Chapter 49 kicked my ass for a while, but I finally got the last bit all hashed out, so now I can post this one! Which has been sitting around waiting to be posted since early in March. I need to get quicker at this again, oh well. Have fun!


At Aria's timid request about an hour later, they moved their talk down to the living room area, and invited Ironhide and Kia to join, Prowl was staying down in the bunker to fill Derrick in when the Peacock roused.

After both of the twins holoforms got a good firm embrace from Megatronus, Aria skittered off to the kitchen, exclaiming that she'd be able to hear them just fine while she worked on breakfast, something Megatronus seemed to be very excited to hear about, which was a bit odd to see.

Wren perched herself on the arm rest next to the seat Megatronus had taken on the sofa.

Optimus, Ironhide and Kia took the opposite sofa.

Wren cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "So… what are the terms that are to be enforced?"

Optimus and Megatronus exchanged a look, Optimus spoke. "Megatronus and I have discussed a number of… things, and we have come to the conclusion that we as a species cannot afford to lose anymore of our kind. Our numbers are so low already, rebuilding will take a time we currently cannot properly formulate. Kia, understand we have no intention in forcing you to use the Allspark to artificially inflate our numbers."

Everyone seemed to nod at that, and Kia seemed to relax a bit, looking relieved that such a thing wasn't going to be expected of her.

Megatronus spoke up then. "In time I will send out an alert to the Decepticons, stating that the war has come to a peaceful end, and that no more shed energon will be tolerated, from there, those who accept, will be welcomed to Earth after vetting, and those who do not… we will have to accept as our enemy… as far as I am concerned, the Decepticons no longer stand for what I helped found them as… As much as it pains my spark to say it. And I know among them are many individuals who have used the war to excuse despicable actions... " He looks to Wren. "Something along the lines of the Geneva conventions may be a good idea… set rules to follow in case war comes to the Cybertronian race again…"

Wren's hand resting on his shoulder seemed to bring him some comfort. "We will look into it, but such an implementation would come much further down the line."

Megatronus looked to Kia then. "I believe your request lines up with this?"

Kia nodded and looked to Ironhide and Optimus. "I've got Barricade and Frenzy on my payroll, Barricade was the one who located Derrick and stayed with him until we arrived, he's sworn off the Decepticons for similar reasons to Megatronus… my brother apparently pushed him over the edge of no return. The details can be discussed at a later point."

There was a rather pregnant pause as Optimus and Ironhide processed this.

Ironhide did not look happy. "And you believed you could just, not bring this up?! Need I remind you my mate and son are in Barcelona?!"

Kia was immediately on the defensive, teeth bared in a snarl. "For the record at no point have you even remotely brought up your relation to them!"

An apple and orange each respectively hitting both on the back of the heads caused them to freeze and turn in surprise to Aria who was pouting next to the kitchen's granite topped island.

"We did not wish to cause undue alarm, the intention was to keep Ratchet, Bumblebee and Barricade separate until we could safely introduce the three, we expected hostilities so we've been keeping Barricade, and Frenzy in a quarantine of sorts. Also Kia is right, this is the first time we've been made aware of the fact that you Ratchet and Bumblebee are a family." She tossed a pear up and caught it. "Anyone else who tries to start a fight in this, gets a fruit to the head, the watermelon in the freezer I am counting as a fruit, it will hurt if you push me that far."

Optimus let his lower jaw drop a bit, looking to Megatronus with a 'I'm seeing this right?' expression.

Megatronus responded with a small smirk and a quick ping on the com-line. ::Told you Optimus, just like Neb and those rocks and tools of hers…. I apologise for raising them into such uncannily similar beings.::

Optimus glanced to the side, sighed and looked to Ironhide. "Ironhide, stand down, please, we're trying to make peace here, we won't achieve that if we rise to contest every notion, your family unit has not come to harm, and Barricade is a mech of principle, you and Ratchet of all bots should know that."

Ironhide faltered but then nodded. "Yes Prime… it's just.. The situation with him and Bumblebee…"

Optimus patted his shoulder. "It will be down to Bumblebee how he handles that, he's a full grown adult old friend, you raised him well."

Kia, Aria and Wren exchanged confused looks that Megatronus noticed.

