Nativity Prompt (Transficsation)
Dec. 14th, 2006 02:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dunmurderinTitle: Untitled
Word Count: 1000 words, even!
Characters: Protectobots, Prowl
Rating: PG/gen
Author's Note: Written for the 'Jesus/Nativity' prompt on Transficsation. This is likely the only story I'll be doing for this challenge, since I've got other stuff I need to get finished, but this prompt tempted me so I wanted to give it a try.
Prowl followed Streetwise into the Protectobots' barracks. Blades was sitting on the edge of his bunk, somehow managing to look defiant even in this position, while Hot Spot stood beside him, one hand resting on Blades's shoulder.
Across the room, Groove and First Aid were kneeling on the floor, adjusting a display in one of the corners of the room. First Aid turned, looking back at Prowl and Streetwise.
"It's alright," Streetwise said, speaking to the room at large. "We're just here for some fact-finding, that's all." Prowl could read embarrassment in Streetwise's posture, though his voice gave no sign of how uncomfortable he clearly was.
"You want a fact?" Blades growled. "Slingshot's a jackass, that's a fact. Want another one? He's lucky his buddies stepped in or I'da really put a hurt on him."
"Blades, shut up," Hot Spot said. "Prowl, he didn't--alright, he meant it exactly like it sounded, but you have to understand that he was provoked. The security cameras should show that; Streetwise, check those, it'll show you what really happened."
"We'll check the cameras when we return to the command center," Prowl said, easily. "For now, Streetwise is assisting me in this investigation and, as such, is under my authority, not yours."
Hot Spot tensed, then nodded. "You're right, I'm sorry," he said. "Please, continue."
Streetwise looked expectantly to Prowl, who shook his head. "You do the interview," he radioed.
Streetwise's anguish was writ large upon his face. "But they're my teammates!"
"You're a part of Internal Security, just like they are; you knew that this could happen one day," Prowl replied. "Just do your job."
"Okay, fine!" Streetwise said, sharply. "Blades, c'mon, spare us both a lot of hassle and tell me why you decided to try and shove Slingshot's nosecone up his afterburners?"
"He got in my face." Blades glared defiance at Streetwise. "You know how those Aerialbots are, they act like they're better than the rest of us 'cause they can fly. Like Powerglide an' me don't even exist. I got sick of him so I took a swing, that's all."
"Yeah, right, Blades," Streetwise said. "C'mon, this is serious. Slingshot's hurt pretty bad; Silverbolt's madder than I've ever seen him and he's already telling Jazz and Red Alert that he expects action on this."
"See?!" Blades half-stood, before Hot Spot shoved him back down onto his bunk. "That's what I'm talking about! Those jerks think they can do no wrong just because they're fliers, but they're not all that! 'Spot, get your slaggin' hands off me!"
Prowl left Streetwise to the interrogation, half-listening as he wandered over to the corner where Groove and First Aid were kneeling. First Aid looked up nervously as he approached.
"I-is there something we can help you with?" First Aid asked.
"No, no," Prowl said, giving a small smile. "Just curious as to what you were doing -- that's a nativity scene, correct? Part of one of the humans' winter festival celebration, if I remember correctly?"
"Yes," First Aid said, hands wrapping cautiously around a miniature figure of a sheep. "It's, uhm...it's..."
"It's mine," Groove said, reaching over to take the sheep from First Aid's hands and place it just so in front of the manger. "I got it for my part of the room. I saw a bigger one when I was out driving around a couple weeks ago and I thought it was really pretty so I asked Hot Spot if I could have one."
"I see," Prowl said, leaning forward to study the figures. "It's very well-made."
"Thanks," Groove said, cocking his head to one side as he stared at the figure arrangement. "This is what the fight was over."
"SHUT UP GROOVE!" Blades roared from the other side of the room, his outburst opening the floodgates as the rest of the Protectobots jumped in, trying to all explain at once.
"They say we're too human," First Aid said.
"It's been going on for a while," Streetwise said. "We thought we could handle it, but they just can't stop hammering away at it."
"This was the last straw," Hot Spot said. "It's one thing for them to go after me or Blades or Streetwise or even First Aid -- we will defend ourselves, but Groove doesn't like fighting back, especially against other Autobots."
"It's not a big deal," Groove said. "He didn't wreck it or anything, he just said some stuff. They were just words, we can ignore them."
"Maybe you can," Blades said. "But I'm not about to let some jumped-up Harrier give my team grief. They think Cybertron is so damn great, send 'em back there."
"Blades, c'mon," Groove said. "Don't be like that. You know how Slingshot is, sometimes he lets his ego do the talking. It's not like I'm gonna listen to him, I'm keeping my nativity 'cause I like it. I'm not going to let him tell me how I should feel about something I like -- especially since I didn't listen to you when you said it was a dumb idea."
Prowl looked back at Blades, who looked left, right and down in rapid succession. "Yeah, well, that's different," Blades said. "We're teammates; he's not."
"But we're all Autobots," Groove said. "Prowl, I'm part of this, whatever apologies Silverbolt wants, I'll give 'em. An' whatever punishment Blades gets, I'm serving it with him. They wouldn't have had the fight if I hadn't brought the nativity in. Okay?"
Prowl sent off a quick radio to Jazz and Red Alert, allowing the Protectobots to suffer in silence while he waited for them to explain things to Silverbolt and send his response back. "That seems to be amenable to Silverbolt," Prowl said. "Though he's not too happy that Slingshot will be joining you two on punishment detail, once he's repaired."
Groove grinned. "Tell him that's just how karma works sometimes," he said. "Now, can I get back to this? I still got three cows an' a shepherd boy to unpack."
