Chapter 20

Auri's helm feels glitchy as she becomes conscious. Thoughts are slow, hazy. Confusion filters through her senses. Where is the sun? Where is the sea? What are these other sounds? Who is carrying her? Who is talking?

She hasn't moved yet. Her body feels heavy and sore. Someone big is carrying her.

Things possibly aren't right.

The Vosnian speech continues, easy and conversational in tone though unintelligible to Auri, between two speakers.

Vosnian. Vos.

Seekers.

Two seekers.

Things are definitely wrong.

Alarm clears some of the haze from Auri's processor. Something loud was the last thing she remembered on the beach. Before that, there was Prowl hesitating, his wings making a conflicted motion. He was safe. She knew he was safe. She wasn't. She had stepped just outside the force shield perimeter, out of the safety. Prowl had wanted to stop her, but she'd stepped out. Why had she done that? Soundwave. Right. She'd moved toward Soundwave and stepped outside the shield. Then the noise.

The noise. Now this. The air has a metallic scent to it. The seekers are still chatting, and they are walking, one of them carrying her, his hold on her light. One hand and arm supports the back of her thighs, the other her lower back, as her helm rests on his shoulder. It's like being carried by Ironhide, but this isn't Ironhide.

Her comprehension snaps together suddenly, finally, and she kicks and hits and shoves away from the Decepticon, startling him into dropping her.

She stumbles backwards as she lands, but she catches herself against a metal wall. She presses her hand against the wall, that cold wall, steadying herself. Dizzy.

"Oy, whoa, whoa, take it easy," one of the seekers says.

"It's okay," the other one says. They're moving, forming a triangle with Auri. She's a point against the wall, and they are blocking the corridor to her right and to her left. They don't rush in on her, though; they stand there, letting her get her bearings.

The floor is metal under some sort of rubbery matting. Lights glow in the ceiling of the corridor. The air is different. She thinks this can't be real.

She looks at the two seekers, a purple and gray seeker and blue and silver seeker, and both of them look back at her with red optics. They each have the Decepticon insignia on their armor.

'Focus,' she tells herself, but she can't think. She could always think in dreams and nightmares. 'And don't scream.' Screaming is a bad idea. Her intercom is dead, and her subspace pullers are jammed. If she screams, more Cons will come, certainly, if this real, and she won't be able to do anything against them. And, if this is real, more Cons coming is the last thing she wants.

The blue seeker comes over closer and crouches down to her height, like an adult to a sparkling. She blinks at him, blinks slowly. The wall under her hand gives off the slightest vibration of a far away engine. She smells the metal of the air and the scent of his polished and armor. She senses the heat of his frame. It's too real.

"Hey," he says, his tone open and conversational and possibly meant to be reassuring, but there's nothing that could be reassuring now, nothing reassuring about being here for real. "My name's Thundercracker. It's a bit of a mouthful, so I also go by 'TC.' What are you called?"

Auri shakes her helm. This can't be happening. She…

The purple seeker chuckles in amusement. "Like she's gonna go for that line, glitchhelm," he says. "Look, femlette, we're not gonna hurt you. At least, we aren't planning to and don't particularly want to," he revises. He reminds her remotely of Sides. Talking without thinking quite enough and then backtracking to clarify. But with an accent clearly from Vos.

Sides. Subspace jammers. She has to hack them. Sides and Sunny had told her that the subspace jammers most Cons used were usually cheap run-of-the-mill things, and they'd taught her how to hack through them. She has to try now. She needs her weapons. She needs a plan if this is real.

"Oh, like she'll take your word for it," the blue seeker scoffs at the purple one. "It is true, though," he tells Auri.

She stares at him, keeping her expression confused and incredulous as she focuses in on the small devices attached to the armor at her wrists.

"We have absolutely no intention of hurting or harming you," he continues. "We just… eh, well, Soundwave has been giving us a bad time since he got back from your base, and we got the impression that maybe there was some friendship between the two of you, and we were thinking maybe his mood would mellow a toward us if we brought his little friend to see him."

