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Summary: A story about Strafe, Hardhead and Fortress Maximus

Rating - PG

~~~~~~

A HARD FRIENDSHIP

"I hate that guy" said Hardhead in his gruff voice, walking past Strafe's quarters. "He's weird ..."

"He's not weird. He's just well... Different ... There's nothing wrong with that. Strafe's kinda understanding."

He was very nice to me. He asked me about my problems. I feel I can tell him anything."

"Great Cybertron, Warpath! I've never heard you sound so subtle in your life!"

Warpath smiled. "Weeeel ... There's a first time for everything. Strafe's extremely kind and gentle. Not a rough gesture or word for anyone."

"S'pose he sounds okay, but Warpath, I'm not gentle and I hate being calm. Strafe hates fighting. I love it."

"I do too, Hardhead, that's why I'm called Warpath zowie wam! But being with Strafe is calming in a different sort of way."

"Yeah, well I don't want to be calmed by him."

Hardhead walked off.

In his quarters, Strafe had heard every word they had said. He felt upset that Hardhead didn't understand him.

"I wish he could understand ..." said Strafe quietly to himself.

Later on, Strafe entered the control room. Quite a few Autobots were in there, including Hardhead, who pulled a face.

"Look who's here," he whispered to Sandstorm.

Strafe, with his keen sense of hearing, heard Hardhead and looked directly at him. Hardhead looked at Strafe and pretended he hadn't said anything.

Strafe walked away to his quarters. Hardhead came after him.

"Where are you going, Strafe?" he asked sarcastically. "To sulk?"

"Leave me alone, Hardhead."

"Why should I?"

Strafe continued to walk on. He then turned around.

"Why do you always insist on picking on me?" he asked angrily.

"You're weird, Strafe."

Strafe hated being called that. "I could say the same about you. Please listen to-"

"No - I don't want to."

"It's not what you think."

"It probably isn't" said Hardhead.

Strafe felt a little better.

"It's probably worse!"

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"I don't want to"

These moments were very upsetting for Strafe. He wished Hardhead could understand. He began to walk away from him. Hardhead grabbed his arm. Strafe tried to jerk away. It hurt his arm.

"Another thing I don't like about you, Strafe ... you're a wimp."

"I'm not a wimp."

"Wanna bet?"

Strafe was silent for a moment and then said, "just because I don't like violence and fighting doesn't make me a wimp."

"Not only that - It's also the way you act. Autobots are supposed to be heroic, not wimpoic."

"Shut up, Hardhead" said Strafe, annoyed.

Hardhead slapped him hard across his face. "See what I mean, Strafe, you're a pathetic wimp ... and don't you ever tell me to shut up again."

Hardhead then roughly pushed him into his quarters and walked off.

Strafe cried soundlessly, not because he was hurt, physically, but because Hardhead had hurt his feelings. Strafe wished Hardhead could understand and respect how he felt.

Strafe talk to others about their problems. He only wanted to help them and he wanted to help Hardhead in a way.

"Maybe he's like he is because worried about something..." said Strafe quietly to himself. "Maybe I can help him ..."

The next morning, Strafe felt scared to ask Hardhead if he had any problems.

"He might yell at me and hurt me ... But ... I have to help him if he needs it."

In a way, he didn't want to help Hardhead, because of the way Hardhead had always treated him. Strafe, being extremely compassionate, loving and caring all the time, decided to forgive Hardhead and help him. He nervously approached Hardhead's quarters, glad that the door was open. Hardhead was sitting on his bed, leaning on the wall, looking at his gun.

"Uh ... Hardhead?" began Strafe, nervous.

"What do you want? " asked Hardhead angrily, not even looking up.

"Hardhead ... have you got any-" Strafe hesitated. He was scared.

"Have I got any what?" asked Hardhead, irritated.

His patience was hair-trigger. Strafe was silent for a short while.

"Uh ... problems you wanna talk about?"

"Don't start that crap with me, Strafe. It might work on other Autobots, sure as Cyber-Hell but not with me. Get lost."

"But, Hardhead ..."

"You heard me, Strafe -- Get lost!"

"Hardhead ..."

Hardhead couldn't hold his temper. He fired his gun near Strafe. Astonished, Strafe jumped backwards.

"GET LOST!! AND SHUT THE DAMNED DOOR!"

Strafe, still a little shaken, looked at him.

"Now I know why they call you Hardhead," he closed the door a little harder than he would have liked and hurried to his quarters, half expecting Hardhead to come charging after him.

Everyday, Hardhead teased Strafe and sometimes hurt him. Strafe tried to put up with it. Hardhead persisted with teasing and hurting him.

