First of all, a big thank you to the following reviewers: ThemSoundWaves, gemava, DreamMaster08x, Golden Eagle 603, Galem(guest), BLuebALL268, I Love the Lambo Twins (who was too lazy to log in :P), Lair of the Twisted Muses, lake-erie, MoonWallker, RagdolDark, Autobot Chromia, Autobot Slipstream, Geuse and Pentypus Koop

Thank you all so much! Your reviews keep this story going! I hope you like this chapter

For the first time in a while, Prowl came out of recharge feeling refreshed and content. Usually he slept fitfully, sometimes not at all, so this was a new experience altogether for him. Glancing down, he saw Jazz clutching at him in his sleep, murmuring softly. A small smile crossed the tactician's face, and he began stroking the saboteur's lower back cables.

After a moment or two, a tiny groan escaped the blind mech and he burrowed closer to his berthmate's warmth. "Prowler..."

"I am here." The tactician confirmed quietly, rubbing his thumb in circles across the metal of Jazz's back. "How are you feeling?"

"Blind."

A soft sigh whooshed out of Prowl's intakes. "We will visit Ratchet to fix up your wounds. I'm sure he will be able to tell Wheeljack and Perceptor exactly what you need for your new visor."

"Mm." Grunting non-commitedly, Jazz kissed the larger mech's chestplates affectionately. "When can Ah see Bee?"

There was a long silence.

Finally, it was broken by a sigh. "Jazz... I'm afraid there is going to be difficulty in allowing you to see him. I am sure many Autobots will be against it-"

"But Ah'm an Autobot now! And they trusted meh when Ah told 'em mah name was Rumble!"

"They do not know that you were 'Rumble' yet. The only 'bots that know are Optimus and the twins. And perhaps Bluestreak, but that is just speculation."

Claws clutched at black and white plating desperately. "Prowler, this ain't fair. Please, Ah just wanna see him. Ah know Ah can't technically see, but Ah just wanna make sure he's alright." He raised his voice as his sweetie-pie began to protest. "For me, Prowler?"

That silenced the SIC's protests. After a sigh and a quick kiss to Jazz's helm, he said "I will try my best."

The saboteur nuzzled at Prowl's neck cabling in thanks. "Missed ya so much." The nuzzling turned to kisses, which turned to nips, which turned to licking and suckling.

"Jazz, perhaps we should go to Ratchet now." Prowl said quickly, praying his cooling fans wouldn't click on without his permission.

"But Prowler-!"

The tactician spoke over the whine of disappointment as he sat up. "I have no wish to interface with you whilst you are in such a vulnerable state. That would be taking advantage." He didn't notice the former Decepticon's dumbstruck expression as he stood from the berth. Turning back, he lifted Jazz up in a bridal hold and smiled at the resulting squeak.

"So... When Ah get mah visor replaced?" Jazz tried hopefully as he was carried out the door and down the corridor.

There was no reply until they were in front of the medbay door. Right before entering, Prowl gave a rare mischievous smile and glanced down at his friend. "Yes, I think so."

As the medbay doors slid open to allow them admittance, Jazz burst into giggles. The happy sound attracted a thoroughly suspicious medic from one of the back rooms.

Ratchet eyed up the sight of the Second in Command carrying in a giggling blind mech in a curious kind of hold. Narrowing his optics, he pointed at a spare medical berth. "What happened?" He caught sight of the deep gouges on the smaller mech's face and his lips lifted in a snarl. "Are those self-inflicted?"

"He has a rather extensive list of injuries, Ratchet-"

"Well, list them. I don't have all fragging day."

...

To most everyone's surprise, Wheeljack managed to concoct the perfect visor for Jazz with a minimal amount of explosions in a very short space of time. He had seen fit to add all sorts of seemingly useless features to it, however, and the saboteur amused himself for days testing out the new additions.

When the Autobots had found out he had been removed from the brig, the question had arisen as to where he would be put next. To Jazz's surprise, Optimus had voted in favour of him staying with Prowl. Obviously influenced by their Prime, many others had too. Others had voted for locking him up again and not letting him out. They were none-too-pleased when they learned that he had hidden among them in disguise for several months without being detected. Red Alert, in particular, nearly had a conniption.

