Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers.

The Greater Good

Chapter Four: Investigation

Red Alert looked up from his datapad with a weary expression, though there was still an element of panic in his optics, as though he were tired but still ready for action. Hot Rod had never been too fond of Red Alert. Even when he was Rodimus Prime, he had tried to limit the amount of time he had to spend around the security obsessed Autobot, if only to stop himself from saying something to Red that he would regret.

Sue him. Just because he was leader at the time, didn't mean he had to like everyone who worked under him. He was pretty damn sure Optimus didn't like everyone.

"The next transport to Earth is heading down tomorrow," Red Alert said, tapping away at his datapad. "You'll have to wait until then."

Kup sighed for what seemed the hundredth time. This was getting tiresome for both him and Hot Rod. He had his fists on his hips in what he had hoped was his most intimidating posture, but it seemed to be having little effect on his target.

Primus, he hated negotiating with Red Alert. While he was a fine officer, he certainly knew how to ruffle everyone's feathers.

"Look, I'm not asking for the next transport, I'm asking for a shuttle."

"All the shuttles are in use."

Hot Rod pointed through the viewing port at the three idle shuttles that were parked in the landing bay. Red Alert merely glanced at the ships before going back to his datapad.

"They're here for maintenance."

A look was exchanged between Kup and Hot Rod.

"What kind of maintenance?" Kup asked.

"They went through an ion storm on their way back from Epsilon Six. The navigation computers were misaligned by the storm. Happy?"

Kup rubbed his optics with his thumb and forefinger. "But we don't need the navigation computer; we can navigate to Earth manually."

"Well, be that as it may, you can't take them until they're repaired."

Hot Rod sighed. "And how long will that take?"

"A week."

"A week?" he yelled, exasperated.

"Raising your voice isn't going to help the situation. Taking those shuttles with the navigation computers misaligned as they are is a security risk, and one I'm unwilling to take. Now, unless you have a very good reason as to why you need to go to Earth, I'm afraid I will have to deny your request."

Kup leaned forward, seemingly growing to twice his size as he overshadowed Red Alert. "How about the fact that we're the chief security officers of Cybertron and we're giving you a direct order?"

Red Alert paused for a moment. "Right this way."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think you enjoyed that too much," Hot Rod said, smiling as he looked over at his older companion.

Kup leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Well, when you've got leverage, you use it. Besides, you can hardly talk, lad. I seem to remember you abusing your title to get what you wanted, too."

"Yes, but that's because I'm the leader. I'm supposed to be corrupt and dishonest. You're supposed to keep us all honest by reminding us of the old, simpler ways."

A light smile played across Kup's face, but it wasn't sincere. He was worried; that much was obvious.

Hot Rod sighed. "What're we expecting to find down there, Kup?"

The elder Autobot shrugged. "I don't know, lad. Hopefully something to prove this whole thing is just some elaborate trick by the Decepticons."

"Yeah. They'd go lower than this to hurt us, right?"

"Right."

"So nothing to worry about. It's some Decepticon trick. We'll find the proof, everybody celebrates, end of story."

"Right."

Hot Rod sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

As Kup looked over at him, Hot Rod only just noticed how old the grey Autobot actually looked.

"Yeah."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ultra Magnus wasn't a happy Autobot. It could have something to do with the one hours' worth of recharging he managed to get before he was woken up by a false alarm. Apparently, one of the human staff members' dogs had triggered one of the intruder alarms, setting off a citywide security alert.

Or perhaps it was something to do with the fact that whenever he called the Ark to see how the excavation was going, all he ever heard was loud rock music and the faint noise of Jazz singing.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was because he couldn't find the twins. Anywhere. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had simply vanished without a trace. Had it been anyone else, Ultra Magnus would have been concerned for their safety. As it was, he was more concerned for the safety of everyone around the missing twins, wherever they may be. His wrist communicator beeped for attention.

"Found anything, Cloudraker?"

"Negative, Ultra Magnus. And not only that, but my brother's disappeared now as well."

