Long Slow Road
4 March 2012 15:57![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wyntir_knightTitle: Long Slow Road (Chapter 4 of 4)
Rating: M
Series: G1
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Trailbreaker, Slingshot
Summary: Trailbreaker and Silverbolt have been together for a while, settling into a happy, healthy relationship. But not everyone is happy about the new couple.
Warnings: Mentions of slash
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 story follows More Than Friendship, Rumour Mill,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eloquencelost's fic Picking Your Battles and references To Have and Not To Hold (which comes later).
As always, thanks toeloquencelost for betaing and offering ideas and support.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Weapons fire filled the air as the Autobots fought to defend a power plant from the latest Decepticon attack in what was promising to be a losing battle. The Decepticons had trapped the human employees in the plant and the Seekers and Coneheads were working in tandem to keep the Aerialbots from combining to form Superion.
“Slings! Dirge is on your tail!” Air Raid call out across the gestalt link. “Hold on! I've got him!”
Slingshot spun away from his course in an attempt to lose his pursuit. “I can take care of it!” he snapped in tight irritation.
Dirge wasn't about to give up his prey and it was all the Aerialbot could do to keep one step ahead of him. Air Raid tore in, aiming to blast the Decepticon out of the sky, only to be knocked off course as Ramjet came to his trine-mate's aid, slamming into the Autobot at full speed.
“Raid!” Slingshot screamed out as he saw his brother nosedive toward the earth. The momentary distraction was all that Dirge needed.
Adjusting his speed, the Decepticon flew over Slingshot and began to hum his engines in a circuit tingling vibration. Suddenly the skies turned upside down for the young Harrier and before he could stabilize himself, the ground was already under him and he was moving too fast to land safely.
“Slings!” The voice wasn't that of one of his brothers, but his processor was too addled to place it. “Get away from him!”
All Slingshot saw were tires and a black flank before that terrible rumble from Dirge's engines started again.
“I said GET AWAY!”
Suddenly Dirge went flying back as he was hit with Trailbreaker’s forcefield.
“Slings! Tell me you’re okay!” There was a desperate edge to the SUV’s words as he struggled to find the right setting to block out the vibration of Dirge’s weapons.
“…’m fine,” Slingshot replied, his voice slurred as he tried to get his bearings back. To his credit, he was back together quickly, taking in the scene with narrowed optics. “I’m fine Trailbreaker. I don’t need your help.” His tone held a finality, dismissing the big mech.
“Your wings and your stabilizers say otherwise, Slingshot,” Trailbreaker replied tightly. “And your brother would murder me in my recharge cycle if I left you like that,” he added in a near whisper.
“Yeah, like that’d be a loss,” Slingshot muttered as he stood pulling his rifle from subspace.
“You’re in the way and so are your forcefields! Move it!” he snapped.
Trailbreaker’s lips thinned into a tight line as he fought to not snap at the Aerialbot.
“You’re in no state to take them on alone and I can’t do anything but hold them off,” he said tightly. “We need to work together if we’re going to fight off these damned Decepticons!”
As they argued neither noticed Dirge take back to the skies. The Decepticon settled himself above the side of the mountain tied to the hydro-electric dam. The sharp whine of his engines sent the small rocks skipping across the surface. The pebbles were harbingers of disaster.
Trailbreaker barely had time to look up as the mountain came tumbling down. Without thinking he threw himself at Slingshot, sheltering the Aerialbot with his body and bringing his forcefield over them both.
“What the frag are you-” Slingshot’s question as cut off as the entire hillside came crashing down on them.
***
Slingshot came online with a groan.
“Thank Primus!” Trailbreaker whispered, the relief in his tone almost masking the strain he was under.
Slightshot’s optics flickered slightly as they tried to focus. After a moment he was able to clearly see his surroundings. Trailbreaker kneeled next to the Harrier’s prone form, his optics bright as he kept his forcefield up and around them both. Beyond the shimmering electrical wall, the entire side of the mountain had settled.
“What happened?” Slingshot asked, his processor still a little slow from the impact of being thrown down.
“Mountain fell on us,” Trailbreaker grunted. “Either my comm. system’s been knocked offline or there’s something in the rock that’s blocking me. But I’m sure they’re looking for us.”
