Rae: (Sighs) Yes, I have decided to put up a Transformers fanfic. I'm sorry, but I had to do something to make this obsession over Transformers ease. Yes, G1 is my favorite continuity and no I won't be accepting requests for fics in this universe.
Okay, enough of my morbid mutterings, read and enjoy! Remember, I don't own Transformers in any way, shape or form. I only own Darkwing.
Prowl sat on the repair table, legs dangling over the edge. Their light swinging was the only indication of his nervousness. He heard Ratchet call Mirage over the comms, and Mirage's slightly gravelly voice answered.
"Yo Ratch, what's up?"
"I need you down at medbay, stat." The medic snapped, then closed the link. He put a hand over his face for a few seconds before going back to Prowl. "I can't believe you managed this," he grumbled.
"It wasn't exactly planned." The Datsun said, a little stiffly.
"I know, I know. It's just, I haven't had to deal with anything like this in... well, millenia. The war just kinda, put a damper on it." Ratchet sighed. "Does Jazz know?"
"No, and I want to keep it that way. That's why I requested Mirage." Prowl looked at his feet, an unreadable expression on his face. "I don't want to get his hopes up, Ratchet. I don't want him to look forward to it that badly, and then something to go wrong. It's better if he not know and I keep the sorrow to myself, if it comes." Ratchet nodded, and both of them looked up when the medbay doors cycled open to admit Mirage.
"Mind if Mirage knows? He won't tell anyone." The medic asked. Prowl looked at the spy for a few moments, then groaned in resignment. "Fine. But no one else."
"Know what?" Mirage looked curiously from medic to tactician and back again.
Prowl grimaced, and Ratchet spared him a sympathetic look before answering Mirage. "He's sparked, 'Raj."
The spy's optics widened at that. "What?! When?"
"A week ago." Prowl replied. "I thought it was just the sensory nodes in my chest that had gotten a virus, but when I came down to Ratchet for a check-up..." He trailed off. Ratchet continued where Prowl left off. "Which is why we need you, Mirage. Or specifically, your ability to create holographic illusions." Mirage's optics softened.
"I understand. You want to maintain this physique so no one suspects anything, right?" At Ratchet's affirmation he hopped up onto one of the empty berths. "Take whatever you need, Doc bot."
--
Prowl moved carefully in his usual posture until he got to his office. A pile of data pads and unsigned or unaffirmed documents decorated half of his desk. He sat down in his chair with relative ease, concealing a slight wince that would have shown at the brief cramping pain. Grabbing the nearest data pad, he proceeded to look it over and file it as appropriate.
An hour and a half later, his office door cycled open. Prowl didn't even need to look up to know who it was. The only other mech besides Prime that knew his office code and came in without knocking. "Afternoon, Jazz."
"'Noon, Prowler. Y'back at work again? Right after you been to medbay?" At that, Prowl stopped what he was doing and stared at Jazz. "How did you know I was in medbay?"
Jazz shrugged. "I saw you as havin' logged into Hatchet's place about 2 hours ago. I was just wonderin' what was up."
Prowl relaxed slightly, though it wasn't visible. "Yeah, I just went in for a tune up. The sensory nodes in my chest were playing up, so Ratchet fixed them for me."
"And what 'bout 'Raj? He logged in while you were still there. What was up with him?"
"His holo projector and a prank. You do the math." Prowl gave Jazz a pointed look, and the saboteur laughed. "Sweet," he grinned.
"Call it what you will. Ratchet wasn't too happy."
Jazz just gave another light laugh, graced Prowl with a long but chaste kiss and plopped his frame down onto the sofa he insisted Prowl install in his office. The Datsun watched him, a small smile playing on his lips, thinking that he'd do anything to keep Jazz happy and laughing.
--
(5 days later)
Prowl stood outside Prime's office. He'd been called there, the message saying that it was nothing overly important, but there was something Prime would like to ask. He knocked, and Prime's voice rumbled, "Come in."
"You wished to see me, sir?" Prowl said as the door shut behind him.
"Yes. I wanted to know why you seem to be giving yourself less time on duty. You're usually so... obsessive." Optimus said the last word as though he wasn't sure it was the right word to use. Prowl cycled air though his vents noisily.
