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Face Thy Fears	By : Scienceteacher Category: Transformers > G1 > Crossovers Views: 2674 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Do not own the Transformers, am not making anything from this story.

Chapter List
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The Lost Returns

“Don’t forget to send me those tunes Brother. Blaster out,” he said as he shut off the channel to main headquarters. The red mech leaned back, turning on his I-pod and listening to the latest batch of songs that Jazz had downloaded for him. Kicking his leg in time with the beat, Blaster thought about how nice it was to have at least one other Autobot who kind’ve shared his passion for good tunes.

Glancing at the various data links coming in and getting processed, Blaster sighed. This outpost gig was really pretty boring. Even being so close to the edge of Decepticon territory, he didn’t see any action here. Fidgeting in boredom, he decided to get off his aft and try out some of those new dance moves that Jazz had taught him the last time he was at the main base. He was just getting into the second song, when the alarm went off.

Cursing slightly, but happy that something had finally broken the monotony of his posting, he jumped up and slid himself into the chair in front of the main console. Pressing in some commands, the reason for the alert came up on the screen. There was some mech trying to gain entrance to the base. But the codes they were punching in were from over a cycle ago, and of course they’d been changed as the regular course of security. “This is Blaster the outpost Master, identify yourself or face disaster man,” he said through the com link, even as he pulled up a visual.

“Dangumit! I’m your Chief of Security, open the freagin’ gate!” Red Alert answered. Although he knew that the access codes should’ve been changed by now, he was annoyed that he was locked out of one of the Autobot posts.

Leaning forward, Blaster stared at the visual confirmation of the mech’s identity, his mouth hanging open in total shock. “Um, right away Chief,” he stammered as he punched in the access code on the main console. He was so totally shocked, that he forgot to phrase his reply with his typical flare. It was like seeing an off lined mech at your door!

Leaping out of his chair, Blaster ran down to meet his old comrade. A smile was wide on his face as he grabbed the mech and spun him around. “Man, you’re one dude I never thought I’d lay optics on again!” he exclaimed as he set Red Alert down.

Red Alert looked up at the communications officer. So they’d written him off as off lined already? They’d quit searching for him and had just left him with the cons to suffer? Figures, he had known someone was after his position. They’d just waited for the cons to do their dirty work for them hadn’t they? He should’ve known that he was on his own out there. That there was no hope of rescue until the ghost showed up. Cocking his head, he gave Blaster a suspicious look. “So, you freagers wrote me off that fast? Should’ve known it,” he said.

“No man, it’s not like that! We searched high and low for you. But it’s been so long…” Blaster stammered as he tried to explain. The Autobots had searched for him. For months on end! Poor Inferno had been almost insane with his grief, with his guilt at the petty fight that had made Red Alert start going out alone - Alone and unprotected.

Red Alert pushed past him. He’d heard enough. He’d known that the only one he could truly count on was Spot the ghost. Everyone else had been plotting against him. Well, he was more than happy to thwart their devious plans for his demise. And now with Spot watching his back, they’d never get another shot at off lining his aft! This fact was only made more certain now. “Well, doesn’t matter. I got my own self rescued, and I want my office back!” he stated as he strolled into the main console room of the outpost.

---

“Can you believe he made it back!?” Bumblebee said happily as he watched Inferno pace back-and-forth in impatience. He and several other Autobots had decided to join the fire engine at the main shuttle port. They all wanted to give their returning comrade a very warm welcome back. Not a one could believe he’d made it!

Inferno chewed on his lower lip in anxiety. It was his fault that Red Alert had been captured by the cons in the first place. He’d known how insecure his bond mate was when he was off base. But yet, after that little meaningless spat they’d had, he’d let the mech go out alone. He’d known better! And then, poor Red Alert had been a POW for almost a full Earth cycle. Primus only knew what torture he’d had to endure. Inferno should’ve been there… He should’ve rescued his bond mate a long time ago.. There was no excuse, no matter what the others kept telling him – there wasn’t! It was all his fault.. And his bond mate had even had to escape all on his own..

He knew that Red Alert would hold it all against him. But he hoped that they could work it out. Primus he loved the mech! He prayed desperately that Red had forgiven him after all this time, that Red still loved him..

“Well, after you all welcome him back he needs a thorough tune up I’m sure. Probably lots of damage from the cons,” Ratchet said flatly. He and the Security Chief had never gotten along that well, but it was standard procedure for all recovered POWs to undergo a complete exam, and Red was as much a stickler over procedures as he was. So he was here to take the mech back to the med bay.

