Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

All things considered, having a gun that was a servo just a moment ago pointed at him by a strange mech that looked as if they were thrown into a trash compactor was probably one of the more tame things that has happened to Orion Pax. Honestly, with the amount of trouble Orion gets into he was somewhat surprised that this hasn't happened to him sooner. And, in his humble opinion, he was handling the situation rather well. He was not screaming and was acting as calm as a bot could while having a gun pointed at him by a mech that was easily twice his size. He was in no way freaking out. Nope. Not at all.

In the midst of his not panicked state of mind, he couldn't help but wonder how the hell he ended up in this situation in the first place. He must've done something to royally piss off Primus. Hopefully the big bot in front of him won't mind if he mentally recaps all that has happened to him that has led to where he currently is. While Orion was slowly recounting what had happened so far that day, he did not take notice how the stranger's gun was starting to shake. He hopes that that won't be something of importance later.

The morning of Orion's day started out normal enough. He woke up, got some energon, got yelled at for trying to take more than he was allowed, tried to clean himself up to the best of his ability, and started his favorite pastime of annoying D-16. The two of them went back and forth for a while, ‘arguing’ about something petty. Honestly, Orion forgot what they were even discussing. He vaguely remembers the argument having to do with colors, but he was not quite sure if that was completely correct. At one point, D-16 did his signature look and gesture that suggested as if he were going to strangle Orion, but Orion knew his best friend enough to know that while D might look angry with him, he was having just as much fun as Orion was with their petty little argument.

Sadly, the fun had to come to an end rather quickly. Some of the oh so superior bots that were always out for Orion's aft had spotted the pair goofing off and had demanded why they were not yet in the mines working. It pissed Orion off to no end. Their shift hadn't started yet, so they had no reason to be in the mines! Orion tried to tell the taller bots this, but they just brushed it off as an excuse. Had D not intervened, Orion would have definitely got into a fight with those bots and definitely would have won! He later told this to his best friend, but D just rolled his optics and snorted at him, telling him he was crazy. 

So here the pair were, a groon early to their shift. If someone were to tell Orion that he would've ended up working before his damn shift even started he would've given them the bird and gone back into recharge, consequences be damned. Many of the bots around them gave them funny looks since they knew the pair's shift didn't start yet and that the two of them (well, more so Orion) would never start their job earlier than they had to. Some of the braver bots had tried to approach the pair, but something on Orion's face must have made it obvious that he was not in the mood for questions or jokes.

D-16 snickered at his best friend's misery, knowing that Orion was just being his dramatic self and knew that Orion would get over the whole situation soon and would then forget what he was even upset about. Orion shot him a look and D turned to where the various different mining tools were located and started to whistle, acting as if he was just an innocent little sparking that definitely was not judging him. Then, D went with a group of miners whose shifts had begun and started to get to work. What a suck up.

With an over dramatic sigh that would've made someone think a friend of Orions had tragically died, he walked to where the tools were at and began to prepare himself to start mining. He grabbed himself a drill and jetpack, but did not yet put the jetpack on. It was uncomfortable to lug around when it wasn't in use and Orion wanted to see if he could manage to get a quick stasis nap in before his shift actually began. It was most definitely wishful thinking, as the mines were never a place for relaxation, but hey he could at least try.

After checking over the equipment to make sure it worked properly and wouldn't explode, he checked his surroundings to see if he could spot something he could sit or rest on before his actual shift began. It took him a while to find something he deemed worthy of holding his weight, but he eventually found a pretty nice piece of scrap that must've fallen off of one of the bigger pieces of machinery. While it sure wasn't the comfiest seat around, it would make due for now. He placed the drill next to him and dropped the jetpack onto the ground as he began the painstaking process of trying to pass the time.

He watched as the various other miners passed him with confused looks on their faceplates, clearly not knowing why he was early to his shift or why he was just sitting there on a random piece of scrap. Some of the supervisors -or commanders or whatever the hell they wanted the miners to call them- also looked at Orion and each other with confusion. It was clear that they had no idea what to do with the extra bot, so they just decided to ignore him for now and worry about him once his shift actually started.

So here Orion was, on a piece of scrap for all to see doing absolutely nothing. He was so very bored and there was nothing for him to do in the meantime since someone decided to just leave him alone and go off to who knows where to mine. And if there's one thing to know about Orion, it's that a bored Orion is the worst kind of Orion. If he was left alone bored long enough without the proper supervision, he was bound to get into trouble, whether that be antagonizing a bot or snooping around trying to find something interesting. He had gotten in trouble plenty of times before due to eavesdropping on conversation not meant for a miner. 

He wasn't all too sure on what to do, as there wasn't much that he could do while just sitting, so he decided to play a fun game of “what's that sound and is Wheeljack possibly responsible for it?”, which is quite a popular game among the other miners. While some may say it's in bad taste or mean, Wheeljack himself endorses the little game and thinks it's hysterical. The game is quite simple, you listen to your surroundings and decide the source or cause of the sounds. Then, you see if Wheeljack could've been involved with the sound. It's considered cheating to assume that every explosion that goes off is due to Wheeljack, as while that may be the case it has caused some bots in the past to get an unfair amount of points. So explosions are off limits, but every other noise is fair game.

It was a rather dumb game, but dammit it would have to do for now. He couldn't exactly pull out his data pad and play a game on it, now could he?

After mentally going over the rules again to make sure he is eligible to apply to the Wheeljack-off (seriously, Wheeljack? That's what you decided you are going to call it?) Orion begins the fun task of trying to decipher what all of the chaotic noise in the mine means and what its origin might be. Playing the game in the mines is considered to be only for the most experienced of players due to the amount of noise the mine produces and how loud said noise is. But hey, Orion's bored and maybe he can distract himself for a while playing this game. He should actually probably start playing the game instead of thinking. In his defense, thinking is fun to do.

Orion offlines his optics for just a moment to try and get his thoughts organized and focused, and when he onlines them again the game has officially begun! Right off the bat, he can tell that the most prominent of the sounds is the sound of the various different drills being used. While yes, there is a rather good chance Wheeljack is behind on of the drills, Orion vaguely remembers overhearing Wheeljack say that he's going to try and avoid actually drilling and see if he can work a different branch of the mine that requires him to interact with drills often. Even if Orion highly doubts the superiors will honor Wheeljack's request, the previous knowledge of Jackie's avoidance of the drills makes it highly unlikely that one of those drills would belong to him, so this sound is most likely not made by Wheeljack.

Another prominent sound was the sound of the various different bots chatting or yelling. As mentioned before, the mines are really fragging loud, so most of the time in order for you to be heard you have to talk very loudly or just outright yell. Jackie is by no means a quiet bot, but Orion can tell that none of the voices he hears belongs to Jackie, so this sound is also not made by Wheeljack.

Feeling a little bummed about the lack of luck, Orion tries to do a couple of quick observations to see if he can manage to single out Wheeljack faster. Hm, lets see, the rather intimidating crushing sound is most definitely not Jackie, as Orion's 90% sure that that's some sort of machine running. What machine? He has absolutely no clue. Next, he doubts that the high pitched giggles he hears coming from one of the tunnels is Wheeljack, as the voices are far too high in pitch to be Jackie. And Wheeljack does not giggle, he wheezes and snorts. Quiet annoyingly, might he add. Orion doubts that the quiet, pained groans he hears far off in the distance is Wheeljack, since Wheeljack is very good at brushing injuries aside and barely having any indication that he's even hurt or in pain in the first place. Now, the next-

Wait. Hold on. What was that previous one?

Orion is immediately snapped out of his thoughts about the game as the reality of what he just heard manages to process. Pained groaning. In the mines. A notoriously dangerous place where many miners have gotten injured or have even lost their lives. Any sort of pained noise is an immediate cause for concern because even if it's something small like a dented piece of plating, a miner in any sort of pain is likely to not pay attention to proper safety protocols and can injure themselves further if not immediately seen to. 

Quickly whipping his helm around to see if anyone else had heard the noise, Orion rises from the piece of scrap he was resting on to try and either get some help or help out himself. When he saw that there were no other bots in close proximity to him, Orion decided that he couldn't risk leaving the injured bot alone for long, so he decided to go ahead and see if he could help the bot out in any sort of way.

Is going alone in an area of the mine so vast that bots go missing every single shift a good idea? No, not really. However, Orion wasn't exactly known for his great ideas, and in his opinion the potential risks of going alone were not enough to deter him from potentially saving a bots life. With his decision made, he quickly breaks off into a sprint in the direction he believes the groan to have come from.

He's worked in this part of the mine for a long enough time that the fear of getting lost is close to none. The fear of getting caught is also close to none due to the fact that the area of the mine that he believes the sounds to be coming from has been abandoned for a while due to having all of the energon in this section completely mined out. This part of the mine was known as the miners safe haven due to the fact that very few visited it. Orion won't lie, the fact that someone managed to get injured in this part of the mine is quite odd to him, as there is nothing here that could truly harm someone. But alas, some bots can find some rather unique ways of getting injured. Take Wheeljack, for example.

Time managed to blurr for a bit as he ran along trying to pinpoint where exactly the bot was. As he slowed down in order to try and listen around better, he noticed how quiet it was in this certain section of the abandoned mine. It was just far enough away that the sounds of drilling were gone, which just left an eerie silence that was occasionally interrupted by the sound of someone in pain. Now, Orion is no coward, but he can admit that this whole situation is starting to freak him out, and that he probably should've at least told one other bot where he was going in case he goes lost under mysterious circumstances.

Feeling unsettled, he stops moving all together. He surveys the area around him, and when not spotting anyone he manages to croak out a weary “Hello?” As his own voice echoes around him, he does not get a response to his greeting. Instead, he is greeted by silence. The pained noises have stopped. Cursing to himself out of anger at potentially letting someone go offline due to his nervousness, he breaks off into another sprint and goes down a tunnel that he believes the mystery bot to be in. As he runs, he can only pray that whoever it is is alright and simply lost consciousness.

Briefly, he remembers that his shift had started a while ago and that D was most likely looking for him, but the current situation nulls any feeling of anxiety over being caught late. Personally, Orion is far more worried about the wellbeing of someone else than he is about whether or not he is on time. And technically he's actually early to his shift, so ha! A smug grin spreads across his faceplate at the thought of telling Darkwing that he was, in fact, not technically late to his shift!

He snaps out of his thoughts when he nearly trips while sprinting down the tunnel. The tunnel was dark enough that he had no clue what he might have tripped over, and the part of his processor that was still on edge hoped that it wasn't some severed arm or leg. Ignoring that train of thought, he starts to walk down the tunnel more cautiously to make sure that he doesn't almost eat slag again. He's trying to help out an injured bot not injure himself.

Orion hasn't heard any noise from the mystery mech in quite some time, so he once again calls out to whoever is there to see if he can get a response. “Hello? Are you alright?” His shout echoes throughout the tunnel, so Orion really hopes that hes been heard. He continues to quietly stalk along the tunnel, making sure not to make much noise just in case the bot makes any more noise. When time passes by and Orion still doesn't hear anything, he quickened his pace. He doesn't start to outright sprint like he did before in order to avoid tripping again, but it's a fast enough pace that after wandering down this tunnel for what seemed like ages he finally stumbles across something worth noting.

When in a dark tunnel, any sort of light should be taken notice of. It could be a sign of a fellow miner or of a superior officer. Unusual lights could also be a sign of a future energon explosion. So, when Orion notices a very vibrant blue light down the tunnel? He comes to a complete halt in both his actions and train of thought. Blue is not an unfamiliar color in energon mines, but he's worked here long enough to be able to differentiate between energon blue and an unfamiliar blue. And this blue? This blue is not a familiar sight.

Orion begins to slowly creep forwards, being sure to not jostle anything out of place out of the slim chance that this could be a possible energon explosion. As he gets closer to the source of the odd light, he can't help but take notice of some odd sounds that definitely were not present when he was at the beginning of the tunnel. He could hear what sounded like a faint hum that was followed by a click. Even though Orion did not know the origin or cause of the noise, he instinctively knew that the noise was not a good sign. Each step he takes towards the light and noise feels heavier, and he swears he can start to feel one of his finials twitch.

He's getting closer and closer to what he suspects to be the injured mech when he hears the sound of a pained grunt. This was definitely the mech and despite all of the oddities so far, he'd be damned if he were to leave someone innocent alone to offline when he's so close by. Taking a deep vent, he takes the final step towards the mystery bot. When the mech finally comes into focus for the first time, Orion can't help but be taken completely off guard.

There was definitely an injured mech in the tunnels. That much was obvious due to the small amount of dried energon the mech had on his servo. But that wasn't what caught Orion so off guard. He was expecting an injured mech, yes, but he was expecting the mech to be a miner. This mech? This mech was most definitely some sort of officer or commander! The first thing that made it so obvious of the mechs' status was the sheer size of them! Even while they were laying down Orion could tell that the mech was at least twice his size! No regular miner would ever reach this size, no matter how much energon they consumed! Hell, Orion has no fragging clue how the mech even managed to squeeze their way in the tunnel. They were enormous!

