For all my readers, I am so sorry I haven't updated. And to make it up to you, I made this chapter extremely long, just because I feel I owe it to you. Thank you for all the reviews and for sticking by me. I haven't given up on this story, even though it may have seemed like it.
Chapter 28: Into the Ice
Thundercracker was surprised how quickly Alexis mastered the controls of the main monitor. She was able to show herself how to use the smaller monitors where the Decepticons did their hacking and other research. "We'll I'll be," he said as he watched her type a mile a minute, "I can see why Starscream likes you. You're smarter than a whip."
"I've worked with this type of technology for almost twenty years. The Autobots have a little bit more advanced technology," she confessed.
Thundercracker snorted, "Well…we take what we can get."
"And it will work just fine."
"So…what are you doing?" he asked, "And how in the pit do you know the Cybertronian language?"
"I have had plenty of time to teach myself, but I can only read it. I can't write it or speak it," she explained, "And I'm trying to run a trace on Rad's last known position. If we're lucky, the dimension gate may have left fragments of the area he travelled to. But it's been a week or so since he used the dimension gate, I doubt I'll be able to get a trace on anything."
"Perhaps we should go back to the base where he was holding you and Lori prisoner and search for clues," Megatron suggested, trying not to wince as he said Lori's name.
"Alexis and I can go down and look," Starscream remarked.
Megatron looked at him warily, "You two won't get distracted will you?"
Alexis blushed slightly as Starscream replied, "No sir, we're going there strictly on business."
"You better be. Search the place thoroughly, under every scrap of rubble."
"Yes sir," Starscream exclaimed. He opened a dimension gate and stepped through. Alexis followed and the dimension gate closed behind her.
Thundercracker moved over to the computer that Alexis had been working at. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he exclaimed.
Megatron looked over at him, "What?"
"Somebody is hacking our system."
The Decepticon leader moved over to the computer, "See if you can get a trace on the hack."
"Consider it done," he replied.
"Who are you?"
Lori looked at the transformer that was currently holding a gun to her face. "Lori, of planet Earth. I mean you no harm."
"What brings you here to Jungle Planet?"
"A pure accident, I was trying to transport myself to another part of planet Earth, but I ended up here instead."
"You act as if you've been here before."
"I have, with Optimus Prime and his Autobots."
"Oh, I heard of them. Then I suppose you do mean me no harm," her captor said, lowering the gun, "I'm Blackarachnia, I guess I'm sorry to startle you like that."
"It's okay," Lori replied looking at the femme. She could tell from her form that she transformed into a black widow spider. Her main colors were black, yellow, and purple. She had spider legs protruding from her back and Lori could tell that they doubled as guns when she was in her robot form. "Do you think you could help me get to Scourge's temple?"
Blackarachnia laughed, "You're kidding me right? You're lucky I didn't kill you for invading my turf. Don't expect me to help you."
Lori glanced at the jungle around her, knowing that when Overhaul, now LeoBreaker, had come here by himself, he had almost been killed several times and he was a trained warrior. She knew she would never make it by herself. Even if she went in beast mode, who's to say she wouldn't be attacked from the air for being an imposter? Blackarachnia had almost killed her after all. But Lori didn't know what to say to convince the arachnid to take her to the temple.
She figured she would have to find a way herself, regardless. Lori sighed as she turned and began to walk away. "Hold on!" Blackarachnia called.
Lori stopped and looked back at the femme, who had a disgusted look on her face. "Yes?" she asked.
"You're going the wrong way," and she sighed before adding, "Come on, follow me."
"Thank you," Lori remarked as she fell into step with Blackarachnia.
"Yeah, don't remind me."
"It's about time you got back!" Jessamine exclaimed when Optimus finally walked through the doors to his quarters.
"Sorry," he stated as he came in and picked her up. He set her on his desk, where he took a seat. "Thank you for not making a mess."
"I was about to."
He shook his head. "I would like to get more answers from you."
"About Rad?"
"Yes."
"You're not going to say anything about Lori or his wife are you?" she asked.
"I promise I won't," he said.
She sighed heavily, "What do you want to know?"
"How did Rad treat you?"
"Like a queen," she smiled, "He always took me on the best dates. He took me to the best and most expensive restaurants, we would go to ravishing bars, he would drink of course, but he was a silly drunk. He never was violent towards me. When he was sober, he always told me how much he loved me and how he wanted to marry me one day."
