Chapter 30

~Jazz says, and I quote, 'Honor among thieves is overrated!'~ Ratchet snarked, his own fear making him sarcastic and angry. He obviously hated being helpless.

~Movor?~ Frenzy guessed, ~Slagging A' he's not - he is!~ Another explosion rocked Astrotrain's inert frame. It didn't take a smart aft to know that Movor was taking advantage of Astrotrain's incapacitation to slag him. Frenzy had ordered Astrotrain to stand down, shut up, and not move, and Astrotrain was taking full advantage of that order to scrag his new masters, too. Astrotrain would probably rather die than be captured by the Autobots.

Steeljaw spoke up, after Frenzy explained to them what was going on, :Frenzy, go. See if you can get Astotrain's weapons working, with or without his help.: Steeljaw clung to a bulkhead near the ceiling. :Punch, go with him. I'll cover Soundwave, and try to get his visor working again.:

Frenzy kicked off a wall and dove through the weightless, airless, space for the door. It didn't open automatically, but he was expecting that. He grabbed the frame and then forced it open with his hands - it wasn't locked, just not powered. He slipped through the narrow space, then floated in the hall, blaster in hand, as he waited for Punch to squeeze through too. Vortex came after, a silent and sullen hulk of a mech.

:You ever fight in zero gee?: he asked the Autobot spy.

:Yeah. I was trained by Jazz.:

:Good. Pretty sure Bombshell and the other bugs haven't.: Frenzy drifted down the corridor, alert for any sign of movement. Perhaps the insecticons had fled the ship too. They hadn't seen them since the fighting had started.

The bridge was dark, but a control console powered up when Frenzy tapped a few buttons. Astrotrain was out cold, but not dead. All his power was being sent to external shielding. Frenzy initiated several manual overrides and brought up view screens and weapons first.

As expected, Movor hung in space, and was clearly the source of the attack. He was in root mode, only a scant few feet from Astrotrain's inert body. Frenzy watched for a moment as the other shuttle attempted to find a way through Astrotrain's shielding. Every time he got too close energy arced from Astrotrain's shields to Movor's hands in what was no doubt a painful zap. The shield was really designed to protect Astrotrain from micrometeorites but it was doing a good job at preventing the other shuttle from doing any more damage.

"Brace yourself," Frenzy warned, as he powered up Astrotrain's large plasma gun. Movor was focused on finding a way through the shield, and not paying attention to Astrotrain's weapons. Clearly, he assumed Astrotrain was offline and therefore not a threat.

Punch grabbed onto the back of a chair.

There was a loud pop from behind an access panel on the bridge.

:Steeljaw, did you screw up Astrotrain's guns?:

:Uh, yeah. Sorry?:

Frenzy swore. He launched himself across the bridge and scrabbled frantically at the panel. :Punch, take the helm! See if you can get him out of here!: Frenzy hastily yanked out the sabotaged wiring out of the access bay and slashed at it with a scalpel. He removed the small circuit board that had been wired in with the intent of randomly tripping Astrotrain's circuit breakers, and twisted the wires together with urgent fingers. There were a lot of wires.

Punch, meanwhile, fired up Astrotrain's thrusters and spun the shuttle about. Frenzy was thrown away from the bird's nest of damaged wiring when Astrotrain started to move. The inertial dampers were not working. He hit the opposite wall with a clang of armor against metal wall panels. Swearing, Frenzy jumped frantically for the access bay, but Punch rolled Astrotrain in a hard evasive movement at the same time. This threw Frenzy's track off and he collided with Punch with enough force that both of them were left with dents.

Punch grabbed him and threw him at the access panel. :I need guns!:

Frenzy caught the edge of the door. It swung on its hinges, flinging him into the wall. He tried to block the impact with his hand and the field repair to his forearm cracked with a sound like a gunshot. Grimly, despite the battering, he refused to let go of the door with his good hand, even as crushing pain seared up his arm. He transferred the grip on the door from his good hand to his bad one - despite the agony, he had enough of a grip left to hold on and prevent himself from floating away.

He pulled his laser scalpel tipped spear from his subspace, and jabbed it deep into the deck. That gave him a sturdy bar to wrap his legs around while he worked on the repairs.

Finally, too slowly for his tastes, he twisted all the loose wires together. He was still wrapping electrical tape around the connections but he could keep his fingers clear to avoid electrocution. :You've got guns! Fire!:

When the blaster fired, Astrotrain's entire frame lurched, but Movor, pursuing them in root mode, was hit smack in the chest plates and went tumbling backwards. Frenzy uttered a soundless cry of triumph that was lost to the vacuum and then dove across the weightless expanse of the bridge to take the helm from Punch. :I'm a better pilot than you. Let me take over.:

Punch didn't argue. Frenzy, one handed, rapidly typed commands into the console. It took a moment to stabilize Astrotrain's orbit - something the shuttle would have done without conscious thought if his processor had been functioning - and then began to plot a route to Vandenberg. Movor was out cold, and possibly dead. Astrotrain packed some heavy weaponry and that had been a point-blank shot.

