I've really enjoyed writing this episode. Rock Bottom was another favourite!

This chapter, Zelda finally has some one on one time with Megatron :)

Chapter 11:

Heart to Spark

(S1, EP19)

It had been a week since my encounter with Silas and there hadn't been anything quote-unquote 'exciting' since. Nothing more than some scouting, not even any Decepticon sightings that resulted in fights.

But today, a Saturday which meant the kids were here all day, Arcee, Bulkhead—and so Miko and Jack—and myself were out at an old Decepticon strip mine in search of energon but there wasn't much hope since the site had clearly been abandoned for several years at this point.

Normally, I was the one to accompany Optimus during scouting missions but today, I had felt the inclination to join Arcee and Bulkhead.

Sat on the rocks beside the entrance with Jack, I basked in the sun as Miko paced back and forth all high-strung.

She groaned, "We're supposed to be at a rock concert, but all I see is rock."

"Relax, Miko," Jack soothed, cocking an eyebrow, "The show doesn't start for two hours."

"Do you know how long I've waited to see Slash Monkey?" Miko snapped, "Forever! And it's their only U.S. date!"

"There's a shock," Jack said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I mean, who doesn't love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal?"

I snorted, "I hadn't even heard of them until Miko mentioned them."

"You what?" Miko gasped, spinning to face me, "Sacrilege!"

"Eh," I waved a hand non-chantant, "Even if you miss it, we can just Ground Bridge you to their next location."

Miko's attitude flipped one-eighty, "Ohhh," she grinned.

"Isn't that a waste of energon on a Ground Bridge?" Jack questioned.

"It's alright," I shrugged, "The amount of energon in comparison to electricity it uses is nothing."

Bulkhead and Arcee finally emerged from the adit.

"—By all appearances, the mine's been stripped," Arcee vented.

"But I'm getting a signal," Bulkhead remarked, "It's faint, but it's definitely Energon."

"Doesn't make sense. This operation has been abandoned four, maybe five years," Arcee pointed out, "And Decepticons never leave Energon behind."

"This is during the time Starscream was in charge," I noted, "What's the chance he has something stupid planned for worst case scenario?"

Bulkhead and Arcee snorted.

"Oh yeah, I see where you're coming from," Arcee agreed.

"Uh, guys?" Jack's hesitant voice turned our attention to him, he pointed, and we all followed his finger to see Miko vanishing into the darkness of the mine.

"Cool!" she cheered, voice echoing.

I exhaled, already dreading the next hour or so.

"She went in," Bulkhead said blandly.

"Unbelievable," Arcee groaned.

"Really? Have you met her?" I cocked a brow, "Miko?"

Bulkhead rushed in after her, "Miko, get back here!"

Knowing where exactly this was going to go, I pushed myself to my feet and stretched. My butt was numb from sitting on that rock for so long. I cracked my fingers and sighed.

"It would be kind of interesting to see," Jack mused, his attempt as subtly was not subtle, "You know, if it were—"

"Safe?" Arcee raised an optical ridge as she cocked a hip, "A stripped mine can be structurally unstable, Jack."

"I suppose if you tread lightly enough," I offered and began heading in myself.

"Just, don't tell your mum."

I snorted and Jack laughed, jogging to catch up with me.

Unsurprisingly the mine was dark, but I had come prepared. I fished for the flashlight in my hip bag and hooked it onto my jacket's breast pocket. It wasn't the brightest thing in the world, but it certainly did its job.

My commlink buzzed with static and I just managed to make out Bulkhead's voice. Arcee was clearly in the same boat. Still, I winced and turned down the volume so I wasn't deafened by it.

"Yikes," I rubbed my ear. My poor eardrum.

Arcee attempted to make contact again but to no avail, "Scrap," she cycled air in annoyance, "The mineral composition down here is causing interference."

"Did you see how far these tunnels extend by any chance?" I asked nervously.

"No," Arcee shook her helm, "But there were plenty of offshoots and no doubt the Cons would want to get as much out of the deposits as possible."

I groaned, great.

"Not a big fan of mines?" Jack asked.

"Let's just say I've not had the best experience with one," I grimaced.

"I, uh, don't wanna ask. Sorry," Jack backtracked so fast that I barked out a laugh.

"Don't worry about it," I waved off.

I went to say more when a loud threatening voice could be heard from ahead, "You have ceased to be of use to me Starscream."

The tunnel opened up into a large chamber which revealed Megatron and Starscream, who was on the ground, cowering with his arms in front of his face. Megatron had his gun aimed, "You've hit rock bottom."

