Summary: When Jazz is promoted to Head of Special Operations, the last thing he expected was to have to work with a face from his past.
A/N: I have never written a multi-chapter transformers fic nor a Jazz/Prowl one before so we will see how this turns out...
Jazz strolled down the corridors of the Ark, ignoring the warnings flooding across his hud not to put any more pressure on his broken leg struts.
He was once again grateful that his job in special operations granted him the mods to turn off his pain receptors otherwise he would have probably shut down long before he'd even arrived at the trek that he'd ran across the acid plains.
Not that Ratchet wasn't going to blow a gasket when he found out anyways. But from a certain point of view it really was Optimus' fault for calling him back from his mission early. And escaping from the remains of Vos' central tower wasn't easy. Sure Jazz could have not jumped out the top floor window. But then that would've meant he'd miss the opportunity to jump out of a stained glass window and for that first free falling minute it had felt as cool as it looked in the holo-films that he'd seen as a sparkling.
Jazz continued his way along the corridors to Optimus' office, putting on a smile and greeting everyone he walked past, most of whom were already quick to welcome him back. He made plans to see people in the rec room and caught up on local gossip, figuring that with whatever reason OP had called him back, their troupes could use some cheering up.
It had emptied out by the time Jazz arrived at the command corridor. He was grateful for the momentary respite until he heard a shuffling from above.
That was all the warning Jazz got when someone dropped out of the vents on top of him.
He grabbed the weight from where it had landed atop his shoulders, rolling with it until the offender was pinned beneath him, a vibro-blade aimed at their neck.
"Gotcha!" Bumblebee cried with his usual cheer from where he had been sprawled onto the floor.
"I think you'll find I got you kid." Jazz said, catching his breath, thanking Primus he'd been able to hear the kid coming as he still was coming down from post-mission jitters. Accidentally killing the Prime's ward would not have been a good start to his stint back at the Ark.
Although looking at his new yellow armour, Bumblebee couldn't really be considered a kid anymore. He must've gotten his final upgrades since Jazz had been away.
The bot was still tiny, whether that was due to his natural sizing or the curse of being born and raised during a war, Ratchet had yet to give a definitive answer. But he had clearly nearly mastered his training if he'd been this close to getting the drop on Jazz. Not many bots could sneak up on him and live to tell the tale.
"Missed you my little mech." Jazz said, a genuine smile crossing his face as he put the blade away.
"I'm not little anymore." Bumblebee pouted as he scrambled up Jazz's arm like a cyber-possum to sit back on his shoulders. Jazz didn't bother to hold back his snort, grabbing the kid's stubby legs and leaning back on his knees until he fell onto his back, squishing Bee underneath him again with an ouff. The kid squirmed and protested but they both knew that he was alright. Bee had taken a lot worse during his training.
Life had shown Jazz that he would never be the type to settle down, never get conjunxed or have a sparkling of his own. But he was more than happy to play the fun uncle to Bumblebee and to show him how to survive in the fragged up world he'd had no choice to be born into.
Of course that was when Optimus decided to open the door to his office, raising an optical ridge of the sight of his top spy and ward play-fighting on the corridor floor.
"Hey OP!" Jazz said with a cheeky salute as Bee's pedes continued to kick him in the face.
"Jazz inside." Optimus ordered as though Jazz was the sparkling in this situation.
Still Jazz got up, finally letting Bumblebee free.
"See you later my little mech!" He called out as he strolled past OP into his office, not missing the young bot stick his tongue out behind him.
Jazz watched as OP sent a pointed look in Bumblebee's direction. The kid smiled an apology before scampering off to whether he had come from. He also didn't miss the way OP's eyes crinkled with the tells of a smile under his mask.
Not much had changed since the last time Jazz had been in Optimus' office. Neat and organised if you didn't count the stack of datafiles mounted on his desk with most of the back wall taken up with rows of databooks, because underneath the new Matrix infused frame he was still the same archivist Orion Pax that Jazz had met all those years ago.
"I call dibs on Bumblebee for spec opps when he signs up!" Jazz cried as straddled the chair in front of the desk.
He caught Optimus flinch as the big bot took his place behind the desk.
"That is not what we are here to discuss." Optimus told him, decisively changing the subject.
"Well I figured you didn't call me back just because you missed my good looks." Jazz said, sitting himself properly in the chair at the serious tone in his friend's voice.
"No." Optimus said with a grave pause. "Blackout is dead."
Fuck.
"How?"
"We believe her identity was discovered whilst she was undercover on the Nemesis. Communication was lost and soon after Megatron taunted me with her demise during a recent battle."
Jazz grimaced. He had expected as much when Prime had been the one to call him back instead of the head of special operations, even if a part of him had hoped that Blackout was injured or missing in action. It hurt to hear the words spoken out loud. However, that didn't explain one thing.
"Why do you need me here?" He asked.
"Because I need you to be our new head of Special Operations."
That Jazz had not been expecting.
It made sense. He has the most experience as a spy and he was the second ranking officer under Blackout's command. However...
"You know I'm not a leader, Optimus. I work better alone."
"You are well respected and liked amongst the Autobots."
Jazz held back another snort. Sure Jazz liked people and people liked him. But that didn't mean that he trusted them to put other peoples lives in their hands. He had made that mistake before.
"What about Mirage?" Jazz asked, although even as he said those words aloud, Jazz dismissed the idea. 'Raj was a good mech and his best friend. And though he could handle it, Jazz couldn't allow himself to force that weight onto someone else.
"I trust you." Optimus said with those big old blue optics that had previously convinced him to join the war in the first place.
Jazz sighed.
"I don't want to but I'll do it."
"Those who desire power should rarely be trusted with it." Optimus stated with his usual wisdom.
Jazz rolled his eyes.
"I still can't figure out if you have a list of one liners saved or if you come up with them on the spot."
Optimus' only response was the slight crinkle of his eye.
"I'll formally introduce you to the command team tomorrow. For now, get some rest."
Jazz took the casual dismissal for what it was and started making his way to the door when OP called his name.
"And Jazz, go see Ratchet."
A/N: Ao3 is down so guess who's back baby! Xxxxxxx