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fanfic-obsessed · 10 days

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We Want That one

This is a Satine/Cody/Obi Wan of a flavor that I have not seen before and hope to see more of. It takes a bit there but I think it will be worth the wait.

At the end of the mission to Mandalore, Obi Wan decides to stay with Satine and leave the Jedi Order. Now it is important to note this is done with Qui Gon’s full and loving support. In this one Qui Gon is not a raging asshole with many issues and trauma (Melida/Daan happened and after it did both Qui Gon and Obi Wan were required to go to therapy-both separately and together- before they were allowed to go on mission together again). Also it is important to note that in this one ‘Will of the Force’ is not an excuse Qui gon uses to do whatever the hell he wants. The Force does actually have OPINIONS that it will share with specific Jedi (There is no tie to power, abilities, position, or previous messages for who will get a specific message. There is a tie, though not complete because the Force has other measures that mortals cannot comprehend, between who is making the decision the Force has an opinion on and which Jedi gets the message). The Force did let both Obi Wans and Qui Gon know that it fully supported Obi Wan leaving the Jedi to be with Satine.

So Obi Wan returns to the temple to formally leave the Order, get comm codes for people he wants to stay in touch with, and his remaining things from his room. He is allowed to keep his lightsaber and encouraged to keep his login to the Temple Archives so he could keep learning. Six months after he returns to Mandalore, he and Satine marry with his Jedi friends and family in attendance. A year after that their son Korkie is born. He and Satine take up the mantle of Duke and Duchess and balance each other well. Though Satine remains a pacifist, she does not begrudge her husband not being one and the addition of Obi Wan lessens the power of some of her more odious advisers. At some point within the first few years Death Watch attacks and through a series of strange and unfortunate (for Death Watch) both Satine and Obi Wan simultaneously defeat Pre Vizsla and win the Darksaber. They both take on the title of Mandalore jointly and unite the clans. The stabilization of Mandalore goes largely unnoticed by the republic (Including Sidiuous and Plagieus, they both just kind of assumed that everything was going as planned)

Now we come to the Naboo mission, a few years down the line. There is little change to the start, save for the places where we are missing Obi Wan. Qui Gon still ends up, with Padme, on Tatooine and helps free Anakin. The High Council is still leery of Anakin and accepting him. Qui Gon is still adamant that this child must be trained. Padme is still tricked into calling for a vote of no confidence. There does come a change when Qui Gon meets up with Padme again as they conspire to return to Naboo. Qui Gon gets an idea and puts in a call to someone he is sure Padme should talk to immediately. When the call connects, greet the pair on the other end as Duke and Duchess Mand’alor. The man, Obi Wan, sighs deeply and turns to Padme, and in the driest tone she had ever heard goes, ‘I apologize for Qui Gon. He thinks he’s funny and no one has ever been able to disabuse him of that notion. We can be either called Mand’alor, or duke/duchess, you do not need to call us both’.

Qui Gon explains what is going on with Naboo and Satine immediately goes to Padme, ‘Oh, you poor thing, we will get you some humanitarian aid immediately, right dear?’ to which Obi Wan agrees.

Something about the way Qui Gon is now looking amused and mischievous and the way that Satine had said that left Padme, for all that she was a bit on the naive side when it came to galaxy politics (As evidenced by the fact that she did not realize slavery did exist until she faced it directly and that she did really believe that doing what was right drove the Galactic senate), with the belief that there was something more going.

They leave Coruscant and are met, just before reaching Naboo’s system, by a ship full of Mandalorians led by Obi Wan. He apologizes that Satine could not be there as well, but they tried not to be off planet at the same time, just in case, and Obi Wan was better for this.

Also as soon as Obi Wan saw Anakin, he felt the immediate and nearly irresistible urge to adopt him (Both the Manda AND the Force had opinions here), only the knowledge that he did not know whose child it was and the fact that Satine would kill him for adopting without her stopped him. Obi Wan did take a moment to ask Qui Gon why there was a small child going into a warzone.

Eventually they got down to business. Obi Wan explained that, since Mandalore was not part of the Republic, they could not send an army to help with the Trade Federation’s illegal block (particularly since, officially, no one knew about it). However, if their old friend Qui Gon (Qui Gon good naturedly protested the ‘Old’. In the same dry tone as earlier, Obi Wan said that they all knew that Qui Gon had been there at the start of the Republic (i.e 25,000 years old), there was no need to lie. Then Obi Wan winked at Anakin, making the boy giggle) happened to mention that Naboo was experiencing a crisis and Mandalore chose to send humanitarian aid, well that was not declaring war on a Republic entity. Of course they would also have to send a security force with their aid workers (Never mind that each aid worker is also a commando) there might be pirates or other dangers along the way.

Blockaded though Naboo may be, the blockade was not meant to hold up to a platoon of Mandalorians (sorry a group of Mandalorian aid workers with their security escort). They get to the surface, though liberation would take more firepower than they had immediate access to (particularly since they people were dying, thus a time crunch) so Padme negotiates with the Gungans to take back their planet. By the way, as soon as the Mandalorians and the Gungan warrior meet they get along like a house on fire (to the concern of more than a few politicians later). Our core group heads to the Theed palace to end things, while the Mandalorians and the Gungan begin the liberation of the camps (Made easier by the fact that the Naboo had not just been waiting to be rescued, many had been working from within the camps to make things as difficult for their occupiers as possible. At least two of the camps, upon hearing that liberation was incoming, promptly rushed their guards and were in the process of tearing the droids apart when the Gungan/Mando liberation team arrived. It may or may not have done more for Gungan/Naboo relations than anything Padme did).

Obi Wan does go with Qui Gon to battle the Sith. He goes armored, made specifically so that he can fight like a Jedi in it. He also goes armed with the Darksaber and a slugthrower (Obi Wan did indeed bring a gun to a lightsaber fight). While there is a little fighting, long before they reach the power reactor, Obi Wan drops back far enough that he is able to shoot Maul in the knee and they capture the Sith. Anakin does end up taking out the shield generator (though the ship he ‘accidentally’ acquired was from the Mandalorian ship- where he had been told to stay for the battle; most of the mandos were a little alarmed at the 9 year old in the space battle but making heart eyes at the fact that the was able to hotwire one of their ships to do it).

After the battle Obi Wan calls his wife and introduces her to Anakin, Satine promptly asks ‘when are you bringing our new son home so we can say the adoption vow?’.

The High council arrive, more willing to admit Anakin (though still reluctant) to find that it is a moot point because Anakin, with Qui Gon blessing (as the Force only said that Anakin needed to be Jedi trained, Obi Wan can do that) was going to be adopted by Obi wan and Satine. Everyone is in agreement that this is actually the best solution (I want it clear that this is not a slight against the Jedi Order, their rules and restrictions are there for a reason and they would have taken Anakin in, but they could all sense that he was ambivalent about it). Everyone parts ways, with a light reminder to Obi Wan Jocasta Nu is waiting semi impatiently to read his most recent paper comparing Jedi historical Force traditions and Mandalorian historical Manda sects (The Manda and the Force both are and are not the same thing).

As soon as Anakin is adopted, Mandalore has an excuse to go after the Hutts (Frankly some of the more aggressive Mandos were getting restless). Due to the way Mandalorian adoption works, adopting a child effectively adds all of childs relatives (that the kid wants to claim) as the adopters relative as well (essentially adopting Anakin makes Shmi family). Family trees get very complicated on Mandalore very quickly (also all new ways to define relationships).

There are some changes we should acknowledge before going any further. Obviously Anakin growing up as the oldest son of the leaders of Mandalore has some difference (Korkie-Then aged 5- was ecstatic, he had specifically been asking for an older brother for two years), for all that Obi Wan is also training him in the ways of the force and the Manda. Also Shimi is living with them now.

There are some political ramifications that come from what could, in the loosest sense, be the Mandalorian invasion of Naboo (as some politicians privately call it) and the fact that the Gungan cities become a prime vacation spot for Mandalorian warriors. It never really goes anywhere, since doing so would mean acknowledging that the Trade Federation also invaded Naboo.

Padme wanted Naboo to cut ties with the Republic, she was fairly disgusted with the interaction with the senate which was highlighted by how differently the interaction with Mandalor went. This was never going to be allowed to happen (Palpatine’s status as Chancellor depends on Naboo being part of the Republic). This combined with Palpatine's (and other politicians) reactions to the Mandalorians that saved her planet, the continuing mistreatment of the Gungans by some (but much less) Naboo humans, and an unfortunate accident that left Padme as one of the sole survivors of her family mean that Padme does not become a senator. Instead when her term is up she, many of her handmaidens, and the other survivors of her family all move to Mandalore where they maintain a close relationship with the ruling family.

Padme and Anakin start dating when Anakin is 20. Their relationship is very much different than it was in Canon. For one, they had been friends for years before getting together. They were also not each other’s firsts (both having had romantic/sexual relationships with others prior to getting together). They are also not trying to squeeze too much into too little time as they try to hide from their friends and family, or justify to themselves their quick marriage. Frankly the lack of a war or a secret massacre putting strain on their relationship also helped.

Satine, Obi Wan, and Shmi never put any restrictions on how long they should be together before getting married, nor could they but it is important that they did not even try. They did highly recommend that, before any action that could be legally binding or have long lasting consequences (like kids) that the pair take at least one trip to the outer rim in a two person ship (the equivalent of taking a road trip together).

Anakin and Padme get married when Anakin is 22.

The Clone Wars break out a year later, in much the same way as Canon though obviously with different people in place of Obi Wan, Anakin, and Padme (Everything about the Clone Wars and the Clones is pushed back by four years. The setback is mostly because Maul was captured instead of bisected. Palpatine needed to be more careful for the first few years to make sure his cover was not blown). Though Count Dooku is the leader of the Separatists, he is never revealed to be a Sith.

Mandalore remains largely neutral, though they register an official complaint (that absolutely everyone involved knew would go nowhere) that Jango Fett’s, a Mandalorian, progeny were being effectively enslaved in the GAR. The Republic is able to produce paperwork signed by the late Jango Fett where Fett relinquishes any claim to any clones created using his DNA with the exception of a single unaltered clone (Boba), thus denying the clones automatic Mandalorian citizenship. Privately Obi Wan contacts the Jedi and tells them that any GAR Clone that wishes to not be fighting for the republic will be welcome on Mandalore, where they can get assistance setting up and where being armored (and thus hiding the most recognizable face in the galaxy) would be perfectly acceptable. The Jedi do find a way to start funneling clones that want to desert toward Mandalore. Oddly enough it actually decreases the amount of clones that want to leave, there was something about just having the option that made the clones feel like they could stay to protect people, instead of being effectively enslaved to the Republic (and it is indisputably true that innocents are being harmed by the CIS).

Mandalore does send ‘humanitarian aid’ and their security escorts to any planet that wishes for help. Ryloth annexes itself to Mandalore after the fifth time the Mandalorains were instrumental in repelling yet another CIS invasion before the GAR could arrive (The Twilek of Ryloth do not begrudge the actual soldiers of the GAR. They do understand that it is a big galaxy, they can only protect so many places at once, and the various battalions do not actually get to choose where they are being sent. However they do blame the Politicians of the Republic for the war going on).

Somewhere in the first year of the war a group of Mandalorians find Boba Fett. This group, who had long been close to Obi Wan (and had in fact been part of the group going to Naboo), clock the 10 year old with Jango Fett’s face putting himself in dangerous situations and forcibly bring him to Mandalore, where Korkie goes ‘Free little brother. For Me! Don’t mind if I do!’ and adopts Boba into the family (for the rest of his life Boba will maintain that there is some form of Captive Syndrome happening, but eventually Boba accepts it).

During the second year of the War several representatives from the Republic are sent to Mandalore, in theory to encourage Mandalore to join with the Republic for the war but several are also secretly on Palpatine’s payroll and looking to destabilize Mandalore or at least their ability to send people to protect other planets (which is making it difficult to extend the war). They are escorted by Qui Gon Jinn’s battalion (an amalgamation of the 212th and the 501st), accompanied by Qui Gon’s new Padawan Ahsoka.

The representatives were given the biggest run around that was politically feasible (Which is a lot, every member of the ruling family, their closest advisers, and the escorts are all little shits who knows how to pull off ‘we’ll piss you off and you can’t do anything about it’) led by Boba, who still does not like Jedi very much; even he understands what happened was a battle and not an attack so does not want to be around Qui Gon. Qui Gon and his troopers are greeted like family.

Satine and Obi Wan, as soon as they catch sight of Commander Cody, go ‘Ooooh Pretty’ (Satine had developed a limited Force Sensitivity after carrying Korkie, enough that she could perceive Force presences and both thought Cody’s force presence was the most beautiful they had ever seen). Qui Gon, who had to suffer from a year on the run with Smitten Padawan Obi Wan and smitten Protectee Satine, immediately recognizes the looks in both their eyes and decides he is too old for this shit. He ignores all of it to go play flirt with Shmi (neither he nor Shmi are actually interested in each other and they know it. Qui Gon has not been attracted to anyone other than Tahl and in this one Shmi is very much a Lesbian. They both enjoy flirting and are glad they have someone they can do it with without giving the wrong idea).

I am torn between if I want Padme and Anakin to immediately do the same thing to Rex (‘oooh pretty’), or if I want Anakin to look at Padawan Ahsoka and go ‘oh she’s little sister shaped’ and immediately try to adopt her (Between Anakin and Korkie rampant big brother instincts, the logical consequences of Satine and Obi Wan having a healthy sex life, and the Mandalorian adoption gene- Satine comes by it honestly, no is sure how Obi Wan managed to inherit it- the ruling family of Mandalore has something like 15 children; Anakin is still the oldest).

The negotiations start and the Duke and Duchess of Mandalore absolutely insist that Commander Cody be there through every step of it. It is in part because they are being little shits toward the representatives(all of whom had been vocal in the belief that the clones were not sentient) and making them flinch whenever one or the other goes ‘And what do you think, Cody, dear?’ It is also so the Duke and Duchess can flirt, heavily and obviously, with Cody the entire time he is there.

Cody is a bit baffled, since he is not usually the person drawing attention (both for dehumanizing reasons and Cody is oblivious reasons), but does enjoy the flirting. He also returns the interest in Obi Wan and Satine. Three of the eight representatives began to ask his opinion on their own somewhere around day three.

At the two week mark, working in tandem, Obi Wan and Satine spring the trap that they had been weaving since the beginning (Cody had been warned what they were doing, and they made sure he was in agreement-which he would have been even if he had not been attracted to the other two, just for the benefits to his brothers). For two weeks they manipulated the representative, and in turn the senate, to get those representatives an unprecedented amount of power in treaty making (Since part of the treaty process, particularly with something like a senate involved, is ratifying the treaty in which the negotiators take it back to the people in charge to agree, there is a vote and all that). Basically anything these representatives agree to is binding, law within the republic, no restrictions on what they can agree to. No one in the senate realized that these eight now had that power, that they had given them that power. Now Obi Wan and Satine led the representative around by the nose until they were agreeing to all sorts of things. Things like the clones of Jango Fett, and clones in general, would be recognized by the sentience of their species (with which comes all kinds of rights and responsibilities on the part of the senate to clones). They also convince the representatives to seal the new treaty with Commander Cody's hand in marriage (incidentally making all of the Fett Clones Mandalorian citizens). It should be noted that the reason these representatives agreed to that was that they, personally, would receive the bulk of the bride price for Cody (the final price was actually higher than the republic bought him for in the first place, Cody was very proud).

In addition Mandalore does not quite join the republic, the agreement is to take control of the GAR to fight for the republic. It is worded in such a way that the Jedi are given a choice (thus they can send the children home), a number stay with their battalions but some are also able to be called back from the field. The GAR naval officers, the natborns, were to be replaced by Mandalorian officers. The few officers that wished to would need to sign up with the Mandalorians (there were a few that wanted to continue serving with the Clones). One of the concessions from the Duke and Duchess was that, though back pay would be handled by the senate, pay for the GAR going forward would come from Mandalore(the reason that the representatives agreed to let Mandalore take over the GAR, they felt quite proud of themselves). Without knowing it this also derails the Orders on the chips, since Palpatine is no longer in the chain of command, no matter what title he does or does not take.��

Three months after the Chancellor’s office stopped being in the loop for the war, the CIS and the Republic sue for peace. Sitting across from each other on a neutral world but publicly broadcasted throughout the galaxy are Count Dooku and Chancellor Palpatine with Mand’alor Obi Wan Kenobi there to mediate. Dooku and Palpatine have too much on each other to reveal that the other is a secret Sith (not without the assurance of victory, which they do not have). They are forced to play this as if they are both well meaning leaders trying to do what is best for their people, as neither has an army backing them any more (The GAR is now Mandalorian and they have destroyed the droid army). Obi Wan wants to get home to his spouses (Satine was pregnant again, while they would love any and all children equally, Obi Wan was hoping that the little one would be born with Cody’s features).

