Sorry for it taking so long. I had a major rewrite for the second half of this chapter. That's what happens when your muse changes her fragging mind ruining all your plans! Hehe. I hope you enjoy it.

Again, thanks everyone for the reviews!

Ratchet, Bumblebee and the twins quickly turned their headlights on so the sparklings wouldn't be so scared. The instant the room brightened up Ironhide and Optimus grew quiet, tears rolling down their faceplates. They were still frightened. Ratchet could feel them both trembling in his arms, their little hands clinging tightly to his armor, wide optics darted around nervously.

Then suddenly another, more violent explosion sounded, this time shaking the floor beneath them. The crying started up louder than before and Ratchet found himself struggling to keep hold of two freaked out sparklings.

"Lita!" Optimus wailed, calling her through his bond to her as well. He had to find her. He needed her. Now! "LITA!"

"Bee! Take him! I can't handle two hysterical sparklings in my arms!" Ratchet said, barely able to keep a hand on Optimus as he was trying climb over Ratchet's shoulder.

Bumblebee firmly grabbed hold of Optimus' waist, prying him from Ratchet's shoulder. The sparkling was screaming over and over for Elita.

"Shh, she'll be here soon," Bee cooed, cradling Optimus tight against his chest, rubbing his small back.

"Sunny…" Ratchet started to say when Ultra Magnus and Chromia arrived.

"Is everyone here ok?" Magnus asked, his high beams almost blinding to the optics as he stood in the doorway.

Before anyone could answer, the emergency back up systems kicked on and the lights all came back on.

"Mia!" Ironhide cried desperately reaching for her the moment his optics spotted her.

"Wow, he can say something other than fragger," Sunny joked.

Chromia ignored him and quickly took Ironhide in her arms. He mewled, nuzzling his face against her chest armor, seeking any comfort she could give him.

"Not now, Sunny!" Magnus growled.

"Sorry, Sir."

The sparklings were crying but safe. That's all Magnus cared about. Ironhide was starting to quiet down now that Chromia had him. Optimus was repeatedly calling for Elita while Bumblebee was trying to calm him down. Nothing Magnus could do about it at the moment. Time for action.

"Chromia, Bee stay here. The rest of you with me," he ordered.

"Was the explosion in Wheeljack's lab?" Ratchet asked as they raced down the hall.

"I'm assuming as much since the power failure originated in the lab section of the base. And he's not responding to my hails."

"Let's hope he didn't damage himself too badly," Ratchet prayed.

"Let's hope he didn't turn himself into a sparkling," Sunny quipped and for once no one gave him any back talk about it.

They were all thinking it. The worst possible scenario - their leader, the weapons specialist, and their engineer stuck as sparklings. So many eons of knowledge could be lost if that was the case. They'd be in deep slag because so many Autobots relied on Optimus' guidance and strength. He was their Prime!

"Magnus!" came a shout.

The four mechs came to a stop at a junction to see Prowl and Elita racing towards them from the left.

"We heard an explosion!" Prowl exclaimed as he and Elita caught up to their friends.

"What's going on?" Elita quickly asked, her worry very apparent on her faceplates. "Where's Optimus? I can feel him calling for me."

"He's safe, Elita," Magnus answered. "Bumblebee's taking good care of him in the play room."

"We don't have time for this! We need to get to Wheeljack's lab!" Ratchet insisted. He knew any astrosecond wasted could potentially be life threatening if Wheeljack was badly damaged.

Elita wanted to go with them but her spark was aching to be near Optimus. He was desperate for her. Primus, his spark was strong.

"I'm going to go be with Optimus, he really needs me right now," Elita announced.

"Good, send Jazz when you get there," Prowl ordered. "He's ignoring my comlink. I swear that fragger is obsessed with sparklings!"

"Wait, Jazz didn't arrive with you?" Magnus asked.

"I let him race ahead. He was anxious to relieve Bee and the twins from sparkling duty," Prowl answered.

"Prowl, Jazz wasn't in the play room," Ratchet said, his anxiety levels just shot up at the prospect of possibly having to deal with two critically wounded mechs.

"Yeah, we haven't seen him since before he left with you on the mission," Sides added.

Prowl's spark lurched in his chest with fear and trepidation. He didn't hesitate to reach out to Jazz through their spark bond.

'Jazz! Jazz!'

No answer came back.

"Oh, no," Prowl gasped and then took off running for Wheeljack's lab.

The four mechs followed him, trying to keep up to the black and white Autobot. Prowl who was fast on his feet already was running much faster than he normally would. He lost Jazz once. He couldn't go through that again. He couldn't.

