-Contact me.-
Nacelle frowns at the short message.
There is a sense of urgency in his spark that doesn't belong to himself.
Something significant must have happened, but he can't do as requested right now.
Sending an apology as a response to the urgency that fills his spark, he deletes the message and turns his attention to the door when there is a gentle knock on it.
Thundercracker opens the door and steps into Nacelle's office a moment later.
"How are you feeling?" Nacelle asks when Thundercracker sits down in the chair across from him.
"I'm not sure," Thundercracker answers, his voice reflective. "The nightmares have lessened, and I'm recharging better. Have more energy when I wake up."
"It sounds to me that the Alpha-Theta training is working its magic. We'll keep doing it for a bit longer before turning to EMDR therapy. As for today, I have a little challenge for you."
Nacelle withdraws a fake spike from subspace and places it on the table between them, and Thundercracker instantly goes rigid.
"You don't have to look at it. You don't have to touch it. It will remain there while we talk, and if you at any point feel brave enough to touch it or want me to move it closer to you, then tell me." He says to Thundercracker. "I know that what I'm doing right now is distressing, but if we don't address this topic, then you are never going to get better. Then they will win. Then you will remain a victim. You need to take control over your life, and that includes taking care of your frame's needs."
"I don't..." Thundercracker begins, but the argument dies in his vocalizer.
"There is something I have been thinking about," Nacelle adds curiously. "You could literally have chosen anyone to assist you with a 'cold' overload, yet you choose him. The embodiment of your deepest fear. Why?"
Thundercracker remains silent, his expression blank.
"Think about it," Nacelle encourages and then deviates smoothly into another topic.
The fake spike remains where it is, forgotten except for a few hesitant glances while Nacelle explains the theory behind EMDR therapy and the benefits Thundercracker should achieve from it.
When the session ends and Thundercracker has left his office, Nacelle finally addresses the earlier message.
He pulls the encrypted datapad out of subspace and leans back in his chair while his identity is verified and the connection gets established.
::About time.::
::I had a client.::
There is a deep sigh on the other end.
::Understood.::
::What is it that is so urgent that you risk yet another message instead of waiting for me to make contact?::
::With the recent terrorist attacks against the rehabilitation facilities, we petitioned for the use of invasive interrogation.::
::The High Court would never...::
::It did.::
There is a moment of silence while Nacelle reflects upon the new knowledge.
::Did they find anything?:: His spark pulse increases while he anxiously waits for the answer.
::Enough to gain an insight into their organization and various global operations. Identifying those that pull the string is now only a question about time. We also uncovered something else, and that is why I'm taking contact. The criminals appear to have infiltrated some of the rehabilitation facilities.::
::You can't be serious!:: Nacelle exclaims and rises to pace restlessly back and forth.
::I'm afraid so.::
::Which rehabilitation facilities? Who are they? What are their intentions?:: He demands to know before he, in a flurry, spins around to face the live feed on the datapad with a glare. ::You are not pulling me out!::
On the screen, Prowl lifts his hands in surrender.
::I don't intend to. It is too late anyway and would just raise suspicion.:: The director of the Joint Investigation Unit acknowledges grudgingly. ::We don't know which rehabilitation facilities they, in particular, are focusing on or the identities of their agents, but it is clear what their intentions are.::
::To reacquire their most valuable assets.:: Nacelle growls menacingly, his anger growing at the thought of any of his former or current clients getting forced back into yet another existence of constant pain.
::Yes.:: Prowl sighs wearily. ::In that aspect, we have failed.::
No.
No!
NO!
::How did no one notice their disappearance?!:: Nacelle hisses enraged, and Prowl's utterly apologetic presence within his bondmate's spark is not enough to quell the tornado of feelings inside it.
::The attacks forced us to deviate our attention.::
Nacelle's scream of fury fills the office belonging to the Joint Investigation Unit's director, and it causes Prowl to cringe at the intensity while his door-wings shrink back in submission.
"He didn't react well to the news," Topkick concludes politely when Prowl opens the door and leaves his office.
As one of the Joint Investigation Unit's three Senior Investigating Officers, Topkick has access to all the new information they have acquired from the terrorist they managed to take alive at the most recent attack.
"No," Prowl sighs as they walk down the corridor to the Tactical Operation Center, his demeanor far from the confident tactician he usually is. "And I don't blame him for his reaction."
"Nacelle is as dedicated to his work as I am to mine. He is spending a lot of energy in helping the victims back to a normal life. And it only makes it natural for him to react like this when it turns out that his and his colleagues' hard work has been ruined by our inability to protect the rehabilitated victims." He adds with a hint of remorse in his voice.
Topkick nods in silent understanding.
"Are you pulling him out?" He asks when they arrive at the door into the Tactical Operations Center, looking at his superior.
Prowl looks at him, shaking his head with a humorless laughter.
"Nacelle would rip my door-wings off if I dared."
"The fate of being bonded," Topkick says dryly as he opens the door and follows Prowl into the Tactical Operations Center.
"No, it is too late to pull him out. I believed that I sent him to safety at D-14 after the threats to I-11, yet it seems I have failed in that regard. But he should still be safer at D-14 than at any other place I could have sent him. And I have been careful to erase any connection to me. In anyone else's optics, he is just a psychiatrist." Prowl answers as he looks out over their busy command center, his stoic demeanor returning, and he is once again the director of the Joint Investigation Unit and has his full focus on the task ahead of him instead of on his bondmate. "Right now, we need to do everything we can to prevent the kidnappings of the rehabilitated victims while still having our focus on the rehabilitation facilities to stop any future attacks on them."