Nacelle looks at Thundercracker as they sit inside an office within the Polyhexian Cartel's headquarter. All kinds of lethal weapons adorn the walls while a desk takes up most of the space in the room. Shade is standing outside the closed door, guarding the office and leaving them in privacy.
"How are you feeling?" He asks Thundercracker as he sits awkwardly behind the massive desk clearly meant for someone way bigger than him.
Thundercracker ignores the question and asks one of his own, his curiosity almost killing him.
"W-Who is the new s-seeker?"
Nacelle curses silently as he leans back and bites his lower lip as he tries to find a way to explain Skywarp to Thundercracker.
"Do you remember what Hotspot told you about your spark?" He finally leans forward and asks the blue seeker, deciding to use the Clinical Professor's informative and educational way of approaching a topic as sensitive as this.
"Yes." Thundercracker nods and places his hand on his chest where his spark is.
Hotspot had told him to listen to his spark.
"What does your spark tell you about this new seeker?"
Thundercracker frowns, focusing his whole attention on what he feels in his spark.
He has tried to make sense of it himself, but it feels so strange.
"I d-don't know. No w-word for it."
Nacelle sighs as he begins to explain who Skywarp used to be to Thundercracker while purposely keeping out the close relationship the two seekers had had before Torrent happened to them.
"The new seeker is one you once knew. Before you lost your memories." He grips Thundercracker's hands gently and begins to soothingly caress the back of them with his thumbs, but if he has to be completely honest with himself, it is more for his own comfort than for Thundercracker's. With another sigh, he continues. "He is sad because you no longer remember him. If you want to, I can arrange a meeting between the two of you to see if your spark maybe can help you remember him."
"Thundercracker wants to meet you," Nacelle says as he steps into Skywarp's recovery room.
Skywarp looks up, his optics widening in surprise.
"When?"
"We can do it now if you feel up to it. Thundercracker is not easy to hold back when he has made a decision." Nacelle says with a little smile.
Thundercracker knows what he wants and when he wants it.
That sparkling-like stubbornness is more and more becoming his main drive and a part of his personality that noticeably has begun to manifest itself more clearly. It is a good and healthy sign since it shows that Thundercracker is developing and slowly becoming an independent individual.
It is uncertain how their current circumstance will affect Thundercracker's development. But hopefully, they won't have to stay with the Polyhexian Cartel for so long that the criminals' behavior will begin to rub off on the blue seeker.
Skywarp moves to sit on the edge of the berth and slowly stands up.
"Take me to him."
Thundercracker waits for them inside the enormous hanger with Shade by his side. Skywarp stops when he sees them, nervousness taking root in his spark. He has wished for this moment for so long, but now that it is about to happen, he feels himself falter.
What is he going to say?
This Thundercracker doesn't know him. They have nothing in common except for the sparkling the blue seeker is carrying, but Thundercracker clearly doesn't know that either.
Or how it happened.
His spark fills with pain as he is reminded of how their sparkling came about.
That is the only relief he has.
Thundercracker doesn't remember the rape.
"Take the time you need." Nacelle soothes, caressing his shoulder in comfort.
He remains there, studying the blue seeker from a distance as Thundercracker interacts with Shade. The black and silver tank-former interacts playfully with Thundercracker and Skywarp realizes how devastating Retrograde's treatment of Thundercracker has been.
The blue seeker is completely like a sparkling.
No inhibitions.
It is not only the loss of the memories, he now realizes.
"What did Retrograde do to him?" He asks Nacelle, turning to the green and white seeker.
Nacelle sighs deeply.
"Retrograde had an outlier ability that allowed her to manipulate the minds of her victims. Before altering their memories, she used her ability to download the original memories onto datapads for her collection. The invasion of the victim's processor left physical damage in certain areas. I have been told that Thundercracker should heal fully from the procedure that has been performed on him, but that it will take time. Until then, he will be like that. Behaving like a sparkling. Another reason for his behavior is that he simply still doesn't know anything about societal expectations and norms. With time, he will improve in that area as he interacts with others and learns what is accepted and what is not."
A sound from the hangar draws their attention, and Skywarp realizes that Thundercracker has noticed them. There is no going back now. His spark pulses erratically as he walks the distance between them, dread settling in his spark.
How is he going to handle this?
The blue seeker in front of him is a complete stranger.
He shares the frame with the Thundercracker Skywarp knew, but that is also the only thing that remains of that Thundercracker.
The blue wings vibrate with curiosity and eagerness and he forces his own to return a flicker of a greeting.
"Hello."
The voice is also the same, but it carries a sparkling-like undertone full of barely restrained eagerness.
He tries to return the greeting, but his vocalizer refuses to cooperate.
The next thing happens as if in slow-motion. Thundercracker leans up against him, his hands bracing for balance on Skywarp's chest as he places a gentle kiss on Skywarp's right cheek. Skywarp freezes on the spot while his processor tries to understand what just happened.
Thundercracker kissed him.
His cheek burns where the blue seeker's soft and so well-known lips had touched.
"I like you," Thundercracker says, voice matter-of-factly in all his innocence. "You make my spark feel happy."
He can't take it anymore.
Without thinking, he flees, unable to handle the feelings within him.
It would feel like a cruel prank from the blue seeker if he didn't know this Thundercracker's genuine sincerity. The blue seeker's field is, after all, like an open book.
There is no trace of deceit in this Thundercracker, only a brutal honesty.