Author's Note: I forgot to mention in the first chapter that this story is mainly an alternate universe of the Generation One cartoon and comic books with IDW's comic lore used at my leisure to flesh out Cybertronian culture and back history for characters. Other elements are my own.

About Megatron's character, I thought it would be interesting to toy with the concept of a more centered, lawful evil Megatron than the monstrous variants these days. If anyone was curious as to his personality that is why. He's evil, he just has his own codes he abides by and his laws and rules he demands that are obeyed.

I do have a question for you, my readers. Would you prefer to have shorter bite-sized chapters ranging around ten pages long vs. the novella twenty-thirty+ page chapter one? Also, should I have Phage and Optimus's mental chatter and descriptors be all italics or only partial? What's easier to read?

"Inside your head you scream for silence"

-Hush, Hellyeah

The Decepticon sea base was the antithesis to the Ark: cold, oppressing and unwelcoming.

It was Phage's general collective thought for the whole of the spartan interior as she was ushered along at the forefront of the returning Decepticon forces. For every misstep, Megatron's iron grip dug incrementally tighter around her upper arm as he pulled her upright to keep pace. To her immediate right was Starscream, who kept glancing at her with barely contained repulsion. She became a psychical wedge between the Decepticon and Aerial Commander. Flitting just on the edge of her peripheral vision mulled Soundwave, making her anxious. At her heels was the rest of the Decepticon forces whose crimson optics she could feel burrowing into her back.

She felt like a wayward lamb among starving wolves.

::Don't let them rattle you.::

Optimus Prime's calm collected vernacular ushering across her processor jerked her out of her own isolated thoughts. Not for the first time and certainly not the last, she was surprised to learn that she had not been as guarded in her thoughts as she expected. From the moment he had awoken, Phage had quickly discovered that even though they were time-sharing head space they seemed to have their own separate halves of it, independent of each other yet able to respond to the other. She was still trying to get the hang not openly sharing.

It was the first Optimus had said anything for near a breem. Disappointment still radiated from Prime's ironclad fortress consciousness since the mention of her phasing. Phage shied away from the city's aura in their shared mind-space. The luminous glow of Prime's consciousness illuminated areas of hers that had not seen light for years. It was a strange sensation to feel so intimately exposed and enthused to share her inner self all at once. Ultimately, she opted for the former sensations and squashed the others. There were sides of her she was sure Optimus would not appreciate.

::Hard to do. I haven't been battling them for nine million years.::

::Five million.:: His voice clipped brusquely.

Phage bit the bullet and dived straight at the problem. There was no use in ignoring it. ::You're mad about the phasing.::

::Of all the sources, I should not be hearing about it firsthand from Megatron.::

Phage's optics dropped under his hard gaze. ::I should have told you but I didn't want you to shut me down. I knew you would have rejected it.::

::Can you even explain to me your logic in that sentence. You knew I would say no and yet you did it anyway.:: He paused, then added moodily, ::You would always do as you wanted to do.:: His thoughts were hard. ::You were told your outliner ability was dangerous. I can't compute why you insisted on going behind my back to test it. Do you realize with one jump I could have-:: The golden city of his consciousness shifted like a transformation cog being spun. Spires moved, entire districts shifted. ::You could have terminated yourself.::

It did not matter that he tried to correct his thoughts. Every thought shared carried with it underlying emotional and mental currents that transmitted from one to the other. There was no lying in their shared thoughts. No capacity to deceive the other. It would be known. What he wanted was her safety. He had always sought her safety first and it riled him every time it found her whether she sought it out or the danger sought her. But there had been more to the thought Optimus had choked off. In his way, he loved her. He could have lost her again. It was what he had meant to share and what he didn't.

Phage was clever enough to deduce what he had actually meant. Optimus saying it to her though, even in thought, would have been as hard a blow as Sparkplug calling her 'Alice.' She had always known Optimus cared for her because Alicean Witwicky had been close to the towering Autobot Commander. Phage had her face. She had her mannerisms and memories. She wasn't so sure she was Alicean though. She hadn't been sure for most of the year.

Digesting everything in half a nanoklik, her avatar shifted and downcast her optics. ::I wanted to see what I could do. I thought that, if I could learn to use it effectively rather than getting stuck mashed up in a wall, I could perhaps finally be of real help. I'm sorry, Optimus.::

There was a short but hard silence from the golden interlocking city that was the whole of Optimus Prime's consciousness that eased and softened in the passing nanokliks. In the gray misty divide between their cognitive awareness, his avatar stared hard at her as if trying to figure something out. The scintillating Cybertronian script and string of code burned a cool golden orange hue.

