A hidden femme's secret - Part Three Point Five

[usagi_atemu_tom]

Title: A hidden femme's secret
Subtitle: Daring Rescue
Part: 3.5/3
Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom
Verse: TF-Bayverse
Anniversary Challenges: Week four prompt - # Dark of the night
Rating: NC 17
Genre: romance, drama
Warnings: slash, death (no main character), mentions of abuse and talk about rape, description of interfacing (non-sticky)
Pairings: Jazz/Prowl
Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=

Summary: Jazz decides to go back to where it all started one more time to rescue the femmes she has grown up with. But this time her journey will not be alone. Prowl is as faithful as ever, ready to stand by her side. And he is determined to prove to the special ops agent, that he will never intentionally break the trust she put in him.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:
Vorn - 83 years
Stellar-cycle - 7.5 months
Orn - 13 days
Joor - 8 hours
Breem - 6 minutes
Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second
Klick - 1 millisecond

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.


Jazz sat huddled down at the same place she occupied since the moment she had been shoved into her new prison. The femmes, all former fellows in misery when they had been taken by the Breeders the first time, had recognised her immediately, expressing their relief at seeing her after only been told that she was still alive ever since their recapture.

They had tried as best as they could to comfort the seemingly sparkbroken Sparksong and Jazz had taken her time to carefully observe each and every femme for any sign that another traitor was put among them. When she could find nothing but sincere concern, she acted as if she had finally calmed down and started to ask about their health and situation. Learning as much as she could about what happened after her escape, the saboteur wasted no time to inform the other prisoners that she had never again been a prisoner after the escape until now and how Darkfin turned out to be a traitor, a femme paid by the Breeders and doing her job without a care for her fellow femmes.

The disbelief and later rage and upset was certainly sincere from what Jazz could see. Joors had gone by where the femmes talked and were brought some rather cheap tasting energon. Finally the Autobot third in command had been able to coax the prisoner femmes into a rather exhausted recharge. Now, she was waiting for the very sign she knew would initiate step three of their plan.

The awaited signal happened a quarter joor after the femmes had fallen into recharge. The saboteur was faking her own charge when her sensitive senses noticed a small noise just above her head where the opening of the air vent could be located. Concentrating the Autobot femme waited until she hear the noise again. It was a small sound, not unlike a petrorat sounded when it scurried along the metallic pipes inside a building.

"Wheels!" Jazz whispered, quiet enough that neither bugs nor the femmes would be able to hear it.

"Jazz!" an equally quiet whisper replied and then the tiny head of the former Decepticon gazed out of the vent. While the opening was certainly too small to allow Jazz through, the tiny ex-Decepticon with the alt-mode of a toy car, never had a problem getting through. In fact, he was so small that he fit perfectly well into one of Prowl's hidden compartments inside his chest armour. The very compartment Darkfin had not noticed when she searched through the drugged Autobot second and third in command.

"How's Prowl?" was the first thing the special ops agent wanted to know after he had been assured that it was really Wheels sitting inside the vent.

"Fine", the former Decepticon whispered back. He's sitting inside a room just like yours waiting for my return with some nice femmes at his side, lucky mech."

Tilting his head a bit so she could glare right at the tiny mech, Jazz bared her teeth in a small threatening gesture.

"Wheels, this is no fun trip and the femmes here have been through enough shit", she told him sharply, but quietly. "Let's not waste precious time. Report, what did you get out?"

Giving a soft noise of apology, Wheels concentrated on his job.

"Prowl's been isolated but taken care of well so far", he reported seriously. "He is with 5 femmes, just like you. There are no more prisoners as far as I could tell and I really swept through the whole base. The doors to your room and Prowl's are always watched by two mechs. There is also a alarm system installed into the door, that will sound this awful noise every time the door is opened, whether with the right code or not. I was able to hack into the system without their notice to take a closer look, but it's nearly impossible to change the code or avoid it. I am not sure if even you could pull it off. Anything you do will always lead back to triggering this noise. They certainly seem to be afraid that another breakout could take place."

Jazz nodded understandingly, faceplates hard and grim.

"They prepared for mah capture", she concluded. "They certainly know that Ah'm good at these kind of things, even if they've no idea how good Ah've really become. Seems hackin' through th' door's locks an' overwhelmin' th' guards just became out of the question."

"Sorry, but I fear you are right", Wheels agreed. "Of course I could always report back to Ironhide, give him the coordinates and they start an attack which should give you the time to move out the femmes."

"No, too risky", Jazz objected. "Even wit' a surprise attack, Ah don't expect Fender t' be as stupid as t' not send some Breeders t' watch us. Wit' weapons involved th' femmes are at risk, no matter if th' Breeders are more interested in keepin' them alive. No, our original plan certainly just went out of th' window wit' ya current report, Wheels."

