We Dont Have Tomorrow
Submitted this to the mecha_erotica July Challenge after I missed the deadlines for both the May AND the June entries. Got lucky that I got to use the June challenge theme for the Redux Challenge XD. Thanks due to bittereloquent and wyntir_rose for getting me to finally finish it on time!
Rating: R
Pairing: Prowl/Jazz
Word count: 5,850
Author's notes: TF Animated. Warnings for slight bondage. Takes place between the events for episode 19.
We Dont Have Tomorrow
“You’re leaving?” Prowl stared in disbelief and dismay, across the small space between them, at the other ninja-bot.
Jazz sighed and looked away. “Commander’s orders. Since we can't find any more Decepticons on this planet, Magnus said we’ve wasted enough time here.”
“Are you starting to doubt us, too?” Prowl crossed his arms.
Jazz looked back up. “It ain’t like that at all. I don’t have any reason to believe you’d lie, but Magnus and Sentinel - they outrank me, and an order’s an order.”
“And Starscream wasn’t enough proof? Why give us the stasis cuffs then?”
“I don’t know. I wish I did, I wish I had some kinda explanation for you, but I don’t alright? My commander ain’t like your Prime, he doesn’t always look at the needs of an individual bot ‘cause he’s got a whole faction t’run, not just four other mechs.” Jazz took a step back. “Look, I just came here t’say goodbye, see if you needed anythin’ else. Guess I ain’t needed here at all, so goodbye.”
The mech spun on his heel and headed to the door, unwilling to let the other see the look of hurt and disappointment that crossed his face.
“Jazz…”
He paused.
“You’re going to walk away,” Prowl asked, letting his arms drop to his sides. “Just like that?”
“I don’t know what else I’m supposed t’say to you.”
“I don’t want us to part like this, with animosity.”
“You think I want to?”
“What we shared, I just want you to know it meant a lot to me. I’m not sure if it meant anything to you.”
Jazz’s shoulders slumped forward just a bit. “It meant everything,” he said softly.
Prowl sighed and came up behind him. “Wait. Don’t go yet.” He touched a shoulder. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t right for me to take it out on you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jazz quirked a lop-sided smile. “I’ll probably be back before you know it.”
“Do you have some time before your shuttle leaves?”
Jazz inclined his head. “I have a few hours.”
It amused Prowl how quickly the mech had picked up Earth terminology - amongst other things - from his short stay on the planet. Too short if Prowl had anything to say about it. By the Allspark, but he was going to miss him.
“Then follow me.” He took Jazz’s hand and led him out of the plant.
“Okay, but… where are we going?” Jazz asked.
Prowl released his hand and faced him. “Somewhere we can say goodbye properly.” Then he transformed and started to drive off.
Jazz stared after him for a moment, then transformed and followed.
=====
The small tanker docked at the pier of the strange island Prowl had brought them to, and as they both jumped to dry land, Jazz took a moment to look around him. This was the most forest he’d seen since coming to Earth and it fascinated him that some of the trees were capable of growing even taller than him.
As Prowl led him further inland, he heard birds singing and stopped for a moment to listen to the various melodies and tunes they were producing. Prowl indulged him, wanting to let him experience as much of this planet as he could before he left.
“This place is amazing,” Jazz said. “I can see why ya like it so much. Though… I’m a bit confused as to why my scanners are also pickin’ up Allspark energy signatures.”
“Those would be the Dinobots,” Prowl replied.
“Sentinel mentioned he was attacked by a bunch of savage primitives while he was here.”
“And do you believe him?”
“About as much as I believe Starscream’s as harmless as a cyber-kitten,” Jazz said.
Prowl smiled. “They wont disturb us as long as we don’t hassle them.”
“Ah, well that’s good then. Wouldn’t want them to interrupt anything or such.”
“Indeed. Shall we go on?”
“Lead the way.” Jazz gestured to the path before them, then let his hand subtly brush Prowl’s hip as he lowered it.
Prowl shot him a glance, but said nothing. Instead he turned and continued deeper into the forest, slightly more aware of Jazz’s presence beside him now, and that the white-and-black’s attention was no longer on the birds and the bees - literally speaking - even though Jazz’s expression betrayed nothing.
They walked quietly for a while more until Jazz stopped abruptly. Prowl only realized it once he’d walked a few more steps and didn’t hear the sound of Jazz’s tread with his own. He halted and looked back to see Jazz standing with a slight frown on his face, one hand on a hip.
