Hmm, now it was shorter than a month! :) Still, I'm sorry if it's... out of character and short and everything. This week had been an agony. Right now I feel like I could throw myself out of the window. Seriously. (I wish for a friend like Blaster now...)

Anyway, Perceptor may be a good chemist, after all, he's the creator of corrostop, but I'm not. So, apologies for the inaccuracies.

XI.

Even though Soundwave was determined not to break down in front of Megatron and the Autobots, he found he couldn't keep himself together longer than the moment they stepped into his quarters.

Blaster had followed him without a word, his former friend's loyalty left Soundwave both shocked and greatly thankful. His cassettes all had duties, they were alone in the large room and Soundwave couldn't help letting himself be pulled close to the other's frame, arms embracing him with gentle strenght and the Decepticon third-in-command leant into it. Blaster did not say anything, did not reprimand him or made him feel any worse than he already did. And now, knowing he didn't have to be strong anymore, he let those withheld tears flow.

His son was dying, and Blaster was probably the only one who could somehow understand what he was feeling.

It had been an awfully long time since he last cried, Soundwave almost totally forgot what it felt like. His intakes hitched again and his body shook with wild sobs, all the tension of the previous days bursting out of him as he buried his face deep into the red shoulder. He faintly felt Blaster's hand stroking circles on his back, neither saying a word, but Soundwave thought he wouldn't have been able to speak even if he had to. He felt like there was a lump in his throat, like icy hands were suffocating him.

But after what seemed like eternity, Blaster finally spoke up quietly, "Hey, 'Wave... I wouldn't tell ya to calm down, cause I know you've got to get it out, but you're gonna make yourself sick like this."

His arms tightened around Soundwave when the other's intakes started hitching so violently it sounded like he was choking. Blaster worried his prediction would come true as Soundwave slumped in his arms, his frame starting to overheat. His sobs gave place to shaky vents, his trembling refused to cease even for a nanoklick.

"Soundwave, ya okay?" Blaster frowned and felt the other tape decker shook his head slightly against his neck cables.

"Dizzy." came the quiet answer, causing Blaster to unfold his arms from around Soundwave. He put a hand around his shoulder instead and guided him to the bigger berth and sat him down. The Autobot hurried over to the energon dispenser and got a cube before returning to the trembling Decepticon. The energon was soothingly cool as Soundwave drank all its contents slowly, Blaster sat beside him with an arm still around his waist.

"Easy." Blaster told him and put away the empty cube once Soundwave was finished, "Better now?"

Soundwave nodded and wiped away the coolant from his face. He felt his counterpart lift his chin, gently forcing him to look into those bright blue, accepting optics.

"Let me see your face." Blaster asked him quietly, "We're alone. I want to know everything you truly feel."

After a moment of hesitation, Soundwave finally retracted his visor as well, baring his face fully to the other dual-spark. Amber optics still glistened with coolant and a little dull, but at least he was calming down and his erratic ventilations evened. They sat wordlessly for a while before Blaster broke the silence again.

"Is it because of what Ratchet said?"

Soundwave looked down, as if suddenly ashamed of his breakdown, "Partly." he answered, his tone soft, "Because I knew he was right."

Blaster heaved a great sigh, "Well, maybe he was right in that you could have called us sooner, but still, he shouldn't have started to argue, he should have known what happened to Rumble would affect you and shouldn't have added to your growing distress. And I guess, as you said, you would have called had things been different, right?"

Soundwave again just nodded, a familiar trait that Blaster knew for stellar cycles. The usually stoic mech tended to lock himself up even more if things went wrong around him and if he felt he could have done something to prevent it. It was apparent for Blaster that he was taking all the guilt to himself, no matter how much it consumed him.

"I know that no matter what I say would stop you from blaming yourself." Blaster started, "And knowing you, you did not let yourself rest in these past cycles. You bottle everything up, you piled up a huge burden on yourself it was inevitable you would break under it. You just simply reached that breaking point, but now that you're through it, it can only get better. Ya just... need to rest it off. I guess you haven't even been rechargin' properly."

He sighed when Soundwave just shrugged. He helped him lie down on the berth before climbing up on its other half and faced his former friend.

"You know, Ratch didn't mean it. His purpose wasn't to make ya more upset, he's just worried, too. He cares for his patients, no matter who they are, it's just... well, you know his temper. But, you know, he can understand how ya feel, since he's a creator himself."

Soundwave finally looked up at him with surprise, a spark of curiosity shining up in his optics.