"What about the trustworthiness of the femmes?" the tiny Cybertronian wanted to know.

"Ah talked t' each of them", the saboteur told him. "They're genuine in their emotions. None's another agent put in t' spy on us, as far as Ah can tell an' this time Ah'm certain that Ah'm good enough at mah job t' not oversee a traitor when she stands in front of mah optics. What about Prowler's group?"

"Clean, just as yours as far as we can tell", Wheels reported back. "But just in case I recorded the whole discussion between our second in command and the femmes on a datafile for you to look through. Catch!"

And with those words a small, barely to be seen data chip fell from the opening of the vent into Jazz's already waiting servos. She immediately inserted the chip into her hidden port where she was able to get access to it whenever she wanted, without anyone being the wiser. Looking through the contents, while Wheels waited more or less patiently in his hiding place, the Autobot femme finished her observation with a satisfied grunt, pulling out the chip again and throwing it right back into the vent where the small ex-Decepticon caught it rather clumsily.

"They're clean", Jazz told the small mech. "As for our next step, since plan Gamma's for naught, are ya aware of plan Delta?"

"Of course I am", Wheels snorted. "It was Prowl who instructed me, or have you forgotten? He certainly made sure that I'm aware of every stupid detail, even things I really did not care to know about nor do I need to."

Chuckling the saboteur acknowledged the former con's awareness of the plans.

"Well then get th' pit our of here an' report th' position back t' our friends. Tell Mirage t' get ready an' Ironhide t' make his move. Prowl an' Ah're waitin' for his sign."

"Understood, Jazz", Wheels confirmed quietly. He started his careful retreat inside the vent, though not before addressing the Autobot third in command one last time?

"And Jazz?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck!"

"Thanks, mechlet!" the saboteur chuckled. Then the soft, scraping noise was gone, indicating that she was alone with the femmes and her own fears and worries of a plan's failure.

Because it was part of her act, Jazz had forced herself into recharge even if everything inside her spark and processor was screaming for her not to do so. Still sensitive to every single noise however, the saboteur startled online again, when steps indicated someone nearing the door.

Then the loud noise of the alarm penetrated the silence of a new cycle, startling all the other resting femmes out of recharge. It was Fender with nine other Breeders, who walked into the room.

"Prepare yeself for leaving, sweetsparks", the leader shouted at the scared femmes huddled together into one corner. Jazz, already back into her role as protector stood right in front of them all, glaring at mech.

"An' where do ya think, we're goin'?"

Sending the troubling saboteur a dark look, the Breeder flexed his servos, his body tense.

"Ye're accompanying us to the place where we usually meet customers", he finally told her, adding threateningly. "And ye're following quietly or ye bondmate'll pay the price of ye disobedience, understood?"

Gnashing her teeth, Jazz forced her own body to relax, when the mechs came over to give every single femme apart from herself a quick polish of their armour.

"We've a prospective buyer", the Breeder explained to the mecha present. "Each wants their own bondmate and if they're satisfied with our service, they might be able to organise two more interested parties for us. Certainly a good cycle to start business."

The Autobot special ops snorted at those words dismissively.

"Ya can't break a bond an' ya can't bond a fully bonded couple to a third", she told him slowly as if talking to a sparkling. "So what's mah business there?"

"Oh please, Sparksong", Fender mocked. "After ye last stunt, ye honestly don't expect me to leave ye here with ye bondmate. Ye come with me so I can keep an eye on ye. Now be a good femme and allow them to insert the drug into ye systems. Think of ye bondmate. At least ye can see her again today."

During his explanations, two mechs had tried to grab Jazz and insert something into her energon line. Of course the femme had not allowed that.

"Why the knockout?" she growled, baring her teeth at the two mechs.

"Because ye are not supposed to see where ye are and where we take ye", the leader of the Breeders told her. "Again, I remind ye of your bondmate!"

Letting out an angry snarl, Jazz stilled her body and tried not to flinch as the drug was inserted into her systems. The only mech she had ever allowed to knock her out - though of course not exactly by her choice - was Ratchet. But the moody Autobot medical officer seemed to be so far away, that the saboteur for one klick was overcome by the feeling of homesickness. However, the feeling was gone just as suddenly as it came and stoically she watched her fellow femmes falling to the ground after being knocked out. She already lost her ability to control her own body, and soon darkness enveloped the saboteur.

When Jazz came to again, the first thing she noticed was that she was outside. Her optics took in her surroundings blearily, while she fought to get rid of the remaining effects of the drug. Other femmes stirred as well, but since she was used to her systems ability of flushing out drugs far quicker than an average bot, the second in command suspected, she had been given a stronger dose than her fellow sufferers.

