Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers unfortunately.

Warnings: none.

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Chapter 20

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Megatron sighed as he paced in front of the pod, whilst waiting for Shockwave's arrival.

The humans looked at the giant silver mech confusedly. Bryce was tapping his foot against the hard floor, his eyes narrowed and teeth grit to contain in infuriated irritation, Fowler remained silent but his concern was seen clear through his eyes as they watched the flier's nervous pacing.

Optimus watched his mate, questions bumbling inside his helm, yet he feared asking any of them since he had never seen his mate in a state like this since they were younglings, when Megatron stayed up late studying and reviewing his notes for tests, quizzes and finals. To disturb his concentration would mean certain doom.

The flier flickered his wings, before the familiar noise of a space bridge materializing caught the group's attention. Megatron immediately straightened himself up as he waited before the whirlpool of light with patient stillness, unlike his irritable movements from earlier.

A mech stepped out of the light, and there seemed to be a sudden chill running down the backs of the humans when they saw the blank face plate of the grounder mech, save for the large red, near expressionless orb that gazed upon the near emptied mines. More figures appeared, giant, monster like fangs poking from their mouths, arches crimson visors over their optics and with bulky limbs that could lift tons of rock and dig into even the hardest minerals.

Shockwave walked towards the silver mech, "Megatron. I received orders from Ratchet that you were in need of my assistance."

"You are correct Shockwave," Megatron placed a servo on his friend's shoulder, leading him towards the pod and ignoring the budding protest from Bryce, immediately silenced by a looks from Fowler, "It appears an old demon from our pasts has been found…" he pointed towards the stasis pod.

His expression remained blank, but there was definite tension in the Cyclops frame when he saw the stasis pod before him, "….I had hoped it had been destroyed….."

"….so did I, my old friend," Megatron raised his wings slightly, before he turned to the Insecticons, "Insecticons, dig out this stasis pod, and once you are able, remove it from these mines and bring to base where it will remain contained under the highest form of security…"

"Now just a minute Megatron," Optimus protested, before anyone of the Insecticons could move. His mate looked at him, his wings raised slightly, "What exactly is in that pod that must be removed and locked up?"

Megatron looked at his mate, before sighing, "I….will explain later. I am more concerned with getting it to back a highly secured complex somewhere deep in the base where no one will see it."

"Megatron…." Optimus started.

"Please Prime. The sooner it is away from the humans, the sooner I will be more inclined to answer your questions. Just please let me get it into the base and locked away where no one will think to see or look for it. Please Optimus," his mate looked at him, stubbornness and determination shining in those deep indigo optics, before the prime sighed and gave in with a nod.

"Very well. But I do expect answers from you the moment the opportunity presents itself, understood?"

"Yes Optimus," the silver mech replied, nodding in understanding but still reluctant to accept the terms.

He turned away to hide that very reluctance and barked orders at Shockwave, ignoring the humans, unless he was ordering them to keep out of the way. As the Insecticons set to work, Bryce ran over to Optimus huffing.

"Prime, what is going on? What is he not telling us?"

Optimus narrowed his optics, antennae flicking back slightly, "At the current moment Bryce, I am not knowledgeable of what my mate knows of this, but he will tell me in due time. Until them, I will oblige by his wishes of bringing the pod back to base."

"But how do we know it's not a danger to National Security? Whatever is in there, has got your mate spooked and I am not about to allow him to just take it back to base without confirming it's not a hazard to any civilian lives!" Bryce yelled up to the Prime.

Optimus off-lined his optics to keep his temper in check, "General Bryce, I understand your concerns, but my Mate would never put your kind in danger if he knew the pod was dangerous. I may not know what is inside the pod, and even though I do not have that knowledge, I know Megatron considers it a hazard and is only thinking of the well-being of others. As hard as that may be for you to believe General."

Fowler gave a small half-smile. Years ago, he would have been in disbelief that Megatron would ever want to help their kind, but now, now he felt a sense of trust towards the silver mech after many years of working with him. He held the same respect for him, as he did for Optimus Prime.

