Tessitura
Disclaimer: Wow. Another fic that fits in with my Accelerando series. 0_o. I couldn't resist the urge to write another, but I can't help but wonder if I should have just made a multiple chapter story with this one. LOL. Anyway, this takes place after my fic Contralto, but acts as a prequel to Accelerando. This may be the last one I do. It SHOULD be anyway. LOL.
"Love and war are the same thing, and stratagems and policy are as allowable in the one as in the other."
-Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
"If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."
-Unknown quote
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"Watch out for the quiet ones…"
-Knock Out
Cybertron
War.
Timbre couldn't remember how it had come to pass that she was flying for her life through laser-filled skies, dodging shots from Autobot anti-aircraft cannons below in Iacon. She struggled to keep herself airborne.
"Primus slaggit!" Timbre shouted, in her COM-link, "Achlys, where the frag are you?"
Achlys' voice filled her COM. "15 klicks from your position!" she shouted, "I'm close to-ARGH!"
"Achlys?" Timbre cried, "Achlys!"
Something exploded through the air and Timbre's left wing took a hit, blasting most of the metal off. She gave a shriek of pain and transformed as she plummeted toward the ground. She collided into a pile of greasy, dead mechs. Recovering quickly, Timbre climbed out of the pile of carcasses and struggled to her feet. Her wing throbbed with pain, but she couldn't sit and spent her time licking her wounds. Not when the sounds of Autobots were getting close.
"Scrap!" Timbre growled, quickly scrambling beneath a pile of rubble.
The group of Autobot troopers rushed by as soon as she had taken cover. Fortunately, they didn't seem very interested in trying to find her, so she felt lucky for now. Once they were gone, Timbre climbed out of the rubble and hurried toward a smelting plant. She could use it as cover while she attempted to reunite with her fellow Dreads. No sooner had she entered, another form darted into the plant and she took a shot. The shape darted behind her too quick for her to realize her error and grabbed her firing weapon, twisting it back.
"Let me go!" she spat, "I'm-SOUNDWAVE?"
Sure enough, the blue and violet shape of the Communication's Officer behind her. He released his grip on her arm and she smiled weakly. It had been a while since they had met again and in such circumstances, it was pretty awkward for her.
"Small world," she said.
Soundwave brought a finger to the place that may have been where his mouth could be, a gesture to keep quiet. She understood and nodded her head, silently indicating that she got it. Soundwave gestured for her to follow him and she did. They walked into another room that housed the controls of the smelting pools. It was unbearably hot as they passed the bubbling, molten liquid. Timbre grimaced and peered through the hole in the wall.
"They're probably hot on my trail by now!" she whispered, "I tried to contact Asteria, but-What are you doing?"
Soundwave's chest folded back and out slid Laserbeak. The tiny creature flew out from the controls and through a hole in the ceiling. Soundwave gestured to the controls and looked up at Timbre. She shook her head, indicating that she didn't understand.
Soundwave clicked and beeped at her.
"I have a few bombs on hand, but how's that going to help us?" she asked.
Soundwave gestured to the smelting pool with one of his long fingers and then to her. Then, he made a gesture with his hand that mimicked an explosion. Timbre grinned when she began to understand what his plan was.
"Ah, draw them in and blow them sky high!" she said, "I like it!" She reached into a compartment on her leg and pulled out a small, yet tightly packed bomb that looked to have been hastily put together. She held it up to Soundwave. "Okay, this thing has a three second timer on it. So when they get close, I drop it into the smelting pool and we take off. Ka-boom!"
Soundwave nodded his head.
The sounds of Autobot troopers emerging into the plant drew Timbre's attention over Soundwave's shoulder. "Uh, Soundwave?"
He wasn't listening and began to activate the melting pot.
"Soundwave." Timbre warned. Again, he didn't answer. "Soundwave!"
He looked up and could see the sight of the troopers' lights as they emerged into the plant.
Once the troopers stepped inside their area, they noticed that Timbre was drifting into the air with her boosters, cradling the bomb over the smelting pit. "Hey, boys," she said, smirking. "Look what I just got?"
And with that, she dropped it.
