I didn't expect that this story would need a prologue, but it started developing after I got partway into the flashback - and boy there's a lot of story! Looks like I have to edit the story description now, too...
I still don't know what episode number this will be just yet, but it will probably be at least a third of the way into the series.
"Jazz, I need to speak to you. In private."
Ratchet's expression said everything Jazz didn't want to hear. He got up and wordlessly followed Ratchet into the reinforced hangar that had been redesigned to serve as the Autobot's new hospital and medical research center.
"Is she . . . gonna be okay?" Jazz asked uneasily, looking over at the respair berth on which Shiftlock was lying, connected to diagnostics equipment.
"Well, yes and no," Ratchet answered. "Her systems are perfectly fine, and her spark frame is in surprisingly good condition despite its unique composition."
"So what's the 'no' part of bein' okay?" Jazz asked curiously.
"She's going to cease being okay unless we can find a protoform soon," Ratchet explained.
Jazz just stared, dumbfounded.
Ratchet patted him on the shoulder. "Congratulations. Looks like she'll make a decent mech out of you yet."
Insecticon Presents:
LIFE IN THE DEAD END
A Transformers Prime: Invasion Story
"Woman!" Jazz exclaimed, following after a very unhappy looking Shiftlock as she stomped back into the command center of the base, "you have some explainin' to do!"
"There's nothing to explain that Ratchet hasn't already told you," she curtly retorted.
"Oh I think there's a lot more that needs explainin'," Jazz continued, growing more and more irritable. "Like how in the world you got sparked when we haven't been together since the exodus!"
"Whoa, wait, what?!" Arcee interrupted, holding her hands up as if to stop the conversation long enough to grasp what she just heard. She stared up at the both of them. "Shiftlock, you're sparked?"
"Wow, Shiftlock's sparked?" Smokescreen asked, ducking into the command center from the hangar doors, a huge grin on his face. "Congratula-" He stopped mid-word, noting the looks on Shiftlock and Jazz's faces as they glared at each other, Shiftlock standing stiffly, armed folded, looking away from Jazz, who all but bristled with anger and betrayal. "-tions," he finished, the grin melting off his face.
Ratchet gently moved Smokescreen out of the way as he followed the couple into the command center.
"Jazz, you don't understand," Shiftlock vented, looking troubled, her tone softening.
The black and white mech backed off, the indignation vanishing with the thought that it wasn't unfaithfulness that might have caused the sparking. His tank churned. "It's not... Those Decepticons didn't do something to you, did they?" he asked apologetically, reaching out and placing his hands on her shoulders, turning Shiftlock to face him.
"I'm going to have to bolt the both of you to the floor next time!" Ratchet snapped, shaking a fist as he stalked up to the couple.
Smokescreen cautiously entered behind Ratchet. He decided to stay well clear of the potential explosion in the middle of the room. Arcee wisely remained at a safe distance near the communications array.
"If you both had just waited a moment before storming out of the medical bay, I could have provided an explanation!" Ratchet groused, walking over to the two. "Jazz, do remember what I told you about Shiftlock's spark frame back on Cybertron?"
"Yeah," Jazz answered somewhat numbly, trying to get control of the turmoil of emotions storming through his mind. "You said it was defective."
"That's what the Guild assessor said about it too," Shiftlock added as Jazz put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. "That's why they tried to kill me."
Arcee and Smokescreen looked at each other, then back at the trio in the middle of the room.
"Well, it turns out we were all wrong," Ratchet continued. "Her frame isn't defective, it's unique. I wouldn't have believed it myself unless I had just finished the examination myself, but it appears that Shiftlock's spark frame is capable of suspended generation."
"Suspended generation?" Jazz asked, not sure he was hearing that right. "You mean she can just press a pause button on things?"
"That's correct, in a manner of speaking," Ratchet said.
Jazz looked at Shiftlock. "I'm sorry," he murmured, holding her to his torso plate. "I overreacted."
"All things considered, it's understandable," she whispered back. "It's all right."
"So it's...?" Jazz grinned.
"All yours," Shiftlock whispered, her expression lightening at last.
