Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shockwave was desperate.

After his empurata operation Shockwave had moved to an empty apartment building on the streets of Kaon. Quiet, deserted, empty. He had made a living building small gadgets for the Cybertronians who lived there out of the scrap metal he found scavenging the building. Or, for those truly desperate, he would take their shanix to repair bots. He struggled to adapt to use his one good claw in these repairs, his other arm being replaced with a cannon that made his stance uneven. Though some had hesitance in his abilities, they often left better than they had arrived. (There were a few poor cases who were just too far gone for Shockwave to do anything about. He would take their shanix anyway and strip them for spare parts.)

However, it appeared the violence of the Cybertronian senate had reached its grip even to the grimy streets of Kaon. As police enforcers monitored the streets any contacts Shockwave once had fled or vanished. Any commissions that had once trickled in ebbed away. His decent stash of energon and shanix coins trickled away until nothing remained. Soon, even the natural reserve in his engine would run out and there would be nothing left to power his engine.

Shockwave pinched his claw open and shut as he pondered on what to do. No reputable business, or even non-reputable businesses, would hire an empurata bot such as himself. That was the point of the procedure. To be so marked by the senate as having committed some egregious sin, unforgivable by society. Shockwave only had the vaguest memory of what that was, based on the files he had been able to dig up on his previous identity, and the few vestiges of memory that remained in his processor. Not that it would help him now.

Shockwave stopped pinching his claw. He checked the levels in his tanks. They were low, only about 10% remaining. He bristled. He had a solution. Something he had hoped to never resort to. There was a pleasure club not far from his apartment. He had interfaced in exchange for energon before, early in his “life” as an empurata bot, when he was just getting back on his pedes. He knew others had a certain….taboo fascination with his kind. His only, last hope was to make a deal with the pleasure club owner. Energon and, perhaps, room and board for his services. Shockwave looked around the dilapted apartment he had called home and left.

……………….

Shockwave reached the pleasure club with around seven percent left in his tanks. With no reservations, he headed straight for the door with no deviations.

“Whoooa, buddy.”

Right as Shockwave had reached a claw to the door pane, a servo had reached up to stop him. Shockwave's optic light blinked. A bulky bouncer stood in his path.

“I can't just let you in there.”

The bouncer eyed him suspiciously. Shockwave looked at him, voice box struggling to produce sound with his energon so low.

“I need to speak to the owner,” he said plainly, trying to push past the bouncer.

“Yeah and I want to speak to the Prime. But we don't all get what we want.” All the bouncer had to do was reach his arm across the door to prevent Shockwaves' action. He was too weak to push past it, even if he wanted to make a scene.

Shockwave bore his optic into the bouncer with a glare. “I wish to offer my services.”

Something about the bouncer's optics softened at that. “We don't need any more pleasure bots…”

“I can provide a unique experience,” Shockwave interjected.

“We already have an empurata bot. We don't need any more charity cases”

Shockwave's optic stuttered for a moment. He stepped back as if he had been stricken “Ah. I see.” He said flatly.

Suddenly the bouncer looked remorseful.

“But look, I can at least give you this, ok?” He took an energon cube out of his subspace and handed it to Shockwave, who cradled it against him with a shaking claw and the barrel of his gun arm. “Regain some strength, someone in Kaon will take you in, yeah?” The bouncer said a little desperately, looking up at him, like Shockwave could absolve him. Shockwave turned from him and started walking away.

……………….

Shockwave did not have the processor power to ponder his situation anymore. All he knew is he needed somewhere SAFE to ingest the energon cube. Tank check. Five percent. Some alleyways not too far away from the club. It would have to do. Shockwave crouched down, balancing the cube on his gun arm while trembling fingers fumbled for the latch on his side where his intake port resided.

Sudden noise startled him from his task. Muffled yelling. Further down the alley from where Shockwave was crouching three mechs were unceremoniously tossed out of a side door. One of them cursed in kaonite. Another kicked the now closed door. The three of them started to sway in his direction, stumbling and laughing all over the alleyway. The three were clearly drunk off of high-grade energon. Still shaking, Shockwave looked down and dimmed his optic, conserving his energy. His audial fins lifted waiting for them to pass before attempting access to his port again.

“Ey, what we got here?”

Shockwave looked up. One of the mechs was directly in front of him, his other two friends laughing behind him. Shockwave held his cube protectively. “Mech, it's nothing, leave it alone.”

“Pshhhhh, no way bro, look, look, lisssten.” The Mech who had spoken first grabbed one of his friends from behind and dragged him beside him. The two loomed before Shockwave.

“You wanted to go to the club, right. Get your ssspike wet right?” The Mech slurred. The Mech beside him looked at his friend, slightly dazed. An effect of the high-grade no doubt. “Who needs to pay all those prices, when we have what we want right here?” The Mech looked down at Shockwave with lust in his optics.

Shockwave tried to move, tried to jump up. His instincts told him to run but with his processor so delayed every movement ended up jerky and half aborted. Rough servos slammed him against the wall. “Not going anywhere, are you?” Asked the propositioning Mech upturning in his voice in a false whine. A joke only he found funny.

Shockwave's energon cube had fallen in the skirmish. He watched it spill, the dirt beginning to absorb the blue liquid. “E-en-ener-gon.” Shockwave’s voice laced with static. With a burst of energy, He pushed against the arms and desperately knelt at the cube trying to cup anything he could.

He felt servos on his pedes and soon he was being dragged away. Away from the energon. He forced his claw into the dirt, hoping for any traction, but the claw just dug a line as he was pulled away.

He was slammed into a wall again. His whole frame shuddered and he slid to the ground. “Fragging finally, let's do this.” The victorious Mech said somewhere above him. Shockwave checked his reserve. Two percent. His optic was starting to blur. It was getting harder to see. He could feel servos on his shoulder pads pinning him down. If he could just get his processor to cooperate with him, maybe he could calculate the aiming on his gun arm. He would need to be able to take out all three in one shot. He only had the energy for one shot.

Weight on his legs. Servos on his interface panels. He started powering up his cannon.

Suddenly the weight was off him. He vented deeply. Someone was screaming. Shockwave could barely see. His vision was just a screen of blurry colors and half calculated numbers at this point. Sounds of blows, metal on metal around him. A bright blue and white standing out amidst the other’s dingy paint jobs. “Another party has entered the fray” Shockwave thought bitterly. “Someone who wants my parts and panels to themselves.”

The noise finally stopped. Shockwave did not have the strength to lift his helm. He felt his body being lifted and all he saw was blurry blue. The blue Mech cradled Shockwave in his arm, holding Shockwave’s helm close to his chest. The Mech began to carry him away from the alleyway. “Taking me to another location to dissect me for parts. Smart,” thought Shockwave

The Mech was speaking. Not to him. Speaking to someone. His voice was melodic but modified with a voice filter. Shockwave couldn't make the effort to make out the words. But then, the mech was speaking to him, asking him, something?

“What?” He tried to ask, mostly static.

“Designation?” The Mech asked again, holding him so Shockwave could see he was looking at him. Shockwave couldn't make out his features with his limited processor.

Why would he want to know his name? So they could put a little plaque wherever he dumps the body? It's not like it matters anymore anyway.

“S-s-s-sh-sho-sho-kkk-” the rest devolved into static as Shockwave went into stasis lock.

Chapter Text

“You know Megatronus isn't going to be happy you're bringing a strange mech back to base with you,” Ravage said coolly.

Soundwave eyed his companion. She was right. Soundwave had a bad habit of getting involved when he shouldn't. This had happened before.

Soundwave had broken up fights in the streets in Kaon. Stood between corrupt police enforcers and their targets. Given his hard earned shanix to hungry looking new sparks. All using his recognition as a Pit Gladiator and Friend of Megatronus to prevent the worst of the backlash. But sometimes he would come back from those encounters with wounds that needed welding, bodies that needed to be burned, and angry carriers that threw his money back in his face. Somehow that last one always hurt more than the physical wounds.

So when Laserbeak and Buzzsaw spotted trouble on their way back to the Pits, of course he had to intervene. What those mechs were about to do had Soundwave's energon boiling. The disgusting things they thought they could do. The disgusting things they thought they could get away with. And the disgusting ways they justified it to themselves because they thought this Mech did not matter. He had dispatched them quickly. If the one eyed Mech wasn't about to enter stasis lock he could have administered treatment and sent him on his way…but there was something else about him.

“I can deal with Megatronus.” Soundwave said flatly.

He looked down at the mech he was carrying. His optic was dim, beyond the point of being able to observe anything. He had one claw, common of those with the empurata procedure. His other arm has been replaced with a cannon gun, which was not standard issue of any mechs Soundwave knew. Soundwave wondered if it had been grafted on to him as part of the empurata operation or if he had it surgically attached in some sort of bid for safety. But if he had that sort of shanix surely he would get a hand attachment? And wouldn't be dying in the streets from hunger? Soundwave shook his helm.

“Mech: designation?” Soundwave asked. The Mech in his arms did not respond. His helm lolled back and forth a bit. Soundwave adjusted to better cradle it. “Mech: designation?” Soundwave tried again. The Mech's optic started to glow with recognition. “What?” He asked, his voice mostly static, clearly startled at being asked anything.

“Designation?” Shockwave asked again.

“S-s-s-sh-sho-sho-kkk-” the Mech suddenly went into stasis lock.

“Hmmmm, he could have been trying to say Shower.” Buzzsaw swooped down from the air landing on Soundwave's shoulder. Laserbeak landed quietly on the other.

Ravage looked incredulous. “You think his name is shower?”

Soundwave could see Buzzsaw's beak turn up in what could only be described as a diabolical grin. “No, I think he was saying shower, as in, you need one. Phew.” Buzzsaw dramatically put a wing up to his olfactory sensors.

“You think you're funny, do you, bird brain,” Ravage bared her teeth.

“Cease.” If Soundwave had the freedom of his servos he would have pinched the bridge of his visor.

“I was just joking,” whined Buzzsaw.

“Jokes are supposed to be funny, Buzz. Don't quit your day job.” With that Ravage bounded ahead as the entrance to the pits became clear.

“B-but I-” Buzzsaw sputtered.

“Just got roasted” Laserbeak muttered from the place she had curled up on Soundwave's shoulder.

Buzzsaw smiled, “I'll get her next time” He flew off, likely to annoy his sister even further.

Soundwave shook his head at his cassettes crazy, but innocuous, behavior. “Laserbeak, dismissed as well.” He said. “I'll stay, Boss,” Laserbeak mumbled into his shoulder. Soundwave leaned his helm to ruffle Laserbeak’s feathers with the side of his plating “As you wish,” He would not deny her the simple comfort of his company, even if they were visiting a place that could be as gruesome as the Pits medbay. They were between fights anyway and all should be quiet. It was the only reason Soundwave could have been allowed out into wider Kaon in the first place.

Soundwave finally made it to the pit entrance, a terrifying staircase that led deep underground, and finally veered off to the med center. As he entered he nodded to Hook, the one medical officer the Pits had, and laid the stranger on a medical berth. Idly, he stroked Laserbeak's feathers with his digits as he waited for Hook to finish with his current patient.

“Recruiting your own Gladiators now?” Hook asked cheekily. “I've never seen this one here before. I would remember an empurata bot.”

“Help him,” Soundwave said, keeping his tone flat.

Hook rolled his eyes but did as asked and started his scans. “Natural energon reserves nearly depleted. And evidence of conserving what was there. Pointing to slow starvation. Happens to a lot of empurata victims.” Hook relayed clinically. Soundwave bristled. He knew it happened, of course, but Hook's tone and the easy way he relayed it grabbed at his processor. Soundwave focused only on Hook's external words.

“Evidence of physical altercation. He just needs light patchwork. Auto repair will take care of the rest. I'll start an energon line, a line for pain medication, and a line to help him recharge. He should wake up in a couple joors.” Soundwave nodded as Hook completed his work and left. Soundwave remained at the berth. He put a servo on the mech's helm. His plating was warm to the touch like he was overheating, a common symptom in energon deprivation. But that was the only thing Soundwave could sense.

Laserbeak chirped, feeling Soundwave's frustration through the bond, and pulsed comfort back at him. Soundwave sighed.

He needs to report to Megatronus.

Chapter Text

Shockwave onlined suddenly. Where was he? He looked up at a ceiling he did not recognize. He felt around blindly with his claw. First at the smooth metal of a berth beneath him and then over his frame. He reached to examine the plating behind his helm and could feel protrusions just at the tip of his spinal cord. Wires? Wires plugged into the medical ports in his spinal strut. His vision flashed. A memory of another time he had wires in his medical ports.

Wires. Pumping energon. To keep him awake. To keep him aware. As they changed him. Servos removing his original limbs and replacing them with new ones. Servos tearing apart his green and white plating for the purple that adorned him now. Screaming. Helm forced from frame. Two optics replaced with one. Wires keeping him aware through death and rebirth. Being ripped apart. Being pulled back together. Too many wires.Too many servos. Pain. Dripping energon. Oh no. No no no no no.

Shockwave ripped out the wires. Immediately his helm ached. He stood on shaky pedes. He had to leave. He couldn't let them do that again.

“OH, you're awake.”

Shockwave turned. A mech stood near the meedbay entrance, scalpel in hand. “You shouldn't be moving around ye-” The mech shut his mouth plate tightly as Shockwave fired a shot from his cannon. Missed. Hit the wall behind. “Let me out.” Shockwave said as flatly as he could, voice shaky with static. The mech sighed. Pressed a button. Alarms sprang up. Shockwave looked at The Mech with optic light wide and bright with terror. The mech calmly left, locking the door behind him.

Shockwave grasped at the door wildly. He couldn’t get the the pincher of his claw around the handle. His processor wasn't working. Was this panic? He didn't think he was supposed to feel this anymore. They had cut out his emotional centers when they performed the empurata operation hadn’t they? Performed some sort of Shadowplay on him? That thought didn’t stop the bubbling of his fuel lines and the sludge in his processor.

If this was the senate, they were going to kill him. There was another hall. He ran for it. Nothing but a storage closet at the end. He could hear nothing but the alarms. He could feel his audial fins twitching wildly.

They would find him.

And they would kill him.

For good this time.

He sat in the storage closet and covered his face with his claw.

……………….

Soundwave was thinking. He needed to report to Megatronus-true-but it would be easier to report to Megatronus if he…had more information to report. If he had the Mech's name he could at least do a background check. Then it wouldn't be like he just brought a strange mech onto the premises…..He could at least present it to Megatronus that way.

He just needed to delay a little bit and he could get information once the, currently, unconscious Mech onlined. Soundwave was sure he could get his name easily enough with just a few, simple, questions. If he resisted Soundwave could always press with some light Gladiator intimidation. He shouldn’t have to. He was sure the Mech would just be happy to be alive. An energon deprived mech should be pretty harmless anyway.

Soundwave heard the trill of distant alarms. He strained his audials, trying to place where the sound was coming from. Not a lot of places in the Pits had alarms. It wasn’t like the managers cared that much about their fighters as long as they had enough battle ready mechs for the fights. The gladiators could take care of themselves. The only place truly vulnerable…Soundwave froze. The medbay.

……………….

Soundwave ran a corner to see Hook calmly waiting for him.

“He's trapped in there. Be careful of his arm cannon. He tried to fire at me.”

Soundwave started at him.

“He missed.”

“Hook: turn off alarms.”

“If you insist, but I think it throws off his concentration.”

Hook pressed a button and the alarms immediately stopped blaring. Soundwave crept into the medbay. A couple of frightened patients were huddled in a corner. They pointed him in the direction of the storage hallway so Soundwave quietly ducked down there. He could hear the sound of venting, but not much else. If this Mech was planning an ambush, cornering himself in a dead end hallway with a gladiator was the opposite of a good plan.

Creeping up on the storage room, Soundwave noticed purple pedes sticking out of the door frame. He tilted his head in confusion. Hiding? “Not well,” he thought. Soundwave opened the door. The strange, purple mech was sitting in the storage closet as far back as he could go. His optic was low and dim, claw and cannon barrel covering his helm the best they could. He had not reacted to the opening of the door in the slightest. Soundwave studied him for a moment. His field was low and tight to his frame but it was clearly beaming distress. Soundwave crouched, slowly and quietly, as not to scare the Mech. Softly, gently, he put a servo on the claw. The Mech startled, his whole frame jerking, optic blaring light, and his cannon aiming up. Soundwave did not move. The optic light blinked. “You are a gladiator,” the mech said flatly.

“Yes.” answered Soundwave, though it wasn't a question.

“Are you here to kill me?” asked the Mech.

Soundwave tilted his helm. “No,” he answered. With humor, “If death was desired: Soundwave could have left you in that alley. ”

The Mech's optic light flickered. “Th-the alley. That's right. My tanks.” The mech looked away as if checking something. “My tanks have been partially restored.” The Mech lowered his cannon. Though his em field was extremely light, Soundwave could just barely detect relief flow through the Mech.

“Short term memory loss: result of energon deprivation.” Soundwave gently lifts the Mech up by the claw. “You are in the Pits for repairs.” The Mech stumbled forward a bit. Soundwave holds the Mech’s claw and back strut for support. The Mech flinches slightly when digits touch him but he accepts them and the two make careful steps back to the medbay. Hook is there to greet them at the medical berth.

“Ah I see you've tamed the beast, but of course, you excel at that, Soundwave.” Soundwave makes a mental note to kill Hook later.

The Mech speaks, “My apologies. I was suffering an acute, trauma induced, psychosis. I will not be any more of a burden.” He sits upon the berth once more.

“Ah,” says Hook, “So you didn't mean to shoot me?”

“No, I meant to, but my aiming apparatus was turned off to conserve power.”

With the Hook face made to that, Soundwave begins to like this nameless Mech a little bit more. He thinks about asking for his name then, but the exhausted look the Mech has as he turns his optic to the floor has him rethinking.

“Hook: readminster lines.”

“You heard when he wanted to shoot me right?”

Soundwaves stares at him. “All right,” Hook sighs. Mumbled just under audible levels for most mechs, “Your funeral.”

Soundwave doesn't know how a mech with no face can look so tired.

“You don't need to do this, you have already given me more than enough.” Soundwave is standing close enough he can feel the Mech’s small field flicker between guilt and shame. “I can manage at these energon levels.”

Soundwave offlines his optic for a moment. Conflicting thoughts and emotions run through him. He remembers when he first pulled the Mech into his arms in the alley. The Mech had shrank into his chest plate, a movement so small, it had been almost imperceptible. The smallest, instinctual search for comfort that Soundwave had remembered his own cassettes doing when they had been small.

“Negative.”

The lines are reconnected. The Mech is fighting recharge, unsure. Of what, Soundwave cannot tell. He cannot tell, not with his normal connections to such information severed. Unsure of this place, unsure of these people, unsure of Soundwave?

“Rest.” Soundwave places his hand on the Mech's helm, pulsing his field with comfort and relaxation, begging one of his powers to work on this stubborn mech.

The Mech's optic begins to dim.

Chapter Text

Shockwave startled awake, spark spinning slightly in its chamber.

“Relax buddy. You're in the Pits’ medbay.”

The voice was unfamiliar. Shockwave looked over. A cyberbird wearing a red visor and yellow trim on its wings was perched on the berth-side table. Shockwave stared.

“A cyberbird?”

The cyberbird upturned his beak into a grin, “No, I’m just a really smart lamp.”

Shockwave tilted his helm the best he could from his position lying down, “A beast-former. Fascinating.”

The cyberbird beat his wings, raising his tiny frame into the air slightly, and perched atop Shockwave’s considerably sized chest compartment.

“My name is Buzzsaw,” squawked Buzzsaw, raising his wings dramatically in a move that showed off his entire wingspan.

“Shockwave,” said Shockwave in return. Buzzsaw visibly pulled his head back, like he was surprised. Neither said anything for a moment. “Where-" Shockwave had to reset his voice box, “Where is the mech that saved me? The blue one?”

Buzzsaw smiled a bit mischievously. “Soundwave? Working. He sent me to keep an optic on you.” Buzzsaw frowned. “That wasn't a one-optic joke.”

Shockwave ignored him. “Sent you? Do you…belong to him?”

Buzzsaw beat a wing to his chest. “I belong to no mech.” He leaned down real close, visor staring into Shockwave’s optic. “I work with him.” Shockwave rolled that information around his processor.

“Then you know him considerably?”

Buzzsaw squawked in what Shockwave thought might be the equivalent of laughter. “I would like to think I know him pretty well.”

Shockwave thought it best to get to the point.

“He is an Outlier? Correct? A Mech with a special ability?”

Buzzsaw pulled his head back, tilted in open confusion, “How would you know that?”

“He did something to me,” Shockwave said with a certain tint to his voice. If Buzzsaw didn't know better he would say it sounded like glee. “He must have some sort of ability to affect or manipulate the processor.” Ok, Buzzsaw was pretty sure Shockwave sounded downright giddy that time.

Buzzsaw’s beak hung open a little bit. Slowly, it shut as a grin took its place, “You'll have to ask him yourself.”

……………….

**How did you retrieve his name?**

**I asked him.**

Soundwave pinched the nose of his visor. Yes, of course, for it to be so simple.

**Well technically I introduced myself and he introduced himself. A step you must have failed to do since I had to tell him YOUR name.**

Soundwave stopped in the middle of his task. The audacity. But, thinking back. Oh. He HADN’T introduced himself, had he. Oh what a fool he was. He put his servos to his helm in shame.

**Buzzsaw, stop teasing the Boss.** Laserbeak chastised.

**The Boss should not be so easily teased.** Ravage remarked, a bit of humor slipping through the bond as well.

Soundwave was smiling behind his mask. If only all conversations could be nothing but light teasing with his cassettes. But there was business to be done.

**Laserbeak. Buzzsaw: Data pad, prepared?**

**Yes, prepared to be picked up before your meeting with Megatronus** came Laserbeaks’ poised response.

Soundwave vented in relief. He hadn't actually seen who the Mech was yet, but the twins assured him Megatronus would be pleased. He trusted the cassettes’ research as if he had scoured the infranet himself. Everything in that data pad would be accurate. If they said a case could be made from the information they pulled, he trusted them. Regardless, Soundwave would view the full contents of the data pad and make a compelling case to secure the Mech’s stay in the Pits. Soundwave would do whatever he could to ensure the Mech’ survival.

In the meantime, there was always work to be done. Soundwave sighed and turned his helm towards the monitoring station.

……………….

As promised, the cyberbirds had the data pad ready for Soundwave right as he arrived. He thanked them, stroking their feathers, and then he was off, reading and walking at the same time. The name at the top made him stop dead in his tracks.

Shockwave?

Senator Shockwave???

He took a minute to process. It was true that Senator Shockwave had gone missing a couple of solar cycles ago. Soundwave flipped through the files. The cassettes, as always, had done their research. Backtracking sightings of the purple mech to the crystal city, the Senator's home city. Compiling evidence of the Senator's wrongdoings, in the eyes of the senate, that would require an empurata operation and ensuing shadowplay. Pulling all of the Senator's scientific studies and comparing it to the purple mech's known line of work in the streets of Kaon. And there was the recent comments made to Buzzsaw about Soundwave’s own Outlier abilities, a known pet curiosity of the Senator, as he associated with Outlier mechs like other senators associated with lobbyists. If this was a case of two Mechs sharing a name it would be quite the damning coincidence.

Forget convincing Megatron to allow Shockwave to stay. One look at his list of known fields of study and they should be the ones recruiting him.

……………….

Soundwave was sitting in Megatronus’ office. It was actually just a repurposed workspace in the depths of the Pits. But it was dedicated solely to him and all his machinations for the future. A future revolutionary and a leader of the Pits’ coalition needed a desk to himself. Megatronus leaned over said desk, hands clasped together.

“Soundwave. I hear you have brought a stranger into our home. A stranger that has wreaked havoc on our medbay.” He shook his head at Soundwave, like a disappointed Sire. Flabbergasted, he sat back in his seat flicking a single servo to the ceiling. “Hook has been in my audial for joors complaining that he was almost shot.”

Soundwave's visor flickered mischievously. “Mech: may have been doing us all a favor where Hook is concerned.”

Megatronus snorted lightly at his fellow gladiator ‘s dark humor.

“He IS our only medic.” Megatronus then sighed deeply, “What possesses you?” He leaned forward over the desk once again, fingers steepled together.

Soundwave sat for a moment before laying the data pad in front of Megatronus. Lazily, he picks up the device and stiffens as he reads the name on top.

“Shockwave? The senator?” Megatronus looked at Soundwave with surprise. “You brought the missing senator here and are only now telling me?” Megatronus asked with a slight edge of anger to his voice.

“I did not know.” Soundwave confessed. Megatronus stared hard at him. Soundwave looked down, servos clasped in his lap. Megatronus relaxed. He looked more deeply at the datapad before him. “A victim of the senate, of empurata, presumably also of shadowplay. You propose him as an ally?” Megatronus glanced at Soundwave as he continued to read the data pad’s contents.

“Shockwave: also a scientist. Fields of study include: Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, Engineering, Botany, Zoology, and Outliers.” Soundwave leaned over the desk as he punctuated every word with a digit to the desk. “Alliance: mutually beneficial.”

“Megatronus’ optics flickered with thought. He looked at Soundwave with a grin. “He could build us weapons.” He said triumphantly.

“And more.” Soundwave stressed, hoping his friend and leader would think through all the practical applications.

“And more.” Megatronus grinned, a bit of a crazed look in his optics that he got when he was vivisecting a mech in the gladiatorial ring.

Soundwave sat back, pleased at the excitement Megatronus displayed even if he had a one track processor for how to deploy the scientist.

“There is one thing that irks me, Soundwave.” Megatronus overturned the datapad. Soundwave's visor flickered up to him, full attention.

“How could you of all people not know the identity of the mech you bring into our halls?” Megatronus asked his voice turning more inquisitive.

Soundwave hesitated. He could hide nothing from his friend and leader. “He is the exception to my abilities.” Soundwave confessed again.

“You can't read his mind?” Megatronus looked at Soundwave with concern.

“Negative.”

“Is this a result of the empurata? The shadowplay?”

Soundwave considered. “Perhaps, but Soundwave: able to read empurata bots before. Extent of shadow play: unknown. But, Soundwave: able to detect a small EM field from Shockwave.”

Megatronus studied Soundwave carefully. “You are not…frightened by this, my friend?”

Soundwave looked at Megatronus, touched by his rare display of concern.

“Negative…Soundwave: interested in this development. No mech has ever been…silent to Soundwave.”

Megatronus listened to Soundwave carefully. It was rare for his friend to share anything regarding his own feelings.

“Ah. I see.” Megatronus smirked. “So the safeguarding of this mech is…personal to you”

Soundwave's visor flared. “Hold-”

“Say no more Soundwave, as soon as he is able, I will speak to Shockwave regarding recruitment. If he agrees, we can set up an empty habsuite and workspace for him. Dismissed.”

Shockwave sputtered for a few kilks, useless noises spilling from his voice box, absolutely stunned at Megatronus’ utter assumptions. But with no arguments to voice to this, ultimately agreeable, development, Soundwave soon left the room, grinning Megatronus and all.

Chapter Text

Shockwave was bored.

Recovery was taking longer than he would have liked. It turns out long term energon deprivation required more than just filling your tanks once, but small and frequent drips to refill the tank’s capacity to what they once were. As well as frequent bouts of recharge to stabilize these energy levels. But in-between, there was nothing for his processor to do! Nothing but stare at the, now familiar, ceiling.

Shockwave's thoughts turned to his one fascination he did develop while he remained here. The blue and white mech. “Soundwave” as the cyberbird had called him. The Outlier.

A part of Shockwave knew that Outliers had been an old research habit of the senator. A part of his old life that he did not really remember. If he reached he could find a few faces buried deep in his memory banks, Outlier mechs the Senator must have interacted with at some point. All that truly remained from that time was the fascination. The seeking of knowledge. The craving of understanding. The satisfaction of putting together pieces of a larger mystery and watching it all come together.

Shockwave thought of what he knew.

-Soundwave was an Outlier
-Soundwave’s Outlier ability affected the processor
-Soundwave’s Outlier ability could be activated by touch

What exactly his ability was, Shockwave wasn't sure. He wished he had more awareness when Soundwave had used his ability. Was it a technical process that enabled the ability? Or was it an emotional one? Could he affect the entire processor or only certain parts? What exactly was the effect of his abilities and what were its limitations? Was his touch the only way it could be activated? Would he perform it again on Shockwave if he asked? Augh, any answer Shockwave could conjure to these questions was pure speculation. Nothing laced in the cold, hard servos of logic or reason. But with nothing else to do, he could not help but speculate.

Shockwave thought about the servo that had touched his helm. About the calm that had surged to his core after nullifying all the anxieties that had built up over solar cycles of his existence. And the slip of blissful recharge that had come after. He sighed.

Soundwave had not come back since that day. Probably would not come back. As he understood, he was one of the Pits’ top gladiators. He had been lucky to spend any time in that presence, luckier still that Soundwave had taken pity enough on him to take his sorry frame back to the Pits for repairs. Once Hook deemed him well enough, Shockwave was sure he would find himself on the streets of Kaon again with nowhere to go.

Perhaps boredom was a fine state to be in.

……………….

Soundwave received a ping from Hook. It seemed Shockwave had adequately recovered enough to be dismissed from the medbay. Soundwave wondered if he could get through the next cycle without incident. Somehow he had divulged to Megatronus a personal investment in Shockwave. He wasn't sure what definition of personal Megatronus was using, but shouldn't it make sense to investigate this curious exception to his abilities? It should be obvious his interest was clearly…academic curiosity. Nothing more.

Soundwave was deeply frowning behind his mask. His helm ached.

He entered the medbay. Hook was standing before Shockwave, handing him supplies and explaining how to use the certain creams and medications to best ensure the remainder of his recovery. Shockwave's gaze was pointed down to the floor, audial fins a little lower than neutral position. He cradled the supplies to his chest with his pincher claw.

“Ah, Soundwave, there you are. I have other patients you know. You can finally take this one off my hands.” Hook brushed past him impatiently. Soundwave considered the pros and cons of strangling him.

When he turned his attention to Shockwave, his audial fins were turned slightly upward.

“Follow,” Soundwave beckoned.

Shockwave stashed the medical supplies in his subspace compartment and followed closely behind Soundwave. He still could read no surface thoughts from the one-eyed mech, even if he strained his ability. He could feel a light em field from Shockwave but it seemed to be neutral. Soundwave desisted for now. Shockwave was silent.

When they passed the Pits entrance, Shockwave perked up. “Where are we going?” He asked.

“Megatronus wishes to speak with you.”

Shockwave did not speak again after that but his field did show some apprehension. Slight enough, Soundwave wasn't sure any other mech would notice if they weren't specifically looking for it. Odd enough he had a readable field at all, if he had been shadowplayed on to the extent empurata bots usually were. He had reason to be wary, he supposed. Megatronus was an intimidating Mech.

Finally reaching their destination, Soundwave opened the door to Megatronus’ office and beckoned Shockwave through.

……………….

Megatronus' size was not diminished by a desk. Shockwave was tall, taller than he had been pre-empurata. He even stood just a little taller than Soundwave, but Megatronus was at least a head taller than both of them and twice as thick. Even thicker than Shockwave who had been reclassified as a tank after his empurata. Even as he stood across from Megatronus' sitting form, he felt absolutely dwarfed by his magnitude and hard, red, passionate eyes.

“Sit,” Megatronus said simply.

He sat.

Soundwave stood behind them at the door, arms crossed, visor revealing nothing.

Megatronus let the uncomfortable tension sit between them for a few kliks until Shockwave thought his vents would clog on it. His optic stared warily at the top gladiator.

“Senator Shockwave,” Megatronus started.

Shockwave balked. “I do not go by that title anymore.”

Megatronus looked annoyed to be interrupted.

“Apologies,” Shockwave titled his optic down in deference. Megatron could crush him in a second.

“Shockwave,” Megatronus corrected. “You were brought here weakened to the point of dying. A victim of the State, brought low by enforced empurata, disabled by the senate you were employed by, and rejected by the society you were elected by.” Megatronus waved his arms around as he waxed poetically. He stood, servos on desk as he peered down on Shockwave's frozen form. “And what crimes did you commit to justify your would-be-death on the streets? Tell me Shockwave?” Megatronus’ voice had taken on an edge of rage.

Shockwave looked up at him, optic matching optics. “My files say, “political zealtoray” Shockwave shook his head. “I-I don't know. I don't remember.”

Megatronus’ optics softened as he regained his seat. “This is an opportunity, Shockwave. I am putting together a coalition. We wish to fire back on the senate's oppression. No longer should frame type or circumstance lock one into a mech’s outcome. A miner could be a gladiator. A gladiator can be a writer.” His eyes flickered briefly past him to Soundwave, “Or a carrier.” Back to Shockwave. “An empurata bot can be a scientist.”

Shockwave wasn't sure what he was hearing. “How?” He asked, his voice slightly strained.

Megatronus smiled, “Work for me, build my weapons for the inevitable conflict to come. Manage your own projects on the side. I can provide you the funds and the materials.”

Shockwave sat unmoving. He reset his audials. “You're…..you're giving me a job?”

“We have an agreement, then?” Megatronus reached out a servo. Shockwave stared at Megatronus and then at the outstretched palm. He reached out his own claw. Megatronus reached past it to grasp at his forearm. “Fantastic, Soundwave will show you to your new habsuite.”

Shockwave may have stood rooted in place forever in shock, but gentle servos grabbed him by the shoulder pad, leading him out of the room and down a hallway. Soundwave sent him a data packet to his open line. When Shockwave opened it, it was a map of the Pits. He followed along its diagrams as Soundwave showed him around.

Soundwave first led him to a room with energon dispensers and empty cubes lining a wall. Soundwave filled one. “Every mech in the Pits gets an allotment of one cube per day.” Soundwave gave him the cube. Shockwave immediately stored it for later consumption. One cube per day. It may not seem like a lot for some mechs, but to Shockwave it was more than he had ever had.

Soundwave beckoned him down another hallway. This one had larger, mostly empty rooms. Soundwave stopped at one and entered a door code. “Laboratory: repurposed storage room” Soundwave explained, almost apologetically, as they both stepped into the room. Shockwave looked around. There was plenty of space, multiple worktables, a console (though it looked outdated), and most surprisingly of all, several pieces of high tech lab equipment already set up for use. “I don't think empty storage rooms come with lab equipment.” Shockwave said with a twinge of humor in his voice.

