Help me plan this Soundwave/Ratchet fanfiction, please for the love of Primus...
So this is a bit of a weird post, because I have part of an outline for a long ass oneshot I want to do under the read more, but I don’t know where I want to actually TAKE the story, so I need ideas, suggestions, just whatever you guys want to throw at me for what to do with this.
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Rumble injured on battlefield, drags self off to secluded location to ping Soundwave and get rescued. Damage is sever, and he’s having trouble functioning enough to communicate to the others where he is, but eventually manages to get his coordinates out.
Ratchet finds Rumble in his injured state while doing SOMETHING and hardly even considers that Rumble is a Decepticon before he gets down to try and help him, despite Rumble weakly trying to fight him off and calling him some colorful language.
Rumble sends out a frantic comm to try and warn Soundwave and the others not to come and get him, that he’s been found, he’s going to be captured or offlined outright by this medic, and he can’t really do anything to stop it. Soundwave is already on his way, and Ravage will get there even sooner than him. They ignore Rumbles warnings that they should stay away.
Ratchet is well aware of the fact that encrypted comms are being sent, and he can only assume that Soundwave is WELL aware of what is happening here, but he puts that out of his mind and sets to work on trying to stabilize Rumble there on the battlefield because Rumble is just going to bleed out there before anyone else could hope to get to him if he doesn’t do anything about it. After a few harsh words from both Ratchet and Rumble, Rumble finally stops struggling and Ratchet sets to work.
Ravage arrives and slinks in the shadows once he sees that Ratchet seems to be working on Rumble, and he knows damn well that no matter what Ratchet is actually doing, attacking while he’s got his hands deep in Rumble’s chassis is only going to lead to Rumble’s death, so he hangs back to assess the situation and update Soundwave, who is only a short ways away, on what’s happening. The bond between them all is a frantic mess of panic and worry from cassette and carrier alike.
Since Rumble is awake, Ratchet tries to talk rumble through what he’s doing to try and save his life as he works, but Rumble can’t really do much to respond with the condition he’s in, so he is mostly just talking to himself. Rumble doesn’t understand why the medic won’t shut up, but some small part of him is grateful that he at least knows what’s being done to him, and he figures that’s why Ratchet keeps talking even with no response from the cassette.
Ratchet goes quiet when he hears a gun cock and he looks up to see that Soundwave has arrived. There is a brief moment between the two where they stare each other down like they’re just waiting for the other to make the first move, but Ratchet cuts the silence by demanding that Soundwave put the gun down and get his aft over there to help him. Rumble’s got more leaking fuel lines than Ratchet has hands.
Soundwave hesitates for only a fraction of a second before he quickly lowers his weapon and makes his way over to help in any way he can. Ratchet gives instructions, and Soundwave answers any questions about the cassette’s frame type and modifications that they might have truthfully as Ratchet works to save Rumble’s life. All the while Ravage and the birds watch from cover, questioning what’s happening, trying to calm a frantic Frenzy down as much as they can, but that is proving to be quite difficult. The only thing that even begins to kind of calm him is just that Soundwave is there at Rumble’s side now, but he is NOT happy about the fact that there is an Autobot working on him right then.
Ratchet is contacted by Optimus/Prowl/Jazz about just where the hell he wandered off to, and Ratchet informs them that he’s kinda busy trying to put someone back together. When questioned about who he’s working on, he dodges the question in some way, and perhaps ends the call early depending on who he’s talking to. Maybe Soundwave listens in on that comm?? Maybe he’s too busy focusing on Rumble??
By the time they finally have Rumble in a more stabilized state, the sounds of battle have died down and it’s gotten almost uncomfortably silent, and Ratchet is getting ping after ping of mechs questioning where he is, concerned. No word of any medical emergencies that might take priority over treating Rumble, and maybe that makes Ratchet realize exactly what he’s doing. Working on the enemy.
Soundwave has only been contacted by Megatron asking where the fuck he is and why he dipped in the middle of battle. Soundwave answers truthfully, at least up to the fact that Rumble is injured. He leaves Ratchet out of the conversation. Megatron isn’t happy, but he just tells Soundwave to get back to them as soon as he can.
