A/N: Hello again! Sorry for the wait. I've been super busy with things, and I've started writing for Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail fans, anyone?

Sorry again, no memories in this one. Next chapter will have at least one.

Thanks to kikigraysonwest and a guest reviewer for reviewing! They make my day. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, obviously. Plot, however, is mine.

Location: Nemesis, Earth

Soundwave was concerned. As concerned as he ever got, which was saying a lot. Laserbeak beeped and Soundwave nodded silently. Lord Megatron was acting very strangely. Soundwave had been with him for eons, always by his side even since before the war began, when Lord Megatron first called for mechs to build up his following. He knew the warlord quite well, better than most would imagine, especially given his mental capabilities.

Soundwave would never pry at Lord's Megatron's mind, but as of late, the Lord had seemed rather distracted. So much that his fortress of mental barriers had lowered, allowing Soundwave to catch a glimpse of the complex thought process of his Lord.

Soundwave hadn't expected for Lord Megatron to appear as anything but strong, dominating, and overall, ridiculously powerful. As a result of this belief, he also never expected the day would come that Megatron's fortress wall would crack. No one else noticed the tiny crack, of course, but Soundwave was a master at literally reading and seeing into mechs' minds.

He had been scanning the floating, blatant thoughts and monitoring the conversations of the mechs on the Nemisis, filtering them away for later reference and use. Suddenly, a thought so powerful that it called all of his attention, accompanied with the most intense emotions Soundwave had ever come upon, flashed through his processor. With it, a blurred image of a dark armoured mech and a smaller femme standing beside him. Then it was gone, and Soundwave was left to wonder what the image meant when he figured out whose processor it came from.

Lord Megatron was suffering from something, of that Soundwave was certain. The exact nature of that something, however, was unclear. That was fine though; Soundwave would interfere only if its effects begin to affect his master and the Decepticon cause, only when absolutely necessary. He would observe Lord Megatron closely before reaching a conclusion. He would watch and wait for however long was required. He would listen and calculate and monitor. It was Soundwave's specialty, after all.

Location: Ark, Earth

Ratchet was annoyed. He was beyond annoyed. Pit, he was so fragged off, Ironhide had claimed his vents were expelling smoke. Ironhide had went down with a well aimed throw, the projectile having ricocheted off his helm as he foolishly turned his back to Ratchet, but strangely enough, it had not alleviated any of his frustration. Under normal circumstances, smacking a mech with his weapon of choice put him in a fantastic mood, but not today, it seemed.

Ratchet didn't even know what mech had done what to frag him off so much. Perhaps Wheeljack had managed to blow up his lab again and it threw off his shoulder joint calibrations. Perhaps Sideswipe had accidently cut the tension wire in his leg again. Maybe Prowl had pulled four shifts in a row again. Or perhaps Optimus had managed to evade another medical exam? No, none of those instances were the reason for this… Ratchet was starting to think that there was no legitimate reason for his anger. So then why was he so…

Ah. That was it. He remembered now. Optimus had come running into the medbay this morning sounding extremely stressed and completely shocked. Prime had blabbed on and on about the Matrix, which, Ratchet found, was quite interesting in itself, because Optimus Prime never blabbed about anything. Until today. As soon as Ratchet finished laughing his aft off at Optimus's dishevelled state, he waved Optimus to his office and started listening when the Prime became upset and began to act edgy.

Apparently, the Matrix of Leadership was acting strangely. Ratchet had immediately said that maybe, just maybe, it was malfunctioning, being such an ancient artefact. Optimus had been quite taken aback, looking even more shocked and quite offended at that suggestion. Okay, apparently not. Before Ratchet could offer another astonishingly blasphemous hypothesis, Optimus hurried on and started spewing slag about the Matrix sending random pulses of warm energy.

Ratchet almost smacked the Prime upside his helm with that in exasperation. Come on! Like that hasn't happened before? It usually meant the Matrix was imparting a bit of its wisdom and advice, or it was saying they were all screwed, or it was showing strange affection for Optimus.

Now, Ratchet wasn't one of those crazy worshippers of Primus that were always hanging around the temples back in the day. Far from it, actually. So far that he seriously doubted that Primus even exists or ever existed in the first place. Ratchet did, however, did believe in the Matrix of Leadership, however questionable that belief sometimes was (despite having seen the Matrix itself, he wasn't sure if it was actually what everyone claimed it to be), and he firmly believed in Optimus.

So Ratchet believed in the Matrix. He also didn't know the artefact very well. However, he trusted that Optimus would recognize the intents of the Matrix were they war/wisdom-related. Thus, Ratchet concluded that it was simply acting weird in a way that did not bring any sort of bad omen and all related slag. Smirking happily at his quick conclusion, he began to push Optimus out of his medbay. It's not like he had been just sitting around experiencing the pain of boredom to its full potential or anything. There was always work to do when at war.

