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.
Sweet child o' mine.
She's got a smile that it seems to me, Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything, Was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face, She takes me away to that special place
And if I stared too long, I'd probably break down and cry
Sweet child o' mine, Sweet love of mine
She's got eyes of the bluest skies, As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes, And see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me, of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide' And pray for the thunder
And the rain, To quietly pass me by (...) – "Sweet Child of Mine" Guns'n'Roses.
oOo
General Brice was a very unhappy man. His mood was decreasing from general dissatisfaction (no pun intended) to deep depression with all the news he was receiving lately. Right at the moment he was unhappy with a tendency for being upset and hopeless.
He stared at Special Agent Fowler as if the man just told him that his wife left with his young and hunky gardener and took his dog with her. The General knew better than to blame the messenger for bringing bad news, but he was already tired of bad news. Any kind of information he received lately was bad news. All he lacked at the moment was World War III, invasion of hostile aliens (technically he already was facing that because Decepticons were hostile, alien and they came to Earth with conquest in mind) and a zombie apocalypse, or all of those things at the same time.
"This is consistent with reports of other agents. Everything matches. Are you familiar with those reports?" The General asked knowing that Fowler wasn't officially introduced to said reports but that the man might have heard something already.
"No sir," came the answer. "I haven't spoken to anyone yet, I came directly here."
"Read those then." General pushed few yellow folders in Fowler's direction. "And then tell me what you think."
Fowler took his time to read every report and when he was done he re-read them just to be sure he didn't miss a thing. His face remained impassive, not a single muscle twitched. Unlike General when he read them. Brice felt like he was about to face root canal therapy without any anaesthesia. But he also imagined that Agent Fowler was more accustomed to dealing with bad news, or at least with things he would rather not know about, the man was the Autobot liaison after all, and he had to deal with some hard core situations. Brice have had doubtful pleasure of witnessing one of those heavy duty crises when Decepticons totalled the Mesa and almost killed Optimus Prime not so long ago and Brice wasn't looking forward to another one any time soon. Or course Mr Murphy attacked again: if anything can go wrong – it will. And it did.
"This is what I've been expecting, sir." Fowler returned folders to General. "After what I heard from the Autobots that witnessed M.E.C.H.'s last action this is no surprise for me."
"Is that true that one of the Decepticons was wounded?" asked Brice. He read Fowler's report, but it wasn't detailed. The Agent explained that he feared M.E.C.H. intercepting it and the point was to not give them any vital information.
"Yes. And not just any Decepticon. It was Megatron." Fowler held no warm feelings toward the Decepticon Warlord but instead of expressing deep satisfaction his face looked like made of stone – despite of his personal issues with Decepticons he felt sympathy.
"The Decepticon leader?" Brice looked like he just saw a ghost. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Bill, but isn't he the biggest, strongest and the worst of all Decepticons?"
"Yes."
"I believe I've seen his picture. He's the humungous, gun metal grey and purple robot with a gigantic canon mounted on his right forearm? The one with a lot of armour on him?" The General's voice was suspiciously calm, as if he just couldn't believe in what he was hearing.
"Yes. That's the one." Fowler nodded innocently. At this point he decided to play a clueless bumpkin.
"Bill, if I remember correctly, you wrote that the 'Con was shot through and through." Bryce was now staring holes in poor Special Agent. "Throughout all those layers of armour and whatnot!"
"To be honest, sir, he was hit in one of his weak spots, in his lower back where the armour is thin." Fowler realised just how silly it sounded. "Well, thinner than in other places."
"And you called me then and told me that the Autobots decided to save him? Why they did that?" Brice's left eye started to twitch. This was beyond his imagination.
"As I told you, leaving him for M.E.C.H. was out of the question. The last thing we need is them laying their hands on a Cybertronian, and least of them all Megatron." Fowler sighed, now came the difficult part. He only told General Brice that they were treating a 'Con and then promised more details when they will meet personally. "Shortly after we talked Starscream contacted us. He and two other high officers in Decepticon army took over the command and demanded to know what the Autobots did with their leader. Ratchet told them what happened and they struck an agreement."
"An agreement?"
"Yes. They will cooperate to find M.E.C.H. and their new weapon and destroy it. Sir, I must agree with Prime on this. Better to have Megatron as the enemy leader than some other 'Con who may be far less predictable. And on top of it all it was the M.E.C.H. that started to shoot. True, they attacked Decepticons that were looting one of our facilities, but 'Cons didn't hurt a single human during their attack and when M.E.C.H. struck they were only defending themselves."
"Yes. Even when Silas was their leader, M.E.C.H. was prone to attack and shoot first." Brice pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting too old for this. "Anyway, I'm going to have to trust Optimus Prime in his assessment."
"Sir, I have to tell this to Prime and his team. They should know." Fowler pointed at folders that lay on General's desk.
"Go ahead, Bill, they will probably bump into M.E.C.H. before we will"
"Thank you sir." Fowler seemed relieved. He didn't think that the General would be delighted with the fact that Autobots had Megatron in their temporary base.
"Just make sure to be careful with that Decepticon leader, and warn them all to be careful, we don't need any incidents with trigger happy Decepticons. You're dismissed."
"Thank you sir."
Fowler left the General's office with his shirt stuck to his back. This went better than he hoped for, but he and the Team Prime were stepping on thin ice. The big wigs were livid after Decepticons took over Jasper, and they still were pretty mad. Team Prime teaming up with Megatron and his merry band of thugs was the last thing they would want to hear about and Fowler hoped for this little alliance's success.
