A/N: I hate my muse. She wants to work on non-smut stuff. *sigh* But I am LOVING all the responses I receive with each chapter.
Warnings: Fluff. Little bit of angst.
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own this franchise. I'm just playing with it.
Freak No Longer – Chapter 4: Inferno Talks
Red Alert's optics were glued to the living room window.
If his cube of energon had been in his hand, he would have dropped it in the shock of the sheer overload of information he was receiving through his visual sensors. And he only had one word.
Wow!
It was amazing! He knew the sky was blue, but the beauty of Alpha Centauri shining down on the metal world was breathtaking. The light gleamed off buildings and refracted it's way down to the streets of Iacon. Skyscrapers were made of every type of metal, many of the names he didn't know, but they shone in a pleasing array of colours. Blue glass, black glass, white, clear, and even green marked the buildings among the shining metal.
And for the first time, he realised that this was Cybertron. This was where he belonged.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Inferno murmured from the couch behind him.
A deep pang of remorse and sorrow ripped through Red Alert then, as he moved towards the glass separating him from the outside and placed his hand on it. "What have I been missing my whole life? There is more than this," he wondered aloud.
"Yeah. There is. And I wanna be here to help ya Red," the larger mech stated, making the smaller turn around. Reluctantly, he made his way over to the couch and took the energon offered, sipping it slowly, savouring it. It felt so good and rich, slipping down to his tanks and fuelling him. He unknowingly moaned at the taste. He hadn't had such a good meal in a long time. Sure, he was given energon when he woke up, but he had been unable to register the taste in his apprehension. Now, he could enjoy.
Inferno chuckled at the gusto at which Red ate. To see he enjoyed his fuel warmed his spark.
"What ya saw…are seein' out that window, is only a small part of our world Red. There's heaps of things to catch up on. But we're gonna take it slow. Okay? No rushin'. We've got the rest of our lives," the fire truck said softly.
The red and white nodded, sighing in relief. "Thank you. You are truly a good mech Inferno. Even I in my limited experience can see that."
Grinning, Inferno replied, "Nice of ya. While ya're sippin' on that energon there, do ya mind if I tell ya a bit about m'self? Just to get us more comfortable with each other."
Seeing the slow nod from his companion and taking a sip from his energon, Inferno began.
"Name's Inferno, which ya know. I've lived in Iacon, the capital city of Cybertron, all my life. I had two mech creators, Blazestone and Rick-Ride. They're still alive and kickin'. They live on the outskirts of Iacon, away from the hustlin' and bustlin' of the city centre. Carrier was Rick-Ride. He's a carer at a youth centre, while Blazestone, my creator, is a fire-fighter. Like me." He paused to gauge his audience's reaction. So far, Red Alert had turned to him, facial expression open in his curiosity and attentiveness.
"They were good to me. I was their only creation though. Was a bit of a cheeky youngling, but didn't give 'em too much trouble. I decided to follow in my creator's path when I saw how much he helped other bots. And…I wanted to help 'em too."
"Noble," murmured Red.
"Eh. If ya think so. For me, it's about savin' those lives. There's also somethin' about fire. About watchin' it, about working with it and trying to brave it, that…" Inferno trailed off, wondering if he should reveal this about himself. His optics caught Red Alert's, and the pure trust that was placed on his shoulders made his mouth open to speak. "It gets me fired up a little. It's exhilaratin'. It's when ya know we're meant for a higher purpose as a race. If that makes any sense to ya."
Fiddling with his empty energon cube, the horned mech shook his helm slowly. "It makes sense. The way you described fire was…beautiful."
Beaming at the other's assessment, Inferno said, "Well, I find it beautiful. But I see the things an out of control fire does to mecha. It ain't pretty. Not at all. It's how I know Ratchet, see? Even if I get mecha out half charred, Ratchet's a miracle worker. Best medic I've ever seen. So I trusted him enough to see ya."
"I'm glad you did," replied Red, smiling a little in remembrance of how the white medic had treated him.
Sensing a hint of awkwardness in the air, the larger mech asked, "Do ya terribly mind if I keep talkin'? Or would ya like to talk about somethin'?"
"No, go ahead. I'm actually enjoying this. I'm learning," said the smaller mech, that curiosity peeking through again.
With a small chuckle, he went on. "I had fun at school growin' up as a younglin'. Had an average education. Not much to talk about m'self there. Was liked, but not popular. A bit cheeky, but not a clownbot. Average existence. To tell ya the truth Red, apart from my job, nothing all that excitin' happens to me."
"Until you met me," Red Alert broke in quietly.
Sobering, Inferno replied, "It wasn't excitin' seein' what ya went through. But I'm hoping life will be a little less monotonous from now on."
"Monotonous? Boring? Your life? You're a fire fighter! Even I know that's a worthy occupation."
"Ah, well it is. It's rewardin,' but I've never had someone live with me apart from my creators before. That's why I say I hope life is a little more fulfillin'," the larger mech pointed out mildly.
Red Alert's optics widened a fraction. Oh no. He was a nuisance to this mech. He was a burden just to spice things up a bit. His intakes quickened and Inferno, realising how his words could be misinterpreted, reached out and stroked a helm horn to get the red and white's attention.
The reaction was immediate and electric.
The horns sparked, and the smaller mech yelped, flinching away.
"Slag! I'm sorry Red. I'm real sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," Inferno hastened to assure, feeling guilty, his voice low and hands out in apology.
Red Alert forced himself to calm. He felt a little dizzy from the sudden sensations and felt his sparkbeat speed up, but that was all. It was unexpected contact. And it didn't hurt. In fact, the gentle touch had felt kind of nice. "It's okay. We're both learning, aren't we?"
"Yeah. But I'm still sorry," responded the larger mech in a soft voice. "And I didn't mean to suggest that ya weren't welcome here. I want ya here. I want to help ya, get to know ya."
And when Inferno said that, Red calmed completely, feeling relaxed with the other mech.
This easy camaraderie he could get used to.
Once again, he took his protector's hand and whispered, "Thank you."
The smile in reply reassured him that he had said and done the right thing for both their worries.
Tugging on the smaller hand in his grip gently, the pair rose as Inferno guided them to the large window once more. With another squeeze, the fire truck murmured, "Want me to show ya everything we can see from here?"
Red nodded excitedly. He didn't let go of the other's hand as they spent the rest of the day in front of the large window, Inferno pointing buildings out – the museum, the Prime's residence, the energon storage plant – and Red Alert watching raptly and questioning softly, proud that he felt more in control. Proud that he was learning more than his limited knowledge base was.
As he showed the small mech next to him the sights of the city, Inferno felt the same. He was proud of Red's strength to continue too.
A/N: I figured that was a good place to stop. Thank you for the suggestions in reviews. I will use some of them, but I think it would be good if I had Optimus meet Red for the first time.
Until next time!