Author's Notes: This chapter's guest star was suggested by yveltadarkrai3. I would like to thank her for being the first to suggest a Decepticon to be featured in this story instead of an Autobot. I actually started this chapter's storyline months ago, but before I finished I started work on a fic called "Hook's Appretince", which is actually fairly similar in tone. I guess you could say this chapter is the prototype for "Hook's Apprentice". Hopefully you guys likes this chapter, and if you have a suggestion for a character you'd like to see featured in this story let me know. Chapter 6 is taken, but there is plenty of room after that :)
Chapter 5
Hook
"Hold still, slaggit!" Hook shouted at his current patient, Rumble, as he squirmed under the Constructicon medic's watchful gaze and surprisingly delicate servos.
It had been another hard fought battle, with the standard slew of injured Decepticons coming into the Constructicons' lab for repairs. Hook was the only one trained as a medic, so while his gestalt brothers handled a few of the patients most of the crew was willing to wait to be tended to by Hook.
"Stop pokin' me!" Rumble whined, "It ain't that bad, honest! It's just a severed arm. I get those all the time. Soundwave can fix it."
"Soundwave is currently getting his tape deck door repaired by Bonecrusher," Hook pointed out huffily, "So if you want to use your pile drivers again any time soon you will hold still and let me do my job!"
The Reflectors watched while Hook operated on Rumble's arm. They were waiting for Hook just like all of the other smart 'Cons. They had seen enough of this makeshift medbay to know that only a fool would go to the other Constructicons. Well, either a fool or someone who couldn't afford to waste time like Soundwave or Megatron. For everyone else though, it would be foolish to not wait for Hook.
/Rumble shouldn't complain,/ Spyglass said over the bond, /Hook is an excellent medic. If these slag heaps spent as much time watching the Autobots as we do they would appreciate Hook a lot more./
/No kidding!/ Spectro added enthusiastically, /That Ratchet is insane! I don't care how good he is, what kind of maniac throws things at an injured mech's helm? It's no wonder younglings like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are afraid of him. Pit, we'd probably be offline right now if we had to go to Ratchet for repairs!/
/Not to mention Wheeljack,/ Spyglass added wryly, /Who decided Captain Kaboom was qualified to treat living beings, let alone their top soldiers?/
/Optimus Prime,/ Viewfinder answered for his brothers, /Yeah, we've got it pretty good here. We may only have one qualified medic, but at least he's a professional. No yelling, no wrenches to the face, no explosions, no personal questions, and no association outside of the medbay. Just cool collected efficiency and wounds properly treated. If you ask me, Hook is probably one of the most level-headed mechs we know./
/Oh! Rumble just left!/ Spectro announced happily, /Let's get over there and- Oh wait, never mind. Frenzy's already there./
The Reflectors sighed because they knew they would probably be treated last again, or next to last if Megatron decided to punish Starscream by making him go last. Either way the Reflectors would probably spill most of their energon on the floor by the time they got to see Hook. Spectro's shoulder strut was leaking from a wound he got from Ironhide ripping into him, Spyglass's helm was dented in so far that one of his optics broke, and Viewfinder's precious lense had been smashed by Brawn and he was leaking fluid out of his chassis. In short, they weren't critical yet, but they needed help as soon as possible.
The Constructicons had been working for 2 joors repairing those aft headed teammates of theirs. Scrapper wiped his servos off with a cleaning cloth and Hook took inventory of all the supplies they would need to restock and whether or not the parts would need to be obtained on earth or Cybertron.
"Hey guys!" Mixmaster called out from the doorway, "I think we for-for-forgot something!"
The others looked to where Mixmaster as pointing, and saw that the Reflector triplets had passed out from their injuries at the waiting area near the door.
"Not again!" Scrapper groused, "You mean we gotta reopen the medbay for those little grunts? I ain't doin' it."
Hook sighed heavily and said "Don't worry, boss. I'll do it."
Hook and Mixmaster took the three little minicons to a berth. They were small enough to all fit on the same berth if they used the one meant to accommodate a seeker's wingspan. Hook began to refill their energon lines while Mixmaster cleaned off the stains left behind by their old energon. Mixmaster left after he cleaned them, leaving Hook to weld fuel lines shut and remove glass from broken parts like Spyglass's optic and Viewfinder's lense. Hook sighed again. This was going to be a long night.
