Disclaimer: the characters aren't mine, I'm just playing with them.
Author's note: okay, it's been a while and I am sorry, both my wonderful beta Daebereth and I have been ridiculously busy for the last few weeks. I started this over on Lj, so a few of you may have seen this part already, but I wanted to add a second part and despite my best efforts I couldn't get Lj to work properly so it's ended up here instead.
I started this because I wanted to have a real look at what being bonded actually meant, and my Jazz muse took it from there. It's set on Earth just to make it easier for me, although I had no specific time frame in mind. Enjoy.
Half of Something Whole
The whole crew of the Ark knows that I'm not a morning 'bot, if needs must I can be awake and ready for action in a spark-pulse but given the choice, I'd rather be up late than early, not that I get it often.
The radio alarm that Bluestreak gave me for Christmas has been playing for about twenty minutes, I love waking up to music and hearing it played out loud, internal radios are great, and they stop me from driving Prowl crazy, but in my opinion music should be a complete experience, you should be able to feel the vibrations that it causes, as well as hear it.
"Come on, sleepy head, you're on-shift in an hour," Prowl reminds me through our bond, some would call it nagging but the truth is time gets away from me if I'm left to my own devices, I get caught up in things and forget that I'm supposed to be doing something else.
"Mornin' lover," I reply lazily as I haul my aft off our berth and head for the wash rack, "Have you had your ration yet?" I ask as the cleaning fluids get to work. If there's one thing you can count on, it's that Prowl will forget to refuel at least once a week, drives Ratchet insane that such an organised mech can just lose track of such simple things, but that's Prowl, and I for one wouldn't have him any other way.
He doesn't answer verbally, it's more of a glance into a memory, a few flashes of the time when our fabulously tactless C.M.O. lost his patience with both my bonded and Sideswipe, I never did find out what Sides did to Ratchet, but with those two I'm not sure I want to. As punishment Sideswipe spent a week making sure that Prowl got his energon, enough recharge and down time.
Looking back on it, that week was as funny as the mission where Sunny got caught in an explosion in a paint factory, but like that event at the time we were lucky that no one got hurt. Don't get me wrong, Sides is a great mech, he's got a spark of gold but the sense of humour of a youngling and no awareness of the idea of personal boundaries.
My thought is that it's a side effect of being a twin, and so bonded from the moment of his creation, he's known where Sunny is, what he's doing and all the rest of it since the day he was sparked, but this does mean that when he's asked to keep track of someone else, he can become a little obsessive.
"Thirty minutes love," Frag, see what I mean about getting caught up, fortunately I only need to get dried off before I head out to see what the rest of the crew is up to, actually I don't need to go out to do that, the Ark has a hub, just like the cities used to in Cybertron and it doesn't take much to find out anything, so long as you know where to look.
I call into the rec room to grab our rations, say "hi" to the few 'bots that are there and within minutes I'm in Prowls office, "Hey there," I say softly as I hand him his energon.
He looks up from his mountain of datapads and I can't help dropping a kiss onto those smooth lips of his, the bond flickers with love as he responds, the tight hold he keeps on his emotions doesn't apply to our bond, I am the only 'bot that knows what he's feeling all the time and I treasure that knowledge as if it was a gift from Primus himself.
For a while we talk, bouncing ideas, plans and suggestions off each other, it sounds boring but it's actually a nice way to start the day and we've made time to do it for as long as we've been together, contrary to popular belief I don't distract Prowl, unless it suits me to do so, I help him all I can with his work-load, it's helpful to him to have a second set of optics go over things for him and as he and I think very differently, I'm a good 'bot for him to use.
All to soon, it's time for me to be on my way, I give him another kiss and leave. The moment I'm out of the door I tune back into the hub, listening to the chatter of the mech that are already out on patrol, Bluestreak and Hound seem to have slipped into Nature Documentary mode, which is always funny and drives Red Alert nuts.
"Communications is in the opposite direction Jazz," Prowl informs me with just a hint of a smile in his voice.
"Thanks," I reply, damn, I'm getting sidetracked far too easily today.
Four hours later I leave Comms, it's been quiet today, I've spent most of my shift listening to music with Blaster, and learning about Cacti courtesy of Hound, good times, and next stop is the rec room to meet up with the twins before we go out on patrol, most mechs meet at the entrance but Sunstreaker doesn't like standing around outdoors if he can possibly help it, all mechs have quirks but Sunny seems to have more than most.
