AN: Once again as usual I want to thank those that reviewed and loving this story, its what keeps me going. And I can't believe every time when I go to my stats page how many people are reading it. Wow over 3,000 hits so far you guys are awesome! Here's the next chapter, hope you like it!

Warnings: Violence and the use of profanities and a little fluff ahead.

Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to its associated appropriates and not me.

'Blah' – thoughts

::Blah:: - Radio Communication

:/blah\: - Inter. comm.

:://Blah\\:: Bond communication

* * * * * * * * * *

Samuel James Witwicky always hated getting up early on the weekends because no sooner was he up, he knew he would have to complete his chores so the rest of the day could be his. He rolled over onto his right side and immediately had to shield his eyes from the sun peeking through the gaps in the blind, he groaned and rolled over onto his back and settled his gaze upon the ceiling above him. Sam raised his arms and scrubbed at his face before kicking the covers off in a childish fit and rolling out of bed ungracefully, he stumbled across the length of his bedroom to the window that overlooked the driveway. He peeked through the blinds to find the brilliantly shining yellow paint of Bumblebee sat upon the drive whilst another car just as clean as the Camaro sat across the entrance, he frowned at the colour of the car and was certain there was no other black vehicles upon the Autobot base other than Ironhide and the car parked outside was too small to be the weapons specialist. He studied the car a little while longer but realised that if Bumblebee didn't appear alarmed by the strange car's presence then everything must be fine, he allowed the blinds to fall back into place before trudging wearily across to the bathroom and grabbing a quick shower.

Sam pretty much had the house to himself for the next two weeks with his parents off visiting relatives, he had wheedled his way out of the family commitments by telling his folks that he and Bumblebee had duties to be carried out at the base and couldn't afford to shirk them for the sake of a road trip. His mother had been understanding and told him not to over work himself whilst his father simply raised an eye brow at his son and knew that really he just didn't want to go with them and visit his aunt and uncle, of course in return of giving him the right to stay and look after the house, his parents had assigned him chores that needed doing. Thankfully Mojo hadn't been on the list as his mother insisted that they take the Chihuahua with them, she had become paranoid about the little dog being around giant alien robots after she discovered the incident involving Ironhide flipping Mojo over and nearly blasting him into the next solar system had Sam not stepped in to save him. That and he didn't think Optimus would appreciate having the small dog running round the base barking at everyone and everything not to mention urinating on 'things' that he wanted to 'dominate'.

He quickly slipped into a pair of jeans, a loose t-shirt and a hooded jacket then proceeded out of his bedroom and downstairs, making sure to open the curtains and blinds as he made his way to the kitchen. Sam grabbed the remote off the coffee table in the lounge and switched on the television set, he scanned through the channels and settled upon one that was broadcasting the daily news checking the headlines, but nothing caught his interest until one report about a meteor strike a few hundred miles away from the outskirts of Tranquillity came up on the screen. One paranoid interviewee sprouted off that they were being invaded by body swapping aliens whilst a scientist talked about the possibilities of being struck by small meteorites that had somehow slipped past him and the rest of the scientific community. Sam glanced across to the window where he could see Bumblebee and wondered whether one of the Autobots that had contacted them over a week ago had landed without his/her comrades knowing. He then transferred his gaze to the car out front and quickly realised that the scout would have alerted him if the vehicle was a new Autobot on Earth, but the black car did look familiar to him he just couldn't put his finger on it right now. He switched off the television and quickly went about his chores which consisted of tidying a few things up, he would make sure the house was clean and presentable the day before his parents got back even if he had to rope, cajole or plead with Mikaela to help him. Sam padded into kitchen and stuck his head into the refrigerator looking for anything small and quick to eat as he would grab something at the base's small canteen, although his mother would not approve of his choice. He spotted the opened packet of chocolate muffins he had brought the other day and grabbed one then shut the refrigerator door with his foot as he dug into the muffin, he spotted the bowl of fruit upon the centre counter and contemplated avoiding it but decided against it and shoved an apple into a jacket pocket.

Sam made his way to the back door and opened it, he instantly felt a warm breeze upon his face and wondered whether he should leave his jacket at home, but then he knew that without a doubt that the Autobot base would have the air conditioning on simply because one; it was unbelievably hot underground and two; a certain silver Autobot had whined in Optimus' audios about how he felt like he was melting inside his own armour and demanded that the AC be put on, not that Sam would complain. It got unbelievingly hot underneath the sun and Sam wondered how Bumblebee could stick staying out in the sun for several hours on end whilst he recharged his systems with solar energy. The Witwicky boy locked the door and trudged across the lawn to the driveway, normally he would take the path as his father was fussy about people 'ruining' the grass but as his dad wasn't there to yell at him he took the direct route to Bumblebee. As he approached the Camaro, he heard a soft click as each of the doors locked and he stared bewildered at the yellow scout, never before had Bumblebee locked him out.

"'Bee what's the deal?" Sam asked as he picked another chunk off the muffin and stuffed it in his mouth.

"You are not ingesting that in my alt. mode." The scout told him. Both of the boy's eye brows rose up at the words leaving the Camaro's vocaliser, Bumblebee wasn't usually fussy about his appearance compared to Sunstreaker.

Sam glanced down at the muffin in his hand before looking back at his car "I promise I won't drop any."

"That's what you said the last time and I ended up with numerous multicoloured candy stuck under the seats for weeks." Bumblebee responded, Sam sighed there was no point in arguing with a 16 foot giant alien robot who could squash you under his foot and stuffed the rest of the muffin into his mouth, he shoved the wrapper in his back jeans pocket then glanced at the Camaro. There was a moment of stillness before there was a soft chirp as the scout unlocked his doors then swung open the driver's side permitting Sam access to his alt. mode, Sam clambered in and shut the door then belted himself in as the Camaro's high performance engine roared to life. The Witwicky boy rested his hands against the leather steering wheel before reaching down to put the scout into gear and rolling him off the driveway, the black car that had been situated across the drive also rumbled to life and moved forwards slightly allowing Bumblebee to pull out onto the road before sliding in behind him. Sam glanced in the rear view mirror and suddenly recognised the make of the car now it was behind them.

'Change the paint to white and black, add the police decals and lights, and the ram bars to the front.' He thought to himself "Hey 'Bee I thought Sideswipe was supposed to tail us today?"

::He would have done, if he wasn't currently stuck in the brig.:: Bumblebee responded through his radio.

"So much for the run of good behaviour he's been exhibiting." Sam said as he leaned back in the driver's seat, feeling the wheel slid through his fingers as the scout travelled through the streets that would take them onto the slip road that joined onto the highway they needed to get onto to get to the base. Normally they would go pick up Mikaela but she had proclaimed a few days earlier that she had something planned. Of course when Sam had asked her what she was up to, she simply smiled and said nothing leaving him pondering. Mirage had been assigned to watch over her and had become evasive with answers as to what the human female was up to as well, all he answered with was 'it's a surprise' and left it at that "what did he do?"

:: The usual.:: The scout replied :: he got bored and decided to pull a prank, however it kind of backfired and got the wrong mech.::

"Do I dare ask who the unsuspecting bot was?" The Witwicky boy inquired, he had a bad feeling about this.

