– Midnight –
The rescue alarm goes off, waking up the humans in the Firehouse and the Cybertronians in the Bunker. Everyone is used to the noise, but that doesn't mean they like it.
Who likes having their good night's sleep interrupted?
"EYO, WHAT IN THE PITS IS THAT FRAGGING NOISE?"
True, nobody likes it, but not everyone is used to it.
One minute, Thunderhoof is out cold, and the next, he's curled into a ball with servos pressed against his audio receptors, trying to block out the alarm, but only after jamming Steeljaw's daughter – as gently as possible – into his subspace.
"HOW'S CAN A RECOVERIN' MECH GET ANY SLEEP AROUND HERE?"
"That's just Griffin Rock for you," Heatwave replied coolly, having been alerted to their guest's distress on his way out. "The most unexpected things occur at the most inconvenient times."
Thunderhoof just barely heard the Rescue Bot over the alarm. His audio receptors, as irritated as they were, eventually adjusted to the noise level. He removed a servo from the side of his helm and turned to look at the red mech standing in the doorway.
"That so? Then why yous here? Don't ya have a job to get to or somethin'?" Thunderhoof asked.
"I'm checking on you, first," Heatwave said. "For all I know, you could've panicked and destroyed the med-bay."
"Do I look like the type of mech who panics?"
"No…"
Heatwave hesitated. His amber optics averted, more interested in the floor all of a sudden. He seemed conflicted.
"Listen, we're going to be out for a while. Don't cause any trouble."
"Why would I when I'm supposed to be resting?" Thunderhoof questioned.
". . . Get some sleep. We'll check on you in the morning."
Heatwave shut and locked the door. Thunderhoof heard the click, now that the alarm had gone silent, but he didn't entirely register the sound. He was left in a dark, silent room, utterly baffled.
What just happened?
Not wanting to get into it now, Thunderhoof shook his helm and lay back down. He retrieved Steeljaw's daughter from his subspace and placed her next to his hip. Leaving his servo draped over her small frame like a blanket, Thunderhoof closed his optics and drifted back to sleep.
– time skip –
Morning came fast for Thunderhoof. It was so peaceful that he remained in the berth. He must have dozed off because when he came-to, there was a commotion.
"Heatwave, sit still!"
"I'm fine, Blades! It's only a scratch!"
"It isn't just a scratch! Stop being so stubborn!"
Curiosity peaked, Thunderhoof cracked open an optic and looked over. Blades was gripping Heatwave's arm in one servo while the other held onto some sort of medical tool. Both mechs appeared to have been in some sort of altercation, their plating covered in scuffs, scrapes, and dirt. Though from where he was, Thunderhoof didn't see any concerning injuries.
"Blades, let go!"
"Not until I treat you! That cut could get infected, you know! Do you seriously want to deal with that?"
"I'll take care of it later!"
"You always say that!"
"No, I don't!"
"Ah, just let the medic do his job!" Thunderhoof groaned, growing sick of listening to the two argue.
Heatwave and Blades jumped, scared out of their plating.
"Oh, good morning, Thunderhoof!" Blades piped. "Did you sleep well? How are you feeling?"
"Yous mean aside from your alarm going off in the middle of the night?" Thunderhoof snipped.
"Oh Primus! I'm so sorry about that! We should have warned you ahead of time about the rescue alarm!"
As irritated as he was, Thunderhoof didn't throw a fit. If he hadn't fallen back asleep, then he would have been mad. Since he's well-rested, he reasons there's no need to cause a ruckus.
"Whatever," Thunderhoof huffed. "I'm feelin' fine."
"And the sparkling?" Heatwave asked.
Thunderhoof looked down. With all the noise, Steeljaw's daughter had stirred awake. Optics fluttering open, she sat on her haunches and curled her tail around her paws, and her little jaws parted in a little yawn.
"She's good, all things considered," Thunderhoof said, a part of him wondering if Steeljaw's daughter remembers what happened.
Blades hummed and nodded, then got back to work on Heatwave. The red mech, for his part, had refocused his sole attention on Thunderhoof.
Course he sees me as a danger now that I'm awake. Figures. Typical Autobots.
"Morning, guys!"
The new voice sounded familiar to Thunderhoof, enough where he could guess without looking.
