After going through the bridge. The small team was presented with a large cave opening. Soundwave casually led the team in, his scanners working overtime. After walking for a few moments, the team was greeted by two separate directions to take.
"Let's split up, Mirage you go to the left with Xanthia, Soundwave and I will take the right side." Arcee decided to direct the team.
"Uuuuh..." Mirage was lost at how to protest the arrangement.
"Our communications will be hindered in this environment. But if there's an emergency fire three times. We can meet back here in an hour." Soundwave added.
"Understood." Xanthia nodded in understanding.
Soundwave nodded, following the cobalt blue femme into the right tunnel.
Xanthia began to make her way into the left tunnel, hoping her sparkling would follow her.
Mirage stood at the split entrances, watching as the bioluminescent violet mech disappeared out of sight. The sparkling sighed, hesitantly following the his bioluminescent mother.
"You know Mirage, or I, could've covered that section by ourselves right?" Soundwave mentioned to his femme.
"I know but Mirage needs to get more comfortable around his own mother. Plus this way Mirage and I both get a flashlight." Arcee remarked in a sassy tone.
"Flashlight?" Soundwave cocked his helm in confusion.
"Yeah, you and your mother are walking glow sticks." Arcee teased gesturing to her mech's violet glowing frame.
"Glow stick?" Soundwave looked over his glowing frame, noting his frame's violet bioluminescent grooves, were illuminating the area around them.
"You're adorable. Come on, let's see if we can claim another energon mine." Arcee chuckled, waving for her mech to follow her.
"Is your humour trying to receive a glowing review from me?" Soundwave rolled his optics behind his visor.
"Hilarious, if we're making puns I've got plenty." Arcee retorted to the glowing mech.
"Nope, no, forget I said that." Soundwave quickly back pedalled.
Mirage silently followed his glowing mother through the dark cave. Into a cavern, his sensors on high alert, prepared for any surprises.
An hour of digging and breaking rocks went by. Mirage was still determined to dig though.
"You finding anything sparkling?" Xanthia asked as she chiseled off a piece of rock off the cave wall.
"No..." Mirage shook his helm, replying to his mother in a barely audible voice.
"I haven't found anything yet either. Are you doing alright?" the mother asked, trying to get her sparkling more comfortable.
"Mhmm..." Mirage replied nodding his helm, as he dug into a wall.
Xanthia sighed walking over to her sparkling.
Mirage spun around from the wall, to face the approaching femme.
Xanthia kneeled down to her sparkling's level, her cyan optics, meeting the red sparkling's cyan blue optics. "Look Mirage, I know you don't really remember me, or know me. But I want you to know I'm here for you, just like Soundwave, or Optimus. You can tell me anything, I know you're not comfortable with me, and that's okay. You don't have to talk to me, or pretend to like me. I will love you no matter what."
Mirage blinked his optics, listening to his mother as she spoke to him. His emotions began to boil over, as his spark bond pulsed. After a few seconds of silence, to his mother's surprise Mirage leapt into her arms. Wrapping his arms around her neck, he sobbed, as he could feel the bond inside his spark growing, he could no longer ignore his bond.
"Sparkling it's alright. I didn't mean to make you upset." Xanthia stood back up, holding her crying sparkling against her chestplate. "Shhh it's okay." she bounced calmly, rubbing her sparkling's back.
"I missed you." Mirage choked out through tears, as his little digits grasped the collar of the femme's chestplate.
Xanthia was quite surprised by her sparkling's words, considering Mirage never really knew her, rightfully being nervous and uncomfortable being around her. "I'm here now."
Mirage continued to sob, this was the most emotional experience he had had since being reunited with his brother. His exhausted little frame causing him to relax in his mother's arms.
Xanthia looked down at her sparkling, watching his heavy, cyan blue optics, loose the battle to recharge.
Hearing Mirage's very faint cries, Soundwave halted in his tracks. Looking back in the direction him and Arcee came from.
Pulling her servo out of the cave wall, Arcee turned her attention to her frozen mech. "What's wrong?"
"Mirage is crying." Soundwave replied still staring down the tunnel.
"You think it's trouble?" Arcee asked, approaching her mech with concern.
"I'm not certain, but I feel if it was trouble, my mother would have sounded in distress as well. Or I would've felt it." The glowing mech replied in an unsure tone.
"Maybe Mirage needs a nap, and is just throwing a fit for your mother?" The cobalt blue femme placed a comforting servo on her mech's scarred back. "He is just a sparkling after all." Arcee mentioned, also hearing the extremely faint sobs. After finishing her sentence, she heard the recognizable clicking and contorting come from Soundwave's torso. "You're sending Lazerbeak to check on them aren't you?"
"Yep." Soundwave replied, turning back towards the walls they were investigating.
Hearing a distant chirping sound coming towards them, Xanthia immediately held her sparkling in place with one servo, while the other transformed into a blaster. Aiming cautiously down the tunnel, she waited as the chirping got closer. Suddenly Lazerbeak rounded the corner, playfully dipping around the bioluminescent femme.
Xanthia sighed with relief, retracting her blaster. "All is good Soundwave. Mirage is quite exhausted. I am also not finding anything of interest in here."
"Told you he was tired." Arcee retorted, pulling more rocks out of the wall.
"We aren't having much luck here either, and it's been an hour, why don't we just head back to base?" Arcee said to her mech that was broadcasting the others on his visor.
Soundwave nodded in agreement, leading his femme back towards the two cave entrances. "Lazerbeak return, but make sure my mother understands we're leaving."
Lazerbeak quickly complied swooping at the bioluminescent femme to walk towards the tunnel.
Xanthia ducked continuing to hold her sparkling. "Alright, we're coming." She quickly got the hint and began following the drone down the tunnel.
"Lazerbeak can't speak, how is he going to tell your mother to follow?" Arcee asked in confusion, following her mech.
"Lazerbeak is creative, I'm sure they'll figure it out." Soundwave shrugged as they arrived at the two tunnel entrances.
"Mhmm." The cobalt blue femme snorted, hearing the familiar chirping of the drone. "There they are." Arcee announced as the bioluminescent femme exited the left tunnel.
"Knocked out huh? I suppose he's been running around all day long." Soundwave said seeing the recharging sparkling in their mother's arms.
"Yeah that's a bit much for a sparkling, especially one that doesn't like to recharge in the first place." Arcee retorted walking up to the glowing femme. "Sounded like firey red was pitching a fit for you."
"No actually, he was crying because he missed me." Xanthia corrected her son's sparkmate.
"He said that?" Both Arcee and Soundwave asked in surprise.
"Yeah, it surprised me to." Xanthia admitted with a chuckle, shifting the red sparkling to a more comfortable position.
Arcee furrowed her optic ridges. "Why the sudden change of spark, that's not like Mirage?"