But the size of the bot wasn't the only jarring thing about them. The other thing that took Orion off guard was the color scheme of the bot. While it wasn't exactly uncommon to see a bot with blue and red on them, the colors were usually faded due to getting dirty via mining or other means. For a mech to have such vibrant shades of color indicated that this was someone of great status. Whoever this was was very important, and the fact that they were in the mines of all places greatly confused him. 

Orion was starting to get more and more worried about the bot as he started to scan them over, and he couldn't help but flinch when he saw what the poor bot was covered in. On the mysterious bot were dozens of scars, ranging from little gashes to whole chunks of metal ripped off in some areas. And the injuries did not look to be caused by some mere mining accident, oh no, it was clear that these scars were due to fights. Fights that clearly included another mech or multiple mechs. Orion was starting to get a picture of what could've possibly happened to the stranger, and he was not feeling good about it.

Orion couldn't suppress the small, worried whine of his vocalizer. If he was worried before, he was outright panicked as of now. Oddly enough, the mech seemed to have had a reaction to Orion's pathetic little noise. The mech turned their helm in the direction of where Orion was, which in all honesty freaked him out big time. But he managed to catch sight of the mech's face, and his worry melted quickly. Despite being injured and (maybe) unconscious, the mech's face was contorted in a way that showed the sheer concern they had for Orion. 

The sight of the obvious worry the other mech seemed to subconsciously have made Orion melt a bit. It was really unfair for a bot in their position to act as if they cared about a mere miner. Orion knew that if the mech were awake, their face would not be one of worry. Instead, it would be one of disgust or rage. He quickly shook that train of thought away as he knew it would only lead to self loathing that he was far too tired to deal with this early in the day. He must've been taking too long to respond, because the unconscious mech made a gentle yet worried chirp that was obviously aimed at him. 

Orion quickly crouched down next to the bot's helm and spoke softly. “Easy there, I'm alright! Sorry if I startled you at all.” He had to admit he felt rather silly talking to a mech that was unconscious. “You alright? You were making a pained noise earlier. Mind if I check you over to see if I can spot any open wounds?” What will he do if he does find a wound? He doesn't know but hey he'll get there when he gets there!

He quickly saw the mech's face relax into a more calm state, and any movement the mech was making, no matter how small, quickly stopped. Huh, that talking seemed to have worked. He'll have to take note of that for later but as of now he needs to check on the mech to see if he could spot any injuries. Orion began to let his digits wander over the scarred plating of the other mech and surprisingly the stranger seemed to have no issue with him running his digits across old scars that once would've hurt like a glitch. Hell, it almost felt like the mech was actively leaning into Orion's touch, but that was most definitely just due to his imagination.

Orion quickly made work of checking over the mech's torso, so he began to wander his digits over the mech waist and legs to check for any injuries. In doing so, he felt like a massive pervert but he didn't want to risk the chance of missing an injury due to the limited visibility of the tunnel he was currently in. A mech biolights are not exactly a reliable source of lighting, as they may flicker or dim depending on the bots mood or health. Orion didn't take as much time as he did with the mech's torso, though, because no matter how much he reassured himself he still felt like a massive creep.

Now, so far into his little investigation, he has not found any injuries that would've caused the mech to make any pained sounds. While the scars look painful, due to their age any pain that might be felt from them would be much duller. And any injuries Orion had found were very small and didn't even leak energon, so they were obviously not the cause of the mech's pain either. Orion's previous confusion over the situation built the more he scanned over the mech's body yet couldn't find any source of pain. He didn't have much hope when he moved onto the mechs (massive) shoulders and arms. Turns out he would find the answer, and out of everything he was expecting, it certainly wasn't this.

When Orion got to the mech's servos. Now, Orion could see the mech's left servo, but he could not see the right servo. The mech seemed to have been laying in a way that made it to where their right servo had been held close to their body and had it held underneath their hip. Orion made his way to the other side of the mech where their right servo is to try and see if he can move the mech in a way so that he can inspect the servo. He knows from firsthand experience how much servo injuries can hurt, so he's thinking that their servo most likely has some sort of damage to it.

Gently, as to not cause the mech any more pain or discomfort, Orion began to move the servo out from underneath the mech. He could hear the mech take an inhale of his vents due to what he assumed to be the pain. Orion quietly apologized to the mech, and they seemed to relax again. After the mech settled, he went back to trying to pull the servo out from under the bot. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice drops of fresh energon littering the ground. The drops confirmed that it was indeed the mechs servo that was damaged, so with newfound motivation Orion gave a final pull and managed to see what the damage to their servo was. A small, selfish part of Orion wishes that he had never gotten the servo unstuck.

The source of the injury and the poor mech's pain was a piece of wiring and cable in the wrist that had been pulled at and snapped apart. The metal plating that typically went over the wrist had been either pulled off or forcefully ripped off, and considering how the mech's other scars looked, it was most likely the latter. Orion knew that the mech would have to go to one of the doctors in order to get the wiring and cable replaced, as the injury was far too complex for him to try and treat by himself. He also didn't want to cause the mech any more pain, as when he got the servo freed the mech had made a sound of sheer agony and the wound had leaked more energon. Orion couldn't help but worry about how much energon the mech might've lost.

But as bad as the injury to the mech's wrist was, that was not what caught Orion's attention. Oh no. Instead what had caught his attention and had completely halted any previous thoughts was the fact that the servo itself was gone. There was no servo attached to the wrist. Instead, there was a claw. A fragging claw! And a claw that wasn't even made well! Surely this bot, whoever they were, deserved to get a proper replacement instead of some poorly made claw! But not only was the claw not made well, oh no, it was also severely damaged! Orion could feel a deep anger begin to boil in him, and he couldn't help the growl of anger. And, once again, the unconscious mech seemed to react to Orion's anger. Orions was by all means no expert on damaged mechs, but he's pretty sure that an unconscious mech should not be reacting this much to their surroundings.

 Could the mech simply be in a sort of stasis map? If that was the case, then was there a way to wake the downed mech up? Orion would be able to help the stranger out a lot better if they were able to communicate what exactly is wrong. And it also means that Orion won't have to try and haul a mech twice his size back to a doctor. He can push carts of energon but he crosses the line at trying To push a grown aft mech! He takes a deep vent in order to calm himself and to try and stop his racing thoughts. He would not be of any use in trying to help the injured bot if he was upset and in deep thought. He'll, he'd probably end up injuring the bot further!

It took a moment for Orion to get back to a calmer state of mind, and when he did the first thing he decided to do was brainstorm ways to try and wake up the mysterious mech. He knew that if he tapped on D's helm enough times his friend would wake up, even if somewhat angry. But if D woke up angry due to tapping then Orion would rather not see what a mech of this size could do to him if he managed to piss it off. It's simply just survival instincts. He's also heard that pinching and hitting lightly is a consistent way to wake someone up, but the mechs in enough distress as it is that, once again, he would rather not agitate them any further. As the mech below him moved Orion could see how a new bead of energon leaked from the wrist wound. Hmm. Energon.

It was as if he was hit by a boulder. Of course! Energon! Naturally, a mech would wake up if they were to detect energon entering their system! Now, does this run this risk of choking? Yea absolutely! But at this point Orion was getting rather desperate and he subtly seemed to realize just how long he's been gone from the mine he should be in. Elita One and D are not going to be happy with this, but in his defense…yea no Orion couldn't think of a valid defense. Sure he could always say that the injured mech was what made him take so long but that's not even true. It's mainly been due to the fact that Orion loves to overthink and this whole situation is making his processor face. Speaking of overthinking…

Orion pinched the tip of one of his finials in order to once again pull himself together. He was an absolute overthinking mess this particular solar cycle and for this problem he'll just blame it on Darkwing. You can get away with a lot of things by blaming them on Darkwing. What was he doing again? Ah, right, the energon! Yet another thing to blame on Darkwing!

He quickly reached onto his subspace to find one of the energon cubes he totally didn't steal from one of the higher ups. It's not like they needed it or anything. And besides, if it works in waking the bot up then it would've been used for a good cause. Now, getting the energon was the easy part but trying to get the bot to consume it? Well, that was a much harder challenge. Trying to force a bot to open their intake in order to force down an energon cube not only sounds disgusting but is also really hard to pull off. 

At first, Orion tried to see if he could open the unconscious mechs intake by holding their jaw, but after a few attempts of grabbing the bottom of the mechs face and trying to get the mechs face to shift into something other than a frown or scowl and failing miserably he had to decide on a new tactic. One which he quickly realized wouldn't work as the mech did not have an obvious olfactory organ (which, not to be rude or anything to the mech, looks really fragging odd). So in the end Orion had to get creative with how he would get the mech. And sure he didn't mind getting creative in his methods but he would much rather get the mech awake, checked up on, and back to his work before one of the other miners realized that Orion was not with them and tattled.

With a newly found energy that came with the desire to not get scolded by Darkwing, Orion shifted onto the next method to get the mech's intake open. He had a feeling he will regret this later, but in the moment he is feeling quite desperate so can you really blame him? Orion got into position, leaning over the mech with his face near their face. He used one servo to steady himself so that he wouldn't accidentally fall onto the mech and the other servo contained the cube of energon. He only needed to do one more step in order to (hopefully) wake the mech up. So, feeling rather glad that he was alone with none of his friends to see him, Orion let out a loud, pathetic whine.

The response from the mech was immediate. Their faceplate that was once held in a scowl was now twisted in a way that showed nothing but concern. The mech also let out what sounded a lot like a chirp in response to his pathetic little whine. But, most importantly, in the process of showing their concern, the mechs derma had parted just slightly. And while they were not parted enough to shove an energon cube down into the mech's intake it was parted enough to rekindle Orion's hope. Finally! He felt as if he were getting somewhere! And he only had to use some mildly manipulative tactics in order to do so! Orion repeated the noise he had previously made and, once again, the mech responded with a chirp of concern. This chirp was louder than the last one, which caused their derma to part even further. With a swift movement of his servos Orion was able to shove the energon cube down their intake before they decided to once again set their faceplate into a frown.

A low growl was heard from the mech, clearly not pleased with having something shoved into their intake. If they were a little more aware, they probably also would have growled at the fact that they had been tricked into being concerned for Orion. Orion quickly apologized to the mech, feeling a sense of guilt at having tricked an injured mech.

“Sorry about all of this, but I didn't want you to get any worse and I didn't exactly have any other options I could go with. Hey, if it'll make you feel better, you can smack me across the helm when you wake up! D says it always manages to calm him down. Though don't worry about me getting hurt! D never does it in a way that hurts. And besides, it's not like the smack is unwarranted or anything. Honestly, I think you and D would get along great! I can't wait to-” Orion was abruptly cut off from his ramblings when he heard a soft sounding ‘click’! When he checked, he noticed that the mechs' biolights were just a bit brighter and their not-claw-handed-servo twitched. In a moment of sheer intelligence, Orion decided to touch the mech's helm crest. With the way their scowl had intensified and their optics had finally onlined, it was clear they were not exactly thrilled with Orion at the moment.

Sharp blue optics scanned over Orion and he abruptly realized the position he was still in. Leaning over a stranger, his face close to theirs, with a servo placed on the ground next to them keeping him stabilized. With the realization he quickly scooted himself back a bit to give the mech more space and to hopefully make himself out to be less of a creep. But it seemed that his position was the least of the now conscious mechs' problems. It took Orion a moment, but he had realized that the mech's optics had never once left him. Despite moving away and turning his helm, the other mech was locked onto Orion.

Slowly, the mech had begun to prop themselves into a sitting position, but in the process their damaged servo managed to slip on the ground below them, causing the mech to hiss out in pain.

 “Ah slag! You okay there? That sounded like it hurt! You, uh, probably shouldn't put much weight on that…servo? I'm not quite sure what to refer to it as. I don't want to come off as an afthole or anything! You're already on edge and it would be rude of me to agitate you further. By the looks of it you've been through a lot!” Oh shut up shut up! Orion shut up! You are not helping! The last thing the mech needs is some talkative miner!

But oddly enough, the mech didn't seem to have any reaction to Orions words. Their position had not changed. Their optics were still locked onto him. His previous anxiety over the situation came back with a vengeance. Now, Orion has been in a lot of uncomfortable or even scary situations, but this one is by far one of the worst ones he's had. With a level of uncertainty, he stood up on shaky legs. Their optics did not leave him. They didn't even flicker. It was as if they had lost the ability to look at anything else. Reluctantly, Orion began to slowly walk towards the other bot. He would soon regret this.

