Hey guys! I know I said I was gonna focus on SF, but this character just popped up in my head one night and demanded that I write down her story. And it really is an interesting story. There are things about the war that I never could have imagined without her telling me about it. Like seriously, this character baffles me.
Chapter One
Broken relationships are a source of heavy heartbreak that seem to affect every family member." Jerry B. Jenkins
"Knock Out, will you shut the frag up for a nanoklick!" Jinx snapped irritably, digits curling into a fist as she was tempted to knock a dent into that smirking faceplate. It would be so wonderful to knock that mocking arrogant aft to the ground and show him that this femme could and would take action against him. Or anybot for that matter. This wasn't the first time she'd been underestimated as a femme medic nor the first time mechs and femmes alike had tried to coerce her into a berth with them. In fact, Jinx had become almost immune to the pick-up lines and advances. She proudly kept a professional indifference to all those aboard Trypticon's battle station mode –which was frequently called Nemisis among Con's.
However, she'd finally reached her breaking point with this moron.
Knock Out smirked at the dusky brick red femme, winking an optic. "Aww, have I upset you, my sweet?" he purred, moving closer with a precision that even Jinx had to appreciate. She growled low in her vocalizer, grip tightening on the wrench she was holding. Rumble trembled in front of her and she shot him a soothing look, brushing her EMP field against his and focusing on sending peaceful and apologetic feelings. He nodded ever so slightly and drew up his knees, hugging them to his chassis as he waited. Jinx turned back towards the annoying bright cherry red mech that was her own Pit-spawned punishment from Primus.
"Don't call me that, Knock Out and no, you havn't. I'm merely tired of your useless pathetic pestering." She told him calmly, although her grip on the tool didn't lessen in her frustration. She wasn't as good at keeping her cool then she led most 'Cons to believe. In fact, she was actually more prone to processor aches because of her over-reactive emotions. It was times like these that she wished she had her older brother with her- No, no she didn't. Jinx didn't need him anymore. She was completely capable of taking care of herself; she didn't need that fragger treating her like a sparkling anymore! Another growl escaped her lips and she turned sharply to hide the stinging betrayal in her optics.
Of course, that didn't really work, because Rumble saw it. But the minicon would never judge her, she knew that. He may tell Soundwave, but Jinx wasn't all that concerned about that. Soundwave was a good friend of hers, one of the few mechs who'd stopped making advances and accepted that she wanted to be unattached. That was how she'd become a second medic to the minicons of his, his 'cassettes'. They were all her extended family, in her optics. Really, she counted Soundwave as a substitute older brother and he knew it. Thus, the cassettes in return treated her like family too. She didn't complain, Jinx truly did care for them. Rumble and Frenzy were only younglings really – the femme in her just couldn't help but coddle them –, Ravage was brilliant, Laserbeak was funny… Her spark thrummed softly at the thought of her adoptive family.
"Just leave her along, scrap head." Rumble muttered. Knock Out spared the cassette a dry look.
"You really want to annoy me? I can rewire you into a toaster."
"Soundwave would gutter your worthless spark if you even tried." Rumble shot back, sticking out his glossa childishly. Jinx snickered and smacked the back of his helm lightly.
"Hush. There's no need to bicker like big sparklings." She reprimanded them, shooting Knock Out an icy glare over her shoulder. "Especially you." With that she turned back to her patient. She pinned the red Con with a level look. "Alright, you said that you're having problems with your internal cooling fans?"
"Mhm, they make these weird clicking noises before they start up and it kinda smells funny afterwards. Like… I don't know, not like something burning, but something similar." He explained, dropping his knees from his chassis. Jinx nodded and ran a scan, focusing on the fans and the lines connecting to them. She paused, focusing on a coolant line that came up a little different the usual. She set to work, moving towards him and motioning for him to open up his chassis. He did so with little hesitation and Jinx fiddled with the bundles of wires, digging towards that coolant line.
