Reunions, Long Awaited - I

XxX----XxX----XxX

Official Supporters:

Compulsive Reader, The Impossible Muffin

Adeptus Militaris, Wilger

Commissioner, Gib, Death Daddy, Le Spork

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM me for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen : https://discord.gg/2UZncAm

Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i)scord(.)gg(slash)kfhkfUb

I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.

Beta(s) :

XxX----XxX----XxX

Writing while sick. First scene is kind of meandering, but I needed to get a lot of info across to Yang and Ruby AHEAD of the next scene, and am aware of how meandering it is. I even make a joke! Lmao.

Be kind. XD

TL:DR -

The two have a lot of questions, and people don't tend to ask them in a very organized way. Unhelped by me being ill rn. Sorry.

XxX----XxX----XxX

Ruby sat on the cliff's edge and watched the bird-like Cybetronian swoop round and come in to land a few feet to her side. Behind her, Yang muttered a quiet, "Well here goes this, then…"

"Mhm." She nodded, standing and taking a deep breath to push away the anxiety before she asked. "So… I guess your name isn't Echo?"

"No." It answered simply, standing tall and cocking its head, taking her and Yang both in for a long moment before sighing a raspy, electrically warbled sigh. "You are undamaged after all Good. I was… My name is Lazerbeak. One of several you have come to know."

"Several?" Yang murmured, standing beside Ruby and crossing her arms. After a second, she murmured, "Echo was… You took turns in him?"

"It." Lazerbeak corrected. "It was a mere drone. Controlled in turns by myself, Rumble and our partner, Soundwave."

"The big guy that came in and took down the Ruin-Stalker?"

"Indeed." Lazerbeak nodded, turning and looking away from them, out over the smokey, battle-worn forest that stretched around Beacon. "Soundwave. He has been our partner for hundreds of years. My kind were always frowned upon, but… He never regarded us that way."

"What do you mean…?" Ruby asked, brows furrowing in curiosity before he spun to face her and - in spite of herself - she flinched back a bit. The Cybetronian seemed to notice, backing away, and she sighed. "Sorry, just… I'm still… Processing."

"Rumble and I assumed you would be." Lazerbeak nodded just the tiniest nod, "Which is a lot of why I'm here."

"Only part?"

"I am also somewhat more… Subtle." Lazerbeak mentioned, raising his wings to either side. "And mobile. At least, compared to Soundwave's larger form."

"And what's wrong with Rumble?" Yang asked, pacing over to a rock by the cliff's edge and dropping onto it, arms crossed. "In fact, why come at all? Why not just send another Echo?"

"Manufacturing the… Drone takes time and resources." Lazerbeak answered simply, turning his head sideways to observe them with one of his eyes as he went on. "Which we lack for pressing reasons. Besides them, though, I… Felt I should come in the flesh, so to speak."

"Why?"

"Whatever your feelings, Yang," Lazerbeak murmured, "I do consider us… Friends."

"Yeah?" The blonde scoffed, fire crackling at the edges of her hair as Ruby saw all the stress and tension and anger of the last day come to the fore. "Friends don't lie They don't… Hide who- What they are, for weeks and weeks and weeks.

"On the contrary, they do." Lazerbeak cut her off, turning to them both and standing taller, like a predatory bird leering down its beak at them. "They lie to comfort each other. To avoid hurting each other. To protect each other."

"That's not what Penny did." Ruby muttered quietly, stepping between the two as Yang stood. "I'm sure she has justifications, too. But that doesn't make it right, Lazerbeak…"

"I know, but-"

"No, you don't." Ruby snapped hotly, losing her control for just a moment before wiping away the burning tears at the edges of her eyes and sucking in a steadying breath. More firmly, more calmly, she went on, "None of this is right. People have- The Headmaster is dead! Penny is gone, and we're just… Just here! With no idea what's going on! Because people lied to us."

"Yeah." Yang added, easing back onto her rock as Ruby waved her back. "So don't defend lyin' to us. Never a good sell, but especially not now."

"We have our reasons, but…" After a moment, Lazerbeak deflated, lowering himself in a way Ruby realized now was meant to make himself look smaller. Closer to their size than his own, and less sharp angles. Less threatening, in short. As he settled down, he said, "But you have a good point. I… Apologize, for our deception. Needed or not, it has clearly hurt you."

