MARATHON PART THE THIRD
I AM A POSTING QUEEN, BOW DOWN.
When his tale was done, Winder was silent. Jess looked overwhelmed, mouth opened in her shock. Only AJ was unaffected - she’d heard this tale and more before, and shouldered the burden of being the supportive one. It was a burden she gladly carried. But Zack’s optics were set on Winder. She hadn’t said a word for the duration of his story. It was a lot to take in - Zack hadn’t fared well after Silvernode’s story, after all, and he only knew a fraction of what his Da had gone through.
Finally, Winder spoke. “That… Well. I’ll be honest, I really don’t know if I’m s’posed to punch you or hug you right now,” she admitted, looking defeated. “That’s one Pit of a story, and I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled with some of it…”
Zack lowered his head. The rejection stung, but at least the femme hadn’t gone postal and actually punched him or knocked him around any.
Catching Zack’s expression, Winder was quick to speak up, “Now hey, wait - don’t take it like that, I just mean… It’s a lot to take in. Especially knowin’ your story from the Autobot side. Just ‘cause I was out in the far reaches of the galaxy doesn’t mean I don’t know anythin’ about what was goin’ on in the rest. It’s just… I don’t really know what to say, ‘cause even though I’m kinda pissed at some of what you did, I’m still too slaggin’ happy just to have found you alive after all this time, you know?”
He did know - all too well. “Winder… I’m sorry,” Zack said. “I’m sorry. I should have… I should have…” But he didn’t know what to say either.
“Hey - no - don’t,” Winder protested. “Just don’t. You don’t have to apologize to me.” The femme took his hands in hers, the light gleaming off of his razor-sharp claws. “I wondered why you looked so fierce… You don’t really keep to the Autobot unofficial dress code. You haven’t switched your armor from then.”
“No.”
Winder hmmed and lowered the black mech’s hands, gently letting them go. “Look at me.” Zack did. “I get it. You had to do what you had to do to survive.”
“But I -“
“I don’t wanna hear it. It was the choices you had to make that put you on track to do what you did on your own. Even if you don’t see it that way. Maybe some of those choices were pretty bad, but in the end, you made it here. You found it in you to make the right choice in the end, slag the consequences. And for that, I want you to know that, even if it doesn’t mean all that much coming from me, I’m proud of you. It took you time, but you made it here.” She put a hand on one of his shoulders, carefully avoiding AJ, who was sitting on that side, still quietly observing their conversation. “Whatever bad things you did, those will haunt you. But you also need to keep in mind that those days are gone. You’ve been doin’ a lot of good here, and don’t sell yourself short on that. Your past is a part of you but it doesn’t own you, in case you haven’t realized it, and I just don’t want you to forget that. Not now. Not here.”
“Winder…” Now, Zack really didn’t know what to say. What the femme was offering him wasn’t forgiveness, not really, but she offered understanding. AJ had offered such years before, but coming from Winder, who’d known him as a sparkling and knew the true horror some of his actions had wrought firsthand…
“I’m not… I’m not gonna judge you. You did what you did, but what you did eventually got you here. So… So,” Winder decided. “You okay?”
“I’m… I’m all right,” Zack said, surprised to realize he really was. His strained hope for Silvernode had become a part of his everyday life, and the stress had taken its toll on his mood and attitude. Winder wasn’t there to solve that problem, but here she stood, offering no blame, no rage at his actions as a Decepticon - just her understanding. “Thank you, Winder.”
Winder grinned brightly. “I dunno about thankin’ me, but you’re welcome.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Seriously though, it’s good to see you.”
“Same to you,” Zack replied.
“If your creators could see you now…”
And that was when Zack realized no one had told her about the two Decepticon prisoners stuck in the brig. “About that…”
So then Zack told Winder about Silvernode.