Arcee walked up behind us in confusion, so she too saw why we had frozen, both Starscream and Megatron were immediately alerted to our positions. Megatron turned his gun our way and fired multiple times.

I ran back while Arcee ran forward, swooping Jack up. Sheltered, heart pounding as each shot echoed and made the walls rumble, I snuck a peak to see Starscream had gotten up and begun to flee.

"Starscream, you dare abandon me?!"

You were literally about to murder him? I squinted as I ducked for cover. Jeez, make up your mind already!

The cave ceiling began to crumble, and the whole place shook.

"Not again!" I cried.

The floor gave way and, unable to do anything but fall, I did as such.

All missions start simple enough yet could go wrong at a moment's notice.

I woke up coughing, choking on dusty air. It was pitch black—for a moment, I questioned if I even had my eyes open. My lungs refused to work as I desperately pat my face.

No, no, this—this couldn't be happening.

Pressed against the cold, wet stone, I couldn't see anything in the unyielding darkness of the cave.

Distance rumbling still echoed, and rocks still tumbled and rolled.

I lay there, petrified.

What had begun as just a mission regarding MECH had transformed into more. I lay my cheek on the floor, focusing on the way the sharp and jagged stone pressed into my cheek to reel myself back in.

Breathe Zelda, breathe, I told myself.

MECH hadn't been the only one in the cave at the time, I realised.

Soundwave.

Soundwave was in here somewhere too!

There was a distant horror-stricken scream, echoing and reverberating, and I choked on a breath. Gunfire followed. A series of rumbles and quakes came after. It fell still once more.

A whimper filled the air, and it took a beat to realise where the sound came from. Me.

My next breath my sniffly, and my eyes watered. It was pitch black and I couldn't tell left from right, let alone where I had come from—where the entrance had once been into this antechamber.

It was just me, I realised, not unless I found Soundwave.

It wasn't hard to connect that gunfire to MECH likely encountering the cybertronian. No one here today apart of MECH could leave alive, not when they had seen Soundwave.

Realising through my fear and tremors I could feel the Decepticon was relieving, and I hesitantly prodded at the relatively new and raw thread that led to him. Egypt and the Fallen had been only a month ago, my bonds with the Deceptions all new and unexplored. I didn't have it in me after the turbulent month to go anywhere near them yet. I had only just recovered enough for Logan to agree to let me out into the field again.

But…if there was one Decepticon I believed I could trust the most…it was Soundwave (or Knockout, but he was a doctor and really, any doctor that abided by their ethics only wore the symbols for show at the end of the day).

His attention snapped to me immediately, his presence encasing me in a way unfamiliar. Surprised at such fixation, I recoiled both physically and mentally.

He soothed and emphasized, sorry—sorry—concern—where-are-you?

I was sore, and my knee felt possibly dislocated, but in the darkness, I couldn't tell just how injured I was, worried—concerned—fear—trapped.

The response wasn't the intention, just instinct in the worried and scared haze. I can't lie about my emotions, not when my hear-spark was so entwined with others.

I-will-come—rest—injured?

Hurt—injured—dark—breathless, I returned, trying to save what air I had. I had no idea how long I could be trapped for.

We continued to converse with emotions and impressions, and I felt as Soundwave used our shared thread to navigate his way.

Impressive was an understatement. But when was something Soundwave did not impressive?

I could hear as he reached what I could only guess to be the rock barrier from the collapse and I pushed myself upwards, breathless and dizzy. Preserving oxygen was harder than it looked. I coughed as the rocks tumbled and light peaked through, threatening to blind me.

Lazerbeak chirped, crawling through that small gap and landing.

"Hey," I greeted, falling back. Sitting up required strength I did not currently possess, my head felt light and woozy.

Lazerbeak nudged my side with her beak, and I waved her off, "Nooo."

I sighed, eyes falling closed as I relaxed. I was safe.

More rocks were moved and by the pede steps, it didn't take a genius to know Soundwave had made his way into the chamber.

I squinted at all the light—it hurt after so long in darkness—that Soundwave brought with him. It dimmed when I shied away from it. I mumbled out a thank you.

Lazerbeak returned to her master's chassis, and I blinked up at Soundwave as he knelt.

I gave a thumbs up, "Thanks, you're doing me a solid."

Thank-you—grateful—relieved.

No-thanks—rest—you-are-safe.

I felt his amusement and hummed when gently, he slid his digits beneath me to scoop my form up.

"So, how's your week been?" I croaked.

His visor turned to look down at me for a moment.

"What?" I blinked, grinning, "Never heard of casual conversation?"

