Even when cashing in every favour he had left, it took Jazz three days to reach the Nemesis. Devcon took him half of the way in his ship but after that Jazz would have to make on his own.

So he drove through the night. Not once did he stop to rest. His mods could hide the physical pain of hunger but there was little they could do for the mental pain of exhaustion. Fortunately, he'd travelled father on less sleep so it wasn't anything he wasn't used too. Besides, the most important thing was getting to Bumblebee before Megatron finished whatever it was that he was doing to hurt him.

For once luck appeared to be on Jazz's side as he drove over the rocky ruins of Kaon to see that the Nemesis was settled on the ground. Most likely the 'cons didn't have enough energon to spare for flight. Making it relatively easy for him to sneak through the waste shoots until he reached the ship's brig.

All but one of the cells were empty. Which wasn't particularly surprising since the Decepticons weren't in the habit of keeping prisoners. Logic would dictate that Bumblebee should be in the last cell but Jazz wasn't going to fall for such an obvious trap.

He had once known Megatron well enough to call him a friend. Therefore he also knew that Megatron wasn't going to keep the trophy of a Prime's ward hidden away in his dungeon. No, he was going to display it somewhere for all too see. And not someplace common like a rec-room or a navigation bridge. Somewhere that Megatron could accessorise the power that he controlled.

Jazz ignored the sealed door of the last cell and instead crept his way to the Throne Room. Unlike the Ark, the Nemesis had been built for battle not exploration. So there weren't as many secret paths reflecting that. But Jazz wasn't a spy for nothing so he was able to avoid the few patrols he came across easily. Perhaps a little too easily.

Once at the Throne Room, with no other exits, Jazz had no choice but to enter through the main doors. He had never been much of a believer, still he sent a quick prayer to Primus that Megatron would not be waiting for him.

He was not.

But Bumblebee was.

There in front of the throne, his yellow body had been skewered onto a metal slab, limbs spread apart like a taxidermist cyber-hawk on display.

Despite knowing that this too was a trap, Jazz was already racing towards Bumblebee.

Miraculously, most of the young bot's body appeared uninjured.

That was except for the river of energon boiling from his throat.

With one hand Jazz started undoing the restraints whilst the other scooped up the warm energon guzzling from Bumblebee's neck in an attempt to find the wound.

At first Jazz feared that Megatron had slashed Bumblebee's throat. But as the energon kept pouring and Jazz kept scooping he realised that this was no cut. That he was just digging his hand into a hole as the entire front chunk of Bumblebee's neck was gone. Megatron had ripped the voice box right out of his throat.

Jazz had seen a lot of shit during his time in special operations. And this was far from the worst injury he'd seen. But right now Jazz felt as though he was going to throw up.

Jazz forced down the regurgitation of energon and grabbed the biggest metal patch he had brought with him and covered the gaping hole as best as he could. Energon still leaked through the unsealed seems but it would have to last until Jazz could get Bumblebee to Ratchet. If not, then the amount of energon lost would kill him.

Bumblebee jolted at the press of cold metal to his throat, blue optics blowing wide open, seeing everything but Jazz right in front of him.

Jazz hated that he recognised the lack of recognition in Bumblebee's eyes.

Hands still sticky with energon, Jazz cradled the young scout's head, forcing him to focus on his face.

"You're safe now my little mech. It's me, your Uncle Jazz." He said, forcing a smile.

Slowly, recognition blinked into Bumblebee's eyes.

He opened his mouth in an echo of Jazz's name but all that came out was a gagging of energon.

"Its alright. Don't try to speak." Jazz shushed.

Bumblebee then kept tapping his chest then what was left of his lips all whilst shaking his head. It took a moment for Jazz to realise that the kid was trying to reassure him. That he didn't tell the Decepticons anything. It nearly broke Jazz's spark.

"I know you didn't. I'm so proud of you my big mech." Jazz told him, when what he really wanted to say was he didn't give a shit if he spilled every last Autobot secret, all he cared about was that he was alive. But that wasn't what Bumblebee needed to hear right now.

Sure enough, a spark of resilience reignited in the young scouts optics, and the last shards of Jazz's spark broke.

"I was expecting Prime."

Bumblebee froze in terror. And Jazz's visor flashed red. He placed himself between Bumblebee and Megatron, who had materialised from out of the shadows behind his throne.

The warlord was angry. Not an uncommon sight. Except here that anger appeared to be more of an annoyance. That his plans to see Optimus in pain had been ruined.

For once in his life Jazz didn't have a Whitty retort of charming comeback. Wielding his blade, he went straight for Megatron's spark.

Megatron had not been expecting that.

But the Decepticon leader had been raised in the gladiator pits. Instinct must've kicked in as he backhanded Jazz's intended strike. Jazz moved with the hit, spinning around to try again. But Megatron was ready this time and grabbed his knife wielding arm. Jazz used the other to punch him in the face.

Punching Megatron was like hitting a steel wall and the guy had gotten used to being hit in the head. All Jazz appeared to do was piss him off as Megatron roared in retaliation.

Jazz tried his best to doge the warlord's blows whilst truing to deliver hits of his own. This wasn't like Megatron's fights with Prime. Megatron wasn't just fucking with him. They both knew that either of their deaths could mean the end of the war. So they were both aiming to kill.

Suddenly Megatron succeeded in grabbing him around the neck. Having already seen the evidence of what those his massive digits could do, Jazz knew he had to escape before they could crush Jazz's throat too. He wrapped his legs around Megatron's arms and kicked him in his elbow struts. It was enough to loosen, Megatron's grip and Jazz turned as he fell, dropping his knife to use his fore-armour to brace his fall. But before he could push up to his pedes, Megatron grabbed him again, this time from the back. Now no matter how hard Jazz thrashed, from this position he could not hit the warlord.

He was powerless as Megatron easily lifted him, grabbing his aft with his other hand and slamming him onto the sharp edge of his knee. Even with his pain receptors turned off, Jazz felt something in his spinal cord snap. Still he tried to claw at Megatron's chest, so the Deception leader simply lifted him above his head, unable to retaliate as Megatron tried to rip him in half.

Suddenly gravity captured Jazz in his grip as they both crashed to the floor.

Stunned from the impact, it took Jazz a second the register the sight of Bumblebee.

Standing on unsteady feet, the kid was bleeding from where he must've tipped off the remaining restraints and wielding an energon soaked knife in front of Megatron's severed leg.

The action must've taken every drop of energy Bumblebee had left, as not a second later he too collapsed.

Jazz didn't waste a moment. He scooped up the body, ignoring the warnings nearly blinding his own HUD and sprinted for the nearest exit, which in this case was the stained glass window of the Throne Room.

But even a severed leg could not stop Megatron. The monster crawled after them, shooting and screaming at them as they ran.

Not having time to stop and shoot, Jazz covered Bumblebee's helm with his hands and smashed through the window.

Even in unconsciousness, Bumblebee clung to him, burying his small head against his black and white chassis just like he when they had first found him all those years ago.

Despite the Nemeisies not currently being in the air, it was still at least a three storey drop to the ground. Jazz switched modes at the last second, grateful once again for his mods as his wheels hit the ground hard.

Seekers shot at his retreating form but thankfully, a large number of them, including the elite Trine, must have still been injured after their attack. Mindful of the precious cargo now bleeding into his back seat, Jazz serpentined around their shots until he was able to loose them in the underground caverns of the rust planes.

Jazz did not stop once the entire drive home.

A/N: It's a canon event guys! I had to! I'm so sorry! Xxxxxx