Archive of Our Own ^beta

Optimus grimaced as he looked at the open wound on his thigh, just below his hip. He heard a low crackle from one of the Ozai as they started looking for him, and he took a deep invent, optics focused on the two giant rocks in front of him that he had crawled between to find his hiding place.

The rocks were so close together that only one Ozai would be able to fit, and even if they would want to, the little alcove he had curled up in could probably only accommodate Bumblebee with him meaning they would have to struggle to get him.

There was a low rumble right on top of him and he winced when small rocks started falling onto him, scraping the paint off him, denting his plating, some of the rocks even buried themselves into his seams which made him squirm a little in discomfort.

"Well well well, look who we have here boys!" A voice exclaimed, as two giant, pitch black eyes appeared in between the rocks. Optimus could see the fanged smirk that the Ozai had on his face and froze when his processor identified the color of his skin.

Dark blue. The Ozai in front of him was a general.

There was a sudden barrage of loud catcalls and insults that echoed through the alcove from the other Ozai and Optimus winced, pressing his back into the stone behind as he tried to get farther away from the Ozai general.

"Listen bot," the general started, his words coming out gruff as he shifted so he could see Optimus better. "We're just doing business. You know the deal. And I want a stress reliever in the base, so, you come out here, we'll only hurt you enough to know who you belong to, and we'll spare the rest of ya'. As long as you're good of course. What say you?"

"I'm not going anywhere with you sick freaks!" Optimus yelled, grabbing the blaster from his hip and pointing it at the general. If Optimus was thinking rationally, he would know that the general. would be immune to the type of blast even if he did have ammo for the gun, but all his processor was focused on at that moment was getting out of there alive, so that's why he was silently praying the general wouldn't know what type of gun he was holding.

"Ha! Little one, you think that thing will work on me? Please! I've seen what your guns can do, they could hardly take down another Autobot let alone me. That's why you had to call in your bid scary Decepticon bitches to take over for you isn't it? Those Decepticons, willing to go with an Autobots neck and call." The general smirked smugly, two clawed hands reaching in to try and grab his wounded leg.

"No! Stay away! And you're wrong about the Decepticons! They are not what you say they are!" Optimus screamed, bashing the hands away with his blaster. The general's face twisted into a snarl and a low growl reverberated through the stone as he glared at Optimus.

"Listen little mech, you're getting on my nerves. Come here and I'll contemplate not just ripping your throat out and using your frame as a toy!" The general hissed, forked tongue flicking out of his mouth.

There was a sudden low sound of jet engines landing and an eerily familiar transformation happening and then the other Ozai were yelling at something. He could hear the loud cracking sounds of laser fire, the low boom that seemed to shake the ground underneath him from a weapon that he had been quite familiar with in the past, and then the low crunch of heavy pede steps stomping over organic bone and flesh.

The general bared his teeth, and whirled around, just to be met with the barrel of Megatron's fusion cannon, with the mech sneering down at the general from where he stood.

"I believe this mech has made it quite clear he does not want to go with you. Respect his wishes or face the consequences." Megatron growled, optics narrowing into red slits. The general put his four arms up, an unsteady laugh bubbling up in the silence.

"Listen mech, I'm pretty sure you can understand the frustration of not getting any release during war. I was just…trying to find the most suitable candidate, y'know?" Optimus felt his fuel pump clench at the thought of having to go along with any of the general's insane ideas, and grimaced, unconsciously letting out a high pitched whine of discomfort and fear.

"It seems that your little search was unsuccessful. And I'll make sure it will never be successful." Megatron stated, powering up his canon.

The general opened his mouth to say something, body shaking with fear, but before he was able to get anything out, Megatron fired, making a deafening noise that made his audials ring and producing such a bright light his optics were forced to reset.

—

When his audials and optics had rebooted, he looked around, expecting to see an annoyed warlord glaring down at him waiting for him to reboot so he could get back to his fighting, but there was nothing of the sort.

Instead there was a medkit braced against the inside of the alcove as if someone had carefully put it there and another blaster, this time, one that could hurt the Ozai with a lot of ammo. Optimus quickly wrapped up his leg, inserting one of the short term virus chips that removed pain into his medical port before even attempting to move and, when it started working, slowly pulled himself up so that he could peek out of the alcove.

The battle was still going on but it seemed they had driven back most of the Ozai forces but there still seemed to be a lot. Nodding to himself, Optimus subspaced the medkit and crawled out of the alcove, glancing around for any enemies before transforming and dashing over to where it seemed the operation of command had been set up.

"Where do we need the most force?" He asked as he barreled over to the group, mid-transformation. Strika looked at him with a raised optical ridge and he looked back at her with a confused frown until he heard a low cough behind him.

Optimus whirled around to see Megatron who was staring down at him with amused optics. His cannon was resting against a rock on his right, smoking in an apparent cool down. His double swords were still on his back, but with the bioluminescent ichor on Megatron's servos, they had previously been used.

"Hello Megatron."

"Optimus Magnus. Shouldn't you be getting that wound of yours checked out?"

