(no subject)
I really need to post what's been going on lately in my life and start answering emails, but I'm too tired to do it. This chapter is my little celebration over the elections. WE WON!!! *dances* =3
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.
A/N: Thanks to all the people that have helped me with the previous chapters. This chapter is for all of you. Like always, feel free to tell me of any mistakes and I’ll fix them as soon as possible.
Warnings: Ooc? This chapter didn’t turned out like I wanted. It was supposed to be the meeting between Prowl and Jazz. But every time I tried to go over what I had written, I just didn’t like it. Then Prowl demanded a little time alone to brood and Barricade wanted more fic time and this chapter was created. Maybe now that I’ve done what they want he’ll be ready to meet with Jazz.
'thinking'
"talking"
~~~~~~~~~ - different scene
Chapter 8:
If he’d been human, he would’ve called the current ache in his processor a migraine. The pain had begun shortly after he got over the shock of having been demoted by the very same mech he’d replaced. A mech who had been dead until an accident in the repair bay had brought him back to life.
An accident that somehow involved electricity, water, the Allspark shard and a welder…
Prowl’s vents hissed as he tried to find some way to relieve the bothersome pain in his processor. He needed to finish writing a report to update the Second Lieutenant of what he’d done while in his position, but the pain kept distracting him. In fact, every thought concerning Second Lieutenant Jazz made the strange dull throbbing in his processor increase and his thought processes falter.
Prowl let out a frustrated growl, clawed hands gripping the data pad hard enough to break it. The Saleen stared at the broken data pad in his hands. He let out a frustrated sigh as he realized he had to write that report all over again.
For the first time since joining The Prime’s unit, Prowl wished someone would come to drag him out of his office. Unfortunately, he knew no one would come. After the ‘incident’, Prowl found himself spending more time alone.
Time he used to spend with the others until…
‘Jazz was better off dead,’ he thought, fighting the urge to cradle his cranial unit in his hands as the pain increased.
For a second or two he was surprised and horrified by his own thoughts. But the pain was making it harder to think straight and maybe he wasn’t so wrong in wishing the other dead. It wasn’t really that hard to ensure that a very tragic and fatal accident occurred to the revived Solstice.
No one had to know…
No one had to find out…
And he’d be The Prime’s right-hand mech again. Autobot Second Lieutenant Prowl…
Fear filled him as his control slipped. His cranial unit felt as if it were going to explode and his thoughts had almost halted completely. His spark flared and an all consuming rage seemed to fill him. He clamped his dentals as tight as he could to suppress a scream. His claws were embedded in his desk, trying to fight against the urge to run out and attack the first mech he encountered.
But he didn’t want any mech. He wanted Jazz. He wanted to be the one to extinguish his spark as painfully as possible. He wanted to rip the body limb for limb and melt him down so he could never come back from the dead.
‘Mechs are not meant to come back from the dead.’
‘But Jazz came back.’
‘But every spark is meant to go to the Matrix.’
‘Not Jazz.’
‘Only the All Spark had the power of life.’
‘And somehow the accident gave enough power to the All Spark to bring Jazz back.’
‘The odds off that happening are impossible.’
‘Yet it happened.’
Prowl’s rage and pain disappeared. His vision turned to static. His systems slowed down and he slumped on his desk.
~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours later Ironhide went to see if Prowl felt like sparring. He hoped the Saleen wasn’t mad at him for not sparring with him yesterday like they’d planned. The Topkick had instead spent the afternoon with Jazz, trying to keep the Solstice entertained and convince himself that the smaller mech was truly alive.
He knocked and frowned when he got no response from Prowl. The mech might not like to be interrupted, but he’d always answered his door. Ironhide checked his chronometer and knew something was wrong.
Prowl might be many things. Most of them, things that Ironhide wished were not true. But he was not irresponsible and he was not one to leave early from his shift. He quickly overrode the lock on the door and entered the room. Minutes later he was helping Ratchet carry Prowl down to the medbay.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Whoa! What happened t’ him?” The Solstice asked as he watched Ironhide and Ratchet drag in a familiar looking mech.
“Don’t know yet,” The medic answered absentmindedly as he started scanning the mech.
“Is that the new arrival Prime talked about?” Jazz continued asking, noting the medic’s slight falter in his scans and how Ironhide seemed to tense at his words.
