I do believe this story is going to get darker now (after all, this is Megatron's past we're talking about). And I think I may have to bump up the rating to M at some point, we'll see. Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who read/reviewed the last one!

3. Trons and Bytes

He had promised her that he wasn't going to go anywhere, and he had implied that he would stay around for her because she didn't want him to move. He didn't promise he would be good though, and it was a good thing he hadn't promised that because he got in trouble. Megatron glanced out the window of the transport pod upon Cybertron. He was going back to the orphanage and back to his old school…his foster parents didn't want to have to deal with him anymore. He wasn't exactly sure what he had done wrong...all he had done was walk into a room and saw his surrogate father in his recharge berth with another femme other than his mate. He didn't understand. He only hoped that Megabyte would when he didn't show up for school when fifth year started.

Megatron sighed heavily as he gazed up at the ceiling. Medic had just told him his armor was so unique that he couldn't make anything like it and that somehow they would have to get their hands on an energon bath. It wasn't the best of news, but it wasn't the worst of news either. It meant that he could be repaired; it just meant his repairs were going to take longer. He hated waiting, he hated waiting so much. But that wasn't the only news that Medic had confronted him with. Medic said he had hired an assistant to help take care of him - the fallen Decepticon leader - while he worked on finding an energon bath. The assistant was in another solar system and would be arriving within the next week to two weeks.

He hated how he was missing an arm and a leg. Of course he came out of the attack with his life, but he didn't care for the circumstances he was in now. It was the least bit flattering. He was immobile, sentenced to rot away while thinking of an old friend. He smirked bitterly. That was how Thundercracker had put it wasn't it? Megabyte as an old friend. Megatron knew better than that…of course Thundercracker probably didn't understand the full level of their relationship. She was the greatest friends he had ever had…but he ruined their friendship forever.

Two years. He was gone all of fifth year and sixth year before he was adopted again and transferred back to Megabyte, Starscream, and Thundercracker's Academy. Megabyte gave him a crushing hug when he showed up out of the blue and walked through the Academy doors. Starscream and Thundercracker just gave him surprised looks. They all looked different now; taller, Starscream and Thundercracker's voices were slightly deeper. Megabyte's wasn't as whiney and sounded more mature. They had changed, but then again, so hadn't he.

"Where have you been?" Megabyte asked.

Megatron shot wary glances at Starscream and Thundercracker before he looked back to Megabyte and said, "I was transferred to another school and then my family moved back here."

Megabyte's optics widened slightly and she nodded, understanding what he meant. Starscream crossed his arms and gave him an almost disapproving look, "You've missed a lot."

"It's not my fault," Megatron remarked defensively, "What's happened?"

Thundercracker gestured over to a couple bots holding hands and talking with their friends. "That," said the blue mech.

"Optimus and Elita?" the young mech almost gagged, "I didn't need to see that."

Starscream shrugged, "You shouldn't have looked then."

Megatron glared at him. Something had happened in the last two years that caused Starscream to have an attitude change. Starscream reminded him of a pet…of an organic creature called a dog. Slobbering, sniveling, and pissing on what he marked as his territory. Megatron figured that after he had left, Starscream had taken over and now that he was back, his territory was being infringed upon. Megabyte automatically read Megatron's anger.

"Hey Starscream, cool it okay? He just got back," she said in his defense.

Starscream shrugged, "I wasn't trying to be mean."

Megabyte shook her head and looked to Megatron. "What's your schedule?" she asked.

Now that they were in junior high, they didn't have one teacher all day long anymore. Instead, they switched classes and had a different teacher for every class. Megatron stared down at the data pad in his hand, "I got Cybertronian history first."

Megabyte grinned, "And science after that?"

"Yeah, then math."

"Then what?"

"Cybertronian Language, then Phys. Ed, and then health," he explained and then looked to Megabyte.

"Good you got the same schedule as me," and then she took his hand and started pulling him forward, "Come on I'll show you where all the rooms are and everything."

He followed, but he heard Starscream call after them, "We'll see you after school."

"Okay!" Megabyte replied.

It took him just over a month to realize Megabyte and Starscream were dating. Megatron hadn't even suspected it, they fought a lot and acted nothing like a couple. There were no public displays of affection, he wasn't even sure if there were private displays of affection. The only reason he had found out was because Starscream had accidentally let it slip when he was talking and when Megatron asked Megabyte about it, she confirmed it. Apparently they had gotten together towards the end of sixth year and their "relationship" had survived the summer.

As the school year dragged on though, Megatron noticed different things, particularly about Megabyte. He didn't mean to watch her, but she was changing, maturing, and he really wished that she wasn't with Starscream. But he did notice she was growing apart from Starscream; that her interests were not with him, but with someone else. She didn't talk about it and Starscream didn't notice, but Megatron could by every glance she stole at that bot, by the way she giggled when he talked to her, by the way she presented herself to him, kept her grades up like him, and the way she talked to him that she had a crush on Optimus. He knew that Optimus knew, just about every other girl in the grade was fawning over him, but Elita had him. Whenever Elita was mentioned in front of Megabyte, she spoke bitterly of the pink femme. There were a lot of other mechs that Elita could have - she had her own drool brigade - but Megatron didn't see what was so special about her. He hated pink anyway.

