More relic hunting...
There was a somber air around the base for a while after Starscream was kicked out. Oscar and Tango had been rushed to the medbay as soon as the threat was gone. Leecher and Foxtrot had to enlist the help of Delta and Seasar. Neither injury was light. Tango's doorwing was almost completely separated from his back and the hole in Oscar's back was dangerously close to his spark chamber.
After the surgeries, Liliy went to her room to recharge but she couldn't get comfortable on her bed and her processor kept her awake despite her exhaustion. She finally got up and returned to the medbay. Leecher was still there keeping watch since they did not need to recharge as often.
"Lil', what's wrong? You're supposed to be-"
"I can't. My processor is too full. Too many thoughts."
"Come here." Leecher carefully picked her up and lifted her to their helm, the mask splitting open to allow her to climb inside. She did, falling into the seat with a ragged sigh and leaning her helm on her servo. Leech leaned over, extending their optic stems so they could see her face. "May I?"
The plates on her shoulder slid open. Leech latched onto the exposed shoulder strut with practiced ease and let the wires form the link between them. They gasped with shock as they synchronized and all of Liliy's emotions flowed over to them. It had been a very long time since they had experienced something of this level from her. Usually the main emotion was fear. This time, however, it was anger. Burning. Hot. Fury! Most of it was directed at Starscream, but there was a good portion directed at herself as well.
[Liliy… what makes you think you are responsible for what happened today?]
They already knew since they were linked but they wanted her to admit it.
[...I should have known better. We should have put Starscream out as soon as he was well enough to stand on his own damned peds. I knew we couldn't trust him and yet I allowed him to stay. This is my fault.]
[Hmh. We all should have known better than to trust him. But he seemed like he was doing better. Really, he played us all for fools. All of us, understand? Not just you.]
[But I am their leader. I'm supposed to-]
[Protect them? Liliy… Don't you say it all the time? 'Nobody's perfect.' Besides, you are just one femme. You cannot protect everyone all of the time. As much as you might want to.]
The anger at herself ebbed a little.
[That is a start, I suppose. For now though, you need to recharge.]
Leech accessed Liliy's overrides and forced her systems to shut down for recharge. She didn't stop them. Leech disconnected from her as she slumped over in the seat. Normally they could stay connected and access her dreams while she recharged, but they needed to stay focused on the outside world in case something went wrong with the patients. Leech looked over at Liliy.
"Honestly, Starscream. You picked the worst femme to piss off."
For the next couple of days, if no one needed her, Liliy spent most of her time in either the medbay, watching over Oscar and Tango, or in the Comm center, watching Starscream's slow but steady trek across the ocean floor. She wasn't sure what he was homing in on but he was definitely heading back toward North America rather than the closest landmass.
The Comm center was where Pepper found her.
"Madam..." He hesitated.
The fury that was still radiating off her made all of her 'boys' uncomfortable. Even if it wasn't directed at them. And they knew it was not likely to go away until the two in the medbay finally woke up.
"You finished the next set?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, but it's in Manhattan." Pepper entered the coordinates into the console and brought them up on the main monitor. "Or more precisely: Under Manhattan."
Liliy's optics momentarily flicked over to the main before she went back to watching Starscream's signal. "How do we get to it? We can't exactly tear up a city block."
"There appears to be a subway tunnel that runs right past it," said Echo, having brought up a 3-D model of the city and its underground.
"So you'll need a mining detail." Liliy got to her peds and climbed off the console. "I'll leave the personnel assignments to you, Echo. I'm going to the medbay."
Outside the Comm center, she met Alfa.
"Heading for the medbay, Madam?" he inquired as he knelt down and offered her his servo.
That obviously meant he wanted to talk to her so she stepped onto his waiting palm and let him lift her off the ground. As he started walking, he spoke his concerns.
"Madam, I feel like you are acting worse than Echo did when the twins were in stasis."
Liliy jerked in surprise and looked up at him. His usual stoic expression was marred by a frown and there was obvious concern in his optics. Her gaze fell again.
"I'm sorry."
"You have every right to be angry. That's a given. All of us are upset by what happened but we're afraid you might be taking it too far."
Liliy kept her helm down and hugged herself. He was probably right. He usually often was. But it was so hard not to want revenge. The only thing stopped her from going after the seeker right now was the fact that he was still under water.
