Kit wasn't sure what to make of Megatron's behavior, sure he was being nice, but that was completely unlike him…unless he had an ulterior motive, which wasn't unlike him. She sighed heavily, looking over at the Decepticon leader who was currently facing the ocean. They had been out here forever, or so it seemed, the sun was just beginning to set over the horizon…
"You know, maybe if he's being nice to me I can be nice to him too."
Kit slowly got up from the rock she had been sitting on and cautiously walked over to the Decepticon leader. Carefully she placed a hand on his leg, she ran a hand over some of the metal, it was rough from so many years of battle, and it was cold. Kit looked up at him, but he looked straight ahead as if she wasn't even there.
She sighed heavily, "I don't think the Autobot base is too far from here, I'm not sure of the exact location, but it can't be that far. And I know that Sam and Mikaela are with the Autobots…"
"So I've finally broken you?" he asked in a sinisterly amused voice as he looked down at her.
Kit felt her checks redden a bit and she quickly averted from his gaze saying in a softer voice, "I just thought I'd be nice to you since you were being nice to me, I really don't want you to hurt anybody."
"In order to win this war I must hurt people."
"Well, you and the Autobots can fight your war, I honestly don't know enough about them to really care what happens to any of them, but I just don't want my sister and Rowan involved in all this."
Megatron smirked, "What about that Witwicky boy and his mate?"
"I've never met them to really care what happens to them."
"You're terrible human."
Kit sighed, "I guess I've been around you too long."
Megatron groaned, nudging her away from him with his leg, "Don't try to flatter me."
Kit moved back a bit, but she was only a couple feet away. Crossing her arms she said in a confident voice, "As if I want to flatter you. When can I go home?"
He growled, obviously annoyed, "Never human, you are my slave and when I grow sick of you, you will be terminated."
Kit looked down at her feet…here she thought she had been making progress with him only to realize she was getting absolutely no where. And in a soft voice, a voice that tried to hide the hurt but couldn't, she asked, "Could I at least get a change of clothes?"
-
"Hey Optimus, how far are we from the base?" Carissa asked growing ever more anxious as the hours ticked by.
"We're about two minutes away," he answered in a matter-of-fact voice, "The base is underwater, so we'll have to—
But he didn't get to finish his sentence as Carissa suddenly pulled up the lock on the door, yanked the door open, and jumped out, doing a few rolls on the ground before getting up and running off in the direction of the Pacific Ocean. She had been lucky that Optimus hadn't been going very fast, but she didn't care. She was determined to get to her sister first.
"Carissa!" Optimus shouted before coming to a stop and transforming.
This caused the rest of the Autobots to stop, wondering what was going on. Optimus explained to them in a breath that Carissa had run off and they agreed to help look for her and hopefully find her incase the Decepticons showed up.
-
Rowan groaned as she stepped out of Ironhide and he transformed. Ironhide grumbled as he picked Rowan up and placed her on his shoulder growling, "Tell that friend of yours that if she runs away again I'll turn her into ash."
"Like I'd let you do that."
The mech snorted, "Let me know if you start to fall off. I'll think about catching you."
Rowan crossed her arms, "You know it'd break your heart if I died. You wouldn't have anyone to fight with anymore."
"I hate it when you're right."
Rowan simply grinned and moved closer to his audio receptor saying, "Now, you shall look for Carissa while I annoy you further by whispering sweet nothings in your audio receptor."
"Oh…joy…mushy crap."
"Just for you, love." And she traced her finger lightly along his armor, causing him to shudder a bit, "You like that?"
He didn't say anything as he began looking around for Carissa, trying to pick up her energy signature. He had to bite back a grin as he heard Rowan say, "You know, it makes me rather jealous that a gorgeous Autobot such as yourself is looking for another female instead of paying attention to the one he has now." And she stroked his armor again, drawing invisible circles as she teased the sensors that were on his armor.
"You're making it awfully difficult to concentrate I hope you know," he growled, trying to hide his pleasure.
