How in the world did this happen? Perhaps a better question would be why in the world did this happen? Thundercracker gave a sigh and buried his face into his servos and enjoyed the deafening silence that surrounded him. He was thankful for his trine mates absence; however it saddened them upon his refusal to partake with them the short leave to the planet the 'Con's warship was orbiting. As much as he would love to drown his worries with high grade, he did not wish to be in the presence of others. Who knew what he would admit to in his overcharged state?

The blue Seeker rubbed his optics with trembling fingers as he reflected on the events that happened the previous week. He had been stationed in the surveillance station to assist... To assist *him* with sorting through captured feed from his cassetticon's mission. Under normal circumstances, Thundercracker didn't mind working with Soundwave. Primus knows how quiet Soundwave could-key word being could- work and Thundercracker usually enjoyed the absence of mindless chatter. When you're bonded with a mech like Skywarp, working with such a quiet bot like Soundwave was surprisingly a pleasant break.

Aside from having to watch your back, that is. Thundercracker knew all too well that the third in command was a snitch. The first few times he was stationed with the other, the seeker felt as if he was walking on eggshells: one slip-up with anything could mean trouble with Megatron. The flier always watched what he did-more so with what he said- and kept busy by himself. He never questioned Soundwave and did exactly as he was told.

At first, that worked out just fine. Soundwave spat orders out at him and Thundercracker would nod and politely 'Yes Sir' him and get to work. However, as time went on, Thundercracker felt his guard calm down, and on occasion, Soundwave would converse with him. It would never be much, at least at the start of it. Soundwave would accept whatever short answer the seeker gave him, and continue on with the work. The next time, things would go pretty much the same, except Soundwave would attempt to get a conversation going again.

Thundercracker actually felt bad for the other mech, at least at first. No one ever really liked to be around the snitch aside from his little cassettecons and Megatron, and the third in command must get lonely. And his lousy attempts at interacting in a conversation shown Thundercracker how little experience he had with it. True, he knew how to give orders and put other 'Cons in their place. But aside from that, Thundercracker wouldn't be surprised if the higher up didn't say much simply because he did not know what to do. So he had taken pity on his officer and bit the bullet and gave into Soundwaves sorry excuse for conversation.

Giving another sigh, Thundercracker leaned back in his chair and mindlessly looked out his quarters window. One should not base their actions on pity; he knew that now. Why he ever gave in and talked to his supervisor was his biggest mistake. Sure, at the time it wasn't bad- Soundwave opened up to him a litte and aside from the tattling, the mech actually didn't seem that bad. He listened- something he doubted from his trine mates time to time, and generally gave good advice. He was a smart mech, and while that could undoubtedly be used to the officer's advantage, Thundercracker felt the other was sincere and was more 'off-duty' while doing so. Still Thundercracker never spoke of anything that could get him in trouble. However, he did mention a few things to test his boss if anything would be repeated. In the end, his own trine mate Skywarp never knew that he had complained to the third in command about something stupid the purple seeker had done.

His helm ached at the memory of what happened that night. It haunted him no matter what distractions he attempted to make. Even if he drank a lot, it was never enough to drown out the memory of the past week. Frankly, he doubted anything would.

... ... ...flashback ... ... ... ...

Fleeing his quarters in a fit of rage, Thundercracker marched down the hallway towards the command center. He could still hear Starscream shreiking at the top of his lungs. He felt sorry for Skywarp, who was left behind with the aftermath of asking for such a dreaded task. The blue seeker let out an angry huff. It has been a while since Starscream spent any time with his trine.

Time that meant anything, that is. His trine leader always found time to get angry. Or to point out their faults. Or rake them through the coals. It seems like it was vorns since they spend quality time together. Quality time like they used to: holding each other in their arms, petting their wings, touching each other in their most sensitive spots. Starscream seemed to be too tighly wound to want to spark bond. Or to interface.

The fragger probably didn't even realize what day it was. It was their bonding day, and Thundercracker thought it would be a beautiful celebration to spend the evening together in its honor. One night, That was all he was asking. Apparently it was too much. Primus, it has been a while since Starscream lavished any of that kind of attention on him, and Primus knows he has his needs.

