Hideaway (aka Shipping Bait)

     And again, Weathervane kept finding himself here. Though the other crew members intimidated him greatly, he had trouble staying holed up in his quarters too long. On his day shift he felt the need to connect and know what he was fighting for, on his night he was kept up by fitful thoughts and wandered the halls in hopes of dispelling them. Either way, he kept finding himself here, in the common area. Bumper was almost always there, too.

     It was clear to see that Bumper was suffering deeply amidst the energon drought. Weathervane saw his longing for hi-grade in the way struggled to engage in mission briefings, or how he nursed his normal energon rations for way too long, but most overtly in how he spent every free moment lingering by the empty hi-grade rack. There was something very empty in the mech when he was sober, Weathervane thought. Maybe that was a sad thing to realize. Weathervane couldn’t find much emotion to spare, since he understood the feeling exactly. He felt like everyone had to know a feeling like that, at this point. 

     It was also clear, soon enough, that Bumper had taken a quick liking to Weathervane. It wasn’t that he offered to share his secret hi-grade stash with the flyer once, to welcome him aboard. It was that he offered the same several times after that. As far as Weathervane was aware, none of the other crew members were privy to just how much he had hidden away, aside from him. He supposed he ought to have felt honored. Really, he just felt relieved. He was so scared he wouldn’t find a way to fit in, and here Bumper freely offered him a spot to slot in next to him.

     “How much exactly do you remember?” Bumper was asking him, amused and impressed in equally mild amounts. Weathervane supposed as he took a chaste sip of his share that perhaps he’d gotten into Bumper’s good graces because he found him to be an oddity to marvel at. Or was that a pessimistic thing to assume?

     “Well, I don’t know, a lot, I guess!” He laughed. “I don’t really think about it a lot? But I guess I’ve been told it’s abnormal.”

     “Man, it’s impressive’s what it is. If we ever have a quiz night you’re on my team.”

     “Primus, I hope we never do,” Weathervane groaned. Bumper laughed. It was nice, to be the one to get a genuine laugh out of him. Weathervane was almost proud, before he caught himself and quashed the feeling.

     “Aw, c’mon, they can be fun if you go to the right place,” Bumper said. “There were some fun ones in my old haunts back in good ol’ Vos.”

     “Some,” he teased, before his processor caught up with what should have surprised him there. “You visited Vos? What for?” He snorted. “Not just the quiz nights, I’d hope.” 

     Weathervane already knew Bumper was from Vos. He may not have been high up on the chain of command, but a grounder politician doesn’t go without a trail of gossip in Vos.

     “You’d think,” he huffed humorlessly, swirled his drink. “Nah, there were a good few grounders in Vos, they were just pretty well-hidden. That’s mostly what I was there to do. Make sure they had someone backin’ them up. Try to get ‘em treated fairly ‘n’ all that, y’know?” 

     Weathervane hummed and nodded. He wasn’t a grounder, but he supposed he could understand being deemed less valuable. He thought of dark caves and long, grueling work. Of not seeing the sky for weeks until he was needed for transport. Of losing peers in cave-ins and having identical replacements shipped in the next day. He could understand. In that moment, he respected Bumper a little more. 

     “Yer from Vos, too, ain’t ya? I remember you sayin’ that.” Bumper said.

     “Oh, yeah, yeah I am.” He smiled ruefully and traced the edges of his cube with the points of his claws. “Didn’t get to see any of your old haunts, though, I’m sure.”

      “No?” Bumper mulled that over a bit. “You cold-constructed?”

     “Exactly right,” Weathervane grinned. He appreciated the lack of pity in Bumper’s tone. Autobots tended to get so jumpy whenever that subject came up. His old crew flashed through his mind, unbidden.

     Bumper seemed to consider something, before offering, “y’know, if there’s anything else you wanna know ‘bout the crew I’d be happy to tell ya. Nothin’ incredibly personal, obviously, but if it would make you feel a bit more at home to know…”

     Weathervane pondered a moment.

     “Actually,” Weathervane started slowly, “there’s something that I’m… not sure about, I guess.

     “Shoot.”

     “There’s a drone that looks exactly like Mace over with the Decepticons, isn’t there.” It was only really half a question. “What’s up with that? Are they trinemates? Or are they just sameframes and I’m being really rude right now.”

     Bumper laughed half-heartedly and shook his head. “Don’t know all the details, but yeah, ‘m pretty sure they’re trinemates. Mace used to be part of the Dreadnought crew, but he jumped ship over to us.”

     Well. That didn’t do Weathervane’s nerves any favors, actually. 

     “Mace was a Decepticon?” He raised his eyebrows in an incredibly restrained show of shock. He’d, of course, had his suspicions, but still, he’d sort of hoped he was wrong.

     “Yeah, yeah, was a real shock to us all, too, at first, don’t worry. He’s proven himself ten times over and then some. He ain’t a spy or anythin’ like that.” Bumper seemed assured of his words, giving the flyer a knowing smile as he took a swig. 

     Weathervane honestly wasn’t convinced. Problems for later. Problems for later.

     “I guess… you guys have known him longer, so I’ll trust your judgment. Still, that’s a little surprising. I would’ve assumed the other way around. I mean,” he gestured with his hands, “he doesn’t act like a Decepticon at all. He’s very Autobot.”

     “More Autobot than me,” Bumper agreed with a laugh. “Just goes to show that maybe people can come back from it.”

     “From being a Decepticon?”

     “Yeah, something like that. Gotta be somethin’ wrong with ya to get behind methods like theirs.” Bumper seemed wistful. “But it’d be nice to be able to give folks the chance to change, if they want to.” 

     He seemed to be thinking of something in the past. Weathervane was curious, but perhaps now wasn’t the best time to prod at emotional baggage. Besides, he was pretty sure he had an idea who Bumper was thinking of just then.

     “Well, either way. Thanks for, you know, letting me in on this stuff. I’d feel a little awkward asking him directly about it, if you know what I mean?”

     Bumper lifted from his reverie and chuckled pleasantly. “Any time, pal.” He gave him a warm smile. “Don’t feel shy if you come up with any more.”

     “You’ll be the first to know.” Weathervane smiled back.