Hammerhead.
Warnings: Violence, bad language, gore and possibly some sex.
"Through this doorway what's on the other side, never knowing exactly what I'll find, locked and loaded, voices screaming: let's go, come on do it, here we go!" – Hammerhead, the Offspring.
Timing: Post season 2 finale, set few weeks after Beauty of the Beast in my very own BotB Prime Timeline (due to ending of the series and because the first chapter was posted before the last season was aired).
Rating: M (alternative – if there will be any – or extended chapters will go MA and will be available on my Tumblr account, the address is available on my profile page).
Pairings: Megatron and June, Bumblebee and Miko, maybe some Shockwave and Arcee.
Disclaimer: Transformers Prime © Hasbro. Story's plot and OC's © me. There may be some OC's that aren't mine – they belong to their respective creators.
Spellcheck performed by Monstrous-hourglass of dA.
Here is the News.
Here is the news
Coming to you every hour on the hour
(Here is the news)
The weather's fine but there may be a meteor shower. (...) – "Here is the News" Electric Light Orchestra.
oOo
The next day.
Fowler stepped down onto runway of the military airport where his plane landed and made his way to his helicopter, the same he left here when he departed for Great Britain, twenty-odd hours before. He couldn't be bothered by precise time measuring; he had something bigger on his mind.
He knew that his first stop will be at General Brice's office. It would be so for two reasons. Firstly, the General was his superior and should learn about the big news as the first person and as soon as possible. Secondly, Fowler counted that perhaps some other agents managed to gather some useful intelligence as well.
Then he would make his way to Area 51 to share his news with the Autobots.
He was tempted to ask Ratchet for a groundbridge back in UK, but it was an official mission with all its restrains, which meant that he had to use official means of transportation. He could ask for the 'bridge now, but he wanted to go to General Brice on his own, gather more info and have some time to think about it, so he was happy with just flying. For now he wasn't in that much hurry, sure the information was hot, but M.E.C.H. wouldn't know about this yet. This operation was performed by civilians and M.E.C.H. was military based, the first actual soldier in active duty who would hear Fowler's revelations would be General Brice. Fowler didn't count himself as he wasn't a soldier anymore, at least not in active military duty.
Fowler strapped himself in and moment later the rotors of his helicopter started to spin as the machine took off.
oOo
Soundwave observed with satisfaction the display of his newly opened bank account. It looked nice with his share of Knockout's latest race win.
The Decepticon Medic, after cleaning himself and pouting for the rest of the previous day, decided that there was only way he could work off the unpleasant banana cream pie incident: racing. Of course he won. He didn't collect his winnings every time, but decided that might as well get Soundwave off his helm.
This way Soundwave got his pay for not doing anything and now the Spy was in the process of figuring out what exactly he could spend the currency on. Internet cameras were just one idea that he got. There were few others that he entertained as well. He began to search the internet for stores that could ship him whatever he wanted to get.
oOo
Ratchet entered the common hangar of the temporary Autobot base (so temporary that they didn't even give it a name) and spotted that Optimus was already there. That surprised the Medic as it was usually him who got up first and was the one to start the day.
"Optimus, I didn't expect you to be up so early. Is everything in order?" Ratchet approached his Prime and eyed him with concern. There was always the possibility that Optimus was ill and came in search for his medic and Ratchet was always worried about the numerous injuries renewing (which was always a possibility due to the war). Or even the cybonic plague relapse (which Ratchet always feared despite having a remedy for it and that Optimus was now completely cured).
"Good morning Old Friend. Yes, all is in order." Optimus raised his head from the console he's been observing. "I just relived Wheeljack. He said that Agent Fowler contacted him just before I came. He has some news."
"He returned from England already?" Ratchet's optic brows went up. He didn't suspect that the humans would be back so quickly. Not without groundbridge.
"Yes, he said that he will be here later today." Optimus made space for Ratchet to assume his monitor duty due to his so called 'punishment'. "Also the Decepticons should contact us today to speak with Megatron."
"Oh, yes, him. I was happy to forget about that." Ratchet pulled a face; he knew that it was important; it was him who treated the wounded 'Con, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed it or that he liked the idea. For him it was a so called necessary evil.
"I do understand how you feel about him, but you know that this threat is too great to not be addressed and that all sides are in agreement that it has to be done swiftly."
"I know, Optimus, I saw what this new weapon does to a mech." Ratchet felt his tanks churn when he recalled the results of being hit by that weapon. "I saw it very clearly, too clearly for my own liking."
"And there is no guarantee that M.E.C.H. isn't working on improving it." Optimus added in deadpanned voice.
