Chapter Text
One: Kitten
“Mum… I had that dream again… the one where I drove off the cliff and Astrotrain saved me… wait, that was a memory, wasn’t it? Never too sure… but anyway, I was ‘recalling’ that moment and then I spotted something winking at me in the room… so I had to shoot it.” Wildrider was lying on her back, half-hanging off the berth and pointing her blaster towards the light in the ceiling that she’d blown out whilst Knock Out stood beside her scowling. It was not the first time Wildrider had blown something up for no reason… but whenever there was another bot in their berth, it was actually just because Wildrider liked to exclaim every overload with something blowing up!
“Uh huh… the fact that one of the guards happened to sneak out of here and leave a trail of lubricant after him just after you set the alarm off wasn’t related, was it? I think you’ve ‘faced all of the ones of this floor now Wildrider…” Knock Out liked interfacing as much as the next bot… but not as much as Wildrider. As he looked down to the black sports car Stunticon with their red visor and red flashes on their servos, not to mention their prominent fembot chassis or thick cabling about the top of their curiously smoothed hips… Knock Out could not help but ponder how in the Pit this maniac had popped out of him and Breakdown making love! As he blinked towards the problem child with a grimace, Wildrider happened to realise that their spike was still out and quickly closed the panel as if it might be the reason their mother was rubbing their faceplates with their palm. “…I thought you were being hired to go and liberate that prison?”
“Not till this evening have I got to meet up at Lockdown’s… besides, I can’t have had all of them, let me see…” Wildrider sat up properly, grinning mischievously although her visor hid the manic glimmer within her red optics. At first her family had assumed her just a hyperactive sort, but it seemed she was well-named with a similar slightly paranoid streak that meant if she wasn’t in your berth then she was pointing a blaster into your modesty panels and daring you to give her a reason. She’d probably aimed at the light because coming out of her overload haze she’d thought it had been someone spying on her… but none could guess with Wildrider.
“I see… but I thought you’d have gone to collect Astrotrain by now… he’s the one taking you all there and you know how much he loves having chats with his favourite ‘kitten’ don’t you.” Knock Out purred gently, knowing just how to manipulate their offspring and Wildrider had one HUGE weakness that everyone in the family knew about. It had happened when she’d been freshly in her adult mould and racing her siblings, reckless and chaotic she’d driven right off a ridge and could have died! But somehow, the huge hands of Astrotrain had caught her in the air, brought her down to the others and given her a little stroke to the helm before telling her to check her surroundings before she did anything daredevil again. It had seemed to set Wildrider’s spark alight and if there was one bot she respected and obeyed even more than Knock Out, then it was the giant mercenary Decepticon triple-changer that actually seemed to enjoy her company. It was all Wildrider needed to hop up and quickly rush to the wash rack. “He’s probably out by his favourite lake enjoying the breeze, so you’d better check he’s remembered that today is when you’re going.”
“Yeah-yeah… love you mum… when I’m back I’m back…” Wildrider whistled, forgetting to close the door as she coated her body in the warm spray and popped her panel again. Knock Out found himself rolling his optics at his daughter and leaving the room as Wildrider made sure not only to wash her spike off but get her digits in her valve deep to clean out anything there. Mutual fun was one of those things Wildrider only did if she had an impressive partner, otherwise it was all about the quick pleasure and usually her focusing on making them howl out her name. It was always fun, always good, but last night she’d actually gotten to switch from spiking to being spiked and that… that was always a sign of a good day to come.
Once washed she was quick to keep the panel closed and double-check her finish, cleaning up the little nicks here and there, adding a bit of wax to look a little fresher and then turning into her car form and roaring out of the household at full speed. No one got in her way, especially because Wildrider would go fast enough to climb the walls and keep going as she hurried on out and ignored the look of concern upon Starscream’s face as he watched her go and then sent a quick message to her HUD, though she casually let it sit unread for a little while… knowing it was a lecture on keeping her antivirus system up to date and to actually consider how worried Knock Out got about her. Wildrider liked that Starscream seemed to care, if only because it meant should the worse happen, someone would make sure mum was consoled.
