Update while watching Olympics
Title: Fishtailing (5/13)
Verse: G1 AU
Rating: PG-13/T
Characters: Prowl, Jazz, ensemble
Warnings: none
Summary: Fishtailing: when the driver of the car loses control and the end swerves side to side; like their lives that, due to poor past decisions, spun out of control, and now they were just along for the ride.
Notes: I’m so sorry that this took so long to finish, I plan on getting back to regular updates. If you see any mistakes please let me know so that I can fix them.
Chap 1 Chap 2 Chap 3 Chap 4
“I’m falling in love but it’s falling apart,
I need to find my way back to the start,
When we were in love, oh things were better than they are,
Let me back into, into your arms, into your arms.”
- “Into Your Arms” - The Maine
True to his word, Jazz went to the Vela Quadrant's Enforcer Station right after his work shift. He felt a little light headed as he walked through the doors to the main desk and told the receptionist his name and why he was there. Jazz knew that he probably should have had some energon before going to the station, but with the way his spark was pulsing too fast in complete disbelief and shock at what was going on, he would have most likely purged it the moment he walked through the doors.
He smiled thinly at the receptionist when he was told to sit and wait for Downshift; this wasn't the receptionist's fault, so there was no need to take Jazz's frustration out on him.
It didn't take long for Downshift to appear, asking Jazz to follow. They passed several different mechs, some were signing in for their shifts, others were escorting mechs into the jail cells, a few mechs were being released, and while all the activity around him was somewhat distracting, Jazz just couldn't get to wherever it was they were going fast enough.
He just wanted this orn to be over and done with, so he could go home and curl up in his berth and lament on his own stupidity and this entire situation.
Jazz was taken into a small room with chairs and Downshift gestured for him to sit down, Jazz did so and the enforcer took a seat opposite of him.
"Thank you for coming, Jazz," Downshift began, and Jazz gave him a wry smile.
"Yeah, well it's not like I had anything else to do."
Downshift nodded and started to ask Jazz questions. They were simple enough to begin with: Where did he live, what Jazz's job was, and other things of that nature.
Downshift had given him a confused smile when he realized that Jazz was in the process of becoming a permanent citizen of Praxus.
"Many tourists like to visit, but few would actually like to live here," Downshift had remarked, and Jazz had shrugged.
"Polyhex and Iacon are nice an' all, but I like it here better," Jazz answered, and Downshift nodded and began to ask more specific questions.
Jazz was asked about what he had seen while he had been at the Velocity Loop, if there had been any specific mechs that had stood out to Jazz. He was also asked about what he was doing at certain dates and times, which had caused a flash of irritation in Jazz, how was he supposed to remember what happened at such and such a time when it had happened metacycles ago? There was only one date that Jazz was actually recognized.
"Yeah, I remember that night, I met Ca-Barricade over at Rubidium then, it was the first time I raced against him."
Downshift nodded absently.
"Yes, our files show that you were racing both suspects Barricade and Backbite that night at Rubidium. You saw them leave to the Zeta Docks?"
"No, they left through the south exit," Jazz answered, and Downshift's helm snapped up to stare at Jazz with a flash of shock before it was quickly covered up with a polite smile.
"Just because you saw them leave through the south exit doesn't mean they couldn't have gone north to the Zeta Docks," Downshift said, his tone patronizing. "Besides, we have video footage from the traffic cameras past the Crystal Boulevard heading to the docks 30 breems after the conclusion of your race."
Jazz stared at Downshift in complete disbelief, either the mech was an idiot or he didn't know the streets of Praxus all that well, either of which were a distressing aspect for an enforcer to have. Jazz had only spent around a vorn of driving around on the streets of Praxus, and one thing was common knowledge; the traffic around the Rubidium track was generally bad. If Barricade and Backbite had gone north after leaving the south exit, it would have taken around 20 breems for them to turn around in order to go north, and while Crystal Boulevard was maybe a quarter of the way between Rubidium and the Zeta docks, it still would've taken them around another 30 breems to get there.
Something wasn't right, and given the brief shocked look that Jazz had seen, he was willing to bet that Downshift knew that too.