"That… Is a start." Ruby sighed, shaking her head and joining her sister on the rock, grateful for the arm she wrapped around her shoulders. "Thank you. But… That can't be it."

"Or you wouldn't have asked Weiss to stay behind." Yang offered supportingly, "Like you did. You're lucky that she still trusts you enough to."

"We are, yes." Lazerbeak agreed, "If she had come, it would have been more or less acceptable. But the reason we requested you two alone is… Personal. For you."

"How so?"

"That… Is something that you must prepare yourselves for." Lazerbeak explained quietly, "Soundwave is paranoid by nature. He dislikes what we must do for another friend of ours' sake. Shockwave, though you likely won't-"

"Shockwave?!" Yang shouted suddenly, shooting to her feet before Ruby could stop her and cocking Ember Celica. "You're with that genocidal psychopath?!"

"He is not a psychopath."

"Weird how you only argued against that part of what I said!" Yang snapped, "Come on, Ruby, we should tell Goodwitch about-"

"Yang, stop." Ruby cut in, standing and laying a hand on her sister's shoulder. The older blonde turned to eye her over her shoulder, but when Ruby met her gaze, she backed down and stepped to the side, and let Ruby step forward and ask. "What do you need to tell us? It… I feel like it's something important."

"Soundwave invites you to our new home." Lazerbeak answered cryptically, turning his gaze up, to where Ruby could just make out the whole-moon in the clear sky. Turning back to them, he said, "But… It would require great trust from you. It is Shockwave's also. As such, I hoped to tell you something about him."

"What?"

"He spent so much time fighting for the Faunus, trying to uplift them, when he could have simply annihilated their enemies as he did in the end. Or left Remnant entirely." Lazerbeak explained simply, "Have you ever considered why? Why he remains, even now? Why he refrains from domination?"

"Most of us don't need a reason not to wipe out half a country…"

"Most of you haven't fought a million year long war." Lazerbeak countered, "He, we, are… Tired of it all. Shockwave only wished to enable Menagerie's defence. This is why he only built for them. Machines, weapons, defences- He built, but he rarely ever fought himself. Even though he was far more potent than most anything he built for them."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Ruby asked, "You're not him. You don't need to defend him."

"You're right." Lazerbeak nodded, "I don't. I do it because I feel it is right."

"Defending a genocidal-"

"He actively annihilated the nation conducting a genocidal war." Lazerbeak cut the blonde off, "So, in lashing out over it, you are also defending this. Unless, like me, there is more at play here. The civilians, Shockwave's past motivations, both make this more complicated. But this world has had a good influence on him."

"How?"

"Shockwave was a Decepticon." Lazerbeak answered quietly, "As was I. The Long War was not one without its crimes, on all sides, but Shockwave committed some of the gravest. Yet here, he found a chance to move past it. And chose to take it. I wish to encourage that, to weaponize his brilliance to nobler purposes. Isolation will not do that, and war against him will only worsen things."

"You want our help." Yang said just as Ruby realized the same, "You want us to be… What, his friends? To keep him from being a Decepticon again?"

"In the most simple of terms…" Lazerbeak sighed, "Yes. Soundwave sent me to get you for two reasons. That is the one I can explain now."

"He wants us to be a genocidal robot's fucking conscience…"

"Not quite." Lazerbeak said, "More… I want you to be an old man's friends, and keep him on the right path."

"You can't expect us to agree to that." Ruby said, "Especially right now with- With everything going on, it's not even fair to ask us! We don't even know what's going on, but- But this was all awful!"

"And we helped you." Lazerbeak said, "And Mistral. And Menagerie. The attack was wider scale than you know."

"Wait, but the Grimm were-" Ruby blinked as she put the pieces together and her blood ran cold. "Penny had Grimm with her, too. They were coordinating a big attack, Ozpin is dead… What does that mean?"

"We do not know." Lazerbeak answered, "But Soundwave is going to look. Whoever, whatever may be the cause of this, we will all need to stand together, I believe."

"And your…. Partner agrees?"

