Author's Notes: This is a fanfic I've wanted to write since spring of last year, but it never seemed to be the right time. I've had a lot of ideas and this one kept getting pushed back. Well, I'm finally ready to write this story, and I can only hope that it turns out well. I'm a little out of my comfort zone with romance, but this is an idea I don't want to see evaporate into the ether. It's probably cliché to use Prowl as the main character for a romantic story, but he just happens to be the best pick for this particular storyline. Thank you for giving this fic a chance, and if you like the idea please favorite, follow, and/or review :)

Trigger warning: Mentions of femme trafficking.

Chapter 1

The Rescue

It all started with a mission to save innocent lives. The Autobots and Decepticons had taken their war for Cybertron beyond the planet itself and were currently fighting for control of the outer reaches of their solar system. The area around the fifteenth planet in Cybertron's system was lawless and a frequent hotspot for smugglers and slavers. Many neutrals had fallen victim to the Decepticon terrorists, and even more had found themselves forced to serve cruel masters among the Decepticons' ranks.

This was the environment the Autobot ship called the Savior found itself in. Optimus Prime was still fighting Megatron on Cybertron, but one of his most trusted officers, Prowl, commanded the Savior along with a crew of some of the best Autobots in the fleet.

Their mission on this particular orn was to locate and disable a slaver ship belonging to a powerful mech named Lockdown. Lockdown and his crew were known to capture femmes to sell as pleasure bots, and Prowl's chief spy Mirage had it on good authority that they had just taken on 14 femmes from a captured scientific research vessel. The Autobots would arrest the Decepticons if they cooperated, and if they didn't then they had to prepare for a fight to the death. Prowl was just grateful he had capable warriors on his ship; including the terror twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

"Sir, we have a visual on the Poacher!" The navigator reported; referring to the name of Lockdown's ship.

"Aim for their thrusters and engines. Get in close but not close enough to ram them," Prowl ordered the gunner, and then on the comm link said /Ratchet, this is Prowl. We might have casualties, so prepare the medbay./

/Fine. Just tell the twins to not do anything stupid,/ Ratchet grumbled on the other end of the comm.

The Savior was undetected by the Poacher, so Prowl knew they had the element of surprise. The gunner, Cliffjumper, started by shooting at a meteor on the other side from the Poacher so the ship would believe that was where the attack was coming from. The Savior then moved in on the target and began to fire. The Poacher's thrusters were damaged, but the engine was intact enough for them to move slightly in space. The Poacher then opened fire on the Savior, but the Autobots already knew it was coming and dodged every shot. Prowl calculated their battle strategy as each new development happened and gave orders accordingly. The battle computer installed in his processor made him one of the most calculating officers the Autobots had, and that increased their odds of success.

"Cliffjumper, aim for their starboard weapons array," Prowl ordered, /Sideswipe, Sunstreaker. Get into a shuttle and prepare to deploy. You need to board the ship. Do you need any additional mechpower?/

/Are you kidding?/ Sideswipe asked cockily, /Two of us is overkill!/

Prowl sighed, but didn't press the issue. He had calculated the strength of Lockdown and his forces when compared to the twins. While Lockdown himself was incredibly strong and vicious, his crew was mostly made up of lowlives and underlings. They would pose no challenge to the twins.

Cliffjumper fired on the starboard weapons as ordered, and also fired on the port weapons array. Prowl growled low. He knew if Cliffjumper overtaxed the system it could lead to a malfunction. The Savior, while a decent sized vessel, wasn't built for sustained combat. Sure enough, the extra power to the weapons took away from their thrusters and allowed the Poacher the opportunity they needed to fire!

BOOM!

The ship tilted a little as one of their landing wings was clipped and everyone nearly fell out of their seats, but otherwise nothing was damaged. Prowl turned to Cliffjumper with a stern look, and Cliffjumper returned the look with a sheepish smile.

"Heheh...sorry, sir," Cliffjumper simpered, "To be fair though, I took out part of their port weapons array."

"Just aim for their roof," Prowl replied longsufferingly.

The battle lasted a few more breems, but eventually the Poacher was completely crippled. Their ship was smaller and not as well equipped as the Savior; something Prowl was grateful for. Sure, the Autobot flagship might've been a bit much for a mere smuggler, but to Prowl and the other Autobots every life mattered; even the neutrals. It didn't take long for Prowl to get the report that the twins had infiltrated the ship and had found the femmes; all alive.

The crew on the bridge cheered, all except Prowl himself who merely allowed a satisfied smile to cross his face plates. It was always gratifying when a mission went according to plan.

