Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Home Life
The words “Soundwave” and “Boss” were shouted in tandem as heavy footsteps padded across the carpet of the front door.

“You won’t believe what happened today at school!” Rumble exclaimed, elbowing his brother in the chestplate, too excited to be the first to tell Soundwave the news while Frenzy sputtered from the underhanded blow.

“Clean peds off first, then come to the kitchen to speak. No yelling.”

Grumbling, the twins pushed and tugged at each other while grabbing the microfiber towels in their respective red and purple cubbies to hastily scrub their peds. Of course Soundwave would put hygiene above everything. Hell, even Blaster and his brats can’t enter their home without scrubbing their peds before so. And if they didn’t, they would be forced wear those stupid plastic ped covers that were reserved for the plumbers. Rumble scrambled away, throwing his towel onto the ground while blowing Frenzy a raspberry to add salt into the wound, “See ya, bolthead!”

“Oh come on! You piece of-“ Frenzy shouted, stuffing his towel back into the cubby in the wall before washing his hands in sanitizer.

“No swearing!” Soundwave replied back sternly, voice echoing from the kitchen, loud enough to be considered yelling. No one would confront him about it though, that’s asking for a beating on the aft for trying to be smart.

“I didn’t even say anything!” Frenzy whined, sulking into the corridor and to the kitchen. By the time he reached his destination the good news would have been already been broken by his jerk of a brother. When he did, Soundwave’s back was faced to him, concentration on the pot over the azure flames of the stove. A sweet scent filled the room as steam entered the air. Rumble leaned over the pot from a stool, already flapping his lips like the little bastard he was about the school closing due to the carcinovirus.

“I already knew,” Soundwave merely replied without even shuttering his faceplate, “Received email at work, was allowed early dismissal.”

Rumble’s jaw fell open, indignant at the waste of his breath, “Why didn’t you stop me then since you already knew?”

“You bullied your brother. Now go put your towel back where it belongs and wash your servos.”

Throwing his hands up, Rumble grouched his way back to the front door. Frenzy’s grin stretched across his face as he replaced his brother’s spot on the stool and rested his hands underneath his face, field full of smugness.

“Thanks Boss!”

“Of course. Now tell me how was your day, without the cursing. Hungry?”

“Yeah, yeah. Hit me up with the good stuff! Can't wait to flood out school food junk outta my systems.” Frenzy continued to grin, and begun to rattle off about the eventful day he had.

The Work Place
Stanix, one of the most industrial city-states of cybertron. Known for its metal jungle of buildings and skyscrapers, it had its own kind of beauty, as many of the native say. To Soundwave, it should be known for its putrid gases from the concentrated amounts of factories in the area. Surprisingly, there were always many tourists excited to get a feel of the city life and watch the docks of Stanix load and unload all sorts of material goods. There were always opportunities here, so many bots flock here for a chance at something better.

Megatron had requested him to come here, to start up a new branch in Stanix to maximize the growing need for communications and cyber security. Of course Soundwave would follow him, wherever Megatron goes, success follows the bot. Megatron always had a sharp eye and good instinct when it came to opportunity.

Although it made Soundwave slightly claustrophobic at the amount of people in the city, he was glad most had transportation based alt modes. He was fortunate not many tended to take public transport, since everyone preferred to ride solo on the long stretches of highways that wrapped around the city. He was always surrounded by cassettes, sparklings with their creators, retired bots, and occasionally, another host mech.

Stanix gave Rumble and Frenzy a lot more friends and ways to connect with others too, it was getting difficult to keep them home, especially when their little old neighborhood was far too small and uneventful for them. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw were able to scope the city, and find more things to pipe their curiosity. And Ravage… Well, Ravage was finally not cooped up and antagonizing the twins for his personal amusement any longer, but Soundwave feels slightly guilty for the poor random bot the cat choses as his victim for the day.

Well, anyways, guilt won’t do much unless you put action into it.

He tapped away at the keyboard in front of him, humming a jaunty pop song that he remembered Rumble and Frenzy were blasting at high volume the other day.

Not for long.

“Hey Soundwave! Check me out!” A cheery laugh came from above his head.

Looking above his cubicle, little chrome grey horns peaked over the white walls of his office, bouncing up and down occasionally. Frustrated little noises came from the other side, as the owner of said horns could be heard struggling to get up.

“Soundwave, sees nothing to check out.”

“Pft, that’s cold! But seriously, watching Jazz struggle to get up on his desk has got to be the funniest thing ever. Need a lift bud?” Blaster chuckled from his cubicle, his upper body easily seen above the walls of his cubicle compared to the poor minibot across Soundwave.