"Ah, you really weren't made aware, Barricade was Bumblebee's original adoptive sire, he and his mate took him in as their own before the war… I'm connecting rather distant dots here, but I'm assuming Dust asked you and Ratchet to keep him safe?"

Kia looked to have turned a little pale at that, but recovered quickly, she went to speak, but Ironhide spoke over. "Yeah, after you went off the rails… kid barely remembers them because of it. He only stopped calling for them in his recharge when his voice box got torn out." He sent a murderous look to Megatronus, who flinched back.

Megatronus winced. "I was afraid of that… Understand that I was under the control of something… malicious at that time… it jumped from Neb to me after she woke up after the assasination attempt..."

Ironhide snarled. "Oh I remember that, Shrike, Lugnut, Strika and Dust had to forcibly drag you off her after you started to choke her!"

Megatronus looked like Ironhide just murdered his sparkling, slowly he rose. "I…" He glanced up at where Aria was winding back a pear and promptly sat back down. "I did… I did that? That was its first action… Optimus…" He looked to the Prime, who looked haggard.

Ironhide looked between the two leaders in confusion. "Alright, enough having us in the dark ,what did you tell him Megatronus?"

Megatronus sighed, this was going to be a long talk…

It took three hours to get through the whole explanation.

The frozen watermelon was in fact used, and it was thrown with enough force to cause Ironhide's head to explode in sparks for a few seconds, which worked in getting him to calm down and behave, Nuit and Noire had a field day eating every frozen chunk they could.

It was also slowed down by the confused, very concerned and alarmed Harpies that were present, who requested explanations for at least half of what was said, that wasn't held against to them, they were outsiders to everything, and had only been alive for not even three decades, which was absurdly finite compared to their own astronomically long life spans.

Eventually though, the explanation finally came to an end, and with all the context provided, the three Harpies looked visibly sick.

Aria even pulled up the rim of her top to press to her lips as she tried not to dry heave.

Kia was the one to speak. "So… these women… you think, knew they were going to die… and accepted it?"

Megatronus shook his helm. "No… Primus no… none of them would of gone down if they had any say in it… something put them into that situation that forced them to accept it… had they not stayed in the control room to delay the reactor core from hitting critical max, the explosion would of claimed potentially hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides. Only a few thousand perished because they were unable to evacuate the battlefield in time due to not being located and being too injured to move any more themselves. They were hailed as heroes for their sacrifice..."

Kia slowly nodded, and looked ill. "And you said there was a… voice in this… Nebularbursts head? One you didn't recognise?"

Megatronus and Optimus both nodded, though Megatronus frowned. "Kia… are you leading to something?"

All three women seemed to have gone pale.

Aria was the one to speak. "The only one of us that hasn't been hearing voices… is Ira… We suspect because she hasn't located and obtained any of the four relics we believe brought her here… The rest of us… can barely sleep. The voices are… so… so loud… well, mine and Wren's are loud… Kia's is more a whisper that just puts her on edge… constantly..." She glanced to Kia who nodded in confirmation.

A bomb could have gone off and no one would have even flinched.

Megatronus rose slowly, turned to where Wren was perched on the armrest of the sofa and asked. "Is it true?"

Wren didn't look at him, she took a breath to steady herself before she answered. "Yes… but we don't know what they're saying, so we've elected to ignore them for the most pa-uk!" She didn't quite finish as he pulled her into a crushing hug.

"No… No. I can't… I can't lose you like I lost them... to lose you like I lost them… I refuse..." He muttered into her black and grey hair.

Wren took a few moments to recover, and clung to him too. "We don't have enough information to know for certain yet. Jumping to conclusions now will only cause undue stress, we are managing this, as best as we can. But we've also been keeping a lot of this to ourselves…" Wren pushed up to look over his shoulder pauldron to look at Kia and Aria. "We have to start talking to them. Being honest…" She looked to Optimus and Ironhide. "But this won't be easy for us, if you think we're closing back up, try and coax us out…" Her attention returned to Megatronus and hugged him a bit tighter. "Show them how at some point?"

He nodded against the top of her head.

The ding of the elevator's bell drew the moment to an end as attention shifted to Prowl and Derrick walking out, laughter loose and free between them, Prowl had his flip phone out and was showing the Peacock an apparently hilarious picture.