With a massive spark full of desire,Thundercracker made his way to the command center once again. He was beckoned for more and more as of late, and the blue Seeker felt a sense of pride. Not many mech's got called to work there, and the fact that since he started, he was one of the regulars who returned the most. It meant he was doing a good job. And given the choice between working under Soundwave versus having to do tedious grunt work or working in the belly of the ship with the low level 'Cons, Thundercracker would pick the cozy security room any day. True, you had to deal with Soundwave and the feeling of his presence every second-wait.

Thundercracker tilted his head to the side. In the begining, he felt the telepath's presence, but not as of late. Perhaps he knew the seeker was honest with his work? Or perhaps the third in comand felt no threat since Thundercracker did as he was told. The seeker just shrugged it off. It was actually a bit shocking that he didn't feel the other's presence gnawling at the back of his processor, but he wasn't going to complain about it.

He buzzed at the door, and naturally, the door swished open. Soundwave barely glanced up but managed to speak. "Thundercracker: sort through feeds at second station."

"As you wish," Thundercracker nodded and sat himself to the right of the tape deck. He flipped the channel on and got to work. He was looking over the monitoring of Buzzsaw who was taking surveyance over Quan 5, which rumor had it housed an Autobot station. Watching the video of the cassetticon flying pulled at his spark: he had been locked up on this ship for so long that he actually desired to soar through the air. Not just the quick flights in the larger mess hall: all you could do was fly in rather tight circles. Thundercracker missed taking the long flights through Vos, weaving in and out of the towers and feeling the wing on his wings.

"Is your attention lost?" Soundwave asked.

Thundercracker immediately darted his optics back to the screen. He muttered a haste apology.

"Apology accepted," Soundwave spoke, but his focus was still on the seeker.

Thundercracker tried to ignore the third in command's stare, but the gaze was ever so piercing. "What is it?"

"Question," Soundwave pressed. "Would you rather be shoveling the sludge?" Soundwave pressed.

"No," Thundercracker answered quickly. Apparently along their journey the ship had a minor malfunction. Luckily it was repairable. However, the engine room was full of disgusting goop that was the aftermath of a fuel clog.

Soundwave rested back in his chair. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing," Thundercracker answered, refocusing back to the tape and watching in jealousy as Buzzsaw flew over the barren ground. "Nothing you'd understand."

"Try me." Soundwave dared and swiveled his chair to face the seeker.

Primus, what the hell did he do to deserve this mech's full attention? And why should he tell him anything just to have him either tell him how rediculous he was or use it against him? However, it was more than clear the tape deck wouldn't settle for anything but the truth. Thundercracker shrugged, gestured to the screen and shrugged. "Watching this video just makes me miss the skies."

Soundwave tilted his head down a smidge. He almost looked dissapointed. "You don't like being on this ship?"

Scrap. Thundercracker fidgeted: how to answer this carefully so the narc wouldn't read anything into it. The last thing he needed was his boss to think he wasn't with the Decepticon cause or doubted Megatron. "It's not that..."

"What is it then?"

"I just feel cooped up," Thundercracker answered. "Trapped."

"And the video doesn't help?" The third in command asked.

Thundercracker shook his head no. "Makes it worse actually." His face made a grimace as he watched the other's expression that almost looked disappointed. "Why do you care anyways?"

"I thought you might like to watch Buzzsaw's feed," Soundwave said with a shrug.

"Why? It's just a tease," Thundercracker all but grumbled.

"My apologies," Soundwave spoke and leaned back over the counsel to press some buttons that switched their feeds. "You can watch Rumble's then."

Time went by and Thundercracker watched the feed in silence. While it was better than other duties, it did get boring after a while. The blue flier found his mind wondering once again, this time back to how Starscream denied him some hours before. Just why the frag did he become so frigid? He wasn't always like that. There was the time when his trine leader would jump at the chance to romp in the berth, or the times Starscream himself would practically beg him to spike him. Without much thought, Thundercracker daydreamed of the time back in Vos of the afternoon Starscream had been waiting for him to return. The revved up seeker had jumped the other in his desperate lust. He could almost feel hands clawing at his wings...

"Thundercracker..." Soundwave blurted out, snapping the blue Seeker from his daydream. He wore a puzzled yet slightly disgusted face.

"Ah...I" Thundercracker blurted out in embarrassment. He hadn't realized his cooling fans clicked on. "S...Sorry!"

