Transformers (c) Hasbro
Pain. That was all Chromia could process as she hid, doubled over in the dark overhang of a half demolished building. Her optics were online, but she may as well have been blind. All she could focus on was the fierce, throbbing ache ebbing from her spark and enveloping her whole form. She let a choked out sob crackle from her vocaliser.
She's gone....Just like that...
Numbly, she raised one hand over her spark, sharp licks of static and heat tracing the metal of it.
"Arcee..." she whispered, voice sounding distant and strange to her audios. Feeling her body give way to the pain, she dropped her arm to one side and let her frame collapse into the sand. With her last pulse of energy she cast her optics past the chunks of ruin and mounds of sand to settle on a shattered pink form.
"...sorry..." With a buzz of static her system gave way to stasis lock.
Ironhide was, to put it mildly, troubled. He snarled a curse under his breath as another checked building was designated empty. Roughly crushing a rock-face underfoot, he stomped onwards making sure to sweep his optics over every stretch of sand. He inwardly graced himself with all degrading names known in his processor for being so lax as to let this happen.
The initial excitement of the battle had worn down, congratulations had been doled out, and any surviving Decepticons had been interrogated before deactivation (something Ironhide himself had happily taken part of). Shortly thereafter, Ratchet had barked the order that all Autobots report for injury checks. It was here that the medic had noticed the absence of three of their team. Ironhide had taken less than a klik to react before growling a curse and thundering across the battle torn ground.
"Any luck Ironhide?" Prime's voice, which was notably concerned, inquired over their com-link.
"Nothing yet" the black mech answered, venting air through his intakes in aggravation. He hated being powerless, especially when it involved someone he cared about. He heard Prime sigh; they had already been searching for over a joor with no luck. The rest of the humans had long since left, Sideswipe having scared the stragglers into early departure after their suggestion that they give up the search. Ironhide considered them fortunate that he wasn't nearby when they said that.
Nearing yet another overhang, the weapons specialist stuck his head into the dark depression switching on his headlights. After a short inspection he growled out another curse and moved away from the rubble. Suddenly a loud burst of static in the form of a Cybertronian curse word assaulted his audios. The next nanoklick the com-link buzzed into life.
"Ratch' get over here! I found them..." the way Sideswipes tone had subdued towards the end sent a dark chill through Ironhides spark. A sudden vertical shot from a pulse canon gave instant indication of the warrior's location. Ironhide sent rocks flying as he vaulted straight for it.
The first sight that greeted the medic's optics as he rounded the corner was the shattered pink form lying splayed in the sand. Ratchet visibly froze.
"Slag!" he hissed, heading straight for her.
"She's already gone Ratch'" the uncharacteristically quiet voice of Sideswipe uttered from somewhere ahead of him. Optics falling on the completely devastated chest armour and moving up to the dark optics, the medic cursed again. He then turned his attention to the silver mech, taking note of the purple figure resting in his arms. Flareup.
Ratchet was next to her in a second, "Set her down here" he ordered as he began to look over her condition. His optics narrowed as he took note of the severe head damage; purple metal charred and melted, exposing the damaged wiring underneath. He sharply withdrew his hand as the circuitry buzzed and sent a fresh current of electricity.
As he set to work on fixing the worse of the damage, he became very aware of the dark shadow looming over him. Not bothering to look up he merely stated, "If you keep hovering over me you'll find yourself with a wrench wedged up your tailpipe" Wincing slightly, Sideswipe hastily backed away to observe from a safer distance.
Ratchet didn't fail to notice the tremors in the sand caused by both the aggressive approaching footsteps of Ironhide, and the calm but still very large ones of Prime. Had he been a more inexperienced medic, Ironhide's sudden string of curse words would have probably affected his focus on the procedure. But Ratchet didn't so much as flinch, even as the mech approached him.
Ironhide stood in silence for several kliks before moving off, footsteps more restrained than before.
"Will she be alright?" Optimus' voice cut into the silence. Ratchet expelled hot air from his intakes.
"Ask me again in two breems" he answered, not looking up from his work.
Ironhide felt his fuel pumps twist as his optics again fell on the shattered frame of Arcee. Snarling a low growl he offlined his optics, hands viciously clenching into fists at his sides.
'Slagging Decepticons....Slagging humans....Slagging war!' he cursed inwardly. Optics online and bright with hatred he smashed his fist through a nearby wall, taking a sliver of satisfaction in the destruction. He froze as something caught his optic. The sun, slowly setting and sending a weak glow over the land, captured the glinting blue metal of a body within the ruins of the building.
Not waiting another astrosecond, Ironhide roughly shoved his way through the weak structure, pausing only when he was right next to the prone figure.
"Chromia...?" the tone of his voice surprised him; he couldn't remember when he'd last sounded so...hesitant. Optics narrowing, he tried again, this time reaching out to gently shake her shoulder.
"Chromia" he called more firmly. But nonetheless, the blue femme remained still, not so much as stirring. Feeling an increasing sense of worry, he carefully turned her over to inspect her condition.
Ironhide was no medic, but from what he could see, other than a few dents and scratches here and there, she seemed to be in perfect condition. With a sigh of mixed exasperation and relief, he carefully lifted the femme and carried her out of the structure.
As he rounded the corner, his optics again fell on the broken pink body. Only now, pink was accompanied by bright yellow as Bumblebee knelt down next to Arcee. Ironhide felt his spark clench as the bot emitted as close to a sob that his vocaliser could allow, gently touching his hand to her face. Nearby he noticed Jolt had appeared by Ratchet's side, hastily attempting to keep up with whatever orders the medic was giving him. Ironhide also saw that Flareup's head injury was sparking less and the energon leak had been mended.
