CHAPTER 24
Emergency Situation
Washington DC was a mess and a half when they arrived, and that was putting it mildly. Hound had never seen the battle pre-Chicago, or even Chicago for that matter, but he suspected it to be a smaller version of the former. He did not know how the Decepticons had gotten their hands on Vehicon drones in such a short amount of time, yet the drones were quickly creating chaos while Galvatron seemed to be nowhere in sight. Transforming somewhere near where they had entered the city, he brought out a riffle and quickly shot off the head of one drone as Crosshairs followed him in, kicking another two away.
Hound stared around, his optics searching, without much luck, for any sign of the main Decepticons on the loose themselves. "I don't like this." Hound noted as he offiined yet another drone "Something about this doesn't feel right, where the slag are the actual Decepticons?" He stared around, grabbing one of his larger guns "Crosshairs, cover me."
No sooner had Hound said that that the sound of roaring engines sounded out. His optics shot up, and he snarled slightly at an unwelcome sight: Cyclonus. He leapt through the air violently, barely dodging the bullets of the low flying jet in time to grab hold of him. "Hound you crazy son of a gun!" Crosshairs shouted "What the slag are you doing!?"
Hound wasn't even sure how to answer the question as Cyclonus flew violently through the air. Hound smashed his fist into the makeshift cockpit violently, growling low. He could hear a return growl from his opponent as they collided with one of the buildings and Cyclonus forced himself to transform as they slid across the rooftop. Hound groaned, pulling himself to his feet as Cyclonus did the same, the two of them standing on opposite sides of the rooftop. "What the FRAG is your problem Autoscum!?" Cyclonus shrieked.
Hound turned and fired multiple shots at Cyclonus, rushing at him with a violent blow to his face. Cyclonus didn't look too happy, but then again, Hound wasn't a happy camper either. "I should rip your fragging head off of your shoulder." Hound told him darkly "You tried to kill my sparkling.. You tried to blow him the frag up!" Cyclonus swung one of his hefty swords for Hound "You think it's okay? Killing kids?"
The next blast of his gun landed itself into Cyclonus's abdomen. He was next met with a punch to the gut, and a kick to the back. "Even as a mech of honor, I cannot control rage. You humiliated me mere minutes after my arrival." Cyclonus's optics shot up "All of this for a human? For "your sparkling"." Cyclonus spat "You're pathetic to claim such an insignificant little pion in the universe as your sparkling."
Hound took cautionary steps forward, and placed his foot against his back. "Then why are you in DC? His hometown?" He questioned, crouching down a bit "I only seen drones here other than you. If you think you're going to find him, then you've got another thing coming." He stated, putting a gun against his temple as Cyclonus chuckled lightly "What's so funny?"
"You think we care about that thing?" Cyclonus laughed coldly, kicking Hound's feet out from under him "You Autobots really are daft and blind. I could care less about your pathetic little pet human." He added bluntly as he stepped over Hound "This is simply our way of showing the world we are back." He added, throwing up his arms "Though it's nice to know he lived, maybe we can have a little fun with him eventually." Hound slowly pulled himself to his feet "I do admit that I like seeing this real fight in you."
As Hound threw a punch, Cyclonus caught it. Watching down bellow before thrusting himself and Hound over the edge of the building, where they landed with a loud THUD! Around him, Hound saw chaos, with multiple Autobots trying their best to combat the Vehicons, though they seemed vastly outnumbered. "If you touch him again." Hound grunted as he pulled himself to his feet "I will tear you apart." He then added "And if he has nothing to do with what Galvatron's planning, then what the slag are you up to?"
Cyclonus laughed a little, bringing out his second blade. "Wouldn't you love to know that? I could tell you what we're planning, but then I'd kill the suspense." Hound got to his feet, but without warning, felt a blade go straight through the left of his chest as he SHRIEKED "For now, why don't we just call us even, shall we?" He questioned, ripping out the blade, and then stabbing him deep in the other chest "Hurts, doesn't it?"
Hound groaned quietly as the blade slid out and he fell to the ground. It wouldn't have been such a disastrous blow, of course, if it hadn't been just above the spark chamber. Right through one of his cables, or so he guessed from the energon trickling down his metal body. The world grew quiet as he watched Cyclonus take off in the air, and could see a few more explosions. After a moment, Crosshairs appeared over him. "SLAGGIT!" He saw him mouth "When was First Aid coming again!? Today right!? WHEN TODAY!?"
"C-Crosshairs." He sputtered "The humans."
"We turned most of the Vehicons to scrap metal. But Cyclonus took off." He faintly made out as Crosshairs tried to keep pressure on his wound "Don't you fraggin' dare go into stasis lock, don't you dare." He shouted loudly, though it only seemed like a whisper to Hound "You've got a boy who's waiting for his guardian to come home, Hound. You can't let him down..." He added frantically.