“I… I guess so,” Ironhide answered and Jazz fought the urge to narrow his optics while his visor was off.
They were hiding something from him.
“He the one that was in my place?” He continued, watching their reactions closely.
Ratchet was too busy working on the unconscious mech to let anything slip, but Ironhide nodded a little too eagerly for his liking.
“Jazz, either mute it or go to recharge. Ironhide, bring something to hold Prowl down. We don’t know what he’ll do when he comes back online.” Ratchet ordered.
So the new mech was Prowl. A mech that was behind whatever the others were hiding from him. A mech that, now that he took a good look at him, reminded him of a Decepticon. There were minor aesthetic changes, but there was something not quite… Autobot in his chosen form.
‘Great, now I’ve turned into a stereotypin’ mech,’ Jazz thought as he got bored of watching the repairs and settled into a light recharge.
After all, he wanted to speak to the mech that had managed to impress Prime.
~~~~~~~~~~
“My logic processor locked up?” Prowl asked incredulously.
“That’s what I said,” Ratchet replied without looking at Prowl straight to the optics.
“I don’t understand. I’ve never suffered from that before,” At Ratchet’s look, he amended, “Or… I don’t think I’ve suffered from it before. Why now?”
Ratchet shrugged, “My guess is that your logic processor worked too hard trying to find an answer to something that might not have one. I think that is what has been causing your glitch all along.”
Prowl looked away, successfully hiding his shame as the memories of what he’d been thinking came to him. Most of the episode had been lost to him, but the parts he remembered made him feel as if he was the worst mech in the universe.
“Can you fix the glitch now.”
Ratchet sighed, “I fear I cannot fix it, Prowl. You’ve already suffered a memory wipe which might have caused the glitch to appear. Tinkering with it again has more probabilities of killing you than fixing the problem.”
“You can’t repair me?” Prowl asked feeling dread coming over him. If he were to lose control again…
“I can’t fix your glitch, but I’m sure you’ve noticed your new add-on,” at Prowl’s nod he continued, “That tactical computer is capable of analyzing several situations instantaneously and advising you on the optimal course of action for each situation.”
“And that will help me?”
“To some extent. It will give you answers faster than your logic processor can. That will prevent it from overworking and that will keep you from locking up again. Unless you manage to overwork both your logic processor and tactical computer,” Ratchet gave him a rare smile, “Might want to consider a change into the tactical field. It might come in handy then.”
Prowl thought about it, surprised that he was inclined to accept such a change. The unit didn’t had a tactician and Ratchet’s little upgrade could help him greatly in filling that empty spot.
“I’ll think about it,” He said slowly.
“Good. You can go now,” The Hummer replied, making a shooing motion with his hand, “Stay away from paradoxes and unanswerable questions for a while, Prowl.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“What‘s wrong?” Prime asked as Ratchet suddenly interrupted his conversation with Ironhide.
The medic simply stepped forward and addressed his commander, “Do you think it’s wise to not tell him?”
“I take it you’re talking about Jazz and Prowl,” Prime answered, giving Ratchet a pointed look, “Is there a reason why I should fear Barricade’s return?”
There was a tense silence until a reluctant Ratchet answered him, “No. I made sure of that.”
“What did you do?” Ironhide asked.
“It’s a safeguard,” Ratchet replied nonchalantly, “Should an undesirable part of his programming reappear, he will go into stasis.”
“You mean he almost went Decepticon on us?” Ironhide frowned, wondering why the idea of using his cannons on Barricade wasn’t as satisfying as before.
“As long as the safeguard is there, Barricade will continue to be Prowl. My latest upgrade made sure that cannot happen.”
“And the upgrade is?” Prime asked.
“Besides the very real tactical computer, I installed a stronger systems shutdown. I told him it’s his logical processor locking up.”
“Now tell me why I should tell Jazz of Prowl’s true origins?” Prime continued and both Ratchet and Ironhide listened carefully to their leader’s words, “I have complete trust in your abilities as a medic, Ratchet. Barricade was erased in order to save his life and from it came a mech that has been nothing but loyal and dedicated to our cause. Will Prowl be forever judged by the actions of Barricade?”
“But Prowl is Barricade?” Ironhide replied and Prime sighed tiredly.
“Is he? Or is it the other way around?”
“What do you mean?” The medic asked.
