Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

23. Looming Changes

        It was a long while that Firefly was out with Maria and BlackLight. In the meantime, JewelBlade sat with Ratchet, the medic doing a routine check of her systems. A few minor things had to be fixed to avoid future complications, but otherwise, everything was working just fine.

        “Thanks, Ratchet,” JewelBlade told him with a genuine smile once the medic had finished working her over. “I thank you greatly, though I’m sure the Decepticons won’t,” she added, then vented in frustration. “That’s if I ever get back on the field anyway.” Since her deception, Jewel had avoided going back into battle for the pure and simple fact that if she was known to be online, Megatron would likely seek her out without relent.

        If Megatron only knew, he would make her life hell until she was offlined for good. So the femme was confined to less than dangerous tasks until further notice. While it was with her consent, and something she definitely understood, it didn’t make her happy. JewelBlade wasn’t itching for a fight or anything, but she wanted to protect her comrades to the fullest of her ability. They might not need saving -- no, they were plenty capable -- but she still hated leaving them to face the Decepticons alone.

        She’d expressed her concern and frustration about the issue before, and the answer was always the same.

        “You’ve already contributed to the cause. What you’ve done is more than enough until we require you on the field again,” Ratchet told her. Same words, different mech. With another vent, JewelBlade cradled her faceplates in her hands.

        “Still, Ratchet,” she argued. “Just because you’ve all given ‘more than enough’ for the Autobots, that doesn’t mean you stop giving. You’ve all given plenty and then some, but you’re still giving. I wish I could do the same.”

        “The rest of us don’t carry a target on our back because we played Megatron like a . . . Oh, what’s that slagging thing called?” He asked, rubbing his helm absently. “A fiddle?”

        Jewel gave him a small smile. “Hearing you barely use a human analogy makes it just a little bit better, Ratchet, but still. If push comes to shove, I’ll have to get back out in the field, regardless of any grudge Megatron may hold and you know it.”

        “It was risky enough when you stormed his ship,” Ratchet pointed out. “We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t figure out you’re still online after that fiasco of a rescue mission.”

        “I couldn’t leave her,” she argued softly, her optics echoing the concern in her spark for BlackLight.

        “Heh,” Ratchet smirked. The medic took one look at her and grinned. “If she hadn’t grown on you greatly since your return, you would’ve said ‘we’.” Without another word, Ratchet turned back to his screens, running tests on all of JewelBlade’s systems to make certain that nothing was going wrong internally that he couldn’t pinpoint with just a visual verification.

        Blinking a few times, Blade vented and shrugged. “Okay, so she grew on me. Is she not supposed to? I mean, she’s . . . She’s like, my sister or something, right? Some weird sort of spark connection or whatever?”

        “Siblings would be the closest way to explain it, yes,” Ratchet answered. “You two are bonded in a way. Not spark bonded, mind you. That’s something entirely different.”

        “What exactly is spark bonded?” Jewel asked, her optics flicking between the medic and the screens he studied so closely. “I mean, I’ve heard the term on occasion, Megatron even mentioned it once, but I’ve never really . . . Asked anyone. I certainly couldn’t ask him.”