A pallet of warmer hues had begun to take over the clear blue skies. The sun, now barely peeking over the horizon, still managed to bathe the island in its final rays of warmth. The temperature had been gradually decreasing over the last few days and the orange leaves on the trees indicated Autumn was upon the small island.
Quickshadow had come to learn of Earth's strange seasons on her many missions across the world. She had seen vivid green leaves exchange their coats for oranges and reds but had never stopped to admire the change.
She didn't pay much mind to the woodland creatures as they scurried to their homes to retire for the night. Her attention was captured by the small town below. Everything looked microscopic to her from where she sat.
Her peds dangled from a ledge atop Mount Griffin, unbothered with the long drop to the ground. After her hasty retreat from the firehouse, she went for a walk to clear her troubled mind and 15 minutes later, with the help of her rocket boosters, she found herself on the highest point of the island.
The cool breeze that blew across her faceplates was quite soothing and was almost enough to get her to forget her current circumstances.Almost.
Despite the small voice's constant reprimanding over the kiss, she couldn't find one strand of regret in her systems. The only thing she repented was pulling away.
It was a lot to process. One second they were sparring and the next they were laying on the floor in an alarming proximity. He had kissed her and she returned it. His taste had flooded her senses and she felt overwhelmed. She didn't appreciate having her personal space invaded and a kiss was way over the line. She couldn't deny that she enjoyed it, but her processor was fuzzy and she needed to clear it.
She tried to suppress the warm energon that was staining her cheeks by focusing on tranquil ocean beyond the town but ultimately failed.
Quickshadow told herself she wouldn't fall for someone this easily and when she began developing feelings for the mech, she forced herself not to cave, but she couldn't help but be drawn to the firebot.
She hadn't fallen for his looks alone, that was just an added bonus. She was won over by his caring spark.
Heatwave was a reserved and stubborn mech, some might even say hot headed and bad tempered. However Quickshadow was trained to read body language and his overprotectiveness of anyone he cared for easily gave him away. He always put his team before himself and had their best interest in mind.
She, on the other hand, could be described as closed off, distrusting, distant and equally as stubborn as Heatwave.
Her tendency to bottle up her problems was an unstable coping mechanism that could only suppress her bitter memories for so long. The same could be said about her mental walls. They kept her past sealed in the darkest confines of her processor but they too, were slowly deteriorating and would erode someday.
She kept telling herself she was better off alone, where she was in no position to hurt him, but deep down, she longed for love and acceptance. And as the weeks went by, she slowly realized it was specificallyhiscompany and affection she not only craved, but needed.
However, like always, her past retained her from opening up to him and she figured it was for the best.
Heatwave was a great mech...who didn't deserve to deal with her plethora of issues.
Heatwave had traced her Energon signature to the mountain region of the island.
He transformed into his fire truck alt mode and tore out of the firehouse, almost crashing into Chase when he pulled out of the driveway.
Startled, the police bot took a second to calm himself before approaching the firebot.
Chase was determined to play Cupid, this time without the other mechs. Though he didn't know the first thing about relationships, he knew better than to force anything between Heatwave and Quickshadow. He couldn't stand to see his clearly enamored teammates dismiss their feelings because of some misinterpretations. His evening patrols didn't start for another few hours so he decided to come to speak with Heatwave about the matter.
"Heatwave." He greeted. "I was about to bridge over to the Mainland to look for you."
Heatwave impatiently waited for him to get to the point. "I uh.. came to see Quickshadow." He explained.
The police bot cocked an optic ridge. "I was under the impression you wanted to suppress your feelings?"
"..I decided to tell her." The red mech looked away, not wanting the police bot to see his flustered features.
"I see. I wanted to discuss a matter concerning your 'one sided' feelings." Chase began but Heatwave's urgent tone caught him off guard and didn't let him continue. "Chase, I need to find her." His distressed faceplates appeared on the officer's monitor.
"She's missing?"
Heatwave shook his helm. "No. She's somewhere in the mountains, probably Mount Griffin. I need to talk to her."
Chase only nodded and watched his leader drive off. The firebot was going slightly over the speed limit but Chase bit his glossa. He would make an exception just this once.
Heatwave was about two or three minutes from the summit of Mount Griffin.
His processor was swirling with a ideas on what to say.
The adrenaline in his systems was beginning to wear off and he suddenly felt nervous. The butterflies in his engine had never been this bad and he almost pulled over but pushed himself to get to the top.
The sound of wheels grinding to a stop behind her made her flinch. She knew he would come after her but she wasn't ready to face him yet.
How could she after she ran out on him like that?
She heard him transform and cautiously walk up behind her until he was only a few meters away from where she sat.
She didn't turn to acknowledge him so Heatwave lowered his frame next to her.
He waited for her to turn to him and after a few long seconds, she finally spared him a glance.
Heatwave felt concern fill his engine at how dim her optics were. A short flashback of her motionless frame sprawled on the medical berth crossed his mind but he quickly snapped out of it when her voice came out in a whisper.
"Hey." She greeted simply.
"Hey." He responded.
