When he woke from recharge, Jack felt amazing – and he hated himself for it. The oil bath gave him a deep cleaning and scrubbing so good it sent him head first into a deep sleep. His head was still full of static, limbs loose as he shifted against the berth –

Jack stiffened, the static clearing enough for the full awareness to come over him. He wasn't on his back and hands bound to the berth. He…he was lying on his side, servos tucked against his chest as he was draped over a raised ledge. His unbound servos, and his spark pulsed hot as he slowly peered through shuttered optics.

And flew the rest of the way open. It wasn't the berth he was lying on top of. The berth was colored dark, and the expanse underneath him was gray, with seams spread along the area where in the center was the Decepticon symbol. Jack tensed up, because he wasn't sure how to process the rush of emotions which clouded his mind.

Fury, disgust, incredulity, disbelief – did Megatron actually settle down to recharge and let Jack use him as a pillow? Jack's jaw clenched, and he pushed himself up, his claws going up to the seam along Megatron's chest, the growl deep in his throat.

His optics burned as he glared at Megatron's still face, and down to the spot where he could feel the pulse of the silver mech's vile spark under his plates. I could do it; I could try and end this. Yet the reality sunk in. He could try, but Megatron's wrath wouldn't just be for him – Ratchet, the other Autobots, the Earth. They'd all suffer because he did something stupid.

Jack's arms shook, and fell back onto the chest. "I hate you." He muttered.

Something shifted on his back, and Jack stiffened as he realized it was the silver mech's arm. That servo rubbed along the seams in his plates, and Megatron chuckled in his audio.

"I'm almost disappointed you did not try for such an obvious play."

Jack gritted his denta. "You were already awake; it'd only end in losing everyone I love. Why would I risk it?" No matter how much he'd wanted too.

Megatron stroked up and down his back. "Good, remember that once we are back on Cybertron. Don't forget; one little slip, and we'll see how long it takes the Earth to be turned into New Cybertron."

Jack scowled, and clenched his fists. Was this why Megatron didn't bother to keep his wrists bound anymore? To hammer in the point of how utterly screwed Jack was? "And what is that going to be like?" he asked morosely. "Am I going to be spending all my time in your berth, or being paraded around on a leash?"

The servo on his back rested there, and Jack glanced up at the mech's faceplate. There seemed to be a thoughtfulness there that Jack didn't like. "How interesting. It seems you've spent quite a bit of time thinking on this." Megatron smirked. "Looking forward to it?"

Jack's scowl deepened, and he scoffed. "Not a chance. I'm being realistic – there's no way you're going to be leaving me alone to my own devices. I'm preparing for the worst."

"The worst." Megatron repeated. "There is no suspense to be found – your purpose is to serve me. And as I've made clear, how bad or well that goes will depend entirely on your behavior."

That was the least helpful picture Jack had ever gotten. If he didn't already know Megatron liked messing with him, Jack would assume the other mech was being vague on purpose. Is that what it's gonna be, just a bunch of mind games and tests to trip me up and give Megatron whatever justification he needs to destroy Earth? Jack wondered. He vented deeply. Of course he would.

Before long, Megatron moved him off his chest, and pulled him up with him to his pedes. "Time for your check-up. You can have your energon once we arrive in the lab."

Jack flinched at the mention. "W-what? Why are we going there? Isn't Knock Out supposed to be looking after this?" he gestured to his stomach plates.

Megatron scoffed. "Knock Out and Ratchet are both assisting Shockwave with the formula. It would be troublesome to go to the medbay when there are tools in the lab to suffice."

Jack gritted his denta as he was pulled out of the room. "And what about Shockwave? You don't think he'll try something again?" he sucked in a sharp vent when the silver mech smirked, something sinister lurking in his gaze that Jack absolutely didn't like.

"I assure you, he'll be quite busy. While you were recharging, I had Shockwave work on a…special project. He should be near completion with it."

Jack really didn't like the sound of that, especially since it seemed like it didn't take relatively long to do. "And what exactly is he busy with?"

Megatron's smirk widened. "You'll know in due time."

Jack definitely wasn't going to like the surprise. His tail wrapped around himself, and his only solace was that when they entered the hated laboratory, Ratchet was there too. Granted, hands still bound and kept under guard by Vehicons, but unharmed all the same. Jack wrested his arm free, and hurried to hug the grouchy medic.

