Ep 1 (AR) Building Bridges (Closed, ZZ + Red Alert)

[Deleted]

Set after Adaptation, end week 3

The med-bay was silent.

Night shift, so any potential visitors were down in recharge. The on-duty medic had retreated up to their little office. Zoom-Zoom lay still on the med-berth and stared up at the ceiling, optics powered down so the glow wouldn't be obvious. He was supposed to be in recharge, giving his frame a chance to heal but that was a difficult thing to accomplish considering the events a couple of cycles ago.

The encounter with Megatron had left Zoom-Zoom with two busted arms and one slagged leg plus a free ticket to an extended stay in Ratchet's medbay. His limbs were fixed now, he was just waiting for everything to integrate together and for the medbots to declare him fit for duty.

Zoom-Zoom's optics drifted to his right. To the critical repair unit.

Red Alert was in there.

They'd brought him, busted to the pits and back, energon everywhere. His right arm had been a sad shredded mess, a hole torn in his shoulder and whole heap of injuries Zoom-Zoom had caught before they'd whisked him away to intensive care. The minibot's fairly chillaxed vacation in the med-bay (ignoring his own injuries and the horror he'd gone through to acquired them) had taken a dark tone as Ratchet and Dusk attended to the security director. Try as the minibot might, as much as he told himself he didn't care about the Omega base bots, the fact was, Zoom-Zoom had been staring up at Red's faceplates for too long for him to pretend that they were merely passing acquaintances. It had disturbed him, seeing Red Alert like that, forced him to see and acknowledge the mech as a real, living being and he couldn't go back to pretending that this situation was temporary and he didn't need to give a frag about anyone.

The worst of the surgeries were over though, Red Alert just needed rest, according to the mutters Zoom-Zoom had caught from the medics. It hadn't taken long though, for arguments to break out over whether he could be released back to duty.

The minibot had a pretty much non-existent work ethic and was more than happy to lie about, doing nothing. Red Alert, on the other servo, was likely going insane with the inactivity. It was this consideration, this...dare he call it concern for the other mech, that was keeping him from recharge. There was, he knew, something he could do to provide Red Alert with a distraction.

Zoom-Zoom's lip-plates tightened. Okay, he had been doing absolutely nothing for the last couple of cycles and wouldn't mind stretching his legs. It was this he focused on, telling himself that it was only because he was finally bored that he was even considering this.

There was a monitoring device plugged into the minibot's wrist port, providing the on-duty medic with an update on Zoom-Zoom's vitals. The moment it was unplugged however, it would send out an alert, to inform the medic that their patient was escaping.

Of course, the fact that the monitor was plugged into him, meant that he was also connected to it. Zoom-Zoom had more than enough time to familiarise himself with its programming. With a lazy thought, he uploaded a false readout to the monitor, then reached up and unplugged it.

Zoom-Zoom swung his pedes over the berth and to the floor. Time to see how well he could sneak through the base's security and back.

[Deleted]

Time had passed for him in a blur, those first two days back at the outpost. He hadn’t been conscious when he was first brought in, and immediately after his arrival he had been put in a medically induced stasis so he would stay that way while the medical team fought to keep him online. He didn’t regain consciousness until nearly a day and a half later, if the brief, disorienting moment he spent in the world of the waking could really be called consciousness. It was generous, to say he was truly awake when the most he managed to do was glance about, his optics bleared and unfocused, unable to make sense of the images blurring before them, before slipping back out of awareness once more.

This happened on and off again for the rest of the second day, lingering moments of unconsciousness interrupted by brief periods of semi-wakefulness. He drifted in between the two states, never remaining in the latter for longer than a klik or so at most. It was difficult, trying to fight his way out of stasis, trying to bring himself back online despite his systems protesting at every turn. His body very much wanted him to stay in stasis until it had recovered more, after its auto-repair systems had been given the chance to start where the medical team left off, repairing the minor damages they had yet to attend to, and gradually integrating the work they had completed into his systems more seamlessly. His arm had been in shambles, and though Ratchet was a skilled surgeon and had managed to repair the damage to the best of his ability, it was up to Red Alert’s auto-repair systems to mend what medical tools could not.

The process had proved to be more difficult than originally anticipated. The sheer amount of damage that needed mending, coupled with the heavy energon loss that was caused by such grievous trauma, made for a particularly arduous recovery that was made all the more difficult by just how close he had come to spiraling down into a series of cascading system failures.

