The leaders of the two Cybertronian factions in Detroit faced each other in what had once been the Autobots' new command center, each side sizing up the other and assessing how much of a threat they might be. On one side Starscream reclined in a steel chair that was just one step shy of a throne, flanked on one side by Slipstream and on the other by Grimlock. On the other side, Megatron stood with his arms folded across his chest plate, with Optimus, Dominus, Rodimus, and Strika gathered around him like an honor guard.

It would have made for a grim spectacle, Optimus decided, had it not been for Jetfire and Jetstorm hovering at Starscream's side like overeager sparklings. Starscream seemed to be doing his pointed best to ignore them, but they continued to gaze up at him adoringly.

"So," the self-styled Lord Mayor of Detroit noted, steepling his fingers before him. "Lord Megatron and his cronies have come crawling to ME for sanctuary. Such delicious irony, isn't it, that you who are without mercy now plead to your most despised soldier for it-"

"Spare us your gloating," Megatron retorted, setting his jaw. "We all know you only took Detroit as your own because the Autobots were distracted elsewhere."

"That's still far more than YOU ever accomplished on this planet," Starscream sneered. "You could hardly keep control of the troops you DID have, whereas I managed to not only win the Jet Twins and the Constructicons over to my cause, but tame the Dinobots! You never even managed that!"

Megatron allowed himself a smirk. "In the case of the Jet Twins, I might say it was the other way around. Isn't that right, Father?"

"He is being a good father!" Jetstorm insisted. "He is teaching us all sorts of fancy flight maneuvers!"

"And he is being a good leader of the humans!" Jetfire added. "He is even letting the homeless sleep and refuel in the base!"

"Shut up, you two!" Starscream sputtered. "He doesn't need to know THAT!"

Optimus fought back the urge to chuckle. Well, that explained why there had been so many humans in their base when they had arrived here - evidently Starscream had turned it into a shelter while they had been gone. Not that he begrudged any of them a place to stay, and it had certainly softened many humans' attitudes towards the Cybertronians.

Still, to hear that a mech as terrible as Starscream is so well-loved by the humans is a shock. Unless this is all just a bid for power on his part. Still, even the Great Slagmaker himself had proven to have an honorable side. Perhaps Starscream actually had a spark in his chest too?

"Let's dispense with the theatrics for now," said Dominus, stepping forward. "We only request that you allow us and our companions temporary refuge here. We won't trouble you or try to usurp your rule - we only want a place to rest and recover, and to plan our next step."

Starscream raised an optic ridge. "Refugees, then. So Cybertron has become unlivable enough that even Autobots don't wish to stay there anymore." He tapped his chin in thought, optics narrowed.

Strika rumbled from behind Optimus. "He's enjoying this, Lord Megatron. He relishes having you in his debt. Let us just kill him and take his throne."

Megatron gave his head a slight shake. "No. That will only turn the people of Detroit against us. We'll cooperate with him… for now."

Strika growled again. "You only show softness because he's a father now-"

Megatron raised a hand to silence her, and the General subsided, though not without shifting restlessly as if about to leap over her commander and start thrashing Starscream at a moment's notice. Optimus edged to one side, not wanting to be in her way if it came to blows.

Starscream finally lowered his hands, a slick smile on his face. "So if I allow you sanctuary in Detroit… what's in it for me?"

Rodimus snorted. "Really? You're going that route? Not even going to help us out of the goodness of your spark?"

"Oh please, Autobot," Starscream sneered. "Do you think I'm stupid? I'm inviting a load of trouble already by having dozens of fugitives from Cybertronian justice in my city. I expect SOME sort of compensation."

Optimus opened his mouth to plead further, but Megatron caught his optic and shook his head. Evidently he thought it would be useless trying to appeal to Starscream's better nature. Optimus wanted to disagree - every mech had to have a good side, right? - but he held his vocalizer.

Jetstorm and Jetfire had no such reservations, apparently. The two of them began poking Starscream insistently from each side, and he growled and pulled his arms out of their reaches.

"What?" he demanded sharply.

"Father," Jetstorm replied, "please be letting them stay?"

Starscream growled. "Absolutely not! Not unless they want to prove their worth-"

"Father, throwing them out of the city would be mean!" Jetfire protested. "You are not being mean! You are being the kindest mech we know!"

Strika made a choked noise somewhere between a grunt of disbelief and a smothered laugh. Rodimus, too, twisted his lip plates as if struggling not to laugh, and Dominus ducked his head and covered his mouth with his hand. Even Megatron looked amused at Jetfire's innocent statement.