"It may be because he's in a fragile state as a sparkling, so his bond with you might have been easier to connect and refresh." Soundwave thought aloud. "But that doesn't explain why it didn't work with Optimus deca cycles ago." he pondered as Lazerbeak reconnected to his chasis.
"Well he wasn't assigned to Optimus originally when he was found, he was given to Hound. Optimus was too busy in the battlefield, and dealing with his new role as Prime. His bond didn't really spark with Prime until after Hound was offlined, when Optimus stepped up to take on Mirage as his own." Arcee explained hoping to ease her mech's confusion.
"Either way I'm glad he's no longer going to be timid around you. You'll actually get the chance to raise Mirage." Soundwave happily said to his mother.
"Yes, maybe Mirage will be a little more easygoing with his mother in the picture. Perhaps even come out of his shell." Arcee nudged Soundwave's arm with her elbow.
Soundwave rolled his optics behind his visor. He knew the cobalt blue femme was referencing to the conversation they had the other day. "Let's get back to base and see if the twins helped Optimus and Ironhide mine energon." conjuring up a ground bridge, the violet mech gestured for the femme's to go through.
"Primus, we seriously need some kind of warning before a bridge just randomly pops up!" Ironhide visibly jumped as the three entered the base.
"Hide, there's a large green flash and whirring noises as it pops up. How much more of a warning do you need?" Ratchet scoffed as the large black and grey mech placed energon in the storage compartment.
"Oh whatever..." Ironhide grumbled, walking off to retrieve more energon.
"No troubles getting the energon?" Arcee asked the silver twin walking by with energon cubes.
"No trouble at all, it was simple, and quiet. We still have to get the rest of it." Sideswipe replied placing the cubes in storage.
"You didn't get it all in one go?" Arcee continued to question the twin.
"We mined it all, but didn't bring back in one go no. We only had Optimus and Ironhide driving it back and forth." Sunstreaker replied before his twin could.
"Why didn't you just ask Soundwave for a bridge?" The cobalt blue femme quirked an optic ridge.
"We did. But couldn't reach him." Optimus said as he approached the pile of energon.
"We were in a cave system, out of range from communication. I will remember next time to communicate that with you, before we loose signal, my apologies." Soundwave quickly apologized to the Prime for his mistake.
"Thank you, we'd all appreciate it if you did that next time." Optimus Prime nodded in understanding to the young mech. "Do you think you can give us a bridge so we can gain the rest of the energon?"
"Of course sir." Soundwave immediately opened a ground bridge to the energon mine.
"Ironhide, twins, collect the rest of the energon. I will process and put away the energon here." Optimus said to the three hard working mechs. "Jazz can you assist them?" The Prime looked towards the couch, where the grey mech played with the scout.
"Sure thing Prime." Jazz quickly followed the twins as they made their way through the bridge, with Ironhide trudging tiredly in tow.
Bumblebee sighed as once again his playtime was interrupted. He watched as the bioluminescent femme carried a napping Mirage around in her arms. It made him remember that Mirage promised he would help him train. But now that he was a sparkling, Mirage wouldn't have a long enough attention span, or patience for the scout. As the ground bridge began to shut, Bumblebee turned his attention to the violet mech and pondered.
"Thank you Soundwave." Optimus thanked the violet mech after the bridge shut. "Where's Mirage?" Optimus furrowed his optic ridge, noticing the sparkling wasn't terrorizing the base.
"My mother has him." Soundwave gestured to the bioluminescent femme over by Ratchet. Before heading towards the training room with Arcee.
"I'm surprised he's napping in your arms. He was so leery of you earlier." Ratchet mention to the femme as he worked.
"Soundwave believes his sparkbond had a breakthrough. And connected the dots, that I'm his mother." Xanthia replied, gently rubbing her sparkling's back.
"That's excellent, I think that's exactly what Mirage needs right now." Ratchet smiled, happy for the mother and son.
Optimus nodded slowly in agreement, while watching his yellow youngling hastily follow the couple down the hallway.
"Alright you've been masked this entire time, can I at least see you once?" Arcee groaned playfully at her mech.
"Sorry, it's been put to good use today." Soundwave smiled, retracting his visor.
"I know you've been working hard." Arcee sighed with a smile, running her servo from the mech's back to his abdomen. "But now that work is over how about a friendly sparring match?" The femme challenged playfully poking Soundwave in the side.
Soundwave jolted from the sudden jab to his side. "A sparring match huh?" He smirked as the cobalt blue femme walked a few steps away.
"Show me watcha got glowbot!" Arcee taunted waving her opponent to come at her.
"Glowbot?" Soundwave cocked his helm curiously as he approached.
"I don't know, it was the first thing that popped in my processor." Arcee shrugged with a chuckle. Before lunging at the violet mech, who dodged her attack.
Bumblebee peeked into the training room, watching as the couple sparred. Arcee was quite quick and agile. While Soundwave remained calm, blocking attacks, while unexpectedly delivering blows to the femme.
Soundwave had enough of Arcee's quick little jabs and kicks. After she leapt up one more time to strike him, Soundwave swept his one leg across out in front of him as she landed. Swiping the femme off her peds, dropping her to the ground.
Arcee quickly recolected herself, rolling herself onto her back before rocking forcefully forward with her peds.
Soundwave quickly leapt back dodging the femme's kick. He quickly began to throw a few hits with his servos.
Arcee was able to block most, but the hits we're getting stronger, and harder to deflect.
As the violet mech struck with his servos tiring the femme out. It was a mere distraction as one of his tentacles slitered around the femme's frame without touching or being seen.
Arcee cringed as the blows got harder, but to her surprise they stopped suddenly. She took that as her cue to strike, but before she could the sneaky appendage put her in a vice grip.
"Dammit!" Arcee cursed as the grip got tighter and tighter. "Yield, I yield!" she cried out as the grip began to become to much.
Soundwave smirked flipping the femme upside down loosening his grip just a little. Bringing her directly in front of him, to be face to face. "Aw but I was just beginning to have fun."
Arcee squeezed both her arms out of the coil, her frame slipped out of the grip only for a split second, as the mech tightened his grip around her legs, so she would not fall. "Yeah I bet you were, sneaky bastard." Arcee scoffed, grabbing her mech's helm, pulling herself closer to the his face.
"You wanted to spar." Soundwave continued to smirk at his femme.
"Oh shut up." Arcee sighed before kissing the violet mech.
"Yuck!" Bumblebee cringed as he entered the training room.
"Bumblebee?" Soundwave gasped, unknowingly loosening his grip on the femme. Causing her to slip through the coil and drop.
Arcee gasped as she suddenly dropped, preparing to hit the floor.
Soundwave's quick reflexes allowed him to catch the femme in his arms, before she could hit the floor.
"Thanks for not dropping me on my head." Arcee scoffed, quirking an optic ridge at her sheepishly smiling capture.
"I don't just do all the fighting, I liked to save bots when I can." Soundwave sarcastically replied, placing the cobalt blue femme back on the ground.
