My Valentine – Part I: Frozen

Author: Thalanee

Verse: It's A Game – Alternate Version/Human Transformers

Word Count: ca 1700 words

Rating: pg-13

Warnings: For the sake of all electronic equipment around you, do not eat or drink while reading this ;) , implied JazzxProwl and SoundwavexBlaster

Disclaimer: Transformers do not belong to me (though I sure as the pit wish they did)

Summary: No, it couldn't be frozen! Jazz wouldn't stand for it, even if undoing the damage was the last thing he ever did. After all it was all for his Prowl.

Author's Notes: This started out as a story for my It's A Game-Verse, but then it turned into something completely different. This is the first of two and rather Jazz-centric, the second will have both Prowl and Jazz.

I dedicate this to one of my dearest and best friends: kida-bridger. This is for you, I hope you like it. Happy Valentine's!

oOoOoOo

"Normal talking…"

:: Online conversation… ::

oOoOoOo

"Ya gotta help me, man! I'm desperate."

Andrew Waverly, known to the internet community as the infamous Soundwave, held the phone's speaker as far away from his ear as possible to avoid permanent damage to his hearing courtesy of the wails currently issuing forth from the device. "What did you do now?"

The question was fully justified, seeing that this was far from the first time the part-time DJ and full-time hacker had been woken from slumber by the more erratic of his two best friends. Getting a phonecall at – he rolled over under his blanket and put on his glasses to look at the alarm clock on his bedside table – 3:30 am was unusual even for the other's standards.

"Well…," There was a short silence from the other end of the line, before his assailant continued speaking, albeit a little hesitantly. "Remember the time I logged into the game as a zombie ta scare off the newbie?"

Soundwave bit back a groan and pinched the bridge of his nose, dislodging his trademark red-tinted glasses in the process. "How could I forget? It's legendary." It was indeed, even weeks later that stunt was still the talk of the gaming community that had grown around the "Great Wars for Cybertron" online roleplaying game and would have elevated Jasper "Jazz" Adams into the ranks of gamer sainthood if he hadn't been counted among those select few already. Before that fateful evening no one would have thought it was possible to crack the game software to that extent. Sure, there were cheats available to all and sundry, tacitly approved or at least ignored by the developers as long as they weren't overpowered and added to the fun of the game. But Jazz, or "the Meister" as he had insisted on being called ever since then, had taken his efforts to new heights when he cracked the game and resurrected his recently deceased character as a zombie transformer and proceeded to scare the living daylights out of a player who had dared to hit on Jazz's boyfriend Alexander Powell, aka Prowl. "But what does it have to do with you calling me up in the middle of the night to wail at me?"

"They froze ma account!" Affront dripped from every syllable when Jazz spoke.

Soundwave blinked at the ceiling. "Say what?"

"Ma account's been frozen, I can't log into the game anymore!"

Once again Soundwave removed the phone from the vicinity of his ear to stare at it in a mixture of befuddlement and irritation, before bringing it back up to its previous position to ask the obvious question. "Didn't you hack it?"

"Duh, that was the first thing I tried." If the sound of frantic typing in the background – never mind the past experience of years of friendship with the enigma that was Jazz - was any indication he wasn't done trying yet.

"But?"

"It didn't work. All the backdoors I snuck into the code are gone, completely erased or altered ta the point that they're useless ta me." The typing continued, now interspersed with the odd curse now and then. Was that the soundtrack of Mission Impossible playing on repeat in the background?

"And just what do you think I'm supposed to be able to do about this?" Please do not let it involve anything that has to do with getting up and leaving the bed… "Besides you're good, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get around the lock in a couple of days and unfreeze your account yourself." It was a valid point, Soundwave thought, idly stroking his black cat who had taken the opportunity to make herself comfortable on his stomach, obviously thinking that if her human was awake, he might as well pet her.

"Of course I could, but that ain't tha point, I need ta get in today!" Now Jazz really sounded desperate. What about the game could possibly be that urgent? Only one way to find out.

"…Dare I ask why?"

"…Online date with Prowler." Soundwave didn't even need to sit across from Jazz to know he was sporting a ridiculously sappy grin right then.

