A/N: Here we go again. Do enjoy the adds and changes. Thank you to my betas for helping me along :) And so you all know there's a mech/femme switcharoo in here somewhere ^^

Miles and Mikaela had remained with Barricade and the newborn Sparklings. The Sparklings had gotten even closer to them to investigate while the humans listened to what they could actually hear coming from the wreck room. Mikaela remembered Blacklight and how he poked and prodded when he was first learning about her, so she led Miles to be still while they investigated. The girl looked back to the black and white femme and smiled. "It's a beautiful thing," she whispered.

A few minutes later, the lights around them brightened and the door opened, revealing Starscream, who was on the other side. The humans turned at the sound, Miles lost his balance in surprise but quickly caught it before he tripped over Barricade's tire-wrist thing. The Seeker stayed there a moment, observing what was going on.

The three Sparklings crawled away from the humans they were investigating at the sight of their mech creator and began moving down Barricade's body, happy to see him. The mech stepped in and walked straight to the berth they were all on. "She's probably going to be like this for a couple of days," the Seeker said, figuring if she hadn't woken by now, it was going to be a while. He put his hand down to the three who were now on Barricade's leg, reaching for him.

The humans looked to one another, and then Mikaela eyes followed the large hand until she was looking to Starscream's face, who was watching three newborns attentively. "Hey," she said, getting the Seeker's deep red optics on her, "we are gonna both run home. Think Breakdown is willing?"

"I don't know," Starscream replied with a slight shrug, "Go ask. If he isn't, someone else is, I'm sure,"

The teens shared a look. It was getting close to night anyway. They made their way to the ladder and proceeded to climb down, all the while watching the mech who was now holding his Sparklings. When they got to the bottom, realizing a moment when they saw one, they quickly left, leaving the mech to bond with his newborns.

"Night, 'Star," Miles gave a wave as he headed out the door. Stopping a moment with Mikaela, he just wanted watch his friend who seemed oblivious to them. The teen smiled and left, having not needing a reply from the Seeker.

Meanwhile, back at the Autobot base, things were still in disarray hours after Starscream had left. The sun was now setting. When it did, and the main, large doors were open, it shined in at an angle, sometimes blinding those sitting or standing directly in its shine. It now illuminated debris from the medical bay that had somehow landed outside of it from the events that took place earlier.

Everyone was talking about what had happened, trying to explain the events, trying to understand what had transpired from the moment Barricade had entered, until the moment Barricade had left. It quickly became a joke that everywhere Barricade went, trouble was sure to follow. In fact, if one thought about it, it seemed kinda true.

Prowl only wanted a moment of peace to speak to Optimus, but he was the one being pulled in every direction possible. The tactician let out what could only be a sigh as he finally found a moment of peace and seized it, leaning back on a wall since Optimus was busy still. His optics remained on the Second in Command not far from him as he thought about what had happened. Come to think of it, he hadn't even 'popped' as others called it.

Jazz was still being examined, much to his displeasure. He was easy going and all, but he still had his limits. It had come time for his internal exam, and Ratchet requested Jazz open his torso and he refused, not wanting to deal with being poked and prodded. After a cuff to the side of the head and a threat from the medic, Jazz's torso opened away from everyone towards a wall. The medic suddenly went eerily silent as if he was thinking about something. There was a small 'Hn' from him, which made the spy perk in question and look to him. The only reply he got was Ratchet grabbing him by his arm and pulling him from his sitting position. "Hey, hey, old timer, what gives?"

Ratchet's abruptness of course got everyone's attention on him. Looking around at everyone, he tugged again, this time pulling Jazz to his feet, "I need to confirm something, and for that I need absolutely no distractions and no extra optics or audios. Let's go, now."

Jazz complied, curious and concerned from the medic's statement. "Confirm what, Docbot? What's up?" Ratchet said nothing and led him to a different place where neither would be bothered. Jazz only dreaded what the medic would say. His silence was scary. Was something wrong with him, he didn't feel any pain so what could possibly have Ratchet in a twist?

Wheeljack and First Aid watched Ratchet take the lieutenant away. Both frowned at each other in concern when Ratchet shut the door behind him. He didn't do that very often. They wondered if they should stay on standby. Everyone was a little curious and worried as to why the medic took Jazz away without any indication as to how the Saboteur was even alive, or if he was alright after being brought back to life.

