Optics everywhere had turned to her. Sona felt her spark stop beating in her chest. She found Elita's familiar bright blue optics and met them, fear beginning to grow and begging to spill over. Autobots who hadn't seen the newcomer yet watched her peculiarly. She dared to let her gaze flick to Optimus' for a moment, but he was working with Elita to try and pull the bots' attention away from her. Her view of him shifted a bit from his act of kindness, but his attempts weren't working well.

"Hey, folks – we've got a couple more tunes for you, if you want 'em," Jazz announced, trying to draw the crowd's attention back. Sona realized that she didn't actually know who had said her name; she had assumed Jazz, but the voice hadn't sounded like his. It had certainly been loud, though, and had rung clear through the crowd. The crowd slowly but surely started to turn back to the band, but many kept shooting confused glances back at her.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She surged her way through the crowd and towards the stage; they parted to let the mysterious bot through.

That's what she was to them: a mystery, surrounded by wonder and pensiveness. She didn't want that; keeping a low profile seemed to, unfortunately, draw more attention to herself than actually calling for attention. So she'd play along, oblige with whoever's wishes it was to single her out. She couldn't let that fear constantly control her; what would Jetfire think? He wouldn't want her to be fearful, quiet, and closed off like she had been all those years before.

She tried to embrace their curiosity, play along with it, but fear continued to pulse through her as she made her way onto the stage. The band members were watching her, uncertain if they should go on. Jazz still held the microphone, and Sona held out her servo for it. He gave her a small smile and pressed it into her palm.

She turned her helm around and surveyed the confused crowd. No doubt they saw the fear in her wide optics, detected her extreme discomfort and heard her spark pounding in her chest. But there wasn't a way to turn back now, not without shrouding herself in more mystery. She turned back to the band and asked Jazz, into the microphone, "Know any slower songs?"

His expression was as full of confusion as the audience's, but he decided to play along and nodded his helm. "Sure."

He took over another bot's spot at the keyboard and started to play a slow, beautiful ballad. Recognition pulsed through Sona; it wasn't the same song she had played so much before, but it was still a familiar one. He looked up at her for confirmation, and she nodded her helm and turned to face the crowd.

The microphone was gripped tightly in her servo. It took everything in her not to let it shake. The song was approaching the first verse, but she couldn't fight the fear. All those lit-up optics, watching her, sent more shivers through her in a single moment than she had ever experienced in a lifetime.

Faces that were unfamiliar, that could be judging, that could rip her apart with words the same way Shockwave's experiments tore up her body and mind. But then she remembered Jetfire – a floor below this one, but there nonetheless. What if he was up here? Or what if he could hear her through the floor? It wasn't a guarantee, but just in case…she did like to impress him, didn't she? She thought about that time as younglings, playing the keyboard for him. Other times where she sat and just sang. She helped him harmonize with her a couple times, but he never seemed to enjoy it as much as she did. But he had loved listening to her. His optics lit up at the sound of her voice or instrument, and she couldn't help but admire the attention.

That was what drove her on – drove her to look past those glowing, watchful eyes. The first verse came, her lips parted, and she sang.

"And it's like this, right?" A funny-sounding chord reverberated through the room, and Jetfire winced. "Oops, not that." A much-better-sounding chord played instead, and Jetfire nodded his helm in satisfaction. He met Sona's gaze, and she laughed a little and nodded her helm, too.

Sona hadn't hesitated to take up Soundwave's offer to teach her to play. He taught her skills about singing, too, although with his monotone voice he wasn't much of an example. Sona was quickly picking things up on her own, though, and had already demonstrated an excellent understanding of the voice and vocal technique. It helped that she already knew what each note sounded like, so she could teach herself when Soundwave wasn't there.

She had been using her breaks from her cell to come down to Soundwave's chamber and practice her music. Soundwave seemed thrilled to have a little pupil, although he was excellent at masking it to everyone else. Jetfire accompanied Sona almost every day; the older seekers refused to let him leave every training session for her, so other times a random Vehicon guard would take over. Sona didn't say much about the other guards – only that they weren't as friendly as Jetfire. That made him feel better, for some reason.

