I live!
Sorry guys, got hit in a car crash (not gonna call it an accident) and went on hiatus for a while. No one was badly hurt but my little sisters were in the back seat when it happened and the psycho who hit me lied her ass off and then avoided the police and her own insurance company and it was just a whole ordeal.
Then I had finals, and then my other fic was up for an update first.
So to make it up to you all I was gonna give you a monster of an update, wrote my ass off for like months. And it kept getting bigger and bigger until it could easily fit into three fairly big chapters so that's what I did instead. This is the first one.
Thanks so much for all your patience and I hope you like it!
Thundercracker hurtled toward the alien planet like a comet, his vision streaked with fire as he punched through the thick, oxygen-rich atmosphere with the stars framed behind his wings.
-Right on target.- He broadcasted through his trine channel. His touchdown coordinates were coming in fast, even as the area appeared an indistinguishable mass of roiling saltwater far below.
His wiring already prickled, knowing he'd be submerged in that ocean for half a solar cycle upon successfully escaping the armada waiting for him.
-Acknowledged, be prepared to take evasive measures. Mission priority takes precedence over your survival, I will only engage in stealth or to ensure success. Take caution.- Starscream responded from somewhere nearby, hidden on the tiny colonized island close to his touchdown target.
His clipped reminder did nothing to hide the anxiety Thundercracker could practically feel wafting off the other seeker even from a distance.
But Thundercracker wasn't a part of one of the last surviving seeker trines for nothing, and Starscream would do well to remember that. -Affirmative, I'll see you at headquarters. Long live Lord Megatron.-
Starscream echoed the battle cry back to him, still subdued enough that Thundercracker was going to give him a good kick next time he saw his trinemate, but he couldn't think about it now.
He'd breached the black, flooded clouds, dipping under a curtain of rain and into fiercely buffeting winds.
His wings strained as he began to weave against the chilled air currents, his cargo digging claws into his frame as he dodged primitive human gunfire and bright Cybertronian light blasts alike in a struggle to reach the water's surface.
Already he could tell the ocean would be no less chaotic, but that was the point. It would be far harder to evade capture if the grounders and humans could see and pursue his cargo with the same ease as dry terrain, after all.
In Thundercracker's dizzying spins, he could spot a splash of bright red and blue among the human's dull warcrafts. In another elaborate twist, he could feel the scorching heat of Jazz's rapidfire blasts brush by his thrusters, singing the paint.
In a moment of weakness he instantly resented, Thundercracker flinched away from his touchdown. He was an ancient, high class Decepticon military officer, but he wasn't crazy. One mistake in a battle among war legends and there wouldn't be enough left of him to power a comm unit.
"Get ready to deploy!" He shouted above the winds, straightening out his flight path and gritting his denta as bullets peppered his hull.
The water was rising up to meet him fast, pain chased after him in blinding pulses as a blast struck true and his thruster coughed billowing smoke.
If he survived this, he was demanding a promotion. No way was Barricade gonna outrank him when all he-
Time was running out too quickly to manage, "Deploy!" He bellowed mere seconds before slamming into the water at shattering speeds.
It was enough to put a crack in his cockpit window as he plunged nose first into the black depths of the alien ocean. It would've certainly dented Soundwave's precious cassetticons if they had taken even a second longer to detach from his frame and fling themselves away in the cloak of seaspray.
-Divert attention.- was Laserbeak's cold farewell. Without a second-glance, the two jetted off together in the direction of the mainland.
-Frag off.- Thundercracker knew his orders, he was already turning around and sending a missile straight for the closest human ship.
So strong were the raging currents, it veered off course and hit the very back of the ship, sinking the vessel but leaving far too many survivors. Another blast clipped his shoulder, they'd found his heat signature again.
Thundercracker stayed underwater, propelling himself through the thick, turbulent waters to send his own barrage up at the sky where he got Cybertronian heat signatures.
He thought he'd spotted a crude human aerial craft during his descent, there weren't any Autobot seekers in the reports he'd received before touchdown so they were most likely there if not on the ships.
Sure enough, embers and scrap metal sank past him and to the ocean floor from a direct hit, and he was ready for the eruption of bubbles and red-hot searing Cybertronian weaponry that flashed before his optics.
Silver paint and immediate, rabbiting gunfire made it clear Prime hadn't been the one to engage, and confidence surged in Thundercracker's tubing.
Jazz, he could probably take Jazz.
He dodged, streamlined frame providing greater speed than the grounder, and launched a spray from his own lightweight rotary cannon. He didn't stop moving, circling around the Autobot to send a missile at his back.
So dark were the waters, all he could see without infrared was streaks of light as his attacks flew right past the agile mech. In elaborate twists he couldn't see but knew were happening, Jazz didn't waste a moment, keeping his short-range blaster steady as his return fire bit at Thundercracker's flaps.
-Status report.- Starscream suddenly interrupted, and this time Thundercracker couldn't bite back a gargled yelp as Jazz struck again and caught his side in a flurry of shots.
-Shut up!- Thundercracker hissed as he tried to make even tighter turns, setting missile after missile on his opponent.
-Prime is fishing humans out of the water, just finish the fight and- Dodge! Enemy fire coming on your right!-
Thundercracker dove away as best he could, side burning, as beam cut right through waves and very nearly sliced the tips off his wings.
Frag, frag! He could do this. So long as Prime was distracted he could do this.
-There's an Autobot near the island, he's got you on lock, evasive maneuvers-
-Shut up!- Thundercracker couldn't concentrate on the other Autobot, not while Jazz wasn't even slowing down. He was taking damage- Thundercracker could see the debris, but it wasn't enough.
