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Movie-verse setting, plus G1 characters. No slash. No pedo. Nobody dies. Ironhide and Chromia will be kissing. And that's all I can think of for now…

Chapter 1

A New Development

Soundwave stood impassively on the beach, his optics behind his visor staring out over the sea. His fist clenched slightly.

Two years.

Two years, the little femme had been on earth, so close, yet so out of reach. How many times had he nearly gotten her? (He didn't count the time when she arrived on earth; he'd not had a chance that time even though he'd tried). He'd nearly gotten her twice. Once when she had wrecked on the mountain, and once when she'd run off from her guardians for a few minutes. She was an Autobot as they were, but he didn't want her with them. He wanted her under his guardianship.

His fist clenched a little more as he remembered the last time he'd nearly gotten her. Having confused her mentally, he'd approached her and talked gently to her. She'd slipped her little hand into his, and she would have gone with him willingly, happily, but Elita had showed up, stopping her, stopping him, taking the little one back with her. The femme commander didn't know anything except the worst of Cons. She didn't know him. He would have been a good father. He would have been as good as father as Ironhide, if not better. He would have been better, no doubt.

Ironhide blasted into things and destroyed without hesitation. His fists were the most ready of all the Autobots' fists, his tongue rough and quick to lash the enemy.

Soundwave felt a protective anger well up in his spark at the thought of Ironhide with the little femme. Little and delicate as she was… Ironhide could crush her spirit without even trying and break her body with two blows. Soundwave hated Ironhide. It enraged him to think about Ironhide being her guardian.

Soundwave took the emotion and directed it away. Emotions tampered with his sense. He knew he couldn't think as clearly when he let emotion dictate too much. Being troubled about Ironhide wouldn't get him anywhere. He just needed to get the little femme away from Ironhide. It had been on his to-do list for two years now, and he'd still not accomplished it. He'd come so close…

He had to go back to base soon. The cassettes would probably have gotten into a squabble with each other by now, and Megatron would be wanting his report before too long. He would have to check on Dirge, too. Dirge had managed to enrage Skywarp somehow, and the teleporter had beaten him up pretty badly. Starscream had been smug and condescending about it and refused to even pretend that he had some control over his trine-mates. Seekers. Soundwave felt a hint of disgust at the word. Self-Seekers is what they were. Thundercracker was really the only one who had a hint of potential in him, but his belief in the Decepticon cause was fading and he submitted too readily to others in his trine. Non-confrontational, that was what Thundercracker was. He had hints of leadership in him, but he subverted it to avoid conflict.

Soundwave bridged back to base, deep underwater. He walked along the ship's corridors until he came to the door to his quarters. There, he entered key-codes and unlocked the door, opened it, and went in.

"Long time, no see." Rumble said, hanging upside-down from a shelf, his legs crooked over the edge.

Soundwave had only been gone for an hour. He motioned the little mech down.

"Aw, come on, we're playing charades." Rumble complained although it was obvious that nobody was playing with him, and he didn't get down. "Guess what I am."

Soundwave walked over to his desk and picked a recharging Frenzy up out of the chair and put him on the desk then sat down in the chair. The little mech never stirred.

"Can me an' Frenzy go aggravate the Seekers when he wakes up?" Rumble asked, swinging a little.

Soundwave gazed at him expectantly.

The little mech got down. "Can we?"

"Maybe." Soundwave said.

"Okay, cool. We made a great bunch of plans… they're ah-some. It will drive the fraggers mad big time," Rumble went on to chat about the plans. Soundwave knew he shouldn't let the little twins make such nuisances of themselves, but they never really hurt the Seekers, and it let them burn off steam that they would otherwise burn in his quarters. Spoiled brats, Thundercracker had called them once. Thundercracker was halfway decent to the little pests half of the time, though, and they cut him a little slack for it when they hazed Starscream's trine.

Soundwave began typing, and Ravage came prowling in quietly. Rumble hid behind a box then jumped out at the massive metal feline with a roar. Ravage jumped back in feigned surprise then sprang and pounced on him, snarling in mock-anger as he wrestled with the small biped.

