Disclaimer: Transformers©Hasbro/Takara
Warning: AU, more warnings to come as the story progresses
Notes: written for TF Rare Pairing's December 2010 Spotlight: Minibots challenge. The prompt is "secrets and lies."
In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have ignored his instincts that morning.
Granted, he always felt worried right before heading into battle, especially on those days when he knew his bonded would be sending him encoded files that he would then re-encode and covertly pass onto Ops; it was just part of life for the partner of a deep cover agent. And shortly before dawn he'd gotten a pulse along their bond which indicated that the other had new intel to deliver, so the nervousness was understandable.
No, what was bothering him was the heavy sensation of dread lingering in the very back of his cortex. As if something bad was going to happen that would blow the cover they'd both had for nearly the entire war.
Now, though, there was no point in dwelling on it. He shoved the sensation down until it was buried and focused on not only firing on the Decepticons attempting to steal even more energy from the hydroelectric plant but also keeping track of his bondmate's current location. A faint pulse of amused annoyance across the bond drew his gaze skyward briefly, and he had to bite back a snort of his own. Jet Judo probably annoyed the ever-living pit out of most seekers, but his bonded took it in stride... even if he was currently shrieking like a banshee in order to not break character.
He turned his optics back to the battle, firing a few rounds and grinning as the Stunticons scattered. He knew that his mate worried over those mechs created only for war, since he'd lived with the stigma of being a war-build even before things took a turn for the worse, but Cliffjumper couldn't help but feel a bit of amusement in reminding the 'younglings' that there was another option besides the faction they'd been born to serve. The only response from his bonded was a brief burst of amusement/distress before the jet and his 'unwanted' passenger passed directly overhead.
The databurst didn't surprise him; there were few times in combat situations where he was close enough to his bondmate that they could initiate the transfer-receive protocols, so Cliffjumper tended to keep his retrieval protocols active. The instant that the file transfer was complete – only a few astroseconds, literally the amount of time his partner was overhead – he closed the protocols and began the encoding process, turning the sum of his attention to the battle at hand while sending a pulse of success/take care to his bonded.
He wasn't entirely sure what happened next. All he knew was that he heard Megatron's damn fusion cannon come online, and when he turned his focus from the retreating Cassettes the mech was firing on his SIC. Starscream only had time to shriek as the blast hit him, pain flaring to life over the bond and overpowering anything else. It was enough to nearly knock Cliffjumper over, an identical howl slipping from his vocalizer as the jet dropped like a stone. The minibot reacted instinctively, raising his rifle and firing off one shot at the source of his/his bonded's pain.
The world went black around him just as the blast connected.
tbc...