#defensor

Due to Hot Spots expert strategizing and the combined reconnaissance efforts of Blades and Groove, the team had been able to determine when guard shifts ended and new ones began, at the warehouse the device was being kept. The switch in shifts allowed you an opening to sneak past undetected, too small compared to the cons to be extremely noticeable in such an environment. The team was taking the uh- alternate route. Clearing out rooms and sweeping hallways to cover behind you as you snuck into the main holding area.

It was empty, and that alone should’ve immediately set off your suspicion. Shift change or not, would they really leave this place without anyone guarding it at all? You internally curse yourself. Stupid decision, stupid stressful situations! Why- WHY would they leave it unguarded??- With the rest of the team fallen behind, you continued onward without heeding the warning signs. Today just seems like your lucky day.

Making your way into the device was easier than it should’ve been. Slipping between the metal plates, it was hardly difficult. The hair on your body stuck up as you walked through what felt like a lightning storm- full of electrical currents reaching out in arcs to trail over your flesh. It was beautiful in a way, almost enough to mesmerize you, had the sudden sound of Decepticon voices not been in the distance.

You calmed yourself and searched quickly for anything that could indicate an off switch- ‘Damn this Cybertronian tech. How unintuitive. How exactly is a little human supposed to find anything in here?? It’s all alien garbled nonsense and-‘

You screamed.

Streetwise and Rook were the first to react, being closest to the front. Metal clanged so loud it nearly ruptured your eardrums as they came barreling through two massive garage doors into the main warehouse, launching them in the process. You were thrashing in a Decepticons servo screaming bloody murder, a piece of the device lay broken on the ground beneath you. ‘He must’ve grabbed you by ripping the side off.’ It doesn’t exactly take Streetwise long to piece together what happened given how the con is cackling about catching the “little human pet”.

Having noticed the pissed Autobots that have entered the room following your obnoxious screeching, the con chucked you to the side like garbage. Bastard. Didn’t matter that you had almost turned off his precious masters device apparently. Making it unable to be used due to- what did First Aid say again? Lack of charge? Something like that. Hard to remember when you’d just had your body thrown like a ragdoll.

You shake your head, brought back to the present after recounting how you even ended up here- almost turned into a human jelly splatter painting on a warehouse wall. Your head is throbbing, the ringing in your ears is so loud you grip your head for relief. Too much noise- metal clanging and blaster fire doesn’t aid your current predicament.

Squinting and barely able to make out a massive bot form ahead of you as they beat the living scrap out of another bot. You’re surprised you’re alive given the size and strength difference. And ya know- metal vs bone.

If you had been able to even move at the time, your instincts would’ve demanded you high-tail it out of there. But a surge of worry flooded your system enough to overwrite your pain for a split second. A bot this big? How did you guys not notice, or hear anything at all? There were no indications that this place was being this heavily protected, and okay maybe you should’ve been a bit more suspicious before.

You’d been told stories by the team about other combiners, namely the Protectobots rival, Bruticus. Although, rival is probably a strong way of putting it. The Combaticons a formidable combat unit both in formation and out. Hot Spot and the others having made it vehemently clear that you were never going to present on a mission if any of them would even possibly be there. They were never going to risk you getting caught and potentially find yourself in the hands of their so called “medic”, someone Aid seemed particularly serious about.

For a moment, your heart nearly stopped at the idea of that exact con before you. You’d heard of their “accolades”, you knew how terrifying they were. You shake your head as hard as you can, desperately trying to clear your vision after the tears had been knocked out of you. It isn’t him right? It can’t be. Please don’t let the bot he’s laying into be one of yours-

Wait, is that Defensor?- You slide down the wall in a dubious relief. He dwarfs this entire space. When had they combined? Hold on, why did they combined at all? You’re happy it isn’t that walking nightmare Bruticus but, surely this one con would’ve been toast against six bots, even if First Aid doesn’t join the fighting portion. He’s a sweet pacifist by nature but definitely no push over, they’d do well to remember that. Something you always did admire about him.. no not right now! Daydream later! Mission first!

‘A simple mission’, the ironic thought rings through your skull as you regain yourself. Luckily, you seem to not have any broken bones. Guess that con needs to brush up on his aim. Probably won’t have the ability to after Defensor is done with him though.

