Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prowl did not tend to socialize. It was tedious, and not nearly as necessary as everyone around him made it out to be. Alas, when he had found his way into the common room (during historically less frequented hours) it seemed a crowd had gathered. Spike and Carly were spending their weekend aboard the Ark. Which meant the crew was going to spend their weekend being unproductive.

He sighed, wings drooping by the tiniest of fractions, and acquired his energon. The anti-social SiC found the table farthest from the commotion and sequestered himself away.

Solitude did not last long, however, when a familiar golden mini leapt into his lap. Prowl sighed again and rested a servo on Steeljaw's head. The lion yawned and settled himself. Prowl resisted the urge to sigh again. At least he didn't bite this time. He resigned himself to listening to the common room chatter.

"Wow. Marriages between humans aren't as... Um" Spike was talking about... Something.

"Much?" Carly offered. "I mean, we don't have sparks, and even our equivalent doesn't work like yours." Were they talking about conjunxes?

"To be fair, most of us don't know how it works. I mean- Ironhide, but he hasn't shared." One of the twins. Prowl could also hear the weapons specialist huff.

"The conjunx ritus could be completed by humans, I'm sure. Certain aspects are certainly more Cybertronian in nature, but substitutes could be put in place." Prowl spoke up. Quite frankly, he shouldn't be saying anything, given how his completion of the ritus was incredibly unconventional. His conjunx would probably disagree, but he wasn't here, so Prowl could say as he pleased. There was a pause as the words, and who spoke them, lingered in the air.

Carly spat out her drink.

"You have a conjunx?!?" Prowl wasn't completely certain how Carly had gotten that from his statement. Some level of human observation he likely would only understand if it were explained to him, Prowl was sure. Either way, the information had her completely stunned. Which- Was not the reaction Prowl had been expecting. And the human wasn't the only incredulous one in the room. Both of the twins, Ironhide, Mirage, and Streetwise were staring. Red Alert was likely gawking through the security cameras as well. Assuming he hadn't figured it out sooner.

"I- Yes. I have never tried to hide it, though I don't advertise it."

"Hold on. Your conjunx is alive?" Ironhide asked. A fair, if possibly insensitive question.

"He is. Unless he has died in the few hours since the last I saw him." There was a long moment of silence.

"I have to know how that happened!" Sideswipe chirped. Prowl sighed.

"I do not need to disclose that."

"I can!" Leaning on the door to the common room was a very smarmy looking Jazz. Prowl bristled.

"You will not!" Jazz opened his traitorous mouth anyway.

Chapter Text

Cybertron was still functioning and war raged across her surface. Two Autobots had gotten separated from the rest of their group. Prowl was sporting an injured left shoulder, and his companion was limping, though the point of injury wasn't immediately obvious. A trail of energon droplets followed the pair into the seeming wasteland.

"While I don't think it will improve our situation, it is important to stay informed." Prowl started, unprompted. "We may very well have wandered into Decepticon territory." The other Autobot hissed as he took a step.

"Y'know, most bots would start a conversation with 'hello.'" Prowl glared 

"Hello." He said, just to try and get this over with quicker.

"Hey yourself." The other bot chirped, far too giddy than the situation called for. "Now, what were you saying?"

"If you were listening, this would be a non-issue. But, we have wandered into Decepticon territory."

"Can we wander out of enemy territory?" The other bot huffed.

"If we're smart about it." And they carried on in silence. Some distance, the bot spoke up.

"Could we frag up some Decepticon bases?" Prowl paused in his walking, probably running through the numbers in his head.

"It is likely one or both of us will be fatally injured in the process."

"What do our odds look like right now, Prowler?"

"...Near equally abysmal." The bot, unreasonably chipper, grabbed Prowl's good arm and hobbled along a little faster.

"Hell yeah!" Prowl had to steady the idiot before he fell flat on his face.

And thus, the two lost Autobots were running towards danger and/or certain death.

For about five kliks. They were still injured after all.

Prowl could confidently say that he hadn't collapsed first. But he had collapsed. Their spilled energon was still leading straight to them.

"We can't stay here." Prowl said. The lump next to him groaned. "I am serious. Staying here is a death sentence." The lump groaned again.

They stayed.

At some point, the sun had set and the twin moons had risen. Their absence must have been notice by this time.

