Woo! New Chapter! 28 took a bit longer to write up, but I had Uni projects to finish and they took priority (mostly). Now a bit of a headsup, in just over a week I'm gonna be flying out to America to work at a summer camp for six weeks, and I'm likely gonna be real busy. I'm staying in the US for just over two weeks after I finish work, visiting my good friend Drago, who owns Kia, Annie and Ivan. Basically, my chances for writing might be quite sparse, so another update likely won't show up for a while... depends if I acknowledge the need for sleep really. That's all on that little update, hope you all enjoy this latest chapter!
Jasper Nevada
Pulling up to their shared home, Annie sighed as she let Prowl pull back his seat belt and opened the door for her.
They lived together on the outskirts of town, in an old aircraft hangar that had been left to rust after the Cold War ended, their boss had convinced the local mayor to give them a building licence to turn the hangar into a home suitable for both of them.
Stepping out she walked over to the main sliding doors, and after fiddling with the lock for a moment, managed to undo the pesky thing and start pulling back the heavy doors on their rollers.
It was barely a chore anymore, her core body strength was something she never let dip.
Lord knows what would happen if she let Prowl open the doors, it would be the one time someone was this far out of town and paying attention enough to see him in all his giant glory.
Soon enough the doors were open enough and Prowl quickly rolled inside, being as patient as ever as she pulled the sliding slat doors back closed.
Only after did he transform back up to his full height, stretching in all manner of ways to loosen up his joints after another long day being stuck in his car form.
Once done, he glanced to her, and with a practiced ease from years of doing it, he easily bent down and allowed her to sit in the palm of his metal hand.
Prowl gave her a small, timid smile, and rose back to full height to carry her to the human living space that was built comparatively close to the roof, held in place by a set of cables, and supporting pillars.
Annie hopped off and turned to her partner. "Thanks Prowl, join me?"
He nodded and moved to sit his actual form down on the massive, and somewhat moth eaten, pile of crash mats they'd accumulated over the years, his systems powering down as his human avatar flickered into existence beside her.
Smiling she reached over to cup his sharp jaw in her hand, every day she got older, and every day he stayed the same.
Prowl sighed at the touch, slumping against its warmth. "By the deserts I love you…" He muttered, turning his head to the side to plant a chaste kiss into her palm.
Thirty years and him saying that still made her blush.
She gave him a smile, the same smile he claimed melted him into a puddle. "Alright casanova, let's see about dinner huh?"
He nodded, and they walked hand in hand over to the kitchen section, Annie's space was open plan, no need for walls, they just put unnecessary weight on the structure.
The kitchen was, by all standards, your average kitchen, oven, fridge, freezer, sink, washing machine, tumble dryer for the rare time Jasper Nevada wasn't able to dry wet clothes in minutes, and a moderately sized dining table and chairs.
"Anything in mind?" Prowl asked, stepping behind her to drop his head on her shoulder to nuzzle the side of her head, he wasn't allowed to cook, it got him all paranoid for some reason and that in turn made him panic.
And there's nothing worse than having a giant metal boyfriend having a panic attack on her, especially one over food.
She shrugged, about to make a remark about checking the fridge, when the doorbell went.
Yes they had a doorbell.
Glancing between themselves, Prowl's avatar flickered out of existence and back down to the smaller human door that was built into the wall next to the main slat door.
She stepped over to the edge of her area and watched him peer through the peephole for a moment before sagging and undoing the lock on the door and opening it.
Annie couldn't help but smile at who came through the door.
First came her boss, Maria Rodriguez, followed swiftly by her beloved daughter Bella, the sweetest girl in all of Jasper, and following her...
She nearly threw herself off the edge when she spotted the third guest. "Molly!?"
Said woman looked up at the shout and waved. "Well heya darlin'! Surprised tah see li'l ol' me?"
The deep south twang was a comforting thing to hear, just as was seeing the face of one of her oldest friends.
Well, to be more precise, Molly was one of Maria's close friends, and her and Prowl had been dragged into the tightly knit friendship group not long after they joined the force under Maria's watch.
As a result, Maria's friends and her daughter were the few others alive allowed to know the truth about Prowl, all of them had held their vow of secrecy all these years, and she couldn't be happier.
It certainly would of been a nightmare doing this alone.
"We brought food!" Bella called, jostling the cardboard box practically overflowing with fruits and veg.
"Oh thank god." Prowl muttered.
Annie just rolled her eyes, her cooking wasn't bad, Maria, Bella and Narissa just spoiled him with their stupidly amazing cooking.
