Disclaimer; I own Slingblade and the plot. That's it.
Warning: Due to language and violence, this series is rated PG-13.
Ulysses
Chapter 7
Mobilization
by Switchblade X
Deep within the darkness of the small room, two golden-yellow optics lit up when their owner sensed someone outside his door.
"Silverbolt? Are you in there?"
He didn't reply, though a slight snarl crossed his face.
"Duh, Slingblade. Where else would he be?" She sighed, "Are you awake?"
Again, he didn't reply.
"Well, you must be; I hear you breathing."
He frowned, and slowed his breathing.
"Silverbolt, please say something."
How about 'Go away and leave me alone.'? he wondered.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?"
Bingo.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I told you I wouldn't keep my mouth shut if anyone questioned me."
He growled softly, and looked at the floor.
"Silverbolt, please say something. I feel like I'm talking to a wall out here!"
You might as well be.
"Silverbolt, please…"
He heard her lean against his door. Go away. Please go away.
"I'm not gonna leave until you talk to me."
You'll be standing there forever, then.
"I'm really sorry about this. Honest. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you."
He snorted.
"Silverbolt, listen to me."
He rolled his optics, Like I have a choice.
"I know you have feelings for Blackarachnia, and I'm glad for that. Okay? I'm glad you love her; you need a little romance in your life instead of all that strict chivalry crap. But, Silverbolt…she doesn't love you back. You might think she does, but she doesn't. Blackarachnia's not a Maximal anymore. She's a Predacon; she'll always be a Predacon. …You can't change that…
"Silverbolt…sweetheart, you know I love you, and you know I'd never let anything bad happen to you; you're like a brother to me. I just don't feel right about Blackarachnia. She's dangerous. More dangerous than you know. I don't want you to get hurt. Physically or emotionally. …I had to tell them, Silverbolt, I had to."
He glowered at the door, You didn't have to tell them anything. You could've kept your mouth shut like you were supposed to.
"I'd do anything to keep you safe, Silverbolt. And if that means making you mad at me, so be it. …And if that means killing Blackarachnia so she won't hurt you…so be it."
This time, he growled audibly. If you lay one hand on her, I swear-
Slingblade sighed, "Please talk to me."
"Go away." he finally said. "And don't ever come back."
Tears began to sting in her optics as his words sunk in. Slowly, she stood. "Okay. If that's what you really want, I'll do it. But, just remember this; I love you, Silverbolt. That's more than Blackarachnia ever did."
................................................................................................................................................
Dinobot frowned when he discovered that the training room was in use. He always used the training room at this time of day. Who was in there? There was only one way to find out. He opened the door, stepped into the strangely dark room, let the door close behind him and…
THUD!
Gulping, Dinobot looked at the sword that had buried itself in the wall all of two centimeters away from his head. Whoa. he thought. A weaker 'bot would've fainted, but he just stayed still, preparing to dodge the next attack.
Green optics lit up several feet in front of him, then came closer as their owner approached.
"You missed." he calmly said, pulling her sword from the wall and holding it out to her hilt first.
Wordlessly, she took her primary weapon and sheathed it.
"What are you doing in here?" he continued, stepping forward as his optics adjusted to the darkness. "I'm usually in here at this time."
"Sorry. I'll leave." Her voice was flat.
Before she could get past him, Dinobot grabbed her arm.
She tensed.
"Don't go."
"Why?" She didn't look at him.
"You sound like something's wrong. You probably look like it, too, which is why you didn't have the lights on during your session."
"Everything's wrong, Dinobot. You know that."
"…You talked to Silverbolt, didn't you?"
Now, she looked at him, "Yes."
"And?"
"He hates my guts."
"Oh. …I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well, he's just one of many, now." She glanced down at his hand, which was still firmly wrapped around her arm, but didn't say anything about it. "Lights on."
As the lights came on, Dinobot could see how stressed out she really looked. "Spar with me; it'll calm your nerves."
"…Okay."
................................................................................................................................................
Dinobot grunted as Slingblade tackled him, taking him down yet again. They had been going at it for quite some time, and both of them were getting tired. Not too long ago, they had discarded their swords and had fought hand-to-hand ever since.