"Unfortunately Shiftlock cannot suspend a sparking indefinitely," Ratched continued, ignoring the public display of affection. "It appears she is coming to the limits of her capabilities, impressive as they may be. We're going to need to find a protoform for her to download the new spark into... or we may lose mother and child both."
So much for a moment of happiness. Jazz hung his head. "I knew there was gonna be a catch."
"Somethin' going on in here, Ratch?" Bulkhead asked as he made his way into the hangar, the large green Wrecker asked with a note of concern. Miko, Jack, June and Rafael filtered in around his legs. "I heard shouting all the way outside."
Bumblebee pushed open the other door of the hangar and made his way inside, noising his concern as well.
June noticed Shiftlock and Jazz in an embrace and looked away, blushing faintly. "Oh! Did we come at a bad time?"
"No, no, Mrs. Darby," Shiftlock reassured with a nervous chuckle as she and Jazz disentangled their limbs, "you're fine-"
"Shiftlock's sparked, Bulkhead!" Smokescreen cheerfully announced.
"Well let's just send out some fancy printed announcements to everyone we know!" Jazz sarcastically quipped, exasperated at how quickly the news was spreading.
Bulkhead's optic ridges nearly shot up over the top of his head. "You're sparked!? I knew you two were happy to see each other but-"
Bumblebee interrupted with excited whirls, clicks and beeps as he quickly made his way over to Shiftlock, patting her on the back - and giving Jazz a thumbs up while waggling his optic ridges.
"Sparked?" Rafael asked. "What's that?"
There was a sudden uncomfortable silence among all the Autobots as they looked at Rafael, then each other. Cue the embarrassed mumbling, looking away and gesturing among all of them.
"Oh! Well, uh, you see-" Jazz stammered, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Why are you all looking so nervous?" Miko demanded, hands on her hips, tapping her foot.
Bulkhead cleared his throat and tapped his fingers together, taking a deep vent and preparing to give 'the speech', "Well, Miko, when two Cybertronians love each other very much-"
June's eyes widened, catching on. "Is this a conversation we should be having in front of the children?" She instinctively covered Raf's ears with her hands.
"It's okay Mrs. Darby, I've taken health class," Rafael explained, gently pushing aside June's hands. He smiled up at Shiftlock. "I'm guessing that being sparked is like being pregnant?"
"That would be correct," Ratchet said.
June's hands went to her mouth as she gasped, eyes brightening. "Oh Shiftlock dear I'm so happy for you!" She clapped her hands together. "We need to prepare! Do Cybertronians have baby showers? How long will it be before you have the baby? Oh I've never seen a Cybertronian baby before! I bet it's just going to be adorable!"
"Uh oh, Mom's gone into baby mode," Jack muttered, taking a step back.
"Baby mode?" Smokescreen asked, puzzled. "Is this part of how humans make new humans?"
"No!" Jack shouted, waving his hands. "It doesn't work like that-"
"Do giant robots even have babies?" Miko asked out loud.
"We do reproduce, but it's not in the same way the organic life forms on this planet do," Ratchet explained. "We don't generate tiny versions of ourselves that pass out of our chassis and then progressively enlarge themselves. Two Cybertronians can temporarily merge their sparks as an expression of great love and affection for one another. Sometimes when this occurs, the blending creates an entirely new fragment of shared spark data, individual from both of the protoform batch initiators. Over time the new spark fragment, fed on the energon of the one carrying it, develops into a fully independent individual. At that point the spark frame of the carrier is becomes too small to hold both, and the new spark must be transferred into a blank body shell - a protoform. The protoform then reads the spark data and transforms itself into the new Cybertronian."
"Well now I'm jealous," June replied. "That sounds a lot less painful than giving birth."
"What's giving birth like?" Arcee asked, curious.
"Long, tiring, painful," June explained. "I was in labor with Jack for seventeen hours."
"Mom!"Jack protested under his breath.
"Oh don't be so embarrassed, honey, it's just the facts of life," June smiled. "If I wanted to really embarrass you I'd bring in your baby pictures."
Jack looked horrified. "No, no, that's fine-"
"Oh, I dunno, I think I'd like to see Jack's baby pictures," Arcee said, teasing.
Jack threw his hands into the air. "And now you're betraying me too, Arcee?!"