It was an absolute miracle that a patrol hadn't stumbled upon them. Or perhaps they had been spotted, but so closely resembled corpses that they went ignored. The pool of energon underneath them, and the dark of night masking their colors certainly gave credence to that possibility. (Or perhaps they were so far behind Decepticon lines that the thought of any Autobot being here was nigh impossible.)

Prowl sighed. His companion had fallen into the trap of recharge, leaving him as the sole lookout. They needed rest, if they wanted to survive this. He listened to the other's soft vents, listening for any signs of pain or discomfort. There was none. Maybe the occasional snort or fidgeting here and there. Dreaming. But what could one be dreaming about at a time like this?

Prowl did not know when recharge claimed him. He only knew that he woke to a servo nudging his shoulder. His optics onlined, blinking blearily at the bot in front of him.

"Oh good! You're up. We should start moving before the sun rises, doncha think?"

"You fell into recharge first."

"Good point, good point. Anyway, ya feelin' any better?" Prowl huffed and pushed himself off the ground. There was less pain than last cycle.

"Better enough. Yourself?" The other bot got to his pedes.

"I think so. We movin'?" Prowl finished pulling himself up and nodded.

Continuing on, there was no longer a fresh trail of energon giving away their position. It was a small comfort in the face of what they had ahead of them.

Chapter Text

"Your comms still out?" Prowl's talkative companion asked, clearly trying to prevent any silence from settling between them.

"Yes."

"... Did you check?" He asked. Prowl glared.

"I haven't repaired them since last I checked." Large blue optics looked down at Prowl. They stood like that for a moment before Prowl clicked on his comms, flinching when it spat static directly in his audial. "Happy?" He growled.

"Yeah." And they continued on.

It wasn't long before there was notably more noise than previously. Engines, alarm-type blaring, general mechanical sounds. They were getting close to something. Prowl grabbed his partner's arm, pulling them behind him. Said partner laughed.

"I don't think that-" Prowl shushed him.

"Do you hear that?" The other Autobot tilted their helm and listened.

"You think we're close to something big."

"We are close to something big. Keep quiet." Prowl scanned the area for any possible cover, especially for once they got closer. Any idle chatter was stopped in favor of stealth. Prowl stepped lighter, as did his companion, who was taking far softer steps than Prowl had originally thought possible.

What they had stumbled across was a massive Decepticon base. The Autobot pair had resorted to hiding in discarded bits of old equipment and rubble. Most likely from the energon mining operation the pair found themselves directly next to.

"Woah. They've probably gotten enough fuel outta that to keep themselves running for-" The other Autobot stopped abruptly.

"If we continued with my plan, none of us would have made it out." Prowl stated. "They would have outlasted us tenfold." A heavy silence fell between them.

"Maybe it's a good thing we got lost?" His companion offered.

"You would be correct. The rest of our team will return to our current base and wait for our return or communications. At the very least, they won't act on the original plan without me there."

"What if they go lookin' for us?" Prowl didn't respond. "Okayyy then. What's our plan"

"Blowing up the mines leaves us with a higher chance of getting out of this alive, but is less likely to do any lasting damage. If we were to infiltrate the base, we have the potential to do much more, though it lowers our survival rate."

"Can we do both?" Prowl just stared. "I mean, we could make a big enough commotion that the Cons won't be able to focus on us at all!" He ran the numbers.

"I do hope all your affairs have been sorted." The other Autobot shrugged.

"You worry about yours, I worry about mine." Prowl had several detailed lists plotting out exactly what should occur and when in the case of his death. He highly doubted anything of the sort was worked out with his companion.

"We will infiltrate the base. If we can, we blow up the mines on our way out."

"I knew I liked ya for a reason, Prowler!" Prowl raised an optic ridge as his partner slapped a servo over their mouth. "I mean- Like-"

"I am aware of what you meant." A surprising sentiment, still. Considering that most bots tended to avoid Prowl, who was constantly busy, quiet, and seemingly always working. The other Autobots tended to gravitate more to their lively brethren, those who could offer cheer and comfort. The fact that anyone held even this platonic fondness for him was a miracle. But he wouldn't linger on it at all. But... Perhaps a friend wasn't so bad. Not that he hadn't had friends before, but attachments in war were never ideal. Especially not in their situation.

"So... Uh, how do we get in there?" Prowl cocked his head.