To Slingshot it didn’t sound as if the SUV was overly sure of himself. Without hesitating, he reached out and felt for his brother’s minds, instantly touching on the panicked thoughts of Silverbolt.
“Slings! Slingshot, answer me! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Stop yelling already,” Slingshot groused, trying to hide his relief.
He felt that same relief reflected back at him from all of his brothers, but underlying it was additional concern coming from Silverbolt and Firelight, concern that wasn’t aimed at him.
“Is Trailbreaker okay?” the Concorde asked. “He’s not responding to any of my calls.”
Slingshot’s jaw bunched at the question and he cleared his vents in irritation. For a moment he considered not responding. It would be so easy to ignore his brother, but he knew that Silverbolt wouldn’t stop asking.
“He’s fine,” he replied tightly.
“What’s wrong?” Trailbreaker asked.
“Nothing.”
Trailbreaker sighed softly. “It’s clear that something’s wrong. It’s also clear that you’re not going to tell me a thing and I can’t understand why.”
“Yeah, well that’s not surprising,” Slingshot muttered under his vocalizer.
“Slings, we’re on our way. Hoist and Grapple are figuring out the best way for us to get the rocks off of you,” Silverbolt said, interrupting Slingshot’s dark thoughts. “Just hold tight. We’ll be there soon. We’re all here with you. Tell ‘Breaker to hold tight. … and that I love you both.”
Slingshot scowled angrily. “Frag off,” he spat out and tightened his end of the link to close off his brother.
Trailbreaker couldn’t help but notice the look on the Aerialbot’s face.
“All right, what the frag is wrong? Are they all okay out there? What are you hiding from me?”
“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you?” Slingshot demanded. Had the space been larger, he would have stood up and stormed away from the SUV. “You’d like to go back there and tell them that I was being difficult, put an even bigger wedge between me and ‘Bolt!”
Trailbreaker reeled back on his heels in the face of the Harrier’s vicious anger.
“What? Slings, I’m not-”
“Don’t call me that!” Slingsholt spat. “You don’t get to call me that!”
Tailbreaker’s optics widened in shock. “What have I ever done to you Slingshot? I keep on trying, I’ve done everything I can to make things right between us, but I have no idea what I did to make you so mad at me.”
“What have you done?” Slingshot’s voice was a sneer and he pulled as far away from Trailbreaker as the space would allow until he felt his back against the forcefield. “You’re taking my brother away from us and you’re going to drop him and leave him in a mess. It’s what your kind does! It’s what you always do!”
Trailbreaker was silent for a long time, just looking at the younger mech and rolling the angry words over in his processor. When he finally spoke his voice was low and full of concern. “Who hurt you? What could possibly have happened that left you so angry at cars and trucks?”
Slingshot scowled at the question. “That’s none of your fragging business.”
“It is my business if this irrational hate of yours is ruining my chances with Silverbolt. You keep on pushing me away and making Sil feel like a bad mech for involving himself with me. All you’re doing is getting in the way of Silverbolt’s chances at happiness.”
“Well aren’t you arrogant?” Slingshot demanded scornfully. “I cannot believe that you think you’re the only one who can make ‘Bolt happy!”
Trailbreaker’s lips thinned to a tight line. “I never said only chance. I’m old enough to know that there’s no such thing as one true love, and even if I did I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to believe that I’m the only one for Silverbolt. But I do know that I’m here now, and what we have is something special.”
“And what happens when you decide to move on? Hunh?” the Harrier asked. “What happens when you decide that you you’re done playing with a sparkling and move on to someone your own age?”
Trailbreaker looked at Slingshot sadly. “It won’t be me who moves on. It’ll be Sil. I’m sure of that. One day he’s going to find someone else, someone better suited to him …”
Slingshot rolled his optics at the response. “And then you’ll be the poor sparkbroken truck, won’t you? Ignored by Hound, dropped by Silverbolt. You’ll make it all about you and make our lives miserable.”
For an instant Trailbreaker was tempted to hit the younger mech. His optics brightened in anger and his forcefield flickered slightly before he was able to regain control. Logically he knew that the Aerialbot was trying to goad him, trying to make him make a mistake. He knew enough not to take the bait, so instead he released a cleansing breath from his vents before he replied.
