[rd][fic][Transformers Bayverse, G1, Prime] At A Crossroads Cafe
Why, yes, I am trying to do a fic a day. We'll see how long I can sustain the momentum.
At A Crossroads Cafe
by K. Stonham
first released 4th December 2011
"So you just... run." Jack couldn't decide if that was stupid, or the most brilliant tactic he'd ever heard in regard to Cybertronians.
Sam shrugged, the college student picking up his glass of Coke and studying it. "Beats being a smear on the pavement," he said, and sipped.
"I find acting as a distraction works wonders," the third person at their table said. His curly auburn hair topped a face that was older than either Jack or Sam's, but shared an indefinable something with them. That something, whatever it was, echoed at a booth in the diner's corner, where Miko sat chattering in rapid-fire beats with a girl with Indian features whose red hair was also pulled up into a pair of ponytails. At another table, Raf was sitting with his laptop open, playing a turn-based game with a younger boy whose hair matched that of Jack's tablemate.
"They must be a lot less homicidal where you're from," Sam commented. "Mine would just as happily smear all us organics from the face of existence."
"Jesus," Spike said, eyes wide.
"They're... not that bad here," Jack said hesitantly. "Not that they're all warm and fuzzy, I mean," he said. "But mostly they don't care about us one way or the other. Mostly." He shot a quick glance out the diner's window, where four yellow cars sat suspiciously quiet next to one another. Probably communicating through comm lines, all of them. "This is so weird," he muttered, not for the first time.
"Tell me about it," Sam agreed.
Spike just shrugged.
The pair of them stared at him. "Don't tell me--" Sam started.
"Hang around with them," Spike said, nodding in the direction of the parking lot, "long enough and you learn to just go with it. I've time travelled, planet hopped, and been transferred in and out of an Autobot body." A wry smile crossed his face. "Dimension crossing was about the only thing left I hadn't been subjected to."
"Died and met the ancient Primes?" Sam asked.
Spike stopped and stared at him.
"Okay, good, our timelines probably aren't going to parallel," Sam said.
"Died?" Jack asked.
"It was for a good cause," Sam said flippantly. As they continued to stare at him, though, he sobered and looked away, his glass coming to rest on the tabletop. "I'd rather not talk about it," he confessed.
"What about relationships?" Jack asked. "I mean, there's this girl... what happens when she finds out? Or if it becomes a choice between them and her?"
"They were never hiding where I was from," Spike said. "Carly knew about them long before we ever met. Actually," he said, a smile quirking up his mouth, "she was more interested in Bumblebee than me that first time."
"Oh, good luck with that," Sam said with half a laugh. "Mikaela and I found out about them at about the same time. And, incidentally, Ratchet? Wouldn't know tact if it hit him with a brick."
"Sounds different than mine, then," said Spike.
"Not too different from mine," Jack disagreed. "Sierra doesn't know, though. And Arcee... just doesn't get it sometimes."
"Oh, I hear that," Spike agreed. "Carly's worse than Ratchet whenever she thinks I've been 'out teaching Daniel your adrenaline-junkie ways'." His fingers made air-quotes even as he looked over at the other table, checking on his son. "It's not my fault. Most of the time," he amended.
"Amen," Sam chorused. "Crazy stupid Decepticons stalking you at school and sticking their tongue probes down your throat...."
Jack stared at him.
"I had some stuff in my head they wanted," Sam explained. He tapped at the side of his skull with two fingers. "Still do," he muttered sourly.
"And this is what I'm getting myself into?" Jack wondered aloud, his voice containing a shade of panic.
Spike and Sam exchanged a look. "Maybe?" the teenager hazarded.
"The thing is," Spike said, elbows on the table as he leaned just slightly forward, "you have to ask yourself this: is it worth it?" He tilted his head to one side. "Is it, Jack?"
Who sat still for a moment, thinking. Then he firmly nodded. "Yes," he said, no doubt in his voice. "It is."
"Then trust them, and trust yourself."
"And if all else fails," Sam added with a small smile, "trust in Primus. He hasn't let any of us down yet."
*~*~*
Author's Note: A little fic spawned by the similarities of "reluctant hero" trope Jack to Sam. And Sam's similarities in other ways to Spike. I wanted to have these characters meet and have a little mutual complaint/support group type thing going. The only way to do that was a cross-dimensional nexus, which took the form of a cafe in the middle of nowhere/the desert. And I couldn't really leave out my beloved Transformers Animated, even though Spike's appearences there were merely homage, so Sari turned up, and whatever she and Miko are talking about over in that corner booth, I'm pretty sure I don't want to know. I think I'd be scared....
