~*~ Chapter Twenty-Nine~*~
Day 357
It was late into the next night before Prowl and Arcee returned, still no Mirage or Blurr.
::Hound? Please report any incoming communications.:: Prowl ordered, his tone was clipped and stern, far more strict than his usual tone.
Arcee set off to check on everyone in camp. Blindside had stirred at their arrival only to fall right back into recharge. Scatterblade was watching over Illusory as she rested, Silverdust close by.
::Nothing to report,:: Hound sounded unsure. ::Something up?::
::They haven't come back yet, have they?:: Knockout interjected.
Prowl didn't answer but definitely turned inward to consider the situation.
Scatterblade lifted his head. ::Prowl. What is it?::
::Mirage and Blurr have not checked in after going to investigate the crash site.::
::Any movement?:: His grip on Illusory's hand tightened ever so slightly.
::There has been human activity in the area. If the probability is in their favor they have simply found somewhere to lay in hiding until activities decrease enough for them to return safely; however, they should have checked in.:: There was just the faintest note of stress to his tone.
"You think they've been captured?" Illusory asked loudly, shock and fear in her voice.
"That's not what we're saying," Scatterblade rested his other hand on her shoulder as he moved to sit behind her, prepared to hold her back if she got too worked up. 'It's alright. They'll be fine.'
"There is not enough information to determine that yet." Prowl stated.
"We have to find them!" She insisted.
"They will. We need to stay here," Scatterblade took both of her hands. "It'll be alright." He looked to the others with a nod and a please help-me-sound-like-I'm-not-lying look.
"No reconnaissance can be initiated at this time. We will have to wait until the human interest has diminished." Prowl insisted, pacing a few steps away.
By now Hound and Knockout had come to join the rest of them in the central area. "I'll do the next patrol." Hound said as he headed off.
"I will join you. No one should leave the camp alone from now on." Prowl stated.
"You just got back," Arcee pointed out. "You should rest, let someone else go."
"I will," Knockout offered with a shrug.
Blindside pushed himself up to sit. "No, I can help. Besides, I can't get any worse than this."
"Sit. Down." Scatterblade said annoyance clear and strong. "I'm not even going to give you a reason. Stay. Put."
Blindside vented and leaned back against the wall.
"You aren't cleared for duty anyway." Knockout pointed out with a smirk. "Come on Hound, let's take a look around."
Scatterblade shook his head. "Seriously, what are you, five?"
"I could still fight," the orange mech shifted in his spot.
"Sure you could..."
Prowl paced a few steps away from the conversation, focusing on his calculations.
Scatterblade turned his attention to Illusory, trying to ease her tension.
'It's all starting over again,' she whimpered.
'Stop. You have to relax. This isn't healthy. They will find them. Please, rest,' he pushed warmth toward her though he was unable to keep his own feelings out of it. He felt deflated, drained and stretched thin. He was her tether, but he felt like if he didn't lessen his grip he would snap, but letting go wasn't an option either. He just had to keep being strong for her.
She felt his stress starting to rise and felt guilty. She did her best to tuck her panic away. 'You're right,' she vented softly, trying to gather herself. 'I'm trying...'
'I know. You're doing better. Little bit at a time.' He pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers. "It'll be alright."
She relaxed against him, trying to keep her thoughts away from what was going on.
"Really, guys? I'm wounded, and I can't leave. Keep the gooey stuff to a minimum, will ya?" Blindside said, bluntly, obnoxiously. He received a rock to the cranium for his efforts.
Vaguely thinking of the amount of spite she felt at that moment, the femme wrapped herself closer to Scatterblade. "You don't have to watch," she teased. This was good, she thought. Keep thinking about what's around you. It was an effort to shut out all the rest, everything that screamed at her to just run and never look back. It seemed to be working for now.
Blindside took the challenge, raising an eye ridge. Another, larger rock hit him in the face. "Rude!" Blindside picked up a rock and tossed it back.
Scatterblade caught it easily. "When was the last time you lobbed anything?" He laughed.
"I'll show you lobbed." Blindside bent down again and started gathering rocks to pelt the front-liner.
"If you two are going to throw things," Illusory warned with a semi-dark tone, "you take into consideration the sparkling." She pulled Silverdust closer.
Both mechs stayed their hands for a moment. "Don't worry; I can aim," Blindside quipped.
Scatterblade hit him again right between the eyes before he could raise his hand.
"You're supposed to be a melee bot, not ranged," Blindside complained. Scatterblade just laughed.
