In which ianam sporks a badfic.
For the good folks over at tf_afts . Because you guys are awesome. And this is how I show my love, for I am a twisted soul.
Chapter two is called 'Making Connections'. I'm not terribly sure what those connections are, but I have a few ugly suspicions. So here I go giving myself another excuse to drink.
Author's Note: Yes, Dinobot is going to be very OOC through this, but keep in mind that when someone goes through a severe trauma such as torture, they are changed and don't react to things the same way. He will get more and more IC as the story goes on.
Why do I find that so hard to believe? Oh, right. It's Sinead.
Nurannoniel sat up straight in bed sometime during the night. She hugged the blankets close to her chest, looking around the room. All the other girls were asleep. Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, she crept from the room to walk down to the command center. One bot was there, watching the monitors. He turned, and smiled kindly at the midnight wanderer. "Nurannoniel. Is something wrong?"
Would you like a list, Primal?
She shrugged, then walked closer. "Dunno. I just woke up suddenly."
Optimus' smile stayed upon his face, but changed slightly. "I've had too many times that I've woken up like that. Did you want to talk?"
"No, I'd rather just stare at your beautiful optics." (Seriously, if these two aren't being set up for a pairing later in the fic, then I will run down Main Street with my pants on my head.)
"Yeah, I'd like that."
She sat upon a seat that he pulled up for her, and asked, "How's Dinobot?"
Optimus pointed to a small screen in the lower-right corner of one screen. Nurannoniel blinked at it, then sighed. "He really took all the hits, didn't he."
"Not all. He rolled for Dexterity and dodged a few."
"More than he'll say. I couldn't get anything out of him upon what happened to him, other than the obvious fact that he had been cut. He just wouldn't open up to me."
"Sinead has a guess, I think."
Making a small noise of affirmation, Optimus nodded. "That much was indicated, but she passed out before I could ask her."
You'll have to wait for her to wake up, then. Not like Rhinox has any scanning equipment that might be more accurate and informative than a Sue's intuition.
Both went silent, but Nurannoniel broke it again, by asking, "Is Sinead all right?"
Optimus panned the camera's view to the left, to catch the sleeping author. She was on her stomach, breathing deeply. Her arms had come up under the pillow somehow, so that it was propped up a bit higher. Her back was a swath of white bandages.
I presume the bandages are hiding the fluffy angel wings she seems to sport throughout this fic. Also, Primal is a voyeur. (Are we surprised?)
Optimus looked at the girl next to him. "Nurannoniel . . ."
"Nurann, please. I can tell that you're tripping over my name."
"How about if I just call you 'N'? Since, you know, it's obviously your favorite letter."
The leader smiled. How did she know that? "Nurann, then. What's caused you to all have this look of sadness around your faces? I see it when you think people aren't looking. Rhinox noticed this as well."
For a long moment, the author said nothing. Finally, however, she said, "We all have different pasts, different tragedies that happen to us along life's path. We've had more rough patches on that road than I think a lot of other people will ever have to go through in a lifetime. I don't really feel like talking about it right now."
Optimus nodded, and rested his hand upon her shoulder, a kind and warm smile upon his face. "I understand."
Well, the guy's leading a gorilla guerilla war on a prehistoric planet to stop a madmech from destroying history and taking over their homeworld. He sends his friends into violent combat and possible death on a daily basis. Of course that surely doesn't compare to anything that our Sues have gone through, but at least he understands your pain!
Ugh. Scene-skip time!
It was morning. Rattrap was walking past the doors that belonged to the humans, only to stop suddenly. Small arms were latched around his chest, and someone rested their face against his back. He looked over his shoulder, then smiled. "Sapphire."
"Hi there, squishy-I-hardly-know! Feel free to glomp me, I don't mind a bit!" (Though, this being Rattrap...)
No response. He twisted carefully, and then started to guide her back to her room. She shook her head, then yawned. "What?"
"You're asleep."
"Nah . . . just tired. Waking up."
"Really." (What, rat, you can't tell the difference? Bit slow today, aren't we?)
"And I wanted to give you a cuddle. You looked like you needed it."
But he smells like he needs a bath. Want to give him that, too?
The Maximal looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye-contact with the girl. It hurt to look into her eyes. (Understandable. The sparkling is probably enough to cause seizures.) She understood him better than he had first thought. "Dinobot's gonna take a turn f'r th' worse if we don't head it off."
Sapphire frowned, reaching for Rattrap's face. His optics caught her eyes, and held. She smiled as reassuringly as she could, then whispered, "What happened?"
"His Spark's pulse-rate staggered twice last night. It'll get worse today."
"How do you know?"
"I've seen it before. Rhinox was a medic in war zones. I was a spy, an' young, so I ended up getting caught half o' th' time an' shot. I know how things like Spark-deterioration happen." He sighed. "And unless we help 'im, it'll happen to Dino-butt."
Funny how Rattrap never displayed this kind of medical knowledge in the show. (Too bad though, because that was almost good backstory there.)
"How do we fix this?" Starath asked, opening the girls' door behind Sapphire. She always seemed to be listening out for her friends.
Rattrap let his gaze fall. "I don't think dat he wants it fixed."
Emo-raptor would rather die. Though that does sort of beg the question of why he hasn't already. As I recall, canon-Dinobot had no qualms against suicide in the event of lost honor. Maybe I'm thinking of a different show.
Speaking of Emo-raptor - SCENE CUT!
Dinobot stared at the ceiling, and yet, he was looking past it. (When did the Axalon get skylights installed?) Rhinox's voice pulled him back into the here and now. "Dinobot, you know what has to be done."
The sword's-bot shook his head, and looked away again.
"I know. I have no choice. I must fall for the Sue. ...But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
Rustling to his right sounded, soon followed by a yawn. "Crap, what happened?"
"You passed out," Rhinox replied, cocking an optic ridge at her. "Almost lost your shirt in the process. It's drying right now. We had to soak it so that the bloodstains would come out. They did."
Sinead glared at the Maximal. "Whoo-hoo. Bloodstains. I could honestly care less about them right now. Could I at least have a sheet to cover what else of me should be covered?"
You're surrounded by robots and modesty is still a concern? For god's sake, girl, see a therapist or something. You have issues.
"Ah, right. Sorry." But he smiled anyway, glad that she was awake and coherent. He didn't understand humans and their needs for modesty, but he would still accommodate them. Even if they were being irritable.
Sinead shook her head and rested it back upon her arms. "I'm snappish, and I'm the one who should be sorry. If I say anything to offend you, please let me know."
"In that case, could you just stop talking altogether? Thanks."
Rhinox chuckled, spreading a blanket over the girl. "You've lost blood and pushed yourself beyond what you knew that you were able to do. You're doing fine for someone who has just done that."
"It was a stupid mistake, but thank you."
Dinobot listened to the interaction, then said, "I've known worse mistakes to be made."
I know, Dinobot. You're starring in one now.
Sinead pulled the blanket tight around her as she sat up. "You're awake."
The technician smiled. "I'll go tell Optimus that you're both up. And if your shirt is dry, Sinead, I'll bring it back to you."
"What about . . . uh . . . anything else?"
"That should be dry by now. Dare I ask its purpose?"
"No." (It's a military sekrit)
He half-smiled, standing from where he had been sitting upon a rolling stool. "Didn't think so. Be back soon."
The door slid shut. Silence. Sinead slid off of the berth she had been placed upon, and walked over to stand by the side of Dinobot's bed, kicking a small, upturned crate over so that she would be able to see him a bit more clearly. "Are you okay?"
And the Dumbest Question of the Year Award goes to...
Dinobot's optics rolled up to hers. His gaze was enough. She started to reach out, but pulled her hand back, glancing away, remembering that Dinobot didn't want to be touched. A small noise caused her to look back at the bot. And she reached out again, to rest only the tips of her fingers along his cheek. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I . . . I don't think I can."
"Too painful?"
Too ridiculous to believe?
"Yeah."
She paused, then moved her fingers so that they were hovering just above a nasty gash upon his shoulder that had a trickle of energon still leaking from it. "Why haven't you let Rhinox see to you?"
"I don't want to be touched."
Isn't that what CR chambers are for? Or am I thinking of a different show again?
"Yet you let me touch your face."
"You're human. Not Cybertronian."
So your friends touching you isn't okay (kind of understandable there, maybe), but the squishy-bodied stranger is?
Sinead blinked, then rested the full length of her hand upon his face. "I'm human, but I'm also a warrior, like you. Why won't you let them touch you?"