Thundercracker was built for stealth, lean and swift. Going ped to ped with a short-rangepecialist was his very function. Even if that specialist was Prime's fierce second-in-command, it was doable. He wouldn't have lasted longer than nearly every other Cybertronian of his specs if he couldn't keep up.
Underwater, where his missiles were only so hard-hitting? Unable to pull back too far and risk drawing attention to the cassetticons? With a long-range bot on his tail? This was becoming a test of endurance and his light plating wasn't doing him any favors.
-Ravage and Laserbeak have reported to Soundwave, they escaped detection and are headed to the mainland. Operation Eject was a success.- Lord Megatron's mass-announcement rang through his head, pleased and powerful.
Thundercracker felt a thrill, he'd put that note in his leader's transmission. He'd succeeded, now he just needed to-
-Thundercracker was terminated ensuring the mission's success. He will be posthumously promoted for his loyalty to the Decepticon cause and with our victory, he shall be avenged. If you are receiving this transmission your next orders will be to pull back an-
In his shock, he didn't see the well-aimed blast in time to bank away. Agony drowned his processor in errors and he could only scream as his rotary cannon was gouged out of him, clouding the waters around him a poisonously bright energon-blue.
He spun in the throes of a current, the light so weak he couldn't tell where the surface was anymore, the only point of reference was Jazz's infrared shape honing in on him. If he got his servos on Thundercracker, he was-
-Thundercracker!- Starscream screeched over their trinechannel, and he could hear the faintest echoes of Skywarp's distress along that same line, but it was too late.
All he had were a sparse few missiles, a dagger that wouldn't do shit against Prime's axe, and a failing tracking system.
Jazz was advancing, slow but steady as he prepared to finish the fight. Lord Megatron had already left him for dead and it was too late to even prove him wrong.
He sent two missiles to muddle the waters and urged his thrusters to get himself away, anything to prolong the inevitable.
But he could also see another burst of bubbles somewhere high and to the left, near the weak light of what had to be the surface, was that Prime?
He still had his speed, but practically unarmed and bleeding as he was, even he could see the end coming. Frag, frag, surviving so many brutal fights only to die on a glorified delivery run? The injustice was nearly enough to make him retch.
Aiming his sights on Prime, he prepared to at least make them work for it. He'd put a scar in Prime's precious armor, he'd set a hitch in Jazz's joints- something- anything to mark himself by.
-I fully expect you two to avenge me.- He sent to his trinemates.
Then Thundercracker fired.
The blinding explosion that pulsed through the water at that moment blew the entire battle off course, wiping Prime and Jazz away as Thundercracker lost sight in his own aimless tumbling, soot and wreckage churning so thickly in the saltwater even his infrared could only snatch glimpses of the enemy.
That...hadn't been him.
Two more, rattling booms went off above the water, the shockwaves pushed him deeper still, until he'd reached the cluttered sandy floor.
Among the dreary tans and greys of the human military debris settling around him, he felt like a flare in his yellow-streaked navy plating. But maybe if he burrowed into the sand…
The hysterical thought fled his helm when a familiar claw snaked around his gauntlet and yanked him hard enough to nearly dislodge the limb.
"Move, you scrapheap!" Starscream growled out hatefully, propelling them across the ocean floor and toward the mainland.
"You're disobeying orders," Thundercracker said, kicking his thrusters into gear to alleviate the pressure on his gauntlet. Starscream wasn't slowing down.
"The mission was a success, my orders are complete,"
The grip on his gauntlet tightened further.
Never mind Barricade, Thundercracker couldn't believe Starscream outranked him.
"Not if we keep heading in the same direction as the cassetticons! If they're detected, this entire mission is a failure, which anyone with half a functioning core processor could tell you!" He knocked into his trinemate, colliding hard enough to set him in a completely different direction.
"Humans are territorial, if we make it out of these waters, they can't follow. Then we rejoin Lord Megatron, you complete glitch!"
Starscream glared, "Is that any way to address the mech who just saved your sorry aft after it was handed to you by a short-range Autobot grounder?"
That stung, if Skywarp found out what happened he'd never hear the fragging end of it.
"Can't be saved if all you do is get Lord Megatron to execute us on sight, can it? Now shut up and report what's happened, you have a longer range than I do."
As always, that comment earns a smug sneer before Starscream set out to do just that. As if being gifted a general-class comm unit as second-in-command had been anything other than blind luck.
His grip on Thundercracker never wavered, pulling him along faster than he could manage on his own. What a sentimental junkyard reject.
Thundercracker twisted his own claw to return the hold.
-Starscream, report.- Megatron commanded, lounging back on his newly crafted throne.
He'd had to keep Barricade busy somehow and he'd found mech wasn't completely incompetent at engineering. The gleaming metal he'd twisted and hammered into place was a domineering thing, stretching above Megatron's helm and emblazoned with a jagged Decepticon crest.
Their base was similarly rudimentary, but there was potential. Once an abandoned human mine, little more than an unstable hole in the ground, now transformed for a far grander purpose.
Already it was several times larger than any other mine in the human province of Arizona, deep enough to hide their energy signatures and spanning out to brush distant human cities from which Decepticon supplies were regularly raided. It wasn't ideal, but it would suit him for a while yet.
-My liege,- Starscream began slimily, drawing him back from his distraction, -The humans sustained heavy losses during Thundercracker's battle and as you so accurately predicted, the Autobots were too distracted assisting survivors to catch the cassetticons. Only their medic even tracked their progress and I quickly diverted attention-
Megatron cut him off with a snarl, -You? You were meant to remain in hiding and infiltrate their military aerial support. Thundercracker was the diversion. If you've jeopardized this mission, Starscream, I'll-
-The mission remains a success, my lord!- Starscream was quick to assure and he would pay for interrupting Megatron later, -Thundercracker kept the Autobots distracted for an acceptable time and we retreated away from the cassetticons' path. We will be returning within three solar cycles ready for your next command.-
We, the fragger had said we. It appears Thundercracker hadn't perished, after all, Ravage's analytical predictions had grown inaccurate in Megatron's absence. He was sure the seeker wouldn't last a breem under the combined force of Prime and two Autobot officers.
