re_alignment | [VIDEO] [TRANSMISSION ORIGINATING FROM: JUNKPILE]

Entry tags:

tf: idw | wing

[VIDEO] [TRANSMISSION ORIGINATING FROM: JUNKPILE]

[The feed opens to a reveal Wing, composed though a tad concerned.]

Greetings. I am Wing. I am searching for a certain medic who's name I regrettably did not get. Autobot, airframe, white red and cyan. Discernible by an unfortunately notable lack of hands.

[He'd leave that part out, because gosh, who needs to be treated to gory descriptions upon a first or even second communication with a stranger, but it really is the greatest identifying feature of the mech he's looking for.]

I met him in the Junk Pile and left him to seek aid, but when I returned he was gone.

Doctor, I hope you're out there and managed to make it to safety by other means. If so could you let me know? Or if anyone else has seen him and can share his whereabouts or condition I'd appreciate it.

Thank you.

((Mostly tying up loose ends here, but run where ever you want with this. ;) ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I did. And I've been remiss in not thanking you. I'm sorry.

I don't need to be thanked. That's not important.

[He frowns, like he's going to say more, then stops. ]

I'm happy to hear that he's working on a cure.

[It's like history repeating itself. Drift, still feeling ungrounded, at a loss, and Wing just always coolly, perfectly in control.]

[And Drift's beginning to think that that conversation he wanted to have, had always wanted to have...was never going to happen. Like they were slightly out of phase, somehow, never quite connecting. ]

[It made sense. The past, as Wing kept saying, was the past. It was a hint. One he needed to learn to respect.]

Yes.

[Another pause, and Drift's beginning to think he's the only one who finds these awkward.]

Be well, Wing.

[He's still figuring out how to navigate this unknown territory. He wants to treat it like its been days since he last saw you at New Crystal City, which for him it has, but that feels presumptuous at the same time.]

[He's about to say something, anything really, into that pause, when your last words come.]

[And their finality stuns him. Amber optics flicker with something like panic. An uncertain shift as he tries to regroup. There's still so much he wants to say.]

[He cycles a ventilation.]

I will... Having you here, helps.

[One thing Wing doesn't have to deal with, and apparently doesn't take into account, is the all-too-vivid memory Drift has of Wing, dead. ]

You'll make better friends here, Wing.

[That...won't be hard to do, really. Wing's personality is one thing. The fact that anyone's a better choice than the mech who got you killed is another.]

[Wing just knows that death, pain and loss are part of every warrior's path. He's just trying to deal with his own mortality, more the experience than the knowledge, in his own way.]

[Softly] May I be the judge of that?

[And perhaps you're the one that understands most. Maybe he needs someone who does.]

[What Wing isn't considering is the magnitude of some losses. Drift loses everything and everyone he gets close to: Gasket, you....]

You haven't been the best judge of character in the past.

[Yes, this is one of those things Wing needs help understanding.]

[A twitch of his mouth.] Nobody's perfect. [He's going to assume you mean yourself, since that's the running theme here.] But I don't see you wearing a purple brand anymore. And you seemed to kindle devotion in Annie--a complete stranger. I don't think you give yourself enough credit.

[You can't have been so naive all of a sudden with Drift. Nope, that sort of blind trust takes practice, Wing. A lot of practice. And faith.]

No. I joined....the other faction. [Ironic, because the Autobots were hardly better: as he'd told Turmoil, they were where the Decepticons were at the start of the war. ]

And Annie? She was scared. [He laughs.] You'd have to be terrified to find something that looks like me comforting.

[Wing's greatest mistake, if he's to take your meaning right. Is losing all hope in others better?]

[He'd noticed the brand, it's a bit hard not to, even with the state of your frame.] Has it suited you?

Hmm, your actions must have spoken very strongly to Annie then, to overcome your current appearance.

[Maybe some middle ground where you at least run a background check? Or give up after the first time you're betrayed?]

I realized I couldn't save everyone all by myself.

[A pointed quirk of the browridge, there. You, neither, Wing.]

...I spoke English. I think that was it. It was something of home. And we both know how powerful that can be.

[You might have something there. Forewarned is forearmed. Wing's not the type to give up so easily, but perhaps better precautionary measures would be a good idea.]

A task that large? You'd need help. Did you make a difference? That's what mattered most to you as I recall.

