When Torment returns two days later, Athena is beside Talon in the hangar to welcome him back. Torment steps out of the special-designed one-passenger aircraft made for stealth missions and walks towards them, his demeanor changing to something softer when his gaze lands on Athena.
Athena sets in motion toward Torment before Talon has the chance to welcome his heir back from a successful mission. Torment catches her in an affectionate embrace, lifting her up and kissing her, his entire focus on the carrier held in his arms.
With a smirk, Talon accepts that he, from now on, will come second in Torment's priorities. He waits patiently until the couple has had their reunion, with Torment finally setting Athena down on the ground again before he steps forward to get Torment's attention.
They have their debriefing as they walk towards the Command Center, Athena following them at Torment's side. At the doors into the Command Center, she steps back and allows them to have the rest of the debriefing in confidence.
Torment looks at Talon with an arched optical ridge when they are alone.
"What happened while I was away?" He questions, briefly looking back at the closed doors into the Command Center.
Athena has never been the clingy type, and she hadn't come across as such, but there had been an apparent change in her behavior. Before he left, she accepted him as heir to a criminal organization but kept a distance from his work and didn't involve herself in it. It starkly contrasts with how she had been now, listening attentively while he and Talon had debriefed, even going as far as asking a few questions herself. Which, more than anything else, had shocked him.
Talon hums in thought.
"I might have had an unintentional hand in her change." He answers, also having noticed Athena's change and being pleased by her newfound interest and willingness to observe or participate in some of his daily activities. "As you know, she came to visit me on her first night alone and we talked. She asked if I was bonded and I told her about Tidalwave and opened up about things I only have told Flux before. It might have led to a revelation for her because the following morning, she showed more interest in my work, asked questions about our organization, and seemed genuinely interested in how we run our operation instead of her usual polite but superficial interest."
It warms Torment's spark to hear, but he also feels worried.
His world is cold and brutal, and Athena is not yet mentally ready to handle all of it. Their organizational work is harmless compared to what is happening in city-states' streets, and if she wants to participate in some of their daily work, it is fine with him. But there are some things she simply isn't equipped to handle and shouldn't know anything about.
He furrows his brows and looks at Talon.
"I will talk to her about what she can and can't be a part of."
They finish the debriefing, and Torment dismisses himself to go talk to Athena, curious to hear how her appointment with Thundercracker went.
The following day, Athena is again waiting for Nacelle, Thundercracker and Skywarp to come to an appointment in her laboratory, but this time Torment is present too. They are going to talk about the result of the scan of Thundercracker's processor and the decision she and Hotspot have made after reviewing the result and taking the blue seeker's collapse into consideration.
When the three seekers enter her laboratory, she waves them over to where she sits at her makeshift office with Torment standing behind her. Thundercracker and Skywarp sit down in the chairs while Nacelle stares cautiously at Torment before taking his own seat, a slight worry in his optics.
"We have analyzed the result of the scan of your processor, Thundercracker. And we think we have found the cause for your ability to recall memories belonging to your previous self."
She brings up a hologram of the scan of the blue seeker's processor, pointing out specific areas in Thundercracker's processor where there is an increased activity marked by a higher concentration of red coloration. To the untrained optic, it might not be a cause for alarm, but the increased processor activity in those areas shouldn't be there. They are abnormal changes taking up a lot of energy resources, and after looking closer at them, she and Hotspot have concluded that they seem to be new centers of memory recall and storage.
Only further examinations and tests will give them the final answer, but it will have to wait until later.
"These additional memory recall and storage centers should not influence your treatment, but we will have to monitor you closely to see what comes of those changes and tread cautiously as we go forward with your treatment plan. So far, we see no contraindications to the treatment and deem it safe to proceed."
Nacelle stares in deep thought at the hologram, digesting the information.
"Could they be the reason for his collapse?" He asks curiously, looking at Athena.
