Saving Life - Chapter Twelve
As always, first I thank all the people who took the time to leave some feedback. You guys are the greatest! Now enjoy the final chapter of this story.
Part: 12/12+
Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom
Warnings: slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2
Pairings: Jazz/Prowl
Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=
Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech - you collect your answers of course.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^
Helpful Pointers:
Vorn - 83 years
Stellar-cycle - 7.5 months
Orn - 13 days
Joor - 8 hours
Breem - 6 minutes
Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second
Klick - 1 millisecond
"..." - Speaking
/.../ - Sparkbond speaking
glitchhead - idiot
Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.
And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.
Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.
And as luck had it, at last one 'bot already realized that there was someone else, besides Jazz and the seemingly rediscovered Prowl, who could give some answers. Bumblebee did not look at any of the mechs in question. Instead he stepped over to his human charge and kneeled down beside him, to offer his hand.
"Sam?" the yellow Camero asked simply.
His friend accepted the silent offer and allowed Bumblebee to raise him into the air. The young man grinned sheepishly before looking over at Prowl.
"Uhm, I am sorry that it's your protoform, not the one your friends should be used to," the human started. "But to erase what had been done to you, everything had to be taken down and the best way to reset things was to start at the beginning. That's why I used "Origin". Oh and one more thing. I have this feeling that a police car would be exactly the model you prefer for a new scan but... could you maybe not choose a Saleen this time? I have to admit, I was perfectly at ease with you because in your mech form it's easier to interpret how you act. However, I guess if I see you driving up looking like Barricade did at our first meeting, I might have a heart attack because it reminds me a bit too much of the chases we had."
Sam looked away, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. But Prowl was also looking away, not able to look the human in the eyes for the moment.
"I am sorry about what happened back then, Sam", the tactician told him sincerely. But the young man simply waved the apology away, a small smile on his lips.
"Oh don't worry about that, it's not your fault. After all, that was not you, wasn't it?"
"No, it was not", Prowl agreed, looking back to the human. "And for whatever you did here, I am very thankful. I do wonder though, could you use your power for Jazz as well? He's seriously injured, and I would feel a lot better to know that he is going to be alright."
Sam did not answer immediately. He looked over at Jazz, before his gaze returned to Prowl and everyone could see hesitation clearly written on his face.
"About that", he began slowly, "I am certainly willing to help Jazz, yes. It's just that it is still really difficult for me to handle all this and to be honest I don't think I've got enough energy left. I'm thankful I can still stand, to be honest my legs feel a bit wobbly."
"And you knew this would be the case", Prowl realized, feeling oddly calm, but he still could not help the disbelief that crossed his processor at the same time. "But if you were aware you could only help one of us, why did you not cure Jazz first? My looks are not life threatening and I would have survived some more orns or even stellar-cycles like that if I had to."
"But Jazz's injuries are no longer life threatening, Prowl", Sam explained softly. "Thanks to you, Jazz is at least stable and the rest Ratchet will be able to take care of."
The young man was quick to continue when he noticed that the tactician wanted to protest.
"No, listen to me! I spoke the truth when I told you that I found you to be different today. But I can also admit now that the Allspark was getting a lot more than what I would ever be able to grasp. It can feel, it senses things, and it tried to tell me that you've been wronged, that this is not how you were supposed to be. I listened to the Decepticons' talk, I witnessed the fight between you and the Autobots and I have to admit that I heard nearly all of what Jazz said before I made myself known to you. I... was considering healing Jazz at first, because the injuries still look quite serious. But after listening to your talk, the Allspark and I decided that for both your sakes it was far more important to do something about the trust and the hope you have lost.
"Yes, it is true that Megatron was resurrected and yes, the shell of the original Allspark was destroyed, but that does not mean its power is lost, that hope is lost. There is still hope, Jazz! I realized that it was finally time for me to stop hiding, out of fear what the Decepticons might do or what my friends would think of me. All these stupid assumptions that while offering my help, I still needed to hide the fact that I will never, ever be normal in any aspect again. That moment, when I heard you two talking, it was clear that hope is what you two needed most, even more than healing Jazz. And this is why I decided to change you back into the 'bot you are supposed to be while revealing my greatest secret."
Sam, still standing on Bumblebee's hand, fixed his eyes on the tactician's optics and a soft smile lifted the corner of his lips.
"Welcome to Earth, Autobot designated Prowl!"
