Author's note. This will be the last update for a while as I'm going on holiday for two weeks. But here's a nice long chapter for everyone to make up.

Suggestions are very welcome.

Enjoy and please review.

Continued from last chapter

"Megatron said you've got two wives, how does that work?" the boy asked innocently.

"Megatron said...?" Optimus said, stunned.

Megatron threw back his head and roared with laughter.

Optimus stared at the kids, Carlos's question had utterly thrown him. He dimly wondered whether Megatron was enjoying this. In that aspect, he was right, Megatron was eagerly leaning forward in his seat with a wide grin. He wanted to hear more.

Recovering himself, Optimus managed to say sardonically.

"And just what did Megatron tell you?"

"Well," Alexis began. "He was explaining how sex works for you."

Optimus goggled at her, unable to believe what he'd just heard. Meanwhile, Megatron laughed out loud, really enjoying himself now. Optimus closed his mouth from behind his mask and said with a raised brow.

"And how did you all end up talking about that?"

"Well, he was teasing me about blushing when we, erm, saw Starscream naked," Alexis explained, though the last part was said very quietly.

Optimus stared but didn't comment. Megatron snickered.

"Well, I asked him how you and him do it," Alexis continued cheerfully causing Optimus to choke and Megatorn to scowl.

"Not you and him personally man," Carlos added with a grin, as Optimus relaxed again.

Megatron rolled his optics, why did those kids always manage to shock him?

"Ah, so he explained everything then?" Optimus now said, sounding amused.

"Yeah and that's when he said you had two wives," Alexis said eagerly. "Called Elita One and Bumblebee."

Optimus smiled behind his mask.

"Yes, they are my two Spark mates," he said fondly. "What is it you wish to know about them?"

"Well, it just seems a little strange to us," Alexis explained. "Aren't they jealous of each other?"

"Yeah dude, I mean, no girl I know would want to share a boy with another girl," Carlos added to which Rad nodded.

"They'd go crazy."

Optimus chuckled at this.

"I'll admit that some Femmes hate sharing their Mechs but the taking of more than one Femme Spark partner is a common practice."

The kids nodded and Alexis said.

"Megatron said that it tended to be well off Mechs that had more than one."

"He's right," Optimus said gently. "The strongest, wealthiest or the cleverest can earn the right to have more than one."

He hesitated before saying.

"As Prime, it is my automatic right to take more than one."

"The last one had about five didn't he?" Rad said and Optimus grimaced slightly.

"Yes but I think he did it more for prestige than anything else, I'm afraid."

The kids wrinkled their noses and Megatron growled under his breath. Unicron curse Nova Prime, may he burn in the Pit. What Prime said was true, his mates had been little more than dolls for display.

"But yours aren't, are they?" Alexis asked before suddenly saying.

"I-if you don't mind us asking that is."

"No, I don't mind," Optimus laughed, stroking their backs. "I know our culture is strange to you and I believe you should be informed about certain things. So that you're not ignorant about us."

"Thanks," the three of them said and Megatron settled down, forcing the old Prime from his mind.

"Elita is want you'd call my chief Spark Mate, I Bonded with her first," Optimus began. "She is very high ranking and commands the Femme section of the Autobot army."

"What does she look like?" Alexis asked interestedly and Optimus produced a small disk from Sub Space.

He pressed a button and a picture of a female robot materialised out of nowhere. She looked tall with long legs and twin antennae on her head. She was light pink and blue with a few white highlights. She had one hand on her hip and the other was causally holding a blaster. She was smiling in a confident way without look making her look arrogant.

"She looks lovely," Alexis said with a smile and the two boys agreed.

"She is," Optimus agreed proudly.

Megatron stiffly eyed the grainy image the camera was making of the holo picture. It was true Prime's mate was lovely but she wasn't a patch on his own beautiful mate. She had been beyond perfection, there was no one who could replace her.

"She's everything I could want in a mate, we've been together a long time," Optimus said before clearing his throat and saying.

"It was only recently I decided to take on another mate."

He clicked another button on the disk and the image of Elita One disappeared to show a smaller, younger looking Femme. She had bright yellow armour with black stripes on her armour. Her face was white and part of her chassis was as well. Her though her arms were yellow, her hands were black, giving her strong resemblance to a bumblebee.

"She looks nice," Carlos commented on while Alexis said.

"She looks young."

"She is, in human terms I'd say she's in her late teens while Elita is in her early thirties," Optimus acknowledged.

Realising he'd need to explain this, he quickly said

"She is like a little sister to Elita and in turn looks up to Elita as a big sister. Elita's taken her under her wing and they make a great team."

"So they're not jealous of each other?" Rad questioned and Optimus chuckled.

"Not at all. While that does sometimes happen with Femmes vying for the top position, it is not the case with them."