“What’s the matter?” Prowl asked.
Jazz looked at him. “Are we stalling?”
“Stalling? I don’t understand…”
“To get this goodbye over with. I don’t exactly have all the time in the universe right now, and the longer you keep trying to search for this perfect spot of yours…”
“The less time we’ll have. I see.”
“Exactly. So can we just…” Jazz spread his hands and shrugged.
“I only wanted it to be something you’d remember,” Prowl said.
Jazz took a couple of steps towards him. “What matters is the mech I’m saying goodbye to. I couldn’t care less about the place.”
Prowl smirked a bit. “So would you rather we did it in Bumblebee’s room?”
“Very funny.” Jazz reached him and poked his shoulder. “Now can we get on with it?”
The black-and-gold tsked. “Patience is the virtue of a true martial arts master. Didn’t they teach you that in Metallikato training?”
“I called in sick for that class. Had a bad case of scraplets.”
“The class was about the value of patience and stillness.” Prowl moved behind him and placed his hands on the mech’s shoulders. “Perhaps I should teach you about them since you missed the class.”
Jazz smiled, then proceeded to flip the black mech over his shoulder. Prowl twisted in mid-air so as to land on his feet, only to find Jazz’s arm wrapped around his waist as the white mech gently tackled him onto his back. Straddling his hips, Jazz smirked down at him.
“Perhaps I should teach you about the Art of Improvisation. Circuit-Su lesson 935.”
Prowl snorted. “You made that up.”
“That’s why its called improvisation. And alright I’ll give it to ya, the real lesson was Diffusion 404.”
Jazz backed off and stood, holding out a hand to Prowl to help him up. Prowl reached up and took hold of his forearm instead, using it as leverage to pull himself to his feet. Jazz smiled knowingly and moved to release him. Prowl used this moment of lax to pulled him closer and kiss him soundly, smirking at Jazz’s muffled sound of surprise. Releasing him a moment later, the black mech stepped back.
“Circuit-Su lesson 015: the Moment of Surprise,” he said.
Jazz laughed. “Alright then. So now that we’re warmed up, care to take this action a step further? Or have we not reached your place of Zen and peace yet?”
Prowl shook his head. “C’mon you.”
He took the white hand in his and led him a couple of paces, trying not to listen to the voice in his head that told him that this was the one mech he could truly be himself with and not feel like an outcast or failure, and that he really shouldn’t be letting him go.
Oh yes, he thought bitterly. He should just hide him here on this island like he did with the Dinobots. If it worked out as well as that plan had, they’d be lucky to be only court-marshaled and locked away somewhere, as opposed to himself being permanently deactivated for kidnapping an Elite Guard officer.
“Prowl?” Jazz’s voice sounded in his audio receptors.
The black mech sighed and tried to squash down the depressing thoughts that threatened to weigh down on his already less-than-chipper mood. He could mope later. It was then that he realized he’d gone a little farther than he’d intended, and he had an almost vice-like grip on Jazz’s hand.
“I’m sorry.” He loosened his grip. “I was just -.”
Jazz squeezed his hand gently. “I know. I think I feel the same.” He drew Prowl closer to him. “Part of me… if I’d known this was going to happen, I’d never have volunteered to come.”
“Oh.” Prowl couldn’t meet the other mech’s visor.
“The other part of me… wishes I had more time to come up with a way to make me stay here longer.” There was a ‘with you’ at the end of the sentence that Jazz left unspoken.
“Jazz…”
“Prowl… let it be. There are some things that are beyond our power to control, an’ this is one of ‘em.” He wrapped his arms loosely around Prowl’s neck.
“I…”
“Hush.” Jazz placed a finger to his mouth. “Let’s just do what we came here to do. No more stallin’ alright? Time’s a-wastin’ and once it’s gone, there’s no gettin’ it back.”
Prowl nodded. “Alright.”
“Good. Now c’mere.”
Jazz leaned closer and gently pressed his mouth to Prowl’s in a soft kiss that Prowl returned as he backed the white mech off the path and further into the foliage. As Jazz pulled back a little, Prowl closed the rest of the distance and kissed him again, tilting his head to the side a bit to capture his mouth more fully, sighing contently when he felt Jazz’s mouth move against his.