"Prowl!" To everyone's surprise it was Sideswipe who voiced his thoughts before anyone else. "This really is Prowl! Oh Primus, damn the Decepticons!"
And before anyone could react the twin had run forward and enveloped the tactician in a crushing hug.
"Primus, Prowl I am sorry about what I said before", Sideswipe whimpered, faceplates buried into the protoform's shoulderplate. "I am so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't know."
"Of course you did not know", Prowl replied softly, awkwardly returning the hug with one hand, while the other was still busy steadying his tired mate. Through the bond the Autobot tactician could feel Jazz's satisfaction over the situation and the even the small feeling of triumph that he had been right and Sideswipe was indeed accepting Prowl right back. The twin was not even asking for more explanations how Barricade and Prowl could be one and the same.
Finally the twin seemed to remember where he was and he released the poor tactician from his grasp only to look over at Jazz.
"I am sorry about what I said to you as well, Jazz", Sideswipe offered. "Bee was right, I should have allowed you to explain before making judgements."
"Nyaa", the saboteur simply waved the frontliner away, an honest grin on his face. "Ya acted driven by th' facts ya saw. That's nothin' new for ya an' Ah cannot honestly fault ya. Besides ya were tryin' t' protect Prowl an' that alone 's reason enough for meh t' forgive ya."
Sidewipe optics glowed brightly for a moment with emotion before he nodded his head in thanks to the head of special ops.
"It's good to see you functioning, Jazz; really", he added and both, saboteur and tactician smiled softly first at Sideswipe, then over at Sunstreaker who had watched from the sideline, but inclined his head in agreement the moment their gazes met.
"It is good to see you functioning, too, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker", Prowl replied earnestly.
"All right, so this is really you, Prowl?" Ironhide was the next to ask, still a bit in shock. However, there was another 'bot who seemed to be not as shocked as to not noticed some questions that were still left unanswered.
"So what the pit happened here?" Ratchet asked while by now kneeling besides the injured Jazz to look him over. The commanding medical officer had finally had enough of the standing around and decided it was time to indulge in his duties as a medic, since the state Jazz was in still concerned him. Checking the saboteur for the severity of his injuries did not keep him from asking questions, however.
"I've seen a lot of strange things in my life and this war, but I certainly never believed there was a technique that involves glowing symbols that could change mecha with a scanned form back to their original protoform. And why the frag should I think Sam had any good reason to get himself involved? What in Primus name did you do anyway?"
All gazes, 'bots and human alike immediately fell on the young man still standing on Bumblebee's hand. Sam clearly shrunk just where he was and swallowed hard. Then he looked around. First at Bee, his friend, his guardian, who was watching him silently with bright, knowing optics. Then at the other Autobots and those of the human soldiers who knew the whole truth about the Allspark. Both factions were looking at him quite stunned. One exception seemed to be Optimus Prime, however. He looked thoughtful and even a bit like he was not all that amazed about what he was learning here. At least, everything besides the fact that Barricade turned out to be his own second in command.
Then there were Jazz and Prowl surrounded by the twins and a seething Ratchet. After both officers witnessed the power and results of the young man's efforts, it was a bit hard to surprise them any further. Especially since with the information they collected and the observations Jazz had made ever since the human's arrival, they already had their own suspicions. The only thing they did not expect was to see guilt and even fear in the young human's eyes.
But Sam acted bravely. No matter what he feared right now, he was determined to honour his promise to Jazz of answering questions - though technically this one was not asked by either Jazz or Prowl - and it was time to end the secrets he had successfully kept from his guardian til now anyway.
"Last year, as some of you remember, I suddenly started seeing symbols inside my head after I found and touched a splinter of the Allspark. Then, all that shit with the Decepticons and Egypt happened and I was so busy with that Matrix of Leadership-stuff, that I had no time to consider if the visions would stop after all was over or not. It turned out that it didn't stop. It just changed. Instead of receiving uncontrolled visions and having breakdowns, the symbols came in small, manageable shifts every now and then."
Sam stopped again and looked over at Optimus, his look apologetic.
"Sometime I finally realized that even at the beginning the Allspark was simply trying to communicate with me. Back then it was just an urgent message, that's why it caused me to go nearly crazy. And now that the important stuff was over, it simply kept trying to communicate but just in small waves, to hint at me but not overdo it. I realized that it seemed the only way to get something across was through these signs that I unfortunately could not read. That's why I decided to go to you, Optimus and asked if you could teach me the language of the Primes."
