A/N: We are officially as long as Your War, Our Battle was! Plus a prologue. XD In way less time and better quality.

I realized some time after writing this chapter that Drift's birthname actually *is* Drift when I was researching what his backstory is in the IDW comics. I mostly know him from the Lost Light comics specifically, so I didn't know prior to deciding to including him in this story how his path from Decepticon to Autobot went. As I researched, I also realized that I have entirely changed that path for him here.

Also, I realize I have clearly established ShadexRatchet as a goal relationship and now I'm introducing Drift, a mech who is canonically paired with Ratchet. You know who else is canonically paired with Ratchet? Arcee. Well, kinda. In Animated it is made very clear that Ratchet has feelings for Arcee and if events hadn't ruined that possibility they would've been a thing. Animated sure loved being like "Here's a romantic relationship...Sike! Here's tragedy instead!" Animated Ratchet never recovered and we were forever sad and shipping them in fanfiction(except for me since I haven't written in Animated). I've seen some fanart of Drift in Animated and I thought I saw something of it being official..*looks it up* Yup, he has an official Animated design...after Animated ended...Is there...more Animated that happened that I missed? *confused author noises*

Anyways! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 19: Drift

Ratchet found himself, not for the first time since Shadebreaker's capture, standing at the door of the room he'd placed her in when she'd been injured. She'd continued to stay in it upon healing, neither of them feeling a rush for her to leave medbay when she had no real quarters of her own. And she helped enough in medbay for the humans to buy that she'd become something of an assistant to him. He had yet to enter.

He sighed heavily as he opened the door and stepped in, looking around as his spark squeezed painfully. It was mostly clean, though whether that was because there wasn't much she had to her name he wasn't sure. Her datapads were strewn about the small desk they'd moved in for her hap-hazardly and the blanket was halfway fallen off the bed. It was the opposite of how meticulous she was about helping him organize the rest of medbay.

Ratchet shook his helm slightly, walking further into the room and straightening the blanket on the bed. She'd chosen one of the softest ones, he noticed as he smoothed it out over the bed. He told himself he was doing it because he thought she might like to come home to a straightened room, not as a way to cope with the fact they'd lost her. Not because it had been two weeks and the outlook was looking bleak between Steadishift's continued silence, the lack of other leads and the incident with the one they might've had being blown up to prevent an Insecticon infestation of the planet.

Ratchet swallowed back some emotion as his optics landed on a picture she'd placed on her desk as he looked up. It was one Wheeljack had snuck of the two of them, he knew. Sitting on the beach, looking out at the ocean, from behind them as she leaned against his shoulder with her wings folded up neatly against her back and his arm around her gently. He hadn't realized Wheeljack had given her a printed copy, but he clearly had.

Ratchet moved over to the desk and picked up the framed picture, optics taking in the simple frame. It was a black frame, nothing special, but when he picked it up, he noticed something attached to the back. He turned it over and frowned at the paper.

"What's this?" He asked quietly, carefully removing it. He opened the folded piece and felt his spark nearly skip a pulse.

'I know what I'm feeling. Why can't I admit it this time? Fear shouldn't hold me back…' The words were surrounded by scribbles and nonsense marks he didn't quite know how to interpret.

"Aw, Shade'," Ratchet said, placing his hand over his spark as he realized he'd just read something he wasn't meant to.

He folded the paper carefully and reattached it where it was. Then he carefully placed the photo back in its place on the desk. His spark gave another squeeze of pain at the knowledge of her feelings. This was something they should be talking about, not sleuthing out via snooping on each other. That's not what this was supposed to be.

Feeling like he'd stepped over boundaries without meaning to, Ratchet heaved a sigh and looked at the datapads littering her desk. His optics wavered as he fought with himself for a moment before leaving the room. There were things he could do to make better use of his time. Shadebreaker could worry about her desk when she returned.

She had to return. His spark couldn't handle it if she didn't.

Wheeljack watched his friend as he worked on the destroyed cylinder in hopes to rescue the data within. "Ratchet," he said carefully.

"What?!" Ratchet asked angrily.

Wheeljack didn't flinch, used to his friend's moods. "You need to take a break," he said gently.

Ratchet growled, frame shaking as he continued to work. It had been two days since he'd poked into Shadebreaker's room and he hadn't stopped working since.

"I'm fine," Ratchet said, tone telling Wheeljack that he was anything but.

