Chapter 14: Inamoratos
A/N: Stuff happens! And I finally changed the title! YAY! Man, there was a lot of thinking done (thinking - procrastinating) but I finally decided. It took a while, and I would like to thank everyone out there who gave their suggestions that helped my brain / grey sponge come to a desired result. Thank you very much! AND! Eh, to the people who made Transformers :D
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The olive green jeep wrangler ploughed through the beach sand playing with the waves that swept playfully at his wheels. Spying the aforementioned cave alongside the cliff face, Hound would have nodded in his robot mode at the accurate directions offered to him, and transformed as quietly as possible to creep to the nearest hiding place, detecting soft murmurs echoing from inside the cave. The jeep scrutinised its smallish entrance, noting that gaining entry would be difficult unless he either crouched, or transformed into his root mode to drive inside. The reconnoitring Autobot did not take his bets on disturbing the unknowns inside and took a comfortable position against the rocks, green and yellow striped arms resting in front his face.
Hound was happier to observe the cave from a majestic viewpoint, but with his curiosity motivating him, the jeep's head peeped from the large rocks like a refractory child. Two pairs of feet were standing facing each other, trying to close the gap between them as much as possible amongst the stalactites that blocked his view. The jeep doubtlessly recognised the first pair belonging to a certain saboteur, and slowly gazing at the second, he quickly clasped his mouth shut to stop himself from hiccupping in surprise.
Matching the voices to the feet was easy, but believing the conversation was an entirely new conclusion.
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"Angel…"
"I told you not to call me that. And-"
Jazz quietly hushed the red seeker and rested her head on his chest with a reassuring hand. Keeping her silence, she nuzzled her head into his neck, taking note of his door panels slightly raised in mock resemblance of her wings, a growing habit he adopted these past few weeks. With the hum of her internal machinery melodiously synchronised with the soothing whirr coming from Jazz, both Transformers sunk slightly in pure placidity. Starscream's optics flickered in surrender to the small euphoria she could rarely attain, when the saboteur spoke again in a low voice.
"...Why does he hit you even more now?"
"Because I am part of the Decepticon army. And the Decepticon army belongs to him. He's always hit me, what difference does it make now?"
"You belong to nobody, angel. And I don't see why he's gotta use you like some punching bag just because he's got a tantrum…" The femme con simply chuckled at Jazz's last remark.
"So you're saying he should pummel some other, 'Deceptiloser'." It was Jazz's turn to stifle a snigger, responding with a tighter embrace of the Decepticon to his chassis.
"…I've only 'changed' into something more comfortable; that doesn't mean I've lost all my strength to barely carry my aft, and don't you forget it." She emphasised her point with a prodding blue finger to his nose. "And for the last time, I'm not an angel."
"Then why do you have wings?"
"Don't start-"
"-And live in the clouds?"
"Shut up you!" Starscream objected, roughly pushing the saboteur and batting away his roving hands, impetuous to place her in his embrace once again. Facing her back to him with her shoulders shaking, Jazz didn't know whether she was hiding a laughing face or just maddened at his last comment. When she finally composed herself, Starscream turned around with a look of indifference, and spoke plainly to him.
"…I have to go." A small whimper escaped from Jazz's voice modulator with his hands clapped together, and the red seeker simply turned a blind optic away from him with the flick of her head.
"My internal clock has rung and I have over extended my stay in our little 'love nest'. I'll see you again soon."
"Don't go. Don't stay with Megatron. Stay with Jazz." He hugged her knees in self-mockery. "…Jazz love you long time?"
"Very funny Mr. Articulate. I have to go now." Her lithe feet immediately scissored open and dashed to the wider entrance of the cave, taking a leap into transformation. Jazz sighed to himself when the F-15 disappeared into the fleechy clouds, and dropped his shoulder to the cave walls.
"…Jazz?"
The aforementioned Autobot felt a small surge tickle his nape. Squinting his optics to trap the light flickering from it, the saboteur casually lifted his weight off his shoulder.