They were almost to the medbay when the door slid open and Seasar came rushing out, almost plowing into Alfa who nearly dropped Liliy. There was a bit of shuffling to avoid the collision and a quick apology from Seasar before she noticed the smaller femme clinging to Alfa's servo.
"Oh, Madam! Perfect timing!" she exclaimed, practically bouncing on her heel struts. "They're awake! Oscar and Tango just woke up!"
Seasar basically shoved Alfa into the medbay in her excitement. Alfa only allowed it because he was carrying Liliy and knew he needed to get her to them as quickly as possible.
"Tango! Oscar!" Liliy cried upon seeing them awake.
They smiled weakly at her. Liliy leapt off Alfa's servo and onto the corner of Oscar's med berth. Then she was on his chassis, curling up over his spark.
"Oscar," she was practically sobbing. "I'm so glad you're ok."
Oscar shot the others a bewildered look as he carefully cup a servo around the shaking femme on top of him. They just smiled back at him.
"What happened to Starscream?" asked Tango.
"He already had the Apex Armor on when I got to the scene so my blasters were useless," Alfa explained. "I engaged him in a bit of hand-to-hand to keep him distracted before we dropped him in the ocean."
"Oscar, do you remember anything about the incident?" asked Foxtrot.
"Um, there was… a huge flare of pain in my back. I couldn't stand up anymore. And I think Starscream said something about leaving me alive as thanks for helping him."
"Doesn't matter. He's still going to pay for what he did to you two," Liliy growled, still curled up on Oscar's plating.
"Madam…"
"A mother will always defend her kits, I suppose," Alfa commented.
Liliy sat up enough to peer over Oscar's servo at the mech who was at least six times her height. "You think of me as your mother?"
The corner of his mouth briefly turned upward. "I believe the term Echo used was Sister-Mom but, yes."
"Geez, our mom is tiny."
"Foxtrot!"
"What? It's true!"
"Madam?" Oscar could feel her shaking on his chassis. Her servo covered her face and she shook with some silent emotion.
"What's wrong?" asked Foxtrot, leaning closer.
That set her shaking more but sound finally escaped her. She was laughing.
"Me," she spoke between giggles, "a crippled outcast, the mother of a ragtag band of ex-Cons. What will Primus think of next?"
"There you are, Nova. Where's Mike?" Romeo asked as the bronze miner entered the receiving room.
"Down in the catacombs," Nova replied. "He wanted to see Viniq off."
"So she decided to be with the rest of her squad, huh?" X-ray moved to stand closer.
"Yeah. Mike's a little depressed about it but I think he'll be ok. It's not like she's gone gone-just resting."
"Yeah but who knows how long we'll have to keep her in stasis," Victor said, next to the bridge controls. "This war doesn't look like it will be ending anytime soon."
"You never know, Victor. Maybe it will."
"Here comes Mike," X-ray observed, catching a glimpse of him before he entered the receiving room.
"Sorry I'm late." Mike lacked his usual enthusiasm.
"It's fine," Romeo replied. "Let's get going."
Victor typed in the coordinates and fired up the ground bridge. "Bridging you guys directly into the tunnel."
"Roger that."
The Decepticons, namely Knock Out, Breakdown, and a small squad of miners, showed up just as they were preparing to leave.
"You guys again?" Knock Out snapped from behind Breakdown as the blue mech brought out his hammer.
"You're too late I'm afraid, Knock Out." Romeo patted the container is X-ray's servos and then waved the engineer and the miner brothers toward the ground bridge that had opened behind them. His visor flickering to red, Romeo slipped past Breakdown. Leaning into the surprised medic's space, he tweaked the red piece on his chin. "But I'll be sure to tell Tango that we saw you."
"Why you…!" Flustered, Knock Out activated a sawblade and took a swing at him.
Romeo laughed while nimbly dodging him and then a swing from Breakdown.
"Be seein' ya," he said as he disappeared through the ground bridge.
Romeo found Liliy in the medbay after they got back.
"The Cons are getting faster at decoding."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. They showed up just as we were leaving." To Tango, "Knock Out says hi."
Tango raised an optic ridge at him. "Did he actually say that or are you putting words in his mouth?"
"Alright so he didn't say hi but I did tell him I would let you know he was there."