Soundwave hummed. “Equipment: ….procured by Soundwave.” Shockwave wasn't going to question that. Equipment was equipment.

“I am eager to get started.” Shockwave stated plainly.

“Tour: unfinished.” Soundwave pulled a hesitant Shockwave from the laboratory. Ah yes. Soundwave still needed to show him to his habsuite.

Shockwave's processor stalled. Soundwave was showing him to his habsuite. There was nothing intended in that was there? As they walked Shockwave was pondering it over. He supposed he owed Soundwave. Owed Soundwave a lot. If-If he needed to…Well he would give a lot of things to keep his newly secure position in place. Up to and including interface. He had just been lining up to be a pleasure bot at a club just before now. He could do this.

Soundwave took him to a hall lined with habsuites. He picked one and reset the code, waiting patiently for Shockwave to enter his own. Shockwave did so with shaky digits. He entered. Soundwave stood in the doorway. Shockwave sat at the berth and looked at him, expectantly.

The light from the hall haloed Soundwave, making the blue of his plating appear hazy. It reminded Shockwave of his first encounter with Soundwave when his vision was blurry from energon deprivation.

“Shockwave: should rest. Recharge: important for recovery. Start in lab: tomorrow.” Shockwave tilted his head. Huh? Soundwave made to leave.

“Wait!” Shockwave pinched Soundwave's arm more roughly with his claw than he intended and pulled him into the habsuite. The door slid shut and the light from the hall vanished, leaving the two in the dark with nothing but optics lighting each other's frames.

“I must repay you,” Shockwave said softly, suddenly embarrassed.

Now Soundwave looked confused. “Negative? For what?”

“For everything!” Shockwave looked at Soundwave, optic so bright Soundwave thought it might blind him. It slowly dimmed. “I have little to give, but my array is clean. I might not look like much, but I can give you a satisfactory experience.”

Soundwave was still confused. Suddenly something clicked and the light in his visor blared as his eyes widened in clarity.

“Negative! Unnecessary!” He grabbed Shockwave's pincher in his servo. He struggled to stay calm and quiet with his voice. “There is no debt. Shockwave's employment: enough.”

“Ah.” Embarrassment crawled on Shockwave's plating. He should know better to proposition a top gladiator. He could get anyone he wanted. Why would he stoop as low as Shockwave? He had forgotten his place. He removed his claw from Soundwave's grasp. “I see. Forget I said anything.” He turned to the berth, burning with shame, expecting Soundwave to leave immediately.

Instead Soundwave put a servo on his shoulder pad. Shockwave’s attention flickered to it but he did not turn. “We do not trade favors here. Repayment: unnecessary.”

The two stood like that for a few klicks. It was only after the weight of the servo had gone and the sound of the door clicked shut and stayed shut for several moments that Shockwave finally collapsed into the berth for recharge.

Chapter Text

Ravage was bored.

She laid in the ventilation shaft, yellow optics watching the purple, one eyed mech move around his laboratory in precise, calculated movements. She had been there for joors and the Mech had not seen or heard her. Her jet black frame blended her perfectly into the shadows. She had learned to sit still for joors on end, unblinking in the darkness, moving only to shift with the shadows around her. She herself became the perfect shadow, as her training with Soundwave had taught her.

**Ravage: Report.** Soundwave relayed over the bond network.

Ravage yawned lazily. **Nothing to report.**

**Nothing?**

**Nothing! He’s boring.** Ravage curled her mouth plate in annoyance. **He organized his tools. Twice! Other than that he’s done nothing but sit with a datapad all day.**

**Organization: not boring.** Soundwave insisted. Ravage rolled her eyes.

**Yeah, I like organizing my rock collection.” Laserbeak added, taking a moment from her patrol flight around Kaon.

**Laser, I have breaking news for you. Listen to this.** Buzzsaw also took a moment from patrolling to interject. **Cyberbird: Bored to death mid-flight talking about organizing rocks.**

Ravage snorted. Shockwave’s audial fins raised for a moment. He looked around the lab. Ravage ducked out of the light shining into the ventilation shaft, quieting all her limbs for a moment. When she looked back, it appeared the Scientist's attention was back to whatever he was marking up on that pad of his. Ha. Ravage flicked her optics up, smiling to herself in a silent laugh. The clever ones were never as smart as they thought they were. When she cast her attention back to the lab once more she saw the stool Shockwave once occupied was empty. Wait? Where did he-?

Suddenly, a servo was reaching into the vent and grabbing Ravage by the scruff of her neck. She sent panic through the bond as she was pulled into the bright light of the laboratory. Shockwave held her level with his optic, helm tilted. “A stowaway?” he murmured, curiosity in his voice. None of the disdain or frustration Ravage was used to hearing from the other mechs the Boss usually consorted with.

“Put me down!” she hissed. Shockwave did. Ravage ran for the shadows formed under a nearby workstation table. Shockwave raised the pincher of his claw to the chin of his helm.

“A beast-former,” He said, an answer to a question only he, himself had asked. Shockwave knelt slightly at the table she resided under. Not enough where she could see his helm but enough his knees were bent and he could rest his pincher claw on his leg. “Where did you come from?” he asked, somehow gentle, though his voice remained monotone. Ravage did not answer. The shadow of the purple mech fell away, but soon returned. Ravage watched carefully as a claw placed an open energon cube at the foot of the table. He walked away soon after.

**Ravage: Report!** Soundwave’s voice was strained through the bond.

**I’m fine!** Ravage relayed hastily. She blinked slowly, collecting herself. **Shockwave caught me. He didn’t hurt me. He gave me energon.** Ravage curled up against herself. **I think he thinks I’m lost or something. Soundwave, what do I do?**

Soundwave was quiet for a few breems. **Don’t blow your cover. Not yet.**

Ravage hesitated, unsure. **I don’t need the energon. He does.** Soundwave shared Ravage’s discomfort and showed this in the bond.

**Soundwave: Will intervene if necessary. Ravage: keep your cover, gather intel**

Ravage began lapping up the energon. It was good. She hadn’t had an extra energon ration since the twin cyberbirds were born. It settled in her tanks nicely. She crept out from under the table and slinked across the room to a corner where she could see Shockwave. He noticed her movement and flicked his optic towards her for a moment. She glared at him. He turned back to his work.

**Do you guys really think my rock collection is boring?**

Ravage did not move a muscle but responded through the bond, **Your rock collection is great, Laser.** Laserbeak pulsed appreciation at her.

Ravage stayed like that for a joor or two, staring at Shockwave, safe in her corner. Shockwave had not moved from his workstation at all. If not for his claw moving over the datapad he could be mistaken for a statue.

The evening joors descended on the two. Shockwave finally offlined his datapad. Ravage stood on all four pedes as Shockwave made his way near her. He stood a good 20 yards away when he spoke. “I have to lock up for the night. You can remain here, if you wish. I cannot say anything for the others in this base, but you will be safe in this laboratory.” Ravage tilted her helm, eyeing Shockwave warily with suspicion. But all Shockwave did was turn to leave. The lights of the lab dimmed and Ravage was left alone.

After some back and forth with Soundwave, Ravage elected to spend the night, in case Shockwave came back for some late night, “sciencing,” as Buzzsaw called it. Ravage jumped up to the workstation Shockwave had been working at and onlined the datapad he had been working on. Blueprints. All drawn in shaky, squiggly hand by the Scientist. All of machines, gadgetry, and weapons of function and design Ravage didn't recognize. She huffed. It appeared the Mech had been working after all. Ravage sent the images over the bond and then circled the lab to find a comfortable place to sleep for the night.

……………….

It was early. Earlier than Ravage preferred to be up but when she jolted her head up from the warm, buzzing machine she had curled up on the night before she found that Shockwave was already in the lab, tinkering with some sort of metal paneling. As Ravage gained her bearings she found an open energon cube laying before her. Ravage stared at it. She huffed, a laugh so dry it was pretty much noiseless. The fool. He was going to starve himself. For what gain?

Ravage closed the cube with her pedes and took it into her fangs. She jumped onto the table adjacent to the station Shockwave was working at. Shockwave must have heard her because he did not startle at her sudden appearance. “Stubborn, observant Mech,” Ravage complained internally. She placed the cube down. Shockwave looked at her, optic light glinting with curiosity. “I don’t need your charity,” she hissed.

Shockwaves audial fins pointed down. “You must be hungry.”

“Ha! And I'm sure there’s plenty to go around down here in the Gladiatorial Pits!” Ravage chastised sarcastically. Shockwave turned his attention back to the metal paneling in front of him.

“I can get by,” was all he said.

“Liar,” thought Ravage. “And not even a good one.”

“Take it,” Ravage insisted

“No,” Shockwave said with a hard tone.

“I don't even need this much,” Ravage insisted. “If you insist on starving yourself, at least take half.” Ravage looked down at the cube. Something about this conversation felt painfully familiar, to a time in the Pits where rations did not flow as freely. When only Gladiators who won their fights were awarded energon and there wasn’t enough to go around. Megatronus had put a stop to that when he won enough to partially buy a share in the Pits and ensure all Mechs got energon regardless of status. Before that though, Soundwave had always, always made sure she was fed before he was. Ravage continued to stare at the cube. “I’m smaller than you.” she said quietly. “I don’t need as much.”

She saw Shockwave’s pinched claw push the energon cube a little closer to her. “Drink your fill first.” Ravage did so, drinking less than half. She then stared down Shockwave as he picked up the cube with a shaky claw. Was he already starting to feel drained? He was still recovering from long term deprivation. Shockwave opened a port on his side and pulled out a small tube that he began to pour the contents of the cube into. Ravage wasn’t fully sure what to expect from the Mech without a mouth but it hadn’t really been this. Soon the cube was empty and placed back on the table.

As Shockwave began tooling with the metal sheet again he began asking questions, seemingly unable to hold back his curious nature any further. Who was she? Where did she come from? Did she come from the Beast Lands? Why was she here? Why come to the Pits of all places? Why was she hiding in the ventilation shaft? Where had she been getting energon from previously?

Ravage was trying her best to keep her answers vague. Others she answered in a hard glare like they did not even dignify a response. She was a cybercat. Nowhere. Glare. Shelter, why else. Glare. It's quiet in the vents. Glare.

When she felt her nerves fray she snapped “Why did YOU come to the Pits huh, what's an empurata bot doing among gladiators?”

Shockwave was quiet. Internally, Ravage was smacking her paw pede in her faceplate over and over, instantly regretting her words.

“I did not choose to come here. But I choose to remain.” Ravage knew the answer was honest, more painfully honest than she had expected. “There is security to be found here, even for one such as me.”

“Why help me then? Don’t you have everything to lose in hiding me?” Ravage asked, an edge of bitterness to her voice.

Shockwave thought some more. “Someone helped me,” he said, “When I needed it.”

……………….

Soundwave felt sick. When Megatronus had asked him to keep an optic on their new charge, he had readily agreed. He had his own interest in the purple mech after all. He had brought Shockwave to the fold himself. If there was anything nefarious in Shockwave’s actions, it would be better to catch it early.

He hadn’t expected Shockwave to be kind to his daughter. To treat her as an equal who was worthy of his protection. He hadn’t expected him to sacrifice his daily allotment of energon for her! He had heard empurata bots often had their emotional centers ripped out, making them incapable of feeling after their operation. That empurata bots were often victims of shadowplay, dampening any connections they might still have and making them cold and self-centered.

Soundwave was already doubting this narrative based on the few interactions he had with Shockwave. His voice was often flat and monotone, but many mechs accused Soundwave of sounding the same. It was small and light, but the Mech did have an em field. And he had felt it flare with emotion every time Soundwave had been in his vicinity. Relief, Fatigue, Fear, Guilt, Shame, Embarrassment…Mostly negative emotions he realized, except the bit of Joy he felt when seeing his lab the first time. They were dulled compared to most mechs but they were there.

Cold? Self-centered? Soundwave now had evidence that argued the opposite. Was this more evidence of senate propaganda? Of making mechs so fearful of empurata bots that none would wish to encounter them. His spark hurt. He wasn't sure what he was pulsing over the bond at this point, but Ravage was pulsing concern and comfort back to him. Soundwave had to pull himself together. He would make things right.

Chapter Text

Shockwave was getting used to his new companion in the lab. The cybercat had been lounging on different machines the last cycle and a half, always eyeing him from a distance. If he had a properly equipped servo he might have considered trying to pet her in one of her rare moments she deemed to be close to him. But he couldn't imagine the pincher claw would be enjoyable for either of them. 

When he heard the door of his laboratory slide open, he jumped up, looking frantically at Ravage's spot in the corner. With relief, he saw she was already speeding towards him. He directed her towards a compartment under his workstation that had been, thankfully, installed with a curtain. With some difficulty with one pincher claw, he hurriedly shut it closed behind her, nearly getting snagged on the rings.

“Shockwave,” a deep voice commanded behind him.

Shockwave whirled around, positioning his frame so his thick pedes stood in front of the curtain. Megatronus and Soundwave stood before him. Megatronus grinned at him. “How is the laboratory? Everything, to your satisfaction?” 

Shockwave looked up at him. “It is…satisfactory.” He said, uncertainly.

“Have you anything to show so far?”

Shockwave's yellow optic blinked. “Just blueprints.” Megatronus’ grin never faded. He invaded Shockwave’s space, chest square to his optic, looking down at him with piercing, red eyes.

“Are you hiding something, em-pur-a-ta?” Megatronus asked, punctuating every syllable. 

“Of course not,” Shockwave said, begging any waver not to show up in his voice. 

“Hmmm,” Megatronus stepped back. “Are you aware, Shockwave, that Soundwave can read minds?” Shockwave froze.

“I was aware he had an Outlier ability,” There wasn't much hope in hiding the waver in his voice now. “One that affected the processor.” He looked at Soundwave. With his visor completely opaque he was completely unreadable. “I was unaware he could read minds.”

“This does not need to be a difficult Shockwave. Consent to a mind-reading, prove yourself a worthy scientist for the coalition.”

Shockwave huffed. “Unnecessary. I have nothing to hide.” Shockwave shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. It appeared jerky and half-hearted. 

Megatronus grinned, his smile stretching his face plates in a way Shockwave now found terrifying.

“Then this should not be a problem.” He turned to face Soundwave.

Soundwave looked to his leader. “Megatronus,” he pleaded.

“Soundwave,” Megatronus said sternly, optics hard. Soundwave stared back. An argument was being had. One that Soundwave was losing. Finally Soundwave acquiesced, walking past Megatronus. Shockwave pressed against the table as far away from the two as he could but that did not stop Soundwave's stifling presence from pressing ever closer to him. 

“Apologies,” he mumbled. He grabbed Shockwave fiercely by the forearm. Shockwave tried to pull away but the Gladiator's grip was strong. Soundwave placed his other hand on Shockwave's forehelm. Shockwave stared at him, optic light wide and bright. Nothing happened for a klick. Then two.

 “What-” Shockwave tried to ask when he felt his presence being pulled away, down, down, down into the depths of his own processor.

……………….

Soundwave wasn't sure this would work. He hadn't been able to read surface Shockwave’s surface thoughts. There was no guarantee an in-depth processor dive would yield different results. Even if they did, he hadn't told Megatronus about Ravages’ predicament to trick Shockwave into allowing a dive on him. He hadn't even been able to warn Ravage in time! But regardless, Megatronus was Megatronus and here he was, servos on a Mech he desperately wanted to fix things with.

He concentrated. The lab slowly faded away. The familiar etchings of a processor came into focus. Its crevices, its nooks, its crannies, the grinded textures of compartments. Compartments stacked on top of another. Memory banks, emotional centers, personality cores, everything that made a mech themselves. It was usually at this point a mech in a dive would start fighting back, processor putting up panicked firewalls in an attempt to keep him out. He was dangerous after all, so close to all these vital components. Soundwave waited a moment, situating himself to his surroundings. Shockwave's processor was particularly orderly. Incredibly organized. Massive. He could only imagine the amount of knowledge stored here. However, he noticed whole sections damaged, scorched, blackened or sizzling with static.

He realized he had been there for an extended period of time and no firewalls had been placed. Soundwave spread his awareness out. He could feel Shockwave’s presence, stronger than a mech normally would be for one of his processor dives. Soundwave pulsed inquisitively at the presence of Shockwave. It took a few moments but Shockwave pulsed curiously back. Interesting. The questions around Shockwave continue to grow. Soundwave supposed he should look for the thing he pretended he didn't know. He reached for the memories of the last few days. A few beckoned to him. Only now, the panicked presence that was Shockwave was putting firewalls to try and block him. Adorable. Soundwave tore through them easily. He looked through the memories to see Ravage laying around the lab when the memories started to fizzle out at the edges. 

What? He didn't have a frame in this space necessarily, so he didn't need to turn but in his mind's eye he did and as he did he was grabbed by a presence. Grabbed? He had never been touched by another in this space. His mind felt white hot, the spot he had been grabbed felt like it was burning. At the edges of the burn he could just hear pleading, “Stop,” He turned to the voice and suddenly it wasn't he who was looking through memories but his that were being looked through. Of him and his Cybercat. “Ravage,” he thought desperately. “The beast-former,” the presence thought, “A cassette?” It let go. It let go and the heat died with it and suddenly. Soundwave was alone.

Soundwave oriented himself. He was still in Shockwave’s processor. If the presence called Shockwave was still here it was too muted to be felt. 

Soundwave restored the memories to their rightful place. He went to withdraw, but nothing about this felt right. He couldn't leave this processor in disarray. His mind pulsed with apology, with warmth, with comfort. He tried to stretch it to every corner. Then he withdrew.

……………….

Shockwave was very still in his arms when the surroundings of the lab came back into his view. Though Soundwave's servo still laid a palm across his helm Shockwave's optic pointed towards the ground. “You knew,” he said quietly. He shook his head. “She was yours all along.”

Before Soundwave could answer, Ravage jumped up on the table. “Hardly,” she puffed up, “I'm my own Mech.” When Shockwave did not even lift his helm to look at her, she deflated and looked at Soundwave with worry. 

Megatronus pushed Soundwave aside.

“I hope you have learned a dear lesson, Shockwave. Nothing escapes our view. We. Know. Everything.” He grabbed the edge of Shockwave's chest plating. “Do not lie to me again.” He said darkly. 

Shockwave had still not looked up from the floor “Yes, Megatronus.” He answered. 

Soundwave glowered. “Intimidation: unnecessary. Shockwave: faithful.” 

Megatronus faltered a bit. “Ah, but Soundwave-” 

“Megatronus: trusts Soundwave?

“Yes, but-”

“Soundwave: can handle things from here.”

Megatronus gaped at Soundwave a bit, faltering at his Second in Command's sudden backbone. He smiled genuinely. “All right then, Soundwave.”

Once Megatronus had made his leave, Soundwave turned his attention back to Shockwave. The Mech was in a state. Pincher claw grasping firmly at his gun barrel, optic firmly pointed downward, with finials as far down as Soundwave had ever seen them. 

Soundwave stood next to the purple mech. “Apologies,” he started hesitantly. “Ravage: in laboratory under my orders.” Soundwave watched as Shockwave's audial fins wavered slightly, showing he was listening. “Soundwave: Second in Command, communications specialist and security chief for Megatronus’ coalition. Ravage: listening in as part of security detailing.” Soundwave clasped his hands together and nervously rubbed his digits together. “Soundwave: wrong to use Ravage to deceive Shockwave.”

Shockwave stood still for many breems. When Soundwave had given up on the idea of the Mech speaking back to him, Shockwave replied, “It was…logical to use an unknown agent to gather information about an unknown entity in your midst.” Shockwave vented deeply, finally relaxing the pincher arm and allowing it to rest at his side, next to Soundwave's arm. “I failed Megatronus’ test of loyalty. I have no one to blame but myself.”

To both of the mechs' surprise, Ravage had taken up near their pedes. She was weaving back and forth between Shockwave's pedes, nuzzling her helm against his legs. Shockwave's shoulder pads relaxed even further. 

Soundwave considered all that had happened. “You may have failed whatever test Megatronus had imagined.” He said, placing a servo near the pincher that had been placed at the edge of the table, “But Shockwave passed any test I could possibly conjure.” When Shockwave looked at Soundwave, Soundwave smiled, his visor brightening considerably. Shockwave's optic brightened in turn. 

“I'm sorry.” Ravage said quietly, still at Shockwave's feet. 

Shockwave did not have to think about his response at all. “Forgiven.” He said simply. 

Ravage purred as she continued to nuzzle Shockwave's legs.

Chapter Text

When Shockwave arrived at his lab the next day, Soundwave was there, leaned up against a workstation. Ravage sat on the table. Soundwave had his arms crossed comfortably over his chest plates, looking down at the Cybercat, who looked up at him reverently. The two appeared to be engaged in silent conversation, both tilting their heads, Soundwave's visor light gliding around as his eyes shifted, Ravage making several expressions in a row as the conversation shifted.

As Shockwave approached them, Soundwave's visor glinted to his direction, but he made no effort to move from his comfortable position.

“Commander,” Shockwave greeted Soundwave with a nod. Ravage stifled a laugh.

“Formality: unnecessary.” Soundwave said coolly.

“If you say so.” Shockwave replied. He brandished an energon cube from his subspace compartment. Pinching it open he placed it in front of Ravage. Ravage looked up at him, optical ridges raising up, absolutely baffled.

Soundwave rubbed the brow of his visor. “Unnecessary” Soundwave intoned, somewhat embarrassed. “Ravage: Not in need of energon.”

Ravage snickered.

Shockwave looked back and forth at the two of them. “Ah. I see.” He said in realization. It was his turn to be embarrassed.

Soundwave finally stood from his lounging position. He placed a servo on Shockwave's shoulder pad.

“Soundwave: appreciates the care Shockwave took with Ravage. Many: doubtful of cassettes’ sentience.” Soundwave's visor glared with fiery anger.

Shockwave did not know how to respond to this. He looked at the servo on his shoulder and back at Soundwave. His processor latched on to a certain piece of information.

“Cassettes?”

Soundwave smiled behind his mask. The smile reached his visor and the light crinkled and warped in a joyous pattern.

“Soundwave: cassette-former.”

Soundwave moved away from the station, parting a few feet away from Shockwave. The panel that made up Soundwave's chest panel clicked open and Shockwave realized the panel was actually a thick glass forming a window into an empty chest compartment. Ravage jumped, transforming in midair. Her mass was displaced as she shrank into a small, rectangular tape, landing in Soundwave's empty compartment. Just as quickly, Ravage performed the reverse transformation returning to her cybercat form. Soundwave closed the glass window of his chest compartment.

Shockwave had watched the entire sequence with rapt attention. This was the type of knowledge his processor craved. The unknown, the unusual, the mysterious being unraveled. “Fascinating!” Shockwave closed the distance between them in a second, optic bright. “The opportunities such transformations would allow! How do you utilize the cassette? How does the chest department work? Are there more cassettes? How many cassettes can you hold?” Shockwave took a moment to examine the now closed chest panel before him. “Does the chest compartment work like a tape deck? Does it play sound? Can-”

Soundwave raised a servo. “Cease questioning.” His helm was tilted back in surprise. He was certain this was the most words he had heard Shockwave speak in the entire time he had known him.

Shockwave's audial fins pointed down. “Of course. I forgot my place.” He said quietly.

Soundwave's spark hurt a bit at the downturned fins. It wouldn't hurt to answer some of the scientist’s questions.

“Casesstes: deployed for surveillance and espionage. Cassettes: able to record data to be played audibly in tape deck. As well as transmit data securely to each other and to me through cassette-host bond. Shockwave has already met Ravage, Buzzsaw. There is one other. Laserbeak. Perhaps, Shockwave will meet her as well. As for sound-”

“Fascinating!” Soundwave played from his speakers, the exclamation Shockwave had let out just moments before.

Shockwave's fins twitched excitedly. He thought for a moment. “Just surveillance? I would imagine they would be a great advantage in the gladiator pit.”

Soundwave's visor darkened. “Never in the gladiatorial pit.” Ravage whined. She had curled around Soundwave's pedes post transformation and now nuzzled against him.

The light in Soundwave's visor returned. “Soundwave: has something to show you.” He walked to the back of the laboratory, Shockwave following behind.

“On Megatronus' behalf,” he beckoned to the contents on the table. Shockwave examined them. Two detachable purple servos laid out on the table. Servos. With digits. Shockwave looked at Soundwave with surprise. “Megatronus believes a mech is only at their best with the right tools. A scientist, building weapons, will benefit from servos.”

Shockwave had to reset his voice box to be able to respond. “I can only use one.” He said shakily. “My cannon was grafted on to be unremovable. I tried.”

“One then” said Soundwave. He took Shockwave's claw in his servo. He pulsed comfort and trust. Shockwave looked at him and nodded. Soundwave untwisted the claw pincher from his arm and settled the purple servo to the joint. Once in place, Shockwave was able to use the barrel of his cannon to twist the servo tightly into place. The lines of the servo connected. Shockwave moved his digits. He gasped slightly from his voice box, venting air a little bit.

“How does it feel, Shocks?” Ravage asked. Shockwave had not even realized she had jumped up on the table in front of him.

“Like mine.” He replied simply. He placed the servo on Ravage's head and rubbed the digits between her ears. Ravage purred. Soundwave smiled.

……………….

Ravage was already lounging on a workstation table when Shockwave arrived at the laboratory the next cycle. Though Shockwave looked around the laboratory thoroughly with his optic, Soundwave was nowhere to be seen. He approached Ravage and gave her a friendly pet to the head. “Am I being spied on?” Though his tone was flat, his bright optic conveyed humor.

Ravage chuckled softly. “Hardly, if I was spying you would have never seen me in the first place. Though-” Ravage frowned as she thought about how Shockwave had pulled her for the vents in her earlier espionage assignment, “You are an annoyingly observant mech.”

Shockwave huffed lightly. Ravage realized the noise was the expressionless mech's version of a chuckle. “Then why are you here?” He asked simply, pulling together tools and metals for his latest project. A simple gadget Ravage recognized from her snooping of Shockwave's blueprints.

“I don't know how to tell you this, Shocks, but the Pits aren't especially exciting.”

“Surely, your master has work you could be doing.” Shockwave replied conversationally, not looking at Ravage as he held a blowtorch to the twisted metal in front of him. Some sparks flew up from the workstation.

Ravage hissed, “Soundwave isn't my master. I'm my own mech.”

“Ah?” Shockwave replied with an uplift to his voice, an encouragement for more information.

Ravage did not elaborate.

“Well if it is a hobby you wish for, there are plenty of interesting things to study in this laboratory.” Shockwave suggested.

“Oh yes, I'm sure I would be just wonderful at operating the lab’s machinery with my paws,” Ravage replied sarcastically.

“I made do with no servos.” Shockwave challenged.

Ravage had nothing to say to that. “I wouldn't know the first thing to do in here.” She said looking around at all the strange equipment with their dials and buttons and vials and corks and fuses.

Shockwave was quiet for a few moments, pondering. The sparks stopped as he servo stilled. Finally, he pulled an ancient looking data pad from his subspace and pushed it towards Ravage. Curious, she onlined it with one of her paw pedes. It was filled almost to capacity with scientific journals, published studies, articles of interest, and… “fiction novels?” She asked, incredulously looking up at Shockwave.

“Ah yes,” Shockwave answered, never removing an optic from his work. “Apparently the senator was…fond of them. I find that I no longer care for them.”

“Why not delete them, then?” Ravage questioned, looking through the extensive library of romantic sounding titles.

“Data is data. They still may have their use.”

Ravage shook her head. She did not understand this odd mech. “What do you want me to do with this?” She asked.

“You do not know what to do here. It is knowledge you seek. My personal database is far from complete but it is a place to start.” Shockwave explained, holding the metal up to his optic for inspection.

When Shockwave glanced at Ravage, her nose was slightly curled up as she looked down at the data pad. It was only then that Shockwave considered that perhaps he had overstepped his boundaries with the young beast-former.

“You do not have to,” he said softly.

Ravage seemed to make a decision. She took the data pad in her mouth and jumped off the workstation. She settled in a corner further in the lab and onlined the pad once again, seemingly reading its contents. Shockwave returned to his work. The two stayed like that for the rest of the cycle.

……………….

The next decacycle became routine. Shockwave would enter his lab to find Ravage already there. He would hand her the datapad and she would spend most of the cycle in the corner reading its contents. She never discussed what she read with Shockwave. That suited him just fine. He appreciated her company, she was quiet and provided little distraction. There would be some cycles where Ravage would be absent from the lab, presumably busy with some chore or mission from Soundwave and Shockwave was surprised to find he missed her quiet presence during those times.

A few cycles into this routine, during one of the days Ravage was gone, Shockwave worked on a personal project. He had managed to acquire some fabrics and soft materials with a simple request to Megatronus (Who told him to just ask Soundwave about such things next time). He noticed Ravage liked to be warm and would sometimes move to the lay upon heated machinery in his lab when she took a break from her reading. He also assumed from this that she didn't mind a hard surface, but perhaps a layer of plush would be desired too. He found an old shipping container big enough for Ravage to lie in in one of the storage closets and filed down the sides. He then wrapped it in a thin layer of fabric, soft and plush, but still retaining a bit of its hard surface. He laid a large, fluffy mat in Ravage’ chosen corner and put the modified shipping container on top of it. He then added some extra lighting that could be adjusted to the area. He had noticed Ravage straining her optics a bit while reading, but he knew she liked the dark shadows as well. He made the switches big enough for paws to easily slide around. When he stood back to observe his work he was satisfied. It was only logical that someone who had started spending so much time in the lab should have a dedicated space.

The next cycle was a rare one where Shockwave had arrived before Ravage. He was slightly startled when Ravage nuzzled his servo, assuming she was spending the day training with Soundwave or some such. Her optics looked particularly tired that day. He handed her the data pad and she jumped down to make her way to her corner.

Shockwave could hear a slight gasp around the data pad in her mouth. He turned as she put the data pad down on the mat and tested the texture with her pedes. She must have liked it because she walked a giant circle around it. Next the container. She delicately placed a pede inside, ears perking up. She fully crept inside, circling the base and plopping down. She noticed Shockwave watching her.

“Did you do this?” Ravage asked, ears erect, staring Shockwave down with curious, yellow optics.

Shockwave’s optic blinked.

“I don't see anyone else who could have done it.” He said cautiously. “Do you like it?”

“Like it?” She placed her head on the side of the container. “I love it,” she mumbled just barely loud enough for Shockwave to hear. She promptly fell asleep.

Chapter Text

“I don't see why this is important,” huffed Shockwave. He and Ravage were walking down a hallway to a large gathering room.

“Megatronus wants you to meet the others.” Ravage reminded him. “Besides, you're building weapons for these mechs. Wouldn't it be easier to do if you had, I don't know, intel on them?” Ravage argued, ears twitching as she tried to pick the right words to convince this seriously stubborn Mech.

Shockwave huffed in a way that was almost a groan. “I could get all the information I need from the Pit’s listed mech schematics. This is unnecessary.”

Ravage rolled her eyes. “Come on, we will meet the twins there.”

Shockwave's fins picked up a little bit at that. He hadn't seen Buzzsaw since the medbay. And he hadn't met Laserbeak at all yet. When Ravage and he did have conversations in the lab, she often talked about them. Or complained about them. Or Soundwave. He was curious about all of them as a unit.

Shockwave entered the large gathering space. He assumed it had once been a training room converted into a living space. There was a thin upper deck where he stood now, room for a few mechs to spectate on happenings below. As he peered over the edge he could see it was currently full of mechs on comfortable seating, tables of makeshift games, and a small entertainment center mechs were crowded around. It was slightly crowded, making Shockwave uncomfortable.

He felt a weight land one of his shoulder pads. A cyberbird, yellow and black perched on him. “Hey, Shocks, remember me?’” He asked, wings spread wide and giving his body a dramatic wiggle. Shockwave was about to answer when he felt a smaller, much softer weight land on his opposite shoulder pad. Another cyberbird, identical in size and shape, and with matching visor to Soundwave and Buzzsaw was now perched upon him. She differed to Buzzsaw only only in color, with red highlights instead of yellow. Her head was ducked slightly.

“That's Laserbeak. She's shy.” Buzzsaw explained. Laserbeak lifted her head at her brother, seemingly annoyed but said nothing.

Shockwave nodded at her respectfully and turned his attention to Buzzsaw. “I remember you; you're a difficult cyberbird to forget.” Ravage laughed out loud at that.

Buzzsaw grinned. “Youre saying I'm memorable.”

“Or annoying,” Laserbeak muttered quietly.

Buzzsaw was cut off from any potential sassy reply by the approach of two mechs with large aerial wings adorning their backs. Shockwave looked at them in slight remembrance. He once had wings. His back strut hurt with phantom pain of where they had once been attached. He pushed the thought from his mind.

“Is this the scientist we have heard rumor about?” The blue aerial asked.

“Hmm didn't realize he was an empurata bot,” The purple aerial’s mouth plate curled up with disgust.

“What of it?” Buzzsaw's jovial tone was replaced with a hard edge of defensiveness. Shockwave eyed him. Ravage stood at his pedes on all fours, back arched in tension.

“Please I am just-” Shockwave's monotone reply was drowned out by the blue aerial once again.

“It's just expected that the freak would hang out with the freaks,” The blue mech smirked down at the cybercat, who looked ready to lunge at any second.

The purple mech clapped her hands together with a seeming death wish, “It makes sense Soundwave would take in this sad state of a mech, he's the king of all freaks,” she laughed, the sound echoing all around Shockwave's audials. Buzzsaw swooped. Ravage lunged. The purple mech was fading from view in a swirl of cyan energy and with a popping noise she disappeared completely. “Another Outlier!” Thought Shockwave. The blue mech was running as Ravage and Buzzsaw pursued.

Shockwave thought to follow but the cyberbird on his other shoulder pad was shaking slightly. Shockwave raised a digit to her in invitation and Laserbeak nuzzled it softly. “That's Thundercracker and Skywarp,” she said quietly. “Skywarp can teleport.”

Shockwave had many questions about that, but he turned his thoughts toward Laserbeak. “You are all very loyal towards Soundwave.” It wasn’t intended as a question or a push for more information but still, Laserbeak thought for a few moments.

