To Catch a Thief
Hey everyone, here's Chapter 12 of To Catch a Thief. I've done a lot of writing the past couple of days, so I have several more chapters written out and several more planned XD. Without further ado, chapter 12. Let me know what you think. :)
Title: To Catch a Thief
Rating: T
Characters: Prowl, Smokescreen, Bluestreak, Ratchet, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe
Over time, Bluestreak became one of the best snipers the Autobots had and Smokescreen became the base’s official psychologist and he worked under Prowl as a diversionary tactician. Both mechs could often be seen in the presence of Prowl, the Autobot’s SIC and Head Tactician, and there were rumors going around about the relationship of the three mechs. Most believed that Smokescreen and Prowl were good friends because of their shared profession and that Bluestreak saw Prowl as a mentor which was helped by the fact that Prowl would often be seen in the training room with the younger mech teaching him Diffusion.
During that time, the Decepticons weren’t very active, but when they were, Bluestreak stayed at the base. Neither Prowl nor Smokescreen thought he was ready for battle. Bluestreak didn’t complain much, but he knew he’d have to be in battle at one point. He had a hard time dealing with what happened in Praxus. He often woke up screaming from nightmares and Smokescreen had to calm him down. Sometimes, Prowl would even have to come and help calm him down.
Bluestreak sat in the command center of the base watching the monitors and keeping an optic on the base while most of the other Autobots were out fighting the Decepticons. They had been gone for some time already and Bluestreak hoped they would return soon; he didn’t like it when the base was quiet. A few breems later, he got a message that they were returning and that there were wounded with them. Bluestreak relayed the message to the med bay so the medics would be ready to treat the wounded.
Another mech came into the command center and told Bluestreak it was time to change shifts. Realizing he was right, Bluestreak got to his feet and made his way to the rec room to get a couple cubes of energon for himself and his brothers. He was sure they would need them when they got back. He headed for the base entrance and waited. It didn’t take long for the Autobots to arrive. In the lead was Optimus Prime, but he didn’t see Prowl’s familiar alt-mode next to him like he usually was. Mechs entered the base and began to spread out, heading to whatever destination they chose, the rec room, their quarters, or the med bay. Optimus stood near the entrance, murmuring a few words to passing Autobots and ordering a few mechs to go to the med bay when they didn’t head in that direction.
Finally, Bluestreak caught sight of both of his brothers and gasped. Prowl was injured. Smokescreen was supporting him, but Prowl limped obviously and his armor was scorched. His door-wings were mangled and Bluestreak fluttered his own in sympathy. Prowl had to be in agony. Bluestreak ran over and supported Prowl’s other side. Prowl didn’t even seem to register his presence and he gave Smokescreen an anxious look. The older mech merely shook his head.
“He hasn’t responded to anything since…” said Smokescreen and he glanced at the black and white mech’s door-wings. “I’m surprised he’s not in stasis lock because of the pain.” Bluestreak winced. He had never gone into stasis lock because of his door-wings and he had never really damaged them, but the few times he tweaked them was enough to know they could hurt like the Pit. The pair helped Prowl to the med bay where Ratchet ordered them to put him on a berth. Prowl wasn’t the most damaged mech in the med bay, but Ratchet had to make sure he would at least survive until he was able to get to him.
“I can shut off his pain sensors and give him a sedative, but that’s all I can do for now,” said Ratchet and the door-winged mechs nodded.
“Ratchet, have you ever repaired a mech with door-wings?” asked Smokescreen and Ratchet gave him an annoyed look.
“Now is not the time to ask me this,” snapped Ratchet.
“It is if you don’t want to be attacked when he wakes up,” said Smokescreen grimly and Ratchet looked incredulous. “We’re sensitive to movement and sound because of the sensors in our door-wings. If we’ve been damaged and knocked offline, when we wake up, it’s like we’re still in battle-mode. He’ll attack the closest mech to him if it’s loud when you wake him.”
“You gotta be slagging kidding me,” muttered Ratchet. “Look, I’ll keep him under for as long as I can. When I wake him up, I’ll call you.” Smokescreen nodded and pulled Bluestreak out of the med bay so they’d be out of the way. A while later, Smokescreen returned to the med bay with energon for the medics and the patients that were conscious. Prowl still hadn’t been repaired, but Smokescreen knew that Ratchet wouldn’t let one of his patients remain damaged if he could help it. Smokescreen froze when he noticed Prowl’s fingers twitching. He was waking up.