:: A certain bond-mate of mine.:: Came a voice over Bumblebee's radio, Sam glanced in the rear view mirror to find Prowl was still tailing them. He had almost forgotten about the tactician up until now and was still finding it hard to comprehend how he had managed to change his appearance to that of an ordinary car. That was until he remembered Ratchet mentioning something about chameleon circuits that allowed them to change small attributes when needed too.

"So that means he's gonna be in one of those moods again?" The Witwicky boy inquired. If Sam could compare Jazz to anyone it would have to be Mikaela when it was that time of the month for his long term girlfriend, she could be downright scary when she wanted too especially if she didn't get her daily allowance of chocolate and the Solstice was the same except with energon goodies. The saboteur would constantly bug Prowl until either the tactician gave in or would say no and disappear, Sam couldn't decide which was the better option, say yes and the silver mech acted like a five year old hyped up on sugar or tell him no and experience the mother of all bad moods.

:: Actually no which was quite surprising, he pursued Sideswipe into the brig much to Ironhide's amusement then sauntered out once our resident troublemaker locked himself in a cell.:: Prowl responded. Sam stared at Bumblebee's dashboard in bewilderment, surely they couldn't be talking about the same mechs here? Sideswipe in all the four years of being on earth had never locked himself purposely in the brig to get away from one of his companions, not even when his brother was about to deliver an royal aft whopping. And Jazz being in a good mood? There had to be something wrong there, all he had seen through the silver mech's 'pregnancy' was mood swings that were terrible enough to send even the brave Autobot leader running :: in fact I was somewhat grateful for the small altercation this morning, Jazz has been somewhat . . . . affectionate as of late.::

"And that's bad how?" Sam asked trying to hold back the snickers that tried to escape him "least he's not in his 'flinch near me and I'll shoot your aft' mood."

:: Simply because I can only return some of his affections and not all.:: Prowl replied. Sam shook his head in amusement, that had to be frustrating for the tactician especially when the one thing you shared with your partner could not be experienced to its fullest. It didn't seem so strange to him now talking to giant alien robots and their 'extracurricular' activities compared to four years ago when he was far more interested in pursuing Mikaela and winning her affections. Although he would admit that the fact that the Cybertronians enjoyed the same physical closeness as they did had come as a surprise to him and with the unorthodox sex education lesson he learned from Jazz since the mech was far from a prude, he discovered the different levels of intimacy one could experience with their partner depending of course upon their relationship with one another.

"So you're givin' him the cold shoulder?" The Witwicky boy inquired as Bumblebee switched lanes and sped past a family carrier, he glanced in the rear view mirror to see Prowl doing the same.

:: As much as I possibly can without upsetting him.:: The Dodge Charger responded.

"Yea good luck with that." Sam chuckled as he focused upon the road ahead of him, he saw something big and black emerge from the foliage on the side of the highway and run into the traffic. There was an almighty crash as the creature collided with another people's carrier up ahead. The sound of tyres screeching against the asphalt and horns blaring could be heard and Sam watched as the black thing peeled itself out of the family carrier it had run into, shake itself off and snap its spiky head in their direction. Bumblebee snapped the boy's seat belt tight and slammed his own brakes on, Prowl manoeuvred out from behind him to avoid colliding with the Camaro's back end as he too applied his brakes.

:: Slag Ravage!:: The scout shouted as he slammed into reverse, tyres screeching and smoking as the big beast like creature leapt on top of a truck and began bounding down the highway toward them.

"Ravage?" Sam asked as he gripped his seat belt with one hand as the Camaro nimbly reversed in-between the other cars in order to get a clear run to the slip road a few miles back, his priority now was to get Sam to safety regardless "that's Ravage? He's huge!" The Dodge Charger slipped in front of him and followed the scout's path out of the congestion, the pair of them cleared the traffic and hand brake turned with a loud squeal of brakes and tyres before peeling off and down the wrong side of the highway. Cars swung out of their way blaring their horns until they realised that the car travelling down beside the Camaro was in fact a police vehicle.

Sam simply gaped at the Dodge Charger when he saw the chameleon effect change and the tactician's original alt. mode reappeared right before the lights flashed on his roof and the sirens sounded. The Witwicky boy then glanced in the rear view mirror to see Ravage shoulder cars out of his way and charge down the road after them, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and a cold sweat break out on his skin as he watched the big, black cat like Transformer leap up onto several more cars crushing hoods, roofs and wind shields under his dangerous looking talons before springing from the bed of a large truck with claws and fangs bared. Sam could only watch in horror as the tactician swerved in behind them and take the brunt of the attack, the resounding crash of metal meeting metal echoed loudly behind them not to mention the disorientating sound of armour being torn open.

"'Bee we gotta help him!" Sam shouted as he glanced at the dash board before turning in his seat again to find Prowl swinging his back end round and into the crash barrier in hopes to dislodge his unwelcome passenger.

:: My orders are to take you to the base Sam.:: The Camaro responded reluctantly. The young adult knew that if circumstances had been different, the scout would have dumped him on the asphalt and raced back to his comrade and chase off the beast Transformer.

"But . . . ." Sam trailed off as he watched the black and white Dodge Charger peel away from the central reservation when the panther ripped one of his front paws out of the tactician's armour and hooked it into one of the side doors, the black and white car swerved wildly nearly clipping the other cars before slamming his brakes on. However instead of Ravage letting go, the momentum of the sudden stop pitched the panther over the top of the Dodge and flipped Prowl in the process, the police cruiser landed upon his roof with a loud crash, wheels still spinning whilst Ravage was neatly tossed into another car.

:: Ironhide and Sunstreaker are already on their way.:: The scout replied as he drove over the central reservation and back onto the right hand side of the road. For now Prowl was on his own until help arrived.

Human onlookers cautiously clambered out of their vehicles and walked toward the scene of devastation, several cars had clipped each other or shunted the person in front in order to avoid being squashed by a large mechanical cat which at this moment in time was still lying deathly still upon the crumpled engine of the 4x4 it had been tossed into. The Dodge Charger with police decals remained upon its roof, the rocking motions brought on by the flip had all but stopped as had the spinning of the wheels, numerous humans who hadn't already flocked to the 4x4 to see if the driver was alive or not, whispered amongst themselves before pointing at the tactician and the blue liquid oozing out of the many claw marks scoring the cruiser's back end and left side door.

Sirens in the background informed a barely coherent Prowl that the human authorities were on their way and he needed to disappear from the scene, each of his sensors flickered on-line and registered several humans very close by. There was no way he could right himself without transforming into his bipedal mode and especially with civilians around least he wanted to blow the Autobot's cover, he groaned inwardly when a sharp pain from his left door wing finally registered in his CPU and from the damage his sensors were screaming at him told him that there was a very high probability that it could send him into stasis lock should he do anything rash. Not that he would that was more of the twins or Jazz's style. However he didn't have the chance to contemplate remaining where he was when his predictive programming sprung up a warning that Ravage was on-lining, he turned every available sensor in the direction of the panther. He nearly cursed out loud at that fact and knew he would have no choice but to blow his cover in order to subdue the Decepticon scout.

