Chapter Text
The MQ-9 Reaper appeared as silently as a ghost in the blind spot of the vision, and the two laser missiles pulled out a long white trajectory, accurately intercepting the Autobots' front path and covering the Decepticons' retreat.
Amidst the roaring explosions, four Vehicons hastily accelerated the pace of carrying energy blocks towards the bright green ground bridge. Optimus Prime in pursuit looked up, his blue optics quickly locking onto the dark blue figure.
"...... Soundwave."
As if in response, Soundwave's fuselage tilted back slightly, pulling a nice elevation angle to avoid the Autobots' laser cannons before crackling with dozens of strafing shots in Optimus Prime's direction.
Soundwave hadn't wanted to get involved in this fight. If the Autobots hadn't suddenly attacked one of the Decepticons' most important energy deposits, if Starscream hadn't been nowhere to be found again (something Soundwave had grown accustomed to), and if Shockwave hadn't locked the doors to the lab (and stayed out of the world entirely), he could have been comfortably ensconced in the hatch with Laserbeak. He was more than happy to squander his time in the hatch than in the hustle and bustle of the battlefield, gunning it down with the enemy.
Today was one of his rare days off, and considering that Soundwave was basically on Nemesis all day, every day of the year, this short holiday seemed precious.
The hectic pace of work made recharging his batteries a luxury, and at Knock Out's insistent request, along with the fact that he was indeed feeling tired, Soundwave had finally decided to give himself a break to deal with the overflowing charges and fragmented data that had been piling up for so long. When he received the emergency call for help, Soundwave was manually setting up the automatic mode of operation for the various programmes after he had left. The pop-up representing an attack hung on the large screen in the command centre, so small that it was missed in a slight blink of the eye.
The area of energy mine where the signal was located was nearing the end of its exploitation and was of little value to protect. What's more, the deaths of a few Vehicons were nothing at all, and didn't require the communications officer's concern just yet; the Decepticons' cause could afford to withstand that kind of hit.
If only he hadn't heard them chatting about holiday plans last week.
A Decepticon holiday just sounded boring. And it was true, there were no oil bars, dance clubs or red light districts on Earth for these young transformers with full tanks to indulge in their pleasures, and Soundwave even suspected that this batch of recruits had never been to any of the above. Their brain modules were so young that they had decided to sneak off to human internet cafes on their hard-won nights off.
Did they really know how to access human equipment? Soundwave couldn't help but pull up the database and analyse the question, skilfully closing the ground bridge out of Autobots' reach in the process.
It was a routine he'd done a billion times, and as time went on, the distance between the Autobots and the ground bridge grew shorter and shorter. Soundwave controlled the timing precisely to ensure that they could watch victory slip away from them. Shockwave had seriously asked if Soundwave had rewritten the brain module's built-in programming for efficiency purposes. The truth was that Soundwave had mastered the skill perfectly and gracefully with only his own processor.
Soundwave adjusted his flight attitude, snapped a photo of Optimus Prime on the run as a souvenir, and headed back. From high above, even the biggest heavy trucks turned into minicon. He planned to cruise for a while before returning to the Nemesis via the ground bridge. Out of an abundance of caution, he rarely opened the ground bridge in the middle of a battle. There was no guarantee that some Autobot with a rusty CPU would suddenly turn and charge right in front of Megatron! Of course, Megatron would kill the daredevil, but Soundwave would never take such a risky step, even if the potential consequences were still manageable.
The built-in timer showed he'd only been gone two Earth hours, and it looked like tonight's schedule wouldn't have to be cancelled. Soundwave opened his full schedule and added a to-do to it with difficulty. His plan was to do a guide on how to access human equipment for inclusion in their training manual. On the eve of his sabbatical, Soundwave mused about which record to put on tonight. A good choice might be a late Golden Age release, Sunset Afterglow, hoping Laserbeak didn't have a night flight schedule ......
Until a powerful ion beam hit his fuselage violently.
Sharp system errors sounded one after another, and the processor was instantly filled with all kinds of warning pop-ups. Soundwave only had time to see the reddest and largest "Main Power System Damage" at the top, before the fuselage lost its balance, and fell at almost a right angle from 10,000 metres.
There was a slight transforming sound as Soundwave rolled up his fuselage, shielding the spark pods tightly and adjusting his posture in an attempt to use his hard back as an initial impact surface. With the hull damage from the forced landing, it would be easy to lose the ability to transform, and Soundwave didn't want to be stuck in carrier form.
At the very end of his freefall, a high wall of power grid stood out.
The massive impact of the landing shook Soundwave's outer armour from its position, and the hundreds of kilovolts of direct current instantly knocked out Soundwave's defences, the body twitching and emitting a faint hum of overwhelm. Thin fingernails clawed weakly at the earth a few times before fading to nothing. His processors had been forced offline, and Soundwave only had time to eject the Laserbeak before the final moment arrived.
Optimus and his crew were far enough away that, from their vantage point, the dark blue drone looked like a bird that had been hit and dropped straight to the ground.
"Wow." Wheeljack raised an eyebrow. "Look what we caught, a big bird!"
The ever-silent Decepticon communications officer, wrapped tightly around a dozen high-voltage wires, lay motionless and still in a field of blue energy fluid and occasional flickering sparks.