::You never needed your outlier power, Phage. You already are of real help. Ratchet is overworked in the medbay and your assistance there a huge relief to him. He has confided as much to me. And your efforts in Wheeljack's lab have sufficiently improved his efficiency.::

A long suffering groan fell from her avatar. ::So. Much. Organization.::

::Ultimately,:: Optimus pressed the issue, cutting through her dramatic lamentation, ::the blame is mine.:: she Sensed he meant it and that confused her. ::I should have realized what was going on under my own house.::

Across the expanse, Phage's avatar shifted. Beneath her feet, the cool black waters rippled. Where the waters met the gray ravine between them it trickled off and over as if meeting an edge and dripped into starlight. ::So, we're okay?::

::Now isn't the best of times to explore the issue in depth but yes. We are -:: Suddenly, Optimus said, ::What did Megatron just say?::

::Is Megatron addressing me- us?:: she corrected.

If Optimus had been startled to realize he had missed a conversation going on around him, he was just as surprised to watch Phage's aurora borealis thought processes collide violently and flat-line. It took her precious seconds to reboot her current surroundings.

He thought he was starting to understand her processing better. He made a note of it.

"-be long before I have a working pair." Starscream was saying in response to a question posed by Megatron. "Really it's just a matter of retooling a pair of translock cuffs with a nullifying current rather than constructing a pair from scratch."

"How long?"

Starscream waved a hand dismissively. "Within the cycle."

Megatron slid him a lazy opticed look. "Is that estimate within the same calculation as your half breem."

Perplexed, Phage's face crumbled up at the discussion.

Starscream snapped off an offending glare. "I would have had her if-never mind!" the Aerial Commander huffed angrily. "You'll have the restraints."

"See to it now." Megatron ordered, eyeing Starscream up and down. "Your injuries aren't grievous enough to warrant repairs at the Medbay."

"Tch!" His nose lifted into the air with a flair for the pompous. "I concur. My system self-repairs can handle these scuffs-unlike your own."

::Shots fired!:: Phage's eyebrows shot up her forehead watching the quick-paced exchange unfold as her optics bounced back and forth between the two in rapid succession.

"Your systems would be hard-pressed to repair damage done by Optimus Prime's bardiche if it had caught you across the chassis, Starscream."

"Perhaps." Said Starscream idly. "Or your age is catching up with you, Megatron."

"If it's age your not far behind me."

"I think far enough that-"

Abruptly Megatron turned on his heel and his free hand lashed out with the speed of a viper. His fingers encircled Starscream's arm, pulled the Aerial Commander around and carelessly flung him down the hallway. Starscream stumbled along to catch his balance. "You have less than an cycle now, Starscream."

The Seeker grimaced but turned and hurried down the hall at a brisk pace to sectors unknown, likely a lab of some sort, sulking as he went.

"As for you-"

Phage tried to keep her face neutral when he jerked her back into motion, but her optics were large and round and jumped between the Decepticon Commander and trying to mark the smallest detail that would help her set sections of the seabase apart from each other. She did not have success in the latter. Although she did discover that they were alone in the halls. That startled both her and Optimus. How had they missed the Decepticon forces trickling off until it was just Megatron and herself?

"You must be exhausted after four successful jumps." Megatron said suddenly. Apprehension crept in steadily. Where was he taking her? Did she want to know?

::A cell.:: Optimus offered. ::Don't spook yourself.::

Megatron glanced sidelong at her when she did not respond. "You do understand what I'm asking."

Phage stared back at him with large optics. "Jumps?" she repeated slowly.

::Dear lord, Optimus how do I go about this?::

::Stay calm.::

::What do I do if he keeps asking questions?::

::I'm right here. I'll walk you through it but you have to do the talking. Megatron might realize your harboring my spark if you start talking like me.::

::At least we can concur on that.::

Perplexed, Optimus's avatar looked at her. ::We've agreed on a plethora of things before.::

Megatron rolled around an indistinguishable noise in his mouth. "A phaser term." He said at length. "A jump refers to when you enter a leap and successfully exit a leap. Now understanding that I will reiterate, you must be exhausted."

"Yes." She clipped. "I am."

::He isn't genuinely concerned for you. He's going to play for information about your phasing power.::

::That was readily apparent.::

They stopped in front of a purple matte door indistinguishable from any other one she had seen on the way there. Standing outside of it, Megatron scrutinized her for a long hard length. She shifted her weight uneasily, Phage's ego struggling to fall into her counterpoise stance and Optimus battling to fall into his hard coded military stance. The minor mental struggle ended up an awkward shuffle, complete with shifting optics as Phage made attempts to examine the door and Optimus to stare down his ancient nemesis.

