Trigger Warning: PTSD!
.
. .
. . .
Steeljaw found himself in the Daytrader's med-bay with Dead End, the ex-Stunticon giving him a check-up, per Bumblebee's insistence. After all he suffered at the servos of Thundertron and his crew, he needed one heck of a patch job.
"Sit still!"
He just had to deal with being handled, again, first.
"Frag, you're almost as bad as the old gang!"
Dead End tried to pin Steeljaw to a large, flat surface – berth, wall, floor – in order to inject a sedative into his system. He would rather have the Lupicon be unconscious for the exam.
"You do know I'm just trying to help, right?"
"I don't want you anywhere near me with that needle!" Steeljaw snarled, looking like a cornered animal. His claws gouged the otherwise pristine floor.
"And I just cleaned that," Dead End muttered. He shook his helm and moved on. "Listen, I could tell you all that's wrong with you, but I ain't gonna waste my words on the obvious, so let me make this short and sweet for you: you need proper medical care. Now, either you let me sedate you so that I can help you, or I can have someone else do it instead."
"Or how about a third option? I stay online."
"The stress of you being online will do more harm than good, trust me."
"I don't trust anyone."
"Figured that. So, what's your choice?"
.
.
.
.
.
"GOT IT!"
In another part of the ship, Shockwave and Fodder succeeded in recovering the travel logs of the damaged Autobot vessel. Knockout, Bumblebee, and Starscream crowded around them as they started sifting through data. Within minutes, the mechs find exactly what they're looking for.
"According to the data here, these are the coordinates for where one emergency escape pod was ejected just nanokliks before everything shut down," Fodder spoke, pointing to all the little bits of information that popped up.
Knockout, Bumblebee, and Starscream all sighed in relief.
"Bless the Allspark, now we can get Moonracer back," Bumblebee said.
"It'll be nice having her around again, if only to have someone else bother the good doctor here whenever I cannot," Starscream admitted, gesturing to the red medic beside him.
"Ha ha, very funny," Knockout replied sarcastically, rolling his optics. "That reminds me, shouldn't we tell Steeljaw about this? He's grown close to Moonracer, after all."
"That'll have to wait."
The mechs turned around and spotted Dead End standing in the open doorway, data pad in-servo.
"Is something wrong?" Knockout inquired.
"Considering how much of a pain in my aft he was being about being sedated, I'd say whatever happened to him made him afraid of needles," Dead End explained.
Steeljaw's team-mates shared worrying looks.
"The good news is he's perfectly fine, physically speaking. I flushed out most of the toxins. His systems are going to have to do the rest of the work themselves. Patched him up the best I could, but figured he would rather do the external touch-ups himself. Also, I noticed his lower arms looked like they were drilled into, puncturing his Energon lines. Safe to assume that's where they injected the toxins into him. Mustn't have been a pleasant experience. Anyway, you can see him after he wakes up."
And with that, Dead End was gone.
The remainder left soon after, following Fodder and Shockwave to meet up with Wreck-Gar and Slipstream. They gave the leaders the information, inputted it into their systems, and activating their quantum warp drive, were off.
– one jump through space later –
The ship jerked and came to a sudden stop. Knockout, Bumblebee, and Starscream all lost equilibrium and either fell to the floor, or grabbed a hold of something before they could.
"You all good?" Slipstream mused, trying to keep herself from laughing. "Insides still inside?"
"Urgh… I hate you," Starscream groaned.
"Love you, too, Scream."
The silver Seeker raised his helm and glared at his sister.
"Whoa, I forgot how weird that feels," Bumblebee commented, cradling his helm in one servo while gripping onto the edge of a console with the other. He looks at a shiny red heap lying facedown on the floor. "Knockout, are you alright? Still online and functional?"
"Online, yes," the red medic's muffled voice answered. "Functional… I'll let you know once we're on the planet's surface and I can drive around."
"Fair enough."
Wreck-Gar, Slipstream, and Sunstorm worked on landing the ship while Fodder and Shockwave tented to the others, searching for anything that'd set off the proverbial alarm bells; there were none, and by the time the mechs regained their senses, Wreck-Gar had successfully landed his ship on the planet's surface. As soon as he opened the doors, Knockout, Bumblebee, and Starscream – all suffering from cabin fever – transformed and took off.