Ratchet sputtered. "Jack, you've certainly gotten clingy."

Jack snorted. "Of course I have – you're my only relief from this living nightmare."

Knock Out scoffed, unpleasantly reminded Jack of his presence. "It's not all been bad. Don't you remember the good times we had?"

Jack growled, and let go of Ratchet to point his claws threateningly at Knock Out. "Good times? And which were those? Having me kidnapped, used as stress relief, or going on this dumbass plan of turning me into a Predacon?"

Knock Out rolled his optics. "At least you're a good-looking Predacon." He smiled, optics roving up and down his frame. "Our sparklings are going to be beautiful."

Jack hissed and lifted his other claw, but could only clench them in useless frustration. He felt Megatron's gaze boring into him, and Jack was under no illusions that if he attacked Knock Out or any other Decepticon the deal was off. "Just do your job and check on the spawn."

"Someone woke up on the bad side of a recharge." Knock Out retorted. He seemed to notice Ratchet's glare, and the red medic grinned. "You are of course free to watch and learn, doctor."

Ratchet huffed. "Such consideration." He drawled, and came to stand on Jack's side as the wolf Predacon lifted himself onto the edge of a table.

Megatron walked up to Shockwave, who was oddly silent even if his single optic gave Jack the creeps as it trained on him the moment he entered the room. Finally, that awful optic turned to Megatron. "Is the project nearing completion?"

"Affirmative. I have finished construction." Shockwave replied.

Megatron grinned. "Excellent. Show me."

The purple mech nodded, and lead Megatron towards one of the doors leading further into the lab. Jack didn't know what was going on, but his spark pulsed hot and uncomfortably. And yet that was nothing compared to feeling Knock Out's digits brush along his stomach plates and trace over the white scars.

"If you want me to open my plates, I can." Jack growled.

Knock Out chuckled. "You can? How useful." He tapped the plates, and went 'tsk'. "Though I will have to do something about these scars once it's my turn. You'll also need a polish – I want you only to look your very best once for when I finally have you in my berth."

"What?" Jack cringed as Ratchet's incredulous voice cut through. He glanced over, and saw the medic glaring at Knock Out in a disbelieving kind of disgust. "I thought this sparkling came about due to Shockwave's experiments, but am I to gather that it wasn't?"

Knock Out chuckled, giving Jack a smug look. "Didn't tell your precious medic, did you?" he smirked at Ratchet. "He's been warming our lord's berth, the sparkling is Lord Megatron's. I'm sure you'll find the information in the medical files Shockwave's kept."

Jack's claws dug into his palms, because the alternative was sinking them into Knock Out's neck. "Shut up." He hissed.

The red mech just shrugged. "What? It's not like matters. This Autobot can't do anything." He laughed shortly. "And he's especially not going to sabotage the formula with your life on the line."

Ratchet looked as though he swallowed a lemon, before he looked at Jack with…not pity, but something Jack couldn't quite identify. "Are you…" he stopped, and Jack wanted to snort. 'Okay', or 'alright' were likely the words to come out, and wisely Ratchet switched it, "Have you been harmed?"

"It hurt at first." Jack admitted. "Though that was because Megatron didn't know what he was doing." He learned though – quickly too, unfortunately. "I…just feel a bit tired from the spa…sparkling draining my systems."

Ratchet vented slowly. "It has…been a very long time, but I do remember tiredness and loss of energy being part of the carrying process."

Knock Out brought Jack's attention back onto him by tapping his stomach. Jack glared at him, but the red mech just grinned again. "Sorry to interrupt your sappy moment, but I want to at least give Lord Megatron an update. So open up."

Jack's mouth twisted, and he reluctantly let the stomach plates slide apart. The inside hadn't changed, the ball still bright and silvery in the wash of cloudy gray and greens. "Well?"

Knock Out hummed as he took notes and scanned over Jack's emergence chamber. "For now everything is stable – no odd inflexions or abnormalities. I'll have to consult Shockwave's notes as well, but I doubt there's going to be much change during this early stage of development. The Synth-En will likely cause you to grow even weaker though until we can stabilize it, so you'll need a higher energon intake." He paused, and sent Ratchet a look. "Unless you're offering a second opinion?"