“I don’t believe it!” Winder said, “Nightshade is Silvernode?!” After she calmed down (she was taking this much better than Zack expected, considering she was already dealing with Zack’s story - he admired her endurance for drama), she raised her optics to the ceiling and seemed to ponder. “Well, whaddaya know…”
“She’s been… Trouble,” Zack continued, picking a kinder word for her attitude than another might have. “She’s not taking to being kept in her cell very well.”
“I believe it. I’d heard rumors that she had a few screws loose, but I didn’t know what to think. I s’pose Megatron probably doesn’t mind her that way, though. If she’s not really right in the motherboard but she’s still willin’ to take orders he probably figures she won’t question much… I guess.”
“Ratchet already tried running a debugger on her. Her system was corrupted, and he doesn’t seem to think she has a very good chance of a full recovery.”
“I wonder…” Winder’s expression brightened with a grin - a scheming one that Zack saw often on his human friends’ faces - and she darted back to Optimus Prime’s office before Zack could ask what she was planning.
The three remaining stood there.
“Well… That was… Interesting,” Jess said, the first to speak after Winder’s sudden and confusing departure. She had a good recovery time for shocking stories as Winder did - it made Zack wonder what kind of stories Wildfire might have told the human about her time in the war.
“That’s one word for it,” AJ agreed.
“What is she…?” Zack thought aloud, but there was no one to answer. They left then. Zack dropped Jess off with Tek (she protested, wanting to sneak around and try to figure out what Winder was up to, but gave in) and drove AJ to her base, mulling over the day’s events.
Winder managed to disappear for two days before Zack heard from her again. He answered her comm request immediately, hoping for more answers and details about what she was planning.
“Hey, By- I mean, Zack, yeah. Anyway, get down here - the brig, that is - I need to talk to you about Silvernode.”
Like he was going to ignore that. AJ, who was retrieving a book she’d been reading (after throwing it against a wall because her favorite character died or something, but okay), asked him what the message was.
“You want me to go with you?” she asked.
“Do you want to come?”
“If you don’t mind bringing me.”
“Hop on,” he said, lowering a hand for her to crawl up onto. Once she was securely situated on his shoulder, he made his way over to Winder.
When his tale was done, Winder was silent. Jess looked overwhelmed, mouth opened in her shock. Only AJ was unaffected - she’d heard this tale and more before, and shouldered the burden of being the supportive one. It was a burden she gladly carried. But Zack’s optics were set on Winder. She hadn’t said a word for the duration of his story. It was a lot to take in - Zack hadn’t fared well after Silvernode’s story, after all, and he only knew a fraction of what his Da had gone through.
Finally, Winder spoke. “That… Well. I’ll be honest, I really don’t know if I’m s’posed to punch you or hug you right now,” she admitted, looking defeated. “That’s one Pit of a story, and I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled with some of it…”
Zack lowered his head. The rejection stung, but at least the femme hadn’t gone postal and actually punched him or knocked him around any.
Catching Zack’s expression, Winder was quick to speak up, “Now hey, wait - don’t take it like that, I just mean… It’s a lot to take in. Especially knowin’ your story from the Autobot side. Just ‘cause I was out in the far reaches of the galaxy doesn’t mean I don’t know anythin’ about what was goin’ on in the rest. It’s just… I don’t really know what to say, ‘cause even though I’m kinda pissed at some of what you did, I’m still too slaggin’ happy just to have found you alive after all this time, you know?”
He did know - all too well. “Winder… I’m sorry,” Zack said. “I’m sorry. I should have… I should have…” But he didn’t know what to say either.
“Hey - no - don’t,” Winder protested. “Just don’t. You don’t have to apologize to me.” The femme took his hands in hers, the light gleaming off of his razor-sharp claws. “I wondered why you looked so fierce… You don’t really keep to the Autobot unofficial dress code. You haven’t switched your armor from then.”
“No.”
Winder hmmed and lowered the black mech’s hands, gently letting them go. “Look at me.” Zack did. “I get it. You had to do what you had to do to survive.”
