Mirage came online fighting for his life until he recognized the mecha holding him down and his memory circuits caught up.

He relaxed onto the berth and Jazz and Ratchet let go of him.

"I warned ya," Jazz said. "Raj, mech, ya okay?"

Mirage nodded. He felt all right, if a little stressed. The last time he'd been lying on a berth like this… he shuddered and pushed those memories away. If he didn't think about it, he would be all right. He knew it was over, and he was safe.

He was never doing that again. Never.

"I'm going to scan you and I want you to do a diagnostics check as well," Ratchet said. "Just to make sure your systems are all functioning properly."

Mirage obediently checked to make sure all of his systems were functioning, and sat through all of Ratchet's scanning and probing. By the time the medic was satisfied, Mirage was about ready to snap.

"All right," Ratchet said, finally. "You can go. But don't do anything strenuous for a whole orn, do you understand?"

"I didn't plan on it," Mirage retorted, and didn't feel remotely sorry for his tone. He wanted nothing more than to go to his room and be left alone for a decaorn.

Of course, no one would ever let him do that.

As he'd expected, Jazz followed him out of the medbay and down the hall.

"So," the black and white mech said. "Ya all right?"

"I'm fine," Mirage muttered.

"Okay," Jazz said. "Well… I know ya probably don't care ta chat about it right now, but ya said something about Shockwave being on the next stage of his experiments…"

"Right," Mirage said.

"And I probably need a full report from ya as soon as possible. But ya can either give it ta me verbally, or go give it ta Mainspring, or write it up and send it ta me."

Well that was an easy decision. "I'll write it up," Mirage said. "I'll have it to you by the end of the orn. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get some rest."

"Sure," Jazz said, though he shot Mirage a concerned look.

"What?"

"Take it easy, mech," Jazz said. "And even if ya just write up your report, I wanna talk to ya in my office, maybe next orn, okay?"

Mirage frowned, which stretched the still-healing crack in his faceplate. "I'll be as detailed as is reasonable in my report," he said. That was going to be a nightmare to write, but it would be better than giving it verbally. "Do you need anything else?" They were standing outside his room now.

"I don't," Jazz said. "Um… Orion'll probably stop by some time ta talk to ya. Oh, and Mainspring will need a copy of your report as well."

Mirage nodded.

"That's all," Jazz said.

He hadn't made a single joke, Mirage realized, since they'd been talking. He must be actually concerned. Mirage supposed he should be grateful the mech cared about him so much, but for whatever reason, it just made him angry.

Jazz was right to worry, right to be sorry. Mirage was not all right. He was safe now, so he didn't have a reason to be upset anymore, but he couldn't help it. He hadn't known it was possible to feel so powerless and alone, and that had been almost worse than the actual pain.

He left Jazz in the hall and closed his door behind himself. Then he activated his mod so no one could see him. Not Red Alert with his cameras, not anyone.

Mirage crossed the room, invisible, and curled up on his berth. He thought he might cry, but he couldn't—he just lay there feeling shaky and awful, waiting for his emotional core to calm down.

He tried to recharge, but his systems wouldn't shut down, so after a while he gave up and went to his desk. A datapad—the novel he'd been reading before Jazz had sent him on the mission—was sitting on the corner. He scowled and opened a drawer to trade it out with an empty datapad he could use to write a report. The device was visible, though he still wasn't. Red Alert would see a floating datapad. Good for him.

Mirage didn't want to write this report, but he also wanted to do something, and he was going to need to write it eventually. He sat at his desk and stared at the blank file for a few breems, trying to decide what to include. He was still sifting through memories for any useful information he'd learned in Kaon when there was a knock at the door. Mirage subspaced the datapad and went to see who it was.

Orion, as he'd expected. He turned his mod off so the Prime could see him.

"May I speak with you for a few breems?"

"Of course," Mirage said.

He could remember the first time he'd met this mech. He'd already been intrigued by the Autobot cause, after Soundwave and Jazz had approached him about donating credit to it. But it wasn't until he'd met Orion that he had decided to join. There had always been something charismatic about the humble archivist—charismatic in a good, honorable way.

"I'm glad you returned home safely," Orion said. "And I am sorry for what you went through."