A suffocating silence engulfed the two Cybertronians and they awkwardly sat side by side for a while.
Having enough of silence, Quickshadow spoke up. "I'm sorry." She looked away. "We should just forget this ever happened." Her digits fiddled with the hem of her cast.
Heatwave felt his spark break at her words but still he persisted. "...What if..I don't wanna forget?"
He heard her breath hitch and watched her give him a quizzical look. Another wave of silence washed over them before she spoke, this time a little louder.
"Then what do you propose we do?"
He ex vented and met her optics with the softest gaze she'd ever seen on him. "Talk it out."
Quickshadow felt her engine sink at the idea but she bit her glossa to prevent her uneasiness to show on her faceplates.
"I'm sorry for leading you on, but I can't be with you." She felt a knot forming in her throat and her spark shattered at the rejection in Heatwave's optics.
"..That's fine..." he tried to ignore the ache in his chest. "I understand. I just needed to know." The feeling of rejection began to numb his systems and Quickshadow noticed he was about to get up to leave.
"It's not like that, Heatwave." She suddenly placed her servo on his thigh to stop him from getting up. "You're not the issue."
"Then what is it?"
Quickshadow took a shaky breath. Now was the best time to open up to him, but she didn't know how much she should let out.
"..It's me." She stared at her lap, taking sudden interest in her servos. Still, that didn't stop her from sensing Heatwave's confusion at the response.
"...I have feelings for you as well, but I've been trying to push them away because..my past won't allow me to embrace them."
Heatwave's jaw subtly dropped at her confession and he felt his spark increased in speed.
"To be frank with you," she drew in a breath and looked up at the mech. "I'm messed up."
"I was careless and naive and because of that, I question everyone's loyalty and shut myself off from anyone who tries to get close. I bottle up all my problems and lock them away. Someday it'll be too much and I'll be back in square one." Never in her life had she had trouble suppressing her tears but she felt a warm oily substance gliding freely down her cheek and realized she was crying.
"Quickshadow-" Heatwave tried to interject but she didn't let him.
"No. You deserve someone better, someone who is stable enough to love you and give you the affection you deserve."
He narrowed his optics at her, expressing the pain in his spark with rage. "I don't want anyone else..but you."
He tilted her helm up and wiped her tears. A few shiny specs on her cheeks caught his optic. A few glitter particles had gone unnoticed when she cleaned herself off after helping Frankie and Cody with a craft the other day, and were scattered on her cheekplates.
She felt his digit lightly rub at her face and lifted an optic ridge at him. He paid no mind to her confused state and only stopped when all the specs had been removed.
"Heatwave..I can't.." she wanted to pull away but her frame was frozen in place.
His servo dropped to his side but he didn't move his helm back. Instead he leaned in closer and pressed his forehelm against hers. He felt her breath hitch and watched a blush creep up her cheeks in real time.
"It's not just a crush, Shadow. I wouldn't be here if it was. You're special to me, I'm not giving up on you so easily—."
Somehow, that was all she needed to hear for her inner turmoil to cease. A new voice replaced the old one and it had an undertone of hopefulness.Perhaps it was time to give love another chance.
Her dermas cut his rambling off and he was momentarily taken aback but quickly kissed back with equal fervor and wrapped his servos around her waist to prevent her from running off again.
The warmth that emitted from his servos sent a series of electric pulses through her cables. Her servo cupped his cheek, just as it had at the firehouse, but this time, she didn't plan on pulling away.
Pent up feelings that been suppressed for months finally surfaced and demanded to be acknowledged.
Nothing about the kiss felt wrong, on the contrary, it felt right. Like they were two correlating puzzle pieces that found each other at just the right time. Her spark had never felt so full.
Having her in his arms made him feel complete. Holding her like this felt..right.
He poured his spark into their second kiss, elated that she returned his sentiments.
Quickshadow had never felt such raw emotions from anyone. The way Heatwave was kissing her wasn't lustful or rough but rather gentle and longing. She could feel the deep affection he had for her and it made her spark flutter and intensified the weird sensation she felt in her engine.
For the first time in quite a long time, she let her stern expression fall and allowed her emotions paint themselves on her faceplates.
Heatwave felt her dermas stop and he reluctantly pulled back. But what he saw when he looked at her stunned him.
There, etched on her dermas, was a smile that reached her optics. It was the most genuine smile he'd ever seen on her and a swelling pride filled him knowing he was the cause of it.
He was so concentrated on her beautiful smile, he hadn't noticed he had mustered up a smiled of his own and caught himself grinning like an idiot.
Quickshadow didn't mind at all. She was internally pleased she could bring out a more carefree side of him and lowered her frame onto her original spot on the ground.
Neither uttered a word and instead basked in the afterglow in tranquil silence.
The sun was but a sliver of light over the horizon and the dark hues of purple and blue began taking over the mellow sky.
She leaned her helm on his chassis, not averting her gaze from the luminous moon and shimmering stars above them.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into." She wrapped her arms around her chassis to shield herself from the cold breeze.
Heatwave placed his arm around her smaller frame, careful not to hurt her arm.
"Believe me, it's worth it."