Almost immediately she saw the problem and frowned as a result. "One of the coolant lines connecting to the fans is cracked, which might explain the weird smell." At his confused look, she explained. "It might be dripping onto the heated wires and evaporating. But it still doesn't explain that fraggin clicking. There shouldn't be any clicking… but nothing is showing up on my scans." She growled, frustrated as she turned her servos into the necessary tools to fix the crack. Rumble twitched but said nothing. Jinx finished quickly and pulled out of his inner workings, frown still etched into her faceplate.
"Well, I don't see anything else wrong. Come back if the clicking continues and definitely mention it to Soundwave. He's more familiar with your workings than I." she told him, waving a digit in his face. Rumble smirked and mock saluted her before jumping off the table and heading out of the medbay.
"Finally, we're alone." came the purr next to her audio as servos snaked around her waist. Jinx gritted her denta.
"You have five nanoklicks before I chop off your servos and make them into something actually useful." She snarled, digits twitching with suppressed fury. Knock Out just couldn't accept that she didn't want under his interfacing panel, could he? Jinx rolled her optics. He probably doesn't even know what 'no' means, the fragger. She thought dully.
"You're just no fun, my sweet. Let me show you how truly useful my servos can be." He purred and nipped her audio receptors. Jinx twitched and pushed out of his grip, turning to stare at him icily.
"How many times do I have to tell you to go frag yourself?" she snapped. He smirked.
"As many times as you want, sweet. I already do it daily." His confident smirk made her tanks churn as the bold words sank in.
"Your sick."
"No, I'm desperate for you." He told her. His optics dimmed and a very rare serious look crossed his face. "And I'm getting tired of waiting for you to open up."
Fear surged through her circuits but Jinx betrayed nothing on her faceplate. Knock Out strode forward and Jinx forced herself to keep her posture calm. Knock Out traced the edge of her chevron as he walked in a slow circle around her and Jinx gritted her denta against the pleasurable tingles. Jinx wasn't stupid, she knew that Knock Out was dangerous. He wasn't still alive in the Decepticon army for his good looks. No, he earned his keep like everyone else. He was a skilled medic and a useful interrogator. He also could keep his own in a fight, as everyone knew from the rare Selection games. His medical knowledge only made him more a threat.
So Jinx wasn't stupid enough to brush him off and walk away. No, if she tried that now, she'd get hurt somehow. Knock Out was a fraggin masochist and almost everyone knew it.
"You know, your paint is slightly faded. When was the last time you got a fresh coat and a wax?"
"Vorns ago." She replied, eyeing him warily.
"I could, you know, help you out. I think I have your color."
Jinx grimaced slightly and shook her helm. No, if she allowed that he'd think she was interested. He'd think she was just playing hard to get, which she wasn't. Knock Out was a handsome mech, Jinx could admit that, but his spark just wasn't compatible. She just knew it wasn't and linking spark lines to test would only hurt when the sparks rejected the other. Jinx would rather save herself a decacycle of spark ache and get on with her life than having a one night romp in the berth.
Besides, she was a loyal lover and even if she did somehow get into a relationship where it was only for the interface… She'd want her berth partner to only be hers. Jinx wasn't big on sharing and she knew she could be a jealous glitch when it came to certain things. Knock Out wasn't very faithful according to the gossip that went around. Her spark broke for poor Breakdown, the mech who had fallen helm over heels for the arrogant cherry medic. Jinx vented softly and gave Knock Out a dry look over her shoulder. "I am quite content the way I am."
Knock Out's face scrunched slightly in distaste. "You want to keep the faded look? It lessens your natural luster though!"
Jinx smirked. "I plan to keep the faded paint, yes. I prefer it. It's just gonna fade again later. I'll wait another few megacycles before I brush up on it." She told him, shrugging. She then turned to give him a dry look. "And it will be me to brush up on my paint. I don't trust you anywhere near my frame."
