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About 90% of this was written the day after Unicron 6 came out but things go busy and Optimus Prime 25 came out and I only had to change a line or two to work with that, then things continued to get busy and I got around to finishing the last few sections and then I kinda forgot to post.
Title: Pick Up the Pieces with Care
Fandom: Transformers IDW
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1657
Characters: Sandstorm, Swoop, minor appearances by Centurion, Strafe and the protoforms
Summary: Post Unicron 6. Survival is a long way to go.
Sandstorm didn't care for Mount Rushmore- he'd been to so many places in his long life he didn't consider it more than just another temporary stop -but as he crested over the last hill, pain lacing over his circuits with one engine constantly struggling, and saw the familiar figures at the base of it, he felt an overwhelming pang of comfort. He banked toward Centurion, waving at Sandstorm from where he was using a rock as a makeshift lookout and greeted Sandstorm with a relieved, "You made it!" And when Sandstorm transformed, dropping the last dozen or so feet to the ground and nearly fell over in the process, Centurion was there to brace him upright. "Careful, there."
Ignoring his own aches and leaks and heaving vents, Sandstorm told him, "You look like slag."
"Yeah, you look worse."
"Hn. Little out of practice on surviving suicide missions." He found his feet, taking his weight off the hybrid but not removing his arm. That was among the worst battles Sandstorm had ever fought, it was nice to be close to someone not trying to kill him for once. "How're the others? The bitlets alright?"
Centurion hesitated. When he felt Sandstorm stiffen, he said hurriedly, "They're okay! Nothing got to them! It's just... the Dinobots..."
Sandstorm's mouth flattened out. "...I see."
"Swoop and Strafe, they made it back. But the others," Centurion scrubbed a hand over his face in a very human gesture. "I'm really glad you're alive. Between those three and Trypticon... it's been rough on the young sparks."
"Yeah," Sandstorm agreed.
"Losing you would've hurt just as bad."
"Probably," he said even if he didn't believe it. But none of the new forms had ever dealt with hardships and to lose, all at once, nearly half of their caretakers and their home, constants since they first became aware... that wasn't something anyone could easily bounce back from.
With Centurion's help, Sandstorm limped over to one of the various rock piles that lined the Presidential Path where the young sparks stood in clusters, comforting each other as they grieved and not wanting to stray far from Swoop or Strafe. At least until the first few noticed Sandstorm, moving toward him and catching the attention of others, and so on until Sandstorm- and Centurion by proxy -was swarmed by young bots saying a dozen different things: are you okay, is it really over, what do we do now, is Trypticon really dead, are Slug and the others really dead, what about Prime, what about Arcee and Aileron, what about Thundercracker, what's going to happen to us-
Sandstorm didn't have any words to give them, just grabbed the two closest, Sideswipe and Downshift, and let the pulses of a multitude of familiar sparks ease him out of his battle protocols' cool down cycle. Following that, the last of Sandstorm's weapons systems finally powered down and he could finally feel safe and relaxed and very, very tired. A hand pressed against his cheek and Sandstorm onlined his optics to find Skyrune looking up at him with worry.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked. Sideswipe and Downshift looked ready to beat a line to the nearest medic at a moment's notice.
"I'm fine. Just... exhausted." Sandstorm looked at all the young faces peering worriedly at him and felt the realization that he never wanted to go through that again. He didn't want them to go through something like that again. He looked over to Swoop's hunched back and Strafe holding him close. "Hey," he told the young sparks gently, "Sky Lynx is on his way back with Arcee and Aileron and TC's back with Marissa. I know they'd be happy to see you're all okay."
They knew the hint for what it was, shuffling off with last, lingering looks in Swoop's direction before heading off. As they moved off, Centurion gave him a questioning glance and Sandstorm gave him a quiet, "I'll be fine." With a nod, Centurion followed after the group.
When everyone else finally left, Sandstorm painfully made his way toward Swoop and Strafe. Strafe gave Sandstorm a tired, sad smile. "I was actually starting to worry about you," she said.
Swoop, however, scowled at him darkly. "Can't believe you survived."
Sandstorm just lowered himself painfully to sit on Strafe's other side. "You know me. I live to disappoint."
She gave them both half-sparked glares. "Can you two try not being complete afts to each other for at least a little bit?"
The trio lapsed into a silence that span cold and empty between them.
In the distance they could hear cheering and crying as the other survivors took stock in who was there and who wasn't. "I know you don't care about anything I have to say," Sandstorm said slowly, "but I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" Swoop snapped, leaning in so far Strafe had to put a hand to his chest to keep him seated. "Like you didn't want us dead not so long ago!"
