Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Note: In which Jazz is an idiot and Hound unwittingly creates a monster.
- Stairway to Heaven : Chapter Three -
Jazz had indeed appeared that day, but seemed determined to avoid Prowl, and no matter how many times Prowl attempted to comm him, or Ratchet told the saboteur to go visit Prowl, the tactician never once heard from the other mech. Feeling frustrated, Prowl finally decided to take matters into his own hands and go to Jazz.
Unfortunately, he decided this after Ratchet had left for the day, and so Prowl found himself walking carefully down the corridor, trailing one hand along the wall as he wracked his CPU to remember the path to the rec room. It shouldn't have been hard, but he was usually distracted by work when he walked there and just let his navigation systems take over. Now, he found himself rather clueless, hesitating uncertainly as he came to an intersection. Footsteps sounded behind Prowl, and he turned his head, despite the uselessness of the gesture, and warred with himself for a moment as to whether or not to ask for directions.
"Prowl?" the side of him rooting for asking directions wasn't helped as Prowl identified the voice as Sideswipe's.
"Are there many mechs wandering around the Ark looking like me these days?" Prowl asked to cover up his own confusion about which way to go.
"S'pose not." Sideswipe said with a laugh. "Just haven't seen you recently - Sunny, Blue and I have been out in New York."
"Ah." Prowl said - he'd been wondering where they were. It was unusual for them to go so long without visiting him, even when he was uninjured. Well, maybe not the twins, but Bluestreak definitely.
"Heard about what happened though. Sunny and Blue went to your quarters to check on you." Sideswipe said after a moment, speaking carefully.
"Mmm. It was getting...boring in there." Prowl said, coming up with an excuse quickly.
"Ah. So where were you headed?" Sideswipe asked. Prowl hesitated.
"The rec room." the tactician said. There was a long pause, and Prowl wondered why, until Sideswipe spoke up, sounding like he was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Your navigation systems are fragged up without your visual center, aren't they?" the other mech asked, and Prowl frowned, wondering how Sideswipe had known.
"Where am I?" he asked with a sigh as he realized what had most likely tipped Sideswipe off.
"Near the weapons lockers. Opposite side of your quarters from the rec room." the red mech was chuckling now, and then Prowl's proximity sensors gave him brief alerts as Sideswipe stepped closer. A touch on his arm made Prowl stiffen, but Sideswipe just grabbed his elbow and tugged Prowl back the way he'd come. "C'mon, I'll get you to the rec room."
"I can follow you without you tugging me along." Prowl said with annoyance, pulling his arm free, and Sideswipe chuckled.
"Fine, whatever you say." he said as he walked, and Prowl determinedly focused on following him. The path began to seem familiar after a bit, even though Prowl still couldn't predict the turns, but he knew Sideswipe was leading him in the right direction.
Entering the rec room itself was surprisingly startling, as the sounds hit Prowl without the added focus of his optics to help him block people out. It was rather confusing, and Prowl struggled to sort through it, until a hand on his shoulder made him realize that he'd been standing in the doorway. Still unable to sort one sound from another, Prowl let himself be led to a table and pushed down into a chair, frowning as he slowly began to pick apart the sounds.
"Prowl?"Sideswipe comm'ed, making Prowl twitch slightly.
"One moment. All the sound is...chaotic." the tactician replied shortly and returned to his efforts. Gradually, he sorted through the sounds, calibrating his sensors to tune individual ones out based on the degradation of the sound waves, essentially make up for not being able to calculate the distance visually. Finally, he became aware of the conversation immediately around him, and the fact that Sideswipe had led him to a table with Sunstreaker and Bluestreak. He must have made some outward appearance of finally being able to hear them, as the conversation abruptly changed focus to him.
"Better now, Prowl?" Sideswipe asked, and Prowl nodded.
"Much." the tactician said.
"Boy, your visual center sure is tied into a lot of things!" Blue commented. "I mean, it's bad enough not being able to see, but getting lost is just not fun. Unless you're exploring, and then it's great. We did that in New York, just drove around for hours while Sideswipe was at the UN. It was a lot of fun - well, Sunny didn't think so, but some kid offered to wash his window right off when we were stopped at a light and I think that put him off."
