Intermittent
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I should think that rather obvious with my college-induced poverty and all.
Warnings: Onesided Bee/Sam
AN: Required reading is such a pain in the aft.
The list of suspects is unsurprisingly short. There are only so many Decepticons left gallivanting around the galaxy. Besides, Soundwave has already taken Sam once. Bee's frenzied murmurings only cement his guilt.
First Aid isn't certain if he is more relieved or terrified by the prospect. On one hand, they know who they are dealing with. On the other, he has seen exactly what Soundwave can do. Exactly what he will do. It might just take both Ratchet and him to put their youngling back together again.
But still, they have no clue where he has gone. No trace or trail to follow. Time ticking by as they scramble to figure out a solution.
Then, Wheeljack makes a suggestion, a chancy and completely insane suggestion. But Ratchet seconds it with a speed that'd be frightening under normal circumstances. Prowl agrees without thought to consequences, logic be damned.
And Bee… Bee just goes and goes relentlessly. All they have to do is follow. Try to stamp down on the absolute terror crawling inside. Attempt not to look disappointed when he leads them to a barren field in the middle of nowhere, seemingly just as stumped as they are.
The area around them is deserted. Desolate, if not for the unending grassy plains stretching out in all directions, not a tree or house or even a road in sight. Nor a base or anything even vaguely resembling a place for Soundwave and Sam to be.
Prowl and Ratchet exchange a look, and Aid can tell that they are thinking the same thing. Wondering where exactly Bee has taken them. If the minibot really has lost it completely. First Aid begins to believe along the same lines as the breems stretched on, Jazz supporting Bee as he goes still.
But that's only until Wheeljack trips and nearly falls over what appears to be open air.
The entrance is easy enough to find after that, hidden by the same means Mirage uses to conceal himself so effectively. It is all Jazz can do to hold Bee back, to keep him from charging in head first as they all peer down the sloping corridor that is revealed to them. Staring into the surprisingly bright if empty expanse. Walking through the echoing hallway with a sensation not unlike dread.
Something is wrong here. Something other than the obvious.
Soundwave has to know that they are here. Has to see them guardedly walking along. Has to sense them at the very least.
But no one has tried to stop them. They haven't even seen anyone besides themselves. Not Soundwave or his symbiotes. Not other Decepticons. Not even Sam. No one at all. Just a barren corridor. A hollow and lifeless place. A void. Absolutely nothing within.
The emptiness bothers Aid more than an entire battalion would.
Where is Soundwave? Where is Sam?
Just… nothingness. No sight. No sound. No feeling.
Some bots just have a presence about them, an aura. Megatron radiated authority. An all encompassing power that sent weaker mechs to their knees. And he was not the only one. Prime does as well, cleaner and gentler to be certain but just as strong. For Starscream, it's resentment and guile. Prowl, intelligence and loyalty. Alpha Trion, a saddened sort of wisdom, deep and aching.
Soundwave is different from them all. Muted. Calmer. More menacing for the complete lack of compassion. Of any sort of visible emotion at all. For the abyss that stares back whenever his optics are met. A horror given life.
That's all Aid can think about, locked on that thought as a trickle of foreboding shoots across his processor. As part of him pleads for even that, for any sign at all that they are on the right track. He pauses then, head tilted. Searching. Spark twisting inside him. Feeling a sudden whisper of air across his side… followed by a heavy weight crashing into him.
And the last thing he sees is a glimmer of deep blue metal before the world dissolves away.
Ever Hopeful,
Azar