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Astrolyte burst into the Kaon hospital and was immediately greeted by her closest friends. Metalina, Jinxx and Eridanus (ear-eh-don-us). "Where is she?" Astrolyte demanded, her emerald optics growing darker with fear and anger. "Down the hall, last door on the left." Metalina said softly. They watched Astrolyte take off down the hall. The nurse at the desk calling after her that she needed to check in and wait for visiting hours. But Astrolyte wasn't paying her any mind.
"Hey Soundwave." Jinxx greeted the mech. He nodded at the femmes in greeting and watched the hallway Astrolyte disappeared into. He sighed and took a seat, putting his helm in his hands. "It'll be okay. She's a strong femme." Eridanus comforted. Soundwave nodded in agreement. The three femmes all took their seats in the waiting room, waiting anxiously for the bad news to come.
~Astrolyte's POV~
I could feel the fear boiling up inside my tanks. Walking into my carriers hospital room a sob threatened to escape my vocalizer. I felt Soundwave reaching out to me with comfort in our bond. I shut off my end of the bond, blocking him from my emotions and blocking myself from his.
"H-hey.." I mumbled almost inaudibly. My sire looked up from his seat next to my carriers berth. "Hey sweet spark. It's nice to see you." He greeted me before looking sadly at my carrier. She looked so sick. Her usually Aqua and white armor was tinted with grey. She was hooked up to several different machines, all of them beeping and humming softly.
I shuffled over to the berth and placed a shaky hand on her helm. She stirred a little and her blue optics came to life. "Hey sweetie...I've missed you." She smiled at me. My spark was pounding in my chest. Tears threatening to spill from my optics. "I've missed you too..I got here as fast as I could. Don't worry, you'll get through this. I'm here to help." I reassured myself more than her. Kneeling down next to the berth I kissed her cheek softly.
"...I'm not going to make it...and I've come to terms with it. You should too..It's my time to join the well of all sparks. I'm so glad you're here though." She answered weakly. I wanted to cry, and scream, and punch things. It's not fair. It's not her time to leave. She can't leave me. I felt her place a hand on my cheek, looking at her she gave me a small smile and a nod. "I love you so much. Please don't leave." I sobbed out as tears started to fall. I looked at my sire and saw him crying as well, holding my carriers hand against his chest.
"I love you both so very much. I'm so proud of you Astrolyte. I'll be watching over you, please don't let this consume your life. You're a good femme and I know you're destined for greatness. Be smart, make smart decisions. Spend as much time with Soundwave as possible, start a family...be happy." She cried softly. She turned to my sire and they shared a slow loving kiss. She rested her helm back against the pillow and sighed. Shutting of her optics, I could hear her old systems beginning to shut down. I whimpered loudly and hugged her.
"Astrolyte..." My sire spoke softly, he reached over and tried to grab my hand.
Quickly standing up I moved towards the door. "I need to be alone." I mumbled walking out. I walked down the hallway I entered from, memories of me with my family flashing through my processor. My spark ached immensely, my intakes heaved a little as I started to choke down my sobs. I walked into the waiting room and my friends all stood up, moving forwards to comfort me.
"You were supposed to check in young lady. I need to see some ID and you need to fill out some information on these data pads." The nurse spoke up from her desk.
Pure rage rose up inside me.
~Soundwaves POV~
Astrolyte walked down the hallway, I could see her straining to hold in her tears. It hurt me to see her like this. But Eridanus is right, Astrolyte is a strong femme. She fights her way trough anything. And she never really was one to share her feelings when tragedy like this happens.
We all stood up to hug her, until the nurse spoke up. I've never seen Astrolyte look so angry before...her emerald optics looked more like a forest green they were so dark. She turned towards the nurse and let out a very loud scream as she literally threw everything off the desk. The computer flew across the room and collided with the wall, breaking into pieces, data pads and picture frames littered the floor as well, shattering the glass.
"Astrolyte..." I spoke quietly as I moved towards her slowly.
"Astrolyte calm down." Jinxx said softly, coming up next to me.
She whipped around and stared directly at me. I contemplated with myself for a few astroseconds before determining it would be best for her safety if I read her mind to find out her next move.
I very carefully pried into her outer thoughts. She's lost, scared, and confused.
She clenched and unclenched her fists in frustration as she opened and closed her mouth, looking for the right words to say. She kept her head down and walked right past all of us, walking out the door. We all shared a confused look and followed her outside.
She paced around the street a little, growling and huffing. She kicked over a few trash cans and even punched the building a few times.
"Astrolyte, calm down. Let us help you." Metalina spoke up.
"I don't need any help. I'm fine." Astrolyte hissed in response. I tried reaching out to her through our bond, but she still had me closed off from her. "Astrolyte, you're obviously not fine. Stop being stubborn and let us help you." Jinxx snapped frustratedly. The only response she got was an energon chilling glare.
A few breems went by and Astrolyte seemed like she was starting to lose control. She stood there, in the middle of the street, staring at the ground. Her fans going at maximum to cool down her heated body. Tears started to fall down her face. I walked over to her, I tilted her face up and wiped away her tears. She took a step towards me, wrapping her arms around me as she started to cry. I held her close as our bond burst to life. "Please help me." She cried. I held her tighter and stroked her doorwings lovingly. "That's what I'm here for." I responded, kissing her helm.