"The UN?" Prowl asked in surprise, suddenly recalling he'd been supposed to go talk to them about the current trade agreements between the Autobots and the human governments.
"Prime, in his infinite wisdom, decided I was the best choice for your replacement now that you can't go." Sideswipe grumped.
"Considering the topic, you were probably the next best qualified." Prowl said with amusement.
"That was what he said! But I never had do work on such a large scale before!" Sideswipe whined. "I mean, do we really use that much stuff? Every year?"
"Perhaps now you'll think twice about wasting supplies?" Prowl asked dryly.
"Frag no! Not after Prime made me go through all that!" Sideswipe retorted, and Prowl shook his head. Of course Sideswipe would take such an experience to mean that he deserved to waste supplies rather than as a lesson to conserve them. He wouldn't be Sideswipe otherwise. Bluestreak piped up after that, telling Prowl about some of the highlights of their trip, and Prowl let himself get swept up in the conversation, all the while tuning his sensors in the hopes of catching Jazz's name or presence in the rec room.
The saboteur was strangely absent, however, despite the fact that Prowl spent the entire day in the rec room. Bluestreak and the twins had to leave eventually, but other mechs came to chat Prowl up, and it surprised him to discover just how much he had to talk about with all of them. Even without resorting to work as a topic, he knew more about the mechs he worked with than he thought - he supposed it was because he saw them all so frequently, often to talk about this report or that mission, and read so many of said reports, that he'd picked up on their personalities, dislikes, likes, hobbies, and whatnot. As it grew later and the rec room began to quiet, Prowl found himself re-evaluating his self-imposed label of an antisocial mech.
And then Prowl realized that the rec room was too quiet. Alarmed, Prowl ran his sensors over the room and realized he was the only one left. Checking his chronometer, Prowl found it to be the dead of night, right in the middle of the night shift. No wonder everyone had gone. Prowl should probably head back to his quarters himself - Ratchet would have a fit if he knew the tactician had been up this late so soon after leaving med bay.
Prowl stood, then made his way to the door. Outside, he found himself searching back to remember the path Sideswipe had led him on to get there. It was still uncertain in his CPU, but he set off after a few moments, confident of his initial direction, at least.
He'd gotten several corridors along, and was getting more uncertain about his route, by the time he heard the sound of an engine behind him, and he stopped as whoever it was screeched to a halt not far away and transformed.
"Primus Prowl, I am so sorry! I totally forgot you wouldn't know your way back!" Sideswipe was apologizing immediately, and the tactician could practically see the pathetic look on the red twin's faceplate.
"It's fine. Now that you're here, however..." Prowl trailed off.
"Yeah, no problem!" Sideswipe said brightly, and with a little tug on Prowl's elbow to get him started, Sideswipe led the way back to Prowl's quarters.
"I can find my way around my quarters easily enough." Prowl told Sideswipe when the red twin hesitated at his door.
"Um, yeah, I figured, I just..." Sideswipe paused for a moment. "Aw slaggit, there's no polite translation. Sunny said to remind you to visit the wash racks soon, and that if you need help, you can comm him." Sideswipe seemed aggrieved at the pointed suggestion from his twin, and Prowl couldn't stop the small smile that escaped.
"If he's up for it, I believe I have tomorrow morning free." Prowl replied, having actually considered that conundrum earlier in the day when Sunstreaker had gone on one of his rants about his finish.
"Really?" Sideswipe seemed surprised.
"Yes. But he has to help me get there." Prowl said dryly.
"Ah - of course. He'll be here." Sideswipe still sounded surprised as Prowl bid him a goodnight and went into his quarters.
To say the next morning was awkward was an understatement, but it got easier after Sunstreaker scared the other mechs out of the wash racks and Prowl used his codes to lock it. Apparently the other mechs couldn't quite understand the fact that Prowl, unable to see anything, would also have trouble figuring out where he was dirty.Fortunately they had all been of the opinion that Sunstreaker was helping Sideswipe with some sort of prank, and not something less wholesome. Which had perhaps been worse, considering the verbal beatings they'd been gearing up to give Sunstreaker.