Wheeljack sighed. "Ratchet, you can't do this to yourself," he said. "We need you at the top of your game."

"I'm fine, Wheeljack!" Ratchet snapped, whirling on him and whipping a wrench from subspace. He didn't throw it quite yet, but the threat was there.

Wheeljack stared at him for a long time. He knew what he was doing. He was throwing himself into work nonstop to distract himself. To keep himself distracted from the fact the femme he had fallen for was currently in Decepticon hands and they had no leads on getting her back. To keep his spark from falling into despair so deep they may not be able to pull him out. But it wasn't a healthy coping mechanism.

"We're going to find her, Ratchet," Wheeljack said gently. "And-"

"How do you know?!" Ratchet asked aggressively, emotion heavy in his voice.

This time Wheeljack did flinch.

"The Decepticons are doing Primus knows what to her, Wheeljack! And we have no way of tracking them! No way of- of finding her!" Ratchet continued, gesturing wildly with his hands. "And even if we did…I may not be able…what if I can't fix her?" He covered his optics with a hand.

Wheeljack watched his friend with sympathy as he ranted. His spark ached for him, it did, but he knew the mech was mostly speaking out of grief and fear. "Ratchet," he said, moving closer and placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You are the best medic in the universe. Even better than the mech that taught us. You are Chief Medical Officer for a reason. Whatever the Decepticons are doing to her, you will fix. Just like you fixed her up when she first came. Just like you've fixed up Bulkhead. Just like you fixed up Omega Supreme. And countless other bots who were on the brink of death. Cause you are Ratchet and there ain't a bot in this universe you can't repair."

Ratchet scoffed a little, but he seemed to have calmed down a little. Only a little, though, and seemingly only because he didn't have the energy to keep up a shouting match. "If only," he said, tears at the corners of his optics. "Tell that to Bumblebee's voice box."

Wheeljack's own expression betrayed the fact he was near tears at Ratchet's words and the spark break in them. He squeezed Ratchet's shoulder reassuringly. "I hear you, Ratchet," he said softly. "But this won't be like that. We'll do everything we can so that it won't be like that."

"It might not be enough, Wheeljack," Ratchet said heavily. "You know that. How many have we lost to this war?"

"Too many," Wheeljack had to admit heavily, frame sagging. "Too many."

Ratchet pulled away, turning back to the cylinder. "Just let me work." He sounded tired. Defeated.

Wheeljack watched him for a moment longer, wishing he knew what else he could say to reach him. He'd known Ratchet the longest out of anyone, yet he still didn't know how to handle this grief in his friend. How did you console a mech whose conjunx endura was ripped from him before he even told them his feelings?

"Okay," Wheeljack finally said softly. "But know that we haven't given up yet. It's not time to give up yet."

He watched as Ratchet's grip on the wrench tightened, shoulders rising as his whole frame tensed. Wheeljack knew it was pain, not anger, that caused it, but he still took a wise step back.

"I'll be back later," Wheeljack promised.

Ratchet didn't reply as Wheeljack moved to leave the room. Wheeljack was not oblivious to the sound of the wrench hitting against something after the door closed, however.

"We're picking up a signal," Arcee said from her station at the computer.

"What kind of signal?" Chromia asked.

"According to our sensors," Arcee replied, pausing as she finished typing. "A Decepticon escape pod?"

Chromia shared a look with Ironhide, who was standing not far away as he conversed with Major Lennox about how training with the humans was going. Lennox nodded and waved, indicating they could finish later.

"Any indication whether it's from the Nemesis?" Ironhide asked.

"It's impossible to tell," Arcee replied, typing furiously to get a read on a trajectory and an origin point. "All our sensors can tell is that it came from above the hemisphere."

"What about touch down point?" Chromia asked.

If there was any chance it could be Shadebreaker, they would want to investigate. While the odds of her orchestrating her own escape dwindled by the day, they weren't ruling it out yet.

"Calculating that now," Arcee replied.

The three Autobots and human standing by were silent as they watched the screen as the numbers were ran. The silence was a bit tense as each of them had their own thoughts on the matter, both hope and worries about what it might be. It could be Shadebreaker. It could also be a Decepticon. They wouldn't know until it was opened up.

"Got it," Arcee said as a set of coordinates showed up on the screen. "I'll call Optimus to meet you at the Ground Bridge."

"Prowl…" Steadishift said, voice weak and pleading.

Prowl's doorwing shifted at his name and he looked at their prisoner with an analytical gaze.

