Soundwave could not stop thinking about what he saw on the cameras. The human girl with tentacles just like his own. He wanted to see her again terribly, just to know if she was his Echotide. But he had no idea who she was. When he saw her on the cameras, he immediately went to the room where he saw her. And she had seen him.

Soundwave knew he had seen recognition go across her face, but he had never seen her before. It made him worry if there was a point he hadn't been careful and a human had seen him, but when he searched his memory files, there were no instances of that as he rarely left the ship anymore due to Starscream's rule.

Soundwave searched frantically within his systems, and found the bond, flickering and fading quickly. He grew worried. He had known she was alive once before, but now that the bond was fading, he had no idea what was going on. He tried to reach out to her, but felt nothing as the bond was still blocked on his sparklings end. He shook in fear, unsure of what was happening with his sparkling.

In an instant, he began researching, using websites and other tools to try and locate the human femme he saw. Maybe she knew something about his daughter. Eventually, he came across a picture that looked similar to the human femme. She even looked similar to his daughters frame. Black hair, lime green eyes that shone brighter than anyone else's. He smiled behind his mask, and looked around the website he found her on.

'Facebook', is what is was called, and Soundwave was quick to find her profile.

He read everything on it.

Name: Abigail Blair Fowler
Age: 18
School: Jasper High School

Soundwave smiled wider, and saved the location in his processor, before leaving his room, ready to get back to work until he had free time around the time she got out of school.

Unfortunately for him, that didn't happen for months, and he was left with a barely surviving bond, and worry for his sparkling.

*one month later*

Abigail laughed at a joke Optimus told. While he was mostly quiet on their drives, he did tell a few jokes, and it made her happy. She was excited to get back to base, and learn more about the Autobots and their biology.

However, that wasn't to happen, since as soon as they got into base, and Optimus transformed- making sure that Abigail was at a safe distance before he did so- that Ratchet called to Optimus.

"Optimus, I'm recieving a signal on a restricted bandwidth", Ratchet spoke as he looked up at the computer. "It appears to be coming from a starship inside this solar system."

Abigail's curiosity was rising as she walked over to Ratchet along the platform, watching the computer carefully as the beacon moved every so often. She heard the sound of things being typed, and then Ratchet's surprised voice.

"It's an Autobot identification beacon", he said. Abigail's eyes widened excitedly. A new Autobot for her to meet! Hopefully he was friendly. She grinned excitedly as she looked at Jack, the blacked haired boy having begun to speak.

"So there are other bots out there?" he asked. Arcee was the one to answer her charges question.

"The masses scattered to the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark", she said, before her tone turned dark and untrusting. "But Cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons."

Optimus spoke up, opening a com-link with starship. "Unknown vessel, this Autobot Outpost Omega One. Identify yourself."

Abigail smiled t her guardian, who kept a straight face as he glanced at her. She didn't blame him. He had to keep a front with his troops. Abigail turned back to the screen as a new voice crackled through.

"I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades", the voice said. Abigail backed up as Bulkhead instantly started talking to the mech that responded.

"Wheeljack? You old con-crusher. What are you doing all the way out here?" the big green mech asked. Abigail allowed a confused smile onto her face. Bulkhead knew the mech?

"Bulkhead? That you? What's with all the security?"

"He asked a question first that you have yet to answer!" Abigail called out jokingly, which earned a chuckle from both the unfamiliar mech- Wheeljack- and Bulkhead, before Bulkhead turned slightly more serious.

"The rock we're on is crawling with Cons", he said. "How soon can you get here and even the odds?"

Wheeljack's response brought an excited smile to Abigail's face.

"Sometime tomorrow, if I put metal to the pedal!" Abigail could just see a grin on the mech's face, even if she had no idea what he looked like.

"Another bot's coming here", Miko said. "How cool is that?" Abigail looked over just in time to see Bulkhead nod slightly before turning towards Optimus, who had started to speak.

"Wheeljack?" the mostly red mech said. "I know of him by reputation only. Can you verify his voice print?"

"He is one thousand percent the real deal, Optimus", Bulkhead said enthusiastically.

