[ THE "DRIFT GOT HECKED UP BY TARN" CATCH-ALL POST ]

[auramatic]

Who: Drift, Rodimus, Ratchet, Megatron and whoever else wants to chime in
What: the inevitable fallout of the fucked up shit Tarn just did to Drift
Where: Red Alert's clinic
When: starting a few days after Tarn beat the shit out of Drift
Warnings: a lot of sad. a lot of gay

jk i'm lazy, thread starters below

Comments

FOR MEGATRON

[rodders]

He's not sure when he fell asleep, only that one moment he's helping Ratchet and the next he's been shaken away by the medic who's telling him that Drift is stable but still out and that he better go clean himself up and sleep. Relief floods through him at first - Drift's going to make it. That's the important thing.

But he watches Ratchet propel himself away and rage curls through his tanks again. Tarn. Losing an arm to the psychopath wasn't a big deal, that could be reattached and his ability to curl his hands into fists is proof he's fine. But he touched his crew and that's-- Rodimus can't stand that. There is a line and Tarn didn't just cross it, he jumped over it - probably while laughing evilly. Because, you know, Tarn.

Something has to be done. And there's only one person he knows who can answer for this. Pulling up Megatron's comm, his message is short and terse: "Center of the city. We need to talk. Now." Because he won't let this happen again, he can't let it happen again.

He ignores the useless feeling churning in him in favor of the rage, the anger. That's something he knows what to do with; if Rodimus is responsible for his crew, then Megatron is responsible for Tarn. He knows he is. And it's time something's done about it instead of just making Tarn bow to him and letting him run off to do this again.

If Megatron beats Rodimus to the meeting point, he'll be able to get a general idea that something might be afoot. Rodimus covered in dry energon carrying Drift's great sword on his back isn't an every day occurrence. Even accounting for the madness that happens on a regular basis on the Lost Light.

[towardspeace]

It doesn't take long for Megatron to put it together, when he sees him. His expression... tightens, his optics narrowing, his mouth pulling into a frown.

"What happened," he says brusquely, looking Rodimus up and down as if he'll be able to read the answer in the dried energon streaking his armour. Underneath his curt tone is a quiet, simmering anger – if this is what he thinks it is, he's going to be furious.

[rodders]

"What happened?" If he sounds slightly shy of hysterical, Megatron is free to blame it on the stress and fact that there's some poor sod covered in his best friend's energon. He's too angry to focus on Megatron's own reactions, on the fact that he's not the only one absolutely livid about this entire thing. "What do you think happened?"

Tarn, who made it abundantly clear when he murdered the entirety of the Lost Light that he could, and would, murder everyone in his path as far as Rodimus was aware.

"Your psychotic fanboy--" A deep, shuttering intake of air should give him pause, but Rodimus works through it. "Decided that ripping off arms was just a warm up."

[towardspeace]

He isn't surprised. He is very, very angry. His optics linger on the hilt of the sword jutting above Rodimus' shoulder, and one hand tightens into a fist – a real fist, not a weak, fool's-energon-fuelled excuse for one. The difference is subtle. If he's lucky Rodimus won't notice.

"Drift," he says. "Is he alive?"

[rodders]

He doesn't. Subtle movements and noticing them requires an attention to detail Rodimus usually lacks.

"If he wasn't I wouldn't be coming to you," he admits. No, if Drift had died he'd have gone straight to Tarn, regardless of what the cost to his own welfare would be. Rodimus doesn't do things by halves - he kind of figures Megatron knows that by now. "He's with Ratchet. Oh, right - who Tarn decided didn't need both his legs."

[towardspeace]

Megatron's optics flash in anger. That's hard to miss.

"I see," he says, biting the words out; disgusted, ashamed. Tarn wants his attention. He certainly has it.

He looks down at Rodimus, optics still narrowed. "I hope you aren't planning on going after him."

[rodders]

It gives Rodimus some amount of satisfaction, but not enough and not the kind he wants.

