Decepticons
[U 2 – Decepticon base]
"How is he, Hook?"
"He is perfectly fine, just recharging now. I fixed everything and replaced that armor-plate. You'd better take him to your quarters, he'll like better to wake up there than here."
"Will do. Tell Starscream when you see him somewhere that I want to have a look at that gun that he used. It made spectacularly little damage for all that light-show – fortunately for him."
"He is probably skulking from you now. It did hit Optimus after all." Hook's smile was a bit strained, as he never liked to be caught between the short-tempered Megatron and the big-mouthed Seeker without a dampener. He hoped that Starscream was sensible enough to hide until the warlord's anger dissipated.
Back in his quarters Megatron gently set the smaller mech on his berth and sat at his table to read some reports, awaiting the other's awakening patiently. He trusted Hook that the hit didn't cause too much damage and so he wasn't worried, but still he would have liked Optimus to awaken faster – it was not like him to be offlined for so long from such a small injury. Glancing at him often while he worked, he did not miss the moment of the blue optics slowly unshuttering, focusing, looking around and finally recognizing the shape sitting at the worktable – but he was still completely surprised by the mech sliding off the berth like oiled lightning and looking around frantically like a trapped animal. He rose and moved closer, hands outstretched towards him, trying to placate the apparently disorientated mech, just to find Optimus sidestepping his advance and stabbing him with his Energon sword – only a speedy twist, courtesy of his lightning-fast gladiator reflexes saved him from getting it into his back where it could have breached his spark chamber. Instead the sword was embedded now in his left shoulder armor causing energon to flow from the wound, and with a sudden jerk of his arm he broke it off from the smaller mech's wrist.
What the frag was he doing, had he gone mad? Megatron's battle reflexes were awakening as he countered Optimus's movements without wanting to hurt him; familiar they were but there was a strange… difference, like he wasn't fully himself, like he'd learnt new attack patterns, like he was not joking or training but… but really fighting for his life. The silver-black mech was hard put to restrain the smaller but fast and agile one without causing him damage, but eventually he did, and held him down on the berth to try to talk some sense into him.
"Optimus! Calm down, what the frag are you doing? Have you gone mad?"
"Get OFF me you bastard! What the Pit do you think you are doing? Is it your sick idea of interrogation or you just didn't have anyone to 'face lately?"
"What…? Why the slagging Pit would I want to interrogate you? Calm down and stop trashing or I will hurt you!"
"What a threat… as if you have any intention of NOT hurting me!"
Megatron was completely baffled by Optimus's frantic fight that he put up against him; it was like he was flat-out terrified and murderously angry at the same time - none of which computed really. He had to restrain his hands before he stopped struggling which unfortunately only seemed to harden the hatred in his optics. When he stopped trashing the warlord backed off a few steps from the berth, allowing Optimus to sit, albeit with the handcuffs on his wrists, to try to find out what was wrong. He didn't notice anything visible off, but he commed Starscream to cease sulking and come to his quarters – whatever he did might have been connected to that ridiculous-looking gun that he wielded. Could it have caused CPU or memory damage?
"Optimus… I want to know why you have attacked me. Now."
"Well, what did you expect?" came the angry retort from Optimus, seemingly bemused by the question. "Did you think I would just lie down and await you to rape me? This doesn't look any interrogation cell so it is not torture but the implications are just that much clear…"
"What implications and what torture…?"
Starscream chose this moment to announce his presence at the door, and when Megatron let him in, he looked strangely at the scene; it wasn't like the two were into any bondage kinks as far as he knew. But he too was nonplussed by the angry sneer that Optimus shot at his direction.
"Ahh… the cold-sparked Seeker puts in an appearance too… I am honoured. Will Soundwave be the next with some mind games?"
"Actually that is not even half a bad idea." Megatron was exasperated. "At least we would know what the Pit you are talking about and why."
Starscream was watching them conversing like it was in a foreign language. Optimus looked angry and frightened, Megatron was totally bemused and not knowing what to do about it; and it never bode well to those around him, unless he was calmed. But this time his usual calming influence was looking daggers at him and calling him names and the Seeker felt out of his depth with Optimus who almost never got angry – certainly not to this level, whatever caused it. He decided to ask a few questions from him, more out of psychology than actually trying to solve the problem.
"Optimus, would you mind telling exactly what is your problem, no matter how trivial it seems to you? It would greatly help understanding what the frag you are doing."
"Why Screamer, I wouldn't have thought that being captured by the enemy is your idea of fun? I don't know what is so strange in resisting that!"
"Captured…?"
"Yeah, captured. Look up the word in a dictionary."
Megatron and Starscream looked at each other and suddenly both started to feel that the problem was a bit more serious than they thought before.
"Umm… Optimus, why would we capture you? It is your home… and… you do recognize us I believe…"
"Sure I do… Megatron, leader of the fragging Cons; Starscream, his SIC and punching bag. And me, well, I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. And this is most definitely NOT my home unless I've been mind-raped already by Soundwave."