"Watching...Rumble-"

"NO!" Thundercracker yelled out, but Soundwave cocked his head to the side in confusion. "It's not that, I can assure you!" The last thing he wanted or needed was for Soundwave to think he had the hots for his cassettecon. Primus knew what he would do to a mech hat attempted to touch his little minions.

"What is it then?" Soundwave egged on.

Thundercracker looked away with his cheeks turning red. This was the last thing he wanted to happen. Just how the fraggin' hell did he get himself into this mess?

"Problems with your trine?"

"You could say that," Thundercracker mumbled.

"Perhaps if you talk to someone you'll feel less distracted," Soundwave said and Thundercracker shot him a glance. "And you'll then get your work done as I have asked."

Thundercracker still wore the glare, but let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. "Just forget about it. Sorry, I got distracted at work." Soundwave still stared at the Seeker, evidently wanting an answer.

"I have respected your privacy since you proved to be an honest worker here," Soundwave spoke. "At the very least you can answer me properly."

Really? Thundercracker blankly stared back at his officer. While the tape deck still looked fierce, something about his expression seemed a bit off. He couldn't spend too much time pondering it though, so looking forward and releasing a sigh, Thundercracker reluctantly spilled the beans. "It's Starscream."

"If that were the case, why not ask him to take care of you before coming to your shift?" Soundwave asked. "So I am not stuck with a revved up seeker."

"I did," Thundercracker said more whiney than he'd have liked.

"No luck?" Soundwave said as he apparently held back a laugh.

"No... No luck," Thundercracker said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And it's not polite to laugh at other people's problems."

"I'm not laughing," Soundwave said as he regained his composure.

"And how the hell would I know? Can't see your face behind that face mask," Thundercracker grumbled. "It's not fair to make me reveal personal information to you just because you're higher up." That last part was supposed to just be a whisper, but the seeker said it loud enough for the other to hear.

"Highly inappropriate," Soundwave tensely spoke, and Thundercracker cowered a bit in his chair as the officer looked at him once again. "No laughing," Soundwave spoke while his face looked rather troubled. Thundercracker gave a confused glare, but soon understood what Soundwave meant as a click was heard and his face mask drew back to reveal his face. A face that was badly scarred and with what little glimpse he saw, was missing a few denta as well.

Thundercracker hadn't meant to stare. However, the conversation had been brought up before amongst Skywarp and his annoying friends as to whether or not Soundwave had a face. Rumors flew around as to what the answers were, but in the end, no one knew. It was clearly hard for the other mech to show off his badly scarred face. "What happened?"

Soundwave shied away, turning his attention back to the surveillance feed in front of him. His hand brushed across his face in a tell-tale sign he was uncomfortable.

"Sorry, don't mean to pry," Thundercracker said as he too returned to watching his video.

"Just when the war broke out..." Soundwave slowly spoke. "During our attempt to take Stanix. I was captured..." Soundwave broke off, staring off into nowhere. "...to put it simply, my captures pretty much put me face first in a grinder."

"S...sorry..." Thundercracker mumbled.

"It gave Megatron the time he needed to take out the council members and claim the city," Soundwave said with a hint of a smile.

"But at what cost?" Thundercracker asked. "I mean, at least Megatron coulda got your face fixed up...or something."

"Time was short," Soundwave replied. "And by the time the opportunity came, the wounds healed. It seemed illogical to do a face repair then, so I just fixed my voice box and got a mask."

"I see...I guess," Thundercracker idly replied.

"My face still functions," Soundwave corrected.

"If you say so..."

"Don't believe me?" Soundwave asked.

Thundercracker just bit his lip in hopes to hold back a chuckle, but didn't pay Soundwave any mind until he felt a servo hook under his chin and pull his face to the side. Before the seeker had a chance to say or do anything, the TIC placed his lips upon his in a gentle kiss. Nothing too deep, but he took his time sliding his scarred lips across the others, and ended the contact with a little suck to the seeker's lower lip. Upon drawing back, Thundercracker just stared wipe-opticed at the other.

"Believe me now?" Soundwave questioned with a little smile that, despite himself, hinted insecurity.

~~~... ...

A/N- sorry about starting a new story up. No matter how hard I tried to write one of the several other stories I have started, I just couldn't. I don't like forcing to write stories- I do feel the writing shows. The good news is I am pretty much done this story, so the next update will be regular- I just want to break it up. Hopefully, I'll get back in my writing groove to finish my Trine story and the gift fic I am writing.