Lunch anyone?

ssssssssss

Starscream glared, optics bright red, "Where. Is he?"

Ratchet grumbled; Starscream had escaped his room again. It had been unlocked, bridge outside waiting, but the seeker had run to see Ratchet instead of staying in the storeroom as asked.

"I'll not ask again," Starscream snarled, the medic rolling his optics, "What did the lot of you do with Soundwave?"

Ratchet sighed, "Starscream, we didn't harm him," he got up from his workstation, moving to a computer console so he could explain, "Look, here," he brought up a diagram of a bridge, "I'll explain this once and then I'll expect you to go back into that room."

The seeker was about to retort, but he could already here the voice telling him to wait. And the voice hadn't even said anything yet.

"Watch this, Starscream, it's actually quite miraculous," the medic brought up a second bridge, setting the two side-by-side, "Back on Earth, after Megatron's recovery…" he grumbled, remembering what the experience had done to Bumblebee; he coughed, "Anyway, you had gotten hold of some dark energon?"

Starscream crossed his arms, "Yes, I do remember quite well."

Ratchet typed in a few commands, the bridges beginning to feed off each other, "We had to bridge the children out, and you yourself had called for an escape. When the portals could take no more, and the proximity had proven too close, their energies created a backlash which teleported the children, the Terrorcon Skyquake, and your arm, from what I remember."

The seeker frowned. So that's where it had gone off to…

The medic continued, "The children called it the Shadow Zone. They could see us, hear us, but they couldn't communicate with us or touch us. We got lucky," he sighed, "Miko had left her mobile device in our base and Jack had sense enough to call it. His call did go through, but we couldn't hear them. Written text seemed to do the trick. They let us know what was going on and we recalibrated our bridge system to get them out."

"Yes, I do remember this," Starscream huffed, "They ran out, as did Skyquake's Terrorcon arm. It was not a pleasant experience…"

Ratchet frowned at him, but continued, "When we stormed the Nemesis, we were unable to take the command deck. Bulkhead, Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack were bridged out by Soundwave and we couldn't get a hold of it. Miko, Jack and Rafael took matters into their own hands and when Soundwave tried to bridge them out, they opened their own bridge and sent him to the Shadow Zone."

He must till be there.

"Cast into the shadows to rust…" Starscream hissed.

Ratchet's optics flickered, "Sorry?"

Starscream, does this trouble you?

It did, it honestly troubled him quite a bit. Soundwave was wasting away without escape. Starved for energon while others walked passed him, oblivious, unable to see. Starscream had suffered something similar once. But he was not trapped in this Shadow Zone; he was able to overcome it.

He is hurt and suffering as you once did. What are you going to do?

Starscream glared hard in thought, then nodded, "I'm liberating Soundwave from his prison."

Ratchet scoffed, "What?! On whose orders?"

"My own," the seeker snarled back, "Who are we to condemn him like this?" he turned his back to the medic, stomping out of the med bay, "Assemble your team together, doctor. I will state my case before things get rash…"

ssssssssss

"I say we just beat Starscream back into his room," Bulkhead growled, slamming his fists together.

"I'll readily see you try," the seeker retorted, unfazed.

All of the ship's occupants were on the command deck, watching Starscream as he paced about the room.

Ratchet stared angrily, pointing at him, "You have no right to do this, Starscream! We don't even know if this is Soundwave-"

"Soundwave knew every nook and cranny in this ship," Starscream hissed, wings raised high, "Every command this ship could perform was at his discretion. Doors locking and unlocking, bridges opening," he pointed to his audial, "and I've been getting static from someone trying to COMM me. You said so yourself, doctor. The children tried calling you for help, but you were unable to hear them."

Arcee frowned, "So what, we're supposed to let Soundwave back into this plane? How do we know he won't try and attempt to regain control of the ship? Or bring about a new age of Decepticons?"

"Arcee's right," Wheeljack chimed in, "Soundwave was, is, crazy loyal to Megatron."

"And Megatron has lost all sense of reality," Starscream snarled, "Why should we leave Soundwave to die this way if we could save him?"

"Uh, because it's safer for us?" Bulkhead huffed, "That silent mech has messed our plans up too many times."

"And yet, if Soundwave could free himself, he would have done so," the seeker huffed back; he was getting frustrated quickly, "He bridged me here. After the Predacons had ripped me to pieces. I'm sure that was Soundwave," no one said anything, so he snorted, "Well, none of you take credit, who the frag else would it be?"

"But why you?" Arcee crossed her arms, "You're not exactly Soundwave's best friend."

