Second, Thirds, and Fourth Chances

Rin paced anxiously outside of Ultra Magnus's office. She felt the need to talk to him about what had happened. To apologize again for her actions; actions that broke the Autobot Code. While she wasn't an Autobot, she wanted nothing more than to become one, to be seen as one, but she fragged up any chance of reaching her goal. Her anger had got the better of her, and she committed a horrid act. And while it could be seen as self-defense, there were other ways that it could have been solved. She could have just left, escaped without anyone knowing... however, she chose not to. She chose to fight back.

Rin took a deep breath before knocking on the large door, loudly.

"Enter." The voice made Rin tense up. She normally wasn't scared of the Second-in-Command, but hearing his voice caused her to hesitate before she responded.

"I-It's Rin, sir." The door opened, and instead of the large blue white and red mech, she saw a smaller green and white Cybertonian. Minimus Ambus. The minibot who was the true identity of Ultra Magnus.

"Sir..." Rin fidgeted nervously.

"Come in." Minimus said, stepping aside. Rin walked in. Minimus Ambus closed the door. "What can I do for you?" He asked.

"I...I wanted to talk about what happened." Rin said. She crawled up onto a chair to sit at a more reasonably level to the bot.

"Yes...?" Minimus Ambus looked at her.

"I'm sorry." Rin finally choked out. "My actions were... My actions were not acceptable. There were many different ways I could have handled the situation in a more peaceful manner; a manner that didn't involve the unnecessary slaughter of others. What I did was... I'm sorry... I can't... there's nothing I can do to redeem myself, is there?" She felt a servo touch her shoulder.

"Rin Hikari, while what you did was unacceptable, and shouldn't be taken lightly, you acted in the moment. Anger and fear put a lapse in your judgment." Minimus Ambus said. "You are a member of the Lost Light, a crew made up of second chances. You know what you did was wrong, and that's a start."

"What can I do, sir? I... I can read the Code again, or I can review incident reports, or..." Rin fidgeted.

"You can start by making an incident report, and we will go from there." Minimus Ambus said. Rin nodded. She slid down the leg of the chair and followed him to the door. He opened it for her and watched as she began to walk out.

"Hikari." Rin turned.

"Good job taking responsibility for your actions. It takes a lot to do that." The human nodded, smiling slightly before scuttling off.

×××

Rin sat at the desk in her hab-suite, typing away on a datapad when there was a loud bang on the door before it hissed open. She turned to see that last bot she had expected.

"Hey, Whirl." Rin said. She put down the datapad. "What's going on?"

"How did you do it?" He asked. He leaned in close to the human. His optic staring at her with a intensity that would cause most to back away.

"Do what?"

"On the planet. 30 bodies, bullet holes on every surface, except you. And on top of that, not a single stray scorch mark. You didn't miss a single shot." Rin looked down at the desk.

"Well, I... I don't remember." She muttered.

"Don't give me that slag, Squishy." He snapped. "You and I both know that that's a lie. What I saw in there was not the aftermath of blind rage. It was skill."

"I don't want to talk about it." Rin said.

"Well, I do." Whirl replied. "And I'm not leaving until you tell me how you did it." Rin clenched her fists. She knew she couldn't change his mind.

"I don't know, Whirl!" She shouted. "I don't know where I learned to do something like that. As far as I know that was the first time I fired any sort of gun in my life. And quite honestly, it scares me. The fact I can do something like that it's... it's..."

"It's impressive." Whirl finished.

"What?" Had he just complimented her? Rin looked up at the mech. She almost didn't believe what she had heard.

"Don't be ashamed of your skill, Squishy." Whirl said. "It makes you less boring. Now, let's go celebrate your first real violent outburst with a drink. On you, of course."

"I can't." Rin said, not enthusiastic about the fact that Whirl wanted to reward her for what she did. "I need to finish this incident report for Magnus, and-" The datapad was ripped from her hands and tossed to the side.

"Frag that!" Whirl said, plucking the tiny human up in his claws. "We're getting a drink. Now."