This time Soundwave went himself as soon as he had the coordinates. Upon arriving, he found Hirry and Zulu in the act of digging up the relic with a servo drill. Zulu stood to face him and buy time for Hirry to get the relic. He activated his arm blades as his visor flickered to red. Soundwave thrust a tentacle at him but he dodged aside and slipped in to slice at Soundwave's lightly armored middle before pulling back. The cut was shallow so Soundwave ignored it. His tentacle was still out stretched so he swung it around and caught Zulu's leg when he stopped. He yanked the black mech off his peds and up into the air.
"ZULU!" Hirry yelled in alarm as the silent mech slammed him to the ground.
All three of them looked up at the roar of an engine. A car came flying off the cliff above. Wheeljack transformed in midair, pulling out his swords in the same motion. Soundwave let go of Zulu and leapt backwards to avoid being crushed under the falling wrecker's blades. Wheeljack twirled his swords as he got to his peds.
"Am I interrupting?" asked Wheeljack.
"Not at all," replied Hirry as Zulu got back to his peds. "Just keep him busy."
"That I can do."
Soundwave retracted his tentacle and stood waiting. With a yell, Wheeljack rushed at Soundwave. Soundwave dodged left, dodged right, and then spun, using his thin, knife-like arms to parry Wheeljack's swords. Wheeljack spun round, swinging one sword up. Soundwave barely pulled back in time, the tip of the blade skimming his mask. Wheeljack continued to attack relentlessly. Soundwave dodged a few swings and then blocked a couple strikes with his arms. Catching one of Wheeljack's blades between his arm and his chassis, Soundwave twisted and brought his other arm up to smack the wrecker's servo. Wheeljack had to let go of the sword and was suddenly knocked away by Soundwave's tentacle. He stumbled back and regained his balance. Soundwave took a second to examine the sword he now had in his servo. He refocused his gaze on Wheeljack with a silent challenge. Optics narrowing, Wheeljack took his remaining sword in both servos and charged Soundwave again with a yell. Soundwave flung his sword at him. Wheeljack simply batted it away and leapt at the silent mech, sword ready to strike from above. Soundwave caught him by the helm with his tentacle while he was in midair. He swung Wheeljack around and slammed him to the ground.
Zulu slammed into Soundwave's side and sent him stumbling. Soundwave let go of the disoriented wrecker and faced the black mech. Zulu moved in again, delivering another shallow slice to Soundwave's midsection. This time Soundwave did step back and cover the wound with his servo. He pulled his servo away to find energon on his digits. He looked up at Zulu.
"HEY!"
Soundwave turned in time to see Wheeljack leaping at him again. There was no time to counter. The protrusion on Wheeljack's forehelm hit Soundwave square in the facemask. Soundwave stumbled back and shook his helm slightly, cracks spreading across the mask.
"There I go again," Wheeljack quipped, "shattering expectations."
"I got it!" Hirry cried, holding up the relic and drawing everyone's attention.
Recognizing it as the Resonance Blaster, Soundwave suddenly deployed Laserbeak from his chest.
"Hirry, look out!" Zulu warned.
Hirry activated her blaster and fired at Laserbeak, but the minicon dodged the shots before firing back. One shot hit her shoulder and Hirry cried out as she dropped the relic. Laserbeak swooped in and grabbed the relic. Soundwave was distracted by Wheeljack and Zulu but he caught them with his tentacles and slammed them together before tossing them over to where Hirry was. Laserbeak returned to Soundwave and dropped the Resonance Blaster in his servo. While Laserbeak reattached to his chest, Soundwave stuck the relic on his arm and activated it.
"Scrap." Hirry accessed her comm. "Hirry to base, we need-aaaAAAHHH!"
Her request turned into a pained scream as Soundwave turned the Resonance Blaster on her and the two mechs who were just getting back to their peds. Soundwave chose a frequency that caused them all to lose consciousness. A ground bridge opened beyond them. Another black blur of a mech shot out of it and collided with Soundwave. They tumbled helm over heels together once before Soundwave was kicked away.
Echo was a slender mech like Soundwave. They were even the same height. The two Comm officers faced each other warily. Soundwave raised his servo and prepared to fire the Resonance Blaster again. Echo's visor flickered back to orange as he closed the distance and kicked the relic off Soundwave's arm. Soundwave glanced at the relic that had landed several yards away and then refocused on Echo who was much closer and moving in again. Echo aimed a kick at Soundwave's helm but the silent mech blocked it with his arm. Soundwave used his tentacle to try and grab Echo but only succeeded in knocking him away. Echo tried again from the other side but had to leap back to avoid the tentacle before he could even make the kick.