It was as if one moment the mech was sitting calmly and the next they were completely upright brimming with rage. Somewhere in their process of getting up, they transformed their intact servo into a gun. Which Orion can proudly claim has been a first for him! Orion can also proudly claim that this is one of the only times he has truly been absolutely terrified. If the mech across from him was smaller, a little less scared, and was not looking at him with hatred then he would most likely have been fine! He might've even laughed! But in this current moment? Orion knew that he was royally fragged. 

Orion put his servos up, trying to show the other mech that he wasn't a threat. Unfortunately, the mech did not seem to acknowledge his sign of surrender, and they continued to have their servo-gun-thing out and aimed at him. If Orion wasn't panicked he would have definitely asked about the servo-gun they had. But as of right now? Yea no he was panicked. 

The two were at a standstill, neither seemingly willing to move. Orion kept his servo up where the other could see them and the other mech kept their gun aimed at his helm. Orion wasn't quite sure how long the two spent staring at one another, and somewhere along the line Orion's thoughts began to drift back to the beginning of this whole mess. Quite funny how everything circled back around, isn't it?

The sound of metal clanking together and wires shifting was what finally broke Orion of his little flashback session. When he looked around at the mech, he realized that they had lowered their servo-gun and had transformed it back into just a regular servo with the gun part. The mechs posture was less tense than when they had originally stood up, and their optics held a considerably lesser amount of rage in them. Seeing the possibility of de-escalating this entire situation, Orion lowered his servos to where they were eventually resting by his side and began to talk.

“Hey, uh, you good now? Didn't mean to startle you. Or upset you. Or whatever I did. Uh-” honestly he was at a loss of what he could possibly say. He was most definitely making a fool of himself in front of the clearly higher ranking mech. “Hope you didn't mind me zoning out there. Was rethinking some life choices, y'know?” if Primus was truly there then could he please do Orion a favor and strike him down? Or at least reset time to where he would have never tried to start this conversation in the first place?

And it wasn't as if the mech was merciful. Instead of shutting him up or taking him out of this miserable situation they simply just stood there and watched. Their optics flickering with a variety of emotions that Orion was far too tired to even try and decipher. The staring contest the two had previously going on seemed to resume as neither party spoke up. Just silent observing. While Orion fidgeted with whatever he could in order to try and make the moment less awkward, the other mech stood still. Getting rather fed up with the silence, Orion let out a groan of misery.

“Listen, if I really pissed you off, can you at least do me the favor of executing me or locking me up in a cell somewhere or something? I'm not sure I can stand another moment of you silently judging me. And if you don't plan on locking me up can I at least leave to go back to the mines? I'm rather late to my job and I would rather Darkwing not beat me due to my tardiness.” Orion was unable to keep the annoyance and anxiety out of his voice, and he groaned yet again. “Oh Primus I'm making an absolute fool of myself in front of someone with high authority. ”

“You are not.”

Orion whipped his helm around in order to face the mech who had, for the first time since they've ‘met’ had spoken! He hadn't realized he was facing away from the other, he must've turned away during some point in his rant. But Orion couldn't help but be a little confused at the others' words.

“Er- pardon?”

The mech spoke up once again, meeting Orion's optics. Voice stoic and confident, they said “You are not making a fool of yourself.”

What? What??

Orion couldn't help but laugh loudly at that, which startled the other mech. They flinched and their posture shifted to show that they were now confused. He's gotten good at recognizing when others get confused because he manages to confuse many bots. It's one of his many talents! In a break between the fit of laughter, Orion blurted out “You are definitely being far too nice! Or did you not hear me earlier? Primus I sounded like a newspark learning how to speak for the first time!” Orion couldn't help but cackle at the thought of a blundering sparkling!

The mech tilted their head. They were once again wearing an expression that, due to Orion's distracted state of mind, he was unable to be interpret. Orion assumed it was either confusion, but he couldn't be quite sure. As his laughter began to fade out, the mech once again spoke up, voice just as confident as it was before. “You were nervous. You are still nervous. It is quite understandable for you to not be able to speak as elegantly as you can while in a comfortable setting.”

Silence.

That was…not what Orion was expecting. When one of the higher ups spoke it was with scorn and disgust. They would criticize every aspect of Orion and his behavior. He was not used to someone in power acting this nice to him, especially when Orion hasn't even done anything to get the mech on his good side. His emotions must've shown on his face, as the next words the mech spoke were “Are you alright? I had no intentions of upsetting or offending you in any way if that is your reason for the silence.”

Feeling bad for making the other worry, Orion quickly spoke up in order to sooth the others worries. “Oh no I'm fine! You didn't do anything to upset or offend me or whatever! I'm just, uh, confused? That's probably the best way to describe how I feel right now.” He gave a little nervous chuckle. “Honestly, I expected you to have scolded me by now! Not used to someone like you acting caring!” Based on the way the others' faces crumpled at his words, this was not the right thing to say.

In a much smaller voice, the other bot gently murmured “Why would I scold you? You are not in the wrong. It was I who had first startled you with my sudden actions. And I must apologize for reacting in such a way and for making you think I might've been willing to hurt you in any way. Rest assured, I would never lay a digit on you, my-” they abruptly cut themselves off, faceplate shifting to show an immense amount of agony before they put on their neutral frown to hide any potential emotions. Orion was starting to hate that frown. For some reason, it just didn't seem right. Orion clicked his glossa before making his way over to the larger mech. He stopped a couple feet in front of them before he extended a servo out for them.

“Oh don't beat yourself up! Hey, let's just say we were both in the wrong, alright? I startled you and you startled me. On that topic, I feel as if we definitely got onto a rough start, so let me introduce myself!” Making optic contact with the mech, Orion happily exclaimed “I'm Orion Pax! If the name is a bit too long for your taste, feel free to call me just Orion! I wouldn't recommend using just Pax, though, as that is typically reserved for when I do something wrong.”

Since he was closer to the mech he was able to see how the mech tensed up when he said his name. He also caught a glimpse of that agony the other had a moment ago before it was once again replaced. But the mech quickly managed to calm themself and they slowly lowered themself to the ground, making it to where they no longer towered over Orion. With a gentle grasp of his servo, the mech spoke up and in a soft voice said “I am Ultra Magnus. It is a pleasure to meet you, Orion.” 

Ultra Magnus. That was the bot's name. Now he could finally refer to the other as something other than ‘the mech’ or ‘the bot.’ Orion was finally learning more about the mech who had been a complete mystery up to this point! But his curiosity was not satisfied yet. He still had a variety of questions he wanted to ask Magnus (he hopes the other will be fine with him calling them that. Their full name is pretty lengthy. Of course, Orion Pax wasn't exactly one to judge on someone's name) but he wasn't exactly sure if they were in the mood for any more questions. However, Magnus seemed to realize Orion's lingering curiosity and tilted their helm to the side, saying “Is there something you want to ask me?”

If his processor was in a clearer state he would've been starting to question why the mech seemed to catch onto his emotions so quickly. They just met yet Magnus already seems to know all of his nervous tics and habits! But since Orion was not exactly in a calmer state of mind, he just shrugged it off for now and responded to the mech. “Yeah I have quite a bit of questions to ask you, but I have a feeling you probably wouldn't be in the mood for them. Plus, uh, there's something a little more important to get figured out before I bombard you with questions.” To drive home his point, Orion gestured toward the mech's injured servo and wrist. Oddly, the mech seemed surprised at the sight of the wound. Did he get injured while he was unconscious?

Making sure as to not agitate the wound further, Magnus gently ran a digit over the damaged wires and metal. There were some areas of the wound that, when touched, Magnus flinched at. The wound still clearly hurt which made the mechs previous confusion even stranger. Orion has forgotten important information before, sure, but he would like to think that an injury this serious would be something he would have remembered. Out of concern, he couldn't help but stutter out “Ah yea uh- I found you with the injury. Was it, like, not there before? If it really hurts we can drag you to one of the doctors? Um. Not a doctor myself but I don't think you are supposed to touch an open wound. I'm pretty sure you're actually supposed to do the opposite. Like, you need to cover it before it gets worse or something gets in the wound. Especially because the mines sure as hell are not exactly the cleanest of places. You'll-”

“I'm alright. The sight of the wound simply startled me, that's all. I am still in the process of waking up, so my reaction time is still rather slow. I apologize.” Ultra Magnus interrupted Orion, realizing that he was starting to get worried. At the others' reassurance, he sighed out “Alright, if you're sure that's what happened then I'll quit my yapping. I'm just concerned about you, y'know. It's not exactly normal for a cogged mech to just randomly appear in an abandoned part of the mine unconscious and injured, er- no offense, sir.”

It was as if a lever were pulled the instant Orion uttered the word ‘sir.’ Magnus, who had previously been relaxed, has tensed up all of a sudden. Their face scrunched in a way that made it look as if they had eaten a sour cube of energon. Realizing his mistake, he quickly began to frantically apologize. “Slag! Sorry! I shouldn't have just- ah frag! Er- is it- are you actually a ma'am? Or neither? Or-” once again Magnus cut him off. During the frantic apology, their faceplate softened and they relaxed. A soft smile showed on their face “You were correct the first time. I was simply caught off guard from you saying it. You do not need to refer to me as sir, Orion. There is no need for it”

No need?- “Not sure if you noticed but you are of a much higher rank than I am. It'd be rude of me to not call you sir, sir!” Magnus once again cringed at the use of the word, and Orion realized that it was less out of any sort of anger and was more out of a mixture between disgust and confusion. It was as if hearing the word come from Orion was some sort of great crime. Orion couldn't help it and he started to snicker at Magnus’ expression. At first, Magnus was confused as to why Orion was amused all of a sudden, but once the realization came to him he gave Orion a glare and scolded him. “Pax.”

Hearing his name caused him to break even further. He couldn't help it when he started to snort. Throughout the entirety of the laughing session Magnus still looked utterly unimpressed. It was a face he was familiar with D having, so seeing it on someone else was both entertaining and weird. When his laughter ended, Magnus gave him a look that said “you done yet?” Orion gave him a cheeky smile before admitting “Sorry! Sorry! It's just- Primus you sounded exactly like D!” He couldn't help it- he giggled at all of the memories of D looking just as exasperated as Magnus did in the moment.

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“AH FRAG!”

Orion's sudden shout changed the mood very quickly. Immediately, Magnus was on guard and alert for any potential threats. He transformed his servo back into the gun and surveyed the surrounding area. When he spotted nothing of significance, he turned back to Orion, very clearly confused as to the reason behind the sudden shout. At the look of confusion he got, Orion quickly explained “I'm late! Ohh I'm so fragging late! Oh D is going to strangle me!” He began to pace as he rambled on, “He leaves me for a click and boom! I've vanished! Oh Primus he has most definitely informed the others about my absence! Augh, why must you be like this, Orion!?” As he finished, he pressed his servos against his face, covering it from view.

After regaining his composure, he turned to Magnus and quickly blurted out-”You! Me! Run! Now!” Hoping that his new companion would get the hint that they needed to leave the tunnel immediately. Orion already began to turn away from Magnus and started sprinting, not wanting to waste any time seeing if the other was following him or not. In retrospect, this was definitely not his greatest moment. Leaving someone injured in the dust like that was definitely one of his worst moments, actually, but in his defense he was panicking!

 In the process of trying to get out of the tunnel he was in, he almost managed to trip over who-knows-what at least 5 separate times. When he finally did manage to emerge from the tunnel, he was covered in dust and had definitely gotten scratched in some areas. He paid no mind to that, as he quickly began to continue his sprint back to the mines where he was supposed to be. Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he swore he heard the sound of metal shifting and clanking together. It sounded an awful lot like a bot transforming. That was probably something he should've taken note of, as that would have most likely had come in handy in the near future. But in typical Orion fashion, he just ignored the strange sound and continued his way through the mine.

He felt relief as he came across a section that he recognized. Reassured with the knowledge that was not that much farther away from his destination, he sat down on the ground in order to get some rest and to cool down his slightly overworked frame. Running as if you were being chased takes a lot out of you and Orion knows that from a variety of past experiences. Still exhausted from the run, he decided to lie down flat to see if that would get him re-energized again. He wasn't sure how long he lied there in the section of the mine, but it must've been long enough as he soon heard the sound of someone approaching.

Assuming it was Magnus, he raised his servo high enough to give the other a small wave. He greeted the other, slurring out “Oh you- you've- caught up I- whew- I see.” He began to sit himself up in order to properly talk to Magnus, as it was disrespectful to talk to someone while you are on the floor. As he got to his pedes, he gave a shaky laugh, “Ey- sorry ‘bout leaving you behind like that. I just uh- was in a hurry. Happens sometimes.” He turned to finally face Magnus, and when he did turn he finally realized the mistake he had made.

Because instead of being greeted with the expected frown with tired eyes he was used to, he was greeted with an oh so familiar purple visor and blue frame. He was used to the nice blue that Magnus had, so this blue was like an assault on his optics. If it were any other bot, he would've told them that too. 

But due to the fact that the bot in front of him was a very pissed off Darkwing, Orion decided to do the wise thing and keep any words firmly to himself.

