To Boldly Go...
Was dead. Got better. Will probably relapse.
Title: To Boldly Go - 28 prompts
'Verse: G1 Transformers. 2009 Trek.
Characters: Ensemble.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Cussing.
1. Naughty
Jazz watched the brightly dressed human male glare at the datapad (at least, it looked a little like a datapad, only human sized), eyes moving rapidly over the information being displayed before he turned that glare onto the Autobot watching him with no small amount of interest.
“I don’t believe it. Making contact with a pre-warp civilisation, living amongst them without concealing your technology, even if you’ve restricted what knowledge you’ve shared… Have your people never heard of the Prime Directive?!”
The Ops mech knew the man was talking about some kind of edict from some sort of authority (the humans had called it Starfleet, but the Cybertronians had never heard of such a body, though considering Starfleet was supposed to be based on Earth and clearly wasn’t right now…) from his own original dimension, but he really, really couldn’t resist.
“Well, we have a Prime, and we follow his directives. Does that count?”
2. Happy
Up until the robot showed up, they’d been happy to see a familiar planet, doubly so because that planet was Earth, and Earth meant Starfleet and safety. And for the wounded Enterprise, a safe harbour to curl up and lick her wounds was made all the better because for most of them, it was home.
3. Silly
If anyone found out, they’d probably laugh at him for entertaining such a silly thought. But to Pavel Chekov, this was an even bigger adventure than he’d ever dreamt of (Giant robots! Alternate dimensions! Time travel! Giant robots and alternate dimensions and time travel at the same time! The calculations were enthralling), and he was loving every moment of it.
4. Angsty
Optimus watched as the smaller form of the Enterprise’s First Officer approached him. Fascinating, to meet a crew comprised of such a mixture of different sapient species, even if the majority were human. It gave him hope that one day, such a thing would also be possible in his dimension. But Spock’s expression was solemn, and not as hopeful as his own thoughts were.
“You have a question.”
“I do, Optimus Prime.”
“What is it?”
The Vulcan hesitated, a minute pause that most would not have noted. “… Have your people heard of mine?”
“… None of our archives lists a record of contact with a people known as the Vulcans, and a search of Teletraan’s databanks has not found a corresponding planet in the coordinates you provided us.” Optimus replied, his tone quietly sympathetic.
“I see.”
“I’m sorry, Spock.”
“It was an unlikely possibility in the first place. I let sentiment cloud my judgement.”
“There is no shame in having emotions, nor in wanting to seek out what one has lost.”
“As I have often heard, particularly from Captain Kirk. Nevertheless, thank you for your consideration. I will not trouble you further.”
“It was no trouble at all; I regret that we were unable to help you."
Spock nodded, then turned and walked away, shoulders stiff and tense. Optimus let him go, knowing that nothing he said would help the situation.
5. On-Vacation
They were stuck in an alternate dimension, an alternate past dimension at that, meaning that the only advanced technology they had access to was what they had on the Enterprise and what these… Cybertronians could supply (actually of a similar level to their own, if one accounted for the necessary differences).
Still, their Science and Engineering departments were hell bent on figuring out a way home, and the (and he couldn’t believe he was actually saying this)… the giant sapient robot Science and Engineering equivalents were equally intrigued with the project, if the tech-babble coming out of the room they’d holed up in was any indication.
And so, with nothing much else he could do (and nothing much else the rest of the crew who weren’t in Science and Engineering could do either), there really was only one option left.
Captain James Tiberius Kirk smirked, leant back in his captain’s chair, and declared the Enterprise and her crew officially on vacation.
6. Horny
“Damn, I’d forgotten how good your old alt mode looked on you. I should send Jim a thank you note. Can’t remember how I managed to keep from jumping you back on Cybertron.”
The softly breathed words in his audio had Prowl smiling faintly at the mech pressing lip plates to his helm. Hands brushed over his plating, mapping the details of his frame, recently set in a configuration both familiar and new at the same time, and he returned the favour, both of them just touching and exploring until the sound of their engines filled his quarters.
Then, as Jazz drew closer to kiss him, Prowl moved, leaning back onto his berth and pulling the Ops head along. Breaking free of the kiss, he murmured.
“In that case, I certainly hope your memory doesn't improve any time soon.”
7. Transforming
As the black and white SIC of the Autobots shifted, transforming from bipedal to vehicle form in a whirl of moving parts and graceful reassembling, he glanced at the engineer standing absolutely stock still beside him, eyes aglow and jaw hanging open in wonder.
Grinning, because he knew his expression had been exactly the same (but he recovered quicker, since he was, after all, the Captain and awesome like that), Kirk slowly reached over to tip Scotty’s mouth shut.
8. Excited
After some deliberation, it was decided that Wheeljack should be introduced to Ensign Chekov and Lieutenant Scotty, so that more could be done to help the Enterprise get shipshape sooner. Under careful supervision, of course, which meant that either Commander Spock, Dr. McCoy or Prowl had to be in the same room (no one really trusted the Captain to not get caught up in their enthusiasm).
The good news was, all three got along like a house on fire.
The bad news was, all three got along like a house on fire.
To the background noise of excited chatter in two very distinct accents and a strobe light, most of the Autobots were placing bets on when (not if) something would blow up. A few were wondering if this explosion would be the one that shook their mountain home to pieces. All were hunkering down, far, far away from the room the three were in.
9. Book-Reading
“May I join you?”
He lowered the report Lieutenant Scott had handed him on the probable calculations involved with getting them home, and nodded to Nyota as she took a seat near him. He tilted his head in query, and she replied, showing him the cover of the book she held.
“I’m learning about their culture. Granted, it’s Earth culture, but it’s from a period long before our time, and this is an incredible chance to experience it first hand and up close, instead of just through vid banks and data records.”
“That is a logical motivation.”
“You would say that.”
She smiled, and he nodded peaceably, then they went back to their respective reading, content to just be with each other.
10. Dancing
“Is this also part of your study on their culture?”
“Yes Spock.”
The joy in Nyota’s expression was the only reason he didn’t leave the club Spike and Carly had brought them and some of the crew to. Though it was a near thing when the music started to get loud and the rest of the occupants in the small and distractingly lit space left their seats to… ‘dance’, as they called it.
11. Jealous
“… Why am I the one doing this again?”
“Because your original form is fast enough to make that upstart’s head spin, you’re usually based in the Ark so you won’t draw any undue attention while you look like that, and out of everyone in the whole damn base, I trust you to be the last one to abuse the speed boost.”
“That still leaves me with the questions of why exactly I have to reformat for such a pointless reason. It does not matter whether or not a ‘hovercycle’ is faster than we are.”
“Let me predict what will happen if you don’t. Sideswipe will sulk. Sideswipe will sneak a reformat. Sideswipe will brag and boast and preen. Egos will get involved. Chaos will ensue. I will get pissy. You will get incident reports. Capish?”
“Your medic presents a very logical argument.”