"We do not think so, but it is a possibility. And due to Thundercracker's collapse, we will have to take it slower than initially planned to not risk causing damage to his processor. As we go forward with this, there will be many ifs since most of our conclusions are based on assumptions instead of hard scientific facts."
Athena briefly looks over her shoulder at Torment before moving on in the schedule of Thundercracker's appointment but addresses Nacelle instead of the blue seeker.
"Now that we know Thundercracker is ready to receive the first of his lost memories, there is the matter of how and when, and that is why Torment is here. Because I can't do the memory upload here. It has to be done at the Neuropsychiatric Laboratory in Praxus."
Nacelle nods slowly in understanding, knowing that once he has left the Polyhexian Cartel's headquarters, he won't be allowed back in again.
So, when they leave for Praxus, it will be his final goodbye to his close friend and colleague and all the others he has come to care for during his stay.
He stares at Torment, a look of resignation in his optics as he meets the sire's cold gaze. Torment has not been the one to treat him the worst in the passing weeks, but neither has he held back his opinion on Nacelle's continued stay. And the way Torment's lips curve into a sly smirk as Nacelle stares at him says it all.
He has officially exhausted all his options to stay.
It is not like he doesn't want to return home. He can't wait to see Prowl again. But he is still deeply concerned for Athena because while she seems to have integrated well into her new surroundings, she is still in a delicate mental state where the simplest things can trigger a flashback and psychological after-reaction.
"We are flying to Praxus in a week." Torment explains as he begins to explain the details about their departure and appointment with Hotspot at the Neuropsychiatric Laboratory.
Their departure has apparently been scheduled for a week from now instead of sooner because Hotspot wants to reserve a whole day for the appointment since it revolves around Thundercracker.
"You will all be blindfolded when we leave to prevent you from seeing the entrance to our stronghold since the aircraft we will leave in is a regular passenger aircraft with real windows and not a modified one like the one you arrived in. I hope you can accept the discomfort for our sake, Thundercracker. You will not have to wear it longer than absolutely necessary."
Torment finishes the details about their departure and leaves the rest of Thundercracker's appointment to Athena as she goes over what she wants to do with Thundercracker in the time they have until they meet with Hotspot. Which is mainly to observe him after his collapse and use the device to stimulate his processor in preparation for the meeting.
As they finish Thundercracker's appointment, Athena pulls Nacelle aside to speak to him in privacy. Nacelle glances briefly at Torment, seeing the sire's narrowed, displeased optics as he gets pulled into the section with Athena's work computer.
"I want to thank you for your support, Nacelle. I don't know what I would have done without you here while I got used to my new surroundings. And with that in mind, I want to ask if you would come and visit me now and then after you have left?"
Nacelle hesitates at the request, unsure if it will even be possible. The last thing he wants to do is anger Talon further. The Polyhexian leader's displeasure at his continued stay has grown to the point where Talon addresses him as 'Nuisance' whenever they run into each other in the corridors. And something like this is definitely going to infuriate the volatile sire.
"I'm not sure it is a good idea, Athena-"
"-because of how Talon and Torment treat you." Athena finishes for him and lets out a sigh. "I am not blind, Nacelle. Despite his attempts to hide it from me, I have seen how Torment has treated you recently. And I do understand why they want you to leave. But it doesn't mean that I will tacitly accept it and give up on seeing you. You are my friend, and you know as well as I that while everything seems fine on the outside, I am still struggling on the inside. It takes time for the scars left on my spark to heal. Even with time, they will never completely disappear, only fade and become a part of who I am. I still need help to cope with all that happened to me, and only continued sessions with you can help me with that."
Hearing Athena clinically spell out the logical reasons for continuing their therapy sessions decides it for Nacelle, and he smiles softly, putting his hand on Athena's arm.
"I'll be here for you whenever you need me as long as you can get Talon to agree to it. My favor with him seems to have run out a long time ago, and I do not want to be the one to break this suggestion to him."
Athena chuckles knowingly.
"Leave that up to me."
