I'm back to school now, so this chapter is a little short... But hopefully you enjoy it! Thank you so much to the following reviewers!:

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"You know, we were planning on getting you a visor to cover those optics anyway." Theorem said gruffly as he surveyed the new addition to his students face.

The youngling didn't reply.

The large black and green Priest sighed heavily, and sat down on the floor across from the small silver form. They had been in the training room for longer than usual; the youngling had a lot of anger he needed to work out. Theorem suspected that the fury was still simmering under the surface of the youngling, but the child was so adept at hiding his true emotions by this stage that it was only a guess. "That visor is actually a lot more stylish than the one I was planning to get for you."

"Where's the femme?"

Theorem almost recoiled in surprise. It was the first time the youngling had spoken since his punishment, and his voice was raw and hoarse. "Ah... The femme. I could not train her, Highborn. I was forced to relinquish her to another Priest to train her."

"You know what the Priests do to her." His voice was coloured with anger, and his new visor flashed white at his mentor.

"The Priests do that to every youngling that comes into their possession!"

"You don't!"

"I know!" Theorem hissed, before sighing and turning away. "I know."

There was a brief silence before the youngling spoke again. "She's dead, isn't she?"

"Yes."

The only reaction from the silver mechling was a nod, though his mouth pinched into a hard line.

After a moment, his mentor spoke again. "Highborn... You have wanted to get out of the Crypt for a long time."

A bitterly sarcastic snort exploded from the small silver chassis. "Tell meh 'bout it. Ah'm in mah final youngling frame, Ah'm almost an adult! Yet Ah'm stuck in this Pit, same as Ah was when Ah was first dumped here."

Ignoring the obviously bitter and resentful tone, Theorem continued. "Do you remember what I told you that you must do in order to leave the Crypt?"

The youngling's face scrunched up as he struggled to remember. "If Ah prove mahself as a 'hidden knife' and choose a name, Ah can go. Right?"

"Correct. And today, I want you to prove yourself."

The brand new visor flashed sharply in suspicion as the youngling leaned away from his mentor. "Ya.. want ta help meh get outta here?"

"You have been one of my best students, and I have watched you suffer long enough."

There was a pause during which both mechs eyed each other up. Finally, barely withholding his excitement, the youngling nodded. "Ah'll do it. Ah wanna get out."

"Follow me then."

He was led out of the training room and down several corridors. The deeper into the Crypt they went, the colder it became; eventually, the youngling could see his ventilations condensing in front of him. "Where're we goin'?"

"You'll see." Theorem promised without looking back at his student. "Thus far, you have been a very satisfactory student. You hurt, you cripple, you maim. All this is good."

The youngling nodded. "Ah know."

"Good. There is only one more element to your training. Ah, here we are." They had stopped outside a door.

Just an ordinary door. There didn't look to be anything special about it. It wasn't marked, but no doors down here were marked. Curiously, the youngling glanced up to his mentor. "Are we goin' inside?"

"We are." His mentor confirmed, unlocking the door and striding inside. The youngling trailed behind him, grinning excitedly.

The grin slid like liquid from his face once he was inside, however. He couldn't tear his optics away from the mech in the middle of the room. "What-?"

The sound of his voice caused the mech's helm to jerk up, and his optics widened. "Help me! Please!"

The youngling's gaze was fixed on the chains tying the mech to the chair he was bound to, and the many wounds oozing energon that seemed to decorate his whole frame. "Brother Theorem..?"

"Kill him."

The youngling's head whipped around so quickly he could have sworn a joint snapped. "Wha'?!" His mouth opened in horror.

"No! Please! Let me go! I won't tell anyone you're down here, I swear!"

"Kill him." Theorem repeated calmly, seemingly deaf to the mech's pleas.

"But-but-" the youngling just kept gazing in horror. "Why? Ah can't!"

"It is the last stage of your training. You must."

"I can't just- just kill him!" He was yelling now, though he didn't seem to realise it. "Are ya crazy?! Ah don't even know him!"

"Would it make it easier if you knew him?" His mentor asked calmly. He spoke as if he were at dinner with nobles rather than... where he actually was.

"Ah- well.. Ah guess? Ah'm not gonna kill him!"

"You." Theorem turned his attention sharply to the chained mech, and gestured at the youngling. "Tell him about yourself. Quickly."

"I- my name is Jazz, I live in T-Tyger Pax, I'm here on holiday with my f-family! I have two sparklings and one youngling, please! Please don't k-kill me, they need me! I beg of you, please-"

"That's enough." The sharp reprimand was enough for the begging to dissolve into sobbing. Theorem turned back to the youngling, who was abruptly looking rather ill. "Well, Highborn? Will it be easier now that you know about him?"