"Thank you sir, it's greatly appreciated that you can take time off from your fighting, to save a femme like me." Arcee replied with an equally if not more sarcastic response.
Soundwave just rolled his optics, before turning his attention to the youngling. "Is there something we can assist you with?"
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you something." Bumblebee replied to the bioluminescent mech.
"Okay?" Soundwave stood patiently, waiting for the youngling's question.
"Mirage said he would continue to assist me in my training yesterday. But now he's a sparkling." The scout began, making Soundwave's optics narrow. "So I was wondering if you could help me with my training?"
Soundwave was afraid that was what the scout was going to ask. "Bumblebee, Mirage probably was not the best first choice as a trainer. And I'm going to be honest, neither am I."
"I don't think that's true." Bumblebee shook his helm in disagreement.
"Look, Bumblebee, I give you credit for your optimism. But I stand by my answer." Soundwave continued to refuse the youngling's request.
"Please Soundwave?" The youngling pleaded. He wanted to desperately prove that he could be a worthy asset in the battlefield.
Arcee was mixed about the situation. She was present when Mirage tried training Bumblebee back on Cybertron. It wasn't easy, very critical, harsh, and Mirage had little to no regard for the safety of the scout. But in her spark she knew Soundwave had a different, very passive personality. Making him possibly the best trainer for the youngling. "Wave, why don't you just give it a try. Mirage was vigorous and brutal when trying to train Bumblebee. But I feel you'll be different." Arcee grabbed her mech's attention.
"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz, Optimus, even Ironhide would be better then me. Ironhide actually trained soldiers back on Cybertron. Why didn't you ask him?" Soundwave looked past the femme, beginning to speak in a frantic tone at the youngling.
"Soundwave!" Arcee firmly grabbed hold of her mech's arms, giving him a quick shake. Regaining the mixed red and blue optics attention, the femme sighed. "Calm down, you're working yourself up for nothing."
Bumblebee blinked curiously at the couple. As Arcee calmed the mech.
Soundwave took a deep breath before turning his attention to the young scout. "Look, get some training done with Ironhide first. If it's not working out, or you gain some fighting skills from him, then I'll try. I am honestly probably not the best to teach you fighting skills, unless it's with logic."
"What do you mean, I've seen you fight. You're incredible!" Bumblebee tried to give the mech a confidence boost.
Soundwave smiled at the sweet youngling. "That's flattering, thank you. But what I meant was, my style of battling is unique to me, just like Mirage has his own unique set of battle skills. In other words it's not something we can teach, and have someone replicate, unless they have the same training and build."
"Oooh, I understand now." Arcee thought aloud. After her mech explained why Mirage and him could not simply train like a regular training programer. She thought the hybrid brothers were just being paranoid because of their past training, afraid they were going to become the evil scientist that created them. "I get it now, you literally can't train him because you two are physically and tactically different from the rest of us."
Soundwave quirked an optic ridge at the pondering femme. "Uh... yeah..." rolling his optics with a head shake, before turning his gaze back to the young scout. "You need a foundation first. You understand now though, right?"
"Yes, Soundwave I do, thank you." Bumblebee nodded in understanding, before bounding out the room.
"Hey genius, you done reading your thought's aloud?" Soundwave retorted turning around to the thinking femme.
"Very funny. Yes I am." Arcee rolled her optics at the approaching young mech.
"So do you want to continue?" Soundwave asked shrugging with a smile.
"Continue kissing you or the sparring?" Arcee smirked flirtatiously at the slender mech.
"Either works for me..." Soundwave replied with a playful grin.
"Mhmm, I bet. Well I'm going to take a wild guess, and say that after the twins are done mining energon. They'll be in here to pretend like they know how to use a simulator." Arcee replied to Soundwave.
"True enough, I better get back to searching the Earth's orbit for signs of the Decepticons." Soundwave exhaled wrapping an arm around the femme.
"Yeah, I do find it odd that Megatron has been mostly silent since our arrival." Arcee thought aloud, walking with the mech.
"Yes I fear when he goes unheard of for some time. It's never a good sign." Soundwave mentioned, gently guiding Arcee to the exit.
Arcee silently nodded, before changing the subject. "How's it feel having your mother back?"
"I was a bit suspicious when she first arrived. But I like having her here, it gives me a sense of peace knowing Mirage will get the chance to really know her." The violet mech sighed escorting his femme down a hallway.
"Why were you suspicious?" Arcee asked looking up at the red and blue optics.
"I watched her go offline. How it happened... it's just something you can't recover from..." Soundwave shuttered, the gruesome death still haunted him. "But I've seen Shockwave's science projects, hell I've been one of them. And that's enough for me to know anything is possible"
Arcee sighed as they walked down the hallway to the main room. "Well, either way, I am happy you're all together again."
"Soundwave could you send a bridge for the mining team?" Ironhide asked coming over Soundwave's comlink.
"Sure thing Ironhide, it's all set." Soundwave replied ending the call.
"Maybe you should convince Optimus and Ratchet, to build a ground bridge, so you don't have to get interrupted or called upon every time one is needed." Arcee suggested to the violet mech beside her.
"That's a valid idea. But with the primitive technology it may be difficult." Soundwave replied to his femme with a sigh.
"Don't be so negative, I think it can be done." Arcee tried to encourage the young mech.
The violet mech quickly shook his helm, correcting his words. "I said it would be difficult, not impossible. I know it can be done."
Soundwave and Arcee both noticed upon entering the main room, the Prime was attempting to coax his youngling to help Ratchet process energon.
"It's so boring though..." Bumblebee whined in protest.
"Fine come mine, and load the energon then." Ironhide challenged the whiny youngling.
"Okay!" Bumblebee eagerly replied to the weapon specialist.
Optimus and Ironhide both exchanged smiles, knowing the youngling was going to get more work then he bargained for.
"Thanks for the bridge Wave." Sideswipe said as the couple approached.
"So since Bee is going to do our jobs, can we stay now?" Sunstreaker sighed tiredly in annoyance.
"Nope, Bee needs assistance since I am the one being loaded with energon. But Jazz can probably stay behind." Ironhide replied to the twins dismay.
"Ugh great..." Sunstreaker groaned, trudging back through the open bridge with his equally exhausted twin.
"Jazz come on..." Sideswipe groaned gesturing for the grey mech to follow.
"But Hide said I don't need to." Jazz said as the twins turned around to glare at him.
"You like sparkling's and younglings. We're tired if you're there then we won't be grumpy when Bee doesn't do stuff correctly." The twins retorted, their tiredness fueling their irritation.
"Alright fine, chill out." Jazz said, as he followed the twins through the bridge.
"Come on Bumblebee, let's go." Ironhide said, escorting the yellow scout through the bridge.
Soundwave sighed in annoyance, finally shutting the bridge down, after the weapon specialist and scout left. "Primus they took their time..."
