On My Own

As a rule, Jazz tried not to let much bother him. After all, worrying about every little thing wasn't going to fix anything at all, in the end. The best he could hope to do was deal with the bad things when they came, and until then, try to take it as easy as he could. He would deal when the time came for him to deal, and until then, he would play it cool, try to keep his morale up, and he'd spend every free moment with his friends and comrades. Talking about everything he could think up, which usually turned out to be nothing relevant. Sometimes he spent time talking about how Cybertron used to be, the people he used to know, all the things that used to make him happy but weren't there anymore. It wasn't quite as depressing as he would imagine, though - it gave him something to look forward to. If they won the war and found the All Spark, they could fix it. They could rebuild and he could have those things again. He was alive, and for now, he was happy with just that. He was lucky.

The older ones weren't quite so upbeat about things. Maybe they had more things to be bitter about than Jazz did. Jazz hadn't been betrayed, and he hadn't lost a mate, or lost his closest comrades and friends - his closest comrades and friends were right here with him in the ship. Maybe he was just young, but no one mattered more to him than the ones he was with now. Maybe it made him better, made him fight harder and work faster.

Of course, nothing had quite made him work as hard as when Bumblebee came into their lives. Maybe it was because Bumblebee was so young – much younger than Jazz himself – or maybe it was because Bumblebee seemed to be braver than the rest of them combined. He was pretty sharp too, and eager to learn, and all of them took to him pretty fast. Even Ironhide did, and Jazz had always thought Ironhide would be bitter towards everyone until the day he went offline. But no, Ironhide took to the little guy, even taught him how to fight offensively, how to use weapons properly.

Of course, that was important... but not quite as important as what Jazz did.

Jazz taught Bumblebee how to speed, to work with his alt modes to achieve the fastest possible velocity. It was all in good fun, but Jazz always intended for Bumblebee to use the skills in order to avoid getting snagged by some Decepticon. For one as small as he was, speed was much more vital that offensive fighting, no matter what Ironhide said. To be able to slip away from the worst situation, to be able to trust your alt mode well enough to push it to its limits... that was the most important thing. After all, Jazz knew what it was like to be the small one. He'd faced the Decepticons more than once knowing that if they managed to get hold of him, he was in big trouble. He'd been plucked up by Blackout a few times and had some precariously close calls. He probably would have been scrap by now if Blackout didn't always try to make him easy prey for Scorponok. Scorponok was something that Jazz could deal with. Blackout, not so much. Hopefully Bumblebee would never have to face the likes of him and his little pet.

Whenever they had a free moment and a free stretch of road, Jazz taught Bumblebee how to chase and how to be chased. It was always a fun game, and Jazz could let go of his little frustrations and just ride. Bumblebee and he never spoke a word about the war when they did this – talked a little bit about how to avoid being caught, but it was in the context of it being a game, not real life. Jazz always hoped that Bumblebee wouldn't have to do this with Decepticons, although the young 'bot seemed to be training specifically for that purpose. Bumblebee was probably excited at the prospect of giving the big, cumbersome Decepticons the run around. And yeah, most of them were pretty slow. Jazz couldn't really see Shockwave or Brawl getting their paws on Bee. Megatron already had, terrifyingly enough, but for some reason Bumblebee avoided getting killed.

Some reason was not a good reason, but Jazz hoped Bee had increased his skills since then. 

His inexplicable escape wasn't without a scratch, though. Megatron was sure to leave his mark on the young Autobot, and Jazz and Bumblebee had learned how to chat through body language and random transmissions instead of an actual voice. It wasn't so bad - Bee even seemed to have fun with it. Nevertheless, it did nothing good for Jazz's psyche, not even after all these solar cycles.

Before Megatron’s attack all that time ago, Jazz would have been the first to say Bumblebee should go to Earth before the rest of the group, make contact, and scope things out for them. He was a good spy, better than the rest of them – mostly with Jazz's help, the saboteur secretly noted – and he would do a good job. Bumblebee always did a good job. It's not like any of them could blame him about what happened with Megatron. Considering the situation, he'd done a pretty good job. He'd survived, at least.

However, he wasn't so okay now with the plan. Bumblebee on his own, going to a planet that would soon be infested with Decepticons... it just wasn't right.

'Come on, Bee,' said Jazz. 'No one's going to hold it against you if you say no.'

The young Autobot tilted his head in a terribly quizzical way that made Jazz's spark skip a pulse. Bee shouldn't look so adorable when Jazz was trying to be serious.

'I mean, I could go instead,' said Jazz, trying his best to sound as inviting as possible. 'Just keep a look out. If I think things are cool for you to come along a little while afterwards, you could still get there before Prime and the others.'

