DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Transformers. They just came over from Hasbro to visit and be general pains-in-the-aft. Any and all the humans in the story are mine, as are Steelshot and Sola (when they appear). Rating is T for now, may go up at anytime.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: These stories are character sketches I'm writing to get a feel for some of the NPCs in a Mechamorphosis game I'm creating. I mentioned to my husband that I was doing these and asked him to pick a prompt. He picked my OC Gwen and Sunstreaker with the Turned On prompt. *facepalm* He couldn't have picked two more unlikely characters to be intimately interested in each other. Nuh uh, not happening. Then this bunny bit me. Not what the husband was expecting but he still liked. Review and tell me what you think.
Special thanks go out to Okami-chan for beta reading these for me and applying the beta hammer to my typos and grammar errors. I'm old dragon but I like to think I'm improving.
If you have a request, send me a PM or put it in a review. A list of my characters and the prompts in my profile.
12 - Turned On Exiles
"Sunstreaker! Where do you think you're going? It's horrible outside!" Gwen jumped up and ran after the yellow Viper as he stomped towards the garage exit.
"I'm getting out of here and away from all you losers!" he snarled at the human as he punched the commands to open the door into the key panel. Stepping back, he transformed into his sleek vehicle mode and gunned his engine. When the door had opened barely enough for him to squeeze through, he sped out into the blowing snow, leaving the shivering human behind.
Sunstreaker slipped into the stream of traffic, cursing the slow human drivers. He couldn't even get past them by changing lanes; it was bumper to bumper almost the whole way to the Perimeter Highway. He regretted not listening to his guide this one time. She had, after all, lived in this city her whole life.
Cursing Gwen (this was her fault, he just hadn't figured out exactly how yet), he turned onto the Perimeter Highway, fishtailing only a little bit. This was a little better, despite the freezing wind that was incredibly making it very hard to drive. It kept pushing him at odd angles and he had to struggle to keep straight. He cruised along for a bit, unhappy being stuck behind a truck going half the posted speed limit but relieved to be out of the confining base. He was just coming to realize how stifling it was too. He had spent his whole life confined, not knowing any better. Now that he did, he couldn't stand being cooped up, he HAD to stretch his wheels.
The squealing of tires startled him out of his thoughts. He swerved onto the gravel shoulder, cursing the truck that had the audacity to stop abruptly. He sped along the shoulder, passing more stopped vehicles. He wondered what was going on. Then he saw the trouble.
Trouble by the name of Bonecrusher.
He transformed, leapt back onto the highway and shot at the Tyrant tank in an attempt to lure him to a more private place (a.k.a. no squishies to get underfoot) for a pounding. Once he had Bonecrusher's attention, he transformed back to vehicle mode to lead him away.
That was the plan anyways.
Instead of using his superior speed to dash away, Sunstreaker found himself spinning his tires on the icy pavement and not moving a millimetre forward. He could hear the crunching of the tank treads moving closer and a sinister chuckle from Bonecrusher.
Oh, frag. This was going to hurt.
The first blast sent him spinning down the icy road. He fought down the pain and dizziness and tried to transform to fight hand to hand. But to his horror, he found himself locked in vehicle mode. The second blast flipped him over onto his roof and into the ditch, searing pain flooding his sensor array. An unfamiliar emotion filled him. He couldn't be afraid, could he? Not him, Sunstreaker, Lord of Destruction! He sent a frantic distress call back to base. He didn't know if it was received because the third blast sent him into stasis.
He woke later to a soft familiar voice calling his name. What was Gwen doing on Mecha Terra? And why was he so fragging cold?
"Sunstreaker! You have to wake up!" Sunstreaker slowly became aware of Gwen pounding her gloved fists on his hood. He groaned and in a staticky voice, demanded she stop before she dented him.
Gwen sighed in relief and stopped. She pulled some tools out of her 'survival bag' and got to work on repairing what she could. "What happened to you?" she asked.
"I don't want to talk about it. Ouch, watch what you are doing!" Sunstreaker shuddered as Gwen started working on large hole in his right front quarter panel. That fragging hurt! He dreaded her touching the excruciating wound behind his driver's side door or the burns on his undercarriage. Sunstreaker didn't want to think about the innumerable dents and scratches he figured he had. That alone indicated how bad he was hurt.
Gwen filled him in on what had happened while he was out as she clamped severed fluid lines and sealed sparking wiring. Jazz had relayed the call to Prowl, who fortunately, had been nearby with Gwen, looking for him. They had arrived to find Bonecrusher gone and Sunstreaker buried in a snow filled ditch. Prowl had quickly helped dig the Viper out and placed him on the gravel side road. He then went to track Bonecrusher; to be sure he wasn't wreaking havoc elsewhere. Gwen was left to try to fix Sunstreaker and wait for Ratchet to arrive. All Jazz had told her was Ratchet was stuck in traffic and wouldn't be there for a while. Sunstreaker snorted when he heard that. Fragging streets were too small for them to even transform and walk.