Soundwave. They're taking her to Soundwave? She forces herself to keep focusing on the jammer, untwining its codes instead of thinking about her former guardian. They could be lying.

"That's all," the purple seeker said, putting his hands palm-upwards. "No Bot-Con war stuff, no harming of innocents. Just you being reunited with the big blue - mech." Clearly he'd had a different word in mind.

Auri shifts her optics from the blue one to stare at the purple one, still working at the jammer, unraveling its codes. "The… the one I saw on the beach?" she decides to say slowly. Playing slow on the uptake was usually a good delaying tactic. And chatty mechs always liked to explain things. "That… that blue one?"

"Yup," the purple seeker said, cheerful and matter of fact. "Though, that was just a fine holograph of him to draw you out so we could drop in and scoop you up. Pretty convincing, wasn't it?"

Auri nods slowly. "So… you… did a holograph decoy… and when I stepped out… you… you… uh…"

"I teleported in, knocked you out, and scooped you up," the purple one supplies. "Easy as anything."

"Oh…" She breaks the last line of code in the subspace jammers. Looking at the two seekers with better attention now, she can see that they are a little uneasy. The tension is subtle, but the mirco-expressions in their wings are clear enough. And her processor has cleared a bit more. This is real.

"Not so easy is sneaking you back on board and getting you to Soundwave, though," the blue one says, his tone a little meaningful. Auri looks at him. On board. He'd said "on board," as in… a ship…

"Things could get smelted if other Cons find you here, so if we could move along and get you to Soundwave sooner, that would be better," he explains.

"That's understandable," Auri says, making a little shrugging motion with her wing in an effort to hide the little tremor she feel starting through her frame. A ship. With Soundwave. The ship. The Decepticon ship. "C-carry on then."

Both seekers halfway smile in amusement and then look at each other for counsel. The blue one gets to his pedes, towering again.

"You… uh," the blue one chuckles slightly awkwardly as the red optics turn back to Auri. "We can't really just let you walk about freely, you see."

Auri gazes up at him. She has her weapon selected and her plan of action mentally sketched out in case this turns worse than it already is.

"So, one of you lead ahead of me, and the other follow behind," she says, keeping her tone light and certain in defiance of the fear that is swirling around in her spark.

The purple one shrugs slightly as he moves forward. "Yeah… that's a little better, but-"

"Don't touch me," Auri orders as he starts to move a hand to reach for her.

He is amused and chuckles lightly. "Um, we're the captors here, if you haven't noticed," he says, and then he reaches again.

Auri shoots his hand in an instant, using her stun-blaster.

"Fraggit!" He jumps back in surprise and grasps his numb, immobilized hand with his other hand. "The frag? You shot- You- you can't do that on a Decepticon ship!"

The blue one just stands there chuckling. He is holding a stun-blaster of his own now, but he's not pointing it at Auri; he's just holding it in case of need.

"Frag you, TC," the purple one says, a little outraged when he sees his companion's mirth.

"She did say not to touch her," the blue one says with a grin. "And I thought you said you put jammers on her pullers."

"I did! I… didn't I?" The purple one's optics flick toward Auri's wrists, and she holds one up to show the ineffective device. "Well, slag."

The blue one chuckles again. "Lead the way, Warpper."

"You lead the way," the purple one says, using his good hand to pull the middle finger of his immobilized hand up and hold it toward the blue one.

The blue one holds up both hands and wriggles his fingers with a smirk. "Need both hands for grabbing if she decides to scamper," he says. "You lead."

The purple one eyes Auri, looking annoyed. "This plan worked a whole lot better in my helm." He holds up his useless hand. "How long's this gonna last?"

Auri shrugs. "About an hour."

"Great! One hour, and then-"

"Oy," the blue one interrupts. "No harming."

The purple one huffs. "Right. No harming."

Auri eyes him.

