#dreadwing is learning

Of Moments of Life AU

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Cody Burns was….an odd organic, to be sure. Dreadwing didn’t know what to make of him. The rest of his family stuck with their respective partners, but young Cody flitted between all the bots with an ease that surprised the Seeker. It surprised him even more when Cody approached him one morning with a thoughtful look.

“You need a new vehicle mode.” The human stated.

“Pardon?” Dreadwing wasn’t amused.

“You want to come out on rescue missions with the team, right?” 

“I do.” He’d said as much when the younglings had returned from their latest mission  a little worse for wear. 

They hadn’t been injured, but they’d needed a day to recover all the same. Apparently, a sinkhole had opened under one of the human’s houses and Blades and Boulder had fallen into it, as it’d widened under their pedes while they’d been trying to help with evacuation. After they’d all returned home safely. Dreadwing had mentioned a desire to start accompanying them.

“Well, you’ll need a new vehicle mode.” Cody repeated. “Your current one is really cool, but it’s too obvious as a military jet. If you want to be on a rescue team, you’ll need a vehicle mode that’s less…” he trailed off, clearly trying to find the right word. “Intimidating.” he decided on.

“I will not be getting rid of my weapons systems.” Dreadwing said firmly. Though the human had a point. He supposed his current alt-mode wasn’t exactly appropriate for rescue work.

Cody just grinned. “Yeah, I know. We aren’t expecting you to. That’s why I asked Doc Greene to develop a vehicle that might suit you. He has the prototype done, if you wanted to see it.”

Dreadwing blinked rapidly. “You…what?”

“Well, Doc Greene and Frankie are the only other ones who know about the Bots. I told Doc about you, and said you needed a new vehicle mode so you could do rescue work with the team. When I told him you turn into a fighter jet and used to be a soldier, he offered to design a prototype.” he smiled. “It’s not functional, but it has all the necessary parts, so you can scan it and use it as your new vehicle mode, if you want.”

Dreadwing had no idea how to respond to that. After a moment, he simply nodded. 

“Great!” Cody beamed. “You have a map of the island uploaded, right? Do you want to meet me at the lab? Doc has a runway you can use to land.”

“That would be acceptable.” Dreadwing nodded. 

He watched the human grin again, then turn and leave. He didn’t know that to do or what to think about this. It was…a type of kindness and generosity that was unfamiliar to him. A human he had never met had designed a new alt-mode for him, and even gone so far as to build a prototype, all so he could participate in rescue missions. He felt like there had to be a catch, but the Seeker knew better. These weren’t Decepticons. They didn’t operate like that, but the sheer compassion and friendliness without any expectation of getting anything in return…it left him reeling.

After several long minutes of staring in the direction the human had gone, Dreadwing shook himself and started forward. He left the firehouse, and then transformed and took to the sky as discreetly as he could.

It didn’t take him long to arrive at the lab. When he did, he was greeted by Doctor Greene, and the human was practically buzzing.

“Ah, Dreadwing!” He called in greeting. “Excellent! You’re here! I presume Cody told you about the prototype I built for your new vehicle mode?” At the Seeker’s nod, his grin widened. “Marvelous!” He perked up when there was a quiet hum, and a moment later Cody came around the corner on his hoverboard. “And Cody is here too! That’s perfect! If you’ll both follow me, now.” He said, and waved them after him.

Dreadwing followed, still silent even as Cody spoke up. “Thanks again for this, Doc! It means a lot that you’d do this.”

“But of course! Anything for your bots, my boy! They’ve done too much for Griffin Rock for me to simply ignore them when they need assistance!”

They arrived at a large clearing a little ways above the lab, and there on the pavement was a sleek jet. It was clearly amphibious, as the belly was shaped in such a way to float on the surface of the water, but there were also very obviously retractable wheels. And curiously, it was much smaller than most amphibious planes Dreadwing had seen, it’s shape and form clearly only build for a single pilot and perhaps two passengers seated behind said pilot. There was no hold, no area for a greater number of passengers, though the faint panels along the bottom of the plane near the wheels suggested there was at least a small storage area. Likely for water, Dreadwing reasoned. All together, while the plane was very clearly not built for combat, it was also startlingly close to his current alt-mode and he would not be forced to sacrifice any of his speed of agility in the air with it.