“Pipe it down, Blaster! This office desk is a lot harder than I expected to get on to, ya dig? Ah can’t seem to get ma balance on this one, cuz one of the legs is stupidly shorter than tha others, no thanks to you!” Soundwave could see the blue visor’s glow narrow just barely from the top of the wall. Unfortunately for Jazz, he was the only minibot on a team filled with larger members. There were no accommodations for him. Poor thing. “Ah, there we go!”

Jazz's chin was barely able to rest on the top of the wall, but his visor beaming with bright light was enough to convey his happiness at the achievement.
“Look at it!” He pointed to his face, as a facemask slide across his smile with a sharp snap, “I got a facemask like you too!”

“I can see that. Query, why need it?” Soundwave asked, if Jazz was a little bit smaller, he’ll look exactly like one of Blaster’s cassettes.

“Ah heard it was in style, so wanted to try it out. Plus, I was told it gonna help protect me from the carcinovirus. Ma systems gotten a little weaker since I had Bluestreak, so I’ve gotta be careful.”

“Does it work?”

Jazz shrugged, or at least, tried to show he shrugged. “Ah don’t know yet, but I gotta try ma best to stay safe. No more after work pub life for me!”

“Jazz, looks better without it.” Soundwave started, “Mask covers your smile.”

Immediately, the facemask withdrew and Jazz gave him a charming grin as he clapped his hands over his cheeks, “Aw Soundwave, you are so smooth! If I hadn’t gotten engaged with Prowler, and already had a little un, I woulda been woo-ed right then and there!” His servos shot out above his head to show a shiny, sparkling diamond ring.

“Can you guys stop flirting and get to work!!! Primus, I did not come here at aft-o’clock in the morning to hear Jazz being a slut for complements!” A signature screech echoed from the other side of the room.

“Ya shut up Screamer! Ya just jealous Skyfire didn’t ask ya for your hand in marriage yet! Who wanna wake up to yer voice anyway, huh?!”

Roars of laughter burst and completely ruined the work environment as chaos emerged. Jazz’s face disappeared from above the walls as he went out of his office to duke it out in a “roasting match” with Starscream.

Soundwave sighed, office drama is not as fun as Rumble and Frenzy make it out to be, regardless he started recording.

“SHUT THE FRAG UP EVERYONE. WHY IN THE NAME OF UNICRON’S AFTHOLE ARE YOU ALL NOT WORKING?! GET TO WORK!” Megatron roared.

His family will enjoy watching this later.

Rumors
FIRST VICTIMS OF THE CARCINOVIRUS OUTSIDE OF THE CITY-STATE OF KAON
More news tonight, and how YOU can protect yourself!

“Aw scrap, please tell me it ain’t Stanix!” Blaster swore softly as he glanced at the flat-screened tellie on the wall. “This is not the time to be baiting everyone like that, man!”

The occupants of the bullet train started to murmur and shift uneasily, as conversations soon turned to discussions about the recent infectious virus originating from Kaon. The whole city-state was under a mass quarantine, the first in millennia, especially with Kaon’s officials announcing the disease with so many uncertain variables. Rumor has it that the increased amount of black vapor in the sky that came from their neighboring city-state smelting down the burned out sparks to prevent further spread.

For Soundwave, it did not change much to his lifestyle, and he did not feel too worried. If he maintained proper hygiene and followed protocol, there should be no need for unnecessary fear.

“Soundwave, I know you aren’t an old bot, but take care of yourself alright? You and your little buddies gonna need you more than ever. I heard this virus aims at mostly cassettes, minibots, the seniors, and carriers.”

“Blasters concerns appreciated, Soundwave, can take care of self and family. Blaster on the other hand, should be cleaner. Last time you scrubbed your wash racks?” Soundwave retorted back, not pleased at the jab towards his age. He has been online for multiple millennia, enough to be considered experienced and matured, but not old enough to retire, thank you!

“Haha! Didn’t mean it as an insult. Just advice from a host mech to another host mech, my dude.” He playfully patted Soundwave’s shoulder a couple times, before backing away quickly. “Forgot to do the whole distancing thing, sorry. It’s getting real weird not being all, you know, social distancing.”

“No harm, no foul.”

Who Let the Cats Out?
“Ew, Ravage, why is there a glitch mouse on the floor? That’s just dang nasty!” Rumble complained, pinching his olfactory bridge and waved the air in front of his face. “Who knows what that piece of scrap could be carrying!”

Ravage yawned from the windowsill, not phased at all and uncaring as he bathed in the light from cybertron’s suns.

“Boss, you don’t need to let Ravage out all the time! He’s a damn house cat! And what if he can carry the carcinovirus? I don’t want to die cuz of him always going out to weird places on the street!” He pointed a finger accusingly at the cat across him.

Ravage rolled over onto his back.

“Ravage, incapable of being infected of carcinovirus. CHO stated so in recent news.”

