Naïve Smokescreen - Part the Third

[wyntir_knight]

Naïve Smokescreen
Part Three

Disclaimer: Transformers belong to Hasbro and Takara, and are licensed to IDW and Dreamworks. My original characters are my own and any similarity between them and any existing characters from canon or fandom is purely coincidental. I claim no ownership by writing this work.

Author's Note: This is written in response to the 28 Character Meme floating about LJ. tiamat1972 requested this and I hope she approves. The next part(s) should be showing up in the next few days. This story does make mention of events in Regrets and Bad Day, but there are no spoilers and you don't have to have read either to get this. And, as always, this takes place in my own little twisted AU. And for those who want to look back or need a refresher, Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 is here.


Under the Moons’ Shadow Oil Bar, Theatre District, Iacon. One week after the sector fell

As I slowly crawled back to consciousness, the first thing I became aware of was voices. At first they were dull and muffled, like they were coming to me from far away, or through lead plating. Slowly my audios came back on line properly and the muffled thrumming coalesced out of the fog to become real voices.

“We couldn’t just leave him out there. He’d have been killed before the night was out,” I heard Apogee said.

“I tried t’ talk’er out of it, but she never listens!” Dynamo said, a definite sulk edging into his voice.

“I’ll take full responsibility for him. I’ll train him and you won’t even know he’s here until you need him,” Apogee said. There was a hint of fear there, and I didn’t know if it was for her or for me.

“Oh really? And will I not notice the energon he consumes? Or the space he takes up?” This was a new voice. It was smooth and silky, like a velvet shadow, but there was a cold edge to it, like the depths of the void.

“He’s just a sparklet, he won’t consume much. I’ll even split my rations with him. I promise that it won’t strain the system at all,” Apogee said.

“And will you take responsibility for his actions? Will you take the blame for his errors? Will you accept his punishments as if they were your own?” the velvet voice said. “You’re suggesting a huge responsibility, and I’m not entirely sure you’re ready to carry it yet, my dear.”

“I … I am ready, and I will accept all responsibility for him and his actions,” Apogee said after a moment.

“If that’s your choice then so be it,” the voice said, sounding like it was moving away. “Oh, and Apogee?”

“Yes, commander?” she replied.

“I want to meet him when he comes out of recharge. I will be very interested to see why you are willing to throw your life away for this particular sparklet,” the voice said.

“I told ya he wouldn’t be happy,” Dynamo said.

“Yes, you told me. Congratulations of becoming prescient,” Apogee said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Just go away and leave me alone, alright? I want to check on him.”

I heard Dynamo grumble something unintelligible then walk away. I listened to his heavy footsteps until they disappeared and all that was left was the soft hum of nearby equipment.

After I was sure that I was alone, I opened my optics a crack and looked around as best I could without moving. I was in what looked like living quarters. The room was small and sparsely furnished, but it looked comfortable. I was lying on a recharge berth that was obviously intended for a much larger mech than me, and while it was hard and rough, it was heaven compared to the deck plating I had been sleeping on for the past week. I tried to take in the rest of the room but found that my field of vision was severely limited by the position I was laying in.

“I know you’re awake, sparklet,” Apogee said from the foot of the berth. “No one else is here so you can quit pretending.”

I waited a moment then sighed and sat up. Or, I should say that I tried to sit up. As soon as my head left the berth my tanks lurched violently and the next thing I knew, I was purging into a bucket. Eventually my tanks were empty and I was left coughing and sobbing into the bunk. I had never been in so much pain in my life. My head felt like a jackhammer quartet had taken up residence, my tanks ground and lurched angrily, and my body felt like it was made of dense lead.

“Shhh … Just relax,” Apogee whispered, stroking the top of my helm with those gentle hands of hers. “It’ll be okay. You’re safe and you’ll be fine. Shhhhh ….”

After a long time I finally felt well enough to sit up. My movements were slow and measured, fearful that any sudden jar would cause me to loose it again. All the while Apogee’s gentle hands were guiding me, helping me, soothing me. I felt like I was with my creator again, and, in that moment, I knew that everything would be okay.