None of it Megatron missed.

::Will you stop.:: snapped Phage and felt Prime's ego stall and process the request.

"I'm intrigued." He said at length and watched as her optics jumped up to his. "The casualness with which you've performed the jumps leaves an impression that you've had formal training."

"The Autobots aren't involved." she said quickly before consulting with Optimus. She did not want Megatron believing that her Autobots were implicated in any way with her moonlit phasing runs. "All anything is is repetition."

There was a particular glint in Megatron's optics she couldn't place but one that Optimus did not like. "You've been practicing then."

::Do not answer further.:: Optimus's shared thought was adamant.

"On your own I take it." Megatron tried fishing again. "I doubt Prime would have approved of such a dangerous thing."

She set her jaw.

To her surprise, Megatron laughed. Genuinely laughed. The sound shook her. "You are as vocal in silence as you are in speech."

Her cheeks burned.

The un-descriptive door slid apart without Megatron's need to punch in a keycode. She assumed it was by a coded thought command from Megatron, a process as natural for their race as humans absently sliding their credit cards at a store and punching the pass code. His grip on her arm never once slacked.

Once opened Megatron tossed her into the empty room. Phage stumbled inside, quickly noting that there was absolutely nothing of note within. Four walls in about a space equivalency of a ten by ten room for Transformers. She blinked and turned to look at Megatron. The Decepticon leader remained in the entryway, blocking her only way in or out. His face was stoic.

"Welcome to your new accommodations. You'll wait here until I've figured out how to deal with you."

"How to-? Would you just listen to me! How many times do I have to say it-I don't have the-"

The door slide shut on her face.

Phage cycled air in a rush through her olfactory and screamed in frustration. She turned, took three steps and violently kicked the nearest wall. The metal plating convaned on impact.

::Stop! Control yourself!:: Prime's voice shot off in her head.

She threw a hard jab at the wall for good measure.

::Better?:: he deadpanned.

"Marginally." Phage grumbled and pulled her fist for another jab. "But I think I'd feel better if-" her fist stopped mid jab, an inch above the wall and refused to move. Phage grimaced as she engaged in a battle of wills to wrestle control of her arm back from Optimus. It was over before it even began. Her short fused ego tried to storm across the gray divide between them, realized Optimus was giving the look he did just before handing down a verbal beating to the latest wayward Autobot of the week and backpedaled.

Dejectedly she muttered, "Op!"

::Control your temper. If you wreck this cell they'll move us to a more secure one.::

She struggled momentarily with her emotions then relented with a long suffering sigh. She touched her forehead against the wall and pinched the bridge of her nose. Gradually, Prime released her leading arm. She begrudgingly rapped her knuckles against the wall, swallowed the burning desire to punch it, and splayed her open palm against it instead.

She spoke to the wall. "Things weren't suppose to go this way." Phage rubbed her forehead against the cool metal, optics squeezed shut.

She felt her lips begin to move of their own accord. Although it was her voice it was Optimus's eloquent calm vernacular speaking through her. "So do I. Allowing the Decepticons to take you-I-" Optimus paused to consider the proper term of usage, then began again, "-us was the only available course of action. Had we struggled, we would not have gotten far on foot and could have run the gambit of endangering human lives. So long as Megatron doesn't realize your duplicity, I believe that we stand a chance to convince him to return us to the Autobots."

"Optimus," she stressed patiently, "I- I'm having a hard time seeing how we can do that. He thinks he's already won, so why would he turn us over?"

"He'll try to recoup his losses once he realizes you don't have the Matrix."

Phage gently tapped her forehead against the wall before massaging her temples. "Assuming he doesn't just kill me outright."

Optimus's tone was somber. "You have to hope for the best outcome, Phage."

"You hold on to your optimism and I'll hold on to my pragmatism." Her optics cracked open to emit a thin sliver of light. "Give me the gritty reality, Optimus. Don't sugar coat the situation. I want no illusions here."

"He won't terminate you."

"Optimus-"

"He won't terminate you, Phage." Optimus stressed, "What he will do will be much worse."

"What exactly-"

A trap.

He should have known.

The ground shifted and suddenly gave way beneath his feet in too wide a radius to leap to safety and to abruptly for him to run. He realized his error as he watched Soundwave hover where they had battled, impassive as the earth swallowed him whole.

What lay beneath the terra firma of the planet he had fallen in love with shocked him. He struggled to comprehend how he could have fallen from Earth's surface into Cybertron's interior. The answers came immediately and were as jarring as the fall into the back of a dump truck.