Looking around some more she spotted Prowl's slumped body just a few steps away from her own, just then starting to stir. Noticing the Breeders occupied with securing the grounds -they did not expect anyone to wake up so quickly - she crawled over to her lover and pushed herself against his body. Satisfied with her new position, Jazz took the time to study their surroundings once more. They seemed to be inside a yard, belonging to an industrial plant. In fact the saboteur strongly suspected that they were still inside the grounds of the same factory that kept them prisoner.

Finished with her observation, the special ops agent decided there was nothing to do right now but wait till Prowl and the other femmes woke up again. Snuggling against her fellow officer's body, she offlined her optics, straining her senses while she waited.

Prowl awoke out of his forced recharge with a start. Jazz only noticed his onlining because of the small movement his body made. Feeling her servos being squeezed slightly in silent greeting, Jazz squeezed right back, letting the tactician know that she was awake and well.

Prowl took in his own impression of their current surroundings before he joined the saboteur in her pretence of still being offline. Both bots listened as hasty footsteps suddenly sounded at the entry to the yard and a mech came into view.

"Fender, they are coming!" the arriving Breeder told the leader who immediately barked his order to wake up the femmes and make them presentable. By the time Darkfin and two other Breeders lead the customers inside, all femmes stood huddled together at one place, with Jazz and Prowl protectively in front of them.

When the customers arrived, one of the two leading Breeders immediately approached Fender.

"Sir, Ah just got word from th' spaceport", he reported to the current leader. "The ship that was supposed to contain Scapeground's group, did not bring them."

Faceplates and optics darkening, Fender growled in obvious displease.

"That's the last ship inside the time frame Scape had specified", he rumbled. Jazz and Prowl, who had heard the whole conversation, exchanged a hidden, worried look, the Autobot femme going as far as to curse inside her processor. So the time they had was finally up. If they wanted to free the femmes before mistrust about Scapegrounds disappearance came up, they needed to hurry.

Meanwhile Fender came to his own decision.

"We take care of the deal here, then we will immediately investigate what happened over there on that mudball they call Earth", he ordered and the Breeders who had listened, nodded. Throwing his worries for the real leader of their group aside for now, Fender turned to the arrived customers with a big smile plastered over his face.

"Welcome, my dear friends", he addressed their potential buyer. "I am Fender, and I am pleased to introduce ye to the finest femmes ye could find right now!"

The customers, lead to their group by Darkfin now, composed of three mechs. The first one was a dark red, nearly black with blue optics. He was bulky built, had a hard looking armour and two big cannons on both arms which at the moment were secured. The dark look he wore on his faceplates was frightening and some of the femmes shrank into each other, already fearful of their fate.

The next mech was lithe and of bright, red colour. He seemed easy going and looked at the femmes with open curiousity. His blue optics were friendly enough and he seemed nearly nice if not for the small, nearly invisible light weapons on his right arm which he absentmindedly fiddled around with.

The third mech wore a colouring of gold, the paint gleaming as if freshly polished and waxed. He, while just as lithe as the red mech, looked just as dangerous and bad tempered as the first mech, their scowls nearly matching. He had bright if a bit cold looking, blue optics.

"Are these really all femmes you have?", the first mech addressed Fender, after he finished inspecting every single one of them. Before the Breeder could answer however, Jazz pushed forward, nearly succeeding in jumping at the dangerous looking mech, if not for three Breeders acting just in time of holding her in place.

Struggling the femme snarled right at the dark red coloured customer, voice unafraid.

"Ya fragger, ya really believe these aftheads would leave any femme behind wit' such a promisin' offer? Just don't expect any of us t' give in an' make this easy for ya!"

Her rant was interrupted when one of the Breeders holding her backhanded her across the faceplates. Let go by the other two mechs the moment she was hit, the saboteur stumbled backwards from the blow and would have fallen to the ground if not for Prowl who shot forward and caught her with his own body at the last moment.

"Sparksong!" he called out to her before glaring at the mech, who dared to hit his beloved.

"I will not forgive you for this!" he declared, voice surprisingly calm which unnerved the addressed Breeder more than anger or the threat itself would have. Jazz, faceplates currently buried into the chest of her supposed bondmate, grinned coldly to herself, knowing that her lover's attitude was just what he intended to cause them discomfort.

Fender, angered at the unplanned disruption, snapped his fingers together in a sign and two of his subordinates immediately grabbed both of the supposed femmes and pulled them aside from the rest of the group.

"Please do not heed those two any attention", he informed his three customers. "While we had to take them with us to ensure they would not try to escape, I sadly cannot offer them as bonded, because they are already bondmates to each other. However", here his faceplates took on a greedy look as he pointed at Prowl, "the one over there is currently expecting a sparkling which we could always offer, if you do not wish to wait for your own bondmate to be sparked."

"Interesting offer", the bright red mech mused. "Though right now I would rather take a look at all those nice femmes you have to offer as bondmates. So, can we concentrate on them first?"

