TF: Purrfect Decepticons?
Rating: PG
Series: G1
Summary: When Ravage finds a litter of kittens, how will he manage to hide them on the base? And what will happen if they’re discovered?
Warnings: Fluffy Decepticons?
Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I’ve forgotten…
Authors Notes: For the tf_rare_pairing weekly challenge - Ravage/Starscream - The Decepticon Feline Appreciation Society. Okay, so I managed a second fic that hopefully follows the prompt a little more closely!
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.
“What do you think you are doing?” Soundwave stared down at Ravage. Confusion would have been visible on his face had he not had his mask and visor on. Ravage looked up at him and blinked as innocently as he could.
“They need me.” He explained, one paw carefully circling the litter of small kittens he had unearthed. Soundwave resisted the urge to facepalm.
“You cannot keep them.”
“Why not?” Ravage demanded.
“Because they are organics and Lord Megatron would not be pleased to find them onboard his ship.”
“He will not find them.” Ravage promised, silently pleading with his master to be able to keep them. There was something about the small kittens that made his now-feline protocols leap into action and demand that he should protect them and take care of them. Shaking his head, Soundwave knelt down, gathering up the kittens in his hand.
“The moment he finds out about them, they will be terminated, you understand this.”
“He will not find them.” Ravage repeated, determined that Megatron, or any other Decepticon would find his brood.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Soundwave had to admit, Ravage had done a remarkable job of taking care of the kittens. Somehow, he’d managed to source a supply of food for the kittens and had hidden them in a disused storage room. They were comfortable, and it was rather endearing to see Ravage lying there with four small kittens climbing over him. So much for a big bad Decepticon.
The first problem arose when one of the kittens became ill. Ravage snuck into the repair bay - Hook’s domain - and tried to find something that he could use to help the poor creature. Hook had been fascinated by the construction of the humans and had collected a fair amount of data about them. Unfortunately for Ravage, as he had been nosing through the collection of medicines, Hook had entered the repair bay.
Surprisingly, once Ravage had explained the situation (reluctantly), Hook was more than willing to help as much as he could. His explanation was that he found the creatures fascinating and would welcome the opportunity to study them further. So the litter of kittens found themselves with another adoptive ‘father’. Hook’s experience came in useful and the sick kitten quickly recovered.
Things continued on smoothly for a few more days. Hook was incredibly helpful in procuring more supplies for the kittens. And also in getting rid of their waste products. The next problem came when Starscream entered the repair bay to find Hook conspicuously absent. A quick comm to the Constructicon had him revealing his location inadvertently. Ravage looked thoroughly shocked when the door opened to reveal Starscream. He hissed and growled and swept the kittens protectively behind him. Starscream shook his head and knelt down.
“I’m not going to harm them Ravage.” He said softly, holding out his hand to show Ravage that he didn’t mean any harm. Hook watched in amazement, not having expected Starscream to be interested in the small organics.
“Starscream?” He asked, needing confirmation that Starscream was all right with what was going on.
“It’s fine.” Starscream waved a hand in the air, signalling that he wasn’t upset at all. In fact, as Ravage allowed the kittens out, he shifted closer, holding out a finger for a brave kitten to sniff.
“How old are they?” He asked, settling down with the kittens and Ravage. Once he realised that Starscream wasn’t going to do anything to frighten or disturb the kittens, Ravage stretched out on the floor.
“Hook thinks they are about six weeks old. They only opened their eyes two days ago.” The cassetticon informed Starscream. They were certainly more of a handful now that they could see and were more adventurous than ever. It would be difficult to keep an optic on them if he had to leave the Nemesis for a mission. But with Hook, and now Starscream, perhaps an arrangement could be made?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ravage traipsed through the hallways, carefully making his way towards the kittens’ room without anyone noticing him. He had taken a bit of damage in the last energon raid. The Autobots (as usual) had turned up to stop them, and Hound had managed to score a hit on his flank. It wasn’t serious, and he needed to check on the kittens before he even thought about getting himself repaired. Soundwave had already admonished him over their symbiotic link, but he understood why Ravage needed to make sure that the kittens were all right. They had only been on their own for four hours, but that was still more than enough time for them to get themselves into trouble.
As the door slid open, Ravage lowered himself to the ground and hissed. Someone was in there with his kittens. And it wasn’t Starscream or Hook!
“I presume these are yours?” Dead End drawled. The four kittens were curled up on and around him, one resting in the palm of his large hand. He gently stroked it with a fingertip and it purred.
“What are you doing here?” Ravage growled. The kittens might be at ease with the Stunticon, but Ravage didn’t like the fact that the mech had managed to find the kittens.
“Taking care of them.” He waved at the three kittens sprawled around him. “They were… lonely. I could hear them miaowing.”
“Oh. Thank you.” Grudgingly, Ravage thanked Dead End, surprised that the Stunticon was actually willing to help out.
“I find them rather soothing.” Dead End explained, as though he knew what Ravage was thinking. Ravage settled down, smiling to himself as two of the kittens realised he was there and stumbled over to him. They snuggled up against his side and started purring. Ravage had to agree with Dead End; just sitting there with the kittens was quite relaxing.
Or it was until Starscream decided to check in on the kittens after he’d gotten his repairs done.
“What the frag is he doing here?” He asked, voice flat.
“Helping.” Ravage lifted his head up to glare at Starscream; the kittens had only just gone to sleep after a bout of activity, and his entrance had woken them up.