"And teach you I did", the leader of the Autobots confirmed, not sounding angry or upset, as Sam had feared he might. "And you learned well. In less than two stellar-cycles you were able to read and write every character I could ever teach you. By then I already suspected that the influence of the Allspark had not left you, Sam. But as you obviously had not talked to anyone about it I thought it was best to leave you alone and wait til you came to one of us on your own."
"Oh", Sam looked at Optimus with wide, surprised eyes. "I did not know that. Well... I guess thank you for that, then. And I'm sorry that it took me so long to finally start talking."
He looked back over to the now more or less patiently waiting mecha and humans, knowing there were still missing parts of his explanation.
"Well, after I learned the language and was able to read what the Allspark sent me, it started to more or less talk to me. I received ideas, information and comments sometimes and it also explained how the hell I happened to end up with it in first place and how all of the sudden I started to even understand the mecha around me when you guys spoke in your creation language."
"Slaggit you understood when Sunny and I made fun of your plans of surprising your girlfriend with this candle light dinner two weeks ago?" Sideswipe could not help but burst out in surprise when he realized the consequences of what Sam just told them. "No wonder you looked so sour every time we came into your range or view."
Sam could not help but grin after Sideswipe's inquiry.
"Oh you seem to have forgotten the fact that you tend to plan your newest pranks surrounded by human because you, of course, assume that they do not understand you anyway", he pointed out, eyes glinting with amusement. The twins looked at each other, before Sideswipe groaned and asked suspiciously.
"You are not planning to rat us out or blackmail us, Sam, are you?"
"Mmmh, I will have to think about what I'll do with the information", Sam joked. This was immediately met with protests.
"Oh no!" Prowl denied with bright glowing optics. "If any of the plans have not been put into action by the time I am back on duty I want to know EVERYTHING."
This caused Sideswipe to look at the second in command incredulously while Jazz started to snicker.
"Don't expect his attitude t' have changed too much, Sides", the saboteur grinned at the twin.
"Well, that will have to take time", Ratchet interrupted the argument vigorously, "as for the immediate future you two will certainly both be on medical leave until I tell you otherwise. And besides that, Sam has not finished the story yet. Personally I am certainly very interested as to what exactly the Allspark has done to him."
"Well", Sam continued slowly, "it's just that, the Allspark cannot be destroyed. The Allspark is not the stone but more or less the energy that resided within. The only thing that can happen is that this energy is forced to transfer. In this case, after losing its original shell because the energy required was too much for the stone to handle, the Allspark energy jumped onto the best next thing it could find and that happened to be me."
"So, the Allspark transferred inside your body?" Ratchet curiously asked and promptly ran a scan over the young man as if to search for the precious energy inside the human's body. Sam grinned shyly at the medic beside Jazz and shook his head.
"It's not that easy, Ratchet", he told him. "What the Allspark described to me was that it used the bleeding wounds I've received from the fight to its advantage. It transformed more or less into my blood and over the coming months it spread. By now, as far as I understand, my original blood is all gone. Every drop of blood I have is the essence of the Allspark. It runs through my whole body, it's able to enhance certain parts like muscles if needed and it stimulates my brain. When it communicates with me, it touches my brain and sends the signs of the old language. Also, this is why I had to cut my hand and write down whatever the Allspark instructs me to on whatever I want to influence with its energy. As my family motto goes, "no sacrifice, no victory", which I am starting to hate, by the way."
Sam stopped here and for the first time since he started explaining he dared to look up at his friend, who was still holding him within his hand.
"I'm sorry that you have to learn about my secret like this, Bumblebee", the young man told his car dejectedly. "I swear you were supposed to be the first one I would tell about this, but I guess til now I was too afraid. When I first found out what the Allspark did to me, I was frightened, really, really frightened. I saw myself as a total freak, thought about what would happen if any humans found out. And I remembered very well the chase Megatron gave me, when I had the cube or even when I started to see the symbols. I just did not want that again, things were already bad enough with how it was with Megatron still alive and me on the big hit list of the Decepticons. And then..." he hesitated again, looking up at Bumblebee, who was looking back with brightly glowing optics, then at the rest of the Autobots who stood behind them.
"I am sorry, you guys. I know we're friends and I really like you all but I was very aware how much the Allspark meant to you and I was even more afraid that if you found out that the Allspark became a part of me, that you would treat me differently. I realise a human who knows alien robots who can transform into nearly anything, will never be normal and I guess I should've accepted that by now. But I value being treated like a simple being, not some holy piece of stone that's supposed to be worshipped. I think that was the greatest reason why I was not able to overcome my fear and tell you about this.
