Hi everyone! Wow ... I ... I never expected that much of a response to the previous chapter. (Rubs back of neck shyly) Eh-heh-heh. So, because of the absolutely awesome amount of reviews the previous chapter received, I will be doing the review responses at the bottom of the chapter. That way you all won't have to sift through endless amounts bold print just to get on with the story.

Author's Note: No introductions, just continuing the cleaning up of the "Capture Arc" so to speak and setting up the beginnings of the next arc in this increasingly long story. I swear the one document this thing is on is going to have to be divided into a series here on FanFiction by the time I'm anywhere near done ... Oh well! One important announcement, the main romantic pairing in this story is now officially Jazz/Starwish. Feel free to think up "team" names if you like (shrugs). Anyway, onward!


Chapter Forty-Four: Repercussions.

"Starwish!" The shrill voices turned her name into a joyous war cry as Starwish was mobbed by two little jabbering bundles of youngling energy.

Starwish couldn't stop herself from shrieking back happily as she wrapped her arms around them in a tight hug, "Twinlings!" Zipline and Fast Track cuddled close to her, chattering so rapidly that it was as incomprehensible as their twin speak. With a tiny laugh, Starwish tilted their helms back and scolded playfully, "Slower, Twinlings! I can't make out a word you're saying!"

Sideswipe translated cheerfully from his position a few steps away, "Basically? They're really happy to see that you're alright and out of the medbay. We all are, actually."

Starwish shot Sideswipe a smile as she crouched there in the hallway, content to let Zipline and Fast Track cuddle her wildly for the moment, "I'm just glad my family made it through." Shifting her attention down to the twinlings, she mock whispered, "Have Sideswipe and Sunstreaker been taking good care of you two?"

Zipline nodded his helm from where he was determinedly clinging to her, "Yeah! Dad's been teaching Fast Track to paint and Daddy's been teaching me all kinds of cool sneaking tricks." He paused, his faceplates alight with smiles, "But the sneaking tricks are supposed to be a secret, so don't tell anyone, okay?"

Starwish raised an optic ridge in Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's direction, noting how Sideswipe looked distinctly unashamed, "Uh … sure, Zipline." Dad and Daddy? When did that happen? "As long as you're happy."

Sunstreaker was leaning most of his weight onto his wheeled left pede, an unreadable expression on his faceplates as Sideswipe carefully coaxed the twinlings away from their self-appointed task of cuddling Starwish for eternity. As Sideswipe entertained them by lifting them onto his shoulders to stare out of a nearby window, Sunstreaker suddenly growled softly, "You thought we wouldn't take care of them?"

Starwish jerked a little bit in surprise at the anger she could hear underlying his words, "Of course I knew you'd take care of them! I just … it's a habit to ask is all. I used to do it all the time … back home. Whenever I got back from school, I'd ask how their cycle went, if their teachers took good care of them, that kind of thing." She hesitated, "I'm sorry if I insulted you with my question."

Sunstreaker grunted wordlessly, but he didn't appear to be borderline angry at her anymore. After a moment, he said again, "You had them worried. They wouldn't stop crying for you to come sing or tell them a story every lunar-cycle. They had bad holographic fluxes too. Even after you woke up."

Starwish felt a stab of guilt even though she knew that it wasn't technically her fault. According to Ratchet, it was a miracle she'd awoken from stasis lock at all, "I figured. I'm … I'm sorry I had them so worried. It isn't like I meant for any of that to happen."

Sunstreaker shot her a glare, "You disobeyed Ultra Magnus's direct orders to get to safety. Granted, the Bunker was compromised moments later so it wasn't safe anyway. But you willingly threw yourself into battle without any kind of escort. You practically walked up to Megatron himself and said 'shoot me'!"

Starwish flinched a little bit at the savage bite to his tone, her optics refusing to meet his gaze, "I-I know. I know it was stupid and dangerous. But I couldn't help it."

Sunstreaker hissed, his tone conveying all of his pent-up rage without raising his tone or attracting the twinlings attention, "You couldn't help it? That's Sideswipe's line, femme. Not yours. Anyone who has control over their own frame can 'help it'. Would it have been all that hard to simply follow your Guardian's orders instead of running off and getting captured?"