Mentally preparing himself for what would inevitably come next, he couldn't help but wish that he had never awoken from his recharge.

Chapter Text

Darkwing was angry. Now, this is not exactly surprising as Darkwing is always angry, but Orion can tell that in this particular moment Darkwing is very angry. Not a very good sign to see. And considering that just a moment ago he was talking to Darkwing as if he were one of his peers? Oh yea no Orion is very much fragged. He's known Darkwing long enough that he is not going to escape this encounter with the ‘superior’ bot unscathed. He gave a quick prayer to Primus that was essentially him going “hey so I'm going to be seeing you real soon so can you prepare a room for me in advance? I'd appreciate it!”

But before he would inevitably be crushed into thin pieces of scrap he might as well try to suck up to Darkwing to see if he can get lucky and lessen the incoming punishment. He highly doubted it, but hey what's wrong with some blind optimism? Also, this would be one last chance to annoy Darkwing and he did not want to lose the opportunity!

Channeling every bit of positivity he had, he turned to Darkwing and called to him-

“Heyyy Darkwing! Uh, nice to see you again! It's been far too long since I've-”

“It's been 5 solar cycles.”

Damn. Rude. He wasn't even able to finish his sentence! Orion clicked his glossa in annoyance before trying to finish his previous sentence. “Ok, so, that was rude! Have you cogged bots ever learned manners? So, as I was saying before someone rudely interrupted me, you are looking very good today! Did you get a new paint job or something?” Orion knew that he was definitely not making the situation better, but honestly if he's going to die he might as well have a little fun before he sees the light! “Say, if you were to hypothetically beat someone up that would totally ruin the new paint job, right? So how ‘bout I be on my merry little way and we both forget this happened!”

Darkwing, of course, was not the smartest of bots and instead of taking the compliment and the very logical advice he decided to start stomping his way to where Orion was standing. Honestly you'd think that due to the amount of times this has happened to Orion he would be used to it by now but nope! He couldn't suppress the flinch of fear and Darkwing managed to creep closer and closer to him. “I feel as if I've angered you somehow which, I will admit, my bad! It's a bad habit I'm trying to break. Say, I have some shanix saved up, you wanna go out somewhere sometime? Just the two of us?” 

Orion has learned over time due to his many encounters with the higher ups that whenever he were to flirt with them, it would temporarily stun them. It was a very useful trick as it had helped him escape from some pretty bad situations. Sadly, Darkwing was not affected by the flirting tactic and instead just growled out “Shut up! Enough with the useless chatter, no-cog!” Oh yea, Darkwing is mad. If anyone else were in Orion's place they would've made the very wise choice and would have shut up like Darkwing said, but since it's Orion he, of course, couldn't do that. That'd be far too easy!

At this point he probably should've started to use a different approach to Darkwing, but since it's Orion he instead chose to keep talking. Honestly, he wasn't even sure why he was talking at this point. Maybe a subconscious desire to see how pissed Darkwing could get? Regardless, Orion decided to keep talking. Y'know, looking back, maybe D had a point.

“So I see that you are upset. I've heard from therapists that it's good to talk about your feelings in order to become more calm or some slag like that. Say, how ‘bout we take turns telling each other what's really nagging at us today. It'd be a good bonding experience and-”

“Enough!”

In the midst of his rambling, Darkwing had managed to close the gap between them (in a non sexy way) and towered over Orion. In fear, he started to walk backwards in order to try and get a safe distance away from Darkwing in case he decided to do something that could potentially cause him harm. He knew Darkwing well enough to know that him approaching Orion was not because he desired a hug. Instead he most likely desired to strangle Orion and as of now he did not consent to being strangled.

Finally realizing that he should probably stop antagonizing the bot in front of him, he started to apologize and began to explain the reason for his absence. “In all seriousness, sir, I can explain what I was doing away from my post! Just give me some time and I'm sure we can get this whole misunderstanding figured out!”

He continued to walk back as he was talking and Darkwing continued to follow him. Primus, the guy could be a real creep sometimes. Like, clearly Orion was uncomfortable with the situation at hand but instead of picking up on the hints he just decided to carry on with his behavior. Orion considered hooking Darkwing up with an appointment with a therapist because the dude had some serious anger problems.

Orion was about to start speaking before Darkwing had interrupted him. A part of Orion was a little thankful because he was most likely going to say something stupid and piss off the bot even more.

“Listen here, Orion.” Darkwing spat his name out as if it were corroding the insides of his intake. “If you were any other miner I might've believed you, but since you are you, I won't trust a thing you utter! You are always up to something and the only reason you still have a purpose in your pitiful life is because your friend keeps deciding to save your sorry life! You have one job and yet you have proven over and over again that you are incapable of fulfilling the very purpose of your existence. A miner who can't mine.” Darkwing bent down in order to meet his glare with Orion's stare. “How pathetic.”

Any ounce of false confidence Orion may have had evaporated due to Darkwings rant. This may have been the angriest he's seen the bot and that's saying something! As Darkwing crept closer Orion continued to walk back from the bot. This severity of the situation suddenly hit him like a piece of falling rubble. He was alone. In a secluded place. Without any sort of back up. Facing off against a cogged bot. And said cogged bot was 5 kliks away from beating Orion into scrap metal.

He had a feeling that if he stood still and listened to his surroundings, he could hear the sound of Primus violently laughing at him. And honestly he couldn't blame him. This was by far the biggest oopsie he's committed and there was no escaping his inevitable fate. Feeling rather desperate, he tried to reason with Darkwing for what would most likely be the last time.

“Listen, I know we've had our…differences in the past. But I'm not lying! See, it all started when me and D were sent down here before our shift even began. While I was waiting for it to start, I heard someone in pain and decided to go to where the noise was! I wouldn't just abandon my post to goof off!” A pause. “Ok I might, but only if D is there! And there was an injured bot! He's all sorts of beat up and he honestly probably needs some medical help pretty soon. And by soon I mean now. If I remember correctly he has a wound on his wrist that is still bleeding. He also appears to be a little disoriented. He might not be able to find his way out of the mines if he's not treated!” 

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“Oh frag I left him behind.”

He wasn't sure why it just now occurred to him that he did indeed leave an injured mech behind in an area that was most definitely foreign to the mech. Today was not going great for Orion and it's only just begun. New record for him!

Realizing that Darkwing was still there and still looming over him, he decided to get back on track before he ended up forgetting and ended up offline.

“Darkwing you can chain me up and do whatever you like to me later because I really need to check up on Magnus real quick. He's alone and injured and-”

Once again he was cut off by the sound of Darkwings voice. 

“You mentioned this…”Magnus” before. Who exactly are you referring to?” His voice was deceptively calm. Orion was startled by it. He is used to the Darkwing with the blazing hot rage, not the Darkwing with the bitter cold anger. The other bot was still far too close to him for his liking, so Orion tried to walk back like he had done before to put some distance between the two. Unlike last time, he was not able to get too far as he was suddenly lifted from the ground. It took a moment for his processor to realize what had happened, but when he felt a crushing pain in his intake he quickly figured out why he was able to meet Darkwings visor without having to lift his helm.

Darkwing had finally reached his limit and had grabbed Orion by the neck before lifting him up off of the ground. The grasp around his neck was far too tight and painful for it to be comfortable but he had a feeling the bot in front of him knew that. He was vaguely aware of the sound of crunching metal and if he was more aware he would've realized that the sound was tied to the sudden blinding pain he felt. He tried to speak or beg or anything to make the pain go away but the only noise that he was able to make was a pitiful, static chirp of fear.

Yet through everything Darkwing stood there unaffected by the sight in front of him. He clearly could care less about the fact that he was hurting the practically defenseless miner in front of him. Orion had a feeling that if the bot didn't have a visor and face mask, his faceplate would have a look of sheer rage on it. Orion let out a whimper as the grip tightened and he was suddenly closer to the superior bot.

“Do you really think I'll buy that little story? That you ran off and to go play hero? No, Orion. I know you far too well for that. You care only for yourself. You do things that benefit you and only you. If there's an option to keep you from getting bored, you'll choose it in a spark beat. You do not care for anyone besides yourself.”

Orion wanted so badly to refute that. To yell back how wrong the other was. That he cared so much for D and the other miners and was so thankful for them. He wanted to, yet the grip around his neck prevented him from doing so. He knew that at this point he lost any opportunity to try and save himself. He wasn't quite sure what Darkwing was going to do with him, but he had some educated guesses and he liked none of them.

Orion tried to wriggle his way out of the painful grap, instinctively trying to get away from the cause of the pain, but in doing so he had only managed to give Darkwing the encouragement to tighten his grip harder. A thought quickly crossed his mind when he felt the grasp on his neck worsen.

How long until he managed to completely crush my neck? How long until he manages to sever my head from my body? How much longer will Orion Pax last?

Orion couldn't help the full body shiver at those thoughts, and unfortunately Darkwing managed to catch on to his fear.

“Are you finally starting to realize what's going to happen? Did it take your intake being crushed to pieces for you to finally realize that your actions have consequences? Has it taken you almost to die for you to finally realize that you are nothing special?” Darkwing was yelling. At least Orion thought he was yelling. Everything was starting to get rather fuzzy. It was hard to try and focus on anything due to all of the fuzz. Darkwing continued his little rant but Orion had long since stopped paying any attention. He tried too, honestly! But the pain made it oh so hard to focus on anything besides it.

“Do you know what's going to happen to you? Are you intelligent enough to finally recognize your surroundings? Or are you still in that little happy world of yours where you can do as you please and go where you want? Those days are going to be over soon, Pax.” Once again the name was spat as if it were acidic. Had either of the bots been paying attention, they would've noticed a faint noise coming from deeper down the mine. It sounded a lot like a bot transforming and then running. But neither bot picked up on the noise. Far too focused on one another to even dare try to think of something else.

“I find it quite ironic. You love to be with others yet you will rot alone. Whether that be in a cold cell or on the ground, grayed out.” Darkwing lowered his voice and put on a fake caring tone. “It didn't have to be like this. You could've been a very well renowned miner. Love by all and hated by none. You can push the blame onto me all you want, but ultimately I'm just fulfilling the duties of my prime. The only one to blame for the situation you are currently in is yourself.”

Maybe in a different time Orion would've had one last sparky comeback. Maybe he would've managed to escape from this situation as he's done plenty of times before. But he was far too out of it to even realize he was being spoken to. He could taste energon and could feel shards of metal but he could make no sense of it. The only thing he could coherently think of was how badly he wished he had never woken up from his recharge today. 

It was all slowly becoming far too much. The pain, the fuzziness, and the confusion was the perfect mixture of chaos. He could feel his vents try to cool him down. He could feel his various different joints shift in such a way that it almost felt as if they were trying to make him smaller. As if they were trying to ease the pain. Yet maybe it was a good thing that he was so out of it. He's heard that being strangled can really, really hurt. It probably hurts to die too, so the fuzziness might've been a good thing after all.

But then it stopped. Orion wasn't even sure what had happened at first but he knew that one moment he was still in Darkwings grasp and the other moment he was on the ground, coughing in such a way that it made it seem he was trying to hack up an organ. And due to the fact that each cough managed to bring up a mixture of energon and loose metal shards, that may not have exactly been all that wrong of a conclusion.

He still hurt like hell but he found that the fuzziness had greatly subsided and he was actually able to make sense of his surroundings again. He tried to recall what had happened that had made Darkwing drop him but the only thing he could remember was the sound of a boom. He had no other way to describe it as he had never heard of something like it. Once his coughing session had subsided he weakly raised a servo to try and clear off his face. He rubbed at his optics to try and get them into focus again. He was aware of the sound of an engine revving furiously but as of now it was one of his least concerns.

Once he was able to properly make out shapes again he began to scan the surrounding area to try to figure out what had happened. He gazed at the ceiling and walls of the mine that seemed to be cast in a blue light. If he recalled correctly the mine wasn't previously colored a faint blue when he originally met Darkwing but hey times change. It took Orion a rather embarrassingly long time for him to realize that he was on his back but when he did he cautiously propped himself up with one of his arms and turned to where he had remembered Darkwing being.

Orion wasn't expecting much at this point, but the sight of one of Darkwings legs bleeding out slightly still managed to catch him off guard. In all of the cycles he's known Darkwing he had never seen the other be injured in such a way. It was quite the sight and the more petty side of Orion took jot in finally seeing him being knocked down from his throne. Orion scanned the rest of the other bots body and while he didn't notice any other injuries besides the leg he did notice that Darkwing was glaring at something behind him.

Confused as to what the other mech could be seeing, Orion rolled onto his other side in order to get a better view. His optics were immediately assaulted with two vibrant blue optics staring down at his. It took him far too long for him to realize that this was Magnus, but when he did he gave a shaky wave and attempted to squeak out a greeting but the only thing that had come from his vocalizer was the sound of static. Huh. That's definitely not good.

