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shadow_vector2011-03-02 06:55 am
Sky and Ground: Fleeting Contact
PG
Bayverse Sky and Ground AU
Barricade, Thundercracker, Starscream
no warnings
Barricade felt something pulling him awake, like a hook under his fender, dragging him upward through the depths of sleep. His optics blinked slowly online, his systems working to orient himself. He had fallen into recharge, his head on Starscream’s thigh, the long bronze legs wrapped around him like an embrace. Beside him, the blue bulk of Thundercracker, their EM fields humming warm and comforting around him. Beyond them, nothing: the room was silent.
Whatever had hauled him awake was not here.
Which meant…Skywarp?
Barricade bent over, as if staring at the armor over his spark chamber helped him concentrate. Maybe it did. He concentrated on the bond, readying his channel if Skywarp wanted to comm him. He trembled with hope, activating the protocols as wide as he could.
There! Yes! Skywarp. Definitely Skywarp, the signal fuzzed with static, but unmistakably feeling, tasting, like him. Barricade’s talons clutched in excitement.
He bubbled with questions, realizing that most of them were…stupid. ‘How are you’? He was a prisoner. Dumb question. ‘Do you miss me’? Blind narcissism. No, better to remain quiet and wait.
He felt the purple gold thread of their bond seem to widen, as though spinning more strands between them. Barricade was an amateur at this, but he tried, reaching into the bond to analyze, interpret.
Pain. He felt pain. It shocked him the way the cold of space would slam against him when the hangar doors opened. Unexpected and awful, though he could already feel the purple threads moving to wrap around him, console him. It wasn’t so bad, they seemed to say. And the purple tendrils seemed to take comfort in him, clinging, needy.
A river of concern, dark and muddy, flowed beyond Barricade’s control over the bond, to be caught by Skywarp, absorbed, and sent back, calmed, untangled. No need to worry. Barricade eased, letting himself fall back into the embracing purple light. Skywarp was all right. Not scared, not angry. Skywarp felt confident, even.
Barricade keyed in Skywarp’s freq code. He was going to ask. Skywarp had a better fix on where he was than they had been able to triangulate. And he wanted to be the one telling Skywarp that rescue was coming.
He could feel the frequency reaching to connect. He leaned forward, anticipating, as if throwing the frequency farther, faster. The block was gone; he could feel the initial ping touchback.
A hand descended on him, and something dark and sharp, like a blade, seared through his bond. Barricade jumped.
“No.” Thundercracker’s voice was hard, merciless. “No comm.”
Starscream shifted, abruptly. “What?”
“Skywarp’s bond,” Thundercracker muttered. “Idiot here was trying to activate his private freq.”
Barricade bristled. “More than you’ve done!” He was the one who had narrowed down which bases where Skywarp might be held. And Thundercracker hadn’t complained before about the private freq. Had even asked him.
Thundercracker growled. “I’ve done plenty, grounder.”
Starscream rocked forward, hauling Barricade up from between his legs. Barricade was a little glad for that—it was kind of an embarrassing position. “Skywarp is…functional?”
“Pain,” Barricade said, worriedly. “Why I wanted to check on him.” His four optics glared at Thundercracker.
Thundercracker snorted. “He’s fine. Probably brought it on himself.” He looked to Starscream. “You remember how he is.” The sentence deliberately shutting Barricade out, though the blue jet let his contempt seep over the bond.
“That is unfair, Thundercracker,” Starscream said, but his voice was uncertain. His hands clutched around Barricade for comfort. Starscream, the one of them who could not feel Skywarp’s bond except as a thin echo through Barricade’s. “But if the signal is no longer jammed, it is monitored.”
They all fell silent. Oh.
Thundercracker glared at Barricade. “Idiot.” A chartreuse shard of envy stabbed through the bond—Starscream seeking comfort from Barricade and not him.
“Oh.” Barricade withered. It made sense. He felt really, really dumb for not having thought of that. Stupid, Barricade. Stupid. “Sorry.”
“Do not be. It is an unfamiliar capability to you.” Starscream met Thundercracker’s optics. “And other than pain…?”
Thundercracker shifted his shoulders. “He’s…all right, from what I can feel. Autobots seem to be behaving true to form.”
“For now.”
Thundercracker grunted, nodding.
Barricade’s optics darted from one to the other. “What’s that mean?” he demanded.
Starscream sighed, one hand toying with Barricade’s pauldron tire in a way that was entirely non-sexual. “Skywarp can be…inciting.”
Barricade frowned. He could see Starscream’s point, but it still felt a little disloyal. “Well. We’re going to have to rescue him, soon,” he said, firmly.
Thundercracker rolled his optics. “Working on it, grounder. Not so easy to disappear on our own little jaunt.”
“Why not?” Barricade could hear a whine in his voice, but he didn’t care. “Whole point of being a Quaterne, right?” Right? What good was it if they were still victims? His fists clenched. He didn’t ever want to be a victim again.
Starscream’s arms tightened around him—Barricade was starting to feel like a comfort-toy. Still, he felt nothing but warm gold affection from the bronze jet—he wasn’t going to complain. “It is not that simple, Barricade.” One hand freed itself to trace something in the air. “Legally, we are autonomous. However…politically?” The hand made an intricate gesture. “It is complicated.”
“If we all dash off to rescue him, what do you think is going to be waiting for us when we get back?” Thundercracker’s voice was deliberately harsh.
Barricade hissed. Soundwave. Or Megatron. Or both, having come to some terms again. “But if we leave one of us behind…something bad could happen.” He could not restrain the shudder from tearing through his frame. A white-red burst of shame.
Thundercracker nodded. “Complicated. Like Starscream said. Which is why we can’t just fly on in there.”
Barricade reached longingly through the bond again, feeling the purple tendrils welcome him. He felt…awful. Helpless. “Hate that you’re right,” he muttered to the blue jet.
“Yeah?” Thundercracker’s mouth twisted. “So am I.”
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Thundercracker hates that he's right that they can't just fly on out and rescue Skywarp. I'm not sure how to phrase it better.
This series, yeah, I'm...really thinking of not continuing. The writing's really fallen off, hasn't it. I'm glad to hear someone else's confirmation.
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So whether you finish this, put it on hold or end it now I'll still be a fan.
Now I'll go back to lurking from the peanut gallery while updating quality reports and writing lab requests. RL can be such a time sink!
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I should have trusted myself that it sucks. Oh well.
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i don't know that the writing has fallen off exactly, because it's still good writing and still conveys emotion and tells a good story. it just seems... like you're tired and need a break from it for a while. that happens to a lot of long series sometimes.
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