Sunset Dreams
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Covered in darkness, a time that is past
Waiting adrift, they cannot hold back
Cannot hold back
Tear-misted eyes standing alone
A broken will over all that they've known
Out in the distance, far is the calling
Shadows still steal through the place that they knew
A vision that's empty is what they see
The eyes of tomorrow on sunset dreams
Sorrow deepens only to tell
That silence speaks where words cannot mend
Words cannot mend
A vision that's empty is what they see
The eyes of tomorrow look to sunset dreams
Lyrics to "Sunset Dreams" by Clannad
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Chapter 1: Silence Speaks
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"Can you hear that?" asked Wheeljack, standing still and looking out over the metal badlands that had once been the heart of Iacon.
"Hear what?" asked Silverbolt.
"I don't hear anything," said Fireflight.
"Exactly. Nothing. There's no noise here at all."
"So?"
"Don't you remember how Cybertron used to sound? The noise? The bustle? Voices and transmissions and …and us?"
"I suppose..." said Fireflight, not really sure what the engineer was going on about. "We were created though after the war began. And our sparks were in stasis a long time...until Prime found us and rebuilt us."
"But even during the war there was noise. Now... now there's nothing. That static. That hum. The sound of life. Gone."
Slingshot narrowed his optics at him. "Seriously, Wheeljack. You're loosing it."
"I lost it vorns ago, thank you," he huffed indignantly.
Silverbolt placed a hand atop Wheeljack's shoulder. "Don't mind him," said the Aerialbot leader apologetically. "Let's just get to your lab, get what you need, and get out of here before Shockwave's drones find us." He patted the plating under his hand and moved in the direction the others were heading.
Wheeljack looked around again at what had once been the greatest of the City-States, now reduced to a crumbling ruin along with the lives of all those who had lived in it. And this was just one of many such cities. Tears of sorrow began to form in his optics and he did not fight them. Instead he questioned the silence, questioned what they were fighting for.
And then pushing aside the sadness he wiped the optic wash away and followed after the others. They were here on a mission. There was work to be done.
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"Can Me Snarl sit on sofa too?"
The twins looked up at the Dinobot standing there, his black helm tilted at an inquisitive angle. "Um, sure," said Sideswipe, and he moved over a bit on the couch, allowing Snarl to join him and his brother.
"Me Snarl never try sofa before."
The twins watched with some amusement as the usually reclusive Dinobot settled himself. Grapple had built several Cybertronian-sized sofas for the rec-room after Spike and Chip had brought one in for their use. They were surprisingly comfortable and tolerant of their varying body shapes.
"So, Snarl, what do you think of the sofa?" asked Sunstreaker after the Dinobot had relaxed a little.
"Sofa nice," was the opinion.
"How come you've never tried one out before?"
"No sofa in Dinobot quarters." And then he looked at the twins, the pair smirking back at him. "And Dinobots not so welcome in Autobot rec-room," Snarl continued.
It was a well-known fact that the Earth-built branch didn't mix so well with the rest of the faction. The two looked at each other somewhat guiltily, which Snarl must have recognized, for he added "Him Grimlock not want us to come to rec-room either."
This statement intrigued the pair. "Oh? So you're disobeying your team leader, just to try out the sofa?"
The silvery faceplate smiled. "Me Snarl not care today."
The twins were hooked, and determined to join the rebellious Dinobot on his misadventures. "So, You Snarl want to watch television with us?"
"Okay. Me like television. We have in Dinobot quarters."
"What would you like to watch?" Sideswipe asked, curious about what the Dinobots enjoyed for broadcast entertainment. "Sports? A movie? Cartoons? News? Though at 2:30 our soap opera comes on so you don't have a choice then."
At that moment an alarm went off, followed by Red Alert's voice with a call to arms. There was a Decepticon disturbance near Spokane, Washington, and all available warriors were to head out.
"Well, no soap opera today," Sunstreaker sighed. "Damn Decepticons. And Sheila was about to reveal her secret love to Gordon."
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Swoop braced himself. This was going to be bad. Really bad.
He was plummeting to Earth, aflame, one wing shredded, and with his propulsion systems locked.
At least his one working thruster was turned groundwards, slowing him slightly, which meant that when he met the ground he probably wouldn't offline permanently. But that would only be if he could keep himself balanced with his one good wing, which for now he was managing to do, barely.
It was times like this that he regretted being a flyer.
And suddenly there were hands upon him...huge white hands yanking him away from what might be months of repairs. "I've got you," came Jetfire's smooth voice.
Swoop felt the huge shuttle's engines pull him into a new trajectory, and soon they were both on the ground. Inferno, having seen the Dinobot coming down in flames, was there to meet the pair. He quickly spewed flame-retardant foam onto them, followed by a gush of water to cool their plating and wash the foam off.
Ratchet now stepped forward and the mangled Pteranodon was gently placed into his hands.
"Oh Primus. The seekers got you good, didn't they?" was the medic's initial evaluation of Swoop's condition.
"Me Swoop hurt..." he moaned raspily.
"I know. I'll do what I can to stop the pain."
He lay the Dinobot down on a grassy patch of ground and began the initial repairs to keep him from bleeding to death.
Jetfire lingered for a moment, his optics on the much smaller mech. "You got this Ratchet? I should return to the battle, but I can stay if you need."
"I'm good. Thanks though."
Jetfire dropped to one knee for a moment and placed his hand across Swoop's brow. "Hang in there, little flyer," he said encouragingly before stepping away and taking to the sky again.
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In the medbay Swoop stared over at Wheeljack on the med-berth next to his. His creator had taken a hit in the battle near Spokane as well. The engineer was lying on his front while Hoist worked at removing the shattered sensor winglet from its mount. "Did it hurt a lot?" Swoop finally asked after watching his creator wince and hearing him grunt several times as the doctor worked.
