Chapter Text
Lugnut had been seen in the southwest corner of quadrant 9, where Bulkhead had been out on patrol. He responded first, and raced the two miles from the northeastern corner of the quadrant with his lights blazing and speed pushing 145 kph.
The Steelhaven responded back, reporting that they would be taking the whole ship with Magnus, Optimus, and Sentinel aboard to the location. Jazz, from his temporary position as communications officer, would have said that taking the whole ship would be overkill. But after their last attempt at capturing the Kaon Krusher, the ship would really be necessary.
Prowl and Ratchet were put on standby backups while Bumblebee continued patrol in the other quadrants. The little yellow bot tried to protest and complain, but he was instructed to continue on his regular root or he would be grounded in the base for a decacycle.
Huffing, he continued his leisurely pace through the three a.m. traffic in the financial district, stopping only to admire his touched up paint in the reflections of the large, dark bank windows.
…
Quadrant 9 stretched over the half of Old Detroit that was once arcades, dance clubs, and movie theaters. Restaurants were also there, but were not as prominent as in the more residential and finical half of Old Detroit. Quadrant 9 was also the less seen half, as tourists usually looked over at quadrant 10, where the museums and memorials had been established.
The buildings had long since been abandoned, with the exception of illegal drug labs and makeshift homeless people’s homes. The brick, cement, and asphalt of the once prosperous blocks had fallen into ruin, not only from neglect but from the bombings of WW3, all those years ago, in 2052.
Most bots would have transformed back into their bipedal mode and walked to the threat. But, Bulkhead being an armored SWAT car with tires of at least a meter high, the deep potholes didn’t bother him too much. He actually enjoyed testing his limits.
Transforming, he began to idly walk through down the street, glancing about. He stuck a finger on his comm button, reporting, “Bulkhead here.”
Jazz responded immediately. “I hear you loud a clear, gentle giant. You spot the ‘Con yet?”
“No, not yet, Jazz. Odd, though. I mean, Lugnut’s a bomber plane! Where could a bomber plane hide?”
“I don’t know, bro. Keep on looking and comm back when you see the big lug. Sentinel’ll only tolerate one injured bot, and I’m lucky he doesn’t have me running laps on this leg.”
“Alright then, I’ll talk to you later Jazz. Just take it easy, okay?” When he got a response, Bulkhead removed his finger from his comm, turned his brights on and kept scouring through the city.
…
His signal damper was working perfectly okay. It was the fact that he was ten and a half meter tall and the buildings barely rose above six meters.
Tucking himself into a ball and turning all of his lights off, even as he dimmed his five optics, he still felt too conspicuous.
Taking a sharp, deep inhale, he willed his fans to halt and waited patiently for Bulkhead to draw nearer. Just a bit more. When he rounded that corner, he would be able to jump up and take the Autobot prisoner, just like Megatron had told him to.
A few more steps and he would be within reach…
…
The situation was bad.
The Steelhaven had arrived just as Lugnut had engaged his POKE. Bulkhead had already been placed into a headlock, but the ‘Con had sealed the deal when he threatened the ‘Bot with his signature move.
Optimus, of course, was a worrying, panicking mess. Not that he would truly show it but after all those solar cycles in the academy, Sentinel could sense it rolling off of him in waves. Long ago, he would have comforted his friend. Now, he wanted to exploit those feelings.
“Ultra Magnus, sir, with all due respect, I think that the best approach to taking down the Decepticon Lugnut would be to shoot through the Autobot to get to the Decepticon’s spark, sir.” Optimus didn’t even have to look at Sentinel to know that he was smirking.
“What? No, sir, we can’t--!”
To the Prime’s horror, Ultra Magnus paused and began to contemplate the strategy. “I think, Sentinel Prime,” he said haltingly, “that that is the best way to take down the Decepticon. Since he is threatening an Autobot soldier, his death will be justified.”
Optimus couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Sir, with all due respect, have you lost your processor? That’s Bulkhead down there. My teammate. An Autobot.”
Ultra Magnus waved a servo at the Prime. “His family will be given a medal of honor in his name and he will be buried with the highest regards.”
“I don’t care about the highest regards or medals or any of that! I care about my friend!” Optimus’ outburst shocked them all, even the speaker.
“Sorry, Optimus. But this is about ridding ourselves of the pests that are the Decepticons.” Sentinel was sneering again, and slapped his servo down onto the computer panel, leaning on it with his hips cocked out and one hand resting on his hip. “Computer, fire on Space Bridge Repair Autobot Bulkhead.”
“Cannot fire on Bulkhead. Friendly fire is not permitted.” Optimus felt a wave of relief so strong he almost fell back onto his aft.
The relief was knocked out of him when Ultra Magnus responded, “Override, authorization Ultra Magnus.”
“Confirmed. Firing on Autobot Bulkhead.”
The shot was fired as Optimus screamed “No!” and lunged for the computer panel.
…
The realization hurt almost as bad as the hole in his arm.
Lugnut had seen the energy coming. He could have used Bulkhead as a shield. He could have left the Autobot there while he jumped away and into safety. He could have tossed the offlined Autobot at the ship as a distraction.
But no.
Instead, when he saw the gun warning and lighting with energy, he disengaged his POKE and tried to dive to the side, taking the bot with him. Lugnut was just a little bit too slow, though.
Now there was a hole in Bulkhead’s arm that was leaking energon too fast for the plane’s liking.
“We have to get away. Now.” The Decepticon was quick to act on his words, shooting smoke bombs at the ship before engage his thrusters at the highest speed they could safely go. The Autobot’s pedes left the ground and he would have relished in the feeling of his first flight if his mind hadn’t made the connection at that moment.
His commander, his Primes, his Magnus, had seen him as expendable. His fellow Autobots.
But Lugnut, a Decepticon, his sworn enemy since the beginning, had not only tried to save him, but was taking him somewhere safe.
Sure, anyone else had tried to shot him, he would forgive them. Whatever, you were aiming for Lugnut and missed a little. Anyone, he would be panicking and trying to get away from Lugnut and back to safety.
But Optimus was on the Steelhaven. Optimus knew they were firing on him.
And he hadn’t stopped them.