"Soundwave… Is less sure than I am, but supports me." Lazerbeak sighed, "That is why I'm telling you all of this. Shockwave lost someone dear to him, and it broke something in him. Made him act irrationally. Out of guilt, he withdrew. For years. But this left him in a poor state, and whatever is coming-"

"We'll need him." Ruby sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose against the mounting headache. "I get it. But… Can you get to the point?"

"Yeah." Yang added, "You're… Kind of all over the place?"

"My point is that a lot is coming that none of us can predict. That a lot is against us we do not know. That something is working in shadows we can't see, to ends that are evidently aligned against us." Lazerbeak said, "And that I do not want any of my… Friends to be left behind to face it alone."

"You still think we're friends?"

"Why should we not be?"

"I…" Yang blinked, sighed, and turned away, throwing her arms up in the air. "Fine, whatever."

"But no more lies." Ruby pressed, "I… Can't have any more of that in my life. Not after…"

"I understand." Lazerbeak nodded, "And while I can promise nothing for the others, I, at least, will try to be honest with you."

"Only try?"

"I am a multi-million year old Cybertronian intelligence asset." He answered wryly, cocking his head as he went on, "I have long since learned not to make such flat, inflexible statements. You could extract this promise, then ask me 'Will you kill me?' and I would, of course, say no. And 'Will you protect me?' and again I might agree. What, then, if in fifty years you ask the same as you lay suffering in bed? I would have to make myself a liar, which you are saying you cannot-"

"Oh Gods, you're making my head hurt." Yang cut in, "Just… Fuck me, I don't even know what to say."

"Promise this, then." Ruby said, "Always tell us the truth in the moment. Or, if you can't, tell us you can't."

"And you will accept that?"

"If we're friends and you say that…" Ruby smiled and shrugged as she made a decision she'd been struggling with since the attack had ended, "I'd have to trust you had a good reason. Just… Just like Penny has to have had a good reason to do what she did."

"Ruby, that's-"

"Penny and I were…" Something, and Ruby wasn't sure what, now. But more than friends. Enough for even thinking about it to make Ruby choke. Swallowing the pain and shaking her head, she forced out, "Penny said she was there to save me. And before, uh, was that-"

"That was my partner, Soundwave." Lazerbeak nodded, "He came when I asked for his help."

"Just like that?"

"He is my partner." Lazerbeak answered, making a sort of shrugging gesture with his wings. "We stand together. I cared for you all, and so he came to fight."

"That's…" Yang let out a long breath through her nose and flushed a bit, pursing her lips and looking away, hands on her hips. "That's kinda sweet actually."

"Is it?"

"Yes?!" Yang scoffed, flicking Ruby a confused look and then turning back to the machine. "Obviously?"

"I see…"

"Anyways," Ruby sighed, "I trust Penny, and I trust you. At least, I trust that you have good reasons for what you do. So, what was your reason for hiding from us? For lying to us for all this time?"

"We are information gatherers." Lazerbeak explained, "Infiltrators. Shockwave needed very important data for… A project. One I hope you will come with me to see."

"But you can't tell us what it is?"

"I can." Lazerbeak said, "But I doubt you would believe me."

"Try us." Yang said, "Because so far we've found out you were a robot-"

"Several, actually." Lazerbeak corrected quietly, "And not 'robots' really…"

"-Grimm can be controlled, and my sister's girlfriend-"

"H-Hey, now!" Ruby flushed.

"You went out to eat and dance with her, Ruby, c'mon. Anyway, she was some kind of spy for whoever was controlling the Grimm." Yang finished, "So we're kind of… Neck deep in weird shit. Literally, nothing you could possibly tell us could make any of that look more ridiculous. Or be more crazy. So, you want us to come with you? Tell us what we're coming for, and we will."

"A moment." Lazerbeak turned his head and was quiet, for a while, while Ruby and Yang stood a few feet away waiting patiently. Then, a bit more impatiently, Yang pacing along the edge of the cliff while Ruby sat, playing with pieces of grass while she thought more about Penny and what Yang had said.

"Were we dating…?" She murmured, turning and looking at Vale in the distance, which even now had aircraft circling its walls, patrolling and fending off Grimm come calling when news of the attacks had hit and fear had grown.

"Yes, you were dating, Ruby." Yang sighed, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Ruby leaned against her while Yang said, "I dunno how she felt, but… She seemed to want to protect you, at least. In some weird, fucked up way, I mean."