"Prowl, slow down!" Magnus shouted to no avail.

The normally, cool and calculating Prowl tore around the corner far ahead of them, desperate to reach his sparkmate. Magnus put it in overdrive, his long legged stride lengthened as he pulled away from the others. He had to catch up to his friend before he hurt himself. And as soon as he was within distance, Magnus jumped and tackled Prowl from behind.

"Get off!"

"Cool it, Prowl," Magnus said, pinning his friend to the floor. "It's too dangerous to just go running in there."

"I have to go in there. Jazz could be badly damaged."

"And we will," Magnus countered. "But remember, we need to proceed with caution here. This is Wheeljack's lab. There have already been two explosions. There could be more."

"And we have to make sure we stay clear of the sparkling maker machine," Sunny added when they caught up.

"Excellent point, Sunny," Sides agreed.

"Prowl, the fact that you haven't felt Jazz slipping away is a good sign," Ratchet smiled reassuringly. "So even if he is badly damaged, I can fix him."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I…I over reacted."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it," Magnus said, helping Prowl to his feet. "Let's go."

The five mechs hurried on until they reached the dimly lit hallway in the lab section of the base. A thick hazed filled the hallway. Not all the lights were on and those on were only at half power. With their headlights shining, they moved cautiously towards Wheeljack's lab.

"Vector sigma!" Magnus uttered under his breath.

He and the others could see the door to Wheeljack's lab was blown off and partially embedded in the opposite wall. And on the floor near it was…

"Wheeljack!" Ratchet shouted, pushing past Magnus and Prowl.

The others quickly followed Ratchet coming to a stop a few feet away to give the medic room to work. Wheeljack was a wreck lying face down in a pool of energon. While the main door to his lab was blown clean off the blast door had come down and severed his legs just below the knee joints.

"Get me some more light!" Ratchet ordered as he gently turned Wheeljack onto his back.

"There's a power relay panel nearby. I'll see about getting more power to the lights," Sides said then ran off as the others pointed their headlights down for Ratchet.

"How is he?" Magnus asked.

Except for his legs he didn't look that badly damaged. However, the fact that he was offline wasn't a good sign.

"He lost a lot of energon but he'll be ok," Ratchet sighed in relief. "Looks like he'll be off his feet for a few days. Uh, after I put them back on that is."

"I think I got the lights!" Sides shouted from down the hall.

The lights came on at full strength to reveal how worried Prowl was as he stared at the closed blast door. Such doors dropped automatically in order to keep a fire contained. The hall did smell like smoke from a fire.

"Sunny go get a stretcher from the Med Bay," Magnus ordered, keeping his optics on Prowl.

"Any other supplies, Ratchet?" Sunny asked.

"Oh…my legs," Wheeljack moaned weakly, his optics fluctuating until they came on dimly.

"Just hurry," Ratchet told Sunny. "Hey, Jack. I'll give you a pain inhibitor. Does…"

"Jazz!" the engineer exclaimed sitting up.

"What about him?" Prowl quickly asked,

"He's still in there," Jack grimaced and groaned in pain. "We were able to take cover before the first explosion. I knew the second one was going to be worse. Jazz…ow…"

"Easy, Jack. Lay back down," Ratchet insisted, gently pushing his friend back down to the floor.

Jack's optic covers closed briefly as Ratchet injected med's into his neck.

"Jazz…" Jack's started, panting heavily. "Jazz shoved me hard before I realized what was happening. Next thing I new the blast door came down, my legs hurt so badly that I blacked out. If he made it to cover…" Wheeljack's optics dimmed to the point of almost going completely dark, his energy was almost drained. "He might be ok."

After that Wheeljack lost consciousness again as his pain meds took affect. The others stood by anxiously as Ratchet tended to their friend.

"He's stable," Ratchet told them after a couple of minutes.

Prowl didn't hesitate. He tried punching in the override code to open the blast door.

The door didn't move.

The mech frantically punched in the code again.

Still, the same result.

"Sides! Can you boost more power to the doors?" Prowl shouted.

"No, those circuits are fried! I had to reroute power for the lights as it was."

"There's another way," Magnus told his friend calmly.

Prowl nodded, moving out of the way. The City Commander took a position directly in front of the door and squatted down. Thick strong fingers dug in between the floor and the door. He grunted and strained his servos but he was able lifted the thick heavy door up high enough until it locked into place.

