An: Holy crap! An update! It's a miracle!

ch 6

Prowl woke with a start. Instinct took over, and he immediately sat up and rolled into a crouch on top of the berth, energon dagger in hand. Ratchet, who had been standing right beside the table, immediately backed up, raising his hands. "Whoa, whoa – calm down, Prowl. You're safe. You're home." He spoke soothingly, trying to get Prowl to at the very least put the energon dagger away. Prowl glanced around the room, then locked on to Ratchet. Slowly, he sat down and returned the dagger to its proper subspace compartment.

"I apologize, Ratchet." he said quietly. "I didn't realize where I was."

"I know." Ratchet said, approaching once again. "Don't forget – I watched over you while you healed the last time this happened. I know what it does to you."

"So long as no one else does." Prowl said darkly. "I can't afford for them to figure it out."

"I think Barricade might know." Ratchet said dryly. "Considering what he did to keep you alive, I'm pretty sure he knows everything about you."

Prowl frowned, trying to remember. He had passed out, he knew that much, then –

He gasped. "Spark to spark contact?"

"Yes." Ratchet said grimly.

"He bonded me."

"Inadvertently, yes." Ratchet growled. "He was trying to form a First Bond to stabilize your spark. Apparently it lasted too long. Congratulations, Prowl – you're the first Autobot to be bonded to a Decepticon."

"Not the first." Prowl said softly.

"Okay – the first to be bonded to a Decepticon while he's still a Con. Mirage defected before Jazz bonded him."

"Now that's accurate." Prowl's optics dimmed for a moment. "Does Optimus know?"

"No. Which is why Barricade is in the brig, and not in here." Ratchet said. "I wanted to know how you feel about this before I say anything to Prime." Prowl didn't respond immediately. Ratchet continued. "If you stay bonded to Barricade, there's a really good chance your secret is gonna come out. You haven't been bonded long enough yet – I can still break it, although I really don't recommend it."

"You'd make an exception this time though." Prowl said quietly.

"Yes."

"Why are you asking me instead of telling Optimus?"

"Because. Optimus will order me to break your sparkbond. If you don't want it broken, then I'll put off telling Prime until it's too late." Ratchet said simply. "Who knows? Maybe Barricade will defect and the point will be moot. You can always claim you bonded afterwards."

"And you'd keep yet another lie for me." Prowl said flatly.

"Why not? I keep a lot of lies." Ratchet responded easily. "I even keep Prime's lies."

Prowl smirked. "Not from me."

"That's because you're a nosy glitch who found out everything anyway." Ratchet growled.

Prowl nodded. "True." He paused a moment, considering. "Am I well enough to leave?"

"Depends on why you're leaving." Ratchet said dryly. "I had to replace your hands, replace your doorwing, ,completely redo the wiring in both doorwings, and replace over 70 per cent of your armor. On the other hand, you've been out for three weeks, so you're mostly healed by now." The medic shrugged. "So why do you want to leave?"

"I wish to see Barricade. No doubt he knows about the bond already. I want to know what he wants to do before I make any decisions."

Ratchet nodded. "I'll have Mirage escort you down." he said, already the reclusive spy. "Give him something to do that doesn't involve Special Ops for a change."

"Or Jazz?" Prowl couldn't help the tease.

"Or Jazz." Ratchet agreed with a small smirk. A moment later Mirage walked in, glancing from Prowl to Ratchet with a carefully blank expression.

"You wished to see me, sir?" he asked. Ratchet groaned.

"Drop the formality, Mirage." he muttered. "I need you to escort Prowl to the brig. He wants to have a word with Barricade before anyone else does. If something happens to him on the way, comm. me and keep Prowl there. Oh, and get Jazz to inform Ironhide to keep the slag out of the brig unless he wants to stay in my med bay."

Mirage nodded, a small hint of laughter around his optics. "Yes, sir." He motioned for Prowl to follow him. Prowl slid from the berth and followed Mirage without a word. Ratchet sighed as he watched them go.

Sometimes he got tired of playing the secret keeper. Other times, well – other times he knew he was the only mech keeping Prowl reasonably sane.

/-/

Mirage stood guard outside of the brig and out of audio range. Prowl simply stood in the room. It was a single cell, much like the Decepticon brig, but unlike the 'Cons, the Autobots didn't string their prisoners up by their wrists. Prowl still ached all over, but he refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he sat down on the floor, taking some of the pressure off his legs. Barricade was sitting with his back pressed against the far wall. Prowl frowned.

"That simply cannot be comfortable."

Barricade's helm snapped up. "Prowl." The name escaped him in a whisper. Crimson optics were pale as he examined the other mech. "You're alive."

"So it seems." Prowl murmured. "Thanks in a large part to you." He tilted his helm to the side, studying the Decepticon. He could see Barricade's confusion and distress, but more importantly, he could sense it as if it were his own. He sighed. "I imagine this isn't what you intended."

"No." The word was so soft Prowl had to strain to hear it. He nodded.

"Ratchet can dissolve it if – "

"NO!" Barricade straightened up, optics narrowing and if possible, even paler than before. His doorwings trembled. "No. I don't want that."

Prowl nodded. "What do you want?"

Barricade hesitated. "Could you feel it? When we first started talking in the brig, after Megatron tried to jack you – could you feel that? Like it felt right to just talk and not try to beat the slag outta each other?" His voice was almost pleading.

Slowly, Prowl nodded again. "Yes."

"I don't want that to go away. This feels right." Barricade offered a wry smile. "Like we were meant to be, if you believe in that scrap." Prowl laughed.

"A Decepticon assassin and an Autobot with more secrets than he can name." he murmured, a small, honest smile on his face. The aches were getting worse – he was going to have to call in Mirage to help him stand, much less get out of the brig. Still, he ignored it. "Optimus is going to love this."

Barricade smirked. "Or Megatron."

Prowl merely looked at him. "After the stunt we just pulled, do you honestly think that Megatron won't order you killed on sight?"

"Eh, probably not. It was a thought, though."

"Then Optimus will have to accept us." Prowl murmured, more to himself than to Barricade. If Optimus didn't, then Prowl wasn't entirely too sure what they would do.

They sat together in companionable silence until the pain got too much for Prowl to ignore. To his surprise, Barricade was the one to call Mirage. As the spy guided Prowl out of the brig, Barricade merely smiled knowingly.

He looked forward to learning Prowl's secrets.

/-/

An: Holy Primus. A brand-spankin-new plot just emerged from the ashes of the old one. And me with finals coming up. (headdesk)