The elevator dinged as Barricade got his legs around Deadlock's midriff to try for a pin. The racer was thrashing and arching off the floor clearly unwilling to concede. Mirage shifted his attention momentarily to the mech who stepped out of the cab. He was hoping for an officer with more authority than a medic or if not then a heavy who could haul the brawlers apart bodily.
He got Scavenger.
"Is he glitching about Ratchet?" One-sixth of the Constructions asked the two onlookers as he edged around the scuffle.
"I presume so." Mirage tried not to sound disappointed. He didn't know Scavenger well but the power shovel's lack of self-esteem was prominently noted in his Spec Ops file. He could also be surprisingly civil if distracted by shiny things. "Would you stop them, please?"
"Why? They're not blocking the corridor." The query appeared to be genuine puzzlement.
"They're making a noise and I have a helm-ache." The noble explained in his most reasonable tone of voice as he bargained. "I can give you the location of a shuttle wreck. I noticed it on a drive on the outskirts of the settlement. It's half-buried so it might have been overlooked. Even if it is empty, the hull has some interesting weathering on the titanium that could be repurposed into something artistic."
"Deal." Scavenger agreed then stomped over to grab the racer and the Praxian. He smacked them together a few times to disorient them so they would be easier to separate then he trotted back to show them off. Mirage got the impression of a cat presenting its human with a mouse.
"Thank you." Mirage sent him the coordinates. "I don't want either of them. Barricade is still on duty, I believe." He indicated the door to Ratchet's empty cell. Scavenger shrugged and propped up the Enforcer against it to recover. Deadlock got put in the elevator and sent downstairs. "Do you know why Hook called in an Autobot medic?"
"Oh, yeah, a tricky spark issue. Partial surge compromise blah blah distorted casing something." The Constructicon explained. "That's what you get when mecha try to be gestalt. You're not supposed to merge that intense as a group if you don't have limiter coding. They peaked too high for their components."
"Will they be alright?" That seemed an appropriate question to ask, though what Mirage really wanted to know was if the unfortunate trio were the only ones trying.
"Probably." Scavenger shrugged, not much interested. "Hook's got the hardware sorted but he needed a specialist for the energy regulation. That bit's medical and tricky, you know. Spark support'll keep Dirge from dying but it won't re-regulate or whatever his readings. Scrapper's fragged off with the Coneheads. He warned them it wouldn't work but they're all Vos Above and won't try out of trine."
"If they had consulted with me, which they have not, I would have advised them to wait." Glit remarked, definitely interested though not a spark specialist. He had not been admitted to the prestigious hospitals that had fallen over themselves to court Ratchet. "The Seekers used themselves hard during the war, and not all of the trines are what was referred to before the war as 'harmonious'."
"Most of the Air Force is glitched." Another shrug. "Scrapper says we'll get our quarters finished first and do some compatibility tests. I'd love to make a bitlet in me but Devastator might freak out. We maybe need a surrogate." Scavenger eyed Mirage assessingly. It wasn't lust, the noble was thankful. More like checking if he was up to code. "Maybe a truck. Someone solid. We'd ask Grapple and Hoist except they hate us."
"Grapple is still upset about the Solar Power Tower. You lied to him." Not an unreasonable reaction, in Mirage's option.
"Well, of course. He was the enemy. The Tower was some cool engineering, though. Scrapper wants to build some like it to smooth the draw on the grid during peak and whatever." The power shovel considered the ethics of appropriating designs. "Yeah, probably should ask. The Patent Office exists again, kinda. We're not cribbers."
"Apologising would go a long way to mending the rift. Acknowledging their designs as their own is professional courtesy." Mirage hinted, trying for positive reinforcement without beating the resource technician over the helm with empathy. His show of ethics should be rewarded,
"Sure." Scavenger agreed easily over his shoulder as he trundled away with a wave, his comm audibly pinging. Someone was impatiently expecting him.
Mirage felt a little snubbed. He had things he needed to do urgently too.