As the shuttle landed, the excitement in the Autobot welcoming committee was palatable. It seemed as though the shuttle port personnel were taking their time as they rolled up the ramp and the shuttle hatch slid open. Passenger after passenger debarked, but still no Red Alert. The mechs were getting more-and-more impatient to see their old friend.

FINALLY! The familiar red and white mech appeared on the ramp. A cheer went up from the group as they raced forward, Inferno in the lead. He approached Red Alert, his arms open to embrace him, love showing brightly in his blue optics….

Deftly, Red Alert pushed Inferno to the side. Picking up Bumblebee, he swung him around enjoying the sweet yellow mech’s happy welcomes as he made sure to give Inferno a glare that could curdle energon. Pointedly, he ignored the fire engine as he gave the rest of them hugs, telling them he was happy to be back. Even amazing Ratchet with a big hug!

As he let loose of the medic, Ratchet stared at him, a tad disconcerted about the mech acting so happy to see him. He knew that Red was aware of why he was here, and there’d really been no love lost between them. They had always just tolerated each other, keeping the animosity between them under wraps enough to work together. “Well Red, you know why I’m here, might as well follow me,” the medic said in an even tone as his optics scanned the mech’s chassis for obvious damage.

Red Alert patted the medic’s shoulder in a comradely fashion, “I’ve got a lot to straighten out right now. I’ll be by once I’m finished catching up, ok?” he said dismissively. Without waiting for an answer, he immediately transformed and peeled out, heading straight towards Autobot headquarters. Most of the other Autobots transformed and followed right on his tail.

Most of them, but not Ratchet and Inferno… The fire engine stood there, tears streaming freely down his cheeks, dejection written on every bolt of his chassis. Red Alert hated him now. He’d seen it in the mech’s optics. He blamed him for all those months of torture he’d had to endure..

At first, Ratchet stared after the disappearing Security Chief in absolute shock. He’d never seen Red Alert blatantly go against protocol, but he had done so flippantly. And why was he acting so buddy-buddy with him? They’d never had that kind of relationship – ever! Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the sobs next to him at first. But then the strong fire engine collapsed to his knees, sobbing his spark out. Turning his head, his spark filled with sympathy as he realized what had so quickly happened between Inferno and Red Alert. And the fire engine was completely distraught about it. Putting his thoughts about Red Alert’s strange behavior to the back of his meta, Ratchet went to Inferno and pulled the sobbing mech into his arms.

Unseen, swirling optics watched the fire engine sob. Tears welled up in them, for their owner hadn’t wanted to be the cause of any mech’s pain. Even that of her mate’s ex. But Red had said he didn’t want that mech anymore; that he couldn’t stand to face him after all that had happened. The cons had changed him. Now he only wanted her. But obviously the fire engine had truly loved Red Alert, and the breakup would be very hard on him.

She found herself moving towards the weeping mech in the white medic’s arms. The urge to comfort him somehow strong within her, but she stopped her hand mere inches from his red shoulder. Bringing her invisible hand up to her face, she scanned the empty air in wonder. She’d never been the type to want to initiate contact before, even to comfort someone that was in pain. It had always made her anxious to be around mechs showing strong emotions like that. Yet here she was. Two times already in this dimension, reaching her hand out to the mechs in it; the strange urge to initiate the first contact controlling her actions.

Stepping back to a safe distance, she watched the white medic as he comforted his spark broken friend. She was intrigued by the behavior, the internal strength he showed with his compassion. It reminded her how her grandparents held her when she was distraught over something. She’d always thought that was what love was. Perhaps there were two distinctly different types of love? One that was between friends, and another between mates? Shaking her head slightly, she brought herself back to reality.

Fighting her urge to help comfort the weeping mech, SunSpot jumped into the air and silently transformed, following her mate to the Autobot base. She just hoped that the fire engine would one day forgive her for taking his mech….

---

Ratchet looked around him with a slight confusion. He knew his audios had picked up what sounded like muffled transformation, and then some kind of almost barely audible engine roar. But there were no other mechs around besides him and Inferno. But then he felt a quick breath of a breeze in the stillness of the calm day. Shaking his head he decided to run a check on his own meta later on, after Red Alert’s strange behavior towards him and now these very subtle oddities his sensors had registered.. A mech could never be to careful about keeping his systems perfectly calibrated…

----

Back on Duty

Red Alert flew through the base, his tires kicking up dust as he sped towards his old office. He ignored all the mechs that saw him and waved their welcome backs, for only one thought was going through his meta: who was sitting in HIS office right now?! Taking a few more hairpin turns, he arrived at the primary Security Center of the base.

Transforming, he waited a second until he sensed that the ghost was with him. The slightest of breeze and the barely audible sound of transformation told his alert sensors that she’d indeed followed him. Smiling slightly at the wave of security that seemed to pass over him when she was near, he nodded in her direction and then marched into the building.