"I am NOT-" began Starscream, optics flashing.

"And if you are being mean to these mechs, then the people of Detroit will be getting very upset!" Jetfire added. "They are liking you very much! You are wanting them to keep liking you, right?"

Starscream opened and shut his mouth several times, struggling to come up with a retort. Then he growled and flopped back in his chair.

"All right… fine. You and your refugees can stay. But no funny business."

"We wouldn't dream of it," Dominus assured him. "Thank you, Lord Mayor Starscream. Your generosity - and the generosity of your fine sons - is much appreciated."

"Yes, yes," Starscream grumbled, waving him off before leveling a glare at Optimus. "I take it you'll be wanting your base back, Autobot? Shifting the homeless out of their shelter isn't going to endear me to the populace, but-"

"Don't evict them on our account," Optimus assured him. "We'll find a place to stay elsewhere."

Starscream blinked his optic shutters, puzzlement replacing his irritation. Then his optics narrowed in a calculating expression, and he leaned forward, lacing his fingers together.

"So Optimus Prime and Megatron are working together, are they?" he mused, one corner of his mouth turning up in a sly grin. "Curious… I'd think that the Hero of Cybertron would be siding with the Magnus, trying to round up and dispose of anyone with Decepticon programming. Yet here you are helping them escape. Are you just that soft-sparked? Or…" He tapped his chin, giving a show of being deep in thought.

"We can dispense with the theatrics, Starscream," Megatron snapped, resting a hand on Optimus' shoulder. "The mech now known as Optimus Prime is Orion, my son. And that knowledge is by no means secret anymore. You'll gain no advantage by trying to use it as leverage against either of us."

Starscream scowled, as if disappointed that he'd lost a potential bargaining chip just as it had landed in his hands. Jetstorm and Jetfire, however, lit up at the news.

"You are finding your father just like us!" Jetstorm exclaimed, bouncing happily in place. "We are so happy for you!"

"Um… thank you." Optimus' gaze moved between the eager Jet Twins and their glowering parental figure. "I'd like to hear someday how you two came to recognize Starscream as your father-"

"That day is NOT today!" Starscream cut in, rising to his feet. "As Lord Mayor, I am a VERY busy mech, and I haven't time to sit around and discuss family matters with all of you." He gestured in the general direction of Grimlock. "Grimlock will escort your refugees to a place where you'll be safe and out of the way. Slipstream, return to your patrols. Jetstorm, Jetfire, let's go. We've an appointment to keep."

"Yes, Dad!" the two young Autobots chirped, and they each grabbed one of Starscream's arms and practically dragged him out of the former headquarters. Starscream made a show of rolling his optics, but Optimus thought with amusement that the mech didn't look quite as annoyed as he was pretending to be.

"Well… that was interesting," Rodimus muttered. "You sure the city's okay under his rule?"

"The people seem happy," Optimus replied. "And it seems like the twins are acting as Starscream's conscience for the time being. Still, we'll have to keep an optic on him."

"And we'll be keeping an optic on YOU in return," Slipstream informed him, jabbing a finger at him. "Lord Starscream has worked hard to win and maintain his position here. We won't sit back and watch you destroy everything he's achieved." And she stormed out.

Grimlock snorted. "Lady flier a grouch," he rumbled. He looked the motley collection of Autobots and Decepticons over, then jerked his head towards the door. "Follow me Grimlock."

Optimus nodded and made to follow the Dinobot commander as he lumbered out the door. He hadn't imagined he would return to Earth under these circumstances - as a fugitive, with a couple hundred refugees and some of the most dangerous Decepticons alive in tow. But then, he hadn't imagined that he would learn some terrible truths about the Autobot cause… and about the Magnus he'd sworn to serve. Or that he would be reunited with his family in the process.

I don't think any of us have any idea what happens from here, he thought. But at least, whatever happens, we'll face it as a team. We've accomplished the impossible before, after all.

"You've got to be fraggin' KIDDING me!" Sentinel shrieked, backing away with his hands raised. "I'm NOT staying here! Not for a second!"

"Believe me, Sentinel, it's not MY first choice of a place to stay," Ratchet retorted. "But we're staying in Detroit on Starscream's charity, believe it or not. We can't exactly afford to be choosy."

"I most certainly CAN be choosy!" Sentinel shot back. "And I say we gather our forces and go boot Starscream off his high-and-mighty throne! Take this city for ourselves!"