When he finally managed to keep himself awake long enough to hold a conversation, he had been given a briefing on his condition, and the circumstances regarding his retrieval and Flatline’s escape were gone over once more, to bring him back up to speed. After that...well. Dusk stood by a while longer to speak with him, and the ensuing conversation had been not unlike lancing a badly infected wound--painful, yes, undoubtedly unpleasant for both parties involved, but necessary to purge toxins from the body.

The entire experience had been uncomfortable from start to finish, but it had gone far better, and had felt far more cathartic, than Red Alert had dared hope. Granted, he had been drugged out of his mind at the time, so the lack of complete lucidity likely helped in that regard. It was difficult to feel the usual cocktail of emotions that accompanied any interaction he had with a fellow Guardian when he was under the influence of a moderate sedative.

Two days later, and the encounter was still fresh in his mind, which was quite the accomplishment considering everything else in his short-term memory was quick to fade and blur, then come back later on after his groggy processor had sorted itself out. It wasn’t happy with all the work it was having to do so soon after his very-near-death experience, and it showed in his delayed reactions and slowed speech. This was frustrating enough all on its own without the added drawback of being just lucid enough to realize he was falling behind on work, but not physically well enough to actually do anything about it.

It was driving him a wee bit insane.

He was not one to be idle. To be inactive for so long, to be so unproductive---it was maddening. Confined to the medbay as he was, there was little he could do but stare up at the ceiling and think about all the things he should be and wanted to be doing instead of resting. Those things amounted entirely and solely to his job. Checking cameras and perimeter alarms, watching the monitors, inspecting the base’s wiring and piping for possible defects, working on new blueprints for future projects and equipment--the list went on. Unfortunately, most of the items on said list required the use of one or both hands, and with one arm completely out of commission and the other incapable of shoulder-movement, he wasn’t properly equipped to do much of anything.

Flatline would probably be all to happy to learn just how effectively he had disabled him. The mech had been...thorough, to say the least. Though the worst of the damage had already been mended, Red Alert’s systems still had the difficult task of integrating the repairs, smoothing out welds and micro-abrasions, and reconnecting the newly-replaced mesh and circuitry to his sensor-net. As such, he couldn’t very well move his wounded shoulder or arm while they were still healing without exasperating their wounds and making his recovery time take even longer than it already was, which was the absolute last thing he wanted.

So, as much as it pained him to simply lie there and stare at the ceiling, doing absolutely nothing productive whatsoever as his wounds took their sweet time healing over, he did as Ratchet ordered and tried to get some rest. “Tried” being the keyword. It was difficult to rest when he was, by nature, restless. Jittery and full of nervous energy, he never really knew what to do with himself when he was without a task to occupy himself with. He wound up mentally reciting various security protocol compendiums he had picked up (and read cover to cover) over the years to keep his mind busy, but after a while that too became tedious.

Fortunately, an interruption eventually came to break him from his routine. Unfortunately, that interruption happened to come from Zoom Zoom of all mecha.

Red Alert didn’t have to see the mech to know he was approaching - his gait was unmistakable. The mech was a minibot, his strides were shorter than those of the average mech, not to mention quieter given his occupation as a special operative. Zoom Zoom’s footsteps were not the only things giving him away, however. He didn’t really like to admit to it, since most mecha seemed to be rather unnerved by the ability, but Red Alert’s audials were acute enough pick up on the slightest of sounds - including the rhythm of a spark’s pulse. He didn’t need to hear Zoom Zoom’s movements to know where he was; all the minibot needed to do was be alive and within a 1.4 mile radius of him, and his heartbeat would give him away.

Just as it was now.

Red Alert frowned slightly as the sound reached his audios, his optics narrowing marginally as he wondered what in Primus’ name the minibot was doing up so late (not to mention why he was out of his medberth, why the monitor connected to him hadn’t gone off, and why he seemed to be headed in his direction.) Setting his jaw, Red Alert attempted to push himself upright, only to list to the side as only his left arm agreed to cooperate. His right remained stubbornly immobile, and he let out a frustrated sigh, mouth thinning into a line as he took a moment to simply stare at the wall, as if to silently ask it whether it could believe the bull-slag going on right here. Then, gingerly and with no small amount of effort, he managed to push himself into a sitting position with his one cooperative arm, thus securing his one small victory for the day.

Not wanting to disturb the on duty medic, he chose to speak to Zoom Zoom over comms rather than voicing his words out loud.