"Simple. We sneak in. While the base itself seems heavily guarded, the mines and any product from them are much less so."

"You want us to hide in a minecart?"

"More or less. Unless your self-repair has brought you back to complete functionality?" Prowl's companion shook his helm. "I thought so. It seems the mines are as empty as they'll get." Prowl started forward. His fellow Autobot fell into silent step behind him.

Stealth seemed less needed, somehow, as they ventured deeper into the mines. There was less light, and the sounds of drilling masked any noise they were making. The ideal circumstances, especially since neither of them had a particularly easy time trying to fit into a minecart.

Finding it had been easy. There had been one, less than half-way filled, barely a few kliks in. Splitting up was an option, of course, but not a safe one. Which left two, fully grown Cybertronians trying to fit in a rather small cart, along with whatever energon was already there. Prowl was easy enough, allowing his companion to pile energon atop him. But it was the other Autobot that caused such a problem.

There was the telltale ker-chunk of a failed transformation, and Prowl risked peeking his helm out of the cart. A few bits of energon fell, but nothing that would look suspicious.

"Oh. Uh, t-cog's busted it seems." The other said sheepishly.

"I can hear that. Can you not fit as you are now?"

"Well- If I could even partially transform, I'm sure it would give us more room-"

"We are going to be in a cart with limited mobility as is. We cannot handicap ourselves in such a way."

"Oh. Right." And thus started the attempt to get them both to fit in the cart without any issue. It was uncomfortable, with Prowl's wings almost painfully flat against him, and the other Autobot bent at an angle that could not possibly be comfortable, but they did it.

And now, all they had to do was wait.

Crunch

"Are you serious."

"What?" Came the muffled response. "I'm hungry! It'd do us good to refuel!"

"This is raw energon. Also, your chewing happens to be the opposite of quiet." The only response was another crunch. "Stop it!" Prowl hissed. There was a moment of silence, where Prowl swore he could hear the other preparing to bite the damn thing again when- The cart jolted. They both fell completely silent.

It was a rickety ride, and based on the conversation that could be heard, the cart was currently being pushed by a few Decepticons. Prowl was fairly certain that he had seen an automated rig closer to the base, and could only hope that this cart would end up on it. And that it would make for a smoother ride.

Luckily, it wasn't long before the cart was attached to whatever system the Decepticons had set up, leaving the pair alone. They waited. And waited. And waited. Until Prowl felt fairly certain that they could safely emerge.

He was just about to tell his companion when the cart was suddenly turned on it side, flinging the two out, and into an energon storage container of some sort. Prowl looked back at where they came from the second he oriented himself, and saw the cart right-side up, going along its merry way.

"I wonder if we could bring any of this with us. Even the small stuff. Like mini-explosives!"

"And here I was thinking that Wheeljack was back at the main base." Prowl huffed. He heard the other gasp, but didn't turn to look.

"Was that humor? Prowl, I don't think I've heard so much as a slightly referenced pun outta you!"

"I do have the capacity for such. As it is, I don't care to." Prowl managed to find steady footing on the energon, walking over to help his companion up. It was a bit of a struggle, but soon both of them were standing on top of the energon.

"So, where to next?" Prowl looked back up at the conveyor belt that had brought them in.

"Can you climb?" He received a nod. "Good. We must scale back to where the cart got overturned. We can follow the belt from there."

"Hope you don't mind me asking, but can you climb that, Prowler?"

"I am not so injured to where I couldn't."

"Right. Well, tell me if you need help."

He didn't. Prowl's arm was more strained that it would have been had he conceded and asked for assistance, but it wasn't enough of a strain to have bothered in the first place. They were both injured, there was no need for one of them to take on any more for the other. If they weren't both in the best condition they could be, they weren't going to make it out.

At least they could rest for a moment on the conveyor belt. The two sat, Prowl keeping an optic out for areas where they might be seen (unlikely, considering how most of the path seemed to be enclosed with little to no glass,) and his partner stretched out. It made sense, considering how cramped the cart had been.

Crunch

"Why are you like this." The other Autobot snickered in response, but did not stop snacking.

At long last, the conveyor belt seemed to branch off into some other mechanism. Numerous carts were sorted through, in neat rows, ready to be used again. It was a truly massive mining operation. There was no telling how long the Cons had been here, how much they had mined.

