(no subject)

[gone_byebye]

It's early evening in the Republic of the Congo on the other side of the door. The creatures of the forest are making their usual noises; the bugs of the region are competing with one another to see who will survive the night's onslaught of birds and other creatures; and a somewhat wide-eyed, dark-skinned scientist is standing at the edge of a forest clearing, trying- without much success- to communicate with a massive robotic carnosaur half-concealed by the foliage around him.

"Dr. Ndebele? Grimlock?" Ray calls. "We're here..."

Organic and mech alike look up at th at.

Comments

[autocommander.livejournal.com]

The appearance of Optimus Prime is accompanied by an strange noise, one which makes whatever birds stayed around leave quickly.

"Grimlock?" he says tentatively in English, then switches to a language of whistles and sharp clicks, with a few beeps thrown in. [Grimlock? This is Optimus Prime. My friend told me you were here and asked me to come here and help you come back where we can repair you.]

[gone_byebye]

The mech's head comes up at that. Given how tall Grimlock is when he comes fully upright, this causes some serious vegetation damage.

"[You Prime?]" Grimlock exclaims in the same whistling language. "[You JOKING. Me Grimlock thought only squishies lived on this whole planet.]"

[autocommander.livejournal.com]

"[They do. You crossed through a wormhole that brought you here from another world.]" He moves closer, becoming more visible to Grimlock. "[I'm here to bring you back. Somewhere with more of us.]"

He takes another step forward, extending his hand. "[You're hurt, old friend. Please, let me help you.]"

[gone_byebye]

It takes Grimlock a few moments to work that one through. He doesn't remember any wormhole... then again, he doesn't know that he'd know one if he saw it. And there's a lot of things that're tough to remember, though he'll swallow one of his own plasma blasts before he admits that.

There's a part of him that almost says no, that almost says he's doing just fine, thanks ever so, where were you people... but that's a streak of pure, irrational contrariness, and he knows it's not a good thing to listen to. Especially not when his own status reports are as bad as the ones he's been getting. If he's reading the gauges right, he has another two days before powering down again. And who knows how long he'll be out this time?

He doesn't want to stay here. He knows that for sure.

"[Where we going?]" he asks a bit sullenly. Not that Prime deserves it, but when you're as frustrated as Grimlock is right now, it's best you let it out at a target that can take it.

[autocommander.livejournal.com]

"[There's a controlled wormhole to another place, and a second one that'll bring you to our new home, and to Ratchet, who'll get you working properly again. You remember Ratchet? He takes care of us. He did his best when you were hurt before.]"

When Grimlock was the terror of the Decepticons; the dark shadow in the night that left them quivering. The greatest commando and assassin the Autobots had, until bad luck left him with cerebromatrix damage.

"[I'm sorry it took so long. We didn't know until this human-]" he indicates Ray, "[who is a friend of ours, came to me to tell me you were here. We're still scattered, but we're gathering, slowly.]"

He reaches out a hand. "[You have my word. And if I lie, you can punch me.]" That ALWAYS reassured Grimlock.

[gone_byebye]

He remembers Ratchet, all right. One of the few thoughts of any real constancy that he's had during each of the waking periods here, whether brief or long, has been to find the medic. He just... hasn't been able to look, or call out.

But he wasn't here anyway, so he wouldn't have heard. So.

The last part, at least, Grimlock understands for sure. He doesn't smile- doesn't even try- but he gives a very satisfied grunt indeed. "[All right. I go with you, then.]" An old bit of code prompts him to look down at Ray and add, "[Thank you, funny-looking human.]"

"[You're welcome, Grimlock,]" Ray answers, grateful once again for Garion's amulet. "[Good luck.]"

[autocommander.livejournal.com]

Optimus leads Grimlock to the door to Milliways. He steps through first, so Grimlock sees no harm. Grimlock follows, and then the door closes.

In Milliways, The door reopens, and Grimlock steps through, not into the usual place, but into the Autobot medical center.

And as he transforms back into robot mode for the first time in unknown years, as work begins to repair him, he relaxes. Autobots here.

Home.

[gone_byebye]

Ray watches them go, and turns back to Dr. Ndebele. The other man rubs at his face with both hands. "What, exactly, just happened?" he asks in an aggrieved tone.

"Grimlock and his kind aren't native to this universe, Dr. Ndebele," Ray says. "The thunderstone that fell into the jungle a hundred years ago was brought here by a dimensional cross-rip akin to the one that nearly leveled New York City in October of 2003. Optimus there came to take his friend home, back to their own dimension." It's not exactly accurate, but Ndebele looks like it's all the accuracy he can take, so Ray's going to be kind and avoid further detail.

"I see," says Ndebele. "Do... things from other universes... happen often, and I've never heard about it before?"

"You'd be surprised, Dr. Ndebele. You really would."

"You seem to be taking this very calmly," says Ndebele in an almost accusatory tone.

"That would be why they made me Ambassador-at-Large, Doctor. They wanted somebody who wouldn't spaz out." Ray glances at the tent. "I'm pretty sure that's all we're going to find out around here, unless you want to do some actual Mokele-mbembe research. How about we start writing up our reports for our respective governments, and I'll explain the rest of it in detail?"

"That," says Ndebele, "would be a good idea. Thank you, Dr. Stantz."