“But I -“
“I don’t wanna hear it. It was the choices you had to make that put you on track to do what you did on your own. Even if you don’t see it that way. Maybe some of those choices were pretty bad, but in the end, you made it here. You found it in you to make the right choice in the end, slag the consequences. And for that, I want you to know that, even if it doesn’t mean all that much coming from me, I’m proud of you. It took you time, but you made it here.” She put a hand on one of his shoulders, carefully avoiding AJ, who was sitting on that side, still quietly observing their conversation. “Whatever bad things you did, those will haunt you. But you also need to keep in mind that those days are gone. You’ve been doin’ a lot of good here, and don’t sell yourself short on that. Your past is a part of you but it doesn’t own you, in case you haven’t realized it, and I just don’t want you to forget that. Not now. Not here.”
“Winder…” Now, Zack really didn’t know what to say. What the femme was offering him wasn’t forgiveness, not really, but she offered understanding. AJ had offered such years before, but coming from Winder, who’d known him as a sparkling and knew the true horror some of his actions had wrought firsthand…
“I’m not… I’m not gonna judge you. You did what you did, but what you did eventually got you here. So… So,” Winder decided. “You okay?”
“I’m… I’m all right,” Zack said, surprised to realize he really was. His strained hope for Silvernode had become a part of his everyday life, and the stress had taken its toll on his mood and attitude. Winder wasn’t there to solve that problem, but here she stood, offering no blame, no rage at his actions as a Decepticon - just her understanding. “Thank you, Winder.”
Winder grinned brightly. “I dunno about thankin’ me, but you’re welcome.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Seriously though, it’s good to see you.”
“Same to you,” Zack replied.
“If your creators could see you now…”
And that was when Zack realized no one had told her about the two Decepticon prisoners stuck in the brig. “About that…”
So then Zack told Winder about Silvernode.
“I don’t believe it!” Winder said, “Nightshade is Silvernode?!” After she calmed down (she was taking this much better than Zack expected, considering she was already dealing with Zack’s story - he admired her endurance for drama), she raised her optics to the ceiling and seemed to ponder. “Well, whaddaya know…”
“She’s been… Trouble,” Zack continued, picking a kinder word for her attitude than another might have. “She’s not taking to being kept in her cell very well.”
“I believe it. I’d heard rumors that she had a few screws loose, but I didn’t know what to think. I s’pose Megatron probably doesn’t mind her that way, though. If she’s not really right in the motherboard but she’s still willin’ to take orders he probably figures she won’t question much… I guess.”
“Ratchet already tried running a debugger on her. Her system was corrupted, and he doesn’t seem to think she has a very good chance of a full recovery.”
“I wonder…” Winder’s expression brightened with a grin - a scheming one that Zack saw often on his human friends’ faces - and she darted back to Optimus Prime’s office before Zack could ask what she was planning.
The three remaining stood there.
“Well… That was… Interesting,” Jess said, the first to speak after Winder’s sudden and confusing departure. She had a good recovery time for shocking stories as Winder did - it made Zack wonder what kind of stories Wildfire might have told the human about her time in the war.
“That’s one word for it,” AJ agreed.
“What is she…?” Zack thought aloud, but there was no one to answer. They left then. Zack dropped Jess off with Tek (she protested, wanting to sneak around and try to figure out what Winder was up to, but gave in) and drove AJ to her base, mulling over the day’s events.
Winder managed to disappear for two days before Zack heard from her again. He answered her comm request immediately, hoping for more answers and details about what she was planning.
“Hey, By- I mean, Zack, yeah. Anyway, get down here - the brig, that is - I need to talk to you about Silvernode.”
Like he was going to ignore that. AJ, who was retrieving a book she’d been reading (after throwing it against a wall because her favorite character died or something, but okay), asked him what the message was.
“You want me to go with you?” she asked.
“Do you want to come?”
“If you don’t mind bringing me.”
“Hop on,” he said, lowering a hand for her to crawl up onto. Once she was securely situated on his shoulder, he made his way over to Winder.