Hey, everyone! I'm not dead! Sorry for the late update but OMGOSH college finals killed me to the point I could hardly work on this story! But everything is fine now until summer ends. I really need to make an effort to wrap up this fic…
Anyway, I hope you all will enjoy this!
Optimus gaze hasn't left Megatron's. For the time the two known each other, the Prime has never seen immense shame in the Warlord's eyes, but still kept his helm high for requiring assistance. It does beg the question, "What happened?" from the Autobot leader, stemmed from genuine concern than nosy curiosity.
Megatron grunts either not in the mood to be interrogated, or from the burning pain residing in his back where Airachnid shot him. Human flesh and clothing fabric basically eviscerated, leaving the metallic underskin exposed and damaged. Thankfully, it's not fatal, it just hurts. Face to face with Optimus, neither he or his team can see the wound. "My ship and crew were under attack. And now Airachnid has the Nemesis under her control."
"Airachnid?" Arcee questions.
Megatron gave a curt nod. "She regained control of the Insecticons on my ship. She would have been disposed of easily if it weren't for that accursed Silas."
"You were forced to flee then," Optimus states, seeing that to be the conclusion.
"Retreating was not my intentions; I planned to exterminate all that opposed me right then and there. Alas, their sheer force and strength overpowered all of us." One look at the battered Decepticons supported that statement. "And that brings us to our current situation."
The Prime didn't expect the situation to be this dire. The Nemesis wasn't just a warship; it was the Decepticons only home. Without it, they're stranded. "You seek refuge." Optimus acknowledged.
"Temporarily. I plan to take back my ship and permanently offline Airachnid and Silas once and for all afterward."
"How are you going to do that? It will be the entire ship of insecticons and Silas you'll have to face again, and that didn't end well the first time," commented Bulkhead. It was a very blunt thing to say, nonetheless, there's truth in the words.
Even Optimus agrees. "Megatron," he starts, "Since Airachnid and Silas prove to be a greater threat to both parties, it will benefit the both of us if we unite together against a common foe."
"Us, working with you? Don't be absurd!" Starscream butts in as if he pertains any relevance to the situation.
"Starscream, did I ask for your input?" The warlord snarled, turning to the SIC, frankly not in the mood for any nonsense. "Do you really want to start running your voice box now?"
Starscream can sense the hostilities, so he decides to close his mouth.
After that prep talk, Megatron resumes his gaze with Optimus. "Very well. A truce between the Decepticons and the Autobots."
Now that everyone seems all buddy-buddy, Bulkhead asks, "So, on the side note, where are they going to stay?"
"At the base." Optimus simply answers. He expected the collection of shocked reactions such as, "What", and "Are you serious?".
"Uh, you know that they are Decepticons, right? Meaning, we don't want all of them in the comfort of our H.Q." Smokescreen reminded the Prime as if he didn't know.
"It won't be permanent," Optimus assures, understanding the uneasiness of their enemies staying at the base. "I'll contact Agent Fowler to arrange a place for them to reside. Until then, they will remain under constant surveillance."
"Does anyone else have a bad feeling bout this?" Bumblebee nods at Smokescreen in agreement.
"Ratchet," Optimus puts a finger on his comm link, "we're returning back with the Decepticons in our custody."
… … … … … … … … … … …
At the comms, Ratchet was receiving the most surprising request. "Which Decepticons are we talking about?" There was a pause. "ALL OF THEM?! Well, that may not include the entire Vehicon army, but you're insisting that Megatron and his generals come here? That might as well be his entire army! How bad are their injuries? Fine."
"So I'm guessing we need chairs for our guest?" Blaster, standing only a few feet away from the terminals could hear the conversation loud and clear.
"Attached with restraint would be nice." Ratchet mumbles, preparing to open up a groundbridge. "We need to stay on our guards at all times while they're here."
Ratchet didn't want to know the chaos that can ensue when he opens the portal, but there's not really much of a choice otherwise. All that can be done is praying for the best after the groundbridge roared to life, bringing back both Decepticons and Autobots.
