Another smut-heavy chapter
Head over to Ao3 for the full thing archiveofourown dot org/works/637909/chapters/1214090

Starcrossed 7: Breaking Hidden Chains
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Peace. Finally.

He had no real grasp of how many times he'd been rebuilt, though he knew he could dig into his memories and find out.

He had no desire to.

Prowl gave no outward sign that he was aware, his systems as silent as he could make them. Vortex had not appeared in three orns. Three blissful orns of pain-free peace, quiet and uninterrupted time to hack his own code, make edits and begin to carefully infiltrate the estate's systems with tiny programs in anticipation of escape in the coming vorns.

Vorns.

Prowl's very spark shuddered at the reality that it was likely to take that long to escape. Yet vorns now was better than many more vorns if they attempted to run before the odds were in their favor. Prowl would not do that to Jazz. He had to be reasonably confident that when he told Jazz to run, they would make it. That meant credits, energon, supplies and contacts across Cybertron. A lot of credits for regular full-frame rebuilds for as long as Vortex still functioned, if not for their entire existences. The crimes they would have to commit to remain free were likely to be extensive.

With a metal shake Prowl turned his full focus to his work once more.

SxSxSxSxSxSxSxSx S===================S SxSxSxSxSxSxSxS

Jazz knelt in the middle of the berth, optics dimmed to almost nothing, hands resting on his knees, unmoving. He'd been in that position for more than two joors, and in the stillness, his internal systems had grown nearly silent. A side program tracked their noise level and the amount of work they were doing at any given moment, comparing and recording, setting the most efficient and quiet combinations aside for later use and practice.

His x-vent was inaudible. His frame could have been a statue.

Jazz was practicing.

He had been bonded for almost three metacycles, and he still couldn't make even the slightest bit of headway in blocking the sparkbond. The puzzle was always running in the back of his processors, but for all the effort and thought, whenever he tested it, Vortex's presence loomed through, intrusive and demanding. He varied the ways in which he tested to avoid appearing too repetitive in his experimentation, sometimes choosing to step too close to Prowl, other times lying back on the berth and baring his valve, occasionally by dancing. Without fail, he would feel Vortex's attention sharpen and come through. He was beginning to despair of it even being possible. His access to the estate libraries was limited to fictional works, and even then only very tame ones. Nothing to learn from. It was maddening for the young noble who had spent so much of his life soaking up as much knowledge as he could, from whatever sources possible.

Provided they were interesting sources, Jazz thought with an internal smile as he remembered Duet for a moment.

Not everything was stalled as much as his attempts to block the bond, though. His field control had improved significantly, though it was still nowhere near flawless. The orns he spent sitting on the berth in careful meditation, monitoring his emotions while he relived memory after memory, had proven to be the most effective when it came to that.

He chose powerful memories, moments when he'd felt overwhelmed, almost unable to process everything he'd been feeling. The first night with Vortex and the terror he'd felt while trapped beneath the rotor's frame, saying goodbye to his creators for what he now believed may have been the last time, playing with age-mates as a youngling and laughing until he couldn't think, overloading beneath Prowl for the first and last time, sneaking into Prowl's quarters and kissing him, feeling everything returned when Prowl had kissed him back-

His field flickered. A slight frown marred Jazz's features for a moment as he analyzed the feeling that had caused it, and then he backed up and started over.

A text message pinged for his attention, set to a priority that only Vortex had, but listed as from Prowl.

Download these files

Three word-glyphs, and links to half a dozen files from the estate library.

The only outward reaction in Jazz's appearance as he read the sender's name was the brightening of his optics and their slight shift over to the Praxian's immobile form.

It wouldn't be the first time Vortex had tested him to see his reaction to something, to judge his obedience and loyalty. He'd been caught in the first of the traps, and Prowl had suffered for it.

Nothing like this, though. Jazz eyed the links, wondering if opening them would lead him into just one more snare, but before he had even fully finished the thought he knew he had to try. He couldn't ignore the possibility that they were from Prowl. He opened the first and skimmed it.

When he saw the contents, he could not have stopped his shock from slamming out into his field even if he'd tried. His position faltered slightly and an alarm immediately chimed in his head, refusing to quiet until he'd regained complete immobility. He opened the rest, checking and confirming.

