Authors note at the bottom. Enjoy!


Many more days had past and Rafael had since decided that he should probably create a calendar of sorts. Unfortunately, he didn't have any writing utensils, so he had to get a little more creative. Thus, using wrappers and the sharp edge of an empty soup can, he created a makeshift calendar, using tally marks sliced in the paper to count the days. So far, he had been there for about two months, maybe more, as it was not completely accurate.

In the more recent days, the boy had begun to get used to the work that Knockout would put him through, which now included buffing being added to his official list of 'chores'.

One thing that Rafael had learned during his time aboard the Nemesis was how much the mechs on the ship gossipped. It seemed that once the vehicons had gotten used to his presence, they just ignored him altogether and would talk amongst themselves. The human child usually listened in on such conversations, as they ranged over a multitude of topics. Rafael often found himself comparing the vehicons ㅡ Knockout too, now that he thought about itㅡ to many teens in his school, with how much they all talked.

Listening in on gossip was actually how Rafael was able to know about anything that happened outside of the warship ㅡ scratch that ㅡ outside of the med-bay. The drones would talk so much that every now and then the topic of the Autobots would come up.

Whenever this happened, Rafael always made an effort not to perk up or show any sign that he was listening, in fear that they'd stop talking and let the subject drop.

They often mentioned and discussed how in the past two months, the Autobots had been quite obviously restless, as they would hit many mines. Recently though, their attacks seemed to be decreasing with the little amount of success in securing energon.

The Autobots have been looking for him, that much Rafael was certain of, but he had to admit that he had been disappointed to hear that they had been slowing down in their searches. Were they giving up on him? No, they couldn't have been. They were family. Bee was family. They'd never give up on him...

'Energon! It had to be that they were running low on energon, after all, if they were hitting as many mines as the vehicons said they were, then they were using the ground bridge a lot. Maybe they just burned through so much that they now had to save their reserves, after all, it wouldn't be the first time.' The boy thought to himself as he sat on his shelf.

"What's wrong with you?" A flamboyant voice asked and Raf looked up to see Knockout staring at him from where he was in the med-bay.

"Uh, nothing..." Raf responded, a bit startled by the uncharacteristic question.

The mech, in turn, gave him a 'yeah right' look and then immediately suspected what the human was thinking about, as there has recently been a topic of gossip that's become more common than others. He sighed in annoyance and looked the boy straight in the eye. "The Autobots won't be able to get on this ship, you know. We've been spending a lot more time in spaceㅡoutside of a ground bridge range, mind youㅡso it'd have to be a pretty big coincidence for them to come aboard."

Rafael furrowed his brows. "They've gotten on the ship before though. Didn't Arcee follow after you that one time and managed to get aboard?"

"Don't get cute with me, fleshy," he countered, not willing to let his ego be hurt. "Besides, even if the Autobots managed to get aboard, what makes you think that they'll even want to take you back?"

"Huh? Wha- ... what do you mean? Of course, they'd take me back."

"Even though you're now carrying dark energon? You are directly connected with Lord Megatron, and he could find you despite whatever shielding the Autobots have over their base. When they know the truth, they'll probably stay as far away from you as they can."

"No, they won't!" The boy insisted. "They're not like that."

"Are you positive about that?"

"I-..." He trailed off. Of course he was certain, they were his family...they'd accept him without hesitation... They wouldn't care about his connection with Megatron... even if he was their mortal enemy... it's not like he'd ever purposely give the coordinates to the Autobot base. He may have only known them for ten months, but he trusted them, and they trusted him.

'And yet you still don't know the truth of their war.'

Rafael shook his head, clearing away the dark thoughts. "Of course they'd accept me."

"Riiiight,"Knockout drawled, returning to his work at the monitor. "Come talk to me about it after you've convinced yourself, first."

The boy said nothing more.


Blaring alarms and lights flashing red startled both Rafael and the vehicon he was working on, causing the child to lose his balance and fall from the chassis. The boy cried out, expecting to hit the floor and feel pain, only for him to suddenly land on soft metal instead. Looking up, he saw the vehicon he was cleaning now holding him in his servo, apparently having caught him.

As quickly as the alarms came on, they stopped.