And it appeared that Magnus agreed with the statement as the first words spoken to him was a worried “Are you alright?” Once again Orion would've loved to try and respond but he hurt like hell and apparently he could now no longer talk. He let out a frustrated sounding static because this whole situation was bullslag and he just wanted to go back to the place he called home. Magnus knelt beside Orion and gently ran a digit over his neck. When Orion winced in pain the digit quickly retreated from its place on his neck. The two mechs stayed in that spot for a few moments, unmoving. Then, Magnus had gotten up and began to walk.

Realizing that there was in fact a third bot with them, Orion quickly turned his head to try and look back at Darkwing but he was unable to spot the bot due to the blue and silver legs blocking his vision. He tried to move just enough to try and see past the legs, but everytime Orion moved, so did Magnus. The larger bot was bound and determined to not let him see Darkwing. And in typical Darkwing fashion, he was quick to anger and started throwing accusations around.

“Who are you! State your designation this instant! Only bots with the proper authorization have been approved can go into these parts of the mine!” Orion winced at the yelling as it was far too loud for his poor audials. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that Darkwing was far from over with his scolding. “You have no right to be in the mine! You also have no right to interfere with a superior officer! I will be sure to tell the Prime directly about your heinous actions!”

Something in the rant had gotten Magnus’ attention, as just seconds after Darkwing had stopped talking Magnus spoke up. When he spoke to Darkwing it was far different than how he had spoken to Orion. The warmth that was present for him was absent for Darkwing.

“The Prime?” Magnus’ voice was low and carried something dark in it. In other cases it would've been nice to get a break from all of the yelling but something about his tone made Orion shiver. While Darkwing was obvious with his rage, Magnus was one to keep it silent. Orion was used to the violent rage, but this calm rage? Oh it truly frightened him. Darkwing would sometimes try the calm approach to his anger but it had never lasted long and was quite easy to predict what was going to happen when it was heard. But this? Oh, he had no clue how this would play out at all.

Either oblivious to the hidden threat in Magnus’ words or just uncaring Darkwing pressed on. “You say it as if you are unaware of the savior of our species. But I'm not completely surprised if a bot like you had never heard of Sentinel Prime.” A rev of an engine was heard. Orion craned his head up to try and get a look at Magnus but he had started to walk towards Darkwing before Orion could see what expression he wore.

“Sentinel Prime?” It seemed that Magnus was completely fixated on the Prime. Anything else that Darkwing had ranted about was gone unheard by the large bot. “You say that it is in the Primes wishes to attack an innocent bot? You think that a Prime like that can be a savior?” The words were growled out. Even though Orion had really only just met Magnus, he had a feeling that the other was trying to control his emotions.

Darkwing, of course, had no such issues. “You dare accuse the Prime of being some sort of fraud!? You don't even know of Sentinel! You do not know how much he has had to sacrifice in order for us cybertronians to be safe! Every day he goes out onto the brutal surface in order to try and track down the Matrix!” Darkwing had marched his way closer to Magnus until the two's chest plates were essentially pressed against one another. “Sentinel will go down in history as the greatest bot to have lived! He will be mourned and remembered by all! Tell me, when you are to die, oh so wise one, do you think you will be missed?” A pause. Then-

“Does anyone love you enough to even care?”

It was then that something had snapped. It was bound to have happened. The air around them had gotten frigid and their bodies were tensed in a way that made it look as if they were seconds away from pouncing. It was clear that they were seconds away from fighting but they had needed an extra push before they would actually do anything. But Darkwings last couple of words? 

Oh. The tension had snapped. And so had Magnus.

It happened quick enough that Orion didn't get the exact details of what had happened. All he knows was that in one moment the two were simply just glaring at one another with optics full of unbridled hatred and the next moment they were on the ground in a flurry of limbs and the sounds of metal violently clashing began to fill the air.

Orion was used to fights. Orion was used to violence.

But he was not used to seeing two fully grown cogged bots swing at each other like the two had. The fights between miners were usually no more than a couple punches thrown or being tackled to the ground. But this? There were punches and kicks and so many other things going on that Orion's scattered brain could barely keep up. So much was going on and the roar of engines was so overwhelming that he was frozen where he was. Helplessly watching as two beasts of bots fought.

At some point Magnus had punched Darkwing in the helm with his claw that the other had staggered back in pain. Magnus’ wound on his wrist began to bleed again due to the wound being aggravated yet he paid no mind to the pain radiating from it. His attention was sheerly on the other bot in front of him and the little bot he's trying to protect. Darkwing quickly regained his composure and lunged at Magnus. The two were back onto the ground and once again punching and pulling at whatever they could find. 

At one point, Magnus had bit into a cable of Darkwings neck. It was a hard enough bite that Darkwing recoiled due to the pain and put a servo up to the wound to try and stop any bleeding. But the mech didn't even get to check for any fresh energon and there was a kick to one of his legs and a punch to the helm. Darkwing tried to avoid the attack but he ended up falling in the process. He fell onto his back and watched as Magnus loomed above him.

To a weaker mech, this might have frightened them off or made them give in. But to Darkwing? Oh. Oh this was a challenge.

There was a sound of shifting metals and gears and then the sound of clashing metal and then there was silence. To Orion, it was as if one moment the two bots were still there in the cave with him and the next they were gone. The realization of what happened made him quickly get to his legs and start to make his way down the tunnel. Darkwing had transformed. He transformed and had hit Magnus with his alt mode. At a very fast speed. 

Orion may have been in a lot of pain now but he couldn't imagine the pain Magnus would be in. Getting hit by an alt mode is painful and for it to be at point blank while simultaneously going so fast? Oh yea something is going to definitely crack. He tried his best to run as fast as he could to try and get to Magnus but the pain made it hard for him to run at all. He kept on coughing and gasping and his vents kept turning on to try and prevent him from overheating his system.

But nevertheless he kept on pushing forward down the tunnel. It was hard to keep track of how long he spent running but eventually he could hear the faint sounds of yelling and screams. That was not a reassuring sign so he tried to quicken his pace. Oh Primus, what had he done? What if someone got seriously hurt just because he couldn't follow some basic rules or sit still long enough?!

His pedes may have been shaky and he may have been dizzy but he'd be damned before he would let someone get hurt due to his problems. As the yells became clearer and the tunnel eventually opened up into a wider area he could see a crowd of miners gathered around in a circle, all looking at one thing. None of them seemed to be injured, so the will to run quickly died out and Orion was unable to try and save himself from falling. He hit the ground with a loud thud and the noise must've attracted some of the miner closer to him as he quickly heard panicked shouting that had included his name in it.

Everything was starting to become fuzzy again, but he could vaguely make out the shape of Jazz's helm and Ironhide's stocky body. He lifted a servo and gave them a weak wave and a crooked smile. He was in all sorts of pain but it was nice to see some familiar faces. He quickly began to see even more familiar faces as a group of miners began to crowd around Orion. It was clear that they were talking about his injuries and trying to get him proper medical attention but their voices seemed so far away that they only sounded like a faint humming noise.

Servos began to poke and prod at him and he let out a static noise of discomfort at the feeling. He knew that they were trying to help out but he would rather not be treated like some sort of attraction at a park. Not longer after Orion had made the noise the ground began to shake and tremble. The miners all turned their gaze away from Orion and looked up at something. Orion tried to turn himself so he could see whatever it was too but he wasn't able to make much progress before he felt something scoop him up into the air.

At first there was a moment of great panic due to the feeling of being suddenly lifted, but after Orion saw the blue and red chest plate he was being held against, he quickly relaxed. It was just Magnus. Orion was happy to see Magnus. He wanted to show his happiness to the other so he tilted his helm up to look at the other and a familiar set of worried optics once again met his own. It was such a familiar scenario Orion couldn't help but feel as if he was back in the past watching everything unwind again. He would rather not have to witness Darkwing and Magnus’ fight again, even if it was brief.

.

.

.

Where was Darkwing?

Magnus was right there, but he never managed to catch a glimpse at Darkwing. He tried to move in order to try and spot the superior bot but Magnus was quick to stop him. He could hear the sound of the others' voices, all deep and calm, but he failed to make out any meanings of the words that were spoken. It was most likely just Magnus being overly protective of him again. He seemed to have a habit of doing that. Some part of Orion did not like being babied while the other part absolutely ate up the attention he got from it. He quite liked the attention. It was nice. It was very nice.

Orion felt odd. He knew that the day had only just begun but he was already so tired. All he wanted to do was go back to his makeshift berth and go back into recharge. Maybe he could convince himself that everything had been some wild dream and that he could wake up feeling normal again. But the pain he felt kept him from fantasizing for too long. Now that all of his energy had been drained, the pain was far more noticeable and had hurt even more than it previously did.

He knew that he was going to have to get his neck and intake fixed up. He really didn't want to, though. He would rather sleep than go to the medics and persuade them to fix him. It was not as if he could pay them off. And even if he could it would take a very long time for him to do so. He wondered if his self repair system could manage to fix him up. Maybe he wouldn't have to go to that damned clinic after all!

That fantasy was also quickly shattered as the oh so familiar voice of Ratchet materialized itself. Even if Orion himself could not make out the doctor's words it was clear just from the tone and sheer volume that Ratchet was not happy. Even though he knew that Ratchet's way of displaying concern was through anger he couldn't help but wince at the thought.

As the doctor came into sight and his expression turned into one of sheer bewilderment at the sight of Orion in a larger bots hold, he couldn't help but mentally prepare himself for the lengthy explanation he's going to have to give to Ratchet about what had happened. He was not looking forward to explaining anything, especially since the last time he tried he had gotten his intake crushed.

When Magnus began to shift and move Orion knew that his new destination was towards the clinic. With a sigh full of static Orion had given in to his internal turmoil.

Oh boy! Clinic here he comes!

His vision along with everything else quickly blacked out after the thought.

Chapter Text

When you wake up from recharge, the first sound you hear is the sounds of the other mechs around you. Depending on how early or late you woke up, you'll either be greeted with the sounds of someone snoring or the sounds of talking. There were some days where you would awake to a different sound, but those were not very common days.

So that being said, when the first noise Orion heard after he had woken up (when had he fallen asleep?) was the sound of an ominous beeping, he couldn't help but be on guard. His optics were still offlined and he didn't feel like going through the effort of trying to look for whatever was making the sound. It might've been a bomb. If it was a bomb then oh well. Orion was quite content resting and if he were to die right now he would've died a very content and warm bot.

It was very rare that a miner was able to lay down for their recharge. Getting every bot a berth would be quite expensive and it would take up a lot of room so instead they have to sleep standing up. At first it can be a pain in the aft to get used to but after enough time passes you get used to it. Well, at least for him. He knew that some of his fellow miners still had troubles trying to slip into recharge due to them being upright. Those same miners would've probably been pretty jealous that he was currently lying down right now. But hey at least he's comfortable!

Or well, he was. As his processor started to also wake up and begin to register what was going on on a deeper level he realized that there was the faint sound of shuffling that was then followed but muttering. Huh. That wasn't creepy at all. So not only did he have no clue where he currently was he was also in a room with a stranger. Today was really not his day.

Orion tried to shift over a bit in order to hear the other bot better but in the process he must've managed to screw something up because he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck. He let out a reflexive hiss of pain and put a servo up to the part of his neck that was in pain. He wasn't quite sure what he servo could do to lessen the pain. He also must've gotten the attention of the other bot in the room because he heard the sound of someone stomping over to him. It was then followed by a sharp “And just what do you think you're doing?”

In his groggy state it had taken him a moment to match the voice with the bot, but when he did he could feel a sly grin form on his face. He knew this bot. He knew him very well. With heavy amusement in his voice, he replied back. “Oh, ello Ratchet! Fancy seeing you here!” He then snickered at his own joke. He was very funny. Hilarious, even.

Ratchet clearly disagreed, as he could be heard sighing heavily in a way that only he was able to manage. He really nailed the disappointed doctor type. Maybe because he was a disappointed doctor. Orion had remembered that the last time he had gotten hurt Ratchet had bluntly told him to “try and not get hurt again or else I'll just let you die.” His words exactly. But, due to the fact that Orion was very much not dead, he knew that the doctor's words were merely a jest. A joke, if you will. A silly, even.

He then was abruptly reminded of the ominous beeping, as when the two bots fell quiet Orion was able to hear it again. It had definitely gotten faster from the last time he had heard of it. That's probably not good. Maybe it was a bomb and Ratchet did plan on following through with his threat. For some reason, it had seemed that his ability to think before he spoke (which was already fragged up) had been taken away from him as he abruptly blurted out his next words.

“Is that a bomb? Y'know, if it goes off it'll probably kill us both. That'd suck.”