"How long did you date him?"
"About a year."
"Why did it end?"
"He said he needed to devote more time to his work, there was a big promotion coming up and he was hoping to get it. He said if he did, he would call me and marry me right away. I guess he didn't get it, because he never called."
"Did you ever try to call him?"
"Yes, plenty of times, but he never answered his phone or replied my messages. I thought he had just lost interest in me, but I didn't hold it against him."
"That's when his life took a turn for the worst."
Jessamine stared at him, trying to put herself in his shoes. Obviously he had seen a different side of Rad than what she had…but she just couldn't believe Rad was a murderer, a rapist, a kidnapper, any of those things. She crossed her arms. Sure, Optimus had known Rad a lot longer than what she had, but Optimus hadn't had the kind of relationship with Rad that she had. "You must really hate him, huh?"
"I can't decide if I hate him as much as I am disappointed in him. 20 years ago I told him that he would make a great leader one day. He cared so much about everything, humans, animals, nature, the well-being of the universe. He had so much passion. I don't know what happened to him. I don't want to believe the truth as much as you don't want to, but I've seen his evilness first hand. Jessamine, I am scared for your safety."
She was taken aback, "Scared for my safety?"
He nodded, "He might try to contact you, and who knows what his plans for you would be. I would be beside myself if I let him hurt you too."
Jessamine was surprised by how much Optimus cared. "Optimus, you don't even know me, why would you even care to help me so much?"
"I've seen enough innocent people get hurt in my lifetime. There's no reason you should be hurt too, now come on," he said as he stood up and placed her on his shoulder, "I think it's fair I should introduce you to the rest of the Autobots. Just try to keep your comments about Rad to yourself."
"I suppose I can at least try."
He shook his head, a smile hidden behind his mask.
"It's tracing back to Earth, to an island in the Atlantic Ocean," Thundercracker remarked.
"Really?" Megatron remarked, "What information is he trying to get?"
"You're assuming Rad is doing the hack?"
"Either him or Sideways," Megatron stated, "Is there any way you can stop the hack?"
"They're not going after the main files, only the North Pole ones."
"You didn't answer my question."
"No, I can't. Whoever is hacking knows what they are doing, and they're getting what they want."
"Crumplezone, Ransack!" Megatron shouted and the two immediately reported to him.
"Yes sir?" Ransack asked.
"Monitor the North Pole for any signs of activity. I searched that area long ago, but didn't find anything—
"Sir, I don't mean to interrupt you, but when you wanted the North Pole searched, you sent Starscream and Mudflap to investigate it. That's when Starscream reported finding Alexis," Thundercracker stated.
"He told me he didn't find anything," Megatron stated, and then realized that Starscream was probably so distracted by finding Alexis, that he probably forgot his primary mission. "Mudflap!" he bellowed.
The Decepticon appeared immediately, "What is it Megatron?"
"The time I sent you and Starscream to the North Pole, are you sure you didn't find anything?"
"Starscream abandoned the mission before we ever had the chance to look."
"Damn it," Megatron cursed under his breath. He tuned his comlink to Starscream's frequency, "Megatron to Starscream."
Starscream watched as Alexis immediately fired up the computer inside the base and quickly started browsing through the files that Rad had put on the main hard drive. He looked around the command center at the various weapon schemes Rad had put in the base. Nothing in particular stood out to him and he looked back to Alexis just as she slammed her fists on the keyboard.
"There's nothing here," she said.
"If there isn't anything here, then we probably won't find anything."
"Maybe he hid something in his room."
Starscream's comlink cackled to life suddenly and he heard Megatron's voice come through. "Starscream here," he replied.
"When I sent you and Mudflap to investigate the North Pole, are you sure you didn't find anything?"
The Decepticon second in command couldn't figure out why his leader was asking him that question out of the blue. "No sir, nothing out of the ordinary, why?"
"Our main computer was just hacked and whoever it was just stole all the information we had about the North Pole. So I'll ask again, are you sure you didn't find anything?"
But Alexis replied instead saying, "Before I stumbled upon Starscream…I worked as a government agent for the United States of America. I was sent by Colonel Michael Franklin to investigate a purported giant robot they had found frozen in an ice cliff. Professor Lucy Suzuki was in charge of the recovery over there and there was an Autobot frozen in an ice cliff. I've never seen him before in my life, so I have no idea who he is."