"Ratchet, open the ground bridge and get the humans to safety," Optimus said, pausing, "we're bringing back a Decepticon prisoner."
"If you ask me, you should just take out his hard drive and read the data." Ratchet mumbled, the wrench clenched foolishly in his hand. Bumblebee agreed, emitting a series of sharp, screeching electronic sounds.
"As Autobots, it's not our way to abuse POWs." Optimus said.
"All right, how about we get him a chair and pour him a glass of energon fluid." Ratchet said.
There was a moment of silence. Smokescreen gestured at Soundwave on the floor and said, half in jest, "Maybe we don't have to pour it for him, he's bleeding enough for three cups on his own." A steady stream of energy liquid leaked from Soundwave's waist wound, and without anyone realising it, it was dripping all over the floor.
Ratchet looked over at Soundwave, who was crouched in the corner, and the grumbling in his transmitter temporarily changed to a question: "Why is he on the floor?"
"Oh, because he keeps bleeding energy fluid every time we touch him. We were afraid to drag him back, afraid he'd fall apart on the way." Smokescreen gave a dark, poking wink, a look that said "Tell me about him". "It was Optimus Prime who carried him back."
True to his word, Soundwave was in as bad a shape as a shotgun target, beaten to a pulp and stomped on. A large hole in the fuel tank, energy fluid splattered all over the fuselage and heated by the high-voltage electricity, fusing and melting vital cables, was the main reason Soundwave hadn't been able to get online until now. The vast majority of signal pathways were blocked, and even when the brain module came online on the pitifully small amount of energy fluid left in the head sculpture, it couldn't wake the already dormant limbs.
"All of you have worked hard. Go and take a rest. I'll discuss this with Ratchet." Through his battle mask, Optimus Prime's voice was even deeper and more muffled. Smokescreen tried to say something to Ratchet, but Bumblebee pulled him away. He noticed that Optimus Prime was unusually quiet today.
The sounds of talking and laughter could be heard in the distance as everyone left one by one. In spite of the hiccup, the atmosphere at the centre after a victory was always pleasant. The only sound left in the hall was the slight hum of equipment running. Soundwave's cracked, pitch-black visor reflected the figures of Ratchet and Optimus Prime standing opposite each other.
"All right, all right, open your damn mask." Ratchet turned his head.
With a click, the mask popped open. Optimus Prime's metal lips tightened as he performed several deep gas exchanges, still unable to quell the heaviness at the core of his being. The strange yet familiar sensation of holding Soundwave still lingered in his processors, memories of the past flooding back uncontrollably, taking over almost his entire CPU.
"Ratchet, I ......," he finally spoke with difficulty.
Ratchet waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to say any more, and knelt down to check Soundwave's injuries. It didn't feel good to have your wounds rattled, but Soundwave remained motionless, and Optimus Prime realised that Soundwave's condition was even worse than he'd thought. Judging by his thin, winged arms and skinny waist, Soundwave was a long way from the strong gladiator he had been when he first met him.
"Please ...... go easy on him." Optimus said. Even though he knew Soundwave couldn't feel it, his spark tugged involuntarily.
"Wow, core hurts." Ratchet sneered, picking at one of the bonded pipes, which drew a slight frown from Optimus. "He was the one who left you in the first place, and you've forgotten that, Orion?"
He hasn't forgotten. Of course he didn't. He wouldn't forget and he couldn't forget. He had drawn every curve of Soundwave's organism countless times, but they were sharp now. He remembered every wound in Soundwave's body. He remembered the warm nights when Soundwave had held his hand and led him, bit by bit, to feel his past:
In the second match, his leg armour had been torn off by his opponent, and to this day the protoplasm beneath it still throbbed from time to time; in return, Soundwave had torn off his leg;
In the fourth match, a high-heat energy blade impaled Soundwave's hands, leaving him rooted to the ground and unable to move until his opponent rode on top of Soundwave and attempted to remove his visor, only to have his light goggles shattered by Soundwave's head sculpture;
In the seventh match, Soundwave blocked the sharp teeth of a mechanical dinosaur with his left arm, leaving a deep dent but well worth it as the big guy was then thrown hard to the ground by him;
In the fifteenth match, his opponent was a chemical expert, and Soundwave's machine quickly became embarrassed, this victory being entirely due to his opponent's overconfidence - both machines had inhaled the same amount of acid, and it was clear that his opponent's machine was nowhere near as strong as his own;
In the thirty-second match, Soundwave leaned down to listen to his opponent's last words, only to be bitten on the audio receiver by his vindictive opponent, and was unable to return to the field for an entire match;
The fiftieth, the one hundredth and the three hundredth games ...... The twin advances in skill and power made winning increasingly easy. Fewer and fewer injuries, and a growing reputation. By the time of his encounter with Optimus Prime, Soundwave's name was in a position few would challenge.
The story always went unexpectedly, and Primus may have arranged it all long ago. They met, they fell in love, and it seemed as if it was all just a matter of a few moments. Optimus loved his composure, his calmness, the occasional tenderness that flowed from beneath his shell of silence. He always unconsciously tilted his head slightly when talking to himself, and unconsciously tuned the radio first when transforming into his carrier form. His deep, sexy gasps when he was in love, his hands gently wrapped around Optimus Prime, his twisted interface when he was overloaded. ......
