Ep 1 - Checkup - Closed

[Deleted]

<< takes place immediately after Rise >>

Ironhide watched Megatron - Megatronus - retreat back into the depths of the mine and couldn't, for one klik, even make himself move. His sensor feeds were a cacophony of lurid high priority threads across his HUD, tracking the warlord's frame, his potential ranges and angles of attack, his own clear shots, his Prime's frame, Cleaver's, the hot burn point of her chassis, a thousand trajectories, tens of thousands of calculations per nanoklik, all cascading through his neural nets in a burning rush of primed circuits and surging fluids feeding into hydraulics.

And then Megatron had... walked away.

It took Ironhide several long seconds to scale back his targeting algorithms and aggrotech enough to push his systems into a fragile all-clear state. Prime was already in motion, Cleaver after him, neither of them - NEITHER of them - hurt or damaged or in danger. No other threats. No other targets. Nothing, except...

...Except the towering figure of one of his worst nightmares looming over his bitlet's head, and Shadow, Shadow, he had a bead on Optimus and another on Cleaver and Shadow was... was....

She hadn't been hurt when she retreated, he knew that, logically, sensibly - a perfectly reasonable move on her part, even welcome, as it had removed one more set of target tracking from the variables he had already been monitoring. She had assured him she was alright and had gone...

He didn't know where she had gone, and she wasn't in optic range, wasn't anywhere in the main atrium, and Ironhide felt his spark lurch within his protomass, unpleasant and sickening, because there was a Decepticon Warlord walking as he pleased through the base and Ironhide did NOT know where his bitlet was.

A rushed flurry of location pings later got a response and Ironhide let out a ventilation he hadn't been aware of holding, half jogging across the atrium to the smaller offshoot that her ping had come from. "Shadow? Bitlet, luv - yeh alright?"

[Deleted]

Shadow had withdrawn far enough down the little side corridor to fit any reasonable definition of "safe", while still staying near enough to hear if everything went straight to the Pit, and fully ready to comm the base and risk turning the DMZ into a battlefield. It wasn't easy to hold position and wait, completely unaware of what was happening in the atrium; she managed it only by reminding herself that the situation was tense enough without one more frame to provide a potential target or distraction.

The flurry of pings from Ironhide came as a relief; she responded with an equally rapidfire sequence of here/safe/here as she finally let herself hurry back up the tunnel.

She hadn't heard any weapon fire, or anything that sounded like a confrontation; Shadow still swept her optics across Ironhide's frame as soon as she rounded the slight curve in the corridor and saw him. "I'm fine," she said, not slowing until she was within arm's reach, swaying just a little with the barely-resisted desire to lean against him. "What happened? Is everyone all right?"

[Deleted]

Here/safe/here were the sweetest glyphs to his hot and primed systems, soothing an iota of the alerts still crawling across his HUD and through his neural net. Ironhide let out a ventilation, reaching for Shadowrunner the moment she came into range, his hands sweeping across her shoulders, down her arms, and back up to cup her helm, low level scans pulsing through his palms to verify that she was whole and hale.

"Thank Primus," he breathed, tugging her insistently close to tuck against his chassis. "Scrap an' rust, bitlet, worst fright of mah life, him comin' up outta nowhere behind yeh like that. Yer okay? Really, yer alright?" He pushed her a little away to run hands and scans over her once more, not quite able to be certain the first data set had been right. Only when the second came back the same - undamaged, systems running well - did he manage to pull his hands away, shifting them to her back as he held her close, plates flared around her in a rush that was almost relief.

"Ain't nothin' much happened yet," he told her, tucking her helm beneath his chin where he could pulse relief/love/safety across her field. "He's... it's damage of some sort. Core lock, Ah think. Ah'd say he was actin', but Ah don't think he could. Not like that. Optimus is talkin' t' him."

[Deleted]

"I'm fine." Shadow yielded willingly to Ironhide's need to see for himself that she was still in one piece, scans prickling lightly across her plating. "I'm really fine. He just..."

In truth, Megatron's sudden appearance had terrified her, that sickening nano-klik where she'd calculated distance versus relative speed, armor, and weaponry and come up lacking on all fronts, the realization afterward that she didn't know when he'd come up behind her and that if he'd wanted to, he literally could have done anything to her in the tunnels, made her disappear with no one the wiser.

