[Velocity buried her face even more into the boy before she raises her head enough so when she calls out to him it's audible]
I'm here. The door's unlocked.
[One inside, a single look around will give the impression that to judge by the likes of barely touched energon, she's been hiding out in her hab suite for a decent --or indecent-- length of time. Her face falls when she sees him, as much as she wanted, and wants, him here]
I messed up. I really, really messed up. I thought maybe helping on that planet to get our bodies back was going to help, but- [A hiccupy beep tumbles out of her mouth, and she buries her face into the toy again]
[he lets himself in and plops himself down in the desk chair after removing anything from it, spinning himself around so he can actually face her. megatron rests his elbows on his knees, tilting his head.]
Writhe contacted me. Nickel saw it on my datapad, but didn't know who it was, she thought- she was worried. He told me to go to a location, and- [Another hiccup] And I tried testing out the limits. Told him no. It didn't- [A small noise muffled into the toy]
It was a forest. There were slavers in a cage, and one of the Optimuses was there. The one with gold optics. He was nice. Said he wouldn't tell anybody. But Writhe did something to my head. The same thing as always. And I hurt him. Hurt all of them. Except Writhe.
Hmm. Don't worry about the Optimus, he can probably take it. They're annoyingly difficult to do permanent damage to. I would know.
[he leans back in the chair, hand going to his chin. he's unhappy to see that he was right in his worry that writhe would take her somewhere, and a deep, buried part of him is furious that writhe got someone of his. this part gets buried aggressively when megatron is even slightly aware of it.]
[Velocity makes a noise into the toy again before reluctantly pulling her face away]
It's- I might be able to get away with it in the field, but I can't actively provide physical care as a doctor anymore. [Her voice shakes with shame and grief, and she isn't looking at him] Checking in patients or doing research or something ought to be fine, but- but he made it very clear that he can influence me whenever he wants to. What if he did it during a surgery? I can't take that risk.
I thought I could get away with just taking sabbaticals, but- this isn't going to go away anytime soon. Something needs to break, and this is it.
[Velocity visibly flinches, her face crumpling as she whispers back]
...W- would you mind telling her. She's always had all of this faith in me. All of this belief that I'll be great. I don't- I can't see her face when she hears it, I can't.
[as the door slides open, it's just megatron standing there. he moves back into the hab, this time to sit next to where velocity is curled up on her berth.]
He is not here. That creep is called Writhe. He's one of the Slaverlords; one we've fought several times. He's one of Bos'Kit's Quintessons.
[this small amount of information is still a lot, so megatron falls silent so nickel can actually get in and presumably make herself comfortable in the desk chair he'd been using a few moments before.]
[Velocity immediately turns to latch onto Megatron so she doesn't have to look at Nickel. Megatron hadn't been wrong about how running away didn't fix anything earlier, she knew he wasn't wrong, but-]
He- I-
[She barely gets the words out before Velocity shakes her head and grips onto him tighter as she tucks herself closer. The shame was overwhelming and almost choked her. Now Nickel was going to know, she was going to know!]
You just said you were going to say the other thing!
[ She does not sit down but she does relax her grip on her rifle and leans it against her shoulder at rest. She frowns and the name clicks into place. ]
That's the one who put your squad in medical after that mission. Him? He's the creep?
[ Velocity is acting... not right. She's acting like a sparking who's been caught doing something she's not supposed to be doing. Something cold and clammy washes over her spark. Nothing is right here. ]
[he looks uncomfortable at being latched onto, but doesn't push her off.]
The very same. [megatron's expression pinches with distaste there, considering he was one that had to be taped back together.] During our last fight with him he came very close to killing us all despite our best efforts otherwise.
[quietly, he hopes nickel never finds out that he did so much dark energon.]
At the end of it, we were all teleported out of where we had been battling him, and Velocity later admitted to me that this was because he offered her our survival in exchange for her spark.
