The pain was searing, sweet and potent it lanced him, through and through, reverberating within his very spark. That was how he knew, when he realized that something was so very, very wrong. Instinctively, Megatron reached for the connection, the bond he shared with Orion, calling for his brother with something more than concern weighing in his mighty timber.
Orion, brother, hear me...
Over and over he called, but again and again received nothing but silence in answer to his pleas. Had it been anyone else, Megatron would have let the silence take them, let it consume them. But this, this was not anyone else. With brutal efficiency he took to the skies, leaving the Autobots-a problem for another day-tearing away from the cityscape, he headed out toward the open desert, followed the pull of where he would have thought only his spark could lead him. That is to say, until he received Starscream's transmission and the coordinates he so graciously included.
He should have expected a trap, or little better, from Starscream, and that expectation should have given him pause, should have tipped his movements with caution and care. But Megatron was a Deception through and through, more than this he was the Lord and Ruler over all Decepticons; whatever hair-brained scheme Starscream could possibly be planning, Megatron was confident he could handle it. Besides, there was more at stake here than feeble concerns about Starscream's loyalty. No, what filled every iota of Megatron's focus now was...was...
With a roar, the vibrations from Megatron' s engines ricocheted between two high mesas that stood guard over a undulating patch of desert floor. And there, there sprawled behind one of the sandy knolls was an all too familiar black and purple frame. With more haste than was safe, Megatron dove toward the ground, only pulling up with but a handful of feet to spare, just enough room to complete his transformation without colliding into the dry dirt.
"Starscream..." Each syllable grated from his vocal processor, sharp and keen edged stones. "Starscream..." He hissed, with careful steps he drew nearer to the broken frame, "What villainy is this...?" Deep wounds, spark threatening wounds, battered the darker frame that lay in the arid dirt, the stones that surrounded him were dark, stained from having quenched their thirst with energon.
The bare earth crunched beneath Megatron's armor as he moved to kneel beside Orion. "Brother...brother...I have failed you..."
It was then, as Megatron leaned forward, his fingertips reaching for the edge of Orion's chest panel to shift it back in place, to protect his spark once more, that Megatron realized what was missing, what was so terribly, terribly wrong.
The Matrix. It was gone. Gone.
Rage, cold and bitter howled through him, made him yearn to hunt out Starscream at that very moment, to rip him apart with his hands, tear him into nothingness, spill his last drop of energon and regain what he had so wrongfully taken from him.
Clang.
Just a soft sound, barely discernible; the sound of Megatron's ankle strut hitting gently against Orion's wrist that lay so limp and lifeless in the dust; it was enough to call Megatron back to his senses, made him realize that he had sprang to his peds, ready to take off, take to flight and begin the hunt for Starscream. For once, Megatron's visage softened, became so very close to tenderness. Cautious now, Megatron knelt, slipping one great arm beneath his brother's shoulders as he lifted him.
"I failed you, brother..." Megatron told Orion's stasis locked form, even as he contacted Soundwave demanding a ground bridge, "I will not fail you again..."
###
The base was quiet. The blistered, raw and exhausted kind of quiet that can only follow a great and irreparable loss. It was this quiet that chased June as she entered the base, dogging her every hollow step. Parking towards the back of the base, where her vehicle wouldn't be in the way, June couldn't help but wince at the sound of her door closing, a thunder clap in the heavy stillness. Willing her nerves to settle, she made her way to the central command center. There too the quiet reigned; there was no warm shuffle of servos and heavy metallic pedfalls, no whoosh of warm air from Ratchet's impatient-and more often than not frustrated-exvents. Just the thick, empty, dead weight of silence.
"It's been too long."
"They said to wait."
"But its been too long, already."
"All they need is time."
"I think it might be time to call Fowler, Jack."
June quickened her step as a sigh of relief slipped past her lips; to hear her son's voice here, here where it was safe, where he was safe, was a comfort beyond measure.
