A/N: This is a mirrorverse that's been bugging me for a while. It's mostly suppose to be a 'slice of life' from a particularly hectic day on the Decepticon base, and thus only has a very loose sense of plot. I also used this piece to play around with dialogue, persepective, some formating, and characterization, especially Spike's character and the relationship between Megatron and Starscream. Any comments on the writing style and characterization would be appreciated.
Carly lay sprawled over the workbench, asleep atop her prototype. The mech at the doorway shook his head, amused. Crazy, driven little thing. Always rushing from one project to the next. He carefully lifted the tiny human into the palm of his hand, and headed towards her quarters. They could delay work on the prototype until this rare opportunity to get Carly to sleep had passed.
He returned the greetings of other mechs and the few human refugees with a few distracted words, concentrating on getting Carly to bed before she woke up. He reached the humans' room and palmed the door open, stepping into the crowded space. The room was empty, except for the detritus of its occupants. He stepped over the tiny dining table in the middle of the room, and then settled Carly onto her mattress. Using the tips of his clawed fingers, he twitched the grey surplus blanket over her sleeping form.
"Sleep tight, little sister," Hook whispered fondly.
Chip Chase, inventor of the laser gun, teen genius, ally to the Decepticons, resisted the urge to slam his head against the back of Megatron's throne. He admired the mech, but sometimes he wondered how the idiot had managed to claw his way into the position he had.
"Lord Megatron," Chip said, taking a deep breath, "I'm not saying the actual meaning isn't grand," tone down the aggravation, he told himself. "But 'Peace through Tyranny' is not a good slogan to go public with. People will take it the wrong way." Understatement of the century, the little voice he identified as his suppressed sarcasm commented.
"Your opinion of your race is noted, Chase. However, forgive us if we don't change our motto to suit your purposes." Megatron's tone was dry and dangerously flat. Chip barely had a prayer of convincing him. Sighing, Chip tried again.
"It's not that I don't trust people, My Lord." He explained, carefully sliding closer to the inner edge of the throne arm. "But it's easy to misinterpret. People get scared easily; especially now. All it takes is a little panic or a scare campaign, and the world is against us." Megatron sighed as well, and then rubbed a blunt fingertip down Chip's back.
"The Autobots will see it as a sign of weakness. I will not give them that satisfaction," Megatron answered. Chip opened his mouth to respond when a loud intercom call from Hook interrupted their discussion.
/ Medical to Chase – we've got a live one! /
Chase swore, then fumbled for his wheelchair and comlink. Megatron reached his 'link first.
"I've got your helper, Hook. Emergency ward?" Megatron didn't wait for an answer. He lifted Chip to his left hand then awkwardly hooked his pinky through the handle of Chip's wheelchair.
"We'll talk later," he told Chip, not quite running to the medical wing.
In the emergency ward, Megatron and his second in command found themselves hovering as the three young humans worked under Hook's direction to save the fourth.
"Who found him?" Megatron asked, more to break the silence then out of any real desire to know.
" 'Vive. We were picking through one of the body piles when he found the boy." Starscream was pensive and frowning, optics locked on the tiny brown-haired cyborg in the OR. After a few moments of silence, he turned to look at the Megatron and spotted his commander's disgusted expression.
"We were looking for Sparkplug – his father" Starscream explained, defensive.
". . . How long have you been doing this?" Megatron managed, when his temper was under control and he no longer desired to hit his second. Starscream's cautious, sideways glance told him he that Starscream had noticed his sudden anger.
"Only a little while, sir." His second's voice was suddenly painfully diffident, coached in careful vagueness. A sudden rush of self-loathing came over him, as it always did in these circumstances. Starscream had never done that before they'd become involved.
"Never mind, Starscream. I'm not angry. What about this boy Survivor found?" Starscream didn't look convinced, but allowed the conversation to be redirected to the original topic.
"The boy's name is Raoul, sir. He lost an arm and the toes on his left foot, and 'Vive said he's running a fever, He's salvageable, though. He was awake and cursing when we found him." Starscream smirked at that, looking for a moment like the fearless Air Commander he'd once been. "He swears like Skywarp does when drunk. I like him."
Survivor stretched out on the cot Hook had set up, anticipating an easy night watching the new boy. He glanced over, determined the IV to be at an acceptable level then flicked on his datapad. Energon as a Blood Synthetic. He grinned. Fun.
Several hours later, Survivor was stirred out of a light doze by muffled whimpers from the bed next to his. The new boy, Raoul, was having a nightmare. Survivor leaned across the gap and wrapped one hand around the other's remaining wrist. Raoul jolted awake, thrashing.
