Ratchet stood up, stretching as he turned to look at his leader with a sour expression. "I'd like to dismantle Megatron bolt by bolt for this." He declared, resting a red servo on Jazz's chest.
"Aw come on Ratch, it wasn't all bad!" Jazz protested, though Prime knew he was in a lot of pain still.
Ratchet wasn't yet done with his repairs, as the damage done to the little spy was extensive.
The old medic just wanted to give Jazz a break, as the bot's systems spat out sedatives like poison, forcing him to suffer every repair fully awake.
"Shut up little whore." Ratchet said, and Jazz closed his mouth, a surprised look on his face.
"What did you just call Jazz?" Hoist, operating on Starscream's lesser damaged parts, looked up in surprise as well.
" A little whore. All he does is interface, interface, interface. It's as if that's all he lives for." Ratchet complained.
"That's not true man!" Jazz burst out. " I do a heck of a lot more then just 'face bots and cons!"
"Oh yes, and you dance too." Ratchet snapped his fingers.
"Ratchet, I'm gonna beam you one." Jazz seethed behind him.
"I don't think so." Ratchet moved to the other patient in the ward, shooing Hoist away.
Starscream was drugged out, because he had such a severe panic attack once Prime carried him in that Ratchet was afraid his spark would stop pulsing from the force of it.
Jazz struggled to sit up, but Prowl patiently held him down.
"Come on Prowler!" Jazz whined, sagging back against the medical berth. "Speak up for my honor, at least!"
"You have brought this upon yourself." Prowl said sternly, fixing Jazz with a 'behave yourself or else' look.
Jazz huffed. " So I suppose next time in battle I should spike the cons into retreat then? Or dance us to victory?"
"Now Jazz, don't be ridiculous." Ratchet scolded as he bent over the seeker's limp body.
"Hey man, I just want a little credit for all the sacrifice I do!" Jazz pouted, folding his arms across his chest.
"Alright then, if you want it here it is!" Sideswipe swooped in from out of nowhere and kissed Jazz, running his glossa in the obliging mouth.
"Cut that out! Not in my medbay!" Ratchet brought a wrench down firmly on the red Lamborghini's backside, and he leapt away with a howl.
Jazz smiled sweetly up at Ratchet, who held a wrench threatenly above his head.
"Are you going to hit me too? One of your favorite patients? All helpless and hurting on your med-berth because you couldn't be so kind as to sedate me?"
Ratchet growled, but lowered the wrench. " Do me a favor and be quiet, and maybe I'll think about sedating you, though Primus-knows what good it'll actually do."
"I think you like me in pain." Quick as a flash, Jazz reached out and stroked Ratchet right on his interface plating.
Prowl swiftly snatched Jazz's wrist, pearly white claws curling around the sleek black amour as he forced Jazz's servo back to his chest.
Ratchet glared at Jazz, his grip on the wrench tightening. "If you weren't hurt down there, I'd spank you for that."
Before Jazz could answer, Starscream twitched and moaned softly.
"H-how?!" Ratchet spluttered, and raced over to him. "I gave him enough to keep him out for days!"
Frantically, the old medic filled another syringe and was just about to slip it into one of the many exposed cables when Starscream's optics flew open.
"Don't! Thunder please! It'll hurt!" he grabbed Ratchet's wrist in a surprisingly strong grip, his optics glazed.
"Shh, this'll help you feel better." Ratchet tried to sooth, but to no avail.
Starscream thrashed wildly, and Prime, Prowl, Hoist, Sideswipe, and Jazz leaped over to pin the flailing limbs down.
"I don't want it! I don't want it! Please don't hurt me anymore!" Starscream wailed, clutching Ratchet's wrists even tighter. "I'll do it, I'll do it, just please don't hurt me anymore!"
Then the obviously confused seeker pulled Ratchet down to him and frantically kissed him, licking desperately at his firmly closed lips before Ratchet yanked away, face reddening.
"Thundercracker help me!" Starscream, optics paled to almost white, screamed hoarsely. "Skywarp! Somebody! Please!"
Jazz held up a finger and began to softly play a gentle sounding song on his speakers (he insisted that they be fully functional first or he wouldn't behave for Ratchet, so the old medic did as Jazz wished) that made Prowl's doorwings twitch with surprise, and the tactician to murmur something about ancient seeker.
Starscream stilled, and he reached a trembling servo for Jazz, his optics closed with exhaustion.
Jazz gripped the shaky blue fingers tightly, and tenderly stroked up and down the nose cone.
"Carrier-stand in, my caretaker kind." Starscream whimpered. "I want my trine. Why can't they help me?"
"Because they would be forced to reject you." Jazz rumbled in Soundwave's voice. "Shush, my young mechling. No one will hurt you right now. I have you."
A small trickle of energon was running down Jazz's leg, and Ratchet closed his eyes and focused on controlling his irritation.
In all his activity, Jazz had re-broken the fresh welds inside his interface assembly before they were fully set.
Optimus, Hoist, and Sideswipe were giving Jazz strange looks, but he seemed not to notice, focusing instead on petting the nose cone and playing the soothing melody.
