Author's Notes: Happy holidays and happy new year everyone! I hope everyone had a very festive time and have big plans ahead.

Trigger Warning for later in this chapter. Towards the end in fact, there will be a brief depiction of torture. It is not graphic, but it is present. Ye be warned.

Aaaand on that uncomfortable note! Let us begin and catch up to what our crazy kids are up to! Oh yeah, right about the time everything was going wrong. Hooray! Feel free to drop a comment and share what you think!

Rhea sat in the lobby outside the principal's office. She found herself ending up in this chair more than she was in class. She could swear the seat was starting to mold into the shape of her butt. At least this chair had padding, unlike the metal torture device she had to sit in attached to her desk back in class.

She fumbled, eyes wandering about the dark office. The middle-aged woman seated at the receptionist desk occasionally glanced at her past her glasses, shook her head in disappointment, then got back to her paperwork. Rhea just sunk further down into her chair.

She heard her dad sigh inside the principal's office, and that was even with the door almost closed. "You're right, I guess I don't get it," and she could hear the snarl in her dad's tone, "You said the bullying would stop, yet here we are. And to top it off, my daughter's the one in trouble."

"She's here because of her tantrums," the principle reminded her dad.

"How many doctors do I have to parade in here to have you get she isn't throwing 'tantrums!' It's a damn medical condition! And it's made worse by those gremlins that sit next to her in class! She is going to have a meltdown if they scream in her ears!"

"We've offered to move her to the special needs class," the principle reminded with a huff.

"Yeah, and then the teacher was the one bullying her in that class," her dad hissed.

"According to your child. Mrs. Andrews is a fantastic teacher and has been in charge of the special needs curriculum for over ten years."

"Sure, a great teacher, who made sure to teach my kid all sorts of racial slurs she didn't know before going into that class, by throwing those slurs at her," Her dad snarled. His angry tone made Rhea's skin itch. She scratched her arms. Her mom wasn't around to notice and stop her. "My wife is in and out of the hospital, I can't be called every day to do ya'lls job. Tell the teacher to keep those little jerks away from my kid."

"The teacher has twenty other children in her classroom. It's not reasonable for our teachers to focus their full attention on Rhea."

"I'm not asking for that!" her dad started to shout, but then pulled himself back together. She was glad. Him screaming scared her, "All I ask is for my daughter to be treated with the same dignity as the rest of the kids."

"We will do everything we can. But again, perhaps a private school would benefit her complex needs."

She heard her dad snort as he collected his things, "Yeah, if I had the money for that, we would have been gone already."

Rhea quickly pulled her headphones back over her ears to give the illusion she hadn't been listening. The muffled shuffling of her dad's work boots alerted her he was standing over her. Tired and slouching, as he tended to do at this hour. He worked third shift, so two in the afternoon might as well be the dead of night for him. She pulled the headphones back off and waited for him to speak, heart pounding in her throat. This may be the time he would ground her forever.

He fought against the dark lines in his face to smile, "Want to get ice-cream?"

She just nodded, not having the energy to force herself to look him in the face. She was just happy to be getting out of school early.

"Give my well wishes to Mrs. Jackson," the principle said as he closed his office door with a defeated sigh.

Her dad didn't acknowledge that. They just walked out into the hot parking lot in relative silence. She buckled herself in, even when the metal of the safety strap burned her skin.

Her dad struggled with the ignition for a few attempts before their old car finally felt like starting. She could tell her dad was trying to catch her gaze in the rear view. She maintained her staring contest with her pink shoes. She clicked her feet together to try and get the little lights to flash. The right shoe's lights had given out a few months back, but she wasn't ready to admit it was dead, "Is mom coming home soon?" she asked at last.

Her dad cleared his throat, "Hope so. Um, we'll probably see her before they send her home again…"

Hopefully the car was up for the trip. Her mom was two towns over in the care of the new and massive hospital Rhea tended to get lost in when she wandered.

She liked to think she was a smart eight-year-old. She may not have understood the whole 'cancer' thing when she was seven, but now she was well educated. Both by her parents, and by Daniel, the nine-year-old who sat behind her in class who suspected Rhea's "stupid" problem was what probably gave her mom cancer. Daniel liked to share his fact-based opinions with her often when he wasn't licking his hand and touching her face with his slobbery fingers. The teacher insisted Daniel probably just had a crush on her and that was how he expressed that. If that was the case, then half the class had a crush on Rhea, because they all sucked.