Said laughter died almost instantly on contact with the current atmosphere.

Prowl tilted his head to the side. "Did… did someone die?"

"Dude…" Derrick mumbled aghast.

Prowl flinched. "Sorry, that was a bit… bad to ask. War and all right? Of course people died."

Derrick clapped a hand over the police deputies mouth. "Dude, shut up before you dig any deeper."

Prowl nodded.

Aria sighed, and clapped her hands together. "How about a change of pace? This whole mess has made breakfast late, so everyone get over here and at least try my brunch before it goes anymore cold… Please?"

Everyone was more than happy to accept the distraction, none mentioning the slight strain that could be heard in the white twins voice as she spoke.


Somewhere out in the void of space

"You're keeping information from us."

Soundwave jerked up from where he'd been slouching over, turning his helm he found Ravage looking him over with an accusatory glare.

"Nega-"

"Sire, you know there's no fooling me, you may have convinced Rumble, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw that what you have told us is all there is, but I have noticed your omissions, your quick cuts. The fact that you don't trust us with whatever this is, it hurts me, don't you see?"

Soundwave felt like the Cygar had kicked him right in the spark. "Ravage…"

"Just please… tell me, it is weighing on your spark much like the loss of Carrier does, and I fear for you… please… do not become the mech I first met you as again. You do not have to tell the others if you do not wish, but please, tell me at least, get this weight off before your relapse."

Ravage didn't have the most emotive of faces due to his build, but it was more than enough to transmit the pain he felt, alongside with the reassurances he was flooding their bond with.

He sagged back into the captains chair. "All… alright… I will tell you, and you alone for now."

The distinct noise of the door to the rest of the ship locking shut was all Ravage needed to leap up onto his sire's front, given he was going on half his sires size, the 'ouf!' was expected as well as the second one as he flopped over and curled up as much as the captains chair would allow.

A pet to his helm and his sire started. "I… May I show you?"

Ravage nodded, and their bond opened wider.


Sendai Japan

"Souma! Souma! C'mon! It's starting! It's starting!" Miko exclaimed happily, pulling him into the TV room.

Theme music was playing, an orchestral piece, he was starting to pick up on the differences of human music, and he'd be lying if he didn't find them fascinating, distinct in their organic origin, yet in ways similar to Cybertronian instruments.

He spotted the screen, and froze almost stiff.

His eyes widened as he witnessed the show playing… the shifting metal, the symbols… the opening ended and on the screen flashed the title. 'Transformers Prime'.

It flashed again 'Orion Pax Pt 1'. His stomach dropped like a lead weight had been dumped into it.

Miko was excitedly bouncing next to him. Pulling him down to sit in front. "It's my favourite TV show! I named myself after one of the humans!"

Soundwave had the thought to nod, Miko didn't mind, he was mute, she wasn't expecting a verbal reply.

Soundwave felt… sick… he watched it of course, names and some colours were close enough, but how they were built… Arcee was blue, which was oddly working… he'd never heard of a Bulkhead on the Autobot forces…

Ratchet he recognised, Bumblebee was another he didn't…

He spotted the 'Miko' Miko was referring to, the resemblance was uncanny.

Then the Decepticons… and 'Orion Pax', he was following on enough to know that this 'Optimus Prime' had sacrificed his identity as 'Prime' by using a 'Matrix of Leadership?'.

Megatron was… it was beyond disturbing yet uncannily similar to how his own lord acted… this mech had his lord's name, but how he acted, it was… Primus he couldn't describe it, it was his lord but not, Starscream looked like a femme being confused for a mech, Miko happily pointed out the 'stilleto heels' amoung other things…

It took him a while to realise the mech without a face and was equally as mute as him was… himself…

No Ravage, no Rumble, no Frenzy or Buzzsaw… all this one had left was Laserbeak… Primus the pain that mech must have been in…

The episode blessedly came to an end and he tried to remember how to blink as Miko exploded into yes and no questions.

He nodded a bit numbly when she asked if he wanted to see more.

She pulled out a DVD case which had 'Transformers Generation 1' on it, and referred to it as the 'Original series' and started listing off a mass of others too.

Jack walked in around then and got their attention. "C'mon kids, I let you watch the episode before dinner, but now it's starting to really get cold, so get down to the dining area, yeah?"