"Oh, how I've missed you, steel-belted radials!" Knockout preened.
"I agree," Bumblebee said, driving alongside the red medic. "I can't remember the last time I was this happy to be driving!"
After driving for a while and burning off pent-up energy, the automobiles returned to the ship. Much to their surprise, Starscream was already there, and he appeared far from pleased.
"Hey, Screamer, what's up?" Knockout asked as he transformed, Bumblebee following suit.
"My sister," Starscream growled. "She called me back early. I'm sure she's just doing it to bug me. So annoying."
"Must run in the family."
Bumblebee had to choke back a laugh at the red medic's comment. Starscream scoffed and was just about to retort when he caught sight of something approaching them. None of the three had any time to process the subject as it crashed into them.
"YOU'RE ALL ALIVE! BLESS THE STARS! I WAS SO WORRIED!"
"Moonracer?!" The downed mechs exclaimed. The turquoise femme gave each of them a great big hug before stepping away to wipe away her tears.
"I almost can't believe it! You're here! It's been a whole chord, maybe longer! How did you even find me? Did the ship somehow survive? What happened?"
"Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down, Moonracer! We'll explain everything… OW!"
Knockout tried to get Moonracer to stop bombarding them, only to be punched. Hard.
"That was for the stunt you pulled!" Moonracer snapped.
"Won't happen again," Knockout grimaced, rubbing his arm.
"I hope not. Where's Steeljaw?"
The mechs exchanged uncertain glances, not knowing how to…
"Right here, Moon."
It was Steeljaw, making his way down the ramp with support from a rather grumpy Dead End.
"What happened to you?" Moonracer gasped. "You look like scrap!"
"Thanks, I greatly appreciate that," Steeljaw responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I told you to wait," Dead End muttered.
"You said I was free to leave anytime I wanted."
"I thought you would clean up a bit, first."
"Isn't that part of your job?"
"I'm not a cosmetologist."
"What is going on here?" Moonracer interrupted.
"Ah, yes," Knockout piped, rushing forward. "Moonracer, this is Dead End. He's the resident medic and engineer of the Daytrader, and he's an old friend of Breakdown's. Then there's Starscream's sister and twin brother, who were believed to be offline, but turns out they just disappeared around the beginning of the War and have been living on this ship ever since. Oh, and this is juicy! There may be a little something-something between Screamer and Shockwave."
"Shockwave?" Steeljaw repeated, tilting his helm.
"You missed him," Bumblebee elaborated. "You were with Dead End at the time."
"Anyway, I think we got most of it covered," Knockout shrugged.
"You got all of it covered," Starscream snarled.
The red medic chuckled, reveling in his success at annoying the silver Seeker for the he-can't-remember-how-many-times-it's-been-now.
"Great, more family drama," Moonracer laughed, an unusual air of awkwardness falling upon her. The mechs turned concerned gazes onto her, about to ask what's wrong…
"Oh, but I'm not all bad!"
Everyone jumped, scared out of their plating. No one noticed anyone else approaching. They all turned and came face-to-face with a Lupicon mech, purple and blue detailing sticking out against black and white armor. Piercing yellow optics are the central focus of a dark faceplate. Attached to his left servo is a red, triple claw weapon.
"Primus, Phantomjaw, I told you not to do that!" Moonracer cried, placing a servo on her chassis.
"My apologies, I couldn't resist," Phantomjaw replied, smirking.
Steeljaw's optics were wide and jaw slightly agape, not believing what he's seeing. Sensing the uncertainty, the black and white Lupicon turned his attention to that of the blue/gray Lupicon.
"What? Got nothing to say to your long lost brother, Steel-y?"
.
.
.
.
.
"WHAT?"
Was the first reaction Steeljaw's team-mates, excluding Moonracer, expressed. The raised pitch of each voice forced the blue/gray Lupicon to fold his ears back and grimace in disdain.
"Sensitive hearing, you three, sensitive hearing!" Steeljaw snapped, rubbing his ears to soothe the pain.
"Sorry, it's just…" Knockout attempted to apologize.
"You have a brother? Why am I just finding out about this now?" Bumblebee interrupted in a frenzy.