I cannot emphasize enough that Obi Wan does not know he is sitting with two Sith who, if they thought they could get away with it, would kill him and subjugate the galaxy. He honestly does think that the other two are doing their best (He knows as a leader himself that sometimes a leader will make unpopular or not understandable choices for the betterment of their people-because they had bad information or because of their own prejudices).

Two Sith are forced to negotiate a peace they do not want because not negotiating (or stalling) would be so obvious as to give them away and if they are exposed now the entire plan is for nothing.

They are not down and out yet, but it is not far off. Their plans are derailed, and the person who did it never even noticed.

And I think that is the ending both of them truly deserve.

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dum1s-writings · 1 year

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Well, hello! It's nice to see an active total drama writer in here! I love this show so much and the fandom is like dead 💀

So, I had this idea...

It could be headcanons or a fic/one-shot, whatever you feel like the most!

But, what about the reaction to the TDWT crew to Chris bringing his niece with him?? Like, the reader is just a sweet 19 y/o teenager who looks for their safety and actually cares about them??? (Total contrary to his uncle lmao).

It doesn't have to be with one character specifically, most like how they would react overall to the reader wanting to protect them from Chris (AND PLEASE MAKE THE READER PROTECT CODY FROM SIERRA I BEG U)

Anyways, have a nice day!!! <3

~~~The Nice McLean~~~

I fucking love Total Drama!! I firmly believe Leshawna should've won the first season. I'll try to add my least favorite characters from World Tour to avoid being biased.

Warnings: Chris McLean, Sierra's stalker behavior, attempted manipulation from Alejandro, Duncan being kind of an ass, does Cody being a crybaby count? I'm making it count.

Pronouns: They/Them

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"Alright contestants I have another surprise for you." Chris looked at the tired teens. From behind Chef came another teen. They smiled and waved to the other teens.

"Another contestant?" A few questioned simultaneously.

"Oh hell no. Their mother would kill me." Chris slung his arm around them and tugged them close. "This here is -Y/N- McLean, my nibling."

"Heya," their smile got bigger "I hope we can get along."

Everyone was too shocked to speak for a moment. Sierra was trying so hard not to flip her shit. Chris McLean's nibling was actually in front of her.

"So you're related to Chris?" Harold finally asked.

"Yeah. My mom is his sister." -Y/N- answered truthfully.

"Think of -Y/N- as a co-host. Another Chris of sorts." The older man smirked. "They'll keep an eye on you famous wannabes while I can't."

First of all we'll get the obvious out of the way, the cast fucking love you, after getting to know you. Obviously at first learning you're related to the devil host, Chris McLean, they immediately thought this season would be twice as torturous. But give them a couple of days or weeks and most of them would willingly jump from the plane for you. The others may take some time.

I'll start with the ones that take no time in becoming your fans:

Cody: for him the moment he saw you give a genuine smile was when he trusted you. Having dealt with Chris's shit for so long made him aware of a real and fake smile. Also when you demand Sierra leave him alone? Oh yeah he likes you even more now. Expect a lot of clinging, as much as he can, crying for one reason or another mostly Sierra and excessive praise for the small things.

Lindsay: my sweetheart, so pretty so.....not traditionally smart. She saw you looking super nice in your outfit and that was it. Anyone with fashion choices as good as yours are definitely trustworthy. Please become shopping buddies after the show is over.

Owen: this big lug. He really tries to see the good in everyone. More often than not he's wrong. But he's genuinely happy he's right about you.

Sierra: she knew about you before anyone else. Obviously she's going to trust you from the get go. You're related to THE Chris McLean. That trust may or may not waver...TBD. Either way watch yourself around her. Keep a close eye on your belongings.

The neutral ones who need a bit more time are:

Noah: he just doesn't trust easily. Take no offense to it. I think only Owen was lucky enough, being an actual giant ball of sunshine and stupidity. Perhaps if you sneak him some Noah-Safe food he'll trust you faster.

Gwen: poor girl has been scorned by the world so often. It's left her with a few trust issues. Maybe stick up for her and watch some good horror movies together. Reassurance is the key, she was painted as a bad guy from the beginning. Let her know she's more than that and it's okay to admit she did wrong. Help her move past that.

Leshawna: this bad bitch (lovingly) knows her worth. She wants to make sure others know it as well. Don't talk down to her and hype up her plans and ideas and she'll consider you worth her time and respect. Also keep Alejandro away from her. Please. My queen deserves better.

DJ: he's a softie and a Mama's boy. He does want to trust you. But after his failed restaurant with his Mama it might take some time. People in power never helped him or his Mama. In fact he wonders if they were sabotaged. Help him find ways to "reverse his curse" and he'll definitely trust you, also maybe offer his Mama a job as a chef, especially if it's a higher position in a private kitchen.

The ones who just straight up dislike you and take a long time to like you are:

Alejandro: his family caused him so much trauma. He doesn't trust ANYONE. He may act like it, nodding to your advice and being nice. But alas tis all a front. He's really just waiting for the perfect moment to betray you. When that time comes and goes and you're still nice to him? Yeah....you may have started chipping away at his walls.

Heather: the queen bee. The head of every group project. Highschool taught her to look out for herself. So did the first two seasons of Total Drama. She'll bitch at you and talk shit about you "behind" your back. Just brush it off and continue being nice and you'll win her over, eventually.

Courtney: the Type A Psychotic Crazies and debate team caused Courtney to believe only Courtney can help Courtney. She'll refuse to trust you and judges those who do. In fact it's not until she's kicked off will she finally trust you. Maybe meet up after the show and talk to her, she'll apologize to you and own up to her wrongdoings.

Duncan: the runaway delinquent. The hardass he is doesn't trust you, purely because of your last name. Chris ruined his life, more than he himself could have. Being stalked no matter where he went for 2 years put him on edge. Abolish Chris's stupid "must always sing" rule and his opinion on you might change.

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Hopefully this works. I didn't know what to do for most of it. I was winging it big time.

#dum's writings #dum's requests #total drama x reader #total drama world tour #x gender neutral reader #x gn!reader

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cheesecakeluvrs · 20 days

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Rogue and Gambit in X-men 97’

This is neither One Piece nor Sanami but I’m obsessed with X-men 97’ currently and I need to talk about this somewhere

I keep seeing people say that Rogue is cheating on Gambit in X-men 97’ but that is absolutely not the truth. This is understandable because the general knowledge is that Rogue and Gambit are together because they are in the comics and I’m sure some people who watched the original X-men animated series as a child look back and remember them being together. While they were awfully flirting with one another they never got together officially

This is also probably because Rogue and Gambit were a pretty fresh couple in the early nineties so I’m sure the writers just went with the same flirty approach that they had before they got together in the comics

While it’s clear they have feelings for each other as they kiss 2 times and almost another (although one of those kisses was not consensual) and Rogue also calls herself “Mrs. Lebeau” when she needed a name (which I’m sure there was also confusion on Rogues name due to it also being fresh) they are definitely NOT together

Gambit is literally my favorite character so it’s hard bashing him so much like this but he has no right to get jealous of Rogue. Everyone on the internet keeps saying “poor Gambit” and such and I just wish they would watch the original

Gambit in the original is just not a great guy a lot of the time to Rogue. First, one time Morph flirted with Gambit as Rogue and told him that she had been lying about not being able to touch people (LIKE HOW DO YOU FALL FOR THAT HOW DOWN BAD ARE YOU) so his reaction to that is to go up to her while she’s sleeping and kissing her resulting in his passing out. Like I get you want this woman but leave her to her sleep

Second, he makes kinda creepy comments too. Like one time he tells her “you need to lay off the fried chicken” and one time she was just out of her usual fighting clothes and he said “you should dress up for me sometime” (but she did flirt back in that situation so I’ll give him that one)

Lastly, saying Rogue cheated on him is crazy because Gambit flirts and hits on so many people (even though they’re not serious he still can’t get jealous of someone else’s relationship if he’s doing that) then has the audacity to get all angsty when Rogue and Cody go on a date or when Rogue and Archangel touch and share a sentimental moment due to Rogue absorbing some of his memories one time

Okay okay and DESPITE all this I am still Rogue and Gambits biggest shipper and cheering for them in 97’ so what is going on with Magneto. People who did a single google search keep coming up with the “well Rogue and Magneto were canon in the comics”, yeah they got married in “Age of Apocalypse” but referencing couples outside of 616 is crazy. You know who else has been together when we are counting EVERY timeline? LITERALLY EVERYONE. This is Marvel comics, this is not new, everyone has hooked up and everyone will continue to hook up. Just look up a list of all the people Wolverine alone has been with

Sure they COULD go with Rogue and Magneto for X-men 97’ and I’m just a stupid dum dum for believing otherwise but I see no reason to with all the buildup of the original and that sad face Rogue made in episode 4 was a little hm….

I think this is all for a little drama, a little development, a little spice because if Marvel hates anything it’s happy couples with no problems. I am praying that this is just to improve their relationship and at the end of this stupid love triangle they will finally be together but who knows

There is also a little theory that Magneto and Rogue actually aren’t doing something too crazy. I just find it weird that they haven’t actually shown us anything (I know they can’t show us them doing something devious but maybe at least kissing) only heavily suggesting it with the training room and Gambits nightmare thing. It’s just because a lot of times shows and movies will heavily force something like someone cheating then they later find out that they were actually just spending so much time together because they were planning their birthday party or something

I sound as desperate and delusional as Gambit but I’m doing all I can. I probably should’ve just waited for tomorrow then posted this after watching the new episode but I couldn’t wait so maybe all of my thoughts and opinions will change in a few hours

#x men 97 #xmen #x men #gambit #gambit x rogue #rogue x gambit #rogue #x men the animated series #genuinely tweaking

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invaderlynx · 6 months

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There’s a common headcanon that Bly took his own life after realizing what he’d done during Order 66. My brain decided to make that ten times worse for some reason:

Bly is a very competent officer. He’s a marshal commander—and a damn good one at that. For that reason, I can’t see him killing himself on a campaign, either by enemy fire or otherwise. He wouldn’t want to leave his men in a lurch, make more trouble for them than he had to, or endanger them in any way. So I’d have to imagine that if he had suicidal designs, he’d probably act on them while on leave. And where exactly do most troopers end up on leave? Coruscant.

____

Fox gets the call early in the morning. The war’s been over for weeks, but he’s still bone-tired. The fighting may be finished, but Coruscant has never conformed to the war’s schedule. He’s just as busy as he was before, if not more so. It weighs on him. Heavily.

The message is simple enough. A clone officer was found dead in his quarters with a blaster bolt through his brain, apparently self-inflicted. Fox doesn’t blame him, the poor bastard. Force knows he’s seen his fair share of suicides. Hell, he’s considered it himself.

Since the clone was a high ranking officer of the GAR, standard protocol dictates that the military police examine the body to rule out any evidence of foul play. Fox is about to dispatch a forensic squad when he finally gets to the CC number associated with the request. His blood runs cold. CC-5052.

Fox doesn’t send the requisite medical team. He goes himself. He’d trust his men with his life, but he doesn’t trust anyone but himself to care for his brother. His vod’ika.

____

The last time he saw Bly was months before the end of the war. Months before the incident with Rex’s ARC, before everything fell apart.

It was the last time all four of them were together. Wolffe, Cody, Bly, and himself, all crammed into a little back room booth at 79’s. Fox can’t remember what they were celebrating that day. Perhaps it was just the fact that they were all together again.

Bly was just on the wrong side of tipsy—his tattooed cheeks flushed red and glowing in the neon light—but he was happy. Cody was goading him on about something having to do with General Secura. Like he was any better, the hypocrite. Wolffe had loudly pointed this out and then promptly spilled his drink when Cody gave him a shove.

Fox felt lighter that night than he had in weeks, the bone-deep stress of Coruscant dissipating in the presence of his brothers. Surrounded by the people he loved most in the galaxy with the warm thrum of liquor in his veins, the war seemed distant. The incessant demands of the chancellor and Senate could wait, at least for a few hours. The most pressing thing for him right now was trying to rescue his drink from Cody and Wolffe’s play-fighting.

When the night was over, Fox was saddled with the task of getting Bly back to his rooms in one piece. The whole way Bly had gushed into Fox’s shoulder about “Aayla”, his face pressed into the plastoid of Fox’s armor as his brother carried him back. By the end, the sight of his quarters had been a relief. Fox was about ready to strangle him.

Before he’d gone Bly had hugged him, pulled him in for the most uncoordinated keldabe Fox thinks he’d ever seen, and told him he loved him. Fox can’t remember now if he’d said it back. Maker, he hopes he’d said it back.

____

Fox hesitates at the door to Bly’s quarters. His heart thuds painfully in his chest and his hands shake worse than they ever did during the war. There’s a tight, white-hot fear that’s coiled in his gut, freezing him in place. He forces himself to take a few breaths, ignoring its desperate, keening warnings.

He punches in the door code and steps inside.

There’s no mistaking the corpse that lies before him. Any lingering hope that his brother might still be alive, that there’s been a mistake, dies in his chest.

He makes the executive decision to spare Bly the indignity of an autopsy. Call it commander’s privilege. He knows enough forensics to realize that the wound was self-inflicted. He knows enough about Bly too.

He handles the body like it’s the most precious thing he’s ever carried. He gently arranges his brother’s bent limbs, straightens his uniform, closes his eyes. It won’t matter, his remains will be cremated all the same no matter how he looks, but it matters to Fox.

____

He escorts the hover stretcher to the crematorium—an honor guard of one. He’s not sure whether Bly would appreciate the gesture. They hadn’t spoken since Fox had killed that ARC, since he had been summarily declared “dar’manda”. He’s certain he wouldn’t be Bly’s first choice of pallbearer, but their other brothers are scattered across the galaxy or else marching on. Fox will have to do.

The guardsman on duty seems nervous. He’s a shiny and has likely never been around an officer for this long before, let alone one of Fox’s rank. He looks like he wants to ask something. Fox hopes he won’t. He doesn’t trust himself to speak at the moment.

Fox waits as the body is incinerated, standing at parade rest as the flames cast shadows through the small transparisteel window of the capsule. There won’t be anything to take back. This crematorium was designed to handle clone casualties that were never meant to be buried. Whatever ash is left over will be sent to a Coruscant waste facility automatically.

Fox waits anyway.

Even with the best technology the Republic has to offer, the process still takes about an hour. The kid informs him when it’s over, his voice barely above a squeak. Maker, he’s young. Fox thanks him, taking care to make sure his voice doesn’t shake. Were he and his brothers that young when they left Kamino?

The walk back to his office is torture. It takes every shred of discipline Kamino ever instilled in him to keep from breaking down. He measures his breaths, his strides, all the way down to his very heartbeat to keep up the appearance of the dutiful commander he’s meant to be.

It’s a mercy when he finally arrives at his destination. The moment the office door is locked behind him his facade cracks. His legs give out at last and he braces his back against the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest. He rips off his helmet, letting it clatter unceremoniously at his side. He curls in on himself. His body shakes with wracking sobs. His vod’ika is gone. He’s gone marching on somewhere Fox can’t follow.

#tw: suicide #commander fox #commander bly #clone wars #tcw #commander cody #commander wolffe #blyla #mentioned codywan #post order 66 #coruscant guard

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yandere-wishes · 6 months

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BOY DO I HAVE IDEAS FOR YANDERE!FIVES

I wrote hcs for him years ago but i'll paraphrase some points from there:

Fives is a (mostly) harmless yandere who just really wants to please you! When he falls, he falls fast and deep. Once he decides he likes you and you're going to be his cyare (what I like to call a clone's darling), he's latched onto you and he will never leave. No matter how much you try to leave him, he will find you. Where there's a will, there's a way. Romantic.

