Look Ma, I updated Imperium Cybertronium!
Title: Of A Deep Blue Dream
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Fluffyness and Angst at the end.
Pairings: Implied Ironhide x Ratchet.
Characters: Prowl, Ironhide, Wheeljack. Mention of Jazz, Ratchet, Red Alert, Sentinel Prime and Optimus.
Summary: AU - Partly using Dreamwave's comics as basis. A re imagination of Cybertron's society where the line dividing slaves from nobles is so thin.
Notes: This was going to include the story of how Jazz came to Ironhide's house but I decided to tell that one as a separated story. I'll post about sparkling Jazz coming into Prowl's life when I wake up! And yes, I actually envision Red Alert as a really good and caring parent. XP
Not beta'ed, so feel free to correct me.
"I guess it's best to start from the very beginning," Wheeljack said softly as he removed the tube connected to his throat to supply it with energon. "You know the basics of slaves' ownership, don't you, Prowl?"
"Yes sir."
Wheeljack nodded and set his can aside on Ironhide's desk but didn't bother to put his mask back in place. "Well, as you know a noble has to cover all the expenses of providing a protoform for a new spark. It's usually why most of times the slaves must announce their intentions to their masters, so a protoform will be made available in a reasonable amount of time."
The engineer leaned back in the plush seat, crossed a leg over the other and laced his fingers together, getting comfortable to continue his explanation. "See, sometimes some slaves get an unexpected spark, or are too afraid, or are too stubborn to let their masters know they've prayed for a spark. This usually means the Protoforms have to be provided in a hurry and sometimes things go wrong when the protoform's not of the best quality to begin with."
"Is that what happened to you, sir?" Prowl asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. My parents took too long to inform their master about my spark. In one hand it was because he had put forth quite a sum for his own sparkling's protoform not long before that, so they were reluctant to let him know." Wheeljack moved a little in his seat again, and Prowl got the impression the engineer had trouble sitting still for long periods of time. "In the end they had to tell him several orns past the standard waiting period to infuse a spark into a protoform. As a result everything had to be hurried and one of the initial problems was my protoform wasn't fully finished by the time they put my spark in the casing. My jaw wasn't fully developed and ultimately the lower jaw just fell off."
"Couldn't the damage be repaired?"
"Oh, it could, but that would have required funds my then master couldn't afford to spend on me, and then he just saw no point anymore since I developed normally. I had probably a vorn or two by the time my parent's master decided to sell several of the sparklings his slaves had during the previous three vorns, and since I was seen as an unnecessary expense, I was lined up to be sold." The mech picked his mask and played with it for a moment. Prowl had the impression if he had the components for it, Wheeljack would be smiling.
"Sparklings, as you know, are often sold cheaper than developed younglings or adults. A sparkling in an investment and they require regular upgrades, education, constant maintenance. And defective sparklings like myself sometimes barely manage to cover the expenses of their Protoforms when sold." Wheeljack raised the mask and tapped it with a finger. "My former master had this mask made for me in order to cover my defect and be able to ask a higher price for me."
"And that's how the slagger ended up in Red Alert's crutches." Ironhide interrupted and shot a cocky smile to his friend.
"More or less, yes." Wheeljack set the mask aside and reached for his can of energon. "Red Alert was looking for a sparkling to keep company to his own sparkling, your uncle, Ratchet."
"Ratchet was just a couple of mega cycles younger than Wheeljack, so he worked perfectly for what Red Alert intended."
"Who is telling this story, 'Hide? You or me?"
"Sorry!"
Prowl smiled a little, watching the way the other 'bots interacted, he could tell they had been friends for a long time and they held each other in very high regards.
"Anyway, Red Alert took me with him and I was pretty much Ratchet's company, since the other slaves Red Alert owned were too old." The engineer put the tube back in his throat, interrupting his tale for a few kliks. "See, Red Alert was rising in the ranks around the Tower, and he was spending more time there than at home, and he didn't want to leave Ratchet all alone. Here's, a little known fact, despite all the stories other mechs tell about Red Alert, he was one hell of a lovin' father for Ratchet."
"Over protective to the core, I tell ya," Ironhide muttered.
"Well, he's his only child, 'Hide, he only wanted to make sure Ratchet was hooking with the right mech." Wheeljack laughed and reached for his mask to put it back on. "And that brings us back to the question of how these two met each other."
