Shattered Glass

Chapter 3: Soundwave

Officially Soundwave's title was: Third in Command/Communications Officer. Unofficially it was 'therapist'. Since his abilities allowed him to tap into another mech's consciousness it was infinitely easier for him to diagnose mental problems far easier than the other therapists such as Cyclonus. Unfortunately that also meant the Decepticons were far more likely to come to him for a quick fix instead of going to bots that were actually qualified to do the job. So when Megatron asked for a private meeting Soundwave wasn't necessarily surprised. But what he was surprised by was his leader's request.

"You want me to do what?" Soundwave was grateful for the mask that hid his face so no one could see the look of absolute shock.

"I want you to counsel Starscream," Megatron repeated, his lips twitching in a smile.

"Why me?" Soundwave was normally very laid back, taking things in stride. But this? Counseling Starscream of all mechs? Had Megatron finally lost his processor?

"Because Starscream trusts you," Megatron replied simply.

That quickly shot down all of Soundwave's protests. Because what else could he say? Starscream's trust was limited to only a select few and even then that trust was still measured out carefully and withheld at times.

"Just see if he'll talk to you," Megatron pleaded. "He refuses to tell me anything and whenever I try to talk to him about it he runs off."

"Ya can't force Star of all mech's to talk," Soundwave sighed. "But I will do my best."

"Thanks, Soundwave," Megatron said gratefully.

It took only ten minutes to locate the scientist but, since he was occupied with telling the children stories, Soundwave thought it best not to bother them. After all, Starscream had so little time to spend with the kids these days that Soundwave just hated to deprive the little family of their quality time. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he didn't want to have this talk in the first place. Nope, nothing whatsoever.

So Soundwave waited until the kids had gone to bed before knocking at the door. "Star, it's Soundwave. You busy?"

The door slid open and Starscream regarded him with no small amount of amusement on his faceplate. "You obviously know the answer to that question since you've been out there for a while."

"Sorry," Soundwave shrugged apologetically. "Can I come in?"

"I suppose," Starscream said neutrally as he stepped back and allowed the Communications Officer access.

Soundwave entered and sat down on the couch, hoping to put the scientist at ease.

"So who sent you?" Starscream asked as he sat in the chair, his legs crossed.

"The big kahuna," Soundwave saw no reason to lie; Starscream was extremely intelligent and could easily deduce that Soundwave had been coerced into coming. "But I would've dropped on by sooner or later," he added hastily. No need to make Star feel like Soundwave didn't care about his buddy.

"I see," Starscream's voice was cold and his optics narrowed. "So everyone in the base is worried that I'm going to have another nervous breakdown, is that it?"

Well, slag. This just wasn't working out the way it was supposed to. Soundwave quickly set about rectifying the perceived insults. "No that's not it at all, Star," he said soothingly. "I mean, yeah we're worried but that's just cuz you're our buddy. It's not good for you to keep all that hurt bottled up inside. That's why you had that 'incident' two million years ago."

This was not the first time the Autobots had captured Starscream and forced him to suffer horrible atrocities but every time they did something inside the mech broke. Although it wouldn't exactly be a lie to say that every bot was holding their intakes, waiting for Starscream to finally take that final plunge into insanity; a fall so great that he could never return. Soundwave highly suspected that the only things keeping him from that even now were his determination to destroy the Autobots and the kids. They really had been good for him.

Thankfully Starscream appeared slightly mollified and relaxed ever so slightly. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Anything really," Soundwave replied easily. "There anything in particular bothering you?"

Starscream considered then shook his helm. "Just the usual," he said. "Nightmares and some processor glitches but nothing new."

It truly was sad that Starscream was now used to all that, Soundwave sighed internally. "Do you mind if I take a look see?"

"I suppose not," Starscream moved to sit next to Soundwave and tensed as the other bot placed his servos on his processor.

"Relax, Star, this won't hurt a bit."

After Soundwave had finished with his investigation he retreated back to his own quarters, leaving Star in peace while he pondered over what to do. All it would take now was one tiny little push and Starscream would be lost to them forever, stuck in his own processor, forced to relive events that shouldn't have been lived through once let alone twice. He should tell Megatron that the Seeker needed to be removed from active duty and locked in his quarters for several years but couldn't quite force himself to do it. Star would never fully recover from his ordeal but if he could take down even one of the Autobots that had harmed him…well a little vindication never hurt anyone.


A/N: Hope you guys liked! Please read and review! I've been working on my writing style and I think this one is better. And to whoever mentioned the prose stories thanks but I can't find them. Hopefully the comic book store can though. Catch ya later!

Oh and if you liked this story then please check out my other one; 'The Re-Creation of Starscream'. It's not an SG fic but maybe someone will like it. Thanks again!