[Bay] Indivisible - Final Part
Title: Indivisible 7.0
Universe: post-DotM, borrows from novelization
Characters: OptimusxSideswipe, Megatron, Ratchet
Rating: T
Warning: angst and fluff
Description: In the end, it's the difference between choice and chance.
Cybertron was not the home Sideswipe remembered.
The war had been over for centuries. On Earth, the years had swept by, the humans ever-changing, the Cybertronians a constant observer.
Megatron and his Decepticons had worked hard. They had rebuilt. They had governed themselves. They had changed.
Megatron most of all.
“Welcome,” he said as Optimus and his hand-picked team of Autobots stepped off the rebuilt Ark. “All of you, welcome.”
Gone were the familiar trappings of the Decepticon warlord: the sharpened denta, the talons, the spiky armor. Gone were the Decepticon brands, replaced by the glyphs of his former station, that of the Lord High Protector. If Megatron was trying to make a statement, he succeeded.
Sideswipe, suddenly, was all too aware of the daggers strapped to his forearms. They somehow felt a betrayal to the peace, though he had made it a vow to never let Optimus go anywhere without protection. The Decepticons weren't the only threat and Cybertronians had made nothing but enemies across the universe.
But this was the first visit, the first face-to-face meeting since Optimus granted Megatron mercy and banished him to Cybertron. The truce had held but anything could ruin it. Peace remained tenuous, old grudges proving the same.
Optimus was here, with Ratchet and Sideswipe, to determine if integration was possible. If Megatron had rebuilt enough infrastructure that the two factions could live together as one people again.
“Thank you,” Optimus said, tones gracious and polite.
“How was your flight?” Megatron asked, the perfect host, as Optimus fell into step beside him. They were immediately flanked by Thundercracker and Skyquake, Megatron's new lieutenants in Soundwave, Starscream, and Shockwave's absence.
“Uneventful.”
Sideswipe fell in line behind them, Ratchet next to him. He watched Megatron, failing to conceal his glare at the shiny, imposing frame of the reformed Lord High Protector. One who looked as though he belonged whilst walking next to the greatest of the Primes.
Sideswipe resisted the urge to touch his chestplate, where Optimus had waged a claim and sealed his promise.
The bond between brothers, Sideswipe knew, could be a hard pull to resist.
He ignored the way Ratchet watched him, optics full of awareness. He and Optimus had not been subtle, but even less as the years wore on and more Autobots and refugees arrived on Earth. Ratchet, busybody that he was, seemed to think he needed to watch over them from however far.
Megatron continued to speak, tones filled with pride as he relayed the scope of the Decepticon effort: the rebuilding, the newly opened mines, the return of Cybertronian citizens, many of whom had claimed neutrality.
It was impressive, Sideswipe forced himself to admit, ignoring the seething waves of jealousy.
Megatron had focused his efforts here, in Iacon, the former Autobot stronghold rather than beelining for Kaon as Sideswipe would have anticipated. They had landed on a true airfield, rather than a makeshift one, and were surrounded by buildings. Megatron directed their attention to an actual medcenter - promising Ratchet a tour later. There's also an energon refinement and dispensary, several residential buildings, an office building, and more stable roads than Sideswipe could count.
Sideswipe wished Megatron could have been a little less productive, if only to make him less appealing. But no. Megatron had taken the truce seriously, working hard to make amends for his many, many mistakes.
Sideswipe hated him just a little more.
Ahead, Megatron and Optimus continued to walk side by side, in step, like the ruling diad they had been once upon a time. Their frames complemented, a matched set now that Optimus had discarded the flamboyant flames of Earth's alt-mode. They looked as though they belonged together.
Sideswipe twitched. He was silver. That was where the similarity ended. He was smaller than Optimus, less powerful, with less processing power.
Not a mech often struck with insecurity, Sideswipe found himself floundering. After all, when had he ever found reason to compare himself with Megatron?
When it boiled down to it, Sideswipe was not Optimus' twin.
This was a bad idea. He should not have come. Should have sent Prowl in his place, like the tactician had argued. Or let someone more tactful come, like Smokescreen. Or someone friendlier, like Hound. Anyone really, so Sideswipe didn't have to trail along behind Megatron and Optimus, feeling as out of place as a human might be.