"Wh-Whirl!" Rin struggled in his grasp. "Stop, put me down!" The one-optic'd mech paid no attention to her protests. Rin sighed, giving up the struggle. She was not going to be able to change his mind.

Rin did start feeling a little better after a few drinks. She swirled the engex in her glass as Whirl choked down his high-grade.

"You know, Squishy. I've had an urge to kill you on multiple occasions." He said, his voice synthesizer slurring slightly.

"I'm well aware...." Rin said, curious as to where he was going with the statement. She remembered how her first real introduction with Whirl went:

Rin Hikari stood next Swerve while perched on the bartop.

"As you all know. This is Rin Hikari. The new member of the Lost Light!" Swerve announced. Rin looked down at her feet, shifting uncomfortably. While there were only a servoful of bots in the bar, being stared at intensively was making her feel nervous.

"She is under my protection, and if any of you do anything to harm her, then... I'll... ban you from my bar. Got it?" Silence. Rin looked at the minibot who now had an annoyed frown on his faceplate.

"Is that all?" A gruff voice asked. The ground shook slightly as a blue mech came over, three times Swerve's height. Whirl. The mech poked Rin in the chest with a claw. It wasn't gentle in the slightest. She clutched onto it as she almost fell backwards. Whirl ripped his digit away from her grasp with a disgusted squint of his optic.

"Leave her alone, Whirl..." They turned to see Tailgate walking over. Rin liked the white and blue minibot. He had been of the first bots to approach after her initial introduction. He had even given her a hoverboard to help her get around the ship if Swerve was busy.

"Or what?" Whirl asked, leaning down to Tailgate's level. Cyclonus got to his pedes, ready to defend his conjunx against the larger mech.

"Let's not fight over a useless matter, guys." Rin quickly jumped in. Whirl scoffed.

"You're right about that, Squishy. You are useless." He straightened up again, gazing down at her from over his chassis.

"Hey!" Swerve interjected, but Rin stopped him.

"And you're right about that, Whirl. I am usless... for now." Rin said. "But I know one thing's for certain. People already like me more than they like you, and I've only been here a jour." Whirl glared down at the human.

"And I'm okay with that." He replied. His tone was low; dangerous. Rin could tell that the comment did hurt him, more than he was ever willing to admit. She would have been lying if she said she didn't feel bad.

"Are you, though?" Rin pressed. "We all know you don't fit in, just like me."

"I'm nothing like you!" Whirl shouted. Every bot in the room could see that things were becoming heated, but no one stepped in to stop it. They wanted to see how things turned out. "I'm a freak, and everyone knows it."

"Have you forgotten that I am a freak too?" Rin asked. "I'm a nobody! An organic cooked up in a lab!"

"I am unpredictably violent." Whirl countered.

"So am I!" Rin threw up her hands. "I sent a bot to medibay just a mega-cycle ago and I don't even remember how I did it!" She crossed her arms.

"You may not like it, Whirl, but you and I are very similar... so from one freak to another? Trying to fit in is overrated. Also, your intimidation tactics do not work against me." Whirl stared at her. There was a tense silence before Whirl burst out into uproarious laughter.

"You're not so bad, Squishy. I'll let you live another day." He said. If he had a mouth, he would have been grinning. The tension dropped, she could even hear a few bots ex-vent with relief.

"If anyone hurts, Squishy, I'll kill you myself!" Whirl announced. Rin couldn't help but chuckle a little as everyone present flinched at the same time. She had just became acquaintances with one of the most dangerous bots on board.

While Whirl had become more tolerable of her after that, he didn't improve his attitude towards her by much. Rin always brushed it off. She didn't mind too much.

"But you were right about one thing." He gazed down at her. "You and I are very similar." His helm hit the bartop. Rin rolled her eyes before getting up, take his glass and handing it to Swerve.

"Wow... what made you get on his good side? Does he even have a good side? I mean his more tolerable side..." Rin shrugged.