He blinked slowly, then looked to the inventor. “This is much more than I was expecting. Thank you, Doctor. You have truly outdone yourself.”

Greene beamed at him. “Yes, well, I did my best! I talked to Blades about what you may need in a vehicle mode, and he explained to me how important it is for your type to have seen and maneuverability! So I scaled down a typical amphibious plane, altered the design to be closer to a fighter jet to allow for your needs, and also ensured you’d be able o have the parts you needed to perform all kinds of rescues with the others!” He said cheerfully. “And I even made sure to keep in mind your weapons systems, so you shouldn’t lose them when you take on the new form.” He explained. “You’ll look just civilian enough to not be mistaken for a military plane, but also just enough specialized that any questions asked can be explained away as a new design for future rescue work.”

“Very sensible.” Dreadwing mused. “You have my gratitude. I was not expecting this, and I am very thankful for the work you put in to accommodate me.”

“But of course, Dreadwing! You’re a member of the Burns family now, and that makes you a friend.” He smiled up at the former Decepticon. “I look forward to seeing all the good you can accomplish with it.”

Dreadwing felt something in his spark clench, and he bowed his helm before turning is attention to the plane. His optics flickered, and then they scanned the new plane. A moment later, his systems integrated the new form, and he transformed. Once he was done, a copy of the silver prototype sat in his place in gold and blue, and Cody laughed in delight.

“Noble!” He said loudly. “Dreadwing, you look great!” He said brightly.

“Thank you.” He shifted his senses to the doctor, next. “And I must thank you as well, Doctor. This form is very well built. It will suit my needs quite perfectly.”

“That, my friend, is very good to hear.” Doc Greene chuckled. “Now, why don’t you go for a test flight? See how everything feel in the air? And perhaps take Cody.” His eyes glittered with a playful mirth. “After all, you can’t be seen without a passenger.”

Dreadwing gave a sot, amused huff. “Quite.” He agreed. His cockpit popped open. “Come on then.” He told the younger human.

Cody grinned even brighter, and hurried over. Thankfully, the jet had been designed in a way that allowed someone board without need of a ladder, so Cody was quickly seated in the pilot’s seat and buckled in. The cockpit shut, and with a final farewell to the inventor, Dreadwing was powering up his thrusters. He kept the takeoff easy, to account for his passenger, and soon he was rising up into the sky.

After a few minutes, Cody spoke. “So, how does it feel?” He asked eagerly. 

“Very good.” Dreadwing hummed. “I must admit, I did not expect such effort to be put into this.The Doctor has never met me. It is…surprising, he would do something so kind for one he does not know. You are sure he expects nothing in return?”

Cody laughed. “I’m sure. That’s just what Doc is like. We all wanted to help.” He said brightly.

“Then your family are some of the oddest beings I have met. Kindness without expectation of reciprocation is…fairly new, to me.”

Cody hummed. “Well, that’s what we’re like here. On Griffin Rock, I mean. We all have to help each other, cause if every act of kindness comes with strings then we wouldn’t last long as a community.”

“But not every human shares that ideology. It’s naive.”

Cody shrugged. “Maybe.” He agreed. “But it works for us here.”

“Here, yes.” Dreadwing stated. “But most places are far crueler than Griffin Rock.”

“You’re not wrong.” He admitted. “People can suck. But I never liked the belief that humans are inherently evil.”

“Oh? That seems to be a popular belief on your planet. Why do you not take to it?”

“Well, are all Decepticons inherently cruel?” Cody asked.

“No.” He stated honestly. “Some are. But most…most are not.” 