Rowan smirked, "Good, so your attention is on me. You're a hottie, you know that right?"
And this time when she teased his sensors, she struck a sensitive one that caused him to shudder so bad that he immediately seized her from his shoulder and held her to his face and breathed lustfully, "I'm going to tear you apart when we get back to the base."
She grinned, "I took that the wrong way."
Ironhide smiled and placed her back on his shoulder.
-
Carissa tore through a small forest, desperately trying to get away from the Autobots so that she could find her sister. She didn't know why, but she had a gut feeling that she was running straight towards her sister. She didn't know if it was that form of telepathy that some twins had, but she just felt as if she kept running in the direction she was going that she would come across Kit. And her gut feeling was soon confirmed…when she broke out of the forest, she saw Kit standing there, beside some transformer that she had never seen before.
From the looks of him she could tell that she wouldn't like him, but that didn't stop her from what she did next. She ran forward, as silently as she could, ignoring the transformer completely, and glomped her sister, causing Kit to suddenly shriek in terror until she turned around and saw it was her sister.
"Oh my God! Carissa what are you doing here?" Kit asked feeling completely dumbfounded.
"When you sent that text message, Ratchet was able to use my phone to trace your location, so the Autobots know—
Kit quickly placed a hand over Carissa's mouth, just as Megatron bellowed, "Human, you imbecile! You gave away the location of our base!"
Kit turned to him, shoving her sister out of his way, "L-Look Megatron I, I can explain!"
The Decepticon leader seized her in one of his scissor-like hands and squeezed, cutting her metallic flesh, and he snarled, "Just what did you tell her in that message you sent?"
Kit knew she was screwed and felt fear course through her when she heard Carissa shout, "Leave her alone you big oversized trash can!"
"Carissa stay out of this!" Kit hollered, not wanting anything to happen to her sister and she had to close her eyes as Megatron kneeled down and flicked her away with his free hand.
"What did you tell her?!" he demanded venomously.
"I just told her how Soundwave made me immortal and that you and Optimus were brothers, I didn't know that the Autobots would be able to trace my phone…I didn't know Carissa would tell them about the message…"
Megatron squeezed her harder, causing her to cry out in pain as oil leaked from her severed circuits and began to stain her shirt. Kit wanted to cry. From the way that Megatron had acted earlier that day she had believed for the smallest moment that he could be trusted, that he wasn't so bad of a guy once you got to know him, but oh she would never allow herself to believe that again.
Megatron growled and opened his comlink to all channels before speaking into it, "Decepticons, I am transmitting my coordinates to you as I speak. Report to my location at once, the Autobots have discovered the location of our base." And then he ended the transmission. He then turned to Carissa and glaring down at her he asked, "How far behind you are the Autobots?"
"Not very far, so don't try anything stupid."
"Hmph, I'm not the stupid one."
Carissa then watched in horror as one by one Decepticons began appearing from the depths of the ocean, first Starscream, then four others she didn't recognize. Megatron didn't turn to them and simply ordered, "Decepticons, sound off."
"Starscream, sir."
"Soundwave, sir."
"Barricade, sir."
"Blackout, sir."
"Brawl, sir."
Carissa swallowed hard, "Oh God, I blew the Autobots cover, when they find me they'll be ambushed!"
Kit looked down at her sister, sensing her perplexity, "Carissa, get out of here now!"
But before she could run, Starscream seized her and lifted her in his hand to his optic level. Carissa struggled, yelling, "Put me down you slagheap!"
Starscream's optics narrowed, "I don't like her. Megatron, permission to destroy her?"
"Denied, for now."
Starscream grinned viciously just as Optimus and Ratchet emerged from the forest. Both Optimus and the Autobot medic looked surprised to see the Decepticons there, waiting for them…
Optimus immediately knew something was wrong, "Where's Carissa?"
Megatron chuckled, "Concerned about one human but not the other? I'd have to say that's a new low for you Optimus."