Starwish felt her temper surge to the surface, temporarily washing away her timidity as she locked gazes with him, "I didn't have control over my frame, Sunstreaker. I have a little thing called a medical program forcibly installed in my processor that dictates whatever I do once it activates. Or do I really look like the foolish hero type?"

Sunstreaker's optics widened in surprise and it occurred to Starwish belatedly that he wouldn't have been aware of her medical program. Ratchet had made it a point to keep it a little known fact after all. Starwish looked away, anger and stress from her time on the battlefield and in captivity raging inside her like a bottled hurricane.

Several kliks passed with Sunstreaker holding complete silence and Starwish allowed her attention to be reclaimed by the eager twinlings and the awe-inspiring sights of Iacon. If she had thought Algol was impressive, Iacon was legendary. Tall spires and rounded domes spread out as far as she could see, each of them connected by intricate lines of speedways and platforms. From where she currently stood, if she looked down through the window, she couldn't make out the ground, she was simply that high up.

What she could see, however, was mech alt forms rushing back and forth between the buildings of Iacon. Up, down, across the horizon, it seemed that everywhere she looked there was always someone going to or leaving each of the many buildings. All in all, it was a dizzying, heady experience to see so much mechanical life in one place.

The twinlings had apparently made a game of trying to spot fliers of certain colors cutting their way between the speedways and through the open air. Each color got a certain amount of points, something which Sideswipe cheerfully called out whenever Zipline or Fast Track spotted a desired color scheme.

Starwish helped in the game upon the twinlings urgings, timidly calling out when she spotted a sleek purple and blue seeker winging past. Her impromptu participation in the game was abruptly cut short when Sunstreaker lightly touched her arm in a silent signal that he wanted to talk.

Starwish glanced at him coolly, still angry at his lecture, but quietly told the twinlings to behave for Sideswipe before letting Sunstreaker lead her a short distance away. Sunstreaker stared intently into her optics for a few kliks, making her distinctly uncomfortable before he murmured, "You really have a medical program that controls you?"

Starwish forced herself to meet his gaze as she answered, "Yes. I do. I … when I see someone too injured for my normal experience level, it activates and guides me through the process of repairing them. But out on the field … I couldn't stop. I just had to keep finding patients and helping them, even when I got orders to retreat."

She shifted nervously, it was hard to talk about that cycle, "The program … it removes all of my emotions for a short time, makes the welfare of a patient paramount to anything else. So when two seekers showed up trying to capture me and Bumblebee was injured trying to protect me…"

Sunstreaker pulled away from her slightly as he whispered, "The program made you give yourself up willingly to keep him safe. Frag."

Starwish nodded shakily, feeling the trauma of the memories beginning to press in on her. Once the program had shut down, all of the terror she should have felt had poured in on her without anyway to stop it. She had been so confused and terrified and alone … a servo on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts, "Hey, I'm … sorry … I brought it up. I know that … it's hard."

Starwish looked up curiously into Sunstreaker's optics, briefly wondering when the aloof golden mech had become so willing to offer comfort, even if it was clumsy. Slowly, she offered a weak, mostly fake, smile, "It's okay… I just need time to process it all I suppose." Shifting, she looked away uncomfortably, "Can we change the subject?" She asked weakly, "I don't really…"

Sunstreaker nodded in an almost understanding manner, "It's fine." For a moment the two stood there in an uncomfortable silence, wondering what to do next. Suddenly, Sunstreaker asked, "What do those words mean? The one's the twinlings have taken to calling us? I know from their emotions over the bond that it's some kind of endearment, but I'd like to know what they mean exactly."

Starwish's smile was real this time, "You mean dad and daddy? They mean … well, I suppose closest thing they would translate to is 'beloved mech creator'. They're words most commonly used by younglings, but adults sometimes use them as well when they're especially close to their mech creator."

