IDW Oneshot: Reruns
Title: Reruns
'Verse: IDW
Rating: PG
Characters: Thundercracker, human OCs
Pairings: Implied Thundercracker/Skywarp
Warnings: Domestic abuse mentioned
Summary: Thundercracker watches daytime TV and experiences unwanted feelings.
Word Count: 628
Notes: Background necessary from IDW: Thundercracker was shot in the face by Skywarp for not wanting to fight anymore. He was rescued and repaired by the Autobots, and sends his days in their base watching human television and ignoring everyone.
Written for humblebot; TC addicted to Maury and trash TV is her headcanon, and TC/SW her OTP.
“Xavier…I’m pregnant,” she declared. “And…it is not your baby!”
The human male gasped dramatically. Tears welled up in his dark eyes. “Maria…how could you betray me like this?!” he sobbed.
With a firm press of a console button, Thundercracker changed the channel. “So glad we don’t have to deal with that kind of nonsense,” he muttered. It was a re-run anyway.
He switched over to Maury, just having missed the guests’ introductions. “Men Who Beat Women, and the Women Who Love Them!” proclaimed the text at the bottom of the screen. A bleached-blonde young female with a black eye and bandage across her nose sat on one couch, accompanied by an older, larger female in ill-fitting garments glaring across the stage at the third guest, a unkempt male who shifted nervously in his seat.
“Charlene, why do you want to stay with Bobby? Why do you think you can trust him?” Maury asked gently. The girl sniffled pathetically and stared at her hands.
“We-e-ell…he said it was an accident, he din’t mean it. Bobby don’t get angry all the times like the otha guys I been with. He ain’t a bad man, Mr. Maury! I know my Bobby,” she said, sounding only half-sure of her own words.
The side of Thundercracker’s face started to ache. All the repairs had integrated seamlessly, but sometimes, a phantom burning smoldered behind his optic. Not enough to need a pain-relief patch; the memories hurt more than the burning ever would.
The large woman beside her snorted. “‘Accident,’ my ass! That boy ain’t no good for my baby girl! Once they start smackin’ ya, they don’t stop, no matter how many times they say they will.”
“I swear, I din’t mean to do it!” the young man interjected. “I thought I seen Charlene kissing Ricky by the bait shop…but Ricky told me later that was him and Lacey! I got ‘em mixed up ‘cause Lacey and Charlene gots the same hairdo.”
“Stupid slagger,” Thundercracker growled. What kind of fool attacked someone who cared for him? He rubbed his sore optic angrily.
“That doesn’t change the fact that you hit Charlene, regardless of whether you thought she was cheating on you, Bobby,” Maury said sharply.
“He said he was sorry! I know he loves me,” Charlene protested.
“Charlene, he broke your nose!”
“Ya’ll don’t get it!” she cried. “Bobby ain’t perfect, and I ain’t either. We messed up, but we can make it better. We jus’ gotta keep trying, together.”
As the studio audience jeered and the mother yelled at her daughter, Thundercracker hit the mute button. Once the sound shut off, it was easier to notice how the two young humans looked at each other; with regret, with longing, with need.
How could she? How could she forgive that pain so quickly, and still love him? How could she speak to him without betrayal sticking in her throat, coating her words?
The shock, the anger…does it truly fade away?
He looked down at his clenched hands and slowly forced them to open. Dents marked his palms where his fingers dug in. Maybe humans were quicker to forgive because their lives were so short, too short to waste years being bitter.
He changed the channel to Animal Planet. Less pondering over human problems there.
Two white birds fussed over their nest, pushing reeds into a better shape and occasionally rustling each other’s feathers. David Attenborough’s voice whispered, “Here we find the beautiful mute swan - mates readying their nest for eggs. These enchanting birds form monogamous pair bonds that last for years, if not their entire lives, willing to risk their own safety protecting their mate and offspring from predators.”
Thundercracker turned off all the screens and sat in silence for a very long time.
