Megatron had failed. The Autobot medic lived and now the Autobots stormed the ship like ants on a picnic. Soundwave watched as Megatron battled Optimus Prime for the ump-teenth time. That mech simply refused to die, and it was getting on his circuits. He watched as Shockwave battled Ratchet, but the scientist had it well ordered, so the lithe Decepticon knew he did not need to intervene. Starscream battled elsewhere, and the Wrecker team was on their way. They'd earn a rather rude reality check if they believed they could fight against Soundwave and win.
Laserbeak crooned on his chassis, having disconnected from (Y/N) per her order. They had yet to create a master and servant bond, which the avian was particularly antsy to create with the femme, but they had been far too busy. Duties called left and right, there was little time for rest and both Cybertronians had refused Megatron's orders to rest on occasion. They were to focused on reviving Cybertron. Laserbeak understood, and he too agreed with the two's actions, unless one or the other was becoming irrational in their devotion. In those rare cases he gladly chided one or the other and convinced them to rest.
*I've found something of interest.
Soundwave received a message from his beloved. He could feel her distance from him, making an educated guess that she was likely in the vaults of the war ship.
Proceed*
*The Star Saber has been stolen. I am searching for the thief now.
That did not bode well, and neither did the blaster fire from the doors of the control room. Soundwave watched as the group of three Autobots pressed towards him, barreling through the drones easily before charging for him. His visor flickered to life before they each fell through a groundbridge and into one of the Vehicon armament rooms. The mech smirked to himself.
Soundwave, superior.
(Y/N) watched over the cameras carefully. The femme grimaced as she found Autobot after Autobot storming the war ship. Like rats, they appeared everywhere, and where you least wanted them. She'd rather see them offline, but what poison could attract them? This particular pest had evaded her sight for far too long, and the hypothetical cat was becoming impatient. How could she miss someone holding the Primus forsaken Star Saber? It was likely bigger than him and awkward to haul around.
She flitted through the cameras, one over the Omega Lock constantly in view. When a short flash of color passed her field of vision, the femme halted. She activated a ground bridge and stepped in the path she predicted this phantom to be going, but no one came down the hall. She waited for a minute longer, only for the mech known as Smokescreen to phase through the wall and into the next.
"Clever," she thought, and tracked his movement once again.
Smokescreen cringed as he passed another hallway, seeing Soundwave once again. What did this mech do, fold into the metal work and then come out again? He put a digit to his audio and tried to contact the Wreckers.
:Smokescreen to the Wreckers, I've got Soundwave on my tail, and he keeps finding me!: He jumped through another wall, spotting the lithe 'Con, but he was even closer now, meaning his predictions were becoming more accurate.
:That's impossible, Soundwave remained at the main control room, I'm sure of it,: Ultra Magnus answered.
:Scrap,: Smokescreen heard Wheeljack curse, :kid that's (Y/N). Get out of there, now.:
With a new-found panic, Smokescreen passed another wall, the femme now inches from his faceplate as he passed by. He swore he saw a smirk past the black void of a visor, but his common sense told him he was just panicking. Making a last-minute decision, Smokescreen waited for the next hallway before simply dropping through the floor, missing a ground bridge by mere inches.
(Y/N) cursed under her breath as her plan failed. She was sure she had panicked the smaller mech into near hysterics, but clearly, he either had time to contact others for an escape plan or he had simply allowed the Phase Shifter to take control and he hopefully fell to his doom. The femme understood the last part was wishful thinking, so flashed through the security feed once more before a familiar ping came to her visor. She guessed Soundwave held good news.
*Forgive me.
(Y/N) frowned, her sparkling (E/C) optics dulling.
What did that mean?
Soundwave what has happened?*
But there was no reply.
Soundwave, answer me. Are you alright?*
She could tell he was alive. He had to be, or else she would likely die as well, wouldn't she? They were connected, not as sparkmates, not yet, but as fate would have it, they knew what the other was thinking, though vague at times. They understood each other, could decipher an action no matter how small. They held each other's interests, loves and ideals. He could not be offline.