After that, the questioning wrapped up quickly, and Jazz's suspicion grew as it became apparent that Downshift was trying to finish quickly and get Jazz out of there. It wasn't long before the enforcer had Jazz out of the room, through the lobby and out of the front doors of the station. After the doors behind him closed, Jazz glanced back at the station, frowning, and then headed back to his apartment, his processor whirling through what had just happened.
While Jazz wasn't all that suspicious in nature, he did have a keen sense of when something was skeevy, and at that moment, all his senses were screaming at him that something wasn't right. It was more than enough for Jazz to review what he knew of Barricade and to cross reference all the dates that Downshift had mentioned. While it was hard to recall the exact date that Jazz had been somewhere with Barricade, it would be simple enough to find out, and it was enough to decide Jazz's next course of action.
When Jazz and Barricade had gone out together, they had often gone racing at one of the lesser known tracks, or out to eat at obscure places. They were mostly places that wouldn't have exact records of who ate there at a certain time like the Rubidium track did, which would make it hard for the enforcers to get a solid lead on where Barricade had been. But Jazz, who had been to those places with Barricade, had kept track through keeping track of each transaction of credits spent and earned. It wasn't hard for Jazz to pull out the datapad that he used for that purpose when he got home, and look up the dates that Downshift had mentioned.
What Jazz found was disturbing, with the exception of seven of the dates, Barricade had been with Jazz in a section of the city that was, at the very least, a joor away from where Downshift had said Barricade had been. It also led Jazz to another point of interest, the dates and times were too perfect and exact for a general estimation, like an enforcer had been present at each one of the dates provided.
Undercover work wasn't a strange concept to Jazz at all, he knew it had been commonly used to break up gangs in Polyhex, but an undercover enforcer that claimed Barricade had been there when he clearly wasn't most of the dates, screamed to Jazz that either the enforcer had a grudge against Barricade, or that the enforcer was covering for someone else by placing Barricade at the scene.
Jazz wasn't one to make excuses for others, especially when it involved the illegal sale of weapons and dark energon, but if Barricade was being framed for something that he didn't do, then Jazz would help him.
Processor made up, Jazz began to research the Velocity Loop track, hacking into the track's city records and the mechs that Jazz often saw there. If Barricade was going to jail, Jazz would make sure that it would be for legitimate reasons, not because of some scheming enforcer with a grudge.
And if there wasn't a legitimate reason, then Jazz would help Barricade get out of there and then proceed to beat the Praxian over the head for the real reason that Barricade had left the night before.
===
When Prowl's chronometer pinged to signal the end of his shift, he finished the report that he had been working on and then left his office, locking it up. He went down the halls of the Ark to the Rec Room, where he got two cubes of energon, and promptly left the room, only pausing to greet his brother on the way out. He headed back to the offices, and once he reached his destination, he balanced the two cubes in one hand and knocked on the door.
A faint, "Come in," was heard, and the door opened and Prowl stepped into chaos.
Datapads were strewn across the room, some in haphazard stacks that went up to Prowl's waist, while others were in small piles. At the center of it all, sat Jazz at his desk, surrounded by more datapads, looking more and more disgruntled with each passing klick.
Prowl slowly made his way to Jazz, taking care not to step on any of the datapads that were on the floor, though he was well aware that they were blank and simply made to look like they contained information. Prowl handed Jazz one of the cubes, and turning to the seats in the office, cleared one of its datapads, moving them to the other seat, and sat down.
Jazz gave the cube and Prowl a curious look, as he put down the datapad he had been working on and took a sip.
"Ya know, I remember this goin' a little differently," Jazz said, his lipplates twitching in amusement.
"Ah, yes," Prowl agreed, "with a much cleaner, orderly office, with me sitting behind the desk, and you in the chair giving me the energon, saying I need to take a break and relax."
Jazz took a gulp of his energon; he hadn't realized how low he'd been until he had seen Prowl with the cubes.
"I think I like this version better, it actually gets you out of your office," Jazz teased, and finished off half of his cube.
