One Night One Vorn, a transformers/beast wars fanfic

Title: One Night. One Vorn.

Author: cmdrtekk

Characters: Prowl, Smokescreen, Jazz, a few OC's as minor support characters when needed

Rating: T

Words: ~7800 / 7900

Warnings: Yeah, robots that use male pronouns to describe themselves, referencing, discussing and or performing intimate acts with each other are present.

Summary: Prowl meets Jazz. This is a response to April 2011 P&J Challenge on LJ. The Prompt: Create a piece of work that incorporates one or both of the following prompts: Wedding, Royalty

Verse:

Disclaimer: I, in no way, shape, or form, own the Transformers© franchise or the characters it contains. They belong to Has/Tak.

Klik : 1.2 Earth minutes
Breem : 8.3 Earth minutes
Joor : About 6.5 Earth hours
Cycle: About 93 hours
Orn : About 13 Earth days
Deca-cycle : Approx. 3 weeks
Meta-cycle : 13 months
Vorn : About 83 Earth years

"I don't understand why you are always signing up for these special event overtime shifts Prowl. So what, the Prime is coming to this gig. Big deal. It's not like Praxus has a huge criminal underworld ready to jump up and interfere. And the couple of big bosses we do have just happen to respect the Prime so their gonna have their mechs leashed. Any shift you pick up is gonna be Super Number One Booor-ring! It's not like overtime will ever bring in enough money to help make a dent in your pay-off even if you are closer to that possibility than any of us. And if it's excitement you're looking for, it's a lot easier to go slum with the regular Patrol and take a couple of their shifts."

Prowl looked across the locker room at his blue companion who shared his frame design. Smokescreen was also a tactician in the Praxus Division of the Cybertron Security Forces. And just like Prowl he was also a pre-programmed spark commission for the Praxus Special Weapons and Tactical Team. A team that was little used in there specialty as Praxus really had no need for such, but some Senator had gotten a kink in his wires once and now Praxus had themselves a SWAT. And for all that he had been commissioned 203 vorns before Prowl, Prowl was significantly closer to paying off his contract than Smokey was. Not that 203 vorns was that huge of a difference considering Prowl had been commissioned 1869 vorn ago and probably had a good 10,000 vorn to go at the absolute very best to earn pay-off. And to be honest Prowl acknowledged he had one very lucky break over Smokescreen and the general population of pre-programmed civilian commissions – no matter what their field - that had allowed him to move that much closer to being able to pay off his contract. He had been loaned out to Cybertron Military Special Operations several vorn back and had collected a share of prize money when the battle cruiser he had been stationed with had captured a Pirate base. Not just a pirate ship, but a base. And prize money was the reason military spark commissioned mechs had such a high rate of contract pay-offs. Oh, but right now he needed to answer his friend. "Perhaps that's not the type of excitement I'm looking for."

It took a moment but finally Smokescreen jerked upright from his locker in surprise then twisted around to stare over at Prowl in time to see the black and whites mechs optics flash with mischief. "Slaggit Prowl. Don't get my hopes up. I was ready to ask who and how."

Prowl smirked, pleased to have succeeded in his tease of his fellow tactician. Despite Smokescreen's reaction and general thinking regarding Prowl's lack of interfacing the reality was he was well versed in pleasure activities of the berth, his time with the military had seen to that, though unlike a lot of his fellow enforcers he didn't advertise. And more importantly he tended to hunt for companions in the upscale hotel district bars that catered to business travelers rather than the rowdy bars, dance halls and pleasure houses he knew the majority of his fellows patronized. Prowl shook his head and frowned. "Like any noble's gonna take an enforcer for a short fling, let alone a one night berth romp. Particularly when they will have their choice of each other at the reception tonight. The chances I even see one are too low to be worth computing."

"Hey we all have our dreams." Smokescreen countered. "And really, would it be such a bad thing if one of us had them come true?"

I imagine a dream come true would certainly be safer and a more sure route to pay-off for you than your bookie. But first, you need to sign up for these sorts of shifts."

"Okay, first, I'm on call on the extremely slim, too low to be worth computing chance something other than 500 nobles overcharging themselves happens. And second, my bookie is safe…most of the time. And I win far more often than I loose. And Praxis doesn't loan us out enough to the military for us to have a true chance at collecting any prize money. That was a fluke of pure simple luck on your part. Face it Prowl, commissioned bots is just a polite way of saying eternal paid slave."

"Perpetual indentured servants." Prowl countered with a wry grin.

Smokescreen flicked his optics in exasperation, "Same difference Prowl, and seriously, why would you, of all of us, want to pay off? While your skill set is pretty general, your specialties are even more specialized than mine. It's not like you're going to find employment in another field unless you go to the military. Enforcement is it for us buddy. And you in particular."