"Gotcha." she panted before collapsing onto his chest.
"I'll…let you have…this one." he replied, equally winded.
She glared at him, "Let me have it nothin'! I beat you fair 'n square!"
He smiled and rested his head on the floor, "I knew I could get you back to normal with that line."
She looked at him for a moment longer before she smiled and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "Thanks, Dinobot."
"I should be thanking you; I haven't had a workout that rigorous in quite some time. Whatever Silverbolt said to you must've really pissed you off; I could've sworn you were trying to kill me."
"Sorry."
"It's all right. I rather enjoyed it, actually."
She started to grin, then stopped for a few seconds. Slowly, she pushed her upper body up and looked at her sparring partner, a wicked smile on her face.
Dinobot's optics narrowed, "What're you smiling about? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You said 'pissed'."
"So?"
"Congratulations, sweetheart; I have now officially infiltrated your mind."He stared at her, "…Dear Primus, you have!"
She laughed, and slowly climbed off of him. "It's an art."
"Apparently."
She reached out to him, "Here."
He took her hand and let her help him up.
Someone applauded behind them.
Both raptors faced the training room door, instinctively going into fight mode. They relaxed somewhat when they saw Rattrap and Cheetor standing in the doorway.
"Impressive." Rattrap said.
Slingblade growled.
Dinobot put his arm in front of her, signaling her to calm down. "What do you want, vermin?"
The rat shrugged, "Nothin'. We was jus' walkin' by an' decided ta drop in."
"That was the coolest fight I've ever seen!" Cheetor exclaimed. "You two are incredible! How do you move that fast and still be able to deliver a solid hit?"
"It takes years of practice." Slingblade answered. "You could do it, too, if you'd just put your mind to it."
Cheetor shook his head, "Nah. Hand-to-hand combat isn't my thing. I prefer good ol' energy weapons."
"Which is exactly why you get the slag beaten out of you when your weapon is incapacitated." Dinobot said, picking up his sword and walking toward the door.
"I hate to say this, but, he's right." Slingblade agreed, picking up her sword. "Cheetor, if you'd just put your mind to learning how to fight without a weapon, you'd be almost invincible."
"I would?" he asked, becoming interested in what she was saying.
"Of course. You're a cat; you're naturally fast. Combine that speed with a little strength, and you could probably take Rampage down."
Cheetor considered this. "Hmm. Maybe I will try that. It couldn't hurt."
Rattrap rolled his optics, "Oh please. Kid, you couldn' keep your attention focused on a chest plate-less femme."
Slingblade growled, "It's nice to know that one of you could ignore such filth."
Dinobot, who had been standing in the doorway during all this, sighed. "If you two are going to kill each other, do get on with it; I have a patrol route to run."
Slingblade looked at Rattrap for a second longer, "Nah. I think I'll spare him for a while; give 'im time to sweat his untimely demise."
Rattrap hissed at her.
She growled low in her throat before snapping at him, her sharp teeth clicking together a hair's breadth from his face.
Instinctively, he drew backward.
She laughed her cold, Decepticon laugh and sheathed her sword before walking out of the training room with Dinobot in tow.
................................................................................................................................................
The rest of the day went by as normally as could be expected. Cheetor had run into Quickstrike and Waspinator while on patrol, but had managed to come out of it with minimal damage. Other than that, nothing exciting happened, which was odd. A welcomed respite, yes, but odd nonetheless. The Predacons must be up to something.
Dinobot yawned as he walked down the hallway toward his quarters. He had just gotten off of monitor duty, and was more than ready for a nap. He could think of few things more boring and pointless than monitor duty. For Primus' sake, they had Sentinel! Shouldn't that eliminate the need to watch the monitors? He sighed; during his time as a Maximal, he had learned not to put very much faith in their technology. If something could go wrong, it would.
I need sleep. he wearily though, struggling to keep his optics lit up. Ten or eleven hours would be nice. …Impossible around here, but nice to think about, anyway. He yawned again, Primus, I'm tired. Why, I don't know, but the fact remains; I am absolutely exhausted. …I should be there by now, shouldn't I?
