Author's note. Finally a new update, hope everyone likes. Remember, suggestions are very welcome.

If anybody likes slash, I have a new story up called 'In the Dark' and it's an Optimus/Megatron story.

Enjoy and please review.

"Feeling better, pets?" Megatron asked with a smile as the kids reclined against his chest.

"Yeah," Carlos said with a sigh, not opening his eyes.

Megatron smirked; his children were very sleepy after their bath. They were now completely clean and even smelled rather nicely of cleaning solution. Apart from some grumbling about how he'd messed with their Sparks, things had gone rather peacefully. Megatron had been able to help clean the last of the electrum off their bodies before watching as they played in the warm water.

As he'd cleaned them, he'd found small slivers of silver on their bodies but so far, the kids themselves hadn't found them. Megatron wasn't in a rush for them to discover that they had been forever alerted and even now were slowly changing. What they would change into remained to be seen but Megatron was still content. For as long as his children remained where they belonged, at his side, he would be satisfied.

"When we are done here, you children can have some dinner and then a nap," he told them as he continued to lightly stroke their warm bodies.

"All we've done today is sleep," Rad said rather grumpily but that seemed to be the only protest any of them was going to make.

"That's enough," Megatron said sternly, giving Rad a slight tap. "I'm not having grumpy children complaining that they feel tired later on so you will sleep."

"I swear you're bossier than my mum sometimes," Alexis sighed, remembering sadly all the times her mother had insisted that she go to bed.

To her surprise, Megatron just smiled at this and said.

"I'll take that as a compliment, my dear," he chuckled as the kids stared up at him.

He noted how their eyes seemed to briefly glow but it was gone so fast that he'd almost missed. This just made him smirk even though he knew that the kids were bound to notice these subtle changes sooner rather than later. Their reaction was unlikely to be a good one; he knew that at first they might even hate him. However, he was more than confidant that he would win them over.

After all, if they could melt his Spark, then surely he could do the same with them. It would take time, a lot of patience and possibly some treats but he would do it. He had to, these were his children and he wanted both their love and respect. And one way or another, he would make them loyal to him and not Optimus and his precious Autobots.

"You just relax my dears," he said gently. "I know I scared you earlier but I want to make it up to my little pets. You can try something brand new and then have a good sleep."

They stared up at him with curious surprise but then shrugged and snuggled down again. Megatron just smirked as he continued to stroke them, admiring the tiny hints of sliver he was hiding on them. Just as he was doing this, he suddenly received a comm. from Scavenger.

"Megatron, I am returning to base with two Minicons I discovered," came the old Mech's voice as Megatron smirked even more.

"Excellent Scavenger, you have done well," he complimented; pleased that Scavenger's search had borne fruit. A few cycles previously, he had sent the Mech to search the asteroids and planets closest to Earth for Minicons. Since he'd found his Minicon Leader One on this Moon, he'd figured there may be some more scattered about the place.

And as usual, his hunch had proven to be correct.

"Thank you Megatron, I regret I didn't find more," Scavenger said softly but Megatron wasn't concerned with that.

"Never mind that, the point is we now have twice as many Minicons that the Autobots do," he said smugly. "You may rest easy once you return."

"I will, thank you Megatron," Scavenger said respectfully before asking. "Has anything happened while I've been away?"

Megatron glanced down at the lightly dozing children before replying softly.

"Optimus escaped with the help of a rouge bounty hunter."

"He did?" Scavenger exclaimed in astonishment. "That is...unexpected."

"Indeed, but it matters not," Megatron said shortly. "It was a blow against the Autobots and that's all that matter. He didn't leave with any Minicons or my pets so it is only a minor loss."

"Hmm," Scavenger said thoughtfully. "This is an interesting development; perhaps we could discuss it later?"

"Of course Scavenger, I shall meet you later," Megatron replied before switching the comm. off. Scavenger certainly deserved a good rest after all that searching, Megatron was perfectly happy to give him some time off.