Dinobot cast his optics away from her eyes. "I don't want to be hurt by them, even if it's unintentional."
"What about Rattrap?"
"He's . . . he'd never hurt me."
Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
"You need to be seen to, Dinobot. You have to let Rhinox help you."
Dinobot sat up, disregarding the blankets falling to his thighs and the pain in his torso from the wounds. "I will not let him, any of them, touch me! I do not have a choice, Sinead! I just don't . . . I just don't want to feel Cybertronian hands upon me ever again."
That's gonna be kinda difficult, buddy. One, you're a soldier. Two, you share close quarters with a group of Maximals who have no apparent concept of personal space. And Primus help you if you ever go back to Cybertron.
Sinead locked her eyes upon his optics. "Your blankets aren't exactly lending you modesty. And . . . uh . . . yeah. Mind pulling them up again?"
ASDF;LDSJFKLDJS;FLDJS;FLDJSKL WHAT?
You are talking to a RAPE VICTIM. They are distraught and don't really give a shit what you see (which is kind of odd in itself, because compulsive modesty is not an uncommon side effect of sexual trauma). And you are chiding them for modesty. Oh, I'm SO sorry that my ravaged frame has offended your poor virgin eyes! Pfft. Dinobot, tell this overgrown child to go to hell.
Dinobot clutched at the blankets, doing as she asked, then looked down first. "My apologies. I didn't remember that most humans are more modest than Cybertronians."
ASLFJDSLJFDSLJFLDS;FJLDSJFLDSJL HE APOLOGIZED. FUCK THIS, I DON'T EVEN.
Laughing, the author shook her head. "I'm even more modest than most humans I know."
Dinobot watched her, then winced, and sighed.
Add some eyerolling and groaning and you have my reaction to this whole fic.
The door opened, and Rhinox walked in. "Here, Sinead."
She took the two items and sat on her bed, facing away from the Maximals, draping the blanket a little more loosely over her shoulders. She managed to get the shirt over her head without showing skin, but left the undergarment off since it would rub against her wounds. She stopped, then asked, "Did you need to change the dressings?"
FOR THE LOVE OF VECTOR SIGMA, WOMAN, NUDITY IS NOT TEH EBILS. DROP IT ALREADY.
"Already did, earlier."
"What time is it?"
Rhinox blinked. "Almost two-PM in your way of telling time."
Thank you for converting that to a 20th-century Earth timeframe. Wondering how in the fuck you know that, but thanks.
She pulled the shirt on completely, and turned to look at Rhinox. "When did I pass out?"
"Five-PM yesterday."
"Wow."
"You needed the sleep." He turned to look at the still-sitting-up Dinobot. "Now, you. What in the Matrix are you thinking?"
Wondering how Sinead would taste with some A1 sauce and a bit of salt? Or is that wishful thinking?
Dinobot looked away, and muttered something. Rhinox's shoulders fell, and he looked to Sinead. She shrugged, and the large Maximal growled out, "Fine, Dinobot. Fine. Sinead, stay here with him. I'll tell your friends that you're up."
"I'll meet them in the command center. But could you send Rattrap here? I have to ask him something."
Rhinox nodded once, and left the room. The human sat on the edge of her bed. "You're really being cooperative, you know."
Dinobot looked up at her, optics haunted. "You don't understand."
That's okay, the readers don't get it either.
"No, Dinobot, I don't, even though I'm trying to. But you have to get your wounds seen to by either Rhinox or a CR chamber." She stood, and saw her Japanese swords resting against a wall. She drew the katana and then pulled an oiled rag out of a pouch on the scabbard to rub at the blade.
Wow. Suggestive.
"I couldn't stand seeing them come near me, Sinead. I couldn't bear to watch them."
She stopped, and slowly looked at him. "The Predacons made you watch yourself being . . . being tortured?"
Dinobot didn't look at her as he replied softly. "And while worse was being done."
With a metallic hiss, the sword was sheathed. Sinead placed it back next to the wakizashi, putting the rag away, and tying a cord around both scabbards to hold them together.
MY CHARACTER HAS A KATANA AND A WAKIZASHI OMG ISN'T SHE COOL???!!!!1
"You should lie back down before Rattrap gets in here. He won't be happy to see you acting is if you're not hurt when you obviously are."
Sighing in resignation, Dinobot again did as he was asked to.
Get used to that, Dinobot. Not much else you can do around a Sue. Except angst. Feel free to angst.
Sinead took her blanket off of her bed and with a flick of her wrists, spread it nearly completely evenly over the tortured Maximal. (Presto!) She straightened it around his feet, then walked back up by his shoulders, looking down at him gently.
"Why did you do that?"
"Comfort, if nothing else," Sinead replied softly.
"Specifically mine, you see, so I won't have to look at your robot junk. Because that bedsheet? Not quite doing the job."
The door opened, and Rattrap was about to walk in, when Sinead turned and walked towards him. She pushed him back out into the hall, and said near-silently, "Don't say anything about him getting repaired. I'm working on that with him."
Right, Rattrap, you're his friend and he trusts you, but don't YOU try to talk to him about his problems. Leave that to the Sue, it's what she's here for.
"So you're breakin' though?"
"Nearly. He's set a hefty wall up between himself and his emotions and his memories. And he doesn't trust Cybertronians right now. I understand that, after what he's been through. I'm not surprised in the least."
"Yeah, neither 'm I, kiddo. Dat it?"
"Should be. And be nice?"
If he's nice, then Dinobot will KNOW something isn't right. I would've advised him to start hurling cheesy insults, personally.
Rattrap nodded and walked back into the room. Sinead waved to Dinobot once, before setting off to the command center. Sharpshot was the first to see her, and he vaulted over the tri-dimensional map to hug her shoulders warmly, laughing.
She squeezed his ribcage hard enough to convince him to let go while the others crowded around her. "I've been missed?"
"Shut up!" Miss Special said, lightly punching Sinead's shoulder. "We've been agonizing over how bad your back was."
"Here, let me punch you again and see how well you've healed!"
"Not too bad," Starath piped up from the back. "I saw it!"
"Yeah, you did," Rhinox grumbled. "Sinead, I want you to take it easy until I say that you're well enough. And eat a lot."
"I will!"
"Good."
The authors hustled her outside. Sapphire handed Sinead the broadsword. "Didn't open it."
"Great. Nearly twenty-four hours for mech-fluid to cake on it. Mmm, yummy."
"Hey, I had to clean mine yesterday! That had to have been twice as gross!"
Real professional bunch of warriors, they are.
Sinead laughed, and held the scabbarded sword in one hand as they sat in the sunlight. "So what's happened so far?"
"Sapphire and Rattrap have hooked up!" Dannn said, grinning.
The South African was blushing. "Shut up! We have not! We just are able to spend time around each other without having to say too much."
By those standards, Rhinox must've hooked up with half the crew.
Nurannoniel raised her hand, blushing as brightly as Sapphire. "Before anyone says it, yes, me and Optimus have been talking a lot."
"Oh? And about what?" Lady Venom asked, looking Nurannoniel over with a lightly teasing but shrewd look upon her face.
Nurannoniel stuck her tongue out at Lady Venom. "Stuff."
"Touchie, touchie."
I'm having flashbacks to high school here...
Skyfire grinned. "I flew. And consequently fell off of Silverbolt's back."
Sinead laughed, as Starath elaborated upon how exactly it had happened.
Which we don't get to hear. Too bad, because that sounds like the most awesome part of the entire fic.
Then Lady Venom told about how she had caught Sapphire and Rattrap having a "close" moment. Sapphire hid her face in her hands, and the attention was shifted off of Sinead. She listened to their talking, suddenly thankful that she had friends like these. They were kind and gentle, but when need arose they were some of the fiercest and most ruthless warriors she had ever come up against. What was better was that they acted like a team, and lived like a team. The only quarrels had been about whose turn it was to hunt, or who had the privileges of taking point or rear-guard while traveling.
And about who's making out with which robot. Apparently.
It was great to be home.
Only in the wrong millennium and on the wrong continent. With the wrong species. I mean, sure home is where the heart is, but...
Oh hey, look, scene break. Let's leave the auditions for High School Musical XIII and cut to...
Late that night, Optimus pulled Sinead aside from watching a strategy game between Lady Venom and Silverbolt. "Get to the sickbay."