He left the helicopter and took his car, it was better to get into Area 51 by car to not aggravate anyone who might be in proximity of the base by using a dark coloured helicopter. Last thing they needed were conspiracy theory maniacs claiming that they saw 'Black Choppers' and 'Man in Black' on the Nevada desert.
oOo
Megatron opened his optics by a fraction and noticed that it was light already. The windows near the roof gave what seemed to be daylight. It took him few astroseconds to connect all the facts, the windows, the wall made of wooden crates, the fact that he wasn't laying on his own berth, in his own quarters on his own warship… Oh yeah, now he recalled everything, he's been shot in the back by a bunch of organic terrorists, grabbed by his enemies who then treated his wounds and told him that they struck deal with his treacherous SIC to hunt down aforementioned organic terrorists and their super weapon that he's been shot with in the first place while in the same time his personal archenemy made him realise (or rather forced him to face it) that he held some sort of romantic interest in a puny organic femme (the one that he's been unable to forget about for the last few weeks). All he lacked now was Trypticon coming back from the dead, putting on a pink tulle tutu and starting to dance to fulfil the image of absolute lunacy he'd been living in recently.
And just to make sure he's been really living in this insanity of reality, he heard a loud horn and shifting sounds, then something hard hit the wall and an excited voice that he identified as Wheeljack exclaimed: "Who's ready to lobb?"
Apparently both Wreckers were fans of lobbing – oh joy, the large metal 'ball' flying everywhere without any control, hitting unsuspecting targets and two over-excited Wreckers. And they thought that he was dangerous! Ha!
"Eeep, ep, ep!" That was Ratchet. "No lobbing in enclosed spaces where humans are present! We don't want any accidents!"
"Aww, come on, Doc. We'll be careful!" Wheeljack sounded like he was grinning. But even Megatron knew it was a lost cause, Ratchet was known to be firm in his resolves.
"No, you won't. And don't call me 'Doc'!" Ratchet sounded slightly irritated, but far less than he should.
"As you wish, Matey!"
There was laughter, which meant that Ratchet pulled a face at that comment. Megatron rolled his optics; the day he will leave this asylum he will be one happy mech. There was some more laughter that instantly died out; probably Ratchet grabbed one of his wrenches.
"Just shoot me and be done with it." Megatron growled not very quietly and covered his optics with his servo – a small improvement that he enjoyed since yesterday.
Apparently his growl was heard by the Medic as the next thing Megatron heard was words addressed to him. "I see that you are awake."
Megatron noticed that the Good Doctor indeed was holding one nasty looking wrench. "It is hard to recharge with this entire ruckus just behind a thin and provisional wall."
"It didn't stop you from recharging until now." Ratchet approached the Decepticon still holding his wrench.
"I'm afraid that I do not know what time it is, my internal chronometer is set for universal time of this planet, but not knowing my approximate location I can't tell the hour."
"You're in the eastern part of United States of America, and its late morning." The white and red Autobot opened his in-build scanner and pointed it at the Warlord. "Now, let's give you an evaluation and see if you can get up today."
Megatron said nothing as the blue ray of Ratchet's scanner touched his frame and immediately turn red in answer to detecting Dark Energon. The scanning concentrated on the area that was repaired and the ray turned blue again. Ratchet read the result and then put away his wrench as he peeled the armour gently to take a look at the protoform. It wasn't the most pleasant experience for Megatron, the pressure he felt in the place that his armour was attached to his frame was irritating, but it was medical examination and he was familiar with it. There was only few irritating experiences that Megatron could take calmly and medical examination was one of them, but only because it was for his own good. It wasn't a wide known fact but Megatron was rather good patient for most of the time.
"It looks good." Ratchet let go of the plating and allowed it to fall back into its place. "You may get up today and walk a little, but not too much. No sudden moves, no running, stretching, jumping and most of all no transforming for the next week. Starscream should contact us soon and will want to speak with you, so you may go to the main area and remain there as long as you remember about the rules."
"Understood." Megatron lifted himself on his elbows, he felt stiff and tired of lying flat, he longed for being upright and walking around, even if he had to do it surrounded by Autobots. Speaking of which he heard Wheeljack expressing his will to play lobb and Optimus Prime promising him that in the new place they will set up a gym where he and Bulkhead will be able to lobb. Then a warm voice asked what is 'lobb' and Optimus started to explain rules of the game. Megatron knew the warm voice.
Ratchet turned to leave when he heard sounds of abrupt movement and then a silent moan. He looked back and saw Megatron sitting on the berth and holding his side. The Decepticon rubbed his side slightly as he tried to sit straight.
"I told you: no sudden moves. Take it slow." And with that Ratchet left Megatron alone.
Optimus finished telling June about Lobb and how popular it was in pre-war society when he noticed a movement with the corner of his optic. His head snapped in the direction and he saw Megatron walking out of the infirmary area. The Decepticon overlord held himself up and walked slowly while leaning on the hangar wall. His face was full of determination while his pace was slow. It was a captivating sight as the metallic titan made his way to a metallic container next to the catwalk the humans used. Then he reached his destination he straightened himself as best as he could and looked Prime in the optic. Even though he was slightly hunched he was still taller than Optimus and the Prime suppressed the urge to shut his battle mask close when in such direct proximity to his greatest enemy. The fact that Megatron's weapons were off-lined at the moment didn't change much, the mech was still intimidating.
They stared at each other for a moment and it was hard to believe, at least for Optimus, that merely two days prior the Decepticon was helpless and at his mercy.
"I trust you won't be causing us any trouble, Megatron." Optimus spoke first. His tone was firm even though his voice seemed calm.
