NEW CHAPPY!

Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers unfortunately.

Warnings: None that I can think of...

...

Chapter 10

...

Megatron sighed as he entered the base. This morning had been long for him, trying to organize the shipments and make sure each one was categorized correctly. He rubbed at his optics as he entered the familiar ground base.

A smile appeared on his face plates when he saw his bond-mate standing there in the med. bay, at the control panels with Ratchet, chatting casually about their mates and families nowadays.

However the moment the silver mech sent a burst of affection over the bond to his mate, Optimus immediately snapped to attention and turned to look at him. The smile that greeted the silver mech made his spark feel light as a single photon.

"My love, you have returned home early…" red arms wrapped around the silver mech's waist, pulling him in to lean against his mate's chest plating.

Megatron smiled, "I left Starscream and Cyclonus to transport it all. I wasn't exactly having the best of days….Fowler happened to notice and gave me the rest of the earth day off. Besides," he nuzzled the prime's chin, "I missed you this morning when you got up early for that meeting with General Bryce."

Optimus gave a small chuckles, caressing his bond-mate's face plate, "I would have woken you up, but you looked lovely in recharge, I did not wish to wake you from it…"

The two looked over as a gagging noise was made by everyone's favorite wrench-throwing medic.

"If you two plan to be mushy, I want you to save it for the berth room. Right now, I am becoming concerned with the fact that neither Shrapnel, Silversun nor Maximum called via comm. link yet…" Ratchet grumbled as he began to type at the computer's keys.

Megatron's smile disappeared as he went over to stand beside his adopted carrier, "Did you check over to see if there were any glitches in the communications?"

"Yes, so far nothing appears to be a problem at the moment. They're comm. lines are on screen, but neither one has responded," Ratchet tapped away, as he spoke and his optics focused on the screen.

Immediately, the ex-leader of the Decepticons went beside the medic and began typing at the console as well. He searched over the screen for any abnormalities just in case Ratchet had missed. Of course, the was highly doubtful since Ratchet almost never missed.

"I can see their energy signals, their comm. lines are on screen…" Megatron hummed with his optics narrowed in slight puzzlement, resting his chin on his fist. He jumped slightly when Optimus suddenly reached over his shoulder, chin resting on of the shoulder struts, muttering something to himself.

A small smile formed on his face as his bond-mate typed at the keyboard and looked at the screen with narrowed blue optics. Optimus grimaced a moment as he studied the screen with their son's frequency profile on it before he gave a sudden hum of interest. He reached forwards and pointed at a blinking red dot in the bottom left corner of the screen.

"Does that solve the problem, Ratchet?"

The medic looked where Prime was pointing. His jaw dropped slightly, before he shook his helm and growled at his stupidity for missing it. He immediately pressed a few important keys and the red dot disappeared.

What happened next, the three adults weren't expecting.

Maximum's voice filtered through the speakers, with an undertone of static.

"Maximum to base, can you read me? We are under attack and in need of back up! Repeat, we are under attack and in need of-AGH!" The sound of a roar made the medic and two parents stiffen at the shout of pain from the young mech on the others side of the comm. line. After a moment of what sounded like tussling, metal clanging and laser fire, Maximum's voice was heard again, "Please, if anyone is there, we are in need of back up! Repeat, we are in need of immediate back up!"

Optimus spoke first, "Maximum, this is Optimus speaking, what is your current predicament?"

His son seemed to hesitate a moment, since there was silence the first twenty five seconds.

"Shrapnel is holding off one of the more dangerous ones, Silversun is pinned under fire by two and I am busy holding o—!"

Static stopped the young mech from finishing his sentence, his comm. line deactivate, though his energy signature still appeared on the screen. Megatron looked at Optimus and Ratchet, before turning back to the screen, both his and his mate's protective programming setting off red flags.

….

Maximum's comm. link was deactivated when he was punched in the helm and sent rolling through the sand, scrapping across it to form a slightly large pile. He got up, while he opponent ran at him with a yell. Maxi lifted his arm up in time to keep the mech from delivering another blow. He snap kicked him in the abdomen and sent Ultra Magnus flying backwards, snarling.