She nodded, and left quietly, her dark clothing melding into the shadows of the night-time in the hallways. (LIKE A NINJA!) Rattrap and Sapphire shared a glance, then followed her, managing not to be seen by Optimus.
Rhinox was with Dinobot, who was wincing, trembling.
"Come on Dinobot, don't be such a big baby. Now just turn your head and cough."
Sinead closed the door behind her, but it didn't lock. She walked over to Dinobot's side, saying nothing. His optics activated, but they were dim. Panting, he reached out to grab her right arm, and pull her close to his face.
That would scare the living shit out of me, personally.
She rested her left hand upon his bed for balance, placing her right against his cheek. "Tell me."
"Hurts . . ."
"Where, Dinobot. Tell me where."
"Everywhere."
Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.
She braced her legs against the side of the bed so that she could hold Dinobot's head in both of her hands. "Tell me what your optics can't say."
Lady, his optics can't say anything. That's not what they're for.
He swallowed, and whispered. "Rhinox has to . . ."
Sinead nodded. "The door didn't close fully. Let me do that, so that you're not snuck up on. Okay?"
He released her arm, and she walked back to the door. Sapphire moved out of line-of-sight of the crack, pressing herself up against the wall.
My brain picks this moment to start playing the Mission Impossible theme. Seriously, what's with the cloak-and-dagger act? You're not in enemy territory.
Sinead shoved the door into place, and heard it click into place. She walked back to sit on the side of Dinobot's bed, careful not to sit on the sheets. "What do you want me do to?"
His face said it all. She leaned over him and cradled the warrior's head against her shoulder softly. His hands went up to hold her arms, as Rhinox whispered, "Forgive me if it hurts."
"By Primus, get it over with," Dinobot whimpered, his voice muffled by fabric and human.
By Primus, Chicago Hope had less dramatic medical procedures.
Finally, Rhinox pulled the sheets back up around the wounded Maximal. He had to repair a few wounds, none of which were pretty. The rest . . . they would heal, but they would scar without being attended to.
...All that over repairing a few wounds. I hate to think what it's like fixing Dinobot after all those battles he gets into.
He sighed, and looked at the human still holding onto Dinobot. His hands were still clasped around her, but careful of her own wounded back. Sinead looked back at Rhinox. During the time it had taken him to start just the examination, she had pulled her legs up onto the bed. She sighed. "He passed out."
"Do you want me to help you get out of his hold?"
"No. He needs as much comfort as he'll accept. Even then, some that he can't."
"Just put me on a Pepsi drip and a catheter and leave me some magazines. I'll be fine."
Rhinox nodded, and said, "See if he'll let you deal with that cut on his shoulder, or anything else. I repaired the worst of the cuts, with the exception of that one. You should be fine."
"I saved that one just for you. Have fun figuring out robotic first aid - they don't call it practicing medicine for nothing!"
Sinead nodded, and the technician left without another word. Once his footsteps were nearly inaudible, she pulled away from Dinobot slightly, and felt the air chill the spots of wet upon her shoulder. She used her sleeve to dry up the rest of his tears from his face before leaning back over him and kissing his forehead. He shivered in his sleep, and Sinead curled up with her back to him, falling asleep easily.
A robotic war machine who turns into a velociraptor... reduced to this. *Sigh* At least the show only killed him.
Rattrap opened the door of the sickbay early the next morning to see Sinead unconscious. Dinobot was also asleep, right arm curled around Sinead, the left resting lightly upon his chest. Sapphire looked around Rattrap . . . only to smile sadly. "They really are quite a pair."
"Well, sure, but . . . man oh man, she's got a handful, if . . ."
"...if her hand's where I think it is." (Sorry for that image.)
"Yeah, you explained that to me. Do you think that he'll ask her?"
Rattrap shrugged, then picked up a discarded blanket to spread over both Sinead and Dinobot, even though Sinead was under one already. "Dunno."
Starath peeked her head in. "Where were you two?"
Rattrap sighed. "Just makin' sure dat dose two were doin' okay."
"For the whole night?"
"Except for a break now and then for kinky interspecies shenanigans, yeah, pretty much."
Sapphire nodded, face completely serious. "Almost. We were taking turns sitting outside the door, making sure that they would sleep the night through."
Starath's face fell from its jovial expression. "So then he let Rhinox look at him."
Sinead's voice called out sleepily, "Yes, and if I were completely awake, Rattrap and Sapphire, I'd come after you two with a stick. You shoulda gotten sleep."
"We wake you up?" Rattrap asked.
"Yeah. You put another blanket over me."
"Seriously, what were you THINKING?"
She opened her eyes, and yawned. "He's fine, and slept without dreaming, as far as I can tell."
Rattrap nodded. "Right. We'll get out, let you wake up normally."
Waking up in prehistoric Africa with a robot warrior teddy bear is not what I would call normal.
"Thanks."
Starath closed the door after they left, and saw Nurannoniel standing in the hall, with the rest of the authors. "Uhh . . ."
Skyfire shook his head. "How's Dinobot?"
"Dunno. Better, I'm guessing."
"Hopefully."
"And what exactly are you doing outside the sickbay?" Optimus' voice asked. They all spun to face the leader. He shooed them off, telling them that they'll be able to talk with Dinobot later, when the ex-Predacon felt like it. He stood and watched them with a smile, as they obediently walked off, listening as they decided to go and hunt.
"Ahhh, kids. I was young like that once."
Chuckling, he opened the door to walk in on Sinead leaning over Dinobot's face, eyes locked upon optics. Both looked at him, surprised. He smiled. "Sinead, your bloodthirsty friends are going hunting for deer."
She stumbled off of the berth to scamper ungracefully out of the medbay and called after them, "Bring some back for me, you party-poopers!"
What party did they poop on?
Laughter bubbled up from the end of the hallway as the warrior walked back into the room with a spring in her step. "Had to. Sorry."
Optimus shook his head, still smiling, and sat on her bed. "How are you feeling, Dinobot?"
"Don't ask," the bot grumbled, moving his head out from under a shaft of light.
Clearly he failed to catch the chipper bubbly mood that the Sues are spreading around like a plague.
Sinead chuckled quietly, and fixed the thick sheet hanging in front of the window so that the light didn't land upon the bed. The deep blue color of the sheet gave the room a comforting, dusky feeling. She sat beside Dinobot's side, facing Optimus. "What did you come here for?"
"Rhinox told me that you'll probably be helping repair Dinobot, to train in Cybertronian first aid."
"Will he be in the room?" Dinobot asked quietly.
I'm guessing yes. Unless he's gonna be training her over walkie-talkie or something.
Optimus' gaze caught Dinobot's, and held for a long minute, seeing only what Dinobot let him see. It was only a portion of what he knew Dinobot was really feeling. He sighed. "I don't know. You take that up with him, Sinead. But there was one other thing, Dinobot, that he told me."
Dinobot frowned slightly, glossy black hair slipping over one optic. He shook it free, and snorted. "So what the Pit did he say?"
*SQUEALING BRAKES*
Hold on, let me read that again.
...Glossy black hair.
Glossy. Black. Hair.
GLOSSY BLACK HAIR.
*Positions sword over Spark* Don't make me do it, author!
"Your Spark skipped three times last night. You know that it skipped twice the night before."
Sinead looked from Dinobot's shocked face, to Optimus' slightly more calm face. But both were holding worry. "What does that mean?"
"I'll . . . I'll tell you later," Dinobot replied, tearing his optics from his leader's, and focusing them upon the human. "On my honor." He snarled, and glared up at the ceiling. "Or on whatever's left of my honor."
First Dinobot-like line he's uttered in a while. Has to be an imposter, though. Dinobot doesn't have hair.
Optimus winced, stood, and then walked to the door. "I'll be back in a little while to give Sinead a break."
Dinobot said nothing as Optimus left the room. Sinead looked at Dinobot, then rested her hand within his. He curled his fingers around hers lightly, but didn't look at her. "A Spark skipping is like a heart murmur would be to a human. But a skip usually happens onlyonce a day to those who have it. It's a small deformity of sorts, but one that a Cybertronian can live through their life with."
A heart murmur that runs like clockwork. Yeah, I could live with that. Too bad it makes no sense.
"But what does three in one night mean?"
"Considering that my own has never skipped once? It means that Spark deterioration is starting to set in. It's the result of fairly serious wounds or the stress of intense torture. Irreversible and fatal."
Dun dun DUN!
"What?" Sinead whispered, eyes starting to water upon their own account.
Dinobot looked at her, and then sighed, and wiped a tear away gently. "Fatal, unless I find someone who would help me."