“He is our Carrier,” she finally admitted. Shockwave's processor stuttered. Carrier? Carrier?

Without even stopping to consider if it was an appropriate question he asked, “Who is the Sire?” Almost incredulous, like he didn't believe it.

Laserbeak shook her head. “Buzzsaw and I don't know who our Sire is. I don't think Ravage does either.” Shockwave’s processor was spinning. He was adding to a list of facts he knew about Soundwave

-Outlier
(Ability able to affect the processor in some, currently unknown way)
-Second in command
-Security Chief
-Cassette-former
-Carrier to three cassettes

“Don-dont ask Soundwave about it. He doesn't like talking about the carriages.” Laserbeak pleaded, almost desperately. Shockwave nodded at her. Laserbeak relaxed.

“Why tell me at all?” Shockwave could not imagine how revealing this information to him benefitted the cyberbird in any way.

Laserbeak took a minute to answer. “You are smart. Ravage says you seek knowledge. You would have found out sooner or later.” Laserbeak's visor dimmed. “Many in the coalition don't know. They assume we are Soundwave's pets, refusing to learn anything more.” Laserbeak had spit out the word pets bitterly, bristling her feathers to try to regain her composure.

“They are foolish.” Shockwave turned his optic to Laserbeak best he could with her perched on his shoulder. “All three of you are clearly intelligent.” He said firmly. Laserbeak’s visor brightened.

Ravage and Buzzsaw returned. When Shockwave looked over the railing he could see Thundercracker limping a bit towards Skywarp who was hiding in a corner. He could see fang marks clearly adorning his leg. Ravage looked pleased with herself.

Shockwave made his way around the room. He interviewed all the subjects there, asking about their strengths, abilities, and weaknesses to get a gauge of what inventions would be useful to add to their artillery. Some regarded him warily either because of the protective trio of beast-formers around him or because of his nature as an empurata bot. The other aerials in the room refused to speak to him, probably because of the Ravage incident. The triple changers, Blitzwing and Astrotrain spoke kindly to him and he took the opportunity to ask them extensively about their transformation into both ground and flying machines. The green group of Constructicons, as they called themselves, asked him extensive questions about Hook. Their brother, apparently, who had been stuck in the medbay away from them for a bit. He was intrigued by a group bond of six sparks and tried to ask them a few questions in turn, but they knew little about it. He was particularly uncomfortable by the hard way Bludgeon stared at him when they spoke and the way he touched a servo to his chest when he took his leave. One of the grounders, Breakdown, was actually friendly enough with Ravage to allow him to stroke her back, though he looked warily at Shockwave.

By the end he was exhausted and none of them had been nearly as interesting as Soundwave and the compatriots that he had gathered around him.

……………….

Ravage was a table away from Shockwave while he worked in the laboratory. He would never allow her on the workstation he was actually working on for safety reasons. But when she wished to speak to him or be close to him while he worked she would often take up residence on the table nearby. Ravage lazily watched him work, head down on the table, body fully relaxed, tail swishing idly. If Shockwave had the mouth to smile he would have.

“How goes the reading?” He asked. She had been taking his datapad for over a decacycle now. Surely she must be well read enough by now to have some thoughts on the scientific contents that lie within.

Ravage's ears flattened on her head and her optical ridges creased. When Shockwave noticed he put his tool down.

“I have only been reading the fiction novels,” She admitted.

Ah. He should have expected as much. She hadn't really taken up any interest in the scientific aspects of his work. Though she seemed to like to watch the methodical nature of it when he worked. “You say this like it is an issue.”

Ravage raised her head but avoided Shockwave’ optics. “I thought you would be disappointed.”

Shockwave looked at her, optic burning a bit brighter. Ravage had been learning to pick up his nearly imperceptible em field a bit better, but in this instance it blared surprise.

“On the contrary. Knowledge is knowledge. All reading is beneficial.”

Ravage chuckled. “I don't know that Cybertronian romance novels count as knowledge.”

Shockwave stared at her. “There's romance novels on there?”

Ravage nodded. “Many, among other genres.”

Shockwave pushed whatever implications that might imply about his former self away.

“Regardless, you now have a branch of study that I do not fully grasp in this form. That is a benefit. If you enjoy it, that is doubly beneficial.” Shockwave picked up a tool to continue his work.

“You’re saying I'm smarter than you.” Ravage said, a mischievous glint in her optics.

Shockwave huffed in his trademark chuckle. After a moment the tool stilled in his servo. Ravage waited.

“Why do you remain?” He asked in his monotone.

Ravage thought for a moment. “I think you would die of boredom if I wasn't around.”

Shockwave huffed again in laughter.

……………….

Soundwave was no closer to any results in his personal investigations regarding Shockwave. Though Ravage remained in his lab nearly every cycle she would come to the habsuite every night with updates about Cybertronians holding each other close, daring escapes, swashbuckling action, and heart wrenching death scenes. He loved that Shockwave had seemingly, unawarely, given Ravage a new love for reading, but it didn't provide him with any new intel regarding his odd resistance to his surface mind-reading abilities.

Even after Laserbeak’s one encounter with him all she said was, “he's nice.” Which is all well and good; she's glad his daughter, who had the hardest time of her cassettes forming any connection to others, found the one-eyed scientist harmless enough to describe him as nice, but it also did not give him much intel.

Ravage knew he was starting to feel frustrated about this over the bond. He was pulsing back mischievousness, which was not unusual for any of his cassettes. He only had himself to blame, he supposed. He had his own mischievous streak.

The joors ticked on. Soundwave checked his chronometer. Odd. It was past his shift. Ravage would usually come to collect him by now. A system they had developed early into Megatronus’ building of the coalition because Soundwave would easily push himself into overworking and under recharging. Ravage would collect him and he would recharge with his cassettes for the night time joors in his habsuite, rising early to ensure security measures never slipped too far behind.

Soundwave thought for a moment. He collected three energon cubes from the dispensary room and made his way to the laboratory.

He entered the door code. As Second in Command and security chief he knew the codes to every door in the Pits. Shockwave looked at him in surprise when he entered. He must have looked silly, balancing two cubes on his forearm and holding one in his servo.

Slightly embarrassed, “I have come to collect my cassette.”

“Oh, was I late? I was just SO absorbed in this chapter.” Ravage looked at him cheekily. “She is definitely going to get a talking to in manners later,” Soundwave thought.

“Ah, is it past shift already?” Shockwave asked, checking at his chronometer. Soundwave guessed he wasn't the only one who relied on Ravage to keep him on schedule and prevent overworking.

“Shockwave: has not consumed his energon portion yet?” Soundwave asked, already knowing the answer. He did not stop at the dispensary room this morning and he had not left his lab all day according to what he had seen the cameras in the monitoring room.

“Ah, no. I was running late this morning,” Shockwave took one of the cubes Soundwave was balancing so he wouldn't have to struggle. “Thank you.” Shockwave said.

Soundwave placed one cube in front of Ravage, who began to lap it up graciously. She pretended to keep reading the data pad but really kept an optic on her Carrier and the scientist.

Soundwave cradled his energon cube awkwardly in both servos. Shockwave stood stiffly with his cube in his single servo.

“Oh Primus! Neither one of these dummies are going to consume their energon,” thought Ravage, internally cringing.

Soundwave finally broke the silent tension. “Shockwave: not going to consume energon?”

Shockwave's audial fins stood unnaturally high, shaking a bit. “I do not have a normal intake.” He said carefully. “Other mechs find my way of fueling disturbing so I often wait until I am alone.”

Soundwave internally palmed his servos to his faceplate. He had his own issues fueling in front of others. Of all the inconsiderate actions he could have taken, he had to give him fuel.

“Soundwave: Will not be disturbed,” he said awkwardly. “Shockwave: should fuel.”

Shockwave’s optic dimmed a bit. “If you insist.” He said, tone a bit resigned. As he pulled at his side port to pull out his intake tube he asked, “Do you not remove your mask in front of others?”

Soundwave froze. He remembered the one piece of intel Ravage had given him on Shockwave: he was annoyingly observant.

Shockwave continued. “If you wish to fuel, I will not look.” He was looking down as he stated it, concentrating on pouring fuel into the narrow hole of his intake tube. It felt strangely intimate to Soundwave. Though Shockwave was not looking at him to see it, he nodded. He took a chair from the table nearby, back facing the purple mech. Ravage jumped on the table to join him, staring daggers at the mech behind him in case he dared lift his head to get a peek at Soundwave's face.

Soundwave raised his cube with shaky digits. With a quiet click sound and a transformation sequence his battle mask retracted. Shockwave heard the click but could feel Ravages’ optics on him so kept his optic to his tubing, even when there was no more energon left to pour. Even when he heard another click and the sounds of a reverse transformation he kept his optic firmly on the tubing. It was only when he felt a servo lightly touch his shoulder pad that he looked up to see Soundwave inches away, mask back into place. Soundwave pressed his digits into Shockwave a little harder and then stepped away. “Ravage,” he called. And then they were gone, leaving Shockwave stunned, shoulder pad burning where Soundwave's digits had grazed.

……………….

“I can't believe you didn't even talk to him.” Ravage complained.

Soundwave offlined his optics for a moment. They were safely in their habsuite and he had removed his visor and mask. He sat at the edge of the berth, speaking to the cybercat sat on the floor. Onlining his optics, “Ravage: planned encounter.” He gave Ravage his best disappointed, Carrier frown.

Ravage stood firm. “I saw an opportunity.” She continued, insistent, “You're obviously interested in the mech, and he has some weird fascination with you, but you were never going to make a move!”

A move? Soundwave’s processor stalled. “Soundwave's interest: purely academic,” he said.

Ravage scoffed. “Sure.” She looked at the twin birds in their perches. “Help me out here you two.”

“I'm staying out of this one,” Buzzsaw said, preening his feathers.

Laserbeak stared right at Soundwave from his position on the top nest. Optics bright red, unobscured by a visor, they seemed to stare straight into his spark. “You like him,” she decided.

Soundwave made a clicking noise with his voice box.

“Ravage: reading too many romance novels.”

Ravage offlined his optics. When he online them again he had a look in them that didn't seem like he was going to drop the subject. He surprised Soundwave by accepting it, “Yeah, ok Boss. Whatever you say.”

Soundwave picked her up gently and pulled her close to him as he laid down on the berth. “Cassettes: Soundwave’s only priority.”

“What about Megatronus?” Buzzsaw said softly.

“Megatronus' collation: a benefit to cassettes.” Soundwave explained. “We argue for equal rights for all Cybertronians, including beast-formers,” He said firmly.

“Prioritizing us doesn't mean you can't have things outside of us,” Ravage argued. “You and Shockwave are similar in a lot of ways. You would get along.”

“Soundwave: gets along fine with Shockwave. Shockwave: benefits the cause.”

“That's not what I mean,” Ravage sighs. “I just want you to be happy, Carrier.” Soundwave snuggles his eldest daughter close.

“Soundwave: is happy.”

Chapter Text

When Shockwave arrived at the lab the next morning, Ravage and the twin cyberbirds, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak were awaiting him.

He stood before them warily. He blinked his optic.

“Am I in trouble with Soundwave?” He asked, worried. Buzzsaw laughed.

“No way Shocks.” Shockwave had no idea how that nickname had stuck. “We have the day off from patrols today and Ravage says this is the cool place to hang.”

“I did not say that. I said this is where I hang out. It is in no terms, “cool.”

“Wow sis, harsh. Did you hear that, Shocks? Ravage just called you uncool.”

Shockwave blinked his optic at the pair. “She would be accurate. I am running at an average temperature.” Buzzsaw grinned at him.

A light weight landed on his shoulder pad.

“I think Shockwave is cool.” Laserbeak said quietly.

“You would be the only one.” Ravage teased.

Laserbeak tucked in her wings and fully sat on his shoulder pad, curling up near the crook of his neck. Shockwave was unbothered by this. The light venting of the cyberbird felt nice against his plating.

“You may remain if you wish,” was all Shockwave said before turning to his own workstation. The pile of metal he had been working on was starting to resemble a large gun, a commission he was working on for Megatronus himself. Ravage sequestered herself to her reading corner. Buzzsaw flew around the lab, examining all the machines, and experimenting with all the buttons. Shockwave kept an awareness on him. As long as he wasn't in danger of blowing himself up he would let him be. Laserbeak remained on his shoulder.

“Why not choose to stay with Soundwave?” He asked her.

“He is working. The Boss is always working.” Laserbeak said sadly.

“Yeah, security is a full time job,” Buzzsaw screeched from across the room, pulling a claw away from a slightly hot burner he had turned on. “Plus his gladiatorial training, plus coalition recruitment, plus whatever chores Megatronus asks him to do.”

“Plus taking care of us,” Ravage added, looking up from her datapad to see Buzzsaw messing with a sharp dissecting tool. “Which would be easier, if a certain cyberbird wasn’t trying to poke an optic out right now.” Buzzsaw squawked, caught, and dropped the tool. He flew over to Ravage, trying to land on top of her back. Ravage batted him away with a paw pede.

Shockwave's helm scrunched up slightly. “I see.” Another thought occurred to him. “Why do you call your Carrier Boss?”

“Aw, Laser you told him?” Buzzsaw frowned slightly at Laser from his new perch on top of a thoroughly displeased Ravage.

“I trust Shocks.” Laser said firmly. To Shockwave, “Not many mechs know Soundwave is our Carrier. Boss is a nickname Buzzsaw came up with to call him in public. Only us, Megatronus, and now, you, know the truth.”

Shockwave titled his helm at Laserbeak to stare at her. What? He gripped the table with his one good servo. Why? Why trust him? Was this another loyalty test? If so, what was he supposed to do with this information?

“Shockwave?” Laserbeak nudged his helm. Absent-mindedly, he rubbed his digits over her feathers. She chirped at him, worriedly. It would be fine. Whatever this was, he would figure it out. There wasn't an obvious crossroads or lie to keep like there had been with Ravage. There wasn’t a choice to be made yet. So he would keep the course with this information in mind until his route became clear. Logically. Laserbeak chirped.

………….

Joors later, Soundwave entered the lab. His frame was more slouched than Shockwave had ever seen it and he seemed slightly annoyed.

With slight static in his voice, “I have come to collect my cassettes.” At seeing Laserbeak nestled in the crook of Shockwave's neck he softened a bit. “You do not need to watch them.”

Shockwave considered this. “Ravage, Buzzsaw, Laserbeak, are all welcome presences in the laboratory. They do not disturb my work. They entertain themselves.” He looked Soundwave in the visor. “They are well behaved. I do not need to observe them.” Something about that had Soundwave slumping his shoulders even further. The features around his visor crumpled slightly. He looked exhausted.

“Cassettes: like it here.” Soundwave said quietly. Shockwave wanted to take Soundwave's servo in his, feel the warmth of his being there, but he didn't. Instead he touched Soundwave lightly by the shoulder pad and directed him to sit at the same chair he had sat previously. He did so, looking at nothing.

Shockwave beckoned to the other cassettes and the four of them left momentarily for the energon dispensary. Each beast-former carried their own energon cube back to the lab while Shockwave balanced two in a single servo. When they returned Soundwave had not moved an inch. Shockwave placed a cube in front of Soundwave and turned around to face the opposite wall, focusing on his own, complicated process of feeding. He could hear the click and transformation sequence of Soundwave’s mask and knew he was at least consuming the energon. He remained looking at the wall. Soundwave touched his shoulder pads and he turned again, expecting nothing but a short goodbye. Instead, Soundwave leaned against the table next to him, seemingly content to be by him. It reminded him of Ravage and how the closeness would be a signal that she was ready for conversation. He looked over the lab and saw the three cassettes were in Ravage's corner drinking their energon and talking to each other softly, allowing their Carrier a moment of peace. Soundwave leaned his helm back in silence. Shockwave dared to ask a question.

“Why wear the mask?”

Soundwave did not answer for a long time and Shockwave was despairing that he once again crossed boundaries. Boundaries that would get him killed by a gladiator.

“Protection.” Soundwave answered simply.

Shockwave waited a moment. “I could have surmised that,” he said with his trademark chuckle huff.

Soundwave laughed. It was melodic and mesmerizing. “Beautiful,” Shockwave thought.

“Soundwave: can hear and sense every thought of every mech in his vicinity. Every feeling. Every glance. Every piercing beating of spark.” Soundwave glanced at Shockwave to see if he was listening. His attention was wrapped solely on Soundwave.

“Soundwave: has reacted badly in the past. Cannot hide his own reactions and emotions to thoughts unspoken. All processes clearly written all over Soundwave's face.” He raised his servos, gesticulating angrily, ashamed at his own inability. “Visor, mask: helps Soundwave hide. Helps Soundwave filter. Protects too much of Soundwave from getting out.”

Shockwave pondered over that. “You said you can't read my thoughts.”

“Shockwave is an exception.” Soundwave agreed. Soundwave turned to face Shockwave fully. He raised a servo to Shockwave's helm, resting his digits at its side. Shockwave's frame stuttered a bit. “Shockwave: so quiet.” Soundwave took his servo away, curling it at his thigh.

Shockwave vented slightly. “Why?” Shockwave asked. Soundwave shook his head. “You don't know?” Soundwave laughed again. Shockwave's audial fins twitched in tune.

“Investigation: stalled. Shockwave: an enigma.”

“So, you have been spying on me?” Shockwave said with a little huff of humor.

Soundwave chuckled. “Shockwave: hard to spy on. Never leaves the laboratory. Very dedicated to his work.” Shockwaves' optic glistened at the very light praise.

“Soundwave: grateful for this reprieve.”

In some unspoken command the cassettes had gathered behind him and without a word all of them had gone, leaving Shockwave alone in his lab.

Chapter Text

A new routine had been formed. Ravage would often greet him in the mornings. If the cyberbirds weren't busy with an aerial patrol, they too could often be found in the lab.

With their added visits Shockwave had added to Ravages corner. Now stood a multi-tiered perch nesting stand the cyberbirds could utilize. There were also a few other nests made of soft materials scattered around the lab the cyberbirds could use if they wished.

Unlike his sisters, Buzz did have an interest in the machinery in the lab and would poke and prod at different things in experimentation. Shockwave had set up a few consoles with bigger buttons for the flyer to more easily make use of with his wings, but he had yet to put his experimentation to a practical application yet. With time, Shockwave was sure.

Ravage was still reading through the Senator's massive library. At one point she cursed terribly as she realized she had been left on a cliffhanger for a sequel the Senator had apparently never downloaded.

Laserbeak, by far the quietest of the three, would either watch her twins' rambunctious behavior or catch up on her own sleep in the comfy nests. Apparently she suffered from insomnia and the almost daily patrols would often take a lot out of her. The cyberbirds being so much smaller than mechs, however, meant they could fly over Kaon unnoticed, gathering intel on the Senate's police force for Megatronus.

Right before shift ended, Soundwave would come to the lab with two energon cubes. (The beast-formers had taken to bringing their own if they were around). They would consume them facing away from each other and then they would engage in conversation. Sometimes Shockwave would ask questions he was curious about. Sometimes Soundwave would complain about his day. Sometimes the cassettes joined in to tease each other. It was light hearted, it was fun, it was joyful. It was more than Shockwave had ever had. He had had contacts before. Reliable mechs he could reach out to for job opportunities, but nothing like this. Nothing like the simple connection and intelligent conversation Soundwave and the cassettes offered him.

Which is why, one day, when Soundwave came to the lab visor downcast and body slumped, Shockwave felt worry in his spark for perhaps the first time. Once the two consumed their energon Shockwave reached out to him in question first.

“What troubles you?”

Soundwave had his servos pressed together, fingers curled, pressed deeply at his waist. He didn't look at Shockwave as he explained.

“Megatronus wishes to deploy the cassettes on a decacycle long surveillance mission.”

Shockwave felt the fuel in his lines turn cold. “What?” He looked directly at the downcast Soundwave, and asked perhaps the only question that mattered, “When?”

“After shift tomorrow.”

“Where?”

“Classified.”

When Shockwave did not respond, Soundwave finally looked up at him only to see his helm pointed downwards, optic light swirling back and forth rapidly. Signs of racing thoughts.
Soundwave blinked.

“Shockwave: worried?”

“Of course.” He said in his monotone, light still pinging rapidly, em field starting to leak enough Soundwave could actually feel his anxiety.

Of course. The cassettes spent much of their free time in the laboratory. Soundwave had incorrectly, and perhaps rudely, assumed that Shockwave was unaffected by their presence there. By his presence there.

“Cassettes: highly trained. Mission of this design: inevitable.” Soundwave reassured. He wasn't sure if he was reassuring himself or Shockwave.

“They leave without you?”

Soundwave looked down. “I am needed here.”

Shockwave lifted a digit to the bottom of his helm, in thought. “They will be prepared.” He said with confidence. Soundwave was glad for his presence.

……………….

Shockwave did not leave his lab that night. He had work to do. He pulled up the cassettes’ schematics.

……………….

A couple joors before the cassettes were set to leave, Shockwave pinged Soundwave. He wondered what that could possibly be about. He went to ask when he realized he had never given Shockwave his communications line. His foolishness reared its ugly head once again. Determined not to let his cassettes out of his sight until they had to leave, he called them all to his side as he went to Shockwave's lab to investigate.

“Excellent you've arrived. And you've brought the cassettes. Excellent. Excellent.” Soundwave and the cassettes stared at him. Shockwave's optic looked dim and his painting looked flush.

“Did you recharge last night?” Soundwave asked, worried.

“No time,” Shockwave answered, pulling Soundwave forward by the servo. He led them to a table where three gadgets sat before them.

“What is this?” asked Soundwave.

“Ravage first.” Shockwave tapped the table. Ravage jumped up curious. Soundwave was hesitant. “It's fine, boss, let's see where this goes.” Ravage assured him. Shockwave held a small device in his servo.

“I tested it on myself, but there was no time for secondary trials. Let's see, let's see.” He gently held Ravage's tail and attached the device to the end of it. It was slim and lightweight and did not hamper Ravage's ability to flick her tail around. “Perfect,” said Shockwave.

“What is it?” Asked Ravage.

“It should be intuitive. It reacts to tail flicker commands,” Shockwave was explaining. Ravage flicked her tail experimentally. A blade sprang up from the device.

“OH hooooo,” Ravage smiled mischievously. With another flick of the tail she sent a blade flying towards the wall. It stuck deep into the metal sheet. “I. Love. It.”

Soundwave gaped at Shockwave. “You armed my cassette with blades!?”

“I did!” Shockwave said with a bit more cheer in his voice than was expected for his usual monotone. “And wait till you see this next one. Laserbeak next.”

Laserbeak jumped up, a bit hesitant, but oddly curious. “Improvements need to be made, it can be made more lightweight, more seamless, but for now.” Shockwave buckled an attachment onto the body of the cyberbird. Despite his words the attachment was surprisingly lightweight and wouldn't encumber Laserbeak’s wings or her flying capabilities. “The mechanism to fire is here, on your cheat, within reach of your wing,” Shockwave was explaining. “That portion of that wall can handle the explosion.”

“Explosion!?” cried Soundwave. Laserbeak pressed the button on her chest before Soundwave could rip the gadget off of her. A small missile launched from the device on her back detonating on the far wall. A small fire flamed up and burned itself out.

“Cool.” was all Laserbeak said, her visor glinting with far more excitement than her tone conveyed.

“My turn! What you got for me, Shocks.” Buzzsaw had already leapt up on the table. Shockwave placed a small strap with sensors and a red button on Buzzsaw's neck.

“It was difficult to get the numbers right on this, to make it work on a being so small, but it should work, it should work.”

“Should!?” Soundwave had his servos grabbed to his helm in a panicked position.

Buzzsaw pressed the button and shimmered out of view.

“Whoa, what happened?” Exclaimed Buzzsaw.

“Is he invisible?” Asked Laserbeak.

“Not invisible. Camouflaged. Cloaked.” Explained Shockwave.

As Buzzsaw moved around the others could see a small shimmer around a cyberbird sized silhouette as Buzzsaw's appearance took on the color and shapes of those around him.

“Oh, that's cool and all but it doesn't make anything explode.”

Shockwave's shoulders slumped a little.

“No, but like, SUPER cool. So cool that I bet Laser would want to trade with me.” Buzzsaw grinned at his sister.

“Not on your life, Buzz.” Laser said, wings protective over the device on her body, beak wide in a vicious grin, as if she would fight her brother for it if it came down to it.

Soundwave was very still, hands still on his head. Then his visor grew very bright. He had his hands on Shockwave in a second, pulling his optic close to his faceplate.

“Shockwave,” he started in an angry and threatening voice. “What in PRIMUS are you thinking!?”

Shockwave looked at him audial fins turned all the way down. He put his servo on Soundwave's arm in a feeble attempt to push him off. His frame shook just lightly.

The cassettes were quiet.

“Carrier, you need to let him go.” Laserbeak said gently but firmly. Soundwave stared at Laserbeak angrily but did so. Shockwave took a moment to collect himself. His frame still shook but his fins returned to a neutral position.

“You armed my cassettes.” Soundwave’s servos were balled into fists. “They are to be deployed for SURVEILLANCE ONLY.”

Shockwave winced. “I'm aware of that.” He looked at Soundwave. “These weapons can also be used for defense and distraction. If the worst happens, and they are caught, they can use them for escape.”

Soundwave shook his head. “To arm them invites violence.”

“I-I was only giving them the best chance to succeed in their mission. I did not mean to displease you.” Shockwave lowered his head in deference, “Commander.”

Soundwave's spark broke a little at that. Perhaps, he had let his emotions get a little out of servo. He was sending out his cassettes as trained spies, not as his sparklings. Perhaps Shockwave saw the situation more clearly than he did.

“Not Commander; Soundwave.” He reminded Shockwave, touching his shoulder pad in apology.

He turned to his cassettes, huddled together on the table. Ravage and Buzzsaw looked down, afraid of Soundwave's wrath but Laserbeak looked up at him, visor to visor. “Let us keep the weapons, Carrier.”

“You call me Carrier?”

Laserbeak hesitated a bit. “I told Shockwave. I trust him.”

Soundwave pinched the bridge of his visor with his servo. His cassettes would be the death of him. But he would not let them leave thinking he was angry with them. He could never be angry with them that long anyway.

He took a knee so he was optic level with all of them on the table.

“It is fine. Cassettes: may keep the weapons. Use in extreme situations only. Soundwave trusts your discretion. Cassettes: always make Soundwave proud.”

“Big sap,” Ravage teased but her optics were glistening a bit.

Laserbeak leaned close and wrapped her wings around Soundwave's helm. Buzzsaw joined his wings around and soon Ravage was nuzzled against his helm as well. If they could feel the coolant bubbling up beneath his visor they did not say so. He wrapped his arms around the three of them as well.

When the four separated, Soundwave was a little embarrassed to remember that all this had happened in Shockwave’s lab under his view. But Shockwave had appeared to step away to type at a console to allow the little unit their privacy. Soundwave approached him. Shockwave kept his helm down to the keyboard.

“Soundwave: apologizes. Thank you for the gadgets. Thank you for looking out for the cassettes.”

Shockwave did look up at him then. “Of course,” was all he answered.

He was then ambushed by three rowdy cassettes. Two cyberbirds attached themselves at his shoulder pads to wrap their wings around his neck and he could feel Ravage wrapped around his leg.

“Yes! Thank you Shockwave!” The twins exclaimed in practiced synchronization. Soundwave laughed and it brought warmth to Shockwave's fatigued frame.

Chapter Text

Soundwave was nowhere to be found when shift ended the next cycle. Shockwave supposed he should not have been surprised. Soundwave did not have the cassettes to collect as an excuse to come by after all, but still. It had become routine for him to have Soundwave and he consume energon, separately but together, and make some light conversation afterward.

Shockwave hesitated. Would it be appropriate for him to seek Soundwave out? He looked at his servo, curling the digits. He thought of the time, not so long ago, when Soundwave had helped him install it. He shook his helm. Taking a short detour to the energon dispensary, he made his way to the communications center using the map Soundwave had given him so long ago. When he arrived, Soundwave was not there, but the purple mech with aerial wings. Skywarp, Soundwave remembered, the Outlier who could teleport.

“Ugh, what do you want!?” Skywarp said, in way of greeting.

“Where is Soundwave?” Asked Shockwave, wondering if he just missed him.

“I don’t know! Probably pouting in his habsuite. I’ve had to cover for him all day!” Skywarp whined. She finally looked up at Shockwave and blinked “You know you’re only supposed to get one cube, right?”

Shockwave ignored her. “Where is Soundwave’s habsuite?” he asked, straight to the point.

Skywarp squinted at him suspiciously and then grinned wide. “Oh you don’t know?”

“I do not.”

“I’ll send you the coordinates.”

As soon as Skywarp sent him the data, Shockwave was gone. “You’re welcooooome!” Skywarp sang out to him. Shockwave wasn’t going to spend the processor power figuring out the motives of that one. As long as he found Soundwave.

Shockwave made his way down some more twisting hallways. Though still underground, he sensed they were closer to the surface than normal. Was this where the higher ranking members of Megatronus’ coalition were suited? Shockwave found himself in front of a door that was marked as Soundwave’s. He knocked cautiously, already making excuses in his mind in case this ended up being a trick. There was shuffling behind the door and then silence. Shockwave knocked again. The door burst open, Soundwave standing in the frame haphazardly, looking slightly worse for wear, visor slightly skewed like he had just thrown them on.

“Shockwave?” Soundwave said quietly, voice strained with static, but clearly confused.

Shockwave had frozen, processor stalled, nearly forgetting why he was there. “Energon?” He displayed the two cubes to Soundwave.

Soundwave stared at the cubes. “What?”

Shockwave reset his vocal box. “Have you consumed your energon today?”

Soundwave’s visor was dark like he had offlined his optics behind them. “No.”

“Can I come in?”

Soundwave stepped aside from the doorframe, allowing Shockwave to enter. Soundwave’s room was bigger than Shockwave’s. It had plush red carpeting. “A bit gaudy for a mech like Soundwave.” Shockwave thought. There was a large berth pushed into one corner of the room. It was ruffled with sheets and comfort items, probably belonging to the cassettes, and it looked like it had just been in use. Probably by Soundwave before Shockwave interrupted him. There was also a large table with a set of chairs in the middle of the room and a small entertainment center on the opposite wall. There was also a smaller, separate berth in the corner and some perches with nests lining a wall. The private washrack was twice as large as Shockwave's. Shockwave put the energon down on the table and stood awkwardly in the center of the room.

“Why are you here?” asked Soundwave. His voice was still filtered but it did not sound as melodic as it usually did.

Shockwave’s audial fins pointed down. Emotion crept in as it always did around Soundwave, shadowplay be damned. Regret seeped into his lines, like he had once again made the wrong decision. “You did not come to the laboratory after shift. I thought-” Shockwave’s optic shifted up and down. “I will leave.”

Soundwave raised a servo. He looked as if he was thinking. “Stay. Consume your energon.” Soundwave took his cube and faced his back to Shockwave. He drank his cube so quickly Shockwave had not even fished out his tubing yet by the time Soundwave was done.

Shockwave’s audials were pointed downwards. His servo was shaky as he poured the contents of the cube into his tubing. He had done this thousands of times, a skill he had thought to have mastered, without wasting a precious drop of energon. But Shockwave was still new to the nuances of a servo and as he pinched his digits around the cube a little too hard it escaped his grasp. He managed to catch it before it hit the floor, saving a majority of the energon, but the momentum of the fall splashed some of the blue liquid over the side and onto the red carpet below, turning the spot below him dark maroon. Shockwave looked desperately up at Soundwave. “Apologies Commander!” Shockwave stood to look for a towel, something, anything, to clean the mess, but Soundwave was looking at the spot on the carpet.

Staring at it, visor light unmoving, Soundwave frozen to the spot. Shockwave stared at him, suddenly a bit worried. “Commander?”

“Ah ha. AH HA. AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.” Soundwave laughed and laughed. Soundwave doubled over in laughter. This was not his normal, melodic laughter. This laughter was crazed, delirious. Shockwave stood in shock. Maybe this was when Soundwave would kill him. Over an energon spill. “HA HA ha ha ahhh.” Soundwave’s laughter drifted off.

Shockwave risked a question, “Are you angry?”

“No.” Soundwave shook his head. “Frag that carpet.” Shockwave’s optic light narrowed a bit at that. He had never heard Soundwave curse before.

“Ugliest, fragging carpet I've ever seen in my life.” Soundwave muttered. His helm was pointed down and it was difficult to see what his visor looked like. Shockwave took a few steps towards him and titled his helm. When he did he could see coolant leaking from the visor and over Soundwave’s mask.

“Soundwave?”

“Apologies.” Soundwave said making no move to wipe the coolant. “Finish your energon.”

Shockwave considered for a moment. “Frag my energon.” he said with a twinge of humor in his voice.

Soundwave laughed. His proper, melodic laughter. Shockwave’s audial fins twitched. Shockwave took Soundwave’s servo and led him to the table where they both sat. Shockwave sat quietly pouring the rest of his energon in his tubing and looking expectantly at Soundwave.

“Soundwave: misses them. Soundwave: failure. Soundwave: cannot go one day without falling apart without them.” More coolant leaked from Soundwave’s visor.

Shockwave nodded, indicating he was listening. There was no question who “they” were. Shockwave missed them too. “Can’t you feel them through the Carrier bond?”

“Cassettes asked for privacy for their first mission. Soundwave: Does not want to overwhelm them with my worry. Will not break promise.”

Soundwave caved in on himself. Laughed bitterly at himself. “Already Soundwave: failing to work, fuel, recharge properly without them. Soundwave: failure.”

“I did not realize you relied on them so heavily.”

“Soundwave: failure”

Shockwave took Soundwave’s servo in his. “You are not a failure.” Soundwave looked at him, spark spinning slightly. “If they are not here to help you, I will.”

Soundwave shook his head, “Soundwave cannot accept. Soundwave-”

“It is only logical for the coalition to succeed, it needs its Second in Command functioning. I can stand in for the cassettes until they return.”

Soundwave was blinking really hard behind his visor to prevent more coolant from leaking.

“We already have a method to help with fueling. I can bring you energon after shift. You may work from my laboratory if you think that will help you. I..don’t know about recharge…what do you need?”

Soundwave blinked from behind his visor. He thought about Shockwave’s proposal. Working from Shockwave’s lab may help. Even if he only did that for a few joors each cycle and spent some time in the monitor room as well. Consuming energon after shift was also already a proven solution. He did have a solution for recharge as well. If Shockwave was comfortable with it.

