A Vision Softly Creeping [fic post]
Title: A Vision Softly Creeping (Part 3 of 4)
Authors: toyzintheattik , karanseraph
'Verse: tf_ic_prompts, TFA
Characters: TFA Lockdown, TFA Slipstream, TFA Yoketron, A tribal village chief, a pair of tribal warriors
Rating: PG-13 (will change in later parts)
Notes: This story is based on the current plot happening with Lockdown and Slipstream in the tf_ic verse, but is being posted as a fic because it incorporates characters outside of the RP verse. Thank you mods for letting us post in this format.
continued directly from here.)
Slipstream was, quite awkwardly, silent for the moment.
Lockdown shifted uncomfortably, avoiding direct optic contact with elephantabot now in the room.
The chief observed, curious. The awkwardness of the situation did not elude his attention. He felt perhaps he should intervene. "What is this...fragment you speak of?"
"Piece a'the AllSpark," Lockdown answered, speaking more quickly than normal. "It can be broken up, and used to...heal, and grant life."
"Then," the chief reasoned, "that is exactly what we need. Do either of you have access to--
"We are not meddling with my shard!" Slipstream lifted her head and glared at the masked chief.
The seer was taken aback by her abruptness. The issue was clearly a sensitive one. "I gather you have a shard with you?"
"The shard's her version of a spark." Lockdown added hesitantly.
"Are you saying her shard could save you at the expense of her life?"
The hunter winced. "Not exactly."
At that, Slipstream straightened, lifting herself from Lockdown to kneel again at his side. Her lips pressed into a pout, and she gave no further answer.
The chief began suspecting the reason behind the awkwardness and quickly deduced the pair needed their privacy. "Perhaps," he rose from his kneeling position and made for the exit. "I should leave you to discuss this."
Lockdown waited for the chief to exit before speaking again. "Outta the question."
"If you are even suggesting what I suspect you are suggesting-"
"I'm not. And who's t'say it'd work anyway."
"Compatibility is not the first thing that should concern you!"
"Exactly. There ain't no way I wantcha to split yourself up."
"Just because Starscream does something does not mean-"
"Right, and look what it got him. A band a'lunatics who turned on him, present company excluded."
"That has nothing to do with this!"
"And bonding was ever part of our...deal, er partnership...love affair...thing.” Oh slag, I just dropped the b-bomb. “A-and I know where ya stand with that. I'm standing right there next to ya...not crowdin' or nothing, just...aw slaggit-to-the-pit,” he exvented wearily. “Let's just put the idea clean outta our processors and enjoy the little time we got left.”
Slipstream glanced toward the curtained doorway then laid herself down alongside Lockdown. She fixed him with a mild glare, warning, that he better not get the wrong idea. It just seemed like he could hold on a little longer if she - or the shard - stayed close. "No, let's forget enjoy, too! You want to bring up the partnership or love? Let's! You think I enjoy anything about you going and dying on me and depriving me of my partner in sparkache? My lover? You think I'm going to just go attach myself to someone else to get over you, the way I attached myself to you to get over Starscream? Like it's easy or convenient? How much of what I- what we went through together was actually easy or convenient?!"
Lockdown dimmed his optics. He didn't know what to say, at least not verbally. All he could offer was a hooked arm around her shoulders, tugging her flush to his chest. He intaked deeply, basking in her warmth once again. He didn't know how to make this any easier for her, and he certainly wasn't going to entertain the idea of a forced merge, no matter what his cursed instincts started learning toward. A merge would only mess everything up, even if he did survive it.
Humming a gritty purr, the hunter slid his other arm across her waist, hand splaying over her lower back. "You go attach yourself to someone else and I'll break outta the pit just t'hunt him down and strip him of every last plate, circuit and servo he got." He tightened his hold on her then pressed a kiss to her forehead, using the borrowed energy in the best way possible: to lovingly tease. "But in all seriousness, love, ya shouldn't kid yourself. You attached your fine aft to me 'cause I'm a good fraggin' dancer. Ol' Hot Wings wasn't the issue anymore after I twirled you 'round a couple times." He chuckled lightly, fingertips absently walking small dance steps on her back.