It wasn't until long after Soundwave left him, in countless memory regressions, that Optimus Prime slowly tasted the meaning behind Soundwave's actions. A gentle embrace meant not only tenderness, but also the ability to pull away at any time.
"I'm sorry." Optimus said.
"Sorry for what with me? Tell me what to do instead. The energon shortage has lasted for some time now. We desperately need to gain a strategic advantage. I'm sure you have an understanding of that."
"I will question him, but not now. Soundwave is in bad condition ...... I'm afraid he is in need of medical assistance." Optimus spoke softly, taking on a tone of pleading, "Ratchet, you're the only one here who can save him."
"I'm sorry." Optimus said.
"Sorry for what with me? Tell me what to do instead. The energon shortage has lasted for some time now. We desperately need to gain a strategic advantage. I'm sure you have an understanding of that."
"I will question him, but not now. Soundwave is in bad condition ...... I'm afraid he is in need of medical assistance." Optimus spoke softly, taking on a tone of pleading, "Ratchet, you're the only one here who can save him."
"Seriously, have you ever thought of just give him a shoot? Without him, the Decepticons would be much less powerful, and we wouldn't have to run around all day.
Optimus Prime's optics flickered with a faint light. "You know, I can't do that. It's not a choice a leader should make... ...... but I can't let him die. All this time I've condemned myself ......"
The crouching Ratchet sighed, interrupting Optimus Prime's confession, "With Bumblebee and the others out of the picture, forget about your leader module for a while. Fetch me the hydrometer and the checker."
Optimus turned several times to find what Ratchet required His processor was now in turmoil, one moment remembering how warm they had been, then Soundwave's sudden departure, and finally it all turned to Soundwave's cold spark. His core tightened uncontrollably.
"How's ...... him?"
"Didn't you cause all this to happen?" Ratchet said, "Capacitor pens and wire strippers. I thought you had vigorous sex. Some couples just like extreme feelings. Help me hold him down here. Oh, my Cybertron! It really does look like Cybertron now. I mean, just as bad."
Optimus sincerely crouched down and pressed where Ratchet indicated. "I didn't think he'd crash into the high-voltage grid... It would have been a bad hit, but he seems tired today. Besides, there's no way I'm having sex with him in this situation!"
"Soon you will." Ratchet turned his head and looked at Optimus with a very serious expression.
"What?" Optimus thought he had misunderstood, "Again, what do you want? What is a spoon?"
Ratchet hated it and took a wrench to Optimus Prime's head. Optimus felt his processor humming.
"Energon levels are seventeen percentage points below average, the Spark pulse is barely detectable, hydraulic pressure is too low, oil temperature is too low, and I can't access his medical port because he's got a lockout chip in there. "
"In short, your predecessor will return to All Spark if we do nothing."Ratchet flew through a long list of conclusions, pinning Optimus down before he could look at his optics.
"But there is another way. Dock with him and let him warm up while you energize him."
Optimus couldn't believe his audio receiver. He figured his decoder must be broken, either that or Ratchet's transmitter. Ratchet lifted the unconscious Soundwave onto a medical bed, thought for a moment, then pulled out an energy lock and snapped it around Soundwave's hands and around his waist.
"What are you doing?" Optimus asked with difficulty.
"Oh, to stop him from hitting you." Ratchet said matter-of-factly. "If it were me, I wouldn't be able to resist a beating even if I saw my ex and enemy."
Saying this, Ratchet left, nicely giving them some privacy. Optimus just felt ridiculous.
"Isn't there any other way?" He asked over the intercom, omitting the word that was stressing him out.
"If you have a way to fix his broken supply circuits or get our unconscious patient to eat." Ratchet replied and immediately sent two more.
"You reminded me that it's possible to insert into his ingestion port to force energy, but I'm not sure if his conversion system is still working properly. It's safer to feed directly into the tank."
Heat was rapidly escaping from every crevice of Soundwave's body, and if he were to open his body now, he would find a thin layer of condensation covering the surface of the tubes inside Soundwave. These frosty masses of condensed energy fluid and internal circulating fluid were crystal clear and glowed with the light of death.
"Time is life, be hurry, I'm afraid your predecessor's spark can't afford any more delays."
There was no moon tonight, and the stars were nowhere to be seen. Starscream looked out the porthole of the conference room at the cloudy night sky, glanced at the grim-faced silver and white transformer sitting at the head of the room, and couldn't help but sigh in his spark.
If he didn't want to be brutally beaten by the old iron barrel as an outlet for his anger, he'd better give up his plans for tonight's cruise and sit honestly in his chair.
Slag! Why is today's meeting so long and smelly?
" Starscream, report on the casualty rate and energy consumption of seekers."
"Oh, oh, yes, of course. One of the them malfunctioned on the last mission, and even after it was repaired by Konck Out, his engines still occasionally won't fire. That's a big problem. I have good reason to suspect that he's looking for a promotion, I mean, he seems more important if we have to keep patching him up. ......"
"Starscream, is your processor finally completely corroded?" Knockout exclaimed incredulously, "Do you really think I have no idea what kind of game you seekers are playing all day？"
"That's checking whether our jets are clogged, you half-assed doctor!"Starscream screamed.
