Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Starscream defected to the Autobots, he did it because he at last decided that Megatron and the Decepticon cause no longer deserved his loyalty, not because he wanted to frag Optimus Prime.

If anything, Optimus Prime wanted to frag him, something that Starscream had become more and more certain of the longer he was among the Autobots. Why else would the Prime be so… kind to him, give him such benefit of the doubt? Starscream, who Megatron had consistently called deceitful, traitorous, and self serving? Oh, Megatron and the Prime were nemesis at the time, but even then, neither Megatron nor Starscream himself had really given Optimus much reason to disbelieve that notion.

That’s not to say that Starscream didn’t see the appeal. So when the Prime finally confirmed Starscream’s suspicions and propositioned him, Starscream found himself wanting to accept. If Starscream’s recollections of Megatron and Orion Pax were any indication, the Prime was a very good frag, but Starscream had his reservations.

Everyone knew that Optimus Prime and Megatron had been conjunxed, and then divorced (their bond severed). Everyone also knew that the Prime had later bonded with Elita-One, and had a sparkling with her (two sparklings, Starscream would later learn during the negotiations of the Peace Accords. Two because the sparklings were twins, but that’s another story). So Starscream had turned Optimus Prime down, and the Prime didn’t push, nor did Starscream get treated that much differently, much to his relief.

Starscream had asked Elita-One if she knew her conjunx was propositioning other bots, and Elita-One had laughed. To Starscream’s surprise, Elita-One and Optimus Prime had also divorced. It was a surprise because unlike Megatron and Optimus, Elita and Optimus had remained close, sharing authority in Autobot High Command, and even still took care of their sparklings together (though, the entirety of Autobot High Command seemed to also be taking part).

Elita-One had given Starscream her full permission, not that she felt Starscream needed to get her permission.

“Optimus is the possessive one, at least when he and another bot are in a committed relationship,” Elita said. “Honestly, I don’t blame you or any other bot. When it comes right down to it, we all have a thing for Optimus.”

Starscream didn’t realize exactly how true Elita’s statement really was at the time.

A couple of human years later, the Peace Accords were settled, and Cybertronians once scattered across the Stars had returned to a Cybertron in the process of rebuilding.

Starscream sat with much of the (former) Autobot and Decepticon High Command in one of their regular meetings. Governance meant a lot of meetings.

Almost everyone required to be here was accounted for: Starscream himself, Megatron (unfortunately), Soundwave, Shockwave, Elita-One, Jazz, and Prowl.
There were also some who did not have to be here, like Starscream’s own trine, who sat on either side of Starscream, Knockout (which, of course, meant Breakdown was here as well), and a couple of younger bots: Windblade, Bumblebee, Hot Rod, and Arcee.

Much to the annoyance of almost everyone present, Starscream especially, Optimus Prime (whose presence is required), was late.

“This is unlike him,” Megatron said.
“It is unlike him. Do you have any idea where Optimus is?” Prowl, the (former) Autobot military strategist, asked Jazz, the (former) Autobot Head of Special Operations, and the last one who walked into the meeting room.
“Don’t worry about it, I just commed him. He said he’s on his way. Shouldn’t be more than a couple minutes,” Jazz said, kicking his pedes up and leaning back in his chair with an easy grin. “I figured I’d let the big guy recharge for a bit longer. Didn’t realize I exhausted him.”

Prowl flushed blue and reset his vocalizer.

“I see, congratulations,” Prowl said.
”Thanks, mech.”

“Are you serious!?” Megatron thundered. “First it’s him conjunxing to you,” Megatron points at Elita.
“Then you and your brother,” Megatron points at Bumblebee, who sighs.
“Then Starscream,” Starscream flinched.
“AND NOW BOTH OF YOU!” Megatron said pointing at Jazz and Prowl.
“Woah, chill out there, Megs!” Jazz said holding his servos up in mock surrender.

Megatron took an in-vent. “Forget it, I shouldn’t even be surprised if most of Autobot High Command and Optimus fragged at one point or another.”