But Hound could feel his systems shutting down, and stasis lock setting in. He couldn't fight it anymore, if First Aid hadn't yet arrived that day, then he was screwed, this was it. I am SO sorry Mark... He sent through the bond, as quickly as he could.
Seconds later, his world collapsed into darkness.
...
"Where is he!?"
Before Mark had even made his way to Hound, who was being carried in "critical condition" towards the medical bay, arms swooped him up. He beat violently at Crosshairs holoform, trying to push forward even as the tall mech held him back. "Get off of me Crosshairs! I heard the apology through the bond! Is he okay!? Is Hound okay!?" He asked loudly "What happened!?"
Crosshairs held the boy firmly, pushing him back just a little. "I'm not gonna lie was hurt really bad, kid." Mark's eyes watered slightly "That slagger Cyclonus barely missed his spark. If he had just hit an inch closer, he wouldn't even be alive right now..." Mark could feel tears overcoming him "Mark, Mark, get a hold of yourself, it's gonna be okay." He then added "Did the newest arrival, First Aid, land yet?"
Mark nodded his head vigorously, recalling that the other members of NEST had gone to greet him (with Bumblebee, who had stayed behind). Crosshairs sighed in relief, and quickly brought up his comm link to try and get a hold of Bumblebee and debrief him on the situation. Something that Mark took advantage of in order to bolt for the med bay doors. "Mark!" Mark turned his head to see Will approaching "I'm gonna need you to stay away from the med bay-."
"That's my foster dad in there!" Mark shook his head "I need to know he's okay!"
And that's when he saw him, he saw Hound lying on a massive stretcher. Energon leaking from his almost anywhere, it was a sight that broke him, his knees going weak as Will's arms wrapped around him. Perhaps it was fatherly instinct, but Will didn't let Mark run further as he sobbed quietly. "I can't lose him too." Mark muttered, becoming hysterical "He's not supposed to go down like that. They can't die unless their spark goes out, right?" Mark asked hoarsely.
"Cyclonus hit a cable that connects to his spark." Drift, who was nearby, explained "If we can't fix that, then it's only a matter of hours before his spark shuts down." Mark seemed to tremble in the Colonel's grip "Lennox, you should get him out of here. The last thing he needs is to bare witness to all of this." He tried to encourage, nodding off towards the direction of the Autobots side.
"But-!"
"C'mon kid." Lennox nodded "He's right. He'll be okay, but we need to give them time."
Mark was a mess as Lennox carefully led him away, trying his best to console the boy. Drift turned to Crosshairs with a look that screamed "worry" in his optics, shaking his head. "Are they on their way, yet?" Drift questioned, Crosshairs nodded "Good, because I am uncertain how long we can keep Markus in the dark..." He explained "It pains me to see him like that."
"He'll be alright." Crosshairs assured "Because I know Hound, and he's not going down, not like this." He shook his head, crossing his arms and his optics narrowing "That mech has had even closer calls than this. And besides, with First Aid here... Well, at least we stand a chance."
As it turned out, "here" was four hours from the base. In that time, Doctor Filter tried to stabilize him, and had managed to buy him another two hours more. Around the third hour of their waiting for First Aid, Mark joined the rest of the Autobots outside the med bay. As the group had given up trying in vain to keep him outside of the area. Instead, the boy, who had only somewhat calmed down stood by the window, glancing in at Hound, who laid on a medical berth. "Mark..." Mark turned his head towards Sideswipe as he approached from behind "He's a tough mech, trust me on this one."
"What happens if he doesn't wake up...?" Mark asked "I've already lost my dad, I can't... I can't lose another one." He explained, his voice cracking "I can't be alone again, Sides. And I don't know if I can get through losing something like this twice either."
A hand was set on his shoulder, and after a moment, he looked up to see Sideswipe's holoform. The mech, who appeared twenty-eight, with red hair, and a casual vibe to his clothing gave a soothing smile down at him. "Nothing's gonna happen to you." Sideswipe replied "You're family to us now, and we are not going to let anything happen to you." He then added "But you won't have to worry about anything, because he's going to be okay..."
Mark's ears perked up as an ambulance siren sounded out. The entire group turned as a Cybertronian-style ambulance drove into base in a hurry, transforming up before their very eyes. The red and white mech that stood in front of them looked frantic, his blue optics staring around. "I'm barely on Earth an hour and I have to get that call." The mech, who Mark guessed was First Aid, spoke up "Where is he?"
"Through that door. He's fading fast though." Crosshairs nodded "You're gonna have to work fast."
"Alright." First Aid nodded his head slowly, his optics scanning around "Drift, I'm gonna need some help, come in with me." He nodded at Drift.
Mark watched as, without another word, the medic quickly entered the med bay. His breathing labored, and his grip on his pants tightened. Would Hound make it? Were they too late? He closed his eyes silently as he tried with everything he had to calm himself down. He took a deep breath, it was in the hands of Primus, and God, now he figured. And all he could do was hope and pray for the best.