The Beauty of the Beast.

Warnings: this is not a smut, no lemons, no PWP, but it has an odd pairing, some angst, a bit of tension, a bit of ogling, and one big mech x one small human female in a room.

"Would you love a Monster-man, could you understand beauty of the beast?" – Lordi Would you love a Monster-man.

Timing: post season's 2 finale.

Rating: M.

Pairing: Megatron and June Darby.

Disclaimer: Transformers Prime © Hasbro. Story's plot and Gavin © me.

Part 11 – Midnight Summer Dream.

June smiled inwardly as she thought about her next question. Nothing special, completely normal question, but the answer could take him some time. Maybe long enough so he would get tired. The metallic oaf had to go to recharge at some point, she reasoned, maybe he will simply leave me here and I will have my chance to escape.

"Megatron, I've heard many stories about Cybertron before the war. Ratchet told how he became medic. Arcee told us about her sisters. Bulkhead about life as a construction worker, Wheeljack about being engineer and demolition expert and Optimus about Iacon Hall of Records and his life as Orion Pax." She gave her captor what she hoped looked like slightly shy smile. "I always wondered how you became gladiator and what you did before that?"

Megatron crooked his head. The fact that Autobots shared their past with their human allies didn't surprise him. It was normal for Cybertronians to share stories with their closest friends and relatives. Before the war it was a custom to gather and tell tales. He participated in such events on regular basis with those few gladiator he considered close friends.

He haven't had a chance to tell a story since that damned day when he was denied the title of Prime and Orion Pax turned from a friend to an enemy. Now, after all this time a human wanted to hear his tale? He didn't know her and she didn't know him, hardly a companionship to share their past, but what did he have to lose? The only mech that he considered close enough was Soundwave, and he knew them all already. That little human femme wanted to hear that particular story and he for some odd reason didn't felt uncomfortable with the idea.

"Very well. As I mentioned before I was one of those lucky sparklings who had creators. I emerged from my carrier's gestation chamber in city of Tarn, where military frame types were rather common even some time after the last war. My sire was a miner and my carrier was an explosive expert, both worked in the same mine. It was closed shortly after I received my second upgrade, an age you would probably compare to human 5 year old. We have moved to Kaon, where they signed new contracts. Kaon was mostly industrial city and while military frame types weren't as common as in Tarn, they were still normal sight in the streets at that time so we weren't sticking out that much. It was there where I grew up and received my upgrades. I was sent to caste education facility like any other youngling. While none of us low caste members couldn't count on any great career we could receive decent education in the area of our future occupation, as it was desirable for workers to be good at their jobs." Megatron paused for a moment as if deciding in how to continue the story. "As my education continued I was receiving successive upgrades along with my peers and slowly became the largest youngling in the group as my frame type determined. At the age that is Cybertronian equivalent of human 18 I received my final upgrade. It was very important moment for every Cybertronian as with the final upgrade we were choosing our gender, the armour design and main modification that would serve as base for future ones."

"Wait!" June cut in with look of shock on her face. "What do you mean by 'choosing your gender'?"

"Cybertronians upon their creation are hermaphrodites, as you say; we have potential to become both mech and femme. Our physical gender is formed only during our last and most extensive upgrade, but our mental gender is forming since the moment we leave gestation chambers of our carriers. There were some Cybertronians that chose to have both options, but most would choose only one of the two. I am surprised that Ratchet never told you, it is only natural after all."

"For you maybe. We are born with our gender, aside from particular cases; our genes decide if a child is female or male. Physically we all start as females but then our genes decide if we continue as females or develop into males." June pulled a troubled face. She had to remember that they were not only machines, they were also aliens. Real aliens with alien customs, physiology and everything else. The fact that they were robots didn't change a thing; she was sitting on a desk of darned gigantic megalomaniacal metallic E.T. with plans of conquering Earth and the rest of known universe.

"Do you want me to continue?

"Yes, please." She snapped from her musing.