“Ratchet, Prowl’s waking up,” warned Smokescreen. It was still quite noisy in the med bay with medics working on other mechs and patients talking with one another. Smokescreen knew that any small noise was enough to set Prowl off; this situation could be disastrous. Ratchet quickly grabbed a sedative and made his way over to the berth, but as soon as he touched Prowl, the damaged mech leapt up, spun Ratchet around and held him in a head-lock with the syringe pointing at Ratchet’s throat. The med bay fell silent. “Prowl, it’s alright, it’s just Ratchet. Come on, snap out of it.”
Prowl’s expression was cold and emotionless which unnerved Smokescreen greatly. He’d only seen Prowl get startled awake after being damaged once when he was a youngling and the medic explained that when he was woken up unexpectedly after being damaged, his battle computer took over because he wasn’t fully awake. Even then, when Prowl hadn’t known Diffusion, he had done a lot of damage to the medic.
Prowl seemed to blink and his expression turned to one of confusion. He had finally snapped out of it, his battle computer relinquishing control to his normal processors. He looked around and immediately released Ratchet when he noticed how he was holding the medic. “Ratchet, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m fi-,” started Ratchet, but he cut himself off as he moved to catch Prowl as he collapsed. It seemed that the pain from his injuries finally hit him, and it didn’t help that he was low on energy. Ratchet helped the mech to sit on the berth. “Slag, you need some energon.” Bluestreak, who had come in as Ratchet was helping Prowl back onto the berth, walked over carrying more energon for those remaining in the med bay since Smokescreen couldn’t carry it all. He set the tray down and picked up a cube. He held it out to Prowl and the black and white mech’s hands shook terribly as he tried to grab hold of it. Bluestreak lifted the cube to Prowl’s lips and helped him drink. Once the cube was empty, Ratchet helped Prowl lie back on the berth.
“Sorry about that Ratchet,” said Prowl, his voice quiet because of the pain.
“Don’t worry about it. Smokescreen warned me, but I was going to give you a sedative to keep you under when you moved,” said Ratchet. “But what I don’t get is how you woke so soon.”
“My battle computer,” said Prowl and Ratchet raised an optic ridge. “Most drugs don’t work very well on me because my battle computer considers them a possible threat to my well-being and the information stored in my processors. Also, my battle computer uses a lot of energy, so I have to refuel more often than other mechs. Most sedatives only work half as long as they’re supposed to, maybe less.” By the time Prowl finished explaining, Ratchet was scowling with his arms crossed over his chest.
“And you didn’t think to inform me of this when I became CMO?” growled Ratchet.
“I thought you knew,” said Prowl. “The previous CMO knew and he said he had put it into my medical files. Either you didn’t read them or he didn’t do it like he said he did.”
“Oh, I read your files alright, especially after that little fiasco at Praxus,” said Ratchet. The name of the city earned flinches in various degrees from the three door-winged mechs. “It didn’t mention anything about what you just said.”
“Well, now you know,” said Prowl feeling a little irritated. He was in pain, he couldn’t feel his door-wings, they had an audience, and Ratchet was angry with him for something he had no control over. Ratchet let out a gust of air from his intakes and moved to get a syringe filled with a more powerful sedative.
“Alright, I’ll get to your repairs now. Next time I wake you though, I’ll make sure the med bay is silent,” said Ratchet and Prowl gave him a small, wry smile. Ratchet administered the sedative and in moments, Prowl was in recharge.
The next time Prowl woke, it was silent except for Ratchet gently calling his name. His optics came online and he spotted Ratchet to his left, though he was out of arms reach. Prowl gave the CMO an amused smirk and received an annoyed look in response. Sitting up slowly, he noticed that Smokescreen and Bluestreak weren’t present which was a little unusual. Ratchet spotted the SIC’s puzzled look and sighed.
“Smokescreen was called to go over some plans since you’re still in here,” said Ratchet with a wave of his hand. He wasn’t really one to understand what other mechs did since he had enough to worry about when it came to putting them all back together. Prowl snorted in amusement and Ratchet continued. “Bluestreak is escorting two mechs, transfers and front-liners, to Optimus’ office. They were in here for a quick check before I sent them on their way.” Prowl nodded in understanding. “So, how are you feeling?”
“Much better, thank you Ratchet,” said Prowl as he flicked his repaired door-wings, testing out their movements. Ratchet nodded in acceptance of the gratitude.
