over to him. 'Who are these guys...?'

First Aid said nothing, just staring blankly as a red and yellow mech emerged from the RodPod and sprinted over.

Rodimus...

'First Aid,' he said. 'Come on, get up. We need to get out of here...'

Putting his arm under his shoulder, he dragged him to his feet and manhandled him towards the RodPod, Snap and Chase following close behind.

################

'...alright,' Rung said. 'We're done for now...'

'That's it?' First Aid asked and Rung nodded.

'For now. We'll need to continue with your sessions, but, yes, we're done. Try and get some rest...'

'...okay...' First Aid said, hesitating before he stood up and left, the door closing behind him.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Any comments, reviews or constructive criticism very welcome.