"Many reasons, believe me," Steeljaw muttered, his glare switching from the Lieutenant to his brother. "For starters, I had no idea if you were even still alive."
"I've told you before, brother, I can't disclose the confidentiality of my work," Phantomjaw reasoned.
"You couldn't set aside time to take a break and at least visit every once in a while?"
"Everytime I tried, you ignored me."
Steeljaw did not have a retort at the ready. Then again, a snarky comeback would be pointless against the truth.
"Anyway, moving on!" Phantomjaw piped. "Moonracer here said that I could hitch a ride with you guys once you arrived."
"Do you not have a ship of your own?" Dead End asked.
"No."
"Then how did you get here?" Starscream questioned.
"Spacebridge malfunction."
The other mechs weren't convinced.
"Please? He's been really helpful for the past chord, and I promised him a lift off planet," Moonracer pleaded, optics locked on Dead End.
"Well, it's not really my decision," the ex-Stunticon pointed out. "That's up to Wreck-Gar and Slipstream."
"If you must speak to your superiors, then very well," Phantomjaw relented. "I have been on this planet for a while now. A few more kliks worth of waiting won't hurt."
Dead End side-eyed the new mech, yet obliged to such civility nonetheless. He helped Steeljaw settle into a comfortable position on the ramp first before heading back inside.
.
.
.
.
.
"I presume you three are Moonracer's other friends?" Phantomjaw spoke, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. "Bumblebee, Knockout, and Starscream, yes?"
"That would be us," Knockout huffed, crossing his arms. "So, what'd she tell you about us?"
Moonracer stiffened.
"Oh, not much that I didn't already know," Phantomjaw chuckled. "Bumblebee: a young Autobot scout for Optimus Prime who had his voice box ripped out during the Great War. Reacquired it at around the same time he supposedly deactivated Megatron. After Cybertron's revival, he became a cop – the Lieutenant, as so many refer to him as – in Iacon, then moved back to Earth for a new mission with a team of his very own.
Knockout: the formerly Decepticon-aligned Velocitronian medic and racer. Lost his conjunx-endura Breakdown during the Great War while on Earth, and their sparkling Wildbreak is currently imprisoned with Motormaster and his gang of Stunticons after causing trouble on multiple planets in multiple galaxies. Now a Neutral and on a mission that was greenlit by the new, albeit temporary, Autobot Council, after the fall of the Decepticon High Command that infiltrated Cybertron's newly established hierarchy and took over.
And I don't believe I need to recount the history of the infamous Starscream."
.
.
.
.
.
Horrified by such intimate knowledge of their lives thus far, Bumblebee, Knockout, and Starscream set their sights on Moonracer.
"Hey, I didn't tell him anything," Moonracer said, raising her servos in defense. "I mean, I did, but not that information. More so what you guys are like personally. You know, how you interact with each other and such."
"But…"
"Then…"
"How did…"
Phantomjaw laughed. He couldn't handle how funny their reactions were.
"You still haven't changed a bit," Steeljaw vented, closing his optics and shaking his helm.
"Steeljaw, how does your brother know all about us if Moonracer didn't tell him?" Bumblebee demanded.
"Oh… Oh, by the stars, this is priceless!" Phantomjaw choked out. He walked past Moonracer to stand beside his brother. "I can't believe someone as clever as you was constantly beaten by a bunch of blind Autobots!"
"Well excuse me for not having the same skill sets that you do!" Steeljaw retorted. "I specialized in engineering and science, not police codes or spy missions!"
"Speaking of which, I hope you don't mind, but I had to borrow a couple things from one of your old super secret caches. Some of the stuff you make is perfect for the job!"
"And what job would that be?" Bumblebee interrupted before Steeljaw could respond to what his brother said about touching his stuff.
"Oh, I suppose it is time to properly introduce myself, isn't it?"
Phantomjaw turned away from Steeljaw and bowed, like a performer at the end of a play.
"I am Phantomjaw, former Decepticon spy, now working as a freelancer for anyone looking to hire someone of my caliber. Require information, equipment, or the like? Just leave it to me, because believe me when I say that you will not be disappointed!"
"Please don't tell me you've been hanging out with that Swindle mech again," Steeljaw complained.
