Title: St. Francis Prayer 4: Where there is despair, hope

By: mmouse15

Rating: K+

Warnings: implied intimacy, slash


Bumblebee and Spike were still waiting for someone to be able to come and fix Bee's leg, and in the meanwhile they were talking in quiet voices about the story they'd just heard from Mirage. Jazz was almost obscured by the bodies of the mechs working around him. Prowl was still sitting at the head of the table, his hands cradling Jazz's head while Ratchet and Wheeljack worked on the abdominal area and Perceptor assisted. First Aid and Swoop were finishing up the mechs that had been injured in the battle, occasionally comming Ratchet with a question.

"That relay's fried, rip it out and replace it, 'Jack."

"On it, Ratch," came the answer.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" a quiet voice came from behind them. Spike jumped, having not heard the soft footfalls of the mech that had just spoken.

"Hey, Sides, how are ya?" Bumblebee asked.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Eh. Waiting for someone to fix my leg."

Sideswipe looked at the damage and whistled softly. "What the pit happened?"

"Dunno, it won't stop leaking. It's like acid, but I didn't feel any acid burns elsewhere, so that doesn't make sense. Anyway, the whole line needs replacing and meanwhile, I get energon through this port so I don't shut down from lack of energy." Bumblebee told him.

"Nasty. Well, I came to check on you, since you weren't in the rec room and nobody knew where you were." Sides informed him.

"Oops. Sorry about that."

"It's OK we just wanted to make sure the roster was complete so we knew if we had to mount a search party. So, what are you two doing while you're waiting for repairs?"

Spike laughed softly. "Listening to stories about Prowl and Jazz."

"Prowl and Jazz? Like, what kind of stories?"

"Oh, how they met, how they learned how to work together, that kind of thing."

An evil grin spread across Sideswipe's face. "Do you want to hear another story?"

"I don't know, do I?" Spike wanted to know.

"Yes, you do. I'm telling it anyway. So, we had a few vorns of fighting, and really we were at a stalemate. Optimus was starting to lose hope that the war could be won, and we were exploring possible concessions to the Decepticons. Then we got a new recruit into the ranks. He was a communications specialist that had been off-world and the effect he had on the ranks was impressive. He was very quickly vital to the Autobot forces for moral building and he and Jazz became best friends."

"Blaster!" came Spike's whoop of glee.

"Indeed. Blaster and Jazz were cast from the same personality mold. They are charming, friendly, inquisitive and naturally capable of reading a mech's mood. It makes them very good at moral building, and Blaster was quickly moved into Jazz's closest circle of friends. I think this caught Prowl by surprise, but I knew something that Prowl didn't. Jazz was interested in Prowl and was moving slowly so that he didn't scare Prowl off. But he and Blaster clicked, and it was good for him to have a friend that he could just relax and have a good time. I think that Jazz got his first ray of hope that Prowl might return his feelings one cycle. Jazz and Prowl had a standing date after duty cycles. Jazz would pick a game and meet Prowl in his office, and they'd play the game for a half a joor or longer before heading off to recharge. It was time for Prowl to unwind and for Jazz to spend time with Prowl and build a relationship, even if Prowl didn't know that's what they were doing."
"Sounds like Prowl was oblivious to Jazz's plotting." Bumblebee said.

"Yeah, he was. The rest of us saw it, but Prowl had no idea. So anyway, Jazz lost track of time because we were playing Statues in the commissary, which was the only room in the base big enough for that kind of game."

"What's Statues?" Spike wanted to know.

"Oh, it's this great game!" Bumblebee enthused. "Each mech that plays tries to put himself in the most precarious of positions and hold it until the lead mech gives the signal to change positions. It's a complicated game, the scoring is done by the observers and is based on the difficulty of the pose, the precariousness of the position and the number of limbs required to hold the mech in that position."

"But you can't move?" Spike asked.

"Right."

"Sounds like one of our kid games. We call it Silly Statues, and you can't move while the person that is It looks, but when they look away, you can move. First person to It gets to be the new It."

"Hm, sounds similar," Sideswipe said, "but ours is a bit more complicated since you literally can't move and the observers can help try to topple you by stomping on the floor or some such. We fight dirty. Anyway, we'd been playing Statues and Jazz is really good at it. Blaster had a new way of telling us how long we had to hold a pose. He'd play a song and when the song was over, we'd all vote on who'd won the round, then you had a little bit of time to stretch out the kinks and get ready for the next round. We'd been having a lot of fun, and Jazz had lost track of time so he hadn't gone to Prowl's office to play games with him. Prowl comes in looking like a lost turbopup to get his ration of energon before recharging. I saw the look on Jazz's face when he saw Prowl and realized the time, but I don't think anyone else saw it. He greeted Prowl as if nothing were wrong, but Prowl just waves him off and goes to get his energon. Now this doesn't sit right with Jazz, and he quits the game and goes over to Prowl, tries to make nice with Prowl but gets rebuffed. I see that this hurts Jazz even more, but he's nice and wishes Prowl a good recharge and lets him leave."

"Oh, no." Spike said.

"Wait for it, Spike. Jazz wanders back to the game but before he can tangle himself back into some crazy pose, Sunny and I grab him, haul him away from the game and tell him to not be an idiot. He can't give up just because Prowl can't read the cues. He needed to get his own cube and follow Prowl and make Prowl forgive him. Jazz started smiling about half way through our lecture and grabs some energon and heads out the door. Sunny and I are interested, so we head out after him, but they're just outside the door and we almost tangle ourselves stopping so we can listen in. Jazz decided to play it cool, asks Prowl if he's done playing the self-sacrificing officer and if so, could they have the unwind time that Jazz has gotten used to?"

"Nice of him to offer Prowl an out." Spike noted.

"Yeah, Jazz made it easy for Prowl to save his pride. So they head off with their energon to Prowl's quarters to play a game."

"What happened next?" Spike wanted to know.

"Well, the games moved from Prowl's office to their quarters. It depended upon who was more tired or which game. Anyway, it was progress for them both, and Prowl learned a lesson about jealousy. Jazz and Blaster were friends, and what they did was important to the troops, but what Prowl and Jazz had together was also important, more important to Jazz than Blaster. It gave Jazz enough hope to keep him pursuing Prowl, and it made Prowl think about what his feelings for Jazz really were." Sideswipe finished.

Wheeljack joined them, looking over Bumblebee's leg. "Well, Jazz is doing better so Ratchet's sent me over here to fix Bee's leg. Hope you don't mind me listening in to your stories."

"Jazz is better?" Sideswipe stood and peered over at the berth where Jazz lay. Ratchet had removed the spark regulator and was working on something in Jazz's midriff, Perceptor assisting him.

"Yes, Sides, he's out of danger right now. Ratchet's got him in forced stasis but he's going to repair his pumps and then bring him back online soon."

"Good. That's good." Sideswipe sidled away, heading for the door. Spike was smiling up at Wheeljack, who flashed his headfins at him cheerfully as he opened Bumblebee's armour to get at the leaking energon line.

"Spike, you need to recharge. Curl up against Bee there while I'm fixing him."

Spike did as he suggested, sliding down into the crook of Bee's shoulder and curling up. Yawning, he was glad for the warmth of the living metal that made him feel secure and comfortable.

End of Prayer 4.