Broken Wings
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Foreword: This story is based upon the following prompt posted at Tfanonkink:
Req anyverse any crossfaction, hacking/mindfrag, damage, D/s, no-fun pet
2016-02-23 08:18 am
Decepticon character of your choice is damaged in battle on the head. Autobots take him home, they find his processor is badly damaged. For whatever reason (like, Ratchet is wounded too? Security issues? Lack of replacement parts? Autobots being a jerk? Your choice) Autobot of your choice decides it's better to leave him, for the time being, like that. With his processor damaged, he's less able to defend himself in a hack and he's carrying information that's absolutely essential for the Autobots.
So, yes, perhaps with Optimus reluctantly agreeing to it, Autobot of your choice hacks a Decepticon with damaged processor.
Then it turns out this had left worse "hack-wounds" than they initially thought. The 'Cons processing functions are not only limited now, he had somehow inprinted on the 'Bot who hacked him and now considers himself to be his pet. Like a loyal dog never leaving his master's side, or like a falcon returning after hunt on first call. And he's making a point of belonging to his Autobot quite openly. Eventually, the 'Bot decides to keep him, at least until Ratchet can figure something out.
Would like:
- The 'Con having lost his processing ability, but not his memory. He still knows he's among enemies, but he cannot plot a proper escape even before the hacking.
- The 'Con being very scared first. After the hack, it seems that at least he knows what to expect from that certain 'Bot and trusts him for protection against other 'Bots (against those who have NOT hurt him...)
- The Autobot not having conscience issues about hacking, but then feeling horribly guilty as he realizes what he'd really done.
- The other 'Cons (or at least some of them) laughing their heads off when they see what happened to the now pet mech. This makes the hacking 'Bot irritated and very protective over his 'Con.
- The Con can no longer speak properly, but he remembers many words and can reproduce most of them. No full sentences, but enough to understand if one pays attention.
- Eventually the 'Bot not only gets used to him being around, but starts to like him.
- Repairs are not impossible, they just take a long time.
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Chapter 1: Inferno's Return
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The unusually severe drought in the northwestern states had brought a series of late-summer blazes across Washinton, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana, and Optimus Prime, in a gesture of goodwill and amicable relations, had sent Inferno, Powerglide, and the Protectobots out to assist in fighting the forest fires. After three and a half months on the front, the team finally came home for some much needed rest.
Inferno had been warned well before returning to the Ark that Red Alert had a Decepticon in his direct control and supervision. But actually seeing his lover curled up with the much larger prisoner was a shock and a half. Red Alert lay there in the double-sized berth he normally shared with Inferno, but wrapped around him instead of the firetruck was a white seeker with red wings. One of the warrior's arms draped over the much smaller Red's middle and the other arm was positioned for use as a pillow by both of them
Yes, he'd heard the story of what had happened, of the broken Decepticon being delivered to Red after the last battle for hacking. Yes, he'd heard that things had not gone as planned due to a damaged main processor. Yes, he'd heard that Red felt horrible for the incidental damage incurred by the standard procedures, and that his lover had vowed to look after the Decepticon until something could be done.
But no, he'd not expected to find his lover and the jet snuggled together so intimately. He'd assumed the broken Ramjet would be sleeping in the brig. Or in the Aerialbots' hangar. Or on the floor at least. No. The two were spooning right there in the berth, looking like a lovely couple in close to matching paint.
"Red! I'm home!" Inferno barked.
At once two pairs of optics lit, one red and one blue. Both mechs sat up, staring at the intruder. The jet cried out and hid behind Red Alert, whimpering and babbling nonsensically.
Red Alert looked miffed, and then he turned to the jet comfortingly, stroking the white plating and running his hands along the edges of the red wings before glaring at Inferno. "Inferno," he huffed. "I told you to be quiet when you came in," he snapped.
"You told me you were looking after him, but it looks like you're looking after him perhaps a little too well."
"He's a mess. A huge mess. I owe it to him. And now you've scared him."
"And you've let him have my place in our berth?" Inferno pouted, folding his arms over his chest and taking a defensive stance.
Red Alert's anger shifted to embarrassment and his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I know this looks bad. You've been gone all this time and you come back to find a 'Con in your place."
Ramjet continued to whimper and clutch at the grounder, babbling incoherently, stuffing his face timidly into different hollows along Red Alert's back.
"You bet it looks bad."
Guiltily Red Alert looked away from Inferno. "Look, it's not like he's here to replace you," said Red Alert, finding his courage again. "I hurt him... hurt him badly. Ratchet's working on finding the parts to replace the broken part of his processor, but it looks like he'll have to search on Cybertron. Fixing a seeker when you don't have the right parts on hand seems to be a logistics nightmare.
Inferno stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "And once he leaves, I get my side of the bed back? And you with it?"
Red Alert let out something of a whimper. "Of course! Whatever are you thinking? It's still yours, 'Fern so stop being jealous. Ramjet just... he just seems to have become very attached to me. I don't know why. I can hack a bot but I can't figure out what he's thinking. Though I'm not sure how much he's even thinking. He's so confused and seems to have a hard time concentrating on anything."
At this point Ramjet looked up at the tall red mech but wrapped his arms around Red Alert.
"It's okay," cooed. Red Alert over his shoulder. "He's not going to hurt you."
"Angry him. Not hurt. Us not hurt?" the seeker said semi-coherently.
Red Alert stroked one of the jet's hands softly. "No. He's not going to attack us, and we're not going to attack him either," he said gently.
The jet seemed to calm somewhat at this statement.
"That's Inferno. Inferno is my lover. He's been away for a while."