The troopers shouted out and both Timbre and Soundwave took off, seconds after the bomb erupted, shooting molten metal high into the air. Timbre and Soundwave flew as high as they could, but globs of it began to shower down at them.
"Scrap! This got bad very quick!" Timbre shouted.
Soundwave rolled through the air, seized Timbre and they ascended toward what she could see was the Nemesis overhead. A stray glob of molten rock struck Soundwave in the face and she could hear him emit a metallic screech as he plummeted onto the surface of a wing, narrowly sliding them to their death. Timbre wrapped her arms around his and tugged them into an open hatch where Knock Out was waiting.
"Get in!" he shouted, "Now!"
Timbre dragged Soundwave inside and looked down, noticing that most of his facial plate had been covered in cooling molten metal. She looked up at Knock Out desperately.
"Do something!" she cried.
He looked at her damaged wingtip and could tell that the damage was minimal. "Calm down, I'll get him to the medical bay," he said, "Then we can tend to you."
Timbre nodded and followed Knock Out as he carried Soundwave to the medical bay with one of his arms slung over his shoulders. Soundwave was walking fine, but he appeared to be in a daze and could not see anything around him. Once inside, Knock Out led him to the medical table where Soundwave sat down. All in all, he appeared to be okay and was able to sit up, but he clawed at his faceplate uselessly.
"Take it easy, Soundwave," Knock Out chided, reaching for the spot beneath Soundwave's chin, "Now I have to get this off of you so I can fix it."
Timbre looked surprised. "Wait, take his face off?"
Knock Out laughed at her. "Timbre, this isn't his real face if you could call it that," he said.
Timbre looked at Soundwave in surprise. "Funny, I never knew that."
Just as Knock Out moved to remove the face screen, Soundwave's hands seized his wrists, stopping him. Knock Out sighed and let his hands hang at his sides. He had no time to deal with whatever issues Soundwave had.
"Soundwave, no one cares what your face looks like," he snapped, "I have to get it off to check for interior damages." He glanced over at Timbre and then to Soundwave again. "I'm surprised you've never let your lover see your face. It's not like you're hard on the optics or anything." Soundwave finally relented at that and allowed for Knock Out to remove the facial screen. "There, was that so hard?" the medical officer said, chuckling.
Timbre watched as Soundwave immediately looked away from her. "Soundwave, there's no need to hide your face from me," she said, with a smile, "I don't care what you look like."
Knock Out took the faceplate and studied the damages done. "Well, this will take a few cycles to repair, but there isn't extensive damages to have to resort to scrapping it. It'll be as good as new and I'll have it repaired once we depart."
He disappeared, leaving the two alone. Timbre watched him go before she frowned thoughtfully and approached Soundwave. He turned his head away from her and she sighed, shaking her head with dismay. She had no idea where this self-conscious act was coming from.
"Soundwave, what the slag are you hiding from?" she asked, skeptically, "You're the last person I'd expect to have an inferiority complex."
Without the use of his mask, Soundwave's real voice came out crisp and clear. It was softer than the voices he tended to mimic.
"Timbre: Don't look," he ordered.
She chuckled. "Why?"
Soundwave seemed to sigh through his intakes. He made no noise, but his chest rose and fell in the same way. "Facial expressions: Exposed."
Timbre raised her brows. "You're upset because you don't want anyone to see your expressions?"
There was a small nod from the mech.
Timbre laughed gently. "Soundwave, it's just me here," she told him, "I know that's not much, but you don't have to worry about anything. I won't laugh at you. For what it's worth, I've always wondered what you really looked like."
Soundwave hesitated for the longest time before he eventually looked up at her. His overall features were slender, much like the rest of him. He had bright red optics and his mouth was curved in a look of uncertainty. He had lines trailing from the bottom of his optics to the top of his mouth. Timbre smiled and he very faintly returned the smile.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Timbre told him, reaching up to cup his face, "You look..." She chuckled and arched her brows. "If I say beautiful, you're just going to laugh, aren't you?"
Soundwave shook his head. "Negative. Observation: Peculiar."
Timbre laughed softly. "Peculiar? Well, I guess no one's told you how good you look."
"Negative..."
O
It felt like eternity since the departure of Cybertron.