Someone screamed.
In that instant, Dinobot was jolted out of his half-awake daze. He rushed down what remained of the hallway, and began typing in the codes to open Slingblade's door.
The other Maximals had become immune to her nightly nightmares, and had finally stopped coming to check on her. But not Dinobot. Even though he was used to his former commander's problem, he kept coming in to check on her. She'd had a few better nights when the nightmares hadn't been that bad, but it sounded like those "better" nights had just come to an end.
Slingblade immediately tried to hide her tears from him when the door hissed open. She hated this, hated it like she hated nothing else. She despised being seen as weak, and she was at her weakest when she awoke from one of her hellacious nightmares screaming and sobbing. She especially hated crying in front of Dinobot. "I'm okay, I'm okay." she quickly said, trying desperately to wipe away her tears. The wavering of her voice sickened her. Why couldn't she control herself?
"You're not okay." he said as gently as his rough voice would permit. The door shut behind him as he walked over to her bunk, "You've never been okay."
She bowed her head; he was right. She didn't move when he sat down behind her.
He leaned against the wall that served as the head of her bunk, put his left leg on the bunk, and let his right leg dangle over the edge. "Come here." he said, taking her into his arms and holding her against his torso. Gently, he rested her head against his shoulder.
Trembling, she let him wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. She fought to control her tears, but didn't have much luck. This was the first time he'd ever held her; usually he just sat beside her, occasionally putting a hand on her back. His size and strength comforted her, but it seemed like nothing could stop her tears.
"It's all right, Slingblade. I'm here." he soothed, rubbing her left arm.
His rare compassion touched her. She darkened her optics, and leaned her forehead into his neck. She started shaking as silent sobs racked her body.
"Let it out, Slingblade." he whispered, feeling her tears begin to slide down his chest. "It's all right."
She cried silently against him for a long time. Dinobot had never asked her about her past. Why, she didn't know; he probably didn't want her to feel pressured into revealing her darkest secrets. In all honesty, she was glad he'd never asked; she wasn't sure that she could tell him.
He leaned his head against hers and darkened his optics. He felt sorry for Slingblade; whatever her creator had done to her had scarred her deeper than any weapon ever could. In an attempt to reassure her, he tightened his arms around her trembling body. She felt so vulnerable to him… It bothered him as much now as it had all those years ago during the Great War. He wished that there was something he could do for her, anything. But what? Probably the best thing that he could do for her was to be there for her and comfort her when she needed it.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him. If there was one steady, solid, unchanging thing in her life right now, it was him. So, she clung to him for dear life, afraid to let go.
He felt her desperation. Primus, he wished there was something he could do for her. …She had asked him once why he had started coming to her after the others had stopped, and he had told her that someone needed to check on her when she woke up screaming. This was only half true. He still had feelings for his former commander, and it bothered him to see her in such a state of distress. So, he came to check on her and stayed with her until she calmed down.
Slingblade was trying hard not to make any noise. Needless to say, it wasn't working too well. Although she wasn't openly sobbing, she was whimpering and sniffling. She hated this with a passion.
Images of her creator's face flashed through her mind. Images of him laughing at her, hitting her, yelling at her, and doing unspeakable things to her. But, the one image that didn't bother her was the one she kept going back to every time this happened; it was the image of her creator dieing by her hand.
Her creator's ghost cackled in the back of her mind, You'll never kill me, Slingblade. I'll haunt you until the day you die, and for all eternity afterward.
She growled at the demon, I killed you once, you sick bastard, and I can sure as hell do it again.
................................................................................................................................................
Slingblade awoke a few hours later still wrapped in Dinobot's arms. Shocked that he had stayed with her through the night, she looked up at him.
He was sound asleep, still leaning against her wall.
She smiled and relaxed. So, that's why he didn't go back to his room. she thought with a slight chuckle.
Dinobot awoke with a small grunt, his arms tightening around her. Once he was sure that she was there, he relaxed. "I thought I felt you move."
"Good morning to you, too." she replied, raising up and looking at him. "Hm. You look stoned."
