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Megatronus did not like this new Prime.
He had never had the displeasure of meeting the mech in person, had only heard whispers and rumours about this so-called “Optimus Prime,” but he was quickly proving himself to be quite the menace to the Decepticon cause. For one thing, he had done something no member of the council had ever accomplished.
He had caught Megatronus off guard.
It wasn’t fair to call it an attack, it was more like an ambush. Some hand-picked lackey or another had dropped out of the ceiling of one of his very secret meeting places and drugged him. It was cold. Calculated. Almost cunning. Not something Megatronus would consider the rest of the council capable of. Truthfully, the only reason he knew it was the new Prime specifically was because the lackey had told him as such as Megatronus passed out from whatever drug he had been injected with. Something pompous like ‘Optimus Prime wishes to see you,’ before he found himself in this cell, pedes and servos in chains. Though, interestingly, the length of the chains was enough that he could still move about the tiny room and, frankly, he was a little offended. Yes, he had been disarmed and had his comms and weapons systems thoroughly jammed, but surely any mech who knew him well enough to find the place where he was captured would know full well he was just as deadly without his weapons as long as he could move his servos.
Megatronus was trying not to think about how they had found that particular location, because the thought caused his spark to sink in his chassis with the sort of numbing dread he thought he had purged long ago.
Because only three people knew about that place. Himself and the only two mechs he trusted completely: Soundwave…and Orion Pax. Neither would betray him willingly and Soundwave hadn’t strayed far from Megatronus’ side since before this new Prime came into power. That left Orion.
And Orion Pax, according to official government reports, was dead.
Allegedly, he was offlined on his way home from work, the only casualty of a collapsing bridge.
Megatronus was not buying it.
Firstly, he knew the route Orion took from his apartment to the archives, had mapped it out, memorized it in case...well, just in case, The point being, Megatronus knew Orion’s route and that bridge was not on it . And there were no road closures on record that would cause his little archivist to deviate from his usual path.
Secondly, Megatronus knew Orion’s schedule. It was a necessity. The nature of their lives and relationship meant that their meetings, for the most part, had to be somewhat secret and spontaneous. Megatronus, as the one with an inconsistent schedule and the means to arrange such meetings, made sure to know when the other mech was available. At the time of Orion’s supposed accident he would have only just gotten off work with not enough time to make it to the bridge in question even if he had gone that way and left as soon as the day was done. Now, if this were any other mech working any other job, Megatronus could have conceded that it was entirely possible for them to have left early or skipped work entirely.
But this wasn’t any other mech.
It was Orion Pax.
Orion Pax who loved his work so much his optics lit up every time he spoke of it. Orion Pax who often stayed late to read anything he could get his servos on. Orion Pax who made even Megatronus admit, though only to himself and never out loud, that their inane, reductionist, functionalist society very occasionally , got it right and put a bot in the perfect role.
Orion Pax leaving work late , Megatronus could accept, but leaving early? There was simply no way. The only possibility was an emergency, but Soundwave had found nothing of the sort.
Thirdly, there was the timing of it. Orion “dies,” leaving behind no recognizable body and then, all of a sudden, Megatronus is jumped in a place that only a few mechs, including Orion, knew about? Suspicious.
It all added up to a single horrific conclusion. Someone had discovered Orion’s connection to him and informed the council and they had faked his death so they could torture him for information.
Not only was it certainly something the council would do, throw away those they view as inferior, but based on his capture, they were successful.
Orion had cracked.
Megatronus tried to steer his processor away from the thought of what they had likely done to him, but failed as always.
Was Orion even still alive? Would that be a kinder fate? Megatronus knew well the monstrous things that could be done to a frame without offlining it forever. Things that left mechs begging for death. Things that would shatter even Orion Pax with his unwavering will to do the rigt thing and his spark that had always been too big for his spark chamber.
Nothing he or Soundwave had done from the moment her realized Orion wasn’t answering his com messages had revealed even a trace of what really happened. Although Megatronus had not given up, he would probably never stop searching for his archivist, he had started to lose hope, to grieve.
Orion had a special place in his spark, somehow both his dearest friend, his fiercest debate partner, and...his lover. Megatronus had been not-so-secretly planning to initiate the conjux ritus with Orion. Originally, he planned to ask Orion to conjux him after they had built a better world, but a few close brushes with death had made him certain of two things. One, Megatronus may not live to see his imagined “after.” Two, he would die with regrets if he didn’t sparkbond with Orion before getting himself offlines.
So, he had planned to offer himself to Orion before their revolution. He just didn’t, in a manner completely unlike him, consider the worst possible scenario. It never occurred to him that Orion would die first.
Megatronus’ processor was called back to the present moment when the door to his dark cell opened. The light from the hall placed the mech in the doorway, Optimus slagging Prime himself, in silhouette.