"Both of you, report back to base immediately." And Megatron ended the transmission.
The Decepticon leader was more than impatient when Starscream and Alexis finally arrived back at the base. He looked immediately to Alexis and asked, "Why didn't you say anything before?"
"Because I was so wrapped up in everything else, I completely forgot about what was going on in the North Pole," Alexis answered.
"Well, is there anything else I should know about?"
Alexis racked her CPU trying to remember. "Professor Suzuki knew the most about the North Pole…where's Lori?"
Megatron got defensive, "Why?"
"I don't know how, but Lori had met Professor Suzuki before…she was like a second mother to her, she told Lori all sorts of things about her research that she didn't have time to tell me. Lori knows how to contact her too…I've since lost her number, as well as Colonel Franklin's."
Megatron shot a panicked look at Starscream, who held the same uncertain expression on his face. Only the two of them knew that it would be simply impossible to ask Lori, unless Lori miraculously came back.
"Damn it all to the pit," Megatron cursed as he left the command center.
Alexis looked at Starscream confused. "Why is he so upset?" she asked.
"Perhaps now would be the best time to mention that Lori ran away."
"She what?" Alexis exclaimed shocked, "Why would she do that?"
Starscream guided Alexis out of the room, so that the other troops couldn't hear. "From what Megatron said, she didn't want to stop him from his ambitions, but she didn't want to watch her friends get hurt either. She left before realizing Megatron had made up his mind on keeping the alliance with the Autobots. We have no way of finding her, or contacting her. She left the gem that Megatron gave her here."
"She must've left a clue as to where she went."
Starscream's optics lit up, "You said you could trace warp signatures, right? Lori only left a couple days ago, and she opened the dimension gate inside of Megatron's room. Perhaps you could trace where she went."
"I'm on it."
"See anything interesting?" Sideways asked as Rad looked over the data they had stolen from the Decepticons.
"It seems as if there had been strange climatic occurrences happening…and it was right around the time Alexis was asked to go to the North Pole, so not only the transformers noticed it, but the humans did as well."
"I take it Megatron was investigating these occurrences."
"Yes, he believed it had something to do with one of the planet keys," Rad explained.
"Sounds like we need to pay a visit to the North Pole pretty soon."
Megatron was surprised when someone started banging on the door to his quarters, and he was equally surprised to hear Alexis' voice say, "Megatron, we know where she went, we know where Lori went!"
He opened the door, startling both Alexis and Starscream, but he ignored their startled expressions as he asked, "How?"
"I can trace warp signatures, remember?" Alexis stated, "Luckily, your quarters is confined enough so that some traces of the dimension gate remained behind."
"Well then, where is she?"
"Jungle Planet."
"Alright, go grab Thundercracker; I'll meet you on the planet. We'll scour it until we find her."
"Alright," she said as she pulled Starscream in the direction of the command center.
Megatron didn't even bother to watch them leave as he opened up a dimension gate for Jungle Planet and disappeared through it.
Lori was more than elated when she saw the temple steps in front of her. She turned to Blackarachnia and said, "Thank you so much for showing me the way."
"I didn't do it for you as much as I did it for my own curiosity," she replied as she started up the steps.
Lori quickly followed her, "What do you mean?"
"I've never met Scourge before, I guess it's time I finally introduced myself."
"Oh, well then I'll show you around the temple, as a return favor."
"You mean to tell me you know your way around the temple but not the planet?"
"…Yes. Don't judge me."
Blackarachnia smiled, "I think I like you kiddo. But, I am curious to know how you 'accidentally' ended up on Jungle Planet."
"You'll hear my story when I explain myself to Scourge."
"This should certainly be interesting."
Scourge wasn't sure how to react when he saw two femmes suddenly walk into his throne room. One he recognized as Lori, Megatron's mate and a part of the Autobot team, the other…well, he had never seen the likes of her before. "Lori," he said, "What brings you and your friend here?"
"It's a long story," she replied, "So I hope you have time to listen."
"Go on."