Ratchet isn’t too happy to let Rumble go in the condition that he’s in, but Rumble is finally at least stable enough for Soundwave to take him and transport him back to the Decepticon base, and it’s clear that they both need to get back to their respective factions before someone stumbles across what they’re doing. Ratchet is pretty sure he could defend himself from the scrutinization of the Autobot higher ups if they had any qualms about him helping a defenseless and dangerously injured mech, but the lower ranked mechs would certainly TALK and who knew what problems that would bring up. He gives Soundwave some rather strict instructions on how to handle Rumble (much to Soundwave’s annoyance) but hands the cassette off to him and tells him to take his runts and scram before either of them get caught.
Soundwave takes Rumble (who was in and out of conciousness) and starts to leave, but stops and looks at the gun in his other hand. He turns back towards Ratchet, who’s back is to him as he quickly gatheres up his tools, and he raises the gun to aim at it. Ratchet stills when he hears the gun begin to power up.
All at once the cassettes begin to yell at Soundwave through the bond, demanding how he could even THINK about taking Ratchet out after he just saved Rumbles life.
Soundwave lowers his gun and leaves, Rumble tucked against his dock.
* * *
When they meet next, it’s face to face in the heat of battle, and Soundwave has the upper hand. Ratchet’s already been in one rough scrap and taken some damage himself, and Soundwave stumbles upon him while he’s trying to make some quick field repairs so he can get back out there and help more bots. Soundwave is in about as good a condition as he can be, and he has his weapon in hand at the ready, so when Ratchet looks up and sees him, he figures he’s finally run out of luck.
Soundwave contemplates Ratchet for a brief moment, not immediately raising his gun towards the medic like he had last time, because he can see that Ratchet is hurt, and SOMETHING makes him stop and consider his course of action. This time there’s no cassettes yelling at him not to do it, to spare the medic, but he can FEEL all of his cassettes are alive and well, Rumble included, and that’s only thanks to Ratchet.
They have a stare-down for a few tense moments, before the sound of the battle (some sort of explosion or order from Megatron in the distance) makes Soundwave look up from Ratchet. Ratchet tries to reach for his weapon again while Soundwave is distracted, but Soundwave looks back down to him before he can.
Much to Ratchet’s surprise though, Soundwave turns from him and walks away. Nothing is said or spoken between the two of them through this whole encounter, but as Soundwave is walking away, Ratchet realizes that because of what he did for Rumble, Soundwave would look the other way just this ONCE.
* * *
The scene begins with Megatron and Soundwave overlooking a live survailence together of 4 captured autobots currently being restrained by Thundercracker and Hook, one of which is Ratchet.
Soundwave is unfazed when Megatron entrusts the task of interrogating and extracting information from the Autobots to him, and really Soundwave sees no problem in what he’s going to have to do. It’s work he’s done before, it’s work he’ll do again.
He starts with Ratchet, because he happens to be the highest ranking Autobot that they were able to capture, so he would be the most likely to have sensitive information stored on his processor compared to the others. Soundwave does happen to know that Ratchet is FAR from an easy target to work with.
The cassettes seem ready to go in with Soundwave and help with the interrogation as they have plenty of times before, but this time Soundwave instructs them to wait, that he will handle Ratchet alone. They’re all a bit confused by this and immediately start trying to question Soundwave on why they can’t help, but he doesn’t give them an answer. He goes in alone, and Ratchet honestly doesn’t look too terribly surprised to see him.
Ratchet is handcuffed to the wall, and he has been trying to see if he can break out of them in any way while he was alone, but he stops struggling as soon as Soundwave comes in. There is a short silence before Ratchet begins questioning Soundwave, asking what he intends to do and how fast he thinks he’s actually going to be able to pull off whatever hack he clearly intends to do. He knows Prime and the other Autobots are going to come and get them out of this situation, that’s not a question, but it’s just a matter of whether or not they will make it in time to protect sensitive information from the Decepticons.
Soundwave of course doesn’t answer him, so Ratchet tries a different approach, asking where the cassettes are, and Soundwave just assures him that they’re keeping watch.
“Lemmie guess, it’s nothing personal, right?”
Soundwave sets to work, just a LITTLE surprised that Ratchet isn’t struggling against his restraints, or against his touch when he sets to find small ports on his helm so that he can make the proper connections he needs to begin an assault on Ratchet’s firewalls. That’s where the real fight would be and they both know it.