Optimus, discussing things from further away watched Ratchet, realizing the medic hadn't shared Jazz since the silver bot was pushed out of the medical bay by Starscream. Patiently he'd been waiting for the opportunity to talk to his Lieutenant again, but he waited, lest he get medical equipment thrown at him. The Prime hadn't said more than 6 words to Jazz and there was so much more he wanted to say. As his optics scanned the room, waiting for the next one to come to him about the events, he considered that the femme everyone calls 'Pit on Wheels' created more than one miracle today.

In the room where they could have privacy, Ratchet sat the spy down on a berth roughly, apparently anxious to get a better look at what he had apparently found. Not even waiting for Jazz to open his chest plates, he reached for the manual release and watched carefully toward the Lieutenant's Spark as it revealed itself to him. All the while, Jazz was becoming increasingly worried that something was wrong. "Hey, what gives, Docbot?"

After a moment to absorb what he saw, the CMO finally had the ability to form words, having been silenced by pure astonishment. Ratchet knew wasn't seeing things because his system identified it without hesitation. What was going on? He looked up at Jazz's optics, ignoring the worried look he was getting, "Tell me you knew about this?" he nodded toward what he spoke of.

Jazz tilted his head with a little hope that what Ratchet found wasn't detrimental to his life. "Knew about what?"

The medic stood straight and pointed down to the lieutenant's torso, his optic ridges furrowing in what appeared to be frustration, "You can't tell me you didn't know about that Jazz… How could you not?"

"What?" Jazz asked, looking down, wondering what Ratchet was talking about. The saboteur stopped as something came into view that shouldn't have been there. Had he grown a second Spark or something? Well… almost, "Huh, well isn' that somethin'! Neat!"

Ratchet huffed and continued to point, annoyed at Jazz's concern or lack thereof. "Jazz! What's wrong with you? Look!"

Having not looked up since looking down, the Lieutenant replied, "Uh, I am lookin' Docbot,"

The medic spoke harshly but quietly as to not announce it to everyone else. "Do you even know the implications of this?"

the TiC elbowed Ratchet playfully and then gave him a wink."I'd say these be some damn interestin' times ta be alive!"

He didn't like that look one bit. Of course, it would be Jazz to be so easygoing about it and to have fun with it. "This is impossible…" he folded his arms and pointed one digit at the SiC. "You are crazy. Still!"

The SiC couldn't help it and with a wide grin, replied, "That's the way I like it, uh huh, uh huh."

At that Ratchet face palmed; leave it to Jazz to do something like that.

The next day, Jazz had been watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity. Things had been crazy and rather all night and into the morning. The Lieutenant's visor-covered optics followed the tactician most of the early morning. Of course, today, he'd be busier than usual, given current events and whatnot.

Finally, he spotted Prowl going for his own quarters, which usually meant he was going to rest. As soon as he was in range as not to be immediately seen, the saboteur followed Prowl in and closed the door. Prowl, not expecting Jazz who came out of nowhere, turned with surprise when he heard a clunk, "Aren't you supposed to be with Ratchet?"

"I'm sure he's still recuperatin' from shock," Jazz said with a shrug. "How ya doin'?"

Prowl's optics turned suspicious. His friend had a smirk. It was known as 'The Jazz Smirk' for a reason. Looking to the door then back to Jazz, the tactician shook his head, "I'm fine and wish to remain fine, so before you even start, I don't want to know. I have a lot of work to do."

Jazz slid along the wall and stopped, determined to tell him, "Come on, Prowler," he begged cheekily, "you know how you're like my best bud and all, right?"

Prowl gave a confused, yet annoyed look. The saboteur was up to something. He could sense it. He reached for a data pad, all the while his optics remained on Jazz. "What part of 'I don't want to know' do you not comprehend?"

Jazz ignored the other mech, and with a step forward, said, "Well you know how they're sayin' the Allspark brought me back ta life and stuff, right?"

Prowl watched Jazz step closer and rolled his optics, accepting the fact he was going to hear it, like it or not. He was sure Jazz would cling incessantly to him if he tried to escape. Might as well humor him and proceed with what he could do. "Yeah, what of it?" Prowl turned in his seat, preparing to start filing on the data pad.

