Chapter Text
Fall
Megatron had not been expecting to run into Soundwave while on patrol with Twitch. Had he done so then Twitch would never have left the Malto’s homestead.
“Stay close to me little bird,” he ordered and Twitch quickly transformed from her alt mode into her root mode with a quick, snappy salute and a bright, ‘Yes sir!’.
Megatron normally would have found it amusing but a sense of dread was filling his circuits. Perhaps it was the storm gathering over Witwicky that made the atmosphere charged or perhaps it was the fact that Soundwave was not exactly one to meet others on a random whim. He knew his Soundwave well and the bot did not do anything without purpose or good reason.
The fact that Soundwave lowered himself into Megatron’s visual range was concerning. A stealth craft did not reveal oneself unless it was to challenge.
Without warning a volley of missiles headed straight for Megatron and Twitch, the stealth bomber turning quickly to intercept. There was a burst and a shriek as Laserbeak blasted himself from the bomber like a slingshot straight at Twitch.
“Take care of the Terran,” Megatron heard Soundwave’s voice grate as his ex-lieutenant swooped towards him, Laserbeak shrieking as he shot towards Twitch like a bullet.
“Twitch!” Megatron shouted but the bird cassette had already chased her away from him with a squawk, Twitch snarling back at the cassette while firing her Stun bolt at him.
It distracted Megatron enough for Soundwave to almost strike him with a well-aimed sonic blast. Almost.
“Traitor!” Soundwave snarled furiously before swiftly blasting towards him at high speed, Megatron’s bulky and slower frame barely dodging the attack.
“Stop this Soundwave! Leave Twitch out of this!” Megatron shouted to his old lieutenant but the Audiobot did not listen, instead looping around to have another run at him.
Lightning cracked ominously across the sky casting Soundwave’s stealth bomber in a threatening and deadly appearance in silhouette.
“Soundwave Superior. Megatron Inferior!” Soundwave proclaimed as he blasted the ex-warlord with another volley of missiles and rounds.
Megatron let out a shout as one of the missiles glanced across his fuselage, damaging something in the process.
Oh, why hadn’t he gone for an alt mode that had more agility and speed? He was practically a sitting duck in this form compared to the nimble and hypersonic speed of Soundwave’s stealth bomber.
Heavy rain began to fall from the clouds and a freezing wind began to howl making this encounter ever the more dangerous by the second. He’d lost sight of Twitch in the dark clouds. He needed to stop this, nothing good would come of it.
“I do not want to fight you, Soundwave!” Megatron pleaded with his former communications officer. “Please stop this!”
“Soundwave does not care,” Soundwave proclaimed coldly before once again firing missiles at him.
“This is reckless and unlike you!” Megatron shouted back. “You were my most intelligent strategist! Why are you being so foolish?!”
“Traitor! You must pay for betraying me!” Soundwave snarled. His normal stoic and unreadable demeanour was filled with rage and spite, something that Megatron had rarely ever seen from the usually calm and composed audiobot.
Soundwave had taken Megatron’s change of heart quite personally. More than the others. He could at the very least hold a conversation with Shockwave and Starscream was, well Starscream. He truly was his most loyal Decepticon. Soundwave had nothing but fury and wrath for Megatron whenever they met each other.
“I betrayed myself by twisting our cause into a dictatorship! The Decepticons had strayed too far from our original ideals! We were becoming no better than Sentinel!” Megatron argued. “Please Soundwave, this isn’t about me!”
“Soundwave was prepared to give his life for you!” Soundwave thundered. “Did that mean nothing to Megatron? Why did you not protect Soundwave as you protect Knock-Out? Soundwave was your most loyal follower for 4 million years!”
Ah. So that’s what this was about.
“Soundwave, can we please just talk-” Megatron began but before he could continue a deafening burst of thunder and a blinding flash of light shook him to his core.
Megatron watched in horror as Soundwave faltered from the lightning strike, his alt form falling away and transforming into his bot form, involuntarily ejecting Frenzy and Ravage who fell towards the ground with screams of terror. Soundwave was still dazed and confused unaware of the peril his cassettes were in.
“NO!” Megatron dove towards the cassettes, with no fear or concern for his welfare.