Knock Out grunted and walked back to her front. He stood in front of her and stared long and hard before he smirked. Jinx had barely any time to react before he'd rushed forward and captured her lips with his. His glossa snaked out and forcible darted through her lips into the cavern of her mouth. Jinx jumped in surprise before glaring at the mech, who stared back mockingly. Jinx then quickly bit down on his glossa, earning a growl from the mech. He tried to pull away, but Jinx only clamped down harder on the appendage. He yelped and before she knew it his knee shot up into her abdomen.
She gasped, releasing his glossa as she dropped to her knees. Her digits ghosted over the large dent pressing against a protoform plate and a large energon line. She looked up and glared. Knock Out only looked at his knee with disdain. "Hmph, you scuffed my paint." He sneered down at her. She only smirked back at him, still holding her abdomen.
"What's going on here?"
Jinx froze slightly at the familiar high pitched voice, her spark thudding in its chamber. Knock Out looked up at the SIC with a mildly annoyed expression.
"What do you want, Starscream?"
Starscream ignored him and looked over at Jinx, who was picking herself up. She shot him a raise of an optical bridge and shrugged before turning to her office. She didn't need the weird feelings he gave her distracting her from working on that dent. He only frowned at her a little before plainly ignoring her. As she was walking, the conversation dimmed. But she did hear the beginning, which made her smirk. "Knock Out, you fraggin glitch…." Anybot who didn't seem to like Knock Out was good in her data banks. Well… as good as any Decepticon could be.
Jinx let the door shut behind her and patted the door. "Nobody comes in, kay, Trypt?"
The code box next to the door beeped at her and she smiled softly, nodding her head in appreciation. She walked over towards her desk and sat on top of it, working her armor plates. She got the chassis piece off and inspected the dent, along with the scratches. She made a face and clicked in disapproval. She then got to work banging out the dent, glad for the raise in temperature Trypticon seemed to give the room. Her protoform tingled softly as the warm air brushed against it and Jinx vented softly.
"Sucks to be a femme, huh?" Trypt asked her, through the speakers in the room. His chuckle echoed against the walls. Jinx snorted, pounding her amour a little more harder than necessary.
"Puh-lease. It more than sucks being a femme. Especially a Decepticon femme. You have to deal with all the slag of just being a femme; the discrimination and doubt of being strong enough. Then there's the interface obsessed glitches that want you to be their personal slut. It's exhausting." Her spark thrummed angrily at the thought, her fuel pump thudding quickly as the anger overtook her. Her optics burned darker and she snarled quietly to herself.
"Well, what did you expect? Welcoming arms and a built up respect? We're not those Autoscum."
Jinx twitched at the mention of the Autobots, a face flashing in front of her optics momentarily. "Of course we're not like the Auto-Idiots. If we we're than I'd be complaining a lot more."
Trypticon laughed loudly, the sound booming in the small office. Jinx grinned and winked at the key pad, where the red light was blinking quickly. "I do enjoy your dry humor, Angelspark." He told her mildly, still chuckling. Jinx twitched again, sending a glare over her shoulder at the keypad.
"I hate that name, Trypt. It's not me anymore."
"I know, that's why I use it."
"Oh, frag you."
He chuckled but let silence rein again in the room after a klick. Jinx vented again, this time more of frustration and exhaustion than anything. She finished with her amour and snapped it back on. She frowned at the scratched paint before shrugging and setting to working on some medical reports, not moving from where she sat on the desk.
"Starscream wants in. Should I let him?" Trypt informed her. Jinx looked up and shrugged.
"I suppose." She mumbled, calming the jump her spark gave off. She stared at the report, reading it through thoroughly. The doors hissed open and the mech swept in. Doors closed and Jinx felt her fuel pump skip a beat to realize she was alone with the one mech her spark was compatible with here in the Decepticon ranks aboard Trypt. She could tell by the way it seemed to reach out to him and the way his every move seemed to catch her attention. Of course, it was impossible to be with a Seeker. They almost never sparked with grounders.
"Knock Out has been reprimanded for his sexual advances." He said simply, eyeing her.
Jinx twitched. "I was handling it fine on my own. I don't need your help." She snapped, looking up to glare at him.
