(Fic) Good-Byes
Lookit, Beast Wars fic! That doesn't have any of the characters being slutty!
This story was written for a couple of reasons: I needed to write something with Dinobot. It had to cover some of the aspects of "Maximal, No More" that really struck me. And it had to have Rattrap/Dinobot* done well.
I'm not sure if I succeeded at the last part, but slash is barely an issue in the fic.
-
*It's all FF.Net's fault. I wanted Dinobot/Optimus, since that seemed like the painfully obvious pairing. But no.... Chilluns have to write Dinobot/Rattrap, which could only possibly work if you kept them both in-character and gave a damn fine reason for them to be like that!
---
Title: Good-Byes
Rating: PG
---
"I think you'll enjoy the Matrix." Optimus looked up at the stars, trying to remember the route his spark had taken when he had gone there. Sometimes he wished he could do for Dinobot what Rhinox could do for him, but the transwarp wormhole had already collapsed. Besides, he had no place to put his friend's spark even if he could retrieve it.
"Perhaps."
He frowned and looked at Dinobot, trying to gauge his mood. The raptor-bot seemed marginally more open than usual. Perhaps he would answer the question Optimus had. "What changed? Between my death and yours, what changed between us?"
"I discoverd that Megatron had not been as wrong as I originally thought."
"That explains why you went back to him, Dinobot, not why you were withdrawing from us." The transmetal ape spoke calmly, not letting grief make his synthesized voice raw. He mourned when he could find the hours to do so, but this was not the time.
"You would not understand, Optimus."
"Try me."
"I... did not know if I was the master of my fate." The raptor-bot turned his head towards where the Predacon ship had gone down over a year ago. A very faint redglow that was more infrared than visible tinged the night sky. "I sought ways to discover the truth of the matter... But I am a warrior, not a philosopher."
"Did you find out the truth before...?"
"Yes," Dinobot turned to look at Optimus at last. "The future is malleable."
---
Megatron sat in his bath and watched Dinobot pace back and forth. This was rather interesting. He was quite certain that his traitorous third-in-command had destroyed himself defending the proto-humans. "What brings you here, Dinobot?"
The raptor snapped at him, then transformed. "I came to bid you farewell."
"You did that quite some time ago, yes..."
"It was apparently not clear enough for some."
"Hm. Yes, well, your farewell has been duly noted. You may leave now."
Dinobot smirked. "It is not so easy as that, Megatron. I must remain here a certain amount of time."
"You'll forgive me if I have nothing to say to you."
"Of course. The feeling is... mutual."
For a time, they ignored each other. Megatron relaxed in his bath, letting the hot energon ease the stress from another glorious day of dealing with his minions. Such a pity, he thought, that Blackarachnia was losing her loyalty to the Predacon cause. She had never had any loyalty to him, but she could be trusted to fight the Maximals /before/ stabbing him in the back.
Dinobot, for his part, held up one of the walls. Whatever thoughts he had, he did not let his face reveal them to the purple tyrant.
"Why," Megatron asked when he had grown particularly tired of his captive audience, "Did you betray me again after returning to the side of the Predacons?"
"You commanded me to kill Rattrap."
"Yes... And?"
"He was..." The warrior looked away, as he had a tendency to when he admitted weakness. "A friend."
"I see." Megatron smiled widely. Oh, this was /fun/. "Then why did you not tell me so? It would have been a simple matter for Taruntulus to reprogram him as a Predacon."
Dinobot whirled to face him, snarling. "Perhaps I prefer him as a Maximal!"
"I think you would find him hardly changed as a Predacon. He certainly doesn't act like the majority of Maximals. Why, the only Predacon trait he's lacking is some amusing form of insanity." The tyrant paused to examine that thought. Hm, he did seem to be rather correct. He would have to remember that for the project he had in mind.
"I will take your word for it. After all, I will never see him as such."
"Oh, I doubt that. Yes..." Megatron glanced at the half of a spark contained in its box. "I doubt that very much."
---
He watched Dinobot through half-closed optics, trying to make sense out of what had just happened. It was so much nicer just to sit here and be held, though. But since he always got like this after sex, he knew how to get around it. He had no idea how many times in his career a perfectly good afterglow had been ruined by some sort of emergency. Fortunately, or unfortunately, seeing as it was due to a lack of sex, that had never happened in the Beast Wars.
Still and all, Dinobot had died seven days ago.
"Ah, not that I'm complainin' or anything," he finally said. "But what are you doing here?"
"I came... to say good-bye."
"An' that involves screwin' me senseless?"
"No."