"Probably as much as your busted wing hurt," said Wheeljack, turning his head to look at him.
"Wings hurt so much."
Hoist, listening in, gave a chuckle. "It's where most of the sensors end up in a flyer. For the rest of us they're usually they're in the head and chest."
"We put yours into your wings and your beak when we built you. Those seemed the best places," Wheeljack added.
The far-end door of the medbay opened and Jetfire came in, pausing to look about. When his eyes fell on Swoop, he walked right up and leaned over him. "How are you feeling now?" he asked, placing a hand onto Swoop's good arm. The other arm had taken damage along with the wing from the missile that had brought him down.
"Me Swoop feel better. Not perfect, but better." The Dinobot shifted his arm, turning it so he could hold onto Jetfire's hand. "Thank you. You saved me Swoop."
"I would have done the same for anyone in that situation," he said with a gentle smile.
The flyer grinned. "Me Swoop attacked Soundwave and his cassettes. Seekers angry."
"I saw. And I think you did more damage to them than they did to you. So I guess that means you won."
Wheeljack was beaming from his berth. Not only had his creation done well in battle, but seeing Jetfire's concern for the fellow flyer's welfare was heartwarming. It was rare that another Autobot took an interest in the Dinobots.
"Any idea how long you'll be stuck here?" Jetfire asked.
"Me Swoop not know. Him Ratchet not say, but him busy. Me ask later."
"He's always busy after a battle...we all are," chuckled Hoist. "You ready, Wheeljack? I think I've got everything properly disconnected so I'm going to pull your winglet off now."
Wheeljack's hands went to the edges of the med-berth. "Go ahead."
Hoist called to Jetfire. "Would you mind holding him down so I have something to pull against? This thing's tighter than Prowl's smile."
Jetfire obliged and went to the other berth and pressed down on the engineer's shoulders. They all tensed as Hoist wrenched off the surprisingly sturdy sensor array. Even though it had been completely disconnected his frame fought to keep it.
With a jolt it came free eventually, leaving Wheeljack moaning and his cooling fans whirring angrily. He vented and sagged against the platform. "Thanks Hoist," he said. He looked over at Swoop, who appeared to be trembling. His creator had lost a wing and now he would as well. Though Wheeljack's pair didn't have the same function, there was something of a kinship through having them.
"Are you all right?" Swoop asked nervously.
"I'm fine. And you'll be fine too." Wheeljack gave Swoop a thumbs-up gesture.
Ratchet, having finished reattaching Cliffjumper's leg and seeing Hoist's progress, came over to Wheeljack and patted him on the shoulder.
"How long will Swoop be in here?" Jetfire asked the CMO.
Ratchet moved over to Swoop's berth and glanced over him. "Well he'll be walking as soon as that messy wing can be removed. And there's a bit of work needed on his arm...a couple hours worth or so. But until we have a new wing built for him..." He looked sadly at the Dinobot. "...he'll be walking."
Swoop's expression fell. "At least it not hurt much now."
"Or we can remove both wings and give him a jetpack," Hoist suggested teasingly, giving a second opinion.
Four out of the five mechs laughed. Swoop looked nervous.
"It's okay, Swoop. They won't take your other wing off if you don't want them too," said Wheeljack reassuringly. Hoist was helping him to his feet. "You and I can be lopsided together.
The Dinobot vented a sigh of relief.
Jetfire squeezed Swoop's hand and crouched down beside him. "If it gets too much for you, I'll take you flying. You can hold onto me."
Wheeljack was stunned by the larger mech's offer. "Jetfire, thank you. I know that means a lot to him."
Swoop beamed up at the tall white mech, tears of gratitude in his optics. "Yes, thank you. You Jetfire really nice."
Grimlock appeared at the door of the medbay, in dinosaur mode, and charged over to his teammate. Jetfire quickly let go of Swoop's hand and departed. Swoop cast a small glance in his direction, only to see the tall scientist smile back at him before leaving the medbay. And suddenly his spark did an anxious spin of delight in its chamber. None of the others had ever smiled at him before, not like that. Not only had the white shuttle saved his life, but had come back to check on him, and apparently would return.
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"Sunset Dreams" continues in Chapter 2: Far is the Calling
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Author Notes:
I'm going to apologize to my usual readers right away for doing such a cliché story. I normally like to present something new and interesting and thought-provoking into a genre, but this one...just sorta happened. I got talking about it with fellow authoress Skyress98, and she stimulated an inspiration for an Mpreg story, and has been a wonderful encouragement through the writing process of it. She's also the one who suggested Jetfire/Skyfire when I was debating my two choices of whom to pair Swoop with.
I hope you enjoy it anyway and find it entertaining, creative, and thought-provoking.
Sunset Dreams: I almost titled this story "The Madness of Wheeljack," but left that as a only a chapter title. While the whole piece is s a Swoop/Jetfire romance, it's really about Wheejack dealing with his inner turmoil. The war hasn't gotten to him, but the loss of life and the loss of Cybertronian culture has. He keenly feels the inevitable end of his people and their accomplishments, and it's tearing him apart inside. "Sunset Dreams" is Wheeljack's theme. If you listen to this song (can be found on YouTube) the lyrics are sad, but there's an amazing beauty and hope in the music. It's a gorgeous song (especially if you're a Celtic music fan). Swoop and Jetfire will become those "eyes of tomorrow."
Soap Opera: The Autobots love the soap opera "As the Kitchen Sinks." This is canon. I'm not kidding. There's a great mention of it in Chapter 9 of my story "Stung" and its effect on them.
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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.