But it would be ok in the end. Her mom would get better. That's why she was staying at the best hospital. Then they would be able to save up enough money to switch schools. But that would come later. All that money had to go to fixing her mom. She could deal with Daniel's "crush" for a little while longer.

Rhea ended up staring at her ice-cream cone, pondering the words of some of her classmates, her principle, and basically every person she met on a daily basis.

"Where do we go when we die?" she asked. It wasn't totally random. Daniel said her mom would probably die. She didn't believe him, but still, it was on her mind.

Her dad visibly fumbled. He had to put his own milkshake back into the cupholder so he could properly drive the car and answer her question. "You, um, kinda go off on a different life, I think. Maybe in space. That's where I'd go if I could."

"Daniel says mom's going to Hell, since we don't go to his church," she blurted.

"This the same little snot who gets mulch stuck in your hair?" her dad grumbled.

She nodded.

Her dad gave a sarcastic snorting laugh, "Yeah, he doesn't seem like the authority on anything."

"Why don't we go to church?"

Her dad's face somehow fell farther, "It's complicated bud. It's just not for me and your mom. You can, if you want."

"Is it because if there really was a supreme deity who created the whole universe, it would be odd if He took attendance?"

Her dad laughed even though she hadn't thought she was joking. "Nah, it's just a personal thing… You know how your mama doesn't get along with her family? It's kinda about that. Some people believe things a little too much, and it affects how they see the world, or how they treat other people."

"Like how grandma hates you because you don't believe in God? And she didn't want you to marry mom?"

"Um, yeah," Her dad sighed. Odd, was she not supposed to know about that? Her grandma left enough voice mails to make that point clear enough.

Her dad didn't elaborate further, and Rhea felt like she had to say something more, "Grandma will come around. Especially since mom is sick. She'll visit, I'm sure."

"I hope so, bud," Her dad sighed.

Rhea watched the other cars pass the window. She liked to challenge herself to guess how long it would take before another vehicle would reach a road sign before they did. She had to lick away her ice cream before it defiled her hands with sticky residue. "Mom won't die, but if she did, she would just, leave? Could she come back?"

She wondered if her dad hadn't heard the question, because he was taking a very long time to answer, "She, wouldn't want to leave us. But sometimes people have to. But, you know everyone dies eventually right? So, even if she's gone, you'll see her again someday, no matter where that is."

"I hope it's space. Heaven sounds boring. But that won't matter for a long time. She'll get better. Then we can go to the Fair together this year."

Her dad nodded in agreement, though was oddly quiet. Maybe not totally quiet. He was sniffing off and on. Maybe he still wasn't over his cold. He said he caught it from spending so much time at the hospital.

One, two, three, look at me. She could now look up and manage eye contact thanks to her mom's little rhyme they made up together. She peeked at her dad from the back seat. He was focused on the road, but in the rear mirror his tired eyes were flooded with silent tears.

She stopped eating her treat. She didn't deserve ice-cream. She made her dad cry. Daniel was right. She really was stupid.

Date: January 9th, 2020 late morning

Rhea

Beeping. Rhythmic and pounding on her brain with each blip. Her throat ached, dry like a desert wind. Was she dead? Because all she saw was white light refracting rainbow like halos above her. No, she wasn't dead. Unless she was in Hell, there was no reason for her to be feeling all this pain.

When had Shockwave's laboratory become so bright? When had it become so busy? It wasn't. She wasn't in Shockwave's laboratory anymore. She wasn't on Cybertron.

She blinked her bleary human eyes and tried to swallow around the tube in her throat. She was on Earth somehow, lying in the intensive care ward of a hospital.

What happened? Had there been a Space Bridge accident on the journey back home? Another political attack on the building Shockwave's lab occupied maybe?

Where was Soundwave? Was he ok?

"You awake?"