Pride and displeasure warred within him, Thundercracker had the perfect frame for scrapping, his lightweight seeker parts were ideal to refit for Haeree. Primus knows the Autobots wouldn't have done anything about his utter lack of armor yet, they found reusing parts to be distasteful at the best of times.
At this rate, Megatron was going to either send a scout back to Cybertron to raid for intact sparkling corpses or be forced to scrounge this wretched planet for anything worth reforging into sparkling plating. It would be no different than looking for energon crystals on an off-planet colony slum.
However, victory soothed his scorching temper. If he couldn't have a new frame made for Haeree, possessing an officer under his command powerful enough to have survived such impossible odds wasn't a terrible loss. He'd even allow Thundercracker to keep his promotion, their debriefing was one to look forward to. Megatron wanted to know exactly how the seeker had gotten away.
In the meantime…
-I knew you were a coward, but I didn't think even human germs could frighten you so. Thundercracker is under orders to retreat but you were supposed to man your post, Starscream. Get back here in three solar cycles, by then I'll have decided on a suitable punishment for your insubordination. Do not keep me waiting.-
Starscream's next transmission was weak with dread, -As you command, Lord Megatron.-
Megatron would enjoy reminding Starscream why a considerable amount of Cybertronians on either side of the war were too terrified to even speak his designation aloud. He'd had Barricade properly reeducated and simple, dependable Soundwave never forgot a lesson, but no one could accuse Starscream of genius.
Switching away from the channel, Megatron stared ahead, archaic processors whirring carefully over this latest turn of events.
Starscream hadn't told him why he had retreated, Megatron had been waiting for the justification to burst out of his second-in-command but it never came. That...was troubling, not a stellar cycle after his glorious return and already Starscream was holding secrets.
Megatron was one of the most brilliant tacticians to ever grace his planet, and it didn't take a mech of his caliber to know cowardly Starscream had blended seamlessly with human machinery in the past. It hadn't been a lack of nerve to drive him from Megatron's command.
He hadn't thought there was enough backbone within Starscream to bear trine loyalty, but retreating on Thundercracker's behalf was the most likely explanation.
He'd need to keep an optic on that, Megatron's word was absolute and soldiers who abandoned tactics for sentimentality held no place in his army, or among the functioning for that matter.
"Forgive me, my lord." Megatron shuttered his optics, shifting to catch sight of Barricade, hunched in a half-bow, gaze averted.
"Is it finished?" Megatron stood from his throne, letting the harsh installed lighting cast long shadows across his subordinate's stiff frame.
"Affirmative, the separate generator is functional and the wing's temperature control has been calibrated with our headquarters' command room."
A sharp grin found its way onto his faceplates, just in time for the next stage of his plan.
Frenzy reported a meager ring of proper heating for Haeree in the Autobot camp, pitiful for any child of their kind, let alone the very last. He'd put a great deal of thought and work into his own preparations, his sparkling would know comfort in ways only a Decepticon lord could provide.
"Excellent work." He let the praise sink in, feeling generous with the phantom weight of Haeree in his claws, "A reward might be in order."
Barricade, just that fraction sharper than the average troop, let wariness ghost over his expression. "My lord?"
"Blackout has been enjoying a great deal more freedom than you, how fortunate he is to raid and patrol while you toil away in a mine. Isn't that what you think?" Barricade choked on his panic, his secret complaints ringing through the empty halls and back again.
In Megatron's infinite kindness, he breaks the silent horror in the next moment, too pleased to twist it into entertainment.
He continued, "Be grateful, your lord rewards obedience. We require suitable furnishings. Tonight we strike the tiny human settlement to the west of our main entrance," Too small for the human military to value with constant surveillance, just large enough to house proper supplies for Haeree's arrival, Blackout had vetted the town thoroughly beforehand.
"You mean...for the sparkling? I'll assist in providing for the sparkling?" Barricade vented in awe, any anxiety wiped clean from his faceplates as his optics seem to grow in his helm.
Megatron meant to be coy, to use Haeree as the ultimate incentive, but even the notion of encouraging the greed he knew lay within every Cybertronian privy to Haeree's existence drove him to murderous heights on a dime.
"Haeree is mine." He roared.
Parental protocols surged like a primeval tide, booting in agitation and alarm. Where was Haeree? Why wasn't he in front of Megatron right this moment? His sparkling had been stolen from him and here he sat doing nothing? Why wasn't he retrieving his sparkling this very moment? It ached like he had never left the damnable ice.
But Megatron knew how to endure.
"The sparkling...is mine," He recovered his composure, sharpened claws balling into spiked fists, "but you may assist me in selecting recreational material after sundown tonight."
For how close he'd come to losing digits, Barricade was remarkably composed as he bowed deeply before his lord.
"That would be most...acceptable. Thank you, my lord." As soon as he'd ending the last syllable, he retreated as quickly as he could without drawing undue attention.
Within seconds, he'd turned the corner and scuttled out of sight, deeper into the cool darkness of the mines.
Megatron was alone in his throne room, staring blankly at the steely floor to the right of his seat. In his central processor, he could imagine Haeree lounging on a cushion at his peds, listening in rapture as Megatron lectured it on the proud history of their people. Sparkling giggles and chirps would echo through their base, bright green optics brimming with affection would stare worshipfully up at him. It felt so real, it was all so close. It was all he could do to hold back from reaching out and taking his future, without a care for the consequences.
