"Oh, Dani, really, it's too dangerous out there! If it was- if it was an emergency it would be okay, but- we can't go out in this blizzard just to check on a maybe distress signal in the mountains!"
"Come on, Blades. It'll take a half hour, tops, and the longer you spend here complaining, the worse the storm is going to get."
Blades made a face and balled his servos, "Dani, no! It's not just me, I'm worried about you, too! You know I worry. It's too cold outside for organics like you- if my rotors freeze up, or I crash, or-"
Dani patted him on the leg, "Blades. It's going to be okay, I promise. We've flown in worse weather, and-"
"And something bad always happens!"
"Maybe you'd be safer if you weren't panicking all the time," Heatwave snorted, and Dani frowned at him in disapproval.
"I'm not panicking all the time," Blades mumbled, folding his arms.
"Yes, you are, and it's a fragging liability is what it is. You have to get over yourself, Blades, your worrying is bringing down the whole team!"
"Fine!" Blades cried, jerking himself into his alt mode, "Fine! I sure don't wanna inconvenience you, then! Let's go, Dani!"
"Finally," she sighed with a smile, climbing in the open helicopter door.
There was no one out there. Just the storm and a faulty comm system in an empty cabin.
And a quickly worsening blizzard.
"Okay, Blades, we're clear. Give me the 'I told you so's when we get back to base, okay?"
"Nope, you get them now. I told you so! Now, please, can we go home?"
"Alright, alright, yes, we're heading back," Dani sighed, and stepped toward the waiting copter. The mountain chose just that moment to quiver, releasing a loud, echoing bang that ricocheted off the surrounding mountains. The snow fell forward, a massive wave of frigid whiteness and she made a break for it.
"Dani!" Blades cried, transforming and running the remaining distance between them. He made a leap, arms reaching for her before he thought better of it, switching to his alt mode mid-jump and opening the front. He scooped her up, roughly, desperately as he snapped shut, just as the wave hit them, and sent them both tumbling over and over in a heap, covered entirely.
The force of it actually knocked him straight offline, and when his systems rebooted, he came to bleary, cold, confused. Dani was saying something, tugging at his controls, leaking that red energon humans were full of from her head.
He onlined his audials.
She was yelling, really yelling, begging him to answer, and he coughed static before answering her.
"Dani! Ugh, sorry. What happened? How long have I been out?"
"Blades! Oh, god, you're okay. Oh, god, I was so worried."
"Dani, that's my job," he said blearily, running a diagnostic. He was definitely buried, and his rotors were mangled practically beyond recognition, bent by the force and weight of the snow. Even if he managed to climb out, he wasn't flying anywhere- that's if he could move, and, under the massive pressure he currently was, he was pretty sure he couldn't, "How long was I offline?"
"I dunno... a few hours...?"
He stopped his diagnostics, distracted, when she started making a rattling noise. It was a weird, new, unfamiliar sound and he didn't like it.
"Uh. Dani? Are you supposed to be making that noise?"
She hugged her arms, curling against herself in his seat, "No. My teeth are chattering. I'm cold."
"Hang on, Dani, I'll call the team. Just try to keep warm, okay?" She just nodded as he pulled up his comm programs, hailing Heatwave.
"Heatwave, we-" he started, but the firetruck cut him off.
"Get yourself stuck out there? Need a rescue, Blades?"
"Actually, Heatwave, yes, we do." He said, tersely, trying to keep his voice even. "We're buried in an avalanche- sensors saying at least fifteen feet down, but I got knocked out of alignment and I can't be certain how much further it is."
"Nice going. You're the only flier I know that can get caught in a land based disaster."
"Heatwave! Dani is freezing! Come dig us out!"
"We have your coordinates. Hang on. We'll have you out of there as soon as we can."
The comm clicked off.
Dani shuddered, hugging her knees tighter.
"Dani, isn't there an emergency blanket in your kit?" He said, stifling a shiver himself. Prioritize, prioritize.
Her eyes brightened, "Oh, yeah!" She grabbed for the emergency kit behind her seat, pulling out the reflective blanket and bundling herself in it.
"We shouldn't have been out here at all," he said, finally, tense and nervous, "I told you it was just a false alarm!"
"We had to check it out, Blades- that's our job!"