:You know how to fly?: Punch sounded surprised. He grabbed Frenzy's damaged arm and produced a pocket welder from his subspace. Even as Frenzy was controlling the shuttle with one hand, he flared the armor on his other arm and Punch quickly re-welded the badly damaged strut.

:I was trained by Soundwave, who spent a good portion of his early life among seekers.: Frenzy answered Punch with a smug grin over his shoulder. His combat routines were running at too high a level to register the pain he should have been in from his injuries. He was only dimly aware that he'd also stripped some gears in his shoulder and snapped several spinal tension wires. Frenzy added, :Astrotrain's in stasis lock because that shot from Movor severed the power conduits to his neural network. I can pilot him with manual overrides, though.:

:Oh.:

:Why don't you go hunt bugs and I'll get a flight plan filed with the 'bots and the humans.: Frenzy was already plotting a descent that followed established human flight paths. :Vortex will watch my back.:

:Err, you sure about that?: Punch gave the glowering form of Vortex a dubious look.

:Heh. Not really, but I'm more worried about the damage Bombshell could do if we don't catch him.:

Steeljaw landed with a crash of metallic limbs on the floor when the power to life support came back on. He righted himself in a hurried scramble, and blinked as electric light flooded the weapons bay.

Soundwave, who had been similarly dumped on his aft, stood back up and looked towards the bridge. He held a hand out at Frenzy's head height, and flashed Steeljaw a quick smile. Clearly, he thought Frenzy was responsible for the return of power and gravity.

:Frenzy,: Steeljaw commed him, :How's it going up there?:

:We've got an ETA of 1:30 PM Friday - four days from now - for landing at Vandenberg. Need to get the breach in the hull fixed first, though. Skyfire should be here with a crew to do the repairs in several hours.:

:You gonna pilot him in?:

:Not many qualified pilots in position to get here in time, and if his auto-repair fixes the damage before we land and he reboots, the slave coding will prevent him from fighting me.: Frenzy sounded tired. :I don't think that'll happen, but I can't rule it out.:

:Remind me not to piss you off, lover. I still can't believe you hacked both him and Vortex, but I am impressed.:

:Hah. I'll tell you later just how much I hate slave coding. And the code I used on Astrotrain was installed in his processor a very long time ago. Megatron never trusted him and had Soundwave hack him eons ago when he was down for repairs. I just activated it.:

Steeljaw would have shrugged at him if they were talking face to face. As it was, he sighed over the comm. :Whatever works. Can't say they didn't have it coming.:

:I don't believe in revenge, Steelie.: Frenzy's rebuke was firm. :Haven't you figured that out about me yet? Soundwave taught me that, a long long time ago.:

:Yeah, I guess.:

:It's just a waste of energy. I'll scrag someone to prevent them from hurting me or someone else if I need to, but I've got better things to do than mete out personal punishment.: Frenzy's voice softened. :Funny thing is, I think Optimus has the same philosophy.:

:Yeah, he probably does. He doesn't bear grudges, that's for sure.:

Ratchet came with the team on board Skyfire a little over twenty-four hours later.

Steeljaw watched, pleased, as Frenzy launched himself into Ratchet's arms. Frenzy had been quiet and seemingly exhausted. Soundwave walked across the cargo hold to the airlock at a more sedate pace, wrapping both arms around the medic and his symbiont in glad greeting.

Jazz, second into Astrotrain's hold after Ratchet, let out a low whistle. "Good job, guys."

"A job well done," Prowl agreed, joining Jazz. "Punch, you've performed your duties admirably."

Punch nodded politely. "Yes sir."

Ratchet was fussing over Frenzy, clearly dismayed by the structural damage that Frenzy had taken. "Jazz, I need to start repairs stat before he gets a rust infection. Soundwave, I brought medical supplies - I assume you want to assist?"

Soundwave nodded, and ushered Frenzy into the airlock with gentle but determined hands.

"Good job, Frenzy." Jazz called. "Blaster said you took out 'Tex."

"I was pissed."

"Good a reason as any," Jazz shrugged. Once the airlock had slid shut, he asked Steeljaw, "How's Frenzy?"

"Too quiet."

"Look after him."

"I think Ratchet and Soundwave have it covered," Steeljaw said, with a shake of his head that rattled his armor.

"Eh. He glommed onto ya for a reason, and that reason ain't changed." Jazz smirked at him. "They're his family, but yer his lover. He'll need ya, too."

Steeljaw puffed out a sharp breath. "Vortex hacked him, Jazz. It's going to take him a long time to get over that. He won, but only by default."

"He's a tough little slagger. Bet he surprises you." Jazz predicted this with a somewhat sad smile. "Well. C'mon. We've got intelligence to gather, an' I could use your help."

