Caring
The war, which had died down to simmer for several vorns, suddenly flared back up again. While it was no less destructive, no less energon-soaked, it did not take the Autobots by surprise this time. The Decepticons came charging in to find determined forces waiting for them instead of a defenseless city filled with panicking civilians. Not to say that everyone managed to escape unscathed. There were injuries and casualties…too many of both. But not all scars come from bullets and not all war victims are caught in firefights.
It was the most perplexing thing, something that no one saw coming, especially from the tiny sparkling who had been able to bounce back from other rather nasty situations with no lasting effects. But for some reason that no one understood, the rekindling of the war suddenly became too much for the black mechling. Maybe it was the near constant booms and pops of gun fire and heavy artillery in the distance, the almost palpable rise in tension on base, or the occasional screams and shouts from the medbay. Maybe it was simply the fear that always managed to seep into one's wiring with the knowledge of a war going on. Young as he was, he still understood that there was something bad going on, still felt the tension in his guardian's arms no matter how much he tried to soothe him. But whatever it was, the sparkling just couldn't take it anymore.
Ironhide suddenly and inexplicably went mute.
His guardian, Kup, was at a complete loss. One day his charge was babbling happily in the adorable, but almost indecipherable, language of younglings and the next he refused to even utter a click. Nothing he, or anybot else, could do would make a difference. Ironhide would stare at them, but never a sound did he make. Not even Ratchet and Redblaze, the other two sparklings, could make a difference.
Welder, the Autobot CMO, couldn't find any physical reason to explain the sudden loss of speech, finally saying that the reason was purely psychological and may or may not be permanent. This did very little to calm Kup's anxiety. If Ironhide wouldn't respond to him, his guardian, or to Ratchet and Redblaze, who were his best friends and as close as brothers, what could possibly help? But even though there was nothing he could physically do, that didn't mean Welder wasn't going to do everything in his power to try and help.
XxXxXx
Ironhide stood on the beach, away from Diego Garcia's base, staring out over the ocean, but not seeing any of it. His processor still buzzed, unable to settle down from the battle in Egypt. It had been close, too close. They almost…no, HAD lost Optimus. Then they lost both Optimus AND Sam for several terrifying minutes. Never in Ironhide's whole life had he wanted to just lie down and give up. It had been bad enough losing Optimus…but with Sam alive and on the run, he had had something to fight for, to keep his processor focused. When he had seen both their broken bodies lying in the sand? The grief and despair had been crippling.
But they were alive. Why didn't he feel relieved? Shouldn't he have felt SOME of the pressure lift from his spark? Why was his processor literally flooding him with images of war? Images of blood and energon soaked battlefields, of broken bodies, both human and Cybertronian, of destroyed cities? So many dead, so many wounded, so many lost…Ironhide shuddered as his engine hitched, a disturbingly familiar sense of despair overwhelming him. It was never ending…it was too much…too much…
"Ironhide?"
The black mech didn't respond as Ratchet came up next to him. He couldn't summon the desire to activate his vocalizer.
Ratchet instantly recognized that look, having seen it for so long all those vorns ago. It was the same look that Ironhide had when he refused to talk, a silence he had maintained for several vorns. He knew that whatever was bothering his old friend, he wasn't about to express it in words. He knew, also, that trying to get him to talk would only make it worse. But Ratchet had learned long ago how to deal with this. When Welder had been unable to fix the problem he had come up with a way to, literally, respond to it instead.
Sign language among Cybertronians wasn't very common since most of those that couldn't communicate verbally could use their internal radio communicator systems. But in the case of those who hadn't had it installed - sparklings and younglings for instance - another form was needed. And so the three sparklings had learned to communicate without words. Even after Ironhide finally broke his silence they continued to use it, though mostly for the familiarity and for the comfort that came with it.
Two fingers tapped Ironhide on his elbow joint, signaling for his attention. Easily slipping back into sparklinghood habits, he turned to face Ratchet. 'Tell me?' chartreuse hands signed.
Time had done nothing to erase vorns of communicating exclusively with his hands. The precise intricate movements came easier to him than words and made far more sense than anything he could have spoken out loud.
Ratchet knew. As words flowed from the black mech's hands, he "heard" far more than what was being conveyed. It was more than just stress from this recent battle, though that was bad enough on it's own. He "heard" the echoes of homesickness, the resignation that they would never see Cybertron again. There was frustration, of this new planet and its inhabitants, of simply trying to understand it. There was anxiety too, for there were still many Autobots unaccounted for and they hadn't heard anything about Redblaze.
The medic saw it all and understood. But he stayed there and let Ironhide "talk" himself out, because Ratchet cared far too much for his friend to let him tough it out on his own.
***END***
A/N: ~hides behind truck~ don't shoot me please! I'm sorry I took so long. It was the usual blocks; school, work, horses, writer's block and evil bunnies. Good news is that I have most of the prompts half finished so they SHOULD start coming out fairly quickly now ~glares at plot bunnies~ you hear that???
Anyway, please lemme know what ya think! I was kinda iffy on this one but the insistence of my partner in crime, DracinaStormsailor, convinced me that it was "great" (her words, not mine) so I went with it. Another sparkling! Hide story. Next one will be Ironhide all grown up.
Thank you SOOOOOOOOO so so so much to;
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Seriously, I can't express my gratitude enough to those who take the time to leave reviews. I love ya guys!
Special thanks goes to DracinaStormsailor and Bloutjie. I wouldn't have been able to find my wayward plot bunnies without ya!