Kit was hit with a feeling of slight anger towards the Autobot leader. Had he forgotten about her, or was he just rescuing her because Carissa kept annoying him about it?
Optimus scowled beneath his faceplate, "Kit was my next priority Megatron."
The Decepticon leader was just about to make a snarky remark to that, but Kit beat him to the punch, "Next priority? Just what kind of Autobot are you?! You value one of us more than the other?"
"Kit, calm down, I can explain it," Carissa called out, seeing that her sister was obviously ticked off.
Megatron smirked; perhaps Kit had been right when she told him that she had been around him too long. Perhaps she had developed some loyalties to him…or she was developing the loyalties now without even realizing it.
"Megatron, hand over Carissa and Kit now and we will leave," declared Optimus, Ironhide and Bumblebee emerging from the woods as he said that.
-
Rowan took one look at the situation and remarked, "Well, this certainly isn't good. What do you say you and I attack the Decepticons from behind?"
"I don't want you getting hurt Rowan."
The girl had to smile when she heard him say that. "I knew you cared about me," she stated, picking on him.
-
The Decepticon leader simply scoffed at the Autobot leader's declaration. "A hostage is always a good thing to have Prime," Megatron said, gesturing to Carissa, "But as for Kit, she makes quite the perfect slave…I'm not handing her back over to you under any circumstances."
Carissa growled and went to say something, but Starscream began squeezing her before she had the chance. And since she could feel her ribs about to pop, she did the only thing that came to mind. She bit down into the wires of Starscream's finger joints, causing him to gasp in shock as the wires were severed…electrocuting Carissa in the process.
The girl screamed in pain before she fell limp in Starscream's hand. The Decepticon second in command appeared to be highly disappointed as he said, "The flesh bag killed herself before I got the chance to kill her…"
"Carissa no!" shrieked Kit.
Megatron snorted, "I have no use for a dead human. Get rid of it Starscream."
Starscream threw Carissa's lifeless body back over to the Autobots, and Optimus quickly caught her, sadness evident in his optics as he said, "Autobots retreat."
Not questioning his orders, the rest of the Autobots complied and they quickly disappeared back into the forest.
"Well, that was the lamest battle ever," Starscream declared.
Megatron ignored his comment and instead gave the order, "Decepticons, report back to your previous duties. Soundwave, look for a new base location."
There was a resounding, "Yes sir." And the Decepticons returned to base, all except Megatron of course.
Megatron loosened his grip on Kit and examined the injuries he had inflicted upon her, "I guess you have been punished enough for your stupidity."
Kit squeezed her eyes together and turned her back to him, she didn't want him to see her cry. But she whimpered, "Could you please set me down?"
He turned her in his hand so he could see her face, even though she wasn't looking up at him. "What is your malfunction? Your optics are leaking lubricant."
"Carissa's dead!" she sobbed and then buried her face in her hands, turning away from him once more.
Megatron then understood that heartbreak and grief were probably two of the worst pains in the universe. But he was surprised when he realized he felt sorry for the gynoid that was currently in his hand. And knowing he would never forgive himself for acting this nice, he set Kit on the ground and said in a soft voice, "Go find the Autobots before they get too far."
Kit looked up at him completely shocked, "Y-You're letting me go?"
"Yes, now get going before I change my mind."
The girl quickly turned from him and took a few steps towards the forest and then stopped. For some reason she just didn't have the heart to go, the heart to walk away from Megatron.
"Human, why'd you stop?"
She dried her tear stained face and turned to him with a smirk on her face, "Just what would your troops think if they found out you let me go? You don't want them calling you a big softy now, do you? I can't see why you can't wait a few minutes for me to get back."
"Come back?" Megatron asked confused.
"I want to stay with you."
A human…stay with the Decepticons? It was unheard of! Megatron looked down at Kit, "W-Why?"
She shrugged, "I don't know, maybe because I like you a lot more than that Optimus Prime guy."
Megatron smirked after hearing that, "Alright I'll wait, but don't keep me here all night or else there will be hell to pay when you get back."