"Alright…so, once we got back to Earth, I was kidnapped by a Decepticon imposter, named Blitz," Lori explained, deciding to leave out how he was formerly a human and Alexis' husband, "So, in order to find me, the Autobots and Decepticons formed an alliance with each other. Well, needless to say I was found and rescued, but I ran into complications with Megatron. He wanted to disband the alliance, and I wanted him to keep it. But after listening to how his troops wanted to fight so bad, and after listening to Megatron agree with them, I ran away so I wouldn't get in the way of his ambitions. I can't be a Decepticon, and I couldn't go back to the Autobots because I didn't want to see my friends get hurt."
"So you came here?" Scourge asked.
"Not intentionally. It was my first time ever using a dimension gate. I screwed up the coordinates, and now, here I am."
"And you don't know how to get back?"
"No…I don't know the coordinates of any place on Earth…at all."
"And neither do I, so what do you expect me to do?" Scourge asked, not amused.
"Do you have a place she could stay?" Blackarachnia questioned, taking pity on Lori.
"I suppose I do…" Scourge mused, "Who are you?"
"Blackarachnia," she answered and watched as he looked her over before smiling.
"Brimstone," the Jungle Planet ruler called.
"Yes sir?" he asked as he appeared out of the shadows.
"Find a room for each of these femmes, the best ones in this temple."
"Yes sir, right away. Ladies," he said as he headed towards the exit, "Follow me."
Lori looked to Scourge quickly and said, "If Megatron happens to come here looking for me, tell him you haven't seen me."
"Why should I tell him that? If he comes looking for you that obviously means he cares about you. Maybe he changed his mind."
"But I don't want him to change his mind if being evil is what he really wants to do."
"Lori," Scourge said shaking his head, "You were a fool for running away. I highly doubt Megatron would break the alliance with the Autobots if he truly loved you. And he and his men will adjust to not fighting all of the time. Things sure settled down here after Optimus showed me a thing or two. Fighting isn't everything, and Megatron was probably beginning to realize that, through you. You shot him down before you ever gave him a chance."
Blackarachnia looked at Lori and could see how awful she felt. "Hey," she said, "Just because he is evil doesn't mean he was always evil. You were probably reminding him of times before war changed him. If he can love you, then he wasn't always evil, there is goodness inside of him. Yeah you may have fallen in love with the super villain, but you got to remember he fell in love with the heroine."
She hadn't thought about it that way before. Scourge was right. She was a fool for running away.
"If Megatron should happen to come by here, do you want me to say I haven't seen you?"
"Yes," Lori answered, "I'm too embarrassed to face him now."
"As you wish," Scourge replied and watched as Lori and Blackarachnia left the room.
When they met on Jungle Planet, Megatron immediately sent Thundercracker, Starscream, and Alexis to work trying to locate Lori from the air. The Decepticon leader decided he would go to the temple and speak to Scourge to see if he had seen Lori at all. "Primus Lori," he thought, "If there was ever a time I needed you, this is it."
Scourge wasn't surprised when Megatron walked into his throne room only a few mere hours after Lori had shown up. He could see the sullen look on the Decepticon leader's face. Scourge sighed, "What brings you here Megatron?" Even though he already knew perfectly well what it was.
"Lori ran away," Megatron stated bluntly, "Alexis was able to trace her warp signature to this planet. I was wondering if she has come to you at all."
Scourge was torn between keeping his word to Lori and telling the truth to Megatron. After a few long moments, he finally replied. "Yes, she has," he said and he watched as Megatron's optics sparkled with hope, "But she does not want me to reveal where she is."
"Did she give a reason why?"
"She knows that running away from you was wrong, she knows she shouldn't have done it, and she is afraid to face you."
"Oh Primus, Scourge, just tell me where she is," the Decepticon leader pleaded.
And Scourge figured he could, after all, Lori had asked him to tell Megatron he didn't see her, but Megatron hadn't asked that question. She never said not to tell him where she was. He smiled, "She is here in the temple, staying in one of my best rooms. If you find Brimstone, he'll show you which one."
"Thank you Scourge," Megatron stated as he quickly left the room in search of Scourge's servant.
Lori sighed heavily as she knocked on Blackarachnia's door and waited for her to answer. When she did, the femme looked at her and asked, "Something wrong?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a walk with me around the temple, I can't stay cooped up in my room feeling sorry for myself. And besides, I said I would show you around this place since you helped me get here."
"I suppose," Blackarachnia stated, "Gosh I don't think I've ever met anyone as annoying as you."
"…Sorry."
"It's okay; you keep me entertained I suppose."