Soon enough, their home on the edge of Jasper Nevada was bustling with idle gossip, and the ever comforting sound of someone else doing the cooking.
Bella and Molly were apparently in charge tonight, giving Annie and Prowl the chance to just melt into the large, very worn and comfy sofa.
Prowl was, once again, being his affectionate self, having pulled Annie into his side and begun lazily dropping kisses against the side of her face.
Maria rolled her eyes at the display of affection and shook her head.
Annie knew why, Maria was never one for grand displays of affection.
Hell, Annie had known Maria as a boss long before the sudden announcement that she was two months pregnant, they'd never even seen Bella's father.
Rumours had certainly been abound when Bella was in school, but the girl had never paid them any heed, and her sweet nature quickly won over the naysayers.
Maria had never even breathed what the mystery man she'd had Bella with looked like.
And they couldn't really guess from Bella, she was the spitting image of her mother in every way, same bright hazel eyes, same full black locks, though Maria was greying around the edges, and the warm sun kissed skin of Latin Heritage.
Prowl dropping his head to her shoulder and letting off an absolutely pitiful whine brought her attention back to her poor attentioned starved love.
She huffed to contain her laugh and gently coaxed his head up to press a kiss to his lips.
Prowl's actual form purred, as did his human avatar, his eyes half liding in bliss before breaking the kiss to contently drop across her lap.
She rolled her eyes again, he was like a damn cat when he got like this she swore.
"Aww, now ain' tha' ah sigh' sweeter than suga." Molly crowed from the stove, not even paying heed to the giant frying pan she was flinging around to toss the vegetables.
By some miracle they all stayed in.
Prowl had no dignity to even look embarrassed he'd been caught.
Shaking her head in good humour, she started playing with his snow white hair, paying extra attention to the cute twin streaks of red that perked up from his forehead like that piece of armour on his actual forms head.
Prowl's purring became even louder, and somehow he melted even more.
Maria and Bella were talking about how best to season whatever it was they were having, Annie paid no true mind to the debate, they always got like this, and the food always tasted great.
Soon enough she had to push him off so that they could both get up to join the others at the dinner table.
"Stir -fry?" Prowl enquired, ignoring the offered chopsticks for the fork and spoon.
Molly and Bella nodded.
They were digging in soon after, Annie let off a sigh of bliss at the taste, Prowl chuckled at her but focused on his own bowl.
No one really questioned how his avatar was able to eat, it meant he never had to be left out.
"So, what's the occasion Molly? Someone finally managed to serenade you into marriage?" Annie asked, checking Molly's fingers as subtly as she could, pity, no ring.
Molly shook her head. "Oh no darlin', you know ah'm not the type to settle down. No, I came to tell you, me, Selena and Narissa are headin' for Europe, again."
Bella chuckled around a mouthful, Maria was the one to speak after sending her daughter a look, it was humourous really, Bella was almost thirty now and Maria still couldn't help herself sometimes. "Any set destinations?"
Molly nodded. "Obviously, Narissa and Selena are dragging me to Monaco for the F1 racing season, and they want to visit their home town in Switzerland, I think the plan is to stay at their families old manor… you all heard that their Aunt passed away last year and the deed was passed to them."
They all nodded, there'd been no real shed tears, Selena and Narissa's aunt had been going on ninety eight, it was no surprise that she'd passed away, and left the manor to her only still living relatives.
Molly kept going. "Well apparently there's only like, two staff left looking after the whole place so they wan' to go hunt down some people to work for them in helping maintain the place, as well as revisit some old childhood memories… I think this will be the first time they're going home…" Molly trailed off, expression suddenly becoming solemn.
They all did, it was no secret the sisters had fled to America back in the 70's, they never said specifically why they'd fled Switzerland though.
At the same time though, none of them could complain, if they hadn't, they wouldn't of met Maria, Sophia and Molly, and in turn been introduced to herself and Prowl.
"So, you're going to give them some emotional support?" Bella asked tentatively.
Molly nodded. "Sophia offered to join us, but she might not be able to join us until later, getting to Switzerland from the middle of Siberia takes a good bit of planning after all."
Prowl let off a noise of agreement around his current mouthful.
It was Bella who brought the conversation to a more pleasant topic, bringing up the latest exploits of two of her co-workers at the town bank, and their constant overly convoluted courting, apparently neither of them have yet figured out the other is just as interested as the other, despite how blatantly obvious they are to the rest of the workforce.
Annie and Prowl accepted the joking comparison of how they'd been in the early days of their budding romance, they'd heard it all before.
