Chapter Text
[MCU Captain America]
Rin and Swerve's holoavatar walked hand in hand through the city. It was closing upon Christmas, lights hung from trees and lamps, over awning and doorways, like twinkling stars on strings. The snow was beginning to fall upon the rushing pedestrians as they finished their last minute shopping before the eve of the holiday. Rin held her free hand out, watching the white specks land in her palm. She couldn't feel the cold, but by the clothing the people around her wore, it must have been pretty chilly. The night sky, appearing starless due to the light pollution, gazed down at the nightlife. In the distance Rin could hear the occasional honk of a horn, or the wail of a siren, a common occurrence in the area. It was definantly different than the sounds of the Lost Light. The ground was calm under her feet, the dull hum of the engines was replaced by the chatter of humans conversation. Pleasant, but not better.
"Where do you want to go?" Swerve asked. They had been walking around for a while, looking into stores and enjoying the sweet smells of the holiday.
"Perhaps we should head back towards your alt and check out that bar." Rin suggested.
"That sounds like fun!" Swerve agreed. The two turned and began heading back the way they came.
It was about a two breem walk, back to the bar. When they stepped inside, they instantly saw how crowded it was. Luckily there were two stools open right at the bar, where they sat. While they waited for the bartender, Rin pulled out a camera.
"Smile!" She said, wrapping her arm around him and pointing the lens towards them. She showed her Amica.
"That one's definanly getting hung up at Swerve's." He said. Rin chuckled. Recently, Rin, with the help of Rewind, have been taking pictures of different moments to hang around the normally stark walls of the bar, and even places around the ship. From movie nights to celebrations, to everyday life on the Lost Light. Every single shot had a story to tell, and if anyone were to ask about it, she would share it in a heartbeat.
"Sorry for the wait." The bartender said. "What can I get started for you?" Rin glanced over the menu.
"I'll have a strawberry margarita." She turned to Swerve.
"I'll try the Moscow Mule." He said.
"Anything to eat?" The two shook their heads.
"Just the drinks." The bartender nodded before starting to fix their orders.
"I wonder what everyone else is doing." Rin said, hoping to start a conversation.
"I bet Rodimus is wanting to plan some sort of celebration. We don't normally have holidays, but any chance for a party, he takes it." Swerve said.
"Oh, and Ultra Magnus is definantly trying to protest." Rin laughed.
"He used to be much more uptight than he is now." Swerve explained. "He used to say no to fun entirely! But now he's a bit more tolerable of it. I guess spending so much time with us has made him realize his efforts were useless."
"I've been told that before. Was he really that bad?" Rin questioned.
"Totally!" Swerve replied. "He could barely even say the word." The bartender handed them their drinks. Rin took a sip. It was much sweeter than engex. It was less bubbly and tangy, and lacked the slight metallic taste. It was almost too sweet, causing her to cough in surprise.
"Are you alright?" Swerve asked. Rin held up a hand to halt the barrage of questions he was about to spew.
"I'm good." She said. "It was just a lot more sweeter than I was expecting." She took a sip of water.
"Can I try?" Rin nodded, watching Swerve take a drink. She could see his eyes widen from behind his visor.
"That is sweet!" He said. "I like that. Want to try mine?" He pushed his drink over to her and she took a sip. It was much more enjoyable than the margarita.
"Want to switch?" She asked.
"Sure!" Rin took another sip, glancing at Swerve from over the rim of the glass. Her heart pounded in her chest. She loved the moment. The two of them, enjoying a happy evening together. Rin took another picture, wanting to keep the memory forever. Swerve didn't even notice due to being caught up in sharing his most resent interests with her. She heard an "eh-hem" behind her. At first she ignored it until she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned to see a tall young man.
"I was wondering if you'd like to ditch that mouthy loser and come chill with the big boys!" He said, gesturing to a table nearby. She remembered hearing them talk about whether or not they could get someone for the evening, but Rin didn't think they were talking about her. Upon hearing the man, Swerve paused.
"The only loser I see is you." Rin replied. "I can see why you're struggling to pick up chicks." The patrons who had heard her chuckled.
"You wouldn't say that if you saw my car." The man snapped. "I bet that midget only drives an ugly minivan."
"Rather drive around in a minivan with the love of my life, than some fancy car with an asshole who only cares about getting laid." Rin shot back.
"You're actually together?" The man laughed. "You're pathetic!"
"And you wanted to sleep with 'pathetic'... so what does that make you?" She glared at him with an intensity that made him take a step back.
