If I didn't mention it before, I'm going to have to say this story is slighty, slighty, AU. Just a little, tiny, teensy bit. Oh well...I hope you enjoy this chappie!

2. Where the Sun Doesn't Shine

Dodge ball wasn't fun anymore once fourth year started. Megatron, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Megabyte had sure had enough of it by that time. And, without them playing, the game itself soon fizzled out only to be resumed by the newest third year students at the Academy.

Fourth year was a lot more boring too. Thundercracker sighed heavily from atop the jungle gym where he was perched. Starscream was beside him, Megatron was towards the middle, and Megabyte stood at the bottom watching some of her classmates dart about the playground. "I'm bored," Thundercracker finally griped.

"I could push you off the jungle gym," Starscream remarked sarcastically, "you can tell me how bored you are after that."

"Not if I push you off first," Thundercracker snapped back.

Megatron watched a couple femmes that were sitting in the grass picking flowers and weaving them together, making crowns and necklaces to wear. "Hey guys," he said pointing to the femmes, "if you're really that bored, you could go join them."

Starscream, Thundercracker, and Megabyte all looked to the femmes and Thundercracker crinkled his nose, "Flowers make me itch." And he started climbing down from the jungle gym. However, as he went to climb down, a tiny 'blat' sound escaped from his chassis causing his cheeks to slightly flush.

Starscream burst out laughing, nearly toppling off the jungle gym as he clutched his sides, "Somebody let a little too much air through their tailpipe."

"Ah, shut up Starscream."

Megatron joined in on the laughter, taunting his friend, "Thundercracker farted!"

"Get over it!"

"You guys are disgusting," Megabyte piped up, leaning against the jungle gym, "Did any of you guys see that new movie over the summer?"

"What movie?" Thundercracker asked as he popped up beside her.

"The Guardians," Megabyte replied.

All three of them shook their heads no and the femme sighed heavily. "What happened in it?" Starscream questioned.

"Well there were these two mechs and they were knights, Alcor and Themisto. Their sworn duty was to protect the king's daughter, Chimera, from the evil king, Decimaul."

"What kind of names are those?" Starscream wondered as he yawned.

"Look, I didn't make the movie," Megabyte responded defensively, "However, Decimaul kidnaps princess Chimera and it's up to Alcor and Themisto to rescue her. And she falls in love with Alcor."

"What about Themisto?"

"He dies."

"So…why did you bring this up?"

"I was thinking we could act out the parts to keep us from being bored. Thundercracker, since your name starts with a T you can be Themisto."

"But I don't want to die!" he complained.

"Well, you don't have to die then."

"I'll be Decimaul," Starscream said, "I don't want to fall in love with you Megabyte."

Megatron groaned, "After school we'll play this again, and I get to be Decimaul."

But just as they went to play, their new teacher, Hound, called them back inside for class. Thundercracker, Starscream, Megatron, and Megabyte agreed that once school was over they would go to the park and play, and after this was agreed, they went back inside the school building to finish the school day.

Three hours later, Hound dismissed his class for the day. Students filed out of the classroom grumbling about homework, but Megatron, Thundercracker, Starscream, and Megabyte all met outside the school regardless of the assignment given to them by their teacher.

"I still get to be Decimaul," Starscream said as they walked towards the park.

"Well, as soon as I rescue Megabyte I get to be Decimaul," Megatron explained.

"Who said you would be rescuing Megabyte?" Thundercracker asked, "Themisto should get a little glory. After all, he died in the movie."

"Like we care," Megatron retorted.

And they continued arguing all the way to the park. When they got there, Megabyte sighed and said, "Whoever finds me first wins." And she ran off into the park.

Megatron, Starscream, and Thundercracker exchanged glances before they all took off running after her. Megatron watched as Megabyte ducked into a forest and kept running. The three mechs stopped at the tree line as they watched Megabyte run out of site inside the forest.

"I'm not going in there," Starscream said, "You know the stories about little mechs and femmes who go in there and never come out."

"Yeah, I heard someone went in there a couple years ago and they still haven't found them," Thundercracker said, "I'm not going in either."

"Someone's got to go in and get her," Megatron spoke.

"Maybe we should get help."

Megatron gazed into the forest, "She hasn't gone that far…I'll go in and see if I can get her to come back." And he started into the forest.

"Wait! Megatron wait!" Starscream called, "What if you don't come back?"