Prowl dipped Jazz, starting to lower the other mech until Jazz finally lay on his back on the lush, springy grass. Prowl leaned over him and kissed him again, making a sound of approval when Jazz bent a knee and pressed it against his hip while deepening the kiss at the same time.
As Jazz reached up to touch him, Prowl hitched in a sharp breath of air and broke the kiss, optics dimming behind his visor just that little bit. He dropped his head to Jazz’s shoulder with a soft clang.
“I don’t… I don’t know if I can do this,” he said.
“It’s alright,” Jazz said.
“Doing this would mean that it’s all coming to an end, and after it’s over we have to go back there and I have to watch you get on that ship…” Prowl raised his head to look at Jazz. “It is?”
Jazz nodded. “Yeah.” He nuzzled the side of Prowl’s helm. “We can do whatever you want. We can lie here and just cuddle and talk, if that’s what you feel like doin’.”
“I’d like that,” Prowl replied. He shifted off Jazz and nestled against his side, pillowing his head on Jazz’s shoulder with a sigh. “I’m going to miss this. I’m going to miss you.”
“Shh. Don’t do this to yourself Prowl,” Jazz said. “Don’t go to pieces in front of me, I wouldn’t know how to put you back together.” He nuzzled the black mech. “You’re a strong mech, you’re gonna be fine.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Jazz gently raised the other’s head and looked him in the optics, smiling a little sadly. “You’ve got friends here who care for ya. Maybe I don’t know them like I know you, but…” He sighed. “I can see it. They ain’t the type t’let ya sink so low that ya can't be pulled out again.”
“It’s not the same. They’re not you.”
“No, but they care for ya all the same. Maybe not like I do, but in their own way. Maybe they care for ya more, since they’ve known you a lot longer than I have.” Jazz kissed him lightly. “Don’t shut yourself away. Let ‘em help you when I’m gone. They’ll help ya get through it.”
Prowl looked down at the white mech and cupped his cheek. “And who’s going to help you?”
Jazz gave a little shrug, and Prowl noted the sad smile grew just the little bit sadder.
“I’ll be fine,” he said.
“Liar.”
“Guess you’re right. S’why you should appreciate what you’ve got here, with those mechs and that li’l girl.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Do I need to?” Jazz asked.
“I suppose not.” Prowl looked away.
“Hey… knowing you’ll be okay. That’s help enough.”
“Picked up romance movies during your stay here, too, have you?”
“You know me. I’m fascinated by bright and shiny things.”
“Which begs the question, how the slag did you end up being a cyber-ninja?” Prowl knew it was blatant change of subject.
Jazz laughed a little. “I got lucky.” He ran a finger down Prowl’s nose. “And I got style, baby.”
“A bit too much style maybe.”
“Aww… not jealous are you?”
“No. It suits you.”
“Thank you.”
“Jazz…” Prowl kissed him.
Jazz kissed him back. “Hmm…?”
“I think… I love you.”
“Think I love you, too.”
“Can we try once more, for old times’ sake?”
“Anything you want, lover.”
=====
The afternoon sun began its slow but steady decent towards its western horizon, and cast bright beams that reflected off the plating of the two mechs in the little clearing, as they lay tangled up together. Flashes of white, flashes of black as the two alternated positions on top of each other.
Prowl straddled Jazz’s hips as the white mech lay on his back, hands above his head and wrists bound together with the electro-cord of one of his own weapons. One of Prowl’s hands held his arms down, and he arched with a moan as the other hand trailed a length of burning pleasure down his torso till it reached the little red arrow just above his groin.
A finger traced the shape and the two lines of red above it, and Jazz found himself moaning again, engine revving as Prowl leaned in to capture his mouth for the umpteenth time that session. He kissed back hungrily as his hands struggled to free themselves from their bonds so he could touch the other mech back.
“You really did miss that class on patience didn’t you?” Prowl asked in a husky murmur against Jazz’s audio receptor.
“Told ya.”
“Then this is perhaps a good chance for you to learn it. You’ll have your chance again once I’m done with you.”
Jazz shivered at the tone. “Gonna make me remember you, huh?”
“Of course. Can't have you thinking of other mechs while you’re away.”
He shifted lower on Jazz’s body to nuzzle under the mech’s chest bumper, then left gentle kisses along his upper torso, while the fingers of the hand pinning Jazz’s arms down stroked lightly along his wrists. He heard the white mech sigh his name as the points of his chevron lightly scraped the underside of the bumper, and felt him writhe as mouth moved lower.