The tour continued. Sideswipe feigned interest, realizing with every passing building that in all likelihood, the Autobots would be joining the Decepticons on Cybertron sooner rather than later. He tried to ignore the unsteady sensation in his tanks, and purposefully avoided Ratchet's optics.
He should not have come.
o0o0o
He had never seen anything like this view.
Then again, Sideswipe had nothing to compare it to since he had never seen Iacon from these heights, not before or during the war. It was odd to see the reconstruction so near, but in the distance, the ravages of war still streaked across Cybertron like a weld-scar.
Sideswipe leaned on the railing, watching Cybertron's new sun set in the distance, and marveled at the idea of “night” on this planet. He couldn't remember a time that Cybertron orbited a sun. How lucky that the failed space bridge attempt had dropped Cybertron back out into the gravity pull of a massive star.
Lucky, or perhaps Primus' hand, forgiving his children for their war.
“You do not seem impressed.”
Sideswipe stiffened at the voice, familiar but not wholly welcome. “It's not the view,” he replied and slowly turned to face Megatron. “You've done more than any of us expected.”
The Lord High Protector smirked, a pale attempt at a smile. “How tactful. Though if you expect to stand by my brother's side, you'll have to better hone your political insights.”
Sideswipe frowned and thought of the daggers he left sitting on a chair in his room. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Denial?” Megatron arched an orbital ridge and crossed the balcony, approaching the rail. “You are better at the game than I thought.”
Sideswipe cycled a ventilation, forcing himself to be calm. “Is there something I can do for you, Lord Megatron?”
There was no answer immediately. Megatron appeared contemplative as he looked out at Iacon and the work he'd done. Only then did he speak.
“I do have one minor request,” Megatron began and Sideswipe knew it was one he didn't want to hear. “Return my brother to me.”
“I... the slag?” All of decorum departed from Sideswipe's repertoire. “I can't just--”
The Lord High Protector turned, every inch of him bristling menace for all that he was unarmed. “Release him from whatever vow you've earned.”
Sideswipe stiffened, filled with genuine rage, one that was perhaps unwise considering that Megatron could rend him in two, unarmed or not. “That's not my decision to make and even if it was, my answer would still be no!” he growled.
“You think you have the right to claim him?” Megatron demanded, tones laced with affront.
Funny how Sideswipe wasn't intimidated. Well, maybe a little. This was Megatron after all.
“I have the right to stay beside him as long as he wants me,” Sideswipe argued.
Megatron stared at him. “You think highly of yourself, don't you? Even with that shattered bond.”
It took every effort to restrain his temper. Sideswipe's hands clenched into fists. “Sunstreaker's betrayal was his own choice. As was yours.”
Megatron took a step closer, looming without trying, easy when he was two helms larger than Sideswipe. “And you made him regret that choice. Thoroughly.”
Pain, like a lance, straight through his spark. As though time had made that particular decision any easier to bear, or that agony any softer.
“I did what I had to do,” Sideswipe said, feeling again the gaping maw within him where Sunstreaker once was and Optimus couldn't be. “Don't think for a single moment that I don't regret it every moment of my life.”
He once thought that he'd taken the easy way out by taking Sunstreaker's spark when the time came, but now, Sideswipe knew how much harder it was to live with that guilt. To question, every moment of every day, if he had made the right choice. He could have waited, held mercy like Optimus, and Sunstreaker could be standing in front of him right now, declaring he had changed, seen the error of his ways.
This was why Optimus would always be the better mech.
Sideswipe cycled a ventilation and met Megatron's gaze with all the confidence he could muster. “I don't know if you sought me out for a fight or because you wanted something. Either way, I'm not playing your game. I didn't come here for you. I came because Optimus wants me here and that's what matters to me. If you've got a problem with that, take it up with him.”
He didn't wait for Megatron to say anything further. He had no interest in whatever claim or demand Megatron would make.
He'd had his chance. He could have stopped the whole war before it ever began. He could have seen the value in what he'd lost before he ever cast it aside.
If Megatron wanted sympathy, he was looking to the wrong mech for it.
Sideswipe left Megatron on the balcony, even though by rights he should have tossed Megatron off it. This was his room, his balcony, but rather than try to evict the Lord High Protector, he would make himself scarce.
Except that his room wasn't empty.
