Title: Peace on the Radio
Author: Neko-chan
Fandom: Durarara!/Transformers
Rating: R
Pairing: Shizuo/Bumblebee!Tsugaru
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine at all. :(
Summary: For Shizuo, it is always the split-second decisions that manage to leave the biggest impact upon his life.
Author's Note: I don't normally do songfics because I pretty much outgrew them a long time ago, but the lyrics for Darren Hayes' "Casey" offers up such an awesome structure and framework for the story, and so… I finally gave in and caved thoroughly. XD;; OP for the prompt asked for Bumblebee and Shizuo, but Bumblebee's coloring is yellow and blue eyes and… Tsugaru has blonde hair and blue eyes. So I tweaked it a little bit. ;D Um, anyway. Enjoy…? *facepalms at self*
Prompt from drrrkink: Bumblebee/Shizuo - Darren Hayes's "Casey"
OKAY. I know that this is a crack pairing and people will probably WTF. But I was listening to Darren Hayes and "Casey" came on and I immediately thought of Transformers and Bumblebee... and then my mind shifted to Durarara!. And... I really want this.
Peace On The Radio
The stick shift slipped with easy grace into fifth and the engine roared as the car's speed picked up, tires running endlessly over the stretch of the freeway that ran from California to Vegas: the 15 cut through the American desert, and all that surrounded the yellow Camaro and its driver was sand and rock and heat; it was an emptiness that stretched on and on and on, and-for the first time in his life-Shizuo finally knew what freedom tasted like.
The car's speed increased, and Shizuo closed his eyes and breathed deep.
:
Driving in your car
With the windows down
And the beat up stereo
Struggle with this town
Cuz you love to hate it
And hate it to let it go
It hadn't looked like much, the first time that Shizuo had come across the car body out in the junkyard, one of the many places in Ikebukuro that was tucked away from the public's view. The paint was faded and chipping, and it was obvious that the car itself had taken on quite a beating. Dings and scratches and dents were scattered all over the surface, and the blonde couldn't stop the soft surge of pity at the knowledge that someone hadn't wanted it since the car had been abandoned in the yard months before.
Shizuo knew that he didn't need a car in the city; trains and subways managed to take a person everywhere that his feet couldn't; he'd have to add on extra to his rent to pay for a parking spot, and then he'd also have to start paying for registration fees, maintenance, and gas. He'd be able to cut some of the costs down by cleaning the car up himself, but it would still end up being a financial burden on him-one that he truly couldn't really afford.
The debt collector knew all of these things.
But, despite all of the concerns that should have turned him away without a second glance and without a word, Shizuo still found himself turning to the manager of the yard and said, "I'll take it."
And we're all alone
And so tired of being
Underrated
So don't take me home
Cuz I feel alive
When you come and save me
The garage was surprisingly quiet during the odd hours that Shizuo managed to come to visit to work on the Camaro. Not very many people visited in the small hours of the night, and though it meant that the blonde couldn't turn to any of the other mechanics for help or advice, there was something so much more intensely satisfying about paging through the fix-it manual to look up what needed to be done and doing it himself. It didn't take long before his skin became coated in grease and motor oil, grime burying beneath his fingernails to stay no matter how long or how hard he washed his hands.
And yet there remained the sight of the car's engine finally emerging from too-long neglect, gleaming and fast and powerful; Shizuo didn't know much about cars, but he knew that the Camaro was built for speed the moment that he was finally able to get the engine to start and its hungry, thrumming roar filled the silence of the building. It sparked something within the blonde, calling out to him, and his thumb brushed absently over the icon that had been stamped into the leather of the steering wheel's horn.
Shizuo had always known that he was good at destroying things, even during the times when he had wanted nothing more than to set things right-wanted to fix them, wanted to heal, wanted to help arrange whatever he could so that it worked. He had always wanted to help, to create, and yet the years had pressed down on him: the many times when his strength had been too much and what he was trying to bend had ended up shattered and unfixable in his hands. Eventually, Shizuo had stopped trying.
But now…
His hands were finally undoing the damage caused by another.
A yellow car
Speeding down the Southside freeway
We'll rewrite this movie
Make it end like we want it to
The paint shone.