"Too much sales-mech charm, you think?" Phantomjaw asked his brother.
"Maybe just a little over the top."
"Ah, thank you! Always appreciate your input, brother!"
"Clearly."
"Okay, enough sibling banter!" Knockout interrupted. "What I don't understand is that if you're a Decepticon, how come there were no records of you in the database?"
"I have been with the Decepticons since the beginning, and I've never heard of or seen you before," Starscream added.
"Same here, and even the Autobot database holds most if not all of the same information the 'Cons did," Bumblebee inputted.
Phantomjaw snorted in amusement, then parted his jaws to speak…
"I'm one of the best Decepticon spies. The best of the best, in fact. Nobody knows who I am, not even my fellow Decepticons. I am the best at what I do, and because of that, I have never been caught. That's why no one knows I exist. I am like my namesake: a phantom. I come and go as I please. Don't expect to gain control over me, because it will never happen."
For once, Phantomjaw was shocked into silence. Everyone turned their surprised expressions onto Steeljaw, the one who actually spoke. Steeljaw didn't bother with the others. He only paid attention to his brother.
"You… You still remember that?" Phantomjaw stammered, shaking himself out of his trance.
"How can I not?" Steeljaw scoffed. "I've heard your monologue so many times it replays itself in my processor constantly! Figured I might as well save a little bit of my sanity."
Phantomjaw laughed, slapping Steeljaw across the backplate.
"Good to have you around again, brother!"
Steeljaw smiled.
"You, too, brother."
"Well would you look at that? You can be happy once in a while!"
A playful growl emanating from his vocalizer, Steeljaw pounced his brother and sent the two of them rolling. The others just watched from a safe distance.
"You know, they kind of remind me of puppies play-fighting," Starscream mentioned. His optics dilated when he realized what he said.
"In Screamer's defense, Earth creatures are actually quite entertaining," Knockout added.
"Okay, the next time we go on a trip, you're taking me to Earth," Moonracer said. "And when I say you're, I mean all of you."
"You really want to spend more time with us?" Bumblebee questioned.
"Believe it or not, I really like hanging out with you guys, and I want all of us to spend more time together after the mission. Besides, somebody's got to make sure you four stay out of trouble. Might as well be me."
The mechs and femme laughed.
.
.
.
.
.
"What's gotten into them?" Phantomjaw asked, gesturing to the quartet with his snout.
"Don't know, couldn't hear very well since someone slammed my helm into the ground," Steeljaw replied from his spot, underneath his brother, who had him pinned.
"Oh, please, you aren't leaking any Energon! You're fine!"
"I almost forgot how much of a pain in my aft you are."
"Would you rather I be boring?"
"Scrap no!"
"Good!"
"Yeah…"
Steeljaw bit back a whine of discomfort as he felt his brother's hind claws press against a damaged piece of plating.
"Can you get off now?"
Phantomjaw shifted his weight off his brother, but when Steeljaw tried to get up, he didn't get very far. He looked up and noticed that Phantomjaw was still there.
"Would you rather I have said get out of my way?" Steeljaw snarled.
"Sorry, but you are injured," Phantomjaw whispered, his tone of voice drastically switching from playful to concerned.
Steeljaw flinched and deflated.
"Oh, so you did notice."
"It comes with the job description. I wouldn't be a good spy, let alone the best of the best, if I didn't have a keen optic."
Steeljaw released a coarse laugh. Phantomjaw laid down beside him, curling his tail around his blue/gray frame.
"I really am worried about you, Steeljaw," Phantomjaw admitted. "Don't think for a nanoklik you can hide your pain from me. What happened?"
Even after all this time apart, the black and white Lupicon still retained concern for his brother's well-being. He was used to hearing all of the trouble Steeljaw would get himself into, but nothing he couldn't fight or talk or improvise his way out of and still come out his normal self.
Those kinds of situations Phantomjaw could deal with, but now?
He didn't want to think about…
He couldn't possibly imagine Steeljaw…
But the signs were right there, clear as day.
"Brother?"
"My apologies, Steel-y."
Phantomjaw shook himself out of his trance.
"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. Just remember, if you do, I promise I won't tell anyone unless you give me the all clear."
"Thank you," Steeljaw whispered, a small smile forming. "I'm a little surprised that you still hold onto our vow to each other."