“Optimus,” he said, surprised and elated all at once. He couldn't stop the happy skip that struck his spark, helping quell some of the lingering hurt of Megatron's words. “I thought you were touring with Ratchet.”
“We finished early.” Optimus glanced past him, optics cycling down in thought, no doubt fully aware of Megatron's presence. “Is everything all right?”
“Nothing is wrong,” Sideswipe answered because he couldn't lie. “Megatron was just leaving.”
A dark chuckle emerged from the balcony behind them, Megatron making himself known. “Calm yourself, brother. I was merely having a chat with your subordinate. It is only my right to speak with the mech serving as my replacement.”
Defeated but not chastened, Sideswipe thought. That described Megatron fully. He could play the part of the foiled warlord to Cybertron at large, but here in the privacy of this room, with only Sideswipe to bear witness to the behavior of the brothers, he could show his true colors.
“Sideswipe is no replacement,” Optimus said, his vocals harsh, a far cry from the neutral, polite tone he'd used at their arrival. His hand rested on Sideswipe's shoulder, a warm and welcome weight. “He is the mech I chose as opposed to the one fate forced upon me.”
No one was more surprised than Sideswipe when Optimus made that bold claim. His optics spiraled wide, mouth opening but no words emerging. Megatron, for his part, startled, visibly jerking back.
“He can't rule at your side!” Megatron all but growled. It was a near thing, his field filling the room with outrage and yes, hurt.
Good, Sideswipe thought. For all that Optimus suffered over the course of the war, it was time Megatron understood how much pain he had caused. How he could not have felt it for himself, Sideswipe would not know.
“Nor shall he.” Optimus stepped up closer to Sideswipe, their armor brushing, a show of solidarity. “You are the Lord High Protector, Megatron, and that is all you will ever be. Any further bond between us is gone and you have only yourself to blame.”
His words were strong, but Sideswipe felt the tightening in Optimus' grip, the shiver in his field indicative of pain. He turned Megatron aside with far more reluctance than Megatron had shown all those millennia ago.
Sideswipe wondered if he would have the same courage, today, to tell Sunstreaker that their bond made no difference. That he would always love Sunstreaker but couldn't bear to have his twin in his berth or beside him.
He wasn't that strong.
“Brother--”
“Do not call me that,” Optimus said, tones harsh and chastising. “You have lost that right. Just as you have no business here, in this room.”
Megatron's mouth opened and shut, his helm dipping down. Tension slicked his frame, and for a moment, Sideswipe feared he would attack. That their truce really had meant nothing and Megatron had only been biding his time.
But then, Megatron audibly cycled a ventilation. “Very well,” he said, defeated. “I will leave you in peace.”
Megatron said nothing further as he left the room, nor did he cast a final glance over his shoulder. He took with him all the tension, leaving Sideswipe to slump a little in relief.
“Has he even apologized?” Sideswipe asked, unable to imagine for himself the sight of someone like Megatron apologizing.
“Once,” Optimus replied. “But it was not enough and disingenuous at best.”
Sideswipe leaned back, feeling the vibrations of Optimus' plating against his own armor, and enjoying the warmth of Optimus' embrace. “I would understand,” he said, though it hurt to do so. “I could learn to share.”
“You could. But I do not intend to do so.” Optimus' hand slid down over Sideswipe's chestplate, palming the seam that would part to reveal his spark and the promise Optimus had made. “And if I have not made myself clear already, perhaps I need to remind you.”
Sideswipe grinned, spark already pulsing in anticipation. “Couldn't hurt,” he said as one of Optimus' fingers traced the length of the seam in a slow, promising slide.
Megatron's loss was Sideswipe's gain and he could finally be confident in that.
Optimus was his and vice versa and while Optimus could not replace Sunstreaker, he was the one Sideswipe chose.
In the end, that was what mattered the most.
***
a/n: So I'm calling 'Indivisible' complete but as I was editing it before posting it, I had an epiphany of an idea for what I might do with Megatron so if the muses continue to be noisy, well, I might have to start another series with a secret OTP of mine that'll be a sequel to this and see where that road takes us. *fingers crossed*
I hope you enjoyed this little self-indulgent series of mine. As always, feedback is very welcome and appreciated.
This entry was originally posted at http://dracoqueen22.dreamwidth.org/250104.html. Feel free to comment wherever you find most convenient.