Ratchet slowly sank the needle into one of Starscream's cables, and moments later the jet was out once more.
"Okay Jazz, lets get you back to the operating table." Ratchet said, but Jazz shook his head.
"Can't." he informed Ratchet. "He'll wake up."
"He's drugged, Jazz. He won't even know you left." Ratchet told him firmly, reaching to pluck him off the jet.
"Oh yes he will." Jazz replied just as firmly, flattening himself. "This one's a clutcher. You saw how quickly he came out last time. You'd be horrified at all the stuff this jet has been forced to take into his body. His systems are so used to it they kick out anything foreign lickity-split."
"Just like yours do." Hoist realized faintly.
"So you're saying that letting go of your servo will bring him out too?" Ratchet looked fit to be tied, ignoring Hoist and gripping Jazz's waist in preparation to lift him.
"Yep." Jazz nodded. "He's been a clutcher since the day old Megatron found him in the gutter back on Cybertron."
Ratchet growled, then released Jazz and stalked off.
"Really Jazz, how do you find out this stuff?" Sideswipe asked, totally baffled.
" It comes with time Sides." Jazz told him, eyeing Ratchet warily as the old medic stomped around getting tools. "Speaking of, it's about time I gave you my message from the seekers."
"Go on." Optimus said impatiently.
"TC and Warp say to take good care of him or they'll shred the nearest cities. He likes to be stroked best on those twin crests on his helm, the top edges of his wings, down the sides of his face, and his nose cone. He likes being held close at night and enjoys praise more then you may think. Also, they'll have to kill him if Megatron takes him back, so they suggest you don't let that happen. Oh, and he loves treats, and will do almost anything for flavored energon. Honey and Cyberwine flavored is his favorite." Jazz finished and smiled at his leader.
"I thought they'd rejected him." Optimus said, looking at Jazz.
"They did. What little is left of Seeker culture demanded of them to do so. Doesn't mean they aren't still fond of him and want him to be well-taken care of." Jazz purred softly. "They're more fond of Screamer then one may think."
"So would they really kill him if Megatron took him back?" Prowl asked.
Jazz shrugged. "Who knows? They might just be bluffing, like seekers always do. Ratchet, don't sedate me. I don't wanna slip off Screamer here."
Ratchet huffed in exasperation. "Then don't whine to me about it hurting." He warned the Porsche sternly.
"Oh I won't." Jazz chirped brightly.
Ratchet pressed firmly on the smallest Autobot's back, forcing him down on Starscream's front, aft still in the air.
"Good thing I'm perfectly comfy like this." Jazz said cheerfully as Ratchet arranged his legs in order to keep him propped up and still reach his interface chambers with ease.
"Good thing." Prowl looked away uncomfortably and Jazz smirked up at him in amusement.
Hoist edged for the door, but Sideswipe looked highly interested.
"Hoist, would you be so kind as to escort our red friend out of here?" Jazz requested sweetly, bringing one of Prowl's servos to his mouth and sucking on a white claw.
Prowl resisted simply jerking his servo back, instead gently withdrawing his claw before cuffing Jazz lightly on the head.
Sideswipe looked appalled. "Jazz!" he protested as Hoist came and laid a strong grip on his arm.
"Sorry Sides, but 'facing isn't looking very appealing to me right now, and the look on your face sickened me." Jazz stated flatly, rubbing his head when Prowl had struck him.
Sideswipe looked confused, but allowed himself to be led away.
Jazz waited until he was almost out of the room, and then called out to him as Ratchet began removing his outer armor, Prowl watching closely.
"Just to let you know, I was raped three different ways today while rescuing our flying friend."
Sideswipe froze up hearing that, and Hoist had to drag him the rest of the way out.
"I sure hope you wanted the whole base to hear that." Ratchet griped as he loosened a few bolts.
"I did." Jazz tightened his jaw.
Prowl hovered over Jazz protectively, but Ratchet knew better then to order him to leave.
Both ninjas had signed on together, and Jazz never went to a single checkup or repair without Prowl there with him.
Neither would give their reasons for this, but whatever it was, Ratchet wished it were not so, as he hated working with someone over his shoulder the whole time.
But at least he could use Prowl and get Jazz out faster…
"Prowl!"
"Yes Ratchet?"
"Looks like his horns are bleeding again. Fix those for me and re-clean his face. I don't like the look of those bite marks on his neck and throat either."
"Yes Ratchet."
Jazz lifted his head to allow Prowl to follow orders, whimpering when Prowl's fingers brushed gently over his visor.
Prowl's servo froze.
"Was this touched?" Prowl tapped the visor sharply with a claw, and Jazz choked back a cry.
"No." Jazz forced a chuckle. "I woulda killed someone if they touched my visor."
"Then you won't mind me taking a look then." Prowl laid his palms over the visor, and Jazz jerked his head back.
Prowl firmly gripped Jazz's head, and ignoring the sudden keening, disattached the flickering visor and peered down at Jazz's face, keeping his doorwings in the way so no one else could see.
