Better Late Than Never

Disclaimer: The characters here are not mine. I'm just having some fun with them.

'blah'--thoughts or bond speech

"blah"--comm. links

"blah"--comm. links in Cybertronian

'blah'--Cybertronian

'No matter what I do…' the green colored scout smiled as he lowered himself to the ground. 'I can't stop thinking about you…'

The sunset was intense. Reds, yellows, and flames of orange danced across violet and pink clouds. Waves crashed against the golden toned sand. Air whooshed from his vents in a sigh as his ocean blue optics took in all the sights of nature that surrounded him. This world was organic based and so different from their home world of metal. Both Earth and Cybertron were beautiful in their own ways.

'I just wish you were here…'

The war was over and the Autobots were regrouping on Earth, the place of the last, fate filled battle. Seven others had landed with him, only months after their leader had sent out his message of hope. It had been a happy moment of reunion, ruined only by the revelation of Jazz's death. Prowl had reacted horribly to the announcement by Optimus Prime. Lucky for them all, Ratchet had anticipated it and was ready with a sedative. Being told of the All Spark's destruction as well hadn't helped.

That had been a week ago and echoes of Prowl's haunted cries could still be heard in their memories.

Tonight though, they were gathered on the beach by the base for a celebration. A celebration of renewed life.

By a miracle, there had been just a small part of Jazz's spark left. Somehow, when Prowl had gone to say his final goodbyes, that piece had become active, feeding off the energies of their strained spark-bond. Ratchet had been called in quickly and with his amazing skills as a medic, he stabilized the silver saboteur, restoring life to the once empty frame.

Now, Jazz lived and they were having a proper reunion party.

Hound sat a ways down the beach from the rest of his friends. It wasn't that he didn't want to join in the celebration, far from it. It was just hard to watch. He had been separated from his bonded for the same four millennia as Prowl. He was happy for the mech now, but couldn't stop the swirls of jealousy he felt. Prowl, at least, knew his bonded mate was alive.

A rich chuckle drifted through his thoughts. 'Now, now. My jealous Hound…'

'If you were here, I wouldn't be jealous,' he retorted to the voice in his mind. Another chuckle was his only response.

For several long moments, he listened to the music from the party mixing with the sounds of nature around him. Laughter was ringing across the water and dancing on the breeze. He let his optics offline, letting his other senses take in the moment. A sudden shout of alarm had him back on his feet. The others were looking skyward, Red Alert pointing to a falling star.

But not just any falling star.

'Another friend…or a Decepticon,' he hurried over to the others.

"Red Alert, Prowl. Have there been any signals?" Prime was tracking the falling comet with his rich blue optics.

"Not as of yet," Prowl reported, pulling Jazz closer to his frame. He wasn't going to take any chances. The smaller mech smirked, loving the feeling of possessive protectiveness radiating off the other.

"Very well. Red, continue trying to contact the incoming pod. Prowl, defensive strategies. Hound, Bumblebee, track the pod and lead us to the crash site." Optimus barked the orders to his soldiers.

The two scouts, one yellow, one green, took to their alternate modes and flew across the sand, chasing the burning trail in the sky. The yellow Camaro struggled through the dense vegetation that lined the sand, but Hound, in his Jeep Gladiator form, had no problems. Rough terrain was his element. The others from the beach radioed changes in the pod's course as they went, trying to help where they could.

"It's an Autobot!" came the happy shout over their comm. links from Red Alert. "Still no identity as of yet though."

The earth shook when the comet made impact. Hound was the first to reach the site, having left Bumblebee behind in the brush. He transformed and sent back the coordinates to the rest of the team. There was a crater where the pod had first made contact with the ground, then a deep furrow where it had finally skidded to a stop. A few fires had started along the edges of the impacts.

Smoke was still rising from the silver pod as it lay in the dirt. Hound picked up the signals of the others as they quickly closed on the location. The pod didn't move yet. He sent out a radio message to try and figure out who the bot was.

"Autobot Hound to new arrival. Identify yourself." He received no answer over any of the radio frequencies they commonly used.

The rich laugh was back in his thoughts. 'I'm sure you know who I am, my gentle Hound.'

"New Autobot, identify yourself," he repeated his transmission as the others transformed beside him and took up the places Prowl directed them to.

Slowly, the silver pod began to shift, unfolding to reveal a mech's protoform. Optimus stepped forward, speaking to the slender form in their native tongue.

"Welcome to Earth, Autobot. Before we go further we must find you a suitable alt. mode…" Hound tuned out the lecture on how to connect to the internet in favor of putting out any remaining fires. He knelt to examine a group of flowers that had caught his optics, the nature lover in him taking over. He knew that it was safe to let his guard down now.