“Sleep in the berth with me?”

Shockwave’s audials moved up and down nervously. He nodded. Soundwave took him by the servo and led him to the berth. He laid them down so the two of them were looking at each other. Shockwave’s optic light was narrow, almost as narrow as a pinprick. Soundwave lifted a servo to cradle his helm and he flinched. “Shockwave?” Soundwave called out to him. Shockwave pointed his optic to him. “Just recharge. Nothing else.”

Shockwave considered this. “Nothing else?”

“Nothing else.”

Shockwave relaxed a bit. Soundwave took Shockwave’s single servo and cradled it to his chest compartment. He still missed his cassettes, but this helped. Feeling Shockwave here, besides him, not being alone in the too big berth helped. Soundwave placed his helm forehelm to forehelm to Shockwave’s. He could hear Shockwave’s light venting but nothing else. “Shockwave: so quiet.”

“Is that bad?” Shockwave’s audial fins wavered slightly.

“It is: pleasant.”

The two lightly vented together until they drifted into recharge.

Chapter Text

Soundwave was better over the next few cycles.

He would spend mornings in the communications center and afternoons working in Shockwave’s lab through the ancient console and a separate datapad. Shockwave appreciated his company, though he was quieter than his cassettes would be even when all three of them napped. Occasionally, he would play music through his speakers. And while this was slightly more distracting, it meant Soundwave was in a bit of a better mood so he appreciated it all the same. After shift, they would swing by the energon dispensary and retire to Soundwave’s habsuite for the night. The carpet stain had never been cleaned but Soundwave seemed unbothered by it. Regardless, Shockwave never spilled another drop of energon while he was there.

Shockwave wasn’t used to laying next to another in recharge. During the times he had traded interface for goods or shanix, they hadn't exactly been cuddly afterwards. Though he was slightly taller than Soundwave and thicker, he liked the feeling of Soundwave's weight pressed against him when Soundwave held him. Sometimes, however, in the darkness of a habsuite, He was terrified Soundwave would pin him to the berth and tell Shockwave he was taking what he was owed.

They would often switch off and Shockwave would just as often hold him. Soundwave never took his visor or mask off when Shockwave was there, even when it seemed inconvenient. Like when Soundwave would lay face down on his chest compartment and cry, visor blocked with coolant, mask muffling his choked sobs. Soundwave never knew what to do in those moments. He missed the cassettes too, but he didn't know how to comfort Soundwave.

He did have one idea though.

One afternoon he greeted Soundwave before he reached the laboratory door. “Shockwave?” Soundwave tilted his helm at him.

“We are not going to my laboratory today. I have permission from Megatronus to run an errand.”

Soundwaves visor lit up. “An errand?”

“Shall we?” Shockwave escorted Soundwave to the Pits long staircase and out to the Kaon streets. They merged with mechs with helms pointed down as they walked. They passed by all the streets with shoddy market carts, all the dilapidated storefronts, all the homeless mechs reaching out servos for shanix, the alleyways full of mechs with back door dealings, and past all the police enforcers patrolling it all. Finally, Shockwave led Soundwave into the Kaon train station.

Soundwave raised his brow ridge at Shockwave, “Where are we going?”

“Iacon.” Shockwave answered simply.

“Iacon?”

“Do not fear, we will not be going far into the city.”

Soundwave looked hesitant but he still boarded the train with Shockwave. Megatronus had provided them tickets and assured them safe passage. And though some high society mechs stared at them, no one bothered them.

When they arrived, Soundwave was almost overwhelmed by how many mechs were nearby the train station. Everything was so loud. Shockwave took Soundwave by the servo and escorted him down a quieter section of road until the voices and thoughts and emotions that were not his died away. Eventually, they reached a historical looking building.

“The archival center?” Soundwave sounded impressed, looking at the tall facades with a glint in his visor. “What are we doing here?”

Shockwave took a nearly empty data pad out of his subspace compartment.

“Updating my database. There are many scientific articles and journals I have missed after my operation. And-” Shockwave rubbed the digits of Soundwave’s servo.

“Ravage was particularly downhearted one of her fiction series did not have the sequel downloaded. It ended on a cliffhanger. I know I can find it here. And update my database with any other sequel books that may have been missed so that does not happen again.”

Soundwave was stunned. Shockwave cared about something like that. Ravage was always worried her interest in fiction was insignificant. But Shockwave found it important enough to keep her library fully and utterly stocked. His optics were welling up.

“Shockwave: appreciated.”

Shockwave's optic light brightened. He led the two up the stairs of the archival building. A snooty, looking clerk looked at them as they walked in. He sighed. “Can I help you?”

“I need this datapad updated with all of the scientific journals, studies, and articles from the last three solar cycles. Oh and I need your database cross referenced with this one,” Shockwave pulled out his ancient datapad, “so that I may be ensured that all fictional novel series are fully updated, including, and this is very important, the sequel to Will you be Miner? An Underground Love Story.”

The clerk blinked. He smiled coyly. “You know what? I know the perfect clerk to help you. He's right over there.”

Soundwave glared hard at the clerk. He squirmed in his seat. Shockwave walked over to the mech the clerk was pointing to, not noticing any discomfort whatsoever. Shockwave glared the rude clerk down a few more moments before walking away.

The Mech appeared to be stocking data pads on a ladder when the two approached him.

“Pardon?” Shockwave called to him.

“Sorry! I'll be right with you.”

Soundwave crossed his arms.

The Mech slid down the ladder, not climbed, but slid down the ladder, and bounded toward them.

“I'm Orion.” He said in greeting. “How can I help you?”

Shockwave repeated, verbatim, what he had told the first clerk. Orion was not fazed in the slightest, big smile never leaving his face plate. “You know, ‘Will you be Miner?’ is a trilogy now. It’s so good! I'll make sure you have the whole series.”

Shickwaves optic blinked. “I wouldn't know.”

Orion took both datapads and plugged them into the a console. He clicked around rapidly for a few breems. “And done, now we just need to wait a little bit for the data to download.”

“Ah. I see.” Shockwave said awkwardly.

Soundwave said nothing, glaring at the friendly archival clerk.

“Wow, that's a hard stare. No need to be hostile my friend, I come in peace.” Orion raised his servos, palms facing the two, with a friendly shrug.

Soundwave said nothing.

“You two are from Kaon, correct?”

“Correct.” Answered, Shockwave.

“Got it in one.” Orion smiled wide, raising his servo with pointer digit and thumb up in a mock gun gesture, right on target.

Soundwave's plating crawled.

“Of course, it wasn't difficult to guess.” Orion looked at Shockwave, “with your guard here being a gladiator and all.”

Soundwave put his arms down and squared his shoulder pads. He could destroy this mech in a second.

“He isn't my guard.” Shockwave said plainly.

“Is that so? Because you might need one.”

Soundwave stomped right up to the clerk's tiny face. Was he threatening Shockwave?

Orion put his servos up, a more serious peace gesture than the mock one that had come before. “Easy friend. There have been some mechs waiting outside the whole time you have been in here. Empurata bots are easy pickings for robberies around here. They are definitely targeting your friend.” Soundwave put a hand on the console in case he needed to reach a servo to strangle the small clerk, then he looked out the window. There definitely was a small group of mechs watching them.

“It's not right. Targeting others just because their frames are different.” The clerk must have been feeling bold because he leaned in a little closer to Soundwave. “I see what has been happening in the gladiatorial pits. I see what Megatronus has been building. I need you to send him a message for me.”

Soundwave grated his denta. He didn't want to do anything for this mech. “What message?”

“Tell him to get in contact with me. I can distribute his writing. Get his message out. More people need to see what he is saying. The name is Orion Pax. OK. Orion Pax.”

Soundwave vented deeply. As much as he didn't want to pass along the clerk's message, Megatronus would definitely want to hear about it. Soundwave nodded.

Orion unplugged the datapads and handed them to Shockwave who put them in his subspace. “There's a back exit. You can leave through there.”

………………

It was Soundwave's turn to take Shockwave’s servo in hand. He zigzagged the two through back streets sufficiently enough to get through the city as quickly as possible. They were soon back on the train to Kaon. The two mechs sat next to each other, each with long legs pressed tightly together. Soundwave had his arms crossed, visor light glaring. His field blared frustration. The audacity of that little clerk. The stifled streets of Iacon. Punk mechs who think hurting the less fortunate can help their own station in life. Soundwave should have beaten that gang of mechs into the ground instead of fleeing. Turned the streets of Iacon into his own gladiatorial ring. In one place killing that gang would be entertainment and in another it would be a crime. Shockwave bumped a knee to Soundwave's knee.

Soundwave looked at him, visor still glaring, frustration still at its peak. Shockwave blinked his optic, he pointed his helm down, bonked his knee against Soundwaves’ again and looked back up at him. Soundwave could feel his frustration ebbing. It wasn't a total loss. Shockwave got his articles. Ravage got her books. He spent the afternoon with Shockwave.

Soundwave bumped his knee lightly back against Shockwave’s. Shockwave’s audial fins raised happily.

Chapter Text

Shockwave was filling up two cubes of energon in the dispensary. Soundwave had gone on ahead to the habsuite to settle in for the night. The cassettes were set to return in a couple of cycles. Shockwave would be relieved to finally see them and Soundwave retunited safely, however…He was unsure how their return would change the routine he had set with Soundwave. Surely, it would be inappropriate to continue to spend nightly hours in the habsuite once the cassettes returned. As the second cube filled to the brim with energon, Shockwave sealed it closed and balanced them both in a single servo. As he turned to leave he noticed Bludgeon leaning on the counter behind, blocking his path. He had entered so silently, Shockwave’s audials hadn’t picked up his movements at all. Shockwave’s audial fins wavered.

He nodded slightly at Bludgeon and moved to walk past him. Bludgeon raised an arm between Shockwave and the opposite wall, blocking his path to the door completely. Bludgeon’s optics were situated behind his faceplate, giving them a sunken look, but in the arena, when they flared with anger, they would spark out of the optic holes like flames. Right now they flickered darkly, orange embers on a dying fire.

“Where are you going, Shockwave?” Bludgeon asked, voice raspy. His face plate was long. It was nearly dislodged where the two mouth plates met, making his facial ridges constantly look distorted. It reminded Shockwave of the organic creatures on the surface of the planet. Specifically the skulls of the creatures when they had died and the senator had collected their bones for study.

“Soundwave’s habsuite?” Shockwave answered in reply, voice uplifting a tiny bit, unsure why a gladiator such as Bludgeon was going out of his way to interrogate him.

Bludgeon chuckled darkly, bitterly. “Aren’t you tired of being that Mech’s pleasure bot?”

Shockwave’s whole frame stalled. What?

“That isn- we aren-” Shockwave was fighting with his processor to say something.

“Isn’t it?” Bludgeon loomed over him, bowing that terrifying face plate over his optic. “The others have seen you. You bring him energon every night. You don’t leave his habsuite until morning. What are you doing in there, Shockwave?”

“Nothing! We are…doing nothing.” Shockwave’s finials were pointed down.

Bludgeon stared at him for several long moments. He finally turned and left, leaving Shockwave alone with two cubes of energon.

……………….

A knock sounded on the door. Soundwave pulled it open, smiling behind his mask. Shockwave stood, two cubes neatly balanced in one servo, gun barrel slightly raised where he had knocked. His finials were slightly pointed downward and he was not looking at Soundwave. Soundwave’s brow ridge creased. Gently, he pulled the purple tank in by the gun barrel. Soundwave sat him down at the center table, removing the energon from Shockwave’s servo and replacing it with his own servo in his. “What happened?” he asked.

Shockwave elected to point his optic at the floor instead of Soundwave, but he spoke. “Mechs have noticed I have been spending nights here,” he said simply.

Soundwave gave a vent of relief, “Is that all?” He said good humoredly.

Shockwave looked at him finally, yellow optic light a bit creased. “It reflects badly on you. You’re Second in Command. A top gladiator. I’m-” Shockwave pulled his servo from Soundwave’s and put it in his lap, looking down at it. “I’m nothing.”

Soundwave’s visor blared, “Who is saying this?” He asked with an edge of fake calm.

“Bludgeon…others.”

Soundwave was going to kill Bludgeon. He was going to get his hands on him and strangle him to death. He was going to tear him apart limb by limb. He was to pull that stupid face plate of his right off his stupid body. Soundwave sat steaming for a few moments. Shockwave rubbed his servo against his gun barrel.

Soundwave shook Shockwave’s shoulder pad until Shockwave looked at him. Soundwave stared deeply into Shockwave’s optic. “Shockwave: isn’t nothing.”

Shockwave looked away. Soundave took Shockwave’s helm gently by a servo and turned it to face him again. “Shockwave: isn’t nothing,” he insisted. “Shockwave: important.” They sat like that for a couple of breems.

When Shockwave spoke again it sounded staticky. “What about you? The others…they think something…unsavory of you while I am here.”

Soundwave shook his head, “I can deal with Bludgeon,” he stated simply.

Energon forgotten, Soundwave pulled Shockwave to the berth. He cradled Shockwave’s helm to his chest and stayed there until he felt Shockwave relax. As he once did in a medbay long ago, he pulsed with calm, relaxing, comfort. Shockwave’s optic dimmed.

…………………

Soundwave was a bit giddy in the monitor room next shift. The cassettes were returning next cycle! He was excited to see them all and talk all about how their mission went. He had gotten a few sporadic updates from them over the bond but they had wanted to remain focused and he had promised them their privacy. Now he wanted to know everything! Perhaps, they could talk about it all over his evening energon with Shockwave. Ah, Shockwave, that would be an interesting development to explain to his cassettes. He could just imagine the relentless teasing that would ensue from their Carrier sharing a berth with a mech just to be able to recharge.

Skywarp entered the monitoring room, late as she was every cycle. Since the cassettes’ extended mission, Skywarp had been helping with reconnaissance, specifically aerial reconnaissance, since she was a flyer. Soundwave was unaccustomed to working with other mechs other than Megatronus, but having another mech available in the monitoring room allowed him to work the afternoon shift from Shockwave’s lab. So he put up with Skywarp’s slightly annoying presence.

“You look chipper this morning, Commander,” Skywarp gave him a cheeky grin, pulling up a chair next to him. Surely to engage in some morning gossip before work.

Soundwave decided to indulge. “Cassettes: return next cycle,” he said happily.

“Oh, I'm sure that’s ALL you're happy about.” Skywarp snickered

Soundwave tilted his head at him in confusion.

“Cmon, Shockwave.” Skywarp gave him a knowing look.

The light in Soundwave’s visor dimmed as his optics narrowed.

“What about Shockwave?” Soundwave asked, his tone taking on that of an interrogation, instead of a friendly conversation.

“I mean, you must be fragging him every night, right?” Skywarp said nonchalantly, sprawling her arm on Soundwave’s workstation to lean her helm on.

Soundwave whirled on her. “Conversation: inappropriate-”

She smiled devilishly. “After all, what are the benefits of command if you cannot berth your subordinates?”

Soundwave froze. He glowered. “That is not what is happening.”

“No? He just brings you energon every night out of the kindness of his heart? An empurata bot, unaffected by emotion, jumping into berth with you every night because he wants to?” Skywarp scooted her chair back to her monitoring station. “Or, is it because you, Commander Soundwave, asked him to?” Skywarp leaned back in her chair. “I'm sure he finds it “mutually beneficial” or however he would say it.” Skywarp put up her digits to motion faux quotation marks at the words mutually beneficial. When Soundwave didn’t respond, Skywarp’s attention went to her monitors, seemingly done with the conversation.

Soundwave’s servos curled into fists. He turned back to his own workstation and placed them on the table in front of him. He stared at the angry fists as he pondered. Skywarp was wrong. Had to be. He didn’t force Shockwave into anything. Shockwave wanted to be there, hadn’t he? Slowly his servos uncurled as a pit settled into his tanks. Soundwave never asked Shockwave to call him Commander but that doesn’t mean Shockwave didn’t think of him that way. Had he allowed his loneliness during the cassettes' absence to cloud his thinking? Was there an imbalance of power here? He thought back to that first night he shared a berth with Shockwave. It had been clear then, hadn’t it? How much he didn’t want to be there from his optic and his body language. And Soundwave had kept him there. And kept him there every night since. Soundwave felt sick. He felt churning in his tanks. He had been abusing a subordinate for his own gain, and everyone knew it. Everyone had watched it happen. Soundwave offlined his optic. He clenched his fists, this time not in anger, but in self-hatred and disgust. He kept his optics offline for a long time. When he onlined them he had a plan.

He had to talk to Shockwave.

Chapter Text

The afternoon shift came and went without Soundwave. That was fine, Shockwave thought. Something must have come up. When he heard the laboratory doors slide open around end of shift, that also made sense, as Soundwave must have come by to collect him. He walked to greet Soundwave at the door and found him standing there stiffly, arms crossed, but chest deflated. Shockwave hesitated a klik.

“Is something wrong?” He asked.

Soundwave looked at him, visor big and bright, like it did before coolant poured from his optics.

“This can’t continue,” he said quietly.

Shockwave nodded. “I thought as much, with the cassettes returning.” Shockwave titled his helm in thought. “We can still do our evening energon rendezvous.”

“No.” Soundwave said, waver in his voice. “You and I,” he used a servo to point at himself and then at Shockwave. “Cannot continue at all.”

Shockwave’s optic got very bright. “Why?” The confusion in his voice pushed at his normal monotone.

Soundwave choked a little and had to reset his voicebox. “Imbalance of power: too great. Soundwave: has been unfair to Shockwave. Has treated Shockwave….poorly.”

Shockwave stood frozen for a few moments. His shoulder pads slumped, his optic dimmed. “What did I do wrong?” He asked, voice small.

Soundwave crossed the space between them, servo already reaching for Shockwave’s helm when he remembered himself. He removed the servo from midair where it had reached for Shockwave and crossed it back into his chest. “Nothing. Shockwave: did nothing wrong. Soundwave: in the wrong.”

“I don’t understand.” Shockwave said his voice deep in monotone.

Soundwave nodded. “You don’t have to.”

……………….

Ravage, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak all burst into their shared habsuite.

“Soundwave!” All three exclaimed in unison, the three grinning at each other happily.

“Oh my Primus! WE HAVE SO MUCH TO TELL YOU.” Buzzsaw squawked, excitedly flapping his wings. When he didn’t get a response, he put his wings down.

Soundwave was sitting at the edge of the berth. He was hunched over, helm separated from his servos slightly like they had just been covering his faceplate a klik ago. His visor and mask was removed and coolant was dripping down his face.

“Soundwave?” Ravage asked softly, nearing the berth.

Soundwave sniffled. “Soundwave: so happy to see cassettes,” he said blankly. His features crinkled up and he put his head back into his servos as began sob loudly.

Laserbeak and Buzzsaw wrapped their wings around him, while Ravage put her head on lap, pulsing nothing but comfort to their Carrier.

……………………

With the cassettes return, the gladiatorial season had begun. Hook was overwhelmed in the medbay so Megatronus had asked Shockwave to help out during matches. Shockwave obliged. The senator had had medical training in his life before, which was how he was able to pull off back street surgeries on the streets of Kaon for shanix. He could keep these gladiators stitched together for the purpose of keeping a roof over his head.

Though the cassettes had returned, none of them had visited the laboratory. He supposed that made sense. Cutoff from Soundwave as he was meant any access to the cassettes was cut off as well. He had seen them briefly from time to time in the halls, so he at least knew they were well and held no injuries from their long mission.

He found without his companions he was under fueling and under recharging. All his routines failed him. Unless it was match day and he was expected in the medbay he would find himself working in his lab for cycles at a time, unaware of time passing until he found himself passed out over his workstation in emergency recharge or tanks churning so severely it was the only thing that reminded him he hadn’t fueled.

During one shift in the medbay, Hook had given him an extra energon ration. “The last thing I need is you passing out and becoming one of my patients,” He had grumbled. “I need you, Shockwave.” He did. The two had huddled together over a critically injured gladiator for joors in emergency surgery. When Shockwave got off that shift, he collapsed into berth and recharged for two cycles.

………………….

Ravage was sitting on the desk of Megatronus’ office. “I’m telling you: it’s bad. I’ve never seen him like this.”

Megatronus sat back in his chair, contemplating. “If it was really bad, Soundwave would come to me.”

Ravage scoffed. “The only reason he is fueling is because I bring him energon every day. He’s barely recharging. He goes into work earlier and earlier every cycle. He’s overworking himself. Again.”

Megatronus shook his helm, utterly baffled, “Why? He’s been stable since the twins were born. The coalition is in a good place.” Megatronus put his helm on his desk chin plate first, dejectedly. He looked more like a small sparkling than a terrifying gladiator when he did that Ravage thought. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly, tilting his helm to Ravage, helm never leaving the desk.

Ravage sighed. “I think he got into a fight with Shockwave.”

Megatonus blinked. “The scientist? I didn’t even know they were friends.”

Ravage chuckled. She flopped onto the desk, next to Megatronus' helm and looked him properly in the optics. “You know Soundwave keeps things close to the chest. They got close when the twins and I were on the extended mission.”

Megatronus sat up, “Ok simple solution: Make Shockwave apologize to Soundwave.” Megatronus clapped his servos together once triumphantly.

Ravage rolled her eyes. “You can't force people to confront their problems with each other as you would confront your opponent in a gladiator fight.”

“Ah, but it would be so much simpler.” Megatronus gripped the air with his digits as if grabbing the solution out of thin air before slumping into his chair dejectedly.

“Aren’t we trying to rid the world of such violence?” Ravage countered.

“Oh Ravage, there you go, keeping me to a higher ideal.” Megatronus teased, tone light.

“Well, someone has to.”

Megatronus chuckled deeply. He contemplated a bit more. “Keep an eye on Soundwave, he will dislike it if we interfere too much. But we will be there if he needs us.”

“I already do.” Ravage said in return.

Chapter Text

Soundwave was practicing in the training room. It was match day. He was on the schedule this cycle. He had seen his listed opponent cycles ago and had been preparing ever since. Good. He needed to take out some of the frustration that had built up since he had spoken to Shockwave so long ago. He had not explained what had happened to the cassettes too much. He had just, strongly, suggested that they not go to Shockwave’s laboratory anymore. He had seen Shockwave in the hall a few times, plating and optic a little duller than usual, processor just as shut off and quiet as ever. Soundwave kicked the head off a training dummy. He never figured out why Shockwave’s mind was so quiet and now he never would.

“That dummy had it coming,” Buzzsaw perched on his shoulder. Soundwave vented as he stretched his arms. “They’re ready for you Boss. Give them hell.” Soundwave pulsed his appreciation to his son and headed for the arena.

He stood in the Fighter’s Tunnel, looking into the entrance opening to see the match already in progress. The arena was a large dirt pit, where the area got its name, with rows and rows of stadium seating supported by thick, concrete pillars that raised high into the air to house the high society mechs who thought themselves better than the gladiators who fought for their entertainment. The arena always smelled of metal and spilled energon. Soundwave hated that smell.

Some gladiators carried a weapon but Soundwave carried nothing but his fists and the waves of sound he could compel from his speakers. Other than basic armor upgrades, his equipment was the same from the first day he was thrown into the Pits and would remain the same until the day his matches in the Pits ended. One way or the other.

Cheers erupted from the crowd. One mech stood over another. Soundwave did not recognize them. It appeared they were both alive at least, but one had to be dragged away from the arena where the other one got to walk away. Soundwave heard his name and began to walk to the center of the pit. He got a chorus of both cheers and boos from mechs who thought they knew him well enough to judge him. He ignored them all. This was what his visor and mask was made for. His opponent approached, wearing a helmet with horns, adorning a long face plate, orange optics blazing from where they were sunken in, carrying a long sword. Bludgeon. Soundwave was going to enjoy this.

The two mechs took their starting poses as the match counter ticked down. The second the starting horn blared, Soundwave blasted a huge concussive wall of sound at Bludgeon. Bludgeon dug his sword into the ground to prevent himself from being toppled. Soundwave gave him no time to let him recover, giving him a roundhouse kick aimed at his faceplate. Bludgeon pulled his sword up blocking him. Soundwave backed away. He wasn’t really interested in playing dodge and attack games today. Soundwave blasted sound at him again aiming at the sword in his hands. Bludgeon took a knee, but held his sword with a death grip. Soundwave jumped towards him, kicking towards his face again. Bludgeon raised his sword, stabbing upward as Soundwave came down on his chest. The crowd was cheering. Soundwave could feel the sword piercing his shoulder pad. He had a pede on Bludgeon’s waist. Bludgeon sliced his sword upwards, the sword left his shoulder pad, leaving an open gash behind. Soundwave stumbled backwards, stunned.

Before he could react, Bludgeon was up, rushing him. Soundwave raised his arm to block, but Bludgeon was sinking his sword deeper into the already open gash. Soundwave screamed. This crazy mech was going to cut his arm clean off. Energon squirted from the wound and splashed onto Bludgon’s face plate. Soundwave pushed him with his other arm. He used his concussive sound blast again. Bludgeon stumbled. Concussive blast again, Bludgeon yelled in frustration. Soundwave rushed him, shooting off his concussive sound blasts simultaneously. Bludgeon could not move. Soundwave grabbed him by the faceplate and threw him to the ground. He kneed Bludgeon in the stomach and placed his entire weight on his so Bludgeon could not get back up. Bludgeon screamed at him in a frenzy. Soundwave clutched Bludgeon’s face plate in his hand and gripped it tight. Soundwave turned his concussive sound on full power and blasted Bludgeon until he could see tiny cracks starting to form on his face plate.

“Do you yield?” asked Soundwave.

Bludgeon screamed his war cry, spitting energon, now tinged pink as blood.

“DO YOU YIELD?” Yelled Soundwave.

“I YIELD,” Bludgeon cried.

The victory horn blared, declaring Soundwave the winner. He looked to the crowd who cheered ferociously. He put one fist to the air. They screamed even louder. He had to play to the crowd sometimes.

When we tried to take a few steps to the Winner’s Tunnel he collapsed, optics offlining entirely.

………………….

When Soundwave was rushed into the medbay, Shockwave was at his medical berth immediately. It was only logical, Hook was busy with other patients. Megatronus himself carried Soundwave, laying him on the medical berth, Buzzsaw flying frantic circles above them.

“He was reckless!” Megatronus was saying, “Soundwave is never this reckless in a match! I should kill Bludgeon for this.”

Ignoring Megatronus, Shockwave was scanning Soundwave with the medbay’s equipment. He got to work quickly, reconnecting lines in Soundwave’s shoulder where they had been severed.

“Well?” Megatronus asked, hands clasped together.

“The damage is extensive. Soundwave will need surgery to reconnect all the appropriate wires, as well as large amounts of welding. If the wound had been much deeper, he could have lost feeling in his arm. As is, he will require physical therapy after the surgery to regain full strength.”

Shockwave was preparing an energon line to go into Soundwave’s medical port. A weight landed on his shoulder pad. He looked over to see Buzzsaw there, coolant flowing off his beak.

“But he will be okay?” He asked.

Shockwave looked down Soundwave in the medical berth, shoulder pad torn from his body, gash deep into his arm. He looked at Buzzsaw.

“Soundwave will make a full recovery.”

Megatronus took the cyberbird from Shockwave’s shoulder and cradled him in his arms. “Come along, little one. Let’s let the medics work.”

And Shockwave did work. He administered an energon line to Soundwave’s medical port. He used tiny tools to reconnect all of Soundwave’s lines. He sprayed disinfectant. He welded Soundwave’s shoulder pad back to his body and then welded the long gash on Soundwave’s frame closed. The medbay was quiet, except for the sound of his welder. The rest of the medbay’s patients were fixed up and sent away. Shockwave concentrated only on his work. Finally, when there was nothing to do but let the welds cool, Hook touched his shoulder. “Take a break, Shockwave.”

Shockwave shook his head, “He might wake up.”

“Let someone else deal with that.”

Shockwave remained at the edge of the medical berth.

Hook sighed, leaving the medbay.

“Still. Still, you remain, Shockwave.” A deep, raspy voice, chastising.

Shockwave’s audial fins rose straight up. When he turned around a hand was already around his neck. It threw him to the opposite side of the room from Soundwave. The servo remained on his neck as he was pinned against the wall. He frantically looked up at his assailant. Bludgeon. Small bits of plaster covering up the cracks on his face plate.

“Even when he’s done with you, you’re here crawling over him like a desperate piece of shareware.” Bludgeon snarled near Shockwave’s audial. “You want to be shareware so bad, you don’t have to go looking.” Bludgeon smiled darkly using his other servo to touch Shockwave’s chest plates.

Shockwave struggled in Bluedgon’s grip. Bludgeon let go. Shockwave slammed against the wall, banging his helm. Just for a moment he saw Soundwave’s medical berth in his vision. “Wake up,” he thought. He slid down to the floor. Bludgeon put a pede between Shockwave’s legs. He flinched. Bludgeon started rubbing his pede over Shockwave’s interface panels. Shockwave’s optic dimmed to almost nothing as he stared blankly at the floor.

“Open. Up.” Bludgeon demanded putting more force on his pede.

Suddenly, Bludgeon gasped and seized, optics blaring in surprise. He collapsed straight backwards, revealing Hook holding a syringe. Shockwave started at him, dumbly.

“Well, help me get him up, I pumped him with enough chemicals to knock out two gladiators.”

Shockwave assisted Hook in getting Bludgeon to a medical berth, where Hook secured him with straps attached to the medical berth, restraining him. Hook turned his attention to Shockwave.

Hook coughed awkwardly. He touched Shockwave’s forearm. “Do you need anything?”

Shockwave’s optic blinked for a moment. “I just need….a washrack.”

Hook chuckled. “Well, you can use the public one.” Shockwave stared.

“My habsuite has a private one.”

“Oh.” Hook looked surprised. “Well…nice. I’ll walk you there.”

Shockwave didn’t have the energy to fight that. The two walked in silence. Shockwave normally wouldn’t mind it. But the silence curled around his processor, punctuating the event of what had just occurred in his mind. He reached at the first question he could grasp.

“Your habsuite doesn’t have a washrack?” Shockwave asked while walking.

“Ah, no. I use the public one. I’m lucky, many of the gladiators don’t even get a habsuite. They have a set of hallways they like to share or they recharge in the gathering room.”

This was news to Shockwave.

“Why was I assigned one? Shouldn’t the gladiators who have been here longer get seniority?”

“Ah well.” Hook looked slightly uncomfortable. “Many of the habsuites here belonged to management who used to stay on property in the Pits before being chased off by Megatronus. Many of the gladiators are uncomfortable with even the thought of staying where they once did. As for why you, in particular, were assigned one…I think there was a possibility some mechs wouldn’t be comfortable staying in proximity to an empurata bot.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Not me, though. I think that sort of thinking is below us.”

Shockwave ignored him. “Soundwave’s habsuite then?” He asked, thinking about the plush, fancy interior that did not fit what he knew about the mech at all.

“Oh, nice right. I believe the habsuites in that area belonged to the high society mechs that would visit the property as guests.”

“Why would high society mechs want to visit the Pits?” Shockwave asked, a bit surprised.

Hook looked extremely uncomfortable. “I don’t know. For the thrill, I guess?”

That answer seemed unsatisfying but Shockwave wasn’t going to press. They had finally reached his habsuite.

“Ah, there you go, I guess. If you need anything, just let me know.” With that, Hook was gone.

Shockwave stepped inside his small habsuite. He wondered who in management it once belonged to. He stepped into the washrack turning up the solvents and water, letting the whole cycle wash over him. He placed his helm on the washrack wall and offlined his optic.

Chapter Text

Shockwave was looking over Soundwave's vitals when he finally woke up early the next cycle. Shockwave was reaching over his shoulder to adjust the energon line in his medical ports when he felt a servo cradle his helm.

“Shockwave.” Soundwave said softly, visor glowing dimly. Shockwave gently took his servo and removed it from his helm, placing it back on the medical berth.

“Ah you're awake,” said Hook, suddenly appearing. He had a sixth sense for his patients waking up, it seemed.

Soundwave's visor grew brighter as his awareness grew.

“Yes,” he grumbled, a bit drowsy. “Status report.”

Hook gave Soundwave a run down of the full operation Shockwave had performed on him, the wounds Shockwave had welded shut, and what post-care was required. Shockwave could see the visor light shift to eye him for parts of Hook's explanation.

“Most importantly, you will need some extent of physical therapy to regain full strength in your arm.” Hook was explaining.

“Understood.” Soundwave said plainly.

“Physical therapy supervised by a medic.” Hook clarified.

Soundwave looked frustrated. “You?” He asked.

“No.” Hook waved an open palm to Shockwave. “I am far too busy running the medbay on a daily basis, but Shockwave has the medical knowledge necessary to supervise your recovery.”

Shockwave looked at him. “What?” He looked at Soundwave, a bit frantic, “I had nothing to do with this Soundwave.”

Soundwave smiled slightly under his mask. “It is fine.”

“Great,” said Hook. “Then you're both dismissed from my medbay.” When the two mechs did nothing but look at him he said pointedly, “Get out.”

………………….

Shockwave and Soundwave walked down a hallway together.

Neither of them spoke. Soundwave cleared his voicebox. Many moments passed in silence.

“How are the cassettes?” Shockwave asked.

“Good. Cassettes: are good.”

“I miss them.” Shockwave admitted, optic fluttering with bright light.

Soundwave's spark spun wildly.

The silence grew between the two again. As they entered a crossroads, Bludgeon appeared from a different pathway. Shockwave froze. Soundwave's optics narrowed and he glared at Bludgeon, visor light shifting to a heated point. Bludgeon turned fully around and walked completely in the opposite direction of the two.

“What was that about?” Soundwave muttered angrily.

“I think it was about me,” Shockwave answered quietly.

Soundwave looked at him, optical ridge raised. Shockwave would not look at him.

“Shockwave: referring to previous incident with Bludgeon?” Soundwave asked, thinking of how Bludgeon had started this whole mess in the first place. Shockwave shook his helm slowly. “Then?” Soundwave probed, looking to Shockwave for more information. Shockwave relented.

“Bludgeon attacked me,” He informed Soundwave, keeping his tone flat.

What? Soundwave glared down the hall Bludgeon had just fled. Coward.

