Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.

Author's notes: This chapter is mostly about Soundwave and his feelings. And his past. I will finally reveal how and why he created his cassettes. A very differend explanation indeed...

Warm And Tender Devil's Soul

"It has begun." Megatron said to Soundwave via comm. link, as they were hiding underneath the sand. They actually heard the sound of sand masses moving and the wind rumbling. It sounded like an earthquake. "And right in time." He added.

"You better keep your face mask on. I already have sand in my mouth." That was minimizing. He could feel the sand go down his throat and into his systems. "I wish I had energon with me. Damn that Swindle. I bet he's drinking even now."

Soundwave moved a little beside him. "Soundwave, are you alright? You've been quiet ever since we crawled in here." Megatron said. The telepath didn't answer. "Soundwave?" Megatron dug his hand through the sand and touched Soundwave's. The Communications Officer took his hand and squeezed it tight.

"Are you afraid?" Megatron asked, amazed. Finally, he got a response. "A little." Megatron smiled, though Soundwave couldn't see it. "Come closer." The silver mech ordered. The telepath hesitated a while, then slowly moved to his leader. Megatron's arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him against his chassis. The sand didn't make it very pleasant though. Some of it was left between their bodies, making scratches on their paintjob.

As Megatron pressed his mouth against Soundwave's face mask, the telepath winced. "I have Ravage and Buzzsaw with me." He warned his leader. Megatron chuckled. "So what? It's not like they're going to tell anyone, no one else but you and your other creations can understand them anyway. Aren't they loyal to you?" The Decepticon leader asked.

Soundwave thought about it. Yes, his creations were loyal to him. Even though he had created them to remind himself of the treacherous mates he had had. Reminders. That was what his creations were to him.

Ravage had been the first one. A reminder of that beautiful femme Seeker Soundwave had loved. A panthercon was very close to the beast that Seeker had turned out to be, the femme had tried to kill him. She had turned out to be an Autobot spy.

The next one was Rumble. The mech he had created Rumble for, had been a Seeker too. He had cheated on Soundwave with a Triple Changer called Octane. That's why he had made Rumble purple, because Octane was also purple, a little darker purple, but it didn't matter.

Then, after many years, they had met each other again, Soundwave and the cheating Seeker. And again, Soundwave ended up spark-broken. That was when he created Frenzy. He wanted Frenzy to be exactly like Rumble, to remind himself of the Seeker who betrayed him twice. That was why they were called twins, even though Rumble was older. But to Frenzy, Soundwave had given a red paintjob.

Then was Laserbeak. Laserbeak had been created to remind him of another femme Seeker, a little lying coward that ran away from him after years of being together. Soundwave still wondered why she left him.

And then the youngest, Buzzsaw. He was a reminder of yet another femme Seeker. But this femme had never left him or betrayed him. This femme had been killed in a battle. A yellow little Seeker. Soundwave still had a scar in his spark for her. After her death, Soundwave had been devastated. He had began to use drugs to keep his mind blurred and his thoughts away from the little femme.

After getting over her, he had joined the Decepticon army, to get a new life, a new purpose. And to leave drugs for good.

Five creations, one for every love he had had.

None of them were born from a bonding though, he had created them all by himself. He had given a fraction of his own spark to every creation, to give them life. One spark fraction and one creation to each lost love.

But there was only one Transformer in the whole universe whom he would ever want to bond with, given the chance. And Megatron didn't want a bondmate.

Soundwave briefly wondered if he would ever create a silvery cassette, with crimson red optics...

"Soundwave, wake up!" Megatron shook the telepath violently. Soundwave made a yelp as he was startled out of his thoughts. Megatron pulled him gently against his chassis again. "I thought you blacked out..." The silver mech apologized through the comm. link.

"I'm awake." Soundwave stated and nuzzled the silver mech's neck, smelling his scent. Megatron held him tight. "Good..." Soundwave felt lips on his visor and a hand on the back of his helm. Megatron's spark pulsed serenely against his chest and his spark answered to each pulse with joy and longing.

'This would be a perfect moment,' the telepath thought, 'if we weren't under all this slagging sand...'