Ratchet knows he won’t be able to get any information about what Soundwave (and perhaps Megatron) plans to do with him and the other captured Autobots, so he lets his attention wander elsewhere. If he can’t get Soundwave to divulge anything, then perhaps he could at least throw him off his game by questioning some of his previous actions.
He asks Soundwave why he didn’t kill him when he had the chance.
Soundwave, to his own slight horror, realizes he doesn’t know which time Ratchet is talking about.
There are a few short moments that Soundwave doesn’t do anything, doesn’t even move as he seems to freeze mid search, and through the bond he can feel his cassettes questioning what’s happening, what Ratchet could have possibly said or done to stall Soundwave like that.
Megatron ALSO questions what Ratchet said, as he is still watching through the surveillance feed. Soundwave is pulled from his stupor when his leader begins to question what the Autobot said, as an inkling of doubt for his most trusted officer’s loyalty. Soundwave is quick to assure Megatron that what Ratchet is saying is well out of context. Megatron at the very least seems to accept this answer.
Soundwave, with his telepathic abilities, can sense Ratchet’s nerves, that he IS worried about what’s about to happen and is likely buffing up his firewalls and preparing for whatever attack on his system is coming. He can also feel the total, utter DEFIANCE all but radiating from Ratchet. Ratchet isn’t afraid of being hacked or anything else Soundwave night do to him, but he is afraid of letting of letting Optimus, his friends, and the Autobots as a whole down if Soundwave broke through his defenses before the others could come to help.
* * *
A scene in which (on earth) Soundwave and Ratchet end up trapped in a cave as a collapse seals them in. It happens mid battle, and neither bot are sure that anyone is aware that they’re in there. Soundwave tries to make contact with the other Decepticons, and Ratchet tries for the Autobots, but neither can get through.
Ratchet realizes he doesn’t know where his weapon has gone, and Soundwave lets his cassettes out of his dock. He’s outnumbered, and not for the first time he figures that if they want to kill him, he’s at a clear disadvantage and he might not make it out this time. Not that he would go down without a fight, but 1 against 5 is hardly a fair fight, even if four of them are casseticons.
Much to his surprise though, Soundwave doesn’t order them to attack like he expected. Soundwave instead instructs them to begin pulling rubble and rocks aside from the entrance so they can hopefully dig their way out. All of the cassettes take a look at Ratchet, but they seem… oddly relaxed with him there, and don’t seem to regard him as much of a threat. Ratchet finds it odd, but he’s not going to push his luck and ask WHY they don’t want him dead right then, not wanting to change whatever decision they had seemingly already made about him.
Besides, more hands helping just means that they have a better chance of getting out of there faster. After a moment of steeling himself, Ratchet doesn’t need to be told to get up and get to work alongside the Decepticons.
They all work in relative silence for a short while, though Ratchet can FEEL the encrypted comms going back and forth between Soundwave and his cassettes but he tries not to think about what they could possibly be talking about too much, instead just focusing on trying to clear enough rubble away that they could all escape.
Frenzy goes to pull a rather large (for him) rock away from the pile and things begin to shift. Rumble and the other cassettes are able to quickly duck out of the way, but Frenzy is caught so off guard that he doesn’t have the time to as a huge chunk of rubble comes right at him. Soundwave tries to snatch him up and pull him to saftey, but before he can, Ratchet has his arms around Frenzy and is shielding him with his much larger frame. The rubble hits him hard, and Ratchet can feel his shoulder get half torn off in the process, but he is able to keep Frenzy from getting hurt.
Frenzy isn’t too happy about being held by an autobot, but after he quickly squirms away from Ratchet and is calmed, he seems as stunned as the others do at what just happened. Soundwave recovers first as Ratchet pulls away and goes to sit down once more and have a look at his shoulder as best as he can, see what he can do to make an on the fly repair if possible. He orders his Cassettes to continue on and be EXTRA careful this time, before he makes his way over to Ratchet.
Ratchet is of course surprised to see Soundwave approach him as he’s trying to adjust his shoulder to an angle he can work on, and he pauses, almost telling him to leave him be and that he will help as soon as he’s able to. He doesn’t though as Soundwave kneels down beside him, and asks what tools Ratchet has on hand. Ratchet seems skeptical, not sure why Soundwave would want to assist him, and not being quite sure just how much medical knowledge Soundwave actually had. Soundwave was a communication’s officer, a spy, and an engineer, that much he knew.