Sunstreaker stared at her incredulously, "But, we're not their creators…"

Starwish shrugged, "They never knew their original creators and they weren't particularly close to the bonded pair that took us all in so … you're the closest they have to the meaning of those words." She looked at Sunstreaker seriously, "You should be honored that they love you enough to call you that, Sunstreaker. It means they see you and Sideswipe as their parents now. They'll never see anyone else that way."

Sunstreaker dipped his helm, considering her words. Finally, he nodded curtly and turned wordlessly back toward where Sideswipe and the twinlings were playing and chatting. Glancing over his shoulder, Sunstreaker said, "Thank you for telling me and … welcome back."

Starwish watched him walk over to the twinlings and his brother, observing how his expression gentled as he carefully picked Fast Track off of Sideswipe's shoulder and placed the youngling on his own. With a tiny sigh, Starwish turned away and resumed her trek down the long, surprisingly empty, hallway toward her destination.

A short distance away, Jazz leaned against a wall, no doubt watching the entire exchange from behind his visor. Starwish suppressed another sigh as the silver mech fell easily in step with her as she went past, Ratchet had released her from the medbay just that cycle but apparently that didn't mean she wouldn't have an escort everywhere for a while.

The only reason Ultra Magnus wasn't there to walk with her down the halls of Iacon personally was because he had a meeting to attend with Optimus. That didn't stop her Guardian from constantly checking on her through their bond, though. Not that she minded the attention or company, it was just that she always felt frustrated when she thought of her time in stasis lock. Ratchet said that she had exhibited almost no processor activity, yet somehow she couldn't shake the feeling that something important had happened during her stasis. Something very, very important that she couldn't remember no matter how hard she tried.

It also only made everyone's wild happiness over her "return" all the more confusing. She didn't feel like she had gone anywhere. One moment she had been in Shockwave's lab, panicking, the next, Ultra Magnus had been cuddling her possessively and crying. She dimly remembered something happening in between, a fight within her own mind and angry shouting, but mostly all she could remember was Shockwave's laboratory. Her frame shivered as her thoughts inadvertently wandered to Shockwave and her captivity.

A gentle touch on her arm snapped her out of her contemplation and made her look up. Jazz was looking down at her in concern, "Yah okay, Star?"

Starwish nodded hastily and looked away, "Y-yeah. Just … thinking."

Jazz's servo brushed her arm again, "Don't even try it, Star. Yah just went through tha pit an' we both know it. Yah don't have to try ta hide it or lock it away. Ah'd even advise against thah action." His expression and manner was completely serious as he said, "Yah don't have ta talk ta me if yah don't wanna, but if yah ever need someone ta just listen … well, we spies have tha best audios around and tha most tightly locked vocalizers."

Starwish gave Jazz a tentative smile at his offer as a strange feeling of warmth blossomed within her spark, "Thank's Jazz … I'll remember that."

Jazz appeared satisfied with her answer and, much to Starwish's relief, changed the subject, "So, where was it yah were goin'?"

Starwish blinked and looked around, realizing that she had somehow wandered away from the carefully mapped course Ratchet had given her and was now lost, "Um … I was going to meet with the femmes in … a lounge, I think? Lounge number five. But I think I just took a wrong turn." Why does a military base even have lounges?

Jazz chuckled softly, the sound seeming to purr from within his chassis as he carefully begin steering Starwish in a different direction from the one she'd been going, "Yah took one or two o' those, actually. Come on, Ah'll show yah the way there. Ah'm on the way ta a meeting in thah direction anyway."

Starwish obediently followed Jazz along their new route as she asked curiously, "Another one? Ratchet said that he's already gone to several over the past few metacycles."

Jazz gave a lazy shrug in response, "Ah'm on the Command Staff, meeting's are part o' the job description. Prowler's the only one who seems ta like thah part though. Heh, sometimes it seems like Prowler refuels on tactical data an' not energon."

Starwish gave a tiny giggle at Jazz's opinion, then squeaked in surprise when Prowl's voice cut in coolly, "That is a completely illogical statement to make, Jazz. Tactical data cannot be broken down into the nutrients and fuels necessary to sustain Cybertronian life. Also, my name Prowl, not Prowler. As I have told you repeatedly." Bots are getting way too good at sneaking up on me.