“After a lifetime of working together, it is only logical that our characteristics would rub off on each other.”
“That implies he has influenced you too.”
“That is not incorrect.”
“Oh?”
“I confess to a sneaking desire to witness Sideswipe’s expression when he sees me reformatted to as I was. I do believe his jealousy will be most entertaining.”
“Ah, perfectly understandable.”
12. Turned-On
“Of course we’re more advanced than the humans!” The red mech glared at him, and Jim smirked back.
“Well, forgive me if I can’t believe that. You’re sharp looking, true, but you’ve got nothing to beat even the hover cycles back where I came from. You still have wheels, for crying out loud.”
“Well, duh I have wheels, we took on alternate modes that allow us to blend in here. Trust me, if I had any say I’d have kept my hovers.” Sideswipe snarked back, tone clearly implying he thought Jim was an idiot.
“Well then, show me a schematic of what you used to look like.”
“Pah, what can you tell from a fragging blueprint? I’ll go see if I can convince Ratch’ to let me reformat into my old alt. Then we’ll see who’s worse than a hovercycle.”
“Out of curiosity, what did your old form look like?”
“Here’s an image capture.” Figures the mech wouldn’t pass up a chance to show off. But the picture… The Lamborghini grew tired of waiting for a response and prompted Jim impatiently. “Well?”
He blinked, then grinned. “I think I’m in lust.”
13. Caring
He’d known Spock would refuse. That just meant that Kirk had to wear him down. And wear him down Kirk would. Because he needed the half Vulcan functional, and at the rate Spock was going, tearing himself up over the loss of his planet and his mother, further compounded by a lack of a planet Vulcan in this dimension (not because of a Romulan named Nero, which was some comfort, it seemed that Vulcan just didn’t exist in this place), not letting himself deal with his emotions in the messy way the human half of his makeup probably required, he’d soon be out one Second in Command, one Chief Science Officer, and (if he were to be serious and honest and all) a valued friend.
So. The race. It had been too easy to get dragged into a pissing contest with Sideswipe, culminating in the challenge. Now, he just had to get Spock to take part, and hopefully, the man would be able to blow off some steam before he exploded. Or imploded. Vulcans were ridiculously self-internalising that way.
14. On-His-Knees
“Please?”
“Captain Kirk, this is highly improper behaviour. Should anyone come across us-”
“Then as my First Officer, shouldn’t you be taking measures to mitigate the fallout or heck, negate it altogether?”
“… You will not let go until I agree to your ridiculous proposition, will you.”
“Well, Bones and the scary robot medic have promised to end me if I do it, Sideswipe won’t accept Sulu or Chekov in my place because he doesn’t trust them not to pull something, big red hypocrite that he is, Uhura just glared me down when I asked her and forbid me from asking any of the other crew members, so… Yup.”
“… Very well. I will participate in this… race of yours. Now get up off your knees, Captain.
15. Obedient
She shouldn’t. Really. But when Spock caught her gaze with that subtle lift of an eyebrow and a faint twitch of an upper lip, Uhura had to duck out of the med bay and indulge in a brief cackle.
Honestly, getting to see the Captain scared into meek obedience by two cranky medics, one of whom could squish him like an underripe banana (she’d been corrected on the analogy by, of all people, said robot medic, apparently overripe tomatoes were too squishy) was worth the hassle of having to track down and drag Kirk back to the Ark.
16. Dominant
“Fascinating.”
“Would you elaborate?”
“The Enterprise too has a medic of similar temperament. And upon further contemplation, I find my circumstances to be not unlike yours.”
“CMOs seem to almost require quite the dominating personality.”
“If your crew are anything like mine, particularly with regards to leaders, then I suppose they must.”
“May I express my sympathies?”
“They are not required; to despair is to express far too much unseemly emotion. But thank you.”
“Primus, two of them. What did I ever do to deserve this?”
“You require a comprehensive list, or with a brief verbal summary do?”
“Mute it, you black and white abacus, before I ‘accidentally’ slip while programming your re-reformat and turn you into one.”
17. Naive
Kirk stopped when the Autobot next to him did, but when Jazz didn’t explain why he’d frozen in the middle of the walkway, the Starfleet captain glanced up at the mech’s stunned expression, then tracked the visored mech’s gaze to its likely focus.
Peering around the Porsche’s still form, he spotted the Autobot SIC walking down another corridor, and frowned. Prowl looked… different.
“Jazz? Jazz! Are you alright?!”
“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine.”
Oh good, Jazz was working again. “Right. Good. Because I’m already on your medic’s bad side and I have no wish for an early grave right now. What happened?”
“Oh…. Nothing you need to worry about. Looks like you’ll get your live demo after all. But it’s gonna Prowl you’ll be looking at, not Sideswipe.”
“Oh. He’s the one who ended up reformatted?”
“Looks like it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make sure Prowl’s dealing with the change okay. Taking on a new form can be a little disorienting at first.”
He nodded, waving farewell to the black and white bot, then blinked when Jazz practically ran after the doorwinged mech. Huh. If Prowl was anything like his own second in command, preferring to hide his discomfort and minor ailments until Bones snapped and dragged the half Vulcan to medical, then he supposed Jazz’s urgency was justified.
18. Drinking-Energon
“What’s that?”
Sideswipe looked down at the curious young man with the heavy Russian accent. “It’s energon. Our fuel.”
“Wow. How much power’s in it?” Now the man with the Scottish accent. They must like having unintelligible people in this Starfleet thing.
“Well, it keeps us running, so… a lot?”
“Can I have some?”
Sunstreaker cut in before his twin could say anything, shooting the red mech a stern look as he did so. “Not if you want to stay intact. The live stuff burns organic tissue. Sparkplug, Spike and Carly have all picked up rather nasty injuries from accidental contact during repairs.”
“Not to ingest. I want to see if I can use it to power things on the Enterprise. My tricorder’s telling me the stuff’s pretty potent.” Scotty eyed the glowing liquid, plans visibly forming behind his eyes.
“How’d you even get it back up there? Dunno if you’ve noticed, but the stuff glows. You’d never sneak it past that Autobot SIC, or Spock, or Dr. McCoy.” Sulu questioned, and Jim chose then to jump in, intrigued by the looks on Scotty and Chekov’s faces.
“Well… Sideswipe and Sunstreaker could help. I’m sure they’ve got plenty of know how with regards to sneaking past Second in Commands.”
//Sideswipe. Sunstreaker.//
They started when Prowl’s voice echoed across their comms, the two Lamborghinis scrambling to answer their SIC.
//Huh?! But we- He- We weren’t actually going to- We haven’t even- Slaggit! How the frag do you always know?!//
“Parent senses. It has to be.” Jim had to reply, just to see the mechs’ expressions when he said it. His grin was wiped off by his own communicator sounding.
//Captain.//
“Uh…”
Before the Captain could come up with a response (being busy glaring at the snickering red frontliner to spout something witty), Spock continued.