“Well, then you’re good to go. Just don’t do anything too strenuous for a little while and make sure you refuel as much as your fragging annoying body needs to,” muttered Ratchet and Prowl gave a light laugh which surprised Ratchet. He had never heard the black and white mech laugh before. It was a warm, clear sound that Ratchet hadn’t thought could come from him.
“I will Ratchet,” said Prowl as he slid to his feet. He moved slowly at first, testing how his body felt, and when he was satisfied, he nodded to Ratchet before leaving the med bay. His first destination was the rec room to get some energon and he nodded to the mechs he saw there. Many of them said they were glad he was alright which was a little strange for Prowl since he wasn’t really on good terms with the rest of the mechs on base. He headed to his office and sat down to get some reports done. One of them was on the two front-line mechs that had just transferred. He read it over carefully, and when he moved to pick up another report, someone knocked on his door. “Enter.”
The door slid open and two mechs stepped into the room, one red and the other yellow. Immediately, Prowl knew these two were the front-liners. The red one was named Sideswipe and the yellow was named Sunstreaker; they were twins. They also had quite the reputation. The door slid closed behind them and they stood casually in front of his desk. Sideswipe stood relaxed with a cheeky grin, while Sunstreaker stood with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.
“Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, I presume?” asked Prowl and the twins glanced at each other with raised optic ridges before turning back to Prowl with a nod. Prowl held up the report he had just read and when they saw the contents, they smirked. “I am Prowl, Second in Command and Tactical Officer. Welcome to Iacon.”
“Thanks,” said Sideswipe with a wide grin.
“I have heard of your…reputations and while I am impressed with your skills in battle, I am less than impressed with the other part of your reputations. On this base, you both will behave or you will face the consequences. Sunstreaker, I hope you will have better control over your temper here and Sideswipe, I don’t want to hear of any pranks, because if you do, you’ll be sent to the brig and you’ll be doing menial work around the base. Honestly, I don’t care about where you’re from or what you did before you joined the Autobots, yes I know about it. I’m giving you both a chance to start over without anyone here but myself and Optimus Prime knowing about your previous actions. Don’t waste it.” Both mechs looked quite stunned at Prowl’s statements and Prowl would have smirked at the amusing sight, but he didn’t want them to think he was going to go easy on them.
“…Yes sir,” said the twins finally and Prowl nodded in acceptance.
“One more thing,” said Prowl and the pair looked curious. “This matter is a little more…personal. If either of you hurt Bluestreak in any way, I will tear you both apart and no one will know it was me, is that understood?” Prowl’s tone was icy cold and the two mechs looked shocked at the sudden change of tone. They had never heard an Autobot use that kind of tone before and it was a little scary to say the least, especially coming from the Second in Command.
“Yes sir,” they said quickly, but Sunstreaker scowled. He didn’t like being intimidated and the fact that a mech smaller than him could do so was a blow to his pride. But both front-liners were intrigued as to why Prowl was so protective of the talkative gray mech that had led them there.
“Good, dismissed,” said Prowl. The door slid open and Bluestreak poked his head inside. The twins noticed the smile on Prowl’s lips when he saw the sniper.
“Bluestreak, is there something you needed?” asked Prowl. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe also noticed the warmth in Prowl’s tone which was the total opposite of what they had just heard. This mech was confusing.
“Not really, just making sure that you’re going to join me in the training room later like you promised,” said Bluestreak. Prowl had promised to train Bluestreak in Diffusion every day in the evenings once he got all or most of his work done.
“Of course Bluestreak. I’ll be there in a joor,” said Prowl and Bluestreak nodded before turning to the twins.
“Hey you two,” greeted Bluestreak cheerfully. “If you want, I can show you the rec room and introduce you to some of the others.”
“Uh…sure,” said Sideswipe as he glanced back at Prowl who was giving him a warning look. The three younger mechs left Prowl’s office and headed for the rec room. “So, Bluestreak, right?” The gray mech nodded with a smile. “You seem pretty close to Prowl.”
“Well, yeah,” said Bluestreak with a shrug. “I was the only survivor of the attack on Praxus and Prowl was the one who found me.”
“But we heard there weren’t any survivors,” muttered Sunstreaker.
