Paying the tab ((co written with backupbots))

[nightwind_benz]

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[backupbots]

"How?" Spiral asks, the roughness of her voice the only sign that she's affected by what she's hearing. Backtrack has drifted up behind his captain to listen in silence.

[nightwind_benz]

"He was over in the old shipping sector. Part of one of the bombed out buildings fell on him." Nightwind doesn't look up as she quietly repeats the story. "Fritz came and got me... Bender never woke up till I pulled him out. Massive systems failure."

[backupbots]

"Slag..." Spiral's silent for a minute. Rollbar's pulling out cubes left right and centre, stacking them on the makeshift counter without a word.

"Wish you'd told us," Spiral says finally, "but it's all right."

"What did you do with him?" Backtrack wants to know.

[nightwind_benz]

"His shell? It's buried in the garden of the temple thing where I helped that Decepticon. He doesn't need it anymore... all I knew was humans and them burying shells in the churchyards."

She looks up, troubled. "I didn't even know what the place we go is called. I should have been learning that stuff instead of having fits about nothing."

[nightwind_benz]

"He commissioned it." Nightwind sips her drink and flinches slightly from ferret kisses to the toes as she looks into the cube and thinks.

Then she looks at her friend frankly. "Thanks, Spiral, and Backtrack too."

[backupbots]

"We haven't done much for it," Spiral says, then chuckles. "But anytime, Nightwind."

"Any time at all," Backtrack agrees breezily, drawing a snort from his captain.

[nightwind_benz]

"You've done alot," counters the purple femme quietly as she tries Thunderclash's contact frequency.

[backupbots]

He takes a few moments to answer, but his voice is soon warm when he realises who it is. //Nightwind. Good to hear from you! How's my little commission?//

[nightwind_benz]

//I'm with Spiral and Backtrack and Rollbar right now. But Bender's been gone for a couple weeks. It was... and accident.//

Fritz springs! And hits the floor. Wow how did that happen! Oh look! Backtrack's feet!

[backupbots]

Backtrack is... well, living up to his name. Really fast. "Shoo!" He waves Fritz away - with the hand holding the cube.

//I didn't hear about it.// Thunderclash is puzzled.

[nightwind_benz]

//I PINpointed right back to the lab after I found him... and I didn't realize I was supposed to tell anyone.// She feels stupid now as she says it, and her voice has a slightly rough edge to it.

Oooooo, slopped energon? Fritz slurps it up, and then gets distracted and kisses Spiral's feet.

[backupbots]

//How could you not-// Thunderclash cuts himself off and is silent for a moment. //All right,// he says eventually. //What happened to his body?//

Now it's Backtrack's turn to laugh as Spiral makes a startled noise and nearly disconnects from her cube.

[nightwind_benz]

"No. But I'm not going to make him a liar." Her voice is quietly resolute under the static.

[backupbots]

"Who said you were?" Backtrack thinks that's a good sign. He takes a pull from his drink to celebrate.

[nightwind_benz]

"...Crying." She loses her voice and works on getting it to function again.

"Frz frz frz," says Fritz softly, snuggling.

[backupbots]

"That doesn't mean anything," Backtrack assures her. Spiral appears to have zoned out: in fact she's talking to Thunderclash over a comlink, informing him that no, Nightwind hasn't keeled over, she's just distracted.

"People cry all the time," Backtrack goes on, having another drink. He's quite blithe about it, for someone who's been the cause more than once.

[nightwind_benz]

"Ohh," she says softly, looking down and cuddling her turboferret under her chin as Fritz hangs limply and makes tiny pipping sounds. "Then it's not being weak to cry."

[backupbots]

"That's what I'm telling you," Backtrack says, tone softening a bit as he has another drink. Yeah, good thing he didn't manage to upset the grieving Minicon there. Even he has to admit his team would be justified in slashing his tyres for that.

[nightwind_benz]

"'Kay." Her visor flickers as she falls silent.

[backupbots]

"I just had Thunderclash asking about you on the comm," Spiral says, coming closer. "He said he was giving us the OK, once I told him you were still functioning."