"So Ratch, what do you think about constructing a ground bridge at the base?" Arcee mentioned to the old medic.
"Primus, that could take deca cycles to create, especially with the primitive technology I have to work with." Ratchet exhaled looking away from the processing energon.
"Well it takes a lot of energy for Soundwave to create bridges, especially keeping them open. And in the event we loose communication with Soundwave, or if he's captured, it would be a good idea as a backup." Arcee scoffed to the medic.
"I have to agree with Arcee old friend. A built in ground bridge would be wise." Optimus said agreeing with cobalt blue femme.
"I agree as well Optimus, but finding the components will be difficult. I don't think there's a bunch of ground bridge components laying around the base." Ratchet replied to the Prime with a sigh.
"I can ask Agent Fowler for assistance with gaining the needed components, I'm sure he can help." Optimus reassured the old mech.
"Alright Optimus, once that's started I will begin with the bridge." Ratchet replied going back to processing energon.
"Wave!" Mirage quickly made his way over to the couple, greeting his big brother.
"Hey little red." Soundwave promptly plucked the sparkling off the floor. "Did you have a good stasis nap?"
"Yeah!" Mirage squealed wrapping his arms around his brother's neck in a hug.
"You're being exceptionally affectionate, you bump your head?" Soundwave snorted patting his little brother's back.
"What's the matter, can't except a hug from your little brother?" Xanthia teased while approaching her eldest son.
"I can, it's just usually a fight to get him to hug you. The only reason Mirage would offer a hug, is if he's trying to strangle you, or he's feeling sad." Soundwave explained to his mother, who cringed at his explanation.
Mirage smirked quickly hitting a sensitive wire on his brother, that temporarily disabled movement.
Mirage giggled quickly leaping out of his brother's arms. "Classic..." Soundwave groaned rolling his optics, as he collapsed to his knees.
"Soundwave are you alright?" Xanthia gasped rushing to her eldest son's side.
"I'm perfectly fine." Soundwave replied, getting up seconds later.
"This is the norm for them, except it was less violent this time." Arcee chuckled folding her arms, standing next to her mech.
"The norm? Either way, Mirage that was very rude and uncalled for." Xanthia scolded the sparkling that just glared at her in confusion.
"You better watch yourself little red, I'm unleashing your greatest weakness!" Soundwave threatened his little brother, wriggling his digits in a tickling motion.
Mirage smiled sheepishly, backing away as his older brother approached him slowly. "No, I sorry!" Mirage quickly spun around to book it, but was quickly caught by a tentacle.
Soundwave hung the sparkling upside down in front of him. And began the tickle torture, causing the sparkling to squeal with laughter.
"Aw." Xanthia smiled warmly at the playing brothers.
"See they're sweet in their own weird little way." Arcee mentioned to the dark blue femme.
"They're both so full of care and love, but are afraid to show it. Oh speaking of that, has Soundwave spoken to Optimus yet?" Xanthia sighed before turning to the younger femme.
"No, he's been with me the whole time. Why?" Arcee replied quirking an optic ridge at the bioluminescent femme.
"Soundwave hasn't told you yet? He's decided to pursue the opportunities Optimus had offered him." The mother explained to the young cobalt blue femme.
"No he didn't tell me that." Arcee replied with a half hearted smile. It wasn't uncommon for Soundwave to not mention something like that to her. He often said his actions spoke louder than words, getting either of the brothers to speak about something personally happening to them was near impossible. Arcee was brought out of her thoughts as the sparkling's cooling fans clicked on.
"Soundwave give your brother a rest, he's going to overheat." Xanthia called to the young mech giving the tickle torture.
"Yeah, Primus forbid, karma comes back to unlock your sensory wiring, and turn the tickle torture on you." Arcee snorted approaching the mutant brothers.
"Karma bit him, I fixed his sensory wiring." Xanthia smirked, gesturing to the young mech.
A devious grin crept across Arcee's faceplate. "That's good to know, I'll take advantage of that later."
"You'll take advantage of what?" Soundwave asked releasing Mirage from his torture.
"None of your business super spy." Arcee sarcastically replied the bioluminescent mech.
"Okay then..." Soundwave cocked an optic ridge at his femme.
"Optimus!" Arcee called waving the Prime over to them.
As Optimus approached them, Mirage cut him off. "Up?" Mirage reached his arms up at his father.
Optimus smiled picking up his suddenly affectionate sparkling, before continuing towards the three adults.
Mirage happily snuggled himself against his father's chestplate, receiving warmth from his spark.
The tall red and blue mech stopped next to the mother, facing in front of the couple. "Yes Arcee?"
"Oh, Soundwave would like a word with you if you have time." Arcee said to the leader, seeming to remind the communications chief about the conversation he had with his mother.
"I have time, what is on your mind young mech?" Optimus could practically feel the nervous energy coming off the bioluminescent mech when he asked the question. Soundwave's mixed coloured optics darting around in a panic. "Perhaps it would be easier for you to speak elsewhere?" Optimus suggested to the nervous mech.
"Sure!" Soundwave replied immediately walking down the hallway towards the lift.
"I'll be back little one." Optimus said handing his sparkling to the mother.
"Train?" Mirage said looking up at his mother.
"Primus is that all you want to do?" Xanthia sighed holding Mirage out in front of her.
"Almost constantly." Both Ratchet and Arcee replied to the femme.
Once the lift had reached the surface, Optimus walked over to the edge of the cliff. Joining the young mech veiwing the sunset. "Something on your mind young mech?"
"Yes..." The young mech sighed in reply. "I... I'm going to take you up on your offer."
"And what offer would that be?" The Prime respectfully waited for Soundwave to reply.
"I want to be second in command, I'd like to be your apprentice if you will." Soundwave nervously said to his Uncle.
Optimus Prime was silent for a few moments, increasing the tension and nerves of the young mech. "I am honoured Soundwave. I know you won't disappoint, I am confident you will master the role quite easily."
Soundwave gave a sigh of relief, his nervousness ebbing away. "Do you think the others will be mad?"
"I don't understand?" Optimus was confused by the young mech's question.
"You don't think Sunstreaker or Bumblebee will get upset?" Soundwave hoped putting names into his sentence would clarify what he was trying to say.
"Sunstreaker will adapt, he may rebel to a point, but I do not believe he will do anything harmful." The Prime replied, watching the sun slowly disappear on the horizon.
Soundwave nodded in agreement, his slender digit tapping his leg nervously. "Why did you choose me as a Prime prospect?"
Optimus turned his helm to the left, looking at the valley below. Having a Prime apprentice was something new to him. Prime found himself unprepared for the many questions the young mech had.
Soundwave nervously looked around, as he explained how he knew his Uncle had chosen him. "I heard you talking about it with Ratchet and Ironhide, when we first arrived here. I apologize, I was not eavesdropping I was coming back into the main room, I just have very sensitive audio receptors..."