"Of course, of course", the eager Breeder complied, putting everyone's attention to the prisoner femmes. Even the two mechs supposed to watch Jazz and Prowl were looking with half an optic at the negotiating taking place. Which was the exact reason why they did not notice the stasis cuffs that bound their prisoners' servos behind their backs, suddenly being deactivated by thin air. Nor did anyone notice the signal in the form of a nod tactician and saboteur gave to their unseen helper. Both sets of stasis cuffs moved before suddenly vanishing. The two Autobots however, stood with their servos behind they backs, looking like nothing had happened and they were still bound and helpless.

Silently Prowl and Jazz put their attention to the current discussion, biding their time, waiting for the right moment. Right now the golden and dark red mech were inspecting the femmes, ushering their guards aside a bit, to have more space for looking them over thoroughly.

The bright red mech on the other hand was busy small talking to Fender, both of them standing apart from the main group, closer to Prowl and Jazz in fact. Currently the two mechs were discussing the war and the end of it.

"No, no", the leader of the Breeders said. "I've had my fair share of Autobot and Decepticon customers during the war, though mostly just for using the femmes. Nevertheless some Decepticons certainly requested sparklings to restock their number in the ongoing fight."

"What a waste", the red mech growled, shaking his head.

"I agree", Fender hastily admitted. "Yet at the beginning it seemed Decepticons were the wiser choice to do business with. After all, they had the right ideas and ideals, while the Autobots certainly seemed to all think along the lines of that idiot Optimus Prime."

"Yet you still did business with some of the bots as well?" the other mech wanted to know.

"Of course, and some of the more important ones as well", the Breeder bragged. "I soon found out that not all bot's are as stupid as that Prime seems to be. Some have the right ideas. I mean, did you ever see, or at least hear about, that weapons specialist Ironhide, how he acts on the battlefield? Some say he's a bit too alike with how cons fight."

"So you know him?" the interested customer wanted to know while he strangely enough started to grin. Frowning, the leader of the Breeders wanted to answer but before he had a chance to, the mech was cut off by Jazz's sudden laughter.

"What are ye laughing at, ye useless femme?" the angry mech scowled at her, certainly aggravated by her mocking amusement.

"Ya never had t' look out for Autobots before, when ya hid in yer hole durin' the war, did ya?" the saboteur drawled scathingly. Fender laughed outright at that.

"Are ye kiddin' femme?" he asked her mockingly. "Why do ye think we survived the war and are currently so well back in business? The bots an' cons are interested in sparklings just as much as every other mech. Did ye know that the Autobot second in command was the one to approve our current hiding place, sometimes even sends customers our way?"

Some of the femmes gasped at those news, while others looked resigned. The Breeders chuckled cruelly and their leader smirked at the unfazed looking Jazz.

"Yes, dear Sparksong, the Autobot second and even their third in command are one of our best contacts, and recently Prowl asked for a sparkling of his own, now that peace is finally settling in again."

At his last words, the red painted customer could not hold in a snort of laughter, while his gold coloured partner sent a smirk right over to where Prowl stood besides Jazz. Darkfin seemed a lit taken aback as well as annoyed at the aloof way those two mechs acted.

"And what, dear mechs, is so funny about this?" the femme drawled, hands on her hips.

"Sorry", the bright red mech snickered, amused, "but the idea of Prowl, always-do-it-by-the-book Prowl, wanting a sparkling, let alone one taken through an illegal deal, is just too ridiculous to imagine without laughing. The sparkling part, I might add. In fact I dare say he would rather be right in the middle of these poor femmes ready to defend them from mecha like you than to buy his own sparkling, wouldn't he, mechs?" he asked grinning at his two companions.

Unable to help himself, Prowl revved his engine slightly in an unhappy growl, glaring over at the amused mech while the dark red and golden mech as well as Jazz smirked over at Fender. Attention pulled by the annoyed rev of the tactician, the Breeder only noticed the saboteur's smirk however and glared at the femme threateningly when he realised the cold amusement gleaming in her optics.

"What are ye smirking at, femme?" the mech demanded to know which made Jazz chuckle slightly in dark glee.

"Ya know, th' fact that ya tried t' unsettle meh by claimin' th' second an' third in command t' be yer customer's just a sad example of how much slag ya talk when in reality both of them are here right now to save every single femme held prisoner by yer servos. In fact, Ah'll tell ya a little secret. Th' Autobot third in command? That would be MEH!"

And with those words Jazz sprang into action before any of the Breeders could react. She kicked her two guards to the ground, leaving them at the mercy of Prowl, who already held the guns he had hidden in his secret compartment, against their headplates. Though the tactician could not resist handing out a strong kick against the knee joint to the one mech that had hit his lover earlier. Jazz however did not even look at what happened behind her back. She simply reached for Fender and before the mech realised what was going on, his body crumpled to the ground, deactivated by an energon knife sliced through his neckcables.

