Author's note. Going to be working a lot for the next couple of weeks, don't know when I'll be able to update this again. Hope you all like this anyway.

Suggestions are welcome.

Enjoy and please review.

Elita sat on the berth with her legs drawn up, the little Mecho Mole curled up nearby as she lightly stroked it. She couldn't believe what had just happened, she'd just come across Megatron completely naked while having a shower. She'd been chasing the Mecho Mole who she'd named Meko when he'd run into the shower room, forgetting that Megatron was inside.

But even then, she hadn't thought he'd actually be stripped of his armour that soon. She'd only taken off her armour after it was utterly clean but Megatron hadn't bothered to wait to clean his protoform. And she had to admit, it was a rather nice protoform although she'd only see the back.

She smiled slightly, she hadn't seen many naked Mechs, while they were at War, her parents had still wanted her to be brought up like a proper Femme. So while she did have Mech friends, she'd rarely seen any of them without full armour. The first time she'd seen anything was doing a first aid course where she'd been taught all the basics about bot forms.

And once that had happened, her father had sat her down for a very frank talk about dating and other such matters. Her poor father had clearly wanted to delay this for as long as possible because he didn't want to admit she wasn't his little Femme anymore but he was determined she would have all the information she'd need.

And after her father had talked to her, her mother had come in and told her a little more. She'd given her daughters details her mate hadn't been willing to say and it had been a big help to Elita and helped her understand better.

Which was why she was able to discern what the hot feeling deep in her abdomen was, she knew what it meant.

But she had no idea what to think about it, she shouldn't be having those feelings towards Megatron, should she? He was going to hand her over to his father to be used as a valuable hostage but on the other hand, he had treated her quite well. And he was a quite attractive Mech, even if he was the enemy.

Before she could dwell further on this train of thought, she heard the sounds of the shower being turned off. That meant Megatron would appear soon and reminded her that they would be eating before going into recharge. She decided she should offer some form of apology, even if he hadn't seemed bothered by her intrusion.

She didn't want any bad energon between them.

So she sub spaced a couple of rations of decent Energon which would keep them going during the night's recharge. It meant their systems wouldn't struggle as the recharge to take care of any problems that had come up during the cycle but wouldn't be wasted. When they came out of recharge tomorrow, they would need to consume some Energon of a higher energy content but this wouldn't need to be a really big amount if they'd fed the night before.

She willed herself not to blush when he came into the room, she didn't want to come off as a naive little Femme who'd never seen bare protoform before. But it wasn't easy, all she could think about was that taunt aft with little streams of water running off it...

"Stop it," she told herself sternly but quietly. "You're being an idiot, grow up."

She inhaled some air and then exhaled, slowly calming down. She could hear him moving around in that room and knew his entrance was imminent. So after schooling her features into an appropriate expression, she turned towards the doorway as Megatron appeared in it.

He had a strange expression on his face but thankfully it wasn't one of anger. But then she wondered if it was tiredness, he must surely be exhausted. She felt a rush of sympathy for him, she was tired too but Megatron had been injured in a rock fall earlier and had fought off a Rat Monster.

"I've got some Energon here," she softly, trying not to think too timid.

"Good," he said, looking please as he collapsed onto the berth next to her.

He definitely was tired but he still looked much better than before finding this safe house. His armour was clean and he didn't look so rough any more. He grabbed the Energon ration and started gulping it down, sighing with pleasure as his energy levels were replenished.

"I'm sorry for rushing in like that," Elita said in a rush as Megatron was still drinking.

"I was chasing Meko and...he ran right in and I didn't mean..."

"It's alright," Megatron said unconcernedly before saying.

"Meko? You named that Mecho Mole?"

"Uh, yeah," Elita said with a slight flush. "I just thought...since he's hanging around, it wouldn't hurt."

Megatron shrugged as he finished his ration of Energon, she was still having hers.

"You can call it whatever you won't but you'll have to leave it behind when we get out of here."

"I know," Elita said quietly as he tossed the remainder of his ration onto the ground, where Meko set upon it eagerly.

She knew it was probably silly but she just didn't want to refer to the Mecho Mole as it, she wanted a name to call him by. She quickly finished her Energon before tossing the remains near Meko, who delightedly set upon it. She smiled, he acted like he'd never seen such a treat before but perhaps he hadn't eaten so well in a very long well.