::How and why did you slip past the monitor?:: He asked flatly, as if nothing Zoom Zoom did could possibly surprise him anymore.

[Deleted]

Two steps away from his medberth, Zoom-Zoom froze at the unexpected transmission. What the frag. Like, what the fragging frag? He'd been going slow but that was because he was a collection of fresh repairs right now and his frame was a little stiff.

How had Red heard him?

After gaping dumbly for several astroseconds, he recovered enough to answer. ::You're bored, right?:: he replied with a smug drawl. No one had come looking so Red hadn't called the medic, which was more than a little unusual. It was highly telling of just what this enforced bed rest was doing to the security director..

Without waiting for a reply, Zoom-Zoom padded over to the door and peered out cautiously. No one was in sight. ::I'm bored too:: Zoom-Zoom continued as he stepped outside. ::Just sit tight, I'll be right back with something somewhat interesting::

Expecting to hear some protest over the comms, the minibot headed off in the direction of Red Alert's office. He skirted round the view of the many, many cameras on base with practised ease, thankful that not many mecha roamed the corridors at night. His pace was slow initially but gradually quickened as he got into the swing of the whole walking normally again thing. It wasn't all that long before he was in front of the security office.

It was locked.

Zoom-Zoom unwound a cable and slotted it into the door control. He leaned tiredly against the wall as his processor linked with the base network. It would be an odd sight for anyone who came past but Zoom-Zoom was long past the embarrassment. He'd interfaced with just about everything that had a set of circuits over the course of his Spec Ops career. In fact, the minibot had connected more with inanimate computer systems than with other actual living Cybertronians.

He then began the long and arduous task of sweet talking the security network into letting him in. Zoom-Zoom was a familiar presence and a tagged ally in the system, which made things a bit easier for him. The minibot had been sharing processor space with it during his monitor shifts and they had started to build a...connection. Okay, no, this wasn't how hacking worked. But it was the story he was going to tell Red if asked about it. Or maybe even just when he got back.

What Zoom-Zoom actually did do was fiddle with the recognition software and cameras. He managed to upload a convincing digital model of Red Alert standing in front of his office to the cameras...then he entered in the correct weight for the security director to the weight sensors buried beneath the floor. The number had been thrown around at some point during the last few cycles as Dusk and Ratchet repaired Red Alert. The minibot was finally stumped when the damn thing wanted Red Alert's spark frequency.

Zoom-Zoom came to a halt here, leaning his head against the wall. He could try to brute force smash through the firewalls to overcome this problem. That was the digital equivalent of kicking down your enemies front door and of course would alert the rest of the system to the minibot's hacking attempt. Zoom-Zoom could also spent Primus knows how many cycles carefully analysing and studying the security system's software so he could stealthily hack his way in. That's the route he'd take on an infiltration mission. Or he could-

::What's the code to your door?:: he pinged Red. ::There's something I want to fetch for you there::

[Deleted]

Red Alert could hear the smugness dripping in Zoom Zoom’s tone, and he did not appreciate it in the slightest. (Granted, he didn’t appreciate most things the minibot did, but still.) Frowning to himself, since Zoom Zoom was not around to be frowned at in person, Red Alert narrowed his optics at the far wall and tried to puzzle out just what it was the minibot was up to.

::Being bored is not an excuse to leave the medbay before you’ve been released::

He replied, before falling silent once more as Zoom Zoom continued walking - where to, he wasn’t quite certain. The minibot’s footsteps appeared to be echoing down a twisting, winding path, as if Zoom Zoom had decided to take the longest, most indirect route possible to get to wherever it was he was going. It wasn’t until he thought about it for a moment or to that Red Alert realized, much to his chagrin, that Zoom Zoom was likely trying to dodge the security cameras.

Shaking his head, he made a mental note to install a few more around the base at mini-bot level, then continued to listen to...whatever the hell it was Zoom Zoom was doing.

He tried to puzzle it out on his own, but he did not have long to ponder before Zoom Zoom called him once more, and asked---of all things---what the code to the lock(s) on his office door was. Baffled, but also somewhat impressed that Zoom Zoom had the nerve to even ask him such a thing (-- him. The head of security), Red Alert stared blankly at the wall for a moment before finally deigning to respond.