He smiles and draws an X across his chest. "Cross my spark and hope to never frag again."

Auri eyes him a little harder, frowning slightly. What?

"Fate worse than death for him," the blue one says with a snort. "Now come on. We need to get Fem blue optics out of the corridor before someone sees her, so move it, Warp."

"Fine."

The purple one moves ahead, and Auri nearly stumbles as she moves to follow. Standing still, she hadn't realized that her legs had gone weak with fright, but they'd done just that. They feel shaky to walk with now, unsteady, not the legs she's used to. Not the floor she's used to. Ship floor.

'It'll be okay,' she tells herself, running some cooler air through her system to settle it. They'll take her to Soundwave, and he'll get her back to Prowl and all her bots. It'll be all okay.

She glances up over her shoulder at the blue seeker following her. He's not crowding her, and there's something a little reassuring about that. She still feels shaky though. So shaky. This is an actual Decepticon ship. The majority of the earth-habitant Decepticons are within the walls of this vessel. With her.

"Well, hello, Gorgeous!" the purple one says, his tone heavily flattering, thicker than over-processed sweet oil, as he comes to a halt at an intersection. Auri feels a little sick at the sight of another Decepticon, this one a tall, powerfully-built femme with sharp red armor and both car and helicopter kibble. Her very stance says she has command and clout and nothing in her will yield, least of all to a mech like this purple one.

"Call me that again, and I will transform you into a wingless eunuch," the femme nips back smoothly, the purple mech not worth enough for her to put full bite into her tone. The authority in her voice is enough.

"Wow, okay," the purple one says, and he chuckles in an attempt to diffuse the authority with mirth. "Let's negotiate some better terms, though. You are more than welcome down there, but I prefer to remain-"

"What is that?" The analysis in the femme's pure red optics chills Auri to the core as they flick over her from pede to helm. Auri hid her blaster behind her back the moment she saw the femme, but those optics slice, and she feels transparent.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," the purple one says. "Just a little peace offering for Soundwave."

The awful red optics shift from Auri to the purple one.

"She was his little pet Autobot or whatever," the purple one explains. "Figured he'd be in a better mood if he got her back, you know."

The awful red optics flick back to Auri again for a moment before flicking back to the purple one as he speaks.

"Could… could you not mention this to anyone, like, ever?" the purple one asks, his tone completely serious now. "It'd be a lot of trouble if… y'know, others heard about this."

The femme contemplates this, eyeing him coolly. "Don't ever speak to me again unless it's in the line of duty, and I won't mention it," she says after a moment.

The purple one opens his mouth and then shuts it and makes a small bow of acquiescence. The femme walks past them and on down the corridor.

"Primus," the purple one murmurs. "Primus and Unicron."

"I'm impressed," the blue one says, chuckling a little. "Very impressed you agreed to that. And so quickly, too."

"Hey…" The purple one shrugs. "I've always known I'd never get a chance with her, so… I wasn't losing much. I can still look and dream, though. Can stilllllll look and dream." He shrugs a second time and then starts to walk again.

Auri can't move. She cannot move.

"Hey," the blue one says gently.

Auri feels her entire frame start to shudder. She's really on this ship. This ship. All the Cons. All the Cons. On this ship. Another could appear at any moment. Megatron could appear at any moment.

The blue one gently removes the blaster from her limp fingers and pushes it into her subspace for her. Then, carefully, so carefully, he picks her up as if she were a tiny sparkling.

"It's okay now," he says in what Auri knows is supposed to be a soothing tone. "That's just Shatter." His sparkpulse is calm and steady as her cradles Auri, holding her lightly against his chest as he had before. "She's something else, but she won't tell about you."

"She's vicious and glorious," the purple one says in worshipful tones as the blue one walks beside him, carrying Auri. "Fueled by honor and power. The epitome of confidence and strength and-"

"Yeah, yeah," the blue says drily. Auri tells herself to not cry.