"Tch. I understand now why the Madam failed."
Soundwave tilted his helm in curiosity. Echo just activated his blasters and started blasting him with rapid-fire but non-lethal bursts. Crouching slightly to protect his body as well, Soundwave raised his arms to shield his helm and didn't see the three other flyers come through the ground bridge to grab the unconscious grounders. Echo kept shooting at Soundwave as he backed toward the bridge. He glanced over at the Resonance Blaster.
[Leave it.] Alfa ordered across their bond as he dragged Zulu into the portal. The twins had already gone through with Wheeljack and Hirry.
After the shooting stopped, Soundwave lowered his arms in time to see the ground bridge disappear, all of his enemies gone. It was obvious that the ones wearing the vehicon masks were not trying to severely damage him. The black grounder's attacks were shallow enough that his self-repair systems had already stopped the bleeding. Wheeljack, on the other hand, had been trying to kill him. Soundwave lifted a servo to his mask and traced one of the cracks in the glass. That's when he noticed that the black flyer's blasters had done some damage as well. His arms were blackened and they were starting to sting. Not to mention the fact that a few other aches and pains were making themselves known, like his back strut from crashing to the hard ground with the black flyer on top of him. The black flyer… He had said a curious thing.
"...understand now why the Madam failed."
Soundwave felt that that was important and relevant to him. Though, he did not know who this 'Madam' was. He filed the memory for now and went to retrieve the Resonance Blaster that had been left behind.
X-ray had heard the commotion and was waiting in the receiving room in case they needed extra help. He hurried forward when he saw Wheeljack being dragged in. X-ray knelt at his side as Indy laid him down.
"Short Stuff? Hey, are you ok?" The wrecker didn't respond. He gave his shoulder a little shake. "Wheeljack!"
Wheeljack groaned as he came online. "Just resting my optics." Another groan. He lifted his servo to hold his helm. "And my audio receptors." He froze suddenly and blinked up at X-ray. "You just said my name."
"Only because you weren't responding," X-ray replied defensively. "I was concerned about your wellbeing."
"Oh? Maybe I should get hurt more often," Wheeljack quipped as X-ray helped him sit up.
"If you do that, I'm dumping you." His servo lingered on the wrecker's shoulder.
Wheeljack grinned at him. "I didn't realize we were dating."
X-ray sputtered, his faceplates heating. "That's not- I mean- I'm glad you're ok!" He roughly pushed off Wheeljack's shoulder as he got to his peds and all but ran off.
Sometime later, Wheeljack went looking for X-ray. The twins pointed him in the direction of X-ray's most likely hiding place: the forge. Like every other common room in the base, it was large enough to accommodate Kilo. The forge itself only occupied the back wall. There were several worktables and tool chests scattered about. Some with half-finished projects. If Wheeljack wasn't there for a specific reason, he would have enjoyed looking around.
The only other apparent occupant in the room was the chief engineer, Bravo. The bulky mech was hunched over one of the worktables, mask on as he was welding.
"He's in his workshop," he told Wheeljack without even looking up, jerking his helm in the direction of said shop.
Wheeljack made his way over to the door he hadn't noticed when he first walked in. It was shut but when he raised his servo to knock, it slid open. The mech he was looking for stood with his back to the door, leaning over an angled monitor and drawing on it with a stylus.
"Hey, X."
X-ray didn't look up from his work. "Hey."
Wheeljack stepped into the room and looked around. The room was rectangular, the longest wall being the one across from the door. A workbench ran long that entire wall. Projects, tools, and spare parts were all organized. Labeled bins were stacked on shelves above and below the workbench. But what caught Wheeljack's optic was the big, backlit case on the opposite wall from where X-ray was working. Blasters. A lot of them. Some meant to be servo-held. Others meant to be built into the arm. At the center of it all was one such blaster with its familiar triangular shaped muzzle and pinkish-purple bio-lights.
Wheeljack let out a low whistle as he looked over the case. "Quite the collection you've got here."
X-ray looked up then to see what he was talking about. "Oh, those? Yeah. I made most of them."