"So how come you're staying here?" Lori asked as they began walking.
"Scourge offered me one of his finest rooms, why not stay? It beats sleeping in a web. And besides," she added, "Scourge is pretty handsome."
"I saw the way he was looking you over."
"Good, I wasn't the only one. I think that's why he offered me a room, so he could stop by later and try to get to know me better."
"Do you want him to?"
"That's none of your business kiddo…do you hear footsteps?"
"Footsteps?" Lori asked confused.
"Yeah coming from behind us."
"No…I don't hear—
"Lori?"
Lori whipped around only to see Megatron standing at the other end of the hallway. She gasped. "Megatron!"
Blackarachnia turned and smiled, "Well, well, well, you didn't tell me Megatron was that fine."
Lori shot her a glare, "Blackarachnia!"
"Lori, we need to talk," Megatron stated as he began walking towards her.
She turned to Blackarachnia quickly, "You know how to find the way back to your room, right?"
"Yeah, we didn't go that far."
"Okay, I got to run," Lori stated and she quickly bolted in the opposite direction of Megatron.
"Lori!" the Decepticon leader shouted, "Lori, wait!"
But Lori didn't stop. She kept running, she ran out onto the temple platform, down the steps, and into the forest. Megatron couldn't believe how fast she was. But as fast as she was, he wasn't going to let her out of his sight. He pushed his systems to keep up with her. She couldn't run forever. He watched as her pace began to slow as her systems slowly began to wear out from the exertion. And Megatron saw his chance. He pushed himself to run harder until he was at Lori's heels. He managed to grab hold of her and carefully tackle her to the ground.
He watched as her chest heaved as her systems struggled to cool themselves. He pinned her where she was. "Lori," he said between gasps, "Damn it, don't ever run from me again!"
"Megatron, I'm sorry," she cried and he watched as tears leaked from her optics and spilled down her face.
"I was worried sick about you," he said, his voice softer.
"I wanted the best for you…I didn't want to get in your way."
"Primus, Lori you are the best for me. That's why I'm keeping the alliance with the Autobots, that's why my men and I are going to find Rad and kill him while the Autobots stop the black hole. I'd do anything to keep you with me Lori; you are the only goodness in me. I know I don't say it enough, but I love you Lori. And by Primus' spark do I mean that."
"Megatron…I'm so sorry, I—
He silenced her with a crushing kiss. Lori gave into it immediately and he let her arms go as he wrapped his arms around her. Without breaking the kiss, he moved so he was lying beside her, holding her as tightly to him as he possibly could. And when the kiss ended, Megatron felt his spark swell when he heard Lori say, "I love you too Megatron, so much."
He helped her to her feet and he stood beside her, still holding her tightly. He then spoke into his comlink, "Starscream, Alexis, Thundercracker, report back to base, I have Lori."
Lori smiled, "I'm glad it was you that found me."
"You should have known that it would be me who would. Now, shall we get going? There are pressing matters that we need to attend to."
"Pressing matters?"
When they arrived back to the base, Megatron explained to her everything that was going on. He then said, "There is something going on in the North Pole, especially if it aroused my suspicion and the suspicion of the humans—
"Dr. Suzuki…" Lori stated, "Alexis, you remember her right?"
Alexis nodded, "Of course."
"Jolt convinced Bud and I to break into her lab because there was a gear or something we needed in there, that's how I met her…but she told me specifically about her research."
"Go on," Megatron stated.
"There had been strange climatic occurrences taking place…the United States government invited scientists from many fields of study to the North Pole to investigate, she just so happened to be one of them."
"Did she tell you why they asked her to go to the North Pole?" Alexis asked.
"To investigate the hollow Earth theory," Lori explained.
"The what?" Alexis asked.
"The hollow Earth theory," Lori repeated, "Apparently some well-known scientists from long ago, I can't remember their names, came up with a theory that Earth isn't perfectly round and it has a large opening that leads into a hollow chasm. Apparently this chasm distorts the Earth's rotation, in turn affecting the climate; she gave the example of how a wiffle ball flutters through the air because of the holes in it. She believes that if it exists, it was probably created by aliens."
"Did Dr. Suzuki tell you that she found a transformer frozen in a cliff?" Alexis questioned.
Lori shook her head, "No, she didn't. But the only aliens I know are transformers. What business would they have building a hollow chasm on our planet?"