Jack. Her friend was seated by her bedside, still in uniform and hurriedly looking up from his phone. She stared at him, eyes pleading to tell her what the hell was going on. "Hold on," he pressed the call button on her bed, and it only took about ten seconds before a team of scrub clad doctors and nurses came flooding in. Lights flashed in her eyes; medical jargon was tossed around like a flaming rag. Someone adjusted the bed, moving her into an upright position, and then they were warning her about pain before the tube was pulled from her airways. She coughed through the tears, suppressing the urge to puke. A familiar face was among the medical staff. Jack's mother, and Rhea's sort of adoptive motherly figure. June Darby. She wore her normal serious face when she was intrenched in a medical emergency. But what had happened to her to put her here?

"You with us, Rhea? You can talk now but keep it simple. Don't strain yourself." June ordered.

It took a great deal of effort, more so than it did when she was an alien, "Where, why am I here?"

"Military hospital," Jack answered her first question quick enough, "But you don't remember?"

"The test, just ended…" She reported against her scratchy throat.

June looked to Jack for some sort of explanation. "Her Cyberformation," he said.

Interestingly, June's expression soured much like Arcee's did when talking about the Cyberformation. "You came back from Cybertron yesterday in a full seizure and your vitals crashing. You also coded. That means your heart stopped. You're very lucky to be alive."

Rhea just stared at her face, still not understanding why that would be. Yesterday? She had been out a whole day? But it felt like she was just in Soundwave's arms… Where was he?

"It was the test," Jack explained grimly when she just continued to radiate confusion. "I only know what Arcee said when they got you here. They opened the pod thing you were laying in and you were just gone, shaking and totally nonresponsive. There wasn't really anything they could do for you there, so they rushed you back to Earth. Then Arcee almost killed Soundwave. Bumblebee had to grab her before she lunged at him again."

She tried to process all that. Something about the test almost killed her. Her heart stopped at least once. Then Arcee tried to kill Soundwave. "It wasn't his fault though," Rhea insisted between whimpers. "This was my idea… Where is he now?" On instinct, she reached for the translator in her ear. It wasn't there. She fumbled in her bed sheets to find it.

"Arcee took it," Jack explained to stop her frantic thrashing, "She didn't want him near you, not even through that."

"I have to go find him," She insisted to them.

June gave her a stern look, the look that basically had a gravity to it, so she didn't move to get up, "Rhea, again, you are in the intensive care ward. That is the 'this is seriously bad' part of the hospital. You need to stay here until we clear you."

And waiting to be medically cleared sucked. For the next day and a half, she was in a sort of limbo, having no idea what was happening outside. Raphael, Miko, and Jack all took turns feeding her information. Then when there was nothing to learn, she hid from the pain behind the morphine when the headaches came back to say howdy.

June was her main caretaker. And that was either by coincidence or the seasoned nurse requesting it. Agent Fowler checked in too, and he was very generous with info regarding current activity.

What surprised her the most was when a recently new associate arrived, and the last person on Earth she assumed would drop in. The head organizer of the Concurrence, Shawn Berger. Shawn held one of those chocolate bar bouquets from the hospital gift shop, which he was basically trying to hide behind. But he still committed to walking in the rest of the way.

"You, um, up for a visit?" He asked awkwardly.

Rhea nodded towards the chair at her bedside. Shawn nodded, having to loosen his tie before coming closer. He cleared his throat as he struggled to find a place to put his gift. He finally settled on the bed side table, after almost tipping it over. By the time he was seated, his ears and most of his face was red. "I, sort of heard what happened. Are you ok?"

She shrugged, though didn't really have much more to say regarding her well-being.

Shawn shifted in his seat, having a hard time finding a comfortable position. He had to loosen his tie again. He looked like he was struggling to breathe.

"Was this, a possibility you knew about? About changing?" he asked finally.

"No," Rhea said with the remnants of a horse voice. She indulged the man's question despite him not really being involved. The topic apparently fascinated him, "None of us saw it coming. We still don't know what went wrong." At least she didn't. Soundwave and Shockwave may have already figured it out. But thanks to her being cut off from Soundwave (thanks a lot Arcee) she had no way of knowing.

Shawn thought hard, even rubbing the stubble of his chin. The problem was at least distracting him from his apparent feelings of embarrassment. Though he did seem to be debating with himself whether he should mention what was coming next, "It's, really none of my business. But did Sovereign Soundwave know? And again, none of my business… But it was kind of hard to not overhear the Autobots screaming about it in the next hanger over. I probably didn't hear it right, though Arcee said Sovereign Soundwave did know about the risks, and may have stretched the truth…" He was once again very clearly uncomfortable. He was probably worried about Rhea's reaction to the news.

