Chapter 4:
"Excellent, Dinobot2, yeess." Megatron said, a very pleased expression on his face as Dinobot and I walked towards him in his chair. "Welcome, Shredder." He said as he extended his right hand in greeting. I stepped forward and shook it hesitantly. "Don't worry, I only wish to ask a favor of you, yes." I nodded my head slowly. "Dinobot, Rampage, I would like to have a word with Shredder alone." He paused. "Don't worry, Dinobot, you will get her back in one piece and functional."
With that, the two left, leaving Megatron and I alone.
"What do you want, Megatron?" I asked suspiciously.
"I only wish to ask if you will join the Predacons." He replied simply.
"What's the catch?"
"There is none!" Megatron exclaimed. "You get everything you've earned and could ever want; you get your love. And you only have to stay as long as he does."
"You killed Dinobot!" I yelled, suddenly angered.
"I did no such thing!" He shot back. "Dinobot died because he ran out of energy after destroying the golden disc!" He calmed down a little bit. "And even if I had finished him off, I did 'bring him back', after all." He continued to explain. "I removed the old Dinobot's memory chips as soon as the Maximals' backs were turned, and then modified them to suit my standards. I made sure that the only thing he would remember is you. Now he works for me, and me alone."
I growled to myself. If I were to join the Predacons, I would have to give up my honorable nature, which I had come to grow fold of, even though it sometimes proved as a weakness. I sighed. "I accept."
"Excellent, Shredder. You will not regret this decision, no."
"I hope you're right." I replied as I left, swinging my tail from side to side.
"And?" Dinobot asked as I emerged from Megatron's chamber.
In a swift motion, my hand hovered over my left thigh and the silver crescent moon changed to the purple Predacon symbol. "He managed to sway me." I smiled.
Dinobot sort of grinned proudly as he leaned down, planting a kiss on my forehead. "I believe we have some..catching up to do." With that, he put an arm around my waist and led the way to his room.
--
"I've just got word from Depth Charge of Shredder joining the Predacons." Optimus informed his troops after the manta ray radioed him from inside the dense forest where Shredder had built her make-shift gravestone for Dinobot.
Cheetor shook his head. "Why would she do that?"
"Dinobot." Optimus replied.
"Great." Rattrap started. "First a Predacon Dinobot, now a Predacon Shredder, both with zero honor. We're all gonna die."
--
I let out a soft, barely noticeable sigh. Megatron wasn't kidding when he said that the only thing Dinobot remembered from his past was me. 'Oh well,' I thought. 'It doesn't matter now, we're both Preds.'
We were laying in his room, on the recharge berth. I had my left arm flung haphazardly across his chest, my right arm positioned under his neck while my fingers softly stroked the right side of his face and my head rested cozily on his shoulder. His left arm was wrapped around my upper body, his claws fiddling with my beast mode's head, and his right arm was hanging lazily off the edge of the berth.
"I missed you so much, Dinobot." I said, tilting my head upwards to try and see his face.
He just nodded, looked down at me and kissed my left optic, the one with the scar. "How did you..get that scratch?" He asked, his gaze lingering on the scarred optic sensor.
"Big fight." I responded simply.
"Really?" He continued. "What happened? And why did you...keep it?"
"I was fighting Blackarachnia, and she got fed up with me, I guess, and tried to rip out my optics. As for why I kept it, I always kind of wanted a battle scar."
He chuckled slightly and began to play with the screws on my beast mode's head. "May I?"
I was silent for a bit, trying to figure out what he was up to. It didn't take long. "Yeah.." I replied with slight reluctance. "Go ahead."
--
Dinobot II hissed softly as he stroked Shredder's back, as far as his arm would reach, down to her tail. He had been slightly surprised when she had agreed to make love with him. Megatron had done him justice with this new body, he thought.
He didn't remember much from his past life, except Shredder and the fact that his old chassis had been destroyed, so Megatron built him a newer, better body. And stronger.
Before Dinobot had had a chance to ask Shredder anything else, she had begun to purr and went into standby. Even now, she was still purring. It was cute, he thought, but was starting to get a little annoying, so he put himself into standby before he did anything that he would later regret.
Dinobot had one weird dream that night.
It began with him and Shredder kissing when suddenly, she pulled away and apologized. He countered, saying that he'd been waiting a long time to do that to her. They embraced for what seemed like the longest time, until he sensed that something was wrong, and told Shredder to leave. He radioed Optimus Primal (This part was especially confusing to the Transmetal II) and told him that all seven Predacons were tearing the Valley apart. He took them down, one by one, until only Megatron remained. The Predacon leader began to say something about "Old technology", when he lifted his right arm and fired into a nearby tree. Shredder fell out of it. Dinobot screamed her name, then woke up, hissing.
"Whoa, whoa, what's wrong?" A small, feminine voice asked softly from the mech's left side.
"Nothing." He gasped, the aftermath of the nightmare making him slightly dizzy.