Megatron didn't expect to once again waltz into the Autobot base. While his malevolent mind still spins under the terms of the truce of destroying the base from the inside out, there is a time and place for everything, and the Autobots' destruction can wait.
"So this is the Autobot base…charming." Although, Starscream's mind never takes a break when it comes to opportunities, even if the chance of success is lower than his good morals
"Don't get any funny ideas, Starscream." Arcee pressed the barrel of her gun against Starscream's back. To be honest, Arcee is waiting for any type of excuses to shoot the guy in the back.
"Optimus," The Autobot leader looks up the medic, seeing his face covered in concerned, "I don't mean to question your judgment, but it is truly wise to bring the Decepticons here?"
"It is only temporary," Optimus addresses, stepping towards the medic, "They are a little threat in their conditions and it is in their best interest to cooperate with us given the circumstances." It doesn't take a medical degree to tell that much, Ratchet thought.
"If the circumstance is related to what caused their injuries, then I assume it is a dire one." Ratchet concluded. While he was curious, it was better to ask questions later.
"Which is exactly why I need to contact Agent Fowler on the matter. For the meantime, Autobots and Decepticons are on the same team."
"Yoohoo," Knock Out interrupts, cutting to the chase, " is there a place of decent medical care or not? I have patients to treat."
If Ratchet has to treat these Cons as part of the team, then someone is going to have a wretch to the helm if their manners don't shape up. Nonetheless, it does look like medical treatment is needed. "Right this way." The medic grumbles, leading them to the med bay. Thankfully, Ratchet planned ahead and got Blaster to retrieve human sized medical stretchers from storage for the Cons to either sit or lay on.
Optimus orders the rest of the Autobots to remain vigilant of their guest before making his way to the terminals to contact agent Fowler.
Meanwhile, Blaster calls over Jazz, asking about what happened.
"It's a fine mess the Cons got themselves into." Jazz started with a shrug, "Turns out Silas and Airachnid teamed up and bested Megatron and his crew from their own ship."
"Yikes." No other word was more suited for that response other than, "dang", or, "that sucks", which was two words.
"You're telling me. Say, where's the shortys?" It is a rare sight to see a deployer without the deployees.
"The minicons? Went to put Laserbeak in his pj's since the kid was falling asleep. They took Dave along since they refused to change his diaper." Blaster chuckled at that last part.
"I thought the kid was being potty trained by Arcee and June."
"Correction: Still in training."
Well, that figures. Taking another look, Jazz noticed another absent bot. "Did Wheeljack go with them?"
Blaster shook his head. "Nah. Mech went off in his ship. Probably to cool down. It might be wise for someone to inform him about the Decepticons in the base so he doesn't shoot them when he returns."
"Considering that he would want to return after hearing that. He might still have a feud with Soundwave and we don't want a brawl breaking out." Jazz brings up a good point.
"After a night like this, I don't think anyone has the energy to fight." The duo turns their heads towards the med bay after hearing complaints courtesy of Knock Out. "Except Ratchet. Blaster corrected.
"This is all the medical supplies and tools you have?" Knock Out picks up what he dubs, a sorry excuse for a wielder, even though it's in fine condition, "It's a miracle that none of you Autobots broke down yet. Just how am I supposed to manage with these?"
"Without any complaints and crying about what's given to you. Unless there is a dire emergency, these tools will suffice. Now are you going to tend to the patients or will I be doing all of the work?" Ratchet is not afraid to kick the other medic out. If Knock Out is worth his salt, then he'll have no problem with handling repairs.
"Hmph…" The vain medic huffs. He supposes that he could be working with worse tools. Besides, the more time he spends complaining, the more impatient and irritated Megatron will be and that will not end well for anybody. Which is why Knock Out made it a priority to tend to his leader first. As long as Breakdown, Soundwave, or even Starscream isn't bleeding to death, then they can wait.
"One of Cybertron's famous singer sucks at singing lullabies." Rewind made public of Rosanna's irony. They and Dave were walking out of the hallways to the main room.