"Give me an hour. If neither of us are back, go get help," he said and disappeared inside the forest.

Megatron ran into the forest until he was out of hearing range of the rest of the park. He stopped and glanced around, the giant metallic trees blotted out the sunlight and it was dark. The ground beneath him was rough and uneven and worst of all, there wasn't any sign of Megabyte.

"Megabyte!" he shouted as loud as he could, "This isn't a game anymore! Megabyte! Where are you?!"

He kept running into the forest when he didn't get an answer and it wasn't long before he realized he had no idea where he was going, he had no idea which way was back…and he still had no idea where Megabyte was. Panting, he stopped again and looked around. The sun was setting and the forest was getting darker. Panicked, he shouted again, "Megabyte! Where are you?!"

Again he didn't get an answer. He whipped his head from left to right, trying in vain to spot his missing friend. "Megabyte!" he called again, fear noticeable in his voice, "Megabyte! I want to go home, this isn't funny!"

Swallowing back his fear, he took off running again but stopped after a few minutes, not because he was tired, but because he was too afraid to go any further. He went to shout Megabyte's name again but something rustled in a bush behind him. Startled, he whipped around and started backing away from the bush, his little spark racing and pounding in his chest.

"M-Megabyte?" he stammered, his voice hardly even a whisper, "Is…is that you?"

The bush stopped rustling for a moment and Megatron was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly a petro-rabbit burst out from within the bush and took off running. Megatron gasped and took a startled step back only to stumble and suddenly find himself falling briefly before he landed on his back with a hard thump. Groaning, he sat up and looked up only to see he was stuck in a pit.

"Megatron?"

Megatron looked to his right only to see Megabyte sitting against one of the walls to the pit. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he realized he wasn't alone. But his relief didn't suppress his sudden anger. "Megabyte!" he shouted even though she was less than five feet from him, "What were you thinking running into this forest! Haven't you heard the stories?"

She shook her head, Megatron saw her dark, amethyst optics were wide in fright. His temper softened a bit, "Whoever comes into this forest never comes out. And you ran straight in here!"

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, her bottom lip quivering, "I…I didn't know, I just didn't want you or Starscream or Thundercracker to catch me."

He growled and stood, "Have you tried getting out of here?"

"Yeah, but I can't. The walls are too muddy and slippery."

Megatron tried climbing out of the pit himself, but Megabyte was right. He fell back into the pit, mud and dust raining back down on him. Megabyte came over to him asking, "Are you okay?"

Megatron sat up and attempted to brush the mud and dust off him the best he could. He then glanced over at Megabyte and saw that her deep crimson and silver chassis was painted in mud and dust as well. "What are we going to do?" he asked.

She shook her head, "I don't know…I feel so bad right now. I should've never run into this stupid forest."

"I shouldn't have run after you."

"If you hadn't had…I'd be here by myself right now."

Megatron didn't say anything and sat against one of the walls in the pit. Megabyte sat and looked at him. "Looks like we're stuck here until someone finds us," he said.

Megabyte sat against the opposite wall and hugged her knees to her chest. Her face was covered in a shadow, but Megatron didn't have to see her face to know that she was crying. His temper faded away and he asked softly, in a calmer voice, "Are you okay?"

"My daddy is going to kill me," she blurted out.

"Why would he kill you?"

"Because he doesn't know where I am…and I never went home."

"He's probably worried about you. I doubt he'll kill you."

She sniffled a bit before saying, "He'll still hit me."

"Why?"

"Because I ran off."

"He's your father, he wouldn't do that."

She didn't say anything and after a while she asked, "What about your parent's?"

"I…don't have any parent's. Not anymore."

"You mean…you're an orphan?"

"Yes."

"Oh…I'm sorry I didn't—

"It's okay. My parent's died before I had the chance to get to know them. I live in a foster home now. I get kicked out from time to time because of my behavior, but so far I've been good enough to stay at the one I'm at now."

"Stay good…I don't want you to have to move."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere for a while," he grinned, "Maybe, if we're lucky, they won't find us until tomorrow sometime and we won't have to go to school."

"I don't want to be stuck in here forever," she replied, a couple tears falling from her optics, "When I first fell in here, I thought I fell into my grave."

"Well you didn't. I guess the good news is we are together."

"And we may miss school tomorrow. Think Thundercracker and Starscream went and got help?"

"I told them to if we weren't back in an hour…so I hope they did."