The past couple days, Soundwave hadn't been around. They knew he had other duties to attend to as the Decepticon Communications Officer, but that didn't stop Sona from wishing he was around more. Jetfire sensed her disappointment every time they entered his chambers and he wasn't there; he always left the door unlocked, though, for her to come in and practice.

Weeks went by, then months, then years, and he still wasn't there. Sona played a sadder song on the keyboard and then tried it out on a couple more instruments but didn't keep it up for long. She hopped down from the still-too-tall seat and went to visit Ravage, who lay curled up on top of Soundwave's berth.

She pet him behind the audial receptors, and he purred happily. Buzzsaw, one of the bird-like Minicons, swooped down from a perch, and she pet him, too. He squawked happily, and soon enough, Laserbeak had joined him, as well. Jetfire couldn't help smiling at the way the Decepticon Minicons had quickly taken a liking to Sona.

Rumble and Frenzy – the more mechanoid-appearing Minicons – were also scattered around Soundwave's room, currently wrestling each other. Everyone jumped from a bang! in their corner of the room, but relaxed when they realized the two had just knocked down a datapad. They stopped wrestling and put the datapad back up, before coming to join Sona, Jetfire, and their other cassettes.

Sona looked hopefully over at the door, but it was still slid closed. Rumble followed her optics and shrugged. "He's busy. All the stuff with the Autobots and – you know – a Civil War."

"Hm," Sona responded, clearly disappointed. But she suddenly perked up with curiosity. "What's it like out there?"

"Green. Organic. Dirty. Kinda smells," Rumble responded.

"No, I meant – the Autobots. What…are they like?"

Rumble and Frenzy exchanged an uncertain glance. Rumble shrugged again. She turned to Jetfire instead for an answer.

He met her optics, wide with curiosity, hoping for some sort of answer. It couldn't be easy within these walls, Jetfire supposed, but he wasn't sure he should share anything with her. Even though Jetfire was still regarded as a youngling among the Decepticon troops, treason was something taken very seriously in times of war. The punishments for it were disastrous and deadly. And despite his kindness towards Sona, Soundwave was an extremely loyal Decepticon soldier; Jetfire could see him turning in his own Minicons if he thought their actions were traitorous.

Although he himself had felt an extreme loyalty towards his side, Jetfire couldn't deny that his loyalty was increasingly fleeting. Sona had been the first spark of his new feelings, but the little he had seen of battle was erasing his sympathy to the Decepticons. The Autobots seemed more…morally-inclined. Sure, they had committed atrocities just like the Decepticons, but their cause seemed more noble. It wasn't all about destroying their enemies in order to regain peace; it was about holding out in battle because they had to in order to keep other worlds safe.

He wanted to give her an answer, though, so he played it as safe as possible without giving away his true feelings. "They're like us. Sort of. Same species, but…opposite side."

She seemed to sense Jetfire's hesitancy to elaborate and dropped it. She nodded her helm in understanding, then sat in thought for a little while. Her expression grew worried as she continued to think, and Jetfire reached a servo out to her to try and pull her out of it.

"Everything alright?"

She nodded hesitantly. "There's another test I'm supposed to do today. A new one. Something that involves manipulating my emotions. I don't know what it is, but Shockwave has all this physic patch equipment out. I don't know what to expect."

Jetfire met her gaze, a sympathetic look on his faceplate. "I'm sorry. I hate S—" He quickly caught himself. "I hate seeing you have to go through all these tests all the time."

"It's because of…whatever's in me." She held up her servos, referring to the powers that coursed through her. "I don't even know what it is, or why it's there, but it's powerful. And I hate it…"

A small sob shook her body. She gripped herself tightly, clearly trying to suppress emotions threatening to spill over. Jetfire stayed by her side, let the feelings pass.

