Strange neighbours

Chapter fifteen: Memories and lies

Ironhide followed Ratchet as the NEST team made their way along the roads leading them to Bumblebee. There were lengths of chains packed in Ironhide's tray ready to restrain Bumblebee if it was necessary when the group found him. The analysts had tracked Bumblebee to a location which was a two day drive from the NEST base. What alarmed and concerned them was when Bumblebee's signature disappeared off the satellite radar, the analysts didn't know how it had happened but after Optimus had told them that if Bumblebee had gone into a stasis lock then his signature would not be traceable by the satellite radar they had calmed down and gave any updates they could to the team.

Ironhide was grateful that an airlift was organised to bring Bumblebee back, he wanted nothing more than for his comrade to be back at base and repaired. As he drove Ironhide tried to distract himself from thoughts of Bumblebee and soon found memories from his time as a youngling resurface, a very old memory came to his processors and settled there.

"Look at him, his frame's in worse condition than a pit fighter." A young Ironhide, fresh in his youngling frame overheard a small group of younglings talk in a huddled group. He looked up from his datapad and glared at them, the group wasn't talking about him but another youngling in the room. This particular youngling was new to the city and therefore unknown to many of the younglings in the seminary. Ironhide looked over at the new youngling and noticed his frame was a standard plain silver form and did look battered and scuffed around the edges. Cracks ran around the edges of plating and rust was flaking off at joints making the youngling look neglected and weak but Ironhide knew better than to judge the newest member to the seminary just from his looks.

He understood that not all Transformers were wealthy enough to afford new and custom made youngling frames and some couldn't even afford general maintenance as often as needed. He also knew that there was a reason why the youngling looked so ill and whatever the reason it wasn't his business.
"Don't his caretakers understand what maintenance means?" A taller femme said crossing her arms over her chest as if she'd heard Ironhide's thoughts. Ironhide appreciated his own new black and grey frame before looking back at the group which consisted of two femmes and four mechs.
"Most likely not, look at the cracks! I bet they beat him," one of the mechs answered.
Ironhide looked back over at the youngling just in time to see his head twitch slightly towards the group but otherwise remain still.

"Hawser I dare you to go flip his chair up." A youngling Ironhide knew as Hoarfrost spoke quietly to the group. Ironhide was close enough that he could hear the group whispering to each other and he knew that Hawser wouldn't pass up an opportunity to cause trouble. Putting down his data pad, Ironhide got up and casually walked closer to where the youngling sat, he stood close to another table between the group and the youngling. He pretended to be picking some grime out from under his plating as he watched Hawser sneak over out of the corner of his optic. The youngling didn't notice his presence until Hawser hooked his ankle joint around the leg of the chair and kicked outwards sending the chair and the youngling toppling to the ground with a crash. Hawser wobbling with giggles walked past Ironhide towards the group of younglings who were all clutching their sides and crying with laughter. Before Hawser could make it back to the group Ironhide launched and was on top of him in moments.

Hawser screamed as Ironhide threw punch after punch bending and cracking the soft plastic plating of Hawser's frame. He pinned Hawser down with his legs and fought against Hawser's struggles continuing to aim punches,
"Don't treat others like that! It's not okay to bully someone because of how they look! You small processor glitch head fragger!" Ironhide yelled angrily using both hands to beat Hawser's helm into the ground causing his optic to rupture. Hawser screamed in pain managing to break one arm free of Ironhide's hold and ripped at wiring under some chest plating. Ironhide yelled in pain and retaliated with a quick blow to Hawser's ruptured optic. The brawl continued until two femmes ran into the room and pulled them apart. Ironhide struggled against the arms of the femme and continued yelling wordlessly at Hawser.
"Ironhide! Ironhide!...

"Ironhide! Are you there?!" The black mech was sucked back into reality and answered quickly through his interior speakers.
"Yes Lennox?" Ironhide took a moment to assess his surroundings as Lennox began talking about something he had asked Ironhide a few moments ago. They had only driven 22 miles since Ironhide 'zoned out' and he vented knowing it was going to be a long trip riddled with uneasiness.