"Where are you going? I'll come with you!"

Echo's a little jealous now that all of Fives' attention is focused on you but he's happy Fives has found his cyare.

As soft as he is for you, it doesn't mean he won't get violent. But not to you, never you! Compared to his brothers, Fives is calmer and prefers nonviolent means to get rid of anyone he perceives as competition but as soon as anyone makes you upset is having an unfortunate encounter staring down the end of his blaster barrel (away from you ofc).

Oh, and don't think you can come to the Jedi or other clones for help. Most of the Jedi are enabling and the clones work together and help each other out with their cyares. You're stuck with him <3

Fives is literally the LOVE OF MY LIFE!! I have been obsessed with him since episode 5 and am so happy to learn that he and Echo will be getting more screen time!!

You're 100% right, when Fives falls HE FALLS HARD. Poor baby can't get you out of his mind, constantly thinking about how soft your skin feels when you accidentally brushed past him in the halls. How sweet your laughter is when you giggle at a joke. How delicious your lips would taste when you grace him with kisses. How melodious your voice would sound uttering his name. You're just so dreamy and he's desperate to have you. I think the first thing he'd do when he realizes he can't get you out of his head is go to either Rex or Cody (Or maybe Anakin) to ask for advice. Obviously his older brothers (and general) wouldn't mind giving him some guidance. Tips on how to win her over. Ballpark estimates of what girls like (following the ever-basic "buy her flowers, girls love that stuff"). The most effective way of killing off anyone who gets too close to her without her tracing it back to you. Where the Chloroform is kept (You can't just hit your cyare in the back of the head with a blaster, it's just not right vod) They're all so helpful. Fives definitely takes their advice, although admittedly he'd be happier if you fell in love with him on your own accord. He'd feel kinda bad about kidnapping you.

Now Fives is definitely the clingy type. Trailing after you like a lost puppy, he's actually kinda excited when you leave the Jedi temple cause that means the two of you can go outside together. He's got no sense of personal space, constantly holding your hand or having an arm around your waste.

"Hold on mesh'la! Why are you walking so fast? It almost looks like you're trying to get away from me."

Tup and Echo are a little annoyed with how much of their vod's time you occupy. And how he's always talking about you. Still, they're happy for him and they'll do anything to make sure you stay with Fives. Despite their jealousy, they do try to be good wingmen. Even if that means stalking you through the streets of Coruscant. And forcefully dragging you back into Fives loving arms.

I agree!! He's totally super protective of his cyare!! Making sure that anyone who hurts you (physically or emotionally) is dealt with rapidly. He also likes to eliminate competition before it fully arises. Oh, someone looked at you from across the dance floor. Their corpse will be found the next morning in the trashcan. Did some guy ask for your number? Well, they had to take a quick "trip" to the "outer rim", so you won't be hearing from them for a while. After some time I feel like his darling would just give up and accept that they can't leave him. He's a great lover and he's so cute, I can't help but imagine that reader slowly starts to fall (very hard) for Fives too!!

The Jedi totally encourage this behavior. The poor clone troopers need love too! Anakin is super proud of Fives for picking such a sweet girl and if you ever go to him for help trying to escape your new lover. Then Anakin would harshly chaste you and drag you back to Fives personally. Ashoka would just start listing off reasons why Fives is the best lover for you. And Obi-Wan would hear nothing of it, Fives has gone to so much trouble for you at least try to show some gratitude!

I like to think that clones don't go after each other's lovers and are super respectful to one another. Push comes to shove, some clones just end up sharing a lover. What I wouldn't give to be shared between my favorite clones~💜

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the-derpy-duck · 7 months

Text

I really like rescuebots.

Tried to keep spoilers to seasons one and two sorry. Long post ahead.

It was the first transformers thing I’ve ever seen and it’s so funny. Like not in a ‘I’m laughing at it’ way but in a ‘it did a funny on purpose’. Please watch just one episode it is so good and Peter Collin voices OP in it. They make fun of politicians and I was NOT expecting that. I spent five minutes laughing at the first joke involving the mayor because it was so unexpected. RBA is also great. There’s one episode where the children think that one of them is gonna get kicked out and near the start of the episode Hot Shot makes a comment and at the end of the episode it gets brought up again and it might have been because it was 3 am and I was delirious but I laughed way to hard at that joke. Anyway Rescuebots is so good the end of season 1 was so fucking intense and dark. Like wow they went there. But the show is never so dark that it becomes miserable.

Heatwave is so great I love him even though I think he would hate me. His character growth is so slow and subtle but it does exist. He cares so deeply for Cody and the rest of his team and even if he’s a jerk about it he will always prioritize their safety. And his relationship with Kade? I just— I don’t know how to describe how it makes me feel. They don’t like each other but they do care about each other. They aren’t friends and won’t ever be friends but they have a genuine connection with each other. They are so similar that it makes them incompatible in a way that works. They are different, Kade is more openly rude and is definitely not a leader. Kade is selfish and an attention whore, Heatwave is also selfish. Heatwave also wanted to go join Optimus Prime’s team at the beginning of the show. But when Prime later offers him a spot on the team Heatwave wasn’t willing to leave his team. Also, in the episode where Tidal Wave first appeared he was willing to overlook his own poor treatment (although he was visibly pissed) but when Tidal Wave kept insulting Blades (notably after Blades was late because he was helping save someone) Heatwave went to defend him. Heatwave didn’t care that doing so might make him look worse in the eyes of OP, because he doesn’t only care about that anymore. Also it is entirely possible that Heatwave is the one singing the intro and no I will not explain that. Heatwave is an asshole but he won’t tolerate poor treatment of himself, his teammates, or the people he cares about. He doesn’t want to be apart of Griffin Rock’s community because they have only ever seen him as a mindless robot but he does view himself as apart of the Burns family. His relationship with Blurr steadily improves and they both grow to not dislike each other. Also with Kade their is an episode where this old lady is insulting the robots and Kade is genuinely about to get into a fist fight with her over the issue. Kade also has series issues with peer pressure, which is funny to me. I like heatwave a lot, I love the way his anger is portrayed and how despite him being the way that he is he dose show love and care to others.

Also Boulder is just so nice and there’s this music thing that plays whenever he’s learning and I love himmmmmmm. I like that he didn’t have an antagonist relationship with Graham, he was genuinely interested in earth and learning more but Graham was anxious because he didn’t know as much as Boulder, and it wasn’t in a ‘I’m upset your smarter than me’ but a ‘I feel so inferior to you and am assuming that you are being condescending because why else would you be talking to me’. But when he gets over that they work well together, Graham is willing to give up going to a really really good school to stay with Boulder (although he gets to take courses online/remotely. Idk how he got to go to school you just need to know he stays on the island) which shows how far their relationship has come. Boulder also being the first of the rescue bots to get a Dino alt mode was great and I loved those episodes, especially when Optimus was just playing with the other rescuebots. They were just having fun together and it was nice. Boulder is so genuinely kind to others and his interest in nature and the world around him is so charming. He wants to hug Heatwave and I want them to hug so much. Heatwave you know you want to hug Boulder. Also the fact that he can use echo-location is amazing and I love it.

You will acknowledge that RB had some level of body horror and you will appreciate that fact. Because it is explicitly stated that Baldes is

A. Afraid of heights

B. Originally a ground vehicle

C. Had no choice in his alt mode and was a victim of circumstance

He went from being on the ground to not having wheels that is fucked. Worse things could happen but holy shit dude. And it’s not like he chose this! He does get over his fears (mostly) and although he has a lot of anxiety he is willing to put himself in danger to help others. Yeah it will take A LOT to get him to that point but he will do it. When Danny and him are surrounded by fire and are about TO DIE he apologizes to her. The rest of the team come in to save them but like- they were going to die. They thought that they were about to die. Third episode in a kids show. And it’s not like Blades and Danny had a great relationship, Danny was an asshole, especially to Kody, and she wasn’t patient with a helicopter that wouldn’t fly. Blades is stubborn and terrified, it doesn’t matter what Danny does because flying is something he never wants to do. But Danny asks him to trust her and he does and she flys them to safety. and they become besties. Blades is also gay. You can’t tell me that he isn’t gay and that him and Bumblebee aren’t robot boyfriends. It is all but cannon the creators of the show tweeted a picture of the two hugging when gay rights became a thing in the US. But his ~friendship~ with BB is great and I love it. Blades also seems to have some form of anxiety and it very much affects his daily life. His nervousness affects him during rescues and that gets him into trouble with Heatwave. I have anxiety and I do love Blades a lot so I don’t know how much of this is actually in the text or just projection. I also find it interesting that he used to be a medic, I love medics in Transformers and it makes sense for a rescue team to have a medic and it makes sense for that medic to be Blades. I also think it’s really funny that he is NOTHING like his G1 counterpart (apart from the name and alt mode of course). Because G1 Blades was a lover of violence and that’s funny to me.

Danny and Cody’s relationship is also really interesting to me. Danny takes out her anger on other people, mainly Cody, and she doesn’t realize that she’s doing it until Cody brings it up to her. She genuinely apologizes to him and says that she will do better. It isn’t really brought up again so I assume that she stuck by her word. Also she plays soccer and is better at it than everyone else in her family and I love her for that.

Chase has survivors guilt. Like that’s just a thing that exists. And he is so determined to try and find this group and help them even if there is literally no way that they could be alive and Cody backs him up and Heatwave lets him go but gives him a direct order to come back alive and Chase has been shown to be unable to go against direct orders and AGAHHASGAHAHBA. It’s just so- it was a good episode. For some reason I thought that Chase and Heatwave had a power struggle, which I’m really happy they don’t because it wouldn’t make sense. I think I thought that because of TMNT but there is nothing in the show that would indicate Chase would want to be a leader. And he really respects Heatwave, although he may disagree with his judgments and decisions he won’t go against Heatwave. Which is also a flaw as his refusal to disobey orders has lead to conflicts. His whole ‘follow the rules’ also has a lot of funny jokes. Like when he’s singing to the baby robot (don’t ask) he interrupts the song to say that the rescuebots don’t condone the reckless behavior that’s taking place in the song. Also the body swap episode is perfect. Literally nothing could be done to make it better it is the best body swap episode. But Chase is such a silly guy. Him and Whirl are the best cops (sorry Jimmy). Chase is also really great in RBA. I love him and I’m so attached to this guy. I love his relationship with Chief Burns and how nicely they work together. I like that half the cast is like ‘yeah my human is a jerk’ and the other is ‘I love my human they are so cool’. It’s just. Silly and nice.

Cody, buddy, my dude, HOW THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO EVERYONE’S SECURITY SYSTEMS? Your unhinged and I love you for that but wow. It’s not even out of character. It’s 1000% something he would do and have access to. Cody is also just great. He forms such genuine friendships with others and you can really tell that he loves rescue work and his home. He’s able to befriend just about ever cybertronian that appears on the show. His connection with Blurr is more than half the reason why he chooses to not go back to velocitron (which totally isn’t destroyed), he befriends the recruits in RBA and is a major voice of reason, and the bond he has with Heatwave is a primary part of the show and if it didn’t exist then the show wouldn’t make sense. Cody is a mediator who helps the others work through their issues with their partners and he’s the main thing that connects everyone. Because everyone loves and cares about Cody and they aren’t willing to just abandon him. They are a family, all of them, and they aren’t going to abandon each other. Family is a strong theme in rescue bots, the bonds that the characters share are so strong and interpersonal. Heatwave cares deeply for the other members of his team, he orders chase to not die. The Burns family has extended to include the rescue bots and arguably Dr.Green and Frankie. The season three finale is fucking perfect with this theme, they are willing to kill themselves for these humans and the speech they give to the family oh my god- Moving on from this—

Salvage is southern. He is southern I love that I love when transformers have accents it’s one of my favorite things ever. Like TFA Blitzwing is one of my favorite characters in part because of the accent. The southern accent suits him I think. I like the connection he has with Blurr. He wanted to help the humans and he’s generally really chill. He finds great fascination with garbage and when he asks if he can keep some Cody and Boulder are like ‘uhhhh I guess’ in a way that’s like holy shit this guy is weird. He recyclessss. I don’t really have A LOT to say about him but I really like him he’s sweet and he is southern. I’d need to rewatch seasons three and four again if I wanted to talk more in depth about him.

I do have a bit more to say about Blurr. To me, he reads as someone who has AD(H)D. The way he struggles to understand why he should work with others, his impulsiveness that comes back to bite him in the ass, his want to move and race, and the way the others talk about him and compare him to Salvage remind me of my own experiences. Specifically how Chase and Blades talk about how they don’t want to teach Blurr reminded me of how I assumed teachers or coaches would think of me. The way Heatwave acts also reminded me of a few teachers. Blurr is an impulsive ass. He sucks so much but also theres a non zero chance that his home planet was destroyed (RB is apart of the alined continuity) and he’s being forced to adapt to a world that is unwilling or unable to accommodate him. I am both annoyed with him and empathetic towards his problems. He views himself in a very positive light but also he wasn’t going to just leave Salvage. When he’s awoken he questions where Salvage is but he also lies about saving the humans. He’s greatly flawed and I probably wouldn’t like to be around him but as a character I love him. I have a hard time watching the second episode that has him in it because it makes me feel bad about myself and that’s understandable. I see him as everything that’s wrong with myself and bit more but I like him? He has an almost antagonistic relationship with Heatwave that improves and he is apart of Heatwave’s greater arc throughout the alined continuity, he learns and improves his teaching methods. He doesn’t like Griffin rock and he has very few reason to like it, the people there don’t know he’s sentient and professor asshole is running the place. He only really has Cody and Salvage as friends and Salvage isn’t on Griffin rock. Blurr also doesn’t die. I like that he doesn’t die please stop killing Blurr it hasn’t happened a lot but come on!

Quickshadow is so cool. I love her she’s fanatic. That’s it. That’s all.

Also the humans are great in this show. I don’t think I’ve seen a transformers show where none of the human characters annoyed me, but rescue bots comes very very close. The villain is a silly silly dude but he’s also a dictator. It’s kind of weird in tone but I do like him as a villain. Dr.Green is amazing and I love him. He’s like if G1 wheeljack was a human. Frankie is amazing and I love her friendship with Cody. They give off the vibes of being besties and I love them for that. Kade is an asshole but their is an entire episode about how he has more than one dimension and cares about his family and friends and girlfriend. He hyped up his brother (Graham) and it’s so sweet. Also Graham is great and I love him. He works well with Boulder and they are genuinely friends. They enjoy spending time together and it’s just nice. Danny is wonderful even with her anger issues. She does seem to improve with Cody and I like that, I like that she is able to get better because it mirrors my own relationship with my sibling. The fact that she also becomes friends with Blades and they banter is great. The humans in Rescue Bots feel necessary to the story. Even the towns folk feel like they belong. I watched half an episode of RID 2001 and I don’t know how necessary he was but their are definitely some shows that don’t need human characters. Also their is a person from Ohio in the show who came to watch birds. Not to shit on human characters, I like a lot of them, but sometimes they can be annoying. Rescue Bots is a great show and the humans work. The environment is also really interesting for a transformers show. Like robots working to help save and protect people in a town is so fun. It’s just fun which is what I think a TF show should be. TFP is great but I watched it in congruence with Rescue Bots and that contrast probably made me like it more. Also Dinobot OP is cannon to Tfp and I love that.