Eventually though, once the dishes and cookware were all washed, dried and put away, it came time for their guests to depart once more for the night, Maria and Bella leaving first, both stating they needed to be somewhat awake for work tomorrow, Maria sent one last knowing look to Annie and Prowl as she said that, Annie muttered 'One time, one time we were late and you still haven't dropped it', to which Maria just shook her head in good knowing humour.
Molly lingered for a few more minutes, idly chatting to make up for the time between her last visit, she had a ranch out in the Messa's, and her animals normally demanded all of her attention.
She made a good living, boosted by her luck in the stock markets, she sold all of her shares a few weeks back and had gained a zero or two in her bank account for it, though she didn't specify how much.
Eventually though, the idle chatter died away and Molly hugged Annie first, she always was one to give tight, near crushing hugs.
When she hugged Prowl, Annie thought she caught something, a small glimpse of pain on Molly's features.
It wasn't the first time, Molly, and the others all had the biggest bleeding hearts, and Prowl's amnesia was always something they grieved over, more than Prowl ever did really, he'd mostly made peace with his empty memory, though he still wondered who he once was.
But this time, at the same time, the hug seemed even tighter, and lasted a few moments longer, before they both pulled away and she patted Prowl's avatar on the check. "See you both aroun' darlin's, don' be strangers."
With that, she stepped out into the darkness and stepped into her large offroader.
It was often a bit comical to see the petite, sixty two year old clamber into that behemoth, but that was just how things were, Molly's ranch was so far out there, there wasn't even a road for the last mile and a half, Maria went to check in on her every Friday, just to make sure something hadn't gone wrong, it was never said explicitly though.
As the offroader slipped away into the distance, Prowl took her hand and began leading her back inside, the sun had long since set, and the sounds of the night were loud and clear as they rolled with the wind along the desert.
He pulled her in close and just held onto her for a time, his avatar was always warm, but he claimed feeling her warmth bleed into him was a comfort he yearned for.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek over her shoulder, just before the avatar flickered away and his actual form came back to life and offered her his hand once again.
She perched herself in his ever careful hold once more, and gave him her best winning smile once he lifted her up to his face.
The visor he wore lifted up into the metal that surrounded his head, revealing the golden pools that were his glass eyes, Annie swore she would one day be hypnotised by those pools of molten gold, Prowl would just chuckle at her.
"I love you." He muttered, pressing his lips to her hair, before giving her a full body nuzzle with the metal of her face.
She giggled like a school girl at that and patted the side of his face. "Come on then, the Sheriff made it clear, she want's us on time to work tomorrow."
Prowl let of a noise of disappointment, but didn't fight the inevitable, carefully placing her onto the large king sized bed they had in one corner of Annie's section.
His avatar joined her not long after she'd gotten changed into her PJ's, always the gentleman.
Soon enough he'd buried his head under her jaw, their arms wrapped around each others middles and legs so intertwined it would take some work to untangle themselves when morning came.
She pressed one more kiss to the top of his head, and swiftly slipped into slumber herself.
And if Prowl's hand rested against a certain bit of scar tissue on her back, she wasn't going to say anything.
The Gilded Falcon
It had taken asking one of the normally statue like staff, but he had managed to learn the location of Ratchet's room on the ship.
He wouldn't say it out loud, but no one had seen the CMO since the previous evening, and with Kia due to depart to fly ahead to Barcelona within the hour, he thought it wise to bring the CMO back onto the deck.
Aria's second protrusion was still badly damaged after all, and she'd remarked to the fact that, as much as she trusted Kia with her life, she'd prefer to have Ratchet there to coach Kia through the full procedure.
Which was a understandable reservation, though he also felt there was some underlying context he was not privy to.
So here he was, walking up to the CMO's door and having his brows furrow ever so slightly more at the muttering he seemed to be able to hear from the other side of the door.
Taking a moment to be sure of what he was hearing, he knocked twice with the back of his holoforms knuckles, noting the odd sensation and the dull thudding sound the impacts caused, Ira truly had to be commended for the work on the Holoforms, yes he'd encountered similar physical projections before, but the attention to detail was something to be admired, especially considering her apparent 'learning on the fly'. "Ratchet? May I enter?"
There waa a pause in the muttering before Ratchet answered. "Come in Prime, the door's unlocked."
He knew that tone, something wasn't good.
Pushing the door open he found Ratchet sitting at the wall mounted desk, the wall mounted TV now resting against the wall and being held in place by the CMO's hand, one of his fingers pressed into one of the TV's data ports.