"Silent, both of you." Megatron propped up his head, and he didn't even curse Starscream stupid. Starscream He was worn down as never before by Starscream and Knockout's screaming like Metal Mosquito.
Starscream and Knockout immediately shut up. It was as if the argument between them had never happened. The only sounds in the conference room were the hum of gas displacement, the sound of ventilation ducts, and the clatter of capacitive pens and data pads colliding. Megatron snapped back to attention, realizing that the margins of his transcript were crowded with stray lines.
He announced the meeting to a final wrap-up and glanced at his subordinates on either side of him. But none of them cared about him. Knockout was idly picking at his paint bumps, and Starscream was admiring his claws. Shockwave was remotely connected to the lab, looking ready to process the data from today's experiments.
Megatron let out a rolling grunt from deep in his throat, similar to that of a cat on earth. The senior Decepticon officers looked up at each other sluggishly, realizing that they were habitually silent, as if still waiting for Soundwave to methodically summarize the meeting.
Knockout opened his mouth, and before he could say anything, Megatron had left. Shockwave brought the datapad to the table and glanced thoughtfully in Megatron's direction of travel. That direction was the control center.
By Shockwave's rough estimate, the efficiency of the battleship's day-to-day operations had dropped by about 50%, and that was with himself in charge. The scientist understood that he was not suited for the intelligence work. In fact, the Nemesis, and indeed the entire universe, had no transformers better suited for the tedious and ponderous work of intelligence than Soundwave's processor. Everyone was aware of this.
Megatron unconsciously made his way back to the control center. He reached out and brushed his hand over one of the smooth buttons. Soundwave meticulously maintained the orderliness of the control center, one of the most effective ways to increase efficiency. The angle of each control screen was finely tuned, and Megatron couldn't help but smile slightly as he looked down at them, imagining the blue figure. standing down and tilting his head to read the data.
He knew that news of Soundwave's disappearance had spread throughout the Nemesis like a virus; after all, the blue figure that stood in the control center day and night was still quite visible, and even he had heard the whisper about it several times. Soundwave's popularity among the Vehicons was surprisingly high. On the surface, Nemesis was functioning without any major problems, but Megatron was well aware that the status of the soldiers had slipped considerably, especially in terms of absenteeism from the daily patrols. Megatron punished the two undisciplined soldiers by confining them, only to find that the absenteeism had become more frequent instead.
It took him most of the day to realize that Soundwave was doing the scheduling based on the interpersonal relations of the individual troopers. Ah, my Kaon, when did a bad experience with a colleague become a reason for skipping work? He'd always appreciated Soundwave's contributions to the Decepticon cause, but it was only now that Megatron realized that Soundwave's job might be much more important than he'd thought.
He continued to walk to the right. Suddenly, he tripped over debris on the floor. Soundwave had closed the porthole before he left, and for the moment, everything in the control center was shrouded in darkness. Leaning down, Megatron could barely make out the outline of a rectangle. He picked it up and was surprised to find it was a small charge bed.
Just then, Megatron's intercom went off. It should have been Shockwave, reporting the results of an analysis of the Autobots' base coordinates.
While Soundwave's communication signal had disappeared, it was an indication of Soundwave's only destination. From the beginning, Lord Megatron, who had fought his way out of Kaon, had not ordered a search for Soundwave's whereabouts, not only because he knew Soundwave would not allow important data to fall into the hands of the Autobots, but also as a kind of self-confidence in his own abilities.
Maybe he could even use the opportunity to blackmail the Autobots. With that in mind, Megatron accepted the communication request.
"Lord Megatron, this is Knockout," said the half-assed medic Knockout, "I think you should come check on Laserbeak, her symbiote link has suddenly broken. Better hurry."
Megatron grabbed the collapsible cargo bed for a moment, unaware of what had happened. Immediately thereafter, his communications rang again, this time with an interline caller. In Soundwave's absence, Megatron had relayed the Nemesis' battleship communications to his own terminal.
"Megatron, we have Soundwave."
Without a word of redundancy, Ratchet hung up.
The alloy brackets of the collapsible cargo bed snapped shut, and Megatron's neural circuits jerked as if he had just realized he was in the middle of an eerie, terrifying darkness, finally activating the built-in lighting system. Soft light illuminated the scattered metal bars of questionable quality, and Megatron slowly bent down and picked them up one by one, noticing some empty blocks of energon were scattered around where the folding charging bed had originally been. All of them apparently recently abandoned.
Maintaining his crouched position, Megatron activated the fusion cannon. The hideous sound of fusion energy rang out for a moment. Then Megatron unloaded the fusion cannon and dropped it to the ground. It rolled around a few times, finally coming to rest amongst the empty energy blocks that Soundwave hadn't had time to pack up.
Megatron opened the comm.
Chapter Text
Soundwave came online in a patch of ghostly blue light that resembled a glacier that had not melted in eons.
The optics slowly focused, and Soundwave could barely tell that the ghostly blue came from the glow of the energy cuffs rather than the AllSpark.
The medical interface under the left armor tingled more than a little, indicating that a medical unit had attempted to access it, but had been rejected by the chip Soundwave had externalized earlier. To prevent the forced establishment of protocols, the chip automatically melted down, brutally blocking the only outside access to Soundwave's body.
