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ante_luceTitle: Baby Boom (or, Why you should always read the manual first) Chapter 13
'Verse: G1 Transformers
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: TF cussing
Later, everyone who’d witnessed the fight would have said it was the most terrifying they’d ever seen Sideswipe. The mech had stared at the small, limp frame on the ground for a long moment, not reacting to the sneering Decepticon still standing before him, or the weapon perilously close to his helm, ignoring the frantic shouts of his brother, Perceptor and Skyfire, and the shrieking of the remaining seekerlings.
Then Sideswipe had looked up, and in complete silence, leapt forward to rip the startled mech’s arm from his chassis like it was held on with twist ties and chewing gum.
= = =
“Sunstreaker. What do we do?”
The yellow twin glanced back at the microscope. Perceptor had his back pressed to Skyfire, listening to Red Alert on the comm. (he wondered why Red Alert was coordinating the fight) and keeping on optic on the red mech standing over the fallen seekerling, mutely taking apart any bot fool enough to get within arm’s reach of them. The researcher looked completely thrown, and Sunstreaker could understand why.
The world in general considered him the more violent of the two frontliners, and for most part, that was true. He had always been easier to provoke, more ready to do violence, but they were twins. What he was, Sideswipe was too, in equal part. It was just a lot harder to uncover in the red Lamborghini, and once stirred, a lot harder to calm back down. Sunstreaker watched his brother, then shook his head.
“Keep behind me and hope he stays pointed at the ‘Cons.”
Angry clicking started up, and all three mechs risked a glance at the sparklings still with them. Starscream was glowering at Wheeljack, who was matching him glare for glare. The dark faced jet pointed at the engineer, then down at the ground in an unmistakeable ‘stay here’ manner, and Wheeljack chirred back furiously. Thundercracker cut in, his tones more controlled, and there were more sparkling sounds coming from somewhere (the adult bots were startled to realise that someone was on comms with their sparklings) and the inventor grumbled before nodding reluctantly.
Then both jets squirmed free of Skyfire’s arms and shot to their fallen trinemate’s side.
= = =
//Prowl! Skywarp’s down, and Star’ and TC say they need to get to him pronto!//
//I know. Starscream. Thundercracker. Stay where you are.//
//Frag you. We’re need to get to him now!//
//You will have to leave Skyfire’s protection to do so, placing yourselves at risk. Wait for the reinforcements to arrive.//
//Backup’s not coming in time. We have to get over there and stabilise him, or his spark might go out.//
//Me and TC are going. With or without your ‘permission’.//
//You’re not going without me.//
//You’re the one they fragging want, ‘Jack, so you have to stay put!//
//And Skyfire, Perceptor and Sunstreaker can better protect one sparkling instead of three.//
Over in the Ark, the mechs in the communications centre listened uncomprehendingly as Prowl chirred and clicked over comms to the three sparklings in the heart of the mêlée. The little Datsun paused, then sighed and chirred once, low and unwilling, and they stared as two sparkling seekers broke free and darted across the battlefield.
= = =
Sideswipe snarled, mindlessly lunging at the mechs that came his way. When Starscream and Thundercracker screeched to a halt next to his sparkling, he growled warningly at them, only to be confronted by a blue seekerling placing himself between the frontliner and Skywarp while the other jet checked the offline seeker’s injuries. Thundercracker’s fiercely protective stance and sharp trill snapped the Lamborghini out of the battle haze that had taken him over, and Sideswipe stepped back, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"You'll help him?"
The little flier chirred at him, nodding once before turning back to his trinemates, and the red mech focused on the battle and the bots now circling him warily once more. He sneered at the Decepticreeps. They should be paying more attention to his brother and Perceptor. The pair were taking advantage of the enemy’s divided attention to take down as many of the slaggers as they could. Still, if more of them were looking his way, then Wheeljack was a little safer. Skywarp… He couldn’t help Skywarp right now, but he would protect the ones who could.
Then… Autobot forces were streaming towards them, his attackers finally turning away to deal with the new arrivals. Sideswipe gathered the seekerlings, pulling them close as he ran for Skyfire, the shuttle already transforming to get the little mechs out of danger as quickly as possible.
= = =
Two black and white sparklings slid off the console and back into the seat proper, leaning tiredly against the backrest as the fight wound down and their comrades and friends started the return trip to the Autobot base. Mechs all about them were still staring at the sparklings, not that the little bots noticed, wearily reaching for the cables that connected them to the Ark’s systems and yanking the jacks out.
