Chapter 2: "The stars"
A month passed and to Megatron´s surprise, Engel seemed to fit well into their army. He even nearly thought that she was there right since the start. She was smart, funny, gentle and caring… not like he ever thought about her that way.
But still, she kept her word and worked really hard as a medic, which was a nice change against Knock Out, who rather cared more about his appearance before anything else. The said sport car seemed to be displeased, when he first met her. And since Megatron knew the medic, he could think of two explanations why: One, Knock Out was jealous because at the attention the femme got from the Vehicons (which seemed to literally fall in love with her), snorting every time they came in to ask her if she wanted some energon or needed help with anything. Two, he didn´t like that Engel got along with his partner, Breakdown.
It was surely the second, because once Engel made clear that she wasn´t interested in Breakdown, they immediately became friends… if not them, at least companions.
With Starscream, his Second-in-command, they seemed to get along since day one. At first it worried Megatron, since he knew that the seeker would use any opinion to use that friendship to turn it against him. But the new friendship actually was rather useful. Starscream became less rebellious and there were less failures from his side. How Engel did earned that result reminded a mystery. But a mystery, that also brought out that Starscream get along better with Megatron. And that was something.
But not as far as the fact she befriended Soundwave. Even for Megatron it was a great shock. Nobody could explain how, in the name of Primus, came this. Some Vehicons just suddenly spotted them chatting in the hallway and seemed to enjoy their conversation. That was also the first time someone else heard Soundwave´s voice beside Megatron.
She seems to have a talent to get along with others, thought Megatron. Maybe he should send her to the Autobots as a spy?
Hmm… no.
If he did so, she might not return to their army who knows what.
And that´s not something Megatron would want… or anybody else!
Megatron let out a sigh as he passed through the hallway, only to hear his SIC talking with the medic around the corner.
"I´m telling you - sometimes I wonder what makes her so popular. She is just a warrior with pretty face," Knock Out said, obliviously complaining. "If that was all needed, then I would have been popular long ago!"
"Oh please! Not this again," groaned Starscream, "Stop being jealous?"
"Jealous? Me?" Knock Out tried to sound hurt, but it was obliviously fake. "What makes you think that?"
"Oh don´t be such a drama queen," sighed Starscream, "She already said that she doesn´t like Breakdown that way. And the only reason the Vehicons like her is because she unlike you pays attention to them while repair. Or maybe because she welcomes them to chat whenever they want?"
"And what about her pets?" asked the medic, obliviously wanting to change the subject.
Megatron rolled his optics as he listened to them.
"They are harmless. Even Shockwave, after testing their genetic coding, said they are not Scraplets so they are cool," said Starscream simply. "And don´t change the subject. You should get over it. She already said that she has no interest in Breakdown. I thought you get along."
"… Well we do," admitted Knock Out. "But something is just off putting about her. She is not like the femmes we have at Cybertron."
"That´s because she is from another planet. From another part of the universe," reminded him the seeker.
"True. But she seems to know a lot about the universe, yet she didn´t know anything about our war. That´s just suspicious."
"Oy! The ´verse is big. Way too big! Probably even too big to know about everything that happens," Starscream pointed out.
There was a moment of silence, before Knock Out let out a sigh. "I see your point. I guess it was just wired how easily she agreed to becoming our second medic. Especially since Engel didn´t explained her reasons for that…"
"Then just ask her."
"What?"
"Just ask her – she is really honest. Whenever I, Breakdown, Dreadwing or anybody else asks her, she honestly answers every time. You can ask her and she tells you everything you are curious at."
"… That might be actually a good idea," nodded Knock Out "I might as well ask her how she befriended Soundwave."
"Yeah, I always forgot to ask it myself!" laughed Starscream. "Now tell me about the film that Engel recommended to you. You sneaked out today to see it. Was it worth it?"
"Oh definitely!" said Knock Out and as he described that film, Megatron turned to leave, heading to the bridge.