"Yes sir!" she saluted and then quickly ran off into the forest, in the direction the Autobots had left in, to pay her final respects to her sister.
-
Optimus paced nervously back and forth while he watched Ratchet examine Carissa. The only good news he had heard from the Autobot medic so far was that Carissa was not dead, like Starscream had thought her to be. After Ratchet ran a few more scans he turned to Optimus and said, "She'll be just fine. It appears she just got a good jolt from Starscream is all, she's got a few burns, but she'll pull through as if nothing ever happened."
The Autobot leader breathed a sigh of relief as Ratchet went off to tell the rest of the Autobots that Carissa would be okay. Optimus stayed by Carissa's side though, he wanted to be there when she woke up.
He knew in the last few days that they had been together that he had formed a strong bond with her. He cared a lot about her and he didn't want anything to happen to her…and it had nearly killed him today when he thought she had died. Optimus shivered at the thought.
Carissa was a unique girl, one that could never be replaced. He had kissed her once, but that had only been to calm her down…he could hardly wait to kiss her out of love.
-
Kit was nearly out of breath by the time she caught up with the Autobots on the other side of the forest. It was getting dark, so it was harder to see, and she didn't realize where she was until she almost crashed head on with Ratchet's leg. "Oh, hey Ratchet," she exclaimed, startling the medic.
"Kit?!" he remarked shocked, "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see Carissa," she answered softly.
"Megatron let you?"
She nodded.
"Well, Optimus is with her right now waiting for her to wake up—
"You mean to tell me she's alive?!"
"Yes, she only got a pretty good jolt…maybe you should go visit Rowan until Carissa wakes up."
Kit nodded, "Okay, where is she?"
Ratchet gestured over to Ironhide, who was in his vehicle form, his windows heavily tinted, tinted a degree or two more than they usually were. "She's in there with him…but I should warn you, I have every reason to believe that they are romantically involved and since Ironhide's windows are tinted darker than usual, they are probably doing something quite intimate at the moment, so I suggest you knock before entering."
Kit chuckled, "Advice taken." And she ran off towards Ironhide.
-
After Ironhide and Rowan had learned the news that Carissa was going to be okay, the weapons expert took the girl to the most secluded area away from the Autobots he could find, yet still be in their sight. He quickly transformed and told Rowan to get in so she could get some rest, but as soon as she was in, he slammed the door shut and locked the doors so that she couldn't get out. He then activated his holoform and had just pinned Rowan to the backseat when there was a knock at his door.
He growled, "Who is it?"
"Just me, Kit…sorry if I interrupted anything."
"Kit?" Rowan remarked. She then proceeded to push Ironhide off of her and climbed over the front seat. She quickly unlocked the door that Kit had knocked on and opened it, nearly knocking Kit over in the process as she exclaimed, "What on Earth are you doing here?"
"Megatron gave me a momentary reprieve…so here I am."
"Well, you sure are a sight for sore eyes."
Kit smirked, "Yeah I guess. Ratchet told me that you and Ironhide have a little fling going on here."
Rowan felt her cheeks redden, "Um…I wonder how he knows…"
"Oh the next time I see him I am going to pound his face into the ground," exclaimed Ironhide bitterly.
Kit laughed nervously, "Well, I'll let you guys get back to whatever it was you were doing."
"Alright, but thanks for dropping by."
"No problem," replied Kit as she gave a small wave and headed over to visit her sister.
Ironhide immediately shut his door and locked all of them again. Rowan shook her head, "You don't have any patience do you?"
"I don't when it comes to you," he replied as his holoform appeared in front of her. He proceeded to push her into the back seat where he pinned her yet again.
"Before you do anything," Rowan spoke up, "There are a couple rules I should lay out."
"Rules?" scoffed Ironhide.
"Yes. First rule, we will not take things too quickly, and second, the clothes stay on."
Ironhide smirked, "Good, I can still torture you like you tortured me earlier." And before Rowan could protest, he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.