“Incident: Where? When?” He pressed into Shockwave's space demanding answers.

Shockwave flinched away from him but answered simply, “Last cycle in the medbay.”

Soundwave stepped back, helm spinning. Last cycle? In the medbay? Meaning in the very same room where he was passed out in a berth? In the same room, too injured to help? His spark was spinning. It hurt from the pressure. He held a servo to his chest compartment, where his spark compartment lay, deeply hidden.

“Soundwave.” Shockwave called him. Soundwave looked at him, slightly dazed.

Shockwave's optic light was firmly pinned on him. “I heard you were very reckless in your match with Bludgeon.”

Soundwave scoffed. Shockwave did not look away.

“You have to take care of yourself, Commander.”

The ire Soundwave just had for Bludgeon returned full force, but this time pointed at Shockwave. “Is that so, Shockwave?”

Soundwave jabbed a digit into Shockwave’s chest plating. Shockwave went to step back but Soundwave followed him until Shockwave was backed against the hallway wall, Soundwave still jabbing a digit into his chest plate.

“Soundwave: sees Shockwave's dull plating, peeling paint, dim optic light. Has Shockwave even been fueling? Shockwave: hypocrite.”

Shockwave's optic blared. His helm crinkled. Soundwave had never felt this from him but his EM field was blaring….anger?

With the few inches of height Shockwave had on him, Shockwave loomed over Soundwave, looking down at him.

Shockwave was yelling, “You are a gladiator! I am not! You have Megatronus’ respect! You are important! I am nothing! You must agree! You threw me away like common Kaon trash!”

Soundwave pressed his body against Shockwave's, had his hands around Shockwave’s neck, Shockwave was struggling to get free. Until he realized, this wasn't like with Bludgeon. Soundwave's servos weren't around his neck, they were past his neck, arms hanging around him in a hug. Shockwave vented violently, cooling his systems.

“Soundwave: missed Shockwave.”

Soundwave pressed his helm against Shockwave's pulsing calm and safety. Shockwave vented quietly. They stood like that for a few moments.

“Soundwave!” Voices nearby. Figures turning a corner into their hallway. Three beast-formers came into view.

“Soundwave!” Buzzsaw cried. “Hook pinged us, he said you were dismissed from the medbay...Oh, hey Shockwave.”

“Hey, Boss.” Smirked Ravage.

Though hesitant to let go, Soundwave disentangled himself from Shockwave, field tingling with light embarrassment. He knelt to greet his cassettes.

“We were worried.” Buzzsaw told him, coolant welling underneath his visor.

“Soundwave: functional.” Soundwave cringed a little bit in pain. “Arm: just a little tender.”

Shockwave stood awkwardly behind the group as the cassettes fussed over their Carrier.

Buzzsaw looked past Soundwave at him. “Does this mean we can talk to Shockwave again?”

Soundwave did not answer. But his embarrassment in the bond grew.

Shockwave felt a light weight on his shoulder pad. “I missed you, Shocks.” Laserbeak told him.

“Your presence was missed as well.” Shockwave lifted a digit and allowed Laserbeak to nuzzle it. “The laboratory was quiet without all of you.”

“Buzzsaw can fix that for you.” Ravage muttered.

“Oh I sure can.” Squawked buzzsaw.

Soundwave laughed for the first time in decacycles. It was the most beautiful thing anyone in that hallway had heard.

………………….

Soundwave was happy to return to work. The last thing he needed was more mechs doting on him. He was fine. There was plenty to catch up on in the monitoring room. For example…

Soundwave pulled up the cameras from medbay and rewound them to a couple cycles ago. He saw himself laying in a medical berth with Shockwave standing over him. His spark lightened at that. He saw Bludgeon enter. What he saw next enraged him. Bludgeon didn't just physically assault Shockwave, he sexually assaulted him too. Soundwave banged his fists on his workstation, startling a nearby Skywarp. He stood up and walked out of the room.

………………….

Soundwave slammed the door open to Megatronus’ office. Soundwave heaved his servos heavily onto Megatronus’ desk. Megatronus leaned back in his chair, scooting back several inches.

“Why isn't Bludgeon dead!?” Soundwave demanded.

“Ah Soundwave,” Megatronus stood placing a servo on the desk, himself, leaning to match his optics to Soundwave's visor. “I did consider killing him for what he did to you.”

Soundwave stared at him, incensed.

“What he did to me? I don't care what he did to me!?”

Megatronus lifted his head in surprise. “He almost took your arm off.”

“Irrelevant! What about Shockwave!?”

“Ah.” Megatronus re-sat himself in his chair, clasping his hand underneath his chin plate. “Hook told me about that.”

Soundwave glared at his friend. “Well?”

“Well, I told Bludgeon not to go anywhere near you or Shockwave again or face the consequences.”

Soundwave thought about that.

“That's it?” Soundwave demanded, shocked. His shoulders slumped. “The history of these Pits. Your history. MY history. And you give him a slap on the wrist?”

“What would you have me do, Soundwave?”

“Cast him out!”

“Bludgeon is too useful to the cause. We can still use him.”

Soundwave removed his servos from the desk, standing upright stiffly. “Soundwave: didn't realize planning revolution meant turning a blind eye to abuse.” He said coldly.

Megatronus’ eyes flamed for a second but quickly died out. “We do what we must.”

Soundwave left.

Chapter Text

The cassettes began visiting the laboratory once again. Ravage reading in her corner. Buzzsaw pressing buttons on the machines. Laserbeak sleeping in her perch. It set Shockwave’s spark at ease to have company again.

In the evening hours, Soundwave would arrive with energon in hand, giving a cube to Shockwave. He would leave with Soundwave and the cassettes at the end of shift and they would part for separate habsuites. He would still have trouble recharging at night but he would rest in his berth at least.

He did not dare to hope it would become routine. But soon his plating returned to its normal bright purple and his paint stopped flaking off.

In his period of odd fueling, Shockwave had sacrificed some of his daily energon rations for personal projects. A garden of surface plants, a perpetually running fusion core (still in testing), and vats of experimental, remixed energon. It was these vats Soundwave stood over now, curious. A small drip of an energon cube fed into a series of tubes where a build up of energon and chemicals would land into the vat as remixed green energon.

Soundwave gestured to it. Shockwave had come up behind him, observing Soundwave's curiosity for his personal project.

“I am attempting to create a more efficient energon.” Shockwave said in explanation. “One that would require less fueling and give the benefits of longer, sustained energy boost.” Shockwave placed a servo to the energon vat. “It is not yet suitable for testing.”

“Oh, like super energon,” said Buzzsaw, swooping to land on Soundwave's shoulder pad.

“I…suppose.” Shockwave conceded.

“Super-gon.” Buzzsaw said, testing the sound of the made-up name on his beak. “Energon Deluxe. Deluxion.”

“Now hold on.” Shockwave’s helm crinkled distastefully.

“EngeX.”

“Where are you even getting that one from?” Shockwave asked, slightly flabbergasted.

“Its always cooler if you add an X to it,” Buzzsaw insisted.

“Always cooler,” Ravave corroborated from across the room.

Shockwave looked absolutely baffled.

Soundwave’s shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. When the bout of humor passed, Soundwave asked him a serious question.

“Energon mix: if distributed: help prevent hunger?”

Shockwave relaxed his shoulders, “That would be one benefit.”

“EngeX: superior invention.” Soundwave nodded.

Shockwaves audials tilted slightly. “Not you too”. Soundwave laughed. It was music to Shockwave's audials.

………………….

Soundwave and Shockwave had taken up to meeting in the training room for Soundwave's physical therapy. Shockwave would help him stretch out his shoulder.

And then they would spar.

Shockwave was unsure the strenuous activity would actively be beneficial to the injured gladiator at first, but when their first match ended with him on his aft in kilks, he figured this was more of a light exercise to Soundwave than for him.

Soundwave chuckled, pulling him up with his good arm. He showed Shockwave how to ground his stance and hold his arms in defense.

“Shockwave: a tank. Can take a hit if need be. Let your opponent get close. Use their own strength against them.”

When they sparred again, Shockwave was able to at least raise his arm and gun barrel to block, but it seemed like Soundwave was coming from all directions all the time. He ended up on his back again, Soundwave pinning him. Before Shockwave even had time to process, Soundwave was up again.

“Shockwave, just needs practice.” Soundwave said, lending him a servo.

“It's a good thing I am your physical therapist then,” Shockwave replied.

A few sessions later Shockwave was lighter on his feet. He knew when to dig in and when to dodge. He was at least surviving longer against Soundwave now. Soundwave showed him how to hit, how to swing, how to throw all his weight into a blow. Together, they would practice their stances, practice punches, practice kicking. After, Shockwave would stretch out Soundwave's shoulder and massage the welds he himself had put there. One day Soundwave raised a servo to the servo massaging his shoulder. “Thank you,” He said quietly.

“For what?” Shockwave asked in his normal monotone, servo frozen, unable to resume his task.

“For everything.”

“I have done nothing.” Shockwave replied.

“You have done everything,” Shockwave insisted, curling his digits so they were holding Shockwave's hand properly. They sat just like that for a long time.

………………….

A decacycle later they were back in the training room. Soundwave was standing in a starting pose, sizing up his opponent. Shockwave stood, legs spread, pedes firmly planted, arm and gun barrel up in defense to cover his helm just as Soundwave had taught him.

Soundwave rushed him. A roundhouse kick to the helm. Shockwave blocked. A jab to his shoulder pad. Shockwave grabbed his servo and spun him, throwing him slightly. Soundwave stumbled, visor bright, delighted. Shockwave advanced, bringing a closed servo down on him. Soundwave dodged easily. With Shockwave over extended, punching empty air, Soundwave took the opportunity to knee his midsection right in the tanks. Shockwave grunted, but locked the crevice of Soundwave’s knee joint with his gun barrel before he could disengage. Soundwave tried to pull away but was firmly kept in place. Shockwave looked at Soundwave, optic brightening in triumph, and hit him squarely in the battle mask knocking him out of his grip. Soundwave stumbled back, stunned, grabbing his mask. It was the first time Shockwave had landed a hit on him.

“I'm sorry Soundwave!’’ Shockwave was approaching him with servo and gun barrel raised, audial raised in the air with concern.

Soundwave rushed him. Shockwave startled in surprise, trying to switch his servo to defense. Soundwave swept his pedes, catching him off balance. Shockwave fell to his knees where Soundwave pushed him down to the ground and pinned him.

“Never lower guard. Match: is not over till it's over.” Soundwave criticsized lightly. Shockwave released the tension in his shoulders with defeat. He vented heavily. Soundwave vented as well. He kept his servos heavy on Shockwave’s shoulders. His legs straddled Shockwave's hips. He felt the heat between their plating. Shockwave, looked at him in silence, optic light, unwavering. Soundwave leaned down really close to his helm. Visor inches from his optic, that light the only thing in his vision.

“Wow, that sure was something.” A high, scratchy voice reverberated around the large training room. Soundwave was off Shockwave in a kilk.

Megatronus was near the entrance of the room. Along with a flier. Red, and white with blue accents and a gray face plate. He looked bored, red optics examining the digits on one of his servos.

Soundwave helped Shockwave up with a servo. “Megatronus: watching for how long?” He asked, keeping his voice flat.

The flier put his servo down, curling his mouth in disgust as he rolled his helm in the two's direction. “Long enough,” He drawled.

“Long enough to see Shockwave hit you!” Megatronus replied cheekily. “Are you losing your edge, my friend?”

Soundwave burned with embarrassment. Shockwave huffed with what Soundwave recognized as a chuckle but the others probably just heard as a slight ex-vent of air.

“Of course not. I benefit from Soundwave's training. I was only able to hit him at all because he is still recovering from his injuries. Clearly, I could not stand against Soundwave at his full strength.”

Shockwave stood stunned. “Shockwave: should not sell himself short. Shockwave: improving.”

Megatronus got a troublesome look in his optics. “Let's put that to the test then.” He glanced at the flier next to him. “Starscream here, against Shockwave.”

“You can't be serious.” Starscream stared daggers at the purple mech.

“You wish to lead an army of fliers under my command, Prince of Vos, but you're afraid to face one untrained scientist.”

Starscream curled his servos into fists, glaring Megatronus directly in the optics. “I am unafraid. I can take this-” he glared at Shockwave. “Empurata.” He bared his denta, taking his place at the opposite side of the training room.

Soundwave's helm brow ridge crinkled. “Megatronus: this plan isn’t-”

“This is happening.” Megatronus interrupted.

Shockwave began to walk to his side of the training room, opposite of Starscream. Soundwave stopped him with a touch to his shoulder pad. His visor glinted with concern. “Mech: flier. Fast but lacking strength compared to Shockwave. Wait for opportunity: take him down.” Shockwave nodded. Soundwave joined Megatronus at the side lines.

Shockwave took his normal, defensive stance, servo and gun barrel up. Starscream stood somewhat lazily at a bend, looking down at his digits once more.

When Starscream rushed him it was faster than he had ever seen Soundwave move. All he saw of the Mech was a rush of colors flying towards him. He felt rather than saw the blow land on his side. He turned. A flash of color. Another blow landed on his back strut. He spun but another blow landed on his shoulder pad. They were coming from everywhere. He was being overwhelmed by blows. He raised his servo and gun barrel, protecting his optic and curled in on himself, protecting his more sensitive plating. He watched the flashes of color around him, attempting to calculate the pattern around him. When he had it his servo struck out, grabbing the flier’s pede as it went to kick his tanks. The flier tried to twist out of his grip but he held firm. Shockwave spun wildly, throwing Starscream at the apex, tossing him into the wall of the training room. The wall cracked behind the flier as he cried out. He slid to the ground and landed in a crouch, one servo holding him up. He looked up at Shockwave, eyes ferocious.

“You'll regret that,” He screeched.

With a click, the fliers boosters activated and not even his colors could be seen as he sped towards Shockwave.

“Ah.” Was all Shockwave could think before he felt a knee to his helm, momentum of Starscream’s booster dragging him to the opposite wall. His helm slammed against the wall. He could feel the glass covering his optic lens crack. When his knees hit the ground he offlined.

……………

“Starscream,” Megatronus grumbled, slightly displeased.

“What!?” Starscream screamed back, incredulous, arms in the air.

Soundwave had run onto the training ground the moment he heard a crack. Starscream stepped back several paces to let Soundwave turn his friend over and examine him.

“You could have blinded him!” Soundwave growled at him angrily, denta grinding together behind his mask.

“I didn't even hit him that hard!” Starscream yelled back.

Megatronus pinched the bridge of his nose.

Soundwave pulled part of Shockwave's frame onto his knees, examining the crack in the optic glass. It would just need a small repair. Knowing Shockwave, he could do it himself. Shockwave grunted, optic light returning, pulsing lightly.

“See?” Said Starscream, “He's fine.”

Shockwave tilted his helm slightly, gaining his bearings. “I lost.” He said simply.

“As surely as I am handsome.” Starscream said haughtily. Every mech in the room stared at him. Starscream sank a little. “Can no one in this coalition take a joke?” He muttered.

“Congratulations, you very nearly lost against an untrained mech.” Megatronus glared pointedly at Starscream. Starscream sputtered, spouting half voiced excuses. Megatronus ignored him. He kneeled next to Soundwave and Shockwave in a crouch.

“Tell me, why not use your weapon in battle?”

Shockwave's optic blinked. He raised his gun barrel up into his vision. “I never use it sparring with Soundwave.”

“Sparring for exercise is different than a proper match,” Megatronus nodded. “You must use every advantage at your disposal to win in battle.” Shockwave considered this.

Megatronus stood. “Come along, Starscream. We will discuss your position in the coalition in my office.”

The two walked to the exit. Starscream took a look back at gladiator and the scientist, Shockwave still resting his helm on Shockwave's knees. He scoffed and then took his leave.

“Shockwave: needs repairs,” Soundwave said gently.

“Why do the gladiatorial matches continue?” Shockwave asked, ignoring Soundwave's concerns, still examining his cannon arm.

Soundwave sighed. “Revolution: has costs. Pits still under partial ownership of management. Required to fight under their directive, but a share of funds earned by gladiators go to coalition costs.”

“Being a gladiator directly benefits the coalition?” Shockwave asked in confirmation, looking up at Soundwave’s visor from his place on his knees.

Soundwave frowned.

“Directly adds funds to the coalition: yes? Why?”

Shockwave thought for a long moment. “I need to become a gladiator.” He stated.

Chapter Text

A few decacycles of training later and Shockwave was on the match schedule.

“I don't understand why you feel the need to do this,” Ravage shook her head, looking down into her energon cube. Ravage, Buzzsaw, Laserbeak, Soundwave, and Shockwave all sat around the central table in Soundwave's habsuite sharing a routine evening meal together. Soundwave glowered at the table, arms crossed.

“I must secure my position in the coalition.” Shockwave said simply.

"Arena: dangerous!” hissed Soundwave. “Shockwave: does not need to fight. Shockwave: builds weapons!” Soundwave waved his arms around, frustrated.

Shockwave calmly fed energon into his tubing. “Megatronus presented me with a test, and I failed. I must correct egregious error.”

Shockwave and his tests. Soundwave regretted his involvement deceiving Shockwave into a processor-dive more and more every cycle. Even if it was the most amazing processor Soundwave had ever experienced in his life. Even when he burned with the touch of another’s mind, Shockwave's presence had been hot…exciting. He pushed those thoughts away.

“Megatronus: presenting test, but not for Shockwave. Test: for Starscream.” Shockwave insisted.

“Regardless.” Soundwave shook his servo at him in dismissal. “Megatronus can buy weapons with appropriate funds. Gaining strength as a gladiator will make me indispensable.”

“Megatronus: foolish!” Soundwave slammed a fist on the table. Buzzsaw glanced at him, beak downturned in a grave expression. “Megatronus: unable to determine what abilities make mechs valuable, unable to deploy mechs effectively. And busy with that-that CLERK.” Soundwave said with disgust, crossing his arms again.

This had become a frequent topic of complaint for Soundwave. When he had given Megatronus the message from Orion Pax, the clerk from the archives, he had not expected anything to come from it. And for a couple orns, it seemed like nothing had. Until about a decacycle ago, Soundwave had walked into Megatronus’ office to see the small clerk sitting there, laughing with his friend like he belonged. Apparently the two had been meeting in secret the whole time. It would have taken considerable effort from Megatronus to hide such a secret from Soundwave. Or perhaps, Soundwave had just been preoccupied with his own woes regarding a certain purple mech. Before Soundwave had closed the door awkwardly, issuing an apology to the two good natured mechs, he had sworn he had picked up…affection towards the scrawny archivist from his friend.

“I will be fine,” stated Shockwave simply, diverting Soundwave's thoughts. “My matches are to be against low level mechs.” This was true. The lowest level matches were always from a pool of mechs that management gathered. Either prisoners, homeless mechs, or other undesirables high society mechs paid to get rid of. It was where most gladiators started.

“And if Shockwave rises in the ranks?” Soundwave pressed.

“I know my limitations. I will pull out when I need to.”

“As if we have ever been given that option,” thought Soundwave bitterly. It was no matter. It would be an option for Shockwave, he would ensure it.

Laserbeak spoke up softly. “We worry for Soundwave in every match he is in, no matter how assured it is.” She looked up, coolant welling up under her visor. “We will worry for you too.”

Shockwave did not know how to respond to that so he didn't.

“We will watch, like we do for Soundwave.” Buzzsaw said firmly.

Ravage nodded.

Shockwave's shoulder pads relaxed with tension no one knew he held.

Soundwave's spark spun for the little family he had gathered around him.

……………

Shockwave's first few matches went by uneventfully. His opponents had been untrained, fearful. The matches against untrained mechs always went first and the crowds were small with little fanfare. Many would shout as many jeers and insults at him as they would his opponent. Most having to do with his empurata status. Unoriginal. He would take his opponents down easily, but kept them alive. He always sent them to Megatronus afterwards to speak about joining the coalition. Though they often had little choice, as mechs with their status had little chance of escaping the Pits and littler chance escaping Megatronus’ lofty, high minded pitches of freedom and equality after having their lives spared.

He rose in the ranks until he got a match with a named gladiator. His optic brightened seeing the name. Ah. Good. He needed the challenge.

……………….

“You need a name,” said Buzzsaw.

“Shockwave,” said Shockwave.

Buzzsaw stared at him like he was stupid, which he was not.

Laserbeak yawned from her place curled up on his shoulder pad. “You can't go by Shockwave. You'll be associated with the senator.”

“Ah.” Said Shockwave in understanding. “Gladiator.”

“You can't use the profession as a name. That discounts “Scientist” as well.”

“Understood.” Shockwave thought for a moment. “Empurata”

Buzzsaw squawked in surprise, “What!?”

“The crowd will call me that anyway.”

“That doesn't mean you have to play into it!” Buzzsaw cried, wings fluttering with agitation.

Laserbeak considered, “There is a certain power in claiming the title as your own.”

Buzzsaw glared at her, “I don't agree!” He stomped a claw on the laboratory workstation. “Would you want to enter the arena with the name Beast-Former?”

Laserbeak's beak curled, “Well no but-”

“Exactly!”

“It's Shockwave's choice!”

The twins stared at each other, optic lights hardened to narrow pricks, stubbornly. Shockwave lifted his gun barrel gently to Buzzsaw's claws. Buzzsaw perched atop it and Shockwave lifted it up to his opposite shoulder pad for the bird to curl up there. He used a servo to stroke Laserbeak's feathers. “There is no need to argue. I am open to suggestions.”

“How about Shocks?” Buzzsaw suggested.

“It's probably best we avoid any deviations from Shockwave's actual name. Plus, Shocks is our nickname for him. They can't have it.” Laserbeak said firmly, visor glowing bright.

Buzzsaw opened his beak to argue, but seemed to think better of it. “You're right,” he said softly.

It was then that Ravage entered the laboratory, having finished a surveillance mission for Soundwave. “What's going on?” She asked, hopping onto the table to curl up against Shockwave's arm. Shockwave stroked her back with his servo.

“We're trying to think of a gladiator name for Shockwave,” answered Laserbeak.

Ravage was quiet for several moments. “How about,” she looked up at Shockwave's single optic. “Cyclops.”

“Cyclops?” Shockwave asked.

Ravage seemed slightly embarrassed. “It's a one-eyed monster….from one of my fiction novels.” Shockwave’ optic lit up a bit.

Buzzsaw made a face. How is that name any better than empur-?

“I like it.” Shockwave said, rubbing Ravage's head.

“You do?” She asked softly.

“I do.” He answered simply.

The cyberbirds looked at each and at their older sister who was purring in the crook of Shockwave’s arm.

“Oh well,” said Buzzsaw with a mischievous grin, “There's no accounting for taste.”

………………….

It was match day. Shockwave was in the laboratory. Just because it was match day didn't mean he couldn't try to get some progress on his commission for Megatronus done. It was almost done after all.

Soundwave entered the lab, visor light narrowed to a central circle. Shockwave checked his chronometer. It was earlier in the cycle than he had ever seen Soundwave in the laboratory.

“Soundwave?” He greeted, helm titled in confusion.

“Shockwave: aware it’s match day.” Soundwave said, denta clearly ground together behind his mask.

“Yes?” Shockwave was unsure what Soundwave was getting at.

“Why aren't you training?”

“Ah. I will not get any more prepared for this match than I already am. I do not want to waste precious joors in the training room.” Shockwave turned back to his work.

Soundwave threw his arms in the air, clearly livid. “Shockwave: aware who his opponent is?”

A silence descended between them.

“I'm aware.”

Shockwave felt a weight on his back strut. Soundwave had placed his helm there. He placed his servos on Shockwave’s back as well.

“Soundwave: can get Shockwave out of the match. Shockwave: does not need to fight him.”

Shockwave was quiet for a moment. “I do.”

Shockwave felt Soundwave's digits curl into closed servos on his back. He could feel them shaking.

“I don't want to lose you.” He said quietly.

Shockwave did not turn. “You won't.” He said simply.

Soundwave nodded. Shockwave felt the motion on his back. “Give him hell.”

………………….

Shockwave walked into the Fighter's Tunnel. He only had to wait a few moments to hear his gladiator name be announced over the loudspeaker. When he entered the arena, light of the sky shining far above him, the entire crowd openly jeered him. It was much fuller (and much louder) than any of his previous matches. High above any of the stadium seating he spotted a bit of red and yellow. The cyberbird twins perched on some wire to watch him, as promised.

He watched his opponent enter from the opposite side. A helmet with horns, a long, skull-like face plate, fiery, orange optics, and a sword. Bludgeon. The mech had been knocked down to the bottom of the rankings as a punishment for his misdeeds and now he faced the mech who put him there. Bludgeon approached him slowly, steps heavy with intimidation, optics glaring with the fire of revenge and metal limbs tensed with the anticipation of killing.

When Bludgeon finally reached the center of the arena, Shockwave took up his opening, defensive stance. Bludgeon brandished his sword. The timer ticked down. The starting horn blared. Shockwave immediately jumped back right as Bludgeon swung his sword. Bludgeon rushed him again, swinging his sword at his helm. Shockwave ducked, swinging his legs out for a kick for good measure but Bludgeon had already jumped back and was rounding on him again. Shockwave dodged another swipe of his sword hastily and stepped back from his opponent.

This wasn’t working. He needed time to think. He fired a calculated blast from his cannon at Bludgeon. Bludgeon jumped out of range, rolling into a dodge as dust spurt from the point of impact in the ground. Shockwave scanned the arena. Empty. Empty, except for the strong, concrete pillars holding up the stadium seating. Shockwave began his calculations.

Bludgeon was on him again. He brought his sword down on Shockwave's shoulder pad. It stuck into Shockwaves thick tank armor. Shockwave took the opportunity to grab the skull-faced gladiator and toss him to one side of the arena. He pulled the sword from his armor with a grunt and tossed it clear to the other side. Make the gladiator waste precious time retrieving it.

Shockwave took a few shots at a pillar, getting laughs from the crowd. He could hear the crowd laughing. Empurata, empurata. One-eyed freak. So short-sighted he couldn't even see the opponent wasn't even in front of him anymore. He tuned them all out. It was no matter. He had a match to win. He took some shots at a second pillar. He stood in between the weakened pillars, underneath a section of stadium seating.

Bludgeon ran headlong at him, zig zagging to dodge Shockwave's cannon blasts. Bludgeon jumped high in the air, bringing his sword down over Shockwave’s helm. Shockwave was ready, dodging him easily. Bludgeon’s sword stuck into the dirt. Bludgeon tried to pull it free. Shockwave kicked him in the back, sending him into the wall. Before he could recover, Shockwave jumped back, positioning himself right outside the stadium seating’s shadow. He shot at both of the weakened pillars in quick succession. The whole section creaked as one side slammed roughly to the ground. The mechs sitting atop screamed. Bludgeon rushed at him, orange optics fully aflame, arms reaching out to grab him. The rest of the seating section slammed fully into the ground.

When the dust settled a single servo poked out from underneath the chunk of concrete. Bludgeon's helmet had squeezed out of the carnage and rolled to the center of the Pit arena. The stadium was quiet. Shockwave stood there, unsure why no victory horn had blared. He walked over to Bludgeon's helmet and put a single pede on it. The crowd went ballistic.

“CYCLOPS! CYCLOPS! CYCLOPS!”

The victory horn sounded but was barely heard over the roar of the crowd. The mechs who had sat in the chunk of fallen stadium seating seemed to scream the loudest.

Shockwave began his walk to the Winner’s Tunnel. As he did, he noticed mech’s all around him throwing things at him. He knelt to examine one of the pieces. He held a small bolt in his servo. “A trophy,” Shockwave realized. Many gladiators had them. After a hard won match, the crowd would sometimes throw one of their own bolts right off their frames in enthusiasm. “Morbid, but fascinating,” thought Shockwave. He carried the bolt with him as he entered the Winner’s tunnel, meeting Soundwave and Ravage there. Soundwave hugged him, visor shining brightly. Shockwave's spark spun wildly. “You won!” Shockwave said brightly, pulling back, but not letting go, holding him tightly by the forearm.

“That was the goal.” Shockwave said.

Soundwave laughed.

“Well done, Shockwave,” a voice said, congratulatory.

Soundwave dropped his arms sheepishly.

Megatronus walked down the tunnel and grasped Shockwave by the forearm.

“Megatronus?”

“Listen to that crowd, Shockwave. You have shown them what you can do. They no longer care you are an empurata bot. They only care that you are powerful. They love you!”

“You are…pleased?” Shockwave asked.

“Of course I am pleased.”

“I killed Bludgeon, a fellow gladiator.” Shockwave’s optic light narrowed a bit, suspicious of Megatronus’ easy attitude.

“A small sacrifice for a match that showcases the true ideals of the coalition.” Megatronus nodded gravely but his optics sparked with a gladiator's savagery.

“....that being?” Shockwave asked, his processor beginning to swim as he tried to pull together the nuances of political conversation.

“A mech can be anything regardless of frame. You have done well, Shockwave.” Megatronus put a servo on Shockwave’s shoulder pad.

Shockwave listened to the roaring of the crowd just beyond the tunnel. Soundwave slipped a servo into his.

Megatronus could have the roaring of an adoring crowd if he wished. Shockwave would have settled for another hug from Soundwave.

Chapter Text

Shockwave and Megatronus stood outside the Pits, on one of the rarely used external training fields. Shockwave held a large, bulky cannon in his arms, balanced atop his servo and his gun barrel. The perpetually running fusion core he had sacrificed previous energon for sat lodged in the middle of the massive cannon. It had taken orns of tinkering to get the core to work as he built the cannon, but now it ensured the cannon would never run out of charge and would fire blasts proportional to the strength to its wielder without tapping any of their own energon. He was explaining this to Megatronus as a small crowd gathered around them. Gladiators, flyers, coalition members, all standing by to watch their leader.

“Well, let’s see how good of an inventor you truly are, Shockwave.” Megatronus stated, eyeing the crowd with a fierce grin.

Shockwave began to feel apprehensive at his untested weapon being demonstrated in front of such a large crowd. He spotted Soundwave, arms crossed, visor beaming with confidence, in the front lines of the crowd. His shoulder pads were adorned with the cyberbird twins, Ravage at his pedes, all grinning at him with excitement. Shockwave relaxed slightly.

Megatronus equipped the fusion cannon to his arm. It lit up with power. As he loaded a shot everyone could hear the boot up sequence. Megatronus took aim at a training dummy on the far side of the field. When Megatronus fired, the cannon crackled with energy. The blowback was so unexpected, Megatronus had to hold his arm in place in surprise. The large blast of energy devoured the dummy, along with several other training dummies nearby. When the dust cleared, the entire surrounding area was scorched and the training dummies had been reduced to cinders.

Megatronus grinned at Shockwave wildly.

“Some adjustments can be made,” Shockwave said simply.

“It's perfect!” Megateonus roared. “I can feel the energy in my fuel lines.”

Megatronus fired again, this time at a towering high organic plant with a thick trunk. When the blast hit it, the trunk split and it came crashing to the ground, leafy appendages setting on fire. Megatronus boomed in laughter.

Soundwave approached Shockwave.

“Cannon: impressive.” He said, looking at Megatronus who was rubbing his digits over the massive firearm. The cyberbirds had fled from his shoulders, hovering around some aerial mechs in an unless bid to annoy them. The aerials were swatting them. Ravage remained by Soundwaves pedes.

Shockwave considered. “Do you want one?”

Soundwave's visor glowed wide and bright. “Unnecessary! Soundwave: not in need of equipment.”

Shockwave took out a datapad from his subspace and started drawing something with a stylus.

“Soundwave: not in need of a cannon.” Soundwave reiterated, stressing its importance.

“Mhmm.” Shockwave said, noncommittally.

…………….

A few decacycles later, Shockwave presented Soundwave with a small cannon when they met up to spar in the training room. Soundwave's physical therapy had been completed a while ago and Shockwave was only on the match schedule occasionally with his work in the laboratory and with helping out Hook in the medbay, but the two still took up sparring.

Soundwave sighed. There was no use arguing with the purple scientist now. The cannon was already built.

“Its shoulder mounted. Though the experience building Megatronus’ cannon helped me with this one, it's much different.” Shockwave explained. He beckoned Soundwave to lean down and he did, allowing Shockwave to mount the cannon.

“It should allow you to direct the natural vibrations your sound energy produces into one central location, making your sound blasts even stronger than before. The cannon can be tuned to make the sound as weak or as devastating as you would like.”

Soundwave was stunned. He expected a cannon that shot laser energy, like Megatronus’. He didn't expect a weapon so…so catered to him specifically. Shockwave stood at his side, out of the range of any weapon firings.

Soundwave focused. He went to blast a wave of sound through his speakers as he normally would. The cannon nozzle spun. He could feel the vibrations thrusting through it, much more powerful than even his strongest setting through his speakers. He aimed the cannon at a training dummy and watched its head explode into straw. He tuned the cannon to a higher setting and watched the rest of the dummy explode, unceremoniously.

Switching the cannon off he turned to Shockwave.

“It's perfect.” He said quietly. Shockwave's optic burned bright.

………………

Shockwaves’ lab got very busy after that. Nearly all the mechs in the Pits had seen the fusion cannon demonstration. With Soundwave walking the halls with his shoulder mounted cannon and the cassettes returning from missions with their gadgets adorned, it seemed Shockwave's skills as an inventor had been proven. He had many requests. The aerials wanted upgrades for their boosters. Gladiators wanted specific weapons to add to their arsenal. Starscream also wanted a cannon. Megatronus wanted a basic line of weaponry, small laser pistols and grenades in mass he could hand out to troops if needed. Shockwave worked tirelessly on all of it.

One evening, Soundwave entered the lab earlier than normal. Shockwave bent over a workstation, working on one commission after another. Soundwave wrapped his arms around him from behind. “Take a break.” He muttered, into the plating of Shockwave's back strut.

“Unnecessary.”

“Please.”

Shockwave's servo stilled. Silently, he put his tools away and covered the project with a sheet. He turned to Soundwave, optic dim with fatigue. Soundwave held a palm to the side of his helm. Shockwave leaned into it, for once, optic blinking slowly.

Soundwave pulled him out of the lab by the servo. He took him back to Shockwave's own habsuite, where they wouldn't be interrupted by surprise cassette encounters. Soundwave kept the lights of the habsuite dim, allowing Shockwave the break from the bright lights of the lab. He sat Shockwave on the berth and stood close, in-between the tank’s long legs. Shockwave's audial fins stood a little lower than neutral position, his EM field tight enough to reveal nothing.