The white and red medic glared at Knock Out, before he gave Jack's stomach a hard look, then glanced away. "Only that the energon be processed thoroughly. The nutrients will promote healthy stability for the sparkling."

Knock Out chuckled. "But of course, esteemed doctor." He glanced at Jack. "I just need a few samples, and we'll be done."

It turned out 'samples', was mercifully different from Shockwave. Knock Out only took more scans of him, and asked more in-depth questions about his current health. Any positivity to be found was immediately shot to hell when the door to the back lab opened, and Megatron came out, his expression unbearably smug.

He walked up to Jack, and Knock Out scurried out of the way. The silver mech placed a hand on his thin protoform once in reach, his touch astonishingly gentle. His red optics never strayed from the sparkling ball. "Report, Knock Out."

The red mech reset his vocalizer. "Your heir is still steady, and I will have Shockwave confer with the findings about how much further it will be to second trimester development."

"Excellent." Megatron replied, and moved his hand to Jack's hip. "Close your plates, I have a surprise for you."

Jack grimaced, but was glad all the same to have his stomach covered once more. "I'm not going to like it, am I?"

Megatron grinned. "I find any reservations you have will be…thoroughly dealt with by the end of it."

He opened the panel between his legs, and Jack stare dumbfounded. Slowly, that confusion turned to a creeping dread as he noticed the thing between the silver mech's legs looked nothing like the injector he'd been using. It was no thin strip filled with nanites, it…it… It looks like a real cock, Jack thought, the horror settling deep in his spark. Long and tapered at the end, ridges raised along the length of the gray shaft and attached at the end to the pocket behind his panel so seamlessly it was like it'd always been there. It…used to be, Jack thought, and tensed as Megatron stepped closer to him.

He grunted as the silver mech grabbed him by the waist and pulled him closer to the edge of the table. "Shockwave worked rather diligently on this 'spike,' it'd be a shame to test it in my quarters only for it to break."

Jack's optics widened as it settled in what it meant. "H-here?" he glanced around, at a way too interested Knock Out and a Shockwave who was leaning forward. Jack couldn't even bring himself to glance at Ratchet and whatever expression the medic had on his faceplate. "W-why? Why give yourself a P-Predacon attachment?" He was stalling, they both knew it, but Megatron just smirked.

"I am no stranger to using modifications for my purposes." His tone became a mocking sort of comfort, "Though if you need to steel yourself, merely think of it as a firmer injector already supplied with the required nanites."

Jack gritted his denta, and felt the servos adjusting his legs, rubbing along his inner thighs to spread them further apart. "And what do you get out of it?" he muttered.

Megatron chuckled, stepping closer with the space available. "Shockwave performed a further modification that allowed the 'spike' to connect with the base of my socket and transmit the same impulses from our previous engagements."

"Is that what you're calling it?" Jack hissed, and his claws clutched the edge of the berth tightly as the silver mech's digits rubbed the seams in his thigh. His spark pulsed hot, but he still remembered their deal. This is a test, bastard's pushing it on purpose, he thought. They both knew Jack couldn't say no. Jack's claws dug harder into the metal he was sure there'd be handprints. One last attempt, he thought. "Can we h-have some privacy?"

"Getting shy?" Jack cringed at hearing Knock Out's voice. It was worse with the glance he caught of him. Optics bright red and his expression a mix of disgust and fascination.

Megatron didn't need to say anything though, as his claws brushed along Jack's interface panel and he caught his gaze with an intense look in his optics. Jack's shoulders tensed, and he let the panel slide open. The tip of a digit found his anterior node, brushing and rubbing it with a startling gentleness which Jack's vents in intake sharply and his valve to clench on nothing.

It didn't stay empty though. Jack's voice hitched as another digit slid along the valve slit, rubbing mesh and kneading the folds. It sent tingles and pricks up his spinal strut, and he keened low in his vocalizer. It turned into a yelp as the other servo pushed down on his chest and he was shoved into his back, claws leaving deep grooves in the table. He groaned as his optics adjusted to the ceiling, and grimaced as the free servo grabbed his thigh and lifted it onto the silver mech's hip, pulling them even closer.