Starscream only sneered at her. "Oh, I could tell. His glossa invading your mouth was a perfect way to deal with that particular situation. I'm so glad you're able to handle these kind of things." He drawled. Jinx narrowed her eyes.
"I stopped him didn't I?"
"And when he started to attack you, you didn't happen to think you might in some deep slag?" he snapped. Jinx opened her mouth to respond but he growled. "Knock Out is stronger than he appears, Jinx. He's not above using dirty tricks to get what he wants."
Jinx rolled her optics. "And you care? I specifically remember you telling me you didn't care who I sparked with, Starscream."
"I don't."
"Then why stop him?"
"Because I hate the fragger, that's why. Besides, why should I let him take such a prize?"
"I am not a prize!"
"Stop being stubborn, you know slaggin well that's how most mechs view you."
"I know that, I just don't agree. I'm a Decepticon, a bot to be cautious of! I'll rewire anybot who even tries to say otherwise into a turbofox!"
"You sound like your brother."
"Shut up! If you're not here to accept the fact we're compatible than get out of my office!"
Starscream only smirked at her before moving forward. "You know why I won't take you, Jinx."
"Because you're a fragging idiot, that's why." Jinx told him, huffing her chest. It brushed against his chassis and they both hissed at the electric tingles that shot through the both of them. Starscream put his hands firmly on either side of her, claws digging into the metal desk. Jinx frowned. "You're leaving dents in my desk, Starscream."
"Like you care." He sneered before taking her lips with his. Jinx quickly jumped into the action, fighting for dominance. Starscream smirked and bit her bottom lip. Jinx eagerly opened up wider and shot her glossa into his mouth before he could take hers. He growled and the sound reverberated through her. Their glossea twisted and fought, with him finally winning. Her servos found his wings and fanned feather light touches over the smooth expanses. With her medical knowledge, she quickly found all the right sensor nodes, making him moan and twitch into her touch.
In return, he brought his lips to her neck and nibbled on her sensitive cabling, making her tense and wrap her legs around his hips. Their codpieces rubbed against the other, both burning hot. He pulled away like she'd suddenly developed a case of horrible rust. His red optics were filled with disgust as he glared at her. "I won't spark with you because I don't need anybot weighing me down. You're just a burden Jinx. It's all you ever have been and I think Ratchet would agree, no?" Starscream then proceeded to whirl around and stalk out of the room.
Jinx barely even registered how Trypticon nipped the fliers heels in retaliation or how immediately after the soundproof doors cycled closed his voice was asking her if she was alright.
The only thing that registered in her spark was searing pain as the shut off bond strained in her turmoil. She'd never been strong enough to break the bond completely. She wasn't like Megatron. She may hate her brother, but she could never cause him pain. If any Decepticon were to ask, she'd tell them that Ratchet was a dirty speck in her memory banks and that she had indeed torn herself away from the glitch. The truth was much more complicated of coarse, as it usually is. She'd merely shut off the family bond completely, never even giving it a second thought as she watched Ratchet's face twist in shock and anguish. She'd never given it a second thought as she'd turned her back on her big brother, her once-upon-a-time idol and only source of comfort and love. In fact, she'd been gleeful. For once in her lifetime, she'd done something for herself and was able to stand on her own two peds.
Jinx had freed herself from her brother a long time ago to join a cause she'd once believed in.
Her optics shuttered, the gears tight with tension as her spark burned. Her processor reeled as it tried to reroute her thinking away from painful memories. Her knee joints lost suspension and she dropped onto her aft, optic lubricant seeping from it's tubing as the pressure increased in her optical nerves. It stained down her cheek plates before dripping down onto her chassis. It hissed and steam rose from the heated metal. Jinx let out a scorching vent of air that she'd been holding and felt her temperature drop a few degrees in return.
"Sweetspark, talk to me. Please." Trypt's calm and quietly reassuring voice finally resonated in her audio receptors. Slowly, her optics opened back up and relieved the pressure in the nerve wiring. Jinx stared at her peds, optics blank.