Bright yellow, it gleamed beneath the lights of the small garage-the color vivid enough that when Shizuo blinked, he saw afterspots. It was a color that attracted attention, that would definitely have people turning their heads to look after him. But, in a way, it reminded the debt collector of himself-the way that his blonde hair stood out from everyone else, a sore thumb amongst the masses that thrived within Ikebukuro. It was a warning to everyone around him: watch out; I'm dangerous. And the thought that his car might be similar, might echo with that similar sentiment… Shizuo liked that.
They'd be a matched pair that way, and there was something about that that appealed to the debt collector in the best way possible. Instead of having heads turn because they wanted to keep an eye on him because they knew of the danger that he posed, they'd instead turn and look because there was something worth looking at, something good, something beautiful that would make people pause in awe and wonder. It'd be something positive, and Shizuo didn't bother trying to stifle the quiet, little smile that tugged his lips upwards as he smoothed a hand over the Camaro's hood.
He had managed to do something worthwhile for the first time in a long, long time.
And Casey
When you go
Can you come and find me
Wanna be beside you
When you leave this town
I've been waving goodbye
Pretending not to cry
I want to be someone
If you take me away
All the pain will change
Into a memory...
Of when we were amazing
The excavator on the side of the road abruptly turned away from the construction site and the bucket attached to the long arm of the machine slammed down before Shizuo; the blonde yelled in fear and surprise, and the steering wheel turned of its own volition to spin away from the piece of machinery. Still jittery from the sudden fright, it took a moment to register that there was a loud groaning that reverberated through the air-metal straining and shifting, screeching as the world tilted on its axis, and Shizuo glanced through the window of the Camaro to see that the excavator was turning itself into something alive.
"Oh, my God," Shizuo whispered, eyes wide in shock-what the hell was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to handle something like this? The thing was moving on its own, body forming into a being with two legs, two arms, a head, and eyesthat burned with a red, inner light straight at Shizuo-and there was intelligence in that gaze and disdain, too, contempt for something that was much, much weaker than it was.
A metal fist came flying towards the Camaro, and Shizuo wondered numbly if he was finally going to die.
But then Shizuo was tumbling from his seat, falling onto the hot asphalt and rolling with the force of the push that had sent him away from the car, and the blonde glanced up just in time to see his own car shifting the same way that the heavy machinery had, bits and bolts rearranging until there was someone standing up before the debt collector-a robot or some type of alien or maybe a figment of Shizuo's imagination; none of that mattered as the one-time Camaro looked over his shoulder and spoke in a scratchy, rarely used voice:
"Run, Shizuo."
1989
Summer had hit
But it was not moving
What is it with this town?
Every time we win
It just feels like losing
We were never gonna fit in
I was a mixed up kid
And you were my sanity
The giant metal man had managed to track Shizuo down on the outskirts of the city, and the blonde couldn't help but ask himself if there had been any point in running if one of the creatures had managed to find him in the end, anyway. Was before just a hint of what was to come and now was the actual event? Despite knowing that there was very little that he could do-what real damage could he inflict on something that was all metal?-Shizuo still couldn't stop himself from letting his hands curl into fists.
He was who he was.
And Shizuo would fight until the very end.
The creature seemed to realize this because he reached out a hand to rest upon the road, palm up, and showed that there wasn't a weapon in sight. "You're safe," he said in that same scratchy voice as Shizuo watched each and every movement with a way, jaded eye. "The Decepticon is no longer a threat and you're safe now, Shizuo. I'm so glad." He hunkered down then, and the blonde was left staring into a pair of bright blue eyes-meeting a gaze that didn't hold falsehood in the way that he was so good at detecting, and it was a shock to know that this thing was telling the truth: he was happy that Shizuo hadn't been hurt.
"Why does it matter to you?" the blonde asked, confused and lost and feeling so very, very small.
If the creature had had the facial features for it, Shizuo knew that he would have smiled in response to the debt collector's question. As it was, the blue of his eyes flared as hot as the heart of a star, intense and incandescent and, though looking too long made Shizuo start seeing spots, he still couldn't bring himself to look away. And when the other finally spoke, the blonde shivered at the other's words and didn't understand why, "You found me when everyone else had abandoned me. You didn't give up, you kept working hard, and you brought me back to life."
