Originally, this story was supposed to be longer, but like in CH11, I lost all my files and while I wanted to get this finished, this was all I could get. A bit rushed by coherent enough.

I do plan to do some minor AU snippets at some point, the first one is already almost complete.

Astrosecond: .498 seconds

Breem: ~8.2 minutes

Joor: ~1 hour

Deca-cycle: ~3 weeks

Nano-klik: ~1 second

Orn: 13 days

Solar-cycle: 93 hours (Cybertronian day)

Orbital-cycle: 24 solar-cycles/93 days (Cybertronian month)

Stellar-cycle: 20 orbital-cycles/480 days (Cybertronian year)

Chapter 13:

Botnapped? Ravage Says No

A week later and Resonate was placed into the care of Sam and Mikaela for the morning and even if they couldn't understand one another, Resonate clearly enjoyed all the games Mikaela played with her and the brunette felt like she was melting inside from all the cuteness.

Sam couldn't help but think Mikaela would be a wonderful mother. It flusters him, the sudden thought. Something like that was long off, and not in any way in the current picture but it makes him all goopy inside, nonetheless.

With the day being designated to alarm drills for everyone on base, that left the duo happily taking care of Resonate while the Autobots were busy.

It was drawing to midday when things changed. When Galloway of all people stormed into the room with his posse behind him.

Sam jumped to his feet, shocked and slid in front of Mikaela and Resonate in a failed attempt to hide them from the man's sight.

"Liaison Galloway," Sam tried for diplomatic, "What brings you here."

"Move," he demanded and suddenly five guns were pointed at them.

Okay, don't panic, Sam, don't panic.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," he snapped.

"Move the brat," Galloway waved his men on, and Sam can only protest as he's yanked, thrown to the floor with a gasp and a gun pointed to his head.

"Sa—ah!"

Mikaela got the same treatment and Resonate cried. Sam could just hear her quiet peeping and—one of the bastards kicked her!

"HEY! Don't fucking touch her!"

Resonate cried, distressed peeping continuing and growing louder as she curled up, all Sam could do was watch as two of the men yanked her up by her arms. She squealed in pain.

"Stop you're hurting her!" Mikaela shrieked.

Lots of suddenly happened.

One: a man turned his gun onto Mikaela.

Two: Resonate's faceguard retracted.

Three: she sent out a sonic blast, shattering all glass in the room in front of her and most certainly the eardrums of their attackers.

Four: her chassis player opened and out came a cassette which transformed in Ravage.

Five: Ravage went straight for their attackers with prejudice, tearing ribbons of flesh and—

Sam thinks he might have puked only two years ago but now he doesn't, instead he and Mikaela crawl to the weeping Resonate and try to soothe her.

Sam can only stare at Ravage as he finished killing them, his frame heavying in what he could identify as anger with the harsh exhales. The alien panther turned to them, his snout and paws messy with human blood but he doesn't care as he trots close and Resonate reached back, hiccupping and desperate.

He and Mikaela give them space and Resonate babbles wordlessly, crying as she cuddles into the feline's frame in a failing attempt at the direct soothing of her racing spark. Ravage purrs, sitting and curling around the little one, trying, all the same, to do what her creator could but knew he couldn't.

Thundering pedes and shouts draw close, and Sam can only turn numbly, perhaps with delayed shock, as Optimus and a handful of others come rushing, Will and his soldiers too.

"What the fuck?"

"Ravage," Elita-1 announced, all optics focusing on the panther.

Ratchet cast a scan as best as he could with the sparkling mostly hidden from view and announced Resonate's spark was going wild in her distress, something that could and would kill her unless settled. Soundwave wasn't here, and the feline didn't do any more than set his jaw on Resonate's helm as he huddled her close.

Resonate wailed, squirming and sniffling, her frame trembling as her spark hurt.

Optimus approached, kneeling as the sparkling couldn't stifle her distress.

"Ravage," he greeted, but there was a sense of urgency, "We both know you can't soothe her spark and Soundwave isn't here."

Ravage growled lowly, his annoyance and frustration clear to everyone.

"You've protected her, now let me soothe her."