"That can wait. We have an enemy to push back."

Megatron's optics darkened to the color of embers and he sneered, derma curling as he glanced past the barricade they had been able to set up.

"Yes we do, don't we." He grabbed his fusion canon and checked it over, digits snagging in a seam and unlatching some type of compartment. There were fusion cells inside the compartment that he changed out for some type of glowing purple battery-like things then closed the compartment and attached the fusion cannon back to his arm. It powered on with a low purr, glowing a dark purple and Megatron looked at him with an expectant look.

"Are you coming? I'm heading over to The Split because that's where the Ozai have started to focus the attacks." Optimus nodded, grasping his blaster with a servo and pulling out his ax in the other.

"Got anything to power this up?"

"Yes. I'll go ask Oil Slick for something. You just make sure you won't fall in battle with that wound of yours." Strika stated, stalking over to where the scientists had set up. 

Optimus braced himself on the table they had the holographic map set up on and checked his leg, finding energon staining the metal mesh he had wrapped it in. He tapped the mesh gently, then harder, venting in relief when he felt nothing and then pushing himself back up onto his pedes.

"You should probably wrap that better." 

"Well I would've but I was just a little bit distracted with the battle that was taking place around me."

"Here, let me do it. I'll be able to staunch the bleeding at least."

Optimus glared up at Megatron, expecting to find some type of sneer or disgust on the mech's face but finding pure concern. He scoffed and then hoisted himself up onto the table, extending his leg and crossing his arms as he puffed out his cheeks.

"Let's get this over with."

Megatron knelt in front of him, unwrapping the wound then pulling out some more metal mesh from his subspace and carefully wrapping it again, tightening the wrapping to staunch some of the bleeding. He then traveled up just a little bit, to his hip, and pressed a black machine thing right onto it.

"That'll reroute all energon but what your leg needs for basic functioning so that your bleeding even less. Otherwise there's nothing else I can do." Megatron stated, talons lingering on his hip for a few nano-klicks before he pulled away entirely.

"Optimus! Strika told me to give you this!" Bumblebee's loud voice split whatever was between them as he came speeding over with a bright red canister in his servos. Megatron pulled away quickly, stepping away and letting Optimus jump down.

"Thank you Bumblebee." He said, latching the canister onto his ax. It turned the same bright red as the canister and he let a servo hover by it, feeling the heat on it as it almost melted the pain off his plating.

He looked at Megatron and gestured to the battlefield, spinning his ax in one servo as he holstered his blaster with the other. 

"Shall we?"

Megatron was off before he could say another glyph and Optimus grinned, delighting in the supposed challenge.

After the battle, the only thing Optimus could remember was a bright flare of pain flashing across his sensory net, letting out a loud whimper, and falling into huge, warm servos.

When he 'woke up' - no matter what Ratchet told him, he would not believe he went into a full-scale reboot - there seemed to be no one around him. He could tell he was hooked up to various machines and he could hardly move his leg, but he was a little surprised to find no one and no evidence of anyone visiting previously. If he were to believe Ratchet, he would've been out for at least five days, but then again, things had been busy so he could understand if no one had enough free time to see him.

For a few klicks, he sat there in the relative silence of the room he was in when he heard the door click and suddenly slid to the side to reveal Megatron standing there in all his warlord glory. Except his optics weren't glaring at Optimus and everything around him. They were intently focused on the datapad in one of his servos as he spun the stylus in his other.

Megatron glanced up, seemingly checking to see he was in the right place, and glazed over Optimus, looking back down at his datapad. Optimus started a countdown in his helm for how long it would take Megatron to notice he was indeed awake and couldn't suppress the giggle when the warlord started walking towards his berth but paused and then jolted his helm up, optics wide in surprise.

"Optimus Magnus. What a lovely surprise it is to see you awake!" Megatron exclaimed. Optimus pursed his derma as he tried to decipher any underlying emotions in the other mechs glyphs, but after a quick brush of EM fields he relaxed back into his berth. 

"Why are you here Megatron? Shouldn't you be working?" 

"I am." Megatron waved his datapad in front of Optimus' optics. He was able to catch a few things on the pad about the Capranns and the planet but it was pulled away from him before he was able to read anything else.

"That still doesn't answer why you are here of all places. Wouldn't you want to be in a more comfortable place than a medbay to read your reports?" Megatron inclined his helm in agreement but grabbed the chair next to Optimus' berth and collapsed into it, crossing one leg over the other as he shifted to get comfortable.

"The Ozai have been pushed back and most of the ones who would be able to keep you company are all working on something else. I felt as if you should know how the fallout went after your reboot."

"Why does everyone think I went into a reboot!? I just passed out from exertion, that's it!" Optimus fumed. Megatron chuckled at him and Optimus growled his engine, glaring at the warlord and showing off his fanged denta.

"You have fangs?" Megatron asked, surprised, making Optimus freeze up. A servo flew over his intake as he pressed his derma together, glancing around to anywhere but Megatron.

"Yes." He muttered, his voice muffled as his audial fins flicked back.