"It sounds like we need to go back to the North Pole," Starscream deduced.
Megatron nodded, "Starscream, Alexis, go report our findings to Optimus. I need to get some rest, as does Lori. We will investigate the North Pole first thing tomorrow. The rest of you are dismissed."
Megatron watched as Starscream and Alexis disappeared through a dimension gate and the rest of his men filed out of the room. "Shall we go my love?" he asked as he took Lori's hand in his.
She smiled and nodded, allowing Megatron to lead her to his room.
Optimus was shocked to see Starscream and Alexis suddenly appear in the command center, not because they had been gone a long time, but because he was not ready to introduce Jessamine to Alexis. Her introductions to the rest of the Autobots had gone fine, but this one would be touchy. As fate would have it though, there was nothing he could do to hide her.
"Optimus, we have news," Alexis said as she approached him, and almost immediately she noticed the human female on his shoulder, "Who's this?"
Optimus hesitated. "This is Jessamine," he replied, "She was running away from home when I found her. Jessamine, meet Alexis and Starscream."
"Alexis?" Jessamine stated, "That doesn't seem like the typical transformer name."
"That's because it's not, I was born a human, but I have the ability to become a transformer."
"That's 'effed up," she remarked and then asked, "You must be Rad's ex-wife."
"Yes…"
"I don't like you."
Optimus winced. Alexis looked up at him confused, as if he knew something that she didn't. Optimus sighed as he gestured to the door, "Let's go outside, just you and me Alexis."
She glanced at Starscream and then followed Optimus outside the command center and down a series of hallways so they were out of earshot. Jessamine was standing atop the Autobot leader's shoulder, her arms crossed. "Care to explain what's going on sir?" Alexis asked, trying to keep her temper down.
"I'm not sure how to break this to you," Optimus said as he looked Alexis in the optic, "But Rad was not faithful to you during your marriage. He had an affair with Jessamine for nearly a year, back before he lost the promotion."
Alexis clenched her fists, anger boiling behind her optics, "And she, I take it, was the one he had an affair with."
Jessamine nodded, "And since your marriage is over, I think it's safe for me to take him now."
"Are you stupid?" the femme hissed, "Why the hell did you runaway? How old are you?"
"I was 20 then, I'm 25 now. I ran away in an attempt to find Rad and prove his innocence."
"There's no innocence to prove. Optimus, how did you find her?" Alexis demanded.
Optimus explained himself, how he had been returning to the base the night they had told Lori, Bud, and Coby's parents about their existence when he saw Jessamine run into the forest. He offered to give her a ride when she revealed how she was looking for Bradley White, so he brought her to the base to find out more. Alexis understood that he did it for Jessamine's safety…even if she had completely contradictory beliefs. She sighed heavily, "She'll see the truth one day, I just hope she doesn't get hurt when that happens."
Optimus nodded, "What brings you and Starscream here?"
"Have you noticed anything suspicious at the North Pole?" she asked.
"We have, why?"
"Megatron had sent Starscream and Mudflap to investigate the North Pole at one point in time, that's where I bumped into Starscream again. The U.S. government has also noticed something suspicious, that's why I was sent," Alexis explained, and she went on to inform him of the hollow Earth theory, "While I was in the North Pole, Dr. Lucy Suzuki, one of the scientists I was working with, showed me an Autobot they had found frozen in the ice. He's still frozen up there as far as I can tell; I don't know who he is—
"Are you and the rest of the Decepticons going to investigate the North Pole?" Optimus asked concerned.
"Yes, Megatron said we would first thing tomorrow, he wanted Starscream and me to report our findings to you, obviously because there is an Autobot frozen in the ice."
"Have Megatron radio me before he goes, I would like to send a team of my own to accompany him."
Alexis nodded, "I will pass on the message. But I must get going, Starscream is waiting."
"Alright, thank you for letting me know what's going on."
She nodded one last time before she turned around and headed back to the command center. When she got back, Starscream was waiting outside the door, his arms crossed. "What was that about?" he asked impatiently.
Alexis made as if she rolled her optics, "I'll tell you once we get back to the Decepticon base."
Lori was more than grateful to crawl into Megatron's recharge berth and cuddle up beside him. She couldn't believe how much she loved him, a person she used to hate with a passion because he was trying to kill her friends and destroy the universe. She just hated that it was Rad she had to thank for bringing them together. If he had never raped her, she would have never been given the chance to love him. It was really funny how some things turned out in life.