"Yeah…"

"Are you okay?"

"Not really." Ruby sighed, "I'm… I dunno. Upset, obviously, b-but worried, too."

"About her?"

"Mhm." Ruby nodded, "Is that weird?"

"Love is weird." Ruby flushed and tugged her hood down to hide her face, and Yang snorted. "Don't be embarrassed. It's normal. You're… Growing up. Always thought I'd have to beat boys off with a stick, but… Guess it was girls."

"No." Ruby murmured into her shoulder, "Not girls. Just… Her."

"Ah, got it…" Yang sighed and they sat for a while, in the quiet that followed. Finally, Yang asked, "You want to go after her, don't you?"

"...Yeah." Ruby sighed, "She- I need answers. And she needs helps."

"Was afraid you'd say that…" Yang murmured, kissing the crown of her head the way she'd always done when they were little. When Ruby was upset and needed to be held. Squeezing her shoulder, she said, "Well, you know I'm with you, Rubes. All the way."

"Really?"

"Of course." She smiled as Ruby pulled away, looking up at her. "Is there really a doubt? Hell, I'm sure Weiss is, too."

"I-I dunno…" She sighed, "Weiss never really liked Penny."

"Weiss doesn't like anyone until she warms up to 'em." Yang argued, "And she does like you, Rubes. If you ask her for help, you know she'll do it. Plenty of others will, too. Hell, as many people at Beacon as you have wrapped around your little finger, you could prolly get a small army together."

"I-I don't think I'm that popular, Yang…"

"You'd be sur-"

"Very well." They both jumped at the sudden voice and stood up, turning as Lazerbeak turned to face them and sighed. "I was consulting with my comrades. We… Agreed to tell you what we want you to come see. So long as you trust our- My word."

"We do." Ruby nodded, "So…?"

"When he first came to Vale, Shockwave built his own infiltration unit." Lazerbeak explained, "In order to gain better access to records and locales, he pursued a career as a hunter. In the course of this, a woman approached him for assistance on a job. A woman named Summer Rose…"

XxX----XxX----XxX

Blake hissed as the little claw spun, drilling the bolt down into her bone. She could barely feel it, of course with whatever her… 'Doctor' had used for anesthetic. But seeing it happen, the bit of blood that came out around the metal circle just below her elbow, and the little pinch she felt was enough to draw the reaction. Her mom, kneeling on a little bit of cloth beside her head in the little room Shockwave had brought them to through the warping, colorful… Thing he'd carried them through.

"We are almost done." Shockwave assured her, looking down on her while his fingers worked at a console on the wall and his gun-arm hung at his side uselessly. "Please, bear with this. You will feel a sharper pinch as the nerve systems are-"

"Ah!"

"Shockwave!" Her mom hissed, resting her hands on Blake's shoulder and squeezing it gently. "Can't you be more gentle?"

"This is surgery." He chided quietly, turning back to his console directly. "So, no. I am being as careful as physically possible, in a dedicated surgical suite-system built specifically for outfitting organics in my care with prosthetics."

"Why do you have this?"

"That is… Unimportant for now." He murmured, "We are concluding now. Testing neural links- Can you feel your new hand?"

"I-I can, yeah." She murmured and, as the claws withdrew, slotting into groves in the floor around her, she sat up and raised her still-stiff, and a bit numb, arm.

It was simple looking and smooth, most of the 'arm' of it taken up by a simple cylinder that stretched down to her wrist. Her wrist itself was black and ball-jointed, linked to a hand that looked almost like she was wearing black gloves, backed by metal plates along the tops of her fingers and the back of her hand. The joints were balls, though, and when she hummed and tried to bend them back, they stretched way further than her hand had ever been able to, almost doubling back on themselves before it made her queasy and she straightened them back out.

Turning as the machine came over, she said, "It… Feels good."

"I am glad." Shockwave nodded, eye widening as he went on, "I will forward blueprints and maintenance protocols to your mother's Scroll. You will need to maintain it well, or it will break down. And may cause pain."

"Got it…" She nodded, flicking her mom a look and then adding. "God-father."

"I…" He sighed, shaking his head and turning away. "Please, do not do that."

"Why shouldn't she?" Kali asked, crossing her arms and scowling, "You are."