::Whatever it is, it can stay in there until I can get it myself:: He replied flatly. ::There’s no point in locking the door if I hand the pass-code off to anyone who asks for it.::

Never mind that he could very easily make a new code, and re-lock the door under a new set of parameters. It was just the principle of the thing. Besides, he didn’t trust Zoom Zoom to run around his office unattended - especially not since the last time he was in there, he’d pulled out a gun and blasted a scorch-mark into his floor.

[Deleted]

::Admit it, if you could, you'd have bolted out of the med-bay, soon as possible:: Zoom-Zoom dryly retorted. ::And I've been good, I've been waiting. I'm pretty sure they plan to release me next cycle anyway::

The minibot idly drummed his servos against the wall as he contemplated his next move when Red refused. It was a long shot, the minibot admitted, hadn't really been expecting it to work.

::Just wanted to grab your tools:: he muttered mulishy. ::Case you forgot, you broke something of mine and didn't fix it::

Zoom-Zoom could almost feel the accusing weight of Unicron in his servos. Or, actually, the self-diagnostic reports that insisted he was injured. The little toy still wasn't fixed and was in his subspace, since he never left anywhere without it. And since his systems recognised it as an extension of himself, it was kinda annoying to have this constant bombardment of 'Your hurt!' messages. Whilst there were other people on base the minibot could seek out to get it repaired, he was reluctant to reveal Unicron's existence to another mech. Red Alert had seen it, had gone through its contents even, so he really was the only candidate on base for the job no matter how much Zoom-Zoom would rather otherwise.

::If I can't get your door open, I'm gonna try Wheeljack's lab:: Zoom-Zoom added. ::If I cause something to explode and die, it's gonna be on your head. I hope it'll haunt you for the rest of your life::

[Deleted]

It did not take Red Alert long to realize what it was Zoom Zoom was referring to, when he said he had broken something of his. Images of the toy--the data-storage device--flickered to the forefront of his mind almost immediately. He still felt a bit of guilt over that; not for taking the toy apart, but for not preventing Zoom Zoom from finding out he had. The mech had been...considerably distressed when he found out, and the fallout thereafter had not been pleasant.

For that very reason, it was somewhat baffling that the mech seemed to want him to handle the toy once more. He would have thought the minibot would have wanted him to stay as far away from it as possible. Red Alert would have felt somewhat alleviated that Zoom Zoom was apparently making an effort to leave his anger against him behind him if he hadn’t tacked a threat on the end of his request to be let inside his office.

Red Alert did not take threats lightly. As Zoom Zoom was about to find out.

::In case you’ve forgotten, I could alert anyone in the base to your absence from the medbay at any given time. You wouldn’t make it more than six steps towards Wheeljack’s lab before being caught and returned to an irate medic::

He had gleaned, from the reverence which the minibot seemed to have for medics, that Zoom Zoom most likely wouldn’t want to have one of them angry with him. He could have been wrong, of course, but supposed there was no harm in tacking that line on the end for good measure, just in case it did hold some sway over the minibot.

[Deleted]

Zoom-Zoom had decided that this standing thing was great 'n all but the floor was looking quite attractive at the moment. He just needed to give his legs a rest so he sunk to the floor, curling his arms around his knees and resting his head against them. His back against the wall, Zoom-Zoom huddled up.

The minibot had exvented when Red had threatened him with calling the medics but it was a sound of annoyance, not worry. Having a medic mad at you was no big deal, they still took your health seriously and repaired you. Sure, they might try to reconfigure your alt into a microscope or something equally useless but generally, the whole we're at war thing kept medical retaliation to a minimum.

Zoom-Zoom frowned at the wall opposite him as he pondered what to say next. Manipulating bots really wasn't his thing thanks to his social obliviousness. And now he had to keep Red from calling Ratchet or Dusk on him.

The Autobot gave a bitter laugh, fuming at himself and the situation he'd gotten himself into. As was his habit due to his long isolation, he started talking to himself, more specifically to the door beside him, voicing his thoughts out loud. He was unaware of just how sensitive Red's audios were.

"Sure, let's do something nice for Red," Zoom-Zoom groused, mocking his earlier thoughts. "He must be going crazy sitting around with nothing to do. Fragging great idea that was. Shoulda known better. Red doesn't let anyone do anything nice for him. Why'd I even think of doing this...?"


(It is escaped Zoom-Zoom's noticed that Red Alert had in fact tried to do something nice for him and the minibot had violently rejected it then shot it. Just because the minibot was feeling nice did not nullify his previous actions.)