Once, Hardhead cornered Strafe. Strafe couldn't escape. He couldn't take it anymore.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" he yelled, slapping Hardhead across his face.

Hardhead slapped Strafe much harder across his and punched him in the same place.

"You wanna fight with me, Strafe? You can't ... you're too wimpy... and you wouldn't stand a chance..."

"I don't want to fight you, Hardhead. I don't want to fight at all."

"Then why did you slap me?"

Strafe didn't say anything.

"Why? Huh? HUH?"

Strafe still didn't say anything. Hardhead slapped him again.

"STOP IT!!"

"NO!!" yelled Hardhead back, punching and slapping Strafe again. Strafe put his hand up in order to protect himself. Hardhead grabbed it. Strafe tried to struggle it free, but couldn't. Hardhead was still hitting him with his other hand. Hardhead then grabbed Strafe's other hand. He held both Strafe's wrists tightly in his one hand and hit Strafe with the other. Strafe tried to get his hands free, but he couldn't. Hardhead then began to strangle him. His grip became tighter and tighter. Strafe began to cough. Hardhead then let go, of Strafe's neck and his wrists. Strafe fell onto the floor. He put his hand gently around his hurting neck. He was almost crying.

"See what I mean, Strafe?" said Hardhead. "You're a wimp."

"I am not a wimp, Hardhead," protested Strafe.

"Yeah, yeah, Sure, sure ..."

"Shut up!"

Hardhead violently kicked him. His kick sent Strafe sliding across the floor. Strafe hit the wall. He gasped and gently put his hand over his stomach, where Hardhead had kicked him. It was extremely painful. Strafe was crying softly. Hardhead hadn't meant to kick him that hard. Hardhead looked at Strafe, crying softly and wincing with pain. In a way he wanted to apologise to him, but he wasn't very sentimental and rarely showed compassion. Strafe slowly stood up. Hardhead didn't say anything. Strafe looked at him. By Hardhead's silence, he could tell he hadn't meant to kick him that hard. Strafe knew Hardhead viewed compassion as a weakness. He wanted to explain to him that compassion was a beautiful feeling and not a weakness, but Strafe was frightened that Hardhead might hurt him again. He waked to his quarters in pain and Hardhead walked away. Strafe had considered telling Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader about Hardhead's actions, and Optimus would sort things out, but that would only serve to make Hardhead view him as more of a wimp.

A few days later, Hardhead was at Strafe again.

"Hardhead," said Strafe nicely, "can you please leave me alone?"

"Hardhead," copied Hardhead, highly, "could you please leave me alone?"

Strafe made an angry noise. Hardhead pushed him onto the floor.

"You're a disgusting wimp, Strafe."

Strafe looked at the floor.

"Yeah, Strafe" said Hardhead. "You're a creep."

He then walked away. Strafe got up - he had absolutely had enough. So what if Hardhead thought he was a wimp? Strafe went to Optimus Prime one night.

"Prime, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

Strafe told Optimus Prime about how Hardhead was treating him and what he was doing to him.

"I wish he'd understand, Prime ..."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Prime."

Optimus smiled gently. He was always kind. If anyone had a problem, he always did his best to help them. His patience was almost limitless.

Optimus approached Hardhead.

"Hardhead, I wanna talk to you for a moment.

Shit ... thought Hardhead. It's about Strafe ... Optimus'll kill me ...

"Do you know what this is about?" asked Optimus Prime.

"Uh ... no ..." lied Hardhead.

"I think you do."

I knew it ... He felt angry, as well as a little nervous of what Optimus was going to do with him.

"In future, Hardhead," said Optimus Prime, anger in his voice. "I want you to lay off Strafe. I know you don't like him, but we all have our differences."

"But ... okay ... sorry, Prime."

Hardhead walked away. He was surprised that Optimus wasn't harsh or angry with him.

Hardhead went to Strafe.

"Told, Prime, huh? Dobber."

"I couldn't take it anymore."

"Strafe?"

"What?"

"How can you expect to solve anyone else's problems when you can't even solve your own?"

"You should talk. Leave me alone, Hardhead."

"That's all you ever say - Leave me alone, Hardhead ..."

"Well, why don't you?"

Strafe slammed his door in Hardhead's face. Hardhead slammed it open. Strafe gasped and backed away from Hardhead. Hardhead could see Strafe was frightened. Hardhead then took Strafe outside his quarters.

"Telling Optimus Prime ... That proves what a wimpy coward you are."

"I'm not a wimp or a coward."

"Yeah you are, but you're too much of a coward to admit it. You're weird."

"Will you please stop calling me that?"

"Why? It's what you are."

"I help people solve their problems ... In my own way. I find, Hardhead, solving their problems, is easier then solving my own."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life!" "It's not, stupid. It is easier solving their problems, because they don't have bossy Hardheads beating them up all the time!"

