Why was she always the one who found herself in the stupid situations?

Seriously, this never happened to Bluespark, or even Skylight for that matter. No, it was always Aurora who found herself in the awkward, humiliating or the downright dangerous situations. Aurora. The least battle-wizened of them all, but also considered to be one of the more intelligent ones of her group. Could someone tell her how the frag that worked? Was her luck really that shit?

"Soundwave," she tried to reason, fighting to keep her voice calmed and level, "Soundwave, seriously. You don't need to do this. There are easier ways to get information out of me..."

He seemed to think otherwise. She gave an angered hiss as she felt his digits latching onto her interface panel and give it a testing tug, instinctively bucking out to try and get him to take a few steps away from her. Argh. If she survived this ordeal, she was never going out on patrol again! The others could have this happen to them for once. It wasn't fair that she was always taking the brunt of all the shit luck and karma that they seemed to accumulate over the years.

She'd have to think fast if she was going to get out of this one.

Venting a deep breath, Aurora forced herself to relax, as hard as that was when she was bound and trying to keep those spidery digits away from her panel. The tension slowly left her cables though, and even though it was painfully obvious her own core temperature wasn't sky-rocketing like it would should she be aroused. she made her best impression that the exact opposite was occuring. Small pants began to leave her lips, and she squirmed in discomfort, as if seeking more friction with the offending appendages that had her bound and at Soundwave's mercy. The display must have been somewhat convincing, as Soundwave's digits stilled, and she could sense an almost questioning air about him. His lack of movement, however, suggested that he was also trying to figure out what caused this sudden change in attitude, and Aurora figured she'd have to distract him fast before he figured it was all just for show.

"Please Soundwave," she whined, voice breathy and as needy as she could make it. Her breath hitched as his tentacles constricted for a second in response to her tone, before relaxing again, encouraging her to continue. "Primus, please, my hands Soundwave... please... let me use my hands..."

There was no response at first and, for one terrifying moment, Aurora thought she'd been figured out. Then the tentacles around her wrists retreated, sliding down to other regions of her body, resting on different parts of her anatomy. Soundwave still hadn't moved, and was obviously waiting for a hint as to what she had in mind exactly. Trying to quiet her pounding spark, the Autobot femme cautiously extended one hand towards him, sliding her digits up his forearm and searching his blank faceplate for some kind of indication that the touch was unwelcomed. Much to her surprise and relief, it wasn't, and she reached out with her other hand to cup one side of his face, lingering there for a second before slowly sliding down his neck, discreetly heading towards a cluster of circuits at the base.

The hand on her interface panel retreated, placing it on her hip instead, head bowed slightly in a way that, should that annoying mask not be on, Aurora would've thought he'd had the intention of attempting to kiss her. (Let him try, she thought to herself, I'll tear his fragging glossa out.) Despite the oddly tender action, the femme wa not to be pertubed, and her hand finally reached the back of his neck... so close to the circuitry she was planning to target. She gave it a couple of affectionate strokes, his head now close enough that she could affectionately nuzzle him with her own... before her digits viciously clawed into aforementioned circuitry, stunning Soundwave and causing him to rear away. Those blasted tentacles still had a hold on her, unfortunately, but Aurora took advantage of his momentary surprise and headbutted him- hard. The Decepticon stumbled back some, hold loosening, and she tore herself out of his grasp, landing with a dull thunk of metal as she hit the ground.

For a brief moment, Aurora considered continuing the fight. She considered pounding him to scrap for what he'd just attempted to do; it'd be the least he deserved. afterall, trying to assualt an innocent femme. But Soundwave was already beginning to recover, and she happened to be no fool. She lost last time, and she would lose again... the only difference was this time, there would be no escape. The only logical option was to abandon this fight and hightail it out of there... maybe get far away enough that he was no longer cramming her signal and get a Groundbridge back to base.

So, on wobbly legs, she transformed and did just that, leaving a glowering Soundwave behind in the dust.

"Are you alright, Aurora?"

The concerned tone, for once, did not belong to her mentor.

Aurora glanced over her shoulder, optics meeting those of the one that approached her. She was well aware that something had been off about her ever since she'd returned, and the others had obviously noticed as well: mainly Ratchet. But it was only logical that one of the others would soon catch on as well... even more logical that the first one to approach her about it, after Ratchet, would be her good companion Bluespark, who Aurora had formerly travelled through galaxies with alongside Skylight and the twins. The femme had refrained from telling any of them what had occured, mostly due to a matter of pride and fear of what their reactions would be. What if they never let her out of the base again? It would get quite boring, stuffed in here with three smelly human brats to keep her company. She did not think so well of the children as Optimus and the others did... what sense was there in keeping them at base? They were probably more in danger with the Autobots than without them.

Speaking of which, she could see one of the little pests trying to "discreetly" listen in on their conversation; that black-haired female one with the pink streak through her hair. Why did she have that anyway? It was unnatural for humans, so what was the point in it? Was it a symbol of status? She'd heard all sorts of stories about the crazy things humans did just to fit in with the group... which was odd, because obviously she didn't fit in well with any other groups if she had to resort to hanging out with giant alien robots. Aurora vaguely wondered how nobody had stepped on one of them yet... whether accidentally or accidentally-on-purpose. Ratchet had let her down in that area.

"Fine," she mumbled, glancing away from Bluespark, gaze fixed back on a blank spot on the opposing wall.

Understandably, Bluespark did not seem to accept or believe this, and with an exasperated sigh she took the seat next to her obviously troubled femme companion. Aurora appreciated the act of concern, but honestly would have rather that Bluespark let it be. As noble as the femme was, she wasn't always so good at handling the emotional side of things. In fact, good ol' 'Spark was a lot better at just beating the crap out of people than sitting around for a spark-to-spark chat. If they wanted support and all that counselling scrap, that was when they normally turned to Lunar, the younger of the twins.