Ironhide didn't need to hear that, though, not when she could feel the vibration through his frame that told her his systems were still primed and ready for a fight. Instead, she leaned in a little closer, reinforcing with touch and field that she was safe and well.

"He startled me, more than anything. I never really thought I'd wind up face to face with Megatron. I would have been more careful if I'd known he was here, damaged or not."

Why didn't Cleaver warn us? She couldn't bring herself to ask the question, but it hovered in her field, a hint of confused betrayal that she couldn't entirely mask.

Carefully, she steered herself away from that question. She was safe, Ironhide was safe, and Megatron was, apparently, not an immediate threat.

"Talking to him?" she echoed, shifting to a safer topic. "Does Optimus really expect that to do any good?"

[Deleted]

...Would have been more careful... - Frag, he would have never let her out of his sight if he'd known the leader of the Decepticons was in the immediate vicinity, core lock or not. Ironhide hugged Shadow a little closer, engine rumbling a low growl of comfort and security and exterior warning - mine-safe-guarded.

DMZ, he reminded himself. It was a sanctioned demilitarized zone, and Megatron had as much right to be there as any of them did. The shock, though, had been... shocking, and not in any good sort of way, his plates still flaring as he tried to wrap Shadow bodily in an extra layer of protection. Cleaver had known, Cleaver had to have known, and there had to be a reason, but that first shock of fear at seeing Megatron looming over the much smaller femme was still shuddering through his spark.

"Optimus wouldn't be Optimus if he didn't try," he told her, his own voice heavy because it was unfortunately true, no matter what he might personally wish. "Can't say it'll do any good - never has before - but th' glitch always has t' try." He dropped his head, nuzzling gently at her helm. "...Yer okay? For sure?"

[Deleted]

"I'm really okay." She leaned in closer, reassurance threading into her own field, falling into the familiar old pattern of here-safe-whole the Thirteen had always used, and admitted, "Better now. And this was a harmless enough reminder to watch my back, even in 'safe' territory."

She grinned a little and pulled back, not to break his hold, just to look up at him.

"I have to admit, though, it's a little funny that you pack weapons on me, don't cycle an optic at me visiting the Decepticon flagship twice in twenty-four hours, and then burn out a few circuit relays over Megatron standing too close to me in a DMZ." Still grinning, she snuggled back against him, into the comfort of his field. "Not unappreciated, just...funny, when you think about it."

[Deleted]

'Funny' was probably also the poleaxed expression stuck on Ironhide's face, but Shadowrunner had thankfully ducked her head back down and wasn't looking at it. He had to reset his vocalizer through a few clicks before he could find any words and even then they came out half formed. "Ah didn't... Ah mean... that's... It ain't..."

Shadow slanted a look up at him and Ironhide vented hard. "It ain't th' same," he managed gruffly. "'Course yeh went on th' raid, yeh were on Jazz's team, Ah ain't got any say on it an'...." He trailed off again, another rush of static streaking through his vocalizer as her words totaled up something unknown. "Wait - wait - TWICE? When th' fragg'd 'twice' happen?"

[Deleted]

"This morning. Soledad?" She pinged him the image file again. "I had to go back to get her...and you skipped out on the party so you have no idea what I'm talking about, and Jazz didn't tell you."

Of course, given the horrified expression that was accompanying his sputtering shock, she could see why Jazz wouldn't want to pass that news along. There wasn't even any reason he should have passed it along, except for her own background assumption that you knew what your cohort was doing unless there was a good reason not to know.

"Starscream had a human in his lab," she explained, leaning into his hold, quietly reminding him that she was back and safe and fine. "I talked to Jazz about her, he agreed we shouldn't leave her there, he got Optimus to agree, and I bridged back onto the Nemesis this morning. I...really thought Jazz would have told you."

She nudged him lightly, this time pinging him with the video clip of the eradicon telling her to shoo. "Easiest mission I've ever had, promise. Could have done it in recharge."

[Deleted]

"'Course yeh could've," Ironhide replied automatically, field pulsing a confused mix of pride and oh-sweet-Primus-WHAT? "An' of course yeh couldn't leave her, but..."

He cut himself off before any more 'but's or objections could make their way out of his vocalizer. 'Don't fuss' had been a prominent part of nearly every conversation about sparklings over the last few months, grown or still growing, and, as Shadow had rightly pointed out, she was a grown Autobot warrior who he trusted perfectly well to do her job in the field.

