The Little Things Ch. 3
Summary:When you rarely see your love it's the few moments you steal away that matter the most.
Warnings: Attempt at writing fight scene
Hurricane season came and went, snow fell and melted, and rain pelted cold hard ground. The island breathed a sigh of relief when warm sunny days and soft breezes came. The children went on camping trips or to houses with swimming pools and trampolines. The year’s big summer movies came to the island’s one movie theatre, bringing small crowds day and night. With school out Chase and Chief Burns caught more than one group of bored teenagers who thought that they could get away with racing and drinking on isolated dirt roads.
Even with the occasional almost- disaster or argument the Rescue force was settled into a comfortable routine. A routine that was shattered by a group of unknown Cybertronian signatures rapidly approaching the island.
Cody, who was monitoring the radar and emergency line immediately contacted the main Autobot base, the way it had been pounded in his head to do if something like this happened. An Autobot he didn’t recognize, sports car red with a bored expression, answered.
“Ark line 1 here.”
“Uh, hey, Griffin Rock here. I have some unknown Cybertronian signatures on radar about 50, er, 40 miles west-”
“Blaster!” The Autobot shouted over his shoulder, “We got UC’s at Griffin Rock.”
“Confirming,” a calm voice replied from off screen. “Yeah, I see ‘em. They’re over water and moving fast. Probably Decepticons. Alerting command.”
Another Autobot leaned into view, “Hey kid, you know what to do?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Alright, there’ll be a team there soon. Ark out.” The screen went black and Cody took a deep breath before activating the island’s emergency alarm system and, heart pounding, opened a line to his dad.
.
Chief Burns and Graham, with their partners, were trying to get people to go inside of the shelters when the first missile hit the island. Or rather, hit above the island. Blades had been flying out to do reconnaissance when the long range weapon hit his windshield. The explosion cracked it and he swerved into a tall tree. Not many people saw the explosion and collision, but plenty heard it. Some of the people arguing with Chief Burns and Graham took it as a sign to follow directions and go down into the shelters. Others began to panic. Despite their best efforts humans were still shouting, running, and grumbling when the first eradicon flew overhead.
Some of the humans pointed and stared, many others didn't notice; busy grabbing personal belongings or looking for friends and family. Several more planes swept by and for a moment there was hope that they'd been overlooked, but then they began to turn and swoop down and- Chief Burns had never been shot at by an airplane before, but he'd seen plenty of war movies and that sure as hell looked like a strafing run to him.
“Get down!” he shouted.
“Get into the shelter!” he yelled.
“Why?” his neighbors asked.
“What's wrong?” his neighbors demanded.
The sleek planes opened fire with flashing lights. Flashing lights that burned what they hit. The lasers or- whatever they were- rained down on the bright green lawns and hot pavement. Humans and houses, plants and driveways, and above all fellow Cybertronians, were caught by the deadly downpour.
Chase and Boulder were pulling out alien weapons, trying to shoot back, but the planes were already swooping up and out of range. Two shifted in mid-air and dropped behind a large house. On the ground smoke and chaos reigned and Chase shouted to Chief Burns and his teamates, “I'm moving to intercept,” as he ran to the house the eradicons had dropped behind. As he did so he received a transmission from Prowl inquiring about their status. He sent back a hasty report on their location and the estimated number of fliers present in the air and the two on the ground. Prowl responded with an ETA of 10 minutes, to his relief.
.
On the opposite side of the island Heatwave received the same message from Prowl and replied with his location and situation- warning the more isolated members of the island.
Kade didn't have the patience for arguing and drawn out explanations he couldn't provide anyway, so he was simply delivering his message and leaving, ignoring questions and requests for help or more information.
They rounded a turn in a rocky dirt road and a billow of smoke peeped above the leafy tree tops. Heatwave spat something in Cybertronian and Kade bit off a string of curses. “Cody what's going on out there?”
Cody's worried face filled the screen, “”They're attacking the town, the other Autobots are on their way.”
Kade barely refrained from cussing in front of Cody. “We have a couple more houses. We're going as fast as we can.”
“Okay.”
“Cody, as soon as the other Autobots get there, or if the Decepticons come near the base, get into the old lava tunnel.”
“But-”
“Do it. You can hide there. We'll come get you when they're gone.”
Cody scrunched his nose up but reluctantly agreed.
.
The ground bridge opened, swirling and flashing to life. The soldiers paid no attention to the distracting colors and disorienting sensor readings, racing through to the other side without hesitation. Prowl entered with the last group into a large, for a human, concrete room. The room was quickly assessed and examined for threats as he sent off a series of communications.
