Royals and Renegades (tfp Wheeljack X Mech!reader) [On Hold]

8: Face the Fear

I watched fearfully as the pair circled each other, my mind racing wildly in an effort to figure out something, anything I could do to help.

"Psst, Y/D." I heard Bulkhead whisper from behind me, my helm turning to see the rotund Wrecker poorly peeking out from around the corner.

"Bulkhead?" I whispered. "The scrap are you doing here?!"

"Jackie and I are gonna get you out of here. Scoot back, and I'll get those off of you." Nervously, I looked over at the now battling pair and then back to Bulkhead, my arms and legs wiggling just enough to get him in reach of my bindings. He crushed the main locking mechanism, and I slipped out of the bindings, Bulkhead waving for me to follow him.

With some difficulty, I managed to stand and sneak around to the green Wrecker, Bulkhead providing me support as we hurriedly moved away from the fight.

"We need to nnngh! Help Wheeljack." I groaned in pain.

"What we need to do is get you a medic." Bulkhead said.

"No. I'm fine." I lied. "Wheeljack is in a heap of scrap, and I'm not about to let him get himself killed." As I said this, an explosion from the battle site flung me to the ground while Bulkhead went flying overhead. Rubble fell onto me and buried me beneath, the crushing pressure causing more energon to slowly drip from new cracks and dents.

'Dammit Wheeljack!' I thought angrily as I forced my way out of the rubble to come face to face with the Wrecker.

"You look worse for wear." He said.

"A bot sure loves to nnngh, hear that." I grunted as I pushed myself out of the rubble, stumbling a little from my wounds. As I regained my balance, thanks to Wheeljack, a ground bridge portal opened up and out stepped Optimus, who I could tell was not a happy bot.

"Oh great, now what?" Wheeljack grumbled.

"If you will not take orders from me, that is one thing." Optimus said sternly. "But when you place one of my Autobots in danger -"

"With all due respect, sir, Bulkhead knew the risks." Wheeljack said stiffly. "Every Wrecker does. Now, I'm sure he's just somewhere in this rubble." As Wheeljack dug around in the rubble I came out of, I could sense a look of concern from the Prime, my attention shifting to him.

"Y/D, you need to return to the Autobot base." He said.

"No, not until we find Bulkhead."

"Optimus, Bulkhead's signal has moved from your current position." Ratchet called over the comlink.

"Let's move." I said sternly, ignoring the concerned looks from both of the Autobots.

"Kid, maybe you should sit this out." Wheeljack said.

"I'm fine, Wheeljack." I lied. "Let's just find Bulkhead and make sure he isn't in some sort of scrap."

Let's just say the green Wrecker had gotten himself in a spicy pickle, that pickle being one of Dreadwing's infamous bombs firmly strapped to his chassis.

"Hey guys." Bulkhead said sheepishly.

"Scrap." Wheeljack said as he approached Bulkhead. "You really got yourself in a heap of scrap this time, partner."

"Stay back, Jackie!" Bulkhead warned.

"Have you defused one of these before?" I asked as I also approached, both of us unaware that Optimus had disappeared.

"Fail-safes, dummy leads, booby traps." Wheeljack said in awe. "It's a work of art." As he started to work on it, I peeked around him and inspected the internal wiring of the bomb, my servo immediately going to his shoulder to grab his attention. "Kid?"