disclaimer: nothing's changed since yesterday. i still don't own transformers
warnings: human swearing in the second part -- epps has a potty mouth
Replacement: Roads, Conversation One -- John Keller and Optimus Prime
There were days John Keller could really come to hate that his job now included giant alien robots, he mused while going over the latest reports concerning the rogue Decepticons. Thank God the Autobots were pretty self-sufficient; very little of what they needed couldn't be dealt with by the local liaisons. Well, honestly, the Decepticons were self-sufficient too, but the two still on Earth were in hiding and all Keller needed to do about them was authorize the things being don to track them down.
And read the reports. They were having intermittent success with Barricade. Scorponok had not been seen at all.
His cellphone rang.
He rubbed his eyes as he pulled it out to answer it. This phone was only used for emergencies or by his wife -- though if you asked her, any time she called him it was an emergency. Right now he couldn't decide which he wanted to deal with less.
"Keller."
"Defense Secretary Keller. This is Optimus Prime."
Right then he decided he'd have preferred it if the call was from his wife.
"What can I do for you, Optimus Prime?"
"Scorponok has been located."
As far as he knew, all the Autobots were Stateside, so the only way they could have located Scorponok was, "He made it to the U.S.?"
"Yes."
"I can have the Air Force there to assist in less than an hour." Where ever they were.
"That would be unnecessary. We do not require assistance."
"Fine." there were so many ways 'do not require assistance' could be interpreted. And he wasn't sure he wanted to know just yet. He'd ask Prime eventually, but he wanted a moment first. "How did he get here?"
Prime hesitated. Obviously he'd been expecting a different question. It seemed giant alien robots could be taken by surprise too. "Scorponok is a resourceful planetary scout."
"I didn't think any of you could swim across oceans."
"And Scorponok cannot. But he could have stowed away on the outer hull of any ship traversing the oceans. Or traveled across the ice that connects the continents in the Arctic Circle."
"Wouldn't he have frozen if he'd gone across the ice cap? Megatron..." Keller trailed off. He wasn't sure he wanted to mention Prime's soldier that had been captured by Sector 7.
"There are ways of running our systems so they are not affected by the cold. Megatron was careless and Bumblebee was caught unaware. If that was his route, Scorponok would not have been either."
"Alright." He could accept that. And he'd be sure to pass that tidbit about cold not being guaranteed effective weapon to the anti-Decepticon units of the military. "Where is he now?"
"We are en route to Tranquility to meet with Bumblebee and Captain Lennox's team. Ratchet, Ironhide and Captain Lennox are also present."
"You captured him."
"Scorponok has surrendered and defected."
Keller was floored. He almost had to literally pick his jaw up off the floor. The initial description the Autobots had given of the metal scorpion had led him to believe he was incapable of either. "Excuse me."
"Scorponok came to us, allowed us to deactivated his weapons and voluntarily deactivated his force fields for a medical scan. Right now his only condition is that I, personally, protect him. He is sincere."
Something unidentifiable about Prime's tone made the hair on the back of Keller's neck stand up. He didn't dare ask how Prime knew Scorponok's sincerity. Or what Prime would do if Scorponok was attacked now. He hadn't retaliated when Sector 7 had captured Bumblebee, but he might now that an attack could be considered an knowing act of hostility rather than a mistake. "I'll call off the search for Scorponok."
"Thank you."
"Just...has he offered anything in return for your protection? Information?"
There was a long pause as Prime seemed to consider how to answer. Then finally, "Scorponok has offered more than I am willing to accept from him." Keller almost interrupted to ask what that meant, but didn't. He didn't think the Autobot would elaborate. "He is no longer an enemy -- that is enough. Undoubtedly he would give us any information we asked for, but is unable to communicate normally. Captain Lennox established a system by which which he could answer yes or no questions, but that format is unsuitable for relaying complex information."
"I see," he didn't really, but didn't think much clarification would be forthcoming. He made a note to send a list of questions for Captain Lennox and his team to include the answers to in their reports. "Keep me informed."
"Of course, Mister Secretary. Good day."
"Good day, Optimus Prime."
There were days John Keller could really hate that his job now included giant alien robots.
fini conversation one
Replacement:Roads, Conversation Two -- Robert Epps and William Lennox
"Holy Mother-Fucker! Tell me that thing isn't what I think it is!"
This, Will thought, is not going as well as I'd hoped. On the other hand, it wasn't going as badly as it could be: Epps hadn't pulled a gun. Yet.
To prevent any shooting, Will moved over to his friend to try and calm him down. Incidentally this also put him close enough to grab him if a gun did make an appearance. "Epps, you need to calm down."
"Calm down! That thing tried to kill us!"
"Yeah, I know. But he's not now and if he tries, Ironhide'll step on him. Believe me -- he's just looking for an excuse."
Looking over at the mech in question, Epps could believe it. Ironhide was glaring at the metal scorpion with such heat Scorponok should have been a puddle of melted metal.
"Okay. I'm calm." As though to prove it, Epps took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"You sure? Not going to shoot him?"
"I'm sure. Shooting's still an option. But first you are going to tell me what the fuck it's doing here."
Will grinned. "What? Once you've gotten past the trying to kill you part, Scorponok's a very nice bug."
"Fucker."
fini conversation two
notes: wow! "replacement: roads" has already gotten more response than any of my other stories. i am absolutely over the moon.
i decided the conversations were too short to be individual stories so they're together. conversation one with keller takes place directly after "choice" and epps's little freak out when they get to tranquility. keller's was kind of plotty, but epps is just because i needed to write someone freaking out over this. i would have preferred ironhide and will, but they aren't being forthcoming. ironhide in particular is being a lousy muse. which sucks because i have plans for him.
and after much thought, i've decided to leave the story status of "roads" as complete. each piece is complete, with no guarantee i'll ever add another piece. The only reason I indicated a plural was because i had bits of both these conversations written as of posting "choice" yesterday.
did you know it's kinda hard to type with a cat licking your hand? random i know...
FanfictionWriter83729 suggested that scorponok might have crawled into optimus while he was recharging. hmm...we'll see
and Blue Viper offered cookies. my bunnies usually can't be bribed, but i haven't had any cookies (or ice cream) in a month.
special thanks go to OblivionDragon for informing me that my evil plan was working.
now...must study for finals...hopefully i won't update until next friday at the earliest.