“Can we PLEASE not talk about my carrier’s love life?” Bumblebee said despairingly.
Hot Rod and Arcee snickered, causing Windblade to reach over to smack Hot Rod in the pauldron.

“Knock it off!” Windblade said.

“You’d be right,” Ratchet sighed, dragging a servo over his face. “If I want drama I don’t even need to tune into the holonet.”
“Aren’t you two Amica?,” Megatron asked.
“Love the bot, but I can only take so much of his antics before I’m tempted to whack him on the helm,” Ratchet shrugged.
“You said it,” Elita agreed.

Soundwave audibly sighed.

Megatron and Starscream both balked.

“Really!? I didn’t know you had it in you!” Knockout grinned.
“SOUNDWAVE WHEN IN THE PITS!?” Megatron shouted.

“Soundwave: did not see reason to inform Megatron.”
“Why!?”
“Past Relationship: Irrelevant to Decepticon Cause. Megatron: would not react well. Megatron: Extremely jealous.”
“I am not!” Megatron said.

Starscream rolled his optics as Skywarp snickered and Thundercracker cringed.

Megatron’s left optic twiched. Heat began to warp the air near Megatron’s vents as Megatron cycled air and reset his vocalizer.

Starscream gave Knockout a questioning glance.

“Before Breaky and I met. That’s not to say we haven’t offered since, but alas, big red turned us down” Knockout shrugged.

Megatron turned his gaze to Shockwave. “Please tell me he hasn’t fragged all of Decepticon High command.”

All optics turned to Shockwave. Shockwave stared back at Megatron unblinkingly.

“Well?” Megatron asked.

Shockwave nodded stiffly, “We were once close.”

“SHOCKWAVE!?” Hot Rod shouted. “How does that even happen!?”

“I was wondering when you all would find out,” Ratchet sighed, “luckily it was less disastrous than I expected.”
“Still plenty of time for it to turn into a disaster,” Elita muttered.

“Of course you both knew,” Megatron grumbled.
“That’s right, I know ALL of your dirty secrets and it’s not just because I’m Chief Medical Officer,” Ratchet laughed.

Then the room turned into an uproar as Megatron suddenly rose from his chair and began storming towards the door.

“I’M GOING TO PUMMEL HIM!” Megatron shouted, straining against Soundwave and Elita-One, who had Megatron by either arm.

“Oh no you don’t, sit back down!” Ratchet said, waving a wrench threateningly.

It was at that moment when the door slammed open.

A frazzled Optimus Prime stood in the doorway.

“Apologies everyone, I-“

Optimus shifted nervously as his optics took in the situation.

“PRIMEEEEEE!” Megatron shouted, throwing off Elita and Soundwave.

Immediately, Optimus turned around and sped away in vehicle mode. Megatron took off after him, bellowing at Optimus to face him. From far away, there was the fading sound of a truck engine at maximum speed, as well as a transformation and the familiar blast of Megatron taking flight in hot pursuit.

Starscream guffawed. It had been a long time since he had laughed this hard. “That obsessed fool!”
“He’s hardly the only one bearing an unhealthy obsession with Optimus. He’s hardly the worst case either,” Prowl stated matter-of-factly.
“Don’t remind me,” Jazz muttered darkly.

Starscream privately thought the (former) Autobot military strategist and head of Special Operations weren’t that much better themselves.

Soundwave picked himself back up, his field radiating chagrin.

“Soundwave: Suggests we reschedule.”
“Agreed,” Prowl said, taking the vacated seat next to Soundwave as they and Elita began reorganizing schedules accordingly.

Shockwave nodded, and made his leave.

“Ten shanix Megatron will be at Maccadam’s later today,” Hot Rod said, darting out the door.
“No one’s taking you up on that, that’s a losing bet!” Arcee retorted, chasing after Hot Rod, followed by a sympathetic Windblade, and a Bumblebee that was just as chagrined as Soundwave.