Soundwave surprises him though by stating that he had worked on injuries like this before, that he was almost always the one to do his cassette’s repairs when necessary, and that Frenzy had sustained one very similar to this before in the heat of battle. Multiple times.
Soundwave doesn’t touch Ratchet right away though, simply looks the wound over as Ratchet goes back and forth internally on whether or not he really wants to risk letting a Decepticon, especially one as crafty as Soundwave, have a go and messing with any of his internals even if it was just his shoulder.
Rumble grunts as he hefts a large chunk of rubble off to the side after breaking it off with his pile-driver, and even if Soundwave went to go assist them it wad clear it would take way too long to clear out with just them. If Soundwave could help him get his arm back to at least a functional level though, then perhaps they could really make some decent progress.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ratchet agrees, and Soundwave sets to work on removing some of the exterior plating on Ratchet’s shoulder so he can have a look at just how bad it is before attempting to do a makeshift field repair on the medic. Ratchet does his best to guide Soundwave and assist in anyway he can, and thankfully Soundwave doesn’t seem to get irritated by the back seat doctoring, but he clearly hadn’t been lying when he said he had dealt with injuries like this before because Ratchet didn’t actually have to direct him terribly much.
A small silence comes over the cave, and Ratchet watches the cassettes continue to work on removing what rubble they can as Soundwave makes the repairs. He gets a bit lost in thought about how much of a bizzare situation this actually is, because Soundwave was his enemy. A notorious, dangerous one at that, and though it was clear Soundwave was only helping him because it would only increase the chance that he and his cassettes would make it out of here online. That was the only reason, right?
Ratchet’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he speaks up, asking why Soundwave continues to ignore the massive target that Ratchet knows he has on his back as the Autobot’s CMO, and how much of a massive blow it would be to the Autobot cause if he was lost. Ratchet didn’t exactly have an ego about it, but they were painfully short staffed on mechs who could do the life saving repairs that a lot of them often required after battle. If he was taken out, it’d likely only be a matter of time before mechs started dropping like nano-gnats, even with Ratchet’s efforts to train others in his field.
Soundwave doesn’t respond at first, instead keeping his focus on the repairs he was doing until he pulled back and hands whatever tools Ratchet had lent him back, and instructs him to move his arm and make sure it’s going to hold until they can get out of there. Ratchet doesn’t expect an answer to his question after that, but he does as he’s instructed and it’s certainly an improvement. He can’t exactly think of anything more he would have done if their positions were switched, and he can’t help but wonder if Soundwave has some proper medical training, or if he’s simply been forced to learn from experience. Either possibility seems equally likely to Ratchet.
Ratchet is starting to push himself to his feet when Soundwave speaks up, surprising not only Ratchet, but the cassettes as well. He tells Ratchet that there aren’t many mechs who would look past the insignia to help a member of the other side when they need it most. He is a Decepticon through and through, but it is nice to occasionally be reminded that in the end they are all just cybertronians. It’d be a shame to get rid of such a bright reminder.
Ratchet doesn’t really know how he feels about that at all, and it doesn’t seem like Soundwave cares how Ratchet feels about it because he is already going back to helping his cassettes with the rubble. The cassettes are giving Soundwave a bit of an odd look, but they don’t say anything and after a few moments they get back to work trying to dig them out of the cave. They’re gonna be able to make a lot more progress with the bigger mechs back in it too, but Ratchet is left in a bit of a surprised stupor at first. He can’t help but think that three times is a pattern…
That said, he’s not willing to risk prying deeper into that, because like Soundwave said, he was a Decepticon and Ratchet wasn’t really willing to find out how much patience he had (though he suspected quite a bit considering he put up with the Decepticon High Command). Instead, Ratchet rolled his shoulder once more before getting up and assisting once more with clearing the rubble. Thankfully, it isn’t long after that when they begin to hear muffled chatter and orders being given from the other side, and they double their efforts to escape before finally light breaks through, and Ratchet sees the familiar, comforting face of Optimus greeting him.
No sign of Megatron or the other Decepticons anywhere though.