Mirage forced himself to shrug. "It's an occupational hazard, I suppose," he said. "I am perfectly fine now, thank you for your concern."

Orion nodded, looking uncertain—probably because Mirage hadn't invited him in. "If… there is anything I can do for you please let me know. We are already so indebted to you…"

"Really, Optimus, I don't need anything," Mirage insisted. It wasn't as if he hadn't caused them some problems too. His capture, in and of itself, had made a lot of work for Jazz and Mainspring. He didn't think he'd made it more than an orn and a half before he'd started giving information to his Decepticon captors in return for respite from the pain. And even before that, Soundwave had gotten a decent amount of information from him. "You don't owe me anything."

Orion looked concerned.

"What?" Mirage said. "I just told you I'm fine. And I'm honored that you came to talk to me, but… I don't know what we have to talk about."

He was tired of this conversation. He had the nagging feeling that Orion and Jazz and Mainspring were conspiring to assess his mental state so they could try to repair it somehow, but Mirage didn't want that. He just wanted to be left alone.

"I'm sorry for imposing," Orion said. "I just wanted to thank you, and to apologize that it took us so long to rescue you… do you know what happened with the war while you were in Kaon?"

"No," Mirage said. "Though Jazz did mention that something happened. I don't want to take up your time, though—is there another way to get caught up?"

"We've made an official statement about it that we have put on the public databases as well as given to the media. It has the truth, though not many details."

Mirage nodded.

"And you can feel free to ask me if you have questions about it."

"Very well. Is there anything else?"

Orion looked down. "No…"

"Then I won't keep you."

"Mirage?"

"Yes, Optimus?" Mirage didn't want to meet his optics.

"If you need someone to talk to, you know you have many options."

Mirage didn't answer. Just go away. Go away, please.

"Mirage?"

"I know," Mirage said. "Right now, I just… just need to be left alone."

Silence fell for a few moments.

"Very well," Orion smiled slightly, then turned and walked away.

Mirage shut his door and turned his mod on again. His faceplate was starting to hurt, and he reached up and fingered the still-healing weld where Ratchet had repaired it. That was probably going to scar.

He didn't want to think about it. Besides, things had happened while he was gone, and he should check on that. It would be a good way to procrastinate writing the report Jazz wanted.

It didn't take him very long browsing the news to find out what had happened.

Vos had fallen—literally fallen from the sky. And Megatron had blamed the Autobots for it. That must have been what the warlord was doing in Vos.

He found the Autobot side of the story and checked the timing. As far as he could tell, none of the really awful things had happened until after he'd been captured. If he'd been able to tell Jazz where Megatron was…

But there was no way. By the time Mirage had discovered that Megatron was in Vos, Soundwave had already discovered that he was on base. He couldn't have prevented the fall of the city-state.

He read a few news articles, then finally went back to writing his report. It probably wasn't the best report he'd ever composed, but it would have to do. He sent it to Mainspring and Jazz and then went back to looking at the news—this time trying to find out the details of the rescue mission that Jazz had used as a distraction to rescue him. They'd freed almost all of the prisoners the Decepticons had been keeping. He couldn't figure out how, though. All the reports said that a few mecha had attacked their guards while they were being transported across Kaon, and then had led them safely out of the city-state. But there was no way something so simple would have worked.

Mirage could ask Jazz for the details.

He got a message in reply to the report he'd sent, but waited a couple of breems to read it, because he didn't want to know what it said.

When he finally gave in, he regretted it. As he'd expected, Mainspring wanted to talk to him.

Well, that was too bad for Mainspring. Mirage was not leaving his room for the rest of the orn and that was that. He deserved an orn off if anyone did.

The news was a nice distraction, so he went back to reading.

There were a lot of articles about the war, and the political stances of various city-states. Then there was the usual fearmongering about Cybertron running out of energon. The media, of course, liked to pronounce doom and gloom and impending crisis whenever they could, and energon mine productivity had been dropping for almost a vorn now. Of course, it wasn't dropping enough to be a serious problem, and Mirage figured that if if was necessary, they could find new reservoirs. From what he knew, the core would produce energon indefinitely.