As Red Alert and Optimus reached them, their optics flickered, dimmed, then went dark altogether as first Prowl, then Jazz rapidly dropped offline. Red Alert winced as he caught the smell of scorched wiring and metal, and Optimus snatched up the pair, exclaiming softly at the blistering heat radiating from the tiny frames. Then the Prime was out of the room and running for the med bay, the security director right behind him, leaving the rest of the Autobots to wait a little longer for the answers they no doubt wanted.
= = =
The first thing Sideswipe said when he got back to the Ark was, “Who the frag let the sparkings keep their fragging weapons!?”
He knew it was ridiculous of him. There were so many other things to dwell on. The fight had been assisted by the sparklings’ efforts, and their unexpected armament had gone a long way in aiding their survival. But the question continued to echo in his CPU, the only thing his processors were willing to handle right now, even if the voice in his head was starting to sound hysterical.
Because if he stopped fixating on the question, his mind would start with the other ones lurking in the back of his CPU.
The red frontliner sagged wearily next to the med bay berth, staring at the offline form of a sparkling that ‘til now he’d thought was only that, a sparkling. To find out that Skywarp had been aware of his circumstances all this while…
Sideswipe cycled air slowly, trying not to bother Ratchet. The CMO had taken the news about the sparklings well when Optimus and Red Alert had finally explained things. Or perhaps the medic had just been too busy to really let it sink in.
In addition to Skywarp, both Prowl and Jazz had taken damage while coordinating the battle. Jacking into the Ark’s systems to draw power from the mainframe and channelling it through sparkling hardware ill suited for such high levels of energy, they’d burnt out almost half their circuits and relays (he’d heard Ratchet’s angry tirade about that all the way across the room) to stay online for the duration of the fight.
The pair of them lay in stasis on the next berth, and Sideswipe glanced at the two officers. Seeing them brought him to the thought he’d been avoiding since he’d onlined.
The sparklings were really adult mechs.
Skywarp was an adult mech.
Funny. He’d thought that once he’d let himself acknowledge the fact, something would change.
He’d be angry, perhaps. But he wasn’t.
Maybe the relief that had flooded his systems after onlining from repairs, staggering his way over to the sparklings and seeing his seekerling and hearing Ratchet assure him that Skywarp was as repaired as he could be would fade. It didn’t.
He’d finally go find his twin, already up and about and probably making life miserable for anyone who crossed his path while Sideswipe was still in the med bay. But he stayed where he was, stroking the little black helm gently, worrying about a tiny jet who’d yet to wake up.
Ratchet patted Sideswipe sympathetically on the shoulder and had, uncharacteristically for the gruff medic, not chewed him out for moving from his berth without the CMO’s explicit permission before leaving him alone with Skywarp. The Lamborghini pulled his hand away from the sparkling, clenching it into a fist and pressing it against his thigh, as if to restrain it.
The little purple and black seeker chose then to jolt awake, looking about frantically before spotting him. A relived series of chirrups issued from the teleporter’s vocaliser, and Skywarp held out his arms to him, wordlessly asking to be held. Automatically, Sideswipe was moving towards his (not his) sparkling when he stopped.
“… I can’t do this. Sorry.”
Not daring to meet the seekerling’s optics, he turned and fled the med bay, brushing past his brother, who’d come looking for him. Sunstreaker watched his twin’s rapidly diminishing back, then turned to see a seekerling with a sparkbroken look on his faceplates.
“Frag.”
Skywarp nodded, still looking desolate, and the yellow frontliner cycled air irritably.
“Look, you can’t expect him to just go on like before. Give him a few days. Then I’ll go pummel some sense into him.”
Sunstreaker had to hide his smirk at Skywarp’s indignant shrill.
'Verse: G1 Transformers
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: TF cussing
Later, everyone who’d witnessed the fight would have said it was the most terrifying they’d ever seen Sideswipe. The mech had stared at the small, limp frame on the ground for a long moment, not reacting to the sneering Decepticon still standing before him, or the weapon perilously close to his helm, ignoring the frantic shouts of his brother, Perceptor and Skyfire, and the shrieking of the remaining seekerlings.
Then Sideswipe had looked up, and in complete silence, leapt forward to rip the startled mech’s arm from his chassis like it was held on with twist ties and chewing gum.
= = =
“Sunstreaker. What do we do?”
