He stared at his hand, only because there was nothing else to stare at. His digits synchronized in their moments, a slow kind of wave, like drumming his finger soundlessly. If he had the ability to heave a tired sigh, he surely would do such a thing. However, Dinobots didn't do such things, and Grimlock certainly didn't. So he growled from deep inside, frustrated that he needed to be rescued, and by Autobots at that! Before the thought had time to fully form, he clenched his fist and struck. The cave trembled around him; unstable rocks landing around him. He glanced at the collapsed entrance. No thin beams of dusty light appeared.
His battered robotic legs ached slightly, though exposed components should definitely hurt more than he showed. Even with no one around to see his pain, Grimlock was sill silent. Stupid Decepticons! Stupid Autobots! Grimlock slammed his fists against the ground. Fewer rocks fell this time, though one landed square on his head.
A roar, like none he'd released before, erupted from his body. How could anyone stand to be so helpless! His internal radio clicked to life.
"Grimlock?" Sludge's worried, sad voice crackled in his head. The Autobots were getting closer. The rock had been too thick for communication before.
"Sludge," Grimlock said. At least his Dinobots would be close, at least his Dinobots would be there to shield him.
The steady drip of Energon from his side wound sharpened his audio sensors for a moment before damages shut them down again. In all honesty, he wasn't really sure how bad his injuries were, only that they needed attention. Now.
"Grimlock, ok?" Sludge's voice filtered through his head again.
"Mmm," he hated lying to them, especially when they'd know the truth soon enough. But to make them worry and admit he was in serious trouble, basically cause his pride to suffer, was equally detestable. "Me, alive."
"Grimlock, this is Ratchet," the medic spoke with his authoritative voice. This was very serious. Damn. "What's your status?"
His silence must have spoken volumes to his co-creator.
"No one but me can hear what you're going to say. It's ok. I know you must not be feeling great, but you can tell me," Ratchet's earnest voice. Gag worthy, no doubt, if things hadn't been so dire.
"Legs crushed," Grimlock haltingly admitted. "Lots of Energon gone. No hearing. Human, alive."
"What!" Ratchet's angry voice. He was going through quite the line up of emotions. A moment of silence and he was replaced by Optimus.
"What human are you talking about?" Prime knew damn well what human.
"Small human. Under-developed," Grimlock could feel it moving inside.
"Oh, no. Daniel," he gasped and the connection broke. At least now they'd put some effort into it.
"It's me again," Ratchet's concerned, slightly higher pitched this time, voice was back, "Prime's dealing with Spike. Is that why you went back?"
How could he respond to that? Yes, I went after one of the weaklings, after a five year old boy who was dumb enough to get himself involved during a fight with the Combaticons. Took after his father in that aspect. Why couldn't genes like that die?
"You went back for him, even though you were injured?" Ratchet pushed again. If this was the beginning of a famous Ratchet chastisement, it was lame. The boy moved again, asleep in one of his compartments, after crying himself into exhaustion. "I'm proud of you, Grimlock."
"You only one. Never save stupid human again. Too painful," he spat as his optics died.
A gentle hand touched his arm. He must have dropped off somewhere, until he remembered his audios and visuals were offline, and he had been trapped in his own mind for the past few hours.
"We're here now," Ratchet spoke through the internal radio as he pulled the Dinobot out of his sitting position, "Where's Daniel?"
Without a word, he reached around and extracted the bleary eyed boy. He could only imagine the look of the parents as he pulled the small child out, relatively unharmed. Or the screams of joy as the family was reunited. He did, however, feel as the four other Dinobots crowded around him to help him up and hide what wounds they could from the Autobots. They may not have been the prettiest talkers, but they certainly understood what he needed. And at the moment, that seemed to be enough. Who needed a family, when you could have Dinobots?