…

Megatron landed gracefully back at the farm as the early morning light began to brighten. Neither Rachel nor Timsy were awake yet so Megatron settled himself down on the ground and went over his plan one more time. The coding and viruses he had implanted into the Autobot's processor would remain dormant until the medic had repaired his battle computer. Once repaired the coding and viruses would be activated and begin hacking and overriding the scouts processors. Within eight earth days the Autobot scout would be completely under his control and he could use the scout for whatever tasks he wanted. Megatron looked over to the house as he realized he no longer needed Rachel or Timsy for his new plan anymore.
Originally he was going to use them as moles and get them amongst the Autobot ranks to feed him important information but now having the scout changed everything assuming his coding and viruses were not discovered. If they were then he'd lose his mole and he would have to use the two humans as moles like he originally planned. Megatron, still thinking things through very carefully, looked over at the sunrise realizing that he may still need Rachel and Timsy after all.

"Morning Mega-dude," Megatron looked over to the house where a messy hair and tired eyed Rachel was walking from. He vented at the name but ignored it and held his hand out inviting her over.
"Good morning Rachel." She walked over then shyly leant against his foot, he sensed her relax more when he didn't say anything.
"Did you sleep well Rachel?" She bent her head backwards and looked up at him, a motion that reminded him of a curious sparkling.
"Timsy was restless all night. I ended up sleeping on the couch he was that bad. Where were you last night?" Rachel looked away from Megatron as she asked and he eyed her suspiciously.
"How did you know I had left?"
"I heard you making noises this morning, so where did you go? What were you doing?" He could see Rachel was always very curious, another notion that reminded him of a sparkling.
"I flew to Utah, I stumbled across something useful while I was testing my flight tech."
"Something useful huh?" Megatron sighed and thought quickly then gently poked at Rachel to turn her around so she was facing him.
"I can tell you what I found but you must swear absolute secrecy to me. The information I tell you must not be told to anyone, including Timsy. Understand?" Megatron didn't shutter an optic as he spoke and Rachel heard the seriousness in his voice.
"I understand."
Megatron began explaining his new plan to Rachel, he was careful to leave out parts that would make her distrust him.

…

Rachel tossed and turned in the dark trying find a comfortable position on the small couch,
"All that money from the diamond and Timsy's too cheap to buy a better couch. Snoring stingy idiot." She grumbled to herself giving up and just lying there with her legs hanging over the arm of the couch and the blanket half draped on the floor. She lay silently as the morning light slowly began to light the room and listened to the few birds that were already chirping in the distance. Rachel heard a plane amongst the chirps, she began to become curious as the plane noise became louder and deeper. She was beginning to think what she was hearing was not an ordinary plane just as it cut off and a small vibration ran through the structure of the house, a vibration she knew only one individual could cause. She tossed the blanket off her and tiptoed out of the house. The brighter light outside made her blink and rub her eyes before she scanned the area to find Megatron sitting facing the slow sunrise.

"Morning Mega-dude," she said walking over to him. He looked over with a slight glare at the nickname. She heard his vents blast open then settle again before he held his hand out inviting her over. Rachel could see certain similarities between human and Cybertronian behaviour from time to time with Megatron and she often wondered how they could be similar yet so different at the same time.
"Good morning Rachel." She walked over then slowly leant against his foot, making sure he didn't mind the action before she relaxed against the smooth and unusually cold metal.
"Did you sleep well Rachel?" Rachel tilted her head back and stared up at Megatron, he held no expression as he looked back at her.
"Timsy was restless all night. I ended up sleeping on the couch he was that bad. Where were you last night?" Rachel asked looking away as she quickly changed the subject. Timsy was not someone she wanted to be thinking about at the moment. The couple had been fighting so much lately over the smallest things and they all seemed to relate back to Megatron. Rachel was beginning to wonder if Timsy and Megatron didn't get on well.

It worked as Megatron was silent for a moment before replying with his own question,
"how did you know I had left?"
Rachel smiled slightly at the question, he's really not as quiet as he thinks he is she thought before replying.
"I heard you making noises this morning, so where did you go? What were you doing?"
"I flew to Utah, I stumbled across something useful while I was testing my flight tech."

Megatron's response was not something she expected, usually he just blew her off with some explanation that what he was doing was none of her business. Flight tech? Rachel didn't expect to hear that. She didn't even know that Megatron could fly and wanted to question him about it. But she could see that what he had found was something important to talk about.
"Something useful huh?" She heard Megatron sigh at her answer and she felt a little worried, was she wrong to ask about it?

She felt Megatron gently poke her so she turned around to face him.
"I can tell you what I found but you must swear absolute secrecy to me. The information I tell you must not be told to anyone, including Timsy. If you betray my trust you will pay for it. Understand?"
"I understand." She said a little pale after hearing the threat in his voice. Her theory about Megatron and Timsy not getting on well hardened at his words of Timsy not being able to know the information she was about to be told.