The lab was pitch black except for a few smoldering hot spots scattered about. Magnus and Prowl had to turn on their headlights to see anything. There was a huge blast mark on the floor and ceiling in the center of the room. Lab equipment and tools were scattered. Some of the tools were imbedded in the walls and shelves.

"Frag! What a mess!" Sides exclaimed looking into the lab from behind Magnus.

Magnus shot him a menacing glare to keep quiet before turning his attention to Prowl. The mech's optics worriedly scanned the debris for his sparkmate.

"He's going to be ok. We'll find him," Magnus said confidently, resting a gentle hand on Prowl's shoulder.

"I'm picking up faint energy reading far right," Ratchet said as stepped over some debris to move inside.

"Let me go first," Magnus ordered, moving ahead of Ratchet. "In case of another blast I'll work as a better shield. We can't afford to lose you. Sides, stay with Jack."

"Once Sunny gets here with that stretcher take him to the Med Bay," Ratchet said. "He's in no danger."

"Oh, here's his legs!"

Two mechs turned to see Sides picking them up. Prowl moved further into the room. He was relieved that Wheeljack was going to be ok. And he was somewhat relieved that he could feel Jazz again. He was kicking himself for earlier. He knew better. Jazz would never ignore a comlink communiqué from Prowl on purpose. Never.

"They're a little toasty but look functional."

Ratchet moved back and scanned them to assess the damage. For once, a twin was right.

"Get them back to the…"

Debris falling stopped Ratchet in midsentence. He was about to say something when they all heard something moving in the area where the CMO was getting an energy reading. The three of them converged on the area. Prowl quickly yanked aside a twisted piece of metal that was in their way and tossed it across the room.

"Jazz?" Prowl called.

No reply verbally or through his spark link. But something moved. And it moved fast away from them.

"Over there!" Sides shouted from the doorway, his lights shining on the other side of the room. "I thought I saw something move."

Magnus was nearest, carefully climbing over debris, making his way to where Sunny had his head lights shining. A blur shot in and out of view. The City Commander didn't think, he just reacted and dove for it. Only he missed and whatever it was scurried fast into the corner.

"Stop! You're scaring him!" Prowl hissed at Magnus.

"Who?" he asked, getting to his feet.

Whatever it was darted away again from them.

"Over here!" Ratchet whispered.

"Back away…I think I can get him to come to me," Prowl said.

"You've got to be kidding me," Magnus scoffed in disbelief.

"Nope," Ratchet chuckled as he knelt down. "Come and look."

Magnus moved as quietly as he could to Ratchet's position and did as instructed. He knelt down and spotted what Ratchet was looking at.

"For frags sake!" Magnus exclaimed. "At this rate, we'll all be sparklings by the end of the week!"

"Jazz, come here," Prowl said in a soft warm tone.

The tiny silver sparkling trembled. Arms tucked in tight against his chest. Wide optics looked terrified as he huddled in a cubby hole beneath some debris.

"Jazz, its Prowl," the mech smiled, kneeling nearby but not daring to move any closer. "Remember me?"

Jazz cautiously looked up at the black and white mech. A warm pleasant feeling spread through his small chest. Curious, he poked at his chest softly. What made it do that?

'That's right, it's me,' Prowl said through their bond, placing a hand on his own chest armor.

Ever so slowly, Jazz crawled out from where he was hiding. He knew instinctively he could trust this mech but he wasn't sure about the other two nearby. His small blue optics kept darting from Prowl to the others as he moved crept onwards. Only once out in the open did he come to a stop, sitting on his tiny aft. Optic covers blinked slowly up at the mech smiling down at him.

Prowl made no sudden movements. He didn't want to risk Jazz darting back into the wreckage for cover. Not when he was so close to having his sparkmate safely in his anxious arms. So, with his palms up, he gradually moved his hands closer to Jazz.

A sudden, loud trill sounded from Jazz and he leapt up into Prowl's unexpected arms. The mech was so surprised that he jumped backwards on reflex, falling onto his back. Prowl quickly recovered though. Relief flowed through him as his arms wrapped gently around Jazz.

He smiled at Jazz who smiled back.

"So, Prowl…are you the mommy or the daddy?" Sunny asked.

The black and white mech turned his head, shocked to see everyone standing there, watching him, grinning like fools! Oh, this was so humiliating. Only Jazz could make things this embarrassing for Prowl!

Jazz started purring as he snuggled against Prowl's chest, making the mech sigh. Oh well, at least Jazz was where he belonged.

Up next: How will Optimus and Ironhide react to their new playmate?