"I'm fine." she answered. The detached and emotionless tone even made her want to wince.
"Are you sure? You look like slag that just got run over."
"Such a comforting compliment, Trypticon." she muttered, forcing some dry humor into her voice. Maybe if she acted like she was fine, he'd leave her alone sooner. He growled, the sound cocooning the room.
"Don't give me that slag, Jinx. You just fell on your aft and sprung a leak. I can also tell your lying because you called me by my complete designation. So talk to me."
Jinx twitched and vented again, this time irritably. "Fine. No, Trypt, I'm an not alright. But I really don't feel like being interrogated at the moment. So why don't you leave me the frag alone and bother somebot else?" she snarled. There was silence before the red light on the keypad stopped flickering and Jinx was left alone in her office. Almost immediately, she let out a horrendous screech of frustration that was thankfully blocked by soundproof walls. She really didn't want Knock Out hearing and come poking his head into her misery.
Drawing in an uneven vent of air, Jinx rose to her peds. Walking on unsteady peds over to the berth in her office - the one she only used in emergencies when patients needed constant care - she laid herself down on the uncomfortable berth and curled up on her side, hugging her knees to her chassis. Jinx offlined her optics and let out a choking sob from her vocalizer. For what seemed the thousandth time she considered opening the family bond with her brother just a little, just to feel that calming sensation of his presence in her spark for a few klicks. But like always, she tossed the thought away violently. Jinx wasn't going to go running back to him like she would have before. She wasn't helpless and didn't need to be treated as such. To Pit if she was gonna let Ratchet treat her like she was fragile and in immediate danger of breaking again.
Another sob raked through her, making her frame shudder loudly and her spark flitter in it's casing. Primus, if Ratchet saw her now… He'd probably take her into his arms and coo at her gently, telling her it'd all be alright and he'd make the pain go away. But he used to do that to all the sparklings and younglings he had as patients. That was, before he rung them a new one for being so reckless. Which he'd eventually do to her too, no doubt of that. Jinx could just hear him now. 'Angelspark! How could you be so mindless? Did you even think before you acted? Obviously not! You need to be more careful, Primus slag it!' Then he'd growl and turn away from her, clutching a wrench so tightly she wondered if he even realized he was denting the poor tool.
No, she'd deal with a face-to-face meeting with Unicron before she dealt with her older brother again.
It was a lot safer.
Especially after she turned her back on him and joined the Decepticon cause. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised that if they ever crossed paths again he'd allow his comrades to attack her once they realized the purple insignia on her chassis. Primus knew she hadn't ever bothered to threaten her comrades to never attack the Chief Autobot Medical Officer Ratchet. Static formed in her voice box at the realization. What kind of sister did that? She'd vowed to herself early in sparkhood that she would never let her big brother be hurt. Her processor went wild with what her ruthless comrades could have done to him in battles. As a commanding officer, he was a prime target to take out of the equation of war. He could be in critical condition, barely hanging onto his spark, for all she knew. How could she know when she wouldn't even open up the bond slightly for him.
But then again, Ratchet had always been strong. Strong in processor and strong in spark. He wasn't going to let some injury stop him from his mission to heal those who were too stupid for their own good. Even if he was missing both his legs and an arm, Jinx could totally see her brother treating morons in the medbay. She could even see him yelling at them for getting hurt in the first place. 'I should be resting, you fragger! But no, I have to take care of your sorry aft.'
Jinx chuckled harshly at the mental image, shaking her helm minutely.
After a few klicks, Jinx vented and uncurled, letting out another vent of hot air. She turned and stared at the ceiling where she'd hung a mirror. Pale red optics stared back at her and she sighed before accessing codes in her processor and changing them slightly. Immediately, her optics shut off and she saw nothing before they rebooted slowly. She watched as the mirror reflected blue optics coming to life. The pale blue contrasted wildly with her red paint and she frowned. What would her life have been like if she had followed her brother's shadow like usual? What would have happened to her if she'd gone on with her life as Angelspark?
