A/N: The Dodge Charger vehicle form for Prowl is lj user vejiraziel's creation entirely. I simply can't visualize movie Prowl in any other form.
So, this one is for the lj comm prowlxjazz's holiday challenge, December 2009.
Mikaela stretched out on the large beach towel, the tiny bikini barely covering essential parts. Major Lennox had made it very clear to her that sunbathing in the nude would not be allowed, and had sent Jazz with her, both so he could recharge in the sun and to keep an optic on her just in case a soldier got ideas above his station. The beach at Diego Garcia was beautiful, the sun blazing off the pure white sand in blinding radiance.
The quiet hum of a well tuned engine came to her ears, and she smiled as she identified Prowl from the sound of the engine. He pulled up next to Jazz and just sat there. Mikaela checked her guess, turning her head slightly. Yup, it was Prowl, and he was as close to Jazz as he could be without touching.
Mikaela rolled over, pillowing her head on her arms, and lazily returned to her sunbathing. She lay there for another ten minutes until she raised her head at a familiar whistle. Sam was making his way toward her, carrying something in his hands. He offered it to her, and she took it, puzzled. It was a white spheroid with a straw poking out of it.
"Try it!" Sam encouraged, taking a sip from his own white ball.
She did, and the cool sweet liquid washed over her tongue. She took another sip, sighing at the wonderful coolness.
"What is it?"
"It's a coconut." Sam told her.
"Coconuts don't look like this! They're brown."
"Not young coconuts. They're green, but these have been trimmed. What do you think of it?"
Mikaela took another sip. "It's good. Wait a minute. I thought the plant life here was protected."
Sam waved at the palm trees swaying in the slight breeze. "They are. I didn't get these from here; they came in on the last cargo ship. Epps introduced me to this, and I saw you out here and thought you might be getting dehydrated, so I should bring you something cool to drink."
Mikaela smiled at him. "That was really thoughtful of you, Sam. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Next to them, Jazz gave out a little hum, answered by the rumble of Prowl's engine. Sam and Mikaela raised their heads and looked at the two Autobots.
"Mikaela, you've been out in the sun for 1.26 hours and you should remove yourself. Further solar radiation will damage your sensory organ."
"It's called skin, Prowl."
"Well, sounds like it's time to take you inside." Sam hopped to his feet and offered a hand down to Mikaela. She slipped her hand into his and he pulled her to her feet. She scooped up her towel and the two humans twined fingers, starting to walk toward the hanger. Prowl popped his passenger door in silent invitation, but Mikaela shook her head.
"No, thanks, Prowl. You and Jazz stay out here. Jazz needs as much energy as he can get." She told them, continuing her walk with Sam.
Once they were gone, Prowl shifted himself until he was touching Jazz.
"Afraid I'm going to disappear, Prowl?"
"Of course not. Is there something wrong with what I'm doing?"
"No, there isn't." Jazz leaned against Prowl, earning his own hum of contentment in return.
They were content to remain there in each other's company, the slight breeze rolling over their forms and causing the palm trees to sway and rustle, giving a background to the waves hissing in the sand as the tide rolled in. Finally the sun sank beneath the horizon, and Jazz shifted away from Prowl. They headed back to the hanger.
Once inside, Prowl transformed and waited. Jazz transformed much more slowly, the rip across his abdomen still tender. Ratchet came over and plugged into Jazz's medical ports, going through the handshake protocols and accessing Jazz's medical files. Jazz leaned against Prowl as the medic gently slipped into his systems.
"Humph. Well, Jazz, you're still healing, but everything is taking longer than I thought it would. Would you let me see your spark?"
"Is that really necessary, Ratchet?" Prowl asked him.
"I don't know. Perhaps not. I don't understand what happened between you, and so perhaps I'm just looking for something that makes sense to me." Ratchet said, his optics flickering as he downloaded data from Jazz and merged it into his database, flipping through records and searching for commonalities.
"Hey, Ratch, maybe I'm not healing 'cause Prowl's not recharging." Jazz joked.
Ratchet froze, then uncoiled another cable and held it, waiting patiently for Prowl. He finally opened a medical port on his shoulder and Ratchet plugged in, appropriate protocols exchanged and medical databases accessed.
Ratchet was now plugged into both mechs and creating a cross-referenced database of their systems. To the humans watching, mere minutes passed, but to Jazz and Prowl, the rapidity of Ratchet's diagnosis was breathtaking.
"Yes, Jazz, that's exactly the reason. Prowl, you're on medical leave for the next month. I want both of you off this island. You'll have comm lines and such, but you may not do any work. I want you to recharge, play, rest, heal and reconnect. I'll log the orders with Optimus." Ratchet unplugged from both mechs and turned back to the main part of the hanger.
Jazz grinned, "See? Ratchet's a good mech, but no nonsense. Practical all the way. Where shall we go for our enforced vacation, Prowl?"
"I have no idea." Prowl responded.
"Great! I'll plan it, then." Jazz was almost bouncing on his feet, joy radiating from every line of his body.
Their first stop was the continent of Australia. They spent ten days there, driving from one of the military bases to the center of the continent to see Ayer's rock. The barrenness of the center startled Prowl, but Jazz stopped them and transformed, pulling Prowl off the road and down to a copse of trees. He pointed out the birds and lizards. A bilby poked its long nose out of a hole in the roots of a tree, delighting Jazz and startling Prowl. A small mob of red kangaroos hopped across their path later that day. Jazz took a huge number of pictures with his imager, which was embedded in his front right headlight.