After an hour on the road and rumbling away, singing some random Earth songs to herself that she’d picked up from the internet that her mother had shown them, Wildrider was on her way to find her favourite being in the universe. There were few that ever made Wildrider not consider shooting them and though some of the mercenaries and Decepticons all blamed Breakdown for letting her join a gestalt when she’d been a bit hyperactive in the first place… the fact she’d ended up absorbing the original Wildrider into her being and not keeping the shared aspect with the whole gestalt but also sucking in some of her own father’s paranoia probably hadn’t helped. She’d gone from a happy child that loved to smash mud and pretend to fire a blaster like the others, to someone that had to choose between shooting you or smiling at you on first meeting.
Experiences with the humans and understanding that mental health or rather ‘processor health’ and conditions like post traumatic stress disorder, stress, paranoia and a lot of other things were quite real amongst bots too had taught them all a lot. Now the voices she heard from time to time, unlike humans, was something that was to do with faulty wiring meaning that aspects of her memory and her imagination filtered into her every day connectivity, almost like the way Bitstream flipped in and out of the virtual world and reality… she didn’t know if humans went through the same sort of thing but, if they did she envied them because they were probably not permitted to just be themselves. Wildrider had found early on that options to check the pathways and fix them when they’d shown up after her rather harrowing meld with the gestalt had been up to her alone, somehow, hearing her father’s voice in the back of her head say ‘we’re fine as we are, why do they want us to be perfect’ had cut her off. Given her father’s death in the latter days of the war, she tended to find the paranoia more nostalgic… it was only the original Wildrider who seemed to live in her head unless she was shooting or fragging that was the intrusive thought, but she kinda liked him too.
That aside, Wildrider was high functioning, always needed to be busy doing something and the only bot that really kept her distracted just by his presence was Astrotrain. She’d assumed it was EM fields, everyone else seemed nervous around which seemed to trigger the paranoia and the rage, but when they were attracted to her, that triggered her lust… most bots were stuck between, except Astrotrain. When he was around her, his calm and steady EM field absorbed her own and she was content, eager to talk and even cuddle more than anything else. It was what she loved about him aside from his personality and what he did, always with the gossip, always waiting to be called out, hating other bots’ company because they always had something for him to do… except when she came along as she was now… when their EM fields met, it was like some balancing or equalising thing, she couldn’t think how to word it but… it was real!
“Hey there Big Choo… what you up to?” Wildrider queried, driving up to him, transforming and noticing that he was leaning back against a rock formation and looking into his favourite mineral lake and flicking energon chips to the creatures within that seemed to gulp it down but never reveal themselves. Astrotrain turned his head down to her, giving a soft snorting vent of humour as she launched up the rock to sit up by his head.
“Heh… you know I don’t like that nickname… what are you doing here Wildrider?” Astrotrain was a fairly relaxed guy, as a mercenary he was mainly only used for transport, same he’d been used in the war, but at the same time he was not under anyone’s power these days and he had free time to do things… so he was relaxed as if in retirement perhaps. He turned his optics to her, lifting his hand and stroking her firm shoulders gently as she turned and kissed at his finger lovingly.
“I’m here out of curiosity, figuring out what to do cause I’m kinda bored and we don’t have our job till this evening. Plus had fun with some guards and got that message from the Starscream to keep my antivirus up to date and what not. I’m just having fun… not like he’s ever acted like a dad anyway. What am I supposed to do, I’m lucky I got made in a way that other bots like…” Wildrider grumbled, knowing that Astrotrain always listened and he nodded his head firmly, accepting her obvious frustration and then turning around to kneel down and face her. He liked looking at her, she was only up to knee joint but she was fraggable and more than that, he liked that she was like him… free.
“True, you got moulded special Rider… Starscream just doesn’t appreciate that you’ve got the kind of wild streak he probably wished he’d had. Not to mention, he’s old school on the subject of interfacing… some bots still think its unclean but it’s part of the programming you know.” Astrotrain shrugged gently, lifting his digit to stroke at her pouting red faceplates as she then nuzzled in and kissed his digits again, her engine making purring sounds to make him laugh. “So… Kitten… what else is on your mind?”