Steadishift shifted weakly. "Prowl…you can't…please."

"You know what to do to get the cuffs removed," Prowl said, remaining firm. He stared at Steadishift, calculating the odds the mech was faking the pain in his expression.

"F-frag you," Steadishift growled out. His systems gave a whine of protest.

"Prowl," Sunstreaker said quietly from where he sat at the monitoring station they'd set up to monitor the shifter's vitals.

Prowl stepped over to look over the twin's shoulder at the readouts. Not faking it, then. And yet he was still not forthcoming.

"Would you really rather die than give up the codes to track the Nemesis?" Prowl asked, looking at Steadishift.

"Megatron will-" Steadishift winced, coiling in a ball as his vitals wavered. "-do worse instead if I reveal anything."

Prowl didn't doubt it. He knew the threat of Megatron, and the DJD, was enough to deter many mechs from talking.

"Prowl…" Steadishift growled, writhing.

Prowl's doorwings lowered as he glanced at the vitals readings. He moved away from the monitor and opened the cell to step in. He knelt by Steadishift and reached over, removing the cuff that prevented him from shifting.

Practically immediately the mech shifted forms a couple times and Prowl stood by, waiting for him to settle into one before replacing the cuff and moving to exit the makeshift cell once more.

"Prowl…"

Prowl paused at the exit, doorwing shifting to indicate he was listening.

Steadishift laughed weakly. "I knew you didn't have it in you."

Prowl frowned deeply, sharing a look with Sunstreaker and watched the mech flip a switch he knew was to the security cams. He turned back, moving back across the cell to Steadishift as the mech shifted into a sitting position. He delivered a roundhouse kick to the mech hard in the chest, sending him flying against the wall. He walked over and pinned him against the wall with his forearm against his neck.

"Do not mistake my action for kindness," Prowl warned darkly. "You will tell us something useful. Or you will rot in this makeshift cell the rest of your days."

Steadishift laughed darkly. "You think that scares me?" He grinned, optics wild. "Megatron will win and he will reward my loyalty when this war is over."

Prowl stared at Steadishift's optics for a long moment, analyzing. "You really believe Megatron will care about a mech who let himself get caught?" He asked. "I've seen him offline mechs for less."

Steadishift scoffed. "They didn't hold as much value as I do. You'll see. You all will see. Megatron will pry all the information he needs to win this war from that future seeing femme of yours."

Prowl tilted a doorwing.

"You think I haven't noticed? She's the only one who hasn't had guard duty," Steadishift said, grinning. "Besides that green lug, anyways. Who else could it be?" He cackled.

"Then perhaps he will know that you tried to kill her before he could garner that information," Prowl suggested.

Steadishift's cocky smirk dropped.

Prowl dropped him to the ground then and then promptly left the cell at that. "Keep an optic on him and let me know if he decides to talk," he told Sunstreaker as the cell barrier closed once more.

"You got it, Prowl," Sunstreaker said, glaring darkly at the mech staring in horror at Prowl's back.

Prowl left the room and headed toward the exit of the ship. He'd gotten a ping from Optimus that he was requested for a mission while he was exiting the cell. He transformed upon hitting the pavement and drove the most direct path available toward the Ground Bridge.

Prowl peered out from behind the cover of the trees surrounding the crash site of the Decepticon escape pod.

.:I count ten Vehicons and one Howlback:. Ironhide's voice came over comms.

.:Orders, sir?:. Chromia asked.

.:We hold:. Optimus replied. .:Wait until we know what we're dealing with.:.

Prowl shifted his weapon closer to his chest in preparation, making sure it was ready to be fired. He moved one hand to pull a device from subspace, placing it on the tree to pick up what the Decepticons were saying from this distance.

"Is the area secure?" Howlback asked in her growly tones.

"Yes sir, no sign of any Autobots," a Vehicon replied as a couple began cutting into the escape pod. "It appears the escape pod's doors have malfunctioned, but we'll have them out in a jiffy."

"Good," Howlback replied, tail flicking.

The Decepticon femme paced, optics staring at the pod. "We cannot risk this prisoner's successful escape."

.:Optimus:. Prowl said.

.:I heard:. Optimus replied. .:Autobots. Move in!:.

Prowl leapt from his hiding place at the same time as his fellow Autobots. Ironhide's cannons immediately took out two of the Vehicons before their enemies even had a chance to reacted to the suddenly appearing Autobots.