The agent placed a hand in Bryce's shoulder, "Let him be, sir. Prime and Megs know what they're doing."

….

Maximum tapped his pede against the rock floor with his optics narrowly glaring at the tunnel entrance as a certain black car came driving in beside a yellow and black camaro.

When they stopped, Jack Darby and Rafael Esquivel stepped out, their shoulder tense and matching scowls on their face, as they both stood before the two cars and waited in front of them. The doors to the passenger's seats opened from both cars and out stepped the sons of the two men.

Josh stepped out, his head down, while Leo stepped out rather timidly.

Raf narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, "Leonardo Juan Jorge Esquivel, tell me what happened right now."

"That's goes for you to Joshua Thomas Darby," Jack snapped.

The young man swallowed, "Uh….well….you see Blockade was at a stop light…."

"And while we were waiting some asshats…"

"Language!" Jack yelled.

"…decided that it was a good idea to throw red paint at his window," Josh explained.

Blockade whined as he transformed beside his father, "You see this?!" he pointed at the red spot on his door wing, "DO YOU SEE THIS?! Those fraggers had the audacity to throw paint at my new waxed finish!"

"YOU NEARLY KILLED JOSH OVER A SPLAT OF PAINT?!"

All six, four humans and two mechs, jumped at the shout from Maximum, who now seemed to be glaring flamed arrows at Blockade, his antennae laid completely back against his helm and his two fangs showing angrily in a snarl.

Josh gave a small wheeze, "Max…you….heard about the….?"

"The idiot speeding mustang who thought it was a good idea to nearly ruin half of Jasper and almost kill you two?! Yes, thanks to Bumblebee!" he continued to glower at Blockade, "You promised he would be okay with you Block!"

"And he was! I mean neither of them have broken bones and they're not in the hospital! Besides, it was the same speed I use when you and I race with them together and…."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! It's one thing when we're on a deserted road in the desert where no one can see us and the chance of crashing or running into someone is a slim to none chance, but to do it in a city such of Jasper because your finish got some paint which by the way can be removed with a good wash, is the stupidest reason to speed off and nearly get humans KILLED!"

If it were possible, Maximum's optics seemed to have gone to a darker hue and he looked more murderous by how the light shone over him and cast shadows over his face plates. Blockade cringed away slightly, trembling at the tremors of rage coming of the Prime's younger son.

He turned to his father the yellow and black camaro standing with his arms crossed over his chest, "Dad, c'mon…"

Bumblebee buzzed, cutting his son off mid-sentence, "Maximum is right Blockade. You willingly almost put Josh and Leo as well as other sin danger because of a bit of pain splattered on your window. Even I wouldn't do something like that no matter how embarrassed I would be."

Josh looked between the three mechs, before he bit his lip slightly. Then he sighed and walked over to Maximum, and tapped his foot gently with his fist. The silver and blue mech looked down, denta grit.

"Max, look we're okay. Yeah I know Blockade was being an idiot, but Leo and I could have stopped him, but we didn't. We could have but we didn't…"

"And you got suspended from school and were charged for disturbing the peace and endangering the public," Jack added, "Which also means, you're grounded for a month, young man."

"That goes for you too Leo," Raf replied, giving his son the eye, "No going to your friends houses, no TV or Computer, and you have to do extra chores as well."

Jack huffed, "and that also means no more Slash Monkey or listening to your i-pod until you're grounding is done. You both do extra chores here at the base as well as your house chores and then you come straight home to dinner and homework. When you're suspension is over you go to school."

"Are we clear boys?" Raf demanded, hands on his hips as he looked both of the young men down.

Josh looked at his father, "But…what about my stereo?"

"That is off-limits. But if you're good the first week, I'll let you have a time limit of music," Jack answered, "Now, are we clear?"

The two boys both sighed, before they nodded, "Yes."

Raf and Jack nodded in approval, before turning to Maximum, "Make sure Ratchet knows. I'm sure he can whip up a few chores for the boys to do. They are no allowed on the computer or TV while here."

Maximum nodded, "Understood Mr. Darby."