Frenzy reported that Haeree was growing close to the Autobots, their medic in particular. He played with them and practiced with them, learned from them, the Autobots took all those moments away from Megatron with every solar cycle they were apart.
But Megatron knew a sparkling's bond was not so easily dissolved, Haeree had come to Megatron first and that meant something. His sparkling had been brought to Megatron on destiny that bordered inevitability, no matter what the Autobots did there was only one possible outcome to all of this.
"Don't forget, little one," He hissed to the atrociously empty space before his throne, "Don't forget that you're mine."
The Autobots came back early the next morning, trodding into camp with the first rays of soft sunlight.
Their optics were heavy and armor scraped. Jazz suffered the worst of it, with dented vambraces and a pronounced limp that screeched against the cement of their base.
The Decepticon had gotten away, their plan had succeeded and both Optimus and Lennox drooped under their failure. Lennox disappeared in a swarm of human soldiers, all wearing uniform expressions of defeat. Optimus curtly summoned Ironhide to a corner of the base and had yet to return.
Jazz explained in grumbling half-vocalized curses that in their distraction trying to keep Lennox's men from being sucked under roiling waves and fighting off the seeker Thundercracker, no one had noticed the military jet fighter breaking away from its hangar to bomb the water's surface indiscriminately. The explosive chaos gave Thundercracker and the jet Optimus identified as Starscream more than enough time to escape.
"And on top o' that, Thundercracker fragg- sorry, smuggled bots wi' him. Right, Ratchet?"
Ratchet hummed distractedly from his place kneeling besides Jazz's splayed peds, examining his joints.
"Affirmative, I detected two small Decepticons in the water, they must've been hiding under Thundercracker before then."
"Shit- sorry, that pro'lly means we're gonna be lookin' out for spybots or cassetticons. Primus, I dam- sorry- hope Soundwave isn't here already. Gives me the -agging creeps."
"Stop that, it doesn't hurt that bad." Ratchet scolded, but seemed purposefully rough as he yanked and pinched at Jazz's wiring.
"Primus, it does hurt that bad!" He snapped, he sounded very upset for all that he hadn't actually struggled or flinched once since Ratchet began repairs.
-Are you going to be okay?- Harry asked, his concern for the Decepticon had crumbled swiftly under the horrible sight of sparks and energon trickling from Prime's second-in-command.
The grimace wrapped around Jazz's faceplates disappeared as soon as Harry sent his transmission. He moved for the first time single stretching out, leaning toward Harry's cot, "Hey, no lil' spark. I'm all good, just bein' dramatic. I'm fine."
Harry wasn't sure he believed that, he'd wanted to cry after only one of his tubes had been punctured, and with the tearing Jazz suffered... -Doesn't it hurt, though?-
"That's what all my armors for, I can take a hit an' keep comin'," Jazz insisted, "I barely feel it- just a lil' sting."
"Speaking of, we really need to get you some plating as well," Ratchet looked up from his work, optics tracing over Harry in their familiar repetitive manner.
They'd mentioned it several times before, Harry didn't look right even for a robot. He stared down at himself, as the glow of his spark through the sheer wall of his chest. Such a pretty light meant ugly things to the Autobots, too small and scrawny.
Jazz sighed, "Prime's been workin' on it, but there ain't many options on Earth."
-What's the problem?- He was missing metal, right? But if there was anything Harry's new world had an abundance of, it was metal. Ratchet had a whole collection of scraps he was using to literally patch Jazz together right that minute.
"All the nice shit is expensive and we don't exactly have a line o' credit here," Jazz said tersely, "Prime's workin' on selling the military some outdated tech and working the human's e-job market, but compatible resources this far from Cybertron are hella scarce. Our other option is scavenging off o' other Cybertronians but that's…" The grimace returned as Jazz leaned in even further, staring intently down at Harry.
Harry cuddled a bit closer to his toy plane.
"Listen, lil' spark, if I could give ya anything, I would. Ya know that, right? Anything. If ya needed m'legs, I'd just pop em right off." Jazz's playful spirit flashed under the grim words and Harry giggled at the ridiculous image.
"But ya don't need my legs, ya need the finer stuff- under armor, under-under armor, an' bots can't give that away. Some ask to give those parts away after their deactivation, to loved ones an' stuff, an' that's fine. But ya can't just take a bot an' rip em up as soon as they've stopped movin'. Get me? You gotta respect bots even after they're gone."
Harry's giggles waned, what Jazz was saying was confusing but deathly serious. He kept his bright blue optics trained on him, willing Harry to understand.
Jazz was talking about Cybertronians after they've died. What people did with their bodies. Harry hadn't thought about it, but since he was a robot now, he wouldn't decay after he died- not like that bird in the garden. Not like his parents or grandparents, he wouldn't get a grave. Neither would any of the Autobots, Decepticons, or Megatron.
With this realization, he stared wide-eyed at Jazz as the mech continued.
"The dead should be respected, for their lives an' beliefs. That's something Autobots have stood for since the start o' the war. We aren't tools or walkin' resources, we're people."
-That sounds nice.- Harry hesitantly agreed.
Jazz smiled, "You're a good spark, that's why I'm tellin' ya this. Ya need armor and we'll get ya some, but we're not scavengin' from Decepticons an' the like for em and ya need to understand why."
Harry remained quiet, feeling out of his depth.
He sort of understood, humans were similar, weren't they? People were buried, their bodies respected at funerals. He wouldn't want more robot parts if that meant one of the Autobots would die, or he knew those parts came from a dead body. It felt gross to consider.
"Alright, that's enough heavy talk for today," Ratchet decided, and shattered the grim atmosphere with a slap to Jazz's leg as he lurched to his peds, "You're fixed."