"Autobots!" Howlback cried, barely heard over the black mech's war cry.

Chromia took out two more as Prowl made short work of two of his own. Optimus was slicing through three with the Star Saber who had come around to prevent him from advancing on the Decepticon feline.

"Howlback," Optimus said, pointing the blade at her. "Leave. Now. And you may live."

Howlback hissed as the final Vehicons fell to the Autobots surrounding her. It had been an unfair fight, really. Vehicons against a handful of the fiercest of Autobots? They hadn't stood a chance.

"This isn't over, Prime," Howlback hissed, flexing her claws.

Optimus narrowed his optics.

Howlback glanced around her, then pounced to the side, aiming at a gap between them. Prowl shifted to intercept, but Optimus held a hand up to stop him.

After she was gone, they waited for a beat, sensors on high alert. Then they converged on the escape pod, surrounding it. Chromia and Prowl stood guard in case more Decepticons showed up while Ironhide took up a defensive position just in case the bot inside attacked once freed.

Optimus stepped up to the partially opened hatch on the pod and wrapped his digits around the edges of the door. He gave a couple good heaves before the door came all the way off and tossed it aside and peered inside.

"Well?" Ironhide asked.

"Let Ratchet know to prepare medbay," Optimus said.

Prowl moved over to peer inside as Optimus shifted to lift the occupant from the pod. It wasn't Shadebreaker inside at all, but a mech. Wearing a Decepticon insignia that appeared to be scratched and dented upon his white chest armor.

A Decepticon he recognized from the days the war was still on Cybertron.

Deadlock.

"What is the status of your patient, Ratchet?" Prowl asked.

"Still in stasis," Ratchet replied. "Energon levels were dangerously low when you brought him in. Broken leg struts, left arm is sprained, right shoulder joint was completely dislocated, back strut had a couple fractures. Several fuel line ruptures. And a number of other smaller issues, including a malfunctioning T-cog. It's a miracle he even made it into an escape pod, if he really made it in by himself."

"Deadlock was a formidable foe to any Autobot," Prowl said, looking at the mech laying on the med slab. "If any bot could drag themselves into an escape pod with a broken back strut, I suppose it would be him."

"You said Howlback called him a prisoner?" Ratchet asked, raising an optic ridge.

Prowl nodded. "Logic stands that he must have decided to leave the Decepticons. Between that and the state of his insignia."

"And we both know how Megatron feels about deserters," Ratchet said dryly. He sighed. "It's going to be a day or two before we can ask."

"With your skill, I will expect a day," Prowl said.

Ratchet waved him off and then moved back toward his patient to get to work.

Prowl watched him for a moment before moving on. He hadn't taken a break himself since Shadebreaker's capture and he could feel all the grime that had built up in his frame. He needed a shower.

Systems rebooting…

Deadlock had expected pain when he woke up. A lot of it. So when none came, he was confused. Was he dead? Had his injuries caught up to him? Had he bled out in that escape pod? He didn't feel dead. But then, what did dead even feel like? Maybe it felt like this.

More awareness came into his systems and he realized there were things attached to him. An IV was going into his arm, or what he thought was an IV—it felt familiar enough from the times he'd been in the hospital recovering from an overdose on circuit boosters. And something else…something connected to his spark. That wasn't good. He had been close to death then.

"I see you are awake, then," a voice said.

Deadlock frowned. That voice. It was familiar. He shifted his helm, willing his optics to open, but only managed to squint them open a sliver to see a blurry form of white and red.

"Easy," the voice said, messing with something on the line going into his arm. "You took quite a beating in your escape, assuming that's what you were really doing. Save your strength. Rest. We'll talk when you have more strength."

Deadlock wanted to know where he was and why the mech sounded so familiar, but when he opened his mouth he found he had no strength to speak. And then his optics were closing again. And awareness faded once again.

The next time Deadlock came into awareness it was sharper. And louder.

"Come on, Bulk'! Let's go drive circles around those twins!" A female voice called in that strange language Deadlock had downloaded just before making landfall.

The sound of heavy pedesteps reached his audials. "I'm not sure I'll ever drive circles around them, Miko," a mech, presumably this "Bulk", replied with a good deal of humor in his tone.

The heavy pedesteps faded and Deadlock heard a door close. Then another set of pedesteps approached where he was lying and he opened his optics to see who was approaching. Then he realized why the voice from before was familiar.