He kicked Optimus out the double doors of the Ark medbay, ignoring the desperate ramblings of the currently far too dramatic Prime.

"Ratchet, you don't understand! It's not like anything I've felt before! I honestly have no idea what this could mean!" Optimus paused, then started again, quieter. "I… I think that, for a fleeting moment, I felt the presence of Megatron. It was like our sparks –"

The doors slammed in Optimus's faceplates.

Ratchet went back to reorganizing his entire medbay, now having to take inventory once again to be sure the numbers were correct. Stupid Prime, he couldn't have waited until Ratchet was done. He wasted another few hours painstakingly ensuring his numbers were right on the dot.

Now, more than a joor since, Ratchet thought back to their conversation. It did seem a bit off; Optimus never lost composure in front of anyone. Perhaps he had judged the situation far too quickly. Thinking back on their earlier conversation, he carefully analyzed Optimus's words and actions.

Different from before? Not likely. The Matrix has no reason to behave oddly. And Megatron to boost? Not at all possible. Optimus would never go fraternizing with the enemy.

Suddenly, Ratchet jerked back and the tools he had been holding clattered onto the ground. Perhaps… perhaps Optimus was right after all.

Sometimes, it was hard to remember anything but the war, especially since both sides fought so unceasingly ferociously. It was hard to remember what things were like before the war. Namely, Optimus and Megatron. After eons of constant fighting, it was hard to forget what they were all like now and even more difficult to recall their past selves.

Megatron and Optimus hadn't always been like this. They had, once upon a time, been closer than any pair of siblings.

Ratchet burst out of his medbay, inventory forgotten, supplies left scattered on the floor. He ignored everything, not noticing mechs duck out of sight and giving him a wide berth due to the grim look set on his faceplates. He ignored Sideswipe, who was limping towards the medbay, arms waving for attention. He ignored Wheeljack, blackened armour and all, stumbling towards the medbay as well. There was something that took precedence above their injuries.

:Ratchet to Prime. I am going to you office right now. You'd better not move. Out.:

Ratchet had to see the Prime.

Location: Megatron's private quarters, Nemesis, Earth

Megatron was tired. He was tired beyond measure. He was so tired that he had sequestered himself in his private quarters for days on end, which incurred a handful of questioning comm. calls from Soundwave. He told Soundwave to stop questioning his actions, of course, but for some reason, it hadn't really stopped the flow. Normally, no one dared disobey even a suggestion from him (albeit, his suggestions were commands), much less a command. It had been that way since he became warlord. However, Soundwave, for whatever reason, was ignoring his command.

The only answer for that was that Soundwave had noticed his recent behaviour and tagged it as way off the mark compared to his normal routines and actions. It was to be expected, Megatron supposed. His Third in Command and Communications Officer didn't get those positions for nothing after all.

Megatron had suspected that Soundwave had seen the first memory that burst forward from his heavily code locked memory core. It had caught him by surprise, and as a result, his mental barriers had momentarily slipped. He had been extremely careful in fortifying his mental walls the following like instances, but undoubtedly, the first time had not gone unnoticed by the ever observative telepathic mech. From then on, his behaviour had been noticed by not only Soundwave; Starscream had in all probability noticed also, and perhaps Knockout as well.

If his conniving SIC had indeed noticed his behaviour change, then said mech had already begun scheming about how to best exploit this seeming weakness that Megatron had finally shown. Knockout would have a one sided gossip conversation with Breakdown. It was these two glitches that annoyed Megatron to no end. Megatron had crushed no less than thousands of Starscream's pathetic excuses for schemes and dealt with Knockout countless times as well. They never learn.

To be quite honest, it had been fun in the beginning, to teach Starscream his place. By now, after eons, it had become fragging annoying, which was one reason to stop things before they started. The other reason being that it would be extremely degrading to his reputation and public image if the Decepticons ever saw him like this.

Megatron's now self directing memory programs were also seriously fragging him off. Now that, that was the main reason for his thoughts of making haste in figuring this all out. This strange occurrence was affecting him emotionally. It was affecting his usual scheming routines, his normal behaviour, his typical thought process, and perhaps most importantly, it was affecting the way he thought of Optimus Prime. That was what was most worrying. Optimus Prime was his archenemy, his nemesis, his biggest adversary. Megatron had wanted to kill Prime for millennia upon millennia, and now he was thinking pacified thoughts about the mech?! The memories in themselves had been quite disturbing, but thinking about the Autobot's wretched leader like the brother that he once upon a time was? He had been quite shocked but had also been filled with a flash of nostalgia remembering his younglinghood, surprisingly enough.