"Is there a reason you're holding out on us all of a sudden?" Bluespark asked, reverting to their native tongue.

Aurora vented a sigh through her nose, glancing around the place to check whether or not the other Autobots were in hearing distance. She didn't think that they would be particularly proud, or fond, of what she was about to say. Out of the corner of her optics, she saw the annoying girl strain her head towards them, as if trying to catch a glimpse of their conversation. Anger, annoyance and frustration all stirred within Aurora's spark, as she fought the urge to blast her where she stood. Affirming that none of their Autobot companions would hear her, she leaned closer to Bluespark and dropped her voice, just to be safe. A comical image of them getting kicked out after only their third day in the Autobot base occured to her, but she quickly wiped it aside. Bluespark would not be pleased with her if that happened, all because she failed to keep her temper in check.

I'm practically the only competent soldier she has.

It was disappointing, really. Eclipse never took anything seriously, Skylight was so Primus-damned obsessed with her looks sometimes, and Lunar was just... Lunar. Quiet. Easily over-looked. Not leader material at all, but that was just to be expected. The shy ones hardly ever made the best leaders. Though Aurora could hardly act arrogant about her self-proclaimed "competency." She'd almost got raped by a Decepticon, afterall. She could almost feel those disgusting little tentacle things crawling up her legs again... the femme barely suppressed a shudder of revulsion.

"The insects disgust me," Aurora responded in a grumbling tone.

"Aurora!"

"What? It's true!"

"You heard what Optimus said. We are guests on this planet. And we shall treat them with as much courtesy as you would with any host."

Aurora made a disgruntled sound under her breath, turning away from Bluespark to be left alone to her brooding. Her memory of Soundwave's tentacles was starting to bring back her earlier feeling of being dirty, and she felt the sudden urge to wash herself. Somewhere... Somehow... Did they even have showers in this place?

"Ratchet, is there anywhere I can wash myself off?" she asked, standing up.

"Oh! Oh! We can wash you!" the black haired girl piped up, jumping up and down excitedly.

Aurora only just managed to keep the grimace off her face, instead managing a mere,

"I'll be... fine."

"Bluespark can show you the way," Ratchet said, his voice calm and gentle.

Aurora didn't need to wonder as to why. He had that fatherly look on his face. A look of concern which was starting to make her worry. The last thing she needed was any of the other Autobots to attempt at prying. Her digust of humans had saved her as far as Bluespark, but she wouldn't dare voice such things around Ratchet. There was something about the way he looked at them. Some sickening respect in his optics that Aurora simply could not understand. How could you have even an ounce for such little... things? All they were were bags of meat and bones. There were a thousand and one ways to kill them, and then some. What were they even doing on Autobot property, anyway? So what. They'd seen a couple of robots. That didn't instantaneously make them enemies with the Decepticons.

Aurora doubted the Decepticons had even taken much notice of the kids until the Autobots kept showing up with them.

As confused as she was, Aurora managed to contain her questions, instead turning to follow Bluespark down the hall.

Must. Not. Think. About. Tentacles.

The darkly coloured mech stood on the raised platform, still as death as he oversaw the progress of the Vehicons in the mines. They scuttled about all over the place, harvesting and extracting Energon, doing their best to look busy while Megatron's hound was watching them. They moved quickly to each task, dearly praying to Primus they didn't screw up or do anything else that would give them unwanted attention. Attention only ever meant one thing around a place like this. Everyone had seen what had happened to Starscream after Megatron's return.

It wasn't just that, though. Though he very rarely did anything but stand there and observe, Soundwave's presence seemed to have them on extra edge that day. The vehicons couldn't quite place it, but something seemed... off, about Soundwave. He seemed as stoic and unexpressive as always, yet there seemed to be something bubbling below the surface. Nevertheless, none of them were foolish enough to question it. Soundwave was an emotionless mech, they all knew better than to question that. He was also exceedingly powerful and skilled, and the thought of his fist ramming into their face was not something any one of them found to be particularly desirable.

Yet despite the vehicons impression of Soundwave being a calm and emotionless mech all day everyday, today... well, today he was feeling quite the opposite. An inner rage was coiling inside him, the need to lash out and hit something growing stronger with each passing second. How could he be so foolish? How could he, Soundwave of all mechs, do something so... so... utterly stupid? Not only had he meaninglessly sought out to interface with some random Autobot femme (and that was the part he kept repeating in his head- Autobot. Megatron would have his head if he knew he was fratenising with the enemy!), but he'd also let his guard down, allowing her to get the drop on him! Since when had Soundwave ever been properly defeated in battle? He'd let his emotions get in the way. He'd let them get in the way and screwed everything up! Why hadn't he just executed the Autobot then and there? What idiotic thoughts had been going through his processor?

He knew what it was. This... sickness. It had made him single out the first femme he could just to let off some steam. It meant nothing. Not yet. That part came later. The dreaded part, of course. The part where he purposely found himself searching out for qualities he desired in a mate. The part where he lost pretty much all common sense, and went about hunting for someone to carry on his coding. Then, it wouldn't be just a meaningless frag like that had about to become. He hated to think who he would go after. It didn't help any of the Decepticons that a new femme was on Earth- how many others were there?

His hope of merely getting through this easy was now over. The Autobot Arcee was completely undesirable to any Decepticon. Too many emotions. Too bitchy. Whiny. Sensitive. Not even Knock Out would touch that (Breakdown, however, might be another story...). These new femmes though. Who knew what their personalities would turn out to be like?