"Regardless, that doesn't change the fact that being the one that survives is one of the worst feelings in the world. It'd be kinder having your spark stomped out than watching those you care about- your family, the ones that mean more to you than anything in the universe -dying around you." Sandstorm just looked at him with a rare sympathy under raw pain. "I know that feeling better than most."
Swoop made a strangled sound, turning away and wrapping his arms around his head. "Don't," he choked out, "don't do this to me. I can't take kindness from you. Not now."
Strafe rubbed at Swoop's back, trying to offer a silent comfort. She looked over at Sandstorm, an apology obvious in her expression. Sandstorm just stood up carefully, gave her a sad smile, and walked toward the makeshift landing strip where Sky Lynx had landed.
~*~*~*~
"Hey."
Swoop tensed at Sandstorm's call. In the week since they'd all been moved to Little Cybertron following Unicron's defeat- since the death of the other Dinobots -Swoop had been... not exactly avoiding the former Wrecker but doing what he could to keep busy elsewhere. Casting a quick glance around and not seeing anyone he could use as a distraction, Swoop turned, arms crossed over his chest. "What?"
"There's a call going out for personnel to Luna-1. More than a thousand sparks and counting and since we've got the most recent experience in that field," Sandstorm waved a hand. When Swoop did nothing more than hum, he continued, "Strafe's tempted, but she said she isn't going anywhere without you."
He looked away at nothing, scowling a little. "I don't need a minder, you know."
"I know. I don't care. I'm going regardless, just thought I'd extend you the offer."
Swoop glared at him, suspicious. "Why?"
"The Lost Light's there."
"So?"
"So the only other surviving Wreckers are on board, it'd be nice to reconnect with them again." Sandstorm tilted his head slightly and Swoop braced himself for whatever other shoe was about to be dropped. "Broadside sent me a message. Somehow they picked up Grimlock."
Swoop froze, certain he'd heard wrong. He rebooted his audio receptors, ran a quick diagnostic and, when they came back green, said, "What."
"You know, your missing dino-daddy. He was with some Decepticons and now he has an egg baby. I don't know the specifics. Pretty sure Broadside doesn't really know."
Trembling and furious, Swoop stomped up to Sandstorm, jamming a finger against his chest. "You sick... piece of slagging... how dare you-"
Sandstorm slapped the hand away, expression going hard. "What? That I told you Grimlock's alive? Go ask Aileron, she was there when the Lost Light contacted Prowl about Luna-1. He had them send over the ship's manifest."
"...if you're lying-"
"For the love of-" Sandstorm grabbed Swoop's arm, dragging him toward Metroplex and the command center within. "See for yourself!" When they managed to get inside, Sandstorm shoved Swoop over to the terminal with the manifest displayed and, seeing Grimlock's name, Swoop froze again. Sandstorm took him by the arm once more, gentler this time, more guiding him over to the line of bots wanting to send a message to those on the ship, what little of Earth's satellites that survived unable to handle streaming communication that far out.
When a terminal finally opened up, Swoop kept stumbling over what to write. In the end, after spending nearly half an hour agonizing over it, he decided on a short message that simply stated that Slug and Sludge and Snarl had died killing Bludgeon and Unicron's troops and that Swoop himself would be on the first available transport to Luna-1. The terminal pinged a confirmation as the message was sent and Swoop felt lighter than he had in... it seemed so much longer than it had actually been. He turned and found Sandstorm standing behind him, like a guard, daring anyone in the line to do more than shoot glares in Swoop's direction.
Swoop raised his hand, about to tap Sandstorm's shoulder before hesitating and dropping his arm. "Hey," he said instead.
Sandstorm turned his head just enough cast Swoop a sidelong look. If Swoop hadn't known any better, he'd have actually believed the indifferent mask the triplechanger wore. "Good to go?"
"Yeah. Let's sign up for Luna-1 before all the slots get filled." As they walked off to where the actual work was being done, Swoop moved in close to Sandstorm's side and said lowly, "Thanks. You didn't have to tell me about Grimlock."
"Yeah, I did." He looked at Swoop with that same expression again, the sympathy covered by pain. "Like I said, I know how much it hurts to survive. At least now you don't have to face it on your own."
Despite their history, Swoop was touched. He chuckled to himself in equal parts amusement and disbelief. "You know, I think you might actually be alright."
---
A/N: In my headcanon, Grimlock and Swoop reunite right before the Lost Light's last jaunt and Swoop (and strafe and maybe sandstorm just because i love my wrecker boys) get invited aboard so at least in one universe, they're off adventuring together. Because having Grimlock missing his team and Swoop losing the rest of his, and zero indication of the last two (original) Dinobots meeting up again in any of the final issues is just wrong.
