Love Bites
By Snare-chan
Pairings: Dinobots/Blackarachnia
Ratings: K+
Category(ies): Romance
Warning(s): Spoilers for Season 2, Episode 26: Black Friday.
Status: One-shot, complete
Summary: (Animated Verse) Whether Blackarachnia is left behind or rescued; it doesn't matter because she just can't seem to win.
Notes: Had a dream similar to this and decided to run with it. How could I possibly resist? XD I also went out on a limb here and tried to write in a bit of an alternate style, which I've concluded worked out rather well.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Animated; wish I did like everybody else. They should put TFA in stock, then I'd buy it all!
It felt as if it were that first time again, just like back then. Blackarachnia ached everywhere, in places that shouldn't be able to feel but did and in ways that used to be foreign.
Hot.
She was so hot.
Her eyes weren't functioning correctly. Only one would open while the others twitched in an effort to mimic it. Too much damage had been done to allow them to respond.
Not that it mattered. All that was there to see was sand and the sun reflecting off its surface.
Then nothing.
The ground was shaking. Was it crumbling and breaking, falling away and bringing her with it?
Down, down, down…
With a start, her body tensed and her eyes tried to shoot open, prepared for an impact that never came. Blackarachnia was already flat on her face; the earth vibrating was real enough, though.
Feet – six of them in total – coming right for her. Idly, she reasoned that it would be illogical at this point to rely on sight. For all she knew, she was suffering from a concussion and seeing triple.
In the end, that didn't matter either because her view was fading out again, growing darker around the edges in the same way falling into a hole would be. A set of sharp teeth were at the rim of it when she hit rock bottom.
Sighing softly, she instinctively curled up on herself. Her surroundings were soft, making her feel safe and warm.
That was the first indication that something was wrong. Nothing was ever this comfortable. She frowned, starting to come around again, still hurt and in pain.
But she was used to that by now.
There was no beach to be seen, the seashells and smell of salt replaced by a forest of some kind. Trees blotted out the sky, Blackarachnia's new location a bed of dried leaves and other dead organic things.
And she wasn't alone.
They resembled no one she knew or recognized, nor cared in the slightest to get acquainted with. Everyone was her enemy; life had taught her this, so immediately she was defensive, hissing and threatening to bite or claw.
That kept them from approaching her for a while. That was how she liked it.
The sun rose, its rays shining directly into her eyes. It was a bothersome annoyance that woke her from a troubled sleep, the only fact that kept her from being entirely ungrateful. Although it was difficult sometimes, since she just woke up from one nightmare to the next.
There was a shadow that crossed her face.
Overhead, she spotted some sort of creature perched up there, peering down at her with a fascination usually wrought from a predator analyzing its prey.
Blackarachnia shot back with her own version.
"Yeah, and what are you looking at?"
There came no response that she could decipher.
In time, the few robotic components she possessed had repaired themselves. What remained of her systems was more than capable of mending such a small number of parts.
The rest of her, however, felt like it was dying.
So tired, so sick, so damaged, and so weak.
HATE!
Curse this worthless shell! Stupid Autobots, stupid Optimus Prime! May he suffer ten times worse than she did now, that no-good, dirty, backstabbing-
"Me Grimlock give Spider-lady medicine now."
The words broke her train of thought, and four red eyes snapped up to regard the speaker. She knew his type right from the get-go, without ever needing to know who he was or why he was here. The big, strong, dumb kind of 'bot that contaminated the entire Autobot fleet and a good number of the Decepticons, too.
Yet, he wore no emblems.
Neutral, then? Rare, but not impossible in theory. Megatron had bargained with one by the name of Lockdown a few times – though really, that one might as well be Decepticon.
The newcomer – Grimlock? – held out, at arm's length, a flat piece of bark coated with some kind of paste that oozed. When she did not move to take it, he grunted and shifted awkwardly, shuffling maybe half an inch closer.
"You eat medicine. Know how? Can help if want."
Her fangs flashed.
Medicine? Yeah right. Probably some form of trickery to poison her. Blackarachnia knew better, however, and was content with the fact that if there was one small perk to this wretched body, it was that she was immune to most toxins.
She snatched the offered morsel and batted her eyes prettily, taking a bite and anticipating the disappointed look on the other's face when she didn't drop dead.
Darling, you'll need to try harder than this to kill me.
Imagine her surprise when all that happened was her gagging on the putrid taste of whatever it was that had been given to her.
She had come to be on an island. This she found through a lot of goading one day when she was stuck on her back with nothing else to do; it was easy to weasel it out of the talkative one by the name of Grimlock.
"Spider-lady come to be on me Grimlock's island. You stay here with Dinobots," he commanded, pointing a large finger to their current spot to emphasize his point.
