Summary: A human convinced to be friends with a Decepticon got rescued by the autobots. Introducing Sideswipe and Strongarm!
Tropes: Found family. Healing from trauma.
<Part 1 / Part 3> (coming soon)
After I wrapped my mind around the idea that my life wasn't over yet, I started taking in my surroundings. Beyond the blinding light of the projectors they've been using to operate on me, I was surprised to find out we were right out in the open, in a scrap yard. Only a couple of makeshift cloth walls and an improvised counter were around me, letting me know that they worked pretty fast to work on me.
...I looked at my arm stump again. This time, knowing I was supposed to continue my life with an arm missing. I felt my heart rate slowly going up. What the hell was I gonna do? I was working in retail. Would they even keep me like this? I was already so broke. All my efforts to keep an apartment that allows me to garden... Can I even take care of a garden anymore?
"Heyyyy..." A man greeted me cautiously.
"Huh...?" I turned my head to look at him. Some bearded guy with a sorry smile, standing there with a bag of fast food.
"Got ya something to eat..."
"Who are you?...."
"Me? Oh... I'm Denny Clay, this is... my scrapyard, actually."
"...You're friends with the autobots?"
"Sure am... They're really not that scary, you know? As long as they're not costing me arms and legs in property damage-" He immediately stopped himself, horrified by his own words. "Uh... Sorry."
I was speechless for a moment. It would be funny, if I weren't freaking out right now. "...Um... It's fine... A-anyways... Thanks for the food!..."
He smiled and helped me to sit up. A chicken wrap... I guess he tried his best to find something easy to eat with one arm.
"Sooo.... Friends with a Decepticon, huh? How did that happen?" He asked while i was eating.
I sighed. "...He looked like he needed a friend... He approached me first... Told me about how he was trying to hide from meaner aliens out to get him... He took a risk asking me for help, and I didn't want to betray that trust..."
"...Weird..."
"How so?..."
"Well... Most of the Decepticons I've met either kidnapped me, made me and my son hostages, or just tried to kill me and my son... Or talk about humans in general like we're bugs... But hey, Grimlock used to be a Decepticon, so I should know they can't all be bad..."
I ate quietly, thinking. It really helped to have a human around. Someone like me who hopefully had no reason to lie to me. Denny seemed like a pretty genuine guy. If he trusted these autobots, then I guess I really was safe...
"Offbeat isn't like that..."
"Oh, hey, it's okay! I trust you. If he were, you definitely wouldn't be friends with that con."
The ground rumbled as two autobots threw themselves into our part of the scrapyard. A swift-looking red bot wrestling a bulky white and blue bot. The fight ended somewhat quickly as the red bot got pinned to the ground.
"Do you know how light you are?" The blue one said, a smirk on her face. "It's so easy to pin you down."
The red one showed his denta with a snarl, and rolled out of her grip, getting back up with a kick.
"And you're so stiff, any con could evade you." He replied mockingly.
"HEY! Sideswipe, Strongarm, that's enough!" Ratchet barked from his desk. "I don't want any action like that near the recovering human! Take this somewhere else!" He growled.
"Right, sorry sir." The blue one immediately straightened up.
"Whatever, grandpa..." The red one with the energy of a teenager was trying not to look at me, or at least pretending not to. Though eventually his optics widened when he noticed the TV next to my bed. "HEY! That's where the TV went! Why do they get to have the TV?"
"i-i-i- u-uh-..." I stuttered, a deer in the headlights, but thankfully Fixit rolled in front of me, servos on his sides.
"They get to have the TV because they have to stay in bed! Right now they need distractions way more than you do, Sideswipe!"
The red one, or rather Sideswipe, grumbled in defeat without arguing. His gaze hesitantly fell on me and my arm, like he was afraid to look.
"....I don't understand why humans can't just... get a new limb!... They're just supposed to live like that forever?... That's messed up." He sounded kind of upset. Though it was hard to tell if it was annoyance or empathy.
"....Y-yeah... Guess so..." I said with an attempt to be sarcastic, staring off into space. Unfortunately my voice cracked very clearly, reminded of my situation. But this time I couldn't keep my composure.
Everyone's eyes widened -except Ratchet- at the sound of my wobbling voice. I hated it. I hated people pitying me. It felt wrong to receive attention for my pain, I couldn't really explain why.
"...I'm... gonna go..." Sideswipe said, his discomfort clear as he walked away.