"I didn't think Autobots were allowed to have fangs anymore." 

"Yeah, I've kinda hid them from everyone." Optimus leveled a glare at Megatron, a small hiss escaping his throat as his servo drifted away from his intake. "No one but Ratchet knows and that better not change."

Megatron nods his helm, his optics darting between Optimus' two front denta.

"Of course."

For almost five klicks, there was an uneasy tension in the air but then Megatron's datapad beeped and he looked at it. He let out a sharp laugh before covering his intake with his servo when he got a questioning look from Optimus. He shook his helm and pushed the datapad towards him, helm falling onto the berth as silent laughter rattled his frame.

Optimus looked at the datapad and had to prevent his own barrage of laughs when he saw an image capture from Strika that showed Bumblebee half-way through the wall, a grumpy look on his face and Blitzwing's random persona cackling right next to him. Ratchet and Arcee had been walking down one of the halls towards where the two were situated and Ratchet had found out what was happening, his face in between completely livid and undeniably confused.

The caption of the image capture just said, 'Optimus, come get your Autobot.' with an exhausted emoticon in the bottom left corner.

Optimus laughed out loud, not able to contain it anymore, and Megatron's low laugh slowly joined his. 

Maybe this wouldn't be all that bad. 

Optimus was almost healed, or at least, that's what the Decepticon medic Nightlight had told him, when he heard the sound of the medbay door opening. His audial fins perked up, but he was too engrossed in the datapad Strika had found for him to keep him company to look up. He expected it to be Megatron anyways, so he figured he would understand what his fins being perked would mean.

When he heard a low cough, he looked up, and dropped the datapad with a surprised gasp. Standing in front of him in all her spidery glory, was Blackarachnia.

Optimus scrambled around in his berth for a nano-klicks or so and then straightened so that he was looking at the femme with what he hoped looked like the utmost respect and focus. She seemed to get it thankfully, as he saw her optics roll a little at his antics.

"Relax Optimus," she said, pulling the chair Megatron usually sat in closer to the berth so she could climb up onto the berth easier. She sat on the side, half facing him half facing the door, and let out a low sigh. "I didn't come here to stab you or anything. We need to talk."

Optimus let out an unsteady vent and looked back at Blackarachnia with a wary gaze. The air between them was tense, the both of them waiting for the other to start speaking and when neither did, getting more anxious for any possible outcome.

Finally Blackarachnia threw her servos into the air with a loud groan and collapsed onto her back, staring up at Optimus from where she laid by his hip.

"We are getting nowhere with this."

"True." Optimus nodded, then looked down at her, a worried crease to his optics.

"... Aren't you uncomfortable laying like that? I mean, I would think with your extra appendages that laying down would be uncomfortable."

"Nah I'm fine. It's like lying on a slightly bumpy berth and I can retract my other legs until they're snug against my back." She explained, flexing the appendages on her back and pointing them up before slightly lifting herself and folding them into the compartments that had showed up in her back.

"My abdomen is the main problem but most of the time I'm able to snag a few extra pillows so I can elevate the rest of me."

"Huh. Is there any other spider thing you've developed? I know that on Earth there were supposedly spiders that had wings and could fly."

"Yeah, I've asked if I can have those types of upgrades. I have yet to get approval for them."

"Maybe I can talk to Megatron."

Blackarachnia looked at him with a tilted helm and Optimus looked away, realizing what he had just proposed.

"It's not like that but we've been getting friendlier ever since he saved me from the Ozai and...I don't know. I might be able to convince him to at least look the report over." He explained, avoiding Blackarachnia's gaze like cosmic rust.

"So. You've been getting buddy buddy with my boss?" She teased, the smirk evident in her voice. Optimus growled at her, turning towards her with a snarl

"You never told me you had fangs." 

"Why is everyone bringing that up!?"

"Maybe because you look badass with them. Also who do you mean everyone, I'm the only other one who's come in except Ratchet who I'm assuming already knows and...oh my Primus."

"Shuddup! It was an accident 'cause I thought he was laughing at me and I was quite done with getting laughed at!" 

"Oh Optimus! You adorable love ball. I can't wait to be invited to the Conjunx ceremony."

"Blackarachnia!"

The femme started cackling as Optimus swatted her gently on the arm, trying to suppress his bright smile. He wasn't even able to after Blackarachnia fell off the berth from laughing, making him burst out laughing as well. 

Their laughter slowly died down, turning into soft chuckles and little giggles, then, Optimus finally looked over the edge of the berth.

"No seriously though, why is having fangs such a big deal?"

Blackarachnia hummed in thought, pushing herself up and slowly getting back onto the berth as she thought about it. She finally shrugged in indecision, making Optimus wilt a little, but a quick flick to an audial fin had him grimacing at her as he stared back up at her.

"My best guess is that most mechs who had naturally growing fangs were all Decepticons. That's the biggest thing I can come up with."

"Yeah that makes sense."

"Listen Optimus, I'm sorry for everything I did on Earth." The femme suddenly said, grabbing Optimus' servos sitting up so she could stare at him in the optic.