[his expression is only getting more severe as he speaks, but he keeps on.]
I imagine that's why he had contacted you when that swapping nonsense happened-- it seems he stepped his harassment up recently, as Velocity and that Optimus with the yellow optics were both taken away to kill slavers for his amusement. She has also told me that damnedable mind magic from that mission in the volcano twisted some of her processor functions to enjoy causing harm.
[fully aware that velocity is absolutely mortified next to him, he brings it to a close.]
I called you, Nickel, because I think you and I have the best chance of any productivity coming from this. I did not ask you here to list a series of unfortunate events as a humiliation exercise-- all of this remaining hidden is doing no favours. [he looks down at at velocity, finally, resting a hand on her shoulder.] It is allowing Writhe to win and get what he wants. Doubly so if you truly give up your medic position.
Mortified doesn't to come close to cover how badly Velocity wanted to crawl into a hole in the floor and never come out. She hadn't yet let go of Megatron despite all of the things she somehow hadn't thought he would tell Nickel, and in fact hung on tighter.
"He's already won!" She said in a strangled half whisper. "All that I can do now is harm mitigation. Refuse him what he wants and keep him from using me to harm anyone on the ship or elsewhere, that's why I-"
She suddenly closed her mouth and shook it again, unwilling to tell either of them about how she'd been investigating the flight plan over the next few weeks, to see if they would be passing by any asteroid belts or similarly deserted places she could hide in until she couldn't catch up with the ship again.
"What good would it do anyone if he alters my mind during an operation, or counting out medication? How would it be worth it to have someone sitting over my shoulder to make sure I don't hurt anyone?"
"Oh I'm about mitigate some harm all right," Nickel snaps, posture going instantly from relaxed to HIGH ALERT. She huffs under her breath and paces wheels squealing as she absorbs the massive info dump she's just been given. Were does she even BEGIN.
"Already won?" she finally stops, tone utterly incredulous. She looks right at Velocity. It's the kind of hard stare that can be felt even if she keeps hiding behind Megatron.
"Is that what you said about your university? And your professors, and all those mean girls who mocked you after you failed your exams over and over? Or was that a tale of someone different? Most people who failed nine times would have given up a fragging LONG time before they got to that point," she wheels closer to the bed, somehow managing to loom over it despite her size. She's angry enough to spit nails. Angry that Lottie's kept this bottled up an hidden, angry that this loser WRITHE things he can what he pleases to someone she cares about...
"So you failed this exam. Absolutely BOMBED it. So do what you do best," she jabs a finger at her, "And buckle up, study up, and re-take it. I will not accept failure."
[Velocity has gone utterly still and quiet while Nickel speaks, watching her wide golden eyes. This is the first time during this whole conversation that she hasn't shrunk back at all. Something about it seems to have caught and held her attention. When Nickel comes to her triumphant finish, Velocity finally replies. Her voice still comes out small, but steadier than it was a minute ago]
Eleventh time's the charm, then? [There's a ghost of a smile, there and gone, and she ducks her gaze back down again] ...If you're right, I'll um. I might have to find something new to do, then. Something different. I only passed that last time because I took a verbal test.
[She's still not sure how long this borrowed determination will last, but the shuttles aren't going anywhere. They can be a sort of reassurance. An ejector seat of sorts. If all else fails, eject your closest doctor]
"He hasn't won while he's still a being that can be eliminated," Megatron says, taking the predictably Megatron approach. He fondly remembers strangling Writhe in their last fight, even if he didn't manage to pop his head off like he wanted to. "Do not forget that he is simply Bos'Kit's lapdog-- an obnoxious turtle who was given power he didn't deserve and uses it to make people's lives miserable because he has been free of consequence, until he very suddenly won't be."
Ah, and he's pleased Nickel is able to do her Nickel thing and, more importantly, be listened to. He thinks, from how Writhe is not a being that Velocity would take advice from, but happily listens to all the terrible things he tells her about herself, that this situation has made her hearing a little selective.