The singular orange optic snapped on scaring the humans into taking a step back. The large black cat peeled himself out of the engine block of the 4x4 and turned in the direction of the flipped Dodge Charger, the panther growled deep in his throat and sprung. Prowl's battle computer scarcely had the chance to draw up a plan of action when Ravage sprung at him, he had barely transformed into his bipedal mode when the black panther made contact with him and the pair hit the tarmac before disappearing over the edge of the highway and into the valley below. Prowl's sharp reflexes stopped him from receiving any critical injuries, however he had not had the opportunity to flick in the already damaged left door wing to his back and nearly ripped it from its socket as a result.

The tactician skidded to a halt at the bottom of the rock face and gingerly pushed himself up using the wall behind him as leverage, he gritted his denta when hot white agony flashed across the damaged door wing and he could feel the onset of stasis lock but forced the set of subroutines that would take him off-line, back. He turned his attention to Ravage who pushed himself up onto his all fours and shook off the fall and the dust before snapping his spiny head round to glare at the Dodge Charger. Prowl took no chances this time as the panther charged at him, he pulled out his rifle and fired an acid pellet into the left hip juncture. The big black cat howled in pain when the pellet exploded and started corroding the sensitive cables, tubing and armour plates, the tactician tightened his finger round the trigger ready to fire again when Ravage growled at him, but luckily enough the big, black cat had seen enough combat and bounded off into the bushes with a pronounced limb in his step. Prowl vented a sigh out of his intakes and dropped to sit upon the warm dusty ground with a loud thud as his legs refused to hold him up any longer. The Dodge Charger could feel something warm and wet running down his back and from what his diagnostics were telling him a line from his back that fed into his wing had been shredded, the tactician sent a signal to the shut-down procedures for the sensors in the damaged wing and was relieved when the answering ping returned positively, he quickly activated them and immediately energon and any electrical signals heading for the back appendage stopped. He knew he would pay later for preventing the pain signals from getting through not to mention cutting off the supply of energon to his wing, but right now it didn't concern him as the subroutines that were ready to activate stasis lock went dormant.

Now the situation regarding Ravage was over, Prowl knew he had to somehow try and leave the area without drawing further human attention. He knew without a doubt that the humans who had formed the new organisation know as NEST (Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers) would have a word to say about him breaking his cover and alerting the human civilians to his existence but there had been no other option at the time; it had been a decision of it being either him or the men and women who were certainly more fragile than him. The tactician pushed himself up into a standing position feeling every inch of his frame protesting against the movement, he was about to take a couple of steps forward when he heard the bushes ahead of him rustle and drew his weapon up ready to take aim when his sensors detected two familiar spark signatures.

"Whoa easy Prowl put the gun down before you shoot someone with it." Sunstreaker said as he stepped out of the trees with his hands raised in hopes to placate the black and white mech.

The military strategist vented a sigh of relief and sub-spaced his weapon before taking a few trembling steps toward the weapons specialist and front-line warrior "What about the humans?" He frowned when he realised that their true forms would without a doubt be seen from the highway above their heads.

"Major Lennox an' Tom Banachek have control of the situation." Ironhide informed him as he looked the battered tactician over "Ratch is gonna flip when he sees ya, ya able to get to the base under ya own power?"

Prowl placed a hand upon the wall next to him to steady himself "No, my left door wing is damaged to the point where transformation is impossible." The weapons specialist nodded and took a couple of steps back before sending a communiqué back to the base asking for Ratchet to come out and meet them "did Bumblebee and Sam get to the base safely?"

"Yea they did." Sunstreaker responded as he looked the tactician over. He winced inwardly, the wounds that Prowl was currently sporting were going to be a bitch to heal especially the claw marks that had dug deep into his armour as anyone who encountered Ravage tended to experience a slow and painful recovery especially if the wounds attracted an infection. The gold Lamborghini watched as the Dodge Charger lowered himself to the floor painfully before glancing over his shoulder to where Ironhide was stood, no doubt keeping an optic out for any Decepticon that was willing to come back and pick a fight with them. The front-line warrior then focused his attention upon the silver paint scrapped across his right forearm and mournfully stared at the superficial damage done. His attention to the scrapes upon his arm drew Prowl's attention and the tactician raised a single optic ridge at him, he scowled when he saw other patches of silver upon the gold mech's armoured plating. Then the Dodge Charger glanced at Ironhide and noticed that the weapons specialist appeared to have acquired silver scrapes to his paint work as well which only served to deepen the frown upon his facial plates.

"Has something happened back at the base that I should be aware of?" Prowl inquired as he also tried to search along his bond with the saboteur and found it disconcertingly quiet.

"There was a little altercation with Jazz." Sunstreaker told him, the tactician snapped his head round to look at him.

"Little? The mech practically had an episode of hysteria." Ironhide corrected the front-line warrior "we had to hold him down so Ratch could sedate him or we'd have a premature sparklin' on our hands."

"Jazz panicked? Over what?" Prowl inquired, he had never seen the calm and cool head of special ops panic over anything, not even when he got himself stuck in the heart of Decepticon territory during one of his ops and had to fight his way out.

Sunstreaker folded his arms across his chest "You, when he heard you report back to base about Ravage, Optimus tried to reason with him that you would be fine against the felinoid." With those last words he raised a single optic ridge at the wounds the tactician sported which were no doubt caused by carelessness although 'carelessness' was not a word he would usually associate with Prowl "but it went in one audio and out the other."

"Sounds familiar." Ironhide rumbled as he continued to scan their surroundings whilst ignoring the short pointed glare the front-line warrior shot in his direction. The three could still hear the sound of emergency sirens wailing and the incoherent shouts of humans as the special forces division closed off the road and escorted the civilians out of the area.

"Where the frag is Ratchet?" Sunstreaker demanded.

"I'm right here." Came a voice from behind them, the three of them drew weapons and turned in the direction of the voice only to lower them when the pale yellow form of the Autobot's medic stepped out from the bushes and trees, his optics were narrowed upon Prowl as he took in every visible injury "you backed the traffic up on the highway through your insane stunt you just pulled."

Prowl pushed himself up into a better sitting position only to regret it when his injuries protested the movement "It was either me or the humans Ratchet, and I had a higher percentage of surviving."

The Hummer removed a portable scanner from sub-space and ran it over the tactician's frame in order to double check that the readings he was getting from his on board sensors were right "Well you'll live alright, I'll patch you up as best I can so you can make the journey home." The medic removed several surgical tools from sub-space and set them on the ground beside him before turning the Dodge Charger's pain receptors off near the injuries, he frowned when he noticed the left wing panel was beginning to grey slightly. He checked the readings he took to find that Prowl had rerouted the supply of energon away from the appendage in order to conserve his energy supply. But none the less he cleaned and sealed closed each of the injuries before moving onto the dislocated door wing that was barely hanging on by a hinge, he could clearly see now the energon and coolant lines that had been shredded and knew that there was only only thing he could do; remove the door here and now and re-attach it once they got back to the base. Ratchet plugged the exposed lines shut before removing the wing the rest of the way, the tactician would no doubt look a little odd on the way back to the base but it was better off then hanging on by a hinge with no guarantees that it would hold out. He ordered Ironhide to transform into his alt. mode and placed the damaged wing in the bed of the black truck before telling Sunstreaker to inform the NEST personnel that they were ready to move out "can you get to your own feet?"