The internal diagnostic program slowly began to determine its own status.
Main power engine: Malfunction.
Touch Servos: Malfunction.
Auto-calibrator: Malfunction.
Communication functions: No Signal.
Power Level: Extremely Low.
Remaining until forced offline: 30 min.
He reacted quickly to the situation. The internal temperature was already below normal, and the hydraulic and oil temperatures were on the verge of danger. The spark pulse signal was so weak that the symbiotic link could not be maintained. Laserbeak must have been in a hurry ......
Soundwave remembers exactly how he crashed, and the Autobots are obviously not going to let this golden opportunity go to waste. Soundwave trudged past the level-one red warning that took up the entire HUD and issued the command to erase the database.
Failed. Probably due to low power levels, the underlying logic required that priority be given to powering the spark pods and basic function modules.And reaching the database was certainly an energy-intensive endeavor.
It's probably the most ridiculous thing in the world: if you want to lose something, find it first.If you can't find it, you can't drop it.
The sensor components came online one by one, and Soundwave belatedly felt the cold beneath him; the energy fluid that had leaked from his body must have run everywhere. Soundwave was in a trance, thinking he had been rebuilt from head to toe as the pain circuits faithfully relayed the excruciating pain from every part of his body back to the central processor.
Optimus Prime didn't have that ability, and the Ratchet, despite being a medical unit, had a manic core ....... Soundwave was a little curious as to what they would do with him.
But from the looks of things, what Soundwave couldn't find, Optimus couldn't drop either. He silently added a "long-lasting" tag for Optimus in the database.
The audio receiver rustled a few times, then returned to normal. He heard someone whispering not far away. He tensed his body quietly, not wanting to give away the fact that he was awake. Probing for more information would certainly help improve his current vulnerable position.
"Should I continue? ...... Energy level? Still low ...... but it's ...... not the same as it was just now at all! Fine, fine, I'll try... ..."
Soundwave, the excellent communications officer, smoothly matched the voice to the available data within two Earth seconds. He heard Optimus hang up the comms and move closer to him, resting gently on his shoulder.
The plan to feign unconsciousness was recognized, and Soundwave had to bring his optics online and look into the darkness at Optimus Prime. The latter looked at him in surprise, not yet having transitioned from the state he had just been in, with a few thin shades of red remaining on his faceplate.
The two locked eyes over the visor.
Slag, Optimus hadn't even noticed he was online!
Was it too late for him to turn off his optics?
"Soundwave, how ...... are you feeling?"
Optimus asked, deliberately acting as if he had just noticed that Soundwave was online.
The waves on Soundwave's visor flickered a few times and then disappeared. He tried to play the recording, but the processor was no longer able to make an accurate call.
This meant that if Soundwave wanted to express himself, he would have to activate the long-unused vocalizer, which caused him anxiety.
Your tone, your pitch, your enunciation, your pauses, are a compressed package of your emotions, your thoughts, dissected without reservation by the sophisticated receiver and laid bare to another. Plots fail, plans are exposed, all because you couldn't help but say something.
There was nothing to talk about between them but the dusty past. Soundwave looked at Optimus Prime and was about to protest in silence when he suddenly noticed some pink liquid clinging to the window of the red and blue heavy truck.
Realizing what was going on, he went back to the HUD and reopened the inspection report he had just hastily scanned. This time it was the detailed version. As if afraid of embarrassment, his processor had considerately labeled the energon source in a small line at the end: secondary fuel tank.
Docking components weren't a high priority in the system recovery process, so it was only now that Soundwave realized that there wasn't any energon underneath him at all, but rather a large amount of lubricating fluid flowing from his interface.
For a moment, Soundwave didn't know whether to be angry or grateful that his secondary tanks had held the energon Optimus had injected into them so well that not a drop had escaped.
"Optimus: Explain."
Soundwave's calm voice seemed to have an active volcano buried beneath it. As far as Optimus knew, Soundwave hadn't used a vocalizer in a long time, let alone a non-electronically synthesized native voice.
Soundwave must be angry, Optimus thought sadly, thanking Ratchet's foresight for preserving his spark.
He began the awkward explanation he'd come up with during the lull in Soundwave's system reboot.
"I think you sensed it yourself. The combination of low temperature and power lack is quickly putting you in a static lockdown."
But there were certainly many other ways to replenish energon while warming up, and Optimus Prime alone knew of several.
The simplest was to supplement the physical warming with an injection of an energon solution. The Ratchet obviously had something else in mind, and Optimus Prime happened to have a few selfish thoughts of his own as well.
"I had to use this... well, to save you."
Optimus struggled to get the last word out, closing his mouth just in time.
A large blue question mark popped up on Soundwave's visor.
He couldn't read Soundwave's expression through the mask, and Optimus could only speculate about the look behind the mask as he faced his own guilty reflection.
Primus! After all these years, he still couldn't read Soundwave's mind, meanwhile Soundwave knew even Optimus Prime's dirtiest and nastiest demolition fetish. No mech could imagine his shock when he opened the door to his room that day and saw a full set of restraints. He was an innocent virgin then, and the taciturn Soundwave, living in the open Kaon, had strangled all of Orion's innocence with his interface.