"That unit always sends out accidental signals. You knew it wad a false alarm," he huffed, and couldn't suppress a shiver this time, "I hate the snow."
"You know what, Blades?" She snapped, "Heatwave is right. You're acting like a liability. We're a rescue team. We know the risks and we put saving people first, protecting ourselves second. You're supposed to know that."
He was quiet for a long time, just the sound of her chattering and shivering, the foil blanket quivering.
"I'm sorry," he said, finally.
His comm beeped before he could continue.
"Blades!" Chase said on screen, "We've been delayed by the avalanche as well- digging through to your location could take some time. What is Dani's status?"
He started to respond, but Dani cut him off.
"Cold. Too cold, Chase. I'm gonna get hypothermia at this rate. I need a rescue, and I need it fast."
"Try to hang on, Dani," Boulder said, cutting into the call, "I'm coming."
The commlink cut out again, leaving him alone with her shivering.
He caught her staring at her hands before she yanked them back under the blanket, "Blades- if I- if we don't- I just want to say, I'm sorry I yelled at you-"
The temperature in the cockpit rose suddenly, his controls rolling out a high pitched whirr as they heated up, and she fell into the warmth hands first, scrabbling forward.
"Just st-stay warm, okay?" He said, voice laced with static, "They're going to be here in a minute. Just stay warm."
She nodded vaguely, practically hugging the control bank, "Blades, you don't have a h-heating system. What are you d-doing?"
"I'm doing my job, I th-think," he said quietly, uncertainly, as his engine came on with a rumble.
"What are you doing? You can't fly out of here-"
"I'm just turning on some systems. Warming uuuuuuuu-" his voice cut out with a static whine, the screen flickering, "up. It's fine. Everything is fine!" He said, but his voice was raising in pitch, concern dripping from every word.
"Blades, I-"
"Just keep talking, oka-AA-ay? Tell me a stor-r-r-ry. Tell me about soOOOomething on Earth," His voice kept cutting out and bursting into static and glitchy noises like a broken video game, and Dani was hard pressed to keep from panicking about it herself.
"Um- um- th- have you ever heard of, of- Broadway?"
"N-noOo. Wha-aht's broadwwway?"
"It's a place in New York where they do plays. Which are like movies, and I know you l-love movies- plays are like movies, except they're live. You get to watch the actors do the story in front of you on a stage. Broadway has the best ones."
"I think I'd liiIIIIiiIIike to seeeee tha-t-t-t."
"Tell you what, Blades- I'll see if I can't get us working security at a play in the park, okay?"
"Ssssssssoundssss g-g-gooo-"
His voice cut out suddenly, but the engine continued.
"Blades?" She asked quietly, and again, louder.
No response.
She huddled against the warm console, shivering, until the snow cleared over her an hour later and the others pulled them from the snow.
Blades wasn't moving.
"Why's he in robot mode?" She asked, hugging her blanket tighter, and Chase looked back at her over the datapad he was holding as she came into the room.
"It is a protocol you can activate manually. We had thought it might shock his systems into reacting."
"And it didn't?" She asked, mouth dry.
"No!" Heatwave yelled, "Which doesn't make any sense! His spark is fine! He should be awake!"
"I'm calling Optimus," Chase said, dropping the datapad on the console and typing in the comm unit protocols.
Heatwave nodded, turning away to go back to pacing angrily.
The screen flickered to life.
"This is not a good time," Optimus said, and Dani took a step back, startled by the injuries the Prime had, "We've come under attack by the Decepticons. Is it an emergency?"
"Blades is hurt-" she found herself saying, stepping up to the comm, "He won't wake up-"
Optimus nodded slowly and vanished from the screen for a moment, before a smaller white and red robot stepped on screen, splattered with something blue she didn't recognize.
"What are his vitals?" The robot said tersely.
"He is not responding to any outside stimuli- the scanners are returning only connection errors, and-"
"Something is wrong with his processor, then," said the robot, cutting Chase off, "You need a doctor, and I am otherwise engaged trying to save my three downed Autobots. I'm sorry for your loss." He started to step off screen, and Dani lurched forward with a horrified cry.
"What?! No! You can't be the only Cybertronian doctor on earth!"