"I'm surprised more of them don't realize just how much we actually see of each other, thanks to Bluestreak." Prowl mused as Sunstreaker helped him clean off the dirt he'd accumulated.
"That's because most of them only see in pairs. Sideswipe and myself, Bluestreak and you, Bluestreak and myself. You could probably ask one of them who was sitting at our table yesterday morning and they'd say me and Sides or you and Blue." Sunstreaker replied, sounding annoyed. Prowl arched an optic ridge at the almost-rant, but didn't comment, letting Sunstreaker continue helping him. Once the golden twin declared him clean enough, he helped Prowl buffs out the scratches, but Prowl refused to let the other mech touch up his paint or help with polish.
"I'll go to Hoist if I really need it." Prowl said, warily.
"In other words, you trust me, but not that far?" Sunstreaker's grin was clear, and Prowl nodded.
"You are your brother's twin, after all. And don't think I don't know you prank just as much as he does." Prowl replied dryly. "You're just better at not leaving evidence."
"Can you repeat that, within Sideswipe's hearing range?" Sunstreaker asked, and Prowl just shook his head. When the golden twin asked where Prowl would like to go now, Prowl decided to try the rec room again in an attempt to run into Jazz, and Sunstreaker led him there.
Jazz was another no-show that day, though Prowl once again spent the remainder of the day in the rec room, chatting with the various mechs to go through. This time, however, Prowl wasn't left in the rec room by himself. It was late, a few hours into the start of the night shift, and Prowl had been left alone with his thoughts for the last half an hour or so when Gears suddenly stepped up beside the tactician.
"I'm heading out. Want to a walk back to your quarters?" the minibot unexpectedly offered, though his tone was clipped and almost belligerent. With surprise, Prowl scanned the rest of the rec room, but he and Gears were the last ones left.
"Ah - yes, thank you." Prowl said appreciatively, standing, and then followed Gears out. The minibot led him to his quarters without talking once, then said a gruff goodnight before taking off as soon as Prowl opened his door. Prowl shook his head in amusement before heading to his berth for recharge.
For the next several days, Prowl managed to get guides to and from the rec room, but Jazz never showed. After five days, he finally admitted defeat, and decided to just stay in his quarters. He was rather tired of the constant socialization, anyways - one of the reasons he'd labeled himself as anti-social was because he didn't really like dealing with other mechs and femmes all the time, and he was getting an overdose recently.
The problem with not going to the rec room, Prowl discovered, was that Ratchet was apparently used to him going to the rec room and didn't stop by with energon. The need for fuel eventually made Prowl leave his quarters, and this time he managed to make it most of the way to the rec room before taking a wrong turn and getting corrected by a passing Tracks, who was heading the same way and 'graciously' let Prowl follow him. Prowl made a mental note to stick Tracks on particularly unpleasant duties when he was able to do so again.
The tactician got his energon quickly, but found himself unwilling to ask anyone to leave just to show him back to his quarters. So, grateful that he'd brought his datapad with him, he settled down in a corner to read. It was difficult to concentrate, though, with so much noise around him, and eventually Prowl gave up and joined in the conversation again. This much socialization was beginning to wear, though. If he was more short with people than normal, nobody commented, but Prowl eventually grabbed Bluestreak as the younger mech was leaving for his shift and asked for a walk back to his quarters. The younger mech was as talkative as usual, and Prowl found himself scowling and wishing he'd grabbed a different mech as he followed Bluestreak through the corridors, the gunner stopping to talk to what seemed like everyone in the Ark along the way.
"Hey Blue, Prowl." Prowl had to stop a sigh of annoyance as Bluestreak stopped yet again as Hound greeted them.
"Hi Hound! How's your evening been? You on night shift tonight, or just coming off of it?" Bluestreak asked brightly.
"I was actually just going to go out for a late-night stroll." Hound said. "Aren't you on the night shift this week?"
"Yeah, I was just walking Prowl back to his quarters first." Bluestreak replied happily.
"You're gonna be late if you do that." Hound commented. "Tell ya what, I'll get him the rest of the way, you can get to your shift."
"Well..." Bluestreak hesitated.
