Hi, it's me again! Thanks for the reviews, they really helped the bunnies in biting harder ;D Anyway, I've started figuring out what direction this fic will head towards. I'll just warn right away that there'll be mentions of slash and a few OCs popping up, though neither will ever be the focus of this fic and will solely be for the sake of the plot (hopefully).

Concerning this chapter, there's not much action. It's more of a way for me to start introducing plot lines and set up some things that might be important later on. Less focus on the Autobots in this chapter too.


The Midst of Nothing

part two


Ratchet is elbow deep in a dead Autobot when one of the smaller Decepticons, one whose name he cannot remember, appears at his door.

"Ratchet, sir," says the small mech, staring boldly at him. This one doesn't know how to fear him, not yet, but Ratchet is in a generous mood today. He straightens himself, withdrawing his arms from the Autobot's insides. His hands are covered with energon. Not the first time, never the last.

He fixes the mech with a stern look. The mech shrinks back a little.

"What is it?" asks Ratchet, an edge in his tone. Generous as he feels today, he cannot appear soft. Casually, he wipes off energon and coolant.

"Megatron requests your presence," says the mech, regaining some of his confidence. Ratchet nods, stepping away from the corpse and towards the messenger. He can clean up some more later on.

"Dismissed," Ratchet tells the mech as he herds him out. He turns, just enough to reach over and punch in some codes to lock the door. Once, a long time ago he would have never needed a lock.


Megatron is waiting for him when Ratchet enters. The large silver mech is leaning back in his chair behind the desk, watching the medic as he slips in.

"Brother," says Megatron.

"Megatron," greets Ratchet as the door shuts behind him. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Megatron nods, standing and making his way around the desk. "Come," he says, "let's take a walk."


Megatron leads him around the palace - Ratchet doesn't want to call it a fortress - and eventually they end up on one of the balconies overlooking the city.

The city Megatron built over old Iacon, on the backs of Autobots. Ratchet shakes the thought away, watching the mechs below instead.

"So," Megatron is using a tone Ratchet recognizes as interrogatory. "Brother. Stories about you have been reaching my audios lately."

"What kind of stories?" Ratchet leans on the railing, keeping his motions controlled. He can spot some small ships in the distance, along with a few transport units, their slow pace highlighted by the Seekers flying loops around them.

"The dangerous sort," answers Megatron, placing his hands on the railing. He mirrors Ratchet, looking to the distance and following the transports with his red optics. "You've been visiting the Autobots."

"Nothing wrong with that," points out Ratchet, though it likely comes across as defensive. He notes that Megatron is the only one of the Decepticons who still calls their captives Autobots. "Prisoners" and "slaves" have been popular lately.

"And spending considerable time with them," adds Megatron, turning to look at Ratchet with a pointed look.

"Only during my free time." Ratchet feels like a youngling, scrutinized by its mentors. "Is there a point to this?"

If Megatron is irritated with his boldness today, he does not show it. Then again, Ratchet thinks he's the one who should be irritated with Megatron. The silver mech is cutting into his time off duty, short as it is.

Megatron shifts into a more relaxed position, though Ratchet knows it's everything but relaxed.

"The point is, my brother," begins Megatron, and there's that edge in his voice, that edge which was once reserved only for Starscream, "your loyalty to the cause, to our new Cybertron - to me - has been called into question."

Ratchet stares at him, as he feels his spark whirl in its chamber, anger lacing his tone when he speaks. "Who dares?" he demands, "We've been over this, Megatron-"

"Indeed, we have."

That's when Ratchet realizes this is yet another test, and the look on Megatron's face...well, he can't tell if he has passed or failed this time.

:Lord Megatron.: The voice is sharp and clear, loud enough even over Megatron's comm line that Ratchet can hear it.

"Soundwave." Megatron is still looking at Ratchet. The silver mech's optics narrow, ever so slightly. Ratchet doesn't move, keeping as still as possible.

:Skywarp has arrived ahead of the Vos transport.:

"Send him to my office." Megatron wastes no time, never has. "Notify me when the rest of the transport arrives."

:Acknowledged.:

There's a beep as the connection fades. Megatron is already moving to reenter the building. He glances, once, at Ratchet, but the medic does not move from his spot by the railing.

Ratchet only moves when he is alone again, and by the time he makes his way back down, the transports in the distance are close enough that he can make out the individual Seekers flying about.


Seekers. There are Seekers in the building.

Prowl heard them, earlier, the distinctive clacking of their footsteps reaching him and rousing him out of recharge. He could do nothing about them, though, so he found himself preparing for yet another day of having little to do. He let his feet do the work then, not particularly caring where he went.

Now, he stands by the door to Megatron's private quarters, the one room in the entire wing Megatron has refused him access to. He paces before it, hands folded behind his back, as he thinks, and ponders.

There must be something in there, something that Megatron doesn't want him to see.

Of course, there is also Megatron being paranoid enough to not want anyone else in his quarters. Prowl isn't blind to that possibility, to the simplest reasons available.

A part of him tells him though, that it can't be that. It can't be so simple, that Megatron values his privacy so much not even his pet is allowed in his quarters. Not when Megatron has already forced him through most other things that should have been private.

Idly, he wonders if Starscream had been privy to those same things.

Speaking of Starscream...Seekers in the building signal that he has come to visit. Prowl could try to catch him later, make him talk a little to lift his boredom, but Prowl is well aware there's little chance for that. His best bet is Ratchet, and even then the medic has a tendency to rant instead of actually talking.

That is, if Ratchet isn't at the meeting, or in his clinic. Prowl has a feeling though, that he'll find the medic in his workshop today, taking apart corpses.

He turns, settling on having a chat with Ratchet - and that's when he hears it.

It's faint, but there. The soft groan of a mech rising from recharge, the whirring of systems straining to reactivate. The soft hum of an engine, slowly growing. It is only because of Prowl's own silence that he hears it, and that's when he realizes -

There is someone inside Megatron's quarters.

Prowl can't help but smile, horrifying as the thought is. He is right, after all, and this someone...Prowl has his suspicions who, but he can't be sure, not yet.

The very thought brings hope to his spark, and suddenly his mind is sharp again. Someone is in there, someone who could very well be the one mech Prowl wanted to see. It is as though a veil has been lifted from over his optics, as though fog and cloud have been wiped away.

Prowl feels alive again and he knows he will enjoy the challenge cracking Megatron's access code will bring.


Is Ratchet as a Decepticon too unbelievable? Am I handling his character and interaction with Megatron all right? How's my writing?

Reviews and concrit are both very, very much appreciated, and help the bunnies bite even harder (which makes me write faster).