"It wasn't until I saw and really recognized how hopeless some of you might feel because you all think the source of your life is truly gone. If nothing else, the events of today revealed to me that I've been acting stupid, again, and it needed to stop. So I started with returning Prowl to his original form, saving you the grief to further continue all that misplaced distrust and discussion. Besides, who wants to destroy such a beautiful love story as the one Bee told me about Prowl and Jazz, because you were all wrongly assuming Jazz had betrayed Prowl with a Decepticon?"
Some of the 'bots, including Sideswipe and Jazz, started to chuckle at that and even Bee was chortling out a small laugh with his still not perfectly functioning vocaliser. He also started to play an extract of clapping from whatever radio show he had found while his free hand gave his human a small, playful shove.
Sam, who by now was well accustomed with Bee's way of communication, got tears in his eyes. He indicated for his guardian-friend to bring him near his faceplates and when he was able to reach it, he enveloped as much of the face into a hug, as he could.
"Thanks, Bee", the young man chocked out, the other mecha and humans watching the scene with small smiles on their faces.
"Sam, we would never treat you differently, even if the Allspark became a part of you now", Optimus Prime also addressed the human in his solemn voice, optics shining brightly with too many emotions. "We did not forget that you are a feeling, intelligent being and as such we would never dare to treat you like an object."
"Yeah, that's the Decepticon way of not-thinking", Ironhide added with a growl, Chromia nodding beside him in agreement.
"And Sam, we NEST soldiers have been fighting with the 'bots together for nearly three years now", Will Lennox softly voiced his own opinion. "We've already had our disagreements with the government and their stupid misjudging. None of us would ever utter a word outside of NEST about your new condition, not if they value their life among their comrades. We stick together."
"Yeah and you are part of our crazy group now", Robert Epps added with a grin, "whether you like it or not."
Sam had to suppress a laugh and a sob at the same time. He looked around the assembled Autobots and NEST soldiers with shining eyes.
"Thank you guys, thanks a lot", he told them sincerely.
Prowl and Jazz watched the whole exchange between their comrades and the human; meanwhile Ratchet had turned back to prod and scan the injured saboteur, for now no longer interested in his outside world since he deemed the wounds more important to take care of.
/What do ya think, Sparkles?/ Jazz asked his mate over the bond, also throwing some ideas and images through. Prowl analysed what he received before finally nodding himself, satisfied.
/It's a good decision and we owe him anyway/, the tactician agreed.
/Great, it's decided then!/ Jazz exclaimed, pleased and turned his gaze back to the young human, who was still fighting to get his emotions back under control.
"Hey Sam", Jazz addressed him and waited until questioning eyes focused at his visor hidden optics. "For what ya did for us, we'll be forever grateful. Therefore, an' in light of th' current circumstances, we decided, as soon as we're back on duty, we'll take ya under our servos. We'll promise t' help Bee protectin' ya an' we'll teach ya a few tricks t' keep th' 'Cons on their pedes, should they ever find out about yer little secret."
The declaration surprised more than just the affected human, who was at a loss of words. Someone else though, was less impressed and had a lot to say about this.
"Oh, great, not even healed but already planning your next move", Ratchet snarked and gave the head of special ops as forceful whack to the head for good measure. "Obviously I did not make myself clear when I told you that for now you two will be doing nothing but rest until I say otherwise."
Finally fed up with what he knew to be two of the most workaholic 'bots he had the displeasure of knowing - though in Jazz's case he simply was not comfortable with the idea of resting for too long - Ratchet glared over at where Optimus Prime stood.
"Optimus, I don't care how you do it, I want a transport to get those two glitchheads back to Diego Garcia. I want them in my medbay and I want them there yesterday! Get it done!"
Optimus was not the only one who shrank back under the forceful words of the medic. Bee and Sam, as well as some other 'bots and humans however could not help the chuckles on the mortified Jazz and Prowl's behalf.
"Ratchet is right", Optimus Prime did agree. "Let's get you home."
"Home... ", Jazz whispered wistfully, hope obvious in his voice that he might call a place other than Cybertron that. He looked at Prowl who gazed back serenely while sending his love over their bond.
"Home!" the tactician agreed. Because home was wherever their loved one would be.