Prowl nodded his acknowledgment as he finished buffing off the last of the wax on his lower leg thereby bringing out the last bits of an illustrious shine. "Perhaps I just like a reason to clean up?"

Smokescreen offered the laugh Prowl had been aiming for. "Knowing you? That I can believe."

After putting his cleaning supplies away he shut his locker and waved both hand and winglets at Smokescreen. "Thanks for the help with my back and wings."

"Anytime Prowl and same to you." Smokescreen returned as he watched the black and white enforcer head out for the overtime shift at the Gardens.

/\-/\-/\-/\

Prowl walked along the perimeter wall of the crystal gardens. He was one of many this night, both local and imported insuring the coming ceremony and following reception remained private. Well… as private as a ceremony including 500 plus guests, plus servants of which the Prime was one could remain private anyway. Bonding ceremonies within the crystal gardens were common. The beauty attracting many couples, trines and quads to be. It was unusual however for the entire gardens to be closed for a bonding ceremony. More typical for a ceremony, was to close off a small section of the couples choosing leaving the rest open to the public. And the reception afterwards held off grounds.

The couple involved in this one while not high royalty, were numbered amongst noble and affluent houses of Cybertron. One half of the pair was from Iacon; a relative to the Prime. Prowl knew all there was to know publicly about the mech. He was younger; just shy of sixteen thousand vorns. A cousin five times removed from the royal line he was among the affluent of the Iacon towers and had the audio of the also young Prime dating back to their youngling vorns when their friendship had developed. He was popular amongst his peers for more than just his close relationship to the Prime. He was considered quite intelligent and though young for the task he had already taken over his families worldwide businesses. The increased success in the already successful ventures had proven his skill. While he enjoyed the privileges of his station he wasn't a player, had no criminal record that Prowl could locate and donated heavily to charity. His creators were still on line and he had one younger sibling, a mech that was only four thousand vorns old. The second half of the match was Neca, a femme creation of the current Leader of the Praxus Senate. She too was young, though older than her chosen by a couple thousand vorns. Most of the time she lived the life of luxury and always had. She too was popular amongst her peers, and unlike her chosen she was a player. She liked to party, she liked to shop. She reveled in her wealth and station amongst the affluent of Praxus. And for all her stately wildness, she would never be so uncouth as to break a law. What endeared her to the Praxus citizenry was her desire and willingness to work in the youth sectors which she did for one vorn out of every five. Prowl himself as a public servant of Praxus had no opinion about her one way of the other.

~~Prowl, Starwatch.~~

Prowl terminated his line of thought on the noble couple as he heard his designation over the force frequency and responded. ~~Starwatch, Prowl.~~

~~Prowl, I'm sending Web to your position. Confirm his arrival, then report to the MCC.~~

~~Acknowledged~~

/\-/\-/\-/\

Prowl yanked his hand from his chest when he once again found himself absently rubbing the armor plating that lay over his spark. He could feel his spark still jumping and pulsing, though the rate and pressure was only a fraction of what it had been when he had first been introduced to his… temporary partner. Partner. That might be stretching the term a bit based on how he was introduced and how the mech was handed over to him, but the mech was a full enforcer just as Prowl was. The mechs enforcer rank markings were as clearly visible as Prowl's own. Still, why would his Captain inform him that he was to make sure the mech stayed safe and out of trouble. "Go wherever he wants, do what he wants, but he is not to get a scratch or a dent. Understand?" Prowl of course had nodded and watched his superior and this one's superior depart back into the depths of the Mobile Command Center. Now he wasn't sure what to do.

The other mech who's colors were also black and white offered him a cheery smile. "Look, don't mind my Captain, he is completely clueless sometimes."

"It is not your Captain that worries me." Prowl responded.

"Yeah, well don't worry about yours either. Mine obviously has his number or I wouldn't be here with you, and I heard his instructions just as clearly as you."

"Then by that logic, it is your Captain I should worry about." Prowl countered.

Though the Polyhexian enforcer wore a visor, Prowl just knew the mech was raising an optic ridge at him right now. "Wow, never had anyone counter with that before."

"Before? This happens often?"

"Slag yeah." The mech grinned. "I'm assigned to the Polyhexian Special Ambassador's Office. Ya know? Oh look a noble's getting bonded in Praxus, we must send a delegation, get the Special Ambassador. Oh look some noble's just had their first creation, send the Special Ambassador. Honestly? Except for all the travel and getting to see new places, it sucks slag. I mean the most exciting thing to usually happen is trying to figure out where the Ambassador misplaced the official gift."

