Understood
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Chapter 33
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Tailgate woke to the sensation of a hand stroking his forehead. But when he moved the hand pulled away and he heard the sound of someone moving away from him.
With a bit of shifting he realized he was in a berth. A nice berth. It smelled pleasant and had an exceptionally springy, exceptionally soft pad beneath him. It was much like the berth back at the Harbor House. Only this one seemed to be inside a room rather than open to the sky. The sound of the wind and the distant traffic below was missing.
He onlined his optics to a plain residential ceiling warm with the glow of sunlight. And then Cyclonus came into view. Tailgate immediately dropped his mask and smiled. Seeing Cyclonus' scowl was always a good thing. It meant money and comforts and a decent frag in which he could count on at least one overload.
And then the memories of the previous night came to the forefront of his mind. A cold dark rooftop. A sadistic blue seeker. Pain. A lot of pain and fluids. Regrets. Trying to call Swerve for help. Calling Cyclonus in desperation. He sat up suddenly, only to be knocked back down by the pain's resurfacing. "Oww..." he whimpered, clutching himself.
"Lie still. You took some serious damage last night and you're still healing."
Tailgate lifted just his head and took in more of the room. Dark, simple furniture. Large empty space. Purple curtains. Launching balcony outside a large glass door. "Where am I?"
"You're in my quarters on the Decepticon base."
"You brought me here?"
"I took you to a doctor and then brought you here. Otherwise you'd still be lying in a pool of your own fluids atop that abandoned building, probably in deep stasis at this point. Do I even want to know what happened?" he asked gruffly.
Tailgate turned his head to the side. "A guy offered me twelve thousand credits for an abduction and rape scenario. I said yes."
Cyclonus scowled and leaned over him aggressively. "Whatever were you thinking? You risked your well-being and possibly your life for twelve thousand credits?"
"I had to."
"Had to? You never have to say yes to an offer. I shouldn't have to be telling you this," Cyclonus growled. "You needed a lot of work last night. When I got there you were about bled out and couldn't even think straight. You're just lucky the medic here owed me a big favor because I'm sure you needed more than twelve thousand credits worth of repairs."
"I was damaged that much?" Tailgate gasped. "It was just a bad mesh-tear, wasn't it? And a wrenched arm, right?"
"It was a lot more than a mesh tear and strained cables. You and your stupid greed. I thought you were smarter than that," huffed the big jet. "Look where it's gotten you. Almost bled out. Almost in stasis. Your left arm almost torn off—its hydraulics shot. Who knows how long you would have been on top of that building."
Tears suddenly dripped out of the blue and white mech's optics and the words spilled along with them. "I wasn't trying to be greedy," he protested.
"Then why?" Cyclonus stared at him menacingly.
"I owe Swerve back rent. After he got his new job we got a new apartment that costs twice what our old one did, but he's had to pay part of my share the past three deca-cycles," Tailgate wept. "I've not had much luck lately and I didn't want to keep owing him so... so I took the job. I feel bad that Swerve's been doing this, and I was afraid of just getting deeper and deeper in his debt. He said it doesn't bother him but I know it does. But now I can pay him. I was paid for last night, but I guess... I guess I owe the money to you now. You rescued me." Tailgate rolled onto his side, tears running abundantly from his optics. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I was always so afraid of something like this happening, and now it has."
The tall purple mech vented and turned toward the door. "We'll figure something out. Get some recharge. Your body still has a lot of healing to do," he said and walked out of the room.
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"Understood" continues in Chapter 34
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