But Prime had won by sheer rank, and he had decreed that until Jazz had become a proper Autobot, he would stay in the company of Prowl.

Not that the saboteur minded at all. But since he got his sight back, he was more determined to see Bumblebee.

And finally, Prowl agreed.

And that was how he was in the main hangar of the Iaconian Base, with guns pointed at him from all around the room. He cast a grumpy look at Prowl, but the tactician looked none-too-pleased about the weapons either. He shuffled closer to the Praxian, ignoring how several mechs' fingers twitched over their triggers. "Is this necessary?"

"No." Prowl said through gritted denta. "It is not, and it is against my wishes. Our Security Director seems to think that this is the safest way to introduce you to Bumblebee again."

"If anyone points a gun at mah Bee, Ah'll tear their limbs off and shove them up their exhaust pipes-"

"Calm down." Prowl whispered, although his lips threatened to twitch into a smile. "Death threats will not help your situation."

With an unhappy grunt, Jazz slumped against his companion and pouted. "Ah just wanna see mah li'l Bee. Ah don't get why that's so hard."

"I know." The Praxian murmured soothingly, keeping his voice low so that no one else could hear his uncharacteristic softness towards the smaller mech. "They will learn to trust you."

"Yeah, right."

::Hi Prowl! Um.. We're coming into the hangar with Bumblebee now, so... I was meant to tell you when we were coming, so I just did... Anyways, I guess I'll see you in a second!:: Bluestreak's cheerful voice said over the private comm. link.

Prowl relayed the message to Jazz, who tensed and nodded. "Ah'm nervous. Is tha' weird?" He whispered, slipping his hand into Prowl's.

Ignoring the curious and shocked looks the public display of affection earned him from the gathered soldiers, Prowl squeezed lightly on the hand in his grasp. "No. Don't worry. Bumblebee has missed you."

The doors at the end of the hangar opened, and the saboteur tensed even further as Bluestreak walked in, flanked by Ironhide and Sideswipe. Bumblebee was peering around the sniper's leg.

A small wince crossed the tactician's face as his hand was almost crushed by the saboteur's grip. "Jazz, you're hurting me."

Jazz whipped his hand away swiftly, his visored gaze fixed on the youngling. The tension was palpable in the air; despite Optimus and Prowl's insistence that Jazz would not harm anyone, the rest of the army was taking no chances. All the guns that were pointed his way may have made Jazz freak out if Prowl hadn't been there, offering his silent support.

The silence grew even more tense as the small group stopped a few meters away from Jazz and Prowl. There were several 'click's as the safety was taken off guns, and Prowl glared around at the soldiers.

"Bee?"

Finally, the youngling poked his helm nervously around Bluestreak's leg. His optics lit up brighter and he edged around the young Praxian. "Jazzie?"

Grinning, Jazz knelt down and opened his arms invitingly. With a giggle, Bumblebee's face split into a massive smile and he sprinted over to his two guardians. A grunt escaped Jazz as the youngling collided with him so forcefully that they were both bowled over, but it was followed by his gales of laughter. "Hey, li'l buddy! Ah missed ya so bad!"

A rare smile crossed Prowl's face as he gazed down at the two 'bots on the floor. "You two look ridiculous."

The laughter didn't diminish; if anything, the volume increased as Jazz hugged the youngling close. "How ya doin', baby Bee?"

"Good." Bumblebee's voice was muffled as he spoke into Jazz's chassis. "You look different."

"Got a new paintjob." The saboteur tilted his helm and grinned handsomely at the youngling. "Do ya like it?"

"You look like Prowl." Bumblebee mirrored the black and white mech's grin.

"Wow, Ah look that good?"

That earned a roll of blue optics, and then Prowl was pulling them both to their feet. "That was very mature."

The saboteur just grinned blithely, petting Bumblebee's helm as the minibot clutched at his leg. "Ya loved it, mech."