A half a joor later Prowl was debriefing the twins, Ratchet, and Mirage. According to the twins most of the 'Cons had managed to escape. Out of the ones that didn't 7 were killed and one surrendered; Lockdown's own second in command Swagger. Ratchet reported that some of the femmes had already been violated by their captors, and one had a broken elbow joint. He also reported that one of the scientists, a chemist named Crystalline, wanted to join the Autobots to help stop the tyranny of the Decepticons.

Prowl asked Mirage about what he saw aboard the ship. Mirage told them what they already suspected, that Lockdown had been a sex-bot trafficker for nearly 15 vorns and his records showed thousands of mechs and femmes that had been taken by him. There were also records to indicate at least 490 murders committed by the captain of the Poacher.

Prowl was very skilled at containing his emotions, but beneath the surface he felt rage and contempt for the Decepticons that had committed such horrible crimes against their fellow Cybertronians.

"The first thing I will need to do is alert the Iacon Autobot Refugee Center that we will be bringing former hostages back to Cybertron," Prowl stated, "This will give them time to find accommodations for the femmes."

"What about Crystalline?" Sideswipe asked, "She wants to join the Autobots, and she wants to work aboard this ship to help other 'Bots in her situation."

"Hm...A scientist might be useful to us," Prowl replied thoughtfully, "Is she willing to work with weapons research?"

"I'll ask her," Sideswipe replied, "I hope she stays. She was really cool the way she tripped that one 'Con so we could catch him. Pretty brave for a science nerd. You should've seen that weaselly 'Con's face plant. I nearly busted a strut from laughing so hard!"

"Ah yes, Lockdown's SIC," Prowl drew out the words as if the very thought of that mech stressed him out, "I will also need to interrogate Swagger. Where is he?"

"I shoved him in the interrogation room as soon as we came back," Sunstreaker snorted derisively, "That little toady isn't worth anyone's time. I would've killed him if he weren't so pathetic."

Prowl had never seen Swagger before so he didn't know what to expect, but at least Sunstreaker's account didn't mention the 'Con being overly dangerous. Still, Prowl felt he needed to conduct the interrogation himself so that his crew wouldn't have to put themselves in unnecessary danger. He dismissed the four Autobots in the debriefing room and headed for the brig; ready for anything.

On the way to the brig however, Prowl was stopped in the hallway by a white femme with gold accents. She had lovely blue optics, white-walled tires on her back, and was holding a data pad. She smiled shyly at him, and Prowl patiently waited to see what she wanted.

"Excuse me, are you Prowl?" The femme asked him, "Second in command to Optimus Prime?"

"Yes, I am," Prowl replied with neither modesty nor egotism, "And you are?"

"Oh, pardon me sir. Where are my manners? My name is Crystalline," Crystalline replied apologetically, "I just wanted to thank you for saving us. You and your crew are truly heroes."

"We are merely doing our duty and protecting Cybertron from the Decepticons," Prowl stated matter-of-factly, "It is not heroism to simply do one's job."

"Oh, but it is!" Crystalline contested, "You have no idea what those animals would have done if you hadn't showed up. The worst part is they destroyed our ship after ransacking it of all energon and valuables. Vorns of research was lost because those Decepticons cared more about short-term profit than long-term progress for our species! If I had been carrying a laser cannon I would have shot Lockdown dead! I had designed a prototype hull material that could power itself using the natural radiation given off by the Cybertronian body, but now it's gone!"

"I understand your ire," Prowl replied as sympathetically as he could manage; pressed for time but unwilling to be rude to someone who had experienced so much trauma, "I am certain you will reconstruct your alloy someday."

"Thank you, sir," Crystalline nodded rapidly in an effort to calm herself down, "Forgive me for interrupting you. I know you must be busy. I just wanted to thank you for saving our lives."

"Well then, I appreciate it," Prowl replied awkwardly; unsure how to reply to that, "I understand you wish to join our crew?"

"Oh, yes sir! I want to do anything I can to stop the Decepticons from harming anyone else the way they did my friends and myself," Crystalline stated enthusiastically, "That is, if you will accept me."

"Would you be willing to develop more accurate laser pistols for our troops?" Prowl asked intently.

"Yes," Crystalline replied without hesitation, "It is not my first choice of project, but I know why you need them. Your patrol is the only thing standing between criminals like Lockdown and his cronies and the peaceful denizens of our solar system. I will do all I can to help, sir."

"Thank you," Prowl said graciously, "Report to Mirage for your crew quarters assignment. We recently had some crew transfers, so you should be able to have your own room for the moment. If we become overcrowded you may be asked to share."