Frankly Hook felt like he saw these little fraggers more than any other patients he had, with the exception being maybe Starscream. Of course Starscream always had the same injuries because his assailant was always the same mech, but Reflector was by far Hook's most challenging set of patients. The injuries the little camera combiner could receive were quite creative. Sometimes they would have limbs torn away, sometimes their processors would be exposed, sometimes they would be covered in laser burns, and one time they came in with lime gelatin shoved into their fuel tanks through their neck cables. Apparently Skywarp thought that was funny.
Hook sighed again as he shaved away and polished some glass to make it the perfect shape for Viewfinder's new lense. Reflector was the smallest statured Decepticon team besides Soundwave's symbiotes. No one dared mess with Soundwave's creations because Megatron and Soundwave both favored them, but Reflector was fair game so they were frequently bullied by their own teammates.
Part of Hook, though he would never admit this out loud, actually cared about the little camera-formers. They were not only split-spark triplets, but also a gestalt. It was truly the rarest of gifts and the closest of bonds, and one Hook was in a unique position to understand. He was part of the gestalt that formed Devastator, after all.
He welded, worked, cut, patched, painted, and polished the little spies until they were all good as new, and then he forced them online.
"Uh...Did we pass out again?" Viewfinder asked aloud.
"Yes, you did," Hook replied coolly, "You have all been repaired back to your factory state, now get out of my medbay."
"Yes, sir!" All three minicons shouted respectfully before getting off the berth and forming a straight line out of the medbay.
Hook shook his helm at the trio as he watched them walk away. They were so disciplined and so willing to obey. How did Megatron not see the vital asset he had in Reflector? They gathered intel, kept secrets, and would even scrub the floors on the side. Hook never showed them preferential treatment and often snapped at them same as he did everyone else, but he saw how much of themselves they gave to the Decepticon cause and to Megatron himself. How was it that he seemed to be the only one who noticed?
The next day the Reflectors were walking down the hall on their way to the refueling room. It was nighttime above the ocean, and most of the other Decepticons were already in recharge. Reflector often chose this time to refuel because it meant they were less likely to meet up with another soldier that could accost them.
/You know what I just realized?/ Spectro asked over the bond, /Our work environment stinks./
/No duh,/ Spyglass replied unenthusiastically.
/No, I mean it's really bad,/ Spectro continued undeterred, /Like, Starscream levels of bad. You know last week Brawl tried to rip off my helm?/
/Of course we remember. We were there,/ Viewfinder reminded him, /I had to hire Swindle to broker a deal to get us out alive. 200 credits. That's the real crime in this story./
/No kidding,/ Spyglass groused, /How are we supposed to earn more money when we're not even allowed to return to Cybertron? We'll go broke with those blasted Combaticons around./
/I guess they just think we're disposable,/ Spyglass surmised pessimistically, /No one cares about us except us. What do we have to do to make them care?/
/You don't want to know,/ Viewfinder remarked dryly.
Just as they were about to turn the corner to get into the refueling room, they saw that a large mech was stumbling out of the doorway. This meant someone had likely stayed behind to get overcharged on high grade, which also meant they should have hid somewhere and scoped out the scene first. This could only end badly.
The drunk mech, Astrotrain, bent down to regard the camera-formers with an evil glint to his red optics. The trio knew Astrotrain could be unpredictable. Yep, this was bad. This was a disaster.
"Well, well, well, if it ain't *hic* Refrectrol," Astrotrain slurred, "You want some energon, little guys? I got plenty."
"Really?" Spectro asked hopefully, "That's awfully nice of you. Normally- Eep!"
Astrotrain then lifted up Spectro by his helm, and his brothers started futilely kicking the triple changer's feet to try to get him to let their brother go. Astrotrain paid them no mind as he walked over to the energon dispenser and shoved Spectro's face against the nozzle. He then turned it on at full blast; forcing the purple fuel against Spectro's face and down his intakes!
"Hey! Let him go!" The other two Reflectors shouted in unison, "We'll tell Megatron! Let him go right now or else!"
Of course they knew Megatron wouldn't care what happened to them, but Astrotrain was pretty cratered, so they hoped the lush would buy their bluff.
Astrotrain turned off the dispenser and Spectro coughed to get the liquid out of his air intakes. Astrotrain, still holding Spectro, then turned to the other members of Reflector and sneered at them.
"So, you caramera formers like to *hic* tattle, do you?" Astrotrain growled as he tightened his grip on Spectro's helm, "Well then, here's one for your photo album!"
Astrotrain then threw Spectro down as hard as he could; breaking a spinal strut, and stomped his pede on the minocon's chassis as hard as he could! Viewfinder and Spyglass screamed, and they tried to grab Spectro, but Astrotrain just wouldn't stop his assault.
