Transformers Prime: Through Bad and Through Worse

Chapter Ten

"Time to go." With a demanding voice and rough servos, Megatron pulled Ratchet towards the loading dock, where the platform was lowering, forming an exit out of the ship, Ratchet squirming and resisting the whole way, spatting obscenities at the warlord and kicking, given his wrists were cuffed. It was driving Megatron absolutely insane, the mech put up quite a fight, especially when carrying a sparkling.

"Stoppit you pathetic little glitch!" Megatron snapped as Ratchet stomped on one of his peds so he tripped and almost fell over. "I will beat the living- Watch it!" The medic tripped him and Megatron stumbled back, missing the door and hitting his backstrut painfully on the doorframe. "Enough!"

"Can't believe you actually thought I'd cooperate!" Ratchet snapped angrily.

Megatron snarled and got a tighter grip on his wrists, which were cuffed behind his back. "I'm sick of this. You, will behave, or I swear to Primus, you will never hear the end of it!" He pulled Ratchet through the exit on the ship, and into a large clearing, of an abandoned and wartorn city, which was desolate and silent.

Soundwave, Starscream, about eight vehicons and Sky Rocket accompanied them, in the quiet clearing.

Megatron had Ratchet standing at his side, a clawed servo locked onto one of the medic's wrist. After a few seconds of staring out into the dark and sulky, empty streets with broken and torn apart housing units, the warlord called out, "Orion, why hide in the shadows? It's not your place." Ratchet looked up as Orion stepped out of the grey shadows, but...

He seemed different.

Orion looked much taller, wiser, and the light in his optics that made Orion who he was, it had been replaced by a grim, confident and powerful, dull shine. Is that even him?

Ratchet shook his helm slightly. Of course this was Orion. Of course it was his mate. Who else would it be?

"Megatron, I've come. Return Ratchet to us peacefully, as you promised you would." Holy scrap... even his voice was different... it was deep, confident, powerful...

The warlord didn't seem to notice anything. "I did promise so, did I not?" He smirked. "And you didn't hesitate to trust me."

"Orion it's a trap, get out of- mf!" Megatron slapped a servo over Ratchet's mouth and silenced him immediately, snarling in agitation.

"Shut it, pest." Megatron hissed in the medic's audio receptor angrily.

Ratchet dropped his gaze, now muted by the warlord's servo and not too proud of it. Orion took a step forward quickly.

"Do not," he growled fiercely, "harm him."

This caught Ratchet and Megatron off guard, neither of them expected such an action from the easy going archivist. The aggression was definitely new.

"Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't dream of harming your little lapdog, or the little one he's currently carrying." Megatron smirked, slowly lowering his servo.

Orion looked a little confused, but didn't say anything, only inhaled deeply and said, "return him peacefully, Megatron."

"You know, I don't think I will." Megatron said thoughtfully, and teasingly. "I might just keep him."

"Orion..." Ratchet murmured, feeling the sparkling shift into a position that was very uncomfortable for him.

"You'll be alright." The archivist said quietly, reassuringly, completely unaware of the sparkling.

"Now, Orion," Megatron wrapped an arm around Ratchet's waist, an act of causing discomfort to both Ratchet and Orion. Ratchet stiffened and looked away, growling a little. "I would very much like you to surrender, if you don't mind. We'll be taking you into custody, that is, if you want your lapdog to live."