"Okay, ya' got me. Reaching for the skies now, Hound," the saboteur did as he said. "My guns in my sub compartment, but I think-"
A Cheshire grin pulled Jazz's face when he heard his friend trot to him, and Hound found it still plastered on when Jazz turned to face him.
"Jazz, you know I won't do that…" the jeep spoke in a somewhat composed tone, unable to hide his slightly unhinged jaw, dangling precariously with each spoken syllable. Reaching for the Porsche's arms to pull them back down, Hound took a step back to look at Jazz, the saboteur betraying the expected reaction from any Transformer found conspiring with the enemy.
"How'd you find me, man?"
'Spoken like a true Porsche,' the jeep straightened himself. "Mirage."
"Ah."
"'Said he strayed from border patrol when he saw you and Starscream…(what did he say again?)" Hound looked away from the guilty party to brood when the answer came to him.
"Oh right. He said he found you and Starscream 'discussing Autobot-Decepticon alliances by whispering into each other mouths'. He was quite worried." The green Transformer finished with an affirmative nod and Jazz could feel his smirk tear his cheeks apart.
"…Does Prowl kn-"
"Oh Primus, no." Hound forcefully exhaled. "At first Mirage wanted to tell your best bud, but we don't need another head-exploding-due-to-illogical-things incident."
"You got that right."
"Soooo, he came to me. And when I got here-"
"Nudge nudge, wink wink?"
"Jazz, with all due honesty, I don't want to know what you were doing. Just now. There. Here."
"Don't ask, don't tell. But seriously," Jazz strolled around the cave in their own privacy. "It's strictly personal, man. We don't talk about who's doing what in our army, so-"
"That's one thing." Hound stopped Jazz with a finger raised, and chose his words carefully. "We've heard of Autobot-Decepticon relationships before, and I know, that you and Starscream are, about the same rank. But it's not about who supports which army, or what rank they hold (okay, maybe a little), but…this is Starscream we're talking about. Starscream, the femme con you are currently seeing, the same 'Con who's arrogant, selfish-"
"She just loves herself too much an' Jazz needs some of that-"
"-Who betrays anyone with their back turned! If Megatron blinked, he'd make sure Starscream wasn't in the room so she won't know his eyes are closed!" Hound looked up to find the saboteur staring blankly at him.
"Hound…" Jazz smiled sympathetically. "I like her…I really do."
Jazz chuckled under his breath when Hound optics widened. "An' as crazy as it is, with the war and everything…she's not as bad as she sounds. I mean, some of the 'Cons were cool cats before the war started. She and I, we don't talk about anything to do with it…in fact, we just talk about ourselves, that's all. Just wheels and wings, you know?"
"Sounds like you're running your own special operation: chicken delivery service," they both laughed at the shared joke, and the saboteur continued.
"I'm not crazy crazy, man. I won't say nothin' about what we Autobot's are doin'-"
"Wait…is that why…but-! You shot Starscream last Thursday!" Hound's train of thought drifted to the previous skirmish with the Decepticons.
"Yeah…" Jazz slumped and looked a little dejected, earning a sympathetic pat from Hound. What the saboteur purposely neglected to mention was the low setting on his gun, only applied when he could not avoid direct conflict with Starscream.
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"..…Sucker."
When her nose cone hit the clouds, the red seeker muttered openly and unsparingly about her Autobot boyfriend. Starscream was naturally sceptic about the whole idea that an Autobot at his rank (and annoyance) would pursue her in the name of romance, but after much forced coercion by her leader and the originality of the saboteur's alliance, the scheme sounded better and better by the astrosecond. At least, it sounded better than the ominous hiss from the tyrant's fusion cannon, and the seeker readily complied with a humble bow to the tyrant's commands before he could point his signature death-bringer at her.
'I have him right in my sights,' the jet sniggled. 'Thank Primus for such Autobot love-fools! To think that they succumb to such pitiable emotions so easily! You may not talk about war when we are together Jazz, but that doesn't make you a closed book! It's just a matter of time before you let your guard down completely, and do things in the name of 'love' for me! ME! STARSCREAM! Huh…no wonder why they'll never win the war…they're palpable sentiments and ignorant, gullible compassion to others, is the very catalyst to their downfall!'