She sat quietly listening to Megatron. After he had told Rachel what he'd found, what he'd done with it and why he'd done it her only response was
"I am willing to help you in any way I can Megatron but first I need you to tell me what happened between you and the Autobots for such hatred to form, what did they do to you?"

Megatron did not reply but looked over to the house instead. Rachel followed his gaze to see Timsy pulling a shirt over his head as he walked out the front door.
"I will discuss this with you later" Rachel heard Megatron mutter. Timsy reached them and looked at each face suspiciously for a few moments.
"Have I interrupted something?" Rachel looked away and rolled her eyes trust him to be like that first thing in the morning.

"Of course not babe" she said looking back at him. Though he didn't look convinced Timsy nodded
"I was going to make some eggs for breakfast, want some?" he asked. Rachel looked up at Megatron who was ignoring both of them and picking at some grime under his armour plating then back to Timsy.

"Of course" she said with a smile. As he turned away to walk back to the house she felt the smile slide away and sadness began to grow within her. They were beginning to fight so often now and they were growing apart. She could feel the barrier between her and Timsy growing larger and stronger with each day that past.

An unexpected tear rolled down her cheek and Megatron noticed it before she could wipe it away.

"Why are you crying Rachel?" the girl looked up at him and gave a sad smile.
"I just realized that Timsy and I are not going to last much longer, what we have is going to end and when it does my heart is going to break and I think my world will end" She said looking away and out to the horizon realizing what she was saying was true. It was only a matter of time now.

"Human hearts cannot break. They're made of soft organic tissue, however they could rupture." Megatron replied not understanding what she meant. Rachel gave a soft laugh and wiped away few more tears.

…

Timsy felt around the bed in the dark expecting to find Rachel sleeping next to him as he began to wake. Finding nothing more than cold empty sheets he opened his eyes and looked around in the dim light. She was not in the bed.
He got up and walked to the next room to find a pillow and blanket on little couch. Timsy sighed feeling a pinch of rejection and walked back to the bedroom for a shirt.

He pulled it on as he walked outside and was not surprised at all to see Rachel talking with Megatron. He lost count of the mornings she had gotten up early to spend time with Megatron rather than stay in bed with him like she used to do. He was beginning to feel replaced by giant metal being.
Timsy felt anger bubble up within him and he was starting to feel nothing but hatred towards the Decepticon. He was all Rachel talked about now, things they needed to do for Megatron, what money they had left to buy materials for Megatron, how much more time it would take to repair Megatron. Megatron, Megatron, MEGATRON!

Timsy and Rachel had not had a day without some kind of fight start up between them in what felt like months. He reached the two, who were now silent and he looked them both in the face.

"Have I interrupted something?" he saw Rachel look away and felt something twist in the pit of his stomach. He knew something was wrong.
"Of course not babe." She looked back at him and Timsy merely nodded.

"I was going to make some eggs for breakfast, want some?" he asked. Timsy watched Rachel look up at Megatron and back to him like she was checking for his permission to answer.
"Of course" she said with a fake smile. Timsy turned away keeping his face emotionless, hiding what was eating him away on the inside, and walked back to the house and into the kitchen.

As the clear of the eggs began to turn white in the hot pan Timsy tried to not think of Rachel. Despite his efforts he found himself thinking about everything between them. Sadness pulled ears from his eyes and he dug his fingers into the corners of his eyes trying to stop them from spilling over but as they rolled down his cheeks the sadness turned to anger and Timsy felt himself become consumed by it.
He grabbed the pan handle and hurled it at the ground yelling wordlessly. Eggs were flung across the kitchen and the pan crashed on the ground making a loud bang. In his rage Timsy turned to the wall and felt his hand form a fist and in moments was putting hole after hole into the wall. Rubble was falling to the ground and dust was settling over Timsy shirt. Tears pricking the corners of his eyes Timsy pulled his bruised fist out of the wall and slowly stretched his fingers out. Pain rippled through his hand so he ran it under cold water. The pain from his hand was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling from the thought of the one person he cared most about, the one person he would do anything for was slipping away from him and he couldn't get her back. Timsy blamed it all on one thing.

Megatron.

…

Later that day Timsy had mysteriously left to go for a drive leaving Megatron and Rachel alone to talk.