Unwillingly, his mind backtracked along his decision making that had lead up to this moment, returning to the root cause of this entire situation, watching Red being dragged in like a bunch of spare parts. While the minibot was no stranger to gore and death, that scene had disturbed him on so many levels. Maybe, and Zoom-Zoom really didn't want to think about it because he'd mastered the art of not thinking about his missing cohort, it was because he'd seen too many of his cohorts mates in exactly the same way. The division had a high casualty rate, mecha had come in and died almost as soon as they'd gotten them trained up.

Zoom-Zoom shivered against the wall. Red's decimated arm, that reminded him of-of-of-

"'s like Piledriver all over again," the minibot murmured to himself in a ragged whisper. Captured during a infiltration mission to Uraya, the newest minibot to the team had been dragged to a torture chamber and interrogated relentlessly and brutally. It had taken the cohort a vorn before they had everything in place to mount a rescue.

And when they had-

"Energon everywhere, that Con really like his saws," Zoom-Zoom stared dully at the floor right next to his pedes. He laughed bitterly but it was an ugly sound, half a choked sob. "We were just a little too slow..." The minibot's voice was small as he trailed off into silence.

Zoom-Zoom sat in his thoroughly depressed mood, feeling utterly wrecked thanks to the direction his thoughts had taken. His processor, with its perfect memory recall, was reliving the graphic scene in all its detailed horror. This was the reason why he avoided thinking about his cohort. His memories were too powerful and he had the tendency to be completely sucked into them. It was like he'd been transported back to that cell full of darkness and despair, staring down at Piledrive's slack face and broken body. Once an amateur racer in Polyhex's circuits, he resembled little the bot who'd joined the cohort only a couple of vorns prior. The tension wires in every limb had been cut and his servos had been lopped off. The Con had sawed into him in a lot of places but the worst of it was centred on Piledriver's chest, exposing his spark chamber. By the time the cohort had got there, it had stopped being an interrogation a long time ago. The walls had been coated with dried energon, there had been so much of it and it didn't seem possible that Piledriver's spark still burnt in his frame. Despite how every bit of their training insisted that Piledriver was beyond recovery, that they should put him out of his misery and leave his frame behind instead of weighing them down with his unconscious body...they'd tried to get him out of there.

Piledriver had bled out on Zoom-Zoom's shoulders despite the hurried medical aid they'd given him. One moment, that faint spark still flickered against his sensor net...the next it didn't. Zoom-Zoom had taken two steps before he realised he was hauling a dead body. There had been a brief moment of shock, then resigned understanding before he'd continued on like Piledriver still had a chance. They weren't going to leave his frame behind to be used by the Cons.

Whilst Zoom-Zoom hadn't known the mech for long, he'd still been part of the cohort and had been mourned just as deeply as the longer members. The cohort had moved on, as it always did. Another member was sent their way, another mission was assigned to them...they didn't have much time to mourn. There were times when Zoom-Zoom understood all too well why Vibes, the division leader, was such a burnt out shell of a mech.

The static on his comms drew Zoom-Zoom out of his blank reverie and reminded him that Red Alert was still waiting for an answer. Zoom-Zoom really hadn't had exactly had chance to think of anything clever thanks to that little trip down memory lane. The spark of rebellion that had been present throughout this little venture had been snuffed out. Dully, Zoom-Zoom stared blankly into space as he slowly pulled himself back together. The minibot unfolded himself and wobbly rose to his full height, resting one servo in the wall to give him a bit of balance.

::Fine:: Zoom-Zoom's voice was flat. It betrayed nothing of his emotional turmoil and exhaustion. ::'ll come back::

[Deleted]

Contrary to popular belief, Red Alert did not go out of his way to eavesdrop on people; more often than not he overheard conversations, not because he was actively trying to listen in on them, but because he couldn’t help but hear what was being spoken. His audials were sensitive enough to pick up upon the slightest of sounds - though he had never taken exact measurement of his hearing range, he was aware that the quietest sound he was capable of hearing was roughly that of a microchip dropping from over a mile away. With ears like those, he couldn’t not overhear conversations.

Sometimes, If he tried hard enough, he could tune them out. The sounds would still register with his audio-receptors, and his processor would still sort through the noise as it would any other stimuli, but at the very least he could push it out of focus. By deliberately shifting his attention away from the sounds and focusing intently on something else instead, he could almost ignore all of what was being said.

Almost.