Jazz cursed lowly, clamoring up as well. "Ya sure, med-bot? Cuz I still feel real tender…" He made a show of shuffling in place as he tested out his leg, now covered in mismatched patches of foreign plating to compliment the off-color scuffs already present.
"That's what happens when you've got dents that need hammering out, it's why most people dodge when the enemy is firing at you," Ratchet said, "You can handle that yourself, now roll out."
Jazz shot Harry an exaggeratedly grieved look, "Ya see the kinda disrespectin' I get 'round here? Don't let this grump bully ya too, m'kay?"
He waited long enough for Harry to chirp in agreement, mirth stirring up his wings before trotting over to the gloomy corner Prime and Ironhide resided in.
In the silence, peppered only by the scraping racket of Ratchet tucking away his tools and scraps, Harry turned his attention to the medic. He watched patiently as steady yellow servos plucked at the cement floor, as one by one, the metal bits and glowing lasers disappeared from sight.
Eventually, once the last of his things were hidden away, Ratchet's icy blue optics flicked up to take in his quiet regard.
"Don't you listen for a second, I would never bully you."
He spoke in the same gruff manner he'd used while teasing Jazz, but the soft, affectionate look bestowed upon Harry made it so much more tender to his auditory receptors.
It gave him the courage to silently lift up his arms toward the huge Autobot, servos straining for touch.
Harry only had seconds for smoldering embarrassment before he was scooped up in safe servos and cuddled right against Ratchet's chestplate. It was such an instantaneous smooth motion, it hardly felt like he'd moved at all.
"Awww, little one," Ratchet crooned, such generous compassion offered without a shred of hesitation. It was dazzling, Harry pressed himself closer still, a rush of greed egging him on.
"It was a stressful solar cycle, wasn't it?" Ratchet continued, "Being cooped up here during an attack? Must've been frightening."
"Mmmmh," Harry agreed. A lot had happened while Ratchet had been away, he felt wrung-out and spoiled. Depleted after the high stakes of the last twenty-four hours and spoiled for knowing it had been twenty-four hours since he'd last been pet and feeling like a wilted plant for it.
Ratchet sat near Harry's cot, pumping out the absolutely perfect amount of heat as he got them cozy on the floor, "It wasn't too bad, though. We all came back with just a few scratches. Nothing you couldn't get on a quick colony trip, so there isn't anything to worry about."
Harry squirmed, -Did you have to fight? Couldn't you just not go if it happens again?-
"I'm the medic, it's my job to keep these gearheads functioning. I go so everyone comes back," Ratchet said.
Harry stayed quiet after that, a pit of nervous turmoil threatening to crawl up his throat. He deactivated his optics and pulled toy Megatron up from his lap to join the embrace.
"How about we watch some tele-vision," Ratchet suggested, and delicately switched the tv on.
Harry squeezed himself around his toy plane and forced himself to look at the screen.
What was playing wasn't the channel Harry had left it on and it was mid-scene of a movie he didn't recognize.
The audio was weak from so high up, but blocky white subtitles helpfully displayed the dialogue.
DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE PLAN. THEY'LL BE HERE SOON.
"Hey guys, it's us." Sam announced their presence as he and Mikaela shuffled into the hanger alongside their military escort.
It was a scorching summer day, or so Harry had been told. Enough so that a few of his heaters had been turned off to maintain optimum temperature. Prime and Jazz left that morning and had yet to return, collaborating with Jacobs and her team over detecting Decepticons hidden in the ranks according to Ironhide.
Frenzy didn't seem concerned, but it was hard for Harry to pretend he wasn't worried for the spy nestled right in their midst.
Mikaela glanced at Lennox, "We heard about what happened in Hawaii, I'm sorry."
Lennox had brightened considerably over the past few days, the gaunt misery that had followed him back from the battle had been tucked away with the rest of the shadows in his eyes. He waved off Mikaela's sympathies.
"It could've been a helluva lot worse than it was. The casualties were few enough that people bought the training exercise failure cover."
"Small victories," Ironhide agreed.
"How exactly did you two hear? Don't remember signing off on your clearance." Epps raised a brow at the two flushing teenagers.
Bumblebee dropped into his car alt and threw the doors open, honking urgently.
"Little birdie told us," Sam said nervously, before Mikaela threw him into the passenger seat and leapt into the back as if Epps were gunning after them and not standing by Lennox with matching expressions of bemusement.
"Floor it, Bee!"
Harry saw his chance and chirruped for attention. He didn't have to be loud, as soon as he made any noise, the combined gazes of Autobots and soldiers zeroed in on him. -Can I go with them?-
Bumblebee hadn't moved yet, but screeching brakes blasted from his speakers anyway.
The sound echoed awkwardly off the cement walls as Ratchet and Ironhide stared down at him, dumbfounded.
After a beat, Ratchet cocked his head, "You want to go...with Bumblebee?" He clarified.
No, Harry really didn't. Their confusion made perfect sense, Harry didn't want to spend any time with the Autobot who took him from Lord Megatron. He wanted to read the rest of his book and practice speaking some more, he had made some big strides recently too.
But for Frenzy's plan to work, Harry would just have to push past his anger and interact with the scout instead. For Lord Megatron, he would at least try.
-I was hoping to play with Sam and Mikaela outside.- Harry held up his punctured baseball for evidence.
Sam rolled down the window, "Er, does Harry want something?"
"He wants to play ball with you guys outside," Ironhide explained, not looking at either Harry or Sam now, but Bumblebee.
"Hey, that would be fun," Mikaela said from the cab, "Hop in!"
Harry didn't move from his cot, he hadn't gotten the okay yet.