-
Optimus could feel himself beginning to slip off into a recharge as he waited for Carissa to wake up, but he refused to let himself sleep until she had woken up. He wasn't kept waiting very much longer though as Carissa suddenly stirred and then her eyes slowly opened. Optimus smiled down at her and asked in a soft voice, "How you feeling?"
She couldn't help but smile back when she saw the loving expression on his face, and she answered in a tired voice, "A lot better now that I've seen you…where's Kit?"
Optimus sighed heavily, not wanting to tell her the news now, but he knew there was no point in putting it off until later. "Carissa," he began, "After you were electrocuted, Starscream gave you back to us because we thought you were dead. I ordered a retreat so that Ratchet could examine you, and we didn't have time to get her."
"Oh," Carissa replied softly, sadness evident in her voice.
Optimus reached down and gently stroked the side of her face with his finger. "I promised you that we will get your sister back, and I have every intention of upholding that promise. We'll try again tomorrow, but this time stay near me."
Carissa's smile returned, "Alright, I trust you unconditionally you know."
"Then perhaps now would be the appropriate time to tell you."
The girl sat up with a curious expression on her face, "Tell me what?"
Optimus' holoform suddenly appeared in front of her, offering her a hand to help her stand up. Carissa took his hand and allowed him to help her to her feet, but once she was on her feet, he helped her a little further than that. Optimus pulled her against him, swallowing her in his powerful arms, holding her close, gently, lovingly, and he breathed with the utmost passion, "Carissa I…I don't want it to be a secret that I have feelings for you."
Carissa looked up at him, beaming, "Y-You do?"
"Yes…I don't know what I would do if I lost you, and what happened today made me realize that. I want to be with you Carissa, more than anything."
"Well, you aren't alone on those feelings because I feel the same way about you," she confessed wholeheartedly, "But how are we going to make this work, I mean, after all, you are a giant robot and I am a small, frail human."
"Love will find a way," he breathed before leaning down and capturing her lips in a kiss.
Carissa sighed contently as she accepted Optimus' kiss and kissed him back. And this kiss was so much different than the one Optimus had given her earlier as a way to reassure her about her sister. This one was delivered with power, with compassion, and with the intent of never to stop…that was until someone cleared their throat.
Both Optimus and Carissa broke the kiss and looked to where they had heard the person, only to see none other than Kit standing there with a smirk on her face, "I got dirt on both of you now. And just what is up with you and Rowan both forming relationships with giant robots? I feel just a tad unloved here."
Carissa beamed again as she broke from Optimus' embrace and ran over and hugged her sister. "Kit!" she exclaimed thrilled to see her sister, "What are you doing here? Did Megatron let you go?"
"He did," Kit answered hugging her sister back then let her go saying, "I don't want to hug you too long and make Optimus jealous now."
Carissa saw Optimus smile from the corner of her eye and replied, "Don't worry about it. Just why did Megatron have the change of heart?"
Kit shrugged, "Beats me."
Carissa smiled, "Well, if you're feeling that unloved there's always Ratchet or Bumblebee."
Kit fidgeted nervously before clearing her throat, calming herself before she remarked, "No it's alright. You see, I'm going back to Megatron."
The elder twin's jaw dropped, "Going back?! Don't you think he's tortured you enough?!"
Optimus came up from behind Carissa, "Kit, I don't think that is a wise decision. Isn't that blood on your shirt a result from an injury Megatron inflicted upon you?"
"I'll get it fixed," she answered, "And I promise I'll be okay, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. And please trust me when I say I won't reveal to the Decepticons any information about you guys, but I won't reveal any information about them to you either."
"I…guess that's fair," Carissa stated, her mood ruined, "Just why are you going back though?"
"I just feel that my place is with them."
Carissa sighed heavily, "Alright, but if they decide to kill you, come back to us."
"Will do," Kit responded, "I'll see you guys at the next battle."
"Until then, but be careful!" Carissa said.