"The only one who doesn't shoot- or stab- at Autobots. There's nothing I can do for you." He started to step away again.
"There has to be something! A medical book or an intern or something! Anything! Please!" She begged. The mech paused.
"There is... someone... I can send. But-" he said, his voice dropping even lower, "If he doesn't come back fully intact, I will come out there myself, and I'll lose my status as the only doctor who doesn't shoot or stab at Autobots."
She wasn't sure he was kidding.
A bright blue-green portal opened up on the other side of the room after the white robot vanished from the screen. She found herself looking up, waiting for whatever robot was coming through, when a kid barely taller than Cody came out at the bottom.
"Is that Blades?" He said, shouldering an oversized bag that rattled with the sound of clinking metal. She nodded dumbly, raising an eyebrow and looking back up, waiting for the robot.
The portal closed.
The boy was already standing next to Blades, walking in a circle around him and looking very focused.
"You're just a kid," she blurted suddenly, and he looked back at her with a frown.
"My name's Raf," he said, and went back to his inspection, "Hey- uh, what's your name?" He asked, craning his neck to look up at Chase.
"Chase," Chase said.
Kade made a loud grunting noise, "We still have a blizzard going on outside- and we don't need more kids running around the base-"
"Chase, I need you to flip him over, so I can get to his processor. If you've got a weak tank, you should also probably leave the room," Raf said, ignoring Kade entirely. Chase nodded and moved to comply, while Kade frowned with another groan.
"Did Ratchet train you?" Boulder asked, and Raf nodded.
"Yeah. I've not been doing this long, and I can't promise I can even help. My Cybertronian isn't even perfect yet- my medical skills aren't the best."
"Of course they're not, you're not even mechanical!" Heatwave blurted out, and Raf shot him a look, but he kept going, "What could you possibly know about Cybertronian biology?"
"I know that your friend won't survive without medical attention, and I'm all that's available. Some of us are fighting a war while you play hero," He shot back, and Heatwave clamped his mouth shut, going back to frustrated pacing.
He clambered up onto the back of Blades' head, pulling out something from the duffel bag he was carrying that looked like an oversized screw driver.
Dani's eyes darted over to Chase, who did actually turn to move himself away when the boy pulled the back paneling off of Blades' head, the inside mechanics covered in a thin sheen of blue liquid.
"Why don't you just run a diagnostic…?" Said Boulder, who had also moved away, but not as far as Chase, who was staring at the wall.
"Do I look like I have a medical port?" He grunted, arms deep in wiring. "What was he doing before he went offline?"
All eyes went to her.
"He, uh- we were trapped. Under the snow! An avalanche. And he got hit by it really hard, and then we were cold, so he turned on his engine and heated up, and-"
"Heated up? His engine doesn't get very hot," Boulder commented, frowning.
"Yes, we are not equipped with temperature control systems that would affect passengers," Chase said, turning to look at her.
"…His processor is melted."
They all jerked to look at the child sitting at the back of Blades' head, holding a warped metal chip.
Chase promptly purged on the floor.
"How could he have possibly MELTED his processor in the SNOW?" Heatwave yelled.
Raf went back inside his bag, pulling out a laptop and several jerry-rigged looking cables, pinning them to the metal card with clamps, "The rest of his internals are pretty fried, too, but his armour is untouched. He would have had to have done this to himself."
Heatwave just opened his mouth, aghast.
Boulder joined Chase against the wall.
"He ran every program in his system at once…" The kid said, tapping, "Overloaded his systems. I would guess he did it because he knew he would overheat." Dani's mouth went dry again.
"Is it salvageable?" Heatwave asked, voice breaking.
The kid typed something else, "I can save his basic functions- but I don't have time to try and repair anything higher, if there's even anything else repairable- he needs to come back online soon, or his spark isn't going to be able to support itself. I don't have any life support systems here…"
"Let's take him back to the Autobot base, then!"
Raf stopped typing and looked at Heatwave with a coldness that was odd to see on someone barely older than her youngest brother, "Didn't you JUST call the base? Did you not see Optimus and Ratchet? They just crawled back from a firefight with a squad of Decepticons- there's only a dim chance they didn't follow them back. Ratchet only sent me here because he thinks it's safer, not because he actually thinks I can help him. This is a slim enough chance as it is without risking getting shot at."