When Ratchet glances back at Soundwave, the cassettes have already returned to his dock, and as soon as the other Autobots notice Soundwave, guns go up and stay locked on the Decepticon TIC. Soundwave freezes, and for a brief second nobody seems to know what to do because they have a high commander cornered and outnumbered by a long shot. Soundwave looks between the bots, and it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking, but just from his stance it doesn’t look like he’s even going to try fighting against the situation.
Ratchet hauls himself out of the hole first though and shakes his helm, telling Optimus that the battle is over, and he knows that Optimus isn’t about to order the death of an unarmed mech. Soundwave is hardly a mech that could ever really qualify as unarmed for a number of reasons, but Rachet knows damn well that doesn’t matter to Optimus. Mentioning that needs to check the rough patch job Soundwave did on his shoulder ASAP also does wonders to soften Optimus’ spark.
Unfortunately, the other Autobots are louder than Ratchet, more steadfast in the fact that they have the chance to take Soundwave into their custody, to sway the tide of war in their favor, and that they need to do so. Optimus knows this as well, and though he wants to simply look the other way, he knows he can’t. He orders Ratchet to report to First Aid, and for Jazz and Red Alert to take Soundwave into custody. Everyone there can see how upset Ratchet is by this descision, even if he schools his expression quickly and follows the orders he’s given, and nobody knows for sure why.
Soundwave watches Ratchet as he is placed into stasis cuffs, firmly locking his dock as he does so (much to the annoyance of his cassettes) and sending a quick, encrypted comm. to Megatron to let him know what’s happening. He does not get a response.
* * *
Soundwave is sat in a cell, his processor aching horribly for a number of reasons. The foremost reason being the long winded complaining and raging from both Rumble and Frenzy from within his dock for pretty much the entire duration of their transport into the Autobot holding cells, though they had long since gone quiet since Ravage had scolded them, and they had realized just what kind of an effect they had been having on their host.
Hours later though and they still haven’t been let out of the dock though, and Soundwave can feel the fact that all of his cassettes are starting to get antsy. They wanted out, even to just wander around the cell and stretch their limbs, but Soundwave knew that was just asking for trouble, for them to be hurt…. He couldn’t allow that. He had full confidence that if he let them out, they would easily be able to work out a quick and effective route for escape, even from inside the cell there, but knowing how to get out didn’t amount to much when nearly every mech on base had their optics firmly locked on them. Without the element of surprise there wasn’t much they could do but wait.
As far as he was aware though, Megatron hadn’t even made an attempt to contact him yet.
While they wait, the Autobot Higher Ups are deep in a rather heated discussion about what they should do with Soundwave now that they had him. The uncomfortable conversation of whether or not they should, or even could, hack into his processor for what would undoubtedly be crucial data and information that could be used against the Decepticons, and it ends up being a bit of a headbutting war between the mechs there at the meeting. Ratchet isn’t thrilled by the idea to begin with, because hacking into a non-consenting mech’s processor is not only a terribly violating experience, one that strips a mech of pretty much all of their agency, but with a mech like Soundwave it would be a risky endeavor for Ratchet as well, and he would be the one doing the hacking in this situation. All in all, hacking into a mech was something that was to be left as an absolute last resort in Ratchet’s opinion. Thankfully Optimus agreed with him, under usual circumstances, but having Soundwave in their custody was a unique situation, so the option wasn’t taken straight off the table, much to Ratchet’s displeasure.
Other options are discussed as well. Everything from using Soundwave as some sort of bartering chip against Megatron (It was no secret to anyone that Soundwave was Megatron’s favorite), to the possibility of just talking to Soundwave and seeing what information they could get out of him naturally (that one got a laugh out of Jazz), to the discussion of what would happen if they took the very drastic measure of offlining Soundwave, taking him out of the equation entirely. The utter devastation it would have on The Decepticons… would it be worth it?
It leaves a couple mechs with their tanks churning, shifting uncomfortably in their seats, but Ratchet just stands up and makes his way towards the door, not even wanting to humor the conversation anymore. Optimus calls after him, as well as a few other mechs in the room, but he ignores them, and Optimus stands to follow after him, telling the others that he would be back shortly.