The landing knocked him senseless. A long groan escaped his vocal processor as he laid there trying to catch his bearings. The suspension of the dump truck -he Sensed he was in the back of Long Haul- creaked and dipped. There were other Decepticons around. As many, he Sensed, as the whole force. Megatron suddenly filled his whole vision. His countenance was all teeth and smoldering crimson optics that barely contained his savage glee. Somewhere out of the field of his vision he heard the distinct hissing noise of an energy weapon igniting. Megatron's hands wrapped around his neck cables. He tensed, summoning the whole of his will to roll through the disorientation from the fall and break Megatron's hold- only to feel the hot precision cut of a laser across his spine and suddenly he went limp. His body would not move. Not a finger. Internal reports came screaming at him that his motor relays had just been severed. Cold dread settled around his laser core. He refused to give in to panic as his optics went wide.

"Welcome, Optimus Prime." Megatron's hands retreated and held up a laser scalpel. "A gift courtesy of Ratchet from his first visit. I think it's only suiting that its been used on you as it was on me-with intent to harm."

Megatron swam out of his vision. Long Hual's suspension dipped and lifted and dipped again. Hook took Megatron's place. Between them passed something long and cylinder.

"Hook has been an understudy to Ratchet when the good doctor comes visiting, Optimus. He shows such promise. Hook, why don't you show the Prime how far your studies have come along with a dissection seminar."

Vzzt!

A purple energy blade ignited in Hook's hand. Prime's laser core thrummed wildly. Any force of will to move yielded none. He was struggling in his own mind.

"Prime," Megatron said from over Hook's shoulder, "you'll be the body."

With haphazard swings that belied the careful precision and an optic for detail, Hook began disassembling Prime at the joints. The energy blade sliced and cauterized as he went along in his hackjob pursuit. Deducing with the first cut that he wasn't going for the vitals, Optimus rerouted his nervecircuits away from his limbs to minimize the pain.

When Hook reduced him to just a head and torso, the Constructicon deactivated the energy blade and smashed through the windshields. Seizing the metal frame, Hook violently broke the lock mechanisms and forced the panels apart. Pain lanced and stabbed at him in equal measure playing a coordinated part to the horror that abased his will. His fear pitched to a fevered tempo when he realized Hook wasn't going for his spark chamber, he was tearing through his insides for the Matrix. Repulsion lanced through his being. He wanted to scream at Hook to stop. The young Cybertronian did not know what he was doing. Millions of years worth of stifling his voice under intense brutal interrogations and battlefield conditions left him mute, his own bystander to the violations being delivered upon him.

The final abuse came when Hook tore the Matrix from his chassis, trailing power relays and snapping connectors. The violent disconnect from the Matrix sent such an upsurge of repulsion through him that his systems overturned. He gagged on his own vomit. Ashamed, he had to retract his battle mask or choke on the sick.

Hook stilled mid process handing the Matrix over to Megatron, his body radiating shock. Megatron took the proffered Matrix from Hook's numb hand, smiling like a savage Cheshire cat as he watched him struggle with detached glee.

"Welcome to New Cybertron, Optimus Prime. The Constructicons will see you apart of it. Hook- finish the session. I want his head."

Phage's knees hit the floor. The fingers of her left hand steadied herself against the wall while she wrapped the right arm around her midsection. She was hyperventilating, her laser core pumping adrenaline through her systems while she swallowed back the bile at the back of her throat.

Her body shuddered as she struggled to process the traumatic memory as it bled through the resonation process to her consciousness. The memory racked her soul as if it had been her in Prime's place; the burn of the energy blade, the chop shop hack job, Hook's hands ripping her chest-his chest apart to claim the Matrix. The crime committed at the Battle of New York and repeated on multiple occasions by Megatron throughout the years was nothing but a violation on multiple fronts. It was rape. Not in the human sense, but that's what it was all the same. It was a violent raping. The Stunticons had been born from the pillage. Another time it had been the Combaticons. Before that, the Construcitcons. All of them children of violation.

Disjointedly, she wondered if part of the reason why the Earth Decepticons hated the Earth Autobots so much was the basis around their births.

Her forehead pressed against the wall. The fragmented memories burned into her processor. That would be her. If everything went to hell, Megatron would tear her body apart to retrieve the Matrix and seize the complete victory he should have had in the shadow of the Ark. He had already threatened as much on the battlefield.

Optimus's fortress consciousness went into lock-down, the city disappearing under a golden shield until all that was was but a solid metal orb. "Phage- I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to get through."

He was aghast at his own failing.

