I love it when a plan comes together- Hannibal Smith

Raf waves to Bumblebee. Running up to the car he prepares his explanation.

"Hey Bee. I can't come with you. I have a meeting with a friend today."

"Who?"

"His nickname is Hack. We have been friends for along time. We agreed to meet in the park."

"Okay. Let me inform Optimus… He says I need to patrol nearby in case Decepticons pop up."

"That's cool."

"That's cool. I think I'll walk there. See you later Bee."

"Bye Raf."

Raf walks off, heading toward the park. Nervousness curls in his stomach, reminding him of his first time meeting Hack in real life. He knew his friend had some sort of Decepticon affiliation, but he is unsure of why. Frustration slips into his mind cause inflammation him to kick the rocks scattered on the ground in front of him.

'If only I had known before…'

This stray idea becomes the focus of his thoughts.

'So what if I knew before I met the Autobots? I would have joined him, out of loyalty to our friendship. He has been the nicest anyone ever has been to me outside of my family. I would have probably never have joined the 'bots. Arg… This hurts my head.'

Raf spots his friend and jogs over to him. The older boy looks at him and frowns after his inspection. Hack shifts on his feet, sighing slightly, and, perhaps a bit resignedly.

"Why are you so nervous Raf? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. A bit."

"What is it?"

"I know."

-—-

Soundwave freezes mentally. The statement that his friend had just made could be interpreted so many different ways. Deciding to remain as vague as his friend, Soundwave replies.

"What? That I hack the government? That I know tons of cheat codes?"

"No. I know about you working with the Decepticons."

Rear whispers the last word, filling it with a fear that Soundwave can almost taste due to its thickness.

"I take this to mean you're with the autobots."

Soundwave watches as his younger friend turns his head, shifting on his feet. Tension and fear sling through the air, condensing it till it could have been mistaken for a non gaseous substance. The two friends feel sadness, fear, and some anger their chests. Soundwave continues to observe his friend, who then takes a deep breath and faces back to Soundwave. Thoughts of losing his good friend blur in his head, along with the expectation of being yelled at. Might as well get the whole truth out.

"I'm not just working with the Decepticons. I am one. A cybertronian."

"You…," Raf breaths deeply again and sighs, shaking his head. He seems to be holding in any surprise he has at the statement.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know Raf."

Raf shifts on his feet again, running a hand through his hair as he looks to be thinking through the situation.

"So you've been non human this whole time?"

"Yes."

Soundwave is surprised as a laugh escapes from his friend.

"Technically, I never asked, so technically you never lied to me."

Then the young boy looks him dead in the face, seeming to come to an internal decision.

"You stood by my side when I needed you, and helped me when no one else could. Do you want me to change sides?"

Soundwave jerks backwards at his friend's suggestion. Shock shoots through his system like a bolt of lightning. He briefly considers the option and finds it to be an interesting thought. Raf stands looking up at him, unreadable expression on his face.

"It would be… irresponsible of me to ask you the side that is basically against you species."

Raf scuffs the toe of his shoe in the dirt, looking down while sticking his hands in his pockets.

"You're not against me. Plus the Decepticons are more here for the energon hidden on the planet. If they really were against humanity, they easily could have killed so many by now."

Soundwave stares at his friend, curling his holoforms hands.

"You are an exceptional case, but I suppose you are logical in your reasoning out of our purpose here."

Raf looks back up at the dark tinted sunglasses of Soundwave's holoform. However the con continues to speak, not allowing Raf to respond.

"Still I am conflicted with you even being involved with either side."

The con watches as his friend narrows his eyes behind his red rectangular glasses.

"Too bad. I'm involved. I don't want to stand against you Hack. You are my first and truest friend, even if you are a cybertronian. Please…"

Raf curls his hands, turns, and walks to their normal bench. Lazerbeak pushes the mech to follow, murmuring how she agreed with the sparkling. In truth, Soundwave knew he could not keep his young friend from staying involved, and did not wish to face against his good friend again. When both of them sit in the bench facing forward, Raf slouches into the sturdy wood, stress and confusion curling around him. Soundwave sighs, then turns to his friend.

"If you wish, you can change sides. But we'll have to be careful, especially since you have already interacted with the side of the Autobots."

Raf straightens up, turns to his friend, and smiles brightly at him.

"I want to be on your side."

His friend nods once, making Raf give a sigh of relief. He still feels worry over making this decision. Hack speaks nice more.

"I'll, no, we'll figure the best way to do this."

Raf nods, smiling. Then, with all the stress and fear flushing out of his system, pulls out his DS.

"Yeah, we will. Hey, I got two questions."

Hack returns his smile and makes a movement with his arm that indicates the allowance of the questions. Raf's smile grows.

"Number one, where you the con that I got into a hacking battle with?"

Hack nods and Raf fist bumps the air at being right.

"I knew it felt familiar. Okay, number two, want to play me, I need to pay you back for our last battle."

The brown haired boy waves his DS as an indication of his meaning. A wider grin skirts over his friend's face as he pulls out his DS. They begin to play, letting the thoughts of the future rest in the back of their minds, unbothered, till later, of what is to come.

-–-

As you may have noticed, there is no real author's note at the beginning of this chapter. It is here at the end, due to it being more conclusionary. This chapter is where the story stops, as I have no plans for its forward motion. I know that can be frustrating, believe me I know. I just have nothing else to bring to the table for this story at the moment. Will there ever be a sequel? Maybe. I love these characters and will miss having them bouncing in my head. If anyone has a suggestion on where to go from here, I would love having the opportunity of hearing it. If I do add a sequel I'll put the update on this story, somehow. Can any one else take this idea and write about it? Yes. I wrote this story because I felt the world needed more stuff like it. If the creative sense hits you, don't be afraid to run with this idea, or even change what you disliked about my version of it. That is the purpose of fanfiction after all.

I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed and brightened my day. I love looking at them when I feel down. Thank you for the ideas, and especially to you Fubeck, for dealing with me. Thank you all for the patience for waiting for this thing to be published. (To be honest I never was sure if I was ever going to get through this). So that's the end of this story. If you like the way I write then come to my other fics, if you miss my voice(words) pm me ( I like talking to people),if none of these apply, have a nice day and see you later.

Sorry for the length of this. As my friends always said, don't let a Southerner go on a ramble, you might be dead before the end of it.