In a yellow car
We don't even have to go far
Cuz that song you're playing
Sounds like peace on the radio
There was a song on the radio that Shizuo didn't know, but it was mellow and relaxing, and it was so easy to close his eyes and let his hand fall out the window; his fingers eased through the wind, slicing the air with ease as Bumblebee gunned the engine and sped up. They roared down the road, bypassing other cars and slipping through the traffic with grace and skill.
There was spring in the air, and all that they left behind was tire tracks.
And Casey
When you go
Can you come and find me
Wanna be beside you
When you leave this town
I've been waving goodbye
Pretending not to cry
I want to be someone
If you take me away
All the pain will change
Into a memory
Of when we were amazing
When we were amazing
Shizuo gasped for breath and when blood frothed at the corners of his mouth, he knew that Izaya's blade had finally managed to score a hit. A lung had been punctured and though air surrounded him, the blonde still knew that he was drowning. He coughed, bringing up more blood to splatter from his mouth, and the debt collector staggered away from the alleyway that he had managed to stumble to after the fight.
The screaming of an engine made Shizuo glance up and sunshine met his gaze: his Camaro parked on the side of the road with driver's side door opened in invitation, beckoning him closer: just a little bit more, just a bit more, and when Shizuo's hand finally wrapped around the door handle, he could feel it moving beneath him to help bring his battered body into the dim interior of the car.
The engines revved once before taking off, racing down both main and side streets as Bumblebee drove them to the nearest hospital.
As they zoomed down the road, Shizuo allowed himself to close his eyes and fall into unconsciousness, trusting in the other to take him someplace where he might get help-knowing, instinctively, that Bumblebee would never let him be harmed, not on his watch. With Shizuo slumped unaware, breath rattling in his chest, the interior of the car shifted to cradle the blonde's body gently, cushioning him with utmost care until they arrived at the hospital's entrance.
I know things will change
Casey stay the same
Take me away
Oh, we don't have to go far
Yeah, we don't have to go far
I know
There were warm fingers smoothing over Shizuo's brow, coaxing away the lines of tension and pain, and though the blonde had been touched all of his life… it was the gentleness inherent within this caress that drew him from his deep sleep. The blonde's eyes blinked open to stare up at a ceiling that was all too familiar (the hospital's) before shifting to look over at someone who had hair as light as his own. A blink, two, and finally a face came into focus-and Shizuo was left looking at himself.
The stories that Celty had told about doppelgängers went racing through his mind, and Shizuo's breath hitched as he tried to scoot away, all the while thinking I'm going to die. Hurt flashed in familiar blue eyes, and, oh, it was the color of those eyes that managed to make Shizuo pause before he went too far. His own eyes blinked and then widened at the dawning realization that settled over him, and Shizuo's hand reached out to brush over what must be a hologram but what still felt so real.
"…Bumblebee?" the debt collector asked tentatively.
"Tsugaru, for right now," the other answered and quirked a smile as his gaze warmed, gentling in a way that Shizuo knew as well as he knew himself. "Only family is currently allowed to visit you at the moment, and so you've temporarily gained a twin, Shizuo. How are you feeling?"
"Better," Shizuo replied simply as his hand cupped over a cheek that was so incredibly soft.
Almost as soft as the expression in 'Tsugaru's' eyes.
Casey
When you go
Can you come and find me
Wanna be beside you
When you leave this town
I've been waving goodbye
Pretending not to cry
I want to be someone
If you take me away
All the pain will change
Into a memory
Of when we were
When we were
The aliens that Bumblebee had called Decepticons once more struck when neither the Autobot nor Shizuo had been expecting it. All of a sudden a police cruiser had shifted into the frighteningly familiar form of Barricade and his fist had smashed into 'Bee. The then-Camara had skidded across the road, tires squealing as he tried to gain control, and in a split second Shizuo found himself pushed from the car as Bumblee transformed into his normal form. Both aliens came at each other, weapons blasting and metal screeching against metal, and it all happened in a flash-
There was a knife
Hidden beforehand, it slid from a sheath within Barricade's armor
It stabbed into Bumblebee's shoulder, the Decepticon pushing it deep
The Autobot cried out in pain, trying to jerk away from where the other had him pinned
And Shizuo saw red.