Knockout also seemed confused, as he was looking around with an optic ridge raised in question. "Strange..." he muttered before walking over to the medical console in the room.

Rafael's attention was soon brought back to the vehicon who caught him as he felt himself being placed on the med-berth. The boy fixed his glasses before looking up at the 'Con.

"Um... thanks," he said.

"No problem, fleshy."

Raf blinked, not having expected a response. The vehicon, however, just looked to the Commanding Medical Officer, as did the other few vehicons in the med-bay, probably expecting orders.

Knockout pressed a key on the control panel. "Soundwave? Why was the alarm going off? Is something wrong?" There was silence, as expected before Rafael caught some familiar lettering appearing on the screen. Of course, the human couldn't actually read it, but at this point, he was beginning to memorize some of the glyphs. "Alright, then what am I doing, exactly? Just staying here?"

This time no glyphs appeared and the connection went blank as Knockout was cut off. The mech held an unimpressed look. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then." Rolling his optics, the flamboyant medic then turned his attention to the few vehicons in the med-bay, but before he could say anything, the doors slid open and in walked the Third in Command, silent as ever.

"Ummm, hello?" Knockout hesitantly greeted his superior, however, the silent mech just ignored him and rather made his way over to Rafael. He reached out with his long arms and, with surprising gentleness, picked up the human child. Knockout just stared for a moment, a question on the tip of his glossa, before waving his servo in dismissal. "Even if I asked I probably wouldn't get an answer."

No response... as expected.

Raf was also silent as he was carried out of the medical bay and into the halls. Soundwave seemed to be dead set on a path, but to where the child had no idea. Maybe Megatron needed him for another 'test' but couldn't come himself? No, that couldn't be it, as the 'tests' usually took place in the med-bay. So then what was -?

His thoughts were cut off when Soundwave stopped moving and stood in the hall. Confused, Raf looked up at the visor face. It was then that the boy heard the strange sound. It was quiet at first, probably why he didn't notice it at first, but the sound was getting louder. It was a humming-no-buzzing sound, like that of insects.

"Soundwave? What is that noise?" Rafael asked.

"-...Insecticon...-"Came Megatron's voice as an answer.

"Insecticon? Aren't they part of the Decepticon army?"

"-... Hmmm, I'm not quite sure. It seems plausible but as of now I can't give you a straight answer...-" A voice clip from Knockout was used this time.

Suddenly, the ship lurched violently, but luckily Soundwave was able to plant his feet and keep himself from falling over. Once more, the alarm went off and red lights began blaring throughout the ship. Regaining his balance, Soundwave quickly made his way over to the nearest console, placed Rafael down and began typing at a speed that seemed impossible for a being his size. His tentacles were released from his frame and connected to the computer terminal.

Rafael watched in fascination of the images that moved across the screen at incredible speed. 'Was Soundwave reading all of this?' Rafael glanced at the mech, who was solely focused on the terminal. 'That's amazing. The Autobots mentioned how he was practically like a walking database but to process and read all that information so quickly... no wonder the Autobots are always wary of him.'

On the screen, the images began slowing down and Rafael managed to catch sight of schematics of the ship and red glyphs in some areas, probably showing the damage. Quickly, Rafael began focusing on memorizing as much as he could, not only of the ship but of the keys that Soundwave would hit and the glyphs that would go across the screen. At one point, Soundwave's moments halted for a moment before he pressed down on a single key and live footage of outside popped up.

It showed a whole swarm of Insecticons flying around the ship, shooting at it and at the vehicons that stood upon the flight deck, who returned fire. The swarm flew by the ship and then past it, before appearing to turn around for another wave of attacks.

Soundwave then pulled up another video feed, this time showing what Rafael could only guess to be the brig of the ship, given the layout of the room. Inside, Megatron stood, his fusion canon raised at Starscream. Looking at the other three bodies in the room, Rafael had to rub his eyes and look again.

'Four Starscreams?'

Before Megatron could finish off the last, the ship rocked again, and Rafael barely managed to keep his footing this time. He felt a gentle yet firm servo come up behind him and keep him steady before following said servo up to Soundwave.

"Thank you..." The mech only returned a nod before looking back up at the control panel.