The words popped out of Starwish's mouth before she could stop them, "Don't scare me like that!" Both mechs looked startled at her outburst and Starwish immediately hugged herself defensively, "S-sorry, I … I just…"

Prowl's gaze seemed to soften fractionally as he dipped his helm and doorwings in apology, "My apologies, Starwish. I did not mean to startle or cause you distress in any way. I was merely correcting Jazz upon a point of conversation and was unaware that you had not been alerted to my presence."

Starwish vented a few times, trying to quell the illogical panic welling inside her as well as keep her Guardian from sensing her distress. Starwish tried to tell Prowl that he was forgiven and that she had simply been startled, but her voice didn't seem to want to work. Jazz hovered on her left side while Prowl moved to her right and said something Starwish didn't catch. Several mechs were coming from the opposite direction down the hall, chatting with each other obliviously.

Starwish's optics widened as she suddenly saw stark, bare halls and three seekers stalking toward her, a guard looming on either side of her to prevent her from trying to escape. Starscream's voice rasped in her audios, "Such a delicate little thing. A pity that Lord Megatron gave you to Shockwave. I would have found much better purposes for an Autobot of your … unique build."

Starwish jerked away, her voice coming out as a choked whisper, "No. No, no, no, no!" The guard on her left grabbed her arm and Starwish twisted desperately, trying to escape his grasp and run away, "Let me go!"

The guard on the right grabbed her shoulders, restraining her from twisted away from his companion, his voice sounding clinical and cold even though it was too far away to make out the words. Wildly, Starwish flung herself to the side, wrenching free of the two before running and stumbling down the hall away from the seekers. No, no, no, no, no, no-! The guards were shouting her name and chasing her. Starwish's spark leapt into her mouth as she pelted away from them, they were trying to take her to Shockwave again!

Something flooded her with warmth and the impression of safety, "Little One? Little One, calm down! You won't be harmed, just stop running!"

Starwish latched onto the feeling of her Guardian, "Opi! Shockwave! The-they're taking m-me to S-shockwave! Please! Help!"

More soothing emotions surged over her as Ultra Magnus called mentally, "Starwish, stop! You're in Iacon now! No one is going to take you to Shockwave, you need to calm down!"

Starwish slowed in confusion, her optics blinking rapidly as she first saw the stark empty corridors leading to Shockwave's lab, then saw crowded, well-lit hallways with mechs crowding around in obvious concern, "W-what?"

The images switched back and forth several times, making Starwish slide into a huddled position against the wall, too dizzy to run anymore as she tried to make sense of everything. At some point in the rapid shifting of scenery, Jazz appeared in front of her, his voice speaking soothingly while Prowl towered over them both and shooed away the terrifying press of mechs.

Slowly, images of Shockwave's lab faded and Starwish's gaze cleared of imaginary terrors, only to be clouded with confusion, "J-Jazz? Wh-what happened?"

Jazz's shoulders slumped as he sighed softly, "Oh, thank Primus," tilting his helm at her, Jazz shuffled forwards a little bit, "it's okay, Star. Yah had a memory loop is all. Everything's jus' fine, understand? You're safe."

Slowly, Starwish raised her helm and looked around, she was in a Iacon hallway, huddled up against the wall, but she couldn't really remember how she'd gotten there. Frowning, she tried to remember, "H-how did I-? I was talking with you when-"

Jazz held up a servo in the universal signal to stop, "No. Don't try ta remember, Star. It ain't worth risking triggering tha memory-loop again. Look, let's just get yah ta Elita an' her femmes. Would yah like thah?"

Starwish nodded slowly, shakily uncurling and allowing Jazz to help her up. Her processor felt strangely fuzzy and her frame oddly tired as Jazz began coaxing her down the halls, always keeping his voice low and his motions slow and obvious, as if he was afraid she would snap or something. Maybe I did … I remember feeling nervous and then… wait. "Jazz?"

Jazz gently rubbed the back of her servo with his thumb as he replied, "Yeah, Star?"

Starwish looked at him curiously, "Did I have a … a panic attack?"