Prowl stood up, his partner copying the gesture. The moment they left this automated safe haven, they would need to keep complete silence. Prowl sighed, walking towards what seemed to be an exit. He ensured his companion was still with him when he took the other's servo in his. They could not risk getting split up.

His companion twisted their digits just slightly, making it more comfortable to interlock them, rather than what Prowl had had them at before. It would make it harder for them to get pulled apart, especially in a case where they might have to run.

Prowl was about to open the door, to seal their fates to this near-suicide mission, when he noticed that the door was reflected more blue light than it should have. The glow from their optics was expected, but- He turned back and saw his companion completely blue in the face. Now was not the time for either of them to be falling ill.

"Are you okay?" He asked, very concerned. If the other truly was sick, their chances for survival could drop even lower than the already abysmal number they were currently at.

"Y-yeah!" He squeaked out, his servo tightening around Prowl's. "Don't worry about me!" Prowl hummed, considering.

"Inform me if you are too unwell to continue. Our survival is low enough as is." Prowl got a nod in return. He chose to drop the subject for now, hoping that his partner understood the importance of this.

And with that, he opened the door, leading them further into the base.

Chapter Text

"Honestly, I probably should have mentioned just how squished up they were in that cart." Jazz said. "All close like. Cuddling, even. Gazin' into each other's optics. Real romance novel stuff." Prowl glared.

"I would prefer you tell it as it was."

"I mean, you could always tell it." Prowl was not in the mood to spill this story to anyone, much less his subordinates.

"I'd rather no one have said anything." Jazz pouted.

"Sucha shame. Anyway, where was I?" The menace tapped a digit to his chin a couple times. "Right! Prowler and his not-yet-conjunx were goin' into the base. In the halls, they came face to face with the fragger that put them in this whole situation. Or, well, nearly. Ya see, Prowl managed to slip the two of them into a closet just before they could be seen. Y'all know closets. Dark, small. Verrrry little space. If you thought the cart was bad, this was soooo much worse. They were close enough to feel the air from each other's vents, frames-"

"That is absolutely not what happened." Prowl growled at Jazz. The third in command, smug bastard that he was, shrugged.

"I beg to differ, Prowler." Prowl would have stood up to confront the cocky bot, but there was still a mini-con in his lap. So he settled for glaring daggers at the idiot telling his story to an audience. "If you want this to be right, you can always tell it." There had to be some way to get Jazz kicked out of the Ark. "Naw, but Prowler's right. The closet never happened." Sunstreaker scoffed.

"But the cart did?"

"Unfortunately." Prowl answered, sipping his energon. Because he wasn't a heathen who ate raw energon when given half a chance. Sideswipe burst out laughing.

"Ha! That's gotta be the most fanfiction thing ever! How did we not know about this!" Prowl leveled the ruby frontliner with a flat look.

"I do not see anyone else regularly sharing their life story with anyone."

"I can think of one person." Jazz said teasingly. Prowl knew damn well who he was talking about and knew damn well that he couldn't say a thing.

"I sincerely hope, for your sake, that your audience sticks around." Prowl ground out.

"Why's that Prowler?" There was a soft click that threatened a weapon transformation. "You wouldn't." Jazz chastised.

"Don't test me." He wouldn't. Of course. But it was tempting. "I suggest sticking to the truth."

"Fine, fine. You're no fun."

Chapter Text

There was no one beyond the door, though they could hear talking and movement some ways away. It allowed the pair to slink through the halls, searching for anywhere that looked important.

It was terrifying, going through those halls, knowing that one wrong move would get them both killed. It was an absolute miracle that they made it anywhere, much less anywhere important.

"Woah." The Autobot at Prowl's side breathed out. Prowl didn't express such awe himself, but he nearly did, looking at the massive central console. Such an important piece of tech should not have been unguarded, but perhaps they really were so deep in Decepticon territory that it'd be impossible for an Autobot to survive getting this far.

"I'm going to crash this." Prowl walked up to the nearest keyboard.

"What?! Prowl, shouldn't we try to get Con secrets, or plans, other base locations-"

"We should. But unless we had a guaranteed way to make it back, any information we gather would be for naught."

"Would downloading take too much time?" Prowl nodded wordlessly, digits dancing across the keyboard, making his way in, taking note of what he could. Most of it pertained to the mine and its automatic systems. The immense amount of energon being mined and refined. Prowl tried not to think too much about those numbers. At the very least, it would prove to be a large amount of fuel for an explosion.