"We are sending landing coordinates Wheeljack", Optimus said as Ratchet began the process of sending said coordinates. "Safe journey."

"See you soon, buddy", Bulkhead said. "I'll make sure you get a proper welcome!"

"I'm counting on it", Wheeljack said. "Make sure the femme joker is part of that welcome."

Abigail could sense the joke in his words as the other Autobots looked at her, and she smiled innocently. She was excited to meet Wheeljack, and she wondered what exactly he was like.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, everyone was watching the computer screen as Wheeljack's ship grew closer to the landing zone.

"Do you think he's here to visit?" Raf asks.

"Maybe he'll stay!" Miko exclaims, before thinking about something. "He'll have to find his own human though."

Abigail smiled softly, before speaking quietly so that only the humans could hear her.

"It is most likely that if he stays, he'll likely become my guardian. While Optimus and I are close, he is a busy bot, and can't watch over me all the time. I'm sure he would appreciate being able to know that I am being watched over by someone he can trust" she said. Miko's eyes brightened at that, before she turned to look at Ratchet, who was starting to open the ground bridge. However, it sparked and refused to open, which Abigail knew was because of the scraplet infestation that had occurred a few days ago. She was glad she was called into work that day and missed the scrapheap that went down.

"So, Wheeljack's going to land halfway around the world, and you guys are going to bridge him here?" Jack asks, sounding slightly confused about it. Abigail had to admit that she was confused too, though she knew Optimus most likely had a good reason for it.

"We can't risk revealing the location of our base, just in case the Decepticons are tracking Wheeljack's ship", Optimus explained. Abigail nodded, noting to herself about the smartness of that, before turning to look at Miko who had run off halfway through Optimus' speaking.

Abigail was glad that Optimus understood that Miko got distracted very easily, and ran off in basically any situation, sometimes getting herself into trouble, as had been proven several times in the past.

Miko had ran toward her guardian, who was pacing back and forth, his excitement clearly showing through.

"Dude! I've never seen you so stoked!" she exclaimed. Bulkhead turned to her, immediately talking to his friend.

"Oh, you're going to love Wheeljack", he started telling her. "We were like brothers!"

Abigail laughed quietly, before looking up at Optimus.

"Hey, Optimus!" she called quietly and he turned to look down at her. "You said you had heard of Wheeljack's reputation. What exactly is his reputation?"

Optimus smiled as amusement flitted through his optics.

"That will be self-explanatory when he gets here", he says vaguely. Abigail huffs, but turns back to the computer as an alarm rang through the base.

"Bogey's", Arcee said. "Closing in fast on Wheeljack's position."

"Con scum", Bulkhead growled. Abigail felt a flash of anger go through her. She didn't like the insults Bulkhead gave the Decepticons, even if they may have been true. But her father is a Decepticon, and she was still curious about him. Even still, that curiosity was overtaken by fear, and so she still had yet to ask Ratchet about Soundwave.

After a few minutes, Ratchet finally got the ground bridge to open, in which Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee ran through, only to come back a few moments later with a fourth bot, one that was highly unfamiliar. Abigail walked over to Miko as Bulkhead led Wheeljack over to her.

"Jackie, come here", Bulkhead said excitedly. "Meet my other best buddy, Miko."

"Hiya", is all Miko says. Wheeljack smirks.

"You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?" he asks. Miko shrugs.

"I try, but trouble finds us anyway", Miko says. Abigail snorts.

"More like you run into the trouble, and then Bulkhead has to come rescue you from said trouble", Abigail grins.

"So where's that femme joker at?" he asks, looking around. Abigail smirks.

"I'm right here, ya scrapheap", Abigail teases. "Geez, the jokester can't even spot another jokester? That's sad..."

Wheeljack chuckles lightly, before looking around warily, though it seemed only Abigail noticed. She walked away then, and leaned against the railing, watching Wheeljack curiously.

Optimus spoke with Wheeljack for a few moments, before Bulkhead slapped the white mech on the backside and shouted, "Then let's get this party started!"

