A/N: Okay, so I totally just posted the wrong Chapter before. Here's the actual Chapter. So sorry. Take both; a 2-for-1 special. So, so sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers in any shape or form. I only own the story and any and all OCs in said story. If there's someone you're not familiar with, it's probably an OC.
{Blah} = Symbiote Bond
Blah = idk...Symbiote Vision?
Delta's optics blink open, meeting the darkness of his room. After the Re-Integration, Knockout had sent him away with orders to take it easy until his and Talon's systems were used to being connected. He suggested speaking only over the bond for a few hours to help strengthen it. Stretching, he sits up, rubbing the back of his neck.
{Good morning, Master.}
Delta jumps, nearly spitting out a curse before stopping himself.
{Jeez, dude. Give a guy a warning—I'm still half-asleep.}
Amusement flows through the new bond, a rumbling chuckle echoing in his helm.
{Apologies, Master Delta. Our bond is still new to me as well. I am used to Soundwave—he was always aware of me and my siblings.}
Delta pauses from pressing the keypad for the washracks. His brow furrows.
"Siblings?" he asks, realizing too late that he said it out loud.
Realizing his error, he slips back into the bond, shocked to find sadness and loss flowing into his spark.
{Yes…my siblings. Frenzy, Rumble, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, and…and Ravage. They were all Symbiotes of Soundwave. Frenzy and Rumble were twins. Buzzsaw wasn't her twin, but he was the same build as Lazerbeak. Ratbat was the youngest.}
He almost regretted asking this.
{And…Ravage? Who was he?}
{…}
{Talon?}
There's silence, before something opens up into his mind, showing a scruffy panther kit in an alleyway of some large, metal city. Talon's voice echoes strangely through his helm as the pictures move.
Ravage was my brother. Not in the way that the others were my siblings—Ravage was my true brother. We were from different litters, and it wasn't until he found me and brought me to Soundwave as a kitten that we realized we were spark siblings. I went through the Integration with Soundwave, and was connected to everyone of them. At the request of Ravage, Soundwave trained me not for combat like the others—though I did learn to hold my own—but to be a scout and work with communications.
It was a few years later that we lost Ravage. He had been on a mission, and was due back in a few hours. But he never showed. Instead, the few of us left suffered the backlash of his part of the bond snapping. We later found his body at the site of an explosion. He had sacrificed his own life to make sure the spy we'd planted was to survive with the information he had gathered.
Delta blinks as the—for lack of a better word—vision ends, his body still in the Washracks. Was he shaking?
"I'm so sorry, Talon. But I understand your pain; I went through that too."
{With your human partner?}
Delta nods. Concentrating, he brings up an image of him and Kris, the soldier looking scruffy after a very long patrol, sand and dust covering him practically from head to toe. A thin layer of dust covered him too, his visor a dusty gold instead of amber. They had joked and messed around the whole time, not even bothering to actually pay attention on the patrol.
"Kris, he…he found me after I crashed here. I didn't understand what was going on, and he could've ordered his team to shoot, but…he didn't. Instead, he asked me if I had any hostile plans for Earth, and then he smiled and welcomed me. He and his team took me in. They became like my family. Kris and I became partners. They were always super patient when I learned something new about Earth, though like any team, they teased me about it at the same time."
He trails off as the memories begin to surface, tears springing into his optics.
"W-When…When the base was attacked, I was a mile away. I'd wanted some time alone for a bit and…I don't know how long I was gone for but…it was long enough for the base to be put under attack by…something. I didn't even think. I just ran headlong into the destruction, wanting to find my team. I only found Kris and…a-and he died in my arms. He hadn't even been mad at me for not being there. He just asked me to promise to take care of his wife and daughter."
His shoulders slump, "And I haven't even been able to do that."
{Looks like we know a little more about one another now. And have more in common than we first realized.}
Delta chuckles, the sound somewhat bitter.
{Yeah. I guess so.}
{Though, I am curious about the humans you are supposed to be taking care of. I…would like to meet them if that is alright.}
The turquoise Mechling blinks. He hadn't really expected that. From what he'd witnessed, the Decepticons were only barely tolerant of humans. But if Talon wanted to…
He smiles.
"Yeah. I'd…I'd like that."
Miranda sighs, running her fingers through her mess of chestnut hair. Delta hadn't visited in the past few months or so, and she was starting to worry. He was all they had now, and she wasn't going to lose him too.
Suddenly, there's the sound of a familiar engine. Dropping the dishrag, Miranda races to the door, throwing it open. There, coming up the leaf-covered driveway, was a familiar vehicle. Delta's vehicle form rolls to a stop in front of the house. Miranda storms down the steps, marching over to the turquoise form.
"Miranda-"
A solid smack on his hood stops Delta in his tracks.
"Where were you, Delta?!"
"I-I…"
"Four months, Delta. Almost Four months of you not showing up. I thought you were dead! Katie and I already lost Kris—there's no way we are losing you too, you overgrown trash compactor!"
{…Well she's frightening.}
{She's just worried.}
Moving away from the irate woman, Delta transforms. Kneeling down, he lifts a servo, placing it behind the woman.
"Miranda…"
All at once, the anger leaves her, the woman slumping against his servo. She holds back tears as she grips the warm, living metal.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, Delta. I can't handle losing another."
He smiles, the expression sad.
"I know, Miranda. And I'm sorry. These last few months have been really crazy, and I just haven't been able to find the time to come. I didn't mean to scare you."
Miranda calms down, leaning against his servo. Her arms cross.
"You better not have. And what do you mean by 'crazy'? Crazy how?"
Delta sighs, "It's hard to explain—I'll try my best though. But you might want to get Katie for this. She deserves to know too."