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.

But we tried to fight it.

(…)

We didn't start the fire,

It was always burning,

Since the world's been turning,

We didn't start the fire,

No, we didn't light it,

But we tried to fight it. (…) – "We Didn't Start the Fire" Billy Joel

oOo

Starscream reached his personal quarters and entered with relief. This was his sanctuary, a place where he didn't have to suffer incompetence of the crew, Knockout's bragging, Soundwave's lurking or Shockwave's logic. He locked the door and leaned against it with vent of relief. He was home, or as close to being at home as he could be with Cybertron dead and Vos laid in ruins.

The seeker pushed himself off the doors and made his way to his large but simple desk. Quarters on New Kaon weren't anything fancy, neither were those on Nemesis (except they were smaller), but they were comfortable. The living quarters or habitation suite (as it was sometimes called) consisted of a single room, smaller or larger depending on the rank of the inhabitant, the only difference between officer's and simple trooper quarters was that the highest officers had their own wash racks – which was a fancy word for a single, tiny cabin.

Starscream sat behind his desk and pondered for a moment about his grim fate and the task he's has been given. Earth had to serve as their home, at least for now, and as much as he hated the wretched mud ball with passion, he knew that making it as safe as possible was in the entire faction's best interest. And safe-making was necessary indeed, as the planet wasn't as safe as they originally believed. Its inhabitants proved to be quite lethal, or to be more exact, some of its inhabitants proved to be dangerous.

His new found loyalty toward Megatron and Decepticons in general didn't change the fact that he was mostly concerned about himself; in the end, he already had some unpleasant (to say the least) experiences with M.E.C.H. and he wasn't willing for repeat of that at any given times, ever. If Breakdown lived he would share Starscream's feelings for sure.

With that thought he sent request for personal files of the entire crew to Soundwave. In order to perform his task he needed to know what kind of experience everyone had with the Autobots, with whom they fought, how the fight ended, how bad the wounds were and so on. Soundwave responded by sending Starscream complete personal files of everyone, including the newest crew members.

The Decepticon Second in Command vented heavily and began reading files; this would be a long night.

oOo

Jack sat silently outside of the hangar, it was late already but the desert still held the day's warmth so the young man wasn't cold. He sat with his back against the concrete wall and observed as the shadows grew longer and longer. He needed to calm down and think about the situation that occurred earlier, he needed to understand just what happened and why and he wanted to do it in peace and quiet which was impossible inside of the hangar.

The only problem was that he didn't know where to start. The entire situation was just so… so… so unthinkable that he didn't know how to properly manage it. He didn't like the idea of his mother dating a man because said man could hurt her. After Miko and Bumblebee he thought briefly about his mother and an Autobot, but he honestly couldn't imagine such an arrangement, it seemed surrealistic to him. Because, in his right mind, he couldn't think of whom she would take a fancy. He guessed that it would be either Ratchet (because of their shared medical interests) or Optimus Prime (though now he knew the big mech was taken), but even those two matches were so improbable that he dismissed them as pure fantasy.

And then suddenly Megatron shows his unconscious ugly mug! The stupid oaf got himself shot and almost killed by M.E.C.H's newest toy. The situation was serious and Jack had to admit that Optimus' call was the only possible back then. Megatron was an enemy, but they couldn't allow M.E.C.H. to lay their hands on him. And the alliance in finding M.E.C.H. sounded good, especially with that super weapon out there. But what did Megatron do when he woke? That ungrateful piece of…

"Jack?"

Jack almost jumped hearing his name, his head snapped up only to see Optimus Prime's stoic face with worry in his optics staring down at him.

"Oh, hello Optimus." The adolescent got up. "I was just sitting here and thinking about… this entire situation."

"You were pondering about your mother and Megatron." It wasn't a question but a statement. "I take that it is hard for you to imagine how such situation could come to be."

"That is one way of putting it." The young man agreed.

"And what is the other?"

"I would say, well, I would say that it is impossible for me to imagine how such situation could come to be." Jack scratched his head sheepishly. "Don't get me wrong, it's not the fact that he's Cybertronian, it's just that he's a Decepticon."

"I understand, it is hard to imagine but it looks like Megatron's feelings are genuine." Optimus looked down at the human and then slowly sat next to him. "He won't hurt your mother."

"How do you know, Optimus?"

"I know Megatron well enough to know that he never hurts those he value." The Prime stared at the darkening skies that shone through the camouflage mesh.

"But he's evil, he's a Decepticon." Jack was a bit shocked to hear such words about Megatron from Optimus.

"He wasn't always like this, but he lost his path somewhere on the way. And it's not entirely his fault, there were terrible things that happened to him.1] He spoke for those who had no voice because once he was one of them, he defended abused because he was abused himself.2] He assembled the Decepticons shortly before the war, and he saw them as an oppressed race and then he did everything so those he viewed as oppressors wouldn't threaten them anymore." Optimus pinned the young man with his serious but gentle optics. "In a way he still feels threatened. You see, Jack, before the war there were many who despised those that came from lower castes. Many of them died in the first days of the war but just as many survived. Some of them decided to join me and fight the Decepticons, but there were those who refused and they became neutrals. There are still neutral colonies but they are hiding in fear that they will be forced to join in to one of our factions."