Universe: post-DotM, borrows from novelization
Characters: OptimusxSideswipe, Megatron, Ratchet
Rating: T
Warning: angst and fluff
Description: In the end, it's the difference between choice and chance.
Cybertron was not the home Sideswipe remembered.
The war had been over for centuries. On Earth, the years had swept by, the humans ever-changing, the Cybertronians a constant observer.
Megatron and his Decepticons had worked hard. They had rebuilt. They had governed themselves. They had changed.
Megatron most of all.
“Welcome,” he said as Optimus and his hand-picked team of Autobots stepped off the rebuilt Ark. “All of you, welcome.”
Gone were the familiar trappings of the Decepticon warlord: the sharpened denta, the talons, the spiky armor. Gone were the Decepticon brands, replaced by the glyphs of his former station, that of the Lord High Protector. If Megatron was trying to make a statement, he succeeded.
Sideswipe, suddenly, was all too aware of the daggers strapped to his forearms. They somehow felt a betrayal to the peace, though he had made it a vow to never let Optimus go anywhere without protection. The Decepticons weren't the only threat and Cybertronians had made nothing but enemies across the universe.
But this was the first visit, the first face-to-face meeting since Optimus granted Megatron mercy and banished him to Cybertron. The truce had held but anything could ruin it. Peace remained tenuous, old grudges proving the same.
Optimus was here, with Ratchet and Sideswipe, to determine if integration was possible. If Megatron had rebuilt enough infrastructure that the two factions could live together as one people again.
“Thank you,” Optimus said, tones gracious and polite.
“How was your flight?” Megatron asked, the perfect host, as Optimus fell into step beside him. They were immediately flanked by Thundercracker and Skyquake, Megatron's new lieutenants in Soundwave, Starscream, and Shockwave's absence.
“Uneventful.”
Sideswipe fell in line behind them, Ratchet next to him. He watched Megatron, failing to conceal his glare at the shiny, imposing frame of the reformed Lord High Protector. One who looked as though he belonged whilst walking next to the greatest of the Primes.
Sideswipe resisted the urge to touch his chestplate, where Optimus had waged a claim and sealed his promise.
The bond between brothers, Sideswipe knew, could be a hard pull to resist.
He ignored the way Ratchet watched him, optics full of awareness. He and Optimus had not been subtle, but even less as the years wore on and more Autobots and refugees arrived on Earth. Ratchet, busybody that he was, seemed to think he needed to watch over them from however far.
Megatron continued to speak, tones filled with pride as he relayed the scope of the Decepticon effort: the rebuilding, the newly opened mines, the return of Cybertronian citizens, many of whom had claimed neutrality.
It was impressive, Sideswipe forced himself to admit, ignoring the seething waves of jealousy.
Megatron had focused his efforts here, in Iacon, the former Autobot stronghold rather than beelining for Kaon as Sideswipe would have anticipated. They had landed on a true airfield, rather than a makeshift one, and were surrounded by buildings. Megatron directed their attention to an actual medcenter - promising Ratchet a tour later. There's also an energon refinement and dispensary, several residential buildings, an office building, and more stable roads than Sideswipe could count.
Sideswipe wished Megatron could have been a little less productive, if only to make him less appealing. But no. Megatron had taken the truce seriously, working hard to make amends for his many, many mistakes.
Sideswipe hated him just a little more.
Ahead, Megatron and Optimus continued to walk side by side, in step, like the ruling diad they had been once upon a time. Their frames complemented, a matched set now that Optimus had discarded the flamboyant flames of Earth's alt-mode. They looked as though they belonged together.
Sideswipe twitched. He was silver. That was where the similarity ended. He was smaller than Optimus, less powerful, with less processing power.
Not a mech often struck with insecurity, Sideswipe found himself floundering. After all, when had he ever found reason to compare himself with Megatron?
When it boiled down to it, Sideswipe was not Optimus' twin.
This was a bad idea. He should not have come. Should have sent Prowl in his place, like the tactician had argued. Or let someone more tactful come, like Smokescreen. Or someone friendlier, like Hound. Anyone really, so Sideswipe didn't have to trail along behind Megatron and Optimus, feeling as out of place as a human might be.