“Slingshot, I’d like to think that I’ll take his moving on gracefully. I’d like to think that I’ll accept and let it happen. That’s what I’ve done in the past, but this is different. I love him, Slingshot,” Trailbreaker confessed, laying himself bare in front of the other mech. “I love him and I am in love with him. He’s made me happier and healthier than I’ve been in a long time and I can’t be sure I’ll be willing to give that up.”
It was Slingshot’s turn to be silent. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? How do I know that you aren’t just using my brother as some perverse game? That’s what everyone else is saying. … And it wouldn’t be the first time an older car decided to play with a young flyer.” The last words were said so quietly that Trailbreaker had to raise his audio sensitivity just to catch them.
“I suppose you don’t,” he replied pensively. “I can only give you my word that I will never actively try to hurt him. If I could give you a more binding promise I would.”
Slingshot’s optics darkened and he looked away. “The word of a ground-pounder isn’t worth a whole lot.”
Trailbreaker sighed softly, almost sounding defeated. “I’m sorry someone hurt you, Slingshot. If I knew who he was I’d hand him his aft because no one deserves to be left as mistrustful and hurt as you are now.”
“I don’t need your pity.” The young Aerialbot crossed his arms, huddling further back from the SUV, never looking at him.
Not for the first time since the mountain had collapse, Trailbreaker wished he could dare reach out and tough the Harrier. But he didn’t dare move any more of his focus away from the shields, especially not now that he felt the rocks shifting above him.
“It’s not pity, Slingshot. It’s sympathy,” he said softly. “I’ve been in your place, I know exactly what it’s like to have someone take your spark and rip it to pieces. And I know just how hard it is to trust after something like that happens.”
Slingshot finally turned and looked at Trailbreaker directly in the optics, searching for the lie that he knew had to be there. He found nothing but compassion and mirrored hurt.
“You’re not lying are you?”
“No, I’m not. I wish I was fabricating it all.”
Slingshot was silent for a long time, looking at Trailbreaker intently as he rolled the thoughts over in his processor. Finally a crack formed in his protective armour and before he could stop himself he spoke in a small, soft voice.
“It was Sunstreaker,” he said. “He … It was just supposed to be a stupid little one night stand. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything and it didn’t.” Then Slingshot’s voice became hard. “But then the next day I heard them talking, him and his brother. They were laughing at me. Laughing at what a … how inexperienced I was. How stupid I’d been. He decided that he wanted to try a flyer and figured I’d be an easy target.”
Trailbreaker’s hands clenched angrily and for a moment his forcefields flickered dangerously as he lost his focus.
“How dare he? How dare he do that to you? To anyone?”
“It’s what you groundpounders do,” Slingshot replied bitterly.
“No. It isn’t. It’s what that car did. If I knew at the time it had happened I would have gone and handed Sunstreaker his aft.”
“Yeah, right,” Slingshot replied making no attempt to hide his disdain. “You weren’t dating Silverbolt at the time so why would you care?”
“My involvement with Sil has nothing to do with this, Slingshot!” Trailbreaker said, his tone both angry and frustrated. “What Sunstreaker did wasn’t right. You don’t treat another mech like that! Ever!”
“… Yeah, well I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.”
“I know that. You’re more than capable,” Trailbreaker said soberly. There wasn’t any hint of condescension or mockery in his tone. “That’s why I’m going to endeavour to control myself and not give him a piece of my mind when I next see him. It isn’t my place.”
Slingshot lapsed back into silence.
After several more minutes passed in silence, Trailbreaker felt the pressure on his sensors lessening.
“Slingshot, I think I feel the weight lifting. The Autobots will be here soon,” he said softly. “And then we’ll get you back to your brother and Silverbolt and I can talk this out. … I won’t even abandon him, regardless of what you believe, but I think I can finally understand why you hate me so much and he needs to know that.”
Slingshot remained silent looking up at the rocks above their head as if contemplating them. Finally after a long period of silence, a small trickle of light broke through the darkness. Trailbreaker adjusted the forcefield as a hand came threw a newly created hole.
“You go first, Slingshot,” the SUV said. “I’m sure that Sil’s holding back panic up there.”
Slingshot stood as best as he could and looked at Trailbreaker intently for a long moment.
“Maybe I don’t hate you that much,” he said slowly. “I don’t like it, but I guess that if Silverbolt insists on choosing a groundpounder, he could have chosen worse.”