I think the reason I love this show so much is because it’s so nice and sort of calm. Like the situations the characters are put in are really dangerous but the show is made for kids. They aren’t gonna be scared or die. When Blurr died in TFA I was so badly affected by it. The show does take place during a war, but the war isn’t relevant. The characters aren’t actively fighting and because of that they can just relax. The moments when they are playing games are some of my favorites because they let me get attached to them and see them be happy. It also gives small insights into the dynamics and characters. Like Chase is playing a Cybertronian version of chess with Heatwave and Heatwave is frustrated that Chase always wins this game. Chase is better at thinking ahead and strategizing than Heatwave, which makes sense. It also shows how close these characters are to each other, that Heatwave and Chase would play this game together enough to the point that Heatwave would make that comment and be frustrated about it. It’s like the parts of g1 that are just silly for silliness sake. The reason why I watched so much of G1 is because of these little moments. Rescuebots is also superior to TFA because, unlike TFA, RB doesn’t misuse international waters and try to claim that the lakes between America and Canada count as international water. They don’t. If you are in a lake between USA and Canada then are either in America or Canada. The boarder is a fucking line.

Oh and the theme song is the best theme song. I don’t fucking care how good you think tfa’s intro is, RB’s intro gives a perfect summary of the show, the characters’s backstory, and what will be happening. It destroys the tone of the episode and it is PERFECT. So fucking funny when a serious moment is happening only for A ROUTINE PATROL WITH FOUR BOTS IN SATUS- to interrupt it. So good. I am not a functioning human, all I can think about is this fucking show. It is so good, I love the characters and world so much please watch it people it’s great, it’s unhinged, it has a musical episodes and it’s unironically amazing.

So yeah, I am going to get that Chase legacy figure and I will fight a seven year old for it. Hasbro please make all of them I will give you an unreasonable amount of money for a really big High Tide I don’t know the actual name they use for it but please Hasbro please.

Unrelated but if anyone has any links or a copy of the 500 page critique of the Michael Bay TF films please send it to me I really want to read it.

#transformers #maccadam #Duck screams about things #fandom #long post #rescue bots #rescuebots #tfrb #tfrb heatwave #tfrb chase #tfrb blades #tfrb boulder #tfrb bumblebee #tfrb blurr #tfrb salvage #tfrb cody #tfrb graham #tfrb kade #tfrb dani

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juceynightmare · 1 year

Text

dating 101 (18+) part 8 - cody rhodes x reader

my masterlist

dating 101 (18+) masterlist

pairing(s): cody rhodes x reader, roman reigns x reader

warning(s): swearing, vomiting, marijuana usage, hands free orgasm (f), dry humping, shotgun kisses, dom/sub undertones

genre(s): college!au, slow burn, fluff, i suppose now you can somewhat call this smut since reader finishes

|| previous part || next part ||

y/n jolted awake, her body in survival mode as she practically jumped out of bed, sliding on her slippers. she hurriedly made her way out of her room and into the hallway, the sudden bright lights making her increasingly more nauseous. y/n hadn’t even noticed that ted and cody’s door was wide open waiting for her to wake up, because she had immediately bounded to the bathroom. y/n threw open the nearest stall door and fell to her knees in front of the toilet bowl, emptying the contents of her stomach.

y/n didn’t know how long she was kneeling in front of the toilet for, tears welling up in her eyes with each time her body convulsed and emptied her stomach into the toilet bowl. eventually, she heard someone walk in and open the stall door. she felt her hair being pulled up into a ponytail, and the mystery person tie it up for her. y/n felt the person kneel down beside her and rub circles into her back.

“i brought you a change of clothes and one of ted’s hoodies.” cody spoke softly from beside her, watching as she reached over to flush the toilet. y/n leaned into cody’s chest, shutting her eyes and letting herself use his warmth to warm herself up.

“can you get me water while i change please?” she asked softly after a beat, opening her eyes and taking the clothes from cody’s hand. she leaned away from him to let him stand up, closing the stall door once he was out.

y/n stood up slowly, feeling as though every movement she made was in slow motion as she changed out of her clothes from the party and slipped on her “hangover outfit” as the boys dubbed it. it was simply booty shorts and one of ted’s hoodies. y/n and ted both had a bad case of the chills when hungover, and so the two would cuddle out their hangovers and nap together. it had also become a part of their routine for y/n to wear one of ted’s hoodies because they were so massive on her and “the softest hoodies ever” as she would say.

she walked out of the stall once she finished changing, her old clothes in one hand. she found cody already waiting for her near the sink. he took her clothes for her while she mumbled out a thank you, and gestured to her toiletry bag on the counter. “brush your teeth and then come to my room when you’re done. ok sweetheart?” cody spoke.

sweetheart. roman had called her that, but it didn’t feel right hearing it from him. hearing cody call her that now had set off sparks in her brain. it felt right when it was cody.

“ok cody.” y/n replied, grabbing her toothbrush and toothpaste so she could brush her teeth. she watched cody leave the bathroom as she began to brush. she raised her arm up in the air and shook it to allow the sleeve of ted’s hoodie be lifted, and she counted the tally marks that were left on her forearm.

10. no wonder y/n felt like absolute shit when she already acts a fool after only 3. she let her arm fall back down to her side as she brushed, trying to collect her memories of last night.

she remembers being glued to roman’s side, the man’s arm never leaving her waist unless he was grabbing her another shot or marking her arm with the sharpie. then, it hit her all it once.

the secluded area where there weren’t as many people. the way roman pinned her to the wall. the way they were grinding on each other. the way roman and her had made out so sloppily and so primal that she almost felt dirty.

she had unconsciously began to brush harder at the memory, before catching herself and pulling out her toothbrush to save its poor bristles. she spit out her toothpaste and turned on the faucet to wash her toothbrush.

it wasn’t a bad kiss, no, roman was skilled and certainly knew what he was doing. but she could only imagine how horrible she was at responding to roman’s kiss, although she supposes she would be lucky enough to blame her lack of skill on the alcohol.

she cringed at the thought as she rinsed out her mouth with mouthwash. y/n washed her mouth and stared at herself in the mirror, smiling apologetically at how fucked up she looked. she decided not to even bother with her hair - it wasn’t like she was going out anyway - and packed up her toiletry bag. she grabbed the water bottle that cody had left on the counter for her and took small sips before capping it.

y/n made her way out of the bathroom, and walked back into her room. she set her toiletry bag and water bottle down on her desk and picked up her phone. she could tell from the lock screen that roman had sent her a couple texts, and her eyes widened in shock.

she unlocked her phone, and read roman’s texts through the notification so it wouldn’t send him a read receipt.

[roman] hope the hangover isn’t too bad, you’re very cute when you’re wasted though

[roman] also we should probably talk about what happened

[roman] text me when you’re awake

she sighed, completely knowing she had probably blown it with her kissing skills and shut her phone after looking at the time. she’ll reply to him later, when she has the confidence to.

it was only 10 am, and although that was late by y/n’s standards, she wishes she was still asleep. at least now she’ll be able to sleep the day away cuddled up to her own personal heater in the form of ted.

y/n grabbed her keys and phone and left, shutting the door behind her. she walked over to ted and cody’s room, walking straight in and taking a look around.

cody was laying in his bed, scrolling through what she could assume to be tiktok, and ted… was nowhere in sight.

“where’s teddy?” she asked as she looked over at cody.

“some event for that business frat he’s a part of.” he answered, setting his phone down beside him. “close the door, the hallway’s far too fucking bright. and ted threatened me to cuddle you in his absence. said something about tying a brick to one of my balls and smashing it which doesn’t sound nice so come here.”

y/n walked further into the room, letting the door close shut beside her as she walked over to cody’s bed. y/n set her phone and keys down on cody’s desk. she slid out of her slippers and laid down beside him, using cody’s large squishmallow as a pillow. if she remembers correctly, cody had told her that his name was bronk. she huffed, lifting her head up so she could pull ted’s hoodie over her head and tied it so it wouldn’t come loose.

“how much do you remember?” cody asked her, pulling the blanket over the two of them once she settled back down beside him. they both were laid out on their backs, the twin size mattress barely being big enough for the two of them and cody shifted to lay on his side to allow her more room.

“everything. even how shit i was at kissing roman.” y/n groaned out, also turning on her side so she could face cody. she shut her eyes and leaned forward, burying her face into cody’s chest as his arm came around to wrap around her figure. “god, i have my first kiss with a guy that i’m sorta into and i ruin it because i just don’t know how to kiss.”

“i’m sure he doesn’t mind if you were bad, besides, you could always blame it on the alcohol.” cody pointed out, leaning over y/n so he could reach for his dab pen on his desk. she nodded against his chest in acknowledgement, wondering if she should tell him about roman’s texts. cody leaned back as he brought the pen to his lips, dragging in a long inhale before pulling it away. he held it in his lungs for a second before exhaling the smoke and falling back against his pillow.

she felt his chest rise and fall with the way cody smoked, the feeling comforting her in an odd way. “does that actually help with the hangover?” she asked, pulling her head away from cody’s chest to meet his gaze. she remembered the day after the first night she drank with the boys, and her shocked reaction to cody waking up at continuing to smoke as if it was nothing. he had told her it helped with the hangover, but she never pressed any further.

cody nodded his head, keeping the pen in his grasp but bringing his arm back down over y/n’s body. “yeah, gets rid of all the nasty feelings and makes me hungry later on.” cody answered truthfully, watching the way it seemed like y/n’s gaze had glazed over with thought. if he focused enough, he was sure he could see gears turning in her head. “wanna try?” he offered.

her eyes widened at cody’s offer, knowing that he knew that she had never smoked or even tried weed in her life. she thought about it for a second. would it kill her to try? she trusted cody, and if he said it’d make her hangover feel better, then what else is there to do but try? “i do, but i’m still scared about smoking straight from the pen, you know. i don’t know, it’s weird. i don’t mind getting ever so slightly second hand high, but i can’t bring myself to bring the pen to my lips. do you have edibles maybe?” she asked.

cody shook his head. “edibles would take too long to hit you while smoking it works in just minutes. besides, you shouldn’t take edibles for your first try.” he told her.

and all too suddenly, it was as if a switch was flipped in his head.

“do you really want to try though?” cody asked again, watching as y/n nodded her head. “words, sweetheart. i need you to tell me.” he commanded, the way his tone had changed had y/n almost purring in his arms.

“yes please, cody.” she replied, letting out a small gasp when cody immediately shifted their positions. y/n was laying under cody, the man between her legs and one of his arms placed right beside her head to hold himself up to not crush the girl.

“make sure you breathe in, and then hold it in until i say so.” cody instructed her, watching the way her brows furrowed cutely in confusion under him. he brought the pen up to his lips, taking a long drag in before pulling his pen away and resting his hand down on the either side of her head. cody leaned down, shutting his eyes as he pressed his lips against y/n’s gently.

y/n’s eyes widened in shock at how gentle cody had pressed his lips against hers, her eyes falling shut at the comforting feeling of having his mouth on hers. she opened her mouth slightly when she felt his tongue prod at her lips, feeling the cool smoke being blown gently into her mouth. y/n brought her arms up, wrapping them around cody’s neck as she inhaled, until finally cody pulled away.

y/n opened her eyes, staring up at him and closing her mouth, feeling the way the smoke had filled her lungs. cody’s blue gaze had already been peppered with a slight hint of red, letting her know just how fast it had taken cody to physically start showing that he was, in fact, a little faded.

“let it out.” cody whispered, using one of his hands to cup y/n’s chin gently to direct her to turn her head off to the side so she wouldn’t blow the smoke into his face. y/n exhaled, watching as the smoke formed in front of her before disappearing into the air. she turned her head back to look up at cody, trying to process what had just happened.

but she couldn’t deny that she wanted to feel him again.

“more.” she whispered, although she didn’t know what she was asking for more of.

cody smiled, a lopsided smile that y/n found so amusingly attractive, before bringing the pen back up to his lips. he took another long hit from the pen, leaning down to capture y/n’s lips in a kiss.

he exhaled the smoke into her mouth, feeling the way she breathed it in, but letting his mouth linger on hers. cody let his tongue push past y/n’s lips, their tongues wrapping each others tenderly before cody pulled away.

“let it out.” he whispered again as soon as he pulled away, knowing it had been a long few seconds that y/n had held the smoke in her lungs. he watched as she turned her head and breathed out the smoke, smiling once she turned back to face him. “that’s my good girl.” he praised softly.

y/n reflected his smile, pulling him back down with her arms but stopping just before their lips could touch again.

“more.” she whispered, her gaze flickering from cody’s mouth back up to his gaze.

“oh,” cody hummed out in understanding, reaching out to place his pen back down on his desk while still holding y/n’s gaze. “i get it now, sweetheart.” he whispered, closing the distance and pressing his lips against hers tenderly.

almost immediately, their tongues met in a fight for dominance, changing the nature of their kiss. cody pressed his hips flush against y/n’s, rolling his hips down and grinding his bulge right against her core. he felt her gasp, and he pulled away to stare at her face as he continuously grind his hips into hers.

y/n couldn’t tell if the sensation she was experiencing was heightened because the weed was already getting to her, or because there was much thinner fabric between where cody and her hips met. cody was wearing very thin basketball shorts, and y/n’s thin booty shorts were not entirely adding too much of a second layer between them. her eyes shot open when she felt cody grind right up against her clit, a moan being pulled out of her throat.

“feel that, princess? feel how hard you’ve made me?” he questioned, beginning to pull at the hoodie she wore. “take this stupid fucking hoodie off. i don’t want you in another man’s hoodie when you should be focused on how i’m making you feel.” cody ordered, helping y/n tug the hoodie off and throwing it across the room.

“cody.” she gasped, bucking her hips once she laid back down after pulling the hoodie off. her arms found their place back around cody’s neck, and she pulled him in for another kiss.

if she thought she was high moments ago, she knew she was high now. she was only able to focus on one thing at a time, and her attention was flickering from kissing cody back and fighting for dominance in the kiss, to letting cody take over and focus on the way she could feel him just against her core and grinding against her clit perfectly. but above all, y/n was so hyperaware of everywhere cody touched her, the way he kissed her, the way he rolled his hips against hers, and the way he’d whisper soft praises against her mouth.

y/n was a moaning mess under cody, as he hungrily ate up her moans and responded by applying more pressure with every roll of his hips. he didn’t know how long they laid there, grinding on each other and kissing as if they were two teenagers, before he felt y/n convulse and shake under him.

cody pulled away from the kiss, opening his eyes to watch the way her face contorted in pleasure. “it feels good. so good.” y/n moaned out, her legs wrapping around cody’s waist before she moaned loudly, “cody!”

y/n continued to shake under him, her legs twitching and her eyes rolling back slightly as pleasure washed over her like a wave. cody continued to grind against her, making sure to keep pressing against her clit as he watched the way she came undone under him.

after a moment, y/n laid still, her eyes squeezed shut and a blush evident on her face. her arms dropped from cody’s neck and she covered her eyes with one arm to avoid looking him in the eye. cody had stopped his movement, feeling pride rise in his chest.

“did you just-“ cody began to ask, before being cut off by a soft, quiet, “yes.” from the flustered woman under him.

he chucked, lifting one of his hands to move her arm away from her face. cody leaned down, pressing multiple gentle kisses to y/n’s lips. they both smiled with every kiss they shared, and y/n couldn’t help but let herself fall for the way cody was so gentle with how he kissed her - even when they were making out and grinding on each other like two animals.

“didn’t even have to use my hands.” he teased after he pulled away and rolled off to the side. he laughed as she hit his chest, and cody adjusted them so y/n was laying on top of him with her head on his chest.

y/n could still feel him against her thigh, her blush deepening at the realization that: one, she had just kissed and made out with her best friend, two, he had managed to make her cum just by grinding against her, and three, he was still very much hard.

“cody?” she questioned. the man hummed in reply, adjusting the blanket so that it was comfortably over y/n’s back and didn’t cover her face. cody wrapped his arms around y/n, keeping him secured against his chest as he leaned his head back against his pillow and shut his eyes. “what about you? you’re still… you know.” y/n spoke gently, feeling herself cringe in embarrassment as the situation settled in.

