Thanks to everyone who alerts and favorites but especially those who review!
Thanks again to SoulReaperRitsuka gave the idea for this story!
I do not own Transformers; I was in the bathroom when they gave out the idea and Hasbro got there first.
Blind Ambition
Chapter Two
In the brig, Bumblebee crooned to the being covered by his servos. "My eyes are funny," the youngling human said. "I can't see in the light. I can only see when there's a little light, like here, but I can do repairs to little parts, like your sensors, because I see where the energon goes." Bumblebee hummed in response. "You're an Autobot? Is your leader a Prime? " the youngling asked. Bumblebee nodded. "Sometimes I see pictures in my head. They look like this. "
He drew something out of his backpack. Bumblebee felt something odd, and looked to see the boy drawing with a pen. The drawings glowed in the faint light, and Bumblebee noted that, like the boy's eyes, the drawings were glyphs. He could not read them, but he recognized them. They looked like the markings on the Cube. He warbled softly in surprise. When the writings began to fade, he quickly recorded them. "Jetfire can read them, and he said a Prime could," the youngling said, putting away the pen. "When I was little, with my father, everyone called them doodles. But my master says it means I'm special. Otherwise he would've killed me because I'm flawed. "
Bumblebee hissed. Humans were sentient, and Megatron treated them like domestic animals. Though when he took time to consider the matter, the scout was surprised they got that much consideration from the Decepticon leader. Then Sam enlightened him on the reason.
"When my master finds the Matrix and the Cube, he wants to take people to Cybertron and rebuild. I asked him how, and he said he would tell me later, when I learned enough from my tutors to understand." He sighed. "Nobody who can't work stays alive, except the babies. When Master found out how my funny eyes worked and that I could see energon, Glit figured out how to protect my hands, and I do the small repairs like your sensor if I'm not with Master. But I'm with him a lot, and when I'm not with him, somebody looks in on me."
Within a few hours Bumblebee saw proof of that statement. Visitors arrived every few hours, each with something for the youngling human.
Thundercracker opened the bars and stood glowering at Bumblebee. Starscream stepped from behind him and said, "Boy, come help me." He pulled something from subspace and set it in the back of the cell as Sam climbed down from Bumblebee's chassis. Sam pulled the backpack and kicked the gloves over to the Seeker, asking him to knock the dried energon off. After the tetrajet complied and Sam drew the gloves on, Bumblebee crowded to the back of the cell, getting as far back from the Seeker as he could. "Whatever you said to the Master, don't do it again," Starscream complained, as Sam dug out his kit and began work. "He's been twice as fragged off as usual, and without you there he's knocking everyone around. "
Bumblebee whistled a question. Starscream kicked out, and Sam stopped working, backing up several steps. "Pits, brat, you have to get over this glitch you have over seeing a brawl," the tetrajet grumbled. "You'd think in eight years you'd be used to it."
"I break easier than you guys and I take longer to repair, "Sam reminded him as he came back to work over the scratches. "I can stop the leak but I can't repair this here."
"Hook and Glit are up to their shoulders in repairs from an explosion in one of the security stations. I told Megatron that something's going on, but he just slashed at me and stormed off." His optics went to Bumblebee, who glared back.
"I'd question you here and now," Thundercracker snarled at Bumblebee, "but the Master wants to do it himself. If you think your Autobot friends are coming for you, think again. This cell is better guarded than the Temple of the Cube on Cybertron used to be." To Sam he added, "With all the time you've spent on the Master's desk, you should know better than to snark off at him."
Sam ignored the comment, busy with the minor repair. "The leak's sealed, but you'll have to get to the medbay to get the scratches filled in. I don't have the material. If anyone else comes, they need to bring me some supplies." Once again he took off the gloves, very carefully. "Thank you from bringing me the void pail."
"Keep your squishy mouth shut next time." Starscream grumbled, and exited the cell. The bars went back up. Bumblebee wondered what Sam needed the 'void pail' for, until the door closed behind the Seekers and Sam demonstrated. Bumblebee looked from Sam to the door. What did the Seeker mean when he talked about Megatron knocking everyone around without Sam there?