Soundwave wanted to cradle his helm, wanted to take his servo into his, feel the warmth of his forearms, press his forehelm against Shockwaves. Take away all the stress and negative thoughts Shockwave might be having. But with no idea what Shockwave was thinking, Soundwave did nothing. His arms shook from the temptation, the need to reach out and touch Shockwave somehow. Shockwave watched.

Soundwave cleared his voicebox. “Soundwave: Will never touch Shockwave without permission. Soundwave promises.” He always kept a promise.

Shockwave considered this, audial fins raising a bit. “I want you to.” He said, placing one of Soundwave’s servos on his forearm.

Soundwave placed his forehelm to Shockwave's. He rubbed his servos up his forearm and gun cannon to his shoulder pads and down again. Shockwave seemed hesitant on what to do but eventually raised his own gun barrel and servo and placed them gently on Soundwave’s waist. Soundwave began to heat up.

He gently directed Shockwave down on the berth, knee between his thighs. He knelt at Shockwaves helm and retracted his mask when he was hidden at Shockwave’s neck. He kissed the cables there. Shockwave flinched but then cradled into him, gripping his waist further. Soundwave continued to kiss his neck up until he was at his audial fins which twitched beneath him.

“Soundwave.” Shockwave said, voice slightly strained.

Face still hidden in the crevice of Shockwave's neck, Soundwave traced a digit over the fin. It twitched.

“Audial fins: sensitive?” Soundwave asked.

“Yes.” Shockwave replied, slightly breathy. “But not unpleasant.”

Soundwave rubbed the opposite audial fin with his servo as he kissed from the audial fins, down the neck cables to his shoulder pad. He traced the digits of his servo down Shockwave's helm, to his chest, over his abdominal plating. He placed a servo there leaning more weight into Shockwave to nip at his cables more deeply. He could feel the heat rising between both of them, Shockwave’s frame shivering with it beneath him. Soundwaves servo snaked its way to his thighs, to the panels covering his interface array. He rubbed small circles there for a moment.

Shockwave had stopped moving underneath him entirely. Soundwave's servo retreated.

“I'm sorry,” Shockwave said, voice strained.

Soundwave shook his head on Shockwave's neck. “Interface: not required.” Shockwave wrapped his arms and gun barrel tightly around his waist, clinging to him, apprehension making itself clear in his field.

“Never required.” Soundwave insisted. He reversed the transformation of his battle mask, putting it back into place. He settled into Shockwave's side, laying his helm onto Shockwave’s chest protrusion like a pillow, gripping him close to his body in a hug. Shockwave’s servo remained clung around his waist. They vented together, heat dispersing.

Shockwave was fighting recharge. Soundwave laughed. Shockwave’s fins twitched with the sound.

“Recharge.” He said simply. “Soundwave: Will be here when you online.”

That seemed to reassure him. Shockwave’s optic dimmed. Soundwave held him close, sending a message over bond to his cassettes that he was spending the night elsewhere before he too slipped into recharge.

Chapter Text

Soundwave was thinking about Shockwave. Well, he thought about Shockwave a lot lately. The cassettes had yet to tease him about the couple of nights he would take out of the decacycle to spend in Shockwave's habsuite. Perhaps they felt his reconnection with Shockwave too fragile to poke fun at, remembering his awful state when he had enforced a separation. Both his and Shockwave’s awful states.

Nothing had happened in the habsuite besides light holds and kissing on Soundwave's part but the cassettes were giving him a wide berth of the subject, letting him keep his privacy.

But holding Shockwave in the night wasn't what was on his mind this cycle. It was his processor. Over orns and orns the quiet presence of Shockwave never shifted, no readable senses or thoughts for Soundwave's ability to pick up. It was comforting in a way, to have Shockwave after an entire cycle dealing with all the noise; the thoughts, and feelings of every other mech in the Pits, to see him and be washed over by the calm of a steady, strong silence. But it still bothered him that he did not know why Shockwave was an exception to his abilities, especially on the nights when Shockwave’s optic light was dim and his audial fins were down and it was clear he needed something from him, something Shockwave couldn't verbally communicate and something Soundwave didn't know how to help with.

………………….

When Soundwave and Shockwave next spent a night in Shockwave's habsuite, Soundwave brought up a proposal.

“Query: Would Shockwave…” Soundwave hesitated, unsure in his question.

Shockwave took his servo in his, optic light blinking in assuredness. He was sitting on the berth, Soundwave standing above him. Soundwave crawled onto the berth as well, still holding servos with Shockwave, sitting slightly cross legged with a knee in the space between Shockwave's thighs.

“Soundwave: interested in performing a mind-dive again. Would Shockwave: be interested?”

Shockwave's audials twitched up and down. “I would.” He said simply. “I have…a great interest in your abilities.” He said tightening his grip on Soundwave's servo slightly. “Are there concerns I should know about?”

“There should not be,” Soundwave said a little breathless Shockwave had agreed so simply. “With an agreeable mind there should be no danger of damage. Soundwave: isn't extracting information or sabotaging the processor,” Shockwave cupped his other servo into Shockwave’s helm. “Soundwave: has no intentions of hurting you.”

Shockwave's helm crinkled and his optic link blinked a little brighter. “I'm aware.” His voice twinged with a bit of good natured humor. Soundwave hummed.

The two rearranged themselves so they could sit forehelm to forehelm, forearms lightly placed on top of each other. Shockwave’s gun barrel remained at his side but Soundwave’s servo held the end of it in an embrace.

“Ready?” asked Soundwave.

“Affirmative.”

Soundwave’s surroundings melted around him. He felt the energy of a buzzing processor before he saw it, mapped before him like a topographical graph with its mounds and hills of data. When he descended he really could tell it was the most orderly processor he had ever seen. Everything stashed, nice and neat, almost overly so, no chaos. Was this a result of the empurata? It truly was the most unusual processor he had ever spent time in and he had been in quite a few. Was it just its unique build that prevented Soundwave from reading his thoughts? Even here, Soundwave could not tell what the presence of Shockwave was thinking, even with his memories, his processes, his emotional centers, his very being sprawled out before him for viewing. Even with an entire library to study on Shockwave, Soundwave felt he would never understand him fully, but his mind prickled with the desire to.

The presence of Shockwave was stronger than it had been on first dive, but he seemed content to just observe Soundwave and the motions of his processor. In his mind's optics Soundwave lay his digits over memory compartments, letting his digits graze over them. The presence of Shockwave shivered. He rifled through a few seeing many images of himself from Shockwave’s perspective, seeing the cassettes in the laboratory, seeing Shockwave in the streets of Kaon, dull plated and starving.

He floated down the compartments and got to a few that were scorched black, tinged at the edges with static. He remembered seeing these on his first dive. He touched this too and though he saw nothing from the compartment the presence of Shockwave started to crackle, ebbing slightly.

Soundwave thought of how Shockwave had grabbed him in the previous dive. He thought to grab Shockwaves servo and he then felt a servo in his hand. Shockwave’s servo. It was warm, not burning like it was when Shockwave had been deterring him before. “Shockwave: safe.” Soundwave thought, unable to speak here. “Nothing can hurt you here.” Somehow the presence understood. Shockwave pressed his hand into the black memory compartment getting absorbed into a memory.

Soundwave watched the memory from outside of it. Memory Shockwave was half put together. Or half torn apart. He had his large chest protrusion, and his chassis and one leg, all in his now purple frame, but all other limbs had been removed. Only his helm remained of his original frame. Two optics and features twisted in pain. Multiple energon lines were connected into him all pumping at once. He was strapped down to a table, stained with blood. A mnemosurgeon stood before him, long needles transformed from his digits and a sick grin on his faceplate.

“Ah, Senator, I'm sorry to say this will be very painful.” He didn't look sorry at all. “But the Senate doesn't want you remembering certain details about their misdeeds now do they? They've paid me very handsomely for this whole endeavor. But I must say, the pleasure is all mine.” He splayed his needle claws to his chest like it really was.

Memory Shockwave tried to speak but all that was coming out was strings of static. He couldn't struggle. None of his limbs were connected enough to move properly, just enough to hurt. Soundwave could feel it fully through the memory.

“Now, now, none of that, Senator. Let's get started.” He plunged the needles into Shockwave's helm. Shockwave screamed and screamed. So this is where the shadowplay started.

“Uhnn” the mnemosurgeon grunted. “You're not supposed to be resisting this much!” The mnemosurgeon’s optics flared. “Be quiet!” Soundwave could almost hear the slice as the mnemosurgeon made it. Memory Shockwave stopped screaming. “There we go. Much better.”

The presence of Shockwave was vibrating violently. Soundwaved pulled them both out of the memory. When he did the particles making up Shockwave exploded leaving nothing but waves behind. Soundwave reached out in panic. Shockwave was still there, he could still feel him, just scattered. Soundwave began to gather the particles from every corner of the processor to put them all together. As he did so, he thought about what he saw.

Shockwave had been victim to a mnemosurgeon. He had at least partially been able to resist that mnemosurgeon, something he had never heard of happening before. That indicated a very strong processor indeed. And looking around, yes Shockwave did have a strong processor, even where it had been damaged by the hands of the senate. Having the mnemosurgeon in his mind must have planted the seed for Shockwave to be able to project his own presence in the processor. Just through observation of the menosurgeon and Soundwave, he had figured out the processes to do it himself. The gathering of knowledge: executed. His resistance to the menosurgeon may also be why he can't read Shockwaves surface thoughts. A sort of, default protection setting, deeply rooted in the trauma of how he was formed. Or perhaps the mnemosurgeon had cut into something so deeply that it cut off whatever Soundwave uses to read those thoughts. Though with the emotions Shockwave displays, Soundwave doubted the mnemosurgeon had done a decent job of hacking his emotional centers out completely, or was as good at his job, in general, as he seemed to think he was.

When Soundwave had gathered all the particles, the presence of Shockwave started to form again. The presence clung to him fiercely and outside of the mindscape he could feel Shockwave physically clinging to him as well. Their presences melded into each other a bit and their forehelms overlapped. Shockwave's processor flickered out of sight and Soundwave's could be seen in its place.

Suddenly then it was Soundwave's memories being looked through. Shockwave was not malicious or even intentional with his gaze, but locked onto a railway riding a cart with no steering and no brakes. They saw Ravage as a sparkling, so small, getting adjusted to walking on four legs. They saw the cyberbird twins swaddled in soft blankets, a fatigued Soundwave holding one in each arm. Ravage, as a slightly older youngling angrily pushing a cube of energon to Soundwave, compilations of gladiator battles with pink blood on Soundwave’s servos, a flash of a habsuite.

“Not there.” Soundwave thought. But in telling his processor not to think about it, he instead brought it forth. Multiple scenes, all bleeding together, all in plush habsuites. High society mechs who had paid so much shanix to the managers to berth him for the night. He had mouths to feed. He had his cassettes to think about. He couldn't lose his gladiator status. The high society mechs would push him into soft bedding, pin his arms, sometimes pin his throat, sometimes whisper in his audials, rip open his panels, shove themselves on top. They all rode the thrill of dominating a gladiator, like he ever had a choice in the matter.

Soundwave fled. The presence of Shockwave reached for him, but he fled. Back in the physical realm, Soundwave's helm ripped away from Shockwave's. Shockwave gripped his forearm tightly. Both vented deeply. Coolant streamed past Soundwave's battle mask. “Shockwave couldn't cry even if he wanted to,” thought Soundwave. The Senate had taken that ability away from him along with his frame.

While Soundwave's frame shook, somehow Shockwave's was sturdy. Soundwave usually was the initiator of physical contact. This time, Shockwave pulled Soundwave close to his frame and wrapped his arm and cannon fiercely around him in a protective hold. Soundwave was faced away from him, did not see the look in his optic, but could feel his digits on his chest and the strong frame on his back and felt safe. He vented lightly.

“You have questions?” Soundwave asked, because Shockwave always did.

Shockwave hesitated. “The cassettes’ Sires?” He probed.

More coolant dripped from his optics. “Soundwave: doesn't know. Could be any of them.” His optics shut tight. “Shockwave: thinks less of me?”

Shockwave shook his helm so viciously Soundwave could feel it in his frame. “Never.”

Soundwave relaxed.

“Did you get the answers you wished?” Ah. Of course Shockwave realized he was on a quest for knowledge.

“Irrelevant. Does not matter.” Soundwave considered. “Are you okay?”

Shockwave thought for a long time before nodding once into Soundwave's back, gripping him even tighter into a hug. Soundwave rubbed the digits and eventually maneuvered his servo to fit his inside, settling their held servos on his chest.

“I'd like to confer notes on your Outlier ability.” Shockwave said with the excitement of a scientist putting together theories.

Soundwave laughed, indulging him.

Chapter Text

“I'm telling you Boss, we can't find any dirt on this guy.” Buzzsaw lifted his wings in exasperation. When his Carrier held a grudge, he held a grudge, but there was nothing they could do about a mech with no paper trail.

“Maybe Orion just genuinely wants to help Megatron?” Suggested Laserbeak, getting her a bit of a hard glance from Soundwave.

The three were conferring in the communications center. Orion Pax was supposed to be visiting today, on invitation from Megatronus-or Megatron now.

“That's another thing: when did PAX convince Megatronus to change his name?” Soundwave shook his helm bitterly.

Laserbeak shrugged. “Orion suggested he shorten it. Like a pen name, I guess. Make it clear and legible for mechs of all literacy levels.”

“Plus it's iconic!” Buzzsaw butted in. “Megatron! It just sounds cool.”

Soundwave’s brow ridge crinkled in disgust.

“Don't pout, Boss.” Laserbeak said with a sly grin.

“Soundwave: not pouting.” Soundwave gave Laserbeak a big thumbs up. “This is Soundwave: not pouting.”

“He's just upset he has to show the two love mechs around later.” Buzzsaw made exaggerated kissy noises with his beak.

Soundwave groaned. It was true. Rumors had been flying all over the Pits that Megatron was infatuated with the clerk. It seemed, based on his intelligence and the cassettes spying, that was accurate. Stolen glances, stolen handholds, stolen kisses. For whatever reason, the two wished to keep their romance hidden but acted so friendly with each other rumors started anyway. Especially considering Megatron, a huge intimidating mech with hard eyes and a growl to match would always soften a bit when Pax was around, finding ways to touch him that he wouldn't do with anyone else.

“Megatronus: should show Orion around the Pits by himself.” Soundwave grumbled.

“You really want that happening, Boss?” Buzzsaw raised a brow at him.

Soundwave conceded. No, he didn't. He was security chief for a reason, and he didn't want Megatronus-Megatron showing off something off limits because he was a little too infatuated with the archival clerk.

“It's alright, Boss. Laserbeak will keep you company during the tour.”

Laserbeak rolled her eyes.

“Query: Buzzsaw's plans for the cycle?” Soundwave asked his son, curious why he was pawning the unfortunate chore touring the base to his sister.

“Me?” Buzzsaw smiled at the two unfortunate mechs. “It's my cycle off.”

………………

Soundwave met Megatron and Orion at the Pits’ entrance. Laserbeak sat on his shoulder pad, surveying the two. Since that traitor Buzzsaw was taking his cycle off, he wouldn't have extra surveillance for the tour today, but that was fine. He could handle Orion Pax.

“Oh hello Soundwave.” Pax greeted them. “It is wonderful to meet you again. And wonderful to meet you too, little Cyberbird.” Pax grinned up at Laserbeak.

“Her name is Laserbeak,” Megatron said, placing servos on Pax’s narrow shoulders.

“Laserbeak!” Pax exclaimed. “I didn't know you liked animals, Soundwave!”

Soundwave clicked his glossa. He did like animals, as a matter of fact, but Laserbeak was not an animal.

“Laserbeak: Beast-former and cassette.” He said simply.

“Ah ha. What does that mean?” He said, looking up at Megatronus.

“It means she is more sentient than you think and you are offending Soundwave greatly right now implying otherwise.” Megatron said with good natured humor in his voice.

Pax’s optics widened. “My mistake!” He clasped his servos together in apology.

Laserbeak was silent, watching the whole affair with darkened visor.

“Shall we begin then,” Megatronus placed a hand on Orion's back leading them into depths of the Pits. Soundwave followed behind.

Megatronus showed Pax his office (which he had definitely seen before, but whatever), the energon dispensary, explaining how he fought with management to get the one cube per mech rule in place when he bought a share of the arena, the recharge hallways that gladiators had always shared since management had never given them habsuites, and the medbay, where Hook quickly shoved them out yelling about his patients.

They made their way to the gathering room which held a few mechs in it, winding down from either training or chores. Astrotrain and Blitzwing sat on a couch watching the entertainment center. Breakdown was chilling at a table playing a solo card game. He held an arm up for Laserbeak to perch on and Laserbeak flew over, nipping at the wires near his shoulders playfully. Breakdown chuckled and let Laserbeak pick a few cards from his hand to play.

A desk had been shoved into one far corner, absolutely strewn with papers. Starscream sat there, scribbling away. Thundercracker and Skywarp each stood nearby, seemingly guarding the busy aerial.

“Orion, this is Starscream.” Megatronus waved a hand at the desk in introduction.

Starscream looked up, optics rolling, hopped one foot on his desk and launched himself in front of the group. He took a short bow in front of Pax.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, I'm sure. I am Starscream. Former Prince of Vos.” He flashed his nails, optics glinting. “Second in Command.”

Soundwave blared his frustration.

“Starscream.” Megatron warned. “You are Air Commander.”

Starscream tilted his helm, feigning confusion. “What did I say?”

“Second in Command.” Starscream's scratchy voice played from Soundwave's speaker.

Starscream's features crinkled at hearing his own voice played back at him.“Oh, well I meant Air Commander. Silly me.” He waved his servo daintily, optics locked on Soundwave. Soundwave’s visor light narrowed in return.

“Now I wish I could stay and chat, or give TOURS all day, but I really do have a lot of work to do.” Starscream drawled, stepping back over his desk.

“Former Prince of Vos?” Pax asked once the trio were a good distance away.

That’s right. Starscream had introduced himself in similar fashion when Soundwave had first met him. Vos, of course, had been destroyed nearly a decavorn ago by the Senate. The sky city had been torn down for its…”transgressive” policies regarding political refugees from Iacon seeking asylum. The entire city was unlivable now, firebombed into cinders and ash, and lingering with toxic chemicals. Finding any documentation of the royal families of Vos had been difficult but from what Soundwave and the cassettes could get their hands on, it appeared what Starscream claimed was true.

“He claims to be the sole survivor of his lineage,” Megatronus told Pax, optics narrowing a bit, perhaps distrusting the aerial. Thundercracker crossed his arms, hovering a little closer to Starscream’s desk.

The three left the gathering room, Soundwave waving to get Laserbeak's attention. She dutifully returned to his shoulder.

“Starscream sure is something.” Pax remarked.

“Yes: something,” Soundwave agreed with him on that one.

They made their way to the arena. Megatron stood triumphant in the center of the arena giving some facts about the battles that had been won there, reliving some of his own great feats, striking battle poses and flexing his muscles. Orion stood watching him, looking starstruck.

“Pax: Has seen the matches?” Soundwave asked.

Pax didn't look away from Megatron. “A few of them,” he answered.

Soundwave wondered which few he had seen.

When Megatron was done showing off in the arena, they made their way to their last destination; the laboratory. Soundwave walked with a little more pep in his step.

When they walked into the laboratory, Soundwave could see Ravage reading a datapad in her usual corner. Buzzsaw was there too, twisting a knob on one of the lab's machines.

“Shocks!” Exclaimed Laserbeak, leaving Soundwave to go nuzzle up against Shockwave's neck. Soundwave couldn't help thinking how cute it was every time she did that.

He also noticed Shockwave had been very busy lately, with crates of laser pistols and grenades starting to line the walls of the lab. He discreetly motioned at Buzzsaw who closed lids onto those boxes with none the wiser.

Soundwave walked up to Shockwave's workstation. He noticed the other two followed behind him. “Query: What is Shockwave working on?” He asked, hoping it wasn't the deadly missile projectiles Starscream wanted.

“A booster upgrade for the aerial mechs.” Shockwave looked up at Soundwave's more formal speech, only then seeming to notice the lab had more company than usual. “The booster should allow them to fly at speeds 200 percent faster and at 90 percent increased efficiency.”

“Shockwave's inventions: amazing.” Soundwave praised.

Shockwave grumbled. “It would be better if I could get the efficiency to 100 percent.”

Soundwave shook his head. “Shockwave: perfectionist.”

“I have to agree.” Pax said, slightly awed. He reached an arm out to Shockwave shake his servo. “I've heard so much about you, Senator.”

Shockwave was quiet. He did not take Pax's servo.

“I do not use that title anymore,” He said in a monotone.

“Oh…” said Pax. “My mistake.” He cringed, taking his servo back. Soundwave wondered what Megatronus-Megatron had been telling him about Shockwave.

“Well, I also saw your gladiator match! You should fight again! I still hear mechs talk about it on the streets or Iacon.” Pax waved his servos like a headliner. “Cyclops: the empurata mech who destroyed Bludgeon in his first match.”

Shockwave tilted his head back a bit. “It wasn't my first match.”

“Still. You're an inspiration!”

Soundwave glared at the little mech and ground his denta. He had finally convinced Shockwave away from a gladiator path with all the other necessary work in the laboratory. Logically.

Megatron noticed the hard stare.

“Shockwave! Show us some of your other projects that Pax would like.” Megatron demanded denta slightly grated, putting a hand to Pax's forearm.

Shockwave's optic blinked. Soundwave hoped he understood Megatron's subtle message. Nothing too classified for the archival clerk to see.

“This way,” Shockwave beckoned.

Shockwave walked them to where his garden and the vats of experimental energon sat. On the green vat was a plaque with the word “engeX” scrawled on it, clearly in Buzzsaw's handwriting. Soundwave smiled a bit at that.

Shockwave was just capping off a lengthy explanation of the energon's properties to Megatron and Pax. “Twice as effective. Three times as long lasting. Increased uses of energy. “

“Why hasn't this been used on the gladiators already?” Megatron asked.

“Trials….have had side effects.”

Soundwave did not even want to know what, or who, he was using in those test trials.

Pax was examining the neat rows of organic plants all growing in a large container placed nearby, normal energon dripping into it at set intervals. “Your garden is beautiful, Shockwave.”

“It is here to benefit my study, not for its beauty.” Shockwave replied.

Pax looked at the energon vat. He smiled as something seemed to occur to him. “If you can get this energon to work, and you can feed it these plants, you would have a supply of both organic food and synthetic energy. You wouldn't just be eliminating hunger on Cybertron. You could eliminate hunger on a universal scale.”

“That would be the goal of this exercise, yes.” Shockwave replied.

Soundwave was stunned. He had never put that together. He was amazed Orion Pax had figured out a reason for Shockwave's garden before he had. He figured Shockwave’s interest in the plants was purely botanical, not linked to his other endeavors.

Megatron smiled through grated denta. “Eliminating UNIVERSAL hunger is a little outside the scope of this coalition.”

“It's amazing,” marveled Pax, optics bright with wonder.

Yes, yes it was. Another thing Soundwave dared to agree with Pax on.

Megatron glanced at Soundwave. His friend clearly had other things on his processor than watching over him and Orion at this moment. He took Orion's servo in his. “Why don't we take our leave.”

Orion smiled at him, a little flushed at Megatron's attention. Soundwave went to leave the laboratory with them.

“Soundwave,” he smiled. He looked Soundwave in the visor insistently, over to Shockwave, and then back again. “You're dismissed.” He almost chuckled but held himself back.

Soundwave looked back at Shockwave. Megatron was already pulling Orion out of the room. Let them get into trouble if they wish.

Soundwave hugged Shockwave fiercely. He lifted a digit and strummed Laserbeaks feathers from where she had fallen asleep on Shockwave’s shoulder pad. Soundwave placed his helm on Shockwave’s chest plating.

“Shockwave: amazing.” He reiterated.

Soundwave swore he could hear Shockwave’s spark spinning from his place on Shockwave’s chest.

Chapter Text

Ravage was wrapped around Soundwave's pedes pretending to be asleep. A storage room had been converted into a meeting room with a large round table. Megatron sat at the head of the table with Soundwave, Starscream, Shockwave, Astrotrain, Hook, and Orion Pax all taking up chairs around it.

A coalition meeting to discuss future matters, Megatron had said. Shockwave sat right next to Soundwave and Ravage could feel his apprehension through his field. As the second foremost expert on Shockwave, (Soundwave was the first, obviously) she could guess that his imposter syndrome was acting up. For some outlandish reason, Shockwave felt like he never belonged among the others even though he was smarter and better than all of them combined! He had earned his seat here with all his work towards the coalition.

What Ravage couldn't figure out was why Orion Pax was here, and she was sure Soundwave was mulling that over as well. But she was pretending to be asleep so she wasn't pushing any theories to her Boss right now, who was surely busy filtering all the noise from these mech’s heads. (sans Shockwave, of course)

Megatron called the meeting to attention. “Welcome to the first administrative meeting of this coalition. Allow me to introduce everyone. I know most of you know each other, but as a formality: Myself of course.” He pointed a servo to his chest. “Megatron: leader and top gladiator of this establishment.” He waved a servo to his right. “My Second in Command, Soundwave.” Soundwave’s visor brightened. “Our top scientist and weapons manufacturer: Shockwave.” Shockwave’s optic light blinked rapidly.” Megatron waved his servo, introducing each mech. “Starscream: Air Commander in control of all aerial mech forces. Astrotrain: Our representative for the triple-changer frames. Hook: Our gestalt bond representative and Chief Medical Officer. And Orion…” Megatron’s servo faltered a bit here like he didn’t consider a title for the outsider mech. “Literature distributor, and ally.”

Megatron continued, undeterred, “Now, that brings us to our first order of business: branding. We can’t be: ‘The Pits Coalition’ forever. We need a new name, logo, slogan, everything.”

“A new name?” echoed Astrotrain.

“What’s wrong with ‘The Pits Coalition’?” Soundwave muttered.

“Well the name ‘Pits’ is just a tad unfortunate, don’t you think?” replied Starscream scrunching his nose.

“Starscream: fought in the Pits?” Soundwave pointed his helm towards Starscream.

“Well…no?”

“Then Starscream: doesn’t get an opinion!” Soundwave’s voice raised, glaring at the flyer from across the table.

Orion Pax spoke up. “What you call yourselves is important. It will be how you are represented to the people of Cybertron.”

“Yes! And it needs to be iconic! Something recognizable! Something for people to shout when they get behind our cause!” Megatron waxed poetically, putting his fist in the air.

“Clearly you have thought a lot about this already,” snarked Starscream. “You must already have an idea in mind.”

Ravage was one to agree. He wouldn’t have presented the idea in the first place without a name already in mind.

“I do in fact. One derived from my writing.” Megatron put a servo on his chest. “For those unfamiliar, I have written about how the Senate has tricked society into believing this is the way the world has to be. They have convinced the population that the structure cannot be changed, that we are all cogs in a machine, all created to perform a function and that we cannot stray from that function lest society collapse all around us. But look at us all here. All of us have strayed from our original purpose and we are stronger together.” Megatron looked at every mech in the room deeply in the optics. “The Senate crafts this narrative to keep us in chains, to prevent us from realizing our own collective power, but there are no chains. We are free. We have been deceived. You have been deceived. THAT should be our slogan. And our name-” Megatron paused dramatically. “Should be Decepticons.”

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Ravage’s ears twitched with the tension of it. She tuned her attention to all the different mechs venting quietly, trying to sense who would speak first-

“Wouldn’t that imply we are the ones doing the deceiving?” Shockwave’s helm was slightly tilted.

Megatron blinked. “What?”

“It doesn’t make sense. If ‘The Pits Coalition’ are the ones voicing the truth, why are we taking on the name that implies we are the deceivers?”

Ravage kinda agreed with Shockwave on this one. But she also knew Megatron. This wasn’t a, let's all talk about different options sort of topic; this was a decision Megatron had already made and was merely informing the rest of his comrades about.

“It. makes. Sense.” Megatron said stiffly glaring daggers at Shockwave.

Shockwave huffed like he was going to argue more, but Ravage saw Soundwave put a servo on his knee, a subtle cue to stop talking. Shockwave dropped the subject.

“Wonderful.” Megatron said, ignoring the buildup of tension in the room. “Hook, one of your brothers is an artist, right? Have him create a logo for us. Something stylish. Meaningful.”

Hook blinked. “Mixmaster? Yeah…he can whip something up. Any direction you want to go in?”

“I’m a writer, not an artist, Hook. I delegate this to you.”

“A wonderful writer though.” Orion said, a bit dreamy eyed in the optics.

“Oh Primus.” thought Ravage.

Megatron smiled, looking a bit flushed at Pax’s compliment but quickly cleared his voicebox. “The next order of business - action plan. We need to go further than distributing literature. We need to get out there: Protest! Rally! Disturb the peace! Get our foot in the door!”

Starscream puffed his chest up, “Well as Second in Command-”

“Air commander.” Shockwave interrupted.

Starscream blinked rapidly. “Huh?”

“You misspoke. Soundwave is Second in Command.” Shockwave said with a bit of an edge to his monotone.

Apparently even Starscream heard it because he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.

Orion raised a digit to his chin plating. “Don’t go disturbing the peace just yet. I have an in with the Senate. I might be able to grant you a meeting with them.”

Megatron frowned at him. “What kind of in do you have with the Senate?”

Orion explained. “I have a police enforcer friend, Prowl. He knows a guy, who knows a guy. I admit, the connection is tenuous, but I may be able to pull some strings.”

“Soundwave: Doesn’t like it. Speaking with the Senate will change nothing.” Soundwave crossed his arms.

“Ah! But the people listening to the Senate’s broadcast will hear you. Besides, you should at least try to make change through the proper channels. If it fails, the people will have no qualms about backing your movement,” Pax argued.

“If” it fails. “Proper channels.” What kind of Rubbish was this Mech spewing. Ravage couldn’t imagine how the politically radical writing of Megatron appealed to him. And a police enforcer friend? She agreed with his Carrier, she didn’t like it one bit.

Megatron had a crazed look in his eye. Speaking on the Senate floor would be a bigger audience than the gladiator pits would ever be. “Very well, Orion, you will be our liaison to our contact in the Senate. Update us as you progress.”

Megatron looked around. “Well great, I think this was a very productive first meeting of the Decepticons. Dismissed.”

Everyone began to disperse. Starscream stomped out of the room, first to leave, Hook and Astrotrain trailing behind. Soundwave picked up Ravage gently from underneath the table. She went limp, pretending to still be asleep while her Carrier cuddled her close in his arms. Orion was lingering in the room, speaking to Megatron. Ravage could feel Soundwave's hesitance. Shockwave stood nearby. Megatron eyed them. “Dismissed, you two.”

Soundwave sighed and with a little nod, he and Shockwave left as well. As they walked the hall, he heard Shockwave ask, “Why did you prevent me from speaking?”

“Argument: pointless. Megatron’s mind: already made up.”

Shockwave seemed to stew on that for a few kliks.

“He is unwilling to listen to counter opinions?” Shockwave asked.

Soundwave chuckled, chest compartment rumbling next to Ravage’s head. “Not on that particular subject.”

Whatever Soundwave saw in Shockwave’s non-verbal response must have required an additional comment because he told Shockwave, “Soundwave: likes your opinions.”

Ravage felt her weight shift as Soundwave went from cradling her with two arms to one. She lifted an optic-lid to peek. Soundwave held a servo to Shockwave’s helm, forehelms touching. She could feel her Carrier’s chest get warm beneath her. “Oh Primus,” she thought, but there was something about this sickeningly sweet display of affection that made her chest feel warm too.

Chapter Text

Soundwave was supposed to be on the match schedule this decacycle, but as he checked the schedule he saw he had no listed opponent, just a series of question marks. A mystery opponent. A new gimmick management was trying out? Or just some mech some high society mech really wanted dead. When he asked around it seemed like none of the other gladiators were scheduled for that time slot so it really did seem like an outside competitor. That was fine. Soundwave wasn’t one of the top gladiators for no reason. He had dropped in the ranks a little bit since his major injury, even Breakdown had pulled ahead of him, but a mystery guest shouldn’t be an issue. He had other things to worry about anyway.

……………………

“I’m telling you, that sneaky flyer is after your position.” Buzzsaw insisted, sipping up his energon.

The Twins, Ravage, Shockwave, and Soundwave were all sharing their daily ration of energon in the laboratory.

“If he tries something, I'll rip his wings off.” Ravage hissed. Soundwave rubbed his forehelm.

“Unnecessary: Soundwave can handle Starscream.”

Shockwave was quiet. He had finished his energon and was listening to the group’s concerns.

“Starscream is a threat. He is after your position. These are facts. Can you say Megatron will discipline him effectively if he gets out of control?” Shockwave asked, laying out his argument after careful thought.

Soundwave thought about that. He was sure of Megatron and of Megatron’s goal. But that didn’t mean he was always sure Megatron would make the correct decisions.

“Title in the coaliti-in the Decepticons: does not matter. What matters: group cohesion, maintaining active role in command.” Soundwave countered.

Shockwave’s helm crinkled a bit. “You would allow your position to be usurped?”

“If it supported the cause.” Soundwave replied simply.

Shockwave’s audial fins pointed downward. His optic light was bright but unmoving. Laserbeak nuzzled against his audial and chirped at him.

Soundwave grabbed his servo on the table. “Soundwave’s position: secure. Conversation: hypothetical.”

“Yeah, don't worry, Shocks. And if it becomes more than hypothetical,” Buzzsaw got a serious look on his face “Then I’ll pluck out his optics.”

Soundwave burst out laughing. “De-SIST!” He said between gasping for air.

“I will not! What’s so funny about plucked optics, Carrier?” Buzzsaw said with a huge grin on his beak.

“Nothing!” Soundwave insisted, shoulders still heaving with laughter.

Still holding servos, Shockwave’s optic light pulsed lightly. Ravage could feel his EM field pulsing with a rare emotion, true peace.

………………….

The day of the mystery match arrived. Soundwave arrived at his end of the Fighter's Tunnel. He stretched out his arm and waited for his name to be called. When it was, he made his way to the middle of the arena. When he heard the other name a pit dropped immediately into his tanks.