The one I assumed to be Strongarm watched him leave. "Hey! Sideswipe!..." She glanced back at me with a sorry frown, "Sorry..." before following him.
Everyone else around me just faded into the background, I was stuck in my head for a moment, making a list of all the problems i'd have to deal with because of my current situation. My heart rate rising up high.
Denny was telling me something but I didn't really listen... Fixit was also trying to tell me something, but none of them were helping.
But then, Rachet put a knee down by my bed and snapped his giant metal fingers in front of me.
CLANK CLANK "Focus!"
His intimidating energy made me force myself to look at him.
He sighed. "...This reminds me of when Bumblebee lost his voice... It's pretty uncommon that cybertronians face permanent disabilities considering how much can be fixed and replaced about us. Vocal components are one of the few things we can't replicate... but that didn't stop Bumblebee, and it's not gonna stop you either." He paused. "Unless you prefer feeling sorry for yourself. Do you?"
"...I-I don't..."
"Good. Now back to resting. Humans heal through sleep. Everyone else, shoo. Get out of here." He waved his servo at Denny and Fixit like they were flies.
They turned to leave, but glanced at me one last time.
"Hold on tight." Denny said.
"Yeah! I'm working to make things easier for you, like a -forged- doctor's notice for your job! Although is it technically forged if it's still on the instructions of a doctor? I don't-" But Fixit got shushed by Ratchet, and promptly rolled away.
"Oh-... Th-thank you!..." I called out to Fixit, surprised by his help. At least... It was one less thing to worry about.
Silence fell, and Ratchet nodded to himself. "I can think again." He looked down at me. "I'm leaving too, so don't do anything stupid. If you need anything... You have a button for that." And with that, he walked away. "Also, tomorrow I'll be checking if you're ready to go without IV-administrated anesthetics."
"Thank you..."
At the words, he took a quick glance back at me without saying anything. He disappeared between the shelves of broken cars.
The more I returned to reality, the more I found myself grateful for these autobots. These strangers were all in to help a human they didn't know... Sure, I did pretty much the exact same thing for Offbeat, but it felt weird... to be on the receiving end.
I rested my head back on my pillow, taking a few deep breaths. It's okay. Soon I'll be allowed to walk around again, and get used to my current self. Thanks to the stuff in my veins, I slept through the day, sometimes sensing movements or colors nearby.
When the sleepy haze cleared up, I became aware that the sun was down, and all of sudden I felt tired of doing nothing but fading in and out of sleep. I reached for the remote and turned the TV on.
About thirty minutes into a nature documentary, I heard the heavy footsteps of a giant robot approaching. I turned my head to see Sideswipe, looking like he didn't want to be here at all.
"...I'm bored.... I'll uh... I'll just watch whatever you're watching.... I mean, if that's cool, or whatever."
"...Um... Yeah... I don't mind..."
He hesitated, and sat down cross-legged with the quietness of a car impact.
"..."
"...So what are you watching?..."
"Nature documentary."
"Never got the point of those."
I raised a brow at him. "....To learn things?... About the planet you're currently visiting?..."
"...Anyways, uh... Look, about earlier..." He started, avoiding to look at me in the eyes, because he definitely wasn't actually interested by what was on the screen. "...I was just saying that-... it wasn't... supposed to be mean, or- you know?- I was just trying to uh..." He sighed with pain. "Ugh, you get it, right?"
"Oh... Um... Right. It's cool... Don't worry about it. I-i was already in a terrible mood and freaking out... It wasn't you."
His optics narrowed, thinking about what I said. "...Fine, cool..." He said with a hint of relief in his tone. "...But yeah. Hope you get better, I guess." He tried to say as nonchalantly as possible.
The silence became more comfortable for a moment... The nature documentary was presenting a sailfish, when suddenly Sideswipe's optics widened in shock.
"Woah, waitwaitwait. Did he say that thing goes 68 miles per hour??"
"Hehe, yeah. It's sailfish."
"Yeah. It's a fish. It doesn't even have an engine! They gotta be lying."
"They're not! It's the fastest fish on Earth."
His eyes narrowed in disbelief as he stared at the screen. "...Earth is so weird."
I don't know how long we kept watching, but the last thing I remember, as I faded back to sleep, was Sideswipe glued to the screen.
(The bedridden arc is over 😭 can't wait to get to the action. Sorry!)