The murder of their leader brought the other Breeders back to life it seemed, however Jazz's attack was all the Autobots ever needed as signal. Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Ironhide, their fake colours still in place, already had two Breeders per bot overwhelmed. Mirage, who had successfully used the little trick he possessed of becoming invisible to free Prowl and Jazz while the twins and the weapon's specialist were distracting the audience, used his invisibility again to overwhelm mech after unsuspecting mech, knocking them offline for a while.

The other Autobots as well as their Decepticon allies were also there. Bumblebee and Hound, followed by Chromia and even little Wheels, focused their weapons on the overwhelmed mechs and one femme, whose optics shone bright with shock and fear.

From the air, Starscream and Thundercracker flew in loops over the heads of the groundbound, strafing every one of the Breeders who so much as dared to think about running or trying to return fire. The last of their group, Skywarp with his special ability, suddenly showed up right beside one of the femmes and took care of every keeper that had been supposed to watch the femmes as carefully as they could.

The fact was, the Breeders stood no chance. While superior in numbers, not only were they taken totally by surprise, but they were also nothing but civilians that happened to be scofflaws. Neither the mechs nor the one femme were battle-hardened warriors like the cons and bots currently overwhelming them.

The resistance of the Breeders lasted all of one and a half breems before the last mech gave up. Besides Fender's very much intenional death only three more of the thirty ended up terminated by some unlucky shot, while one mech nearly offlined from being buried by a collapsing building, courtesy of Ironhide's cannons.

Darkfin, who was now the highest ranking member of the Breeders, stared in stupefied disbelief at her cuffed servos, unable to believe the truth of the moment. Finally she looked up, searching the face of the femme that was smirking right at her faceplates.

"Impossible", the femme Breeder shrieked, enraged. "How did those... these miscreants even find us? No one knew, we made SURE the femmes did not talk."

"True, they didn't talk, but Ah also didn't lie when Ah told Fender Ah'm second in command", Jazz told the enraged femme serenely. "An' even wit' th' war over, Prowl an' Ah're rather close t' our Prime. In fact, we're part of th' groups investigating mechs that wish t' bond t' a femme, exactly because of how rare those are. So, imagine mah surprise when Ah was supposed t' take a look at th' newest petitioner an' recognised Scapeground an' Softglow."

"Scapeground", Darkfin moaned, shocked. "What did ya do to him?"

The saboteur grinned at her dangerously.

"Guess", she purred and the Breeder's body sunk to the ground, finally defeated.

"Ya killed him", she cried, voice sounding truly devastated. "Ya killed the boss!"

Whispers went around the other prisoner Breeders, fear glowing even stronger in their optics now.

"He didn't even know who he was dealin' wit' until his deactivation", Jazz agreed carelessly. "Unlike Fender an' ya, he never suspected who Ah had been."

"Ya murderer!" the devastated femme, cried into his face. "Ya tricked us. This was all a plan, to turn us over to the stupid authorities under command of that stupid Prime."

Her words did nothing but cause he third in command to scoff at her while Prowl, now without a hologram concealing his true form, came to stand right beside the saboteur. The tactician even went as far as to put his arm around his lover's side.

"Comin' from ya Ah' not sure if ya mockin' yerself or complimentin' meh", Jazz told Darkfin while leaning into the embrace offererd by her friend. "Ah just returned th' favour of yers all those vorns ago, when ya betrayed all of us. Nevertheless, I've seen enough of ya scum. Get her away from meh!

The Autobot special ops agent looked pointedly at Thundercracker and Chromia who had taken a stance beside Darkfin during their talk, the blue coloured Autobot femme looking quite disgusted with the Breeder. Nodding to their leader of the current operation, the two mecha complied and leading the now shrieking and cursing femme away to the waiting ship, followed by all the other prisoner Breeders, guided by a number of bot and con guards.

The rest of the Auotbots carefully addressed the freed femmes, offering to take them to a different ship that was supposed to escort them to Earth, there they would be looked over by Ratchet and First Aid and would find help from free mechs and femmes alike for their start into a new life of freedom.

The femmes were fearful and uncertain at the beginning but when Jazz, who they knew as Sparksong, reassured them that she would be on the same ship for the journey, they decided to follow, because truth to be told, they felt rather helpless and did not know what to do.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, who had especially carefully watched Jazz's exchange between herself and Darkfin, now came closer to congratulate the saboteur on a mission successfully executed. The more outgoing of the twins though could not help but stare in the direction where the prisoner Breeders were lead away.

"And you got involved with those fraggers during one of your undercover missions acting as a femme?" Sideswipe wanted to know. "Well, you really stumbled over some of the worst, that's for sure. I'm sorry, Jazz."

The currently red coloured twin shook his head in sad disbelief before waving his brother over.