Optimus chuckled staring back at the sunset. "There is no need to explain yourself, I knew you had heard me. You are the..."
"Eyes and ears of everything, I know..." Soundwave groaned rolling his optics.
"Yes, but I see you as much more then just a super soldier, or a mutant spy." Optimus replied looking over his shoulder at the mech.
"I'm flattered, really. But why me, why not Bumblebee, or Arcee even? I already know Mirage does not wish to have such a position." Soundwave asked his Uncle once more.
"Arcee is noble, but I feel she's more suited as a second in command. Bumblebee has yet to grow, I'm not saying that a Prime apprenticeship isn't in his future. I know if I offered Bumblebee the apprenticeship now, he would jump at the chance without hesitation. The many Prime's before me had fallen due to their arrogance and power. Bumblebee has not learned the value of earning respect and loyalty, or to give back devotion to those in need and who follow him. Bumblebee's spark is pure, but he is desperate to impress, I fear he's a little too desperate. A position like this would go straight to his head, getting his mind into trouble." Optimus gave a decent explanation of why Bumblebee was not ready for such an opportunity.
"I understand and respect that sir, but you did not mention Mirage." The violet mech pointed out to the Prime.
"Although Mirage is a sparkling now, that being the only reason for not taking him as a prospect now. I do not believe I ever got to speak about a Prime apprenticeship with him back on Cybertron, but I wish I had." Optimus replied turning back to the sunset.
Soundwave shrugged his shoulders, staring at the sunset. "I spoke to Mirage about it back on Cybertron. And he said he would flat out refuse the position."
"He might change his mind in the future. But I still believe that Mirage is another perfect prospect. He's selfless, and willing to sacrifice for others, no matter the cost. Over the cycles he's learned extremely hard lessons, but gained respect, even though he didn't see it. Much like you." As the sun disappeared making the sky dark, Optimus turned to the brightly glowing violet mech. "I was your age when I was working as a record clerk with Alpha Trion as my mentor. He taught me about the history of the Primes, and was the one who requested I become a Prime. And like him, I see the spark of a Prime inside of both you, and your brother."
"You truly believe that?" Soundwave knew the Prime was being honest, but wanted to confirm.
"I am not the only one who does. Why do you think Shockwave was so desperate to capture you and your brother. You were unique even before his enhancements. Megatron knew that, that's why he feared and despises you. He knew you are something he would never be." Optimus said, gently escorting the young mech to the small cave like hanger.
"So how do I continue your legacy?" Soundwave asked throwing his servos up.
"That is up to you to decide young mech. But do the research, study the Thirteen, how Cybertron came to be."
"I have studied the history of the Primes and Cybertron, studied a bit on the Covenant Of Primus. But I did that for fun a long time ago. I would have to refresh my memory banks, and recall my studies to mind." Soundwave replied, to his Uncle's surprise.
Optimus nodded with a hum. "I wondered if you had, I will be giving you lessons along the way. They might help jog your memory."
"Of course sir, I look forward to them." Soundwave gave a small smile at his Uncle.
"For now, I just want you to understand the second in command position. Show me your leadership skills, if you can gain everyone's respect peacefully you'll be well on your way to perfecting the position. Just remember..." Optimus told the violet young mech.
"Everyone respects you in their own unique way, even if it's not visibly present, always keep your mind open, but your priorities straight." Soundwave finished the Prime's sentence.
Optimus was not expecting to hear that come from the young mech. But he was glad Soundwave understood. "Good, now besides your rank, the only thing that will changed at the moment is your patrol schedule. I will be assigning you to patrol with myself, and more solo patrols. Arcee, and Mirage will have to pick new partners."
Soundwave nodded in understanding. "Arcee has already done quite a few patrols with Jazz, so that will probably continue. Mirage will probably insist on going solo, even though he gets himself into more trouble then what's good for him. But he may agree to being paired with our mother." the young mech thought aloud. "So what are my duties?"
"I will explain them tomorrow on our patrol. Most of the duties you already do, and the rest of them will come naturally." Optimus replied, escorting the glowing mech onto the lift.
"Do you really believe that most things will come naturally to me?" The young mech asked out of curiosity.
"I do, I have seen it already." Prime replied as the lift arrived back in the base.
"Well come on then kid, chop chop!" Ironhide barked as Bumblebee tiredly moved raw energon to the processing pile. "And after you're done moving that energon you can move the processed energon cubes to the energon storage."
The twins snickered at the youngling in between sipping energon, as they stood by the energon cube pile, finally getting a well deserved break after a long day of mining and patrol.
Bumblebee was relieved to see his father, and Soundwave enter the main room. "Dad, can I go recharge, please!?" he begged as the large red and blue mech approached.
Optimus chuckled seeing his youngling beginning to understand the hard work put into mining their fuel. "Can Ironhide spare you?" Optimus asked, he was teasing his son, but the reaction he received from the exhausted youngling was priceless.
"Oh I think so. See kid it's not as fun as you thought." Ironhide scoffed continuing to move energon.
"Yes Bumblebee." Optimus nodded, Bumblebee eagerly ran to his room to hide from anymore work.
Mirage on the other hand was on the ground, happily pushing energon cubes towards the storage.
"You're pretty strong little one." Xanthia chuckled at her youngest son.
"You two have had enough of a break, the sparkling does not need to do your damn job!" Ironhide grumbled making the twins get back to moving energon.
"I doing fine..." Mirage scoffed continuing to move the energon.
"As much as I believe hard work is good for the twins, I disagree on pushing them to exhaustion." Ratchet quickly stepped in between the twins and the weapon specialist. "Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, please go relax. You've done excellent work today." The old medic kindly thanked his adopted sons, dismissing them from anymore labour.
"Thanks Ratch." Both the twins sighed with relief, quickly scurrying off down the hallway.
Ironhide shook his helm with an optic roll. "Pah, you're to easy on them. Hard work never hurt anyone."
Ratchet groaned shaking his helm at the weapon specialist. "Hide, I'm a medic, I have seen countless cases of hard work harming bots. But by all means if you want to run yourself into the scrapyard, moving all this energon. Be my guest, but I am not scraping you off the floor." he scoffed at the black and silver mech.
"You know what..." Ironhide raised his servo pointing a digit at his oldest friend.
"Before we start any unnecessary riots. This is a team effort Ironhide, there's plenty of us that can help while you guys rest." Soundwave placed his own servo on the gruff mech's pointed one.
"The energon also isn't going anywhere, and since bots are trying to rest we don't need to be shuffling around clunking cubes. It can wait until tomorrow." Ratchet added to Soundwave's point.
"Is that what the doctor ordered?" Arcee asked in sincere sarcasm.
"Yes ma'am." Ratchet grinned at the femme.
"Ratchet's medical opinion supersedes my authority over this situation. Ironhide it can wait until the morning." Optimus said to the now annoyed large mech.