Miko jumped up. "Okay! C'mon Souma!" She grabbed up his hand and pulled him up and out, him following behind like a half limp doll, similar to the ones he often saw being held by some of the younger of his housemates.

Miko didn't stop talking to even chew properly, ranting and raving on and on about how 'Wicked' and 'Cool' and 'Awesome' the Autobots were, how they were all gonna kick the Decepticons butts once Optimus got his memories back.

Soundwave just nodded along numbly, letting her get all her energy out as he tried to process what he'd just seen and experienced.

Fiction… Science Fiction… his entire species, their entire war, all the death and suffering… it was just… just a weekend morning entertainment for them…

"Oh! I've got to show you the movies! They're not good, but the animation is awesome! You know how I said I picked that name Souma for you because it reminded me of someone? Well it was Soundwvae! You're as quiet as him! Well, TFP Soundwave, in the second movie he kind of talks? They don't have a Japanese translation out yet, but it's all so cool! There's a third film coming out next year in 2011! Maybe Soundwave will be in that one? He didn't get killed in the last one like a bunch of Cons an-!" Jack clapped a hand over her face. "Miko, you're spraying food everywhere." The old soldier warned.

Miko had the thought to look abashed and focused on eating.

Jack moved on to him. "You okay kid? You look like you've seen a ghost?"

Miko gasped and bolted upright. "Maybe something in the episode triggered some memories to come back?!"

Soundwave shrugged, Miko deflated and Jack told her to focus on eating before sitting back down to eat his own food which had mostly gone cold by now.

Later that night, Soundwave found himself in front of one of the hostels computers, it was the one closest to his private room and he'd mostly gone uncontested for its use.

It was primitive to the point of frustration, but he kept his temper level and focused on what he had to do.

A few quick searches and he knew, he knew that returning to Cybertron would be impossible…

The shows did not hide the fact that their war would likely doom Cybertron…

Everything was too accurate, yet different enough for him to feel a distinct dissonance from it all.

His home, his family, all fictional.

He'd tried to locate Shrike, but found that there were only five or six confirmed femme Decepticons, apparently the franchise was aimed at the male population, and so focused on the mechs…

Night Bird wasn't even originally Cybertronian… and advanced robot based both of the original series 'Cybertronian's' and 'ninjas' which were a subspecies of human native to the nation he was currently residing in.

Thunderblast he didn't recognise, Strika he did, 'Black Arachnia' and 'Arachnid' were femmes he hoped he'd never have to interact with, the later especially.

An overarching narrative was swiftly becoming clear to him as he continued his almost fevered search.

The Autobots were always the narrative heros… and the planet Earth, the first time he'd actually discovered the name of the planet he stood on, was a death trap of the highest degree for Decepticons.

He made the mistake of researching himself.

Attached to him was his family unit… Shrike was again left unmentioned, he scowled, even without the bias of loving her, surely the creator of Space Bridge technology would be at least mentioned?!

Unnamed… not even a foot-note when he looked up Space Bridges… apparently a relatively new concept in the franchise… a series in 2007 mentioning them most frequently… and looked nothing like the tunnel like structures that Shrike's design were built like… The ground bridge in the TFP Autobot base was the closest to her design… but Ratchet was apparently held as the creator of it…

A medic… who was able to piece together a single planet based bridge system...

He looked then to their creations… Miko had mentioned a Movie, and that seemed to be Frenzy's most recent appearance… without himself, or any of his siblings… partnered with Barricade? Soundwave felt a small bit of relief at that, at least he knew to trust Barricade with looking after his creations.

There was a link to a video compilation of all of his son's scenes…

It started off well enough, the mech on screen looked nothing like his son, but that was excusable, he'd taken an earth based disguise to blend in while on board an 'aeroplane' a large one that seemed to be carrying a vast number of what looked to be 'American' officials.

Odd, Jack was an American, the nation was supposedly no longer in existence?

He looked into it, and found something interesting.

The world at large was viewed as being in such a bleak state, the vast majority of entertainment for all ages was based on a pseudo alternate timeline where America remained the most powerful nation, instead of the United CommonWealth, of UCW for short, which currently had power over almost half the planets land mass.

