Die unvermeidlichen Tod, aber glückselig Auferstehung
(The Inevitable death but blissful resurrection)
Characters: Joy/Finette, Mirage, Pantherblood, Eclipse, Sunstreaker, Casherqueen, Machination (not-really-a-character-but-it-is-mentioned), Nightbeat (Mini cameo), Nightsoul, Ace (mentioned)
Event: Aging, inevitable death, 'resurrection'
Theme: Facing the reality of inevitable death
Words: 2, 082
Joy's eyes dulled as she lay in the bed that would possibly be her death bed. She lulled her head to look to Mirage, smiling weakly as her small bony hand reached for him. Mirage's optics dimmed as he gently touched her frail hand. "R-raj…" she whispered in her old frail voice, having half the fire she had when she was a young Commander of Machination.
"Yes?" Mirage asked, looking down at her in agony, not liking to see her like this, not wanting her to die. He loved her, no matter how taboo to Cybertronians and Humans it is.
"I…don't want to die…I don't want to leave you" Joy murmured, tears welling up in her eyes, coughing violently as she fights to breath, gripping his hand as Mirage perks, gently reaching and pressing an oxygen mask on her mouth as she coughed, wheezing as she held the mask, shaking.
Cash peered inside the room, holding her arms as she glanced back to Sunstreaker as he came down the hall with flowers. "Hey…" she whispered
"Hey, Cash. How is she?" he asked with a small frown
"Not good, she's on the end of her rope…how is Perceptor and the team going with the 'secret' is?" she asked, looking up at her lover, claws stroking his arm.
"Not sure, they should be done soon…" Sunny mumbled, glancing off.
Mirage hung his helm as Joy had fallen asleep and rubbed his face. Joy…the crazy woman who loved him through thick and thin, with reasonable doubt most of the time and still spent all of her life with him, not with another human. She went through two miscarriages and nearly died twice due to both and yet still loved and stayed with him. Was she crazy? Or did she just love him that much? He snapped out of his thoughts as Joy stirred, fingers gently running through her hair as his optics dimmed, closing his optics, this was becoming too much for him, seeing her so weak and sick like this.
Joy woke up, dazed at the bright light above her as she lulled her head into his direction, eyes looking so tired. "Why…why do you still love me? I'm…so breakable…a human" she managed out, voice breaking. "Why have you not left me…I'm dying. You're going to outlive me…Mirage please tell me why..."
Mirage's optics shimmered as she spoke. "…Because I love you, Finny…" he replied, stroking her hair. "And…I can't leave you; I don't want you to…die alone. Without me..." he whispered, finger tapping her wedding ring. "Through sickness and in health, remember?" he added, optics dim.
"…Yeah…that seems like some sick joke now…" Joy coughed violently, twitching in pain. "I've caused your friends so much trouble and pain a-and yet...y-you all forgive m-me" she hiccupped, tears sliding down her wrinkled cheeks as she cried. "Y-you all went o-out of your w-way to make me comfortable a-and I ca-cannot give anything back…" she whispered, looking away. "…I'm ready…" she whispered. "I've e-embraced my end" she whispered. "It's so inevitable now...I feel at b-bliss now." she whispered, looking up at him as her fingers touched his hand.
Mirage's optics dimmed as he stroked his hand through her hair, breathing out shakily. "You proved yourself to us all…of course we would all forgive you, you helped us with the war, produced new weapons, given us – Prowl new perspectives and made him understand when Blackpanther couldn't get it through to him. Joy…you have helped us so much. This was why you earned your name. Finette. You earned it. You screwed over and ended Machination, you ran from them, on the run, a traitor, but you still stayed strong and stayed with us and became our Ambassador. I don't think just any Human could have done that…" he whispered.
Joy looked to him, closing her eyes as she sighed. "Of course n-not. Anyone else w-would have been t-to scared to even try…I gave u-up everything, m-my life, m-my family…which in doing so led to their deaths…" she murmured, pained tears sliding down her cheeks. "I wasn't even there…" she breathed, wheezing as she coughed.
Panth glanced off as she sighed. "Couldn't we just give her chevalier status?"
"And then what? Leave her that old and frail forever? Primus Panth…" Eclipse grumbled as she rubbed her optics, removing her visor. "We've been working on this project in the dark for years, I'm just surprized that Finette has lived this long. I'm not sure if it's even safe yet."
"Or if she could even survive the process." Panth added.
"Exactly" Eclipse mumbled, puffing as she leaned back, looking to the protoform on the lab berth for Joy. "…Oh well. We should try it anyway" she puffed, biting her lip. "Panth can you go fetch them?"
"Sure, will do" Panth replied, leaving the lab.
Panth gave Nightbeat's wings a quick peck as she went past, smirking as she came and knocked on Mirage's quarter's door, looking to him as he opened the door. "Hey, Raj…how is she?" she murmured
Mirage's optics dimmed, shaking his helm. "Not good…" he whispered. "She's not well at all. She just wants to die…she keeps saying it and every time she does it hurts more." He sighed.