One might as well do some small control if everything was alright, before going to his quarters.
But once he came to the bridge, he saw that besides him there were another person. And that person was a certain femme, who was sitting on the edge of the bridge, face focused somewhere above.
"Engel?" asked Megatron in surprise to see her there.
The said femme looked at him, just as surprised as him. "My lord? What are you doing there?"
"That should be my line. Why are you there?" asked Megatron and walked closer to her.
Engel blushed, looking down for a moment, before she looked back up where she was staring before. "I came to watch the stars."
For a moment the warlord thought he heard wrong.
Really?
Did she really meant it?
Engel looked at him again. "There aren´t many places I can watch them on the ship. And I can´t go to the Earth, since I don´t know when I would be needed. This is the best place I can go to, while on the ship, my lord."
Megatron nodded understanding her reason, but he still couldn´t help but ask: "Why do you like to watch the stars?"
"There are many reasons… But I don´t want to bother you, my lord. I might leave, if you wish me to…" she started, but Megatron interrupted her: "It is alight. I should leave, I don´t want to bother you."
"No, I should-"
"No, rather I-"
"I will go!" they both said at the same time. Then they looked at each other, before bursting out laughing.
"So you like to watch the stars?" asked Megatron once he caught his breath and sat down next to her.
Engel nodded. "Yeah. I used to watch them at every planet I visited. Sometimes I can find interesting stories which explain how some constellations got their names."
"Really?"
"Yeah. For example⁓…" Engel looked somewhere up and at the stars as if searching for something. And she found it soon, as she said: "Do you see those close constellations at the north?"
Megatron looked up there with a frown, before he carefully nodded.
"Those are The Giraffe, Lizard and Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda and Perseus. There is a human myth about the latter four. Do you want to hear it out?" she asked him.
The silver mech just laughed. "Well since you started it, it would be a waste not to do it!"
"Okay. So here it goes…"
And so she told him the tale about a beautiful queen, whose pride and disrespect enraged the god of the seas, Poseidon. The queen Cassiopeia insisted that she and her daughter were far more beautiful than his daughters, the Nymphs. The god was furious and sent a Kraken named sea monster to destroy their kingdom. The only way how to save the kingdom, was to leave Princess Andromeda at the monster´s mercy. But as the monster approached the princess a hero came and defeated it. He used the head of a creature named Medusa that had the ability to turn living beings into stone statues. Once the monster was death, the hero, Perseus, took the princess and went to the city and they got married (human way to bond together, as Engel explained to Megatron). And at the name of such a tale, the old gods decided to make a memento at their honor. They put their pictures into the stars.
"Really? The queen was a narcissist and got to be in the stars in return? That´s pretty stupid idea," commented Megatron while frowning at the side stars.
Engel just laughed. "Oh don´t worry. She got her punishment even on the night sky. The Nymphs made sure that her constellation was placed close to the pole. And because of it, she would be spending the half of the nights upside down."
"Heh! Nice punishment," snickered Megatron at these words.
"I know. Another bonus of liking the stars. You learn interesting stories about them."
Megatron nodded and looked at her with a smile. "Nice hobby you have there."
The femme blushed and muttered: "Well it´s not quite a hobby. It is… more likely my way to deal with missing my brother."
Megatron blinked in surprise. "You have a brother?"
"Yeah an older one. His name is Chrono and he is the greatest bot I ever met!" Stated Engel with a smile.
"I see. What is he like?" asked Megatron curiously.
Engel tilted her head to the side, "Well he is a lot like Breakdown in character. He is always ready for a fight, but the same time a caring and loyal person, who respects others. He never backs of a debt and is always ready to help… He is also very careful not to hurt anybody in either way, useless you enrage him. But he has a lot of patience so it doesn´t happen often."
"He really sounds like a great man," admitted Megatron. "Your creators must be proud at him."
"They should be… I guess. I never knew them. My brother raised me all by himself."