Illusory laughed at their game, content to watch. The two mechs went at it through the remainder of the night and on into the day, at one point using rocks as big as their fists, but when one got too close to hitting the sparkling Scatterblade called it off with one more rock aimed at the pirate. It was a larger one that hit his jaw with a vibrating twang.
"I deserved that," he grumbled as he rubbed his face.
Sidestep appeared from almost nowhere when the rock came too close to the young femme, growling a warning to Blindside as he crossed the camp, setting well out of Illusory's range and flopping on his side.
Blindside jerked at his sudden appearance. He kicked his legs as if trying to jump to his feet, but his injures leg halted any efforts. For a few moments, he looked horrified but quickly recovered his features and relaxed his frame back against the wall. His reaction startled Illusory, not that her already tense frame showed it, but Scatterblade could feel it across their bond.
"You okay?" Scatterblade asked, concern and confusion flashing in him as he did his best to ease Illusory.
"Of course," he said, defensively. "What, you don't get startled?" He grinned with a forced chuckle.
Silverdust squirmed away from Illusory's grip to climb on Sidestep. Illusory wasn't comfortable with it but tried to focus on the positive. Sidestep had proven that he had no intention of luring the sparkling away and always remained where he could be seen with her. He seemed to enjoy the interaction as much as Silverdust did and he was always very gentle with her. Sidestep was satisfied with the pirate's reaction to his warning and openly displayed it in his expression, even as he rolled lazily onto his back for Silverdust to continue pouncing on him. Blindside frowned at the smug cat but didn't say anything.
Prowl remained to the side of their camp working out the probabilities of their current situation, his frame language speaking of his growing unease as each breem passed with no more information from the two missing mechs. Hound and Knockout returned from patrol looking well-worn and ready for a few joors of recharge.
Scatterblade looked up as the pair passed. ::Any luck?:: He asked Hound.
The mech shook his head. ::Not so far,:: he came to sit near the bonded pair, a smile on his face. "But 'Raj is pretty sly, and no one can catch Blurr, so they're probably fine. Just sitting it out."
Illusory took the confidence in the scout's tone seriously. It helped ease her stress a little.
Arcee started to head out on her own for the next shift, not wanting to disturb Prowl.
"Ah believe th' mech said no one was ta go alone," Jazz teased as he slipped into camp unannounced.
"Where have you been?" She challenged him shortly, though her frame clearly showed relief at his return.
"Around," he smirked heading to trade a few short words with Knockout, then headed out with Arcee, more than willing to be back out of the camp. It seemed the mech might do anything not to be there, though there was no indication as to why.
Blindside watched Jazz leave again, contemplation clear on his faceplates. He still felt he was to blame for his failed attempt to help the mech before, but he kept his pity party to himself.
The next several joors passed slowly, Prowl, Knockout, Jazz, and Arcee taking turns on patrol while Hound camped himself up on the high ledge to listen for comms and monitored local activity. The days shifted from light to dark almost unnoticed by the bots as they kept the search for the possibility of an attack. It had a greater probability of happening every passing cycle according to Prowl. With the chances that their teammates had been captured, it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for them.
Illusory offered to help, to trade shifts with Hound but he told her just to relax and take it easy. He seemed overly concerned with how poorly she had handled recent changes. She brooded on that for a while, unhappy but away from the edge of panic and fear. Annoyance and frustration were taking their place. "Even that stupid cat is doing more than I am!" She vented loudly when Sidestep returned with Vance and Myra from a rather successful hunting trip.
Scatterblade groaned. "Lu, relax. Your job is to recover. So, focus."
"But..." she vented again. "I do not like being so useless. I do not like that you have to watch me so much..." she let her frustration overwhelm her for just a moment. "I know you would rather be doing other things too."
He shifted some to get more comfortable. She wasn't wrong; he was a mech designed to move almost constantly. All the sitting around and watching others work was starting to get to him. "It's alright. I made a promise." He rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her again. It was becoming more of a habit than anything. Every time she got upset it was just easier to be prepared to restrain her instead of trying to get a grip on her afterward.
"I love you for it...but, if I cannot be useful, at least you can be. Will you join in the patrols? I am sure somebot else can sparkling sit me." She sounded bitter, but her intentions were honest across their bond. She wanted to give him a break, let him stretch his gears for a while. Surely nothing too terrible could happen in one patrol.
He thought on it for a few moments, sharing his contented feelings with her, enjoying just having her in his arms. Finally, he spoke. "Only if you promise to stay here."
