A/N: Okay, I'm a terrible person for not updating, I know! But I'm about to go through some major exams so I actual have a reason for my hiatus, other than me being lazy XD That being said, I've been putting this together in bits and pieces and made this into an extra long chapter for all my wonderful reviewers/followers who have put up with my irregular updates. I may or may not get anything put up for the next 3 weeks due to having a two week exam period and being buried under revision, yay -_- but, after that there will be another extra-long chapter after that and possibly a couple of small ones before then if I find the time.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed this story! You guys are like the wrenches to Ratchet or datapads to Prowl, whichever you prefer! Have some virtual cookies and hugs. Also, there's going to be a poll and some information going up on my profile if you would like to request any future oneshots after these three weeks
For now, let's get on with the story!
DISCLAIMER! I own nothing except OC's.
Medbay, Ratchet's POV
Prowl did end up glitching, and Jazz ended up welded to the wall of Prime's office much to Prime's amusement and annoyance.
All this happened whilst Phoenix was still out cold and Ratchet realised the job of telling the youngling what had happened to her would fall to him. The medic was unsure of how she would react to the news, and so when he heard her stirring vented heavily several times before straightening.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, in a tone that did not betray how he felt. She groaned loudly in reply.
"Like I got hit by a truck. Several trucks in fact, and not just any trucks – think Optimus Prime Semi Truck, trailer and all." Phoenix moaned and Ratchet nodded.
"Here are the correct painkillers." He said, handing her some pills and water with his holoform. She did not look at all surprised as it then fizzled out of existence, instead snatching the pills and swallowing them gratefully.
"Thanks Ratchet." She said as the painkillers kicked in almost immediately. These were a version Ratchet had modified himself so they had a shorter reaction time within the human body and were pretty useful.
"You are welcome. Shall I explain what has happened?"
"I didn't think anything happened at all, but alright then." Phoenix said offhandedly and Ratchet vented again.
"You have somehow managed to create a bond with Jazz and Prowl." He stated, and watched the look of confusion appear on her face.
"I know about Jazz – we took the vows, but are you glitched or something because there is no way I would do that with Prowl, and no way he would do that with me." She replied sceptically. Ratchet rubbed the bridge of his nose and elaborated.
"No, I mean you have created a sparkbond with them, like they have with each other. Yes, I know it is impossible but it seems the allspark has made it possible by 'zapping' you, along with the energy from their sparkchambers and the energon in your blood." Ratchet told her and she processed the information before the look cleared and she met his optics sharply.
"You mean… they can see inside my head?"
"Precisely."
"Does Prowl know?" She asked and in answer Ratchet gestured to the mech on the berth opposite.
"He took it rather well as you can see." Ratchet said sarcastically. "This does mean you will be in here for a while so I can monitor your condition." He added and she glared at him grumbling under her breath.
"Where's Jazz?"
"Welded to the wall of Prime's office by his sorry aft." Ratchet answered shortly and did not elaborate further. He did however, allow himself a small smirk. To his surprise, Phoenix did not talk as she usually did but instead remained silent for a while, thinking things over.
"What do I do then?" She asked the medic timidly.
"I don't actually know, young one. Jazz has accepted it well enough and although you cannot feel much yet it may grow stronger. As for Prowl…." Ratchet began before tailing off. As a medic, he knew a lot about Prowl that most mechs did not. Like the fact he refused to get close to anyone other than Jazz, so this would certainly be a develop Prowl might shun. "Give him time." Ratchet finally decided as an answer. Phoenix did not look satisfied.
"Damn shard. Prowl was starting to like me and all and now he probably won't." She grumbled, drawing her legs up to her chest and tracing over the name glyph with a finger. Ratchet thought that perhaps a distraction might be in order as negative emotions could affect her recovery from her previous injuries too.
Venting, the medic did something he never thought he would do. He commed the terror twins for help.
:: Are you and Sunstreaker out of the brig, Sideswipe? :: He asked, knowing they had been put in the brig after that prank they had pulled with the 'wedding'.
:: Yes. What do you want? :: The twin asked sharply.
:: It's a long story, but Phoenix is back in med-bay and is experiencing negative emotions which could affect her recovery. She needs a distraction and gets along with you well enough. ::
:: No Prowl or Jazz? ::
:: Prowl glitched and may not be wanting to talk to her when he comes round. Jazz is compromised. :: Ratchet explained and could almost feel Sideswipe's curiosity over why Prowl might not want to talk to her.