"Now, do finish that thought and tell me what you were about to say. That's why you what?"
Velocity nodded while attempting to look anywhere but at either of them while she attempted to get herself under something resembling control. This, naturally, failed spectacularly as soon as he asked that question.
The room was bathed in golden light as her optics went wide and bright in a "singlehorn caught in the headlights" expression. "Uh. Um. I didn't- I just meant-"
Velocity squirmed, thinking of how Nickel told her that friends didn't lie to friends, and then she slumped. "...That's why I was going to take a shuttle and go somewhere isolated and disable my motor functions," she said shamefacedly down at the floor. "I was going to go there earlier today but the Optimus I met, he-"
She drew in a vent and looked back up. "He was nice. He hugged me. So- so I came back here."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I'm here. The door's unlocked.
[One inside, a single look around will give the impression that to judge by the likes of barely touched energon, she's been hiding out in her hab suite for a decent --or indecent-- length of time. Her face falls when she sees him, as much as she wanted, and wants, him here]
I messed up. I really, really messed up. I thought maybe helping on that planet to get our bodies back was going to help, but- [A hiccupy beep tumbles out of her mouth, and she buries her face into the toy again]
no subject
You haven't told me what's happened yet.
no subject
Writhe contacted me. Nickel saw it on my datapad, but didn't know who it was, she thought- she was worried. He told me to go to a location, and- [Another hiccup] And I tried testing out the limits. Told him no. It didn't- [A small noise muffled into the toy]
It was a forest. There were slavers in a cage, and one of the Optimuses was there. The one with gold optics. He was nice. Said he wouldn't tell anybody. But Writhe did something to my head. The same thing as always. And I hurt him. Hurt all of them. Except Writhe.
no subject
[he leans back in the chair, hand going to his chin. he's unhappy to see that he was right in his worry that writhe would take her somewhere, and a deep, buried part of him is furious that writhe got someone of his. this part gets buried aggressively when megatron is even slightly aware of it.]
So what now?
no subject
It's- I might be able to get away with it in the field, but I can't actively provide physical care as a doctor anymore. [Her voice shakes with shame and grief, and she isn't looking at him] Checking in patients or doing research or something ought to be fine, but- but he made it very clear that he can influence me whenever he wants to. What if he did it during a surgery? I can't take that risk.
I thought I could get away with just taking sabbaticals, but- this isn't going to go away anytime soon. Something needs to break, and this is it.
no subject
You tell Nickel, or I do.
no subject
...W- would you mind telling her. She's always had all of this faith in me. All of this belief that I'll be great. I don't- I can't see her face when she hears it, I can't.
no subject
[when the line connects:]
Nickel. I need you to come to Velocity's hab. A situation you've been made vaguely aware of in the past has reached boiling point.
no subject
[ There’s a bit of a scuffle and Nickel shouts ‘New kid watch my eyeball!’ And then the comm hangs up.
Literal minutes later she’s at Velocity’s door, her undamaged optic blazing and her trusty sniper rifle in hand. ]
Where is he?!
no subject
He is not here. That creep is called Writhe. He's one of the Slaverlords; one we've fought several times. He's one of Bos'Kit's Quintessons.
[this small amount of information is still a lot, so megatron falls silent so nickel can actually get in and presumably make herself comfortable in the desk chair he'd been using a few moments before.]
no subject
He- I-
[She barely gets the words out before Velocity shakes her head and grips onto him tighter as she tucks herself closer. The shame was overwhelming and almost choked her. Now Nickel was going to know, she was going to know!]
You just said you were going to say the other thing!
no subject
[ She does not sit down but she does relax her grip on her rifle and leans it against her shoulder at rest. She frowns and the name clicks into place. ]
That's the one who put your squad in medical after that mission. Him? He's the creep?
