Nacelle stares at the door into Athena's recovery room for a little while before he hesitantly knocks on it. It's been days since Flux informed him Athena had woken from her coma and seemed to have survived the ordeal without any permanent damage. Nacelle had wanted to see her right then, but Flux had advised against it, citing the need for her to recuperate before receiving visitors.
Athena looks up from the datapad in her lap at the knocking on the door, wondering who it could be. So far, Flux has been her only visitor, and he has a way of knocking that always makes her smile. An apparent attempt to lighten her mood whenever he sees to her.
This knocking is unfamiliar and hesitant, and she is curious to find out who else resides at the unknown, seemingly sequestered underground clinic or hospital she is staying at.
"Come in."
Nacelle opens the door at the voiced invitation and steps slowly inside, turning around to close the door before he faces Athena.
"Nacelle?" Athena asks in shock at the sight of the green and white seeker.
What is he doing here?
Nacelle smiles at her and comes closer, and she pulls him into a crushing, desperate and emotional hug.
"You are here." She says in disbelief.
For a moment, she is unsure if she is dreaming, but his field convinces her otherwise and she feels genuinely safe for the first time in a long time. She has absolutely no idea why Nacelle is here, whatever here is, but if Nacelle is here and is so at ease, it has to be safe.
The desperation and loneliness in Athena's field fill Nacelle with worry, and he embraces her comfortingly, giving her whatever she needs to ease the feeling of loneliness. He had not missed the presence of a certain someone when he entered but had thought that Torment was only momentarily gone. However, Athena's reaction to him shows that that isn't the case, and he wonders what is happening.
Where is Torment?
Torment had not left Athena's side even once during her coma, but now that she is awake, he is seemingly nowhere to be seen.
It doesn't make any sense.
"Of course, I'm here." He says soothingly, caressing her back reassuringly before leaning back to look her into the optics. "After everything that has happened, I would never leave you alone before knowing you were able to stand on your own two feet and face the world around you. You should know that. We have all been so worried for you and it is good to see you awake. Flux wouldn't let me come see you sooner."
"Who 'we'?" Athena asks curiously, reluctantly releasing Nacelle from her grip and meeting his optics. "And why do I get the feeling you aren't solely referring to my kidnapping or mysterious rescue, which I really would like to know more about, too, since I don't remember anything."
Nacelle knows there is no way out. Athena will continue to demand answers until she gets them and she does deserve to know the circumstances of her rescue. He is actually surprised she is holding up as well as she is but suspects she is holding it all bottled in.
What Torrent did to her is bound to leave long-lasting scars on her psyche, and when she is ready to talk about it, she will need therapy to process it and get out on the other side as a whole person. But until she is ready, he will not poke or pressure her.
It has to happen on her terms, and they both know it.
"You are right. A lot has happened while you were out of the loop and in a coma." He confesses openly, taking time to think of how to best tell her everything. "I don't know where to start, but I guess the easiest will be to answer who the 'we' are. When I said 'we', I referred to Thundercracker and Skywarp. They are here with me, and Thundercracker has come a long way since you last saw him."
"That is good to hear, and I look forward to meeting him and Skywarp too. Has there been any development in regaining his memories?" Athena asks curiously, delighted to hear that Thundercracker's recovery has progressed positively.
Nacelle hesitates for a moment before he answers.
"I'm honestly not sure. Something happened between Thundercracker and Skywarp a few weeks ago, actually on the day of your rescue, which still has me bemused. When we visited him, Hotspot gave me some useful advice to help Thundercracker understand the feelings in his spark originating from his older selves. I have been guiding him to delve into the feelings whenever they occur. But this time, he almost got what I would call a recall. Not a real memory, it seems, but something close to it. He says his spark called out to him, helping him to identify Skywarp as someone important to him and, on his own, made the startling conclusion that Skywarp is the real Sire to the sparkling he carries. I have no idea what happened because I wasn't with them when it happened, but it has been significant."
"That does indeed sound intriguing." Athena muses out loud. "Have you contacted Hotspot and told him about it?"
There is another hesitation from Nacelle, this one more profound, and it puzzles her.
"What is wrong, Nacelle?"
Nacelle's wings sink on his back as he looks at Athena with a deep sigh.
"I have not been in contact with Hotspot because I have been unable to contact anyone for the past many weeks. I know this-" He gestures to their surroundings. "-looks like any regular recovery room you can find in every hospital on the planet, but it isn't."
Athena holds up her hand, silencing him.
"I am aware we aren't at any known medical clinic or hospital, and I guess now is a good time for you to tell me exactly where we are because I have been wondering about that from the moment I woke from coma."
At that moment, Nacelle notices the lack of a collar around Athena's neck and realizes she knows precisely where they are. Invaluable geo-positional data Prowl would do literally anything to acquire. But also data it would be highly unethically to ask Athena to give. At least as long as she doesn't know how damning giving away the information will be for the one she clearly still has deep feelings for, despite their breakup.
He can sense it in her field.
The guilt-ridden longing and regret.
It would not be fair to make her the reason for Torment's arrest and subsequent execution because of his leading role in the criminal underworld. It would add a hundredfold to her already existing guilt and destroy her, and he simply can't bear the thought of being the cause of that.