:: We are coming now, Sideswipe out. :: The lambo answered. :: We expect a full explanation later.:: He added as an afterthought., giving Ratchet no time to reply before the line went dead. Ratchet snorted at the twin's manners before turning back to Phoenix.
"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker will be arriving shortly."
"Why?"
"They wish to spend time with you." He replied, not letting on that he had called them. Unfortunately the youngling had guessed as much already.
"Thanks for calling them."
"I did not."
"You did. How else would they know I was in here again if Jazz is welded to the wall?" Phoenix deadpanned and Ratchet said nothing, merely accepted her point with a dip of his helm. "Thanks for caring." She added and Ratchet nodded again. Luckily, the twins burst through the door at that very moment and distracted Phoenix from him.
"Hey there!" Sideswipe grinned at her, Sunstreaker trailing behind.
"Sides!" She squealed as she hugged his finger like she would with Jazz. "Sunny!"
"Don't call me that." The golden twin automatically answered. He did not offer her his finger for fear he would get 'squishy germs.' They both took seats on the berth with Phoenix in Sideswipe's servos.
"Did Prime beat you up a lot?" She asked excitedly and Ratchet was pleased to see that his idea had worked. Phoenix was cheering up already at talking to the twins.
"Nah, merely gave us the same old lecture before chucking us in the brig. Ratchet had the honour of slagging us up." Said 'bot snorted.
"You deserved it, slaggers." Ratchet declared before turning back to cleaning the still-blackened med-bay. It would be a while before they could persuade Galloway to increase the budget to fix it up and so Ratchet was doing the best he could repairing his various tools. Luckily, nothing too expensive was broken and he could repair most injuries with what he had.
He wondered what Phoenix would think when she met the afthead liason. He wondered what the liason would think of her. Galloway would probably make their lives even more miserable for it just because he could.
The three of them were deep in conversation by now, and to Ratchet's relief Phoenix was doing the explaining about the bond. The twins seemed pretty understanding at least and were cheering her up with prank ideas for Prowl if he was too much of a 'stick in the mud.'
"If you make him glitch, you're fixing him." Ratchet input as Sunny suggested dropping paint on the poor SIC yet again. To Prowl's credit, they had tried various ones above his door and the tactician always detected those. Unfortunately, even Prowl could not stop the paint bombs when the twins rushed by and threw them at him too fast for the tactician to dodge.
"Miserable fragger." Sides commented and Ratchet aimed a wrench at his head in reply and grinned as a resounding 'smack!' indicated he had not missed. Sides whined.
"Do shut up Sides." Sunny sighed at his brother. Of the twins, Sunny acted like the oldest and was quite often the more mature. Unless, he was whining about his paint again.
Then, Prowl onlined groggily and Ratchet rushed to help him.
"Easy. That was some glitch."
"Tell me Jazz was joking." The tactician groaned and Ratchet shook his helm from side to side. The twins actually shut up for once along with Phoenix.
"Unfortunately not." Ratchet answered as he gave Prowl some energon to increase his low fuel levels. The mech was still repairing from the other day as well, which didn't help one bit. Prowl then spotted Phoenix and the twins and straightened on reflex into 'Commander Prowl mode.'
"Twins, Phoenix." He greeted in a curt tone.
"Prowl." They all said in unison as Prowl's optics landed on Phoenix in particular. She shifted a little under his scrutiny and Sideswipe absent mindedly brought her closer to his chassis, Sunny drawing nearer to them. Prowl's gaze made every species uncomfortable, it seemed.
"I apologise." Prowl said in the same cold manner.
Phoenix's POV
It was obvious from his tone Prowl had not taken the news well. Gone from his voice was the friendly undertone it had held previously when they had spoken. It was cold-mannered, like Jazz had said he could be although this was the first time she had heard it for herself. Phoenix decided she definitely preferred friendly Prowl.
"It's not your fault. I touched the allspark."
"You were not to know. It is not your fault either." Prowl said in a way that made it feel like he did blame her a little. Well, she didn't know what alien relics look like! Who was she, fragging Primus?! Phoenix thought about the next way to phrase what she wanted to say.
