Fandom: Transformers Bayverse (POV'verse)
Author: gatekat and fallentaiyoko on LJ
Pairing: Jolt/Sideswipe
Rating: PG-13
Codes: Slash
Summary: Darkstalker gets a few solid lessons on Autobot culture, and that some Autobots aren't as friendly as others.
Notes: RP written in the Point of View fanverse explained http:/community .livejournal .com/ tf_matrix/738 .html and pretty much in story as well.
Jazz is alive (you should be used to this by now) and bonded to Prowl.
::text:: - Radio/comm talk


Turning a Con 02: Waking in a Strange World


As Darkstalker rebooted, her auto-diagnostics started popping up reports on her HUD. She briefly panicked at the message that there was no data coming from her legs at all, but then she remembered what had happened and where she was, and what had made her crash.

"I'm sorry, Ratchet, can you please forgive me? I didn't know." She gave a warbling cry, disturbed so badly because she could identify with them, even if her situation hadn't been the same as the tormented organics.

"Yes," the medic answered soothingly as he paused in his world briefly to look at her. "It's a well-kept secret from the 'Con rank and file. We know that. It's what you do after learning that matters. Just like what you do while here matters, not the color of your optics or the insignia you had no choice but to wear. Ready to keep reading?"

She nodded, accepting the datapad back. Reading through the information, most of it seemed pretty straightforward, though there was a few things that made her murmur to herself, "They had to make a rule about that? Guess it means somebody's done it before."

She didn't anticipate getting into much trouble, at least not intentionally. And here it seemed she wouldn't have the trouble of mechs being all 'I'm in a bad mood, I'm gonna use you as a punching bag.'

"I'm guessing you hit the section with a note of 'Twin Based Rules'," Ratchet chuckled. "Between Mudflap and Skids, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Jolt, Jazz, Tread Bolt and Hot Rod we have quite the prankster base around here. They're harmless though, even if Prowl refuses to admit it. Just young mechs being young mechs. Well, except for Jazz. But he's the exception to every rule in the known universe, including himself."

A message popped up in her HUD, and instead of trying to ignore it for as long as possible like usual, she decided to ask the medic. "Can I have an energon cube please? Any kind is fine. Jazz said the kind Hound shared with me was just a field ration, that you have better back here at the base, but even just the field ration kind is good."

She felt a powerful medical scan ping every one of her systems before Ratchet nodded and walked a few steps away. He returned with three cubes, setting two down on a small platform next to the berth and handed her the third.

A third that was notably larger than the field ration she'd had earlier and sparkled with purity.

"Try not to go too fast, but I want you to drink all three in the next two joor," he instructed firmly but kindly. "If you start to feel your processors go fuzzy, stop and tell me. You haven't had real energon in a long time. It might react like high grade."

Taking her first sip, Darkstalker momentarily wondered if she had in fact died after all, and this was the matrix. Taking heed to the caution not to drink too fast, she sipped on the cube. After all, downing the whole thing in one gulp then ending up purging everywhere wouldn't be pleasant for anybody involved, and it would make Ratchet annoyed at her.

Halfway through her second cube, she set it down. "Feeling a little fuzzy now," she told him, wrapping her arms around herself as though trying to give herself a hug.

Medical scans ran over her, the pointed, almost harsh kind of a deep systems check.

"If the fuzziness doesn't clear up in a breem and a half, tell me," he instructed and went back to working on her leg. "Do you have any skills, beyond a cleaning drone mimic?"

"I don't know. There might be things that I haven't tried that I might be good at. Definitely not any good at fighting though. Couldn't hit the broad side of a battleship."

After about a breem, she added, "I'm feeling better now. Is it all right if I rest for a while, though?"

"By all means rest," Ratchet nodded. "You're going to have a lot of down time and not much to do until I say you're fit to walk out of here."


When Darkstalker cycled out of deep recharge she still had hundreds of error messages scrolling across her HUD, but her legs were back on line and not one error from them.

She couldn't pick up the medics, though there was someone near the door.

Unused to having any part of her not reporting any errors, she ran another diagnostic on her legs, just to be sure. Well, Ratchet and First Aid had done their work well (as usual) and the diagnostic came back clean as well.

Taking the cube she hadn't finished earlier, she moved to stand, only to have the electric blue mech step forward.

"Don't move. Doc's orders," he told her firmly, though there didn't seem to be any anger or overt threat there.

She still immediately and settled back down. "Oh. Hi. I'm Darkstalker. What's your designation?"

"Jolt," he smiled a bit. "Seems you've made quite an impression already, having our SIC, CMO and resident noble ghost all out to protect you."

She rubbed a hand over her face shyly. "I suppose they'll do as they want, even if I think I don't deserve it." Taking a drink from the cube, she added, "Nice to meet you Jolt. You're a pretty shade of blue."

"Thank you," he smiled a little brighter. "Ratchet told me to warn you that your adult software upgrades are installed, but they might not be fully integrated yet. You might have some mood swings and desires that come out of nowhere for a while."

Finishing the half cube and starting on the third of the cubes Ratchet had brought earlier, she asked, "What kind of things are there to do around here? I'd like to try some new things, see if there's something I can be good at."