If the hacker had been sitting at his desk, this was where he would have introduced his forehead to his keypad. On the other hand, could it really still be called an introduction when the two already were so well acquainted thanks to Jazz? So he settled for thunking his head against the pillow. It just wasn't the same, though. "Isn't he going to be back from his trip to Los Angeles tomorrow anyway? What was it he was doing there? A seminar on blood… something?"

"Blood spatter interpretation at crime scenes. And yeah, he's gonna be back in two days but that ain't the point. Don't ya know what day it is tomorrow?" A short pause. "Today."

Soundwave wracked his brain for an acceptable answer, but without several gallons of his favourite coffee there was just no way he could come up with anything other than "Uhn…"

"It's Valentine's Day!" Did Jazz just squeal? "Since we can't be together physically we promised each other ta take a couple of hours just for ourselves ta meet up in the game at least and have an online date if we can't have the real thing. I already got the perfect plan but I need to set up loads of stuff if I wanna be ready in time by this evening. Please, my main man, I'm desperate here! I'll beg if I have to!"

Soundwave sighed. If Jazz had given him any other reason he would have hung up on him, but this… this could actually be called a worthy cause. In all the years they had known each other Jazz had never been as happy as he had been with the New Yorker detective he had met one night on Halloween. When Jazz had first started gushing about his new romantic interest Soundwave had feared it would end in smoke as all his fellow DJ's previous attempts at a romantic relationship had. Especially considering the fact that Prowl had arrested Jazz for drunkenly jumping at random people in Central Part to scare them…

But the Prowl had been good for Jazz, never mind the fact that the two were one of those couples. The closet romantic in Soundwave was already relaying orders to the rest of him and he found himself standing up and moving to his computer before he had consciously formed a decision, much to the displeasure of his cat who disappeared from the room with a reproachful look at her silly human. "OK, let's do this."

oOoOoOo

Several hours, gallons of energy drinks and coffee, sweets, energy bars and loud heroic and sneaky music courtesy of Jazz later saw both hackers logged into the game under their accounts, Jazz's account finally unfrozen and his silver Autobot self doing a happy dance while Soundwave's equally silver, yet much taller Decepticon character watched and waited for him to finish. He got his wish when the Solstice tackled him in a full body hug. Soundwave simply patted him on the back – after looking around and checking that no one was watching them, they both had a reputation to maintain in their respective factions after all.

:: Thank ya, man, ya're the best! :: The silver saboteur hugged the Decepticon one last time before jumping back to the ground, rubbing his servos together in an obvious show of glee, a gleam in his blue visor.

:: Jazz: Welcome. Query: plans? ::

:: No way I'm gonna tell ya, man. If I did it wouldn't be a surprise anymore :: True to form Jazz stuck out his glossa, which of course didn't faze the other in the slightest.

The red visor flashed once, before the Decepticon nodded. :: Acknowledged. Query: Next meeting?::

:: Today's pretty busy, gonna have ta set up the date, spend the evening with Prowler. I also have it on good authority that there's a certain someone ya're gonna spend today with, ya dog. Give Blaster my best when ya see him. :: Jazz megawatt grin looked eerily similar to the one he wore in real life.

:: Affirmative. ::

Soundwave was about to log out and get a couple of hours more sleep in when he noticed the intent way the other was starting at him in via his avatar, as if trying to figure something out. During the short moment of inattention the saboteur had actually climbed the Decepticon TIC's frame and had his visor practically glued to other's faceplates.

:: Query: Reason for stare?::

:: Ya know, I never kind of asked before… but why do ya talk like that in the game when you can actually outdo Screamer and Prowler in talking like a Classical Age novel personified? It has ta do with your characters background, doesn't it? ::

:: Jazz: Serious about inquiry? ::

:: …Yeah. :: Soundwave could practically feel the other's plating twitch in anticipation of his answer, so he drew the torture out for as long as he could.

:: Reason: Soundwave too lazy to type.

The look on Jazz's face was priceless.

oOoOoOo

Author's Note II: As you can see (or at least I hope you did), the gaming technology in this universe is far more advanced than it is in ours.

Cookies to anyone who can name two of my other stories I alluded to in this one ;)

It's a slow start, but the second part will be livelier, and it will also have Prowl in it. So, let me know what you think. ^^