Hey Everyone! Here is my longest chapter yet, unbetaed and with many flaws. You will all be glad to know that I'm up to 44000 words at the moment so I'm quite far ahead of you readers. This of course, means regular updates with none of my usual "I am no where near finishing the next chapter, damn school." I only got one review for the last chapter and the next chapter won't be posted unless I get two...a measly two. Pretty easy. All you have to do is click the button and then say "Update!" or "Like the story!" or "This needs a beta," etc. Don't really mind what you say and constructive criticism is welcome. If you are a beta reading this let me know if you would like to beta read this story as I'm on the look out for a beta.

I know there are a lot of your reading this and a great big thanks to all of you have reviewed, alerted or favourited this story. Virtual high grade to the first person to review this chapter.


Barricade was the first to arrive back at the headquarters, heading straight inside to get a cube of energon for Prowl when he got back. Ashdancer was the next to arrive, a whirlwind of grey and white dashing through the dull building. This left Prowl to arrive last, energon still seeping from his wounds.

The smaller black and white mech didn't really notice his frame or the damage, too caught up in the fact that he needed to contact command and tell them that they had completed their mission. He ignored the energon cube shoved into his hands by a worried Barricade and headed straight for the computer consol.

Black and white doorwings were held close to his body, as stiff as they always were. Ashdancer made some sort of pained noise in the back of the throat as Prowl leaned back in the seat, the wound upon his doorwing coming into full contact with the chair.

It didn't take Prowl long to send out the message to command and he felt immediately relieved once he did. The sensor nets along his chassis had long since become immune to pain, or at least they didn't register anything in his processor. Undoubtedly the battle computer would be sorting through any data from the nets, storing it all away in a file to sort through later.

The black and white mech's battle computer was still running fast and hot, churning straight through the small amount of energon he had left in his system. It was out of necessity that he brought the long forgotten cube to his mouth and took a long draught from it.

"Prowl, you need medical attention. You've sent the message to command so now we need to go find a medic, the wounds need attention," Barricade reasoned, inanely worried for his smaller counterpart.

"I have survived worse without medical attention. I shall be fine," Prowl replied, already opening the new orders that had been sent through.

"Slag it Prowl, you're going to go and see a medic even if I have to drag you there," Barricade snarled as he stepped forward to lift the smaller black and white mech out of his current seat.

"I have no need for a medic, now if you will excuse me I have more tactical plans to draw up," Prowl said, voice icy as he continued to focus on the computer.

"You are going to see a medic and that's final. I'll not have you continue your work here while you are injured," Barricade said sternly as he wrapped his arms around Prowl and lifted him straight out of his seat.

Ashdancer stood to the side of the room, an amused expression playing on her lip plates. She could see the emotions that Barricade was hiding, even if Prowl couldn't. The larger black and white mech could be so obvious, if you knew that he was really Jazz.

Even as Ashdancer thought of the emotions that Barricade was displaying, Prowl seemed to pick up on them. The black and white mech's optics widened as he looked up at his larger counterpart. His doorwings stopped any subtle movement that they may have been displaying, now held absolutely still. His whole chassis seemed to freeze, suspended in time.

Prowl's battle computer was racing, desperately trying to make sense of the emotion he could see in Barricade's optics. He hadn't thought that the larger mech had held any emotion for him but now he was faced with the brunt of it. His battle computer, already strained started to lock up. Prowl desperately tried to get his battle computer under control but it just didn't want to cooperate.

Barricade felt the mech in his arms stiffen and saw the way his optics went wide. A small gasp escaped from his vocaliser as the smaller frame started to tremble and shake. The movement started subtly at first but soon grew until the mech in his arms was keening and shaking, the sound of his torment filling the room.

The larger mech immediately set Prowl down on a couch, held him tight. Worry coursed through his systems, worry for his best friend from the orn care. The scenario was too similar to the one at the orn care, the orn that he thought Prowl had fallen offline.

Prowl's battle computer was fighting with him, trying to tear apart his processor and causing immense pains within his spark. Emotion and logic warred within him, the powerful tactical asset winning out over his spark. The backlash from the conquest hit directly into his spark, feeling as if an energon dagger had slashed straight through it.