She thought the gray divide between their minds seemed to yawn a little less. She made a note that the resonation process was accelerating faster than she imagined or, perhaps, this was perdictable expectations. She wasn't sure.

"It's not your fault." She meant it. If she was anything, she was understanding. "The longer the resonation process continues there's going to be a lot more you don't want me to see, and a lot of myself I don't want you to either." Her face was pinched. "I needed to know though, Optimus. I," she hesitated, "need to be prepared."

"Nothing can."

A long silence perpetuated between them. It made Phage itch. There was never silence in her processor. There was always thought. Always action. Always noise. Optimus Prime's presence changed that as assuredly as when Soundwave had violated the sanctity of her mind. She was tiptoeing in her own cranium. Afraid, as Optimus was afraid of what she'd see of him, of what he'd see of her.

What would he think of her existential crisis? Of the darker corners of her consciousness? Wheeljack had gently told her to take her struggles up with Ratchet but she had been too proud to do so. How could she explain to Ratchet how she was struggling with human processes versus Cybertronian. How did she explain to Ratchet that she was taking everything he was teaching her and reapplying it in her consciousness on how to do the most damage to the Decepticons? At least, when she let slip a question of 'how to wreck mechs' to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker they got it. As warriors, they understood. Sideswipe had understood. Sunstreaker had gone further and elaborated in intense detail until she thought she'd be sick.

Reflecting on her struggles privately, it all seemed so insignificant. If she was struggling over her own existence and ways to kill, how was she going to handle acclimating Optimus Prime's millenias old consciousness without breaking under the strain if their consciousnesses merged during the resonation process?

How did the combiner teams deal with this?

They didn't, she realized with a start.

"Phage," Optimus began tentatively only when he was assured his memories were locked away secured, "Megatron may have written half of the Greelight Accord-"

"But what is it? I've never heard of it before."

There was only patience, despite her abrupt interruption, as he elaborated. "It is an amendment to the Tyrest Accord."

"You say that as if I actually knew what it meant."

"Almost twenty years with us." Phage recognized the dry humor straight away.

"Optimus."

"Prowl quotes it frequently."

Her lips twitched and finally gave in to a slender smile at Optimus's attempt at humor to calm her nerves. "He quotes a lot of things. You, for instance."

"True." he concurred. "He also quotes the Autobot Code when certain Autobots step out of line."

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker." Phage supplied, easily slipping into the familiar back and fourth pattern long neglected between them and found she not only liked it, but missed it.

"I wasn't going to name names."

"The Dinobots." she pressed.

Optimus made an indiguishable noise at the mention of the Dinobots that Phage felt was decidedly grumpy in nature. "He could quote the Autobot Code to the Dinobots a thousand times and still it would not sink in."

"And that," Phage declared, "is why you and Grimlock butt heads."

"We don't 'butt heads.'"

"Stubborn." she teased.

Optimus did not skip a beat. "Stubborn? You're fashioned from a similar mold."

"You do remember my father, yay?"

There again was another rumble from her throat.

"Optimus." She was grinning at his impertinence. When he did not push forward she remarked at length, "The Greenlight Accord?"

"It is an amendment to the Tyrest Accord, as I have stated."

"Op."

"Which is the military law that both factions abide by. It is a lesser known and near obsolete amendment that dictates the strict forbiddance of the gross mistreatment and death of femmes captured as prisoners of war."

"Pft- and Megatron wrote half of it?"

"Yes."

That was it. A hard yes that begged Phage to ask more questions thereof. Her fragile smile cracked and ran away from her face. "But why?"

"Megatron abides by his own set of moral codes- one of which restricts him in using lethal force against femmes. This in turn he expects to be followed by his Decepticons with wax and shine. To deviate is to invoke his direct wrath."

She blinked hard. There were so many whys to that explanation that she didn't know where to begin or even how to ask.

From Optimus's point in the infraspace, it was all too easy to read into Phage's emotions and thoughts. She was an open book willing to be read. Where it should have been refreshing it instead made him nervous. In the infraspace, his finger's flexed open and closed, an anxious twitch that belied his desire to march across the divide and bring her ego into the secure order of his to protect her against what was to come. He wasn't even sure if what he wanted was possible.

"Phage," he said softly, "Megatron may abide by his own personal code- but I've seen him bend his codes before. Not break, but bend them. He will not stand idly by while a femme threatened him on the battlefields of Cybertron and beyond- but you've done something unique none of us have had to contend with before. You have single-handedly corrupted the data in what he perceived to be the final stroke of our conflict. You stole complete victory from him when you snatched the Matrix out from under his olfactory. To him, you are the only thing standing in his way of his overarching goals. He will not let this stand. If we do not convince Megatron that I did not have the Matrix at the time you were repairing me then the codes Megatron abides by will fall away. As you saw from my memory," he stressed, "you will be tortured. The Decepticons will discover your duplicity and they will remove me from you. He won't kill you -but he will make you beg for death. We cannot allow the alternative route to come about. I," Optimus stressed, "will not."