'Then pay attention. I don't have habit of repeating myself." Megatron gave June irritated look. He hoped that she won't be drifting away like that too often. " After I received my final upgrade that granted me powerful engine and matching hydraulics with armour thick enough to survive collapsing mine tunnel, which I have had chance to test quite recently, I am sure your son told you about that event; I was ready to assume my occupation and receive final designation. Designations, it was another difference between castes. Higher castes gave their sparklings their designations once; they only changed it if they had to. Us lowlifes only received actual designations after our final upgrade, before that we were known as out creators or caretakers charges. Also when high castes gave their young actual names, we received serial numbers. I was named D-16 and I used that designation for very long time.

I worked for the same company that my sire did and for some time we had the chance to work together. He was killed in mining accident few cycles later when sharp slab of rock cut him in a half; he bled in matter of clicks. My carrier followed him shortly after out of grief. It's not unusual for bonded mechs or femmes to follow their deceased mates, a Cybertronian have to have a good reason to continue existence after such a traumatic event."

June noticed that for a second there was a strange look in Megatron's optics. He weren't looking at her, but there was certain bitterness, maybe even sadness in his gaze. She had no doubt that he still grieved after his parents. He never mentioned any siblings so she guessed that he was an only child, much like Jack. For a second there she felt pang of guilt for forcing sad memories to someone, but it was Megatron, a creature that caused much more grief to countless people.

Megatron vented a heavy sight and looked straight at June, who managed to keep poker face. She felt slightly torn inside. On one hand he was a monster with blood – or energon – of countless being on his hands, or servos. But on the other hand, from what Ratchet said, he was product of the society he grew in and corruption that he tried to fight. A fallen hero, and after seeing that recording of young Megatronus she couldn't help but feel curious about that side of him. None than less, she had to escape from clutches of this 'fallen hero', because as well behaving and chivalrous he was at the moment, she really didn't want to find out how his darker side looked like. No matter if it was her or someone else on the receiving end. She quickly focused on Megatron as she heard him continue his story.

"After that I was left alone, but I continued and had a decent life. Not decent enough to think about starting a family of my own, even if I could find a mate, but good enough. Only then everything went wrong. I was transferred to a mine on an asteroid after the mine I originally worked in was closed. Life was harder, energon rations were thin and small, but our contracts didn't allow us to quit and find different company before their termination. So we continued working. And then the reforms came, the Senate sent us some buffoon to tell us that the mine will be automatized and that, in essence, we're fired 'but worry not we'll help you find new jobs' that fop said.

Miners of course didn't take that news lightly. People got angry, there were protests, some riots even. The mine crew was disciplinary dismissed; they told us that they were doing us a favour by not pressing charges. Some favour it was. Before we knew we were on transport ship to Cybertron. The company was obliged to send us back, so they did; only the contract never said it had to be in decent conditions, so we flew in cargo ship almost freezing into deactivation.

Later I learned that Soundwave was a shipping worker in that company and that he was one of the biggest troublemakers in those riots. But I didn't meet him back then, he was in another ship. There were four cargo ships, each packed with miners and mine workers, each cold like the void itself and none was prepared to transport living cargo, so we spent three cycles on our feet unable to sit, recharge, refuel and use our engines to warm up because of highly flammable fumes…"

"That's awful!" June found herself interrupting the story with quite some disgust. "How could they? That's below any decency… ow, sorry. It's just outraging." She quickly stopped under Megatron's stare. He didn't look angry, but he clearly wasn't happy about her outburst. With one optic brow raised in what could only be 'are you quite finished?' look he reassumed his storytelling.

"Back in Kaon wasn't better. There was nothing waiting for us. With disciplinary discharges we could only dream of finding decent employment. Quite a number decided to go underground and ended as criminals. Some decided to find un-decent employment and work their ways up again. Perhaps they were the most rational ones. But there was a group of us that was too decent go against the law but too proud degrade ourselves with the lowest occupations possible. And then the miracle happened.

