[G1] 10 Prompts - Scarred

[nkfloofiepoof]

Title: Scarred
Arc: N/A
Rating: G
Characters: Rumble
Summary: Response to 10_prompts - "Scarred" [full table]


Rumble was always cold.

Soundwave sacrificed a lot to protect him and his brethren from the worst aspects of the war. After the attack on Kaon twelve thousand vorns past which had triggered the true beginning of the Great War, Soundwave swiftly began to ascend the ranks of the Decepticons - the higher he ranked, the safer his offspring were from the starving maws of the soldiers. It worked for the most part. They had to defend themselves occasionally from the jealous, greedy claws of those mechs who saw no reason why the cassettes should have been granted their own exalted position by virtue of their creator's hard work, but if there was one universal fact about Cassetticons, it was that they adapted readily and easily. It was not only Soundwave's struggles and compromises which earned them their keep; they had also been required to prove their own worth.

Ravage proved herself to be adept at espionage as had Laserbeak, but Ravage was also an astounding fighter for her size, capable of taking down mechs nearly five times bigger than herself. Rumble and Frenzy proved their worth as well - fueled by his rage at being attacked and victimized in Kaon, Rumble persuaded Soundwave into modifying his arms so he would never again be so defenseless. Once Soundwave was finished, Rumble's arms could shift into large pylons which would shake the ground under those who dared to attack him, and quickly earned himself a reputation which belied his size. Frenzy, in addition to the use he discovered in Kaon of his internal drums for shocking the systems of nearby mechs, proved himself to be a talented hacker and, thus, invaluable as a partner to Ravage for infiltration. Even the young, still newly-sparked Buzzsaw showed a talent for battle and was quickly added to the ranks as a partner for Rumble.

Their abilities, both innate and learned, greatly helped Soundwave's own ascent, and Megatron quickly realized their combined worth. What began as barely a storage closet with nothing but a generator in one corner for forced recharging soon became a comfortably-sized room with a proper recharge station, a computer, and even a few shelves for Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw's use as perches. It was almost the same quality as an officer's quarters and a vast improvement.

It still was not home, but none of them were naive enough to believe anything would ever feel like home in Praxus again. Ravage knew she would never again see the stars without wondering if she was not seeing comets but missiles from Iacon. Rumble and Frenzy would never again play their music for the masses in the center of Crystal City, Frenzy's instrument converted to a weapon and Rumble too damaged to conjure his own anymore. Laserbeak knew she would never again race across the sky and flaunt her aerial prowess only for show, and Buzzsaw knew nothing but the war.

They all managed to adapt to their shockingly changed lives and continued to overcome the setbacks laid before them by those either jealous or otherwise prejudiced against their kind. However, there was one thing his siblings could adapt to which Rumble feared he would never again be able - the cold.

Rumble hated to bother Soundwave when his creator was so deeply in recharge. He knew how exhausted the blue mech was orn after orn, drained from his obligations to Megatron, but there was only so much of the constant, throbbing ache Rumble could endure without support, so once again, he found himself sitting on Soundwave's abdomen and using his comparatively tiny fingers to trace the purple emblem on the glass over his creator's chest.

That purple symbol represented so many things - power, freedom, and many other lies according to Megatron. To Rumble, it only represented pain and twelve thousand vorns of hardship, and he wanted little more than to take his own small fingers and scrape it away, erase it from his creator's chest, his siblings' bodies, and his own shell, but he knew better - he learned his lesson the first time. Still, he did not hate the symbol any less. It served as nothing but a reminder of everything he had been through since the war began, starting with Kaon.

He would never forget Kaon, would never forget the blazing optics of the enormous mech who attacked him or the agony of its fingers tearing into him and jaws closing around him to drain his vital fluids. Rumble knew Soundwave tried his best to repair him, but the Decepticons were too under supplied to spare him the necessary parts to fully replace and repair Rumble's damaged components, so he had to fix and reinforce the damage, leaving Rumble, for all intents and purposes, scarred. He was whole on the outside, but his interior systems were twisted and marred with old damage and solder from repairs, and now that they were high-ranking enough to have access to the proper replacements, Soundwave was reluctant to attempt further work. Rumble's own internal repair systems had sealed the scars, and breaking them would do more harm than good if performed by anything other than a properly trained medic of which the Decepticons were still sorely lacking, so Rumble had to endure the never ending ache - and the cold.

Scarred and damaged as he was, Rumble's body could only heat itself minimally - just enough to prevent the circulation of his vital fluids from slowing or freezing. The chill made his wires and cabling tight to preserve heat, and, often, all he could bring himself to care to do was curl up and attempt to warm himself. The only reprieve he had was inside Soundwave.

Rumble rubbed his fingertips up and down the expanse of the glass covering his creator's chest, tentative and reluctant. Soundwave must have been well and truly exhausted - he was usually awake by now, and this realization gave Rumble cause to hesitate; however, the painful creaking of his own internals as they tightened further urged him to continue, and he pawed Soundwave's chest with just a little more fervor as he whispered, "Let me in."

Crimson light joined the soft glow of his own visor, illuminating their dark quarters just a little more. Rumble's hands stilled as he felt large fingers gently slide up his comparatively smaller back, and he lowered his head further in shame, wordlessly apologizing for waking his creator. Instead, he looked to the side where he saw his twin tucked comfortably against Soundwave's side, mirroring where Rumble had been at Soundwave's other side earlier. He knew Ravage was curled up against the large mech's neck, and Laserbeak and Buzzsaw recharged quietly on one of the shelves overhead. Rumble and now Soundwave were the only ones awake in their quarters.

Soundwave continued to stroke two massive fingers up and down Rumble's back for a klik, wordlessly assuring the blue cassette that he did not mind being awakened. He raised his free hand, and, careful not to bump and awaken Ravage, he pressed the button to open his chest. Without hesitation, Rumble compacted himself into his alternative form and allowed Soundwave to place him inside and close his chest. Less than a klik later, Rumble heard the steady hum of Soundwave's systems grow slightly louder as he worked them just a little harder. Warmth crept into Rumble's systems, and the drone of Soundwave's internals was soon joined by the creator's soft, harmonic voice humming a soothing tone, and, relieved, Rumble allowed himself to relax and begin to once again shut down, and the last things he heard before he fell offline were the last few notes of his creator's song.

Comments

[mmouse15.livejournal.com]

That was an awesome follow-up to Afraid. Really powerful, and I just love how Soundwave reassures Rumble.