TF: Cut In Half

[wildernesstales]

Rating: PG-13
Series: G1
Pairings: Red Alert/Inferno
Summary: Inferno is more than a little shaken up after watching a television programme.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I’ve forgotten…
Authors Notes: Yeah, I couldn’t help it.  We watched this programme called Cut It In Half, and it featured a fire truck being… cut in half.  My inner!Inferno was horrified.  And of course, I just had to torture him a little more by writing this.  The model they use is a 1987 fire truck, and certainly not Inferno, but still.
Feedback makes friends.  Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.

 

Inferno twitched.  He hadn’t meant to walk in on the others watching that programme.  And he really wished he hadn’t.  He couldn’t get the images out of his processor.  Watching that fire truck being disassembled piece by piece was… disconcerting.  Especially given his alt-mode.  He’d watched, almost entranced.  Spike said it was like a train wreck, you couldn’t help but watch.  And Inferno had to agree, he couldn’t take his optics off the television screen, watching as the men cut into the fire truck.  He could almost feel the diamond rope saw cutting into his plating, and flinched both times it stopped.

He almost hoped they would give up, but it wasn’t to be.  Apparently good television meant that they would have to come up with another method.  And he still stayed and watched, lingering in the doorway, vocaliser muted so he couldn’t be heard.  Really, who wanted to hear a large fire truck whimper?

When they brought out the plasma cutter, Inferno actually had to steady himself against the wall.  That tool was far too similar to the ones Ratchet used on him when he had to remove armor.  Inferno’s plating was resistant to all but the strongest and most powerful cutting tools.  He couldn’t help but watch as they used it to dismantle the fire truck, peeling away metal and tossing it to one side like junk.  Inferno watched until they’d removed virtually half the fire truck, the pieces lying in a pile just off camera.  He could see into the fire truck, see the layout and inner workings of it and he shivered.  No mech needed to know that much detail about their own alt-mode.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sitting bolt upright in the berth, Inferno tried to calm the frantic pulsing of his spark.  And not disturb Red Alert.  The security director had finally come away from the security center and needed his recharge.  Not to comfort his oversized mate who was being ridiculous about a human television programme.

“Inferno?” Okay, so that plan didn’t go so well.
“’M fine, Red.  Go back ta sleep.”
“You’re not fine.  Your engine is racing and you’re trembling.  What’s wrong?” Red Alert sat up, leaning against Inferno as though he could stop his lover from trembling through contact alone.
“It’s daft.  Were watchin’ a tv programme earlier…”
“And?” Red Alert prompted when Inferno fell silent.  He couldn’t understand why Inferno would get so upset over a simple television programme.
“They kinda cut up a fire truck.  Fer fun.”
“Oh.” Now Red Alert understood.  The one problem with taking on the appearance of human vehicles was that some mechs seemed to form an attachment to those vehicles they resembled.
“See, toldya not ta worry about it.”
“Inferno, you’re upset.  What would you do if I were upset?”
“Comfort ya.” Inferno mumbled.
“Well then.” Red Alert’s tone had a touch of smugness in it, but Inferno really didn’t mind as his mate tried to soothe him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He had honestly thought he was over it.  Thought that he had dealt with seeing himself… a fire truck, disassembled by humans.  Evidently he was wrong.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He onlined in the medbay, systems overloaded with damage reports.  He remembered the battle with the Decepticons.  He remembered the fire in the building.  Everything after that was a blank.  He was about to ask if the humans he’d gone in to save had made it when the hiss of a plasma cutter stopped his thoughts.  And his spark briefly.  He screamed, scrambling away from the cutter Ratchet had picked up to remove some of his damaged plating.
“Get away from me!” He fell off the berth, backing himself into a corner, optics focussed on Ratchet.  Or rather, on Ratchet’s cutter, the hiss just reminding him of watching the fire truck being cut in half.  His fear-filled processor determined that Ratchet was going to do the same to him.  And in a fit of paranoia that most would associate with Red Alert, he limped from the medbay, screaming about how they were going to dismantle him for spare parts and how he wasn’t going to be entertainment for humans.