"Common, Sunny, let's get these pieces of scrap to their respective brigs."

"Don't call me that!" the golden painted twin growled, hitting Sideswipe upside the head. He nodded at Prowl and Jazz before running to catch up with the Breeders, leading them to the waiting ship. However, even with most of the mechs and femmes now leaving, the saboteur and tactician found themselves far from being alone.

"Sir, can we talk to you for an astrosecond?" Mirage asked. He and Bumblebee still stood near their commanders, both looking slightly uncomfortable and hesitant. Jazz exchanged a quick look with the tactician before turning her attention back to her two subordinates.

"Is this ops business?" she wanted to know. The two agents shook their heads.

"Then ya don't mind Prowl stayin'?"

"Sir, to be honest, we're not sure if that is a good idea", Bumblebee admitted slowly. "This is rather private."

"If it's something about meh, then Ah really don't mind Prowl listenin'", the femme declared, smiling slightly at the tactician. "Prowl's by now knows all that's t' know about meh."

"Have you two sparkshared?" Mirage blurted out daringly, though his features now showed a mixture between embarrassment, guilt and determination."

For an astrosecond Jazz's visor and Prowl's optics flickered in surprise before the saboteur seemed to realise the reason for the question and a small smile appeared at the corner of her lipplates.

"No, we haven't yet", the third in command answered before sending her lover a tender gaze. "But Ah'm ready t' do exactly that, whenever we get th' chance now", she added with a rather soft tone. Understanding bloomed in Prowl's optics and Jazz turned her head to her two subordinates, grinning at them.

"Ah think Ah know what ya're gettin' at", the Autobot special ops agent told them. "But Prowl knows, so ya can ask away."

"Will you tell them?" Mirage asked unusual softly, gazing over to where the twins, now finished with putting the Breeders into their respective brigs, were busy entertaining some of the femmes, much to Ironhide's and Chromia's annoyance.

"The truth?" the saboteur wanted to clarify, her look joining the former Tower mech at watching their comrades and friends.

"Yes", Bumblebee joined the conversation.

"Ah might", Jazz considered thoughtfully. "Ah never thought about this before. T' be honest, Ah've been too afraid t' reveal mahself t' anyone. But now, after Ah've seen ya all rage an' help getting those Breeder afts kicked..."

She trailed of and looked into Prowl's optics, who held her gaze and nodded just slightly in encouragement. The femme immediately broke out into a sincere smile, which she then directed at Mirage and Bumblebee.

"Ah'll no longer deny it, if anyone ever asks", she told them of her decision. "Ah've already taken the first step when Ah decided t' share mah secret wit' three mechs. Now, after seeing Sides and Sunny kick aft for how the Breeders treated us femmes and watching them now trying to reduce the femmes fears, Ah feel better an' more willin' t' trust than Ah've felt in hundred of vorns."

"So, you'll stay the way you look right now?" Bumblebee curiously asked, his voice hinting his uncertainty if he honestly liked or disliked the idea of his senior suddenly looking so different in form and colour. Jazz however started to laugh and shook her head dismissively.

"No, pit, no", she told the young bot amused. "While this certainly resembles how Ah looked in th' past, Ah've come t' like what Sparksong turned into. Ah feel far more comfortable an' confident as "Jazz", no matter the past. "An' Ah suspect Prowler over there wouldn't mind a bit of familiarity as well, now that he already has t' deal wit' th' knowledge that his berthmate is a femme."

"Jazz!" Prowl exclaimed, thought a barely there smile turned up at the corner of his lipplates. Mirage and Bumblebee could not help but snicker at their tactician's expense, while the saboteur grinned brightly at her best friend and beloved.

"Well mechs, Ah don't know how ya feel, but personally Ah think it's been a long orn an' Ah really want t' go back home now. Ah'm sure Optimus an' even dear Megs an' Hatchet are rather anxiously waitin' for our return, don't ya agree?"

"Yes sir!" both Mirage and Bumblebee exclaimed, the young scout even went as far as to mock salute their commanding officer.

"Let's return home then", Prowl calmly agreed with a tiny smile.

Jazz had been right. Optimus was indeed anxiously awaiting the return of the operation unit together with High Lord Protector Megatron and Ratchet, who wasted no time to round up every single member into the medbay for a check up. While being as moody and grouchy as he always was with the Autobots and Decepticons, the mecha found themselves surprised when he acted rather careful and nearly tender towards the newly freed femmes.

The next few orns after their return the ten femmes spent a lot of time in the medbay together with Jazz, Softglow - who had been crying in happiness while being reunited with what she called her family - and sometimes even some of the other mechs and femmes from the Autobots and Decepticons. Softglow, who had spent a lot of time with Arcee and the currently visiting Elita One, a good friend of Optimus and former femme Autobot commander during the war, was a big help in warming the femmes up to their new surroundings. After three orns in the Autobot CMO's care Ratchet even made the tentative diagnosis that with continued care like this, the traumatised femmes might be able to recover nearly to full functioning after a long period of intensive therapy.

