Chapter 18
/… Hi.../ thought bubbles
-0-In Ops Center, Autobot Command Complex
Prowl sat at the sensor terminal next to Teletraan II as a thousand essential Autobot Army details percolated through his processor. As he considered them, an innocuous personal subroutine was turning over a very pretty penny elsewhere in his helm. On one side was the handsome face of his beloved Optimus Prime and on the other the Pit.
Since coming back to sentience from his little 'indiscretion', he'd been filled with conflicting emotions. First and foremost, he was never going to over-energize again.
Ever.
Apparently, a family of mice had entrance to Wheeljack's lab. He knew when he was trying to clean up in the wash racks that next morning. There were small animal tracks on his face.
He still shuddered.
Secondly, Ratchet in full prank war mode was terrifying. He, himself preferred tangible knowable fact-type data. He preferred the reality-based world with all its reality things. The World of War Coots that was Ironhide v Ratchet was filled to the brim with unforeseeable outcomes and non-predictable moments of sublime terror for a bot who considered himself a rational thinker. The convoluted tracks that wend themselves through the processor of the Chief Medical Officer had too many pot holes for him to drive safely through that weird terrain.
He wasn't good at chaos.
Yet in his moment of distress, when he was sure he couldn't find his way back from the Pit, he'd reached up and Ratchet had taken his hand. To make it worse, Ratchet had somehow divined his interest and attentive considerations … his admiration and affection … what did Ratchet say it was? … 'a soul destroying need to face like a cyber bunny' with the Prime.
He swallowed as he looked around the room, checking that his lapse of attention hadn't drawn any attention. Settling once more, holding his datapad up again though unaware that it was upside down, he considered that remark. He did admire the Prime, a selfless dignified individual upon whom all the hopes of their people here and everywhere else were pinned. It didn't matter that he had never really followed all of his carefully wrought plans to the Nth degree which would have brought about victory *IF HE HAD* … maybe … he really had to work on his bitterness, he thought.
Where was he … oh right. Optimus Prime's holiness ...
He wanted to be significantly important personally, someone who could ease the burdens of the Prime when he was off duty as well as on and help him face the dark loneliness of such pressure with a happier step. That he wanted Prime to bend him over the nearest solid object and have his unfettered way didn't surface beyond that small firewall protected document dump in the bottom of his processor stem.
His ada would slap the slag out of him if he knew his one and only son was capable of such profound blasphemy … *AS IF HE WOULD EVER TELL ANYONE!*
Even himself half the time ...
He glanced tensely around again seeing no one doing anything but their job.
Even Jazz.
Jazz...
He was willing to risk his relationship with Mirage to help him 'land the big one' as Ratchet so crassly put it. He felt a shudder wafting through his circuits as he considered the possibility that this could explode in his face. But that possibility didn't seem like a problem to Ratchet because he said that Prime wanted him.
*PRIME*!
Their gracious leader™ actually wanted him or so that mad mech said.
Out loud.
To him in a very vulnerableposition ...
/ ...memo to self … clean the wastebasket in his quarters .../
He could hardly square it with the professional demeanor they had together. But then he couldn't square Kup or Springer either. He knew that Prime had pulled that prank on Ironhide and it was technically brilliant but it hardly seemed to mesh with the dignity that always informed Prime to him.
Obviously, he had to get out more.
A heavy footfall on the command deck drew his optics and he froze as the imposing inspirational figure of Optimus Prime entered the great room. He watched transfixed as Prime walked to him and smiled slightly. "Prowl, we have a problem and I think you will be the best to do the preliminary investigating," he said, his sonorous baritone sending sparkly things tingling over Prowl's dermal layer.
He nodded, rising as he quashed his libidinous programming. "Of course, sir. What would you have me do?"
/ … anything.../
"There appears to be an incident at the N.E.S.T. enlisted men's barracks," he said.
/ … why are you holding that datapad upside down, Prowl? .../
"What sort of incident?" Prowl asked shifting to business mode.
/ … need I ask? .../
"Apparently the twins and some soldiers who have been talking badly about us are in an argument," Prime answered as he took the datapad from Prowl. He grinned as he looked with hope for any change in Prowl's expressive deeply handsome face that might indicate any interest whatsoever in himself.
"I'll get right on it," Prowl replied as he swallowed hard. "I'll be going now."
/... go ... stay ... go ... stay .../
"Fine," Prime said.
/ … stay.../
"Uh, here I go," Prowl said wincing slightly at his own social ineptitude and all around doofusness. He walked soundlessly across the room and out the door.
Prime watched him go, admiring his light-footed tread, his smartly shining elegant wings and his aft swaying as he walked away.
/... oh Primus ... I need to get out more .../
Jazz who was sitting nearby working through data from their raid for the special ops section of the report due in three orns shook his head with a smirk.
/... hopeless.../
-0-Enlisted Men's Barracks
They stepped out into the warm sunlight, the two Autobots stopping their circling motions to come closer to stare at the small group of organics. Will Lennox, his heart pounding in his chest looked at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. "I have them here and they're prepared to not only listen to whatever you wish to say about their actions, they're going to personally apologize to you before they ship out."
"Ship out?" Sideswipe asked with surprise. He glanced at Sunstreaker who was looking at the group as if they were a messy mistake in one of his brilliant perfectly rendered art pieces.