Try as he might, snippets of sentences would always manage to slip through, without fail. If he was lucky, it would be a fleeting bit of information, a fragment of a sentence that had no substance out of context. Unfortunately his mind--which had never been his ally--tended to grab onto the most bewildering, inappropriate, or personal comments that filtered through his processor.

Given it was part of his job to be on the look out for traitors and double agents, mutineers and general problem-makers, it wasn’t really surprising that his subconscious pounced on any and all incriminating information it happened upon.

That being said, Red Alert had little choice but to overhear Zoom Zoom’s words, quiet and not meant for anyone’s audios though they were. He grimaced slightly, feeling discomfited by the situation, but at the same time, resigned to the fact it was more or less inescapable. The minibot’s words were quiet, somber, meant only for himself. Yet Red Alert heard them, and found himself surprised by what the other mech was admitting out loud.

Apparently, Zoom Zoom had been...trying to do something nice for him. Him. The mech who he had butted heads with since the day he arrived on base. To say Red Alert was perplexed by this odd turn of events, particularly Zoom Zoom’s apparent desire to make amends of some sort, would be a massive understatement. He felt the faintest twinge of guilt at the mech’s words, the bitterness and self-reproach in his tone, but he tried not to linger on it. It wasn’t as if he had known what the mech’s intentions were before he rejected his request for access into his office, after all. Cutting his optics from the wall to the floor, he was quick to remind himself that he had reacted reasonably, given the information (or lack thereof) he had had at the time, and that the mild discomfort he felt at disappointing the minibot was unwarranted.

Unfortunately, he could not convince himself that the sharp surge of guilt he felt at Zoom Zoom’s following words wasn’t completely deserved.

His optics widened at the mention of a mech, at the implication of torture, at the admittance that rescue came too late, and all at once he found himself wishing he was asleep, or off-base, or distracted by something else--anything to keep from listening on. He wasn’t meant to hear this. He didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t have the right to be privy to something so personal and private, to say nothing of painful, especially when Zoom Zoom had not willfully or knowingly chosen to confide in him.

Red Alert’s expression twisted slightly, his helm turning to the side as if that would somehow make him less capable of hearing what he had no right to overhear. He brought a hand up to his temple, the gesture habitual, almost entirely unconscious at this point, then drummed a disjointed tune against his audio in a weak attempt to provide himself with a sound to focus on instead of Zoom Zoom’s words.

It didn’t help. The damage had been done, Zoom Zoom had spoken of things that could not be taken back or easily forgotten, and Red Alert just had to live with it.

He did not cease his nervous tapping until Zoom Zoom’s voice sounded once more, this time in his head rather than his audial. His fingers paused in the middle of their drumming, hovering briefly over his audial before moving to rub the space between his optics as he offlined them with a haggard sigh.

::...Wait:: He replied, tone somber and oddly tired compared to when last he spoke. ::I have a few tools in my subspace. Bring it here, and I’ll see what I can do::

[Deleted]

Zoom-Zoom's pace lacked the speed he'd gradually gained on his way over to Red's office. When before he'd been vitalised by the exercise, now he shuffled forth on reluctant pedes. He forced his concentration onto the simple motion of movement, unwilling to allow his thoughts to wander. He had no desire to go digging through the many, many memories of his cohort and it was oh so easy now that he'd started on one for the rest to come rushing back.

When Red Alert's comm came through, Zoom-Zoom seized upon the distraction for what it was. Anything would be better than the being left alone with the thoughts inside his head, even if Red Alert was only calling to tell him off.

::I have a few tools in my subspace. Bring it here, and I’ll see what I can do::

Zoom-Zoom faltered, resting his weight against the wall with one servo. The minibot's optics narrowed behind his visor, suspicious at Red's sudden change of mind. Why had-? The mood Zoom-Zoom was in, he didn't appreciate being jerked around like this. Still, hadn't this been what he was after? The minibot's jaw tightened before he pushed on, choosing not to reply.

It wasn't long before he'd made his way back to the med-bay. Zoom-Zoom stood in the doorway for one long moment, trying to decide whether to head back to his own berth or not. His servos curled around empty air and he took one step towards his berth before stopping. He could almost feel the accusing weight of Unicron in his subspace and whilst he had no problem turning his back on Red and being a coward, he couldn't ignore the legacy that his cohort had left for him to safeguard.

