Suffering in Silence (a Rescue Bot Academy fanfiction)

Chapter 3

Heatwave's POV

I have recently been noticing some behavioral changes in Hotshot, and it worries me. I already feel guilty over what I said yesterday, but when Medix held him back to ask him if he was okay threw me off. And the changes were not so good. He seemed quieter and as humans would say, down to Earth.

"So, what are we doing today, professor?" Hotshot asks.

"We are going to take a drive. We are going to relax unless an emergency comes up," I told him as we walked through the ground bridge to Griffin Rock. We transformed into our vehicle modes, as we drove slowly around town.

"So how is this going to help me in future rescues?" Hotshot asked after about 10 minutes. I sighed.

"This will help teach you how to remain calm, even in the direst of situations. If you can't remain calm when the situation becomes dire, the mission will only get harder," I tell him. We continued driving for another 39 minutes when he stopped.

"Not that I have any doubts about your teaching methods, Professor Heatwave, but this is not helping me relax," he tells me. I transform back into my bipedal form as Hotshot follows my example and transforms into his bipedal form.

"Then what relaxes you, Hotshot?" I ask him. He seems to think for a moment before coming up with an answer.

"Gazing at the star or clouds and cube," he answers. We decided to watch the clouds since we got nothing better to do. Although, I could sense that he was uncomfortable. Eventually, we returned to the academy, and I called the other recruits so I could talk to them in my office.

"Where's Hotshot?" Whirl asked once they arrived.

"Actually, he is the reason that I called you guys here. He is acting differently, and I don't know how to put it," I told them. The recruits looked between themselves before turning back towards me.

"Now that you mention it, sir, Hotshot has been acting different. Like he is sad about something, or depressed," Wedge tells us. The other recruit started to bring up times that Hotshot was acting different. The times they brought was close to the end of last year to the present.

"I think the oddest thing is that Hotshot arrived quite early today, and he was, as humans put it, faking it," Medix says. "When I checked in on him heading towards the sim room, he seemed to get quite agitated when I asked if he was alright."

"I asked him about that today before our training today, and he seemed to avoid the topic. Although we did not do much, he seemed agitated and uncomfortable," I informed the recruits.

"So what should we do? Hotshot is obviously not okay, but when it comes to him, I am not entirely sure how to help him," Whirl asks with concern. The other recruits nodded their heads in agreement.

"I have to agree with you, I don't know what to do in this situation either. But I think, for the time being, we should keep a close eye on him. I will tell the other professors. You guys are excused," I tell the recruits. They walk out of the room and I sighed. I feel like this is my fault. I walk out to the area where the recruits graduated for their first year, as I look at the two pictures up. Hotshot, although a little more mature than when we first met him, seemed happier than he is now. Even if I wasn't the biggest fan of him in the beginning and I may put everything on him, which I shouldn't probably do, I still care about Hotshot. He is like a son to me, and he reminds me of myself from back in the day. I'm afraid for him. And if this gets any worse, I might bring in someone who I am not the biggest fan of. I'm just hoping that it does not come to that.