When Optimus catches up to Ratchet, he reaches out to grab his arm and stop him, but Ratchet yanks his arm away and just turns on heel to glare up at Optimus. It’s been a while since Ratchet’s famous temper has been turned on Prime, but it’s still an intimidating sight all the same, and Optimus of course knows exactly why he’s upset, and very much so believes he has the right to be so.
Ratchet quickly goes into a tirade about how not only would it be wrong of them to take Soundwave offline because they’re not fragging Decepticons, and even if killing Soundwave would be benificial to them in the end, it wouldn’t be right, but it also just wouldn’t be something that Ratchet could sit by and let happen on a base level. His damn coding wouldn’t let him, and he knew that First Aid and anyone with half a processor would agree with him. Optimus gives a tired sigh and tells Ratchet that he’s right, and that he agrees with him, but Ratchet just snaps at him and tells him that Optimus should have shut that conversation down the moment it began. They could handle this situation without considering murder.
After that it’s Optimus’ turn to (much more calmly) call out the flaws in Ratchet’s thinking and remind him that they ARE at war, and that things like this do at time have to be considered. He then lets Ratchet know that this isn’t even the first tine that taking Soundwave out has been brought up between himself and a few of the other higher ups, this is just the first time that Ratchet has heard about it, almost entirely because Optimus knew that it would get this sort of reaction out of him. Soundwave is, and always has been, a high priority target for many of the Autobot soldiers, and the only difference here is that Soundwave is unarmed, to an extent.
Ratchet is, of course, pissed off by this and waves Optimus off, stating that no matter how high of a target Soundwave is, he knows Prime isn’t about to kill an unarmed POW no matter what the others say. He informs Prime that he’s going to go and check on their prisoners, because they’ve been left in that cell for hours with no fuel, no medical attention, and no information since they had arrived, and turns to leave. Optimus watches him go, before heaving a sigh and contacting Red Alert, telling him to meet Ratchet at Soundwave’s cell so that he’s not going in by himself.
Ratchet is a little annoyed to find Red Alert waiting for him outside Soundwave’s cell, but he doesn’t comment on it, instead just telling him that he’s just bringing Soundwave a bit of energon and checkin him for necessary repair jobs that need to be done. Red Alert makes a bit of a face at the fact that Ratchet is wasting energon on a Decepticon, but the look that Ratchet gives him lets him know that he better not say a damn thing because he is so not in the mood to put up with that right now. He also stops Red Alert from going inside the room, telling him to wait outside and watch through the cams, but keep them muted. There had to be at least some semblance of patient confidentiality here or Ratchet was going to blow a gasket. Red Alert looked like he wanted to put up a fight about it, but he could tell Ratchet was dangerously close to losing his patience, and he didn’t really want to be on the receiving end of whatever that would bring about, so he begrudgingly agrees, and Ratchet steps in alone after Red Alert has got the cams up.
Soundwave is surprised to see Ratchet come through the door to his cell, and really that just shows him how much his processor is giving him trouble if he can’t even pick up the mechs standing right outside the door. He watches as Ratchet approaches, eyeing the cube of energon in his hand, but he doesn’t move to take it straight away when it’s offered out to him. Ratchet holds it out to him for a minute before telling Soundwave that he doesn’t have to drink it. He can give it to his runts instead if he wants, or if he really doesn’t want to take it, Ratchet will just have it himself. It’s well past his refueling time anyway, and the energon’s certainly not going to go to waste.
Soundwave stays still for a moment more before reaching out and taking the cube. He looks it over, before finally his mask retracts back with a click, and he tests the energon with a sip. Ratchet’s more surprised about the fact that there’s nothing particularly remarkable about Soundwave’s face that he can see (lower half, anyway, his visor is still in place and who’s to say what’s going on under there) than he is surprised about the fact that Soundwave actually retracted his mask in the first place. He doesn’t stare though, and Soundwave’s mask clicks back into place in short order after that, the cube hardly touched.
Seconds later, Soundwave finally unlocks his dock and calls his Cassettes out, ejecting each of them until they’re all stood between himself and Ratchet, who takes a half step back when the minicons come out, but they look more tired and a bit confused than eager for a fight, all of them looking up to Soundwave rather than giving Ratchet more than a glance. Ratchet watches as Soundwave wordlessly hands the cube off to Frenzy, and he can tell that they’re communicating through either some sort of encrypted comm. link or possibly through a bond, but a few moments later the cassettes move to the side and all but huddle together as they begin refueling, passing the cube between each other and letting the cassettes with beast forms take their turns drinking as well.