Blackarachnia snorted.
"Sure. Whatever you say, tough guy."
The other beamed, as if he'd just won a major victory.
The sun rose and sank several times. In that span, her health gradually improved, but it was a slow and tedious process. Her core temperature fluctuated multiple times, most likely from a fever that just didn't know how to quit, and her limbs often didn't cooperate.
But Blackarachnia would fight this, as she has fought so much else, and survive.
Sometimes, it appeared that that was all she was really good at.
Her stomach was growling.
"What's a girl got to do around here to get something to eat?"
As if teleported there, the horned one she'd been told was Snarl bestowed a handful of goods. Blackarachnia jumped, surprised by his somehow silent appearance.
Shamelessly, she tested a theory.
"My back hurts. I think I need new bedding."
In no time at all, new leaves were there, freshly cut and tender.
"The light bothers my eyes."
A tree was pushed over to block out the sun, shielding her from its harsh rays.
Now this…she could almost get used to.
They were fighting over something. Blackarachnia didn't know what it was about and quite frankly, she didn't really care. All she knew was that they were disturbing her with their racket.
Grimlock and Snarl were literally butting heads, the winged one diving in from above.
From her nestled position in her makeshift bed, she watched, bored and curious. Mostly bored, though.
CRUNCH!
Head still on her hand, Blackarachnia watched as Grimlock smacked Swoop with his tail and sent him soaring.
The brute momentarily paused, seeming to puff up with pride when he noticed that she watched him. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn one of Grimlock's tiny little stumps for arms waved at her before the horned one tackled him roughly to the ground.
Rolling her eyes, she turned back over.
Nightmares or not, sleep had to be better than watching that sorry sight.
One day, Blackarachnia was able to stand again.
It wasn't much, but any progress is good progress. The ability to be able to flee or move as she chose was a relief.
Her caretakers weren't so certain.
"Spider-lady, be careful!"
They circled her, trapped her, made her hackles rise and senses heighten.
"Go away already!" she spat, "I don't need your help."
No sooner than the words were spoken her knees buckled and all her limbs turned to jelly. Three pairs of hands reached out to catch her, the chubby one getting to her first.
"You no help Spider-lady! Me Grimlock help Spider-lady!"
He wrenched her from him and held her close, enough power behind the hold to lift her literally off her feet.
"My, what strong arms you have," she wheezed.
Anything to get him to stop crushing her.
They were driving her insane.
After putting up with her idiot comrades, such a notion should have been impossible. If Blitzwing's tendency to break out in song, Lugnut's Megatron spiels, or Starscream's egotism did not put someone off, then there should have been nothing in the galaxy that could.
Blackarachnia was wrong.
Oh, so very wrong.
At no point in time was she not under some kind of supervision; the flier was always hovering above her, the horned one loitering around, and Grimlock. Ugh, Grimlock! His constant fawning was grating on her last nerve.
All this smothering almost made her wish she had drowned.
Blackarachnia couldn't sleep.
Without telling anyone, she simply got up and went exploring. Her joints were still stiff and shortly, she became very tired. The only thing that kept her going was her sheer tenacity and frustration.
She had no way of knowing where she had been, but now she was on top of some kind of rock-face. The sheer height allowed her to see everything around for miles.
Trees, trees, and more trees.
After that, water.
Scowling darkly, she transformed and plopped into a sitting position, her weight supported on one hand.
The moron hadn't been lying; she really was on an island. This troubled her already troubled thoughts. The distance was too great for her to swim, and no one was stupid enough to come here willingly. Nor did it even cross her mind that someone might come looking for her.
More than likely, she'd been forgotten some while ago.
A soft cry sounded, alerting her to company. It was the one that could fly. He landed close by and changed to his bipedal form. If she'd had a watch she may have glanced at it and nodded – it seemed just about right that she would be discovered.
No rest for the wicked, apparently.
He imploringly held out something for her; even in this poor of light her keen eyesight identified it as some kind of fruit.
At first, she wanted to smack the gift right out of his hands…
Hands attached to shoulders.
Shoulders attached to wings.
Wings that could fly.
Despite the pain involved in doing so, she languidly got back on her feet, putting some extra sway in her hips. Daintily, she took the fruit from his hands, making sure her fingers lingered longer than necessary.
"Thank you…ah, Swoop, was it? You're such a dear," she cooed, rubbing a claw just under his chin. "I'm simply famished."
As the other's foot sprang to life, thumping into the ground repeatedly as she coddled him, the Decepticon cackled.
Blackarachnia made a fist, testing her restored strength. Next, she flexed her claws, the digits smoothly bending to her every command.
The wait had been excruciating, but at long last, she was healed.
No more eating disgusting medicine, no more bed rest, and soon…no more giant morons.