As the small troop moved outside with seasoned caution he received answers. A few terse commands and the soldiers split into three small groups, one group staying behind, and the others transforming to drive down the road. At an intersection the other two groups separated as well.
Prowl and his soldiers rocked down a bumpy road and then through a patch of forest, transforming and running when necessary. Slowly the smoke came closer, rising above to where purple fliers circled in the warm summer air. Prowl transformed and gestured to Bluestreak, who aimed carefully with his sniper rifle.
The fliers veered and swayed when one of their number was taken down by a precise shot, and another began spewing black smoke after a second flash of laser fire. Their sensors spun around, calculating trajectories and scanning for the source of the shooting. A third shot, tearing through a glossy purple wing, revealed it and they wheeled, rapidly flying toward the small group of Autobots at the edge of the forest.
From there on it was the barely controlled chaos of a battle. Soundwave was not present, leaving comm. lines open and unjammed for orders to be transmitted and followed, ignored, or “improved” upon by soldiers running, driving, and shooting on the edges of the town. Humans were helped, ignored, or defended. Many were physically picked up, kicking or screaming, and deposited at the entrance to the underground shelter by a distracted Autobot soldier. Injuries were hastily tended to by First Aid, enlisting the aid of a confused and terrified but determined human volunteer to make makeshift turnicates and bandages for the injured humans. Burning houses and trees, set afire by lasers and missiles, were avoided but sometimes flown or run into. The smoke obscured the ground and sky so that Cybertronians were forced to rely on radar and the far reaches of the light spectrum, while humans were left half blind.
One yard had a large grill with a propane tank hooked into it and an enterprising Autobot warrior picked it up and threw it at a startled eradicon flier- grill, propane, undercooked meat and all. The eradicon crashed into one of the burning houses and disappeared in a large, fiery explosion. The explosion and flying debris startled the other Decepticons and they began an uncoordinated retreat.
Save for a few crippled or dead eradicons the Decepticons quickly disappeared beyond the horizon, and tracking radar confirmed that they were swiftly traveling over the vast ocean. The entire engagement, from when the arriving Autobots had fired their first shots to the Decepticon retreat, had lasted little more than 15 minutes.
.
Chase struggled to his feet after receiving basic repairs from the field medic, and immediately received a query from Prowl on his status. A quick exchange and he was assigned to directing the wounded to First Aid and the military rescue helicopters when they arrived. It was light work, suitable for his injuries. The now arriving Heatwave and Cade were set to suppressing the fires along with a few of the able bodied soldiers.
Chase admired Prowl on the edges of his sensor range as he directed a quick and efficient clean up, snapping out orders to humans and Cybertronians alike. One moment he was ordering the prisoners, securely disabled and bound according to regulations, through a quick ground bridge, the next he was taking a report from First Aid and his assistants. He was efficient, calm, and unquestioned in his power and authority. He had never seen Prowl directly during or after an engagement with the enemy, only heard his steady voice over the coms, and Chase was humbled by his power and intelligence. This was a mech who loved him, and Chase… loved him back, and he had never been so desperate to kiss him senseless before.
The last human was carefully carried out of the shelter, limp and moaning. Chase stood, favoring his left side, and watched carefully until they were laid out on a blanket, grouped together with the other injured humans. There were whimpers and cries from the humans behind him, easy chatter and laughter from the soldiers, tense instructions from the Rescue Bots and their humans, and through it all, Prowl’s voice weaving a steady stream of orders. His processors ached from the improper feedback from sensors that had been damaged or shut off by First Aid. He strained his audios listening to Prowl, and his radar followed him as he moved. When he stood still and quiet for longer than 5 minutes Chase turned to look with his optics. They lent more detail than his radar and revealed Prowl inputting data into a pad. He looked up and Chase froze, their optics meeting. The dark concentration in those blue optics warmed into affection, before mild concern edged in. Chase moved, swirling the air with the moans and cries and smoke and blood and energon suspended in it, leaving it all in his wake as he waded toward the sturdy, elegant form of a being called Prowl. The blue eyes were warmth and calm and love and worry. They widened when he arrived and traced a familiar path up his arm to his face. Lips pursed and trembled when he gently brushed them with a finger, and then they were warm and solid pressed against his own. Two lips softly pressed against each other, tongues flicking affectionately together.
In the distance he could hear the rattle of helicopter blades and the hissing of displaced air as they whipped through it. He gently moved away with a final caress of lips, turning back to his duty. Wide optics watched before they too turned away to attend to less abstract matters. The nitty and gritty matters of life and planning, and death and energon demanded their attention, like always.