Wheeljack looked back at him. "You made these?"
"Yeah." X-ray joined him in front of the case. "All of them except the ones on the middle shelf here." He gestured to said shelf. "The arm blaster in the middle is my original."
Wheeljack glanced up at him. "Original?"
"From when I was a vehicon."
"Ah. That's why it looks so disturbingly familiar." X-ray chuckled at that. "So what are you packing now?"
X-ray transformed his left servo into the blaster. "As far as looks, it's almost the same. The bio-lights, obviously, a different color. What's really different is on the inside. The original was your standard blaster, one type of shot. This one has multiple shot types. Non-lethal electro-charge. Non-lethal rapid-fire bursts. Your standard shot. And a mega burst that can punch a hole thru a vehicon tank's defense armor. Or the chassis of a normal vehicon. But we are forbidden from using that setting unless we have no other option. Also because it drains a lot of power."
"And you made that yourself?"
"I have some help from Delta and Bravo but yes. Everyone in the CRC has these blasters." The blaster turned back into a servo.
Wheeljack was silent for a bit. "Listen, X-ray. About earlier-"
"Have the medics cleared you?" interrupted X-ray.
The Wrecker looked up. "Uh, yeah. Why?"
"Come with me."
Wheeljack looked confused but followed after the blue mech. They left the forge and crossed the main hall to another equally large room that look a training hall. X-ray stopped in the middle of the floor and turned to Wheeljack.
"Fight me."
"What? Why?"
"Because."
"But I just fought Soundwave."
"What's a matter, Short Stuff?" taunted X-ray. "Afraid you'll lose?"
Wheeljack grinned. "Not in a million years." After they trade a couple punches, Wheeljack piped up again. "About what I was trying to say earlier. That thing before was meant to be a joke."
"I know that," X-ray growled, falling back after a blocked kick.
"But if you're willing, we could try it."
X-ray faltered. "You mean you want to date me?"
Wheeljack gave him a casual shrug. "Sure, why not?"
"Alright" X-ray moved in again. "But on one condition."
Wheeljack blocked his punch. "Let's hear it."
"No more killing vehicons."
Wheeljack frowned. "Then how am I supposed to fight them?" And lunged forward.
X-ray caught his arm and twisted, pulling the Wrecker over his shoulder. Blinking, Wheeljack realized he was flat on his back. X-ray was on top of him, knee pressing on his chassis and sharp claws against his neck cables. He remained very still even though he felt no killing intent from the mech on top of him.
"You are an expert swordsman, aren't you?" X-ray removed his claws and leaned back. "There are lots of ways to disable them without killing them. Look at me. I used to be a vehicon and I just kicked your aft."
"Keyword there is former." Wheeljack put his servo on X-ray's leg and gently pulled.
"There is another reason." X-ray allowed Wheeljack to guide his leg over his chassis until he was straddling the Wrecker. "Our spy on the Nemesis has been transferred to the combat units. Whoever hurts him will have to deal with his bonded."
Happy with their new position, Wheeljack put his servos on X-ray's thighs and started exploring with his digits. "Who is?"
"Whiskey. Brown and gold flyer. He can turn invisible-Ah!" One of Wheeljack's digits had gotten under his plating and brushed a sensitive wire. X-ray jerked slightly at the sensation. His fans clicked on. "W-what are you doing?" he asked, pushing Wheeljack's servo away with his own.
Wheeljack smirked up at him. "Just getting to know my new partner's frame. Have you never been with anyone before?"
X-ray forced his fans to shut off. "Of course I have. It's just…" His shoulders fell a fraction and he looked away from the mech under him. "...been awhile."
Wheeljack grasped X-ray's servo and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Then we can take it slow if you like."
X-ray met his optics and smiled, interlocking his digits with Wheeljack's. "Thank you."
"Can I at least have a kiss?" Wheeljack asked, hopeful. "To make us official."
X-ray chuckled. "Of course." He leaned down, tilting his helm to avoid the protrusion on Wheeljack's forehelm, and kissed him-
"Ew! Gross!"
"Get a room!"
X-ray jerked upright and Wheeljack tilted his helm back to look. The twins, Echo, and Leecher stood just inside the entrance to the training room.
"You guys!" Faceplates heating, X-ray quickly climbed off Wheeljack.
Indy crossed his arms. "Alfa and Echo have more decency than you two."
