The new Duo Part 2
Duo had never been to see the Autobot commander before. He had never even been in the west wing where most of the returned Autobots were stationed. He had met Gears on neutral ground because the other Autobot wanted it. He found once he reached the door to the west wing that he needed a card key and a code to enter. Probably Red Alert's doing. Not knowing what else to do besides waiting till someone opened the door Duo transformed into his female mode and leaned up against the wall.
Five minutes passed, ten. she/he still remembered every single word which had been spoken between she/he and the other Autobots from the moment she/he had woken up. How stupid could one possibly get? That was what Duo seriously wanted to know. Falling in love with a biological being and an Amshean at that! It was totally illogical and irresponsible! One would think that an Autobot of Hound's caliber understood that. They had been in the middle of o war when he first fell for this creature for crying out loud!
As Duo stood there, lost in her own thoughts, Bumblebee walked through the door. "What brings you to our neck of the woods?" the yellow Autobot asked cheerfully.
"Human expressions!" snorted the other Autobot before she strode past him and continued down the hall.
"Did I something wrong?" pondered the other Autobot.
Duo continued marching down the hall until she suddenly bumped into Prowl. "Could you please watch where you're going? If there's a problem with your optics I strongly suggest you go to see either Ratchet or First Aid to get them fixed."
"Yeah, sure!" Prowl bit back. "And if you weren't in such a bloody hurry I'd ask you what kind of personality disorders you have, but it's clear as crystal that you don't have time to list them all up. May I ask what the hell you're doing here?"
"I'm here to see Hound, could you direct me in the right direction or will that task be too complicated for you to handle?"
Prowl had to fight hard to bite down a smile. Duo was quite a fiery femmebot and if that had been all she was maybe he would have tried to get to know her better, but the fact that this Autobot also had another gender made him resent the mere thought. It was repulsive. No way he would be seen with what the humans referred to as a transvestite. "The end of the hall to the left. You continue to the end of that corridor and it's the last door on the left." He marched off, feeling very sorry for Hound.
Duo followed Prowl's directions and a few minutes later she was standing outside Hound's quarters. She knocked on the door and waited. Then after a few seconds Hound muttered "Enter" on the other side of the door. She entered and found Hound sitting in a chair in front of the computer, the last place she would expect to find him.
He swiveled the chair around to greet his visitor. He was quite surprised to see that his visitor was Duo. "Duo? What brings you here?"
"Your commander sent for me."
"Then why don't you go see him?"
"Because I have been ordered to talk to you. I understand you have some problems regarding a certain female not of your race?"
"That is none of your concern." Hound resumed a defensive position from the start. "If you don't mind. I've got a lot of work to do so if you could just." He turned his back on the psychiatrist.
"You are in agony, I can understand that, and I believe that I can help you. Denial will get you nowhere."
"What makes you believe that I need your help?"
"I am programmed for-"
"Programmed! Listen to yourself!" Hound rose to his feet. "You're programmed to understand and solve problems logically. You don't know life, you don't know love, you have no idea how sorry I feel for you and until you learn about those two thing you can not help me so I suggest you settle your own problems before you even think of trying to help solve mine. Please leave."
"I can not help you if you are going to be so hostile towards me." Duo turned and left. She couldn't believe the nerve on that Autobot, telling her that SHE had problems it was totally absurd.
She marched straight back to Rodimus Prime's office to report. They had a certain rule about breaking the oath of confidentiality when the person's problems would affect his or her work. Duo especially loved this part of the job.
***
Duo sat alone in his quarters in his male mode, staring at the wall. He felt totally empty. It hadn't helped him much that they had connected the two personalities. He couldn't believe how rude and hostile his female mode had been towards Prowl and Bumblebee. He felt so shameful, no wonder he wasn't welcome anywhere.
He got to his feet and left his quarters. It was time he took up on Andrea's offer to use Wheeljack as his safe harbor. He continued down the hall towards Wheeljack's lab, but halfway there he was stopped by THE Optimus Prime, the living legend.
"Can I help you with something?" asked the tall Autobot.
"I-I-I was wondering if Wheeljack was in his lab," stuttered the indigo Autobot. "I need to talk to him."
"I'm afraid he was called out to Terra. I'm afraid the condition of the Indra, the youngest Amshean has taken a turn to the worse and they decided to take her to her home world to see if they could find a cure. Perceptor has taken his place till he gets back. You can always see him or you can always tell me what's troubling you."
Duo so wanted to tell the Autobot commander what was troubling him, but due to his shame he dared not. "I guess it can wait till Wheeljack gets back. Will she make it, by the way, this Indra?"
"They think she will be back to normal as soon as she gets a chance to gather some strength. The final battle took a lot out of most of us."
"What about Ironhide?"
"His new body is almost finished and then he will be back to normal." But Optimus wasn't interested in talking about that now. Now he was worried about this Autobot standing in front of him who would have shivered like a frightened poodle if he had been biological. Something was troubling one of his own and he wanted to know what it was, most of all he wanted to help him. "What is your name?"
"Duo."
"Duo, it may take some time till they return. Do you have someone else you can talk to or do you want to tell me what is troubling you?"
"I'm sorry, sir, I can't. I just guess I will have to wait till they return."
"Ok." Optimus wasn't about to put pressure on the younger Autobot so he turned to leave. "You know where to find me," he said to assure the other one that there would always be someone there for him.
When Duo returned to his quarters he felt a little better. He had talked to the Autobot commander and found that he could always lean of him for help if he ever needed it.
After sitting alone in his quarters he decided to go out. After all nothing could happen to him now when he had the Autobot commander in his back.