Jazz stepped forward again, this step smaller than the last so he was even closer to Prowl, then shrugged, "Well I think it like, did somethin' to me… or… somethin'."

The tactician deliberately looked to Jazz's feet, letting him know he was aware he was getting closer and that he was onto his 'guess what?' game. He huffed and folded his arms, getting tired of it. "I would hope that being brought back to life classifies as 'something', Jazz, what do you want?"

Jazz waved the idea off and gave Prowl a really wide grin, "Aww, that ain't nothin'…" the saboteur's torso broke apart suddenly, revealing the Spark that dwelled within and what Ratchet had discovered. "Check this out!"

Of course, the bright light getting his attention, Prowl looked and as his optics adjusted. He stilled, as if moving would make what he was seeing disappear. "…What-?" A sizzle followed shortly after.

Jazz's chest plates closed back up, watching as Prowl crashed to the ground unceremoniously. He then chuffed and nodded at the offline mech. "Knew that would get 'im, ha!" Making as if he was wiping his hands, he turned to leave with a shit-eating grin. It was Prowl's freeze-glitch that Jazz took advantage of every chance he could. He would bring rather unusual things to him first before anyone else, especially if they were sure to make him pop. This was why he made it a point to do such a thing now, being that no one else knew but Ratchet.

Jazz stopped in slight surprise as the door opened to reveal said medic who had heard the crash from outside. Ratchet took a moment and observed Prowl then looked to the saboteur, whose grin had completely vanished in an instant. He shook his head, knowing full well what Jazz had done. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" The Lieutenant heard him say, then burst out laughing at Ratchet's assumption from the look on his face.

Jazz finally calmed down enough to see the 'keep it up, I dare you' look. Trying to control his amusement at Ratchet's annoyance at the situation and Prowl's fainting, he said, "How could I possibly not, Docbot? You shoulda seen it! It was priceless! Look at 'im!"

Ratchet frowned and reached out to cuff Jazz upside the head for a second time, "I'm sure it was," he said unenthused, "Let's go."

Jazz ducked to avoid the offending cuff, but failed. "Ow," Rubbing where he was hit on the helm fin, he asked, "Where to now? I thought you were all done with this stupid testin'."

"Wheeljack wants to run some tests now." Ratchet replied.

"What? No way!" Jazz shook his head dramatically, "I just came back, I don't wanna die again so soon."

Ratchet reached to grab the smaller bot, saying, "You either come with me now-"

Cutting Ratchet off and quickly dodging out of reach, he whined, "Do I have to, doc?"

Sidestepping and grabbing for him again, Ratchet scowled and continued, "-or Prowl will order you to see me when he wakes up, and you know he will after that crazy stunt."

Jazz cringed, knowing Ratchet was right on his threat. He gave in with a loud, disappointed sigh. "Traitor,"

Optimus Prime had about had it with today and it hadn't started all that long ago. The door shut behind Prowl as the tactician left, and he locked it. He needed a moment to think and absorb all this. First and foremost, he had been waiting on any other news about what was going on with Jazz. Ratchet was being rather tight lipped and outright refused to answer his questions. By the look, Optimus knew that Ratchet was also trying to figure something out, as if he didn't even know that answer himself. The behavior was very unlike his old friend and it was starting to grate on the Commander.

He'd also wanted to know more about the birth, how the new Sparklings were doing and perhaps get some answers on the third Sparkling. Ratchet had only told him he had no idea what had happened, only that the Allspark shard had been involved and no other news had come in from Hook. The Decepticons hadn't said a word about what was going on, and Hook had already told him that Starscream was refusing admittance to even him until Barricade woke.

He hadn't tried to hail Starscream on a broke-in line but once, and when he did, he was met with ignorance and was told to buzz off. Of course, he was curious, having heard about the triplets and seeing Jazz walk around and now a completely silent and confounded CMO.

So far, he had as much information as Starscream – or so he thought. The missing Allspark shard is what concerned him the most. He knew deep down that Jazz and the third Sparkling had to do with the Allspark's disappearance. The indications of that was enough to make his head spin. In fact, he didn't want to think about it at all. Because Ratchet was busy, First Aid and Wheeljack were also looking for answers for him, but the information they had gathered wasn't sustainable enough because Ratchet had now gone silent until further notice.