"I meant," he grunted, flicking a look over his shoulder as he returned to the console, "do not tease me. It is… Uncomfortable."

"Ah." Her mom blinked, then cocked her head and said. "Blake, don't tease your god-father. He's shy."

"I am not shy…"

"I disagree." Her mom shrugged, pulling Blake's hand over to play with her fingers, testing them herself. And, Blake guessed, just enjoying the fact that she could do it at all. "What are you doing now?"

"You would." He sighed, spikes flicking and turning almost… Anxiously. "I am preparing the Space-Bridge array for transport to Menagerie. I presume you will… Wish to speak to Sienna. About things. And see to menagerie's safety as well."

"You said Mistral was fine?"

"They warded off their attacking Grimm, yes." Shockwave nodded, "The Lunar Cannon is prepared to support the Kingdom if more should come, however. And my sensors are active as well. If aid is needed, I am ready and attentive enough to provide it, rest assured."

"Alright…" Her mom nodded, turning to her and frowning. "I guess we have to tell her what happened eventually…"

"At least it's over." Blake nodded, "Hopefully, that will keep her calm enough."

"Oh, sweetie, you don't know Sienna Khan the way I do." Her mom chuckled, sighing and asking. "So, you aren't coming with us?"

"I have other matters to attend to." Shockwave said, cocking his head as that odd, staticy 'whoosh' and 'whump' Blake had heard when the Bridge opened up down at the old base. "And it sounds as if that business has arrived…"

"Yeah, well, they can-"

"Where is she?!" A loud voice suddenly bellowed before a flaming, golden woman came hurtling around the corner, red eyes swiveling around to them at the far end of the room. She gnashed her teeth and snapped. "You! Cyclops! The fuck is my mom?!"

"What-"

"Be calm, Miss Xiao Long." Shockwave rumbled as a massive, metal bird came swooping in through the door, arcing around to land a few yards away from Blake and Kali. Turning, the one-eyed 'Bot said. "I will see my guests out and then show you to her."

Her mom flicked the blonde a look then helped Blake up and sighed. "Fine. But-"

"I will explain later." Shockwave nodded, "I know."

"Good." Her mom muttered, "You better."

XxX----XxX----XxX

"So…" Shockwave rumbled, watching the blonde loop her arm around the wide-eyed, shell-shocked younger woman when she joined her. Kneeling, he took them both in and rumbled, "You are Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. Your, ah, mother has-"

"Can we cut the shit and get to the part where you lot prove you're not fucking with us?"

"Yang…" Ruby murmured, flicking her a look and then looking up at him. More politely, she said, "I-I'm sorry, uh, Mister Wave?"

"Shockwave." He corrected, "It is one word."

"R-Right, um, we just- Lazerbeak said you had o-our mom, and we'd like to, you know, s-see her." She blinked, "P-Please."

After a moment, he nodded and reached down with his hand, opening his palm for them, and said, "Come, then. I cannot say she will be awake as of yet, her surgery was… Extensive. But I can take you to her."

"You expect us to get in your hand…"

"I can cross ten of your steps in one stride." He said, shrugging and letting his spikes flick lazily. "But if you do not wish to, you may walk. I am only offering to speed things along. That is all. And given you are currently quite literally a world away from where you could face me… My hand is no threat. At least compared to my rather larger gun."

"That…" Yang sighed, "That's fair, I guess."

Wordlessly, Ruby grabbed onto his thumb and used it to pull herself up and, still smoldering, Yang joined her. He rose slowly, steadily, but they still flailed and fell over in his palm as he turned. He curled his thumb over for them to use as a handhold and moved on, ignoring them as Lazerbeak cruised past his shoulder and on, into the hall and towards the main room he'd built so long ago. Wordlessly, he sent a simple signal to her pod to darken its glass before they saw her - to better allow him to prepare them.

However, the signal was rebuffed - by Soundwave, who sent him a simple message, 'We promised not to deceive them needlessly.'

"Hmph."

Soundwave was in the main facility, tending to their recovering patient while Rumble rested on the edge of the counter in front of the rotating terrariums, watching his master closely. As they entered, he turned to them, eyeing the Humans with a cocked head and then dropping off the counter to scurry out of the room.