"Do that, and you'll have the humans turning against us," Optimus reminded him. "And we can't afford THAT either. None of us like this, Sentinel, but for now we're going to have to live with it."

The blue mech glowered, then braced himself and took a tentative step into the city landfill. He felt the ground give sickeningly under his foot, and it took all his willpower not to jerk it away in disgust. This wasn't just an organic area - it was where organics dumped their trash and refuse! Who knew what kind of contaminants could be swarming through this wreckage!

"I'll have a word with Starscream later," Dominus noted, gingerly stepping over a black plastic sack full of unidentifiable odds and ends. "Perhaps we can negotiate a more… hospitable location for refuge."

"Starscream doesn't believe in negotiation," Megatron snorted. "He believes in two paths - his way, and the wrong way."

Dominus gave a mysterious smile. "I can be quite persuasive. In the meantime, however, advise everyone to turn off their olfactory sensors and to be on the lookout for signs of rust. We'll make do as best we can."

Sentinel watched as the little mech transformed to turbofox mode and loped off towards the refugees. Quite a few of them were looking upon the garbage-strewn landscape with expressions of dismay, while others simply shrugged their shoulders and plodded on ahead. The general attitude seemed to be that nobody liked this situation, but as long as they were here they would make the best of it.

Then a blur of orange and rust-brown blotted out his vision, and he yelped and staggered back as the blur bellowed in his face.

"Welcome to Garbage City!"

Sentinel yelped again as his foot hit a trash bag, making it slide out from under him. He landed hard on his aft, and grimaced as something burst underneath him, slicking his skidplate and lower back with a thick fluid he didn't want to identify.

"Watch your step, mister," the newcomer advised, grabbing his arm and yanking him to his feet. "Welcome to the Trash Day that never ends! Everything's free, only slightly used!"

Sentinel just stared at the mech - a boxy orange-and-rust being wearing a guileless grin, a handful of flies circling his square-shaped head like a pestilent halo. "Who… the frag…"

"Hello, Wreck-Gar," Optimus greeted, and incredibly he smiled at the scrappy-looking mech. "I take it you're working for Starscream too now?"

Wreck-Gar nodded. "It's a living. Sure beats rusting at the bottom of the Detroit River." He grabbed Optimus' hand and shook it enthusiastically. "My home is your home, buddy! You get free accomodations and your pick of the junk! Just wipe your feet before you leave."

"Duly noted," Megatron replied with a grimace, lifting his foot to inspect the bottom of it.

"Well… thank you for sharing your home with us," Optimus replied. "Could you do us a favor and help everyone get settled in? We've got a lot of scared and displaced mechs here who could use a friendly face right now."

Wreck-Gar saluted, still wearing that goofy smile. "Aye-aye, Captain! The Welcome Wagon is rolling out!" And with that, he transformed to a clunky-looking truck mode and drove away, leaving a stream of trash in his wake.

Megatron watched him go. "You've gotten to know some… interesting mechanisms, Orion."

"He means well," Optimus replied. "And honestly, I'm glad he's here. He'll help our refugees feel a little more welcome after everything they've been through."

Megatron didn't look convinced, but he didn't press the matter. Instead he turned to regard Shockwave, who had just stepped up to address his leader. The double-agent still walked with a limp, and his broken antler had yet to be reattached, but he still carried himself with an eerie grace.

"Lord Megatron… Lord Orion." Shockwave inclined his head towards Optimus. "Dominus and Ratchet have requested a meeting with both of you."

Optimus took a moment to reply - was he thrown off by being referred to by what was presumably his old name, or was he simply unused to being addressed with respect by a Decepticon? "What about?"

"How we are to proceed from this point, of course," Shockwave replied. "As attached as you may be to this organic world, Orion, we will not be welcome here forever. If this self-styled Lord Mayor Starscream doesn't order us to leave at some point, then the humans will. I hardly think they will tolerate being caught up in our war."

Megatron nodded slowly. "We will be there shortly. You will be present as well, Shockwave - you spent a great deal of time in the presence of the Magnus, and your input will be valuable."