“another time.” cody mumbled, his hands running up and down y/n’s back. “i’m about as high as a fucking jet right now and every movement is starting to feel like i’m in the matrix. also, with how hard i made you cum just by grinding my dick against you - i’m more than satisfied already.”

y/n nodded her head, shutting her eyes and bringing her arms up to wrap around cody’s neck. she seemed to have missed the implication of cody’s reply, as she was focused on cody’s heartbeat and the way her skin felt tingly in every spot that she was making contact with cody and the blanket. she attempted to make small movement by moving her legs, but although she tried to move quickly, she felt as if she was moving in slow motion.

“am i supposed to feel like everything’s slow motion and every contact point is sending waves through me?” she asked, giggling at how it tickled her to even talk.

“you’re already so fucking high and you took like two hits. they weren’t even straight from the pen, might i add.” cody laughed, bringing his hand up to play with y/n’s hair. “guess i made you cum so hard that i sent you straight to the heavens.”

y/n could only giggle in reply.

|| next post ||

#cody rhodes x reader #cody rhodes fanfiction #cody rhodes imagine #cody rhodes smut #cody rhodes #wwe #wwe fanfic #wwe fanfiction #wwe x reader #roman reigns x reader #roman reigns fanfiction #roman reigns fanfic #roman reigns imagine

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assistant-of-drama · 4 days

Text

Total Drama AU, where Heather makes an alliance with Noah and Lindsay, instead of Beth and Lindsay... With Noah being the Brains of the Team, while Heather is the Leader... And Noah slowly gains a soft spot for Lindsay...

*Noah gets to be the schemer that he was always meant to be.

*In their first challenge, Noah knew how to properly build the hot tub and casually tells the others how to do it.

*Heather notices how smart and clever Noah is and decides that making an alliance with him would be perfect.

*Heather makes the alliance with Noah, while they were running for the Stay Awake Challenge, then later she makes the alliance with Lindsay while they were all staying awake.

*Noah compliments Heather for the clever idea of stealing Eva's mp3 player to make the strong girl angry and get kicked off.

*When Noah falls asleep, he ends up platonically cuddling with Lindsay and Heather then he wakes up super embarrassed about it, but Lindsay thinks that sleeping Noah is a cutie.

*During the Dodgeball Challenge, Noah does the sport even though he was terrible at it (which Heather teased him about, while Lindsay gives Noah encouragement), in this story Beth gets eliminated cause she was scared of getting hit in the face and kept running away from the ball (I'm sorry Beth).

*When Heather was angry at Gwen for refusing to accept her leadership and wanted to humiliate her by reading her diary to the world... But Noah quickly tells her that idea is stupid, cause Heather will only gain enemies that would want to eliminate her early... So, Noah came up with a better idea, that would both humiliate Gwen and vote her off the island as a bonus...

*Using his genius intelligence and skills, Noah hacks into the confessional cameras in the outhouse, as well as probably other cameras and gets a lot of Gwen's meaner words... Including the ones where Gwen insults everyone on her team, except for Leshawna and Trent (cause TDI Gwen was a grumpy, goth girl and she was a bit of a jerk sometimes; I'm sorry Gwen, I like your character)... Noah creates a video of all of Gwen's mean words, gives the video to Heather, who shows it to everyone at the talent show...

*Almost everyone turns against Gwen and the poor goth girl gets voted off that night, with only Leshawna, Trent and Cody comforting her... Gwen is touched that Cody forgives her for calling him annoying in the video and they become friends, before she leaves... Heather and Noah are proud of themselves, while Lindsay can't help but feel guilty (even though Gwen had insulted her too)...

*In the Outdoors Challenge, Noah almost immediately knew that the bear was only Izzy in a bear costume... when the actually bear shows up, Noah shares a tree branch with Heather and Lindsay.

*Noah lies about his worst fear being that he has to kiss Heather, causing everyone to laugh at the joke... Chris knows that Noah is lying, but tells Noah to kiss Heather anyway, cause Chris knows that Noah will hate it... Afterwards, both Noah and Heather don't stop using mouthwash until their mouths are numb, while Lindsay playfully teases them about being a cute couple.

*During the Canoe To Another Island Challenge, Noah and Lindsay begin to slowly bond and start becoming actual friends.

*During the Deer Paintball Challenge, Hunter Noah helps Deer Heather find the perfect place to hide and guards Heather, while Lindsay looks for berries for them to eat... Heather then keeps insulting Lindsay (who wasn't there at the moment) which angers Noah to the point where he decides to shoot her with the paintball gun and Heather later grabs Lindsay's gun to shoot him back... They still have the alliance, but Heather had to promise not to insult Lindsay to Noah's face anymore.

*However, while Heather always saw Lindsay as a puppet, Noah instead slowly develops a soft spot for the blonde fashionista... and that soft spot eventually helps Noah become a somewhat better person.

*Lindsay becomes Noah's BFF, instead of Owen.

*During the Cooking Challenge, Noah smirks and does nothing when Leshawna and the others lock Heather in the fridge.

*During the Trust Challenge, Noah and Owen get paired together and they bond quite a bit.

*During Chef's Challenge, Lindsay helps Noah power through the challenges, while Heather taunts Noah for letting his friendship with Lindsay 'make him soft'.

*During the Bike Race Challenge, Noah is proud of Lindsay for standing up to Heather and hugs her... Lindsay gives Noah a platonic kiss on the cheek, before she accepts her elimination and leaves on the boat... After Heather doesn't give up her invincibility to protect Lindsay, Noah breaks up his alliance with Heather.

*Either Noah makes it to the Final Three and defeats Heather in the Triple Dog Dare Challenge (with Owen's help)... or Noah accidentally gets voted off by the eliminated contestants (like what happened to Leshawna in canon), but before that happens, Noah perhaps hacked into Chris's computer earlier and knew about the eliminated contestants possibly voting someone off... and Noah decided to leave written ideas for challenges (like the Triple Dog Dare Challenge) and hope that one of his ideas finally get Heather eliminated (which it does).

*Noah secretly feels a little guilty for being the indirect reason Heather was shaved bald (he felt like that was going a bit too far), so he leaves Heather a wig for her to wear by her resort room's door and Heather doesn't find out who it's from... or does she?

*Lindsay and Beth still become friends at 'Playa De Losers', while Noah still becomes friends with Owen... but Noah and Lindsay are each other's BFF, in this story... Noah and Tyler also get along (since Tyler is dating Lindsay)...

*Lindsay also convinces Noah to properly apologize to Gwen.

#td noah #td heather #td lindsay #total drama #total drama island #schemer noah #platonic lindsoah #platonic nowen #noaheather #neather #td owen

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mighty-ant · 13 days

Text

heroes in need

ao3

It was far past the hour that Cody should be asleep by, but his dad usually made an exception for their solo father-son adventures, and tonight was no different.

If schedules allowed, they might go camping or all the way to the mainland, but when Charlie had a patrol shift the next morning, they usually stuck closer to home. Chase had been a good sport about joining them for a screening at the drive-in, as he was about most things that Cody or Charlie asked of him.

With such a big family, that doubled in size with the arrival of the bots, getting his dad’s attention all to himself without having to end up in some sort of mortal peril first was harder than it looked, and it made Cody protective of their time together. It hurt when one of his siblings butted in, intentionally or otherwise, or if an emergency dragged his dad away.

Cody loved spending time with his entire family, really he did, but sometimes it was too easy to fade into the background when everyone was involved. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, just a drawback of being the youngest in a big family, and Cody knew now that it wasn’t because he was especially forgettable or anything.

It was different with the bots, as most things were, and he didn’t feel small or invisible when he was around them. The opposite, really.

When Cody and Boulder went to the far side of the island to stargaze, and Boulder told stories about Cybertron, holding Cody close to his chest, close enough to feel the thrum of his spark beneath his plating, it felt as if he had the universe at his fingertips.

And when Blades insisted on joining the Pioneer Scouts because he wanted to spend more time with Cody (and because he liked how the neckerchiefs looked), it was the first time anyone had gone to such lengths to share in his interests. He and Blades learned and explored together, did badgework together, and always paired up for their nature hikes. He was the person Cody watched cartoons with, and watching him be brave made Cody want to be brave too.

Heatwave, huge, angry, and the leader of a group of rescue workers turned interstellar refugees, gave Cody the same level of undivided attention he gave their Prime, if not more. Cody knew that his gruff voice gentled around him in a way it didn’t for anyone else, and that the only place safer than Heatwave’s cab was his dad’s own arms.

He saw Cody’s worth as a rescuer before anyone else did, and from that first day, when Heatwave refused to continue on with the team if Cody wasn’t part of it, Cody knew he didn’t have to worry about getting left behind ever again.

Chase had almost become an extension of his dad, protective and stern in equal measure. Just being near him was calming, even when Cody wasn’t doing anything more than reading, playing a video game, or just wanting some company. Not only did he not seem to mind these long stretches of silence, but Chase always seemed pleased to see him, the naturally severe set to his faceplates softening with his smile. And when his dad had to leave for the mainland for two weeks, Cody found himself slipping into the garage on more than a few nights to curl up in Chase’s passenger seat, and keep each other company for a few hours, missing Charlie together.

While Cody preferred that no one else interrupt his time with his dad, Chase’s presence felt natural now, and unobtrusive in a way the other bots or his siblings weren’t.

He was great to watch movies with once he got over his instinctual cringe every time a character broke a law, and had such a precise memory that he could save all of his questions for the end (once he learned that interrupting the movie to ask them was typically considered rude).

Cody hoped Chase had enjoyed tonight’s movie; the poor guy had practically leapt out of vehicle mode when Doc Brown revealed he’d stolen plutonium. At any rate, his avatar on the dashboard screen was smiling as they turned onto their block, but Cody couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t just because his two charges were still talking and laughing inside his cabin.

“I can’t believe we haven’t shown the bots the Back to the Future movies yet,” Cody said, shaking his head in wonder.

“I’m as surprised as you are,” Charlie chuckled. “They’re classics.”

“They’re showing the rest of the trilogy at the drive-in over the next two nights,” Cody exclaimed. “We could all go! What do you think, Chase?”

Chase hummed thoughtfully, and Cody felt his seat belt tighten gently in the bots’ vehicle mode version of a hug. “Boulder would certainly have something to say about the execution of time travel, having experienced it ourselves, and Blades will enjoy the music and general hilarity. Heatwave, I believe, will join us if you ask him to.”

“Oh, but they’ve gotta watch the first movie, or the second one won’t make any sense.” Cody turned pleading eyes on his dad.

Charlie laughed, shaking his head. “Oh no, it’s already way past shut-eye, kiddo. You can watch the movie in the morning.”

Cody sighed, if only on principle. He was pretty tired, and if he started the movie now, he’d fall asleep five minutes in. “Okay.”

Chase rolled into the garage, and opened his doors to the familiar sound of Kade and Heatwave arguing.

The firebot was looming over Kade, shoving a car buffer in his face. Undaunted by the difference in height, weight, and strength, Kade was waving his arms to ward him off, trying to skirt around Heatwave at the same time.

“I can’t right now! I’ve got a—”

Heatwave growled. “If you say ‘date,’ I swear next time I’ll lock you in my cab with Mr. Pettypaws.”

“Some partner!” Kade shot back.

“What’s all this now?” Charlie asked dryly.

Heatwave straightened up, coming somewhat to attention in Charlie’s presence. Not that it stopped him from shooting his fellow firefighter a dirty look. “I was just reminding Kade here that he agreed to buff out the dents on my back from our rescue at that rockslide this morning. Blades already took care of the deeper damage.”

“Damage?” Cody repeated, his heart skipping a beat. “I didn’t know you got hurt, Heatwave.”

He looked Heatwave over intently, and his worry eased a bit when he didn’t see any trace of the pink, alien blood they called energon.

It was extremely rare that any of the bots were injured enough to bleed—they weren’t soldiers, thankfully, and as dangerous as their rescues could be, there wasn’t a whole lot on their island that could hurt a Cybertronian. But an explosion at the rocket fuel reservoir last month had mangled Boulder’s arm, turning a routine inspection into something out of a nightmare.

The bulldozer handled the whole ordeal with his usual aplomb, staying calmer than any of them, even Blades who triaged him ahead of Velocity’s emergency arrival from the Autobots, D.C. base. Boulder had even eagerly helped with rebuilding his ruined limb, and had been officially cleared for duty as of two weeks ago.

But Cody couldn’t forget the chaos over the comm lines, Graham, the only one to see the explosion firsthand, desperately calling Boulder’s name from the reservoir control room. They’d airlifted Boulder to the firehouse and when Cody tried to get into the bunker to check on him, his dad held him back from where the three bots were gathered around the medical berth, hiding Boulder from view, but not the grunts of pain he couldn’t quite keep at bay or the trail of glowing energon they’d left in their wake.

In the present, Heatwave reached down, nudging a finger against Cody’s shoulder with gentle care. “Only a few dings, Cody,” he said in his comforting gravel voice, as warm with reassurance as it had been snappish with acrimony just moments before. “Got my tailboard caught in the rockslide when we were clearing out one of the houses.”

Charlie looked at Kade expectantly, arms crossed over his chest. “Did you agree to help? Because that sounds more than fair, son.”

Kade groaned. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t think I’d actually have to—”

Heatwave shoved the buffer into his arms again, letting go this time and forcing Kade to scramble to catch it before it hit the floor. “Thanks, champ,” Heatwave said with a grin that was all teeth.

“Oh hoho, you are gonna get it, Clifford, just you wait.”

“Good night, you two,” Charlie said pointedly as he started leading Cody toward the entrance to the firehouse proper. To Chase, he bid a much more pleasant, “I’ll see you in the morning, partner.”

“Good night, Chase!” Cody piped up.

Chase dipped his head slightly, his faceplates shifting into one of his subtle smiles. “Good night, Chief. Cody.”

He started for the platform that led down to the bunker, but he hadn’t even made it to the controls before he froze midstep.

Across the garage, Heatwave halted mid transformation into vehicle mode. He returned to root mood swiftly, startling Kade who’d just gotten the buffer started.

Judging by the tilt of the bots’ heads, they were receiving an internal comm. Chase’s brow furrowed at whatever he heard, but Cody didn’t think much of it until he saw Heatwave’s worried scowl.

“Did you just receive a distress signal from Boulder?” Chase asked, concern deepening his usually even tone.

“Yeah,” Heatwave muttered. “But it cut off.”

“For me as well.” Chase raised a hand to his comm unit. “I will attempt to contact Boulder directly.” He was quiet for a moment, as he presumably did just that, but his expression grew even more troubled. “He is not responding on any frequency.”

“Pull up his location,” Heatwave growled.

A hologram popped out of Chase’s wrist displaying a map of the island, which Cody would’ve usually marveled at. But all he could feel was the cold prickling of dread in his stomach. His dad put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, but it didn’t do much to make him feel better.

Chase’s optics widened. “I cannot detect Boulder’s energon signature.”

“What does that mean?” Cody asked hesitantly.

In a flash, Heatwave had a hand up to his comm. “Blades! Report in, do you have eyes on Boulder?”

“I cannot detect Blades’ signature either,” Chase said quietly.

Cody’s stomach dropped at the note of fear in the policebot’s voice. He looked up to his dad, but he was watching the bots with a knit brow and tension in his jaw.

“That’s it!” Heatwave snarled as he stormed the tall doors of the garage. “We’re going to Boulder’s last known location. He’s supposed to be at the lab, right?”

“Sir,” Chase murmured to Charlie, hesitating briefly between the two leaders.

Charlie nodded. “I’m coming along too, partner.”

“What’s the big deal?” Kade complained, even as he followed Heatwave. “Those nerds probably just got distracted by moss growing on the wrong side of a tree or something,” he said, only to run straight into the back of Heatwave’s lower leg when the firebot jerked to a stop before even reaching the doors.

Kade stumbled back with a curse, pressing a hand over his face. “Hey, ow! If you chipped my tooth, I’m making us swap bodies again so you can go to the dentist to deal with it.”

He looked up when there was no snide retort from his partner. “Heatwave?”

Heatwave wasn’t the only one not moving or reacting in any way. Chase was frozen, too. They shuddered into an uncanny stillness, completely unlike their earlier pause at the distress signal or their typical, imperfect robot mode. It happened in a blink, but in that second Cody swore he saw a bar of glowing red light arc over their bodies from head to toe, flickering at the edges like electricity.

That second of silence was like a held breath.

Kade, though, was apparently blind and deaf to it.

“What’s the deal, Heatw—WOAH!”

Kade threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed by Heatwave’s body as he collapsed backward, a twenty-foot-tall marionette with its strings cut. Cody had never thought about just how tall Heatwave was, or how broad, until he was toppling from his great height, deadly as a collapsing building.