"Tell me what to do."
"Sinead, the process itself is irreversible. You don't know what you are saying."
...Oh, no. I think I do. I hope I'm wrong.
"I don't care! You have to live." She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her free hand. "We didn't save you just to do our good deed for the day. We saved you because we wanted you to live."
Dinobot sighed, and looked away. "I don't deserve to."
*Cue violin music*
"Don't say that. Everything deserves to live."
He still didn't look at her, but he whispered, "The process is called Bonding."
*Cue cerebral meltdown*
Yes, yet another author has cleverly contrived an excuse plot to hastily join two characters in a permanent bond, under the guise of medical necessity. I wanted an excuse to drink, and now I have it.
"Bonding?" Sapphire asked Rattrap, as they walked through the woods. Their job was to scare the deer towards the hunters. "Does that mean what I think it does?"
"Yep. It's like marriage, but in Cybertronians it goes much deeper." He saw a deer and pointed at it. It ran towards the hunters.
Rattrap points at wildlife and it obediently runs off to get killed. Sweet. Too bad that doesn't work on Predacons.
Sapphire nodded, and asked, "How's it done?"
"Literally, the Spark kinda splits its weakest part off, and gives it t' deir partner, whose Spark is doin' da same thing. The Sparks absorb the split piece in place of what it had given away. Symbolic, since a married pair 're supposed t' basically make up for what da other person lacks."
"So Sinead would have to care for Dinobot almost continually."
Because that's what any good wife does!
"Sapph, can't you see?" Rattrap whispered. "She basically already is."
Helping a guy after a traumatic episode is the same as being bound to him for life. Really, it is.
Silence grew between them, but Sapphire asked, "On Cybertron . . . is there any such thing as divorce?"
Rattrap smiled kindly. "Nah. Sure, da couples might get mad at each other, an' dey might live separately for a month or so, but dey can't leave each other, an' dey can't cheat on each other. Somethin' inside o' dem kinda repulses at da thought of spendin' time with someone other den 'ya spouse. So dey get back together, an' work deir difference out." He shrugged. "Doesn't happen more'n, maybe . . . twice in a marriage. People learn ta stop bein' so closed-minded."
"Stop being so closed-minded and get back in your unbreakable long-term monogamous relationship!"
Sapphire smiled, and asked, "How do you know all this?"
Rattrap grinned. "Oh. Ah . . . best pal o' mine got married, an' since I was involved with a girl at da time, I asked him what happened."
"Oh."
Rattrap stopped, and Sapphire turned to look at him. His optics were worried. "But I forgot one thin'."
"What? What is it?"
"Each o' da guy an' da girl hafta let each other see dier true emotions an' deir true self before dey can Bond."
If that were true of marriage, practically everybody on the planet would be single. Then again, if your marriage practices require you to bond irreversibly for life, I guess it's handy to know exactly what you're getting into.
Sapphire's shoulders fell with a soft groan. Sinead herself hid all her emotions as well as the best of them, or at least didn't say anything about her feelings. And she doubted that Dinobot was going to be any better. "Oh, great."
They heard the sound of a crossbow being discharged.
Honorably or dishonorably? *SHOT* Urk!
Back to the ridiculous author avatar and her emo pet our lovebirds.
Sinead blinked. "So that's it?"
Dinobot looked at her in exasperation. "What the Pit do you mean, 'that's it'? You don't have a Spark, Sinead. You're human."
"I don't see any other Cybertronian girls that you'd hook up with, other than Blackarachnia. And Airazor's abducted by aliens."
Because that TOTALLY makes her not having a Spark a moot point.
"She and Tigatron were bonded!"
Sinead sighed in frustration. "So I didn't know! You didn't tell me, and neither did anyone else!"
You're a fan of the show. I thought you knew everything?
Dinobot glared at her from under black hair. She pushed it back from his face. "What happened to your helmet? Didn't you bring it back with you?"
He nodded, and indicated the table on the other side of his bed. "I was getting a headache." He snorted. "And I'm supposed to be angry at you!"
You're not supposed to have hair, either. C'est la badfic.
Sinead smiled and kissed his forehead. "I know."
Caught completely off-guard by the action, Dinobot fell into silence, just staring at Sinead. Then he cast his gaze to his right, trying not to let her see his pain. The human, however, did.
Careful, Dinobot, she's an author. She has the ALL-SEEING EYE.
She turned his head back to see her. "Dinobot, tell me what happened to you."
"I can't!"
"No, you won't. There's a difference. Now, I have a suspicion about what they did to you. You've hinted at it as well, but you have to admit it. You have to say it out loud before you can start to heal again, Dinobot, and I don't mean just having your body heal. I mean your mind and soul healing."
*Revival voice* "SAY IT, BROTHER! LET YOUR SOUL BE HEALED!"
The growl deep in Dinobot's throat became words. "I cannot say it, human."
She sighed, and continued brushing his hair away from his face softly. He went on. "It hurts too much to say it. So I can't."
"Then you'll die."
"But I don't want to!" Dinobot burst out, unable to keep it in. He started shaking with sobs, but couldn't let them out completely. The Predacons had done to him the worst thing possible that could be done, and had laughed at him as they broke his spirit, his honor.
This author has done to him the worst thing possible that can be done. See above.
Sinead moved up on Dinobot's right side, pulling his head to her, holding him as the wall between his mind and his emotions started to crack. "Please, Dinobot, for your sake."
His head shook back and forth across her shoulder.
That's supposed to be dramatic imagery, but it just makes me laugh. His head rolling around on her shoulder.
She rested her face against the top of his head, and whispered, "I'm here to listen, Dinobot, but you have to talk to me."
"Please, don't make me say it . . ."
Say it, damn you! SAY MY NAME! Wait...
"Dinobot, we both know what you have to say."
"Sinead, no . . ."
"I'll not ask you to say anything else to me for the rest of the day. Just tell me what happened to you. Just tell me what they did."
"Oh, Primus, why?" he wept out.
"JUST BECAUSE." - Primus
"Dinobot, please."
"I don't want to say it, Sinead! I don't!"
"And I know that."
He clutched at her, holding her slightly closer. She rested her cheek against the top of his head. "I'll even leave you be, if you want me to. But you have to say it, Dinobot. You have to."
Look, lady, if he doesn't want to say it, he doesn't want to say it. It doesn't look like you're actually helping him much.
His voice was barely even a whisper, so low that Sinead almost missed it. But as she heard his voice, she knew that he was not lying. "Matrix . . . they raped me."
She knew that he was not lying. Well that's helpful.
Sinead held him tighter, and then said, "I'll go, if you want me to leave."
His head shook again, and she slid carefully so that she was on her left side, and Dinobot's face was buried in her shoulder and part of her chest.
But not the booby part.
His crying was silent, but after a half-hour she felt the sobs start to space out. Deep breaths were starting to ease their way in through the body-wracking sobs. Finally, he was breathing normally, sound asleep. There was a knock upon the door. Rhinox stood there as it was opened. Sinead smiled. "He's completely out."
"I saw the wounds. I knew what they did."
You mean he didn't need Suenead to tell him? NO WAI!
"I really should kill them for what they did to his mind," Sinead hissed, unable to look at Rhinox.
"I know. Matrix, I feel the same way."
"Have you said anything?"
"I was going to ask him."
"No, let me. He might think that you don't know."
He's the closest they have to a medic. I hope to god Dinobot gives him more credit than that.
Rhinox shrugged. "You're really taking your looking after him to great depths. I thought that you'd just give up after the first day, with him being as difficult as he is."
"I mean, two whole days after being raped, and the guy still has issues. Can you believe that?"
"I hate giving up," Sinead grumbled.
"Yeah, I can see that." He smiled at the back of her head, then said in a soft tone, "Get your lazy butt off of the bed. I have to change those bandages."
Nice to know bedside manner never goes out of style.
Sinead smiled, chuckling. "Yeah, fine. You have to have everything your way, don't you."
"I'm a medic. Of course. Haven't you done your research on Ratchet? Medics always get their own way in the medical ward! Now move, before I start picking up a few of his other habits!"
Oh, lord. Please don't drag Ratchet into this.
Chuckling, she went to her own bed, replying, "Somehow, I don't think that I'd take to getting wrenches thrown at me as well as the Lambo Twins had."
"Oh, I'll find something. Trust me."
"Trust you? After this conversation?"