He just curled me close to his chassis, right above Lazerbeak. I sighed, laying limply as I listened to his and Lazerbeak's sparks harmonizing rhythm.

"Not the talkative type then?" I teased, before breaking into a coughing fit from all the disturbed dust.

Lazerbeak was more than amused by my attempts at civil conversation.

I groaned as I was roused, my chest tight and I immediately broke into a fit, gasping for air.

My flashlight gave just enough illumination to let me see before me. I nudge the stones that had settled atop of me off with a groan and slid down the mountain of loose rumble, just burying me again.

"Frag," I swore, hands trembling.

Don't think. Don't think. Don't think. Don't think.

There was movement and I screeched.

Calm-silent-quiet.

Oh.

I groaned for a different reason, slumping as I registered the grey armour before me.

Megatron.

"Bastard," I cursed and the mech snorted as he pushed himself up and out of the loose pile of rubble.

"You are the one that screamed."

"Because of you!" I snapped, glaring up at him as he sat back. He stared down at me in amusement. I hissed and crawled out of the rubble that had slipped over me again, because of all his movement.

I saw his arm move.

"Don't you fucking dare—" he picked me up anyway, "What did I just say?!"

"Hush," he brought me up and close to his chassis. The deep hum of his spark had me melting into a pile of goo. I grumbled at the disadvantage, "Your panic will do you no good. You need to preserve as much air as possible."

I exhaled, wiggling into a more comfortable position knowing he wouldn't be setting me down for a while.

"Besides," he smirked, "The Autobots hog you all to themselves."

Settling perched against his chassis, I curled up, head resting against warm metal. The hum of his spark was clearest like this. My breathing slowed.

"There we go, pet," he praised, voice a rumbling purr.

Good-good-approval.

I only hum, long since given up protesting the nickname. Where originally it had begun as derogatory, now with everything that had happened, it ran with affection. I both hated it and liked it—tolerated it rather. In the beginning, I had not taken kindly to the name. Where before it held a negative connotation, now it was…eh, not positive but I could hear the word pet without thinking of MECH and my time with them.

"You're still a bastard."

Megatron simply laughed.

He talked, about quite a few things but mostly about his space travels. It filled the quiet, his voice a baritone that, much like Optimus', was pleasant to listen to. I listened, resting and trying to save as much oxygen as possible with little speech.

But I could not stop thinking about our predicament. I shouldn't have stepped foot into the mine, even when we'd believed it to have just been us. I wouldn't be making that mistake again. I never wanted to step foot into a cave again. Two times is more than enough to learn my lesson.

"You are in your mind again, pet."

I was drawn from my thoughts, and I looked upwards.

For a moment, I thought about Egypt and the damage that had been done to his helm, about how even repaired I could make out the faint scarring. It could have been smoothed out, make to look as if it never happened. But Megatron was a proud mech, he wore his victories, even defeats, proudly. That included the wielding on his helm from where Knockout had to fix a portion of the left side of his helm.

"Just, thinking," I settled on, not wishing to discuss my cave trauma more than he probably already had the suspicion of, "You've all lived so long. In human years, you're probably not even a decade older than me. But in Cybertronian, I'm barely a sparkling."

It was weird, really. I know my age and human ageing in general was so confusing to the Autobots in the beginning. Meeting Annabella for the first, then again almost a year later had shocked them to the core. How Anna had aged so much in such a short period of time.

Megatron said nothing, his thumb stroking my back and I was thankful as he let me gather my thoughts on how exactly I wanted to word everything.

"You've all seen so much, experienced so much that humans don't get the chance to."

"You speak as if you won't get such a chance," Megatron remarked with a tilt of his helm.

I snorted, "I'm still human at the end of the day. I need oxygen, I'm organic in nature. A fall from too high up and I'd go splat."

I raised both hands, one flesh and blood, the other metal and wires. I waved the non-organic one, "I was knocked off a motorcycle and damaged my arm so badly it had to be amputated."

Truthfully at first, I hadn't believed Avan when he said it. I had thought it was to lessen my ability to escape. But when I had escaped, stealing those files as I did…it had been true. My arm had been broken in multiple places, pulled from the socket and hung loose. There had been no saving it.

Sighing, I slumped against his chassis again, "Seeing how the universe grows and changes first-hand is something humans could only dream of. We've learned a lot but seeing how it happens? We've only in recent years captured an image of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy! You could go out and get as close as safely possible!"

I knew, thanks to the All-Spark's power residing inside me, how the flow of this universe works but, there is a difference in theory and practical, as they say. I know this information, but I haven't seen it, experience it myself.