Quietly, Zoom-Zoom made his way over. A chair had been pulled up beside Red's berth and Zoom-Zoom allowed himself to fall into it. Behind his visor, Zoom-Zoom allowed himself to study the mech in front of him. Red Alert was looking far better than the last time the minibot had seen him. No spilled energon, no ragged holes in his plating where there shouldn't be. His arm looked like an arm now and not a shredded mockery. There were still fresh welds and abrasions all over but those would be healed over in time by Red's self repair.

Zoom-Zoom really didn't know what to say or where to start. His vocaliser clicked weakly and gave a few false starts but he didn't have anything to say. Zoom-Zoom's processor was still reeling from its recent trip down memory lane so he simply settled on unsubspacing the toy. He clutched it tightly in his grasp and stared at Red Alert, his optics wide and vacant.

[Deleted]

While Zoom Zoom made his weary tread back down to the medbay, Red Alert quietly cursed himself and his damn bleeding spark to the Pit and back. He had just offered Zoom Zoom a favor out of guilt, thereby inviting the mech to come over and begin an interaction he was almost positive neither of them would enjoy. His last encounter with the minibot had ended poorly, and he had good reason to suspect that this time would be no different. Judging by the...particularly heavy thoughts that seemed to be weighing on Zoom Zoom’s mind, Red Alert didn’t doubt for a moment that the smaller mech could very well be heading towards another violent outburst.

He was all too aware of how thoughts of dead cohort and all the subsequent emotional turmoil that came from them tended not to leave mecha in the best of mental states.

It took the mech a few minutes, but eventually Zoom Zoom made his way back to the medbay, and soon after, to the chair at Red Alert’s bedside. He had watched the mech cross over from the other end of the room, drawing nearer without a word, before quietly taking a seat at his side. Red Alert tried not to linger on the thought of how utterly downtrodden the mech looked, how vacant and listless his expression was. He wasn’t terribly successful.

Shifting once more, Red Alert eased himself upright a bit further, before gingerly sliding his legs off the edge of the berth so he could sit up and face Zoom Zoom both at once. Ratchet would probably have disapproved of even that minor physical activity, but as much as he respected the medic, Red Alert did not particularly care to heed his every directive down to the very letter. Especially not when losing what remained of his mind to the insanity prolonged idleness brought about in him was far worse than anything sitting up could possibly make him suffer.

Once Zoom Zoom un-subspaced Unicron, thereby confirming his earlier suspicions, Red Alert’s expression faltered slightly - something flickered through his optics, pulled at the corner of his mouth, there and gone in an instant. Resignation, perhaps, or maybe even quiet apology. It was difficult to tell, with Red Alert. He wasn’t exactly a mech known for his openness and emotional honesty; whatever it was he felt, he had promptly put an end to it before it could make itself known on his face.

Looking down at the toy, Red Alert’s optics lingered a moment or so too long, before he cleared his throat and abruptly cut his gaze to Zoom Zoom.

“You realize I’m going to need to touch it to fix it, don’t you?” He asked dryly, by way of prompting the mech to hand the toy over.

It was a weak attempt at humor, at lightening the mood, and Red Alert knew it. He never claimed to be good with conversations, or people, and he wasn’t about to start now.

[Deleted]

Mechanically, Zoom-Zoom released his tight grip on Unicron and passed the toy over to Red Alert. He didn't react otherwise, his gaze remained unnervingly steady before he tilted his head to the side and stared at the wall instead. Inside his processor, everything was curiously blank as he attempted to settle his thoughts. He did not want to risk tripping another memory.

The minibot curled up on his seat, arms folded around his knees as he rested his head upon them. For a small mech who usually buzzed with nervous energy, his presence was unusually subdued.

[Deleted]

...This wasn’t right. Wasn’t normal. Zoom Zoom was not a quiet, subdued mech, not as far as Red Alert knew him. It was odd...uncomfortable, even, to sit across from the minibot in his melancholy state, when all his past interactions with him insisted he ought to be making snide remarks and being a recalcitrant little pain in his side.

He never thought he would ever actually WANT Zoom Zoom to say something cheeky and disrespectful, but he was dangerously close to wishing the other mech would do just that. At least then the status quo would return to normal, and he wouldn’t have to deal with...whatever this was. Primus, he didn’t even know what to call it, how could he be expected to know how to handle it with anything even resembling competency?

