TF: War Is Over
Rating: PG13
Series: Movieverse
Summary: Jolt struggles to come to terms with the fact the war is over. Ironhide tries to help.
Warnings: None
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 thetf_rare_pairing prompt - Ironhide/Jolt - “my past, your future”. And I’m evidently feeding the trope that makes Ironhide an absolute softy underneath all those weapons. Yeah, title should be credited to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It… fitted?
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.
Jolt was restless; pacing around the empty hanger, unable to sit still. Everything was happening so quickly, and he wasn’t quite sure he could handle what was going on. Sparks jumped over his frame, a sure sign of his agitation and unease.
“Can’t believe it’s over.” He muttered to himself.
“Believe it, kid.” Ironhide’s gruff voice made him jump. He’d been so focussed on trying to work through his own thoughts, that he’d completely missed the warrior coming in to the hanger.
“It’s really over?”
“It’s over. An’ let’s just hope it stays that way.” With a groan, Ironhide eased himself down onto the ground. Jolt continued to pace.
“Peace. I never thought I’d see it.”
“Me either.” Ironhide agreed, watching Jolt pace.
“No more fighting… I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it. And for frags sake, sit down. Yer makin’ me tired just watching you.”
“Oh, sorry.” Jolt settled down on the floor near Ironhide, willing his systems to calm down. He didn’t want to annoy Ironhide further. He admired the warrior, and the last thing he wanted to do was upset him.
“Relax, Jolt.” It was almost as though Ironhide could read his thoughts. “What are ya worried about?”
“I… there’s no war, no fighting, no scouting, no recon. There’s no place for me.” It came out in a rush; all his fears and worries compacted down to a few reasons. It was more complicated that that, he was sure.
“There’ll always be a place for you.” Ironhide rumbled almost consolingly. Jolt shrugged.
“What about you?” He asked one of the questions that had been foremost on his processor.
“I’ll go back to doing what I did before.” Ironhide answered after a moment’s thought. “Not that there are many sparklings yet. But I’m sure there will be.”
“Sparklings?” Jolt’s optics widened in comic disbelief. “I didn’t think you were so soft-sparked.” Ironhide gave a mock growl.
“Just because I don’t show it, doesn’t mean I don’t have one.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Jolt hastily tried to apologise, but Ironhide just waved it off.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“What was it like?” Jolt asked softly after a few minutes of companionable silence.
“Huh? What was what like?”
“Cybertron, before the war.” Jolt had been sparked during the war, so all he had known was violence and fighting. Ironhide tilted his head, regarding the youngster carefully.
“I’m guessing you won’t be happy with ‘peaceful’ will you?” Ironhide nodded as Jolt shook his head. “Thought not.” He shifted, making himself more comfortable before continuing. “It was like a different place. All you knew was war. But before…” He let out a soft whuff of air. “Before was peaceful. Everymech coexisted under the rule of the Prime and the Lord Protector.”
“Until Megatron.” Jolt added. He knew that much about the past and the start of the war.
“Yes, until Megatron.” Ironhide agreed. “When he became Lord High Protector, things started changing. Even now, I couldn’t tell you how they started. You just noticed that things were different after a while.” As he continued to describe what life was like before the war, Jolt found himself enthralled. He listened intently to Ironhide; the warrior’s words bringing a new dimension to the mech. For his part, Ironhide was happier to relive a more peaceful time. With time and resources, perhaps they would be able to repair the Ark and return to Cybertron, but for now, they were welcomed by the humans on Earth.
“So this is where you’re hiding.” Ironhide and Jolt were interrupted by Sideswipe practically flinging open the hanger doors.
“We’re not hiding.” Jolt immediately went on the defensive.
“Relax, kid.” Ironhide reached out to place a large hand on Jolt’s shoulder; the action just making the scout tense up more before he ducked away and to his feet in one smooth motion that Ironhide was almost envious of.
“I… I… thank you Ironhide.” Jolt managed to blurt out his thanks before disappearing past Sideswipe. Ironhide stared after him, wondering exactly what was going on in the scout’s processor.
“He likes you.” Sideswipe’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“What?”
“He likes you.” Sideswipe shrugged, skating into the hanger and offering Ironhide a hand up. Ironhide took the hand, not entirely sure how to respond. The kid liked him? Well, that was good, right?
“I mean, he really likes you.” Sideswipe was good at reading his mentor. Too good, Ironhide thought.
“You’re kidding me.”
“Not about this. I like Jolt. Just… he doesn’t like me that way.” Sideswipe grinned. “He prefers the old scarred look for some reason.” He rolled away before Ironhide could slap him round the back of the head.
“Huh.” Ironhide harrumphed and shook his head. This was definitely something he needed to think about.
Authors Notes Addendum: Blah, ending isn’t the best, but I really wanted to actually get this finished this week!
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