"Whatever, I'm going to recharge..." Ironhide grumbled all the way to his and Ratchet's room.
"So who has night patrol?" Arcee asked turning to the red and blue mech.
"We've been active all day, unless an emergency or something strange pops up. I believe we should all get some rest." Optimus replied to the young femme's question. Before making his way towards the hallway.
"Is Mirage bunking with you two, or Optimus?" Xanthia asked as the sparkling joined the small group.
Arcee gave a small chuckle, looking down at the small red sparkling. "Usually he stay's with Bee, but he never settles in one place. That's if he decides to recharge." she shrugged at the bioluminescent femme.
"You're not going to stay up all night are you?" Xanthia asked her sparkling, placing her servos in her hips.
"Yeah...no..." Mirage sheepishly grinned as his mother cocked an optic ridge at him as he tried to answer.
"Uhuh, good luck with that." Ratchet scoffed as he passed the bioluminescent femme to get to his room.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Xanthia asked narrowing her optics at the medic.
"Oh no, I'm recharging before Mirage and Ironhide keep me up all night. Soundwave can explain. Just remember your children are no ordinary Cybertronians." The old medic put his servos up, quickly disappearing into his shared room.
Soundwave groaned in annoyance as the old medic slunk away.
"Mirage and Soundwave do not recharge, they can go deca cycles without recharge. But they're starting to learn that, that, mechanism is an emergency protocol in their systems. And that they do require recharge, and leave staying awake for emergency situations." Arcee quickly stepped in, explaining to the other femme in the room.
"Trying at least..." Soundwave sheepishly added to his sparkmate's explanation. "It's not as easy as it sounds."
Arcee gave a small warm smile at her mech, clasping a gentle servo onto his slender one. She knew physically it was difficult for the brothers, but also mentally as well.
"Well you're trying at least, and you're very lucky to have such a supportive sparkmate." Xanthia mentioned, making the couple sheepishly grin at each other.
Mirage sighed, bored with the adults conversation. He really wanted to do something other than recharging. "Wave?"
"Hmm, yes Mirage?" Soundwave diverted his attention from the conversing femme's, to his little bored brother.
"Can go train, or patrol?" Mirage asked his big brother who was not at all surprised by his request.
"Optimus said we don't need to do patrol tonight. As for the training, I am not sure the other bots in the base that are trying to recharge, would be very happy to hear us brawling in the training room." The bioluminescent mech said to the bored sparkling.
"I bored..." Mirage complained plunking his aft on the floor.
"Well you could recharge." Soundwave suggested to the annoyed sparkling.
"Nooo..." Mirage groaned rolling his optics.
"Spend time with our mother then, stay with her tonight. It's something different that you haven't really done. That's not boring." Soundwave sighed putting his servos on his hips.
"But she make me recharge." Mirage complained, worried he would be forced to recharge.
"No she won't." The bioluminescent mech rolled his optics with a sigh. "Mother, Mirage would like to stay with you tonight." Soundwave announced to his little brother's horror.
"Really? Well of course you can sweetie." Xanthia happily said to her frantic sparkling.
"Yeah, he'd love to get some more bonding time with you. Go... go... go!" Soundwave quickly escorted Arcee towards their quarters, before Mirage could do anything about the arrangements.
"I'd like for us to have some more time together to." Xanthia called after the escaping couple.
"Of course Mother, tomorrow we can. Now be good Mirage, goodnight!" The bioluminescent mech shut the door behind him with a sigh of relief.
"What was that all about?" Arcee asked, watching her mech finally relax.
"My mother loves to talk just about as much as the twins do." Soundwave chuckled walking away from the closed door.
"Well she's got a lot of years to catch up on, of course she's chatty." Arcee replied to her mech with a smirk, as she sat on the berth.
"True enough." Soundwave shrugged sitting himself at the small desk in the room.
"I thought we were going to bed?" The cobalt blue femme yawned stretching her arms and back.
"Sure, after I finish my reports." The violet mech replied, grabbing some data pads.
Arcee sighed. "Oh yeah, I should probably do that at some point. You wanna do mine?" she asked the mech jokingly of course.
"I can certainly do your reports, but only from our mining patrol today, as I was not present for your other duties today." Soundwave replied to Arcee's annoyance.
"I was just joking Wave, you don't need to do my reports for me. I am perfectly capable of getting off my lazy aft, and doing it myself." Arcee scoffed walking over to her occupied mech.
"I didn't imply that you couldn't, I was just doing as you asked..." Soundwave's sentence was cut short as his partner turned his helm towards her with her gentle servos.
"You don't have to jump, just because someone says jump." Arcee sighed, staring into the mech's innocent blue and red optics.
"I know..." Soundwave sighed trying to look at his data pad.
Arcee sighed releasing the mech's helm, before sitting herself on the edge of the desk. "You talked to Optimus for quite awhile." The femme mentioned, grabbing a data pad to begin a report.
"Yes, I suppose we got immersed in conversation." Soundwave shrugged, he was testing wether or not the femme already knew about his new status.
"So then you decided to take the apprenticeship?" Arcee said trying to hide her proud tone.
The bioluminescent mech bowed his helm with a sigh. "Yes, and I am sorry for the upcoming changes." Placing his finished report off to the side.
"Well I expect there to be some changes, of course. But why apologize?" The femme snorted cocking an optic ridge at her partner.
"Well I will likely not be doing many patrols with you or Mirage. Optimus wants me to start patrols with him." Soundwave visibly jumped as his femme chuckled.
Placing her finished report on top of Soundwave's, Arcee chuckled to herself. "Why would I be upset about that? I have already been assigned with Jazz mostly, and it's not like you're forbidden from patrolling with me. It's important for you to get that one on one time with Prime." Arcee pulled the mech out of the seat, bringing him to the berth.
Soundwave sat on the berth, while the femme stood in front of him. "Thank you for understanding." The bioluminescent mech thanked his femme that rolled her optics with a smirk.
"You're too cute." Arcee rolled her optics at her sweet, innocent, mech. Lightly running a digit along the side of her mech's torso.
Soundwave jolted away from the digit, his sensors giving a satisfying reaction to the femme, causing her to continue to experiment with the ticklish sensation.
Soundwave again jolted, but this time he emitted an audible giggle. Making the femme smirk playfully, gently pushing his shoulders down.Causing Soundwave to lay down on his back, while his frame withered as the mild tickling continued. "Ar... Ar... Cee..." the mech tried to call out through his giggles that he attempted to withhold.
"Oh, what, you can dish it out, but can't take it?" Arcee challenged her giggling mech. Stopping the tickling as she was satisfied with the young mech's response.
"Very funny, can we recharge now?" Soundwave groaned rolling his optics at the devious femme.
"Since when do you want to hurry into recharge?" Arcee scoffed laying next to her mech.