“Megatron!” Twitch shrieked as Laserbeak and herself watched in horror, the Ex-warlord diving far too fast towards the ground in an attempt to save Frenzy and Ravage.
Megatron did not hear them, only transforming into his bot form mid-fall and grabbing Frenzy and Ravage in his arms, attempting to turn himself around too late.
There was an Earth-shattering impact, the horrendous sound of metal being torn and a blinding white pain that tore through Megatron’s entire body before the former Decepticon leader plunged into darkness and thought no more.
Twitch ignored Lazerbeak who was flapping and squawking for Soundwave to get a hold of himself and made a beeline straight for where Megatron had crashed.
“No, no, no Megatron!” Twitch desperately called as she raced towards the crash site. She stopped in mid-air servo over her mouth as she came within visual range of Megatron’s landing spot.
Though it was less of a landing and a clear impact crater, Megatron’s limp and twisted form at its centre, Frenzy, rather dazed and still in Megatron’s grasp and Ravage perched on his chest plate looking down at the former Decepticon leader. His usually silver and spotless armour was covered in deep scratches, grim and mud, the rain not doing much to wash it away.
The smell of fuel hung in the air and to Twitch’s horror, she realised it was coming from deep tears in Megatron’s plating where energon leaked and pooled on the ground.
“Megatron!” Twitch cried out and rushed to his side. She put her arms around his neck, hugging his limp body. “Please wake up! Please!”
She was aware that she was precariously close to Ravage but the Cassette bot didn’t seem particularly interested in attacking Twitch, only observing her desperately trying to wake Megatron.
“Urgh, what happened?” Frenzy groaned as she quickly shook herself free from Megatron’s limp grasp. “Where’s the Boss? Why is Megatron- oh right.”
Frenzy quickly shook her head, her memory returned to her and returned to Ravage’s side.
“Soundwave instinctually ejected us to prevent power surge corruption. Megatron saved us from falling,” Ravage quietly murmured.
“Megatron please!” Twitch begged, ignoring the two cassettes who watched her quietly.
The two glanced at each other, not sure what to do. They considered pinging Laserbeak or Soundwave however before they had even finished processing the thought, there was a loud crash and the screech of Lazerbeak behind them.
The Cassettes turned to find Soundwave standing imposingly over the limp and helpless form of Megatron, Lazerbeak perched on his outstretched arm.
“Step away from Megatron,” Soundwave commanded Frenzy and Ravage glancing at each other before quickly scrabbling off of Megatron’s limp body and out of range of his sonic cannon.
Twitch however did not do such a thing, her arms still tightly clung around Megatron’s neck, coolant streaming down her face.
“I said step away, Malto,” Soundwave demanded once again, a loud humming sound coming from the sonic cannon mounted on his shoulder. “Step away or perish with the traitor.”
At his words, Twitch’s expression twisted into one of fury.
“You’re going to kill him after he saved your cassettes from your own stupidity?” She thundered at Soundwave, flying right up to his face and putting herself mere inches from his visor. “He saved Frenzy and Ravage from falling to their deaths!”
“...” Soundwave merely stared at her, unable to come up with a response.
“He, uh, did kinda save us boss,” Frenzy hesitantly put forward and Soundwave turned to stare at her. She flinched and curled in on herself at his stare but regardless, continued to press her point. “We would have been scrapped if he hadn’t caught us in time.”
Soundwave said nothing, only staring at Frenzy before looking over at Megatron’s limp body lying broken and wounded in his own impact crater. Bright pink energon was pooling in the muddy ground next to him and his intakes came in uneven and ragged gasps.
The Sonic cannon on his shoulder powered down with a high-pitched whine. He then turned his attention to Twitch who still hovered before him arms outstretched as if she could stop him.
“Query: why does the Terran attempt to protect Megatron?” Soundwave questioned her. “Twitch Malto does not know Megatron. The real Megatron.”
“Because he is Mum’s friend!” Twitch snapped back at the Audiobot. “Because he is my friend! Don’t act like you know him!”
Soundwave was silent for a long moment. He was silent for so long that Twitch began to think he had slipped into some weird stasis but Soundwave responded to her accusation abruptly.