The femme bolted for the main control room, her steps no longer silent, but frantic and as panicked as Smokescreen's. She needed to make sure he was okay. She didn't care about the war, Megatron could die, Starscream could fall, Optimus Prime could rust and the Nemesis could burn but Soundwave would not be a victim to the Autobots again. She didn't bother to check the cameras around her, the femme only chose the most direct path, passing hall after hall, Vehicon, Seeker and Miner drone alike. They knew not why she was in such a hurry, but clearly if she had not used a ground bridge it was enough to cause her to become hysterical.
Hysterical she was, failing to check her surroundings. She flashed by a hall only to be struck from behind and falling to the Nemesis floor. She rolled, looking up at her attacker but all she saw was a well-aimed fist at her helm.
Ultra Magnus winced as he shook his only good servo. The femme's visor was cracked, but she was finally down for the count.
"Autobots, superior." The commander huffed, and they hauled her into a room, locking it after wrapping stasis cuffs around her lithe servos.
It was a long time later when the femme woke up, bound, tired and weak. She was only thankful her visor had been kept on, though cracked. Her visage was clearly not a priority to the Autobots. She ran a self-diagnostic, the screen flickering from the crack that ran along its side. She heard whispers, catching sight of shadows around the large brig of the Nemesis.
They couldn't have lost.
(Y/N) was low on energon. Enough to stay alive, but clearly, she had been bled for the purpose of not being able to use a ground bridge. Barbaric Autobots. Why not just kill her? She believed she would have been better off, considering she could see no sign of Soundwave. Her messages remained unanswered, and her spark felt heavy at the thought of him being offline.
Hearing Knockout complain near what she assumed to be the entrance of the large cell, (Y/N) forced herself up, startling the Vehicons who had gathered around her. She stalked toward the unsuspecting medic, who hollered at the door. He wanted his buffer, but the femme behind him could have cared less. She wanted Soundwave. She couldn't even determine where he was on the war ship. If he even was on the war ship.
"I know you can hear me!" The vain mech screeched, turning around when he felt a presence behind him. He found a new reason to screech when the blank and cracked visor of (Y/N) came into his view. He chuckled nervously. "I-uh... haven't seen Soundwave."
Pedesteps drew near to the door, more than one. (Y/N) realized she was locked out of the Nemesis security cameras, and she didn't have the time to wedge herself through the firewalls the Autobots had put up. She listened, hearing the babble of a pair of mechs and third pair of pedes stamping anxiously, likely trying to escape. The doors swung open and (Y/N) bolted through, barreling past Smokescreen and Wheeljack before they could register who had escaped. It didn't take long for the oldest of the two to chase the femme, however.
"Can't go very far with stasis cuffs, can you?" Wheeljack taunted, but the offending clamps were thrown at his helm after the femme had expertly picked the lock with a tendril.
She had to find Soundwave. But where would they keep him?
The femme heard her pursuer transform, so she did as well, blasting through corridors carefully as she was much wider than the vehicular mode chosen by the Autobot. She halted only when the sound of screeching tires had taken a wrong turn, transforming with tired clumsiness in a dark passageway. The other Autobots would likely be alerted to her escape soon enough, so she worked quickly to pick through the new firewalls of the Decepticon vessel.
Her optics prickled with lubricant as she found Soundwave's updated file.
Desgination: Soundwave
Status: Banished to the Shadow Zone
It took little research to find what exactly that meant as she found a connected file of the three children's misadventure. If only she had enough energon to create two groundbridges. Then again, maybe she only needed to create one.
Looking past the corner of the hall, (Y/N) crept her way to the nearest energon storage. It was a smaller one and less likely to be guarded by the Autobots if they were smart enough to think she might search for such a needed resource. Being hysterical got her in this mess, she wouldn't make that mistake again.
The femme paused, hearing the familiar sound of a certain mech phasing through another wall.
That trick wouldn't work this time.
(Y/N) glared at the wall she predicted the mech to be going through, finding the correct camera to watch him from. When he phased through to attack her, she twirled, taking hold of his shoulder and forcing them both into the energon storage room. She then slipped the device off his arm and forced him out of the smaller space and through the wall, locking the door behind him.
Knowing she did not have much time, (Y/N) took the fullest energon ration and an electric infuser, precious time ticking away too fast for her to simply consume it. She winced as the sharpened edge pierced her protoform, the feeling of liquid being forced into her metal veins foreign and rather painful. The cannister still held an amount when the door was forced open, and she disappeared through the wall before they could catch her.