However, it wasn't that surprising when he thought about it. Despite all that had happened, despite the hate, despite the chasm separating them, Megatron, however he might had wanted to deny it, still thought of Optimus Prime as his brother deep down in his spark. These feelings were not permitted though, not during a war he himself had waged against his brother. He had to figure out what was happening. He could feel a dramatic shift somewhere within him, a shift Megaton desperately hoped was not unfixable. His thinking started to shift towards warm and affectionate concerning his brother when he really should be thinking vicious and cruel about everything. He had to stop this, in some way or another. This couldn't go on any longer, or so Primus help him, he would eventually find himself loving Optimus again. Convincing himself otherwise, Megatron, with great difficulty, managed to direct his processor back to his usual way of thinking. He was back to himself once again.

Now, in Megatron's optics, he once again hated Optimus Prime for all intents and purposes. In Megatron's optics, he no longer had a brother; his twin had died a long time ago. In Megatron's optics, nothing in their history before the war counted. After all, he hated Optimus Prime with all his being and that was that.

Location: Prime's private quarters, Ark, Earth

Optimus Prime was confused. He was as confused as he was ever going to get, he figured. He was so confused that "confused" didn't even begin to cover his confusion. Optimus didn't get confused often; it was one of the things that came with being a Prime.

Sure, he had been confused when Air Raid reported a flying accident that resulted in Silverbolt and Skyfire, two of the Aerialbots' most careful fliers, tangled up in an inseparable mass of metal that nearly totalled both their frames. He had been puzzled when Sunstreaker offered to polish and wax his marred armour after Ratchet repaired him following a particularly gruesome battle. He had been quite bewildered when Prowl asked permission to beat Jazz into the ground for something or other the saboteur had done (Optimus had said no). He had been very baffled when the Autobot Femme Division kidnapped Ratchet, Nightbeat and himself for a while, sending the base into a frenzy (Ratchet had been furious; Optimus would be lying if he said it wasn't even the tiniest bit funny). He had been extremely perplexed when little Bumblebee had clung to him and chosen him to be his foster Creator. At least in those situations, he had managed to figure everything out in little time. But this? This went above and beyond all previously experienced confusing situations.

The Matrix was acting strangely, for one. Two, he had felt the presence of Megatron for a moment. Three, the combined the facts were tied to the slight change in his behaviour as well. He had been isolating himself more and more often as time went on, in an attempt to find out the reason for these events, but questions had already arose, mostly from Prowl.

This forced him to think harder. What could this all be about? Why was all this happening? What was the Matrix's ultimate goal?

Optimus had a hypothesis, of course, but it seemed so absurd. However, it was the only answer he had that made any sort of sense. Could it be that, after eons, the Matrix was taking matters into its own hypothetical hands and attempting to end this war? That was the part that was understandable. It was the way that it seemed to have chosen to accomplish this. The Matrix must be trying to connect them again. It must be trying to awaken Megatron's Lord High Protector coding. It was the only way to end this without any more bloodshed than necessary. Now, the real question was: How does the Matrix plan to do it?

It was this that confused Optimus to no end. It was the unanswerable question. There was no way for it to transcend physical form, for its contents could not survive outside the container. Megatron had no connection to it either. Another thing that was left unexplained was the warm pulses he periodically received from the Matrix. In all honesty, Optimus had no clue what they meant or their purpose. There must be one; the Matrix never did anything without a reason, after all. Though this time, like most other times, its intentions were completely hidden from the Prime. Hence, the endless confusion.

Oh yeah, he wasn't the only one who was so confused over this… this strange occurrence. The Matrix, for all its acclaimed power and wisdom, was confused as well. The collective wisdom of the past Primes offered no insight on Megatron's character and state of mind. Megatron had changed, after all. He was no longer the brother Optimus once knew, nor was he the Lord High Protector the Matrix once chose. It would not be easy. Optimus wanted the same as the Matrix did. The people needed Megatron, as did Optimus, as did the Matrix. However, he didn't just want his Lord High Protector back at his side, ruling over Cybertron. He wanted Megatron back, he wanted his brother back, he wanted his twin back, and he wanted his best friend back.

For those reasons, Optimus vowed to do everything in his ability to bring back the Megatron he knew. The Matrix needed Megatron to balance the Prime's power. Cybertron needed its warrior guardian. Their people needed their Lord High Protector. Optimus needed his brother.

He would get Megatron back. He had to.

A/N: I hope that was alright. Please let me know if there are mistakes or if I was seriously off with the characterization. Thanks!