“BUT HE CAN STILL BRING IT HOME?! How come he doesn’t even get a curfew!? This is so not fair!”

Ravage chuffed.

Cough
Lazerbeak hacked, spitting out bits of energon, and proceeded to cough.

Half of the participants of the dining table disappeared to the other side.

Lazerbeak squawked, wings fluttering in a spasm of flaps and twitches, indignant at the fake fear stricken faces of Rumble, Frenzy, and disgust from her brother Buzzsaw.

MEAN! I CHOKED

"Hey boss... Did CHO ever write that birds were immune to carcinovirus?"

NO! MEAN! MEAN!

Lazerbeak screeched, scandalized emotions and horror filling up the entirety of the bond. She flew over to the twins and proceeded to peck them in fury. The twins scattered away from the table, hiding away from the bird's vicious pecks. She retaliated by using her claws to scratch at their finish.

"I didn't check."

Lazerbeak let out a mournful chirp as she flipped around to face Soundwave, shocked at the lack of support. TRAITOR.

"But you can't bully Lazerbeak regardless."

Trilling happily at the comeback, she flew back to Soundwave's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek. LOVE. LOVE.

School Calls
No news is always good news, Soundwave liked to think.

No news means no surprises, and surprises made him anxious. They ruined the flow of life, and there were always consequences to everything, some are unmeasurable. Life was clockwork, peaceful, in the rhythm, and something that could always be calculated and measured to ensure the safest route. That was what Soundwave liked.

A sudden call to his personal comm from school caused Soundwave to jolt up sharply in his office chair. A whole row of code was deleted at his twitch.

What could it be? Were the twins in a fight, were they sick, are they hurt? How will he find another school close to home? Did someone kidnap them? Instinctively, he reached out to them deep in his spark, and sighed in relief as he felt their small little sparks responded back to his reach with a string of emotions safe-calm-annoyance-safe-no worry.

“Hello, is this Soundwave, guardian of Rumble?”

“Soundwave speaking.”

“Ah yes, I wanted to inform you that Rumble was physically fighting another student. According to our policies, this is not acceptable behavior. Rumble, would you like to explain to your guardian why you were fighting?”

“Thanks, Miss, real pleasure to let me speak to the bossman myself. Anyways..." Deep inhale came from the other side of the call. "Soundwave some bitchass thot tried to square up with me today- HEY YOU SAID I CAN EXPLAIN, YOU JUST DIDN’T SAY HOW NO TAKE BACKS.”

Soundwave sat there, blankly staring at the white walls of his cubicle. Rumble’s language… where did he learn that? It's probably from those video games...

“SO ANYWAYS, this piece of scrap decided that I was a carcinovirus carrier and tried me. HE TESTED ME. I don’t like being tested. AND I WAS BEING A GOOD AFT CITIZEN OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR PRIMUS. Lord have mercy I was being TESTED. He was trying me like one of those rodeo rides in the gladiator pits of damn Kaon and I was not HAVING IT. I sucker punched his fucking nuts to luna-2 and slayed his ho ass. Bitch flew on his aft and cried like a sparkling. Nobody was helping me for the last 4 days of this bullsHIT HEY MISS STOP THAT I CAN SWEAR AS MUCH AS I WANT. I AM A VICTIM. ”

That doesn’t sound like a victim though…

A nervous chuckle entered his speakers, “Ah, yes Mister Soundwave, do you mind if you could pick Rumble up? I’m afraid we do not have the time and enough people to keep little Rumble occupied.”

“Soundwave, be there in five breems to retrieve Rumble.”

A soft echo of “Were you proud of me, boss?” filtered through from the other side, sounding indignant and a tad bit hopeful.

“Soundwave, always proud of Rumble.” He replied back quickly before the connection cut off.

His spark twinged with a bit of joy linking back from Rumble’s end of the spark bond.

Chapter Text

Cancelled

“Swindle, why are you traipsing around selling…” Shockwave gestured to the massive plastic wrapped containers stowed underneath the smaller bot’s desk, “is that toilet paper? Family-valued pack Tarmin Ultra Strong?”

“Of course it's Tarmin, I’m selling it 20% off original retail price! You interested?” Swindle declared, patting his hand over his chestplates as if proud of himself, “Quality goods, I’m telling ya. The nearest Tosgo got nothing on me.”

“No. Investing in toilet paper is illogical. Stocking on such a commodity is a waste of recourses.”

“Pft, you wouldn’t understand how marketing works, Shockwave, you stick-in-the-aft. I’ve got all sorts of costumers you wouldn’t believe who’s buying loads of this stuff off me! I’m getting crazy deals since the figet spinners!” Swindles optics glimmered full of excitement, and went half-lidded at the thought of getting even more sales over the pandemonium of panic shoppers.