His chassis shook, just like it always did. He couldn't hear his own keens as the agony within his spark increased. Somewhere, on the edge of his consciousness he could feel the touch of someone's servo running along his chevron and arms wrapped tightly around his frame.

Barricade just held Prowl, he couldn't think of anything else to do. His processor was frozen, the sound of his friend's pain causing him immense grief. Barricade didn't want this to be his fault; he didn't want this to happen again. His memories from the orn care were trying to come to the forward part of his processor but he didn't allow it, it was time to focus on the mech in his arms.

Prowl's processor was clouded; he couldn't really tell what was going on around him. He could feel the arms, the servo along his chevron but nothing else. His vocaliser felt raw and overused but he couldn't hear anything within the room. It was like any other battle computer fritz, except this time someone had seen him.

The thought jerked Prowl out of the haze he had been suspended in. His optics widened in alarm as he saw that it was Barricade holding him tightly. Ashdancer was nowhere to be seen, the smaller black and white mech could only hope that she hadn't gone to find a medic.

Jerking himself out of the grip of the larger black and white mech, Prowl all but sprinted to the other side of the room to press up against the wall. His optics focused on Barricade, the shocked and worried expression on his face.

"Prowl…are you ok?" Barricade asked, voice wavering.

"I…I am fine," Prowl answered, unsure as to what kind of reply the other mech wanted.

"Primus Prowl, you scared me. I…I care for you and it just scared me so much to see you in that much pain," Barricade answered, cursing himself for sounding so worried and weak.

"I am fine, my battle computer just has a few issues," Prowl said as he returned to the computers, studiously ignoring the emotion in Barricade's voice, he didn't want his battle computer to fritz again.

"Just a few issues? That wasn't a few issues, that was one great, gigantic issue!" Barricade yelled, his pent up emotions finding a less than perfect escape.

"Please keep your voice down, the noise is not particularly helping my processor," Prowl said, voice as emotionless as it could ever be.

"Oh look, now you've gone and withdrawn again. Why don't you just tell me what the real issue is with your battle computer, it's obviously been an issue for a while if you recovered so quickly," Barricade growled, stalking over to the energon dispenser to get the tactician another cube.

Before Prowl could answer, the front door to the building swung open with a resounding clang. Heavy pedesteps rushed towards the common room, lighter ones keeping pace with the heavy ones.

A red and white mech burst into the room, wrench in servo, optics immediately narrowing in on Prowl and his injuries. The wrench was thrown with force, straight towards Prowl's head and made contact with a satisfying thud.

"You young mech, get yourself on that couch over there so I can take a look at you," the red and white mech said, "and before you even think of protesting you are going to do it because I said so."

Prowl didn't respond as he got up and walked over to the couch he had only recently vacated. He sat himself down carefully, making sure not to jolt any part of his chassis. The medic would expect him to be in pain, even though he wasn't. Prowl knew how to pretend for a medic, or engineer, as he had to do it frequently at the enforcer's academy.

"What have you done to yourself you stupid mech? You should have gone straight to a medical facility with those wounds!" the red and white mech snarled as he stalked forward, similar to a predator hunting its prey.

"I was required to enter a report on the mission, it took precedence over my own welfare," Prowl responded, voice cool and calm.

"Nothing comes before your own welfare you slagheap!" A second wrench collided with Prowl's helm.

"I would appreciate it if you would stop throwing objects at my helm, it is already sore enough."

"I don't see why it should hurt you frag head, it's the only part of your chassis not damaged!" the medic yelled before turning to Barricade, "And you young mech should know better than to let him come back here. Ashdancer said you were going to bring him in and I have no idea why you didn't!"

"Look, Ratchet, I didn't bring him in because he suddenly started keening and shaking. Apparently his battle computer was giving his some trouble," Barricade said, ignoring the traitorous look Prowl shot him.

"I knew there had to be something wrong with your battle computer, such advanced battle computers had never been tested and are against the law. Your creators must have been insane, and stupid, to have installed one in you. Pit, they probably installed it when you were a youngling and had no choice in the matter. I never did understand the crazy ones, probably because they were crazy and I'm certainly not. Now, I'll take a look at that battle computer of yours after I fix these energon wounds," the red and white mech, Ratchet, said as he started to work on Prowl's door wings.

