Emergence
By SMYGO4EVA
Ratchet never truly forgave Megatron, not after all the tyrant had done.
The medic never stopped having nightmares of the red-eyed demon with the rough voice, and he never stopped herself from shaking in anger whenever Megatron came into view. No matter how hard the rest of the team tried the memory of his coercion into making the Synth-En captivity stuck with him for a long time.
Working in the lab with the two Decepticons Knock Out and Shockwave, confusion had settled into his very being, still wondering if he was doing the right thing. For there, he would be helping revitalize Cybertron, but at what cost? He was betraying the Autobot cause, and worse, turning his back on Optimus, even if it was for the greater good.
He knew it was for their home planet, but he was still as confused as ever. He wondered if this was what the humans called 'Stockholm Syndrome', where captives express empathy and even defend their captors. Cybertron was Megatron's home as well as Ratchet's, and he wished it to be brought to its former glory too. But the medic knew that was where the similarities ended between him and the tyrant.
The gladiator turned warlord Megatron had made Cybertron a living Pit when the Decepticons had first awoken, and countless sparks were extinguished, with screams caught in their throats, wishing with everything they had that….all would be well.
Knowing him, something awful would probably happen to Cybertron as Megatron would take it for himself all over again, leaving it as desolate as before, and all it took for the medic to submit was the promise of a better future for their shared home planet.
Ratchet knew that Megatron would not leave him with his spark intact once he had finished the formula, knowing that formula would be used for Earth, to destroy the indigenous humans on the planet he knew now was like a home to him. The tyrant knew how to weave his words from his vocal processor, how he would lean the medic to the prospect of a better world once Cybertron was revitalized, the power of persuasion very much alive in the Decepticon leader.
When the war's end finally came and the tyrant vanquished, Ratchet finally awoke with a clear mind, one free of the clouded visions of split energon and torment and, especially, one without fear of the devil-blooded king. But the medic could not help but feel that Megatron did indeed beckon him to stand by his side, the emergence of a new era tinted with hellish promise.