My other stories still live! But I'm taking a brief break for the holiday spirit to have the spotlight in my work. Christmas is my favorite time of year. So this is just a set of one-shots for the Christmas season. One per day from the 14th to the 25th. Twelve in total. Thanks for reading, please review and enjoy!
William Lennox had learned the first time he'd encountered a Decepticon that the Transformers reacted to extreme heat. He didn't know that they also reacted to extreme cold. Then again, looking back on the events, it did make sense. If a being was sensitive to one end of the spectrum, they would probably be sensitive to the other end as well. But the fact that Autobots could shiver caught him off guard the first time, especially since he had been startled beforehand.
"You sure the ice is thick enough?" Epps asked quietly to the three Autobots on the mission. Sideswipe shrugged, skating ahead.
"Seems like it," he replied, struggling for balance on the slippery substance beneath his tires.
"It is. So long as we avoid the weaker points, we should be fine," Optimus spoke up, taking a step forward. His weight was spread out across the length of his feet, making it easier on the ice. Like a snowshoe on fresh snow. Epps winced then visibly relaxed when Optimus didn't immediately fall through. That was what he was most afraid of; one of the Autobots going through the ice into the frigid water beneath. He was worried that if one did, most likely Optimus or Ironhide, they would bring several humans with them, or not be able to get back up.
"Come on. Let's get this over with," Will said, motioning for the men to follow. They began to walk watching the ground for any cracks. The echoing thuds of the Autobots walking were setting their nerves on edge. "You three should still be careful."
"Nah, we're not gonna fall through," Ironhide responded, feeling cocky like normal. Optimus made a noise somewhere behind the black Autobot, but Will didn't want to turn to locate the mech. He was already nervous. There was a crunch that stood out among the rest, louder than normal, even louder than Ironhide's overly heavy steps.
"Ironhide, look out!" Optimus' sudden shout made the soldiers jump since it was joined by a sickening crack. Ironhide was pushed forward and he stumbled, fighting for his balance just as the ice gave out where he had been before. Optimus gave one other panicked cry as he fell through the hole himself.
For a moment, there was a frightening stillness as the water started to settle and pour off the ice sheet where it had been splashed. The soldiers ran to the edge of the ice, searching the dark water for the Autobot leader. "Can Autobots swim?" One man asked softly.
"Some of us can…" Sideswipe replied. He and Ironhide stayed away from the hole to avoid falling in themselves. Their scanners swept the water for any sign of Optimus. But the Autobot leader's heat signature was gone.
"Can he?"
The question was answered as Optimus surfaced and scrambled to try to stop himself from being dragged back under by his weight. The humans scattered while Ironhide and Sideswipe moved forward to pull him up. He leaned heavily against his two Autobots once he was free of the ice, shivering badly from the chill.
"Optimus, you alright?" Will asked gently, a pool of dread gathering in his heart.
"He'll be fine once he warms up. We're heading back," Ironhide said, not giving Optimus a chance to reply. It wasn't like the Autobot leader was objecting to not being part of the conversation. Being half frozen didn't exactly leave him feeling very talkative anyways.
"Alright, men, back to camp! We're not separating and we're not making Prime suffer from the cold!" Will shouted and the soldiers began to walk back in the direction of their camp. Said 'camp' was a metal container large enough for the Autobots to fit inside of, filled with different supplies for the mission which was several weeks long. It meant that they could get out of the cold wind and warm up, something that all those present were glad to do.
Ironhide and Optimus walked along ahead of the soldiers, setting the pace for them. No one wanted to let Optimus move out of sight for very long. His movements were slow and jerky because of the ice jamming his joints. Ironhide kept an arm around his leader's shoulder to help keep him moving.
Will could hear the whines and hisses of Optimus' frame as they walked along. He winced at every step that was taken because of how odd it looked. Optimus had to fight to get his limbs to respond against the ice and snow clogging his knees especially. The ice was knocked off as he walked, the plates clicking together and forcing the ice out. Unfortunately, it was hard for him to move in the first place, and the only way to really remove the layers of snow and ice would be to move or melt it off. With the fact that Optimus had yet to stop shivering, Will was under the impression that he wasn't warming up very quickly, or at all.