Word Count: 1000 words, even!
Characters: Protectobots, Prowl
Rating: PG/gen
Author's Note: Written for the 'Jesus/Nativity' prompt on Transficsation. This is likely the only story I'll be doing for this challenge, since I've got other stuff I need to get finished, but this prompt tempted me so I wanted to give it a try.
Prowl followed Streetwise into the Protectobots' barracks. Blades was sitting on the edge of his bunk, somehow managing to look defiant even in this position, while Hot Spot stood beside him, one hand resting on Blades's shoulder.
Across the room, Groove and First Aid were kneeling on the floor, adjusting a display in one of the corners of the room. First Aid turned, looking back at Prowl and Streetwise.
"It's alright," Streetwise said, speaking to the room at large. "We're just here for some fact-finding, that's all." Prowl could read embarrassment in Streetwise's posture, though his voice gave no sign of how uncomfortable he clearly was.
"You want a fact?" Blades growled. "Slingshot's a jackass, that's a fact. Want another one? He's lucky his buddies stepped in or I'da really put a hurt on him."
"Blades, shut up," Hot Spot said. "Prowl, he didn't--alright, he meant it exactly like it sounded, but you have to understand that he was provoked. The security cameras should show that; Streetwise, check those, it'll show you what really happened."
"We'll check the cameras when we return to the command center," Prowl said, easily. "For now, Streetwise is assisting me in this investigation and, as such, is under my authority, not yours."
Hot Spot tensed, then nodded. "You're right, I'm sorry," he said. "Please, continue."
Streetwise looked expectantly to Prowl, who shook his head. "You do the interview," he radioed.
Streetwise's anguish was writ large upon his face. "But they're my teammates!"
"You're a part of Internal Security, just like they are; you knew that this could happen one day," Prowl replied. "Just do your job."
"Okay, fine!" Streetwise said, sharply. "Blades, c'mon, spare us both a lot of hassle and tell me why you decided to try and shove Slingshot's nosecone up his afterburners?"
"He got in my face." Blades glared defiance at Streetwise. "You know how those Aerialbots are, they act like they're better than the rest of us 'cause they can fly. Like Powerglide an' me don't even exist. I got sick of him so I took a swing, that's all."
"Yeah, right, Blades," Streetwise said. "C'mon, this is serious. Slingshot's hurt pretty bad; Silverbolt's madder than I've ever seen him and he's already telling Jazz and Red Alert that he expects action on this."
"See?!" Blades half-stood, before Hot Spot shoved him back down onto his bunk. "That's what I'm talking about! Those jerks think they can do no wrong just because they're fliers, but they're not all that! 'Spot, get your slaggin' hands off me!"
Prowl left Streetwise to the interrogation, half-listening as he wandered over to the corner where Groove and First Aid were kneeling. First Aid looked up nervously as he approached.
"I-is there something we can help you with?" First Aid asked.
"No, no," Prowl said, giving a small smile. "Just curious as to what you were doing -- that's a nativity scene, correct? Part of one of the humans' winter festival celebration, if I remember correctly?"
"Yes," First Aid said, hands wrapping cautiously around a miniature figure of a sheep. "It's, uhm...it's..."
"It's mine," Groove said, reaching over to take the sheep from First Aid's hands and place it just so in front of the manger. "I got it for my part of the room. I saw a bigger one when I was out driving around a couple weeks ago and I thought it was really pretty so I asked Hot Spot if I could have one."
"I see," Prowl said, leaning forward to study the figures. "It's very well-made."
"Thanks," Groove said, cocking his head to one side as he stared at the figure arrangement. "This is what the fight was over."
"SHUT UP GROOVE!" Blades roared from the other side of the room, his outburst opening the floodgates as the rest of the Protectobots jumped in, trying to all explain at once.
"They say we're too human," First Aid said.
"It's been going on for a while," Streetwise said. "We thought we could handle it, but they just can't stop hammering away at it."
"This was the last straw," Hot Spot said. "It's one thing for them to go after me or Blades or Streetwise or even First Aid -- we will defend ourselves, but Groove doesn't like fighting back, especially against other Autobots."
"It's not a big deal," Groove said. "He didn't wreck it or anything, he just said some stuff. They were just words, we can ignore them."
"Maybe you can," Blades said. "But I'm not about to let some jumped-up Harrier give my team grief. They think Cybertron is so damn great, send 'em back there."
"Blades, c'mon," Groove said. "Don't be like that. You know how Slingshot is, sometimes he lets his ego do the talking. It's not like I'm gonna listen to him, I'm keeping my nativity 'cause I like it. I'm not going to let him tell me how I should feel about something I like -- especially since I didn't listen to you when you said it was a dumb idea."
Prowl looked back at Blades, who looked left, right and down in rapid succession. "Yeah, well, that's different," Blades said. "We're teammates; he's not."
"But we're all Autobots," Groove said. "Prowl, I'm part of this, whatever apologies Silverbolt wants, I'll give 'em. An' whatever punishment Blades gets, I'm serving it with him. They wouldn't have had the fight if I hadn't brought the nativity in. Okay?"
Prowl sent off a quick radio to Jazz and Red Alert, allowing the Protectobots to suffer in silence while he waited for them to explain things to Silverbolt and send his response back. "That seems to be amenable to Silverbolt," Prowl said. "Though he's not too happy that Slingshot will be joining you two on punishment detail, once he's repaired."
Groove grinned. "Tell him that's just how karma works sometimes," he said. "Now, can I get back to this? I still got three cows an' a shepherd boy to unpack."