"Mmm…" Panth puffed, she knew how it was, and she knew how it felt. Being an Ancient…she's had so many lovers that came and go and a couple who she outlived, not wanting the Chevalier status to keep them going for an eternity, that empty feeling she got when she was alone, wandering alone. Did Mirage feel that? What would he do when Joy dies…if she does? Would he take the 'easy' way out and kill himself? He sure made it clear those years ago when Sunstreaker almost killed Joy by throwing the human around. "Uhm…if you could come with me to Eclipse's lab…the both of you, please" she murmured
Mirage blinked, raising a weak optic ridge. "Why…?" he asked. "Her heart might not be able to take the movement…" he whispered, biting his lip in worry
.
"Mirage please, its important" Panth puffed, rubbing her neck as she looked him in the optics, breathing thankfully as he moved to push the bed out of the room, leading him into Eclipse's lab, walking to the berth.
Mirage's optics widened. "What…did you do this for her?" he whispered as he looked over the protoform, looking to them in shock.
"Yes." The two replied at once, glancing off with a small smirk. "Well…Prowl ordered it and we just went along for the ride, calculations, sizes, the lot" Eclipse added.
"I'm just here to make sure everything goes smoothly. If…Finette would like to stay with you but…in a Cybertronian form, since her squishy one is…failing" Panth mumbled, crossing her arms as she leaned on another berth.
Mirage looked at the two of them before looking to Joy, pausing as he stroked her cheek. "Finette? Joy, darling?" he whispered, going eye-level with her.
Joy stirred, looking at him. "Yes…?" she whispered, squinting as she looked up at him
"Uhm…Eclipse and Pantherblood said they could keep you alive longer but…in a Cybertronian body. Would you…continue living with me as a Cybertronian…or techno-organic, whatever happens?" he asked softly, running his fingers through her hair.
Joy stared up at him, blinking, probably in shock but didn't really show it as she looked over to the techno-organic and technological beings in the corner. "…Will it be painful?" she whispered, looking scared.
Panth puffed. "I can give you morphine to calm the pain but it mostly likely will, yes," she murmured. "But the pain would be worth it" she winked.
Joy swallowed. "…Okay" she nodded. "I just…want this pain to stop" she swallowed, coughing hard. "P-please n-now," she whispered as she gritted her teeth as she painfully swallowed, looking to the two femmes.
Panth nodded, sedating her as she looked to Eclipse who opened a compartment in the protoform chassis as Panth gently put the human in that compartment and connected some wires to Joy's frail body. Eclipse checked the now turning on spark rate monitor as it registered Joy as Mirage watched in amazement.
Eclipse closed the compartment, opening her sparkcasing and checked her spark, watching as Joy's protoform glowed as it started to change, changing to a lavender with purple spotted techno-organic cheetah, green optics flaring online as she breathed, sitting up suddenly. "Jeez!" she whined, pawing her face as she looked around, squinting, obviously still not able to see without glasses.
Panth chuckled as she handed the femme a visor. "Here" she smirked, backing off as she looked to a slightly shocked Mirage, elbowing him. "Go on" she chuckled.
"Thanks" Joy murmured as she put on the visor, the visor coming on a soft blue as she looked around again and then down. "Oh." She perked, looking herself over as she blinked; picking up armour made for her and put it on without thinking about it, having it come to her straight away. "Wait a minute." She paused, looking behind herself and perked, she had a tail! "Wow" she murmured, once again, back to a femme with few words.
"Joy? Are you…okay?" Mirage asked as his hand sat on her shoulder as he nibbled his lip in worry.
Joy looked to him, optics behind her visor wide in amazement as she let out a deep breath. "Yes. I'm fine" she smiled. "I feel…more alive than ever. It…really feels weird though" she blushed as she turned around fully to hug him, closing her optics behind her visor as it dimmed as she nuzzled him. "Being…like this. But it doesn't matter since I love you so much." She smirked. "This surprize…it's the best" she smiled. "We can finally start over, be something real…" she murmured
Mirage looked to Pantherblood, to Eclipse and then finally to Joy and smiles. She alive but she isn't Joy anymore outwardly. And although she'll have to be careful with her chest, she is finally Finette. Cybertronian. Alive and well, not sick anymore, waiting for the pain to end. She was finally going to see the world through optics, walk the path he does and walk with him through life, through eternity and he was absolutely glad. He loved Finette so much and this…this surprize was the best in his entire life. His helm rested on her's as he kissed her cheek, optics shimmering as he closed his optics, clear energon falling down his cheeks. "Yeah, we can…" he whispered, smiling as he brushed her cheek lovingly. "We finally can." He laughed happily as he opened his subspace and held out out a necklace, in the centre held a bell. "I…found this a couple years ago…I thought it would but cute.."
Finette stared at him and laughed, moving close so he could put the bell on her neck. "Oh Hun, you're so unbelievable" she chuckled "I'm yours. Forever. Never think any different." She smiled softly.
"Really?" Mirage asked, slightly shocked.
"Really really" Finette smiled as she held out her paw to him, which he softly took.
"To forever, yeah?" Mirage smiled softly, softly blushing
"To forever" Finette chuckled, kissing him on the lips.
END