Just as Defensor is about to end what can only be described as a fly-swatting, the con makes a beeline for an exit, luckily in the opposite direction from you. Ducking under machinery and behind beams to avoid the onslaught (pun intended) from the now angrier than you thought possible Defensor.

“You Autobots didn’t really think Lord Megatron would leave this place unarmed, did you? We watched you for weeks! Haha! Have fun saving your little pet!” The con slips under a door just as it closes, and before any further chase can occur you all become painfully aware of the wretched noise the device begins to emanate. Nails on a chalkboard doesn’t begin to cut it in terms of a description- and you only just recovered from the horrible noises from before. There’s a whirling, sort of wind up noise coming from the now sliced in twain machine, immediately triggering the part of your brain familiar with video game bombs. Logic says, this whole joint is about to go up, and you can barely move. Man- you just can’t catch a break today.

Now, you’ve seen Defensor before, but seeing such a titan prior does not mean it’s any less intimidating now. He glances at the device, then turns to you and kneels with an earthquake of a thud. Concerned and serious expression on his faceplate, your stomach does a summersault. When a massive servo reaches out to grab you for a second time today- distinctly larger than the last one- you nearly shirk away, pressing yourself into the wall out of reflex. Defensors optics only soften in response, worried and painfully aware he’s frightening you but not really having enough time to talk it out given the impending detonation of Megatrons latest toy.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.” Such a large bot having a hushed tone should be illegal, gentle voice coaxing you to come forward like a hurt animal. It does little to settle the nerves in your belly. Or maybe that’s just the residual pain from before? Anyones guess.

It’s First Aid. You know that. The hand reaching for you is someone familiar and safe. Even still, it sends an instinctual shiver down your spine. Can’t help the involuntary tears welling up in your eyes. You know Defensor and the bots would never hurt you. They never have. Protecting you once you started going on missions and patrols with them. Modifying little areas of the base just for you. Always so careful around you, sweet to you. Honestly, they really do pamper you. Fondness creeps over you if you think about it for too long. Taking you on drives, and flights in Blades case. First Aid taking time to learn about human biology and culture. Streetwise chauffeuring you around the base on his shoulder plates, calling you endearing nicknames. Groove and Rook sharing their traditions and Hot Spot stories of their past, their home with you.

Sigh. It’s been a while since you joined the team. Who knew a random Tuesday night ice-cream run would lead to becoming the human liaison for an alien robot species disguised as vehicles? Definitely wasn’t on the bucket list. But, as silly as it sounds, you’ve come to love them. Maybe a little too much.

At first you shrugged it off as a little crush- kicking yourself for liking all six bots and acknowledging how unfair that would be to any of them and yourself. To choose. Don’t really know if said aliens robots have a concept of polyamory either, let alone if they’d be interested. You’ve kept your feelings private because of it. And now look? You’re stumbling into two gigantic caring servos that wrap around you so gently it makes you want to cry. It feels unfair.

Defensor cups you to his chassis and turns his back plate to the machine, the timbre of the whirling increasing by the second. Gripping onto Defensors servo like your life depends on. Can’t bare the idea of them sacrificing their lives for you, but know they’d do it in an instant. It’s agonizing knowing you can’t do the same for them, much less convey that you would beyond the use of words. Do they take it seriously when you say that? You aren’t sure.

Shaking in Defensors servo like a leaf, your tiny human EM field screaming with so much fear and uncertainty, they almost fall apart at the seams. They’re protecting you. Accurately named, those Protectobots. It’s who they are, you know that. You’re part of this team too afterall, have been for how long again? Still remember the first few weeks and how weird it was for everyone, navigating the new normal. Gotten to know each one of them now, became so much more than just teammates.

What will happen next? You’re absolutely terrified. Will this building collapse on all of you, leaving you trapped? Would Defensor be able to move through the rubble? This warehouse is the biggest thing you’ve ever seen. What will this device do upon exploding? Don’t know or really care right now what it will do to you, but it’s built to deal with sparks.. will they- you nearly throw up right in Defensors servo.

Will they die?

Your breath catches in your chest on a choked cry as the device erupts into a blinding white light. Even through Defensors servos, even as you squeeze your eyes shut to prepare for whatever happens- that light blinds you.

But it doesn’t hurt. It feels- pleasant? No, it feels warm. Good even. What is happening? Cant hear anything. No voices, no calamity, nothing. Well this certainly wasn’t the passing you were expecting.

