While he was very much a βhere and nowβ kind of bot, Smokescreen, not infrequently, found himself wondering about 'after'. Thatβs what he always called it. Back on Cybertron older members of the Elite Guard always talked about βbeforeβ and βafterβ.
Smokescreen hadnβt seen much of before the war, having been sparked only 2-ish vorns before the fighting started, but he missed it sometimes.
Alpha Trion had told him about Orion Pax. It was difficult to draw the comparison between quiet, nerdy librarian and stoic, indomitable Prime. At least, until he got to the part about Orion standing up against the injustice of the caste system. That sounded much more like Optimus. He didn't feel like there was much point in asking the Prime himself about before, given how short and impersonal their conversations tended to be.
Arcee never spoke with him about before. He tried to bring it up once, but the face she made when she told him it wasΒ 'none of his business'Β made him think that asking again wouldn't be worth the risk.
Bulkhead didn't have much to say about it. The former Wrecker worked in construction and demolition before. As he put it: He went to work, he hung out with his friends, he recharged. Smokescreen couldn't imagine living essentially the same day over and over, but Bulkhead claimed to have loved the monotony.Β
"I loved my job, I loved my friends, I love recharging."Β Then adding the slightly insultingΒ "Most of us don't need to live off adrenaline"
It took a while to build up the courage to ask Ratchet. Smokescreen knew the grouchy doctor was the oldest on the team, so even with the danger of earning his wrath, the medic would likely have the best answer.
"I was a doctor before the war and a medic during it."Β Just as unfriendly as his bedside manner.
The cycle after arriving on Earth he learned that Bumblebee was sparked after the war began. He was the first bot Smokescreen had met who had never lived in 'peacetimes', as Alpha Trion always called it. It was sort of fun to not be the youngest mech around for once, and to be with someone who understood what being that was like. Bumblebee seemed like the most 'normal' member of team Prime to him, but maybe he just thought older bots were weird (Please Primus don't let him get grumpy and mopey as he ages). He remembers how surprising it was to find out about their age gap.
"What kind of things did you do before the war?"
Bumblebee stared at him with his bug eyes.
"Like, I know you're young too, but I remember hanging out with other sparklings, playing games, watching holovids. Did you do any of that stuff?"
Bumblebee's doorwings twitched slightly.
"I wasn't alive back then." Smokescreen looked confused. "I was sparked over a vorn after the fighting started."
He recalls being shocked, "I didn't think any war sparklings were still alive before I left Cybertron."
"Yeah well, I'm the only one. So you're pretty close."
He didn't bring it up again.
'After' was a different story, for the most part.
Optimus talked about Cybertron being peaceful and safe enough for all Cybertronians scattered across the universe to go home. It was all very much about reviving the planet, making it suitable for the well to produce new sparks. That and stopping Megatron, though he sounded rather sombre when talking about that.
"The only way to prolong our existence as a species is to revive the well."Β
It made sense, all of them were going to offline someday. Plus, it'd be cool to see sparklings again.
For Arcee, it didn't matter how much destruction remained,
She sounded sad, not like what he was used to from her. He didn't ask again.
Bulkhead wanted to go back to living quietly. At least he had a sense of humour about it.
"There will be plenty of demolition and construction waiting for us."Β He patted Smokescreen on the back,Β "As long as Megatron and Starscream aren't there it'll be fine."
Ratchet had exactly as much interest in this conversation as the last one.Β
"My job now is to keep all of you alive, my job after the war will be to keep all of you alive."Β Then glaring at him,"Which isn't helped by your foolish stunts." That was enough to send him slinking out of the med bay.
Of all the bots on the team, Smokescreen had expected Bumblebee to be the most excited about after.
"What do you think you'll do after the war?" They were driving more leisurely than usual for patrol.
"Uh... I haven't really thought about it."
"I'm not a strategist, my job is to follow orders and scout. I donβt think about anything past the next fight." Smokescreen started slowing down.
"Don't you ever think about going home? Or what you're gonna do when we're at peace?" Bumblebee matched his lowering speed.
"I've never seen Cybertron not on fire. Itβs not like I miss it."
Smokescreen jerked into his root form.
"How can you not miss our home?" He felt a match light inside him. "I get that it was kinda destroyed when you left, but still."
Both were quiet. Bumblebee transformed.
"I grew up on the Ark. Almost all my time on the surface was spent fighting. I didn't go to school or hang out with other sparklings. I didn't even know my creators." His 'voice' was low. "Cybertron is just one of the planets we ruined with this stupid war."
"Don't you want to see it alive?"
Bumblebee sat down, bringing his knees to his chest.
"I guess, but that's not why I fight."
Smokescreen sat next to him, leaving a bit of space. Bumblebee's doorwings were down.
"What other reason is there? We're gonna stop the Decepticons and save our home."
"I want to stop the Decepticons to save otherβs homes." He stared into the distance. "If we fail, Megatron will tear Earth apart to get energon. Billions of lives will be lost."
Smokescreen hummed in agreement.
"And we'd be foolish to think he'd stop there. Who knows how many planets have lifeforms on them." They met optics. "The price of saving our planet cannot be the destruction of others."
They were quiet for a while.
"You're a pretty philosophical guy, Bee." The scout shrugged. Smokescreen leant back on his servos. "I guess my reason is a little selfish, but most Autobots share the sentiment."
"It's not selfish to want to go home. It's just..." he rested his chin on his knees, "I see my home as wherever there are Autobots. When the war is over, I don't think there will be a need for Autobots anymore."
"You guys are like a family here, from what I've seen at least." Bee nodded. "You know, even if the insignias are gone, they'll still care about you."
"Yeah, I know that. But I've been a scout most of my life. I don't think I could ever be a civilian."
Smokescreen nodded, scooting a bit closer.
"I get that. It'll be really weird." He bumped their shoulders. "But I guess we can worry about not fighting when we're finished fighting."
Bumblebee suddenly stood up, perking his wings.
"We should head back, Ratchet will start calling if we're out much longer."
"I'll race you" Smokescreen replied, transforming and rushing off before Bee could accept. He heard the scout beep in annoyance before quickly catching up. They took turns overtaking each other for a while before Smokescreen had a thought.
"Hey Bee, have you ever talked to Ratchet about this stuff?" Bumblebee made a noise that was less of a word, and more of a verbal question mark. "I mean, he's like your dad, right?"
"Uh, well I wouldn't say-"
"I just mean that he's the guy you'd go to with your problems, yeah?"
There was no reply from the muscle car, which was an answer in and of itself. They slowed down as they approached the mountain side.
"He's not my dad" Bee grumbled
"Yeah, I know you guys think I'm naive or something, but I'm not stupid."
"That's not how to speak to your elders"
The rest of the team didn't say anything about how the two younglings were laughing as they shoved each other through the hallway. Ratchet rolled his eyes.