"When are you ever going to stop lying to me?" they heard Prowl growl from behind his doorwings.
"N-never." Jazz let out a sharp whimper.
"What's going on?" Ratchet demanded.
"Just some dirty con messed with his visor." Prowl responded.
Everyone heard a sharp click and Jazz yelled.
Prowl smoothed a servo over Jazz's back, murmuring soothingly as Jazz shuddered.
Ratchet kept working at Jazz's other end, but he handed Prime a damp cloth.
"Work on those cuts." He said gruffly. "Who knows what germs were on those filthy seeker claws."
Prime got to work disinfecting the long and, in places deep, scratches from Skywarp and the other seekers.
Prowl was done first, and Jazz nearly went limp with relief as Prowl re-attached his visor and stood up.
Prowl silently held out his hand, and Ratchet gave him some of the disinfecting cloths.
Jazz buried his face in Starscream's chest, but Prowl tilted his head back and began cleaning the many bite marks and cuts on his face, throat, and neck.
Knowing Jazz dealt better with anything when given something to do, Optimus asked him a question.
"Jazz, could you tell us about Starscream's upbringing?"
Jazz turned his head to look at his leader, making Prowl sigh and turn his head back around. "Okee. Starscream was abandoned as a sparkling for unknown reasons, and left to die in a gutter in Kaon. Megatron, by some stroke of misfortune, stumbled upon him while out plotting one day, and took him in, giving him the name of Starscream."
"As an adult, or a seekerlet sparkling, or as a newfledge?" Prowl asked tightly, pausing briefly in his wiping.
"Seekerlet sparkling." Jazz replied, flinching away from the cloth as Prowl attempted to wipe his visor.
Prowl growled low in his throat, but otherwise remained silent as he firmly held Jazz in place and wiped his visor.
Jazz waited a klik, then continued as Prowl moved on to his cheeks. " Soundwave had more to do with him then Megatron did, who largely ignored his adopted seekerlet except to punish him. Starscream, for some insane reason though, absolutely adored him, and out-did himself to try and please him. Laserbeak and Ravage baby-sat him when Soundwave couldn't watch him, since Rumble and Frenzy were born shortly after Starscream's arrival, keeping Wave busy."
"That explains the cassettes comments once they took us to Starscream." Optimus exclaimed, replacing his used disinfecting cloths with new ones.
"What comments?" Jazz asked, suddenly tense.
Optimus explained, and Jazz relaxed. "Must be why Bee is so quiet. They must have spilled the beans on it to him too." He remarked.
"I did wonder why Bumblebee was so quiet." Ratchet murmured, immersed in his work, but still with an audio tuned to the conversation.
"They also seem very concerned about you, Jazz." Optimus said, voice getting a bit sterner, and he paused in his work. "And they seemed to be on very familiar terms with you. Why is that?"
"They're spies Op. They know a lot about all of us." Jazz replied evenly, tilting his head to the side to allow Prowl better access to a particularly nasty bite on the side of his neck.
"It was more then that. They actually shed a tear when they saw what Megatron was doing to you." Prime insisted.
"It was not for me, it was for Starscream." Jazz answered calmly, then shut his mouth while Prowl gently cleaned his lips.
Jazz playfully nibbled at the cloth, and Prowl rolled his optics, carefully dabbing away the dried energon from the edges of his mouth.
"They were worried about you too, Jazz." And Prime repeated what the twins had been saying about Jazz.
"I've been known to get out of everything before Prime. Everyone knows that, and those two have a huge sense of adventure and daring, so its no surprise they admire me." Jazz countered coolly once he could talk again.
"But they said they promised you something." Optimus Prime pressed, and Jazz sighed loudly, partly out of annoyance, and partly to cover his discomfort as Prowl scrubbed at his horns and pried a small metal splinter from one.
"Who knew our own leader was so naive?" he said mournfully as Prowl doused each horn in disinfectant.
"Any secret relationships with Decepticons will be strictly punished." Ratchet said, twisting some wires back in place and making Jazz grit his denta.
"You're one to talk." Jazz retorted sharply, and Prowl placed his clawed hands firmly on Jazz's neck, pressing him down into Starscream's chest.
Ratchet had frozen, and was now glaring at Jazz, who glared right back.
"I demand an explanation." Optimus rumbled.
Just then Starscream let out a squeak, and shifted slightly.
Ratchet cursed heavily and injected more sedative into the jet's lines, quieting him once more.
Then Jazz lifted a guilty visor to Prime and confessed, " I made a deal with them to allow you passage, giving them my sigil, allowing them to drag me to Megatron, and giving them my secret pass code I shall now have to change, in exchange for their help in getting their brother to safety. Is that so wrong?"
Optimus sighed.
Something just wasn't quite right about it, but he supposed this was all he would get from Jazz.
"No, that's fine." Prime said tiredly.
Prowl released Jazz and the spy smiled at him, opening his mouth to say something.
Prowl just leveled a look at him, and Jazz snapped his mouth shut.
Ratchet finished repairs in silence, everyone having forgotten the rest of Starscream's story was yet untold.