"What are you thinking about my dear?" Megatron asked.
Lori smiled, realizing that Megatron really cared about her if he asked that. "You of course," she replied as she looked up at him.
He smiled and pulled her close to him, "What about me?"
"I was just thinking about how thankful I am to have you in my life. If it weren't for you…Primus knows where I would be."
And he knew that much was true. He stroked her face gently and he watched her as her optics went offline. He listened as she fell into a peaceful slumber. "I love you Lori," he whispered into her audio receptor before kissing her lightly on the cheek. "Primus, thank you for letting me have her."
And he held her tight as he fell asleep.
Starscream couldn't remember the last time he had seen Alexis so mad. As soon as they got back to their room in the Decepticon base, she let loose a venomous growl and slammed her first into one of the walls.
"Alexis," he said as he came up from behind her and took her in his arms, "What's wrong?"
"I cannot go back to the Autobot base while she's there!" she hissed.
"Who, Jessamine?"
"Yes. Not until she gets off her high horse, damn it I've never been so humiliated in my life!"
"Why, what's wrong with her?"
"She's connected to Rad…apparently while we were married he cheated on me with her for about a year," she seethed, "And she's on his side, even though Optimus has explained to her what Rad has done. She won't believe him!"
"So that's why she didn't like you."
"Precisely."
"She's just going to find out the hard way then," Starscream said as he swooped Alexis up in his arms and headed for their recharge berth.
Alexis sighed as she relaxed in his embrace. He set her in the berth and laid down beside her whispering, "I want you Alexis. I really, really want you right now."
She smirked at him, but she didn't say a word as she climbed on top of him and began kissing him. Starscream listened as his systems whirred and he felt his arousal build. "You're killing me Alexis," he breathed between kisses.
"Am I?" she asked as she traced a hand down his torso, slowly.
Starscream shuddered, "Don't tease me."
She straddled her legs over him and traced his insignia playfully. "Why not?" she asked with a smirk.
"That's it!" he said as he flipped them so that he was on top. He pinned her to the bed and kissed her forcefully, and she opened her spark chamber for him. He grinned mischievously as he reached forward and lightly stroked his finger tips across her spark…a spark that belonged to him.
She shivered from the touch and stuttered through clenched teeth, "Star…Starscream…you're going to make me overload before we've even done anything."
"Now wouldn't that be just cruel of me?"
"Ah, you stupid Decepticon," she remarked, squirming from the effect his fingers were having on her.
He chuckled as he leaned forward and kissed her. She felt him smile against her lips as she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer to her. "Somebody is a little eager tonight," he mused as he opened his spark chamber for her.
Alexis shuddered when his spark grazed against hers and she grasped onto Starscream tightly when she felt his spark begin to merge with hers. "I love you," he breathed kissing her deeply.
She was too drowned in pleasure to reply, but she knew he could feel the love she had for him radiating from her spark into his. "Starscream," she whimpered as she felt herself teetering on the edge of pleasure.
"I love you Alexis."
And she went cascading into the waves of her overload. It was so intense, her entire system offlined. When she came back online, Starscream was lying beside her, a soft, yet tired smile on his face. "I love you Starscream," she whispered.
He took her in his arms and pulled her against him. "I know," he said, "Now try to get some sleep; we have a big day tomorrow."
She smiled and let her optics go offline. It wasn't long before she and Starscream fell into a deep recharge.
The next morning, bright and early, all of the Decepticons met in the command center. Alexis explained what Optimus had told her last night, including Jessamine and how he wished to dispatch a team to come with them. Lori growled when she found out that Jessamine was on Rad's side and said, "If I should happen to come across her and she says one damn word about how wonderful Rad is, I'll slit her throat."
Megatron bit back a smile, "Now Lori…let's just get to the Autobot base and find out who Optimus wishes to send with us."
"Hopefully not her, because I might leave her behind to freeze," Lori stated, causing Alexis to smile.
Megatron shook his head and simply stated, "Thundercracker, you'll be coming with us, now let's go." And he opened a dimension gate.
"Can I please go?" Jessamine begged at Optimus' feet.
"The North Pole isn't the best place for a human to go," Optimus stated as he waited for Megatron and his team to arrive.