The tactician nodded and used the rock wall to get to his feet, he had to spend a couple of moments adjusting to the difference in balance and in the end flicked the right door wing against his back until he was ready to transform into his alt. mode, Sunstreaker gave them the signal that it was safe to roll out and the three of them sunk into their vehicle modes although Prowl had some trouble when error messages and warning alarms indicated that something was missing but he simply shut it out as he followed the gold Lamborghini. The four of them pulled out of the bushes a few miles south and back onto the highway and away from the carnage wrought by Ravage and his devastating attack.

* * * * *

Prowl on-lined slowly feeling each of his systems protest against the action, he un-shuttered his optics and glanced about the room from where he was lying upon his side and found he was still in the med-bay. He on-lined the sensors along his back and wandered whether Ratchet had finally re-attached the damaged door wing only for an error message to appear upon his HUD. He frowned at that before turning his attention to his diagnostic system that told him 'no the medic hadn't replaced it as of yet', which could only mean there had been more damage done to the appendage than originally thought. The tactician attempted to shift into a better position however a weight upon his right side prevented him from doing so, he turned his head and smiled when he saw Jazz resting comfortably there with his arms pillowed beneath his head. Prowl quietly moved his arm and rested it upon his bond-mate's helm so his thumb could lightly trace the spiked edges of a fin, the saboteur stirred slightly in his recharge but only shifted closer to the Dodge Charger to make himself more comfortable.

Prowl had never had the chance to find out if Jazz was alright once he got back to the base, Ratchet had ushered him into one of the surgical suites and left momentarily to collect every tool he needed in order to fix the deep rents in the tactician's armour. Optimus asked him to give him a quick account of what had happened before being kicked out of the repair bay by the CMO. He already knew that he would pay dearly for the door wing he had starved of energon as no doubt it would give him no end of grief for being abused like that, and now security would be upped further to ensure that none of their human allies became the unsuspecting victim of a surprise Decepticon attack. The tactician gently shifted himself onto his back so Jazz was now lying upon his abdomen before continuing his administrations upon the horn he had been touching, the saboteur sighed softly before their bond opened up fully and he was subjected to the exchange going on between his mate and offspring. He smiled when he heard the Solstice humming internally to their sparkling and was rewarded in return with immature thoughts and feelings and the occasional boisterous punch and kick that he actually felt vibrate against his own plating. The communication between his mate, himself and their offspring was starting to become a regular thing and the sparkling showed open displays of acrobatics when his father was around, unlike before when he seemed to sense when Prowl was around and would go quiet.

Even the others had shared a few moments talking to the sparkling despite how weird it seemed although sometimes the boisterous movements got a little too much for Jazz and he had to call it a day, but everyone seemed more excited about the infant the closer it came to the end of the Solstice's gestation cycle. He sent a few loving thoughts toward his creation through the bond and the sparkling suddenly latched onto his presence and bombarded his processor with everything he could muster. Prowl sighed softly knowing full well that their creation was definitely going to be a talker which meant there would be no peace for him.

::// Told ya he was a talker \\:: Jazz spoke to him.

Prowl was taken slightly by surprise at the sudden communication between Jazz and himself as it had been a long time since they had last spoken through their bond ::// Yes you did, and he seems rather active today.\\::

::// Ya have no idea, I just wish he'd stop drummin' against ma spark case, its un-nervin'.\\:: The Solstice said. The tactician chuckled before sending calming thoughts toward the sparkling and the reaction to them was almost instantaneous, the infant went quiet and Jazz was given the respite he needed from the sparkling despite them sharing the same shell at the moment ::// it won't last long, he's not likin' the fact that the chamber he's in is getting' smaller.\\::

::// He'll only have to put up with it a little while longer.\\:: Prowl replied as he pulled his mate tighter. He knew he would have to address the situation that occurred with his mate whilst he had been fighting against Ravage but decided now was not the best time besides he didn't want to ruin this small moment between the three of them.

::// I'm sure he can but I don't think ma internals can stand any more punishment.\\:: Jazz told him as he made himself more comfortable on his mate's chest, his left audio was pressed close to warm chest plates in order to hear the deep thrum of Prowl's spark and the steady beat of his fuel pump.

::// Then rest while you can love.\\:: The tactician said as he moved his hand that had been caressing the Solstice's right horn and smoothed his fingers down the back of his helm, Jazz shifted slightly once again to make himself even more comfortable, if that was even possible before shutting down his systems for recharge. Prowl retreated from his mate's end of the bond after soothing his offspring also into his own recharge cycle and wrapped his arms around Jazz's frame before joining the saboteur in recharge.

* * * * * * * * * *

The late Summer sun was sitting low upon the horizon casting the sky into various shades of colour, a cool gentle breeze swept over the suburb town of Tranquillity bringing some relief to the stagnant heat that had plagued its citizens during the day. Small fluffy clouds drifted lazily across the darkening sky but they did not signify any bad weather on the way which was good news to the eight different vehicles (four of them sentient) parked beside a fallow corn field. Luckily enough the road was rarely ever travelled by the public so they were no cause for concern to the four alien vehicles sat idling. On the way there Sunstreaker had bitched about his paint work when they proceeded down the dirt track, Ironhide had almost lost his cool and transformed on the spot in order to shut the gold Lamborghini up by shooting him. A couple of the humans that had accompanied Major Lennox winged about the heat and Ratchet was nearly prompted to roll backwards on his wheels and run the pair of them over. Although inwardly he would have to agree with the humans, the summer heat was somewhat unpleasant and could understand why a certain Solstice disappeared into the lower recesses of the base and would only come back up toward the surface at the end of the day. The medic was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard a couple of the humans shift uncomfortably near him.

"When did they say they were gonna make their appearance?" One of the young sergeant's asked from where he was stood next to one of the NEST vehicles, sleeves of his desert coloured coat was rolled up to his elbows. He had just transferred in from Great Britain and although he had served out in Iraq a couple of years ago, the weather here in Tranquillity took him somewhat completely by surprise.

"Some time soon Sergeant." Lennox replied from where he was perched on top of the GMC Top kick Truck's hood, the Major was leant back on his hands with his legs swinging back and forth.

"In fact sooner than you think." Ironhide rumbled after receiving a communiqué from Mirage back at the base, the other Cybertronians were all converting to their bipedal modes and eventually the weapons specialist was able to once Lennox had leapt off his alt. mode and retreated to a safe distance. Suddenly overhead there was a loud roaring noise, all the humans glanced up to see five flaming comet like structures soar across the night sky leaving a trailing blaze of atmospheric gases that had been heated up by their decent. The five of them roared overhead and within a few seconds an earth shattering noise filled the silence and the ground trembled from the impacts. The group slowly and cautiously began moving toward the field and the impact zone several metres away. After the spectacle that surrounded Optimus and his team landing on Earth four years ago, they decided to play it safe and have incoming teams land in a location and then choose their alternate modes from using the humans internet. After all they didn't always need a vehicle to scan although it did require a few modifications to their transcanning nodes to take on a new form.