"I hope this will not affect you too much." She thought, wondering if she should have added a sarcastic ''Sir" to the end of that sentence.
"Rest assured, it will not affect my capabilities. I hope we can continue as before, with you as my brother's charge." He added, and Phoenix had a sinking suspicion that meant he wasn't even going to give the bond, or her, a chance. Merely pretend nothing had changed.
"I hope the same, Commander." She replied formally and noted the sideways look Sideswipe gave her. Prowl inclined his head before turning to Ratchet.
"Am I cleared for duty?"
"Light duty only, and I expect you back every day or more if anything hurts or goes wrong. But yes, you are." Ratchet replied in a way that meant he didn't approve. They did need Prowl back though, his computer was needed to arrange missions much as Ratchet disliked it.
"Then I will take my leave." Prowl said in the same formal tone before leaving without another word. Phoenix wondered if the small tremor of his wings was imagined or real as she watched his retreating back before the doors shut. As they did so, Sideswipe launched into a tirade of insults.
"Fragging cold-sparked emotionless piece of scrap tactician!" He roared at the door and Sunstreaker had the same look written on his faceplates.
"You know how he is Sideswipe. Give him time to adjust." Ratchet said, although he sounded uncertain to Phoenix and she wondered if he was just saying that because she was there.
"I guess." She said, showing she didn't believe the medic. To his good graces, the twins and Ratchet didn't argue with her.
"Can I go?" She asked and Ratchet debated the idea.
"Alright. Be back after dinner and don't do anything stupid. Watch her." He said seriously, aiming the last sentence at the twins who mock saluted before carrying her out of the door and down the corridor to the rec. room.
Only the humans and arcee were in there, including Lennox who waved when he saw her. Sideswipe set her down beside him and he picked up on her expression immediately.
"Why the long face?" He asked.
"Prowl's being an afthead." Sunstreaker answered for her and Lennox's eyes widened in understanding.
"Well… I had some news, but if it isn't the right time then…."
"No, tell me." Phoenix insisted, sitting up straight again. News? For her? The idea would have been laughable merely a week ago. Nowadays, anything was possible.
"Well, you know I am your guardian now? Legally?" Lennox asked and she nodded. "I was wondering if you'd like to come home with me next week. I've got a couple of days off and Ironhide and I are going back to my farm. I've got a wife, Sarah and a 4 year old daughter called Annabelle, or Annie." He explained, pulling out a picture of a smiling blonde woman with a pouting child who had her Mother's eyes and her Father's hair.
"I'd love to." She replied immediately. Will sounded like he was offering her a family, of sorts instead of just being the legal name on the paper. It was a touching offer, that he wanted her to meet his real family.
"Great!" Will said, pleased. "We can bring Jazz too, Prime cleared him to come with us and Ironhide although Ratchet might insist on someone else going." Will said, and Phoenix noted that someone would have to explain to Will about the allspark. She decided Ratchet would probably do that for her as she didn't feel like explaining it again. Not now, at least. "Anyway, this is Arcee." Will said, gesturing to the female 'bot who smiled at her.
"We've met, but never in ideal situations. I hope I can make a better impression this time." Arcee said sheepishly and Phoenix smiled at her, reaching out to shake her finger in reply.
"Me too. Well, I'm Phoenix."
"I'm Arcee, and Chromia and Ironhide are my surrogate creators." Arcee said by way of introduction. "I'm a front-liner and sharpshooter."
"Nice! What's that like? Having them as creators?" She asked curiosly. She didn't know that much about creators and their sparklings yet, but she did know that Ironhide had a guardian-ward bond with Chromia and Ironhide after Jazz had told her on their adventures before she had arrived on base.
"It's good. They take good care of myself and Bee and they trained me to be a very good fighter."
"Not better than me!" Sideswipe input, bragging slightly and Arcee raised an optic ridge at him.
"Cocky afthead." She said smartly and Sideswipe gaped at her whilst Sunny just snickered in the background. Phoenix decided she rather liked Arcee at that moment as Sides spluttered. Arcee ignored him.
"Chromia is good at hand-to-hand, although she does love her guns much like Ironhide and she was the weapons specialist for the femme division."
"There's a femme division."