"Yeah... whatever." He muttered before returning back to his table. Rin gave Swerve a huge grin, puffing out her chest.
"Rin, one. Rando, none." She said proudly. Swerve was awestruck by her sharp tongue and quick comebacks.
"No kidding!" He laughed. "That was amazing!
÷÷÷ PLACEHOLDER ÷÷÷
Rin climbed into Swerve's alt. It was a simple small red and white pickup, but Rin didn't care in the slightest. She wasn't one for fancy cars with flashy paint jobs. Swerve let his holoavatar vanish as soon as the doors were closed.
"Let's enjoy some Christmas lights!" Rin suggested as her Amica kicked on his engine.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." They pulled out of the parking lot and began driving up the road.
The colorful lights that decorated the quaint little houses were stunning. It gave her an idea if how she could decorate the bar for the holiday. While she didn't celebrate it, she thought it would be fun to do.
"Let's totally do it!" Swerve said when Rin brought it up. "We can have a huge party, just to celebrate our time together and the quests to come!"
"To the quests to come!" Rin whooped. She leaned back in the seat, letting her hands rest loosely on the steering wheel. She wasn't actually in control, however she still needed to appear that she was. She sighed happily. Swerve began to plan the celebration, what they'd need, what kind of things they'd do, the movies they could watch, the music to play. Rin threw in a few of her own suggestions here and there, but mostly let Swerve do the planning. Rin glanced out the window to see that they were being followed. She had noticed it as soon as they had left the bar. She was thinking that perhaps they lived in the neighborhood, but after they left the rows of houses and back on the road to the city, the tailing vehicle didn't leave.
"I bet it's the asshole from the bar." Rin said aloud.
"The car following us?" Swerve questioned. Rin hummed an affirmative. "What makes tou think that?"
"Same license plate." She replied "Pull over and see if they'll pass." Swerve slowed down, stopping at the side of the road.
÷÷÷ PLACEHOLDER ÷÷÷
Rin lay on Swerve's chassis, his servo draped over her. He was resting against the frame of a broke car hidden in an abandoned factory. The roof was intact enough that no snow was able to get it. While the cold didn't effect Rin, like it did normal humans, she didn't like the sensation of being in wet clothes.
She could hear the comforting hum of Swerve's spark from within its chamber. The light behind his visor was dim, signalling that he was in recharge. Rin smiled, running a finger over the etched details on his frame. She loved him, more than she was ever able to express with words.
She was about to drift into recharge when her enhanced senses caught something. She perked her head up, turning in the direction of the sound. It was subtle, barely audible against the settling of the building, but it was definantly the sound of... someone. Rin slid off Swerve, before draping a large musty canvas over him and sneaking her way through the building to investigate the noise. As she listened intently into empty rooms, she heard it again. Pedesteps, or rather footsteps of an organic trying their best to remain quiet. Rin crouched in the shadows, making her way closer to the sound. She saw a dark figure sneaking through the factory, gun in hand, ready to be used in a moment notice. She followed him, her steps much more quiet than theirs. If there was one armed person, there were likely to be more.
Rin began making her way back to Swerve. She didn't know how much danger they were in, but she didn't want to stick around and find out. She climbed up his arm, tapping his audial. He woke with a start, the car behind him creaking loudly. Rin winced, realizing she hadn't really thought things through. She held a finger to her lips, but there wasn't a point. She could hear the gunman approaching their location.
"We need to go." Rin hissed. "There's someone with a gun."
"A gun?" Swerve got to his pedes.
÷÷÷ PLACEHOLDER ÷÷÷
Swerve stood protectively in front of Rin, blocking her from the view of the armed men.
"Back up!" Swerve said, aiming his blaster at them. It was a large thing that could do serious damage, despite being a little goofy in appearance. They did back up, but didn't lower their weapons. Rin peaked out from behind his pede, clutching her sword in both hands, trying to remember the lessons that Drift had been going through with her. Unlike with a gun, her deadly instict didn't kick in. It was best that way.
"What do you want?" Rin asked. She stepped out from her position.
"We don't want to fight." The first man said. He was beginning to lower his weapon. This didn't cause Rin to mirror movement. She remained in a defensive position.
"We came to investigate a tip that this was where an exchange was happening."
"An exhange?" Rin was confused. "Like drugs? Money? Slaves?"
"Powerful artifacts that could potentially be world destroying?" Swerve added, excitedly.
"Perhaps." The man replied.
"Really?" Rin and Swerve looked at each other. "I was completely joking when I said that." The minibot said.