The captured Breeders were taken to the High Lord Protector and Prime themselves who wished to deal with them personally. Optimus sentenced each of them to lifelong service all around Cybertron while Megatron pushed through the right to interrogate the higher ups like Darkfin about their customers, because he believed that at least some Decepticons and perhaps even some of the Autobots, straying from the real causes they had been fighting for at the beginning of the war, were still involved in the criminal activity surrounding the Breeders.

During all that excitement, not to mention Jazz's reconstruction to her old form, personal moments between the saboteur and Autobot second in command had become rather limited.

Now, however, with the Breeders shipped back to Cybertron in the company of some of the best special ops agents Jazz and Starscream had to offer for this task, and with the femmes finally losing some of their fear and insecurities, a hint of everyday routine returned to the lives of the Earth-based Cybertronian's, including the lives of Jazz and Prowl.

For the saboteur, however, getting back to normal was no longer enough. The events of the past orns forced her to take a rather large and daring step, one she did not regret at all. And this night, exactly 30 orns after her attack on Scapeground which ended with her revelation to Prowl of her identity as a femme, she decided she was ready for the next daring step.

Jazz had invited Prowl to her room for a private celebration of the positive outcome their whole mission had resulted in. Just as it had been since they first became friends, saboteur and tactician were able to drink and talk with each other easily enough. And now that Prowl knew about her greatest secret, things seemed to be even easier.

Jazz no longer had any reservations left. The femme flirted with the tactician as she always had done and Prowl countered her playful comments with the usual wit he always showed. But this night, before the second in command even knew what happened, he suddenly found himself trapped under the lithe, silver body of his berthmate, following a rather daring comment he had made.

Purring Jazz had her EM fields fully running, the heated, emotion filled field clashing unusually violently with the one Prowl reflexively offered back.

"Mmmh, Prowler", the femme moaned, her back arching when metal turned sensitive to touch under the activated EM fields, front scratching against the tactician's own. The second in command was touching her sides with his servos, stroking and exploring while allowing her to keep control by still trapping his body under hers.

"Jazz", Prowl whispered back before he let out a surprised moan of his own, when her servos suddenly pressed against his especially sensitive doorwings. She had always been feisty, femme or mech did not matter and it certainly did not change anything for him now that he knew the truth. The pressure against his doorwings filled his processor as pleasantly as a well brewed highgrade. Heat rushed through his energon lines, making him oh so very much aware of all the emotiones this one bot was able to evoke within him.

Her touch filled him with love, allowed him to sense her own adoration of him, all without the need to connect ports or sparks. The way she touched him, the careful and loving pressure she put on his body, his doorwings especially, spoke of nothing but the wish to make him feel good, to allow him to see how much she cared and how much Jazz wanted to deepen that care, to become intimiate.

They did not allow this to happen with anyone else. The love was there, for both of them to see and when the saboteur stroked the outer part of his doorwings, rather sensuously, leaving Prowl to cry out in pleasure and steadily growing need, he told her what he wanted her to know the most.

"I love you, Jazz!" Prowl breathed and those wonderful, pleasuring claws on his armour stopped their ministrations immediately. Jazz looked down at the tactician lying under her. Even revved up as he was right now the look he gave her was so serene, so calm, confirming the truth of his words just like that. She certainly could not help it but be left in awe for him.

"Prowler, will ya bond wit' meh?" she whispered softly, carefully. Prowl's optics glowed bright in surprise at the unforeseen question.

"Jazz, is that wise?" the second in command asked the femme uncertainly. "We have not even shared sparks yet, at your request, which I respected. And now you wish to bond?"

Jazz gave him a smile, sincere and honest.

"Ah trust ya, Prowl", she told him. "Ah trust ya wit' mah whole spark. Sharin' is no necessary step ya need t' gain mah trust. Ya already earned it."

The tactician looked at the third in command long and hard, calculating and processing what he saw.

"You are still afraid", he finally concluded, voice calm and understanding. "Bonding would force us to share our very core with each other, we would be unable to hide anything. This is why you would feel more reassured with bonding right now instead of just sharing sparks, which would only be an exchange of emotions on the surface, allowing us to hide what we want. I understand, Jazz."

The femme blinked down at him in surprise before she let out air through her vents in a deep sigh.

"Ah'm still afraid", she admitted, voice defeated. "An' Ah'm sorry, but Ah can't help it. Ya proved t' meh again an' again durin' these last few orns that Ah can trust ya t' th' core wit' everythin'. An' if bondin' t' ya shows meh somethin' Ah wouldn't like, that betrays mah trust in ya, it wouldn't matter if Ah'm bonded or not, because it would destroy meh anyway.