“That’s what Prowl wanted bots to think,” said Bluestreak and the twins looked a little confused. “He said that if the Decepticons knew there was a survivor, they would come after me to kill me, so no one really knows about it. Anyway, Prowl found me and he kind of became my mentor; teaching me how to be a sniper and he’s also teaching me Diffusion; that’s what we’re doing in the training room later. He also made it so I get to stay with my older brother, Smokescreen, since I sometimes get nightmares and I have a hard time recharging because of what happened to Praxus.”
“Whoa, so he really looked out for you,” said Sideswipe and Bluestreak nodded happily.
“Wait, you said he taught you to be a sniper? That means…” said Sunstreaker.
“That he’s a sniper too?” asked Sideswipe and Bluestreak nodded with a grin.
“Yep, he’s a certified sniper and he’s a master of Diffusion, Circuit Su, and Metallikato,” said Bluestreak and the twins gaped.
“No way,” said Sideswipe as they entered the rec room and sat down at one of the tables.
“He can’t be that good if he was the last one in the med bay. He must have been hurt pretty bad,” said Sunstreaker smugly.
“Well, kind of, but it was mostly his door-wings,” said Bluestreak, drawing attention to his own with a flick.
“Door-wings hurt like the Pit when they’re damaged,” said Smokescreen as he sat down next to Bluestreak.
“Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, this is my older brother Smokescreen. Smokey, this is Sunstreaker and this is Sideswipe, they’re front-liners,” said Bluestreak. Smokescreen nodded in greeting.
“Back to Prowl, Ratchet wanted to make sure the med bay was quiet when he woke up, especially after the incident earlier,” said Smokescreen and he continued before the twins could ask. “Door-winged bots tend to attack first and ask questions later when they’re startled awake after being damaged. It’s some sort of defense mechanism. Prowl attacked Ratchet earlier when the med bay was still full. Luckily, Prowl managed to restrain himself before he hurt Ratchet, but I think the CMO learned his lesson.”
“You did warn him Smokey,” said Bluestreak with a smirk and the older mech nodded. For a while, the four sat and talked until Bluestreak stood up to go to the training room. The twins asked to watch and they followed the smaller mech. When they got to the training room, Prowl was already there and he was gracefully moving through the basic stances of Metallikato. The twins suddenly grinned.
“Hey Sunny, you wanna see if he’s really a master?” asked Sideswipe.
“Slag yeah, and don’t call me Sunny,” said Sunstreaker.
“Uh guys, that’s really not a good idea,” said Bluestreak.
“Don’t worry Blue, we’re not going to hurt him,” said Sideswipe with a grin.
“It’s not him I’m worried about,” said Bluestreak and the two gave him incredulous looks. “He really, really doesn’t like it when he’s interrupted. He won’t go easy on you.” The twins merely grinned.
“And that’s exactly what we want,” they said in unison and they began moving cautiously towards Prowl. When they were close enough, they pounced and were promptly slammed into the ground by a swift move from Prowl. They stared at him incredulously as he glared down at them before they leapt to their feet and attacked. They threw punches and kicks, working together to try and land a hit on Prowl, but the smaller mech was faster and more nimble than the front-line twins. After about a breem of seeing how they fought, Prowl retaliated putting the twins on the defensive. Another breem later, the twins were on the ground with Prowl’s twin one-sided and slightly curved energy swords at their throats above their main energon lines.
“I do not appreciate being interrupted,” said Prowl coldly. “At least you both know that I am indeed capable of carrying out my previous threat, so don’t push me.” The twins nodded carefully, trying not to nick themselves on Prowl’s swords.
“Whoa Prowl, I didn’t know you carried energy swords,” said Bluestreak excitedly.
“They’re not a weapon I can use easily on the battlefield since I am the tactician. I used them more often before the war, but I never stopped carrying them,” said Prowl as he put them away. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe got up, inspecting all the dents and scratches in their frames before looking at Prowl’s armor noticing that it was immaculate.
“I tried to warn you,” said Bluestreak when he noticed what the twins were looking at.
“I’m sorry Bluestreak, but it looks like I’ll have to cancel your training for tonight. Ratchet ordered me not to do anything too strenuous, which was thwarted by these two, so I should get some energon and some recharge,” said Prowl. Bluestreak looked a little disappointed but understood. Prowl had just been repaired after all.
“Alright, good night Prowl,” said Bluestreak.
“Rest well Bluestreak,” said Prowl and he nodded to the twins before leaving the training room.
“Slag, we got our afts handed to us,” said Sideswipe and Sunstreaker grumbled.
