Disclaimer: Don't own them. Gain nothing from this.
Warnings: . . . uhm. . . well besides the usual?
Suspicions
"You can't blame us! We weren't even here!" – Sideswipe chirped as he entered Prime's office, followed by his brother. Prowl, Ratchet, First Aid , Blaster and Mirage were already there.
"Amazingly, not everything that happens around here has to do with you two." – Prowl replied to the twins.
The two looked innocently at the tactician. The red one saying, - "I guess we have to work harder to fix that. We're slippin', Sunny."
"Sideswipe, this is no joking matter. We do have something serious to discuss." – Optimus finally spoke. Both twins straighten up as soon as they heard his voice.
"Just tell us what the frag is so important. Some of us have work to do and no time to waste." – The yellow Lamborghini replied. Prime merely sighed before continuing.
"It's about Jazz's behavior. As some of you have witnessed, he has taken to leave the Ark and return injured and with no explanation as to how he got injured. Jazz is a trusted officer and friend, but Ratchet has made some information known to me that cannot be ignored."
"What kind of info, Ratch-man?" – Asked the Autobot cassette holder in his usial melodious voice while turning his optics towards the CMO.
"Call me that one more time and you'll be a giant toaster." – The medic calmly told him, before turning to Prime. – "And don't you dare lay this on me, Prime. We were talking while drinking a cube and you took my words to create the Autobot Inquisition!"
"Could you please explain the situation with Jazz?" – Prowl spoke up, and Ratchet's optics narrowed at him, but complied with the Datsun's request.
"For your information, almost all of the times Jazz has returned looking as if he'd been inside a compactor, he's also coming down from sensory overload. The idiot thinks he can slagging lie to me about that stuff. I was made to know what is happening inside of you lot! I spent years studying to become a damned good medic and he expects ME to miss something as simple as sensory overload!"
An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Blaster looked down.
"So what's so wrong about wanting to go somewhere else to have a happy? It's not as if this place is the epitome of privacy. I mean, the Minibots are all bunking together, same as the Dinobots and I'm stuck with sunshine over here for all of eternity. Who's Jazz's roommate? Prowl and Tracks, right? Can you imagine either one entering their room and finding Jazz in the middle of something? Talk 'bout an awkward moment." – Sideswipe jumped in to defend Jazz's behavior. The saboteur was one of the few Bots that genuinely cared about him and his brother.
First Aid, who had been silent up until now, looked confused at Sideswipe's words. – "But the blue paint on his scratches. . . I always thought those were Track's. He's got friends that can patch him up, so I figured. . ."
"Close, but slightly different shade."- Ratchet told his apprentice. – "I personally can only think of one Cybertronian here with that paintjob."
"Who?" – Blaster asked. The melodious tone almost completely gone from his voice.
"Soundwave." – The medic answered him, gaining surprised gasps from the others except Prime, who used that moment to speak up.
"If what Ratchet says is true, then Jazz is probably a Decepticon spy."
"WHAT? I can't believe this!" Sunstreaker roared.
"Why are we here?" – The red twin asked, keeping an optic on his brother in case he decided to try an attack on Prime.
"I need to know what exactly happened on our last battle regarding Jazz." – Prime told the twins calmly.
The yellow Lamborghini shrugged. – "What's there to say? I wanted a piece of Soundwave and Jazz, knowing I could take on him, left to help my brother with the Seekers. We didn't knew he had the Cassettes inside. Slaggin' bastards caught me by surprise and Soundwave tried to finish me off. If it weren't for Jazz I would've joined the fraggin' Matrix that day. He was the one that found Ratchet and helped Siders carry me inside of our CMO. And he was injured too, or have you all forgotten about that! You left him recharge on the floor looking like slag!" – He finished, trembling from rage. Sure, before that day he hadn't cared much about the saboteur but Sunny had actually liked the feeling of having someone else, besides his brother, that cared about him.
"And you did something?" – Prime asked, his patience wearing thin. He didn't knew why, but the twins seemed to irritate him more than the other soldiers. Prowl said that wasn't because the twins were more aggressive than the others, but because they got their entertainment from testing the limits of the Authorities.
"As long as no one's injured, what Sunny and I do in our off duty time is none of your business." – Sideswipe replied testily at the Autobot leader.
Prowl sensed Prime was about to loose his composure in front of the others and he decided to voice his question in the hopes of distracting both sides. He didn't think Jazz capable of being an enemy spy, but his friend's erratic behavior was now becoming unsettling to the Datsun. – "What are we supposed to do, Optimus?"
As hoped, Prime sighed and turned towards the tactician. "We are going to start an official investigation. This is serious and should be handled as such. If Jazz is found guilty, deactivation is the only punishment."
"We still don't know if Jazz is a spy, Prime. We can't be going 'round acting as if he was. What happened to the human saying 'innocent 'till proven guilty'?" – Blaster spoke up, his voice now completely devoid of its musical tone.
"We can't afford such ideas at this moment, Blaster." – Prime told him sternly. He may respect the humans and their ways, but they knew how to survive in a multiple millennia old war. – "You and your cassettes will monitor all of Jazz's communications. Prowl, as one of his closest friends, you will keep an eye on him and check for unusual patterns for a clue. Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, you will keep close to Jazz during a fight. Monitor his movements, performance, and actions. Ratchet and First Aid, you will report any unexplained injury Jazz suffers from now on. You will report back immediately after having seen the suspicious behavior. And Mirage, all you have to do is follow him and report back as soon as possible."
Mirage, who had said nothing all through the meeting, looked at his commanding. – "As you wish, Prime." – He didn't relish the idea of spying on one of the few Bots who were still on friendly terms with him. Although these events told him that it shouldn't be strange to be suspected of consorting with the enemy if Jazz, out of all the Bots, could be suspected of the same thing.
"This will be all. I will inform you of any upcoming meeting regarding this situation." – Prime talked, signaling the end of the meeting. – "If any of this leaks out I will personally oversee your punishment and hand you your discharged note. I refuse to have a potential threat to us inside the Ark and I won't have anybody here interfering with the investigation. You are dismissed."
The Autobots left the office and resumed their duties. Prime sighed tiredly before leaving the office for a quick drink. Up in the air vents a shadow moved. The shadow made no sound as it made its way towards the exit. It passed through the alarm systems with ease and below it, Autobots walked about without feeling a twitch on their sensors. It left the Ark and made its way back to its source.
Ravage replayed the conversation to his creator. Soundwave's visor flashed in anger, but Ravage knew it wasn't directed at him. Thankfully, Soundwave was no Megatron and he no Starscream. The robotic panther knew that despite the anger, his master was proud of him for getting the information and remaining undetected,
The Communications Officer petted his first creation. He would need to fins a proper reward for a job well done. After that, he would have to find a way to contact his partner and make him aware of the investigation. Jazz was more capable of sabotaging the investigation, but Soundwave would also formulate a plan and do his part. He couldn't leave all the fun to his Bot.