The Decepticon leader only spoke fact, but his words still made the smoldering anger in Sentinel's spark flare up. Shockwave had indeed spent time in Magnus' company, duping the entire Council and every other Prime in the guise of Longarm Prime before his betrayal. And he'd very nearly killed Ultra Magnus in the process…

His anger soured, curdled with resentment from an entirely different front. Magnus had commanded him to track down and imprison Autobots with Decepticon lineage, and had ordered his arrest for daring to confront him with his own hypocrisy. Was he really still trying to defend him? Perhaps he didn't deserve to be beaten nearly to death, but still…

Optimus rested a hand on his shoulder, lightly squeezing. "Could… I have a few minutes? I need a few words with Sentinel first."

Megatron nodded. "Be quick."

"We'll convene at the wreckage of the airship in the center of the junkyard," Shockwave informed him.

Sentinel watched as the two Decepticons made their way to the rusted hulk of an airplane that jutted from the center of the landfill. "So… Orion, huh?"

Optimus nodded. "Evidently that was my name before I ended up in the orphanage." He walked over to a nearby stack of cars and sat down, the pile giving slightly under his weight. "Sit down, will you?"

Sentinel looked around for a chair or, lacking that, at least a relatively clean surface to sit in, but came up empty. "I'll stand, thank you."

Optimus cracked a smile. "Your aft's already covered in wet paint. You're not going to get it any dirtier no matter where you sit."

Sentinel rolled his optics and sat down on the ground, crossing his legs. "There. Happy?"

"Happy." Optimus gazed down at his hands. "Sentinel… what happened to us? We used to be friends."

He stared at the red mech, his brow plates screwed up in confusion. After all these vorns, NOW he wanted to hash out how their friendship had gone sour? "You seriously don't remember? The trip to that organic planet, what happened to Elita-1-"

"I remember," Optimus cut in, his voice short and surprisingly angry. "I also seem to remember taking the blame for you. Both of us should have been kicked out of the Academy for it, but I figured they were only looking for one scapegoat. It turns out I was right."

"So what, you're blaming me for ruining things?" Sentinel retorted. "I never asked you to take the blame for me!"

Optimus opened his mouth to reply, then gusted a sigh and shook his head. "Stop… just stop. I didn't want this to become a fight. All that is over and done with, and we can't change it."

"Then why bring it up now?"

"Because I want us to be able to change it." He sighed again and shuttered his optics. "Neither of us can go back to Cybertron - I'm the son of Megatron, and you know too much about the terrible things the Autobots are doing to their own people. We have to be able to work together… but we can't, not unless we work out all this slag between us. Maybe we can't be friends again, but slaggit, I want to at least know that we can work together without endangering all the mechs who are depending on us."

It was Sentinel's turn to shutter his optics, shame quelling some of the anger in his spark. "Fraggit… you always had to be the noble one of us, didn't you?"

"I'm not trying to one-up you," Optimus insisted. "I just have always tried to do what I think is right. Something I know you've done too, even if we disagree on what's right."

Sentinel sighed. "Yeah, but… somehow it always managed to work out for you. Whereas I washed out. I guess I was jealous of you, you know? I tried so hard to protect Cybertron, but then you lucked out and became the fraggin' Hero of Cybertron while I was just some loser who made things difficult for the Autobots. And… and I guess I let that get in the way of things."

Optimus gave a rueful chuckle. "My luck ran out in the end, though. I guess I expected you to gloat about it. That the Hero of Cybertron turned out to be the son of the Great Slagmaker."

He snorted. "I might be a jerkaft, but I'm not THAT much of a jerkaft. What they did to you… I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Let alone an old friend."

Optimus was quiet for a long moment. "We made quite the team back in the day, didn't we?"

"That we did." Sentinel laughed a little. "Maybe it's too late to go back to being friends… but we can at least be a team together, right?"

"I hope so." Optimus held out a hand. "Truce?"

Sentinel hesitated, then gripped Optimus' hand in his own. "Truce."

"Then as the humans like to say, water under the bridge." Optimus stood and pulled Sentinel to his feet. "Let's start fresh. Let the past stay the past."

"Yeah…" Sentinel winced as an awful thought crossed his CPU. "Is Meg- is your father going to hate me for turning you in?"

Optimus' laugh was less bitter and more friendly now. "He's not nearly as dangerous as you think he is. And honestly, I think he's more angry at Ultra Magnus and the Council than he is at you." His smile faded. "That reminds me… you were saying something about the Magnus before we came here, but you never finished that thought."

Sentinel opened his mouth to answer, then shook his head. "I think everyone in charge needs to hear this. Um… do you mind if I crash your meeting?"

"You're not crashing the meeting if I invite you to it," Optimus replied, and he led Sentinel towards the wrecked plane. "Let's hurry… this sounds important."