"Morning, Cody!" Blades greeted.
"What are you doing here?" Heatwave asked, tone slightly harsh.
"Sounds like somebody's in a bad mood," Cody jokes. "I just thought I would check on you guys. I mean, it has been a while since we received any midnight calls."
"And I hope it stays that way. Working with a half-asleep Kade is a nightmare, especially when he's not given any time to eat something."
"You're telling me!"
The two Rescue Bots and Cody laughed. Thunderhoof remains silent, preferring to observe than intrude at the moment. Ditto for Steejaw's daughter.
"So, what happened, exactly? I kinda fell asleep not long after getting on the comms," Cody said.
Heatwave and Blades share a look.
"Uh…" Blades trailed.
"Some idiot or idiots thought it was a good idea to light-up on the docks, surrounded by barrels of oil and whatever else is highly flammable down there," Heatwave grumbled.
"Combustible," Thunderhoof corrected, earning himself some weird looks. "What? There's a difference between 'em, you know."
"And how would you know that?"
"Cause I ain't stupid."
Pause.
"Also, I blackmailed some scientists to work for me."
"Why would you blackmail them when you could have just, you know?" Blades asked, half paying attention to fixing Heatwave and half listening to Thunderhoof's words.
Thunderhoof couldn't help but laugh at that.
"Cause they always wanted some ridiculously high payment that I couldn't risk giving 'em! Yous remember how expensive science stuff was back then?"
"I know how expensive it is nowadays," Heatwave grumbled with a roll of his optics.
"Exactly. Besides, I wasn't too keen on payin' much unless it was someone I trusted, and that was a short list."
"It get even shorter over the years?"
"No."
"Longer?" Blades asked, perplexed.
"It doesn't exist anymore. I don't trust anyone 'cept myself," Thunderhoof admitted.
"What about your family?" Cody asked.
Thunderhoof sat up to get a better look at the human.
"My what?" Thunderhoof asked, cocking his helm and raising an optical ridge.
"Family. People who care for you and love you and are always there for you," Cody explained as he approached the medical slab. "Don't you have one?"
Even though it should have been an immediate, obvious answer, Thunderhoof felt himself fumble over his words as his processor caught up to him at the last second. His mouth was partly open, and his optics appeared to be staring into nothingness.
Family, huh?
While he didn't particularly like the other Ex-Cons, Thunderhoof couldn't bring himself to completely hate them. They all have their moments, and sometimes, he enjoys their company: arguing with Steeljaw; finding ways to stay on Ramulus' good side; acting as Underbite's guardian angel because the Chompazoid can't seem to stay out of trouble; scaring the Pits out of Clampdown; sparring with Fracture and attempting not to crush his mini-cons in the process – and those are just the major interactions!
Excluding his hook-ups with Phantomjaw, because that information is supposed to be private.
"Thunderhoof?"
A snap of digits right in front of his optics startles Thunderhoof. He jerks back to reality to see Heatwave and Blades standing by his bedside, Cody sitting upon the latter's shoulder.
"What were you thinking about just now?" Heatwave asked.
Thunderhoof didn't answer immediately. His gaze flicked to Cody, then back to Heatwave.
"What the kid asked," Thunderhoof said.
"Your family?" Cody gasped, leaning forward a little on his perch.
"Let's just say mine ain't like what yous described."
Cody laughed.
"I wouldn't expect it to!"
He choked back another giggle fit as he wanted to continue talking.
"Anyway, how so?"
Thunderhoof was just about to answer when he was suddenly interrupted.
{CODY!}
Despite the voice being garbled, everyone flinched from the volume.
"Sorry, guys. Give me a sec," Cody apologized, raising a hand and pressing it against the green button of his commlink.
{Yeah, Kade. What's up?}
{Where are you? Frankie's here!}
{I'm on my way. Give me a few minutes.}
{You better make it snappy because we can't stall her forever, and we can't let her know about you know who just yet!}
{Okay, okay, I get it! I'll be there in a sec!}
Cody removed his hand from his commlink and sighed.
"Well, I got to go."
"We heard," Heatwave commented as Blades kneeled down and Cody slid off his plating. The human made haste, but paused in the doorway to look back at the mechs.
"Later, Thunderhoof!"