Now that I was calmer I was finally able to look at Apogee properly. She looked like she was a grounder of some sort, and was rather heavily built for a femme. All in all she was rather plain, painted as she was in browns and tans, but she had a beautiful golden crest atop her helm and surprisingly green eyes.

She passed me a small cube of energon which I began to drank greedily until she stopped my hand with hers.

“Whoah, slow down there. You’ll make yourself sick if you drink that fast,” she said.

I did as I was told, then held out the cube for more.

“Nope,” she said. “If you can keep that down, you can get more, but take it slowly for right now. … How long has it been since you had a proper refuelling? Or time in the washracks?”

I drew my knees up against my chest protectively and shrugged in response. It had been over a week since I’d had a proper meal, and longer than that since I’d felt even vaguely cybertronian.

“Alright, well let’s get you to Slice so he can check you over, then we’ll get- What? What’s wrong?”

At the mention of the name Slice I began shaking my head furiously. I had no idea who this mech was, but I did know that both Apogee and Dynamo were afraid of him. That was enough to let me know I didn’t want to get within 50 feet of him.

“He won’t hurt you. He’s a medic … well, he was a medic. But he can fix you up. You’ve got holes and scrapes that need to be dealt with, and I don’t have any training in that,” Apogee said.

When I shook my head again, she stood and held out her hand to me.

“I promise that I won’t let him hurt you,” she said.

After a long moment, I hesitatingly reached out and took the proffered hand, and allowed her to lead me out of the room. She led me down a short passage to what looked like an old storage bay. The space was Spartan and antiseptic, but there was something indefinably creepy about it. A slender pink and yellow mech stood over a work table, poking at a maintenance drone with a laser scalpel.

“What do you want, Apogee? I’m busy!” the mech said, not looking up.

“I need you to look over this new recruit, Slice,” Apogee said. “He’s hurt and I need you to patch him up before I bring him to Argent.”

I’m not sure if she was conscious of it, but Apogee had placed herself between me and the medic.

Slice looked up then tossed the maintenance droid across the room, where it landed in a heap before scuttling off as quickly as it’s legs would carry it.

“Well, bring him over, let’s see him!” Slice ordered. His voice was smooth, but nothing like the velvet voice I had heard before; it had a manic edge to it, an insanity that hid just below the surface. The sound of it made me shiver.

Apogee pulled me out from behind her and gave me a gentle shove in Slices direction. The medic looked at me and snorted rudely.

“Cuts, scrapes, dings, and dents. Nothing worthy of my talents or my time,” he said derisively.

“Yes, but he needs to be in working order for Argent,” Apogee reminded Slice.

“I never said I wouldn’t fix him. I simply said that this is hardly worth the effort,” Slice said, looking at me carefully. “He’ll be decorating the smelting pool in a week. Tops.”

He pulled over a gurney and patted it with one hand.

“Alright, up you get. I can’t fix you while you’re standing.”

After a reassuring nod from Apogee I did as I was told and allowed Slice to tend my wounds. He was surprisingly efficient, if not gentle, in his ministration, and I was soon repaired and off to see Argent.

Comments

[darkfire-blade.livejournal.com]

Um, this might be a bit immature, but I shall do it only now....Slice is pink and yellow! *okay is done*

I love how long each story for the prompt is. They're so thought out and you let the story take its time if need be. I can't wait to see how this turns out for Smokescreen. Hm so that's how he ended up in Argent's cell. I hope Apogee doesn't get scrapped in the near future...poor Smokey if she does. I like her ^^

[wyntir-rose.livejournal.com]

It's a subtle differece, but I see your point. I'll make that change post haste! :)

[darkfire-blade.livejournal.com]

Erm...huh? ^^

[wyntir-rose.livejournal.com]

Oh ... I thought you were commenting on the fact that I had originally described him as Pink and Yellow in Bad Day and as Yellow and Pink here. ... Never mind, I think I'm just confused.