If you made it this far, then you should be aware of the warnings.

Ch. 14

Bluestreak and Smokescreen had noticed a strange development in their brother. His home was cleaned to nearly the way he always kept it, his frame was painted and waxed to how he had it and was even more willing to hang out with them in public. The middle brother touched Prowl's helm with genuine concern. "You okay bro? You seem… happy." He poked Prowl's arm as they walked in downtown Praxus.

Smokescreen poked his other arm, "you're even out in public. Should we take you to Ratchet? Is your battle computer getting worse?"

"I am fine you two. And I would like to not waste Ratchet's time with your idiotic concerns. As for the state of my battle computer, it is functioning at one-hundred percent." Prowl rolled his optics with his wings moving thoughtfully. He knew where he was going, but he wanted to show his younger brothers that they didn't have anything to worry about.

"What happened? Catch a bad guy? Meet someone?" Smokescreen's wings flicked in confusion. It had been forever since he saw his brother this happy.

"I did not catch a criminal. And no, I did not meet anyone." Well not anyone new. Prowl's subtle smile appeared when he thought of how much he missed holding Jazz in his arms. He took his brothers into a gift shop that was for courters to give to their intended.

Bluestreak and Smokescreen looked at each other with even more confusion. "Prowl, you know this is a gift shop, right?"

The cashier told them about promotional items and offered her help if they needed it. But Prowl didn't need it, he knew exactly what he wanted. "I am aware." His helm was looking up and down at the items that lined the wall before stopping in front of a shelf filled with cases that had music chips. He searched through the hundreds of thin cases until he pulled out the one that he wanted. "Gotcha. Come on you two."

"Prowl, who is that for?" The youngest Praxian asked with frustrated confusion. They went to the front counter.

"Find everything okay? Oh, this is Maestro Gridlock isn't it? Not many know about this chip album." The femme took it carefully before placing it in a small box, wrapping it up in a holographic silver wrapping paper, and topping it off with a simple black ribbon.

Prowl nodded, "It is." He held out his wrist and the femme scanned it, the credits automatically transferring to the business. "Thank you. Come on, I have one more place to go." The mech took it and carefully subspaced it.

"Can you just tell us who you fell for?" Bluestreak threw his arms in the air as they left the shop.

"I do not fall for anyone." Prowl flicked his wingtips playfully. They went into another shop that made treats. The black and white Praxian went up to the counter. "Pick up for Prowl."

The older mech turned his back, climbed up a step stool and climbed back down, and held it out with a smile on his face with his wings moving happily. "A dozen of acidic cubes, eight rust sticks filled with extra acid, and four titanium dipped acidic gel cubes. Never had so much acidic flavored treats ordered. Did you know that those that prefer acidic means they have a lot of soul?"

"Well these are for someone with a lot of soul." Prowl held his wrist out again, got it scanned, and then took the deep purple box before subspacing it. "Thank you."

The mech behind the counter saw the confusion on the two other mechs' faces. "Prowl, seriously what is going on. Who are you courting?" Bluestreak wasn't going to stop until he got his answer. "Don't make me analyze you."

"I'm not courting Bluestreak. I'm apologizing." Prowl finally answered before he heard his brothers both stopped. He turned to face them. "What? It's common our Sire did the same thing for our Carrier."

"Yeah, but that's because they were mated already! Maybe we should take you to see Ratchet." Bluestreak crossed his arms with his wings flicking behind him.

Prowl folded his arms with a frown, "I'm fine you two! These are just to show Jazz that I intend to keep the promise I made him. If you both do not like my decision to attempt to get the only mech that helped with my glitches, back in my life then I'm sorry."

"Oh, come on Prowl we're not trying to anger you. We are just weirded out and concerned for you both." Smokescreen said with concern for his older brother's happiness. He had seen what happened to his older brother when Jazz was captured, and he didn't want to see it happen again. "If you're really sure that Jazz is who you want, then we will back you up."

Prowl didn't need numbers to know that his sparkling brother was serious about helping him. Whenever he had the chance, he would take smack about Jazz in attempt to make him feel better. "I appreciate you both, thank you." He wanted to hug them, but he didn't know if he should initiate it or not, so he just stuck with flicking the tips of his wings. "And how are things going on with Sunray?"

"Good, she's been really busy at the family center. There's been a weird spike of single Carriers and creations coming in. It's like they came out of nowhere." Smokescreen shrugged with his palms in the air. They continued walking as he went on, "she said that some of the Carriers have been coming in with dents and scarring."