He skimmed past several articles about the supposed energon crisis, and was in the middle of reading an interesting one about a mining accident where a whole team of miners had been poisoned by some kind of tainted energon vein, when Mainspring commed him. He almost ignored it but then, recognizing that that was sparkling-like behavior, answered instead, turning off his mod as he did so since it was an external comm. "Mainspring?"

"Did you get my message?" Mainspring asked. "I was wondering if you could come to my office?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have missed the message. I didn't think anyone would need me this orn."

"It's all right if you aren't feeling up to it. I do want to talk to you, though, when you're available."

"I'm sure you do," Mirage said, and cut the comm.

He felt a little bad about that, but mecha should really learn to take a hint.

Halogen prepared himself. He had been waiting for the Prime to come begging for help, but so far no one from the Autobots had attempted to contact the Council.

Vos had allied itself with the Decepticons. Megatron had practically won already. If it weren't for his habit of slaughtering the Councils of the cities he conquered, Iacon's Council would have sided with him orns ago.

The Prime's faceplate appeared on the screen that covered the wall of the Council chamber. Halogen liked it better when mecha appeared personally. They always looked so small and insignificant standing on the Council floor.

"Optimus Prime," Halogen said. "You dare to contact us after your actions in Vos."

"You know as well as I do that we did not sink Vos," the mech said calmly. Every time Halogen talked to him he was more confident, more capable. Every time, Halogen felt more redundant.

"It was very, very poor strategy," Halogen said. "I'm sure you regret it now."

"That is not what I have contacted you to discuss," Optimus didn't make any more attempts to deny that he'd destroyed the city. Of course, Halogen knew he hadn't.

"No?" Halogen said. "Then what is? Is this another request? Do you need more funding for your new base? It won't do you any good, Prime. Now that Megatron has the seekers on his side, your cause is doomed." Even without the seekers, Megatron would still have won. As much as the librarian was growing to fit his role, he was still no warlord, and the newest youngling could calculate that the Decepticons would surely be victorious.

"We have recently freed a number of mecha who were prisoners of the Decepticons," Optimus said.

"I am aware."

"I am sure you are also aware that Ultra Magnus was one of them?"

Halogen shot a glance at Senator Ratbat, who smirked in his direction. Then he looked at the members of the Elite Guard around the room. None of them showed any signs of shock or surprise, but they were good at hiding their emotions.

He spoke to the Prime. "Why, that's wonderful news! Have him sent here immediately and we will reinstate him to his former post as head of the Elite Guard."

"Unfortunately, I am unable to do that," Optimus said. "Instead, I formally request that you release him from his oath to serve you."

Silence fell.

"And why should we be so foolish?" Halogen said. "Why should we surrender an ally to you?" Did he really think Halogen would give up so great a bargaining chip? The tracker and the listening device they'd had on Magnus had stopped transmitting just after he'd returned to Iacon, and Halogen suspected the Autobots had removed them. Optimus knew, or guessed at least, what would happen if he turned Magnus over to the Council again.

"I was unaware we were enemies," the Prime said.

Halogen smirked. "It's too late to start playing our games, sparkling. Let's get to the point. How badly do you want us to release Ultra Magnus from his oath?"

He watched the faceplate of his opponent. This mech was an amateur, though he was a very talented amateur. Halogen had always thought he'd make a wonderful politician.

"He would be a valuable resource to me as an advisor," Optimus said. "What use is he to you?"

"If you want an advisor, I can suggest one."

Optimus didn't react.

"I believe I could even suggest one who is more knowledgeable and useful than that guard."

"I repeat my question," Optimus said. "What use is he to you?"

"I don't think that matters," Halogen said. In this situation, the only thing that mattered was what Optimus was willing to give up in exchange.

He seemed to realize that as well. "What do you want?"

"The safety and well-being of this world."

"Halogen…" the warning tone in his voice was almost, almost intimidating. "What do you want in return for releasing Ultra Magnus from his oath to serve the Iacon Council?"

He was letting them make the first bid. How kind of him. Halogen made a show of thinking carefully. Of course, Ratbat had come up with a plan quite a while ago for this very scenario. The question was whether it would still work. Optimus Prime was stronger and wiser than he had been, and he would never intentionally put the Council back in power. He would know that any deal they proposed would have some sort of trap in it.