On the screen, seemingly endless data. "What seems to be the issue Ratchet?"
The medic groaned and shook his helm. "I can't make helm and pede of their anatomy Prime, they're made of metal, yes, but everything from their processor to their struts are of organic design, you saw their fuel pumps."
He did, though it was a bit surprising to hear that apparently every single piece of the Harpy's internal systems were organically based.
Ratchet then gestured with his helm to a plate on the desk, some of the tainted energon sat crystalised in it's centre. "I don't have the tools to analyse that yet, but I know it's going to give me just as much of a helm ache, energon normally takes a few joors to harden without a patch, that hardens in under a klik."
He'd noticed that too. "Perhaps there is some merit to the notion of learning organic anatomy." Perhaps there was something within the Harpies that could, if compatible, be transfered into his mechs, though that would require rigorous testing first.
Ratchet's look of scandal was once he'd have to file away, any expression such as that was priceless.
But, after a few moments, Ratchet seemed to resign himself. "Fine, I'll see about looking into it... "
He nodded, pleased that his CMO hadn't needed much of a push in making that decision, Ratchet could be stubborn at times, much like his mate Ironhide, but thankfully that was not the case this time. "Perhaps one of the Harpies can acquire some medical 'textbooks' or something to that calibur."
Ratchet just huffed. "I'll ask."
Seeing the option to change the topic, he spoke again. "Kia has announced her intention to fly ahead to her residence in Barcelona, Spain, I think it is wise you join her, Miss Barnes has apparently been hired by Miss Estrada, so you will have Bumblebee to give you company."
Jazz and Miss Madsen had already been offered residence at Ira's home in Rome, apparently there is limited space in the City centre, and only Jazz would be able to drive without issue in the city.
That had left the twins to offer himself, Ironhide and Ratchet safe harbour in Monaco, though Kia had also stated there would be enough room in Barcelona for at least one more as well.
Personally he'd rather have two bots in close proximity to the Allspark, he meant no ill will of Bumblebee's abilities, but he also had his charges to watch over, and he feared the scout would only be able to do so much were an attack to happen.
Ratchet seemed to ponder over the suggestion for a few moments before nodding. "I assume this means you want me up on the deck to see her off?"
Optimus found himself nodding before Ratchet had even finished talking. "It would be the polite thing to do considering how much they have done for us so far, they did not have to give us safe transport to the Eurasian Continent."
Ratchet gave him a look he couldn't quite decipher, but resigned himself to getting up, pulling his finger out of the data port and letting the screen go dark with a mutter of 'finishing the analysis later'.
Optimus stepped aside to let the grumbling CMO out first.
There was no specific need to rush at present, but evidently the medic didn't see it that way.
He allowed himself to fall behind, moving at a slow idle to look around him.
He'd found himself falling back into memories a lot recently, both fond an melancholic, often they were a mix of both.
Ever since Ratchet had mentioned his mentor Dust, it was almost impossible for him to avoid it.
He was becoming somewhat frustrated, it felt like he was taking a step back.
He'd moved on from that time, he'd come to terms with his losses, though he doubted he'd ever forgive himself completely for many of the events that littered his past.
It was thoughts like that which had been puzzling him.
He'd let the visages of his first one sided affection drift into the past, he'd found love with Elita…
Elita… he hoped she and her unit were still online, he would have to send out a heralding call soon, though he'd only do that when he was sure the Harpies would be willing to aid a larger number of them with staying under the radar.
He missed her, his spark yearned for Elita's presence, to have her there to let him step away from the pedestal he stood upon now, to just hold her close and talk like they used to, when she became his confidant, when he was still Orion.
Elita had stood by his side, just as his first loves had.
Bitterly his spark wondered how things would of gone if he hadn't lost them…
If the offense on the Tarn Energon Refinery hadn't gone to so horribly wrong.
He wouldn't of grieved them, they would of still been online, still on base, still lighting up the darkness of their warn torn world with the bright smiles they always had for him though not for him alone, he wouldn't of sought out Elita, wouldn't of become even closer, likely wouldn't of taken their relationship past close friends…
"Prime, hurry it up."
Snapping back to the present he cursed himself internally, he'd all but stopped in place, falling back into the memories when he'd been thinking about not doing that.
He picked up his pace to catch up with his CMO. "My apologies Ratchet, I was, lost in thought."
He didn't miss the furthering of Ratchet's scowl.
He went to try and placate the medic. "Ratchet, I did not mean to make you…"
"You didn't offend me Optimus… I'm worried about you."