The yellow twin glanced back at the microscope. Perceptor had his back pressed to Skyfire, listening to Red Alert on the comm. (he wondered why Red Alert was coordinating the fight) and keeping on optic on the red mech standing over the fallen seekerling, mutely taking apart any bot fool enough to get within arm’s reach of them. The researcher looked completely thrown, and Sunstreaker could understand why.
The world in general considered him the more violent of the two frontliners, and for most part, that was true. He had always been easier to provoke, more ready to do violence, but they were twins. What he was, Sideswipe was too, in equal part. It was just a lot harder to uncover in the red Lamborghini, and once stirred, a lot harder to calm back down. Sunstreaker watched his brother, then shook his head.
“Keep behind me and hope he stays pointed at the ‘Cons.”
Angry clicking started up, and all three mechs risked a glance at the sparklings still with them. Starscream was glowering at Wheeljack, who was matching him glare for glare. The dark faced jet pointed at the engineer, then down at the ground in an unmistakeable ‘stay here’ manner, and Wheeljack chirred back furiously. Thundercracker cut in, his tones more controlled, and there were more sparkling sounds coming from somewhere (the adult bots were startled to realise that someone was on comms with their sparklings) and the inventor grumbled before nodding reluctantly.
Then both jets squirmed free of Skyfire’s arms and shot to their fallen trinemate’s side.
= = =
//Prowl! Skywarp’s down, and Star’ and TC say they need to get to him pronto!//
//I know. Starscream. Thundercracker. Stay where you are.//
//Frag you. We’re need to get to him now!//
//You will have to leave Skyfire’s protection to do so, placing yourselves at risk. Wait for the reinforcements to arrive.//
//Backup’s not coming in time. We have to get over there and stabilise him, or his spark might go out.//
//Me and TC are going. With or without your ‘permission’.//
//You’re not going without me.//
//You’re the one they fragging want, ‘Jack, so you have to stay put!//
//And Skyfire, Perceptor and Sunstreaker can better protect one sparkling instead of three.//
Over in the Ark, the mechs in the communications centre listened uncomprehendingly as Prowl chirred and clicked over comms to the three sparklings in the heart of the mêlée. The little Datsun paused, then sighed and chirred once, low and unwilling, and they stared as two sparkling seekers broke free and darted across the battlefield.
= = =
Sideswipe snarled, mindlessly lunging at the mechs that came his way. When Starscream and Thundercracker screeched to a halt next to his sparkling, he growled warningly at them, only to be confronted by a blue seekerling placing himself between the frontliner and Skywarp while the other jet checked the offline seeker’s injuries. Thundercracker’s fiercely protective stance and sharp trill snapped the Lamborghini out of the battle haze that had taken him over, and Sideswipe stepped back, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"You'll help him?"
The little flier chirred at him, nodding once before turning back to his trinemates, and the red mech focused on the battle and the bots now circling him warily once more. He sneered at the Decepticreeps. They should be paying more attention to his brother and Perceptor. The pair were taking advantage of the enemy’s divided attention to take down as many of the slaggers as they could. Still, if more of them were looking his way, then Wheeljack was a little safer. Skywarp… He couldn’t help Skywarp right now, but he would protect the ones who could.
Then… Autobot forces were streaming towards them, his attackers finally turning away to deal with the new arrivals. Sideswipe gathered the seekerlings, pulling them close as he ran for Skyfire, the shuttle already transforming to get the little mechs out of danger as quickly as possible.
= = =
Two black and white sparklings slid off the console and back into the seat proper, leaning tiredly against the backrest as the fight wound down and their comrades and friends started the return trip to the Autobot base. Mechs all about them were still staring at the sparklings, not that the little bots noticed, wearily reaching for the cables that connected them to the Ark’s systems and yanking the jacks out.
As Red Alert and Optimus reached them, their optics flickered, dimmed, then went dark altogether as first Prowl, then Jazz rapidly dropped offline. Red Alert winced as he caught the smell of scorched wiring and metal, and Optimus snatched up the pair, exclaiming softly at the blistering heat radiating from the tiny frames. Then the Prime was out of the room and running for the med bay, the security director right behind him, leaving the rest of the Autobots to wait a little longer for the answers they no doubt wanted.
= = =
The first thing Sideswipe said when he got back to the Ark was, “Who the frag let the sparkings keep their fragging weapons!?”
He knew it was ridiculous of him. There were so many other things to dwell on. The fight had been assisted by the sparklings’ efforts, and their unexpected armament had gone a long way in aiding their survival. But the question continued to echo in his CPU, the only thing his processors were willing to handle right now, even if the voice in his head was starting to sound hysterical.