"...Leeeze?" He managed, peering hopefully up at Ratchet's frowning face.
"Hmm, it shouldn't be too cold out there for you. Some exercise would do your joints some good too," He looked conflicted.
"But with Bumblebee as your guard…"
Ironhide snorted rudely, "Who said I'd leave Bumblebee to guard Harry? He can play, but I'll go establish a perimeter first."
He transformed into his truck alt and sped through the hanger entrance in a rush of squealing tires and angry military personnel. Within seconds he was out of sight.
"You know you're on a military base, the perimeter has already been established." Lennox said, cracking a grin up at Ratchet.
"I believe he intends to clear a space of any possible hazards, including snakes and cacti." Ratchet shrugged and ignored Lennox's laughter to stroke Harry's helm.
"Go with Sam and Mikaela, I have some things that still need doing here. If you get cold or overheated, tell someone immediately. If you feel dizzy, or sore, or anything odd at all, come right back. Be careful and listen to Ironhide, affirmative?"
-Affirmative!- Harry chirped, wings fluttering, -Thank you!-
Ratchet smiled, rubbing a digit between his wings just the right way, like he was enfusing warm honey under Harry's plating. He sighed into the touch, slumping bonelessly against the servo in a way that instantly tugged Ratchet's facial plating into a smile.
When Ratchet pulled away, slowly, always slowly, Harry knew it was time to go. He turned his attention reluctantly onto Bumblebee.
He had been uncharacteristically quiet, frozen in place as soon as Harry had asked to go. Even now he said nothing, not even a sound effect to give away his mood. Did he not want Harry to join them outside? The thought actually made it easier to make his way past the heaters and toward the yellow scout.
The icy floor nipped at his peds as he hopped into the backseat next to Mikaela, resisting the temptation to dig his claws into the soft leather by wrapping them around his baseball instead.
It was chilly in the cab, like a frosty winter day. So spoiled was Harry from the constant surrogate warmth, it was shocking enough to make him squirm away from the blast of the AC.
"Cold?" Mikaela chuckled, leaning away from Harry, "Don't worry, you'll warm up quick once we get outside. It's baking right now."
"If we ever get there," Sam said, "Um, Bee? You good?"
This was enough to draw an affirmative whistle from the scout, but he still wouldn't move.
Harry heard Ratchet's gravelly scoff, "Primus almighty, soldier. If you can't handle it, just say so."
A little impatient now, Harry huffed audibly to support Ratchet's sentiment. He was cold and wanted out of Bumblebee as soon as possible, if he'd pulled an axel or something Harry could just walk.
He was pleasantly surprised to find the static in his vocalization made him sound even grumpier.
-No no! I'm good! I swear!- Bumblebee transmitted, revving his engines simultaneously.
"Finally," Mikaela buckled herself in beside Harry.
The mech's speakers burst to life, "Hold on tight, now!"
Harry tensed, optics trained on the white light of the entrance.
Then Bumblebee moved. A brisk walking pace that didn't match the trembling frame and puffing exhaust in the slightest. A seat belt locked around Harry's torso to cushion him from the lightest of lurches, pressing him to the plush backrest.
Ratchet casually shifted out of their path, incredulous laughter in every angle.
It took them several, dragging seconds to trot past Ratchet and to the hangar opening, engine growling as rubber tires were utterly silent in their soft roll. Sam was openly staring at the console before him in worry, Mikaela let out a sigh.
Bumblebee had gone much faster in the past, zipping past military guards and pulling up clouds of dust as Sam laughed from an open window. Now, the scout seemed to be just as reluctant to go outside with Harry as he was.
"And I am almost there/ I'm almost there!" Bumblebee sang as they finally crossed the threshold, hot desert sunlight blasting through tinted windows.
Harry winced as his optics adjusted, far too used to the gentle artificial lighting of the hangar. Shuttering, he nonetheless leaned closer to the window to peer outside.
It had been dark when he'd first arrived on the military base, long shadows and shifting silhouettes had been all he could see past the glare of headlamps and camouflage paint. Now though, everything was bright.
It looked a lot like the backdrop to the Hoover Dam, rocky terrain that rose to rounded mountains before falling to long stretches of bush and cacti. Red soils scattered the plainer beige sand, surprisingly green shrubs huddled in the shelter of boulders. A dusting of yellow flowers peppered the entire landscape, though it was far too dry for any water. The sky was a searing, deep blue, not a single cloud to dilute the day.
Harry shuttered his optics again.
Nevada hadn't changed much, but Harry had. When he'd first stumbled out of Aunt Petunia's rental weeks and weeks ago, he hadn't been able to see nearly so much. Never all at once or with such startling definition and depth. It was like putting on his glasses for the first time and realizing he'd been living in a muddled world of watercolor while everyone else saw in clean oils.
Except now, he mused, watching a tiny sand-colored lizard avoid the gaze of a falcon on the distant horizon, he'd gone from oils to HD television.
"Thank god," Sam said, startling Harry from his daze as he tossed a door open and hopped outside.
In his distraction, Bumblebee had driven right out of camp and to a spot nestled at the foot of a mountain range with plenty of shade. Ironhide was there to meet them, idling in his alt form.
"Maybe you need to fill up or something soon," Mikaela said, patting her seat as she followed after the other teenager.
Bumblebee made a grumbly sound after them but didn't use his stereo to argue the point.
Harry moved to follow them and got caught in his belt, he'd forgotten it was there. With a huff, he sat back and shifted to fiddle with the latch. As he did so, the belt pulled taut, hugging him for one long moment against the leather seats, a beat passed with Harry stiff and uncertain. Then, the belt unlatched on its own and he was free to step out.
-Thanks for coming, little spark!- Bee's sunshine transmission practically radiated sincerity.