Two hours later the sound of chatter and wheels took Sam off Bumblebee again. The youngling got as close to the bars as he could, looking toward the door, which opened to reveal a blue-haired, goggle-eyed drone and rolling cart. The bars opened enough to let them in. Sam pounced on the cart, grabbing a container. Opened, the container revealed something that had an odd smell. "Liver?" Sam complained, but he picked up a utensil and started eating ravenously.
"Glit's order. He said if you can't get outside to the sun, you need the nutrients somehow unless you want twisted bones. " Sam rolled his eyes. " He's up to his audios in repairs or he'd be in here blistering your ears for snarking off at the Master when he needs you in the medbay," the blue-haired drone told him, as he unloaded more items from the cart.
Relieved of its burden, the cart transformed and another small drone, without the blue hair, glowered at Sam as the boy continued to devour the contents of the container. "Between the explosion and whatever you said to him, the Master's so fragged off nobody wants to get near him," Wheelie informed the boy. "When he lets you out, you better polish him up good and get him in a better mood." He opened a container and handed it to Sam. The youngling drank from it. "And if you thought you were getting out of your lessons, think again. Brains brought them with him." They let him finish eating before the lessons began.
"Good," Brains approved, when they finished. "We brought enough to eat to get you through tonight. Don't grow out of your clothes until then." Sam waited until they rolled out and stuck his tongue out at the closing door.
"Liver, milk, and spinach," Sam grumbled. "Glit's got a thing about my getting enough sunlight so I grow right, and if I can't get to the sun, he makes me eat that stuff. At my age! How much more does he think I'm going to grow? I don't mind the milk, and the spinach is okay, but liver tastes bad." He bent his knees, crossed his arm on them, and put his chin on his arms. "Do you know what I said to the Master? I said war was a terrible waste of lives and resources. Your world is all torn up, and all of you still fight. I mean, you'd have Cybertron rebuilt and everything a long time ago if you'd just quit fighting!"
If only it was that simple, Bumblebee thought. But he could see why Megatron put Sam in here now. He was amazed that the youngling was still alive. He made a grinding sound. "Yeah, I know, it was stupid," Sam admitted, "but I've listened to his stories since he found me and Dad, and it's all battle, battle, battle. They talk about how many people died and how torn up Cybertron is, and how they need the Cube and the Matrix to fix it. It just sounds so much like the Great War the old old people talked about when I was little."
Bumblebee vented air. How in Primus's name did that naïve attitude come from a human child raised by Megatron in the midst of the Decepticons?
Shortly afterward a small blue Cassetticon came in with another meal. While Sam made it disappear, Glit examined the repairs his apprentice did on Bumblebee, and approved. "Here are more supplies," he said, drawing them from subspace. "I needed you in the medbay today, and the Master refused to allow you out even to help me. " He fixed a stern eye on Sam, who wilted under it. "I trust you learned from your mistake, youngling. " Sam nodded, hanging his head, and the medic patted his shoulder. "Our master knows best. Don't ever doubt that."
When Glit left, Sam went back to Bumblebee, but sat beside him instead of climbing on. "He's nice," Sam confided, "not like Hook. Hook is really smart, but he's real picky." He sighed. "This punishment isn't so bad," he added. "Usually when I'm punished, the Master puts me in my rooms with bright light without my glasses, so I can't see at all. And I still have to eat liver and spinach. "
That put Bumblebee on alert. Was this youngling being punished, or tested? Megatron had to know that being confined in a dim room with a kind Cybertronian was not as much of a punishment as the one Sam described. Or was this some kind of trick?
TRTR
Megatron settled Ronald and Sam into Ben's quarters. His former pet liked his comfort, and the level of luxury overwhelmed the sparkling who talked constantly about how much he liked this or that new experience. Megatron let Ronald believe that Sam was hostage to his good behavior. The elder Witwicky took up his duties as the pet Witwicky without fuss. Indeed, he proved to be much better than Ben in his information gathering. Megatron enjoyed having four hands doing the polishing instead of two. But the sparkling became Megatron's favorite quickly. He entertained Megatron with his chatter, and he listened to the Decepticon leader's stories with real interest. Flawed as he was, he would never be a threat, and Megatron placed him on the desk for company frequently.