Optimus felt this holoform jolted a bit at the admission. "Ratch-"
"I knew I shouldn't of brought up Dust… it's thrown you off, we need you focused on the now, not the past." Ratchet stated.
Optimus wanted to rebuke that, to reassure he was fine, but he hesitated before sighing and nodding. "I have… been struggling with it…"
"Spark break is a potent thing Prime, it leaves scars… speaking of which, if I am to reside in Barcelona, we're going to need a work out a way to move between the Harpy's domiciles, I didn't like the way Ira's spark looked, I'm going to either have her come to Barcelona, or travel over to wherever she resides to try and see what's causing it."
Optimus happily accepted the change of topic, but felt the concern he'd already had simmering within him start to bubble. "Any possible causes you can think of?"
Ratchet nodded. "A theory… I've seen sparks like that before."
He waited patiently for the medic to continue.
"You're well aware of how spark bonds work, when one of the pair is offlined, the other enters an accelerated rate of decline, often taking less than a joor before the spark completely collapses in on itself, no longer being able to support itself without it's other half… sometimes though, in rare cases, the severed bond will not offline the other sparkmate, especially if skilled enough medics are present to put their spark on support and give it time to re-stabilise."
Optimus nodded, it was why he and Elita hadn't bonded yet, they wanted to, but the risks of being offlined were too high with the war.
That aside, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what Ratchet was leading up to.
He didn't stop his old friend though.
Ratchet rubbed the side of his holoforms helm. "It stands to reason then, that, likely in her human life, Ira lost a mate, and the effect has become a physical wound on her spark. I'm going to have to monitor her, it's stable for now, but it's been weakened by the ordeal."
For a moment he thought that was the end of their conversation, but Ratchet wasn't done. "And it's not just Ira, she's just the worst of the four."
He felt his brows furrow. "What do you mean?"
Ratchet let off a vent. "Kia's spark seems to of gone through two separate bond 'severings', though I'm fairly certain they were familial bonds, Fernando comes to processor as one of the two. It's nothing to be concerned about, a familial bond breaking is something all sparks can handle, even multiple times, it's to be expected, we're not immortal, creators pass before creations, older siblings pass before younger, or visa versa, so I'm not really concerned, especially considering the Allspark has merged with her spark, i'm more fascinated by how what seems to be experiences in their human lives have affected their sparks…"
He nodded along, he wasn't the most informed on the topic of bonds, it's was a spiritual part of their culture, something he'd had little time to think about with the war.
But he trusted Ratchets judgement on the matter.
He also had the feeling a certain set of twins were about to be mentioned.
"Then there's the twins."
Optimus almost felt like patting himself on the back, though kept his expression inquisitively neutral. "They're sparks are fused." He remarked.
Ratchet nodded, but his frown remained. "Yes, that in and of itself will need me to keep an optic on them, but it's something else I found in their scan that concerns me… a number of things really."
He raised an optic ridge on his holoform, Ratchet took another vent to stabilise himself. "Firstly, there's the remains of familial bonds, and one still existing one, though obviously whoever that one is attached to does not exist in this reality, so it just, lingers there, it seems to of resigned itself to the other end not being there, but still being online, something I haven't ever really seen with my own optics before, but, this is of course, an abnormal case."
He knew there was something else, so, he waited, and kept pace.
"I know this will sound absurd Optimus… but… it looks like there was a third spark merged with theirs… though it's not there anymore… there's the after effects, signs of a sudden, near instant severing… Ironhide has been suspicious of all of the Harpies from the start, I've had my reservations... but that… that isn't normal Prime, and I'm saying that in the context of everything else two fused sparks is impossible enough… but three? With one no longer there? My advise? Keep an optic on the twins, a close one… their em field was weak, but what there was of it, to use a human phrase, it reeked of death."
Just then, they reached the doors to the main deck.
Optimus wasn't sure if it was the holoforms physics engine reacting to a sudden drop of the ship, or if it was his spark that just dropped in his actual form in dread, but suddenly he found himself hesitant to step out.
That hesitation was quickly stomped out, but the warning lingered as he tilted his helm back to regard the Harpies, all four now standing at their full heights.
The twins just so happened to be staring right back, their pitch black visor seemingly locked with his own gaze for a moment, a single moment that sent a bolt of fear through him, had they heard? Had they heard Ratchet's warning to him? They knew they were not trusted by his unit, they likely suspected them of going behind their back struts... all of this raced through his processor in the mere moment before the twins gaze broke away to continue conversing with Kia with those protrusions.
