Hunter Green (Part 11)
Nov. 21st, 2008 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ante_luceSleepy... Hunter bunny is by far my favourite, I think. Well behaved and patient (at least it learned to be, eventually), and puts up with the ill-mannered maraudering brutes that masquerade as my other bunnies with remarkable good grace (I think it's far too amused by my plight to be too huffy about getting placed on the back burner).
*nuzzes Hunter bunny*
Title: Hunter Green (Part 11)
'Verse: G1 Transformers
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Same as before
Ratchet murmured thoughtfully, optics distant as he scanned Hunter’s CPU. Said youngling was practically melded to Skyfire’s side, tucked under a protective arm and slowly recovering from his shock. Bluestreak was holding one of his hands tightly, and the mech occasionally squeezed back when he noticed the gunner’s doorwings flicking far too agitatedly. The CMO wasn’t quite sure as to who was being comforted there. Nearby, Jazz and Ironhide hovered, also looking concerned.
“Ratchet?” At Skyfire’s prompt, he nodded and finished his scans, disconnecting from the green mech.
“To state the obvious, Prowl’s mind has begun to resurface, and, as we’d previously concluded from Hunter’s constantly interrupted recharge patterns, he’s been doing so in short bursts for a while, usually when Hunter’s consciousness is dormant, like in recharge.”
“Then, you knew this would happen?” Bluestreak blurted out, and Hunter’s air intakes hitched slightly as he started to try and pull free. Skyfire turned a worried look on the youngling, reflexively tightening his grip, only to drop it like it burnt him when the green mech responded by going still and inert and blank.
He really hated it when the kid used the programs, and hated the fact that Hunter felt he needed to use them right now even more.
“We suspected, but didn’t expect Prowl to be able to take control with Hunter still awake this soon. I was going to let him know at our next session.” The gunner gave him a searching look, then a nod, taking a seat by Hunter’s side.
“So, now what?” Ratchet grimaced at Jazz’s query.
“Now, Wheeljack and Perceptor work their afts off to figure out how to shift Hunter into his own CPU, and soon. Having both of them awake at the same time stresses their circuits with all the conflicting data, although now that Hunter’s clued in it won’t be as bad. Prowl, on the other hand… He won’t know what’s going on, and judging by the way he ran from his friends, could see his presence here as a threat to our safety.”
With a perturbed cycle of air, the medic scrubbed at his helm in a futile effort to ease his troubled processors. “If we’re not vigilant, the next time he wakes he might decide the most expedient course would be to terminate himself.”
Bluestreak flinched, and Hunter briefly tightened his grip on the gunner’s hand again. “Can you sedate me and see if Prowl surfaces? You can explain things to him then.”
“We could, but it may send you both too far offline and we’d get slag all for trying. Also, we don’t know how Prowl ‘wakes up’, or when. There’s been no discernable pattern so far. And I’m not going to keep you under until he does surface, so don’t even ask.” Cowed by the wrench brandished in his face, Hunter meekly nodded. Satisfied with the youngling’s compliance, Ratchet put down the tool and spoke again.
“For now, I’d like you to get your recharge here, where I can keep sensors on you. Otherwise you should carry on as usual.” When Hunter sagged minutely at this, Ratchet’s spark panged in sympathy and resignation. Of course the fool youngling would think they’d keep him locked up now that their SIC was putting in an appearance. The medic didn’t envy Skyfire’s task of unravelling the reticent mech’s issues.
“I’m reactivating your comm. systems. If you find yourself in a situation like today, contact one of us if you can.”
“… And if I can’t?”
“Try to communicate with Prowl, don’t fight him and don’t appear threatening. Try to stay near someone if possible. I’ll send out a memo so that the crew understands what’s happening.”
“Yes sir.”
========================================
“Hunter, I apologise for not telling you sooner.” They were in Skyfire’s lab again. After the events of the afternoon, he’d decided to push forward their next session.
“It’s alright, you couldn’t have known.” The researcher sighed at the mech’s composed response.
“Please don’t do that.”
“Sorry. It’s difficult not to right now.” The calm expression faded, replaced by agitation and nervously clasped hands, and Skyfire couldn’t help but ask.
“Why are you still so fearful? We’ve told you time and time again that you are safe here. You’ve even seen the chassis we’re building for you.”