"I have no such plans Optimus, we do have, as I recall, a truce." Megatron answered him with his usual haughty attitude. "It would be a shame to ruin it before it serves its purpose, wouldn't it?" Not receiving any answer he continued with a slight grin. "Ratchet told me I could walk a little already and I just couldn't pass the opportunity to free myself of that berth. A feeling that you should be familiar with, I presume."
"Did you come out only to vex us?" Arcee wasn't impressed with their 'guest's' antics.
"No." To her surprise the Warlord actually answered her. "As I said I came to stretch my struts as much as I can and to see if June came."
This in turn met with Jack's angry huff, but the young man said nothing. He wasn't happy with Megatron being here, he wasn't happy with them having to deal with Decepticons in the first place, he wasn't happy with M.E.C.H. making their big come back and he was most unhappy with Megatron sparing his mother any kind of attention. If he could he would ban June from the base, but that wasn't an option, not with his mother.
Ratchet only bleeped something in Cybertronian, which in turn caused Bumblebee to make few surprised sounds and Raf to cough and blush. The rest of the Team Prime made faces but didn't utter a single squeak. Miko and Jack looked at each other not knowing what it was all about, but they didn't ask Raf because the boy firmly refused to translate any of Ratchet's mumbled comments when they were uttered in Cybertronian, especially if they were Megatron related.1] Both older teens assumed that it was particularly bad language.
Megatron's decided not to react, though the comment was quite offensive. Instead he turned his attention to June and noticed with satisfaction that she was wearing the slightly transparent blouse and the lacy bra that he provided (well, ordered Gavin to obtain) her when he held her on his ship2).
"You know, perhaps you should tone down your cocksure behaviour a bit?" The woman asked with delicate smile to her face.
"I'm afraid I can't." He answered in a more amiable tone. "I do have a reputation to maintain." He reached out and to Jack's annoyance, offered June his servo. "What kind of a Decepticon would I be if I was friendly all the time?"
"Well, I tell you, Megatron, that you'll be Decepticon with bad scarring if you won't take it easy and sit down!" Ratchet didn't bother to look at the Warlord. "I clearly recall telling you to take it easy. You are allowed to walk around but only a little! I do not want Knockout claiming that we failed to keep our side of the bargain!"
Everyone's attention turned to Ratchet and then to Megatron to see what his reaction would be. The Tyrant tilted his head at June to urge her to take his offer. The woman only shook her head slightly and climbed on his waiting palm.
oOo
In the same time outside.
Fowler watched the gate to Area 51 open, a guard asked him to show his pass which he produced without a word. The man in desert coloured BDU pulled out a PDA with microchip scanner checked the pass and waited patiently for the device to connect to their data base and confirm validity of the document. The small displayer showed data that the guard compared with what was printed on the pass, then looked at the man before him and returned the pass while coming out of the way – everything was in order.
Fowler drove away and the man that let him in tapped his head set to inform other guards about the incoming car.
Fowler had to drive much slower now; inside the Area 51 the speed limit was much lower than outside – yet another security measure. There were no signs to inform a driver how fast he was allowed to drive in here, those who had clearance to be here were informed about them. Anyone who would drive faster than that would be recognised as intruder. Only exceptions of this rule were ambulances and fire engines and even these had to be announced.
He rolled slowly to the main hangar area that rested directly above the underground complex. This place was where the vents for the complex were placed and spare parts were stored. There were a few hangars to put couple of the emergency helicopters in, few others served as garages for the cars of the people working here (though they weren't travelling in and out every day). And two hangars were currently occupied by the Autobots.
Most conspiracy theory supporters usually imagined Area 51 as super-secret facility where some aliens were held and experimented on, where their space ships were stripped to learn alien technology. Which for Fowler was absurd, to put it simply. True, at the moment the place did had seven alien residents (with additional one as temporary guest), but that was beside the point. Fowler often laughed when he heard about mysterious lights appearing over the place, UFO or Foo Fighters (as they were called sometimes), mostly because often enough said UFO was him. Not many people believed that the Area 51 was really an air force base that housed a team of test pilots that tested new, experimental military aircrafts (most of which they built themselves). Said aircrafts were housed in a separate group of hangars, but that was a different story all together.
Finally the man reached the main hangar area and had to subdue to yet another round of checking up his papers. This time it was much faster because the guard didn't have to confirm his identity, instead the chip in his pass served as a key to open the gate and allow him in. All under the watchful eye of the guard, who took his pass, looked at it to see if the picture matched the owner and then waved it before a sensor that beeped once and lifted the gate's bar up.
The hangars were covered in masking mesh that was stretched between roofs and covered the place in slight shadow but allowed enough light that it was bright. Any satellite picture would show nothing except dried up desert vegetation.
Fowler spotted the two hangars that were occupied by his extra-terrestrial friends and pulled over between them where his car wouldn't cause any problems. Then he made his way to the Autobots' common hangar, which was easy to recognise as its gate was opened wide enough for Optimus to enter.
oOo
Everybody returned to their own activities the moment Megatron sat (with a barely visible wince) on the metal box that served as a chair to whoever actually had time to sit down; and began to talk with June. No one really paid much attention to their conversation as they seemed to talk about some cultural similarities and differences between Cybertron and Earth. Even Jack lost interest when they started to compare poetry and theatrical arts. It wasn't a secret that Megatron was interested in art and culture back when he was Gladiator (and even before that when he was a miner, though back then he could only read as miners weren't allowed anywhere near theatres). He always read a lot as a principle, it helped him when he was rising to the top, it paid him when he was gathering supporters and it paid him when he became a politician (though still a Gladiator). And now it paid off again, this time with gaining the attention of a lady (though he never intended to use it as a means of romance).