Harry hunched, faced away from the mech. A cool dismissal pooled on his glossa, fueled by the frustration that powered all interactions with Bumblebee. But it caught right before he made those familiar, grudging motions.
He didn't have to be frustrated anymore, he'd found his way out. Lord Megatron was coming for him and Bumblebee's betrayal wouldn't mean anything soon. Harry may not like him, but he didn't need to feel the sting of bitterness whenever he laid optics on canary yellow paint. He would be getting him back soon enough.
Harry's shoulders fell, the winter wind gone from his sails as he let a tiny smile color his response, "Mhmm!"
Though it was Bumblebee who blinked his headlamps affectionately, Harry directed all his cheer to the silver toy plane in his claws. How could he be withdrawn when the real deal was practically right around the corner?
"You're getting better at vocalizing," Ironhide said, rolling a little closer and casting Harry in his shadow.
"Chhhanx!" He chirped, too excited to be self-conscious about how buzzy he still was.
Stretched his wings out wide, the buffetting desert wind fanning over his vents and fins was divine. A little cool, but the warm sand beneath his peds was more than enough to keep chills away.
"This outing will proceed until approximately four o'clock, or until the sun starts dipping, you've got two acres of secured land to run around in. I'll keep alert so don't worry."
"Who's worried?" Sam rolled his eyes at Ironhide's sober words, "The Decepticons would have to be, like, suicidal to try attacking a military base full of Autobots."
Mikaela echoed the sentiment, "Didn't Megatron also promise he wouldn't attack the base if Harry was there? Seems like you can relax."
-That's right!- Harry agreed slyly, -You should play with us, Ironhide!-
"If I played with you, who would make sure no harm befalls your toy plane?"
Harry pouted, he had a point there. With his baseball in one claw and tiny toy Lord Megatron in the other, he could accidentally break him. There's no way he'd trust Lord Megatron with Bumblebee either.
With a defeated sigh, Harry carefully placed his toy on Ironhide's passenger seat and shut the door. -Thank you, Ironhide.-
Ironhide's tires shifted grooves into the sand, "Don't mention it, go have fun."
"Throw the ball," Mikaela trot a few paces back, shiny ponytail bobbing behind her, "It was getting boring hanging out here all day."
"Boring!" Sam squeaked, cheeks pinking, "Tha-that's not what you said last time!"
"Hmm, are you sure?"
"Positive! Bee, back me up! Wasn't she saying stuff like 'oh, wow, Sam, Trent never made me feel like thiiis'"
Harry giggled at Sam's falsetto impression, complete with batting lashes.
"I hope you're prepared to jump, Witwicky, I'm going to be aiming above that giant head of yours."
Mikaela shot Harry a toothy white smile and he gladly tossed the baseball into her waiting grasp.
"N-no more, I give," Sam panted, curls limp with sweat as he fell to his knees.
The sun was directly overhead, intense enough that Harry felt like he was clasped in the palm of Ratchet's servo. The strong winds had grown just as heavy with heat, blowing Harry back as it caught in the wide V of his wings.
Mikaela was breathing heavily, but scrubbed at her damp face with a victorious smirk. "Already? We were barely getting started, right, Harry?"
"Mhmm!" Harry hummed, secretly glad his robot body was so good at hiding fatigue. He wasn't much shorter than the teenagers, but he'd had to jump and sprint to keep up with their strong throws. They'd been playing long enough for the shadows to retreat almost completely from where they stood.
"Take a break!/So cool out, stay high, stay fresh!" Bumblebee threw open his doors, letting a wave of chilled air waft enticingly toward Sam and Mikaela. His boot popped open as well and they both quickly snatched up the water bottles stashed inside.
Sam seemed mute with his desperation to pull in water but Mikaela stroked the scout's side mirror, "Thanks, Bee,"
Eventually, Sam's lips popped off the bottle with a satisfied smack and he turned toward Harry, "Hey, Harry, you don't mind if we chill out a bit, yeah? Us humans don't handle the desert so well."
The two were droopy and breathless and cradling their cold water bottles close, Harry would have to be heartless to begrudge them their break.
Ah, a claw came up to brush his thin chest plate. What a silly thing to think. Wry bitterness crept up his shoulders like ivy, he sort of was heartless, wasn't he?
Harry hadn't forgotten he was a robot, but it was harder to think about when playing with humans. He was trying to get used to it, the Autobots were being so supportive and yet...Heartless...All he had was a light that wasn't even supposed to be there now.
"Um, Harry? You good? We could just go find a cave or something…" He didn't sound enthused, but his dark eyes lingered on Harry's clenched claws.
He was being rude now, holding poor Sam and Mikaela back. Harry vigorously shook his helm and made shooing motions at the teenagers, ushering them into Bumblebee's cab with reassuring coos.
The two sealed off the cab without protest, visibly sinking into the no-doubt icy seats with matching expressions of relief. Music shortly began playing from behind the glass and Harry left them to their break.
With nothing better to do, Harry wandered back over to Ironhide's black alt. Under the Nevada sun, heat blasted off his hood but the mech only moved to once more place Harry in his shadow.
-I'm not hot,- Harry had to remark, a little amused now that Ratchet had him firmly acquainted with mothering habits.
"Still good to keep you out of direct sunlight, your central processor would be the first to go if you got overheated." Ironhide warned gruffly, as though the arid brush was an extreme in comparison to the ring of space heaters on full blast that made up Harry's regular environment.
Harry leaned back on his heels against the side of Ironhide's alt, a crooked arm held most of his weight to keep his wings from being flush against the mech. Ironhide's plating must've been molten, but it felt as though he were touching a fresh cup of tea instead.