'Fiction is always the ultimate method of escapism. And once bots have their happy place, they're a lot happier to ignore everything wrong around them in reality.' It was something he'd heard Shrike mutter once in a while when the news bots would spew nothing but the Senate's propaganda, and they'd discuss together what conditions really seemed to be.

He focused back on the video…

The infiltration went most smoothly… Barricade was able to pick him up once the 'aeroplane', which he realised now that he could see the outside, looked like a very, very primitive but large Seeker alt mode…

Scene change and…

Something in his mind shut off for a few moments…

When he caught himself and focused again…

Frenzy… his son… was screaming… a pneumatic saw having sliced his arms off… and was now being brought down onto his chassis and neck by the human protagonist.

His eyes went wide, his jaw hung…

"Not so tough as just a head, huh?!"

The human kicked him… kicked his son…

Like a sparklings lobbing ball…

He stopped the video and had to brace his sweaty palms on the corners of the desk, and pressed his forehead into the keyboard and just… tried to steady his breathing.

Thank Primus everyone else was asleep…

He wouldn't be able to explain this… even if he didn't have his vow…

He wanted his family… his love… he wanted them here, where he could hold them, and know that… that this mutilation would never befall his son…

Eventually his breathing stilled, he looked to the time, the new day had already begun… he had to rest… he would learn more later… he was the spymaster, it was his duty to collect this information… no matter how damning and difficult to accept as it was…

Preparing to rest was a blur, and it took a time for the covers to warm enough for his developing preference, but even when the warmth produced and maintained by this new mostly organic form was reached, he could not sleep.

Tossing and turning he tried to banish the image of Frenzy, his son, being mutilated… but no success came…

He let the ghostly touch of his beloved entomb him, the phantom feelings helped drive some of it away, and with time, he slipped away.


The ship

Ravage tried to curl in tighter. "Oh…"

"Frenzy… you and Laserbeak… all three of you terminate on earth… you at the servos of Bumblebee… and I cannot remember the designation of the one who ended Laserbeak.. We are going to collect Frenzy, and then leave that planet… it is a death trap…"

Ravage nodded.

Ravage unwound to stand on his sire's chassis, and pushed his feline face into Soundwave's neck, and purred.

He felt a shudder of relief run through his sire as arms wrapped around his back and pulled him close.

"I won't let it happen… I won't lose you… I can't lose any of you… ever again."

"I can make no promises if we truly are going to a death world sire, but, I will try, and I will be sure we all stay by your side."

Soundwave bowed his helm against his sons back, and held on just a bit tighter. "Thank you… thank you… your carrier would be so proud of you… just as I am…"


Orichiono Manor, Monaco

Night had fallen.

Kia had taken wing at dusk to return to Barcelona, the heavy cloud cover that had rolled in aiding her in staying out of sight.

After that, it had been a matter of waiting for everyone else to tire and turn in for the night.

Megatronus included.

The twins had been some of the first to retire to their room, their nest of bedding was still caked in lilac energon crystals, but they crumbled into dust as they settled their weight upon them.

Derrick, who'd had a rather long day all things considered, crashed out the moment he'd gotten close enough to the bedding for him dropping to it not hurt.

Which meant their half brother was rather haphazardly strewn out in his nest and as dead to the world as a corpse.

Their protrusions twitched and flared as they focused on the world their optics couldn't sense.

They listened, felt the vibrations, they had a perfect map in their head now of the bunker, the vibrations of each step easily traced to their origin.

They waited an extra half an hour, waited for the pulsing sparks of all others under their care to calm and settle into recharge before they moved, rising as silently as being made of metal allowed.

Hera, their ever dutiful companion, they left behind, she needed rest just as the rest of them, and they would not need her.

There were things to do now.

In those quiet hours when no one was around.

Locating Megatronus was simple, he had opted to not test his luck with the Autobots trust, and had simply fallen into recharge in one of the barren corners.

They'd had some staff bring down some bedding so he would not have to be concerned by the chilled concrete.

Now, with a care they were still practicing, they shifted the bedding away with the tips of their flight feathers, revealing Megatronus, who roused from the motion.

Red optics snapped online and upwards, all the lights were out, they had their visor moved out of the way, so he could see their optics looking right back at him as their helm twitched from side to side above.

