Part 12

With the symbiotes securely locked down in recharge and Ratchet yelling something about being taken for granted, Jazz skedaddled out of the brig and out of Ratchet's reach before the medbot could saddle him with babysitting duty. Too many things to do, and while he sympathized with him, Jazz simply couldn't let himself get bogged down in Decepticon daycare.

"You third-rate Third!" Ratchet yelled, throwing a spare lugnut at Jazz. "Quit solving your problems by dumping them on me!"

"Thank you, Ratchet!" Jazz said, ducking the lugnut and nudging two of their security escorts into the line of fire. "You mean the world to me, Ratchet! Couldn't do this without you, Ratchet!"

Leaving the two cowed mechs behind on guard duty, Jazz grabbed Bumblebee by the shoulders and steered him away from the brig, safely rescuing him from Ratchet's attentions. They moved at a quick trot, the medbot's yelling fading farther away as they took the stairs.

"It's only a couple unconscious symbiotes," Bumblebee swore as he ran beside Jazz. "The way Ratchet's yelling, you'd think we dropped the whole Spec Ops corps in there."

"I don't think he's forgiven us for the time we did," Jazz said. "Come on, we gotta get to Blaster before he goes into recharge."

As they came to the top of the stairwell, Jazz paused just long enough to make sure Bumblebee was keeping pace, then led him around several mechs in the corridor, ignoring the grumbling that there was no running in the halls. The main meeting room was just ahead, but the door was closed. No way of knowing if the meeting was still going, and Jazz wasn't about to just barge in on Prime like that. Maybe he could just peek in discreetly...

The doors opened, and Ironhide led Blaster out, patting him on the shoulder. Blaster nodded mutely, one hand on his head, with Eject and Rewind slumped in one arm.

"Blaster!" Jazz called one, waving his hand. "Just the mech I needed to see!"

The Autobot carrier cringed, taking a step back and accidentally knocking into Optimus, who steadied him.

"You might wanna give him a break," Ironhide said. "We kinda gave him a real going over."

"Besides," Optimus said. "Red Alert mentioned something about Soundwave's symbiotes coming to call."

"Yup!" Jazz grinned. "Four lost little Decepticons come looking for their carrier. But you don't want me to tell you the story. Bumblebee here..."

Without giving the smaller bot warning, Jazz put an arm around Bumblebee's waist and scooted him forward.

"Whoa whoa," Bumblebee gasped, looking up at Ironhide in too much surprise to object.

"'Bee was there from start to finish," Jazz continued, "so I'll leave him here with you, while Blaster and I-"

Blaster groaned.

"-talk about the specifics of carrier models."

"Sounds like you have something in mind," Optimus said. "All right. Blaster's all yours. And maybe you can ask him more about Soundwave's stories as well."

"Haven't we suffered enough?" Blaster moaned, and his symbiotes moaned as well. "We'll never write another story again, I swear."

"My spark sings to hear it," Jazz said, pulling him away. "Now let's talk carriers and symbiotes."

Bumblebee shot a glare at Jazz, but he didn't risk speaking out loud, using on their Spec Ops channel.

You traitor, Bumblebee growled. I'll never forgive you for this.

I owe you one, Jazz promised.

A party, Bumblebee said.

Jazz nodded once. A big one. Questionable energon and everything.

Still not happy, Bumblebee vented in resignation and went in with Ironhide and Optimus. In the hall, Jazz steered Blaster in the direction of the living quarters.

"Aw, come on," Blaster whimpered. "Seriously, I haven't had a chance to recharge since we found you-"

"Look, just answer me one thing," Jazz said soothingly, "and then I'm out of your way."

Blaster stopped and looked at him. "Promise?"

"I swear it on my spark," Jazz said.

"You're a lousy liar," Blaster said, starting to walk again, "but what's the question?"

"What's the relationship between a symbiote and a carrier?"

"Oh, is that all?" Blaster said with a roll of his optics. "Ask me something simple like where does Primus come from, why don'cha?"

"C'mon, mech," Jazz said, "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"I know, I know..." Blaster shrugged. "It just boils down to they're my cassettes and I take care of them."

"But they're not sparklings," Jazz said. "They're mechs, same as you or me."

"Yeah, but..." Blaster paused, groping for the words. "They're small, y'know. Fragile compared to us."

Blaster glanced at his cassettes drooping in his arms. Rewind and Eject slumped against each other, slipping in and out of recharge, curled up against his chestplate. He gave each a nudge and had them fold up, sleepily tucking up in his compartment.

"They do a lot for the cause," Blaster said. "But they're so breakable, too. Carriers tend to be very protective, and cassettes tend to be...um. Well, clingy, I guess."

"Clingy enough to surrender to enemy forces just to get back to their carrier?" Jazz asked.

"If the other choice was being alone with the Decepticons, sure." Blaster faced him with a long suffering sigh. "Symbiosis means that I share everything with them, and them with me. Imagine if you had a constant line open with someone...Prowl for instance."

"Why'd you pick him?" Jazz asked, frowning.

"Just saying," Blaster said with a little handwave. "You'd feel closer, wouldn't you? You wouldn't have to talk through it all the time, but just having it there...just having it. Wouldn't that do something to you?"

Jazz nodded once. "So once you get used to that connection, your little guys are like extensions of yourself."

"Parts of me," Blaster nodded. "So Soundwave's cassettes came here? I'm not surprised."

"Would your bots ever surrender to Megatron?" Jazz asked, too casually.

Blaster gave him a look. "No, you paranoid aft. My cassettes aren't stupid. Soundwave's mechs can probably trust Autobots not to shoot them through the spark."

With an apologetic nod, Jazz came to a stop, gesturing at Blaster's door.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," he said, sounding sincere. "Well, a promise is a promise. Thanks."

"Sure," Blaster said, opening his quarters. He hesitated in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder. "Hey. You think we might really get Soundwave to become an Autobot?"

"Stranger things have happened," Jazz said, turning to go.

"Jazz."

He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

Blaster gave him a sly look, leaning against the doorframe. "Why'd you get so upset about me choosing Prowl?"

"Look at the time," Jazz said, frowning. "I got stories to comb through. Y'know, trashy romances that I had no say in being part of. I'll talk to you later, 'bot."

TBC...