Megabyte had told him that she was thinking about getting a paint job and getting a little pink here and there instead of red, black, and purple. Megatron had told her not to, but if she were to get a paint job, to get more purple, he liked purple, purple meant royalty. To him pink meant gay.

Like a good friend, Megabyte listened, and seventh year continued without much occurrence. The homework piled up more as the year kept going, Megatron found himself trying to keep up with his studies, but things weren't going well at home.

Megatron wasn't sure why it would take so long to locate an energon bath. All Medic had to do was make a few comm calls and see who had one and see where there was available energon. He wasn't sure if Medic was willing to transport him to another medical facility, it would be risky, the Autobots could find out about it, and if that happened, it just wouldn't be good at all. Medic, though as frustrating as he was, he wasn't stupid. Megatron knew he would not be leaving the complex he was in and that the energon bath would have to come to him, not him to it.

Thundercracker entered the med bay suddenly and looked to Megatron. "Afternoon sir," he said, "Starscream is wondering when you're coming out of the med bay."

"Tell him soon."

"He's sick of hearing that."

Megatron smirked, "Oh does he miss me that much?"

Thundercracker chuckled softly and shrugged, "Let's hope not, he's just impatient. How are you feeling sir?"

"Like shit," he answered frankly.

"You look better, and you're acting more like yourself compared to the last few days," the blue Decepticon observed.

"Probably because I'm not so doped up right now, the slagging Medic is going to die when I'm fully functioning again. He's slower than a damn humanoid that's had their legs ripped off."

"He's just trying to be careful."

"Careful hm? I'll show that cursed drone how to be careful."

"Megatron will you come here?" his foster mother called.

Megatron was in his room, working at a math problem and reading a history lesson at the same time. He glanced at the door when he heard his foster mother shout and then he called back, "I'll be down in a minute." He got up from his recharge berth and went downstairs and saw his foster mother in the living area. Cautiously, he approached her.

"Will you help me fasten this piece of armor on?" she asked as she handed him a small piece of pink armor and pointed to the small of her back.

He didn't say anything, but he suddenly felt clumsy as he secured the armor to its proper place. His hand slipped suddenly and his fingertips graced along a highly sensitive touch sensor on his foster mother's backside. She yelped and turned around and slapped him hard across the face just as a blush was beginning to form on his white cheeks.

"S-Sorry," he choked out.

She shook her head, "Wait until your foster father hears about this. Get back upstairs immediately and don't come out until I say so."

Megatron quickly returned to his room and shut the door. He went back to his studies, the blush still burning on his face. He didn't understand what he had done wrong; he was trying to be careful, his hand just slipped. He glanced at the door and tried to fight away his blush as he resumed his homework.

"Megatron, open up this door right now!" his foster father commanded.

Megatron had fallen asleep while reading the history lesson. He sat up on his recharge berth and glanced at the time only to notice he had been asleep for about an hour.

"Let me in!" he hollered.

The young mech quickly scrambled from the recharge berth and opened the door, only to get slapped across the face again, only this time much harder and by his surrogate father. Megatron kept his optics focused on the floor. "Explain yourself," demanded the elder mech.

"S-She wanted me to help her put on a piece of armor," Megatron stated softly in reference to his foster father's mate and looking up at him, "It went on her back and while I was doing it, my hand slipped."

"Slipped?"

"Yes sir."

"That's not what I heard. She told me you tried to feel her up."

"No sir."

"Do we have to send you back to the orphanage?"

Megatron shook his head quickly, "No sir."

"Are you going to keep your filthy orphan hands off my mate from now on?"

"Yes sir."

His foster father gave him an icy stare before he walked away. Megatron closed the door and went back over to his recharge berth to finish his lesson.

Megatron didn't like the noises his surrogate parents made at night from within their room. He could hear them moaning, the eerie scrape of metal against metal. His surrogate father would laugh quietly, his foster mother would cry softly. He would tell her to hold still, she would say not tonight. He would say don't deny me, she would respond I'm not trying to. He'd reply roll over, she'd whimper this hurts. He said he was sorry. She said I love you, its okay. Megatron pulled a pillow over his head and pressed it against his audio receptor.

They never said that to him.

"Megabyte was studying to be a medic wasn't she?" Megatron asked out of the blue.

Thundercracker looked over to his leader, "Sir, I thought you were done thinking about her, you hadn't mentioned her for a while."

"As soon as you give him those painkillers he goes all loopy," Medic remarked before walking away.

"I really do hate him," Megatron remarked, "The son of a glitch has no purpose other than to annoy me."

"He did save your life," Thundercracker remarked.

"I'm not out of this yet," the Decepticon leader added coldly.

"You're just looking for a reason to kill him."

"I don't need a reason to kill anyone," he barked, "And if you don't shut your slagging mouth I'll kill you to."