"I'd be dead, that's what." she answered herself tartly. To Jinx, there was no doubt about it. If she hadn't grown a backstrut then she would have never been able to fend for herself. During this war, being able to hold your ground in a fight meant pretty much everything. It was do or die; that's just how life was. If Jinx had continued on life as Angelspark, she would have been guttered out in a fight trying to save a life.
However, once she'd joined the Decepticons, she'd been put through ruthless training. She'd been taught to protect herself, which was more than Ratchet had done. He'd rather have her learn how to heal herself than protect herself. It didn't matter that she dealt with discrimination and hate here. Decepticons may not be family material, but they'd given her what she'd desperately wanted; a chance. A chance for Jinx to stand up for herself, to be a fighter and not some sniveling glitch-mouse who followed in footsteps that were way too big for her to fill. Here, Jinx had the chance to grow into herself, to become the femme she'd always wanted to be. Not that it meant much… singing didn't win wars. So she'd forced herself back into the profession that was second nature to her. Even though it made her want to claw her own optics out sometimes, being a medic was more useful to her comrades.
She hated Ratchet for making her study in the art of medicine and treatment of the ill, but in the end, she had to grudgingly thank him for it. Jinx knew she would have been killed without a second thought if she didn't contribute to the Decepticon cause. So she became a Decepticon medic after her vorn of battle training, even though every day it reminded her of the one bot she desperately wanted to forget.
"Frag, I'm so pathetic." Jinx grumbled to herself. She fixed the color codes for her optics and waited as her optics shut off and rebooted again to reveal familiar red. She got up and walked to the door, punching in the code and striding out confidently. She kept her chin level to the ground, as to not alert Knock Out of her inner turmoil. Jinx walked past him silently, barely sparing him a glance while he polished his tools meticulously. She could feel her stare boring into her but ignored it. Jinx made her way down the corridors, towards a familiar and reassuring place for her.
She paused in front of Soundwave's door and sent the code. The door cycled open and she stepped inside, letting it close behind her before she leaned against it. Red optics blinked open all around her and stared. Jinx smiled slightly at the symbiotes. "Hey guys. Just needed some down time away from the Narcissistic Moron." she said softly as she turned the lights on 20%, giving the room a soft glow. Ravage chuckled at her and got up, stretching her joints before prowling over to her.
"It's not a problem. You know you're always welcomed here, Jinx." the mini saboteur replied casually. She rubbed against Jinx's calf before padding back over to the center of the room, where her padded berth was. She lay down and watched Jinx with calculating eyes. Jinx followed her and sat down next to the robo-cat, stroking her helm. She hadn't always known about Ravage's articulacy nor that Ravage was a femme. But it was nice to know now. She had a femme to talk to, which was more than comforting. "Hmm, you seem troubled." Ravage commented, laying her head onto her paws casually.
"I am." Jinx conceded, tilting her head to the side slightly. Ravage only blinked her optics expectantly and Jinx sighed. "I've just been thinking about the past."
"Mm, your brother?"
"A bit."
"You shouldn't worry about it so much, Jinx. He was holding you back and you made the right move by breaking away from the cage he'd built around you."
"I know. But… I don't know, sometimes I…" Jinx vented in frustration. "Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if I hadn't."
"If you hadn't, then you would be a completely different femme. You'd be defenseless, Jinx." Ravage pointed out, her audio receptor nodes twitching. Jinx nodded. "You also would never have gripped your natural talent of song. Don't lie, if you'd gone on being known as Angelspark than you never would have really tried to sing. You'd have just accepted the role given to you by Ratchet. You wouldn't be happy with yourself and that would lead to depression, which would eventually leave to spark failure. You know that all too well."
Jinx winced but nodded. "Yeah, I know." she murmured.
"'Sides! If you'd gone on to be some dumb Autobot than ya'd never have met us!" Frenzy declared from behind her. Jinx twisted around to smile gently at the minicon.
