Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to its respective owners and I make no money off of this. Check Yes or No is by George Strait.

Notes: I cant believe i forgot this lol, Sparkles was created by Taralynden and used with her permission.

Pairings: Jazz/Prowl
Characters: Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet, OC SteelBack.

Prowl collapsed into the chair behind his desk tiredly. The day had been one straight out of the pit, and there hadn't even been a battle with the decepticons. Though the way it was going, it wouldn't surprise him to hear the alarms announcing one. One of the hardest parts of the day had been brushing off Jazz's continued advances. It wasn't that he didn't like the mech, he did. Perhaps more then he liked to admit, but his spark always pulsed with a hint of betrayal whenever he even considered taking the mech up on his offers. He slumped forward, bringing his hands up to cover his face. But none of that made what he had told the mech, justifiable. It had been rather cruel now that he thought about it. It was days like this that he missed Rio the most. With a sigh he pulled a datapad out of his subspace and leaned back in the chair.

The datapad was old, so very old. Its black finish faded and dull, worn away in some places to reveal a grayish silver metal. It was a completely different model then the ones he used these days. He ran a finger over the crack in its screen and gently touched the button to turn it on. It started up much slower then the newer models . As it finally lit up, he smiled at the sparkling's face that stared back at him. Rio was a pure white sparkling with big glowing blue optics. His lip plates pulled back in a denta-less grin. Prowl swiped a finger across the screen and it shifted to show another picture. This one was of himself as a sparkling, grinning shyly at the mech taking the picture, Rio was draped over his shoulder, grinning mischievously. Prowl had been a small sparkling, much smaller then most of the others at that age. His doorwings hadn't even started to grow yet. His frame had been completely black, a single color as most younglings were at that age. Even his chevron had still been black at that point.

He continued to shift through the pictures, his frame relaxing more and more. Even now, looking back he could see the love in his own optics whenever they caught sight of the white sparkling. He reached the last page and the soft smile that had slowly appeared died. There were no pictures on this page, just a short letter, and under that two boxes, each with a word beside them. Yes and No.

"Do you love me, do you wanna be my friend?
And if you do
Well then don't be afraid to take me by the hand
If you want to
I think this is how love goes, check yes or no"

Prowl sighed, his optics moving to the two boxes under the letter. The one next to yes had been checked. He had done it shortly after receiving the letter, while he had still been a sparkling. But he had never been able to return the datapad to its owner. Several things had happened that day, and it had been the last time he had seen Rio.

Oh sure, once he had grown into his adult frame he had attempted to locate the mech, but by the time a mech finally reaches his adult frame there are very few things that remain the same. Their armor changes, filling out and finalizing the details that have been slowly forming during their youngling-hood. It changes colors, keeping the base color but adding more colors in. The only real way to identify a cybertronian was by their optics. No matter what, no matter the mods that are added to a frame, the optics would always remain the same. But locating a mech by his optics alone was nearly impossible. And after the battle that had raged over Cybertron, there was a pretty good chance that Rio wasn't even still alive.

Prowl jerked out of his reverie as the battle alert sounded. He let out a groan and dropped the datapad down on his desk before running out the door of his office. Of course there would have to be a decepticon attack now, it just made the rest of his day perfect.

Three days later found him in the med-bay. He had sustained heavy damage during the battle and had been limited to a private medical room while recuperating. Ratchet had refused to allow him to return to his own quarters, insisting that he would not be doing any work until fully repaired and rested. Prowl had argued that he would not be able to just sit there with nothing to do, and Ratchet had relented. Bluestreak had been sent to retrieve a stack of data-pads from Prowls office and now he was reading through them, verifying that the information on them was correct before they would be filed away.

He set aside the finished pad and reached for another one, hesitating as he realized he held the one he had received as a sparkling. He stretched out his arm to lay the pad on the table beside his berth before pulling it back in and gently turning the device on. He gazed at the picture of the white sparkling for a long time, unaware that he was being watched. He came back to the present with a start as the datapad was jerked out of his hand. A protest surged forward only to die as he looked up at a curious medic.

"Alright, lets see what your up to here. It had better not be anything more then reading. If it is, you can bet being bored will be the least of your troubles." Ratchet paused in his speech to glance down at the pad he now held. His optics widened and a smile ghosted across his face. "I didn't know you knew Jazz as a sparkling."

For a brief moment, Prowl's processor blanked out, but then shock rolled through him and he floundered. "Jazz?"

"Yes. Jazz. The sparkling in the picture is Jazz. You knew him? Or is this just a picture you've dug up from somewhere?" Ratchet grew more amused as he watched the different emotions flicker across a faceplate that was usually completely emotionless.

"Y-your sure its Jazz?"

The amusement on Ratchets face was replaced by shock. He had never heard Prowl stutter before, nor had he ever heard the mech sound so vulnerable. "Yes, I'm sure. Jazz may wear a visor, but as his medic I have seen his optics before. There is no doubt in my processor that this is him."