Prowls optics flickered briefly in disbelief or surprise. He himself wasn't really sure. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jazz. At least I was when our Captains introduced us." The mech looked down at himself as he patted around his chassis then looked back at Prowl. "Yup" he smiled, "still Jazz."

Ignoring both his spark and the mechs antics Prowl countered. "No, that is your designation. It does not tell me who you are."

Jazz smiled again. "Mech you are good. No one's ever caught that point before either."

"And? Prowl prompted.

Jazz cycled air through his systems in a sigh then stood up tall for a moment. "I'm the second creation of the third creation of the fourth creation of the fourth creation of the Lord of Polyhex. Does that mean I'm of the Polyhexian Royalty? Only if you reeeaaally stretch it. And that stretch is a stretch a lot of Polyhexian nobles would prefer not see be made. Besides I have no title. Okay, well I do have a title, a couple actually, but I don't use them often. And truuussst me, being the second creation of the third creation of the fourth creation of a fourth creation doesn't get you much anyway. Except exasperation in trailer loads. It is in fact why I'm an enforcer and despite what my paranoid Captain thinks, the slag is not gonna fly if I get off lined in the line of duty. Well, not much anyway. And seriously that is not gonna happen ta night. I know all about you Praxians. Your Crime Lords are like younglings when compared to my cities Crime Lords. That is one thing little ol' Polyhex is good at. Growing criminals. Now, since your orders are to go wherever I want I'll give ya a couple of options. First, we can go ahead and finish your originally assigned shift as a team which I am sure will be boring as all slag and then you can take me out on the town and show me the nightlife, since its night. Or we can skip the finish your original shift part and head straight out to the night life. Which shall it be?"

/\-/\-/\-/\

Prowl had of course chosen option number one. Return to his shift, temporary partner in tow. This would give him time to figure out how not to go out on the town. That had actually lasted three whole breems before Jazz deemed patrolling a supremely clean wall and nodding to curious though extremely polite Praxus citizens more boring than slag and after allowing Prowl to call Web back had drug Prowl into the garden grounds and strait on in to the reception party.

Here Jazz's assurances that he wasn't exactly royalty and not exactly nobility and barely just among the extremely affluent had been brought into question in Prowl's own head. After all, enforcer markings or not the two of them should not have been able to just walk right on in to the party. Well actually that wasn't so much unexpected, but to not have people question their continued presence beyond an initial look and helping themselves to the refreshments? No, that should have brought questions by now. Yet it hadn't. Jazz had just offered a nod of his head as they had passed each guard station and then once inside the grounds had weaved his way through the guests towards one of the refreshment bars and filled Prowl's hand with a glass of high grade, which Prowl had immediately unloaded on the first server to pass close enough to him. Only to find the server back at his elbow within a klik with a new glass and a quietly murmured midgrade sir. Now five breems later Prowl was on his second glass of the most wonderful mid grade he had ever tasted, having found the server waiting at his elbow as he finished off the first glass and still following Jazz around as the Polyhexian Enforcer introduced Prowl to and socialized with various guests they came across while helping himself to drinks either from passing servers or from the various bars scattered throughout.

All the guests they paused with seemed to know Jazz. They all appeared pleased to interact with Jazz and none questioned Prowl's presence. It was a mystery to Prowl, but he accepted that what they were doing fell under the orders received from his Captain so chose not to concentrate on it very hard especially since no one was kicking them out. And the mid-grade was good.

Three glasses later Prowl was staring at the last of the energon in his current glass and wondering if he should just leave it there. A glance around proved the servant was nowhere to be seen, but then previous glances had proven the same until he finished the last drops in his glass. And really he did not want any more to drink nor did he really want to continue carrying the glass. Prowl caught himself frowning at his glass and immediately cleared his expression. But not apparently before one of the two femmes Jazz was currently talking with, Lady Jasper he recalled, had caught it.

She sidled towards him a bit more with a kind smile. "You know Prowl, Jazz's servant will not take offense if you decline a refill."

Prowl startled and looked more directly at the Lady. "Jazz's servant?" he questioned.

"Well I haven't actually seen him tonight, but Jazz is here, and you are Jazz's guest so I assumed it was his servant keeping you supplied." She smiled.

"I'm sorry, but …"

Prowl trailed off as the other femme stepped over and tapped her companions arm while looking at Prowl. "Excuse me Officer Prowl, but I just saw someone I was hoping to catch a dance with tonight and if we don't go now it just may never happen. It was a pleasure to meet you." She bowed her head then actually grabbed Lady Jasper's arm and pulled her off down the path.