Major Lennox watched as Optimus, Sunstreaker and Ironhide rolled out their weapons preparing for any Decepticons that might show their face plates and attempt to attack their comrades whilst they were unprotected by the armour the current Earth team had. The human captain signalled to his men to keep their eyes peeled for any sign of the beast Transformer Ravage or the newest Decepticon arrival who apparently could teleport. That fact didn't sit comfortably with Will since it could complicate things in future battles with the Decepticons although if he had heard right from the briefing early on in the week, the team about to arrive on Earth was bringing a sharp shooter with them which would provide a good advantage in battle. They slowly reached the landing site and when they arrived they saw five steaming trenches and a couple of trees that had accidentally caught fire and then much to Will's surprise were put out by a fire hose. The human Major had to do a double take at that, there was no Autobot on the base who had taken on a alt. form that resembled a fire truck.

Suddenly the quiet that had fallen upon the field they were walking through was broken by high pitched clicking and squealing and Lennox recognised it as the distinct dialect of the Cybertronian's native language. He had heard Ironhide curse in their native tongue on several occasions to identify it now. He warily glanced at the white and red one that seemed to be throwing a fit at his commander whilst pointing at him and his team.

"Calm yourself Red Alert." Optimus rumbled as he held up a hand to silence the glitching mech "and here on Earth you are to speak the humans chosen language." The mech's seemingly paranoid behaviour told Lennox this had to be the security director the miscreants of the base had warned him about when he had asked about the new members that would be joining them on Earth shortly. Sideswipe appeared to be unnaturally gleeful about Red Alert coming to Earth as no doubt the red Lamborghini was planning something for the mech.

The mech designated as Red Alert seemed to pause for a moment before he began his triad anew in their own language " . . . but Optimus they are a potential security risk and do not withhold the capabilities to ward off mental intrusion to their primitive brains."

"Hey I take offence to that man, we ain't as primitive as you think." Master sergeant Epps shouted up at the security director who schooled a glare at the African American soldier before continuing to whine in Prime's audios about the humans and the security risk they posed. The mech wasn't going to take it well when they got back to base with twenty percent of the base consisting of humans, Lennox mused.

"So do we get any introductions?" Graham asked as he stood by Ironhide, the weapons specialist glanced down at the young British Sergeant before transferring his gaze to Lennox and Epps who nodded in agreement.

"Well there's no need to guess which one is Red Alert." Ironhide began.

"Yea there's no doubt about that, he's worse than I thought big guy." Will said as he watched the exchange between Optimus and the newcomer Red Alert.

The GMC Top kick Truck folded his arms across his broad chest "This is mild compared to some of the paranoid fits he can work himself into." The army rangers looked at the weapons specialist horrified "but he usually glitches the same way Prowl does when it all becomes too much for him." Lennox and Epps cringed at that, they clearly remembered the tactician glitching and collapsing a few months ago and still felt somewhat guilty for that incident. But they could honestly admit that they had gotten a little carried away with the conversation regarding the fatherhood Prowl would soon be experiencing and had not expected the tactician to fritz and go off-line from a 'simple' conversation "anyway, the small, fuchsia coloured one is Arcee, she's our sharp shooter."

"She?" Epps asked glancing up at the weapons specialist before looking over at the femme who was conversing with Ratchet in low tones.

"Arcee was one of the few femmes under Elita One's command back on Cybertron." Ironhide replied then moved on "the other black bot is Trailbreaker, he's our defensive strategist and the green one next to him is Hound; a tracking specialist and one of Jazz's mechs."

"Oh yea that's gonna be one great conversation, 'by the way your boss is pregnant and is a down right moody git when he wants to be'." Lennox said as he folded his arms across his chest "I assume Optimus will brief them all on that little situation? Or are we gonna let them find out for themselves?"

A deep rumble that sounded very much like a chuckle resonated from Ironhide's throat as he considered the option "They deserve a fighting chance, least if they blow it we can say 'we told you so'."

"That's evil man." Grahams said as he swiped his right forearm across his forehead, the temperature had only lessened slightly and he was looking forward to the cool reprieve of the base and a cold shower "so whose the fire truck guy next to the whiner?"

Ironhide glanced at the young sergeant before his azure gaze fell upon the mostly red frame of the head of search and rescue "That's Inferno and the so called 'whiner' is Red Alert." The latter mentioned mech looked as though he was to fritz double time when one of Lennox's men came a little too close for comfort "they're down a member."

"How so?" Lennox inquired as he glanced at each of the new arrivals making sure to memorise who was who.

"Skyfire was supposed to be with them." The weapons specialist replied "although where we're gonna fit him is goin' to be a good question." The black GMC watched as confused expressions fell upon the humans faces "he's slightly larger than Prime."

"There is no way man are we gonna fit him in the base, Prime's head nearly touches the ceiling in some areas as it is." Epps said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"That's why we requested to have the base expanded further to include a runway and several more hangars." Ratchet replied as he moved toward the weapons specialist with Arcee close behind them, the three of them glanced up at her and noticed that she was actually much smaller than Jazz in stature and height "it was all covered in the last meeting we had." The three men glanced at one another, silently asking each other to confirm what the medic was telling them and when Lennox nodded, the other two knew they were in trouble.

The young British solider looked sheepishly up at the three large mechanoids "Whoops I must have dosed off."

"Humans, they have much shorter attention spans than a certain pair of twins we all know." Ratchet groused before muttering something in Cybertronian. Sunstreaker glared at him when he heard the intended insults in their native tongue.

"Autobots assemble." Prime rumbled from where he was stood with Red Alert, the security director looked visibly cowed but covered it up by constantly scanning their surroundings watching out for any potential risk to the group of humans and Autobots. Optimus glanced at each of the ones stood before him and although he happened to notice that Skyfire was missing, he was not overly concerned about the Veritech since the scientist was very capable of chasing off Skywarp should the seeker make his appearance, although he would inquire about the scientist's whereabouts on the way back to the base "transform and roll out." The nine different Cybertronians converted into their alt. modes that all looked completely out of place in a corn field whilst Lennox and his men rushed back to the NEST vehicles and fired up their engines before rolling out on ahead of the convoy.

On the way back to the base Optimus explained to the new comers that they would each have an appointment with a human known as Tom Banachek in the morning in order to gather information regarding their status, a brief description of their alt. modes, their personality, the VIN numbers on their licence plates in case there was ever an incident regarding them and the public. He could almost hear Red Alert wanting to start a triad about giving information so freely to the humans but quickly silenced him by telling him that they had all done it and that files upon the humans they were allied with were also available to obtain and read. The turn off for the base appeared and the gates slid open allowing the convoy of vehicles onto the restricted site, the humans on patrol watched as the vehicles they were acquainted with on a daily basis were joined with a new set, a couple of them were taken by surprise when they saw someone riding the motorcycle but once the fuchsia coloured bike was in the relative safe confines of the base, the rider disappeared into thin air.