"I can imagine the idiocy of the masses, but I am insulted at the idea of selling me this garbage."

Soundwave watched the exchange from over the walls of his cubicle. There was barely any work or commissions coming in, resulting in lots of free time. Keeping oneself occupied with productive activity when there was nothing to do was one of the largest challenges for a whole team of easily distracted crew members. Half the seekers on the team were on calls, discussing the latest gossip (or “tea”, as Jazz liked to call it) about the latest celebrities, or bickering over some kind of new trend.

On the other hand, Jazz and Blaster were quietly conversing while scrolling Tramazon for sparkling supplies. It was a pleasant surprise since they were the ones who were always causing distractions. How they completed work was some secret ritual Soundwave could never wrap his helm around. They were one of the reasons why he did everything in his power to enforce better work ethic into his own little ones.

A deep, fury filled roar ripped through the building, causing everyone to drop what they were doing and stare at Megatron’s door.  Through the opaque walls, if one looked carefully enough and locate the outline of Megatron, you could see his shoulders were hiked up high. A crushed phone crumbled from one of his servos. If you couldn’t see him, you could definitely feel his EMF bristling with anger from the entire floor, even if you were in the restroom.

Apprehension flooded the room in a flash, and many bots started checking their emails in haste. Pairs of optics and visors followed a similar pattern of surprise to disappointment. Shockwave, who bent over to look over a fellow co-worker’s phone, clenched his fist, and his single optic narrowed to a single slit of yellow light.

“The CIO summit has been cancelled, all because of a single virus? Unbelievable.” Shockwave’s voice was low, and Soundwave almost barely didn’t catch it. The purple bot marched back to his suite, his entire stature trembling from pure wrath.

Soundwave knew that the bot tunnel-vision-ed his way through his assignment, putting cycles and cycles into code, until his energon lines were on the brink of collapsing from the lack of movement. On a couple occasions, the cassette carrier assisted the engineer. Working alongside him had opened up new perspectives and awe at the quick, methodological way Shockwave approached his goals.

Wrath was only one of the immense feelings Shockwave had, and Soundwave can only imagine how Shockwave felt to have his goals put delayed for another vorn. The office fell into a morose atmosphere as everybody started murmuring to one another about conversations of worry and fear.

Soundwave placed his hand on his spark, searching for his cassettes through their bond.

Ravage sent out a lazy spark flare, as if checking in for attendance before fading off. Then came Buzzsaw, almost sleepy in nature before he, too, left.

He clawed more desperately when the rest didn’t respond right away.

Soundwave! What is up with you? Why you keep pulling at the bond? Rumble’s irritation and annoyance pulsed from the other end.

Relief.

Apologies, worry, anxious

From another corner of the bond, Lazerbeak’s small little spark responded with a happy flicker of reassurance.

We’re fine Boss! We’re still at school! An image of the school cafeteria faded into his HUD from Frenzy, as if proof that they were in fact, not skipping and are safe. Rumble was across the table, schoolbag on one of the benches as they ate their lunch. Soundwave leaned back in his office chair, exhaling.

Safe...

Wait.

Rumble… Query, is that toilet paper in your bag?

Cancelled Part 2

“Swindle, stop dragging my cassettes into your toilet paper sales.”

“It’s not my fault! They gave me their informed consent, and anyways, Lazerbeak makes a great delivery bird since birds can’t get the virus! It’s boosted my sales!”

“Swindle, this is child labor.”

“Well, if I don’t enlist Rumble and Frenzy, it won’t be.”

“Swindle, you’ve gotten them in a pyramid scheme.”

“Now, Soundwave, that’s just rude! I am a businessman of integrity and honor!”

“I will sue. Take back these rolls now, and stop contacting my wards.”

“Pah, you’re no fun! This is worse than finding out Shockwave uses a bidet! At least I was able to sell that information!”

“…You disgust me.”

Moving Back

“Rumbleeeeee!” Rewind cried out once the connection established, his voice whiny and getting on Rumble’s nerves.

“Oh pipe down loser and load Fornite already! What’s it this time, ey?” Rumble groaned, as he keyed in his password and logged in.

“My boyfriend broke up with me!! He’s moving back to Ambustus Minor because of the virus! He said he’ll be back one day but for now he wants us to split!!” The other cassette slumped over his keyboard from despair.

Rumble gasped and covered his faceplate, visor wide, full of sympathy and shock, “Oh no! I’m so sorry!” He was trembling.

Rewind lifted his helm, squinting at Rumble, his expression blank.

“Take your damn servos off your face.”

Upon removing his hands, Rumble had a smug, wide open smile underneath. He was silently laughing, nearly to the point of tipping out of his chair and was trembling all over.