Shrapnel and Grimlock, who had gone into his bi pedal mode, had their hands locked in a sort of power struggle as they tried to see who could push whom farther back. So far, the two seemed to be at a deadlock. The growled in concentration while their muscle cabling became strained from the pressure.

Silversun was curled up behind one of the large dunes for over from the rapid fire of the two mechs, Slug and Snarl, although the two were not without injuries themselves since there was a good number of energon arrows on them. Their fallen comrade was protected by the two who had placed Silversun in his current predicament to begin with.

Maximum panted a moment, both servos transforming into blades. The young mech felt like he would boil over soon. His comm. was now broken after he had spent long a while trying to contact the base, two of his friends were under attack and he had hoped his message had gotten through to his father.

Ultra Magnus' own servos transformed into blades, slightly wide in width and a little longer than Maximum's own. They ran at each other, their swords clashing together and forming sparks form the slide of metal.

They glared at each other as they tried to see who could push who back in order to determine who was the strongest. Maxi growled before head butting Ultra Magnus.

The Insecticon femme hissed, a small creaking sound coming from the muscle cables in her arms.

Grimlock gave a small chuckle, "For femme, you are good. No one ever really hold out as long as you…."

"If you think you can win against me through flattery big mech, you are sorely mistaken…." She said back, pressing slightly harder to keep him at bay.

"Don't need to. You too good for flattery."

Shrapnel looked up at him in slight confusion at what he had just said, distracting her if only for a moment. One moment was enough for Grimlock to get the upper hand and shove Shrapnel to her knees before he grabbed her arms and threw her right into the hiding Silversun.

He gave a huff, before turning to watch Ultra Magnus' fight, secretly searching for an opening to intervene and turn the tables on the younger mech.

When their swords met again in a lock, Maximum snapped, "Why did you attack Shrapnel?!"

The dislodged, Ultra Magnus turning to deliver a blow to Maximum's helm, only to be blocked.

"She's an Insecticon, a race that had sworn itself to the Decepticon cause, therefore even if the war was over she could still be a rogue out to cause trouble, along with her hive. Why are you with her to begin with?" He aimed to kick the back of the young mech's ankle, missing it by a few inches.

Maximum became a little stiff at the total ignorance of this mechs words, "Because she's my best friend and she would never attack anyone unless they provoked her first, like birdbrain over there!"

"For all I know, you and your friend are Decepticon rogues on this planet, trying to lure us into a trap!" the older mech dodged a snap kick to his helm.

"I would do no such thing and to accuse me of such is the lowest blow you can deliver!" Maxi jumped to the side, swiping the larger blade away, before transforming one blade into a servo that curled into a fist and he punched the older mech in the face plates.

Ultra Magnus stumbled back, reaching up to wipe at some energon at his lip. He looked at the younger mech, calculating optics wide in surprise. He was young, but he fought like a war veteran.

"You fight well…" he panted out, trying to get his intakes to catch up.

The silver and blue mech just looked at him with bright indigo optics, not acknowledging the compliment verbally, but there was a slight shine of pride in those very optics. Maximum turned to the mechs who had his friends pinned. He broke into a run while changing his blades into blasters and aimed at the two from his moving position.

However, before he could even start firing, he heard a roar.

It was soon followed by two rows of metal crushing, sharp cutting fangs clamping on to his shoulder and then lifting him up into the air and shaking him. He shouted in pain, as he felt muscle cables, proto-form skin and his out armor tearing from the force of each violent shake.

Shrapnel and Silversun watched in horror as their friend was shaken around like one of Greystreak's chew toys by Grimlock in his alt. mode. Silversun made to move, but was stopped when a laser grazed past his helm. He could feel the heat of the blast nearly hit the delicate metal of his neck. Shrapnel pulled him back, the two halves that made the shell of her alt. mode raising up over them to protect them as best they could.

Grimlock threw Maximum across the sand, watching the energon splatter into the grains in an uneven line. He stomped towards the young mech, snarling.

