Prowl stood at the entrance to the base next to Optimus as the teams they had created the day before drove up. He had already heard Jazz's voice several times that day, and wasn't sure if he should feel good or bad about that. Several times, he had to wave off the concerns of others when he heard Jazz, but he was slowly getting used to it, so he wasn't so surprised when Jazz spoke up. Prowl flicked his door-wings, trying to rid himself of those thoughts as the small group of humans that consisted of his team walked up to him.
"Prowl sir," said Graham as he saluted.
"Captain," greeted Prowl with a nod.
"This is Matt Blackburn, Chris Hale, and Wayne Johnson," said Graham.
"It's nice to meet all of you. I am Prowl, the Second in Command and Tactical Officer to the Autobots. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to my quarters where you'll be staying while you're here."
"We're actually staying with you in your rooms?" asked Chris curiously.
"Yes, I have plenty of room and Optimus thought it would be best so we could get to know one another easier. He believes that if we know one another, we can work well together," said Prowl.
"You don't seem to agree," said Graham and Prowl flicked his door-wings.
"Only to some extent," said Prowl. "Sometimes, even if you know someone, you don't work well with them, though you may not have a problem with them in other situations."
"Speaking from experience?" asked Wayne.
"A little, but it worked out in the end," said Prowl. "Now, these are my quarters. I will tell you the code once we're inside." Prowl opened the doors and allowed the humans to step through the doors first before shutting it behind him. "This is the sitting room. This way is my room where I recharge, and where you will sleep as well." Prowl led them into his room. He knelt down and offered his hand to the men who hesitantly climbed on. Prowl set them down on the table next to his berth. "This is where you will sleep. There is an elevator on the side of the table should you wish to get down while I'm in recharge or not here." The men stood on the table after putting their bags down and looked around.
"It's kind of…bare," said Matt.
"I've never really been one for knick knacks or decorations," said Prowl. "It also doesn't help that I've been fighting in the war since it started."
"What's through that door?" asked Chris pointing to the wash racks.
"That is the wash racks. A part of it has been modified to suit your needs as well," said Prowl. "Now, I can give you a tour of the base now, or we can remain in here to…get to know one another, it is your choice."
"Let's stay in here, I'm exhausted," said Wayne. The other three men agreed and Prowl nodded.
"Very well, the tour can wait for the morning then," said Prowl as he sat down on his berth and the four mech got out their sleeping bags to make themselves comfortable. There was a bit of an awkward silence once the men were settled. Prowl didn't really know what to say or do.
"You always were clueless Prowler," said Jazz's voice followed by a light chuckle. "Ask them how they ended up with NEST."
"May I inquire as to how the four of you joined NEST?" asked Prowl. The men blinked before smiling lightly and launching into their tales. Prowl listened intently and asked questions from time to time when they said something that confused him.
"What about you Prowl? How'd you end up as the SIC and Tactical Officer of the Autobots?" asked Graham.
"It's not a very interesting story," said Prowl. The four men looked eager and Prowl released a gust of air from his intakes. "I joined the Autobots before the war really started, when the Decepticons were just a bunch of rebels causing trouble in Kaon. Sentinel Prime, the leader of the Autobots at that time, had found me in Praxus because of Jazz's recommendation."
"Jazz?" asked Wayne curious and Prowl winced.
"Jazz…Jazz was my best friend," said Prowl quietly. "He died in the battle of Mission City." They four men winced in sympathy. "Praxus was my home town and he had joined the Enforcers, the police force, as an undercover agent. We became good friends and then he was recruited by Sentinel to join Special Ops. He later recruited me, but I had to start at the bottom as a mere soldier. I rose in the ranks quickly and then when things were getting worse in Kaon, Sentinel asked me for tactical advice. When his SIC was killed by the Decepticons, he offered me the position. I accepted and was sent to Kaon. It was a short while later when Sentinel was killed and I had to take command until a new Prime was chosen."
"And Optimus was chosen?" asked Graham and Prowl nodded.
"He wasn't very confident at first and I had to show him the ropes, so to speak. He learned quickly and became the great Prime we all looked to for guidance," said Prowl.
"What was your home town like?" asked Matt.