Prowl stared at the medic, his processor whirling with the new information. Rio was Jazz. Jazz was Rio. And he was alive. A myriad of emotions flooded him until it felt like his entire world was shifting out of his control. Happiness that he had finally found Rio was paramount, but there was also an underlying confusion about what he should do with this new information.

Ratchet watched the black and white bot with concern. Deciding he didn't really want to overhaul the mechs processor tonight, he distracted him by handing the datapad back. "Want to talk about it?"

Prowl hesitated. He had always been a private bot, keeping his own business away from the prying optics of others. But this was something he sorely needed advice on and Ratchet had a reputation for being a great listener while keeping his patients secrecy. Prowl glanced up at the medic with optics full of questions, and watched as without a word, Ratchet sent a command to lock the private med-bays doors before taking a seat next to his berth.

"His sparkling name was Rio."

Lightly touching the old data-pads screen, he shifted to the picture of the two of them before handing it back to Ratchet. Ratchet took the pad and flipped through the pictures slowly, a small smile on his face as he did so.

"You loved him."

Prowl shifted on his berth uncomfortably and remained silent for so long that Ratchet was certain the bot wasn't going to answer.

"He was my everything. My creator didn't understand. He believed it was a sparkling crush. He said that sparklings weren't capable of true love."

"The idiot." Ratchet waved a hand, stopping Prowls protest. "I've known several bonded couples that fell in love as sparklings. It's frowned upon because creators usually want whats best for their sparklings and often feel that their creations should pair off with a bot that would increase their rank or wealth."

"You would think that they would want their creations to be happy."

Ratchet snorted. "One would think. Now back to your story. Did your creator find this pad and refuse to allow you to see Rio again?"

Prowl shook his head. "The day Rio gave me that, was the same day Praxus fell. We were in Iacon at the time, but my creator pulled me and my brothers from our classes and took us into hiding. When he told us we were going away, I tried to run away. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving Rio." He paused and glanced over at the data-pad now lying in the medics lap, screen still glowing with a picture of Rio sneaking up behind Bluestreak with a noise maker. "He had the school medic sedate me. By the time I finally woke up, we were far from Iacon and I had no idea of how to get back. Though it didn't stop from trying several times."

Ratchet gave an amused snort. If Prowl had been anything like he was now, as a sparkling, he could just imagine the trouble the determined bot had given his creator.

"So what are you going to do now? How do you feel about Jazz being Rio? The bots been trying to get you to go out with him for ages, and you've always shot him down."

Prowl let out a groan and dropped his face into his hands. "I doubt there's anything I can do. I said something cruel to him the last time and I haven't seen him since."

Ratchet laid a hand on the black and whites shoulder. "It couldn't have been that bad. Jazz always bounces back and keeps trying."

"I told him to quit fragging around and get back to work."

Ratchet gave a slightly startled look and then started to laugh. Prowl waited impatiently for the mech to have his fun, scowling as he watched.

"Prowl, you cant honestly think that would have offended him."

"He hasn't approached me since then. I must have done so."

"Half the crew was injured in the battle, Prowl. He hasn't had time for anything more then work and recharge." Ratchet rose to his feet and made his way to the exit. "You need to decide where you want this to go, Prowl. I have to get back to work and check on my other patients, but if you need me, send a comm."

"Thanks Ratchet."

Ratchet turned towards the door, then swung back around. "I don't know if this has occurred to you or not yet, but its highly probable that Jazz knows who you are." At Prowls shocked look, he continued. "Jazz is a special ops bot. He has programs built in for automatically cataloging and identifying bots. It would be nearly impossible for him to not know that you were the sparkling he knew back then."

Prowl's mouth worked a couple of times, giving the impression of a earth type fish, before sound managed to come out. "Why hasn't he said anything then?"

"You'll have to ask him that." Ratchet turned and exited the room, leaving behind a very confused Prowl.

SteelBack sighed softly as he gazed down at his offline sparkling. Of his three creations, he had expected Sparkles to be the most understanding of what must happen now. The mechling had always been smarter then his vorns seemed to allow, always more logical then the other sparklings. He had been hoping that the little mech would have been an anchor to help reassure his brothers, the sudden defiance that had sprung forth had surprised him so much that only the medics quick reflexes had kept Sparkles from slipping out the door. He hated that they had to resort to sedating his creation, but with the attack on Praxus, word was out that the newly formed Decepticons were hunting down any remaining high ranking officials of the doomed city. What they were searching for, SteelBack could only guess at. But as chief Enforcer of Praxus, he couldn't risk the chance that the 'cons would come after him and his family.