She sighed and settled down on the berth, lying on her side away from Megatron. As soon as she was down, he pulled her close before making himself comfortable. She sighed very softly but somehow didn't mind that much. At least they were both clean and it didn't matter if they snuggled a little.

Megatron suddenly moved and she turned to see him pressing a panel which dimmed the lights until they went out completely. Megatron then settled himself back down again, pressing Elita close against him chest. Elita could hear Meko snuffling around but he didn't sound distressed so she wasn't worried about him.

But, even though she was in a nice, comfy berth and was with a Mech she knew wasn't going to harm her and in fact, would protect her, she began to feel nervous. They were in a safe house but the fact that there could be monsters right outside it, right at that moment began to play on her nerves.

They were trapped deep underground, in a small, totally dark box while unspeakable creatures roamed outside. Oh Primus, they were probably just waiting to pounce as soon as she and Megatron left this safe house. But was this place truly safe, what if they tried to get in?

Some of those monsters had once been normal Mechs, maybe they would know how to get in. She started to tremble as she imagined them scrabbling to get in, clawing at the protective metal. It didn't help she was in virtual darkness where her imagination could really take flight.

"Uh," she gasped softly, her was body tense and she couldn't relax enough to fall into recharge.

The things Megatron had told them about those creatures was terrifying and she kept replaying the fight with the Rat Monster. That one creature had been enough to take all of Megatron's attention and strength to keep it at bay. What would happen if more than one of them attacked, what if a whole pack of them came at them all at once.

As she trembled, she heard a faint growl and then Megatron spoke.

"Elita, what is wrong?"

"I...," she stuttered, feeling so scared but also ashamed of herself.

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, it's nothing."

She felt Megatron's hand shift and trail up to her face where he lightly touched her face. She knew he could feel the tears slowly slipping down her face, making it clear that she was distressed. She heard him sigh slightly and then he released his hold on her so she could roll onto her back.

She could just make out his face by the light of his bright red optics though she couldn't make out his expression.

"What's the matter?" he asked softly as she looked away.

"I'm scared," she admitted softly, her fear overriding her embarrassment.

"Of what, me?"

"No," she said loudly before saying quickly.

"I...I mean not really, you've not tried anything and you've protected me, I'm not scared of you at the moment though I respect your strength."

He nodded once before saying.

"So what are you scared of?"

"What's out there," Elita said very softly. "After what happened today, it just feels that as soon as we leave this place...w-we'll be attacked and I'm scared."

"Ah," he said, understanding entering his tone, which surprised her, she thought he would sneer at her.

"I know it's stupid," she said in a rush. "I know I'm being silly, I just can't stop thinking about it all and what could happen."

"Elita," he said in a gentle tone. "It's alright, I understand."

"How?" she said weakly and miserably.

"You're a rookie," he explained softly. "You've never spent any proper time in the mines before and you've never encountered any of those creatures again."

She shook her head in agreement, she'd never been in this situation before. She thought she saw Megatron smile as he said.

"Elita, it doesn't matter if you've been brought up to be a miner, every bot that enters the mines to work for the first time is a rookie. Not only do they not have any experience or knowledge, it means that they get scared easily. Even the hard ones," he added with a slight smirk in his voice.

"But every veteran knows and understands this, they look out for those rookies and help them get over their fear. Almost every single rookie freezes when they first encounter one of those monsters, the question is, for how long."

Elita nodded, she was beginning to see what he was talking about.

"I won't let any harm come to you," he said softly, stroking her cheek gently.

"We won't be caught by surprise by those creatures or take any unnecessary risks tomorrow. And I will do my best to find the quickest, safest route out of this pit hole. Now, try to relax, nothing can hurt us while we're in here, and don't think about tomorrow, just relax."

"I'll try," she said shakily before a thought hit her.

"You know tomorrow?" she said before saying. "Please, don't cuff me, I felt so damn helpless earlier when you were attacked by that Monster Rat. If we're attacked, I'll need to be able to defend myself, I promise I won't try anything."

Megatron considered her for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Alright, I won't cuff you and you may have a weapon. But once we're out of danger, they go back on, understand?"

"I do," she said firmly. "I...I just can't have them on tomorrow, not when we're going through those tunnels."

Megatron nodded before drawing her into his arms again, only this time her face was buried against his armour. He seemed to sense she needed extra comfort in order to recharge this night. And she very gratefully snuggled into him, sighing at the feel of his strong arms around her, feeling safe once again.

Author's note. What happens when Megatron and Elita leave the safety of the Safe House? Find out next time, until then.