"Praxus was a beautiful city," said Prowl and he began to describe the Helix Gardens and the crystals all over the city.
"So, what did you do before you joined the Autobots?" asked Chris.
"Oh, you shouldn't ask him that, he won't answer," said Bluestreak with a grin as he stepped into the room. "Hi, I'm Bluestreak, Prowl's little brother." The men introduced themselves and Bluestreak walked over. "Really, don't ask Prowl what he did before the war. He'll give you this crazy riddle that will just confuse you more."
"What are you doing here Bluestreak? I thought you were supposed to be with your team," said Prowl.
"I was, but I came to bring you some energon. You haven't refueled yet," said Bluestreak and Prowl sighed as he took the cube from Bluestreak.
"Thank you Bluestreak, but you should get back to your own team," said Prowl.
"Oh, don't worry about them, they're all admiring the training room with some of the others and Ironhide's keeping an optic on them. I wanted to see how you were doing. Ratchet said you kept acting weird during the meeting yesterday," said Bluestreak.
"I'm fine Bluestreak," said Prowl.
"Ya say that a lot, but ya never mean it, do ya Prowler?" Prowl's door-wings twitched erratically and Bluestreak narrowed his optics.
"That…is what he was talking about," said Bluestreak as he pointed to Prowl's door-wings. "What's wrong?"
"There's nothing wrong Bluestreak," said Prowl, faint irritation in his tone. "Please, just let it be."
"Prowl, we're all worried about you. You've been…off ever since Jazz—," Bluestreak stopped himself.
"What do you expect Bluestreak?" snapped Prowl. "I lost the one mech I loved with all my spark. You can't expect me to be perfectly fine after something like that."
"…You're right, I'm sorry Prowl," said Bluestreak softly.
"I just…I just need time Bluestreak…and for everyone to stop asking me if I'm alright," said Prowl.
"I guess it would get kind of annoying," said Bluestreak with a forced laugh. Prowl sighed and hugged his brother.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's not your fault," said Prowl and Bluestreak returned the hug. "Now, you should get back to your team. They are here to be with you after all, not Ironhide. He's probably got them all blowing things up now." Bluestreak laughed weakly and Prowl gave him a tiny smile.
"Okay, see you later Prowl," said Bluestreak and Prowl nodded. Bluestreak left the room and Prowl sank back down on the berth to lower his face into his hands.
"Prowl?" asked Graham curiously. Prowl sighed and sat up so he was leaning against the wall facing the four men.
"I suppose you all would like an explanation?" asked Prowl and they merely nodded. "First, you must understand that our race doesn't really have genders, that is a human ideal. Yes, there are mechs and femmes, but we merely think of the difference between us as a difference in function rather than gender. Mechs are built larger with thicker armor and stronger while femmes are built small, lithe, and fast. Of course, there are some exceptions like Jazz who was small and fast, but he wasn't as lithe as the femmes like Arcee. When it comes to relationships, all that matters to us is our sparks, who we are at our cores. I find it illogical that some humans seem to have such a problem with same-sex relationships."
"It's a human thing I guess," said Matt with a shrug and Prowl gave a faint smirk.
"In any case, I loved Jazz and he loved me. We stayed friends most of the time we knew each other, but when we both realized how we felt, I was foolish and didn't accept it. We only officially got together the night before Jazz left Cybertron with Optimus to search for the Allspark," said Prowl. "Then I arrive on earth to find that he died in battle." The men winced in sympathy. "I've been trying to deal with it, but…"
"It's always hard losing someone you care about," said Chris and Prowl nodded.
"I'm sorry I broke ma promise Prowler." Prowl's door-wings fluttered and he sighed, allowing his head to fall back against the wall behind him.
"Bluestreak said he was your younger brother, right? Do you have any other family here?" asked Wayne, changing the subject.
"Yes, my older brother Smokescreen. We were lucky enough to stay together for most of the war," said Prowl. "Smokescreen is our diversionary tactician and resident psychologist."
"You three are close then?" asked Matt.
"Very, though we weren't always," said Prowl. For the rest of the evening, Prowl and the four men told each other stories about their lives. After a while, Prowl told them they should get some sleep as it was getting late. The men trooped into the washracks where a section of it was turned into a bathroom and they all got ready for bed. Once they were all ready for bed, they climbed into their sleeping bags and Prowl laid back on his berth before turning out the lights, bidding the men good night.