Metalina, Jinxx and Eridanus joined the hug. Reassuring Astrolyte that we all loved her and are here for her. A few breems later, Astrolyte stepped out of the group hug and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you guys. I love you all so much, I think I need to get some rest now." She said with a smile.
We said our goodbyes and I felt Astrolyte shakily hold my hand, lacing our fingers together. I gave her hand a light squeeze and kissed her cheek. "Let's go home for the night?" I suggested to her. She nodded in agreement and rested her helm on my shoulder. I smiled and picked her up, carrying her bridal style. She giggled a little and curled into me. "I'm gonna miss her." She mumbled softly, nuzzling into my neck. "I know you are. I'll miss her too." I answered back as I kept walking through the streets.
We reached our old apartment in my home city, Polyhex. Keeping my radars on high alert for any bots near by. I set Astrolyte down on her pedes next to me, she stood, her head down, leaning against me. I unsubspaced the key and unlocked the door.
"Looks just how it was before I left...missing the pictures and paintings on the walls though." I smiled down at Astrolyte. She gave me a sad smile and headed off to the berth room, I followed close behind.
"It'll be okay.."I reassured her as we laid down on the berth. I opened my arms and she immediately took her spot between them, curled close against me. "I love you." I told her, kissing her helm.
"I love you too." She mumbled softly, drifting off into recharge. I sighed and got comfortable before drifting off myself.
~Time Skip. Third person POV~
The next morning Soundwave awoke to Astrolyte gone.
"Where did she.." He stopped short when he found a note on the berth side table. It read:
Need some time to clear my
processor. If you're called back to earth that's fine, I'll meet up with you later. -Astrolyte
Soundwave sighed heavily as his processor started to ache. Astrolyte was gone, she disappeared to Primus knows where on Cybertron. And surely Megatron will get suspicious if they're gone for too long. Soundwave contacted his cassettes to see how things were going on the base on Earth.
"Everything's fine! We got this all under control, boss. Megatron hasn't even noticed you're gone. And if he does notice we'll just tell him you went out scouting the Autobots to figure out their next move. And we'll say Astrolyte went out with the other bots to scout the city looking for more energon spots." Rumble reassured.
"Let me know if anything changes. I don't know when we'll be back. Maybe tonight, if not tomorrow morning." Soundwave responded.
"Depends on how long it takes me to find Astrolyte.." Soundwave thought to himself.
~• Have you seen or heard from Astrolyte?•~ Soundwave asked Metalina over comm link.
~•No, why? Let me guess, you woke up and she was gone? I'll check the orphanage and crystal city. Let me know if you find her.•~ Metalina responded.
Soundwave headed out the door, locking the apartment back. His first stop in the search for Astrolyte is helix gardens, where they met. Before the war started they would sometimes go there and spend time together in the cave.
Walking into the garden Soundwave felt a little guilty. The once beautiful Crystal garden was...less beautiful. Some of the crystals were broken, most of the garden was damaged, and the parts of the garden off in the distance looked to be completely demolished. All because of the war.
Soundwave reached the cave and cautiously walked inside. "Astrolyte?" Soundwave called out. He tried reaching out to her in their bond but she closed herself off from him. Soundwaves senses were on high as he kept scanning through the cave as he moved a little deeper. He froze when he heard a crystal shatter.
"Query: who's there?" Soundwave spoke up in his monotone voice.
"Designation: Decepticon communications officer, Soundwave. Command: reveal yourself or be terminated." Soundwave snapped. A young mech stepped out from behind some rocks. Soundwave raised his gun towards him.
"State your faction and your reasons for being here." He commanded next. The young mech was visibly shaking. "I-I-I-I'm not in a faction...I'm neutral...I-I-I'm here because my home was destroyed. It was a nice place to take cover. I'm sorry if I trespassed on Decepticon territory. Please don't kill me Soundwave! I've heard a lot about you! P-please have mercy just this once..." The mech pleaded.
"Soundwave has more important objectives. Off lining you would waste energy and ammo. Query: have you seen a femme in this location?" Soundwave asked. His spark filling with hope.
That hope quickly died when the mech shook his head 'no'. With that Soundwave fired his concussion blaster, immediately knocking the mech into stasis. Soundwave exited the cave and headed back into the city of Praxus, making his way towards kaon.
Walking into Kaon Soundwave stiffened. A few mechs were walking through the streets, some were drunk, some were Decepticons, and some looked badly beaten. Soundwave walked through the streets with his head up, they all knew who he was. None of them dared to challenge the communications officer.
After a few breems of walking Soundwave reached his destination, the home of Astrolyte's parental units. Looking around the building he found no traces of an energy signature, and no sign of Astrolyte. Soundwave growled frustratedly and took a seat on the steps, Astrolyte wouldn't respond to him in their bond, and she didn't have her comm link set up yet either.