Unwavering her son continued in a tone that elucidated his absolute faith, trust in the Autobots, "Just a little while longer, Raf. All they need is time-Mom?" Surprise and relief likewise flooded his voice when he caught sight of his mother ascending the narrow stairway to join them on the elevated dais. Even as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug that gave her as much comfort as it did him, Jack began to bombard her with questions.
"Where are the bots? Where's Miko? Orion?"
Eagerly, Raf chimed in, " It worked right? Miko's planned worked right?"
One look, one recognition of the ghosts that veiled her gaze and Jack knew, knew that Orion and Miko would not be returning to the base...at least not yet, he told himself, not yet...but soon.
"I'm sorry boys, " June spoke, " But Miko..." Had betrayed them? Tried to deceive them? "Things didn't go according to plan..." Of one thing June was certain, no matter what Miko's motives may have been, she was not going to be the one to drive a wedge between Miko and her son, was not going to do anything to damage an already strained friendship.
"What do you mean, not according to plan?" Nervous, Raf's voice trembled.
Simple. Keep it simple, June advised herself, "Megatron showed up...and we couldn't-" Capture Orion "-Get to Orion before he slipped away from us."
Jack took a deep breath to steady himself, let himself drink in the moment, to allow himself time to accept their failed attempt. I should have been there...his mind chastised him, If only I had been there, Orion would have listened to me..."Where are the bots now?"
June couldn't deny the steely resolve that had settled into his voice; she knew her son, knew that he was bottling up his emotions, locking them away only so that he could focus everything he had upon what needed to be done next, looking for a new plan, a new approach, a new hope for another chance.
"They're all still out there trying to track Orion and Miko."
Grimly he nodded, accepting the lance of pain, the sorrow of their absence. Soon, soon they would find a way of bringing both Miko and Orion back, back home where they belonged. Yet before he could truly take solace from the still newly forming resolve, another stab of disquiet assaulted his heart, whispered to him doubts, tarnished his hopes as he thought on another who had been taken from them...
"And what about Arcee?" Jack demanded, his tone biting and keen with sadness, "Who's out looking for her? Who's tracking her?"
The sudden assault of his inquiry caught June off guard as much as the truth of Arcee's absence, the pain of her loss, accosted her heart without mercy. Though they had their differences, June missed the blue femme, ached with worry for her. "Jack...I...I don't know..." Guilt, insidious and potent slipped in, swelled within her now, bitter. They had all been so focused on Orion, on Miko, that June had never found out what, if any, plan Ratchet had to regain, to rescue Arcee. Blinking away tears, June gripped her son's shoulders, " We have not abandoned her, Jack...and I know the bots will find her..."
He willed his tense muscles to relax at his mother's touch, " I know, I know the bots will, we will...but will it be in time? Or...will it be too late?"
June shook her head, she had no answer for him and so she kept her silence; he was too old for comforting platitudes, and had more than earned the right to hear the truth. In this moment, she gave him exactly that: the truth that she didn't know what the bots were planning, didn't know if they could find Arcee, let alone save her.
"Um...Jack? Ms. Darby?" Wavering, quivering, Raf's voice called out to the mother and son. In unison they turned, looking from Raf's fearful expression to the computer screen he motioned to. There, blinking on the wide screen was a transmission signal waiting to be answered.
June moved to stand beside Raf near the railing, placing a comforting hand on the young boy's shoulder, "Is that...?"
"Yes," Jack grimly confirmed as his gaze fell upon the image that accompanied the signal, "It's from Starscream..."
"We gotta tell the bots-"
June wholeheartedly agreed with Raf, already she moved to withdraw her cell phone from her pocket, "I'll call Ratchet...Raf could you patch Ratchet into the base...maybe connect him to Starscream that way?"
Raf bobbed his head in a nod, "That shouldn't be a problem I could-"
"No." Jack halted Raf, throwing his arm across the walkway, preventing the younger boy from darting past him to retrieve his laptop, "No..." Jack's tone was sharp, firm, resolute, "Answer it...I'll talk to Starscream."