Prowl found it difficult to recharge with the men in his room. Normally, his room was completely silent except for the sounds of his own systems, but now he had the breathing of four men and their shifting in their sleeping bags to listen to. Every time they moved, he picked up the movement with his door-wings which twitched so he couldn't fall into recharge. After a couple of hours, Prowl sat up with a sigh. He froze when Graham shifted and sat up as well with a yawn.
"Prowl? Is something wrong?" whispered Graham.
"No Captain, I'm merely having a difficult time recharging," said Prowl.
"'Cause of us, right?" Prowl's door-wings twitched.
"I am unused to anyone being in my quarters while I recharge, and my door-wings continue to pick up your movements." He had explained to the men earlier about how his door-wings picked up sensory information.
"Hmmm….why don't you turn on some music? We can sleep through just about anything except for alarms. Maybe that'll help mask our movements," said Graham and Prowl studied him thoughtfully.
"Thank you for the suggestion, I will try it," said Prowl as he walked over to the music player Smokescreen had left in his room. He turned it on, the volume at a low setting, and Jazz's singing flowed through the room.
"I've never heard of anything like that before," said Graham.
"That is Cybertronian music. Jazz sang these songs," said Prowl with a faint smile as he climbed back onto his berth. Graham laid back down and Prowl laid on his side, listening to Jazz's voice.
"Night Prowler."
"Goodnight Jazz," whispered Prowl as his optics went offline and he slipped into recharge.
Over the next few days, Prowl became used to the presence of the four men and he began to consider them close allies, but they still had a long way to go before he could consider them friends. Prowl continued to hear Jazz's voice, but it was less common with the four men around, and he found he faintly missed it. At least he still had Jazz's music which had now become a habit to listen to in order to recharge. The four men and Prowl worked well together, and Prowl found it a little amusing how they were so amazed at Prowl's tactical displays in what he called his tactical room. Prowl also found they fought well together in the training simulations.
During that time though, he rarely had time to spend with his brothers and they often worried about him. They tried to keep an optic on him to make sure he refueled and recharged, but they were busy with their own teams. It seemed that everyone was getting along well with their teams and training was going well. One day, they were put to the test when the Decepticons attacked. Prowl's team was forced to remain in the base to coordinate the Autobots from the command center. Prowl was a little irritated by this since he felt it was because of how he had attacked Megatron in the last battle against the Decepticons.
"They're worried about ya Prowler, and they don't want ya ta be so reckless again. That's ma job after all," said Jazz's voice and Prowl swore he saw a flash of silver behind him. He spun around, but didn't see anything. Graham asked him if something was wrong, but Prowl merely shook his head and got back to giving out orders. When the battle was over, the Decepticons retreating once more, the Autobots and their human allies returned to the base. All injured headed to the med bay where Ratchet and the human medical team worked on all injured, Autobot and human alike. Optimus considered the whole training with humans exercise a success.
The next day, Prowl was kept in his office by all kinds of reports because of the battle and because of an accident in Wheeljack's lab that blew up most of his equipment. Ratchet could be heard cursing throughout the entire base and the larger twins decided it was a good time to pull a prank. Prowl caught the both of them and threw them in the brig before going back to his office.
"Prowler, you've been in here all day. Take a break, get some energon, go for a drive, somethin'! You're goin' stir crazy in here," said Jazz. Prowl looked up, and jerked in surprise when he saw Jazz's silver form standing in front of him. He shuttered his optics and Jazz disappeared. Prowl stared at the place where he had seen Jazz with wide optics, mouth slightly agape, with his door-wings raised high. Shuttering his optics again, still not seeing anything, he sagged back into his chair and let out a quiet, hysterical laugh.
"Now I'm seeing things," he muttered as he covered his optics with a hand. "Primus…why me?"
"Why you what?" asked Graham as he walked into the room with Matt, Chris, and Wayne. Prowl gasped as he jerked upright, optics focusing on the four humans. "Whoa, sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Prowl stared at them for a moment before shaking his head.
"No…no, it's alright. I've just…got a lot on my processors," said Prowl and Graham gave him a skeptical look before nodding in acceptance.