Wheeljack turned his attention back to Prowl and leaned against his chair once more. "Red Alert actually spared nothing at Ratchet's and my education, and we were both sent to the best learning centers in Iacon. We were younglings around the time Ratchet found out about my 'little' secret." Wheeljack tapped a finger to his mask. "Ratchet decided then he wanted to become a medic so he could fix me."
"Which Wheeljack never let him do, anyway."
"Ironhide if you don't stop interrupting me..." Wheeljack shot a glare to his friend. Ironhide raised his hands up to placate the engineer, and Prowl couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Where did we leave? Oh, that's right. Ratchet worked hard to be accepted in the medical branch of the Cybertronian Academy, and Red Alert had discovered I was a bit of a mad scientist and inventor, and introduced me to Sentinel Prime's son, Optimus. Guess you can tell what happened afterwards."
Prowl nodded, "Lord Optimus found your skills impressive and offered you a sponsorship to attend the Academy and make you a noble under his wing."
"Smart mech." the engineer chuckled and his head fins flashed in amusement. "I accepted it, obviously, but since we were going after different specialties Ratchet and I were literally thrown to the opposite sides of the Academy's facilities. That's where I met my room mate." Wheeljack pointed his thumb in Ironhide's direction.
"Can I talk now?" Ironhide asked, quirking an optic ridge.
"Go for it!"
"After a few orns Ratchet found the time to seek Wheeljack, an' he introduced us."
"It was love at first sight!" Wheeljack laughed, ignoring Ironhide's glare. "Of course, I saw it before these two even caught up on their feelings, and I had to arrange some convenient meetings between the two."
Ironhide huffed half heartedly, "He was short of locking us in a closet until we'd interfaced at the very least!"
"Hey, not my fault you two were so dense to realize how much you wanted to be with each other," the engineer shrugged but his fins were flashing a bright, amused blue. "The tough part after that was get Red Alert to accept Ironhide courting his one and only sparkling."
The engineer then turned back to look at Prowl, and the younger mech could tell he was enjoying the chance to re-tell these stories, "Ratchet had to throw a fit of titanic proportions at Red to stop pestering Ironhide with accusations and interrogations about his intentions towards his boy."
"Ya were a little sparklin' around that time, remember?" Ironhide turned to look at his nephew fondly. "I remember when Ratchet was here to visit you'd run up to him and called him 'uncle Hashet'."
Prowl rubbed the back of his neck, shifting a little in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. "He always had energon treats for me."
"That he did. As for your question of how I found out Ratchet was the mech for me..." The primarily red mech drawled and brought a hand to his face, brushing a finger to his lip components, pondering carefully his next words. "I think partly the way he interacted with you, I saw him spoilin' my little nephew and then becoming Bluestreak's medic, I could feel in my spark I wanted to spend the rest of my existence with him, and maybe one day form a family with him."
Prowl pondered his uncle's words carefully, trying to come to some conclusion he could apply to his attraction to Jazz. After a breem of silence, the black and white mech asked, "Weren't you afraid he'd reject you?"
Wheeljack arched an optic ridge and looked back at his friend, Ironhide. Ironhide shook his head and vented a heavy sigh. "Yes, I was, Prowl. But as I told you before, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If ya really feel for someone, ya gotta let 'em know."
Prowl sighed heavily, despite Ironhide's words he couldn't shake away his fears. Jazz was such an interesting and charming being, everyone liked him, he was talented, a great performer, definitely good looking, vibrant, full of life and excitement.
Prowl, in comparison, had nothing to offer to the object of his desires, he didn't have the charismatic presence of his father, or the youngling-like charm of his brother. He didn't have the strong and regal demeanor of his mother, nor the gruff but gentlebot ways of his uncle. Prowl felt he was just too boring to interest Jazz.
"I think I better go, uncle Ironhide, I had other things to attend to. Thank you for your time." The younger mech stood up and bowed politely to Wheeljack and Ironhide before he left the room.
Ironhide watched him go and rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily and, in Wheeljack's opinion, sadly.
"Confidence issues, huh?" Wheeljack asked softly.
"You have no idea, 'Jack." The red mech smiled a little to his friend. "He's a good mech, 'Jack, but sometimes I wish his slaggin' logic would stop telling him he's not good enough for Ja-- er, the one he has feelings for."
"You mean Jazz." the engineer tapped a finger on Ironhide's desk. "I can see why he'd feel he's not good enough. I mean, Jazz is just one of the most popular performers out there, I bet he feels he has to compete against half of Cybertron's population or something."
Ironhide stared at his friend for a moment and something clicked in his CPU. "I think, 'Jack... that's exactly what he thinks."