"There used to be anyway. Elita-1, Prime's sparkmate led it but she was offlined during the end of the war. Chromia was separated in the chaos but we know she escaped as Ironhide could still feel her presence. I don't know how many of my femme friends survived. There weren't many to begin with anyway as mechs always outnumbered femmes." Arcee explained and Phoenix patted her finger. It seemed like Arcee had lost a lot of friends to the war, as had most 'bots she had come across.
"Chromia was a hard-aft if ever I saw one." Sunny said and although it sounded off-hand, Phoenix knew it was a compliment coming from Sunstreaker.
"My friends there were Moonracer and Flare-up and I hope they survived with Chromia. She trained us together along with Elita even though they were not her charges as they were older than me. Moonracer was a sharpshooter, and Flare-up a frontliner."
"Flare-Up was a femme of many talents." Sideswipe added, wiggling his optic ridge at Phoenix.
"Unlike yourself, Sideswipe, who couldn't get a femme if his spark depended on it." Phoenix commented and Sides stared in disbelief at her again. Arcee shared a look with Phoenix before beginning to laugh alongside her.
Prowl's POV
Prowl couldn't believe this, not at all. It was illogical and impossible and Primus, he didn't want anyone else in his head other than Jazz. She wasn't a bad human, and he liked her well enough. But he liked Ironhide as a friend too, and definitely didn't want him in his head!
And she was human no less! A sparkling at that. How could she even begin to understand what he had been through? How could he show her his memories of Praxus? The war? She'd never get such destruction, such betrayal.
The logical thing to do was block the bond and continue as before. She didn't seem to mind the idea from what she had said anyway. It would be awkward talking to her now, yes, but Prowl could manage it. He could make it so he didn't see her that much anyway by staying in his office. Jazz would try and persuade him otherwise, but Prowl was determined not to budge on this.
Unfortunately, said mech happened to waltz in at that very moment after being removed from the wall by Wheeljack and Optimus.
"How are ya doin' Prowler?"
"I am fine." Prowl answered and Jazz snorted.
"Don't give meh tha' slag. I can feel ya lyin' tah meh, in here." Jazz said, tapping his chassis over his sparkchamber.
"It's impossible." Prowl stated.
"It's happened though. It could work if ya…"
"No. Giving it a try is not an option." Prowl said instantly and noted how Jazz's visor switched to a darker shade of blue. Not anger or fear then, because then it would be lighter. Disappointment? The idea did not sit well with Prowl, but neither did having a human sparkling in his processor.
"She's nice, Prowler."
"I know, and I'm happy for you both. She will be a good charge."
"Ya still won't consider it though? Not even a little?" Jazz asked hopefully. Prowl shook his head.
"Maybe… in future. She's still young." Prowl finally decided, not wanting to crush his brother's spark. He highly doubted he ever would though and turned back to his datapads.
"It wasn't her fault." Jazz suddenly said and Prowl's doorwings snapped to attention as Jazz hit the nail on the head.
"I am aware."
"You still blame her though." Jazz said, and a note of accusation crept into his voice. Prowl winced, he didn't want a human driving any wedges between them.
"I … need time to adjust. I know it is not her fault in my processor, but my spark… disagrees with me." He said by way of explanation. The animosity faded from Jazz's faceplate and tone as he nodded and spoke again.
"Alrigh', ah know ya need time, ah just…."
"I know." Prowl said, cursing his stupid processor. If Jazz had been bonded to the twins, they would have been overjoyed to have a bond with the human. His battle computer and logic circuits were kicking up a storm about all the dangers involved and he didn't even want to think about what his spark was doing lest he short-circuit and glitch again. "How did you get off the wall anyway?" Prowl asked, changing the subject. To his relief, Jazz grinned.
"Jackie an' Prime. Though Prime early blew ah gasket tryin' tah get meh down. He's relieved tah 'ave his office again."
"Any'bot would be." Prowl said dryly, making Jazz chuckle.
"The wall will need ah repaint. If it was any'bot but tha' slaggin' medic, Prime would offline 'em." Jazz chuckled and Prowl did a little too as he received the memory. Then, Jazz shifted and looked around rather guiltily.
"You should check on your charge." Prowl said, picking up on his brother's train of thought through their bond.
"Yeah. Ah'll be back later wit' ya energon." He said and Prowl inclined his helm in reply, not allowing his inner turmoil to seep through as Jazz left. When the mech was gone, he let out a vent of relief before burying himself in datapads to distract himself, 'light duty' orders be fragged.