Takes place not long after Freestyle's... 'eventful' arrival on Earth. ---
Between keeping off the humans' radar, tracking Decepticon activity, dealing with the reinforcements from Cybertron and a problematic new arrival, it had been a stressful week for Optimus Prime. In an attempt to calm his overclocking processors, he decided to walk about Ark. The familiarity of the halls loosened up the tension in his body. That is until his sensors pinged at something that wasn't supposed to be there.
He turned, peering into the Ark's low lighting and saw two points of yellow lights glowing in corner. The fluctuating energy signature had the Autobot leader calling out cautiously, "Freestyle?"
"Haven't gotten any of my dampers or shielding reinstalled yet," the newcomer said, stepping into the light, "but still got this close before being spotted. Guess I still got it."
Optimus Prime had been shocked at how small the other mech had appeared with his mismatched pieces of crumpled metal patched over his body. But now, stripped down to his base frame, Freestyle was frighteningly slim, all flexible joints and willowy limbs. He looked more like some starved mechanical creature than a Cybertronian. Optimus Prime had to wonder if, without the armor, Jazz was just as fragile looking.
"Shouldn't you still be in the medbay?"
A sharp grin was his answer, one that put Optimus on the alert. "Are you afraid the crazy newbie is gonna do something terrible to your crew? Who knows how bad the 'cons scrambled my circuits."
"Wheeljack will be finished with your new body frame in a few days. You'll be cleared to leave medbay after that."
"You know," though Freestyle's grin was amiable and his tone light, there was a dark animosity that seeped into the depths of his entirety, "the medbay is an informative place for someone trained in intel gathering. For example, I know that both you and Megatron decided not to expose yourselves to the planet's dominant species. You're perfectly happy with beginning a war that could destroy their planet just like it did Cybertron, but you don't want them to know about it. Of course, you being Autobot Supreme, I'm sure you have all sorts of noble reasons not to drag them in to a war that's not theirs, even though this is their planet. And who knows why the Decepticons do anything. For all you know, in a deca-cycle they'll get bored with the charade and start just destroying everything around them! Or," Freestyle's entire presence became razor edged, "perhaps one of your Autobots will go a little crazy and expose themselves to the humans, suddenly becoming a news sensation the world over. Or maybe the dominant government will try to keep them a secret. Ah- but then you'll really have to watch out because you might find another Autobot- perhaps someone who had someone deer to them taken away before -charging in, determined to save the poor prisoner, even if it meant going on a rampage. There'd be no way for you to do any kind of damage control for the humans after that. What, then, would you possibly do, oh magnanimous Prime?"
Blue optics narrowed carefully. He understood Freestyle had no loyalty to the Autobots after his ordeal, but to blatantly threaten... "Are you planning on doing as such?"
All pretense finally dropped, the small mech in that carefully neutral state Jazz was often in when he was beyond finished dealing with worthless slag. "Luckily for you I don't plan on being captured again for a long time. But keep in mind that I'm not here because I believe in your war so don't think your heroic sentiment means slag to me. Right now the only thing allowing me to consider returning to duty is Jazz. The rest of the Autobots mean absolutely nothing to me and I couldn't care less what happens to them. I'll do my job to the best of my abilities, but don't think I've forgiven anyone."
Then, stepping back, Freestyle said with a smile so bright that, if it weren't for the memory of his words, Optimus Prim wouldn't have known there was someone so dark and bitter beneath it, "Have a good night, Prime."
Freestyle slipped back into the darkness, leaving Optimus Prime to hope Jazz would be able to deal with the mech because damned if he had a single clue on where to start...
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timeasmymeasure
Freestyle + Optimus Prime - loss
Date: 2009-07-09 08:47 pm (UTC)---
Between keeping off the humans' radar, tracking Decepticon activity, dealing with the reinforcements from Cybertron and a problematic new arrival, it had been a stressful week for Optimus Prime. In an attempt to calm his overclocking processors, he decided to walk about Ark. The familiarity of the halls loosened up the tension in his body. That is until his sensors pinged at something that wasn't supposed to be there.
He turned, peering into the Ark's low lighting and saw two points of yellow lights glowing in corner. The fluctuating energy signature had the Autobot leader calling out cautiously, "Freestyle?"
"Haven't gotten any of my dampers or shielding reinstalled yet," the newcomer said, stepping into the light, "but still got this close before being spotted. Guess I still got it."
Optimus Prime had been shocked at how small the other mech had appeared with his mismatched pieces of crumpled metal patched over his body. But now, stripped down to his base frame, Freestyle was frighteningly slim, all flexible joints and willowy limbs. He looked more like some starved mechanical creature than a Cybertronian. Optimus Prime had to wonder if, without the armor, Jazz was just as fragile looking.
"Shouldn't you still be in the medbay?"
A sharp grin was his answer, one that put Optimus on the alert. "Are you afraid the crazy newbie is gonna do something terrible to your crew? Who knows how bad the 'cons scrambled my circuits."
"Wheeljack will be finished with your new body frame in a few days. You'll be cleared to leave medbay after that."
"You know," though Freestyle's grin was amiable and his tone light, there was a dark animosity that seeped into the depths of his entirety, "the medbay is an informative place for someone trained in intel gathering. For example, I know that both you and Megatron decided not to expose yourselves to the planet's dominant species. You're perfectly happy with beginning a war that could destroy their planet just like it did Cybertron, but you don't want them to know about it. Of course, you being Autobot Supreme, I'm sure you have all sorts of noble reasons not to drag them in to a war that's not theirs, even though this is their planet. And who knows why the Decepticons do anything. For all you know, in a deca-cycle they'll get bored with the charade and start just destroying everything around them! Or," Freestyle's entire presence became razor edged, "perhaps one of your Autobots will go a little crazy and expose themselves to the humans, suddenly becoming a news sensation the world over. Or maybe the dominant government will try to keep them a secret. Ah- but then you'll really have to watch out because you might find another Autobot- perhaps someone who had someone deer to them taken away before -charging in, determined to save the poor prisoner, even if it meant going on a rampage. There'd be no way for you to do any kind of damage control for the humans after that. What, then, would you possibly do, oh magnanimous Prime?"
Blue optics narrowed carefully. He understood Freestyle had no loyalty to the Autobots after his ordeal, but to blatantly threaten... "Are you planning on doing as such?"
All pretense finally dropped, the small mech in that carefully neutral state Jazz was often in when he was beyond finished dealing with worthless slag. "Luckily for you I don't plan on being captured again for a long time. But keep in mind that I'm not here because I believe in your war so don't think your heroic sentiment means slag to me. Right now the only thing allowing me to consider returning to duty is Jazz. The rest of the Autobots mean absolutely nothing to me and I couldn't care less what happens to them. I'll do my job to the best of my abilities, but don't think I've forgiven anyone."
Then, stepping back, Freestyle said with a smile so bright that, if it weren't for the memory of his words, Optimus Prim wouldn't have known there was someone so dark and bitter beneath it, "Have a good night, Prime."
Freestyle slipped back into the darkness, leaving Optimus Prime to hope Jazz would be able to deal with the mech because damned if he had a single clue on where to start...