“YOU AFT! I am having a heartbreak right now, and you’re laughing? You’re so fake. I’m going to teabag you so hard in game today.” Rewind yelled, servo pointing accusingly at the screen at Rumble.

“Hahaha… oof, I think I’m choking! Primus, you shoulda seen your face! You looked so confused! Anyway, aren’t you too young for a boyfriend?”

“What do you mean?! Look who’s talking!”

Decision

“What the frag? My sparkling’s school just got closed?”

All helms in the office swerved to the direction of where the voice came from, many alert and wondering whether or not the information was correct.

“Which school?” Blaster asked, his helm peeking over from his desk, looking around for who said that.

“Nova School for Primary Education. I just got an email.” The large blue and red bot replied, finger flicking the screen of his phone. He was heavily concentrated on the email he was reading, optics scrunched up. Soundwave stared at the bot for a little longer, he looked familiar. Was it Breakdown? It was difficult keeping track of bots names when his position in the corp changed while moving to Staniz.

“Oh scrud! My cassettes go there!! Damn Breakdown, you never told me you’ve got a sparkling, and that he goes to the same school my sparklings’ do!” Blaster went over to give the other a complicated handshake and bumped chestplates with Breakdown. It looked similar to something Rumble and Frenzy did with Blaster’s cassettes.

“It always slipped outta my mind, sorry bro. Well, I guess we could always set up some kind of playdate while school’s going online. Wildbreak would love to have a couple of new friends to talk to, he’s a shy one.”

“Aw, crap, is it just private schools or public schools as well?” Jazz piped up as well, “I’ve got a kid in Nexus Public Secondary Schooling of Engineering!”

“What the frag? You’ve got MORE kids in your pocket? I though you just had Bluestreak!” Tracks exclaimed, “And how is it one of them is in Secondary Schooling?”

“Oh yeah,” Jazz casually replied as he brushed dust off himself, “Prowl’s got a kid from his previous marriage. He’s a sweet little thing, and I pretty much adopted him.”

“Alright, alright, can we get a count of how many of you all have little gremlins?” Megatron interrupted, “I’ve got one too, and I do not want that little shit running around at home alone while I am at work.”

“YOU HAVE A SPARKLING, MEGATRON?!?!?!” Starscream screeched, appalled at the thought that Megatron could possibly be a creator-figure. In fact, Megatron had 2. But the less Starscream knew, the better.

“Yes, I have a fucking kid Starscream. Whoever has a fucking kid at home raise your hand, and use your servos to show how many you have.“ A sea of hands rose above the cubicles. “What the frag Thundercracker? How come you have 6 servos up? You don’t even have sparklings.”

“I have two turbo-dogs, and they recently had 4 little pups.” Thundercracker smiled happily, “Anyone want to see them?” Eager coos and noises of joy were instantly summoned at the announcement of cute dog pics.

“OK, OK. If all schools close within the the next few cycles, we’ll have that damned bring your kid to work day all of you have been nagging about. We don't have anything to do here anyways, for fragsake.” Laugher. “no pets though.” And then one sigh.

“Well, you got your wish, Lord Megatron,” Starscream sneered, pointing at a new news report, “Staniz officially closed all the schools just now.”

Soundwave checked his own emails. Starscream wasn’t lying this time.

“I think I need some high-grade now.” Megatron clasped a hand over his optics before disappearing into his office.

“So, uh, how many kids are gonna be here again tomorrow?”

“I think 10.”

“Oh fuck.”

Baby!!!  

“Hi! I’m Hot Rod. But you can call me Roddy.” Hot Rod announce proudly, servos on his hips and smile turned up into a slight smirk. He seemed to bask in glee as everyone gawked and looked over at him. He was in his second to last upgrade, and will be needing two more before he could be considered a full-fledged mature transformer.

“How’s Megatron’s offspring this colorful?” Reflector commented, servos stroking his chin slowly as he circled the bot. “And happy? Hey Boss, did you kidnap someone’s kid?”

“I didn’t, now shut up and go to work, if there’s any in this modern day crisis.” The grey retired war build retreated to his room quickly, as if he was afraid of seeing what Hot Rod was going to destroy next.
“Cheers Bossbot!” Reflector waved to Megatron’s retreating form, eager to get juicy gossip from the naïve, innocent red bot.

“Ugh, can’t believe that kid is still a slagsucker for compliments.” Rumble muttered to Frenzy as he looked over his Mintendo switch at the small gathering. Hot Rod was eagerly talking to all of Megatron's workers, showing off his bright finish. The twins huddled underneath the darkness of Soundwave’s desk, waiting for Rewind and Eject to arrive to play.

“Maybe that’s why Megatron’s got a lot more wrinkles since I last saw him,” Frenzy whispered back.

“Rumble, Frenzy, promised Soundwave good behavior.”