His partner stood off to the side, rolling back and forth on his pedes, optics on the door.

There was so much that could be done with the knowledge inside this computer, but Prowl had already said exactly why they couldn't linger. It was useless if this information died with them. But it was oh so tempting to browse, looking for anything that could get the Autobots an upper hand in this war. Even a single mine they could raid. It could change everything.

What would likely make more of an immediate difference, though, was taking out this computer, and hopefully everything it was connected too. Slowing, or even halting, Decepticon efforts for a sizeable period of time. So Prowl stayed on task, making his way through the system, crashing anything on the side that he could. Until-

"I've got it. Is the hall clear?" Prowl sent his companion to check, receiving a thumbs up. "While I am unsure if there will be any immediate repercussions, I suggest you are ready to run."

"Just tell me when!" Prowl clicked through the last few walls and-

"Now." The two Autobots darted out of the room, still somewhat mindful of how much noise they were making, but with the alarm that started blaring the second Prowl executed the kill command, it didn't make any difference.

They traced their steps all the way back to the door leading to the cart sorting area, once again going unseen, but that was likely due to the chaos they had just caused.

Both were venting heavily, able to hear themselves in the room, as it was no longer whirring with machinery.

"We followed?" Prowl's companion asked. The Praxian stepped away from the door, listening to the rushed heavy pedesteps pass them by. He shook his helm. "How?"

"Luck." Prowl responded, leaning against one of the many carts. "Pure chance."

"Do we have time to stop?" Prowl stared at the other Autobot like they were an idiot. "A short rest! Just so we're not tuckered out trying to leave this place?" Prowl sighed.

"I suppose we have a moment." For someone so hesitant to stay put, Prowl was incredibly quick to collapse to the floor. The other Autobot flopped down next to him.

"Hey, Prowler"

"Yes?"

"I got you something~" A stray thought passed Prowl's mind unwillingly. Something about profference. He ignored it.

"Your mood is not fitting for the situation we've been in." Prowl stated rather than acknowledging the "gift."

"It'd do us no good to be sour like you. I'm just keeping our spirits up!" Prowl turned to the far too cheery Autobot. "Anyway, any chance you might want this?" He held up a small datastick. And Prowl was suddenly reminded that his company was incredibly good at getting and storing information, getting it where it needed to go. And he had deemed that these Decepticon secrets, for it had to have been the information stored in the console, needed to get to Prowl.

Prowl gingerly took the datastick and tucked it away.

"Thank you." His voice was neutral, or- as close as he could get to it.

Prowl ran the numbers for their survival again. Still abysmal but- This information, the fact that the other had risked getting it at all. They were going to make it back home.

Chapter Text

Their rest in the cart-sorting chamber was brief, it had to be. At the very least, it had made Prowl far more determined to get them both out alive, despite the calculations telling him how unlikely that was.

The two Autobots wound up retracing their steps, walking back through the conveyor belt, passing the energon stores, and out into where the belt started. It was unsurprisingly devoid of anyone to spot them. Everyone was likely scrambling to get the bases systems back online.

"Blowing up the mines time?" Prowl rolled his optics at the other Autobot's words.

"Yes." He said, as they made their way into the mines, where they had been not all that long ago at all. Despite all the excitement, most of the cycle's adventure had not taken that much time at all. The sun was barely hanging in the middle of the sky, not yet having started its journey back down.

Prowl slipped into the mine first, followed then by his companion, trudging deeper than they had previously. There were still the sounds of mining, albeit a lot less. It made sense, seeing how there was no longer a way to get the crystals into the base.

Each step had Prowl considering. They were likely to get caught in the blast as well, were they not?

"Hey! It looks like this mine actually goes through! We could probably go out over there!" Prowl ignored his partner's words- Well. No. He was listening, but barely. The information was filed away, but he did not respond.

Prowl had everything set perfectly if anything happened to him. The Autobots did not overly rely on him, and someone would surely take his place if he were to perish in the blast. Yes, he wanted to make it home, but the odds were still stacked against them. Or- Prowl ran the numbers again. They were against him. It was a guaranteed way of getting his partner to safety. Prowl was loathe to admit it, but the other Autobot had wormed his way into Prowl's good graces, a friend. Prowl did not have many. Perhaps a few other higher ranking Autobots saw him as an acquaintance and tolerated his presence, but in the short time they had spent apart from the others, he had gotten closer to this one. Because he actually sought to include Prowl. Jokes and affection and- And Prowl realized that perhaps he liked the other bot as well.