Everyone but Soundwave, Elita, and Prowl dispersed, given that there was no longer a meeting to attend, and they had a couple hours free.

“Well, I suppose the show's over,” Knockout said, strutting out of the room alongside Starscream and his Trine. “Would you three care to catch up?”

“I have time,” Starscream said, and looked towards Skywarp and Thundercracker in question.
“Sure!” Skywarp said.
“I’d be willing.” Thundercracker said.
”Wonderful! Let’s get lunch!”

As the five of them left the building and walked about the local area to select a restaurant, Starscream mentally tallied every bot who admitted to having once gotten involved with Optimus Prime. He added Skyfire to the count, recalling the way Skyfire and Orion Pax interacted with each other when he and Skyfire joined the Decepticon movement.

Optimus Prime was conjunxed and divorced twice, but even Starscream never thought that Optimus Prime would have gotten with at least nine bots over the course of his lifetime. Upon further consideration, Starscream didn’t find that surprising, after all, his own taste was impeccable, even if he regretted Megatron in the end.

Few bots that could pull off red, blue, and silver, as well as Starscream did, but Starscream supposed Optimus did it well enough. There was a reason that Orion Pax, the foot soldier turned commander featured on many posters throughout his service in the Quintesson Wars.

Sure Optimus wasn’t a flight frame, but he was elegantly strong, with a large, warm chassis, tapered waist, and deliciously thick thighs. Starscream has had the delight of seeing the Prime arch beautifully in the throes of pleasure, and it really was a shame that handsome visage was almost always hidden behind a mask.

Starscream internally chastised himself for beginning to sound like Knockout.

Luckily, the Prime didn’t sport a visor, because what really drew Starscream were those kind, but infinitely sad blue optics. Multiple Decepticons have sworn up and down that the Prime’s gaze was a kind of psychological warfare. Loathe as Starscream was to admit it, it had worked on him. He had lain with Optimus, after all.

He didn’t see a reason to say no when the Prime had asked him with that deep, soothing voice, and couldn’t find any reason to regret having done so when he recalled being showered with praise, and slowly thrust into with such care and gentle-ness. One of the best frags of his life. Given the opportunity, Starscream would do it again, especially since it would make Megatron lose his composure.

Starscream overrode his system’s attempt to turn on his fans as he followed his companions into a place that Starscream’s been to at least a couple times before.

Then Starscream realized that many of the things he liked about Optimus only reminded him of Skyfire. In the end, Starscream regrets staying with the Decepticons when the movement had schismed, and when Starscream did eventually defect, he and Skyfire had become acquainted again.

Except, Starscream noticed how Skyfire had kept his distance, and the wariness with which Skyfire regards him. He parsed over the restaurant’s selection of energon additives, but instead of pondering what he’d like to fuel on, Starscream wondered if Skyfire would ever look at him in the same way Optimus had that night.

Starscream shook his helm, told the waiter what he wanted, and then tried to catch up on the conversation.

Chapter Text

As soon as Megatron transformed, he rapidly gained on Optimus. Optimus’s rearview mirrors shifted, and he transformed back into root mode. Just as Megatron caught up and was in the process of transforming back into root mode, Optimus promptly jumped out of a window. 

Megatron stared in shock for a couple seconds, incredulous that the Prime would rather parkour Iacon’s towers and rooftops, risking a broken spinal strut, rather than face the mech he’s fought countless times before.

Clearly, neither of them had changed all that much from the days of their youth, Megatron thought to himself, and then he too jumped out the window. 

This was a song and dance Megatron and Optimus had done many times before. Unfortunately for Megatron, today, Optimus was in no mood to exchange fists, and managed to eventually disappear from Megatron’s sensors.

Megatron ex-vented a burst of hot air, and ran the command for a cannon that was no longer attached to his frame. Then he flew back towards the building. The meeting they were supposed to have was probably rescheduled, but it was hardly the only business Megatron had to attend today. He’ll see Optimus again later. 