"... Yes?"

"We have things to do, and we need to talk."

Before he could reply, they had knelt down closer, opened their maw, and in a way not too removed from a mother cat acquiring her kitten, plucked him out of the bedding while trying not to cut into him with the razor sharp fangs he could feel the tips of catching on some of his armour.

Evidently he had no say in this decision, and their newly rejoined bond was still far too tender to really feel across.

So he allowed them to carry him off into the chill air of late Summer, the moon now distinct in it's radiance as it outshone the stars.

He ended up watching Wren's wing, the massive limb was difficult to gauge when she and her twin had them normally so closely tucked to their sides, but here, with the rush of wind howling around his audios, and his treasures focused solely on flight, he allowed the massive wings deceptively graceful motions hypnotise him.

He watched as the plating on their back shifted up and away as the wings rose high above, the tips causing the edges of clouds to ripple and flurry around them.

And on the downwards motion, the tips of the flight feathers fought with the uprush of air they were pushing against, as the powerful mechanisms in his treasures back, sides and chassis forced them onwards.

When a powerful enough gust going in the right enough direction caught them, the wings leveled out, and he was able to focus more on the silhouette of the feathers as they ruffled and flowed in the moonlight above.

They would bank from side to side to correct their trajectory, their helms turning into the direction first, and almost in slow motion the rest of the frame followed, one wing rose higher, the other dipping towards the ground hurtling past below, and finally those long, normally floor length tail feathers twisted to follow, each one trailing and catching the wind similar to somewhat stiff streamers on the tail of a kite.

They were over mountains the next time he looked down from where they were holding him in their mouth.

He felt a rumble come from somewhere inside as they banked harder than usual to the left, Wren's wing going nearly vertical to instigate the quick turn as Aria's dipped to match.

He felt them clench their jaw a bit harder down around him, and tried not to Shudder as their glossa joined in to pin him further against the fangs in their stretched wide maw.

A moment later, and they were stalling into a near vertical nosedive.

He didn't scream, he trusted them, they had assured him they'd gotten the hang of flying rather quickly.

Aria had mentioned landing hadn't been fun for a while, but hadn't elaborated past a reassurance that they were much better at landing now.

He'd barely been reunited with them for a full day, and much of it had been under the watch of Kia, Derrick and the amassed Autobots in Monaco.

Hence why they had waited for everyone else to be otherwise occupied with recharge before they squirreled(?) him away into the night.

His thoughts were cut off when, with a sudden flare of their wings, and a kick out of their legs, which had been previously held back to reduce drag, had the world spinning as, in a swift motion, they proceeded to perform a backwards flip.

The crunch of metal talons smashing into rock a moment later was followed by the domino effect of the rest of his treasure's frame coming to a very sudden halt.

Trying to get his bearings aligned, Megatronus realised that they had landed on a jutting out cliff face, that led towards a cave hidden on both sides by rock walls.

The next thing he knew they were bending down and trying as best as they could with just their mouth to set him down gently.

The fact he was sideways however, meant they had to spit him out and let him drop the last foot or so, not wanting to overbalance and stumble themselves.

He stumbled up to his pedes and tried to get his bearings once more.

As he was coming to terms with the fact they were above the clouds, on the side of a mountain, on a rather perilous protruding ridge, the twins were shaking themselves not unlike a bird would to ruffle and loosen up their feathers, stretching out their wings one last time before folding them tight to their sides once more, they stepped over him and towards the mountain. "This way." Wren called from high above him, leaving no room for questioning, only to follow.

Looks like Wren had kept that trait she picked up from him.

He followed them, they had slowed their strides to allow him to keep up as they lowered themselves down and flattened the ridges on their back.

He realised why when his optics picked up the dimensions of the cave entrance which the rock ridges flanked.

It was narrow, and the top of the entrance was rather low compared to their normal already hunched stance.

He couldn't help but wince at the screech of metal scraping harshly on rock, but kept following the slightly swaying black tail feathers that fanned out every chance they got.

The cave itself had a higher ceiling than the entrance, which spared them all from having to listen to anymore metal/rock friction.