It seemed that Starscream #4 got away, as he was nowhere to be seen. Megatron, meanwhile, walked out of the brig.

.:: Soundwave::. A voice suddenly came from the tall and creepy mech and Raf immediately recognized it to belong to the warlord. .:: I am making my way toward the flight deck. The brig is secured. Return to your station and keep this ship under control::.

Without even replying, the silent mech picked up the human child carefully and began to continue on his original course. The walk was really awkward in Rafael's opinion, as the mech did nothing but stare straight ahead. The boy couldn't really tell if the mech was hurrying or not, his movements being so graceful.

Finally, they reached a large set of doors and they opened automatically. Rafael looked around, his mouth agape slightly in amazement at all of the alien technology. It was every geek and nerd's paradise. The single, and sometimes bug-filled, monitor that the Autobots had was nothing compared to all of the stuff in that room.

Soundwave made a beeline for the central console, that most likely being the main computer. Rafael was deposited at the space of the desk between the keys and the monitor itself before the silent mech began once again typing at abnormal speeds. Rafael stepped away from the screen and stood at the side of the console to get a better look. He watched mainly the live footage of the flight deck, his eyes glued to the battle. After many moments, and not long after Megatron had joined the fight, the Insecticons suddenly ceased their attacks before kneeling before the silver warlord.

Based off of the footage, Megatron was just as confused as Rafael was.

Seeing the attack outside had ceased, Soundwave looked down at the organic at his side and Rafael stared back into the black void of the mech's mask. A ping then sounded from... Soundwave before the mech's helm returned to the screen. A minute later, Knockout came through the door and went straight for his commanding officer.

"Please tell me you're not about to send me out to fight those..." he shivered. "Gastly creatures."

"-... the boy...-" came Megatron's voice from Soundwave before the mech continued looking over a long series of cybertronian text and a diagram of the ship. The threat had now past and the human child could be returned to his usual place.

Knockout seemed relieved to not be fighting the creatures he considered disgusting and picked up the boy, with none of the gentleness that Soundwave had displayed prior. He then took Rafael from the control room and walked back down the halls. As they made their way back, they were coming up on a rather large door.

Suddenly, the whole ship rocked and Knockout had to use the wall to stay supported. Then, not a moment later, heavy footsteps could be heard coming from behind the door. Knockout looked up and waited, thinking it was most likely Megatron, but at the same time wondering what would cause the mech to run.

His question was soon answered when the large door opened and a mech stepped out only to halt, resulting in both Knockout's and Raf's 'eyebrows' to shoot up.

"Raf?"

"Bulkhead?"

There he was, in all his glory, the big lug and wrecker of Team Prime with a relieved and brightened expression on his face. However, as soon as his blue optics fell on the mech holding the boy, his face hardened and his servo shifted into his signature wrecking ball.

"Let him go, 'Con, and I'll let you live."

"Ha! Are you kidding? Megatron will have my finish if I lose the squishy." Knockout claimed and proceeded to turn away and transform, having Rafael land in his front seat, the safety belts strapping him down.

"Oh no you don't!" The green mech exclaimed before transforming himself.

Despite Knockout's alt mode being faster, the entire ship was shaking and making it very difficult to grip the ground properly. Bulkhead's alt, however, enabled him an easier time with gripping and thus he was gaining on them very quickly.

"Lord Megatron! There's an Autobot on the warship and they're currently pursuing me! Oh yeah, and the human's with me." Knockout commed, making the panic very evident in his voice.

.:: Make your way to the flight deck, I will meet y-::.

Knockout's cry of pain cut off the warlord as the Aston Martin came to an abrupt stop. Raf recovered from the jerk—the seatbelt having saved him—and looked up at Bulkhead who stood in front of Knockout, his wrecking ball having come down on the hood of the sports car. With Knockout now pinned, the wrecker reached around and pulled a move from Optimus's book—by literally pulling off Knockout's car door and reaching inside for Raf.

The dull digits gently wrapped around Rafael's small form and pull him loose. When Raf's eyes finally met Bulkhead's, he hugged the mech's finger as much as he could.

Bulkhead let out a small chuckle. "Good to see you too, kid. We've all been really worried, especially 'Bee."

