Here's the last chappie! Hope you liked it so far.
Enjoy!
When he came to, he was still lying on the ground; however, he was face side up this time. He could see only the charcoal black sky above, so he sat up slowly. He checked that Laserbeak was still with him. Assured that the minicon was, he stared around.
A dozen Autobot Emergency Responders and Enforcers were milling about. Concerned formers were with their excited sparklings. One pair was crying. He hoped that nobot had died because of his foolishness in not securing the ship.
Everybot was ignoring Soundwave entirely.
For a moment, he thought that he was still in the Shadowzone, but the colours did not seem muted enough. No, he was not in the Shadowzone - he could touch the moon rocks and roll them between his slim fingers. And yet they were ignoring the Decepticon Third In Command in their midst.
He noted that his injuries had been patched up, so he had not been ignored completely.
Finally, he decided that if he was going to leave, he might as well do it now, while nobot seemed to care one way or the other. He had no desire to face an Autobot tribunal. So he got up gingerly, retreated some distance from the crowd and opened up a ground bridge to the Shadowzone.
"Soundwave!"
He glanced round to see the blue Autobot femme from earth running towards him, holding a subdued orange and white sparkling. That mechling had been one of the six left outside, Soundwave recalled. The teachers had made him stand last because he had been throwing rocks, and his friend, the violet femmeling, had stood with him. Foolish sparkling. He turned back to the portal. He did not want to converse with either of them. He did not want to hear their thanks or reproaches. Better to just disappear and never be found again.
"Soundwave, please wait."
Something in her voice made him turn around.
"I just wanted to say...thank you."
He nodded and observed her faceplate. She looked harassed, and she had been limping while coming towards him. But there was sincerity in her voice.
"And you saved those sparks today...we won't forget. We're all in your debt."
He nodded again. He hadn't been spoken to in nearly twenty-six vorns. It was odd.
"If you want to go-" she gestured towards the portal "-then you can. We won't try force you to stay or anything."
He appreciated her use of the word try.
"But if you don't want to...if you ever want to lead a normal life, on Cybertron...then I'll help you."
He cocked his helm, amused. Why on Cybertron would he ever want a normal life? He extended a thin digit to point towards the portal.
"As you wish. My offer will always stand."
He raised the same digit to the bottom of his visor in a shh gesture.
"Yeah. I know." She smiled. "You don't exist."
"Hey! Soundwave!" It was the yellow Autobot from earth. Soundwave shifted. He wanted to get going before he attracted too much attention. Already bots were looking at them, and their gazes were not particularly friendly.
"Hey. You saved a lot of lives today. I want to thank you. It could've been a lot worse if it weren't for you."
He made an effort to nod.
"And, ah, if you ever want to, you know, come back, then you'll be granted full amnesty."
"Bumblebee!" Arcee scolded. "Don't make promises you don't know if you can keep."
"Don't worry, 'Cee. I can persuade Ultra Magnus. Leave that to me. But do you want to become an Autobot?"
Soundwave grew still. In Knockout's fussy voice, he mused, "I am neither Autobot nor Decepticon. Than what am I," He cocked his helm to one side again, "An Autoboticon, or," he moved it to the other, "a Deceptibot?"
Bumblebee snorted. "Whatever you like." He held out a servo for Soundwave to shake. Soundwave automatically took a step back, before deciding to trust him.
He nodded at them both, and just for fun, showed them a smiley face icon. Then he left and resolved never to be seen again.
That's all, folks! Like it? Leave a review!