One is Company, Two is a Shadow ++Soundwave x Reader++

19

     "How are you so good with plants, (Y/N)?" Raphael questioned, pushing up his glasses with a finger.

     The woman had found a sapling of spruce on the floor, having been caught in one of the Autobot's pedes. She had collected several other plants. A Birch, a couple vining plants and even an Aloe Vera plant Miko had brought after finding out of their new friend's hobby. In truth (Y/N) was quite bored and needed something to look after. Between playing video games, reading whatever books or magazines June brought and learning the Autobot Dialect from Raph, there was not much to do. The usual checkups from Ratchet were annoying, having three within one day concerning her optics and other symptoms, but having nothing she truly enjoyed around? It made things difficult to stand for the time she was there. Being at a lower altitude was probably the most exhausting.

         "I... maybe I was a botanist?" She speculated, still running with the guise of not being able to remember much of her past after being captured by the Decepticons. "I find it soothing. Seeing all the green and watching them grow from small cuttings or saplings. The vining plant you gave me from your mom's collection is finally rooting! Want to see?"

     Raph nodded excitedly, and she brought a small vial holding the cutting. (Y/N) pointed at a new, thin growth on the vine, smiling at the 'baby plant', as Miko called it. Arcee had admitted she didn't think Miko would get excited over something like growing plants, but Bulkhead laughed and said it was more of the taking cuttings from other growing plants around the school under teacher's noses. Bumblebee wondered if that was considered stealing, but (Y/N) took the young girl's side and shrugged at the idea. If it wasn't the entire plant, then it was okay. She hadn't been caught so far.

         "Is the Christmas Cactus blooming yet?" Jack decided to join the two after he realized he wasn't going to win a video game against Miko that day. He examined the plant in its small pot, waiting for (Y/N)'s answer. He had gotten used to her slight slowness in thought.

         "Not yet. She's not big enough to bloom."

         "She?" Miko hopped behind the three. 

         "Why not?" Jack shrugged, voicing what he guessed was (Y/N)'s opinion. "Guys call their motorcycles and cars 'she'."

     While the two began to make their own topic, (Y/N) continued to water what plants she had in her pots after making sure her new spruce sapling was comfortably pressed within the fresh dirt, having placed it between her other saplings. It was a small collection, nothing compared to what she had back in her mountain, or what she had decided to move to the Nemesis. She guessed they had simply thrown it all away once she left. They had no reason to keep it. Cybertronians didn't breathe air, nor ate human food. It would be a shame to lose the endangered species she had found or saved from the M.E.C.H. destruction. 

         She never liked their destructive ways with local flora.

     (Y/N) tucked a loose strand of her growing (H/C) hair behind her ear, catching the blue glow of her optics on her hand ever so briefly. They were certainly advantageous to her current predicament. She could retain knowledge quicker, identify objects and actions with precise knowledge. She found it helpful, especially while learning the Cybertronian, Autobot dialect. She could potentially just download the lessons into these new optics, but she didn't want it to be too easy. One look and the inner USB-like features can show the human language equivalent of whatever letter, word or phrase is shown. Like a digital translation system. Soundwave had not given her the Autobot dialect after all, as Knockout had previously speculated.

         "(Y/N)," Ratchet earned her attention, "your optics are beginning to dull, and your fatigue is showing more than you might think."

     Ratchet had heard of her supposed concern for him after the Synthetic Energon incident, forcing him to become a bit more tolerant and sensitive to her condition. He offered her a servo to step on, knowing the children wouldn't be too quiet on a Friday. He had made her a separate room where she could rest comfortably, something (Y/N) rarely did. What Ratchet assumed was symptoms from Decepticon experiments, (Y/N) knew to be Reverse Altitude Sickness. Constantly fatigued by simple tasks yet unable to sleep for long, and Insomnia brought worse headaches then she already had. She didn't eat much, and when she did, nausea forced her to purge her stomach of even light soups. There was no relief from it except the occasional drug from June. 

     The nurse wanted to take her to the hospital, but Ratchet insisted it was a bad idea. They didn't know if the Decepticons could track her, so that made the missile silo the only safe place. (Y/N) wasn't even allowed to go above on the roof where the protective barrier was at its weakest. They wanted her safe, and while it flattered the woman, she knew it wouldn't last if they found out why she was really there. Her task was not neglected, of course. She took many notes, disguising it as a diary or journal of sorts. 

     The small notebook was brought by June, or maybe Jack ((Y/N) couldn't remember), hoping that writing down her experiences might help with the mental scarring and trauma. That way she didn't have to talk about it directly, and she could show them what she wrote when she was ready. The human femme did no such thing, instead filling it with apparent nonsense and different plants and their facts. This was her learned written code from M.E.C.H, of course, something the Decepticon's would find difficult to crack, even if Soundwave found her scribbles and even doodles. She had devised it herself, as most had to create their own for security's sake. (Y/N)'s wasn't the most creative, but it was one of the most difficult. Incorporating doodles as well as plant facts and mixed words, not many could decipher it even with a key. It baffled her boss, who was known for critiquing his employee's work. 

     When she was writing was one of the few instances she was allowed total privacy. Other than going to the bathroom and changing, she was always under some sort of surveillance. It was more privacy than the Decepticons gave her, but the Autobots were a bit more prepared for human occupancy than their enemy faction. So, taking this time to herself, (Y/N) changed into some pajamas (June was very happy to be able to supply her needs), and wrote her findings and other facts before trying to get some rest.