He vented, now feeling ridiculous. His dignity prevented him from calling Scavenger back with the dubious authority of his Ministerial position. He was not going to do that. Instead, he was going to reconcile the abrupt end to their conversation as 'Con rudeness not a dismissal of his relevance, importance, or validity as a mech. Pitching as fit like Tracks would impress no one, least of all himself. A hot cube of high grade would be nice, with just a hint of magnesium for spice.
"Are you match-making or brokering peace?" Glit asked as he surreptitiously scanned Barricade as he roused. The medic was not going to approach until the Praxian's combat routines had subsided. "I would hold off on the cross-factional romance until everyone is more settled. I haven't removed any inbuilt weapons. No one is approaching relaxed yet."
Mirage contemplated the felinoid's earnest expression, wondering how much he knew about the spark complications. Glit hadn't done duty on Earth. The spy did not think he had even visited the organic world. Ratchet hadn't had much of a chance to brief any of the Decepticon medical staff even if he was inclined to expound on the topic. No one had briefed the noble about ongoing security concerns. He'd been shouted and glared at but there was only one telepath on the planet and it wasn't him.
"I want peace." Mirage said with sincere albeit diversionary honesty. "We're all here. The war is over. I would like very much for it to be over. I'm in a traditional relationship with a social peer. We're raising a sparkling. I would like to dole out some ordinary to everyone so we can all partake in normal."
"Sounds appetising." Glit cycled his passives, confirming Barricade was standing down as his system assessed damage. He was fine barring a few dents and the percussive reset Scavenger had given him. As the beastformer had better things to do than bandage idiots, he turned his focus on the former Autobot. "You're running a little hot. A rest cycle would be good for you. I can get Security, not that aft there, to escort you back to quarters if you like."
"Yes, thank you. I would be obliged." Mirage agreed thankfully, which was how he found himself inside a heavy duty hauler subject to alien caterwauling that the transport assured him was the latest thing from Zongo II or wherever. He could barely hear himself think over the noise and the honking because road rules were apparently suggestions. They actually clipped a wall coming into the turn into the clear zone around the bunker.
Rumble and Frenzy were there to greet them and had opinions on the music. Mirage rolled diffidently out of the trailer, thanked his escort for the ride then transformed once his gyros had realigned. He slipped into Soundwave's home to escape the percussion discussion. The cassettes had evidently made a new friend. Hopefully the guestrooms had good sound proofing.
He got as far as his berthroom door before he was ambushed, That was uncharitable, the noble admitted. Thundercracker looked worried and Tempest fretful. Mirage immediately took the sparkling, settling him against his chest-plate. The little jet tapped his hands against his cowling with his magnets almost catching. That was an excellent sign. The big jet leaned too casually against the wall, which was a less excellent sign.
"I left Skywarp at the hospital. He was eavesdropping on the Coneheads." He had no qualm about dropping the black and purple Seeker in the muck. Mirage was still annoyed with him.
"You didn't get picked up for being unsupervised?" Thundercracker asked outright to make sure.
"I was supervised at all times, or at least in view of camera or Decepticon personnel." The reassurance was carefully amended for accuracy. He didn't want to be accused of duplicity. "I left Skywarp, walked down a hallway towards Barricade, and then was in Glit's company thereafter. The medic sent me home with one of the hospital's security mecha." Who had told him his designation, Mirage recollected with embarrassment. All he had heard was wailing. "Did someone report me?"
"No." The Seeker sighed. "That was the problem." He straightened, hiking his wings to fake a better mood. "Skywarp sent me a message that he was going for a flight then turned his comm off. Starscream has his off too and the bond's been feeling weird. One of them's doing something stupid. I thought they might've pranked you. I was concerned."
"I appreciate your care." Mirage took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before releasing in a little gesture of affection. He hoped he wasn't crossing a line.
"Me too." Thundercracker reciprocated, his stance easing. "You wanna watch a movie and pretend everything's fine?"