Prowl held still as his door wings were tampered with even though pain was shooting across his sensor net every time a tool was brought to the appendages. If Ratchet thought it was odd that he could stay so still he didn't vocalize the thought, mumbling to himself as he worked on the damage on the black and white chassis.

Barricade shoved an energon cube into his hand, receiving a wrench to his helm for his efforts. The larger black and white mech couldn't help but hover, still worried for his friend. Ratchet's reaction hadn't been good and now the medic was silent. Silence was always worse than ranting, always. The red and white mech had to be worried about something. What, Barricade didn't know.

The energon wounds didn't take a long time to fix however it was tedious work to have a thorough look at Prowl's battle computer. The young mech had lain down on the couch and powered down to allow the medic to look through his battle computer, grudgingly of course. The medic thought it odd that the mech wasn't more uptight about his helm being opened as his precious battle computer being analysed.

Of course, Ratchet didn't know about how frequently the engineers had looked into Prowl's battle computer and upgraded random parts of it. The red and white medic had assumed that he had had the same battle computer since he was a youngling but he was sorely mistaken, as he realized upon his inspection of the tactical asset.

There were split wires everywhere within the mech's helm, the casing that should have been around them non-existant. Ratchet was surprised Prowl's head hadn't actually been set alight at any point in time, it was certainly a shabby enough job to warrant such a consequence. Old splicing and new splicing were everywhere along the wires, easily distinguishable from eachother. There wasn't one, strong unmarred wire connecting the battle computer to the processor inside the black and white helm.

The battle computer itself was a dodgy piece of work, Ratchet could tell. Most of the wiring was easily seen, tangled in and around itself, forming knots in some places. Some wires had been cut, sliced straight through, with no welding done to seal them off. Undoubtedly those wires would be sparking every time Prowl used his battle computed, which was all the time.

What worried Ratchet the most was that he could see no wiring or connection between Prowl's spark and his battle computer. It was medical fact that a battle computer not linked to a spark would be unbalanced and detrimental to the health of the bot with the piece of equipment.

There was nothing the medic could do about the battle computer, not in his current surroundings. Even if he was in his medical bay there still wouldn't be much he could do. The battle computer was advanced, more advanced than anything he had seen before and to downgrade Prowl's battle computer would throw his processor into a fritz.

The advancement difference between the black and white mech's battle computer and processor was immense. The processor had only been upgraded once, that the medic could tell, and was much more basic than the tactical asset. The tactical computer had been replaced at least five times since the mech was a youngling.

Ratchet's inspection of the mech's chassis made him suck in a breath, old welds littered the frame. It was easy to tell that nothing had been done by a medic, most of it looked like work by and engineer or a technician. In some places there wasn't even welds, just the scars from wounds that had been healed by the bot's self repair systems.

Barricade paced nervously around the room, optics never leaving Prowl's frame. He growled lowly as he saw the mess that was Prowl's helm, the torn up wiring within it. His servos clenched at his side as Ratchet sucked in his breath, nothing could be good if the medic was having such a reaction.

Ashdancer had left the room, not wanting to deal with the mechs. Barricade had heard her mentionsomething about going into the city to check out some shops but he didn't really pay it much attention, no point really.

When prowl was brought online he could feel nothing different, except the absence of the slight pain his battle computer had been sensing. Nothing hurt now, except the dents on his helm from the temperamental medic. Barricade stood across the room, leaning up against the wall with a look of arrogance.

Nothing had changed in Prowl's battle computer that he could tell anyway. The black and white mech became conscious of two optics boring into his helm and turned towards the source. Ratchet was staring at him….creepily.

"Alright young bot, who the pit installed that battle computer?" Ratchet growled.

"The medics…?" Prowl replied, the answer coming out more like a question.

"It was not, now tell me the truth," Ratchet rebuked.

"I cannot say, my creator would not allow that," Prowl responded, hoping the medic would take the hint and leave well enough alone.

Of course the medic couldn't just take a hint and instead continued to press.

"I don't give a slag what your creator thinks, who installed that damned battle computer!" Ratched yelled.