Jack observed this for a moment and then he couldn't anymore. Sure, it looked like they were flirting, Jack knew that it was possible (thanks to Miko and Bumblebee), but his mother and this monster? This was just beyond his imagination. On top of everything they were now discussing drama. June was telling Megatron about ancient Greece theatre based on myths, and Megatron was telling her about early Golden Age and their version of theatre based on myths about the Thirteen.
Now he was playing video games, somehow he managed talk Arcee to race with him and the femme was using a red racer car against his yellow. Miko was talking with Wheeljack and Bulkhead about some Monster Truck rally and both Wreckers were excited about it. Apparently once a Wrecker, always a Wrecker. Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Raf were watching something on Raf's laptop and laugh every now and then. Optimus was busy discussing the importance of having large enough rec room in their new base with Ratchet (that the location of which was so top secret that they weren't even thinking about it).
Fowler entered the hangar just as Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Raf burst into a laughing fit over whatever they were watching.
"Prime!" Fowler hollered from the entrance. This caused everyone to stop in their tracks and look at the Special Agent as he walked in. Raf pushed the pause on the video, Miko furrowed her eyebrows not liking being interrupted, Jack and Arcee looked back to see who was shouting, both Ratchet and Optimus heads bobbed up, and Megatron and June silenced in mid-conversation.
Then there was lout screeching sound and Jack whined. The race was over; Arcee's racer just pushed his into a wall.
"What is it Agent Fowler?" Prime stepped closer to the man as everyone's attention was focused on the two of them.
"I just returned from Great Britain and I bring some bad news." The man didn't wait for any invitations as he climbed up the stairs to the catwalk. He hadn't paid any attention to Megatron. "We just learned who M.E.C.H.'s new leader may be and what their first move was. Even before they started to play with big guns!"
"I am listening Agent Fowler." Optimus focused all his attention on the man. Fowler used to be nervous in a situation like that, but ever since being rescued by Team Prime from Starscream's servos he was easier going around Optimus Prime and Autobots in general.
"As you know I've been to Great Britain because we were checking every trace that could lead us to M.E.C.H. and every connection that Silas had while he was alive. As I told you before, he was divorced. I visited his ex-wife, Lucy Westenra but she wasn't able to tell me much about her ex-husband. I only managed to learn that Colonel Leland Bishop privately was completely different man than we had displeasure to meet him as. He also had a daughter, Laura, but she wasn't available. Her mother claimed that she left the country. Our British allies, who are just as concerned about M.E.C.H. as we, managed to check out few things."
"You said that Laura Bishop never left her country." Ratchet interrupted as Fowler made pause to catch a breath.
"Laura Westenra-Bishop, she uses both names." Fowler corrected. "Yes, I remember. But you see, the thing with European Union is that while it is a union of independent countries, they don't have internal borders as such. Their borders are mostly administrational, there are no check-up points, you can drive through the entire EU without any kind of passport."
"Just like Cybertron before the war." Arcee mused. "We had city-states but no actual borders between them."
"Anyway, Silas' kid could leave Great Britain and travel around the continent without a trace as long as she was remaining inside of the 'Schengen Treaty' area. And we only checked if she left islands directly. Our British friends did the checking for us and the results were pretty bad for us. Silas' brat left her country, and then made her way to Spain and then to Morocco.
"And Morocco isn't part of the European Union. But how come she managed to leave the Union?" Ratchet was starting to be puzzled by all this.
"Illegally. It's easy. Ceuta is a Spanish town in Africa, and it's just short sea trip to Morocco. All she had to do was to be cautious of the coast guard."
"And this way she left European Union. But how did you manage to learn that?" Optimus optic brows furrowed, he had bad feelings about Fowler's news.
"Our British friends managed to track her down. They called her mother to ask when exactly she left, then they compared it with the date of the M.E.C.H. attack at the Decepticons we provided them to create timeline for when she could have left the country. They were checking all international airports, marine ports and stations. And she was cunning; she didn't use a plane as most people would. She left by the least obvious way to travel off the island – a train!"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't an island a piece of land surrounded by water from all sides?" Megatron decided to interject at this point. This entire story started to sound somewhat surreal for him, should he be on Nemesis he would probably be starting to lose his patience by now. "How could she left by train which is land transportation?"
This caused everyone to focus their attention on him, seven sets of blue optics and five sets of eyes stared at him in silence. Fowler blinked few times before he was able to answer, clearly having to recall that the Decepticon was there more or less legally and wasn't about to hurt anyone (at least it theory).
"I don't know how well you, or any of the 'Bots know Earthen geography, so… a quick reintroduction may be in place. Great Britain, or to be more precise United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is located on two main islands and plenty of small ones. Britain is separated from the main land of Europe, or to be more precise Eurasia because both continents are one land mass separated by Ural mountains and few other obstacles, by The English Chanel also known as La Manche Chanel. Some years ago Britain and France, which is the country on the other side of The English Chanel decided to dig a tunnel to connect the island with the mainland. It is called The Chanel Tunnel or the Eurotunnel in some places. The Tunnel was dug between English Dover and French Calais."3)
"I seem to recall that it was quite an emprise at the time." Optimus Prime nodded his head. He spent some time upon learning certain facts about Earth; geography was one of those things.
"Yes. Anyway, our British friends used face recognition program to find her and they did as she was heading to the train, just before she got in. She was using a false name. Now, the best part. Laura Westenra-Bishop has double citizenship, which means that she is both British and American, but she never landed on American soil, in fact she didn't re-appeared anywhere, she disappeared from the face of Earth!"