Raf's eyes widened, "But Jack...this is Starscream we're talking about..."
Similarly, June opened her mouth to voice any number of objections, but all withered to silent ash at the look her son gave her. It wasn't a harsh, or even unkind expression that had filled his gaze, no it was something else, something inexplicably more. It was a determination, a hardened and fierce loyalty that knew no limits. He would do this, could do this, for Miko...for Orion...for Arcee...
"Answer it." He repeated simply.
Confused, afraid and flustered, Raf looked to June for help, for guidance. She nodded to him, "Go, Raf...answer it."
###
Timid, Knockout watched Megatron approach, watched mutely as the Decepticon Lord entered his medical bay carrying...
"Scrap! What happened to him?"
"The same that will happen to you if you fail to restore him."
Not daring to respond, Knockout felt safer in silence as he watched Megatron lay Orion down on one of his examination tables, movements tempered with caution, with care. When the Decepticon lord turned his crimson gaze on him expectantly, only then did Knockout dare to shuffle forward, optics giving Orion-or what was left of him-a cursory scan.
"My lord Megatron, he's in deep stasis...I may not be able to repair him to a fully functioning capacity-"
"That is unacceptable."
"I'm not Primus, who can online or offline a spark at will!" Knockout sassed, "What you're asking may be impossible!"
But Megatron seemed not to hear him, or at least not entirely, "Primus...No...not Primus..." He murmured contemplatively, "Not Primus..." Leaving Knockout no explanation, Megatron turned his back on the medical officer, quitting the room only to be swallowed up by the darkness that waited beyond the doorway and in the hallways beyond.
"Ok...then..." Baffled, Knockout shrugged at one of his Vehicon attendants as he once more regarded Orion's frame. "I've got to hand it to you, Big O...when you fall, you fall hard..."
So much damage...armor blackened and burnt from plasma fire, innumerable scouring and scraps, where once glossy black and purple paint reigned, now had become faded and chipped, pealing away in fraying ribbons of metal. And to think all of this was just cosmetic work! Knockout didn't want to even begin to contemplate the internal damage. It would take countless cycles of work, and even at the end of it there was no guarantee that Knockout could, would be able to bring him out of stasis, let alone-
"My lord Megatron! What are you doing?!" Shocked, Knockout could only stumble out of Megatron's way as the Decepticon warlord thundered into the room once more, anything but empty handed. Optics aglow, they smoldered with unquenchable purple fire, resonating with the eerie light his Decepticon insignia emitted. In his fist he clutched a crystal shard, a spear of amethyst that pulsed with an unquenchable radiance. Dark Energon.
"You were right, doctor." Megatron spoke in a silky sigh, " Primus himself could not help Orion now...but Unicron can." With purposeful strides, Megatron came to stand beside Orion's unmoving form. Reverently, he lifted his free hand, let his fingertips graze the side of Orion's helm, his cheek. "I promised you brother...promised you that I would not fail you again..."
Knockout extended an arm, as if to reach out and stop Megatron, " My lord! We still do not fully understand the properties of Dark Energon! With the damage Orion has sustained, you may resurrecting him now, only to watch him offline of his wounds later!"
"No, Knockout," Megatron moved to grip the shard with both hands, positioning himself and the tip of the crystal just above Orion's chassis, " Once I infuse Orion with Dark Energon, he and I will share a bond unlike any other. Together, he and I will be an unstoppable force no bot could ever hope to overcome," A longing, fierce and deep surged within Megatron's spark, resonated within his entire frame. They would be the greatest force ever known to any Cybertronian...and they would conquer all who stood in their way and rule as gods...and no one, no one would ever be able to rob him of his brother again. They would be linked together in an unbreakable bond, would know and share the same thoughts, the same intentions...Satisfaction at such notions drove Megatron's arm down, down, down as he plunged the shard straight and unerring into Orion's bare spark.
Return to me...come back to me brother...