"The engineers did," Prowl answered, not wanting to get into an argument so soon after crashing his battle computer, especially not an argument with emotions.

"Damn those pit-spawned slag heads to the pit! They could at least do a good job if they are going to do something illegal!" Ratchet ranted, getting on a role.

"I am sure that they did the best they could. Now, if you will excuse me, I have new tactical plans to draw up," the black and white mech said as he started to get off the couch.

A red servo reached out and shoved him back into the comfortable piece of furniture. "You are not doing aythign involving your battle computer so soon after it crashed!"

"The command staff needs the plans and I intend to deliver them on time," Prowl said, voice like steel.

"You're not doing anything of the sort. You'll return home and rest your processor, battle computer and chassis," Ratchet ordered.

"You do not have any control over me, you can not make me do that," Prowl argued, once again attempting to stand up.

"I very well can make you do what needs to be done medically. I will contact your superiors and let them know you are off work for this orn and next. Barricade will return to your quarters with you and ensure that you do indeed rest," Ratchet commanded.

"Of course Ratchet, did you really think I was going to leave him alone?" Barricade said, adding ome input to the conversation.

"No!" Prowl cried in desperation, knowing that if Ratchet told the command staff why he wasn't going to work for the orn his creator would be contacted immediately.

"Why the frag not?" Ratchet asked, voice deadly sharp.

"Creator will find out and then I'll be even worse for wear than I am now," Prowl said, hoping the medic would listen to reason.

"Humph."

"I'll return to my quarters but I need to submit this plan. They won't know if I'm not here but they will require the tactical plan," Prowl reasoned.

"It's as good as a compromise as I'm going to get isn't it?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes."

"Very well then. Barricade, make sure that he doesn't stress himself out and that he relaxes after sending in the plan," Ratchet said, Barricade nodding his head in a sign of agreement.

Ratchet then left the room, leaving Prowl and his black and white counterpart looking at each other wearily.

"Come on then, let's head to your quarters and get you settled. You've got energon there I assume?" Barricade said as he walked over to Prowl.

"Yes, of course I have energon in my quarters however they are not going to be very accommodating for the two of us," Prowl answered.

"It's fine so long as you relax, I don't particularly need to."

The trip to Prowl's quarters didn't take too long for the two mechs. The distance wasn't overly great and it wasn't as if there was much traffic.

The black and white mech's apartment was within a fairly squat building, the outside as drab as any other establishment in the shadier area of the city.

"How do you know your apartment won't be broken in to here?" Barricade asked as he assessed the building.

"I am not 100% certain that it won't be broken into but I wanted to make sure that I was close to our headquarters and this seemed to be the most suitable place for me to stay."

They entered the lobby area of the building and took the stairs up to the next level where Prowl's apartment was located. The walls were littered with graffitti and the lights flickered dismally. There was filth everywhere, along the floors and walls. The inside of the building gave the appearance that it hadn't been cleaned in years.

When Prowl opened the door to his quarters and Barricade got a glimpse of the room he was stunned. The room was bare except for a berth and energon dispenser. There were no datapadds, no trinkets, no nothing. It worried Barricade to see that there wasn't anything personal within the room, it was as bare as Prowl's office at the work place.

The smaller black and white mech entered the room and sat down on his berth, withdrawing a data pad from subspace. The mech then gestured for Barricade to take a seat on the berth as well, considering it was the only place a bot could sit other than the floor.

"Do you always keep your quarters so bare?" Barricade asked as he sat down on the berth, a fair distance from Prowl.

"Of course, there is no reason for me to clutter my room with useless commodities."

Prowl plugged into his data pad and started to ignore Barricade as he worked on the plan. His battle computer worked quickly albeit painfully as he formulated the tactical data. It wouldn't take his battle computer long running at this speed however still being low on energon his battle computer wouldn't be able to sustain the speed for long.

Barricade must have picked up on this as he walked across the room and collected an energon cube to hand to Prowl. The black and white mech didn't acknowledge the gesture, intead he brought the energon cube to his lip plates as he held the data pad in his other servo.

