Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers

Betrayed

Chapter 4: Choosing Sides

Author's Note: Woot! I finally got this chapter up! I've been trying for a while now, I even wrote an outline of how the chapter was going to go. In the end, I more or less ignored the outline and re-wrote the first part of the chapter no less than 5 times. I feel so proud of myself. I finally like how it turned out...

Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. They're greatly appreciated as always and they really did make me not want to give up on this chapter any time soon. It was excellent motivation to get myself typing, that's for sure. Granted it took a while and boy do I mean a while, but it's finally done. Now I just have to start working on the next chapter. Well, I hope you enjoy the chapter and don't mind too much as I ramble on as usual in the author's note.

Lastly, this chapter has been edited.

The clouds were crimson and the skies blue. The view would have been nice if Ratchet were to relax and enjoy himself. The tentacles, however, were wearing at his patience.

The more Ratchet thought about it, the more he convinced himself that the problem wasn't the tentacles in particular; it was the fact that he was technically a captive.

Ratchet hated being anyone's captive, regardless of allegiance.

His optic twitched, a servo clenched. He wasn't about to keep quiet any longer. "Frag you, Soundwave!"

Patience has never been his strong point. Nor will it ever be.

He started struggling again, managing to slip an arm out of the coils. Without a second thought, he pulled a wrench out of his subspace and swung, metal colliding with metal in a loud clank.

Soundwave flinched as his armor was dented in.

Ratchet, feeling the tentacles loosen drastically, pulled himself out and reached for one of Soundwave's wings. Just as he was about to tighten his hold and pull himself up onto Soundwave's alt mode, Ratchet slipped, falling towards the ground far below.

Soundwave dived after Ratchet, one tentacle reaching out and wrapping around a ped. Secure in his hold, he resumed flight.

Ratchet crossed his arms, displeasure clearly written across his faceplate as he was now being carried upside down. Against his better judgment, he threw the wrench up at Soundwave.

He was rewarded with a second clank, though not as hard or loud as the first strike.

Ratchet could only watch as the wrench fell down, away from his reach. With a heavy sigh, he turned his attention to the flight.

A few breems later, a chirp caught his attention. As he looked over to the source of the sound, he spotted his wrench.

As much as he tried to reach for it, Laserbeak flew just barely out of range.

"Frag it, Laserbeak. Come here!"

Wheeljack's grip on the controls tightened ominously.

It took too long. Too much time was wasted. There was no telling that he was even going in the correct direction. For all he knew, Soundwave changed course as soon as Wheeljack got onto the ground bridge.

He should have properly protected the medic. It was his fault that the two were even out there. Ratchet should have been working on the master computer or straightening up the medbay.

If he wanted to spend time with Ratchet, Wheeljack should have offered to help make spare parts. It would have been the perfect solution to meet Ratchet's need to get work done and satisfied Wheeljack's seemingly insatiable need to be with him.

It would have been safer.

Wheeljack put Doc into danger and didn't even properly protect him when the time arose.

What kind of Wrecker was he? What kind of bot would pull such a stupid stunt? It was his fault and now he could only hope that it was still possible to make amends.

Bulkhead shifted uncomfortably, watching Wheeljack from the corner of his vision. Even though Wheeljack hadn't said anything since they took off, Bulkhead knew there was something wrong.

He had known Wheeljack for a long time now. He wasn't fooled by the Wrecker's silence. If anything, it was a blatant sign, complete with flashing neon lights.

"What's on your processor?"

Wheeljack answered just a tat bit too fast. "Nothing."

"Jackie." Bulkhead warned, knowing Wheeljack far too well. If he didn't pry, Wheeljack wouldn't answer. It would be better to get it out into the open and hopefully solve it before the other wrecker did something rash.

Wheeljack knew that tone all too well. If it wasn't for the fact that he was flying the Jackhammer, Bulkhead might resort to tackling him and not letting up until he talked. Even though Wheeljack was considered to be strong, Bulkhead wasn't someone who anyone wanted sitting on them.

"Bulk, I-" Wheeljack paused before trying again, forcing himself to say the words that had been going over and over in his processor for a while now. "I… I messed up."

Bulkhead was surprised by the sudden admittance. He was expecting anger and a lot of it. Not this, definitely not this.

"I shouldn't have took our field medic out into an unprotected and unmonitored area without backup. We're still at war. I should have never forgotten that fact."

Bulkhead reached over at patted Wheeljack on the shoulder, trying to comfort his friend. "It doesn't mean you can't be with the medbot. Jackie, he makes you happy. We'll get him back. Decepticons will learn to not to touch Ratchet."

Wheeljack grinned, confidence gradually restoring with every word out of Bulkhead's mouth. "We'll make that fragger pay for everything he's done to Ratchet. No one messes with Wreckers."

Bulkhead grinned. This was more like the Wheeljack from the old days. They could get into so much slag, but it didn't matter. They'd get the medbot back.

Soundwave gently set Ratchet down before transforming a short distance away. He mentally cringed at the sight of Ratchet getting into a fighting stance. Soundwave wasn't here to fight; he just wanted to talk.

He could only hope that Ratchet would listen.

