Disclaimer: I don't even seem to own my brain anymore, let alone the Transformers...

Author's Note: Optimus is my hero. Also, for a random note, it occurred to me that Sideswipe's Morning After fits better before Prowl's, since this addition follows literally right after Prowl's Morning After, so I've swapped them around...

- Prowl's Excellent Explanation -

Jazz chuckled as he shooed the still-laughing Trailbreaker out of the command center, then returned to his console. The saboteur only really paid the monitor before him partial attention as he tried to calculate just how bad Prowl's revenge was going to be, as well as just what he was going to have to do to convince the tactician that he was more than willing to repeat the previous night's activities even after Ratchet removed Prowl's femme disguise. Jazz had gotten the former down to 'unholy amounts of maintenance work and long-range patrols', and just begun on some of the more pleasant possibilities for the latter, when Teletraan beeped imperiously at the saboteur.

Pushing pleasant thoughts aside, Jazz turned his attention to the monitor and frowned lightly as he saw Decepticons apparently trying to take over Mexico. Either that or Rumble was attempting to learn the Mexican hat dance, and his brothers and Soundwave had come along to shoot anyone who laughed. With Rumble, either was a distinct possibility. Unfortunately, the presence of the Decepticon's foremost trine of Seekers lent more credibility to the first option, which meant Jazz needed to let Optimus know what was going on. So he paged the Autobot leader to the control room, then set about taking a still-frame of Rumble wearing the sombrero and added it to the 'Reasons We Love Earth' folder on Teletraan's main drive.

"What is it, Jazz?" Optimus asked as he stepped into the control room, and Jazz motioned to the monitor as he turned to face his commander. Optimus stared at it for a moment.

"Is he...dancing?" the Autobot leader looked disturbed, and Jazz whipped his head around to stare at the monitor, finding that Rumble had, in fact, begun to dance.

"Well, I was gonna say the 'Cons are takin' over Mexico, but 'parently Rumble's just decided t'learn t'dance." Jazz said dryly after a moment, discreetly instructing Teletraan to record the feed and save it in the same directory as the still-frame.

"Badly, at that." Optimus mused. "We had best stop him before he traumatizes the population."

"Yeah, not t'mention Starscream an' his cronies are 'parently back t'causin' trouble." Jazz agreed.

"Indeed." Optimus said, then came over and activated the Ark's internal comm line. "Prowl, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Trailbreaker, Hound, Wheeljack, and Skyfire, report to the command center for battle duty."

"...Battle duty?" Prowl's clearly incredulous question came back after only a few seconds, and Jazz smiled faintly - there was no way Ratchet had had enough time to remove Prowl and Sideswipe's disguises, so it wasn't hard to figure out why Prowl was uncharacteristicly questioning 'her' commander's orders.

"Yes, Prowl. The Decepticons are causing trouble in Mexico." Optimus replied, seeming puzzled as to why his second-in-command was hesitating. Prowl's voice hadn't changed overly much to go with her disguise - oddly, the tactician had a fairly androgynous vocal range - so Optimus wasn't aware of the problem. "You did assure me yesterday that you and Sideswipe would be fit for normal duty today, despite your recent mission. Has that changed?"

"Ah, no, not at all." Prowl hurriedly reassured her commander, cutting off what sounded like the beginning of a curse from the only currently male twin.

"Good." Optimus said, just as Trailbreaker returned to the command center. The black mech was still grinning broadly, undoutbedly having heard the exchange and figured out the reason for it as easily as Jazz, and he sidled over to the saboteur as they waited for the other mechs to begin to arrive. Ironhide was next, followed by the two mini-bots, then Hound and Bluestreak, with Skyfire ducking in just behind them. Last to come, all in a clump, were the twins, Prowl, and Wheeljack, closely followed, unsurprisingly, by Ratchet, who was grinning broadly. The medic didn't approach Optimus or the other Autobots, instead settling himself against the wall next to the door. Jazz gave him an amused look - Ratchet seemed to be, by far, getting the most entertainment out of Prowl and Sideswipe being disguised as femmes. Though, everyone seemed pretty amused as they watched Optimus stare down at his femme tactician with a rather blank look.

"Prowl..." Optimus finally said after a few moments, and Prowl stiffened visibly.

"Yes sir?" she asked curtly.

"Why haven't you and Sideswipe had your disguises removed?" Optimus asked, his tone unreadable. There was a noticeable silence as the mechs, and one other femme, in the room waited to hear Prowl's answer. There was little chance that Prowl would tell the truth - though it would've been entertaining to see the tactician try to explain just why she'd gone out, gotten drunk, and then spent most of the night interfacing with Jazz - so everyone wanted to know what sort of excuse she was going to come up with.

"...Technical difficulties." Prowl said after a pause, and someone snickered slightly, only to stop as Prowl swept everyone with an angry glare.

"Technical difficulties." Optimus repeated blandly.

"Yes." Prowl confirmed.

"What type?" Optimus inquired. Prowl only hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Navigational." she said.

"Navigational." Optimus repeated again, looking incredulous. "You had navigational difficulties."

"Yes." Prowl stated flatly. "Our navigational systems malfunctioned and gave us incorrect data."

"And so you...got lost." Optimus concluded, sounding disbelieving.

"Yes." Prowl said solemnly, while everyone around the room, even Sideswipe, tried to hold back grins.

"You got lost, going from my office, to the med bay." Optimus elaborated, as if he was trying to make sure he was really hearing this.

"Yes sir." Prowl said.

"In the Ark. Which you helped oversee the building of, and spent hours looking at the blueprints for. You got lost." Optimus said, and Prowl actually gave the commander an annoyed look.

"Yes." she replied. Optimus turned his gaze to Sideswipe then, and the red twin nodded solemnly in agreement, though it was clear she was holding back a grin.

"Have these...navigational difficulties been...dealt with, since then?" Optimus asked, gaze shifting to Ratchet, who nodded merrily, not even bothering to hide his grin.

"They're good as new, Optimus. I was just about to remove their disguises when you called them up here." the medic said.

"There will be no problems with them joining us in Mexico, though." Optimus concluded, and Ratchet nodded again.

"None!" he said cheerily.

"Good." Optimus said with a decisive nod. "Skyfire?" the large white mech nodded and acknowledgement and headed for the entrance of the Ark, most of the others following behind him. Prowl almost seemed to wilt with relief before following after everyone else at a slower pace, only to stiffen and snarl when a grinning Sideswipe dropped back to talk to her. Jazz would have followed, but stopped when he realized Optimus was still standing in the same spot, watching the mechs go with an amused expression.

"Optimus?" Jazz asked curiously. Optimus remained silent for a few moments, watching, before giving Ratchet an amused look. The medic flashed his commander a grin, then pushed away from the wall and strolled out himself, whistling. Only once he was gone did Optimus turn to Jazz and speak:

"I've heard you called many things over the vorns, Jazz. But I believe 'navigational malfunction' is a new one."

With that, the large mech followed the other Autobots, leaving his third-in-command gaping after him.

- END -