Beg. notes:

Day 7: MIA

Sister fic to day one, starting with the autobot's perspective during the mission and their rescue attempt.

After Mirage's distressing call, the autobots are in a hectic rush to get to him in time. They may only pray that they aren't too late.

Title from: Touch-Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon

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Jazz sat by the terminal, quickly checking everything.

Just over 2 orns ago Mirage was sent on a solo mission to the destroyed decepticon ship. The same one he himself helped sink, Jazz thought with no small amount of pride. His agents were really the best. He turned away from the computer to look at the others present.

Optimus was talking with Prowl, Blaster sat by his own computer, talking to someone over his comms and Bumblebee and Hound, two of his other agents, stood a little to his left, eager to hear from their companion.

If everything went well, Mirage would contact them in less than 2 joors for his check up.

Jazz waited patiently as he watched the time tick by on the console.

Bumblebee and Hound laughed about something.

Optimus nodded his head and stood to walk away as Prowl took a datapad to check something.

Blaster joked with whoever was on the other side of the comms, most likely Sideswipe as he was currently on patrol.

Bots walked and talked, each with their own business.

The time swiftly went by.

But no comm came.

Jazz clenched his fists as he watched the time tick by, still no comm coming.

Bumblebee and Hound stopped and turned to him, confused. They also notice. Of course they did.

Optimus stopped by his side, noticing his strained body, worry and confusion clear in his field.

Prowl looked up, his doorwings quivering in a way indicating confusion as he looked at Jazz.

Even Blaster ended his own comm, now aware of the tense atmosphere in the room.

Some bots stopped and looked over at the source of the increasingly worried atmosphere.

As Jazz continued to sit there, staring at the screen as if it had personally offended him, they quickly realized what happened.

Mirage missed his check up.

The tense atmosphere returned tenfold, with everyone now aware of the big issue at hand. Mirage was one of their best spies, if he missed a check up that usually meant-

:Mirage to Jazz, Mirage to Jazz! Jazz do you copy?!: The console suddenly came to life, Mirage's voice filtered through the communicator. Like a bubble, the tense atmosphere popped as Jazz let out an ex-vent of relief at hearing his friend's voice.

:Yeah, we hear you.: Jazz responded. An ex-vent of relief could be heard from the other side before Mirage abruptly swore, followed by some grunts and metallic thuds. :Mirage I heard- What's happening over there?!: Jazz's voice went from worried to alert in a nanoclick, now on edge by the normally calm noble's demeanor. Bumblebee and Hound etched closer, Optimus put a hand on Jazz's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

:The mission got compromised, they know I'm here! I'm using the new holograms from Wheeljack to appear differently, so they don't know who I am-: another thud, loud swear from Mirage and a thundering boom filled the airwave, followed by more swears and fast metallic thuds :-FRAG, but I need to get out of here,: by this point Prowl and Blaster walked over, with everyone in the room now looking attendly at the communicator filtering out Mirage's voice, :preferably with back-up and a medical team ready for when I'm-!:

There was a snap and a sizzle before Mirage's voice filtered through the comms one last time.

:AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!: Mirage howled through the comms, making everyone in the room jump up in surprise. Dread quickly filled their sparks as Jazz began to desperately click on the console.

:Mirage? Mirage! What's happening over there?! Mirage, respond!: Jazz yelled, panic clear through his voice. Optimus and Prowl were talking, and he thinks he heard Blaster's voice too as he ran off to his own console.

Jazz hit the arm of his chair and yelled out in frustration as their connection with Mirage fizzled out, any new attempts swiftly ending in failure.

He turned to Bumblebee and Hound, both in equal amounts of shock and fury, Hound noticeably more distressed.

Jazz looked at them and nodded, all three understanding him even without words.

"Get ready. We're doing a rescue mission." Both quickly nodded and ran out the room towards the armory. Jazz himself stood up and stiffly turned to look at the other officers and prime. There were no words exchanged.

You won't stop me, Jazz's unsaid message easily understood by everyone.

I know, Optimus replied, resigned.

As he turned, he felt someone grab his hand. Prowl looked like he wanted to say something, though he finally settled with a head shake.

:Be careful: he said over their private comms. Jazz smiled.

:I always am.: He replied and took his hand away. With one last look at everyone he turned back and ran after his teammates.

A plan was already forming in his processor. As much as he wanted to go in there and rip apart every con that stood in his way, he wasn't foolish enough to risk the lives of the rest of his team just because he was angry.