Raf's smile turned slightly pained. "I know. I've been repairing all the vehicons you guys have been beating up." Bulkhead gave him a confused expression and Raf returned it with a reassuring smile. "I'll explain later when we're— Bulkhead, look out!"

The mech spun around but was too slow to react to the electric prod that was suddenly shoved into his chassis. A split second later the mech was screaming in pain from the electric shocks that coursed through his systems like wildfire.

Unfortunately, when the prod was shoved into Bulkhead and began its function, Raf fell from his hands and saw the ground coming at him fast. But before he could impact it and go splat, a servo came under him and caught his body. The boy temporarily had the wind knocked out of him before recovering and looking up at his savior.

Knockout looked over the human in his servos for injuries for but a second before deeming the child fine. He then clutched the human firmly as he stepped away from the Autobot and released him from the shock hold. Bulkhead collapsed to the ground as he groaned in pain, his systems having to reboot.

Knockout plopped Rafael on the ground away from the Wrecker's reach. "Stay here, fleshy, my finish needs its revenge." He said before twirling his staff as he turned to Bulkhead.

Rafael stumbled to stand up ㅡ he was dizzy from all the abrupt moving in the past thirty seconds ㅡ but quickly snapped out of it when he saw the flamboyant medic standing over his Autobot friend. Knockout transformed the servo not holding his prod into his signature buzz saw. As Rafael saw it spin, he knew exactly what was going to happen next and his heart sank in fear.

"Knockout! Wait!"

The cherry mech hesitated just long enough for Bulkhead to recover and slam his wrecking ball into Knockout's frame, sending the mech flying past Rafael and hitting the wall.

"Knockout!" The boy yelled in alarm, unaware of his legs carrying him to the downed mech until he reached his white faceplates. The mech was contorted in pain as the impact heavily dented his chassis, more specifically the plating covering his spark chamber. "Knockout, are you alright?"

Bulkhead watched the boy, confusion covering his faceplates. "Raf, what are you doing? Get away from him!"

Rafael froze, his mind soaring a thousand thoughts a minute.

What was he doing? Knockout was the enemy. He's a Decepticon, the bots who hate his planet with a burning passion! They're evil beings who—

"Despite coming to dislike your species, I find your coexistence to be fascinating... And I am envious of that."

The memory took him by surprise when it resurfaced. He remembered seeing Megatron's calm expression when they gazed out of the window at Earth, not a trace of hatred to be found in his crimson optics.

"...I was of the lowest caste. A slave of a single master."

"I spoke of our ideals of equality and the benefits that would come from a society not separated by Castes and unjustified prejudice... the council did not listen... they waved me off."

The Cybertronian caste system, the whole reason this war had begun in the first place. Such injustice in the government, truly meaning a corrupt ruling. Nobels, commoners, and slaves were what their society was divided into, but for how long? How had such a system come to last for so long? Was there another system before it? What was Cybertron like before its 'Golden Age'? Based on that kind of idea of government, and comparing it to past human societies, maybe... maybe Megatron's intentions really were once noble and true. That was a possibility he was willing to admit.

"...it was only when Orion spoke up did they finally listen."

"... It was the fact that he was from the high caste that they listened to him and not a worthless slave as I was..."

But to the Caste system, it didn't matter, did it? They didn't care about honest intentions, only what one's social standing was. So if two people were to appear before them, one a gladiator and the other a 'pure-blood' Nobel, it was easy to predict who they would be inclined to listen to more.

And yet...

"The council did not actually care for what Orion was saying, rather, they saw an opportunity to turn the naive mech he was against the revolution... They wanted to control Orion, use him as a face to sway the public against the revolution..."

Becoming a Prime would do just that, wouldn't it? It would have been a brilliant scheme conducted by the council. Was that why Megatron hated Optimus so much? Because he accepted the title of Prime and was swayed against the revolution? Was that how the Autobots came to be?

"... Orion only watched and did not bother to aid me, so I turned and swore to bring down the council, no matter the cost."

Raf was missing something, something vital. There was such a large gap of information unknown to him. What happened after the council? Did they never try to contact each other again? What happened before Orion became Optimus?