The only way to get the better of him would be to ask for something that he would be willing to give. Something he was willing to sacrifice that he shouldn't be.

Halogen took in a slow, deep vent and kept his expression neutral as he answered. "You want us to release Ultra Magnus from his oath," he said. "I think we should get what we give, Optimus Prime. I have a proposition. It will need to be sustained by the Council first, of course, but I see no reason you shouldn't hear it as well, so you can think it over while we deliberate."

The Prime was silent.

Halogen allowed the barest hint of a smirk to grace his lip plates, though he kept his tone calm and controlled. "If you, Optimus Prime, swear an oath to serve the Council, then we will release Ultra Magnus from his oath."

He could see the implications of that working their way through Optimus's processor. The mech was not very good at keeping a straight face.

For a moment, Halogen worried. Certainly, quartexes ago, the Prime would have made this trade without a thought. But now he was thinking.

Then a resigned expression settled on his faceplate. "As a Prime, and the leader of the Autobots, I would be putting many mecha at risk if I swore loyalty to you. I cannot do that."

"In that case, we respectfully request that you return Ultra Magnus to our custody."

Optimus looked troubled.

If he refused, Halogen could find a way to make him regret it. They couldn't take Ultra Magnus back by force because of the Prime's army, but they didn't need to. "You know he will be loyal to us, so long as he is under oath," Halogen said. "Will you hold him captive against his will?"

Optimus glanced to the side, as if checking that the room around him was empty, then faced Halogen through the screen again. "I...may be willing to swear to protect you and your interests insofar as your requests do not interfere with the Autobot cause."

Halogen considered that. It would incorporate too much gray area into the agreement. The Prime would be able to wiggle out of most of the things the Council might ask of him.

On the other hand, it was better than nothing. And if the Autobots somehow managed to defeat the Decepticons…

"We will consider your offer," Halogen said. "Give us a few breems." He sent a comm to his assistant to close the connection and the screen went blank.

He opened up the floor to the other councilmecha and listened to their opinions. Most of them were for it. A small increase of influence was better than none. After discussing for several breems, they decided they wanted one more modification to the deal, though. They called the Prime back.

"Have you reached a decision?" Optimus asked.

"Yes," Halogen said. "We have decided to accept your offer, with one stipulation."

"And what is that?"

"You must also swear an oath that once the conflict is over and Megatron is defeated you will disband the Autobots."

Optimus frowned.

"This will benefit you as much as it will benefit us," Halogen explained. "We will be much more willing to offer our assistance if we know your army will be disbanded after the war. Besides, once the rebellion is quelled, you will have no need of an army."

"And once there are no more Autobots, you will have full control over me," Optimus added.

Exactly.

"You said you were unaware we were enemies," Halogen said. "Of course, you were lying, but if you make this oath we will truly be allies." It was a ticket back into power as soon as the conflict was over. "We will be fully on your side and will assist you in your war efforts. We can even provide extra funding for your base, and more of our resources for your army."

Halogen watched Optimus's faceplate and knew what the mech's answer would be before he spoke.

"Very well," the Prime said. "I will agree to those terms."

"You will need to appear formally before the Council to make your oath," Halogen said.

"I will schedule a time to do that," he said. "We will be in touch."

"In the meantime," Halogen said. "We demand that you return Ultra Magnus to us."

"I'm afraid that would be unwise," Optimus said. "The Decepticons have a mechformer and until we can confirm that Ultra Magnus is truly himself, the only responsible course of action is to keep him in custody as a potential prisoner of war."

Halogen nodded. Well played. "I suppose I can't argue with that," he said. "We will expect to see you soon."

Optimus nodded, and the conversation was over. The screen went blank.

Halogen smiled.

They all knew who had won that one.

Jazz tapped his fingers on the desk, waiting. It had been a full two orns since the rescue, and Mirage hadn't left his room since being released from Ratchet's office. He wouldn't be surprised if the noblemech didn't show up.

In fact, it would almost be a surprise if Mirage did come.

