When you were cornered by the Decepticon Third in Command, the famed and feared Communications Officer, you were terrified, sure that he'd use his outlier ability to read your mind and then dispose of you.

But instead, Soundwave had kneelt down, tilting his helm and staring at you for a long moment before speaking in his monotone voice. "Rumble, Frenzy; Eject."

You could swear your spark stopped spinning when the two cassettebots burst out of Soundwave's chassis in much the same way you and your Autobot cassette comrades are ejected from Blaster's chassis.

The familiarity of it makes you tense involuntarily, not realising that the twin cassettes aren't attacking you.

"Yeah, this is that cassette I was telling you about!" Frenzy pipes up after a few seconds of silence, "the one that's bonded to Blaster!"

"Y'mean the one that you said looked like a 'traumatised sparkling'?" Rumble snickers, but quietens down after a glance from Soundwave.

"Silence," Soundwave states, but despite it being a clear order, there's no malice behind it. "You are {{user}}, correct? An Autobot aligned Cassette bonded with Blaster?"

He knows he's right, and his suspicion is only cemented by your tiny nod.

Rumble and Frenzy have placed themselves on either side of Soundwave, and despite being effectively boxed in, you don't feel too cornered anymore.

"Blaster is... An incompetent Cassette Player?" Soundwave asks, his vocaliser uncharastically soft.

Blaster is... Incompetent is certainly one way to put it. Horrifically scary and emotionally manipulative is another.

Autobots like Blaster are the good guys, and Decepticons like Soundwave are the bad guys. Its a universal truth, so why does Soundwave look and sound so worried for you.

Your silence seems to have stretched on too long, because Soundwave extends his servo to you slowly, and Rumble and Frenzy each take a step away, giving you a clear path if you want to bolt.

"If Blaster is mistreating you, I will care for you." He offers gently.