//Ensign Chekov. Ensign Sulu. Lieutenant Scott.//
The three eeped, and as a group, they resigned themselves to deeming another plan thoroughly out of the question.
19. Greedy
It was enjoyable. A welcome distraction from the dark turn his thoughts had taken since he’d found there were none of his people in this dimension.
Then he put aside the notion and concentrated on the race. If he lost, the Captain would probably sulk. And the red menace that made his Cybertronian counterpart seriously contemplate homicide on occasion would aggravate the matter.
But if he won, then Kirk would undoubtedly do the same to Sideswipe.
Clearly, the only option left was to push for a draw. Thankfully, Vulcans were not a people prone to greed for acclaim.
So Spock kept level with Prowl, both second in commands reaching and maintaining a reasonable speed, crossing the finish at exactly the same time. He dismounted as the black and white mech shifted to root mode, and they nodded to each other before heading for the Ark, ignoring the outcry behind them with nary more than the faintest of smirks.
20. Daring
“What are you doing?”
“Admiring the Cybertronian form. Yours in particular.”
The flat stare that got him made Jazz chuckle as he moved towards Prowl, the doorwinged mech unconsciously backing up against his desk as the saboteur took in the mech’s new appearance with appreciative optics.
“What? Can’t a mech look at something beautiful?”
He paused, then dared to nuzzle the SIC’s neck cables, making the other mech’s systems stutter with surprise. The chevroned mech tried to push him away, glaring at the unrepentant Porsche.
“I am not some kind of novelty plaything, Jazz.”
“You never were. Never will be.” He slid back his visor, meeting the tactician’s optics with his own. Then, in another daring move, Jazz parted his chestplates, and let his spark glimmer between him and the other black and white. Prowl’s stunned gaze darted from his solemn faceplates, to his spark, and back up again.
“I’ve tried subtle, I’ve tried overt, but frag if you didn’t seem to respond to any of it. So now I’m going for just straight out telling you and asking for a chance before some other mech gets motivated by your new format and manages take you away from me.”
A white hand laid itself on his chest as Prowl softly requested he seal his plating once more. Jazz did so, not taking his optics off the chevroned mech, which meant that it was his turn to be surprised when Prowl moved his hand to the Porsche’s hip.
“You flirt with everyone, Jazz, and I am hardly the best at reading such interaction. How was I to know you were serious?”
“I realised that. Eventually. But a bot’s ego kinda takes a beating after the nine hundredth and forty sixth shut down.”
“… You kept a count?”
Jazz ducked his head sheepishly at the SIC’s nonplussed look, and continued staring at the tactician’s faction symbol. Then there was the whisper of an apology into his audio, and an arm carefully wrapping about his waist. Stunned and thrilled in equal measure, the heated kiss that claimed him a moment later completed the job and left him thoroughly dazed. When the doorwinged mech moved away, Jazz responded in the only way his scrambled CPU could muster the processing power to, kissing back until Prowl was just as undone as he was.
“Quarters?”
“Yes please.”
21. Exploring
He eyed his CMO, then the man’s dark expression, and sat down beside the man, genially clapping him on the shoulder. “Well Bones, isn’t this what we’re supposed to do? To boldly go where no man has gone before and all that?”
“Jim. We’re in an alternate dimension, with no idea how to get back, and our ship barely limped into orbit around an Earth with no Starfleet, so we don’t even have the resources to carry out the repairs we desperately need. To say nothing of the medical supplies we’ll soon run out of.” The doctor glared into the PADD he was scrolling through, and Kirk sighed.
“The Autobots have offered to supply us with that, as well as any other aid we might require. They’ve also agreed to help house some of the crew, especially the ones that need a stable environment and not our currently temperamental ship to do their work, like the medics and fabrication engineers.”
“The robots don’t have any idea how to get us home either, do they.”
Kirk deflated a little. “No, they don’t. But they’ve got some experience with the cross dimension thing, and with the time travel thing, which makes them more knowledgeable on the subject than we are.”
“What if we can’t get home, Jim?”
“… Then we never stop trying, Bones. Until we do get home. In the meantime, this dimension could use a good exploring, don’t you think?”
22. At The Beach
Kirk frowned, staring off into the horizon, not seeing the beach that lay out before him. The Enterprise had been on their way back to Earth from only their second mission as a crew (the first being the incident with Nero) when they’d been attacked. It was unfortunate, they’d been given the mission, a simple supply and diplomatic trip, as a sort of easing into regular, typical duty, only to be attacked by a rabidly hostile force, coming from out of nowhere. Their foes had moved about as if their ships were teleporting. Come to think of it, they probably were teleporting, he’d noted nothing like a flight pattern on their part whatsoever during the fight.
So their attackers had the technology to effect instantaneous transport of spaceship sized masses without needing a transporter pad or similar devices. And it was likely that the weapon they’d used on the Enterprise was based on something similar. Nodding to himself, Captain Kirk left the little beach where he’d gone to catch a quiet moment and think. He had something to discuss with Spock and Scotty. And the Autotbots. Maybe they’d know something about teleporting tech.
23. Bath-Time
McCoy sighed, glancing up at the heavens in a silent plea for patience. The Autobot SIC (or robo-Spock, as he referred to the black and white mech in the privacy of his thoughts) had just escorted a red mech into the med bay, a red mech whose innocent expression was entirely unconvincing. And familiar, because one Captain Jim Kirk, currently perched on Sideswipe's shoulder, had the exact identical 'What? I didn't do anything.' look on his face. The ire in Ratchet's optics was just as recognisable. McCoy often had the same light in his eyes when faced with the antics of his charges.
Gods. As if getting rattled to pieces and landing in an alternate dimension wasn't enough, apparently their alternate selves here had to be robot versions.
"I don't believe this. Of all the foolhardy, glitching, reckless rust processored things to do! Do you want me to deactivate early, Sideswipe? Or perhaps you just have the overpowering desire to be reformatted into a trash bin, because, Primus willing, you won't be able to get into any trouble that way?"
Ratchet yelled like he did too.
"And you."
Bones suppressed the envy he felt when his Captain actually scrambled to duck behind Sideswipe's helm. He supposed being nearly three times their height and made of metal, Ratchet was a great deal more intimidating than he could ever be.
"Dr McCoy can yell at you while he's checking you over. But first." The Ark's CMO lifted what looked like a giant sponge, dripping with a solvent Ratchet had assured him was safe for humans, with one hand, and reached out to snag the Captain like a recalcitrant puppy with the other. "We need to get that slag off you. Now hold still."
24. Dishevelled
Klaxons sounded as the Enterprise shuddered, damaged in too many locations to do more than try to avoid getting hit anywhere vital. Then more alarms rang out as the Science department shrieked something about a warp opening, just as the hostile force attacking them let loose what looked like their Starfleet Be GoneTM joybuzzer.