"Soundwave: Defected from Decepticons." Soundwave was tempted to rub his sore vocalizer. It didn't feel quite right. The strain made speech uncomfortable. In the future, he'd have to see if Ratchet would take a look at it and make a few adjustments. That should probably make the pain go away and clear his voice up.

A look of concern passed Ratchet's features. "What's wrong with your vocalizer?" Ratchet was tempted to go closer and check for himself, but Soundwave had been a loyal Decepticon since before the war. This was Megatron's right hand bot. Soundwave was a force to be reckoned with. This could all be a trap for all he knew.

Wanting to try a new route of communication, Soundwave switched to using his recordings. He played a recording of Megatron, editing it slightly. "It's been a long time…"

Ratchet tensed up, fully prepared to pull out his blades in order to fight back.

Unknowingly to Ratchet, Soundwave rolled his optics at the gesture. So all recordings with Megatron's voice were out of the picture. So how about Shockwave? "Lord Megatron."

Nope.

"Megatron's a dumbaft. Soundwave, I don't know how you put up with him." Starscream's over energized voice played. "If I were leader… *hiccup* I'd end this war. How hard could it be?"

Soundwave sighed. Not Starscream's either. Matters would be easier if he could hack into a computer mainframe and use the system to relay messages. That's what he used to do on the Nemesis.

However it wasn't considered hacking if he already had access to the entirety of the system.

An idea popped up into his processor. It would be a quick and easy way to communicate, especially seeing how they were out in the middle of nowhere. Now if he could get consent…

Ratchet focused on the message on Soundwave's visor. Carefully rereading it several times.

May I connect to you?

Ratchet gave Soundwave a skeptical look. It was an odd way to proposition a bot. "Why should I?"

Communication.

Ratchet frowned. "Why should I trust you?"

Soundwave carefully thought things through, trying to come up with a logical explanation as to why his past enemy should do so. It was a lot harder than he expected.

It was much easier to come up with reasons against it.

Never harmed humans.

Ratchet looked surprised by the reply, even dropping his guard before crossing his arms. "What the frag does that have to do with anything?"

Laserbeak flew in from its hiding spot and hovered in front of Ratchet, allowing the medic to reclaim his wrench. It was risky, but it was worth a shot. Once the item was handed over, Laserbeak flew back to Soundwave, settling back onto his chassis.

Ratchet took a good look at his wrench before turning his attention to the still waiting bot in front of him. "No."

Soundwave looked to the sky, watching the stars shining from light years away. He visibly sighed; frame exaggerating the motion that way Ratchet would notice it. Making up his mind, he relied on his tentacles to recapture the medic.

Soundwave tried to convince himself that he had no other choice.

Ratchet struggled the entire time, trying desperately to get away. He didn't want to get hacked. He knew all sorts of things that Decepticons would pay good credits to get their servos on. Neutral or not, Soundwave could get a good deal from this.

A panel was gently forced open, careful fingers pressing a cable into his port.

A system designed to share data.

He could feel Soundwave's presence as their systems synced. It wouldn't be long now. Ratchet was sure of it.

As soon as he was notified of a successful connection, Ratchet pushed back, trying to hack into Soundwave's data banks instead. To his surprise…

Soundwave let him.

In fact, Soundwave was opening files for him, allowing Ratchet to do as he pleased. Tentacles released him, allowing Ratchet to disconnect at any point in time.

Soundwave: Want to talk.

Ratchet jumped, surprised by the clarity of the message. It flowed effortlessly into his processor, unhindered, without any effort on his end. It was somewhat calming to tell the truth. "I'm listening."

Megatron: Used Soundwave like a tool. Soundwave: Had enough. Soundwave: Wish to be Autobot.

Ratchet brushed aside the notification of his medical scanners informing him that he picked up an all to familiar virus in favor of the conversation. It was no big deal; he'd deal with the virus later.

Wheeljack grinned, noticing the signals that the scanners finally picked up. He turned the shuttle, heading straight towards the two. Soundwave wasn't going to escape.

Not this time.

Ratchet got up and disconnected himself from Soundwave. He had been enjoying the conversation, but it was past time for him to get back to the base. Ratchet had a few things he needed to get to before recharging.

A figure creeping closer caught his attention. "'Jack? What are you-"

"Soundwave let him go." Wheeljack pulled out a sword; moonlight shining on his armor as he came closer.

Ratchet got in between the two, not wanting any conflict this time around.

Bulkhead, who had circled around to the back came charging in from the opposite direction, tackling Soundwave to the ground and pinning the Communications Officer down. "Jackie, I got him!"

Soundwave struggled, but there wasn't much he could do. Bulkhead was heavy on his much lighter frame. His alt mode was a jet after all. Unfortunately for Soundwave, the combination of the Wrecker's weight and an expert hold meant he wasn't going anywhere soon.

Ratchet flared out his armor, making himself appear slightly larger than normal. Pulling out the wrench Soundwave gave back earlier, he threw it at Bulkhead, hitting the wrecker in the helm. "Bulkhead! Let him go!" He spun around so he was facing Wheeljack. "Wheeljack! Soundwave's my patient and you're not going to change my mind! Got it, you pit-spawns?!"

Wheeljack's jaw dropped.

Since when was Ratchet on Soundwave's side?