“Man, great to see you back! This gig has been a real drag,” Jazz said as he stood up from Red Alert’s chair. He just couldn’t understand how the mech could stand the boredom of watching those security monitors all the time. One could listen to music while you sat there, but Red Alert didn’t even have a radio to pick up the fm frequencies. So Jazz had to bring his ipod with him every time he came on shift. Yes, he was totally thrilled that the Security Chief had shown back up.

Red Alert harrumphed at Jazz’s words. He’d honestly expected to see Prowl sitting there. That bastard had always been after his job. True, he’d tried to play it off. Trying to make it seem that he really was more interested in being Prime’s tactician, but Red Alert knew the mech had always lusted after the Security Chief’s desk. But then why was this flake in his office? He hadn’t thought that Jazz was after it. It wasn’t the mech’s style. But, he’d been wrong about mechs before. Just look at Inferno.

“Well, if you’re so happy to get out of this drag of a job, then leave,” Red Alert said coldly. He glared at the black helmed mech; daring him to challenge him in any way as he plopped himself down in the chair that was still warm from Jazz’s aft.

Jazz looked at him, confusion going through his meta. He thought Red Alert would be happy to see that someone was making sure that Security ran smoothly, that the mech would be elated to be back after his long time as a POW. But as Red Alert spun the chair around and started sorting his paperwork, Jazz realized he’d just gotten a totally ‘cold shoulder’ from the mech. “Well, um, that’s cool I guess. See you later man,” he said softly as he went out the door.

SunSpot watched the entire conversation. She wondered why her mate was acting so cold to many of these mechs? He had always seemed a little warmer and friendly to her. So why the sudden change? These were his friends, his comrades weren’t they?

Putting her hand on his shoulder, she waited until he stopped his sorting. “Um, Red, I know why you were cold to your ex.. but, um, why are you being like this to the others?” she stammered softly. She wasn’t used to asking mechs about their reasons for doing things, or even understanding why they did things; she had always just watched and recorded from the scenery. But their time together on the planetoid had made her more comfortable in asking Red Alert about his feelings on something.

Red Alert snorted, was it not obvious to the ghost? These mechs were after him. But maybe if he told her, she’d watch them more, make sure they didn’t pull any of their stunts again. So he began to talk, even as he started sorting the files again. “Because they’re all plotting against me Spot. They let the cons take me, so that they could have my job. That’s why I was never rescued. They didn’t even bother looking,” he stated.

So he thinks that some of them are after his job? “Do you want me to find out, Red? Find out which ones to watch?” SunSpot asked softly. It was the least she could do. And it would give her the perfect excuse for hacking into the Autobot mainframe. Truly, a perfect excuse! For if he ever found out, she’d just claim that she had to get the personnel lists in order to know who to watch – right?

He smiled; it felt good to have someone that understood. For the first time in his life he had someone that would really watch his back. He turned his head in the direction that he knew she was in and nodded. He really would like her to go and spy on those mechs. It’d be easier to keep his optics on them if he knew what their devious plans were. “Take an Earth hour or two and see what you can find out,” he ordered the ghost.

He felt the slight breeze of her passing as the spirit force lifted from his shoulder. She was off on her assignment now.. With a grin, Red Alert knew that he’d soon know who he needed to watch.

-----

Teleporting out of the Security Center, SunSpot transformed and used her thruster vectoring to hover around the base. Scanning with all her sensory arrays, she soon detected what she was looking for. Hovering over to the Central Command building, she transformed and set down lightly. The dust-covered ground barely even disturbed as she strolled lightly towards the building and teleported inside.

Walking down the main corridor, she tucked herself against the wall when any mechs passed. Their optics not even picking up on the cloaked intruder just inches from them. She stepped softly, as her training had taught her. Toe first, then thruster. Her carbide thrusters made a barely perceptible tap to even a mech that was listening for them. Which these mechs weren’t, so their own loud metal tromps easily masked her muffled tap. Slipping silently towards the strong electronic signals she had picked up, she was soon standing in front of the electronically secured door of the main frame room. Teleporting inside, she deftly avoided touching any of the unwary mechs inside.

Sliding around to the backside of one of the immense stacks of modems and circuit panels, she found what she was looking for. The protective covering on the tip of her right pointer finger slid to the side, revealing her USB plug-in. Connecting to the main frame, she swiftly hacked past the firewalls and began copying and downloading….

Within minutes, she was done; disconnecting from the main frame, she teleported out of the building and into the sky about a thousand feet above it. Transforming in an invisible blur, she disappeared into the distance. A smile settled on her face as she scanned for a place to land and begin to sort through all the data..