"Jazz kept telling me I was working too hard, that I needed to slow down the work. After Ratchet replaced the sensors in my chest a few days ago, I decided to take his advice." He shrugged. "I didn't think it would matter too much."
"No no, I was simply curious. I'm glad, actually. I always thought you worked way too hard. Even I don't work that hard, and I'm the leader." Prowl smiled slightly, and left their leader's office with the thoughts that he'd become quite good at lying these past few days. Of course, his reputation of being someone who never lied helped somewhat.
:Now what's this? Prowler tellin' a fib?: Jazz's sudden amused intrusion into their bond startled him out of his musings.
:That's bull, Jazz. You of all mechs should know that.:
:Yeah, yeah, I know. Just teasin' ya. D'you know what Hound's just told me?:
:No, what?:
:He just told me that 'Raj is actin' strange, like he knows somethin' taboo, but he ain't tellin'. Any ideas as to what he might be hidin'?:
:Jazz, I tend not to make it a habit to know everyone's deepest darkest secrets,: said Prowl, dryly. :If he's got something he doesn't want people to know about then that's fine. Leave him be.:
:But Hound's sayin' he looks shifty every time your name is mentioned.:
:And that would be nothing to do with the fact that I punished him for the first time since he joined Prime's division: Prowl said sarcastically. :And tell that to anyone, and you will be very sorry.:
:I hear ya. But dang, 'Raj? In trouble? I guess there's a first for everythin'.: Jazz flooded the bond with love briefly before he subsided.
--
The sparkling was little more than a metal skeletal frame. All its internal mechanisms and its bright silver Spark were bared for the world to see. A tube of metal from his chest still connected Prowl to the sparkling. He let some energon flow down the tube, and the wailing sparkling quieted immediately. He smiled gently; it was just hungry. He looked up from cradling the small frame as Ratchet walked in. "Do you know?" He asked.
The medic nodded. "It's a femme. Your little one is a femme. Or will be, at least. I can... make some armor for her, if you like." Prowl inclined his head, thanks in his optics. "That would be great, Ratchet. She'll be protected, then, at least."
Ratchet nodded again. "I'll start right away."
Prowl was lead out of Ratchet's private office back into the medbay area. The ambulance busied himself with measuring the sparkling for its armor, and there was silence for a while. Eventually, he broke it with a question directed at Prowl.
"What are you going to name her?"
The Datsun started slightly, not expecting the interruption to the silence, but considered the question. "No, I won't name her yet," he finally answered. "I want Jazz to help me come up with a name. I'll show him our daughter tomorrow. Until then, can I stay here while you work on her?"
Ratchet chuckled. "I couldn't keep you away, Prowl," he said, pointing with amusement at the tube proceeding from between the tactician's chest plates.
--
Jazz sprinted into the Ark, ignoring First Aid's yells for him to come back and get himself patched up. His only priority at that moment was Prowl. He'd felt a blinding, momentarily immobilizing flash of pain from Prowl's end of the bond during the battle, and there had been a flurry of unintelligable yells through the communications from Ratchet, First Aid, Swoop, Wheeljack and Ironhide. He'd tried to contact Prowl, but when he found the mental equivalent to a brick wall on his side of the bond, Jazz knew he was masking his pain.
He skidded round the corner, years of practice being the only thing that kept him from careening into the opposite wall. He raced into the medbay only to be stopped by Wheeljack.
"Jazz-" He began, a hopeless and sad look in his optics. Jazz felt his circuits go cold, and pushed past Wheeljack to where he could see Prowl on one of the berths. Or what was left of Prowl, anyway. Ratchet was working frantically around Prowl's Spark chamber and swearing profusely, yelling at everything and everyone. Jazz grasped Prowl's hand tightly and began to beg him to wake up, to say something, both out loud and through the bond. Five minutes later he was rewarded when the mech's optics unshuttered slightly.
"Jazz...?" He asked, weakly. Jazz felt himself go weak with relief at the sound of his lover's voice.
"I'm here, Prowler. I'm here, and I ain't goin' nowhere." A fresh wave of panic swept through the saboteur, however, when he felt Prowl's half of the bond waver and weaken.
"I won't... Jazz, I'm sorry." Prowl's voice stuttered as his vocalizer broke for a moment.
