Hard To Accept
Yup, here's another prompt for you from the over_look series.
Fandom: Transformers
Claim: Autobot Cassettes
Other characters/pairings: Blaster, Windcharger
Table/Theme Name & Number: IV/ 1. Hard
Rating: PG
Warnings: some violence.
Summary: Windcharger really cant understand why Ramhorn is so hard on his brothers.
Hard To Accept
He knew he was hard on them. He had to be. Coddling them and cuddling them was all well and good, but it wouldn’t keep them alive in a war. Sure, he took flak for it - sometimes even from Blaster himself - but he usually let it bounce off his thick hide the way enemy gunfire did. Let Blaster be the one to kiss all their wounds better, he would make sure they stayed alive for him to kiss.
Ramhorn snorted as he charged his way across the battlefield, heedless of the Decepticons that got in his way - he merely ploughed through them like they were trees - and the laser fire that pinged off his toughened armor - they stung like little sparks of static which was more annoying than debilitating. Nor did he pay much attention to the mech running beside him and laying down coverfire.
“Slow down, Ramhorn!” Windcharger yelled from beside him. “I know this sounds surreal coming from me, but you cant just keep charging through the field without a plan, you’ll end up getting yourself killed!”
The rhino never slowed. “You plan then, I’ll be over there bagging some Decepticons.”
He reared up on his hind legs and took a lunge with his horn at Buzzsaw as the yellow-and-black buzzard swooped down at him, barely missing gutting the creature when he pulled up at the last moment and wheeled away. Snorting in disdain, Ramhorn dropped back to all fours and continued charging to where Rumble and Frenzy were busy tag-teaming Rewind.
Windcharger cursed and activated his magnetic field to repel back a missile that would have probably blown that fool-headed rhino in half. “You wont be bagging anything if you don’t look out for yourself, you dumb fragger.”
Ramhorn shot him a look that promised retribution for the comment later, then turned back and bellowed at his brother. “Rewind, don’t you DARE get yourself deactivated! I’m not hauling your offline carcass back home.”
Dented in half a dozen places and bleeding from a gaping hole in his chassis, Rewind barely heard him, being too busy fighting to stay alive and hold his own against the two Cassetticons. He took a swipe at Frenzy, missed, then found himself face down on the ground, his side on fire from a vicious kick.
“Bro… could use some help…” he called weakly.
“I’m busy.” Ramhorn pawed the ground as Rumble charged towards him. “Get up and fight your own battles.”
Lowering his head as Rumble lept for him, he hooked the point of his horn under the blue mech’s armor and tossed him into the air, turning in the same motion and kicking out with strong hind legs to send the small mech flying back a good few meters. Rewind meanwhile, made a grab at Frenzy’s leg as the mech aimed another kick at him, catching the ankle and twisting hard.
Frenzy hit the dirt with a clang, then yelped as he suddenly found his chest being crushed by the weight of an angry rhino standing on him.
“You’re in my territory,” Ramhorn growled. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t gut you like the little fish you are.”
The red-and-black mech’s optics darted around frantically. “Uh… ‘cause… ‘cause you’re an… Autobot?”
“Hmm… no. Not good enough.”
“’cause we didn’t kill your brother?”
“Try again.”
“’cause… ‘cause I was just leaving?!”
“Clever mech.” Ramhorn let him up. “If you come near him again…” He suddenly swung and thrust his head, letting his sharp horn pierce neatly through Frenzy’s aft. “Sitting down will be the least of your problems.”
Smirking at the amount of colorful cursing the Cassetticon was doing as he ran off to join Rumble, Ramhorn saw Windcharger finally coming over to him looking a little worse for wear after tangling with a crashed Seeker. Snorting, he went over to where Rewind lay and looked him over - his optics the only things that belied the otherwise gruff nature he displayed.
“Get up,” he said, rather shortly.
Groaning in pain, Rewind tried to do as his older brother asked, arm straining as he tried and failed to push himself to his feet. “Primus… it hurts…”
“Do I look like I care if it hurts?” Ramhorn replied. “I said, get up.”
Windcharger reached them and immediately moved to help Rewind. “The frag is wrong with you?” He frowned at the rhino. “He’s losing energon and is barely online and you want him to stand?!”
Ramhorn pawed the ground irritably. “Touch him and I’ll shoot you.”
The Minibot stared at him incredulously, but stayed where he was. Another explosion nearby shook the ground and dumped a fine shower of dust on them. Ramhorn shook his head and snorted angrily, taking another step closer to Rewind and nudging his younger brother with a paw.
“Get up, fraggit,” he said sternly. “We need to get out of here.”
“Are you crazy?!” Windcharger debated for a moment about putting himself between the brothers and picking up Rewind, then decided he wasn’t suicidal enough. “We need to get him to cover and wait for a medic to get to us.”
“Listen you,” Ramhorn ground out. “You are not our guardian. The day they make you our guardian perhaps then I’ll do as you ask, but until that day comes, stop telling me how I should take care of my own brother.” He wedged a paw under Rewind’s torso and tried to pry him off the ground. “Up!”
“He’s fragging hurt! He shouldn’t even be moving!” Windcharger yelled.
