Title: Concerning Unneeded Surveillance
Verse: G1
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Red Alert, Skyfire, Wheeljack, One Sided Red AlertxSkyfire
Word Count: 1,462
Warnings: Touching, Implied slash
Summary: It's not a good thing when the Security Director takes an interest in you.
Series: Concerning Skyfire's Unfortunate Courtship
Concerning Unneeded Inspections (Part 1),
Concerning Unneeded Surveillance (Part 2),
Concerning Much Needed Advice (Part 3),
Concerning Several Related Incidents (Part 4),
Notes: I blame
raelynhb again.
“Skyfire, what are you doing?” Wheeljack asked, peering at him from across the room.
Said flier was currently standing on the edge of a lab table, increasing his considerable height, reaching toward a security camera. “I prefer to keep some of my experiments classified.” He said, pressing what looked to be silly putty into the lens of the camera.
“Red Alert won’t be happy about that.” The engineer noted.
“I will deal with him when the time comes.” Skyfire replied, stepping down from the table and wiping his hands off on a rag. “Unfortunately, our security director seems to be very… Interested in my work at this time and it is rather unnerving to have a camera clicking at you constantly.”
Wheeljack chuckled and looked back down at the piece of machinery he was tickering with. “So Red Alert has taken an interest in you?”
Skyfire sighed deeply and moved back over to attend to several petri dishes which contained a number of bacteria he and Perceptor were currently studying. “It’s rather nerve racking.”
“You know he has cameras in the wash racks too.” Wheeljack noted, obviously amused.
“Please don’t remind me.” Skyfire said, shuddering. “I have enough trouble cleaning myself in there without having to think about that.”
Wheeljack chuckled and shook his head, but said nothing. That was probably a good thing though, as the majority of his explosions were caused because someone had distracted him during his work.
Skyfire had only a few moments to observe the bacterium in peace before that blasted security camera started clicking, making an attempt to extend its lens. As of this point, it was impossible though, as the putty had hardened over it, preventing movement.
Obviously, the security director realized the problem as the camera stopped clicking, but the loudspeaker to the lab turned on.
“There is something blocking the camera lens in the lab. Wheeljack, Skyfire, could one of you kindly remove it?” Red Alert called through the system.
Skyfire groaned softly, but turned his optics toward the speaker that the voice came from. “I would like to have a bit of privacy while I work Red Alert. The cover stays on for now.”
There was a long pause in which the flier thought he might have some peace. He was of course, wrong.
“That is a violation of security protocol.” The voice said finally. “If you do not remove it, I will be forced to come down myself and remove the obstruction as well as to perform an inspection to ensure that nothing has made its way into the room while the camera was disabled.”
Both Skyfire and Wheeljack winced at that. Red Alert’s inspections were highly invasive and detailed. Of course, Skyfire had experienced a full body security inspection once before… That was when Red Alert had taken up a strange fascination with him.
“I will remove it immedia-“ Skyfire began.
He was cut off by a loud buzzer. “Too late, I will be down in a few kliks.” Red Alert called over the system.
When the sound died out, Wheeljack and Skyfire turned and looked at each other in horror.
“You got me involved.” Wheeljack noted.
“I didn’t think he’d attend to the problem personally!” Skyfire objected.
“Red Alert is infatuated with you! He’d jump at any opportunity to personally ‘inspect’ you!” Wheeljack shot back.
Skyfire looked horrified by the idea. “He’s not touching my wing struts again!”
Wheeljack made a choking sound and stared at him. “He did what?”
“He inspected my wing struts and claimed he had no idea how sensitive a flier’s wings are.”
“How does he not know? It’s pretty common knowledge.” Wheeljack responded.
“Not really.” Skyfire sighed, looking at him. “Besides, you only know from personal experience.”
The engineer shrugged, but grinned under his mask. “I was told fliers were an interesting experience.”
Skyfire snorted. “So you went with Powerglide?”
“Would you have accepted?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
They both looked at the door when they heard a tapping of keys outside the main door of the lab.
“Wheeljack, he’s coming!” Skyfire hissed. “Now would be a good time for you to make something explode!”
“I don’t do it on purpose!”
“Well try!”
The door slide open with a hiss and Red Alert stepped into the room rather quickly. The mech peered around the room, not looking the least bit angry or freaked out as someone interfering with his cameras usually made him.
“Ah, Skyfire.” The mech said, locking his optics on the flier as if he hadn’t immediately seen him.
“Red Alert, this is completely unnecessary.” Skyfire said quickly, trying to step out of the way as the other mech walked toward him. “I can remove the obstruction myself.”
“According the archived video feed, it is because of you that the obstruction is there in the first place. Why?” Red Alert’s optics darted past him. “Wheeljack, if you must leave, please use the main door. If you sneak out the back door, it may interfere with my inspection.”
Said engineer had been stealthily trying to abandon the other scientist and looked only slightly guilty to be caught in the act. “Right, the main door.” He said, nodding. He quickly scurried toward that door, giving Skyfire a nod as he escaped. The flier gaped at him.
Red Alert only seemed to be pleased by the mech’s fleeing. Of course, it left him alone with Skyfire.
“Now, I must deal with the obstruction.” He said, looking professional as he looked up at the camera.
Skyfire cycled his vents in a sigh. “Let me, I’m tall enough to reach it.” He volunteered. He knew the other option was to pick the smaller mech up, which was out of the question.
“Please do. I will begin my inspection of the room then.”
The flier pulled himself up on the table and reached toward the lens cap, hoping that the mech’s inspection took him elsewhere in the room.
The moment that his fingers started scrapping away at the dried putty though, he knew he was wrong.
“Red Alert!” Skyfire yelped, wobbling on the table.
The security director removed his hand from where it had been stroking his foot. He gave no explanation since they both knew he had none.
The flier gave the mech a weak glare before he turned his attention back to trying to peel away the dried goop. Once more, he felt a hand move over his pede, this time higher up though, near his ankle. He chose not to mention it this time, resigning himself to “grinning and bearing it”, as the humans put it. That proved to be the worse choice though, as several fingers moved between a seam in his ankle and stroked a bundle of wires there.
Skyfire bit back a groan. Normally such an average bunch of wires were not nearly as sensitive, but the security director’s presence always put his systems on high alert, super charging nearly every section of his body. It was a curse that the other mech seemed to be highly enjoying.
He was halfway through the putty and Red Alert had decided that standing on the table next to his leg was far more interesting that trying to tweak his systems from the floor. He was right too.
The security director was running is fingers over wires and sensors along the back of his leg in a near maddening assault. It wasn’t long before Skyfire was forced to release a low groan. In response, the hands paused for a brief moment then renewed their inspection with increased energy.
Skyfire wobbled on the table again, nearly clinging to the camera now to keep from toppling over. He opened his mouth to stutter a warning of his unstable condition to the mech below, but he soon realized it seemed to be the other mech’s intention.
Two fingers rubbed the edges an atmospheric sensor near his knee. He gave a cry of surprise and immediately tumbled to the floor.
There was a lengthy pause between the two mechs after that, mainly due to the fact that Skyfire was staring in shock at the ceiling, one leg still caught on the table and the other bent underneath his body in what would have been an uncomfortable position had he noticed it.
“Uh… Skyfire…?”
“….Yes?”
“Is your wing supposed to bend like that?”
“No Red Alert. It’s not.”
There was another pause in which Red Alert seemed to be regretting his plan to push Skyfire off of a table and then ravish him, as the flier was sure that was his plan. Skyfire spent that time wondering if the lack of feeling in his left wing was a good thing or a bad thing. He couldn’t decide.
“I’ll call Ratchet.”
“Please do.”