Jazz cocked his helm to one side as he continued to guide her down the halls, Prowl stalking silently ahead of them, clearing a path with his mere presence alone, "Yah had a bad memory-loop, Star. Something made yah start reliving a traumatic memory file. It happens ta us all at some point or other. Jus' don't try ta remember tha loop, 'kay? Or yah might re-trigger it. Ah need yah ta just focus on meh."

Starwish nodded numbly, wondering the entire time if she had really just had a panic attack. She didn't feel like she had particularly. She just felt strangely detached and tired, not panicky as she thought she would be after having just had a "bad memory-loop" as Jazz put it. Slowly, with Jazz saying gentle things to keep her distracted and Ultra Magnus nearly drowning her in waves of worry and comfort over their bond, they made it to where Elita-1 and the other femmes presumably were.

Starwish looked up at the door and felt something in the back of her processor tingle. The door was a perfectly normal one, yet somehow she kept expecting to blink and see a reinforced lab door instead. Jazz's arms wrapped around her in a hug and he whispered in her audio, "Hey, hey, easy there Star. Just focus on meh. There's no need ta panic."

Starwish took a shaky vent, the tingle receding as she focused on Jazz's hug, "Did I do it again?" Is it really that easy to have a panic attack?

Jazz's hug tightened a little bit, "Nah, but yah were coming close ta. It's okay, jus' relax and remember thah you're safe here, Star."

The door slid open and Starwish turned slightly in Jazz's arms to see Elita-1 standing in the doorway, Chromia and her roommates all crowding behind Elita-1 to eye Starwish worriedly. Elita-1 gently reached out and tugged Starwish free of Jazz's gentle yet strong grip, "Thank you, Jazz. We will take it from here. Can you walk, Starwish?"

Starwish nodded in bafflement as she reluctantly allowed herself to be led away from Jazz's hug. Who knew the mech could give such a comforting hug? Shaking herself mentally, Starwish answered Elita's question, "Yes, I can walk. S-sorry to cause so much trouble…"

Elita-1 smiled warmly at her as she led Starwish into the room and the door slid shut behind them, "It is no trouble at all, Starwish. You are one of my femmes, I am happy to help in any way I can."

Flareup punched Starwish on her shoulder plate, but the punch was so light it was more of a nudge with her fist, "So are we. Now, let's get you introduced to some of the others in the Femme Contingent, shall we?"

Starwish looked past the femmes she knew and saw a group of other femmes she didn't recognize sitting on chairs and a long curved sofa that ringed a small table. On the table were several cubes of energon and plate of energon goodies. Starwish glanced over her shoulder, suddenly shy and wondering if Jazz might feel up to rescuing her again.

Shaking her helm to banish the cowardly thought, Starwish turned her attention back to the other femmes and smiled weakly, "Um … hi?"


Jazz and Prowl stepped into the conference room side by side, Prowl's normally impassive expression still holding hint of sympathy for the femling they had just escorted to Elita-1's care. At the head of the conference table, Optimus asked, "Is she well?"

Prowl nodded curtly, "As well as can be expected, Prime. Her memory-loop was surprisingly short and she was calmed with relative ease. Elita-1 and her femmes are taking care of her as we speak."

Ultra Magnus actually fidgeted in place, his expression clearly conveying his distinct lack of desire to be present at the meeting instead of with Starwish. Compassionately, Optimus turned to Magnus and said, "If you believe your charge has need of you, you are free to leave, Ultra Magnus."

It was a testament to Ultra Magnus's willpower and dedication to his Prime that he politely turned down the offer, "Thank you, Prime. However, I am certain that Elita-1 and her contingent will keep my charge perfectly safe." With a tiny nod of acknowledgement, Optimus turned away from his SiC and motioned for everyone to sit down at the table.

Ratchet glowered from his spot on Ironhide's left, who in turn was seated to the left of Optimus because of the black mech's status as the bodyguard of the Prime. Prowl quietly moved to sit to the right of Ultra Magnus while Jazz took a seat on Prowl's right and pulled out a datachip from his subspace.