"It's fine, Bluestreak." Prowl said, for once jumping at the opportunity to get rid of the younger mech. Bluestreak still seemed reluctant, but Hound promised he'd get Prowl back safe and sound, and eventually Bluestreak left. Hound waited only for Prowl to nod before starting to walk.
"You looked like you could use a rescue." Hound said after a few moments of silence. Prowl smiled tightly in response, and the scout chuckled, but said no more as he led the way.
"Why do you keep coming to the rec room, anyways?" Hound asked unexpectedly just as Prowl was about to enter his quarters. The tactician looked over at the scout in surprise.
"Originally? To look for Jazz. Today I just wanted some energon." Prowl replied honestly after a moment, knowing the scout wasn't one to gossip or tease.
"Ah, yeah, he has been avoiding you quite skillfully. Sneaking in and out of the rec room at odd times to grab energon." Hound said with a chuckle, and Prowl frowned.
"I figured." he said.
"Why's he avoiding you, anyways?" Hound asked curiously.
"That's part of why I want to find him. " Prowl said with some irritation. Hound hmm'ed thoughtfully.
"I'd suggest cornering Jazz while on duty, but that would give him too many outs." the scout commented. "He can't keep up his unusual schedule forever. Sooner or later he'll have to come to the rec room to get energon while you're there." Prowl made a non-committal noise. "But you'd probably be driven mad by all the socialization first, eh?" Hound guessed accurately, chuckling. "Tell ya what. You can still connect to datapads, right?"
"It's far too noisy to read." Prowl replied shortly. He knew he shouldn't be short with Hound, but his patience for chatter was next to non-existent at this point.
"Yeah, got a better idea. I'll show you tomorrow." Hound said brightly. "I'll stop by around midday, that alright?" Since that gave Prowl some time to himself, the tactician decided it was fine, and nodded. "Great, seeya then!" Hound said cheerfully, then headed off. Prowl just shook his head and entered his quarters.
Hound showed up almost exactly at noon the next day, and besides a cheerful 'good morning', was blessedly untalkative as he walked Prowl to the rec room. Numerous mechs greeted them both upon entrance, but Hound didn't let them distract him, pulling Prowl over to a table in the corner, sitting the tactician down and handing him a datapad.
"Here, have a look at this while I get some energon." Hound said, sounding pleased with himself. Curious now, Prowl connected to the datapad, and was startled as he read the title. Activating some of his more precise sensors, Prowl stretched them out in his immediate vicinity, and was surprised to find the large organic mass on the table in front of him. He'd heard about it when Hound had gotten it, of course, but he'd never actually had the opportunity to see or hear it. Thoughtfully, Prowl deactivated the sensors and set the pad down as Hound returned.
"Well?" Hound asked as he handed Prowl his cube.
"You're suggesting I learn how to play guitar." Prowl said, just to confirm.
"Yep." Hound said, once again sounding pleased. "It'll give you something to focus on that'll block out the noise of the rec room, and allow you to wait around for Jazz, especially if you practice by the door or something, without necessarily having to socialize."
"I have absolutely no artistic ability." Prowl commented.
"Have you tried?" Hound asked pleasantly. Prowl opened his mouth to say that yes, he had, but then frowned thoughtfully.
"Not...technically." he murmured, reaching out lightly to touching the organic mass that was the over-sized guitar some famous human singer had made for Hound as a gift after he went to several of their concerts, claiming to like the music.
"Human music and instruments are vastly different from Cybertonian ones." Hound said, confirming what Prowl had caught on to. The tactician's creators had been determined to give him a well-rounded background, and he'd taken several music and arts courses when he was younger, but he'd only barely passed most of them. They were still the lowest marks, by a long shot, on his academic record.
"I suppose it can't hurt to try." Prowl mused.
"Nope. And if you really can't do it, well, you can always see it as payback for all the stress we've all caused you." Hound said with a laugh. "Though if you get my guitar broken you'll be getting me a new one."
"Of course." Prowl replied with a nod. "I take it you still have all the datapads you used to learn?"