"Jazzie?"

"Yeah?" With another smile, Jazz knelt back down to the mechling's level.

"Um... I was just wondering.. I wanted to know why you left." The whisper was so quiet that only Jazz and Prowl could hear it.

"I- oh, Bee..." The saboteur's face fell, and he shot an uncertain and dismayed look at the Praxian behind him. "Um.. It's sorta complicated, baby..."

"I just wanted to know what I did."

Jazz jerked back so violently he caused every gun to be sharply raised and aimed right at him. An almost inaudible snarl ripped from Prowl's chassis, and when he spoke up his voice was icy cold. "Lower. Your. Weapons. NOW."

As one, every gun was lowered. The soldiers cast sheepish and questioning looks at each other and at the SIC, but no one said anything.

The tactician shot everyone another spark-stopping glare, before turning his attention back to Jazz, who was leaning close to Bumblebee again. "No, Bee... It was nothin' ya did. Ya could never do anythin' ta make meh wanna leave ya. Ah hated it when ya weren't there. Ah thought 'bout ya everyday."

"Really?"

"Really, mini mech. C'mere." Everyone watched carefully as the youngling threw himself into Jazz's open arms. The saboteur nuzzled the yellow audio horns fondly, "Ah went away f'r mah own reasons. Ah'll tell ya 'bout them when you're older. But it was never, ever your fault. 'Kay?"

Nodding slowly, the little minibot whispered, "Can we go home and spend family time together now?"

"Depends on where home is, li'l mech."

"Prowl's quarters, of course." The look on Bumblebee's face made it clear that he had thought that much was obvious.

"You'll have ta ask Prowl, baby Bee."

A groan escaped the tactician as they both turned and began giving him turbo-puppy eyes. "This is hardly fair."

"C'mon Prowler."

"I have reports to finish-"

"Please, Prowlie?"

"There's so much work-"

"Prowl!" The saboteur glared at him, hands on his hips. "Ah swear ta Primus-"

"Fine!"

"Uh.. Prowl, sir?" A nervous looking young soldier had edged up to the group. He shot a quick look at Jazz, before turning his attention back to his superior. "I don't think the youngling is allowed to go anywhere with... him."

Noticing the dark expression growing on the ex-Decepticon's face, Prowl laid a hand on his friend's arm as a precaution. "Bumblebee is my charge. He is also Jazz's charge from when Jazz was known here as 'Rumble'. So he will be coming with us. If you have any objections, you may take them up with Prime."

Conveniently, the Prime chose to speak up from the back of the hangar at that very moment. "Oh, I'm fine with it."

The startled expressions on everyone's faces (except for Jazz's, of course) made it clear that no one had noticed Optimus enter the room. Eagerly taking hold of the opportunity as everyone turned their attention to the Prime, Prowl grabbed Jazz and began tugging him towards the door.

The saboteur scooped Bumblebee up into his arms and swiftly followed Prowl out of the hangar and down the corridor. "Well, tha' was fun."

...

"I liked that movie!" Bumblebee cheered, beaming at his guardians. "I wanna be a princess too!"

Always logical, Prowl had to point out the flaws in this plan. "You are not royalty. Therefore, you could not be a princess."

"Hey, he can be a princess if he wants ta be." Jazz protested, pushing lightly at the larger mech's shoulder.

"But.. It isn't logical."

A laugh burst from the saboteur's vocaliser, and he leaned up and captured Prowl's lips in a kiss. It took a moment, but the tactician melted into him and reciprocated. "The important thing is that Bee liked the movie, right?" He asked once he had pulled away from the kiss.

Blinking slowly, appearing slightly dazed, the tactician nodded. "Of course."

The youngling giggled and clapped his hands. "Prowl is being silly."

"He sure is."

Unimpressed, Prowl glared at the both of them. "Time for berth."

"No!" Bumblebee yelped, diving off the couch and scrambling away. "I'm not tired!"

"Not this again." The SIC groaned, putting a hand to his helm.

"Wha'?" The amusement was clear in Jazz's voice, but he was also evidently confused by the display.