To complicate things more, it seemed the Decepticon medic, Hook, wasn't allowed near Barricade or the Sparklings and Starscream wasn't saying anything except that he was pretty sure no life was in danger. The Prime knew that all of them still needed to be thoroughly examined, which probably wouldn't happen until Starscream was ready, anyway. He knew Starscream's scientific mind was also buzzing with curiousness, so it wouldn't take too long.

Curiously enough, however, information had gotten back to him that the Decepticon Commander was frazzled beyond belief. He had also gotten wind that there was disarray in the ranks because Starscream was apparently having problems with Thundercracker, Skywarp and Soundwave – all three of his closest comrades, but that's as far as it went. Concern had begun growing in the Autobot leader as to what could have put him in so much distress. With the Decepticon leader having problems with his men, could lead to far more dangerous problems. It wouldn't be the first time that the Decepticons went on a rampage because of problems higher up.

Turning his attention back to his Autobots and the goings on around the base, he concluded that Ratchet really hadn't told him much about Jazz except that he was in perfect health. Add to that, that Jazz played mute when Optimus asked about it as well, and yeah, it was beginning to frustrate him.

The medic certainly was running a barrage of tests, Optimus had to admit. Since he'd gotten his hands on poor Jazz, he hadn't stopped, really. He knew because of the strange occurrence of being brought back, Ratchet was paying special attention to his 1st Lieutenant – and with good reason. However, he was not too pleased to find out that Ratchet had apparently set a gag order on the saboteur, which sometimes happened with information that needed to stay between him and his patient.

Optimus was reasonably annoyed because of all the secrecy and Starscream wasn't helping matters. Even he had a limit to his patience, even if it seemed like forever to get there. Distracting him, the sound of Jazz being melodramatic, grabbing at doors and walls as Ratchet dragged him across the floor towards Wheeljack's lab, snapped him out of whatever annoyance he was feeling. Watching, the Autobot leader guessed Ratchet wanted to run more tests and Jazz wanted no part of it. A small smile played on his features as he watched Jazz be… well, Jazz.

As his optics followed the two, the leader thought to himself how blessed these strange turn of events actually were turning out to be. Since Jazz's death, nothing had been the same. He had always been there to brighten just about anyone. The saboteur always added to it with his freestyle touch. It was one of the reasons he liked him, and he was glad to be able to promote him. The leader chuckled as his lieutenant cried in some silly tone, "Help! The evil Doctor Hatchet has struck again!" There was the sudden clang of metal on metal as Ratchet reached out and thumped Jazz on the head for his cry.

Sideswipe's voice suddenly called in mock annoyance from across the yard outside, "Hey! That's my line!" having heard Jazz's plea for help from out where he was.

"You learned it from somewhere, punk!" Jazz quickly called back before the door shut. "That somewhere was from me!"

Optimus only shook his head with a smile as he stood. He had been waiting for Prowl to return, who still hadn't. Wondering what Jazz had done, the Autobot leader headed to the tactician's quarters, where Jazz had apparently been dragged from. Abruptly, he paused when the doors opened to reveal the white mech sitting on the floor with an annoyed expression on his features. "Prowl, are you alright?"

Prowl shook his head as he looked up, "Absolutely not, Prime," He got up rather quickly and looked out the doors to where he'd heard Jazz yell from, "I'm going to wring a certain someone's neck until their servos pop off their joints."

Seeing Jazz being dragged away, Optimus assumed that he was the culprit for Prowl's current mood. He did wonder what Jazz had done. "What happened?"

"Follow me and you're sure to find out," Prowl replied evenly.

Hot Rod stopped to look when he heard Prowl's tone. He didn't sound very happy.

Optimus gave Prowl a questioning look, "Not you too… What's going on, Prowl? Tell me,"

The tactician shook his head, still not quite sure what to make of it, "Something strange is going on."

Hot Rod couldn't help but chuckle hearing Prowl's statement, "Hah! You're just figuring that out now?"

Prowl turned a glare at the youngling then pointed, "You, brig!"

Hot Rod glanced at Prowl with a look of 'make me' and continued on his way, laughing.

Optimus turned to look at the retreating gunner. Prowl decided he was done and headed to Wheeljack's lab, in which was in the only direction he'd heard Jazz from. Optimus watched as Prowl began walking, all the while, he was beginning to wonder what really had transpired in this room and headed to find out, following the white mech.