"So why-?"
"Clearly, I am being punished."
Rattrap turned that over in his mind. Yeah, that sounded about right for Chopperface. It didn't really explain anything, but he didn't think it could be explained. "So, when do ya leave?"
Dinobot tensed and anger flickered across his face. "Eager to be rid of me, vermin?"
"You're goin' to leave sometime to return to the Matrix. And you won't be comin' back when you go," he answered. This felt... serious. He had to be serious and make sure the Pred didn't leave thinking the wrong thing. "You burned yourself out, an' nothin' can change that."
"You are wrong."
"Eh?"
The raptor-bot looked away. "I cannot tell you. But you are wrong."
"About what, Chopperface? You're pretty much destroyed, an' your spark is gone! You can't come back from that!" He wanted to yell, but he managed to keep his voice somewhat level. Harsh and angry, but level. He didn't need someone coming in and finding out he had finally broken his logic circuits.
Dinobot shook his head slightly. "My spark can never return to this plane of existence. But there are other ways, other aspects that can."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Rattrap said with an overly sugary-sweetness. "But any /possible/ way to install your mind in another body wouldn't work, because /it wouldn't have a spark/!"
"You are wrong, vermin."
"Well? Correct me!"
"I must not."
"Oh, you /must not/. Earlier it was 'cannot'! Make up your mind, will ya?"
"I have said too much."
"No, I don't think you've said enough! Seein' as I still have no idea how you think you could come back /without/ your spark!"
Dinobot flickered in and out of sight. "My time grows short. Speak, vermin, anything you wish to say."
"Oh, /now/, you're 'time grows short'! Just when I'm-"
"Rattrap!" The raptor-bot snapped, startling him. Dinobot never used his name. Never.
Even as he stared at the other, he saw translucency invading the Predacon's extremities, fading him out. His... friend was leaving, for the last time. He couldn't waste their remaining time. "Why? Why did you betray us?"
"I was... wrong in my reasons to betray /him/, in the first place."
"But you betrayed him again."
"If it had been Silverbolt under my sword, I would not have done as I did." The translucency creeped across his torso, having consumed the rest of him.
"You shouldn't have-!" Died, he wanted to say, but the raptor-bot interrupted him.
"My death was... necessary. The lines of fate are changeable, but they are laid out in such a manner that-" Before he could finish, Dinobot faded completely.
This story was written for a couple of reasons: I needed to write something with Dinobot. It had to cover some of the aspects of "Maximal, No More" that really struck me. And it had to have Rattrap/Dinobot* done well.
I'm not sure if I succeeded at the last part, but slash is barely an issue in the fic.
-
*It's all FF.Net's fault. I wanted Dinobot/Optimus, since that seemed like the painfully obvious pairing. But no.... Chilluns have to write Dinobot/Rattrap, which could only possibly work if you kept them both in-character and gave a damn fine reason for them to be like that!
---
Title: Good-Byes
Rating: PG
---
"I think you'll enjoy the Matrix." Optimus looked up at the stars, trying to remember the route his spark had taken when he had gone there. Sometimes he wished he could do for Dinobot what Rhinox could do for him, but the transwarp wormhole had already collapsed. Besides, he had no place to put his friend's spark even if he could retrieve it.
"Perhaps."
He frowned and looked at Dinobot, trying to gauge his mood. The raptor-bot seemed marginally more open than usual. Perhaps he would answer the question Optimus had. "What changed? Between my death and yours, what changed between us?"
"I discoverd that Megatron had not been as wrong as I originally thought."
"That explains why you went back to him, Dinobot, not why you were withdrawing from us." The transmetal ape spoke calmly, not letting grief make his synthesized voice raw. He mourned when he could find the hours to do so, but this was not the time.
"You would not understand, Optimus."
"Try me."
"I... did not know if I was the master of my fate." The raptor-bot turned his head towards where the Predacon ship had gone down over a year ago. A very faint redglow that was more infrared than visible tinged the night sky. "I sought ways to discover the truth of the matter... But I am a warrior, not a philosopher."
"Did you find out the truth before...?"
"Yes," Dinobot turned to look at Optimus at last. "The future is malleable."
---
Megatron sat in his bath and watched Dinobot pace back and forth. This was rather interesting. He was quite certain that his traitorous third-in-command had destroyed himself defending the proto-humans. "What brings you here, Dinobot?"
The raptor snapped at him, then transformed. "I came to bid you farewell."
"You did that quite some time ago, yes..."
"It was apparently not clear enough for some."
"Hm. Yes, well, your farewell has been duly noted. You may leave now."