A feeling of amusement touched his thoughts. His head snapped up to look over his fellow soldiers. Jazz sent him a smirk, but no one else was paying attention. He sent back a sense of confusion to wherever the amusement had come from.

The sound of shifting gears and metal announced the newcomer's selection of an alt. mode. Hound turned to watch from behind. The chosen car was a Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR. The color started as silver as the protoform armor, but slowly turned into a gleaming opalescent white, with blue accents and racing stripes. The mech unfolded to his bi-pedal form to properly greet the others, his back to Hound still.

His frame seized up and refused to move, to listen to him at all. The white armor, that blue helm…he knew that form. Tentatively, almost reverently, he reached out through the bond that bound them; a call of longing and hope and love.

And, after a few agonizingly long seconds, the call was answered. Amusement, devotion, love, a fierce possessiveness, and many more emotions flooded him, nearly overwhelming him. His green frame shook in the tidal wave. He began to laugh when he realized just how long the bond had truly been open between them: just before the other had hit the atmosphere and come down to find him, to join with him again.

The joy that surged over the bond was enough to wipe out four millennia of pain, fear, sorrow, and longing. His laughter filled the small clearing the other had landed in. He was dimly aware of the rest of the team leaving them to reunite in peace, though the medic wasn't being very quiet about it. His world had spiraled down to a single point now.

The slim white and blue mech turned with a grace he hadn't seen anyone come close to matching. Long, slightly clawed fingers on black hands reached for Hound. White and blue arms spread in an open invitation. The white face was as beautiful as ever with its blue mask. The optics, as golden as the fiery sun sinking behind the blue helm, were filled with a noble's pride and unending love.

Hound trembled. Sudden fear gripped him to the core. This could be a trick. In an instant, the other could vanish, just like his namesake could on this new world. 'It's been so long…Please…be real and not just the illusion your name suggests…' he begged from his spark.

A new laugh joined the echoes of his. The voice was rich and cultured, proud and strong. "My dearest Hound, I am no simple illusion. I am here."

Whatever spell had frozen him in place lifted at the sound of that voice. He threw his heavier frame forward, his spark pulsing wildly in his chest. "Mirage!" he called as he ran towards the other. "Mirage!"

Mirage smiled as Hound slammed into him, the momentum carrying them to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Metal screeched as they hit. "Hound!" he laughed. Hound's larger hands cupped his face gently, his blue optics shining with pure exhilaration. Mirage traced his bonded's face with one hand and held him closer with the other.

Suddenly looking sheepish, Hound pulled Mirage back to his feet. He opened his mouth to apologize for his actions but was stopped by a finger over his lip components. "Don't Hound. Not this time," Mirage smiled up at him, gold optics bright with laughter. "The dirt will wash off later. As will the streaks of your green paint."

Carefully, Hound wrapped his arms around Mirage's waist. Again, fear of the moment being nothing but an illusion gripped him. But it was the solid weight of arms sliding around his neck and the press of the other's frame that ground him in reality. "Raj…" he purred, optics turned off to savor the instant between them. Their bond was wide open, emotions and thoughts and memories exchanging through it, solidifying their reunion after a too long separation. "You're late," he finished, hands tenderly mapping out the familiar frame.

Mirage laughed quietly. "Ah, but better late than never, hmm?" he questioned. His systems gave a light purr in response to Hound's touches.

Hound tightened his embrace on the other. Never could have meant Mirage's death, and with how weak the bond between them had become due to the distance of their separation, Hound would have never known. His dark thoughts were banished by the pulsing of the other's spark so close to his own. "Mirage…" he cried softly.

"Shh, my love. I'm here. We're safe," the blue and white pulled back to see the other's face better. "And nothing will take me from you ever again. Nothing."

Hound smiled. "I'm glad, Raj." He knew that when Mirage promised him something, nothing would keep him from keeping it.

"You should be," the spy replied, pulling from the embrace completely, but not releasing the scout's hand. "Shall we rejoin the others for a time?" He had news of other arrivals to give to their leader, along with more information about their enemy's last stands.

"Yeah, sure," Hound squeezed the hand he held and began to carefully lead the love of his life back to the now star-lit beach. "For a bit."

Mirage beamed at him. Both of them relaxed, their sparks content with the re-established bond and the small physical contact. The party was back to full swing when they returned to their friends. And as far as Hound was concerned, that sunset had been the most blessed and magnificent he had ever seen, and ever would.

I was given the prompt at a writers meeting. Start with "No matter what I do..." then pick a number between 1 and 10 and use that expression attached to that number in your story. I picked number five, which was better late than never. This started out as a Prowl/Jazz story, but Hound and Raj kinda pushed them out of the way and gave me this idea instead. This is my first TF fic so please let me know what you think about it. Thanks, Juzu