Chapter Text
training was usually fun with the terrans. megatron liked the younglings and found it cute how much they looked up to him compared to prime. twitch especially was always asking questions along with hashtag. but the purple femme was more.. quiet today. it worried him.
nightshade and him were sparring, the young bot taking advantage of his bigger size. smart as always, but i can be quick too. nightshade had a habit of leaving their left arm open to grab. he wrapped his servo around their arm and grabbed their right servo. he smirked and let go, ready to give pointers but-
"oh shut up thrash!" hashtag's angry tone surprised megatron and he turned away from nightshade. the green terran rushed over, taking a hold of hashtag's raised arm.
"hashtag! what is the meaning of this?" the beast morpher seemed more worried than usual. something was wrong.
"he wants me to tell him about my private conversations." hashtag's voice was laced with annoyance.
"thrash, thats her business. dont try and get into it."
"youd wanna know too! shes talking to starscream." everyones heads turned, and megatron's spark filled with dread.
"what.. hashtag-" he began, putting his servo towards her but she jerked away from them all and glared.
"hes the only one who knows what its like to be controlled! he gets me." the femme didnt shrink back or even attempt to make herself seem less threatening as megatron stepped forward.
"hes using you! he'll hurt you-"
"oh like you did him?" helms turned, and all attention was on her. "damaged spark chamber and voicebox, wings ripped off, replaced optics-"
"you dont know anything! youre a sparkling! you didnt experience the war!" he snapped, voice raising. she didnt falter.
"he tried to overthrow you, yes. he deserved punishment, yes. he even agrees that he did. but you nearly killed him. you killed his brother and his partner. i like you, megatron. i do. i know youve changed. but i can never see you the same. dont talk to me about how horrible starscream is, because i wont take it. he cares about me. you only knew one side of him. you didnt know him." with that, hashtag walked off.
megatron felt as if something had ripped his spark. what hurt was that she was
right.
he had treated starscream like he was disposable. in reality, he was a wonderful second in command, despite his want for power. he knew this. deep in his spark, he knew starscream was a good mech. he remembered their first meeting. it wasnt pleasant. they had fought and then been captured by sentinel. he enjoyed starscream's determination and loyalty at the time.
as time had gone on, starscream became power hungry. he claimed megatron had lost his way, forgetten the original purpose of the entire war. and he was right. he had lost his way, but he found it again. he was a changed mech. maybe it was time he apologized to the seeker. for everything.
____
dorothy sat on megatron's shoulder, patting his helm. they were outside of the base starscream and his trine lived in. it was a cave and on the outside of it, their three faces were badly painted. probably by skywarp.
"come on megs, you have to at some point." dorothy spoke softly yet firm, and he sighed. he began to walk in the cave.
"hello? its megatron. i mean no harm, i just want to talk." he spoke so he didnt surprise them. as he walked deeper in, he saw the three with hashtag. there were blankets and pillows on the ground, a projector propped up.
"what could you possibly want, ol' mighty megatron?" hashtag's angry voice didnt surprise him, but it did hurt. her back was turned, but all the seekers stared. he noticed the way novastorm rested her servo on top of starscream's.
"hashtag. i know youre angry, but be respetful." with the sound of her mother's voice, the terran turned her head and fronwed.
"sorry mom.."
"to answer your question.. im here to- to apologize. to starscream. and the rest of you." starscream stood, sauntering over and staring megatron in the eye.
"say it. im not afraid of you anymore, so say it. apologize for it." his optics burned with hatred, and megatron understood why.
"you were right. all those years ago, when you said id lost the way, you were right. the day i killed sentinel was the day i lost who i was. i know you didnt see it then, but optimus did. bumblebee and elita did. i broke their trust that day. i was no longer d-16, i was a monster. you felt a lot of it first hand. you were simply trying to get me back on the path, but i took it as treason. you were right for trying to overthrow me. i-"
"i was not. i was wrong for trying to kill you. you're younger than me, and i thought that meant you were more immature. in some ways, you were and still are. i have many stellar cycles on you, but even that didnt make me right. i appreciate the apology, but know where youre wrong." the seeker went back to where he was sitting.
"im not done."
"well hurry, hashtag was showing us something!" skywarp groaned, flopping back against some pillow
"im sorry for thundercracker and skyfire. im sorry for acidstorm and ionstorm. none of them deserved it."
"dont speak their names. dont you dare speak the names of my sisters!" novastorm shouted, standing up and raising her wings. "you dont deserve to say their names. they trusted you. i trusted you. you ripped their sparks out over something so little! they were barely older than the terrans! i was as old as the terrans. you were a monster. i know youre changed, but i will never, never, look at you and see anything but the cruel mech who killed my family."
"i know. i dont need forgiveness. the things ive done cannot be forgotten or forgiven, and i know that. i just wanted you all to know that i regret it every day." he sighed and looked across the four.
".. you really regret killing TC?" skywarp's voice was quiet, and her head was down.
"i do."
".. i dont like you. i never will. but ill put it behind me, for hashtag." the femme raised her head, rubbing coolant off her faceplate.
"i will as well." starscream spoke louder, smiling at hashtag.
"i wont. dont expect me to." novastorm's voice was laced with anger. she'd come around, he hoped. until then, 2 out of 3 was still a win in his books.