The tour continued. Sideswipe feigned interest, realizing with every passing building that in all likelihood, the Autobots would be joining the Decepticons on Cybertron sooner rather than later. He tried to ignore the unsteady sensation in his tanks, and purposefully avoided Ratchet's optics.
He should not have come.
o0o0o
He had never seen anything like this view.
Then again, Sideswipe had nothing to compare it to since he had never seen Iacon from these heights, not before or during the war. It was odd to see the reconstruction so near, but in the distance, the ravages of war still streaked across Cybertron like a weld-scar.
Sideswipe leaned on the railing, watching Cybertron's new sun set in the distance, and marveled at the idea of “night” on this planet. He couldn't remember a time that Cybertron orbited a sun. How lucky that the failed space bridge attempt had dropped Cybertron back out into the gravity pull of a massive star.
Lucky, or perhaps Primus' hand, forgiving his children for their war.
“You do not seem impressed.”
Sideswipe stiffened at the voice, familiar but not wholly welcome. “It's not the view,” he replied and slowly turned to face Megatron. “You've done more than any of us expected.”
The Lord High Protector smirked, a pale attempt at a smile. “How tactful. Though if you expect to stand by my brother's side, you'll have to better hone your political insights.”
Sideswipe frowned and thought of the daggers he left sitting on a chair in his room. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Denial?” Megatron arched an orbital ridge and crossed the balcony, approaching the rail. “You are better at the game than I thought.”
Sideswipe cycled a ventilation, forcing himself to be calm. “Is there something I can do for you, Lord Megatron?”
There was no answer immediately. Megatron appeared contemplative as he looked out at Iacon and the work he'd done. Only then did he speak.
“I do have one minor request,” Megatron began and Sideswipe knew it was one he didn't want to hear. “Return my brother to me.”
“I... the slag?” All of decorum departed from Sideswipe's repertoire. “I can't just--”
The Lord High Protector turned, every inch of him bristling menace for all that he was unarmed. “Release him from whatever vow you've earned.”
Sideswipe stiffened, filled with genuine rage, one that was perhaps unwise considering that Megatron could rend him in two, unarmed or not. “That's not my decision to make and even if it was, my answer would still be no!” he growled.
“You think you have the right to claim him?” Megatron demanded, tones laced with affront.
Funny how Sideswipe wasn't intimidated. Well, maybe a little. This was Megatron after all.
“I have the right to stay beside him as long as he wants me,” Sideswipe argued.
Megatron stared at him. “You think highly of yourself, don't you? Even with that shattered bond.”
It took every effort to restrain his temper. Sideswipe's hands clenched into fists. “Sunstreaker's betrayal was his own choice. As was yours.”
Megatron took a step closer, looming without trying, easy when he was two helms larger than Sideswipe. “And you made him regret that choice. Thoroughly.”
Pain, like a lance, straight through his spark. As though time had made that particular decision any easier to bear, or that agony any softer.
“I did what I had to do,” Sideswipe said, feeling again the gaping maw within him where Sunstreaker once was and Optimus couldn't be. “Don't think for a single moment that I don't regret it every moment of my life.”
He once thought that he'd taken the easy way out by taking Sunstreaker's spark when the time came, but now, Sideswipe knew how much harder it was to live with that guilt. To question, every moment of every day, if he had made the right choice. He could have waited, held mercy like Optimus, and Sunstreaker could be standing in front of him right now, declaring he had changed, seen the error of his ways.
This was why Optimus would always be the better mech.
Sideswipe cycled a ventilation and met Megatron's gaze with all the confidence he could muster. “I don't know if you sought me out for a fight or because you wanted something. Either way, I'm not playing your game. I didn't come here for you. I came because Optimus wants me here and that's what matters to me. If you've got a problem with that, take it up with him.”
He didn't wait for Megatron to say anything further. He had no interest in whatever claim or demand Megatron would make.
He'd had his chance. He could have stopped the whole war before it ever began. He could have seen the value in what he'd lost before he ever cast it aside.
If Megatron wanted sympathy, he was looking to the wrong mech for it.
Sideswipe left Megatron on the balcony, even though by rights he should have tossed Megatron off it. This was his room, his balcony, but rather than try to evict the Lord High Protector, he would make himself scarce.
Except that his room wasn't empty.