“Yes,” said Bluestreak with an infectious grin, “Yes you did.”
Title: To Catch a Thief
Rating: T
Characters: Prowl, Smokescreen, Bluestreak, Ratchet, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe
Over time, Bluestreak became one of the best snipers the Autobots had and Smokescreen became the base’s official psychologist and he worked under Prowl as a diversionary tactician. Both mechs could often be seen in the presence of Prowl, the Autobot’s SIC and Head Tactician, and there were rumors going around about the relationship of the three mechs. Most believed that Smokescreen and Prowl were good friends because of their shared profession and that Bluestreak saw Prowl as a mentor which was helped by the fact that Prowl would often be seen in the training room with the younger mech teaching him Diffusion.
During that time, the Decepticons weren’t very active, but when they were, Bluestreak stayed at the base. Neither Prowl nor Smokescreen thought he was ready for battle. Bluestreak didn’t complain much, but he knew he’d have to be in battle at one point. He had a hard time dealing with what happened in Praxus. He often woke up screaming from nightmares and Smokescreen had to calm him down. Sometimes, Prowl would even have to come and help calm him down.
Bluestreak sat in the command center of the base watching the monitors and keeping an optic on the base while most of the other Autobots were out fighting the Decepticons. They had been gone for some time already and Bluestreak hoped they would return soon; he didn’t like it when the base was quiet. A few breems later, he got a message that they were returning and that there were wounded with them. Bluestreak relayed the message to the med bay so the medics would be ready to treat the wounded.
Another mech came into the command center and told Bluestreak it was time to change shifts. Realizing he was right, Bluestreak got to his feet and made his way to the rec room to get a couple cubes of energon for himself and his brothers. He was sure they would need them when they got back. He headed for the base entrance and waited. It didn’t take long for the Autobots to arrive. In the lead was Optimus Prime, but he didn’t see Prowl’s familiar alt-mode next to him like he usually was. Mechs entered the base and began to spread out, heading to whatever destination they chose, the rec room, their quarters, or the med bay. Optimus stood near the entrance, murmuring a few words to passing Autobots and ordering a few mechs to go to the med bay when they didn’t head in that direction.
Finally, Bluestreak caught sight of both of his brothers and gasped. Prowl was injured. Smokescreen was supporting him, but Prowl limped obviously and his armor was scorched. His door-wings were mangled and Bluestreak fluttered his own in sympathy. Prowl had to be in agony. Bluestreak ran over and supported Prowl’s other side. Prowl didn’t even seem to register his presence and he gave Smokescreen an anxious look. The older mech merely shook his head.
“He hasn’t responded to anything since…” said Smokescreen and he glanced at the black and white mech’s door-wings. “I’m surprised he’s not in stasis lock because of the pain.” Bluestreak winced. He had never gone into stasis lock because of his door-wings and he had never really damaged them, but the few times he tweaked them was enough to know they could hurt like the Pit. The pair helped Prowl to the med bay where Ratchet ordered them to put him on a berth. Prowl wasn’t the most damaged mech in the med bay, but Ratchet had to make sure he would at least survive until he was able to get to him.
“I can shut off his pain sensors and give him a sedative, but that’s all I can do for now,” said Ratchet and the door-winged mechs nodded.
“Ratchet, have you ever repaired a mech with door-wings?” asked Smokescreen and Ratchet gave him an annoyed look.
“Now is not the time to ask me this,” snapped Ratchet.
“It is if you don’t want to be attacked when he wakes up,” said Smokescreen grimly and Ratchet looked incredulous. “We’re sensitive to movement and sound because of the sensors in our door-wings. If we’ve been damaged and knocked offline, when we wake up, it’s like we’re still in battle-mode. He’ll attack the closest mech to him if it’s loud when you wake him.”
“You gotta be slagging kidding me,” muttered Ratchet. “Look, I’ll keep him under for as long as I can. When I wake him up, I’ll call you.” Smokescreen nodded and pulled Bluestreak out of the med bay so they’d be out of the way. A while later, Smokescreen returned to the med bay with energon for the medics and the patients that were conscious. Prowl still hadn’t been repaired, but Smokescreen knew that Ratchet wouldn’t let one of his patients remain damaged if he could help it. Smokescreen froze when he noticed Prowl’s fingers twitching. He was waking up.