"We just dropped by the med bay to check on a few of our friends. We wanted to ask Ratchet about that report you wanted, but we couldn't get him to come out of a back room. He refused to let us see what was inside too. Perceptor and Wheeljack are with him as well," said Graham and Prowl looked puzzled.
"A back room?" asked Prowl and the men nodded. "But…the only thing in a back room is…Jazz's body."
"Wait, you guys are keeping a dead mech in the med bay?" cried Matt.
"Our bodies do not decompose like yours do Matt," said Prowl. "Ratchet said he was repairing Jazz's body out of respect. Once he's finished, we'll entomb him…at least that's what I think we'll do."
"What's up?" asked Wayne.
"There's no reason for Wheeljack and Perceptor to be helping Ratchet, he's perfectly capable of putting Jazz's frame back together without assistance," said Prowl. He leaned back in his chair and stared thoughtfully at his desk and the reports cluttering the surface. After a moment, he picked up a report from Wheeljack that was also a request for certain materials.
"What are you thinking?" asked Chris.
"Perceptor and Wheeljack are working on a project together. While that is not unusual, it is unusual for them to be out of their labs when in the middle of it. It's also unusual that they won't tell me what the project is. They've informed Optimus which is how they got approval for it, and obviously Ratchet knows about it, but they went over my head which means they don't want me to know what they're doing."
"Have they done this before?" asked Graham.
"No," said Prowl shaking his head. "Normally, if they don't want anyone to know what they're doing, they'll ask that I not inquire as to what they're doing. This time they completely went over my head straight to Prime." Prowl set the report down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Now I want to find out what it is they're up to."
"Then why don't you?" asked Wayne with a smirk.
"Because I don't want to upset Optimus," said Prowl. "To find out what they're doing, I'd have to use some old…skills that I haven't used for quite some time. Not to mention, Red Alert would have a fit."
"I don't get it," said Matt.
"I'd have to sneak into their labs and into the med bay," said Prowl and the four men looked at him incredulously. "And before you say anything, yes, I'm perfectly capable of sneaking into the labs and med bay without being caught. I have the advantage of being SIC. It's more difficult to break into a Decepticon base, but even that is easy for me."
"But…you're a tactician," said Graham.
"And there is a reason my creators named me Prowl," said the black and white mech with a smirk. "In any case, Red Alert would fritz if I snuck into our own labs and med bay. He'd start panicking about traitors and I don't want to have to deal with the fallout."
"So, you'll just wait and find out what they're up to? Darn, I'm really curious now too," said Wayne.
"With the three of them working together, it shouldn't take too much longer for them to finish whatever it is they're doing and then we'll all find out," said Prowl.
"Ya shouldn't worry about them Prowler. Ya know they know what they're doin'," said Jazz's voice. Prowl glanced up, almost afraid, and his door-wings snapped up when he saw Jazz's grinning face poking out from around the doorframe. Prowl shot to his feet and out the door as Jazz's face retreated. Graham, Matt, Chris, and Wayne all cried out in surprise and dashed out after Prowl to see him looking frantically down the halls.
"Prowl, what is it?" cried Graham. Prowl suddenly leaned against one of the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor covering his face with his hands. "Prowl?"
"I…I thought I saw…"started Prowl. "Never mind…it's nothing."
"It's not nothing Prowl. For a second, it looked like you saw a ghost," said Matt as he stared up at the mech. Even they could see that Prowl was having a very difficult time holding himself together thought they had only known him for about a week. He seemed jumpy and twitchy, and he got worse every day.
"A ghost…" whispered Prowl. "Maybe I did…" The men looked at each other worriedly and called Ratchet. The medic was grumbling as he finally approached them, but he fell silent when he spotted Prowl sitting against the hallway wall staring forlornly at the wall across from him.
"What's going on?" asked Ratchet.
"We don't know. We were talking and suddenly he runs out of his office looking shocked and when we come out here, he just sits down like that. He said he thought he saw something, but he won't tell us what," said Graham. Ratchet knelt next to Prowl and the black and white mech looked at the medic out of the corner of his optics.
"Ratchet…I think I'm going insane," muttered Prowl.