She looked right into Jetfire's optics. Her blue-violet ones reflected their individual colors in Jetfire's. "You know, sometimes I wish…sometimes I wish I wasn't…" She trailed off, unable to go on, and buried her face in her servo. Another sob racked through her small body. Jetfire finished the sentence in his own mind and shivered at the dark thoughts clouding her processor. He gently held her other servo and just sat there, next to her, as she failed to push back more and more sobs.

When she got control of herself, she kept her dimmed optics trained to the floor. She gripped her processor for a moment and winced in pain. "That thing Shockwave gives me before these breaks—it doesn't make me feel the greatest. You know how it is." She winced again, then shook it off.

"We do have to head back," Jetfire said sadly. The Minicons that had been watching them stalked back to their own places in the room. The two younglings stood up and walked out the door, letting it slide loudly shut behind them.

"Jetfire, can I just—" Before he could respond, Sona had grabbed ahold of him and pulled him into a tight embrace. He startled at first but then settled into it, gripping her small body against his. A few more sobs racked through her, but she didn't let go, didn't try to push it away this time. She hugged him tighter.

They stayed that way for an awkwardly long time, but Jetfire couldn't bring himself to let go before she did. He wanted to say something to comfort her, like things would be alright and they would get better. But he knew as well as she he couldn't guarantee that. So he settled for a warm embrace instead. "You're the reason I'm still holding on, you know," she said, burying her faceplate in his shoulder. "I think Soundwave gave up on me, but you didn't, and that – someone's here for me. That – that's what I need. That's what I'll always need. Even when the day comes…" Her voice caught in her throat as she sobbed again. "Even when – they get what they want. When I'm nothing to them anymore. At least I had someone who made me happy for some time."

Jetfire felt his spark physically breaking. When she was nothing to them…

But who could help? If Jetfire was a second past the time Sona was supposed to be back in her cell, guards would swarm them and kill him. The time he was meant to be back overlapped with the time Shockwave's serum wore off, too; there were virtually no loopholes where Sona could use her powers outside of being freed. And the fortress was too heavily guarded to get past without being shot down.

Then he remembered the Autobots, how a part of him wished to defect to their side. Maybe they could help stop the Decepticons and free Sona. But what if they couldn't? There were more security precautions guarding her than the weapon and energon stashes. If the Autobots raced in in a rescue attempt, they would surely suffer countless losses. And then Sona would truly be alone, still a prisoner but without even a friend.

He didn't want to take that chance. He had to stay here, for her. Sona would have done the same for him. "I'm right here. I won't leave; I promise."

Sona finally pulled away, her optics dimmed in sadness. She opened her mouth but seemed to struggle with the words. Jetfire nodded his helm in quiet understanding, and she smiled gratefully. The two walked down the hall together, side-by-side, through their dimly-lit prison.

The beginning to the end of the song passed by in a blur. She kept her voice as steady as she could, but she was certain it wavered several times. But it was done now; perhaps she had untucked some of the mystery surrounding her, or she had created even more, but either way it was done.

The crowd waited as Jazz finished the last couple chords. Sona tensed, scanning their optics. Most were surprised: in a good or bad way, she supposed she'd find out soon.

Silence had gathered over the crowd as the last notes of the song echoed throughout the room. The echo died down, leaving a brief moment of silence behind. She feared the silence was going to last when – suddenly – the crowd roared. Cheers, screams, shouts of joy, echoed over each other, one wave of sound after the other. It was overwhelming, but it felt…good. And Sona allowed herself to crack a teeny, tiny smile. Behind her, Jazz and the other band members were clapping loudly, too. She smiled a little wider.

She stood in place, still gripping the microphone, unsure how to act. Nothing felt right – a bow or a wave seemed out of place. So she stood there, letting her gaze pass over the large crowd's helms.