With that he took the proffered hand from above and made his way to the surface.
Rating: M
Series: G1
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Trailbreaker, Slingshot
Summary: Trailbreaker and Silverbolt have been together for a while, settling into a happy, healthy relationship. But not everyone is happy about the new couple.
Warnings: Mentions of slash
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 story follows More Than Friendship, Rumour Mill,
eloquencelost's fic Picking Your Battles and references To Have and Not To Hold (which comes later).As always, thanks to
eloquencelost for betaing and offering ideas and support.Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Weapons fire filled the air as the Autobots fought to defend a power plant from the latest Decepticon attack in what was promising to be a losing battle. The Decepticons had trapped the human employees in the plant and the Seekers and Coneheads were working in tandem to keep the Aerialbots from combining to form Superion.
“Slings! Dirge is on your tail!” Air Raid call out across the gestalt link. “Hold on! I've got him!”
Slingshot spun away from his course in an attempt to lose his pursuit. “I can take care of it!” he snapped in tight irritation.
Dirge wasn't about to give up his prey and it was all the Aerialbot could do to keep one step ahead of him. Air Raid tore in, aiming to blast the Decepticon out of the sky, only to be knocked off course as Ramjet came to his trine-mate's aid, slamming into the Autobot at full speed.
“Raid!” Slingshot screamed out as he saw his brother nosedive toward the earth. The momentary distraction was all that Dirge needed.
Adjusting his speed, the Decepticon flew over Slingshot and began to hum his engines in a circuit tingling vibration. Suddenly the skies turned upside down for the young Harrier and before he could stabilize himself, the ground was already under him and he was moving too fast to land safely.
“Slings!” The voice wasn't that of one of his brothers, but his processor was too addled to place it. “Get away from him!”
All Slingshot saw were tires and a black flank before that terrible rumble from Dirge's engines started again.
“I said GET AWAY!”
Suddenly Dirge went flying back as he was hit with Trailbreaker’s forcefield.
“Slings! Tell me you’re okay!” There was a desperate edge to the SUV’s words as he struggled to find the right setting to block out the vibration of Dirge’s weapons.
“…’m fine,” Slingshot replied, his voice slurred as he tried to get his bearings back. To his credit, he was back together quickly, taking in the scene with narrowed optics. “I’m fine Trailbreaker. I don’t need your help.” His tone held a finality, dismissing the big mech.
“Your wings and your stabilizers say otherwise, Slingshot,” Trailbreaker replied tightly. “And your brother would murder me in my recharge cycle if I left you like that,” he added in a near whisper.
“Yeah, like that’d be a loss,” Slingshot muttered as he stood pulling his rifle from subspace.
“You’re in the way and so are your forcefields! Move it!” he snapped.
Trailbreaker’s lips thinned into a tight line as he fought to not snap at the Aerialbot.
“You’re in no state to take them on alone and I can’t do anything but hold them off,” he said tightly. “We need to work together if we’re going to fight off these damned Decepticons!”
As they argued neither noticed Dirge take back to the skies. The Decepticon settled himself above the side of the mountain tied to the hydro-electric dam. The sharp whine of his engines sent the small rocks skipping across the surface. The pebbles were harbingers of disaster.
Trailbreaker barely had time to look up as the mountain came tumbling down. Without thinking he threw himself at Slingshot, sheltering the Aerialbot with his body and bringing his forcefield over them both.
“What the frag are you-” Slingshot’s question as cut off as the entire hillside came crashing down on them.
***
Slingshot came online with a groan.
“Thank Primus!” Trailbreaker whispered, the relief in his tone almost masking the strain he was under.
Slightshot’s optics flickered slightly as they tried to focus. After a moment he was able to clearly see his surroundings. Trailbreaker kneeled next to the Harrier’s prone form, his optics bright as he kept his forcefield up and around them both. Beyond the shimmering electrical wall, the entire side of the mountain had settled.
“What happened?” Slingshot asked, his processor still a little slow from the impact of being thrown down.
“Mountain fell on us,” Trailbreaker grunted. “Either my comm. system’s been knocked offline or there’s something in the rock that’s blocking me. But I’m sure they’re looking for us.”
To Slingshot it didn’t sound as if the SUV was overly sure of himself. Without hesitating, he reached out and felt for his brother’s minds, instantly touching on the panicked thoughts of Silverbolt.