"So Megatron is afraid that the caste system will return if you guys will win?" Jack's eyebrows went up in surprise. He knew that Megatron fought against the social castes and everything they represented, but he never thought that Megatron could fear of its return.

"Yes. But that will never happen even though there are still those among Autobots that would wish so. Too many of us understand what kind of evil the caste system was and even some of those who at first supported it, after they joined me and my forces, changed their minds when they came to know and appreciate those who became their comrades and came from castes lower than themselves." Optimus almost smiled with pride when he thought about his team and other Autobots and the way they suppressed their prejudices. "Similar process took place among Decepticons, though in their case it probably was more violent."

"But what about my mother and Megatron?"

"June is an adult and should make her own decisions. I understand that you are worried about her but you must accept her choices just as she will have to accept yours when you will reach your legal adulthood." Optimus' voice was serious as always, but there was also hint of paternal patience to it, just as if a father explained something to his child. "Perhaps you mother will be the one to return Megatron his peace of mind and finally realize that the path he follows leads to nowhere but destruction."

"That's the problem, he is too destructive, it isn't safe to be near him" There was clear worry in Jack's eyes as he looked at Optimus.

"Your mother will still be safe. Megatron knows that we won't allow anything bad to befall upon your June, nor will he let anyone or anything to harm her." Optimus slowly rose from his sitting position.

"Are you sure?" Jack followed the Prime with his eyes.

"Yes Jack, I am sure. I have spoken to Megatron about his intentions toward your mother. He would never admit it openly, especially to me, but he longs for someone he could find comfort in, not only physical intimacy but also mental one." Optimus turned to go back to the hangar. "Come Jack, it's getting late and your mother needs to return home because her shift starts early tomorrow." He looked back at his young, human friend. "Ratchet will 'bridge you back home."

Jack didn't felt much better even though Optimus' words calmed him to some point. The hostility to Megatron remained though, the only true change was that now Jack would give Megatron one tiny chance to prove himself worthy of seeing his mother.

oOo

New Kaon, much later.

Megatron lay on his recharging berth. It was a large, comfortable and horizontal berth. Only officers had quarters spacious enough to have horizontal berths, mostly because they allowed use of the thermal blankets, but also because it was easier to share such a berth if an officer felt like having 'company'. Of course as much as the latter reason applied solely to Knockout (and before his demise to Makeshift who somehow could tell mech and femme Vehicons apart, or what is more probable, it didn't mattered to him), the thermal blankets were a luxury that every officer enjoyed.

Megatron stirred in his recharge, he was venting heavily and his fans were spinning on their highest setting for a moment before the mech's optics shot open and he jumped into a half-sitting position. He groaned as his welds stung for a moment and he continued to vent heavily as he supported himself on his elbows. He felt his fans slow down as his systems cooled. It wasn't the first time when he woke from recharge with his cooling system working overtime, but it usually was some bad memory file surfacing, all soldiers experienced such things and it was natural. This time however it was something different and Megatron wasn't used to such things. Sure having recharge dreams about lovely femmes was nothing uncommon, but he rarely dreamt like that. He usually managed his needs in more conscious way, having full control over the process, but this time it was different. This time the dream was very intense and it wasn't just some pretty face plate he saw somewhere or had a one night stand with, this time it was someone who meant something to him.

Megatron sit up fully, looked under his blanket and uttered one unhappy growl – it looked like he needed to wash himself, give the blanket to cleaning and wipe his berth. He looked at his personal window and noted that the sky was getting lighter which meant that the sun would rise up any minute now. It looked like he would start the day early. He wondered if Starscream managed his task and how soon he would see June.

TBC

Soooo, Megatron had a wet dream… tee-hee, I just needed to write this down, it had to happen to him at some point after all.

Also it's settled, I will be doing continuation of this (Beauty of the Beast and Hammerhead) and I will introduce new characters into the story. None of them will be Ultra Magnus though (but I did consider him). There will be three new Autobots and four new Decepticons to arrive on Earth.

The new Autobots will be: Blaster (complete with two of his deployers: Rewind and Steeljaw), Hot Rod (actually Rodimus but everyone calls him Hot Rod) and the third one that I couldn't make up my mind about, so I am asking for your opinion.

There are two candidates and you can choose one of them: Jazz or Mirage.

You can vote in two ways:

By poll on my dA profile here (remove spaces): Czarnaarcher. Deviantart. Com

Or if you're not on dA and can't log in there, you can simply message me on FF by PM or in review (because I won't be making a poll on FF) and if you're reading it then you're already on FF so you don't need any link.

1] In "Beauty of the Beast" he told June that his sire died in mining accident and that his carrier soon followed – this part is what I made up as part of my fan-timeline.

Also, in IDW's "Megatron Origin" (four issues comic) he and other miners were fired from mine (mining outpost C-12) they worked in and as a result they revolted, it was a short lived revolt. (My version is less bloody than IDW's).

2] IDW's on-going series shows that before Megatron became famous he was arrested (as a result of bar fight that his friend started) and brutally beaten in the arrest cell by none other than Whirl (who later on became an Autobot and Wrecker) and that's what probably influenced Megatron to become as violent as he is now.