"O-Oh! I-I´m sorry," apologized Megatron suddenly feeling guilty.
"Nah! It´s alright," said Engel with a smile. "You didn´t know. And I don´t miss them. I had my brother. He took care of me and was there when I needed him. He taught me how to fight and other things. We travelled across the ´verse together, exploring new places, learning new things. We were always there for each other… and that´s probably the hardest part about being so far from him."
"Why didn´t you stay together?" asked Megatron confused.
"Because I can´t rely on him forever. Not since he has his home and family of his own now. You see, many eons ago he met someone special. His name was Corundum and Chrono said it was love at first sight."
"From whose side?"
"Both."
"Lucky bastards," muttered Megatron.
"I know. They have fallen deeply in love with each other. Yet Chrono was weary to stay since he was worried about me. He always put my happiness over his… But I saw, how happy Corundum made him and I knew he would regret his decision later. So I reasoned him that I will be alright. He didn´t believe me at first," she admitted.
"It´s normal for an older brother to worry. Especially since you are his only family," nodded the warlord understandingly. "How did you convinced him?"
"I said that we´re not parting forever. That he will always be my brother, no matter how far we will be from each other and that I´ll always come back to see how he is. I also told him - ´Whenever you miss me, just look up at the stars. I will do the same and who knows? Maybe we will look up at them the same time. It will be a connection between us. Just between me and you, your little brother and you´."
"An amazing promise," murmured Megatron "A bit fancy, but amazing."
"Why thank you," chuckled Engel. "Since then, Chrono stayed with Corundum. I continued on my travelling across the universe. But I kept my promise and came back to visit. Especially when I learned that my brother became the sire of two healthy sparklings."
"Twins?" suggested Megatron.
The femme nodded. "A femme called Lilith and a mech called Cimeries. And Primus, since those two were born my brother and Corundum didn´t have a single moment of peace. The twins always come up with some pranks and cause trouble. But they listen whenever somebody scolds them… And I dare to say they have tendency to listen better to me and behave especially well when I´m around. Sometimes I wonder why?" Engel said aloud and Megatron couldn´t help but chuckle.
Suddenly something came to his mind.
"Engel when you said your little brother and you, were you referring to yourself and your brother?" asked Megatron frowning.
"Y-yes, I was," Engel answered, confused by the question.
"Sorry, if I might sound stupid but… but does that mean that you… you are a… mech?" The warlord didn´t knew how to form the question so he wouldn´t insult her.
"Yeas, why… O-OH!" Engel suddenly got it. "You thought I was a femme?"
Megatron nodded averting her… his gaze.
"And so does everybody, huh?" Engel let out a sigh and he looked back at him.
He expected Engel to be disappointed, but instead the smaller mech seemed rather relieved.
"Now I understand why were some Vehicons embarrassed in front of me, during medical examination. I thought they are just shy. So it was that," murmured Engel with a small chuckle.
"You don´t seem disappointed," Megatron couldn´t help but say.
"No, I´m not. I sometimes forget how female-like I look. How silly of me," the smaller mech scolded himself. "I can say that I´m not a typical description of a mech."
Megatron said: "Starscream looks pretty femme-like himself."
"But he looks more mech like compared to me."
"So what? You are still way better fighter than him and far better looking than him," growled Megatron.
"You think I´m good looking?"
The warlord suddenly blushed, not believing that he blurted out something like this in such a stupid way.
He didn´t realize he was looking at his laps, until Engel cupped his cheek and turned him so he looked directly into her optics.
Engel was now kneeling so they were in the same optic level.
"Do you really meant that, my lord?" asked Engel, his emerald optics had the same look like the first day they met.
Megatron had to suppress a shiver, before he nodded.
Engel smiled softly, before he leaned forward and whispered: "I think you are good looking too."
Then she leaned forward and kissed him.
Megatron´s optics went wide for a moment, before he slowly returned the kiss.
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