“Sorry.” At the even more frantic movements of Hunter’s doorwings, the jet exhaled slowly and quelled his frustration, taking hold of the youngling’s hands before he could cause damage to himself with how much he was twisting them.
“Hunter, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“I don’t know.” The mech’s tone was plaintive and confused. “Maybe I’m still getting used to being considered real. Logically, I know I’m in no danger from the Autobots. You’ve been very kind to me and I have no reason to still be wary. This isn’t rational, and I have no idea as to how to deal with it.” The jet nodded in understanding.
“Well then. I see only one solution.”
Hunter looked up at him with a small frown, and Skyfire rested an encouraging hand on his shoulder.
“We get you into your own chassis as soon as possible. In the meantime, I keep saying it until you believe it, processor and spark, no matter how many times it takes.”
========================================
In another part of the Ark, Hound was wrangling answers out of another tight lipped mech. “Mirage. Talk to me.”
“We are talking, Hound.”
“Not about what’s still bothering you.”
“It’s not important.” Undeterred by Mirage’s dismissive reply, the tracker pressed on.
“It is. I can see it’s troubling you, and I want to make it better.”
“Can you, really?”
“I need to know what it is before I can try. It hurts to see you like this.”
“You don’t want to know.” The spy turned away, only to be tugged back to face an insistent jeep.
“I do.”
“You don’t!” He found himself wrapped in Hound’s arms, forehead pressed to the other mech’s as determined optics sought his quickly averted ones.
“What can be so terrible that you think I’d not want to know?”
He stayed silent, and the jeep, truly worried now, descended into pleading.
“‘Raj, please.”
Mirage cursed his inability to leave Hound sounding so upset, then activated his cloaking device, hiding in the last way he could, and shuttered his optics so that he couldn’t see the mech’s face when he found out. Lowly, he muttered his reply, the mech holding him straining to hear his words.
“Back at the Decepticon base, they were starting to suspect my presence, so I had to leave, and soon. Prowl’s self-termination sequences had been blocked, and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out, so he asked me to kill him and wipe his databanks.” A soft, despairing sound escaped the spy’s vocaliser and he bowed his head in shame as he continued.
“I triggered cascade failure for him, and couldn’t bear to stay any longer after doing so.” Miserably, he wondered how long it would take for Hound to declare his disgust and drop him like a rust eaten scrapheap. “And I keep thinking, if only I had managed to properly… kill Prowl, or managed to get him out, and then I consider that Hunter wouldn’t be here if I had.” And the conflict he felt over that ate at him as well.
“‘Raj.” The blue mech didn’t respond, and Hound could feel him shaking, ever so slightly. Gently, the jeep reached for the invisible mech’s helm and pressed a kiss to his love’s forehead.
“‘Raj, look at me. It wasn’t your fault you had to leave him with the ‘Cons. Nor will anyone blame you for doing as Prowl asked.” The spy tried to protest, but was cut off by the tracker’s finger landing unerringly on unseen lips.
“If you hadn’t, the ‘Cons might have gotten through and he’d be theirs to control. Or he’d have found another way to kill himself, and we’d not have either of them with us now. And, since you wouldn’t have reported him dead, we’d still be trying to rescue him, maybe even think whatever the ‘Cons sent out on the battlefield in his chassis was him. And then where would we be?”
Mirage couldn’t answer, and Hound just held him tight and kissed him again. “It worked out for the best. Prowl’s with us, the youngling’s with us, and you’re with us. And I thank Primus for that last one every time I online.”
The spy faded into visibility once more, the realisation that Hound didn’t hate him slowly sinking into his processors.
“‘Raj?” His silence was beginning to worry Hound again. Shaking his head, Mirage buried his faceplates in the green mech’s shoulder, muffling his relieved sobs as the jeep whispered quiet reassurances into his audio, easing the burden weighing on his spark ever since he’d left the Decepticon base.
========================================
He woke in the med bay this time, and he was still horribly confused.
His comrades had called him by a different name. But then Jazz had used his real one.
His processors ached. He was in the Ark, under someone else’s control; the crew knew it and it made no sense.
Distracted as he was, he still noticed the mech quietly walking in to take a seat next to him on the berth.
“Prowl.”
“Red Alert?”