Title: Pick Up the Pieces with Care
Fandom: Transformers IDW
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1657
Characters: Sandstorm, Swoop, minor appearances by Centurion, Strafe and the protoforms
Summary: Post Unicron 6. Survival is a long way to go.
Sandstorm didn't care for Mount Rushmore- he'd been to so many places in his long life he didn't consider it more than just another temporary stop -but as he crested over the last hill, pain lacing over his circuits with one engine constantly struggling, and saw the familiar figures at the base of it, he felt an overwhelming pang of comfort. He banked toward Centurion, waving at Sandstorm from where he was using a rock as a makeshift lookout and greeted Sandstorm with a relieved, "You made it!" And when Sandstorm transformed, dropping the last dozen or so feet to the ground and nearly fell over in the process, Centurion was there to brace him upright. "Careful, there."
Ignoring his own aches and leaks and heaving vents, Sandstorm told him, "You look like slag."
"Yeah, you look worse."
"Hn. Little out of practice on surviving suicide missions." He found his feet, taking his weight off the hybrid but not removing his arm. That was among the worst battles Sandstorm had ever fought, it was nice to be close to someone not trying to kill him for once. "How're the others? The bitlets alright?"
Centurion hesitated. When he felt Sandstorm stiffen, he said hurriedly, "They're okay! Nothing got to them! It's just... the Dinobots..."
Sandstorm's mouth flattened out. "...I see."
"Swoop and Strafe, they made it back. But the others," Centurion scrubbed a hand over his face in a very human gesture. "I'm really glad you're alive. Between those three and Trypticon... it's been rough on the young sparks."
"Yeah," Sandstorm agreed.
"Losing you would've hurt just as bad."
"Probably," he said even if he didn't believe it. But none of the new forms had ever dealt with hardships and to lose, all at once, nearly half of their caretakers and their home, constants since they first became aware... that wasn't something anyone could easily bounce back from.
With Centurion's help, Sandstorm limped over to one of the various rock piles that lined the Presidential Path where the young sparks stood in clusters, comforting each other as they grieved and not wanting to stray far from Swoop or Strafe. At least until the first few noticed Sandstorm, moving toward him and catching the attention of others, and so on until Sandstorm- and Centurion by proxy -was swarmed by young bots saying a dozen different things: are you okay, is it really over, what do we do now, is Trypticon really dead, are Slug and the others really dead, what about Prime, what about Arcee and Aileron, what about Thundercracker, what's going to happen to us-
Sandstorm didn't have any words to give them, just grabbed the two closest, Sideswipe and Downshift, and let the pulses of a multitude of familiar sparks ease him out of his battle protocols' cool down cycle. Following that, the last of Sandstorm's weapons systems finally powered down and he could finally feel safe and relaxed and very, very tired. A hand pressed against his cheek and Sandstorm onlined his optics to find Skyrune looking up at him with worry.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked. Sideswipe and Downshift looked ready to beat a line to the nearest medic at a moment's notice.
"I'm fine. Just... exhausted." Sandstorm looked at all the young faces peering worriedly at him and felt the realization that he never wanted to go through that again. He didn't want them to go through something like that again. He looked over to Swoop's hunched back and Strafe holding him close. "Hey," he told the young sparks gently, "Sky Lynx is on his way back with Arcee and Aileron and TC's back with Marissa. I know they'd be happy to see you're all okay."
They knew the hint for what it was, shuffling off with last, lingering looks in Swoop's direction before heading off. As they moved off, Centurion gave him a questioning glance and Sandstorm gave him a quiet, "I'll be fine." With a nod, Centurion followed after the group.
When everyone else finally left, Sandstorm painfully made his way toward Swoop and Strafe. Strafe gave Sandstorm a tired, sad smile. "I was actually starting to worry about you," she said.
Swoop, however, scowled at him darkly. "Can't believe you survived."
Sandstorm just lowered himself painfully to sit on Strafe's other side. "You know me. I live to disappoint."
She gave them both half-sparked glares. "Can you two try not being complete afts to each other for at least a little bit?"
The trio lapsed into a silence that span cold and empty between them.
In the distance they could hear cheering and crying as the other survivors took stock in who was there and who wasn't. "I know you don't care about anything I have to say," Sandstorm said slowly, "but I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" Swoop snapped, leaning in so far Strafe had to put a hand to his chest to keep him seated. "Like you didn't want us dead not so long ago!"