He had been expecting a lackey, but the new Prime had the decency to interrogate his prisoners himself, it seemed.
“Megatronus,” Prime said, his deep baritone somehow both unreadable and oddly familiar, “there is much to discuss.”
“And what, pray tell, would a Prime have to discuss with an imprisoned gladiator?”
The silhouette sharply shifted, as if Megatronus had struck a frayed wire, causing the Prime to actually flinch.
The doors to the cell closed and locked. The lights within the small room flicked on and Megatronus couldn’t decide if Optimus Prime was brave, arrogant, or stupid. He had locked himself in a small room with a boy who earned his credits by offlining bots in enclosed spaces. The other thing that stuck out to him were the other bots’ colours. They were the same as Orion’s.
This was not entirely uncommon, red and blue was a popular choice for paint colours, but seeing what looked like the exact shades of his friend on the bot most likely responsible for his death caused Megatronus to burn with rage.
The prime was as tall as Megatronus was. Face covered by a battle mask, his waist was thin but sturdy, his shoulders broad and strong, and his legs were long and lean. He would have been beautiful if he were not the manifestation of everything that Megatronus hated about their world.
“I apologize for the circumstances of this meeting. I could not devise any other way for us to speak in private without causing suspicion. Rest assured, plans are already in place for your ‘excape’ and no one other than myself and a trusted advisor are aware of your presence here.”
Well...that had taken an intriguing turn. The high and mighty Prime, wanted something from him and was willing to go to great lengths for it.
“A secret meeting disguised as a capture? I’d be impressed if there were not cameras in every cell. I know everything I say will be studied, so forgive me if I don’t believe you have goodwill towards me.”
“The camera in this cell is nonfunctional and the mech monitoring the other feeds is loyal to me, not the council.”
Megatronus leaned back, optics sharp as he caught onto the phrasing this Prime seemed to prefer.
“You consider yourself separate from them?” He asked. All the Primes were the same to him. Corrupt dictators thriving off the labour of others.
“I do,” Optimus Prime answered easily.
This caused Megatronus to raise an eyebrow ridge. Why would this Prime deny his connection to the others? Wouldn’t he owe them a debt for creating him as a Prime?
“Oh? And why is that? What makes you so special?”
Megatronus didn’t really expect an answer, but he got one anyway. The Prime stepped closer, got on his knees so that he would be optic to optic with Megatronus’ seated frame.
“There are many reasons, but the one most relevant to the current circumstance is that I stand with you and your rebellion,” the Prime was calm, sure, like what he had said wasn’t tantamount to treason and like what he was doing , kneeling at the feet of a gladiator, was not even worse.
Megatronus expected laughter, for the Prime to reveal he was pulling his pede, but it never came. Instead, the Prime just looked at him with haunting blue optics.
“I have read every one of your essays and I agree with your vision for a better Cybertron. I wish to help you achieve that goal with as few civilian casualties as possible. I know you have no reason to believe me and every reason to distrust anyone with my title, but I beg you to let me help you. I am not yet able to show my support openly, but you must know the advantages of having a Prime on your side.”
“You would destroy the council, and destruction is the only path with them, and give up your own power? I find that hard to believe. I doubt any mech created into the highest station possible would give it up,” Megatronus retorted.
“There are many things you do not understand about me, many things I can never hope to explain, but know this, the council had no hand in my ascension to the Primacy and I am sure that they are plotting how best to control me as we speak. No, Megatronus, the council did not create me, not make me a Prime. Primus himself did. I am the first true Prime in milenia.”
Megatronus scoffed.
“You truly expect me to believe that our silent god finally did something and it was to create a new Prime in direct opposition to everything his temple preaches?”
“I do. Because the temple is wrong. The frame a transformer is in does not determine who they are, their spark does.”
“Then why not do something sooner? Why let us suffer? Why stay silent?
It wasn’t like Megatronus expected Optimus Prime to know anything, but he was also starting to realize that he was serious about this. He would not speak so freely otherwise.
“Primus...is not all-powerful. He wants what is best for all of his children, but he can not influence our world directly. Primus can create sparks with potential, give us signs, put all the pieces in place, but it is up to us to mould the future with our own servos. Even I am merely more connected to him than most, able to see his signs the most clearly, the one he can reach out to most directly.”
“Well, that’s all well and good, I’m sure,” Megatronus spat, “the rest of us couldn’t wait around for Primus to bring the pieces of his divine plan together or to graciously provide us with a saviour.”
Optimus Prime shook his helm and tilted it, giving his prisoner a look that was...oddly fond.
“Oh Megatronus...don’t you get it yet?”
Megatronus would punch him for treating him like he had half a processor if he didn’t sound so Primus damned sincere .