"No. No, don't say that, Prowler. You'll be fine, I know you will!" Jazz was near hysterics as it slowly sunk in that his bond mate was dying.
"You have to feel it, Jazz. My Spark... it's fading. You can feel it. I know you can."
"You ain't leavin' me! You can't! I love you!" Jazz's voice hitched with anguish.
"I'm sorry... Promise me something, Jazz." Prowl gave Jazz a wavering but intense look, and the mech could do nothing but nod. "Anythin'," he whispered.
"Say you'll look after her. Live for her... for both of us. Show her everything I can't." He paused, then smiled contentedly as Jazz affirmed he would, though his expression showed confusion through the sorrow and anger. "I love you, and I'll be waiting for you," He said softly, before his optics shuttered closed. Ratchet started a fresh wave of profanities that Jazz wasn't sure the medic was aware he knew.
"Slagger! Don't you dare die on me!" He growled. Wheeljack and Swoop rushed to help him. They tried desperately to keep Prowl's Spark from guttering out, but in the end the monitor let out an endless, emotionless beep, announcing that the Spark it had been monitoring was gone.
Ratchet's expression was one of sheer helplessness, an expression that Jazz had never seen on the medic's face. "I'm so sorry, Jazz. There was nothing we could do." He said, regret and sadness strong in his voice. Jazz didn't say a word, just stared numbly at the shell that his lover had just occupied. After a few moments he turned on his heel and headed straight for his quarters, where he finally broke down.
--
Ratchet walked into Jazz's quarters a couple of hours later carrying two cubes of energon. He carefully placed one next to the motionless mech. The saboteur was laying on his berth, back to the medic, but Ratchet knew he was awake.
"Drink this, Jazz. You'll feel a bit better." He gently coaxed the younger mech into sitting up and taking the cube. There was silence for a few moments, then he spoke so softly that Ratchet almost didn't hear him.
"It hurts, Ratch. It hurts so much. I feel... strange, not havin' him constantly in the back of my processer. I just feel like givin' up."
"Don't you dare," Ratchet bit out. He immediately felt guilty when the saboteur winced, and spoke again in softer tones. "It's extremely rare that bondmates outlast each other. You've done extremely well not to have followed Prowl so far, and I'm not about to let you do it now." He paused. "Come with me to medbay, Jazz. I have something for you, from Prowl." Jazz's head shot up to stare at the ambulance. "From... Prowl?" Ratchet nodded and got up, and Jazz could only follow numbly.
When they got to the medbay, there were still a couple of mechs being tended to by First Aid and Swoop. To Jazz's surprise they didn't stay in the medbay, but went straight on through to Ratchet's private office. There was a soft wailing when they entered, and Ratchet let a small smile slide onto his face. "Sounds like she's hungry. You want to feed her?"
"Feed... her?" Jazz's optics widened when Ratchet lifted a tiny sparkling from a berth in the corner of his office.
"Yeah. Prowl never told you, because he couldn't bear to get your hopes up about this only to have them shattered if something went wrong. Around eight months ago, your...activities lead to Prowl sparking. He came into medbay about a week later telling me that the sensory nodes in his chest were acting up, but when I examined him I found another Spark in his chest, right next to his own. Another life." Ratchet paused to let that sink in and hand the tiny femme and a bottle of energon to Jazz before he continued. "She was born last night. I made the armor for her, upon Prowl's request. He was going to wait until today to show her to you but..." The medic trailed off for a few seconds, not trusting his vocalizer to continue. He shook his head to clear his processer.
"He wanted you to help him come up with a name for her. You have to name her now."
Jazz just stared in sheer amazement at the sparkling that was now greedily taking in the energon. "She... I have a daughter," he whispered.
"Yes. Consider her Prowl's gift to you," said Ratchet, smiling, before he turned and left his office, leaving Jazz with his new family. The saboteur started gently rocking the sparkling, and broke out into a smile when she began to hum happily.
"So this is what you meant, Prowler." He sat and held the tiny femme close to his chassis."Your name will be Darkwing." :I'll treasure her always. Thank you, love.:
Rae: Okay, there's chapter one. all the chapters are being put up at once, so yeah. review please!