"This could only mean that she is using false identity." Ratchet concluded.
"This or she's lying dead on some African desert, which is unlikely," said Fowler in deadly serious voice. "From what we know she never reached US, not under her real name nor under some fake identity. If she would we would know. When you arrive your fingerprints are scanned while crossing the border."
"Yeah! They use this fancy scanner to scan you finger." Chirped Miko while wriggling her right index finger. "Been there, done that! Total invigilation!"
"And you believe she is M.E.C.H.'s new leader otherwise why would she leave her home under some bogus identity." Jack summed up everything Fowler said.
"And that's not even the best part." Fowler rubbed his forehead. "Before I came here I reported to General Brice to inform him of what I have learned. He gave me very interesting reports from other agents to read. Everything sums up and in a nasty way."
"M.E.C.H. agents are still recruiting from your military structures." Optimus stated. It wasn't anything new as military was the place where M.E.C.H. originated from in the first place.
"That wouldn't be even half as bad as it is now." Fowler leaned heavily on the railing of the catwalk. "They're not just sticking to their old guard; they managed to recruit new people!"
"What are you saying?" Ratchet's optics grew in disbelief.
"I am saying that their number grows! Given the size of their forces during the attack on the desert where our 'distinguished' guest was wounded, there had to be more of them than during any operation that Silas commanded!" Saying that Fowler gestured at Megatron who in turn mockingly bowed his head. "From what scraps of information we were able to gather, their number grew 30 per cent of their original count from before they were shattered by their failures with you guys and Silas going rouge wiping his flag unit out. And that's just the military part of M.E.C.H."
"Wait! What do you mean by 'just the military part'?" Jack eyes grew larger. "M.E.C.H. was always military and ex-military."
"Not anymore, son. Silas stuck to his military palls exclusively but his kid doesn't have such prejudices. She managed to recruit few civilians. And not just some random thugs or mercs, she went for the eggheads!"
"The what?" Ratchet sent Fowler a bemused glare.
"Brainiacs, grey matter, gnomes, older versions of Raf!" Explained Miko pointing at Raf who only shrugged and grinned.
"What she said. And the brat has few of them but we can't tell who exactly. There are few names in the field that she could drag into M.E.C.H. She is, or perhaps was, working for some international weapon producer as a designer and engineer, she knows all the people in the branch. And they know other people." Fowler was now clearly irritated. "This entire thing just grows larger and larger. Silas started the thing with world's new order in mind but he was progressing slowly, he was depending only on his military types; his kid is taking all the possible shortcuts and is developing tech of her own without looking back at the rest of the world, she may actually achieve what her mind-screwed daddy planned!"
"Uh… But why did she attack Decepticons?" Raf asked shyly.
"It looks like she didn't drop the idea of getting Cybertronian bio-technology advancements," answered Ratchet. "Even if she is developing her own weapons she must see the advantage that our own biology can provide her with."
"She wants revenge," stated Megatron. "Her sire perished because of Decepticons and I am their leader, the very embodiment of the movement."
"You killed Silas?" June looked up at the Tyrant.
"No, I didn't, at least not personally." Megatron set his optics at the organic sitting on his leg. "Silas, or Cylas as he introduced himself, contacted us and offered his services, when asked what he want in return he said and I quote 'a place at the table'. Knockout was deeply disturbed by the situation as it was adding insult to the injury when the very being responsible for his partner's misadventure that resulted in his missing optic was now living inside said partner's corpse. He failed and in consequence I allowed Knockout to have his way with him. The objective was to learn how such a connection was even possible."
"Silas was dissected. He was left near one of our bases, dead. Before he died, someone tried to help him but failed." Fowler send Megatron hard glare.
"I am not familiar with procedures that Knockout used but his report stated that the fact that the organic survived the initial mending with Breakdown's corpse using such a crude technology was a miracle on its own. According to Knockout Silas was severely mutilated even before."4)
That earned Megatron a stern look from Optimus Prime. Prime knew that there was more to the story but he doubted that what the Warlord said was all lies. He knew Megatron long and well enough to know that the Tyrant preferred to tell the truth and then use it for his own purposes. Megatron would only tell a lie if the truth or half-truth wouldn't work. The Prime wasn't sure what was worse: bold lies or manipulated truth.
In this case, from what Optimus could tell, Megatron was telling the truth. He omitted few details for sure, he certainly wouldn't tell them how exactly it all looked like nor what the deal with Silas was, but it was clear how it ended, especially with Rafael destroying the Damocles satellite.5) Knowing Megatron he wouldn't bother himself with learning what means Knockout used to examine Silas' connection to Breakdown's body; the Warmonger would simply demand answers. And answers he certainly got, the fact that he mentioned that Silas was hurt badly in the first place was enough of a proof, Optimus knew where those injuries came from, he was there after all.6)
"Uh oh, hate to make things sound worse, guys." Jack's voice roused Optimus from his musings. "But if I'm not wrong, Megatron may not be the only one with Silas' daughter after his blood. You guys put few spokes into his wheel as well."
"Yeah, starting with the, what was it, DINGO?" Bulkhead scratched his helm remembering the mission.
"DNGS." Fowler corrected.
"The what's – a?" Megatron pulled a face, he wasn't familiar with the abbreviation and it sounded absurd enough that he was sure he would remember it if he ever heard it before.7)
"Never mind, it's a nuclear power source. We thought that Starscream was after it for some reason, but it was Silas." Ratchet explained quickly. He didn't want to tell Megatron too much, but some explanation was in order, if only avoid further questions.
"Then you guys totally owned him when he kidnapped Breakdown!" Miko cheered. "Bulkhead saved the day when he came there!"