Heatwave went quiet.
The boy dug another metal chunk out of his duffel, "I'm going to have to copy the data, try and salvage it to download later-"
"Are you talking about mnemology?" Boulder said, turning slightly, only to jerk his face back toward the wall upon seeing the processor hooked up to the laptop.
"Yeah."
"That's…" Chase started.
"Impossible, I know. We stole some info from the 'cons," Raf said, without looking up.
"Illegal, I was going to say," Chase finished with a frown, but he didn't turn to look.
"Cybertron is gone, there aren't any laws left," Heatwave said quietly, and they didn't talk for awhile while Raf bent over the fried metal chunk with a myriad of alien looking tools among things that looked like they came from Radio Shack.
Finally, after what felt like hours, but was probably just a few tense minutes, he pulled the clamps off of the processor and bent back over the hole in the back of Blades' head, leaning in with a welder and the chunk of damaged metal.
Heatwave joined Chase and Boulder in staring at the wall.
"That's about all I can do," he said, pushing the casing back into place with a grunt, "He needs to get rebooted and he should come back online. But he- might not be doing so great." Raf's face fell from the careful tenseness it had had finally, and he actually looked like a nervous child now.
"But he'll be alive, right?" Dani said, realizing she had been quiet the entire time, still hugging the blanket and watching him, stomach in knots.
"…I hope so," Raf sighed, screwing the last corner down.
"Get him recharged and rebooted. We'll find out soon enough."
Heatwave stepped toward them, nodding, and bapped Boulder on the shoulder. They went to carry him off, but Chase stayed rigidly against the wall.
The kid climbed down, arms soaked in a mix of black and blue up to the shoulder, and looked at her. It was only when he actually walked up to her did she truly appreciate how small he was- ruffled brown orange hair, oversized red glasses, drowning in clothes at leas three sizes too large for him.
"Can I use your shower?" He asked, holding up his dripping arms.
"Ah! Yeah!" She said, startled, "Come on, I'll show you upstairs."
"I haven't had anything but military rations in like, three months," Raf said, shoveling cereal into his mouth like an actual twelve year old. Dani watched him uncomfortably- he'd been shoulder deep in her partner's brain a few hours ago, and now he was picking the marshmallows out of his Lucky Charms. It was disconcerting.
"Military rations?" Her father asked, filled with fatherly concern.
"Mm," the boy responded, swallowing, "Yeah. Ever since we lost Jasper."
"Who's Jasper?" Graham asked, leaning against the counter. The boy stopped and looked at them all a bit suspiciously.
"Did Optimus… Not tell you? Anything? About the Autobots?"
"Not really," her father said, "He drops by sometimes, but he keeps most info about the Autobot base secret. Doesn't want us becoming a target."
Raf nodded slowly, then shrugged, "Well, it's a little late now. The base used to be in Jasper, Nevada, but Megatron blew it up. The Decepticon warlord," he sighed, when she raised an eyebrow at him, "The faction the Autobots are at war with."
"We're glad you and your family got out in time, then," her father said with a stern nod, and the boy snorted.
"Yeah, me and my family. Haven't seen them since I started eating military rations."
There was a tense silence in the room, and she was suddenly glad Cody wasn't there.
"You left without them?" Kade asked.
The boy poured another bowl of Lucky Charms. "Nah, they left without me. Ah, don't worry, Chief Burns, I've got the Autobots and the US government to take care of me. I'm not an orphan or anything," he said, casting a look at her father, who was tight lipped. "But as soon as Blades is back online, I have to go back. Bee is hurt bad."
"Bumblebee is hurt?" Graham asked.
"Real hurt," he said, setting down his spoon for the first time, "He got blasted by Starscream. Ratchet says he'll be fine if he doesn't take any more damage, but- I just need to get back as soon as I can. But he'd be really mad if he found out I stayed with him while he was offline instead of helping Blades- especially since they're so. You know. Close."
He went back to his cereal.
"Got his bootup protocols ready?" Raf asked, standing on a databank with keys larger than he was. Dani had never been on their ship before, but she wasn't going to miss a moment of this if she could help Blades.
"He's fully recharged and ready to go," Boulder said, typing away. Raf nodded.
