Work Text:
Something was wrong something was very wrong where was he what had he been doing why were the walls purple this was wro-
A shape moved behind him, at the far edge of his sensors, and Longarm Prime's voice reached his audio receptors. Longarm Prime meant competency and reliable information.
"Blurr? Is something wrong?"
"Yes??? First of all where are we, because this doesn't look like an Autobot room at all! Also I find myself unable to reach my memory files of the last few solar cycles, this is an extremely worrying breach of security given the sensitivity of the data I handle routinely, and I must ask that my processor be examined by a medic without delay as this could have far-reaching consequences on current and future operations. In addition, I must note that our relationship is strictly professional and as such I do not understand why you just referred to me with only my name instead of my full rank!"
Longarm Prime entered his field of vision fully, but he looked uneasy, but he didn't make sense for Longarm Prime, who always knew everything there was to know about any situation, to have that look on his faceplates. Not that his faceplates usually showed much movement, but there were little tics and twitches that Blurr had learned to decipher a long time ago.
He tried to move to salute his superior, but the restraints on his limbs were stronger than he could snap, and he couldn't locate any lock to pick. But Longarm Prime was here, he could help Blurr find a way out of this room once he'd got out him of this- medical bed?
"Agent Blurr, it's alright," Longarm Prime said cautiously as he sat next to Blurr's bed. "That hit on your helm was quite violent, some confusion is to be expected."
"I don't remember hitting my helm, you know I am always extremely prudent considering the speeds at which I usually operate. Please tell me what the situation is, am I under arrest for something, are we prisoners somewhere, what is going on?"
Longarm Prime put his hand at the back of Blurr's helm, where he couldn't see anything but felt too much, too acutely, and the touch was light and soft but Longarm Prime had never showed any interest in Blurr, had he? What was in his missing memories, what was happening, why was Longarm Prime acting like this?
"You are not under arrest, Agent Blurr, this is for your own safety. You understand that precautions have to be taken in your- in our case."
"I don't understand what you are talking about sir, what is this cas- Ouch!"
"Sorry," Longarm Prime said, but he didn't sound like he was apologizing at all, and he didn't remove his hand from where it was stabbing Blurr's helm. "This procedure can't be done while you're unconscious, how would we know it's successful otherwise?"
"What- What- What are you- What- What are you talking about!!"
His speech was coming out all wrong, his thoughts were halting halfway, why were there hands inside his helm, what was Longarm Prime doing???
"Ssh," Longarm Prime said as something wriggled against Blurr's processor. "The situation is under control, believe me."
Believing Longarm Prime was easy, but believing whoever was pretending to be Longarm Prime was-
"Blurr?" Longarm asked. "Are you alright?"
The touch against his helm was familiar in all the best ways, Longarm was always gentle when he touched Blurr's sensitive helm.
"Yes, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" The restraints binding him to a medical bed were unusual, but surely Longarm knew what had happened to justify such a position. "What happened? I don't remember how I ended up here, is something wrong?"
"No, Blurr, nothing is wrong," Longarm said softly. "Can you look at your memory files of the last few solar cycles?"
Of course, this was an easy task, there must be something there that explained why he was strapped to a bed and why the room didn't have any of the usual colors of an Autobot medical center, there must simply be something that prevented those memories from showing themselves naturally-
Longarm was smiling. Longarm was holding his hand. Longarm was promising that everything would be alright and past Blurr didn't know what he was talking about. Longarm was transforming but not into his usual vehicle mode, his shape was shifting into someone else-
No, no no no no no n-
"Blurr?" a lanky single-opticed shape asked.
"I will not say anything, you filthy Decepticon! I am fully capable of erasing my processor to prevent you from obtaining information on the Autob-!"
"I know," Shockwave said, and a claw stabbed the back of Blurr's helm.
"Agent Blurr?" Longarm asked carefully. "You're in a safe place, there is no need to panic."
A quick look around showed no other Autobot, and no hidden camera in the usual spots. But why was Longarm talking to him like that if there were no witnesses? And why were there medical restraints next to Blurr's bed?
"Why would I need to panic? Although I must admit that do not remember how I came to be here, wherever this is. Is something wrong with the usual Intelligence infirmary? Also, we seem to be alone in this room, is that assessment true?"
"Yes, it is," Longarm confirmed. "I wasn't sure how much you would recall, considering the shock on your helm."
"I recall enough to know that you haven't called me by my rank in private in hundreds of stellar cycles," Blurr took his hand. "What happened to my helm? Why is this not the usual infirmary? There seems to be a lapse in my files, what memories am I missing?"
"Don't you remember?" Longarm asked as he gently squeezed Blurr's hand back. "There were two Decepticon spies sent to infiltrate the Autobots." That was unexpected, had new information arrived during the time Blurr was missing? Was that why Longarm was even more careful than usual in his words? "The second one was you."
Blurr let go of Longarm's hand in shock. "No, no, impossible, this must be a mistake I am not a Decepticon! I cannot be a Decepticon, I have always been a loyal Autobot, surely you of all bots know that. Longarm, you have to believe me, I would never betray the Autobots!"
"I believe that you do not remember that," Longarm said, inexplicably gently for the situation. And then Longarm's hand shifted, drawing Blurr's attention to the slow morphing of his large blunt fingers into long sharp claws.
Somewhere in Blurr's processor, something clicked into place in a memory file, and something else broke.
"Blurr? Are you awake?" Longarm asked.
His fake optics showed care and his real optic showed careful calculation.
"Of course I am," Blurr scoffed, and he sat up on the bed. Longarm's hand came to hold his helm when the movement proved too much for his dizzy frame. "If I may ask, is this an Autobot facility? I do not recognize this room. I also don't remember any issue with my functioning, what happened to my frame to necessitate this kind of setup?"
"Nothing bad, I assure you," Longarm said. "And this isn't Autobot territory. We've come home."
"Finally," Blurr found himself saying. "Not a moment too soon if you ask me, I'm not sure I could have stood these Autobots much longer. But then why are you still in disguise?"
Longarm smiled for the last time, and he shifted the way Blurr so fondly remembered, until at last it was Shockwave holding him and softly brushing his side.
"Only an habit I'll have to shake off, Blurr, nothing more," he said, his smile unseen on the featureless face and heard in his voice.
"I suppose I will have to let go of some unfortunate routines too," Blurr admitted, making a list of now-unnecessary procedures to get rid of. "And also get our true badges back as soon as we can. Did the mission go well?"
Shockwave's optic glinted in glee. "Oh, the mission went very well," he said while a claw tenderly caressed the back of Blurr's helm.