Disclaimer; I own Slingblade and the plot. That's it.
Warning: Due to language and violence, this series is rated PG-13. (Changed it just to be safe, and on a tip from a friend.)
Ulysses
Chapter 6
Suspicions
by Switchblade X
Three days had passed. Three days since Silverbolt's secret had been exposed to the entire team, and three days since Slingblade had dragged him into her risky game of espionage. He had been free from "captivity" for exactly two days, three hours, six minutes, and forty-seven seconds.
But, as of right now, none of that mattered.
"Buuurn, traitor to the Colony!" Inferno crowed, snapping off another shot at him.
Dinobot leapt out of the way and returned fire, "Eat slag!" He had run into the ant an hour ago on the plains, and they had been shooting it out ever since. Both of them were wounded, but he had gotten the worst of it after taking a direct hit to the right side. He had alerted the base to Inferno's presence, and Slingblade had arrived a few moments later as backup. Unfortunately, Tarantulas had also showed up and was currently engaged in a fight with her.
Inferno roared as the laser blast knocked him from the sky. He hit the ground hard, but got back up, and took Dinobot on in hand-to-hand combat. "I will deliver your head to the Royalty!"
"I'd like to see you try!" His fist connected with Inferno's jaw, knocking the ant back down.
"Dinobot!" Slingblade cried.
He started to turn toward her, but a dart full of Tarantulas' cybervenom slammed into his already wounded right side. The raptor roared and yanked the dart out, but some of the venom had already penetrated his armor; almost immediately, his vision began to swim, and he fell to his knees.
Slingblade roared, and sliced Tarantulas in half. Then she went for Inferno, who was getting up again.
"For the-" Inferno started, but was silenced when Slingblade removed his head in one clean sweep.
"The Royalty can kiss my carnivorous ass." she retorted, sheathing her sword and kneeling beside Dinobot, who was about to collapse. "Lay down."
Wordlessly, he obeyed, struggling to draw a full breath.
She tapped her comm, "Slingblade to base." Her right shoulder sparked, making her wince, "Mm."
"Base here." Rattrap answered, "What's up Slinger?"
"Dinobot and I are injured. We need backup ASAP."
"Can do. Jus' sit tight, okay?"
"I'm not sure we can sit tight for very long, Rattrap. Tarantulas hit Dinobot with some cybervenom; it wasn't enough to do serious damage, but it was enough to hurt him pretty bad. I can patch him up enough for the trip home, but that'll be about it."
"Copy dat. I'll see what I can do. Base out."
With that done, Slingblade turned her attention back to Dinobot, who was obviously in a great deal of pain and was struggling desperately to breathe properly. The compartments that she kept her tools in popped open on her left hip and left forearm, and she went to work.
Dinobot darkened his optics, feeling his chest begin to constrict. His hands balled into fists as a tiny whimper escaped him. Primus, he was in pain…
"Hang in there, big guy." Slingblade said, trying to stop several fluids from leaking.
Something sparked in his side, making him cry out once before he blacked out.
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"Dinobot? Dinobot, can you hear me?"
He groaned as he regained consciousness. Pain immediately hit him, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. Slowly, his vision cleared, and he found himself to still be on the ground, his head in Slingblade's lap.
"Feel better?"
"Considering my previous condition, yes." He managed to sit up with a little help, noting that it was still a bit hard to breathe, but it was tolerable.
"Optimus should be here in a few minutes." she said as she helped him up.
He tensed when she didn't remove one of her hands from his back, but didn't say anything about it. "How long was I out?"
"Not long. Maybe ten minutes at the most."
He nodded, feeling her gaze on his back. Again, he remained silent and resisted the urge to squirm; he knew she only wanted to help. Ever since they had made their peace, he had noticed how hard Slingblade was trying to be friendly with him. He was also trying, but wasn't doing a very good job of it in his opinion; being friendly wasn't exactly one of his strong points.
"You sure you're okay?"
"I'm sure."
She nodded, patted his back, and went to work on her shoulder.
"…Are you badly damaged?" he asked without turning around.
"Nah. Other than my shoulder, I've just got minor bumps and scrapes."
"That's good." You would qualify being cut in half as 'minor bumps and scrapes.' he thought.
She nodded, and continued her work.
The silence that passed between them was deafening.
Dinobot sighed, and looked to the sky, hunting for Optimus. Now that he knew why Slingblade had "defected", he regretted hating her. He wanted to tell her his true name now more than ever, but couldn't bring himself to speak. So instead, he pulled one knee up to his chest, and rested one arm across it. He almost jumped when Slingblade leaned into his back, but stopped himself before he could move.
"Dinobot?" she asked, curling up a bit.
"Yes?"
"Why do creatures hurt one another?"