"Okay, Heatwave, pull him online," he said, and Heatwave nodded, messing with the stasis pod's controls. There was a bright blue light and a sharp whir, and Blades' optics lit up, their yellow-orange glow the most relieving thing she'd ever seen.
"Blades!" She cried, stepping forward, but he stumbled out of the pod, dazed, holding his head, and the fear of squishing arose and she stepped back.
"Wha-?" He asked, looking around.
"Hey, buddy, Blades, you alright?" Heatwave asked, steadying the stumbling helicopter.
"Um… I don't know. I'm Blades, right?"
Dani's eyes widened, and she looked at Raf, who's shoulders had sunk.
"Yeah, buddy, you're Blades. Do you remember any of us?" Blades looked up, eyes darting around the room.
"Should I…?"
Heatwave frowned, "Is this normal?" He said to Raf, who shrugged.
"I don't know how much I salvaged. He's alive, at least."
Heatwave nodded tersely.
"I'm Heatwave, that's Boulder, that's Chase, and we're your friends. Your name is Blades, and you're from a planet called 'Cybertron' that's gone now. We're on Earth, in hiding."
"Ah…?" He said, faceplate crinkling up. Dani frowned. Fun way to reintroduce him to the world.
"Oh- that's Dani, your partner, and that's Raf, your, uh-" Heatwave frowned, "doctor."
"What's their alt modes?" Blades blurted out, and she had to stifle a laugh.
"They do not have alt modes," Chase supplied, "They're human."
"Oh," Blades said, looking mortified, "I'm so sorry. I don't have anything against monoformers," he said to her.
"What's a monoformer?" She asked Boulder, who just shook his head with a frown and a grunt.
"They're not monoformers, Blades," said Heatwave, "They're aliens."
"I've never met an alien before. I think," Blades said uncertainly, eyeing her.
"You've definitely met me, Blades. I've been in your cockpit and everything," she laughed hopefully, but he made a face.
"Ew. Really? Wait. I have a cockpit? I'm a grounder."
She frowned.
"Ah- Blades, when we got to this planet, we all took new alt modes. Yours is a helicopter now," Chase said with a quick transformation into his vehicle mode.
"I'm a flier?!" He cried, lurching back, "Optimus Prime is gonna knock me offline if he thinks I'm a Decepticon!"
"Actually, he knows you're a flier now," said Boulder, "Also, he's a flier now, too."
Blades blinked, "Optimus Prime can fly?"
"Not very well, according to Bumblebee," said Chase.
"Bumblebee is here? The Bumblebee? Optimus Prime's scout is here? He talks to us? Oh, Primus, I've had a crush on him since the war sta-"
"Leeeet's get you into the base and get you briefed, okay?" Said Heatwave. Dani looked at Raf, who had his chin up, but his hands balled into fists.
"So, we're not fighting Decepticons anymore?" Blades said with a relieved sigh, cocking his head to the side.
"We're not. The Prime is, but our mission is a peace mission. We're just studying the native species."
Blades nodded slowly, "And… That's the native species?" He said, pointing to her.
"Yes, we are," she said, a bit tersely.
"They're so tiny…" He mumbled.
Boulder laughed, "Yeah, but they cause Cybertronian sized trouble, trust me." Blades looked nervous.
"What do you remember about Bee?" Rafael asked, the first thing he had said since they'd sat down.
Blades looked down at him, "Wait, you know who Bumblebee is? I thought us Autobots were supposed to be in disguise."
Raf frowned and lowered his eyebrows, "I am an Autobot."
They all looked at him, and this time it was Heatwave's turn to say "Eh?"
"I said I'm an Autobot," he sighed, "but, rewind, what do you remember about Bee?"
Blades contemplated him for a moment, before shrugging, "What everyone knows, I guess. He's a legendary scout, and he's on Optimus Prime's team, and he has been since Megatron tore his voicebox out- and he, well, he's amazing, and all. I've never actually met him, though," he added hastily, and Raf frowned.
"He's, uh… Right. You've met him."
Blades looked surprised, "I have? Are we friends?"
Raf looked alarmed, and he pulled up his sleeve, over something shaped like a watch, pressing a button, "Ratchet?"
"Rafael! Be brief, I've got Arcee's arm in a stasis bath."
"Is Bee on his feet?"