Quietly, Ruby asked, "W-Why-"

"Privacy." Soundwave offered as he turned, moving towards them and paying the three of them a simple nod as he passed and paused. "For the reunion. It's a gesture of respect. Lazerbeak?"

"Coming." The bird answered, swooping around and coming down on the larger Cyberotronian's shoulder as he left and offered a parting, "Brace yourselves…"

"That's ominous…"

"But a fair warning." Shockwave nodded, carrying them over to where the darkened pod sat and laying his hand on the console beside it. As they stepped off, he explained quietly, "When your mother and I were attacked, I… Presumed that I was the target. I separated us, in an attempt to protect her, but I was wrong. Before I could reach them, she was… Badly damaged."

"Damaged?"

"Indeed." He nodded, turning to the control panel for the pod and inputting commands. "I have spent all this time since, years of your life, trying to properly repair her. Trying to… Find a way to make up for it. For my mistake. But your physiology is strange."

"How?" Quiet, transfixed by the pod and wide-eyed, Yang was still just as wary and questioning as he had come to expect, from Lazerbeak's reports.

"I attempted to replicate her limbs directly, first, with mostly cloned organs and systems." He explained, "They rejected, in spite of numerous attempts. Numerous incarnations upon the technology. After, I attempted more advanced protoform limbs. Cybertronian designs, with advanced utility to make up for their lacking organic aesthetic. All failed. Every single one. Until a discovery was made and I-"

"Oh Gods, get to the fuckin' point!"

"Yang…" Ruby murmured, flicking him a frightened look. "B-Be nice."

"For whatever reason," he rumbled, "your physiology rejects all but the most primitive of prosthetics. They are… Rough. Ugly. And she was extensively rebuilt. So I ask that you… Contain yourselves. For her sake."

"You're worried we'll upset her…?"

"I am." He nodded, "I am draining the pod now."

At his words, a large cable descended from the ceiling and he took it in hand, coupling it onto the top of the pod and waiting as its automated seals took hold with audible, if muted, 'clicks'. A moment passed and the cable went stiff, the faint 'whooshing' of water rushing through it filling the silent room hile, inside, mechanical arms helped Summer ease down to the base of the pod. And gently wrapping thin synthetics around her, like a towel, to hide her from her children. Modesty. An odd organic convention, but…

It was little work, comparatively, to provide her a towel.

As the woman began to stir, he said, "She is waking. But will be unused to her new limb-strength in some places, while she will be weaker in others. I have done what I can to exercise her, but…"

"We get it." Yang nodded, wrapping an arm around her sister and staring at the pod, heart racing and eyes wide. "Be careful both ways. B-Be nice. Just do it."

"As you wish."

Reaching out, he grasped the pod in his hand and twisted it, breaking the seal with a sterile-pneumatic 'hiss' and 'crunch' of its seal breaking. He gave the two women a look, then hummed and lifted it up.

Inside, Summer Rose was still dizzy, the anesthetics of her surgery and the pod's maintenance routines wearing off with a rush and her mind racing as it reoriented itself around her new parts. Like Blake, he had opted for a smoother, more 'feminine' aesthetic wherever possible. Her leg and arm were segmented into two smooth sections, with openings on the sides where pneumatic, hose-like systems encased by layered metal protectors that expanded as she shifted and moved, allowing her to do so. Her joints, like Blake's, were all ball-joints, for flexibility, open on every side. The foot and hand had been the hardest parts - and ended up designed along the same theoreticals as Blake's.

All functional, colored a dull silver to match the woman's eye.

Part of her torso had been replaced as well, smooth metal stretching around in place of much of her stomach. Everything below the ribs, in fact, aside from her spine and one kidney. The internal systems - tubes, cylinders, processors for food-nutrient extraction and hydration processing - were all enclosed by a layer of muscle-function hoses like in her arm and leg, and and then a layer of specialized, layered metal plates molded to look like a woman's abdomen. Faintly muscled, as hers had been.

He was, not for the first time, grateful for Lazerbeak and Soundwave's attention to the more 'artistic' aspects of the reconstruction, even after he had abandoned them.

Her chest was mostly intact, luckily. The hole where her heart had been had been replaced by a power system that was simpler than he would have liked, with a soft edge around its round frame. Inside was a simple battery-system, with a smooth glass surface along its front, right over an insertion-socket just below it, in her sternum. It glowed a faint blue, its signal of status and charge. His only option to allow her to monitor herself without more intrusive neurological reconstruction - presuming her body would not merely reject it, which would likely have ended in her death.