"Hey Jazz," Bluestreak greets me, "I switched with Sides so I can spend some time with Sunny, I haven't seen much of him recently and Prowl said it was okay so long as you cleared it," he rattles off at about a million miles an hour.
"Sorry," Prowl chimes in.
"No you're not," Prowl maybe a stickler for the rules, but that all tends to go to hell when Blue is involved, we both know that he's grown up now but we'll still bend over backwards for him, "Why don't you join us? It'd do you good to get out of the office for a while."
I can feel him thinking about it, weighing up how much work he has to do against the chance to spend sometime with Blue and I, "It's a great day out there," I say persuasively.
"Let me clear it with Prime."
Five minutes later and the four of us are on the road, Sunny and Blue racing up-front, while Prowl and I follow them at a more leisurely pace. We've been on Earth for nearly six months now and this is only the third time we've been out just to patrol together, we both hear Bluestreak laughing and can't help feeling happy for him.
Thinking about it, I reckon that leaving Cybertron was just about the best thing for lil'Blue, there were too many ghosts on that planet for him, too many bad memories, and he's so much happier here, the same could be said for nearly all of us really.
After about an hour we leave the highway behind us, travelling the back roads towards the mountains, Sunny's grumbling that his alt-mode isn't built for this kind of terrain but no one really pays him much attention, Porsches and Datsuns aren't made for this either, but do you hear any of us complaining? No.
Aside from Sunny, it's pretty peaceful, the birds are singing, the wind shakes the trees and that's about it for another hour, until I catch a blip on my scanners.
"I hate to break up the r'n'r but we got company," I tell the others.
"What would 'Cons be doing out here?" Sunstreaker asks.
"Training exercise?" Prowl suggests, but he seems confused too, there really isn't much up this way to catch Megatrons interest.
"We'd better check it out anyway," I say reluctantly.
About a mile out Prowl and I decide that it'd be better for me to go the rest of the way alone, Sunny doesn't do stealth, Blue talks too much and while Prowl can be pretty graceful when he wants to be he's not really a woods-mech.
I transform and move through the trees quickly, through the bond I can feel Prowls worry and just a hint of appreciation for my skills, or maybe he's looking at my aft, it's hard to tell sometimes.
A few hundred yards later my comm-link goes dead, now there are exactly two mechs on this planet who can block my comms and I happen to know that one of them is back at the Ark listening to an album be borrowed off me yesterday, so Soundwave is in the area, wonderful.
Fortunately Prowl and I don't need comms so I relay what I know to him and carry on with him warning me to be careful. Eventually I catch a glimpse of the 'Cons through the trees.
"What can you see?" Prowl asks and I know he's concerned by the spike of anxiety that shot though the bond when I realised who I was seeing.
"Constucticons, and Soundwave," I report.
"An unusual mix," Prowl muses, "Can you see what they're doing?"
"Not at this distance."
He doesn't need to tell me to be careful again, I can feel his worry but our bond also conveys the confidence that he has in me, he knows that if anyone can get round Soundwave it's me.
The next steps I take feel more like dancing than walking, and I find myself smiling, I've always enjoyed challenges.
"Having fun love?" Prowl asks.
"You know I am," I reply, "Looks to me like they're building something, can't see what though, might be best to call the Ark."
"Done," he confirms.
With a little concentration I can show him what I'm seeing, the seven 'cons crowding around something small by our standards and boxy looking, "Analysis?" I ask.
"No idea," he admits, "I'm sending the file back to Grapple and Wheeljack."
I'm about to respond when another blip on my scanners catches my attention, it's small and of no threat to me but it is moving toward the others, "One of the cassettes is headed your way, moving too fast for Rumble or Frenzy, gotta be either Ravage or one of the hawks," I report quickly.
"Copy that," he's not scared, but he is a realist and there's no hiding the fact that we're out numbered.
"Tactical?" I ask and this is where Prowl comes into his own, anyone who says he's cold will have me to answer to but he is calculating to the point where no one match him, not Optimus and certainly not Megatron.
"E.T.A. for re-enforcement is twenty minutes but I doubt they will arrive undetected, if we can prevent the Constructicons merge into Devastator our chances of success will be greatly improved," this may sound simple but it's not all I get from him, with the verbal instructions comes a data-stream full of advice, simulations and probabilities that his battle computer has come up with.