Golf mimicked his stance. "Mmhmm."
"How long you been standing there?" X-ray asked as he helped Wheeljack to his peds.
"Don't worry, X-ray," Echo reassured him, the barest hint of an amused smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "We just walked in."
Leecher stepped forward. "So are we to assume that something is going on between you two?"
"Yep." Wheeljack, looking quite smug, grabbed X-ray's servo and lifted it. "X and I are dating now."
"Our congratulations then. One more thing to celebrate tonight."
"Oh, we're having a party tonight?" asked X-ray.
"A party?"
X-ray bumped against Wheeljack. "Yeah. Look forward to it, Short Stuff. Quebec makes the best high grade."
"Oh?"
"Are you two done with this room then?" asked Leecher. "We need to use it."
"Yes. Of course, Commander." X-ray hurried toward the door, pulling Wheeljack along with him. "Let's go get a room," he said and made optic contact with the twins as he passed them.
Wheeljack smirked at the twins' disgusted looks. "Whatever you want, sweetspark."
"So where are you taking me?" asked Wheeljack as they made their way through the halls.
"The washracks."
"The wash-?!"
X-ray glanced back at him. "I don't know if you've noticed but you're filthy. When was the last time you had a good wash and wax?"
"I washed last time I was at the Autobot base. But I haven't had a good wax in eons."
"Well, we need to remedy that right away."
They entered the washracks. It was a big, square room with several shower heads. And there were soap dispensers and clean clothes on benches in the center.
"Wow. It looks like there are enough shower heads in here for your whole crew."
"One for everyone but the Madam and the Commander. However, I can't remember a time that all of us have all been in here at once."
It was easy to tell where the taller mechs showered as the shower heads started to move up the wall until the last one was on the ceiling. The most of the others were set at an approximate height to accommodate Whiskey and down. Save for a few that were set shorter for mechs like the miner brothers.
X-ray pulled Wheeljack over to one of the mid-height ones and turned on the water. He waited a moment to let it warm up before gently pushing the Wrecker under the spray. Humming in pleasant approval, Wheeljack closed his optics and visibly relaxed as most of the dirt and grime was washed off his frame.
"Here."
He opened his optics to see that X-ray was handing him a soap covered cloth. Wheeljack stepped out from under the spray and accepted the cloth.
"You work on your front and I'll do your back," X-ray said as he grabbed a second cloth and put soap on it.
"Are you going to wash too?" Wheeljack started working on his chest.
"I might as well while I'm here." X-ray stepped halfway into the spray, letting the warm water run over his back while he wiped down Wheeljack's neck and shoulders. "You don't mind returning the favor, do you?"
"Of course not."
X-ray worked quickly around the sword hilts sticking out of the Wrecker's back and moved on to his winglets. It didn't escape his notice that Wheeljack had gone still as he carefully wiped them off.
"Sensitive?"
"A little…" But his vents hitched and he shivered when X-ray ran a cloth covered digit along the bottom edge of one winglet.
X-ray smirked. "I see."
"Frag you!" Wheeljack growled as he continued washing again.
The blue mech laughed. "Maybe later."
Wheeljack humphed.
"Alright. Finished with your back. Do your legs and then you can wash my back." X-ray stepped fully under the spray of still warm water to rinse off any excess dust before he started sudsing his own chassis.
Wheeljack shot a glare at him. "Don't get used to giving me orders, X."
"Ha. Those weren't orders, Short Stuff. Merely suggestions."
Wheeljack quickly finished his legs and then helped X-ray with his back. He wasn't lucky enough to find any sensitive parts like X-ray had on him. Or if he did, X-ray was very good at not letting him know it. Once he was done, he rinsed off under the spray while X-ray turned on the shower next to his to rinse off as well.
In the room next door, there were air dryers and towels. As well as buffers and wax. By the time X-ray led Wheeljack out of the washracks, they were both gleaming like new mechs.
"And you guys pamper yourselves like this all the time?"
"Like Knock Out, we understand the importance of a well-kept finish. We just don't obsess over it." X-ray laughed at Wheeljack's skeptical look. "Kidding. I usually just wax for special occasions. Since I'm an engineer, I'm often messing up my finish when I'm working so I don't bother waxing most of the time."
"That reminds me… we hardly know anything about each other."