End
Author's note:
But before you think this was it, there is an Epilogue waiting for you, so one more chapter to go, please enjoy! ^^
Part: 12/12+
Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom
Warnings: slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2
Pairings: Jazz/Prowl
Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=
Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech - you collect your answers of course.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^
Helpful Pointers:
Vorn - 83 years
Stellar-cycle - 7.5 months
Orn - 13 days
Joor - 8 hours
Breem - 6 minutes
Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second
Klick - 1 millisecond
"..." - Speaking
/.../ - Sparkbond speaking
glitchhead - idiot
Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.
And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.
Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.
And as luck had it, at last one 'bot already realized that there was someone else, besides Jazz and the seemingly rediscovered Prowl, who could give some answers. Bumblebee did not look at any of the mechs in question. Instead he stepped over to his human charge and kneeled down beside him, to offer his hand.
"Sam?" the yellow Camero asked simply.
His friend accepted the silent offer and allowed Bumblebee to raise him into the air. The young man grinned sheepishly before looking over at Prowl.
"Uhm, I am sorry that it's your protoform, not the one your friends should be used to," the human started. "But to erase what had been done to you, everything had to be taken down and the best way to reset things was to start at the beginning. That's why I used "Origin". Oh and one more thing. I have this feeling that a police car would be exactly the model you prefer for a new scan but... could you maybe not choose a Saleen this time? I have to admit, I was perfectly at ease with you because in your mech form it's easier to interpret how you act. However, I guess if I see you driving up looking like Barricade did at our first meeting, I might have a heart attack because it reminds me a bit too much of the chases we had."
Sam looked away, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. But Prowl was also looking away, not able to look the human in the eyes for the moment.
"I am sorry about what happened back then, Sam", the tactician told him sincerely. But the young man simply waved the apology away, a small smile on his lips.
"Oh don't worry about that, it's not your fault. After all, that was not you, wasn't it?"
"No, it was not", Prowl agreed, looking back to the human. "And for whatever you did here, I am very thankful. I do wonder though, could you use your power for Jazz as well? He's seriously injured, and I would feel a lot better to know that he is going to be alright."
Sam did not answer immediately. He looked over at Jazz, before his gaze returned to Prowl and everyone could see hesitation clearly written on his face.
"About that", he began slowly, "I am certainly willing to help Jazz, yes. It's just that it is still really difficult for me to handle all this and to be honest I don't think I've got enough energy left. I'm thankful I can still stand, to be honest my legs feel a bit wobbly."
"And you knew this would be the case", Prowl realized, feeling oddly calm, but he still could not help the disbelief that crossed his processor at the same time. "But if you were aware you could only help one of us, why did you not cure Jazz first? My looks are not life threatening and I would have survived some more orns or even stellar-cycles like that if I had to."
"But Jazz's injuries are no longer life threatening, Prowl", Sam explained softly. "Thanks to you, Jazz is at least stable and the rest Ratchet will be able to take care of."
The young man was quick to continue when he noticed that the tactician wanted to protest.
"No, listen to me! I spoke the truth when I told you that I found you to be different today. But I can also admit now that the Allspark was getting a lot more than what I would ever be able to grasp. It can feel, it senses things, and it tried to tell me that you've been wronged, that this is not how you were supposed to be. I listened to the Decepticons' talk, I witnessed the fight between you and the Autobots and I have to admit that I heard nearly all of what Jazz said before I made myself known to you. I... was considering healing Jazz at first, because the injuries still look quite serious. But after listening to your talk, the Allspark and I decided that for both your sakes it was far more important to do something about the trust and the hope you have lost.
"Yes, it is true that Megatron was resurrected and yes, the shell of the original Allspark was destroyed, but that does not mean its power is lost, that hope is lost. There is still hope, Jazz! I realized that it was finally time for me to stop hiding, out of fear what the Decepticons might do or what my friends would think of me. All these stupid assumptions that while offering my help, I still needed to hide the fact that I will never, ever be normal in any aspect again. That moment, when I heard you two talking, it was clear that hope is what you two needed most, even more than healing Jazz. And this is why I decided to change you back into the 'bot you are supposed to be while revealing my greatest secret."
Sam, still standing on Bumblebee's hand, fixed his eyes on the tactician's optics and a soft smile lifted the corner of his lips.
"Welcome to Earth, Autobot designated Prowl!"
"Prowl!" To everyone's surprise it was Sideswipe who voiced his thoughts before anyone else. "This really is Prowl! Oh Primus, damn the Decepticons!"