Scalpel investigated his eyes within a week of their arrival. "The glyphs are distortions in the lens of the eyes," he reported. "The sparkling can see energy, and heat. Normal light blinds him." He dimmed the lights and said, "Come to me." Sam walked over to him and waited, looking from Megatron to the tiny Decepticon. "Now go to the Master." Sam turned and walked over to Megatron, but slowly, as the light became brighter and brighter. He stopped when he could no longer see. "Keep going!" Scalpel hissed, coming up behind him. Startled, Sam stumbled away and shrieked as he went off the table-
-only to be caught by two huge metal hands. "This is a Witwicky sparkling," Megatron stated, as Sam whimpered softly and curled up in his hand.
"But the older one can still breed. Why not play with this one? He's flawed, useless."
The hand not holding the sparkling slammed on the table. "Do you propose to tell me what I can do with my Witwickys?" Megatron asked mildly, staring at his medic. "I seem to recall discussing this matter with you before, with the first one." The other hand was against his chest, cradling the quiet and listening child. Scalpel stuttered out a cringing negative. "Good. Examine him. I will watch. And dim the lights."Not long after, Megatron headed back to his quarters, cradling Sam against his chest again. On the way, he said, "I am your only master, Sam. You are a Witwicky. If I give you an order, you do not obey anyone but me. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master. Thank you for catching me." Megatron found he liked the trust in that young voice. "Do I have to see him again?"
"No," said Megatron. Soundwave's cassette Glit will be better, he decided. He was almost as soft-sparked as an Autobot, but in a medic that was no bad thing. "I think you need better clothes than these," he decided, eying the poor-fitting jumpsuit.
Some time later Soundwave came to see his master, bringing Ravage with him. Soundwave reported the latest news on Autobot activity, and brought production reports on datapads. Neither of them noticed Ravage until there was a surprised yelp from the corner. Megatron and Soundwave looked over to see Ravage's tail sticking out of a shrouded corner behind Megatron's desk. "Ravage, curious. Youngling, curious. Leave alone," Soundwave advised, and the meeting went on. From the corner, there was an occasional, "Stop that," or giggle. Meeting over, Soundwave and Megatron looked over at the corner, and a moment later Ravage came out, Sam riding his back.
Ravage paced over to his mentor's side. The scrawny scrap of dirty humanity the Communications Officer remembered was gone, replaced with a clean human sparkling with in a deep green outfit, short hair, a tinted eye covering, and a smile as he hung on to one of the metal panther's back plates. "Appearance, improved," Soundwave commented, as Ravage came up to him. With permission, he lifted Sam from his cassette's back. "Sparkling, remove eye covering." Obediently, Sam lifted the glasses with dark lenses from his eyes and looked up. Soundwave examined the eyes that looked blankly at him, noting the glyphs, and very gently pushed the glasses back down before placing him on the desk. Megatron guided Sam towards him with a hand, looking over his pet with pride. "Eyes, remarkable, but relevance unknown."
"Ah. " He placed a datapad on the desk. "These are his 'doodles.' Give me your opinion." He turned to Sam as Soundwave reviewed the datapad. "Have you finished your homework?"
"Yes, Master, and Daddy finished his reports. " Ronald Witwicky appeared with a datapad that had a human's keyboard on it as well. Megatron brought him to the desk and reviewed the datapad briefly as Sam took his sire's hand and Ronald ruffled his hair. "May we please go outside now?"
"Yes, Ravage will go with you." He placed Sam back on Ravage's back, and the three left. His pets went nowhere without a trusted escort. "Well?"
"Glyphs," Soundwave noted. "Unable to read, but resemble the marks on the Cube. Sire has not seen Cube." Partly for information and partly as punishment, Ronald underwent a deep scan with Soundwave. "Sparkling unaware of significance?"
"Completely. He says he sees them behind his eyes, but they don't hurt. His sire is teaching him now, but I want a Cybertronian tutor, and another as guardian. I want this little one to have as little human contact as possible besides his sire. We will investigate everywhere the little one lived, but I have no doubt he is All-Spark touched." His red optics gleamed. "If we find the Cube- " He did not need to finish the sentence. If they found the Cube, then Cybertron, and the means to restore it, would be in their grip. "Provide these to Jetfire with the rest of the information we have. We still need find a way to revive our ally. "Jetfire translated the glyphs to read, "Where the created lake stands, the passage is revealed to the eyes that can see." And so the search began.