They tried to escape the pull of the anomaly, all of them having had first hand experience with warps. General consensus was that the things were Bad News.
They failed. So did their gravity, which might have actually helped them survive being shaken like a cocktail mixer and poured from one patch of space into another. Kirk was in his seat the moment he could muster the wits to clamber onto it, Spock, ever the efficient Vulcan, was already at his station, poring over readouts and frowning (actually frowning!) and unnerving Kirk a whole lot more than the Captain would like to admit.
“Spock? Where are we?”
“Readings indicate that we are… near Earth, Captain.”
“Set a course for Earth, Sulu.”
“Yes Captain!”
“… Spock?”
“What is it, sir?” The Vulcan’s tone indicated that he wasn’t in the mood for Kirk’s particular brand of aggravation right now (not that he was ever in the mood, so it was a moot point anyway).
“What is that?”
The Science Officer turned to look at what his Captain was pointing at, and for a moment, was rendered speechless.
“I do not know, Captain. It appears to be a large… robot. It seems to be waving at us.”
“… Alright. So, a friendly giant robot. Hopefully. Okay people. Wave back before it decides to change its mind.”
25. Exhausted
Huffer shuffled slowly along the corridors, hardly believing what the Prime had asked him to do. The humans’ spaceship needed repairs. Their engineering staff had taken a lot of casualties, and while they were recuperating, the Autobots were offering what assistance they could.
Said assistance being a place to sit and work, and Huffer (Wheeljack having been deemed too dangerous to let loose anywhere near the Enterprise’s Chief Engineer).
Anyway, orders were orders, and Huffer would carry them out to the best of his ability. He found the humans in the room the Prime had said they would be in, and with a sigh, entered to see what he could do. As it turned out, what he ended up doing had little to with the Enterprise or with the repairs (they were the experts on their ship and its unique technologies, not him, after all). Typical.
He stood in their midst, watching them work themselves to exhaustion (one or two were even napping in a corner) before attempting to get their attention with a grumpy sort of ‘harrumph’ he’d heard Ratchet and the human medic… Bones (such a macabre name for a doctor) use before.
Huh. It worked. And on fanatically obsessed engineers at that. The two CMOs were on to something. Huffer sighed and spoke.
“Trust me. I know all about being stuck somewhere that isn’t home. I know how it feels to have your ship busted up and beaten and generally treated like a dockyard slattern. And I can tell you, driving yourselves into the ground will not help. Being too tired to think straight or draw straight will only make your ship worse. Now everyone put down your toys and go rest.”
They eyed him, and he could see them contemplating simply ignoring him.
“I have no qualms about getting the medics. Then again, I am made of metal. You aren’t. Don’t make me pick you up and carry you to them for sedation.”
They caved, moving in obedient single file to the door. Huffer watched them go, and spoke once more, almost to himself, resting a hand on a bright orange wall, expression distant and wistful.
“At least your lady still flies.”
26. Well-Shagged
Jim watched as Uhura wrapped a fine scarf about his First Officer’s neck, noting the brief twining of fingers the two shared before they parted and the Communications officer was moving towards the sidelines of the impromptu racetrack.
Beside him, Prowl stood, still and silent (sweet galaxies, were all second in commands the same way?) as they waited for Spock to reach them, and in a moment of mischief, he cleared his throat to draw the chevroned mech’s attention.
“Do you have someone to carry a favour for?”
“I am unfamiliar with the practice you describe.”
Damn, they even sounded the same. He supposed that was why Spock got on so well with Prowl. Jim shrugged and elaborated, waving a hand in vague emphasis. “A favour, usually a cloth of some sort, in the requestee’s preferred colours or design. Kinda like Spock’s scarf. Knights of old would ask for one to carry into battle or competition from the lady he wished to honour.”
“I see.”
“So?”
Prowl glanced into the swelling crowd of Starfleet crew and Autobots, then smiled faintly.
“I am already carrying the colours of the one I cherish.”
Kirk blinked at him, and the mech obligingly shifted so that the human could see the new additions to his paintjob. The captain frowned. It looked like Prowl had managed to scuff up his paint, because all that was on the tactician’s armour was streaks of…
Then Spock arrived, taking his seat on the hovercycle Scotty had magicked up from somewhere, raising an eyebrow at his frozen Captain. Prowl transformed to similarly take position beside the Vulcan, and they drove to the starting line proper, leaving Jim to consider of the implications of black and white pretty well ground onto the mech's plating.
27. Kick-Ass
Spock did not want to admit it, but the race had helped. And he found himself curious as to exactly how fast the hovercycle could go (knowing the Enterprise’s Chief Engineer, he was sure Lieutenant Scott had made a few… adjustments to the vehicle).
Which was why he was standing by the dismantled racetrack, the hovercycle floating beside him, eyeing the long deserted stretch with what he considered an alarming degree of seriousness.
When a silent, black and white form joined him a moment later, he didn’t even startle.
Soon, a Cybertronian hover vehicle and a Starfleet hovercycle were blazing down the track. They drove alongside for a while, then Spock pushed his ride faster, moving to a position in front of Prowl. The tactician did not try to overtake him, and the Vulcan had a feeling that his current speed was no hardship for any Cybertronian vehicle to keep up with.
So he darted into the mech’s path and rode a quick circle about the Autobot. Hovercycles, logically, were never going to be as fast as hovercars, but they were a sight more manoeuvrable.
There was a quiet rev of an engine, and he got the distinct impression that Prowl was amused with his actions. He returned the gesture, revving his own vehicle, and took off, going as fast as the hovercycle could (and coincidentally discovering that his prediction regarding the cycle had been entirely correct).
Prowl followed, nosing in front for a moment before falling back to flank him once more. If he were more inclined to such gestures, Spock would have rolled his eyes. He didn’t need watching over, like Captain Kirk sometimes did. Still, it was good to hurl himself through the darkness, both metaphorical and literal, and for a moment, consider more immediate things (such as not crashing in a fiery conflagration) instead of everything he’d lost with his homeworld.
28. Playing with Kids
He looked up when Prowl did, and watched impassively as the mech’s optics flickered, before the Datsun accessed his comm. and spoke into it, tone stern and deliberate.
//Sideswipe. Sunstreaker.//
//Huh?! But we- He- We weren’t actually going to- We haven’t even- Slaggit! How the frag do you always know?!//
//Parent senses. It has to be.// Spock recognised the next voice, and that was definitely not good. So he picked up his own communicator, keeping his tone cool and calm and just on this side of knowing disapproval.
//Captain.//
//Uh…//
He could hear Jim flailing for an explanation, and just for good measure, threw in a few more names as well.
//Ensign Chekov. Ensign Sulu. Lieutenant Scott.//
At the ensuing sputtering and noise coming from both officers’ communication sets, Prowl spoke again. //Sideswipe.//
//I… Yes sir.//
The SIC cut the connection, then made a sound much like a sigh. The Vulcan echoed the sentiment, even if he didn’t express it overtly, and then both returned to their work.