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Fluffyness and Angst at the end.
Pairings: Implied Ironhide x Ratchet.
Characters: Prowl, Ironhide, Wheeljack. Mention of Jazz, Ratchet, Red Alert, Sentinel Prime and Optimus.
Summary: AU - Partly using Dreamwave's comics as basis. A re imagination of Cybertron's society where the line dividing slaves from nobles is so thin.
Notes: This was going to include the story of how Jazz came to Ironhide's house but I decided to tell that one as a separated story. I'll post about sparkling Jazz coming into Prowl's life when I wake up! And yes, I actually envision Red Alert as a really good and caring parent. XP
Not beta'ed, so feel free to correct me.
"I guess it's best to start from the very beginning," Wheeljack said softly as he removed the tube connected to his throat to supply it with energon. "You know the basics of slaves' ownership, don't you, Prowl?"
"Yes sir."
Wheeljack nodded and set his can aside on Ironhide's desk but didn't bother to put his mask back in place. "Well, as you know a noble has to cover all the expenses of providing a protoform for a new spark. It's usually why most of times the slaves must announce their intentions to their masters, so a protoform will be made available in a reasonable amount of time."
The engineer leaned back in the plush seat, crossed a leg over the other and laced his fingers together, getting comfortable to continue his explanation. "See, sometimes some slaves get an unexpected spark, or are too afraid, or are too stubborn to let their masters know they've prayed for a spark. This usually means the Protoforms have to be provided in a hurry and sometimes things go wrong when the protoform's not of the best quality to begin with."
"Is that what happened to you, sir?" Prowl asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. My parents took too long to inform their master about my spark. In one hand it was because he had put forth quite a sum for his own sparkling's protoform not long before that, so they were reluctant to let him know." Wheeljack moved a little in his seat again, and Prowl got the impression the engineer had trouble sitting still for long periods of time. "In the end they had to tell him several orns past the standard waiting period to infuse a spark into a protoform. As a result everything had to be hurried and one of the initial problems was my protoform wasn't fully finished by the time they put my spark in the casing. My jaw wasn't fully developed and ultimately the lower jaw just fell off."
"Couldn't the damage be repaired?"
"Oh, it could, but that would have required funds my then master couldn't afford to spend on me, and then he just saw no point anymore since I developed normally. I had probably a vorn or two by the time my parent's master decided to sell several of the sparklings his slaves had during the previous three vorns, and since I was seen as an unnecessary expense, I was lined up to be sold." The mech picked his mask and played with it for a moment. Prowl had the impression if he had the components for it, Wheeljack would be smiling.
"Sparklings, as you know, are often sold cheaper than developed younglings or adults. A sparkling in an investment and they require regular upgrades, education, constant maintenance. And defective sparklings like myself sometimes barely manage to cover the expenses of their Protoforms when sold." Wheeljack raised the mask and tapped it with a finger. "My former master had this mask made for me in order to cover my defect and be able to ask a higher price for me."
"And that's how the slagger ended up in Red Alert's crutches." Ironhide interrupted and shot a cocky smile to his friend.
"More or less, yes." Wheeljack set the mask aside and reached for his can of energon. "Red Alert was looking for a sparkling to keep company to his own sparkling, your uncle, Ratchet."
"Ratchet was just a couple of mega cycles younger than Wheeljack, so he worked perfectly for what Red Alert intended."
"Who is telling this story, 'Hide? You or me?"
"Sorry!"
Prowl smiled a little, watching the way the other 'bots interacted, he could tell they had been friends for a long time and they held each other in very high regards.
"Anyway, Red Alert took me with him and I was pretty much Ratchet's company, since the other slaves Red Alert owned were too old." The engineer put the tube back in his throat, interrupting his tale for a few kliks. "See, Red Alert was rising in the ranks around the Tower, and he was spending more time there than at home, and he didn't want to leave Ratchet all alone. Here's, a little known fact, despite all the stories other mechs tell about Red Alert, he was one hell of a lovin' father for Ratchet."
"Over protective to the core, I tell ya," Ironhide muttered.
"Well, he's his only child, 'Hide, he only wanted to make sure Ratchet was hooking with the right mech." Wheeljack laughed and reached for his mask to put it back on. "And that brings us back to the question of how these two met each other."
Wheeljack turned his attention back to Prowl and leaned against his chair once more. "Red Alert actually spared nothing at Ratchet's and my education, and we were both sent to the best learning centers in Iacon. We were younglings around the time Ratchet found out about my 'little' secret." Wheeljack tapped a finger to his mask. "Ratchet decided then he wanted to become a medic so he could fix me."