"And as for you young mech!" Bumblebee beeped and buzzed, "No more Mario Kart and no more street racing. The only times you're allowed out of base is for patrols or emergencies. And you have to clean up the washracks every evening for the next seven weeks!"

"Wha—But—!"

"I can make it nine Blockade. Believe me, compared to what your mother would do, I'm being nice," Bumblebee beeped.

Blockade winced. Then he slumped, "Yes sir…"

Bumblebee huffed, before grabbing Blockade by his doorwing and leading him out of the room, buzzing, beeping and whistling angrily all the way.

Max waited until they were gun before kneeling down with his servo lowered for Josh to step on to it. The young human slowly stepped on to the outstretched servo and allowed himself to be lifted up to face his guardian.

For a moment the two just stared at each other. They didn't know where to start, or who would start. They just stared for what felt like years had flown by.

The Maximum sighed and seemed to just visibly relax, "Josh, if you ever let Blockade scare me like this again, I swear next time I'll save the talking for later and just kick the moron's aft," he gave a strained chuckle, his helm bowed slightly, "I'm only out for one day and already there's trouble brewing."

"Hey. Max. C'mon, I've handled worse bud," Josh smiled, "Besides, Mitch's expression was kind of worth the speeding part. The suspension and detention though, not so much."

Maximum raised an optic ridge, "Just don't give me a spark attack until after you graduate High School."

"I can't promise anything, but I can try," Josh patted his friend's thumb.

"Josh! C'mon, we're heading home through the space bridge!" Jack yelled up to him.

The younger man sighed, "You know, getting to school would be easier if we just used the space bridge all the time."

"And put me out of the guardian job? I don't think so, meat sack…" Maxi huffed, setting his young friend down on the ground, "Just don't frag anyone off, okay?"

"Maxi, honestly, that's like asking me to cut back on Slash Monkey!" Josh shouted as he headed towards the bridge where Ratchet waited at the controls.

Leo sighed, before looking at Maximum, "….Just don't be too hard on Blockade. You know how sensitive he is about his paintjob," with that, the young man turned and followed his father towards the bridge as well.

"….No promises Leo."

…

Galvatron sighed as he walked towards the rec. room, rubbing at his optics when a processor ache began to run through his helm. He had injected some painkillers before he had left his and Cyclonus' quarters. They were taking a while to kick in but he could feel some of the pain becoming slightly dulled as he walked.

Besides, he wanted to see his adopted daughter Arachne before he headed down to the med. bay to see the new arrivals. Judging by his mate's sour attitude since yesterday, one of them was someone he knew and he did not look too keen on having them here in the base.

The mech slowly opened the door, wondering who the Dinobots were that Ultracia had told him about the other day. When he had asked Ratchet about it yesterday, all the medic had said was that they were Autobots who were given the alt. modes of prehistoric, reptilian creatures of Earth. Though it didn't give him a clear answer, he was satisfied with it at that moment.

He gave another sigh as he thought of little Arachne. Unknown to the others, Galvatron and Cyclonus had adopted once before when they believed their son had died in the raid of Sentinel Prime's warriors. It had been only three stellar-cycles since it happened, the wound of their loss still fresh in their processors back then…

FLASH!

Galvatron off-lined his optics as he leaned back against the old, crusted wall behind him beside his mate. The mech rested his helm against his bond-mate's shoulder, a tear sliding from his optics as Cyclonus caressed over the crests of his helm.

Three stellar-cycles. Three fragging, long torturous stellar-cycles since the loss of their son. The grieving mother placed a servo over his abdomen where he could never bear another child as long as he lived. Neither mech could carry a sparkling to full term.

Today was the anniversary of the time their precious son had disappeared. Although the ache in their sparks had begun to dull, the two mechs still felt it in each memory they still had of the little silver sparkling that had been born of their union.

Cyclonus opened his sub-space and handed a cube of energon to his mate. He only had two cubes of low-grade from his work in the gladiatorial arena while Galvatron had been working in the mines. His rations had been taken away as punishment for badmouthing to the advisor.

There was also an energon shortage this time of the stellar-cycle for the gladiators and therefore their rations were cut.