“Primus... we needed you . We were waiting for you . Yours was not the first spark created with the potential to help make our world better, but you were the first to fulfill it. Primus...” the Prime hesitated, “Primus ensured that you would have the backing of the Primacy through me. Think about it.”
And Megatronus did think about it. One of the greatest obstacles of their movement was getting the devout to turn against a political system they believed was ordained by Primus. If, however, a true Prime, and one whose true nature the council concealed if the lack of fanfare was to be believed, stood against that council...then, well, the ‘ordained by Primus’ and ‘Primus’ design’ arguments against their movement would crumble. Having this supposed chosen of Primus would give his Decepticons legitimacy, the sort of soft power that could not be gained through might alone.
It would be an enormous step forward and that wasn’t even counting the value of an agent not just inside the government, but inside the very center of their oppression.
What the Prime was offering was invaluable. That is...if he didn’t have ulterior motives.
“And how can I trust that you won’t simply use me for your own gain before tossing us all aside?”
This enigmatic Prime seemed to have an answer prepared for this as well.
“I never expected you to take me at my word, Megatronus. I came prepared,” standing, he produced a data chip from his subspace and pressed it into Megatronus’ palm, “I also did not expect you to provide an answer right away. This chip contains information you might find useful. Access codes to personal offices, formerly redacted research documents, and more. It is data I can easily access, but I hope it is a sufficient show of faith.”
Megatronus clenched his servo around the chip, careful not to break it. He could only imagine how useful these details could be. How much they could do with them. Perhaps, if they proved legitimate, this Prime could be of use to him.
However, Optimus Prime was not done.
“You should know that I plan to follow the true meaning of the office of Prime. A leader and protector of my people, but not a ruler. However, if we destroy the council there will be a power vacuum to fill. There is no guarantee that any new government set up by revolutionaries would be stable and accepted right away, so I propose that I fill that vacuum temporarily to ensure any reconstruction goes smoothly and to ease the more... traditional mechs into it. However, as you and your movement are unlikely to accept another Prime leading Cybertron and no one mech should have all the power, I propose that you join me as my Lord High Protector. It’s...an old position that fell out of use long ago, but it is still backed by law. It has all the same legal powers and though it was typically used for the Conjux of a Prime, there is a precedent for the more business-like arrangement like the one I am proposing.”
The Primes speech was practiced and careful, like he was hiding something and Megatronus was suddenly reminded of how exactly they came to have this meeting.
Because Orion had once told him of the position of Lord High Protector when he discovered it in the archives.
And Orion was gone.
“How,” Megatronus started, his voice cold, “can I believe you want what is best for our people if you’ve already slaughtered an innocent in cold blood?”
There was a pause that hung in the air like static before a lightning storm.
“...what?” The Prime asked, clearly playing dumb.
“Only two bots other than myself knew about the location where your lackey found me. And one of those mechs ended up offlined in a ‘freak accident’ that doesn’t make any sense. If you truly wanted an alliance, you would have found a way to contact me without involving Orion Pax.”
The Prime seemed to...deflate, his shoulders slumping and his optics dimming as he turned her helm away, suddenly unable to look at Megatronus.
“I...should have known you would not be fooled as soon as I learned of the cover the council dreamed up. I am deeply, deeply sorry for your loss and what happened to him, but I had nothing to do with it. Optimus Prime did not yet exist when the council took Orion Pax. Again, I know you have no reason to believe me, but look at what I can offer you if you only let me help.”
“What you could offer me is the return of Orion Pax, his remains, or, at the very least, information on what happened and who did it so I can pay it back tenfold,” Megatronus narrowed his optics, “you clearly know something.”
“I...I wish I could, Megatronus, more than anything, I wish I could return Orion Pax to you,” their optics met again as Prime stood and turned to release his bonds and Megatronus started when he saw that the other mech was crying.
“But I can’t...” the Prime continued, “I can’t give him back and you wouldn’t want what remains of him. Orion Pax is gone and there is nothing I can do to change that, I’m sorry.”
Something was...wrong about the Prime’s reaction. The accusation seemed to affect him personally, but his reaction didn’t read as guilt or anger...it read as pure grief .
“I can never be...” Optimus Prime stopped himself before he could finish, switching his phrasing as if Megatronus would not notice, “I can never give you that and for that you have my deepest apologies.”
The Prime turned his back to him, helm lowered as if awaiting execution.
Megatronus stood and the other mech hunched...bracing for whatever punishment Megatronus would mete out.
Megatronus’ spark clenched because everything was starting to make sense.
The matching colours. The rumours of a new Prime that began only after Orion went missing. How the Prime knew where to find him. Why he was so willing to work with them. Why he seemed to grieve the loss of Orion...and why he repeatedly said he was chosen for the Primacy or ascended to it rather than being made for it.