Kaon was particular city, local laws allowed much more liberty than in other cities. At that point society was bored and frustrated by high level of unemployment, low wages and energon shortage, so someone dug out old sport known as Gladiatorial Match to give the citizens something to drive their minds from the seemingly omnipresent difficulties. And they were recruiting gladiators. In fact, it was second in-take because many couldn't take the training and quit leaving only the strongest and toughest. So the group I was in decided to try, little I knew that there was similarly thinking group of mechs from another ship that also decided to try their luck in the arena.

We had no place to go and the arena promised quarters, training and everything that any other employer would so with nothing to lose and everything to gain we went to the recruitment office straight away. They took everyone in, but warned that only half of us would make it through the training and even less would manage to the end of their first season.

Back then in the beginning of the arena death matches were still illegal so no one would die, safe for some accidents, but wounds and injuries happened on every day basis. They weren't joking when they said that training was hard. Some weaker mechs never made it through first ten cycles, those stronger but less aggressive were next to get out. By the first half of the training only fifteen out of forty mechs remained. That's when they combined us with the other large group that signed up earlier that day – mechs from the other cargo ship. It was that day that I met Soundwave for the first time, though we didn't spoke with each other until the day we fought on the arena.

He was one of the largest mechs in the combined group. There were five of us really large mechs. Me, Clench, Soundwave and two other mechs that designations I don't remember, but they were twins and didn't came from cargo ship, but were recruited along with Soundwave's group.

In the end from both groups there were twelve of us that became gladiators and receive new designations – again a ritual of passage. Only this time we could decide. Our training coach that filled out licences so we could legally fight had few suggestions for each of us. He said that I was as large, strong and menacing as the Fallen himself and that such a name would serve me well. I liked the idea and decided to go by that name.

And that's how I became Megatronus the Gladiator of Kaon."

June blinked as she slowly returned to reality. "I've heard many stories about you being successful gladiator, talented speaker and charismatic politician; but none of the Autobots ever mentioned what you were doing before you became gladiator."

"I am not surprised, younger ones may not even know, and older ones rarely speak of so called Golden Age of Cybertron as anything but paradise, not wanting to acknowledge that their paradise was built on injustice by servos of countless slaves who only ever knew hunger and abuse." There was certain bitterness in his voice that June couldn't miss. But was he telling her the truth? Facts that she knew about him from Ratchet matched. She was told that Megatron came from low caste of workers; that he gained political popularity as Gladiator by loudly speaking of injustice of caste system and where his name came from. June guessed that he probably told her truth but only because it fitted him.

"I will disappoint you, Ratchet mentioned about the abuse of working class and while he often praises the Golden Age, he also repeats that it was far from perfection. Optimus always says that caste system was unjust."

"You only met few Autobots. They may be your friends, June, but you only met the more amiable members of their faction. Make no mistake, not all Autobots are friendly, more than you know are even more hostile and violent than my Decepticons." He observed as June's face turns into mild disbelieve. "You do not believe me? It is your right, I am sure that you were warned about me being rather manipulative mech. I do not deny that, I am a politician after all. But if you will have a chance to do so ask one of your Autobot friends if that's true, they will confirm what I just said; Prime instilled in them his own truthfulness."

June stared at Megatron with mixed feelings. If she would ever get free and had a chance to meet one of the Autobots she could ask, she was sure they wouldn't lie. Maybe even she could ask Ratchet or Optimus, they would tell her the bare truth, no matter how cruel it would be.

"Don't tell me that your Decepticons are so friendly." June suddenly felt angry. She recalled the mesa, the Vehicon that aimed at her, Airachnid, Raf being shot with dark energon by Megatron, Optimus losing his memory and the kids being kidnapped. How Megatron dare to say that Autobots were evil when all he did was so cruel?

"Far from it, my dear June. But we never claimed to be defenders of the weak. We're army of victims of our own society. You know this to be true June."

The woman felt silent, she had no reply to that. She knew origins of Decepticons; she was ashamed to admit that at least at the beginnings their cause was legit.

"Come now, do not pout…" The warlord spoke again in attempt to regain woman's attention.

"Back on Cybertron, when you took the Omega Lock thing and you kept the children hostage, would you really kill them? That Vehicon said that they were in containers so they could breathe and that you would have those containers opened and expose them to Cybertronian atmosphere."