The Autobot City Commander sighed. Fastlane was almost as bad as the Lamborghini twins when it came to making trouble. If he had been recruited into their merry little band, there was no telling what kind of havoc they could wreak. After all, Fastlane could fly.

"Thanks for the report, Cloudraker. Call if you find anything."

"Rodger Dodger."

And with that, he signed off. A frown creasing his features, Ultra Magnus accessed Fastlane's communicator frequency.

"Fastlane, come in. Come in, Fastlane."

"Yes?"

"Where are you? Cloudraker said you disappeared."

"He would. Don't worry, Ultra Magnus, I haven't been kidnapped by the twins. I just went for a higher look above the city."

Magnus blew out a relieved sigh. "Well, good. But next time, tell your brother when you decide to take the initiative."

"Now where's the fun in that?"

"It's not supposed to be fun, it's standard procedure. If it was fun, everybody would be doing it, wouldn't they?"

"…right."

The large robot sighed. "Never mind. Just keep me posted."

"No problem. Fastlane out."

Ultra Magnus sighed again. It wasn't normal for someone to sigh with this much frequency in one day.

He really needed a vacation.

He leant back in his chair and idly picked up another datapad. Another one of Highbrow's reports complaining about something or other that Hardhead had said or done. Magnus could swear they were all getting more stressed out after they were separated from their Headmaster counterparts. His communicator beeped again.

Wearily, he tossed the report aside and pushed the button on his desk. "Yes?"

"It's Kup and Hot Rod to see you, sir."

Magnus smiled. Although he wasn't expecting them, he was still happy to have someone to talk to who didn't consider him beyond communication. "Send them in."

The door slid open, and Kup and Hot Rod stepped through. Ultra Magnus smile widened as he stood up, though it was quickly replaced by an expression of concern upon seeing their dour faces.

"Kup. Hot Rod. How are you? Please, sit down."

The two made their way over, the apprehension on their faces making its way to their legs as they walked awkwardly to the chairs opposite his desk. Magnus slowly sat down.

"Not that I'm not pleased to see you, but… what brings you by?"

A glance was exchanged between the two. It didn't go unnoticed by Magnus.

"Something wrong?"

Hot Rod shifted in his chair. "Define 'wrong'."

Kup shot him a warning glare, and looked back to Magnus. "We need to talk to you about something."

The Autobot City Commander leant forward in his chair, knotting his fingers together while resting his hands on his desk.

"Nothing too dire, I hope."

"It's… about Elita One."

An optic ridge rose. "What about her?"

"I want to talk to you about the day she died."

"Any particular reason you're bringing this up now?"

"We found some evidence in the Ark that indicates she may not have been just another casualty of war."

"She was murdered, is that it?"

Kup gave pause at that. "How did-"

"Because I was on Earth when Prowl came to Prime with the 'evidence'. He didn't think there was any cause for an investigation then, and I'm surprised that he's cleared this now."

The two were silent.

"He hasn't cleared this, has he?"

No response. Ultra Magnus just stared at the two in disbelief, his mouth hanging open as he tried to think of something to say. When he finally spoke, he spoke evenly and calmly, though he was feeling anything but calm on the inside.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Who the hell do you think you are, dredging this up from the past like this? Do you realise how long it took Optimus to get over this? Do you realise just how much trouble Prowl caused with his investigation?"

Hot Rod scowled and sat forward. "Whoa, whoa, hold up. This isn't just some crazy conspiracy theory. There's substantial evidence to go on here; if there wasn't, do you think we'd be looking into this?"

"I don't care what kind of evidence you think you've found. We're only just starting to get back on track after the war. I don't know why you'd want to torture everyone involved by bringing this up again."

"Because it's the truth we're talking about here! Justice! It's the stuff we stand for, remember?"

Magnus slammed his hands down on the desk and sprang to his feet. "Don't you dare lecture me on what we stand for!" he bellowed, his optics boring into Hot Rod's. To his credit, the younger Autobot didn't even flinch. Taking a deep breath, Magnus slowly sat back down again.

