Ring of Fire

|4| - Well Excuse Me!

"Y/N! What are you—"

Before Heatwave could finish his sentence, you shoved him out of the way and shielded Kade, lifting your arms to catch the pole before it fully collapsed. Bolts of electricity arced between the dangling wires and your frame, causing minimal amount of pain to you. You tossed the pole onto an empty stretch of pavement so that the wires wouldn't ignite the grass and cause a larger fire.

Kade was speechless, spraying his fire hose in the wrong direction for a few seconds before getting himself back on track, while Heatwave looked like he was about to blow a gasket. You took a few steps away from everyone, knowing that there was still a bit of an electrical charge to your frame. In your processor, you had just saved Heatwave and Kade from certain disaster. You didn't know why you did it. It was just out of instinct, you supposed. However, a certain hothead didn't see it like that.

"What was that, Y/N?!" Heatwave growled, jabbing a digit at your chassis. If it were possible, there would probably be flames shooting from his optics. "You could've hurt someone! Not to mention you got in our way!"

"An electrical pole was about to fall on you!" You snapped back, getting in Heatwave's face. "I just saved your sorry aft and Kade's! Can't you at least be a little grateful?"

"Hey! Stop arguing and finish the rescue! We'll talk about this later!" Kade yelled at both of you.

You released a puff of steam from the vents in your neck and glared at Heatwave. He looked like he wanted to strangle you. You had to stop yourself from saying 'bring it on'. Finally, with a snort of annoyance, you backed off and returned to Cody with an invisible storm cloud brewing over your helm. This was not what you expected to happen.

•
•
•

Chief Burns pinched the bridge of his nose, his gaze fixated on the concrete floor. You, Heatwave, and Kade were standing in front of him with a good twelve feet between you and the fireman. You wanted nothing to do with Heatwave and it looked like he wanted the same. The atmosphere in the room was tense until Chief Burns cleared his throat to speak.

"Now, before anyone says anything, I want Y/N to explain his side of the story. Then Heatwave can explain his." Chief Burns said, gesturing between you and the red mech.

Heatwave scoffed and shot you a glare, but said nothing.

You simply rolled your optics before focusing your attention on the Chief. "Cody and myself were watching from a distance while Kade and Heatwave fought the flames, seeing if we could spot any other wounded citizens. However, I noticed a leaning pole with electrical wires that was about to fall on Kade and Heatwave. I leapt into action, caught the pole, and tossed it a safe distance away."

"You forgot to mention that you shoved me." Heatwave muttered under his breath, though he silenced himself when he received a side-glare from the Chief.

Chief Burns nodded, turning his attention to Kade. "Did you see the pole when it was about to collapse?"

Kade crossed his arms over his chest. "No. I was too focused on putting out the fire Cody told me about." He replied.

Chief Burns then looked to Heatwave. "Do you think you would've had time to react if Y/N hadn't intervened?"

"Yes."

"That's a load of slag! The pole was practically on top of you!" You snapped, clenching your servos into fists. "I am not going to stand here and listen to you lie!"

Heatwave's helm snapped in your direction, the same fiery glare of fury from earlier in his golden optics. "You've got a lot of nerve saying that to me, rookie!" He retorted.

"I'm not a rookie, hothead! I think your ego has gotten to your head!" You argued back, taking a thunderous step forward.

"ENOUGH!"

Chief Burns' echoing shout was enough to silence both of you, though you still exchanged death glares. He rubbed his eyes for a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "We're supposed to be a team. If you two can't work together, then you'll be slowing the rest of the team down." He said firmly, his gaze switching between you and Heatwave like you were children being scolded. "I want both of you to do partner exercises every day to build your cooperation and team skills. If you can prove to me that you won't be snapping at each other's throats 24/7, then I won't force you to do the exercises anymore. Do you understand?"

"But—"

"I said... do you understand?"

You huffed and glanced at Heatwave, who was pouting like a sparkling who didn't get his way. It was honestly amusing, but you held back a laugh and awkwardly cleared your throat instead. "Yes, Chief. I understand." You eventually answered.

Chief Burns nodded, then looked at Heatwave. "Heatwave?"

Heatwave glanced at Kade for support, but the fireman just held his hands up and shook his head. Grumbling curses to himself, Heatwave reluctantly nodded. "Yes, Chief."

"Good." Chief Burns nodded. "The partner exercises will start tomorrow morning. I expect both of you to show up on time." With that, he swiveled on his heel and walked away.

After he left the room, Heatwave shot you another nasty glare and scoffed. "Great. Now look what mess you got us into!"

"Only because you overreacted like a baby." You snorted, rolling your optics. Well . . . You thought. This is gonna be fun . . .