To the left of Ratchet, Inferno sat rather nervously in his chair, acting as a trusted stand-in for the still convalescent Red Alert. Inferno, despite his penchant for being on the front lines, had recently been promoted to Second in Command of the Autobot Security Division. Traditionally, it was unheard of to promote a frontliner to such an important rank, but as he had proven himself trustworthy and a calm thinker under pressure, Optimus had held no reservations of allowing the promotion. That, and Inferno was the only one Red Alert trusted enough to act as his temporary substitute in the meeting, so they really had no choice about it.

Once everyone was seated, Jazz held up the datachip gravely, "As yah all know, we recently broke into Kaon ta rescue Starwish and Hardwire. During thah rescue, Mirage discovered a computer thah was still powered on during the break in and, under mah orders, stole as much data from it as he could ta help us figure out what Shockwave did ta Star and Wire."

"This is tha data stolen from tha computer. It was heavily encrypted an' since we were pressed for time when we found it, Mirage did what we call a 'bulk download'. Tha simple explanation of thah term is he ripped tha original set of data from the computer, encryption and all. It's a messy process an' it's taken myself and mah team this long just ta crack tha encryption codes on tha data."

Leaning forward, Jazz carefully slotted the datachip into a holo-emitter set in the center of the conference table, "Now, mah team an' Ah haven't seen this data yet, so Ah have no idea if it's going ta be useful or not. Normally, Ah'd review tha data before a briefing and edit out the unessential parts, but some of us," he shot a look at Ratchet, "didn't wanna wait and thought thah something Ah thought inconsequential might be useful from a medical perspective. So here goes."

The holo-emitter powered on with a soft hum and soon a large square area above the table was enveloped in black. Jazz felt his spark twist uneasily in it's chamber, wondering why the image was black. Was the data defunct? They had completely decrypted it, it shouldn't be completely black.

His thoughts were cut off as the blackness finally resolved into an image of Starwish sitting up and looking around. There was a small circle of light around her, but Jazz noticed keenly that it didn't seem to force back the thick blackness all around her. It looked like she was in some kind of circular black prison. What the-?


Rising Dawn leaned against the wall in the corner, frowning as Optimus Prime and his closest Command Staff minus Elita-1 watched the recording of what had occurred during the Cortical Psychic Patch connection between Shockwave and Starwish. As her frown deepened, the wall she was leaning on rippled faintly and she hastily stepped away from it so as not to phase through it and land on her doorwings.

Another figure moved to stand next to her, his blue visor hiding his thoughts as he pointed out calmly, "They had to find out eventually. It could not be kept a secret forever."

Rising Dawn shot a hooded look at her unexpected company, "As if that stiff-chevroned medic will believe the footage. He's more likely to lock her up in his medbay until he figures out what's 'wrong' with her."

Agent 77095 interjected quietly, "You don't know that."

A loud exclamation of, "That's fragging impossible!" From said medic had Rising Dawn giving her friend a pointed look.

He shrugged fractionally, "Anyone would say the same. That doesn't mean he'll do anything harsh. For one, her Guardian won't let him. For another, neither will Optimus or Ratchet's own conscience. He knows about her near panic attack in the medbay because it looks like a lab and her latest one just walking down the halls."

Rising Dawn, still frowning, turned back to watching the oblivious mechs in the room. She knew that Agent 77095 was probably right, but that didn't remove the small kernel of doubt nagging at her persistently as the stolen data feed continued to show Starwish's unexpected and amazing display of mental strength. Her doorwings flitted agitatedly, "What do you think they'll do to her, Seven?"

The mech nicknamed Seven cocked his helm to one side, "I am unsure. But we have no say in the matter either way."

Rising Dawn's armor bristled, the special red crest on her helm fanning out like an elaborate helm dress aggressively, "How can you tolerate just standing around watching? The Matron put her here, the least she could do is let us help!"

Seven laid a servo on her right arm firmly, "Dawn! Mind your training."

Dawn stopped and looked around, startled, before taking a deep vent and forcing herself to settle down, "…Sorry, Seven. I just … Opi was always a bot of action and I hate standing around when I could be doing something to help."

Seven did not raise his voice at all as he asked quietly, "And what, exactly, would you do to help in this situation?"