Starscream didn't back down, he wasn't ready to, "No, I'm not, but I'm his last resort. Why would he reach out to any of you? The ones who put him there," he settled his gaze on the red medic, "And then there's Knockout."

Knockout looked around in surprise, "What, me? I didn't do that to him!"

"No, you didn't, but why would he contact you? Opening and closing doors, bridges popping up all over this ship, as a medic, you'd only think something was wrong with the ship," Starscream smirked, "I am bothered by it, immensely. You know where all those bridges keep leading? Have any of you tested one out?"

Ratchet shook his head, "Of course not, we don't know where they lead-"

"Well let me take a wild guess and say they lead here, right in this room!"

Starscream saw the look on the medic's face change; he was either close or spot on, "Every time you would come here to shut off a bridge from somewhere else on this ship, there would be one here, wouldn't there?"

Ratchet grumbled, "Coincidence, they could have been two separate bridges-"

"I know I'm one for lying, doctor, but do not play that game with me," Starscream glared, "I am a master of it, if you want to become a good liar, you must hide your tells," he looked about the room, angry now, "If none of you will help me save Soundwave, then I shall attempt to do so myself."

You can try, but to succeed, you will need them.

But none of them were listening; none of them wanted that mech here.

They didn't want you here either. What would you say to make it easier on them to accept?

Starscream knew. He just didn't want to have to bring it up.

"Forget this," Arcee scoffed, "I'm not going to listen to this anymore."

She turned, as did most of them, to leave, but stopped when Starscream shouted out, "What would your Prime say to this?!"

The femme whipped around, optics wide with anger and hurt. But the seeker didn't falter. This was the time to play this card. Delicately.

"What did you say?" she growled.

Everyone else looked just as angry.

But Starscream just frowned, "You talk about building this world back from ruin," he began, "but you are saving the select few for it, myself not included. I am trying and working very hard to prove myself capable of living on this planet with the likes of you. It starts with the smaller jobs, doing them right and expecting nothing, and builds with the larger ones, finding caches and saving ones life," he watched Bulkhead's optics turn away, "and I'm trying to save another's now! So what if it's Soundwave?! Would the general consensus change if it were Knockout? What about Shockwave? Myself?"

None of the Autobots moved. Starscream was speaking harsh truths, most of which they didn't want to hear.

"Is it all in fear that you make this decision? Or are all of you only thinking about what Soundwave could do, would do, if he were free?" the seeker went on, "I'm learning that assumptions only bring upon more pain and confusion. If you don't hear it straight from him what he would do, then you should assume nothing."

Everyone remained quiet.

Ultra Magnus stepped forward, "Starscream, I am beginning to understand why you are pressing so hard to save Soundwave from the Shadow Zone, but it is a dangerous task and we're not even sure if Soundwave is still alive."

"Soundwave," Starscream shouted out, "open a bridge from here to the outside."

After a few moments, the screens lit to life and a bridge opened in the center of the room. Knockout glanced out the side of the Nemesis, seeing a bridge just next to the ship open up. The seeker crossed his arms.

"If we leave Soundwave where he is, you'll also be missing the greatest opportunity to get refugees back home," Starscream hissed, "He's the best communications officer and computer expert Cybertron has ever known."

Ratchet sighed heavily, looking to Ultra Magnus, "We're taking a chance with Starscream aren't we? It's not like taking the same chance with Soundwave will make any difference."

Magnus nodded to him, then looked at Starscream, "We will begin procedures immediately then. You will have to be a liaison for Soundwave to help him better adjust. If he wishes to stay on to help us rebuild, we can accept that. But any actions taken against us will not bode well for him."

"Considering we're in the room he's been zoned in, I think he can hear you," the seeker hmmed, "But don't worry, I'm sure I'll need to help him regardless. Considering actions as of late…"

"Then I'll get to work calibrating the ground bridge systems immediately," Ratchet sighed, "Knockout, I'll need your help…"

When the room cleared, Starscream finally let out the intake he'd been holding for so long. That had been harder than he anticipated, though he knew it would be difficult. But he had done it. They were going to help.

How does that make you feel?

Starscream stared down at his servos, clenching and unclenching them. It was as though he was saving himself. He did see a part of his being within Soundwave, lost, ignored, and on the verge of death. But he was going to save him.

"We're coming, Soundwave," Starscream said to the empty room, "I'll make sure you get back on this plane, regardless of the state you're in…"

The computer consoles in the room flickered off and Starscream stared sadly, "I just hope we're not too late…"

ssssssssss

No lunch for Soundwave.