More Skipping!
"Fraggit youngling! I have eons of experience with this, how are you beating me this badly?!"
"There's a reason Popcorn and Callahan forbid me from playing poker."
Fixit was standing next to Soundwave, idly chatting with Lazerbeak as the TIC opened a groundbridge to where Lord Megatron was heading a mining operation at one of the coordinates provided by Orion. The reason Fixit was there and not with Knock Out in the medbay was because she was irritated with him and Breakdown. They thought it was great fun to sneak up and startle her as she was switching control with her subconscious. She disagreed…and they would too, just as soon as she figured out a suitable revenge.
She looked up as Lord Megatron walked through the groundbridge, clutching something in his servo. Then the Autobot scout burst into view, grabbed the package from the Lord's servo before he could exit the groundbridge, and turned and ran. Lord Megatron immediately ran after him, leaving the crew that witnessed the altercation staring.
…what the frag?
Fixit suppressed the urge to yawn as Knock Out went on and on about his new force field generator and how Lord Megatron was allowing him to use it and yada yada yada. Seriously, cybertronians didn't even need to yawn and he was driving her to it.
She glanced over at Breakdown hopefully, but he had clearly just offlined his audios again and was quite obviously ignoring them. She glowered, her wings twitching in irritation as she vowed to make him pay for abandoning her…again. But first…
:Hey Laze? You free?:
It took the flyer a breem or two to reply, during which she had to suffer through more of Knock Out's preening. Finally, the symbiont replied.
:Okay, I'm free now. What's up, Fix?:
:Save me! KO's preening again!: Fixit wailed over the comm, thoroughly fed up with being a captive audience.
Lazerbeak burst out laughing, causing the Eradicon to bristle in indignation. He quickly choked back his laughter, but it was too late. Fixit now had two new targets.
:S-sorry, Fix. How long have you been trapped?:
:Five joors.:
:Ooo…yeah, I get why you're pissed now.:
:No, I've just been having a blast sitting down here with nothing to do, especially since KO won't let me work!:
:Wait, seriously? Why?:
:How the frag am I supposed to know what the glitchy hairdryer is thinking!? Just help me get out of here, please!: Fixit snarled, desperately trying to ignore the fact that she was coming very close to begging. She loved Knock Out, she really did, but sometimes the mech just pissed her off!
:Already on it. You should be free in three, two, one…:
Knock Out paused in his rant before his expression soured. "Fixit, Soundwave wants you to check over the energon storage compartment. Now," he added bitterly. He still held a grudge against the TIC for the whole 'stalking Fixit' thing…not that that had ever stopped, but Fixit didn't see any particular reason to share that with KO. Besides, Soundwave wasn't as bad as he had been…although that might also have to do with the fact that she was actually seeking him (and therefore Lazerbeak) out occasionally as well…meh, whatever. Freedom!
"'Kayseeyoulaterbye!" she spat out as she all but sprinted out the door. Breakdown just laughed at her quick exit as KO was left gaping.
"Sooo…"
"…"
"…you brought back a really big hammer."
"..."
"That no one except a Prime can use."
"…"
"When you already have hammers."
"…"
"…and you got totally smashed by the really big hammer."
"…"
"…I kind of want a really big hammer now…"
"…Fixit?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up before I smash you with my hammers."
"Sir yes sir, hammer-man sir!"
"Fixit!"
She ran away cackling madly as Breakdown chased after her, waving his hammers at her threateningly.
Fixit peered around the corner, Lazerbeak's helm stacked on top of hers. The two of them were staring at the dark blue Seeker that was talking to Megatron, saying something about avenging his twin.
Lazerbeak was watching with Fixit because her way of doing things, while not always subtle, was definitely more fun than he would do otherwise. Soundwave had told him to stay with the Eradicon while the Seeker was around, too, which gave him the perfect excuse to be a dork!
Fixit, on the other hand, had mixed feelings about the Seeker. He's avenging his twin, huh? Well…guess he wasn't close enough to him t'die with'im…bastard. Or lucky…can't decide which. Maybe both. Suppose it all depends on whether his twin was a better brother than mine. Of course, the fact that he wants to avenge him at all pretty much guarantees that… She huffed to cover a sob as she stood up and stalked away. She hated and envied him for having a loving twin…mostly jealous, though. But at the same time, it's not like she wants anyone to suffer like she did… Right. If it's this difficult to keep my composure when he's not even here, best to just avoid him as much as possible. Stupid fragger, bringing back up all these old hurts…I had thought I dealt with this better. Apparently not.
Fixit flattened herself against the back of the tiny closet, not daring to move even so much as a millimeter. Airachnid was right outside the door, looking around and cooing for her to come out. Thankfully, the spider hadn't seen her duck in here…but he had heard her moving around, and knew she was nearby. It was only a matter of time before he checked the closet.
She had almost made it to Soundwave's quarters- the only place Airachnid didn't seem able to find her in- but then she had heard the spider in the halls in front of her and quickly dove into the closest hiding place she could find.
Unfortunately, KO and Breakdown were in the medbay with patients, and Soundwave was stuck on the bridge. Ravage and Lazerbeak were making their way to her as quickly as they could, but it was highly unlikely they'd make it in time.