At which the chapter abruptly ends. Not that I'm complaining; if I facepalm any harder, I'm going to damage my frontal lobe.
Chapter two is called 'Making Connections'. I'm not terribly sure what those connections are, but I have a few ugly suspicions. So here I go giving myself another excuse to drink.
Author's Note: Yes, Dinobot is going to be very OOC through this, but keep in mind that when someone goes through a severe trauma such as torture, they are changed and don't react to things the same way. He will get more and more IC as the story goes on.
Why do I find that so hard to believe? Oh, right. It's Sinead.
Nurannoniel sat up straight in bed sometime during the night. She hugged the blankets close to her chest, looking around the room. All the other girls were asleep. Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, she crept from the room to walk down to the command center. One bot was there, watching the monitors. He turned, and smiled kindly at the midnight wanderer. "Nurannoniel. Is something wrong?"
Would you like a list, Primal?
She shrugged, then walked closer. "Dunno. I just woke up suddenly."
Optimus' smile stayed upon his face, but changed slightly. "I've had too many times that I've woken up like that. Did you want to talk?"
"No, I'd rather just stare at your beautiful optics." (Seriously, if these two aren't being set up for a pairing later in the fic, then I will run down Main Street with my pants on my head.)
"Yeah, I'd like that."
She sat upon a seat that he pulled up for her, and asked, "How's Dinobot?"
Optimus pointed to a small screen in the lower-right corner of one screen. Nurannoniel blinked at it, then sighed. "He really took all the hits, didn't he."
"Not all. He rolled for Dexterity and dodged a few."
"More than he'll say. I couldn't get anything out of him upon what happened to him, other than the obvious fact that he had been cut. He just wouldn't open up to me."
"Sinead has a guess, I think."
Making a small noise of affirmation, Optimus nodded. "That much was indicated, but she passed out before I could ask her."
You'll have to wait for her to wake up, then. Not like Rhinox has any scanning equipment that might be more accurate and informative than a Sue's intuition.
Both went silent, but Nurannoniel broke it again, by asking, "Is Sinead all right?"
Optimus panned the camera's view to the left, to catch the sleeping author. She was on her stomach, breathing deeply. Her arms had come up under the pillow somehow, so that it was propped up a bit higher. Her back was a swath of white bandages.
I presume the bandages are hiding the fluffy angel wings she seems to sport throughout this fic. Also, Primal is a voyeur. (Are we surprised?)
Optimus looked at the girl next to him. "Nurannoniel . . ."
"Nurann, please. I can tell that you're tripping over my name."
"How about if I just call you 'N'? Since, you know, it's obviously your favorite letter."
The leader smiled. How did she know that? "Nurann, then. What's caused you to all have this look of sadness around your faces? I see it when you think people aren't looking. Rhinox noticed this as well."
For a long moment, the author said nothing. Finally, however, she said, "We all have different pasts, different tragedies that happen to us along life's path. We've had more rough patches on that road than I think a lot of other people will ever have to go through in a lifetime. I don't really feel like talking about it right now."
Optimus nodded, and rested his hand upon her shoulder, a kind and warm smile upon his face. "I understand."
Well, the guy's leading a gorilla guerilla war on a prehistoric planet to stop a madmech from destroying history and taking over their homeworld. He sends his friends into violent combat and possible death on a daily basis. Of course that surely doesn't compare to anything that our Sues have gone through, but at least he understands your pain!
Ugh. Scene-skip time!
It was morning. Rattrap was walking past the doors that belonged to the humans, only to stop suddenly. Small arms were latched around his chest, and someone rested their face against his back. He looked over his shoulder, then smiled. "Sapphire."
"Hi there, squishy-I-hardly-know! Feel free to glomp me, I don't mind a bit!" (Though, this being Rattrap...)
No response. He twisted carefully, and then started to guide her back to her room. She shook her head, then yawned. "What?"
"You're asleep."
"Nah . . . just tired. Waking up."
"Really." (What, rat, you can't tell the difference? Bit slow today, aren't we?)
"And I wanted to give you a cuddle. You looked like you needed it."
But he smells like he needs a bath. Want to give him that, too?
The Maximal looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye-contact with the girl. It hurt to look into her eyes. (Understandable. The sparkling is probably enough to cause seizures.) She understood him better than he had first thought. "Dinobot's gonna take a turn f'r th' worse if we don't head it off."
Sapphire frowned, reaching for Rattrap's face. His optics caught her eyes, and held. She smiled as reassuringly as she could, then whispered, "What happened?"
"His Spark's pulse-rate staggered twice last night. It'll get worse today."
"How do you know?"
"I've seen it before. Rhinox was a medic in war zones. I was a spy, an' young, so I ended up getting caught half o' th' time an' shot. I know how things like Spark-deterioration happen." He sighed. "And unless we help 'im, it'll happen to Dino-butt."
Funny how Rattrap never displayed this kind of medical knowledge in the show. (Too bad though, because that was almost good backstory there.)
"How do we fix this?" Starath asked, opening the girls' door behind Sapphire. She always seemed to be listening out for her friends.
Rattrap let his gaze fall. "I don't think dat he wants it fixed."
Emo-raptor would rather die. Though that does sort of beg the question of why he hasn't already. As I recall, canon-Dinobot had no qualms against suicide in the event of lost honor. Maybe I'm thinking of a different show.
Speaking of Emo-raptor - SCENE CUT!
Dinobot stared at the ceiling, and yet, he was looking past it. (When did the Axalon get skylights installed?) Rhinox's voice pulled him back into the here and now. "Dinobot, you know what has to be done."
The sword's-bot shook his head, and looked away again.
"I know. I have no choice. I must fall for the Sue. ...But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
Rustling to his right sounded, soon followed by a yawn. "Crap, what happened?"
"You passed out," Rhinox replied, cocking an optic ridge at her. "Almost lost your shirt in the process. It's drying right now. We had to soak it so that the bloodstains would come out. They did."
Sinead glared at the Maximal. "Whoo-hoo. Bloodstains. I could honestly care less about them right now. Could I at least have a sheet to cover what else of me should be covered?"
You're surrounded by robots and modesty is still a concern? For god's sake, girl, see a therapist or something. You have issues.
"Ah, right. Sorry." But he smiled anyway, glad that she was awake and coherent. He didn't understand humans and their needs for modesty, but he would still accommodate them. Even if they were being irritable.
Sinead shook her head and rested it back upon her arms. "I'm snappish, and I'm the one who should be sorry. If I say anything to offend you, please let me know."
"In that case, could you just stop talking altogether? Thanks."
Rhinox chuckled, spreading a blanket over the girl. "You've lost blood and pushed yourself beyond what you knew that you were able to do. You're doing fine for someone who has just done that."
"It was a stupid mistake, but thank you."
Dinobot listened to the interaction, then said, "I've known worse mistakes to be made."
I know, Dinobot. You're starring in one now.
Sinead pulled the blanket tight around her as she sat up. "You're awake."
The technician smiled. "I'll go tell Optimus that you're both up. And if your shirt is dry, Sinead, I'll bring it back to you."
"What about . . . uh . . . anything else?"
"That should be dry by now. Dare I ask its purpose?"
"No." (It's a military sekrit)
He half-smiled, standing from where he had been sitting upon a rolling stool. "Didn't think so. Be back soon."
The door slid shut. Silence. Sinead slid off of the berth she had been placed upon, and walked over to stand by the side of Dinobot's bed, kicking a small, upturned crate over so that she would be able to see him a bit more clearly. "Are you okay?"
And the Dumbest Question of the Year Award goes to...
Dinobot's optics rolled up to hers. His gaze was enough. She started to reach out, but pulled her hand back, glancing away, remembering that Dinobot didn't want to be touched. A small noise caused her to look back at the bot. And she reached out again, to rest only the tips of her fingers along his cheek. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I . . . I don't think I can."
"Too painful?"
Too ridiculous to believe?
"Yeah."
She paused, then moved her fingers so that they were hovering just above a nasty gash upon his shoulder that had a trickle of energon still leaking from it. "Why haven't you let Rhinox see to you?"
"I don't want to be touched."
Isn't that what CR chambers are for? Or am I thinking of a different show again?
"Yet you let me touch your face."
"You're human. Not Cybertronian."
So your friends touching you isn't okay (kind of understandable there, maybe), but the squishy-bodied stranger is?
Sinead blinked, then rested the full length of her hand upon his face. "I'm human, but I'm also a warrior, like you. Why won't you let them touch you?"