"Oh, that. Yeah, I knew about that. It was because the Autobots were giving the testing projections trouble, but I always knew everything he did. We just didn't think it would be, this bad."

Shawn must have been holding his breath with anxiety, because he exhaled so hard, he almost collapsed forward onto her bed, "Oh good! I didn't want to mention anything I shouldn't! I just, you know what, doesn't even matter now. You know, and that's what is important. Last I'll ask though, will you keep doing it? And if so, you'll hold off until they fix whatever went wrong, right?"

Rhea managed an awkward smile in kind, "I'm assuming that's the plan. But thanks for the concern. I'll be back to work by tomorrow, probably. So, feel free to send anything from the Concurrence I have to sign."

Shawn shifted again, "Right, work… Don't worry about that. I have it covered… But I was going to catch Soundwave while he's here. Hate to bother him, during this time… Is he, around here, with you?"

Her smile faded, "No. I've heard he's been banished from Earth again by the Autobots. Or at least, one of the Autobots. I, don't know if he is still on Earth, but he wouldn't be here in the base if he is."

"I'm sure I can track him down," Shawn assured her. He stood back up. Looking a tad lost, he finally settled on sort of patting the sheets next to her leg, "Um, feel better. And, you have my number, if you need anything."

She thanked his back as he retreated from her hospital room. She staired at the open door, contemplating their short talk. She didn't usually make friends so fast… She must have done something right as she traversed adult hood.

To distract her mind, she pulled a chocolate bar from Shawn's candy bouquet.

Even with her whole human support system of established and new friends popping in and out to distract her, she couldn't stop thinking about what could have gone wrong. Why had her human body betrayed her? Was it really all because of the Cyberformation? Where was Soundwave and Laserbeak through all this? She didn't hold it against them when they didn't appear at her window. This was the Autobot base. He was probably barred from entering. But she needed to find them, and the moment the doctors released her, that was exactly where she was headed.

She did recover, and by day two she was sprung from the hospital. June brought clothes from her home, so she didn't have to wander the base in a hospital gowned. Her old clothes weren't exactly an option anymore. The medical staff had to cut what she arrived in off in their haste to save her life. She was alive, now bearing sore ribs from CPR, IV bruises, and a lingering migraine that appeared to have just become part of her new normal.

With Jack's help, she arrived across the base into the main building that usually housed the larger robotic residence. It was mostly empty now. Her time in the hospital had been so human saturated, seeing Ratchet typing away at his workstation was shocking. Not having the translator in her ear for two days also made her panicky.

The considered elderly Cybertronian doctor gave Rhea a hesitant glance, "Are you alright?" he asked after a rather uneasy pause.

"I'm fine," She assured him, knowing full well she did not look 'fine.'

He nodded a few too many times, "Um, I guess as the only Decepticon officer present, I will apologize to you, on behalf of Arcee," Ratchet said, choosing his words carefully, "She did try attacking one of the Decepticon Lords," he clarified.

"I heard about that," Rhea said, "Soundwave's a big bot, I know he can handle it. But, is he here?"

Ratchet took on a very uneasy look, "I don't know how to answer that, to be honest Rhea," he admitted.

"Arcee banished Soundwave from Earth again," Jack explained in response to Rhea's totally lost expression in face of the odd non answer. "But he is still here, just outside the Autobot base's radius. Arcee's forbidden the rest of the team from interacting with him or acknowledging his existence."

"Arcee is on patrol," Ratchet informed them. "She should be gone for another hour…" A silent meaning was hidden in that simple statement. This would probably be the best time to escape and find Soundwave.

Rhea gave him a thankful nod and headed for the door. She retrieved her phone and pulled up Soundwave's strange contact number. This wasn't a normal way for them to communicate so it hadn't seen much use.

'I'm awake. Where can I find you?' She texted.

It took him about two seconds before she received a response. But it was alarmingly simple. Just his current GPS coordinates. For someone who was supposed to be banished from Earth, he wasn't far from her current location.

Then her phone started blowing up with texts from a different non-Earth number.

'Are you still at the Autobot base?'