"Can't you just imagine what it would like to be carnally united with that much femme?" the purple one sounds slightly delirious and entirely lustful.

"Uhhh… too much?"

The purple one sighs with long-suffering. "What are we going to do with you, TC… Where's your… your sense of fulfillment?"

A chuckle rumbles softly in the blue one's chest. "It's not on Shatter's berth, I can tell you that much," he says drily. "She might have been exaggerating about removing your wings, but I don't think the eunuch part of her threat was totally idle."

"Yeah, no. Not after she sliced off Hacksaw's finger for groping her."

"Mm-hm."

That seemed to be the end of the matter for a single moment before the purple one started up again.

"What a move, though!" he said, his tone admiring and even reverent. "I mean, what absolute justice. And you know he's gonna think twice before groping any other femmes, so she's truly done everyone a favor."

Another quiet chuckle rumbles under the blue chest. "I'm sure you'd be less delighted if you were on the receiving end of her justice."

"Since when have I ever groped a femme without her consent?" the purple one asks, sounding a little affronted. "I mean, a free or Con femme; prisoners don't count."

Auri is trying to keep absolutely still, but these words make her shudder involuntarily.

"Maybe change subject," the blue one says lightly. "Eh?"

"Wh-? Oh, oh," the purple one says, his tone changing. "Oh, no way," he says, sounding entirely revolted, disgusted. "I am neither a pedo nor a Praxophile, little one, and you're going straight to Soundwave. I am not about to get handsy with you. Unicron. Primus."

"Why don't you tack on some earth deities, too, for good measure," the blue one teases.

"You're hilarious, I'm sure," the purple one says drily.

They go on, teasing each other, mocking, joking. Auri keeps choking back her fear, her horror; she silently begs them to hurry up and get her out of sight, turn her over to Soundwave so he can take her back to her bots and away from the entire ship of Decepticons.

After what seems like an eternity, they come to a halt at a door, and the purple one taps at it. Auri stares at it, wordlessly pleading for Soundwave to be there. They could have been lying about everything. Soundwave might not be there; they might have-

The door opens, and tears of relief well up in Auri's optics at the sight of Soundwave. A tiny sobs escapes her vocs, and Soundwave takes her from the blue one in an instant, his strong arms wrapping around her, protecting her, cradling her against his heavy armor.

"What happened?" his voice has a dangerous edge under its monotones.

"We lured her out with a holograph of you," the blue one said. "And then we picked her up and brought her to you."

Soundwave's sparkpulse is faster than Auri remembered. His touch is reassuring, but there's something sharp, dangerous in his energy.

"That is all?" he says, and Auri hears the two seekers shift.

"Well, we met Shatter in the hallway, and the praxlet seemed more scared after that," the blue one says. "She agreed not to tell anyone, though. -Shatter did. That's everything."

Soundwave steps back and shuts the door, closing out the two seekers and the whole ship of Decepticons.

"Did they harm you?" he asks Auri softly, moving across the room. Everything harsh and sharp has gone out of him now, and Auri relaxes.

"They didn't," she says, barely managing a whisper. "They… they were decent." She sniffles, her optics stinging with more tears of relief. She halfway giggles. "Well, the purple one wasn't very decent in his thoughts about Shatter, but… they were decent to me."

Soundwave seats her on his desk and tenderly wipes a soft cloth below each optic to dry her tears. Then he caresses her helm soothingly, brushing his fingertips over the armor with a reassuring touch. She's safe now.

She blinks back the rest of her tears and ventures to look up, trying to smile at him to let him know that she's okay now that she's with him. She's still shaky, though, trembling from the memory of how Shatter had looked at her and from the mere notion of being on the enemy's ship.

Slowly, Soundwave sits down at his desk and then gently lifts Auri down to settle on his lap, cradling her, and she settles against the familiarity of his armor, listening to the thrum of his spark as she rests her helm against his chest. His spark-pulse has slowed to normal now, and that comforts her. She cycles some air through her system, cooling herself with a little sigh.

