Chapter 46
Sundance was frozen.
Everything around her slowed down to a crawl as her processor choked, nearly glitching. Her optics were wide with shock, fixed on the huge mech but not quite seeing him. She hadn't expected this, hadn't wanted to hear it. This was too much, it shouldn't have happened.
Then there was that tiny voice in her head, telling her yes. She had expected it. She'd known it was coming for a long time now, she just never let herself admit it. Her spark was nearly singing. She may not have wanted to hear it, but her spark betrayed her and reached for his eagerly. His pulled back, yanking on her desperately like it absolutely needed her to survive. Sundance blinked slowly at him, trying to form a complete thought or sentence. She jumped when one of his massive hands clamped down on her hip and pulled her closer.
She finally spoke up, voice high with panic, "Grimlock, slow down."
Completely ignoring her, he turned his face into her shoulder and murmured, "No other femme is worthy. You are strong, and brave, and beautiful," her traitorous spark jumped wildly in her chest, "you are everything a queen should be. And you are mine."
"Mech-"
"My femme, my queen." He nuzzled into her throat cables, "I will rule the dinobots with you at my side, and we will lead our soldiers to victory and glory. No enemy will stand against us, every army will fall at our feet." He was starting to push her down, using his body to pin her down.
"Sounds charming-Stop!" Sundance snarled, shoving hard against his chest, "Grimlock! We have to think-"
"No thinking," He growled.
"Do you even understand what you're asking me?!" Sundance nearly shouted, "Fragging dinobot! Get off me!"
"I understand," He argued, "stop fighting. Lay back."
"NO!" She vented loudly, body heating rapidly and processor stretched between wanting to accept it and becoming completely hysterical. Her head was beginning to hurt, and she found herself cursing the mech violently under her breath as she pulled her legs up and sank her toe claws into his abdominal plating. She pushed, "Pits, mech! Stop!" There was a strained pitch to her voice this time, and he paused, perhaps realizing for the first time how uncomfortable she was with this.
He still had her trapped to the berth, but wasn't advancing on her anymore. Sundance took her chance and started, staring at him with round optics, "A bond?!"
"You want it as much as I do." He said simply, giving her an irritated stare.
She glared at him, "Do you realize what happens when two 'bots bond? Their sparks become one. They are no longer their selves, and they forever belong to their mate."
"I know this," He snarled.
"If we bond, we can't be apart from each other!"
"Good." He started back in on her.
"No! Not good!" Sundance shoved back, "My stay on earth is temporary, Grimlock! Optimus pulled the exile order, but only until the burrowers were no longer a threat to Earth! And guess what."
Grimlock leaned down to bare his dentals in her face, "You will stay here. With me."
"I don't give the orders, do I?" Sundance bared her own dentals, "the burrowers are gone. It won't be long until I'm sent off to the moon again."
"I will destroy anyone who tries to send you away," Grimlock swore, tone becoming dark. "you will stay with me. Anyone who tries to pull us apart will offline."
"I won't let you," Sundance hissed, "we can't bond, Grimlock."
"We will." Grimlock shoved a hand beneath her to grope up her back armor. Sundance jolted when he found a wing. His big fingers clumsily stroked and tugged on her suddenly sensitive feathers. Squirming, Sundance's intakes became short as her processor spun. She was tempted to transform right there and escape, even if it meant catching his fingers in her armor and possibly taking them off. "Your spark sings for me," He found a catch in her wing joint. Sundance nearly caved, pressure building in her spark as it commanded, screamed for her to give in. "I've felt it."
Sundance fought it with every ounce of her strength, grinding her dentals while she shifted in an attempt to pull away from his hands. "Can't bond!" She forced out. He grumbled something before grabbing her and lifting her from the berth so that their chest plates were touching. Her spark ached at the contact, pulling towards him like it was magnetized. His was responding, a deep siren's call that sang back. "Grimlock, please don't..."
"We can bond," He said forcefully, "let go, femme. If you fight, it'll hurt you."
"I can't! If we do this, we'll die. I don't have a choice but to go back to the moon-the distance will offline us both!"
