show_my_cannons | 11 - Action for Azalea / Text

[He jerks awake. Immediately, his hand goes to his chest, to the back of his head, fingers scrambling over his human form.]

[Everything is whole. Everything intact. There's no rust, no gaping wounds from Sentinel's weapon. Even the scars remain. His body is breathing, it's moving. Its systems are functioning as well as can be expected. Even his hip and shoulder feel better.]

[That's not right.]

[He hadn't made it out of DC. He'd felt everything go dark, felt his systems crumble away while he tried to fight to stand up, to shoot, to act and not let the inevitable happen. They'd been betrayed -- he couldn't lie down and let it happen. He'd tried, he'd tried with every failing piece of his strength to stay online. But it hadn't been enough.]

[And now he's here. Alive.]

[It feels like he's been gone for years. And it was -- since the battle in Egypt, it had been three years... His eyes rest on the 'gear.]

[For a while, he just sits in silence, staring at it, while gradually realizing there are people here who may be concerned for him. His team... his friends... they're beyond his grasp now. That realization in particular feels like a physical blow, and he has to bow his head and breathe for a few minutes longer before he can pull himself back together. His allies. His leader. Everything he'd fought for, everything he'd tried so desperately to return to, was gone.]

[There is no more going back.]

[Finally... Ironhide picks up his 'gear, and taps out a brief, halting message.]

How long was I out? Feels like... |

[He leaves the text unfinished, dropping the 'gear in favor of silence and brooding.]

((ooc: Potential spoilers for Dark of the Moon abound in the post and possibly in the comments.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Okay, okay. [ he holds up his hands in surrender ] I believe you. Weirder things have happened.

... You... uh. You gonna be okay?

Guess they have.

[He looks at his previously injured arm, at that. He lifts it, flexing the fingers.]

... Yeah. Sure.

["No", in so many words.]

[ He blinks at that. Maybe it's a side effect of going-home-but-not-really ]

... Your hip better too?

[Better. His injuries are better. For a second, he just shakes his head.]

Feels fine.

Good.

[ He head over and takes a seat on the edge of the bed. Rascal hops up and curls up around Ironhide's feet. ]

Now tell me what happened, because you look like scrap.

[He almost pulls his feet away from the pokemon, but just doesn't have the energy right now.]

Just war. Nothing to talk about.

Yeah, there's nothin' to talk about, and my name's Starscream.

[ his tone softens immediately. Sarcasm probably isn't best. ] Come on, Ironhide. I know something's wrong, and if you can't tell a fellow Autobot, then who?

[He glances at him. Then away.]

... we were betrayed.

[And there is a world of bitterness in that simple word alone.]

[ he actually flinches ]

Betrayed? Betrayed by who?

Sentinel Prime.

[You couldn't tell he was saying the name of an Autobot, by his tone. He might as well have been saying "Megatron".]

Sentinel-- A Prime? All Spark, Ironhide. I can't even-- why?

Yeah. A supposed Prime.

[Optimus is, now and forever, the only one who deserves that title, in Ironhide's mind.]

[As to the question, he can only shake his head. He grits his teeth before speaking.]

I did not hear it, if he even gave a reason.

... Ironhide? Please. What happened?

... He attacked us. And then I was brought back here.

[It's completely true. Just missing one major detail. One he can't wrap his head around yet.]

You got brought here in the middle of a battle? Ouch.

... the beginning of one, I think.

When did you get sent back? Because if it sent you back right when you left, there's always a chance you can go back and finish things.

[Ironhide's jaw works. He closes his eyes, and sucks in a slow breath before he figures out how to even begin answering that.]

Things are finished.

[He doesn't look at his friend.]

What?

[ he stares at Ironhide for a very long moment. He's beginning to get an idea, and it's frankly one that terrifies him ]

... No.

[There's nothing he can really say to that. He's run out of denial. Run out of energy to try.]

[He boys his head. Runs his hands over his face.]

[ That pretty much confirms it. Still, there's one thing he has to know ]

... Was it Sentinel?

[He manages a nod. And that's all.]

[Because the betrayal, the loss, it still hurts.]

[ Ha can't even fathom what that must be like. He had died at the hands of the Decepticons- and if an Autobot was going to go, that was the only way it should happen. Not at the hands of a fellow- and certainly not at the hands of a so-called Prime.

That wasn't death. It wasn't even betrayal. It was something terrible and torturous that defied words.

He reaches over to put a hand on Ironhide's shoulder, giving it a little squeeze ]

I'm so sorry, Ironhide.

[He almost jerks away, almost shoves the hand off of him.]

[But... this is it. This is all there is. This world -- this contact -- this Autobot. No going back. No pounding sense into the processors of the young, no standing beside Prime. No Ratchet following in his wake, lecturing him... All because he'd let his guard down.]

[The touch is what smacks it all home, finally, and his shoulders sag. He nods, slightly, unable to decide on any words.]

[All Spark. He failed them all.]

Whatever happens in this place, we're still Autobots. You'll always have me. [ probably not much of a consolation, he knows, but he's a little out of his depth here ]

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show_my_cannons - 2011-09-03 00:57 (UTC) - Expand