Bluestreak and Prowl's wings moved in thought of the information. "Did she take it to the enforcers?"

"She tried to get some of the Carriers or younglings to talk, but I guess none of them will." The mech shrugged with a shake of his helm.

"I'll talk to Indigo about opening a casefile." Prowl offered before seeing the much from outside Newgate, being followed by a drone, heading in their direction. The mech was being fussed over by the drone.

"Data, please stop I'm going to be fine." His wings moved with agitation while the drone was examining his arm. Seeing Smokescreen and the mech near each other, Prowl could see even more similarities. The younger Praxian caught sight of the three mechs as they got closer, and he stopped. "Oh no. D, I'll see you at home."

The drone bowed his helm, "I will see you at the manor Master Skids."

He started walking off as Skids extended an arm out before face palming. "How many times do I have to… ugh. I'm sorry about that, you know how medics are." He rubbed the back of his helm with a guilty chuckle.

"We wouldn't know, only medics we know threaten to weld our afts to things if we hurt ourselves." Smokescreen jokingly said that was followed by a laugh from Bluestreak. "Nice paintjob, you race?"

Skids's wings twitched as he chuckled, "naw. Not really into racing."

"Lame." Smokescreen crossed his arms with a pout.

"You seem like you're recovering from an injury of your own. What happened?" Bluestreak gestured at the young Praxian favoring his left leg.

He looked at his leg and looked up as he answered, "bad fall. Wouldn't make my Carrier proud if he saw me fail in a simple high beam exercise. My brother doesn't have wings to worry about when doing flips." He laughed at himself with embarrassment. "I should head home before my brother sends our bodyguards after me."

"Wait a moment, did you ever get a chance to speak with your Sire?" Prowl asked Skids, noting the shock in his optics.

He smiled softly, folding his arms behind his back with his wings moving happily. "Actually, I did, didn't talk to him though. Don't know how he would react if he found out that his creation is half Praxian. I should go, thank you second lieutenant Prowl."

Skids smiled before transforming and drove off. The three brothers watched him drive before heading back to Prowl's house. They decided to have dinner and watch a movie, despite Prowl's wishes to be alone. He sat on the chair near the window, deep in thought. "Bluestreak, it's rude to stare." The oldest Praxian looked away from the window to look at his brother.

"Sorry, you just have that look like you're coming up with a battle plan. We already know you plan on courting Jazz, whether you admit it or not, and this isn't the war so how do you plan on acquiring permission on courting Jazz? He has no living family members, and Soundwave won't exactly give you the okay." Bluestreak knew that without the war, Prowl was going to follow the Praxian courting laws to the tee. He remembered the struggle Smokescreen had trying to convince Sunray's creators to let him court their daughter, purely because he was a Carrier mech.

"There is Blaster, he essentially adopted him, so that would work. How do I go about telling Jazz about the spark?" He frowned as he looked at the gifts he had gotten earlier. His wings twitched in thought. He's not ready to see me, and I don't want to anger him anymore than I have, so do I wait until Jazz is willing to see me? Or do I send the sparkling to him? No, scratch the latter option, that is morbid and terrible.

"Tell him when you're ready." Smokescreen said with a tired yawn. "I'm going to recharge. Sunray's Sire is taking me to a business party mid-cycle." The Carrier mech found it a contradiction to have business and party in the same sentence, but he was willing to give up a race to show his future co-Sire and co-Carrier that he was serious about being with Sunray. The older brothers bid their good nights before deciding to go into stasis themselves.

Soundwave was sitting at the table while his creations recharged. He didn't know whether to laugh or scream at the fact that Jazz broke off the bond with him. Jazz may be strong enough to break from me, but he knows that I still hold power over him. And when he sees that, and I get out of here, I will make sure to punish him so hard he will think twice before betraying me. The Host mech rested his helm in his servos, but light taps on the thick plastic got him to look up. He stood up quick enough that the chair fell over, causing his creations to all online. No, it can't be. "Blacklight? But how?"

"My name is Meister, voice of the voiceless, and I have come to talk to you. Don't bother lying to me, I can hear your perverted thoughts. They're all on the disgusting things you did to an innocent mech. All because your own Carrier was a whore, right? She would leave you and your half-brother every lunar cycle, come home with a new lover, both overcharged, and would interface with them for cycles at a time." Meister waved his frame to size Soundwave up.