Thundercracker sighed heavily, "I'll leave you alone sir."

"About time."

Megatron knew where to find her. She had always liked the swings when they were younger, it didn't make a difference now, she still liked them and she still went out to them when she was upset. He spotted her immediately, she was alone and sitting on one of the swings, she wasn't swinging, just slightly swaying back and forth while she stared off into some unknown world.

Megatron sat down on a swing beside her and gazed at her for a moment before asking, "School is over with for the day. Shouldn't you be going home?"

Megabyte faked a smile and her optics dimmed slightly, "I could ask you the same thing."

"You know I hate my foster home, all my slagging foster parents do is f—k."

She had been the only one that he had told, the only one he trusted, the only one he knew who would never tell his secrets. Megabyte was the only one who knew that he was an orphan; she was the only one who knew everything about him. And he knew that he was the only one who knew everything about her. Or so he thought.

"Come on, at least you have your dad," Megatron said when Megabyte didn't say anything.

"Yeah…at least I have him," it sounded like she was going to cry.

"Megs, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing. Did you know Starscream and I broke up?"

Starscream had already told him earlier, he wasn't surprised, in fact, he was more relieved. "Yeah, Screamer told me," Megatron replied looking away from her momentarily, "Is that what's bothering you?"

Megabyte shook her head, "No, not at all. I'm glad we're done."

Megatron couldn't hide a smile, "I can walk you home if you want me to."

She shook her head again, "No it's alright."

"Look Megabyte, I've been your friend for five years now, I know when something is bothering you. Will you please tell me what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you some other time; I'm just not ready yet."

"Is it about Optimus?"

Her cheeks flushed red, "What do you mean?"

Megatron realized this was the first time he had ever confronted her about liking Optimus. He gave a small smile, "Don't play dumb now. I've seen the way you look at Optimus and the way you flirt with him."

Her blush reddened even more, "I didn't say anything…I know how much you hate him and I didn't want you to know."

"I don't want you to get together with him if that should ever happen, which I doubt. Elita and him have been together a long time now. He wouldn't be true to you…and he might just want to get under your armor."

"You think…he's started doing stuff like that?"

Megatron shrugged, "It wouldn't surprise me, after all, he's the most popular guy in the grade."

"And the smartest," she added with a bit of distaste, like she had just swallowed and organic and its juices left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Megs you're smarter than him. You're just blinded by his self-proclaimed awesomeness. What do you see him anyway?"

"I…don't know. If I were really smart though," she said looking at him, "I wouldn't like him, I would like you."

Megatron felt a slight blush on his cheeks and managed to ask, "Why me?"

She shrugged, "You've always been there for me, plus you've kind of been denied the splendors of love your entire life. Someone has to care."

"I don't need your pity."

"Face it Megsie, we're going to be friends for a long time. I don't know what we would do without the other. You did move away for a little while, but you came back—

"Not for you, I came back because I had the chance. And don't call me Megsie." He was bitter now; he didn't want to be misunderstood, especially by his best friend.

"Sorry," she mumbled and then after a few minutes of silence she asked, "Just is the difference between us, besides our genders?"

Megatron shrugged, "You have a living family member still."

"You're a tron and I'm a byte."

"I guess there really isn't anything too major to set us apart, besides our genders and families. Why do you ask?"

"It just proves we're the same."

"Perhaps we should be getting home, it's getting late, your father will wonder where you are."

"Alright," Megabyte said getting up from the swing. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya Megs."

"You too." And she ran off away from the playground and the Academy.

Megatron knew he was losing the small amount of sanity that he still had. Staying in the med bay like this was taking its toll. He missed the battlefield, he missed walking, he missed moving, and he was so sick of being helpless. Megatron did like attention, but only attention that came from victory or something positive. Not medical attention, which was a curse itself. In all his days of commanding the Decepticons, he never had a professional medic. The drone he had now was just programmed to do what he does, he wasn't designed to fight, he wasn't designed to love, he wasn't designed to transform. To Megatron, Medic was just a protoform, a very well constructed protoform, but one of little value to him. Medic was just a hindrance and annoyance. It was like having Starscream's sword shoved up his tailpipe and then some. When he first formed the Decepticons, he wanted Megabyte to be his medic. She was becoming good at what she was doing, he trusted her, and he didn't want anyone else working on him other than her. But that never happened; she went away long before his dream of her becoming his medic could come true. But he always saved the spot for her. Never, ever did he have a medic, he wouldn't ever have one. Medic didn't count. He was only on call and Megatron was going to kill him anyway as soon as he was able to. He was keeping the spot open for someone else, even if that someone else wasn't ever going to come back.

Megatron lived a rough life and it wasn't getting any easier. His thoughts were a curse, his goals a nightmare, and his reality was hell. Getting recharge wasn't even a reprieve. His only hope was tomorrow, that tomorrow would bring his cure.

A cure to his tragedy.

Megs is still feeling gloomy, but maybe it's not the best idea to give a psycho anti-depressants. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be better, it'll actually have a bit more conflict in it. Until then, please review!