The silence that followed was deafening. If his optics were on, he would've been able to see the sheer bewilderment that was present on Ratchet's face. After yet another disappointed Ratchet sigh, the medic had grumbled out a “No.” He might have also said “you're an idiot” but it was just quiet enough that Orion was unable to make out any other words besides the no. He hoped that Ratchet had only said no. He would start aggressively sobbing if the doctor said something slightly critical. That definitely wasn't normal. I mean sure Orion sucked at taking criticism but he would at least go to a secluded area before he would start ugly crying. He was definitely off of his A game today.

Orion must've been thinking for too long as he soon felt crusty cold doctor hands touch his face. Rude.

“How about you online your optics? I think that would help us both out in the long run. And also make my job easier.”

“No.”

“No?” 

“Don't wanna.”

A pause. The touch on Orion's face remained. He was unsure as to what was happening. Mainly because he couldn't see what was happening but he was not about to admit defeat to Ratchet. But he would soon realize that he had no choice and would lose regardless because he suddenly felt someone pinch one of the cables on his wrist. It was not painful in the slightest, but his optics still onlined at the feeling. He was greeted with a very unamused and tired Ratchet standing in front of him. Once the doctor realized that Orion could finally see, he pointed to something. 

Orion looked over to where the doctor was pointing and saw a thing. He honestly had no clue how to describe it which was odd. He was typically pretty good at finding some sort of description. He looked back to Ratchet and the confusion must've been clear on his face because the doctor quickly began to explain. “That machine is what's making the beeping. There is no bomb. Wheeljack's been banned from the clinic so there will never be a bomb.”

Oh, ok. That makes sense. I guess. I mean it would be odd to have an item of destruction in a place of healing. Unless that's how the medics here make their pay. I mean if it works it works! If he was feeling better and less…loopy, he would've asked what exactly the machine did. But since he was in fact very loopy, he did not feel like asking. That would take some amount of effort and honestly Orion couldn't be bothered.

He saw Ratchet start moving again and was curious as to what the doctor was trying to do now. Honestly, Ratchet's job had always fascinated him. It was, in his opinion, absolutely astonishing to see a doctor in action. Having witnessed a fair amount of doctors doctoring due to injured miners, he couldn't help but admire them. And the circumstances behind Ratchet specifically was always fascinating. A miner who proved his worth and became something greater than what he was originally told he was. I mean sure Ratchet is still a miner, but he's also a doctor when off mining duty! That's cool!

A loud snap near his audials had him violently ripped from his thoughts. The cause of the sound was Ratchet. Not surprising. Ratchet wasn't known for his stunning personality and manners. And Orion must've done something to piss off the bot again because Ratchet did not look pleased. The words the bot next spoke had confirmed his little theory.

“Did you listen to a single thing I said?!”

“Uhh-” At that, Ratchet let out another one of his famous ‘done with everyone's slag’ sighs and began to explain himself over again. “Ok. Orion. I am aware that you are very out of it and can probably smell colors right now, but you must be cooperative because I currently have another patient who is refusing any kind of treatment because he feels pity towards you. Can we hurry this along so I can do my job and get paid?”

A lazy blink. Then- “Who's the patient? Do I know ‘em?” 

“Wha- why does that matter?! Ugh, I must've accidentally given you too strong of an anesthetic. Or you're just acting more like a moron than you typically are”

Oh. That would explain a lot. If Orion was drugged then that would explain him feeling really loopy. He didn't hear that last part at all. He was really caught up in the fact that he was drugged. Wait.

“Oh I'm drugged!? Hell yea! And I didn’t even have to pay for ‘em!”

.

.

.

“I won’t have to pay for them, right?”

Ratchet let out a growl of frustration at that. Orion just giggled at the doctor's reaction. He felt like he was floating and he felt pretty good! That other patient could wait just a few kliks, right?

It would, in fact, take much more than a few kliks for Orion to go back to his normal self. In the time when he was still out of it Ratchet had attempted to go treat his other patient yet he had come back after only a few moments, clearly pissed off. Turns out the patient had yet again refused treatment and would only accept it once he had confirmation that Orion was alright.

Orion was quite flattered by this which led him to make a few jokes about it. Personally, he thought the jokes were hilarious but it had seemed that Ratchet had thought the opposite as he had gotten a wrench thrown at his helm. Multiple times.

There was one time that one of the wrenches had just bounced off of his helm and he couldn't contain his laughter. He swore he was going to go offline due to how hard he was laughing. That might've been due to the fact that when he laughed he irritated his wound in his neck and began to feel pain. Regardless, Ratchet watched as his patient (and friend. For some reason.) lost his mind at a damn wrench. That must've been some sort of trigger for Ratchet as a second later he walked out of the room Orion was situated in and started screaming. Must've been a rough day for him.

After that whole ordeal the drugs must've finally started to wear off as Orion can't remember doing anything else that was noteworthy. Or he did do something stupid and just forgot about it. That was also a good possibility. But regardless Orion was finally able to become somewhat sane again and currently he was essentially being dragged down a hallway by a very grumpy doctor. He passed by a variety of rooms with bots that had injuries ranging from torn arms to cracked plating. Orion felt rather lucky that the only thing that had gotten damaged was his neck, as tying to mine without any arms definitely would've made his job a lot harder. After being dragged for what seemed to be miles Ratchet must've finally gotten to where he wanted to go and he abruptly stopped and whipped around to glare at Orion.

“When we enter this room, you are going to behave yourself! So help me if you manage to make the patient's anxiety any worse I will melt you down and use your melted husk as a new office table!” Ratchet had essentially screeched this at Orion. After that, the doctor stomped his way into a room that had a movable door, which Orion hadn't seen in any of the other rooms. Due to the door, he was unable to make out who exactly the patient was. He had a hunch that he knew who it was, and this hunch was confirmed when he pushed the door aside and was finally able to see the patient.

Before Orion's presence was known, he could see Ratchet trying to soothe the worries of an awfully familiar large blue mech with a claw hand. There, sitting on the berth with a look of poorly hidden concern, was Ultra Magnus. Whenever Ratchet attempted to try and touch him, he would flinch away and say something back to the doctor. Due to the distance (and the fact that Orion was still a little out of it) he was unable to make out any words. But he must've said something to irritate Ratchet as the white bot pointed over to where Orion was standing awkwardly. It was fascinating to see how quickly Magnus’ face shifted when he caught sight of Orion. The worry that was previously present had been melted away and in its place laid a look of relief.

Having no experience on how to greet a bot that looked at him as if he was their whole world, he just gave Magnus a shy wave. That must've been the right option to choose as seconds later he could see how the others plating, which was tensed up, had relaxed. It was as if the mere sight of Orion had cured whatever ailments the bot had. Ratchet, catching onto the fact that his previously uncooperative patient had finally calmed down, made a move. “You finally going to allow me to help you? Listen, it may not exactly be a life threatening wound, but I can guarantee that the wrist injury you have must hurt like slag.”

There was a moment of silence as Magnus seemed to consider his options. Orion saw that Magnus’ optics had briefly landed on him before he turned to Ratchet and finally gave into the doctor. There was a quick flash of relief on the doctor's face, betraying his ‘I don’t care about you in the slightest’ attitude. While Ratchet was most definitely a prickly bot, it was also undeniable that he cared immensely for his own. Now for the cogged or superior bots? Yea, that could be debated on.

Ratchet began to gather the tools and materials he would need for whatever he was planning. If Orion had a medically trained eye he would have probably realized the tools gathered but as he was in fact not medically trained in the slightest it just looked like Ratchet was gathering a collection of random junk. And wrenches. That was slightly worrying. Orion shifted his gaze to Magnus and he was surprised to see that the other mech was already staring at him.

Caught off guard by this, the only thing Orion could manage was a squeaky “Hi?” For some reason, the mere notion of Orion speaking was what got the blue bots attention. “You can talk? It does not hurt, does it?” There was worry present in Magnus’ tone, which was really odd. Was Orion not supposed to be able to talk? Once again unsure of what to do, Orion simply nodded his head in confirmation that he is alright. He must've been a rather unreliable source, as Magnus quickly turned to the doctor to make sure that Orion wasn't lying.

Ratchet, seeing the worry on his patient's face, sighed before gently reassuring him. “Yes, Orion is alright. Physically. I don't think he'll get much better mentally.” An exaggerated gasp of betrayal was heard from across the room, but Ratchet just continued on. “The damage he sustained was, thankfully, not as severe as I originally thought it would be. While it will take time for him to fully heal, he will have no long-term damage.”

Two sighs of relief were heard. One from Magnus, and one from Orion. Orion hadn't exactly known the condition of his wound, and he was unsure of any possible side effects. He was most likely told earlier but due to his…condition, had forgotten. At least he hoped that was the case. Ratchet rolled his optics at the two's reaction and went over to Magnus. “Now you, on the other hand, could very well have long-term damage to your wrist if you don't let me look at it within the next 5 kliks!” Orion, seeing Magnus’ reaction to getting scolded by Ratchet, started to snort. It was funny to see others face the doctor's wrath. 

His snort was clearly heard from Magnus, as the bot turned his head just a bit to be able to give Orion a disappointed look. Ratchet clearly did not approve of his patient's attention being anywhere else, as a loud clang was soon heard from a wrench hitting Magnus on his helm crest. It was a mixture of the look of shock on Magnus’ face and Ratchet's angry ranting that had made Orion finally lose it. He could not stop his laughter no matter how hard he tried and the doctor was clearly in no mood to deal with him any more, as he shouted for Orion to “get out of the room and leave us alone!”

The sound of laughter continued on, even after Orion had left the room. When he left, Ratchet turned back to his patient. Said patient was already tensing up from Orion's departure. Sighing yet again, Ratchet couldn't help but wish that he had never gotten interested in the medical field.

Orion lost track of how long he sat on the floor outside of Magnus’ room. He saw other doctors and patients walk by, eyeing him with confusion. He couldn't help but get a slight sense of deja vu from it. It reminded him a lot of how this fever dream of a day began. And honestly, now that he had the time to actually critically think through the last couple of events that had recently happened, he couldn't help but wonder what the actual hell he got himself into.

All he wanted to do was just try and help out who he thought was an injured miner yet here he is, in a clinic due to the fact that he had nearly gotten strangled to death. It was odd to think back on, knowing that at the moment he had been pretty close to kicking the bucket. It was also odd to think that a cogged mech like Magnus would be so willing to help out a cogless miner who he had just met. And that wasn't even the end to the mystery behind the larger bot.

Ultra Magnus was a truly mysterious bot. He looked so different from those around him that he stood out immensely. He acted as if he were aware of the universe's most vast secrets. He looked at Orion as if he were something precious when, in reality, he was just some stubborn miner. Nothing about Magnus made sense in retrospect. No mech should be this protective of someone they had just met, right? To deny yourself help to ensure that a stranger gets medical attention first is unheard of! Magnus was not supposed to care this much. Not at all. And the fact that he did had started to freak Orion out.

Every cogged bot that Orion had met had a very important job or part to play. No matter how much some of the cogged bots pissed him off it was an undeniable fact. The cogged bots were able to achieve more than the no cogs could. While cogged bots were able to have more free time, they also had some of the most complex jobs that Orions heard of! So to see Magnus, a cogged bot who was very clearly someone of importance, care so deeply about some stupid miner he just met made no sense!

Now, Orion was not one to typically dive into the supernatural or paranormal, but he couldn't deny that something was definitely going on with Magnus and his situation. And Orion, being himself, was now bound and determined to try and figure out the mystery behind Ultra Magnus! Hell, was the mechs name even Ultra Magnus? Was he even a cybertronian? What if he was actually a spy! What if-

“ORION!”

“Huh-?”

THUNK

Clutching his helm in shock and slight pain, Orion whipped around to glare at the doctor who had just smacked him in the helm with a fragging wrench! Primus! What is this dudes deal with wrenches!? As he glared at the very fed up doctor, he was about to ask what the frag that was about but before he could Ratchet had beat him. “I've been standing here calling for you! I've called for you five times! So don't you give me slag for having to find an alternate way to get your attention!” The doctor had scolded him before, but this instance was definitely one of the worst ones.

Orion grumbled in annoyance before he decided he would talk. “Well, you certainly have my attention now! What exactly do you want me for?”

The doctor quickly lifted a servo and pointed at the closed door leading to Magnus. “Clingy is all done being checked out and he's asking for you. Once you two are done gossiping or whatever, get out of the clinic. I've spent far too much time with over dramatic red and blue mechs! I'm going on break and if anyone tries to get in my way I'm going to shatter their servo I swear to Primus!” With that, the doctor angrily stomped off, leaving Orion alone with his very confused thoughts.

Huh. Ratchet seemed to be a little angry. Wonder what happened. With those thoughts out of the way Orion pushed himself into a crouching position before standing up. He stretched out his arms and legs as he had been sitting for quite some time and he felt as if his gears and plating had gotten stuck. Satisfied at feeling less stiff, he quickly marched his way into the room where the mystery man was located. With all these theories about what's going on with Magnus, he had lifted him with the aforementioned nickname. Was it original? No. But Orion was far too tired to try and think of something original.