Maxi grit his denta as he placed a servo to his should to try and stop the energon bleeding out. When he moved to get up, a giant foot landed on his chest and pinned him down beneath it, making him grunt and hiss. The metal talons on the twos tapped at his chest warningly.

Bright red optics glared into the bluish purple ones, "No one attacks the Dinobots. Not while I'm around…." He opened his jaws preparing to clamp them around the neck, go in for the kill….

"Grimlock no!" Ultra Magnus yelled, running towards the Leader of the Dinobots.

TSEEEEEEEW!

Grimlock roared as a blast of laser fire hit his neck. He snapped his helm in the direction of it, as his face plate met with a sharp fingered fist that sent him stumbling a couple feet away from the mech had had pinned.

Maximum turned his helm with wide optics and watched as the giant t-rex was being kicked, punched and pretty much getting the slag beaten out of him by….

"M-Mom?!" Maxi shouted, optics wide.

Megatron delivered a hard punch to his opponents snout, fangs grit and wings flared out high and the rage of a mother lioness, "DON'T! YOU! TOUCH! MY! SON!"

The young Prime's son watched in enraptured shock as his mother, who could barely reach his opponents shoulder fought like and beat the Dinobot like a Wrecker. Car engines were heard snapping Maxi out of his thoughts and causing him to look with a wince as pain shot from his shoulder. He couldn't help the relief he felt as he saw the familiar alt. modes of his father and Ratchet.

When Optimus transformed, he ran to his child with Ratchet following his lead.

The Prime knelt beside him, concern and contained anger showing in his cerulean optics, "Maximum, are you damaged?!"

"Ah….a little, but I'll be fine…" Maximum winced as he held his shoulder.

Ratchet opened the cover to his scanner, running it over the young mech, "That, young mech is NOT fine!" he transformed his servo into a welder, "Optimus, help him remain sitting up, while I patch this."

The young mech winced as strong servos held his under arms so Ratchet had a good angle to work at. Optimus sighed as he soothingly ran his fingers over his son's antennae to calm him down. He could hear his mate's fists punching into the reptilian Cybertronian who had dared to harm one of their children and the Prime would have joined him if he didn't have Maximum to worry about. He felt his son flinch, letting out a hiss of pain as the old medic began replacing his wires.

"Shh, easy there," Optimus cooed, paternal instincts taking over in an attempt to calm the younger bot.

Maximum grumbled something to himself before he relaxed against his father.

"NO WAY!"

Optimus snapped his helm up and shuttered his optics at the other three strange mechs who now were coming up to him. He tensed, getting ready to fight if he had to if these mechs attempted to attack his injured child and his medic.

One of the mechs, one with strange looking wings stopped before him with his hands raised in a surrendering signal, "Optimus Prime sir, we—I mean I—I mean—HOLY slag it really is you sir!"

Ratchet raised an optic ridge at flier, before looking at the Prime. Optimus remained stoic, but there was a small hum of bafflement from him.

The mech went to say more, but he was tackled by a blur of black and purple and sent rolling across the ground with the blur. Silversun followed with a yell, kicking one of the bulky mech's in the face while elbowing the other in the nasal ridge and sent them bother stumbling back with a yell. And after that everything was just one thing after another in a scrambled mess of everyone yelling.

"YOU DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS FRAGGERS!"

"AGH! Why you little—!"

"RRRRRRRARGH!"

"You damned featherless pigeon, HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY PEOPLE!"

"Not my fault you're a scavenger!"

"Is that all you got you iguana?!"

"RRRR! Destroy Decepticon!"

"Maxi, would you hold still?!"

"I'm sorry doc, but it HURTS!"

"Optimus Prime sir…!"

All of them were yelling these things at the same time.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone froze, Shrapnel with her fist in the air above Swoop's face, Silversun about to bite into Snarl's arm while Slug was about to punch his helm, Megatron holding Grimlock's tail with one of his pedes in his face, Ratchet and Maxi staring at him like he was a mad mech, and Ultra Magnus just standing there and staring at him with a slightly wary expression. All of them looked at the Prime who had shouted at the top of his vocalizer's limit. His shoulders were hunched, denta grit and optics shut tightly in an attempt to sort out his thoughts and questions before losing his temper.