"You don't have to remind me, Optimus." Ratchet felt slightly sick when he thought about being hit by such a weapon. If there was one thing he would, maybe not admire, but respect in Megatron; was that the mech was tough, from what he heard when Arcee reported, Megatron never made a sound after being hit, not even a single whine and Ratchet was sure that it was pure agony.
"Then what is the problem?"
"I don't believe that it is such a great idea to have humans here while Megatron is able to walk freely." Ratchet's voice was firm. This wasn't just his dislike of Megatron; this was his sincere concern about their human companions. "I know, Optimus, I said that he should be able to walk today. I even said that he should try to walk around a little bit to help him absorb welds faster and stretch the healing protoform; but it doesn't mean that I believe that humans should be present while Megatron is able to walk relatively freely."
"I see." Optimus considered the words of his old friend for few moments. "Your concern is sound, but I fear that we wouldn't be able to protect our human friends if they would be out of our reach. M.E.C.H. has proved in the past that they are capable of abducting humans when they took June. We have no way of knowing if they won't decide to repeat this action for whatever reason they may find, be that as a bait to lure us into their trap or to gain information about our whereabouts, numbers and firepower."
"But how slim are chances that M.E.C.H. will find them?" Ratchet wasn't convinced, though the situation was difficult. "It doesn't matter what course of action we will take, our humans will still be endangered. It is simple the matter of assessing which solution is safer: should we leave them here with Megatron being able to hurt them; or should we keep them away where M.E.C.H. would have to find them first?"
"They already did it once and I have no doubts that they would be able to do it again should they choose so." Optimus recalled the night when June was abducted and it was only due to Jack's resourcefulness that everything ended well. "We cannot take this risk, especially that we may not be able to dispatch any of our own to guard them all. No, my friend, they should stay here especially that we will be here as well and I doubt that Megatron will do them any harm right now; not when we have to deal with this new threat, not when he holds such a strong interest in June."
"Yet another thing I do not like in this entire situation." Ratchet grimaced with disgust. "Megatron is a goon, a thug, a hoodlum! Worse than that, he started this war; he is responsible for all the evil that had befallen upon us all."
"No, this war would have happened one way or another, Megatron only made it happen faster. We are all what the society made us to be, and that is our greatest tragedy. Megatron is by no means innocent, but in all honesty, I don't feel without guilt myself." Optimus' face suddenly became greyer, duller than mere moments before. "My only hope is that one day we will be able to rebuild our society and never repeat our old mistakes."
The gloomy atmosphere in the hangar was abruptly broken by the cheerful beeping of Bumblebee and Smokescreen's laughter as the two entered while talking about something amusing. The two was followed by the grumpy looking Bulkhead who seemed to still be upset about previous day's discovery. Right behind him was Arcee, still looking groggy.
"Where's Wheeljack?" Ratchet was quick to notice the lack of a certain white, red and green mech.
"Ah, he left yesterday evening, after you dropped off, he said that the tension in the hangar was too thick for his liking." Said Smokescreen.
"I didn't notice any tension." Beeped Bumblebee with genuine surprise in his voice.
"That's because you dropped off right after Ratchet." Smokescreen said helpfully. "You were tired, after all that excitement." And the young Elite Guard winked at his black and yellow colleague. He didn't notice Bulkhead sending him a heavy stare. The ex-Wrecker had no other choice but to accept that Miko and 'Bee were 'intimate' but he had no intention to allow others to rub it in. He knew, deep down inside his spark, that it could have been much, much worse. At least he knew Bumblebee, could trust the guy and knew that he would protect Miko just like he protected Raf. But it didn't change the fact that he still felt protective. It's one thing to allow your Charge to befriend a mech, and another to allow said mech to 'sleep' with your Charge.
"Trust me, there was." Arcee stretched like a cat. "I wish I was wiser and decided to recharge outside."
"You do realise that you just called Wheeljack 'wise'?" Smokescreen grinned at Arcee.
"No I didn't, I said that I wish I was wiser." Arcee opposed and sent the newest member of Team Prime a hard stare. Smokescreen chose not to argue.
"Let's start briefing; Wheeljack will have to catch up when he'll come." Optimus gestured for his soldiers to gather.
AN.
Sorry for being late, this chapter was meant to be longer but I had to cut it in two, otherwise it would took me two weeks to write. So this chapter is much shorter than the previous one and the next one. The next chapter I will present to you was meant to be part of this one, but it will be separate one due to the fact that I am still writing it. Sorry for this little cliffhanger and I promise that the next one will make it up to you, especially if you're waiting for further June and Megatron development
To Lola: No worries and thank you. I respect my readers so I always finish my stories, and always respond to reviews (well almost, I usually answer those that I can send a message through FF or dA, only sometimes I respond like I do now).