She hadn't realized someone had dimmed the lights until the stage spotlight turned off and the room lights turned on instead. The Autobots' faces weren't shrouded in darkness anymore, and Sona could see the excitement shining from their faceplates. She turned back to Jazz, unsure what to do.

He was still clapping and cheering but stopped to talk to her. "Wow, Sona, that's—I mean. None of us knew you could sing. I know you haven't been here long, but wow—" He was clearly searching for the right words, and Sona anticipated the next question. "I mean—where—how—did you learn? Did you? I mean—" She gave a small laugh before he made questions about her past too awkward.

"I've always…understood music. Someone did teach me – when I was still there. But…I'd…well…" Now she was the one struggling for words.

"You don't need to share the details if you don't want to. But – wow – it's a gift. Primus gave you something, alright."

"I…thank you." Part of her wanted to elaborate, share the joy music brought her with someone else, but the other part didn't want to get attached to this place. She wanted to get out of here with Jetfire, but she wasn't sure how long that would take. And trust still didn't come easy. Instead, she said, "Do you know who said my name? Before this?"

He shook his helm. "I'm sorry about that, whoever it was. You didn't deserve to be put on the spot like that. But I'll find 'em: drag 'em over and make them fess up and apologize."

Sona let out a small laugh at Jazz's determination. "You don't have to do that. I know everyone's curious about me."

"Some of 'em are certainly nosy," he said, laughing. Sona smiled back. Then she surveyed the bustling crowd. "Is it too early to head back to my room?"

"Nah; head back if you want. Just push past bots if they block your way. See ya around."

Jazz waved to her, and she gave a little wave back before making her way off the stage. Most of the crowd had dispersed and gone back to their own little groups, but many were still watching as she made her way off the stage.

She slid between bots, trying to keep her helm down. A few applauded and complemented her as she went back, and she tucked her helm deeper in embarrassment. She only glanced up to make it back to the elevator.

She had almost made it when a pink femme stepped in front of her – and not Elita One. "Hey," she greeted. She stuck out her servo in a greeting, and Sona slowly took it. "I'm Rosanna. You sounded…fantastic up there! I mean, wow!"

She smiled shyly. "Well, thank you." She tried to duck around to make it to the elevator, but Rosanna stopped her again.

"Sorry, I'll be quick. But like I said, I'm Rosanna, and if you ever just want to chill – sing together or something – I'd love that. If you're up for it, that is."

Sona felt a little intrigued by Rosanna's offer. She was shy as always around new bots, but she was quickly finding some that shared her interests. "Well…maybe. I'll see," she replied honestly.

"That's cool. Good to meet you – and keep singing!" Rosanna stayed put for a moment. Sona looked at her curiously, until Rosanna finally stepped out of the way and morphed with the crowd.

Sona exhaled a deep sigh of relief the moment she stepped into the empty elevator. She was exhausted from all the contact with new, unfamiliar bots. So much had happened in such a short time; she had barely been with the Autobots for a day. But she couldn't help smiling at some of her first memories of this first day – finding out she was free, singing in front of that crowd, actually talking to others…it was a lot. But it was good.

Only one thing could make it great.

A week had gone by since her initial arrival to the Autobot base. After the concert her first night - getting up and singing in front of so many bots - she had stayed mostly in her room. That day's events had been so sudden and overwhelming, she collapsed in exhaustion on her berth that night.

Everything was new and overwhelming. She needed the time to process things through, accept her new situation. So, she chose to remain in her room, only coming down to refuel. She practiced her powers and read during that time, until she was finally ready to come out.

Later that day, Sona followed Jazz past the officers' chambers until they reached the end of the hallway, leading to the cells. Oddly enough, she was more frightened to return than she had been sneaking in the first time. Maybe it was her shame in not escaping with Jetfire from the start, or maybe it was knowing another bot would be observing her interactions with Jetfire. But she failed to hide her excitement in seeing him again.