"I'm coming-" (Y/N) whispered hoarsely, bolting for the control room as the cries of outrage and confusion was dulled by the walls she passed through. The lithe femme caught sight of Arcee, who attempted to blast the double, but the phase shifter was proving its worth. Optimus Prime held fast to the main terminal of the control room, Bumblebee waiting with fists ready in front of the door.
When their foe entered, (Y/N) threw the scout to the side easily, his frame colliding with the computers along the wall. Optimus swung at the femme, but she merely let the phase shifter work, and his fist split through air. She kicked him from behind, launching herself closer to the main control panel, but Bumblebee held to her pede.
"I don't think so!" His true voice earned no reaction, the femme letting herself drop through the raised platform and Bumblebee found himself upside down, stuck with his pedes in the air and his faceplate staring at the Nemesis floor. His catch, however, swung herself back up and next to the computer where Soundwave had met his match.
"(Y/N), superior." She rasped out, the Prime's optics widening as she activated a groundbridge beside herself, typing out the next coordinates on the terminal before disappearing, as Soundwave did, into the Shadow Zone.
Optimus simply walked through the femme, picking up the Phase Shifter she had left behind. (Y/N) cared little what they did with it. She only wanted to find Soundwave, and if their shared thoughts taught her anything, he likely followed his leader to Earth when he fell. She waited for the Autobot's next ground bridge, hoping her theory would work, and that she, too, could still pass through them. Her patience was rewarded, and the femme stepped onto the Autobot base of operations. She tried once again to contact her lover, but her message received no reply.
"For Primus' sake," the femme was near to weeping, her coarse voice heavy, "Soundwave where are you."
So, she searched. With little energon to keep her running, the femme conserved as much she could, deactivating useless outputs of energy. She calculated Megatron's trajectory when he fell from the Omega Lock, the deep seas were a far journey, and she was bound to find her lover. However, she did not need to go far, arriving at the still desolate ruins of Darkmount.
She stood at the edge of Jasper, Nevada, what could have been her home if she had allied with the humans. It could have been her home if the Decepticons had won as well. Neither outcome came to be, but it was here she found the darkened silhouette of Laserbeak in the skies. He must have been searching for energon, or the remains of from Darkmount's stores. He was elated to find the form of his master's double, but doubted she had seen him, until she raised an arm to wave.
:Master, it is (Y/N)!:
Soundwave perked at the finding, transforming and charging for the other side of Darkmount. He circled with his friend before falling to the ground, landing in a crouch before straightening. He stared at his lover, praying to Primus she could see him. Her visor was cracked, armor near her wrists having suffered from stasis cuffs that were far too tight. They both reach for her visor, Soundwave flinching his servo away, and she stopped the action. Slowly, his femme took her visor off, revealing leaking (E/C) optics and a pained smile.
"I couldn't leave you." She rasped, gasping as Soundwave embraced her tightly. Her weeping grew to sobbing as they both sunk to the Earth's sands, holding each other as if the other would simply fade away. Laserbeak came down, hovering around (Y/N)'s helm before being able to rest on her chassis once more. The femme brushed her digits down the back of the Minicon with a weepy chuckle.
Soundwave watched his chosen lover stroke the back of his friend. His only friend anymore besides the femme who was now as stuck as he was. Her energon was low, as was his, but she shouldn't be as low as she was after being in Autobot custody. Unless they were too afraid of her to give her a proper ration.
The mech glanced to her visor in the sand, then to her beautiful features. Her derma held a relieved smile, and her leaking optics were overjoyed to see Soundwave alive. He brought her closely again, their arms wrapping around each other carefully as their helms touched. For once in his life, Soundwave felt at peace. Yes, he had failed Megatron, his leader and friend. Yes, the Decepticon faction had lost, but new priorities had taken over his life.
Separating from the femme, Soundwave brought a servo to his own visor, being stopped by the femme. He recognized her expression, the same one he held when she first wanted to reveal her own. A cross between uncertainty and excitement. Yes, she was as excited as he was to see the faceplate of his lover. He had stopped her then, and she continued.
It was his turn.