He considered something and then said.

"Has Megatron explained the difference between interface and Spark Bonding?"

They shook their head and Megatron half smiled. Obviously Optimus was going to explain to them and he didn't have to deal with their questions and comments. Primus but could they ask the most absurd, random questions that always ended up flustering him.

"Interfacing is something any Mech and Femme can do with each other. But Spark Bonding is something quite different," Optimus said slowly with the kids listening eagerly.

"It is when we open out chest and join Sparks. It is very sacred and involves sharing out very being with our partner and only those who are Bonded do it. Spark Bonding is an incredible and forever binds a Mech and Femme forever even when they leave this existence."

"Sounds cool," Carlos pronounced and Megatron snorted. That was a complete understatement if ever there was one.

Optimus merely chuckled, he knew they'd understand better when they were older.

"So you...Spark Bond in order to marry?" Alexis questioned and Optimus nodded.

"Yes, that is how we, as you say, marry. I have Spark Bonded with both of my mates but I've only interfaced with Elita."

The three of them looked surprised at this.

"Bumblebee's not ready to have her seal broken yet," Optimus explained gently. "At the moment, I am more her protector than...husband."

The kids all thought about this, it was a lot to take in. They couldn't imagine having more than one wife and all of them getting on perfectly. The Prime with golden optics simply stroked them gently, allowing them to process all the information.

Megatron just smiled, resting his head on a fist. He was feeling much better than he had earlier.

"Man, that's...amazing," Carlos declared and the other two nodded.

"It's really interesting," Alexis said with a big smile. "Your culture's so different from ours, I'd love to see it."

"Me too," Rad said excitedly. "I want to see what Cybertron's like."

"Maybe someday," Optimus said a twinkle in his optics.

"And I'd like to meet Elita and Bumblebee," Alexis said, almost shyly. "They sound really nice."

"If you ever make it to Cybertron, I'll be sure to introduce you," Optimus promised. "I think you'd like Bumblebee in particular, she loves anything organic. And considering her age, she'd probably make a good playmate."

Megatron sometimes wondered about this young Femme. Some Mechs took young, virginal Femmes to use as trophies but that would be completely out of character for Optimus. Perhaps she'd simply needed someone and the Prime had offered to take her on. As his mate, she would be more protected then a simply ward. At least Prime was being honourable and not forcing her on his berth until she was ready. Others would not be so kind.

He decided that the children had spent enough time with Optimus and got to his feet with a slight groan. At least they'd kept their promise and not insulted or made fun of him while they'd been with Prime. Despite what others might think, he was happier not punishing them. The sound of their crying and the sight of their miserable faces were not pleasant.

He glanced at the screen one last time and then set off to the brig. A short time later, he was approaching it with heavy footsteps which Optimus heard. He looked up sharply before bending and whispering to the kids.

"Kids, there is something I must ask of you, don't ask if Megatron's getting a mate of his own."

"Why...?" Rad started to ask but Optimus said.

"Please, trust me on this, I will try to explain another time but you must promise me on this matter."

They promised but continued to frown at Optimus. Alexis said.

"He didn't have any problem talking about Femmes or the fact he interfaces a lot with them."

Optimus chuckled as he said.

"That he isn't bothered about, it is the issue of Spark Mates. Don't ask him about this or mention it when he is within earshot. And don't forget, he had very good audio senses whatever impression he gives that says otherwise."

The kids were still a little confused but they nodded anyway. A few minutes later, they realised why Optimus had said this sounded so urgent as a heavy tread could be heard. And there was only one Mech who walked like that.

And sure enough, Megatron appeared a moment later, striding into the brig area and towards them. He gave them a tight smile as he reached the cell door and unlocked it.

"Well children, I trust you behaved better this time?"

They nodded solemnly, remembering their promise to the Decepticon leader. His smile grew tighter and he beckoned for them to come to him. Optimus scooped them up and placed them on the floor where they quickly ran over to Megatron. He bent and took them into his hand and straightened with them safely held.

He shot Optimus a smirk before turning and striding off without another word.

"Enjoy yourselves?" he asked lightly as they held onto his fingers tightly.

"Yeah, it was really good," Rad said, sharing a smile with his friends.

"We uh, learned some new things," he added to which Megatron smiled slightly.

"Oh, and what might that be?"

"Uh, just about Optimus's wives...I mean mates," Rad said, careful not to say Spark Mates.

But Megatron merely grinned and then chuckled.

"I wondered when you'd be integrated poor Optimus about that. I hope you didn't embarrass him too much."

"We didn't embarrass him at all," Alexis said indignantly, causing Megatron to laugh out loud.

"Ha, I don't think I can believe that. When it comes to things like interface and the like, you children always ask the most ridiculous questions."