"I learned quick that day that I had you pegged wrong all along." Seriousness now deepened his tone. "Learned that you were so much more than a fairer mold a'that cocky son-of-a-glitch. You're one-of-a-fraggin' kind. Gal who takes matters into her own talons, by rant or by high water. Able to pull me from a slump I thought I was stuck in permanently." He vaguely realized he was rambling, but he didn't care. He wanted her to know exactly what she meant to him."I love you, Slipstream, and I always will so long as it's in my power. It ain't fair that it's gotta end like this..." He paused, taking another deep intake, feeling his life force weaken as each borrowed moment passed. "But as they say...all's fair."
Slipstream's shell was saying she missed him; from helm to heels, there wasn't a sign of fear that he was possessed or would dare raise a hand - or hook - against her. "Shut-up. What's not fair is you trying to be charming when I'm still mad at you! And don't you dare go offline before I say what I need to say to you! My point is there isn't going to be anyone else, you idiot! It takes more than a pretty pair of wings or a modded shell to be worthy of me! And I say you are worthy. I could have waited for another if I wanted. I might have had Starscream…or one of them. I might have found a smart political match and been consort to some high ranking member of the faction. I certainly could have- am powerful in my own right. And I chose you. I'm not some newly protoformed bot. I wasn't cloned yesterday. I'm my own bot, not restricted to some fate or choices predetermined by creator. I know this with certainty, now! I'm not some dim-spark dazzled by one twirl on the dance floor! My being your partner in sparkache didn't entitle you to even half of what I willingly gave you! I chose you, and you are insulting my choice by saying now 'it ain't fair it's gotta end like this' and 'I can't think of a better way to go'! The mech I love is relentless and would spit in the optic of Death herself! He would fight to stay with me! But you…you are suddenly all zen and at peace with dying! And, I hate you for that!"
"I--" He cut off, optics brightening rather stupidly. He had no clue what the frag to say. Where does one begin when the last of their life force is hanging on a change of spark that could very well save his spark, and allow him to be with his lover the way his instincts kept persisting he should be. "I AM relentless!" Defending his stubborn pride probably wasn't the best place to start, but at least it was a start. "And I spit in Death's eye many a'times. Pit, I spit in it, then gouged it out and stuck it on my trophy shelf!" He refused to let her keep thinking he was a defeatist. "And yanno, being zen ain't the same as givin' up. Master had been zen right before he died, 'cuz he knew it was his time--" He faltered, suddenly reminded of his vision and conversation with Yoketron."
"Lockdown...your spark is not ready to enter the Well."
"Well when will it be ready!? Th'spark else I gotta do?"
"Since when, has one of the strongest and most stubborn sparks I have ever met, been anticipating death as if it were some kind of trophy. Am I to understand that you are giving up?"
"I'm not giving up! There is a way, but..." He knew now exactly what he had to do. And it scared the slag out of him.
"What if--" He blurted, stumbling into this without any sort of plan. "Well, I mean, how bad would it be to start considering, hypothetically of course, the possibility of, yanno...'what ifs'." Lockdown cringed, cursing internally for demonstrating the finesse of a Terrorcon.
"That's your question??" Slipstream drew her head up to fix Lockdown with a glare. "And just what are we hypothetically discussing, Lover? Hacking up my shard as well as your spark? You looking for some kind of jump start from me? Or were you proposing something else?" Slipstream looked aside for a moment, purposely not looking directly at Lockdown as she continued, "Because if you were maybe suggesting some kind of permanent bond for the convenience of keeping you alive-!"
Oh slag oh slag, now she dropped the b-bomb. C'mon you old son-of-a-glitch, you can do this. "I ain't suggestin' we hack up your shard. Frag that frequency. It’s too risky." Say it, just fraggin' say it. "I mighta been suggesting...considering our options...'specially the one...the b--. The one ya just suggested." Lockdown winced. It didn't matter how long his old chassis has been around, how many galaxies he had traveled through, how many targets he's hit...none of that contributed to giving him any kind of game with a situation like this.
Slipstream's optics looked toward the curtain - likely wary of eavesdroppers - then tracked back to Lockdown's faceplate. "A bond? Don't try to make it…sound like my idea! You just said it wasn't part of our partnership! I…never even considered…that…well…not…until His Holiness started on about the power source…and…so…my system's only 85% extracted the relevant code from installation archives. But, I've got a fair idea from Starscream's memory data...and what others told me...how that kind of thing works. It might restore your spark…."