A week later, they are ready to depart.
Nacelle, Thundercracker and Skywarp stand at the regular passenger aircraft that will take them to Praxus. Back to a world of normalcy. Something Nacelle's life hasn't been for a long time.
The close to a year since he first met Thundercracker and Skywarp at D-14 feels like a lifetime, and it will not be easy for him to return to a normal everyday life where he no longer needs to be on constant alert or fear his or Thundercracker's safety.
Torrent is dead and gone but still haunts them from the grave. It will take a while before all the stress inside him dies, but it is time to let the fear and anxiety fade and live life again. At least he will be kept busy while helping Thundercracker and Skywarp find their purpose in life and integrate into society.
Nacelle gets drawn out of his internal musings when Talon steps into the hangar, followed by Torment with Athena by his side. He can't help tensing at the sight of Talon, but Athena gives him a subtle thumbs-up signal, making him relax. He doesn't know how she got Talon on board with it, but it makes him feel better knowing he will be allowed to see her and continue to help her after today.
Talon stops in front of Nacelle and motions for him to turn around. Nacelle follows the order without hesitation, and a blindfold gets put in front of his optics and tightened firmly.
He senses Talon lean forward so close to him that he feels the Polyhexian leader's warm breath caress his audial.
"The next time we run into your bondmate, we will not hold back. He is a simple enforcer now. No longer with an army of enforcers to protect him. So, he better watch the shadows, or you will soon be a widow."
The softly whispered threat causes a chill of fear to run down his spinal strut.
"You don't have to do this, Talon." He whispers imploringly.
"Unfortunately, I do, Nuisance." Talon answers, not sounding apologetic at all. "He possesses information about me I cannot let him keep now that he no longer is of use to me."
Nacelle is about to make all kinds of arguments, pleading for the life of his loved one, but Talon silences him with a digit held to his lips and a gentle shush.
"It is how it is when you get this deeply involved with us, Nuisance. Nothing you say will change my mind. I need to protect myself and mine from your bondmate and his colleagues. It is as simple as that."
The digit on his lips leaves, but before he can say anything, Talon is gone and he feels Torment's hand on his arm. The grip is firm and unrelenting, and he senses nothing from Torment's field as he gets led into the passenger aircraft.
"What illusion did you have of what would happen when we released you, Nacelle?" Torment asks gruffly, his voice colder than usual. "That we would be friends? That there would be no consequences from our collaboration? That you were the only ones to risk something in this? We have opened ourselves up to you and your bondmate, have made ourselves vulnerable to an enemy, and now we need to protect ourselves and eliminate loose threads. The only reason you are allowed to leave freely is that we trust you as Athena's friend, expecting you to remember that anything you say to Prowl can harm her too. And I know you won't do anything that will harm her."
The last sentence is said with so much force underlying it there is no doubt it is a threat.
"You are right. I will not do anything to harm her, but neither will Prowl. I can promise you that." He says as Torment helps him down in a seat, stressing the last.
Torment scoffs.
"If only we could trust that, Nacelle. But I know Prowl. He is an enforcer through and through and will not be able to let something like this lie. It will go against everything he is."
There is nothing Nacelle can say to argue against that because he knows it is true.
"So, that's it, then?" He states, feeling anger fueled by impotence grow within him.
He senses Torment sit down in the seat beside him and turn towards him.
"It is how it has to be, Nacelle. In addition to screwing up Torrent's attempt to take Thundercracker back, we kidnapped you to use you to control Prowl. But now that he no longer holds a position of power, he is of no use to us and a dangerous liability."
The brutal honesty is appreciated but doesn't make Nacelle feel better.
All he can do is warn Prowl when he sees his bondmate and take it from there. It is not like Prowl will take his death sentence lying down, and knowing what is coming can make the difference between life and death. Despite having witnessed what the criminals are capable of when they put their minds to it, he has to have faith in his bondmate's capabilities as a skilled tactician and enforcer.