"Bumblebee does not like going to berth easily."

A chuckle rumbled out of the small black and white, and he stepped around the couch to where Bee was hiding under a chair. "C'mon mini mech, it's time for recharge. Ah'll tell ya a story."

The offer was enough to make the youngling peek his helm out from under the chair. "A story?"

"Yep."

There was a long pause as the little minibot evaluated the offer. After another moment, he dragged his small body out from beneath the chair. "What's the story gonna be about?"

"I'll tell ya when Ah come up with one." Jazz snorted, following the little yellow 'bot over to his small berth. "Okay. Once upon a time, there was a-"

"A princess!"

The saboteur paused, and shot a grin at the youngling. "Okay. A princess. And she lived in an underground kingdom. But the princess hated it there. The people in the kingdom were mean an' cruel an' treated the princess very badly. But one day, she escaped. She wandered around the world up above for a long time, but she was so blinded by her freedom that she did some horrible things. The princess didn't even realise that some of the things she was doin' was wrong until one day, she met someone."

"A prince? Or another princess?" Bumblebee asked hopefully, curling up on his berth and beaming up at the saboteur.

"It was another princess. And that princess told the first princess exactly how wrong she was. Even though she didn't realise it, the first princess quickly became infatuated with her new friend. They adopted a younglin' together. But one day, the princess panicked. What if she hurt her new family? She would never hurt them on purpose, but she had hurt a lot o' people when she first came out of the underground kingdom. So she left. And that was possibly the worst mistake she ever made."

"Did she ever come back?" The whisper was quiet and sleepy, and it was clear that Bumblebee was already halfway to recharge.

"She did, but her family never really fully forgave her."

"I would've forgiven her.. 'Cause she came... back.." His optics flickered slightly as he tried to fight his recharge protocols.

Jazz found his spark felt uncomfortably tight at that; he couldn't bring himself to say a word. Instead, he settled for leaning forward and kissing the youngling's forehelm. The already dimmed optics offlined completely as Bumblebee's recharge protocols took over. Once he was sure the minibot was asleep, Jazz stood and sighed, massaging his visor with his claws.

"That was quite an interesting story."

The sudden words in the silence caused the smaller mech to jump slightly. "Wh- oh. Yeah, um.."

"Come here." Prowl sighed, opening his arms wide. The saboteur moved so fast the movement was lost; one moment he was on the other side of the room, the next he was throwing himself into Prowl's arms. "Are you okay?"

"Not really, no." The whisper was shaky and nervous, and claws clenched sporadically.

With a nod, the tactician carried his friend over to the berth and laid him down carefully. "Do you wish to talk?" He asked, settling in beside him.

"Ah dunno."

"I see."

A soft sigh escaped the smaller mech's chassis as skilled and careful hands ran down his back struts. "Ah just.. Ah dunno... Ah knew Ah missed ya guys, but Ah didn't realise how much Ah missed ya 'till now, when we were all together." He sighed again as Prowl rumbled understandingly. "Prowler... Ah didn't do nice things when Ah went back t' the 'Cons."

"I know, Jazz. You don't have to explain."

"No, Ah do. Ah was terrible, and Ah hate mahself for it-"

"Stop." Prowl interrupted firmly, pulling the smaller mech closer to him. "Self-hatred is illogical. You are back with us now."

"Yeah. Yeah, 'kay."

"You should recharge now-" he stopped midsentence as something wet fell on his forearm. "Jazz... Are you crying?"

There was no verbal answer. Instead, the ex-Decepticon curled up even further and buried his helm into the larger mech's chassis. Surprised, all Prowl could bring himself to do was rub his back soothingly.

...

Monitor duty was a torture designed to make him lose what was left of his mind, Jazz decided.

Not only was he being forced to stare mindlessly at screens that showed mind-numbingly boring corridors, but he was being supervised by Red Alert. The Security Director just about glitched whenever Jazz moved an arm.