The three of them scowled and pouted but didn't protest this. Megatron chuckled and wondered what he could do with them now. While he'd decided they'd spent enough time with Optimus, he hadn't thought about what he was going to do with them.

His mind suddenly recalled what he'd been thinking earlier, how they were little more than Sparklings. And Sparklings needed Creators.

"You children are going to have a little nap while I take care of something," Megatron said as he took them into the Throne Room.

They groaned, though this was probably more the sight of the cage than the thought of a nap.

"Now, now, I'm not punishing you," Megatron said, pausing to scoop up a soft cleaning cloth.

"I'm just removing the temptation to misbehave," he added, shoving the cloth into the cage before gently popping them in after it.

They were deposited onto cloth and Megatron withdrew his hand to lock the cage door. He smiled as they looked annoyed at being locked up.

"Don't look at me like that, I'll let you out when I'm ready. There are a couple of things I need to take care of."

They sighed as he walked away but settled down on the bed of cloth. At least he wasn't making them lie on the hard metal floor of the cage, it wasn't at all comfortable for a nap. Not sure if he was using this opportunity to spy on them to ensure they were keeping their word, they decided just to do as he said. They were a bit tired anyway.

Meanwhile, Megatron had gone back to the Communication Room and had sat himself down. He typed in a few commands and brought up the local news for the area the kids came from. He watched the article about the three missing children and how their parents were desperate for word of them.

He listened for a few minutes before typing in even more commands. And then sat back to wait.

"This is the Amber hotline, how may I help?"

Megatron smirked and then said aloud.

"I have information about those three missing children from Portland."

There was a pause and then the female voice said.

"Okay and what information is that sir?"

"I have them," Megatron said causally and there was an even longer pause this time.

"You have them with you sir?" the voice finally said.

"Yes, I've had them since they went missing. I took them."

"Okay sir, would you mind holding on for a moment?"

"Go ahead," Megatron said, amused.

He waited and then a male voice said.

"This is Detective Carling, may I ask who I'm speaking to."

"My name is of no concern of yours," Megatron drawled, he had no desire to tell this human anything.

"I'm here to talk about those three kids, Alexis, Carlos and Rad."

"Where are they?" Carling asked, obviously deciding to let the issue of Megatron's name slide.

"Are they okay?"

"Their perfectly fine," Megatron said evenly. "I just left them a few minutes ago, their sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Carling said slowly. "It's the middle of the day?"

Megatron chuckled.

"Not here it isn't."

There was a pause and then Carling said.

"You must be quite away then."

"Oh yes, we are," Megatron grinned, this puny fleshing had no idea just how far.

"But I'm afraid I'm not going to tell you, you wouldn't be able to reach them even if I did."

He sounded so confident about this fact that Carling paused again before saying.

"Alright, I understand. Is there a chance I can talk to the kids, make sure their alright."

"No," Megatron said firmly.

Before Carling could protest, Megatron said.

"I've called you to arrange for the brats to talk to their...parents."

He almost said Creators but avoided the slip up at the last moment. But Carling didn't seem to notice this.

"That can be arranged, they are all very anxious to hear from their kids."

"Good," Megatron said. "But don't think these kids will be telling you anything. I'll be there and if they say anything that they shouldn't, they will be punished."

"Punished how?"

"Nothing permanent," Megatron said silkily.

"But it's not something they want to experience again."

"Again? How many times have you had to punish them?"

"I don't keep count," Megatron said dismissively. "But that's not the issue here, I am merely warning you to warn the kids parents not to question them. I'm only doing this so they can reassure their parents that they are unharmed."

"I'll make sure they know that," Carling promised. "But can I ask you why you're holding them in the first place? What do you hope to gain by this?"

Megatron chuckled.

"Let's just say those three little angels meddled in matters that don't concern them. As to what I gain, well, they make for amusing company."

"What...do you mean by that sir?" Carling asked, his tone suddenly with a hint of coldness.

"I mean exactly that," Megatron growled. "And don't suggest otherwise, I have not touched them in an inappropriate way and neither have my men."

"Are you sure they haven't?" Carling quickly asked, seizing this new information.

Megatron snorted.

"I'm sure and you can ask those little brats yourself, they'll tell you nothing's wrong."

This he was confident about, while he might be in a grey area, his men defiantly weren't.

"I'll do that," Carling said sardonically. "And I can have the kids parents ready within the hour."

"Good," Megatron said before a thought struck him.

"If they wish to be utterly reassured as to the condition of their offspring, they can speak to them over a live web if you have the technology."

"We do but we'd need to have your location for that," Carling said in a slightly hopefully voice.

Megatron grinned.

"No you don't, I just need yours and I can set it up."