"No." The whisper was broken and horrified. "He has kids, Ah can't-"

"Do it."

"He hasn't done anythin'!" The youngling yelled angrily, waving at the sobbing mech. "Ah can't just kill an innocent mech-"

"How do you know he is innocent?"

The youngling faltered slightly. "He.. Isn't he?"

"Would it be easier for you to kill him if he was guilty of a crime?"

"Ah- Ah guess..? No! No, it wouldn't!"

Theorem sighed. "You must kill him, Highborn. Otherwise, you fail your training. You don't want to stay here forever, do you? Do you know what happens to the mechs that fail their training?"

His ventilations were working harshly, but the youngling managed to shake his helm.

"They stay here and train the younglings."

That seemed to hit home, and the mechling gazed up at his mentor in shock and horror. "So.. You..?"

"I failed." Theorem confirmed, nodding. "And I can assure you, not a day goes by that I don't regret it. One choice, and I'm stuck here forever. You don't want that, Highborn. Trust me. Kill the mech."

Slowly, the youngling turned back to the mech in chains. He reluctantly took the dagger Theorem offered him, and edged closer to the mech. He tried to ignore the increased sobbing as he approached. "Um.. Jazz?"

The look on Jazz's face was pitiful as he tugged at the chains and whined. "Please, don't do this... You don't have to do this.. You're just a child, just a youngling.. I have a youngling your age, you know. His name is Darkbright."

The youngling was barely able to resist telling him that that was a stupid name. "Ah'm sorry."

"You don't have to do this. You don't have to- Primus, please! Please don't! I have sparklings! They need me! Please!"

A choked sob got stuck in the youngling's chassis as he brought the dagger down. Energon spurted everywhere, accompanied by a terrible yowling scream. Desperate to stop that horrible screaming, the youngling brought the dagger down again and again. He was sobbing, barely aware of the coolant tears streaming down his face as he was sprayed with energon that wasn't his. "Ah'm sorry, Ah'm sorry, Ah'm sorry, Ah'm sorry-" he kept repeating his mantra as he stabbed and stabbed, choking and sobbing.

"Enough, Highborn."

Choking, the youngling staggered away and promptly purged his tanks all over the floor. Evidently taking pity on him, Theorem approached and wrapped him in a hug. It was not an affectionate embrace. "You did well, youngling."

Deciding to risk a glance at the mech's body, the youngling immediately wished he hadn't. His tanks roiled and he gagged, before purging what was left in his tank over Theorem. The large green and black mech didn't seem bothered by being covered in the half-digested bile. "Ah- Ah'm sorry, Ah had ta, Ah didn't- Ah didn't-"

"He is dead. He cannot hear you."

A stifled scream built up in the youngling's chassis. "Ah killed an innocent mech. Ah- Ah- Ah'm a murderer. Primus, Ah-"

"Calm yourself." His voice was calm and cool, and his face showed no sign of emotion. "That mech had to die."

"H-he was innocent, Ah didn't-"

"No mech is innocent, Highborn." Theorem cast a brief glance over to the mutilated corpse and shrugged. "That particular mech was guilty of youngling abuse, illegal circuit-booster dealings, murder and prostitution. And those sparklings and younglings he was talking about? He has not seen them in over three years. He was banned from seeing them after he allowed someone to test illegal high-grade on them for money."

The youngling cast a glance at the body, before gagging again and looking away. "Ah- Ah don't- Ah can't-"

"That bot, no matter how despicable, just made you a mech today. He will have shaped your life forever. You are now a hidden knife. This means you can go into the world up above as an assassin, a mercenary."

"But.. Ah don't wanna be an assassin or a mercenary." The whisper was pitiful, and the usually headstrong youngling couldn't even meet his mentors gaze.

"You have no choice. There will be no other jobs available to you. You will have no identification, no place of birth, no residence. No one will give you a job. You will need to make do with being an assassin. It is what you were trained for."

Despite himself, the youngling found himself glancing at the corpse in the corner and gagging again. "Ah don't think Ah can do that again."

"You need to remember; everyone is guilty. Everyone deserves to die. There is not one bot out there that is free of sin. Primus created us so that we could be the perfect race, but the sinners are slowly decaying our species. They must be wiped out. And our hidden knives are the ones who do that."

His confusion only increased, but the youngling didn't say anything. Instead, he gazed down at his energon covered body.

Theorem followed his gaze and nodded. "You are ready to be let out. Follow me." He turned on his heel and promptly marched out of the room.

The youngling moved to follow, but found himself distracted by the corpse of Jazz in the corner. Before he could question what he was doing, he had darted over to the body and ripped open what was left of the subspace hatch. Curiously fishing around, he pulled out what looked like a photo-capture frame and turned it on. His spark churned as he found himself gazing at the smiling faces of a happy family.