“I like that you call me kitten, kittens are damn cute! But I came with a big idea in mind… I was thinking about who I hadn’t been around, who might be different and who would be a challenge… you like challenges too, don’t you?” As always she was talking about interfacing… everyone else frowned and complained she spoke about it too much but the mercenaries were all much more comfortable talking about it naturally. They’d all given up listening to the mindsets of either group that had still suppressed so much, but though Knock Out and many other medical bots were trying to make it a subject everyone could talk about when so many parts of it were still held taboo, the mercenaries were their allies. Besides, it had been hidden so long that when there was a problem there was shame so the problem got worse… Breakdown had been a little harsher with his daughters about the subject too, so Astrotrain understood that Wildrider preferred having someone outside the family to talk to, someone who liked her for her not just her interface desires.
“Challenges are enjoyable, I like ones that deal with my intellect as well as my strength… plus, I like fun and whenever I get to work with you, Kitten, there’s always fun. Besides, speaking of your preferred fun, you’ve got to remember the importance of consent, alright?” Astrotrain stated firmly, not that he needed to remind her, despite the general view of Wildrider she never asked… she only answered. It was other bots that wanted her and somehow for being alright with it and for enjoying it plenty, it had given a bad reputation. “What’s with that look?”
“You ever interfaced with anyone?” It was probably the only question Wildrider had never actually brought up to Astrotrain, only because she tended to want to talk to him about everything other than interfacing after she’d told him about her initial news of an encounter or conquest. She had hoped that he was comfortable to talk about his own experiences this time, because she’d never really asked him but there was a reason for that. Wildrider didn’t want to know about his past encounters usually because… because there might be someone he longed for and she could never compete with someone from his past.
Worst of all though she’d never asked him if he’d do her before and well, lately she’d been thinking about how if she’d get just one session with him, she’d be so eager for more that it might ruin everything. She groaned as she waited for his response, only to hear the wonderful booming laughter of delight.
“BWAHAHAHA!” Astrotrain was surprised, he’d not had the chance to tell her his own experiences too much unless they fit the situation, but she’d never flatly asked him as if he’d never done it before. He cackled softly, his whole chassis heaving and rumbling as she pouted beside him and he gave a soft vent. “You asking for my experiences right? I guess there’s been a few here or there. When I was in my earliest days, I was able to use my T-Cog to change myself into a slightly smaller body and was able to get a few things done. Not in the large form… though many try and I just end up…”
“End up what?” Astrotrain had suddenly paused, the next part was going to sound very dirty and oddly, he did not really like the thought of Wildrider thinking of him as some dirty old pervert. But Wildrider’s visor lifted to show her burning red optics as she waited for him to continue and he gave a soft humoured vent as if to push it all off.
“You’re actually far too interested in knowing this aren’t you. Surely it’s a little too… crude, Kitten?” He chuckled, though he felt utterly embarrassed at the thought of trying to tell her about some messy interfacing experiences. She didn’t want to know about it surely?
“It’s me we’re talking about… I’ve licked, sucked and kissed places you probably wouldn’t want to know.” Wildrider stated proudly and oddly it got a strange reaction from the huge bot.
“That’s worrying…”
“Hehe… no, tell me more, what usually happens then when others try?” Wildrider giggled, somehow when he showed concern for her she rather liked it. She was looking all coy and shy as she rolled about on the ground near his shoulder before tapping at him again to get him to be honest. He gave a snorting vent then ending up leaning forward, rubbing the back of his helm and feeling like a younger bot for some reason.
“Well its… it’s just ending up… uh… face… uh… you know…” Astrotrain was blushing suddenly, feeling really embarrassed about it. How in the Pit could he turn around and tell Wildrider he specialised in giving facials these days and that was about it. He could find bigger bots that might want an orgy situation but it was not… not for him. “Oddly saying it to you feels embarrassing despite your experiences.”
“So no one satisfies you?” Wildrider queried with her optics wide as she dropped her visor. She then settled onto his shoulder, making him relax as she swung her body against his head, making sure her full chassis was pressed near his optic and made him give a slightly dirty smirk because it was always very pleasant. But he wrapped a hand about her, stroking her back gently and listening to her engine purr as she grumbled against him. “That’s not fair…”
“I can satisfy myself…” Astrotrain was always a little embarrassed by saying that, especially when he could hardly tell why Wildrider was getting so upset on his behalf. But he had to chuckle, she was an odd one and he stretched his big servo up. He patted her helm gently to soothe her. “…its fine.”
