[TF] Safe Mode

a/n: This fic was written for the Redacted Fanzine.

Title: Safe Mode
Characters: Hot Rod, Drift, Ultra Magnus, other Wreckers in passing
Rated: T
Warnings: canon-typical gore and violence
Description: Hot Rod wakes with a terrible headache, which is a small price to pay for his recent mission failure.

His head hurts.

Hot Rod onlines to a slate-gray ceiling, the hum of the Xantium around him, the quiet beep of machines, and a hole in his memory so wide a Decepticon can stroll through it. Primus, it always takes too long for his processor to cycle up properly.

Drift leans into view, optics bright. “About time your lazy aft woke up.”

Relief washes out an odd sense of unease. Drift’s presence is a good sign that everything is going to be okay.

“What hit me?” Hot Rod struggles to sit up, frame creaking and aching, and Drift offers an arm to steady him.

“Those charges packed a Pit of a punch,” Drift says, his hand firm on Hot Rod’s elbow. “Got you and your team out with nothing but scratches and dents.”

Oh. Right. The mission.

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