Shards (Transformers Prime, Shattered Glass)

Chapter 29

Starscream stopped in the corridor several steps outside the medical bay, breathing hard and wings limp as he stared at the wall in front of him.

"Are you okay?"

He flinched and looked down at Sierra, not realizing she had followed him. 

"Do I look okay?"

"Right... after you calm down are you going to be okay?"

"I... I think so," he knelt "It's just.. too much, Sierra, too much."

There was an awkward cough from behind them.

"It really is you," Starscream said with a sigh as he stood up "Soundwave could never sneak up on me."

"Don't know why, his feet are tiny."

Starscream laughed weakly.

----

The first thing Wheeljack did as he came through the Groundbridge was to scoop up Jack, who had been sent back earlier, and stuff the boy into his subspace.

Then, ignoring the squirming human inside his chest, Wheeljack turned to Optimus with a bow "My Prime I present to you the long lost Ultra Magnus."

Ultra Magnus strode forwards, shoving Wheeljack out of the way as he came face to face with Optimus

."My Prime," the gargantuan growled.

"Magnus," Prime smiled coldly "What a fortunate turn of events."

----

As the Prime was instantly wrapped in the recovered soldier Wheeljack wasted no time in slipping away from main room into on of the storage units.

After a furtive glance around he opened his subspace and Jack all but came tumbling out into his hands.

After what must have been a string of human curses, Jack managed to get to his feet.

"What was that!?" He demanded, running his hand over his hair, trying to straighten it "What did I do to deserve that!?"

"Listen to me," Wheeljack hissed in a hushed voice, glancing over his shoulder again "What we found in that ship after we sent you back was a soldier called Utra Magnus."

"Okay, so?" 

"Listen boy, Prime doesn't have anything for or against organics and he'll tolerate you as long as you're useful, but Ultra Magnus hates your type."

"Wh...why?" Jack looked like he was struggling to wrap his head around the information.

"He's messed up and you need to avoid him is all you need to know."

----

"Switching them back is not an option," Knockout informed the crew gathered in the medical bay flatly "We run the risk of loosing them both. So, for now, Megatron has to stay as Soundwave."

No one else heard it, but Sierra thought she detected a faint sigh of relief from Starscream.

But whatever the seeker was feeling he brushed it away "Then in that case, I return command to Megatron."

"Doctor?" Megatron turned the masked face towards Knockout "Am I cleared?"

"There's nothing wrong with... Soundwave's body, so I suppose so."

"What about Lazerbeak?" Raf squeaked from his perch atop Breakdown's shoulder.

"Lazerbeak and Ravage have a connection with Soundwave that runs spark deep, but considering it was his mind that was switched, I should be able to run a patch and have them up and about in no time."

"What about Soundwave?" Megatron asked "Will he be...alright?"

Knockout's shoulders sank slightly "Well, the body was stable before all of...this. And it appears to be holding out, so, hopefully, Soundwave is alright and his conscious intact, but I can't say anything for sure."

There was an awkward moment before Starscream coughed and flicked his wings "Well I have a lot to catch Megatron up on a lot so..." he snagged the arm of the now slightly smaller Decepticon leader and tugged him out of the room with no resistance.

 Probably because Megatron was too busy trying to absorb the fact Starscream could move him against his will."

Right, well the rest of you can clear out as well," Knockout made a wide shooing gesture towards the rest of the medbay "You too Breakdown, Airachnid looks to be fine so you can show her to her quarters."

The orange spy bobbed his head and ushered the nervous looking spider con out of the room."

----

Right, now there's nothing I can do about that," Knockout nodded towards Megatron's immobile body which now house Soundwave's mind "And that patch going to take a bit longer to upload," he nodded again towards the stasis locked minicons who were being monitored intensely by a very worried Rafael "So give me a moment and I'll dig up some more painkillers."

"Okay," Vince said, his voice a little shaky as he slid down Knockout's arm and landed clumsily next to Raf "Uh, thanks by the way?"

"For what?" Knockout arched a metallic eyebrow "Standing in front of you like a scared deer?"

"For not leaving me there," Vince clarified. 

Knockout looked down at him for a moment, mouth slightly agape, before he shook himself and his armor seemed to clatter a bit "I...uh... I think the painkillers are in the back, it'll take me a moment. Be right back."

 "Right, sounds good," Vince sat down next to Raf with a wince at the insistent twinge of pain that ran through him. Carmine whined quietly and nuzzled against Vince's knee, begging for scratches and Vince obliged, ruffling behind her ears. Vince glanced sideways at Raf, who was still focused nervously on the minicons, either unaware of Vince's presence or unwilling to acknowledge him. After several uncomfortable moments in which Knockout did not reappear or the minicons miraculously leap up and declare their own good health, Vince decided to break the quiet with something that had been creeping through the back of his mind. 

"Hey Raf?"The little boy hummed but didn't turn his head. "You've been up here, with these guys, for a while, y'know."

"Yeah," Raf blinked at him through cracked glasses lenses "Why?"

 "Uh, uh, you know the house and your family-"

"Yeah I know," Raf pulled his knees up to his chest "I know, they told me," he paused to swallow and glanced towards Megatron's still body, which, they hoped, contained Soundwave's mind "I know."