The pink femme folds her arms defensively. "The kid's asleep, isn't he? Besides, I don't do slow songs. If you are complaining about it so much, then why don't you-"
Since the med bay is located right outside of the end of the hallway, the minicons and Dave are able to see the Cons and vice versa. This ended the conversation rather abruptly, especially when Megatron spotted Dave in the group. Needlessly to saw, just his general glance is quite intimidating, even if he's being patched up.
The Warlord spoke on the matter, "Dare I ask why is one of my Vehicons is in your base?" Megatron is not in the mood for any surprises. While he isn't necessarily shocked, there's no logical answer he could come up for this.
"We found him in Brazil. I think one of your lieutenants forgot to do a roll call." Came Arcee's sarcastic response.
"I thought you said he was dead." Megatron turns back to Knock Out who is currently tying up his bandage wrap.
"We couldn't find him. There was a lot of people and we were injured so we assumed the worst." Knock Out simply stated.
It's not like Megatron cares for the life of a single Vehicon, however, he never expected on to be in the Autobot's HQ where he could have been easily tortured for information. By the looks of it, it appears to be the opposite since the Vehicon looks fine.
Before he could think of a plausible reason an Autobot would keep a lowly drone alive, the Autobot leader himself approaches. "Megatron, are you well enough to discuss important matters?"
"Indeed." While Knock out would advise against Megatron even standing up, it was already too late as he watching his leader do just that. Both leaders headed to another part of the room where no one can overhear them.
"There is much to discuss our plan of actions, and the matter of your accommodations. Before that, I like you to know that we have Laserbeak in our custody."
Laserbeak is in the base? The next thing Megatron expects is Skyquake wandering the base in a few minutes. Megatron's eyes narrowed, trying to pierce through the lie. "That's impossible. He was offlined by MECH."
"Gravely injured, but not offlined," Optimus softly correct, "My team infiltrated their base and found him. We didn't recognize him right away, and since he was amnesic, as such, we couldn't identify him at the time. He's been in our care ever since."
"You haven't tried to siphon information out of him?"
"The only information we asked of him are about the events that transpired leading to his capture by MECH. I have no intention of interrogating the innocent for personal gain, not like this..."
Soft as usual. Although, Megatron should consider himself lucky that the Autobots haven't tried to get any sensitive information from Laserbeak. On the other hand, the Prime could be lying about the claim. The other may not be a Decepticon, but they are enemies. "Before this conversation can go any further, I would need to see the child for myself."
Figures Megatron wouldn't take the Prime's word for it. Nonetheless, Optimus doesn't have anything to hide and will permit the request. He only feels bad that Laserbeak's sleep with has to be interrupted. On the Prime's orders, Jazz was sent to retrieve the child.
In the meantime, the rest of the Decepticon are. patched up. Ratchet still has his sanity after dealing with Knock Out's complaints. Yet, the red medic is still not finished with everything. He approaches Soundwave's cot, "Soundwave, I need to you handover your visor for repairs."
The silent mech, having a cast on his arm, doesn't make any notions to comply with the order.
Knock Out frowns. "... Right." He turns to Ratchet, "Soundwave needs a more private area so I can work on repairing his visor."
"Why can't you do it out here?" The Autobot medic wonders.
"Soundwave's eyes are very sensitive to light and I do not have a pair of shades on my person at the moment. And seeing it's brighter than the sun in here..." Knock Out's eyes barely adjusted to the immense difference in lighting when he stepped into the base earlier.
"Sorry if we don't keep the place dark like a haunted house. Some of us like to see where we are going." Arcee remarked.
"That still doesn't answer the question." Ratchet continued. If that's the case, then the lights can be dimmed. As long as there is enough light to see everyone that is.
"Just take my word and leave it at that. He doesn't need an audience to see him in a state of vulnerability where he has to keep his eyes closed until his visor is fixed. Honestly, I don't like the crowd in here either." Knock Out answered rather annoyed.
"And we have to make sure you don't do anything funny." Bulkhead huffs, taking a step forward.
Knock Out places a hand on his waist and makes the most deadpanned expression. "Does it look like I want to make a joke?"