Megatron’s mood hadn’t improved at all over the course of the day. In fact, his mood had only gotten worse, so that evening, Megatron paid a visit to Maccadam’s Oil House, got his engex, and went to a tucked away booth with an old favorite novel. 

His mood was just starting to improve, until Hot Rod, the Prime’s irritating protege slid into the seat across from him with a smug grin that immediately made Megatron bristle. 

“What do you want?” Megatron scowled. “I’m in no mood to entertain your antics.” 

“Nothing much,” Hot Rod said, inspecting his fingertips. “Just to know what really happened between you and Optimus. Regale to me the epic tragedy of the fumble!”

”We started a revolution together, we conjunxed, we divorced, we fought each other in a war, we reconciled and established peace, end of story.” 

“Yeah, but details! Details!” 

Megatron regarded Hot Rod with an unimpressed look and turned his gaze to his data pad, ignoring Hot Rod as best he could. Hot Rod hummed repetitive tunes, poked him, and did his best to be a nuisance.  As satisfying as throwing Hot Rod out of Macaddam’s front door would be, Megatron refrained. Even journalists were less annoying than this.

Hot Rod wasn’t being nosy, he was just asking the questions everyone wanted answers to. Okay, maybe he was being nosy, but in his heart of hearts, he just wanted to help. Maybe it’s because of the way Bee despairs every time Megatron’s possessiveness over Optimus flares up, maybe it’s because Hot Rod has warmed up to Megatron despite Megatron’s grumpy exterior, so he took it upon himself to help Megatron get over Optimus.

Maybe it was both of those things, but Hot Rod couldn’t solve the problem if he didn’t know where the problem originated. Bee clearly knew something, but Bee wouldn’t tell him anything (c’mon, Hot Rod might’ve not been sparked from the same bots, but they were both raised by Prime, so that meant they were brothers! And yes, Hot Rod was the oldest one between himself, Bee and Cliffjumper, thank you for asking), just like every other bot Hot Rod had thought to ask. They told him he was better off not knowing, that it was something he couldn’t fix, but Hot Rod was himself, not them. 

Hot Rod stared at Megatron, who pointedly didn’t even glance back, and mulled over what he knew. 

During the war, everyone could tell that Megatron was weirdly fixated on Optimus Prime, more than a nemesis should be. It made sense if you listened to the rumors and stories told by bots who had been around during the early stages of the Decepticon Uprisings. According to the stories, Megatron and Orion Pax weren’t exactly subtle (despite their attempts to be). They never said anything outright, but many either knew, or suspected that the two were in a relationship.

In hindsight, it wasn’t surprising that they had been conjunxed, nor that the schism in the Decepticon movement was around the time Megatron and Orion Pax had divorced, but even Hot Rod hadn’t guessed that Bee was actually sparked from Optimus Prime and Elita One. Hot Rod had just thought that Bee was another war orphan, like him. Can you blame him? At the time, Optimus doted on any sparkling he saw, and he still has a huge soft spot for them! Also it was hard to see the resemblance then!

Hot Rod remembered the stab of fear as Megatron had held Bumblebee up in one massive servo as Bee struggled in Megatron’s grip.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SPARKLING!” 

Optimus had bellowed, throwing himself at Megatron, axe at the ready. Megatron had dropped Bee, and narrowly avoided his helm being severed from his body. 

“YOUR Sparkling!?” Megatron shouted, incredulous and shocked. 

That had caused the entire battle to grind to a halt.

“You mean to say, that you went and had a SPARKLING with ANOTHER MECH!?”

Optimus glared at Megatron as he moved to hide Bee from Megatron’s line of sight. 

“I don’t see how this concerns you.” 

“And you never told me!” Megatron said, in a tone Hot Rod had never heard Megatron speak in before.

Hot Rod had looked to Bee for answers, to which Bee shrugged at him incredulously from behind Optimus’ pede.

“We’ve been divorced for stellar cycles!” Optimus retorted. 

“Who is it? Your Second in Command!?” 

