Currently not taking requests. Sorry!

FANDOM: All Hail Megatron/IDW
CHARACTER OR PAIRING: Megatron+Thundercracker
PROMPT: Collared
RATING: PG
REQUESTED BY: mpinsky

"I've heard you've been having doubts lately."

Thundercracker flinched, wings hiking an inch. He looked over the chaos below, perched on the rooftop of a half-destroyed building. Skywarp was cackling as he tossed cars along the streets like pebbles on the water. The blue Seeker turned and faced his great leader.

Megatron approached him coolly, hands behind his back. There was smoke billowing from the barrel of his cannon, harmlessly turned to the rooftop. "What doubts would that be, Lord Megatron?" Thundercracker asked; he straightened his spinestrut, but kept his optics averted.

"I except Starscream to belittle my intelligence. Not you, Thundercracker."

The Seeker winced when Megatron forced his head up, using very little strength to do so. The touch of his cold hand was enough to feel like a suckerpunch. Thundercracker finally connected optics with the Decepticon tyrant. Megatron smiled slightly and drew back his hand, satisfied. "They say that you're losing sight of the Decepticon cause. Saying you're beginning to think it's all a lost cause, that we're fighting a pointless war that will reap no benefits."

Thundercracker stood rigid. "I... would not say that, my Lord. I do have doubts, however."

"Is it doubts for the war, Thundercracker?" Megatron asked. He swept in like a bird of prey, getting into his subordinate's face. Thundercracker winced but stood his ground. "Or is it doubt in your leader?"

"No, no, sir. It isn't you-"

"I promised you and the Decepticon army great rewards," Megatron insisted, stepping back. He spread his arms, where above Seekers roared and shot past, raining bullets and lasers on the world below. "A paradise, a kingdom to call your own. A world without oppression of Autobot rule. A planet that belongs solely to them." He frowned. "Is this not satisfying enough?"

Thundercracker rose his hands. "My Lord, no, it's not that-it's not you. I just think, that..." He bowed his head, wings drooping slightly. "This planet. It... What pride is there in involving such... inferior species? Destroying the helpless and annihilating the weak?"

"These... humans and their cities are causalities of war, collateral damage, Thundercracker," Megatron answered, "surely you're not naive enough to know this. To know it happens all the time."

"I just think it's dishonorable," Thundercracker blurted. He grimaced and stepped back. "I apologize. I stepped out of line."

Megatron smiled. "You are a unique anomaly, Thundercracker, amongst your brothers," he explained. He reached out and placed a hand gently on Thundercracker's wing. "My men all happen to be bloodthirsty, hungry for war. They could care less who gets in the way. Where as you, you also think with your spark. You don't charge in without thinking of the consequences. Really, you're one of a kind."

Thundercracker didn't know if he should be flattered or not.

"But..."

The Seeker winced when Megatron's grasp on his wing tightened, shooting pain through it and down his spinestrut. He gasped when he was suddenly tossed to the ground, body skipping along the gravel. He nearly fell off the other side of the rooftop before thrusting his heel into the ground, halting him. Thundercracker grumbled, standing to hands and knees as he shook the dust and dirt from his head. A scream erupted from his mouth when Megatron's heel crushed against his hand, pinning it down.

"Unfortunately for you, Thundercracker," Megatron growled and ground his foot into his hand, "I did not hire nor do I need bleeding sparks. I hired soldiers who know the price of war, men who willingly throw themselves into battle for the greater good. And here you are, complaining, brooding, shrinking away like some coward." Megatron spat out laughter. "You can run away with your fuselage between your legs, but you can never escape the carnage, destruction and death you have caused. No matter how much you may regret your past decisions, those who felt your wrath, those who lost loved ones by your hands, will never forget."

Thundercracker looked up at him, pain written on his face, one optic cracked half-shut. "M-My Lord..."

"Even if you remove those symbols from your chassis," Megatron said, and pointed to his wings, "you will always be a Decepticon, collared by my side. Do you understand me?"

Thundercracker nodded weakly. "Y-Yes, my Lord..."

Megatron lifted his foot and turned away. The Seeker sat back, rubbing his sore, throbbing hand. "You can run to the edges of the universe, Thundercracker," the tyrant said, turning to the orange and red skies, "but you will never escape. Not from your past, not from the ones you stole from and murdered and not from this moment."

END