“Yeah, yeah Boss, we didn’t say anything rude. Just the facts man.” Frenzy grumbled, taking another peek at Soundwave from around his peds. Even on a day like this Soundwave still wants to work. What a goodie-two-shoes. Doesn't seem like he's having a good time trying to ignore all his co-workers having fun.

Suddenly, excited chatter and cooing swamped the bustling conversations, even with a noise-cancelling app, Soundwave could not ignore this. He stood up and hovered over his cubicle to look at the distraction.

A pair of dark horns, and a red chevron peeked out from above the small crowd. Surprisingly, there was also a flash of green and yellow towering above said horns.

“Alright, alright, ya smothering me! I love the attention but honestly, ya getting ma little Bluestreak scared! Y’all can go say hi to him later, m’kay?” Jazz insisted, “Ah, Springer, be a dear, could you carry this for me? Thanks love!”

The trio made their way through to Jazz’s cubicle. With a closer look, the green and yellow bot, he believed to be Springer, was twice the size of Jazz. His unusual size, and frame type did not indicate any sign of being Prowl’s offspring. Strange. The large bot had a steady, mature aura, even while carrying a tote bag colored with pastels and sparkling toys.

“Hey Sounders! This is ma Springer! He’s recently gotten his last upgrade! Springer, say hi to Soundwave!”

“It’s a pleasure meeting you, sir,” Springer nodded in greeting. He was definitely not raised by Jazz on the long run.

“Aw, not so formal, Springer! Such a gentlemech.”

“Soundwave, also pleased to meet Springer.” He nodded back.

“Oh, and don’t forget Bluestreak! Blue, say hey!” Jazz cheered, rocking the small bundle in his arms. The little sparkling seemed to be trying to hide underneath Jazz's bumper. But, his grey doorwings were a tell-tale sign of his location, and signature frame feature of Praxian origins. When the toddler tentatively turned his face to Soundwave, The host mech felt he was looking at a bonafide Praxian native. The sparkling nearly had all the features of Prowl, and barely anything from Jazz. The red crest above his optics and classical rounded helm shape with circular based audios on the side were an identical copy to his sire. His plup, cupid bow lips, and chin, however, was inherited from Jazz. Surpisingly for a very young sparkling, he had a sharp focus in his optics. It didn't match the innocent plump face of a sparkling, but was weirdly cute.

“Heeeh!” Bluestreak responded to Jazz’s request while facing Soundwave, optics never leaving Soundwave’s. It was a little strange, even Rumble and Frenzy weren’t that aware at his age.

“Query, Bluestreak’s laugh?”
“That’s just how Bluestreak says hey. He’s got some difficulties speaking, and he’s generally really quiet. He usually gestures.” Springer replied, as Bluestreak stuck his arms out and waved them at Springer, doorwings flapping along in tandem, “See? I think since we understand him perfectly fine, he has no incentive to learn to speak. But I did read that quiet newsparks end up being loud talkers later.”

A deep, primal urge surfaced in his subconsciousness as he watched the little sparkling huddle underneath his older siblings’ armpit, wings sticking out from his makeshift hiding spot. A longing, desperate and full of want to hold, nourish, care, and love. Oh, how it would be nice to hold a sparkling, in the comfort of his arms, close to his spark, sparks pulsating together in harmony and warmth. It felt like as if he was watching Rumble and Frenzy online all over again. Although it was millennia ago, it felt just like yester-cycle.

“Query, may Soundwave hold the sparkling? Soundwave, washed hands.”

“Sure, but only if he wants ta come over. He won’t let himself get picked up by anybot, even if I hand him to you though. But I could tell him to high-five you? He was giving everyone high-fives earlier, well, everyone except Starscream.” Jazz commented, taking Bluestreak from his new hidey-hole from Springer’s arms, “Springer, ya can go to the break room to do ya work if ya like, it’ll be empty for a while!”

“Of course, see you Jazz.”

“Blue, sweetspark, go give Sounders a high-five! He’s ya favorite color too! Be nice to Mr. Soundy, OK?” Jazz cooed to the toddler, who was eyeing Soundwave warily as his carrier brought him closer and closer. By the time the toddler was within a couple pedsteps away, it swatted at his carrier’s shoulder blades urgently, indicating his despair and desperation to get away from Soundwave.

But no! Soundwave cannot lose this chance! Now, where was that nursery song that Rumble and Frenzy liked? Here, there? He scoured his archives and data storages. It’s got to be archived here somewhere. There it is! Upon locating the song, Soundwave activated his speakers with a press of a button. 

“Baby, shark doo doo doo doo~”

Immediately, Bluestreak’s doorwings shot up, sensitive to the soundwaves of the music, and his apprehension disappeared. Excited, his little lips pulled into a half smile, hand raised towards the button on Soundwaves hips. 