"And yet, into another," Prowl remarked, gesturing with his free hand around the room, and took a sip of his own energon, and Jazz nodded, conceding to the point.
"It's still an improvement over you staying in yours, and since you're out, we can start working on keeping you out of there. I'd help, but for once I'm the one bogged down with reports."
"Is there something in the reports that is a problem?"
"There aren't any problems, the track's been up and running for the better part of a month now, and we haven't heard so much as a peep from the 'Cons. Not even from Starscream, and he's long overdue for a takeover attempt. It's…" Jazz struggled for words.
"Troubling?" Prowl offered, and Jazz nodded.
"Yeah."
Prowl watched as Jazz leaned back in his chair and finished his cube, tossing it in the general direction of the waste basket in the corner of the room.
"You and your operatives have been working hard to locate the Decepticons' latest base of operations, and the humans have been on the look-out as well, so there is nothing more we can do but wait," Prowl said, taking another sip of his cube.
"I hate waiting."
"I know, but you should remember that good things come to those who wait," Prowl replied, a slight smile playing on his lipplates.
"Right, and the Decepticons showing up is a good thing?"
"Well, in this case, yes, as we would then at least have an idea of what they were up to," Prowl said. "However, in this case I was thinking of something that is far more pleasant."
Jazz sat up straight in his chair, watching Prowl finish off his cube.
"You're getting at somethin."
"Yes, though you have been preoccupied with work related things, so it is forgivable that you haven't noticed," Prowl conceded, and smirked when Jazz frowned at him. "Ratchet cleared me for full active duty this morning."
"Well," Jazz began, not quite sure why that was all that important to him beyond that a good friend of his was completely repaired. "That's good, we've been missing you out on the field, your plans usually go better when you're out there, which is always a plus. But I don't think that's what you mean."
"What I mean, is that I'm cleared by Ratchet, we both have time, the track is mostly free of mechs, and I owe you a race," Prowl said, and Jazz's visor glowed in understanding as he laughed.
"Sounds good to me. Good things come to those who wait, right? And I did have to wait such a long time," Jazz replied, his voice ending in a coy tone.
"Exactly, I'll meet you at the track," Prowl answered and slipped out of the room.
===
Prowl's back bumper came even with Jazz's front bumper as they pulled out of the turn.
Taking that as a personal affront from the mech that spent most of his time sitting still in his office, Jazz gunned his engine harder, trying to come even with Prowl as they neared the last turn of the newly created track. He was not going to let Prowl beat him.
When they reached the corner of the last turn, Prowl's front bumper shifted slightly towards Jazz, and when they were coming out of the turn, Prowl revved his engine harder and jolted sideways into Jazz. It was a tactical move that Jazz had seen several times while racing in Praxus, by coming at another racer directly at the side while shortly increasing the output of the mech's hovers often disrupted the flow of the other racer's hover control. When it worked, it pushed the receiver away from the one who initiated it, clearing the way for them to push forward more.
It was a legal move in most tracks, and while Jazz was surprised that Prowl was using it, the saboteur was also amused that Prowl had failed to account for two things. One, while the move had once lost him several races, he had long since learned how to control most of his system's automatic response to it, but that hardly mattered, because two, they weren't on hovers, they were on wheels which provided a different kind of friction, one that Prowl obviously wasn't all that used to while racing at his top speed, especially combined with systems that used to control his hovers. So, instead, Prowl went careening off in the other direction as they pulled out of the turn, securing Jazz's victory against him.
Jazz transformed and went over to help his friend get up, chuckling as he went.
"We really need you to get you used to the friction, mech."
"Yes, I was not expecting that," Prowl said, and Jazz laughed harder, because frag it, it was funny that something that most of the other mechs had become used to on Earth had taken the tactician by surprise.
Prowl gave Jazz a small self-depreciating smile, and right then Jazz wanted to pull Prowl close to him, because seeing Prowl relaxed and not worrying about a minor mistake, because of something to do with the war, was so rare and precious.
Of course, the moment was ruined.
"Prowl did you really just lose to Jazz?"