Jazz turned to Prowl, took the almost empty glass from Prowl's hand and in one graceful motion spun around on one foot, depositing Prowl's glass as well as his own on the ever ready server's tray before completing his spin and facing Prowl again. He reached out, grabbed a hold of Prowl's hand causing Prowls spark to distinctly jump and Prowl to briefly again focus on the strange fluttering pressure his spark had been producing all night and that he had managed to ignore for the most part by concentrating not on Jazz as he probably should have been, but on the beautiful crystals and the guests themselves. "Come on Prowl, time to find some more excitement." And with that declaration he led Prowl toward the gardens central path and out towards the rest of the city.

Prowl stepped out of the locker rooms wash racks and headed for a blower, his systems still pleasantly relaxed. His and Jazz's trip out into the city had lasted only as long as it had taken to get to the hotel the Polyhexian delegation was staying at. It wasn't the most upscale in Praxus, but it was certainly higher than well-to-do. This particular hotel didn't have rooms. It had suites. And it was to one of these that Jazz had headed for with Prowl where the two of them had proceeded to blow each other's circuits with a few rounds of heavy heavy interfacing.

Unfortunately he was scheduled for a morning start duty shift so he had taken off before the visiting enforcer had on lined, settling for leaving a simple thank you note along with his com frequency. Prowl knew it wasn't exactly polite to leave before his berth mate for the evening had on lined, but as a fellow enforcer he'd no doubt understand duty shifts didn't care how much fun you had the previous night and perhaps if Jazz's duties sent him this way again they could get together again.

Shaking away thoughts of last night, both the strangeness of it as well as the fun Prowl stepped over to the mirrors. It was with relief he noted only a couple of very small paint transfers marring his back and winglets. The relief had several aspects. The first was the transfers were small enough and few enough that they in no way screamed interfacing. The second aspect were the few yet obviously curious looking gazes being cast in his direction which were starting to make him uneasy, so not having to mess with his back side would get him out of the locker area quicker. The third aspect of his feeling of relief came because none of the mechs in the locker rooms were ones he knew, even if some of them shared his general frame design and should understand the sensitive nature of winglets, it was not a risk he wanted to take this morning if he didn't have to. He sat down and proceeded to buff out the paint transfers on his front side, arms, legs and hands.

/\-/\-/\-/\

Confusion stopped him only six paces into the SWAT's central office as all visible optics in the room focused on him. It was the secretary Fileright who's blurted out what're you doing here followed by mechs hidden in their cubicles peeking around and over the flimsy walls that confirmed he was missing something. And for the life of him, he really couldn't think of what that was. Nothing he had done in the past cycle was out of the ordinary for him and that included the as of now one night stand. And aside from the time spent in Jazz's rooms when he'd turned his comms off, he'd had his communications unit on and set to monitoring the enforcer frequencies.

"What in the Pit are you doing here?" Prowl heard Smokescreen exclaim as he made his way to Prowl.

"I'm scheduled for a day shift. Where else should I be?

"Oh no you're not and I don't know, maybe out celebrating?"

"That answer makes no sense." Prowl declared.

Smokescreen huffed, grabbed Prowl's arm and steered him into one of the small meeting rooms. He shut and locked the door before turning around and studying Prowl.

Prowl finally started to fidget under Smokescreen's scrutiny. "What?" he exclaimed.

Smokescreen shook his head with a faint smile. "You really don't know do you?"

"Know what?"

"You're contract is paid off. You're a free mech."

Prowl's winglets twitched, "What do you mean I'm paid off?"

"I mean you're paid off, Praxus doesn't own you, you're free."

Prowl shook his head. "You're not making any sense Smokey. I'm no closer to paid off this morning than I was when I saw you last afternoon."

"Yes you are. Funds were received early this morning clearing your contract. Only the higher up's know where the funds came from, but you're clear. Lightscope was supposed to message you to report to the Station Commander to discuss your future."

"A joke."

"No joke" Smokescreen responded. "Fileright has already confirmed it three times from three different sources. And I myself heard the Station Commander when he told Lightscope about it this morning right here in Scope's office.

Prowl shook his head and backed up till he hit the table where he sat down right on the table top. "This is wrong. I haven't paid off. I… I… I don't…" Prowl trailed off as a numbness and fear he'd never known or felt pressed against his being. This had to be wrong. He wasn't even two thousand vorn yet. Far too early to have paid-off. He wasn't ready to be paid off; he didn't want to be paid off. What would he do? Where would he go? He…

Smokescreen shifted his stance to look Prowl in the optics. They were faint and flickering. This wasn't right. This wasn't the reaction he had expected. And despite his teasing when he had first seen Prowl he hadn't expected Prowl to throw a huge raging party either, but… well he wasn't sure what he expected his friend's reaction to be, but this certainly wasn't it. In fact… "Oh slag." Smokescreen cussed as he jumped forward to catch his friends slumping form. Then he called for Medical.