The outrage and anger comes creeping back into his voice, hands clenching into fists. "They're my crew, Megatron!" And he can't protect them and he needs to be able to, he needs to make sure this never happens again and he doesn't know how. "I said we'd talk about retaliation, but I'm done waiting."

[towardspeace]

"I'm not asking you to wait, Rodimus," he replies. His optics narrow. "They're my crew, too. And Tarn is my responsibility. I'll handle this."

He lets those last three words come out the way they would have when he still led the Decepticons. There's a very real threat behind his voice; more than just a hint of what this tired old sadsack used to be.

[rodders]

"Your crew? All you've done is been appointed and then started giving orders!" Because Optimus put him there, because Optimus didn't think Rodimus could do it. Wouldn't give him the chance to prove himself. It still hurts, and he looks particularly childish.

"You're right. He is your responsibility. People have died because of him. But if you're going to use the whole 'our crew' thing, then I'm going to be there." Doing what, he doesn't know. But he won't let Megatron take this one completely from him. It's then that the gravity of what Megatron says, or how he says it, hits Rodimus. That's...

Unnerving? Yep. Nudging all the bits of Rodimus that had experience with that particular part of Megatron? Absolutely. If Rodimus was gifted with the Cybertronian version of warning bells, they'd be ringing. As it is, Megatron just gets: "You should have handled this before he nearly killed Drift!"

[towardspeace]

Megatron gives him a long, hard stare.

"... Yes," he says at last. "I should have. And if I hadn't been drugged then perhaps I would. But I'm going to handle it now, and you are going to stay out of my way. I'm not going to let Tarn kill anyone else."

[rodders]

Rodimus meets that stare, crossing his arms defiantly.

"He attacked the crew. That makes it my business whether you want it to or not." But there's some amount of satisfaction to be had in that Megatron at least agrees with him on something. Something's bothering him about the situation as a whole, piled on top of the whole 'I'm talking like the warlord I was' thing and something is incredibly off. Think, Rodimus, think.

[towardspeace]

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "If you fight him you're going to get yourself killed."

[rodders]

"So I'll find a way to do it without getting killed."

There's a flicker of desperation across his face - there and gone in a second. Because he can't. He can't let this go, he refuses to be worthless in the face of someone bent on killing his people because of Megatron.

"I'm not--" He's not having this conversation with Megatron. Except where he kind of is. "I'm not letting him have the chance to do this again, okay?"

It's important.

[towardspeace]

"Neither," snaps Megatron, "am I. Do you understand what's going on here, Rodimus? I guarantee you he's doing this to get at me – he's lashing out at people he knows I'm allied with now, and that includes you."

[rodders]

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Because it doesn't, and he really is yelling now. "This is your fault, yeah, it is. Congratulations for realizing that you're to blame for a lot of things. Something that everyone else here has known for a long time."

It's funny because all Tailgate wanted was a curly straw.

"But you're not the only one in charge of them, and you're not the only one responsible for them. So I'm going to be there whether you like it or not."

[towardspeace]

"I'm not trying to make you feel better, you fool, I'm trying to keep you alive," Megatron snarls. "But if you're so determined to get yourself killed, then fine. I suppose there's not much I can do to stop you."

[rodders]

"The last thing I want is you concerned for my welfare," he snaps back, pointing rudely at Megatron's chest. Not because Rodimus ever really thinks of his own, but Megatron at least making an attempt to keep him alive out of whatever is something that he can't deal with right now.

He does feel better after yelling at Megatron, however, even if he's kind of run out of steam now that he's gotten what he wanted and all of it out.

"Okay. Good."

Wow, how anti-climatic.

god i legit thought I'd tagged this

[towardspeace]

If he had pupils, Megatron would be struggling not to roll his eyes.

"Just don't blame me if you lose another arm," he says, and turns to leave.

you hecked up

[rodders]

It's a hard life when you can't give into the urge around Rodimus. Half the universe understands.

"What, and give you credit for the one-liners that'll follow? Not a chance." Come on, Megs, he's got to own his cheesy actions the best he can. "Are we going now?"