Hello everyone!
Can you believe that we are 30 chapters deep?

Here is another chapter update for y'all. There are no warnings for this one. These characters are not mine, I am just playing around with them. Enjoy!

Soundwave woke that morning to find himself embedded comfortably in Blaster's arms. Unlike the last few times he woke in such a state, he didn't immediately struggle free. The telepath tipped his helm back to look up at Blaster. It was difficult to move very much without jostling the orange arms that weighted down his dorsa.

Soundwave shifted his frame minutely to better understand his position relative to Blaster. He was curled up into the orange mech's chestplates. Blaster was still recharging comfortable in his dorsa, a look of sleepy contentment on his faceplates. Familiar orange arms rested on Soundwave's dorsa in a heavy yet comfortable presence. All in all, it felt secure.

Soundwave turned his helm back down to tuck it against Blaster's chestplates. He watched as his exhale left a fog on Blaster's cassette docks glass. He could hear the slow pulse of Blaster's spark from this position, it was soothing enough to almost tempt him back into recharge.

For a moment, the telepath wondered if it would be more appropriate to wiggle free of Blaster's sleeping grasp. However, this uncertainly was dashed aside when Blaster's servo began to slowly rub circles on Soundwave's dorsa again. The telepath's amber optics flickered up to look at Blaster's face. The boombox's optics were just starting to online, although they were still heavy and dim with lethargy. Suddenly, those blue optics flicked down to meet Soundwave's brighter ones. The telepath sucked in a quick breath and looked away again. Distantly, he could feel a soft rumble in the chestplates under his audio.

Uncertainty returned to Soundwave as he wondered if Blaster would want him to get off, now that they were both awake. It was strange, being this close to someone new. Whenever he shared a berth with his cassettes, it felt like second nature. He could tell by a glance when they would want space or not. With Blaster, it felt like he was swimming in much deeper waters.

"'Morning" Blaster's hazy mumble pulled Soundwave from his thoughts.

"Good morning" Soundwave replied in a hushed voice. He glanced back up at Blaster and was met with a re-assuring smile. Blaster seemed so comfortable and certain in this situation. It filled Soundwave with a sense of awe for a moment. For Blaster, at least, this situation was almost like second nature.

Re-assured by Blaster's security, Soundwave let his frame go lax again. Clearly, Blaster wasn't rushing him to get up and moving. So why hurry out of such a comfortable state? The servo rubbing along his dorsa was so soothing. Blaster's frame provided just the right amount of warmth. Once Soundwave stopped overthinking it, he found it to be a most pleasing situation.

Blaster's chestplates rose and fell under Soundwave's helm. The orange mech's spark provided a steady thrum to listen to. All of these things combined helped Soundwave completely melt back into relaxation. It wasn't long before Soundwave could feel his own optics getting heavy again.

Soft pleasant chills ran up along the back of Soundwave's neck as Blaster's servo kneaded at a sore spot on his shoulders. He failed to hold in the pleased sigh and could almost hear Blaster smiling. Yes, this was not a bad way to wake up.

Blaster silently watched Soundwave's optics lull off and on again. He grinned to himself and let his servo drift up to rub gently along the back of Soundwave's crested helm. The telepath's lips curved into a hazy smile and his servo curled up the slightest bit above Blaster's chestplates. His optics finally flickered offline with a satisfied sigh.

Primus, Soundwave was so easy to please. It boggled Blaster's mind how easy it was to pull these reactions from Soundwave. The blue mech seemed uncertain of what to do when being treated with such tenderness. Not only was it exciting to provide such novelties to the telepath, but it filled Blaster with a sense of almost disappointment. The fact that no one had ever treated Soundwave with such kindness irked at Blaster's processor. Soundwave deserved more than he had received in the past. With some satisfaction, Blaster accepted that he would have to make up for all the things Soundwave had been missing. He didn't mind… not one bit.

Just in time to disrupt their relaxed state, the alarm clock next to their berth started to chime. Soundwave jerked out of Blaster's arms, the orange boombox made a quick move to shut off the grating sounds. He glanced back at his boyfriend and chuckled. Soundwave was just disorientated enough to suggest he had almost fallen back asleep a moment ago.

"Sorry" Blaster murmured, he let his servo cup Soundwave's faceplates, then stroke back towards his audio.

Soundwave let out a huff and smiled down at Blaster, "do not be sorry. It is about time we got up either way".