Abigail laughed at the friendship between the two, and watched as they switched from catching up, to playing a game called lobbing to sitting around telling stories. However, as Abigail watched, she noticed several different things that made her suspicious about Wheeljack, like his interest in the ground bridge and how long it would take to recalibrate it, or how he seemed quieter or more distracted- that's how Bulkhead put it at least.

Optimus had disappeared long ago, having told Abigail and some of the Autobots that he was going for a drive. When Abigail had asked him about it, he just kinda shrugged and avoided her question. However, Arcee was glad to tell her the reason why.

"Primes don't party" is what Arcee had said, and as Abigail thought about it, she couldn't help but agree. Sure, he told jokes on occasion, but he didn't really show his emotions, which is what a party is really for. To let loose, and have fun. Something Optimus didn't really seem built for. Not like Miko, at least.

However, said girl was currently taking the newest member of team Prime on a tour of the base, and Bulkhead was talking with the others on how Wheeljack didn't seem like Wheeljack.

"Something... something's just not right about Wheeljack", he said.

"Bulkhead", Arcee chastises. "Really? He's travelled galaxies. You haven't seen him for centuries. He could just he rocket-lagged or... well, bot's do change, you know?"

"Not Jackie", Bulkhead says. Abigail chose this moment to speak up.

"Bulkhead's right. I've been watching him this entire evening, and well... I mean, what jokester doesn't recognize a jokester?" Abigail complains.

Arcee huffs. "Abby, if that's the only thing you've noticed, then-"

Abigail cut her off. "It's not. Just the thing I'm most annoyed about." Abigail grinned at the femme, who rolled her eyes. "But Wheeljack did have a strange fascination with ground bridge and... well like Bulkhead said- he's quiet and distracted, which seems odd for a bot like him. From what I heard about from before he got here, he's someone who likes to be at the center of the party, and not off to the side like he has been."

Bulkhead nodded in response, and after a few more moments of him talking, Wheeljack and Miko came back.

"What're you guys talking about?" Wheeljack asked.

"Oh, I was just telling the guys all about you and me at the Battle of Darkmount Pass", Bulkhead says.

"That's a heck of a story", Wheeljack responds.

"Yep. Tell it", Bulkhead orders. Miko cuts in.

"Talk, talk, talk" she says loudly. "How about after we go off-roading?"

"Miko! Stay out of this!" Bulkhead nearly growls. Arcee cuts in to try and get Bulkhead to calm down, and then Wheeljack tries to get out of telling the story. Abigail was next to the closest railing to them and was almost leaning over it in the heat of what was happening.

Bulkhead finally managed to force Wheeljack to tell the story.

"Fine!" Wheeljack snaps. "You wanna live in the past Bulkhead? The wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and the smelting pit. The cons were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left them for scrap, then I made us a way out using their backsides as stepping-stones to cross the molten metal. Isn't that how it happened?"

Bulkhead was glaring at him, and Abigail was ready for the big showdown that she knew was about to happen.

"Yeah. That's exactly how it happened", Bulkhead says. "Except for one little thing. I wasn't there."

Abigail hears exclamations of surprise all around the base, and even she was surprised.

"I had already left the wreckers to join up with Optimus", Bulkhead explained. "But you wouldn't know that if all you accessed was Wheeljack's public service record!"

Miko started talking, only to let out an exclamation of surprise as the fake Wheeljack reached over her and grabbed Abigail. Abigail's eyes widened, and she screamed as the fake Wheeljack dodged out of the way of the Autobots attempting to get her back.

"Stay back", the mech growled, his voice more scratchy than normal as he held Abigail out. "Or I'll squeeze her into pulp."

Abigail squirmed, trying to get him to loosen his grips so that she might be able to use her tentacles. Unfortunately, he only squeezed a little tighter and Abigail let out a small cry of pain before going limp, staring at the Autobots, defeated.

"Decepticon coward!" Bulkhead yelled. "Put the girl down, and face me!"

"Don't fret", the con smiled. "Plenty of fighting to come. However, on your first request, I'm terribly afraid I can't due that. Soundwave wants this fleshy for some reason."