"You're not going back. I waited years for you to come back to me, I won't wait any more."
"I'm not doing this."
"Why." Grimlock stopped again, pale blue optics locked on hers. "Why are you fighting me. Our sparks have already chosen. If we don't bond, they'll tear."
Sundance studied him warily for a long moment, the gravity of his words hitting home. She knew that bonding generally happened when two sparks shared the same call. Usually, the pairs were happy with it, and bonded right away. Sundance might-would- have given into him if it hadn't been for the fact that newly bonded sparks needed to be close for several years before they could stand to be apart. The separation would be agonizing, but so would refusing to bond if the call was this strong. The realization made her throbbing processor numb. Either way, it was going to hurt like the pits.
His voice was softer now, back to that harsh whisper that made her spark skip, "You would be happy with me. I would never leave you."
"You never leave me now," Sundance muttered. She vented shakily, "I am happy with you Grimlock. Most of the time." He lifted slightly, lowering her back to the berth. Now that he wasn't trying to pin her down, Sundance brought both hands up to drag down her face. "Pits, now of all times..."
"You really won't bond."
"No."
"We'll suffer."
"I know." Sundance shuttered her optics as she tried to slow her intakes. When she opened them again, he was still staring intensely at her, like she was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. She reached up to touch his face, voice becoming quiet, "I can't bond with you until I know I can stay with you."
"I already said you aren't going back."
"We don't have a say in it." Sundance snapped. She tensed when he started to grab her again, and bit out, "no bonding."
"No bonding," He repeated angrily, "What do we do, then? Our sparks will break."
Sundance hesitated, processor working in a different direction. She said slowly, her voice cautious, "...We could merge. No bonding, but it'll ease the urge for a while."
His optics brightened, his hands tightened on her armor. She wondered if maybe she'd just given him the wrong idea, but he said the words again, "No bonding."
"Right." Sundance loosened her hold on him, allowing her toe claws to unlock as he leaned back over her. "Just a merge."
Backlash narrowed his optics, studying the intricate circuitry weaving in and out of the core. He was laid out on his back, chest-deep in the remains of the computer. A tall pile of charred debris stood outside the open paneling. Several hours had passed since he first started, and now every thing damaged had been cleaned out.
"How does it look?" Wheeljack asked, crouching down beside him to peek inside.
"Core is undamaged," Backlash answered tonelessly, "but more than I thought was ruined...repairs will be more difficult than I anticipated."
"We'll get it finished." His blue optics scanned over the interior of the computer before he said, "I can take over for a while. You should probably go back to the med bay before Ratchet hunts you down."
Backlash slid out from beneath the computer, sitting up slowly. His side throbbed in protest, but the pain was tolerable now. Wheeljack started to take his place, saying, "And you're still covered in energon, Backlash."
Backlash tensed slightly, hidden gaze lowering to his arms. He stared at them for a moment as his processor automatically went back, throwing painful memories at him. Backlash vented softly, "I'll see to it on my way to the med bay." He stood up then, leaving the room without another word.
The walk to the wash racks was a long one, and more memories passed through his thoughts with every step. The pain in his spark flared, but he kept moving until he was inside the wash racks and approaching one of the shower heads. His processor went numb as he turned it on, the lukewarm spray leaving streaks in the thick blanket of her energon. He stopped thinking, standing stone-still, trying his hardest not to feel like he was washing away the only proof that she even existed.
After a while, he was able to move, and he scrubbed his armor clean. He didn't stop until he heard the doors slide open, and felt the tug on his spark that told him his family was nearby. He paused when Flashback walked in, both hands scratching at his side plating. His brother was cursing violently under his breath, "Slagging dinobots. I swear, if they weren't bullet proof, every single one of them would be on the ground right now..."
"I doubt a couple of shells would harm them," Backlash said tonelessly.
Flashback froze with one foot in the air. He turned slowly to squint at him, "Then I'll unload a couple thousand in their hides...finally decided to wash up, huh?"
Backlash was quiet, focusing on a stubborn spot on his fore arm. He heard Flashback approach. His brother said, "You missed, like, your entire back."
"Haven't been in here long enough to get to it."