"I really am sorry I...I just thought you and Sentinel had left me there to die and that made me incredibly angry, but you also know how prejudiced and judging the Autobots were so I never thought to try and go back and then...yeah, all that happened."

Optimus vented, looking at Blackarachnia with a gentle look. He took his servos back and gripped her shoulders comfortingly, gently tapping a familiar rhythm against her back as he tried to think of anything to say.

"Listen Blackarachnia, I am able to forgive you because I knew who you were before but you're going to have to find ways to apologize to my team as well. I believe we should, for now, leave the past in the past and only bring any of it up if we are heavily charged on high-grade and don't care about anything that would happen the next morning. Do we have a deal?"

Blackarachnia huffed and then slowly smiled at Optimus, showing off her own fangs in a pleasant smile.

"Deal. Also, I've already apologized to your team. You were the last one I had to apologize to."

"Oh, and whose idea was that?"

"Megatron's. He was the one who convinced me to apologize in the first place."

"What?"

"Surprise..."

Optimus was discharged a few days after that entire fiasco with well wishes from most of the medics in the medbay, especially from Nightlight who seemed to be sad to see him leave. She wished him well, then told him that if he ever had any free time and nothing to do, he could pop over to the medbay and she could teach him to properly wrap a wound.

He huffed at her in fake offense but smiled at her when she quickly shooed him out the medbay for a different patient, reminding him where to go to find the cafeteria and the brig just as a loud swear could be heard from inside the room.

He waved at her as she slammed the door quickly, his smile growing somewhat brighter as he listened to her start in on her medic spiel with interspersed hisses and growls to keep the patient in line.

He opened the small map she had given him and started for the cafeteria, his tanks rumbling as he thought about ingesting any type of fuel that wasn't medigrade. On his way, he saw various 'cons who all seemed to stop and stare at him, making his plating crawl and his battle protocols hum in low activation.

He felt something whizz past an audial fin and jumped in alarm, his battle protocols now running hot as he surveyed the towering frames around him. With his hearing enhanced, he could hear all the things the cons were saying about him, most of them being surprised that an Autobots Magnus wasn't holding any type of bias or spouting abuse at them every other step.

He heard a low cough behind him and whirled around, finding a dark green ,each staring at him with narrowed optics and a sneer.

"So you're the one who controls those reckless Autobots who have been running around our ship huh?" The mech hissed, making Optimus' hackles raise. He growled his engine in a warning and the mech laughed at him before taking a step closer to him.

"What, you think you're going to scare me? Please, the worst you could do is probably dent one of the panels in my legs. I wouldn't even have to go to a medic, that's how bad you could hurt me."

Another mech came out from the 'cons who were slowly starting to surround them and he stepped up to Optimus' side, his own engine revving as he glared the mech down. His plating was a dark blue with light gray accents and Optimus couldn't stop looking at the giant dip in the abdomen of the mech.

"I'd be careful with this one Slackjaw. He's Optimus Magnus. Y'know, past Optimus Prime. The one who almost took our Lord away." The mech said, tapping the green mechs helm as if asking if he was an idiot.

"Don't get into this Virus. We all know our Lord has grown weaker. Heck, Megazarack could defeat him with how docile he's become now!" 'Slackjaw' roared, glaring around at the other 'cons. Virus tensed, his servos clenching, and before anything else could happen, Optimus decided to intervene.

"If you could just let me go, I'm confident you won't have to deal with me nor my crew any more than you have to from here on out." He tried to placate, holding his servos out and slightly bowing his helm.

Slackjaw seemed to growl, and before Optimus knew it, he felt a servo wrapping around his neck. In what felt like slow motion, he pulled out his ax, dashed to the side, and sliced down. The loud cry of pain made him snap out of it and he staggered back as he stared at the sliced off servo that laid on the floor in front of him.

He looked down at his ax, finding that it still has the previous heat upgrade on it, and then looked back up at Slackjaw, his frame tensing when the mech glared at him with a bloodlust fury.

"Get him!" The mech yelled, and several mechs were dashing towards him at once. Optimus had just enough time to think, 'well, shit' before diving backwards to avoid most of the Decepticons' attacks.

"Listen, I'm quite positive you all don't want to do this!" He tried to say, dodging a swift punch that would've knocked him into a short reboot. When he realized that none of them would listen to him, he unholstered the canister of his weapon, subspaced it, and then took up a fighting stance.

"I'm just letting you all know, you asked for this!"

--

Megatron and Strika found him laughing maniacally as he disarmed two different 'cons at once and then flung one of their weapons at another, knocking them out and making them fall to the ground. There were already around a dozen Decepticons he had taken out laying on the ground and there were around five more of them circling him with a ready face. 

Just as he had decided he was done with waiting, and got ready to lunge for one of the 'cons, Megatron revved his engine and his EM field enveloped all of them. Optimus paused, optics darting over to the two warframes just as the one he had started to lunge at dove at him.

He sidestepped, extended his ax, and jumped onto the mech's back, putting the ax handle against his neck and growling. The mech tucked and rolled, making him roll with them, and he was suddenly trapped underneath the giant frame of a con.