“Mmm… Prowl…” Jazz’s visor grew darker as he moaned this.
“Do not move your arms,” Prowl instructed as he released Jazz’s hands so as to move his head lower. “If you do so, I will cease to continue.”
“No moving arms, got yaaa.. aaahh…” Jazz moaned yet again, louder, as he felt Prowl’s mouth caress the arrow, and he twisted his body to try and increase contact.
Prowl obliged him, nuzzling, nipping and kissing the area, tactile sensors in his hands feeling Jazz’s systems reaching their limit, the mech’s mewls and whimpers of passion egging him on. He kissed the arrow again and sucked lightly on the lower point as his hands moved to Jazz’s legs and began to stroke the underside of his thighs and knees. Occasionally he broke off from the arrow to place kisses and nips on his inner thighs, relishing in the noises they made Jazz make.
Then, just when Jazz thought he wouldn’t be able to take anymore, a sequence of kisses and suckles on the arrow finally pushed him over the edge, eliciting a cry of release and relief as excess energy surged up from that spot and rippled through his body in waves of crackling blue sparks.
As his fans worked furiously to cool his systems, Jazz finally managed to free his wrists, and in the next instant sat up and lunged for Prowl, using his slightly heavier weight to throw the black mech down and twist him onto his front before the cycle-bot even knew what had happened. The next thing Prowl knew was that his own hands were tied behind him and there was a weight pinning him to the grass.
“My turn now,” Jazz leaned forward and growled into his audio. “And I’m going to make sure you never forget me.”
Prowl shivered at the voice, only vaguely aware of his shoulder fins and jets sticking up and exposed to the air, and Jazz. Vague awareness soon turned to hyper awareness as Jazz’s hands found and fondled those parts, groping, stroking and caressing their surfaces with steady, determined fingers.
“By the Allspark… Jazz…”
“Yes, lover?” Jazz purred.
“S’not enough… need more, please…”
“You sure you were paying attention in that class?” the white mech chuckled huskily as he settled comfortably with Prowl’s slender body between his knees. He could hear Prowl’s vents cycling air furiously and knew the black mech hadn’t been completely unaffected by his release. “Sometimes they’re a little overrated, aren't they?” He lightly kissed the tip of a fin.
“Yes..” Prowl moaned, but neither could have been sure to what he was responding to - the question or the touch.
Jazz didn’t care either way, stroking the broad panel of the fin with his hand while he used his mouth on the tip - kissing, nipping and suckling - much like Prowl had done to his arrow. His other hand caressed the mech’s spinal strut and reached around to stroke the sides of the small windshield that was now pressed to the grass.
Prowl wriggled with a groan as sensors relayed the feelings to his processor. He sighed when Jazz finally let up on the fin, then moaned again when he felt the mech’s mouth close over the other. Tingles ran up from his front as Jazz’s fingers sensuously tickled the headlights on his chest and he bit down on his lower lip to keep from screaming in passion.
This was torture. A good torture, but torture nonetheless, made all the worse by the fact that his hands were literally tied and he couldn’t touch Jazz back. Not that he hadn’t done so enough just a moment ago, but that was besides the point. The sharp little nips alternated with the soft kisses and gentle sucking action created a potent pleasure-pain cocktail that was topped off with the touches to his lights, and had his systems racing.
“Jazz… nngh… Jazz, please…” He was whimpering, he realized.
“Patience, darlin’,” Jazz teased. “We’re almost there.”
There was a moment of respite when Jazz moved off his fins and headlights, but this was short-lived when he felt both of the white mech’s hands on his, moving over closer to the lightbars on his forearms. This time it was Prowl who squirmed and mewled as deft fingers firmly groped and fondled the bars till the black mech was a quivering heap on the grass.
And suddenly, Jazz’s mouth was on his fins again. Coupled with a quick thrust of Jazz’s hips against the back edge of Prowl’s cycle-seat and a firm stroke on his light bars, it was enough to push Prowl into his own climax. A loud cry escaped his vocaliser as his body rode the waves of crackling blue energy that surged over him and kicked his cooling fans into overdrive.
Through the fog in his processor, he felt his hands released and he raised himself up on his elbows as Jazz leaned forward to kiss him. Carefully, still keeping contact with Jazz’s mouth, he turned onto his back and the two spent a good while exchanging soft, passionate kisses, basking in the afterglow of a good long session of interfacing until at last Jazz pulled away.