Blaster sighed and begrudgingly agreed… they would have to continue this another time. He quietly watched as Soundwave sat up on the edge of the berth and stretched. His optics lingered for a moment on the stretch of Soundwave's dorsa. Ignoring the strong desire to flop back on the berth, Blaster pried himself up and followed suit.

The two boomboxes were greeted by a hoard of cassettes upon their entrance into the living room. The cassettes had clearly already been up for some time. They had succeeded in passing out morning rations to each other. The living room was an explosion of pillows and blankets, obvious remains of the fort that had been constructed the night before. Clearly, at some point in the night, their roughhousing had gotten wild enough to demolish their work. Too tired to re-build their empire, the cassettes had been content enough to huddle together on the piled blankets for recharge.

Blaster laughed at the mayhem and dropped to the floor to greet Ramhorn and Steeljaw, who seemed pleased to butt his helm with theirs and return to their breakfasts. Soundwave raised an arm for the condor twins to perch upon. With his other servo, he scratched the tops of their beaks, where they liked it. Ratbat made himself known by clinging to Soundwave's other shoulder. The telepath wiggled a gentle finger under the youngest cassette's chin and smiled at the resulting giggles. The rest of the cassettes shouted their various greetings but were too tired to move away from their morning rations to physically greet their creators. Sleepovers were tiring work.

Luckily, there was plenty of time to recuperate for the day. Soundwave watched as his flying cassettes returned to their energon cubes. There were no morning duties or shifts for anyone in their family this morning. Blaster and Soundwave didn't have shifts until the afternoon. Of course, the cassettes didn't have any chores or training until their creators were on shift. Prime always tried to schedule things so that the family could have time off together. It was one of those little things that Soundwave appreciated greatly. He had never received such consideration from the Decepticon cause before. More accurately, he didn't get much time off as a Decepticon at all. Being Megatron's right-servo mech was a heavy role to carry. He didn't typically get time off unless he was recharging… or in the medical bay in critical condition. Not for the first time, Soundwave found himself mentally thanking Primus that he had left when he did.

Blaster handed a cube of energon to Soundwave with a friendly smile. The telepath followed him to the table and gave an amused laugh as Blaster pulled out a seat for him. He accepted the seat and beckoned for Blaster to sit next to him.

"You are so considerate" Soundwave smiled before taking a sip.

Blaster grinned and inched his chair closer so he could drape his arm over Soundwave's shoulder. "Only the best for you, my mech" he said.

Soundwave snorted, but he gently nudged his helm against Blaster's to show his appreciation. He could feel the cassettes observing their interactions from across the room. It was hard to ignore their unusual mixture of emotions. Their creations were certainly happy for the new couple. Soundwave could feel that much. They were happy to see their creators happy. More than that, they were excited about what this new relationship meant for them as a family. They weren't just a collection of roommates anymore, but rather a collection of siblings, if this went well. Under all of those positive feelings, Soundwave could make out just a tinge of disgust. This emotion puzzled Soundwave for a moment before Rumble unwittingly explained it for him.

As Blaster pressed a sweet kiss to Soundwave's lips, Rumble mumbled from across the room, "ew". Blaster snorted into the kiss and broke it with a smile. Soundwave felt himself fill with amusement as he realized that his cassettes had never seen him in an openly romantic relationship with anyone before. All of his other "relationships" had been non-affectionate and more of a 'behind closed doors' situation. It occurred to Soundwave that his cassettes had never seen him receive affection in any way from anyone other than themselves before.

"I'll show you 'ew'" Blaster grinned playfully at the cassette. Before Soundwave knew what that threat meant, he found his faceplates covered in kisses from Blaster. A sudden explosion of voices from his cassettes could be heard from across the room.

"EWW!"

"Gross!"

"Primus, get a room!"

"Yuck! Stop, that's so gross!"

Soundwave found himself laughing at their collective disgust for the situation. He turned his helm and laughed as Blaster pressed one last kiss on his cheek.

"Primus!" Frenzy grumbled, "are you guys always gonna' be this gross?".

"Don't tempt me with a good time" Blaster grinned in response. Soundwave laughed and found himself suddenly unable to formulate any kind of coherent words. He was painfully aware of how pink his faceplates had turned. He could feel the cassettes watching his unusual and giddy behaviour. He almost felt like a child again, laughing and blushing over a crush. Blaster just smiled at him; his optics sparkled with amusement.

Frenzy summarized the cassette's feelings in one statement, "You guys are weird".