“Primus, is Boss playing that shitpost song?” Rumble whisper shouted from under the desk, “Shit, why can’t Blaster get here faster? This is so weird!”

“Shut up Rumble, this is fraggin gold! Soundwave’s using shitpost music to get a baby’s approval!”

“OK, Bluestreak give Soundwave a high-five!” Jazz cheered, hoisting the toddler as high as he could while Soundwave leaned down, slightly trembling with excitement. Bluestreak placed his oh so little servos, soft and smooth, onto Soundwave’s palm. His entire hand nearly slipping into one Soundwave’s palm seams, which were nearly the same width of Bluestreak's hand. So small!!!

“Good job, Bluestreak!” Bluestreak gave his carrier a lopsided smile, bouncing in his carrier’s grasp as he enjoyed the tune of the song.

Soundwave was doing everything in his power to not cry from the pure overload of cuteness, unfortunately he did leak his joy into his bond with his cassettes. Rumble swatted Soundwaves peds in retaliation.

“Stop being a grandcarrier! You’re acting so gross, ugh!”

News

With school closed, the twins have taken advantage of their free time playing games, learning weird things that Soundwave wished he never had to figure out in his whole lifetime.

“Did you know that kangaroos throw their babies out of their pouches when they’re threatened by predators? Using the offspring as a sacrifice?”

Soundwave paused while stirring the stew in front of him.

“Cyber-kangaroos throw their what?”

“Their babies, kids, sparklings, you know?” Frenzy looked up with a blank expression. He was wearing some kind of green hat today, with large googly eyes on the top. A tint of red were on the sides, as if the thing was blushing. Perhaps it was a frog?

“And why would you tell me that?”

“I dunno. I’m bored at home.” He replied, before scampering off out of the kitchen.

-

“Did you know that certain species of penguins, when losing their kids, would go on a mad spree to kidnap other penguin’s chicks? Even to the point of bodily suffocating it to death?” Rumble started, eating his breakfast calmly at the table.

Soundwave looked up from his own cube, attention away from the data pad he was doing work on.

“What is wrong with you two?”

The twins shrugged, and proceeded to leave the table when they finished and headed to the living room.

The internet was a dark place, Soundwave concluded.

Interview

The dinner table was quiet again ever since Soundwave banned the twins from reciting morbid fun facts they gained from Good Morning Cybertron. Why they decided it was a great idea to recite them baffled Soundwave, but he was finally able to get some peace again in his little household.

That is, until Rumble decided to spit-take all over Buzzsaw, who was perched next to him innocently eating his dinner. Buzzsaw screeched in fury, and shredded Rumble’s shoulders in rapid fashion.

“Ow, Buzzsaw-ACK- Stop it! It was an accident!” Rumble yelped, trying to block the blows, “But besides that, look at the TV!”

On the TV, in bolded yellow flashing across the screen, listed the words “PRAXUS IN COMPLETE QUARANTINE. ENTIRE CITY STATE DECLARED EMERGENCY.” Underneath, were statistics and death counts in the city. They were far lower compared to Kaon, although still uncomfortablely high.

“Shit, isn’t it that where Jazz’s conjunx from? Plus, how did it escalate so fast?” Frenzy remarked, taking a sip of his cube and using a towel to push the energon spill next to him closer to Rumble.

“Praxians, have very expressive cultures. Easy spread of virus.”

The next slide revealed a rerun of an exclusive interview from a Praxian citizen with the virus, scheduled within a couple astro-seconds, and above the words, was a familiar face.

“WHAT THE FRA-“

“Language!”

“Sorry, my bad. HOLY FRAG!”

“Rumble! That’s incorre-“ Soundwave started to scold, but got cut off from the television as Rumble raised the volume with the remote.

“Dear citizens of Praxus. I am Prowl, one of the Chief Inspectors of the Praxian Mechaforensic Divison. I was on loan in Kaon on an assignment before I was issued a return home before the borders of Kaon have closed. I have been confirmed positive, and am a carrier of the virus.” There were tubes and machinery blinking behind the police mech, some connected to him directly. His optics looked tired, the metal around his optics sunken in and face hollow. The camera was far just enough to blur the edges of his frame, one could still see he was crumbling apart. His plating had lost all its luster, and his red chevron was a dull, muddy brick color. Compared to the images him earlier, he looked like a deprived sparkeater against the white walls of the hospital room. 

The entire family stopped in place, and the spilled energon travelled its way across the table without barriers.

“I have been quarantined for the last deca-cycle, and my symptoms-“ Prowl started coughing, chestplates heaving up and down. His waist was thin, and his biolights were barely lit, “My symptoms have been high fever, coughing, lethargy, and pains all over,” He paused, and almost looked even more pained and tired, “Personally, I feel like I’m being continuously run over by a train while also choking constantly.” 