“It’s time to go,” he murmured softly.
=====
Prowl stood with the other four Autobots, Captain Fanzone and Sari in front of the large shuttle that was fired up and waiting to take the three Elite Guard officers back to Cybertron. He’d carefully schooled his expression to resemble that of a rock - calm, steady, firm - hoping it didn’t betray the tumult of emotions he was feeling inside. He glanced at Jazz, who stood just a few steps away from the little group.
The Elite Guard ninja looked as expressionless as he did, as he watched Ultra Magnus give Optimus Prime some last-minute instructions. Sentinel stood further away from them, by the bottom of the ship’s ramp, obviously eager to be off. Prowl felt sorry for Jazz. The white mech was right, at least Prowl had the other Autobots to talk to. Jazz himself had no one. Somehow the black mech couldn’t see either Magnus or Sentinel offering Jazz any comfort or a friendly audio.
Jazz caught and held Prowl’s gaze for a moment, and offered him a smile that didn’t quite reach his optics. It almost made Prowl want to go over to him, wrap him up in a hug and never let him go. Well, maybe he couldn’t do the last two, but he could at least go over to him.
Ignoring some of the looks the others gave him, he went and stood beside Jazz, carefully entwining his fingers with the other’s. Jazz gently squeezed his hand in a silent gesture of thanks.
“You’ll be okay,” he murmured to Prowl.
“Here…” Prowl held out a tiny device. “I know you have speakers in your quarters. Bumblebee and Sari helped to download the music for you. Just a little something to remember Earth by and get you through the long journey.”
Jazz picked up the small music player from Prowl’s open palm. “Thanks.”
“You will be, too… okay, that is.”
The white mech squeezed his hand again. “Keep an optic on the stars.”
Prowl looked at him curiously.
“One of them might be me,” Jazz explained. “Coming to find you again.”
The black mech couldn’t help but chuckle at Jazz’s attempt at cheesy romance lines. “I’ll watch every night,” he replied. “You be careful out there.”
“You be careful down here.” The white mech’s expression turned serious. “Don’t take the Decepticons lightly. They mean business, and underestimating ‘em will only leave you scrapped. Don’t let that be you.”
“I know,” Prowl replied. “I did fight Decepticons before you arrived, you know.”
“Yeah yeah, so you say.” Jazz’s tone was playful again, so Prowl knew not to take the comment to spark.
By this point, Ultra Magnus had finished talking to Optimus Prime and was turning to head into the shuttle. Sentinel had already boarded and was in the process of firing up the engines. Jazz reluctantly let go of Prowl’s hand as the commander turned to him and nodded, then turned away and headed up the ramp, expecting Jazz to follow suit. Jazz sighed and took one slow step away, then looked back at Prowl.
“Go on,” the black mech said, forcing a smile onto his face. “I mean it, you’ll be okay. I’ll wait for you.” He was acutely aware of the others watching them.
Jazz stepped back again and gently cupped Prowl’s face in his hands. “Stay safe, please,” he said. Then he leaned closer and pressed a quick, firm kiss to Prowl’s mouth. “For luck,” he murmured.
Prowl kissed him back, then reluctantly pushed him away. “Don’t keep your commander waiting.”
The white mech gave a bit of a wry smile as he walked backwards a few steps, blew a kiss to the black-and-gold ninja-bot, and waved to the others. Then he turned and trotted up the ramp into the ship. With a whirr of hydraulics, the ramp closed behind him and sealed itself shut.
Prowl let out a soft wince at the sound.
The shuttle started to lift off the ground and he watched as it took to the air, floating high above the buildings. Once it cleared the tallest of the skyscrapers, the boosters activated and the shuttle rocketed off towards the stratosphere.
“Farewell,” he murmured.
He continued to look at the sky even once the shuttle was out of sight and the others had turned away. He was vaguely aware of Prime saying goodbye to Captain Fanzone some distance away, and barely registered the slight tremors as Bulkhead came over and placed a large, comforting hand on his shoulder.
“He’ll be fine,” the green mech said. “And so will you. We’re here, if you wanna talk.”
Prowl’s shoulders drooped a bit, and he nodded. “Thank you.”
Bumblebee grinned and opened his mouth, only to have Ratchet’s large hand clamp across it. He flailed and quirked an optic at the medic.