The men and mechs stayed quiet as they walked, lost in their own thoughts, until the outline of the metal container loomed into view. The wind had picked up a fair bit, throwing snow across their path, making it difficult to see, as if trying to keep them from their goal. The humans were struggling on their own, while Sideswipe tried desperately to remain upright and on his wheel and Optimus forced himself to fight the icy wind battering him from practically all sides. They continued on, trudging through the thick snow piling up.
Sideswipe moved ahead, reaching the container first. He pulled the pins out and slowly moved the rods out of the way to unlock their camp. Next, he grabbed one of the huge doors and opened it, feeling the slight warmth of the camp spill out into the cold. "Come on! I'll hold it!" he shouted over the wind. Ironhide nodded and made his way over with Optimus, tapping his feet against the closed door to shake off some of the snow that had gathered. Optimus did the same before heading inside, disappearing into the darkness of the container. One by one, the soldiers joined them.
"So much better," Epps said. He stretched out his back with a content sigh since the pack he had been wearing was discarded on the floor nearby. He could hardly see because of the contrast between the darkness of their camp and the previous blinding white of the snow. The metal walls blocked the wind though, making the darkness worth it. He heard the Autobots shifting, every sound amplified, before the container shuddered from the door being closed.
"Tell me about it," Will agreed. Suddenly light broke through the dark and several of the men winced, shielding their eyes from the headlights that had been turned on by Sideswipe and Ironhide at nearly the exact same time. "Ouch. A little warning next time?"
"Would you rather be blinded for a minute or dead because you tripped and killed yourself?" Sideswipe asked, put in a bad mood by the cold. Will only rolled his eyes in reply. Even with two sets of headlights, it was still extremely dark. The humans could barely make out the outline of Optimus who was seated beside Ironhide. The black mech still had an arm wrapped around his leader to help the other warm up. Slowly Optimus' headlights flickered on, assisting in providing the humans with the ability to see. They had to wait for the generator to warm up again, as one of the men had turned it on already, before the lights set up would turn on. So they were stuck with borrowing the light from the Autobots.
"They have no control over whether or not there will be a storm," Optimus said softly. Several people jumped in surprise at the sound of the Autobot's voice. "You'll warm up soon enough."
"How are you?" Will asked. He heard a shift of metal and listened, able to make out the sound of metal clicking against metal still, meaning that Optimus was still shivering.
"I'll be fine. A little ice water isn't enough to cause lasting harm," he replied after a moment. Will walked over and nodded, accepting the answer.
"We'd have frozen. It's a danger from working in the Artic as a human," Will said. He smiled when he was close enough to be able to actually see Optimus. He was still coated thickly in darkness, as were the other two Autobots because the light wasn't pointed at them, but it was easier to talk to someone when you had an idea of where they were.
"Indeed. I'm glad that I was the one to fall in, and not someone else. Especially one of your soldiers or even you yourself."
"Sideswipe should've fallen in. You can't warm up properly," Ironhide snapped even though his voice wasn't harsh. His optics, the only part of his face that was visible, were narrowed into slits as he glared at Sideswipe.
"What do you mean, 'Hide?" Will questioned wearing a look of confusion.
"Sideswipe and his idiot brother Sunstreaker decided once to lock Wheeljack in a simulator for testing his inventions on Cybertron. They didn't realize that Prime was the one in the simulator 'cause he was doin' something to it," Ironhide started.
"I was fixing an error in the program. Wheeljack had been called away by a comm from Prowl," Optimus supplied.
"So they locked the door with Prime inside and set it to colder than here, and his heater malfunctioned and Hatchet doesn't have the parts to replace it with 'im. And Prime was too stubborn to bother getting it replaced while he could have."
"There was no need to."
"Look at where we are now!"
"Why did you come on the mission then?" Will asked, breaking the possible argument brewing. Optimus resettled against Ironhide and his optics closed, hiding his face from view again.
"I was the only other Autobot available for the mission. Ratchet had work to do, the younger twins would have complained to the point that they would have to be sent back, and the Arcee's are on their own mission," Optimus replied. Will nodded after a moment and crossed his arms.
"Get some rest Prime. We'll try again in the morning," he said. Just then, the lights flared to life and Ironhide smirked as Will let out an annoyed groan. Optimus chuckled softly before settling down into recharge. With a sigh, Will reached out and gently placed a hand on Optimus'. "Happy Holidays big guy."