The top gladiator was on the other side of the arena. Tall, wide, silver frame and bulky helm with ravenous bloodlust in his optics that he always got on match day. That ravenous look dropped the klik he spotted his opponent. Someone must have paid good money to make this happen. One of Megatronus-Megatron’s demands when he earned a joint share of the Pits was that he would never have to face Soundwave in the arena. Someone wanted one of them dead.

Megatron’s walk towards the middle slowed, optics darting around for a solution. This was a battle he did not want to fight. “Please”, thought Soundwave desperately, “just fight.” We can make it look good, we can make it look like a draw. I can take a hit, I can take a fall.

A sudden moment of clarity hit Soundwave. He could take THE fall. If someone had to die today, it could be him. He could be a martyr. He could be a driving force the coalitio- the Decepticons need, a battling cry to rally behind. He had always said he would get out of the Pits one way or the other.

He took his starting stance. Megatron met him at the center of the arena. Hesitantly, he crouched in a starting pose. The timer of the starting horn ticked down. When it blared, neither one of them moved. “Soundwave-” Megatron started.

Soundwave jabbed at him, throwing his full weight behind the punch. The crowd roared. Megatron lunged away, dodging. He screamed a guttural roar and rushed at Soundwave, grappling him at the legs and throwing him into the air. Soundwave crashed into the ground, air knocked out of his frame and stuttering from his vents. Megatron’s two giant, clasped fists rained down on him. He rolled out of the way just in time, blasting a concussive sound wave from his speakers when he stumbled to his feet. Megatron was hit by the blast but not stunned in the slightest, letting the wave slide him back a few inches. His eyes were in rage, not in bloodlust, but in bitter anger and grief. Soundwave lunged at him. Megatron simply put up a servo and caught Soundwave by the neck, slamming him into the ground again. He placed a heavy pede on his chest compartment, crushing him a little. Megatron was bent over, putting a fraction of his weight on the pede, heaving in anger, servos with outstretched digits like they were just reaching to crush the very first thing to cross his path. Unfortunately that was Soundwave. Both waited for the victory horn. They heard nothing but the jeering crowd calling for bloodshed. Megatron grunted, frustrated. Coolant welled up in his optics. He looked only at Soundwave, did not raise his helm for the crowd to see.

“Do it.” Soundwave choked out. “Make them see.”

Megatron shook his helm.

“A sacrifice is necessary: for the cause.”

Megatron bent down real close to him, grabbed his shoulders in his servos. The movement of it cracked his chest plating more under his pede. Soundwave grabbed Megatronus’ forearm in pain.

“You don’t even have your sound cannon.” Megatron said quietly.

Soundwave shook his head. He never did. He went into the matches only with what he was forged with. Nothing else.

“Did you know?” Megatron rasped, voice heavy with emotion.

Soundwave shook his head. “No.” Soundwave let go of Megatron, ready to let him finish it.

That’s all Megatron needed. He raised his pede high into the air and brought it down with all his weight.

Right next to Soundwave’s helm. The sound boomed in the arena. Echoing all around them. Dust rose up around them, clogging Soundwave’s vents. When the dust settled, Megatron turned to the crowd.

“Is this what you wish for? In your sparks of sparks? Bloodshed? Brother against brother? Mech against Mech? Well, NO MORE!” He gave a servo to Soundwave and rose him to his pedes. “We are DONE being your SLAVES for your entertainment! We are DONE killing each other for YOUR benefit! We are DONE being DECEIVED!” The crowd began to boo, the chorus of it straining Soundwave’s audials. “You are displeased?! You want to fight? Show me what you are made of!” Megatron screamed at the crowd. The crowd began to laugh at this, a mech thinking himself mightier than his station, demanding anything of anyone. A whistle sounded sharply above the crowd. A red and white flier hovered above them all; Starscream. He tossed something down to Megatron, chunky and pulsing with energy. Megatron grinned.

He equipped his fusion cannon and took aim at the seating section in front of him. A huge hole blasted right through where a ton of high society mechs had just been sitting. The crowd began screaming. Fliers took to the skies, grounders were stumbling over themselves in the seating to get to an exit. Megatron cackled, shooting more shots into the air. Into the crowd, into the structural pillars, into the management tower that overlooked the arena, into the poles where communication wires hung, in the stone above the Winner’s Tunnels, crashing rubble over the exit. There would be no more winners.

Megatron cackled a mad mech’s cackle as more and more mechs tried to flee from the scene. Smoke began to pour from the arena stands as debris from Megatron’s laser blasts caught fire. Soundwave stumbled back to the Fighter's Tunnel, vents still clogged with dirt, glass of his chest compartment slightly cracked. He held a servo to his chest and fled, mind blank. Before he got to the tunnel a servo was pressing into his. He pulled back on instinct, frame taking up a defensive pose before his optics processed the purple frame.

Coolant poured from his optics. “Shockwave!?”

Shockwave took a clean rag from his subspace compartment and cleaned out some of the vents near Soundwave’s helm.

“You are damaged. We need to go to the medbay.”

Soundwave was having trouble focusing. He could barely hear Shockwave, even though he was right in front of him. Was there still screaming or was that just lingering in his processor? Shockwave wrapped his arm around Soundwave and let him lean his weight against him as they walked together down the Fighter’s Tunnel.

“How? Why? Why are you here?” Soundwave asked through his chugging processor.

“I was watching your match; I just couldn’t get to you.”

Soundwave blinked. “Shockwave: watched?”

“Hook always lets me leave to watch your matches.”

Soundwave blinked again. “Shockwave: watches all my matches?”

“Yes, I just said that.” Shockwave looked at him like he was worried he might have processor damage. The two walked in silence for a few kilks as they entered the safety of the underground.

“You let Megatron win.” Shockwave said, a simple statement of fact, though how he knew Soundwave could not guess.

This was an instance where Soundwave wished he could read Shockwave’s thoughts. “He…he needed to survive.”

“You need to survive!” Shockwave stopped the two’s advancement suddenly, yellow optic blaring bright.

“Soundwave: not more important than the cause.”

“Maybe you are.” Shockwave’s bright optic light did not waver.

Soundwave was quiet. They had finally reached the medbay. Hook was holding down the fort, only allowing Pits’ residents in the door, barring entry to any high society mechs who tried to get in. Shockwave quietly repaired Soundwave’s glass. He rinsed out all of Soundwave’s vents, not just the clogged ones. Eventually, loud stomping greeted them in the medbay. Megatron’s silver frame was darkened with soot. He dragged his fusion cannon arm down behind him in exhaustion. He stared into a far wall, blankly. “I destroyed it all.” He said with nothing in his voice. “I ripped down the entire place.” He wavered slightly in his pedes.

“It's okay,” said Soundwave, standing to put a servo on Megatron’s shoulder.

“It's not. It's not.” said Megatron. He looked up, a little more focus coming back into his optics. “But it will be.”

Chapter Text

Management had, officially, been run out of the Pits. The arena had thoroughly been destroyed. No one but Decepticons had run of the Pits now. At least they left all their finances behind too. Soundwave seized it immediately for budgeting. Restocking the energon dispensary was top priority. But even if they only bought energon, they would only have funds to keep the dispensary full for a solar cycle or two tops. Not to mention Hook would need restocks of medical supplies and Shockwave raw materials for weapons manufacturing.

When Soundwave mentioned this to Megatron he sighed. “We will have to accelerate our plans. We need to get the people on our side and benefit off their good will.”

Soundwave wasn’t sure what Megatron expected. But a few cycles later, Orion contacted them.

“Your speech at the arena seems to have galvanized them,” he said. “They want to hold an audience with you.”

“The speech where many high society mechs died and the arena was torn apart?” Questioned Soundwave. He doubted Orion’s narrative very much. “Why would the Senate grant an audience with a terrorist?”

“He’s not a terrorist!” Orion’s brow ridge furrowed.

“Soundwave: speaking from the Senate's perspective.”

“Well maybe something about the disaster has left them with a desire for peace.” Orion said, optimistically.

Soundwave scoffed.

Megatron considered. He thought for a long time. “It is at least worth a try. For the audience, if nothing else.” He gripped Soundwave’s servo. “I need you with me on this Soundwave.” He put a hand on Soundwave’s shoulder pad, noticing the fracture line that still remained on Soundwave’s chest compartment. His eyes flickered back up to Soundwave’s visor.

“Soundwave: with you. Faith in Megatron: never in doubt.” Soundwave clasped his forearm to Megatron’s forearm, an old gladiator greeting.

……………..

It would be a large group traveling to the Senate. Megatron would be the only one speaking but all of the Pit’s gladiator’s would be present, as well as Hook and Starscream. Shockwave and the cassettes were among those staying behind.

“We can’t go with you?” Ravage asked.

“Senate: is dangerous-”

“That’s just another reason we should go with you!” Buzzsaw insisted.

“Soundwave: one of the top gladiat-

“So we would be safe with you and the other gladiators.” Laserbeak argued.

Soundwave raised his helm to the ceiling, exasperated.

“Shocks! Tell Soundwave we should go with him to the Senate!” Buzzsaw begged.

Shockwave stood very still. His optic blinked. “The Senate is dangerous.” He said finally.

Soundwave put his servo on his hip, staring down at his cassettes.

“Ok so maybe Shockwave wasn’t the best person to ask.” Buzzsaw admitted quietly.

“Cassettes, stay with Shockwave.” Soundwave said firmly. His optics softened. He crouched down to them, speaking softly. “Keep him company?”

Ravage sighed. Buzzsaw stared at the ceiling, frustrated. Laserbeak was resigned. “Yes Carrier,” she said.

…………………

Never before had there been so many gladiators on the streets. When management had been involved in the Pits there were rare occasions where one or two of them could be allowed into the streets of Kaon to run an errand at a time. Some gladiators hadn’t been outside the Pits since they had been thrown in. Now they all moved through Kaon as a group, Megatron leading the pack. In the name of Peace, only the members of Command were armed, Megatronus with his fusion cannon, Soundwave with his sound cannon, and Starscream with his new missile gauntlets, courtesy of Shockwave. Though the gladiators still moved with an aura of quiet, contained power, intimidating every mech they encountered to move out of their way to let them pass, even the police enforcers. They did not take the train. They walked their procession through all of Kaon, and then all through Iacon, until they reached the Senate building. The agreed upon time was upon them so Megatron walked upon the golden steps of the Senate building and burst down the doors of the chambers.

The chambers stood empty. The lights were dimmed. The chairs were vacant, abandoned. For a breem, no one said a word. Megatron clicked on a communication line to Orion Pax. “Orion, What is this? The Senate stands empty.”

“What?” Soundwave could hear Orion’s little voice over Megatron’s audial. “No one’s there?”

“No one Orion. The chambers stand empty.” Megatron stated, trying to keep rage out of his tone.

“Hold on, let me talk to Prowl.”

Soundwave stood by firmly, arms crossed.

“What do you mean the Senate isn’t planning to convene today!?” Orion screamed, clearly facing slightly away from the communicator.

“Something isn’t right.” Megatron said, optics narrowing in suspicion.

Megatron’s communication line went out, jammed. The dim lights of the chambers went out completely. The gladiators formed a circle, keeping the non combatants behind them. “Show yourself cowards!” Megatron yelled.

Police enforcers streamed into the building from all directions. Some flew in from the windows, breaking the glass. All of them carried pistols which they fired upon the unarmed gladiators. “Find cover!” Megatron yelled to his fellow gladiators. He armed his fusion cannon, aiming back at formations of police enforcers huddled together. Soundwave set his sound cannon to the highest setting, firing concussive sound blasts at the closest sets of enforcers around him. “Soundwave!” Megatron yelled at him, “Jack into the broadcast network! We won’t let all this be for nothing.”

Soundwave looked around. He spotted the senate camera system. Starscream nodded at him, taking Soundwave’s place in the fray with a missile firing from his gauntlet. Blasting his way through police enforcers he reached the control panels for the camera. He crossed its wires with his own, overloading its systems with his own spyware programs. He pointed the camera at Megatron. “Megatron!” He shouted, pointing at the camera and giving him a thumbs up. He returned to the defensive, protecting a fallen gladiator with his sound cannon as Hook patched the gladiator's systems with shaky servos. Megatron shot another group of enforcers away from him with his fusion cannon. He turned to the camera.

“We were invited to the Senate for open dialogue!” He yelled into the camera. “And look what they have done.” Megatron pointed to the chaos around him. “We do not wish to fight. We came to TALK!” Meagtron kicked an enforcer off of him. “If they have deceived us, think of how they are deceiving you! What lies does the Senate tell you every day to keep YOU, the Cybertronian citizen controlled. YOU ARE BEING DECEIVED!” Megatron fired his fusion cannon above the chamber entrance where the senate sigil was carved. Rock collapsed to the ground, reducing the sigil to rubble. “We are the Decepticons! And we will be deceived no more! Join us Cybertron! RISE UP!”

The police enforcers began to withdraw. Starscream withdrew from his cover. “Megatron, surely they are going for reinforcements.” He touched Megatron’s arm. Megatron ripped it away, enraged.

“Megatron: We need to go!” Soundwave yelled. Soundwave put the injured gladiator on his back. A few others lay lifeless, frames turning gray. Soundwave looked away quickly. He prompted Hook up and away, to walk with him. Megatron blinked. The carnage suddenly becoming vibrant around him.

“Yes. We leave. NOW!” He shouted at the rest of the group.

The group made their way back down the golden stairs, now tinged pink with blood.

“Megatron!” A voice cried from the streets. Orion ran up, a police enforcer behind him. Megatron raised his fusion cannon. “Wait-wait!” Orion cried. “He's not with them! This is my friend-Prowl!” Orion stood in front of the enforcer, servos up.

“He planned this! He must have!” Megatron did not lower his cannon. “You said-you said he was your contact to the Senate.” Megatron's voice broke a little. Soundwave's spark hurt to hear it, despite his mistrust of Pax.

“No!” Orion approached Megatron slowly, placing his servos on Megatron's. “A guy that knows a guy, remember?”

Megatron scoffed. “He's still an enforcer.” He glared at Prowl. Soundwave’s back ached from holding his fellow gladiator. They needed to move.

“He's an enforcer, but they didn't let him in on this plan. He never would have agreed to it. Right, Prowl?”

Prowl stared at the group with hard optics. He nodded once.

“Easy words for one wearing a badge.” Megatron sneered.

Prowl stood stiller than a board. One long moment, then Prowl tore the enforcer badge off his uniform and threw it to the ground. “Not wearing a badge anymore, am I?” He snarled.

Megatron dropped his cannon. “Orion.” He said quietly, voicebox cracking a little.

“ I know. It's okay.” Orion put his helm to the back of Megatron's servo. Megatron took a deep breath. “We have to go.” Megatron said sadly.

“Go.” Orion said. “Prowl and I will misdirect them.” He upturned his features into a cheeky grin.

The group ran into the backstreet, making their way back to Kaon. Soundwave supposed he owed Orion, just this once.

………………

Soundwave dropped the injured gladiator at the medbay. Once he got a good look, he realized it was Breakdown. He couldn't hold that simple information in his processor. A few other injured gladiators took up medical berths around the medbay. Hook touched Soundwave on the arm. “I can handle this, go rest Commander.”

Soundwave withdrew. He walked the halls absentmindedly. He wasn't sure where he was going, what he was doing. He was pretty sure his processor was overloaded. Ravage found him and guided him back to the habsuite.

None of the cassettes said anything, they just wrapped themselves around Soundwave, cuddling close to him on the berth. One of them thought to ping Shockwave. He knocked softly on the door. Laserbeak opened it with a strap they kept on the door for this exact purpose.

Shockwave climbed on the berth without a second thought, though it was the first time he ever shared one with both Soundwave and the cassettes. Shockwave didn't touch him, just looked Soundwave in the optics.

“I saw Megatron on the entertainment center.” Shockwave commented, looking for any response from Soundwave’s dimmed visor.

“You did?” Soundwave said quietly.

“We all did.” Ravage said.

“You hacked the broadcast network.” Shockwave stated, as a fact, that he somehow knew.

Soundwave scrunched his visor in confusion.

“I recognized your spyware systems.” Shockwave explained, nonchalantly.

Soundwave did not not know Shockwave knew his systems that deeply. His processor tried to focus on that, but chugged along to a different line of thinking. “The Senate was dangerous” Soundwave said blankly. “We knew it would be. Megatron-” Soundwave choked a bit. “Megatron: too trusting.”

Coolant spilled over his optics and streamed over his battle mask.

Shockwave pressed into him, curling around Ravage, who was pressed into Soundwave’s side. Buzzsaw sat in the crevice of Soundwave’s neck cables and Laserbeak fluttered to sit atop Shockwave’s shoulder pad. Shockwave’s frame shook a bit.

“I was worried.” He said.

“We all were,” said Ravage.

“We couldn't see you on the camera.” Buzzsaw said quietly.

Shockwave curled his cannon arm into himself, and placed his servo on Soundwave's chest compartment, placing his helm right under Soundwave's helm, nestled into his chest plating.

Soundwave focused on Shockwaves servo on him. He put a servo on the back of Shockwave's helm in return, pulling him close. He focused on the silence of Shockwave's processor. Slowly the fog of his own processor lifted.

“Th-they attacked us.” Soundwave said shakily.

“Yes.” Shockwave confirmed.

“They tried to kill us-did kill some of us!” Soundwave sobbed.

“Yes.” Shockwave didn't know what the body count was but he assumed from the laser fire on the entertainment center, there would be casualties.

“They shot Breakdown.” Soundwave whispered. “He's in the medbay.”

Buzzsaw let a couple coolant tears fall. Seeing Buzzsaw cry had tears welling up in Laserbeak's optics.

“I am glad you are safe.” Shockwave said, relief evident in his field.

Soundwaved sobbed. He sobbed and sobbed. All the emotions of the day hit him at once. The emotions he held back because he had to filter everyone else out flooded out of him in a waterfall of coolant. Too much of Soundwave pouring out. But he was with his family. They would not judge him for the way his processor tore him apart when his emotions overwhelmed him. He sobbed so much his voice box was reduced to static. He felt guilt for putting this on his cassettes, on Shockwave. The cassettes were not having it and snuggled even closer to him. Laserbeak had scooted closer to him when he started crying, sharing a space cuddled between Soundwave’s chest and Shockwave’s arm.

Shockwave was a calm, steady, quiet presence the whole time, keeping him anchored as he slowly, finally slipped into recharge.

Chapter Text

A miasma of grief settled upon the Gladiator Pits. Soundwave set up the funerary rights. They had no bodies to bury, but then again, they never did. Management had never allowed the gladiators in the Pits to collect the bodies of the fallen, instead electing to dispose of the bodies themselves.

A small group of gladiators stood just outside the Pit grounds in a small, makeshift graveyard surrounded by plaques bearing names in Kaonite. Shockwave stood by Soundwave in support, as did Ravage. The cyberbirds elected to stay perched in the trees, far enough away as not to disturb the grieving gladiators, but present in support. Three new plaques were laid on the ground. Shockwave did not know the name of these gladiators, nor could he read Kaonite, but he bowed his helm respectfully along with the others. Soundwave came forth bearing three small boxes. Tokens the gladiators have retrieved from battles won when crowd members had thrown their own bolts at them. These tokens were doused in energon, a precious resource in the Pits, and placed in a box to bury.

Shockwave thumbed his own bolt that he brought with him in remembrance. Breakdown, sporting a new welding patch to his chest, laid a hand on Shockwave’s shoulder in support. He supposed, though short-lived, he too was a gladiator among other gladiators. Once Soundwave laid the boxes in their shallow graves, Megatron came forth to say a short blessing in Kaonite. Though he was known to wax poetically, he kept his prayers short, cut off in his own swelling emotion with a choke that could turn into a sob at any moment. Three gladiators came forth to cover the graves with dirt, none hiding their own coolant tears streaming down their face.

Afterwards, many gladiators hung around to speak quietly. Some gripped each other's forearms or patted each other’s shoulders in support. Some hugged. Some came up to Soundwave to thank him for his bravery at the Senate. Some even thanked Shockwave for specific upgrades or arsenal he had made for them. The sea of faces, some he recognized, some he didn’t. Soundwave would know them all. Shockwave looked at Soundwave. He had barely spoken since the day at the senate. He had his helm pointed down, arms limply at his sides, visor dim. Many thought Soundwave to be stoic, lifeless, emotionless, like him. Soundwave wasn’t like him. Soundwave was so expressive, so full of life, that it was wrong to see him like this. Shockwave took Soundwave’s servo into his, looking at him for any reaction. His visor flickered.

Shockwave beckoned to Ravage and took her aside. “Will you watch the twins for me?” He asked simply. “You can spend time in the laboratory.”

Ravage’s expression was grave. Her optics flicked back and forth between him and Soundwave. “Sure, but, do you have a plan?”

“I have a plan.”

Shockwave didn’t have a plan.

“You’re a really bad liar you know,” Ravage smiled lightly. “Just,” Ravage eyed Soundwave, “TALK to him. I haven’t seen him like this since…well since that decacycle where he forced us to stop talking to you. But this is…this is worse, like, before the twins…” Ravage shut her optics tight.

“I know,” Shockwave stroked her head and rubbed her ears. “I will help him.” Ravage nodded.

Shockwave took Soundwave by the servo and led him back inside the Pits, away from the graveyard, away from all the grieving mechs. His visor seemed to grow a little brighter as he became a little more aware of his surroundings. His grip on Shockwave tightened. Shockwave led him back to Soundwave’s habsuite. Soundwave entered the door code for both of them. Shockwave led Soundwave to the edge of the berth where he pulled Soundwave onto his lap, placing Soundwave’s helm onto his shoulder. The two vented there together for some time. Soundwave focused on the venting, focused on the dim lighting of habsuite, focused on the silence on Shockwave’s processor and slowly became more present in his own frame.

“I’m sorry,” Soundwave said quietly.

“For what?” Shockwave’s plating rumbled as he spoke, Soundwave liked the vibration.

“For disappearing. Soundwave: has been doing that lately. Soundwave: gets lost in all the other mech’s processors.” Soundwave turned his visor into Shockwave’s frame in shame.

“No apologies necessary.”

Soundwave was quiet.

“You never put pressure on me. Why would I return it to you?” Shockwave asked, maneuvering slightly so he could see Soundwave’s visor.

“You should expect more of me. Soundwave-”

“I will not hear a negative word against you. They are not true. Illogical.”

Soundwave chuckled a little.

“If it is inevitable you disappear, then I will wait for you to come back.” Shockwave said simply. Soundwave couldn’t hold back the coolant that streamed down his faceplate. “But strategies are possible. I helped you once, when you needed me. I can help you again, Commander.” Shockwave pressed his servo comfortingly into his shoulder.

Soundwave choked out a small whimper to that. He grabbed Shockwave’s shoulders tightly, helm buried in Shockwave’s neck. Shockwave wrapped his servo around Soundwave hugging him ever closer. “Soundwave: pushed you away after that. Please-” Soundwave wrapped his arms tightly around Shockwave. “Don’t leave.”

“Soundwave, I am not going anywhere. Not now. Not ever.”

Soundwave’s mask retracted. He kissed Shockwave’s neck softly. Shockwave laid them both backwards into the berth, Soundwave weighing heavily on top of him. Shockwave caressed his frame, servo gliding from his back strut to his waist. Soundwave pressed a deeper kiss into his neck cables. Soundwave’s frame began to burn with heat. Every repressed feeling, every mixed up thought, all the grief, and the sadness, and the loneliness was coming back now but it was being reborn as heat that attacked his frame and made his servos shake. Mask back in place he leaned slightly above Shockwave to cup his helm in servos, looking at that yellow optic that brought him everything he needed when he didn’t think anything could. A servo came up to cup his helm as well and he flinched, over sensitive to the touch. Shockwave’s optic brightened slightly. “Soundwave?” He asked a clear question rising in his voice.

“Yes?” Soundwave asked, annoyed with the waver in that simple word.

Shockwave leaned close to him and whispered in his audial. “Do you wish to interface?”

His spark was spinning. His processor was moving too fast but also chugging far too slow. “I think so,” he replied. “Only if you want to.” He kissed Shockwave’s servo, mask opening up just enough to let his lips touch the plating.

Underneath his own heated frame, he didn’t realize Shockwave was heating up too, but Shockwave’s servos were hot to his lips. Shockwave shuddered. “I want to,” he voiced, in realization. “Only with you.”

Soundwave nodded, placing his helm to Soundwave’s audial as he kissed the sensitive area. In telegraphed motions, he placed one of his servos on Shockwave’s interface panel, rubbing it softly. Shockwave vented slowly. His audial twitched under Soundwave’s kisses. Soundwave bit it. Shockwave’s frame arched. “Soundwave!” He exclaimed, surprised. Soundwave chuckled, but kissed his audial again in apology, moving down his neck cables to give the audial a rest.

Shockwave’s interface panel popped open revealing his valve and spike. They differed in color to the rest of Shockwave’s frame, featuring the green and white accents of his pre-empurata life. Shockwave squirmed beneath him. “I-I kno-ow it’s un-unusual” He stammered, unnaturally, unlike his formal way. Soundwave shook his head. “Shockwave: beautiful.” He rubbed Shockwave’s abdominal plating.

“What do you prefer? Valve or spike?” Soundwave asked.

Shockwave looked a little distant. “It doesn’t matter. It’s about you.” He said, looking at Soundwave.

Soundwave frowned behind his mask. “Soundwave: Wishes to please as well.”

Shockwave shook his helm. “Doesn’t matter. Take what you want.” His optic blinked rapidly.

Soundwave looked at Shockwave, grabbing his helm with his servos. “Soundwave: will not take. Will only accept what Shockwave wishes to give.”

Shockwave’s optic light swirled deeply as he looked into Soundwave’s visor. “Valve.” He answered shakily.

Soundwave rubbed his palm over Shockwave’s valve and found it already wet. He must have already been initiating his self-lubricating protocols. He smiled at Shockwave a bit devilishly. “Shockwave: holding out on Soundwave.”

Shockwave rocked into Soundwave’s palm. He whimpered into the empty habsuite. Soundwave didn’t even know he could make that noise. He knew he would want more noises like that from him. Soundwave grazed his thumb over Shockwave’s exterior node. Shockwave gave a small gasp. Definitely more of those noises.

He placed a digit inside Shockwave’s valve, and then a second, scissoring him open with an ease that came easier to him than he would have thought. Shockwave looked perfect, optic light dilating at irregular intervals, voice box making involuntary noises. He placed his forehelm to Shockwave’s as he fingered him open, whispering to him. Telling him how wonderful he was, how good he was, how much he needed him. At some point he slipped a third digit in.

“Soundwave! Please!” Shockwave gripped the sheets with his one good servo.

Soundwave figured he was ready. Soundwave opened his own array, blue and white accents of his frame matching his spike and valve. Soundwave placed his spike in the folds of Shockwave’s valve, rutting into it as Shockwave grunted and whimpered. When Soundwave felt it was nice and lubricated, he lined up his spike with Shockwave’s valve and pushed inside.

Instantly something shifted. Shockwave’s grip on the sheets tightened. He squeezed his legs so tight around Soundwave, Soundwave thought a piston would snap. He loosened everything in a klick but it was like he wasn’t present in his frame anymore. His optic light dimmed to a pinprick and any noise he made was gone. Soundwave’s spike left in an instant. He kneeled right next to Shockwave’s helm calling his name, pulling him upright, hugging him and stroking his back. Shockwave violently vented, like he had suddenly been implanted right back into his frame.

“Are you all right?” Soundwave asked, worried.

“You could have kept going.” Shockwave said.

“No. Are you seriou-? No, Shockwave.” Soundwave rubbed his helm into his.

“Why?” Shockwave asked, a little dumbfounded.

“Soundwave: won't enjoy it, if Shockwave isn’t enjoying it.” Soundwave considered. “We should stop.”

“No…I want to…I want to keep going.”

“Shockwave…this isn’t working.”

Shockwave’s audial fins were pointed down. Despite everything, heat still resided between the two of them. Soundwave considered.

“Query: Would it be easier for Shockwave if…if positions were switched?”

Shockwave considered. “Me on top, you on the bottom?”

Soundwave nodded.

“Wouldn’t that also result in the same issue regarding your own…ah” Shockwave realized, perhaps, he was broaching on sensitive topics “....history.”

Soundwave thought for a while. “I think I will be alright. We can try.” He cupped Shockwave’s helm once more. “If we don’t like it, we can try something else.”

The two rearranged themselves. Soundwave’s self lubricating protocols had been active for quite some time so he felt prepared for anything Shockwave could give him. Well, almost anything, he thought, looking at the size of Shockwave’s spike. He wrapped his legs around Shockwave’s in encouragement. “Are you sure?” Shockwave’s optic searched Soundwave’s visor.

“Soundwave: sure.”

When Shockwave entered it was gentle. More gentle than anything Soundwave had ever experienced. “Oh,” he gasped. Shockwave hugged his midsection, Soundwave returned his embrace. Shockwave began a slow pace. His spike ground on every sensitive node of Soundwave’s valve and the slow pace exacerbated the pleasure every time they were hit. “Ahnnn, Shockwave.” Shockwave got past the first set of capillaries and was suddenly thrusting even further into Soundwave’s valve. Soundwave was gasping and it was Shockwave’s turn to marvel at the new sounds he didn’t know his partner could make. When Soundwave’s valve had gotten accustomed to that pace, Shockwave pulled nearly all the way out and rammed all the way in, bottoming out completely. Soundwave screamed silently, legs shaking. Shockwave’s body arched, frame shaking. He stayed like that for a moment. When Soundwave could speak again, he reached out to Shockwave. “Is this: better?” He asked.

Shockwave nodded. “B-Better but,” his audials still shifted slightly from neutral. “Are you okay?” Soundwave nodded, pedes tapping Shockwave’s back to encourage more movement.

Shockwave started up a languid pace once more, deep enough to hit Soundwave’s ceiling node with each thrust. Soundwave gasped with every touch to his node. Shockwave lifted him up, sitting him up on his spike, thrusting upward into him, Soundwave’s spike getting friction on his Shockwave’s abdominal plating. Soundwave gasped into his audial, watching it twitch in a daze as Shockwave picked up a more frenzied and rapid pace. Soundwave tried to warn him, he placed a servo to his chest and tried to speak but his voice only came out as static. When Soundwave overloaded his valve clenched so hard around Shockwave’s spike he groaned an octave deeper than Soundwave had ever heard it, then felt transfluid spilling into his valve as Shockwave shook from his own overload.

Shockwave froze. He still held onto Soundwave closely. “I didn’t mean to do that.” He said softly.

Soundwave shook his head, “It’s fine. He separated himself from Shockwave. He got a towel from the washracks and wiped himself and Shockwave down.

“But what if-”

“It's fine.” They weren’t going to worry about that right now. They weren’t going to worry about anything.

He got back into the berth and pulled Shockwave back to him, letting Shockwave wrap his arms around him in a protective hold. They looked at each other, visor to optic.

“Was I satisfactory?” Shockwave asked softly.

Suddenly everything about this picture was wrong. Soundwave, in this image, was wrong. He knew what would alleviate Shockwave’s fears immediately. Soundwave retracted his battle mask. He reached a servo to his faceplate and took his visor off clicking the hinges closed.

“Shockwave: is perfect.”

Shockwave’s optic was bright, taking in every detail of this gift Soundwave had given him. He traced a digit over the soft protoflesh of Soundwave’s cheek. He looked into Soundwave’s red optics, fatigued and wrinkled with dark circles. His face held scars, small ones around his lips and a large one that cut across his optic and down half his nose. His optic looked a bit dulled there like the senses never fully came back online. Soundwave thumbed the scar, “The arena?” he asked.

“No,” Soundwave said, optics closed, thinking. “Before, on the streets, when I was homeless.”

Shockwave held his faceplate so close to his optic he couldn't help feel examined for a second. His spark spun. “You are beautiful, Soundwave.” His spark spun a little faster. He left his visor on the bed-side table and relaxed into Shockwave.

…………….

About an orn later, Soundwave woke one morning to terrible nausea. He barely made it to the washracks before he purged his tanks. It was a good thing he didn’t wear his mask when Shockwave spent the nights anymore. With some frantic words from Shockwave, Soundwave went to get scanned by Hook. Hook took his scans, scrunched his faceplates at the results and then took the scans a second time. “Well Commander,” he said, tone a bit grave, “I suppose, congratulations are in order. You’re having a sparkling.”

Chapter Text

Soundwave had gathered his cassettes and Shockwave into their habsuite. Physical images of Hook's scans lay on the table, showing a clear mass growing in his gestational tanks, just a small blob now.

Ravage was glaring at Shockwave. “I distinctly remember telling you just to TALK to him, not knock him up with a sparkling.”

Shockwaves audials were pointed downwards. “We did talk…this outcome…is an unintended side effect.”

“Oh, PRIMUS. Please, stop talking.”

“We are getting a new sibling?” Asked Buzzsaw, looking at Soundwave.

Soundwave considered. He nodded. He put a servo to Shockwave's shoulder. “You did not ask for this. Shockwave's involvement: unnecessary.”

Ravage glared at Shockwave, daring him to say anything. Shockwave considered. He did not ask for this. He also did not ask the cassettes to start hanging out in his laboratory every cycle. Or for Soundwave to share a berth with him, holding their servos together, side by side. And those were positive developments. He looked at each of the cassettes and thought about how they all had changed him.

He placed his palm atop Soundwave's servo. “Neither of us asked for this outcome. I share the responsibility. I will not abandon you.”

Ravage visibly relaxed. Soundwave's optics glistened. “Sparklings are a blessing,” he said quietly. Thinking of the cassettes, Shockwave could not think of a better word to describe them than that of the divine.

“I have no reason to disagree.” He stated plainly. “I will follow your lead.”

“What will you tell Megatron?” Laserbeak piped up suddenly.

Soundwave sighed. Megatron had become increasingly difficult to talk to. Since the incident at the Senate he had become more withdrawn and angry. It didn't help that he was getting into more arguments with his “friend” Orion Pax. Anyone from the outside could have told him that the two differed wildly on radical politics but telling Megatron that would have fallen on deaf audials. Now, Pax was still insisting that change could happen from inside the system despite all that happened. That the Senate could fundamentally be rid of corruption. Megatron was more in favor of tearing out the entire rotten foundation.