"First of all I don't want you to unleash a full scale tickle attack. Second of all I... well I don't have an answer for that one, but still!" Soundwave replied to his femme, making her laugh at him.
"Alright I'll quit it, you know it's intoxicating though right?" Arcee sighed in agreement.
"Of course I do, why do you think I torture Mirage with it." Soundwave chuckled smiling at his femme.
"So you do enjoy happiness and joy." Arcee teased the mech laying next to her.
"Of course I do, I'm not sparkless. I am just not the type to show much emotion." Soundwave scoffed feeling kind of offended, most bots around him thought he was emotionless. It was frustrating at times, although he was trained very well to hide his emotions. But now a days he had trouble holding back his emotions.
"I'm just teasing you Soundwave, I know you're not emotionless. You just hide your feelings to well. But that's also a good trait for a Prime to have, keeping calm in most situations." Arcee replied wrapping her arms around the bioluminescent mech.
Soundwave sighed, he was both excited, and nervous to be the bot next in line to become a Prime. But in the back of his mind thoughts of his evil father swarmed his mind. He desperately needed to figure out what Megatron was planning and what his next move was. He had been moderately active, sending out his patrols as a distraction to keep the Autobots busy, while hiding his true intentions.
"I didn't imagine a sparkling could stay awake, after running around all day." Xanthia sighed as Mirage refused to recharge.
"Do have to recharge?" Mirage groaned flopping himself onto his mother's lap.
"It's good for you, did you want some energon, before you recharge?" Xanthia replied with a chuckle, sitting her sparkling upright on her lap.
"No thanks." Mirage shook his helm in reply, as he traced the glowing red grooves on his mother.
Xanthia sighed, staring at the bedroom door. "You're so much different then your brother was."
"What mean?" Mirage asked continuing to play with the glowing grooves.
"I don't mean it in a bad way sweetie, I've always known you were different. But Shockwave... well you're a unique little sparkling. I've just got except the fact that you don't need all the care that a regular sparkling would usually need. I'm sorry if I come across as annoying to you." Xanthia replied in the nicest way possible. She was excited to be able to finally raise her second sparkling. But unlike her first born, her second child was already independent and ready for battle.
"Not noying, we both learn each other." Mirage replied faking being sleepy.
"That's right, now how about some rest?" Xanthia replied laying herself down on the berth with her sparkling on her chest.
"Sure..." Mirage reluctantly agreed, laying himself down on his mother's chest.
The mother smiled warmly at her sparkling, before closing her optics, drifting off into slumber.
A few hours went by, Mirage made sure his mother was in a deep recharge, before sneaking off the berth and out of the room.
"Wave!" Mirage whispered peeking half of his frame into the couple's room.
Soundwave was recharging lightly this night, barely noticing his little brother's calls. "M...Mirage?" he slowly sat up careful not to wake the cobalt blue femme beside him.
"Come'on!" Mirage whispered waving his brother over to him.
Soundwave exhaled with a groan, shimmying out of his comfortable berth, following the sparkling to the dark, empty, main room. "What do you want Mirage, we should be recharging..." the young mech tiredly trudged up to the sparkling.
"Look." Mirage pointed to the one lit up monitor.
"Okay so there's a signal... so what..." Soundwave tiredly yawned.
"It Megtron, dumb dumb!" Mirage yelled at his brother in a whisper.
"What?!" Soundwave finally completely woke himself up. Reading the monitor, Mirage was correct, the warlord seemed to be inspecting the mine Mirage had secured. "It's Meg-a-tron, by the way. And he's not going to accomplish much there, except punishing the ones that lost all that energon to us." The young mech scoffed to his baby brother.
"We spy." Mirage rolled his optics at his older brother.
"Uh no, no we don't." Soundwave chuckled sarcastically, turning the monitor off, causing the room to go dark.
"You been looking for answer, this it!" Mirage argued getting annoyed with the glowing mech. "Opt said if anything strange..."
Soundwave sighed, their optics, and his frame the only thing illuminating in the dark. "It's not our decision to make, we're not rogues. We follow our leader's orders, and go when he says." Soundwave replied staring towards the hallway.
Mirage shook his helm with an optic roll. Cloaking himself he quietly made his escape out of the base.
"Plus it's not like we can just interrogate Megatron. He's not going to just happily hand over his plans..." The young mech scoffed turning back to the spot his little brother used to be. "Scrap!" Soundwave quickly bridged himself nerby the mine's coordinates.
Soundwave immediately materialized his visor, switching his vision, to seek out his cloaked brother. It didn't take long for him to find the sparkling nearing the cave entrance.
"Took long enough." Mirage scoffed not even looking over his shoulder to see his big brother behind him.
"You know how much trouble we're going to be in?" Soundwave hissed in a whisper to his defiant little brother.
"Opt said, if there a chance, take it." Mirage whispered back to his brother as they snuck closer to the mine.
"He said that a long time ago, things change." The violet mech chose to argue with the stubborn sparkling.
"We just spying, no go after." Mirage shushed his brother, as they entered the unguarded mine.
Soundwave knew this would end badly. He was an excellent spy, but his frame was not good for stealth missions where you should be unseen. Especially in a dark place, his glowing grooves gave him away. "Mirage, I can't go in there..."
Mirage sighed, he knew his big brother would be antsy. "Wave, you got tech to listen. Keep back, and listen." the sparkling told his big brother, before taking off further into the cave.
Okay... I can do this...* Soundwave thought to himself, walking to an opening just above where the Decepticons stood. The violet mech wasted no time boosting all of his sensors.
"You were frightened off by a sparkling, and a defective traitor!" Megatron's roar echoed through the cave. "Now Optimus has got my energon. The Autobots now have means to continue functioning!"
Megatron's voice, sent shivers through Soundwave's frame. Then a thought crossed his mind, Optimus would surely revoke his apprenticeship, and new rank, for doing this mission without permission.
"Lord Megatron, it wasn't a great loss. It's a small mine, nothing was really worth putting the effort into." Breakdown tried to excuse their abandonment.
"My Liege we cannot possibly control all the energon on this planet. It's impossible." Knockout dared to give his opinion to the already fuming warlord.
Mirage watched from behind a bolder, just behind the cons. Starscream snickered, knowing Knockout's excuse was not something Megatron cared about.
"I don't care! I want it all under my control, if it means slowly draining Autobot energon reserves until they are offline! It is always worth the effort!" Megatron screamed, making Knockout and Breakdown both cower.
Megatron narrowed his optics, leaving the two cowering mechs, as if something had caught his attention.
"How do you fools expect us to fuel the spacebridge we're constructing?" Starscream hissed taking over the questioning.
Spacebridge, got info.* Mirage said to his older brother, through their bond.
"I'd say we should take your energon, but both of you combined are barely enough to keep your own processors functional, clearly." The seeker scoffed looking at his master out of the corner of his optic.