"I am half blind, where would I go?" Still, she felt a little better that he was considering her request. "I promise to stay put."
Scatterblade looked to Blindside, and before he could say anything, the pirate spoke first. "I'll call you if she so much as trips."
The front-liner nodded and vented deeply. "Okay. Next time they switch, I'll go."
"Okay." Illusory felt a little vindicated. At least this gave Blindside something to do as well.
When the next shift came, Illusory all but shoved Scatterblade off. Jazz was paring up with him while Arcee gratefully took an extra shift of rest to recharge. Sidestep flopped tiredly nearby, strategically where he could see the femme and her sparkling while staying out of her direct sight.
"Femme's got ya pretty wound, huh?" Jazz said after having gotten a lackluster response to a question he had asked a few different times in a different way with much the same results.
The front-liner vented. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be rude." Scatterblade didn't feel eager to chat, his focus was split, even as he sought to pull it to the task at hand.
"S'okay mech. Ah, get it." Jazz paused to look over a vantage point for a moment, scanning the area.
"I just want to fix it. I do so much better with things when I know I can fix it or know someone who does."
"Yeah, who doesn't. But she seems uh lot better than she was, from what Ah saw anyway. That's somethin' at least." Satisfied with his scan results they moved on.
"It's a miracle, really," Scatterblade laughed bluntly. "Anything to make this slag seem a little brighter I think is worth it."
Jazz nodded, moving along as if they were just on a casual stroll and not patrolling for possible invaders. "It has been pretty crazy," he agreed.
"Seems like it's one crisis after another. Thought I finally got out of this war but-" he immediately shut up. "Not that I doubt what we fought for. I- it's- that's not how I meant it," he floundered.
The saboteur laughed. "It's okay, mech! It's okay. We all want out...most of us thought ya two were out too. Would give anythin' fer that ta have been true." He shrugged, "Guess it wanted one last run with everybot."
"Sadistic," Scatterblade laughed emptily. His scans were turning up empty as they continued to move. "What happened to them?" He murmured. They weren't exactly looking for the missing mechs anymore, they were watching for possible attacks, but he couldn't help but wonder anyway.
"Ah'd really like ta know that too." There was an almost uncomfortable tone to his voice. "Don't like not knowin' where muh 'bots are."
"We have an idea where they were? Maybe we could retrace their steps." Scatterblade needed something more concrete than patrol to take up his processor.
Jazz considered it a long moment, an evident struggle in his processors going on. "Prowl says ta stay away from there..." it was a warning, not an order on Jazz's part. If Scatterblade chose to disobey, he had to do it on his own terms knowing he was doing it.
Scatterblade stopped and placed a hand on Jazz's shoulder to stop him. "Why?" His tone was firm, cautious, bordering on afraid. "We can't lose anyone else. Where were they?"
"It was one o' Lockdown's ships. Prowl and Blindside took it out, but there was still some crew that survived. 'Raj and Blurr were supposed ta take care o' any tha' would be uh threat an' put down any that might be sufferin'. Ya know, spare them slow deactivation or torture by humans."
"Well, knowing them the job's done," Scatterblade started toward the shipwreck. "Something else is going on."
"Yeah, that's what we're afraid of." Jazz followed Scatterblade, too interested in finding out what happened to the missing mechs to care about what remained of protocol within their small group. Not that he had ever been one to follow protocol.
Scatterblade picked up his pace and pulled his swords.
Jazz pulled him back when they got close. "Subtly, mech. Don't know what we're gonna find."
He nodded and slowed down. There wasn't much to see at first; disturbed ground and some charred trees. The hull of the ship sat quietly missing much of its mass. There were tracks everywhere, footprints as well as tires. A lot of tires, in fact, moving away from the crash.
"Humans." Jazz caught himself hoping every 'bot had escaped - Lockdown's crew or not.
"I'm not getting much on scans," Scatterblade admitted.
"Nah, meh neither. Go that way, keep comms open. Ah'm gonna go this way." He pointed toward the remainder of the ship. "Keep optics peeled for anywhere uh bot could hide." He paused before heading off. "If ya find trouble, bail as fast as ya can. Ah'll find ya later."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Scatterblade agreed and trekked out.
With a quick nod, Jazz set off, his steps absolutely silent.
Scatterblade moved slowly, skirting the wreckage with his scanners on high. ::Mirage. Blurr. Do you read?:: He sent the inquiry out carefully and never too frequently. He searched the waves of upturned ground from the ship's crash, seeking out different hiding places.