“Optimus,” he said, surprised and elated all at once. He couldn't stop the happy skip that struck his spark, helping quell some of the lingering hurt of Megatron's words. “I thought you were touring with Ratchet.”
“We finished early.” Optimus glanced past him, optics cycling down in thought, no doubt fully aware of Megatron's presence. “Is everything all right?”
“Nothing is wrong,” Sideswipe answered because he couldn't lie. “Megatron was just leaving.”
A dark chuckle emerged from the balcony behind them, Megatron making himself known. “Calm yourself, brother. I was merely having a chat with your subordinate. It is only my right to speak with the mech serving as my replacement.”
Defeated but not chastened, Sideswipe thought. That described Megatron fully. He could play the part of the foiled warlord to Cybertron at large, but here in the privacy of this room, with only Sideswipe to bear witness to the behavior of the brothers, he could show his true colors.
“Sideswipe is no replacement,” Optimus said, his vocals harsh, a far cry from the neutral, polite tone he'd used at their arrival. His hand rested on Sideswipe's shoulder, a warm and welcome weight. “He is the mech I chose as opposed to the one fate forced upon me.”
No one was more surprised than Sideswipe when Optimus made that bold claim. His optics spiraled wide, mouth opening but no words emerging. Megatron, for his part, startled, visibly jerking back.
“He can't rule at your side!” Megatron all but growled. It was a near thing, his field filling the room with outrage and yes, hurt.
Good, Sideswipe thought. For all that Optimus suffered over the course of the war, it was time Megatron understood how much pain he had caused. How he could not have felt it for himself, Sideswipe would not know.
“Nor shall he.” Optimus stepped up closer to Sideswipe, their armor brushing, a show of solidarity. “You are the Lord High Protector, Megatron, and that is all you will ever be. Any further bond between us is gone and you have only yourself to blame.”
His words were strong, but Sideswipe felt the tightening in Optimus' grip, the shiver in his field indicative of pain. He turned Megatron aside with far more reluctance than Megatron had shown all those millennia ago.
Sideswipe wondered if he would have the same courage, today, to tell Sunstreaker that their bond made no difference. That he would always love Sunstreaker but couldn't bear to have his twin in his berth or beside him.
He wasn't that strong.
“Brother--”
“Do not call me that,” Optimus said, tones harsh and chastising. “You have lost that right. Just as you have no business here, in this room.”
Megatron's mouth opened and shut, his helm dipping down. Tension slicked his frame, and for a moment, Sideswipe feared he would attack. That their truce really had meant nothing and Megatron had only been biding his time.
But then, Megatron audibly cycled a ventilation. “Very well,” he said, defeated. “I will leave you in peace.”
Megatron said nothing further as he left the room, nor did he cast a final glance over his shoulder. He took with him all the tension, leaving Sideswipe to slump a little in relief.
“Has he even apologized?” Sideswipe asked, unable to imagine for himself the sight of someone like Megatron apologizing.
“Once,” Optimus replied. “But it was not enough and disingenuous at best.”
Sideswipe leaned back, feeling the vibrations of Optimus' plating against his own armor, and enjoying the warmth of Optimus' embrace. “I would understand,” he said, though it hurt to do so. “I could learn to share.”
“You could. But I do not intend to do so.” Optimus' hand slid down over Sideswipe's chestplate, palming the seam that would part to reveal his spark and the promise Optimus had made. “And if I have not made myself clear already, perhaps I need to remind you.”
Sideswipe grinned, spark already pulsing in anticipation. “Couldn't hurt,” he said as one of Optimus' fingers traced the length of the seam in a slow, promising slide.
Megatron's loss was Sideswipe's gain and he could finally be confident in that.
Optimus was his and vice versa and while Optimus could not replace Sunstreaker, he was the one Sideswipe chose.
In the end, that was what mattered the most.
***
a/n: So I'm calling 'Indivisible' complete but as I was editing it before posting it, I had an epiphany of an idea for what I might do with Megatron so if the muses continue to be noisy, well, I might have to start another series with a secret OTP of mine that'll be a sequel to this and see where that road takes us. *fingers crossed*
I hope you enjoyed this little self-indulgent series of mine. As always, feedback is very welcome and appreciated.
This entry was originally posted at http://dracoqueen22.dreamwidth.org/250104.html. Feel free to comment wherever you find most convenient.