Dinobot smirked. "It is not so easy as that, Megatron. I must remain here a certain amount of time."
"You'll forgive me if I have nothing to say to you."
"Of course. The feeling is... mutual."
For a time, they ignored each other. Megatron relaxed in his bath, letting the hot energon ease the stress from another glorious day of dealing with his minions. Such a pity, he thought, that Blackarachnia was losing her loyalty to the Predacon cause. She had never had any loyalty to him, but she could be trusted to fight the Maximals /before/ stabbing him in the back.
Dinobot, for his part, held up one of the walls. Whatever thoughts he had, he did not let his face reveal them to the purple tyrant.
"Why," Megatron asked when he had grown particularly tired of his captive audience, "Did you betray me again after returning to the side of the Predacons?"
"You commanded me to kill Rattrap."
"Yes... And?"
"He was..." The warrior looked away, as he had a tendency to when he admitted weakness. "A friend."
"I see." Megatron smiled widely. Oh, this was /fun/. "Then why did you not tell me so? It would have been a simple matter for Taruntulus to reprogram him as a Predacon."
Dinobot whirled to face him, snarling. "Perhaps I prefer him as a Maximal!"
"I think you would find him hardly changed as a Predacon. He certainly doesn't act like the majority of Maximals. Why, the only Predacon trait he's lacking is some amusing form of insanity." The tyrant paused to examine that thought. Hm, he did seem to be rather correct. He would have to remember that for the project he had in mind.
"I will take your word for it. After all, I will never see him as such."
"Oh, I doubt that. Yes..." Megatron glanced at the half of a spark contained in its box. "I doubt that very much."
---
He watched Dinobot through half-closed optics, trying to make sense out of what had just happened. It was so much nicer just to sit here and be held, though. But since he always got like this after sex, he knew how to get around it. He had no idea how many times in his career a perfectly good afterglow had been ruined by some sort of emergency. Fortunately, or unfortunately, seeing as it was due to a lack of sex, that had never happened in the Beast Wars.
Still and all, Dinobot had died seven days ago.
"Ah, not that I'm complainin' or anything," he finally said. "But what are you doing here?"
"I came... to say good-bye."
"An' that involves screwin' me senseless?"
"No."
"So why-?"
"Clearly, I am being punished."
Rattrap turned that over in his mind. Yeah, that sounded about right for Chopperface. It didn't really explain anything, but he didn't think it could be explained. "So, when do ya leave?"
Dinobot tensed and anger flickered across his face. "Eager to be rid of me, vermin?"
"You're goin' to leave sometime to return to the Matrix. And you won't be comin' back when you go," he answered. This felt... serious. He had to be serious and make sure the Pred didn't leave thinking the wrong thing. "You burned yourself out, an' nothin' can change that."
"You are wrong."
"Eh?"
The raptor-bot looked away. "I cannot tell you. But you are wrong."
"About what, Chopperface? You're pretty much destroyed, an' your spark is gone! You can't come back from that!" He wanted to yell, but he managed to keep his voice somewhat level. Harsh and angry, but level. He didn't need someone coming in and finding out he had finally broken his logic circuits.
Dinobot shook his head slightly. "My spark can never return to this plane of existence. But there are other ways, other aspects that can."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Rattrap said with an overly sugary-sweetness. "But any /possible/ way to install your mind in another body wouldn't work, because /it wouldn't have a spark/!"
"You are wrong, vermin."
"Well? Correct me!"
"I must not."
"Oh, you /must not/. Earlier it was 'cannot'! Make up your mind, will ya?"
"I have said too much."
"No, I don't think you've said enough! Seein' as I still have no idea how you think you could come back /without/ your spark!"
Dinobot flickered in and out of sight. "My time grows short. Speak, vermin, anything you wish to say."
"Oh, /now/, you're 'time grows short'! Just when I'm-"
"Rattrap!" The raptor-bot snapped, startling him. Dinobot never used his name. Never.
Even as he stared at the other, he saw translucency invading the Predacon's extremities, fading him out. His... friend was leaving, for the last time. He couldn't waste their remaining time. "Why? Why did you betray us?"
"I was... wrong in my reasons to betray /him/, in the first place."
"But you betrayed him again."
"If it had been Silverbolt under my sword, I would not have done as I did." The translucency creeped across his torso, having consumed the rest of him.
"You shouldn't have-!" Died, he wanted to say, but the raptor-bot interrupted him.
"My death was... necessary. The lines of fate are changeable, but they are laid out in such a manner that-" Before he could finish, Dinobot faded completely.