An exhale and a beat of silence before Ravage uncurled, slumping to the ground to reveal Resonate enough to Optimus. The mech reached down and swooped up the distressed femmeling, holding her to his chassis and offering that bond her spark desperately needed to calm itself.

It latched on and Resonate peeped, shuddering as Optimus curled his essence around her. She sniffled, her spark's rapid and ever-growing unstable pulsing slowly dropped back into a safe range. Slumping against the warm frame and the soothing safe-safe-easy-love; Resonate calmed, chirping.

Her distress was still there but now manageable, no longer in threat of offlining the sparkling.

"Prowl," Optimus began, "Open a line of communication with the Decepticons. Immediately."

Resonate lay curled up against Ravage, blinks getting slower and slower as she fell into recharge. Ravage chuffed, huddling her close. He thought about the two humans that had tried to protect his charge.

Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes. They had a long history with the Cybertronians. Ravage would know the boy's face anywhere after what he had done. Could recognise the girl's face for almost managing to offline Frenzy.

Of course, that was only because Frenzy hadn't been doing good with Resonate being lost. He had been set back onto the right track after that, their family made sure of that.

Admittedly, Ravage respected them for their dedication to each other and those they cared about. He had heard quite a bit while being held up in Resonate's player. That they had little plan to keep Resonate away from them was a relief, and now they were waiting for Soundwave and a few others to arrive at the designed location to hand them back.

The Autobot nurse, Arcee, had cooed and cried over saying goodbye but he supposed Arcee had been close with LightChaser, and had learned Arcee was there for Resonate's birth. That bond isn't something so easily discarded.

The honour of seeing a birth isn't something just any bot can witness because of how sacred it was considered. Bots trained for many stellar cycles to become an obstetrician, only the creator, or another if said bot wasn't possible, could be in the room alongside the doctors.

LightChaser had been training with Arcee to go into obstetrician, it was how the two femmes had met.

But sparklings remember those first few faceplates for the rest of their lives. So when Resonate had recognised Optimus, Arcee, and Ratchet, well, it wasn't that much of a surprise.

Ravage was drawn from his thoughts at the sound of approaching bots from the sky, Soundwave sent pulses over love and Resonate sleepily mewled.

Megatron, Soundwave and Starscream landed several meters across from Optimus, Ratchet, and Arcee.

"Optimus," Megatron greeted.

"Megatron."

The Prime, from where he was knelt beside Ravage and Resonate, glanced down at him and nodded. Ravage stood and scruffed Resonate who grumbled sleepily as he trot across the distance.

Soundwave knelt and Ravage set his charge into his partner's servo, leaping up and back into his place within Soundwave's chassis, content.

The indigo and white mech vented deeply, holding his sparkling close and rumbled. Relieved after so long.

He absently takes in the conversation going on around him and could hear Megatron and Optimus' voices as they discussed what had happened. Soundwave wanted to get his servos on the bastards that had thought to touch his Resonate but knowing Ravage had done it was more than satisfying.

"Soundwave."

He looked up at the Prime's voice, "Do know I had no intention to initiate a bond."

Yes, Soundwave knew the mech before him quite well. Maybe not as good as Megatron or his LightChaser had, but he did all the same.

"Soundwave: aware," he dropped his speech: "I am thankful that you withheld until necessary and am grateful for caring for my sparkling."

Optimus dipped his chin, no other words needing to be exchanged.

Then, the Decepticons were gone, headed back to their base, where people were eagerly waiting.

=Maybe we could work something out between the Autobots and Decepticons,= Megatron muttered over their private channel.

=You mean a treaty, my Lord?= Starscream questions.

=We've been fighting for a very long time, Starscream, aren't you as wary?=

Soundwave could get behind that.

=We've all lost a lot to this war, a war that could have been avoided if only certain things had changed,= Megatron admitted, =The trust I put in the Fallen being one of them.=

=Then let us discuss this more with our brother-in-arms when we return,= Starscream's grin could be heard over the comm.

=Autobots and Deceptions have been fighting for so long, peacetime is long overdue,= Soundwave commented and murmurs got agreements