Disclaimer: I may have claimed the pairing for LJ, but in reality I own neither Transformer or anything else in their universe.

Note: There's a teeny tiny reference to Transformers: Cybertron in here, way, way down at the bottom. You'll see it if you're a TF:CYB fan, otherwise you'll skim right over it and won't be bothered one bit and life will go on like nothing happened.

Also, I know some people write in chronological order for this challenge but I didn't. In fact, these sentences aren't meant to be strung together in any way, they're to be read on their own.

Love is like a Bomb

Ring

Back-to-back with five Predacons circling them like vultures and no back-up to be seen as of yet, their chances seem slim but they won't be giving up and going down without a fight.

Hero

While the other Maximals are eager to honor Dinobot by dubbing him a hero, Rattrap doesn't see the point in the praise; dead heroes win no battles, after all.

Memory

Rattrap would like to forget the raptor, leave his memory in the dust with so many others, because it seems like the right thing, the sensible thing, to do – but if that's the case, why is it so hard for him to let it go?

Box

They're too close for Dinobot's comfort; if he had to choose between facing the small army of Predacons alone or being boxed in between rocks and Rattrap's small body, the warrior would sooner pick the onslaught of enemy fire if it meant saving his pride.

Run

He knew his legs wouldn't carry him fast enough, so he transformed and relied on his beast mode's wheels to carry him quickly to the battle Dinobot was fighting alone, but he still arrived too late.

Hurricane

Rhinox thinks Rattrap and Dinobot's relationship is like a hurricane; dangerous to those who get too close for their own good, but calm and serene for those caught in the very eye of the storm.

Wings

Rattrap was the first to salute as Dinobot's spark left his body and rose into the sky, reaching beyond the stars and entering the Matrix, flying away into eternity without wings.

Cold

All he has left to remember the former Predacon is an empty chamber in the Axalon, and a weapon that once seemed so deadly; though now, without the warrior trying to tear him limb from limb with the dangerous rotating blade, it seems like just another piece of cold steel.

Red

Deep crimson met bright red and they stared at each other for just a moment too long, and when it became clear the raptor had ill intentions reflected in his optics, Rattrap forced himself to look away from Dinobot because Dinobot's optics never lied.

Drink

Rattrap thought the going back to Cybertron would have been a reason to celebrate with his teammates, not just another excuse to sit alone in a dirty bar and drink away a lingering ache another mech who turned out to be just another let-down left in his spark.

Midnight

When the night is deepest and the stars shine their brightest, Rattrap stargazes – it's the way he shows he misses a certain fallen warrior, and the other Maximals are none the wiser.

Temptation

Sometimes he's tempted to join the Predacons again because he feels the Maximals don't understand him, despite their best efforts, but one certain loud-mouthed vermin's wicked taunts keep him standing on Maximal ground, if only to prove Rattrap wrong.

View

While gardening, Dinobot bends down and Rattrap can't help but stare at the other male's silver backside for a moment, enjoying the view, before taking a large bean and hitting it with Optimus' sword and the vegetable is aimed right at Dinobot's exposed aft.

Music

Dinobot transforms and snarls at Rattrap, then wastes no time in chasing after the object of his annoyance, but Dinobot doesn't know that the grunts and angry growls are music to Rattrap's audio sensors; he's played right into the vermin's trap once again.

Silk

The first time he touched Dinobot while he was in his beast form, Rattrap found himself surprised to find that, despite the scaly hide, the raptor's exterior was relatively smooth to the touch, hardly as rough as he had imagined it; it wasn't exactly silk but it was a unique enough feel to keep Rattrap coming back for more 'accidental' touches.

Cover

"Rattrap, now!" Optimus shouted as Dinobot rushed into battle, running straight for Megatron, despite the barrage of shots from Tarantulas and Blackarachnia; Rattrap groaned in annoyance as he was forced from behind the safety of a boulder to provide cover fire for the ex-Predacon.

Promise

They never promised each other anything; Dinobot wasn't fool enough to make a promise during times of war when the length of a life was uncertain, and Rattrap knew better than to say something a rat like himself could never own up to.

Dream

Dinobot is no stranger to reoccurring nightmares but lately the initial shock and fear only settles after he's come out of recharge and recalls doing things with a certain vermin in his dreams he would never dare to say aloud.

Candle

The memories flicker like a candle's flame in the back of his mind as Rattrap downloads the old Dinobot's personality into the Transmetal monster Megatron dared to create, and the monster screams as he loses himself to the original warrior's data.

Talent

At first, Dinobot assumed it was pure coincidence whenever Rattrap managed to catch him in a bad mood and only anger him further, however now he's convinced the rodent has a talent, a sixth sense; he knows just when to push and lead Dinobot into another argument that leaves both their processors overheated and desperately begging for some form of release.

Silence

In the chamber that once belonged to Dinobot, Rattrap finds nothing but fading after-images of memories he will never be able to forget accompanied by the whisper of words never spoken, and suddenly he wishes the silence wasn't so loud.

Journey

He signed up for deep space exploration, an adventure he'd never forget so he could replace the mundane memories of yesterday, but now as he stares up at Dinobot who's towering over him by a couple of feet, he thinks he's bit off more than he could chew.

Fire

He hates the way Rattrap makes his mech fluid run hot through his circuitry like liquid fire, even managing to stain his blue cheeks a horrid shade of soft purple sometimes.

Strength

He's never seen someone so strong, someone able to fool the world with a grin and never once slip up, not even while he stares death in the face and holds a supposed enemy's hand – before his systems shut down and his spark goes forth into whatever waits in the beyond for him, Dinobot realizes just how strong Rattrap is.