----

Shaking the dust from himself, the green mech transformed and walked towards Central Command. The scout had been on a rather long mission this time and he couldn’t wait to be debriefed. Then he could have some much-deserved R-and-R. And for the first time in many week cycles, his bond mate Trailblazer was also going to be off duty.

His meta focused on his future plans for some relaxation, Hound almost stepped on the strange set of tracks. But his sharp optics and battle processor spotted them immediately, forcing his feet to stop in midstride and his meta to come back to reality.

Cocking his head in curiosity, Hound’s meta automatically identified the tracks to belonging to some type of Seeker model. The obvious thruster-style print was so distinctly different from that of Autobot flyers. Kneeling down, he studied them more closely, for the thruster portion of the print was shaped in a way he’d never seen before. Unlike most thrusters which were round, this one was a thin, long rectangle. Highly unusual! And from the size and depth of the print, this Seeker was smaller than the standard models as well as a fraction of the weight.

Taking mental pictures of the tracks, Hound then focused on the direction they were going. His optics widened as he realized they went straight towards Central Command and then disappeared right at the front door. Standing back up, Hound wondered if this had been some type of official business. So he strolled toward the Command Center, deciding to ask the security officers on shift about who had visited…

“Hey Smokescreen, how you been?” he asked as he strolled in.

Smokescreen grinned as he looked up from the computer console. Leaning back, he studied the friendly scout’s filthy chassis. “Pretty good, and yourself?” he replied.

“Aw, just got back in. Been a long and lonely mission,” he joked.

“Ya, I can see that. Barely recognized you under all that grime! I’ve heard Trailblazer likes it dirty – but sheeze!” Smokescreen teased with a big slag-eating grin.

The scout laughed as he looked down at his chassis. “Yep, gonna need a heck of a power spray job to get all this off. By the way, had any interesting visitors today?” he asked in an off-handed manner.

“Aw, just the standard stuff you know. Been pretty boring to tell you the truth,” the mech chuckled as he made a big show of yawning.

Hound scoped the floor with a quick glance. The multitudes of dusty mech footprints showed him that the cleaning crew hadn’t been here yet. His sharp optics could just make out those odd thruster prints. They looked as if their owner had actually stopped and stood in front of this very security desk, before going on. “So no new models from Cybertron dropped by?” he asked with a shrug.

Now everybody knew that Hound didn’t generally make small talk like this, unless something had piqued his curiosity. So Smokescreen cocked his head and studied the mech. “What are you talking about ‘new models’?” he asked.

“Aww, nothing, just noticed some odd thruster prints coming through here. Never seen any quite like them,” Hound said as he bent down and really studied them. He carefully noted how many footprints from other mechs were under them and over them.

“Thruster prints?!? Heck, we haven’t even had a single flyer come through today!” Smokescreen said as he walked around the counter.

Hound pointed at the dusty outline of the thruster print, explaining to Smokescreen how long he’d thought it’d been. Smokescreen got more and more anxious, for he had been the one on duty ALL shift! “So, you didn’t take a break? Maybe leave the desk for an astrominute or two?” Hound asked him as he continued to study the floor of the entire entryway.

“Nope, not a single break. And of course, I stayed alert! And I saw NO FLYERS! Especially not a Seeker-type!” Smokescreen assured him.

Hound wandered around for a few more astrominutes, studying every footprint that came and went. And then he went outside again and looked around for a while longer. He came back in with a very bemused expression on his face. “There’s no thruster prints leaving this building,” he stated.

“So whoever he is is still in here somewhere? Do you think I should do a lockdown?” Smokescreen asked in a worried tone. His finger was ready to push that emergency button.

“No, I think you should just call each section and have them glance around for any mechs out of place. Don’t tell them what I’ve found. We don’t want to cause an unnecessary panic you know,” Hound advised.

“Ok, will do!” Smokescreen said as he began to notify the different department.

“I’ll tell Prime about this, unless of course a confused new model from Cybertron is found wandering aimlessly – ok? So keep me posted. I’ll be in the wash bays for a while,” the scout said with a wink.

“Ok, and Hound?” the mech said, in between alerting the next department.

“Ya?”

“Thanks for making me aware of this, and, um, get cleaned up for Trailblazer,” Smokescreen said with a knowing wink.

Hound chuckled as he walked out of the command center. His optics drifted back to those thruster prints in the dirt. Yep, probably some confused new mech that didn’t know where he was supposed to be. He walked towards the wash bays, figuring he’d get a call from Smokescreen saying they’d located the newbie – before he was even clean…

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Face Thy Fears