So some people guessed right, some didn't, but who cares? Here it is! Hope everyone is doing all right!
Disclaimer: I do not own any faction of Transformers.
Please read and review!
-Juana
P.S. don't forget to look for me on Livejournal under username cliker-rooster!
Okay, so here: This chapter might confuse some people. What happens here, since Jazz isn't with these two, he's narrating what happened after veiwing memory chips or whatever from Sentinel. That's this chapter and next chapter, and then it'll go back to be Jazz narrating his story with Prowl. Easy peezy lemon squeezy? Good.
Chapter Fourteen: So, What Are You in For?
Back at Prowl's base, I called Ultra Magnus and asked permission to spend the night with Prowl. He agreed, only asking that I return to the ship in the morning. I agree. That night, Prowl and I are silent for the most part, only speaking in whispers, telling each other little secrets about the other. Occasionally the secrets were interrupted by unexpected kisses and nuzzles until we were asked to join everyone for a movie. We joined them, but it was still a beautiful night of loving attention. I held my sweetheart tightly and as protectively as I could on the couch in the main room. We were both so upset with Sentinel; I had never been so mad in my life. Holding Prowl made me feel better, and I'm sure he was feeling the same.
But despite our beautiful night together, something bad was in motion back on the ship. I learned the events after the catastrophe, and this was what I saw in a memory chip retrieved from Sentinel Prime:
Sentinel sat in the brig, in the cell next to Lockdown's. The two were separated by a metal barrier of bars, but that was it. Lockdown was stuck in stasis cuffs, preventing him from moving. The guards watching him were on the outside of the cell, where they couldn't hear him. They merely peeked in every few breems to make sure he was still there or hadn't broken free.
Sentinel and Lockdown were silent and didn't speak to one another for a time. But Lockdown, being the slimy dog he is, struck up a conversation eventually.
"So, what're you in for, kid? You sing too loudly? Dance in public? Speak your opinion out loud?" Sentinel rolled his optics and growled back,
"You make us sound like we don't allow anything fun to happen."
"Well," answered Lockdown, "Autobots do tend to censor their people. Actually, they censor everyone. I'm sure you've done it yourself. So what happened?"
"None of your fragging business." Lockdown laughed that deep, heavy laugh of his; Sentinel cringed, then said stupidly,
"Primus, you are one scary fragger. I mean, look at you. You're so…weird." Lockdown shrugged and merely answered,
"Meh. Looks are the last thing I'm concerned with. Survival is more imperative than beauty contests. But, since we're on the subject, you ain't that gorgeous yourself. In fact, you're quite boring to look at. Except maybe for that chin of yours. That thing is sexy."
"'Ain't' isn't a word," Sentinel snapped angrily, disgusted by the bounty hunter's carefree attitude and comments. Lockdown answered with the slightest shrug,
"No, it ain't. But I still use it. You wanna know why? Because I can. I didn't grow up being repressed in the most useless ways possible. You apparently did. Now, then, tell me why you're here." When Sentinel didn't answer, Lockdown added, "I'll tell you why I'm here." Sentinel snorted and said,
"I already know why you're here. You're a Primus-damned bounty hunter."
"No, I'm the best Primus-damned bounty hunter. But I'm here because I fell hard for that little black ninja like the idiot I am. Now there's a beautiful creature. He's perfect." Sentinel's snort of disapproval caught Lockdown's attention. "I assume you dislike him?"
"I hate him," Sentinel growled without thinking, unaware he was feeding the fire of revenge, "I want to kill him. He took Jazz away from me." Lockdown smiled an evil little smile and replied,
"Well, now, seems we have a similar predicament. You want the white ninja, I want the black ninja, but yet both belong to the other. I think we would make a very nice team indeed, Sentinel Prime." The proposal caught Sentinel off-guard.