"He is. Do you need a bridge back?"
"The opposite, actually. Bridge him over."
"…He didn't make it?"
"No, he made it, but- His processor was burnt out, and I had to- replace, a lot, and I couldn't save most of his hardrive, and-"
"You fixed a burnt out processor?"
"Maybe. He doesn't remember Bee."
A long radio silence.
"I'll pull him out of recharge and send him over."
"Bumblebee is coming? Here? Now?!" Blades cried, jumping to his feet.
"Whoa, Blades, calm down, you know him pretty well- er. He knows you, at least, and-"
"And I'm going to embarrass myself because I don't remember meeting him!" Blades blurted, head darting back and forth as he looked around. For escape, maybe?
A groundbridge opened up on the other side of the room, and Blades made a startled noise. Bee stumbled through, one arm slimmed down, missing all its usual black and yellow plating, both tires on his feet flat, looking generally worse for wear, but looking just at Blades, who made a quiet 'eep' noise and stepped back.
Dani was actually startled when he moved forward and pulled Blades into a hug- who seemed to be the most startled one in the room.
"Uwah?" He said, looking first at her, then at Raf, then back to Bee, who still hadn't let go, but had started beeping rapidly. "Wha? I don't- I don't understand- what are you saying? I don't speak Universal-"
Bee pulled back with what was obviously a sad whirr.
"I- I'm sorry," Blades said, looking embarrassed, "I never learned."
"He said, he's glad you're alive, and he was worried," Raf supplied.
"Wh- you speak Universal?"
"I guess."
"You're an Autobot doctor who speaks Universal and- and you want me to believe you're not Cybertronian?" Blades said, optic ridges rising in confusion.
Raf shrugged, and Bee waved a servo in front of Blades' faceplate with another rapid stream of beeps.
"'Hey, look at me, stay focused,'" Raf said, translating, and Blades turned to look first at him, then, belatedly at Bee, who was still beeping, "'You can relearn it later- why don't you remember m-' oh, Bee, I'm sorry- I think I deleted you from his brain. Along with a few thousand years of data."
"Thousands?!" Blades cried, while Bee turned to Raf with another round of chitters and whirls that sounded alarmed.
"He fried his processor keeping her alive," he said, pointing at Dani, who looked down guiltily, "I saved as much as I could."
Bee whirred sadly.
"Yeah."
"Um- I feel like I'm missing something here," Blades said, looking uncomfortable.
"Bee is upset because- well- I didn't really want to startle you and honestly I was hoping you'd find the memories if you just saw him, but-" Raf said, nervous, but Heatwave cut him off.
"Bee's your- what's the earth word? Boyfriend?"
"What?!"
Dani blinked, "He is? Why didn't you tell ME that?"
"Humans are weird about pronouns," Heatwave added with a hint of disdain.
"You're robots though. I didn't even realize you had genders."
"We don't."
"Oh."
"Anyway," Blades cut in, looking thoroughly frazzled, "You're telling me that- that I'm missing thousands of years of memories of seeing Bumb-"
"You've only been seeing him a few months," Chase interjected, and Blades frowned.
"That's a lot less exciting."
Bee beeped something that sounded upset.
Raf shrugged, and Dani was lost again.
Bee beeped something again, at Raf.
"Well- I copied the data onto my laptop, and I might be able to recover some of it, but I wouldn't count on it. It was all I could do to pull him back online." Bee whirred sadly again.
"I, uh, if it's any consolation, I'm not exactly inclined to break up with you…?" Blades offered hesitantly, and Bee looked up with a whirr.
"He says it is," said Raf.
Blades kind of wished he hadn't just come out of recharge so he could go back to recharge. This was a lot of information to take in so suddenly- especially with his memories so muddled up. He couldn't remember what he was doing before he went offline, or how long ago it was, and all his diagnostics and internals were returning confused, broken errors.
He was in the proverbial dark, but Bee kept pulling pictures up on the monitor of their ship of things he was supposed to remember, and even if he didn't remember them, they had a sort of vague familiarity to them that he liked.
Bee said he really liked human movies, and he'd been right. He wasn't sure about the scarier ones- he was certainly scared of them, but at the same time, he loved watching them.
They watched a lot of those, when Bee was around.