That white light bleeds into- what even is this? You can see glimpses, moments of your time with the bots. A memory of when you introduced Groove and Rook to human videos games, it’s surrounded by an airy, happy sensation. Another of Hot Spot being admired by some children in a parking lot, he had been taking you for a drive that day after work. You got caught by some school kids who liked the ‘cool blue fire truck’. You look down- wait, you can see? You can move?

You’ve heard about different versions of the afterlife and such but this is some weird form of limbo. You’re not quite present, not quite there but still surrounded by visuals of all your life passing before you, reliving all the emotions and physical feelings attached to them. Memories and sensations that are not your own but they almost feel like they are. Had you just forgotten? Had they always been a part of you or is this new? An overpowering, simultaneous feeling of worry and affection consumes you, feeling like it’s pulling at your very being. It feels familiar.

You reach out a hand, fingertips barely grazing over another memory, this one of you and Blades. It isn’t from your eyes, though. You know it’s him because you remember that day, sitting on the roof of the base together, appreciating the view. The memory is from his perspective, and it- feels so soft. There’s warmth and some other emotion there that you can’t quite place. It almost feels like admiration, like a crush but that can’t be right. Can it? Did Blades feel that way too?

You shake your head, still throbbing from being launched earlier. You take a moment to look around. Everywhere you look there’s another one, mirror like and fragmented in nature. They most certainly aren’t memories of your own you’ve simply forgotten and are being showed in your last moments. Some belong to Rook, some to First Aid. That one was Streetwise. There are moments of their lives before the war, and the carnage they’d seen during. There are some together, before you joined the team. Some you hadn’t been told about before. They seem happy, but dysfunctional. Flashes of sweet memories of you together- in duos, trios, all of you. Each one feels more affectionate as they become more recent. Confusion and anxiety meld into a painful cocktail alongside everything else.

Okay, so Blades might have a little crush on you. But why are you seeing this now? And what about the others? Their memories towards you sharing those feelings, and even towards each other too? A bitter laugh escapes your throat. Maybe this is just some ideal fantasy your mind made up to comfort you in death. Seeing a life you wanted so badly being dangled right in front of you like a toy, just out of reach. What a mission this has turned out to be.

You feel the warmth fading, that bright white light going along with it. The mirror like memories seem to drift away until they’re out of sight, and the sensations along with them. You hadn’t realized how light you’d feel after, but there’s something different. You’re still here. You’re still in pain, those aches from earlier still gnawing at you. Your back and head still not very appreciative of your earlier con related debacle. There’s a new, hollow feeling in your chest you’re unfamiliar with. Feels like something is missing.

Before you have the chance to process what you’ve just experienced- life just seems to have it out for you today- Defensor buckles at the opposite knee. It’s so sudden it makes your head spin all over again, nearly making you sick as he does what he can to set you down safely before he comes apart.

From one bot becomes six. Loud bangs of metal resonate through the floor as each of the team crumples to the ground. They didn’t look injured while combined, but they’re uncharacteristically uncoordinated as they disassemble this time. Coupled with the panic of before- that not quite alive but not quite dead limbo you were in, seeing so many memories and feelings that weren’t your own, getting caught by a Decepticon, the device imploding on itself.. you’re more than a bit shaken up right now.

Feeling like you’ve forgotten to breathe, you choke on the dirt and ash in the air. Around you there’s rubble, the device having blown a massive hole in the side of the warehouse that is, miraculously, still standing. Constructicons sure know how to make a sturdy build, gotta give them that. There’s smoke emanating from where the machine once was, and your body screams at you to stop moving around so much to take in your surroundings. There’s no fire, at least.

A few minutes feels like an eternity as you all gather your senses, and the realization begins to dawn on you. Remembering what Streetwise had once told you about Cybertronian culture, you start to full-blown panic. The light, the visions, the sensations, that numbing hollow feeling in your chest- the machine.

Your breathing stops. The machine. It was built by Megatron to use on enemy Cybertronians sparks. It didn’t kill them when it blew up, instead it-

“Y/n!” Groove is the first to speak, but you’re too stunned to pay him much mind. From where he is on the ground, not too far from you on his servos and knees, he can see your eyes shot wide. Your panicked expression as you begin to grapple with what’s just happened, clutching your chest.