They'd go to their designated extraction point and if Mirage failed to show up, they'd go from there.

He didn't want to know what that would imply. He wasn't ready to lose another friend yet.

The rest of the time spent inside the ark went by in a blur. Skyfire would transport them to the beach, where a small submarine of Wheeljack's design would already be waiting to take them underwater and right to the slinked decepticon ship. He pointedly decided to ignore why exactly it was there, but he at least remembered to thank Wheeljack for his assistance. He vaguely recalls talking with Ratchet and taking a medical kit from him. First Aid was going with them, though he wouldn't be leaving the safety of the Spec Ops's rescue submarine.

Jazz got ready, checking the various weapons hidden around his body, from lasers to laser knives and blades. Everything was both in its place and in proper condition for a fight.

The thoughts of his missing friend was all he could think about, even as they walked to Skyfire's alt mode, even as they sat in tense silence as they traveled, even as they entered the submarine. It was all Jazz's processor could process as he quickly put in the coordinates into the ship, even as it started moving.

The trip was spent in silence. As much as Jazz wanted for it to go faster, the small submarine wasn't designed for fast travel and even at its fastest it was incredibly slow by his standards.

Finally, after what felt like forever, they reached the fallen ship. Jazz sent a quick prayer to their maker in the hopes that the cloaking systems were working properly and, with the distinct lack of any weapons suddenly being pointed at them, it appeared that they were.

Jazz took manual control as he carefully swerved to get directly to their designated spot. Finally, they reached the familiar looking wall, a barely noticeable hatch visible from the outside. He quickly parked the ship and extended the airway, creating a small pocket for them to safely go through without having to swim. Motioning for Bumblebee and Hound to follow him, the three of them quickly made their way over and with one strong pull, opened the hatch and entered the Nemesis.

Looking around, Jazz almost immediately spotted the roughed up form of Mirage lying motionlessly by one of the walls. Fearing the worst, Jazz let out a shout of despair and quickly ran over to check on him. He almost collapsed from relief as he felt Mirage's, however faint, EM field, a clear indicator of his still alive status.

But just because he was alive did not mean he was well.

Oh, Mirage looked terrible. The portion left of his face was completely blown off, his optic dangling from its socket by a couple of wires. His right leg looked damaged, the wound clearly aggravated by movement, most likely caused by Mirage's escape. His right arm was completely gone around the elbow, the protoform horribly deformed and scarred as if the wires and the outer plating got melted together.

Jazz felt his spark drop at the sudden realization.

Oh Primus, he didn't...

But the clear signs of cauterization glared back at him, a show of his failure as a leader. Shame and regret threatened to spill as he looked at the absolute wreck that Mirage was right now.

As if sensing his presence, Mirage shifted slightly, unfocused optics looking right at him. He opened his intake but no sounds came out. His optics flickered.

Jazz felt panic rise as Mirage suddenly slumped forward, thought quickly caught by Hound's awaiting arms. He let out a panicked noise as Mirage smiled weakly.

Calmness filtered through his EM field, soon followed by a wave of gratitude.

Oh.

Jazz honestly felt like crying as Mirage's optics flickered one more time before his body finally lost the battle and fell into emergency stasis. Without thinking, Jazz jumped up and ordered Hound to bring him back to First Aid. Hound didn't need to be told twice, already turning around before Jazz even finished his sentence.

As they disappeared, Jazz turned around and gazed at the door. Oh, how he wished to run through it and cause as much chaos as he possibly could, how he wanted to go and rip apart every single con he came across for even daring to put his teammate in such a condition.

Those thoughts drifted around his processor as he clenched his fist. Wordlessly, he turned around and with a head motion ordered Bumblebee to go back, with himself soon following. As he was entering the small submarine, he turned and looked back at the ship one last time before finally closing the door and going inside.

He checked on First Aid, studiously working on Mirage's repairs. The steady beeps of a spark monitor filled the wordless ambience.

We've got you now, Jazz thought as he looked at Mirage's peaceful form, already looking better than how they found him. Hound stood by the wall, keeping watch despite no threats present, Bumblebee already at the controls and inputting the coordinates back to the beach.

And we're not about to lose you again. 

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End notes:

I thought of the idea of somehow connecting Day 1 with this and this is how it ended up.
The beginning and the end, two sides of the same coin. What a poetic way to end this, isn't it?