Flashback came to stand beside him, covered from head to toe in wet sand. Backlash glanced at him as he immediately went about trying to wipe it all off. Flashback caught the look and made a wile motion with his arm, "Fragging dinobots. I was driving around, bored out of my processor, and I just kinda stumbled upon them at some oasis. Slag decided to see how far he could throw me."
"And you let him?"
"I didn't let him." Flashback mumbled, "he just got his hands on me before I could do something. That mech is fragging fast for his size. Anyway, he's still over there laughing his aft off."
"Don't tell sister," Backlash said.
"Didn't plan on it...where is she, anyway? I haven't seen her all day."
"I don't know." Backlash answered.
"I think we're about to get kicked out again," Flashback twisted to mercilessly scrub under his side armor, "fucking sand...I ran into Optimus earlier, and he's got that look on his face like he's so nervous or stressed that hes about to crap himself or something-" Venting, Flashback bent the other way and started scratching at his back, "I hate dinobots."
"Prime has a look like that?" Backlash asked.
"He does. His optics kinda get spaced out and he just has this frown-PITS! Can you please help me here? There's something stuck in my armor. I'm dying over here."
"I doubt it." Backlash turned to him anyway, carefully easing a hand beneath his brother's back armor. He found the object quickly, and carefully eased it out. Still, whatever it was scraped against Flashback's cabling, and the older mech stretched to the side with a sharp hiss. Backlash raised the object, raising his optic ridges at his brother even though Flashback couldn't see it. It was a whole cactus, and it had somehow become wedged in Flashback's armor without breaking.
"Thank you," Flashback said, "those things itch like the pits."
"How did you manage to get something this big caught under your armor?"
"I don't know. I'm just gifted like that."
Backlash lowered the plant, studying his brother as he continued to bend and strain himself to get at different spots, scratching at his armor madly. Flashback kept talking, irritation clear in his voice, "I also saw some choppers land earlier. Fucking humans."
"They still blame Sundance for what happened."
"Yeah." Flashback paused to look at him, "it's a never ending shit-storm...and we're always the ones on the receiving end, aren't we?"
"Never ending," Backlash agreed quietly. "Does mother know?"
"I don't know. I don't think so, or else her and dad both would be storming the base right now."
Backlash looked away, "It won't be long, then."
"I really don't want to go back to the moon," Flashback mumbled angrily, "I don't want any of us to go back to the moon."
"You could always stay here."
Flashback cut him a sharp look, "And just leave 'Dance? No. We're a family. We don't just abandon each other."
"No ones abandoning anyone." Backlash narrowed his optics.
"And thats how it should be." Flashback huffed, "I don't know...maybe we can talk to the humans or something. Try to change their minds."
"Maybe."
"Do you think they'd even listen to us?"
"No." Backlash answered, "I believe the humans are generally a close minded race...they believe what they want to believe, and fight anyone that thinks differently. They also fear what they don't understand...and I think they are still very far from understanding us."
Flashback blinked at him. "They're not all like that, just the ones that are in control of things. Mimi and them...they're awesome."
"I don't remember." Backlash set the cactus on one of the tables against the wall before returning to the stubborn energon stains on his arm. Flashback vented.
"You don't remember any of them? Not uncle Pockets or uncle Critter or uncle Rex?"
"I don't remember anything past the moon." Backlash said, glancing at him, "you know that."
"I hope we see them soon...hopefully before we get our afts shipped back off to the moon again."
"You were offlined." Ironhide said, blue optics narrowed as they focused on the femme.
Paradox stared back, her pale gaze emotionless. She said, "I've never been the easiest femme to destroy."
"She survived," Demona added softly, "like all the times in the past..."
"I'm beginning to think that both of you are impossible to put down," Ironhide muttered, "how long have you been here?"
"Since the base was reclaimed."
"And you haven't spoken to Optimus or Ratchet."
"No." Paradox leaned slightly against the berth, still not accustomed to having both legs back, "I'd rather stay hidden from them for as long as I can."
"Your offlining affected them both."
"I am not the femme I was." Paradox crossed her arms, "I may have survived, but Angelus did not, and she is the one they are fond of. Not me."