And before anyone could react the twin had run forward and enveloped the tactician in a crushing hug.
"Primus, Prowl I am sorry about what I said before", Sideswipe whimpered, faceplates buried into the protoform's shoulderplate. "I am so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't know."
"Of course you did not know", Prowl replied softly, awkwardly returning the hug with one hand, while the other was still busy steadying his tired mate. Through the bond the Autobot tactician could feel Jazz's satisfaction over the situation and the even the small feeling of triumph that he had been right and Sideswipe was indeed accepting Prowl right back. The twin was not even asking for more explanations how Barricade and Prowl could be one and the same.
Finally the twin seemed to remember where he was and he released the poor tactician from his grasp only to look over at Jazz.
"I am sorry about what I said to you as well, Jazz", Sideswipe offered. "Bee was right, I should have allowed you to explain before making judgements."
"Nyaa", the saboteur simply waved the frontliner away, an honest grin on his face. "Ya acted driven by th' facts ya saw. That's nothin' new for ya an' Ah cannot honestly fault ya. Besides ya were tryin' t' protect Prowl an' that alone 's reason enough for meh t' forgive ya."
Sidewipe optics glowed brightly for a moment with emotion before he nodded his head in thanks to the head of special ops.
"It's good to see you functioning, Jazz; really", he added and both, saboteur and tactician smiled softly first at Sideswipe, then over at Sunstreaker who had watched from the sideline, but inclined his head in agreement the moment their gazes met.
"It is good to see you functioning, too, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker", Prowl replied earnestly.
"All right, so this is really you, Prowl?" Ironhide was the next to ask, still a bit in shock. However, there was another 'bot who seemed to be not as shocked as to not noticed some questions that were still left unanswered.
"So what the pit happened here?" Ratchet asked while by now kneeling besides the injured Jazz to look him over. The commanding medical officer had finally had enough of the standing around and decided it was time to indulge in his duties as a medic, since the state Jazz was in still concerned him. Checking the saboteur for the severity of his injuries did not keep him from asking questions, however.
"I've seen a lot of strange things in my life and this war, but I certainly never believed there was a technique that involves glowing symbols that could change mecha with a scanned form back to their original protoform. And why the frag should I think Sam had any good reason to get himself involved? What in Primus name did you do anyway?"
All gazes, 'bots and human alike immediately fell on the young man still standing on Bumblebee's hand. Sam clearly shrunk just where he was and swallowed hard. Then he looked around. First at Bee, his friend, his guardian, who was watching him silently with bright, knowing optics. Then at the other Autobots and those of the human soldiers who knew the whole truth about the Allspark. Both factions were looking at him quite stunned. One exception seemed to be Optimus Prime, however. He looked thoughtful and even a bit like he was not all that amazed about what he was learning here. At least, everything besides the fact that Barricade turned out to be his own second in command.
Then there were Jazz and Prowl surrounded by the twins and a seething Ratchet. After both officers witnessed the power and results of the young man's efforts, it was a bit hard to surprise them any further. Especially since with the information they collected and the observations Jazz had made ever since the human's arrival, they already had their own suspicions. The only thing they did not expect was to see guilt and even fear in the young human's eyes.
But Sam acted bravely. No matter what he feared right now, he was determined to honour his promise to Jazz of answering questions - though technically this one was not asked by either Jazz or Prowl - and it was time to end the secrets he had successfully kept from his guardian til now anyway.
"Last year, as some of you remember, I suddenly started seeing symbols inside my head after I found and touched a splinter of the Allspark. Then, all that shit with the Decepticons and Egypt happened and I was so busy with that Matrix of Leadership-stuff, that I had no time to consider if the visions would stop after all was over or not. It turned out that it didn't stop. It just changed. Instead of receiving uncontrolled visions and having breakdowns, the symbols came in small, manageable shifts every now and then."
Sam stopped again and looked over at Optimus, his look apologetic.
"Sometime I finally realized that even at the beginning the Allspark was simply trying to communicate with me. Back then it was just an urgent message, that's why it caused me to go nearly crazy. And now that the important stuff was over, it simply kept trying to communicate but just in small waves, to hint at me but not overdo it. I realized that it seemed the only way to get something across was through these signs that I unfortunately could not read. That's why I decided to go to you, Optimus and asked if you could teach me the language of the Primes."
