Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC's and medical procedures.

Ratchet peered down the darkened hallway, dimming his optics and quieting his systems. His footsteps were light and quiet, almost silent. Ratchet knew Nightshade was hiding something. Maybe a few moments of quiet observation would help shine light on Nightshade's actions? Ratchet almost felt guilty for spying on the rookie, but Nightshade had lied to him. Ratchet did not tolerate liars in his medical bay, especially if he had made every effort possible to secure the rookie a job.

Ungrateful little son of a glitch, Ratchet thought rudely, glancing down both sides of an adjacent corridor before continuing his journey forwards. A few moments later found him just outside of the doorway, pressed up against the wall. He listened as hard as he could. Should he take a peek or should he just use his scanner? He'd have to peek – Nightshade would probably be able to feel the scan now that he knew what the strange sensation was. Ratchet could hear soft noises from inside of the room and he furrowed his optic ridges curiously, peering into the room.

Nightshade was standing in the middle of the room, his hands in the air. Ratchet's optical ridges furrowed when Nightshade began swaying from side to side, his feet moving deftly beneath him. What was he doing?

After watching a few moments of the strangely sensuous sway of the mech's body, it hit Ratchet. Nightshade was dancing. Ratchet turned around and absently rubbed his tingling chest plates. What was going on?

He and Red Alert definitely needed to talk.

One joor later, while on break…

"Alright, Ratchet. What's going on?" Red Alert asked, dropping into one of the seats in front of Ratchet's desk.

"Have you noticed anything…strange about Nightshade?"

Red Alert thought on Ratchet's statement for a moment or two before nodding.

"Actually, yes. Do you mean specific things?" Red Alert asked, leaning forward onto Ratchet's desk. Ratchet debated telling Red Alert about his late night espionage.

"I came in here last night and found him dancing. Like a real femme would," Ratchet stated, shrugging his shoulders at the incredulous look he received.

"You were spying on Nightshade?"

"Red Alert, I have every right to know why Nightshade is lying to me. And he's in my medical bay," Ratchet said, avoiding Red Alert's glare.

"Well, his sister was a dancer, Ratchet. He was fairly young when his sister and femme-creator were sent off of Cybertron, remember? He probably doesn't realize that he's mirroring what he saw," Red Alert said, shrugging.

"True, true. But it makes me wonder just how young Nightshade is," Ratchet said, leaning back in his chair. A confused look had him elaborating.

"Here…look at Nightshade's design specifications," Ratchet said, handing Red Alert a datapad. Red Alert took it and looked it over, humming quietly. He frowned.

"You're right. This is very strange. Do you want me to ask him about it?"

"No, no. Not quite yet. I want to observe him before I say anything," Ratchet said, shaking his head. Red Alert nodded, setting the datapad down.

"Alright. Primus, I knew Nightshade was young, but…how would Nightshade get his hands on the materials for that? And how the Pit would he be able to design a whole new set of specifications and get them past Moon Racer?" Red Alert asked. He leaned into his hands, squinted his optics and putting his computing center to good use. "Do we know how old he is, exactly?"

"I think Nightshade knows more about medical procedures than he lets on – remember his question and answer session? We didn't cover half of those things with him. And remember what he said about my spark? Nightshade doesn't have access to the back of my library. All he can access are the basics and general encyclopedias…and no, I don't think we know an exact age," Ratchet said slowly and thoughtfully. Red Alert only nodded, picking up one of Ratchet's various knickknacks. Ratchet continued speaking.

"And I've known Moon Racer for years. I personally trained her. She should have noticed something strange about Nightshade's behavior."

"Did Moon Racer ever get a physical on Nightshade?" Red Alert asked. Ratchet went through Nightshade's transfer files. He shook his head.

"No, Moon Racer hasn't so much as pried his chest plates open," Ratchet said, his optical ridges furrowing even further.

"What is he hiding?" Red Alert pondered out loud.

"Definitely his age, for one. There's no way in Pit that he's two hundred and forty one vorns of age...the spark readings are far too low for that of an adult male. Wait, I'm looking through Elita's log. Nightshade was picked up just after the assault on Crystal City."

"Crystal City? What region?" Red Alert asked, suddenly sitting up. Crystal City was the art central of Cybertron – various artists used the city as a hub to trade and distribute their work. Sunstreaker had worked in the city as a 'starving' artist.

"Upper west side. The really nice side of the city."

"That explains why he's entirely custom built," Red Alert said thoughtfully, picking Nightshade's specifications up.

"Sunstreaker used to know everyone there. Let's call him down and see what he can tell us about Nightshade's family," Ratchet said, "My mentor was their personal physician, and he would have mentioned the delivery of a second sparkling."

"What do you mean?"

"I could have sworn that they only had one creation…a femme."