Dramatically and quite aggressively, Orion shoved the door aside to reveal the mech of the hour. Said mech was very caught off guard due to the door being shoved. Whatever previous thoughts Magnus was thinking of had clearly vanished at the sight of Orion. And the door. But mostly Orion. There was a moment where neither bot moved or spoke as they were clearly trying to process where to go from here. Ultimately, it was Magnus who had broken the silence. “Was that truly necessary, Orion?” The tone used by the other bot was far too fond. Far too calm. 

The previous ideas that Orion had thought of came rushing back and, by accident, he couldn't help but blurt out one of his first ideas. “You are weird. What's wrong with you?” Magnus’ expression at this was priceless and Orion had a feeling he would've started to laugh if he wasn't feeling so horrified. Oh, Primus. He just asked someone who's been nothing but nice to him what their problem was! Groaning in embarrassment, Orion lifted his servos to his face in order to hide them. Magnus was not going to take that well. Or, well, Magnus was supposed to not take that well.

Instead, Orion heard a huff of amusement before the cogged bot began to talk. “You have quite a way with words, don't you?” Hearing Orion's dramatic moans at that, Magnus couldn't help but let a small smile grace his face. The smile quickly fell as he continued. “I'm assuming you've realized the strangeness of this whole situation and you, naturally, have some questions. Don't feel ashamed for being curious, as it's quite a good way to learn and grow.” Uncovering his face, Orion peered at the other bot, trying to get a read on any alternative meanings. He could find none.

Having been given the go ahead, Orion asked the first thing that had come to mind. “Why are you so nice to me? Like, no offense or anything, but it's really strange. I mean- it's nice having someone be nice to you but just- it's odd, y’know?”

Magnus gave a tilt of his helm at the questions, showing a sign of confusion at Orion. “You have done nothing but be kind to me, why would I be rude to you? You are young and eccentric, sure, but you are not cruel. There is no valid reason for me to show you any sign of hostility.” The words were spoken so gently, as if he were afraid that Orion would bolt if he were to raise his voice or be harsher.

Orion tapped his pede in frustration at this. “Yes, but- that- ugh! I'm just confused as to why you, a very clearly important bot, is so unnecessarily nice to me, a no-cogged miner. Just doesn't make sense.” The last part was grumbled out. Nothing about Magnus made sense. Truly nothing. The other bot must've noticed his frustration, as began to make a familiar cooing sound. It was the same sound he had made back in the tunnel, whenever Orion showed signs of discomfort. It was odd hearing the sounds from a conscious bot, as he knew that they were on purpose now.

By all means, the cooing shouldn't have calmed him down. It was a soothing sound, sure! But they came from a mech who was practically a stranger! He shouldn't have begun to relax. He shouldn't have felt so at ease around a cogged bot. Yet he did, and he was unable to force himself to react any other way. After a couple more moments, Magnus must've been satisfied with his work in calming Orion down, as he began to speak again, just as softly as before. “I apologize for causing you distress. There are quite a lot of thoughts going through your processor right now, aren't there? It was not my intention to agitate you, nor to make you doubt my intentions.” Magnus slowly crept his way closer to Orion, and when he had reached the smaller bot he kneeled in order to make it feel as if the two were equals.

“To answer your question, I am polite to you because I can tell you mean well. It does not matter what role you may play, as I would care for you regardless. It's something my Prime was a firm believer of. He did not judge those who may have been deemed lower than he was, he still treated them with the same respect he did his greatest of soldiers.” An unexpected touch on Orion's shoulder had made him flinch. Looking up at Magnus, it was made clear that the feeling on his shoulder was the other bots large servo. It had been placed there as a calming gesture. It shouldn't have worked, yet it did.

A peaceful silence overtook the room as Orion began to digest the words spoken to him. He never liked how long it could sometimes take him to figure out what other mechs were talking about. It was an easy way to annoy others, yet Magnus just stayed there by Orion's side until he pieced together the meaning. “That makes sense, I suppose. Still somewhat confusing, but that's an answer I can live with.” 

With a nod, Magnus removed his servo from its place on Orion's shoulder and began to stand. It was at this moment that the size difference between the two made itself clear. Magnus absolutely towered over Orion! And, Orion being Orion, was unable to keep this thought silent. “Holy Primus! What do they feed you!”

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Son of a fragger Orion-

“I'm sorry! I didn't- I was- listen!” Was today just ‘make Orion as miserable as possible’ day? He was doing absolutely nothing right! He was about to bury his face in his servos again before he heard the sound of light laughter. Having never heard the sound of Magnus laughing, it surprised him. It wasn't as loud or manic as some cackles he's heard from fellow miners. Instead, it was a light, soft sound. It was nice. Sadly, it didn't last long as Magnus quickly regained his composure.

“Apologies, I just find your comment to be amusing. Not many bots happen to blurt that out. And while I am considered large among my fellow cybertronians, there are those who are larger than I am. Including the Prime.”

The mention of a Prime got Orion's attention. He vaguely remembered Magnus mentioning a Prime a couple of times, and by the way he reacted to Sentinel Primes name, he had a good feeling that that was not the Prime he was referring to. “You mention this Prime a lot. Who is he?”

There was a brief moment of silence. It had hardly lasted a klik, yet Orion was able to spot a deep grief in Magnus’ optics before the silence was broken. “He was the Prime I have served under for millennia. I have fought alongside him for as long as I can remember. He was brilliant both in and out of battle, and it was truly the greatest honor of my life to be able to know him.” He bowed his helm, staring at the flooring as he whispered out the last couple of words. “I miss him. Primus, do I miss him.”

There was sorrow spoken with every word. Orion had caught on to the fact that Magnus spoke of the Prime in past terms. Being at a loss of words yet still wanting to offer some form of comfort, he put his servo on Magnus’ servo, replicating the gesture Magnus had done to him moments prior. It seemed to do the trick, as the cogged bot gave a small nod of appreciation before moving on. “You remind me of him. I think the two of you would've gotten along.”

“You think a Prime would take interest in someone like me? He was- well- a Prime! I'm just some miner! Besides, he would've probably been far too busy for little ol me.” While he was honored in some way to think that Magnus’ Prime would've gotten along with him, he couldn't help but doubt it. Sentinel barely has any free time and when he does it is not spent with a bunch of no cogged miners!

The sign Magnus let out made it obvious that he disagreed, yet he did not push the issue any further. Instead, he had seemed to come to some sort of realization. “Ratchet mentioned to me that he wanted us out of the clinic as soon as we could. It's probably best that we start to head out now. We can discuss any other topics on the way out.” With that, the large bot began to walk towards the door that Orion had aggressively shoved open. He turned his helm before flicking it in a way that told Orion to hurry up and follow him.

Not wanting to disobey an order, Orion quickly made his way towards the door as well. Once both bots were outside of the room and in the hallway, Magnus gently closed the door behind him. He then looked down to Orion. “Do you know the way out? I am not familiar with the layout and I would most likely get us lost in here.”

“Oh! I know the way out! Here, it's down the hall over here-”

The walk out of the clinic was rather uneventful. The two mechs spoke a little bit before a peaceful silence fell upon them. It was a nice feeling to have someone by your side, even if no conversations are happening. But Orion had a lingering question he wanted to ask. So, he took a breath before he turned to his larger companion. 

“So, uh, now that you've explained a bit about yourself and your Prime, I'm still rather confused about one certain part.”

“Oh? What's confusing you, Orion?”

“You mention this Prime and these events a lot yet I don't recall them ever happening. For as long as I can remember Sentinel has been the only Prime besides the original Primes. So how can you serve a Prime when there is already a different Prime living?”

“Oh, I'm not from this universe, so the events that happened to my cybertron are very different. My Prime existed after Sentinel's death. In fact, my prime will be the last Prime to ever exist back on my cybertron.”

“Ah, ok, that makes some sense.”

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“YOU ARE WHAT!?”

Chapter Text

As expected, the miners were excellent at mining energon. It was in the name, after all. And when you spend the entirety of your life doing a single task consistently day after day you tend to become very experienced at it. But while mining may be what the miners were best at, they were also really experienced in one other field.

Gossiping.

When not out busting their afts mining they were gossiping. About what? Didn't matter. They just liked to talk and talk. Sometimes it was about something they've overheard from a cogged bot or sometimes it was about the Matrix and the Primes. But regardless of what it was about, all you need to know is that it was not uncommon to hear miners gossip.

So it was to no surprise when D-16 entered the barracks where the miners resided that he was immediately assaulted by the sound of various miners whispering about one thing or another. It was quite a common sight so at first he paid no mind to it and began to make his way over to his quarters. Which in actuality was just the area he recharged at and where he put all of his little trinkets at. Vaguely, he noticed that the "berth” opposite of his, which belonged to Orion, had no Orion fretting over it like he commonly did every time they got off of their shifts.

Actually, he hadn't seen Orion since the morning. Last time he saw his friend was when Orion was still pouting over having to start their shift early. After that D got his things and left to go start his shift. He also couldn't recall seeing Orion at all when he was mining, but he could've just overlooked his friend as mining requires concentration. A frown came to D’s face when he came to realize just how long it had been since he'd last seen Orion.

The sound of pedesteps sounded out behind him and he turned to greet whoever it was. It was a mech that was primarily red in color. He'd seen the mech often and knew Orion was friends with the mech but he had never quite gotten his name. Out of politeness, D waved over to his fellow miner and gave a short greeting, which the miner reciprocated before continuing on to his own personal sleeping quarters. D then turned back to his own quarters once it was made clear the other miner was done talking. Satisfied with how his quarters were looking and ready to sit down and chill with his peers, D made his way over to where the majority of his fellow miners had gathered to gossip at. 

He wasn't usually one for gossip, as he'd rather spend time sparring with others or just relaxing before another shift inevitably started, but today he was quite curious as to what the other miners were on about. They could potentially have some information on where Orion has disappeared to. D wiped off any dust that may have been stuck to his frame in order to make himself look nicer before we began to make his way towards the gossiping cluster of bots. It didn't take him even 10 steps before he could already hear their chatter. They were being particularly loud today.

As D got closer, he could pick up on more and more snippets of conversations that were happening. 

“-did you see the way he looked at Darkwing? I don't think-”

“-listen! No you don't get it you have got to hear me out on this-”

“-what were they feeding that mech?! He was taller than Sentinel and-”

“-he looked as if he'd been fighting a lot. Poor guy.”

“-Jazz! You saw how Orion was, is he-?”

“What about Orion?”

At the sound of his voice, the gossiping miners fell silent and turned to look at D. Their optics were wide and they would occasionally throw one another a worried glance. That wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing ever. There was a lot of murmuring and exchanged gazes before Jazz spoke up.

“Hey! Uh- D-16, did no one tell you what happened to Orion?”

What happened? What?

Did something happen to Orion? Something bad? Was his friend in danger somewhere, waiting to be saved while His fellow miners and friends just gossiped?! His plating must've flared out in anger as another miner came to clarify what Jazz meant. D couldn't see who the miner was in the little cluster, but they sounded panicked.

“Ey- uh- don't worry ‘bout Orion! He got a little banged up but Ratchet managed to take a look at him! He'll be fine, D, so please stop looking as if you are going to maul Jazz. I'm quite frankly too tired to attempt to stop a brawl.”

D's anger simmered out as the miners' words registered. Orion got injured? And D wasn't there to help? Sure, it sounded like everything turned out fine but still! D promised to look after Orion's back and yet the second D isn't there his friend manages to get himself into trouble. In the back of his mind he couldn't help but laugh at the typical Orion behavior. As he calmed down, another miner different from the last one spoke up, adding onto the story.

“Yea! Don't worry about Orion, Ratchet is a genius and will definitely get Orion back into shape! Will look as if nothing had even happened! And don't blame yourself, D, as it turns out someone else already had his back.”

Other bots nodded their confirmation to the story, reassuring him that Orion would be fine. But something had gotten D's attention.

“Who was protecting him? You mentioned that there was a mech looking after him, but I don't recall any of you giving out a designation.”

At that, the miners fell silent. Some just stared at D with an odd expression on their faces while others looked away, fiddling with their digits anxiously. Jazz would open his mouth only to close it moments later, as if he weren't sure what to say. It didn't look like any of them knew what to say, which struck D as odd. What had happened that had them so confused and nervous. He tried to ask again, but Jazz once again beat him, this time with much more uncertainty and anxiety in his voice.

“So, uh, we aren't sure what exactly the mech's designation was. Or what he does. Or even where he came from. All we know is that he was massive, cogged, and very protective of Orion. So much so that he actually fought off Darkwing, which was most likely the cause behind Orion's injury. Other than that? We know nothing else about him.”