"How would you do that?" Carling said in surprise and slight disbelief.

"Because our technology is more advanced than yours," Megatron replied with a sneer.

No human on this planet had better technology than a Transformer.

"I would advise you not to argue this point, I can do this very easily."

Carling sighed.

"Alright, if you just give me a minute, I'll come up with the relevant details."

Megatron waited and sure enough, a few minutes later, Carling had told him all he needed to set up a connection. Once this was done, Carling repeated that in an hour's time, they would all be ready to talk and would be waiting for Megatron to call.

"Are you...planning on letting the kids go any time soon?" he now asked, keeping his voice steady.

"No, I'm not," Megatron said coldly. "I'll let them go when I see fit to let them go."

"I'll inform their parents about that," Carling said heavily, not sounding happy at the prospect at all.

"If you like," Megatron said and he disabled the connection.

He sat back in his seat, considering how he was going to set this up. He had no doubt that the humans down below would try to discover his location. Well, let them try, they'd never get past his firewall. On the other hand, it wouldn't do for them to come across it, there was a chance that one might realise that this was too advanced for them.

At this late stage, he couldn't afford other humans finding out about them. Starscream was good with computers, he could lay a false trail for the humans that they'd never unravel. So, that aspect of this little communication was covered, but what about the others?

He need to set everything up so they kids could talk to their creators without revealing where they were. Hmm, didn't Cyclonus have a little spy cam? They could use that to set up a link between the computer and whatever location he placed the children.

He'd need to inform his men of this development, he'd need their help. Thinking about them reminded him of that he'd confiscated Starscream's gift to that girl. He wondered if his Seeker would notice and ask about that. Well, he was hanging onto it for now until he could make up his mind about it.

With this thought in mind, he headed off to find his men.

Sometime later

"Where are we going?"

Rad asked this question as Megatron strode along, carrying the three children in his hand. A short while ago, he'd woken them up and said he was ready for them now. Although they still didn't know what he'd been getting ready for.

"I've arranged for you to speak with your creators," Megatron said causally as the kids stared in shock at him.

"R-really? You'll let us speak to them?" Alexis said in disbelief.

"Yes," Megatron said, slightly impatiently. "But there are some conditions to this."

They nodded, eager to speak to their families.

"Firstly, you are not to mention anything about the Decepticons, Autobots or Minicons," Megatron began imperiously.

"And that includes our names."

"We understand," Rad said quietly, his tone serious.

Megatron nodded and continued.

"You are not to reveal our location or even hint at it."

"They wouldn't believe us anyway but we won't," Carlos promised firmly.

"And you are to keep details of what's been happening to you to a minimal," Megatron finished sternly. "I will be there and you can look at me if you're unsure but I hope you can be sensible about this."

"We will," they all said.

"Good," he said before slightly hesitating. "That human I spoke to asked if any of you had been touched inappropriately. Do you think I've done that?"

They hesitated, Carlos and Rad glancing uneasily at Alexis. She considered this question and then said.

"Did you...feel anything towards me when you kissed me?"

"Certainly not," Megatron said immediately. "You're just a child and a human one at that. I will never see you in a romantic or sexual sense."

No one could ever replace Sliverblaze.

Alexis nodded slowly.

"Then...no you didn't, but it was a bit mean."

Megatron smiled slightly.

"I'll try not to be so mean again."

The kids grinned slightly at this, though they doubted he'd never be mean again. They continued the rest of the journey in silence.

They came into an empty room that had a table against one wall. On it, facing the wall was what looked like a web cam which was attached to several wires that disappeared into a large box. The box had several flashing lights on it.

Starscream was fiddling with something near it but stopped as Megatron entered.

"Thank you Starscream, you may leave now."

The Seeker nodded, shooting a strange look at the kids. He left without a word.

Megatron now placed the kids carefully on the table and pointed to a long pipe that was in front of the camera.

"You may sit on that," he said and they did as told.

"They're going to be able to see us," Rad guessed as they sat on the slightly cold pipe.

"And you them," Megatron said, and a screen suddenly activated in front of them.

They jumped but it was only a blank green screen. They looked again at Megatron who had positioned himself in front of them but behind the camera. This meant he'd been able to signal them if they were doing something they shouldn't.

"Prepare yourselves, it will activate in a few minutes," Megatron said calmly, arms folded in front of him.

The kids nodded, their hearts starting to beat faster in anticipation. After all this time, they were finally going to see their parents and have a proper chat with them. The minutes ticked by, but they continued staring at the screen.

And then it suddenly activated.

"Rad!"

"Carlos!"

"Alexis!"

To be continued

Author's note. Find out how the conversation goes with the kids and their parents. Also, we're back with Sideways and the Autobots, how are their plans going? Find out next time, until then.