“It’s alright. The Ark is safe around you. The individual who controls your chassis when you’re not awake is not a threat to us.” The Datsun relaxed imperceptibly, and the other mech smiled briefly.
“What’s going on? Last I remember I was with the Decepticons.”
“Yes, they programmed an A.I into your CPU to use your experience and programming. Don’t panic.” And here both shared a quick, sardonic grin at the irony before the security mech continued. “Long story short, the A.I., his name is Hunter, by the way, gained sapience, gave the ‘Cons the proverbial human finger, and brought your chassis back to us, with him still in it. He’s managed to develop into a youngling as well. We’re figuring out a way to separate you two without losing him, but for now, you’ll have to share.”
“I see.”
“Hunter’s… a good sort. Skyfire has taken him under his wing, and Bluestreak seems to get along with him. Certainly, having him around has helped Bluestreak cope these past few weeks.”
The relief was plain in the tactician’s optics as he struggled to voice his reply, fighting the darkness calling him before settling on a simple, “Thank you.”
Red Alert cracked a faint smile. “It’s good to have you back Prowl. We missed you.”
========================================
Hunter came online to see Ratchet glaring at Red Alert.
“What in Primus’s name were you thinking? I asked him to recharge in here so I could keep an optic on the both of them, and you completely negate my ability to do so by keeping the systems from telling me that Prowl was awake.”
“It was more efficient for me to brief Prowl on the situation. I am the security director, and according to you, his main concern was for the safety of the Ark. My word would therefore carry more weight.”
“Briefing Prowl on his current circumstances was not the only thing I had in mind! There were scans and tests to be done!”
“I would have called you, but he didn’t stay awake for long past my run down. You wouldn’t have been able to do much.”
“… And Hunter didn’t wake after Prowl subsided?”
“He didn’t.”
Ratchet paused in his snit to consider this. “Perhaps… Now that he knows what’s going on, there’s less cause for negative emotion, so Hunter isn’t woken by them.”
“So, do I still have to recharge in here?”
Both mechs whirled to look at him, and Hunter started a little. Ratchet nodded.
“Yes. Until we can scan Prowl. It shouldn’t be any longer than ‘till the next time he surfaces, that is, if someone,” and here a poisonous glare was directed at the red mech beside him. “Would just keep his meddling to himself.”
“I’ve said what I needed to. He’s all yours the next time.”
*nuzzes Hunter bunny*
Title: Hunter Green (Part 11)
'Verse: G1 Transformers
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Same as before
Ratchet murmured thoughtfully, optics distant as he scanned Hunter’s CPU. Said youngling was practically melded to Skyfire’s side, tucked under a protective arm and slowly recovering from his shock. Bluestreak was holding one of his hands tightly, and the mech occasionally squeezed back when he noticed the gunner’s doorwings flicking far too agitatedly. The CMO wasn’t quite sure as to who was being comforted there. Nearby, Jazz and Ironhide hovered, also looking concerned.
“Ratchet?” At Skyfire’s prompt, he nodded and finished his scans, disconnecting from the green mech.
“To state the obvious, Prowl’s mind has begun to resurface, and, as we’d previously concluded from Hunter’s constantly interrupted recharge patterns, he’s been doing so in short bursts for a while, usually when Hunter’s consciousness is dormant, like in recharge.”
“Then, you knew this would happen?” Bluestreak blurted out, and Hunter’s air intakes hitched slightly as he started to try and pull free. Skyfire turned a worried look on the youngling, reflexively tightening his grip, only to drop it like it burnt him when the green mech responded by going still and inert and blank.
He really hated it when the kid used the programs, and hated the fact that Hunter felt he needed to use them right now even more.
“We suspected, but didn’t expect Prowl to be able to take control with Hunter still awake this soon. I was going to let him know at our next session.” The gunner gave him a searching look, then a nod, taking a seat by Hunter’s side.
“So, now what?” Ratchet grimaced at Jazz’s query.
“Now, Wheeljack and Perceptor work their afts off to figure out how to shift Hunter into his own CPU, and soon. Having both of them awake at the same time stresses their circuits with all the conflicting data, although now that Hunter’s clued in it won’t be as bad. Prowl, on the other hand… He won’t know what’s going on, and judging by the way he ran from his friends, could see his presence here as a threat to our safety.”