The others chuckled faintly, save Ratchet and Shiftlock, who only smiled.
June cleared her throat. "So how long is the gestation period?" she asked Ratchet.
"Well, that's where things get a bit unusual in Shiftlock's case. Normally it's only a few of your earth months, depending on how much energon is available to the carrier, the process is automatic," Ratchet said. "However, Shiftlock's frame is uniquely gifted with the ability to suspend the gestation, though apparently not indefinitely."
"So how long are we talking here?" Arcee asked, looking at Shiftlock curiously. "From what was said earlier, she and Jazz hadn't been-" She glanced over at the children and mentally corrected herself, "-together, since the Ark left Cybertron."
"Well," Ratchet murmured, as if still unable to believe it himself, "The date in her systems would place the time of sparking somewhere before the Great War began."
This statement garnered a collective "WHAT?!" from the other Autobots, save Ratchet and Shiftlock. Bumblebee's alarmed noises mixed in with the shout.
"Wasn't that millions of years ago?" Jack asked, wide-eyed.
"I am no longer jealous," June murmured, surprised.
"Did you know you were sparked?" Jazz asked Shiftlock, stunned by this information.
"Of course I knew. I was prompted by my internal diagnostics on whether to suspend or continue. I just chose suspend," Shiftlock replied.
"So you fought through the entire Great War while sparked?!" Arcee asked, incredulous and even slightly angry.
"AND you joined the Wreckers?!" Bulkhead added, equally shocked.
"You know I'm not afraid to take risks, but that's pushing it a little far, don't you think?" Smokescreen frowned.
Bumblebee beeped and whirled at Shiftlock, concerned, as if to ask what had been going through her mind to take such a risk.
"You don't understand!" Shiftlock protested. "I wasn't an Autobot when it happened!"
"Well, technically no one was before the Great War, the Autobots didn't form until the Decepticons started their bombings," Smokescreen replied.
"I WAS A DECEPTICON!" Shiftlock shouted in frustration, turning away from the others and walking away from the group. Her sudden outburst quieted the room for a brief period of time. Smokescreen, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee and the present humans looked surprised; it was not something they had known about Shiftlock before. Ratchet's expression tightened in understanding and remembrance. Jazz looked across the room to his mate, putting two and two together.
"Whoa, she was a Con?" Miko asked, glancing over at Shiftlock with an expression somewhere between caution and admiration.
"Yeah," Jazz replied. "So... it would have been around the time we had that fallin' out for a bit."
Shiftlock sat on the floor, her back to the others. "I couldn't tell you then," she said, morose. "I'd just been branded and you were busy helping Optimus prepare for what was coming."
"Branded?" June asked, blinking. "The Decepticons branded you?"
"No," Jazz said, "The Enforcers did. It was part of the Decepticon Registration Act. Anyone who disagreed with the caste system, spoke out, or just generally didn't go with the status quo, got the Decepticon emblem branded onto them, whether or not they were like Megatron and his goons."
"That sounds like tyranny," Jack stated, frowning, looking over at Shiftlock - and the Autobots - in a new light, and with new questions on his mind.
"It was," Ratchet replied somberly as Jazz walked over to Shiftlock, sitting down next to her.
"So the Decepticons were revolutionaries?" Jack asked. "They didn't just start out as bad guys?"
"That's hard to imagine," Smokescreen said, looking over at the couple. "I mean, all I've ever known is fighting murderous, evil, war-mongering Decepticons."
"That's because you, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee were all sparked during the war," Ratchet explained. "You aren't old enough to remember how Cybertron used to be, before the conflict started."
Raf moved away from the others and jogged over to Shiftlock, coming to a stand at her side. "For what it's worth, it doesn't matter to me if you used to be a Decepticon. You're an Autobot now, and that's all that counts."
Shiftlock couldn't help but smile at Raf's encouragement. "Thank you," she said softly. Though she initially questioned having human young present on base, she was beginning to appreciate them.
"You gotta lotta nerve to hide this for as long as you did," Jazz said, chastening Shiftlock. "How long were you plannin' on not tellin' me?"
"Until the war was truly over and we were somewhere safe," Shiftlock answered, looking at the wall.