'Verse: IDW
Rating: PG
Characters: Thundercracker, human OCs
Pairings: Implied Thundercracker/Skywarp
Warnings: Domestic abuse mentioned
Summary: Thundercracker watches daytime TV and experiences unwanted feelings.
Word Count: 628
Notes: Background necessary from IDW: Thundercracker was shot in the face by Skywarp for not wanting to fight anymore. He was rescued and repaired by the Autobots, and sends his days in their base watching human television and ignoring everyone.
Written for humblebot; TC addicted to Maury and trash TV is her headcanon, and TC/SW her OTP.
“Xavier…I’m pregnant,” she declared. “And…it is not your baby!”
The human male gasped dramatically. Tears welled up in his dark eyes. “Maria…how could you betray me like this?!” he sobbed.
With a firm press of a console button, Thundercracker changed the channel. “So glad we don’t have to deal with that kind of nonsense,” he muttered. It was a re-run anyway.
He switched over to Maury, just having missed the guests’ introductions. “Men Who Beat Women, and the Women Who Love Them!” proclaimed the text at the bottom of the screen. A bleached-blonde young female with a black eye and bandage across her nose sat on one couch, accompanied by an older, larger female in ill-fitting garments glaring across the stage at the third guest, a unkempt male who shifted nervously in his seat.
“Charlene, why do you want to stay with Bobby? Why do you think you can trust him?” Maury asked gently. The girl sniffled pathetically and stared at her hands.
“We-e-ell…he said it was an accident, he din’t mean it. Bobby don’t get angry all the times like the otha guys I been with. He ain’t a bad man, Mr. Maury! I know my Bobby,” she said, sounding only half-sure of her own words.
The side of Thundercracker’s face started to ache. All the repairs had integrated seamlessly, but sometimes, a phantom burning smoldered behind his optic. Not enough to need a pain-relief patch; the memories hurt more than the burning ever would.
The large woman beside her snorted. “‘Accident,’ my ass! That boy ain’t no good for my baby girl! Once they start smackin’ ya, they don’t stop, no matter how many times they say they will.”
“I swear, I din’t mean to do it!” the young man interjected. “I thought I seen Charlene kissing Ricky by the bait shop…but Ricky told me later that was him and Lacey! I got ‘em mixed up ‘cause Lacey and Charlene gots the same hairdo.”
“Stupid slagger,” Thundercracker growled. What kind of fool attacked someone who cared for him? He rubbed his sore optic angrily.
“That doesn’t change the fact that you hit Charlene, regardless of whether you thought she was cheating on you, Bobby,” Maury said sharply.
“He said he was sorry! I know he loves me,” Charlene protested.
“Charlene, he broke your nose!”
“Ya’ll don’t get it!” she cried. “Bobby ain’t perfect, and I ain’t either. We messed up, but we can make it better. We jus’ gotta keep trying, together.”
As the studio audience jeered and the mother yelled at her daughter, Thundercracker hit the mute button. Once the sound shut off, it was easier to notice how the two young humans looked at each other; with regret, with longing, with need.
How could she? How could she forgive that pain so quickly, and still love him? How could she speak to him without betrayal sticking in her throat, coating her words?
The shock, the anger…does it truly fade away?
He looked down at his clenched hands and slowly forced them to open. Dents marked his palms where his fingers dug in. Maybe humans were quicker to forgive because their lives were so short, too short to waste years being bitter.
He changed the channel to Animal Planet. Less pondering over human problems there.
Two white birds fussed over their nest, pushing reeds into a better shape and occasionally rustling each other’s feathers. David Attenborough’s voice whispered, “Here we find the beautiful mute swan - mates readying their nest for eggs. These enchanting birds form monogamous pair bonds that last for years, if not their entire lives, willing to risk their own safety protecting their mate and offspring from predators.”
Thundercracker turned off all the screens and sat in silence for a very long time.