"That's right. And where would I be without my two little twin troublemakers?" she teased, reaching out to grab one of the twins - Rumble, she realized after a nanoklick - and pull him into her lap. Frenzy rushed up to her too and scrambled into her lap too, fighting his twin for room. Jinx smiled and held them loosely in her arms, gazing at them lovingly. "I'd have less processor aches, that's for sure." she teased them, causing them both to shout an insulted,
"Hey!"
"Oh both of you be quiet." Ravage growled, rolling her optics. The minicon twins looked at each other before turning to stick their tongue out at the robo-cat. Jinx laughed softly and cuffed both of them on the back of their helms softly.
"Hey now, be nice." she told them, smiling ruefully at them. Frenzy looked up at her with big red optics.
"Can ya sing to us, Jinx? Please?" he asked. Rumble nodded his head frantically in agreement. Ravage looked up and tilted her head, asking the same silently. Laserbeak perked up from his perch near the ceiling and the others too shifted in anticipation. Jinx vented softly and thought about it. The symboites really did enjoy her music and it calmed them, which made Soundwave's orn quieter. She nodded and cleared her vocalizer of static before shuttering her optics and finding the endless song in her spark. She started to hum out a few notes before her mouth parted and out came the soft keening of music. Notes rose and fell in a perfect harmony, lifting her spark with joy. Slowly, she started to intertwine words of soft old cybertronian - a language Ratchet had insisted she learned. Not that she minded, language fascinated her. - into the mix of the music, smiling as she unshuttered her optics and watched the symbiotes sway lightly along.
She let the words fade in and out of the notes before she finally let the notes of soft music fade out. After a couple of nanoklicks, the song ended in her vocal capacitor, stored back in her spark for later use. Ravage smiled at her briefly before laying her helm back down and drifting into a doze. Jinx looked down at the twins to see them already deep in recharge in her arms.
"Jinx: has improved."
Jinx forced herself not to jump at Soundwave's voice. She looked behind her at the still figure, standing in front of the door. Jinx offered him a small smile. "Thank you. I've been practicing."
Soundwave nodded and moved to his desk, moving the chair so that he could face her when he sat down. His red visor hid his optics from her, something that always seemed to bother Jinx deep down. She could never actually look into his optics, could never wage the truth in them. They stared at the other silently for breems before Soundwave nodded to himself softly. "Soundwave: saw everything." he told her. Jinx stiffened, even though she knew she had no reason to. It wasn't like he was going to go marching up to Megatron just to tell him that she switched her optics to blue for a breem. Although somewhere deep down in her processor a voice scoffed at the thought. We're Decepticons…. deception is in the name. You're still so naïve when it comes to trust.
She nodded slowly. "What about it?"
"Jinx: wishes to bond with Starscream. Soundwave: thinks it's a bad idea."
Jinx frowned. "He's the only one I'm compatible with, Soundwave. At least, so far he's the only one I've met that is. I'm lonely and crazy as it is, I want a family one day."
"Starscream: isn't right for Jinx. Starscream: too cruel."
"I know you're looking out for me, Soundwave. But-"
"Jinx: no buts. Jinx: not allowed to think of Starscream as anything other than SIC." Soundwave's voice was crisp and authorative, as only the TIC would sound like. Jinx couldn't help but balk at the towering mech before fury engulfed her entire being.
"You have no right to tell me what to do!"
"Soundwave: has every right. Soundwave: is Jinx's commanding officer."
"So you're ordering me not to court him?"
"Affirmative."
Jinx bristled, frame heating in her anger so much that it woke the twins who looked at her in drowsy confusion. However, once they saw the pure vehemence in her optics which were now blazing a deep red, they scrambled off her lap and hid behind Soundwave. Jinx growled and rose to her peds. Soundwave rose as well, expression neutral. Finally, unable to even look at the aft, she turned away and headed towards the door. "Query: does Jinx ever think of the future instead of the past?" Jinx paused before she sneered at nothing and burst through the door, leaving Soundwave and the minicons to their own business.