"But what if you'd been seriously hurt?" Smokescreen asked, still irritable with Shiftlock. "You weren't just risking your own life!"
"How is that any different from anyone else that ever went into battle? How is that different from any commander who had to send their troops into what would be suicide missions, knowing that someone had to do it or even greater loss of life would occur?" Shiftlock snapped back, looking over her shoulder at Smokescreen.
"The soldiers that went into battle made a conscious decision to do so," Arcee calmly added, siding with Smokescreen.
"And what was I supposed to do?" Shiftlock asked, temper starting to rise again. "Not suspend generation while I was part of the Decepticons? How do you think that would have ended?"
Smokescreen looked down, silenced in his argument.
A mild gust of wind blew through the open hangar doors, and Bumblebee got up, moving to close them. Miko kept close to Bulkhead, who just listened and thought about what was being said - how he would feel in either Jazz or Shiftlock's position. June put a hand on her son's shoulder, looking at her son with thankfulness for his safety, while Jack looked on, staying out of the argument. What could he add?
"Couldn't you have just un-paused yourself after you joined the Autobots?" Jazz asked.
"And give you even more to worry about?" Shiftlock asked. "Prime needed your skills to help him through the war. Who else was going to head up Special Forces? I didn't want to make you lose focus. Jazz, I trusted in you, in your ability to survive, and to help others survive. To make it through the war in one piece. I believe you trusted me to do the same, or you wouldn't have let me join the Wreckers. You wouldn't have let me stay behind on Cybertron long enough to help everyone else stranded there to get away. I believed we'd see each other again, and when it was safe, then and only then could I have told you. I ... I wanted to give our offspring a chance to grow up safe and free."
Jazz vented and leaned against Shiftlock, pulling her close again. "The only thing that's gonna kill me is the spark-attacks you keep givin' me."
"While it's nice that we've all come to terms, there is still the matter of finding a protoform for the new spark. Shiftlock's at an advanced stage of generation and the process is completing itself rapidly. We may have only a day or so at most before spark separation is critical," Ratchet said.
"See? Like that," Jazz added.
Bumblebee buzzed and whirled, walking back over to the middle of the command center.
"Prime's with Ultra Magnus, Prowl, Captain Fairborne and Agent Fowler right now," Arcee replied. "They're still trying to finish coordinating moving the equipment and remains of the second Autobot base from Canada to here. They're operating under radio silence right now to keep the Decepticons from ambushing them during the move."
"We'll update them when it becomes possible to do so," Ratchet said. "But we'll have to act to secure a protoform on our own until then."
"But where are we even going to find a protoform?" Smokescreen asked.
"I think I have an idea on who might know where to get some," Bulkhead said. His face drew into a scowl. "Starscream."
Ratchet blinked. "Of course - that would explain how you managed to destroy him aboard the Nemesis, while he reappeared, flight-capable again, later on."
"You think he cloned himself using a protoform?" Arcee asked.
"There could have been protoforms aboard the Harbinger," Ratchet mused, thoughtful. "We never had time to fully explore it while it served as our temporary base."
Jazz stood up and turned to face the others, walking back towards them. "Well if there's even a chance we might find somethin' on that hunk of Decepti-scrap, we outta go check it out, because the only other option is a trip to Cybertron. All right! Arcee, Bumblebee, you're with me. Ratchet, can you open us a ground bridge to the Harbinger?"
"I believe I still remember the coordinates," Ratchet said with a nod, walking over to the ground bridge controls opposite the communications console.
"What about me?" Smokescreen asked, wanting to get in on the action.
"Smokey, I need you 'n Bulkhead to stay here in case somethin' goes wrong," Jazz explained. Smokescreen looked quizzically at Jazz.
Shiftlock offered her hand to Raf, who climbed onto it. She lifted him to her shoulder as she got to a stand, where Raf took a seat and held onto the edge of her right shoulder pauldron.
Jazz leaned over and added, "Besides, if Shiftlock decides she's gonna try to go fight someone, you're the only one fast enough to catch her, and it's gonna take Bulkhead sittin' on her to keep her in one place."
Smokescreen blinked. "I hope you're not serious-"
"Hey!" Shiftlock interjected.