"To never betray you and vice-versa. Why would I ever forget that?"
"I… If you have been keeping tabs on me from a distance, then you know how well my luck's been going."
"Short answer: not good. Long answer…"
"I don't want to hear the long answer. I don't need to be reminded of the past."
The past? Why would he…
Suddenly, it clicked. Phantomjaw recognized the symptoms. He's only ever seen his brother like this once before.
"Hey, you two coming or what?" Knockout called. The Lupicon brothers looked up and spotted the quartet, along with Slipstream and Dead End, standing by the ship.
"Your brother has permission to join us, Steeljaw!" Moonracer added. "Come on!"
"Great! Just give us another klik, okay?" Phantomjaw responded, putting up a happy facade, before his brother could answer instead.
The other bots shared confused looks.
"We are leaving in ten kliks, so I suggest you make it quick!" Slipstream stated.
Once the other bots were out of sight, Phantomjaw turned back to his brother.
"What was that all about?" Steeljaw asked.
"I highly doubt you want them eavesdropping about you know who," Phantomjaw said. "That's assuming…"
"They don't know about him."
"Still refuse to talk about it?"
"They don't need to know about that part of my life."
"Or rather, you don't want them to know about the love of your life."
.
.
.
.
.
"We were attacked out of the blue and captured by a mech named Thundertron. Bumblebee and I were restrained, while Knockout was paralyzed from the neck-down. Starscream was in disguise, courtesy of his Lightbender, so he managed to stay out of the brig for a whole week… I mean, chord. You already know what happened with Moonracer, since she was here with you during everything. Thundertron questioned us, and he showed a particular interest in me. It was unsettling. Then, he started touching me, and I couldn't get away. Bumblebee tried to intervene and protect me, but it didn't work out."
Steeljaw stopped talking. The memories of what happened, after the others were taken away and he was left alone with Thundertron, flooded his processor. In his distressed state, he almost didn't notice Phantomjaw pulling him closer.
"I know you're hurting, brother, and I'm right here to help you recover," Phantomjaw soothed, rubbing their helms together. "I promise, I won't be going anywhere, not until I know you'll be alright without me."
"Don't flatter yourself," Steeljaw huffed, snuggling closer to his brother like they used to do when they were pups. Phantomjaw smiled, but it didn't last for long.
"I hate to ask…"
He felt his brother stiffen.
"But I need to know…"
He felt the ground churn beneath his brother's claws.
"If you were…"
"Stop."
Phantomjaw allowed Steeljaw a moment to collect himself.
"If you're asking me if Thundertron assaulted me further after everyone left, and before I was tortured by two of his crewmen, then the answer is 'yes'. The next day, they injected me with something that caused fear-driven hallucinations, and… and I… I saw him. It's not that I don't want to see him again, but that's the problem. I can't see him because I don't know where he is or if he's even alive! He's the only one I ever loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and he had to leave me behind to protect me! Seeing him in my processor… I don't want to remember! I miss him so much, but it hurts to think about him when he's no longer here! And I can't let go of him because I love him! I love him so much, brother, and I want him back!"
Phantomjaw couldn't do anything other than comfort Steeljaw in his time of need. The brothers embraced each other and entwined their tails, one crying against the other's chassis, and the other rubbing the one's backplate. They remained where they were until they were called inside.
"Come on, brother, you can cry more once we're inside," Phantomjaw cajoled, helping Steeljaw to his pedes. He allowed his brother to lean against him as they made their way over to the ship.
"Again, you are a pain in my aft," Steeljaw growled, but at least he was smiling. Phantomjaw counted that as a win.
"Now what kind of brother would I be if I wasn't a pain in your aft?"
"Then you wouldn't be my brother in the first place."
The brothers laughed.
"Listen, brother, you know I won't tell anyone about any of this, no matter what…"
"I sense a 'but' coming."
"But sooner or later, you're going to have to tell them. It'd be better if you do, before they cross a line trying to obtain the truth."
"Well, I did promise Moonracer I wouldn't hide things from her if it affects my health…"
"Sooner it is, then."
"Yes. In all honesty though, brother, thank you."
"No problem, Steel-y! That's what family is for, afterall!"