“Mute it,” Ratchet said softly. “Now’s not the time for it.”
“Oh come on,” Bumblebee replied when Ratchet removed his hand. “I was only gonna say something to try cheer him up.”
Sari shook her head. “He’s hurting, Bumblebee. Leave him alone.” She looked over her shoulder at the black-and-gold. “Its not easy to lose someone you love.”
Prime meanwhile went over to join Bulkhead and Prowl, trying to think of some possible words of comfort to say to the younger mech without sounding pitiful or condescending. After all, it was his job as a leader to keep up the morale of the team and be there when one of them needed help - asked for or not.
“Take some time off, Prowl,” he said at last. “And remember, you have us.”
Prowl nodded again, gratefully. But who did Jazz have, he wondered…
=====
Jazz watched silently as the shuttle rose higher into the atmosphere and broke through, arms crossed over his chest. They were moving fast, too fast as far as he was concerned. He’d lost sight of Prowl a long time ago and now all he could see was the blackness of space that looked just about as empty as he felt. Beside him, Sentinel droned on about how glad he was to leave that back-water, rust-pit of a planet and the glitches that dwelt on it, and Jazz mentally tuned him out, trying to focus on more pleasant thoughts.
Memories of his short time on Earth filled his mind, and he allowed himself a little smile as he thought back to the moments he spent with the resident Autobot gang. They were a fun bunch to hang around, he’d found. None of the pretentious nonsense he got with Sentinel and some of the other Elite Guard, they were genuinely nice bots who liked him for who he was, not just because he was a martial arts master and had a certain high standing with Ultra Magnus.
He came to the rather unpleasant realization that he was going to really miss them. Not just the bots, but Sari and the other few humans he’d befriended as well. Mentally he shook his head. Way to get attached, Jazz, he told himself. To top it all off, he also had to go and fall in love. Yeah, real smart move, that one.
It wasn’t like he’d never had other admirers before - on the contrary, he’d had quite a few. Yet none of them intrigued him as much as Prowl did. The black-and-gold, he had this sense of unpredictability that somehow made Jazz’s circuits tingle with excitement, because he never knew what was going to happen next. Why the mech wasn’t in the Elite Guard along with him, Jazz wasn’t sure. Prowl had shown no interest in that group of mechs, and having witnessed Sentinel’s behavior for himself, he could sort of understand why.
“Well you’ve gone all quiet.” Sentinel was talking to him.
“Not all of us have the need to constantly hear our own voices in our audios every online moment,” Jazz replied a little testily.
Sentinel quirked an optic ridge. “What’s gotten into you?”
Jazz didn’t look at him. “The sound of a mech who doesn’t know when to give his vocaliser a rest.”
He didn’t care if he sounded uncharacteristically short-tempered. He was annoyed and a little depressed and the last thing he needed was this pompous gas-bag needling him. Though he should have realized that the other Prime wasn’t drafted into the Elite Guard for his intelligence or great sense of empathy. If there was ever such a thing as bull in the china shop, as the human saying went, Sentinel was epitome of it. Somehow his ninja-sense - and he silently giggled at the term Sari had used on him and Prowl once - told him that Sentinel just wouldn’t get the hint and back down.
“Turbo-fly crawl up your tailpipe and die or something?” Ah, there it was. “Did it happen to be a black-and-gold one?”
Jazz’s visor visibly darkened. “Drop it or regret it, Sentinel.”
“So that’s the problem. You’re all torn up about leaving those losers behind,” the mech scoffed. “Well I say good riddance. They live with an organic for crying out loud. An organic! If you ask me, they should just keep it in a jar instead of letting it roam loose like that to contaminate the rest of us.”
The white mech bristled, and clenched his hands around the arm-rests of his seat to keep him from lunging at the other mech’s fuel-lines. “I said, leave it alone. Are your audios so full of yourself that you’re incapable of processing anything else?”
Sentinel steamrolled over his words. “I’m kinda surprised at you, Jazz, I mean… that black and gold one is the worst of the lot when it comes to organics. He actually keeps a whole bunch of them in his room from what I’ve heard. You’ve probably been in there, is it true?”
“It’s frankly none of your slagging business,” Jazz muttered.
“Oh don’t be like that. You haven't really fallen for some glitched-out, third-rate repair bot have you?” Sentinel asked. “’Cause it’d be a shame if you’ve lowered your standards that much, and for a mech like that one.”