Now that Starscream was on board with the Autobot's plans to undermine Megatron, there was much work to be done. The first meeting with the seeker was only a day after he agreed to follow along with Soundwave's idea. Of course, meetings couldn't be held in person. They had to be discrete as possible to ensure Starscream's safety while he still lived in the Nemesis. Instead, the meetings were held over a private comm. link, just past 1:30 AM Earth time.

It was too risk for Starscream to join these meetings during the day, when Megatron could overhear him. Rather, the seeker ensured that Megatron had retired for a recharge shift before setting up a portable comm. machine in his own personal quarters. The seeker had found success in bribing Swindle for an outdated special ops comm. system with a couple cubes of high grade. Of course, this high grade had been stolen from Megatron's quarters… he wasn't about to waste his own trine's (already pathetic) rations. It hadn't taken long for Starscream to make a couple basic repairs and get the portable comm. station in working order again. With all the stealing, bribing, and sneaking around done, Starscream was faced with the most difficult part of this situation… actually speaking to the Autobrats.

Soundwave glanced around the meeting room. The small, windowless room was only used for the most secretive and important missions. It was completely cleared by Jazz every time a meeting was to be held. It was rare that any bugs or mics were found (and interestingly enough, absolutely no mics or bugs had been found in the meeting room since Soundwave and his cassettes joined the Autobots).

The telepath glanced around the room at the primacy officers of the Autobots. Optimus Prime sat at the far end of the circular table, Jazz and Prowl sat directly to his left. Soundwave pretended not to notice how Jazz's servo was definitely on Prowl's thigh under the table. He also pretended not to notice the antsy twitching of the Praxian's doorwings. To Prime's right sat Ratchet. The medic was not pretending to ignore Jazz's servo placement. Instead, he delivered a kick to the saboteur's shin under the table. Soundwave watched as Jazz rested his elbow on the table and then cradled his chin in his servo. It was difficult to make out Jazz's exact words through the busy murmuring of the full room, but there was definitely some teasing remark about the medic wishing to play footsie.

Wheeljack was seated next to Ratchet, as he usually was whenever both mechs were anywhere together (which was often). Soundwave watched as the engineers' headfins flashed as he laughed about something; likely at Ratchet's grumblings. Soundwave wondered for a moment whether or not the medic and engineer would ever become an item. He deemed it rather likely.

Ironhide sat beside Wheeljack. The weapon's specialist didn't look up from polishing his gun. Soundwave could feel the gruff mech's dissatisfaction at being awake at such an hour. Soundwave was seated to Ironhide's right, and Blaster was seated between Soundwave and Prowl.

Finally, the comm. station in the middle of the table crackled to life. The meeting room fell into silence for a moment before Starscream's voice finally carried through the static.

::This is Starscream. Do you read me?::.

"Loud and clear" Blaster confirmed, the smile carried through his voice.

::Good. I was worried this old piece of scrap wouldn't work for me:: Starscream muttered.

"It seems to work just fine" Optimus leaned forward as he spoke, "thank you, Starscream, for agreeing to speak with us".

A small grumble could be heard over the comm. line before the seeker spoke again, ::Yeah, whatever. Let's just see how this goes before you get too excited, your Prime-liness.::

Soundwave felt his faceplates twitch into a smile. He had almost missed the snarky attitude that Starscream carried into every meeting. It was often noticeably worse whenever the seeker was nervous about something.

The Prime's good nature served him well as he chuckled at Starscream's remark, "that is a good idea, Starscream. I'll keep myself from getting to enthusiastic".

The seeker paused for a long moment before he spoke again. Soundwave wondered how long it had been since the seeker was told he had a good idea in a meeting.

::So… Who all is it that I am speaking to?:: the seeker asked.

"Myself, Prowl, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Blaster, and Soundwave" Optimus listed off.

The seeker hummed before greeting the room, ::hey, Soundwave::.

"Hello, Starscream" Soundwave replied, it was difficult to ignore his amusement at being the only one acknowledged. His place within this meeting was held exactly for that reason. He was not a head officer of the Ark. Blaster was present to help work the comm. line and provide input as the Communications Officer with Autobot seniority. However, no one at that table knew Starscream like Soundwave did. Prime and Prowl had requested Soundwave's presence in the meetings to help bridge the mammoth gap between the Autobot officers and the lone Decepticon. Not to mention that, if Starscream planned to double-cross them in the process, no one in the universe had a better 'Starscream's-about-to-attempt-murder' radar than Soundwave.

"Ya' know, I just have one question" Ironhide drawled. The red mech leaned forward and rested his elbow on the edge of the table as he continued, "why in the name of Cybertron should we be trustin' you?".