Soundwave ignored their noise for a while before signaling Ravage to cease. The feline gave Rumble a hearty bat, sending him tumbling, then jumped up out of reach.

"Imma throw stuff at you, Rav." Rumble threatened.

"No." Soundwave said, never halting his typing, but Rumble started throwing things. A little femme would better behaved. Soundwave half-smiled behind his mask. A little femme would curl his little ruffians around her fingers and make them behave. She'd teach them a thing or two, especially this little femme. She was spunky, he knew. She stood up and could fight if need be. She could also melt a mech with her innocent face and cute little pout.

"Rumble, cease." Soundwave ordered, and Rumble tossed one more thing at Ravage before wandering over to poke Laserbeak out of recharge.

Soundwave finished his report and proofread it twice before leaving his quarters. He went to Dirge's quarters and entered the key-code.

Dirge gave him a drowsy unfocused look of hostility when he came in. The drugs were still working, then, Soundwave knew; the Seeker would have been writhing in pain otherwise.

Soundwave went over and scanned him then looked at the readings. He would be fine soon and back to be being an aggravation.

"Wull…?" Dirge slurred, trying to look at him with unfocused optics.

"Improving." Soundwave said then he left as Dirge muttered a curse at him.

Soundwave went on to the dining hall to make sure Skywarp wasn't there harassing anybody else. The Cons in the dining hall quieted to some degree when they saw him come in. He was feared, he knew, and hated. He was ruthless to them when need be. They didn't know how much he did for them, though. They wouldn't be nearly as well off without him. They didn't know his value. They just disliked him.

So many beings didn't know so much. The degree of ignorance in the universe was astonishing if not appalling.

Soundwave swept the area with a gaze and saw that Acid-Rain was the only Seeker in the hall. He left, done and headed towards his next destination, Megatron's lounge.

::Soundwave. Report to me in my lounge.:: Megatron ordered over the intercom.

::Yes, my lord.:: Soundwave replied and picked up his pace imperceptibly.

The captain's lounge was a nice-sized room with marvelous windows intended for watching the stars go by as the ship traveled. As they were underwater, though, fish and various other sea creatures passed by from time to time. It was interesting… once one got used to the texture of the aquatic creatures.

The doors slide open before Soundwave could knock, so he simply entered to room.

Megatron was there at his desk, his chair turned to the side, his legs stretched out luxuriously.

The thing Soundwave hated the most about Megatron was that he could never be quite sure what was going on in his mind. The warlord had some kind of immunity to telepathy. Soundwave was good at reading mechs, though, and he sensed that Megatron was relatively relaxed but planning to inflict punishment on someone if there was almost enough reason to. That fact that he had summoned Soundwave suggested that it was something of a serious nature and he wanted Soundwave's opinion on it before proceeding.

"My lord." Soundwave greeted with a slight nod. He hoped Starscream was the one intended for punishment. That Seeker was the worst of them all, but he continually ingratiated himself to Megatron just enough to keep the warlord from killing him.

Megatron looked up from his data-pad and studied Soundwave. "You, Soundwave, are my most loyal." He said contemplatively, "I have trusted you greatly."

Soundwave picked up the tense change: 'I have trusted' not, 'I trust.' This was significant; Megatron did not completely trust him any longer. Soundwave felt a sense of pessimism rising in his spark.

"But now…" Megatron paused, "I have cause to question you."

Soundwave said and did nothing. Megatron went on. "Starscream and others have noted that things have been slipping past you. The failure of our last energy raid was your fault, I believe." Megatron speared him a malicious look. "Is it not true?" They had seriously needed that energy.

Soundwave nodded slightly. "True, my liege. Not intentional."

"Explain." Megatron ordered, twiddling his fingers ever-so-slightly, fingers that seemed eager to inflict pain.

"Overwork. I have been growing weary."

"So…?"

"In my weariness, I made an oversight."

Megatron cocked his head. "In other words, you need a break."