"So, that's how he managed to escape." Megatron mused while grinning slightly. "I always wondered how he really did it."
"Then the entire Arachnid working with M.E.C.H. incident." Arcee shuddered. "And then it was Jack's resourcefulness that allowed him to call Agent Fowler. It could have ended badly if not for him and his intervention."
"And Bumblebee! They picked on him and he fought back." Raf added.
"And then the entire Nemesis Prime situation! Optimus totalled Silas true and well!" Miko bumped her fist into the air. "It was like 'rust in pieces Sy!' and game over, eeeep! 'FATALITY! THE VICTORY IS FLAWLESS!'"8)
"I don't seem to be familiar with that event." Megatron eyed Miko who formed 'corna' with both her hands. Megatron saw few Vehicons doing it and was familiar with the gesture.
"It was Silas' first attempt at creating… some sort of transforming suit of armour," said Fowler. "And it worked."
"Too well if you'd ask me," added Bulkhead.
"But in the end it wasn't as perfect as Silas thought. Enough said that he picked fight with the wrong Prime and he ended up with his dummy falling down on his head. Literally." Fowler didn't even try to suppress a smile. "We never found Silas' body though. We thought that he kicked the bucket."
"After he learned that he somehow possessed Breakdown's body." Ratchet tapped his chin and shot Megatron a serious stare. "And you said it yourself; Silas was mutilated even before he contacted you, which could only indicate that those injuries came from the aftermath of the fight with Optimus that he lost."
"Then this new leader of M.E.C.H. may also seek revenge on you all, especially on Optimus Prime," said Megatron with serious tone and then chuckled. "How typical, that you Optimus and I find ourselves riding the same cart yet again."
"I do not find it amusing, Megatron."
"Because it isn't. Yet one cannot stop wondering how our lives became tied together like this?" Megatron clearly wanted to continue his speech when the communication console chimed signalling an incoming connection.
"Philosophy time's over," commanded Ratchet who sauntered to the console. "New Kaon's calling." With that Ratchet opened the channel.
"Then my presence will be required." Megatron glared in the direction of the console. He gently picked June up and placed her on the catwalk as he slowly stood up. For a moment he felt his welds burn but the sensation quickly passed and he made his way to the console with Prime following right behind him.
"He'll be with you shortly," said Ratchet to whoever was making the call and looked up from the console only to roll his optics. "Let me rephrase that, he'll be with you longly."
"Amusing, doctor," stated Megatron as he grabbed the edge of the console for support. "But I seem to recall that it was you who said I should take it slowly."
This only earned him sour look from the Medic as he made room for the Decepticon to be able to stand in front of the camera.
"Shock… Starscream?" Megatron seemed surprised to see his unfaithful second.
oOo
Starscream saw Megatron appearing in the camera's range and uttering his surprise upon seeing who made the call. The Seeker grinned with glee, it wasn't every day that one managed to surprise Megatron, and even more seldom that one manage to survive the experience.
"Ah, Lord Megatron it is good to see you in relatively good form." Starscream spoke with what sounded like good humour to his voice.
"Starscream! Is all in order?" asked Megatron, somehow Starscream in good humour always made him uneasy. This could mean that either Starscream was plotting a new attempt at taking over or he pulled some stunt and managed to get over with it without Megatron punishing him.
"Yes, Master. All is in order. In fact Shockwave finished the work that he began shortly before you were wounded." The Seeker knew that Megatron will know what work he meant.
"I was informed that you made arrangements with my 'hosts' to ensure my wellbeing." Megatron started and pierced his second with a hard glare. "I am in understanding that we are to cooperate in order to nullify the threat that the humans who managed to wound me pose."
"Yes. Master, have you received the uttermost medical care?" Asked Starscream but it was clear that in reality he was asking if Megatron planned to honour the agreement.
"Yes I did, Starscream." Came the reply, but it could mean anything as far as Starscream could tell.
"What will be our next action, my Liege?" Shockwave emerged from behind Starscream as he walked into camera range.
"We will establish means of hunting down M.E.C.H." Megatron's tone could mean only one thing – the agreement was in power and they were to follow it.
"As you wish, my Liege." Shockwave bowed slightly accepting Megatron's will.
"We should start our search in driving distance of the site of the attack as none of my Autobots noticed any signs or aerial transportation; and then proceed to extend the search radius," said Optimus as he walked into camera's range. "Even if we won't find M.E.C.H. itself we may find some traces of them."
Starscream simply stared for a moment, it was the first time that he actually saw Optimus since that faithful night and the Prime looked as if nothing ever happened. Pit, he even looked better with the daring new paintjob.
Soundwave crooked his head slightly, unseen by neither Megatron nor Prime in where he stood outside of the camera range. He quickly saved a snapshot of Prime's new look.
Shockwave didn't react at all, for him it was only logical that after sustaining serious damage and being re-built the Prime would receive a paint work, the fact that this new one was more flashy didn't change a thing.
"Our previous aerial search of the desert in the direct vicinity of the attack site was most… unsatisfactory," said the one eyed Decepticon. "We weren't able to find any traces of M.E.C.H."
"Nevertheless, a throughout search would be in place in our situation." Optimus insisted. "There are many locations and masking techniques that M.E.C.H. could use to hide themselves."
"Agreed." Megatron nodded while looking back at the Prime. "M.E.C.H. is very apt at avoiding detection. The best proof for that is that they still exist." This earned him a grunt of agreement from Optimus. "Then we should send patrols to search and investigate any potential traces of M.E.C.H."