Her thoughts froze as the door rattled slightly…and then after a pause, Fixit heard Airachnid responding to his comm. She could hear the scowl in the femme's voice as he started to protest being ordered out with Breakdown and Dreadwing to investigate a possible energon deposit. But eventually he bowed to the inevitable, and started walking off.
Fixit still didn't dare to move, though, which turned out to be a good idea as the door to the closet was abruptly yanked open. Light flooded the small closet…and illuminated nothing but pieces of scrap and cleaning supplies. Airachnid hissed in irritation, optics passing over his prey's hiding spot without realizing, before letting the door close and walking away.
"I will find you, my little Eradicon," the spider promised, calling out to the empty halls. "And when I do, I'm going to take my sweet time with you."
Physically, Fixit remained frozen as the other femme finally left. Mentally, she was panicking and halfway through a mental breakdown already.
NononoNoNoNoNONONONONONO-!
:Fixit! Where are you, it's safe now!:
:L-L-Laz-zerb-beak-k?: Fixit asked shakily over the comm, her body still not moving a millimeter.
:…yes Fixit, it's Lazerbeak. It's okay. Ravage and I are here, there's no one else around.: The little femme's voice sounded very gentle and soothing, all of a sudden.
:…n-no s-s-spid-der-r?:
:No Fixit, no spider. Just Ravage and I.:
:…S-S-Sound-dw-wav-ve?:
:…Soundwave's still on the bridge, but he'll be here as soon as he can. Okay?:
:'K-Kay…:
:Good…can you come out now, Fixit?:
:…s-spider-r…:
Lazerbeak and Ravage were getting very worried for Fixit now, especially since they couldn't find her. They knew she had hidden in a closet, but they didn't which one. They had opened all of the ones in the vicinity they knew she was in, but hadn't found the Eradicon at all. Not for the first time, they cursed Fixit's significant skill in stealth. Ravage commed Soundwave and told him to hurry up while Lazerbeak continued talking to the terrified Eradicon.
:Fixit, there's no spider anymore. The spider's gone, okay? Where are you?:
:S-spider b-bad-d…:
:Yes, spider very bad, which is why we need to leave before he comes back. Okay?:
:…:
:…Fixit?:
:…okay.:
The little femme was relieved at that. It meant that Fixit was starting to think rationally again.
:Okay, then I need you to come out.:
:B-but…:
:We need to leave before the spider comes back, but we can't do that if you don't leave your hiding spot. Okay?:
:…:
:…Fixit?:
:…:
:Fixit?!:
Lazerbeak was just about to comm the Eradicon again when a door slowly slid open across from them. Hesitantly, Fixit poked her trembling helm out.
"S-spider-r…g-gon-ne?"
Soundwave stalked through the halls quickly, rushing without appearing to rush. His symbionts had successfully gotten his Eradicon back to his quarters after much coaxing, but they still couldn't get the mech to calm down. Currently, Fixit was apparently hiding under his berth, clutching his symbionts to his chest protectively. (He ignored their whining about how the mech always did this- it wasn't like Fixit would harm them.)
His door opened and the TIC stepped through, wordlessly locking it behind him. He paused for a moment, staring at his berth. If he couldn't feel his symbionts through their bond, he never would've been able to tell anyone was under there, much less a full-sized mech and two symbionts. But he could, so he walked over slowly and deliberately, letting his Eradicon know he was there. He sat down silently in front of his berth, giving the frightened mech a chance to figure out who he was.
He was tempted to lightly brush over the other's mind to assess Fixit's mental state, but didn't dare do so. The last time he had done so whilst Fixit was panicking, his Eradicon had immediately screamed in fear and shock, locking down his mind completely and begging for mercy, pleading for it to stop, even though Soundwave had pulled back instantly at the first sign of distress. He…hadn't quite known what to make of such a reaction, but was disinclined to touch the other's mind when the mech was scared or panicking for fear of provoking a similar reaction again.
The silent gray-and-purple mech watched carefully as metal scraped lightly, almost soundlessly, under the berth and then Fixit's dimmed optical band peeked out at him warily. It brightened slightly in recognition, and then Soundwave found himself with a lap full of shaking, keening Eradicon. He froze for a brief moment…okay, no, a long moment, and only his symbionts prodding him pointedly and repeatedly through the bond got him to actually move. He gingerly wrapped his arms around the mech in his lap, gently trying to reposition him so they would both be more comfortable. However, this only caused his Eradicon to tighten his grip…probably fearing that Soundwave would push him away…
Soundwave vented slightly in exasperation, but resigned himself to a mildly uncomfortable position. He did move them both around so he was leaning against the wall next to his berth, though. And as soon as he settled into position, his symbionts- who had escaped Fixit's grasp when the mech glomped their host- settled against his lower legs. The upper part of his body was completely covered by a distraught Eradicon.
Soundwave leaned his helm back against the wall, resigned to being a pillow for the foreseeable future. He determinedly ignored the vindictive glee of his symbionts as the tables were finally turned- finally, it was his turn to be smothered by Fixit!
A/N: Feel Lazerbeak and Ravage's pain, Soundwave…feel it!
Poor Fixit…next chapter's going to be a really hard one for her.