This question was really hard for Bulkhead to answer. "Uh… No?" He guessed, looking pretty dumb in front of his arch nemesis Breakdown. If it weren't for the injuries from fighting, Breakdown would have added a snide remark.
"Then at least respect my patient's privacy and move your surveillance somewhere else. If that means those have to move, so be it. Just watch them from that couch or something." Knock Out picks a random spot in the base he could see and points. "There's too much of a crowd here anyway."
"I have to agree with Knock Out. Since no one else is in need of further repairs, I suggest moving them over there for now." Rachet points to the kids' area as well. At least with a tv, they should keep preoccupied until further orders. Knock Out pulls open the privacy curtain over Soundwave's area so no one would be able to see him without his visor. Well, unless you're a tall bot, but considering there's like 3 in total, Soundwave doesn't have to worry about anyone looking over the curtains.
"You heard him, move," Arcee commands. Breakdown, not wanting to cause conflict by resisting, got up and started walking. At least there's a tv to look forward to. Starscream, on the other hand, wasn't so cooperative.
"We're not prisoners. I demand to be treated with more respect."
"We may not be enemies now, but that doesn't mean we can exactly put behind all the things you did to us." Arcee reminds Starscream of his sins.
Although, that didn't seem to bother him at all. He shrugs it off with a tiresome sigh. "You still have a grudge? Shouldn't you put your resentment towards better use?" Starscream sneers.
This made Arcee's hand curl into a first. "I can think of plenty right now." And within a second, her fist made contact with the man's face. She would have done more if Bumblebee didn't restrain her.
"Arcee, you can't hurt him! Well, you can't hurt him now." Even though the scout doesn't disagree that Starscream deserved it, any acts of aggression towards the Con may not end well. Fortunately, none of the Cons really seem agitated, minus Starscream himself. Looking around, Starscream is highly offended by the lack of action to his aid.
"How could you stand there and not help me?!" He first accuses Breakdown since he's the closest to Arcee to at least hit her or something.
Breakdown has a brief flash back when MECH took him captive… Yeah, there's no way Breakdown would defend Starscream after the Seeker never let the mech live down being captured by MECH. Therefore, he formulates a perfect excuse, "My body still hurts. A lot. Ow, there goes my arm." The acting wasn't great though.
The Seeker snaps his head towards the med bay, primarily Knock Out. "Doctor?"
"Is your nose bleeding?"
Starscream checks. No Blood. "No."
"Then you're fine." Knock Out dismissed. As long as Arcee didn't make his life hard by causing a medical emergency, he couldn't care less. Afterall, Knock Out didn't forget the time when Starscream purposely mutilated his finish as punishment for going street racing. So, karma is nice.
Starscream frowns, grasping at straws as he tries again, this time, looking at the sealed-off area where the TIC is stationed in. "Soundwave?"
Soundwave's visor is still functional enough to give a staticity response, "Didn't see it." Oh, the irony. The mech had to handover the damaged visor afterward when Knock Out's hand reaches for it though a small opening in the curtains. Considering that Soundwave has so many incriminating evidence of Starscream being Starscream- you know, pathetic plots to overthrow Megatron and take over the Decepticons- he is not going to defend the coward.
The Autobots may not know the Decepticons relationships, but it didn't take a scientist to know that Starscream is not well liked in the group. It was actually pretty funny in a terrible way.
Meanwhile, Jazz walks past the crime scene that no one cared about, carrying a rather exhausted Laserbeak in his arms. They didn't notice him holding the child, mostly because he zoomed right past them. "Yeah yeah, little guy. I wouldn't like being woken up from my sleep either. I know you're cranky, but bear with me." He speaks softly, but it didn't seem the sparkling was listening anyway as his eyes became shut again. "And there you go… C'mon, wake up, your leader wants to see you."
With a groan, Laserbeak opens his eyes again, "Megatron here?" He hoped it was a bad dream because he does not want to see Megatron… at least not until the morning. Actually, thinking about it logically, what is Megatron doing at an Autobot base anyway? Before he could ponder the idea, said Warlord is staring down on his small frame.