The weapons specialist moved towards the medics, "I found Chromia" he stated.
"Condition?" Ratchet brusquely inquired. Ironhide hesitated.
"In stasis lock, but she seems to be physically fine" he answered. Ratchet grunted in response, not looking up from his work.
"I'll look her over as soon as Flareup's stable" hesitating for a second, he added "Jolt, check her spark casing" he told the blue mech next to him. Jolt gave a quick nod before moving over to inspect the femme. Ironhide reluctantly handed her over, but kept close.
Jolt gave a quick systems scan, checking for any possible internal injuries, before setting her down on the sand and kneeling next to her. He visibly froze.
"What?" Ironhide asked, noting the change in the medic.
"Ratchet...Her spark's throbbing..." he called to the CMO. A growled curse was his response.
"Get her out of stasis now Jolt!" he barked, still not looking up from performing Flareup's repairs. The blue mech quickly vented his intakes before using the end of one of his electro-whips to send a mild current of electricity through Chromia's frame. The crackling of a surge of static, followed by the hum of systems powering up, indicated the shock had done its job.
Ironide unconsciously leaned closer as the blue femme twitched slightly, "Chromia...?" A pained groan was his response. Ironhide glared at Jolt, "You better not have had that slagging whip of yours set too high!" he growled.
"It's her spark" Jolt responded, carefully touching said area, before sharply pulling back, "Slag! It's sending out heat and shock waves Ratch'" he informed the medic. Ratchet vented his intakes in aggravation.
"It should improve since she's out of stasis lock" he stated, irritated.
"What do you mean 'her spark'?" Ironhide asked, impatience leaking into his tone. Jolt met his optics before looking towards Arcee's body.
"You've heard of twin bonds right?" he murmured, optics downcast. Ironhide nodded, frowning slightly. "Well, she and her sisters have...had a triplet bond. When Arcee's spark died so suddenly...the feedback loop put some serious strain on Chromia and Flareup's sparks..." he indicated the area with a finger. Ironhide noted how the light from Chromia's spark constantly brightened and dimmed.
His optics moved from her spark chamber up to her optics, dimly lit as she slowly regained consciousness, "Will she be alright?" he asked quietly.
"Her spark should stabilise now that she's out of stasis...so physically she'll be fine, but..." Jolt let his sentence trail off from there. Ironhide's optics were locked on Chromia as she slowly raised herself into sitting position. Jolt gingerly moved away and back to aid Ratchet.
Ironhide remained silent as the blue femme rested her head in one hand, emitting a low groan of pain.
"Chomia" the weapons specialist spoke after several kliks. The femme remained silent, causing Ironhide to frown.
"Chr-"
"She's gone" Ironhide paused before dimming his optics. Chromia's frame visibly trembled, "Why...?" she whispered to herself. Ironhide remained silent; knowing nothing he could say would help. He jerked his head in surprise as she suddenly rose to her full height, fists clenched and optics blazing.
"Why?!" she yelled, smashing her fist into a nearby wall, then another, and another. Ironhide made no move to restrain her, even as she turned her furious gaze towards him. "Why the slag did this happen?!" He met her gaze evenly, remaining silent. With a growl she turned away from him, frame tense and vibrating with emotion.
Then, with a scream of fury and pain she charged up her canon, opening fire on every wall still standing.
"SLAG! SLAG! SLAG!" she shrieked, unceasing in her merciless assault on the village remains. Ironhide remained perfectly still and silent throughout this, telling the rest to keep their distance over the com-link. If Chromia didn't vent now...she might never.
After several breems the cannon blasts ceased; crumbling rubble and hitching intakes the only sounds to be heard. Ironhide carefully stepped towards her. As the smoke and dust slowly cleared, Chromia's trembling blue frame came into view.
"S-slag..." she choked out. Ironhide tentatively approached her, reaching out to gently touch her arm.
"Chro-!" he cut himself off as a blue head was suddenly buried in his chasis. His optics shuttered and dimmed as she broke down into a series of high pitched wails, entire frame shuddering with the force of her cries. Gently, he rose a single hand to rest on her back; an insufficient comfort, but it would have to do for now.
Optimus Prime looked on in remorse at the scene, optics dim.
"Prime" Ratchet solemnly addressed him over the com-link, "Flareup's condition is stable...but still critical. We need to head back to base so we can properly treat her"
"Then the rest of us will meet up with the humans" he stated over the com-link; hesitating, he added, "Ironhide...?"
"We'll catch up to you" the black mech responded, tone leaving no room for compromise; not that any of them would want to.
"Alright...Autobots, transform and roll out" there was no vigour or life in the statement, just something that had to be said. They all did no wordlessly. Ratchet and Bumblebee carefully placed Flareup and Arcee's frames into Primes trailer before following. Soon the growl of engines powering up sounded and the dust began to rise as their tires kicked into action.
Hesitating momentarily, Prime added over their com-link, "Ironhide, if we don't see you in four joors, we're coming back" his tone, like Ironhide's, also left no room for compromise. The weapons specialist remained silent, his own way of accepting Prime's statement. With that, the Autobot leader followed the rest of his team, leaving a substantial trail of dust in his wake.
None of them spoke on the return journey. It had to have been a good three miles before Chromia's cries could no longer be heard, and even then it was ringing in their audios.
Author's Note: I was left pretty confused at the end of ROTF with regards to Arcee, Chromia and Flareup's fate o.O So I figured I'd give my own take of events following the battle.
Oh and for the record, so far there's no actual pairings decided (if any) Right now Ironhide and Chromia are really just friends...But who knows what that may evolve into ;D