It was the medic who had saved his life that time he'd overdose on circuit boosters all those years ago. Ratchet. Autobot. Chief Medical Officer. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or terrified.

"Easy," Ratchet said, making a calming motion as his frame began to shake against his will. "My name is Ratchet. I'm your medic. I have no intention of hurting you."

"I know who you are," Deadlock said weakly, flinching at the coarse sound of his voice.

"I assure you whatever horrors the Decepticons have told you are probably wrong," Ratchet said, likely having heard some of the unsavory rumors that spread amongst the Decepticon ranks about the Autobot medic.

Deadlock smirked in amusement. "You misunderstand me, Autobot," he said. "You treated me before. Before the war, Ratchet."

Ratchet looked at him with a frown. "I treated a lot of bots before the war, mech," he said.

"For an overdose on circuit boosters," Deadlock clarified.

Ratchet considered the mech for a moment longer. "I'm sure I have records, then," he said. "You'll have to forgive this old mech for not remembering every face from before the war that walked into my clinic for such cases."

Deadlock chuckled. "That's fair," he said, genuinely not offended. He coughed.

"Save your strength," Ratchet said, running a scanner over him. "I've repaired most of the damage, but it will still be a day or two before you can be up and about. And Optimus and Prowl will have some questions before you are allowed anywhere outside this medbay."

"Not gonna just put me in a cell? I thought I'd be a prisoner," Deadlock said, narrowing his optics.

Ratchet pointed to his chest, at the insignia he had tried in vain to scratch off his armor. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears to me as though you are done with the 'Cons."

Deadlock chuckled. "Yeah," he said. "I am. The Decepticons…they lost their way a long time ago. Took me too long to see it."

"Well, better late than never," Ratchet said. "Now, if you are up for it, I have some questions for the med logs."

"Fire away, doc," Deadlock said weakly, waving a hand without moving his arm. Not that he could. Despite Ratchet's words, they had cuffed him to the med slab.

"Designation?" Ratchet asked.

"Current or past?" Deadlock asked.

"Pre-war would give me the ability to look in my records for you, if you are comfortable," Ratchet said gently. "I wouldn't have anything from your Decepticon days, so if you want to leave that name in the past, you don't have to provide it."

"I'm pretty sure some of you know it," Deadlock said.

"I'm sure, too," Ratchet said and something about his tone confirmed that thought.

Deadlock sighed and told Ratchet both. Then told him he didn't want to go by either anymore.

"What do you want to go by?" Ratchet asked.

Deadlock thought about that for a long moment. "I don't know yet," he admitted.

"That's ok," Ratchet said kindly. "Take your time to think about it. Names are important parts of who you are."

Deadlock nodded in agreement.

They went over a couple more questions before Deadlock felt his systems grow more sluggish.

"We'll cover more later," Ratchet said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Rest. You need it."

"Thank you," Deadlock said before promptly falling into recharge.

The next time Deadlock woke there were more bots there to talk to him. Ratchet was there, of course, urging him to drink energon after removing the cuffs around his wrists. Around him were also a Praxian and a tall mech Deadlock knew by reputation only.

"Deadlock-"

"He doesn't want to be called that," Ratchet said for him since he was sipping the cube of energon.

"As you have said," the Praxian said, giving the medic a bland look for the interruption. "But given he has not yet given us a new name by which to call him, Deadlock is the name by which we have to refer to him. Unless he would prefer Highjacks."

"Oh Pit no," Deadlock spat between sips. "Deadlock is preferable until I make a choice."

The Praxian looked at Ratchet and the medic made a conceding motion with his hands.

"As I was saying," the Praxian said, looking back at the ex-Con. "Deadlock, I am Prowl, second-in-command of the Autobots. Allow me to welcome you formally to the Autobot base and introduce you to Optimus Prime." He motioned to the tall mech.

Deadlock looked up at the big mech, red optics widening slightly. He had not expected to meet the leader of the Autobots so quickly.

"Greetings, Deadlock," Optimus said, deep voice soothing. "It is good to see you are on the road to recovery. I hope it is swift."

"T-thank you, Prime," Deadlock said, blinking.

"I hope you do not mind if we ask you a few questions," Optimus said, holding a hand out, palm up in request. Request, not order. "If you need more rest first, however, they can wait."