Megatron felt sick. He checked the bond but it was there, strong and calm now, with the undercurrent of wariness, connecting him to his mate – who seemed to be sitting still on the berth, but telling that he was his enemy. How was that possible then? Was he someone else, exchanged during the battle? But even Hook recognized him and it was damned hard to fool a medic, not to mention himself and Starscream. The latter was shocked too by what Optimus said but he was going over the possible ramifications of it already, and not really liking the ideas he came up with.
"Let me see… so you don't have any memory of being the bonded mate of Megatron and his partner leading our army since the beginning of the war?"
"Wha…? No! You are lying! I don't know what game you play but I do know who I am."
"I think it is best if we call Soundwave. Not to pick your mind Optimus but to see what is going on."
"I already commed him." Came the wary answer from Megatron.
Optimus was becoming increasingly agitated again and Starscream didn't really blame him; whoever he was, being subjected to Soundwave's deeper scans was nobody's idea of fun. Megatron wasn't too happy about it either, even though he was not sure any more if the mech they had in his room was his mate or not. When the telepath arrived he ordered him to scan for any sparkbond first, and when it came up negative he knew for sure that it was not 'his' Optimus. Deeper scan only revealed a strange, different history than they were familiar with, leading Starscream to hypothesize about a parallel universe in which the two Optimuses occupying the same place were somehow were exchanged – probably by the effect of the experimental weapons that were used by himself and the Humans on the Autobot side and their effect somehow combined. The discovery interestingly calmed down Optimus a bit as it was at least offering him a chance of getting back to his own dimension, although he still kept glancing at Soundwave with mistrust. When the two of them left for their own recharge it left Megatron and Optimus alone in their supposedly shared quarters, with two timeline's worth of uncomfortable personal issues between them…
"In your universe…" started Megatron in an uncharacteristically hesitating voice – "what is your-our relationship? Have you-we had any aside from being mortal enemies?"
Optimus wasn't looking at the warlord… the topic was obviously a sore point for him. But he answered eventually, even if it was in a quiet, almost dreamlike tone at what Megatron had to dial up his audios to catch.
"We were one day from bonding way back before the war – I guess the same bonding that you in fact had here."
"What happened?"
"We broke up."
"How?"
Optimus was looking at the warlord at that with hard, accusing optics and Megatron understood that somehow he was the reason, or at least Optimus believed it so. He was not sure if he wanted to hear it any more but Optimus answered after a lengthy pause - and as he told it awakened long-forgotten memories.
"The day before the bonding… you drank too much high grade, you heard too many lewd jokes from your associates – damned Seekers… and you came to my apartment aroused and drunk. I was…"
"…afraid and insecure… I remember it now. You said no, you said let's wait for the spark-bond so you could see me for who I really am and you wouldn't be afraid of interfacing. "
Optimus looked at Megatron with a peculiar expression.
"These were the exact words, true. But there you didn't listen. You were too drunk, too uncaring. You didn't take no as answer…"
"I did here…"
"And so the next day I broke off the engagement, you left, started the rebellion and sold my plans out to the Senate."
"The next day we bonded, and started our plan - you to convince the Senate and me to back you up with force at the same time."
So little difference… the incredible parallel of the timelines that took such a sharp turn at one point left them speechless. That so much stood on one little personal decision even if it was between two leaders, two great presonalities; and it changed their worlds completely… it was mindboggling for both of them as they continued to sit on Megatron's berth, the strangeness of the situation almost visibly crackling with its energy between them. They didn't look at each other any more, it was just too strange, too… dangerous. Who knows what might have happened if a glance got answered by its mate and if it said 'yes'?
"Have you since got a bondmate or a partner in your timeline?"
"No… I never had a partner after you left. I had berthmates… but never anything more serious. I guess after a while I convinced myself that being a Prime precluded any serious commitments."
"Do you… regret that? I know a lot has happened since but…"
"No, I never regretted it. That universe's you took without permission, forced me, ignored my pleas and finally betrayed me. I did not want him afterwards, never again. He never stopped trying though…" - a fleeting glance towards the unusually silent, musing warlord, checking almost if he needed to flee again or not; Optimus never told it to his Autobots but always felt Megatron's touches in their frequent fights on countless battlefields – touches that were not always violent in their nature. In that timeline Megatron's compulsion to own, to master everything also covered his main enemy – while he could have killed Optimus quite a few times, his goal has always been to capture him, even if it meant loosing fights, battles, missions.
The two mechs continued to sit side by side, talking, their unease slowly dissipating, recharge quite far from both their minds. The past captivated them, the strange twists of fate that formed it and them; and it wasn't long before Optimus found that to his surprised he liked this strange Megatron, who was despite of the eons of war, calmer and more… youngish than he could ever associate with him in any dimensions. It troubled him to no end, promising endless complications.
"I guess my counterpart won't have an easier time there than me here…" - he murmured at last – "I can't really imagine myself as a Decepticon, no matter the things you said, the differences in history and all that."
"He'll probably try to escape as soon as he comes online. There are some… abominable personalities among the Autobots here and he'll react to them much the same as you did to me."