"I know what you did. During the war at least. I, uh, asked Tango to pull up your public service record. It was quite an interesting read."
"That puts you one up on me. All I know about your past is that you used to be a vehicon. Though I still kinda find that hard to believe."
"I'll have to show you the vids at some point. From when I first joined, before my frame was modified." X-ray chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"I just realized that once upon a time I was shorter than you."
Wheeljack scowled up at him.
"There you guys are!"
They looked up as they entered the main hall and saw Hirry coming toward them.
"So, is it true? Are you two really a couple?" she asked.
They looked at each other. Wheeljack grabbed X-ray's servo, interlocking their digits as he raised it and planted a kiss on the back.
"Yes, we are," Wheeljack said with a grin as a blush spread slightly across X-ray's faceplates.
"And I see you went to the wash racks. The twins thought you went to 'get a room'."
"We're gonna wait on that for a little while. Besides, somebody said something about high grade," Wheeljack admitted.
Hirry laughed heartily. "That we do have. Come on." She turned to lead the way. Upon entering the rec room, she shouted, "The boyfriends have arrived!"
There were loud cheers and whistles as Wheeljack and X-ray entered servo in servo.
Leecher came up to them with Liliy on their shoulder. "By the way, Wheeljack," Liliy spoke in serious tone. "You break his spark, you better run for the stars 'cause there isn't a place on planet we won't find you."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Good. Quebec!" Liliy suddenly shouted at the mech across the room. "A round of Red Scythes for the happy couple!"
"Coming right up, Ma'am!" Quebec called back.
"What is it?" Wheeljack asked as X-ray led him around the tables and back to the bar where the two-tone blue flyer was preparing the drinks.
Two Cybertronian sized shot glasses clicked on the bar top. They were both filled with a bright green, glowing liquid. Then a splash of Red En was added to each. Quebec slid the glasses over to the two mechs as they approached.
"Red Scythe. Quebec named it after the Madam." X-ray raised the glass. "To us."
Wheeljack picked up the other one. "To us."
They threw back the shots.
Wheeljack let out a strangled noise as he slammed the glass down. "What in the Pit was that!?" It burned all the way down to his tank. X-ray appeared to be handling it a little better than him though.
"Twice distilled synthetic energon and a splash of high grade Red," explained Quebec. "Leaves a nasty burn, just like the Madam."
Julian came up and handed him and X-ray another drink. "Here. This'll help."
Wheeljack accepted the half cube of mid-grade and took a sip. The burning in his tank eased a bit.
"Finish that," Quebec pointed at the cube in his servo, "and then you can have a cube of regular high grade. You don't want to mix a Red Scythe with anything else."
"He's speaking from experience," Julian added.
Sipping the mid-grade, X-ray turned to Liliy. "So, Madam, what else are we celebrating?"
"The twins are no longer grounded." Said twins whooped behind her. "Julian is also cleared for duty." Liliy nodded at the other femme. "Oscar and Tango are on the mend. And I thought it would be good for everyone just to relax."
Romeo sidled up to Delta. "Since X-ray's dating Wheeljack, now you have to go see Boulder." And gave him a slap on the back.
Delta was trying to take a drink and ended up spilling some of it down his front. He turned a glare on Romeo. "Do you mind?"
Romeo raised his servos in surrender. "Sorry, sorry." He pulled a cloth from his subspace and handed it to Delta.
Still glaring, Delta snatched the cloth from his servo and started cleaning up the mess on his plating.
Romeo sat down in the seat next to him. "But really. You can't use the 'he's an Autobot' excuse anymore."
Delta sighed. "I know."
"Looks like X-ray's teaching Wheeljack some dance moves."
In the open area between the tables and the gaming area, X-ray was dancing to the music while Wheeljack watched, optics following every move. X-ray moved in close and grabbed Wheeljack's servo and pulled him out into the middle to dance with him.
Romeo turned from watching them and grinned. "Hey, Delta, you wanna dance with me?"
"Not after you made me spill my high grade." Delta threw the cloth at Romeo's face and got up to go to the bar.
Romeo caught the cloth as it fell from his faceplates. "Well, I tried."
Ok. So when I started this fic I never intended to ship any of my OCs with canon characters, aside from Tango crushing on Knock Out. But obviously the 'boys' had other ideas.
Hope everyone enjoyed. See you next time.