Both black and white mechs looked up from where they were standing and saw Sideswipe and Bluestreak all standing at the edge of the track.
"Yep, have a problem with that, Siders?" Jazz teased.
"Yes, I'm mildly insulted that the mech I'd lose to regularly in Praxus, just lost to you. C'mon Prowl, we gotta get you used to racing with wheels," Sideswipe said, and Jazz frowned in response.
"Hey, he's my racing partner today, race Blue!"
"Actually, Red Alert wanted to talk to you Jazz, he said that it was urgent and that you weren't answering your comm., he used Teletraan 1 to locate your spark signature, and since Siders and I were coming to the track anyway, he asked us to tell you that he needs you back at the Ark."
Jazz frowned, wasn't that just a great thing to hear when he was hanging out with Prowl, actually outside of the Ark.
"If the matter is so urgent, then maybe I should return as well to see what's going on," Prowl said and Jazz shook his head.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure I know what Red's on about now. Has to do with some intel and bolstering anti-virals, nothing that's really in your field."
"If you're sure," Prowl said, and Bluestreak grabbed his arm and began to drag his brother back onto the track.
"Then you can race with me and Sideswipe, Prowl!"
Jazz grinned at Bluestreak, pleased that the gunner had come to the same conclusion that Jazz had wanted him to come to; Prowl should be out of the Ark and relax for a while.
"If it doesn't take too long, I'll come back so we can race some more, so don't wear him out too much!" Jazz called after the three of them walking onto the track.
He turned and left the track, transforming into his alt mode and heading back towards the Ark.
===
It took a little over two hours to sort everything out with Red Alert.
Jazz checked in with Teletraan 1 to see if Prowl was still at the track, and upon seeing that he still was, Jazz left the Ark to go to the track.
Once he was there, Jazz stood near the Cybertronian sized stands that Grapple had also helped construct, and simply watched his best friend race his brother and Sideswipe. From his outside vantage point, Jazz was able to observe how his long-time friend raced much better than when he had been concentrating on racing him.
While Jazz watched, something in the back of his processor insisted that something about Prowl's racing looked familiar.
Verse: G1 AU
Rating: PG-13/T
Characters: Prowl, Jazz, ensemble
Warnings: none
Summary: Fishtailing: when the driver of the car loses control and the end swerves side to side; like their lives that, due to poor past decisions, spun out of control, and now they were just along for the ride.
Notes: I’m so sorry that this took so long to finish, I plan on getting back to regular updates. If you see any mistakes please let me know so that I can fix them.
Chap 1 Chap 2 Chap 3 Chap 4
“I’m falling in love but it’s falling apart,
I need to find my way back to the start,
When we were in love, oh things were better than they are,
Let me back into, into your arms, into your arms.”
- “Into Your Arms” - The Maine
True to his word, Jazz went to the Vela Quadrant's Enforcer Station right after his work shift. He felt a little light headed as he walked through the doors to the main desk and told the receptionist his name and why he was there. Jazz knew that he probably should have had some energon before going to the station, but with the way his spark was pulsing too fast in complete disbelief and shock at what was going on, he would have most likely purged it the moment he walked through the doors.
He smiled thinly at the receptionist when he was told to sit and wait for Downshift; this wasn't the receptionist's fault, so there was no need to take Jazz's frustration out on him.
It didn't take long for Downshift to appear, asking Jazz to follow. They passed several different mechs, some were signing in for their shifts, others were escorting mechs into the jail cells, a few mechs were being released, and while all the activity around him was somewhat distracting, Jazz just couldn't get to wherever it was they were going fast enough.
He just wanted this orn to be over and done with, so he could go home and curl up in his berth and lament on his own stupidity and this entire situation.
Jazz was taken into a small room with chairs and Downshift gestured for him to sit down, Jazz did so and the enforcer took a seat opposite of him.
"Thank you for coming, Jazz," Downshift began, and Jazz gave him a wry smile.
"Yeah, well it's not like I had anything else to do."
Downshift nodded and started to ask Jazz questions. They were simple enough to begin with: Where did he live, what Jazz's job was, and other things of that nature.
