Chapter Text
If there was anything Blurr was dreading, it was his return to the Elite Guard after so many years. So many things had changed since the days where he used to chase after cons and arrest suspected criminals. He had a family now. He no longer considered himself an autobot, he had so many lovely things but the most important thing that had changed was that his family was in need of money...
Turns out, Shockwave had gotten into a rather heated argument with Sentinel Magnus and he had fired him on the spot. Shockwave kept apologizing for the incident but deep down Blurr was much happier with this set up. After all, Shockwave was home now and now that he was, he actually improved his relationship with Radio in the past few months.
But the repairing of singed bridges, while nice, didn’t put food on the table. So Blurr had decided to join the guard again, luckily they gave little to no push back on letting him in, which was surprising, almost to a concerning degree. Of course he should’ve known something was up...
The first thing to greet him on his way to his office wasn’t an awkward silence or even a tense one, but Cliffjumper with a datapad, he had been talking to someone over his phone when Blurr came in which was an even worse sign...
“Blurr, I’m relieved to see ya, I know you just got back but... Well, there are matters we need to discuss with you.”
Primus help him...
“Happy to see you too, so what is all of this about?”
Blurr asked, following his redhaired companion down the hallway. He fidgeted with his own hair out of nervousness, trying to figure out what on earth could be going on or what he was about to be told. Cliff remained as hard to read as usual too, not giving much away in his expression, luckily the things he had to say were far more revealing.
“We’ve got a mission, one that’s ready for you and top secret, it’s also very important. We were actually hoping to reach out to you to do it but having you come to us first is even better.”
“Alright, well give me my mission, and I’ll evaluate it, then we can figure out the plan from there.”
“It’s not as simple as that, see we have already attempted this mission several times. Even our top agents haven’t been able to succeed, so you’ve got a partner. A rather unconventional one, but we’ve given him good incentive to work with you...”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ll see... Just... Prepare yourself. He’s a lot...”
Blurr raised his eyebrow, but continued regardless, he took in a breath as they approached the door, but nothing could have prepared him for what was behind it.
As Cliffjumper opened the door, Blurr noticed two things...
One was Mirage sitting at the desk Cliff used to, he was Arcee’s secretary now that she was head of intel. His dark hair was put into a ponytail and he offered Blurr a friendly smile, which he returned despite the thing that was somewhat obstructing his view of him.
A tall, dark-skinned, chubby and curvy man. With his black hair in a bun and a dress decorated with the markings of a peacock that barely covered his upper thighs. Laid across his desk, his gloved hands caressing the desk with a femme fatale flair, before looking over to Blurr, he scanned him up and down before smirking.
Oh god...
“Is this my partner?” They both asked, looking to those nearest to them. Mirage and Cliff just looked at each other, both looking rather tired.
“He’s in good shape.~”
“He looks like a... Never mind, what did you say about him being strange?”
Cliffjumper rolled his eyes before gesturing to the mysterious man. “This is Iridescent or Dess... He’s your partner for this mission. If he seems oddly familiar, that’s probably because he’s been wanted for arrest for a very long time...”
“I’m sorry, my partner is a highly wanted criminal?!”
“For now I’m a highly wanted criminal~ But if you’re decent at your job... I soon won’t be~” Dess purred, twirling a bit of Blurr’s hair with a flirty look. Cliffjumper just rolled his eyes again.
“If Dess succeeds in this mission, he will be pardoned of all crimes and allowed to walk away a free man, so he has little reason to sabotage us.”
“For the record, even less now that you’re finally here~” Dess continued, before suddenly getting to his feet. “Not that I needed a partner, but it’ll be nice to have some manpower with me, in case I need someone to carry me back home~” He teased, leaning down to meet Blurr’s eyes.
“Very funny, you’re really relaxed for someone who's going to be facing prison time if they can’t pull this off aren’t you?”
“Oh I can already tell you’ve been in the guard for a while. You’ve got a long stick up your ass haven’t you? Well darling just know you aren’t better than me just because your autobot daddies gave you a badge, for the record, dogs get treats when they’re good too~”
Blurr bit his lip. This guy was going to be a real pain in his ass, he could already tell, but he had to keep his cool. He was a professional after all. It shouldn’t be that hard.
“My name is Blurr, nice to meet you, I hope, for the record, and the sake of both of us, we can pull this off and soon.” Blurr said, extending a hand which Dess took. His smirk wasn't leaving his face as he responded.
“I’m Iridescent, but call me Dess darling please, and for the record, I cannot wait to start working with you. You are going to be a very fun partner to work with, I can already tell~”
“Hmph... So what is our mission?”
Mirage was the one to start talking, picking up a datapad and wagging his finger towards Blurr with a smile. “Actually, before we get into that, we need both of you to fully understand just how secretive this entire operation must be. Not one soul should even know you two are work partners. Nobody is to know of this, not family, not friends, not anyone, if word gets out about this, well, we’d all have hell to pay.”
Blurr gulped, but as he looked over to Dess he simply seemed bored with the explanation. So turning back to Cliffjumper, Blurr nodded, he needed to do this, for his family... “Alright, I’ll bite, what are we doing?”
“Your job is quite simple, you see there is this... Organization... Named Solios, its leader Thunderstrike, has been acting shady lately. We have good reason to believe him and his lackeys are up to something, your job is to investigate it, stop it and get us the evidence for it. Ideally you would also figure out just how long they’ve been up to it too...”
“Solios? That’s a big target. They have so many different ventures, where would we even start?”
“That’s exactly why we got Dess on board for this. As a master criminal and someone with a loose tie to Solios, he will be the one you look to for most of your answers.”