"Lovely." she deadpanned. "Well," she steeled herself, "the sooner we can convince him the better. We're on a time crunch-remember that. Because frankly, I like us better apart than frankenstiened as one."

"Why did you have to put it like that?"

"Was there another way?" she countered.

Her head shook under Prime's directive. "I would have put it more delicately."

"But would it have had the same visual punch?"

"Your humor is appreciated." Optimus cycled air through her olfactory. "But I believe we have digressed. I conclude that Megatron will pay us a lengthy visit in a few cycles. We have til then to come up with an ironclad story to convince him to our point as assuredly as he is formulating his own plans for you now."

"Easier said." Phage grumbled, but paused to inquire abruptly, "Is it true that the handles of the Matrix imprint a dark light residue on the individual who holds it?"

"Yes."

"Damn it. I was hoping that was a lie."

"No, it was not. I can only speculate to the purpose of that function-whether it was to protect against theft or an ancient way to mark Bearers, I'm not certain. It is not a widely known fact."

"Then how did Meg-" she broke off her own question as her central processor caught up with her vocal unit. "Ah. Never mind. Well then, Ratchet and my hands are marked."

"Yes." Optimus admitted after a nanoklik. "From monthly maintenance. If Megatron attempts to use that against you again you must elaborate your duties as Ratchet's assistant, stressing your rare duty to bear the Matrix while I undergo maintenance. Megatron will be forced to concede to the logic of the explanation."

"And the rest?" Phage pressed. "Why you wouldn't have the Matrix in the first place? Why, according to Hound, do I smell of Matrix energy? Wait. Wait! Hold on."

"What is it?"

"I have an idea."

As Starscream entered a private room in the medical quadrant of the sea base, his optics scanned the vicinity with a quick roll of his optics, taking everything in and letting nothing out. Stretched out along the length of the only medberth was Megatron in a counterpoise, one knee drawn up and an arm causally thrown over it while the rest of his weight came to rest on his right elbow joint. The fusion cannon was disconnected and propped against the examination table. His optics were glued to the monitor that hung suspended from the wall on a delicate extension and despite the rare calm disposition of his features the light from the screen cast the planes of his face in ill favor. Starscream felt the poor lighting really showed Megatron's age.

Thin spindly mechanical arms from the ceiling busied themselves with repairing the damage to his frame. Cracks, scratches and large gaping holes in his exostructure where he had caught Optimus Prime's bardiche were mended and the injury sealed with a mercurial solvent. The liquid poured from a spray gun in a semi-frozen goop, heated to room temperature on impact with his frame and melted to fill the injuries and superficial mesh wounds. The mercurial liquid soaked into his exostrucutre and hardened. In places where the damage was worse, where Optimus Prime's bardiche had sliced clean through to the muscle cables and circuity beneath, the living metal of Megatron's frame reconstructed itself to close the wound.

A random thought crossed Starscream's central processor. He recalled the nature travel channels that Soundwave enjoyed watching and thought that Megatron reminded him just then of those large Earth cats in the African savanna as they stretched out on piles of boulders to sunbath.

Recalling the spymaster, a broad yellow glow from the back of the chamber was the only indication of Soundwave's presence. He was reclined against the corner, arms crossed, his armor blending in with the shadows. If Megatron had not picked up Starscream's energy signature on his long range scanners before his entry, Soundwave would have alerted him well before.

The Decepticon Commander acknowledged his presence with a simple, "Starscream."

Movement from either side of the Aerial Commander caused Starscream to jerk his head around to account for the potential threats. The minicons, Rumble and Frenzy, had the door flanked. The two lounged against the wall, only shifting to get more comfortable. Starscream entertained an idle thought that the two must have been filling the silence prior to his entry with senseless chatter and rushed to look tough before his entry.

"What's up, Screamer?" Rumble said, "Come to see how goes the Boss's progress?"

"He's going to make a full recovery." Frenzy threw in.

He ignored the pour attempt at a jibe and focused on Megatron. "I've done as you've asked. In under a cycle, as I predicted."

"If your looking for congratulations you won't receive it Starscream. Such a simple task is beneath the high caliber of your skills to warrant any praise."

If ever there was a way to backhand a compliment, Megatron must have known ever way imaginable.