Groove sees First Aid rush to your side out of the corner of his vision, kneeling next to you to check over your injuries from before. He wanted to rip that con apart when he saw what happened to you, joining Rook and Streets right after they’d busted through the door. That scream you let out- it haunts him. He’d thought about it too many times before, terrified of the reality that could come to be, you getting caught and hurt by the cons merely for associating with them. His processor went into autopilot the minute he got there, and before any of them could really communicate, they were already combining.

Groove looks to his side, Rook is there. Cupping his helm in his servos, and it physically pains him to see the two of you like this. Doesn’t enjoy seeing any of the team like this. Feels everyone’s emotions right now and it drives him insane that he can’t comfort any of you. He’d been in the same boat as you for the most part, having feelings he didn’t know how to handle for people he didn’t know how to explain it to. How would he even begin to explain that? It’s not like he even knew how anyone felt until the device- well anyway. The reality is setting in now, he can feel your EM field spiking from this distance and it makes him just want to scoop you up and protect you. Groove settles for letting Aid be the one to comfort you, always did admire how gentle the medic could be. He pushes himself to his peds and makes his way over to Rook.

A servo reaches out to help Streetwise to his peds, and he has to force his optics upwards to meet Hot Spots. Even with his mask on, he can see the uncertainty written all over his leaders faceplate. In all honesty, Streets doesn’t know where you’ll all go from here. But he doesn’t have the luxury of thinking about that right now, it’s paramount you all get back to base before Decepticons come crawling back into this hole.

Hot Spot glances over his shoulder plate at Blades, who looks almost.. relieved? Afraid? Possibly a mix of both. He watches the copter let out a massive vent, chancing a peak in return to Hot Spot before looking away again. He’d expected the usually moody red and white mech to be more stunned, but maybe it’s better this way. Ever the leader that he is, Hot Spot makes his rounds to check over Rook and Groove before finally making his way to you and Aid, Streetwise in tow.

First Aid kneels next to you and reaches a servo around your back. “Y/n, please let me check your injuries. I know this is a lot to take in, but we don’t now how serious your condition is.” His soothing voice rings through your head to almost clear your thoughts. If you hadn’t been injured, you’d probably be unable to suppress the unruly desire to tug him into a hug. Still uncertain about what’s happening and admittedly a bit desperate for comfort after all that’s gone down, what’s probably not been more than 10 minutes of real time has felt like six lifetimes. Well, seven, actually-

You give Aid a shallow nod, allowing him to check you over as Blades and the others join the two of you. The medic looks visually more relaxed as he finds you to be relatively unharmed. Certain to be covered in bruises and scrapes for sure, but nothing extensive. Thank you human squish durability. It’s no metal plating, but you’re still kickin so who’s complaining?

It’s quiet for a few minutes. Uncomfortably quiet. All of you hesitating to say much of anything, having come to your own conclusions about the situation at hand and definitely needing clarity, but still unwilling to speak up. Groove lays an uncertain servo on the back of a very shaken up Rook, who hasn’t looked away from the ground the entire time. Blades and Streetwise are watching the exits, and Hot Spot rationalizes how to even go about explaining all of this. Accurately named, First Aid speaks up first.

“Nothing serious, but I’ll need to check over everyone at the base just to be sure.” Your breathing has calmed down, and the medic lets out a vent he hadn’t realized he was holding, relieved more than anything that this mess hasn’t seemed to cause you any permanent harm. Yet. Removing his servos from your still idling form to be on the safe side, given everything that’s happened.

“Are we just gonna-?” Groove glances between the medic and Hot Spot, he doesn’t even manage to get his full sentence out before Streetwise interrupts,

“Gonna what? Ignore it? Of course not. We can’t not talk about this, there’s so much Y/n needs to know-“ a little harsher than he intends to sound, he cringes at his own tone. He doesn’t mean it, and it stings in his spark when he sees Grooves expression fall further.

You make an attempt to stand, immediately met by more than one servo reaching out to assist you. Rook looks like he’s seen a ghost when your knee pops and you have to put your hands up in defense to show you’re okay. As okay as you can be, you guess.

“Actually..” you let out a shaky exhale as it all clicks into place, “I think I already understand.”

You’re all sparkbonded now.

——————————————————————————————————————

Note: My silly little concepts for fics are slowly being written bc I’ve got wrist braces now so I’m back with a vengeance, lol