"And teach you I did", the leader of the Autobots confirmed, not sounding angry or upset, as Sam had feared he might. "And you learned well. In less than two stellar-cycles you were able to read and write every character I could ever teach you. By then I already suspected that the influence of the Allspark had not left you, Sam. But as you obviously had not talked to anyone about it I thought it was best to leave you alone and wait til you came to one of us on your own."
"Oh", Sam looked at Optimus with wide, surprised eyes. "I did not know that. Well... I guess thank you for that, then. And I'm sorry that it took me so long to finally start talking."
He looked back over to the now more or less patiently waiting mecha and humans, knowing there were still missing parts of his explanation.
"Well, after I learned the language and was able to read what the Allspark sent me, it started to more or less talk to me. I received ideas, information and comments sometimes and it also explained how the hell I happened to end up with it in first place and how all of the sudden I started to even understand the mecha around me when you guys spoke in your creation language."
"Slaggit you understood when Sunny and I made fun of your plans of surprising your girlfriend with this candle light dinner two weeks ago?" Sideswipe could not help but burst out in surprise when he realized the consequences of what Sam just told them. "No wonder you looked so sour every time we came into your range or view."
Sam could not help but grin after Sideswipe's inquiry.
"Oh you seem to have forgotten the fact that you tend to plan your newest pranks surrounded by human because you, of course, assume that they do not understand you anyway", he pointed out, eyes glinting with amusement. The twins looked at each other, before Sideswipe groaned and asked suspiciously.
"You are not planning to rat us out or blackmail us, Sam, are you?"
"Mmmh, I will have to think about what I'll do with the information", Sam joked. This was immediately met with protests.
"Oh no!" Prowl denied with bright glowing optics. "If any of the plans have not been put into action by the time I am back on duty I want to know EVERYTHING."
This caused Sideswipe to look at the second in command incredulously while Jazz started to snicker.
"Don't expect his attitude t' have changed too much, Sides", the saboteur grinned at the twin.
"Well, that will have to take time", Ratchet interrupted the argument vigorously, "as for the immediate future you two will certainly both be on medical leave until I tell you otherwise. And besides that, Sam has not finished the story yet. Personally I am certainly very interested as to what exactly the Allspark has done to him."
"Well", Sam continued slowly, "it's just that, the Allspark cannot be destroyed. The Allspark is not the stone but more or less the energy that resided within. The only thing that can happen is that this energy is forced to transfer. In this case, after losing its original shell because the energy required was too much for the stone to handle, the Allspark energy jumped onto the best next thing it could find and that happened to be me."
"So, the Allspark transferred inside your body?" Ratchet curiously asked and promptly ran a scan over the young man as if to search for the precious energy inside the human's body. Sam grinned shyly at the medic beside Jazz and shook his head.
"It's not that easy, Ratchet", he told him. "What the Allspark described to me was that it used the bleeding wounds I've received from the fight to its advantage. It transformed more or less into my blood and over the coming months it spread. By now, as far as I understand, my original blood is all gone. Every drop of blood I have is the essence of the Allspark. It runs through my whole body, it's able to enhance certain parts like muscles if needed and it stimulates my brain. When it communicates with me, it touches my brain and sends the signs of the old language. Also, this is why I had to cut my hand and write down whatever the Allspark instructs me to on whatever I want to influence with its energy. As my family motto goes, "no sacrifice, no victory", which I am starting to hate, by the way."
Sam stopped here and for the first time since he started explaining he dared to look up at his friend, who was still holding him within his hand.
"I'm sorry that you have to learn about my secret like this, Bumblebee", the young man told his car dejectedly. "I swear you were supposed to be the first one I would tell about this, but I guess til now I was too afraid. When I first found out what the Allspark did to me, I was frightened, really, really frightened. I saw myself as a total freak, thought about what would happen if any humans found out. And I remembered very well the chase Megatron gave me, when I had the cube or even when I started to see the symbols. I just did not want that again, things were already bad enough with how it was with Megatron still alive and me on the big hit list of the Decepticons. And then..." he hesitated again, looking up at Bumblebee, who was looking back with brightly glowing optics, then at the rest of the Autobots who stood behind them.
"I am sorry, you guys. I know we're friends and I really like you all but I was very aware how much the Allspark meant to you and I was even more afraid that if you found out that the Allspark became a part of me, that you would treat me differently. I realise a human who knows alien robots who can transform into nearly anything, will never be normal and I guess I should've accepted that by now. But I value being treated like a simple being, not some holy piece of stone that's supposed to be worshipped. I think that was the greatest reason why I was not able to overcome my fear and tell you about this.