Kit nodded before disappearing back into the forest. After she was out of sight, Optimus took Carissa in his arms and exclaimed, "Don't worry about her, this was her choice. Now you've had a long day, so I am recommending that you get some sleep."
Carissa turned to him smiling up at him, "As you command."
His holoform disappeared momentarily as Optimus proceeded to transform into his vehicle mode. He opened his door for Carissa to get in, and once she was in, he closed the door. The girl immediately went to the backseat where she laid down. She felt the seat adjust suddenly, it had become softer, and when she looked, she realized that the back of the seat had folded back, creating what could have passed for a double bed. And Optimus' holoform appeared beside her.
She grinned as he took her in his arms and said, "I still don't have any blankets, and someone needs to keep you warm."
"Thank you," she breathed.
"Sweet dreams Carissa."
"Sweet dreams Optimus."
And it wasn't long before they both fell asleep.
-
Ironhide had never tickled a person so much in his life as he had just tickled Rowan. The only reason why he had stopped was because she was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. And as he held her against him he could tell that she was very tired, so he suggested, "Let's sleep in the bed."
She looked up at him confused. He smiled down at her and opening one of his doors, he carried her out to the bed of his truck form. When he lifted her up into it, Rowan smirked when she saw an air mattress there big enough to fit both her and Ironhide on it.
"I see you came prepared," she remarked as she laid down on the mattress.
Ironhide smiled as he laid down beside her, pulling a few blankets over them, "You never know what may happen."
"Let's just hope it doesn't rain."
"Don't worry, I've already checked the radar, we're all clear."
Rowan smiled as Ironhide wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close to him, and she whispered, "Good night Ironhide."
"Night Rowan."
And the two of them soon drifted off into a fitful sleep.
-
Kit was exhausted by the time she made it back to Megatron, and he could quite clearly tell. But he also noticed something else. "You're a lot happier than when you left here," he mused.
"Carissa didn't die," she replied smiling.
"That's what I get for listening to Starscream," he said and then proceeded to scoop up Kit in his hand carefully, "Let's get you back inside, you look exhausted."
"I am," she confessed.
Megatron then returned to the Decepticon base and went immediately to his quarters. He eyed the cage that was on his desk but decided he wouldn't put Kit in there, at least for the night. Instead he went over to his recharge birth and laid down upon it, placing Kit on his chest.
"Let me see your phone," he said in a commanding voice, in a voice to let Kit know that this was an order.
Kit looked at him skeptically before taking her phone out of her pocket and handing it to him. It was quite amusing watching him trying to hold the small device, but he managed to do so, and he scanned it, not only finding the location of the Autobot base, but that text message that Kit had sent as well. He read it, only to discover that Kit had told him the truth. "I suppose I can trust her," he thought, but nonetheless, he crushed the phone.
"Hey!" Kit shouted.
"I can't risk you accidentally putting us in jeopardy again."
Kit grumbled a bit before she laid down on Megatron's chest. The Decepticon leader placed a hand over her and commanded the lights to go off, which they did. But not too long after the lights had gone off, Kit spoke up, "Uh Megatron…I'm cold."
The Decepticon leader sighed heavily. He knew he didn't have any blankets, and he guessed his spark was not keeping her warm either since he had extra armor there now to prevent any mishaps, such as when the Allspark was placed in his chest, from happening again.
Growling a bit, Megatron commanded the lights to come back on and when they had, he set Kit down on the bed beside him. And Kit was more than stunned when a man with long, silver hair, blood red eyes, with a tall, muscular body suddenly appeared before her. "You mention this to anyone," said the man, "I will have your head."
"Megatron?!"
"Yes…"
"How are you doing whatever it is you're doing?"
"This is my holoform, now come on, let's get to bed."
And they proceeded to lie down, Megatron holding Kit close to him to keep her warm. He commanded the lights to go off again and it wasn't long before they both drifted into sleep, Kit feeling as if she had the protection of a thousand armies.