It didn't actually stop or absolve the feeling that he needed to tuck her close to his plates and keep her safe, but it did highlight how ridiculous that feeling was when he had already sent her into the field. Conflicted, Ironhide cut himself off and settled for keeping his arms around her. "Yeh did good," he told her, voice only a little unsteady. "Real good. This was just... wasn't expectin' nothing. Here, Ah mean. Not th' same as plannin' somethin' beforehand."

[Deleted]

"Sorry. I wouldn't have sprung the news like that if I'd realized Jazz hadn't told you." Shadow lightly bumped her shoulder into him, silently urging him to take the teasing as she'd intended, and feeling a little bad for the worry now undercutting his field. "Figured at the very least Jazz would brag on two successful missions back to back."

She felt him start to tug her in close and falter, his grip wavering before he finally settled back into a loose hold. As if she'd ever protested being held.

Fortunately, Ironhide had also never protested her tendency to lean against him, and she indulged herself now, tucking firmly against his chassis before she let herself think about Megatron. "Megatron coming out of nowhere was...yeah, not the kind of surprise I want again any time soon. Or ever." And alone, with Megatron Primus-only-knew how close to her, was something she wanted to think about even less. "The opportunity to plan for that would have been nice. Though then I never would have seen just how fast you can move when you have the incentive."

She nudged in a little closer, and her voice lost the edge of humor she'd been striving for. "Don't think I've ever been so relieved in my life as when you grabbed me," she admitted. "Thank you."

[Deleted]

His arms tightened of their own accord, pulling her in tight as his plates shifted again, wrapping her in a layer of safety. Ironhide huffed softly, resting his cheek against the top of her helm. "Yeh did good out there," he told her, field pulsing pride mingled with love and relief. "Exactly as yeh should. Not sayin' yeh couldn't fight if yeh'd needed t', but clearin' mah line of fire was good thinkin'."

He snorted, vents bursting air, a thread of humor flickering between them. "We upgraded yer guns, but they ain't meant for that. Pit, we put somethin' on yeh rated against his armor an' yeh'd blow yerself halfway back t' th' other continent just firin' th' things."

[Deleted]

Shadow laughed, basking in the praise and relaxing for the first time since he'd commed her to come to the Neutral base. "I'll be more than happy to leave Megatron to you and Optimus whenever possible. Don't think I'd mind taking on Starscream though." She grinned up at him. "Think we can squeeze some more kick out of my guns?"

[Deleted]

The question - posed in jest or not - relaxed Ironhide, reminiscent of lessons and the easy back and forth of shared enthusiasm. He held her, engine purring a steady note of ease against her, even as part of his processor turned the idea over with some actual consideration. "Maybe," he allowed, pushing pride with a hint of caution to her. "Maybe could. Too much more, have t' reinforce yer load bearing struts or yeh'd hurt yerself with th' recoil. Ramp up yer stabilizers too. Could be done, though."

Chuckling quietly, he tapped his chin lightly against her helm. "If yer keen on tryin', can make a project of it. Nothin' like learnin' on yer own systems."

[Deleted]

Shadow had posed the idea as a distraction, and fully expected an immediate dismissal, too much time and effort already expended on bringing her weapons up to an acceptable level. The distraction, at least, worked, Ironhide's systems cycling down and the edge leaving his field as he considered it...really considered it, long enough for Shadow to allow herself a little careful enthusiasm.

He'd mentioned learning on her own systems before, but never in any concrete way. Now, he mentioned doing it as a project like he didn't even realize he was handing out a reward.

"Sounds like fun. Or a disaster in the making." She chuckled a little herself. "Fun either way, actually."

[Deleted]

Ironhide grinned, the warmth of the expression seeping through his field to lap against hers in a mix of cohort-love and teacher-pride-amusement.

"Could take awhile," he warned. "Gotta get th' basics down first, then we'll move on t' th' advanced stuff. Ain't gonna teach yeh all half measures. But when all's said an' done - yeah, I think yeh can do that." He nudged her helm slightly. "Whole rework of yer weapon systems, see how much power yeh can tweak outta 'em. Yeh do th' design, Ah'll help yeh put 'em in - can't do strut work on yerself, th' neural blocks are a glitch t' work around."