His gaze drifted over the small black form laying completely still on the berth before him, his optics catching on the data-pad clutched to the sparklings chest. He smiled slightly, it was rare to see him without his data-pad. Curiousity spiked and he gently removed the pad from its owners grip. Powering it on, he was shocked at its contents. Understanding spilled into his processor followed quickly by a deep sadness. SteelBack had known Sparkles was friends with a polyhexian, but he had never guess that the friendship had deepened into love. Just looking at the pictures he could see that it was one of those true loves that was so very rare to find. It made what he was about to do that much harder. It would kill something in his creation's spark, but it was unavoidable. He would do whatever it took to keep his family safe.

A small enraged cry caught his attention and SteelBack whirled to face the door, half expecting the medic to have returned with his two other sparklings, instead he was hit in the chest by a fast moving white blur. He rocked on his heels from the force of the blow but managed to keep his balance. Dropping the data-pad, he captured his attackers small fists and tugged the wriggling sparkling away far enough to get a good look.

"Why? What did you do to him? Whats wrong with him?" The words were spoken fast, between frantic breaths as Rio tried to make sense of the current situation. All that he was completely sure of was that something terrible had to have happened to his friend. Sparkles had vanished, missing his classes.(Something the bot would never do) So Rio had tracked him down, only to find him offline on a med-berth, with his creator nearby. Panic had set in, and he had reacted accordingly.

SteelBack stared into the still struggling sparklings optics and knew with certainty that his creations feelings were returned whole-sparkedly. The sadness in his spark deepened painfully. He knew that separating them would be cruel, but he also knew in the deepest part of his being that a love of the kind he could see infront of him would not be denied so easily. He set the sparkling down on the edge of Sparkles berth, then kneeled before him, bringing his optics level to the wide blue ones.

"Rio. Sparkles is alright, we just had to sedate him for his own good. There are bad mechs out there that might want to hurt him, so I have to take him away." SteelBack paused as he watched the panic that had been fading, renew. "I know you care for him. You want whats best for him don't you?"

Rio nodded his head fervently, he raised a hand to gently trace the contours of his friends helm. He could sense the tension in the bot before him, and was certain that he was not going to like what was coming.

"I need you to promise me something." SteelBack watched as young, calculating optics turned back to stare at him with an intensity he had only seen in Sparkles."Promise me that if he tries to get in contact with you, that you will not respond. That if you should see him somewhere, that you will not let him know who you are."

"Why?" There was a challenging light in the optics that continued to stare at him fearlessly.

"For his own safety. Should those who wish to do him harm, find him, they could kill him. You don't want that do you?" SteelBack's spark twisted at the pained look that crossed a face to young to know such pain. But he would not take back the words, he could not. He needed his family to be safe.

"I Promise." Rio clambered to his knees on the berth and leaned over Sparkles' still form to press a soft kiss to his cheek,he whispered a few words in the mechlings audio that were too low for the adult mech to catch. Then he turned and allowed himself to be lifted to the ground. He turned serious optics back to Steelback. "But you have to promise to keep him safe."

"I will." He smiled slightly, knowing that in another time, another life, he would have welcomed this mech into his family with open arms. The genuine care and love Rio showed for his creation was rare these days.

Rio stared at him for a few more moments before nodding in acceptance of the promise and then vanished out the door without a single glance back. SteelBack turned back to his sparkling, freezing as his foot stepped on something and a crack sliced through the air. Bending, he picked up the data-pad he had dropped earlier, its screen now cracked. For a moment he debated on what to do with it, before tucking it back into its owners grasp. It might be a mistake in the long run, but he was forcing his sparkling to give up more then he could imagine, and he wasn't willing to take that last little piece of Rio that he would have. He turned as the door hissed open to the reveal the medic and his other two sparklings. He explained what was going on to them, both accepting it much easier then Sparkles had. Plans were executed and in a few short breems, they vanished.

Jazz stared down at his recharging friend, his memories slowly drifting away. He raised a hand to caress the side of Prowl's face, his fingers lingering on the spot he had kissed so many vorns ago. Seeing him recharging or sedated on a med-berth never failed to bring back the memories of that day. It had been so long ago, but he could still see every detail of that day as clearly as if it had been yesterday. Walking away that day had been the hardest thing he had ever done. He did not believe for a moment that he would ever be able to do it again.

He had kept his promise, he had not told Prowl who he was, but that didn't mean he hadn't kept track of him. Once he had reached younglinghood, there hadn't been a day that went by that he hadn't known exactly where Sparkles was. When Sparkles had become Prowl and joined the Autobot cause, he had made sure that he would be near.

Now that the very idea of Prowl still being in danger of his identity getting out was ridiculous, Jazz still found himself unable to break that promise. He had never done so, and never would. But that would not stop him from spending as much time as possible near the bot he had loved all his life. Even if that bot stubbornly refused to see it.

Jazz's thought processes screeched to a halt and he leaned in as sounds from the mech infront of him indicated that he was waking up. His spark lurched then fluttered happily as blue optics flickered on to meet his through the visor.

"Jazz."