Jazz was out of his seat with a nunchuck pressed to Sentinel’s neck in a flash of blurred white. “Y’know, for someone who talks so much about standards,” he growled out, noting with satisfaction that Sentinel tensed. “You don’t seem to have any of your own. Now take that back.”
Sentinel narrowed his optics. “Back off, ninja-bot, or I’ll have you thrown in the brig for the rest of the journey back to Cybertron, and you can keep that Decepticon freak company.”
“You can try, but what’s your guarantee that the brig will hold me?” Jazz’s visor flashed briefly.
Fortunately, before things could escalate any further, Ultra Magnus’ voice boomed softly over the bridge.
“Stand down! Both of you!” He frowned at the two mechs, and Jazz backed off Sentinel, folding his weapon back into his arm compartment as the other rubbed his neck where the electro-cord had cut in slightly. “Jazz, please conduct yourself with the proper behavior befitting an Elite Guard officer. I would hate to give your training master on Cybertron a bad report of your conduct seeing as how you’ve had a spotless record so far.”
“Probably got the grease-flunky’s dirt smudges on it by now,” Sentinel muttered.
“Oh will ya just leave it alone? You’re soundin’ like one of those backed-up trash bots.”
Sentinel moved to get up. “Why you little… I ought to-.”
“Enough!” Magnus boomed, a little louder this time. “Sentinel Prime, the Earthlings have a phrase: if you have nothing nice to say, it’s best not to say anything at all. I suggest you use the rest of the journey to fully contemplate any and all possible meanings of it. Jazz…”
“Commander,” Jazz carefully cut him off. “When we get back to Cybertron, I’d like to put in for a request to transfer to Earth, and help with the Decepticon threat there. I know we have Blurr stationed as an undercover agent, but it may be good to have a recognized Elite Guard officer there, too, incase they need backup.”
Magnus gazed at him for a good long moment, then shifted ever so slightly. “I will take it under consideration.”
“Thank you, sir. Permission to retire to quarters for the time being.”
“Permission granted.”
=====
Prowl stood on the roof of the plant and looked up at the dark night sky. One hand rested at his side, the other was placed lightly over his chest. Pits, this was miserable. Jazz had only been gone a few hours and already he was pining for the mech he had no idea he would ever see again.
A slight tremor rippled across the surface of the roof, indicating the presence of Bulkhead, and Prowl glanced at the green mech as he came and stood beside him.
“If he loves ya, he’ll find a way to come back to ya. And if he can't, well at least you’ll know he loved ya,” Bulkhead said after a moment, placing a large hand on Prowl’s shoulder.
The black mech patted it with his own. “I know. I just miss him… and I worry for him. Space can be a dangerous place, and they have a Decepticon on board.”
“Eh, he managed without your help before, he’ll manage without your help now,” Bulkhead replied bluntly. “Besides, he’s probably more worried about you considering we have at least half a dozen Decepticons on this planet.”
“It doesn’t make me fear for him any less. He could die tomorrow, and I wouldn’t know.”
The larger mech gave him a bit of a gentle shake. “Nah. I’ve been around you long enough to know you ninja-bots are slagging hard to kill.”
Prowl smiled a little at that. “That we are…. Thank you.”
“You’ll see him again. I’ll bet Bumblebee’s turbo boosters on it.”
=====
Jazz stood at his window within his quarters, looking down at the black of space in the direction they’d come from Earth. Slag, but it hurt like a Decepticon laser blast leaving that mech behind, and they still had a long way to go before they reached Cybertron so he could apply for the transfer.
Sighing, he withdrew the tiny music player Prowl had given him and plugged it into his internal headphones, smiling when the music filled his audio receptors. Prowl hadn’t been stingy, filling the device with songs from almost every genre in existence and even those that didn’t exist anymore.
He wouldn’t deny he was afraid of leaving the mech and his little gang behind on a planet that was possibly swarming with Decepticons, and if Prowl got into trouble tomorrow, there was no way he would know until it was far too late.
“I’ll find a way to come back to ya,” he murmured to the darkness outside.
Placing a hand to the glass, he smiled a little to himself.
Prowl may not have finished his training, but Jazz was willing to wager Sentinel’s shield that the black ninja-bot was slagging hard to kill.
“See ya soon, Prowl.”
~END
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Movie Jazz/Bee fans, look out for a new installment of gasp! The Blues and the Bees.