Pretty tame, with a brief reference to interfacing

"Again."

Twoface concentrated at Ratchet's command, shifting the outer shell of his body in size and shape to fit his original form. This is more complicated than it looks, he thought, and that's saying something. The other former humans seemed to have it so easy.

After what seemed like forever, Twoface stopped and inspected himself. He was almost as tall as Ratchet this time, but he felt…slender. Something felt off with his legs too. As he bent down to check his feet, he saw it—stiletto heels.

Miko snorted from her perch on the balcony. "They're even worse than Starscream's!" she exclaimed as Twoface shook his head in disbelief. "N-no offense."

"It's fine—"

"Let's try this one more time," Ratchet said.

With a slight tinge of disappointment, Twoface obliged. He'd kind of liked the stiletto heels; they reminded him of his performances as Princess Candy. He tried to concentrate on his transformation, but it was difficult not to reminisce about his human life.

In spite of the distraction, he felt like he'd done fairly well when he finally settled into position. Ratchet even seemed like he was about to praise him—until he looked down.

"Everything seems in order, except…"

"You still have the heels," Miko finished flatly.

Twoface grinned and turned to face Miko. "I'm keeping them." Ratchet opened his mouth to protest, but Twoface held up a hand. "They're more comfortable for me anyway. Same time tomorrow?"

"Fine, fine," Ratchet replied, waving Twoface away. "At least now I can return to my work."

"Swear allegiance? To Megatron?" If Roadkill still had a stomach, it would have been in knots.

"To Lord Megatron, and the Decepticon cause," Dreadwing replied. They turned a corner and reached the door to the Decepticons' control room. Breakdown stood waiting.

The past few days had been unforgiving; none of the Decepticons seemed to trust Roadkill, and few showed him any kindness. At first he'd been able to surprise them with simple politeness, but as the novelty of "please" and "thank you" wore off the Decepticons had returned to their usual contemptuous selves—except for Breakdown.

He was still distant, as were all the Decepticons, but at least Breakdown seemed interested in treating the lower ranking Decepticons as people rather than servants or objects. He'd even explained a few of the 'rules' of Decepticon culture. Don't display too much emotion. (A little anger now and then was okay, he'd said, but fear and love and sadness were out.) Don't talk about interfacing. (Apparently Knockout was as vulgar as Decepticons came.) Don't talk about your feelings to anyone you don't trust. Don't ask 'why.'

According to Breakdown, the Autobots had shared similar social codes once, but their association with humans had led them to relax a few of them. To Roadkill's dismay, body language was even more important to Cybertronians than it was to humans, and their unwritten rules had more intricacies. At least as a human, Roadkill had been able to study body language, but among Cybertronians, there was no such luxury, and disorders like Asperger's Syndrome were unheard of.

"Don't worry," Breakdown said as Roadkill entered the control room. "They just want to make sure you won't betray anyone."

Roadkill smiled halfheartedly and followed Dreadwing to the center of the room. All the high ranking Decepticon officers but Airachnid were here, Roadkill realized as Breakdown took his place beside Knockout. Megatron stood in the center, staring at Roadkill with those piercing red eyes.

"Kneel," Dreadwing said.

Roadkill had never been one to bow to anything, but a room full of the mightiest Decepticon leaders (and Starscream) was not the place to argue. He knelt before Megatron without hesitation and Dreadwing left to stand beside Skyquake.

Megatron spoke. "Do you, Roadkill, pledge your eternal service to the Decepticon cause and swear to fight and die amongst your brethren, to remain eternally loyal, and to follow all our orders without question, even if it results in your death?"

Roadkill opened his mouth to accept, but something stopped him. He'd always found it nearly impossible to lie, a quality he'd once considered a virtue. But now?

"Sorry, Lord Megatron, I—"

Every Decepticon in the room seemed to tense at Roadkill's words. He wanted to wilt under Megatron's intense glare, but he had no choice now. He had to continue.

"P-please don't kill me, Lord Megatron, or any of you, but I…I don't want to lie."

Megatron raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"I—I can agree to most of it, just not the 'obey all orders without question' part. I mean, what if I think…someone…is trying to betray and using me for the plan? Or what if…well, I don't know what you'll be asking me to do, but I don't think I could bring myself to do anything that ends up hurting Earth, or wiping out all its native life. I'm still…attached to it. I mean, you guys seem to have a great goal for Cybertron, but…"

Roadkill couldn't go on any longer. A few of the Decepticons were exchanging glances, but Megatron continued to glare directly into Roadkill's eyes—into his soul. After a few painful moments, Megatron spoke again.

"At least you are honest, which is more than I can say for some officers…Starscream."

The seeker sputtered. "What—Lord Megatron, I—"

"Silence, Starscream." Megatron returned his attention to Roadkill. "But honesty is no substitute for loyalty. I will accept a partial vow…for now."

The Decepticons stared at Roadkill expectantly. "I, Roadkill…pledge my eternal service to the Decepticon cause…and swear to fight and die amongst my…brethren…to remain eternally loyal, and to…obey the Decepticon leadership to the best of my ability."

"Welcome to the Decepticon army. You may rise."

At Megatron's words, the Decepticon officers began filing out of the room. Roadkill stood and made to leave, but Megatron caught him by the arm.

"There may come a time when you must choose between Earth and Cybertron, and Earth is no place for a Decepticon. I will be monitoring your behavior for signs of disloyalty."

"I…yes, Lord Megatron," Roadkill squeaked. After a fierce stare, Megatron released his arm, and Roadkill headed out of the room, uncomfortably aware of Starscream glowering at him from behind Megatron.