"You know nothing of my Carrier. Who are you? How did you get this information?" Soundwave was quick to appear in front of the masked mech. His fists pounded against the cell wall with anger.

Meister smirked behind his mask, "I know plenty about you Soundwave. I was trained by the best, the one that was your big blue star, but you were outshined by another. It's too bad really, you could have taught me a lot of new tricks with my abilities. All you can give me now is your credits, title, and home. You and all of your demons get to rust away in a pit while Jazz moves on, has a family, and gets to live the life he was meant to have." He put his servo on the wall as he removed the mask slow enough to reveal his red optics. "You think Jazz will come back, but he is going to forget all about you. Just like how your Carrier forgot about you."

With each word spoken, Soundwave was getting angrier and angrier by the second. He started pounding his fists as he shouted with rage. Meister placed the mask back on before backing up with a finger gun pointed it at him. "Who are you!? Tell me who you are!" The blue mech was left unanswered as he jumped out of sight, and guards were sent to see what the commotion was about.

Blaster was standing in front of the door, the door that held all of the secrets of Jazz's plans. The failsafe that Jazz had put up was standing in front of it with a smile on his face. "Ya got meh Prowler, but Ah ain't ready tah make my grand entrance. Give Prowler and Ah a chance tah reconnect. After dat Ah will tell ya'll everythin', and then ya will understand why Ah did it. For now, dis is all Ah will allow."

"Jazz, why are ya allowin' strange mechs tah hardline with ya? Who is dis Meister and why does he have yer Sire's mask?" Blaster wanted some clues to who this was, but the failsafe remained silent. "He's tryin' tah help ya, which means he's important tah ya. Jazz, Ah know he's a telepath, but he's in danger of hurtin' himself. Telepaths, especially young ones, suffer from processor overloads, which causes 'em tah purge and can cause permanent damage tah their processor. Ah can help him, but ya need tah tell meh."

Jazz looked genuinely worried for the mech, and he nodded before a door appeared. He took Blaster's servo, leading him through. It opened up into Halifax's shop where Jazz was working on organizing some items, and a very young Polyhexian walked up to the older mech. The youngling looked up at Jazz with a frown and a pair of big red optics. "Co, what's wrong?" He sat a box down before kneeling in front of him.

"You're scared of me. I'm sorry for being scary, is that why you always leave? I promise I won't be scary anymore." He started getting upset and rubbed his optics. Jazz was quick to pull him into his arms.

"I'm not scared of you Co. I can never be afraid of you, and you have nothing to apologize for. I leave because I have friends that will get worried if I'm gone too long, and they wouldn't understand you or your brother that's why you both stay here with Data." Jazz sat on the ground with a smile on his face before pulling him into his lap. "Co, I want you to make me a promise okay? Never use your gifts to hurt others."

The youngling sniffled with a nod before putting his tiny servo on the Autobot insignia with a smile on his face. "When I'm big and strong, I wanna be just like you! Skids wants to too, but he's too scared to say so! Can you read us a story before you go away again?"

Jazz chuckled as he rose to his peds, "'Course I will Co."

The door closed with Jazz looking at Blaster with a frown. "Ah had tah protect Co and Skids from dah Cons. Co wouldn't have understood why none of dah others liked mechs with his optics. If ya can really help him, Ah will tell him tah meet with ya."

"And what about Skids? Is he a telepath also?" Blaster asked just before Jazz chuckled and a door appeared. When they walked through, there was a youngling version of Skids playing a game with Jazz.

"Dada took us outside and play! I found a really pretty crystal, and Dada helped me make a necklace with it!" Skids jumped up and ran over to the counter where an energon dispenser was sitting. He picked up the item and rushed back over to the smiling mech. The young Praxian let the necklace dangle; the chain was made out of silver and hanging from it was a bright green crystal. "Dada said that it came from Praxus. Where's Praxus at?"

Jazz stood up with his servo extended out, which Skids happily took, and they went over to a map that was mounted on the wall. "It's very pretty Skids, but you have to remember there is still some bad mechs on Cybertron, so you all have to be very careful when going outside. I don't want any of you getting hurt." The youngling's winglets dipped slightly as he nodded. The Polyhexian lifted the Praxian in his arms before pointing to the city. "This whole area is Praxus. It's where Praxians, like you, come from. Your Sire and his family came from Praxus. And my family came from Helix, right here. And Co's Sire came from Tarn, right here."

As Jazz pointed to all of the different cities, Skids looked very deep in thought, then his wings perked up with excitement once more. "We're different, but we're family because you're in it. You, Co, Dada, and me are all family. And family protects family, right!?"