“I mean that maybe Prowl is what Barricade used to be before Megatron convinced the Cybertronian Guard to join him.”
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.
A/N: Thanks to all the people that have helped me with the previous chapters. This chapter is for all of you. Like always, feel free to tell me of any mistakes and I’ll fix them as soon as possible.
Warnings: Ooc? This chapter didn’t turned out like I wanted. It was supposed to be the meeting between Prowl and Jazz. But every time I tried to go over what I had written, I just didn’t like it. Then Prowl demanded a little time alone to brood and Barricade wanted more fic time and this chapter was created. Maybe now that I’ve done what they want he’ll be ready to meet with Jazz.
'thinking'
"talking"
~~~~~~~~~ - different scene
Chapter 8:
If he’d been human, he would’ve called the current ache in his processor a migraine. The pain had begun shortly after he got over the shock of having been demoted by the very same mech he’d replaced. A mech who had been dead until an accident in the repair bay had brought him back to life.
An accident that somehow involved electricity, water, the Allspark shard and a welder…
Prowl’s vents hissed as he tried to find some way to relieve the bothersome pain in his processor. He needed to finish writing a report to update the Second Lieutenant of what he’d done while in his position, but the pain kept distracting him. In fact, every thought concerning Second Lieutenant Jazz made the strange dull throbbing in his processor increase and his thought processes falter.
Prowl let out a frustrated growl, clawed hands gripping the data pad hard enough to break it. The Saleen stared at the broken data pad in his hands. He let out a frustrated sigh as he realized he had to write that report all over again.
For the first time since joining The Prime’s unit, Prowl wished someone would come to drag him out of his office. Unfortunately, he knew no one would come. After the ‘incident’, Prowl found himself spending more time alone.
Time he used to spend with the others until…
‘Jazz was better off dead,’ he thought, fighting the urge to cradle his cranial unit in his hands as the pain increased.
For a second or two he was surprised and horrified by his own thoughts. But the pain was making it harder to think straight and maybe he wasn’t so wrong in wishing the other dead. It wasn’t really that hard to ensure that a very tragic and fatal accident occurred to the revived Solstice.
No one had to know…
No one had to find out…
And he’d be The Prime’s right-hand mech again. Autobot Second Lieutenant Prowl…
Fear filled him as his control slipped. His cranial unit felt as if it were going to explode and his thoughts had almost halted completely. His spark flared and an all consuming rage seemed to fill him. He clamped his dentals as tight as he could to suppress a scream. His claws were embedded in his desk, trying to fight against the urge to run out and attack the first mech he encountered.
But he didn’t want any mech. He wanted Jazz. He wanted to be the one to extinguish his spark as painfully as possible. He wanted to rip the body limb for limb and melt him down so he could never come back from the dead.
‘Mechs are not meant to come back from the dead.’
‘But Jazz came back.’
‘But every spark is meant to go to the Matrix.’
‘Not Jazz.’
‘Only the All Spark had the power of life.’
‘And somehow the accident gave enough power to the All Spark to bring Jazz back.’
‘The odds off that happening are impossible.’
‘Yet it happened.’
Prowl’s rage and pain disappeared. His vision turned to static. His systems slowed down and he slumped on his desk.
~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours later Ironhide went to see if Prowl felt like sparring. He hoped the Saleen wasn’t mad at him for not sparring with him yesterday like they’d planned. The Topkick had instead spent the afternoon with Jazz, trying to keep the Solstice entertained and convince himself that the smaller mech was truly alive.
He knocked and frowned when he got no response from Prowl. The mech might not like to be interrupted, but he’d always answered his door. Ironhide checked his chronometer and knew something was wrong.
Prowl might be many things. Most of them, things that Ironhide wished were not true. But he was not irresponsible and he was not one to leave early from his shift. He quickly overrode the lock on the door and entered the room. Minutes later he was helping Ratchet carry Prowl down to the medbay.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Whoa! What happened t’ him?” The Solstice asked as he watched Ironhide and Ratchet drag in a familiar looking mech.
“Don’t know yet,” The medic answered absentmindedly as he started scanning the mech.
“Is that the new arrival Prime talked about?” Jazz continued asking, noting the medic’s slight falter in his scans and how Ironhide seemed to tense at his words.
“I… I guess so,” Ironhide answered and Jazz fought the urge to narrow his optics while his visor was off.