"That was terrifying," she murmurs after a few minutes of silence.

Soundwave moves a hand from her shoulder to her helm to give it a small pet. "I am sorry," he says quietly. "They acted without my knowledge or permission."

"They said I was a peace offering since you haven't been very nice to them since returning," Auri says, looking up at him. She'd meant to do two things with the look: one, to give him a small reproachful frown and two, to read his expression. But she'd forgotten about both his visor and his mask, so she accomplished only the first thing.

Soundwave tilts his helm slightly. "They have fully deserved it," he says.

"Well…" Auri has her doubts, some very small ones. She sets them aside. "I didn't deserve getting-" She breaks off with a tiny gasp of realization. "My bots are going to be worried sick, Soundwave, I have to go back immediately." Her wings fluttered in distress. "I wish I could stay a little and catch up, but-" She faltered, overwhelmed at thought of how horribly her capture would be affecting Prowl. And Praxus. And Ironhide and Chromia, the twins, everyone.

"Shh, do not cry," Soundwave says gently. "I can encrypt a short note to them so they will not worry. Then you can stay a short time before you go back."

Auri dries her tears, comforted by his words and a rub on the helm. "Okay. I still can't stay very long, though, no more than an hour. It'll be dinnertime then, you know, and it's a special occasion."

"You do look ready for a special occasion," Soundwave says, lifting her as he gets to his pedes. He settles her into his chair and moves away to work at some code while standing at a large screen.

Auri looks around his quarters while she waits, peering from her place in the giant chair. Set into a sort of alcove in one wall, there is a berth wide enough for two bots to fit comfortably, and then, outside of and partially forming the alcove, there's a set of double doors to what she guesses must be a closet. And there's another door standing partially open that reveals a shower. The next wall is short and has a few shelves and cupboards. Soundwave's computer and desk are along this other long wall, and the other short wall has just the door to the corridor. There are no decorations. Auri isn't surprised by that, knowing Soundwave, but it's a contrast to all the Autobot quarters she's seen. The other contrast is the entire lack of windows.

"Not cheery, no?" Soundwave says, coming back over to the desk and seeing her looking around.

"Not very," Auri agrees, shaking her helm. "But I guess it's functional, and that's what counts.

Soundwave nods.

"Did you get a message through?"

Soundwave nods again. He gives her helm a rub and then lifts her gently, seats himself in the chair again, and settles her back on his lap. She snuggles, feeling grateful to be with him and not the other Cons.

"Things are well for you at home?" Soundwave asks.

"Very well," Auri answers, smiling. She wishes she could tell him everything, but him being a Decepticon really complicates things. "All very well." She looks at the polish and the gems on her arm.

Soundwave takes her hand softly. "And your… friends are well?"

"They are." Auri nods, and then she smiles as she thinks of one thing she can safely tell him. "And Starlight has upgraded. She's really enjoying that, having a car mode so she can zip around on wheels."

"I can imagine." A touch of fondness filters through Soundwave's tone. "You enjoyed it, too. You'd drive laps around the room, just because you could."

Auri grins, delighted at hearing this. "What else?" she prompts.

"You were very diligent to figure out how to do handsprings and transform in midair after you saw that stunt in a video once," Soundwave says. "I thought you were going to injure yourself, so I put down blankets and said you could practice only on the blankets."

Auri smiles. "I don't remember that, of course, but I still like the move… not that I've done it in a while. Did I get the hang of it quickly?"

Soundwave chuckles softly. "Judging from how many times you landed on your car roof instead of your tires, no. And that position was too disorienting for you to transform back from, so I would have to rescue you every time and put you back on your tires."

"Oh dear." Auri giggles at the mental image this conjures up. "What else?" she asks, delighted that Soundwave is being relatively talkative, and he tells her another story of her youngling days. He tells her another one after that one, but without her prompting him to. She's drowsy now, too drowsy to ask for another story, but he tells another and another until she is deep in recharge.