"Highborn?"

Quickly stuffing the picture back into the mech's subspace, the youngling went to move only to catch sight of a pendant. It was a pretty, burnished gold and was decorated with music notes. Curiously, he snatched it up to examine it more closely. It was clearly meant for a femme, and with a start, the youngling realised that the youngling femme in the photo-capture had been wearing the pendant.

"Highborn! Hurry up! I'm waiting, and my patience is not endless."

He shoved the pendant into his own subspace and jolted to his feet, before setting off after his mentor in a run.

...

"Are you ready?"

"Yes." The youngling breathed, standing on the edge of the balcony and gazing at the busy streets below. The night-cycle had fallen, and the buildings sparkled and glowed with artificial light. The youngling thought it was beautiful.

"And you have chosen a name?"

"Yes."

"This name will define you. It will be who you are. As such, it should be something that means a lot to you."

"Ah thought ya didn't believe in sentiment."

"It is frowned upon here, but that does not mean you can't enjoy it, youngling." Theorem chuckled suddenly. "You will soon be a youngling no more."

"Mmm." He grunted non-commitedly, continuing to gaze fixedly at the pretty lights. "Can Ah go now?"

"May I learn your name, before you go?"

The youngling hopped up on the balcony railing and gazed down at the street below. After a moment, he looked back over his shoulder at his mentor. "It's Jazz." He said, before offlining his vision and allowing himself to fall backwards into the empty air space below. He was leaving the hell-hole, and he was doing it in style.

They both gasped as they resurfaced from the memory, the feeling of falling into empty space causing them to clutch at each other. Neither moved for a long time as their thoughts and feelings began to separate and become more individual.

"Huh." Jazz finally managed to choke out, sounding extremely strained. His gaze was fixed on the ceiling, and he refused to look at Prowl. "Haven't experienced that memory in a while."

The tactician simply lay beside him, unmoving. They were both sprawled together on the berth, and it was clear neither was planning to move an inch anytime soon. "Why Jazz?"

"Wha'?"

"Why did you pick the name Jazz?"

"Oh." The look on his face was thoughtful as he gazed at nothing. "Well... Theorem was always goin' on 'bout how your name was meant ta define ya, but also ta mean somethin' to ya. Ah chose Jazz because that mech was pretty much the reason Ah got outta that stinking Pit. Also..." He hesitated, frowning slightly. "Ah guess it was also 'cause Ah felt bad for killin' him. Ah mean, Ah took his life. So Ah figured, if Ah took his name and made a good life for mahself, all would be better. It... didn't quite work out like tha'."

After another moment of contemplation, Prowl enveloped the saboteur in a fond embrace. "I am sorry you had to suffer through all that. But you are so brave."

"Ah ain't though." Jazz whispered into the black and white chassis he was clutching at. "Ah did awful things t' try and make mahself forget everythin' that happened. And for some reason, killin' folks was one o' mah answers."

"It was what you were taught. You can hardly be blamed for that. Although it would be preferable if you perhaps stamped that habit out."

A chuckle escaped Jazz's chassis, and he nuzzled his partners nose. "You're good for meh, ya know that? Ah feel calmer when yo' around. Ah don't feel like stabbin' people so much."

Deciding not to answer that, Prowl pressed a kiss to one of the sensitive audio horns that were pressing into his chin. He smiled at the contented hum coming from the saboteur, and kissed the other horn. "Thank you for sharing that with me."

"Ah'd share anythin' wit' ya." The unstable mech said honestly, gazing up adoringly at his berthmate. "All ya gotta do is ask."

Prowl tilted the smaller mech's face up and kissed him softly. "You are beautiful." He murmured against the lips pressed to his.

"It's a pity Bee's sleepin' over there." Jazz muttered, before proceeding to tell the tactician exactly what he would have done to him if the youngling was not present. A shiver traveled up Prowl's spinal strut, and he kissed the smaller mech deeply. When they broke apart, a cheeky grin was plastered across Jazz's face. "How 'bout Ah come visit ya in yo' office tomorrow when Bee's visitin' Bluestreak?"

"I will be working."

"Well, ya can just take a break." Reaching up, Jazz tugged him down into another kiss.

Once they broke apart, the SIC began gently massaging the saboteur's hips with his thumbs. "Perhaps I could. But for now, I believe recharge is in order."

"Mmm." Jazz cuddled closer to his cutie pie and hummed softly. "Ah missed ya, Prowler."

"I missed you too, Jazz."

Sorry it's shorter than usual, the next chapter will be longer. I'd love it if you could leave a review!