“What the…?” Ratchet stared at the door to the medbay, cutter still active.  Had he really just seen Inferno scream in fear and run out of the medbay as fast as he could?
“Red Alert…” Ratchet commed the only mech he thought who might be able to help.  “Got a bit of a problem here…”
“I saw.” Red Alert’s voice sounded weary across the commline.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Red Alert found his mate huddled at the back of a rarely used storage closet.  The trail of energon had been easy to follow.
“Inferno?”
“Go ‘way.” Inferno curled up a little tighter and Red Alert winced as he heard plating scrape against plating.
“You need to let Ratchet help you.”
“He ain’t gonna help me, he’s just gonna cut me in half.”
“Inferno…” Red Alert sighed.  “He’s going to do no such thing.”
“Is to.  I saw the cutter.”
“Inferno… Ratchet needs to use that cutter to remove your damaged plating.  You know how resistant it is to his other tools.” It was the truth.  The ceramic coating on his plating meant that Ratchet often had difficulty in removing the heavy armor.
“But…”
“But nothing.  Come on, you need to get fixed up, and Ratchet certainly isn’t going to be able to do that with you hiding in a storage closet.”
“And he ain’t gonna dismantle me?”
“Not if I have anything to do with it.” Red Alert folded his arms over his chestplating.  “I’ll stay there and watch everything.”
“Thanks, Red.” Inferno managed a weak smile and shifted to crawl out of the storage closet, wincing as the movement aggravated his injuries.
“And yes, before you ask, you saved all the humans.” Red Alert cut Inferno off as he helped the larger mech to his feet.
“Good ta know that.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Finally.” Ratchet exclaimed as Inferno limped back into the medbay, supported by Red Alert.
“’M sorry ‘bout earlier, Ratchet.” Inferno muttered his apology, not quite daring to meet Ratchet’s optics.
“It’s all right.” Ratchet said gently, helping Red Alert guide Inferno to a berth.  “Just relax and I’ll have you fixed up in no time.”  Inferno nodded, optics focussed on Red Alert as Ratchet administered a sedative.  Red Alert kept his promise, staying as close to Inferno’s berth as he could and still let Ratchet work.

“Why was he so scared?” Ratchet asked as he removed the damaged armor, putting it to one side to check the systems beneath.
“He’d watched a television programme…” Ratchet snorted before Red Alert continued.  “That involved humans cutting a fire truck in half.”
“Why would they do that?” Ratchet was understandably confused.
“To see how it worked.  For entertainment.” Red Alert shrugged.  He hadn’t seen the film, and couldn’t pretend to understand why Inferno had gotten so upset by it.  But he knew that he had, and that was enough for him.  Ratchet shook his head and muttered something about strange humans and similarities to certain engineers he knew.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Inferno’s systems started up slowly, his memories loading before his processor had fully activated.  He sat up, optics flashing online as he stared around, fully expecting to see parts of himself lying in a corner.  He was relieved when he realised he was all in one piece.
“I told you Ratchet wouldn’t dismantle you.” Red Alert’s quiet voice sounded from beside the berth.
“Yeah…” Inferno nodded, embarrassed by his previous actions.  “I didn’t really think he’d do that.”
“Paranoia makes us do strange things.” Red Alert nodded, reaching out to lay a hand on Inferno’s arm.
“Yeah… need ta apologise ta Ratchet.”
“You already did.  And he understands what happened now.”
“Ah right… how did he…” Inferno trailed off.
“I told him.  He didn’t think any less of you because of it.  Just like I don’t think any less of you.  It’s all right to be scared sometimes.”
“Yeah, I guess.  I sure ain’t gonna be going near any humans with plasma cutters.” He smiled at Red Alert, who gave him a reassuring smile back.
“I won’t let anyone dismantle you.” He glanced around the medbay and leant closer to Inferno.  “As long as you don’t let anyone dismantle me.”
“Promise.” Red Alert sat back.
“Ratchet says you can leave once your systems power back up fully, and I’m to make sure you refuel, recharge and that you don’t watch anymore strange human programmes.”
“Think I’m gonna steer clear a the television fer a while."