Welcome to chapter 10! Sorry for that longer wait, life has been super busy on my end. I will continue to try to update when possible.
These characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Enjoy!
Warnings: mentions of nightmares and trauma related ghost pains
New Light – Chapter 10
That morning Soundwave woke with a dull ache in his chestplates. He elected to ignore it at first, choosing instead to busy himself with waking his creations for the day. By the time all ten creations had settled to drink their energon, the dull ache in Soundwave's chestplates had turned to a sharp searing pain. The telepath stared blankly at his cube of Energon, he was almost impressed with how mind-numbing the pain was. A gentle touch to his servo pulled him back to reality.
Blaster was seated next to him, his servo gently rested over Soundwave's. The orange boombox looked at Soundwave with concerned optics for a long moment before asking in a soft whisper, "You doin' alright there, mech?". Both mechs quietly glanced at their pile of creations across the room before turning back into each other.
"I must admit, I do not feel well", Soundwave admitted in a hushed voice. He was almost surprised by the immediate worry in Blaster's field. He touched a blue servo over his tape deck and continued, "I have reason to believe that the injury is flaring up, or perhaps agitated".
Blaster let out a low breath and nodded. His servo squeezed Soundwave's shoulder as he murmured, "let's get ya' into Ratchet, sound good?". A slow nod from Soundwave was his only answer.
As quietly as possible, Soundwave beckoned Ravage over to the two mechs. The feline, who had just finished his own cube, casually stretched and joined Blaster and Soundwave at the table.
"Do ya' think you could watch over the bitlets for a few breems?", Blaster asked the eldest softly. Ravage flicked his whiskers and nodded, his optics immediately landed on his carrier's unusually flushed and creased faceplates. His optics focused for a moment on the pained grimace Soundwave was failing to conceal.
"What is wrong?", Ravage asked, he had immediately joined them in whispering.
"You need not worry," Soundwave murmured, still clutching his chestplates, "Blaster will just be helping me to the Medbay".
Nine worried gasps immediately froze the three whispering mechs. They looked back across the room to find a cluster of eavesdropping cassettes. Soundwave sighed wearily.
"Medbay?" Rumble hurried over to clutch at Soundwave's leg.
"What are you gonna' do there?" Rewind cried as the group migrated to flock at their creators. A wave of worried voices quickly overtook the previously calm morning.
"'s'ok!", Blaster crooned, wading his way through the disturbed cassettes, "'Wave is just feeling a little achy today, is all. Ratch' is gonna' make sure he is feeling better and we will be back, alright?". His gentle reassurance was met with whimpers and small servos latching to Soundwave's plating.
"I hate to be leaving ya' with this, kitty…" Blaster took Soundwave's elbow and helped him stand, Ravage's ear flattened at the nickname, "But we should really head out". Soundwave shakily clutched to Blaster's arm and allowed the other boombox to help him up. He sent packages of reassurance and love through his family bonds. Blaster blew kisses behind them as they stepped into the hall. Soundwave fastened his visor over his optics and sent his apologies to his creations just as the doors shut, leaving the cassettes alone in their quarters.
A long silence held the room as Ravage surveyed his brothers and Blaster's creations. Immediately, nine worried sets of optics settled on him. He sighed and took a seat. This was going to be a very long morning.
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Ratchet leaned towards the panel displaying his test results. He scrubbed his chin and sighed, then sighed again. Soundwave and Blaster watched in silence as the medic glared at the results, then glared at the telepath's chestplates, then glared once more at the results. Several more scans and tests were completed with Ratchet's under-breath muttering and worried sighs.
Blaster swallowed thickly and squeezed Soundwave's servo. This much silence from the medic was never a good thing. Soundwave looked oddly calm as he watched the medic curse his test results. Blaster had to wonder if Soundwave has used his telepathy to already read his diagnosis from Ratchet's processor.
"Alright," Ratchet abruptly turned to the pair, "I have some good new and some bad news". He didn't wait for a preference of firsts before continuing, "Good news is, physically, you are in order. You are still healing, of course, but it is coming along just fine. There is no inflammation, errors, or infection". The medic took a moment to look Soundwave up and down, his optics turned apologetic, "bad news is, well… have you ever head of ghost pains?".
Almost immediately, Soundwave's ruffled plating relaxed and he gave a soft smile. "I have". The medic nodded and rubbed his jaw again. His optics flicked over to Blaster, who looked even more confused.
Turning to the orange mech, Ratchet explained, "Ghost pains, in the simplest explanation, are neurological, sometimes chronic pains that linger after a traumatic episode. For Soundwave, this means that physically, he is healing well, there is nothing to worry about… But something in his processor is setting off the memory of the pain he experienced from a … disturbing event, in this case, the injury he had". Ratchet gestured to Soundwave's tape-deck, "despite the fact that they are not real, ghost pains can feel very real, and are easily mistaken for the real injury".