They were greeted at the entrance of the base by Prowl, Jazz, Wheeljack and Mirage as Sideswipe was stuck on monitoring duty, the humans drove the military Humvees to one of the smaller hangers where such ground vehicles were stored before they headed into the base. The tactician, engineer and spy all stood to attention as their leader transformed whilst Jazz looked ready to bolt back into the underground levels, well he would have done if not for the pair of handcuffs linking him to his bond-mate who had expressed that it was his duty to be there when the new arrivals appeared. The new Autobots all transformed and moved to greet the others especially Hound who made his way across to Mirage and the pair shared a brief hug and touch of foreheads, glad to be finally reunited at last.

"Alright rest and recuperate and I expect to see you all at oh nine hundred tomorrow morning for a debriefing." Prime told his soldiers before heading into the underground with Ironhide and Ratchet following close behind, Sunstreaker was not far behind as he all but dashed into the base complaining about the bugs stuck in his grill. Prowl shook his head in amusement as he stepped across to the new comers dragging his reluctant mate with him, he reached into his sub-space and pulled out a few data-pads which he handed out to the new arrivals. Each one gave them a brief layout of the base and where their assigned quarters were for the time being, they had managed to convert one of the cargo bays into temporary accommodation until plans for expansion could be put into motion. Red Alert started scanning the layout of the complex upon the data-pad and started muttering to himself as he headed into the base.

"I betta follow 'im, he'll no doubt start lookin' for any flaws there is." Inferno said "it's good ta see ya guys anyway." Prowl dipped his head in acknowledgement and nudged Jazz with his elbow, the Solstice flashed a brief smile at the Mitsubishi Fuso Fire Truck but quickly returned to sulking which warranted a confused expression to appear upon Inferno's facial plates :/I Shall explain later\: The frown only seemed to deepen but when Prowl refused to enlighten him, he took that as his queue to head into the base. The Dodge Charger glanced across to the others to find them talking to the new arrivals however his attention was quickly drawn away from them when he heard a whine escape his mate, he was about to tell Jazz that they would head inside soon when his gaze fell upon the Solstice. He frowned when he saw the saboteur wearing a pained grimace upon his facial plates whilst two of his fingers were pressed against an area on his grill.

Prowl felt his fuel pump skip a beat hoping that it was just a flutter of movement from the sparkling and nothing more "Jazz?"

"I'm fine, sparklin's got a limb wedged where he shouldn't have." The saboteur replied as he attempted to convince the infant to shift his position with small magnetic pulses but with little success "see if you can convince him to shift his skid plate." The tactician shook his head in amusement before following along their bond and touching the infant's consciousness, the feat was becoming much easier every time they connected and the sparkling responded the same way he always did; with a punishing acrobatic movement and a barrage of immature communication "I said convince him ta move not pound ma internals into scrap."

"Sorry." Prowl replied as he held onto his mate who was hunched over grasping his chest plates with his free hand.

"Is everything alright?" Mirage inquired as he made his way across to them with Hound close behind him, Prowl glanced past the spy to see the others also looking at them with concern.

"Just peachy." Jazz rasped out as he attempted to calm his sparkling's chaotic thought processes and movements "kids just bein' a little energetic." With that he glared at Prowl and the tactician managed to look a little sheepish. He couldn't help it if the infant reacted to his presence like that every time he spoke to it.

"Kid?" Hound inquired as he glanced at the bonded pair before catching his own mate's gaze.

"Jazz is with sparkling." The Ford GT told his partner, the Jeep Wrangler's optic ridges rose upwards in surprise as he glanced at the Solstice.

"But I thought the Allspark was gone?" The green mech asked.

Jazz sighed through his vents when he saw that the others were wearing a mixture of inquisitive and confused looks upon their facial plates "Looks like I gotta lot of explainin' to do but I ain't doin' it out here, come on I'll update ya on everythin' that's been goin' on Earth for the past four years." The Solstice pulled on the cuffs linking him to his mate and led the way back into the base more than happy to get out of the muggy heat that didn't seem to be lifting, the others all exchanged glances before following him inside. Prowl sighed inwardly as he had no choice but to follow his mate knowing that this was

going to be a long night. The group headed down to the recreation room where they all grabbed a mug of energon and a place to sit, Mirage took the opportunity to curl up on the same couch as his bond-mate, drinking in as much of his presence now they were together again. It wasn't long before Hound inquired as to how the first team knew where the Allspark was located. Jazz explained to them about the ill fated meeting with the humans lost deep in space whom revealed that Megatron and the cube were on their planet. He told the new arrivals about their landing on Earth, the subsequent meeting of their now human allies, their first clash with the humans that resulted in Bumblebee's capture and the run to Mission city once they had met up with the newly released scout. The Solstice also explained to them about the battle against the Decepticons, but left out the part where he had been terminated by Megatron early on in the fight. However he was able to tell them about the death of the Decepticon tyrant at the hands of Sam Witwicky by recalling what the others had told him once he had been reactivated.

Trailbreaker asked what had happened to the cube, and the saboteur informed them that it had been destroyed although a small shard of it had remained. However that was when the silver mech dropped the bomb shell upon his comrades by telling them that he had been killed during the attack only to be revived at the expense of the remaining shard. Although the new arrivals had been shocked to learn that Jazz had been deactivated, they were grateful that he was back amongst them. Mirage picked up the tale from there since not much happened in the time between the saboteur being revived and his group arriving on Earth, he happily told the others that Prowl and Jazz had finally bonded to which the pair were then greeted with 'congratulations' and 'about time' from Hound, Trailbreaker and Arcee. The Solstice couldn't help but tell them about the reception afterwards where a rather intoxicated Optimus and Ironhide stole the limelight of the night when the pair of them began changing the lyrics to some of the songs playing. Prowl had not been too amused by it but Jazz had simply taken in its stride and even joined the duo. The Prime had apologised to the pair the morning after but the saboteur told him it was nice to see their leader relaxed and having a good time, even if the humans were asking for 'brain bleach' after seeing the Autobot's weapon specialist trying to pole dance. The new arrivals had burst out laughing at this and Hound asked whether they had any recordings of the 'incident', Prowl had calmly stated that with the twins around there were bound to be recordings for future blackmailing purposes. The new arrivals then spoke of their own adventures after hearing about what had gone on during the four years before they arrived on Earth, many of which had been amusing and sometimes even traumatising to the individuals who had been involved in such hilarious situations.

It was a couple of hours before Arcee finally broached the subject regarding the unborn Cybertronian, Prowl watched his mate as Jazz placed a clawed hand upon his chest plates when the femme inquired about their child. The saboteur told her that the infant had been a by-product of a spark merge several months ago, that fact had many of the other exclaiming loudly that they didn't want to hear about Jazz and Prowl's interfacing habits. The tactician glared at his mate whilst the Solstice simply shrugged his shoulders and chuckled at the playful but disgusted looks upon his comrade's facial plates. The silver mech quickly pulled them back to the subject of the sparkling when he told them that it was currently developing its own protoform inside his lower chest. The new arrivals had asked what it felt like to carry in such a bizarre way and whether or not he could feel its movements, Jazz told them that he could indeed feel its movements as the sparkling was currently 'shuffling' about in its confined space. Arcee was the first to brave putting one of her hands upon Jazz's slightly distorted chest plating to feel the infant's restless movements.

"Wow." She said as she felt a small vibration which could have been a kick or a punch.

"It gets a little too much sometimes." The saboteur replied as the pink femme retracted her hand and made her way back to her seat.