/\-/\-/\-/\

Prowl on lined to the light grey ceiling of the Praxus enforcers Medical Wing. Lovely. He lay there trying to remember why he would be here. Nothing came up. Giving up on the cause for the moment he went and sat up just in time for Smokescreen to walk into the room.

"Hey there Prowl, how ya feeling?"

"My head aches, what happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Prowl shook his head slightly. "No. Last thing I remember was walking into SWAT central and everyone staring. Then nothing. "

Smokescreen nodded as he leaned back against the wall. Smartpak had warned that an automatic but temporary memory block might be in place as a likely result of the crash.

"Well simply put, you crashed."

"I crashed? I don't understand. That has never happened."

"Well it has now." Smokey watched as Prowl processed the information so far. Nodding when he figured enough time had passed. "So you want me to tell you why you crashed?"

Prowl looked up, "you know why I crashed?"

Smokescreen back stepped. "Oh, well, actually, no. But I know what we were discussing when you did. I'm the one who had to call medical and I'm the lucky one currently on the top of Smartpak's slag list. For the actual reason, you'll need to talk to him."

Prowl processed the new information again before continuing. "Okay, so are you allowed to tell me what we were discussing?"

"Yes actually. Smartpak said even if you don't remember the reason, your systems will and should handle the re-discussion of the subject just fine."

"Okay, so…? Prowl encouraged.

"This is not a joke or a scam. Your contract has been paid off, you're a free mech. Praxus no longer owns your spark or your frame."

Prowl stiffened in shock as those words freed the block on his memory that he hadn't noticed. The previous conversation came flooding back along with all the feelings of that time. But Smartpak was correct, his systems having experienced the fear and dread accepted the feelings this time and his spark and processor worked right through them until they dissipated like fog in the morning sun. "I still don't know who or why."

"Ah but I do. In the two joors you have been offline while Smartpak traced your entire system making sure whatever he thought had happened had indeed happened and it was nothing serious, which by the way, it's nothing serious, I have tracked down the who. Don't really know the why, but definitely got the who for you."

"Aaannd?" Prowl encouraged.

"Lord Jazz, the Special Ambassador from the city state of Polyhex. The highly favored great great grandspark of the should be an ancient because of how old he is Lord Hitch."

"Jazz? The enforcer in the Polyhexian delegation to Lady Heca's bonding ceremony is actually the Ambassador?"

"Ummm… I… don't know… that one. I didn't run a background on him. But I have never heard of a noble being an enforcer."

Prowl flushed air from his vents as he groaned dragging a hand over his face. "Smokey, unless there is actually an enforcer in the delegation with the same designation as the Ambassador, which I find hard to process at the moment, they are one in the same."

"So?

"I spent a recharge cycle with him."

"You what?"

"I thought he was an enforcer. I was assigned to sparkling sit him. He told me his lineage up front when I asked who he was, but he was marked as a polyhexian enforcer and his explanation was reasonable. I just assumed… Oh what a mess."

Smokescreen had quickly gotten passed his surprise and as Prowl rattled out his explanation a smile had taken over his face. "So you interfaced with the great great grandspark of Lord Hitch who just conveniently forgot to mention he's also Special Ambassador for Polyhex and though he is several times removed from Old Lord Hitch's Crown, he is still a favorite in the Old Lords optic. And apparently always has been. In fact rumor has it that despite his being long down the traditional line of succession, he is Lord Hitch's desired successor. Unconfirmed that last bit; but still. That's awesome actually. And I'd like to add if I'd known interfacing with royalty would have gotten my contract paid off, I'd have been there hunting as well."

"I wasn't hunting." Prowl growled. "And despite the excellent progress I've personally been making on my contract I have no desire to be free of it. Being free means expenses. It means finding and paying for living accommodations and all the related expenses. I am now responsible for my own medical expenses, my energon, my travel, my…"

"Whoa whoa whoa." Smokescreen waved his hands at Prowl. "Was this why you crashed? Silly mech. We have always been responsible for that stuff, well except for the finding part, but you know that's how the contracts work. That's why so few ever pay off. The expense of our spark, frame and coding are huge debt to begin but it's the daily expenses continually being added to that number that make pay-off such a difficult goal. Our pay often times can't keep up with what many of our fellow officers do to themselves on a daily basis. But seriously Prowl, while you've taken the occasional extravagant trip you for the most part spend less on yourself personally than most. Living without a spark commissioned contract is possible. Pit, the majority of Cybertronians due it on a daily basis."