Her head had, luckily, turned out better than he had expected. Part of her jaw had been rebuilt out of smooth metal, tinted to match her skin, but her lips had healed in more naturally once the frame had been provided. Along with small samples of her own tissue, taken from her stomach as they worked at her lower parts. The side of her skull had been rebuilt as well, using thin titanium plates layered like her skull with synthetic hair to match the rest of her. Which resulted in a clearly metallic side of her head, and part of her upper face as well, mostly shielded by what at least looked like real hair.

But the already-poor illusion failed when the simple, rectangular socket that served as protection for the violet-colored eye he'd installed lit up. She sagged on the spot, one hand clutching her black cloak against her as her light-eye blinked on and off and her human one fluttered.

"Summer Rose." He rumbled when the girls hesitated - shock, concern and whatever else locking them into place. The woman turned toward him, face a bit slack, and he bobbed his head down, "I bring guests."

Her gaze slid down and her brow furrowed. It had been years, so it took a moment, but finally she gasped, just a bit, and murmured, "M-My babies?"

"Mom!?" Yang gasped, rushing ahead of her smaller sister and nearly slamming into the woman before Shockwave caught her in his hand. She scowled up at him, snarling, "The fu-"

"Gently." He said, releasing her in front of the woman as she tried to stand, staggering on her new leg.

But Summer saved her the effort, throwing herself at the young blonde and dragging them both down as she lost her balance. Ruby, the youngest, finally broke out of her spell and rushed over, pulling her cloak off and throwing it around her mother before the older woman dragged her into the hug. As the crying started, he turned, thudding away on heavy steps back towards the door. None of the three noticed him, and as absorbed into their own world, he doubted they would have spoken up even if they had.

He was content to leave them to it.

"Shockwave." He paused at the exit into the hallway and turned to regard Soundwave, standing patiently for him. "This was a good thing, you know."

"I am aware." He acknowledged, "There is one-"

"Two others, actually, old friend." Soundwave pointed out, turning as Rumble came back up from behind him, two men trailing along behind him, looking haggard and exhausted. The blonde had something of a limp, "I shall handle these. They were… Uncooperative, and I do not want you blamed for their bruising."

"Very well." He nodded, letting the other Cybertronian move past with his companions and… Prisoners. He lingered for a moment, just around the corner, out of sight.

"Sum?"

"Summer?!"

"Tai!"

He sighed, and let his systems register the emotions in the air… Then turned, headed for his recharging unit for a moment of rest. And maintenance, too. Soundwave had been nagging him about that, of late…

And he would need to be in a solid status for what he needed to do next.

XxX----XxX----XxX

Glynda Goodwitch, now the Headmistress - though that couldn't be rightly announced for a few days yet, to prevent the panic it would cause - eased back in her seat in the staff lounge with a groan. The student on the couch beside her shifted awkwardly, holding up the thermos for her until she snatched it and took a long, deep drink of the hot coffee inside. The caffeine didn't do much - nothing could at this point - but it was something.

Finally, she asked, "You haven't seen them since?"

"N-No, Ma'am." Weiss Schnee, dirty and with her hair hanging loose around her shoulders from a day of fighting and cleanup both, murmured. "T-They went to meet him- T-Them, and made me promise not to s-say anything. Unless-"

"They didn't come back."

"Y-Yes, Ma'am."

"That was incredibly stupid of you." Glynda snapped, turning to glare down at the smaller woman. Miss Schnee deflated under her gaze, and she sighed. "What is done is done. We will need to organize a search party immediately and-"

The sound of the young student's Scroll chiming cut her off, and Goodwitch turned as she opened it, blinked, and then turned to her.

"U-Um… I found them?" Weiss said, turning the Scroll around.

On it was a picture of the two missing women - along with Qrow and Tai Yang, somehow. Ruby's face was pressed into the corner, where she was holding the screen, while the other three pointed at a darkened window, mouths open in wide surprise while another woman leaned against it, mostly hidden behind Miss Rose's robes. And, through it-

"Is that fucking Remnant?!"

XxX----XxX----XxX