Even the best kept Secrets

The whimpering was annoying, his processor ached too much for the sound to be ignored and he growled angrily. Some weak Autobot was in here, crying for his Prime to come save him. Figured he would be so lucky.

"Shut your vocalizer, weakling!" he could not move to silence the whimpering himself, but he refused listening to it!

The sounds died down and he leaned back again, optics offline to the darkness of the tight space and the dim visual of his caught legs. Caught, not crushed... he hoped. The pain sensors had shut off so he could not feel anything.

"L-lord Megatron?" the voice was much closer and not the same as the one that had whimpered, but it was most definitely one he knew.

"Frenzy, is your master here?" he hoped not, if Soundwave was caught down here it might be a long time till they were dug out.

"No... uh, n-no he is... he is outside somewhere, l-lord," the drone did not sound like himself at all. The cassettes never did sound much like drones but this was... worse. The thing sounded frightened, stammering like a little sparkling afraid of monsters under the berth.

With the cassette deck outside they would be dug out, likely fast too with two of his drones in jeopardy. For all that he was loyal he was insanely protective of the little cassettes, almost to the point of it being too much.

Mumbling picked up, distressed and obviously attempted to be pitched low enough to prevent him from hearing anything and yet he did catch a few words. '-safe with-' 'no, no, no!' 'Megatron's-' '-but 'tor said-'.

'tor?

"Frenzy, come here!" the muttering stopped as if he had cut through the sound with a vibroblade. For a long moment nothing happened, and then shuffling was heard, as well as a few quickly muted whimpers of pain.

When he finally caught sight of small red optics there were two sets, and one of them were dim with pain. Two drones, except...

"Is that your brother with you?"

"Y-year, Rumble's hurt rea~ uh, I mean..." both sets of optics flared bright with fear and the little ones scrambled back.

"Come here," his tone brooked no  argument and even though they could not see it he stretched out his hand, palm up to them. Why had Soundwave never told him this? Were all of them sparklings or was it only the two little mechlings?

They were reluctant but eventually they came to him, too conditioned to obey, or too afraid to deny him. He was gentle when he picked them up, worrying at the injuries to the purple mechling and not wanting to frighten them further.

He could do little about the injury but keep them against his plating, offering the comfort of his sparks pulsing and the heat his armor gave off.

After a while both of them dozed off...

---

He stood up, grateful that his legs had simply been caught, refusing the 'helpful' attempts to take the two little curled up burdens he was carrying. Instead he strode forward, and deposited them in Soundwave's arms.

"We need to have a talk!" with that he turned to direct the rest of the assembled Decepticons.