“Ratchet, Prowl’s waking up,” warned Smokescreen. It was still quite noisy in the med bay with medics working on other mechs and patients talking with one another. Smokescreen knew that any small noise was enough to set Prowl off; this situation could be disastrous. Ratchet quickly grabbed a sedative and made his way over to the berth, but as soon as he touched Prowl, the damaged mech leapt up, spun Ratchet around and held him in a head-lock with the syringe pointing at Ratchet’s throat. The med bay fell silent. “Prowl, it’s alright, it’s just Ratchet. Come on, snap out of it.”
Prowl’s expression was cold and emotionless which unnerved Smokescreen greatly. He’d only seen Prowl get startled awake after being damaged once when he was a youngling and the medic explained that when he was woken up unexpectedly after being damaged, his battle computer took over because he wasn’t fully awake. Even then, when Prowl hadn’t known Diffusion, he had done a lot of damage to the medic.
Prowl seemed to blink and his expression turned to one of confusion. He had finally snapped out of it, his battle computer relinquishing control to his normal processors. He looked around and immediately released Ratchet when he noticed how he was holding the medic. “Ratchet, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m fi-,” started Ratchet, but he cut himself off as he moved to catch Prowl as he collapsed. It seemed that the pain from his injuries finally hit him, and it didn’t help that he was low on energy. Ratchet helped the mech to sit on the berth. “Slag, you need some energon.” Bluestreak, who had come in as Ratchet was helping Prowl back onto the berth, walked over carrying more energon for those remaining in the med bay since Smokescreen couldn’t carry it all. He set the tray down and picked up a cube. He held it out to Prowl and the black and white mech’s hands shook terribly as he tried to grab hold of it. Bluestreak lifted the cube to Prowl’s lips and helped him drink. Once the cube was empty, Ratchet helped Prowl lie back on the berth.
“Sorry about that Ratchet,” said Prowl, his voice quiet because of the pain.
“Don’t worry about it. Smokescreen warned me, but I was going to give you a sedative to keep you under when you moved,” said Ratchet. “But what I don’t get is how you woke so soon.”
“My battle computer,” said Prowl and Ratchet raised an optic ridge. “Most drugs don’t work very well on me because my battle computer considers them a possible threat to my well-being and the information stored in my processors. Also, my battle computer uses a lot of energy, so I have to refuel more often than other mechs. Most sedatives only work half as long as they’re supposed to, maybe less.” By the time Prowl finished explaining, Ratchet was scowling with his arms crossed over his chest.
“And you didn’t think to inform me of this when I became CMO?” growled Ratchet.
“I thought you knew,” said Prowl. “The previous CMO knew and he said he had put it into my medical files. Either you didn’t read them or he didn’t do it like he said he did.”
“Oh, I read your files alright, especially after that little fiasco at Praxus,” said Ratchet. The name of the city earned flinches in various degrees from the three door-winged mechs. “It didn’t mention anything about what you just said.”
“Well, now you know,” said Prowl feeling a little irritated. He was in pain, he couldn’t feel his door-wings, they had an audience, and Ratchet was angry with him for something he had no control over. Ratchet let out a gust of air from his intakes and moved to get a syringe filled with a more powerful sedative.
“Alright, I’ll get to your repairs now. Next time I wake you though, I’ll make sure the med bay is silent,” said Ratchet and Prowl gave him a small, wry smile. Ratchet administered the sedative and in moments, Prowl was in recharge.
The next time Prowl woke, it was silent except for Ratchet gently calling his name. His optics came online and he spotted Ratchet to his left, though he was out of arms reach. Prowl gave the CMO an amused smirk and received an annoyed look in response. Sitting up slowly, he noticed that Smokescreen and Bluestreak weren’t present which was a little unusual. Ratchet spotted the SIC’s puzzled look and sighed.
“Smokescreen was called to go over some plans since you’re still in here,” said Ratchet with a wave of his hand. He wasn’t really one to understand what other mechs did since he had enough to worry about when it came to putting them all back together. Prowl snorted in amusement and Ratchet continued. “Bluestreak is escorting two mechs, transfers and front-liners, to Optimus’ office. They were in here for a quick check before I sent them on their way.” Prowl nodded in understanding. “So, how are you feeling?”
“Much better, thank you Ratchet,” said Prowl as he flicked his repaired door-wings, testing out their movements. Ratchet nodded in acceptance of the gratitude.