"I'm glad you're with me, Soundwave." Megatron said suddenly. "I know I don't always let it show, but I appreciate you around me. It's great to have one person in my life that will never leave me or betray me." Now the silver mech was talking about Starscream again, Soundwave's mood switched from sweet to bitter.

"I hope you know that I would never leave you behind in a battle. Never." That was very close to saying that he cared about Soundwave, but that wasn't enough for the telepath. Soundwave knew he had to be patient, but times like these, when the object of his desire and love was so close to him, it tended to be very very hard.

"I love you Megatron." He said through the comm. link.

Megatron winced. "Don't love me, don't you dare!" The silver mech snarled through the comm. link angrily.

The ghost of Starscream lingered between them. For a short moment, Soundwave was sure he heard the Seeker's voice, telling him to back off.

"I ordered him dead." Megatron said sternly. "I wouldn't hesitate to do the same to you."

"I know and I don't care!" Soundwave said and pulled himself off the mech. He retreated back to where he had been earlier and they both fell silent. Soundwave was mad. No, he was beyond mad. Megatron was still thinking about the stupid Seeker. The silver mech wasn't loyal to anyone, not even to himself.

He lied and cheated on himself, just as he did to Soundwave. No loyalty, no empathy behind those red optics.

"Don't you get it? I'm only thinking about your best, Soundwave. I'm not a mech you should waste your love on. I am only looking for entertainment, not love. That's how it is and how it will always be. In all my life I've only ever loved one mech and see what happened to him? I drove him mad. I'm sorry but-"

Soundwave cut the connection harshly. He didn't want to hear another apology or more excuses. He had been there for Megatron, always. He had been loyal, forgiving even when not asked for forgiveness, he had been loving, caring, trustworthy and dependable.

And this was how the mech rewarded him?

"I'm only thinking about your best... Blaa-blaa-blaa..." If Megatron was really thinking about his best, they would be bondmates now.

The other night Soundwave had thought that Megatron had changed, that losing Starscream had made him see how much he needed Soundwave in his life and how much Soundwave was willing to give him, to sacrifice for him. The truth was that Soundwave would give his life for Megatron, even his creations' lives, everything.

But Megatron was still the same. Cruel and unfair, sparkbreaker. Double crossing, lousy cheater, so low. And still Soundwave loved him with all his spark. Sometimes he wished the love would go away. But of course it never would.

The drugs and cigarettes back on Cybertron were nothing compared to the silver mech, Megatron was ecstacy.

And Soundwave was addicted.

There were times when Megatron treated him fairly, times when he was rewarding, when he showed respect to the telepath, times when he only spoke the truth. But those times were rare and lasted for a very short time. Megatron would always betray Soundwave's love and trust eventually.

And still... Everytime Soundwave looked into those crimson optics, everything else faded away. And he was ready for another ride, another disappointment, another murder of his spark. And he allowed it all to happen because of few happy moments with his beloved.

No matter how many times the silver mech cheated on him, no matter how many times he hurt him, broke his spark... Soundwave would always love him. The mech had messed up his mind so many times.

Soundwave was well aware that he had an obsession. Megatron was an obsession to him. And would be 'till the day they would finally bond. Soundwave was beginning to doubt that day would ever come.

He was worried about what Laserbeak had reported earlier. Starscream was not dead. If the Seeker came back and reclaimed the silver mech, Soundwave would be pushed aside again. He had endured it more than twice before. But not anymore. He didn't want to be pushed aside. He would kill anyone attempting to come between them. He needed to make the silver mech irreversibly his. And there was only one way. Bonding.

How could he convince Megatron of it? It was a strength to have a constant link to someone all the time, but if the other one was killed... Then it became a weakness. Soundwave had heard of mechs that had lost their bondmates and gone mad.

No, bonding was out of the question until Megatron said otherwise. Soundwave needed to think about something else.

The telepath knew he had to kill Starscream, and soon. And this time, he needed to kill the Seeker himself, with his own hands. Hellscream hadn't succeeded, Soundwave would. But he knew it would be extremely hard.