Title: To Boldly Go - 28 prompts
'Verse: G1 Transformers. 2009 Trek.
Characters: Ensemble.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Cussing.
1. Naughty
Jazz watched the brightly dressed human male glare at the datapad (at least, it looked a little like a datapad, only human sized), eyes moving rapidly over the information being displayed before he turned that glare onto the Autobot watching him with no small amount of interest.
“I don’t believe it. Making contact with a pre-warp civilisation, living amongst them without concealing your technology, even if you’ve restricted what knowledge you’ve shared… Have your people never heard of the Prime Directive?!”
The Ops mech knew the man was talking about some kind of edict from some sort of authority (the humans had called it Starfleet, but the Cybertronians had never heard of such a body, though considering Starfleet was supposed to be based on Earth and clearly wasn’t right now…) from his own original dimension, but he really, really couldn’t resist.
“Well, we have a Prime, and we follow his directives. Does that count?”
2. Happy
Up until the robot showed up, they’d been happy to see a familiar planet, doubly so because that planet was Earth, and Earth meant Starfleet and safety. And for the wounded Enterprise, a safe harbour to curl up and lick her wounds was made all the better because for most of them, it was home.
3. Silly
If anyone found out, they’d probably laugh at him for entertaining such a silly thought. But to Pavel Chekov, this was an even bigger adventure than he’d ever dreamt of (Giant robots! Alternate dimensions! Time travel! Giant robots and alternate dimensions and time travel at the same time! The calculations were enthralling), and he was loving every moment of it.
4. Angsty
Optimus watched as the smaller form of the Enterprise’s First Officer approached him. Fascinating, to meet a crew comprised of such a mixture of different sapient species, even if the majority were human. It gave him hope that one day, such a thing would also be possible in his dimension. But Spock’s expression was solemn, and not as hopeful as his own thoughts were.
“You have a question.”
“I do, Optimus Prime.”
“What is it?”
The Vulcan hesitated, a minute pause that most would not have noted. “… Have your people heard of mine?”
“… None of our archives lists a record of contact with a people known as the Vulcans, and a search of Teletraan’s databanks has not found a corresponding planet in the coordinates you provided us.” Optimus replied, his tone quietly sympathetic.
“I see.”
“I’m sorry, Spock.”
“It was an unlikely possibility in the first place. I let sentiment cloud my judgement.”
“There is no shame in having emotions, nor in wanting to seek out what one has lost.”
“As I have often heard, particularly from Captain Kirk. Nevertheless, thank you for your consideration. I will not trouble you further.”
“It was no trouble at all; I regret that we were unable to help you."
Spock nodded, then turned and walked away, shoulders stiff and tense. Optimus let him go, knowing that nothing he said would help the situation.
5. On-Vacation
They were stuck in an alternate dimension, an alternate past dimension at that, meaning that the only advanced technology they had access to was what they had on the Enterprise and what these… Cybertronians could supply (actually of a similar level to their own, if one accounted for the necessary differences).
Still, their Science and Engineering departments were hell bent on figuring out a way home, and the (and he couldn’t believe he was actually saying this)… the giant sapient robot Science and Engineering equivalents were equally intrigued with the project, if the tech-babble coming out of the room they’d holed up in was any indication.
And so, with nothing much else he could do (and nothing much else the rest of the crew who weren’t in Science and Engineering could do either), there really was only one option left.
Captain James Tiberius Kirk smirked, leant back in his captain’s chair, and declared the Enterprise and her crew officially on vacation.
6. Horny
“Damn, I’d forgotten how good your old alt mode looked on you. I should send Jim a thank you note. Can’t remember how I managed to keep from jumping you back on Cybertron.”
The softly breathed words in his audio had Prowl smiling faintly at the mech pressing lip plates to his helm. Hands brushed over his plating, mapping the details of his frame, recently set in a configuration both familiar and new at the same time, and he returned the favour, both of them just touching and exploring until the sound of their engines filled his quarters.
Then, as Jazz drew closer to kiss him, Prowl moved, leaning back onto his berth and pulling the Ops head along. Breaking free of the kiss, he murmured.
“In that case, I certainly hope your memory doesn't improve any time soon.”
7. Transforming
As the black and white SIC of the Autobots shifted, transforming from bipedal to vehicle form in a whirl of moving parts and graceful reassembling, he glanced at the engineer standing absolutely stock still beside him, eyes aglow and jaw hanging open in wonder.
Grinning, because he knew his expression had been exactly the same (but he recovered quicker, since he was, after all, the Captain and awesome like that), Kirk slowly reached over to tip Scotty’s mouth shut.
8. Excited
After some deliberation, it was decided that Wheeljack should be introduced to Ensign Chekov and Lieutenant Scotty, so that more could be done to help the Enterprise get shipshape sooner. Under careful supervision, of course, which meant that either Commander Spock, Dr. McCoy or Prowl had to be in the same room (no one really trusted the Captain to not get caught up in their enthusiasm).
The good news was, all three got along like a house on fire.
The bad news was, all three got along like a house on fire.
To the background noise of excited chatter in two very distinct accents and a strobe light, most of the Autobots were placing bets on when (not if) something would blow up. A few were wondering if this explosion would be the one that shook their mountain home to pieces. All were hunkering down, far, far away from the room the three were in.
9. Book-Reading
“May I join you?”
He lowered the report Lieutenant Scott had handed him on the probable calculations involved with getting them home, and nodded to Nyota as she took a seat near him. He tilted his head in query, and she replied, showing him the cover of the book she held.
“I’m learning about their culture. Granted, it’s Earth culture, but it’s from a period long before our time, and this is an incredible chance to experience it first hand and up close, instead of just through vid banks and data records.”
“That is a logical motivation.”
“You would say that.”
She smiled, and he nodded peaceably, then they went back to their respective reading, content to just be with each other.
10. Dancing
“Is this also part of your study on their culture?”
“Yes Spock.”
The joy in Nyota’s expression was the only reason he didn’t leave the club Spike and Carly had brought them and some of the crew to. Though it was a near thing when the music started to get loud and the rest of the occupants in the small and distractingly lit space left their seats to… ‘dance’, as they called it.
11. Jealous
“… Why am I the one doing this again?”
“Because your original form is fast enough to make that upstart’s head spin, you’re usually based in the Ark so you won’t draw any undue attention while you look like that, and out of everyone in the whole damn base, I trust you to be the last one to abuse the speed boost.”
“That still leaves me with the questions of why exactly I have to reformat for such a pointless reason. It does not matter whether or not a ‘hovercycle’ is faster than we are.”
“Let me predict what will happen if you don’t. Sideswipe will sulk. Sideswipe will sneak a reformat. Sideswipe will brag and boast and preen. Egos will get involved. Chaos will ensue. I will get pissy. You will get incident reports. Capish?”
“Your medic presents a very logical argument.”