"You shared the same spark. It doesn't matter to them."
Demona smiled slightly, "You won't change her processor, Ironhide."
Ironhide grunted out a response before saying, "I'll need measurements to complete your armor."
Paradox motioned for him to proceed, shifting back a step to hop up unto her berth. Demona stayed where she was, near the doorway. She didn't look away until she felt Prime pull on her spark, trying to get her attention. Turning inward, she pulled back. 'Yes, Prime?'
'I need to speak with you and your family.'
Demona straightened, catching the sadness in his spark. Paradox glanced at her, "What is it?"
"Prime wants to talk," Demona said, pulling at her bonded as she moved towards the door. "I'll be back soon." She left, stepping out into the hallway. She vented softly when she felt a muted response from Jolt, which meant he was in recharge. Again. She started towards their quarters, turning to her creations instead.
Her sons were the first to pull back, both telling her that they were on their way. Sundance didn't respond until Demona was stepping into her room. Her mech was stretched out on his side on the berth, back to her. He stirred when he felt her presence.
She approached the berth, lowering a hand to slide over his shoulder armor, "Jolt."
A muffled sound left him.
Rolling her optics, she shook him, "Pit-spawned mech...if you were the last able mech and we were attacked, we'd be doomed."
"...What?" His optics opened, brightening as he became more aware. He turned to face her, stretching an arm out to curve around her waist and pull her closer.
"How long have you been in here?"
"Not long," He answered, looking up at her. He tightened his hold on her, wrapping around her spark in an attempt to coax her into resting with him. His optics narrowed slightly when he felt the rising apprehension in her spark. "Whats wrong, femme?"
"Prime wants to speak with us." Demona answered, pulling on his arm.
He hesitated before venting sharply, "About Sundance."
"He hasn't said why, but I'm sure she's the reason."
"I knew this wouldn't last long." He let her go, pushing himself up instead. Demona offered her hand to him when he was on his feet, a small bit of tension easing in her spark when his fingers weaved with hers. They walked back out, approaching the conference room.
Sundance stared at the wall across from her, optics half way open. Her processor was cycling slowly, all of her systems in an almost numb state of calm as she listened to the constant, low rumble leaving the huge mech. Grimlock was stretched out on the berth beside her, both arms looped around her possessively. And he was purring, like a monstrous, giant cat. He was hanging between consciousness and recharge, she felt his fingers tighten and loosen around her every once and a while. Sometimes he'd slide his hands over her wings or move down to trace the coils of her tail, and her spark would jump at the contact.
The call was muted now, sated enough to let her think without feeling like she was ready to explode. She was tired, and trying to wrap her processor around the fact she'd just given herself to a mech for the first time. The experience had been...different. Her spark hummed contentedly, warm and happy. She remembered the unusual softness in the mech's optics when he saw it for the first time, and the burning pride. His own spark was massive, the palest shade of blue with a white core. Beautiful and strong. It dwarfed her's, and it tried to take her as it's own as soon as their sparks touched, wanting her more than anything it had wanted before.
Those few long minutes they'd merged, both struggling to keep control and not just bond right then and there, she had gotten a glimpse of Grimlock, and everything he was made of. A center of raw violence, tempered with a fierce loyalty to his dinobots and even to Optimus though the autobot annoyed him half the time. An ancient hatred of decepticons, and the constant drive to hunt and destroy them. She saw the strongest of warriors, forged in fire and combat and energon. She saw every single battle he'd fought in one rush as he opened himself to her, showing her every thing. He was an unstoppable force, had been since he'd been created to fight in Wheeljack's lab.
Then she saw herself within his spark, a flare of hot red among the icy blue. There was a loyalty to her, too, and it was just as strong as the sort he held for his soldiers. An insatiable need to be near her, to have her attention. The intensity of the feelings shocked her more than anything else she'd seen inside of him. Her spark was thrilled at knowing how much she already meant to him.
She didn't quite know what to think about it yet, but she knew that if her father ever found out, Grimlock's armor would be strung up on the side of the base like an animal pelt on a cabin.