"…I don't know. …It's just nature at work, I suppose."
"Maybe. …But…" she trailed off.
"But what?"
"It's nothing."
"But what?"
She sighed, "I might as well get to the point. Did you ever hear any rumors about my creator? About him creating my brother and me for the sole purpose of using us as punching bags and maids?"
He was silent for a moment, "…Yes."
"Do you believe them?"
"Yes. From what I've heard of your creator, he was, for lack of a better term, a jerk."
"Do you think that I might've done something to anger him?"
"No."
"Then…why did he do what he did?"
"I honestly don't know. Some people, however, think that they need to bully others in order to be superior. Or to at least feel superior. Perhaps your creator was one of these people."
"Maybe. I can't help feeling like it was somehow my fault, y'know?"
"Slingblade, I don't know what happened to you, and frankly, it's none of my business. But I will tell you this; no matter what, you are not to blame for anything that happened to you as a child. Do you understand? You didn't do anything wrong; your creator did."
"If you say so." She rested her cheek against the back of his neck, "Thanks, Dinobot."
A smile crept onto the other warrior's face, "Any time."
"…You're comfortable."
He blinked, "I am?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm. Interesting."
She grinned.
"Slingblade?"
"Yes'm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For everything. This is twice now that you've saved me. I am deeply in your debt."
"Don't worry about it; I'm just doing my job."
When the sound of a flier's jets reached them, Slingblade got up, and ended up helping Dinobot up.
"Sorry I'm late." Optimus apologized, "You two were farther out than I had previously anticipated."
"That's okay." Slingblade replied. "Uh, can I talk you into giving us a ride home?"
Optimus smiled, "Hop on. I'll try not to go too fast."
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"Has anybody besides me noticed the change in Dinobot and Slingblade?" Cheetor asked, sitting down at a computer between Rattrap, who was playing a game of poker and losing big time, and Rhinox, who was working on his daily data-log.
"What do you mean?" Rhinox asked, turning around to face the cheetah.
"They haven't fought with each other or tried to kill each other for three days. Do you think they made their peace?"
"I hope so."
"Amen." Rattrap chimed in. "An' another ting I don' understand; how come Dino-butt's so aggressive toward Slinger? He was pretty cool wit Airazor, but somethin' 'bout Slinger ticked him off real good. Wonder what it was?"
Cheetor shrugged, "Who knows? Who cares? They're not at each other's throats anymore, and that's all that matters."
"Call me crazy, but I think that the reason for Dinobot's aggressiveness toward Slingblade is because he knew her when she was still a Decepticon. He might've even fought with her, and then had a grudge against her because she defected." Rhinox surmised.
"What makes you think that?" Cheetor asked.
"Well, Dinobot's older than all of us Maximals, but we don't know exactly how old; none of his files contain his age, which is really odd."
"So, you think Dinobot might be an ex-Con?"
"It's possible. Especially considering the fact that we know nothing about his life before the Beast Wars."
Rattrap snorted, "Interestin' as all dis is, I still have a question. Why would Chopperface hold a grudge against somebody for defectin'? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn' he defect? Slag, he left da Preds before da first shot 'a da Beast Wars was fired. Why would he have a grudge against someone who did da very same ting he did?"
"Rattrap does have a point." Cheetor said.
The roof hatch opened, and Optimus drifted down with Slingblade and Dinobot in tow.
Dinobot jumped off as soon as Optimus' hoverboard cleared the roof hatch, then helped the Maximal commander pry Slingblade from his leg.
"I hate flying." she muttered, as Dinobot sat her onto the floor. "I absolutely hate flying. …I should've walked."
"Geez. You two look rough." Cheetor observed.
"Oh, honey, this is nothin'." Slingblade replied, heading over to a CR chamber. "Wait 'til you're missing more than two limbs, have a hole the size of a basketball in your stomach, and are staring down the business end of a plasma cannon, weaponless, friendless, and about to pass out from sheer terror. Then tell me about looking rough."
"What she means is; our wounds look worse than they really are." Dinobot translated, limping over to the next CR chamber.
"Yeah." Slingblade agreed. "Y'know, I used to have a lieutenant general that could translate my gibberish like that. …Wonder whatever happened to him… He was a good fighter, and an even better friend…"
Dinobot sighed, and pushed her gently into the CR chamber. "She talks too much when she's in a good mood." he muttered, programming the chamber.
"So, uh, what's goin' on wit you an' Slinger?" Rattrap asked.
Dinobot looked at him, "What do you mean?"
"Don' play dumb wit me. You two are all buddy-buddy suddenly, an' I wanna know why."
"I hate to say this, but I agree with Rattrap." Optimus said.