"That's a roger," I agree.
"You'll need someone to cover you, Bluestreak has been briefed and is on his way."
I'm moving again before he finishes what he has to say, Blue'll know what to do but I need to be in position and by a lucky break Mix-master has separated off form the others, if my luck holds I can take him out before an of the others realise what has hit them.
By the time Blue arrives I'm ready and so is Prowl, I can feel him coiled up in my processor, reactions on a hairpin, and focused on my scanners and C.P.U., this is one of the bonuses to being bonded, it means I don't have to divide my attention because Prowl is watching my back for me.
All have to do is land one of the concussion grenades Wheeljack made for me close enough to Mix-master to knock him off-line, sounds easy, huh? Well it would be if the sparkling of a blender wasn't part of a gestalt team, which from what I understand is similar to a bond but not quite the same, 'Jack tried to explain it to me once but I'm no scientist and most of it went over my head, kinda wish I'd listened harder now though.
Yes! Got him, one down and a whole mess to go. Bluestreak starts shooting to distract them and I high-tail it outta there, it's seems like no time at all goes by before I hear the sound of engines rumbling in the distance, and there's no mistaking that noise, it's Skyfire, and our help is here.
In less than a minute everything has changed, Prime is calling order's, Sideswipe is ignoring them, Ironhide is charging in and Ratchet is cursing, yep, the Autobots have arrived and from here on in things should be much easier.
"Down," Prowl calls over our bond and I don't think or hesitate before I obey, the shot that would have hit me in the back hits a tree instead, but unfortunately there's no time to worry about any poor critters that may have been living in it now, "Spin left one hundred and forty two degrees and fire," Prowl instructs, my shot takes down Soundwave and, joy, we have Comms.
The rest of the fight goes by in a blur for me, everything is move, dodge, block, counter, take the shot, and it may sound odd but it's easier not to think about what I'm doing.
It's all going well until Prowls consciousness is yanked out of mine so hard that it hurts, in a split-second a data-stream from him tells me that he and Sunny (who were moving to join the rest of us since we don't need a relay to the Ark anymore) have been found by Seekers, it seems that Laserbeak did see them and informed Starscream.
Optimus must have received the same message, he looks at me and nods, that's all I need before I start issuing orders of my own, calling for Ratchet and Bluestreak to follow me, Sideswipe joins us without invitation, but I know from the murderous look on his face that he's worried about Sunstreaker, and this is not the time to send him back.
We don't have far to go, and I can't help feeling that if Prowl hadn't been so focused on me this wouldn't have happened but there's no time for self-recrimination now, my love needs me and I can't let him down.
Sideswipe goes in first, lands all over Skywarp and frees up Sunstreaker to do some serious damage to Thundercracker, while I help Prowl with Screamer, and Blue lays down some cover-fire.
The fight doesn't last long, the Seekers are out numbered and they know it, so they quickly fall back.
I don't watch them leave, I wrap my arms around Prowl so that he can take his weight off the leg that I know is hurting him and steal a kiss while Ratch seals up a few leaking fuel and coolant lines.
"I'm fine Jazz," he reassures me once he gets the chance.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I won't worry," I tell him adding in another gentle kiss for good measure, "C'mon let's get you to Skyfire."
Ratchet takes him from my care as we rejoin the others and I wander over to where Wheeljack is bending over whatever it is that the 'Cons were building, "Was it worth it?" I ask him.
"I'd say so," 'Jack answers, "The explosive capabilities of this device would have been devastating if it had been detonated."
That makes me feel better, we beat the bad guys, took Megatrons latest toy away from him, and made the world a safer place, not too shabby for a days work.
We leave 'Jack and a couple of the others behind to take care of the bomb and head for home in Skyfires hold.
Prowl and I spend the rest of the day in the med-bay while he gets fixed up, it sounds boring but it's the longest we've spent together for a few days and it feels good to have him in my arms, even if it is while Ratchet works on him.
Once we're done there, it's a quick trip to the rec room to catch up with the others and grab some energon before we turn in, Prowl's on Ratchets orders to stay out of his office until the morning so we actually turn in at the same time and I get to hold him while he drifts into some much needed recharge.
Primus but I love this mech, I know that not everyone gets why, but it's simple really, we are two halves of something whole, he is my restraint and I am his freedom, he is my strength and I am his passion, and so much more but to put it another way he is mine and I am his.