The saboteur silently cursed Prowl for thinking it was a good idea to get him to do work for each department in the Autobot task force. It was clearly the SIC's hope that one of the departments would decide to keep him. In Jazz's opinion, that was a pile of slag. What department would want HIM?

A flash of colour on one of the monitors pulled him out of his internal moping, and he tilted his helm slightly. "Hey, Red Alert? I think Sideswipe is doin' somethin' t' the camera.."

"What?" The little red mech jumped to his feet and dashed across the room to where Jazz was seated. He seemed to forget his intense disliking of the ex-Decepticon as he glared at the monitor. "No! That stupid fragger! Doesn't he realise that Decepticons could easily slip under the radar if that camera was down?!"

"Want meh to find him and stop him?"

"Yes! Go quickly!" The paranoid mech just about pulled Jazz out of his chair and shoved him out the door and into the corridor. "And send him to Prowl for punishment!"

"Yes, sir." With a mock salute and a roll of his optics from beneath his new visor, Jazz turned and loped in the direction of the camera. Thankfully, Red Alert didn't seem to be able to tell when he was being mocked, so Jazz could be as sarcastic as he wanted to be.

It didn't take him long to find Sideswipe: the red twin was on a stepladder to reach the camera, and was fiddling with some of the internal wiring. "Hey!" Jazz crossed his arms irritably. "The frag're ya doin'?"

The frontliner froze. "Oh. Slag."

"Get down!"

The angry hiss caused the much larger mech to practically dive away from the camera. "Okay, I know it looks like I was trying to prank, but I was actually trying to fix the camera-"

"The camera was fine."

The growl in the small mech's voice caused Sideswipe to flinch. "Oh, was it? My mistake. I'll just go then."

"No." Jazz reached out and grabbed the frontliner by one of his audio horns. He ignored the yell of pain and began dragging him down the halls towards Prowl's office. "How many times have ya been told not t' mess with the cameras, huh? I prob'ly wouldn't normally care, but Ah'm on fraggin' monitor duty! Ya knew that!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't think-! Where are we going?" Sideswipe sounded terrified. "Frag, please don't kill me!"

"Ah haven't killed anyone in a month." The words were accompanied with a sharp twist of an audio horn, causing Sideswipe to howl in pain. "You, however, are makin' meh wanna change that. We're goin' ta Prowl's."

Sideswipe almost cried in relief. The SIC may hate him occasionally for his pranks, but he would never let his crazy lover hurt him. At least, Sideswipe hoped.

When they got there, Jazz didn't even pause to knock. He simply hacked the door and marched in, pulling a whimpering frontliner behind him. "Ah swear ta Primus, Ah'm gonna kill him one day!"

Slowly, reluctantly, the tactician raised his head from a datapad he had been studying. "What happened now?" He sighed, already feeling a processor-ache coming on.

"He keeps messin' wit' the cameras, and Ah'm on fraggin' monitor duty with the most paranoid mech ever! He's startin' to think this glitchy li'l frag is a Decepticon spy!"

"Sideswipe. I have warned you on many occasions against tampering with Red Alert's cameras. You know perfectly well that his security measures, while sometimes extreme, are paramount in keeping this base completely safe and Decepticon-free-"

"Jazz got in!" Sideswipe exclaimed, gesturing at the smaller mech.

"Yes, well. Jazz is exceptional."

Sparing a quick smirk at the tactician, Jazz turned back to Sideswipe. He kept his gaze on the frontliner as he spoke to Prowl. "Can Ah hit him now?"

"No."

"Just a little?"

"Stand down, Jazz."

Sulkily, the smaller mech backed away, but quickly danced over to where his cutie pie was seated and glaring at Sideswipe. He leaned in and whispered softly in the larger black and white's audio. "What if he does it again? May Ah have permission t' hit him then?"

"Yes." A tiny smile quirked up the edges of Prowl's lips, which only served to freak the frontliner out even further. "If Sideswipe tampers with the cameras again, you have my permission to punish him as you see fit."

"Ah love it when ya say 'punish'." The sultry murmur caused Prowl to smirk and Sideswipe to leap out of his chair.