It would be risky to go to the Autobots' headquarters and try to assasinate the Seeker. According to Laserbeak, Starscream was never alone, someone was always looking after him. That's why the cassette hadn't killed the Seeker himself. And then there was Thundercracker and Skywarp.

The two had rescued the Seeker they were meant to kill. If only Megatron had ordered Soundwave to do it... But it was of no use to think about the past, the future was more important. Soundwave would have to go to the Autobot headquarters the next time he was in monitoring shift.

No one would ever find out and the Seeker would never come back. Soundwave knew he would probably have to get rid of Thundercracker and Skywarp first. That didn't bother him the least, he had never liked the two and they had never liked him. It wouldn't even be a betrayal. Only an assassination.

Soundwave felt how Megatron tried to get through to his comm. link. To Soundwave, it was fun to feel his useless attempts, he would never get through. Under his face mask, Soundwave smiled. He would play hard to get until Megatron would become desperate and needy enough, until he came crawling to his quarters, begging on his knees for Soundwave to return to his side.

That would serve him right.

XXX

Ratchet was cleaning up the med bay, sterilizing his tools. Thundercracker's curiousity wasn't good for his always-so-well-in-order tools and equipment. The medic smiled as he recalled the blue jet's bewildered face as he had shown how the stethoscope worked. He couldn't believe how uneducated the Seeker was.

Ratchet felt sorry for the Decepticons, for the first time in his life. They didn't have a real med bay, as Thundercracker had told him, and neither did they have a real medic. If someone was mortally wounded in battle, he would die. Cruel.

"Now where did he put that scalpel...?" The medic wondered aloud. He heard soft moaning from behind him and turned around.

"Ah, Starscream. You're awake."

The Seeker sat up on the berth and slowly powered on his optics. As those red embers widened in shock, Ratchet frowned. "Something wrong, little one?"

"Autobot!" Starscream shriek and lifted his arm. He quickly noticed that he was disarmed and lifted his finger, pointing the medic with it.

As the powerful surge hit the medic, Ratchet realised his mistake. All Seekers had a weapon in each of their fingers. He should've removed them a long time ago. The medic fell on the floor, knowing that this would be the end.

He watched as the red and blue Seeker ran out and took off in the air. Then his systems went offline.

XXX

Megatron crawled out of their sand-hiding, Soundwave right behind him. The others were already waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Swindle asked. Megatron ignored him. "Everyone alright?" He asked and received complaints about the sand.

"That's not my problem. Decepticons, rise up. We are going home." The silver mech said and lifted himself off the ground. In the air, Megatron glanced at his right. Soundwave wasn't there. He sighed. Vortex flew beside him, on his left.

"Sorry, leader, but I live on Cybertron! Nemesis is not my home!" The chopper yelled cheerily, happy that the storm had passed. Megatron glanced behind him. Soundwave was flying with Scavenger. They were chatting and laughing together.

Megatron cursed himself as he felt a tinge of jealousy. The telepath looked straight at him, his visor glittering in the sun. Apparently, Soundwave had sensed his jealousy. Megatron turned his head away and hoped that no one else noticed his sour mood. Unfortunately, someone did.

"What's the matter, leader? You look like someone just kicked your aft." Swindle's smug tone was too much of annoyance.

"That's none of your business." Megatron snarled.

"But it is. You are my leader and I'm very concerned-"

"Keep your concerns to yourself, I don't want to hear them. Your constant boot licking is beginning to annoy me. Now where is my energon cube?" The silver mech inquired. Swindle made a scared whimper and stuttered fast in panic.

"The cu-cube? It-it's empty. I didn't think it would matter! You have so many more and-"

"You didn't think it would matter? No excuses, soldier. You will clean up the base when we get back."

"But it was only-"

"YOU WILL RUB THE BASE CLEAN WITH YOUR GLOSSA IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR MOUTH THIS INSTANT!" Megatron bellowed, silencing the yellow jeep.

The others glared at them, snickering. They all knew why Megatron was mad at Swindle. The Constructicons whispered to each other. The yellow jeep, however, kept his mouth shut for the rest of the flight.