Prowl could see several ways this was different to his thinking but he also knew that he and Smokescreen would never see optic to optic on the subject. For his friend, pay-off was a dream. A dream that was still mostly out of reach. As much as he vented about the system, he was content with it. The same way Prowl had always been content with it. The way all spark commissioned mechs seemed to be content with it. Sure they all talked about pay-off, but so few outside the military ever achieved it that it was really just a fantasy. And even military spark commission's for all that they had a decent pay-off success rate, almost always stayed in the military. Some left for the civilian sector, there was a combiner team that had left and was making a name for themselves in the construction industry in fact; but most stayed, thus keeping their expenses to a minimum since the military took care of its personnel's basic needs.

Smartpak's "I told you to call me if he on-lined you fool." at Smokescreen caused Prowl to end his line of thought for now and he turned his attention to the Medic.

/\-/\-/\-/\

It shouldn't have been a surprise to Prowl that Praxus specifically and Cybertron in general had a plan and laws set in place for bots that did actually achieve pay-off. It shouldn't have surprised him but it had. In this case it was a welcome surprise. It seemed there was a line item amongst all the other line item fees that was marked for the post pay-off phase of a commissioned spark bots existence. It was just one Prowl had never concerned himself with as pay-off had not been a reality. This particular line item's final amount varied from bot to bot based on job function and personal habits as had been tracked over the period of the contract and was designed to cover a bots full expenses for one vorn post pay-off based on the paid-off's living habits while on contract. The credits were then released in controlled amounts at designated times until all credits had been paid out at the end of the vorn. It was like getting an extended all expenses paid vacation. In that amount of time a bot was free to explore the world and figure out what they wanted to do with their existence without the pressures of expenses. In fact they were expected to do just that. Prowl's pay-off account held far more credits than he could predict needing, even if he increased his spending habits by 50 percent which he was unlikely to do. He knew the number had been hastily figured using the military formula since he didn't have the vorns behind him that allowed the civilian method to work fairly. Or so he was told when asked if using the military model would be acceptable to him. Maybe his specialty when factored using military methods gave a faulty number? Either that or it explained why military models always seemed to have an excessive amount of credits and an excessive amount of spending habits.

Prowl had wanted to keep his job, skipping the one vorn exploratory period, but Cybertronian laws prevented that. All pre-programmed spark contract paid-off bots were required to take the one vorn. And under Praxian Law he could not return for six orns after his one vorn ended. So Prowl was on a one vorn six orn leave of absence from the Praxus Enforcers. There was little to fear that his job position within the SWAT would be given to another. All departments of the Praxus division of the CSF currently had openings, and where he could fill almost any position within the Forces, his own position was an extremely specialized role so few bots from the ranks or other divisions across Cybertron would be able to fill it. And current favor had once again swung against allowing governments and businesses to commission pre-programmed ready to go sparked mechs. In fact chances were good Prowl's position would be eliminated if he didn't return. After all, Praxus had little need for a SWAT despite what the Senator who had created the Team had thought.

He had looked into contacting Lord Jazz back when he had first begun his exploratory vorn. He had spent orns going through all the proper channels, but no response had been forthcoming out of Polyhex. He was finally left with two options. Drop his pursuit of an answer, or take his pursuit to Polyhex in person. He had settled for dropping the pursuit of an answer and spent his vorn traveling all over Cybertron, though never to Polyhex and experiencing what the planet and cities had to offer as he was supposed to during the vorn.

He had stayed in close contact with his friends and companions in Praxus when he was home, but had not set foot in the Enforcers Station until five orns ago. It was at that time he had set into motion plans for his return to the Praxus division of the Cybertron Security forces. It had actually been a tough decision. He had very seriously considered the Military, but in the end came back to what he had been created for. Today marked the first day out of his exploratory vorn and his first day back to duty was six orns away. He had already cleaned and tidied his already clean and tidy living quarters. They were small consisting of one berth room, a washing room and a general use room, but they were in a well kept building near enough to the Enforcers Headquarters that he could see the tallest two towers from his balcony. They were higher on the rental fee than he would have liked, but then who had a rental fee they liked anyway? Still the fee was easily affordable now and would remain so on his regular enforcers wages. The neighbors he had met were nice and again it was very close to his job allowing him to walk or drive as the mood struck. He was currently reclined out on the balcony on a comfortable if unimpressive couch overlooking the street with a book file he was currently ignoring in favor of watching the flow of life.

The door chime ringing surprised him. He had few visitors, and of those who might visit he knew all of them to be at work today. Nor was he expecting any deliveries. He was just about ready to ignore whoever was on the other side of the door when it chimed again. With a sigh he got up and moved inside and across the common room. Three steps from the door and his spark fluttered deep in his chest bringing with it the strange pressure he hadn't felt in more than a year. Prowl staggered slightly as an involuntary shudder rattled his frame in an attempt to re-settle everything. Pulling himself into control he straightened when the door chime rang again, this time in a series of impatient chimes.

