Satisfied Fascination: Chapter One
Thundercracker x Soundwave x Sunstreaker
Characters: Sunstreaker, Skywarp, Starscream, Thundercracker, Sideswipe, Soundwave, Ravage, Hook, mentions of Megatron, Ratchet, Scrapper, Scavenger, and two unnamed OCs that play no real role
Rating: T for innuendo
Words: 1486
Summary: Thundercracker finds himself in a bad position and gets help getting out, but needs a third - and one that his second approves of.
Author’s Notes: Soundwave is OOC and I’m totally sorry if I mangled the way he speaks when his isn’t OOC. Ravage is OOC and so is Hook. It’s just how it panned out. Sorry if that offends anyone. I normally love the Trine together, but I just had to write it this way. My muses wouldn’t let me do it any different. And just sayin, but TC is one of my favorites all around, so I feel kind of bad the way he’s treated.
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Before the war, Sunstreaker had loved watching fliers – especially Seekers – for their beauty and grace. Now, though he still admired those qualities, he had to admit that he cursed them on a frequent basis for what they were responsible for. As he stood protectively between two of the Command Trine and his twin, he had to admit that they still looked stunning even though their expressions rather ruined their good looks.
Of course, with only the two in front of him – though he was grateful that the one with the capacity to warp was in view – there was still one unaccounted for. He shot a few quick glances up to the sky, refusing to rise to the bait that came in the form of taunts thrown his way. Sunstreaker sighed gratefully as he finally pinpointed the third of the Trine’s location as being across the battlefield. It appeared that he was attempting aerial acrobatics, though that was marred by the amount of laser fire being thrown his way.
The wail of an ambulance siren allowed him to relax marginally. Ratchet would soon be here to fix Sideswipe. He just had to vacate the area of Seekers. The two in front of him twitched violently and he took his chance, slingshotting forward and grabbing the warper by the vents, swinging him around into the Air Commander
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Thundercracker heaved a sigh through his vents. The laser fire from the Autobots had scorched the leading edge of his right wing. Apparently his Trinemates had not blocked their bond and he had not had an effective enough one in place. Which all boiled down to one thing: he was blamed for the conditions of the other two Seekers and for the survival of the Twin Terrors. That was the current reason for his shorted energon rations, disrepair, lack of recharge, and extra duty cycles. One would think that he would be thanked for attracting most of the laser fire during the battle.
He sighed again. At least the Constructicons were relatively grateful, though that had been in a roundabout way. Various data pads had been appearing just inside his room aboard the Nemesis containing book files on any number of topics. The only way to tell they were from the Constructicons was the inordinate amount of literature on architecture, something he still appreciated considering how rare it was to find something to read on the Decepticon base.
The door to the command center slid open to allow Soundwave entrance. “Thundercracker’s presence: requested by Constructicons.”
“Can you relay to them that I am unable to make it? Both Megatron and Starscream have given me extra shifts and cut my rations.” He had found over time that the telepath was easy to talk to and a rather good friend. That was something that he wasn’t about to tell anybot. Friends were not really allowed within the Decepticon ranks.
“Energon: here after your return. Soundwave: will watch monitors. Ravage: accompanies Thundercracker.”
The blue Seeker grinned at the tape deck. “What is that going to say to the rest of the troops?”
“Response: Nothing. Decepticons: in recharge.”
“Mmm. That works then.” As the panther cassette padded up to him, he asked, “So, Ravage, have you played Sorry here lately?”
Soundwave grinned to see another Decepticon interacting with his cassettes. Most ignored them, but a few went out of their way to torment the much smaller bots. The blue jet had always been different from the others though, so it wasn’t all that surprising that he respected the cassettes. That he actually enjoyed playing with the younglings and that they loved having him around was the surprising aspect.
Ravage rubbed up against the Seeker’s turbines and told him telepathically that she had not. Thundercracker ginned happily.
“We’ll just have to fix that then won’t we? Monitor duty doesn’t exactly hold anybot’s attention for long as there isn’t really anything to see. Of course, I just finished making Snakes and Ladders. So we can choose between Sorry, Snakes and Ladders, Clue, Cybertron-opoly, and chess.”