"Why did you come in here and look for me if you knew those stories?"

"I didn't want anything to happen to you…I didn't want to…lose you."

"Thanks," she replied, wiping her tears and smiling a bit, "Did you get hurt at all?"

"No," he answered, "What about you?"

"Not that I know of."

"Hey, since I found you does that mean I win?"

"I guess so. Thundercracker and Starscream were too chicken to come in the forest after me."

"Then I get to be Decimaul next time."

"Okay," she said as she yawned and then shivered, "It's getting late…and we don't have our homework done."

"I don't think Hound will mind when we don't show tomorrow and everyone learns we're missing."

"I hope not."

"You worry too much. One homework assignment not being done isn't going to kill you."

"Yeah but I want good grades."

"Whatever."

She didn't say anything and Megatron watched as she hugged her knees closer to her chest. She was rocking back and forth slightly, her teeth chattering quietly. Megatron glanced up out of the pit only to notice stars shining brightly above the treetops. Without the sun out, it was going to get colder, though Megatron hadn't really noticed. Megabyte on the other hand had. He crawled over to her and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her and she leaned against him.

"You could've said you were cold," he remarked.

"I didn't want to cause you anymore trouble."

"It's okay."

She was silent for a few minutes, her breathing coming in steady rhythms. After a while she said, "Alcor kills Decimaul."

"Really?"

"Yeah, after Decimaul kills Themisto."

"How do Chimera and Alcor fall in love?"

"I don't know. He rescues her and she agrees to stay with him as his mate."

"Oh."

"Alcor is kind of cute too," and she blushed after she confessed that.

"Are you saying I'm cute?"

Her blush intensified and she said quietly, "A little."

He smiled and pulled her a little closer to him. "Maybe we should try to get some recharge," he said trying to get as comfortable as he could.

"Alright…do you think any wild animals will try to get us?"

"I can stay awake if you want me to."

"No, we need recharge. We'll die together if worse comes to worst."

"We're going to be okay Megabyte," he breathed as he let his optics go offline.

She snuggled as close as she could to him before allowing her optics to go offline as well. It wasn't long before either of them fell asleep.

Megatron crinkled his nose when the sun's rays hit his face. He tried to role over, but something was on him and preventing him from moving in the direction he wanted to. Looking down, he saw Megabyte still recharging, her head across his lap and his arm around her. He shook her lightly, "Hey Megabyte, Megabyte wake up, its morning."

"Five more minutes dad."

"I'm not your dad Megabyte, come on now."

She let her optics come online and she sat up looking around, "Nobody found us yet?"

"I guess not. Looks like we're not going to school today."

"I don't feel good."

He was silent for a few moments before he added quietly, "Neither do I."

"We're going to die," Megabyte said as she leaned against the wall of the pit.

"We're not going to die."

"Maybe if we yelled somebody will hear us."

"Maybe the mud dried a little," he said as he stood. Megatron tried to climb out and slipped. He fell back into the pit. "I guess not," he groaned as he sat back up.

"You okay?" Megabyte asked.

"I'm fine. Primus we sure are muddy."

"I wouldn't mind a nice, warm bath right now."

"Neither would I," he replied as he sat down heavily.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know…"

"Are your foster parent's going to be mad at you?"

"No, I don't think so. What about your mom?"

"My mom died when I was born."

"Oh."

"My daddy blames me for her death sometimes, but it's not my fault."

"How'd she die?"

"She died giving birth to me."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. She died before I had the chance to get attached to her."

Megatron looked up at her and smiled. He went back over and sat next to her. After a few long minutes of silence, he challenged her to a game of rock, paper, scissors, but after a while they both grew bored of that. Megatron looked up at the sky and saw that it was almost noon…he then looked back to Megabyte and said, "I hope we're not stuck here another night."

"Do you think anybody is looking for us?"

"Maybe they're too afraid to come in the forest."

Megabyte sighed and curled up into a ball. She went to open her mouth and say something when suddenly a voice in the distance could be heard calling, "Megatron? Megabyte? Holler if you can here me!"

Megabyte jumped to her feet shouting, "We hear you we hear you!"

"Oh thank Primus! Alright, keep shouting okay that way I can find you!"

"We're over here!" Megatron shouted this time, "We're stuck in a pit!"

"Okay, we're coming, just hold on!"