Sundance knew it wouldn't be long before their sparks were back to screaming for each other, and she wondered how they'd handle her going back to the moon. Sundance muttered under her breath, cursing her luck and her spark and Grimlock. This was all such a huge, chaotic mess, and she didn't know if she'd ever get it sorted out. He had to chose her, of all the femmes on base-though there wasn't many that could stand him, she thought-, and he had to chose now of all times to develop feelings for her.
But it went both ways.
Sundance had grown up among the autobots, and had been friends with many of the mechs on base. Yet, not one of them had ever made her spark run so hot before, with anger or attraction, and the realization was sinking in. Grimlock was just a giant bully with an attitude, and she couldn't stop thinking about him. He made her so angry, and then there was those moments when she wasn't taking his slag and he knew it, and he became so awkward. He was always there, whether she liked it or not. He argued and bossed her around, but still listened to her when she was serious.
He shifted behind her, breaking her train of thought as he nuzzled into her neck. His purring grew louder, she could feel the vibration in his armor. He said, voice low and rough, "My queen."
Sundance pulled her tail over one of his powerful legs in response, curling around his knee.
"If you were staying, would you bond?" He asked suddenly.
"Yes," Sundance answered just as quietly.
"I don't want you to leave again."
Sundance blinked. She looked over her shoulder to raise her optic ridges at him, "What? You're not going to threaten to trample the whole base to make me stay here?"
His pale optics met her's, "It would not stop you, and you would be angry with me."
"Damn straight I would," Sundance muttered. She settled again, going back to staring at the wall. "What are you thinking, Grimlock?"
"I do not know how I'll survive without you."
Sundance stilled. Her spark almost went wild at the words, but her processor stumbled over them. She turned to face him, lifting both hands to hold his face and turn it. She eyed him warily, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
"You just admitted to being weak without me," Sundance said slowly. "I'm worried."
"My spark hurts when you are not close," He admitted, "I need my queen."
Sundance's optics softened. She started to say something, but paused when she felt her mother pull on her spark, trying to get her attention. She caught whispers of a meeting with Optimus, one her whole family was supposed to attend. She vented, fingers tracing his strong jawline. She said, "You look better without that stupid mask on."
His optics brightened.
"The visor, too," Sundance said, "I like being able to see your face." His hands tightened on her side and dragged her closer until they were pressed together. She raised her optic ridges when she felt the heat growing in his frame, "We just merged like ten minutes ago."
"Need to feel your spark again," He said.
"And I need to go," She said slowly, "Optimus wants to talk to me-pits, mech!" She vented sharply when he grabbed for her wings again, kneading the joints until she was shaking. His other hand went down to her tail, squeezing roughly. She jumped at the touch, then cursed out how sensitive everything suddenly was. Wiggling, she tried to move away. "We just did this!" Her spark betrayed her, reaching for him.
"We'll do it again," He said cheerfully, caging his arms around her and pulling off an impressive turn for someone his size, leaving her flat on her back beneath him.
"This is ridiculous," Sundance glared at him. The anger seeped out of her when she saw his optics, bright and full of pride and happiness, an expression she'd never seen on him before today. And it was melting her spark. She raised a finger to point at him, and said, "Okay, just one more time, and then I go."
"Two." He growled, leaning down.
Slagging mech. She huffed in irritation, "You're impossible, Grimlock."
"Stop arguing," He mumbled, "you fight me too much."
"I'm not just gonna sit there and let you command me into doing things like-" She cut herself off with a sharp hiss when he pulled on her tail.
"Just be quiet."
Sundance glared at him, "I'm fixing to hurt you, mech." He chuckled roughly at her in response.
Another one of those butt-kicking chapters...Didn't know how I was going to right the, uh, following scene of Sundance's and Grimlocks escapade. I kinda wanted him to be a big baby after merging/interfacing/whatever, like she'd managed to tame him for a little while. Kinda want to do a quick one-shot on what Grimlock saw in her spark during their first merge, and his reactions to it...we'll see.
YEP. They done it.
Thank you for reading! You guys are amazing, every review makes me soooo happy. Love you guys!
Sundance and her family and the story belongs to me. Transformers does not.