Lockdown listened intently, relieved that she wasn't bolting for the door. "Would that even work? A shard mixin' and mingling with a spark?"
"I feel like it will work...but it's not like I planned on it anytime soon! You do know all the problems it could cause? Being so attached to another bot! Our very lives intertwined?"
"So many problems." He sighed, fighting the rose-tinted urges presses him into this. "What if...we finally escape the Nexus, and go our separate ways. How the frag's a bond suppose work then?"
"At least we're from the same universe! I don't- What the frag kind of question was that? Are you more concerned that you'll no longer get benefits, or that I'll get between you and your bounty heads? Your career path really gonna lead you to keep me from resurrecting Starscream, or freeing my brothers from Autobot prison or generally taking advantage of the fact that the current Magnus is a cheeseball? No problems from me, if not. You come after my brothers and me; I'll do my best to stop you. Could be fun. Starscream you can have."
"Fair 'nuff." He nodded agreeably then shot her a wink. "Always thrill in the hunt." His smile waned quickly as the other foreseeable problems kept pressing at his cortex. "But what about our age difference? Trix you know as well as I do Death will be breakin' down my doors when you're still in your prime', and you'll be left with nothin' but a severed connection. I can't let that happen to you."
"You're an expert in restoration work. I trust you'd be willing to keep your chassis in shape for my sake."
She had a point there. Still, he had to cover all their bases. There had to be something they weren't considering. "Bonds destroy bots. I seen it first hand. Just recently saw a mech clinging...scraping for what was left of himself, afflicted by a broken bond. I don't wanna risk puttin' you through that. There's no guarantee an age-old dying spark and a raw AllSpark fragment would be compatible. What if a merge damaged ya?"
For all that their merging fields gave evidence of her love for Lockdown, and she'd been ranting about him wanting to live and be with her, Slipstream was radiating frustration, like there was something she was still not getting. "I know there are risks! Risks for the both of us! I didn't, yet, say I wanted to go and get myself bonded, just that I think it would work with my shard! Assuming you survive the actual merge…. But, maybe I'd be willing to take that risk for someone, under the right conditions! But, I'm not getting myself hitched to some mech who isn't absolutely sure who- what he wants, or is acting like a bond with me is a fate worse than death, or wants to bond just to save his life! "
"Which is it?" Now Lockdown became frustrated. "You accusin' me of not wantin to bond with ya, or wanting to bond with ya too much? I don't want to live enough for ya, and then I want to live too much? It's a might bit hypocritical of ya accusing me of not being sure what I want."
"Yes, well...that's because I'd be more unhappy without you, idiot! Just because I love you, and want you to live, and may have the power to keep you alive, doesn't mean I don't want to hear you say you want to bond with me, and not just hem and haw to the last pulse of your spark!"
Lockdown opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the right words before she spoke again.
"Because, the only dying you should be concerned about," Slipstream continued, "is the one if you don't fraggin do me the honor of proposing a bond to me formally, right now!"
He shut his mouth, silenced, then replayed her words back through his cortex, verifying he heard them right. She was serious. And despite all his fears, so was he. He wanted this. Especially knowing now that she was willing. His life would be intertwined with hers. And that didn't scare him. In fact, it did the complete opposite. It beckoned to him. He had followed his instincts his entire functioning. Why stop now? "Trixie," he smiled softly, "I want you more than life itself".
"Life itself is kinda the side-effect of being with me, at this point, Sugar." Slipstream returned the smile.
His smile broadened. He loved her logic. And he especially loved it when she called him Sugar. He brought the hook to her faceplates, caressing down a major seam then tracing over her neck, to that damaged, but lovingly polished choker she still wore. He made to speak, but was caught off guard by a jolt of cold shooting down his backstruts. The very last of his life force was flickering away. He managed to keep the hook looped through the choker, despite the paralysis overtaking the rest of his body, but his optics dimmed and colors faded. His voice dropped to a gritty and weak whisper, the words fighting to escape through the sincere painted smile. "Slipstream, my darlin'...Will ya bond with me?"
"Already hooked, Ghostrider."
(ooc: continues here in tf_ic_prompts2)