The Diego Diaries: Moving On (dd7 19)
Damn it. I posted this last night and it didn't go through. So I'm posting it now and today's part, 20. I'm going to have to check, double and triple check when I post each night. I thought I just got my numbering wrong. FanFiction hates me.:D
=0=End of shift
Raptor walked into the Iacon HQ to wait for his genitors and their charge, the luminous Pico. He'd been dropped off by Sun and Jack who were heading out to shoot it up with a gang near the north pole of Cybertron. Ironhide went with them and so did a number of others. Raptor and his genitors would take the two ragged mechs back to Mars.
Carbide followed Raptor and his team, then sat down at a table in the rec room, wearily setting the backpack on the table. He looked dejected, something that had been building up all orn from the moment he sat to eat lunch with Raptor.
Raptor continued into the Ops Center, then to the table where his ada and atar sat talking with the others as they relayed to Hardie the information gathered from a long orn of going everywhere and doing everything. Nearby sitting on a bench, Pico waited. He looked worn out as well. "Did you get my report?" he asked.
Delphi nodded. "I did. Thank you. Are you going back now?"
"I thought I would. Turbine is doing the prayers for the dead in the Temple and I thought I'd grab a bite."
"Take Pico with you. He's ready to go back." Delphi glanced at a slumped mech sitting alone nearby. "Pico, go home with Raptor."
Pico glanced up, then stood. He reached for the backpack.
"Leave it there," Raptor said. "Get it tomorrow."
The big mech hesitated, then nodded as he walked toward Raptor to leave. They walked out together, got Carbide, then headed for the bridge room downstairs.
Delphi watched them go, then glanced at Hardie. "Maybe there's something to them after all. They don't look as tough and set in their position as before."
"Rockwell will take care of that for them, I'm afraid," Hardie said.
It would be two more joors before they gathered to go, too.
=0=Riding in a shuttle over a wasteland
"They're in there. I can smell them," Ironhide said as the others laughed. That line from 'Return of the Fallen' was now a buzz word among the mechs just the same as 'A Master At Work'.
"Well, we're going to have to set trackers on them. They're pretty good at hiding in the rubble," Sun said as he rapped the pilot on the shoulder. "Take us in, infant. We're not going to get them today."
The pilot nodded, then arced around, heading for Iacon and the airbase there. It would be a short ride, a short walk to the HQ and a shorter jump back to Mars for everyone but the pilot who was on duty here for the next two decaorns.
=0=At a restaurant in Autobot City, The Steak House
Raptor sat down with two silent mechs in a new restaurant that had opened in the Polyhex Mall in the Temple District. He and Turbine loved this place and its food considering it 'their place'. He told the two with him that he would let the jail know they were dining with him, then he would bring them in when they were finished. He sat back, gave his order, watched them give theirs, then it was silent again.
The room was quiet and the restaurant was filled. Not being a cash society, anyone could go anywhere and do anything so they did. A lot.
"What can you tell me about your orn today?" he asked as the waiter laid down their drinks.
Carbide took a deep sip of beer, then looked at Raptor. "You were there."
"I was. We lived in the same world, you and I, but I see things that you either couldn't or didn't want to look at. What do you think about the destruction?" Raptor asked.
"It's horrible," Pico said as he stared at his beer. "But then you know that."
"I do. I saw it before it burned to the ground, the horribleness, and I see it now. It's interesting that we can come from the same bubble and you can't see what I saw then. It was inevitable, this catastrophe. All the suffering was a choice we all made. We made it as surely as we chose our dinners just now and some of us with as little feeling and emotion for the consequences. That's the worst part of all of it," Raptor said quietly.
The food came, Raptor explained what it was and how to eat it, then they began. It was quiet again.
"We removed Rockwell from your cell," Raptor said.
They glanced up but didn't say anything. What was there to say?
"He was on Earth with Ratchet. He started a fight and destroyed the officer's club at the base on Diego Garcia where we keep our embassy, the first place we ever had on Earth that was ours. There were humans around and it was a miracle that he didn't kill someone. He's in the administrative-segregation section of the prison. He won't be out for three orns and when he does get out, I'm going to have him do his time in another cell block, one that doesn't include you," Raptor said.
The two stared at him, glanced at each other, then turned to their food again.
It was quiet a moment, then Raptor sat forward. "You two seem affected by something. It helps to say it. It's not unmanly to show emotions and tell what's true. Only a fool hides his feelings. You were all over Cybertron for the last two orns. You see what happened. What do you feel?" He glanced at Carbide. "You said I wanted to have you tell me that you feel something. You said you didn't know what it was. Tell me what you feel."
Carbide stared at him, then his plate. "What do you want me to say? Cybertron was my home. I loved Cybertron. Its laid waste. There's dead and suffering everywhere. I don't know what to say about it."
"That's okay. I want to know what you feel?" Raptor said.
It was silent almost too long, then Carbide glanced upward to Raptor. "I'm … tired. Very tired."
Raptor nodded. "That's good. That's normal. What about you?" he asked Pico.