"I understand where you're both coming from. But we put this behind us a long time ago. Windcharger, Trailbreaker and I all saw it. I was to the left, and Windcharger and Trailbreaker were on my right, in that order. Elita leapt out from behind her cover to get a better shot at Starscream. Megatron saw her moving, and attacked. She was killed instantly."

He rose from his chair. "I've already talked to you about this enough. I don't want to hear about you looking into this anymore. If not for my sake, then for Optimus'. He's been through enough the past few years without you hurting him even more." His gaze fell on Kup, who was watching him silently. "I'd have thought you would know better by now, Kup. You've seen what this kind of trouble mongering can do."

The elderly Autobot slowly rose from his chair. "Thanks for your time."

He turned and left the room, Hot Rod following. Magnus waited for the door to slide shut before reaching for the communicator on the desk.

"Patch me through to Optimus Prime."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hot Rod looked over at his older companion as they walked down the corridor.

"What do you want to do now?"

Kup didn't reply. His head was tilted slightly down in thought.

"Kup?"

"I want to check something," he said quietly, almost mumbling it to himself. He accelerated his pace and turned the corner, heading into the communications room.

"What're you-"

Kup was either ignoring him or unaware he was speaking. The greyish blue Autobot punched in a few commands on one of the wall consoles. Static filled the screen, but was quickly replaced by Trailbreaker's dark visage.

"Trailbreaker."

"Trailbreaker, this is Kup."

"Kup? What're you doing on Earth? I thought you were on Cybertron."

"We had some last minute business to attend to."

"Oh." Trailbreaker looked down at his off-screen datapad, tapping in some commands. "What can I do for you?" he asked absent-mindedly, still tapping away as he did so.

"I'd like to ask you something about the day Elita One died."

He froze. "What brought this on?"

"It's a long story. I just want to ask you two questions, and then we'll be out of your hair."

"I uh… I don't…"

"It's just two questions, nothing to get too concerned about."

"I uh… okay. I suppose."

"All right. Now, first, who killed Elita?"

"It was Megatron," he instantly replied, as if automatically.

Kup nodded. "Okay. Now, where were you stood when she was killed?"

"…what?"

"You were stood with Ultra Magnus and Windcharger. Where were you stood in relation to them?"

"I… it was such a long time ago…

"Just try."

"I… I was in the middle."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes… yes, that was it. Ultra Magnus was on my left, and Windcharger was on my right."

Kup nodded. "Right. Thanks for your time."

"...what's this all about?"

Kup waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing you need to worry about," he answered, a comfortable smile on his face. "Thanks again."

"Um… no problem."

The elderly Autobot reached out and deactivated the screen. Silence filled the air as what Trailbreaker had told them sunk in.

"A mistake?" Hot Rod said quietly, staring blankly forward.

Kup shook his head, the frown on his face deeper than Hot Rod had even seen it. "Ultra Magnus doesn't make mistakes."

"So… what now?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I really want to drop this. I want to pretend we never found anything."

Hot Rod grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around, looking him in the optics. "But we're not going to. We owe it to the Elita One. We owe it to Prowl." He lightly shook Kup. "We owe it to Optimus."

Kup's gaze came up, determination on his face once again. "Damn it, you're right."

A grim smile crossed Hot Rod's features. "All right. So where do we go from here?"

"We'll head over to the Ark. If we're lucky, we might be able to find some surveillance logs, or something about Prowl's investigation there."

"And if we can't?"

Kup's scowl deepened as they left the communication room. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let some murderer get away on my watch. That's not why I'm an Autobot."

Hot Rod nodded. Now that was more like the Kup he knew.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A/N: The tension builds…

This chapter was great fun to write. The argument with Ultra Magnus in particular. Was Magnus being too protective? Was he just looking out for Optimus' welfare, or was it something else? Was Trailbreaker genuinely forgetting details about Elita's death, or covering up something else? This is the kind of stuff I love to write.

And… PETER CULLEN IS OPTIMUS PRIME IN THE LIVE ACTION MOVIE! The film will now rock regardless of any other details.

Anyway, review!)