It was only when a splash of water loud enough for him to hear over the rumble of each of their pede steps and the humm of their still cooling mechanisms, the metal still pinging in places as the heat faded and the metal contracted once more, that he realised this cave, high in the mountains, seemed to be some sort of spring, bubbling up from goodness knows how far below.

Steam rose and condensed on the ceiling of the cavern, which seemed to be the source of the many stalactites that the twins were having to dip and weave their protrusions around as they stepped further and further into the boiling hot lake, a blissful sigh leaving them as a faint lilac glow bled out from the gaps in their armour…

The glow wasn't enough to light the entire cave, but it illuminated the twins well enough as they settled to rest on their side, jaw coming to rest on a raised stone just on the rocky lip of the lake.

He watched from the edge as the lilac pooled and floated on the surface of the water, not unlike oil, and glanced to his… his… suddenly treasures didn't feel right… he was not the guard of his wards now… they could more than defend themselves now… they'd survived without him…

"Sisters." Aria mumbled, helm tilting just so to show their optics closed behind the blackout visor.

His sisters proceeded to just lay there, letting the frothing geothermal spring work it's magic in coaxing all the leftover energon from the mornings incident out from between the cracks they couldn't reach.

"We found this place not long after arriving in Europe with the Autobots." Wren spoke, their frame shifting to drop the other broad and sloped shoulder platting into the glowing, boiling water. "Our private bird bath with heating… Ira punched us in the gut 'cause she thought we were trying to pull her leg… took six hours to drag her out when she first got a turn." A low thrumming chuckle came through, sending the water jumping around their chassis.

He distinctly remembered a nature documentary about how large male Crocodiles and Alligators did similar.

A lighter half snort half giggle he knows as Aria's follows.

More was getting across the bond now.

He felt something from their side hum in agreement, and a careful poke come over, along with a more consistent pull to join them in the waters.

"It's filled with your energon…"

He could feel the eye roll that followed.

There was a great noise as Aria's wing rose back out of the water, it's broad span hitting some of the stalactites and knocking them off in the process.

He was so distracted by watching them hit the water, he didn't realise why she'd brought her wing out.

Until it hooked him by the pede and dragged him in with all the force and grace of a determined elephant.

He made a noise that was barely out of him before he hit the glowing water.

Their barks of laughter that sounded much more like an Eagles screech than he was used to, however, were completely audible as he pushed his helm back out of the boiling water sputtering and growling in indignation at them.

"That's for all the times you dunked us in that freezing cold bath when we got muddy!" Wren declared, fangs bared as they continued to laugh at his expense.

He scowled, and found his way back to the lip of the spring, and hefted himself up backwards to sit on the lip. "I will allow that, but do not try that again."

The sly smirk he got for that assured him this wouldn't be the last time they got him back for something.

Deciding that they'd been all not bringing it up long enough, he spoke. "How much are you still… in the contract?"

The remaining chuckles died.

The visor lifted, and he watched as large, sea green optics locked on him.

Within moments, the atmosphere in the cave... changed, warped, the very atmosphere growing heavy.

The shadows started to dance, tendrils that tried to look like hands peeling off the walls and taking form.

The edges of their physical form seemed to start to… almost disintegrate, flaking off like the dead embers of a long extinct fire.

All as blood red consumed the green of their optics, and an equally crimson red began to pulse from under the black ridged plating that ran down their back, pulsing like a slow drum beat he could feel coursing through and around him, more than hear.

One of the tendrils that came from the ceiling reached down, grabbing at his armour, before it's mouthless form screeched out a hiss and recoiled as if burned, the shimmer of an otherwise unseen barrier, a seal, repelling it.

His sisters didn't even flinch, the centers of their optics narrowing down to pinpricks of blinding white not far removed from what a neutron star might look like.

There was a white noise, it pained his audios as it got louder and louder with every passing moment.

Their mouth was slowly parting, a red glowing smoke starting to pool from the edges.

Then, even quicker than it came, the tendrils retreated back into the shadows, their mouth snapped back shut, the edges of their armour became defined and solid again, the glow of their back died out, and the green returned to their optics.

There was the slightest shake in their helm as their optics came back into focus, just before the visor dropped back into place.