"Finnick." Megatron's voice warned. The Decepticon growled at him but slowly lifted himself off Optimus, who proceeded to spit a hostile curse in a...certain...language that the Decepticon thankfully didn't understand. 

Megatron seemed to though, and the exhausted look he sent Optimus' way as the mech stood up. He wiped fake dust off of himself and looked at the two leader warframes with a quizzical look.

"How did you two find out what was happening?"

"Two reasons." Strika said, crooking two digits up. With one, she pointed to a small, blinking red light in the corner of the hall making Optimus wilt a little. "One, there is a camera. Two, Virus found us and told us what was happening. You should've been in the brig during it. Both your Autobots and our Decepticons were all screaming at you to win. It was quite entertaining."

Optimus looked up at Megatron for confirmation and when he nodded, his shoulder pauldrons sagging, Optimus gave the taller mech a smirk. 

"What can I say? There's a reason my team calls me feral."

"Yes well, it's quite known that most of your team is known to participate in false truths, so apologies if we didn't exactly believe them." Megatron said, his voice both seemingly exhausted and monotone.

Optimus cackled loudly, smiling brightly as he looked up at Megatron. The mech himself grumbled something under a vent but gave Optimus a half-smile as he started nudging him down a hall.

"Strika, if you could get as many medics down here as possible that would be deeply appreciated." Megatron intoned. There was an affirmative from the general just as Megatron pushed Optimus into an elevator and closed the door.

Once in the privacy of the elevator, Megatron looked at him out of the corner of his optic, and vented out a heavy sigh. Optimus heard the low beep of a button being pressed and the elevator started jolting as they moved.

"Honestly, I think you've earned respect in the Decepticons now." Megatron stated, collapsing onto the elevator floor. Optimus looked at him with a confused frown and he slowly sat down beside the mech, gently tapping his thigh with the same rhythm he tapped on Blackarachnia to calm her down.

"I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have done that and I deeply apologize for that."

"There is no need to apologize Optimus. You were cornered by one of my more...incompetent mechs and when trying to rectify your situation, you were attacked and then reacted accordingly."

"Still, I am a leader, even if only temporary, and I should've tried harder to tame the situation."

"Trust me little one, those Decepticons would've gotten you to fight them either way."

"If you say so."

--

Megatron typed in the key code to the door they had arrived at and gestured for Optimus to enter and when he did, he couldn't contain the gasps that bubbled up from his chassis.

The room he stood in had floor to ceiling shelves filled with datapads that reached for what seemed like forever, and directly across the room from him were two chairs, a table in between the chairs, and a floor to ceiling window that overlooked Capran.

"Megatron, what is this place?" He asked, turning to look at the mech.

"This is where I go when I need to cool off. Welcome. I'm letting you know that only my top rating generals know about this place, so if I find out anyone else knows..." 

"Warming received." Optimus muttered, nodding his helm as he walked over to a shelf and looked at the datapads. 

For a few klicks, everything was quiet as he looked over datapads, and then he went to reach for one higher than he could actually reach and looked at Megatron for help, his audial fins flicking back in a silent plea.

Megatron made a fake sigh, but helped Optimus out with looking at datapads for the next hour and when he decided he was comfortable with his datapads, he went over to sit at one of the chairs.

"I was wondering, I don't know much about the war, or even before the war. Could you tell me a few things?" Optimus suddenly asked, breaking the silence. From where he was sitting, he could see Megatron tense, and then he looked down at his servos as he clenched them.

"I don't feel as if you would believe me, little one."

"Pax."

"What?"

"Y'know that thing with Autobots where they get a new designation after passing boot camp? Well my original name was Orion Pax, so if you could please, instead of calling me little one, call me Pax, it'd be much appreciated." Optimus explained, wringing his servos together.

Megatron looked up at him, shuttered his optics, then smirked before making his way over to the other chair.

"Here, let's make a deal. You can ask me a question, but I get to ask a question in return. You can pass any questions but that means the one who originally asked it gets to ask another one or gets to ask two during one round. Do we have a deal?" Megatron asked, lending his servo out. Optimus hummed, then clasped his servo with Megatron's nodding.

"Deal."

--

Optimus unshuttered his optics to the bright sun of Capra and groaned, running his optics with his servos and slowly bracing himself against the thing he was laying on to sit up. Looking down, he saw pewter gray, red and black on a barrel chest and his processor helpfully supplied to him that he had fallen into recharge on Megatron.

Before he could freak out, a digit was gently rubbing against an audial fin and his engine was idly purring as he relaxed back into the chest.

"I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to get up Megs." Optimus mumbled into the chassis, titling his helm so he could hear the faint beat of Megatron's spark. The powerful engine gave a low rev of disagreement as Optimus tried to push himself back up again but was prevented by a servo on his lower back.

"I don't want to get up yet and you are warm. If you stay like this for at least another ten klicks, I'll pay you in favors and energon goodies." Megatron hummed into his audial making him jump. He thought about it for a few nano-klicks and then nuzzled into the giant frame once more, letting a small hum rumble through his frame.