Because if he stopped fixating on the question, his mind would start with the other ones lurking in the back of his CPU.
The red frontliner sagged wearily next to the med bay berth, staring at the offline form of a sparkling that ‘til now he’d thought was only that, a sparkling. To find out that Skywarp had been aware of his circumstances all this while…
Sideswipe cycled air slowly, trying not to bother Ratchet. The CMO had taken the news about the sparklings well when Optimus and Red Alert had finally explained things. Or perhaps the medic had just been too busy to really let it sink in.
In addition to Skywarp, both Prowl and Jazz had taken damage while coordinating the battle. Jacking into the Ark’s systems to draw power from the mainframe and channelling it through sparkling hardware ill suited for such high levels of energy, they’d burnt out almost half their circuits and relays (he’d heard Ratchet’s angry tirade about that all the way across the room) to stay online for the duration of the fight.
The pair of them lay in stasis on the next berth, and Sideswipe glanced at the two officers. Seeing them brought him to the thought he’d been avoiding since he’d onlined.
The sparklings were really adult mechs.
Skywarp was an adult mech.
Funny. He’d thought that once he’d let himself acknowledge the fact, something would change.
He’d be angry, perhaps. But he wasn’t.
Maybe the relief that had flooded his systems after onlining from repairs, staggering his way over to the sparklings and seeing his seekerling and hearing Ratchet assure him that Skywarp was as repaired as he could be would fade. It didn’t.
He’d finally go find his twin, already up and about and probably making life miserable for anyone who crossed his path while Sideswipe was still in the med bay. But he stayed where he was, stroking the little black helm gently, worrying about a tiny jet who’d yet to wake up.
Ratchet patted Sideswipe sympathetically on the shoulder and had, uncharacteristically for the gruff medic, not chewed him out for moving from his berth without the CMO’s explicit permission before leaving him alone with Skywarp. The Lamborghini pulled his hand away from the sparkling, clenching it into a fist and pressing it against his thigh, as if to restrain it.
The little purple and black seeker chose then to jolt awake, looking about frantically before spotting him. A relived series of chirrups issued from the teleporter’s vocaliser, and Skywarp held out his arms to him, wordlessly asking to be held. Automatically, Sideswipe was moving towards his (not his) sparkling when he stopped.
“… I can’t do this. Sorry.”
Not daring to meet the seekerling’s optics, he turned and fled the med bay, brushing past his brother, who’d come looking for him. Sunstreaker watched his twin’s rapidly diminishing back, then turned to see a seekerling with a sparkbroken look on his faceplates.
“Frag.”
Skywarp nodded, still looking desolate, and the yellow frontliner cycled air irritably.
“Look, you can’t expect him to just go on like before. Give him a few days. Then I’ll go pummel some sense into him.”
Sunstreaker had to hide his smirk at Skywarp’s indignant shrill.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 05:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 06:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 06:40 pm (UTC)The scene at the end, were lil' Warp wants to be held is heartbreaking and thank god for Sunstreaker promising to punch some sense into his twin (one common-sense-injection twin-style locked and loaded...).
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:45 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 07:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 07:37 pm (UTC)Go Sunny! Kick his aft back in there!
I still love this story. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 08:44 pm (UTC)Aww, Skywarp. It wasn't like he lied specifically to Sideswipe. He has to be thinking that their fears were right, and the Autobots are only being nice to them because they seem to be sparklings. >: Poor thing.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 03:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 08:57 pm (UTC)It's interesting that Starscream knows enough about repairs to keep Skywarp stable, but it makes sense. I mean, considering how many times Megs has shot/hit/maimed him, how could he not?
Glad to see that you're getting back into your updating groove! ^_^
Blah
Date: 2009-07-14 11:43 pm (UTC)Re: Blah
Date: 2009-07-16 09:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 11:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-15 12:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-15 01:28 am (UTC)the deceps know better than to mess with the sparklings now
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-15 02:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-15 06:58 am (UTC)Oh Prime.
Oh Sides, poor Warp...
::snuggles EVERYBODY::
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-15 09:51 am (UTC)Sideswipe you get back there right now and cuddle him!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 09:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-16 03:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-17 01:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-17 08:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-18 07:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-10 07:26 am (UTC)*Hugs poor Skywarp and lays out plenty of carrots in hopes of luring the bunny out of hiding*
*sneaks away before is caught*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-11 09:08 am (UTC)