"So do we know if we're gonna have a mech or femme entering our fold?" Trailbreaker inquired.

"I'm afraid not." The military strategist replied as he sent calming and comforting thoughts to his energetic creation, he heard his spark-mate vent a sigh of relief as the little one's movements became a gently patter instead of boisterous punches and kicks.

"It'd be nice to have another femme around here." The fuchsia motorcycle said.

"I believe you'll find half the base in agreement to that." Prowl told her as he cast a sideways glance at his mate, he could see Jazz's good mood slowly evaporating.

Hound glanced at the military strategist "Let me guess there's a running bet as to whether its gonna be a mech or a femme."

The Dodge Charger nodded "I believe the odds are 70/30 in favour of it being a mech."

"I believe it doesn't matter either way as long as the sparkling is strong and healthy." Mirage said before taking a few sips from his mug.

The Jeep Wrangler turned to his mate "C'mon Mirage, ain't ya a little bit curious as to what its gonna be? I mean we've not had a sparkling born into the Autobots for over a millennia since Bumblebee was pretty much the last one."

The spy placed his mug down upon the coffee table and turned in his seat to glance at his bonded fully "Very well, mech." Arcee made a sound that sounded very similar to a human snorting at that, she knew her male comrades would most likely choose to go with mech. After all they were much more common than femmes.

"Anyway mechs an' femme I'm gonna hit th' berth but I shall see ya all in th' mornin'." The Solstice told the group as he stiffly pushed himself out of the couch he had been sat in, the Dodge Charger watched him closely and knew the usual aches and pains had to be plaguing his mate again. The bonded pair bode everyone good night before they headed out of the room and back to their quarters, Prowl watched how his mate's entire posture seemed to sag as they made the long trek to the residential level and knew that Jazz would require a massage to soothe away the aches and pains before his mate could contemplate recharge. The tactician noticed his lover's steps become much more weary until the doors to their quarters came into view, then the saboteur's steps quickened. The silver mech hastily input the code and stepped inside the moment the doors whooshed open, the black and white mech chuckled in amusement when he saw the Solstice make a beeline for the couch, but he quickly intercepted his bonded and led him into their room.

Jazz collapsed upon the berth none too gracefully and groaned when his joints all began voicing their different complaints, Prowl disappeared quickly to retrieve the small tub of absorbent ointment Ratchet had prescribed for the saboteur. The medic had explained to the tactician that it was a rather effective treatment for carriers as it posed no risk to the developing sparkling like normal pain relief did. That and the massage was likely to put Jazz in a more complacent mood for the Dodge Charger to deal with. Prowl returned with the small tub in his hands and nudged his mate further into the berth before he sat down upon the edge.

"Where are the aches troubling you love?" The tactician asked as he unscrewed the lid and placed the tub down next to his right hip.

"Knees an' ankle joints as usual." The saboteur replied "an' ma back … I'm not even gonna start about ma back." The black and white hummed in response as he dipped the tips of his index and middle fingers into the white translucent ointment whilst his other hand gently gripped one of the silver mech's legs and the rested the knee joint in his lap. Prowl then gently applied the fingers coated in ointment to the knee joint and began massaging it into the strong and powerful muscle cables, he smiled when he heard his bonded vent a sigh of approval. The tactician continued his administrations of applying the ointment to both Jazz's knees and ankles before he decided to move onto the next task, he wiped his hands clean on a cloth then attempted to coax his mate into lying upon his side. The saboteur grumbled tiredly at him but none the less complied, Prowl knew Jazz distinctly hated lying upon either side at the moment as the infant tended to be rather energetic in his movements, but thankfully the sparkling decided to give its carrier some much needed reprieve and stayed quiet, although it would produce a flutter every now and again.

"I can't wait for all of this to be over an' done wit'." The saboteur muttered then hissed in pain when his spark-mate applied too much pressure to one of his back struts.

"Sorry." The Dodge Charger apologised as he moved his hand to another area upon his bonded's back, he could feel the tension in the muscle cables when he slid clawed fingers under armoured plating. The black and white mech was rewarded with a hum of appreciation a few seconds later as he continued to massage the muscle cables in his bonded's upper back "I believe Ratchet stressed that the last trimester of the gestation cycle was going to be unpleasant."

"I know he did." Jazz replied as he off-lined his optics and shuttered them, his mate's administrations were quickly lulling him into recharge and he would have fallen asleep had it not been for the solid kick or punch from the sparkling "I knew th' peace an' quiet was too good ta last." There was another muffled 'clang' as the unborn Cybertronian infant voiced its protest about its carrier lying on his side for too long "urgh little mech is bossy." Prowl withdrew his fingers from under his mate's back armour to allow the saboteur to roll onto his back, another grumble escaped the silver mech's vocaliser as the sparkling renewed its boisterous movements. The tactician screwed the lid back on the tub and placed it upon the floor next to the berth, he glanced down at his bonded and saw the small pained grimace upon Jazz's facial plates. He also happened to notice that his mate had the fingertips of one of his clawed hands wedged up under chest armour in the attempt to alleviate some discomfort that was being bestowed upon him.

"Let me." The Dodge Charger said as he gently grasped his bonded's wrist and withdrew the clawed fingertips out from under the plating before he replaced them with his own. The saboteur arched slightly when he felt his mate brush his fingertips against the taut and strained muscle cables of his lower chest, there wasn't much room to manoeuvre his fingers around in since the sparkling's growing bulk was steadily taking up the space, so he decided upon a different tactic. Prowl removed his fingers from under his mate's plating and brushed the tip of his index finger down the nearly invisible seam where his mate's chest plates would part "open up for me love." There was a soft hiss before the saboteur's chest plates parted and opened fully to expose his inner workings, the tactician traced the smooth casing that housed the spark that perfectly resonated with his own earning a soft moan from the silver mech. A small smile quirked the corners of Prowl's lip components as he traced them down toward the gentle slope and across the muscle cables that usually protected the inner workings had been pushed out as the sparkling continued to grow. With his mate's chest plates parted, the tactician could easily discern his offspring's movements as the infant's bulk rolled inside of his flexible chamber. The Dodge Charger had been concerned that the sparkling would interfere with Jazz's fuel pump and air intakes but being under the careful observation of Ratchet put Prowl's mind at ease. After all if the infant's growth did begin to hinder the saboteur's inner workings in any way, the medic had advised them that he would have to perform separation surgery immediately and place the sparkling in an incubation chamber.

The tactician heard his mate hum in appreciation as his fingertips massaged the strained cables and tubes although the Solstice would grumble every now and again when the unborn infant tested the flexibility of its chamber. The black and white often felt a limb of some kind push upwards as he massaged the muscle cables, it was the closest he was going to get to his child until it was ready to greet the world.

"Ya know we still haven't decided upon a name." Jazz said drawing Prowl out of his thoughts.

"I know." The tactician replied as he rested his helm lightly upon his mate's lower chest listening to the humming of the saboteur's systems and faint and almost indiscernible ones of their offspring "I have been contemplating two that I believe may suit our sparkling,"

Jazz tilted his head up so he could meet his mate's gaze "Oh been holdin' out on me?"