He wasn't sure what he felt then, but a bout of tense relief was in there somewhere that the Harpies hadn't done… something.
Kia left within minutes of Aria's protrusion being fixed, taking wing and rising up high into the clouds.
California
They were arguing again.
Barricade was drowning them out by watching a human TV show on his HUD, he'd developed the habit after realising it was likely his best chance at maintaining his sanity while those two lugnuts bickered.
It was a show about cold case murders.
So far, he'd found an odd joy in watching these police investigators discuss the murders of the episode, times, dates, locations, murder weapon if there was one, the bodies state after being discovered.
He'd made a game out of it, though he'd only cracked three episodes so far.
Funnily they were all the spouses acquitted of the murder.
Not that he really cared, it gave him a chance to use the skills he'd mastered as an enforcer in Kaon all those vorns ago…
Pits that was not something he wanted to be thinking about.
He focused his attention back on the show, it was a particularly brutal one, he had no care for the victims normally, but he felt one small bite of sympathy for the two children who'd been part of the entire family, all murdered in the same room, children last.
At large though, the show was just cementing his distaste for humans…
Especially a certain former human who's screeching seemed to be a match for the previously unrivaled Starscream.
He wanted to just punch the both of them, preferably knock their mouths clean off, but they'd just turn all their screeching on him once they were all put back together.
Out of the two, he wasn't sure who was worse.
Demolisher and Bonecrusher had long tried to convince him in joining their betting pool on which of the two would offline the other first, but he declined, he wanted no more reason to have to interact with those brutes.
Frenzy was curled up in one of the gaps in his armour, poor kid, he'd been reaching across the bond with his sire and siblings for some time now, though the distance between them had barely shortened, little to nothing could really be transmitted across that distance.
"WE NEED TO GO TO EUROPE!" Fernando roared, slamming a pede down onto the concrete.
"WE NEED TO WAIT AND REGROUP!" Starscream screeched back.
Primus how had a human not heard those two yet?!
He'd sent a report to Kia expressing just that, he'd received some advise back, 'Bear with it.'
It wasn't helpful advice, but he could practically feel the sympathy through the words.
He didn't need sympathy, but he admitted to himself that the thought was what counted.
It was certainly better than the majority of the company he was having to keep.
There was an unholy screech of frustration from the other side of the hanger, followed swiftly by the sound of the two breaking out into a minor tussle for the sixth time that day.
He contemplated patrol, but he'd literally just gotten back from his third one of the cycle.
They only had so much energon, already he was burning through a concerning amount just by going on so many patrols t get away from the twos constant squaballing.
Oh… apparently he'd missed some important details, because all of a sudden the show wasn't making any sense.
He could just rewind it.
Orrr….
He rose from where he'd been sitting propped up against the wall, and with a quick clearing of his systems, revved his engines on full blast.
The noise was blessedly, enough to finally shut up the two squabbling mechs. "Now that I have you attention, do the rest of us a favour and either go frag out that tension between you, or just shut up, before one of us snaps and kills one of you, Bonecrusher's looking twitchy."
He wasn't lying, the massive tan mech was certainly getting twitchy.
Starscream and Fernando alike spluttered with indignity for a moment before Starscream's embarrassment was overcome with fury. "You… You dare insinuate I would even… he's a freak!"
Fernando screeched in retaliation. "Better than a living pile of rusted scrap!"
Demolisher tried to hide his laugh behind a clearing of his vents.
The two stormed off in opposite directions Bonecrusher and Demolisher had been expanding the base whenever they felt sufficiently bored enough to do so, meaning there was already a network of tunnels the could go and sulk in.
Unlike Demolisher, Bonecrusher seemed to take no humour from what had just occurred. "You realise they're gonna actually frag each other now, right?"
Barricade felt his four optics partially close as he grimaced. "With that… thing?"
Bonecrusher just raised an optic ridge.
"You're right… Starscream's taken worse to his berth." Demolisher added. "Wanna make a bet on who tops?"
Barricade wanted to punch the damn tank.
But his self preservation suggested he not do that.
And his self preservation was something better heeded than ignored.
At least without the two screeching maniacs, he could get back to the cold case series.
Five minutes later and he could hear them screaming at each other somewhere down in the tunnels.
He felt like slamming his helm into the wall.
Once again, self preservation told him no.
One of these cycles he was going to ignore that and do something stupid.
He could feel it.
And that's all for this one folks! I hope you all had fun reading! Until next time, Moon out!