Blurr nodded, he was about to continue when Dess spoke up. “So, the first event I think we should go to is a very high profile one, it’s sure to be a good start and I doubt the guard has outfits picked out for us, so that should be the first thing we do...” He then looked over to Blurr gesturing to him as he continued. “After all, you can’t go a ballroom dressed like that, what’s the fanciest thing you own darling?”
“Are you serious? A ballroom dance? How do we even know there’s any info there? People don’t go to a dance to discuss business.”
“Come on now, just tell me? I need a good place to start...”
Blurr didn’t know how he was gonna survive the next few days.
“Hello honey! How is your first day at work going?” Bee asked over the phone, the smile on his face somehow clear in just his voice.
“It’s going well, I’m...” Blurr paused, he usually wasn’t one for spreading info that was supposed to be secretive, but surely he could be a little honest with his husbands right? He’d just give them the basics of his situation. “I’m gathering supplies for my latest mission, and it’s gonna involve a pretty high profile disguise, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing whatever stuffy thing I get shoved into...”
“Don’t be so cynical, whatever they ‘shove you into’ I’m sure you’ll look great, oh and I need to tell you, the kids all miss you! Radio especially.”
“Shut up! Give me the phone already! I wanna talk to him!”Radio huffed over the phone, and Blurr covered his mouth to suppress the chuckle that left him, it warmed his heart to hear Radio in such better spirits... Every day she sounded more and more like her younger self...
“Alright, alright, here ya go.” Bee purred, and Blurr’s smile just widened hearing the warmth in his voice.
“Hey dad, how is work going for you?” Radio asked, doing her best to sound bored, but Blurr didn’t really mind.
“It’s going very nice, a little much, but I should be alright.”
“You know you might not have to work for such long hours, if you let me get a job too... I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but I do spend most of my free time napping...”
Ah, this conversation again...
“Radio, I want you to focus on school, not on supporting our family. I thought I made myself clear.”
“You did! But you don’t understand how I’m feeling, I want to help! And the last thing we need is you getting hurt on the job...”
“Radio, I’ve done this before, I did this for years upon years, I’ll be okay.”
“But-”
“Sweetie, look I have a way you can help alright? It’s just not one that involves a job.”
Radio went quiet but Blurr didn’t hear her huff, which was a good sign.
“I need you to make sure everything is going fine while I’m out okay? Just make sure the kids are in good spirits, and that everyone’s fed, can you do that for me?”
“Kinda like what you do?”
“Yea, exactly what I do... It’d be a big help for me and your fathers.”Blurr said, looking over to see Dess in the nearby doorway, tapping his fingers against the edge impatiently.“Look I have to go, just make sure everyone’s okay alright?”
“I will... I just hope you know everyone misses you...”
“I know, but you’ll all see me soon, don’t worry honey.”
“Okay... Bye...”
“Uh, bye...”
Blurr suddenly felt rather tense hanging up, having Dess right there witnessing those last moments suddenly made him... Self-conscious? Awkward? He wasn’t so sure...
“Who was that?” Dess asked, handing over an assortment of tops to Blurr. Not a single one of them registered as anything he would willingly wear...
“Just my family... Wha- Are you serious, are all of these triple layered or something? I’m not wearing these. I’d spend the entire event struggling to breathe.”
“Your family? It didn’t sound like a family call to me, but what do I know... Also don’t be so dramatic, I picked out the outfits I was sure would give you plenty of room to move without making you stand out as someone who...”
Dess paused, looking Blurr up and down.
“Isn’t a big fan of fashion...”
Blurr, of course, was not a fan of the poorly hidden insult, and as he grabbed one of the suits, he opened the jacket a bit and made some other modifications. Dess didn’t look too happy about it but this time he didn’t comment. “So what is your plan for tonight? Just general scoping out info?”
“No actually, I do have somewhat of a target. His name is Stormbreeze; he’s Thunderstrike’s right hand man and the closest thing he’s had to a romance in forever. Isn’t that just sad? Luckily they both deserve each other in terms of being awful people.” Dess purred, adjusting his own outfit and messing with his makeup.
“Stormbreeze? Wasn’t he a part of the war?”
“Yes, used to be highly respected but they practically ripped his badges off him when it was discovered war was nothing more than an excuse for him to enact violence, the big brute... Of course Thunderstrike was able to help him get back on his feet and save his reputation, I’ve actually heard they’ve been good friends for a while. Back when Thunderstrike hadn’t even made his first speech but was a construction worker! Hah!”
Blurr hummed in thought as he took in everything Dess told him, the air of familiarity he had when discussing these high-profile criminals unnerved him a lot... He was speaking about all these things as if they were high school gossip instead of information for their mission to take these people down...
“You seem to know these people very well... I can see why you were chosen to help in this mission, though I would prefer you treat the situation with the seriousness it demands.”Blurr huffed, taking his favorite of the tops and stepping into a changing closet.
“Don’t be so upright darling, I promise you this will be fun and there’s hardly any danger... For the most part at least...”Dess muttered adjusting his dress while Blurr changed.
“For the record. I don’t trust you...”
“For the record? I wouldn’t either, I used to eat men like you for breakfast after all~”
Blurr rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the closet, showing off his outfit and allowing Dess to judge how well it would allow him to fit in.
“Oh darling, you look wonderful! I would prefer you keep the front part closed but if you must keep it open I suppose you can have it that way.”
“Yeah, yeah, are we going to do this or not?”
Dess chuckled, taking out a cigarette and lighting it before answering Blurr.
“That kind of overconfidence better be backed up with some serious skill darling~
Cause for the record? I can't promise I'll help you if you do something dumb and find yourself at the other end of Stormbreeze's glock."