"That would be the best solution." Optimus stepped closer. "But they should avoid any confrontation on their own. We know that M.E.C.H. possesses means of self-defence that are potentially lethal to us. These humans weren't completely defenceless even before but now they pose a serious threat that is not to be underestimated."
"But how will we prevent patrols of both sides to shoot at each other out of sheer habit?" Arcee's voice was heard from behind the camera. There was even a slight echo to the femme's voice.
"Such an event would truly be undesired." Shockwave agreed as the argument was logical. "The soldiers could simply act due to their battle reflexes especially with the threat of the M.E.C.H. weapon on their minds."
"Mixed patrols could work I suppose." Starscream tapped his chin with single claw as he pondered for a moment. "Though this could pose just as much of a problem if the soldiers on both side wouldn't be prone to cooperation. I know that at least some of the Vehicons do hold serious grudge s against the Autobots in general."
"It is logical as it is them that end up wounded or dead most often." Shockwave concurred.
"My Autobots won't cause any trouble; they are capable of cooperation for the greater good." Optimus declared and Megatron could detect hidden pride.
"We will have to simply choose carefully who to send on such mixed patrols." Starscream twitched his wings in the seeker equivalent of a shrug.
"Then it is settled." Megatron leaned heavily on the console, his welds stung more and more but he knew he couldn't show weakness in front of his mechs. Not now. And he didn't want to look weak in the optics of Autobots, on top of that he had to look worthy before June.
"Yes Master." Starscream bowed in what looked like a respectful manner. "Will you be returning today?"
"That is a good question." Megatron was missing his own quarters, observing sunsets on the desert and multitude of other things that weren't present in Autobot base, especially that it was but a temporary set. "Doctor?" Megatron sent a questioning look to Ratchet, who in turn gave him a surprised stare.
"In theory you can go back," said the Medic. "But as I said before, you are to take things easy and I doubt that you will do that back in your base. To be honest if you were one of our Autobots I would set you on light duty as you are unfit for anything taxing at the moment."
"Understood." Megatron set his optics back on Starscream. "I will be going back today then and take things 'easy' as the Good Doctor said."
"Yes Master. If Autobots will provide us with coordinates Soundwave will send you a Groundbridge…" Starscream started to say but was cut short by Ratchet.
"Nice try. You really thought that we well just give you our coordinates like that? We will send Megatron to Jasper, from where you will be able to Groundbridge him to your base."
"Fair enough. We are waiting." And with that Starscream cut the connection.
For a moment no one said anything as they simply stood in the command centre.
"You really expected them to handle their coordinates to us so easily?" Shockwave was the first to speak.
Starscream blinked as every optic in the command centre focused on him.
"No actually." He blurred and sighed. "I just asked without giving it much thought. You must admit though, that if they would give us those coordinates it would be a nice bonus."
That only caused Soundwave to vent a heavy sight as he suppressed urge to just shake his head in disbelief.
"Actually it wouldn't do us much difference." Shockwave stated without as much as twitch of his antennae. "Currently we do have an agreement with them that Lord Megatron expect us to honour. In addition we do not know for how long Autobots will reside in their current location."
"Doesn't matter anyway. Soundwave, look out for Lord Megatron's signal and bridge him directly to the infirmary. I will go there to inform Knockout that he will have a patient shortly," said the Seeker and left the command centre.
oOo
Optimus gave Megatron a quite suspicious look. "I half expected you to break the agreement." He admitted.
"Really Optimus, I thought you know me better than this." Megatron answered with amusement. "If anything, I do keep my bargains. To the letter, you may say."
"Firstly it wasn't your bargain but Shockwave's and Starscream's. And secondly, I know you well enough to know the way you tend to keep your bargains." Optimus turned even more serious.
"Come now, Optimus, you can't blame me for seizing the opportunities. We both know what you mean and I couldn't let such an opportunity as back then to pass." Megatron let go of the console and did his best to straighten to his full height. "Tell me, would you act differently if our roles were reversed? If it was I who lost his memory? Would you try to make me an Autobot in attempt to end this war?"
This took Optimus by surprise but the Prime didn't show it. "This is something we will never know."
"I see." Megatron turned back to the catwalk and started to march in slow pace. "Let us agree that as leaders of our respective factions we simply act in said factions' best interests in mind, shall we?"
Optimus decided not to answer, this discussion led to nowhere and there was no point in arguing. Instead the Prime watched calmly as Megatron proceeded. The Decepticon sat on the metal box he was sitting before and then raised his optics to Ratchet.
"Well, Doctor, will you activate my weapons now that I am leaving?" He asked while holding his right arm.
Ratchet glared at the ex-Gladiator for a moment and then sent Optimus a questioning look. The Prime only nodded. Ratchet grabbed what looked like surgical spreader and some sort of scanner and then made his way to Megatron.
June watched with fascination as Ratchet levered up a piece of armour on Megatron's forearm and then held it in position with the spreader-like tool. Then the Medic pulled a plug from the scanner-like device, connected it to something under the levered plating and tapped the scanner-like device's touchpad. The device beeped twice and then once, the red light turned to green and Ratchet pulled the plug from the socket it had to be put in, then he removed the spreader and the armour settled back into place. The procedure was simple and quick, but Megatron seemed relieved after it was done. Ratchet backed away few steps as the Warmonger stretched his arm and drew his sword. All Autobots tensed as he did so, but the mech pulled the sword back with contented smile on his face.
"I feel much better now." He said. "I am almost ready to leave."
"Almost?" Ratchet optic brows went up.
"There is only one little thing I must do here." Megatron slowly risen and faced the catwalk where June stood.