The two mechs remained silent, but the way Galvy's optics shone in gratitude was enough to make Cyclonus give a bitter smile.

Suddenly, the moment was interrupted by a loud, wailing screech outside their sheltered spot. The two purple mechs looked at each other before getting up and going outside, despite how exhausted they were.

Galvatron exited the small space he shared with Cyclonus as he listened for more of the screeching noises. The grounder walked through some of the rubble of Kaon's ruins on the outskirts of the old, poor city that was still recovering from the bombing.

The two mechs looked around, before more wailing was heard. The bond-mates snapped into action and followed the sound around the corner of a cracked wall.

The two mech shuttered their optics at the sigh before them.

A little one barely even a few solar-cycles old, right beneath a small arch from a wall. The younger one was wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Ooh…." Galvatron whispered, as he gazed upon the sparkling. How had he gotten there?

Cyclonus' wings lowered slightly to make himself look the least threatening to the little one, his optics gazing upon him worriedly. He watched as Galvatron walked towards the child slowly to make sure he was still alive.

The grounder knelt before the sparkling, who was still wailing slightly. The violet grounder reached forwards slowly lifting the child up. He could almost wrap his whole servo around the tiny little one. He ran a small digit over the child's helm, as he coughed and quieted down, shuttering his bright optics, looking at Galvy with his scrunched up silver face plates.

Cyclonus walked up behind his mate, looking over his shoulder to gaze down at the little one. He watched how Galvatron let the sparkling press his little helm to his spark chamber—just like he had done with their own little Megatronous—and he stood up with them cradled and protected in both his arms.

…

The little one suckled hungrily from the tubing connected to Galvatron's tanks where the energon refined itself. The young one was quiet, but awake as he drank in the much needed fuel.

The grounder caressed his helm, two empty cubes of low-grade on the floor. Cyclonus watched, even going as far as to caress the small helm as the mechling ate the fuel offered to him by his mate. He was so fragile and delicate…like their own sparkling had been….

The mechling on-lined his optics, looking up at the purple mech while shuttering said optics drowsily. His optics remained drowsy, like his systems were catching up on much needed recharge. And regarding the little mechling, he probably needed it.

A smile spread across Galvatron's face plates, "Go back to recharge little one…"

The mechling hardly registered what he beard, but nodded anyway, just snuggling close. One little word was muttered by him, "…Mama…"

Galvatron looked at Cyc, their optics meeting while his own gave a small glint. As the couple gazed at each other, the little one snuggled closer to gain warmth from the one who was feeding him and keeping him warm.

There was reluctance in Cyclonus' optics, question in them directed towards Galvatron. In the grounder's optics, he was stubbornly holding firm.

It was decided silently: the sparkling stayed.

FLASH!

The violet mech gave a small sniff, as he remembered how he and Cyclonus had found that little mechling that were like a son to both of them. His mate had trained him and the two mechs raised the child as best they could despite their living conditions. It had been painful when he had grown into an adult and decided to join the Autobots, but Galvatron supported him, just like he would have supported Megatronous and like he supported Arachne. The purple mech didn't know where their adopted son was now, but all he could hope was that he was safe.

He turned to enter the rec. room.

CLONGK!

He jerked back when he helm hit something. The old mech yelped, as he stumbled back before large servos grabbed his shoulders to stop his descent to the floor. He shuttered his optics in surprise from the suddenness of running into someone.

"Sorry. Didn't see you there. You okay?" a gravelly, deep voice asked, slight concern in his tone.

Galvatron rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, before looking up, "I'm fine, just didn't see you—!" He went silent immediately when his optics met with a red visor looking down at him.

The two mechs seemed to freeze up and stare at one another, the larger, younger ones simply staring in slight bewilderment and mainly shock. It continued like this for a few minutes as the two mechs tried to decide who would speak first. Grimlock felt his spark pounding rapidly in his chest plates. Could this mech…could he really be….? He had to be, he looked so much like him...

"….Mama G?" the t-rex asked softly.

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Betcha weren't expecting THAT were ya?! Hehehe...

I would like at least two reviews before the next chapter.