"We made our peace." Dinobot programmed the other CR chamber and stepped into it before anyone else could say something to him.
"I tink I smell a rat." Rattrap declared. "And it ain't me."
"What d'you mean, Big R?" Cheetor asked.
"I mean dis is too convenient. Chopperface an' Slinger jus' puttin' aside deir differences an' becomin' friends? Puh-leez. Dey're up ta somethin', dey gotta be."
"What makes you think that?" Optimus asked.
"Call it a hunch, but I tink we've got ourselves a couple 'a spies in da ranks. Spies loyal ta da Preds."
"Hey, hold on!" Cheetor exclaimed. "Blade wouldn't sell us out! She's not like that!"
"Is she? Tink about it, kid: Slinger can deny it all she wants, but deep down, she's still a stinkin' Decepticon. And, nobody but her knows da reason why she defected in da first place. Dat's qualified as suspicious in my book."
"Rattrap, you don't know that! Blade would never-"
"We used ta tink da same ting 'bout ol' Chopperface, but he stabbed us in da back. If it hadn' 've been for 'Bolt sweet talkin' Optimus, we coulda slagged dat traitor before he got another chance ta sell us out. Who's ta say Slinger's not exactly like 'im?"
Cheetor roared and attempted to lunge at Rattrap, but was caught by Rhinox.
"Hey, cool it!" the rhino ordered, sitting Cheetor back into his seat, "We don't need any more fights."
"I don't like where you're going with this, Rattrap." Optimus said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Neither do I, fearless leader. But, you gotta remember; once a Pred, always a Pred. An', da only ting worse dan a stinkin' Predacon is a stinkin' Decepticon." Rattrap shrugged, "Dat's jus' my opinion, though. Slag, for all I know, Slinger defected cause she was afraid of what would happen ta her when da Autobots got deir hands on her. For all I know, she 'n Chopperface really did make peace. I'm jus' givin da heads-up for when da both of 'em show deir true colors."
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Slingblade emerged from her CR chamber yawning and testing her shoulder. Dinobot was right behind her. "Did we miss anything?" she asked, noticing that Cheetor was absent.
"Nope." Rhinox answered, not looking up from his computer monitor.
Rattrap stood, and walked over toward Slingblade.
Sensing trouble, Dinobot remained a few steps behind her, not wanting to look suspicious, but wanting to be close by incase something happened.
"Slinger, I got a question for ya." Rattrap said, stopping a few feet away near the table.
She looked down at him, sensing something was amiss, "Ooookay. Shoot."
"You never told us why you defected after da Great War. How come?"
The velociraptor shrugged, "Does it matter?"
"Kinda." He paused, looking at her closely, "You didn' defect jus' because you wanted ta avoid bein' punished, didja?"
"Rattrap…" Optimus warned from his place beside Rhinox.
Slingblade's temper flared, and she took a step forward. "Are you calling me a coward?" she snarled.
"Well, I wouldn't put it…" He looked away for a second, then looked her straight in the optics, "Yeah."
Dinobot was half a second too slow. Rattrap had hit the floor clutching his mouth, and Slingblade was in mid-leap before the other raptor ever moved. He caught Slingblade around the waist and yanked her backward roughly. Before she could break away, he held her tightly against his body, and put one hand over her mouth, cutting off the string of obscenities that she was preparing to yell. This wasn't the first time he'd saved one of his comrades from a merciless pummeling courtesy of Slingblade, and he was fairly certain that it wouldn't be the last.
In that half of a second, Rhinox and Optimus had stood and were in the process of rushing to their fallen comrade's side.
Slingblade struggled uselessly against Dinobot and attempted to yell threats and curses at Rattrap through the larger raptor's hand, which was now firmly clamped over her mouth.
"You slag-suckin'-" Rattrap started, as he climbed to his feet.
"Shut up, vermin, or I'll let her go!" Dinobot interrupted. "You deserved that, and you know it."
"Dinobot's right, as much as I hate to admit it." Optimus said. "You did ask for that, Rattrap."
"Don' tell me you're stickin' up for dat Decepticon!" Rattrap said the word like it was a curse.
Slingblade struggled harder against Dinobot, yelling even though she knew that his hand turned everything she said into angry and incoherent sounds. She considered biting him, but knew he'd bite back twice as hard.
Dinobot moved his face close to hers. "Be still." he whispered. "Hush."
Reluctantly, she obeyed, knowing that he had the upper hand.
"Good girl."
Optimus glanced at Dinobot, who nodded, then turned his attention back to Rattrap. "I'm not sticking up for a Decepticon, Rattrap, I'm sticking up for a Maximal. If Slingblade doesn't want to tell us why she defected, she doesn't have to; all that matters is the fact that she's on our side now. And if I were you, I'd watch whom I was calling 'coward'; if my memory serves me correctly, you've done some rather cowardly things in your life. Particularly when this war first began."