"The Dinobots." Blaster answered his unspoken question, "Wheeljack was their main creator, but Ratchet helped a lot and took care of them. It was him who inspired Swoop to study to be a medic." the tape decker smiled a little, "So, I just wanted to say that he will do everything in his power to make Rumble better. And you can talk to me... or just cry or hug or anything you feel like doing. I'm here with ya."

"Blaster... you are very... forgiving."

A chuckle vibrated through the Autobot's frame.

"We promised, remember? When it's about our lil' guys - when I'll have them, too -, we're not enemies. They come first. And anyway... I bet you have been taking care of everything and everyone here. It's time someone took care of you."

That broke the last of his defenses, and again Soundwave found himself burying his face deep within his fellow dual-spark's chest, the downpour of coolant and the shudderings of his body beyond his control. Blaster did not push him away, instead folded an arm around him to pull him closer, to let him know that it didn't matter, he didn't have to be the unflappable Decepticon, the almighty shadow of the night for anyone, especially not for Blaster.

"Jus' cry it out." the usually gleeful Autobot encouraged him, "And don't think you're weak because of this. You've been many things throughout the stellar cycles, but never weak."

Soundwave allowed a small smile to his lips before he curled in on himself, content for the moment in that welcoming embrace, tearful face pressed against the glass of Blaster's chest compartment, Soundwave let the light hum of the other tape deck's spark lull him into a much needed sleep. A joor later, when Ravage entered their quarters, he found them like this; Soundwave deep in a fluxless recharge, next to him Blaster, who hardly dared move in order not to wake him. He only raised a hand to hold one digit in front of his mouth in a gesture to Ravage to stay quiet.

After a moment of hesitation, Soundwave's eldest creation gave a curt nod and left the room, the peaceful, faint waves coming from his creator reassured him that he was alright with Blaster. They had known the other dual-spark, back before the war and though it came to him as a bit of a surprise, in the end, Ravage could understand that Soundwave would calm down with him. He wouldn't let them see him like this anyway - it was Blaster's privilege, and his alone.

He understood. Ravage sent a short message to his fellow creations not to disturb them, let Soundwave have his time to collect himself - he needed it.

"Is Wheeljack coming?" Ratchet asked whoever was standing close, never looking up from his task. After finishing wiring the batteries to Rumble's circuits and cleaning him out, he was now back on his berth with forehead plating open, Ratchet positioned a thick needle above the protoform.

"Yes," it was Perceptor who answered him, "and he's bringing the deradiator."

Things went smoothly so far. Hook had come back, somewhat calmer now, and went to aid Scrapper in watching over Astrotrain; the Lightning Bug had been disposed of, and, upon Megatron's order, set to be destroyed. A weapon the warlord held high hopes for what seemed like a long time ago, when in fact it had been mere days since their journey to Antilla. Now, that hopefulness turned into hatred and, maybe, a little bit of guilt. After all, he wanted to bring the Bug back to Earth to destroy the Autobots at all cost, destroy the ones who were now helping them without judgement.

Life sure had a way to throw everything upside down.

"Good." Ratchet nodded and stabbed the needle into Rumble's protoform, just above his optics. The cassette was still in induced stasis and Ratchet wanted to wake him when he was finished - he needed to see how much of his sight he would gain back. And how he generally felt. They all had to endure their condition for at least one more day until all the radiation could be cleared away and their scientist team could come up with a cure.

And, though Ratchet never let his concentration wander from the task of clearing away the clog from Rumble's neural lines, he caught on glimpses of the conversation that went back and forth between the three mechs now at Starscream's berth. Shockwave had come back, too, the glare he recieved from Thundercracker and Skywarp made him shut his vocalizer and now he relayed what Starscream told him through their comm. to the others. After all, Starscream and Skyfire were astrobiologists and Perceptor had a fascination for the organic life here on Earth and thus started studying them since he arrived with Skyfire.

The Autobots, strangely, did not seem angry upon seeing him - the two scientists even invited him to join in their discussion, though his expertise really did not extend to organic microbes. What Starscream had let him learn and do was clearly not enough, but despite that, they did manage to make a breakthrough, and the first step towards finding a cure had been taken. The Lightning Bug was no longer in the repair bay, and the Autobot mechanic Wheeljack would shortly arrive to help further.

Shockwave could not do much, but make himself believe that what little he did and was doing now would save Megatron. After all, it was all for their leader. Not about him.

"So, you excluded all these organic chemicals that are normally used for disinfection, and you also say they did not react to chlorine?" it was Skyfire who asked the question that Ratchet caught.

Starscream's berth had been raised slightly to help him sit, though his intakes were turning a bit shaky again. Nevertheless, he nodded carefully; even though the drain was cleaning his throat, it did not help the urge to cough.