“If he doesn’t move, he’ll die. Simple as that.”
“You stupid Primitive! You don’t care about him at all-.”
“Don’t…” Rewind cut the Minibot off. “Don’t call my brother stupid.” He wrapped a hand around the rhino’s horn - his other arm wrapped tightly around his mid-section to try and stem the flow of energon from the hole - and slowly pulled himself to his feet, staggering.
“He’s not even helping you,” Windcharger pointed out.
“He’s helping more than you,” Rewind replied. “And he’s right - we have to move.” He leaned heavily on Ramhorn’s side.
The Minibot stared at them. “You’re both insane. Ramhorn, he can barely walk. You go out there, you’re going to get your brother - and possibly yourself - killed. There are Decepticons between us and the medics and they’ll pick you off the moment they see you.” He frowned at the rhino. “Are you willing to put his life in danger?”
“Are you going to stand there and keep squawking like a gamefowl?” Ramhorn asked. “Or are you going to help?”
Windcharger helped. Growling curses at the stubborn red rhino, he walked slowly with them across the battlefield, covering the pair with both his weapons and magentic field, keeping would-be attackers at bay. He shook his head in disgust at Ramhorn who wouldn’t even put Rewind on his back and let him ride the rest of the way and instead made the poor injured mech walk.
For the life of him he couldn’t understand why he was being so hard on his brother and wondered if the oldest Cassette had a shred of compassion in him at all. Rewind, for his part, just walked quietly with him, and Windcharger had to wonder why he didn’t speak out against this treatment. Was he afraid of Ramhorn or just conserving energy?
They were so strange, these Cassettes…
Later…
He brought it up to Blaster later, when they were heading to the medbay - Blaster to check on Rewind again, Windcharger to get his magnetic field generator calibrated properly. To his surprise, Blaster only laughed it off.
“If only I had a dollar for everyone who told me they thought my lot were strange,” he chuckled.
“I don’t mean any offense, Blaster, but you do have to admit… the way they do things, Ramhorn especially…”
“None taken ‘Charger. I don’t expect ya to understand ‘em like I do.”
“But what he put Rewind through back there…”
“… was necessary. Checked with the medics earlier, and if you’d waited till the ‘Cons called a retreat, ‘Wind might have bled into stasis. Dunno how Ramhorn knew, don’t really care. Just glad they’re both okay.”
Giving Windcharger’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, he went over to where his Cassettes were gathered and crossed his arms…
Ramhorn looked defiantly back up at his guardian as Blaster crouched before him in the medbay. Beside him, Eject and Steeljaw looked up at the bigger red mech with similar expressions, as if daring him to even try and contradict their big brother. Blaster sighed and shook his head.
“Listen you lot, I’m not saying Ramhorn did anything bad,” he said. “I’m only saying it was dangerous, and you know you could have been a little gentler with your brother, ‘Horn.”
“Why?” Ramhorn asked.
Blaster blinked, not entirely sure how to answer that. “Well… because he’s your younger brother, and because he was hurt…”
“Gentle with him on the battlefield will only get him killed. My job is to keep him - and these two - alive, not coddle him. You can mother him to death once he’s safe in here.”
The guardian placed a hand on the rhino’s shoulder. “Going drill sergeant on him’s not going to help either.”
“He’s alive though, isnt he?” Steeljaw asked.
“Well yes, and I’m grateful for that. What I want you to understand is that not everyone here is your enemy. Sometimes they only want to help. Windcharger only wanted to carry Rewind to safety.”
“That’s not helping,” Ramhorn replied. “Rewind needs to be strong, rely on himself. They all do.”
Blaster frowned. “That’s being selfish and asking for a bit much, Ramhorn. They arent built with your strength.”
“Exactly,” Eject spoke up. “That’s why Ramhorn’s right. Cant always fall back on the substitute player. Gotta take the ball into y’own hands, ‘cause the substitute may not even have hands, know what I’m sayin’, Blaster?”
The guardian stared at his charges. Just when he thought he had them figured out, they pull another surprise on him. “I think I do… sort of…” He sighed again and smiled at them. “I can’t win with you guys, can I?”
They shook their heads at him.
“Thought not.” Blaster chuckled and stood. “Well… I’m not gonna pretend I understand how you guys think sometimes, especially you two Primitives, but I guess if it works for you and keeps you alive… I’ll just have to accept it.” He turned to go, then paused and looked back at Ramhorn. “I still think you need to work on that temper of yours, but… good job.”
The younger two turned back to fuss over their sleeping brother, but Ramhorn watched Blaster go with a little smile playing on his mouth. It didn’t matter whether Blaster understood his way of thinking or not; what mattered was that his way of thinking helped him to protect his brothers, because nothing scared him more than losing one of them in battle.
Yes, he was hard on them, he knew. He had to be. It was his way of showing that he cared for them. They were four very small bots in a very big war, and they had to be tough if they wanted to survive. Ramhorn didn’t have much to offer them except for his hard way of dealing with them, and sure he got a lot of flak for it - even from Blaster.
It didn’t matter. His brothers understood why he did what he did, and they accepted it without question, because they knew something everyone else didn’t.
They knew he loved them.
~END.