A small smile curled up one corner of the Dodge Charger's lip components "Hardly, I've just been spending time on whether or not they would actually fit. But the more I connect with our infant, the more I realise they probably will."

"Well are ya gonna tell me or are ya gonna leave me hangin'?" The saboteur inquired as he traced the hieroglyphs upon his bonded's left audio.

The black and white mech suddenly appeared nervous "Then tell me what you think of Bluestreak for a mech and Rhapsody for a femme?"

A smile appeared upon the Solstice's facial plates "Prowler I think they're fantastic, but I gotta know they wouldn't have anythin' ta do wit' th' fact our kid's gonna be a talker are they?"

Prowl frowned at his mate as he lifted his head up so he could begin his administrations anew "I believed you said you wanted a name that would fit with its personality."

"I did an' I think ya made th' right call." The silver mech told him as he sent a wave of reassurance from the bond although he knew he wouldn't be able to tell if his mate had felt comfort from it with the link muted on his end. Jazz hated not being able to open the bond as fully as he had been able to before he had become sparked, as now he was left to guess what mood his bonded was in through his body language. However he plenty of experience of being able to read the tactician through small subtle gestures he did in order to indicate what mood the black and white mech was in. An involuntary yawn suddenly escaped the saboteur's vocaliser which surprised the pair of them, but Prowl knew that with the sparkling calming down in its acrobatics it would now be the best opportunity for his spark-mate to fall into recharge.

"Sleep love." The tactician murmured as he shifted his hand so his bonded could close his chest plates, the Solstice nodded groggily before allowing his systems to fall off-line. The Dodge Charger smiled as he gently caressed one of Jazz's cheek arches before he pushed himself up from the berth, he quietly crept out of the bedroom and into the lounge where he proceeded across to one of the book shelves they had installed. Prowl plucked off one of the few data-pads that were stacked on there then made his way back to the berth, he dimmed the lights before clambering into the berth and settled on his left side propping himself up on a elbow. He heard Jazz murmur in his sleep before the saboteur rolled over partially onto his right side, tucking himself in close to the tactician. The Dodge Charger chuckled quietly to himself before turning on the data-pad however he found himself diverting away from the contents of the pad, the black and white mech had never truly admitted to his bonded how he was both excited yet nervous about becoming a parent. Although deep down Prowl knew that Jazz had an inkling that he couldn't wait to hold their child in his arms, and even though they had challenges to face he was willing to greet them head on. After all hope was scarce these days. The tactician drew himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the data-pad but instead decided to discard it and snuggle up to the saboteur, simply choosing to observe his mate in his sleep before joining him in recharge.

* * * * * * * * * *

Same evening . . . .

The last few days they had hit nothing but dead ends in regards to the humans intelligence, every research facility they had stumbled across had been decommissioned four years ago after the battle in Mission city and were empty. However that did not stop Barricade and Frenzy from completing their mission even if they had to travel several thousand miles a day in order to reach the abandoned research facilities, the shock trooper's presence there was never questioned although a few eye brows did raise when people saw him simply because his markings told them he was a little out of his jurisdiction. Then the un-maker appeared to smile upon them as a communiqué between a human male and female in a secluded area told the pair of Decepticons that the female had taken information from the Autobot base regarding the new arrivals coming to Earth and of the unborn sparkling. The human male seemed to brighten up regarding the information upon the infant Cybertronian, Barricade continued to listen in as the female operative inquired as to the status of the current project taking place at a place called Area 51 in the Nevada desert.

The human Simmons, as Frenzy discovered hacking the government files, told her that everything was proceeding as planned and that they were expecting research material from the old NBE site in Antarctica to arrive soon which included a contained residual trace of Allspark energy. Barricade communicated the new information over to Skywarp who was currently following up a lead in Egypt and told him to head over to the planet's south pole and intercept the shipping. The seeker at first seemed reluctant because of the mass of ice and water but none the less carried out the order and switched off his comm.'s, the shock trooper returned his attention to the two humans to find them parting ways, he laughed inwardly at the notion that the Autobots had no idea they had a spy amongst their ranks before turning his engine over and following after the black sedan the human male had clambered into.

He followed at a distance so the humans couldn't detect them, Frenzy was unusually quiet as he sat in the back seat typing away furiously at the data terminal as they transverse the highways and interstates in the dead of night. Barricade mulled over the various possibilities of why the humans wanted information connected to the sparkling unless it was just natural curiosity however he highly doubted that especially if Simmons history with the Autobots was to go by. For some reasons the humans had their own agenda regarding the infant Cybertronian which could prove troublesome for his brother and his bond-mate and if that was the case it would be better if they got their hands upon him first before they did, after all he would not allow the humans to get their grubby hands on it. Barricade started at that, never before had he experienced a surge of protective want towards the unborn Autobot sparkling and checked the fortified block to make sure none of his brother's emotions were filtering through the sibling bond they still shared.

It took a gruelling six hours on the road to reach their destination that appeared at first glance to be a military installation consisting of a radio tower, several fighter jets sat on their designated platforms and a few standard air craft hangers. Tall fencing with razor wire circling the top surrounded the area to make sure civilians were kept out although Barricade very much doubted that there were humans (besides the ones on the base) this far away from civilisation. Frenzy began chattering wildly in his back seat as he attempted to bring up every file regarding Area 51 on the data terminal even if it meant breaking through as many government firewalls as possible and leaving the NSA with a sting of viruses that would keep them busy for weeks if not months should they attempt to locate them. The shock trooper unfolded a piece of equipment from his roof and pointed it in the direction of the air base filtering through the numerous communications bouncing back and forth between the humans until he located the one he was after.

The human Simmons greeted another outside of the base's largest hanger before proceeding inside, the new human asked about the information retrieval and Barricade couldn't help a dark chuckle escape him before returning his attention to the two humans and the conversation filtering back and forth. Frustratingly there was no Intel on what the supposed disbanded group of sector seven individuals had planned for the Autobot sparkling but what did catch his audios was the mention of NBE-1, he had heard that term NBE being used to label them and when he searched his memory files for this specific one and he felt his fuel pump stutter in his chest as recognition hit him head on. Frenzy stopped typing upon the keyboard and chirped curiously when he felt a change in his partner's normal system operations.

"Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The shock trooper responded to the hacker's chirps, Frenzy cocked his head to the side curiously before his attention fell upon the data terminal when Barricade rifled through the files they had collected and displayed a certain one in front of the small silver Decepticon before playing a piece of audio he had picked up. Frenzy's demeanour changed instantly and he began bouncing excitedly on his aft whilst throwing insults toward the humans and proclamations that they were all doomed in Cybertronian.

Yes doomed indeed especially once the other Decepticons that were due to arrive on Earth shortly were given this valuable piece of information regarding their true leader.

* * * * * * * * * *

Whoops I realise this is the second time I've hurt poor Prowler *runs from angry Jazz*. And I wasn't sure if Graham (British guy in the next film) is a sergeant but until I know for sure it's gonna stay that way. And I tried to stick to everyone's alt. modes as possible with a few changes, took me ages to settle on an appropriate one for Red Alert. I also realised looking back on my previous chapters that I started something with Simmons and needed to address his intentions just not completely yet.

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