Starscream forced air through his olfactory before he approached the Decepticon Commander and idled next to the medberth. He was about to produce the null-restraints from subspace when his optics drifted lazily to the monitor that had Megatron's rapt attention and realized he was devouring the security footage of the femme while she paced the length of her cell. She was hunched forward, cranium downcast and hands clasped behind her back, palms skyward. Between the dirt and grime and dried lifeblood, and her frequent glances toward the door, she seemed a wild caged predator.

Starscream corrected his observation from before, Megatron wasn't one of those large Earth cats sunbathing on a pile of boulders in the African savanna. He was one of those large Earth cats lounging across boulders acutely observing his prey in the distance and judging their weaknesses before stalking out for the kill.

"That must be a riveting show." It was strange but something in her mannerisms tickled at the back of Starscream's processor.

Megatron huffed. "You missed her explosive temper."

Starscream eyed the monitor idly and noticed the two dents in a wall. "Tch. Explosive is it?"

"She'll have to learn to hone it for it to be of any affect."

"What?" squawked Starscream, dropping the thin trial of thought about the femme. His head snapped around so quickly that the mechanisms in his neck whirled and clicked. "You're not thinking of actually recruiting the android, are you?"

"I need all hands and all talent for New Cybertron."

"She isn't Cybertronian. Just some alien's discarded science project."

"What do I care for her origin, Starscream? It doesn't matter that she's not from Cybertron directly. All of the combiner teams were created here on Earth. Does that make them any less Cybertronian? No? Good. Of course it doesn't. You reported to me directly that the aliens -what were their names?"

"The Lazalt." Starscream admitted slowly.

Absently, Megatron nodded. "You reported to me that the Lazalt had used our technology to create her. Tell me, what more should I care for beyond that? I only care about what she can offer which, as it stands, is quite a lot." His black hand waved the air between them. His optics never left the screen. "You said you completed what I asked."

Frowning, Starscream produced the null-restraints requested and handed them off to Megatron's waiting hand. After five million years, he knew when to retreat from a conversation with Megatron and when to press matters. "As you made evidently clear, it wasn't that difficult a task. I just had to retool a translock for our purpose. Haven't had need of these since the days of the phaser programme."

"She's more dangerous than we realize."

Starscream scoffed. His crimson optics glanced to the monitor again. "The ground pounder looks pitiful to me."

"Think Starscream. She's performed four Leaps in the last six cycles. Two were Partial Leaps. Another from a sky dive. Do you recall any of ours that could do that."

"Optimus Prime must have been training her."

"Optimus would never agree to train a phaser, especially if it was his former human pet. He always considered the phaser programme uncybertronian. She's self taught."

"She told you this?"

"It's basic deduction, Starscream. Use your processor." Broodingly, Megatron mused aloud. "We should have pressed harder to recruit her a stellar cycle ago than leave off after Soundwave's failed attempt."

Soundwave's visor brightened dangerously then dimmed to a narrow beam of light.

"Nothing against your abilities, Soundwave. She did try and leave you a drone." Megatron waved him off and the spymaster settled back against the wall. "She's a loyal pet of Prime's that still clinging to false hope. What matters is that we have her here now. Rumble." At his name, the minicon came forward. Megatron handed the null-restraints off to his waiting hands. "Get these on her right away. And put her on limited rations. I don't want her phasing through the walls."

Rumble took the null-restraints and eyed them over critically. "I hate to say this but I agree with Starscream on this one, Boss. She needs to be put down. She's been muttering to herself since you put her in there. I don't know how she's avoided it for so long if she's been jumping behind the Autobots backs, but she's clearly got early stages of phase rot."

"All of the original drafts exhibited early burn through." added Frenzy casually. "Optical illusions, muttering..."

The minicons glanced between each other and said in unison with emphasis, "The Brothers."

Megatron felt Starscream's optics slither through the air and burn into him. "She's already unstable then." The Aerial Commander said, a hot edge like an energy blade to his words. "Terminate her now before she worsens and I'll pick apart her subspace fields for the Matrix later."

"Early stages are reversible, Starscream. You know this."

"If we had the proper medical equipment." The Seeker shot back. "Which we don't. The Ark's medbay is better equipped – and the Autobots have Ratchet."

"I think you've forgotten about our latest medicinal breakthrough, Starscream." Megatron's hand waved absently to his own body, indicating the mercurial liquid that was instantaneously repairing his body. "Early burn through is just a minor detail."

Starscream's optics flared. "We don't need a phaser! The programme was aborted for a reason!"