[He chuckles.] You are so resistant to friendship! It baffles me. [But then he sees a deeper meaning in your words.] But, yes. Finding familiarity in another while in a strange alien place does have a tendency to form bonds.

I did. Good and bad.

[He frowns, remembering that last moment under Cybertron, when D-Void had reached into him, trying to take control. He'd had to stop himself: no one else could.]

[He cycles a vent of air.] I find it easier to be a friend than have one.

I hope you have found that here, that bond, that familiarity.

That's something certainly. I hope it was all worth it for you.

[It's probably good that Wing knows none of this. The more broken you describe yourself to be, the more he just wants to hold you together.]

[Now that's certainly a twist, compared to the day he met you.] Good things are rarely easy.

I'm trying to.

I wish I knew. It seems you can never tell until you reach the end of something how it all shakes out.

[And he's here, and the Lost Light and the others, and their quest, and the future of Cybertron, is....over there somewhere.]

[Ah but it's easier to extend trust, knowing you can survive betrayal, than to allow someone to trust you when you know how frequently you've let them down.]

So I've learned.

I guess that's the inherent risk. Either act and chance failure or remain stagnant.

But do you feel like you've grown, progressed, since changing your direction? Are you happier than you were before?

[The former is easier because the latter requires you to trust yourself.]

Sometimes, Wing, it's a lot more complicated than that.

[He sounds tired. He is tired. He's been dragging around the weight of 'ex-Decepticon' for centuries, dogging every judgment, making him question his own motives for anything.]

Hnh. Every time I try to, it seems the past keeps coming back. [D-Void being able to control him--along with all the other Decepticons. He'd been the only one affected down there. His past would never leave him.]

I suppose it is.

[He looks at you with a gentle smile, his eyes warm and sympathetic. It's the best he can offer over the commlink, though there'd be more if given the chance.]

What is it that keeps haunting you?

I hope you never learn it. Not the way I've had to.

[Angst and a sincere wish: Drift multitasks!]

[Oooooh, there's a big question. Is 'everything' a copout answer? Probably.]

That I followed blindly, that I let means dictate methods, that I always, always chose violence as a way to be heard.

...mostly that I let it happen.

Some lessons are just that way. Still, I wish some of yours had been easier.

[The angst is ingrained at this point, but even you can learn to deemphasize! /cheerleader]

Do you find that you still fall prey to these things, or do they remind and inspire you to choose differently?

Let what happen?

Edited 2012-07-08 00:03 (UTC)

You and I know nothing 'easier' would have gotten through.

[Deny it. You can't, can you?]

They remind me to question myself. That's enough. [For a mech who's not done much introspection, that's a lot.]

Let...all of it happen. Let myself be used, let my anger be twisted into someone's tool, let myself be...what I was.

[Because in the end it wasn't just Wing whose death is on Drift's hands. It's a long list, very long, and he had killed without remorse, and for power. Not to help, not to protect, but to control.]

[No, you're far too stubborn for that. Which is more to the point.]

I'm glad, it serves a positive purpose then.

Mistakes are life's teaching tools. The real tragedy is when we don't learn the lesson. You did. And what's more, you did something about it. [His optics glow a bit brighter.]

The amount of courage you have Drift, I don't think you even realize it. Changing one's path the other direction, falling to darkness, amorality, that's easy. Because you release yourself from the constraints of morality, integrity and guilt.

But coming the other direction as you have, making the choice to pick up those burdens and shouldering the weight of your newly found remorse, takes immense willpower and fortitude of spirit.

We're all the sum of our life experiences. You can't undo that much violence, you'll always feel the weight of it. But you can choose to be inspired by your ability to overcome it or be so burdened that it causes you to misstep.

Or when we learn too late. I already have, for you. [If only he'd learned a little sooner, he might have saved the city, find some other way to fox Lockdown. If only.]

...... [He keeps opening his mouth to speak. But stops. Because he wants to refute Wing, but he also wants to believe.]

[So there's a long silence after Wing finishes speaking. And then, softly,] I think I liked it better when you were throwing me around.

[It hurt less.]

[He sighs. Quietly,] Sometimes too late is why we learn it. [If only he pushed the message harder, or been more diligent about security. ...If only he'd confided in you before the battle.]

If you want, we can do that too. [A wry smile.] Drift. The whole reason I spent all that time trying to show you another way, is because I believe in you. And I still do.

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