He opened the door and had just enough time to recognize white and black paint with Polyhexian Enforcer markings and a black helm with blue visor before the mech slammed into him shoving him back into his quarters, a hot revved chassis pressed against his, a greedy mouth on his own, eager desperate hands running up and down his sides. Several things happened at the same time then. His initial shock and thought to shove the mech away vanished as the uncomfortable pressure on his spark faded to be replaced with a steady throb that clued him in to what had happened. Spark Sync. He had found a spark with a frequency the same as his own.

Full easement of the pressure would only happen with a spark merge, which he was not about to do at this time. He had questions first. But at the moment, the greedy mouth on his, the glossa dancing with his, the eager hands running all over his chassis mapping out pleasure spots convinced him to listen to his rapidly heating body and begin returning as good as he was getting.

/\/\/\/\

He on lined in his own berth curled around another body. His systems humming in relaxed contentment. He hadn't exactly been celibate during the last vorn, but the few partners he had taken to berth had felt awkward. Oh, not his or their performances in the berth, but it had always felt like something was missing. This time though, everything had been perfect. Whatever had been missing was there this time and Prowl now knew what exactly had been missing. His spark was calm for the moment, the pressure gone, as the two sparks settled for being in close proximity to each other. They hadn't fully spark merged, just played grazing sparks against each other to ease the sync call. Nearly complete system sync, with a mind to mind connection in addition to the hard connections and a little spark play, oh yeah, staggeringly wonderful.

Jazz shifted, his systems picking up speed as he came online. He shifted to look at Prowl. "I am so sorry Prowl."

Well, those were not the first words he was expecting and he unconsciously shifted away from Jazz at hearing them.

Jazz's response was quick. "No, no, no, that's not what I meant." Jazz sat up drawing Prowl with him, the better to pull the Praxian enforcer into a hug and rest his helm on Prowl's. "I'm sorry I didn't contact you, not even to explain. But truth is, the next morning I was actually ashamed of what I had done. I recognized the spark sync the moment we met. I also recognized you didn't. Your spark did, but you didn't understand. So my plans for the evening changed. I had to figure out what to do. So I drug you to the bonding reception while I sorted out my plan. It was risky, seeing as how the majority of the guests readily knew who I was. But my advantage in that was they also knew that I don't use my titles, especially when I'm decked out in Enforcer markings, so I could still pull off being just an enforcer from the Polyhexian delegation. You wouldn't think it too far out of place if I ended up knowing all the nobles because I'd already told you my linage. It was working all right up until Lady Jasper made that slip about my servant." Jazz paused with a shrug. "Anyway, then and there I decided to be selfish and lay claim to your spark. See by that time I had already made the decision I was going to pay off your contract, but by being the one to do that I was ruled by the law stating anyone who pay's off a spark commissioned bots contract is forbidden to have contact with that bot for a period of one vorn to coincide with the one vorn exploratory period. So back to the hotel I take you anyway and what turned out to be absolutely circuit blowing interfacing. Thank you for that by the way. But you see I was selfish by interfacing with you because I knowingly gave each of our sparks a taste of each other through the hard-line connections we made during interfacing. That taste was just enough for our sparks to except no one else until they actually touched each other. Oh it wouldn't prevent us from interfacing someone else, but it wouldn't feel right either. In fact it could be painful as our sparks try to retreat from one they recognize as not their partner. I knew exactly what I was doing and it was selfishness on my part. The only saving grace was since you didn't recognize the sync, and only your spark did, interfacing for you over the last vorn would only feel slightly wrong; like something was missing perhaps. And honestly Prowl I wouldn't blame you in the least if you want nothing more to do with me. We've let our sparks touch now. That will ease the sync call. Whether we pursue it further or not at all depends on how close in proximity we stay. I can walk away now and never see you again and our sparks will accept it's not to be."

Prowl idly watched Jazz as his processor sorted out what Jazz had just told him, what Jazz had confessed to. And Prowl could not find it in him to be overly upset. For all that Jazz may have been selfish, he had certainly suffered more for it during the one vorn they were separated than Prowl had. Thankfully neither one of them had been permanently off lined during that period or the other would have had a miserable life to lead. Surprisingly as Prowl reviewed what little time he had actually spent with Jazz, he realized the Mech had never lied to him. He had bent, circled, skimmed, ignored and omitted parts but none of it had been a lie. Even when Prowl considered that Jazz was indeed an Ambassador for Polyhex he realized Jazz had never denied it. The night they had met Jazz had admitted he had a couple of titles that he rarely used. The proof of which held up at the reception party when none of the guests had hailed Jazz with a title though they all seemed to know who he was. Further, Prowl realized he had accepted everything about the mech at face value because he had been introduced to him as an enforcer. The idea that a noble was actually an enforcer was, well, just hard to imagine. Yet here one was. Then… "Why did you get assigned to me? Did you purposely choose me?"