Dinobot cast his optics away from her eyes. "I don't want to be hurt by them, even if it's unintentional."
"What about Rattrap?"
"He's . . . he'd never hurt me."
Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
"You need to be seen to, Dinobot. You have to let Rhinox help you."
Dinobot sat up, disregarding the blankets falling to his thighs and the pain in his torso from the wounds. "I will not let him, any of them, touch me! I do not have a choice, Sinead! I just don't . . . I just don't want to feel Cybertronian hands upon me ever again."
That's gonna be kinda difficult, buddy. One, you're a soldier. Two, you share close quarters with a group of Maximals who have no apparent concept of personal space. And Primus help you if you ever go back to Cybertron.
Sinead locked her eyes upon his optics. "Your blankets aren't exactly lending you modesty. And . . . uh . . . yeah. Mind pulling them up again?"
ASDF;LDSJFKLDJS;FLDJS;FLDJSKL WHAT?
You are talking to a RAPE VICTIM. They are distraught and don't really give a shit what you see (which is kind of odd in itself, because compulsive modesty is not an uncommon side effect of sexual trauma). And you are chiding them for modesty. Oh, I'm SO sorry that my ravaged frame has offended your poor virgin eyes! Pfft. Dinobot, tell this overgrown child to go to hell.
Dinobot clutched at the blankets, doing as she asked, then looked down first. "My apologies. I didn't remember that most humans are more modest than Cybertronians."
ASLFJDSLJFDSLJFLDS;FJLDSJFLDSJL HE APOLOGIZED. FUCK THIS, I DON'T EVEN.
Laughing, the author shook her head. "I'm even more modest than most humans I know."
Dinobot watched her, then winced, and sighed.
Add some eyerolling and groaning and you have my reaction to this whole fic.
The door opened, and Rhinox walked in. "Here, Sinead."
She took the two items and sat on her bed, facing away from the Maximals, draping the blanket a little more loosely over her shoulders. She managed to get the shirt over her head without showing skin, but left the undergarment off since it would rub against her wounds. She stopped, then asked, "Did you need to change the dressings?"
FOR THE LOVE OF VECTOR SIGMA, WOMAN, NUDITY IS NOT TEH EBILS. DROP IT ALREADY.
"Already did, earlier."
"What time is it?"
Rhinox blinked. "Almost two-PM in your way of telling time."
Thank you for converting that to a 20th-century Earth timeframe. Wondering how in the fuck you know that, but thanks.
She pulled the shirt on completely, and turned to look at Rhinox. "When did I pass out?"
"Five-PM yesterday."
"Wow."
"You needed the sleep." He turned to look at the still-sitting-up Dinobot. "Now, you. What in the Matrix are you thinking?"
Wondering how Sinead would taste with some A1 sauce and a bit of salt? Or is that wishful thinking?
Dinobot looked away, and muttered something. Rhinox's shoulders fell, and he looked to Sinead. She shrugged, and the large Maximal growled out, "Fine, Dinobot. Fine. Sinead, stay here with him. I'll tell your friends that you're up."
"I'll meet them in the command center. But could you send Rattrap here? I have to ask him something."
Rhinox nodded once, and left the room. The human sat on the edge of her bed. "You're really being cooperative, you know."
Dinobot looked up at her, optics haunted. "You don't understand."
That's okay, the readers don't get it either.
"No, Dinobot, I don't, even though I'm trying to. But you have to get your wounds seen to by either Rhinox or a CR chamber." She stood, and saw her Japanese swords resting against a wall. She drew the katana and then pulled an oiled rag out of a pouch on the scabbard to rub at the blade.
Wow. Suggestive.
"I couldn't stand seeing them come near me, Sinead. I couldn't bear to watch them."
She stopped, and slowly looked at him. "The Predacons made you watch yourself being . . . being tortured?"
Dinobot didn't look at her as he replied softly. "And while worse was being done."
With a metallic hiss, the sword was sheathed. Sinead placed it back next to the wakizashi, putting the rag away, and tying a cord around both scabbards to hold them together.
MY CHARACTER HAS A KATANA AND A WAKIZASHI OMG ISN'T SHE COOL???!!!!1
"You should lie back down before Rattrap gets in here. He won't be happy to see you acting is if you're not hurt when you obviously are."
Sighing in resignation, Dinobot again did as he was asked to.
Get used to that, Dinobot. Not much else you can do around a Sue. Except angst. Feel free to angst.
Sinead took her blanket off of her bed and with a flick of her wrists, spread it nearly completely evenly over the tortured Maximal. (Presto!) She straightened it around his feet, then walked back up by his shoulders, looking down at him gently.
"Why did you do that?"
"Comfort, if nothing else," Sinead replied softly.
"Specifically mine, you see, so I won't have to look at your robot junk. Because that bedsheet? Not quite doing the job."
The door opened, and Rattrap was about to walk in, when Sinead turned and walked towards him. She pushed him back out into the hall, and said near-silently, "Don't say anything about him getting repaired. I'm working on that with him."
Right, Rattrap, you're his friend and he trusts you, but don't YOU try to talk to him about his problems. Leave that to the Sue, it's what she's here for.
"So you're breakin' though?"
"Nearly. He's set a hefty wall up between himself and his emotions and his memories. And he doesn't trust Cybertronians right now. I understand that, after what he's been through. I'm not surprised in the least."
"Yeah, neither 'm I, kiddo. Dat it?"
"Should be. And be nice?"
If he's nice, then Dinobot will KNOW something isn't right. I would've advised him to start hurling cheesy insults, personally.
Rattrap nodded and walked back into the room. Sinead waved to Dinobot once, before setting off to the command center. Sharpshot was the first to see her, and he vaulted over the tri-dimensional map to hug her shoulders warmly, laughing.
She squeezed his ribcage hard enough to convince him to let go while the others crowded around her. "I've been missed?"
"Shut up!" Miss Special said, lightly punching Sinead's shoulder. "We've been agonizing over how bad your back was."
"Here, let me punch you again and see how well you've healed!"
"Not too bad," Starath piped up from the back. "I saw it!"
"Yeah, you did," Rhinox grumbled. "Sinead, I want you to take it easy until I say that you're well enough. And eat a lot."
"I will!"
"Good."
The authors hustled her outside. Sapphire handed Sinead the broadsword. "Didn't open it."
"Great. Nearly twenty-four hours for mech-fluid to cake on it. Mmm, yummy."
"Hey, I had to clean mine yesterday! That had to have been twice as gross!"
Real professional bunch of warriors, they are.
Sinead laughed, and held the scabbarded sword in one hand as they sat in the sunlight. "So what's happened so far?"
"Sapphire and Rattrap have hooked up!" Dannn said, grinning.
The South African was blushing. "Shut up! We have not! We just are able to spend time around each other without having to say too much."
By those standards, Rhinox must've hooked up with half the crew.
Nurannoniel raised her hand, blushing as brightly as Sapphire. "Before anyone says it, yes, me and Optimus have been talking a lot."
"Oh? And about what?" Lady Venom asked, looking Nurannoniel over with a lightly teasing but shrewd look upon her face.
Nurannoniel stuck her tongue out at Lady Venom. "Stuff."
"Touchie, touchie."
I'm having flashbacks to high school here...
Skyfire grinned. "I flew. And consequently fell off of Silverbolt's back."
Sinead laughed, as Starath elaborated upon how exactly it had happened.
Which we don't get to hear. Too bad, because that sounds like the most awesome part of the entire fic.
Then Lady Venom told about how she had caught Sapphire and Rattrap having a "close" moment. Sapphire hid her face in her hands, and the attention was shifted off of Sinead. She listened to their talking, suddenly thankful that she had friends like these. They were kind and gentle, but when need arose they were some of the fiercest and most ruthless warriors she had ever come up against. What was better was that they acted like a team, and lived like a team. The only quarrels had been about whose turn it was to hunt, or who had the privileges of taking point or rear-guard while traveling.
And about who's making out with which robot. Apparently.
It was great to be home.
Only in the wrong millennium and on the wrong continent. With the wrong species. I mean, sure home is where the heart is, but...
Oh hey, look, scene break. Let's leave the auditions for High School Musical XIII and cut to...
Late that night, Optimus pulled Sinead aside from watching a strategy game between Lady Venom and Silverbolt. "Get to the sickbay."
She nodded, and left quietly, her dark clothing melding into the shadows of the night-time in the hallways. (LIKE A NINJA!) Rattrap and Sapphire shared a glance, then followed her, managing not to be seen by Optimus.