Optimus swallowed thickly as he watched Ironhide from across the table. Prowl had assured him that civility was of the upmost importance at this phase in the plan-making. Anything could make Starscream turn around and drop his involvement in this… which would be a massive tactical loss for the Autobots.

Static sprayed from the comm. line for a moment before Starscream finally responded, ::well, I don't know about you lot… but I sure haven't been enjoying this million year civil war::. In a less sarcastic tone, the seeker continued, ::Megatron is cracking. The Decepticon Empire is already crumbling with him. I know it's not some Autobot self-sacrificial heroism slag… but I don't exactly want to be inside this mess when it finally comes down on my helm. I also don't want my trine to get caught up in this… or the other seekers and Decepticons. We shouldn't have to pay for Megatron's corruption. We… I just don't believe in him anymore. I'm sure Soundwave understands::.

Soundwave hummed and nodded, "I do".

A number of the officers glanced at Soundwave for a moment before their optics returned to the comm. console.

::Any other questions? Tests of character, perhaps?:: Starscream quickly returned to his more sarcastic tone, ::would you also like to know my life story?::.

Ironhide shifted warily in his seat. His field radiated discontent and suspicion, but he stayed quiet.

"Thank you, Starscream" Optimus chuckled, un-bothered by the edge to the Seeker's voice, "but you do not have to prove yourself any further. I am very aware that this plan we have is based deeply off of trust. We will choose to trust you, so long as you are willing to put your trust into us and work with us through this. The end of this war may be near".

::No wonder you were able to get so many devoted followers:: the seeker grumbled, ::you sure know how to talk::.

"Thank you" the Prime replied sunnily.

Soundwave smiled down at the table. For once, Starscream may have found a commander who knew how to handle his presence at a meeting. In the past, countless Decepticon Officer meetings had ended in chaos and brawls because Starscream loved to antagonize and Megatron could never contain his temper. Now, with Optimus heading the meetings, Starscream's rather brilliant plans may actually be listened to… despite the attitude in which they were delivered.

"With introductions out of the way, perhaps we should discuss next steps" Prowl suggested. The tactician glanced up from his datapad, onto which he had been furiously writing since the beginning of the meeting.

::Right,:: Starscream said, ::Well, I'm still assessing interest around here. It's tricky to ask about everyone's interest in a revolt without risking being ousted::.

"Of course," Prime said, "and we would rather have you take your time and do it safely than rush and end up caught".

"Have you had any luck with anyone yet?" Jazz asked. He casually tipped back in his chair until only the back legs of his seat were touching the floor. He looked one small breeze away from falling on his dorsa.

::Yes, a bit:: Starscream said, ::my trine and the other seekers are in… I'm currently working on the Constructicons… but, Primus, they are not too bright when it comes to picking up on hints::.

Soundwave snorted in amusement. Starscream certainly wasn't wrong. He suddenly jerked forward in his seat. "Starscream, ensure that you leave Reflector for among the last to ask".

::What? Why?:: The seeker asked.

"I have reason to believe that Reflector has been Megatron's audios and optics since I left. I am unsure whether or not they would bring information of your revolt to Megatron, but they could be a potential risk" Soundwave explained.

Starscream hummed and was silent for a moment, ::that's good to know. I'll keep my optics on them… although::. The seeker fell silent for a moment.

"Is something the matter", the Prime asked.

::Well, now that I'm thinking of them, I've only ever seen two of the Reflector trio running around for the last while:: Starscream murmured.

"Only two?" Soundwave whispered… that seemed eerily wrong. Reflector was always together as a whole. The idea of only two of them being seen for a period of time was unsettling.

::I'll look into it:: Starscream said. The sound of a typing could be heard over the Comm. link.

"Please keep us updated" Optimus said.

Starscream hummed absent-mindedly.

With that, the meeting was called to a close. After a melee of very awkward goodbyes, Starscream cut the comm. line and the meeting room fell silent.

"That went well… I think" Wheeljack said.

"I'm with you there, mech" Blaster grinned.

Soundwave leaned back in his seat and nodded. It had gone well. Far better than he could have hoped for. However, Reflector continued to run through his processor. The small trio of mechs stayed on the forefront of his mind all the way back to his quarters with Blaster. How could an entire mech go missing? There was absolutely nothing he could do about it now… but the new information continued to crawl under his plating.

He glanced over at Blaster, who offered him a comforting smile and a squeeze to his servo. They smiled at each other, and Soundwave was finally able to relax.