Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, or any persons, places, or things associated. They belong to Hasbro/Takara.

Note: I wrote this to cope with the most recent issue of MtMtE. Since the comic hasn't really talked about the circumstances behind Dominus Ambus's disappearance I kind of made a bit up. The comics may choose to expand upon it at some point, thus rendering this false, but… *shrug* We'll see.

Old Spark, Young Love

"Come on, Domey!"

"Rewind wa… wait for me!"

Chromedome vented heavily as he followed his lover up the old, decrepit tower. They were in one of the closed off sectors of Cybertron, old and forgotten in layers of rust and decay. It wasn't safe there, they both knew that. Signs were everywhere saying as much. The building they were in alone was so broken down that even the elevator didn't work. It was probably for the best, as if they tried to use it there was a good chance it would break down, maybe even drop them to their deaths. So they took the stairs, one at a time. They weren't fairing much better, crumbling a little more with each step, but at least if one gave way they'd simply be tumbling down not free-falling.

"You're getting slow in your old age!" the archivist called down two spirals above him. He was leaning dangerously over the rail, which groaned and bent under the strain, and the mnemosurgeon's spark skipped a couple of times.

"Get away from the edge, these rails could fall off with pressure! And wait for me!" he reiterated his repeated sentence with force, picking up the pace. It was like chasing after a youngling. What was that old saying? 'Old Body, Old Spark, Young Mind'? He felt like it was Rungian, but he couldn't be completely sure.

"If I waited for you the war would be over before we ever reached the top!" Rewind laughed, camera light glowing bright red in the darkness of the tower steps. It was an observation tower that they were ascending, one of the largest buildings in the old area. No windows in the stairwells, and the lights hadn't worked in what was likely centuries.

"We shouldn't even be in here! This is highly illegal!" Chromedome reiterated the fact for the umpteenth time as if reminding him over and over would change his mind. But no, he just heard Rewind laugh again and he disappeared from the rail, pedes clanking up the steps again. The white and orange mech grumbled in annoyance. If it weren't for his recent realization that he loved Rewind so much he'd leave him to do his own stupid illegal sightseeing.

But no. Only a decade ago they decided that after centuries of companionship they had grown fond of one another. Chromedome knew all about Dominus Ambus, heard Rewind talk of him for hours on end. That was why it was the data-stick who had to make the first move. Chromedome assumed he'd reject his advances. After all, he was looking for his long-lost Conjux Endura. One he could tell whenever the minibot spoke his name he still loved. However, he revealed that he didn't dare hope to find him alive anymore. He knew he had to move on.

"I'm almost to the top, slowpoke!"

"Honestly, what did you energize with this morning? Because you're never doing it again!" the lagging mech snapped back.

"Same thing you did, and you know it! Now come on, Dominus never-"

There was the sound of stopping pedes above him while Chromedome cringed at the same time. They were still working on the whole 'comparing him to Dominus Ambus' thing. He knew Rewind didn't mean to do it, wasn't trying to be condescending or mocking. But it was a painful reminder every time that he would never be good enough.

"I-" there was a failed attempt from Rewind to say something, then running pedes. A few moments later the sound of an opening and shutting door.

Chromedome vented loudly and ascended the rest of the old tower. When he reached the door and opened it he found Rewind leaning on the rail on the side of the top observation deck. It seemed to maintain itself sturdier, but he still felt worry well up as the drop if he fell was far steeper than in the stairwell. He walked over and put his hands on the rail, looking to lean on it but actually holding it steady, just in case.

They looked at the view in silence. The old city was once made of gleaming metal, now tarnished and rusting red across its once-grand architecture. There was a building across from them with a corner of its roof having caved in. Only three of its many windows were still intact, and those were covered in grime. According to Rewind's archives the city had been a bustling metropolis once. Mostly a business center, but there were places for entertainment as well. He could see an old theatre hall down the street, the faded posters unreadable from that distance. A Decepticon scientist had unleashed a chemical weapon upon it, however, which was how it ended up decayed and rotting despite its sturdy Cybertronian architecture. They weren't sure if the government was actually afraid there was still a remaining threat of the chemicals or they simply didn't have the time to send in a team to clean it up and rebuild it. Likely the latter, as most of Cybertron fell on hard times since the war started, neglect and suffering becoming the status quo.