Pico was staring at Carbide, then he looked at Raptor with a solemn expression. "I don't know what to feel. I don't know anything."
Raptor nodded. "The humans have a philosopher named Socrates who said, 'Its a wise man who knows he isn't wise'. You two might consider that you took the first steps toward wisdom. Think about it."
They stared at him, then the waiter checked on them. They sat eating quietly until they finished, then Raptor rose to walk them to the brig in The Fortress nearby.
=0=Elsewhere
"ADA!"
"WHAT!?"
"WHERE ATAR!?"
"HE'S JUST A WORKIN'!"
Orion smiled upward at Ratchet as he stood by the table in the wash rack untangling Halo's neural net and solar collectors aka 'hair'. She smiled down at him as she stood still on the table top. On the floor waiting patiently, all of the others who were shiny and ready for bed watched.
"Atar just a workin'?" Praxus asked, then smiled brilliantly as Ratchet glanced down at him.
"He is," Ratchet said with a chuckle. "There. You're undone. Time for bed. AUTOBOT-LETS! ROLL OUT!"
Huge laughter and monkey motion commenced as half a dozen peewees, a cow, a cat and a dog ran in circles with excitement. It took a moment to herd Prowler, Halo and Hero into her berth room, then tuck them in. A lot of hustling for 'sleeping bed dollies, Ada' was had, then they were hugged, kissed and tucked in. The light went off and the parade continued.
Entering the other end of the house, they paused by Sunspot's room to note the big kids organizing bed themselves while Fireball helped Sunspot put his things into his book bag.
"Better hustle. School waits for no mech," Ratchet said as he herded Praxus, Orion and the critters into the berth room. They were still sleeping there on the bunks and playing hearty in their rooms during the orn. How long this would last was anyone's guess. It was notable that Cousin, Robby and Spot would sleep here as well.
After a bit of hustle, Ratchet noted smiling faces in all of the bunk beds. "Sleep, slaggers."
"WE WILL!" -all four of them.
The light went out, giggles commenced, then Ratchet checked on the big boys. No one needed a lunch, Tru and Genesis were 'going together' according to everyone at school, Genesis and Tru were sweet on each other and all was well. Hugs and kisses were had, then he stepped out as the lights began to go off in their rooms.
Grinning to himself, he walked back to the living room, turned on the television down low and sat in his chair. Glancing at Ironhide's, he grinned. "Get home, slagger."
The news was on and the outlook for lunch in the schools was great.
=0=Jail
Raptor walked down the corridor, then waited as the two entered their cell. The bars went up, then Raptor stepped closer. "You're going to get to speak to your bonds and family. I'm giving you two joors, not just one." He nodded to the pair who stared at him wanly. "Good night." With that, he walked out and the lights came down slightly in preparation for going off.
As they did, the monitor nearby came on and a close circuit conference call for the two of them with their bonds began.
It would be a strange night in the jailhouse for both mechs.
=0=Elsewhere
It was dark and the cold had settled. Rockwell didn't care. He didn't have a problem with the cold. He did with the two maniacs on either side of him. They'd raged for nearly half a day at him, threatening, bullying, badgering and taunting him from their own cells. It was clear they were deeply deranged to him.
Rockwell had raged himself but not to them. He'd done it internally, not allowing himself to be angry at the pair or anyone else on the outside. All of that anger was inside. He would endure this slag and everything else they threw at him. He was an island and no one's boats could ever reach him. That was the way he was raised and that's how he was approaching his dilemma now. He wouldn't know until he was done with this duty that he'd have to live alone in the jail.
Carbide and Pico had been moved to the 'possible list' for now.
The sound of shuffling nearby drew his attention. Wild Rider was outside staring at the stars. For a moment it was a very lonely sight, then the hard core hard aft thinking took over and he felt the momentary connection of loneliness they all had as a species in a strange place far from home fade.
It would indeed be a long and lonely night anyway.
=0=Later that night
Ironhide walked in and closed the door gently. He checked everyone, then walked to his berth to lie down with fatigue. It was silent a moment, then Ratchet stirred.
"How was it?"
"We didn't get them. Yet," Ironhide said. "How was things?"
"Good. All is well here, Ironhide," Ratchet said.
Ironhide grinned. "I know."
The light streamed in through the slightly tinted windows, light from the night time of Mars. Ironhide watched the lights moving in the sky outside, then fell into recharge at last.
All indeed was right in his world.
=0=Walking down the street toward home
Raptor and Turbine walked side-by-side in the gathering darkness of evening. The cafes, restaurants and clubs were gearing up for business even as the other shops began to wind down. The Night Watch horse patrol for The City rode past, two pairs of them, and each waved to the others, Raptor and Turbine.
Raptor took Turbine's servo into his. "I think Carbide and Pico can be salvaged. They seem confused emotionally and that's always a good sign. Paradigms shift and they can't find their footing."
"They will," Turbine said as he squeezed Raptor's servo. "Name a time you ever lost?"
Raptor couldn't.
=0=TBC 6-20-19