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niyazi-a.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
shadow_vector2010-11-24 02:07 pm
Challenge
Bayverse, Sky and Ground AU
Barricade, Thundercracker, Starscream, Skywarp, Megatron, Thrust
no warnings
“What’s he got planned?” Skywarp snarled, as the quaterne moved, as a solid unit, up the corridor. They’d received the summons last night and it had been decided—no one went anywhere alone. Thundercracker had balked, but then muttered, “Show of unity,” nodding, and let it at that. They would not be separated.
Skywarp felt a faint pang he tried his best to squelch, feeling the new intimacy between Starscream and Thundercracker. He wanted it, it and all it stood for, but at the same time, he didn’t want Barricade upset, didn’t want his little grounder feeling left out, alone.
No, he wouldn’t be left out. He wasn’t left out now, the quaterne letting him take lead, adjusting their pace to a slow stalk after him in diamond formation. He reached out to Barricade with his bond, and felt the stir of worry, one that reached for him, clinging. The trust and vulnerability in the gesture awed him: he was not worthy of such respect.
//Don’t like this,// Barricade said, across comm.
//I don’t like it either,// Skywarp replied. //But we’ll be careful.// He considered. The question was probably…wrong and offensive and insulting and a whole host of other bad things, but he couldn’t keep himself from asking. //Are you afraid to face Megatron, little spike? We’ll be right there with you.//
Barricade stiffened, feeling, tasting the idea. //Be fine,//he said, but his uncertainty trembled over the bond, muddy and brown. Skywarp reached for it, taking it, pulling it into him. He could feel the real worry—Soundwave. The one who had pulled the strings, the willing instrument of the plot, the most heinous violator.
//Not alone, little spike.//
The door to Megatron’s chamber whooshed open ahead of them, as though encouraging them to move faster. Barricade frowned, keeping his pace rigidly steady, like a metronome, until he reached the area in front of Megatron’s command chair.
Soundwave was…noticeably absent. Skywarp’s optics were drawn to the large, empty space behind the chair with a mixture of hopeful malice and concern. He could hope that Soundwave had pushed Megatron too far and had been banished, but he knew too well than to assume anything. Still, it was something to note. A crack maybe they could exploit in turn.
Instead, Thrust stood next to the chair, far back, wrapped in shadow. The room was painfully quiet, the hum of the various monitors seeming to hum through the tension. Light fell in dim puddles on the floor, too weak to slice through the shadows.
Skywarp frowned, glancing toward Starscream, who knew the crew far better than he did. Skywarp had access to the official records, but, well, he knew too well how often things—important things—often didn’t appear in official documentation.
Starscream’s posture tightened, but nothing more. Still, it was enough to sharpen the edge Skywarp was on.
The silence began to stretch. Skywarp felt the echo of tension through Barricade’s bond, could feel Barricade’s hard determination. Poor little spike. //You okay?//
//…yeah,// Barricade’s voice was unstable over the line.
Megatron’s optics seemed to burn into them. “Well,” he said, unable to hide a malicious humor from his voice. “It appears we have a problem, Seekers.”
“We.” Thundercracker spat the word. Refusing to share the pronoun.
Megatron smiled, nodding as if graciously, accepting the correction. “Well then, you.” He waited. The quaterne stayed unnaturally still, waiting. Bracing, even though they could feel Megatron savoring their tension.
Thrust broke the brittle silence. “It’s a matter of law,” he said, cowardice warring with greed in his voice.
“What law?” Starscream straightened on his legs, wingflaps spreading in open intimidation. He had no need to show Thrust any respect. He would not. Skywarp shifted on his feet, fixing his gaze on the smaller jet.
Thrust tilted back into the shadows, as though they were protection. “The…law. Quaternes must fight together.”
Skywarp felt Barricade twitch, felt the agonized twang over the bond. Once again he was the problem one. Once again, he was falling short. //No,// Skywarp said, firmly, pushing aside Barricade’s worry. //Never a problem.//
He felt Barricade subside, unappeased, but not wanting to distract. //We can talk about this later?// Skywarp said, meekly, aware he’d misstepped, trying to make it right.
Barricade nodded, almost invisibly.
“Fight together,” Thundercracker said, dryly. “You want to see Barricade fight so badly?”
“I doubt he can,” Megatron said, coolly.
A flare of anger from Barricade at being devalued, echoed, surprisingly, by one from Thundercracker. “He can,” Thundercracker said. “And he will. And this will, I presume, be the end of this matter.” Thundercracker’s fierce arrogance, thrown like a blanket over Barricade.
Starscream clicked, his optics focused on Thrust. “This will not be the end of this,” he muttered. Thrust shrank back.
“In my…generosity,” Megatron said, leaning back, steepling his claws, “We happen to have an upcoming strike mission.”
“Truly,” Starscream said, his voice taking on the hiss of a serpent who had been stepped on, “you are generous.” A hot bitterness flooded across Barricade’s bond to the others. Skywarp tried to push soothing and calm over the bond, hoping it would leak through to Starscream. He’d given up on words—he was so bad at them. He hoped that raw emotion, comfort and love, would do what he could not with words.
“I am,” Megatron said, leaning forward, optics crackling. “Which is why I do not appreciate things being taken from me unallowed.”
Starscream’s mouthplates grated together, memory blaring over the bond. Skywarp felt Barricade catch it, wrap around it, twining around it with his own pain like a net. //Say yes,// Barricade said.
//You sure?//Skywarp asked. He clenched down on the worry he felt.
//If I can’t fight with you, I don’t deserve to be part of the Quaterne,// Barricade said.
Skywarp could have argued—bonded, if Barricade died, chances are he’d take the others with him. But he recognized the gesture for what it was: Barricade’s insecurity, his weakness, wanting to be purged. And he had decided for Barricade too many times.
“Yes,” he said, his voice steady, optics colder than space. “We’re not afraid to prove ourselves.”
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Megatron's a jerk. I feel a little sorry for greedy Thrust. He must have been so easy for Megs to manipulate into calling for a trial of the Quaterne. Poor, deluded mech - I wonder what he would do if he got his wish and had to report to Megatron instead of Starscream. I suspect it would be a definite case of reality falling far short of expectations.
I am soooo looking forward to the Quaterne opening a can of whoop-aft. Go team Sky-and-Ground for facing their fears to help Barricade get through this.
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I'm kind of... eager to see the four of them fight together. But at the same time... I KNOW Megatron is stacking the deck. No way that slagger plays fair. So I'm scared for them going on whatever this mission will be.