“The fact that you automatically assume it’s Elita-“ 

“It’s certainly not Ironhide! It is Elita, isn’t it!?” 
“Yes-“
“THIS IS HOW I FIND OUT YOU AND ARIEL ARE CONJUNXED!?”

Bee had looked back and forth between Megatron and Optimus before scurrying to Hot Rod’s side.

Hot Rod didn’t remember the particulars, only that the two leaders argued in the middle of a battle like the divorced couple they were. 

He more clearly remembered the aftermath, in which Bee changed his paint job from blue to yellow, and then complained to Hot Rod after an attempted negotiation for peace.

Bee lamented that he never got confirmation the rumors about his Carrier and Megatron were true until that day.

“Now I know my carrier’s been divorced twice over! And one was the SLAG MAKER! Even worse, HE tried claiming me as his step-sparkling!”

Hot Rod couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s rough, mech. Imagine having the Slag-maker himself as your caretaker-“

“Can you PLEASE stop laughing!? He tried to rip out my voicebox!” 

“Sorry sorry! It’s just, he was POUTING as he walked out of that meeting room! Who would have thought MEGATRON could pout? I mean what did you even say to him?” 

“‘You’re not affiliated with me.’” 

Hot Rod in the past had guffawed for ten minutes straight. 

Hot Rod of the present had an idea. 

“Oh Megsyyyyy~!” 

“What do you want now, you magenta menace,” Megatron grumped. 

“Tell me the details, and I’ll let you call me sparkling.”

Megatron snorted, “You’d do that anyway,” and turned back to his datapad. 

“What if I convinced Bee?” Hot Rod said, grinning. 

“You couldn’t, he has the stubbornness of both his carrier and sire,” Megatron said, swiping to another page. 

Hot Rod thought about it, and then realized Megatron was right. Hot Rod huffed. 

“Okay, what about convincing Bee to at least talk to you.” 

“More realistic. Still no, now leave me be.” 

Hot Rod thought back to exactly what had caused Megatron’s outburst in the meeting that never was.

“Megs, I know you and OP are over the fact that you divorced, but why do you still want to know about OP’s personal life so badly?” 

“Thank you!” Megatron exclaimed. 

In hindsight, Hot Rod should have suspected that Megatron would be more inebriated than he otherwise would have been after hours of preventing Hot Rod from consuming a single drop of engex by consuming it himself. Hot Rod was a grown bot for pit’s sake! He wasn’t a sparkling anymore! Anyways, the point is, Megatron, when inebriated to a certain point, was more prone to reminiscing.

“Everyone thinks I’m not over the divorce. I am! What irritates me is that he’s never told me more than what he thinks I NEED to know! You’d think that we haven’t known each other for almost our entire functioning! During the war it was understandable, but we’ve reconciled! We’ve made peace! With how much he’s ever told me, you’d think we never were best friends! You’d think we never were conjunxed for Primus’ sake!”

“I wouldn’t call it reconciliation…” Hot Rod started. 

“It is,” Megatron said. “We’re working together to build a future for Cybertron again. When we fight, it’s with words, or fists until surrender, but Primus forbid we talk about something unrelated the governance of Cybertron. When in the pits did Prowl and Jazz? I mean Soundwave and Shockwave HAD to have been before…” 

In hindsight, every mech Hot Rod had ever asked was right. 

“We were both labor frames before the war. He was a dock worker, I was a miner, but when the Quintesson Wars broke out, Orion Pax and Ariel had gotten conscripted into the military while I was spared from the draft. We had lost contact after that.

I listened to the broadcasts about the war everyday, I knew Orion and Ariel had become commanders. They called Orion the most brilliant military tactician Cybertron’s seen in generations! And then at the end of the war, there was never a mention of him again. I thought he had perished in the last battle of the war. I collected his posters, you know? I thought those posters would be the only way I’d be able to remember his face for stellar cycles to come…”

“Uhuh,” Hot Rod said, filing that information away.