"Are you sure?" Shredder asked gently. "You were tossing and turning in your sleep and even called my name a few times." She continued, clearly worried.
"Just a nightmare." Dinobot replied as he used his elbow to prop himself up gingerly.
Shredder sighed and sat up with him. It was still dark out, and neither of them bothered to get out of bed. "What was it about?" She asked, holding the side of Dinobot's face with her left hand.
He jerked his head away from her hand and looked into the dark, away from her glowing, green optics. "You are not helping." He said, recalling briefly, the end of the dream, when Shredder fell out of the tree, unconscious.
The femme sighed again and lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Dinobot. It was your dream. I'll leave it at that."
He turned back to face her, the only thing he was able to see, being her glowing, bright green optics and the shadows they cast of her domestic, cat-like face. She blinked and looked at him apologetically.
He shook his head. "No. You have a..right to know." When she raised an optic ridge, he continued. "You were in it."
Both her optics widened and something that looked like realization flickered through them. It was gone just as quickly as it appeared. "Really?" She asked, her beautiful optics narrowing curiously. "Go on," She said, then added quickly: "But only if you want."
"Of course." Dinobot then proceeded to tell her everything from the dream that he remembered, putting special emphasis on the end, when Megatron shot her out of the tree.
When he finished, the look in Shredder's optics was slightly confusing. There was pain, and lots of it, also a great deal of sorrow and a smidgen of fear.
"What is..the matter?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing." She said, closing her optics and shaking her head. When she opened her optics, the aforementioned emotions were gone.
Dinobot reached out to stroke the side of her face, and without warning, Shredder began to cry. "Oh, no, no, no. It's alright." He assured her as he pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around her. She just cried harder, her whole body convulsing with the sobs of sorrow and pain, though from what, Dinobot didn't know. She buried her face in his chest, and he kissed the top of her head. "Now you cannot tell me that..nothing is wrong." He said smartly as he tilted her head upwards slowly. Her glowing optics were dimmed by tears that he attempted to wipe away with the blunt side of his claws. "Tell me, please." Dinobot pleaded. "I wish to..help you."
She sniffled and wrapped her arms around Dinobot's chest, hugging him tightly. "I will tell you," She said, muffled. "but right now, I just need a hug."
"Alright." They lay back down and Shredder held tightly to Dinobot, whimpering every once in a while, before she fell back into recharge, still clinging to him as if she was afraid that he was going to leave her alone.
The next time the couple woke up, it was daylight outside.
Dinobot tried to heave himself up, but found that Shredder was still clinging to him desperately, her cute, cat-like face no longer contorted with pain or grief. "Shredder," He said, and he gently poked her arm with the tip of his biggest claw. She groaned slightly, then promptly swung one leg up and over the both of his. He sighed in exasperation, and decided to poke and prod her some more. The femme was in a really deep sleep, and eventually, poking and prodding her became amusing, as she reacted differently each time. If he poked her belly, she squirmed and brought her tail around to whack his hand with. If he touched anywhere on her face, she snarled drowsily and tried to bite him. If he nuzzled her face with his own, she actually did bite him. Finally, he decided to run a gentle claw down her side, where he knew she was very ticklish. She gave a violent jolt and her optics shot open. He stopped tickling her and she looked up at him sleepily. She smiled slightly and gave him a kiss. "You have..weird sleeping habits." He said, a playful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
She giggled groggily and sat up, her back against the wall. "What did you do?"
He sat up as well, and put his arm across her shoulders. "These claws are good for..at least three things." He started, holding his claws up in front of them both. "Poking, prodding, and...slicing." He smiled.
Shredder chuckled and there was a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Dinobot asked as he got out of bed and walked towards the door.
"Only me." Megatron said through the door before Dinobot opened it. "May I come in?" Dinobot gave a slight nod and the Predacon leader entered the room slowly. "I heard some...noises last night." He began, looking at the femme. "Melancholy noises." He added quickly as Shredder turned her face away. "I trust you two are getting along alright."
"Yes." Dinobot replied simply.
"Just memories." Shredder said, cutting in as she politely stood up and approached the larger of the two mechs.
"Ah. That's a pity." He responded. "Well, come to the control room when you are ready." Then he left.
"By the way," Dinobot started as Shredder yawned and stretched. "What was that..last night?"
"The dream you described to me was..." She paused and took a moment to regain her composure. "what happened before you..." Her voice trailed off uncomfortably.
"Died." The mech finished. "But in the dream, I was on the..Maximal side."
"I didn't say it was totally accurate." She said, smiling after a brief pause.
"Were you...sad?" Dinobot asked slowly.
"That's the understatement of the century." She said, smiling grimly. "But you're back now, and that's what matters." She gave him a quick hug and kiss, then dragged him out the door.
--
Sorry for the horrendously long delay. I have to be in the mood to write BW and I wasn't for the longest time. R&R please, it's how I get by!