"I believe it is my time to ask…" Megatron started, but June cut him off.

"Answer me and then you can have two questions in a row."

"Sounds fair enough" Megatron agreed. "Do you know where the Omega Lock was localised?" June shake her head 'no'. "I thought so. The place is known as Sea of Rust, an overwhelming yet barren wasteland filled with rust, hence the name. Everything there is covered in brownish-red dust, we call it 'sea' but you would probably call if 'desert'. Tell me now, on a planet composed mostly from metal, what does vast amount of iron oxide mean?" He watched June giving him confused look. "I am sure that your education should provide you with at least basic understanding of chemistry."

"Oxygen?"

"Bravo. Oxygen. Before the war Cybertron's atmosphere was composed of many different gases, it held enough oxygen to make our skies blue, just like Earth's. We still have oxygen on Cybertron, but cities air is filled with fumes toxic for humans. Or at least I believe that they're toxic for humans, they aren't healthy for Cybertronians so it seems logical. But Sea of Rust is mostly empty, there was some fighting there too, but only in few areas and they lasted very short; there are no toxic fumes there. Cybertronian atmosphere isn't identical with Earth's, it is also a lot drier, still even if not perfectly fit, it would do for a little while."

June stared in disbelief; this was just like a blow in the face. "You bluffed? You made Optimus believe that you would harm the children if he wouldn't hand those keys or whatever they were?"

Megatron would laugh and clam his hands if it was in his nature. But he just gave June lopsided grin with playful glint in his optics. "No, I would release them and I am not completely sure if they would take it well, I don't know about other gases that are present in Cybertronian air, but yes I just hoodwinked Optimus Prime, the last of Primes, leader of the Autobots."

Megatron was pleased with himself, but June wasn't impressed. The Vehicon said what happened next and she just stared at the warmonger.

"And he did what?" She asked. "Destroyed the Lock and you can't fix your planet anymore, yes?"

The grin was still there, but the glint died down. Megatron visibly deflated. He laughed that the Autobots couldn't run home anymore, but now that he cooled down wasn't so amused anymore.

"I would never guess that he would do that. If anything I would expect him to simply remove one of the keys, but it seems that I overestimated Primes intelligence. That or he knew something I didn't. I am sure that we could re-build Cybertron if we would have the Allspark, but that idiot ejected it into space and only he knows the exact direction it went so only he can calculate its course. If there is another way, Alpha Trion will know if I can find him. The ancient lumber knows Cybertron throughout and he doesn't want to be found."

"Optimus would never do something without thinking it over. If there is a way of restoring Cybertron..." June paused; she couldn't tell her captor about Optimus, it was safer if the Prime would remain dead for the Decepticon.

"I know that Prime is alive, you don't have to hide that. I doubt you know where he was taken to, but sooner or later I will learn of his location. He had to be hurt very, even with all the help he can and all the material he can obtain Ratchet will need time to rebuild Optimus, and getting him fight worthy will take even longer."

"Ratchet will do it."

"I have no doubt, but it will take him forever." Megatron stretched his legs and settled in more relaxed position in his chair. "I believe it is my turn to ask you my question, or rather two."

June sighed and prepared for whatever wild question her captor would throw at her.

Whoever knew Ratchet or at least met him in the past wouldn't recognise the old, grumpy mech. The medic not only drove with his sirens on (which he sometimes did if he didn't felt like managing human traffic), not only with his top speed (which he never did) but he was driving like a mad mech. He took all the turns with full speed, he drove uphill only to ride down with a speed that sent him flying like in one of those car chase scenes from some movies. He knew he will be sore, and he didn't liked the prospect of that but with so much at stake he was ready to face that soreness and anything else that would be the consequence of such driving.

Two police officers stood by their car at the side of a road. They weren't doing anything important at the minute safe for measuring speed of passing cars and giving speed tickets to their drivers if the situation forced them to do so. They heard the wailing long before they saw anything. It was signal of an ambulance; those two could recognise it easily. Then they saw flashing lights, and one of them decided to measure its speed just because he could. He pointed and pressed the trigger, seconds later the ambulance passed them and the speedometer started to smoke.