The energon burned slightly as Prowl drank it, the quality not the best. It didn't particularly bother him, it was only a substance to keep him online, not to enjoy. The liquid substance was thick and syrupy because of the poor quality. The texture was grainy as it brushed along Prowl's glossa and slid down the back of this throat. In all, it was amazing he never choked on the foul substance.

Barricade reseated himself on the berth, closer to the other mech this time. Prowl never realised he got so deep in thought but it was glaringly obvious to Barricade. Jazz wanted to reach out his arms and pull his team mate to his chassis but he knew he couldn't, not so soon after the other mech had fried his battle computer. Jazz made a silent pact to himself to be on the look out for any other issues with his friend's battle computer. It must have been common for Prowl to recover so quickly and then worry about what he thought.

It dawned on Barricade that Prowl had probably been hiding the issues with his battle computer for vorns. There had never been a rumour about his battle computer fritzing or Prowl suddenly collapsing. The secretive mech must have hidden it from everyone, including the engineers and his own creator. Jazz acknowledged the fact that it must have been difficult at the academy with all the other mechs around. Really it was a miracle that his team mate hadn't been found out before now.

Prowl unplugged himself from the datapad on completion of the tactical plan. The room spun for a few moments before levelling out, the mech's equilibrium chips out of place because of the strain on his processor. A steadying servo reached out and grasped his shoulder, helping Prowl to regain a correct sense of the room.

Barricade saw the way Prowl had started to list slightly on the berth, leaning towards him, optics unfocused. Touching the other mech seemed to help to bring him back into focus. To Jazz it showed how strained the mech was and how much he needed a rest.

Pushing lightly on the shoulder nearest to him, Barricade coaxed Prowl to lay down on the berth.

"Come on Prowl, you've finished the plans now you need to rest," Barricade said, as he eased the other mech down.

"I do not need to be looked after like some youngling Barricade. I am quite capable of looking after myself."

"I know you are and of course you aren't a youngling Prowl. Sometimes you just need to stop with the stubborn pride and let someone else help you," Barricade retorted.

The comment seemed to silence Prowl as he stopped to think about something. Barricade just continued to help the mech lay down on his berth. The injured doorwings were laid flat against the unyeilding berth. Not one sound was garnered from the black and white mech's vocaliser despite the pain he should have been feeling at the contact.

It stunned Prowl to hear the other mech tell him that he should let someone else help him. Since being a youngling he had been told to look after himself, not let anyone see any of his weaknesses and never to rely on another. Now, his team mate was telling him to rely on the other mech, to let Barricade help him. It went against everything his creator had said, everything he had been taught but it felt nice to be looked after, if only for a short amount of time.

"Thank you."

"What for?" Barricade asked, somewhat startled by the other mech talking.

"For helping me. No one has ever helped me before, not without ulterior motives," Prowl responded.

"Well then, you're welcome. Just relax for a bit Prowl, maybe try to get some recharge."

"Mmhm," Prowl mumbled as he started to drift off, not much prodding needed for him to slip into recharge.

Barricade continued to sit on the edge of the berth, optics transfixed on the vibrant chevron upon the black and white helm. Elegant doorwings that were usually held so stiffly now relaxed and splayed across the berth. Jazz felt a stirring of lust for his long time friend but immediately quelled it. Prowl didn't know it was him, his disguise as Barricade holding firm. Not that it should have been expected to fall flat, Ratchet himself had done the frame modifications to allow him to complete the mission. It was just a good thing that he was still in his third frame and awaiting his fourth.

It occurred to Jazz that Prowl was in a full mech frame, two vorns away for Jazz. When they had been at the orn care they hadn't been that far apart in frame and processor age. Obviously his friend had been accelerated through his frames and processors to get to where he was now. His spark was most likely still one of a mechling or even youngling depending on when the acceleration had started. Sparks upgraded into frames before their time usually stopped their maturation from the shock.

Barricade started to feel the toll on his chassis as he stood there watching Prowl. Throwing away any thought of the consequences he slid onto the berth with his team mate, lying behind the other mech. Powering down his optics he slipped into a light recharge, ready to wake up the astrosecond the other frame came online.


Thanks for reading everyone. What was your favourite spoken line in the chapter? Review!