"I think it had something to do with what happened on Numa, but I'm not entirely sure." She said. She finished her engex.

"I have to finish that incident report for Ultra Magnus." Rin hopped off the counter onto her work platform before climbing to the floor. "I'll come back after I'm done."

"Alright!" They waved to each other before Rin walked out of the bar.

×××

After reviewing her report for the 7th time, Rin finally sent it to Ultra Magnus. While she remembered everything vividly, she found it hard to write it down. Worry washed over her as she set down the datapad. She made her way off the desk, grabbing her hoverboard and heading out of the hab-suite. The halls were quiet, as the evening time set in. She hopped on her hoverboard and made her way back to Swerve's. It was still busy as it had been before. Whirl was gone, and in his place was Brainstorm.

"Hey, Brainstorm." Rin said. She stepped off her hoverboard before walking to him. She reached into her subspace hatch and pulled the blaster and cylinder out, holding it up to the scientist.

"I appreciate the gift, but I don't think I'm ready for it, yet." She said. Brainstorm looked down at her.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep it?" He asked. "Just in case?" Rin shook her head. She felt bad. It was a beautiful piece, and he must have taken some time to work on something so small, but until she felt more comfortable, she didn't trust herself with it.

"I'm sorry, Brainstorm. I know you made it for me and everything, but having it in my hands... I..." She didn't know how to explain the violent urges she got as soon as she touched the cool steel of the gun. It sent an odd shiver up her spine.

"Don't worry about it." Brainstorm said. "All I need to do is deactivate mass displacement device and it can be used by a Cybertronian." Rin smiled as he took the gun. Of course he had a back-up plan in case she wasn't able to have or keep it. She bowed her head politely in thanks. She was about to situate herself on her platform behind the bar when she heard a small ping in her ear. She touched the comms device.

"This is Rin." She said.

"It's Ultra Magnus. I would like to speak with you. When you have a moment, come see me in my office." The deep voice of the Second-in-Command replied.

"Yes, sir. I'll be right there." She picked up her hoverboard.

"I'm being called away again." She said to Swerve. "I extra promise to be right back after this."

"It's no problem. You're a busy femme!" Swerve replied with a dismissive wave of his servo. "Don't worry about it." Rin flew out of the bar.

"I received your report." Ultra Magnus said. "It was well written."

"Thank you, sir." Rin was sat cross-legged on his desk. She gazed at the smooth metal underneath her.

"Hikari..." She looked up.

"I don't want you to think that what you did will change how we treat you." Ultra Magnus said. "As I said before, this whole crew is built on second chances, even third and fourths. You learned from your mistake, and I hope it will never again transpire."

"Yes, sir." Rin got to her feet and bowed. "It won't happen again." Ultra Magnus helped her off the table and onto the floor, where she retrieved her hoverboard.

"One last thing, Hikari." The human turned.

"You can drop the 'sir'. You can call me 'Magnus', like everyone else."

"Thank you, s-... Magnus." Rin bowed once more before leaving the room. Ultra Magnus watched her leave. He wondered if Rodimus had read the report yet.

×××

Rin slid a drink over to Rewind, before taking the empty glass handed to her by Chromedome.

"Want another?" She asked. Chromedome shook his helm.

"I'm alright, thanks." Rin handed the glass to Swerve to clean. Rin had once assumed that Chromedome didn't like her. He was distant, but not too unfriendly. However, when she had asked Rewind, he told her that Chromedome just wasn't a very talkative bot and to not take offense. Rewind was the opposite of Chromedome. He was always cheerful and outgoing. Genuinely a great person to hang out with.

"How was your first planet?" Rewind asked. In the reflection of his visor, Rin could see Swerve trying to shut him up. She sighed.

"It didn't go very well..." Rin said. "Apparently being a human means I cost about 1 million credit." She leaned on the counter, tapping anxiously on the surface.

"Oh..." Rewind paused. "OH!" He finally understood what Rin meant. The human nodded, resting her head on the metal surface.

"I'll never leaving the Lost Light again." She said.