"So far, though Ah don't see any reason why ya shouldn't have been anything but truthful t' meh. Yet this small uncertainty, this fear still remains. Ah'm not sure if Ah'll ever be able t' fully get rid of it concernin' mechs. Only in yer case, there's a chance because ya th' one Ah really, honestly wish t' spent th' rest of mah existance wit'."

Jazz looked down at the tactician, her shining optics, not hidden by her visor right now, full of love and adoration for the mech under her.

"Ah love ya, Prowler", she whispered. "An' Ah really, honestly want ya t' be mah mate, no matter the fear. Ya don't have t' answer meh now. Just know that Ah'm honest an' consider if ya feel th' same or not."

Prowl's reaction was instant. He wound his arms around the femme and pulled her body tightly against his own, his EM field brushing against hers in a loving, sparkfelt gesture of intimacy.

"Jazz", the second in command addressed her hoarsely, voice thick with unusual emotion. "If you had not requested to not share sparks with me I would have already asked you to bond with me the moment the war was over. I don't need to think this over. I have been ready to bind myself to you forever for a long, long time. And if you are absolutely sure this is what you want, then we can consummate the bond whenever you are ready."

With a delighted cry, the saboteur threw herself tightly into the waiting arms of the mech under her. EM fields flared to life once more, and with the growing joors, the heat and volume of their voices increased as their pleasure reached their highest point.

Jazz and Prowl consummated the bond in the dark of night, with no one as their witness. Their sparks joined to become one with no one the wiser, and the pleasure and happiness they shared that very night more than once, was something they kept secret for for a long, long time.

Even after the bond was consummated, Prowl and Jazz acted the same outside of their berth. The only thing that changed was the their finally moving to a shared apartment, something a lot of Autobots and Decepticons had been waiting for by now, but besides that no one thought the second and third in command to be more than lovers.

It was not until another 28 orns had gone by, the Earthan one year anniversary of Prowl's and Jazz's secret bonding, that the Autobots and Decepticons living together in Tron City found out not one but two secrets of the two Auotobot commanders.

Former friends and former foes had been spending their evening in an energon bar Thundercracker, of all mechs, had opened not too long ago, where they could not only enjoy some high grade but also engage in learning some human customs as well as to indulge in some Cybertronian bar games or just talk.

Even Prowl was seen in that bar once in a while, spending time with the twins, Ratchet or even Optimus and Megatron, both leaders usually visiting the bar themselves together. This night it was only Jazz and Ratchet missing from their close round and the evening had been normal enough.

The first hint the mecha had been given was that suddenly Prowl cringed unexpectedly in the middle of a tale he was telling, voice dying in the middle of a sentence. Then his body tensed, doorwings straightening in a stiff form of full alert. Bumblebee, who had joined their round tonight together with his two human charges Sam and Mikaela, was about to ask the tactician what was wrong, when all of the sudden Jazz stormed into the room, closely followed by an annoyed looking Ratchet.

The saboteur was showing her brightest, shit eating grin she had ever formed and she ran straight up to her bonded, nearly slamming into his lap.

"Prowler, ya won't believe it!" the femme cried full of happiness. The second in command returned her look with one of suspicion.

"Jazz, what are you not telling me?" he wanted to know, referring to their bond, which currently send him a tumble of happy emotions, a chaos so big he was unable to sort through and get to the bottom of their origin.

"Ah'm wit' spark!" Jazz answered delighted, not caring that her words could be heard by more than just her now pleasantly shocked bondmate. The reaction that followed the sudden, disbelieving silence was immediate.

"WHAT?" came from one corner of the room, two of those voices belonging to Sam and Mikaela, who had been taught all about sparking and sparklings by their Cybertronian friends.

"Jazz is sparked?"

"Jazz is a FEMME?"

"Just a second, but are those two BONDED?"

"Slaggit, Jazz I'm killing you for dropping a bomb like that!" rang from different mouthplates all around the room, the last exclamation belonging to the growling CMO himself. And then a booming voice drowned out the flustered noise from everyone else.

"HA, I knew it! Pay up Optimus!" Megatron rejoiced while the Prime resisted smacking one servo against his own faceplate in embarrassment. Another silence followed where everyone, even a slightly interested Jazz stared at the Lord High Protector. Then all hell broke loose.

But all in all, it was just another day in the steadily growing Cybertronian city on Earth. A day where a war was starting to feel like nothing but a tale and where the past seemed like just a bad dream. Now, peace and happiness had entered the life of so many mechs and femmes. Life was not perfect, and some bad things still happened on Earth as well as on Cybertron. But the current mecha on Earth were trying their best to bring peace and justice to their world. And it were events like the one Jazz and Prowl were currently experiencing, that brought the hope to other mecha, that their future was certainly going to be bright.

The End