First and third hand accounts of warrior mecha who had blocked their non-warrior bondeds while in battle, for the safety of both. And more than that, the personal accounts of how, and one document on the technical theory behind it.

Jazz disengaged the motion alarm and carefully stretched, shifting so his face was away from any cameras, and looked directly at Prowl, optics narrowed and focused. The Praxian did not twitch, did not even indicate that he was alive except for the color on his frame, though he must have received the notice that the text had been opened. Maybe even that the links had been checked.

So Prowl could text him. And had some control over the network to give Jazz access to things he definitely should not have. That was not minor hacking as far as Jazz understood it.

Jazz focused back inward on the message and examined it, looking for anything else that might be hidden there, and found nothing. He shifted his attention to its pathway, looking for a way to trace it back. Coming from Vortex's command level, it had to have been rerouted through several encryption levels.

Jazz frowned. He didn't dare try to send a message in return, in case it went to Vortex instead, or the rotor noticed it on the way by.

Unless... Prowl had accounted for that, and set it up so Jazz could respond.

He selected reply, deleted the original and added a non-descript message that Vortex would have no reason to object to, should it go to him.

Are you available now?

The response was immediate.

Yes. I'm looking at you.

As Jazz read the cryptic comment, Prowl powered up his optics and lifted his helm just enough to meet Jazz's optics for a brief moment before slipping back into the feigned stasis he was so good at.

Jazz bowed his head and clenched his fists, the only outward sign of the intensity of everything that surged through him. It was disproportionate to such a brief moment of communication, but was the first they'd really had in the nearly three megacycles since Prowl's comms had been disabled. He felt himself shake, visible, and quickly stretched out fully onto the berth to hide it.

He'd been still and silent while watching so many atrocities, but in this moment, he was incapable. He took a calming intake and vented slowly, relaxing his frame, while dozens of replies were written and deleted.

I'm adapting, he finally sent, head turned barely enough to look at Prowl.

Good

A single glyph, but one with many modifiers of affection, devotion, pride and determination.

Prowl, for all he'd been through in Jazz's designation, because of Jazz's weakness, still loved him deeply.

Even as he was grappling with that, he felt Vortex poke at their bond, intent and questioning at all the bursts of emotion he'd felt in the last klik.

Jazz swore silently and settled himself, then turned slightly onto his side and tilted his head back, trailing a hand down his neck and over the front of his body. ~Lonely,~ he trilled. ~Bored, thinking of you.~ While he answered, he pulled up the memory that had made his field flicker earlier, everything he'd felt when Prowl had kissed him, everything he was feeling now, and pushed it through, while quickly writing another message and sending it off.

Vortex. Concentrating now. I will learn.

Vortex's interest sharpened, but there was wariness there.

Jazz sensed it, pushed his hand down to his pelvis and between his legs. ~So bored,~ he said, ~I've read everything here, nothing to do but this.~

~What would you like to have, to ease your boredom?~ Vortex pressed through the bond more firmly, but only felt what was happening in that moment, and that was most definitely Jazz wanting to play.

~Let me go out?~ Jazz asked, layering his voice with notes of mischievous intent, making it clear to Vortex the request was not serious if he did not want it to be.

~No.~

Jazz pouted visibly and flopped back on the bed. ~Then you will have to come to me,~ he said after a moment.

~I am busy.~

At one of his gatherings, with someone else hosting, so Vortex wasn't even on the estate grounds.

~Then I need a toy for when you're too busy to spike me,~ Jazz purred.

~You will record everything you do with it,~ Vortex insisted, the resonance in the bond making it clear that he enjoyed the idea.

~Of course,~ Jazz said, and arched his back, lifting his hips up off the berth and tracing his fingers around the valve panel. ~I'll do whatever you want, need to do whatever you want.~

He felt how hard that revved his bonded up, both from the mental imagery Jazz was sending and the words.

~I'll get you some toys,~ Vortex purred. ~For now, you'll have to make do with your own frame.~

And thus begings the smut
Head over to Ao3 for the rest archiveofourown dot org/works/637909/chapters/1214090