Hook, meanwhile, was walking toward the refueling room after a late night of working on Starscream's wings (again). He was so tired and all he wanted was a nice warm cube of energon and a good night's recharge. He knew he wouldn't get to sleep long due to the constant demand of his compatriots, but at least he would get a few hours of peace.
As Hook approached the refueling room he heard a loud scream, and then heard what sounded like a struggle. Thinking quickly, he whipped his medical kit out of his subspace and ran to where the commotion was taking place.
When Hook got to the room, he saw that Astrotrain was trying to flatten one of the Reflector triplets with his pede while the other two were shooting at him with laser pistols that had no effect on his thick metallic hide. Astrotrain was laughing and wobbling in place; a sure sign he was overcharged. That drunken lout was about to kill a Reflector right in front of Hook, and the Constructicon medic couldn't stand for that.
"What the slag is going on!?" Hook demanded to know; outraged.
"Huh?" Astrotrain asked incoherently, "Whozzat? Hook? Heeey, Doctor Feelgood!"
"Not today..." Hook ground out through gritted denta.
Hook then opened his toolkit and pulled out a hammer he used for checking reflexes. He then proceeded to beat Astrotrain's helm with it! Reflector could only watch in horror as the normally composed medic pounded the living scrap out of their assailant! Astrotrain shrieked and made noises of pain one would normally associate with a cartoon before finally being able to run away from Hook's wrath. Hook huffed in grim satisfaction and then casually put his hammer back into his tool kit.
When Hook turned to check on the Reflector triplets the two conscious ones cowered in fear around their injured comrade. They were shaking, though Hook couldn't exactly blame them after what just happened. Not to mention, they had never seen him attack another 'Con like that before.
"Please don't hurt us!" Both Reflectors shouted, "We didn't start it! Honest! We were just-!"
"Save it," Hook replied irritably, "Now back away so I can get to the patient."
The gestalt brothers did as they were told and allowed Hook to approach Spectro. Normally they would never allow another mech, especially their coworkers, to get near an injured member of their gestalt. For whatever reason however, they trusted Hook with their very lives. He had a credibility and integrity that was very rare among the Decepticon ranks.
Hook looked down at the poor Reflector and noticed just how bad the damage truly was. His frame had been crushed like a soda can, his optics were shattered, and his spark was being constricted by the bent and twisted metal. Hook would have to work all night and into the next day to repair the poor minicon. Well, so much for that warm energon and nap.
Three days later Hook was tending to Laserbeak in his medbay as usual. Spectro had been discharged the day before and everything seemed to be quiet for once. Hook got so tired of trying to keep Reflector patched together, and he was so angry that night when he caught Astrotrain bullying them again. After working on them so many times Hook knew more about Reflector than their own creators would have, but he wished he didn't. He wished his unit would just show some professionalism for once in their fragging lives.
Hook closed up Laserbeak's back and handed the bird back off to Soundwave, who did not thank Hook as usual. No matter, at least his medbay was clear again. Maybe he could finally get some time to relax.
"Hey, Hook!" Mixmaster called out from outside the door, "Y-Y-You got a pa-pa-package!"
"Pardon?" Hook asked as he turned to his gestalt brother.
Well, so much for relaxation. Mixmaster was holding a large cardboard box that had a card taped to the top addressed to Hook. No one ever gave the Constructicons anything other than supplies, but the card on top was sparkly and painted green and purple. It was obviously a gift, but he didn't know who would give him anything or why.
Mixmaster stayed to watch as Hook opened the box. It was full of wires, microchips, fuses, and a couple motors. These were supplies from earth, but they were all things that could be retrofitted to repair a Cybertronian. Of course, the one time Hook gets a gift and it's still medical supplies. Figures.
"Who g-gave it to you?" Mixmaster asked curiously.
Hook flipped open the card and read it aloud just to humor Mixmaster, but the truth was he didn't really care. He still had a lot of work to do that day.
"To: Hook. From: Reflector. To the greatest medic in the universe. We know you waste a lot of time and equipment on us, so we stole these things from the humans to make up for a tiny fraction of what you have done for us."
Hook put the card in his subspace and started putting away the various odds and ends from the box. Mixmaster wanted to talk about it more, but Hook didn't want to discuss it, so he just pretended like it didn't happen. Hook never got gifts, so he didn't know how to react. He had a feeling Reflector wouldn't know how to react either.