Sunstreaker was wary the moment he was called into Ratchet's office. He sidled into the room, expecting a tirade, or a wrench to the head at the very least. He was pleasantly surprised when Red Alert motioned to one of the seats.

"Please sit down, Sunstreaker," Ratchet said, waiting until Sunstreaker had obeyed before speaking again, "Now. I want your word that what we discuss in this room stays in this room."

Sunstreaker nodded, confused and curious.

"What is it that you need?" he asked, fidgeting slightly.

"You lived in Crystal City for a few hundred vorns, right?" Red Alert asked. Sunstreaker nodded.

"Yes, my brother and I were raised to our youngling stages in Priahex, then we were transferred from our caretakers to one of the academies. Why?"

"Did you ever do work for Day Lily and Crosswise?" Ratchet asked. Susntreaker nodded once more.

"Yes. Is this about Nightshade?" Sunstreaker asked. Ratchet nodded, pushing the Nightshade's designs toward Sunstreaker.

"Do you remember anything about their family?" Ratchet asked, watching as Sunstreaker pored over the design specifications.

"These designs and Nightshade's size and mass are not compatible. Are you sure these are his? And his mass is still too high to be a subadult's frame, if that's what you want to know. I don't know what else to tell you, Ratchet. But I can tell you this – I can't remember Crosswise and Day Lily ever having a second sparkling. I only know of their first – a little femme," Sunstreaker said, handing the digipad to Ratchet. Red Alert nodded, his optical ridges furrowing. This was very strange. Why would a healthy couple hide the delivery of a second sparkling? A second child would be worth celebrating.

"And…if anything…Nightshade's frame and mass suggest a more…light purpose. Perhaps Nightshade wasn't built with a purpose," Sunstreaker suggested, glancing up at the two now silent mechs. After a few long moments, Ratchet spoke.

"Thank you, Sunstreaker. We'll have a chat with Nightshade later on."

"Alright, see you later, doc-bot," Sunstreaker said, waving at him cheerily and leaving the office before Ratchet could retaliate against the ridiculous nickname. Red Alert looked once more to Ratchet before getting to his feet.

"Wait a second, Red Alert. I need you to take a look at something," Ratchet said, standing up.

"What is it?"

"My chest feels strange," Ratchet said quietly, rubbing at his burning chest plates. Red Alert raised one optical ridge. Things were getting very strange around here.

"Let me get a scanner," was all that Red Alert would say. He disappeared for a few moments before returning to the office. Red Alert scanned Ratchet's chest, watching him from the corner of his optic. Ratchet's facial plates looked cool and unreadable at first glance, but Red Alert had known Ratchet for many years. Ratchet was confused. That was something that rarely happened – he had been one of the most promising students at the Academy. There was nothing that Ratchet could not figure out.

Red Alert glanced over the scanner. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except for mildly elevated radiation. Red Alert shook his head.

"The radiation of your spark is elevated by .00023 percent. It's not a very significant increase, though, considering your levels of stress," Red Alert offered, setting the scanner down. Ratchet nodded.

"I…have a theory. Let me check something," Ratchet all but mumbled, standing and walking briskly out of the room. Red Alert stared after him for a moment before following.

"Wait an astrosecond, Ratchet!"

Nightshade was unaware of the situation in the medical bay. He was too busy enjoying his day off with Mirage. They were both sitting outside, enjoying the crisp autumn air and bright sunshine. Nightshade was stretched out across the ground, purring happily as the sunlight warmed his armor. Mirage was leaning up against a large rock, watching over Nightshade. He smirked.

"What are you thinking about, Mirage?" Nightshade asked, propping his head up on his hands.

"The first time we met," Mirage said, grinning at Nightshade. Nightshade groaned, burying his face into his hands.

"That was embarrassing," he muttered quietly.

"I think it was cute that you snuck out to meet to meet my brother," Mirage said, his grin growing wider. Nightshade rolled over onto his side.

"We were both subadults, Mirage, we were both stupid," Nightshade muttered.

"Yes, I agree with the 'stupid' portion, Nightshade, but did you honestly think you could sneak out of your room knowing that your room was just above your living room?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. How was I supposed to know my mother was still downstairs?" Nightshade groused, smiling fondly at the memory. The subadult mech she had snuck out to meet was one of her closest friends. They had both attended the same classes for a very long time. It wasn't until Nightshade had gotten caught that she found out that he was Mirage's younger sibling.

"Ahh, I remember the first call I got from Day Lily…"

"Mirage!"

"She is to be kept under lock and key!" Mirage said, imitating Day Lily's high pitched voice and stance. Nightshade laughed when he wiggled his finger at her, scowling at her.

"Mirage, stop talking about my creator like that! That's horrible!"

"This is the last straw! Mirage, you are to guard her," Mirage said, planting his fists on his hip joints, "She is to be in your sight at all times!"

"Oh, be quiet – hey, Ratchet!" Nightshade exclaimed, looking up at the red and white mech. The mech looked strangely out of place in the organic environment.