Soundwave could not answer. Megatron watched. 'Break' in Megatron's vocabulary was usually associated with the verb 'to break,' as in, to inflict damage. 'Break' in terms of 'vacation' was exceedingly rare.

Megatron rose. "In that case," he paused, eyeing Soundwave carefully, "You may have a break. Leave the cassettes, and go, take three weeks away from here. Then you may return."

Soundwave nodded once. "My liege."

Megatron's raked his optics over him. "I wouldn't want you growing too tired." he said silkily, "Dismissed."

Soundwave bowed slightly then left. Megatron was punishing him for his oversight and minor slipups, he knew. He disguised it as a vacation break, but both of them knew it was punishment break. A true vacation break would have been time off from his duties, allowing him time to relax and rest with his cassettes. Punishment was temporary exile away from his comforts and cassettes. Megatron would treat him pleasantly once he returned from his break, he knew, though. Megatron had done this twice to him in times past. He rarely displeased Megatron.

When he returned to his quarters, he found Rumble and Frenzy rolling on the floor, wrestling with each other, Frenzy arguing with Rumble about something being his.

"Cease." Soundwave told them as Frenzy started kicking Rumble. He was ignored. He went to his desk and picked up several data-pads and took a small energy convertor from a shelf. "Rumble, Frenzy." He said. The fighting stopped and the arguing started.

"He took my data-pad and won't give it back!"

"It's my data-pad and I won't give it back because it's mine!"

"It is not yours at all; it's mine!"

"You're just saying that because you're jealous of my nice stuff!"

"Not true! You don't have any nice stuff and that's why you took-!"

"Stop." Soundwave ordered, and they fell silent as they felt his mood.

"What happened?" Rumble asked, handing the data-pad over to Frenzy.

"Three week exile."

"Oh…!" Frenzy said. Exile was no fun, he'd heard.

"That really isn't fair." Rumble said. "Even if you did make those bunch of mess-ups."

"You must behave in my absence. I will not be here to protect you."

All the cassettes looked a little worried, and the twins moved closer to each other. "Okay." Rumble said in a little voice, and Frenzy nodded. Soundwave then assigned them various tasks to do while he was gone and made sure that the security codes on his doors were still untouchable.

"I will watch." Soundwave said, accessing his private security cameras on his data-pad to show his cassettes. The screen showed the room from various angles, a live feed of what was going on.

"Okay." The twins said.

"Where will you go and what will you do?" Ravage asked quietly.

Soundwave met his optics. "Base C9," he said; it was a deserted base. "Work on obtaining the femme-ling."

"Full time for three weeks," Rumble said, "I bet you'll be able to get her this time."

Soundwave picked up his laptop. Then he said his farewells and left, locking the door behind him.

Starscream came up, followed by Skywarp. "I can't truthfully say that I'll miss you," Starscream said too-sweetly, "But the least I can do is give you a nice escort out."

Soundwave walked past him without a word. The Seeker was up to something, Soundwave knew; he sensed it, felt it. He stopped, turned, and looked at him.

"Oh, fine," Starscream stepped back quickly. "Find your own way out for all I care. Just be gone in an hour. Come on, Skywarp." The Seekers retreated, leaving Soundwave in peace.

Soundwave liked none of it, but he went to the bridging room and bridged out to a place several dozen miles away from his desired destination. He wanted to fly a little before he settled down to work.

The cool fresh air was pleasant, and the wind currents were nice. The conditions were perfect. He'd stay low, savoring the flight a bit.

He picked up several approaching flyers on his sensors, but he couldn't detect what they were. They were probably human planes, he thought. They wouldn't be a problem to him, so he could leave them be.

As they drew nearer, however, he recognized the engines. Starscream. Skywarp. Thundercracker. Thrust. Ramjet. Blitzwing.

What were those six doing? They were heading straight towards him, descending on a collision course for him. Soundwave could pick up their joined gleeful malevolence directed at him even at this range. They were going to-

Skywarp teleported into sight, quite close. "CAN'T SAY WE'LL MISS YOU!" he yelled, firing his missiles.