The wind picked up again, a dull roar in his auditory receptors that drove him further into Ironhide. It was hard not to wobble as his fins twitched through the gale, filtering wind through one moment and then putting up a heavy resistance the next.
"Your wings giving you trouble?" Ironhide chuckled,
-Just a little, I'll figure it out,- Harry said, forcing his vents to behave and flattening his wings to his back. It was a fickle control, though, prone to failure as soon as the next big breeze washed over his frame.
"I'm no seeker, but it seems to me like you're close to graduating from basic exercise," Harry preened with the subtle praise in Ironhide's tone, "If your parental unit were here, they'd be preparing you for gliding. Probably stick you atop a high tower and walk you through all the proper positioning for air currents."
Gliding, a thrill shot through Harry. He'd love to go faster, higher, give his wings a greater purpose than oversized mood rings. Wouldn't it be good fun to plunge from Ratchet's servo and land safely at the foot of his cot whenever he pleased?
What would Lord Megatron say if the sparkling he recovered could not only speak, but glide on his pointed wings? Would he be proud? Could Harry impress even him? He was dying to try.
"As it is, I only know a few."
-Could you please show me?- Harry jumped away, stepping out from the partial shelter of the truck for the full affect.
"I'll give it a shot, widen your stance and wait for the next current to hit you."
Harry obeyed, sliding his peds further apart.
From his vantage point, he could also see Sam and Mikaela cuddling in Bumblebee's back seat. Mikaela was sat in Sam's lap, which had to be cramped, and the two were petting and kissing lazily, oblivious to their audience.
Disgusted, Harry angled himself until they weren't in his direct line of sight and did his best to ignore the gross, cootie-ridden exchange.
Instead, he distracted himself by watching a pair of military planes go by, arcing straight overhead and across the base with a dull screech. Their vapor trails cut the sky evenly in half from Harry's perspective, only veering off center after they were back over empty territory.
"Good, now widen your wingspan as much as you can and keep them flat against the wind, no vents or flaps should give way."
No sooner had Ironhide given the instruction when the breeze picked up again and Harry found himself straining hard, a kite tied too closely to the ground.
Within the next moment, he was on his aft in the sand, insects and animals scattering away from his vicinity. The landing was soft, and he was back on his peds with a grumble and twist.
"All that resistance you felt? That will dramatically slow your descent and is probably your most important position. You'll need to build up and endurance to glide for more than a few seconds but let's move on to the next position…"
And so the rest of the afternoon went, angling his wings with greater purpose and learning how his flaps could control wind resistance and rotation in tandem. They were far more important than Harry had initially given them credit for, neatly twisting him in a half-circle the first time he'd performed a rotating position without moving his actual wings.
Before long, the sun was finally drooping in the sky and it was time to head back to the hangar.
Bumblebee eventually delivered Harry to his nest on wheels that could've been made of tar for how slow he was, with Ironhide pulling up the rear.
For the first time, Sam and Mikaela declined Bumblebee's offer to escort them to the city, choosing a military jeep and stoically pretending they couldn't hear the sad music filtering through the scout's speakers as they climbed in after a pair of stone-faced officers.
Ironhide just barked out a series of jeering laughs and left Bumblebee to his sulking in the corner of the hangar.
"How did it go, Harry?" Ratchet hummed happily, scooping him up as soon as he reached his cot to snuggle him up against the crook of his giant, corded neck.
Harry eagerly reciprocated, fluttering to settle himself against the medic as his claws found a digit to embrace.
Immediately, the other servo rose to delicately pluck at his tired wings, zeroing in on stiff pistons and strained wiring with unerring accuracy. It felt divine after his day in the sun and he melted into the delicious hold.
"Little one?" Ratchet prodded, leaving his wings to briefly rub a soothing circle at the base of his helm.
-I want to go again tomorrow,- Harry announced, pulling his captured digit close enough to prop his chin on. From his spot so close to Ratchet's face plates, he got to see every subtle movement that came with Ratchet softening to his pleading gaze.
Sadness, yearning, deep affection, and other murkier emotions flashed in sequence in those bright blue optics, "Well, nothing went wrong today so I don't see why you can't go again."
Success! Harry dropped his helm to press his own face gratefully into the smooth plating of Ratchet's servo, a grin somewhere under his obscuring mouth plate. Everything was going perfectly, Lord Megatron was a genius for cooking up a plan so simple and foolproof.
"Chhhhhanxxxuu," Harry vented gratefully, and let himself shamelessly bask in the attention as Ratchet went straight back to massaging him into a pile of goo.
Before long, a soft rumble rose in his chest, smooth as honey on his vocal processor and tingly throughout his body. Harry slumped further, the involuntary rattling noise picking up volume he let Ratchet cuddle him even closer.
Contentedness as he'd never known in his human body engulfed him like a soft, well-loved blanket. This was probably that optimal status signal he'd accidentally emitted before, thankfully the Autobots seemed more prepared this time.
Ironhide had abruptly stopped laughing and Ratchet was crooning a nonsense lullaby into the safely closed off space between them, but the mania from before had dissipated.
Harry deactivated his optics, an invincible smile planted firmly under his mouth plate. He couldn't think of a better way to end his day. Even as he waited eagerly for what was to come, he couldn't bring himself to feel impatient when the Autobots give him so much to cherish in the moment.
Starscream: As a professional double-crossing bastard, I feel morally obligated to warn you that this is exactly how I'd try killing you. Be carefu-
Thundercracker: lmao if I needed loser advice I'd ask for it- watch and learn.
Thundercracker: immediately is killed
You know I was gonna make up the whole abandoned web of mines underneath desert towns but it turns out Arizona has exactly that. Lucky Megatron. Also terrifying, but I think everyone in Arizona understand that they walk outside at their own risk.