“Slings! Slingshot, answer me! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Stop yelling already,” Slingshot groused, trying to hide his relief.
He felt that same relief reflected back at him from all of his brothers, but underlying it was additional concern coming from Silverbolt and Firelight, concern that wasn’t aimed at him.
“Is Trailbreaker okay?” the Concorde asked. “He’s not responding to any of my calls.”
Slingshot’s jaw bunched at the question and he cleared his vents in irritation. For a moment he considered not responding. It would be so easy to ignore his brother, but he knew that Silverbolt wouldn’t stop asking.
“He’s fine,” he replied tightly.
“What’s wrong?” Trailbreaker asked.
“Nothing.”
Trailbreaker sighed softly. “It’s clear that something’s wrong. It’s also clear that you’re not going to tell me a thing and I can’t understand why.”
“Yeah, well that’s not surprising,” Slingshot muttered under his vocalizer.
“Slings, we’re on our way. Hoist and Grapple are figuring out the best way for us to get the rocks off of you,” Silverbolt said, interrupting Slingshot’s dark thoughts. “Just hold tight. We’ll be there soon. We’re all here with you. Tell ‘Breaker to hold tight. … and that I love you both.”
Slingshot scowled angrily. “Frag off,” he spat out and tightened his end of the link to close off his brother.
Trailbreaker couldn’t help but notice the look on the Aerialbot’s face.
“All right, what the frag is wrong? Are they all okay out there? What are you hiding from me?”
“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you?” Slingshot demanded. Had the space been larger, he would have stood up and stormed away from the SUV. “You’d like to go back there and tell them that I was being difficult, put an even bigger wedge between me and ‘Bolt!”
Trailbreaker reeled back on his heels in the face of the Harrier’s vicious anger.
“What? Slings, I’m not-”
“Don’t call me that!” Slingsholt spat. “You don’t get to call me that!”
Tailbreaker’s optics widened in shock. “What have I ever done to you Slingshot? I keep on trying, I’ve done everything I can to make things right between us, but I have no idea what I did to make you so mad at me.”
“What have you done?” Slingshot’s voice was a sneer and he pulled as far away from Trailbreaker as the space would allow until he felt his back against the forcefield. “You’re taking my brother away from us and you’re going to drop him and leave him in a mess. It’s what your kind does! It’s what you always do!”
Trailbreaker was silent for a long time, just looking at the younger mech and rolling the angry words over in his processor. When he finally spoke his voice was low and full of concern. “Who hurt you? What could possibly have happened that left you so angry at cars and trucks?”
Slingshot scowled at the question. “That’s none of your fragging business.”
“It is my business if this irrational hate of yours is ruining my chances with Silverbolt. You keep on pushing me away and making Sil feel like a bad mech for involving himself with me. All you’re doing is getting in the way of Silverbolt’s chances at happiness.”
“Well aren’t you arrogant?” Slingshot demanded scornfully. “I cannot believe that you think you’re the only one who can make ‘Bolt happy!”
Trailbreaker’s lips thinned to a tight line. “I never said only chance. I’m old enough to know that there’s no such thing as one true love, and even if I did I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to believe that I’m the only one for Silverbolt. But I do know that I’m here now, and what we have is something special.”
“And what happens when you decide to move on? Hunh?” the Harrier asked. “What happens when you decide that you you’re done playing with a sparkling and move on to someone your own age?”
Trailbreaker looked at Slingshot sadly. “It won’t be me who moves on. It’ll be Sil. I’m sure of that. One day he’s going to find someone else, someone better suited to him …”
Slingshot rolled his optics at the response. “And then you’ll be the poor sparkbroken truck, won’t you? Ignored by Hound, dropped by Silverbolt. You’ll make it all about you and make our lives miserable.”
For an instant Trailbreaker was tempted to hit the younger mech. His optics brightened in anger and his forcefield flickered slightly before he was able to regain control. Logically he knew that the Aerialbot was trying to goad him, trying to make him make a mistake. He knew enough not to take the bait, so instead he released a cleansing breath from his vents before he replied.