Warnings: Attempt at writing fight scene
Hurricane season came and went, snow fell and melted, and rain pelted cold hard ground. The island breathed a sigh of relief when warm sunny days and soft breezes came. The children went on camping trips or to houses with swimming pools and trampolines. The year’s big summer movies came to the island’s one movie theatre, bringing small crowds day and night. With school out Chase and Chief Burns caught more than one group of bored teenagers who thought that they could get away with racing and drinking on isolated dirt roads.
Even with the occasional almost- disaster or argument the Rescue force was settled into a comfortable routine. A routine that was shattered by a group of unknown Cybertronian signatures rapidly approaching the island.
Cody, who was monitoring the radar and emergency line immediately contacted the main Autobot base, the way it had been pounded in his head to do if something like this happened. An Autobot he didn’t recognize, sports car red with a bored expression, answered.
“Ark line 1 here.”
“Uh, hey, Griffin Rock here. I have some unknown Cybertronian signatures on radar about 50, er, 40 miles west-”
“Blaster!” The Autobot shouted over his shoulder, “We got UC’s at Griffin Rock.”
“Confirming,” a calm voice replied from off screen. “Yeah, I see ‘em. They’re over water and moving fast. Probably Decepticons. Alerting command.”
Another Autobot leaned into view, “Hey kid, you know what to do?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Alright, there’ll be a team there soon. Ark out.” The screen went black and Cody took a deep breath before activating the island’s emergency alarm system and, heart pounding, opened a line to his dad.
.
Chief Burns and Graham, with their partners, were trying to get people to go inside of the shelters when the first missile hit the island. Or rather, hit above the island. Blades had been flying out to do reconnaissance when the long range weapon hit his windshield. The explosion cracked it and he swerved into a tall tree. Not many people saw the explosion and collision, but plenty heard it. Some of the people arguing with Chief Burns and Graham took it as a sign to follow directions and go down into the shelters. Others began to panic. Despite their best efforts humans were still shouting, running, and grumbling when the first eradicon flew overhead.
Some of the humans pointed and stared, many others didn't notice; busy grabbing personal belongings or looking for friends and family. Several more planes swept by and for a moment there was hope that they'd been overlooked, but then they began to turn and swoop down and- Chief Burns had never been shot at by an airplane before, but he'd seen plenty of war movies and that sure as hell looked like a strafing run to him.
“Get down!” he shouted.
“Get into the shelter!” he yelled.
“Why?” his neighbors asked.
“What's wrong?” his neighbors demanded.
The sleek planes opened fire with flashing lights. Flashing lights that burned what they hit. The lasers or- whatever they were- rained down on the bright green lawns and hot pavement. Humans and houses, plants and driveways, and above all fellow Cybertronians, were caught by the deadly downpour.
Chase and Boulder were pulling out alien weapons, trying to shoot back, but the planes were already swooping up and out of range. Two shifted in mid-air and dropped behind a large house. On the ground smoke and chaos reigned and Chase shouted to Chief Burns and his teamates, “I'm moving to intercept,” as he ran to the house the eradicons had dropped behind. As he did so he received a transmission from Prowl inquiring about their status. He sent back a hasty report on their location and the estimated number of fliers present in the air and the two on the ground. Prowl responded with an ETA of 10 minutes, to his relief.
.
On the opposite side of the island Heatwave received the same message from Prowl and replied with his location and situation- warning the more isolated members of the island.
Kade didn't have the patience for arguing and drawn out explanations he couldn't provide anyway, so he was simply delivering his message and leaving, ignoring questions and requests for help or more information.
They rounded a turn in a rocky dirt road and a billow of smoke peeped above the leafy tree tops. Heatwave spat something in Cybertronian and Kade bit off a string of curses. “Cody what's going on out there?”
Cody's worried face filled the screen, “”They're attacking the town, the other Autobots are on their way.”
Kade barely refrained from cussing in front of Cody. “We have a couple more houses. We're going as fast as we can.”
“Okay.”
“Cody, as soon as the other Autobots get there, or if the Decepticons come near the base, get into the old lava tunnel.”
“But-”
“Do it. You can hide there. We'll come get you when they're gone.”
Cody scrunched his nose up but reluctantly agreed.
.
The ground bridge opened, swirling and flashing to life. The soldiers paid no attention to the distracting colors and disorienting sensor readings, racing through to the other side without hesitation. Prowl entered with the last group into a large, for a human, concrete room. The room was quickly assessed and examined for threats as he sent off a series of communications.
