Jazz wasn’t sure how long he’d wandered. Time had just… slipped away. Finding fuel down here was nearly impossible. He hummed, noticing a tilted cube propped against some trash, liquid vibrating from the pitch. He crouched by it and lifted it, sniffing to check that it was actually Energon and not something distasteful. Relieved to find that it did smell like Energon, he took a testing sip.

“OI! I finally caught you, ya lousy gutter mech!” A voice yelled, “get out of my trash!!!”

Jazz jolted, dropping the cube with a soft cry, unseeing eyes wide in fear, “ah-Ah’m sorreh!” He tried, scrambling away, “ah’m jus’ lookin’ fo’ fuel!”

He froze when he click of a blaster, “ain’t any fuel here for the likes of you, Hexie!” The voice snarled.

Jazz hummed the echo-note, using precious seconds to figure out his surroundings again before bolting-

But he wasn’t quick enough, the sound of the blaster firing nearly deafening him before electric fire lit up his leg.

A sharp scream escaped him, staggering, before he launched himself further into the shadows, fleeing from the shouting stranger wielding the blaster.

Jazz limped through the tunnel, humming wavering with the agony of his leg, he needed Energon, and soon.

Ratchet was antsy, and that made Ironhide mildly nervous. An antsy medic was never pleasant to deal with. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that the borrowed enforcer was taking so long to arrive. They’d put in the request right when they lost Jazz, but the Praxian Enforcers and the Praxian Council had been dragging their pedes about even just borrowing an enforcer. He sighed, shifting on his pedes as he waited at the train terminal where the enforcer would be arriving.

Prowl stepped off the train, looking for his temporary handler. His gaze flicked over the crowd as his doorwings twitched, before it settled on the large red mech who was also scanning the mechs exiting the train. He walked over and tapped the mech’s lower arm, pinging his credentials at him. The mech looked down in surprise, then registered the doorwings, “ah.”

Prowl stared intensely, before the mech pinged him back. Captain Ironhide. Interesting.

“Prowl,” Ironhide tested the name, “I see that you’re the enforcer they sent us.”

Prowl nodded silently, awkward.

“Did they tell you what we requested you for?”

He shook his head.

“…. Splendid,” Ironhide grumbled, before motioning the young mech to follow him, “I’m sure you heard about the big gang bust that just happened almost a decacycle ago. Well, one of the mechs we rescued was a Polyhexian. He escaped from the Medi-clinic the day after we got him there, and fled into the sewers. Designation is Jazz of Polyhex, he’s fully blind, and we aren’t sure of his current condition. Medic didn’t get the chance to check him over before he escaped. Polyhexians can get through the underground in ways no one else can. You’re our best shot to locate him in the dark maze and get him back up and into medical care.”

Prowl listened, nodding sharply to show he understood.

“I also see in your file you’re mute, so you’re gonna have someone with you at all times, and extra emergency beacons in case you get separated. Understood?”

Prowl nodded again.

“Good.” Ironhide said, before they reached the road and transformed. The crimson armored van moved the debrief to the commlink, “we’re going to start from where he did. Not sure where he could be at this point- he doesn’t know the city and we couldn’t track him. All our informants haven’t seen a thing.”

Prowl sent back a ping of acknowledgment this time, and they drove the rest of the way to the clinic in relative silence.

Prowl looked over the group. Two Iaconi Enforcers, Captain Ironhide, a medic, and a short orange bot he didn’t see any reason as to why he should be here, all standing inside the sewers at the entrance Jazz had used to flee.

“Prowl, meet Rook and Groove of the Iaconi Enforcers, Medic Ratchet, and Psychiatrist Ring, who was our undercover mech in the bust.”

“It’s Rung,” the orange mech corrected smoothly, without heat

Ah. Rung’s presence made more sense now. Prowl dipped his head in acknowledgment to each of them, before lifting his wings and looking towards the darkness.

“Hold yer zapponies, Prowl.” Ironhide ordered, “you’ll be working with Rook. Try to stay close to each other, and communicate over hand signals and comms if you can, whisper if you get too deep and you can’t risk using your lights to see hand signals.”

Prowl nodded. Rook stepped up next to him, and nodded to him, ready to go on the hunt.

The search was on.