He heard Megatron mutter something but it was too quiet for him to hear without straining and Megatron had been right, it was fairly warm in their little cocoon so why would je decide to get up?

As Optimus started walking down the halls of the Behemoth, he pulled out the datapad he had been given before getting off the meeting he had just gotten through and started to read it. After a few nano-klicks, he glared down at the datapad, baring his fanged denta in both disgust and annoyance. The Ozai had completely destroyed two thirds of the Capranns food stores and contaminated most of their hydration stores, meaning they were needing to work harder to help the creatures.

Just as he was about to contact one of the scientists working on cleansing the water, he ran into a giant frame. He fell backwards, landing hard on the ground of the ship with a loud clang. He immediately looked up, an apology on the tip of his glossa, but paused when he saw pewter gray plating with dark red accents on a barrel chest.

"Oh, it's you." Optimus tilted his helm up higher, optics looking with bright red ones that seemed to glow with silent laughter. On any other joor, Optimus would be bristling under that gaze, growling at any 'con or 'bot that seemed to laugh at anyone just to be an aft. However, the look Megatron was sending him seemed genuine, as if he actually wanted to laugh but because of their public appearance couldn't at that exact moment.

The taller mech held out a large servo and Optimus took it, his derma quirking up ever so slightly as the servo he was lent encased his with a firm but gentle grip and he pushed himself off the ground, letting himself be pulled up to his pedes.

"Thank you." He muttered. Megatron inclined his helm, handing Optimus the datapad he has dropped. Optimus grasped the pad, flashing the taller mech a smile as he maneuvered around him and started walking back towards...where had he been going again?

"How have the advancements at cleansing the water been going for you?" Megatron asked as he leisurely walked up to Optimus' left. He looked up at Megatron and shuttered his optics once, quirking an optical ridge as if asking a question.

"They've been alright. They're not advancing as fast as I'd want them to, but it's still more progress than what we would've been able to accomplish on our own." He stated. Megatron seemed to catch the meaning in his glyphs and smiled, nodding his helm in both a 'you're welcome' and 'good'.

"That's good. I've been meaning to ask you if we could talk but I see you're busy at the moment so I guess I'll see you around." Megatron stated, turning and starting to walk away. Optimus narrowed his optics, spinning and reaching out towards Megatron. His digits just barely brushed against Megatron's back, but it seemed to be enough to make the mech pause. 

"I actually don't really have anything to do. I don't even remember what I was going to do, I'm pretty sure I was just walking around so I wasn't confined in my office." Optimus explained. Megatron tilted his helm, seemingly analyzing what Optimus had said, then smiled sharply.

"Come then. I have something I want to show you." Optimus nodded, subspacing the datapad and then following Megatron with a little skip in his step.

--

Optimus slid to a stop in the bright pink gravel that bordered the giant dark green oceans and lakes of the planet, transforming to his bipedal mode and looking up as he tried to spot the pewter gray flier he was supposed to be meeting.

::Where are you?:: He commed the other, optics scanning the pale yellow clouds that took up most of the sky for any sign of disturbance. There is a low crackle in his audial and he winces just a tad as a breathless voice filled his processor.

"Apologies," Megatron began, his breath seeming to come out in short pants. "I was trying to get something and I underestimated how strenuous obtaining the object would be. I'll be there in a klick, don't worry about me."

"I guess I'll just enjoy the view then." Optimus huffed, slowly sitting down on the gravel with a low crunch. He surveyed the water, pulling up an image of what it looked like before contamination. 

From what he could tell, the water was supposed to be a bright blue, almost the color of his optics, and in the picture he could see shiny creatures surfacing, their sleek bodies glowing under the dark orange light of the setting sun.

The soft rumble of jet engines made him perk up and he swiveled his audial fins towards the sound before he decided to turn. He didn't want to get his hopes up seeing as this could be any flier just passing by. But when he heard the familiar - he had to wonder when he got comfortable with the sound - transformation of the jet, he turned his abdomen to look at the arrival.

Megatron was staring at him, optics shining with an unfamiliar emotion as he carefully stepped closer to Optimus. The taller mech stopped arms length from him and then tilted his helm in a silent question, shuttering his optics as they roamed over Optimus' frame.

"Finally got what you wanted to show me?" He smirked, turning back towards the ocean and leaning back on his servos. Out of the corner of his optic, he saw Megatron kneel down on the gravel, lessening the gap between the two and making Optimus' frame warm.

"Yes actually. I think you'll find that it is quite fitting with how you make...others...feel." 

"Oh?" He questioned, turning his helm so he could give Megatron a sly smirk. "Is this going to be anything bad or disgusting?"

"I think you'll find that it is quite the opposite."

Optimus narrowed his optics as Megatron pulled out a small object, barely bigger than his palm, and then dropped it in Optimus' waiting servos.