There’s something about the gesture that strikes a cord in Ratchet when he sees it, because he has his suspicions that Soundwave would have gladly taken that cube for himself if his cassettes weren’t present or in need of fuel themselves. He watches the cassettes for a brief moment before clearing his vocals and turning his attention fully to Soundwave for the moment.
He asked questions that he hadn’t bothered trying back in the cave, keeping it professional and really only wanting to know if there were any injuries that had been sustained in the battle that he hadn’t known about before. They had all seemed to be in fair condition considerin they had been able to haul rocks and boulders away from the cave in, but Ratchet had long since learned just how far a mech could push themselves when they needed to, well past the point of injury and breakage.
Soundwave kept his answers short, denying that any of them needed any medical attention, and Ratchet can all but feel the telepath prodding at the most outer barriers of his processor. He’s not sure what Soundwave is looking for, but he quickly bolsters his defenses and continues on as if he hadn’t noticed the attempt. It was a strane feeling, the sensation of someone else’s conciousness prickling at the back of your mind, and Ratchet decided he didn’t much care for it. As soon as his defenses went up, Soundwave’s posture changed, from leaning forward in an almost curious manner to stiff, restrained and pulled in, almost like he was trying to make himself look a bit smaller. It was likely an instinctive movement, useful when dealing with aggressive Decepticons out for the blood of anyone unlucky enough to catch their attention. It wasn’t so useful in an empty room with a single other mech and a camera.
After that Ratchet catches Soundwave up to speed on what’s happening, the fact that they are in discussions now about just what to do with him, and what Soundwave’s options are. Soundwave continues to regard Ratchet in silence as he takes in everything that is being said to him, and a few of the things that Ratchet says does get some nasty looks from the cassettes as well, but when Ratchet finally finishes with what he has to say, there are a few tense moments of nothing between them all. Ratchet figures that maybe he just isn’t going to get anything else out of Soundwave, and to be fair that’s really all he had expected coming in here in the first place, and he felt he had done his job checking up on them since it didn’t seem like anyone else was going to anytime soon.
Ratchet just puts his datapad away and mutters something about needing to go back and see what arguments had bubbled up in the meeting while he had excused himself (assuming they let him back in there in the first place) before he turns to leave Soundwave and the cassettes to the cube. Before he can take more than a step or two, there’s a hand on his arm, grip strong and keeping him from leaving. Soundwave has leaned forward once again, seemingly on impulse, and grabbed him much to Ratchet’s surprise. He can already hear Redalert going off through the comm. he still has open with him, starting to call for help and likely going for his gun just on the other side of the door, but Ratchet tells him to cool it before Redalert can get it open, and he calmly turns back to Soundwave, who very quickly realizes what he just did and lets Ratchet’s arm go.
“Query: Termination possible?”
It’s a weird question to Ratchet, mostly because of Soundwave’s voice modulator which doesn’t allow for any real inflection of his voice. He can’t hear any fear or concern behind his words, but just like that all optics are locked on Ratchet. Soundwave’s face is still hidden behind it’s visor and mask, but Ratchet can feel just how closely Soundwave is watching him. The cassettes are all looking to him as well, expressions caught somewhere between aggression and concern, ready to fight for their lives if they had to just like they all were, but they held back.
Ratchet could have told them about what was actually being discussed in the meeting in detail, how termination had been brought up as a possibility, but not only would that likely have counted as a breach in confidentiality from a faction standpoint, he just didn’t even want to entertain the idea anymore than he already had.
Ratchet denies it, quickly, firmly. He doesn’t know what exactly is going to happen with Soundwave and his cassettes, but he knows that as long as he’s still online, they’ll remain that way as well, assuming they don’t give them a reason to need to take them offline anyway… He doesn’t expect thanks, he doesn’t even really expect a response after he assures Soundwave that he’s not going to be offlined as a POW. What he really doesn’t expect though, is what Soundwave says next.
Soundwave asks Ratchet why he is ignoring the massive target on his back.
There’s something about the way it’s asked that gets to Ratchet, using his own words on him, makes him want to scoff and blow the question off and just leave.
“I don’t think you need to ask me that, Soundwave.”