Jinx stormed through the halls, not even caring where she was going. Con's gave her a wide berth, knowing how destructive she could be while angered. She let loose a trill whistle in frustration, the sound so shrill that it caused some Decepticon's to wince. The orn was ruined more, of coarse, when she ended up passing by Skywarp and Thundercracker. She threw them a dark look, snarling wordlessly. Thundercracker rose an optical bridge in return while Skywarp's face scrunched up in confusion. Jinx kept walking down the hall, not giving them the chance to ask her what was wrong. It wasn't that she hated them. In fact, she got along fairly well with them. She just resented any form of aerial bot at the moment.
She reached her quarters and pinged the correct code, growling as it opened slowly and allowed her in. She swept inside and waited until it had closed completely to grab her work desk and throw it against the wall. It thudded to the floor, all her data pads and folders cluttering her once clean floor.
"Jinx." Trypt interrupted. She threw a glare over her shoulder to the keypad.
"What?" she hissed.
"I just wanted to let you know… That I'm with Soundwave on this one. Starscream may be the only compatible one you've met so far, but he isn't for you. You've got plenty of time before to settle down. Keep your options open." he muttered and then left her alone. Jinx growled again and flopped onto her berth, glad that long ago she'd applied padding to it.
"This is so stupid. I can't believe I'm still treated as a sparkling!" she snapped to nobody. "It's bad enough that I'm going through spark-calling, but then they go and deny me my right to court? Who do they think they are! Ratchet!" she snarled. She turned on her side, staring at the wall with burning optics. She continued glaring at the inanimate object until her anger started to fizzle out and she was only left with hurt and longing. She vented harshly and curled up, off lining her optics.
Jinx missed Solardance, the old Decepticon femme commander. Solardance had taken her under her wing when she'd first joined the Decepticon cause, had really made her believe she was doing the right thing. Not just breaking away from her brother's choke-hold but fighting for the rights the Senate had denied every bot. Solardance had been almost… motherly towards her. Of course, she hadn't been mushy gooey about it though. It'd been subtler. At first glance it would almost seem like Solardance had hated her gears. But if bot's looked closer, the extra training and hard work load had been Solardance's way of making sure that Jinx would be safe in the future. After Jinx had finally passed training, Solardance had been kind to her and even taught her some dancing when she'd asked. That was how Jinx had realized her singing talent.
She'd been softly singing a lullaby her carrier had used to sing to her- only she'd translated the words into old cybertronian - in the wash racks when Solardance had come in and heard her. Jinx had been thoroughly embarrassed about the fact she'd been caught, but the femme commander had grinned and complimented her on her talent. After that, Solardance would always ask her to sing when they were hanging out. Solardance had once asked if she'd ever considered a singing position before the war. That's when Jinx had explained about how the fact that she'd just been assumed to follow her brother's shadow. That was when they truly became friends. That's also when Jinx had found out about Solardance's bond to Megatron. That had been quite a surprise.
Everything had been perfect… Even more so when Solardance had confided in her that she was carrying. That had been a short time of general peace and happiness among the ranks, mostly because Megatron was in a daze of complete glee of becoming a parent. Then… everything had just burned to the ground. It had all happened so fast… One minute Solardance was smiling and letting Jinx sing softly to the sparklet in her chest… then she was just gone… After that, everything just dissolved into cruel insanity. Solardance had been the only thing keeping Megatron sane. Without her, he just crumbled.
Jinx frowned and started up her recharge cycle, spark thrumming softly in loss of her old friend and the fall of the real Decepticon cause that had followed.
Before you ask, I AM planning to write a short prequel later on about Solardance's life and about what happened.
But yeah, how did yall like this new character? I can't help but love her. She may be a Con, but she has a good spark. And like always, I warn you that my updates are sporadic and uncharted. It can be days or even months before you see an update. Hope you don't mind.
An energon sweet for your thoughts?
-Stardream(AKA; Leda, Stardream is just my transfan name)