“After a lifetime of working together, it is only logical that our characteristics would rub off on each other.”
“That implies he has influenced you too.”
“That is not incorrect.”
“Oh?”
“I confess to a sneaking desire to witness Sideswipe’s expression when he sees me reformatted to as I was. I do believe his jealousy will be most entertaining.”
“Ah, perfectly understandable.”
12. Turned-On
“Of course we’re more advanced than the humans!” The red mech glared at him, and Jim smirked back.
“Well, forgive me if I can’t believe that. You’re sharp looking, true, but you’ve got nothing to beat even the hover cycles back where I came from. You still have wheels, for crying out loud.”
“Well, duh I have wheels, we took on alternate modes that allow us to blend in here. Trust me, if I had any say I’d have kept my hovers.” Sideswipe snarked back, tone clearly implying he thought Jim was an idiot.
“Well then, show me a schematic of what you used to look like.”
“Pah, what can you tell from a fragging blueprint? I’ll go see if I can convince Ratch’ to let me reformat into my old alt. Then we’ll see who’s worse than a hovercycle.”
“Out of curiosity, what did your old form look like?”
“Here’s an image capture.” Figures the mech wouldn’t pass up a chance to show off. But the picture… The Lamborghini grew tired of waiting for a response and prompted Jim impatiently. “Well?”
He blinked, then grinned. “I think I’m in lust.”
13. Caring
He’d known Spock would refuse. That just meant that Kirk had to wear him down. And wear him down Kirk would. Because he needed the half Vulcan functional, and at the rate Spock was going, tearing himself up over the loss of his planet and his mother, further compounded by a lack of a planet Vulcan in this dimension (not because of a Romulan named Nero, which was some comfort, it seemed that Vulcan just didn’t exist in this place), not letting himself deal with his emotions in the messy way the human half of his makeup probably required, he’d soon be out one Second in Command, one Chief Science Officer, and (if he were to be serious and honest and all) a valued friend.
So. The race. It had been too easy to get dragged into a pissing contest with Sideswipe, culminating in the challenge. Now, he just had to get Spock to take part, and hopefully, the man would be able to blow off some steam before he exploded. Or imploded. Vulcans were ridiculously self-internalising that way.
14. On-His-Knees
“Please?”
“Captain Kirk, this is highly improper behaviour. Should anyone come across us-”
“Then as my First Officer, shouldn’t you be taking measures to mitigate the fallout or heck, negate it altogether?”
“… You will not let go until I agree to your ridiculous proposition, will you.”
“Well, Bones and the scary robot medic have promised to end me if I do it, Sideswipe won’t accept Sulu or Chekov in my place because he doesn’t trust them not to pull something, big red hypocrite that he is, Uhura just glared me down when I asked her and forbid me from asking any of the other crew members, so… Yup.”
“… Very well. I will participate in this… race of yours. Now get up off your knees, Captain.
15. Obedient
She shouldn’t. Really. But when Spock caught her gaze with that subtle lift of an eyebrow and a faint twitch of an upper lip, Uhura had to duck out of the med bay and indulge in a brief cackle.
Honestly, getting to see the Captain scared into meek obedience by two cranky medics, one of whom could squish him like an underripe banana (she’d been corrected on the analogy by, of all people, said robot medic, apparently overripe tomatoes were too squishy) was worth the hassle of having to track down and drag Kirk back to the Ark.
16. Dominant
“Fascinating.”
“Would you elaborate?”
“The Enterprise too has a medic of similar temperament. And upon further contemplation, I find my circumstances to be not unlike yours.”
“CMOs seem to almost require quite the dominating personality.”
“If your crew are anything like mine, particularly with regards to leaders, then I suppose they must.”
“May I express my sympathies?”
“They are not required; to despair is to express far too much unseemly emotion. But thank you.”
“Primus, two of them. What did I ever do to deserve this?”
“You require a comprehensive list, or with a brief verbal summary do?”
“Mute it, you black and white abacus, before I ‘accidentally’ slip while programming your re-reformat and turn you into one.”
17. Naive
Kirk stopped when the Autobot next to him did, but when Jazz didn’t explain why he’d frozen in the middle of the walkway, the Starfleet captain glanced up at the mech’s stunned expression, then tracked the visored mech’s gaze to its likely focus.
Peering around the Porsche’s still form, he spotted the Autobot SIC walking down another corridor, and frowned. Prowl looked… different.
“Jazz? Jazz! Are you alright?!”
“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine.”
Oh good, Jazz was working again. “Right. Good. Because I’m already on your medic’s bad side and I have no wish for an early grave right now. What happened?”
“Oh…. Nothing you need to worry about. Looks like you’ll get your live demo after all. But it’s gonna Prowl you’ll be looking at, not Sideswipe.”
“Oh. He’s the one who ended up reformatted?”
“Looks like it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make sure Prowl’s dealing with the change okay. Taking on a new form can be a little disorienting at first.”
He nodded, waving farewell to the black and white bot, then blinked when Jazz practically ran after the doorwinged mech. Huh. If Prowl was anything like his own second in command, preferring to hide his discomfort and minor ailments until Bones snapped and dragged the half Vulcan to medical, then he supposed Jazz’s urgency was justified.
18. Drinking-Energon
“What’s that?”
Sideswipe looked down at the curious young man with the heavy Russian accent. “It’s energon. Our fuel.”
“Wow. How much power’s in it?” Now the man with the Scottish accent. They must like having unintelligible people in this Starfleet thing.
“Well, it keeps us running, so… a lot?”
“Can I have some?”
Sunstreaker cut in before his twin could say anything, shooting the red mech a stern look as he did so. “Not if you want to stay intact. The live stuff burns organic tissue. Sparkplug, Spike and Carly have all picked up rather nasty injuries from accidental contact during repairs.”
“Not to ingest. I want to see if I can use it to power things on the Enterprise. My tricorder’s telling me the stuff’s pretty potent.” Scotty eyed the glowing liquid, plans visibly forming behind his eyes.
“How’d you even get it back up there? Dunno if you’ve noticed, but the stuff glows. You’d never sneak it past that Autobot SIC, or Spock, or Dr. McCoy.” Sulu questioned, and Jim chose then to jump in, intrigued by the looks on Scotty and Chekov’s faces.
“Well… Sideswipe and Sunstreaker could help. I’m sure they’ve got plenty of know how with regards to sneaking past Second in Commands.”
//Sideswipe. Sunstreaker.//
They started when Prowl’s voice echoed across their comms, the two Lamborghinis scrambling to answer their SIC.
//Huh?! But we- He- We weren’t actually going to- We haven’t even- Slaggit! How the frag do you always know?!//
“Parent senses. It has to be.” Jim had to reply, just to see the mechs’ expressions when he said it. His grin was wiped off by his own communicator sounding.
//Captain.//
“Uh…”
Before the Captain could come up with a response (being busy glaring at the snickering red frontliner to spout something witty), Spock continued.