Bumblebee's optics narrowed in amusement, much to Jazz's chagrin.

'Just give me a solar cycle or two, Bee.'

It wasn't that Jazz had no reason to be worried - it was the Decepticon that was going to end up tailing after him that Jazz was worried about. A newer member of the elite, named Barricade. Not much was known about him except that he had been a racer, out in the streets, caught up in rogue gangs and generally causing trouble. It was said that one of his creators was Decepticon, one was Autobot. The Decepticon part of him made him ruthless, the Autobot part made him small and lithe at the very base of his construction. The Autobots always had an edge when it came to speed on wheels, but Barricade didn't have the same failings his comrades did.

Barricade was fast, and ruthless. When Bumblebee ran, he would be on his tail in a nano-klik.

Rumor had it that Megatron had him brought in specifically because of his infamy, his reputed speed and grace on the road. Bumblebee was damn good in a chase, and he could zip around corners and obstacles like no one's business - however, Jazz hadn't ever tried to run him off the road or jump on him when he was vulnerable. He wanted to train Bee as best he could, but injuring him would have proved to be counterproductive.

Unfortunately, Barricade wouldn't have those kinds of reservations.

'You do know who they'll send for you, don't you?'

Bumblebee nodded silently.

'And you do know he's not going easy on you like I did.'

Another quiet nod.

It was clear that this wasn't doing anything to convince Bumblebee to back out of it. Honestly, Bumblebee never would do something like that. Courageous to a fault, Jazz guessed... if there was such a thing as too much courage. It wasn't like Bee was jumping into this stupidly, but... Jazz still didn't want him to go.

Jazz's shoulders sagged. 'You take care of yourself, alright?' he said. 'And if you want to come back or me to go there, just send transmission and I'll come, no questions asked. Deal?'

Bumblebee gave him an amused look, truly expressing how overprotective Jazz was being. Bumblebee wasn't exactly a sparkling anymore, but he was still too young in Jazz's opinion to be given such a task. Not that Jazz had been any older than Bumblebee when he was sent on his first solo mission... probably a great deal younger, honestly.

Bumblebee stepped closer to Jazz and nudged their chests together lightly. It sent a light vibration through Jazz's spark, soothing him minutely. His hands immediately found Bumblebee's hips, holding him there as if he could so easily prevent him from walking away.

Lightly, Bumblebee nudged his dermal plating. It was a chaste gesture, something familial and innocent and everything that Bumblebee was.

Jazz returned the gesture lightly. He wanted to be mad that Bumblebee was leaving, but he just couldn't bring himself to get angry. He could only hold Bumblebee closer and hope for the best. Bumblebee was a tough kid, even if he was sweet - Jazz just had to keep reminding himself that.

'Don't get yourself into trouble,' said Jazz finally, knowing there was no way to change Bumblebee's mind. It was better to leave on a good note than a bad one, after all, and hope the kid kept in good spirits through the mission. 'I want you to show that lousy Barricade how it's done. I know you're good enough to stay a step ahead of him.'

Bumblebee's engines purred in response, sending a delicious vibration through Jazz's spark that wasn't quite so chaste. He squirmed a bit, his intake expelling some air in surprise. Bumblebee seemed to be finding new ways to make Jazz cooperate. If anyone asked, Jazz wasn’t going to take credit for teaching Bee that.

Jazz chuckled softly against Bumblebee’s audio receptor. ‘You’ve gotten sneaky,’ he managed, gently withdrawing from Bee. As much as he wanted to return the show of more intimate affection, they both knew they couldn’t – not right now.

Reluctantly, Jazz stepped back further. He knew Bumblebee needed to be recognized as an equal, not an adolescent. He needed to finally be treated as the comrade he was rather than the sparkling they helped raise.

‘Get going, soldier,’ said Jazz, lightly nudging Bee’s shoulder.  

Bumblebee made a soft whirring sound in response, his engine giving a brief, enthusiastic rev. It seemed he was much more prepared for this than Jazz was, and Jazz wasn’t even going with him. He felt his spark fluttering nervously – had he really become so protective over Bee? He always thought that kind of paternal over protectiveness was Optimus’ thing.

Distantly, Jazz watched as Bumblebee left the room. In a few cycles he would be landing on a new planet, with no real knowledge of what was around him and which Decepticons would be there to greet him. He would be starting from scratch.

Bee was good at building on the unknown. Maybe his youth made it easier for him to learn and grow in the company of a new species. Maybe it was just his kind nature that made him such an accomplished Autobot. He represented everything that an Autobot was supposed to: courage, speed and grace. And dependability.

Bee wasn’t going to fail them.