"Starscream started with what is normally used against iron bacteria," Shockwave spoke the Seeker's words, "since the microbes' nature is similar to them. He then tried more general and stronger compounds, but the mutation made them resistant quickly. Chemicals stronger than these might do more damage than good to the Cybertronian body."

"Creator Ratchet," Swoop's close, quiet voice made the medic glance up, "him Rumble shaking."

"Yes, I see." Ratchet murmured as he looked down at the small, trembling body, "He's cold. No wonder, without energon. His thermostat had failed before we came, and his systems are no longer fighting the disease. Though it's a good thing he's shivering; it means his sensors are still reacting. I'm almost there..."

"Maybe something more complicated?" Skyfire's voice again, "You said their cell walls were like fungal walls. That's their only protection. If we could find something that can get through it or dissolve it altogether..."

After a moment of hesitation, Shockwave spoke, "He asks if you mean a fungicide. A natural compound, maybe?"

Skyfire nodded slowly, "Well, there are... bacteria and plants that produce toxins that can kill off fungi-... Starscream?"

"Let him lie back down..."

"Done." Ratchet said with a sigh and slowly pulled the needle out of Rumble's protoform and looked up at the young Dinobot with a small smile. "Swoop, would you close the wound? He doesn't have repair nanites now."

With that, Ratchet finally straightened up and walked up to Starscream's berth. The Seeker was venting deeply and held his head, optics offline. Skyfire never left his side and Perceptor wore a worried frown while Shockwave was now back by Megatron's berth. "Can I help?" Ratchet asked, looking over the Decepticon air commander.

Hoist looked up at him, "No, thank you. A dizzy spell, and he's overheating."

"Like all of them." Ratchet muttered, but then turned back to Rumble. Except him. The mini-con was still shivering and the old medic felt a pang of guilt when he looked out to the window and saw that Soundwave and Blaster were no longer there; however, Rumble's twin Frenzy now stood there close to Skywarp - he noted the purple Seeker kept a hand on the cassette's shoulder - with an expression that could be a mixture of fear, curiosity and hope. Ratchet heaved a great sigh and turned to the only Constructicon who was still there and tending to Megatron at the moment.

"Scavenger," he called to him quietly, "can you tell me where can I find a blanket?"

Scavenger's optics widened in surprise and he stammered telling him where to get one from. Ratchet turned to the glass one last time to gesture to Frenzy to come inside before walking back to Rumble. Swoop had just finished patching up the small wound and Ratchet covered the once-purple mini-mech with the warming blanket just as the other Cassetticon arrived, EM field eagerly wrapping around his brother, trying to find a reaction.

"How's he?" he asked quickly, not even turning to the Autobots.

"We'll see shortly." Ratchet replied as he gently turned Rumble's head to the side to reach the back of his neck, opening a small panel just at the base of his head, "Come on, kid. Show us if it worked."

"Perceptor?" Skyfire's gently spoken question brought the other 'bot back to reality, "you've been quiet."

Perceptor shifted his gaze from the space shuttle to Starscream. The Seeker still looked like he was about to purge, he was clutching Skyfire's hand as if afraid the Autobot would be gone if he let go. He looked so bad, so terrible, it was hard to believe this was the proud air commander of the Decepticons, the fastest flyer on Cybertron who had proven his agility and strenght in many battles. Starscream was a fighter, in all senses of the word, but he truly looked like he was fighting a losing battle.

"Just thinking..." Perceptor finally replied, his voice quiet and he took a step closer to the two Vosians, "Wheeljack and I have been working on an artifical substance... an element that we managed to stabilize. It reacts with razon gas and keeps it in liquid form."

"And how can we use it?"

"When we saw it cleared away all discolourations on the containers, we... tried it on one of Sparkplug's devices and saw it acted as an anti-corrosive agent."

Skyfire's optics shone up, "Can it be used on Cybertronians?"

"Inside and out?" Hoist added hopefully, but Perceptor raised up a hand.

"We haven't tried yet. It was just an idea." He fell silent again for a moment, "We'll see what it can do with Wheeljack, once we get back to base. And it won't kill the microbes, at least I don't think so. Just clear away the rust."

"It's still something." Skyfire smiled down at Starscream, "I'll come up with something about the microbes, Star. I promise you that."

He recieved a dazed smile from the Decepticon, it seemed he did not have strenght for anything more. But it was enough. Skyfire knew he could still understand everything, his mind was clear and sharp as ever, and he also knew Starscream would trust him with continuing his research. He was probably the only bot the Seeker would have been willing to give it all.

Starscream felt calm.

It seems unfinished... because it is. The other part will come soon (hopefully). A tiny little review?...