Hardhead put his hand up to whack Strafe. Strafe put his hand up in front of his face.

"Please, no violence."

"See what I mean, Strafe? You're a wimp."

Hardhead pushed him onto the floor. Strafe looked up at Hardhead. The way Strafe looked at Hardhead, made him feel a little tiny minute sub atomic atom sorry for him.

He looked at Strafe.

"I told you you're a coward, Strafe" he said. "Get lost."

"I could say the same thing to you and this is my quarters, but okay, Hardhead, I will, if that's what you want."

Strafe transformed into his rocket plane mode and flew as fast as he could away from Autobot headquarters.

"Good riddance!" yelled Hardhead after him.

Hardhead hadn't really meant for Strafe to take off, but didn't think much of it.

What Hardhead had yelled after him, made Strafe feel even more upset. Why couldn't Hardhead understand him? He didn't know where he was going. He flew for quite a long while.

The Decepticons detected him on Radar.

"Where's that Autobot going?" asked Scourge.

"Who cares?" said Blast Off. "Let's blow 'im out of the blue."

"He's outta range, idiot!"

"Wait till he gets in range then."

"That suits me fine."

"No" said Megatron, coming into the control room. "Take him prisoner - then we can destroy him. Maybe we'll extract some useful Autobot information secrets from him. Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, after him!"

"You got it, Megatron."

They all flew after Strafe.

Strafe was very frightened when he saw three Decepticon jets after him in attack formation. He gasped and tried to loose them. Luckily he was very manoeuvrable in the air.

"He's in range ... Fire!"

They all fired at Strafe at once. Strafe crashed onto the ground, unconscious.

"Take 'im back to headquarters" said Ramjet.

Thrust then transformed into robot mode, picked Strafe up and they returned to Decepticon headquarters.

"Good" said Megatron. "Get what you can out of him, then kill him."

Thrust threw Strafe in a poison cell.

At Autobot headquarters, Teletraan One's sky spy signaled him. Teletraan alerted to Optimus Prime that Strafe had been captured by the Decepticons.

"We have to rescue him" said Optimus Prime, concerned for his friend and feeling how frightened Strafe was.

Teletraan said, "large rescue patrol will be detected on enemy radar. Suggest team of one or two?"

Optimus Prime told the other Autobots what had happened to Strafe.

"Good" said Hardhead.

"Hardhead!" said Optimus disapprovingly.

"So what if he's been captured? He's probably solving all the Decepticons' problems. He's probably sitting down with Megatron telling him the healing power of crystals."

Despite the funny side of what Hardhead had just said, Optimus said, "Don't talk about Strafe like that. We all have our differences."

"Yeah, but no one is as weird as him."

"Hardhead ... " said Optimus Prime, getting somewhat angry now, "Strafe's not weird. He's just different. You should respect that - you're probably weird to him. It's ones personality and feelings that count."

Hardhead did not say a thing.

Optimus turned to all the Autobots, "since a large rescue patrol will be detected on Decepticons radar, one Autobot has to rescue him. I have chosen that Autobot -- Hardhead, you go."

"What?!" exclaimed Hardhead. "No!"

"What's the matter? Don't you think you can handle it? "

"Of course I can handle it" snapped Hardhead angrily.

"Then go."

"But I don't even like ..."

"Go, Hardhead, Strafe needs you."

"Ohh, dear ..."

"Go now! That's an order."

Hardhead jerked - Optimus rarely lost his cool.

"Oh ... all right ..." he scowled, transforming into his tank mode and driving out of Autobot headquarters.

Meanwhile, at Decepticon headquarters, Strafe slowly regained consciousness. He gasped as he realised what had happened and became frightened. Strafe tried to escape, but couldn't. Megatron came into his cell an demanded him to divulge all the Autobot secrets. Strafe being very loyal said, nothing.

"All right" said Megatron. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. "

"What are you going to do to me?" Strafe asked nervously.

"Oh, Nothing much" replied Megatron casually "Kill you, that's all."

Strafe made a frightened noise. "No ... don't ..." he pleaded.

Megatron smiled and exited the cell. Strafe was very frightened. He began to shiver and really wanted to escape, but couldn't. He hoped someone rescued him.

"Why do I have to rescue him?" Hardhead complained angrily to himself. "I don't even like him. I don't even wanna rescue him... waste if time. He probably doesn't even need rescuing ... Why couldn't Prime've chosen someone else? ... But no - I have to do it ... Well, bedder get on with it and get 'im ... He's probably okay ... What's Prime so worried about?."

At Decepticon headquarters the five Terrorcon Decepticons - Hun-grrr, Blot, Rippersnapper, Sinnertwin and Cutthroat came into Strafe's cell and roughly dragged him out. He tried to struggle away from them, but they were too strong and brutal.