"What? No, no, I couldn't…I mean, I don't want to actually hurt—"
"He wouldn't remember. Neither of them would. I can erase their memories. I can make them fall in love with us. You can have your little ninja, I can have mine. We just need to team up. Admit it, you want this to happen."
What frightened me the most as I watched the replay of Sentinel's memory chip was his reluctance to say no. He actually considered the proposal before answering,
"Yes. I'll do it. But I want to beat that little repair 'bot, just a little."
"Out of the question," answered Lockdown calmly, "You ain't gonna touch him. All we're doing is kidnapping them and wiping their memories. The four of us will have to stay together for a while, and you'll have to give up your status as an—"
"No," Sentinel growled, "We're going to wipe their memories and replace them. We'll make them believe they had a huge fight and ended up breaking up. I want Prowl to believe Jazz did abuse him. We'll set it up so it looks like Prowl ran away, when in reality you take him with you. Make him fall in love with you. You can do that, right?"
"Oh, absolutely," replied Lockdown, "Very well. That's the plan, then. You're smarter than you look, kid." Sentinel shrugged slightly, looking just a tad upset with himself for allowing himself to get in cahoots with the bounty hunter. But the prospect of having me as his lover and Prowl out of the picture must have pushed the doubt away, because he got to his feet and shuffled quietly over to Lockdown's cell.
"Try to move over here," he instructed quietly, "I can take those cuffs off." Lockdown tried very hard to move himself over to the barrier of bars, and it would have been in vain if he hadn't knocked his head into the wall, propelling himself to the floor and closer to Sentinel. He made sure his arms were held out—Sentinel was able to grab his wrists and pull him closer.
Once the cuffs were off, Lockdown got back up and stretched, his body creaking with age. Sentinel was surprised by it, actually. He was unaware, it seems, of just how old Lockdown was. The old mech turned his head ever so slightly to look at his new partner and growled,
"What're you lookin' at, kid?" Sentinel, never being one for sensitivity, asked right away,
"How old are you?"
"Now what kinda question is that?" returned Lockdown, not sounding very offended at all, "That's quite a disrespectful question, kid. But since you asked, I'm as old as Magnus. I just didn't age like the old mech, although he aged gracefully. Not like that Autobot medic, who looks like he's at the Well of All Spark's door. He didn't take care of 'imself, and now, he's a walking heap of junk. The idiot. Always take care of yerself, kid, remember that."
Sentinel was quiet, contemplating the old mech before him. I'll admit even I was surprised to hear it. My Commander looked…well, ready to fall apart at any moment in all honesty. But this bounty hunter looked like he could hold up a building with just his hand.
Lockdown held out his hand to Sentinel, who stared at it stupidly.
"What the Pit are you doing?" he asked. Lockdown answered,
"I want you to shake hands with me on this little team-up. We need to be able to trust each other."
"Funny," replied Sentinel just a little condescendingly, "It's me who should be asking to trust you. How much can I trust you to not turn me in to my Commander for this? How can I be sure you really have the equipment to erase their memories, and how can I be sure that you'll take Jazz's little princess with you?" Lockdown laughed immediately after this, and so hard that he actually dropped to his knee while holding his side. It clearly bothered Sentinel.
"What the frag is so damn funny?"
"HAHAHA! Do you honestly…hehehe…think I would…hah…hooo…pair up with a brat like you…hehehehehe …for the fun of it? I'm not your …hahaha...biggest fan, y'know ….hehehehe …stupid ….kid …heh …" Lockdown regained his composure a moment later, and stood back up, still wearing a toothy grin on his ugly face.
"I'm not a liar, nor am I going to turn you in. If you slip up, I won't turn around to help you. I'll grab my prize and leave. It's that easy. Don't mess up. Are you still in, kid, or are we gonna go back to sitting in here, bored out of our processors?" Sentinel was silent, then thrust out a hand.
"Let's get this over and done with," he mumbled. Lockdown's mouth twisted into a horrible smile as he grasped Sentinel's hand. The deal was made.