With a perturbed cycle of air, the medic scrubbed at his helm in a futile effort to ease his troubled processors. “If we’re not vigilant, the next time he wakes he might decide the most expedient course would be to terminate himself.”
Bluestreak flinched, and Hunter briefly tightened his grip on the gunner’s hand again. “Can you sedate me and see if Prowl surfaces? You can explain things to him then.”
“We could, but it may send you both too far offline and we’d get slag all for trying. Also, we don’t know how Prowl ‘wakes up’, or when. There’s been no discernable pattern so far. And I’m not going to keep you under until he does surface, so don’t even ask.” Cowed by the wrench brandished in his face, Hunter meekly nodded. Satisfied with the youngling’s compliance, Ratchet put down the tool and spoke again.
“For now, I’d like you to get your recharge here, where I can keep sensors on you. Otherwise you should carry on as usual.” When Hunter sagged minutely at this, Ratchet’s spark panged in sympathy and resignation. Of course the fool youngling would think they’d keep him locked up now that their SIC was putting in an appearance. The medic didn’t envy Skyfire’s task of unravelling the reticent mech’s issues.
“I’m reactivating your comm. systems. If you find yourself in a situation like today, contact one of us if you can.”
“… And if I can’t?”
“Try to communicate with Prowl, don’t fight him and don’t appear threatening. Try to stay near someone if possible. I’ll send out a memo so that the crew understands what’s happening.”
“Yes sir.”
“Hunter, I apologise for not telling you sooner.” They were in Skyfire’s lab again. After the events of the afternoon, he’d decided to push forward their next session.
“It’s alright, you couldn’t have known.” The researcher sighed at the mech’s composed response.
“Please don’t do that.”
“Sorry. It’s difficult not to right now.” The calm expression faded, replaced by agitation and nervously clasped hands, and Skyfire couldn’t help but ask.
“Why are you still so fearful? We’ve told you time and time again that you are safe here. You’ve even seen the chassis we’re building for you.”
“Sorry.” At the even more frantic movements of Hunter’s doorwings, the jet exhaled slowly and quelled his frustration, taking hold of the youngling’s hands before he could cause damage to himself with how much he was twisting them.
“Hunter, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“I don’t know.” The mech’s tone was plaintive and confused. “Maybe I’m still getting used to being considered real. Logically, I know I’m in no danger from the Autobots. You’ve been very kind to me and I have no reason to still be wary. This isn’t rational, and I have no idea as to how to deal with it.” The jet nodded in understanding.
“Well then. I see only one solution.”
Hunter looked up at him with a small frown, and Skyfire rested an encouraging hand on his shoulder.
“We get you into your own chassis as soon as possible. In the meantime, I keep saying it until you believe it, processor and spark, no matter how many times it takes.”
In another part of the Ark, Hound was wrangling answers out of another tight lipped mech. “Mirage. Talk to me.”
“We are talking, Hound.”
“Not about what’s still bothering you.”
“It’s not important.” Undeterred by Mirage’s dismissive reply, the tracker pressed on.
“It is. I can see it’s troubling you, and I want to make it better.”
“Can you, really?”
“I need to know what it is before I can try. It hurts to see you like this.”
“You don’t want to know.” The spy turned away, only to be tugged back to face an insistent jeep.
“I do.”
“You don’t!” He found himself wrapped in Hound’s arms, forehead pressed to the other mech’s as determined optics sought his quickly averted ones.
“What can be so terrible that you think I’d not want to know?”
He stayed silent, and the jeep, truly worried now, descended into pleading.
“‘Raj, please.”
Mirage cursed his inability to leave Hound sounding so upset, then activated his cloaking device, hiding in the last way he could, and shuttered his optics so that he couldn’t see the mech’s face when he found out. Lowly, he muttered his reply, the mech holding him straining to hear his words.
“Back at the Decepticon base, they were starting to suspect my presence, so I had to leave, and soon. Prowl’s self-termination sequences had been blocked, and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out, so he asked me to kill him and wipe his databanks.” A soft, despairing sound escaped the spy’s vocaliser and he bowed his head in shame as he continued.
“I triggered cascade failure for him, and couldn’t bear to stay any longer after doing so.” Miserably, he wondered how long it would take for Hound to declare his disgust and drop him like a rust eaten scrapheap. “And I keep thinking, if only I had managed to properly… kill Prowl, or managed to get him out, and then I consider that Hunter wouldn’t be here if I had.” And the conflict he felt over that ate at him as well.