He thought of Breakdown, who’s only fault had been in his anger over his station in life before the war, in the resentment that had built and eventually turned him away from the Autobots. He thought of Knock Out, who had once been deemed too glitched for his function because of his vanity and lack of deference for authority, and who had been slated for reprogramming before the rise of the Decepticons had given him somewhere to go to be safe. He thought of Soundwave, who had been created to serve Senator Ratbat, and who had been thrown into the gladiatorial pits when he had disobeyed one too many orders, who had once had more Symbiotes than just Laserbeak, who had loved each and every one of his creations so deeply and dearly that their deaths, one by one, had lead to a fundamental break in his processor that had hardened his spark against a world that had cost him everything. None of them were inherently cruel, but they had all been forced to learn cruelty and wear it like a mask and cloak to shield themselves against a world that had sought to see them broken.

He thought of himself, of Skyquake, and how they had been forced to learn cruelty, forced to wield it, in order to rise against an order that wanted to see them forced into line and brought to heel because of their frames and their coding.

He thought of all he’d lost to cruelty, and his spark ached.

“Yeah.” Cody said softly. “Humans are like that too. We, as a species, have the potential to be cruel. Really cruel. But we also have the potential to be good. To be really good. To make the world better, to help others, to be kind. We aren’t perfect, but we aren’t defined by all the bad we’ve done. We can grow, we can learn, and we can be better. I think that matters a lot more than the handful of humans who want to be cruel.”

Dreadwing hummed, thinking. “Yes.” He said softly. “I believe you are right, Cody Burns.”

Cody smiled, nodding. “You know, Dreadwing….”

“Hm?”

“I think you guys are the same. Cybertronians, I mean. I think you can all be good too.”

“Is that so?” He wasn’t fully convinced. Perhaps for Bots like the mechlings of Sigma-17, but for those who’d fought in the War? He doubted very much.

“Yeah.” Cody nodded. “I mean, look at you.”

His engine almost sputtered from shock and only sheer force of will kept it from happening. “What?”

“You did bad things. You told me so yourself. You hurt others. Killed people. Destroyed homes and lives.” Cody listed. Then he put a hand on Dreadwing’s dashboard. “And now, you’re helping the Bots. You’re teaching them, guiding them, protecting them. You’re being better than your past. You’re growing past the cruelty of who you used to be and learning to be kind.”

Dreadwing was silent, shocked to his core. “That is not…”

“Isn’t it?” Cody said, head tilted. “You’re teaching Blades to overcome his fears and giving him someone who really understands him. You’re helping Chase learn to be flexible and compassionate even when it doesn’t understand why things are happening. You’re giving Boulder a shoulder to lean in so he doesn’t have to shoulder the burdens of the team and the past alone. You’re teaching Heatwave to be more open-minded, and giving him an outlet of someone he can be vulnerable to. You’re being good, Dreadwing, and the others are better for it.”

The Seeker didn’t have anything to say to that. He didn’t know if there was anything he could say to that.

After a moment of silence, he hummed. “You’re very intelligent, for an organic.” He remarked. 

Cody blinked, then chuckled. “Thanks. But remind me to talk to you sometime about underhanded compliments.”

If he was in his root mode, Dreadwing would have blinked in confusion. “What? Why?”

Cody only laughed, shaking his head. 

Dreadwing sighed, and found that to his surprise, he didn’t mind to lack of a reply.

And as the small human calmed down, the Seeker flew on towards home.

Yes. He was better.

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Hey all. I’d like to apologize for taking so long with this. Stuff happened. University kicked my butt, and I didn’t have as much time to write. And when I started getting a handle on things, writer’s block hit. I know what I wanted to write, I had the ideas, but I couldn’t find the inspiration or motivation. But now it’s starting to come back so I should be able to put out some more fics. Thank you all for your patience.

Also for anyone who might be confused, this is part of a series. You can find the rest of the series and it’s related posts under the tag “of moments in life au”.

Anyway, I hope you like this one! The next installment is already planned and will feature Blades and Dreadwing, and after that it’ll be time for my big plans with the Protectobots!  

Let me know what you thought of this, and I’d welcome any comments y’all have!