He snarled at her, but there was no threat in it. "If I knew what you were talking about, I'd comment."
"Stoned means drunk off your ass. More human terminology."
"Oh. I don't indulge in drinking. I see no point in poisoning my body for a few moments of utter loss of sanity."
She chuckled, "You are a card."
"And you're warm." he replied, pulling her back down onto his chest. "So get back here."
"I didn't know you were cold."
"One of the many drawbacks of having a reptilian beast mode, I'm afraid. You know that as well as I do."
"Yeah." She shifted a bit, getting comfortable. "Thanks for staying with me last night."
"Thanks is not necessary. Someone needs to check in when you wake up screaming; it might as well be me."
"…I don't want you to feel obligated to come in every night and check on me, Dinobot."
He sighed, "I don't feel obligated to you. I just…want to know that you're all right. It…bothers me…to see you like that. …I worry about you, Slingblade. I always have."
She wrapped her arms around him. "I didn't know you cared."
He tightened his arms around her just a bit, "I have always cared about you, Slingblade. Always. I know I'm not the best at showing it, but I do care. I always have and I always will." He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell her who he really was, he wanted to tell her how sorry he was for ever doubting her loyalty to the Decepticons, he wanted to tell her everything he'd ever been to shy or afraid to say, he wanted to tell her how he'd felt about her since the day he met her all those years ago. But he didn't.
"Dinobot-"
A small alarm began to sound from the computer that was crammed into a forgotten corner of her room. Quickly, both Maximals got up and went over to the dust-covered machine.
"Have you ever used this?" Dinobot asked.
"Once or twice." Slingblade answered, switching the computer on as she sat down in front of it.
He stood behind her, leaning slightly over her left shoulder, "What does that alarm mean?"
"It means E. T. has phoned home."
"What?"
She flipped a switch on the keyboard, opening up a radio channel. "Tripredacus Council code-talk. It means that one agent is trying to get in touch with another."
"Oh. …How do you know that this is an agent calling?"
"Because he's using the Council's frequency, which is known only by agents."
"Oh."
Slowly, the face of a black panther appeared on the computer screen.
"Ravage!" Slingblade exclaimed.
"Slingblade?" Ravage asked, "Is that you?"
"In the metal. How's it goin'?"
"As well as could be expected. I should be at your location within twenty-four hours."
She raised one eyebrow, "Huh?"
He blinked, "Forgive me, I didn't tell you; I am the agent that the Council was sending to hunt down Megatron. With your help, of course."
"Of course."
"Um, who is that mech standing beside you?"
"This is Dinobot."
Ravage bowed his head briefly, "Greetings."
Dinobot only nodded.
"Slingblade, might I inquire as to why your friend is here?"
"Dinobot wants to help us take out Megatron." When she saw Ravage frown, she quickly continued, "All he asks in return is to have the first shot."
Ravage studied Dinobot for a few moments. "Can he be trusted?"
"Absolutely."
"Hmm. …Well, it appears that you have already sealed this deal."
"Ravage, I trust Dinobot with my life. That should tell you something."
He nodded, "Indeed." The Decepticon panther looked Dinobot up and down, "You seem familiar to me. Do I know you from somewhere?"
Of course you know me, you mangy fur ball! I used to fight beside you during the Great War! Dinobot thought. "Maybe." he replied calmly.
Again, Ravage nodded, "Mm." He turned his attention back to Slingblade, "Prepare yourself. Operation Goose Chase commences in twenty-four hours."
Slingblade nodded, "Acknowledged. Good luck, my friend."
"And to you." He saluted, and the transmission ended.
"Now what?" Dinobot asked, watching Slingblade stand and head for her door. He followed her.
She turned to face him, a smile on her face.
He'd seen that smile before, years ago. It was a reckless, demonic smile that she saved only for a battle that was going to be especially tense.
"It's show time."
Author's Note; Another chapter completed. If I'm not on your Author Alert list, you can keep up with the status of my fics by checking my bio page every now and then. Dunno why I did that, but I did… Anyway, thanks to CyberSpyder for the review. I appreciate it! (Send more readers!)