“‘Raj.” The blue mech didn’t respond, and Hound could feel him shaking, ever so slightly. Gently, the jeep reached for the invisible mech’s helm and pressed a kiss to his love’s forehead.
“‘Raj, look at me. It wasn’t your fault you had to leave him with the ‘Cons. Nor will anyone blame you for doing as Prowl asked.” The spy tried to protest, but was cut off by the tracker’s finger landing unerringly on unseen lips.
“If you hadn’t, the ‘Cons might have gotten through and he’d be theirs to control. Or he’d have found another way to kill himself, and we’d not have either of them with us now. And, since you wouldn’t have reported him dead, we’d still be trying to rescue him, maybe even think whatever the ‘Cons sent out on the battlefield in his chassis was him. And then where would we be?”
Mirage couldn’t answer, and Hound just held him tight and kissed him again. “It worked out for the best. Prowl’s with us, the youngling’s with us, and you’re with us. And I thank Primus for that last one every time I online.”
The spy faded into visibility once more, the realisation that Hound didn’t hate him slowly sinking into his processors.
“‘Raj?” His silence was beginning to worry Hound again. Shaking his head, Mirage buried his faceplates in the green mech’s shoulder, muffling his relieved sobs as the jeep whispered quiet reassurances into his audio, easing the burden weighing on his spark ever since he’d left the Decepticon base.
He woke in the med bay this time, and he was still horribly confused.
His comrades had called him by a different name. But then Jazz had used his real one.
His processors ached. He was in the Ark, under someone else’s control; the crew knew it and it made no sense.
Distracted as he was, he still noticed the mech quietly walking in to take a seat next to him on the berth.
“Prowl.”
“Red Alert?”
“It’s alright. The Ark is safe around you. The individual who controls your chassis when you’re not awake is not a threat to us.” The Datsun relaxed imperceptibly, and the other mech smiled briefly.
“What’s going on? Last I remember I was with the Decepticons.”
“Yes, they programmed an A.I into your CPU to use your experience and programming. Don’t panic.” And here both shared a quick, sardonic grin at the irony before the security mech continued. “Long story short, the A.I., his name is Hunter, by the way, gained sapience, gave the ‘Cons the proverbial human finger, and brought your chassis back to us, with him still in it. He’s managed to develop into a youngling as well. We’re figuring out a way to separate you two without losing him, but for now, you’ll have to share.”
“I see.”
“Hunter’s… a good sort. Skyfire has taken him under his wing, and Bluestreak seems to get along with him. Certainly, having him around has helped Bluestreak cope these past few weeks.”
The relief was plain in the tactician’s optics as he struggled to voice his reply, fighting the darkness calling him before settling on a simple, “Thank you.”
Red Alert cracked a faint smile. “It’s good to have you back Prowl. We missed you.”
Hunter came online to see Ratchet glaring at Red Alert.
“What in Primus’s name were you thinking? I asked him to recharge in here so I could keep an optic on the both of them, and you completely negate my ability to do so by keeping the systems from telling me that Prowl was awake.”
“It was more efficient for me to brief Prowl on the situation. I am the security director, and according to you, his main concern was for the safety of the Ark. My word would therefore carry more weight.”
“Briefing Prowl on his current circumstances was not the only thing I had in mind! There were scans and tests to be done!”
“I would have called you, but he didn’t stay awake for long past my run down. You wouldn’t have been able to do much.”
“… And Hunter didn’t wake after Prowl subsided?”
“He didn’t.”
Ratchet paused in his snit to consider this. “Perhaps… Now that he knows what’s going on, there’s less cause for negative emotion, so Hunter isn’t woken by them.”
“So, do I still have to recharge in here?”
Both mechs whirled to look at him, and Hunter started a little. Ratchet nodded.
“Yes. Until we can scan Prowl. It shouldn’t be any longer than ‘till the next time he surfaces, that is, if someone,” and here a poisonous glare was directed at the red mech beside him. “Would just keep his meddling to himself.”
“I’ve said what I needed to. He’s all yours the next time.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-23 02:35 am (UTC)Also, is Hunter in some weird twisted way Prowl's youngling or just a youngling?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-23 06:09 am (UTC)