That settled it.

"Could you scout the other exit?" Prowl requested.

"Sure!" He listened as the other Autobot walked away. Prowl sighed. He gave himself only a moment before finding a stray energon crystal. It was glowing blue and had a strange divot in it. Perfect for Prowl's purposes.

A moment later saw him trailing after his companion.

"Need somethin' Prowler?"

"Ah- Yes." Prowl handed over the crystal. He tried not to think about the amused look he was given in response. "Try to eat it quietly. Or not at all." The other snorted.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll do my best."

Something Prowl would never identify as nervousness bubbled up in his spark. His partner was standing just outside an open defense gate. They were rare on mines, taking time and resources to build, but the largest mines tended to have them. No need for a wild creature to wander in when no one was looking and accidentally blow the whole thing up, as unlikely as that was. (Unlikely, Prowl thinks, even though the Autobots had lost at least one significant mine that way. All it takes is one spark in the wrong place...)

The control for the gate was right there, jutting out from the rock it was installed on, cables leading up to the gate's opening and closing mechanism. A simple button. Not even a need for a code. Prowl reached out and-

The gate slammed shut between them. The other Autobot jumped and spun around.

"Uh, Prowler? Did you do that?" So worried and concerned for him. Prowl vented softly.

"I did."

"Ya mind undoing it?" The other bot took a step closer to the bars. Prowl took a step back.

"I do mind." There was a tense moment as the other Autobot struggled to find a response.

"Why?"

"There is no need for both of us to put ourselves at risk blowing up the mine." Prowl stated bluntly. He saw how his companion shifted, almost like he planned on attacking the bars between them.

"Open the gate, Prowl." He growled, stepping closer on his bad leg. The Autobot stumbled, but caught himself on the bars.

"I will not." Prowl swallowed thickly. "I expect you to get back to the Autobot base with the information we have obtained."

"I- I gave that to you! I don't-" Outside the bars, the Autobot looked at the crystal Prowl had handed him earlier. Prowl felt the flash of shock and fear from his EM field. "No- no! Prowl!"

"The Autobots are far more prepared to lose me than they are to lose you." True in more ways than one. Prowl had plenty of datapads full of what the Autobots had to do if he died. He wasn't special, either. He wasn't a morale booster, he wasn't the one who could make anyone crack a smile.

"No! They're not! Please-"

"There are still people who need you."

"Prowl, please." Prowl's spark ached, hearing him beg like that. But it didn't matter. Prowl would make sure that voice would live on, would make it back to the Autobots even if he himself couldn't. He walked deeper into the mine, processor set on lighting it ablaze.

"PROWL!"

Chapter Text

Prowl's helm hurt and his audials rang. His doorwings were giving him scrambled signals. He knew why, he hadn't hit his helm hard enough to forget. The world around him was blazing and bright and uncomfortably warm.

But the mine was completely destroyed. Good. At least his death wouldn't be for nothing. Prowl offlined his optics, just laying in the dark.

"Prowl! You stupid idiot!" Prowl allowed his optics to flicker back on at that. He knew that voice. That voice was supposed to take advantage of the situation and get as far away from here as he could managed. He didn't listen, clearly. "Prowl! Answer me! Please!" Oh, oh Prowl never wanted to hear him beg like that again. Static spat from his vocalizer. He could hear pedesteps approaching. "Prowl." Gentle servos pulled him into a seated position. "There ya are." Prowl was vaguely aware that their helms had been clinked together. "You are so, very, incredibly stupid."

"I am... not the only... one." Prowl responded slowly. The other bot huffed.

"I-I beg to differ." Prowl allowed the other to pull him into a hug. And while doing so, they slipped the crystal, datastick and all, into one of his servos. Prowl attempted to pull back enough to give him an unamused glare, but failed. So Prowl settled for giving his unimpressed look to the collapsed mine in front of him. "You can give it to Optimus yourself."

"You should have... left." Prowl could feel the strain on his vocalizer with every word.

"I would never leave you, Prowl. Never."