"Because it was highly inefficient." Megatron clipped. "What was the point of using experimental phase-drive and armor technology that terminated the Decepticons receiving the upgrades if I couldn't use a quarter of them for the assassination missions they were intended for? Answer me that! She-" Megatron waved his hand towards the screen, "isn't degrading."

Rumble, Frenzy, and Soundwave looked between each other. Rumble shook his head. "She's mutt-ering." he sang.

"Has it occurred to your aging processors that perhaps she hasn't exhibited signs of phase rot before this because she wasn't jumping?"

"Starscream," Megatron sighed, "she made a leap from thirteen-thousand feet. Whether she was jumping or not before the battle she should have massive phase rot. Skywarp and Thundercracker have already informed me she was in near mint condition when you came upon her. Explain that."

By his very nature Starscream refused to relent the issue. "We don't have need of phasers when we're about to crush the Autobots!"

"I decide what we have need of and do not."

Starscream's facial features twisted into disgust. "You're just fascinated with the femme."

For the first time during the conversation, Megatron's head snapped around. His optics narrowed in a challenging glint. "Aren't you at all curious how she's managed to avoid phase rot, Starscream."

"No." he said with derision and immediately leapt back to his prior observation. "It's because Optimus favored her, isn't it?" Megatron's optics narrowed dangerously on Starscream, daring the Seeker to continue. At length, Starscream did as he always would- he charged the issue head on, hell or high water. He shook his head and hissed. "It is, isn't it. It always is." Starscream's sneer deepened. "First you murder Optimus Prime's first conjunx endura, what was the reporters name again? Oh, I suppose it doesn't matter really. It has been five million years, but I seem to recall it was because Optimus refused to join you. Then there was Elita-One." Starscream deliberately left off with a heavy air because it needed no additional retelling between any of them. "I wonder which one of their screams that's burned into your processor that you can't hush." Behind the two officers, Rumble and Frenzy glanced between themselves and made signs with their hands of what they thought was in short supply for Starscream very soon. "Once we have the Matrix I say we terminate the phaser. I'll do it myself if you can't. End of story."

Megatron's temperament darkened as Starscream went on til his optics burned with the internal heat of an active volcano. "Firstly, Starscream," he rumbled, "Ariel was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Secondly, what happened to all your pretty talk back on the battlefield."

"I just said all that to get us out of there. We would have been overrun by Superion and the Dinobots. We would have lost the femme and the Matrix if we hadn't."

The Aerial and Decepticon Commander's optics locked in a silent battle of wills.

Soundwave broke their conversation.

"She presents a tantalizing enigma."

Starscream whipped around, lips pulling back into a sneer. "Of course you'd be on his side. You led the phaser programme."

"Enough." commanded Megatron. "Rumble get the null-restraints on her until Starscream can prep her cell with a null current. Think you can manage that? Then report back to me."

"Sure thing, Boss."

"How and when are you going to extract the Matrix from her, Lord Megatron?" mocked Starscream. "Should I prep the pyscho-probe while I'm below."

"Not yet." Megatron said, then added before the minicons dispersed from the room, "Rumble, Frenzy! In one cycle I want her cleaned up and brought before me."

Rumble gave him the okay sign with his hand. "Sure thing, Boss."

Starscream shook his head in disgust. "Optimus Prime is dead. And she," he stressed and inclined his head towards the monitor, "was only ever his pet. What does she even matter?"

The Aerial Commander cut off under Megatron's razor sharp glare. "She matters because she's defied my will. She matters because if left unresolved she could become a martyr for the Autobots to rally around. You know how they like their damn martyrs and rallying battle cries, Starscream. For Crystal City this and the Spires of Iacon that. For the light that was lost and the Flame That Yet Burns." The sneer on his face only deepened as he went on. "That's why she matters. She needs to be broken. And just broken. Bent to my will and our cause. I think of all Cybertronians everywhere, you understand what the repercussions of defying my will means the most."

For once in his life, Starscream had nothing to say.

"Lord Megatron," Soundwave intoned at last, his flanged vocals disrupting the charged flow between Starscream and Megatron. The spymaster was touching the side of his helm. "Laserbeak has returned."

Megatron blinked.

"Already?" Starscream piped.

"I knew without the Matrix proper the Autobots would be quick to mount a counter-strike but even this is extreme." Megatron slowly intoned. "Are they sending the scrapped and crippled at us, Soundwave?"

"They know we'll break the femme before the night is out." remarked Starscream with a clip to his words. "Isn't that right, Megatron?"

His attempted jibe was completely ignored. The Decepticon Commander turned and brought up his vitals on the monitor. "I'll be up in the command center half a cycle, Soundwave." His optics burned between the two. "You both are dismissed."