The answer to her question will cause her distress, but there is no way to sugar-coat it, and he decides to give her the hard fact without dragging it out.
"We are inside the Polyhexian Cartel's underground stronghold. More specifically in their medical bay." He answers, looking at her to gauge her reaction to the information.
Athena blinks in surprise at the new information, digesting it in silence.
It strangely makes sense and explains why Flux had been so secretive and kept her from investigating the world outside her recovery room. But there is still the now even more pressing question of why.
Why is she here and not at an actual hospital?
Why is any of them here?
What is Nacelle doing associating with criminals?
Because he has to be, right?
He wouldn't be this calm if he weren't here of his own volition.
She looks at Nacelle, frowning deeply, putting all her confusion into a single word.
"Why?"
Nacelle grimaces inwardly, knowing his answer will cause a strong reaction in Athena.
"I know it is a lot to take in. I needed some time to get used to it too. But when you get to know them, they are actually good people deep down in their murderous sparks. As for why..." He hesitates. "We needed them. We found out Torrent didn't work alone but had the support of the Vice President of the Senate. Highline managed to get the Joint Investigation Unit dissolved, and Prowl was without any power to stop their nefarious plan to undermine our society and take over. So, he made a 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'-alliance with the Polyhexian Cartel facilitated by Torment."
Silence reigns in the recovery room after the revelation. Nacelle begins to worry for Athena when she has sat in complete silence for almost five minutes, her optics blank and unseeing. He puts his hand gently on her arm and caresses it, trying to draw her out of her trance-like state.
"Athena?"
After a few seconds, she slowly seems to return to the present time, blinking and looking at him.
"How do you know Torment?"
Nacelle smiles hesitantly and then bursts into light laughter.
"He literally kidnapped Thundercracker and me and brought us here."
"He what?!" Athena bursts out in incredulity.
"You heard right. Torment sidetracked Prowl and the Joint Investigation Unit to protect Thundercracker and me from Torrent. The hospital we stayed at was attacked by Torrent's teleporters, something that Torment had predicted would happen and had been so foreseen to provide us with one of his loyal teleporters to guard us. Typhoon fought our attackers and allowed me and Thundercracker to flee. However, at the rendezvous point, members of the Polyhexian Cartel showed up instead of enforcers from the Joint Investigation Unit. We were taken to their base and led to Torment inside their command center."
Athena fights to keep up with everything Nacelle tells her, but all the information is startling, overwhelming and exhausting. It further shows how out of the loop she has been, and this information is only a fraction of what has happened.
How many other things have happened that she doesn't know about...
Her processor is struggling to handle the small amount of information she already has received, and any more will overload her mind before it is ready for more.
"I think I need time to process all of this before I am ready to know more."
Nacelle pats her arm comfortingly.
"As I said, it was a lot for me to take in. I can't begin to imagine how it would be for you to wake up to this. Take all the time you need. I will be here for you as long as you need me."
He rises and walks to the door, turning in the doorway.
"There is one final thing I want you to know before I go: Torment was the one to save you and stayed by your side during your coma."
Then he closes the door and leaves Athena to process the information he has given her, seeking out Flux to get his own answers. Searching the medical bay, he finds the chief physician in the mechanical engineering section working on something he clearly doesn't want to know anything about.
"Where is he?" He demands to know.
With a resigned sigh, Flux looks up from the amputated weapon-mounted arm he is making an in-depth schematic of off.
"Punishing himself." He answers, annoyance and frustration at the sire in question clear in his voice.
Nacelle is taken aback by the answer because why would Torment feel the need to punish himself?
During their stay, he had thought he had come to know the sire and his motivations, but then Torment goes and does something like this, and, once again, the sire has him utterly bemused.
"Why?" He asks, confusion clear in his voice.
Flux seems to mull over the question before he gives his answer.
"Torment has never been good with feelings - few people here are. As you likely can imagine, showing feelings is a sign of weakness in their world. And having feelings for someone only leaves them open to attacks from their enemies. As it happened with Torrent kidnapping Athena to hurt Torment. Athena is his one true love. It is clear to everyone who has seen him with her during her coma. But Torment doesn't know how to handle the situation after they split apart after he told her about his earlier affiliation with Torrent and is now tormenting himself with unreasonable guilt and shame. He might appear cold-sparked and aloof, but behind that hard facade, there is a gentler personality that blames himself for what happened to her. He is keeping his distance because he honestly believes she is better off without him and that she doesn't want to have anything to do with him."
Nacelle curses inwardly, wondering why he hadn't paid closer attention to what he sensed coming from Torment during the sire's silent vigil by Athena's side.
How could he have overlooked the actual reason for it?
Not that it wasn't for love, but he had totally missed the purpose of it serving as a punishment too. A punishment Torment now is keeping up by keeping a distance from the one he loves more than anything else. Not even seeing that he, by doing it, is hurting Athena too.
If only Torment could see that...
And he would have if he had stayed when Athena woke from her coma.
But he didn't, and if Torment is so set on punishing himself for no good reason, it is up to Athena to brave the next step and face him in his world.