Rattrap snorted and fell silent. Would he never be able to live down the day he openly refused to cover Cheetor back when the Beast Wars began? Apparently not.
"Dinobot, get Slingblade out of here." Optimus continued. "Stay with her until she calms down."
Dinobot nodded and left the command center, taking Slingblade with him.
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"Don't stand. You're making me nervous." Slingblade said. This was the first time either of them had spoken since Dinobot had carried her to her room, sat her on her bunk, and taken up the guard in front of her door an hour ago.
Without a word, he began to sit down on the floor, but she stopped him.
"Come sit with me."
He almost declined, but thought better of it. So instead, he walked over to her bunk and sat down on the corner farthest from her.
"You are so weird."
"And you're not?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
She leaned back into the wall, "Hey, I'm not the one that's afraid of me."
"I'm not afraid of you."
"Oh? Then relax."
"After an episode like you just had? I don't think so."
She scooted closer to him, "I don't bite, y'know."
"Liar."
"You know what I mean."
"I know." He turned his back to her, dangling his feet off of the foot of her bunk.
Silence fell between them.
Dinobot jumped a bit when Slingblade's arms snaked around his neck and she snuggled into his back. "What are you doing?"
"Relax, okay? I'm not gonna hurt you, and you know it."
"If you say so." He shivered slightly, the movement making her fingers graze his chest.
She shook her head a bit, and began to pull away, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
He put a hand over hers, "It's all right. I'm just…not used to this, that's all."
"……Tell me if I make you uncomfortable, okay?"
"Only if you'll do the same for me." He dropped his hand to his lap as she returned to her original position.
She smiled and rested her cheek on his shoulder, "Okay."
Another period of silence fell.
Dinobot was more than a little nervous. What was Slingblade doing? She'd never acted like this around him before, never! What had gotten into her?
"Dinobot?"
"Hm?"
"I'm not a coward…am I?"
"I don't think so."
She chuckled, but there was no humor in it, "You only changed your mind after I told you why I defected."
She did have a point. "Don't let the vermin get to you. He's a fine one to be talking about cowardice. Besides, spying takes a lot of courage. And, considering how long you've been a spy, you're obviously no coward."
"I dunno… Sometimes I really question myself and my motives."
"You're beginning to sound like Thundercracker."
"Thunder thought too much."
"As do you."
"I didn't used to doubt myself. At least not until 'bots I used to fight beside started calling me chicken for defecting. That gets to you after a while."
"Spying is not a job for a coward. Like I said: considering how long you've been a spy, you're obviously no coward. If anyone ever found you out, you'd be killed instantly, no questions asked."
"I know." She was silent for a moment, "…The Maximals are getting suspicious of us, particularly Rattrap. But, he never trusted me anyway, which was okay 'cause the feeling's mutual."
"I'm not worried about him or the others."
"Maybe you should be. Rattrap has more influence than he think he does."
"I am not afraid of that rat! I never have been, and I never will be! I fear no one!"
"Okay, okay. Geez. I'm sorry. …I'm not afraid of anyone, either, but I do watch those around me. You never know when somebody 'll throw a sucker punch at ya."
He only nodded in response.
Knowing that she had struck a particularly sensitive nerve, Slingblade fell silent for another few minutes. "You don't have to go through with this." she finally said.
"What do you mean?"
"You can back out if you want to; I won't get mad. The Maximals are already too suspicious, and I don't know when or if the other agent will get here. It might be too late for us by then. You can back out at any time you want. I'll take the fall; dragging you into the Council's plot was my idea, anyway. …Save yourself, Dinobot. Get out while you still can."
This time, he gripped both of her hands tightly in his. "No."
"Why?"
"At first, I agreed to help you because I wanted revenge against Megatron. But, I have done a lot of thinking over the last few days. Now, I am going to help you not because I want revenge, but because you have become…a friend."
"…Dinobot…" She was speechless.
"I know I'm not the best at showing it, but you really have become my friend. You've stood up for me, you've given me someone to talk to, and you've saved my life twice now. …I guess I was just too angry to see it before. But, these last three days have let me see what you've done for me.
"What I'm trying to say is; I've agreed to help you, and I'm going to help you whether you want me to or not. …After all, friends are supposed to stick together."
Author's Note; My apologies for the length of time that it took for me to finish and post this chapter. I'm working three jobs now (none of which pay me worth crap), so free time is now a thing of the past. Unless, of course, I stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. typing furiously. …Hopefully Chapter 7 won't take this long. Thanks to nannon and Dreamwater H2O for the reviews! They are greatly appreciated! More to come (I hope)!