"You can't keep me cooped up here all day…you did that yesterday. Besides, I have this," she stated as she pulled out a heavy coat that would work fine in the North Pole, "So can I please come? I'll be good."
Optimus sighed heavily, "Alright…but stay by my side. It'll be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."
"Thank you!"
And just as she got those words out of her mouth, a dimension gate opened and Megatron, Starscream, Thundercracker, Alexis, and Lori stepped through into the command center. "Oh good," Megatron stated noticing Optimus, "You're ready to go."
The Autobot leader nodded, "Yes, and Jetfire, Landmine, Hotshot, and Override will be coming with me."
"Good, we're going to need all the help we can get trying to find this hole in the Earth…if it even exists."
Alexis scowled noticing Jessamine on Optimus' shoulder wearing a heavy coat. She looked to Optimus before asking, "She's coming too?"
"Yes…" he answered slowly, "She wishes to come."
"Perfect…" Alexis mused.
Jessamine pretended she didn't hear what Alexis said and proceeded to ask, "Who are they?"
"That's Megatron, Thundercracker, and Lori."
"Ah…so she's the lying bitch…I mean—
"What was that?" both Megatron and Lori asked in unison.
"Sorry, I just don't believe you were raped is all."
"Jessamine," Optimus spoke sternly.
"So you think I made the whole think up?" Lori snarled.
"Pretty much," she replied, and then ducked behind Optimus' head.
"I'm going to kill her!" Lori exclaimed, but Megatron held her back, "Starscream, open a dimension gate."
His second in command obeyed and Megatron waited until everyone was gone and the dimension gate closed before he let Lori go. "I can't believe she would have the nerve to say that!" Lori growled as tears pricked in her optics.
"Just let it go," Megatron said as he took her in his arms, "You know she was wrong."
"Yeah, well it still hurts to be called a lying bitch when I know I'm right and didn't do anything wrong," Lori stated as she wiped the tears spilling from her optics.
"Don't cry love…" he said kissing her tears. He put his forehead against hers and looked her directly in the optics, "I love you, you know that. It kills me when you cry. All I ever want to do is take your pain away. You know she is wrong. Take comfort in the truth."
She hugged him tightly as her tears ceased. He smiled and kissed the top of her head, "Are you okay now?"
"Yes Megatron, and thank you."
"Anything for you Lori, now shall we get going?"
She nodded. He proceeded to open a dimension gate and hand in hand they went through. Once there, the Autobots and Decepticons scoured the land and sky looking for anything that would lead to a giant hole in the earth. When afternoon started to roll around, nearly everyone was starting to doubt the validity of the hollow Earth theory. That was until a blip on everyone's radar indicated they weren't the only ones looking for something.
"Rad's here," Lori mumbled and her hand found Megatron's.
He squeezed her hand and whispered, "You'll be okay."
Optimus wasn't sure what to do. He glanced at Lori and Megatron and then at Starscream and Alexis, and from their expressions he could tell that he wasn't the only one who had detected Rad's energy signature. No, he wasn't worried about Lori or Alexis' safety at the moment, but Jessamine's. She stood on the ground near him. And it was her who said, "I hear jet engines."
All of them looked to the sky as two bots transformed and landed in front of them. A frown went across both Megatron's and Starscream's faces as Rad smirked and said, "Well, I guess I'm late to the party." He blew a kiss at Lori, causing Sideways to shake his head.
Lori watched as Megatron clenched his fists so hard his hands began to shake. "Don't," she said as she took his hand, "He's only doing it to make you mad."
"Yeah, well its working."
"Rad if you stay here you're a dead man walking," Starscream hollered.
"Rad?" Jessamine mused, mostly to herself. She had thought the blue transformer looked and sounded familiar. She took off running directly towards him.
"Jessamine, don't!" Optimus called, but she didn't stop, "Jessamine!" And he took off after her.
"Jessamine?" Rad questioned and then he noticed her running towards him.
Jessamine felt adrenaline pumping through her veins. She had found him, she had finally found him. Now she could prove his innocence. Now she could tell him how much she still loved him. She stopped when she reached him. "Rad!" she exclaimed as she looked up at him only to gasp in sheer horror.
She didn't have time to scream as his megaton foot pummeled her body into the ice.
I have this feeling that Alexis and Optimus Prime would make a beautiful couple...but that is for another time and story. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think.