At A Crossroads Cafe
by K. Stonham
first released 4th December 2011
"So you just... run." Jack couldn't decide if that was stupid, or the most brilliant tactic he'd ever heard in regard to Cybertronians.
Sam shrugged, the college student picking up his glass of Coke and studying it. "Beats being a smear on the pavement," he said, and sipped.
"I find acting as a distraction works wonders," the third person at their table said. His curly auburn hair topped a face that was older than either Jack or Sam's, but shared an indefinable something with them. That something, whatever it was, echoed at a booth in the diner's corner, where Miko sat chattering in rapid-fire beats with a girl with Indian features whose red hair was also pulled up into a pair of ponytails. At another table, Raf was sitting with his laptop open, playing a turn-based game with a younger boy whose hair matched that of Jack's tablemate.
"They must be a lot less homicidal where you're from," Sam commented. "Mine would just as happily smear all us organics from the face of existence."
"Jesus," Spike said, eyes wide.
"They're... not that bad here," Jack said hesitantly. "Not that they're all warm and fuzzy, I mean," he said. "But mostly they don't care about us one way or the other. Mostly." He shot a quick glance out the diner's window, where four yellow cars sat suspiciously quiet next to one another. Probably communicating through comm lines, all of them. "This is so weird," he muttered, not for the first time.
"Tell me about it," Sam agreed.
Spike just shrugged.
The pair of them stared at him. "Don't tell me--" Sam started.
"Hang around with them," Spike said, nodding in the direction of the parking lot, "long enough and you learn to just go with it. I've time travelled, planet hopped, and been transferred in and out of an Autobot body." A wry smile crossed his face. "Dimension crossing was about the only thing left I hadn't been subjected to."
"Died and met the ancient Primes?" Sam asked.
Spike stopped and stared at him.
"Okay, good, our timelines probably aren't going to parallel," Sam said.
"Died?" Jack asked.
"It was for a good cause," Sam said flippantly. As they continued to stare at him, though, he sobered and looked away, his glass coming to rest on the tabletop. "I'd rather not talk about it," he confessed.
"What about relationships?" Jack asked. "I mean, there's this girl... what happens when she finds out? Or if it becomes a choice between them and her?"
"They were never hiding where I was from," Spike said. "Carly knew about them long before we ever met. Actually," he said, a smile quirking up his mouth, "she was more interested in Bumblebee than me that first time."
"Oh, good luck with that," Sam said with half a laugh. "Mikaela and I found out about them at about the same time. And, incidentally, Ratchet? Wouldn't know tact if it hit him with a brick."
"Sounds different than mine, then," said Spike.
"Not too different from mine," Jack disagreed. "Sierra doesn't know, though. And Arcee... just doesn't get it sometimes."
"Oh, I hear that," Spike agreed. "Carly's worse than Ratchet whenever she thinks I've been 'out teaching Daniel your adrenaline-junkie ways'." His fingers made air-quotes even as he looked over at the other table, checking on his son. "It's not my fault. Most of the time," he amended.
"Amen," Sam chorused. "Crazy stupid Decepticons stalking you at school and sticking their tongue probes down your throat...."
Jack stared at him.
"I had some stuff in my head they wanted," Sam explained. He tapped at the side of his skull with two fingers. "Still do," he muttered sourly.
"And this is what I'm getting myself into?" Jack wondered aloud, his voice containing a shade of panic.
Spike and Sam exchanged a look. "Maybe?" the teenager hazarded.
"The thing is," Spike said, elbows on the table as he leaned just slightly forward, "you have to ask yourself this: is it worth it?" He tilted his head to one side. "Is it, Jack?"
Who sat still for a moment, thinking. Then he firmly nodded. "Yes," he said, no doubt in his voice. "It is."
"Then trust them, and trust yourself."
"And if all else fails," Sam added with a small smile, "trust in Primus. He hasn't let any of us down yet."
*~*~*
Author's Note: A little fic spawned by the similarities of "reluctant hero" trope Jack to Sam. And Sam's similarities in other ways to Spike. I wanted to have these characters meet and have a little mutual complaint/support group type thing going. The only way to do that was a cross-dimensional nexus, which took the form of a cafe in the middle of nowhere/the desert. And I couldn't really leave out my beloved Transformers Animated, even though Spike's appearences there were merely homage, so Sari turned up, and whatever she and Miko are talking about over in that corner booth, I'm pretty sure I don't want to know. I think I'd be scared....