Jazz had been patiently waiting for Prowl to sort things out and immediately brought his focus back to Prowl at the question. "That was just luck Prowl. I could have been stuck with anyone. Your Captain made the choice of mech to pair me with that night based on who was working the event. I don't know why he chose you. All I wanted was a night out on the town. And as I told you I have my Captain's number. It is true he is in charge of the delegations safety when we travel. But I'm not just a regular noble used to luxury. It is also true I am a favored relation of Lord Hitch but I am Enforcer trained. My rank markings as a patrol sergeant are honestly earned. I pull regular patrol shifts in the Polyhex Division of the CSF whenever I am home. So as in the past I told the Captain to find me a partner for the evening. We've actually done it plenty of times before so I certainly wasn't looking to find spark sync with you. But please understand, I am royally bred; even if it is quite a ways down the line. And amongst royalty, more so than nobility, to find spark sync is significant. Do you know that the last bonded pair of the Polyhex royal line to find spark sync was Lord Hitch and his Lord Consort Bay? Mechs and femmes bond all the time without spark sync. That's not a requirement to bonding. But those with spark sync make the closest most solid bond mates. They are able to utilize every aspect of the bond perfectly. That I have found it is significant to my Lord and to Polyhex."

Prowl sat back again. He knew what he felt about Jazz. He knew what his spark felt about Jazz and he had thought he had an idea from the interfacing connections what Jazz thought about him. But what Jazz said sounded a bit like political maneuvering. If not by Jazz then by Lord Hitch, not that there was any way for Lord Hitch to know Jazz would find spark sync with a Praxian enforcer. As a pre-programmed commission Prowl was quite far from nobility. Oh he knew spark sync was more important than class. Cybertronians rejoiced in spark sync when it was found. Even the nobility typically accepted sync when it occurred no matter the class of bot it was with. But Prowl only knew life as an enforcer. It was the only thing he wanted to do with his existence. That was what his last vorn had been about after all. Now these all so suddenly firm and complete feelings for Jazz offered confusion and possibilities.

Prowl was still thinking on multiple lines of thought when Jazz spoke up. "Prowl, like I said, I'm willing to walk away now. I may not like it, and my Lord will likely be furious, but I will walk and leave you alone." Jazz paused and shook his head with a wondering expression and small smile. "The truth is, I have feelings for you. I know we don't really know much about each other, but I would like the opportunity to correct that. I want the right to court you."

Prowl startled at the final request. Jazz wanted to court him? Well… that… was actually an appealing idea. He had never expected to be courted. Not by Jazz, not by anyone. He let a smile grace his mouth. "That is appealing."

"Well, looks like you're all set" Smokescreen remarked as he passed through the bare common room and joined Prowl out on the balcony to look over the side at the flow of life below them.

Prowl nodded. "Yes, I am."

"We're already enjoying your couches in SWAT central. Thanks for donating them."

"It is right they go to ones who will appreciate them. And I have no need for them in Polyhex. Jazz has already furnished my apartment there, or so he says." Prowl smiled.

"Well we certainly appreciate them. Will probably abuse the slag out of them to."

"Of that I have no doubt, but I have no need for them as Jazz assures me I will have tasteful furniture in my apartment when I arrive in Polyhex."

"And you trust his idea of tasteful?" Smokescreen asked in mock disbelief.

Prowl mock shuddered with a teasing glint in his optic. "I'm not sure."

Smokescreen chuckled. In the past vorn he had come to know the Polyhexian enforcer quite well. And he easily understood why Prowl had not picked Jazz out as an Ambassador when the two had first met. Jazz having been raised so far from the royal line he had been was as wild and fun loving as any working bot Smokescreen knew. He himself never thought of Jazz in terms of nobility, royalty or Ambassador. Just as a fellow enforcer. He did not begrudge Prowl his good fortune in the least, but he still wondered what it was that made these two mechs sparks sync. Their personalities were not all that similar. Yet their love for each other was obvious despite the short time they had known each other. Now his friend was transferring to the Polyhex division of the CSF. Smokescreen expected an invitation to their bonding ceremony to follow as soon as Jazz could convince Prowl. It had only taken Jazz a vorn to convince Prowl to apply for the transfer. Hmmm. Later he would give thought to the odds of Jazz convincing Prowl to bond sooner rather than later. But for now he had a friend to escort to the transportation center for a shuttle ride to his future bond mate.

~~END~~