"Mirage," Ratchet said, bowing his head slightly in his direction before turning to Nightshade, "I needed to speak with you about your physical, Nightshade."

Mirage and Nightshade both froze. Ratchet sensed the sudden tension in the air but remained cool and calm. He stepped over to a nearby boulder and took a seat, watching as Nightshade scrambled up to a sitting position.

"I've been looking over your files and I've noticed a few things."

"Like what?" Nightshade asked cautiously, his optics darting over to Mirage.

"I know you're lying to me about something, Nightshade," Ratchet said flatly, "And I'd like to know what about."

Nightshade goggled at him. Mirage watched on, ready to spring in to defend his charge. Ratchet glanced over at Mirage. His posture was tense and his hand was resting threateningly over a weapon subspace pocket in his leg. Ratchet's optics narrowed further. So Mirage knew what Nightshade was hiding. This was a very interesting development.

"What makes you say that, Ratchet?" Nightshade asked pleasantly, though on the inside, his spark went ice cold. Nightshade subconsciously rubbed the bottom of his chest plates, panic rising in his systems. Nightshade and Mirage had gone over an emergency evacuation plan in case someone found out that Nightshade was a she – Mirage would temporarily neutralize the other mech while Nightshade commandeered one of the secondary shuttles. If they were lucky enough, they would be able to hide in the orbit of the moon until Elita or Chromia arrived. Their rank would be able to protect Nightshade against any unwanted advances. Nightshade gave Ratchet a strange look and shook his head, pretending not to understand.

"Your spark readings are too low. How old are you?" Ratchet snapped, planting his fists on his hip compartments, "You lied about your age before. I don't know why I believed you when you said you were two hundred and forty one vorns old."

"I…I guess I should tell you. I'm…just into my subadult stages. That's why I can't transform," Nightshade admitted quietly, rubbing his cranial unit. He was definitely winging it at the moment. He had no idea what Ratchet was here for. Nightshade obviously couldn't insist that 'he' was two hundred an forty one vorns of age. Ratchet would scan him and figure out that he was a she. Would Ratchet fall for the lie? Nightshade waited breathlessly for a few moments until Ratchet nodded. Mirage relaxed.

"You won't be able to do hands on work during procedures if that's the case, Nightshade," Ratchet said softly, shaking his head slightly. Nightshade froze at his words – that was not good. Hands on work accounted for nearly thirty percent for his final grade to become an official intern.

"And how are you involved, Mirage? Are you his guard?" Ratchet asked, looking over at the mech. Mirage nodded.

"Day Lily put me in charge of his safety when Crystal City was raided," Mirage said. He wasn't lying – it was the truth. Mirage had only been assigned as an escort until Nightshade had learned her lesson. The raid on the city had made things much more dangerous for unbound femmes, so Day Lily had ingeniously created armor for her only daughter to disguise her as a male. Mirage had been assigned as 'his' guard until Nightshade was safely with her family once more.

Satisfied, Ratchet nodded and stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of his frame. He glanced over at Nightshade and Mirage. They were both obviously still uneasy. Ratchet made a mental note to speak with Prime.

"That's all I wanted to know, Nightshade. Thank you. I will discuss this with Red Alert and I'll see what I can do to replace the hands-on grades you will need to finish your training," Ratchet said. Nightshade smiled radiantly up at him. Would Ratchet really do that for him?

"I don't mind making accommodations for you, Nightshade. I just want to know why you lied to me. Repeatedly. "

"I-I'm sorry, Ratchet. I…didn't want to be treated like a youngling after all that I've been through. I just wanted to be treated like a normal mech," Nightshade whispered quietly, praying that Ratchet would believe him. Ratchet nodded.

"I understand, Nightshade. I will see you in the medical bay on Monday," Ratchet said, turning to leave. Nightshade and Mirage shared a relieved glance. Just before disappearing over the ridge, Ratchet glanced back at them.

"However, Nightshade…if I find that you've lied to me again, your aft is out of the medical bay and I will put you in the brig for lying to a superior officer on numerous occasions. I've given you plenty of opportunities to confide in me, but if I find out that you've breached my trust once more…I will download your information whether you like it or not," Ratchet said, his voice low and ominous, "If there's anything that you'd like to say, say it now." Nightshade felt his insides freeze, but he managed to speak evenly.

"No, that's it, Ratchet."

"Very well."

Ratchet watched the pair from inside the medical bay, his optics narrowed and fists clenched.

Ratchet may have not been the best detective in the world, but he knew when he was being lied to. Things were starting to escalate. Ratchet honestly didn't want to forcibly download information from the mech, but if it got to the point where he couldn't be trusted, Ratchet would put aside his personal beliefs for a few hours.

Ratchet's not a happy mech, is he? Hope y'all enjoyed. :)