The wound was infected. It appeared in only a matter of days. The odour was almost impossible to hide. I had to see Ratchet. There was no other option. I waited, thinking about everything in the meantime. I actually wanted to pass by the other day, but Ratchet wasn't available. The receptionist turned from her monitor and called my name. 'Sky Laurier?' I got up. The medic walked up to me, shaking my hands. 'Sky, I was surprised to see you on my schedule... my assistant told me you had an inflammation?' he asked while walking to his examination room. 'Yeah, I uh... yeah.' He closed the door behind me and gestured for me to sit on the medical bed. 'Nasty cut you got there on your hand.' He gently grasped my wrist, looking at it. 'This one looks clean... not too deep, but still nasty.' I met his gaze and agreed quietly with him. 'So, what can I do?'

'I have a... wound on my arm which isn't healing properly.' I removed my jacket. His eyes trailed over my arms, staring at the large bruisings. 'Did you stitch this yourself?' He grabbed a pair of gloves. 'Yeah...' He gave me a strict look. 'Why would you do it yourself if you know I can do it in ten minutes without a disastrous outcome?' he questioned indignantly. I was sure he knew, but I answered him anyway. 'Because I didn't want to explain how I got it.' He started looking through his cabinets. 'You must have been wandering around with quite a lot of pain,' he trailed off before turning back. I shrugged. 'Then what happened? It's a very deep but clean gash.'

'Sunstreaker... he beat me and gave me these cuts. I suppose I didn't make a good first impression. Four years ago, my parents were murdered, and the police told everyone it was a suicide. My mom ran away and killed herself because she wasn't happy, and my dad was so broken that he followed her lead. I know my parents would never leave me behind like that. We may weren't very close, but we loved each other, and now it turned into a cold case. I spoke to the detective three days ago, and then I saw Sunstreaker, just casually sitting on his hood while he killed all those people. I bet that the families of his victims are looking for some closure, but they can't because they don't know who the killer is. I know that feeling... seeing Sunstreaker recalls anger. I might have reacted my anger on him because he's a monster; now I am his target.'

Ratchet sucked in a breath. 'Sunstreaker is complicated, misunderstood mostly. I am not defending him or approving of his crimes, but he is misunderstood. He never achieved any form of love or kindness from other people. His parents didn't want him, beat him, sexually assaulted him and eventually threw him on the streets like garbage. He has a younger twin brother and he sees it as his job to defend and protect. Living on the streets was hard; horrible things happened to him there and eventually let that he was kidnapped, sold and forced to fight in arenas. It was killing or getting killed. If he refused to fight, they would punish him by hitting him with wipes or metal pipes or even torturing his brother. It drove him insane. His brother is his everything, his world and the mech he relies on, but Sideswipe hasn't arrived on earth yet. We know Sunstreaker is much calmer once he's reunited with Sideswipe, but we don't know when Sideswipe will arrive or if he even will arrive.'

I watched him give me an injection. 'His past is tragic and traumatic. He's dealing with many demons, and I assume he's hurting other individuals to make him feel powerful, in control... but also revenge, to make people feel what he has been through on every level.' I met his gaze again. 'And we think he hates women because his mother never chose his side, watched him get hurt, hurt him herself too and because femmes don't want him and he got rejected every time. Just a troubled young mech; I know he's not born evil, just made that way.' I sucked in a breath. 'Doesn't give him the right to kill,' I muttered, not feeling any sympathy. 'I have treated Sunstreaker for as long as I can remember; I can talk to him till a certain point, and the humans force me to give him injections. They are supposed to stabilise his mood, but it messes with his hormones, make him sick and cloud his mind, and on top of that, he doesn't get any Energon, to make sure his energy levels are low, but it causes him a lot of pain... My suggestion for an experiment was turned down....'

I raised a brow. 'Experiment?' He nodded. 'I want to pair him with a human, a female... I want him to have a friend, for so far, he can have friends... he has always been a loner.' I snorted. 'I understand why that was turned down. 30 days and she's dead....' I scolded. Ratchet shrugged. 'I believe not, but it only works if she's patient and kind... disgust won't help.' I huffed again. 'Good luck finding a girl willing to participate in my experiment,' I muttered. 'I was looking for a potential match... never found her... and like I said, Prime and Lennox don't want it, but I might have found a good match.' I raised a brow. 'Really?' I mocked, shaking my head. He only nodded while draining some of the puss. I turned my head away in disgust. I felt my stomach twist.

'Sunstreaker might be difficult to understand and murderous, but he is extremely loyal, and I believe that's the key.' I shook my head, done talking about Sunstreaker. 'Do I get antibiotics?' I asked to change the subject. I knew I would get some. 'Definitely.' Ratchet flushed out the wound, properly sutured it and used some extra alcohol to clean it again as he finished. He grabbed a syringe and injected me. 'This is an antibiotic shot, and this one... is an extra painkiller; it will work for six hours, but I will give you some pills.' I nodded. 'I need you to help me with this experiment.' I shook my head rapidly. 'No, I will not put any effort or time into that monster. Regardless of what you told me. I refuse to help somebody who kills others to satisfy himself. He can rot in hell.' I slid off the medical bed and grabbed my jacket.

'He's not a monster... misunderstood,' he corrected, but I ignored him. For me, he is a monster and will always be a monster. Ratchet handed me the pills. 'Think about it,' was all he said before I left.