There was a huge difference in their sizes, Soundwave's tank gumball containing the head of his output tube to death, and its owner holding him around the waist, gasping with suppressed restraint. Not willing to embarrass him, Orion soon released in the high heat and tight secondary tank. Then he would kiss the bump on Soundwave's head sculpture, and Soundwave would gently rub his hot exhaust with his fingers, once and then again.
The memories at the source of the long river of time shimmered with a dazzling golden light. Optimus remembered when they didn't have their respective colors. Red Autobots, and purple Decepticons.
Contrary to what others thought, their breakup was peaceful. From beginning to end, his mysterious and gorgeous lover controlled all the rhythms of their love story.
It was early in the morning and they were having breakfast together. Soundwave handed him a plate of energon blocks and told Optimus Prime that he had agreed to follow Megatron.
In a tone as unusual as talking about the weather, Soundwave said, "I'm moving to the Decepticon base today." The tenderness of the lingering moment did not diminish his callousness at the moment.
"I see, " Optimus said, "do you need any help?" Soundwave shook his head, but Optimus got up to get Soundwave's suitcase anyway. Soundwave just sat there coldly at the end and beginning of everything, watching Optimus clatter through the glass hanging orchid they were growing.
A cunning Turbofox. A callous Decepticon. Lightly and effortlessly stirring up all his love and desire, then leaving without the slightest hesitation, without even asking Orion if he wanted to come with him--
Well, the answer was "no" of course, but at least he should ask! Heartless drone!
But even so, deep in his core, he longed for Soundwave.
Optimus Prime began to understand a little more about the volatile lovers in the oil operas that everyone criticized.
Soundwave is so cold and heartless, yet in the weaving of these dreamlike moments, in the display of his devotion and true nature, he appears so genuine, with a little bit of whiteness and goodness occasionally surfacing in the blackness and coldness, keeping you constantly torn between ruthlessness and tolerance. So it ends up like this, unable to accept yet unable to stop missing, and it goes on like that for four million years.
Optimus Prime had told no one about this; Ratchet had sensed only the tip of the iceberg. In fact, his long-suppressed rationality was on the verge of collapse. He had to admit, though, that the moment he saw Soundwave fall, his emotional module felt a hideous twinge of joy. He picked Soundwave up and took him to a place where there were no Decepticons, as if that would take them back in time.
He leaned down and took Soundwave's lips--just as warm as before.
The drone came to a complete halt at his movements, his visor going black for a split second. This opened the door for further action from the red and blue heavy truck. Optimus rose boldly and pressed down on the two soft metal lips, licking them repeatedly, waiting until they became moist, then extending his metal tongue to probe Soundwave's mouth.
The intake port was blocked by Prime, and the complete loss of control emboldened Soundwave. He grunted a few times and subconsciously tried to reach out and push Optimus, forgetting that his hands were still bound tightly to the prison bed by the energy locks.
Sensing his intent, Optimus Prime's left hand slid down Soundwave's condensation-covered shoulder armor and reassuringly gripped his thin winged arm; his broad right hand wrapped around Soundwave's long, thin claws.
Probably dozens of masses missing, he thought sourly. Soundwave had given his all to the Decepticon cause, but the war was far from over. What would Soundwave give in another thousand years, ten thousand years?
Optimus Prime's fingertips brushed over the raised Decepticon logo on Soundwave's upper arm, and his mind involuntarily drifted back to Soundwave living in the virtual data of the Nemesis to maximize his efficiency, and the scene made his neural circuits tremble for a brief moment. Soundwave was already living in the central control of the Nemesis, and Megatron, the nemesis he knew best, would one day fill his lustful maw with Soundwave.
He leaned down sharply and furtively to kiss Soundwave's armor, the tip of his deft tongue probing into the cracks of the armor, sending impulses to the remembered sensitive areas, satisfied that Soundwave's organism was responding honestly to each of his stimuli, as if that would ease the discomfort at his core. Soundwave shuddered and tried to resist, the shrill sound of the friction of armor and energon locks relentless.
Perhaps it was to prevent Soundwave from hurting himself, or perhaps it was something else, intolerance, pity, lost and found ...... who knows, but in any case, the Prime more forcefully inserting himself between the loosely held fingers of them, clasping Soundwave's powerless, struggling hand without refusal.
Palm to palm, Optimus Prime's heat gradually penetrated Soundwave along the contact. Soundwave struggled, but his body, which had just been dismantled once, was sore and weak. The purple bio-light ribbon flashed rapidly, expressing its owner's displeasure.
However, his body was defeated by Optimus' skillful teasing. The ventilation fan relaxed and rotated, blowing warm air from the deepest part of the frame. The freshly used docking array picked up the pulsing signals and began to warm up voluntarily, in accordance with previous records. Transparent electrolyte from the kiss ran down the sensitive neck cables. The body, long deprived of intimacy, was as green as a virgin mech, and Optimus' incredibly gentle kisses made Soundwave dizzy.
Had the built-in gyroscope failed? Soundwave wondered in a daze, why did he feel like he was floating? He subconsciously made the habitual move to raise his hand in a hug and stopped in silence.
