[There's a moment. An awful, painful moment, in which he doesn't recognize the Autobot in the medical bay. The coloration is all wrong. That isn't Smokescreen. That's someone else. It was just a lie, then.]
[And right when he begins to withdraw...]
[The other Autobot is launching at him. The big tank actually staggers backward, trying to maintain his balance and, at the same time, catch the flying bot.]
[... because that action alone, that reaction, is nothing that could be faked.]
I--
It...
[For one of the first times, Perceptor finds himself speechless.]
... where have you been?
[It comes out softly, more softly than he intended it to. Rough and ragged and exhausted, suddenly.]
action;
[And right when he begins to withdraw...]
[The other Autobot is launching at him. The big tank actually staggers backward, trying to maintain his balance and, at the same time, catch the flying bot.]
[... because that action alone, that reaction, is nothing that could be faked.]
I--
It...
[For one of the first times, Perceptor finds himself speechless.]
... where have you been?
[It comes out softly, more softly than he intended it to. Rough and ragged and exhausted, suddenly.]