"That is Lord Megatron," Megatron corrects firmly. "Laserbeak, you know that you are obligated to tell me the entire truth. Did you release any information to the Autobots? Interrogated or not?"
"None." Laserbeak yawns, not exactly alert enough to maintain eye contact.
"Look at me when I speak to you, child. It's already disgraceful that you were presumed dead only to find out you were in Autobot care. I do not have tolerance for any more of your failures."
"S-sorry..." The sparkling slinked into Jazz's arms.
Jazz, without a thought, steps in, "Woah, Megatron, chill. The kid is already under stress. He was practically dying not too long ago."
Megatron shifts his attention on Jazz, who shouldn't be talking in the first place. "That doesn't matter. Laserbeak is one of my members and he will be treated as such, sparkling or not." He stated while Laserbeak buries his head in Jazz's chest, whimpering softly. This didn't make the warlord any happier to see such cowardliness.
Luckily, Optimus knew this is enough and decide to change the topic. "On to more important matters, now that you see Laserbeak is well, it is time to talk about what's next. After All, you do want to regain control of your vessel and defeat Airachnid and Silas?"
Jazz walks away from earshot of Megatron so he could say this to Laserbeak, "It's alright now. Don't pay mind to him. He's just cranky because someone took his toys." He comforts the child, who apparently fell asleep. "You must be exhausted."
"So, I take it that Megatron board the kid to sleep?" Eject asked seeing his techno-organic friend walking away from Optimus and Megatron.
"Man, I wish… Lord not-buckethead-anymore didn't seem too thrilled to see this kid alive." Jazz explained with a frown. "Seriously, I know he's a Con and all, but talk about rude."
"Figures he can't be nice to a sparkling." Blaster remarked and then thought of someone who may be happy to see Laserbeak. "Hey Jazz, if you don't mind doing one more thing."
After getting the request, Jazz heads over to the med bay. "Knock knock. I got a delivery for a patient?"
Knock Out, shocked, nearly dropped SW's visor in the midst of repairing it upon seeing Laserbeak. "He's alive?" the medic sets down the visor on a table. "How is this possible?"
"Long story. But a minicon belongs to his deployer right?" So, with that, Jazz handed over the sleeping child to Knock Out.
"Soundwave." Knock Out then called, partially parting to curtains. Soundwave turns his head, eyes closed, expecting a repaired visor to be handed to him. "It's not a visor." Instead, there was something much heavier placed in his arms. Without sight, Soundwave knew what he was holding, but couldn't believe it. The medic steps out to give the TIC some privacy.
Soundwave halfway opened one of his eyes for a peak and sees that his intuition was right: Laserbeak in his arms. It seemed that at the same time, the sparkling sleepily opened his eyes as well. He could barely keep them open as his tiredness prevented them so. He yawns, shifting in his deployer's arms, "Nigh' Sire…" and drifted off to sleep.
It was as if Laserbeak never left Soundwave's sight; never experienced all of the bad things MECH down to him- he looks content, unharmed.
The mech couldn't believe he's holding his minicon once again. He was overfilled with relief. He hugs the sparkling close to his chest, not wanting him to leave his arms ever again. It's a good thing that the curtains are there so others wouldn't see the TIC being affectionate, but at the moment, he doesn't care if the entire base saw him.
"Goodnight, Laserbeak." whispered Soundwave in a voice he thought he would never use again.
Based on these reviews that I slacked off of reading for a little bit (again, so sorry), everyone wanted Laserbeak to be united with Soundy again~ I hope everyone enjoyed that little reunion. The chapter was actually gonna be longer, but I'm trying to keep these chapters at a good length.
Autobots and the Decepticons uniting against a common foe? If that isn't exciting, then I don't know what is. Now, they just need a plan and hopefully, everyone is gonna live.
Yeah, so this chapter serves as a transition of what's going to happen next, so pardon the slight dullness. Next chapter will have more Con/Bot interactions as well seeing what Airachnid is planning~
Welp, until next time! Amia out.
