(no subject)
Title: Father
Universe: Transformers Animated, Rainbow Connection 'Verse
Rating: T
Characters: Sari Sumdac, Captain Fanzine
Prompt: Sari Sumdac/Fanzone - Daughter
Content Advisory: mentions of kidnapping, mentions of child murder
"I had a daughter once," the captain said softly, staring at the hard concrete of the sidewalk and not meeting her gaze.
Sari paused in wrapping the bandage around his arm--he may have gotten in better shape after all his years working with Autobots, but he was still getting too old for active combat--and looked at him curiously. The statement sounded like it had come from nowhere, but Carmine Fanzone didn't bring up any topic frivolously. He didn't like casual conversation enough for that.
"She would have been a little older than you, maybe three when you were born or assembled or whatever," the older man continued. "She went to school one day and never came back. That's irony for you, right? The captain of the police force with a missing daughter."
The techno-organic woman didn't say anything, sure that he needed to just get the words out and not actually talk. He needed to clean something out of his brain, and she was just going to let him. Instead, she returned to bandaging his wound and supporting him silently.
"They found her months later in the back of an ice cream truck. The automated kind with no driver, so there hadn't been anyone to notice the smell until a maintenance worker found her. Whoever killed her hadn't even bothered to put her in the freezer. They just shoved her in and left her to rot." Fanzone sighed deeply. "That was... probably six months before the Autobots showed up. That's why I didn't want to take you in when your father was kidnapped. I... I couldn't cope with another little girl yet."
Sari tucked the end of the bandage under the bulk of the wrapping and secured everything with a piece of tape. "I didn't know about your daughter. I'm sorry."
"It was a long time ago, now. I just thought you should know why I left you hanging back when you were a kid."
"I never blamed you, even back then. I was a difficult child, at best." She reached out and hugged him. "I understand you a lot better now, though."
Tentatively, he hugged her back. "Thanks, kid."
"I'm twenty seven! I am not a kid!"
"Sari, when you're my age, everyone under thirty is a kid." The captain pulled back from the hug and looked her in the eyes. "Seriously, though, thanks. I don't think I realized how much I needed to remember her."
There was an explosion and Strika flew past them and fell into the new fitness center. The hybrid stood back up and drew her energon blades. "Once we've finished up with these guys, you can tell me all about her."
Fanzone stood more slowly and nodded. "I think I'd like that."
Universe: Transformers Animated, Rainbow Connection 'Verse
Rating: T
Characters: Sari Sumdac, Captain Fanzine
Prompt: Sari Sumdac/Fanzone - Daughter
Content Advisory: mentions of kidnapping, mentions of child murder
"I had a daughter once," the captain said softly, staring at the hard concrete of the sidewalk and not meeting her gaze.
Sari paused in wrapping the bandage around his arm--he may have gotten in better shape after all his years working with Autobots, but he was still getting too old for active combat--and looked at him curiously. The statement sounded like it had come from nowhere, but Carmine Fanzone didn't bring up any topic frivolously. He didn't like casual conversation enough for that.
"She would have been a little older than you, maybe three when you were born or assembled or whatever," the older man continued. "She went to school one day and never came back. That's irony for you, right? The captain of the police force with a missing daughter."
The techno-organic woman didn't say anything, sure that he needed to just get the words out and not actually talk. He needed to clean something out of his brain, and she was just going to let him. Instead, she returned to bandaging his wound and supporting him silently.
"They found her months later in the back of an ice cream truck. The automated kind with no driver, so there hadn't been anyone to notice the smell until a maintenance worker found her. Whoever killed her hadn't even bothered to put her in the freezer. They just shoved her in and left her to rot." Fanzone sighed deeply. "That was... probably six months before the Autobots showed up. That's why I didn't want to take you in when your father was kidnapped. I... I couldn't cope with another little girl yet."
Sari tucked the end of the bandage under the bulk of the wrapping and secured everything with a piece of tape. "I didn't know about your daughter. I'm sorry."
"It was a long time ago, now. I just thought you should know why I left you hanging back when you were a kid."
"I never blamed you, even back then. I was a difficult child, at best." She reached out and hugged him. "I understand you a lot better now, though."
Tentatively, he hugged her back. "Thanks, kid."
"I'm twenty seven! I am not a kid!"
"Sari, when you're my age, everyone under thirty is a kid." The captain pulled back from the hug and looked her in the eyes. "Seriously, though, thanks. I don't think I realized how much I needed to remember her."
There was an explosion and Strika flew past them and fell into the new fitness center. The hybrid stood back up and drew her energon blades. "Once we've finished up with these guys, you can tell me all about her."
Fanzone stood more slowly and nodded. "I think I'd like that."