"We haven't explored the place." Rin explained. Despite the man's friendly demeanor, she still remained suspicious. "And we've been here a few cycles. The only people who came since then were you two."
"What kind of artifact is it? Is it a gold statue, or a crystal alien skull, or a gold box that can melt your face off of you look at it?" Swerve asked. "Oh, perhaps it's a small gold box that summons demons from hell when you open it!"
"I... really don't think it's any of those, hon." Rin lowered her sword, but still kept a firm grip on it, muscles tight in case of a sudden attack.
"It's an energy source. A powerful and dangerous one." The man explained. "Bucky and I were hoping to find it before it fell in the wrong hands."
"A dangerous and powerful energy source was going to be my next guess." The minibot said. "Rin's really good at finding things! Maybe we can help each other out!"
"Swerve, these people could be bad guys!"
= NEW IDEA = [MCU Avengers]
The bright sun looked down on the streets of New York. People crowded the streets as they rushed to complete whatever task had set for themselves. It was hard to avoid getting bumped into. Everywhere was crowded, from the stores, to the streets to the roads. Angry drivers honked their horns and shouted out their windows as if that would make the bumper to bumper traffic go any faster. It didn't.
Rin Hikari sighed, trying her best to keep herself calm to prevent the anxiety from taking control. She clutched Swerve's hand tightly. He looked at her, pausing mid-sentence. Rin wasn't even able to concentrate on what he had been talking about, which was how she normally calmed herself from feeling overwhelmed.
"Are you alright?" This time she heard him. Rin gave him a quick smile but shook her head.
"It's too crowded." Rin said.
"Let's find a quiet place to chat, then!" Swerve replied. His holoavatar pulled Rin towards a pretty run down
÷÷÷ PLACEHOLDER ÷÷÷
Rin sat up. The sun shone through the window beside her, making her squint. She huffed, rolling over and pulling the blankets over her head. Today was the second day she had been on Earth, and it was already starting out bad. She heard the door to her bedroom open and she peaking out from under the covers to see Minimus Ambus, the true identity of Ultra Magnus.
"I came by to see how you were doing." He said. The small green and white mech looked down at her. "I know yesterday was... unpleasant for you."
"How long will this Energon Quest take?" Rin asked.
"That is a question I unfortunately don't know the answer to." Minimus replied. "Perhaps it may only take a few cycles, or maybe a couple mega-cycles. However, it should not take more than a jour." Minimus found it odd that Rin would find human company stressful. After all, she was an organic, just like them. Even if she wasn't completely human, she still partially shared their genetic code. Minimus figured that she just wasn't used to it, having lived on the Lost Light for nearly 3 orbital cycles. She had never really lived amongst other organics. The longest she had been with any was when she was being sold those 3 orbital cycles ago. Perhaps it was the crowds and not the humans.
Rin sat up again, rubbing her face before climbing out of bed.
"Where is everyone?" She asked.
"Rodimus and Nautica were determining the best course of action, however I'm sure they are doing otherwise since I left. Chromedome and Rewind are scouting one of the locations in their holomatter avatars..." He paused. "I am assuming Whirl has projected his avatar somewhere as he has not awaken from recharge."
"What about Swerve, Tailgate and..." Rin was cut off by a shout and the sudden smell of smoke. Both she and Minimus Ambus dashed towards towards the kitchen to see Swerve, Tailgate, and Cyclonus. The two minibots were panicking as Cyclonus calmly put out the flames. Beside her, Minimus ex-vented. The three "cooks" looked over. Swerve smiled nervously.
"Hey, Rin!" He said. "I... uh... was trying to make you breakfast. I know you don't really need to eat, but I was watching TV last night and saw something that looked amazing, but when I tried to make it... well..." He gestured to the oven.
"I appreciate the kind gesture, Swerve, but perhaps you should stick to something you already know how to do, like making a drink!" Rin said. "I could really use a drink..."
"Isn't it a bit early for that?" Tailgate asked, a concerned tone emanating from his voicebox.
"After yesterday, it's never too early." Rin answered. She sat down, clutching her face. She wanted nothing more than to drag herself back to bed.
=NEW IDEA=
The universe was so vast, there were billions of planets and millions of different species. There was a likelihood that two planets, although far apart, were similar. Nautica had explained that different galaxies could hold alternate universes, but no one would be able to know for sure unless they traveled to every planet in every galaxy.
It was a theory that wasn't able to be proven... yet...
Rin stepped out of the Rodpod, her foot sinking into the whiteness that was all around them. She yelped in surprise, not expecting it. This must be snow! Frozen precipitation.