Timbre spent her time cleaning the halls with a buffering tool, singing a song in Cybertronian. Two Eradicons passed her and one snorted at her singing.
"Stop that singing!" he snapped, "It's annoying."
Timbre raised the buffer and pretended to attack him with it. "Back off, buddy unless you want your intakes filled with suds!" she said, jerking the buzzing tool at the two; they backed off with irritated growls. "Go on, get back. Back to the junkheap from whence you came!"
They left the halls and Timbre resumed her cleaning and singing. Now Starscream passed through with an annoyed sound. "Timbre, I thought for sure you would have stayed with your fellow Dreads," he said, "You would surely-" He ducked to avoid her narrowly hitting him with the buffer when she slung it over her shoulder, "-have been more-" He ducked again when she turned to pick up a bucket, "Been more use-Could you stop swinging that wretched thing?"
Timbre turned and he ducked again. "Starscream, I could better serve Lord Megatron if I remained, right?"
"I suppose..." Starscream muttered, glaring up at the annoying buffer.
"Well there's your answer," Timbre told him.
She turned and the buffer struck him on the back of the head. Starscream grunted from the affronting blow and growled angrily. Timbre knew that of all the mechs on the ship, Starscream probably despised her the most, probably because of her loyalties to Megatron regardless of any situation. He didn't make it as obvious as Knock Out did though. Then again, Knock Out didn't really despise her all that much either. He merely tolerated her presence.
As she carried the cleaning tools away, Megatron called for her. "TIMBRE!" he bellowed, through the computer links.
Timbre turned, facing one of them. "Yes, Lord Megatron?"
"I want you to begin crafting some bombs for me," he commanded, "Preferrably something with quite a bit of a blast radius."
Timbre smiled and nodded. "Sure. No problem."
"Oh, and Timbre?"
She had started to go and paused, turning. "Yes?"
"Try to keep damages minimal on my ship."
Timbre smirked. "Of course, master."
O
An explosion sounded throughout the Nemesis.
Megatron stood in the central control room, clearly dissatisfied with the resounding sound. He looked over at Soundwave who was standing at a computer and the Communications Officer looked back calmly.
"Put Timbre's workspace on monitor," Megatron ordered.
Soundwave nodded and pressed a button, pulling up an image of nothing but a smoke-filled room where Timbre was standing amongst it, clearing her intakes and waving her hand around. "HEY!" she shouted, through the smoke, "When I find you, I'm going to kick your tailpipe! You're the definition of idiot! Where are you?" She blinked when she noticed that Megatron was glaring at her from the screen on her end. "Oh, Lord Megatron."
"Timbre, what are you doing?" Megatron snapped, "You cause more damages to my ship than those Autobots!"
Timbre chuckled sheepishly before holding up a finger. "No, master," she said, "Believe it or not, it was actually not my fault this time! My associate combined the incorrect chemicals and-" She looked beyond the screen and scowled, pointing. "Hey. Hey! Hey, I see you hiding over there behind the crates! Get out here!"
Megatron curled his upper lip plating with disgust. "Timbre." he warned.
"Forgive me, Lord Megatron. It won't happen again," Timbre said, with frustration, "Because I'm ejecting this scrap head into space."
"That won't be necessary," Megatron told her.
Timbre snorted gruffly. "Are you sure? Because I'll do it right now. You won't have to lift a finger."
A few Eradicons were snickering behind Megatron, but the Lord of Decepticons was not impressed and it was clearly evidenced by the disapproved expression on his face. He scowled at Timbre and gestured with a brief wave of his hand.
"Are the damages severe?" he asked.
"No, my Lord," Timbre told him, "Just fragging mad as pit."
"Clean it up," Megatron ordered.
"Of course," Timbre said, "Just as soon as I strangle a Decepticon in here."
Megatron sighed as Timbre disconnected the conversation.
O
Timbre was eventually proud to inform Megatron of the number of bombs that she had made.
"With minimal damages, I have crafted over fifty explosives for your pleasure, Lord Megatron," she told him.
Megatron's optics dimmed at the towering pile of explosives. "I wanted two-hundred active."
Timbre's pride deflated. "Scrap..."