Rising Dawn started to answer, but no words came out. Finally, she huffed and crossed her arms, shaking Seven's servo off of her arm in the process, "I don't know. But I'd do something. I don't like seeing Starwish getting hurt or traumatized."

Seven folded his servos placidly behind his back, content to watch the explosion of theories, questions, and discussion that erupted after the end of the video-feed Mirage had stolen from the Decepticons. His tenor held no condemnation as he pointed out, "You did not have to come here. I'm sure Andromeda would love some company on her mission. Or, better yet, you could actually attend some more of Matron Prehnite's lessons. You could use them."

Rising Dawn stuck out her glossa in mock disgust, "No way. I appreciate her teachings and all, but enough is enough. If I have to do one more exercise on harnessing my 'inner spark', I'm going to go ballistic."

Seven sighed indulgently at his younger friend and fellow agent, "Spending time with Agent 3853 I see."

Rising Dawn shrugged, "He's a fun person to hang out with. Now hush, if we have to stand around and watch like glitching security cameras, at least let me listen in."

Seven fell obediently silent as the flurry of discussion and confusion reached a tipping point. It was chaotic in the conference room as everyone tried to understand what they had seen, yet loudly refused to accept the most obvious answer there. Well, almost everyone.

Rising Dawn found her attention resting upon the only bot in the room not shouting. The one simply sitting there, his face twisted into a frown of concentration. What are you going to do? She mused wordlessly, what are you going to do? The mech she was watching suddenly stood up and left the conference room, not bothering to announce where he was going. Dawn started to follow him, when Seven trotted past her and phased through the door.

Dawn grumbled faintly as she settled back again to watch how the other mechs in the conference room would take to Jazz's sudden departure. At least she could record Ratchet's slack-jawed expression for the other Agents to laugh about later. Entertainment was surprisingly hard to come by in their line of work after all. That and showing off the recording will give me an excuse not to go back to Prehnite for more lessons right away. Brr.


Review Response: Dear Shimmering Dawnstar, hi there! Oh dear! (Offers tissue hastily) there, there! Starwish is okay now, so there's no reason to cry ... although I'm highly flattered that you find my story that moving. Hopefully this chapter will help with the tears a bit?

Dear xVentressx, hello! At least they're good feels at the end, right?

Dear Suolasilakka, greetings! (Grins shyly) Glad you liked it so much! Just a question, which part of the chapter were you waiting forever for, exactly? Or do you just mean my month of absence?

Dear HeartsGuardianSol, hi! (Dances along for a moment) Thanks! NaNo was fun, if a touch troublesome at times. Here's a fun fact, Apathy Bears are way worse than Writer's Blocks, so try not to get caught by one. Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter and I hope you like this one as well. (Watches muse drag you away) Uh ... want me to send a Ninja OC to rescue you or something? Or are muses impervious to Ninja OCs?

Dear Ilovebooks1234, greetings! You don't think I'd make Starwish Jazz's spark-call only to have her marry someone else do you? I'm not that cruel. However, I am perfectly cruel enough to give Jazz a hard time of wooing her. I made Ultra Magnus her Guardian after all. Thank you for the compliment!

Dear Shikijika12345, hello there! (Reads review and blinks) Uh ... let's see. (Takes deep breath) I'm glad you like the story, I fully intend to continue it so don't worry, Starwish is naturally shy when it comes to boys so it will probably take a while, I'm not sure what Ultra Magnus will do, and I fully agree with the wisdom of Jazz hiding in the brig until he gets Magnus's consent. Though ... Jazz is more likely to need to hide in the brig from Ratchet, not Magnus. Ultra Magnus isn't the type to attempt dismemberment with a pair of pliers and a wrench. (Grins)

Dear igeegeei, hiya! Oh, okay! I didn't know that phenomena had a title (shrugs), the things you learn... Anyway, I can understand your confusion, I get turned around in terminology a lot and I should have been more clear on the subject matter. (Reads Xenomorph fun facts with wide eyes) Seriously? Wow, how did that happen I wonder? It takes a lot for something to show up in so many different franchises. (Nods sagely) I completely understand, every time I try to recycle an OC, nine times out of ten I get not only a new OC ... but an entirely new cast of OCs. (Hits desk with forehead) I don't even know how it happens. (Chuckles happily) I'll assume you approve of the pairing then? Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter!