He chuckled as he nodded with his helm gently laying on top of the smaller helm. "That's right Skids. Family protects family. And I will protect you both until my dying intake."

The door was shut once again, Jazz was circling Blaster carefully. "Yer hidin' somethin'. Ah can tell. What is it? Ah'm bein' honest with ya Blaster, why not do dah same?"

"It's not my place tah tell ya Jazz. Prowl has tah be dah one tah tell ya." The telepath said confidently. He now had a bit more of an insight on the two, as he was about to leave Jazz grabbed his servo. "Jazz?"

"Meister was my old stage name whenever Ah was at Halifax's. Co is most likely usin' it tah have a connection tah meh. And don't be harsh on 'em, they mean well and want meh back tah how they knew meh." Jazz informed before finally releasing Blaster.

Jazz onlined as he sat up quickly, headbutting Ratchet by accident. He fell back with his servo rubbing his helm as they both groaned. "Hatch' don't you know not to lean over me while I'm in stasis? Ow, Primus that is going to leave a scuff." Once he opened his optics, he realized he could see the ceiling. "Oh, my sight it's back! Does that mean I can head home now?"

"Wish Ironhide told me about your sudden onlining. Which isn't good for your systems by the way, so I'm going to have to give you something for that. Frag that hurt." Ratchet picked up a few of the tools that fell to the floor from either him dropping them or Jazz's flailed arm knocking them down. "And yes, I replaced the glass on them while you were recharging. When was the last time you had a good recharge?"

The Polyhexian sat up slowly, "When Blaster and I formed the bond. I recharge better when I can feel someone's field or them holding me."

"And safe to assume that you don't ask Ironhide to do it or have Blaster over to recharge?" Ratchet asked with Jazz nodding sadly. The medic started disconnecting him from the machines. "I also took the liberty of sizing up your frame two sizes. You're almost back to the size you were during the war Jazz. I'm proud of your achievements, and I know your Sire would be too."

Jazz looked up at him in shock before ducking his helm with a gentle smile on his lips. "Thanks Hatch' for doing this for me. Hey, is it okay if I get a bit of recharge in here before going home?"

"As far as I'm concerned, you're still in stasis. I'll come check up on you in a couple groons." Ratchet said before leaving the room to let him recharge. He went to the front desk and started looking at his next patient's charts. "Oh, how's that patient doing in room forty-six?"

The receptionist looked at the medic in confusion. "There isn't a patient in there. Maybe you should heed your own advice and get some recharge." She chuckled with a shake of her helm.

"But I was told that First Aid was looking at a high beam stunt fail. Are you sure? It was only yesterday." Ratchet went around the corner of the desk while she looked at the hospital staff list. "He wasn't working that day? Teal Stream call Blaster down here, but don't stress any patients."

She nodded as Ratchet made it unsuspicious that he was in a hurry. He went back to Jazz's room and opened the door slowly and expanded his EM field for anyone else in there. All he could feel was Jazz's and he was deep in stasis. "Hmm." The medic left the room, missing Ricochet peeking into the room from the top of the window.

Blaster had arrived and went to the security room with Ratchet to look over the footage. He gave him the time and date he saw the Polyhexian that he talked to that day. The mech found them in the hall, and then Ratchet left before the mech pulled out Blacklight's mask. He bowed his helm as he replaced them and went down the hall to Jazz's room. Back at the room, Skids came limping out with a medical drone behind him.

"What in the world? How is there a functioning battlefield medical drone? I was talking to Meister that entire time? We're going to have to relocate Jazz." Ratchet sounded irritated with himself for not realizing it.

The mech transformed and shook his helm. "No, Ah spoke with dah failsafe. He said dat they're on our side, but Ah need tah get in a room with Meister for his safety. And medical drones were built tah be able tah care for sparklin' right?"

"Well yeah, but that drone is a field medic. It doesn't have the proper equipment to care for sparklings." Ratchet explained. "For someone who claims to be trained by Jazz, he isn't very stealthy."

"Jazz was trained by meh and Soundwave tah be a hacker. He probably downloaded some basic Carrier codin' tah make it function dah way he needed. But where did he find sparklin's? And they are really good espionage agents, snuck in and out of a secure prison not only once but over a thousand times." Blaster reminded as they headed to the front of the hospital. "We'll make up a plan tah get Meister back out in dah open.".

Really worrying ya'll not getting much feed back XD