Orion had also gotten more vocal about the Decepticons’ methods. Over the orn, they had planned small demonstrations. Gladiators on street corners shouting “You have been deceived!” Marches down the streets of Kaon. Sit-ins at the Kaon train station disrupting the flow of traffic. Some of these public demonstrations turned violent when enforcers showed up. No gladiator went into public without one of Shockwave's laser pistols.

The aerials flew over the city, dropping leaflets with the new Decepticon logo, a stylized purple rendering of Soundwave's own helm, over Iacon with their stated goal to disregard frame type and demand equal rights for all Cybertronians. When Soundwave asked Mixmaster about the new logo, he said he had been inspired by his and Megatron’s last match. “The perception of it, Megatron threw away everything for his opponent. He would not sacrifice your life for his,” Mixmaster had put a brush to his face plate, smearing paint there. “Megatron asked for a meaningful symbol, I can't think of a more meaningful symbol than the undying loyalty of a sacrifice refused.” Though Soundwave didn't love being the face of the movement, he relented. He did love the purple, it reminded him of his own purple bot.

There were also the raids. With supplies in every sector running low, the Decepticons hit multiple warehouses stealing energon, medical supplies, crates of shanix, weapons, and raw materials. Either Starscream or Soundwave would lead these raids, sneaking in and out under the cover of darkness, a cassette or two usually on duty to act as watch. Pax specifically hated this, as he felt any illegal activity tainted the message the Decepticons were trying to spread. Soundwave was sure having a lifetime of enough energon to consume would give him that opinion.

“Megatron: will be told the truth.”

“The timing is awful,” Buzzsaw said mournfully. “With the rally being planned.”

The Decepticon rally. The plan for the end of the solar cycle. Bigger than any demonstration so far, Megatron wanted to strike at the heart of Iacon with a public demonstration so big, the people of Cybertron would have to pay attention to them.

“Soundwave: capable of planning for both.”

Shockwave's optic blinked, side to side, in thought. He firmly grasped Soundwave's servo. “We can all help prepare for a sparkling. This is not a task you need to undertake alone.”

“Yeah, Boss don't worry, that sparkling won't even know what hit them!” Buzzsaw’s visor crackled with manic energy.

“Well, I mean, Buzz, I wouldn't phrase it like that.” Ravage said, snoot crinkled.

“What?”

Soundwave laughed, spark spinning, as he listened to his family’s plans to prepare for a sparkling.

………………

When he told Megatron the news, Megatron sighed heavily.

“This will not interfere with my duties,” Soundwave said simply.

“It won't,” Megatron said, “because I'm promoting Starscream to Second in Command.”

Soundwave sat for kilk. His processor screamed at him. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to tear the office apart. He wanted to grab Megatron by the helm and demand he make sense.

Instead his shoulders slumped. “What?” He asked dejectedly.

Megatron's optics flamed in his anger. “Don't do that Soundwave! You have not been as present lately! This-this sparkling proves it! You've been slacking up with that-that EMPURATA and Starscream's been here! Right here!” He jammed a digit to his desk. “He brought me the fusion cannon in the arena, he suggested retreat at the Senate, he leads the aerials in the leaflet droppings, he does the majority share of raids! I must give him a higher station! It looks bad if I don't!” Megatron steamed in his chair.

Soundwave sat stunned for a kilk. Then he rounded around the desk and loomed over Megatron ominously, servos clenched into fists. “Dont,” he said denta clenched tight under his mask “call Shockwave empurata again.”

Megatron's optics widened. He bowed his helm nearly to his knees, servos clasped to his forehelm. “I didn't mean that.” He said. Soundwave remained standing over him. Megatron looked up at him. “You're still Third in Command. I need your expertise in security and strategy.” Soundwave nodded.

“I'm happy for you and Shockwave.” Megatron said blankly. “Really I am.”

Soundwave's stance softened a bit. He pulled Megatron's helm tight to his abdomen in an embrace. “You're too good for Orion Pax,” Soundwave said softly. He felt a little bit of coolant leak onto his abdomen. The two would say nothing more.

…………..

The next seven orns were dedicated to rally planning and sparkling preparation. Soundwave would dash in and out of meetings with several high ranking members of the Decepticons, keeping track of all the information in an ever expanding data package. Somehow, even after being demoted, he still had the same amount of work on his plate.

He had to talk Ravage and Buzzsaw down from murder plans several times after he broke the news to them. He even caught Shockwave once, attaching a high powered attachment to his cannon and stalking the halls for Starscream. Once he successfully disarmed him and got him back in the lab, Shockwave relented. “I just don't understand why Megatron didn't make him Third in Command.”

“Ask Megatron,” Soundwave shrugged.

Shockwave huffed in what also might have been a scoff. “I have the distinct impression asking him will yield no results.”

Soundwave smiled. “Hypothesis: Sound,” he teased.

Regardless of Soundwave’s instructions to leave Starscream alone, Starscream himself still avoided the now Third in Command in the halls. He had trined with Thundercracker and Skywarp, either for protection, or out of a genuine bond, Soundwave could not tell.

One busy night in the communications center, Soundwave staying later than usual to balance security and rally planning, Starscream walked up to his station. Silently, Starscream took a stack of paperwork and started going through it, marking up the papers.

“Starscream's help: unnecessary. Soundwave perfectly capable-”

“I know you are capable.” Starscream said simply, none of his sarcastic tone present.

Soundwave glared at him. Starscream spoke.

“When the Senate falls and a new society forms on its ashes, we will need a leader to rule it,” He said cautiously. “That leader can’t be Megaton.”

“Why not?” Soundwave asked, raising an optical ridge.

Starscream smirked slightly. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great revolutionary, but he doesn’t have the right, ah, aptitude to be a ruler, nor should he be asked to after everything he has been through.”

Soundwave considered. It was possible Starscream was making a decent argument with this. Maybe.

“That ruler should be you?” Soundwave asked, a bit incredulous.

“Not necessarily me, but it could be me. It could be you.”

Soundwave scoffed.

“I’m serious. You would be good at it, administratively at least, you may have to work on your charisma.” Starscream looked at him, humor dancing in his optics. Starscream thought for a long moment. “When Vos fell, I gave up any dreams I had of leading.”

Soundwave thought about that, about losing your entire home, your entire city in a matter of minutes. “What was it like?”

“Vos? Starscream asked. “No, you want to know about the devastation,” he said bitterly. Starscream looked down at his servos. “I lost people you know. Not just my family. I was a scientist once.” Starscream's optics sparkled. “He was my colleague, Jetfire. Not at all like your scientist.” Starscream smiled at Soundwave.

Soundwave's spark spun wildly.

“He was so full of life. So sensitive. So worried about ethics! He would cry about the plants! Starscream hit his helm with his servo, optics welling up with coolant. “He was part of the reason I pushed my Sire to consider giving Iacon refugees asylum.” Starscream lowered his servo, hugging his own frame. “I never found his body.”

Soundwave reached out to Starscream, wrapped his arms around him. He felt coolant drip onto them.

“I didn't want to take Second in Command from you. Not-not like this.” Starscream said, voice raspier than normal.

Soundwave shrugged. “Soundwave: unbothered.”

“Oh I doubt that, I see your little brats watching me you know.”

Soundwave chuckled.

The two sat for a while filling out papers. When Starscream's pile was finished he stood to leave. When he reached the door he turned back.

“Consider Soundwave: when Cybertron falls, and it will fall, who you are willing to support as leader for New Cybertron.” Starscream left.

Soundwave thought he might need to keep a closer eye on the Second of Command, for Megatron's sake.

………………..

Shockwave spent a significant amount of time trying to sparkling-proof the laboratory. Time that Buzzsaw always made longer but figuring out something else dangerous to mess with.

“It's a laboratory. You're never gonna be able to sparkling-proof it entirely. What are the sparklings going to be in here for anyways?” Buzzsaw insisted when he got himself caught up on some wiring that was supposed to be trapped away in locked containers.

But everyone spent a significant amount of time in the laboratory, Shockwave couldn't imagine why the Sparklings wouldn't spend at least a little bit of time in there, so he kept his counters clean and locked everything away the best he could when he wasn't working.

And that was the other thing, Sparklings, plural. A few orns into the carriage, Hook was taking more scans of his gestational tank, Shockwave right by Soundwaves side, when two masses had made themselves known. “Welp, looks like twins.” Hook said unceremoniously.

Soundwave had gripped Shockwave’s servo. “Twins.” He remarked.

Shockwave placed his forehelm on Soundwave's. “Twice the blessing.” He replied.

“Twice the trouble!” Soundwave laughed, nuzzling Shockwave affectionately.

Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were excited for another set of twins.

“I'm gonna be outnumbered.” Ravage said grimly. Shockwave stroked her back. “You've always been outnumbered.” He said. “But you have never been outmatched.” Ravage purred.

Laserbeak took to collecting all the softest fabrics she could find, either around the Pits or on her patrol flights around Kaon. She collected them in a large nest in the laboratory, weaving them together so expertly that it made a structure strong enough to be held and carried. Shockwave could just picture two tiny Sparklings in there being watched over by their large, avian sister.

The question of frame type loomed over all them. As the orns stretched on a beast-former became increasingly unlikely as Soundwave’s abdomen plating swelled in size. His hips plunged past his pelvic plating, his waist expanded, and he waddled slightly when he walked. He had increased back pain that Shockwave would massage at night in their berth.

“It wasn't like this last carriage?” Shockwave asked, having no experience with the subject.

Soundwave groaned, feeling a particular knot come undone in Shockwaves servo. “No, I never got this big, not even with the twins. They were all so tiny when they emerged.”

Ravage nodded. “I remember the twins' carriage. You could barely tell Soundwave was carrying. There was only a small bump. That was the only reason management allowed him in fights still; they didn't know.”

Shockwave's servo stilled over Soundwave's back strut. “You fought in the arena while carrying?”

“We needed the energon.” Soundwave said. Shockwave said nothing. “Megatron would share his portion with us sometimes.”

When Shockwave still didn't say anything, Soundwave shifted to look at him. Shockwave had his knees to his chest, optics staring at the distant wall. Soundwave shifted to sit up. “No, wait, you don't need to move.” Shockwave insisted.

Soundwave leaned against him, helm on his shoulder pad. Ravage curled up on his lap.

“You were a Carrier in awful circumstances. How did you do it?” Shockwave asked.

“I dont know.” Soundwave said quietly. “I wasn't very good at it.”

“You were great.” Ravage said, “You did your best.”

“How am I supposed to perform, as a Sire? I'm not- I cannot- I'm not like you.” Soundwave looked at Shockwave. He didn't even know he was worrying about this. When Shockwave had accepted his role, it hadn't even occurred to Soundwave that he would be anything less than an amazing Sire.

“You will do great, Shocks.” Ravage said simply.

“How would you know this?” Shockwave asked.

“Because you already are a great Sire.” Her tone turned teasing, “The evidence is in your favor.”

Shockwave’s optics glistened.

Chapter Text

When the end of the solar cycle arrived, Soundwave was eight orns carrying. After all the planning he had done for the rally he insisted he be there for the demonstration.

“Are you sure, my friend?” Megatron asked him, looking slightly at Soundwave’s rotund frame. Soundwave had nodded.

The march started in Kaon. The date of the rally had been spread before through leaflets with the Decepticon logo on it. Megatron drummed up a crowd with his speeches. “We are to march on Iacon,” he cried. “No more are we to live in the shadows of our oppressors,” Megatron pumped a fist in the air, the crowd of mechs roared in response. Soundwave looked out and saw Gladiators, Kaonites, Iaconions, Nyonites, and Vosians among them. Mechs with broken down parts, broken glass, permanently dimmed out optics, bots with the one-eyed empurata helm like Shockwave, former prisoners of the state with permanent marks and symbols etched into their forms, as well as normal civilians with their pieces intact and their decals shining. There were even a few high society mechs among the crowd. Shockwave passed out his boxes of manufactured arms, laser pistols and grenades, on orders from Megatron. They would not be caught unprepared this time. A few police enforcers stood at the margins of the crowd, a facade of order and peace. The crowd was far too large and far too rowdy for a few police enforcers to do anything.

“We march on Iacon, as one!” Megatron roared, leading the charge. The procession took the long path to the Senate, marching through all the cities of Cybertron before reaching Iacon. As the crowd marched they chanted, “YOU ARE BEING DECEIVED!” Mechs joined the crowd everywhere they went, swelling in size. Soundwave walked with his family, Shockwave and the cassettes. The cyberbird twins flew along at a low altitude, Ravage walked close to his side. He had no insistence they stay behind this time. Despite the danger, the rally was far too important to all of them even question their attendance.

The procession ended at the golden steps of the Senate building. “Cleaned of blood.” Noted Soundwave. He let go of Shockwave’s servo as he made his way to the front of the crowd where Megatron stood. He took out a handheld camera, connected to the wires in his helm. He had already jammed Iacon's broadcast signal, unchanged from the last time he had hijacked it. Of course, the mechs at the very top of the ladder could never dream of being attacked by the same pests at the bottom again. One bug could not topple the ladder, but a swarm? Soundwave looked at the crowd of mechs. They would not be discarded so easily.

Soundwave began filming, pointing his camera at Megatron, panning over the angry crowd of screaming Mechs.

“LIES,”
“DECEPTION,”
“WE WILL NOT WEAR YOUR CHAINS,”
“YOU ARE BEING DECEIVED,”
“DOWN WITH THE PRIME!”

A huge mech with aerial wings came crashing to the ground. The golden steps of the Senate building cracked beneath him. He stood an entire mech’s length taller than Megatron with blue and gold swirls in his wings and bright blue optics burning with power. The Prime. Sentinel Prime. “You do not want to do this. Turn back now and your reward will be your life.” The Prime did not yell but his voice echoed throughout the whole yard, booming over the entire crowd.

“You can’t threaten us anymore, Prime!” Megatron spat at him. Soundwave’s camera rolled. “Cybertron will not bend to you and the Senate’s whims!” Megatron pointed a single digit at the Prime in accusation.

“Your conviction is strong, miner,” Megatron jerked his servo back, unsure how Sentinel knew of his life prior to being a gladiator. “But not as strong as mine.” The Prime rose his hands to the crowd, transforming them into laser cannons that pulsed with blue, zapping energy.

A single grenade flew through the air. It landed at Sentinel Prime’s pedes. The Prime looked down at it for a klik, optics glaring. The grenade exploded in a giant swirl of flames and flashing lights. Soundwave’s camera was blinded by it. “That was definitely one of Shockwave’s”, he thought, ripping the camera feed from his own optics to see. The Prime stumbled back, covering his faceplate with his servo. Megatron roared. The crowd surged ahead, pistols firing everywhere. Megatron tackled Prime right onto the Senate steps, throwing punch after punch into the Prime. Sentinel Prime grabbed him, flying into the air with Megatron in his arms. “No!” Thought Soundwave.

Without even a klik to process the entire area was swarmed with police enforcers. The crowd roared, they yelled, they seethed. “Decepticons, FORWARD!” Starscream yelled, surrounded by his trinemates, firing missiles wildly. Those who were armed took aim at the enforcers, those who were not found every weapon they could in the stones, in the pipes, in the rubble they found in the streets and the fists they carried.

Soundwave fired his sound cannon at the encroaching enforcers. He yelled and screamed. He took up his own stones, he took up his own pistol, he fired his own rounds against the waves of the senate’s loyalists again and again. Until he felt a stabbing to his abdomen. Instantly, He was on the ground, on his hands and knees with the pain of it. It wasn’t right. It was too soon. He felt the pressure again, stabbing at his insides. The crowd was rushing past him, their yelling suddenly overwhelming, the madness and anger swarmed swarmed swarmed his processor.

Suddenly he realized he didn’t know where Shockwave and the cassettes were. They had separated when he took over camera operating duties and he had not seen them since. How foolish of him. How utterly foolish. He was going into emergence in the middle of a riot and he didn’t know where his family was. “You couldn’t wait?” He grumbled to the twins still stuck in his tanks. As if in answer his entire midsection was seized by a horrible pain, a contraction, he realized. Pedes stomped around him, just missing him. He needed to leave, needed to leave this crowd before he was crushed to death.

Somehow he made it to the sidewalk, crawling. He pressed a hand to the line of buildings and traced along them until he felt a break in them. An alleyway. He pressed himself into the corner of it. He looked to the skyline to take his processor off the pain of the contractions. Some mech had set the flag of the Senate building on fire. It turned the sky an angry red. Much of the street was also on fire, Soundwave could smell the smoke. What was he doing here? As the smell of it attacked his olfactory sensors, another contraction had his optics nearly blinded white in pain. What was he doing here? He was going into emergence on a street corner alone? He could die here, he realized. Not fighting in the arena, not leading a revolution. But by making his greatest failure yet: failing to provide for his unborn twins, who would die with him.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Forgive me.” Coolant poured from his visor. As he looked to the sky he saw…a figure coming towards him. A cyberbird? Soundwave’s visor brightened as he waved his arms viciously.

Laserbeak flew into him without even taking a beat to slow down. “Soundwave! Soundwave! What’s wrong, we felt the pain in the bond! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

Soundwave couldn’t answer. He was too busy blubbering into Laserbeak’s feathers.

**The bond, Soundwave, the bond, tell me what’s wrong, Carrier**

Soundwave couldn’t get his processor to work. He was trying. He couldn’t get his voice box to work. He needed to communicate something! He felt another wave of pain seize him.

**The Twins**

**The Sparklings?** Laserbeak’s visor widened in worry. He stretched his head back to more thoroughly examine Soundwave. It was then he noticed the gestational fluids breaking from Soundwave’s pelvic region. “Soundwave?” Laserbeak asked, slightly in shock. “Are you going into emergence?”

Soundwave nodded.

“Laserbeak’s optics stayed wide, but she tried to keep her voice calm. “Ravage is coming. I’m going to get Shockwave. Don’t worry, Soundwave, it's going to be ok!” With that quick assurance, Laserbeak was off again.

Soundwave could still hear the roaring crowd fighting in the distance. Metal clanging on metal. The sound of laser fire. Wherever Ravage was coming from he hoped she was staying safe. He clung at the wall for something to hold on to as he focused on getting through the pain. A few breems later, he felt his eldest daughter’s presence at his side. She nuzzled his face plate.

“Remember when the twins were born and you said you would never let Hook near you for an emergence again? I didn’t know you were so serious about that.” Ravage said with a small smile. Despite himself, Soundwave laughed. If anyone could have put him at ease it would have been her.

“Ravage, Twins: Uninjured?” Soundwave asked through grated denta.

Ravage nodded. “Shockwave saw the Prime come down before anyone else, he pulled us further back into the crowd. We argued, but he insisted you would want us safe.”

“Shockwave: correct.”

Ravage’s nose crinkled. “It's a little unfair of me to try to argue with you NOW when you’re WRITHING in pain, but I'll at least point out you're the only one of us actually injured.”

Soundwave chuckled.

“He saw the grenade too. Had us all down and covered. And then, and then we couldn’t see you, couldn’t feel you in the bond with all the processors blocking you.” Ravage was a little misty eyed. “You needed us and we couldn’t feel you.”

Soundwave raised a servo to her snoot. “Ravage: felt me when it became urgent.” Ravage looked Soundwave in his visor. The two remained like that until another wave of pain seized him.

“Soundwave!” A voice called. The light entering the alley became blocked as Shockwave came into view, a cyberbird twin on each shoulder pad. He knelt quickly, light filtering over him, servo in Soundwave’s instantly. He observed the situation quickly. “You’re too far into emergence to move to a more sanitary environment.” Shockwave raised his helm as he heard a grenade explode somewhere nearby. “Or a safer environment,” he remarked, audial fins moving downward.

“It’s fine! Just get these twins out of me!” Soundwave said rapidly, seizing his chance at help now that he held it so close to him.

“I’m not an obstetrician, but…” Shockwave took his place in front of Soundwave’s pelvis, while the cyberbirds departed to Soundwave’s side.

“Shockwave: will be better than Hook,” Soundwave gasped through pain. Ravage chuckled. Shockwave was examining Soundwave.

“You are nearly fully dilated.” He looked up a Soundwave. “VENT, Soundwave.” Soundwave blasted his vents. He dug at the ground as another searing stab of pain went through his core.

“Good Soundwave, you just need to push now.” Soundwave pushed, Soundwave pushed with all his might. Soundwave pushed so hard his digits were up to the knuckle with dirt. His cassettes murmured encouragements at him. They could have screamed it at him, he wouldn’t have been able to hear them, but he was glad they were here. Soundwave retracted his mask. He screamed, primal, forceful. He felt himself hollow out and the sound of a sparkling cry. Shockwave held the tiny mech, servo supporting his head, and balancing his tiny frame with his gun barrel. Shockwave blinked his optic at him. “Hello,” he said softly. Shockwave handed the tiny frame to Soundwave to hold, which he did eagerly despite the fluids covering him. Soundwave realized vaguely he was still wearing a visor. “I got them,” Buzzsaw said, taking the visor off Soundwave’s face. Soundwave’s optic adjusted to the surroundings around him, looking down on the newborn greys of his son. “Rumble,” he pronounced. “Welcome to the Universe.”

“Here,” Laserbeak said, tossing rags at him. Somehow she had found clean fabrics in this trash heap of a city. Soundwave quickly swaddled Rumble, handing him back to Laserbeak to hold. There was still one more twin to bring into the universe. He bore down, grunting with the effort, taking a break to vent deeply. Instead of gripping his servos into the dirt, Shockwave extended his overly long gun barrel allowing Soundwave to hold on to the nozzle while he prepared for the birth of his other son. Soundwave wrapped his servo around it with shaky servos, thankful for Shockwave's silent support.

“I can feel the helm, Soundwave. A bit more pushing should do it.” Shockwave said as he completed his examination.

Soundwave vented deeply. He pushed again, screaming again, putting all the emotions of the day into his scream. The failure of the rally, Megatron disappearing, Sentinel Prime and his enforcers attacking them, again, nearly being separated from his loved ones, possibly for good. He screamed, he raged like a gladiator, full of fury.

All of that fury dissipated in a klik when he heard the sound of his sparkling crying. Shockwave knelt near him, sparkling in his servo. His audials twitched in an uplifted position, even while his plating was dressed with Soundwave's gestational fluids. Soundwave didn't have the spark to separate the two this time. He held a digit to his son's tiny servo. “Frenzy,” he pronounced, “Welcome.” He was exhausted. Shockwave put Frenzy on his chest plating to give the newborn a point of contact with his Carrier. After a moment of quiet venting where it appeared Soundwave was nearly falling into recharge, Shockwave retrieved Laserbeak's provided rags and swaddled Frenzy, handing him to Buzzsaw to hold.

“We cannot stay here,” he whispered to Soundwave.

“Tired.” Soundwave said in reply.

Shockwave considered. “If you have the energy to transform, I can carry you in your alt form.”

Soundwave thought about that. He didn't like the idea of being in his alt form as they passed through the enforcer filled streets, unable to help his family, his new sparklings if they ran into trouble, but he was too fatigued to do much of anything anyways.

“Ok.” Soundwave answered. His transformation was slow but eventually his mass displaced into a small Cybertronian sound system. Shockwave knelt down for the cyberbirds to get into his shoulders, while holding the swaddled sparklings. He held Soundwave by the handle. Ravage ran in front of them, scouting ahead and making a path. They zigzagged through the streets of Iacon, avoiding police enforcers and groups of rioting Decepticons. Once in Kaon, the group could relax a little, as the police presence was much lower with all forces with the Prime in Iacon, but mechs were still out taking full advantage of the rioting and looting so they stuck to the shadows per Ravage's expertise.

They finally made it back to the Pits. They were surprised to find it wasn't completely deserted. Some of the gladiators had also made it back and were milling about, looking a bit lost. Shockwave avoided them for now. He got all of them back into the habsuite. He placed Soundwave on the berth where he slowly performed a reverse transformation. The cyberbirds placed the swaddled twins in the nearby nest Laserbeak had made.

Ravage turned the entertainment center on with her snoot. The Iacon broadcast signal was still showing footage from Soundwave's overturned camera on the ground. It showed the bottom of the cracked senate steps and a part of the surrounding area, still on fire.

Shockwave led him and Soundwave to the washracks. Soundwave held onto him gently as Shockwave scrubbed both his and Soundwave's frames of gestational fluids. When that was done, he gently towel dried Soundwave off, staring at his uncovered optics. Soundwave blinked at him. Shockwave rubbed his digits against his scar. Then he placed his forehelm to his. Soundwave hummed contendly.

Finally he let Soundwave go to the berth. Soundwave reached up with grabby hands. Soundwave went to the nest and took a twin in each arm, moving deftly to ensure the twin in his gun barrel was cradled sufficiently. He gave the twins over to Soundwave, who cuddled them close to his chest in the crook of each of his arms. He fell asleep instantly, the twins small snores and vents instantly knocking the carrier out.

Ravage and the Cybertwins were watching the small entertainment center. “We should all recharge.” Shockwave stated.

“Gathering intel.” Ravage said, staring at the entertainment center. Shockwave considered.

“Has anything happened so far?”

“A few pedes have stepped in front of the camera. Nothing recognizable.” Buzzsaw relayed.

The camera suddenly moved. “Wait!” Yelled Laserbeak. The camera rose to mech length, staring at the ground as it was being carried up past the Senate stairs. The camera walked behind the building. It panned over the corpse of Sentinel Prime.

Laserbeak flapped her wings over Soundwave's helm. “Soundwave wake up!”

“Mmm” said Soundwave. The cassettes shifted so he could see the screen as well.

The Prime's wings were in rough shape, scratched in several places and bent at the ends. His faceplate had swollen protoform. The real damage was on his chest where a huge hole had gouged straight through.

The camera turned to view the overly close face of Megatron, damaged helmet, swollen optic, but the unmistakable silver armor and glinting denta of a gladiator in triumph. “Sentinel Prime is dead! The Legacy of Primes has ended!” He held up the Matrix of Leadership which had been torn viciously from the Prime's chest. Megatron threw it away. “We no longer bow to the demands of the Senate and its aristocracy! Here and now, I, Lord of the Decepticons: Megatron, Declare war on all of Cybertron!” Megatron crushed the camera, cutting off all visual feed.

“What…what just happened?” Buzzsaw asked. Quiet.

Soundwave was now sitting up on the berth, twins still situated on each arms, but optics brightly focused on the entertainment center.

“Megatron…declared war.” Soundwave answered.

“Can he do that?” Ravage asked.

Shockwave's optic flickered back and forth. “He just did.”

Soundwave looked down at the new set of twins in his arms. He thought of the world as a gladiator and arena fights he had just escaped. He thought of the world of fire and gunshots and bodies turning gray when life fled their frames. He thought of how he had wished for a better world for his cassettes and looking at the tiny mechs just born into a war, he couldn't help but feel the crushing weight of how he had failed.

Chapter Text

The Pits were being packed up, The Decepticons were moving. Megatron had triumphed, with a whole host of new recruits. There simply was not space to house them all anymore, nor were the Pits safe from their enemy in the heart of Kaon. Shortly after the death of Sentinel Prime, a new Prime had revealed themselves. Optimus Prime, the upgraded frame of the archival clerk once known as Orion Pax. When Megatron learned about the new Prime, he tore his entire office apart. He had declared the legacy of primes over and in it ashes was reborn a phoenix of his own worst fears, burdens, and lost loves. He had not convinced Orion Pax of their cause and he now stood against it with the power of deities flowing through his matrix.

When Megatron finally emerged from his office, he did so carrying a burning rod in the shape of the Decepticon logo. In a test of loyalty and commitment every mech that remained in the Pits, whether veteran or recruit, would get the logo emblazoned somewhere on their frame. Soundwave felt a little odd getting a symbol of his stylized helm burned into his chest docking compartment, and panicked upon seeing the cassettes cringe slightly with pain upon getting their logos branded on their frame, but seeing his family display their logos proudly set his worries at ease. The only ones to go unmarked were his new sparklings, Rumble and Frenzy who were too small to undergo such frame changes. Soundwave was sure the war would be won before they would have to make a choice to dedicate themselves in such a way to their faction.

Later, in their habsuite he would brush his digits over Shockwave’s upper cannon arm, where his Decepticon logo lay offset from his frame, healing, a slightly lighter purple than that off his frame. Shockwave would do the same, lightly dusting digits over the logo on his chest.

They would moving to a base in Tyrest. The constructicons had gone on ahead, building the base in secret in the mountains as Soundwave made preparations to move all of the resources and mechs to their new base of operations.

The new twin sparklings, Rumble and Frenzy also kept him very busy, as they loved to be as loud and whiny as possible. Hook assured their volume was normal, despite their tiny frames, tinier than those of normal mechs. Post-emergence the twins had been determined to be mini-bots, similar to most bi-pedal mechs just smaller. Shockwave was just happy none of his empurata parts seemed to be genetic. Both twins featured helms, two optics, full limbs, and mouths, which they used to shriek…loudly.

Shockwave would often take the crying duo from Soundwave's servos as he struggled to work and find a way to entertain them in his laboratory (with help from the cassettes of course). Most of the materials in his laboratory were the first to be packed away and prepared for shipping so it was mostly safe for sparkling exploration.

Everything moved slowly. Starscream arranged for most of the aerials, as well as the shuttles, such as Astrotrain to help move both mechs and supplies but it still took time to shift everything over. More than once they were ambushed by Optimus Prime and his new gang of “Autobots” as he called them. Prowl, the former police enforcer from the senate, was spotted as Optimus’ Second in Command. Megatron should have shot him down when he had the chance.

New name, new faces, same oppressive force that always held down the will of the people. Megatron would attack him viciously, getting in close with Prime to fight hand to hand. Soundwave would never say it outloud, but he wondered if Megatron just wanted to have the feeling of those servos on him once again with how close he would get to Optimus.

Over a vorn of building, arranging, fighting, and planning later and Soundwave and his family were the last to remain in the Pits. Soundwave had arranged shuttle transport with Astrotrain but he was finding difficulty in actually…leaving the Pits. The place he had been thrown into to die as a homeless, troublesome mech, the place he had been abused, the place he had picked himself up and fought every time, the place his cassettes were born, the place he really learned Shockwave. He put a hand to the wall of the Pit’s staircase. When he ascended he would be leaving for the final time. Shockwave approached him, sparkling twin in each arm, cyberbird twin on each shoulder pad. Ravage rubbed against Soundwave legs, purring.

Frenzy, whose paint had turned a nice red and black reached up to Soundwave. “Soun!” he screeched, volume loud. Soundwave laughed. He took Frenzy from Shockwave’s servo and cradled him in his arms.

Rumble, whose paints had turned a nice purple and blue, looked at his twin with big optics. “What about you, Rumble?” Soundwave asked, holding out an arm. Rumble was balanced carefully on Shockwave’s gun barrel. He clutched the upper cannon. “Shok!” He cried.

“You wish to stay with your Sire?” Sundwave teased. “Shok!” Rumble said again, nuzzling his helm to Shockwave’s arm. Soundwave bopped him on the nose with a digit and when Frenzy wiggled in his arm, he bopped him on the nose as well.

“Shall we?” Shockwave asked, beckoning up the stairs.

Soundwave looked back into the dark hallways of the Pits.

“There is no reason for Rumble and Frenzy to spend any more time here.” Ravage told him.

It was true. They were moving on to a different part of life. Rumble and Frenzy would not know life in the Pits as they all had, and that was a blessing. There was no need for sadness, here at the end. Soundwave took Shockwave’s empty servo and they ascended up the stairs.

………………..

When they arrived at their new habsuite in Tyrest, they put Rumble and Frenzy into their newly weaved nest, built for the growing Sparklings. Megatron had secretly spoken to the Constructicons about making their habsuite even bigger than before and it now had two rooms, one for the cassettes and one for Soundwave and Shockwave. Shockwave found it a nice gesture, but he had gotten used to the close comfort of all the cassettes nearby when they slept in the berth. Even if the cyberbirds used their perches, Ravage used her smaller berth on the floor, and the twins slept in their nest, they were all usually within an arm or steps distance from him. It was how they slept now, their first night in a new city, on a new base, on the surface instead of underground.

The cassettes had nodded off, even the sparklings, but Soundwave and Shockwave stayed awake staring each other optic to optics. Soundwave kissed Shockwave on the helm, Shockwave took Soundwave’s servo tight in his hand. Soundwave rubbed his digits.

“What is it?” asked Shockwave, observant as always.

“What will we do now?” Soundwave asked.

“We will continue on as we have.” Shockwave said simply.

Soundwave pondered on that. “What about, You and me?” He asked, a little apprehensive.

Shockwave looked at him, optic light glowing. He took Soundwave’s servo and held it close to his chest plating. “I will be here as long as you will have me.”

Soundwave choked on his voicebox. “What about this war? What if-?” He could not, he could not voice any of his greatest fears.

“As long as you are here, and as long as I am here, we will be together. The war changes nothing. I will find my joy and strength in you, as you find it in me.” Shockwave raised Soundwave’s helm by the chin plating. “Besides,” he said with a twinge of humor “We have Sparklings to raise. You are stuck with me.”

Soundwave laughed, low and melodious, exactly in the way Shockwave had logged it long ago as his favorite sound in the universe.

Chapter Text

Hi! If you are just here for the sequel link, here you go: Waves of War, now updating.

I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who read, gave kudos, or left comments on this fic. A special thank-you to repeat commenters. I ate all your comments for nourishment and now I am big and strong. 

An extra special thank you to my irl friend rayofsun936 for reading every chapter despite knowing next to nothing about Transformers, talking me out of anxiety spirals, and answering my questions about back-end stuff. He writes a lot of Haikyuu! Fanfic. Check that out if it sounds interesting. 

When I set out to write to actually write this fic, (as opposed to just keeping it in my head) I really wanted to bring at least something fresh and interesting to the Soundwave/Shockwave tag. Gladiator Shockwave, though short-lived, was a huge reason this fic was actually written as I have not seen that idea done before. (I'm sure SOMEONE else has done it, hit me with links if you know any) I'm not sure I really succeeded in doing something different in the end, but I appreciate people sticking with it. 

In the meantime, if you want some more Wave/Wave content I made a Playlist for them. (Not based on this fic necessairly, just the ship generally)

YouTube

Spotify

(Both profiles have other Transformers Playlists as well)

I hope you all enjoy The Waves of War and I hope to see you over there 👋