When he inspected the object, he found it to be a dark oak wooden box with gold ringlets and engravings on it. He recognized the wood, it being from the native trees of the planet. Because of the trees' odd growing patterns and the golden markings carved into the wood, depicting how old the tree is, it was - and still is - seen as a sacred plant. If one were able to obtain any type of wood from one of the oldest trees without the tree dying, they were considered 'blessed by the gods' and were revered. 

From what Optimus could tell with the markings and the ringlets, the wood the box was made from probably came from either the oldest or the second oldest tree on the planet. He shifted it around in his servos, then looked up at Megatron, his field thrumming with curiosity as it brushed against the others.

"How did you get this?" Megatron hummed, tilting his helm in contemplation, before tapping the box with a sharp talon.

"You really should open it. I swear, it's better on the inside." Optimus vented in fake annoyance but acquiesced, unlatching the box and gently opening it. There was a serene pale blue light coming from whatever was inside the box, almost ethereal in color and Optimus glanced up at Megatron, continuing when he got a nod of approval.

When he reached into the box, carefully grasped the smooth, rounded and flat object and gently pulled it out of the box, the pale light coming with it. He carefully set the box on one of his thighs and opened his servo, gasping in surprise when his optics landed on the object.

"It's called a Caprann Moonstone. It's said to hold the energies of the planet and was almost destroyed by the Ozai. Blitzwing and Lugnut were able to save the last one without even knowing what it was and I've been working with the Capranns to help restock their Moonstone hotspots." Megatron explained.

In his servos was a pale blue, round stone with a string of cerulean glyphs etched into it. When he flipped it over, there was a single, deal red glyph meticulously scratched into it so that it lined up exactly with the two bigger ones at the front. 

Megatron cupped Optimus' servos with his own and then traced a gentle talon over the glyphs. He looked into Optimus' optics and smiled, his own optics creasing at the corners as Optimus looked from him to the stone.

"It's primal vernacular. Do you want me to read it to you?" 

"Please!"

"Orion Pax, my beloved second spark." Megatron read, his voice husky as he stared deeply into Optimus' optics.

"I- Megatron I don't understand. Are you...? Is this...? What...?" Optimus struggled to find his glyphs, rubbing a servo over an optic as cleanser started leaking out of it in tiny drops. One of Megatron's servos curled around his and drew it down, the other one tilting his helm up so their optics were staring into each other's.

"Optimus Magnus, Orion Pax," Megatron muttered huskily, tapping a talon over Optimus' chassis, where his spark was. "I love you. Very much. You are the light to my spark, the god of my devotion. I love you. Have loved you for a while, and I believe this temporary truce will help me express this love to you. Do you..." Megatron trailed off, servos going limp as he looked down at Optimus. 

The mech was at a loss for glyphs, processor racing with the confession, trying to comprehend what he was just told. Did he love Megatron?

He looked up at the mech and all the things that had happened on Earth came racing to the forefront of his processor. How he threw his team around, the craziness he displayed, Prowl's death. He was about to gently let the other mech down when other memories started slowly trickling in.

Megatron saving him from the Ozai general and his group then going into battle at his side so they could drive the rest of the Ozai back. Waiting in the medbay with him and keeping him engaged in conversation so he wouldn't be bored. Getting Blackarachnia to talk to him and incidentally helping them become friends again. Giving him both pre-war information and lending him datapads that he could read. Falling into recharge on the mech and waking up to energon goodies. This...confession.

"I...I don't know if I've loved you before coming to Capra, but something has changed and...I believe that I can love you. I just might need a little more time to adjust to...whatever this is." He explained, gesturing to the two of them. Megatron's optics dimmed in assumed rejection and he opened his intake to respond when Optimus covered it with his servo.

"I accept your confession and this is in no way a rejection. I do love you, I think I just need time to learn and accept that you love me as well. Not to mention I need to make at least some type of excuse if my team finds out about us." Megatron nodded his helm and looked down at the Moonstone in Optimus' servos.

"You'll still take my gift, right?" He asked. Optimus' optics widened a fraction at the timid tone Megatron took, almost as if he was scared Optimus would say no and toss the stone into the water, and thinking about that, Optimus dropped the stone into one of Megatron's servos and cupped his helm with both of his.

"Of course. I would never just throw something like this away, especially if it was given by you." Optimus reassured, knocking their helms together and purring his engine. Megatron's engine mirrored his purr and Optimus felt one of his servos gently slide over his shoulders, a talon tapping on the cabling in the back of his throat rhythmically.

"Can I ask you to give me something else?" Optimus asked softly. The answering purr from Megatron indicated to Optimus that he could continue on with what he was going to ask and so he did.

"Can you take me flying?"

The two of them landed in the dark oak forest located directly behind their ships. The Behemoth and Omega Supreme both say beside each other, a certain type of peace resting between the two ships as Decepticons and Autobots alike walked between both ships.

He could see the Jettwins conversing with one of Starscream's clones about flight techniques and the two kept on spinning up into the air then floating down whenever they got exciting news. Bumblebee was mocking Blitzwing but the two seemed to be doing it all in good fun, Bumblebee was even laughing loudly and he could see Blitzwing's icy persona give off a small smile whenever the yellow bot was turned around.