'Do you have all your faculties?'

'Is your human body no longer in danger of self-termination?'

'Do you need an emergency pick up to get around the two-wheeler Autobot?'

Context told her this was Laserbeak.

'Stay put. I'm coming to you. No need to make Arcee mad… Madder,' She typed before Laserbeak's next text could interrupt. She put her phone back in her pocket and started for the door.

"You're not going to drive there in your condition, right?" Jack asked.

"You going to drive me?"

Jack chuckled, "Arcee would see my phone's location headed for him and know what's up. Let's get more in on this conspiracy, shall we?"

A quick text later, the yellow and black muscle car spun up next to the building and blared on the horn. Bumblebee transformed back into himself as they both ventured outside. "You ok?" He asked her. He probably saw her wince against the harsh desert sun.

"Yep," she said.

A mischievous grin crept past his once stoic features, "Was it cool?"

Rhea sighed in relief. Good, she had allies here. "One of the coolest things I have ever done."

Bumblebee laughed as he transformed back into his vehicle form and popped open his doors for them. "You're braver than me. I couldn't imagine me doing well in a human body. It's a mind trip to think about."

As they climbed in, Raf joined them, abandoning Ratchet to finish their combined work to instead see where this drama was headed. "What makes you think that, Bee?" He asked as he buckled himself in.

They headed off into the desert, and Rhea fought the urge to be car sick.

"It's from something Arcee was yelling at Soundwave about," Bumblebee explained, unintentionally making Rhea feel terrible for her alien partner. "She thinks it should be a two-way street. Like, Soundwave should somehow transition to human? I wouldn't even know how that would work. But if it were possible, even if it were temporary, would I be able to do it? Just something to think about."

"Do we know what went wrong?" Rhea asked out loud, "About the Cyberformation. Did they find out why I almost kicked it?"

"Shockwave sort of explained it from what I hear," Bumblebee said, the shrug evident in his tone. She wondered what his field would feel like right now? She couldn't feel it anymore, and it made her uncomfortable. "of course, I already forgot all the sciencey jargon he used to explain it. Though he did say it was unlikely to happen again. Good news, right?"

"Why don't you care?" Rhea asked him. Raf turned around at her puzzled, and Bumblebee's silence around them only confirmed he was in a similar state of uncertainty. "My Cyberformation. Arcee hates everything about it. Why don't you have such harsh feelings for it too?"

Bumblebee hummed, "Well, Soundwave isn't strong arming you into doing it, right? It's for you?"

"Yes," Rhea said with utmost confidence.

"And that's why it's none of my business. Even if I did hate it, that's my problem, right?"

She nodded, and a compartment by her side popped open. Inside was her translator, still in one piece. "I took it from Arcee before she could break it and promised to keep it… We'll just say I left it lying around and you picked it up," Bumblebee chuckled.

"Thank you," She picked it up and fastened it back into her ear. She didn't open a channel to communicate with it. Soundwave was upset. She would speak to him in person. But she did use it to pinpoint Soundwave's exact location.

Bumblebee dropped her off a little distance from their target. She was somewhat surprised to see Shawn for the second time in the past two days. The leader of the Concurrence was busy talking to Soundwave, whose face was obscured, not just with his optic band, but his mouth guard locked into place under the red visor. The new mask made him totally unreadable. She missed being able to read his field already.

Shawn turned as Rhea approached them both, and he smiled at her. Soundwave retained his cold blank air behind his mask. It wasn't Shawn's presence. It was Rhea's. "It's very good to see you're better. I hated to bother your partner during such a time, but there is more political nonsense to clear up. And I'm a creature of opportunity. I swear, I wouldn't have sought him out if you weren't doing better."

Rhea stopped with a few feet between them and many yards from Soundwave. He looked like he needed space. "No worries. Thanks for the hospital visit. And the candy."

"Candy makes everything better," Shawn said with a wink and a snicker and instantly started to blush again.

"What are the political problems?" Rhea questioned.

Shawn shrugged. He didn't appear concerned, "Just lasting restrictions from the Concurrence's previous head. It's taking longer to lift them then I would like. But It's not important. I'll shoot you an email later. You both catch up," Shawn promised. He gave Bumblebee a merry wave when he spotted them down the road. Bumblebee flashed his lights back. "Thank you for your time, Sovereign. Rhea, continue to feel better," He didn't make it far before smiling over his shoulder at Rhea. "You know, I've heard plenty of nasty stories about Cons. It's either all untrue, or you lucked out and got one of the good ones."