"It wasn't until I saw and really recognized how hopeless some of you might feel because you all think the source of your life is truly gone. If nothing else, the events of today revealed to me that I've been acting stupid, again, and it needed to stop. So I started with returning Prowl to his original form, saving you the grief to further continue all that misplaced distrust and discussion. Besides, who wants to destroy such a beautiful love story as the one Bee told me about Prowl and Jazz, because you were all wrongly assuming Jazz had betrayed Prowl with a Decepticon?"
Some of the 'bots, including Sideswipe and Jazz, started to chuckle at that and even Bee was chortling out a small laugh with his still not perfectly functioning vocaliser. He also started to play an extract of clapping from whatever radio show he had found while his free hand gave his human a small, playful shove.
Sam, who by now was well accustomed with Bee's way of communication, got tears in his eyes. He indicated for his guardian-friend to bring him near his faceplates and when he was able to reach it, he enveloped as much of the face into a hug, as he could.
"Thanks, Bee", the young man chocked out, the other mecha and humans watching the scene with small smiles on their faces.
"Sam, we would never treat you differently, even if the Allspark became a part of you now", Optimus Prime also addressed the human in his solemn voice, optics shining brightly with too many emotions. "We did not forget that you are a feeling, intelligent being and as such we would never dare to treat you like an object."
"Yeah, that's the Decepticon way of not-thinking", Ironhide added with a growl, Chromia nodding beside him in agreement.
"And Sam, we NEST soldiers have been fighting with the 'bots together for nearly three years now", Will Lennox softly voiced his own opinion. "We've already had our disagreements with the government and their stupid misjudging. None of us would ever utter a word outside of NEST about your new condition, not if they value their life among their comrades. We stick together."
"Yeah and you are part of our crazy group now", Robert Epps added with a grin, "whether you like it or not."
Sam had to suppress a laugh and a sob at the same time. He looked around the assembled Autobots and NEST soldiers with shining eyes.
"Thank you guys, thanks a lot", he told them sincerely.
Prowl and Jazz watched the whole exchange between their comrades and the human; meanwhile Ratchet had turned back to prod and scan the injured saboteur, for now no longer interested in his outside world since he deemed the wounds more important to take care of.
/What do ya think, Sparkles?/ Jazz asked his mate over the bond, also throwing some ideas and images through. Prowl analysed what he received before finally nodding himself, satisfied.
/It's a good decision and we owe him anyway/, the tactician agreed.
/Great, it's decided then!/ Jazz exclaimed, pleased and turned his gaze back to the young human, who was still fighting to get his emotions back under control.
"Hey Sam", Jazz addressed him and waited until questioning eyes focused at his visor hidden optics. "For what ya did for us, we'll be forever grateful. Therefore, an' in light of th' current circumstances, we decided, as soon as we're back on duty, we'll take ya under our servos. We'll promise t' help Bee protectin' ya an' we'll teach ya a few tricks t' keep th' 'Cons on their pedes, should they ever find out about yer little secret."
The declaration surprised more than just the affected human, who was at a loss of words. Someone else though, was less impressed and had a lot to say about this.
"Oh, great, not even healed but already planning your next move", Ratchet snarked and gave the head of special ops as forceful whack to the head for good measure. "Obviously I did not make myself clear when I told you that for now you two will be doing nothing but rest until I say otherwise."
Finally fed up with what he knew to be two of the most workaholic 'bots he had the displeasure of knowing - though in Jazz's case he simply was not comfortable with the idea of resting for too long - Ratchet glared over at where Optimus Prime stood.
"Optimus, I don't care how you do it, I want a transport to get those two glitchheads back to Diego Garcia. I want them in my medbay and I want them there yesterday! Get it done!"
Optimus was not the only one who shrank back under the forceful words of the medic. Bee and Sam, as well as some other 'bots and humans however could not help the chuckles on the mortified Jazz and Prowl's behalf.
"Ratchet is right", Optimus Prime did agree. "Let's get you home."
"Home... ", Jazz whispered wistfully, hope obvious in his voice that he might call a place other than Cybertron that. He looked at Prowl who gazed back serenely while sending his love over their bond.
"Home!" the tactician agreed. Because home was wherever their loved one would be.
End
Author's note:
But before you think this was it, there is an Epilogue waiting for you, so one more chapter to go, please enjoy! ^^