Abigail stiffened, staring up at the con as shock filled her entire body. Soundwave... wanted to see her? Did he figure out who she was? She stared at the Autobots, unsure of what to do now. She wanted to meet her father, but she was also terribly afraid of what might happen to her. She knew the Decepticons were not good, and she wanted to stay with the Autobots.

But her desire to be with her father rivaled her desire to stay with the Autobots. She stared at the humans faces, and noticed that Raf's face was scared. She instantly made up her mind, wanting to protect the human that had become her friend.

She heard the ground bridge open, and realized that the Decepticon was starting to back up into it.

"Let's get this party started", she heard him say, before she was knocked out of his hand and almost hit the floor, but a large hand caught. She looked up at Bulkhead and smiled gratefully as he gently set her down by the other humans. Raf was quick to run to her and hug her, to which she hugged him tightly in return, before turning to look at what was occurring.

Two Wheeljacks were facing off each other, dual swords in both of their hands. Abigail couldn't tell which one was the real one until one stopped Bulkhead from helping by saying "Ugly's mine."

Abigail snorted softly, noting to herself that she was going to tease him about that later, if she got the chance. She watched as the two mechs battled, swords clashing on each other, before the real Wheeljack lost one of his swords only to make the fake Wheeljack lose one of his swords before stealing the second sword, and knocking the fake Wheeljack down.

"That's my Jackie", Bulkhead grins. Abigail chuckles quietly, watching the mech that had been on her mind for quite some time. Ever since she first spoke to him, actually. He intrigued her, and she sincerely hoped he would stay.

Wheeljack put his swords away, and Abigail heard other movement. She discovered that other movement to be his mouth guard sliding back before he turned to face them, revealing small scars lining parts of his mouth. She smiled at him, though he didn't notice as his attention was on Bulkhead.

"All yours, buddy", he says, gesturing the defeated Con. Bulkhead picked up the Con, and yeeted him through the ground bridge, causing Abigail to giggle. Said giggle caught the white decker's attention as he turned to her and knelt in front of her.

"You okay, joker? Noticed you were in the Cons servo when I came through", Wheelhack said. Abigail smirked.

"I knew a jokester would recognize a jokester", she grinned. "And yes, I'm fine. However... I did notice... you called the Con ugly. Except... he looked like you... so... does that mean you called yourself ugly?"

Wheeljack looked taken aback, before he laughed and looked at Bulkhead.

"I like this one", he says, pointing to her with a thumb. Abigail grinned, before walking up the stairs onto the platform as Wheeljack stood back up.

He and Bulkhead got caught up on every thing happened, and Optimus returned not long after that, in which Ratchet informed him of what happened. Abigail was glad that Fowler had agreed to them having a sleepover at the Autobots, because otherwise she would have missed a lot of action.

Abigail yawned, tired and ready to sleep. They had been partying all night, but unfortunately Abigail was unable to talk to Wheeljack more besides the initial meeting due to him and Bulkhead catching up.

"Now that you're part of team Prime, we need to pick out a vehicle form for you", Bulkhead elbows his friend. "I have some ideas."

"Uh, about that, Bulk", Wheeljack starts out. "Now that my ship's repaired, I'm itching to know what else I might find out there."

Abigail's smile dropped as she heard those words. She had really wanted him to stay, but... she also understood that he wasn't really the type to... settle down. She smiled sadly as Miko ran up.

"Wait, you're leaving?" the Japanese girl asked. "Why?"

Wheeljack looked down at the girl, slightly sad as he tried to figure out the best way to answer her. Abigail waited patiently for an answer, but to her surprise, it came not from Wheeljack, but from Bulkhead.

"Because some bots never change", he murmurs with a small smile and laugh.

"Wheeljack", Optimus gained everyone's attention as he gave the white mech a small smile. "Know that you'll always have a haven here."

Wheeljack nods gratefully and Bulkhead claps his friend on the back. "Jackie never stays", he says. "But he always comes back."

They brought his ship back through the ground bridge out into the desert, and Abigail followed the humans and Autobots through so she can say goodbye, though she barely knew the mech.