"As I told you this morning Rachel, I found an Autobot scout in Utah. He was unconscious and injured. I was able to put my own viruses and rogue coding in the scout's processor which will activate when the Autobot is repaired. It will take eight earth days before the coding will have completely hacked and overridden the scout's processors leaving him completely under my control. Once that happens I will be able to collect very important Intel and destroy the Autobots from the inside of their own base. I shall soon have a puppet at my command to destroy the Autobots."

Rachel sat on the ground in front of Megatron listening to him.
"I have told you I am willing to help you fight the Autobots but what can I actually do to help? And I also want to know what happened between the Decepticons and the Autobots for all this to begin. What happened Megatron?"

Megatron vented then began telling Rachel the story of the Great Civil War.

"Legend has it that my race was born from an ancient artefact known as the Allspark. It is not known where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. Many years ago, before this planet even existed, a great civil war broke out on our planet over this artefact. The war was between the Decepticons, the leaders of Cybertron, and the Autobots, a rebellious group formed by a mech known as Optimus Prime. The Autobots wanted to take the Allspark and use its power to create an army of massive force and destructive power and use it to overthrow the Deception leaders.

The Autobots grew in numbers faster than the Decepticons could take out their bases. Our war continued until it consumed all the planet's resources and now Cybertron is nothing more than a barren waste land. In the final days of the war the Decepticons had no choice but to secretly launch the Allspark into space to stop the Autobots from taking it.

Once the Autobots had found out the Allspark had been launched into space it became a race for the Decepticons to find the Allspark before the Autobots did. We hoped to find it and use its power to restore Cybertron.

After years of searching we has almost given up when message came through of its location on an unknown planet. This Planet. Unfortunately the Autobots had also gotten message of its location. There was an inflight battle between us and we crash-landed on Earth some years ago. Since then we had been searching for the Allspark in secret, it was not until a few years ago that humans became aware of our existence.

The battle broke out in one of your cities and that is how you humans became aware of us and also how the Autobots formed an alliance with the human government. The Autobots befriended your human government before I could and they formed an alliance with them, they are working together to kill off all Decepticons. Your human government is under the impression that us Decepticons are planning to destroy your race and planet however it is the Autobots that have those intentions to take over this planet for themselves."

"And what happened to the Allspark?"

"It is gone. Destroyed, and now without it we are a fading race. Without the Allspark we cannot reproduce."

Megatron watched Rachel's expression change as she heard this.
"I-I'm so sorry Megatron. I can't imagine what it would be like to know what you are one of the last of your species." She said honestly, sadness lacing her words. Megatron used a single finger to lift her head up.
"Our race has spread very far across the universe. I do find myself hoping that a colony of Transformers is existing somewhere safe from this war" Megatron said somewhat honestly. Rachel placed a hand on his finger.
"I hope so too." The two shared a silent moment before Rachel let her hand fall back by her side and Megatron withdrew his finger.

"Back when I found you, were all your injuries from the battle which revealed your existence to humans?"

"No I sustained those injuries from an ambush. I was led by one of my soldiers into a trap. He claimed there was energon in a secret location and led me to it. But the location was actually where the Autobots were residing. My soldier fled as I was attacked and I barely escaped with my life."
"Actually I think I remember you telling me about that when we first fixed you. His name was Starshriek or something right?"
"Starscream." Megatron said the name bitterly. Rachel noticed the ice in his voice and turn the conversation.

"Megatron what is it you exactly need me to do to help you?" Megatron had to admit she was only a backup plan if his plans involving the Autobot scout weren't successful but he still felt he needed the girl. Though he still didn't understand why.
"If my plan involving the Autobot scout is not successful I will need you to become a mole and feed me information from the Autobots such as locations of other Decepticons and their battle plans and weaknesses. It is of the most importance that I find my Decepticon soldiers and defeat the Autobots before they wipe out your race and take over the planet. It is possible that the future of your race will depend on you Rachel." Megatron lied through his teeth and watched as Rachel thought over everything he had said. Finally she looked him straight into the optics and simply said.

"If it means the survival of the human race then I will help you."

Megatron was pleased with her response. This was what he wanted from the girl, to gain over her trust and loyalty.

A/N: Hello everyone! I apologize so much for how long it has been. I got very caught up in my school work and exams around the time I posted my last chapter so I had to spend some time concentrating on all that stuff.

I've been spending the last few weeks editing all my old chapters. So if you want to, go back to chapter one and re-read my story and hopefully I have edited all the typos. If not, message me the chapter and where it is because I hate having typos in my story!

If anyone would like to be a beta to this story I would greatly appreciate it!

I have not given up on this story and I will be posting more chapters soon!

Please review what you think of it so far.