Before they got to their destination, Blaster appeared out of nowhere, having found Optimus, and stopped him, in turn, stopping Prowl. "Hey boss, I got a transmission from the Aerialbots. They should make planet-fall in a couple Earth weeks. Silverbolt informed me that there's another group behind them, but contact is inconsistent at best. Autobots. No identifications as of yet."

"That's very good news," Optimus nodded as he saw Prowl marching off again and continued to follow. "Thank you Blaster. Keep us updated."

When Prowl got to where he heard Jazz's voice originate from, he found the doors locked. Figuring he knew why Ratchet was being so secretive and why Jazz was now in Wheeljack's lab, he input his own codes and the door opened, startling Wheeljack.

Jazz, who was being given a precise shot to the neck by Wheeljack, cried out when the precise shot missed, stinging when it shouldn't have, and looked up at the open door while rubbing the sore spot. He knew it wouldn't be long. A quiet grin graced his features for a second.

Jazz, who had been sitting toward the door, quickly turned and wrapped his arms around his chest as it closed off, hiding himself from Optimus and Prowl as if they had walked in on something they shouldn't have. "Hey! Would y'all at least knock first? I'm all exposed and stuff!" The saboteur looked away with mock annoyance, "You're both perverts."

Prowl and Optimus stood looking down at Jazz curiously, who turned his head slightly to look at them, all the while still holding his arms cross over his chest, legs dangling in fake annoyance. Before anyone could say anything, Prowl walked up and thwacked Jazz upside the head.

"Hey! What gives?" Jazz called with a mock pout, "What was that for?"

The white mech reached over and poked the silver saboteur harshly in the side of the head, getting a dirty look in return. "You deserved that and you know it. You did that on purpose."

"Was funny as Pit too," Jazz then snickered, remembering Prowl's fall to the ground.

Knowing this probably had to do with what went on in Prowl's quarters, Optimus asked, "What has him so upset at you? What exactly did you do to him, Jazz?"

Jazz got that smirk again. Prowl saw it and knew what was coming when the saboteur quickly turned and faced the Autobot leader. "Well… Now that you're askin', I made him go pop wit this!" His chest opened quickly to the leader to show him. Perhaps he would pop too upon seeing it. Ratchet groaned and Wheeljack only shook his head with a frown. They certainly hadn't wanted Optimus to find out like this. They wanted a formal meeting with him about it. But then again, this was Jazz.

Optimus' optic ridges furrowed in interest and confusion. He put his hands on his hips and tilted his head after a moment to absorb what he saw, "Can this be explained?"

Wheeljack set down a contraption he had been using to check Jazz with, then looked to Jazz, then to Optimus, "Maybe I'm going out on a limb here in saying it was the Allspark shard that changed him into a femme."

Jazz saw Optimus glance over at her and nodded. "Yup, ya heard right and saw right, Prime. Not only did I come back to life, I came back with additions!"

The Engineer turned and grabbed something then began running his fingers over it. The object lit up as he typed. After a few more seconds, he showed everyone. "It seems Jazz's resurrection did not affect his-"

"-Her!" Jazz suddenly corrected. "Get it right!"

"…Her…" Wheeljack drawled with slight annoyance, "-original personality or memory in any way, as you can surely tell," He then looked to Jazz who was giving an indignant frown for referring to the new her as an old news him. "Come on, Jazz, I use 'him' as a term from the time your Spark returned…" he stated, seeing the look. His attention then went to Optimus, "Based on what occurred, I can only theorize that the uniqueness of the situation is what brought her back and turned him into a femme. However we can't know more until we get information from Starscream and Hook."

Optimus knew the Allspark sometimes worked in mysterious ways, however this one topped them all. "Of course," Optimus answered then said, "I think it's time I had a meeting with Starscream about this," He also wanted to quietly make sure the young Seeker still had a handle on the other 'Cons.

Not hearing the Autobot Commander, the mech-turned-femme raised an optic ridge at Wheeljack, "You want 'uniqueness of the situation'…? I'll give ya a sit'iation de uniqueness, 'Jack…" the saboteur then said, pointing to her fingers one at a time. "First, the last thing I remember is bein' in Mission City in 'ole Meg's hands. Then I 'wake up' and there is a white sheet over me and I'm layin' on a berth or whatever. Of course, I'm wonderin' what is going on as I had no idea what happened after that moment that Meg's had me.