"The contract was altered… not by us, or Aunty Grim, or Uncle Lucifer… Grim confirmed it only a month ago when she paid a quick visit… something else re-wrote the contract… we maintain our… inhuman abilities… but our souls… they are no longer owned by Uncle… Instead…" They looked down at their chassis and scowled an icy bitterness seeping into their shared voice. "We are owned by them…"

He looked them over for a long minute. "You said during the talk when the relics were brought to my attention, that you didn't know what your relic is. But you seem to suggest much the opposite now. And I know for a fact you were lying to the Autobots gathered… I remember watching those cartoons with you."

He could feel the spike in tension over the bond.

But that wasn't all he felt.

Fear, trepidation, self doubt… for Primus sake he raised them never to doubt! A moment's hesitation would be their undoing!

The thought was potent, and sure enough, they recoiled, protrusions banging as they dropped sharply against their helm, a sound that echoed in the enclosed space.

"It's… We… It's the…"

He hated doing it, but he pressed harder on that spot he'd found, Aria was stalling.

They flinched and Wren snapped, their form snapping around almost as quickly, causing another more violent wave as their frame shifted suddenly. "IT'S THE MATRIX! HAPPY?!"

He recoiled then, pointedly taking the pressure off the bond as if it had burned him, it practically did by way of the force that came roaring across from their side.

They were venting harder than they had when they landed from the hour plus flight, their helm turned away from him a moment later, like they couldn't bear to look at him in the optics.

He pushed himself back into the water, and after wading through it, raised his servos up.

Their helm dropped into them, and he carefully rested his forehelm against theirs.

"We… we can't… the Matrix is meant to be the symbol of leaders… we're not leaders… we're not meant to be… this… this isn't what you raised us for… we can't tell them the truth… it agrees, they agree… they don't want us… but now we can't… we can't turn back time… we want to… oh ancestors we want to… go back to when it was simpler… when it was… was just the family secrets… just the family secrets…"

The devastation he felt over the bond, amplified by just how defeated they sounded… you might as well have run a dagger through his spark… it would have felt better than this...

He petted the sides of their helm, running a thumb each over the tops of the lowest protrusions, the white ones that he could reach… "No… I'm sorry... I was the one who forced you to keep so many secrets… please… I know I have been gone for a very long time for you… but please remember you can tell me anything, and I will not judge you… I will not doubt you… and I will continue to cherish you… the sins of your family weigh heavy on you, I should have realised that the weight of that alone was what broke all those that came before you two, but I believed you to be stronger, and I was right… you have not broken, there are cracks yes, but we have time to let them heal… just please… remember I can take some of that weight when you need a break."

They sagged further, the tension dropping from their shoulders, and causing them to in turn crash back into the water until only their helm and back ridges were poking out, he was still standing on a rather shallow lip, they were submerged deeper in…

"Thank you… no one would believe us if we told them… and if we told them… they'd doubt every word we've said… every action… it's just like uncle said when we signed it. 'You take this to the grave, only then will you be in the company of those who will understand.' You remember him saying that of course." Wren mumbled.

He nodded. "Of course… I was there… I was the one who convinced you to do it…"

He felt the next question coming, it was one they'd held for so long it had become an almost constant in them.

"Why?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Why did you make it our only option?"

He winced.

"I did it… because I was done… I was tired… I had realised too late that I had grown fond of you… and I realised… the longer you both lived… the longer I would be bound to you… the more painful that final goodbye would be… knowing that there would be a place for you in Hell… knowing you would be taken care of… at the cost of you living to see your golden years…"

They pressed further into his hold, their black and white lips quirked up. Aria was practically cooing as she spoke. "Well, it would seem fate… and forces beyond our control… did not agree with that opinion. And now… here we are… something tells us we've got a lot more than twelve years left on the clock."

He pressed his helm back into theirs, and tried not to think of the forces that stole away Nebular, Solar, Dust, Shrike, and Thousands of others… tried not to think about the massive gap in his memory banks… or anything really.

But it all nagged at the back of his processor in a way that he knew would drive him mad if answers never came…

They picked up on that, and with far more care than last time, Aria's wing came around, and in a show of just how cumbersome they were, the hug he knew she wanted to give him, fell short at just a metal on metal contact at his back.

"We'll figure this all out… eventually… hopefully."

"Yes… hopefully…"


So... lot's of revelations in this one, not got much else to say than that, so, until next time!

Moon