Utterly limp, the force of his fall was like a miniature earthquake and it knocked Cody off his feet with a startled cry.

Behind him, he heard his dad call out as Chase slumped forward the same way Heatwave had, falling face first with a tooth rattling, deafening crash that rang in Cody’s ears long after it passed.

Staring over Chase’s prone form, Cody locked eyes with his dad, who’d been thrown to the ground just like him, expression blown wide with shock.

Cody sucked in air but couldn’t form words, ice-cold panic crystalizing in his chest. His mind was utterly blank, unable to comprehend what had happened. What little he understood .

Kade didn’t have that problem.

“Heatwave, what the hell? You could’ve killed me!” Pushing himself back onto his feet, Cody’s oldest brother whirled around with a snarl to put Heatwave to shame, but his ire sputtered out as he took in the true extent of the scene: both bots collapsed on the ground, and Cody and Charlie’s equally panicked faces.

“What the hell?” Kade repeated.

Heatwave had fallen with his face turned toward Cody.

He’d seen the bots’ faces when frozen by virus into an emotionless mask. He’d seen the bots’ faces when their memories were wiped, and they didn’t recognize their own family. He’d even seen the bots’ faces while mind controlled by Mrs. Pynch.

Heatwave’s face wasn’t just blank. It was slack, hints of confusion and pain frozen in the unmoving furrow of his brow and lines of tension around his mouth. His orange optics were dark, the light within guttered. They weren’t closed, or dimmed like when the bots were in recharge.

It was like he was…like he was…

Kade had scrambled around to Heatwave’s other side, slapping his palms against one broad red shoulder. “Heatwave, this isn’t funny, man!” he snapped, his voice cracking.

“Kade,” Charlie said hoarsely, too faint to be a reprimand. “This isn’t an act.” His hands were on Chase’s face and he didn’t look away from his partner for an instant. Cody was too afraid to check if his gold optics had gone dark too.

“So what the hell’s happened to them! Heatwave? C’mon, man, I need you to wake up now!”

Kade was kneeling by Cody, in front of Heatwave’s dark, empty face. His sightless optics seemed to stare at him over Kade’s shoulder, and Cody couldn’t look away, cold horror narrowing his vision.

“Cody!” Charlie yelled like he never did unless danger was barreling toward them, and Cody snapped to attention. Based on the desperation in his dad’s voice and the apology in his expression, it probably wasn’t the first time he’d called Cody’s name.

“Call Graham,” he instructed, his steady voice wavering only slightly. “Maybe he or Boulder knows what’s happening to them.”

“O-okay, Dad.”

Cody reached for his comm link. Maybe he’d turned it off for the movie and forgotten to turn it back on, or maybe the shattering slam of Heatwave and Chase’s collapse really had deafened him. Whatever the reason, the moment he reached for his comm, the line exploded with Graham and Dani’s shaking, terrified voices shouting to be heard over each other.

“—Dad with you? Are the bots there? We need to call Ratchet, call-call anyone! Boulder, he-he—”

“—Blades, we need to help Blades! I don’t know what’s going—!”

“Just collapsed—he’s unresponsive—”

“Blades fell out of the sky!”

–

Boulder rounded the bend coming down from Doc Greene’s lab, his open window letting in a breeze that ruffled Graham’s hair and cooled his skin. They’d lost track of time experimenting with new upgrades for the bots’ energon-powered tools, but Graham didn’t regret it, and he knew Boulder didn’t either.

After two weeks of medical leave, and down one arm almost the entire time, Boulder was eager to get back to work, having drawn up plans upon plans while his repairs set in and his new limb was manufactured. They included but were not limited to: visiting Leafy, visiting the Rubios, reinforcing the walls around the rocket fuel reservoir (as Kade would say, doy! ), and looking over the newest specs sent over by Wheeljack, which was best done with plenty of fire extinguishers around, or better yet, one Heatwave.

Graham’s engineering mind had been fascinated by Boulder’s self-repair network, so similar and yet nothing alike a human’s own immune system, preventing its host from going into shock from a missing limb by shutting off pain receptors and sealing off the flow of energon to damaged areas.

Not to mention rebuilding a Cybertronian limb from scratch was a truly humbling experience. Thirty years of their presence on Earth, and their biology was still a highly classified secret everywhere but the furthest reaches of the black market, and neither Graham nor Doc Greene took that trust and access for granted.

Boulder’s arm, much like his original, was a transformer all on its own, capable of turning into a welding torch, nail gun, and drill, not to mention a dozen other tools like saws and screwdrivers of various sizes. It was a wonder to build and even more gratifying to see in operation during their rescues since, but Graham wouldn’t soon forget the reason Boulder needed an entirely new limb in the first place.

The blast at the rocket fuel reservoir had been intense. Graham felt the heat behind the three foot thick concrete walls of the security room, and had been knocked off his feet by the force of the explosion. The sound of Boulder bellowing in pain wouldn’t leave his nightmares for a long time, if ever, nor the sight of his partner stumbling away from the flames once Graham scrambled out of the building with a fire extinguisher in hand, his left arm hanging limp, barely attached to his shoulder, and the rivulets of glowing pink energon pouring down his limp fingertips and pooling on the ground.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Boulder had grunted, somehow still managing to smile at Graham as he furiously put out the flames encroaching on his partner’s spilled energon.

Boulder was always doing that, trying to make the best of a bad situation and easing Graham out of his spirals of self-doubt. It didn’t work so much when he was in obvious pain and failing to hide it, but a part of Graham was still in awe and humbled that someone like Boulder, giant, powerful and unflinchingly kind, an alien from a society so advanced that humans must resemble cavemen playing with sticks and stones by comparison, would look at him and find someone worthwhile. Someone he called friend. Partner.

But Boulder did, and almost every day he reminded Graham that he’d chosen their family, and he'd chosen him, in a hundred small ways. Like now.

“It’s a beautiful night,” Boulder rumbled, his voice rolling warmly through his cab. “Makes me wish I had my paints with me.”

The view was especially nice tonight. A waxing moon painted the ocean in strokes of silver, and below them the town looked like a miniature, every light a little beacon in the darkness. There was little light pollution up on the hill to Griffin Rock Labs, save the street lights every few feet, and the stars above them were plentiful, if faint.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you paint a night sky before,” Graham wondered aloud. Boulder had been getting more experimental with his art style lately, inspired by Dalí and Van Gogh to try out oil paints. He wondered what The Starry Night by Boulder might look like. “We can grab them from the firehouse and come back if you want?”

On Boulder’s screen, his avatar smiled gratefully, but shook its head.

“Nah, it’s already pretty late. Maybe another night.” Boulder’s digital face brightened. “We can set out right after sunset!”

Graham smiled back, his pensiveness pushed aside by Boulder’s perpetually upbeat disposition. “Sounds good to me, partner.”

They fell into a comfortable silence again, but Graham could sense that Boulder still had something on his mind, judging by the thoughtful cant to his avatar’s face. He waited, looking back out Boulder’s window so he wouldn’t feel pressured to speak. Graham’s instincts proved right after another minute.

“I was just thinking; maybe we could take a trip one day?” Boulder wondered aloud, his voice going up hopefully. “To the mainland, I mean.”

“I’d love that,” Graham responded almost at once, and he meant it, too. Their bots had seen so little of Earth compared to the rest of the Autobots, who’d had fifteen years of peacetime to travel and get acclimated. Graham wanted to see their reactions to everything. Boulder’s especially.

He immediately jumped into plotting out the logistics in his head, though he was struck by a troubling thought almost as quickly.

“But what about G.H.O.S.T?”

They didn’t know much about the organization—nobody did, apparently, outside of internet conspiracy theorists—and Optimus was frustratingly vague whenever they tried to question him about it.

What they did know: G.H.O.S.T. was partnered with the Autobots’, serving as an intermediary with the U.S. government and helping to capture the remaining Decepticons in the country, which was a point of contention all its own. Even the Rescue Bots were split.

Boulder and Blades wanted peace on all fronts, and that included pardons for the Decepticons stuck on Earth. Chase was of the mind that they should serve some sort of time for their crimes against Cybertron and humanity, while Heatwave couldn’t care less what they did, as long as the Decepticons were locked away. Graham privately thought that the firebot wanted someone to blame for the destruction and eventual loss of their home, since they were beyond powerless to do anything about it, arriving twelve years after the loss of the Allspark.

Supposedly, G.H.O.S.T. was also meant to provide the Autobots with housing and support. But at the same time, the Rescue Bots had to remain a secret from them no matter what, because Optimus didn’t trust their partner’s intentions enough to let them know about the existence of possibly the last Cybertronian civilians in existence.

It was heavy stuff, not to mention extremely nerve-wracking, especially when they first learned of the Rescue Bots’ sentience and true origins. It had felt like just a matter of time before black helicopters and SWAT teams descended on the island and dragged their new Cybertronian partners away.

But Griffin Rock’s shielding remained intact, and the town was so used to advanced technology that they bought the Rescue Bots as being man-made, especially since none of them had ever had cause to meet a real Cybertronian up close before.

Boulder hummed, the sound nearly lost under the churning of his treads. “We’d be careful! Humans barely even bat an eye when they see a Cybertronian. We could visit Canada! Not a whole lot of G.H.O.S.T. activity up there, at least according to Teletraan I.”

Graham started to nod. “That does sound nice. No rescues for a few days, no siblings, no drama…” And close enough to home in case of an all-hands emergency.

Plus, Boulder had been stuck on Griffin Rock for three years, and hadn’t even gotten a real look at the rest of Maine, much less another country. And with the warmer weather, Canada wouldn’t even be a bad option for those who weren’t resistant to subzero temperatures.

Boulder began slowing down, and Graham first thought that some sort of animal must be in their path. But the road was clear, and Boulder’s digital face looked confused.

“Hmm. That’s strange,” he muttered to himself.

Graham leaned forward, much more alert now. “What is it?”

“I’m detecting an energy signature unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Boulder explained, sounding troubled. “It’s…incredibly powerful.”

A thrill of fear swept through Graham at the uncertainty in his partner’s voice, and he wrapped a hand around the edge of Boulder’s center console, though he wasn’t quite sure if he was seeking reassurance or trying to give it. “An energy signature? From where?”

Boulder didn’t sound any less perturbed, and Graham could only imagine that he was straining his many diagnostic sensors to the fullest. “Nowhere on the island. Its origin is somewhere west, on the mainland and…it’s spreading. Like a pulse.”

Boulder braked completely, and in a dizzying turn, Graham found himself an extra ten feet off the ground, the bot having converted to root mode much faster than he normally would have. “Hold on, Graham. This thing is coming straight at us, and I don’t know what effect it’ll have on humans.”

“But-but my family!” Graham insisted, that tease of fear sinking claws of terror into his heart.

“I’ve already sent out a distress signal,” Boulder tried to soothe despite the tension of what could only be his EM field thickening the air, and making Graham’s hair stand on end. “That should—”

Boulder cut himself off with a terrible gasp, shuddering around Graham like his armor was trying to rattle apart. Red light flashed through his interior, inexplicable as it was instantaneous, and so bright it burned an afterimage into Graham’s retinas.

“Boulder!” Graham cried, blinking hard. “Boulder, buddy, what’s wrong?”

“Wr-wrong-gg,” Boulder garbled out in a voice that was almost all static. The screen on his center console has gone dark.

He fell to his knees, and his windshield opened at the same time his seat belt retracted. The seat itself booted Graham out, and he hit the dirt hard, rocks tearing at the skin of palms when he instinctively stuck out his hands to catch himself, bashing his cheek and biting his tongue when his arms buckled. But his training didn’t let him dwell on those injuries for long as he rolled out from under Boulder’s shadow.

Boulder, who had gone eerily silent above him.

Graham craned his head up just in time to watch Boulder’s still form start to tip, before his arms gave out and he collapsed, utterly limp, into the dirt.

Hands stinging with blood and grit, half his face aching, and Graham barely felt any of it. He stared at Boulder’s motionless body with mounting horror for seconds that stretched into hours, every rational thought quailing as his mind refused to comprehend what was in front of him. He scarcely understood what had just happened, but the end result…?

“B-Boulder?” Graham stammered into the crushing, painful silence, his voice cracking. This fear, thick and nauseating, was familiar but had never been this intense. It was a byproduct of the helplessness of knowing his best friend was beyond his reach and his efforts were useless. He’d sampled this horror at the rocket fuel reservoir, hearing Boulder’s guttural roar of pain, seeing the ruin of his arm. But his silence was so much worse.

“Boulder!” Graham pleaded, louder now, as he fought past the shock and scrambled over to his partner’s side. Pressing scraped hands against Boulder’s plating, still warm with life, and moving up to palm Boulder’s rounded jaw hinge, Graham searched for his sunset orange optics only to find them dark and empty, the light within them completely extinguished.

His hand convulsed against the side of Boulder’s faceplate, and he fought to keep breathing against the vice tightening around his chest. Think, brainiac, he scolded himself, channeling Kade’s voice with only a small (and growing) amount of hysteria. Analyze the problem, craft a solution. You’re a rescuer, not a victim. Think.

Keeping one hand on Boulder’s face, as well as a breathless ramble even he wasn’t fully cognizant of producing, he searched his toolbelt with badly trembling fingers.

“Boulder, c-can you hear me, buddy? It wouldn’t be the first time a potentially alien virus froze you in your tracks, but-but hopefully it’ll be the last. It must’ve been that weird energy pulse you detected. Definitely not another solar flare. M-maybe it was some sort of EMP? But that might mean someone’s targeting Cybertronians…”

From his toolbelt he retrieved the human-sized Cybertronian med scanner that Boulder helped him build years ago (the original model, at least—they were currently on version 3.5). It was low-grade compared to the scanners most of the bots were equipped with, but more than enough to detect spark pulse and catalog injuries. Graham last used it on Boulder at the reservoir, submitting the injury report to Velocity with half a dozen priority markers even though his wounds hadn’t been spark-threatening.

It was after Blades’ tail rotor was struck by lightning, paralyzing him in his vehicle mode, that at Optimus’ urging, with maybe some minor begging involved, CMO Ratchet had visited under utmost secrecy to give the human members of the team a crash course in Cybertronian first aid.

That in of itself was unheard of. Even after thirty years, Cybertronian biology was still a heavily-guarded secret, betrayed by neither the Autobots or the Decepticons. Both sides knew the potential consequences of letting the human race know their weaknesses. Graham understood that, allies or not, there would always be some people who feared and hated anything they didn’t understand, and humans excelled at that especially.

Graham and his family learned the basics of Cybertronian biology, with an emphasis on the first aid they’d actually be capable of performing to keep their partner online until help arrived. Things like minor welding to damaged armor and leaking energon lines, how to monitor spark pulse and vitals, and the like.

Boulder had even gone to the extent of showing Graham his spark after their lesson, as cheerily practical as ever. “It would probably help if you had a good idea of what our sparks are supposed to look like first,” he’d remarked, before opening his chest plates and revealing his tangible soul, bright as a star plucked from the night sky, utterly alien and yet undoubtedly sacred.

Graham didn’t know if any of the other bots had done the same for their partners, though he wouldn’t be surprised if Boulder was the only one. He was a scientist, eager to share knowledge with a fellow scientist, and he was also the most empathetic person Graham had ever met, who wanted to share the innermost part of himself with a friend.

His reminiscing only lasted as long as it took the med scanner to generate a report on Boulder’s condition. The screen illuminated, and the cascade of information it revealed stopped his heart inside his chest.

Graham’s vision blurred as it tracked down the list, from the shaking of his hands or the tears in his eyes, he couldn’t say. Blood rushed in his ears with such force it was akin to the roaring of the ocean, threatening to swallow him whole.

POWER SYSTEMS OFFLINE

BACKUP POWER SYSTEMS OFFLINE

T-COG OFFLINE

CENTRAL PROCESSOR OFFLINE

OPTICS OFFLINE

AUDITORY SYSTEMS OFFLINE

VOCAL PROCESSOR OFFLINE

EMERGENCY DISTRESS SIGNAL OFFLINE

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS OFFLINE

NO SPARK PULSE DETECTED

–

“Sooo how was dinner with Taylor?”

Blades’ voice was smug over the comm, and Dani could just imagine the conniving little face he was making to accompany it. She never would’ve thought that she’d be getting a fourth annoying brother when she was partnered with a gangly transforming alien robot, but that was life in Griffin Rock for you.

