Tough Love

DILEMMA

"What if he's not an Autobot?" Blades suddenly said, just barely loud enough for the others to hear.

Heatwave's helm shot up, blue visor retracting to reveal stunned amber optics.

How is he supposed to respond to that?

"What are you talking about?" Kade asked, an irritated edge to his voice.

"I mean, think about it. If he was an Autobot, he would've sent out a distress signal, right? So why didn't he?" Blades reasoned.

"That doesn't mean anything, Blades. They're probably disoriented and didn't think about it, or they didn't know that bots were living nearby."

"But what if I'm right? What if..."

They were interrupted when High Tide jumped out of the water and landed on deck with the stranger in a wounded soldier-type hold.

"Good news, I got him out for you," High Tide said, but his faceplate was pinched in contempt.

This look did not settle the others. Heatwave and Kade felt a pit form in their abdominal areas, fearing that what Blades was trying to warn them about may be true.

"And the bad news?" Blades squeaked.

High Tide circulated his vents and approached the three. He dropped the stranger on his front, then flipped him onto his back. What Heatwave and Blades saw made them gasp and back away, and silently thank Primus that the stranger is unconscious.

"A Decepticon... I knew it," Blades whimpered. In panic mode, he grabbed Heatwave by the shoulders and started shaking him.

"What are we going to do? We can't bring him back to the island, can we? No, I mean, yes, we'll have to. He still needs medical attention, but what then? He could take us all on no problem! Do you think we should call Bumblebee? Or Optimus Prime? We're going to need all hands on deck here! Right? Heatwave, say something!"

"How about you let me go and stop freaking out so that I can think?" Heatwave snarled, pushing Blades away.

"Sorry! I'm just really scared!"

"I know you are! Just... I need some time to think."

The red mech turned to High Tide.

"We're going to meet the rest of the team at the cove on the far side of the island. Do you mind bringing us there?"

"Not at all," High Tide said, a bit gruff, as he walked past his passengers. He side-eyed the Con before entering his cabin and setting sail.

The deck was quiet for a few minutes. Blades internally panicking, Heatwave thinking, and Kade...

"Hey, those symbols you guys have?" The red-head mentioned.

"Our insignias? What about..." Heatwave stopped and gaped at his partner, who was sitting on the Con's chassis. "KADE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OFF OF HIM!"

"Calm down, Heatwave. What is he gonna do? He's unconscious, remember?"

"THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT!"

Blades snapped to attention and placed himself between Kade and Heatwave.

"Everybody, settle down! Yelling at each other isn't going to solve anything!" The orange bot mediated.

Heatwave was furious, but he knew Blades' was right. He reeled in most of his anger and grinded out...

"What about our insignias?"

"I found theirs, at least what I'm assuming is the Decepticon insignia, but is it supposed to look like this?" Kade asked, pointing to a sharp-edged purple mark on the space in front of him.

"That's the 'Cons insignia..." Heatwave trailed off, confused by what else he saw. "But the slash marks aren't supposed to be there."

"You think he got these in a fight?"

"I highly doubt it. It's too clean a mark. He could have been ambushed, taken by surprise, but even then, it doesn't seem like whoever did this wanted to hurt him."

"Why go through all that trouble just to hit the mark?"

Heatwave didn't answer.

"I hate to admit it, but we'll have to wait for him to wake up before we get any answers," Blades said, placing a servo on Heatwave's shoulder plate. The red mech just grunted in acceptance.

– 15 minutes later –

Heatwave, Kade, Blades, and High Tide arrived at the rendezvous point. Everyone else was already there waiting for them, blissfully unaware of their surprise guest's status. The ship stopped a short distance from the shore.

"This is as close as we're getting without being land-locked," High Tide explained, walking over to his passengers. "So, figure out what you're going to do about him?"

They all looked down at the Decepticon, a sense of foreboding hanging in the air.

"If it was up to me..." Heatwave paused and vented. "But it isn't up to me, at least, not entirely. I want to hear what the others have to say."

"Great, sounds like this is going to be a long day," Kade grumbled, settling down in his partner's servo.

Heatwave and Blades deboard and wade through the water to shore. High Tide jumps after them a minute later, keeping a tight grip around the Decepticon. Chase and Boulder rush over to help.

"We've got it from here, High Tide," Boulder said, draping one of the Con's arms around his shoulders.

"Your assistance today is greatly appreciated," Chase said, draping the Con's other arm around his shoulders.

"Thanks, and you're welcome," High Tide reciprocated as he accompanied the mechs to shore. Everyone – except for Heatwave, Blades, and Kade – were confused by this.

"Not that we don't enjoy your company, High Tide, but don't you have something to get back to?" Chief Burns politely asked.

"Oh, trust me, you're gonna want me around for a while."

The humans were collectively put on-edge.

"Did something happen?" Cody asked.

High Tide scoffed and pointed to Heatwave.

"Ask him."

The humans looked up at the red mech.

"Care to share?" Chief asked.

Heatwave averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his helm.

"Well, the thing is..."

"BY THE ALLSPARK!"