Work Text:
Meet me at the fence
That's the message Hot Rod received in the middle of the night, right after drinking his evening energon.
He and Soundwave had been making a habit of hanging out at the end of the day. They made an effort to keep it discrete, but it wasn't serious like that anyway.
They had similar roles, being secondary leaders and generally respected authorities of their own factions. It was easier to speak with someone who understood your scale of work. Most of their conversations these days consisted of venting about bureaucratic hiccups and incompetency amongst troops, while sensitive information such as military plans were considered off the table. Despite the level of secrecy required—both in conversation and in meeting—it was nice to be able to talk to someone and know they weren't associated with the people you were complaining about.
Hot Rod typically only saw him a couple times a week, though. They had just seen each other yesterday, so this attention was unusual.
Without thinking about it, he was on his way, giving the others the excuse that he was just feeling 'pent-up'.
(This wasn't entirely untrue, he always felt pent-up.)
He stood waiting by the fence, the only light source being the energy that powered it. Distantly, he hoped someone hadn't somehow gotten access to Soundwave's comm signal and was using it to lure him out here.
Those thoughts were dismissed once Soundwave finally arrived. He was tense and his speakers produced a low crackle.
"Hey," Hot Rod said, looking him up and down. "Is there something going on?"
" No. " Soundwave said, crossing his arms.
Hot Rod raised his brow. "Sorry, reflex.” Soundwave corrected himself. “Yes and no.”
"Care to elaborate?"
He seemed to calm down. "Megatron's been...frustrating, recently,” he started. “He's been more distant, which has given troops the freedom to act out. This leaves me and Shadowstriker as the ones who have to wrangle them into behaving."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Hot Rod said, genuinely. "I mean you're pretty good at that, at least. Better than I am."
"I can control them to a certain degree, yes, but that's not the problem," he said, "I'm not as concerned about them causing trouble on my side as I am about them causing trouble on yours."
"...I see."
They avoided eye contact and sat in silence for a moment. With the wall as a constant reminder of war in the middle of the territory, and no one being allowed to act on it, everyone has been getting antsy, including the Autobots. Autobots, however, were generally better behaved than the Decepticons, so this wasn't as much of an issue. They were, however, much more paranoid about the other side causing issues. The moment that happened, all hell could break loose. The fact that it didn’t when Bumblebee retrieved Windblade was a miracle in itself.
"This worked a lot better when we weren't separated."
Soundwave's head snapped up. "It worked better when it was us. "
Hot Rod blinked at the statement.
He continued. “With Megatron and Optimus we couldn’t even cooperate to take down Starscream ,” he seethed. “We were able to get both sides working together in just a few days.”
Hot Rod sighed. It seems like this has been on Soundwave’s mind for a while. “I know. What are we supposed to do, though? I think we’re just stuck waiting for things to simmer down as we rebuild.”
“Not necessarily. You know I’m not the only one who’s been ‘unsatisfied’ with Megatron lately.”
“What, you want to start a mutiny?”
Soundwave stared at him silently.
Hot Rod scoffed. “No offense, but that’s a stupid idea.”
He tilted his head. “Stupid, or are you just afraid?”
“Please, I’m not afraid. This is just the High Council all over again, remember how well that worked? Besides, I’m not going to overthrow Optimus, and he certainly won’t work with you if you deactivate Megatron.”
“You could convince him to step down, it’s not like he wants to be a leader these days anyway.”
“That’s not the point!” Hot Rod rubbed his nasal bridge. “Do you honestly think enough of the Autobots and Decepticons will approve of this in order for it to work? If anything they’ll end up splintering into more factions who won’t agree on anything.”
They were both quiet.
Hot Rod spoke up. “I have faith things will work out on their own.”
“I don’t.”
“I know, just try and hold out.”
Soundwave shrugged, gazing into the distance.
“You know,” he said, “you gotta be missing quite a bit to call me out here like this.” Hot Rod smiled, teasing him.
He heard an amused huff from Soundwave as he looked away. “Maybe.”
Hot Rod felt his spark flare a bit. It shouldn’t have, it was a simple answer. Coming from Soundwave though, it meant a lot.
Which was nice because in truth, he really, really missed being partners.
“I should leave.” Soundwave took a step back. “I’ve already been gone too long.”
“Wait.” Hot Rod said. “Maybe we should meet off-planet or something. Call it…‘negotation practice’.”
That made Soundwave actually laugh. “What a scrap excuse,” he chuckled. “I’ll think of a better one and let you know when I’m free.”
Hot Rod grinned as he watched him make his way back to the Decepticon base. Yeah, alright. Maybe they could make this work.