There was a sharp clash of metal. Optimus noticed Soundwave's movement, but instead of releasing the energy lock, he simply inserted two fingers into Soundwave's still-warm interface. The bio-light on Soundwave's interface was also bright purple, now flickering invitingly in the darkness. The protective blades bulged outward slightly, as if they couldn't hold much, and once Optimus Prime's fingers were inside, pale pink lubricant oozed out.
Getting its taste, the freshly removed interface enthusiastically served Optimus' rough fingers in stark contrast to its owner's coldness. Soundwave squirmed uncomfortably, enduring the familiar yet unfamiliar sensation of a foreign body.
Lacking a suitable candidate and busy with work, the matter was forgotten in time. The love affair in the coma hadn't given him any mental feedback, but it had awakened his long dormant desires. At this moment, Soundwave felt like a virgin soul waking up in a service mech. With his eyes open, he was in a position to be overwhelmed by a familiar guest with an intimate knowledge of his lascivious body pressed against him .
The body's temperature was rising, but it was struggling to have enough energon to reboot the locked function modules. He heard the empty tanks praying without dignity for Energon to enter: whatever, give it to me .......
Soundwave couldn't help but curse in his core. The conversion efficiency of the secondary energon was poor, and the current energon level could only last another ten minutes at most without replenishment. He hadn't erased the data yet!
He clenched his legs and rubbed the built-in node roughly against the metal finger buried inside. Soon the docking protocol activated in response to the external stimulation, more lubricant gushing from deep within the canal as the built-in docking protocol began sending preparatory commands to the various parts. Pleasant electrical signals crackled through his tattered wiring, and though nearly half of it was lost in the transmission, it still nearly overloaded Soundwave, who hadn't been docked in a long time.
Soundwave let out a hoarse, stifled, gasping sob. No, not now ...... he'll straight offline ......
The two fingers suddenly pulled away. The fiery interface suddenly came into contact with the cool air, and Soundwave couldn't help but wince. The soft metal walls inside the interface had not yet responded, still relentlessly contracting in an attempt to please the fingers that were no longer there.
What was his Inquisitor's sudden insanity, Soundwave thought with gritted teeth, completely forgetting that he'd go offline if he overloaded. Even though he had accepted the fact that he was going to have sex with the leader of the Autobots (also his ex-lover) in the Autobot base, this situation was still completely beyond Soundwave's expectations.
With his legs spread wide, he lay back in the darkness, listening for Optimus Prime's movement. The sound of the front fender unlocking. Output tube popping out. Output tube loading. Then a brief silence. Soundwave squirmed unsettled. Why had it stopped?
Optimus stared at Soundwave's interface. Here, the hard armor and crisscrossing tubes were nowhere to be seen. Protected only by the protoplasm at the base of thighs, it's the softest, least offensive part of a Cybertronian's body. But Optimus knew he could kill anyone with it...... if Soundwave wanted to.
"You know what to do, Soundwave." Optimus said.
There was a moment of silence.
"...... Please use me."
Finally, bound to the top of his desires up and down, the drone spoke sullenly. It sucked to be forced to remember the past. Optimus knew he'd already taken a bunch of bad notes about himself in places he didn't know, but he didn't mind.
The fully charged output tube pressed against the slippery protective blades and slowly but surely pushed in. The metal interior was propped open little by little, and Soundwave gave a slight gasp and sidestepped the head sculpture.
The difference in size between the two made it difficult to fit in. The interior of the interface had already regained its tightness, even though the last docking had only recently taken place. Soundwave gripped the edge of the berth tightly, trying to stave off the pain of the calipers stretching to the breaking point. The hard alloy was clawed by him, leaving behind several holes. He made three deep displacements in a row, barely surviving the agony of the torn pain.
Optimus leaned down and licked Soundwave's audio receiver in an attempt to distract Soundwave. The rustling sound caused Soundwave to turn his head sideways to avoid the sensation. Optimus Prime took the opportunity to grab his sensitive neck tube, forcing out a few more husky moans.
The docking had progressed so far that Soundwave had barely spoken. The ambiguous sounds of water, scratching, and parts colliding filling the cell instead of his voice. Optimus stroked the empty breastplate of the mech beneath him, secretly rejoicing that the beaky bird wasn't here. Or she would have pecked at his optics in the name of the weakened Soundwave.
The large output tube took care of every node in the interface, and after a few thrusts, the interface adjusted to the rhythm and secreted more lubricant. Soundwave felt as if all the fluids in his body were being channelled to the insatiable interface.
There weren't even a few drops left, can't you save them? ...... Won't die without grease ...... Soundwave thought drowsily, all his senses centered in the interface, every in and out of Optimus Prime's spike clearly visible. He was like a spaceship caught in a magnetic storm, swaying with Optimus' wide open thrusts.
The body's memory was awakened by the mercilessly rough motion, and the pain gradually transformed into pleasure. The calipers were opened to their limit, and any more force would have shattered them. But someone else controlled the position and made it stop in that well-known place. The body creaked with critical fear, which felt as if he was putting his head in the water, or perhaps the water had risen and flooded him.
Soundwave had to admit that Optimus Prime had served his purpose, and he couldn't help but reminisce about the old days.