He looked back down at his children and saw that they were fast asleep. He smiled as he examined their forms which were still purely human. Perhaps the small hints of sliver meant they were going to developed protoforms which could then lead to them becoming proper transformers. It also made him think that they would be able to retain human forms which would make the whole process a lot easier on them. Because it would be a rather nasty shock to them to discover they were Transformers but he would help them get through it.

Sometime later

"Here we go, my dears," Megatron said as he handed the three kids a bowl filled with different coloured cubes of food.

"What are they?" Carlos asked curiously as he and the others stared at the bowl.

"They are special cubes that I had Starscream create for you," Megatron explained with a smile, leaning back in his Throne. After the kids had had a long nap, he'd woken them up so they could dry themselves and get dressed. He'd then taken them to his Throne room where the Minicon Motors was waiting for them with the bowl of new food. The kids had been disappointed when Motors had left to attend to his duties but Megatron had promised them that they could play with the Minicons later.

"They are filled with everything you need to be healthy but with different flavours," Megatron continued. "Try them my dears; I think you will like them."

They looked at each other before shrugging and each reached for one. Alexis had a green one, Rad a blue one and Carlos helped himself to a yellow one. They cautiously bit into them but to their surprise, found them to be very delicious. Megatron's smile widened as they eagerly ate their treats before helping themselves to some more.

"Oh, these are lovely," Alexis complimented as she tried a pink cube.

"I shall tell Starscream," Megatron laughed, giving her hair a stroke. "We actually added a few extra minerals to help your systems cope with the transformation from Minicon to human."

"Is that safe dude?" Carlos asked in concern as Megatron nodded.

"Don't worry; we made sure everything is safe for you. Just enjoy them, mo mhac."

"Kay," Carlos mumbled as he now ate a green cube. He chewed thoughtfully for a few moments before hesitantly asking.

"Megatron...what does that mean?"

"What does what mean?" Megatron said with a smirk as the others looked up at him.

"Mo mhac," Carlos said very seriously even though Starscream had already told Alexis. But he wanted to hear Megatron's explanation and he knew his friends felt the same way.

Megatron just smiled and gave Carlos's head a pat.

"Have you children been worrying over that?"

"Not worrying but we want to know," Alexis said earnestly.

"Mmm, maybe I won't tell you," he suggested slyly, laughing as they burst into protests.

"Aw, come on," Rad groaned. "Tell us."

"Alright," Megatron laughed before saying. "Mo mhac means my son."

The kids stared at him with wide eyes before Alexis said slowly.

"And... Iníon?"

Megatron's fangs were revealed as he smiled even more.

"Daughter," was all he said as their eyes grew wide.

"Why...why would you call us that?" Rad asked quietly.

"Because I've become very fond of you all," Megatron said smoothly. "You're more than my little pets, we're...practically family."

The kids stared at him, their expressions indicating that they didn't know what to think. They had been wondering what Megatron really thought of them but to hear him declare that they were almost family was...mind boggling. Him liking them as pets they could understand perfectly well but...family?

"We...we didn't know you thought of us that way," Alexis said rather uncomfortably as Megatron chuckled.

"I admit children, I was a little surprised myself but now that I know how I think of you, I have accepted it."

"Uh...cool," Carlos said a little nervously. "That's cool, dude."

"I'm glad you think so," Megatron said before asking. "And I hope you might feel the same way."

Now the kids looked even more uncomfortable and started to shift a bit.

"I think...I think we've become fond of you too," Alexis finally said carefully. "You're not as bad as we thought you were."

"Yeah," Rad added as Carlos nodded.

"How fond?" Megatron couldn't help but probe. "Am I something of a parental figure to you?"

"Something like that...maybe," Rad offered, wondering what the heck Megatron was doing. "Uh...why do you want to know?"

Megatron shrugged.

"I am merely curious to know how you think about me but do not worry about it," he told them. "Now, why don't you finish your dinner and then you can have a nice nap. Afterwards, if you've been good, you can play with the Minicons for a bit."