His thoughts were quickly interrupted when claws seized around him and he found himself being held securely against Knockout's chest, as the mech was now sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

"Stay back, Autobot!" Knockout growled ㅡ now beyond annoyed at his paint being dented and scratched as much as it was ㅡ as he held out his energon prod threatingly, or at least, as threateningly as he could given his position. He was a scientist, a medic, not a warrior, but he'll be in even deeper scrap if he ran away from this fight... being the only ship's medic could just save him so many times. "...Or I will squish the human." He said emphasizing his point by applying pressure to Raf's body, but not very much.

Bulkhead did hesitate but he did not make any move to back down. "Give the kid to me and I'll let you live another day." He threatened, his face turning to anger, worried for the safety of the Autobot's youngest human ally.

"Did the Autobots ever tell you the details of this 'inequality'?... what kind of leaders we had?... what truly made me turn against one whom I considered brother?"

Raf looked at Bulkhead, his brows furrowing subtly as he studied the Wrecker.

In all the time since he had known them, the Autobots hardly ever talked of what transpired before the war. They only repeated that Cybertron was once beautiful and filled with life. Bumblebee was too young to have remembered a time before violence, so Raf could never blame him for not speaking of it, but according to Jack and Miko, Arcee and Bulkhead didn't talk much either. And Ratchet, a mech who had always expressed such fondness over the planet, hardly gave any details and would just say that it was none of their concern. And Optimus... Optimus always avoided the topic or gave some sort of excuse.

The boy's intelligent mind craved for more knowledge, for the answers to his questions, and although he trusted the Autobots with his life, he knew that they would not give such explanations. Rafael refused to be naïve in the war, a war that had already consumed Cybertron and who knows how many others. A war that had now come to Earth. His very own planet.

...there's not really a 'good' and 'evil' side in a war, no matter the species... Those were his thoughts at the time, he remembered.

Megatron had been the mech who ㅡ willingly ㅡ shared the most information, so far, at least. It wasn't a crime to want to know more about cybertronain history, and if Rafael was to be honest with himself, he had always been curious about all things cybertronian since the day he first laid eyes on one. An entire species of sentient robotic organisms, who had a history, a government, languages, customs, and science that was so similar to humans yet completely different.

And now, he had a chance to learn about those topics. History of their planet, the science of their biology, and even bits of their dialect from just observing were things that he learned during the two months he had been on the warship. All things that the Autobots did not wish to share even with the kids they had let into their sparks.

Rafael had questions... and he needed answers.

And the only ones he knew would give him answers were, unfortunately, the Decepticons. He... he couldn't believe the Autobots to be truthful to him any longer, not when he would now be doubting everything that they'd tell him.

Rafael felt a pang of guilt at the thought.

Distrust and doubt. It only took two months of living with the Decepticons for him to associate those words with the Autobots, and Rafael felt shamed that his trust in his family had wavered so easily.

In his silence and deep thought, Rafael finally took notice of the familiar presence that prodded the Dark Energon coursing through him. Megatron was making his way toward them. Infact, he was getting very close in a very short amount of time.

"Bulkhead... you have to run."

The mech looked at the boy, stuttering. "But I can't just leave you with the 'Cons!"

"I-I'll be fine, I promise," he said, giving him a strained and desperate smile. He knew that he probably wasn't looking very convincing, being held in the claws of a Decepticon. "But your window of escape is closing, fast, especially with Megatron on his way here."

When Knockout heard this, he let a smirk creep along his face ㅡ albeit somewhat pained ㅡ as he stood. He still kept Rafael close to him and the sparking prod aimed at Bulkhead. "You heard what the kid said, so just run along back to your beloved Prime, Autobot."

Bulkhead growled, not wanting to risk hurting Rafael should he attack, and for a moment, the kid-genius thought that he wasn't going to listen. At least, that was the case until they heard heavy pedesteps quickly becoming louder.

They all knew that there was only one mech on that entire ship who could make such loud pede falls.

Bulkhead was only allowed a moment to look at Rafael one last time, for when he transformed into his alt, Megatron came screeching around the corner. The warlord raised his weapon and fired but the rocking ship made it difficult to aim, thus resulting in his shot to be off course. Bulkhead had already taken this opportunity and gunned it down the hall and out of view.