"When Dominus and I were travelling the universe we would visit alien worlds to observe their cultures and establish good relations between them and Cybertron. I mostly stayed to the back and did my job, recording everything, but once everything was over he'd let me have this. We would request to be able to go to the top of the tallest tower in their capitals and I would get to see what it all looked like from above. I don't know why it was so important to me. Maybe it's because I'm so small," Rewind shrugged, leaning his helm onto his folded arms, getting that far-off look in his optics he always did when speaking of Dominus Ambus. Chromedome didn't stop him. He knew this was important to him, the remembering. "From all the way up here everything else looked so much smaller than me. I could know what it feels like to be big. And Dominus would humor me every time. No matter what it would take to get them to let me up here, he always knew the words to say."

Chromedome sighed. He didn't mean to make it sound as impatient as he did. But sometimes he just got so tired of hearing how great and wonderful Dominus Ambus was.

At the sound the archivist lifted his head, optics turning worried. "I'm sorry. I'm doing it again, aren't I?" he asked lightly.

"No, its fine," the mnemosurgeon said quickly, shaking his helm. He didn't want to see Rewind look so sad. It reminded him of when they first met, the anguished minibot sitting in the morgue. Looking so small and lost and alone. He wouldn't admit it to his lover, but he didn't fall in love with him a decade ago. It was when they first met, when he first looked into those wide optics filled with sorrow and loss. He knew it was sick, twisted to fall for someone at their absolute lowest. But he never wanted to see him like that again.

Rewind covered one of the hands clenched around the rail with his own. It was soft, gentle. "I don't want you to be him, you know," he reassured the taller mech. "I loved him, I still do. But I love you, too. And you're here, and he's…" He trailed off, squeezing the hand with his tiny servos.

Chromedome turned his hand around and laced his own servos with the minibot's. "Good, because I don't want to be him. I want to be the mech that loves you, and holds you, and makes you happy. But I will never do what he did. I would never leave you alone."

This only managed to make Rewind look sadder. It was a painful memory. One day Ambus told him he was going on a trip for a while, and it was best if he waited there for him. And so he did. He waited. And waited. And waited more.

The archivist waited for nearly two years before realizing that Dominus Ambus was never coming home. He was offered words of encouragement, condolences, and even for him to work for other political figures. But the time of the functionists was over; he had no obligation to work for anyone anymore. So he began his search for his missing Conjux Endura.

After so long of searching fruitlessly for him, dead or alive, fate had brought him to that Relinquishment Clinic. He was moved by the kindness of the stranger who comforted him there. They became friends fast, relishing in each other's company and understanding. It had been so long since he'd felt fresh, new love in his spark that he almost missed the signs. But after a few centuries of comfortable companionship he came to realize that he yearned for that feeling again, and he found it in his new partner. Still, he could never stop searching. He just had to know. Refused to believe Ambus had left him alone on purpose.

"Don't look that way, I didn't…" Chromedome let out another sigh, covering his faceplate with his free hand. "I just… Primus…"

Rewind looked back up at him and felt selfish. He knew Chromedome was just trying to make him feel better. So he slipped his servos out of their entanglement with the mnemosurgeon's, running them gently up his arm. He pushed softly until the taller mech was turned around to face him. "Domey. Look at me." He waited until Chromedome obeyed then reached up and took the orange and white mech's faceplate into his hands, bringing him down until their faces were inches apart. "I love you. You. Everything about you. Even the things that drive me mad. Except the mnemosurgery. I… I don't think I like that at all. But I'm willing to live with it for you."

There was a moment in which silence hung in the air before Chromedome relaxed. He leaned down the rest of the way and nuzzled their faceplates together. "You're the most important thing to me now, you know that, right?" he asked. "There's nothing I won't do to keep you safe and here with me."

"Would you take on Megatron himself?" Rewind teased.

"I'd take him on and win. That's how powerful this is." The mnemosurgeon wrapped his arms around the black and white body beside him, hugging him until he lifted him off his pedes. Rewind leaned his helm against his shoulder, arms winding around Chromedome's neck. They looked together out upon the rusting city and the setting sun illuminating it.

An old city with an old soul. But perhaps one day someone would show it the love it needed to feel young once more.