Ratchet and Arcee were talking with Strika who seemed to be quite delighted in what the other two had to say if how she was gesturing excitedly was anything to go by. Heck, Blurr was even hanging off of Shockwave's shoulder pauldrons, tapping and clicking on his plating with pent-up energy. Blackarachnia and Bulkhead were both probably talking about science seeing as the former had a stylus and was writing something down periodically.

"Well, shall we?" Megatron's voice knocked him out of his thoughts and he felt his pedes squish against the teal grass. Optimus pulled a blank datapad out of his subspace and swiftly jotted random jargon onto it, then looked up at Megatron and waved it in the air.

"A cover for now. We can act like we just needed a quiet place to work on this really important project, I just need you to write something on it so it looks like I'm not the only one who wrote on it."

"Clever Pax." Megatron stated making Optimus' audial fins heat up. A talon gently dragged across one of them before Megatron was quickly scrawling something onto the datapad and then handing it back to Optimus. 

"Ready when you are...Pax."

Optimus nodded his helm then started talking about something random as he walked towards the clearing, Megatron following and acting as if he was listening as he parted the tree branches for the both of them. The two acted as if they were actually talking about something important until Bumblebee interrupted them with a loud exclamation.

"Bossbot's back! Where have ya' been boss?" Optimus looked up, optics finding Bumblebee hanging off of Blitzwing's arm as he beamed at him and he smiled back.

"Needed some...peace so we could work on a project." He explained, watching Bumblebee's face scrunch.

"Oh yeah, I definitely know what you mean. It's been chaotic as the pits around here especially since the Capranns visited today." Optimus looked up to Megatron, who seemed to be just as surprised as he was, before looking back at the others.

"Yes, it was...quite chaotic." Strika chimed in. She pointed at the two of them, optics narrowed at the two of them. "They claimed to be looking for you two. Said they needed to talk to the faction leaders or something. I had to send them away. You two better go find them and talk to them."

Optimus glared up at Megatron, trying to convey a 'what in Primus' name did you do?' look as Megatron's optics shuttered once, twice, a third time. He finally looked at Optimus and stepped back, servos going up immediately in a placating gesture.

"Listen, I did not do anything."

::I at least didn't think this would happen::

Optimus sighed in exasperation, one of his servos meeting his helm with a soft clang.

"Don't worry Strika. We'll deal with this."

"You two better."

"I promise, I did not expect this to happen." Megatron said, making Optimus give him a pointed look. The smaller mech let out a soft sigh as the two of them trudged through thickets of black and red velvet leaves that grew from the dark oaks, attempting to find where the Capranns wanted to meet them.

"I believe you. It's just...I have so many questions. Mainly, why would they want to speak to either of us about something that didn't concern the well-being of themselves or their planet."

"They might just want to meet us to talk." Megatron said with a shrug, optics glancing around as they got closer to where they were supposed to be. 

There was a loud horn sound from somewhere after they crossed some type of threshold and then gray organics almost as tall as Optimus were emerging from the trees. They had the same body type to Optimus, but there were around eight tentacle-like protrusions branching from the creatures backs, all tinged with a green color.

"Welcome Lord Megatron and Optimus Magnus. We have been awaiting your arrival for some time." One of the creatures said, their tentacles spreading out and going parallel with the ground as they stepped in front of the two. "I am Jotun, advisor of the Capranns. It is a pleasure to see both of you here."

Optimus smiled and nodded, looking at Jotun closer now that the Caprann was in front of him. He could see the black circles in Jotun's multiple eyes flicking back and forth between him and Megatron and the top two tentacles on his back were reaching for both of them, the green of them becoming darker and more prominent.

"The pleasure is ours, Jotun. We just have to ask why we were called here? We ask this question with no intention of I'll will, we are just curious." Megatron stated, inclining his helm and overing his spark with a fist. Optimus followed the gesture, then looked back up at Jotun whose tentacles turned a bright yellow as a small series of clicks rippled throughout the crowd of Capranns that surrounded them.

"We were wondering how Lord Megatron's confession had gone." Jotun said, all eyes focusing on Optimus. "You know don't you? It is customary in Caprann culture to have the various leaders survey another's confession." 

Optimus opened his intake then closed it with a snap, a dark purple blush darkening his faceplates as he rubbed a servo over his neck cables.

"Uhm, well first off, that is not at all how a confession for Cybertronians go. Second, I was the one he confessed to so, yes, I do know, but not because of what you claimed."

Jotun's tentacles all turned a bright pink and a loud gasp rippled throughout the other Capranns.

"Oh. Oh. Well this is an unexpected but interesting surprise. I wish the both of you luck in your endeavors with your relationship!" Jotun exclaimed, a lilt to his voice as if he was laughing at something. 

Optimus and Megatron looked at each other and then nodded at Jotun who slowly receded, waiting for the other Capranns to disappear into the trees before fully going himself.

"Well then." Megatron looked at Optimus with an amused glow to his optics, the corner of his derma pulling up in a half smile. "We should probably head back. Primus knows we need the recharge for tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go.”