"Oop! Ratchet, better get that ground bridge goin' before she makes herself a widow!" Jazz grinned, slipping over to the staging area near the ground bridge, which Ratchet was now powering up.
"Be careful Bee!" Raf called.
Bumblebee looked between Shiftlock and Raf, and whistled.
"I'll look after him, Bee," the femme Wrecker said. "I gotta start practicing looking after a young one, don't I?"
Bumblebee responded with something that sounded a lot like laughter.
"The coordinates are set!" Ratchet called as the bright green vortex of energy irised open at the end of the ground bridge platform.
Acree and Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode and revved their engines.
"Don't you worry, honey! I'll be back in two turns of an engine!" Jazz called to Shiftlock, as he transformed as well, leading the other two Autobots into the ground bridge, disappearing into the spiral of energy at the end before it shuttered closed.
"Well," Ratchet said, "I suppose all we can do now is wait-"
Raf cried out in alarm. Shiftlock was losing her balance and crumpling to the ground.
"Raf!" Jack, Miko and June ran forward. Smokescreen quickly scooped up Raf as he pitched forward; Bulkhead and Ratchet immediately rushed forward as well.
"What's happening?" Bulkhead asked, trying to help the femme up. "You okay?"
"Thanks for the save," Raf said to Smokescreen, catching his breath, still shaken from his split-second free fall. The silver Autobot set Raf down next to the other children.
"I'm losing control of my legs!" Shiftlock blurted out, unable to stand.
"Is that normal?" June asked.
"It means that the new spark is beginning to separate. It's pressing against her frame and cutting off signals to her lower extremities," Ratchet explained as he and Bulkhead turned Shiftlock over.
"Do we need to boil some water or something?" Miko asked, ready to jump in, wishing she could help.
"Why would we need to boil water?" Jack asked.
"I dunno, don't they always say something about boiling water in the movies?" Miko replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Is there anything we can do?" Smokescreen asked Ratchet, tensing his servos.
"We just need to make her comfortable, there's nothing we can do until Jazz and the others return with a protoform," Ratchet said as he and Bulkhead finished righting the fallen femme. "Having some diagnostic tools would help - Smokescreen, go to the hospital hangar and get the first aid kit. I'll be able to keep tabs on her progress more easily."
"Right, on it!" Smokescreen was up on his feet and hurrying out of the command center.
"You can do this, Shiftlock. You've been through worse," Bulkhead encouraged, letting Shiftlock lean up against him as he sat.
"Aaaugh, this feels weird," Shiftlock moaned.
"Is this your first time?" June asked, walking over to Shiftlock's side.
"Yes," Shiftlock nodded, her engine cycling higher, audible now.
"Okay, Shiftlock, I want you to take slow, deep breaths," June stated firmly, placing her hands on Shiftlock's servo.
"Nurse Darby, I don't think that's really going to help," Ratchet sighed in exasperation.
"It will give her something to focus on to help her stay calm," June explained, looking Ratchet square in the eye.
"Man, I hate just having to sit here and watch and not be able to do anything!" Miko shouted, gesticulating.
Ratchet thought for a moment and suggested, "Keeping her focused and her mind active would be beneficial. She doesn't need any further stress at this point. That may speed up the process prematurely."
Smokescreen rushed back in, bringing a sealed white case and setting it next to Ratchet. "Got here as fast as I could."
"Maybe a puzzle or a game? Some TV?" Jack suggested, trying to think.
Ratchet opened the kit and began taking out the scanning tools.
"What are we doing now?" Smokescreen asked.
"We're trying to give Shiftlock something to keep her thinking and calm so she doesn't stress herself out," Bulkhead explained.
"I have a suggestion, actually, if Shiftlock doesn't mind," Raf began. He looked up at her. "Would you mind telling us what Cybertron was like before the war?"
"Or how you became a Con?" Miko asked, really fascinated by that part.
June smiled at the good suggestions and added, "Up until this point I didn't realize Cybertronians had families. What about how you met Jazz?"
The suggestions brought back memories that made Shiftlock's expression lighten through her sudden discomfort and fatigue. "I think I can cover all that at the same time."