Gwen stood up and stepped back, wiping her hands on a greasy rag. "Okay Sunstreaker, try it one more time." She shoved her hands back into her mitts and rubbed them together vigorously.
Sunstreaker was in too foul a mood to trust his vocalizer with a response. Gwen was lucky she hadn't laughed at him or he would have run her over. As soon as he could move, that is. He gunned his engine, willing it to turn over and start. His starter whined and his engine coughed but it didn't catch. He growled and rocked on his wheels in frustration.
Gwen cursed, shocking Sunstreaker. The crude Mecha Terran swears sounded very odd coming from the delicate-looking organic. She could have only picked up something that vulgar from Ratchet. And speaking of delicate…
"Get your aft back inside of me before you become a dead squishy-sicle," he commanded her, opening his drivers side door. "Sideswipe would never forgive me if I brought you back as an ice cube."
"So says the big yellow icicle. You have too many holes in you to protect me from the cold. Hang on; let me try one more thing." Gwen closed his hood and trudged away in the direction of the road. She removed her brightly coloured scarf and started waving it around.
Sunstreaker thought she looked like an idiot and had lost what little mind she had. He had no idea what she was doing, so he tuned her out, instead grousing to himself about how he got into this predicament. He couldn't blame anyone but himself, even if he hated to admit it. He had insisted on heading out for a drive, ignoring all attempts by the human guides to warn him about the weather and lousy driving conditions. He roundly cursed everyone (including himself) now that he realized how right they were. His pride had really bit him in the aft this time.
Sunstreaker sat in the snow and shivered. Gwen had patched up his leaks and all the sparking wires but his transformation mechanisms were a little beyond her, especially when she was working on the side of the road on the coldest day of the year. He tried his engine again but it still wouldn't catch. He was far too cold.
A black SUV pulled up in front of him, startling Sunstreaker out of his stupor. He had begun to drift off into stasis and hadn't even been aware of it. Gwen got out of the SUV's passenger door and walked over to him. The driver got out as well and opened the hood of his SUV.
Gwen patted his hood. "Going to try something different. When normal cars have trouble starting in the cold weather, one way to get them going is giving them a boost. Frank here was kind enough to stop to give you one."
"Glad to help. It's far too cold to leave someone stranded out here. Seen you lot on the news; I'm pleased to meet you. I'd shake hands but your friend says you are too banged up for that." The man's gravely baritone couldn't quite disguise the awe in his voice. Still, he seemed friendly enough.
"Uhm, thanks." Sunstreaker rasped. He tried to make sense of what Gwen said. Something sounded really wrong about that but he was too drowsy to do more than give an incoherent protest.
Gwen patted him again, reassuringly before opening his hood and taking some cables the man handed to her. She attached them to the posts of his nexus storage unit. It felt strange, uncomfortable and invasive and Sunstreaker didn't know why. The man, Sunstreaker had forgotten his name already, turned to the open hood of his vehicle and attached the other ends of the cables. He turned back and nodded to Gwen.
Gwen smiled and turned to Sunstreaker. "Alright Sunstreaker, start up your engine."
Sunstreaker would have blinked, had he been able to transform. "What? What are you doing?"
Gwen rubbed his front quarter panel reassuringly. "Giving you a boost, silly. Should be just enough to get you going. Now start up your engine."
Sunstreaker sighed. He still wasn't sure about this but knew Gwen would hotwire him if necessary to get him moving. He couldn't even just lock her out. That slagger Mirage had taught her to pick locks. He started his engine.
His starter whined a moment, then the rush of power hit him. His engine turned over, revving strongly and every circuit in his body began tingling. He started feeling pleasantly, embarrassingly warm. Every sensor came online in a rush. He bucked a little on his tires; the gentle stroking of Gwen's glove on his side, once barely noticeable, now sent ghostly tremors over his tactile sensors. He made a strangled noise, which he quickly muted.
Gwen seemed unaware of how this affected him.
"He seems to be running good now. I'll unhook the jumper cables," the man said and much to Sunstreaker's relief, the teasing voltage stopped. His sensors still tingled and he crazily considered asking to be hooked back up for a moment. He came to his senses as Gwen leaned in and removed the cables from his nexus storage unit and passed them back to the man.
"Thanks for your help; we'll be fine from here. Just be on the look out for wayward tanks," Gwen thanked him and turned to close Sunstreaker's hood. The man looked alarmed as he got back in his SUV. He gave them a shaky wave as he backed up and drove away.
Sunstreaker revved his engine as Gwen walked around and climbed into his driver's seat. She leaned on his steering wheel. "Think you could drive home or should we wait for Ratchet?"
"Call the old rust bucket and tell him to turn back. I can make it back to base," Sunstreaker testily replied. He hoped that the long cold drive back to base would settle his circuits. Otherwise he was going to be in trouble. There really wasn't anyone he would consider pairing up with among the Exiles. He turned the corner and discovered the potholes were especially bad along this street. Normally irritating, the jostling and vibrating from driving over them only intensified his condition. He growled in frustration.
He couldn't help but wonder if Ratchet had any spare batteries laying around in storage.