Downshift had given him a confused smile when he realized that Jazz was in the process of becoming a permanent citizen of Praxus.
"Many tourists like to visit, but few would actually like to live here," Downshift had remarked, and Jazz had shrugged.
"Polyhex and Iacon are nice an' all, but I like it here better," Jazz answered, and Downshift nodded and began to ask more specific questions.
Jazz was asked about what he had seen while he had been at the Velocity Loop, if there had been any specific mechs that had stood out to Jazz. He was also asked about what he was doing at certain dates and times, which had caused a flash of irritation in Jazz, how was he supposed to remember what happened at such and such a time when it had happened metacycles ago? There was only one date that Jazz was actually recognized.
"Yeah, I remember that night, I met Ca-Barricade over at Rubidium then, it was the first time I raced against him."
Downshift nodded absently.
"Yes, our files show that you were racing both suspects Barricade and Backbite that night at Rubidium. You saw them leave to the Zeta Docks?"
"No, they left through the south exit," Jazz answered, and Downshift's helm snapped up to stare at Jazz with a flash of shock before it was quickly covered up with a polite smile.
"Just because you saw them leave through the south exit doesn't mean they couldn't have gone north to the Zeta Docks," Downshift said, his tone patronizing. "Besides, we have video footage from the traffic cameras past the Crystal Boulevard heading to the docks 30 breems after the conclusion of your race."
Jazz stared at Downshift in complete disbelief, either the mech was an idiot or he didn't know the streets of Praxus all that well, either of which were a distressing aspect for an enforcer to have. Jazz had only spent around a vorn of driving around on the streets of Praxus, and one thing was common knowledge; the traffic around the Rubidium track was generally bad. If Barricade and Backbite had gone north after leaving the south exit, it would have taken around 20 breems for them to turn around in order to go north, and while Crystal Boulevard was maybe a quarter of the way between Rubidium and the Zeta docks, it still would've taken them around another 30 breems to get there.
Something wasn't right, and given the brief shocked look that Jazz had seen, he was willing to bet that Downshift knew that too.
After that, the questioning wrapped up quickly, and Jazz's suspicion grew as it became apparent that Downshift was trying to finish quickly and get Jazz out of there. It wasn't long before the enforcer had Jazz out of the room, through the lobby and out of the front doors of the station. After the doors behind him closed, Jazz glanced back at the station, frowning, and then headed back to his apartment, his processor whirling through what had just happened.
While Jazz wasn't all that suspicious in nature, he did have a keen sense of when something was skeevy, and at that moment, all his senses were screaming at him that something wasn't right. It was more than enough for Jazz to review what he knew of Barricade and to cross reference all the dates that Downshift had mentioned. While it was hard to recall the exact date that Jazz had been somewhere with Barricade, it would be simple enough to find out, and it was enough to decide Jazz's next course of action.
When Jazz and Barricade had gone out together, they had often gone racing at one of the lesser known tracks, or out to eat at obscure places. They were mostly places that wouldn't have exact records of who ate there at a certain time like the Rubidium track did, which would make it hard for the enforcers to get a solid lead on where Barricade had been. But Jazz, who had been to those places with Barricade, had kept track through keeping track of each transaction of credits spent and earned. It wasn't hard for Jazz to pull out the datapad that he used for that purpose when he got home, and look up the dates that Downshift had mentioned.
What Jazz found was disturbing, with the exception of seven of the dates, Barricade had been with Jazz in a section of the city that was, at the very least, a joor away from where Downshift had said Barricade had been. It also led Jazz to another point of interest, the dates and times were too perfect and exact for a general estimation, like an enforcer had been present at each one of the dates provided.
Undercover work wasn't a strange concept to Jazz at all, he knew it had been commonly used to break up gangs in Polyhex, but an undercover enforcer that claimed Barricade had been there when he clearly wasn't most of the dates, screamed to Jazz that either the enforcer had a grudge against Barricade, or that the enforcer was covering for someone else by placing Barricade at the scene.
Jazz wasn't one to make excuses for others, especially when it involved the illegal sale of weapons and dark energon, but if Barricade was being framed for something that he didn't do, then Jazz would help him.