Soundwave dodged them and fired back, only to have Skywarp teleport away. Then Thundercracker dive-bombed him, blasting him with a sonic weapon that half-way shook him up for a moment.

Soundwave blasted him back with a crippling sound frequency, but as Thundercracker used sonic weapons himself, he was protected against them, and it made him wince and falter instead of knocking him from the skies.

Then Starscream was upon Soundwave as well, firing at him, blasting at him with various weapons and a pain-inducing scream. Soundwave dodged and deflected and fired back. He blasted the Seeker with several sonic weapons, but as with Thundercracker, Starscream used sonic weapons himself and they didn't phase him much. He shot at the two with his cannons, but as agile as the Seekers were, they dodged the fire gracefully.

Skywarp teleported in right above Soundwave, and before Soundwave realized it, the Seeker dropped down on top of him, plunging a dagger into him and wrenching it around. Soundwave rolled to lose him, and the Seeker dragged the dagger a bit before teleporting away. Energon flowed from the wound.

Soundwave dodged a missile from Thundercracker and evaluated the wound. The blade hadn't hit anything vital, but it had gone deep and he was losing Energon fast now. Soundwave quit with the sonic weapons, knowing they would drain his energy more quickly.

Thundercracker and Starscream battered him with sonic blasts, goading him to fire back with sonic weapons himself. He didn't. He merely used his blasters and cannons.

Ramjet came flying in then, firing at him. Soundwave dodged and blasted the jet with a sonic weapon, temporarily paralyzing him, knocking him from the sky. Starscream and Thundercracker circled and began attacking again. Down below, Skywarp teleported in and caught Ramjet. Soundwave knew Ramjet would be back once he recovered.

Soundwave fired on the Starscream, and the Seeker did a graceful flip and dive, elegantly dodging. Thundercracker blasted at Soundwave with slightly tank-sickening sonic waves. Soundwave could feel the blasts taking more impact on him as life-Energon continued to gush from his wound. Skywarp teleported in and left another gash before Soundwave could react. Then Skywarp was gone.

Thrust came flying in then, shooting. Soundwave dodged then shot back with his cannon. He could use his sonic weapons on Thrust as he had Ramjet, and they would knock him from the skies, but the energy cost would be too high now, especially since he was losing Energon at a faster rate. As if that was the cue, Blitzwing came into the battle area and began hounding Soundwave as well, Ramjet returned, and Skywarp joined them, shooting. Starscream and Thundercracker blasted at him as well. It was fully six against one.

Soundwave realized now what their tactics had been. Skywarp had been sent in first because he could get away quickly, and then the Seekers with sonic weapons had come in next to weary him of his sonic weapons while Skywarp inflicted knife wounds. Once he'd quit using the sonic weapons, the others were given the all clear. Good plan.

He was firing at the six with what he had, but dodging them was getting harder and harder. The dagger wounds were bleeding faster now, and some of his armor had been torn away by close shots. His system was sending him multiple alerts, and he was losing altitude, too. Fiery pain lanced through his body, seeming to skate from wound to burn to wound.

Blitzwing whooped with glee as one of his shots hit Soundwave fully.

Soundwave never made a noise at the horrible pain that tore through him. He just kicked off his engines, tipped his nose down, and plummeted from the skies.

He let himself fall for a while, and then he kicked his engines back on and righted himself. Then he fired up at the flyers forcefully and rapidly, scattering them like little birds. They retreated at little ways, and then Skywarp disappeared. Soundwave spun, calculating that Skywarp would teleport in behind him.

Skywarp, however appeared below him, fired upwards, then disappeared again. Soundwave dodged the shot and blasted at Ramjet. The shot went wide. His targeting system was fighting his flight system for power. With the energy drain from losing Energon, he could not both fly and shoot.

He went towards the ground and transformed to land on the beach.

Sitting duck. That was the term that came to Soundwave's mind. His leg was killing him, his shoulder and arm and side were gushing life Energon, and the six flyers were coming down after him. Base C9 was within view, but he could never run to it in time with this leg. The flyers would kill him before then.