Blaster's worried optics immediately focused on Soundwave, he clutched the blue servos gently. "Primus, Soundwave, that must be so scary" he fretted. Soundwave blinked and shook his helm.
"I am simply glad that this was not brought on by a real complication. I am familiar with Ghost pains, I will be fine". He gently pulled his servos from Blaster's, stood and thanked Ratchet, then turned to head back home. Blaster and Ratchet stared after him, then at each other.
"Keeps an optic on that one", Ratchet murmured to the boombox, "make sure he is taking care of himself". When he received a shaken look from Blaster, he sighed and shrugged, "If he's familiar with ghost pains… well, just keep an optic on him, is all".
Blaster nodded quickly, his processor was already working through some of the things Soundwave had shared with him a few nights ago, as they watched the sunset. Something clicked into place in his processor, his plating deflated and he gave a morose "oh…Thanks, Doc. Have a good one". He followed Soundwave though the medbay doors.
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Their walk home had been relatively quiet, with only Soundwave back in good spirits. Blaster had attempted to ask his friend about the pain, Soundwave waved it off. "Knowing that it isn't damaging makes it far more manageable" the telepath stated simply.
Their return to the quarters was met with much joy and excitement from their creations. Small servos clutched at plating as the cassettes asked piles of questions. Soundwave took care to answer each question while leaving out the exact diagnosis. Blaster helped sooth everyone, letting them know that everything was okay.
For some time after their return, Soundwave sat with six of his creations piled atop him. The family didn't move for some time after that. Blaster watched with amused optics. It was so sweet that something inside him melted.
The rest of the day went particularly well. After waking to such an unpleasant scare, everyone was just happy to go about their normal routines. Soundwave felt quite pleased to spend his first day back to work. He hadn't realized how numbed his processor had felt without something interesting to work on. His itching servos were finally relived when a heap of repairs were handed over to him. It was quite pleasant to have a distraction from his worries once more. While deep into his repair and tech work, he didn't even think once about Megatron, and the ache in his chestplates slipped away to nothing.
If only the calmness had held onto him through the night.
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Soundwave woke with a choked gasp. He didn't know when he had sat up in his berth, but he has somehow managed to do it before becoming conscious. Six concerned optics stared up at him from the dark. He groaned and scrubbed his faceplates.
"What's wrong, boss?" Frenzy whispered.
"Did ya' have a bad dream?" Rumble asked, his servo squeezed at blue plating. Ratbat didn't say anything, but snuggled himself back into the crook of Soundwave's neck.
"I am fine" Soundwave slowly extracted himself from the berth sheets, then tucked his creations back in together. "I just need some air" he whispered as he gently prompted Ratbat to curl up with Ravage again. Without another word, he slipped from the room and down the hall. He quietly made his way down the hallway, then reached the main living quarters. He closed the door to, then leaned against it, rested his helm back, and let out an exhausted sigh. His optics remained off as he scrubbed his faceplates, then froze. His telepathy picked up another presence. Who else was up at this hour?
Gradually, he peaked through his fingers and his optics were met with those of his unexpected company.
"… hey", Blaster grinned from across the room. He had situated himself at the table, piles of communications reports were stacked haphazardly around him. Quietly, he pushed back the chair next to him and patted the seat.
Soundwave stared at him for a moment before wandering over to the offered spot. "Why are you up so late?" He asked.
"I put off doin' the reports for too long… so now I am up doin' them late", Blaster chuckled sheepishly, "I could ask you the same question".
Soundwave shook his helm glumly, before answering in one word, "nightmares". Blaster hummed and gave him those understanding and empathetic optics. Not long ago, Soundwave would have steamed under their gaze, but he had warmed up to them. He let Blaster put an arm around him to squeeze his shoulder.
"Ya' alright?" the orange mech asked softly.
Soundwave nodded, "I am fine". Blaster watched his down casted optics and frowned.
"Do ya' wana' talk about anything?", He asked.
For a moment, Soundwave seemed to mull over his options, then he shook his helm, "not particularly". Blaster didn't push, he simply nodded and leaned back.
They sat in silence for a long moment. Blaster glanced at Soundwave's glum expression several times as he tried to think of something to do. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. The orange boombox perked up with a grin, drawing Soundwave's optics up from the table.
"How about we make some energon goodies?" he suggested boisterously. The deadpan stare from Soundwave was almost as amusing as it was cute. Blaster chuckled and stood, he took Soundwave's servos in his own. "Yeah! Let's make energon goodies! We have everything we need here to do it".
Soundwave continued to fix him with a doubtful look. "It is past 1 AM", He shook his helm, "our creations are all asleep".
"We won't wake 'em. We can play some quiet music and make 'em together… The bitlets will have no idea and I know they will love the surprise once they are up tomorrow", Blaster pleaded, "C'mon, it will be fun! And it will take your processor off a' everything".