"Jazz, you do not need that number of images! Five or six, yes, but you have three hundred!" Prowl scolded him.
"Chill, Prowl, I'll sort 'em out later. Mikaela tells me it's part of the vacation experience, take too many pictures and sort them after you've come back."
"Sam tells me the pictures never get sorted out." Prowl returned, sly humor sliding across their bond.
Jazz laughed and accelerated down the road.
From Australia, they caught a transport to New Zealand. Sam and Mikaela had gleefully introduced Jazz to the Lord of the Rings series of movies and books, debates about the differences in storylines and arguments as to which, stylistically, was better were fun. Jazz had loved the movies, while Prowl had enjoyed the books. Now, Jazz had arranged for them to take part of the LoTR tour of the north island. The first place they visited was Hobbiton, located on a farm near Matamata on the North Island. After that, they journeyed to Rotorua, where Jazz was coaxed by their tour guide into trying the hot springs.
"C'mon in, Prowl!" Jazz was smiling, his small sleek form gliding through the shallow pool that was set aside for their exclusive use. Human beings were getting used to having alien life on their planet, but Optimus didn't want their vacation to be the cause of unrest and so had enlisted the aid of the military factions of the NEST alliance to help Jazz and Prowl have a carefree break.
Prowl gingerly lowered himself in the warm water and sighed as the heat soothed his plating. Jazz was actually floating in the water, and Prowl sent an inquiry to him.
"Air." Jazz murmured.
"A one word answer is not really an answer, Jazz, so much as it is a statement." Prowl told him.
"I trap air under my plating before I get in the water, then seal the plating off. I can't float well, but I can float." Jazz gave a gentle wave of his hands, floating closer to Prowl.
Prowl smiled at Jazz, luxuriating in the warmth and closeness of the spark that was Jazz.
After one of the most refreshing recharges Prowl could remember, they headed toward Mt. Ruapehu. Jazz delighted in exploring the lava fields that Frodo and Sam had crossed on their way to the cave of Mt. Doom. Their guide was thrilled to show them some of the more hidden places, and Jazz happily explored the day away while Prowl trailed behind and carefully watched Jazz. He seemed stronger and was moving easier. Prowl transmitted a brief message to Ratchet, including a motion capture of Jazz hopping along some of the larger rocks of the lava field. An approval came back to him, and he smiled at the coded concern contained within Ratchet's one-word reply, 'Good.' Prowl returned his attention to Jazz.
Finally tired, Jazz allowed himself to say good-bye to their guide and return to Rotorua for another soothing soak in the hot springs.
Out of time, they journeyed the next day to meet up with their transport and left for Jazz's final choice of destination, southern California in the United States.
They arrived at Camp Pendleton in the darkest hour of the night. Prowl approved of the level of alertness from the soldiers manning their posts, whereas Jazz simply wanted to stop and rest. Prowl led him to their barracks and watched as the silver Solstice sank on his wheels and fell into a deep recharge.
Jazz slept through the next day, and Prowl set some of his sensors to monitor Jazz, then went on his own tour of the base, guided by phlegmatic sergeant that didn't blink an eye when the ordinary looking Dodge Charger unfolded into a seventeen foot robotic organism.
Tromping through the brush and cactus of the training grounds, Prowl enjoyed the bird song floating around him. The marine sergeant moved silently next to him, and this way, they traversed a couple of miles in companionable silence. Finally reaching a promontory, they paused and looked to the west, seeing the glint of the ocean from their position.
"Word is, that silver car that came with you is another robot."
"Yes, he is." Prowl agreed quietly.
"So why are you here?"
Prowl laughed quietly, "Because he wanted to come here."
The sergeant thought about that for a moment, then said, "I hope you don't mind my saying this, but that sounds an awful lot like the reasons my wife has me doing some things."
Prowl looked down and nodded. "Precisely. I do it because it makes him happy."
The sergeant nodded. "Well, if there's anything I can do to help you or get you to make your stay here more comfortable, let me know. I'm Sergeant Gonzalez."
Prowl reached down to exchange a handshake with him and replied, "I'm Prowl. It's nice to meet you, Sergeant."
The next day, Prowl took Jazz out to the training range and they went through some easy training exercises to start getting his systems used to moving against the injury. Afterwards, Jazz recharged in the sun for a couple of hours, then they went for a drive down to San Diego, where it had been arranged for them to take a tour of San Diego's Wild Animal Park after the park closed for the night. Their guide graciously let them drive down roads normally reserved for the park vehicles, and was giddily happy to meet them once they transformed into their robotic forms. They had a wonderful time, Jazz merrily going from exhibit to exhibit while Prowl trailed behind, listening to their guide and Jazz discuss a wide range of topics.
When they were finished, is was fully dark and Prowl insisted they stay in the parking lot of the park. Jazz demurred, but fell into recharge in the middle of the argument. Satisfied, Prowl snuggled close and initiated his own recharge.
The next morning, they leisurely drove back to Camp Pendleton. They spent a couple more days poking around southern California, taking a drive up toward Pasadena and arranging a tour of the La Brea tar pits. The security for this site was more difficult, placed as it was in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, but Jazz was fascinated by the fossils taken from the pits, especially the dire wolf skeletons.
After a month away, Jazz and Prowl finally came back to Diego Garcia. They were rested, Jazz was mostly healed, and their bond was stronger than ever. Ratchet gave his approval and released them to full duty.
But every year around the December holiday season, they vanished for at least a week and Jazz never told anybody where they were going. It was simply a tradition, one of the many incorporated into the NEST team.
The End.