Soundwave is safe. He had to keep reminding himself. Normally the spy’s silent presence was never far, digits clicking in the background, keeping the ship running in top form while hacking through some foreign computer network. Now it was just a little too quiet. 

Unable to concentrate on the bridge, Megatron takes one of his now-routine patrols of the ship’s halls. He shouldn’t be bothered. Soundwave was with Tarn, one of the most loyal Decepticons imaginable, apart from the Targetmaster himself. Under an order from his lord, Tarn would keep him safe no matter the cost.

Perhaps what most plagued the warlord was the spy’s memory loss. That and the fact that mechs from that time still existed somehow on this plane. Between the senators, Orion and now even a younger version of himself… it was only natural for the amnesiac to gravitate to them. Megatron stands in place for a moment. What if the change was permanent? What reason did the slender mech have to return to a strange ship with a Megatron that he barely recognized? How could he be convinced to willingly return to this world of war, when he had not yet lived through it all?

….

He reaches into his subspace.

Megatron holds the orb, staring at it for a moment before offlining his optics and feeling its light pulse. He stays like that for a few kliks before storing it again and checking the hall to be sure that no one had seen him. The warlord resumes his walk and returns to his chamber to attempt to recharge.

Soundwave is safe, and he will return.