Underneath the archivist's seemingly innocent exterior, there was a savage core. The disparity in physique had been an even greater discount to the joy of docking, making Soundwave miserable at every turn. Soundwave had thought he'd never enjoy being subjugated, until now, when he realized that a part of himself had been seemingly permanently modified--or taken, by Orion. Throwing away position, identity, and any possible concerns, it was now practically the ideal scenario for docking.
The accumulated charge finally peaked, and pulses of pleasure scattered in all directions from the nodes in the metal interior, crisscrossing the jumbled internal circuits. Soundwave's optics flickered a few times, then went offline due to overload. His waist lifted high as his center bearing whined under the strain. Thankfully, Optimus removed the energy lock on his waist, though Soundwave didn't even comprehend why they'd locked his waist in the first place.
The malfunctioning self-cleaning system took care of itself, recognizing the darkness caused by the optics going offline as a dusty cover-up. Soundwave drooled cleaning fluid in a convulsive spasm.
When he regained his senses, Soundwave found himself in a warm embrace. For a moment, the familiar temperature and touch made him think he was back before the civil war, and he drowned in the sensation, almost forgetting everything else in the world.
The optics were back online, the cracked visor pressed against the foggy window glass. The energy locks on his wrists had been removed at some point, and Optimus wrapped his arms around his waist and back, gently licking the sharp bumps at the top of his head sculpture.
"Will Laserbeak come back?" Optimus asked, kissing the crack in his Soundwave visor. Would his little bird come back?
He knew full well that the Decepticons would ignore Soundwave's disappearance until the Autobots offered them a prisoner exchange. Laserbeak was different; she took orders only from Soundwave, and even if the Decepticons abandoned their communications officer, she would hover in the air day and night, looking for signs of her master. Optimus was curious; would she break away from the Decepticons?
Soundwave took a moment to comprehend his question--his brain module functioned slowly now, and Optimus could see a hint of confusion in his static visor.
"Laserbeak: need to report."
"So you'll just wait here for Megatron's rescue?"
The cooling fan's voice grew clearer. Soundwave had been alerted to his duties by Optimus Prime, and it was obvious he had enough energon to erase the data this time.
Optimus watched as one deletion prompt after another flashed rapidly across Soundwave's visor.
"We didn't intend to dismantle your hard drive." He explained in vain.
Soundwave's optics flared brightly, and the purple bio-light strip on the body dimmed. A small deletion progress bar surfaced on the darkened visor, now down to 90%. Deleting the massive amount of data was a massive drain on Soundwave's available energon. He was going offline.
Can't let him go offline. Can't just end like this. Do something, Optimus. Do something.
Then Optimus's spike slammed through the gasket and pushed hard into Soundwave's secondary fuel tank
Soundwave's vocalizer suffocated. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. The brain module went blank. The tank's gasket had been knocked out of place. The rubber ring tightly encircled the head of the output tube, but it couldn't stop it from banging violently inside the secondary tank.
To prevent explosions caused by fuel leaks after a hit, the secondary tanks of the flight units were filled with soft gels. The gel that was supposed to protect Soundwave now brought him immense shame as it wrapped around Optimus' output tubes in all directions, faithfully returning its shape to its master. There were still remnants of the secondary energon that Optimus had injected into the tube the last time, which bobbed and rattled with Optimus' crushing movements.
Optimus went in so deep that Soundwave's confused processor thought he was going to get stabbed. Unable to endure it, he reached up to cover his stomach, only to have Optimus grab it and push it over his head. His waist was lifted higher, his legs folded across his chest, his chassis muddy, the outer part of his interface already red and swollen from fucking.
Still, Optimus Prime showed no mercy as he burned Soundwave's body like a tyrant at the end of his rope.
His head was carved and buried in Soundwave's chest, his expression invisible. Soundwave didn't even have the strength to wail anymore, his overworked vocalizer occasionally emitting a meaningless jumble of electrical sounds. The dulled optics stared into the void, losing the ability to think of anything.
Giving his prisoner no time to catch his breath, Optimus thrusted in succession, pumping hot secondary energon into the freshly overloaded, highly sensitive tanks. Soundwave clenched his palms in a death grip, spasming with shock after shock.
He tried to block his visor, but Optimus still held his hand. He tried to bargain for mercy with a habitual hug, but the hot exhaust on Optimus' back burned his hand.
The hum of the fan echoed through the cell. The two mechs were panting heavily; Soundwave had protected his information, Optimus had saved a life, and they had both accomplished their respective missions. There was nothing to regret.
"Optimus, the Decepticons have come for the prisoner. They have offered to sign a temporary truce." Ratchet's voice came from Optimus Prime's communicator.
Hearing this, Soundwave ejected the tentacles from his side, propped himself up on the bunk, and sat up. Letting the tentacles push him away, Optimus looked after Soundwave as he limped out of the room with his belly covered. Suddenly Optimus remembered that they hadn't hugged in a long time.
Today had been the first time in four million years.
Notes:
if you find a mistake or anything confusing, please tell me! Maybe it’s a translation fault :-)
SunnyChlodee on Chapter 1 Mon 25 Mar 2024 05:07PM UTC
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LoveWitness on Chapter 1 Thu 28 Mar 2024 09:38AM UTC
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michan2000 on Chapter 2 Sat 30 Mar 2024 10:31AM UTC
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SunnyChlodee on Chapter 2 Sat 30 Mar 2024 11:19AM UTC
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