He couldn’t. He was almost certain he couldn’t. Consoling people...hell, just socializing with people in general, was something he simply didn’t know how to do well. Work, he could do. Working, he understood. The process of completing a series of tasks according to certain, well-defined parameters was a far less confusing concept to him than analyzing a person’s emotional state, making an assumption as to what it was that was affecting them, then somehow constructing a series of words that might possibly rectify the person’s problem, assuming one even guessed correctly what the problem was in the first place.

Red Alert was many things, but he was neither a mind-reader nor a word-smith. He was fairly certain if he tried to say something to lift Zoom Zoom’s spirits, he would fail miserably, and they would both be worse off for it.

So he turned his focus onto the toy.

He knew how to fix objects. People, not so much.

It was a simple task, one that required so little effort that he wondered why Zoom Zoom had not attempted it himself, until he remembered that the mech didn’t exactly have his same level of skill when it came to assembling gadgets and machinery.

It was this thought which prompted Red Alert to give a the toy a thoughtful look, before glancing back to its owner with the same thoughtful expression. There was a lingering pause before he spoke.

“Here, look.” He said, lifting the toy up and out a bit, to prompt the smaller mech to watch.

“You see this panel here? You need to slide the cover down then to the left to lock it in place, otherwise it won’t align with the seams and you won’t be able to screw it down.”

As he spoke he demonstrated, acting out his instructions to show Zoom Zoom what it is he was talking about. He placed the cover over the exposed panel, pressed it down, then slid it to the left with his thumb until it locked in place with a soft click. Then, he reversed the process, and took the cover off completely, before extending his arms out to Zoom Zoom with an expectant expression.

Go on, you little miscreant. Give it a try.

[Deleted]

Zoom-Zoom stirred, optics slowly lifting from the wall over the Red Alert. It took a while before Red's words actually penetrated his processor. His visor brightened briefly, though it was merely a sign of his processor kick into gear and not actual emotion.

The minibot ran the instructions over a couple of times. Focusing on a task was fine. It was good. It meant he didn't have to think about...

Things he really didn't want to think about. The minibot existed in such carefully built denial and any disturbances to that denial tended to unsettle him until he could sort out his thoughts and bury them again.

Gingerly, Zoom-Zoom slid the cover down and to the left, as per Red Alert's instructions. He could feel the moment it clicked into place. The minibot's servos curled around Unicron before he looked up, gaze oddly focused on Red's damaged arm.

"Does it still hurt?"

[Deleted]

Red Alert watched as Zoom Zoom took the toy, taking note of how absent he seemed, how distant his thoughts appeared to be from the situation at hand. He said nothing of it, however, and did not give any outward sign that he even noticed anything was odd about the minibot’s behavior whatsoever.

Quietly, he was somewhat relieved Zoom Zoom had actually responded to his prompting, and actually tried to take the first step in repairing Unicron himself, instead of just throwing it back in his face or frowning at him in mute refusal. He wasn’t exactly used to the smaller mech being cooperative, so he had learned to appreciate the rare occasions when he was.

Unsurprisingly, the mech in question had little difficulty completing the simple task he had been assigned. Once the panel clicked back into place, Red Alert had intended to reach for the toy once more so that he could screw it securely to the body of the toy, but he was given pause by Zoom Zoom’s unexpected question.

Blinking in surprise, he looked down at his recently-mangled arm, and the angry, jagged welds which kept his patchwork plating together. His mouth thinned slightly before he abruptly shrugged and glanced away. He didn’t particularly care to look at it.

“This?” He asked, raising the limb slightly in demonstration. “I imagine it would if my neural circuitry wasn’t currently under the influence of an obscene amount of nerveblocks and painkillers.” His tone was dry, bordering on amused.

[Deleted]

Zoom-Zoom relaxed his grip, handing Unicron back to Red Alert for the next steps. He curled up again on his chair, hands around his knees as he hunched over defensively. Zoom-Zoom's optics remained fixed on the toy, not looking at Red.

"I'd forgotten what it felt like," Zoom-Zoom suddenly realised. "Pain. My neural net's been fragged for so long..." he shrugged and gave a self-depreciating laugh, unsure where he was going with this. "I didn't think I was going to make it out of there," he finished quietly, more to himself than to Red.

An ugly frown suddenly marred Zoom-Zoom's face as he thought back to his encounter with Megatron. The gaze he turned upon Red now was more alert and reminiscent of the minibot's usual spirits. "Ratchet said I should speak to you about getting qualified to carry explosives again. I've been good, I've complied with the terms of my probation. Most of them, I think. But I really, really need to restock my subspace, I can't get caught out like that again."