They were hiding something from him.
“He the one that was in my place?” He continued, watching their reactions closely.
Ratchet was too busy working on the unconscious mech to let anything slip, but Ironhide nodded a little too eagerly for his liking.
“Jazz, either mute it or go to recharge. Ironhide, bring something to hold Prowl down. We don’t know what he’ll do when he comes back online.” Ratchet ordered.
So the new mech was Prowl. A mech that was behind whatever the others were hiding from him. A mech that, now that he took a good look at him, reminded him of a Decepticon. There were minor aesthetic changes, but there was something not quite… Autobot in his chosen form.
‘Great, now I’ve turned into a stereotypin’ mech,’ Jazz thought as he got bored of watching the repairs and settled into a light recharge.
After all, he wanted to speak to the mech that had managed to impress Prime.
~~~~~~~~~~
“My logic processor locked up?” Prowl asked incredulously.
“That’s what I said,” Ratchet replied without looking at Prowl straight to the optics.
“I don’t understand. I’ve never suffered from that before,” At Ratchet’s look, he amended, “Or… I don’t think I’ve suffered from it before. Why now?”
Ratchet shrugged, “My guess is that your logic processor worked too hard trying to find an answer to something that might not have one. I think that is what has been causing your glitch all along.”
Prowl looked away, successfully hiding his shame as the memories of what he’d been thinking came to him. Most of the episode had been lost to him, but the parts he remembered made him feel as if he was the worst mech in the universe.
“Can you fix the glitch now.”
Ratchet sighed, “I fear I cannot fix it, Prowl. You’ve already suffered a memory wipe which might have caused the glitch to appear. Tinkering with it again has more probabilities of killing you than fixing the problem.”
“You can’t repair me?” Prowl asked feeling dread coming over him. If he were to lose control again…
“I can’t fix your glitch, but I’m sure you’ve noticed your new add-on,” at Prowl’s nod he continued, “That tactical computer is capable of analyzing several situations instantaneously and advising you on the optimal course of action for each situation.”
“And that will help me?”
“To some extent. It will give you answers faster than your logic processor can. That will prevent it from overworking and that will keep you from locking up again. Unless you manage to overwork both your logic processor and tactical computer,” Ratchet gave him a rare smile, “Might want to consider a change into the tactical field. It might come in handy then.”
Prowl thought about it, surprised that he was inclined to accept such a change. The unit didn’t had a tactician and Ratchet’s little upgrade could help him greatly in filling that empty spot.
“I’ll think about it,” He said slowly.
“Good. You can go now,” The Hummer replied, making a shooing motion with his hand, “Stay away from paradoxes and unanswerable questions for a while, Prowl.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“What‘s wrong?” Prime asked as Ratchet suddenly interrupted his conversation with Ironhide.
The medic simply stepped forward and addressed his commander, “Do you think it’s wise to not tell him?”
“I take it you’re talking about Jazz and Prowl,” Prime answered, giving Ratchet a pointed look, “Is there a reason why I should fear Barricade’s return?”
There was a tense silence until a reluctant Ratchet answered him, “No. I made sure of that.”
“What did you do?” Ironhide asked.
“It’s a safeguard,” Ratchet replied nonchalantly, “Should an undesirable part of his programming reappear, he will go into stasis.”
“You mean he almost went Decepticon on us?” Ironhide frowned, wondering why the idea of using his cannons on Barricade wasn’t as satisfying as before.
“As long as the safeguard is there, Barricade will continue to be Prowl. My latest upgrade made sure that cannot happen.”
“And the upgrade is?” Prime asked.
“Besides the very real tactical computer, I installed a stronger systems shutdown. I told him it’s his logical processor locking up.”
“Now tell me why I should tell Jazz of Prowl’s true origins?” Prime continued and both Ratchet and Ironhide listened carefully to their leader’s words, “I have complete trust in your abilities as a medic, Ratchet. Barricade was erased in order to save his life and from it came a mech that has been nothing but loyal and dedicated to our cause. Will Prowl be forever judged by the actions of Barricade?”
“But Prowl is Barricade?” Ironhide replied and Prime sighed tiredly.
“Is he? Or is it the other way around?”
“What do you mean?” The medic asked.
“I mean that maybe Prowl is what Barricade used to be before Megatron convinced the Cybertronian Guard to join him.”