“But it’s not the same on your own…” Wildrider wrapped her servos around his hand, nuzzling against it and Astrotrain was feeling an oddly hot sensation rolling up from his chassis that he seemed to be getting rather frequently these days when he was around Wildrider. He knew what it was of course, he hadn’t had so much personal attention from another bot constantly his whole existence save from Blitzwing and they were not always getting along! However, Wildrider always made him smile and she always wanted to know his thoughts, feelings and his stories whereas he only got the gossip from everyone else to share.
“Why are you getting upset for me Kitten? Not everyone needs it like you do…” Astrotrain snorted, knowing he was probably the only bot who could get away with saying that to her as anyone else would get a blaster to the face. She tended to think anyone telling her she did it too much was trying to control her mind and her paranoia could be more than a little tricky about such things. But Astrotrain hooked her into both his hands and she sat within them comfortably though was pouting up at him.
“But… but you’re… you’re my Astrotrain… I don’t like the thought of you not getting to feel great, especially when someone wants you. It’s like… cruel.” Wildrider stated, nuzzling against his thumb and staring up at him with that slightly childish expression with the flutter of her lids to make him feel flushed even more. Whenever she said he was hers, he couldn’t help but flush in embarrassment until she realised he was getting embarrassed and then gave him a gentle pat and mumbled against him. “You deserve to experience everything you want to experience….”
“Ah, it’s our friendship… well don’t worry…” Astrotrain almost seemed to answer himself. For a moment, he had been worried that she might have been suggesting something else there and maybe make him self-conscious about their friendship. But he pulled her in up against his chin, dropping his head down so he could rub against her gently as she giggled and cuddled him back. “Come here Kitten, its nothing to worry yourself about.”
“But I do worry… cause I wanna try and make you feel good!” She stated and then began to nuzzle against his audio as Astrotrain practically launched upward onto his feet. He turned around to where she’d managed to cling to the rock before swinging back up to stare at him. Astrotrain looked uncomfortable as he looked down at her, not expecting her to say something like that as he rubbed his servo and then gave a soft grunt.
“What? Kitten… I appreciate it but Wildrider, I’m not the sort that would do something just to prove a point… I’m a bit more emotional…” He tried to explain, feeling uncomfortable that he might be making her think he wanted interfacing above the actual emotional relationship. It was strange for him to react this way though, even Wildrider was looking up at him with a furrowed expression to think that he was suddenly being more reactive about these things than usual. However, she also felt sorrowful because she explained it softly to him.
“You want a relationship? I see… that’s difficult… I don’t want a relationship because when things go wrong in them, everything goes wrong. Thinking about how dad reacted when mum was convinced he was dead and knowing too how much he had flings on the side… I… I don’t get that. Mum was happy with him, miserable without, happy with Dreadwing and instead of understanding Breakdown… well he took it out on both of them and that really had already ended things! But he never once thought that it was so easy for mum to think to move on when he had his excuses of… what was it he used to say to us, ‘after millions of years together, you know what they will do and you look elsewhere for what they won’t do’, that’s just never settled in my processor as right. Better to just not have commitment if you’re going to play.” Wildrider scoffed, she only told it to Astrotrain of course, she and Dragstrip had been the only ones to witness Knock Out getting literally hammered by Breakdown for ‘breaking their conjunx’ and even though Knock Out had never done a bonding with Dreadwing, the fact he’d produced Dreadnought had been everything. Wildrider had known to be like neither of them… desperate and afraid of being alone like Knock Out and not playing around because of boredom like Breakdown. That was her belief anyway.
“Sorry Kitten… but that’s how I feel, not that I wouldn’t say no to being your bot.” Astrotrain understood and he lounged his servos back onto the ridge with Wildrider then leaning into him. He took a steady vent, assured in his decision, his position with her and she was nodding her head to say she respected it. Boy did she respect him, but it also made Astrotrain’s spark squeeze a little.
“Heh… being my bot ey? It gives me something to think about at least… but what do you wanna talk about now? I can tell you all the ridiculous things I learnt today overhearing things at the hospital with mum! Especially regarding Fortress Maximus and something awkward he sat on…” She began to mutter and of course, Astrotrain loved his gossip!
“Oh… I’m all audios…”