“Well, then you’re good to go. Just don’t do anything too strenuous for a little while and make sure you refuel as much as your fragging annoying body needs to,” muttered Ratchet and Prowl gave a light laugh which surprised Ratchet. He had never heard the black and white mech laugh before. It was a warm, clear sound that Ratchet hadn’t thought could come from him.
“I will Ratchet,” said Prowl as he slid to his feet. He moved slowly at first, testing how his body felt, and when he was satisfied, he nodded to Ratchet before leaving the med bay. His first destination was the rec room to get some energon and he nodded to the mechs he saw there. Many of them said they were glad he was alright which was a little strange for Prowl since he wasn’t really on good terms with the rest of the mechs on base. He headed to his office and sat down to get some reports done. One of them was on the two front-line mechs that had just transferred. He read it over carefully, and when he moved to pick up another report, someone knocked on his door. “Enter.”
The door slid open and two mechs stepped into the room, one red and the other yellow. Immediately, Prowl knew these two were the front-liners. The red one was named Sideswipe and the yellow was named Sunstreaker; they were twins. They also had quite the reputation. The door slid closed behind them and they stood casually in front of his desk. Sideswipe stood relaxed with a cheeky grin, while Sunstreaker stood with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.
“Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, I presume?” asked Prowl and the twins glanced at each other with raised optic ridges before turning back to Prowl with a nod. Prowl held up the report he had just read and when they saw the contents, they smirked. “I am Prowl, Second in Command and Tactical Officer. Welcome to Iacon.”
“Thanks,” said Sideswipe with a wide grin.
“I have heard of your…reputations and while I am impressed with your skills in battle, I am less than impressed with the other part of your reputations. On this base, you both will behave or you will face the consequences. Sunstreaker, I hope you will have better control over your temper here and Sideswipe, I don’t want to hear of any pranks, because if you do, you’ll be sent to the brig and you’ll be doing menial work around the base. Honestly, I don’t care about where you’re from or what you did before you joined the Autobots, yes I know about it. I’m giving you both a chance to start over without anyone here but myself and Optimus Prime knowing about your previous actions. Don’t waste it.” Both mechs looked quite stunned at Prowl’s statements and Prowl would have smirked at the amusing sight, but he didn’t want them to think he was going to go easy on them.
“…Yes sir,” said the twins finally and Prowl nodded in acceptance.
“One more thing,” said Prowl and the pair looked curious. “This matter is a little more…personal. If either of you hurt Bluestreak in any way, I will tear you both apart and no one will know it was me, is that understood?” Prowl’s tone was icy cold and the two mechs looked shocked at the sudden change of tone. They had never heard an Autobot use that kind of tone before and it was a little scary to say the least, especially coming from the Second in Command.
“Yes sir,” they said quickly, but Sunstreaker scowled. He didn’t like being intimidated and the fact that a mech smaller than him could do so was a blow to his pride. But both front-liners were intrigued as to why Prowl was so protective of the talkative gray mech that had led them there.
“Good, dismissed,” said Prowl. The door slid open and Bluestreak poked his head inside. The twins noticed the smile on Prowl’s lips when he saw the sniper.
“Bluestreak, is there something you needed?” asked Prowl. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe also noticed the warmth in Prowl’s tone which was the total opposite of what they had just heard. This mech was confusing.
“Not really, just making sure that you’re going to join me in the training room later like you promised,” said Bluestreak. Prowl had promised to train Bluestreak in Diffusion every day in the evenings once he got all or most of his work done.
“Of course Bluestreak. I’ll be there in a joor,” said Prowl and Bluestreak nodded before turning to the twins.
“Hey you two,” greeted Bluestreak cheerfully. “If you want, I can show you the rec room and introduce you to some of the others.”
“Uh…sure,” said Sideswipe as he glanced back at Prowl who was giving him a warning look. The three younger mechs left Prowl’s office and headed for the rec room. “So, Bluestreak, right?” The gray mech nodded with a smile. “You seem pretty close to Prowl.”
“Well, yeah,” said Bluestreak with a shrug. “I was the only survivor of the attack on Praxus and Prowl was the one who found me.”
“But we heard there weren’t any survivors,” muttered Sunstreaker.
“That’s what Prowl wanted bots to think,” said Bluestreak and the twins looked a little confused. “He said that if the Decepticons knew there was a survivor, they would come after me to kill me, so no one really knows about it. Anyway, Prowl found me and he kind of became my mentor; teaching me how to be a sniper and he’s also teaching me Diffusion; that’s what we’re doing in the training room later. He also made it so I get to stay with my older brother, Smokescreen, since I sometimes get nightmares and I have a hard time recharging because of what happened to Praxus.”