"What are you doing?!" Jack wished Ratchet hadn't spoken at all, the medic's voice full of frustration and unease.

Knock Out's chuckle drifted through the room. "Isn't funny, Ratchet, that Predacons were so primitive that they didn't know they could spark-merge? Instead, they mated like the beasts they were."

Despite the relentless petting of his anterior node and the pressure building in his groin, Jack noticed there was a still silence in the rest of the room. There was a loud commotion, the guards and Ratchet yelling and Knock Out going 'watch it!' Megatron's optics never once left Jack's face, but Jack tilted his head to see Ratchet being restrained by his Vehicon guards, optics bright and furious as he glared daggers at Megatron.

"You're even more fragged in the processor than I thought, Megatron!" Ratchet snapped.

Still, Megatron didn't look away. "Take Ratchet back to his cell for the time being. Let him simmer in his useless frustration."

Jack closed his optics when Ratchet tried to catch his gaze, but he couldn't bear seeing his expression as he was dragged out. Jack vented raggedly as he heard the door slid open and shut, and groaned as another digit found its way into his valve. Both sunk deep, and started to stretch. Jack's faceplate burned as lubricant slickened his mesh.

The pleasure and pressure were building, and Jack couldn't stop the moan as he was loosened up. His digits scrapped along the table as he knew what was about to happen. Megatron's optics were burning, the white taking over much of the red, and the servo on Jack's thigh tightened as he shifted and pulled his digits free. Jack's optics widened as he felt that thing being guided to his valve.

Jack vented deeply and tried not to freeze as the firmness of the spike head pierced his valve. It was not like the injector which ebbed to fit his valve – the spike was solid and Jack's valve clenched to fit it instead. He arched as his mesh walls rippled and shook around the intrusion, sending all kinds of pulses up his spinal strut.

The silver mech leaned over him, and groaned low until he was seated to the hilt. His vents wafted hot air over Jack's frame, which only grew with intensity as Megatron leaned down to his audio receptor. "Don't be silent, my pet. Give your Master all your gratitude."

Jack gasped gave a shallow thrust. His jaw clenched shut, but it wasn't enough when the mech started to move in earnest. Disgust and pleasure and a horrible self-loathing filled Jack's spark as he huffed and moaned as the shaft filled him even better than the injector did. "You're awful." He rasped, and the mech only chuckled.

Someone's engine rumbled, but Jack didn't care to know who. It was worse when both Knock Out and Shockwave spoke; the red mech asking 'How is it?' with eagerness, while the purple mech asked 'Is it sufficient?' in a stilted way.

Megatron smirked. "I find this spike to a much more pleasurable way to interface." His smirk widened into a grin as his optics blazed white. "What about you, my pet. Are you also satisfied with this?"

Jack's vents hitched as the silver mech gave a hard thrust, and the pressure was at its peak. "It…doesn't…hurt at least." He whispered.

Another deep rumble of an engine.

Jack gritted his denta, feeling the spike drive in deeper and hitting more sensors and he arched abruptly, his body growing tight as the pleasure overcame him. He moaned deeply, his valve clenching tight around the spike as lubricant slipped out. Megatron's grip tightened again on his thigh, and he drove in deep, holding still. Jack's body went loose as he lied on the table, feeling the nanites spilling into him. The silver mech's optics burned hot enough for the white to overtake his whole optics, and there were flashes of color below the seams of his chest. It seemed Jack wasn't the only one who overloaded.

Yet Megatron was the one who recovered remarkably fast, pulling out and sliding his panel shut. He gathered Jack into his arms and let him rest against his chest. His gaze landed on his two officers. "I trust this is sufficient data to add to the Predacon record?"

Shockwave nodded curtly. "Yes, Lord Megatron." He said, while Knock Out didn't say anything, his red optics trained on where Jack's valve would be.

The wolf Predacon grimaced and closed his panel. He'd be more indignant about being carried out of the lab, but his body was too tired. His optics became half lidded. "What's the real reason you did that?" he whispered. "Was it just to humiliate me?"

Megatron chuckled deeply, enough that Jack felt it through his chest. "That was just a nice bonus." He leaned down, his voice close to his audio. "I was just reminding them that until I no longer find you engaging; you. Are. Mine."