As the small troop moved outside with seasoned caution he received answers. A few terse commands and the soldiers split into three small groups, one group staying behind, and the others transforming to drive down the road. At an intersection the other two groups separated as well.
Prowl and his soldiers rocked down a bumpy road and then through a patch of forest, transforming and running when necessary. Slowly the smoke came closer, rising above to where purple fliers circled in the warm summer air. Prowl transformed and gestured to Bluestreak, who aimed carefully with his sniper rifle.
The fliers veered and swayed when one of their number was taken down by a precise shot, and another began spewing black smoke after a second flash of laser fire. Their sensors spun around, calculating trajectories and scanning for the source of the shooting. A third shot, tearing through a glossy purple wing, revealed it and they wheeled, rapidly flying toward the small group of Autobots at the edge of the forest.
From there on it was the barely controlled chaos of a battle. Soundwave was not present, leaving comm. lines open and unjammed for orders to be transmitted and followed, ignored, or “improved” upon by soldiers running, driving, and shooting on the edges of the town. Humans were helped, ignored, or defended. Many were physically picked up, kicking or screaming, and deposited at the entrance to the underground shelter by a distracted Autobot soldier. Injuries were hastily tended to by First Aid, enlisting the aid of a confused and terrified but determined human volunteer to make makeshift turnicates and bandages for the injured humans. Burning houses and trees, set afire by lasers and missiles, were avoided but sometimes flown or run into. The smoke obscured the ground and sky so that Cybertronians were forced to rely on radar and the far reaches of the light spectrum, while humans were left half blind.
One yard had a large grill with a propane tank hooked into it and an enterprising Autobot warrior picked it up and threw it at a startled eradicon flier- grill, propane, undercooked meat and all. The eradicon crashed into one of the burning houses and disappeared in a large, fiery explosion. The explosion and flying debris startled the other Decepticons and they began an uncoordinated retreat.
Save for a few crippled or dead eradicons the Decepticons quickly disappeared beyond the horizon, and tracking radar confirmed that they were swiftly traveling over the vast ocean. The entire engagement, from when the arriving Autobots had fired their first shots to the Decepticon retreat, had lasted little more than 15 minutes.
.
Chase struggled to his feet after receiving basic repairs from the field medic, and immediately received a query from Prowl on his status. A quick exchange and he was assigned to directing the wounded to First Aid and the military rescue helicopters when they arrived. It was light work, suitable for his injuries. The now arriving Heatwave and Cade were set to suppressing the fires along with a few of the able bodied soldiers.
Chase admired Prowl on the edges of his sensor range as he directed a quick and efficient clean up, snapping out orders to humans and Cybertronians alike. One moment he was ordering the prisoners, securely disabled and bound according to regulations, through a quick ground bridge, the next he was taking a report from First Aid and his assistants. He was efficient, calm, and unquestioned in his power and authority. He had never seen Prowl directly during or after an engagement with the enemy, only heard his steady voice over the coms, and Chase was humbled by his power and intelligence. This was a mech who loved him, and Chase… loved him back, and he had never been so desperate to kiss him senseless before.
The last human was carefully carried out of the shelter, limp and moaning. Chase stood, favoring his left side, and watched carefully until they were laid out on a blanket, grouped together with the other injured humans. There were whimpers and cries from the humans behind him, easy chatter and laughter from the soldiers, tense instructions from the Rescue Bots and their humans, and through it all, Prowl’s voice weaving a steady stream of orders. His processors ached from the improper feedback from sensors that had been damaged or shut off by First Aid. He strained his audios listening to Prowl, and his radar followed him as he moved. When he stood still and quiet for longer than 5 minutes Chase turned to look with his optics. They lent more detail than his radar and revealed Prowl inputting data into a pad. He looked up and Chase froze, their optics meeting. The dark concentration in those blue optics warmed into affection, before mild concern edged in. Chase moved, swirling the air with the moans and cries and smoke and blood and energon suspended in it, leaving it all in his wake as he waded toward the sturdy, elegant form of a being called Prowl. The blue eyes were warmth and calm and love and worry. They widened when he arrived and traced a familiar path up his arm to his face. Lips pursed and trembled when he gently brushed them with a finger, and then they were warm and solid pressed against his own. Two lips softly pressed against each other, tongues flicking affectionately together.
In the distance he could hear the rattle of helicopter blades and the hissing of displaced air as they whipped through it. He gently moved away with a final caress of lips, turning back to his duty. Wide optics watched before they too turned away to attend to less abstract matters. The nitty and gritty matters of life and planning, and death and energon demanded their attention, like always.