"I know my own way to the brig, so I'll just be down there." The red twin said swiftly, before practically sprinting out of the room.

A chuckle escaped the ordinarily stoic tactician. "I don't think I have ever seen him make his way to the brig so quickly."

"Mmm, you're welcome." Clawed hands tilted Prowl's face up, and Jazz leaned down to kiss him passionately. He climbed into the tactician's lap and straddled him without breaking the kiss, before running his hands up and along those magnificent doorwings.

After a brief second of surprise, Prowl found his hands dropping to cup the saboteur's aft. He found himself kneading almost automatically, and Jazz moaned and pushed his aft back even further into his hands. "Shouldn't.. you.. be- ah!- returning to.. Red Alert?" He managed to force out the words in between kisses.

"Ah'd rather do this wit' ya." Jazz dove back into the kiss so passionately it seemed they would never break apart.

::Prowl, it's Red Alert. I just wanted to remind you that there is a camera in your office, and could you please tell Jazz to return to the monitor room?::

Mortified, the SIC pulled away and jumped up, almost knocking Jazz to the ground. The lithe mech yelped and managed to twist at the last minute to avoid colliding with the floor. "Prowl! Jeez, mech. Ya could've just said no."

"What? No! It's not that, it's just.." He cleared his vocaliser, clearly embarrassed. "I just got a comm. from Red Alert reminding me that there is a camera in this room, and you are wanted back in the monitor room."

"Oh. So ya didn't mean t' throw meh t' the ground." Jazz muttered grumpily, turning and heading for the door. "Fine. Ah'll see ya later."

"Jazz!" The SIC exclaimed, hurrying after him and catching him by the arm. "I did not mean to throw you to the ground. I apologise profusely. I simply got caught by surprise."

Like flicking on a switch, grumpy Jazz was replaced by cheerful Jazz, who laughed and stood on the tips of his peds to kiss Prowl on the cheek. "It's okay, cutie pie. We have later, right?" And with that, he left the room with a suggestive sway of his hips.

When he returned to the monitor room, Red Alert looked less than impressed. Inferno, who had been present the whole time Jazz had monitor duty, was snickering in the corner. The saboteur wasn't certain, but he suspected the fire truck was there to protect the Security Director from the 'big bad Decepticon'.

When he walked in, Red Alert shot him a glare. "I did NOT need to see that part of your relationship with Prowl."

"Ya didn't have ta watch, mech." He replied coolly, shrugging his shoulders. "Plus, we hadn't even gotten t' the kinky part."

The Security Director began to splutter, and Inferno began to laugh. "Oh, Primus. Didn' need ta know that!"

With another grin and shrug, Jazz plopped down on the chair and threw his feet up. "Sideswipe's in the brig, by the way."

"Yes, good." The paranoid mech was clearly glad to get away from the subject of Prowl and Jazz's intimate life. "What was he doing with the camera?"

"Looked like he was tryin' ta hack it t' turn it off."

"Frag it! Inferno-"

"Cool it, Red. Jazz stopped him; the camera is fine." The larger mech soothed, patting his partners arm.

"Yo' welcome." The saboteur said flippantly.

"Thank you." Red Alert rolled his optics grouchily, although his tone was sincere.

"What?" His body froze in surprise, and Jazz stared at the Security Director blankly. After a moment, suspicion crossed his face. "Are ya makin' fun o' meh?"

"No. I am thanking you for saving my camera."

"Red's very passionate 'bout his cameras." Inferno smiled fondly at his mate.

"Oh."

"Ya act like ya've never been thanked before!" The fire truck laughed, grinning at the saboteur. When he received no answer, he frowned slightly. "You have been thanked before, right?"

With a snort, Jazz rolled his optics. "Ah've been thanked before, but not for stupid things like- Ah mean.. The 'cons don't exactly say 'thank you' very often."

"Huh."

"Whatever. Yo' welcome, Ah guess."

It seemed as though Inferno was going to say something, but Red Alert's panicked shout overtook him. "What is Sunstreaker doing to that camera?!"

"Oh, for frag's sake."