The seeker paused her train of thought, cruising through the whispery blankets of clouds.
'…And he even put that ear-flapped head of his on my lap. What are those weird protrusions for anyway? Maybe they're corny joke processors, specifically built to combat intellectuals like me, or to get femmes. What a weirdo. A refreshing breath from old bucket head, but a weirdo still. At least he doesn't hit me. 'Oh, angel baby foofie-cakes, did he hurt your finger? Let me kiss away that boo-boo for you! Muah muah muah!'' Starscream could only mock Jazz to a certain extent before surrendering to a fit of laughter, which died down to a soft giggle.
'Oh great, I'm even giggling now,' she grumbled. 'Better ask the Constructicons to remove my tear ducts. What a useless function. It's so Autobot-'
No sooner had she finished her mulling when a thermal beam cut into the air. Dodging the ray with a sharp turn, the aerial commander cursed when she heard a vociferous accent broadcast his presence.
"Hey ho, 'where you going Starscream!" Powerglide announced and took the initiative to catch her with a burst of speed.
'Oh great, it's that flying midget show off. He's no bigger than a missile on my radar…and I thought it was glitching.' The femme con dryly humoured herself in the midst of barrel rolling in-between the red plane's shots.
"Making a lot of noise to compensate for something, Autobot?" she hissed and raced away from the smaller place. Flying away at a straight course was the tactic of an inexperienced flyer, and taking note of her poor choice of strategy, Powerglide's only concern was to keep up with the F-15 before she could escape him.
"Come on Autoboob, I know what you can do."
And on cue, Powerglide took another try at catching the seeker. Accelerating with another speed rush, Powerglide shot himself at the femme con, ready to fire at her tailgate when the sky suddenly found itself without a seeker.
"What the-YEAAAGH!"
Starscream never got tired of her opponents screams when they got shot by her infamous null ray. Casually floating in the sky with the latter spiralling to the ocean, the aerial commander was thankful that her thrusters were located on her feet, and in mid-transformation they served to be very good brakes. Giving herself enough time to cruise away from her latest victim, Starscream deliberately hovered until Powerglide hit the water gracelessly, and cackled as she resumed her original destination.
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Red Alert's sensors immediately jolted at the warning from Teletraan 1. Panicked blue optics drawn to the screen accompanied by equally panicked fingers, the security director quickly uprooted the exact coordinates to a small town located in the suburbs with the Decepticon signature written all over it. The fire car wasted no time radioing Inferno and other available Autobot's to the scene, when another voice took possession of Teletraan 1. Turning around to face the intruder, the Autobot's optics darted frantically at the dancing grey static, looking for a face to put the voice to.
"…Most of the human population is hidden in a religious house with a big cross above it. You won't miss it, it's the only one there."
"W-Who are you! Decepticon?! You better not be trying anything else! I know your kind! It's a trap I say!" The voice held a tense silence at the jittering Autobot, a normal reaction to Red Alert's usual skittish behaviour.
"No trap…and there is a fire moving south-east. Go get there quick."
"Who are you Decepticon-! SLAG!" Red Alert threw a small fit when the transmission cut itself off. Collecting his thoughts before they run into bigger, more frantic circles, Red Alert transformed into his car mode and sped out of the Ark. The trepidation coursing through the fire car's circuits felt different today. With the Decepticon's twisted sense of humour, it wasn't the first time they called Autobot headquarters with a distress signal, telling of a razed city was in need of their aid at so-and-so coordinates. The Autobot security director even swore that for kicks, their enemies would race with the humans to see who could radio Teletraan 1 first. What made the latest distress signal stranger today was the lack of mordancy and lampoonery in the Decepticon's tone.
'Was it guilt?' Red Alert thought.
'Not in a million vorns.'
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A/N: So much stuff happening, I apologise if I haven't been writing / updating much. Very stressed, like Red Alert :P Primus punish me if I don't finish this fanfic.