Taking in a few deep and calming intakes, he looked at the mech, "Front and center."

Everyone looked at each other in slight confusion.

"NOW!"

The shout however seemed to have cleared things up slightly and everyone went to stand before the Prime, even Grimlock obeyed, despite his grumbling.

When he made sure Maximum was situated so Ratchet could work on him but he was laying down, Optimus stood and walked over the line of Cybertronians before him.

He took a moment to find his words, before sighing, "I don't know where to start," he rubbed at his optics, "I don't know how this fight started, why it started or what started it. But I want the absolute truth of what the frag was going on before my bond-mate and I came in," he looked to Magnus who straightened up immediately, "Ultra Magnus."

"Yes sir."

"What started the fight?"

"We had an Insecticon here sir."

"The one who tackled your subordinate?"

"Yes sir."

"Why did you attack her?"

"We believed she was a threat."

"Oh?" Megatron winced at the tone his mate used. He had only ever used it when he was dealing with Bumblebee or Maximum when they did something very stupid. It showed he was close to going over the edge and shouting, "And what indicated she was a threat?"

"I-I-I…"

"I asked you a question Magnus," the tone was tense and gritted out between denta.

Ultra Magnus took in a deep swallow, "We just assumed sir after she transformed to her alt. mode."

"Did she provoke you?"

"No sir."

"Did she fire any weapons at you?"

"No sir."

"Then why attack her when she was not attacking you? Why did one of your mechs attack one of my crew, then attack one of my young medics under Ratchet's tutelage" Silversun nodded in acknowledgement, "And one of my children?"

There was a squawk from the flier, while Grimlock seemed to get tenser. Shrapnel remained unexpressive.

"Child-children?" Magnus stuttered.

Optimus pointed at his injured son being tended to by Ratchet, "My son, Maximum, who one of your soldiers was attacking when my mate and I walked through that space bridge. If I didn't know it was you leading this team…!"

"Magnus doesn't lead the Dinobots. I do," Grimlock snarled, "We just needed his ship. Get to Earth," he snorted, looking at the injured mech he had bitten.

"S-son…you….Prime….a son…you…a father…..!" Magnus looked disoriented as he tried to make sense of the information given to him. Then he looked at Prime in worry, "Did you bond to Ratchet?"

There was a moment of sputtering before the medic snapped, "First off, I was happily bonded BEFORE I went into the war with a lovely triple-changer and I have a lovely daughter, second even if I DID bond with the Prime, who I have seen as a son since he was a mere sparkling, HE would be the carrier, not me!"

"And I wouldn't have lasted long with you as my mother," Maximum grumbled, before a wrench connected with his helm, making him shout.

Magnus hummed, "Now I know why he seemed so familiar. He takes after you in great detail sir," he looked a little sheepish as he looked at the Prime, "I believe congratulations are in order for you sir. I would also like to meet your bond-mate…."

"I'm right here."

Magnus' optics almost bulged out of their sockets when he saw Megatron step forwards and go up beside Optimus Prime. Sharp talon digits intertwined with the rough, dull digits of Optimus as the two stood there together.

The Dinobots tensed slightly from old habits that were created at the start of the war.

However there were definitely some differences such as his slightly thinner, shorter and sleeker frame and his rigged wings that poked out. He reached Optimus' chin and held a more cat like appearance. Also, his optics were of a different color. Instead of the fiery, insane crimson, they were a calm, collected cyan-violet.

The two mechs were completely lax, indicating the trust they shared without having to voice it.

Magnus stood completely frozen for a long moment as he stared between the two mechs. A sudden wheeze escaped his lips, sparks began to form around his helm as he tried to process the image of the two mechs together before a small guttural noise was hear.

He fell forwards on to his front before their feet.

The ex-Decepticons warlord looked at his mate the Prime with a concerned look.

"…well. That went better than expected."

...

I would like at least two review before the next chapter. Review please!