"They're going to be leaving N.E.S.T.," Will said. "We hold our alliance with you and the Autobots in the highest regard. We won't allow anything to sully that, no way, no how."
Sunstreaker with his seven foot swords glistening in full extension with tips braced on the concrete stared at them, then Lennox. "A good partial solution."
"The only one for us," Niall said, his expression as serious as a heart attack which at the moment he thought he would have. "We're all for one or you're out."
"Until all are one," Sideswipe said nodding as a smile formed on his face. "That's what it has to be."
"I want you to tell us just what we've heard you saying here and there among the meat sacks," Sunstreaker said only partially appeased. "I want to hear your insults to our warriors and our way of life to my face."
Sideswipe looked from Lennox to the soldiers behind him. "Who is this Johnson and Hedges?"
Lennox turned to the two men with a look on his face that lent no confusion to what he expected them to do. "Johnson and Hedges. Front and center."
The two hesitated, then stepped forward to stand at rigid attention, their eyes forward as they stared into the ether. They were pale and small to the bots and even the other humans there.
The two Autobots looked at them with expressions of disgust.
"Talk," Lennox said as he stood at parade rest while acute embarrassment formed on his handsome face.
"*Sir*, I respectfully decline to speak, *sir*," Johnson said, his affect one of steely resistance.
Hedges, his voice trembling just slightly repeated the same phrase.
Lennox turned on them with surprise and anger. He glared at them both, repeating his order and they in turn 'respectfully' declined. It was at impasse.
That was when Bluestreak finally caught up to the twins and the soldiers.
The soldiers in the barracks saw him first and waved their arms to Lennox to warn him.
Lennox who was confused a moment looked the direction they were pointing. Bluestreak who was limping slightly with a small expression of pain reached them as Sunstreaker turned with surprise.
"Blue," he said.
Bluestreak who was unsure of the situation took Sunstreaker's arms and held them as he looked from Sideswipe to Lennox to Sunstreaker again. "Sunny, what's going on? Is there going to be trouble?"
Sunstreaker who felt his anger rising again pulled Bluestreak close to him, then looked at the soldiers as he did. "A couple of these organic fraggers have a problem with us and our way of life. They think they can slag you and me, Blue."
Bluestreak looked at them, frowning as he recognized Feltman and Richards. "You do?" he asked, a tone of hurt in his voice.
"No," Lennox said quickly. "Not the soldiers who were on the last operation. Not Feltman or Richards. None of them. Its these two slaggers who're going to be leaving here as soon as they apologize."
Feltman and Richards nodded, their expressions intently professing agreement. "Not us, Blue. These two idiots," Oscar Richards said from the doorway.
"We love to work with you guys. Both of us. All of us, Blue. Don't mistake these two bastards with the rest of us. We think being here, working with you Autobots is the apex of our careers. Remember that," Arne Feltman said as Tom Seldon nodded emphatically.
Others in the window did as well.
Blue relaxed. Then he stared at Johnson and Hedges in dismay and surprise. "Okay," he said.
It was then when Prowl reached the enlisted men's barracks and the gathering group of Autobots and soldiers.
-0-Ironhide
He sat on a large metal trailer which was left outside the Autobot complex for that very reason. The sun was warm and he was needy. The prank war he was having with Ratchet had very specific rules that had been worked out between them over a large and fulsome number of millenniums. One of the biggest was that anyone who said no 'facing could ensure that neither side would be especially happy during that portion of the ordeal, thus bringing it to a conclusion before either rusted shut.
Ironhide was not happy as he considered the list of rules they'd made over the long period of hilarity called their spark bond. Another rule, one of the most important and utilized was that they 'faced after every battle when they were together.
During the long defeat for Cybertron, they'd been separated, exhausted and unable to feel or touch each other beyond their bond link many an eon, so that rule was born. If they were going to go to the Matrix it would be with few regrets. Having that personal connection was a way to ensure that both knew the worth of the other come what may.
Pranking was the Pit now, however. Pranking was beginning to be a burden rather than one of the two or three great joys of life. Ratchet was one, blowing up things, especially Decepticons was another and pranks. Well, they were 'the shit' as the soldiers liked to say.
Soldiers.
Fraggin' soldiers.
They were the reason that this whole thing happened and it rankled. Will Lennox should have his soldiers in line better, he mused. He rose, stretching the kinks from his cables and started out for the enlisted man's barracks where he could usually find Lennox, Epps and Graham. Anyone of them was good enough to vent upon and he needed to before he threw a rod. He hadn't had a chance to rant at the soldiers since that first moment when they made the fatal mistake of slagging Ratchet.
There were some inexcusable things that mattered in Ironhide's world. A messy munition, watered down high grade and fragging with Ratchet. He picked up his step as his ire rose, determined to get a few things off his chassis. He headed toward the barracks along with a number of others bent for the same topic with the soldiers.
-0-Med Bay
Ratchet came out of his office and glanced to where Bluestreak should still be. He wasn't. Neither was First Aid. He felt the Wrath of Hatchet rising inside so he opened his sensors to look for First Aid and Bluestreak, finding them, at all places, the enlisted man's barracks.
And Prowl.
Prowl was there.
And Ironhide was almost there.
And the twins. They were there already.
With Bluestreak.
And First Aid and Prowl.
And soon-to-be Ironhide.
This couldn't be good he thought as he subspaced his datapad, grabbed an emergency first aid kit and hustled his peds out the door to the enlisted man's barracks.