"Which Wheeljack never let him do, anyway."
"Ironhide if you don't stop interrupting me..." Wheeljack shot a glare to his friend. Ironhide raised his hands up to placate the engineer, and Prowl couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Where did we leave? Oh, that's right. Ratchet worked hard to be accepted in the medical branch of the Cybertronian Academy, and Red Alert had discovered I was a bit of a mad scientist and inventor, and introduced me to Sentinel Prime's son, Optimus. Guess you can tell what happened afterwards."
Prowl nodded, "Lord Optimus found your skills impressive and offered you a sponsorship to attend the Academy and make you a noble under his wing."
"Smart mech." the engineer chuckled and his head fins flashed in amusement. "I accepted it, obviously, but since we were going after different specialties Ratchet and I were literally thrown to the opposite sides of the Academy's facilities. That's where I met my room mate." Wheeljack pointed his thumb in Ironhide's direction.
"Can I talk now?" Ironhide asked, quirking an optic ridge.
"Go for it!"
"After a few orns Ratchet found the time to seek Wheeljack, an' he introduced us."
"It was love at first sight!" Wheeljack laughed, ignoring Ironhide's glare. "Of course, I saw it before these two even caught up on their feelings, and I had to arrange some convenient meetings between the two."
Ironhide huffed half heartedly, "He was short of locking us in a closet until we'd interfaced at the very least!"
"Hey, not my fault you two were so dense to realize how much you wanted to be with each other," the engineer shrugged but his fins were flashing a bright, amused blue. "The tough part after that was get Red Alert to accept Ironhide courting his one and only sparkling."
The engineer then turned back to look at Prowl, and the younger mech could tell he was enjoying the chance to re-tell these stories, "Ratchet had to throw a fit of titanic proportions at Red to stop pestering Ironhide with accusations and interrogations about his intentions towards his boy."
"Ya were a little sparklin' around that time, remember?" Ironhide turned to look at his nephew fondly. "I remember when Ratchet was here to visit you'd run up to him and called him 'uncle Hashet'."
Prowl rubbed the back of his neck, shifting a little in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. "He always had energon treats for me."
"That he did. As for your question of how I found out Ratchet was the mech for me..." The primarily red mech drawled and brought a hand to his face, brushing a finger to his lip components, pondering carefully his next words. "I think partly the way he interacted with you, I saw him spoilin' my little nephew and then becoming Bluestreak's medic, I could feel in my spark I wanted to spend the rest of my existence with him, and maybe one day form a family with him."
Prowl pondered his uncle's words carefully, trying to come to some conclusion he could apply to his attraction to Jazz. After a breem of silence, the black and white mech asked, "Weren't you afraid he'd reject you?"
Wheeljack arched an optic ridge and looked back at his friend, Ironhide. Ironhide shook his head and vented a heavy sigh. "Yes, I was, Prowl. But as I told you before, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If ya really feel for someone, ya gotta let 'em know."
Prowl sighed heavily, despite Ironhide's words he couldn't shake away his fears. Jazz was such an interesting and charming being, everyone liked him, he was talented, a great performer, definitely good looking, vibrant, full of life and excitement.
Prowl, in comparison, had nothing to offer to the object of his desires, he didn't have the charismatic presence of his father, or the youngling-like charm of his brother. He didn't have the strong and regal demeanor of his mother, nor the gruff but gentlebot ways of his uncle. Prowl felt he was just too boring to interest Jazz.
"I think I better go, uncle Ironhide, I had other things to attend to. Thank you for your time." The younger mech stood up and bowed politely to Wheeljack and Ironhide before he left the room.
Ironhide watched him go and rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily and, in Wheeljack's opinion, sadly.
"Confidence issues, huh?" Wheeljack asked softly.
"You have no idea, 'Jack." The red mech smiled a little to his friend. "He's a good mech, 'Jack, but sometimes I wish his slaggin' logic would stop telling him he's not good enough for Ja-- er, the one he has feelings for."
"You mean Jazz." the engineer tapped a finger on Ironhide's desk. "I can see why he'd feel he's not good enough. I mean, Jazz is just one of the most popular performers out there, I bet he feels he has to compete against half of Cybertron's population or something."
Ironhide stared at his friend for a moment and something clicked in his CPU. "I think, 'Jack... that's exactly what he thinks."