//Ensign Chekov. Ensign Sulu. Lieutenant Scott.//
The three eeped, and as a group, they resigned themselves to deeming another plan thoroughly out of the question.
19. Greedy
It was enjoyable. A welcome distraction from the dark turn his thoughts had taken since he’d found there were none of his people in this dimension.
Then he put aside the notion and concentrated on the race. If he lost, the Captain would probably sulk. And the red menace that made his Cybertronian counterpart seriously contemplate homicide on occasion would aggravate the matter.
But if he won, then Kirk would undoubtedly do the same to Sideswipe.
Clearly, the only option left was to push for a draw. Thankfully, Vulcans were not a people prone to greed for acclaim.
So Spock kept level with Prowl, both second in commands reaching and maintaining a reasonable speed, crossing the finish at exactly the same time. He dismounted as the black and white mech shifted to root mode, and they nodded to each other before heading for the Ark, ignoring the outcry behind them with nary more than the faintest of smirks.
20. Daring
“What are you doing?”
“Admiring the Cybertronian form. Yours in particular.”
The flat stare that got him made Jazz chuckle as he moved towards Prowl, the doorwinged mech unconsciously backing up against his desk as the saboteur took in the mech’s new appearance with appreciative optics.
“What? Can’t a mech look at something beautiful?”
He paused, then dared to nuzzle the SIC’s neck cables, making the other mech’s systems stutter with surprise. The chevroned mech tried to push him away, glaring at the unrepentant Porsche.
“I am not some kind of novelty plaything, Jazz.”
“You never were. Never will be.” He slid back his visor, meeting the tactician’s optics with his own. Then, in another daring move, Jazz parted his chestplates, and let his spark glimmer between him and the other black and white. Prowl’s stunned gaze darted from his solemn faceplates, to his spark, and back up again.
“I’ve tried subtle, I’ve tried overt, but frag if you didn’t seem to respond to any of it. So now I’m going for just straight out telling you and asking for a chance before some other mech gets motivated by your new format and manages take you away from me.”
A white hand laid itself on his chest as Prowl softly requested he seal his plating once more. Jazz did so, not taking his optics off the chevroned mech, which meant that it was his turn to be surprised when Prowl moved his hand to the Porsche’s hip.
“You flirt with everyone, Jazz, and I am hardly the best at reading such interaction. How was I to know you were serious?”
“I realised that. Eventually. But a bot’s ego kinda takes a beating after the nine hundredth and forty sixth shut down.”
“… You kept a count?”
Jazz ducked his head sheepishly at the SIC’s nonplussed look, and continued staring at the tactician’s faction symbol. Then there was the whisper of an apology into his audio, and an arm carefully wrapping about his waist. Stunned and thrilled in equal measure, the heated kiss that claimed him a moment later completed the job and left him thoroughly dazed. When the doorwinged mech moved away, Jazz responded in the only way his scrambled CPU could muster the processing power to, kissing back until Prowl was just as undone as he was.
“Quarters?”
“Yes please.”
21. Exploring
He eyed his CMO, then the man’s dark expression, and sat down beside the man, genially clapping him on the shoulder. “Well Bones, isn’t this what we’re supposed to do? To boldly go where no man has gone before and all that?”
“Jim. We’re in an alternate dimension, with no idea how to get back, and our ship barely limped into orbit around an Earth with no Starfleet, so we don’t even have the resources to carry out the repairs we desperately need. To say nothing of the medical supplies we’ll soon run out of.” The doctor glared into the PADD he was scrolling through, and Kirk sighed.
“The Autobots have offered to supply us with that, as well as any other aid we might require. They’ve also agreed to help house some of the crew, especially the ones that need a stable environment and not our currently temperamental ship to do their work, like the medics and fabrication engineers.”
“The robots don’t have any idea how to get us home either, do they.”
Kirk deflated a little. “No, they don’t. But they’ve got some experience with the cross dimension thing, and with the time travel thing, which makes them more knowledgeable on the subject than we are.”
“What if we can’t get home, Jim?”
“… Then we never stop trying, Bones. Until we do get home. In the meantime, this dimension could use a good exploring, don’t you think?”
22. At The Beach
Kirk frowned, staring off into the horizon, not seeing the beach that lay out before him. The Enterprise had been on their way back to Earth from only their second mission as a crew (the first being the incident with Nero) when they’d been attacked. It was unfortunate, they’d been given the mission, a simple supply and diplomatic trip, as a sort of easing into regular, typical duty, only to be attacked by a rabidly hostile force, coming from out of nowhere. Their foes had moved about as if their ships were teleporting. Come to think of it, they probably were teleporting, he’d noted nothing like a flight pattern on their part whatsoever during the fight.
So their attackers had the technology to effect instantaneous transport of spaceship sized masses without needing a transporter pad or similar devices. And it was likely that the weapon they’d used on the Enterprise was based on something similar. Nodding to himself, Captain Kirk left the little beach where he’d gone to catch a quiet moment and think. He had something to discuss with Spock and Scotty. And the Autotbots. Maybe they’d know something about teleporting tech.
23. Bath-Time
McCoy sighed, glancing up at the heavens in a silent plea for patience. The Autobot SIC (or robo-Spock, as he referred to the black and white mech in the privacy of his thoughts) had just escorted a red mech into the med bay, a red mech whose innocent expression was entirely unconvincing. And familiar, because one Captain Jim Kirk, currently perched on Sideswipe's shoulder, had the exact identical 'What? I didn't do anything.' look on his face. The ire in Ratchet's optics was just as recognisable. McCoy often had the same light in his eyes when faced with the antics of his charges.
Gods. As if getting rattled to pieces and landing in an alternate dimension wasn't enough, apparently their alternate selves here had to be robot versions.
"I don't believe this. Of all the foolhardy, glitching, reckless rust processored things to do! Do you want me to deactivate early, Sideswipe? Or perhaps you just have the overpowering desire to be reformatted into a trash bin, because, Primus willing, you won't be able to get into any trouble that way?"
Ratchet yelled like he did too.
"And you."
Bones suppressed the envy he felt when his Captain actually scrambled to duck behind Sideswipe's helm. He supposed being nearly three times their height and made of metal, Ratchet was a great deal more intimidating than he could ever be.
"Dr McCoy can yell at you while he's checking you over. But first." The Ark's CMO lifted what looked like a giant sponge, dripping with a solvent Ratchet had assured him was safe for humans, with one hand, and reached out to snag the Captain like a recalcitrant puppy with the other. "We need to get that slag off you. Now hold still."
24. Dishevelled
Klaxons sounded as the Enterprise shuddered, damaged in too many locations to do more than try to avoid getting hit anywhere vital. Then more alarms rang out as the Science department shrieked something about a warp opening, just as the hostile force attacking them let loose what looked like their Starfleet Be GoneTM joybuzzer.
They tried to escape the pull of the anomaly, all of them having had first hand experience with warps. General consensus was that the things were Bad News.