There was nothing but silence around them. Even the animals seemed unwilling to come to the area. It was well past their patrol end when Hound's voice broke over the comms.
::Jazz, Scatterblade? If you're hearing this, please respond.::
::Go ahead,:: Scatterblade answered.
Jazz offered a short; ::Yeah?::
::Thank Primus. Hey, wherever you've gone off to, you might want to head back. Prowl's about two kliks from a meltdown.::
::Yeah, we're on our way. Tell him ah saw somethin' interestin' an' went ta check it out. No harm.:: Even as his comm went out, Jazz slipped from the shadows beside Scatterblade, a decidedly displeased look on his face - completely at odds with his tone. "Let's go."
Scatterblade vented deeply, startled by his sudden appearance and frustrated at the delay, but followed Jazz.
They were almost back when the saboteur stopped, took a few deep vents then turned to Scatterblade. "You go on back; Ah'll be there in uh breem. Need ta cool down before ah walk inta camp."
Scatterblade paused, concern flaring in him. "What's wrong? You hurt?"
"Nah," he offered a lopsided grin. "Just...uh...just got myself worked up thinkin'. Need ta cool off so ah don't set somebot off accidentally."
Scatterblade watched him curiously but nodded.
Jazz took a few steps away; his entire frame screamed tension. He leaned against a tree and started a rhythmic venting cycle designed to calm and center him.
Scatterblade watched confused and concerned. "Jazz, what happened? This isn't...you."
Jazz looked at him, without his visor to hide the intensity of his gaze it seemed the mech could see right through Scatterblade. "Ah don't like losin' my mechs," he said calmly, his tone like stone and ice. "Don't worry," his voice was back to its normal jovial tone, "Ah'm okay. Just need uh breem."
Scatterblade backed up. "I'm sorry. See you back at camp?"
"Yeah, just uh breem or two." He leaned his head back and closed his optics, continuing his venting cycle.
Scatterblade finally turned back toward camp. Now that Jazz's strange behavior and absences made sense, he almost wished he were still ignorant to it. Walking back into camp, he kept this revelation to himself and sought out Prowl.
The mech wasn't hard to find; he was pacing tensely in the center of the camp, his door wings up marking his anger.
Upon seeing Scatterblade, a split second of panic struck his frame before he got it under control. "Where is Jazz?"
"He's right behind me, relax," Scatterblade said, not unkindly.
Prowl nodded curtly. "Where were you?" His tone was a lot calmer than it seemed it should be. There was still anger in his optics, though where it was directed was hard to tell.
Scatterblade didn't feel like playing games tonight. ::Looking for Blurr and Mirage. We can't keep not looking for them.::
Prowl's optics widened with shock, then understanding. He was still annoyed, but the anger was gone. "Understood."
"We should look sooner rather than later," Scatterblade said, "for his," he nodded to the forest, to Jazz hiding in the trees, "and our sake."
"I would normally agree; however, given what information is available to me...chances are very high we will find nothing. I hesitate to risk anyone else. Too many are injured, and everybot here is under-fuled. Hardly promotes a positive outcome."
"Do you have any idea what happened? Why they haven't called?"
"No." He vented softly, the exhaustion he felt finally robbing him of his stoic nature. "I do not think it is anything we will want to hear though."
Jazz walked into the camp with his usual smile and careless stride. There was no evidence of his previous stress, though he didn't make optic contact with anyone.
Prowl straightened up, put on his usual mask and refocused. "I suggest you see to your femme. Sidestep has been distracting her, and I doubt it will be much longer before she attempts to attack him physically. I doubt that Blindside is much better off."
Scatterblade nodded. When he reached the cave, he smiled to Illusory. 'I'm back.'
'Oh, thank Primus!' She looked rather angry glaring in the general direction of Sidestep, who upon seeing Scatterblade slunk out of the cave to safety, though the grin on his dog-like face suggested he had greatly enjoyed pestering the edgy femme.
"I swear I will learn how to skin a bot and he will be the first!"
Scatterblade laughed. "You'd have to catch him first."
She growled loudly, but gave no other indication she thought of trying her chances. "Stupid cat's a menace," she grumbled. Then vented and turned to her mate, her annoyance melting away. "How was patrol...you were gone a long time."
"Nothing to note." He shrugged and slid down next to her.
She leaned on him, relief flooding her to have him back at her side. "What do you think happened to them?"
"I don't know," he said honestly.