Mask

He puts on a facade and has the nerve to call himself a Maximal when it's obvious he's still a Predacon at heart, and the fact that Rattrap can see through the mask Dinobot's been wearing ever since he joined the Maximal ranks is what hurts the most.

Ice

Dinobot glares at nothing in particular as the rat riding casually on Rhinox's back snickers every time the raptor looses his footing and slip-slides a few inches as they trek across a snowy wasteland, heading for another fallen stasis pod; it's not his fault his beast form wasn't made for snow and ice and he can't keep his balance!

Fall

Rattrap's fallen for a mech before and it didn't end too well, so this time, as he feels he's falling for a certain saurian, he's careful not to get in too deep; he knows now that mechs like Dinobot, mechs with their sights set on a single goal, don't fall in love.

Forgotten

They stare at each other, barely inches apart, and for a moment Rattrap forgets the snarky comeback he had ready for the raptor; he hates it when Dinobot renders him speechless, even if it is just for a few nano-clicks, because it means he's starting to cave under the object of his twisted affections.

Dance

Watching an argument between Dinobot and Rattrap is like watching a pair of dancers; one takes the lead and the other follows without hesitation because the thrill is like nothing they can find by any other means.

Body

The first time Dinobot has Rattrap pinned underneath him, Dinobot realizes (as Rattrap pushes against him with feeble strength) just how small the rat is; his tiny body is nothing compared to Dinobot's – he's hardly even a match for Dinobot's sword.

Sacred

Dinobot's sense of honor is strong, strong enough that it keeps him from voicing his true feelings for Rattrap, but the silent understanding between the two, though Dinobot's hesitant to admit it even exists, is just as sacred to him as his sense of honor.

Farewells

Rattrap never was good with goodbyes, so he just holds Dinobot's hand as tightly as he can and says the snidest thing he can think up on the spot just to try and lighten the mood and ease the other Maximal's passing.

World

Cheetor feels the apparent distance between Dinobot and Rattrap is more than just misunderstandings between hard-heads who believe too much in their respective beliefs and factions, sometimes it's like the two are worlds apart.

Formal

The world stopped spinning that day, if only for a precious mega-cycle or so, allowing them to honor Dinobot with a proper funeral; Rattrap thought it was a nice enough gesture but all together it was a waste of time – he was sure Dinobot wouldn't have wanted anything like that, so Maximal.

Fever

He hasn't been sick since before they left Cybertron, and oddly enough this time around the sickness is the same; it's hard to concentrate on practically anything when that fever that comes with being love-sick catches up with him – and it's all Dinobot's fault.

Laugh

The way Rattrap laughs makes Dinobot's mech fluid boil, it's an irritating, hollow sound that seems far too forced half the time, like the rat is hiding something he thinks is far too profound for any of his teammates to understand – Dinobot hates his laugh because it reminds him of his own.

Lies

"Find any Golden Disks lately?" Rattrap asks and Dinobot stops mid-step, clenching his fists tightly; he should have known the vermin would make him pay for his treachery but he didn't expect the blow would be so quite so harsh.

Forever

Nothing lasts forever, Dinobot knew that and so did Rattrap, so why does the rat look so shocked as he stares down at Dinobot's dying body?

Overwhelmed

Optimus sighs as Rattrap and Dinobot end up in another argument – the tension between the two is overwhelming and it's hard to believe they're the only ones who seem oblivious to the obvious reasons why.

Whisper

"The rest... is silence," Dinobot's words fade into a hoarse whisper and then no one dares to make a sound as the quiet that creeps up on them screams.

Wait

Rattrap never used to hold his tongue, if he wanted to say something, he went ahead and said it; so why is it now, as he's staring at the pyre ahead of him, he realizes he waited far too long to tell Dinobot how he felt?

Talk

Rattrap and Dinobot can't talk to one another without breaking into an argument of some sort – and every time the insults fly and the voices raise, they're told to 'save it' because the other Maximals don't understand the arguing is the way they show they understand each other, to a degree; and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Search

"Whatcha doin'?" Cheetor asks as he sits beside Rattrap, earning himself a shrug and a mumbled response as Rattrap stares at the stars, looking for something – someone – he will never find.

Hope

"At least ya know where he stands," he says and smiles faintly down at the dying Maximal by his side, squeezing Dinobot's hand tightly; he may have said some nasty things about Dinobot just a few mega-cycles ago but he had always hoped the saurian would prove him wrong, and he did.

Eclipse

Watching Dinobot's clone fight is like watching a lunar eclipse; the light that once shined so brightly is swallowed by a darkness that can't be pierced.

Gravity

Whatever force drew them together was stronger than gravity, Rattrap would be the first to tell you that and Dinobot would be the first to deny it – the fact they were drawn together the way they were scared them senseless.

Highway

As they drive back to the Axalon, Rattrap wishes for a moment they were back on Cybertron, or even Velocitron, then he'd really give the ex-Predacon the ride of his life on one of the many never-ending winding highways – but for now the wearing dirt under his wheels will have to suffice.

Unknown

The rat makes him feel strange – angry, thrilled, depressed, too many emotions to name – but one feelings sticks out the most and that's because Dinobot doesn't know what it is; he's never been in love before.

Lock

Dinobot lunges at the smaller Maximal and they end up on the ground in a tangled mess, locked together – and Rattrap wouldn't have it any other way.

Breathe

As Rattrap stands there saluting the ascending spark, he has to remind himself to breathe, he has to keep his cool demeanor even if his spark is twisting and churning with more pain than anyone could ever imagine.

-End