The kids were so unsettled by Megatron's line of questioning that they didn't offer any protests as they continued to sample the brightly coloured cubes. What they didn't know was that the minerals they were consuming were meant to help their transformation along. Of course, he could just tell them now what was happening but he felt it was better for them become aware of it gradually.

"All done?" Megatron asked once they stopped munching the little cubes.

"Yeah," Alexis said as she stretched, she did feel a bit tired.

"Good," the Decepticon leader said with a smile as he picked them up one by one and placed them in a shallow container, on top of a soft cloth. After he had put all three of them there, he then gently tucked one end of the cloth over them so they could have a proper sleep. They gave him some more odd looks but they also looked very grateful, making him smile.

"There we go, my dears," he murmured down to them as they cuddled next to each other.

Was it his imagination or were there even more streaks of silver on their bodies?

An hour later, Megatron came back into the Throne Room to find that his kids were still in their make shift bed. Except one of them was awake and gazing out the window where the stars glittered brightly. Megatron noted that his eyes seemed to glow ever so slightly a blue colour, briefly making him think of the Autobots.

"Rad," he said softly, making the boy jump and turn around sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep," Rad whispered urgently, aware that he could be in trouble and also not wanting to wake his sleeping friends.

"It's alright," Megatron assured him softly as he sat down before reaching to stroke his young son. "I'm please you at least stayed where you were meant to. Do you really not feel tired?"

Rad shook his head.

"I was sleeping but when I woke, I just couldn't go back to sleep."

"Never mind Rad," Megatron told him with a smile. "This gives us an opportunity to talk."

Rad's lips twitched as he said.

"Like all the ones you've had with Alexis?"

This made Megatron laugh although he was careful to keep his voice down so Carlos and Alexis could continue sleeping. Rad couldn't help but smile now, it was a bit funny. Chuckling, Megatron finally said.

"Well, perhaps not quite like that unless you are looking for some advice on Femmes."

Rad blushed at this before shaking his head firmly.

"Nah, I think I'm alright."

"Good," Megatron said before saying. "You know Rad, you've always seemed like the leader of your little gang."

Rad wrinkled his nose as he said.

"It's not a gang and I wouldn't really call myself the leader..."

"But you do look after your two friends," Megatron pointed out. "And you seem to be the main voice of reason among the three of you."

Rad shrugged, he'd never really thought of it like that. Megatron smiled and said softly.

"I'm proud of you, mo mhac."

Ignoring the term of endearment, Rad blushed slightly and said.

"Just looking after my friends, they've all I've got."

"I know," Megatron said gently before saying. "I don't know how much you've been told about me but did you know I once had a mate."

Judging by the way Rad was looking at him, this information wasn't new to him but he didn't dwell on it. Instead he said.

"She died early on in the War and we never had a chance to start a family although we dearly wanted to."

"I'm sorry," Rad said softly, he didn't know what else to say.

"It was a long time ago," Megatron said lightly, still stroking Rad's head. "But you and your two friends are the closest thing to a family that I have had in a long time. My very own children."

Now Rad looked both embarrassed and awkward.

"Well that's...um...thank you," he said with a nervous smile.

"You're welcome," Megatron said graciously before turning to look out at the sky as well.

There was silence for a few minutes before Rad suddenly.

"Megatron...you're still letting us go right? Back to our parents?"

Megatron froze slightly as he remembered the children's earth parents. Of course they weren't about to forget about them but he needed to make it clear who he was. However, now wasn't quite the time so he said.

"Don't worry mo mhac, you will see your parents again."

Rad's serious expression melted into one of relief.

"Good, I was worried for a minute there."

Megatron only felt a small twinge of guilt as the boy snuggled into his hand. Lightly stroking Rad's hair, he said softly.

"You don't have to worry about a thing my dear, not a thing."

Author's note. What happens when the kids start to notice the changes? Do the other Autobots notice anything? What about the Autobots, what are they up to?