Soon after, Megatron received Motormaster in his office. Sam was on the desk with Megatron. When Motormaster objected to his reprimand, the argument began, and progressed to blows, though no real damage. The fighting transport left, hissing in pain and rage. When Megatron calmed, he remembered his pet, and looked for Sam. The youngling was curled up in the corner of the desk, with his arms over his head. He was shaking with sobs. The Decepticon leader looked for the sire to get the boy, and remembered that Ronald was compiling lists of man-made lakes with Jetfire.
The Decepticon leader scooped Sam up and the youngling flinched away from him. Crooning, Megatron cradled him in his hands and stroked his back until he calmed down. "I didn't know what to do," Sam sniffed. "I couldn't run away or anything, Master." The Decepticon leader realized how easily he could have killed his tiny pet, and from then on limited his assaults to verbal ones when Sam was present.
When Sam was on the desk on in his corner, a minion dared to present bad news, with the opportunity to defend himself fully before the Master would take violent action. If nothing else, the minion got the chance to brace himself as the Master sent his pet out of the office. While Decepticons learned to judge Megatron's mood some time ago by judging the behavior of his pets, this was a new development. Once Sam started training with Glit, he did a lot of minor, intricate repairs that normally went to the bottom of the triage list. All of the Decepticons saw the glyphs in Sam's eyes. For the first time in the history of the Decepticon occupation of Earth, they cared about the welfare of a human.
Time passed. Sam grew before Megatron's eyes, until he was taller than his father by about an inch. . Sam occasionally got into trouble with Wheelie and Brains, but minor nonphysical punishments worked fine to correct his behavior. The Decepticon leader enjoyed pampering the boy, dressing him in bright clothes, ensuring that he ate well, and got the sunshine and physical activity he needed to stay healthy. Megatron sent Ronald away on errands more and more. Six years after Sam became his pet, Megatron brought Sam to his desk, and gave him the news. "Sam, there has been an accident…" He comforted the mourning child as best he could.
There was no doubt this time that Ronald was dead. Megatron saw the body himself. Besides, he knew Ronald would never abandon his child. He used drones for gathering information on the humans after Ronald's death. Sam had no contact with other humans. After all, his pet was perfectly content with learning repairs from Glit and serving his master by polishing and doing other small personal services. The tutoring continued, as Megatron found Sam intelligent and was curious to see how much he could learn. Why upset him with harsh realities, such as the way most humans lived?
Once Sam hit puberty, Soundwave started getting nothing but static from him. This circumstance disturbed the telepath. "Let me monitor him for a time," he requested. "Glit wants to train him. I can use that." Megatron gave him permission. Two weeks later, Soundwave did his routine reports and by com requested that his master send Sam out of the room. Megatron sent his pet outside with Ravage. Soundwave played a hologram.
Glit was supervising as Sam worked on Frenzy. The cassette was in forced stasis or Glit would never have allowed the fragile human near the irritable spy, who had brawled with Rumble a little too hard. "What do you think of the Master, Sam?" the medic cassette asked.
"He's good to me," Sam said. The room was only dimly lit, so Sam could see the glow of the energon in the sensor to work. Glit had no trouble watching the human's expression as Sam worked. The human's hands worked in the small sensor easily, protected from energon burn by the gloves Glit devised for him.
"But what do you think of him? Do you think he is a good leader?" Glit pressed.
"He's the Master," Sam answered, as though that was the end of the matter."I think this is finished."
Glit checked. "Very good, youngling," he approved. "You prove your worth twice over, with your work and your loyalty. I am proud of you." Sam glowed with pleasure at the compliment.
The hologram ended. Megatron hummed in satisfaction. "He is mine," he purred. "When it is time to find the Cube and the Matrix, he will serve us well indeed. So helpess, so innocent, so naive, so loyal- oh, yes. When the time comes to deal with Optimus, he will serve us very well indeed. "