“How have I been treated while in quarantined? My doctors have been very patient with me, and have provided all they can.” Prowl paused again, resting his optics, almost about to fall into recharge from exhaustion.

“My goal here today is to one, let the people know that this virus is capable of being dangerous, even though many others have no symptoms whatsoever. There is no need to fear, only to be cautious. Two, encourage everyone to stay positive! Learn a new skill, language, or find peace in yourself while in quarantine with this extra free time. Distract yourself from the fear, the panic, even if this is the darkest times of our vorn. Do not fall to enervation.” By now, Prowl was literally panting, trying his best to hide it and maintain his dignity. Stopping to catch his breath, a glimmer of pride and determination lit his before dull and faltering optics, “We will prevail. Praxus will survive. I will survive! Virus or whatever, I will fight like I’ve always have!”

He lifted his doorwings up, and hand raised into a small salute, before the scene changed to the Helix gardens, emptied, but its crystals bursting with dazzling lights. Sound amplifiers lined the park’s roads, and although the little family in the dining room couldn’t hear it clearly, music was playing from the crystals as they trembled and vibrated, glistening as though the crystals were alive and singing their sparks out. Again, the scene swept away to a nearby whole apartment complex singing in tune to the hymns of the crystals. Sparklings on the shoulders of their creators, elderly, and couples sung from their windows, bodies swaying.

Finally, the last shot for the rerun of the interview was a small clip of Bluestreak bubbling in joy at the sight of Prowl on some sort of audio calling service, calling out his version of his sire’s name.

“P’Owl! P‘Owl!” He was eagerly tapping at the screen, not understanding why he couldn’t grab his sire’s face.

“Say “I love you, Prowl!” Jazz’s familiar voice was heard, although he was out of sight.

“wove oou P‘Owl!”

“Good job, buddy!” Springer praised, a green hand came into view as it high-fived Bluestreak’s.

“Thank you, Prowl of Praxus for the wonderful, moving interview. All of Cybertron hopes for your recovery. Everyone, please heed Prowl’s advice, maintain calm, and practice good hygiene. Solarbot of Staniz, out. ”

“Prowl looked like someone leeched his spark and energon! Scrap, Jazz never told anyone about this!” Frenzy shivered, disturbed and scared, unconsciously he went for his brother’s hand and gripped it tight.

“Prowl, and Jazz, not in contact for two deca-cycles. Impossible for transmission. Jazz, didn’t want anyone to be scared of him, nonetheless. ” Soundwave responded tiredly, his spark squeezed tight at the thought of one of his family members in Prowl’s place. His jaw clenched tight at the though of Rumble or Frenzy, limp and so small in a medical berth, connected with tubing and wiring, faces hallow and sunken in. He could not imagine how much courage and energy Jazz had to do his best and come to work every day with a smile.

He got up to clean the mess of energon left on the table, before swooping all his cassettes into his arms. Buzzsaw and Ravage, who were notorious in trying to get away, did not struggle this time in his grasp. Everyone was quiet, close together with their sparks pulsing slowly in rhythm. Soundwave brought them to the couch as he shut the lights off remotely. The only noise left in the dark apartment was their breathing.

They remained that way for the rest of the night.

It doesn’t hurt anymore.

“I’m sorry Soundy, I'm... not strong enough.” A little white and dirty maroon cassette rasped as she lay on a small berth. Her little servoes -biolights dead since her immune system crashed- were deteriorated, and her protoform underneath pale and scuffed from sickness. She long lost her brilliant pink colors, now a shadow of her previous cheery self.

“Sh, don’t speak. Conserve your energy.”

“Soundy, I want it to stop hurting,” she cried out, she lost the ability to shed tears a long, long time ago. “I miss Enemy.”

“Enemy already left us.”

“I know.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“It always does. Especially the moment I stopped being able to hear him.” She gasped as she struggled to speak. “Soundy, I’m sorry. I don’t want it to hurt anymore." She whispered softly as she tried to reach for Soundwave’s larger ones. "Dying… isn’t as scary as I thought it was before.” 

“Flip Sides?”

Her servos never reached his.

Her spark snuffed out quietly with only a small nudge of goodbye from her spark to his in their bond. She lay there, greyed and unmoving. Her face was still and relaxed. It was as if she was sleeping, peacefully in her room with Enemy a deca-cycle ago after exhausting themselves from playing around. The empty hole that Enemy left in Soundwave’s spark expanded twice the size with Flip Sides’ addition. Quivering, Soundwave hunched over the body of his last sparkling, unable to scream or cry, completely and utterly devastated. Hopeless.

“Soundwave!”

“Soundwave!”

“Soundwave, it’s just a bad dream!”

“Wake up!”