Ratchet didn't even notice that he passed two cops. He was checking his radar – the military base was good 30 minutes away, provided that he would keep his current pace. Luckily enough there was no more towns or other kind of settlements before him.

Two men worked on Wheeljack's doorwing, one was a surgeon and the other one was an engineer, they were discussing his complicated doorwing joint. On a table next to them was a scan of the undamaged one and both men were trying to figure out how to reconstruct the other one. Engineer had a tablet and was sketching a step by step instruction that the doctor commented and pointed his finger at every now and then. Fowler was sure that they will make it without a problem. They started discussing cabling and how to replace damaged parts,

Fowler glanced in the direction of larger crew of various scientists. They were gathered around two large tables. One was occupied by Optimus Prime. No one bothered to even try to repair him; they only patched him where it was necessary. There was large IV drop installed to his energon lines to keep him going, few monitors beeped steadily. Prime was stable for now, but Fowler remembered that just few moments earlier all hell was loose in the large room when everyone was screaming at everyone else while franticly working on barely alive Prime. Now everything settled down, but every single person here knew that they needed Ratchet to do anything else. Optimus was stable for now, but he wouldn't stay like this for very long.

The other table was full of 'Nemesis Prime' impressive form. A large computer screen displayed schematics that M.E.C.H. was kind enough to leave in that crushed silo. Scientists and doctors were deciding how to prepare parts that Ratchet will need. They wanted to dismantle 'Nemesis Prime' piece by piece so they would be immediately ready to be used on Optimus. They would learn a lot by doing that, but their main goal was to separate various components without damaging them. They just figured out how 'unscrew' both servos and were now trying their luck with pedes.

Megatron had one question he really wanted to ask at the moment, the second one he would work out in the meantime. June sighed and he gave her naughty grin.

"What happened to your mate, Jack sire?"

The question was simple as should be the answer. June knew it wouldn't be that easy, but she decided to start with simple answer and continue only if Megatron would insist.

"Nothing really. He's still out there somewhere. I'm not even pretending I care. "Her voice was indifferent, she didn't care anymore. Few years back she would be still angry, some more back she would be crying; now she just didn't cared. "But you probably want the whole story?"

She looked up at Megatron who just nodded.

"Alright then. I met him back in high school; he was older brother of my boyfriend. We've seen each other maybe couple of times before he went to the college but we both knew that we like each other. I broke with his younger brother some time before the school ended.

Then I went to the college myself, I wanted to be a doctor. It was then when I met him again, he was going to be an architect and he just loved designing. We dated for two years before he proposed, the wedding came quickly, and before I knew I was carrying Jack. Everything happened so fast that I never had the chance to actually stop and think or notice just what of a man my husband was. Only when I was in the middle of pregnancy and it was starting to get harder to do things I saw that there was something odd. He was never around, always busy, always running somewhere. I thought that perhaps he's being nervous about becoming a father so I allowed it slip.

At the end of my pregnancy, when I was very tired and even getting up was a challenge I again noticed that my husband was everywhere but not beside me. He was constantly at work. It thought he was cheating on me, but he really was working. In fact, it was all he seemed to do." June voice held a distinct echo of her own surprise. "When the time came for Jack it was my mother who drove me to the hospital, my husband was too busy to be bothered by a wife in labour. It took me 28 hours to give birth to Jack because my doctor, that sadistic d!©k, was wild minded enthusiast of everything natural. Can you imagine? 28 hours and my husband only showed himself for like 10 minutes before he had to go back to the office.

After I was released from the hospital and again my mother drove me home my dear husband sat in there looking through his blue prints and all he asked was 'what took you so long honey?'. I gave Jack to my mother and then threw a fit like never before.