Rhinox was with Dinobot, who was wincing, trembling.
"Come on Dinobot, don't be such a big baby. Now just turn your head and cough."
Sinead closed the door behind her, but it didn't lock. She walked over to Dinobot's side, saying nothing. His optics activated, but they were dim. Panting, he reached out to grab her right arm, and pull her close to his face.
That would scare the living shit out of me, personally.
She rested her left hand upon his bed for balance, placing her right against his cheek. "Tell me."
"Hurts . . ."
"Where, Dinobot. Tell me where."
"Everywhere."
Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.
She braced her legs against the side of the bed so that she could hold Dinobot's head in both of her hands. "Tell me what your optics can't say."
Lady, his optics can't say anything. That's not what they're for.
He swallowed, and whispered. "Rhinox has to . . ."
Sinead nodded. "The door didn't close fully. Let me do that, so that you're not snuck up on. Okay?"
He released her arm, and she walked back to the door. Sapphire moved out of line-of-sight of the crack, pressing herself up against the wall.
My brain picks this moment to start playing the Mission Impossible theme. Seriously, what's with the cloak-and-dagger act? You're not in enemy territory.
Sinead shoved the door into place, and heard it click into place. She walked back to sit on the side of Dinobot's bed, careful not to sit on the sheets. "What do you want me do to?"
His face said it all. She leaned over him and cradled the warrior's head against her shoulder softly. His hands went up to hold her arms, as Rhinox whispered, "Forgive me if it hurts."
"By Primus, get it over with," Dinobot whimpered, his voice muffled by fabric and human.
By Primus, Chicago Hope had less dramatic medical procedures.
Finally, Rhinox pulled the sheets back up around the wounded Maximal. He had to repair a few wounds, none of which were pretty. The rest . . . they would heal, but they would scar without being attended to.
...All that over repairing a few wounds. I hate to think what it's like fixing Dinobot after all those battles he gets into.
He sighed, and looked at the human still holding onto Dinobot. His hands were still clasped around her, but careful of her own wounded back. Sinead looked back at Rhinox. During the time it had taken him to start just the examination, she had pulled her legs up onto the bed. She sighed. "He passed out."
"Do you want me to help you get out of his hold?"
"No. He needs as much comfort as he'll accept. Even then, some that he can't."
"Just put me on a Pepsi drip and a catheter and leave me some magazines. I'll be fine."
Rhinox nodded, and said, "See if he'll let you deal with that cut on his shoulder, or anything else. I repaired the worst of the cuts, with the exception of that one. You should be fine."
"I saved that one just for you. Have fun figuring out robotic first aid - they don't call it practicing medicine for nothing!"
Sinead nodded, and the technician left without another word. Once his footsteps were nearly inaudible, she pulled away from Dinobot slightly, and felt the air chill the spots of wet upon her shoulder. She used her sleeve to dry up the rest of his tears from his face before leaning back over him and kissing his forehead. He shivered in his sleep, and Sinead curled up with her back to him, falling asleep easily.
A robotic war machine who turns into a velociraptor... reduced to this. *Sigh* At least the show only killed him.
Rattrap opened the door of the sickbay early the next morning to see Sinead unconscious. Dinobot was also asleep, right arm curled around Sinead, the left resting lightly upon his chest. Sapphire looked around Rattrap . . . only to smile sadly. "They really are quite a pair."
"Well, sure, but . . . man oh man, she's got a handful, if . . ."
"...if her hand's where I think it is." (Sorry for that image.)
"Yeah, you explained that to me. Do you think that he'll ask her?"
Rattrap shrugged, then picked up a discarded blanket to spread over both Sinead and Dinobot, even though Sinead was under one already. "Dunno."
Starath peeked her head in. "Where were you two?"
Rattrap sighed. "Just makin' sure dat dose two were doin' okay."
"For the whole night?"
"Except for a break now and then for kinky interspecies shenanigans, yeah, pretty much."
Sapphire nodded, face completely serious. "Almost. We were taking turns sitting outside the door, making sure that they would sleep the night through."
Starath's face fell from its jovial expression. "So then he let Rhinox look at him."
Sinead's voice called out sleepily, "Yes, and if I were completely awake, Rattrap and Sapphire, I'd come after you two with a stick. You shoulda gotten sleep."
"We wake you up?" Rattrap asked.
"Yeah. You put another blanket over me."
"Seriously, what were you THINKING?"
She opened her eyes, and yawned. "He's fine, and slept without dreaming, as far as I can tell."
Rattrap nodded. "Right. We'll get out, let you wake up normally."
Waking up in prehistoric Africa with a robot warrior teddy bear is not what I would call normal.
"Thanks."
Starath closed the door after they left, and saw Nurannoniel standing in the hall, with the rest of the authors. "Uhh . . ."
Skyfire shook his head. "How's Dinobot?"
"Dunno. Better, I'm guessing."
"Hopefully."
"And what exactly are you doing outside the sickbay?" Optimus' voice asked. They all spun to face the leader. He shooed them off, telling them that they'll be able to talk with Dinobot later, when the ex-Predacon felt like it. He stood and watched them with a smile, as they obediently walked off, listening as they decided to go and hunt.
"Ahhh, kids. I was young like that once."
Chuckling, he opened the door to walk in on Sinead leaning over Dinobot's face, eyes locked upon optics. Both looked at him, surprised. He smiled. "Sinead, your bloodthirsty friends are going hunting for deer."
She stumbled off of the berth to scamper ungracefully out of the medbay and called after them, "Bring some back for me, you party-poopers!"
What party did they poop on?
Laughter bubbled up from the end of the hallway as the warrior walked back into the room with a spring in her step. "Had to. Sorry."
Optimus shook his head, still smiling, and sat on her bed. "How are you feeling, Dinobot?"
"Don't ask," the bot grumbled, moving his head out from under a shaft of light.
Clearly he failed to catch the chipper bubbly mood that the Sues are spreading around like a plague.
Sinead chuckled quietly, and fixed the thick sheet hanging in front of the window so that the light didn't land upon the bed. The deep blue color of the sheet gave the room a comforting, dusky feeling. She sat beside Dinobot's side, facing Optimus. "What did you come here for?"
"Rhinox told me that you'll probably be helping repair Dinobot, to train in Cybertronian first aid."
"Will he be in the room?" Dinobot asked quietly.
I'm guessing yes. Unless he's gonna be training her over walkie-talkie or something.
Optimus' gaze caught Dinobot's, and held for a long minute, seeing only what Dinobot let him see. It was only a portion of what he knew Dinobot was really feeling. He sighed. "I don't know. You take that up with him, Sinead. But there was one other thing, Dinobot, that he told me."
Dinobot frowned slightly, glossy black hair slipping over one optic. He shook it free, and snorted. "So what the Pit did he say?"
*SQUEALING BRAKES*
Hold on, let me read that again.
...Glossy black hair.
Glossy. Black. Hair.
GLOSSY BLACK HAIR.
*Positions sword over Spark* Don't make me do it, author!
"Your Spark skipped three times last night. You know that it skipped twice the night before."
Sinead looked from Dinobot's shocked face, to Optimus' slightly more calm face. But both were holding worry. "What does that mean?"
"I'll . . . I'll tell you later," Dinobot replied, tearing his optics from his leader's, and focusing them upon the human. "On my honor." He snarled, and glared up at the ceiling. "Or on whatever's left of my honor."
First Dinobot-like line he's uttered in a while. Has to be an imposter, though. Dinobot doesn't have hair.
Optimus winced, stood, and then walked to the door. "I'll be back in a little while to give Sinead a break."
Dinobot said nothing as Optimus left the room. Sinead looked at Dinobot, then rested her hand within his. He curled his fingers around hers lightly, but didn't look at her. "A Spark skipping is like a heart murmur would be to a human. But a skip usually happens onlyonce a day to those who have it. It's a small deformity of sorts, but one that a Cybertronian can live through their life with."
A heart murmur that runs like clockwork. Yeah, I could live with that. Too bad it makes no sense.
"But what does three in one night mean?"
"Considering that my own has never skipped once? It means that Spark deterioration is starting to set in. It's the result of fairly serious wounds or the stress of intense torture. Irreversible and fatal."
Dun dun DUN!
"What?" Sinead whispered, eyes starting to water upon their own account.
Dinobot looked at her, and then sighed, and wiped a tear away gently. "Fatal, unless I find someone who would help me."
"Tell me what to do."