Processor made up, Jazz began to research the Velocity Loop track, hacking into the track's city records and the mechs that Jazz often saw there. If Barricade was going to jail, Jazz would make sure that it would be for legitimate reasons, not because of some scheming enforcer with a grudge.
And if there wasn't a legitimate reason, then Jazz would help Barricade get out of there and then proceed to beat the Praxian over the head for the real reason that Barricade had left the night before.
===
When Prowl's chronometer pinged to signal the end of his shift, he finished the report that he had been working on and then left his office, locking it up. He went down the halls of the Ark to the Rec Room, where he got two cubes of energon, and promptly left the room, only pausing to greet his brother on the way out. He headed back to the offices, and once he reached his destination, he balanced the two cubes in one hand and knocked on the door.
A faint, "Come in," was heard, and the door opened and Prowl stepped into chaos.
Datapads were strewn across the room, some in haphazard stacks that went up to Prowl's waist, while others were in small piles. At the center of it all, sat Jazz at his desk, surrounded by more datapads, looking more and more disgruntled with each passing klick.
Prowl slowly made his way to Jazz, taking care not to step on any of the datapads that were on the floor, though he was well aware that they were blank and simply made to look like they contained information. Prowl handed Jazz one of the cubes, and turning to the seats in the office, cleared one of its datapads, moving them to the other seat, and sat down.
Jazz gave the cube and Prowl a curious look, as he put down the datapad he had been working on and took a sip.
"Ya know, I remember this goin' a little differently," Jazz said, his lipplates twitching in amusement.
"Ah, yes," Prowl agreed, "with a much cleaner, orderly office, with me sitting behind the desk, and you in the chair giving me the energon, saying I need to take a break and relax."
Jazz took a gulp of his energon; he hadn't realized how low he'd been until he had seen Prowl with the cubes.
"I think I like this version better, it actually gets you out of your office," Jazz teased, and finished off half of his cube.
"And yet, into another," Prowl remarked, gesturing with his free hand around the room, and took a sip of his own energon, and Jazz nodded, conceding to the point.
"It's still an improvement over you staying in yours, and since you're out, we can start working on keeping you out of there. I'd help, but for once I'm the one bogged down with reports."
"Is there something in the reports that is a problem?"
"There aren't any problems, the track's been up and running for the better part of a month now, and we haven't heard so much as a peep from the 'Cons. Not even from Starscream, and he's long overdue for a takeover attempt. It's…" Jazz struggled for words.
"Troubling?" Prowl offered, and Jazz nodded.
"Yeah."
Prowl watched as Jazz leaned back in his chair and finished his cube, tossing it in the general direction of the waste basket in the corner of the room.
"You and your operatives have been working hard to locate the Decepticons' latest base of operations, and the humans have been on the look-out as well, so there is nothing more we can do but wait," Prowl said, taking another sip of his cube.
"I hate waiting."
"I know, but you should remember that good things come to those who wait," Prowl replied, a slight smile playing on his lipplates.
"Right, and the Decepticons showing up is a good thing?"
"Well, in this case, yes, as we would then at least have an idea of what they were up to," Prowl said. "However, in this case I was thinking of something that is far more pleasant."
Jazz sat up straight in his chair, watching Prowl finish off his cube.
"You're getting at somethin."
"Yes, though you have been preoccupied with work related things, so it is forgivable that you haven't noticed," Prowl conceded, and smirked when Jazz frowned at him. "Ratchet cleared me for full active duty this morning."
"Well," Jazz began, not quite sure why that was all that important to him beyond that a good friend of his was completely repaired. "That's good, we've been missing you out on the field, your plans usually go better when you're out there, which is always a plus. But I don't think that's what you mean."
"What I mean, is that I'm cleared by Ratchet, we both have time, the track is mostly free of mechs, and I owe you a race," Prowl said, and Jazz's visor glowed in understanding as he laughed.
"Sounds good to me. Good things come to those who wait, right? And I did have to wait such a long time," Jazz replied, his voice ending in a coy tone.