Jazz's office door opened, and he was relieved to see Mirage there.

"Hey, mech," Jazz said cheerfully as Mirage came in and sat down across from him. "How ya doing?"

"I'm doing well," Mirage replied mildly. "Did you have questions about my report, or…"

"Nah, it was great. That's not what I wanted ta talk to ya about."

Mirage frowned. "All right," he said. There was something guarded and wary about the way he held himself—almost as if he saw Jazz as a threat.

Jazz sighed. "I'm sorry about what happened to ya on that mission… and I can't guarantee that something like that won't happen again. It's one of the risks of being in the department, and as much as I want to, I can't do nothing about it."

Mirage seemed a little confused. "All right," he said.

"I mean, I could send ya on low-risk missions the rest of the war, but I don't need more mecha ta go on low risk missions, 'Raj, and you're real valuable as an infiltrator, ya know that."

Mirage nodded.

"On the other hand, I don't want ta ask ya ta do anything against your will, so… I wanna let ya know I don't expect ya ta stay in the department after this."

Mirage looked down, but didn't say anything.

Jazz watched his faceplate carefully. "Ya can quit if ya want to. No shame, no exit fee. If ya don't wanna risk that again, I don't wanna ask ya to. And ya don't have ta give me your answer right now, cuz I know it's a lot ta think about. I'd be happy ta have ya stay, but if ya do I need ya ta accept that might happen again."

Mirage wouldn't look at him, and was silent long enough that Jazz started to worry.

"Raj?"

"I don't know," the noblemech said at length. "I… don't know whether it would be responsible of me to stay in the department. I didn't really do a good job keeping information from the Decepticons…"

"Ya gotta be kidding me," Jazz said. "Mech, I don't care what ya told them—I had that covered. And either way, ya're the greatest asset we got in this department. That shouldn't be hard for ya ta believe."

The noblemech got a peculiar look on his faceplate. "Was that… a subtle insult about my arrogance?"

Jazz smirked. "Maybe. Actually, mech, your sudden humility's kinda scaring me."

"Oh, shut up."

"In any case…" Jazz said.

"Look," Mirage said. "I… I will have to think about that. However… I did sign up for this, and it's not like I have anywhere else to go at this point."

Silence fell.

"I'm not going to back out now, just because things got a little unpleasant last time I went to Kaon. I… I'm fine."

Jazz wasn't entirely sure about that, but he was happy Mirage at least had some desire to stay in the department. "Okay."

"Is that all you needed me for?"

"Yeah, mech. Ya can go."

Jazz watched him leave, and sat back in his chair to think about how that conversation had gone.

Mirage had forgotten to turn his mod on when he left Jazz's office, and he ran into Blurr just around the corner.

"Mirage!" Blurr nearly tackled him with a hug. Mirage stiffened, but his friend let go quickly. "By the Allspark, Mirage, when I found out you'd been captured I was so worried... How are you doing?"

"I…" Mirage said, trying to stifle a sudden swell of emotion in his core. "Yes, I'm fine."

Blurr looked at him.

"Really," Mirage said, turning his faceplate away, hoping Blurr hadn't seen the still-healing wound there. "I was just heading to my room, though."

"I'll let you go then," Blurr said solemnly. "It's so good to have you back, though."

"Thank you," Mirage said, and though Optimus had said that too, it was better to hear it from his lifelong friend. "It's good to be back, believe me."

Blurr nodded.

"Say…" Mirage said. "You wouldn't happen to know the details of the rescue attempt? As you might guess, they aren't on any public databases I could find and I can't figure out how you got all the prisoners out of Kaon."

"Of course," Blurr said. "I was there, after all."

"You were there?"

"I volunteered. Jazz let me help escort the prisoners out of the city."

Mirage frowned. "But how did you get away without the Decepticons catching you?"

"Right," Blurr said. "You know that mech with the hologram mod? Hound?"

"Ah…" Mirage said. "He caused a distraction?"

"Yes," Blurr grinned. "A distraction, so that the other prisoners could escape, which caused a distraction so that Jazz could rescue you."

"I should thank him," Mirage said. "And you, of course, since you were part of it."