Skyfire's hold was a welcomely warm and bright contrast to Astrotrain's chilly frame. Frenzy sat silently but not unhappily on a crate of supplies, with Ratchet on one side and Soundwave on the other. He was positioned between two ferociously protective mecha who loved him unconditionally, and he relaxed under their attention with unrestrained relief. No matter how fierce and independent he pretended to be, he was hard coded to be dependent on others. It felt very good to have such powerful mecha caring for and protecting him.

Ratchet loved him. Not with any trace of sexual interest (he would have been weirded out if Ratchet had desired him), but with a fierce platonic attachment that had come out of nowhere, and surprised both of them. Frenzy, an orphan from a very young age, wondered if this was what having a parent was like.

The medic's hands were gentle, tender, as he numbed sensors and began to repair Frenzy's arm. Soundwave was working on his leg with equal concern, skilled hands reinforcing the temporary welds. Now that they had the proper equipment to do it with, the repairs were a critical priority.

None of them said anything. They didn't need to.

Frenzy's repairs were finished about the time that Jazz finished scouring Astrotrain for any useful intel. The repair crew was still patching Astrotrain's damaged hull, but the work was well under way.

"You gonna be good to fly?" Ratchet asked Frenzy, looking him straight in the optics. Frenzy was uncharacteristically silent and still.

"I'll survive, Ratch." Frenzy reached a hand out and rested it on Ratchet's forearm. "Thanks."

"Mmm."

"I'm ... not okay." Frenzy didn't bother denying the truth of his mental state to the Autobot, who could feel his spark across their shared bond with Soundwav. "But I'm functional."

"I do know how to fly. I need to, to be a medic to fliers," Ratchet pointed out. "If you want, I could take him in ..."

"No. I want to see this through. I'll be okay."

Ratchet reached out and gave Frenzy a quick hug. "I'm staying with you two. Just in case Astrotrain has any issues - and just in case either of you need me."

"Thank you."

"Now," Ratchet glanced up at Soundwave and his dark, silent, visor. "I brought a replacement visor for your boss. Why don't you see if you can download his preferences from the old one's drive, or just swap the drives, so he doesn't have to reconfigure it?"

"Thanks. I'll do that." Frenzy accepted the new visor from Ratchet. It was good to have something to keep his mind busy.

Much later that evening, Frenzy recharged in Soundwave's arms. Ratchet was deeply worried about his state of mind. Soundwave, less so. For lack of anywhere else to rest, they'd returned to Soundwave's quarters aboard Astrotrain.

"Frenzy, resilient." Soundwave said, quietly, as he stroked Frenzy's back with gentle fingers. "He is hurt. He is strong. I would spare him pain, could I, but he will survive."

"Hate seeing him hurt," Ratchet agreed. "I was so helpless. I knew what was happening to him, but I couldn't do a thing." Ratchet stared moodily into his cube of energon, which was only half consumed. He wished it was high grade. With a frown, he set it down on the table with a clink. "I was so scared I was going to lose both of you."

"You are strong. Your survival loss of bond definite," Soundwave assured him as he crouched and settled his symbiont on a pallet on the floor. Frenzy never moved.

Ratchet cocked an optic ridge up. They both knew he was right. One of the reasons Soundwave found Ratchet so very attractive was his strength and confidence, and his sense of duty. "I still don't want to lose you."

Soundwave offered him a hand up off the narrow couch. Ratchet accepted, but was surprised when Soundwave kissed him with real passion. He hesitated as his spike responded with interest, but guilt twisted at his spark. It also felt weird to interface inside the comatose form of another mech. He whispered, "What about Frenzy?"

"Frenzy, recharging." Soundwave guided Ratchet to the berth, barely big enough for one of them. It was only possible for both of them to fit if one lay atop the other. "Ratchet, I desire merge again. Need you."

"Oh." Somehow, he couldn't argue with that. Desire swamped his higher thought processes. He wanted to reaffirm that Soundwave was his, and that he belonged to Soundwave.

They merged quickly, intensely, losing themselves in the presence of each other's very being. Passion and need, desire and fear, and love and loss swirled in their sparks until they couldn't tell where one started and the other left off, and they shared every raw emotion. When they broke apart, they made love; Soundwave took a rare dominant role, driving into Ratchet with desperate intensity.

The medic was his. He couldn't imagine a world without Ratchet in it. He'd found a mech who respected him, who loved him, and who loved Frenzy every bit as much as he did. He claimed Ratchet's frame, and Ratchet let him, willingly, eagerly, submitting to every touch with complete acceptance.

Ratchet, too, had found his sparkmate.

Soundwave's last thought, as he drifted off into recharge with the medic wrapped up in his arms, was that the future seemed very bright indeed.

Ratchet woke to silence.

At first, he thought that Soundwave had left the room, but when he lifted his head up, the big mech was still beside him on the berth. Soundwave's systems were silent, his optics off, not so much as a capacitor humming.

Foreboding seized Ratchet's spark. He knew Soundwave was alive, because the bond told him that much, but he also knew that Soundwave was in deep stasis lock before he even touched him. His hand felt the chill of idled systems where warmth should have been.

Frenzy wailed.

Ratchet wanted to.