"Then I hear what sounds like 'Screamer talking to someone so I struggle under the sheets to find out it is him. I don't think he was expecting me, 'cause he looked both confused and scared. He then tells me I'm gonna wear his null ray up my aft. Well I certainly didn' wanna die so I told 'im not to shoot and I tried to uncover ma'self the rest of the way to figure out where I was.

"When I got the sheets off, I saw a trashed med bay – clearly the Hatchet's," Jazz gave a quick glance to Ratchet before continuing, "– energon was all over the place… complete mess. And there's 'Screamer wit Barricade sayin' she 'just gave birth'…" Folding her arms, she continued, "Well of course, I am even more confused, since the last I knew, Barricade was a mech.

"And if that wasn't enough, I suddenly get shoved out instead of killed to where I find everyone lookin' like they had just seen a ghost. And now… now I am a femme. Don't think it gets much more 'unique' than that." she finished, looking at them while they were still absorbing what she had said. "What universe did I come back to exactly? It's all weird and stuff…"

"You haven't seen anything yet," Wheeljack grinned at Jazz's choice of words. "So… what was it like to be dead? Do you remember?" the Engineer asked with a nudge. Of course he was curious! This was unheard of and he wanted to know as much as he could.

Jazz gave the engineer a quizzical look, "Didn't I jus' get done sayin' what I remember?" then she looked at everyone else in the room, "I did right?"

Jazz looked at the Engineer for a moment as if in thought, "Ya know, sorry to disappoint, but I have absolutely no idea. Don' remember a thing."

Wheeljack seemed to deflate slightly at hearing that, yet was a little confused. "So you don't remember what happened after you died?"

"I don' even feel like I died. Can we stop talkin' about it? Really? It's creepin' me out."

"I need information of what may have happened during the Spark-birth." Ratchet informed, knowing this was the only way to get answers since no one else was in the room but Starscream and Barricade. "It's the only way to determine just how unique the situation really was…" He paused to glance at Jazz, "Until then, we can only speculate." The medic looked to his leader, "Should you meet with Starscream, I would like any information he has found out."

Optimus nodded, "I'll ask."

"I think I will talk with Runner as well." Prowl noted, feeling he might get more information since he was Barricade's sibling, plus he really wanted to see her new Sparklings. She might know something, and if it was extraordinary, she may perhaps tell him.

Back at the Decepticon base, having returned that morning, Mikaela had been checking on the still recharging Barricade when Soundwave walked past. Starscream had taken the newborns previously after they'd had their fill from their femme creator to let her rest in peace. Having made sure all was in order with the black and white femme, the girl rounded the corner, stalking Soundwave.

She followed her into her own quarters before the door shut and stood there waiting to be noticed. Soundwave, only knowing where the humans were at one point, wasn't really paying attention to where they got to in a short time, so being busy with other things, she didn't notice her tail until it was too late.

Finally, she had caught the femme who seemed to have been avoiding her. The fact the girl had been stalking the telepath hadn't gone unnoticed even by some of the others, who were getting a kick out of it. However, when it was brought up, Soundwave simply ignored it. Mikaela had to stifle back a laugh when Soundwave turned and froze at the sight of her. She didn't think anything could shake the great Soundwave… until now. "Gotcha," she winked, having won the game.

The girl stared at Soundwave, tonguing her cheek with a smirk. Soundwave only stared back with her all too still gaze. The stare down had gone on for some time and neither of them had spoken a word. Mikaela was defiant enough not to show how much Soundwave's gaze skeeved her out as she continued to stare directly at her visor. It was a battle of the staring wills at hand. Of course, Soundwave could have blinked under that mirror for all she knew…

Finally deciding to break the awkward silence, Mikaela started nonchalantly. "So-"

"-I'm leaving," the telepath quickly interrupted before the girl could say anything more. She was sure she could find a computer to get lost in and pretend the girl didn't exist. Mikaela watched her leave. She knew why Soundwave had been avoiding her. It was because Soundwave knew she was going to ask questions that she didn't want to answer – specifically about her recently revealed secrets.

This was going to be fun.

So there you have it :)