"Then, one day, we shall see to it that you do," Megatron rumbled, I blinked up at him. He vented exasperatedly, "Sometimes, you can be so oblivious."

"What?"

"All you need to do is ask," Megatron avowed, "If you wish to see the stars up close, all you need to do is say as such, pet."

He chuckled as I blinked dumbfoundedly.

"You are not a normal human, Zelda," the use of my name was rare for him, "You are our AllSpark, you are someone dear to us. You've wormed your way in," he groused lightly, and I couldn't help the snort, "But that does not take away what you have brought to us. I have not seen my subordinates so light in the spark in mega-vorns. I have not seen Soundwave so at eased since before the war began. I have you to thank for that."

I flushed, and warmth crept into my cheeks at the mention of Soundwave. Still, to know that I had supposedly done as such for the Decepticons too… it soothes that primal part of me—the part of me that is unequivocally the AllSpark is contented at that knowledge.

Was this the Megatron Optimus would tell me about? The one he had once been close with, had dared befriend and consider more?

"I'm just as glad to have met you all, despite how things have happened."

It was his turn to snort this time.

There was rumbling from where Megatron was messing with the collapsed pile of rocks. He had been slowly chipping away at it in hopes of not triggering another collapse.

Turns out it was Jack.

The air that seeped into the chamber was also great on the lungs. Thank god.

I waved at the frozen Jack.

Megatron flickered a servo, "I have no desire to cause you humans harm. Now back up, I wish to get from this mine as much as you do."

"Okay," Jack awkwardly nodded and did as such.

I pat Megatron's chassis for him to set me down, but he doesn't. The bastard.

When the Decepticon leader began moving through the mine, Jack stumbling to keep up, it was only a short while before we bumped into Arcee who instinctively aimed but Megatron, having none of that, just grabbed her arm.

"Don't even think about it," he hissed lowly, "We've all caused enough of a mess as it is."

Arcee lend back as best she could, her denta grit, her optics flickered down to me, then Jack. It was a beat before she nodded and Megatron released the blue femme.

"Find Bulkhead and his human, and then we shall be on our separate ways," Megatron waved her on.

Well, at least he was being civil?

Megatron threw Starscream through the remains of the adit and the seeker crashed into the earth, scrambling. I watched as Bulkhead and Arcee warily eyed the Decepticon duo, but Megatron honestly couldn't give a fuck.

I had long since been moved onto his shoulder and I didn't bat an eye as Starscream grovelled at Megatron's pedes. It wasn't anything new.

Whelp, it seemed I'll be staying on the Nemesis for a bit, I mused as Megatron ordered Starscream to return.

I threw a wave over my shoulder with a: "See you guys later."

Bulkhead was the only one to return the wave before Megatron was taking hold of me again and transformed around my form, shooting off.

"What the frag just happened?" Miko blinked, the rant of her missing Slash Monkey that had been on the tip of her tongue was long gone after the last twenty minutes, more than the last two hours.

"You thought Zelda was only bonded to us?" Arcee raised an optical ridge.

Well, kinda, she doesn't say but clearly, her expression did.

"It's complicated," Bulkhead shrugged, "But Zelda's safe. The only reason Megatron didn't attack or hurt us is likely Zelda. She always brings out his more rational side Optimus says."

"I mean," Jack waved a hand in the direction the trio had vanished in, "Considering what just happened, I'd call that pretty rational."

That image of seeing Zelda curled up on Megatron's hand—uh, servo? Jack really needed to get terms confirmed—all content and such gave Jack whiplash at how similar the sight was to Optimus and Zelda. Optimus, he wasn't aloof or anything, and Jack couldn't help but think the guy was more socially awkward than anything but seeing how he easily interacted with Ratchet or Zelda (sometimes even Bumblebee) was a striking difference to Jack, Miko and Raf. Maybe because they hadn't known each other very long?

But that doesn't explain Arcee and Bulkhead's more team-then-friend interactions. Maybe it was just that? Jack knew Optimus and Ratchet had long history, knew Bumblebee had been with Optimus for a lot of the war, long before Arcee and Bulkhead joined them.

Jack had overhead Zelda call Optimus dad on several occasions, jokingly or not, perhaps that was their relationship?

What sort of relationship did Zelda have with the Decepticons? How friendly were they to her? There was so much Jack didn't understand and a part of him doubts he ever will.

Actually, Jack really didn't want to spend hours thinking about this. He could just ask Arcee later.

"Let's get you both back to base," said femme abruptly changed topics, "You both need a clean. We can't have June seeing either of you like this."

Jack and Miko shared a fearful glance.