Soundwave felt himself nodding… It did sound like fun. He had not made energon goodies in an incredibly long amount of time. Not since before the war. Not since he worked in Senator Ratbat's manor. It would be a good distraction, and it did sound pleasant.
"Very well", he stood, "but I get to select the music". An excited laugh from Blaster made him smile.
As it turned out, they worked quite well together. Soundwave's meticulous instruction following kept them on track, while Blaster's "artful editions of pizzazz" …as he proudly called it… kept things interesting.
Soundwave glanced up at Blaster to catch the other mech licking their mixing spoon. Blaster was quickly met with a smear of batter across his nasal ridge. Blaster made a great laughing sound at this, as he easily canted back and brushed a glob of batter across Soundwave's cheek. Soundwave gasped and choked on his own amusement before swiping more of the half-made goodies across Blaster's tape deck. What else could Blaster do but throw a handful of the stuff right at Soundwave's faceplates? The telepath's quick duck out of the way resulted in the batter making a loud smacking sound as it hit the wall instead.
Both mechs stared at the batter as it wetly slid down the wall. They chuckled, then laughed, then gasped and howled. Their giggles were muffled into servos as they attempted to stay quiet for their sleeping families. Soundwave keeled over as Blaster slid to the floor, a half-empty mixing bowl still held in the crook of his arm. Soundwave joined him, and the two mechs laughed and wheezed at each other for what felt like hours. Soundwave couldn't be sure if it was the sleep deprivation that made everything so hysterical, or if something in Blaster brought out his dusty humour. Either way, he knew that he had not laughed that hard for many, many years.
Out of nowhere, Soundwave up in a bolt. He went dead silent, his optics fixated on the windows of their quarters. Blaster's laughter died out and he went silent.
"…'Wave?" he asked softly. A shudder ran down his spine at Soundwave's answer.
"Someone was watching us".
"… wait, seriously? Are ya' sure?"
"yes… no…" Soundwave suddenly pushed himself up and picked his way across the room. He stared out into the darkness, then cupped his servos and squinted out past their reflections. It was so hard to see out into the desert night. Blaster quietly joined him at the window. A long moment stretched on as they stared.
The sudden 'ping' from the dehydrator made both mechs jump. They looked back into their quarters and silently went about removing the finished goodies.
"My telepathy," Soundwave broke the silence, "I thought that I had picked up on a presence… I suppose I did not. Perhaps I am just overtired, and I am getting false readings". He shook his helm with a sigh.
"Hey, it's no big deal", Blaster smiled at him cheerfully, "kinda' my fault for keepin' ya' up so late". They smiled at each other and finished cleaning up.
"How about we shower off and hit the hay?" Blaster offered casually. Soundwave smiled thankfully at his friend.
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Oh, Reflector had the juicy stuff alright. They huddled together and admired their work one last time before proudly making their way into the throne room. Megatron sat up in his seat and smiled wickedly at them. They could only smile back. They felt quite proud of this one. It was good work, yes, very good work indeed.
"Given the looks upon your faces, I must assume that you were able to find Soundwave, yes?" the Warlord relaxed back in this throne with a satisfied smile.
"We certainly did" The three mechs spoke in unison, their plating puffed with pride as they offered a datapad out to the larger mech.
Megatron accepted the datapad, then powered it up. "Pictures?" he asked simply.
"Of course," Reflector smiled back, "he has been spending time in the Ark… He was in the medbay this morning, we lost sight of him through mid day. But the night was… particularly interesting".
Megatron's optics focused on the images as his listened to the report. He immediately scowled at the pictures. This was not good, not good at all. "What are they doing?" He hissed.
"Living together", Reflector smiled at their work, "looks like Soundwave got pretty close to that orange one, Blaster". Megatron flicked through the images, he felt the rage simmer higher and higher within him as he did. A picture of Soundwave and Blaster on the floor of their quarters laughing stirred a growl from his lips.
"Well done", Megatron dismissed his spies with a wave of his servo, "help yourself to extra rations, if you please". The team bowed and left, leaving Megatron alone in the throne room.
Megatron's optics narrowed at the pictures. His finger traced across it for a moment. What a waste… What a horrific waste of a communications officer. If only he had known that Soundwave was so soft before, so easily influenced by the Autobots. He should have been dealt with long ago. The warlord couldn't help but notice the lack of a mask, he flicked through each picture, growing more frustrated with each one. He especially hated the ones where Soundwave smiled at that damned Autobot. Almost all of that could be forgiven… if not for the clear lack of a Decepticon insignia. "Turn coat", Megatron chided to himself.
Oh yes, this would be dealt with… It would most certainly be dealt with.
I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Like I said before, there will be more chapters soon, so keep your eyes peeled for more if you're interested! Feel free to leave a like, follow, and comment! I love to hear your feedback. If you have any requests or are interested in an art trade, message me and we can sort something out. For more info on art trades and requests take a peak in my profile description.