They failed. So did their gravity, which might have actually helped them survive being shaken like a cocktail mixer and poured from one patch of space into another. Kirk was in his seat the moment he could muster the wits to clamber onto it, Spock, ever the efficient Vulcan, was already at his station, poring over readouts and frowning (actually frowning!) and unnerving Kirk a whole lot more than the Captain would like to admit.
“Spock? Where are we?”
“Readings indicate that we are… near Earth, Captain.”
“Set a course for Earth, Sulu.”
“Yes Captain!”
“… Spock?”
“What is it, sir?” The Vulcan’s tone indicated that he wasn’t in the mood for Kirk’s particular brand of aggravation right now (not that he was ever in the mood, so it was a moot point anyway).
“What is that?”
The Science Officer turned to look at what his Captain was pointing at, and for a moment, was rendered speechless.
“I do not know, Captain. It appears to be a large… robot. It seems to be waving at us.”
“… Alright. So, a friendly giant robot. Hopefully. Okay people. Wave back before it decides to change its mind.”
25. Exhausted
Huffer shuffled slowly along the corridors, hardly believing what the Prime had asked him to do. The humans’ spaceship needed repairs. Their engineering staff had taken a lot of casualties, and while they were recuperating, the Autobots were offering what assistance they could.
Said assistance being a place to sit and work, and Huffer (Wheeljack having been deemed too dangerous to let loose anywhere near the Enterprise’s Chief Engineer).
Anyway, orders were orders, and Huffer would carry them out to the best of his ability. He found the humans in the room the Prime had said they would be in, and with a sigh, entered to see what he could do. As it turned out, what he ended up doing had little to with the Enterprise or with the repairs (they were the experts on their ship and its unique technologies, not him, after all). Typical.
He stood in their midst, watching them work themselves to exhaustion (one or two were even napping in a corner) before attempting to get their attention with a grumpy sort of ‘harrumph’ he’d heard Ratchet and the human medic… Bones (such a macabre name for a doctor) use before.
Huh. It worked. And on fanatically obsessed engineers at that. The two CMOs were on to something. Huffer sighed and spoke.
“Trust me. I know all about being stuck somewhere that isn’t home. I know how it feels to have your ship busted up and beaten and generally treated like a dockyard slattern. And I can tell you, driving yourselves into the ground will not help. Being too tired to think straight or draw straight will only make your ship worse. Now everyone put down your toys and go rest.”
They eyed him, and he could see them contemplating simply ignoring him.
“I have no qualms about getting the medics. Then again, I am made of metal. You aren’t. Don’t make me pick you up and carry you to them for sedation.”
They caved, moving in obedient single file to the door. Huffer watched them go, and spoke once more, almost to himself, resting a hand on a bright orange wall, expression distant and wistful.
“At least your lady still flies.”
26. Well-Shagged
Jim watched as Uhura wrapped a fine scarf about his First Officer’s neck, noting the brief twining of fingers the two shared before they parted and the Communications officer was moving towards the sidelines of the impromptu racetrack.
Beside him, Prowl stood, still and silent (sweet galaxies, were all second in commands the same way?) as they waited for Spock to reach them, and in a moment of mischief, he cleared his throat to draw the chevroned mech’s attention.
“Do you have someone to carry a favour for?”
“I am unfamiliar with the practice you describe.”
Damn, they even sounded the same. He supposed that was why Spock got on so well with Prowl. Jim shrugged and elaborated, waving a hand in vague emphasis. “A favour, usually a cloth of some sort, in the requestee’s preferred colours or design. Kinda like Spock’s scarf. Knights of old would ask for one to carry into battle or competition from the lady he wished to honour.”
“I see.”
“So?”
Prowl glanced into the swelling crowd of Starfleet crew and Autobots, then smiled faintly.
“I am already carrying the colours of the one I cherish.”
Kirk blinked at him, and the mech obligingly shifted so that the human could see the new additions to his paintjob. The captain frowned. It looked like Prowl had managed to scuff up his paint, because all that was on the tactician’s armour was streaks of…
Then Spock arrived, taking his seat on the hovercycle Scotty had magicked up from somewhere, raising an eyebrow at his frozen Captain. Prowl transformed to similarly take position beside the Vulcan, and they drove to the starting line proper, leaving Jim to consider of the implications of black and white pretty well ground onto the mech's plating.
27. Kick-Ass
Spock did not want to admit it, but the race had helped. And he found himself curious as to exactly how fast the hovercycle could go (knowing the Enterprise’s Chief Engineer, he was sure Lieutenant Scott had made a few… adjustments to the vehicle).
Which was why he was standing by the dismantled racetrack, the hovercycle floating beside him, eyeing the long deserted stretch with what he considered an alarming degree of seriousness.
When a silent, black and white form joined him a moment later, he didn’t even startle.
Soon, a Cybertronian hover vehicle and a Starfleet hovercycle were blazing down the track. They drove alongside for a while, then Spock pushed his ride faster, moving to a position in front of Prowl. The tactician did not try to overtake him, and the Vulcan had a feeling that his current speed was no hardship for any Cybertronian vehicle to keep up with.
So he darted into the mech’s path and rode a quick circle about the Autobot. Hovercycles, logically, were never going to be as fast as hovercars, but they were a sight more manoeuvrable.
There was a quiet rev of an engine, and he got the distinct impression that Prowl was amused with his actions. He returned the gesture, revving his own vehicle, and took off, going as fast as the hovercycle could (and coincidentally discovering that his prediction regarding the cycle had been entirely correct).
Prowl followed, nosing in front for a moment before falling back to flank him once more. If he were more inclined to such gestures, Spock would have rolled his eyes. He didn’t need watching over, like Captain Kirk sometimes did. Still, it was good to hurl himself through the darkness, both metaphorical and literal, and for a moment, consider more immediate things (such as not crashing in a fiery conflagration) instead of everything he’d lost with his homeworld.
28. Playing with Kids
He looked up when Prowl did, and watched impassively as the mech’s optics flickered, before the Datsun accessed his comm. and spoke into it, tone stern and deliberate.
//Sideswipe. Sunstreaker.//
//Huh?! But we- He- We weren’t actually going to- We haven’t even- Slaggit! How the frag do you always know?!//
//Parent senses. It has to be.// Spock recognised the next voice, and that was definitely not good. So he picked up his own communicator, keeping his tone cool and calm and just on this side of knowing disapproval.
//Captain.//
//Uh…//
He could hear Jim flailing for an explanation, and just for good measure, threw in a few more names as well.
//Ensign Chekov. Ensign Sulu. Lieutenant Scott.//
At the ensuing sputtering and noise coming from both officers’ communication sets, Prowl spoke again. //Sideswipe.//
//I… Yes sir.//
The SIC cut the connection, then made a sound much like a sigh. The Vulcan echoed the sentiment, even if he didn’t express it overtly, and then both returned to their work.