"No!" he screamed as his hands tore something heavy from the concrete next to him. He couldn't see what it was, his entire attention zeroed in on the Decepticon who had twisted the blade of his weapon deeper still, and the way that Shizuo's vision went blurry at the edges should have concerned him-but there was fear for 'Bee and rage for himself and the urge to kill that thrummed through his veins and swallowed him whole. Shizuo did not look away.
Not even when the steel sign punched through Barricade's head and the lights of his eyes went dim and blank.
Casey
When you go
Can you come and find me
Wanna be beside you
When you leave this town
I've been waving goodbye
Pretending not to cry
I want to be someone
If you take me away
All the pain will change
Into a memory
Of when we were amazing
When we were
"I have to go. They need me, Shizuo."
The blonde glanced away from the crouching form of the Autobot to look up and up and up, meeting the one who called himself Optimus Prime's eyes. His own amber ones were hard and unforgiving, and there was so much anger and hurt that tightened his chest and made it hard to breathe once again. Who did this person think he was, leaving Bumblebee behind and forgotten, and then coming to collect him just because they had finally "remembered" him again?
"This isn't right and this isn't fair," Shizuo bit out between gritted teeth. "And you know it."
"I do," Optimus Prime said, voice heavy with regret-and yet the resolve never changed in his eyes or his face. And Shizuo knew that he would not change his mind. "But a leader can't always choose what is right or fair and must oftentimes decide upon what is necessary." And he did not waver as he turned away, Bumblebee going with him-head turned over his shoulder to watch Shizuo all the while-and began to make his steady way away from the clearing where they had all arranged to meet.
Shizuo did not call out to them.
But that did not mean that he had given up the fight.
Driving in your car
With the windows down
And the beat up stereo
Oh, oh
Kasuka and Shinra stood before him, side by side and looking up at him with unreadable expressions upon their faces. There had originally been disbelief when Shizuo had told them his story, but no war was truly a secret-and belief had come once the images had hit television and the internet. It was easy enough to spot Bumblebee within the various pictures due to his bright coloring. They saw. And they believed.
It was Kasuka who broke the tension first, stepping forward as people made their way around him to head towards the security lines so that they and their luggage could be screened before heading off to customs. The small group of family and friends was lost within the masses, the sea of people moving about their small circle, and Kasuka settled close to do something that he hadn't done in years: He hugged Shizuo, arms tight around his older brother's waist and squeezing hard enough that Shizuo's breath huffed out in surprise.
When he finally stepped away, the actor's good-bye was simple, "Stay safe, Aniki."
"And eventually come back to visit," Shinra said with a soft, almost knowing smile upon his face as a hand clapped down to grasp Shizuo's shoulder. He squeezed gently, and Shizuo gripped the doctor's forearm. Behind his brother and best friend, others stood in support: Celty, Tom, Vorona, the van gang, Simon, the Orihara twins (though the blonde wouldn't have been surprised if they had come just for Kasuka), and the Raira trio. Even Izaya had come, though he stood many feet away, languidly leaning against one of the airport's doors.
"I'll be back again," Shizuo said and grinned at the people who had come to have meaning within his life, memorizing their features to hold within his memory until the next time he came back home to see them all face-to-face once again. He waited as long as he could before Shinra's hand tightened briefly in warning-any longer and there would be a very real chance that he'd miss his flight-and then Shizuo finally turned and walked away.
But not before giving a mocking salute Izaya's way.
I wanna
I'm gonna
I wanna
Be someone
I wanna
I'm gonna
I wanna
Be someone
Shizuo stepped onto the American base and placed his duffle at his feet. He glanced over at the African-American man who had stopped him before returning his gaze to the man that he assumed was in charge-everyone else had saluted him, gestures sharp and trained and obviously filled with respect and like for the officer who stood before them. Perhaps he might even become an authority figure that Shizuo himself could come to approve of.
"Your name?" the man asked as Shizuo read the tag that spelled out 'LENNOX' upon his breast.
"Heiwa…" No, Shizuo remembered, almost too late. In non-Asian countries, he was supposed to introduce himself with his given name first. He straightened and met Lennox and his men's judging, weighing gazes head-on, his own jaw set and strong and determined. He would not back down-not now, not ever. "My name is Shizuo Heiwajima and I've come from Japan. I'm here to report for duty."