Soundwave watched as Megatron scanned the cavern suspiciously. *Let's leave before we get caught.* Soundwave replied as Megatron locked his optics in his direction. The young mech quickly drew his frame back behind the rock pillar hiding behind it. Hoping his evil father did not catch sight of him.
"Let's go!" Mirage whispered scaring the hell out of his brother.
Soundwave jumped at the suddenly appearing sparkling, kicking some loose rocks down below into the cavern.
Megatron smirked venomously his optics were not playing tricks on him after all.
"My Liege, what is it?" Starscream asked as the warlord walked with a purpose, to the upper level of the cavern.
Megatron rounded the piller with his sword drawn, seeing nothing. He growled in frustration, a small burst of a green hue down the mine tunnel, catching his attention. "I WILL KILL YOU BOTH, I SWEAR IT!" He rushed down the cave, seeing the mutant brother's escaping towards a groundbridge.
Megatron's screamed threat rang through both brothers as they quickly ran for it, as Megatron began firing at them.
Megatron growled in frustration, transforming to gain a speed advantage. Once he was mere inches away from the violet mech, Megatron transformed, tackling his son violently to the ground.
"Wave!" Mirage called, halting his escape so he could aid his brother.
Soundwave's frame immediately went into defensive mode. Megatron dug his claws into the young mech's side. Loosing his grip as they tumbled on the ground, his massive claws raked from the violet mech's side to his back.
Doing his best to keep in his cries of pain, while they tumbled across the ground, Soundwave found the right timing to kick the warlord back into the cave wall.
Megatron hissed picking himself up, as Soundwave did the same. Megatron didn't waste time charging his son and the sparkling.
Mirage quickly began firing his dart rifle at his evil uncle. "Come'on Wave!" He cried for his brother as Megatron closed in on them.
Soundwave scrambled to his peds, rushing towards their bridge, while Mirage continued to fire.
Mirage began backing towards the bridge when Soundwave was close enough to him. Continuing to fire at the warlord, Mirage decided to stop giving warning shots. Aiming directly at one of the warlord's optics, as they both got into the bridge.
Megatron screamed in agony as his left optic was shot out. "DAMN YOU BOTH!!!"
Shutting the bridge as soon as their peds hit the main room floor. Soundwave's spark was beating like it was ready to jump out of his spark chamber.
"We got something." Mirage proudly said, seemingly not as unnerved as his big brother, after the attack from Megatron.
"Yes we did, go recharge!" Soundwave hissed in pain, pointing down the hallway.
"Why you mad?" The red sparkling asked, confused as to why his brother wasn't happy with the fact they gathered some very valuable information.
Optimus Prime woke, hearing distant voices coming from down the hallway. Leaving his quarters, Optimus quickly recognized both voices, pairing them with a sense of dread filled angst deep in his spark. He could only imagine why the mutant brother's were awake.
Soundwave was visibly quivering, his optics darting nervously around the room. Mirage could feel his brother's stress and fear through their bond, but he wasn't sure if it was because of his brother's injuries or the fact that Megatron attacked them. "You okay?" he asked in a more concerned tone.
Before he could reply, Soundwave's optics locked onto the approaching leader. He quickly grabbed his bleeding side only, as he knew if he tried to grab his back, he wouldn't be able to hide it from his Uncle.
"What are you two doing awake at this hour?" The leader's baritone voice had a slight tinge of grogginess from just waking.
Mirage could see his brother was mixed about their encounter with Megatron. Seeing Soundwave shutting down inside. "I... found Megtron, so I checked it out cause know we need info."
"Mirage!" Optimus scolded, unimpressed with his sparkling.
"Should've told you first, but had go. Not want to miss chance." Mirage replied apologetically. "Wave tried stop me. But I go anyway, so it my fault." He decided to take all the blame as he knew his brother's Prime apprenticeship, his mother spoke about, would be compromised by this stupid move.
Optimus narrowed his optics, turning to the quiet violet young mech. "Mirage get back into bed." he commanded as he approached the young mech.
Mirage quickly obeyed, running down the hallway into his mother's room.
Optimus could feel Soundwave's angst. "Move your servo."
Soundwave slowly obeyed his leader's command, removing his servo to reveal his wound.
"Soundwave would you like me to wake Ratchet?" Optimus sighed, turning the mech to reveal the slash going all the way around to his back.
Soundwave shook his helm no, as the bleeding had stopped and there was nothing else the medic could really do.
"What happened?" Optimus took the young mech to the couch and sat him down. He was not cross with the young mech, Optimus understood that when Mirage was dead set on doing something, there was really no stopping the sparkling. That was something he even struggled to control.
"It was a quick, simple, mission. It honestly would have been incident free if I had stayed here, and let Mirage go solo." Soundwave hesitantly replied to the Prime.
"I'm not going to punish you Soundwave, please explain." Optimus was curious to what happened.
"We gathered the needed information, but I gave away our position, Megatron attacked, but we escaped. Mirage was not hurt, but he definitely hurt Megatron." Soundwave replied wincing as his wounds gave him a flare of pain.
"No mission is perfect Soundwave." Optimus cupped a reassuring servo on the mech's shoulder. "What information did you gather?"
"Megatron is building a spacebridge, we do not have the location." Soundwave replied, getting up from the couch.
"Are you going to be alright for patrol tomorrow?" Optimus asked as the young mech walked towards the hallway.
Soundwave halted for a moment, before replying to his Uncle. "Yes sir, of course."
Optimus nodded, going to his own quarters shortly after the young mech retreated down the hallway. He wouldn't press into the subject of Megatron with the bioluminescent mech, until tomorrow.
Soundwave quietly spun himself towards his quarters door, shutting it as silent as possible. Not noticing the cross armed, unimpressed femme.
"Where the frag were you? And what the hell happened to your back!?"
Soundwave dropped his helm against the door in defeat, he was busted, there was no escaping the cobalt blue femme. "I went on a quick espionage mission. But it was more like chasing after Mirage, we're both fine, Mirage is in bed now, and I am doing the same." Soundwave sighed walking past the femme to their berth.
"Are you trying to become a mural of scars? You should have those looked at." Arcee said following the mech. "They really look quite sore." she continued, reaching a servo out to examine the fresh wounds.
"I'm fine, they will heal. I just want to recharge." The violet mech spun around to face the femme.
"...Fine go ahead." Arcee challenged the mech to climb into the berth.
Soundwave shrugged, slowly getting into the berth, he sat up, waiting for the femme to join him. Acree climbed in, laying next to her mech, waiting for him to do the same.
Soundwave hissed in pain as he tried to lay down, turning onto his uninjured side to rest semi comfortable, facing the wall and away from his femme.
Arcee shook her helm with a sigh, scanning the mech's slash marks with her optics. "You sure you don't want something at least for the pain?"
"I'm going to run maintenance scans on the monitors..." Soundwave exhaled as he got out of the berth, hastily exiting the room.