"And he's down!" Skywarp sang, doing a skillful spin and flip as he fired on Soundwave.

Soundwave activated his shields and fired back. He could hold them off for a little while, he knew. It would never be said that Soundwave went down without a fight.

His targeting system took full power, and he blasted at the Seekers, coming close to hitting them. They dodged, flying low to the ground.

The six seemed to be enjoying themselves, actually. They didn't really seem to be trying to kill him, but to merely wound him. They flew low, kept back and used their own shields, firing at him in turns, taunting him, trying to torment him. Skywarp teleported in a couple times, once plunging the blade into Soundwave's leg, and once jamming it into his shoulder, severing several sensitive muscles and leaving a painful gasp. The sand at Soundwave's feet was glowing with his life-Energon. The stuff was flowing freely from his shoulder and sluggishly from his back, and his leg was covered with it. Warnings were starting to flicker.

After a while, Soundwave began to feel himself growing weak from Energon-loss, and his cannon began to grow too heavy. Someone shot the weapon from his grasp, and he was defenseless. He had other weapons in subspace, but the earth dragged him down as he reached for them. He collapsed, dropping to his hands and knees in the Energon drenched sand, then shadows fell over him.

"What, fallen?" Starscream asked, "The great invincible Soundwave? Ha!"

Soundwave held back a grunt as the Seeker kicked him. More abuse followed, coming from the other flyers as well. Skywarp slashed at him some more, and Thrust thrashed him with a heavy studded chain. Starscream continued to kick gleefully while Ramjet kicked steadily and Blitzwing brought the butt of his cannon down on Soundwave's broken body repeatedly.

Soundwave tasted life Energon in his mouth and blinked as his optics lost power. He knew he was close to losing consciousness, but this he knew: Thundercracker wasn't taking part in the thrashing. If by some odd chance he survived this, he would brutalize all six of the flyers, but he would go light on Thundercracker.

He felt a sense of anguish, bitter regret. He wasn't going to get his femme-ling. She wouldn't even know or care. He'd come so close. He'd overworked trying to come up with a way to get her, and because of that he'd slipped up on Megatron's assignment. And now… now…

"Situation." Red Alert said suddenly from his computer in the security center, starting to type quickly.

Inferno moved Firestar off his lap, rose, and went over. "What sorta situation?" he asked, peering at the series of security monitors.

Firestar came over. "Who or what are they firin' on, Red?" she asked, squinting at the satellite footage. Four, five, no, six flyers were blasting and hounding another flyer, or so it seemed in the low-quality image. Earth technology frustrated her, but Red Alert had been dealing with it for a couple more years.

"Con, I think. It's not one of us." Red Alert said. "And a human vessel would have died by now. I'm sending in the Aerials to stop it, whatever it is. Get the coordinates,"

The screen went fuzzy as Firestar reached for the interlink. "They just blocked it." Firestar said, growling a little.

"Musta realized it was going over." Inferno muttered, sitting down at a control center. They would have to work it out. Given which satellite it was, Red pulled up its path, and the three ruled out a huge chunk of places because it was night at them at that time, and then they started on beaches.

"Okay," Inferno said after what seemed like a painfully long time, "It should be about…"

Firestar quickly pulled up a map for the coordinates he gave. "Yes. Landmarks match what I saw."

Red nodded and typed quickly for a couple seconds. "Okay. They should be there in twenty seconds."

"Hope it's not too late." Firestar murmured as Red Alert began typing some more.

"I've alerted Prime to the situation." Red reported. "And I have a ground team assembling to go in if need be."

Firestar fidgeted for a couple minutes.

"Silverbolt's reporting in." Inferno finally said, having received an intercom from the leader of the Aerialbots. "Says they drove off the Seeks, and the Con is still alive but in critical condition. Alert medical, send in the ground team to collect him with the Aerials keep watch."

Red typed. "Ground team's going in." he said, "And I'm alerting medical."

"'Medical is not going to be happy." Firestar murmured. Ratchet was going to have a fit when they lugged a half-dead Decepticon into his Med-Bay uninvited. But, that was how things went.

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