(I will run to you
I will come to you
I will run to you
I will come to you)
The hologram almost seemed to disappear and reappear from one spot to another the moment that Bumblebee's Autobot form caught sight of Shizuo, eyes widening in shock and barely-hidden joy. The more human-looking form shivered through the air, moving faster than Shizuo could keep track of-and then sensations became jumbled and distorted, blending into one another until all that the Japanese man could feel was the warm, silky caress of a mouth against his own and strong fingers buried in his hair, tugging ever-so-gently to coax the blonde closer still.
Shizuo sighed quietly into the kiss and finally parted his lips, deepening it with the wet glide of his tongue as he reached out and fisted his hands in the light cotton material of the yukata that Tsugaru always seemed to love wearing while in this form. His hand dipped between the folds of cloth, cupping over the other's groin, thumb rubbing teasingly over the head of the other's erection, and Tsugaru released the breathiest, most delicious moan as he rocked up into Shizuo's touch.
Thought fled and all that was left to Shizuo was to feel.
He succumbed.
Come on and get me
Come on and rescue me
War was a cruel taskmaster, granting no mercy to those who had no choice but to fight; there were lulls between battles, sometimes even pauses that lasted for months. But those breaks never lasted for truly very long, and it wasn't soon after that the soldiers once more returned to the battlefield. Shizuo saw death and destruction, caused it, as well-but there was no choice: either kill the enemy or let the terror reign.
It was the lesser of two evils, though Shizuo came to understand early on that that thought still granted no comfort.
But through it all was the familiar yellow form of the Autobot that he had brought home from the junkyard so long ago, and so Shizuo fought and defended-and was defended in turn. And it was that thought that brought the chaos that raged within his mind to quiet. It was not everything that could be, but-for now-it was enough. That was all that mattered.
(I will run to you
I will come to you
I will run to you
I will come to you)
Tsugaru arched up beneath Shizuo as the human slowly thrust forward, burying himself to the hilt within the other's tight heat. He trembled as he braced himself above the blue-eyed blonde, breathing quick as tightly controlled restraint kept tight the urge to thrust and thrust and thrust mindlessly into the pliant body beneath his own-denying those urges because Shizuo wanted nothing more than to see Tsugaru's eyes widen in shock and wonder and ecstasy when he found his own orgasm.
There were sounds of fireworks outside the window of their bedroom, happy cries from victory parties scattered all throughout the base; but everything else might as well have been a million miles away because blue remained focused upon amber and vice versa, and Tsugaru couldn't help but moan brokenly as Shizuo pushed forward once more-this time managing to hit his prostrate, and there was pleasure, such pleasure.
"Stay with me, Shizuo," Tsugaru whispered as his palm pressed to Shizuo's chest, right over the blonde's beating heart.
Shizuo couldn't help but laugh softly at that, head dipping down to press an open-mouthed kiss to the bend of the other's throat, letting his teeth bite carefully-not hard, but just enough to bruise the sweat-slickened skin beneath his mouth. "Didn't plan on leaving."
Words left then, and all that remained was touch.
Coming through the sky
Like a satellite
Like a radio wave
A meteorite
Shizuo lay sprawled beneath one of the trees by the side of the road, eyes closed and face uptilted towards the sunlight that shone through the branches and the thick leaves that covered them. It was warm and he was comfortable and he was happy: he had left his old life behind, let go of the burdens that he had been shouldering for too many years, and the blonde felt lighter-so, so light-than he'd felt in years. The ever constant feeling of self-loathing had finally been released to slip tar-like through his fingers, and Shizuo finally discovered that he was content with himself. It was… good.
There was a flicker of light against his closed eyelids and Shizuo opened them just in time to see the static of Bumblebee's hologram settling into something constant, something solid to the touch. A slow smile tugged at the corners of the ex-debt collector's mouth and it was echoed on the face that was almost identical to his own-all except those blue, blue eyes-and the Autobot who had renamed himself 'Tsugaru' dipped his head to brush a kiss to Shizuo's mouth. "You look happy," he murmured.
"I am," Shizuo answered before reaching up to draw the other blonde back down into a kiss.
There was peace.
-End-