Knockout's tenseness immediately vanished and he retracted his weapon. The medic then leaned against the wall, using it for support to stand up among the tremors. The boy in his servo looked down the direction Bulkhead had disappeared with a saddened expression.

He hoped he made the right choice.

Megatron lowered his arm and scanned the hallway before looking over at the medic and human. He managed to keep himself standing up straight despite the shaking.

"The Autobot is no longer of importance at the moment. Take the human back to the medical bay and prepare for an emergency landing." He ordered before making his way ㅡ with some difficulty due to the tremors ㅡ toward the direction Knockout had just run from. Rafael suspected that he was heading toward the brig.

Knockout huffed before picking up his arm door and slowly heading back toward the medical bay, using the wall to stabilize himself. The doors slid open and Knockout stumbled inside, Rafael still in his servo. At this point, the human child was already feeling the sickness in his stomach. Rafael looked at the shelf he had been living on and noticed how most of his items had fallen off and became a pile of broken things on the floor much below.

The red lights still flashed throughout the ship and that, along with the constant shaking, was making Rafael more nauseous by the minute. Still in Knockout's grip, he focused solely on trying not to empty out his stomach's contents all over the mech.

"Attention crew!" Megatron's voice thundered throughout the ship. "Prepare for emergency landing."

Knockout moved as swiftly as he could over to the nearest medical berth and used it to brace himself. Not a moment later, the entire ship lurched and shook even more violently than ever. Then, after a moment, it all stopped.

Knockout, who had been clutching Rafael securely, looked up and around the med bay.

The place wasn't as messy as one would think after experiencing a crashing ship. However, due to the fact that the med bay was located on the ship in the first place meant that most things were already secure in case of an emergency, such as the one that just occurred. Some equipment had unfortunately fallen to the ground but nothing fragile or important was broken.

The medic sighed in relief now that the chaos was over with. He put the boy down on the metal berth before stretching and popping his joints. He then looked down at his frame and growled.

"Accursed Autobots... no respect for the paint whatsoever," he grumbled to himself before a small groan returned his attention to the human child who was kneeled over and shaking. His breathing was slowed down as he tried to settle his racing heart and throbbing head.

"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting you to tell the big lug to leave. I thought you'd all be for him pounding me to scrap and taking you back to the Autobots."

Once he finished composing himself, Raf adjusted his glasses and looked up at the white face plates of the medic. "B-Bulkhead would only get himself captured... o-or worse if he stayed to help me."

"Sure. Like that wasn't the only reason. Don't think I didn't notice your hesitation earlier, or when you screamed my name and ran to me." He smirked, his optics glinting with something Rafael couldn't place. "I may have been slightly dazed but I wasn't knocked into stasis, squishy. It's touching to know how much you care."

Rafael winced at the sarcasm.

"I-I don't..." he said meekly.

"Careful, little human, your Decepticon side is showing..." the medic teased.

"I'm not a 'Con!" He protested but Rafael's words fell on deaf receptors, as Knockout just waved him off, his smirk remaining as he moved over to his buffer shelf.

Rafael watched him before his eyes fell on his hands.

He only wanted information, so he told Bulkhead to run and save himself. Bulkhead wouldn't stand a chance against both Megatron and Knockout, they both knew that. Plus, Rafael had unfinished business, unanswered questions.

He looked over at Knockout once more, who had begun his self-repairs.

He'd never join the Decepticons, that he swore with his very life, so... it wasn't like he was betraying the Autobots by wanting answers...

... right?


(A/N) Hey, ya'll! Thanks so much for all the positive reviews, they always put a smile on my face. This chapter here is my longest yet and we start to see Rafael's opinions changing from forced perspective. I always felt like Rafael was smarter than he let on, so I'm trying to convey that in this story. Remember, I'm writing a non-canon AU, so that means that I don't know how the characters would really act in such positions, but I'm trying not to make them appear too 'OOC'.

Also, as this story continues, please keep in mind the time frames and the fact that little things will happen in between time jumps, such as relationship building. I will sometimes write the small interactions and try not to speed up this story, but I can't write every single day of Raf's time on the Nemesis. Trust me, I don't want to have a story with really fast pacing, so if I seem to be heading that direction, please let me know.

One last thing: This story is now on Wattpad. So you can now read it there as well.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see ya next time!