"Wow!" Rin said, looking around as the Cybertronians joined her outside the ship. "This is amazing!"
"Right! You've never seen snow before!" Swerve said, as she bent down to look closer at the sparking ice.
"When your whole life was spent on a ship in space, the simplest things can be intriguing." Rin picked up a handful of snow.
"I know, right?" Swerve replied, there was a witful tone to his voice.
"He was soooo looking at your ass!" Whirl teased. Swerve looked away in embarrassment. Rin raised an eyebrow.
"You see it every day... it can't that intriguing..." Rin said.
"Gross..." Whirl grumbled. He was suddenly hit in the optic with something. The large mech stumbled back in surprise, rubbing his single optic with the flat of his claw.
"What the hell was that?!" He snapped.
"A snowball." Rin said, holding up an orb of snow. "I got wicked arms, and unbeatable aim." She smirked at him. Swerve was laughing, practically doubled over.
"It's been a while since I've seen snow like this." Megatron said. He held out his servo. The specks of white were so tiny he could barely see them, even against the black of his palm. "It is indeed intriguing."
"Where should we explore first?" Rodimus asked, servos on his hips.
"This whole planet isn't snow, right? We saw it from afar." Nautica said.
"We are trying to keep away from civilization." Megatron replied. "We don't know these organics and how they'd react.
"Did you not do an initial scan?"
"Mags did, but I didn't listen." Rodimus confessed. "It's better to see things for ourselves!" Rin suddenly tensed up, looking up and over her shoulder.
"Uh... sir...?" She started to say.
"I told you to call me Rodimus!"
"Sorry, Rodimus, but I'm hearing something approaching from the sky."
Everyone looked up. Having been so distracted with their conversations, they hadn't noticed it. A sound of a jet was quickly coming closer.
"What do we do?!" Swerve asked.
"Calm down, you're acting like Panic Button." Whirl snapped. "I'll just fly up and shoot them down."
"Whirl, no!" Rodimus shouted. "Activate mass displacement to appear less threatening.
÷÷÷ PLACEHOLDER ÷÷÷
"I am Rodimus of Nyon, captain of the Lost Light. These are members of my crew."
"Why are you here?" Iron-man asked. He was still aiming his hand up, the blue light in his palm pulsing.
"Just exploring!" Rodimus explained. "We're traveling through the universe, exploring the farthest reaches of the galaxy while energon still flows through our system!" Megaton pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What? What did he say? Did he say something stupid?" Rin asked, looking at Swerve. Swerve repeated what Rodimus said in Cybertronian.
"Yeah... that was kinda cheesy, Rodimus..."
"I thought it sounded awesome!" Iron-Man glanced at Rin. The blank stare of his faceplate was odd. While some Cybertronians lacked standard facial structures, like Rewind, Tailgate, and Chromedome, she could still tell what their expressions were. This was different.
"What's your name, kid?" Rin stared, not responding. Swerve nudged her.
"He asked for your name." He said.
"Me? Sorry, I'm still trying to process the language. My designation is Rin Hikari." Rin said.
"She said her name is Rin Hikari." Swerve translated.
"Tell them that I'm sorry for not understanding them and to give me a hour to get it down."
"She said that she's sorry for not understanding you and to give her an hour to get it down."
"She can learn a language in an hour?" Iron-Man was impressed. He noticed Rin was muttering to herself. And when Iron-Man boosted his hearing, he realized she was repeating what he was saying.
"How does she learn?" He asked. She repeated the question under her breath.
"She uses context clues when repeating what you say." Swerve explained. "It's really fascinating, actually. The more she hears, the faster she learns. So if I keep talking in your language, she'll be able to learn it faster!"
"You don't want to talk their audials off." Rin said. There was a slight accent in her voice, and she talked slower than normal, but it was the language.
"See? What did I say? She might not even need an hour to get things down. She got the hang of it already!"
÷÷÷ PLACEHOLDER ÷÷÷
"So... are you two together?" Rocket asked. "Like... romantically?"
"Swerve and I are. He's my Amica Endura."
"How do you guys have sex?"
"Dude!" Peter stared down at Rocket. "We don't ask that kind of thing!"
"I'm curious as well." Drax added.
"Curiousity killed the cybercat..." Rin said.
"Come on, Squishy. I bet you have to use his holoavatar. Unless his fingers are enough to satisfy your..."
"Whirl, that is not an appropriate conversation." Megatron replied sternly. Rin covered her face.