All optics and eyes focused on him. Autobots weren't sure what to think but they expected the worst except for Optimus and Ratchet who felt slightly uncomfortable. Fowler and Raf only observed the scene with growing interest. Miko was grinning, she didn't show anything earlier but she was silently observing June and Megatron with the corner of her eye and she knew that there was something going on, she had a hunch that it would cause some stir. Jack simply stared, his stomach felt like doing summersaults and he had the worst possible feeling about this, a feeling that something will happen and that he won't like it at all. But instead of saying something, anything, he just stood there, petrified not with fear but with the situation itself.
"So, this is goodbye then." June spoke with calmness that she didn't know where was coming from. She felt weird. This was Megatron, her enemy, but somehow she was unsettled by the fact that he would leave just like that. She scolded herself for feeling like this, after all they did was to talk, flirt a little, nothing more, why wouldn't he leave 'just like that'? He had no obligations regarding her, it was his politeness that he even wanted to say goodbye like this.
"It certainly is not a goodbye June." Megatron couldn't hold back a smug grin. There was no way he would just give up like that and forget about her, not when she haunted him for so long and certainly not when he just discovered (and he refused to give Prime any kind of credit for this) why he couldn't stop thinking about her.
"Then what it is?" She asked, again surprisingly calmly but this time she was feeling more coquettish than unsettled.
"It is 'to be continued'." Megatron observed June carefully searching for any sign of approval or disapproval. He wanted, needed to know if she was interested in him as he was in her.
"But for now, you need to go, return to your base to command your forces." June said seriously.
"That I do."
"Then we do have to say good bye at least for now." Now she was smiling slightly, a strange, mischievous glint in her eyes. "We should do it properly."
"And how do you bid a temporary good bye in the proper way?" Megatron asked, now he was curious. She certainly was flirting with him now and he liked that, but he also knew that flirt could mean something or nothing.
"Let me show you." She said and beckoned him with one finger while smiling mysteriously. She didn't knew how but Megatron managed to excite the more brave, daring side of her that she forgot she even had ever since she married and focused on duties exclusively, never thinking about even most simple pleasures.
Megatron allowed himself to smirk before he lowered himself slowly, he was holding the catwalk for balance, the welds on his back stretched but they were smaller than those on his abdomen and they were almost completely absorbed by now, they only gave him an itching sensation.
He levelled his head with June's position, he could take a good guess at what she planned, after all he wasn't sparked yesterday. The idea of kissing itself was introduced to Cybertronians for the first time before the twilight of the Golden Era; when Cybertron was still keeping contact with multiple civilisations. Quite a few organic races practiced kissing and the idea was brought to Cybertron but back then it wasn't very popular (except for those who had any kinds of relationships with organics, techno-organics and non-Cybertronians). Only after the war established kissing was re-introduced to Cybertronians (both Autobots and Decepticons) thanks to Nebulans and then it took. Surprisingly at first it was more popular with Decepticons. Megatron mused that it became popular mostly because mechs had their needs and many females of various species liked to kiss, so did Cybertronian femmes apparently after they were introduced to the idea. And there were so many kinds of kisses, each for every occasion.
That's why Megatron expected a nice, warm and soft kiss to his scarred and somehow mangled cheekplate. But to his surprise the kiss to his cheek never came, instead it landed somewhere else entirely.
Megatron optics widened and then almost closed as he focused on the sensation when June planted a soft kiss on his lip plates. It felt strange to be kissed by such tiny lips, but the kiss wasn't by any means less pleasant, even if it was only a small one, just touch to his mangled lip plates. Megatron felt his own lips parting slightly in answer to June's touch and he was feeling surprisingly light headed. He didn't want to lose the contact and he leaned in slightly as June pulled back. She gave him a satisfied smile as his optics focused on her, the white circles indicating that the rims of lens shutters in his optics were wide – an equivalent of dilated pupils.9)
"We are definitely seeing each other soon." He said as the corners of his lips went up. "But now I really, and reluctantly, have to go."
All he received in answer was wide grin and purely devilish sparkles in June's eyes.
"I am ready, Doctor." Megatron forced himself to walk away from the catwalk where June stood.
Ratchet pulled a lever with unimpressed face. The Groundbridge opened and Megatron glanced one more time in direction of June who sent him what could only be naughty smile, something that no one would even associate with the sober – minded, responsible June Darby, a Nurse and mother to one, almost adult Jack Darby.
"We will talk tomorrow, Prime." Decepticon Warlord said as he walked pass Optimus Prime.
"Until then, Megatron." Answer Optimus and watched as his arch-nemesis, once a close friend disappear in the green-blue vortex.
1) See Chapter 13 – Ratchet comments about Megatron having his right servo to amuse himself with while thinking about certain organic femme (namely June). You all know what the Good Doctor meant
2) See my story "Beauty of the Beast".
3) This lecture is made for Cybertronians as well as for those of readers who have no idea about geography.
4) We could all see it on screen – in Thirst we can even spot diagram showing Silas' position within Breakdown, his limbs are clearly missing.
5) See Transformers Prime season 2 ep 19 "The Humans Factor".
6) See Transformers Prime season 2 ep 8 "Nemesis Prime".
7) Megatron is repeating what Arcee said in season 1 esp. 3 "Convoy". Later there are references to season's 1 episodes "Operation Breakdown", "Crisscross", and season's 2 episodes "Operation Bumblebee p1 and 2" and "Nemesis Prime".
8) At least it wasn't "Bobality" or whatever you spell it XD – don't ask, you don't want to know, and I'm not sure if I am able to explain, it's just something that a colleague from work introduced me to.
9) All things considered, it is their second date in a way.