"Let me go!" Strafe panicked.

"Not on your life, Autobot ..." said Hun-grrr evilly, "not that you'll have that much longer ..."

Strafe was very frightened. He tried to struggle free, but couldn't. Hun-grrr threw him roughly onto the ground, near the open entrance of Decepticon headquarters. Although Strafe, tried, he couldn't escape.

"Let's deal with him ..." said Hun-grrr evilly.

The Terrorcons all transformed into their large monster modes. Strafe was terrified. He looked up at their razor-sharp teeth. They normally ate a lot. Strafe was very small compared to them. He was petrified.

Hardhead was almost at Decepticon headquarters. Finally, he reached it. He saw the five Terrorcons attacking Strafe.

Shit ... he thought, Strafe really does need help ...

Strafe was absolutely petrified. He tried to get away, but Rippersnapper stopped him, by putting his foot hard on Strafe's back. Strafe started to cry soundlessly. Hardhead looked at Strafe.

He really needs me ... he thought. But I ...

There was a lot of confusion in Strafe. The Terrorcons were all yelling at him. Strafe was petrified. He wanted to escape, but couldn't. A few seconds later, Strafe saw Hardhead. He couldn't describe his utterly relieved feelings in words.

"HARDHEAD!!! ..." he screamed. "HELP ME ... PLEASE!!!"

Hardhead heard him. He wanted to help Strafe, but he hated to show compassion. Strafe knew this. He was very frightened. Would Hardhead save him?

Hardhead looked at Strafe again. The Terrorcons were starting to eat him, tearing him apart. Strafe was screaming in agony.

I might not like him, but damned if I'm gonna let those goons have him for dinner ...

Hardhead couldn't stand it anymore. He violently and ferociously blasted the five Terrorcon Decepticons away from Strafe. Strafe had fallen unconscious. Hardhead ran into to him. He picked Strafe up and ran out again.

Strafe slowly began to regain consciousness. He started screaming and was in having a panic attack.

"It's okay, Strafe, " calmed Hardhead gently - well gently for him.

He sat down. Strafe was utterly relieved.

That's the kindest gentlest thing he's ever said to me ... to anyone ...

Strafe breathed heavily. "Thank you, Hardhead."

Hardhead looked at him. "It's okay."

Hardhead flew with him back to Autobot headquarters.

"Strafe, Hardhead, you're both safe," said Optimus Prime, smiling.

"Yeah" said Hardhead with a smile too, "but Strafe needs repairs."

Optimus could tell Hardhead sounded more calm than usual.

"Take Strafe into the repair bay to Ratchet."

Hardhead offered no complaints. Optimus smiled - his plan to bring the two closer together had paid off.

Hardhead carried Strafe to Ratchet.

"Looks nasty," Ratchet said, "and painful."

In no time the Doc had Strafe up and at 'em again.

"Thanks, Ratchet."

"That's what I'm here for."

And he helped Strafe off the bed. Hardhead came in to greet him.

"You look better."

He walked with Strafe to his quarters.

"Thank you, Hardhead," Strafe said again.

Hardhead smiled. "I'm sorry ..."

Strafe smiled. All he could say was, " it's okay, Hardhead..."

"It's not okay ... I really hurt you and I'm sorry."

Strafe smiled. "You have a lot of anger inside you."

"Yeah, you got that right, but it was wrong to take it out on you."

Strafe nodded. "I'm glad you see that now, but the point is that you have to deal with what's bothering you. I forgive you."

"Thank you, Strafe - and you're right ... I do have a lot of anger ... about the war ... the Decepticons ... wanting to do my own things ... and being tied down ... I feel trapped and I want to be free. It feels as if fighting gives me that freedom, but it's just something to hide behind."

A tear rolled down Hardhead's cheek. He could not believe it. He'd never cried in his life before. Strafe was amazed, but said nothing. Hardhead, embarrassed, wiped away the tears and turned away from Strafe.

"It's all right to cry and feel compassionate, Hardhead," explained Strafe, gently. "It's not a weakness. It's beautiful - and it's a strength."

Strafe smiled - Hardhead finally understood him and he had touched him and gotten through to him. Strafe couldn't describe how he felt. Strafe then smiled. Hardhead hugged him, which surprised Strafe even more.

Later, Strafe and Hardhead went to Optimus Prime.

"I understand now, Prime," Hardhead said. "I'm sorry about how I used to feel about Strafe and how rude I was to you."

Optimus smiled and said gently, "you've learned a very important lesson, to respect and love others for what they are."

Hardhead smiled. He was grateful to have found a new friend, who had always been there for him.

*

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