Dear WheeljacksGirl, hi there! Happy to hear! But, may I suggest the jumping option? I'm running out of tissues to give (looks thoughtfully at dwindling supply). I agree with you on the Jazz romance stories, good ones are so hard to find! Hopefully this will help remedy that problem. Your update request has been granted! Hope you liked it!

Dear Moonlightdeer, greetings! (Laughs) Oh, don't worry, it won't be the last and neither will this one. I fully intend to finish this story. It just ... might take me a long time.

Dear StormRaven333, hello! Cool! Did you listen to Iridescent intentionally in time to the chapter? Either way, that sounds like fun and I'm glad you loved the ending. Yes, I looked it up, it made me nearly have a brain short until I figured out all of the things an enterprising author could do with it. At which point the impending brain short turned into a cackling session.

Dear denis.d2505, heya! Awe (rubs back of neck) you're making blush. I'm truly flattered that the previous chapter garnered such an emotional response. Jazz isn't the type to give up something he wants, but he'll have to go about the matter delicately. (Blushes profusely at the ending of review) Thanks again for the compliments! I'm glad you think so!

Dear SunnySides, hi! Well, here it is! (Blinks at the squeal) Uh ... technically she isn't his sparkmate yet ... but I'm glad you approve of the pairing! I believe the chapter above this reply fully answers your last question. (Wiggles eyebrows mischievously).

Dear KHGiggle, hello there! Glad you had fun with the rp as well. I understand, last time I worked on a project I wasn't completely inspired for I ended up getting about five successive migraines just to reach the word-count goal. But hey, at least you have more words than before! Stasis lock is a very serious condition so yeah ... it took a while. Besides, Hardwire was essential for the chapter progression and he would be in no condition to move or teach a mere joors after the rescue. As for Hardwire's question ... I don't know, to be honest. Hardwire's musing was kinda my subconscious pointing out that it was an issue I hadn't fully contemplated yet. I'm still working on the answer... I had the Jazz/Starwish pairing picked out since the first chapter, actually. But I hate stories that involve two people falling all over themselves in love from the moment they meet, with no potential competition or doubts at all, so I intentionally threw in Sideswipe's crush on her, Blaster's plotting cassettes, etc in order to help make the pairing develop at a slower, more natural pace. Does that make sense?

Dear emzydatffan, hello! I'm honored that you think that highly about my story (bows). I really enjoyed writing the previous chapter and the one before it, so I'm especially glad that everyone appears to have liked it so much.

Dear Agent-Freelancer-D.C, greetings! Here's the newest chapter and, as stated in the Author's note above, the pairing is now officially Jazz/Starwish! Hope you enjoyed the newest chapter!

Dear Kashagal and Natures Ruler, hi! Um ... (offers box of tissues and a tub of ice cream) here, will these help? I do indeed feel happy and accomplished, though I don't like making people cry, I'm still highly flattered that you both enjoy my story so much and I'm pleased that my writing is good enough to evoke such an emotional response. I enjoy writing this story and it makes me feel very happy to know that I am writing it WELL. Oh, (holds out large box) here's extra ice cream tubs in case your children join you or you just feel like having more of them. Hope you enjoyed the newest chapter!

Dear Retrokill, heya! That makes sense ... though I'm glad I haven't had to learn that the hard way. Hope that experience turned out okay for you and anyone else involved. Here's a new chapter as promised!

Dear Dude That's Radical, greetings! You're welcome! Thank you for taking the time to read this story!

Dear quantumleap13, hello! Thank you, I try my best, and I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter as well!

Dear RenaTamer, hello there! (Offers last box of tissues) Here, I think I may have overdone it on the feels department last chapter but ... hopefully this story has done ... nice things to you? Or at least your day. (Smiles timidly).

Dear Giddy, hey there! Thank you and, who can't be in love with Jazz? At least a little bit (winks). As long as you don't try to steal Jazz away from Starwish, I'm sure it will be fine.