“Soundwave thought he knew Megatron,” he replied and Twitch swore that the Decepticon sounded bitter, even hurt. “Soundwave did not.”
Twitch stared at him but before she could interrogate him further the Decepticon turned away from her, from Megatron and motioned to his cassettes.
“We are retreating,” Soundwave declared and the cassettes looked up at him as he strode off without another word, Ravage and Lazerbeak following close behind.
Frenzy paused, looked at Twitch, then at Megatron before joining the other cassettes and her boss an unreadable expression on her face.
Twitch watched them go, making sure that Soundwave and his cassettes did leave before turning back to Megatron who had not moved an inch since she had set eyes upon him.
She rushed back to his side, peering at his face which remained slack and motionless even when she tried to shake him again.
“Megatron, please…”
“Heard you put down the big dog,” came the snide remark from Skywarp as Soundwave returned to Decepticon base. “Well done you. Starscream’s gonna be so jealous it wasn’t him!”
Soundwave didn’t even glance back at the Seeker or her sister as he passed them, instead choosing to ignore them and press on deeper into the newly set up Decepticon base where his quarters were. He passed Shockwave on his way and gave the Scientist a quick acknowledgment in a nod of his helm.
Shockwave looked as if he wanted to discuss something with him but decided against it and merely waved a servo in his direction in response—something to discuss later. No doubt Shockwave would have questions about his rather illogical actions in chasing after Megatron in a dangerous storm but he could wait.
Soundwave needed to recharge. Being struck by lightning had caused minor damage and he needed to repair Frenzy, who had suffered a few disconnections from the impact of landing and cosmetic damage. Even if the damage was relatively minor, repairing his cassettes was highly important, no matter what Starscream insisted otherwise.
“Cassettes: Eject.”
The Audiobot commanded and the three of them quickly launched out, Ravage immediately curling up on her bed in the corner, Laserbeak settling on his shoulder. Frenzy however just stared up at him, lost in thought.
“Query: Frenzy distracted?” Soundwave asked and she nodded at him.
“Just thinking about what happened,” she explained quietly, looking to Ravage who stared back at her.
“Megatron unworthy of a distraction,” Soundwave scowled. “Sit, so I may repair.”
Frenzy paused, staring at him and frowning.
“But he is worthy of attacking in a dangerous storm and almost losing me and Ravage?” she asked, arms crossed over her chest.
Soundwave froze, Laserbeak and Ravage staring at her in shock. It was rare that one of the cassettes spoke back to Soundwave, especially bluntly.
Instead of snapping at Frenzy, Soundwave only looked away before answering.
“Soundwave miscalculated. Driven by emotion. Unwise,” He admitted. “Soundwave would never forgive self for losing another cassette.”
The unspoken memory of Rumble hung in the air. Megatron had not been a traitor then. Megatron had shown a sporadic display of compassion towards Soundwave and the cassettes when they had lost Rumble. It had been strange but welcome. Megatron had earned Soundwave’s undying loyalty after that.
Such a loyalty was not so easily broken and so when Megatron had forsaken them for those damn Autobots, Soundwave found himself lost, hurt and furious. Sure Megatron had extended the invitation to join him but Soundwave was conflicted.
He still was and he resented Megatron for it. He hadn’t planned on attacking Megatron when he had been scouting the bounds of Witwicky, he had seen Megatron a few times on his patrols but never engaged. But when he had seen that little Terran flying with him, like she was his own Cassetticon, he had become unreasonably furious. He still wasn’t sure why but it had triggered something deep within him.
“Maybe that’s why the ex-boss saved y’all,” Lazerbeak interjected, disturbing Soundwave’s thoughts. “He knew how Boss felt about us. Megatron always had this weird protective affection for Minicons.”
Soundwave gave a soft growl in response and gestured for Frenzy to sit on the bench next to him.
“Irrelevant. Megatron still traitor,” Soundwave grated out harshly. “No more discussion.”
The cassettes glanced at each other but said no more. The sound of power tools whirring and buzzing filled the room, and Soundwave delicately touched up Frenzy’s damage, his thoughts far away from the present.