Non Solum Fugere

It's All on Silverbolt's Shoulders, Part 1

"Sir!" Silverbolt saluted.

"At ease, Silverbolt. How did things go?"

"Overall, the Q & A session went very well, sir. The humans, with one exception, were thrilled to have us there, and Air Raid, Skydive, and Fireflight were great with them. In fact, Skydive and Air Raid did so well that it might be a good idea to send Skydive on the next visit to the local nursing home and Air Raid on the next visit to a local school. Skydive loves listening to the stories of the past that the older humans tell, and Air Raid's great with the children. Oh, and Fireflight actually went on a tour of the library and has a library card now. Slingshot was difficult, and I will discipline him for his behavior as soon as we return to our quarters, but otherwise, things worked out perfectly, sir," Silverbolt replied.

"Excellent work, Silverbolt." Fireflight smiled. It was good to know that their leader appreciated all the hard work Silverbolt put into leading them.

"Thank you, sir," Silverbolt said. With that, Fireflight followed Silverbolt back to their quarters, trying not to squirm with excitement at the prospect at reading books with such pretty pictures in them. Humans had so many neat ideas, and printing books on funny pieces of carbon-based material was one of them. Upon their arrival back to their quarters, Silverbolt dismissed Air Raid, Skydive, and Fireflight, and Fireflight bolted to the room that he shared with Skydive, eager to look at all the fascinating things in his new books and to avoid the argument Slingshot was probably going to start with Silverbolt. Fireflight didn't like when Slingshot got angry with Silverbolt. It really worried him, and the idea that his brothers might not like each other made him sad. Then he noticed the pretty plant that Hound had given him a present, and the funny-looking "Cabbage Patch Baby" that Carly had given him, and the picture of him and his brothers on the day of their creation, and the neat-looking "mobile" that Wheeljack had made for him, and the pretty rubies and emeralds that Powerglide's friend Astoria had given to him, and the giant smiley face drawing that Swoop had given him, and he smiled. It was so nice of his friends to give him such interesting things to look at. He vaguely remembered that he had been worried about something, but he couldn't remember what it had been. Oh, well. It probably didn't matter, not when he had new books to look at! He eagerly started reading one of them, and was lost to the world for the next thirty minutes. Then Slingshot started yelling really loudly.

"Well, if you don't want me around, then FINE! I'm leaving!" he yelled. Fireflight heard a transformation noise, and then the sound of engines igniting and a jet taking off. Scared, he ran back to their common room to see a stunned-looking Silverbolt and no Slingshot. A few seconds later, Air Raid and Skydive also entered the room.

"I take it that Slingshot left in one of his fits of pique?" Skydive asked. Silverbolt sighed and shook his head.

"Unfortunately, yes. I know he doesn't like being disciplined, but he doesn't seem to understand that I have a responsibility to Optimus Prime to keep my team in line," he said.

"What's pique?" Fireflight asked, but everyone ignored him.

"Hey, Skydive, ten credits says that Slingshot comes crawling back in less than two hours," Air Raid exclaimed.

"Make it twenty, and I will take you up on your wager," Skydive replied. Silverbolt frowned at them, and Fireflight whimpered. He didn't like it when Silverbolt got upset with his brothers. Why couldn't they all just be happy?

"Air Raid, Skydive, this isn't a game. If Slingshot keeps flouting my authority like this, High Command will think that I'm not fit to lead," he said.

"So? Prime would never put any of the four of us in charge, so who would he replace you with? Omega Supreme? He's too slow. Powerglide the minibot? That dopey Dinobot Swoop? No way," Air Raid replied casually.

"I don't think Swoop is dopey. He's really nice," Fireflight said, but, as usual when everyone was sad or mad, he was ignored again.

"Air Raid is right, Silverbolt. You have complete job security, so it doesn't matter what the Autobots think of your performance," Skydive said.

"Skydive, we're Autobots, too," Silverbolt protested.

"Tell that to them ," Skydive replied, puzzling Fireflight. Sure, they hadn't gotten along with the other Autobots at first, but that was over. Wasn't everyone friends now?

"Yeah! The humans treat us like Autobots, but nobody else does. Every time I enter the common room to hang out, it gets all quiet, and when I ask if anyone wants to hang out with me, everyone suddenly has stuff to do. A couple of them are nice, but most of them seem....I dunno, nervous around us, I guess," Air Raid added.

"Air Raid is correct. The Autobots do not trust us. I've lost count of the number of times I have been reading in a corner of the Ark and overheard them talking about us behind our backs," Skydive added. Fireflight frowned. Skydive wasn't suggesting that the other Autobots didn't like them, was he?

"What did you hear them say?" Silverbolt asked. He sounded sad, and that made Fireflight sad, too. He just wanted everything to be okay!

"All sorts of things. They say that Slingshot and Air Raid would betray the Autobots in a sparkbeat if the Decepticons offered them an opportunity for bigger thrills, that Fireflight is an idiot who shouldn't be allowed out of his quarters because he poses too much of a danger to others, that you're an incompetent leader who lets us get away with murder because you cannot control us, and that I am....well, basically Onslaught with wings; cold, cruel, and calculating," Skydive replied. He sounded mad.

"Who's included in this "they"?" Silverbolt asked, now sounding even more sad.

"Cliffjumper, Gears, Brawn, Huffer, Powerglide, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Tracks, Grapple, Warpath, Red Alert, and Ironhide," Skydive replied, as though reciting from memory. Skydive was really smart, and he could remember lots of things that Fireflight couldn't, but Fireflight didn't know why he had wanted to remember something sad. Silverbolt frowned.

"I'm going after Slingshot," he said. With that, he left the room, and Fireflight trailed after him, hoping that he would be able to make Silverbolt happy again.

"Don't be sad, Silverbolt. We all know you're a good leader, and Optimus Prime does, too," he said. That was what was important, right?

"Some leader. If I was half the leader Hot Spot is, I wouldn't have half the base calling me lazy and incompetent," Silverbolt replied. He sounded angry.

"Maybe Skydive misunderstood. Maybe they were joking, or they didn't say what he thought they said," Fireflight replied. Silverbolt just shook his head.

"Skydive doesn't make that kind of mistake, Fireflight," he said, and Fireflight frowned, because Silverbolt was right. Skydive didn't usually get things wrong-but if he wasn't wrong, then that meant that a lot of the other Autobots didn't like him and his big brothers!

"But....but you're a great leader. Why wouldn't they see that?" Fireflight asked.

"Maybe because it's not there to see," Silverbolt replied sadly.

"Of course it is! You're so smart and brave and kind and-"

"That's enough, Fireflight! I know you're trying to help, but the only way I can fix this problem is by getting Slingshot back to base on the double. Go back to our quarters."

"But-"

"I said go back, Fireflight," Silverbolt said. He still didn't yell, but he did sound mad, so Fireflight reluctantly obeyed and went back to the Aerialbots' quarters, where he promptly started to sob. Why were the other Autobots mad at him and his brothers?

"There, there. We will be fine, Fireflight," Skydive said as he patted Fireflight on the shoulder. Fireflight just cried harder.

"Yeah. We don't need the other Autobots anyways, so who cares what they think?" Air Raid added. He was trying to sound tough, but even Fireflight could tell that he actually cared a lot about what the other Autobots thought and was sad that they didn't like him.

"But...but you said they don't like us! I don't want them to not like us!" With that, he ran into his room, where he could cry in peace.