TITLE:
Comfortable
SERIES: Imperfection, part 16
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned
by
people with a lot more money
Author’s Voice of Warning (aka Author’s Note):
English is not my first language; it’s German. This is the best I can
do.
Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize
FEEDBACK: Loved
The sun was bright, reflecting off silver
metal and
making the Solstice gleam. Red optics watched as Jazz transformed,
looking
carefree and happy, though Barricade knew that underneath the Autobot
carried as
much the weight of the world as many of his kind did. Despite their
connection
he still saw it as a weakness.
But this was Jazz. He wouldn’t brood or seek out solitary spots to
think
about his fate and that of the planet. That was more Optimus Prime’s
job.
“Beautiful day!” Jazz exclaimed. “Man,
I’m glad the rain’s over.”
“It’s just water,” Barricade remarked.
“Says the one who complains about mud.”
“I didn’t complain.”
Jazz grinned. ”Suuuure.”
Barricade flashed him a warning look, but part of him was relieved that
the bad
weather front had slid finally past, too.
The silver Autobot walked over to him, leaning against the rock wall
next to
his black counterpart. Their shoulder armors
were
touching and Barricade found it both disturbing and strangely nice.
Jazz had
picked up a lot of human traits, incorporated them in his daily life,
and while
Barricade scoffed on most of them, some were… nice.
He almost groaned at that thought.
“Any plans?” his partner asked casually.
“Your leader seems to expect me to report on my patrols.”
“Optimus likes to know what’s going on.”
“I’m not an Autobot,” Barricade ground out.
“You’re a valuable ally who knows Tranquility
and
“Do what?”
Jazz shrugged. “Help.”
Barricade snorted, shifting a little. “Knowing two settlements on this
planet doesn’t let you know this world.”
“But it won’t hurt us to gather information anyway.”
“How can you think of protecting this world if they don’t even know
you exist? They fear you, Jazz. They’d rather want you dead.”
“Cade…”
“It is the truth! You work with a small contingent of those men who
would
turn against you to protect their country. Showing yourself openly will
get you
on a hit list as target number one!”
“Cade, they’re still learning. Nothing is written in stone. We
cooperate with Major Lennox’s men, which is our first contact team.
This
world is our responsibility now. We took the war here.”
Barricade snorted. “This isn’t more our responsibility than our world
is theirs.”
“We exist here now, too. We live among them. Barricade, I can’t
just go into stasis and hope for the best. I want to live here, enjoy
this new
place,” Jazz argued, voice serious. “Even if I
have to remain here forever.”
“Even if they kill you?”
“They won’t.”
Barricade didn’t reply. The sun was warming his armor
and it felt… good. It had been something he had enjoyed secretly ever
since coming to this alien world. Frenzy had picked up on his changing
moods
whenever they sat in the middle of a particularly lonely spot --
waiting for an
order, waiting for a target, or generally just recharging – when the
sun
had warmed him to a comfortable level.
Earth was kind of unique. The scientists were right. No other planet he
knew
was this perfect when it came to distance from the sun and placement of
moons. It
supported life in various forms and it was ever-developing. Other
planets he
had visited had either been very far from a small sun, had no sun at
all and
were plunged in eternal near-darkness, had too many moons, had two
suns…
the list was endless.
His systems could relax here. There was hardly any energy spent on
keeping his
core systems running too cold or too hot, and gravitation didn’t exert
his muscle cables. Humanity could be his enemy, but they were
indifferent to
him as long as he didn’t draw any attention to himself.
Frenzy had been in love with the variety of things to poke and prod and
examine. Barricade had simply enjoyed existing.
Like now.
“’Cade?”
He gave a grunt in reply. Jazz grinned.
“What?” he asked, annoyed by the grin.
“You like it here.”
“I could insult you the same way.”
Jazz took no offense at all. “Yeah, I love
this
little world. It’s extra-ordinary,” he sounded almost wistful.
“Autobot,” Barricade growled.
“Through and through.” Jazz bumped his
shoulder lightly into Barricade’s. “Ex-Con.”
Red optics flared a little. “You like to live dangerously.”
Blue optics glowed in a warm, mildly teasing light in response.
Jazz had adopted human traits. Like touch. Barricade couldn’t recall
the
last time before the war they had been physically this close. Touch
meant
little in the world of spark sharing where the essence of another
joined with
oneself. Throughout the war it had been fast, to reassure himself and
Jazz that
they were still there, still one. No time for mistakes.
Here, they had time. It was almost like back home.
Almost.
Because Cybertron wasn’t this close to a sun, didn’t consist of
organic matter.
Barricade’s gaze was on the landscape around him and he was startled
out
of his musings when Jazz transformed and kicked up dust with his tires.
“C’mon. There’s a movie in the old drive-in in Tranquility.”
Barricade stared at him. “You want to watch a movie?”
“Yep.”
“Who else?” Barricade asked suspiciously.
“Well, to keep our cover I thought I’d provide the ride for some of
the guys back at the base.”
Barricade sneered. “Use a hologram.”
“Nah. Coming?”
The former Decepticon hesitated.
“It’ll be fun!” his partner wheedled.
“I don’t do fun.”
“Spoilsport. Of course you do. It’s an
action movie. Things blow up.”
Barricade shifted a little again, then transformed. “I’m not taking
in any humans.”
“No one’s asking you to. You might want to go undercover, though. A
cop car is a little suspicious.”
“You push me into going to a movie and then you criticize the
outfit?” Barricade snarled.
“Just lose the officialness for a night,
Cade. Tomorrow
you can be the bad ass cop again.” Jazz rolled forward and gently
pushed
his bumper into one fender. “It’ll be cool.”
Barricade wondered why the silver Autobot could get him to do things
not even
Megatron could have commanded him to do. Well, almost everything. He
had never
changed sides throughout the war just because Jazz had asked him.
So as they drove to the Autobot base, Barricade consulted his data base
and
decided to shift a few things just for the time it took to go to the
movie and
stay there. Not that he would enjoy it. Having humans nervously glance
at the
police car among them was quite entertaining. All of them, without
exception,
had a bad conscience.
°°° °°°
It turned out all but Ratchet and Optimus
were going. Ironhide’s
presence had Barricade on the edge. The large truck was driven by Major
Lennox,
with Sergeant Epps as the second passenger,
Bumblebee had,
of course, his charge with him. Jazz was occupied by two of
The now completely black Saleen Mustang sat next to Jazz, watching
things
getting blown up, secretly enjoying the mayhem on the huge screen.
::Told ya::
Jazz sent
electronically through a private channel.
::Shut up:: was the only reply, but he
didn’t
mind that his partner’s spark came closer.
Not at all.