As they made their way past grumbling inmates, Sona couldn't help but be reminded of her encounter with Soundwave the last time she was in here. Memories of him – good and bad – had been finding their way to the front of her processor. Some part of her wanted them, but the other didn't want to be reminded of his betrayal. She brushed away the thoughts as they approached Jetfire's cell.

Jetfire and Sona smiled at each other when they caught each other's optics. Sona knelt in front of the cell to talk to him, but Jazz quickly brushed her away.

She stood back up, confused, as he walked in front of the door and scanned his energy signature over it. The electric bars fizzled away, and Jetfire stood inside of it, still cuffed.

She gazed at Jazz in astonishment. "I thought—"

"I'm not allowed to uncuff him. But he doesn't have to stay in there all the time," Jazz explained.

She watched as Jetfire reluctantly stepped outside the cell door. He scanned the surrounding area before coming out, though, as if afraid it was a trick. Living with the Decepticons made his worries justifiable.

Both Sona and Jetfire opened their mouths as if to speak, but no sound came from either of them. Sona quickly realized how different she had always acted around Jetfire compared to any other bot. Interacting with him like normal didn't seem so—well, normal—with another bot here.

Jazz sensed their discomfort and nodded his helm in understanding. "I'll – just step over here. There's cameras, don't wander off." He stepped around the corner, leaving Sona and Jetfire together in the hallway. There weren't any other inmates down this way, so it was truly just the two of them. And whoever was on the security camera, but no one physically there.

"So—" Jetfire began. "How are you doing?"

She giggled at the simple conversation starter; Jetfire was trying his best, but neither of them had proven to be good at small talk. "I'm…doing."

"You sang up there a few cycles ago."

"You heard?"

"So did he." He nodded around the corner, where Sona remembered passing Soundwave. She turned her gaze to the floor.

"He's not who I remember. He's not quite the same."

"You haven't seen him for a while."

"Actually…I saw him pretty recently."

Jetfire didn't respond for a moment. Then he said, "Well, that's past now. But I just don't want you to feel like I'm the only bot you've ever had."

"I'm afraid you are."

"Well, there can be more. There should be more."

Sona frowned. "You think you're not enough?"

"It's not—I—" he trailed off and sighed. "I mean, there's still other Decepticons out there they have yet to find and capture. And I'm sure it was no secret I wasn't loyal to them; I'd be blamed for your escape, a traitor—"

"Whoa. Slow down." Sona took a moment before responding. "What do you mean, you weren't loyal?"

"I never told anyone. But so many things the Decepticons did…it seemed the Autobots did it better. Had more definite and true morals. But I didn't want to risk leaving and being unable to free you, too."

"And you knew the Autobots were coming when you told me to hold on. You hid that for so long?"

"My loyalty was suspicious in the first place. I didn't want to make it worse. I'm…sorry, I feel I'm sounding selfish—"

He startled out of his thoughts when Sona clasped her servos around his still-cuffed ones. "That's not selfish. I'm grateful to you. That place was as much your prison as it was mine." She glanced around the dimly-lit cells, then down at Jetfire's cuffs. "Then your prison is mine, too."

His optics furrowed, suddenly a little suspicious. "You're not…going to try and break us out of here again, are you?" he whispered.

"No," she promised. "Chances are we'll get caught again, anyway." She turned her gaze to the ground, as if she was holding something back.

"And – just maybe – it's not as horrible as you feared?" Jetfire teased.

She glanced back up at his smirking faceplate. "The tiniest bit less. I still miss you a lot. But I'm trying to settle in this place, like you said."

"That's good." Sona nodded her helm in agreement. The two remained standing for a short time – another of many awkward moments shared between them. She spotted Jazz coming back out of the corner of her optic. Both started to laugh until Sona finally let go.

"We're really bad at normal conversations," she said, stepping away so Jazz could lock Jetfire back in the cell.

He smiled as he obediently stepped back inside. "I think that's alright."

Sona was still smiling as she followed Jazz back to the top level. She was careful to avoid Soundwave's gaze as they passed his cell.