"There's room for two, Bulk", Wheeljack offers. "Even with a backside like yours. Who knows what we might find out there- some of the old crew?"

Abigail could see Bulkhead was thinking about it as he looked back at the small group watching them. Miko looked nervous as to what he would say as she looked down at the ground.

"Heh. Sounds like fun, Jackie", Bulkhead says. "But my place is here now. With them. With her."

Abigail smiled as Miko's happiness levels soared, and she watched as Miko conversed with Wheeljack.

"If anything happens to my favorite wrecker, I'm coming after you", Wheeljack playfully threatens. Miko smiles, and pulls out her phone, going to the camera.

"I'll take good care of him", she says. "Now, say cheese."

She takes a picture of the two friends together, and Bulkhead gives his final goodbyes to Wheeljack. Abigail smiles, and turns to leave only to stop when Wheeljack called out.

"Hey, Joker", he said, and Abigail turned to look at him. He had placed a hand on the hip that didn't have a grenade, and he was smirking at her. "You better be here when I get back so I can finally get your name."

Abigail laughed. "I'll be here waiting for you... Ugly."

Wheeljack chuckled before looking to Bulkhead, who seemed to get his message, and ushered everyone away from the psuedohuman femme and the white cybertronian mech.

"Stay safe, okay", Wheeljack asked her as he knelt in front of her. Abigail was surprized at his words, and she smiled up at him.

"I'll try. But you better keep safe too. Don't blow yourself up."

Wheeljack smirked. "I'll try not to do that again."

"Good. Wait, again?" she asked. Wheeljack laughed.

"I'll tell you the story when I get back. Right after you tell me your name."

"I mean, I could always tell you it right now", she smirks, placing a hand on her hip. Wheeljack brought his face closer, surprising her.

"Ah, well, I like a good mystery", he grins. Abigail smiled mysteriously, causing him to chuckle lightly.

"Trust me, Wheeljack. There is a good deal of mystery to me, some of which you may never find out."

Wheeljack laughed before standing up and started walking to his ship.

"Oh, so you're not going to give me a proper goodbye?" Abigail called after him. He didn't reply, only turning around and giving her a large smirk.

"Wheeljack!" she cried. "You gotta give me a proper goodbye!"

Wheeljack turned around and walked over to her, kneeling in front of her again, a smirk still evident on his faceplate.

"And how would like that goodbye served? Perhaps in the form of a kiss?" he asked. Abigail's eyes widened.

"Ew!" she exclaimed. "Go away!"

Wheeljack laughed, and stood up, before pausing for a moment. Abigail watched him curiously as he knelt back down again, holding out his servo. On it were two small devices, each one about the size of dime.

"They flash when one is near the other", Wheeljack explained. "I... created them for me and Bulk to use during the war, but... he left before I could give it to him. But I've had them for forever and figure we could put them to good use."

"Wow. Really?" Abigail looks up at him and Wheeljack nodded. Abigail picked one up and looked at it, noticing the rapid flashing light coming from the center as she took it.

"What's the range?" she asked, looking up at Wheeljack.

"They managed to cover most of Cybertron, but your planet is much smaller than Cybertron. I'd say that it could reach out to the planets on either side of this one", Wheeljack theorized. Abigail nodded, as she placed it in her pockets.

"Thank you", she said. Wheeljack nodded, and stood up.

"See you later", he says softly, looking down at the human. Abigail smiled sadly.

"Bye", she whispers, and Wheeljack turns to his ship. Abigail watches as he leaves the planet, going farther than she had ever been. She wished she could go with him. Abigail shook her head, there were many places she wanted to be, and yet she had to pick one. However, since two of the options were severely out of bounds, she had to pick the third option, which was stay with the Autobots.

Sighing, she pulled out the device Wheeljack had given her, and watched as the light slowly stopped flashing until there was no light at all whatsoever. She sighed again, and pocketed it. She looked at the others and noticed that they were watching her. She smiled, and walked over to them, where they all got a ground bridge back to base, where Abigail asked Optimus take her home so she could rest.