She always insisted on not using a comm link because of her conspiracies that her link could fall into the hands of some mechs she didn't want in her life anymore. After she met Soundwave, Astrolyte started to changer her life drastically.
She would always come and visit him, she hardly ever invited him to her home in Kaon. She hung out with Metalina more than she hung out with Jinxx, the femme she was around a lot growing up. She was trying to become more of a model citizen, to be a good example and make a good impression on Soundwaves creators. After she and Soundwave got serious in their relationship and officially started courting, she stopped fighting. Shortly after that Soundwave sparked the cassettes, Ravage, Rumble and Frenzy were first. Ratbat and Lazerbeak came later and are the youngest of the cassettes. They were Soundwaves creations but they looked up to Astrolyte as if she was their mother. Soundwave couldn't help but smile at the memories of Astrolyte with the cassettes.
Reaching out to Astrolyte in the bond again, Soundwave shared a memory of her with the cassettes in hopes she'd open up. He felt amusement and curiosity flutter through from her end. She opened up a little more and Soundwave quickly figured out her location.
He rose from the steps and headed off to find her.
Reaching his final destination he opened the doors to the building and walked in. He almost visibly winced at the smell that emanated from the building. Quickly turning off his olfactory sensors he kept walking. At the end of the hallway he came to a very large room, it was a gym. Not a weight lifting gym though. Looking to the back left corner Soundwave found Astrolyte and another mech. Soundwave watched curiously, he had never been here before. The mech held the mannequin in place, instructing Astrolyte which body parts to strike it on. She moved quickly and struck with determination. The mech looked over to Soundwave, Astrolyte followed his gaze and stared in shock.
"Soundwave! What're you doing here?!" She exclaimed, running over to him, trying to nudge him out of the room. Soundwave merely stared down at her curiously. "I've never seen you fight before." Was all he said. She stopped her attempt to shoo Soundwave out and stared up at him. "Well yeah. There's a reason for that." She told him flatly.
"But why? I don't understand. It's something you've done your whole life. And no matter how much you deny it, you love it. You love showing off your strength, you enjoy feeling another bots amor dent at your fists. You love fighting, it's who you are. Stop trying to deny who you are." Soundwave said in a whisper so no one else could hear. He's a ruthless killer, he can't have bots in kaon of all places learning he's a soft sparked lover.
Astrolyte looked down at the floor, contemplating her answer. Her doorwings flickered and shifted on her back as she thought. Coming to a conclusion, she grabbed Soundwaves hand and walked out of the gym. She lead him to the back of the building where she proceeded to climb up a latter to the roof, Soundwave following. She took a seat and waited for Soundwave to do the same.
"When we told your parents we were officially courting, your carrier talked to me personally the day after..." She started slowly.
"What did she say?" Soundwave asked nervously. He knew how she could be sometimes.
"She told me I needed to act more femme like. She said that femmes don't act how I act. They stay at home and raise sparklings, they keep their mouth shut and stay out of mech business. She strongly suggested I gave up fighting and started focusing on paintings. And when the war started, she said just because the city was taken over by Decepticons doesn't mean I should act like a Decepticon. She told me I wasn't good enough for you." She said the last part so softly, and she sounded so sad. Soundwave sat speechless, staring at Astrolyte.
"I can't believe she said all of that. And I can't believe you listened to her. Astrolyte, you're a cage fighter, you're cocky, you like to party, and you're stubborn, and loud, and borderline psychotic. But it's who you are. You're reckless and care free. With you, every day is an adventure. You're not a stay at home femme that cleans and raises sparklings and sits quietly. You're everything I ever dreamed of in a femme. My carrier only said those things because she wanted me to change. She didn't like the mechs I hung out with, she didn't like me supporting Megatron. If things weren't exactly how she wanted them, she loathed them. " Soundwave explained.
Astrolyte smiled at him, "You think I'm only borderline psychotic? How sweet." That made Soundwave laugh, an actual laugh.
"Maybe on the outside, but on the inside I know you're a sweet femme that likes to be loved." Soundwave whispered as he pulled her over into his lap. Her faceplates heated up as her fans clicked on. She turned her helm up to Soundwave as his mask retracted and he kissed her. It started as a slow loving kiss, the intensity starting to pick up. Astrolyte turned to face him completely as they kissed, straddling his lap. Soundwaves fingers ghosting over her doorwings making them flutter excitedly. His hands drifted down to her waist where they rested as he started getting lost in the kiss.
"We should head back to earth before Megatron notices our absence." Soundwave mumbled into the kiss. Astrolyte ignored his words and started to kiss and bite at the cables on his neck. "Astrolyte. We need to go." Soundwave said threateningly as he moved Astrolyte off his lap. She started at him and he stared back. Her optics seemed different to Soundwave though as he observed. They looked empty of emotion. Feeling through their bond he discovered Astrolyte and put up a sort of barrier. Soundwave could faintly feel her emotions. She was lost and frustrated, trying to push away her negative emotions. In her mind Soundwave discovered a jumble of thoughts, none of them very coherent. What was going on with her? Her carrier did just offline...but shouldn't she be depressed? Mourning? Why is she acting this way?