Once Shawn was gone, Laserbeak ejected from Soundwave's stiff body and flew circles around her. 'Your vitals are still not normal. Are you well enough to be mobile?' the minicon demanded.

She pressed a hand to his beak and nodded. "I'm fine. You both didn't have to stay on Earth."

'We would have not left your side at all if the Autobot hadn't attempted to assassinate Master Soundwave!' Laserbeak insisted, 'And even after that, the unstable fool threatened to break the treaty if we remained! I insisted we fight it out-'

"I'm glad you didn't. You made the right call," Rhea promised. She looked up at Soundwave. He had since knelt on one knee joint to close the large distance, but otherwise, he was still blank. "So, talk to me."

Soundwave retracted his visor and mouth guard, and she got an unhindered look at his mournful optics. He carefully picked her up from the ground and cradled her to his chest, still stubbornly silent. "It wasn't your fault," She reminded him since he was refusing to talk. "No matter what Arcee said. This was probably just a fluke. And remember, I forced you to agree."

"It fails to matter," Soundwave said finally. His voice was just as sorrowful as his gaze, "It is done. I am stopping your Cyberformation."

Date: Present Day, September 21st, 2021 Late afternoon

Steven

Steven felt numb.

The drive home was a tiring blur. He was trying and failing to decipher Max and Oliver's cryptic words. He pushed it all from his mind. He threw the letter on the table, still folded so he didn't have to see it. He couldn't take anymore mystery or threats. Instead of sleeping, he lay in his bed scrolling through pictures of him and Rhea. Them at the beach, an officer's event, last Christmas, the State Fair… His phone's calendar reminded him to start planning for the State Fair coming up in October. Rhea loved going on a quiet day when the crowds weren't a problem, and the noise was less intense. Would she be back in time before it started?

He decided not to eat. The main reason was his worry. The second reason was he sucked at cooking. Rhea cooked. The meat she was marinating in the fridge was still there, waiting for her to return and finish it. He didn't even try; he would ruin her hard work.

He scrolled back through the years on his phone's gallery until he couldn't keep his eyes open any more.

The room was dark, or his sight was finally fading from the prolonged torture. There was more than one of them. More than one tormentor. Eyes glowing, circling the table he was strapped to. He caught the reflection of sharp metal before it vanished out of sight to pierce him.

Screaming. Was it his own desperate vocalizations, or his companion's? Their cries blurred together.

He couldn't move to fight back, to get away. Just enough room to thrash in his restraints. The dark chamber was spinning. Fluids pooling under him, chilling him to his core. It was his insides spilling out.

The pain was all he could focus on. He couldn't understand the questions asked of him anymore. Those holding the tools and inflicting bodily damage didn't care to ask many questions at this point. Their eyes were still glowing, hungry for more.

His companion stopped screaming. His companion was unconscious, safe for a short time.

The eyes all turned to him. He was still awake. They had made sure he couldn't escape into unconsciousness like his companion.

The tormentors smiled as they descended onto him alone.

Steven woke up screaming.

He mistook his blankets for restraints and thrashed against them until his senses felt like coming back. He was in his bed, in the dark, sweating and feeling ill.

He fumbled for the lamp and brought the world back into light. Rhea still wasn't there. He was alone. His alarm clock said it was 2:00 a.m.

The nightmare from two days ago had come back worse. With everything going on with Rhea and then the letter, he had almost forgotten about it until it reappeared to torment him. His mouth watered with a metallic tang in the back of his throat. He stumbled to the bathroom and managed to reach the toilet before he started throwing up. Thanks to his diet of just water and stress for the past two days, he only gagged up mucus. But it still left him dizzy and nauseous.

Hunched over and still drenched in sweat, he all but crawled into the shower. He stripped off the uniform he had fallen asleep in and sat under the water until his stomach settled. The heat from the shower felt good against the phantom pain of the nightmare. He finally got out when the water started turning cold.