"I don't mind, sir," Crystalline replied, "I'll go right away. Thanks again."

Crystalline then left, and Prowl was finally able to make his way to the brig. Swagger was likely going to be charged with piracy and war crimes in Iacon, so he knew the best way to get the information he wanted from the Poacher's former SIC was to play the role of devil's advocate and act like he had the 'Cons best interests at spark.

When he went into the interrogation room he saw that the 'Con was smoking a bright blue enerjolt stick and almost looked bored at seeing Prowl walk in. The relaxed stance made Prowl's energon boil since he knew he was dealing with a criminal and someone that had helped Lockdown destroy so many lives.

"I assumed the twins locked your subspace," Prowl commented in a scolding tone of voice while looking at the enerjolt in Swagger's digits.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at hacking code when I need to," Swagger shrugged; his voice high pitched and raspy; like a chain smoking leprechaun, "So, do I get to pick my mode of death or is that your decision?"

Prowl scowled at the casually smoking Decepticon, and took note of Swagger's appearance. He was short, about the same height as Prowl, and was green with yellow piping along his chassis and limbs. The thin metal wheels on his feet and back indicated he was a train-former, and the horizontal gold pipes on his helm could either be weapons or steam release pipes; it was too early to tell. So far this information didn't seem useful, but Prowl knew that information was power, so he would have to observe the Decepticon carefully as he interrogated him.

"Swagger, I am giving you a chance to make a formal statement," Prowl told him, "I need to know the locations where Lockdown smuggles his slaves and stolen goods. I also need to know the names of any possible non-Decepticon connections Lockdown may have."

"Oh yeah? Well what's in it for me?" Swagger asked point blank before sucking in a long drag from his enerjolt.

"You will avoid the death penalty," Prowl replied stonily as he stared at Swagger from across the table.

"Hm, that's certainly tempting, but it's not good enough," Swagger replied as his face plate went from bored to sharp and focused in a matter of seconds, "Avoiding death by the Autobots isn't the same as avoiding death. Lockdown would hunt me down like a turbo fox and slowly rip me to pieces if he found out I ratted on him. No, I need more permanent arrangements if we're going to work together."

"What did you have in mind?" Prowl asked with a neutral expression on his face; deciding to play whatever game this Decepticon wanted to play to see where it would take him.

"Well...If I'm turning on the 'Cons, then the only reasonable course of action seems to be to join the Autobots," Swagger not-so-subtly hinted, "Oh by the way, do you want an enerjolt? I have more."

"I don't smoke," Prowl replied coldly, "And I also don't offer asylum to rapists."

"Hey! I never touched those femmes!" Swagger suddenly bolted upright and jabbed a digit in Prowl's face plate, "Besides, it's not like you Autobots are any better! Do you know how many so-called Autobot customers I saw on the Poacher? Huh?"

"Weren't you cuffed a moment ago?" Prowl asked while ignoring Swagger's outburst.

"I picked the lock," Swagger replied; slightly calmer as he sat back down, "Listen, I know what you must think of me. Just some nasty little bum messing around with helpless femmes. Well it's not true. The only reason I stayed with Lockdown this long is because I'm afraid of him. I processed the femmes for selling, but that's it! I would never hurt them like that. Ask any of the survivors, they'll tell you."

"If that is true then how did you get to be his second in command?" Prowl asked pointedly.

"I do whatever he says," Swagger admitted, "He wants energon, I bring him energon. He wants me to write down a femme's measurements, I write them down. He wants me to bug the rooms of potential traitors, I do that too. I'm his trained cyberhound, and he's sure I would never betray him. I know that isn't exactly the most innocent sounding portrait out there, but it's the truth. Sir...I have to be honest with you. I hate what I've become, and I don't want to be remembered this way. I don't normally do this, but I'm begging you, give me a chance. Let me join the Autobots, and you'll never regret it. Protect me from Lockdown, and I'll tell you everything I know."

Prowl pondered what he just heard. On the one hand he was disgusted with the idea of a Decepticon slaver joining the Autobots and escaping punishment, but on the other hand if Swagger didn't cooperate then they would probably never have another chance to catch Lockdown and thousands more femmes would suffer. It seemed that granting the little scraplet political asylum was the lesser of two evils.

"Information first, then we'll discuss your living arrangements," Prowl ordered as he turned on the recording device under the table.

"Are you gonna kill me anyway?" Swagger asked nervously.

"No, I am not," Prowl replied stoically, "However, if you lie to me then you will be taken to Iacon to stand trial for war crimes and femme trafficking. Now, let's start with Lockdown's frequent customer list..."