[ Velocity is acting... not right. She's acting like a sparking who's been caught doing something she's not supposed to be doing. Something cold and clammy washes over her spark. Nothing is right here. ]
What's happened? Everything. Please.
no subject
The very same. [megatron's expression pinches with distaste there, considering he was one that had to be taped back together.] During our last fight with him he came very close to killing us all despite our best efforts otherwise.
[quietly, he hopes nickel never finds out that he did so much dark energon.]
At the end of it, we were all teleported out of where we had been battling him, and Velocity later admitted to me that this was because he offered her our survival in exchange for her spark.
[his expression is only getting more severe as he speaks, but he keeps on.]
I imagine that's why he had contacted you when that swapping nonsense happened-- it seems he stepped his harassment up recently, as Velocity and that Optimus with the yellow optics were both taken away to kill slavers for his amusement. She has also told me that damnedable mind magic from that mission in the volcano twisted some of her processor functions to enjoy causing harm.
[fully aware that velocity is absolutely mortified next to him, he brings it to a close.]
I called you, Nickel, because I think you and I have the best chance of any productivity coming from this. I did not ask you here to list a series of unfortunate events as a humiliation exercise-- all of this remaining hidden is doing no favours. [he looks down at at velocity, finally, resting a hand on her shoulder.] It is allowing Writhe to win and get what he wants. Doubly so if you truly give up your medic position.
no subject
"He's already won!" She said in a strangled half whisper. "All that I can do now is harm mitigation. Refuse him what he wants and keep him from using me to harm anyone on the ship or elsewhere, that's why I-"
She suddenly closed her mouth and shook it again, unwilling to tell either of them about how she'd been investigating the flight plan over the next few weeks, to see if they would be passing by any asteroid belts or similarly deserted places she could hide in until she couldn't catch up with the ship again.
"What good would it do anyone if he alters my mind during an operation, or counting out medication? How would it be worth it to have someone sitting over my shoulder to make sure I don't hurt anyone?"
no subject
"Already won?" she finally stops, tone utterly incredulous. She looks right at Velocity. It's the kind of hard stare that can be felt even if she keeps hiding behind Megatron.
"Is that what you said about your university? And your professors, and all those mean girls who mocked you after you failed your exams over and over? Or was that a tale of someone different? Most people who failed nine times would have given up a fragging LONG time before they got to that point," she wheels closer to the bed, somehow managing to loom over it despite her size. She's angry enough to spit nails. Angry that Lottie's kept this bottled up an hidden, angry that this loser WRITHE things he can what he pleases to someone she cares about...
"So you failed this exam. Absolutely BOMBED it. So do what you do best," she jabs a finger at her, "And buckle up, study up, and re-take it. I will not accept failure."
no subject
Eleventh time's the charm, then? [There's a ghost of a smile, there and gone, and she ducks her gaze back down again] ...If you're right, I'll um. I might have to find something new to do, then. Something different. I only passed that last time because I took a verbal test.
[She's still not sure how long this borrowed determination will last, but the shuttles aren't going anywhere. They can be a sort of reassurance. An ejector seat of sorts. If all else fails, eject your closest doctor]
no subject
Ah, and he's pleased Nickel is able to do her Nickel thing and, more importantly, be listened to. He thinks, from how Writhe is not a being that Velocity would take advice from, but happily listens to all the terrible things he tells her about herself, that this situation has made her hearing a little selective.
"Now, do finish that thought and tell me what you were about to say. That's why you what?"
no subject
The room was bathed in golden light as her optics went wide and bright in a "singlehorn caught in the headlights" expression. "Uh. Um. I didn't- I just meant-"
Velocity squirmed, thinking of how Nickel told her that friends didn't lie to friends, and then she slumped. "...That's why I was going to take a shuttle and go somewhere isolated and disable my motor functions," she said shamefacedly down at the floor. "I was going to go there earlier today but the Optimus I met, he-"
She drew in a vent and looked back up. "He was nice. He hugged me. So- so I came back here."