“Whoa, so he really looked out for you,” said Sideswipe and Bluestreak nodded happily.
“Wait, you said he taught you to be a sniper? That means…” said Sunstreaker.
“That he’s a sniper too?” asked Sideswipe and Bluestreak nodded with a grin.
“Yep, he’s a certified sniper and he’s a master of Diffusion, Circuit Su, and Metallikato,” said Bluestreak and the twins gaped.
“No way,” said Sideswipe as they entered the rec room and sat down at one of the tables.
“He can’t be that good if he was the last one in the med bay. He must have been hurt pretty bad,” said Sunstreaker smugly.
“Well, kind of, but it was mostly his door-wings,” said Bluestreak, drawing attention to his own with a flick.
“Door-wings hurt like the Pit when they’re damaged,” said Smokescreen as he sat down next to Bluestreak.
“Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, this is my older brother Smokescreen. Smokey, this is Sunstreaker and this is Sideswipe, they’re front-liners,” said Bluestreak. Smokescreen nodded in greeting.
“Back to Prowl, Ratchet wanted to make sure the med bay was quiet when he woke up, especially after the incident earlier,” said Smokescreen and he continued before the twins could ask. “Door-winged bots tend to attack first and ask questions later when they’re startled awake after being damaged. It’s some sort of defense mechanism. Prowl attacked Ratchet earlier when the med bay was still full. Luckily, Prowl managed to restrain himself before he hurt Ratchet, but I think the CMO learned his lesson.”
“You did warn him Smokey,” said Bluestreak with a smirk and the older mech nodded. For a while, the four sat and talked until Bluestreak stood up to go to the training room. The twins asked to watch and they followed the smaller mech. When they got to the training room, Prowl was already there and he was gracefully moving through the basic stances of Metallikato. The twins suddenly grinned.
“Hey Sunny, you wanna see if he’s really a master?” asked Sideswipe.
“Slag yeah, and don’t call me Sunny,” said Sunstreaker.
“Uh guys, that’s really not a good idea,” said Bluestreak.
“Don’t worry Blue, we’re not going to hurt him,” said Sideswipe with a grin.
“It’s not him I’m worried about,” said Bluestreak and the two gave him incredulous looks. “He really, really doesn’t like it when he’s interrupted. He won’t go easy on you.” The twins merely grinned.
“And that’s exactly what we want,” they said in unison and they began moving cautiously towards Prowl. When they were close enough, they pounced and were promptly slammed into the ground by a swift move from Prowl. They stared at him incredulously as he glared down at them before they leapt to their feet and attacked. They threw punches and kicks, working together to try and land a hit on Prowl, but the smaller mech was faster and more nimble than the front-line twins. After about a breem of seeing how they fought, Prowl retaliated putting the twins on the defensive. Another breem later, the twins were on the ground with Prowl’s twin one-sided and slightly curved energy swords at their throats above their main energon lines.
“I do not appreciate being interrupted,” said Prowl coldly. “At least you both know that I am indeed capable of carrying out my previous threat, so don’t push me.” The twins nodded carefully, trying not to nick themselves on Prowl’s swords.
“Whoa Prowl, I didn’t know you carried energy swords,” said Bluestreak excitedly.
“They’re not a weapon I can use easily on the battlefield since I am the tactician. I used them more often before the war, but I never stopped carrying them,” said Prowl as he put them away. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe got up, inspecting all the dents and scratches in their frames before looking at Prowl’s armor noticing that it was immaculate.
“I tried to warn you,” said Bluestreak when he noticed what the twins were looking at.
“I’m sorry Bluestreak, but it looks like I’ll have to cancel your training for tonight. Ratchet ordered me not to do anything too strenuous, which was thwarted by these two, so I should get some energon and some recharge,” said Prowl. Bluestreak looked a little disappointed but understood. Prowl had just been repaired after all.
“Alright, good night Prowl,” said Bluestreak.
“Rest well Bluestreak,” said Prowl and he nodded to the twins before leaving the training room.
“Slag, we got our afts handed to us,” said Sideswipe and Sunstreaker grumbled.
“Yes,” said Bluestreak with an infectious grin, “Yes you did.”