Deadlock frowned, somehow sensing a heavy air about them. He had a feeling not all of the questions would be easy ones. "I will answer whatever questions you have." He said, offering his own palm out, palm up in offering. "When I made the decision to leave the Decepticons, it was with the full intention of joining the Autobots."

The three Autobots shared a look.

"Perhaps you could first expand upon your reasoning for that," Optimus said, waving a hand in front of him.

"The Decepticons lost their way a long time ago," Deadlock sighed heavily. "It took me a long time to see it. We were supposed to be freeing bots from tyranny, not…not…spreading it. I don't know exactly when it flipped from one to the other. I don't know how I didn't see it sooner. All I know is that once I did, I couldn't stop seeing it. I spent a long time just… drifting through the motions after that. Just…surviving while I processed. My spark was no longer in it and I nearly died on multiple occasions because of it."

"What made you finally make the decision to get out?" Ratchet asked gently. "Instead of just…drifting?"

"It was on Vandar," Deadlock replied, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his cube of energon in both his hands. "The squad I was with was tasked with a simple energon scouting mission. That's what I'd been told anyways. Turns out my commanding officers had noticed my commitment to the cause had….dwindled."

"Your 'partners' were meant to eliminate you," Prowl said in realization.

Deadlock shook his helm. "To test me," he said. "They had created these…devices, you see? That could change organic matter into energy we could consume. Not…not energon, nothing as efficient, but something like it enough. They…gathered the indigenous life forms…they wanted me to…to…" His frame shuddered.

"I couldn't do it," he continued. "I killed the others and blew up the facility after setting the organics free. I fled the planet then, intending to find the nearest Autobot base to seek asylum."

"But you didn't make it," Optimus said solemnly.

"I did make it," Deadlock corrected, frame shuddering at the memory. "But the Decepticons, the ship I had been serving on, they made it there first. They had predicted I would flee there. They headed me off to make a point. 'No one leaves the Decepticons and lives to tell. We'll hunt you down wherever you go and murder whoever may shelter you.'" He shuddered some more, frame shaking again.

There was a pause of silence as the mechs took a moment to mourn the loss of life they'd just learned about. Deadlock was sure they would ask for further details about what base it was so they could investigate, but for now they solemnly let him finish his story.

"I fought them, of course, but they captured me," he continued. "After a few days of enduring their torture and listening to them brag about how they were going to turn me over to the DJD when they were done with me, I was able to escape my cell. I rigged their engines to explode and got in an escape pod, in which I drifted for a while, downloading languages from any passing planet that I thought the pod might crash on until I entered this one's atmosphere. I lost consciousness at landfall."

"Where we found you," Prowl said.

"That's quite a story," Ratchet said, sounding sympathetic. "You are safe now. You can rest."

Optimus nodded. "The Decepticons will not be able to reach you within our base's shielding," he said, deep voice reassuring alongside both his own and Ratchet's words.

Deadlock sighed heavily. "Thank you," he said. "Are there any other questions before I rest some more?"

"Just one for now." Prowl said. "Do you know how one might track a cloaked Decepticon ship?"

"Depends," Deadlock said, raising an optic ridge. That was not the question he was expecting. "Which one?"

"The Nemesis," Prowl replied.

"Megatron's flagship?" Deadlock asked, surprised. He shook his helm. "Sorry, but…only those who serve aboard were ever given that information. And I was never called to serve upon Megatron's personal vessel."

Deadlock might not know these bots personally yet, but even he could read the disappointment his words gave them. He frowned at the negative energy surrounding them.

"I can provide you with any information that could be useful for locating prisoners of high value outside of that, however," he said as consolation. "I don't know how helpful it will be. It entirely depends if they ever move who you're looking for."

"Thank you, Deadlock," Optimus said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course, Prime," Deadlock said.

"We will leave you to rest now," Optimus said. "I hope your recovery is swift and you enjoy peace during your stay."

Deadlock nodded to him and then watched the two mechs leave. Then his optics turned to watch as Ratchet moved to work on other things since he did not require any immediate care himself. He tilted his helm at the heavy set of the medic's shoulders. He wondered if it had anything to do with their interest in the Decepticon flagship.

"Ratchet," he said after he finished his cube and the medic returned for the empty receptacle. "I think I know what I want to be called."

"What's that?" Ratchet asked gruffly.

"Drift." He paused. "Also, can I ask you a favor?"

"What kind of favor?"

"I wish to change my optics back to their original color."

Ratchet was silent for a moment. "I believe I can facilitate that."

"Thank you."