The voice of their rescuer was getting closer and it wasn't long before the transformer found the pit, along with a few other transformers that were apparently part of the search party. A couple of the transformers leaned into the pit and lifted Megatron and Megabyte out.

"You guys okay?" another one of the transformers asked.

"I don't feel good," they both said in unison.

"Alright, let's get you two to a medical institution."

Both Megatron and Megabyte were carried out of the forest and placed in the back of an emergency transport pod which took them to the nearest medical institution. Once there, Megabyte and Megatron were cleaned up and treated for their injuries, which were minor cuts and bruises. Both of them had a fever though and were instructed to stay at the medical institution until their fevers went away. They were given rooms right next to each other, and when Megabyte was feeling a bit better, she snuck out of her room and went into Megatron's.

"Hey," she said as she climbed onto his recharge berth, "You feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling better," he answered as he made room for her.

"Want to go see if we can find where they're storing their energon-pops?"

"Later…I don't feel like getting up," he remarked and then asked, "Has your father come yet?"

"No, have your foster parents?"

"No. Do you think we have some sort of terrible disease?"

"If we do I say we go around the institution and spread it to other people."

Megatron grinned, "Later."

"You're not feeling good are you?"

"Not really."

"Oh…I'll go back to my room then and let you get some recharge."

"Don't you feel sick too?" he asked.

"Yeah but I wanted to see you."

"Stay here with me…the berth is big enough and I don't want you to leave yet."

"You sure?"

He nodded and Megabyte moved so that she was lying down beside him. He pulled the blanket over them and let his optics go offline. "I hope you feel better when you wake up," Megabyte whispered.

"You too Megabyte."

"I think its young love," said a female voice.

"Whatever it is, my daughter is a million light-years too young to be in the same berth with another mech," replied a deep, masculine voice.

"It's completely innocent."

"Regardless."

Megatron allowed his optics come on as a large transformer walked over to the bed and lifted Megabyte in his arms. Megabyte woke up when she was being moved and groaned, "No daddy, I want to stay here."

"You have to go home now."

"But I don't feel good daddy."

"You can recharge at home. I've already talked to Hound; you don't have to go to school tomorrow."

"Daddy I want to stay with Megatron."

"Let Megatron get some recharge okay? He doesn't want you around."

"Yes he does, please daddy?"

"No."

Megatron didn't hear anymore as he fell back into a recharge.

"Ouch! Damn it Medic, can't you fix me without trying to kill me?" Megatron shouted as Medic painfully replaced a wire.

"I offered to sedate you but you refused," Medic returned.

"As soon as I get my limbs back I am going to kill you."

"Then I just won't fix you then."

"Insubordinate slag heap! Repair me immediately or I'll turn Thundercracker loose on you!"

"Hey Medic," Thundercracker piped up suddenly, "Let his temper cool a bit and then you can continue working on him. Okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Medic replied and he put away his tools before disappearing from the med bay.

Megatron groaned, "Thundercracker, why'd you do that? I'm never going to be fixed now."

"Sir, your repairs can't be rushed."

"I hate being here."

"I've noticed…and I've also noticed that you've been very uptight lately."

Megatron cast a glance over at his subordinate, "What's it to you?"

"I'm just curious to know what's got you so edgy."

The Decepticon leader sighed heavily. He didn't want to talk about it, yet he didn't want to hold it in his chest forever, making it whittle away at his spark until he was no more. Offlining his optics he replied, "I can't stop thinking about her."

"Who sir?"

He hesitated, "Megabyte."

"Even after all these millions of years?"

"Well, just now she's invaded my thoughts…" he trailed off, "I want her to come back…so bad."

"She's not going to sir."

Megatron winced and put his remaining hand over his face in an effort to hide his pain. He knew he shouldn't have brought it up…and right now he really wished he had that sedative to make him sleep his pain away.

"Forgive me Megatron, I shouldn't have asked."

"I shouldn't have told."

"You can always find someone else sir."

"There's nobody else…nobody like her."

"What got you thinking about her?"

"I don't know…leave me alone Thundercracker."

"Yes sir," the mech replied and he left the room.

Megatron heaved a sigh and let his optics come back online. "I didn't want you to leave that room with me at the institution Megabyte…I wanted your father to let you stay with me. Oh I hope you didn't believe your father when he said I didn't want you around…" he thought as a numbness settled within his soul, "I'd do anything to have you around now."

Poor Megsie. Oh well...until the next chapter, please review!