"Hey," Survivor whispered, "easy. It's ok. You're safe. No Autobots here." Raoul stilled, blinking open brown eyes. For a moment he stared at Survivor, uncomprehending, and then turned his head to look at the source of the sensation of cold metal wrapped around his wrist. He continued staring at the metal limb for a few moments.
"What the fucking hell's wrong with your arm?" He demanded, shocked. Survivor grinned darkly.
"Replacements. Can't believe you missed them when Star and I pulled you out of the body pile," he commented. Raoul's eyes darted to his face, disbelieving, then diverted to the matching steel of his other arm and legs.
"The fact that I was getting fuckin' saved by a 'con from those extranjeros de mierda sorta took most of my attention. That sort of shit doesn't really happen outside of stories, you know?" Raoul said. Survivor nodded, although he really couldn't say he did know. He'd been caught in one of the Autobots' first attacks, and introduce to the Decepticons when they'd saved him. "Anyway, how the fuck did ya lose all four?" Raoul asked.
"Never tell an Autobot, 'You don't scare me.' He'll do his very best to show you why you should."
"The putos tore 'em off?" Raoul asked, looking sickly fascinated.
"Surgically removed is a bit closer in meaning, but yes. He 'tore off' my arms and legs. How'd you lose your arm?" Survivor asked, tilting his head slightly to observe the empty place on Raoul's left side. Raoul flinched slightly. "Oh. Sorry. I forget people don't like to talk sometimes. You don't have to tell if you don't want." Raoul shook his head.
"I asked first," Raoul said, "I can't skip out'ta telling without bein' an ass." Survivor frowned at that statement.
"Doesn't work like that. I didn't tell Star anything for a whole year after he saved me from him. You don't have to tell any of us anything you don't want to. Or do anything" Survivor added, remembering some of Frenzy's ill-conceived plans. Raoul relaxed, making Survivor realize how tense he'd become when the conversation wandered towards him.
"Hey," Survivor said, diverting the conversation, "Want something to read? I've got a few Psychology texts and a sci-fi novel about aliens from Mars. The medical text's mine, however." Raoul accepted the sci-fi, and after Survivor showed him how to operate the datapads, settled in to read. He was asleep again within an hour, and managed to sleep a few more before Carly came in to take her shift.
"It's like dancing in dark water, never sure when you'll put a foot down in the deep," Survivor announced from his position on Starscream's desk.
"What was that, 'Vive?" Starscream asked, accustomed to his brother's occasional strange, poetic proclamation. If you tried to force a meaning out of him, he went still and silent, but if you waited a little while, his mind usually returned to whatever subject was a hand. Which was, he thought, probably the reason the Autobot had grown bored with 'Vive. That one never had much patience.
"Dealing with Raoul. Was I that bad?" He asked, looking for all the world like a kid asking for stories about his childhood. Starscream snorted.
"Worse," he declared. "I could barely get a coherent sentence out of you. Hook thought you were permanently damaged."
"I'm not?" 'Vive asked, tilting his head up and back to smile at his brother teasingly. He enjoyed watching people squirm as they tried to find diplomatic answers to questions like that. Starscream hadn't fallen for that in years, but 'Vive still behaved that way around him.
"Oh, hush you. You know what I mean."
"Of course, I do. I can still enjoy myself, though. Once Raoul's settled, can we go looking for dad's body again?"
"Maybe. Let me ask Lord Megatron"
"Lord Megatron?" 'Vive asked. "You don't call him that unless something happened. Did he hit you?" 'Vive abandoned the datapads he was perusing to examine his brother's frame.
"No!" Starscream exclaimed, "No, no. Lor…Megatron was simply annoyed we didn't tell him about our search. He didn't even raise his voice" 'Vive, who was sometimes disgustingly skilled at reading him, caught the implication.
"He became angry, you reacted to the stimuli in the manner you're conditioned to, and now you feel guilty," 'Vive diagnosed. "You know, for someone whose good at dealing with someone as psychologically unstable as I am, you're really pathetic at treating yourself." 'Vive tilted his head to the side, then sing-songed back the advice Starscream had once given him "It's not your fault, you're not to blame, what right did he have to touch you anyway? Sound familiar?"
"Brat," he said. "It's not that simple."
"It is if you make it," 'Vive replied. "You're 'apologizing for your abuser'. If I can't get away with that behavior, neither can you." Starscream scowled.
"Can we not have this argument today? I really don't feel up to it."
"Fine. But we're having it sometime soon," 'Vive said. Starscream, who had been avoiding the argument for several months now, knew that as long he didn't bring the subject up himself it'd be a few weeks until it came up again. He was more then willing to agree to the terms.
" 'Vive?" He asked, changing the subject, "Want to get out of here for awhile and go flying?" The look his brother gave him told him that 'Vive knew exactly what he was doing, but he still agreed. 'Vive loved the sky as much as any Seeker did.