"Umm," he seemed startled by the question, and had to really think about it. "Most of us think it's dull as the Pit, but most of us didn't spend our lives up to this point imitating a cleaning drone. There's a lot of planet to explore, though I doubt you'd be cleared for that anytime soon," he admitted. "There are forty-seven mechs here, including you, from just about every field and division. Tactics, Science, Air Support, Medical, Scouts, Intercept, Defense, Intel, Engineers ... and of course Prime's here. There's not much you couldn't find a teacher for if you wanted."

"Well, then, to narrow it down, what do you do? When you're not on guard duty, that is..." Optics shining with curiosity, she sat up on the berth and pulled her knees up towards her chest.

He chuckled lightly. "I'm still in the 'facing like petrorabbits phase of things with Sides when I'm not on duty. There's almost always a party going on in the rec room, play pranks, put in a lot of combat and some medical training."

"I think I might try medical training. Don't know if I'd be any good at it, but it can't hurt to try, right? And what are parties like? I've never been to one."

"We can always use another medic," Jolt nodded in agreement. "Parties are music, dancing, high-grade and just relaxing, whether you're making a fool of yourself overcharged or watching someone else do it," he grinned manically. "They're a blast. But no high-grade for you until Ratchet clears you. Your systems are seriously fragged. I've seen mechs come off a solo flight from Cybertron in better shape."

"As far as I understand it, no nothing until Ratchet clears me, right?" she said with a little grin and received one in return. "I didn't really mean to get so fragged up...didn't help that the so-called 'medic' we had was just the one mech who knew one end of a welding torch from the other."

Jolt winced in sympathy. "Yeah, there's a reason every Autobot takes at least basic first aid and most of us have some field medic training, either from an actual medic or experience keeping ourselves and teammates alive. Not enough to be medics in any but the most dire situations, but enough to keep everybody walking and rolling at least. So how'd you get your designation?"

"Had a rather unfortunate tendency to sneak up on the adults when I was having trouble staying in recharge. They didn't exactly appreciate it, though it kinda stuck as a designation because it at least sounded like a halfway decent name for a 'Con."

He didn't hide the grin at the story. "You'd have been given a similar one here with that hobby," he snickered. "Though you'll be free to choose a new one if you want. Only a handful of bots know you're here, and fewer know your designation."

"I dunno...I've gotten kind of attached to it, if you understand what I mean. Really should have learned ages ago to not go seeking comfort from adults, but my logic circuits are never at their best when I first wake up from a bad memory purge."

She craved physical contact, even if just platonic, but had no clue how to even form such a request, trouble compounded by the first of the mentioned mood swings, a sadness that hit her so strongly it made her spark ache.

"Yeah, those suck," he murmured, torn between his duty to remain on guard and the core coding that called to comfort a youngling ... or anyone that needed comforting. "We've got some experience in helping folks through those. War's left most of us with at least the occasional one." ::Sides, can you swing by the medbay holding room? Please?:: He sent a secure transmission to his lover, knowing full well that Ratchet and First Aid shouldn't be woken up for this.

::Sure, Lightning Bug,:: his cheeky reply came easily. ::What's up?::

::The kid needs a hug and I can't do that and guard her at the same time.::

::You are such a softie,:: Sideswipe grumbled. ::On my way.::

It was actually kind of reassuring to know that she wasn't the only one who had bad memory purges, that it wasn't simply a sign of weakness like she'd always believed.

As a large silver mech she hadn't met before entered the room, she gave him a soft, simple, "Hi," though without her usual enthusiasm.

Later it would sink in that he was the first one that really looked like he wanted to skewer her with those deadly blades that went from wrist nearly to his wheeled feet. That this was the first pure warrior she'd met among the Autobots, but all those thoughts took a back seat to the fact that Jolt was walking to her berth.

He stopped within reach and opened his arms to her.

For a few moments, a myriad of emotions flickered across her face. Then Jolt had an armful of femme as Darkstalker practically launched herself into his embrace with a warble.

She clung onto the blue mech like a lifeline, completely ignoring Sideswipe glaring death at her as she was wrapped in Jolt's arms. He sat down on the berth, clicking and cooing to her soothingly as he rocked her like a frightened sparkling.

Eventually as she calmed down, she loosened her grip on Jolt, but still nuzzling against him. Though she knew it would eventually have to end, she wanted to hold onto this as long as she could, try to burn the experience into her memory.

"Thank you," she said meekly to the blue mech, finally starting to actually notice Sideswipe and his death glares and kind of trying to hide behind Jolt.

"You're welcome," he brushed his lip components against the top of her helm in an affectionate gesture common between creator and created, even if he was too young, and far too nice, to be hers. "Can you finish your energon and recharge now? And don't worry about him," he gave a cheeky grin to the silver warrior. "He's only dangerous if you threaten somebot."

She gave a soft purring sound. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay now. And any threat I might make at anybot would be all bluff and no substance...well, maybe unless it was a threat to prank them, if I had a good idea how to do it, and they were being mean to me."

She caught a sound from Sideswipe that she translated as not believing her statement, but most of her attention was on Jolt as he let her go and stood to walk back to the door. As she picked up the energon cube she watched them, the way they touched and looked at each other. The silent communication she was sure was going on.

Partners? Lovers? Neither seemed old enough to have a comrade they knew so well.

The silver one glared at her one last time before rolling away on wheeled pedes.

She finished her cube as she watched the two of them. She thought it was beautiful the way the pair were together, hoping that maybe someday she might find someone to be together with like that.

As Jolt settled back in to guard duty, she curled up on the berth on her side and went into recharge.