"You... .." Prowl could feel his consciousness slipping away. "Wwwhy?" He couldn't say everything he wanted to. His mind was too fuzzy, and his frame too weak. He couldn't even keep his optics online, being plunged back into the dark. But he was aware enough to hear the next words, whispered like if it was any louder, it would break. Like the most fragile crystals Prowl had seen, a million glittering, broken pieces. And Prowl knows he likely wasn't meant to hear it. No, these words could not have possibly been meant for his audials. They quite possibly weren't even for him. (That was a lie, Prowl knew it. There was no one else they could be talking to.)

"Because I love you. I always have, and I always will..." And that was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.

Prowl onlined feeling significantly better than he last remembered. And in somewhere far more familiar than a Decepticon base. And with a familiar and terrifying voice cursing the slag out of someone.

"-And if you dare try to come into this medbay for a prank again. Sideswipe, I swear to Primus I'm going to be the one to offline you. And you!" Prowl propped himself up, looking at Ratchet, who was brandishing a wrench at a cherry-colored menace and his canary counterpart. "Keep him out or it's your paint on the line!" Sunstreaker scoffed, but dragged his twin away. Sideswipe cheerfully taunted Ratchet, and unsurprisingly, got a wrench to his helm for his efforts. Prowl sank back down into the berth.

"I see you're up." Prowl blearily looked up at Ratchet. "I heard about the stunt you pulled."

"It was-"

"Ep ep ep, I don't want to hear any excuses. But I'm not going to be the one lecturing you. I'll save that, for him." Ratchet motioned towards the medberth next to Prowl's, where Prowl's partner, the one who must have gotten them both out of there alive, laid. He looked in a far better condition than Prowl, which made sense, given that it was Prowl who went through an explosion, and not the bot lying on the berth before him.

"Is he-"

"He's resting. Both of you took on extensive injuries, and he had damage to his tanks. I can't imagine what caused that." Ratchet stated, as though he knew exactly what caused that.

"Raw energon?" Prowl offered.

"It was obvious. But with both your fuel levels so low, it was marginally better than running on fumes." Prowl stayed silent for a moment, debating on what to say. He wanted to know how they had gotten out of there, how the Autobots had found them. Prowl had obviously been no help in that regard. He- The datastick!

"Ratchet, the- there was a datastick. I gave it to-"

"Yes, I know. He got it to Prime." Prowl sighed in relief. "You keep resting. I have other patients to attend to." He gave a slight nod and watched as Ratchet left to some other corner of the medbay.

Prowl stared at the battered body of his companion. Scratches covered his chassis, silver lines sticking out on his colorful plating. He looked... peaceful, while resting. Prowl didn't know how he didn't notice earlier. Their optics were closed, their frame held no tension and- Prowl shut his own optics. He vented softly. They were both okay. It was over.

And yet, Prowl couldn't stop thinking about those words. He was never meant to hear them. But he did. What did he do with that? That wasn't a platonic admission of admiration, no. It was a romantic confession. Prowl didn't know what to do with that in the slightest. No one even liked Prowl. And yet here he was.

"Prowl?" Oh. He was awake. Prowl onlined his optics and looked at the bot in the berth next to him. "Hey, buddy." Oh, his voice was so soft.

"Hey yourself." Prowl managed to say, and got the softest smile in return. "Are you doing okay?"

"I should be asking you that. You're the one who went and blew himself up."

"I- It was for-" The other Autobot waved a servo in dismissal.

"I know, I know. I'm absolutely still mad at ya, but... You were tryin' to protect me." His face flushed a light blue. "I can take care of myself, by the way."

"Yes. That is why you ran back into an unstable mine and, I presume, dragged me out." Prowl leveled. His companion huffed.

"I wasn't gonna leave you there!" The two fell into silence. Prowl wanted to say something in response, but he got the feeling that if he said what he intended to, the other Autobot was either going to get upset, scold him, or tell Ratchet. None of which Prowl was particularly interested in letting happen.

"Look. I- uh..." The other bot started to talk again, lacking his usual confidence. "This might be an inappropriate time to ask, but, would you like to go out on a date?" There was lengthy pause. "You know, it's just- With everything we've been through. I thought... Um... Sorry for asking."

"It's fine."

"Oh. That's a no then, right?" Prowl tensed.

"Did I say that?"

"Wait- wait- You'll go on a date with me?!"

"Yes."