She found Swoop perched on a fallen tree trunk nearby. There was enough room for two, and she quickly took advantage of this. She sat far away at first.
"Beautiful, aren't they?"
The pterodactyl blinked once at her and tilted his head.
Feigning absence, she scooted an entire inch closer.
"You know…the stars are prettier up close."
Swoop shifted once, as did she, her body now within reaching distance.
"It's been so long since I've seen them like that," she mock-lamented, a far-off look reaching her eyes as she looked up sadly at the night sky. "What I'd do to see them again, if only for a little while."
Practice kept her from smirking in success as the other seemed to have caught on and fallen for the bait, his transformation following soon after.
"Really? You'd take me to see the stars?"
Her voice was barely above a whisper as she sidled right up against him. Arms beseechingly reached around his neck and vowed never to let go.
Not until the time was right, anyway.
Neither of them went very far.
In fact, not even one foot left the ground because there came an angered cry that rustled the treetops, sending birds flying from their homes and might have even been heard from Detroit, little children starting from their beds crying of a monster coming to eat them.
Blackarachnia only had enough time to push away from Swoop before a flaming sword came down between them.
"What are you doing?"
Her voice was shrill as she screamed.
Grimlock didn't pay her any mind, too absorbed in chasing Swoop off.
"YOU NO TOUCH ME GRIMLOCK'S GIRLFRIEND. NO ONE TOUCHES ME GRIMLOCK'S GIRLFRIEND."
Perhaps a bit uncharacteristically, her mouth dropped open at the sheer absurdity of that statement.
Seconds later, she was giving chase, too, hunting them both down like the useless lowlifes they were.
"How dare you! No one ignores me, no one. Come back here; stop running!"
Blackarachnia ended up ramming into Grimlock's back; he had stopped at her order. The force of impact nearly sent her reeling back, but Grimlock turned around and gripped her by the upper arms.
"Spider-lady! What you do with him?"
"That is none of your business!"
Then, as an afterthought, "And I'm not your girlfriend."
"But…me Grimlock leader! Ladies love leader."
Furious, her two golden stingers shot forward, giving him the shock of his life. With barely a groan, Grimlock released her and crumbled.
"…m-me Grimlock like 'em feisty…"
For nearly an entire month, she shunned the entire lot of them.
Snarl, who didn't really have a single clue as to what had transpired, tried to get back in her good graces first. She could maybe stand him long enough for him to make a meager offering – a flower, a shiny rock – before she would try to bash his head in.
Swoop was far more careful out of the lot – he kept himself well hidden, always out of her clutches, to her slight chagrin.
And Grimlock?
Well, Grimlock was still a moron.
"Spider-lady?"
Her back was to him, her arms crossed over her chest.
In a rare show of hesitance, he hunched over, his index fingers pressing together as he tried to battle with himself.
"Me Grimlock…sorry?"
She scoffed haughtily and snubbed him.
"Me Grimlock really sorry?"
"Do you even know what you're sorry for?" Blackarachnia asked, deadpan.
He didn't care because at least she was acknowledging him now.
"…Um, because me Grimlock not ask first if Spider-lady want to go steady?"
Angrily, she turned to face him, claws raised to slash him across that stupid mouth of his when he sighed dreamily.
"Spider-lady pretty when mad."
That stopped her dead in her tracks.
The next time they talked, the others had come with him. The horned one and the flier hovered behind their leader, practically cowering.
"Why…Spider-lady unhappy?"
"You want to know why I'm unhappy?" she asked, rhetorically, though she knew he would not get it. That was why she interrupted him, voice rising in tandem. "I'm unhappy because I'm a prisoner on this deserted, primitive piece of useless land stuck smack dab in the middle of scenic nowhere!"
"Huh? You no prisoner, you family!"
She didn't believe him.
Not even for a moment.
Shaking her head, she stamped her foot and cried, "Take me back. Take me back right now."
"You promise to stay!"
"I promised no such thing."
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Di-…" She snarled, reaching up and grabbing Grimlock by the neck, forcing them eye to eye, "Look pal, I need technology. Computers, servers, not…this! I can't live like this!"
"…tech-nol-ogy? But, Dinobots have."
"What."
At her crisp tone Grimlock's gleeful expression narrowly fell.
"Island has tech-nol-ogy, too! Lots and lots!"
"Show me."
He took her by the hand, and did.
The place was in shambles. Somehow, Blackarachnia didn't doubt that Grimlock and his posse had something to do with that.
Still, the lab wasn't a complete loss. A couple of monitors had escaped unscathed, along with some other equipment.
"So…Spider-lady happy?"
Plugging in the right components, a computer chimed online, telling her all that she needed to know.
"Oh yes," she purred, "I am very happy."
-Fin-