After that my husband seemed to spend even more time working. When he was home he usually complained that Jack cries too much and he can't get any sleep." Now there was a lot of bitterness in June's voice. Her pretty face was focused but Megatron couldn't tell on what. "I have married a workaholic, a man who couldn't live without work and who loved only his job. I had no intention to live as a second best thing in his life. I guess I was always the type of a woman who knew what she wanted. At that time I wanted to be back in charge over my own life. So I moved out to my mother's place. I did it when my husband wasn't at home, which was more and more often and lasted longer and longer. He only contacted me after three weeks asking where I am, he never asked about Jack.

During pregnancy I had to quit my studies because it was far to taxing for me, so I decided that as soon as possible I will go back to school but first of all I will divorce. I found a lawyer. My husband wanted to put blame on me, because it was me who moved out, but in the judge wouldn't buy it. He was looking at my husband as if he grew a second head when he explained that he wasn't with me during labour because he was too busy working. I won, I got everything I wanted from that bastard and I returned to my maiden surname, I also changed Jack's so he would have mine not his father's, who never complained about that fact. I became a nurse because it was faster than full medical studies and found a job here in Jasper. After Jack went to high school I returned to medicine. The rest you know."

"I figured that Jack took most of his personality traces from you." Megatron was somewhat shocked by the story. On Cybertron finding your better half was a challenge and when one found a partner one cherished what one had. Even nobles. "I also noticed that he inherited all of your physical features."

"Yes, he looks nothing like his father, who was brown eyed blonde. Jack wasn't old enough to know why me and his father divorced but he heard stories from my mother, few of my old friends and couple other people. When Jack was old enough his uncle, the one that I broke with, told him what exactly happened and Jack swore never to be like his father."

"I always found him bright minded youngling, though we're not exactly friendly toward each other."

June showed a ghost of a smile. "You know, ten years ago I would cry over that story. Today I don't care anymore about that bastard and I'm glad that I'm free. I learned the hard way that some people aren't made for each other, even if they would want to."

"I never doubted that you are indeed a strong human femme" Megatron allowed himself a little praise over June. It wouldn't hurt him and could score him few points he could use later.

"Bullshit" that whipped a grin from his lip plates. June didn't buy any of his praises. "You think that I am primitive, puny human, at best maybe a pet, at worst a pest."

"No, I do not." Well maybe a little. Megatron wasn't human lover, but to his excuse neither some humans were. In fact there were plenty of humans that thought that the rest of their species are nothing more but bunch of noisy, obnoxious scags. "I do appreciate strength when I see it, no matter of the species."

"I thought you saw humans as pests?" She wouldn't let it go.

Megatron frowned, this one of those characteristics in humans that reminded him of some Cybertronian politicians: double standards. "I found that many humans think exactly the same and yet you do not judge them."

"But humans do not try to murder each other on mass scale like you do." June knew that she made a mistake the moment those words left her mouth. She shouldn't allow herself to be so easily aggravated.

"Oh, but they do. Should I remind you of your own history yet again? Especially XX-th century wars?"

"You know that's not what I meant. And we never tried to kill every single human on the planet, and that is what you want to do." June felt little vein pulsing on her forehead. She was much angrier than she thought she would be. Somehow this particular Decepticon was able to make her losing her nerves like no one else could. It wouldn't be half as annoying if he wouldn't be so easy to like. June, to her own dread, discovered that Megatron had magnetic personality and generally, when not trying to kills or piss you off, he was likable. "Just ask your second question already!"

Megatron would smirk but he didn't want to push June too far. It was amusing how she got all angry and then tried to control herself.

TBC

Sorry for being late. I would post this on Friday evening (my evening that is – Central European Time) but lately I do face a lot of complications. This time it was my own fault though as I tried to change my modem to different model but it refused to connect to the network for some reason. And when it finally did, it wouldn't cooperate with my tablet (and I can't connect it to my regular PC). To cut long story short, I also replaced internet cable to leads to my modem and it took me way longer than I thought.

So there are three more chapters yet to come. I also work on alternative "Queen of the Night" chapter and my SGA comic, so it may not come before the next week (Thursday or Friday hopefully).

Many thanks for your reviews and all attention you give me, you guys rock.