"Don't say that!" Swerve said, patting her back gently. "Next time will be better." Rin grumbled, but straightened back up. She was happy that she had a friend like Swerve. He always seemed to know what to say and when.

"I'll... think about it." She finally said.

"It's a start!" Swerve replied with a grin.

The rest of the evening went by quickly. Tailgate came to check on her as well as Nautica. She once again apologized for what happened, but Rin reassured her that everything worked out okay.

"I'm not injured, and my violent outburst didn't get me in too much trouble." Rin said to the purple femme. She smiled. "Don't beat yourself up!" Nautica smiled back. Rin hoped she wasn't blushing too hard.

After her shift ended, or rather, after Swerve said that she was fine to leave, Rin headed back to her hab-suite. She felt tired. She often slept more than the Cybertronians, which she assumed was a human thing, or perhaps it was because if some strange sciency reason. As long as it didn't get in the way of anything, she didn't seen the point in asking anyone about it.

It didn't take long for Rin to fall asleep. Perhaps the next planetary exploration wouldn't be as bad as the first. She was willing to give it another go.

×××

"Rin!" The human sat up from her prone position on her bed. She rubbed her eyes, glancing around. "Hey, Rinny!" Rin turned to see Rodimus.

"Please don't call me Rinny..." Rin said, yawning and turning to sit on the edge of her bed. "What's up, Rodimus?"

"I wanted to do a big fancy ceremony for this, but Mags suggested otherwise, so I'll just do it right here." Rodimus began.

"A ceremony?" Rin was confused. "For what?" It didn't help that she had just woken up from sleep. She caught something shiny in the grasp of Rodimus's servo. He held it up. Pinched carefully between his digits, was a small Rodimus Star, something he occasionally gave out to others as a reward for good behavior. He handed it to her.

"I think you deserve this." He said. "It may not be an autobot badge, but it's literally the next best thing to it." Rin held the golden piece in her hands, eyes filling with tears.

"Y-You think so?" She asked.

"Of course! After all, I made it and I think it holds-" Rin chuckled, cutting him off.

"No, I mean, you think I deserve this?"

"Definantly. What you did, taking responsibility for your actions, that's huge. Something many people find hard to do, even me... at times." Rodimus said. "Besides, the work you do: dealing with incident reports, helping out, just being an overall joyful addition... this was a long thing coming." Rin smiled.

"If I could hug you, I would." She said. Rodimus smirked.

"I think I can do something about that." He said. Rin watched in confusion as he sat down in the chair, his optics dimming.

"R-Rodimus?" Rin was concerned. She took a step forward when something materialized in front of her and she ran straight into it. She looked up to see a human. A male human with long messy brown hair with a yellow headband around his forehead. He wore puffy orange jacket over a torn sleeve gray vest and a plaid button-up. Under that was a very familiar yellow pattern and symbol on a red shirt.

"Rodimus?" The human smiled, laughing at her confusion. He placed a fingerless gloved hand on her head. Rin noticed that his right arm had a black flame tattoo that started from his wrist.

"You like it?" He asked. "It's a holomatter avatar. Brainstorm made a device a while back that allows us to project an avatar to planets that weren't huge fans of Cybertronians."

"Oh! I know about holoforms!" Rin said. "Swerve showed me his a while back. He did mention that you and a few others had one too, but I was too nervous to ask for anyone else to show me." She gave him a big hug.

"I like it!" Despite just being a projection, Rin could feel the texture of his clothes, and the soft fibers of his hair. He was warm, and smelled like energon and rubber, along with something else that Rin couldn't put a name to. She sniffed, tears welling in her eyes. She pulled away awkwardly, wiping her face.

"S-Sorry. That was... unprofessional." She said. Rodimus laughed.

"Frag being professional. I may be the Captain, but I'm also your friend." This time it was he who pulled her in for a hug. Rin smiled, accepting the embrace. She stared down at the golden metal of the Rodimus Star, the hallway light, reflecting off of it. She finally felt like a real member of the Lost Light.