Optimus opened his chamber, revealing the legendary Matrix of Leadership to the being that was Unicron, or what was his spark. The being began to shudder in fear. It was, after all, his enemy. "Matrix," he whispered. "Light our darkest hour."
The Matrix did just that. The bright blue light that came from it targeted Unicron and him alone, and it lit up the chamber that was Unicron's spark chamber. He closed his optics and let the Matrix do as it was created to do.
A tear rolled down his cheek. He had been told what could possibly happen if the collected wisdom of the Primes were released. He knew that he would probably not make it home. He knew Megatron, but he had a job to do, if this planet was to live through Unicron's awakening.
The world spun while the Matrix started to flicker at the loss of power. Unicron howled as he began to power down, permanently. He fell to his knees, then to his belly.
Orion opened his optics slowly, trying to focus. He saw Megatronus' face. He smiled weakly, then looked around in confusion. "Where are we, Megatronus?" He sounded…odd. Older. What had happened to him?
Megatronus flinched slightly as if Orion had hit him. He frowned at his friend's reaction, but shrugged it off as he took Megatronus' offered servo. He let the bigger mech pull him to his pedes and he smiled slightly at him before the chamber (Orion had decided it was probably an anteroom to some larger chamber) opened and three beings ran in.
"Optimus!"
"What did you do to him, Megatron!?"
Orion looked at his friend, blinking when he felt something slide away from his mouth. A battle mask? When did he get a battle mask? He decided it was not as important as the new arrivals. "Who are they? Why did they call me Optimus?"
"Those are our enemies, Orion! Get through that GroundBridge. Hurry! I'll cover you! Just get out of here!" Megatronus crushed a kiss to the data clerk's mouth. Orion felt secure and he did as he was told, trusting him.
Megatronus was his mate, after all.
When Megatronus joined Orion, the first thing the mech did was clean his dusty armor. He giggled and squirmed under the water as it fell around him, but he was concerned. Megatronus was acting…weird. He looked up at his face as he splashed water at him. The mech looked like he had not seen Orion in ages, but he clearly remembered falling asleep in Megatronus' arms yesterday.
The silver mech finally turned off the water and tucked the data clerk into a warm towel. "Come, Orion. Let us get you situated."
Orion didn't recognize the hallway they walked into. "Where are we?"
"On the Nemesis, a warship."
"Why?"
"Because we have to."
"Why?"
Orion walked beside him as he had, questioning the mech as he had. Megatronus was flinching and frowning as if he did not expect this. He was always questioning Megatronus, sometimes playfully, and sometimes seriously.
This was one of the latter times.
"Because, Orion, my dear, dear mate…we have been forced off Cybertron by the Autobot aggressors. We must remain on this warship until we can find out how to revive Cybertron."
"Revive Cybertron? Megatronus, are you being silly?"
"Orion, you have been kidnapped and tortured by the Autobots. I do not expect you to remember any of it, as it was a terrible experience for you. We have just rescued you, and let me assure you that you will never be harmed again."
Orion frowned as he looked up at him. He didn't remember anything, just like Megatronus said he wouldn't, and it didn't make since. Why was he kidnapped? What would the "Autobots" want with a data clerk? He was nothing special. He was just an ordinary mech.
"I know it is a lot to take in, my love. But you are safe now, here with me. You should rest. I have something for you to do in the morning that would interest you. You still enjoy research and decoding?"
Orion squealed softly and he jumped up and down on his pede-tips. "Yes!" Megatronus knew that. He had just finished researching the Thirteen Primes. Megatronus had helped him.
"Excellent. I will let you decode the data I have collected while you were…gone. In the meantime, I want you to relax and sleep."
Orion crawled onto the berth that Megatronus guided him to and he purred up at the mech while he squirmed on the sheets like a sparkling. He enjoyed the mech's optics going over his frame that had somehow changed overnight. No, he corrected, over days, maybe years, according to Megatronus.
"You are still so very beautiful, my dear data clerk," Megatronus whispered as he crawled over the mech that squealed and trembled in anticipation.
Soundwave walked to his master's quarters in the morning. He found Optimus bundled against Megatron's chest, and he tipped his helm in confusion. They appeared to have enjoyed themselves during the night and he didn't understand. Was the war suddenly over? Had a truce been called?
Megatron's optics opened and he frowned at the mute spy. "This is Orion Pax."
Soundwave watched him silently, which pretty much meant that he was prepared to call Knockout to examine their obviously defective leader.
"He released the power of the Matrix onto Unicron. He does not know what he was before then. He is Orion Pax now. Make sure he does not wake. I will announce to the troops about the new arrival."
Orion woke up to find Soundwave watching him. He shied away, expecting to lean into Megatronus' bulky form, but instead he fell onto his back and blinked shyly at the mute.
"Where is Megatronus?"
The mute watched him silently, then his shoulders slowly lifted and fell.
Orion giggled at him. He adored the mech. He felt that if he had not been claimed by Megatronus, he would have gone for Soundwave instead.
The door opened then, and Megatronus walked in. "My dear, I have scheduled a physical examination for you in Knockout's medical bay. He will also give us our standard insignia." He tapped his chest where his was. "That is for this evening. I trust that Soundwave behaved himself?" He gave the mute a meaningful glance that Orion didn't understand.
"He did. We were just talking about you before you walked in."
"Ah," Megatron said absently. He was more concerned with Soundwave's visor before he turned to look at his mate. "Did you sleep well?"
Orion purred up at him. "As always."
The mute and the warlord seemed to relax at the same time, and Orion had a momentary feeling that he was being held out of the loop.
As soon as that thought came to him, however, he pushed it away.
Megatronus would never lie to him. He had no reason to worry about Megatronus lying. Megatronus always told him the truth. He even showed it to himself by saying he loved the mech.
Megatronus smiled at him, nodded, and returned the I love you.
See? Orion thought as he blushed. You are overreacting.