"I think he's in the tower right now," Blurr said. "I saw him coming out of Mainspring's office just half a breem ago."

Mirage hesitated.

"What?"

"I'll find him and thank him some other time," Mirage said. "I'm… tired." It was a lie, but he didn't want to walk around the tower and run into anyone else.

"All right," Blurr said. "I'll let you rest then."

"Don't look so concerned, I'm fine," Mirage snapped.

Blurr tilted his helm to the side, with a skeptical expression.

"I just want some time alone," Mirage said.

"I know," Blurr replied. "That's why I said I'll let you rest. But you don't have to try and insist you're fine."

Mirage relaxed slightly. "Thank you," he said, then left his friend standing in the hallway.

Prowl walked through the crystal garden into the courtyard. It felt good, coming here after more than two decaorns. It had been too long.

Yoketron looked up. "Prowl… I was expecting Orion."

"I know," Prowl said. "He will be late this orn. I came to apologize for him, and because it's been too long since I've trained."

"Hmmm," Yoketron stood. "I admit I'm glad to see you, though I'd heard you were badly injured and I wasn't expecting you here for at least another two decaorns."

"I've found they tend to exaggerate the length of time you need to recover from injuries," Prowl said as he approached his teacher and bowed, trying not to wince.

Yoketron narrowed his optics, then walked around Prowl and touched his back, between his doorwings. "There is a lot of tension here," he pushed gently and Prowl shuttered his optics, flinching. "Wanting to be well is a very important part of healing, but it must be balanced with patience. You are not yet ready to resume training."

Prowl looked down.

"Of course, I will not turn you away, my friend. In fact, there are stretches and exercises I can teach you that should alleviate the pain a little, and help you heal. Come sit and meditate for a few breems first, though."

Prowl followed him to the center of the courtyard and sat down carefully. He was not unaware of Yoketron watching him.

"I can tell from your faceplate that you are uncomfortable. Doesn't your medic give you anything for the pain?"

"Nothing that doesn't also make me tired."

"Ah," Yoketron said. "Perhaps that's a subtle hint that he wants you to get more rest."

"No doubt."

"Maybe you ought to get more recharge. That will help you heal faster."

"I can't," Prowl said. "I have so much to do, and when I try to rest, sometimes it's hard. I… the Decepticons have the seekers now… unless we're very careful and do everything right, I don't know how we can win. We'll do our best, and I don't think we're going to be surrendering any time soon, but I… Yoketron, do you think we can still win the war?" He studied his wise teacher's faceplate, but could see no answer on it, only thoughtful consideration.

"Master Yoketron?"

"I don't think that's your concern."

Prowl blinked. "Excuse me?"

"This war is foretold," Yoketron said. "Both Optimus and Megatron have prophesied parts to play. The light and the dark. Autobot and Decepticon. One shall stand; one shall fall. Scriptorians have been trying to determine who will win this conflict for centivorns, but none can agree."

Prowl waited for more.

"Personally, I believe the light will prevail, and Megatron will eventually be defeated," Yoketron said. "It is not failure I fear, but the cost of success. And that is another of the many reasons I am training you as well as Orion."

Prowl frowned, still confused.

"Defeating Megatron is Orions's task, and must be his sole focus. But your task is different. As far as I can tell, you are not foretold anywhere, Prowl. You are my wild card, my confounding variable, my secret weapon. This war will destroy Cybertron—that is foretold. It has already started, and some orn everything we have here will be lost. In our struggles, there is always the unfortunate possibility that the struggle itself will destroy both sides. But my hope is that you can prevent that. Above all else, Prowl, you must not let the war win."

Prowl considered that for a few astroseconds. "What does that mean?" he asked. "And how can I possibly stop the war from winning if, as you say, it is foretold."

"You will need to discover that for yourself," Yoketron said.

"Master Yoketron!"

"When I say that," Yoketron said. "Most of the time what I mean is I have no idea. I told you I'd ask you to do the impossible, didn't I? Now, on that note, let us meditate."

Notes:

1. Sorry this update is a bit late. I'd like to say I was doing fun Halloween stuff last night and didn't have time to look over the chapter, but honestly I just forgot and was working on a different writing project.

2. Thanks for reading!