The Shadow of Kaon

Captive

"Are you comfortable like this?" The mech asked, tracing his digits on Darkwing's back.

The femme sighed, listening to the noises around them while she buried her face in his chassis, seeking his comfort and warmth from the cold.

There was so much noise from the smallest, murmuring voices down on the streets, to the loud bangings and whirrings on a close construction site. The familiar, rhythmic clatterings and lost words of long-forgotten conversations lured into her audios as she rested her helm so close to the source of his life force.

"Uhhum..." She muttered quietly, tightening her grip on the well-known dark armor.

Darkwing knew this frame too well... The slender form, those slim hips, and the strong servos which hugged her around...

"Something is wrong?" The mech's voice rumbled above her in a hypnotic, husky tone.

"No, no..." The femme shook her helm reluctantly, still not looking at him. "This is simply perfect... Please don't let me go."

A small quivering shook the mech's frame as he giggled, still running his digits on her back where wasn't any trace of her flier wings.

"Don't worry, I will never let you go." He whispered. "No matter what, I will be there for you."

She felt how his hands glided up and down on her backstruts, almost earning a purr from her.

"No matter what?" She asked.

"That's right, no matter what." The mech leaned closer to her. "Just a fool would let such an adorable little femme out of their sight."

Darkwing stayed silent this time.

"Why don't you look at me?" He asked, playing with the small wings on the top of her back. "I want to see those beautiful optics of yours."

The femme flinched from the request, then slowly shook her helm again before she nuzzled even closer to him, not wanting to let go.

"I can't." She said simply.

"Why?"

"You are not him..." Darkwing whispered while she felt tears choking in her throat. "This is not his voice."

The mech's digits stopped their exploration of her frame like he would have thought about an answer.

"How do you know?" He asked finally. "You forgot his voice such a long time ago."

"I just know." The femme sighed. "He wouldn't say anything like this to me. He wouldn't say anything, no matter what."

"Then at least please stop punishing yourself. You made me in your dreams, so I am a part of him, and this part doesn't want to see you suffer anymore."

Darkwing listened for a second to the noises around them, feeling his warmth and his protective embrace around her, which made the whole thing simply perfect.

Too perfect.

This mech was too perfect to be her Soundwave. Everything this mech was, it was only a dream, a part of her imagination she created on the nights when she roamed the galaxy with Shadow, a part which kept her hopeful and made her go through the years.

"Can I meet with you again?" She asked suddenly.

"Just in your dreams."  The mech traced his hands down her side until he found her digits, giving them a gentle squeeze. "Now... Open your eyes."

The femme nuzzled her face into him once again before she lifted her helm and in the next second when she opened her optics, instead of her dear imaginary mech only a red stone welcomed her sight.