“It was nice,” she said thoughtfully after a moment, thinking back to the restaurant already a few blocks behind her with the view of a brilliant sunset on the island’s easternmost rocky shore, and the warm glow of candlelight deepening Taylor’s laugh lines and making his light hair shine gold.

“‘Nice?’” Blades repeated, utterly aghast. “Just ‘nice?’ Work with me here! Is Taylor your one true love or not?”

Dani rolled her eyes with undisguised fondness. And the boys called her a hopeless romantic?

She paused on the sidewalk to let a group of laughing teens pass; she didn’t recognize any of them, and guessed that they might be visiting from a school on the mainland. With the warmer weather, downtown was busy despite the late hour, both locals and tourists enjoying the same walk down to the waterfront as Dani.

She refocused on their conversation over the comm link with a great big scoff.

“Okay, first off, what movies have you been watching lately? Cuz if it’s The Notebook, how dare you watch it without me. And second, Taylor and I are taking things slow, Blades.” Her grin turned sly and she couldn’t help but add, “Not unlike you and a certain yellow scout I could mention.”

Blades let out a startlingly bitter laugh, nearly stopping Dani in her tracks at the wrongness of it. “There’s slow, and turtle speed in your case, and then there’s stock-still. Guess which one Bumblebee and me fall under.”

Dani frowned, wishing they were both at the beach already so she could give her partner a big hug. “What do you mean, Blades?” she asked, apology gentling her tone. “I thought you and Bee were hitting it off.”

“Yeah,” Blades muttered. “All the way off.”

Bumblebee had stayed with them for a little less than a year, ostensibly to work with the Rescue Bots on human-Cybertronian relations, but that quickly shifted into training the bots, both as a scout and a soldier. The combat training didn’t go over well with half the team (no surprise there, considering Blades’ anxiety and Boulder’s steadfast pacifist nature), but soon even Heatwave chafed under Bumblebee’s nerveracking tutelage, seemingly hellbent on convincing them that a Decepticon attack was imminent at any given moment, despite thirty years of no such thing on Griffin Rock.

The bots were all a little starstruck by Bumblebee’s presence in the beginning. But even considering his status as Optimus Prime’s most accomplished scout—and y’know, being presumed dead for fifteen years—no amount of fanboying could spare him from a collective intervention after he tried to get a cringing Blades to take a blaster for target practice.

The real surprise was that Blades started it, standing up for himself in a way none of them had ever seen before, hands clenched in shaking fists at his sides while his rotor blades rattled against his back.

"I-I'm sorry, Bumblebee, but I won't. Actually! Actually, I'm not sorry! I won't-I can't take the blaster because I refuse to hurt another living being that way. Or-or in any way, but especially that way! I'm— we’re —Rescue Bots! We can protect people without guns."

Visibly taken aback, Bumblebee had stared at Blades, and then the rest of the Rescue Bots, in a sort of horrified stupor, as though seeing them for the first time. Then he subspaced the offending blaster, ducked his head a quiet apology to Blades and to the Chief, before ending the lesson by transforming and speeding away down the street.

Humbled, though still a little high-strung, which seemed to be Bumblebee’s natural state, the scout’s second attempt at integrating with the team went much better after that.

Blades quietly told Dani late one movie night that Bumblebee had apologized to him, seeking him out not even a day after Blades’ legendary scolding.

“He knows we’re all Autobots, but he’s been in hiding so long, and at war for so much longer, that I think being a soldier is all he really knows,” Blades murmured, staring down at his hands as Dani paused the latest installment in their Sandra Bullock marathon. “Maybe…maybe we can show him the good things about Earth, like you all showed me? Since he’s safe from G.H.O.S.T. here, at least for a little while.”

And Blades had. With Bumblebee taking a break from teaching, Blades took that as the perfect opportunity to drag him all over the island, whether it was movies at the drive-in, Pioneer Scout outings, or karaoke. And, admittedly, Dani worried like any self respecting best friend ought to.

Blades had something of an obvious (full on flashing neon lights) crush on Bumblebee from the get-go and while Bumblebee had been friendly, he’d shown no sign of reciprocating. Then the incident with the blaster put the whole team on tenterhooks, with Blades being the first of them to reach out again. Dani was somewhat mollified by Bumblebee having to apologize before Blades took that step, but she wasn’t completely reassured either.

She’d never been able to get a real bead on Bumblebee. While never rude, he’d done little to ingratiate himself to the human members of the team, treating them all with distant politeness, like temporary coworkers he didn’t much want to bother with. Even Cody, their resident bot whisperer, couldn’t get through to him, and all the time Bumblebee didn’t spend training the Rescue Bots was devoted to his own exercises, moving with a deadly agility and violent grace she’d never seen in their bots.

Chase was the only Rescue Bot with anything resembling actual weapons incorporated in his frame, and even then they were a taser and small laser cutterer, both nonlethal. Bumblebee had guns in both arms, whining energon blasters brimming with alien power the likes of which Dani had last seen on the news fifteen years ago, crowded around the television set with Kade and Graham late at night when their dad was on patrol, and the Transformer War was still waging on the mainland, too close and yet a world away.

Dani hadn’t been afraid of Bumblebee, per say—she knew Optimus would never send them someone dangerous—but rather pointedly aware of his and Blades differences. Blades could be timid, high-strung, and a nuisance, and he was also the bravest person Dani knew, not to mention one of the sweetest. If he was gonna be with someone romantically, they needed to know and appreciate all of that about him. But more than anything, she wanted Blades to be happy .

Bumblebee already hurt him once. What if he did it again?

Dani fully was prepared to take matters into her own hands, when she noticed a change come over the scout.

Bumblebee started seeking out Blades rather than the other way around, to the point that it became rare to see one without the other. They ran drills and training sims together, just the two of them, of the rescue work variety rather than the more soldierly scenarios Bumblebee had started out with.

And as joined at the hip as they were, it became impossible not to notice the looks Bumblebee was constantly sending Blades.

Blades wasn’t exactly a master of subterfuge, but compared to Bumblebee, he was suddenly on Quickshadow's level. He could barely tear his optics away from Blades’ face whenever the helicopter-bot wasn’t looking straight at him and they held hands often, even going on long walks, just the two of them, along the very same beach Dani was meeting Blades at now.

Cody swore he’d caught them kissing behind the firehouse, but Dani chalked it up to wishful thinking and maybe an interrupted hug. Her baby brother was turning into a bigger romantic than she was.

Dani had walked it on them in the bunker late one night when everyone else was out, sitting on the Autobot-sized could with Blades’ arms around Bumblebee, one hand pressed between his doorwings and another cradling the back of his helm, letting Bumblebee hide his face against Blades’ shoulder.

Those doorwings twitched violently at the sound of the elevator doors opening, her presence clearly putting Bumblebee immediately on high alert. But Blades didn’t let him go, and after meeting her eyes over his head and seeing her waving apologeticly as she backed into the elevator again, he leaned down to murmur in Bumblebee’s audial. She only heard a snippet before the doors closed.

“You’re okay. It was just Dani, and she’s already—”

And then Bumblebee left, almost without warning, a few months later. Prime was reassigning him, he said. They’d thrown together a last minute goodbye, he and Blades had hugged, and that was it. They hadn’t received any word since, not that Dani knew of, but she’d assumed that it was a case of no news is good news.

But maybe she’d been wrong.

“It’s been almost six months,” she hedged, as the beach finally came into view directly ahead of her, where the storefronts ended. “Have you heard from Bee at all?”

“No, and I don’t want to,” Blades huffed petulantly.

Dani sighed as she stopped on the last stretch of sidewalk before the beach to take off her wedge heels. Near her were the remains of a few bonfires, all carefully contained to their brick fire pits and burned down to ashes by this point, and a few stragglers were packing up the last of their beach gear. She recognized one of the families from Boulder’s gardening club and waved.

“I’m sure you don’t mean that,” Dani said gently. “Who knows where Optimus sent him. Maybe he has to go radio silent.”

Blades went quiet for so long that Dani nearly tested her comm for signal interference. The surf pounded from a couple hundred feet away, nearly drowning out Blades’ whisper, wavering with false bravado. “Or maybe he never cared about…about Griffin Rock at all.”

Dani’s heart broke for him. “Aw, Blades…”

He came into view then, a white and orange speck growing larger as he followed where the rocky shoreline of the river curved into clear, sandy beach.

“It’s fine, Dani! I’m fine!” he shrilled so that Dani couldn’t get a word in edgewise, utterly unconvincing. “Let’s go home, huh? Miss Knightley’s Pride and Prejudice is calling my name.”

Before Dani could say another word, there was a flash of red light above her, rippling through the sky and across the ocean like a second set of waves. It struck Blades from tail rotor to strut, washing over him in an instant.

She watched as almost at once, the helicopter shuddered, blades freezing in place, before Blades transformed to robot mode in midair, and plunged out of the sky.

Around her, she heard other townspeople gasp.

Dani screamed. “BLADES!”

She was running before he even hit the ground. She had a second to pray he’d jolt back to vehicle mode and catch himself in time.

He didn’t.

The slam of Blades’ impact might’ve been muffled by the sand, but instead he hit the water with an almighty splash. He was facedown when Dani reached him, already half buried from the force of his landing, waves lapping at his frame as high up as his rotor assembly, as if to drag him out to sea.

Dani dropped her shoes somewhere behind her and sprinted, full tilt and clumsy, through the sand to reach him. The wet sand suctioned on her feet, nearly causing her to topple over, but it just made her all the more desperate.

Overbalanced and clumsily, she careened through the water with tremendous splash, soaking her jeans immediately and the cold shock of the water stole her breath. But she barely felt the discomfort, because Blades’ optics were dark and he was laying utterly still, as if in death.

It was all wrong. Sick and wrong.

Whenever Blades flew without her, this was his preferred meetup spot, in case he got overwhelmed flying alone and came down hard, the impact would be softened and the chances of hurting anyone was low.

Now, thanks to the lateness of the hour and the chill of the water, the beach was blessedly empty. She knew that Blades would never forgive himself if he’d hurt someone in his fall, but that was of cold comfort.

Nothing she did, from screaming his name to slapping his face until her hands ached got any reaction out of him. And when she turned to her comm for aid, she found the rest of her family embroiled in the same grief and chaos.

All she’d wanted was to protect Blades, and now she might never get another chance.

–

All of the Rescue Bots. Half of Cody’s family was down, unresponsive…dead? He could barely even think it. He didn’t dare.

But they’d never been so utterly disabled like this, not to this extent, and definitely not all at once.

This wasn’t like the virus that locked them in vehicle mode, stealing their ability to transform before stealing their voices. They’d still had Bumblebee and Blades to save the day, and Optimus to turn to for guidance. Even if the EMP zone froze them in their tracks, they could still communicate.

But Graham was saying they had no spark pulse. And even Cody, with his limited knowledge of the bots’ biology, knew what that meant.

His children’s panicked voices ringing around him, Charlie raised his head and shouted, “Sigma-1, call Optimus!”

The semi-sentient computer Boulder, Graham and Doc Greene had installed in the firehouse responded in its usual placid tone, which made its answer all the more chilling, “Optimus Prime: COMM DISABLED.”

Charlie’s expression contorted with true fear. “Call Elita-One! Call Megatron!” he demanded desperately.

“Elita-One: COMM DISABLED. Megatron: COMM DISABLED,” Sigma-1 responded, like nails in a coffin.

“Call any Autobot!”

“Unable to sync with any Autobot frequency,” Sigma-1 said, sounding almost apologetic. “Teletraan-1 is reporting total failure of Autobot communication systems.”

“Is-is it the Decepticons?” Kade wondered aloud, his voice shaking. He looked back over his shoulder at their dad. “Or….or something else? Who would go after the bots like this?”

Something, or some one. Anti-Transformer sentiment wasn’t going anywhere, but the Rescue Bots were supposed to be a secret . Griffin Rock was their home. For someone to learn about them—rescuers, the last of their kind—and still want to hurt them? What could Cody do against that kind of reckless hate?

His phone lit up with a call from Frankie, but Cody couldn’t imagine answering right now. He let it go to voicemail, only for Frankie to immediately call again. When he didn’t answer that, his phone blew up with texts.

He risked a glance at the screen. If Frankie was sending him memes, he might throw his phone against the wall.

But no. Instead, she’d sent him a series of links to news articles and online posts. The title of one read: TRANSFORMERS DEACTIVATING ACROSS THE GLOBE.

Cody clicked it, heart going cold and still in his chest.

The link led him to a video taken from someone’s phone of a silver and blue Autobot talking to a curly-haired man standing on a second story fire escape. Cody didn’t recognize either of them. With the Rescue Bots’ existence technically a secret, they’d had minimal interaction with other Autobots. It was mostly just Optimus and Bee.

In the video, the same red band of light he saw strike Chase and Heatwave flashed over the Autobot. And just like the Rescue Bots, he collapsed to a chorus of screams from the humans around him.

Cody scrolled mindlessly. Almost every other post was a similar video, or photo documenting a transformer (Autobot and Decepticon) crumpling where they stood.

“Dad, it’s not just our bots,” he found himself saying. Every part of him felt numb as he imparted information just like he would during a normal mission. “It’s happening to all Cybertronians, Autobot and Decepticon.”

Kade slumped against Heatwave’s shoulder. He looked shell shocked. “But who… Why-why would someone do this?”

Charlie was grim as he turned back to Chase’s slack, vacant face. His hand had never left his partner’s cheek. “Then we’re on our own,” he said tightly. “Sigma-1, call Doc. Tell him…tell him it’s an emergency. Omega level.”

Cody had to hope that they could fix this, that Doc Greene and Graham would pull through just as they had so many times before. Hope that this abrupt death wouldn’t be his last memory of the newest members of his family, who had already lost everything except each other and deserved better than this.

He dropped his phone on the floor. He didn’t want to see any more empty faces, the fallen bodies of those who might’ve been future friends.

Standing was hard on legs as shaky as his, and he resorted to half crawling to get closer to Heatwave. Kade had his fists pressed over his eyes, muttering a combination of swears and garbled apologies under his breath. Under normal circumstances, Cody would’ve gone to his oldest brother to try and comfort him, but things weren’t normal, and Cody wanted to be comforted too—by the one person who couldn’t offer it this time.

Heatwave’s palm lay half open, his massive metal fingers unmoving. Cody curled up around the hand that had snatched him out of harm’s way more times than could be counted, wrapped around his shoulders in their closest approximation of a hug, lifted him up to the safety of a cab, and done the same for every member of Cody’s family.

He wrapped his arms around Heatwave’s thumb, pressing his face against the cooling metal. He didn’t cry. He might have forgotten how.

Because he was pressed so close to Heatwave, he was the first to notice the change.

Cody’s skin startled to prickle, stinging almost, with a feeling not unlike static electricity when he pulled clothes out of the dryer. He opened his eyes when his hair stood on end, just in time to watch a ribbon of shimmering green sweep over Heatwave, just like the crimson light had crackled over him a few minutes or an hour ago.

And then, Heatwave’s thumb twitched.

Then, impossibly, inexplicably, Heatwave groaned.

“Ugh, what in Primus’ name… Did a combiner run me over?”

Cody didn’t look up. He couldn’t. He didn’t dare. But he felt the shifting of the Autobot beside him as Heatwave sat up.

Kade jumped like he’d been electrocuted, letting out a rasping, wet gasp. “N-no way. No freaking way.”

Cody glanced over at his dad when he made his own startled oath.

“Oh my god, Chase .”

No longer limp and still in death, Chase’s gold eyes were wide with confusion as he pushed himself off the floor. “My apologies, Chief. I…do not know what came over me. Or how I ended up on the ground.”

Charlie laughed, a hoarse burst of sound. “Don’t apologize, partner. I’m…I’m just glad to hear your voice.” Charlie’s own voice was thick, and in lieu of keeping a hand on Chase’s cheek, he’d wrapped his fingers around the edge of Chase’ forearm.

Cody couldn’t see his dad’s face from his vantage point, but Chase obviously could and judging by his worried frown, he didn’t like what he saw. “But, are you well, sir? Your eyes are…leaking? I was under the impression that only emotional distress triggered such a reaction in humans.”

Charlie laughed again, a thready sound of relief tinged with hysteria. “It’s called crying, Chase. And we do it when we’re happy too.”

A sense of unreality threatened to overcome Cody, watching Chase move and speak like normal, alive and unhurt as though the last several minutes weren’t some of the most terrifying in Cody’s short life. It almost felt too good to be true, but Chase’s bemusement and the way he remained kneeling by Charlie’s side, under his insistence that they all get medical scans immediately, was enough to buoy Cody from the cold, numb depths of shock that had swallowed him.