"Regardless, that doesn't change the fact that being the one that survives is one of the worst feelings in the world. It'd be kinder having your spark stomped out than watching those you care about- your family, the ones that mean more to you than anything in the universe -dying around you." Sandstorm just looked at him with a rare sympathy under raw pain. "I know that feeling better than most."
Swoop made a strangled sound, turning away and wrapping his arms around his head. "Don't," he choked out, "don't do this to me. I can't take kindness from you. Not now."
Strafe rubbed at Swoop's back, trying to offer a silent comfort. She looked over at Sandstorm, an apology obvious in her expression. Sandstorm just stood up carefully, gave her a sad smile, and walked toward the makeshift landing strip where Sky Lynx had landed.
~*~*~*~
"Hey."
Swoop tensed at Sandstorm's call. In the week since they'd all been moved to Little Cybertron following Unicron's defeat- since the death of the other Dinobots -Swoop had been... not exactly avoiding the former Wrecker but doing what he could to keep busy elsewhere. Casting a quick glance around and not seeing anyone he could use as a distraction, Swoop turned, arms crossed over his chest. "What?"
"There's a call going out for personnel to Luna-1. More than a thousand sparks and counting and since we've got the most recent experience in that field," Sandstorm waved a hand. When Swoop did nothing more than hum, he continued, "Strafe's tempted, but she said she isn't going anywhere without you."
He looked away at nothing, scowling a little. "I don't need a minder, you know."
"I know. I don't care. I'm going regardless, just thought I'd extend you the offer."
Swoop glared at him, suspicious. "Why?"
"The Lost Light's there."
"So?"
"So the only other surviving Wreckers are on board, it'd be nice to reconnect with them again." Sandstorm tilted his head slightly and Swoop braced himself for whatever other shoe was about to be dropped. "Broadside sent me a message. Somehow they picked up Grimlock."
Swoop froze, certain he'd heard wrong. He rebooted his audio receptors, ran a quick diagnostic and, when they came back green, said, "What."
"You know, your missing dino-daddy. He was with some Decepticons and now he has an egg baby. I don't know the specifics. Pretty sure Broadside doesn't really know."
Trembling and furious, Swoop stomped up to Sandstorm, jamming a finger against his chest. "You sick... piece of slagging... how dare you-"
Sandstorm slapped the hand away, expression going hard. "What? That I told you Grimlock's alive? Go ask Aileron, she was there when the Lost Light contacted Prowl about Luna-1. He had them send over the ship's manifest."
"...if you're lying-"
"For the love of-" Sandstorm grabbed Swoop's arm, dragging him toward Metroplex and the command center within. "See for yourself!" When they managed to get inside, Sandstorm shoved Swoop over to the terminal with the manifest displayed and, seeing Grimlock's name, Swoop froze again. Sandstorm took him by the arm once more, gentler this time, more guiding him over to the line of bots wanting to send a message to those on the ship, what little of Earth's satellites that survived unable to handle streaming communication that far out.
When a terminal finally opened up, Swoop kept stumbling over what to write. In the end, after spending nearly half an hour agonizing over it, he decided on a short message that simply stated that Slug and Sludge and Snarl had died killing Bludgeon and Unicron's troops and that Swoop himself would be on the first available transport to Luna-1. The terminal pinged a confirmation as the message was sent and Swoop felt lighter than he had in... it seemed so much longer than it had actually been. He turned and found Sandstorm standing behind him, like a guard, daring anyone in the line to do more than shoot glares in Swoop's direction.
Swoop raised his hand, about to tap Sandstorm's shoulder before hesitating and dropping his arm. "Hey," he said instead.
Sandstorm turned his head just enough cast Swoop a sidelong look. If Swoop hadn't known any better, he'd have actually believed the indifferent mask the triplechanger wore. "Good to go?"
"Yeah. Let's sign up for Luna-1 before all the slots get filled." As they walked off to where the actual work was being done, Swoop moved in close to Sandstorm's side and said lowly, "Thanks. You didn't have to tell me about Grimlock."
"Yeah, I did." He looked at Swoop with that same expression again, the sympathy covered by pain. "Like I said, I know how much it hurts to survive. At least now you don't have to face it on your own."
Despite their history, Swoop was touched. He chuckled to himself in equal parts amusement and disbelief. "You know, I think you might actually be alright."
---
A/N: In my headcanon, Grimlock and Swoop reunite right before the Lost Light's last jaunt and Swoop (and strafe and maybe sandstorm just because i love my wrecker boys) get invited aboard so at least in one universe, they're off adventuring together. Because having Grimlock missing his team and Swoop losing the rest of his, and zero indication of the last two (original) Dinobots meeting up again in any of the final issues is just wrong.