"Exactly, I'll meet you at the track," Prowl answered and slipped out of the room.
===
Prowl's back bumper came even with Jazz's front bumper as they pulled out of the turn.
Taking that as a personal affront from the mech that spent most of his time sitting still in his office, Jazz gunned his engine harder, trying to come even with Prowl as they neared the last turn of the newly created track. He was not going to let Prowl beat him.
When they reached the corner of the last turn, Prowl's front bumper shifted slightly towards Jazz, and when they were coming out of the turn, Prowl revved his engine harder and jolted sideways into Jazz. It was a tactical move that Jazz had seen several times while racing in Praxus, by coming at another racer directly at the side while shortly increasing the output of the mech's hovers often disrupted the flow of the other racer's hover control. When it worked, it pushed the receiver away from the one who initiated it, clearing the way for them to push forward more.
It was a legal move in most tracks, and while Jazz was surprised that Prowl was using it, the saboteur was also amused that Prowl had failed to account for two things. One, while the move had once lost him several races, he had long since learned how to control most of his system's automatic response to it, but that hardly mattered, because two, they weren't on hovers, they were on wheels which provided a different kind of friction, one that Prowl obviously wasn't all that used to while racing at his top speed, especially combined with systems that used to control his hovers. So, instead, Prowl went careening off in the other direction as they pulled out of the turn, securing Jazz's victory against him.
Jazz transformed and went over to help his friend get up, chuckling as he went.
"We really need you to get you used to the friction, mech."
"Yes, I was not expecting that," Prowl said, and Jazz laughed harder, because frag it, it was funny that something that most of the other mechs had become used to on Earth had taken the tactician by surprise.
Prowl gave Jazz a small self-depreciating smile, and right then Jazz wanted to pull Prowl close to him, because seeing Prowl relaxed and not worrying about a minor mistake, because of something to do with the war, was so rare and precious.
Of course, the moment was ruined.
"Prowl did you really just lose to Jazz?"
Both black and white mechs looked up from where they were standing and saw Sideswipe and Bluestreak all standing at the edge of the track.
"Yep, have a problem with that, Siders?" Jazz teased.
"Yes, I'm mildly insulted that the mech I'd lose to regularly in Praxus, just lost to you. C'mon Prowl, we gotta get you used to racing with wheels," Sideswipe said, and Jazz frowned in response.
"Hey, he's my racing partner today, race Blue!"
"Actually, Red Alert wanted to talk to you Jazz, he said that it was urgent and that you weren't answering your comm., he used Teletraan 1 to locate your spark signature, and since Siders and I were coming to the track anyway, he asked us to tell you that he needs you back at the Ark."
Jazz frowned, wasn't that just a great thing to hear when he was hanging out with Prowl, actually outside of the Ark.
"If the matter is so urgent, then maybe I should return as well to see what's going on," Prowl said and Jazz shook his head.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure I know what Red's on about now. Has to do with some intel and bolstering anti-virals, nothing that's really in your field."
"If you're sure," Prowl said, and Bluestreak grabbed his arm and began to drag his brother back onto the track.
"Then you can race with me and Sideswipe, Prowl!"
Jazz grinned at Bluestreak, pleased that the gunner had come to the same conclusion that Jazz had wanted him to come to; Prowl should be out of the Ark and relax for a while.
"If it doesn't take too long, I'll come back so we can race some more, so don't wear him out too much!" Jazz called after the three of them walking onto the track.
He turned and left the track, transforming into his alt mode and heading back towards the Ark.
===
It took a little over two hours to sort everything out with Red Alert.
Jazz checked in with Teletraan 1 to see if Prowl was still at the track, and upon seeing that he still was, Jazz left the Ark to go to the track.
Once he was there, Jazz stood near the Cybertronian sized stands that Grapple had also helped construct, and simply watched his best friend race his brother and Sideswipe. From his outside vantage point, Jazz was able to observe how his long-time friend raced much better than when he had been concentrating on racing him.
While Jazz watched, something in the back of his processor insisted that something about Prowl's racing looked familiar.