D blinked at that. He felt like laughing at such a poorly executed joke but the looks on everyone's faceplates said that Jazz was telling the truth. There really was some mysterious cogged stranger who showed up, beat the cog out of Darkwing, and then left with Orion. It felt as if this were some illness induced dream.

Raising a servo to pinch at his olfactory bridge, he gave a deep sigh. While the news of the mystery mech saving his friend was unexpected and alarming, D wasn't exactly surprised. At all. Orion had a habit of making the strangest of friends and doing the dumbest of things. If anything, D was more confused as to why a cogged bot would help out some low ranking miner like Orion. Wouldn't that go directly against orders or protocol or whatever the cogged bots must've had?

D tapped his pede irritably, knowing that it would be a while before he would get any answers as he needed Orion in order to receive said answers. And Orion is currently not there and is instead at the clinic having who knows what done to him. D was never a fan of how reckless Orion could be and how willing his friend was to get himself into trouble. A part of his spark hoped that whoever the mystery bot was, they would sort him out. 

While it was a nice dream, D knew it was one not going to be coming true anytime soon. He knew just how much Orion enjoyed learning, even if it meant wandering off to sneak into highly guarded towers to rummage through a bunch of random junk. While D may never understand Orion's thirst for knowledge, he could at least respect it to a certain degree. He would never, however, accept nor respect Orion's habit of wandering off unannounced only to show up breems later, filthy, exhausted, or sometimes even hurt.

D huffed in exasperation as he mentally went over every instance of Orion wandering off. D loved his friend, don't get him wrong, but Orion could just be downright exhausting sometimes. There were some moments where D felt less like a friend and more like some sparkling sitter. 

He let out another exhausted sigh before shaking his helm to snap himself out of the thoughts. This was his time to do whatever, his chance to talk to whoever and say whatever! He shouldn't just be spending his free time being upset over Orion! Standing taller and more confident, D waved the gossipers goodbye and he headed off to go do some training in the form of punching a piece of scrap metal they tied up to the ceiling. As he made his way to the section that contained the makeshift punching bag, D could feel his worries about Orion slip away.

Orion may be….something else, but he was always quite predictable. D knew that Orion would come back with some wild story and then the two of them would be back to bickering and laughing with one another, cracking stupid jokes and arguing over the mildest of things. D had nothing to worry about, really, as Orion would be back soon and they'd be back on their normal schedule.

Feeling relieved and confident in his thoughts, D took no notice as time passed and Orion had still yet to show up. Even when it was time for the miners to go into recharge, Orion had still not appeared yet. The berth across from him was empty. For the first time in a long time, D had trouble falling into recharge, constantly glancing over to the empty berth across from him that his best friend was supposed to be occupying. Thankfully, he did eventually slip into recharge and he hoped that by morning Orion would be back and everything would be normal again.

He must've still been dreaming.

A sudden and loud clunk woke up the miners. Some were jolted awake so violently that they ended up falling and landing onto the ground. Others were so startled that their lights or sirens went off, making the sleeping quarters a chaotic mess of lights, sirens, and confused groaning. D was one of those who woke up with a violent jolt as if he were preparing himself for an attack. But when kliks passed with no attacker or really anything happening, the miners glanced around the room, confused as to what had happened.

It was possible that while in recharge one of the miners had fallen, as recharging upright isn't exactly the best way to recharge. But the noise was far too loud for it to just be the clank of a bot hitting the floor. Rubbing at his optics as to try and wake himself up more, D let out a yawn. He was never one that appreciated having his recharge disturbed, so he was going to have words with whoever was responsible for waking him up. Faintly, he was aware that the berth across from him was still empty.

D watched as his fellow miners helped others get to their pedes l. Some miners were also greatly startled, so there were a lot of whispered words of reassurance. It was quite a nice sight to see, watching as his friends and comrades helped one another out. He felt as if the cogged bots would never be as close as the miners were. While they may have been smaller and weaker, the miners had sparks of gold. D felt pride well up in his chassis, but it was soon replaced by feelings of dread as he heard loud pedesteps get closer to him. Thankfully, they did not belong to any cogged bot and instead belonged to a very confused and very pissed off Elita One.

“What the hell was that! I swear, if my peaceful recharge was interrupted just because one of you morons decided to have an arm wrestling match I will-”

Before Elita could get her threats out, the sound of hysterical laughter sounded out. It was faint, so it was not within their section of the barracks. Thinking that whoever was laughing was responsible for the rude awakening, Elita began to furiously march her way to the area where the laughter rang out. Having a slight feeling that he knew who was laughing, D quickly began to follow after her, trying to tame her anger along the way.

“Listen, Elita, I know that you are not happy-”

“I'm pissed.”

“Yes- right- um. I know that you are pissed off but I doubt the poor mech meant to wake us all up! It might've been an accident-”

“And if it wasn't an accident I'll make sure there will be an accident.”

“Right, right. So. Um. Have you considered doing something else besides going down the route of murder? I've heard that meditation can be very helpful for controlling anger and-”

That was not the right thing to say as Elita came to a sudden stop before slowly turning her helm towards him. There was visible fury in her optics, and D couldn't help but let out a silent prayer to Primus. There's a difference between being at the mercy of an angry miner and being at the mercy of an angry Elita. 

“Listen D-16. I know exactly what you are doing and don't think trying to sweet talk me will protect your little friend from my anger! I know how much trouble he gets himself into and it seems that he's still yet to learn anything valuable from his past punishments. Well-”

She punched her fist into her palm, menacingly. It was never good when Elita did this so D made sure to step back accordingly.

“-I'll make sure he gets the memo this time.”

And like that she was off, racing down the halls like a cyberhound on a mission. D, realizing what was happening, quickly raced after her, pleading with her to just calm down and talk it out. It was clear that his efforts were useless, as she made no effort to slow down. The commotion must've caused some of the other miners to chase after the two bots as it wasn't long before there was a whole group of bots running down the hall. They could tell they were getting closer to whoever was laughing as the laughter became more and more audible.

D looked on in mild horror as Elita rounded a corner and disappeared from his sight. He hoped that whoever the poor fool was that woke them up would be spared from the wrath of a very angry Elita. When there were no sounds of metal colliding with other metal, D felt relief. It must've been a dead end. Or maybe Elita just wasn't feeling up to it? Whatever the case was, D had expected to see a rather annoyed yet calm Elita when he himself rounded the corner. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of Elita, frozen in shock as she processed the scene in front of her. D also had to stop and process what was going on due to the sheer absurdity of it.

On the good side, D had managed to find Orion as he was the bot that was currently dying of laughter. Orion was on the floor lying on his back with his servos pressed to his face as if he were trying to muffle himself. Due to the fact that D could still hear audible snorts and giggles, Orion was doing a terrible job at trying to muffle himself. But strangely enough, it wasn't the sight of Orion that made D and Elita pause. Oh no. What made them pause was the other bot lying on the floor. A cogged bot.

Said bot was rubbing at his helm crest in pain. He was on his knees on the floor and yet even then he was still larger than the miners. The cogged bot resembled Orion in a variety of ways as he had a similar color scheme and even similar kibble to Orion. The stranger was adorned with a variety of biolights that were scattered all of him. A multitude of scars suggesting past conflicts littered the bots armor, which gave D an uncomfortable realization of just how strong this bot must've been.

However, the strangest thing about this stranger was the fact that one of his servos was just gone. In its place was a poor replacement of a servo in the form of a hook. D doubted that this was a naturally occurring hook, as the bot's other servo had 5 digits on it and looked nothing like the hook. It was clear that the hook was there in order to replace a severed servo, which made D shudder at the possibilities of what could've happened to the poor bot.

It was rather hard to have any coherent thoughts when his best friend was currently on the floor laughing his aft off. Elita shot Orion a mean glare but he must've missed it as he just continued on laughing. At this point other miners were starting to show up at the scene and were also taking in the strange and unwelcome sight of a cogged bot within their barracks. Cogged bots only showed up to the barracks when absolutely needed, so to see a cogged bot here with no evident purpose was odd.

Whatever the stranger was feeling or thinking must've subsided, as he soon took his good servo off of his crest, flinching in the process. He then turned to address the still laughing Orion.

“Orion. Orion that is enough. Stop laughing. Not a single part of this was funny.”

Orion, of course, kept laughing. He never was one to obey a cogged bot and that wasn't exactly just going to suddenly change now! And, in typical Orion fashion, he decided that the best response to an upset superior was to retort with a snarky comeback.

“Sorry! Sorry just-” a pause consisting of more uncontrollable giggling. “Just- just never seen someone hit their helm like that! I didn't even think of warning you to duck! Man! You are really fragging tall if you can manage to bonk your helm like that!”

Orion pushed himself upright into a sitting position, facing towards the cogged bot and paying no attention to the miners behind him.

“I didn't even know a bot like you could fall like that! Man, I wish I recorded that! You fell so dramatically, too!”

As Orion fell into another fit of laughter the stranger scolded Orion. Which wasn't exactly an unusual sight, but they way in which he scolded the miner was much tamer and filled with much more affection than any superior D had ever met.

“Orion, please, pull yourself together. It truly wasn't all that funny-” a sharp snort. Orion clearly disagreed with that statement. “-Besides, I think you have some explaining to do to your comrades.”

At the mention of his fellow miners, Orion quickly snapped out of his laughing fit and turned around in horror as he was greeted with the sight of his best friend and boss staring at him. Orion cleared his throat as he gave a small wave as if nothing was wrong. After he waved, he pushed himself onto his legs and stood up off of the ground, wiping off his legs in an attempt to brush off any dust and embarrassment that lingered on his frame. Orion met the gaze of a very confused D and a very annoyed Elita.

Deciding that the best way to calm Elitas anger was by talking, Orion decided to open his intake and start yapping.

“Hello there captain Elita! Um. I can explain?”

“No. No you can't. Now shut up and go to your berth so we can all go back into recharge. And you-” she pointed her digit at the stranger still on the ground. Oddly enough, the stranger seemed far from concerned or frightened by the sight of an angry Elita. Instead, there was admiration, surprise, and remorse in those striking blue optics. His face didn't change even as Elita carried on. “-are going to wait until it's morning to explain your whole issue. I'm in no mood to listen to a story of any kind. So with that said, shut up and go back to your berths!” 

After she was done ranting she turned back the way she came and began to angrily stomp her way back to her berth. A bunch of other miners did the same, not wanting to further anger Elita by going against her orders. Elita may not be a cogged bot, but she held a level of authority that was impossible for the miners to ignore. If she said to do something, you did it.

D was also in no mood to disobey her orders, so he shot Orion a glare that explained he wanted more details later before he also headed back to his berth. He could hear Orion talk to the stranger, saying how “that's just D” and “don't worry he's just angry he had to get out of his berth.” Which. Rude.

Not feeling like hearing whatever the stranger's reply to that was, D walked faster back to his berth. He waved to any other miners on the way back and wished them a good night but other than those instances he was on a mission. He paid no attention to the sound of heavy pedesteps following behind him. Only thing he was concerned about was getting more recharge and smacking Orion for waking him up.

After what felt like cycles D had finally reached his berth and wasted no time getting comfortable. He hoped that it wouldn't be long before he slipped into recharge but that hope was crushed when he could hear Orion start speaking.

“Alright, I'll introduce you to the others in the morning. For now, why don't you try and get some rest too? There aren't exactly any berths your size, so how bout you just. Um. Recharge on the floor?”

Due to his optics being off, D was unable to see what the stranger's response was as it was not spoken. But D had a feeling he knew which option the stranger went with as he could hear pedesteps before the sound of another clunk sounded out, albeit this one was a lot quieter than the previous one. D onlined one optics just to see what was happening around him and was greeted with the sight of the massive bot trying to squish himself into the corner. It looked very uncomfortable.

D could then hear lighter pedesteps go towards the berth opposite of him. Finally, it seemed that Orion was ready to calm down and let the others recharge. But, of course, before Orion could do that he had to ask one last question.

“Hey, D? You up?”

“mmhm. What'd ya wan’?”

“You ever hear about the sugma situation?”

“Pax I am going to maul you.”

Hysterical laughter erupted from Orion at D's response. With a groan, D brought his servos up to his face to cover it. You know it's bad when the worst part about your friend dragging a random stranger into your shared house isn't the stranger but is instead your friend. You know it's also bad when the thought of there being some random bot in your living space watching you recharge doesn't bother you as much as it probably should.

In his defense, however, he was very tired and could honestly care less about anything that did not involve recharge.He can go freak out about the fact that there was a cogged bot recharging along with his fellow miners in the morning. Right now, he just needed to rest up.

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“Pax.”

“Yea?”

“Why did you drag home a random cogged bot?”

“He's my emotional support guy!”

A dull tink rang out through the silent halls as D threw a small piece of scrap at his friend's head. He could hear Orion give out a light snicker at that before D's consciousness blissfully slipped away.

Before it did, however, he could've sworn he could hear the sound of scraping metal. That probably wasn't anything important. Nothing ever important happens to the miners.