"Sinead, the process itself is irreversible. You don't know what you are saying."
...Oh, no. I think I do. I hope I'm wrong.
"I don't care! You have to live." She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her free hand. "We didn't save you just to do our good deed for the day. We saved you because we wanted you to live."
Dinobot sighed, and looked away. "I don't deserve to."
*Cue violin music*
"Don't say that. Everything deserves to live."
He still didn't look at her, but he whispered, "The process is called Bonding."
*Cue cerebral meltdown*
Yes, yet another author has cleverly contrived an excuse plot to hastily join two characters in a permanent bond, under the guise of medical necessity. I wanted an excuse to drink, and now I have it.
"Bonding?" Sapphire asked Rattrap, as they walked through the woods. Their job was to scare the deer towards the hunters. "Does that mean what I think it does?"
"Yep. It's like marriage, but in Cybertronians it goes much deeper." He saw a deer and pointed at it. It ran towards the hunters.
Rattrap points at wildlife and it obediently runs off to get killed. Sweet. Too bad that doesn't work on Predacons.
Sapphire nodded, and asked, "How's it done?"
"Literally, the Spark kinda splits its weakest part off, and gives it t' deir partner, whose Spark is doin' da same thing. The Sparks absorb the split piece in place of what it had given away. Symbolic, since a married pair 're supposed t' basically make up for what da other person lacks."
"So Sinead would have to care for Dinobot almost continually."
Because that's what any good wife does!
"Sapph, can't you see?" Rattrap whispered. "She basically already is."
Helping a guy after a traumatic episode is the same as being bound to him for life. Really, it is.
Silence grew between them, but Sapphire asked, "On Cybertron . . . is there any such thing as divorce?"
Rattrap smiled kindly. "Nah. Sure, da couples might get mad at each other, an' dey might live separately for a month or so, but dey can't leave each other, an' dey can't cheat on each other. Somethin' inside o' dem kinda repulses at da thought of spendin' time with someone other den 'ya spouse. So dey get back together, an' work deir difference out." He shrugged. "Doesn't happen more'n, maybe . . . twice in a marriage. People learn ta stop bein' so closed-minded."
"Stop being so closed-minded and get back in your unbreakable long-term monogamous relationship!"
Sapphire smiled, and asked, "How do you know all this?"
Rattrap grinned. "Oh. Ah . . . best pal o' mine got married, an' since I was involved with a girl at da time, I asked him what happened."
"Oh."
Rattrap stopped, and Sapphire turned to look at him. His optics were worried. "But I forgot one thin'."
"What? What is it?"
"Each o' da guy an' da girl hafta let each other see dier true emotions an' deir true self before dey can Bond."
If that were true of marriage, practically everybody on the planet would be single. Then again, if your marriage practices require you to bond irreversibly for life, I guess it's handy to know exactly what you're getting into.
Sapphire's shoulders fell with a soft groan. Sinead herself hid all her emotions as well as the best of them, or at least didn't say anything about her feelings. And she doubted that Dinobot was going to be any better. "Oh, great."
They heard the sound of a crossbow being discharged.
Honorably or dishonorably? *SHOT* Urk!
Back to the ridiculous author avatar and her emo pet our lovebirds.
Sinead blinked. "So that's it?"
Dinobot looked at her in exasperation. "What the Pit do you mean, 'that's it'? You don't have a Spark, Sinead. You're human."
"I don't see any other Cybertronian girls that you'd hook up with, other than Blackarachnia. And Airazor's abducted by aliens."
Because that TOTALLY makes her not having a Spark a moot point.
"She and Tigatron were bonded!"
Sinead sighed in frustration. "So I didn't know! You didn't tell me, and neither did anyone else!"
You're a fan of the show. I thought you knew everything?
Dinobot glared at her from under black hair. She pushed it back from his face. "What happened to your helmet? Didn't you bring it back with you?"
He nodded, and indicated the table on the other side of his bed. "I was getting a headache." He snorted. "And I'm supposed to be angry at you!"
You're not supposed to have hair, either. C'est la badfic.
Sinead smiled and kissed his forehead. "I know."
Caught completely off-guard by the action, Dinobot fell into silence, just staring at Sinead. Then he cast his gaze to his right, trying not to let her see his pain. The human, however, did.
Careful, Dinobot, she's an author. She has the ALL-SEEING EYE.
She turned his head back to see her. "Dinobot, tell me what happened to you."
"I can't!"
"No, you won't. There's a difference. Now, I have a suspicion about what they did to you. You've hinted at it as well, but you have to admit it. You have to say it out loud before you can start to heal again, Dinobot, and I don't mean just having your body heal. I mean your mind and soul healing."
*Revival voice* "SAY IT, BROTHER! LET YOUR SOUL BE HEALED!"
The growl deep in Dinobot's throat became words. "I cannot say it, human."
She sighed, and continued brushing his hair away from his face softly. He went on. "It hurts too much to say it. So I can't."
"Then you'll die."
"But I don't want to!" Dinobot burst out, unable to keep it in. He started shaking with sobs, but couldn't let them out completely. The Predacons had done to him the worst thing possible that could be done, and had laughed at him as they broke his spirit, his honor.
This author has done to him the worst thing possible that can be done. See above.
Sinead moved up on Dinobot's right side, pulling his head to her, holding him as the wall between his mind and his emotions started to crack. "Please, Dinobot, for your sake."
His head shook back and forth across her shoulder.
That's supposed to be dramatic imagery, but it just makes me laugh. His head rolling around on her shoulder.
She rested her face against the top of his head, and whispered, "I'm here to listen, Dinobot, but you have to talk to me."
"Please, don't make me say it . . ."
Say it, damn you! SAY MY NAME! Wait...
"Dinobot, we both know what you have to say."
"Sinead, no . . ."
"I'll not ask you to say anything else to me for the rest of the day. Just tell me what happened to you. Just tell me what they did."
"Oh, Primus, why?" he wept out.
"JUST BECAUSE." - Primus
"Dinobot, please."
"I don't want to say it, Sinead! I don't!"
"And I know that."
He clutched at her, holding her slightly closer. She rested her cheek against the top of his head. "I'll even leave you be, if you want me to. But you have to say it, Dinobot. You have to."
Look, lady, if he doesn't want to say it, he doesn't want to say it. It doesn't look like you're actually helping him much.
His voice was barely even a whisper, so low that Sinead almost missed it. But as she heard his voice, she knew that he was not lying. "Matrix . . . they raped me."
She knew that he was not lying. Well that's helpful.
Sinead held him tighter, and then said, "I'll go, if you want me to leave."
His head shook again, and she slid carefully so that she was on her left side, and Dinobot's face was buried in her shoulder and part of her chest.
But not the booby part.
His crying was silent, but after a half-hour she felt the sobs start to space out. Deep breaths were starting to ease their way in through the body-wracking sobs. Finally, he was breathing normally, sound asleep. There was a knock upon the door. Rhinox stood there as it was opened. Sinead smiled. "He's completely out."
"I saw the wounds. I knew what they did."
You mean he didn't need Suenead to tell him? NO WAI!
"I really should kill them for what they did to his mind," Sinead hissed, unable to look at Rhinox.
"I know. Matrix, I feel the same way."
"Have you said anything?"
"I was going to ask him."
"No, let me. He might think that you don't know."
He's the closest they have to a medic. I hope to god Dinobot gives him more credit than that.
Rhinox shrugged. "You're really taking your looking after him to great depths. I thought that you'd just give up after the first day, with him being as difficult as he is."
"I mean, two whole days after being raped, and the guy still has issues. Can you believe that?"
"I hate giving up," Sinead grumbled.
"Yeah, I can see that." He smiled at the back of her head, then said in a soft tone, "Get your lazy butt off of the bed. I have to change those bandages."
Nice to know bedside manner never goes out of style.
Sinead smiled, chuckling. "Yeah, fine. You have to have everything your way, don't you."
"I'm a medic. Of course. Haven't you done your research on Ratchet? Medics always get their own way in the medical ward! Now move, before I start picking up a few of his other habits!"
Oh, lord. Please don't drag Ratchet into this.
Chuckling, she went to her own bed, replying, "Somehow, I don't think that I'd take to getting wrenches thrown at me as well as the Lambo Twins had."
"Oh, I'll find something. Trust me."
"Trust you? After this conversation?"
At which the chapter abruptly ends. Not that I'm complaining; if I facepalm any harder, I'm going to damage my frontal lobe.