"Inferno. Lover him? Lover attack? Inferno."
Red Alert smiled lightly. "No he's not going to attack us. And yes, his name is Inferno."
"How can you understand that nonsense?" questioned Inferno.
"I can't understand all of it. But some of it. It seems his processors are completely muddled. You just have to listen to the intonation and then fit the words to it."
"And can he understand us?"
"Somewhat. It's just best to go with emotion and physical cues if you can."
"Well at least I have that then." Inferno stepped up to the berth, sat with a whump beside the pair, and quickly pulled Red Alert into his arms. "Red Alert. Mine! You Ramjet not touch. Not touch!"
Ramjet, who'd reached out for his keeper as the interloper had pulled the smaller mech away, suddenly cringed, bringing his hands up to protect his head, whimpering in fear at the rough action.
Red Alert on the other hand squirmed and pushed Inferno away, squawking in protest. "You can't do that, 'Fern. He's so scared and so unstable right now. Stop being a jealous fool."
"He's a 'Con, Red. A lousy broken 'Con."
"He's a Cybertronian. I have to do something."
"I come home after over three months of being away, and I've been thinking of you non-stop for most of it, and yet here you are all cozy with some messed up Decepticon. All I want is to hold you and tell you how much I missed you... but this..." He folded his arms over his chest and turned away.
Red Alert sighed but did not look at Inferno.. "I know."
"He's a mess! And a 'Con. Just throw him outside and let him go home!" Inferno spat angrily.
Red Alert suddenly looked panicked. "Inferno, I tried to do that. I did. We took him outside and thought he'd just fly away and return home."
"And?"
"He didn't even take off. He just stood there like his wings had been broken." Optic wash began to pool at the bottoms of Red Alert's eyes. "We told him to leave. Ironhide even threatened him. Cliffjumper was about to shoot him."
The forming tears suddenly began to fall, and Red Alert shuffled across the bed to where Ramjet had retreated, the seeker now trying to wrap himself in the canvas blanket at the foot of it. Tearfully, Red wrapped the blanket around the seeker and found the other mech crying as well. "But he wouldn't go. He just stood there clinging to me like a scared little sparkling." Red Alert reached into a pocket and pulled out a towel, and with it wiped the tears from both of their faces. "At that point everyone knew that Ramjet here was seriously fragged up, and Prime told me to just look after him until he either wanted to leave or they could trade him off to the Decepticons."
"Well? Why wouldn't he leave?"
Red Alert sighed. "We think there's more to it than just the physical damage to his processor. Something in the hacking just messed up his coding as well. I mean, he was damaged when we took him prisoner, but he ended up worse because of me. I don't know what though. Jazz and I have been trying to make sense out of what went wrong, but neither of us is a coding specialist. I've hacked hundreds if not thousands of 'Cons, but nothing like this has ever happened before. But once he's better, he'll be out of here. I promise."" A new cascade of tears fell from the security director's optics, and this time Ramjet took the towel and wiped them away tenderly, something of smile on the dark grey faceplate.
Red Alert reached up and touched the jet's shoulder kindly in return. "I take him outside every day, and encourage him to fly or to at least transform. I even convinced a couple of the Aerialbots to try helping. But..." His hands fell away from the prisoner. "He won't even start up his thrusters. It's all my fault he's like this, and I feel sorry for him. I broke him. Yes, trying to ram Sky Lynx and missing was what downed him, but he wasn't like this before I touched him. I know he's just a 'Con, but killing him on the battlefield is one thing. Hurting your prisoners..." Red Alert's guilty words trailed off, and he took the jet's hands, clasping them assuringly.
Ramjet reacted positively to this, and his faint smile became wider, and he flopped forward gracefully to end up in Red Alert's lap, his pointy head making a pillow of Red's thigh.
Inferno had calmed somewhat at his lover's guilty confession, as well as at the display of gentle affection. Ramjet obviously wasn't a threat, and of course any weaponry he'd brought with him would have been removed or disabled even before the hacking. "Fine. And... I'm sorry I was mad. I just didn't expect this. I thought I'd come home, wake you up, and we'd have a good long interface, at least until I had to report in with the rest of the fire-fighting team. I knew you'd be asleep at this time of day."
"Sorry to ruin your fantasy," Red Alert apologized.
"It's not ruined... if you can get rid of him, at least for a little while."
"I can try. He's kinda stubborn."
"Put him in the brig?"
"The brig. Primus no!" Red Alert shuffled off of the berth, and taking Ramjet by the hand, he led him over to the couch against one wall of the room. "Ramjet. Sit here. Wait for me, okay?"
Ramjet sat obediently.
It was with some surprise that Inferno watched Red Alert kiss the Decepticon's nosecone.
"Wait here? Okay?"
The seeker nodded.
Red Alert went back to the berth, climbing in and stretching himself on his back with his legs slightly spread. "All yours," he said with a suggestive smile. The lights in the room dimmed at his command.
Inferno turned and looked over at Ramjet sitting across the room, the mech looking on with much concern and even some frustration on his faceplate. "With him there?"
"He'll just sit there. He's fine."
Inferno smirked. "Red, you've always been a bit paranoid. You've either been cured, or perhaps you took a hit to your processor too."
Red Alert frowned. "Please, 'Fern. Just trust me on this?"
Inferno sighed. "Fine. I'm sure you know him better than I do."
Red Alert's frown morphed into a smile. "Now come to bed and show me what you've been missing."
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"Broken Wings" continues in Chapter 2: Red Alert's Ward
Note: Next chapter will be rated M... M for Inferno and Red Alert making up for lost time.
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Transformers and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.
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