Author's Note: And now we've reached chapter seven in which some planning gets done. And Exactlywhat don't worry about me killing off any of those three (killing Ratchet would defeat part of the story, killing Bee would just stink, and I was kind of ticked off when Ironhide died in DOTM). Thanks to Exactlywhat and MoxieRox96 for reviewing and enjoy! I own nothing but Shadow and her brothers and Ebony

Aggressive Negotiations-Planning Difficulties

"One of the serious problems in planning to fight against American doctrine it that Americans do not read their manuals nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine"-From a Soviet Junior Lieutenant's notebook

It was three in the morning just a day before the meeting with the Autobots and Shadow was ready to bang her head against the nearest wall hard enough that it would leave a dent. There were seven of them presently gathered in the half cleaned med bay at an awful time of night. Slouched against a wall was Barricade looking as if he was about to drift into recharge at any moment with Jetfire at his side. Settled on one of the tables directly across from the exhausted pair was Skywarp with Frenzy perched at his side. Sounwave was seated at another table facing them looking just as tired as the rest. They had been attempting to plan for almost three hours now, keeping their voices low so as not to disturb the Autobot medic or any other Decepticons. "It's just not going to work," Jetfire said finally, breaking the temporary silence. "The Autobots will kill us while we're trying to subdue our own and kill Megatron."

And that was the main problem. The Autobots would have no idea what was going on and would end up killing them. "This is ridiculous," Shadow snapped. "We can get people in and we know we have a good chance of killing Megatron but throw the Autobots in and we're back at square one again."

"I think I may have a solution to that," a voice commented dryly from one side of the room. Soundwave shot to his feet and Skywarp warped beside him with Frenzy it tow. Jetfire and Barricade pulled themselves away from the wall, guns coming online, faster than Shadow would have thought possible with as tired as they were. Shadow simply turned to face the Autobot medic while trying not to laugh at her startled comrades.

"Don't shoot," she drawled lazily and Jetfire and Barricade put guns away, returning to their earlier position while everyone else relaxed. "How long have you been listening?" Shadow asked, amused by the situation. If Megatron knew exactly how nosy this medic was before hand she was sure that Ratchet wouldn't be on the Nemesis in the first place.

"A while," Ratchet said. "It seems to me there's a solution to your problem you haven't considered."

"And of course it involves letting you go," Jetfire commented from his position next to Barricade.

"Of course," the medic said. "But not until the day of. If I'm over there I can convince the Autobots not to shoot you all and give you time to subdue your comrades before any trouble starts."

"But you're going to want to know what's in it for you," Shadow said lazily. She and Jetfire had considered that idea actually but hadn't been sure how to inform the others of it. Ratchet's timing was perfect. The medic nodded, amusement showing in his optics, in answer to her statement. Shadow glanced at Sooundwave who nodded. "What's in it for you is your freedom, the death of Megatron, and a truce. You leave with the location of the Nemesis so if there's any trouble you can contact us and your greatest enemy dead. Deal?"

"Deal," Ratchet said.

"That takes care of that then," Soundwave said. "No we'd better split before we get caught." The group dispersed quietly and cautiously into the hall with Jetfire being the last to leave. Once he was gone Shadow turned to look at Ratchet.

"You have good timing medic and you manage to get through to them without being shot. I wondered for a moment if we weren't going to have to put you back together," she drawled.

"It does take a certain amount of luck when being a battlefield medic," Ratchet said. Shadow laughed as Ratchet activated the door and re-entered the second room to recharge. Tomorrow was going to be a long enough day without being exhausted.