Now chilled, he shuffled in a towel to get clean clothes. He managed to stuff himself into actual nighttime attire before collapsing onto his bed. It was still drenched with his sweat, soiling his newly washed flesh on contact. Now he felt like the shower was wasted. Changing his bedding would be favorable to going back to sleep and risking those nightmares again.

He glanced at the clock. Then he did a double take. 1:59 a.m.

Steven blinked hard and looked again. 2:20 a.m.

He was losing his mind, but he'd be damned if he descended into madness in sweaty sheets. He ignored the folded note on the table with the bundle of blankets and mattress cover in hand. He sat at the kitchen table drinking cold coffee as he waited for the washing machine to finish. Then the dryer. He just glared at that letter, thinking about what Oliver said. Then what Max and Oliver did and how odd they had acted. He needed to corner them again. He needed answers. He didn't sleep any more that night.

When the sun reappeared, he would get ready for another day of searching. And then to spite Oliver and his secrets, he intended to go to work. And he was sick of looking at the letter, mocking him from across the table. He didn't want it in the house anymore. He unfolded it on the way to the trashcan.

He froze, much like he had the first time he saw the message. But now, there were no words. He was holding a blank piece of paper. He blinked hard again, much like he had with the clock. But when he opened his eyes, it was still unchanged. No more warning. He had to be losing his mind.

With trembling hands, he tossed the now blank piece of paper into the trash.

Rhea

Rhea stood slack jawed. She worried she may have sustained hearing damage from her brush with death, because there was no way she heard Soundwave correctly.

But the sorrowful glint in his optics told her he was all too serious.

"You can't make that call," she stated with a glare, "This is as much my decision as it is yours. You can't just stop the process without consulting me."

Soundwave responded with the hollowest of tired laughs, "With all due respect, I am the Leader of the Decepticons, and I may do whatever I please. And I remind you, Shockwave is facilitating the project. He follows my orders and not yours, Communication's Officer."

She blinked at him in utter shock, "Did… Did you seriously just pull rank on me?"

"I did. I will not be responsible for your death. I could not live with myself if something I supervised hurt you."

'Master, please! You are being hysterical and utterly unreasonable,' Laserbeak insisted boldly.

Soundwave's glare aimed at the minicon silenced whatever else Laserbeak would have contributed to the debate. "This is my final word on the matter. The Cyberformation attempts are done."

'But!' Laserbeak whimpered, now in clear despair, 'What about her human life expectancy?'

"That will be our burden to bear when the time comes," Soundwave said, and he had no strength left to hide just how much his own words hurt him.

"That's completely stupid," Rhea hissed, "What? One setback and we are backing out of everything we've worked for over ten years?"

"Rhea!"

She stopped short. He hadn't yelled at her in anger, but the rare phenomenon of Soundwave raising his voice still startled her. His out of character tone shift matched his woeful optics. Even still, he appeared to regret the outburst, and his voice fell back to normal, "You almost died. No amount of Cyberformation could have fixed that. I failed to calculate how much of a risk this project was. As long as that risk persists, it is done."

He turned from them both and trekked off. He was seeking solitude, even from her and Laserbeak. That didn't happen often. He confessed long ago it only occurred when he was so guilt-ridden, he couldn't bear to share that burden over the Bond.

On a hunch, Rhea checked his comm over the translator the moment he transformed and flew off into the darkening sky. Nope, he cut himself off. She assumed it was the same for Laserbeak.

Speaking of her fellow abandoned friend… The minicon started to chirp pitifully. His boosters powered down and he landed like a kicked puppy into the dirt at her feet. 'No…No. But- Master, please reconsider…' He whimpered in vain. Soundwave wouldn't hear him after closing them off. When he received no answer, he deployed his data cables and wrapped them around Rhea in a desperate and grief ridden hug. Like Rhea had just received news of a terminal illness and she only had days to live. She supposed for Laserbeak, it sort of was like that. A strange ailment known to humanity as aging. She didn't wallow in that fact. It wasn't why she was making this whole transition. But she saw how clearly it terrified Laserbeak.

Rhea leaned into his grasp and ran a gentle hand over his wings. "Don't worry. I've already got an idea how to fix this," She promised him. He perked up, hope pricking in his red optics. She pet him again, "But I may need Soundwave out of the way for a decent amount of time the next time I stop by Cybertron… Can you help with that?"