“I thought that only Hook and I were helping.” Starscream sounded more than a little put out. If Ravage had to describe it, he would have said that Starscream was jealous that the kittens had yet another adoptive ‘father’.
“Starscream, please. I’m not trying to usurp your position, or anything like that.” Dead End’s morose tone seemed to calm Starscream down. “I am merely providing another set of hands and optics for when the rest of you aren’t available.” It was a well-known fact that the Stunticons weren’t often called on for energon collecting raids, meaning that they spent more time on the base than others. Starscream nodded slowly, seeing the sense in what Dead End was saying.
“Besides, we won’t be able to keep them for much longer.” Dead End continued. “Soon they’ll be too old to restrict to just one place and they’ll escape and Megatron will find them and kill them.” Ravage wasn’t sure who moaned first; him or Starscream.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Of course, Dead End was right; the kittens were growing up fast and becoming more and more adventurous with each passing day. The ‘Decepticon Feline Appreciation Society’ (as Dead End had appropriately named them) met to discuss their options, each member stroking a kitten, desperately not wanting to give them up.
“As much as I hate to admit it, Dead End is right.” Hook muttered. “They are becoming more difficult to hide, and none of us want Lord Megatron to find them.” They all shook their heads.
“There’s only one thing we can do then.” Starscream announced.
“What?”
“We have to contact the Autobots.” Starscream held up the hand not currently occupied with tickling a kitten’s belly. “I know it’s not what Decepticons do, but if we want these kittens to survive, then the Autobots are our best choice.”
To say Skyfire was surprised to get a comm from Starscream was an understatement. Even more surprising was the subject of the comm call. After wrangling an agreement out of Skyfire, Starscream set a time and place to meet him and one other Autobot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been difficult saying goodbye to the kittens and Hook and Dead End had been reluctant to let Starscream and Ravage go ahead with the arrangement. But eventually, they managed to get away. Under the cover of routine surveillance (arranged with Soundwave’s help), Ravage loaded the kittens into Starscream’s cockpit before jumping in himself.
A short (thankfully) flight later and Ravage was jumping out, gingerly picking up each kitten by the scruff of its neck and setting it on the ground. They stumbled about, disorientated from the flight and didn’t wander too far. Starscream transformed and muttered something about having to get that cleaned up when he got back to base and how Dead End was definitely helping (as he was the one who had fed them before the trip).
Skyfire and Hound pulled up moments later, the noise of their engines sending the kittens scampering to hide behind Ravage and Starscream.
“Starscream…” Skyfire faltered briefly.
“Skyfire.” Starscream nodded, gesturing for Ravage to bring the kittens out. Hound crouched down, mouth open in amazement.
“How long have you had the little guys?” He asked, stretching out a finger for a kitten to sniff.
“Two weeks.” Ravage answered, watching Hound warily.
“And you’ve taken care of them all by yourselves?” Skyfire asked, still bemused by the whole thing.
“Contrary to popular belief, Decepticons can take care of something other than themselves.” Starscream replied haughtily. “However, we fear that the older they get, the more likely they are to be discovered.”
“Hence where we come in?” Hound added, stroking the kitten who had sniffed his finger. “They sure are friendly.” Ravage sniffed, watching Hound with his kitten. This was harder than he thought it was going to be.
“I’m sure that Spike and Carly will help us find suitable homes for them all.”
“They have names.” Ravage growled. Starscream looked amused. Skyfire looked surprised and Hound just nodded. Ravage padded over to Hound, ushering the other kittens before him. He pointed out each kitten and named it. Repeating each name after Ravage, Hound made sure he knew them all.
“From what I’ve managed to research, they’ll more than likely keep their names. Especially from this age.” Hound actually smiled at Ravage.
“Fine. Now can you take the kittens and go?” Starscream huffed, folding his arms across his cockpit.
“Of course. Thank you Starscream. We’ll make sure they get proper homes.”
“Thank you.” Starscream answered a little stiffly, watching Hound gather up the kittens and wait for Skyfire to transform.
Once the Autobots had left, Starscream sighed. Ravage was sniffing the ground where the kittens had last been. He looked up at Starscream forlornly.
“I know, I know. I miss them too. But they’re better off with the Autobots than with us.” Starscream said quietly, voice sounding close to cracking. He sat down next to Ravage.
“At least we have the time we spent with them?” He offered, though he knew it didn’t compare to having the kittens with them. Things were certainly going to be less interesting around the Decepticon base now. Ravage stretched and rested his head on Starscream’s thigh. Another sigh and Starscream was reaching down to pet the feline on the head.
They stayed there until the sun set, not wanting to go back to the base. Finally, Starscream patted Ravage one last time.
“We must head back. If we stay out any longer, we will be missed.” Ravage nodded, getting to his feet reluctantly.
“Starscream?” The comm call surprised Starscream; he hadn’t been expecting to hear from Skyfire.
“Yes?”
“Just thought you might like to know that all the kittens found a home. The shelter managed to rehome them all together with a nice family.”
“Thank Primus…” Starscream murmured. “Thank you Skyfire.”
“Understood. Starscream? You all did a good job with them.”
“Of course we did.” Starscream signed off, smirking before he glanced down at Ravage.
“They’ve been rehomed already. All together.” He could have sworn he saw Ravage smile.
“Let’s go home.” He transformed, waiting for Ravage to jump in before he fired up his thrusters and took off, soaring into the sky.
In their new home, four little kittens seemed to instinctively look out of the window at the sound of a jet overhead.