“…but to my surprise, he had heard my words against the Functionist Council, and had journeyed from the Archives to the Gladiatorial Pits of Kaon! We had so much to catch up on, and we did! It turned out, he had simply left the military, to become an Archivist of all things! But he never mentioned Shockwave, and he never mentioned Soundwave either! Now that I think about it, that explains why Shockwave and Orion made sure to avoid each other…. And why Soundwave was the one who brought Orion to me. Ah, when I saw Orion again. He was more beautiful than I remembered! More stunning and radiant than any poster or recording could ever capture! And he was still spirited, kind, full of sharp wit and endless ideas.”

Hot Rod glanced at repainted Arcee (who was two booths over) with a raised eyebrow. Arcee shot him a conspiratorial smile as her pauldrons shook with suppressed laughter, and began recording.

Hot Rod sighed, and resigned himself to his fate. 

He tuned out Megatron for the most part, but listened just enough to get the gist of what Megatron was telling him without having to actually register all of Megatron’s finer points. 

“Okay, so revolution, conjunxing, whirlwind romance, blah blah blah, but then there’s what was supposed to be an ‘Age of Peace,’ ‘Peace through Tyranny,’ at least according to your writings, and the divorce.” 

“I’m surprised the Autobots let you read that.” 

“Every time I asked Optimus questions he just gave me a datapad to read, so yeah, I read Towards Peace. Didn’t finish it, it was sooooo boring.” 

Megatron sighed. 

“Yes, the divorce. We couldn’t be compromised in our principles. Both of us were equally stubborn and adamant in our ideals. When that conflict bled into our personal lives… well, we decided that the future of Cybertron was more important than our bond.” 

Hot Rod glanced over at Arcee, who had a servo over her intake, not sparing Hot Rod a glance herself.

“I still stand by the belief that Optimus is too idealistic, naive and…” Megatron snorted. “…optimistic. He wasn’t among us when the Functionists had stooped to their lowest…. Even so I wish we could have reached an understanding then, or sooner… maybe then 4 million years wouldn’t have been wasted,” Megatron muttered bitterly, throwing back the last of his Engex. 

“You know the story from there. Satisfied with the details, Hot Rod?” 

“Yep, very,” Hot Rod said.

“As you can see, I’ve accepted the choices we had made.”

”Of course-“

”Not a word outside of this establishment. All of you!” Megatron said, staring down everyone within the establishment. “Especially you, Hot Rod.” 

“Cross my spark!” Hot Rod said. 

“Hm. Goodnight.” Megatron said, getting up from his seat, walking out of the Oil House with surprising steadiness. 

Once Megatron left the establishment, Arcee slid into the seat that Megatron vacated. 

“Slag, he’s not over him at all!” Hot Rod said. 

“I know! No one talks about their ex like that if they’re over them!”

“Soundwave was right, Ol’ Megs has been hopeless since the beginning! There is no helping him!”

“Talk about it, I came here to get a drink, and I get first row seats to a soap opera,” a large mech said from a couple tables over. “Always knew there was someone else.” 

“Oh hey, Impactor,” Arcee said. 

“Who?” Hot Rod asked. 

“He’s one of the Wreckers.” 

Unfortunately for Hot Rod, mechs liked to talk, and soon the details of Megatron and Orion Pax’s relationship during the Decepticon Uprisings were the hottest topic in the gossip mill.

So when Hot Rod went to the building the next morning, he was fully prepared to run from an enraged Megatron. 

“HOT ROD!” 

Hot Rod immediately transformed and sped away as fast as he could. He was pretty fast, he was a race car after all. 

“IT WAS WORTH ITTTTT!!!”

”YOU’LL EAT YOUR WORDS YOU BRAT!” 

Unfortunately for Hot Rod, Megatron had managed to catch him. 

Hot Rod was assigned to Ultra Magnus, and was to deal in bureaucracy for the next couple cycles. 

“Still worth it,” Hot Rod said to himself, even as Ultra Magnus added another datapad to the stack on Hot Rod’s desk.