She had to think about which she wanted to play. Once she decided there was no changing her mind. Cybertron-opoly could take a long time to finish, so unless they could leave the board game laying somewhere safe, there was little point in starting a game. Snakes and Ladders was new, so that would be extremely fun, but she didn’t know how long it could take. “Snakes and Ladders!” Ravage finally exclaimed not far from the Constructicon bay. “What are you making next?”
“I don’t know yet what will be next. We’ll have to figure out something for as many of us to play as possible.” He rubbed the seam joining her head to her neck affectionately as they paused outside the med bay door. “Are you coming in this time?”
“Yeah. The ‘Structies don’t mind me. I just can’t get in the way.”
As they entered, Hook exclaimed “finally!” as he threw his hands in the air. “You would think you’d come here right after battle!”
“Megatron ordered me to the throne room,” Thundercracker shrugged. “Extra duties and shifts and less energon.”
“I’m just glad that you cut down on the number of major repairs we had to make.”
“That’s probably why I wasn’t slagged for what I did. Less materials used for repairs, the less he has to request from Shockwave or acquire from somewhere.”
The perfectionist grinned. “Hey Ravage. Played any new games here recently?”
“We were going to play the new one later, Hook. Did Scrapper or Scavenger want to play chess with me while you repair Thundercracker?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his helm. “They were injured the other day and are still repairing.”
She grinned at the green and purple mech. “That means that they want some “alone time” and that you’re all going to renew your bond soon.”
“Of course.” The medic turned to regard Thundercracker. “When was the last time your Trine renewed theirs?”
“They’re supposed to be renewed?” he asked blankly. “How does that happen?”
Hook lifted an optic ridge. “When did you three last interface?”
The blue Seeker thought for a long moment. “When we were halfway here on the Nemesis. Would that be why they periodically ask me to join them?”
And that would be why the Command Trine is so dysfunctional, the Constructicon thought. “That is probably the reason, yes. Did your Carrier or Creator never tell you?”
“No. They were never around to and I was never allowed to ask questions anyway. I had one that I asked out loud to Carrier. It was the last.”
“What was the question?” “Why were so many different mechs coming in and making noises before leaving and giving her something.”
The two other occupants of the med bay stopped what they were doing in shock. “Your Carrier was a pleasure bot?”
“Yeah. Starscream and Skywarp were from the Elites of Vos. They were horrified to learn that. Apparently I give off the vibes of an Elite,” Thundercracker explained while Hook returned to his repairs.
“It is possible for your Creator to have been an Elite,” Hook said after a moment.
“You don’t have to placate me, Hook,” Thundercracker said with a wry smile. “I’ve always been an anomaly. My Carrier interfaced with a bot right after finding out she had sparked and my spark was not terminated.”
“You survived that?”
The Seeker just looked at him. His spark had to be extremely strong and resilient to have withstood that. Knowing how long ago the Trine’s last bonding was also gave voice to that fact considering how much they were still affected by each other.
“Have you ever considered breaking the bond?”
“No. I do know what happens to Trines that decide to and don’t have at least one suitable replacement. That is one thing that they made sure I learned.”
Hook looked thoughtful. “If they’re as involved with each other as I think they are, then they’ll be fine if you break your side off. The problem would be finding you a mech to balance you as you look for a third.”
“I’ve looked as if I weren’t in a Trine, but none of the fliers anywhere we’ve been have appealed. Ground-based mechs have always drawn me more, but most don’t understand a Trinebond.” He shrugged. “It’s a vicious cycle.”
“Well. I’ve done everything I can for the laser burns. The rest will be fixed by your self-repair. You know you’re always welcome here. And who’s to say that a Trine can’t be made out of a flier or two with one or two grounders as the situation calls for it?”
“Thanks Hook,” Thundercracker said with a smile. “But that would be hard. Most of the appealing ones are Autobots.”
Once out of the med bay Ravage turned to the flier. “Can we play Snakes and Ladders in the control room?”