A junkyard wasn't exactly an ideal place to live, even temporarily, but the refugees from Cybertron's Dead Zone were determined to make the most of it. They cleared away rubbish, collected scrap metal and other materials to build shelters, and took stock of their supplies. It wasn't home by any means, but it was still better than languishing in a prison cell or being knocked around by the Elite Guard.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead should have been helping set up shelters, but instead they found themselves staring at the sky, watching as Blitzwing soared in circles overhead while the sparkling on his back shrieked with delight.

"So… are we gonna stop him?" asked Bumblebee.

"You wanna try telling him he has to stop?" Bulkhead replied.

"Eh… fair point." The yellow minibot flinched as Blitzwing dove, but his passenger held on tightly, giggling like crazy. "Still can't believe we're just watching him babysit kids like that's totally normal. Or that their parents are letting him."

"I think they got bigger things to worry about right now," Bulkhead pointed out.

"No kidding."

Blitzwing finally touched down, letting the sparkling scramble off. "Zat's all, little ones! Blitzwing has things to do!"

"Awwwww… one more ride?" pleaded a dark green sparkling.

Blitzwing shifted from jet to tank, waving his gun turret in the sparklings' direction. "Any more whining and zere will be NO rides! Now shoo!"

The sparklings scattered, but they giggled and chatted amongst themselves, undeterred by the triple-changer's anger. Blitzwing, for his part, shifted to root mode and let his crazed face snap into place before skipping away with a whistle.

"Still think we shouldn't be letting him near the kids," Bumblebee grumbled.

"Aw, c'mon, he's not all that bad," Bulkhead protested. "Not all the 'Cons are bad guys."

Bumblebee raised an optic ridge. "Are you just saying that 'cause you're dating one now? Or three of 'em?"

Bulkhead's faceplates heated up, and he ducked his head. "You had to bring that up, huh?"

"Well yeah, you get yourself a polycule and people are bound to notice. You do know this is freakin' Strika we're talkin' about, right? She's got a reputation-"

"I know!" Bulkhead protested. "But… she's nice to me. They all are. It's… it's nice to be seen as attractive despite being built like a tank, ya know?"

"I'm a minibot, I wouldn't know," Bumblebee pointed out. "Just be careful, okay Bulky? Don't wanna see you gettin' hurt-"

"Is this little one bothering you?"

Bumblebee yipped and whirled around… and found himself staring up into the glowing red optic of Lugnut. The violet hulk glowered down at him, then turned to regard Bulkhead.

"Is he bothering you?" he repeated. "If so, I will remove him!"

"Nah, he's fine," Bulkhead assured him. "He's just worried about me is all."

"Why would he be worried?" Lugnut demanded, his gaze swiveling back to Bumblebee. "You do not trust Strika with him? Or Obsidian?"

Bumblebee gulped, wishing that Ratchet would have made good on his promise to weld his mouth shut much earlier. Maybe then he wouldn't be in this mess. "Uh… it's not so much them as… uh…"

Lugnut jerked back, and while his peculiar faceplates didn't allow for much expression, his body language declared that he took offense to the implications of that sentence fragment. "I, Lugnut, would not so much as scratch Bulkhead! He is one of us now!"

"Uh… but… didn't you used to beat the slag out of all of us on a regular basis?"

"Yes… but no longer." Lugnut's shoulders relaxed as he spoke. "Megatron has declared that there shall be no more fighting you or the rest of Optimus' crew… or any of the Autobots with Decepticon programming. You may not be loyal Decepticons, but you are still allies." He reached out and took Bulkhead's hand in his claws. "And Bulkhead is one of us now - a member of our family. We love him."

"Awww… thanks, Lug," Bulkhead told him, grinning.

Bumblebee shook his head. "This is all still really wild. It's gonna take me awhile to get used to it. But… if you're happy, Bulky, then that's all that matters, I guess."

"Thanks, Bee," Bulkhead told him. "So… we gonna go build some houses or what?"

"Sounds like a plan," Bumblebee replied.

"Very good!" Lugnut bellowed, and he thumped Bulkhead on the shoulder and motioned for them to follow. "Come, Bumblebee! We could use your servos, even if they are small!"

"Yeah, just tell your boss-lady not to try to seduce me into your little polyamorous deal," Bumblebee replied. "Nothing against y'all, but I don't like 'em big."

Bulkhead laughed, and the three mechs went to help Strika and Obsidian dig up possible construction materials.