I'm beginning a collection of pairing drabbles/ficlets for SRMTHFG, which I will post here, in hopes that I can finish this '100 Themes Challenge' before I turn senile. I will try to vary the couples as much as possible, but personal favourites are quite likely to turn up a few times. This would include Gibson/Otto, Antauri/Chiro and Sprx/Chiro. It is also likely that the couples in question will feature only the monkeys and Chiro. Most, if not all, will be slash couples, except possibly the odd Spova or Ottova, which are really the only het couples I support for the show.

I will be posting some couples I'm not particularly fond of (i.e ones containing Mandarin), if the prompt inspires me as such. Some strange person out there will probably like it at any rate. Flamers, do try your best not to bitch, but if you feel you really can't resist then go ahead and be childish.

I have no idea how many ficlets I will end up writing. It could be 2, it could be 20. I will refrain from setting this as 'complete', however. I'm bound to want to add to it at some point in the future.

I hope that at least some people find what they're looking for in the way of SRMTHFG romance fiction in this series of ficlets.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

Prompt: 89. 'Through the Fire'

Rating: K+

Length: 1033

Couple: Mandarin/Otto (really mild, but you'll notice it if you squint)

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89. Through the Fire

Otto sighed as he watched their old team member retreat, skeletal tail swishing through the air as he dogged the heels of his undead master. About him, his friend's cheered their victory, patching up minor injuries as they congratulated one another on a battle well fought, though the war was far from over. They would return tomorrow, or the next day, and they would replay the scene again and again, until one side succumbed to total elimination.

And every time, scarred and battered and now more formless than monkey, Mandarin would return, greeting their confrontation with a smile as he launched himself into the fray.

It killed Otto just a little bit more inside each time he saw him.

He could still remember how it used to be, in the times before Mandarin's expulsion from the hyperforce. They had been good friends, back then. The ocherous primate had always been full of wisdom and life, and his presence seared hotly like a wild fire. As per his nature, he was harsh and oftentimes somewhat cruel, and ruthless in any confrontation, physical or no, betwixt friend or foe. Perhaps unwittingly, he had soon ostracised himself from the rest of the hyperforce, commanding them as their leader but forever distant from them, excluding himself from any form of social activity.

It was not until one day, many months after the formation of the hyperforce, that fate would see fit to change this arrangement. A particularly vigorous training session had left the orange simian with a scattering of minor wounds and, on surveillance duty that day; it fell to Otto to bandage his injured leader. Wary of being left to attend to the hot-headed monkey alone, Otto had been cautious to approach Mandarin, bandages held before him at arms length as he shuffled his way across the room.

His antics must have amused their leader since, by the time he had reached him, he noticed a small smile tugged at the edges of the orange primate's lips, a rare occurrence in itself, and never witnessed outside of the battlefield. Thus, the smile had the effect of completely disarming the green monkey, who abandoned all caution and smiled back, reaching out to bandage his team mate's arm.

He was not expecting to be addressed, and so had jumped when the deep monotone of his companion filled the room.

"Why are you helping me?"

Otto appeared confused.

"Because you're hurt. Why wouldn't I help you?"

A laugh.

"Because you are frightened of me. You all are. Are you not afraid that I shall harm you?"

"Nah, I'm your friend, you wouldn't hurt me."

"How can you be so sure?"

The green simian shrugged, fingers still rolling the bandages about his comrades frame.

"I dunno, I just trust you I guess."

"Hmmm."

The rest of the time had been spent together in silence, but things between the two primates had never returned to the way it was before. Occasionally, Otto would find the orange primate waiting for him in his workshop. At others, he found himself wandering the halls of the super robot, halting before the door to Mandarin's quarters and never once wondering why he was there until his metal fist had rapped sharply on the steel doors and the other stood before him, stern expression fading as he spotted his visitor.

It did not take long for Otto to coax his companion to come out of his shell, even if he only did it when in the others presence. When around him, the fire ebbed, which made everything- protecting the city, preventing the battles breaking out within the group, throwing his all into making the orange simian smile –worthwhile. He could do it all, time and time again, if it meant he could watch the flames recede a little. Because really, the flames scared him. There was something dark within Mandarin, something dangerous, a ferocity and cruelty witnessed only on the battlefield that he was terrified would get out and consume his friend.

But still, despite his efforts, he could feel it growing, could see it burn with more savagery every day in their leader's eyes. He noticed the subtle changes in Mandarin long before the rest of the team, tried his best to stop it, to be there for him, to help him fight the evil that flowed through him as a torrid inferno, but all was for naught.

The day Mandarin finally snapped marked the darkest day in Otto's life. It had torn his soul apart to attack his friend, to hold him back and receive the brunt of his fury, to feel the roaring blaze of the conflagration that seeped through his every pore.

To choose Shuggazoom, his team, anything, over him.

Otto had never truly moved on from the loss of his team mate, and had never given up hope for him. Even after his return, he had hoped Mandarin would be dissuaded from the side of evil, that he would return to them once more. That he would return to him.

It was not until several months after his reawakening that Otto had to accept that the Mandarin he once knew was no more. As they exchanged blows in the Pit of Doom, claw of bone clashing against energy saws, he witnessed the madness in his friend's eyes, felt the heat encompassing his being, and felt lead collect in his stomach as he was torn into by his old companion.

"You were once my closest ally Otto, how fitting that you should fall by my hand."

The words had chilled him, and in them he sensed mockery, clear in the orange simian's dark eyes and written into his sneer.

I know what we were to each other, what I was to you. How pathetic you must be to think you can still have me.

Do you still trust me, even now, old friend?

They had won the battle that day, but entered a war. Otto left the pit with a heavy heart, broken beyond what words could express. His friend, his dearest companion, whom he had tried so hard to save from the fire, was lost to him.

Consumed in its fury.

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One down.

Pretty Angsty, but I really can't imagine a Mandarin romance as a cheerful fanfiction, can you?

-Flash