“Slingshot, I’d like to think that I’ll take his moving on gracefully. I’d like to think that I’ll accept and let it happen. That’s what I’ve done in the past, but this is different. I love him, Slingshot,” Trailbreaker confessed, laying himself bare in front of the other mech. “I love him and I am in love with him. He’s made me happier and healthier than I’ve been in a long time and I can’t be sure I’ll be willing to give that up.”
It was Slingshot’s turn to be silent. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? How do I know that you aren’t just using my brother as some perverse game? That’s what everyone else is saying. … And it wouldn’t be the first time an older car decided to play with a young flyer.” The last words were said so quietly that Trailbreaker had to raise his audio sensitivity just to catch them.
“I suppose you don’t,” he replied pensively. “I can only give you my word that I will never actively try to hurt him. If I could give you a more binding promise I would.”
Slingshot’s optics darkened and he looked away. “The word of a ground-pounder isn’t worth a whole lot.”
Trailbreaker sighed softly, almost sounding defeated. “I’m sorry someone hurt you, Slingshot. If I knew who he was I’d hand him his aft because no one deserves to be left as mistrustful and hurt as you are now.”
“I don’t need your pity.” The young Aerialbot crossed his arms, huddling further back from the SUV, never looking at him.
Not for the first time since the mountain had collapse, Trailbreaker wished he could dare reach out and tough the Harrier. But he didn’t dare move any more of his focus away from the shields, especially not now that he felt the rocks shifting above him.
“It’s not pity, Slingshot. It’s sympathy,” he said softly. “I’ve been in your place, I know exactly what it’s like to have someone take your spark and rip it to pieces. And I know just how hard it is to trust after something like that happens.”
Slingshot finally turned and looked at Trailbreaker directly in the optics, searching for the lie that he knew had to be there. He found nothing but compassion and mirrored hurt.
“You’re not lying are you?”
“No, I’m not. I wish I was fabricating it all.”
Slingshot was silent for a long time, looking at Trailbreaker intently as he rolled the thoughts over in his processor. Finally a crack formed in his protective armour and before he could stop himself he spoke in a small, soft voice.
“It was Sunstreaker,” he said. “He … It was just supposed to be a stupid little one night stand. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything and it didn’t.” Then Slingshot’s voice became hard. “But then the next day I heard them talking, him and his brother. They were laughing at me. Laughing at what a … how inexperienced I was. How stupid I’d been. He decided that he wanted to try a flyer and figured I’d be an easy target.”
Trailbreaker’s hands clenched angrily and for a moment his forcefields flickered dangerously as he lost his focus.
“How dare he? How dare he do that to you? To anyone?”
“It’s what you groundpounders do,” Slingshot replied bitterly.
“No. It isn’t. It’s what that car did. If I knew at the time it had happened I would have gone and handed Sunstreaker his aft.”
“Yeah, right,” Slingshot replied making no attempt to hide his disdain. “You weren’t dating Silverbolt at the time so why would you care?”
“My involvement with Sil has nothing to do with this, Slingshot!” Trailbreaker said, his tone both angry and frustrated. “What Sunstreaker did wasn’t right. You don’t treat another mech like that! Ever!”
“… Yeah, well I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.”
“I know that. You’re more than capable,” Trailbreaker said soberly. There wasn’t any hint of condescension or mockery in his tone. “That’s why I’m going to endeavour to control myself and not give him a piece of my mind when I next see him. It isn’t my place.”
Slingshot lapsed back into silence.
After several more minutes passed in silence, Trailbreaker felt the pressure on his sensors lessening.
“Slingshot, I think I feel the weight lifting. The Autobots will be here soon,” he said softly. “And then we’ll get you back to your brother and Silverbolt and I can talk this out. … I won’t even abandon him, regardless of what you believe, but I think I can finally understand why you hate me so much and he needs to know that.”
Slingshot remained silent looking up at the rocks above their head as if contemplating them. Finally after a long period of silence, a small trickle of light broke through the darkness. Trailbreaker adjusted the forcefield as a hand came threw a newly created hole.
“You go first, Slingshot,” the SUV said. “I’m sure that Sil’s holding back panic up there.”
Slingshot stood as best as he could and looked at Trailbreaker intently for a long moment.
“Maybe I don’t hate you that much,” he said slowly. “I don’t like it, but I guess that if Silverbolt insists on choosing a groundpounder, he could have chosen worse.”
With that he took the proffered hand from above and made his way to the surface.