"Yep. That's just the first one." Hound said. "I'll dig out the rest tonight and bring them tomorrow." Prowl murmured a thank you, and Hound accepted the thanks equitably as they continued to drink their energon. The scout was one of Prowl's more silent table partners, and either he was doing something with his holograms or the two of them were putting off a strong 'do not disturb' vibe, as no one interrupted the rest of their mostly silent lunch. Once they'd finished their energon, Hound helped Prowl figure out how to hold the guitar, where the strings were and what they did, and so on. Prowl was vaguely aware of curious murmurs around them, but Hound was right - with the sound of the guitar to focus on, it was easier to push them aside, and only loud noises caught his attention as he focused on Hound's instructions and the guitar.
Eventually the scout had to head out on patrol, of course, but Prowl just picked up the datapad and went off that, finding that Hound had talked him through the first couple of chapters. Moving on to the new ones, Prowl found himself quickly absorbed in the instructions and the guitar, making himself practice the exercises repeatedly until he got them right every time before heading on to the next ones. He was so focused that the hand on his shoulder much later made him jump in surprise, and he whipped his head around on instinct, before he remembered it wouldn't do any good.
"Prowl." Optimus' deep voice was perhaps the last one Prowl had expected to hear.
"Optimus." Prowl said after a moment's pause, then carefully set the guitar down on the table as Optimus moved, and he heard the ominous creaking sound all of the rec room chairs made when Optimus sat in them. They were never close to breaking, but Optimus was one of the larger bots in the Ark. Grimlock had the same problem, and usually remained standing, not trusting the chairs.
"How are you doing?" Optimus asked once he'd settled himself. Prowl considered the question carefully.
"As well as I can." he said eventually. "It's...odd not having work to do, and I find myself latching onto things that will keep me busy." Prowl motioned to the guitar on the table.
"Yes, Ratchet has been worried that you're pushing yourself, even without work." Optimus commented.
"I don't feel strained or tired." Prowl said with a shrug. "But then I'm hardly doing anything strenuous, and I usually end up refueling three times a day now."
"Like a regular mech?" Optimus said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Like I haven't managed to do reliably in years." Prowl said dryly, refusing to admit that his regular refueling habits weren't normal. He ran fine on two cubes of energon a day and only half the normal amount of recharge - his frame, the same as Bluestreak's and Smokescreen's, was very energy efficient. "I don't suppose I could convince you to let me do even a bit of work." Prowl said, pulling himself back to the conversation at hand.
"Unfortunately, even if I thought you were up to it, Ratchet would override me on it in this case." Optimus rumbled, a low chuckle in his voice.
"Ah. He's determined this time, then." Prowl said.
"Yes, he is." Optimus said. Silence fell for a short time. "I don't suppose ordering you not to jump in front of blasts for me would work." the Prime said, sounding weary.
"No." Prowl replied without having to think about it. "No more than it will stop Ironhide or Jazz, or any Autobot. You are our leader and we will protect you, Optimus. We don't particularly want to break in a new Prime, anyways."
"Here I thought you just didn't want the Matrix." Optimus said dryly.
"Me? With the Matrix?" Prowl actually chuckled at the thought. "Bumblebeewould make a better Prime than I would."
"Don't sell yourself short, Prowl." Optimus said softly, suddenly serious.
"I'm not. I simply know my limitations." Prowl replied with a shrug, then pondered thoughtfully. "Actually, given some diplomatic and hand-to-hand training, Bumblebee would probably be a very good Prime, now that I think of it."
"Perhaps. Hopefully it will never come to that, however." Optimus said.
"It won't so long as you keep allowing us to protect you." Prowl said, it now being his turn to be serious.
"Alright, alright." Optimus said with a chuckle. "You win."
"I always win." Prowl said smugly.
"I hope so." Optimus said dryly. "I certainly don't want to be there when you don't. I'd rather lead the rescue party."
"I'd much rather have you on the rescue party." Prowl agreed, and Optimus chuckled, then stood.
"Come on, I'll walk you back to your quarters." the Prime said, and Prowl turned uncertainly to the table, where he'd set the guitar. "Hound said to tell you to leave it here - he'll bring the stand and datapads tomorrow."
"Very well." Prowl said as he stood, following the Prime out and back to his quarters before saying goodnight.
- TBC -