Megatron turned to her. "Prepare them after your recharge cycle. When we arrive at Earth, I want them finished."
Timbre pretended to look thrilled with the concept, but she slouched her shoulders. "Okay, I'll finish them as fast as I can, Lord Megatron. No problem!" As soon as he disappeared from her workspace, her smile immediately vanished and she groaned with exhaustion.
She walked to her room and discovered Soundwave waiting for her on her berth.
"Soundwave, I guess you finished your work?" she asked, her tone filled with irritation from her having to create several more bombs, "Well I didn't. In fact, I have a couple hundred more to work on. There's points for me..."
She sat beside him and he turned, facing her. He used his real voice this time. "Timbre: Work is important." he told her.
Timbre nodded with a glimmer of annoyance in her voice now. She gestured over her shoulder with her thumb joint. "I understand that. Really, I do. But that doesn't mean that I have to take the hits because of one idiot. Now I had to hear it for several groons."
Soundwave shook his head. "Timbre: Naughty."
She arched her brows with an amused laugh. "Really? I've never heard any complaints before."
"Negative." He touched her fingers and the warmth in them told her how aroused he was, despite the calm demeanor he was always so famous for having.
Timbre just smiled broadly and slipped her fingers around his shoulders. "I do have one request," she told him.
Soundwave tilted his head.
"Remove your faceplate."
"...Negative."
Timbre continued to smile. "Just this once?" she purred, "I want to see you and kiss you."
Soundwave seemed reluctant to do so and leaned back. The concept seemed a bit unsettling for him, but then, he reached up slowly and with a soft click, removed the faceplate covering his face. Timbre leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his lower lip.
"That's better," she purred.
His optics were darkened with restrained hunger. "Insolent..." he hissed.
She laughed. "Oh? It seems that I've violated my duties as your subordinate." she teased, getting in on the game, "What would be the proper punishment for my behavior misconduct then, officer Soundwave?"
Soundwave slowly smiled, a rather cunning smirk. It seemed that the idea for "punishment" was too enticing to ignore.
"Timbre: Mine tonight."
After having several mind-blowing overloads, Timbre and Soundwave relaxed in her berth, holding one another. He seemed somewhat more relaxed this time and didn't cover his face. He just laid there and watched her, running his fingers gently up and down the length of her cheek.
"Why do you do that?" Timbre asked, smiling.
Soundwave furrowed his brow. "What?"
"Watch me."
"Preference: Watch after interface," Soundwave told her, "Reasoning: Interesting."
Timbre chuckled and tilted her head. "I'm interesting to watch after lovemaking?"
"Affirmative."
Timbre laughed and shook her head at that. "You're strange yourself," she said.
"Definition: Strange?"
"Yeah. Unusual in your own way, but that's why I like you," Timbre told him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. When she parted, she noticed the odd look on his face; clearly he didn't enjoy the friendly banter or didn't understand it. "It's okay, Soundwave. We're all weird in our own way, but that's what makes us special."
Soundwave seemed to understand after a while and his perplexed look slowly disappeared.
Timbre pressed herself close against his chest and smiled, shutting her optics to the sound of his pulsing spark.
"Don't die." Soundwave suddenly said.
Timbre frowned up at him curiously. "What?"
"Don't die."
O
Present
Those were the words he had told Timbre moments before her death. He had expected it to be a dream, but when he awoke from slumber and walked down the halls of the Nemesis, he stopped at Timbre's workshop and noticed it empty.
It had been empty for several solar cycles. Soundwave had only her voice playing back in his processor and the memories they shared together.
"Soundwave?"
He turned and noticed Knock Out standing there.
"What is it?" Knock Out asked him.
Soundwave didn't acknowledge him and brushed passed the medical officer without so much as a single word. He made his way to perform his duties as he always did; there was no room to mourn. Timbre had made that last request of him and he would acknowledge a final request.
But he felt hollow.
Soundwave hated the sick feeling of loss. Hated it.
Timbre had always said it could happen, but it wouldn't happen soon as long as she had fought with everything she had.
He only began to realize what a horrible lie it was.
O
Note-No idea why I wrote this. Some ideas rattled in my brain. :/