Duo had never been to see the Autobot commander before. He had never even been in the west wing where most of the returned Autobots were stationed. He had met Gears on neutral ground because the other Autobot wanted it. He found once he reached the door to the west wing that he needed a card key and a code to enter. Probably Red Alert's doing. Not knowing what else to do besides waiting till someone opened the door Duo transformed into his female mode and leaned up against the wall.
Five minutes passed, ten. she/he still remembered every single word which had been spoken between she/he and the other Autobots from the moment she/he had woken up. How stupid could one possibly get? That was what Duo seriously wanted to know. Falling in love with a biological being and an Amshean at that! It was totally illogical and irresponsible! One would think that an Autobot of Hound's caliber understood that. They had been in the middle of o war when he first fell for this creature for crying out loud!
As Duo stood there, lost in her own thoughts, Bumblebee walked through the door. "What brings you to our neck of the woods?" the yellow Autobot asked cheerfully.
"Human expressions!" snorted the other Autobot before she strode past him and continued down the hall.
"Did I something wrong?" pondered the other Autobot.
Duo continued marching down the hall until she suddenly bumped into Prowl. "Could you please watch where you're going? If there's a problem with your optics I strongly suggest you go to see either Ratchet or First Aid to get them fixed."
"Yeah, sure!" Prowl bit back. "And if you weren't in such a bloody hurry I'd ask you what kind of personality disorders you have, but it's clear as crystal that you don't have time to list them all up. May I ask what the hell you're doing here?"
"I'm here to see Hound, could you direct me in the right direction or will that task be too complicated for you to handle?"
Prowl had to fight hard to bite down a smile. Duo was quite a fiery femmebot and if that had been all she was maybe he would have tried to get to know her better, but the fact that this Autobot also had another gender made him resent the mere thought. It was repulsive. No way he would be seen with what the humans referred to as a transvestite. "The end of the hall to the left. You continue to the end of that corridor and it's the last door on the left." He marched off, feeling very sorry for Hound.
Duo followed Prowl's directions and a few minutes later she was standing outside Hound's quarters. She knocked on the door and waited. Then after a few seconds Hound muttered "Enter" on the other side of the door. She entered and found Hound sitting in a chair in front of the computer, the last place she would expect to find him.
He swiveled the chair around to greet his visitor. He was quite surprised to see that his visitor was Duo. "Duo? What brings you here?"
"Your commander sent for me."
"Then why don't you go see him?"
"Because I have been ordered to talk to you. I understand you have some problems regarding a certain female not of your race?"
"That is none of your concern." Hound resumed a defensive position from the start. "If you don't mind. I've got a lot of work to do so if you could just." He turned his back on the psychiatrist.
"You are in agony, I can understand that, and I believe that I can help you. Denial will get you nowhere."
"What makes you believe that I need your help?"
"I am programmed for-"
"Programmed! Listen to yourself!" Hound rose to his feet. "You're programmed to understand and solve problems logically. You don't know life, you don't know love, you have no idea how sorry I feel for you and until you learn about those two thing you can not help me so I suggest you settle your own problems before you even think of trying to help solve mine. Please leave."
"I can not help you if you are going to be so hostile towards me." Duo turned and left. She couldn't believe the nerve on that Autobot, telling her that SHE had problems it was totally absurd.
She marched straight back to Rodimus Prime's office to report. They had a certain rule about breaking the oath of confidentiality when the person's problems would affect his or her work. Duo especially loved this part of the job.
***
Duo sat alone in his quarters in his male mode, staring at the wall. He felt totally empty. It hadn't helped him much that they had connected the two personalities. He couldn't believe how rude and hostile his female mode had been towards Prowl and Bumblebee. He felt so shameful, no wonder he wasn't welcome anywhere.
He got to his feet and left his quarters. It was time he took up on Andrea's offer to use Wheeljack as his safe harbor. He continued down the hall towards Wheeljack's lab, but halfway there he was stopped by THE Optimus Prime, the living legend.
"Can I help you with something?" asked the tall Autobot.
"I-I-I was wondering if Wheeljack was in his lab," stuttered the indigo Autobot. "I need to talk to him."
"I'm afraid he was called out to Terra. I'm afraid the condition of the Indra, the youngest Amshean has taken a turn to the worse and they decided to take her to her home world to see if they could find a cure. Perceptor has taken his place till he gets back. You can always see him or you can always tell me what's troubling you."
Duo so wanted to tell the Autobot commander what was troubling him, but due to his shame he dared not. "I guess it can wait till Wheeljack gets back. Will she make it, by the way, this Indra?"
"They think she will be back to normal as soon as she gets a chance to gather some strength. The final battle took a lot out of most of us."
"What about Ironhide?"
"His new body is almost finished and then he will be back to normal." But Optimus wasn't interested in talking about that now. Now he was worried about this Autobot standing in front of him who would have shivered like a frightened poodle if he had been biological. Something was troubling one of his own and he wanted to know what it was, most of all he wanted to help him. "What is your name?"
"Duo."
"Duo, it may take some time till they return. Do you have someone else you can talk to or do you want to tell me what is troubling you?"
"I'm sorry, sir, I can't. I just guess I will have to wait till they return."
"Ok." Optimus wasn't about to put pressure on the younger Autobot so he turned to leave. "You know where to find me," he said to assure the other one that there would always be someone there for him.
When Duo returned to his quarters he felt a little better. He had talked to the Autobot commander and found that he could always lean of him for help if he ever needed it.
After sitting alone in his quarters he decided to go out. After all nothing could happen to him now when he had the Autobot commander in his back.