Heatwave’s thumb nudged Cody then, exceedingly gentle. Despite that encouragement, Cody had to muster his courage before he looked up at Heatwave’s face, some small part of him still afraid of what he would find.

Burning orange optics stared down at him in concern, a color Cody had started to think he’d never see again.

“What happened?” Heatwave rumbled. “Are you okay, Cody?”

It was too much. The lingering terror collided with the tidal wave of sheer mind bending relief inside of him. Thrust out of the cold numbness of shock like breaking the surface of the water after too long without air, Cody’s tenuous hold on his emotions snapped. He finally burst into tears.

A familiar, warm palm the size of a car door settled over his shoulders and another beneath him, scooping him up against a wide chestplate.

“Whoa, hey. You’re alright, Code.” Heatwave’s naturally gruff voice rumbled through the plating under Cody’s ear as a massive thumb carefully ruffled his hair.

He caught a glimpse of Heatwave’s Rescue Bots sigil through the haze of his tears before clenching his eyes shut and hiding his face against the red plating.

“Is this more…happy crying?” he heard Chase ask worriedly, slightly muffled through the metal of Heatwave’s hand.

Even while wiping away tears, trying to breath through hitching sobs, a giggle burst out of Cody without his control. Because yes, he was overwhelmed and terrified, but he was also happy . He had his family back.

–

Boulder returned to the waking world with a hard reboot, optics fizzing, and an alert on his HUD informing him of a gap in his memory banks.

He tried to run a diagnostic, but he wasn’t of a mind to even process the results.

Boulder didn’t frighten easily, but the last time he’d awoken missing time, he was emerging from a four million year stasis lock to discover their war ravaged planet was dead and that they were the last of their kind. He couldn’t go through something like that again, losing a home, a family all over again. Losing Graham. He wouldn’t survive it.

But the timestamp on his blank memory banks was little under five minutes and his chronometer was fully functional. Only four minutes, twenty-three seconds, and 0.47 milliseconds were missing.

He ran another self-diagnostic as he onlined his optics, this time actually paying attention to the readout.

POWER SYSTEMS ONLINE

BACKUP POWER SYSTEMS ONLINE

T-COG 100% FUNCTIONAL

CENTRAL PROCESSOR 100% FUNCTIONAL

OPTICS 100% FUNCTIONAL

AUDITORY SYSTEMS 100% FUNCTIONAL

VOCAL PROCESSOR 100% FUNCTIONAL

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 100% FUNCTIONAL

SPARK PULSE NORMAL

Everything came back clear despite his processor’s inability to explain his crash. He just got error alerts flagged in red whenever he tried to access the missing memory files. It wasn’t that they'd been corrupted; this wasn’t the fault of a virus or any sort of hack. The files simply didn’t exist. As if Boulder had ceased to exist for those four minutes, twenty-three seconds, and 0.47 milliseconds.

Putting that troubling conundrum aside for now, he set about figuring out where he was.

His GPS placed him exactly where he remembered being last, on the road down from Griffin Rock Labs. He knew he was laying in the dirt before his visual feed even cleared, having detected trace minerals of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, all of them well-known signifiers of Earth soil.

Until he banished the alert, his proximity sensor kept pinging him about a human heat signature less than a meter away. It was a subroutine he and the others installed when they arrived on the island since humans lacked a mech’s EM field, and the risk of one of those fragile lives getting passed over during a rescue or, Primus forbid, getting caught underfoot, was unthinkable.

Boulder didn’t need the faint frequency of a remote comm signal to know who was beside him. He would’ve known by their nearness, the press of two delicate, calloused human hands against the plating of his shoulder guards.

But his scanners picked up more. An abnormally fast heartbeat. Irregular breathing, quick and shallow. Those steady hands on his plating were trembling.

Boulder knew what he would find before he even raised his head, but the sight was no less troubling to wake up to.

Graham (for whom his processors automatically rattled off designation tags, buddy, love, partner).

Graham, always a dear sight for sore optics, had the color leached from his skin, and his dark, human eyes were glassy and unfocused as he hyperventilated fast enough to make his entire body shake. He didn’t even acknowledge Boulder’s gaze on him, or Boulder’s presence at all.

Graham had endured a few panic attacks since their partnership began, but this was the worst Boulder had seen since the first, on their first real rescue as a team, when he hadn’t known what was wrong or how to make it better.

Back then, they had been waiting for word from Heatwave and Kade, who had raced off to save Cody from a hidden lava flow they hadn’t noticed until it was too late. With nothing left except the waiting, Graham had folded in on himself, almost collapsing against Boulder, who until then he’d been careful to touch as little as possible, even while “driving” him.

While startled, Boulder had still been in vehicle mode and was careful not to do more than stiffen on his treads for fear of harming his charge. Graham’s hands were buried in his hair and his breathing had gone high and fast, and in Boulder’s own dismay, he’d run as many medical scans over Graham as his processors would let him. Humans were still so new to him then, not that that was any excuse, and he’d cursed himself for clearly missing some kind of injury.

While no less fascinating, humans were no longer the great mystery that they used to be, and Boulder knew his partner like he knew his own spark.

His memories from before his crash were fragmented, but he recalled a strange red flash and Graham’s soft voice tight with panic. Whatever had happened (and make no mistake, Boulder would figure out the exact details of what happened), it must have caused his crash and left Graham alone with his unresponsive frame for nearly five minutes.

Boulder would be in a much worse state if the reverse had been the case.

While he would’ve liked to gather Graham close at once, offering comfort in one of the few ways their difference in size allowed, experience told Boulder that it was best not to alarm Graham any further. Slowly pushing himself up onto his knees, Boulder reached out with just his voice, a lifeline spoken at such a low volume it was practically subsonic. “Hey, buddy.”

Jerking his head up with such force he nearly fell backward, Graham gasped, a brutal rattling sound as he sucked in too much air too fast. “Oh— god,” he choked out, throat clicking wetly, like something inside of him had torn. Tears welled up behind his glasses and overflowed, making trails through the dirt on his cheeks. One side of his face had an ugly bruise forming, crisscrossed by a handful of small abrasions, the pinpricks of blood already clotting.

With great care, Boulder wrapped both of his hands around Graham’s shoulders. Graham’s breath hitched again at the press of metal against his back but he didn’t pull away. The opposite, really.

“B-Boulder,” he croaked, latching onto one of Boulder’s thumbs with enough force to make his knuckles jut out, white and bloodless. “You—how—y-you’re—”

“Are you alright?” Boulder rumbled, brushing Graham’s injured cheek with his free thumb. “What happened?”

Graham made a strange wheezing sound. It took Boulder a klik to recognize it as a reedy laugh, lacking any signs of actual mirth, much less a smile.

“Am-am I okay?” Graham demanded. He sounded angry, but he still looked wrung out and devastated. “How can you even—Boulder, y-you were–you were offline! And I couldn’t–I wasn’t able–I was useless!”

“Hey,” Boulder chided gently, Graham’s stammering self-flagellation making his fuel pump churn. He’d never seen his partner in such distress before, and he hated that he was the cause, even unintentionally. “Don’t say that. You could never be useless. To be honest, I don’t even understand what happened.”

Graham’s frustration gutted out like a candle flame, breathless alarm surging to take its place. One of his hands snapped out and clung to Boulder’s wrist, the few inches his comparatively diminutive grip could cover.

“What do you mean? Do-do you think it could happen again?”

“No, no.” Aching to reassure him, Boulder ran his thumb up and down the center of Graham’ chest, gently, gently, following the line of his tie and feeling the racing of his heart beneath the fragile barrier of cotton.

“I’m pretty sure this was a one-time thing. My memory’s a little foggy, but I got hit with some kind of…energy pulse, right?” At Graham’s hesitant nod, he continued more confidently. “It completely blacked out my systems so I wasn’t able to get any readings, but one of Doc’s scanners must’ve picked it up. We’ll study it, figure out where it came from, and what it’s supposed to do. We’ll contact Optimus, too. See if some of the Autobot scientists have any idea what it is.”

“I think this is bigger than Griffin Rock, buddy.” Graham closed his eyes, taking a breath that trembled on the exhale, as if he was bracing himself. “When all four of you were…unresponsive, my dad tried to contact Optimus. It…it looks like this pulse was targeting all Cybertronians. And when…when it hit you, Boulder, you weren’t in stasis. You didn’t just crash. You…you were dead. Your spark…according to the med scanner, your spark had gone out.”

Boulder loosed a hand from around Graham and flattened it to the center of his chest without conscious thought. Beneath layers of heavy armor, his spark whirling feverishly in its chamber, as if reassuring him you’re still here!

“Oh,” he said, rather numbly.

Well, that would explain why his processors didn’t register his existence for those four minutes, twenty-three seconds, and 0.47 milliseconds, wouldn’t it?

“Boulder?” Graham murmured, expression open with affectionate concern as he rubbed Boulder’s wrist guard. Clearly he thought it was Boulder’s turn to be comforted, and he wasn’t exactly wrong.

Boulder shook his helm in an attempt to clear it. An existential crisis was the last thing he needed right now. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m…I’ll be okay.”

Graham bit his lower lip in a familiar show of uncertainty.

“The others…do you know if they’re…?”

Boulder had been aware of his teammates' presence in the back of his processors from the moment of onlining. Their inner comm system made communication possible via glyph and emotional impressions in a fraction of the time it took spoken dialogue, and all four of them tended to leave the channel open, maintained at a steady thrum that could be ignored if needed, but made them all feel less alone. Now that he paid attention though, he was conscious of the careful distance their impressions were maintaining from him, as though they were each trying to avoid overwhelming him.

When he finally consciously reached out, he was bombarded almost at once.

BOULDER[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1703]

: : Everyone okay? : :

/ relief / we’re safe / where are you /

HEATWAVE[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1701]

: : It’s about time. : :

: : What, did you get a bump on your head and let Graham kiss it better? : :

/ relief / thank primus / i don’t know what i’d do without / CHANNEL BLOCKED /

CHASE[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1702]

: : No injuries to report. : :

: : However, this is a troubling development. : :

: : We cannot allow ourselves to be caught unawares again. Being incapacitated in such a manner puts our partners at great risk. : :

: : We must find a way to contact the Prime at once. : :

/ relief / i’m glad you’re safe / how could this happen /

BLADES[RESCUE-BOT-Σ1704]

: : SAND! I'VE GOT SAND EVERYWHERE!! : :

/ panic / panic / panic /

Boulder huffed a laugh. “Everyone’s fine. I guess whatever that was only had a temporary effect on us.”

Graham still looked ill at ease, his expression far away as he pressed a hand against his mouth. Boulder could practically hear his brilliant mind already whirring away beneath his hard hat. “I don’t like this. We need to go back to Doc’s.”

“And we will,” Boulder soothed. He hadn’t forgotten about Graham’s panic attack; his partner was his own worst enemy sometimes, overworking himself half to the point of collapse. “But it’s late, Graham, and you need rest—”

“And you don’t?” Graham demanded, snapping his head up and pinning Boulder in place with laser sharp focus as effectively as a launched stasis net.

Boulder blinked, taken aback by the uncharacteristically sharp tone. Just as quickly, Graham softened in chagrin. He looked himself again, if a tired and hunted version of himself.

He sighed, wrapping a hand around Boulder’s thumb again. “I’m–I'm sorry, buddy. But I can’t just go to sleep like nothing’s wrong when there might be something out there with the power to hurt you again. I can’t. I won’t.” While Graham spoke gently, with that same, low fondness he seemed to reserve just for Boulder, there was a waver in his voice that spoke of lingering fear. But then he set his jaw, not out of stubbornness but in fierce determination, the same way his father did.

Boulder’s spark throbbed, once, twice, whirling brightly in its chamber. His plating was only just thick enough to obscure the glow from human sight. As if there was any chance he’d tell his partner ‘no’ after that.

“I…thank you,” he managed hoarsely.

Graham grinned up at him crookedly, and Boulder cherished the rare sight of the dimple in his right cheek. “Don’t thank me yet.”

Dani knelt in the surf, feeling hollow, carved out, her lungs, stomach, and heart scraped free from the force of her screaming and the retching she hadn’t been able to control, her lovely dinner with Taylor lost in the waves.

Now she tried to scrape sand out of the crevices of Blades’ face, where it caked beneath his chin and in the hollow of his dark optics, because she knew he would hate it. As much fun as he had on beach days, no matter how many immaculate sand castles he built, he would complain about sand in his joints as much as any human complained about finding sand in their shoes.

But hers was an exercise in futility. There was only one of her, and her two hands weren’t enough to lift Blades’ body out of the sand, or free him from the tide that lengthened/deepened every passing second, trying to claim him, dragging him further away from her than he already was.

Some of the townspeople who saw Blades fall had moved to help, but Dani waved them all away. A few of them left, after firing endless questions at her that she had no answer for, while others, Boulder’s garden club friends and a few kids Dani recognized as Teen Pioneers, lingered over by the incline leading down to the beach, clustered together and crying or speaking frantically into their phones. Dani tried to ignore them.

Without another one of the bots to carry Blades, they’d need something like a crane to lift him out of the surf and she was nowhere near ready to consider that horrifying eventuality.

It was almost utterly dark now, with only a few distant streetlights to see by. Almost up to her waist in frigid seawater, shivers wracked Dani’s body so strongly that her teeth chattered and her fingers were halfway numb. She couldn’t stay out here much longer without risking hypothermia, but what else could she do? Leave Blades here, alone?

As if both in answer and insult, a wave crashed against Blades’ back, soaking Dani down to the roots of her hair.

She was blinking saltwater out of her eyes when a second wave washed over Blades. Only this one was composed of green light, dazzling her vision as it left a glowing trail in its wake. Dani’s skin prickled with a feeling like static electricity, and she swore that the sea spray around them froze for a long heartbeat, as if suspended in time. The sounds of the ocean were a distant echo, and her heartbeat thundered in her ears instead.

With a great crash, the world reasserted itself.

The ocean roared, cold lanced through her like lightning, and Blades’ optics reignited as he awoke with a sputtering gasp, flailing in the surf.

“Ugh, oh, augh!! Sand! I’ve got sand in my mouth!” he spat out a mouthful, pawing at his face, neck, and finials. “And in my nose, and my optics—aw, it’s everywhere!”

“Blades!” Dani shrieked, her hoarse voice creaking horribly, and threw her arms around Blades’ neck. In typical fashion, Blades wailed and let her momentum knock him over, landing flat on his back in the water with a tremendous splash.

“Dani?” he stammered. “Whyyyy? I’m getting salt and sand in all my transformation seams! This is so embarrassing.” Despite his complaining, his hands gently settled around her to hug her back.

Dani couldn’t even think of responding right now. Distantly, she was aware of the crowd on the beach cheering for Blades’ miraculous revival but all she could do was hug him tighter. His voice, whiny and singsong, was the best thing she’d ever heard.

“Dani?” he murmured quietly. With careful movements, he sat up in the surf, taking Dani with him. Cradled gently in his hands against the round smoothness of his chestplate, she realized she was shaking from more than just cold. Silent tears were making hot trails down her face, and her breath hitched upon realizing she was crying, with no memory of when she started.

She leaned back roughly wiping at her cheeks with the heels of her palms and back of her hands. “It’s–I’m-I’m fine. How do you feel, Blades?” she demanded.

Blades blinked at her intensity. “Ummm…okay, I guess. My head hurts a little…” he glanced around, seemingly taking in their surroundings for the first time. “Uh… Dani?” his voice cracked, rising sharply with his sudden and growing panic. He’d noticed the Blades-shaped hole in the sand that the waves hadn’t washed away fast enough. “How did I get here? I…I don’t remember—I didn’t crash, did I?”

Dani caught his face between her comparatively small hands, giving him no choice but to look at her. “Blades— Blades, no. Something…something happened, but it wasn’t your fault. You’re okay. You’re here, and you’re okay,” she said firmly, repeating it for her sake.

A new thought hit her and she thumbed her comm link. “Guys? Blades—he’s back. The rest of the bots, are they…?”

Her father’s voice answered her, warm with exhausted relief. “We’re all here, Dani. Boulder’s with Graham. They’re heading back to Doc’s to try and figure out what just happened.”

Dani breathed for the first time in what felt like hours.

But above her, Blades had gone strangely silent.

When she looked up, she found him looking troubled, his gaze locked on the horizon.

“What is it?” she asked quietly.

“It’s…Bumblebee,” Blades gasped. He tilted his helm, gesturing at his comm link. “He’s okay. He’s…he’s asking if we’re okay, too.” Blades’ eyes were wide, clearly wondering what exactly had happened to him, to all of them, but Dani couldn’t bear to explain and relive it right now.

“The same happened to them, right? Does he know what it was?” she pressed.

“He says…it’s a long story.”

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