“Orion...” Megatronus said in his softest, gentlest voice that he reserved only for the bot in front of him.
The other mech’s frame stiffened, clearly an effort to avoid reaction to the name, as if he really thought Megatronus didn’t know, hadn’t been able to figure it out, wouldn’t know him deaf and blind.
“Orion, look at me.”
The other bot didn’t respond, so Megatronus, now free to move, stood and circled around him so he was facing him with his back to the door. Lifting the mech’s chin with a single digit, Megatronus watched as the mask transformed away and he found himself looking at the face of Orion Pax, barely changed in whatever events brought them to this moment.
“What happened to you, Orion? Who did this to you?”
Optimus Prime (or Orion Pax) seemed to drop his Primely persona the moment he realized there was no way to convince Megatronus that he was not his old friend. He signed and leaned away, but didn’t drop his gaze.
“Exactly what I told you,” and oh, if Orion didn’t sound more tired, more defeated than Megatronus had ever seen him, “I became a Prime, a true Prime, because of the will of Primus and the Matrix of Leadership.”
Megatronus wanted to cradle Orion’s helm in his servos the way he always did, even though he would no longer need to bend over to do so with Orion bearing the stature of a Prime. But...the other mech stepped back, resorting to words alone.
“But my dearest Orion, how? Why? Why now?”
Megatronus had a thousand questions, but he stuck to the basics, not ready to know why Orion had chosen to let him go on thinking he was gone even after getting him alone (and they were alone because there was no longer any doubt in Megatronus’ processor about the sincerity of this new Prime).
“I can’t decide if it was a coincidence or an act of Primus. I was delivering a datapad to my superior at the same time he happened to be ready to send a different datapad to the council for their meeting. Since I was right there, he sent me. I had no reason to think anything of it. I can’t even say what the document even was for sure. A mining record? It doesn’t matter anyway, I don’t think they even looked at it afterwards.”
Orion was rambling. Orion tended to ramble a lot. It was in his nature, but this was the particular sort of rambling he did when he was nervous or bothered by something.
“Orion...” Megatronus started, but the other mech shook his helm.
“Optimus. My designation is Optimus now. You should use it.”
Megatronus raised an eyebrow ridge at that.
“I’m so terribly sorry for daring to speak to you so casually, my Holy Lord Prime,” he retorted with a sarcastic bow.
“No, Megatronus...don’t...please? I just...I should distance myself.”
Megatronus did not like the sound of that, but shut his intake so Orion would get on with the story.
“The trip there was uneventful. It was just supposed to be a drop off. In and out. But...when I got there, they had the Matrix out. I don’t know why, Ptimus knows they couldn’t use it properly, but when I arrived, it opened. I was confused, I looked to the council for answers but they were just as shocked as I was. Before I could react, this...light shone on me. It was...warm...like being bathed in sunlight. There was this voice, I still don’t know if it was all in my processor or if the others heard it as well, but it said that I was the chosen of Primus and gave me the designation ‘Optimus Prime.’ The Matrix then lifted off of its stand and floated towards me, my chest plates opening to receive it,” Orion placed a servo over the seam of his chest and Megatronus realized with a jolt that not only had his archivist been chosen by the Matrix, he was carrying it within himself like the Primes of old.
Orion lowered his servo and shrugged at him.
“After that, the rest of my new frame expanded around it. The actual upgrades were over relatively quickly, but I spent some time in medical stasis to recover and for my spark to adjust to the changes and the Matrix.”
Megatronus looked Optimus Prime up and down with new optics. With the benefit of hindsight it seemed painfully obvious that Orion Pax was Optimus Prime. Although the new frame was certainly larger, it had a lot of the same proportions and a few consistent features (like those finials) that made Megatronus feel blind for not making the connection earlier. It also explained the rumours about the new Prime dedicating significant time to the improvement of public education and the overwhelming feeling of familiarity Megatronus had been fighting ever since the Prime had strode into his cell with all the authority of a mech who owned the place.
Orion was not gone as Megatronus had feared. The frame was different (sturdy, built to bear an enormous weight and oh how Megatronus ached to see it in action) and so was the name, but it was still Orion’s spark burning behind those chest plates. As tall as Megatronus or not. Prime or not. It was still his archivist.
Something within Megatronus twisted as the shock of the moment wore off.
What, then, was the point of the secrecy? Why hadn't Orion reached out? Given him any sense that he still yet lived? Why stage a capture when any invitation from Orion would be met? Why try to hide who he really was even when they were alone? Why was Orion so determined that his dearest friend believe him lost?
“I’m sure you have questions,” Orion said in that deep new voice of his, the rumble of it reverberating around the small room, “I would have many if it were me.”
“Why didn’t you reach out sooner? It’s been weeks, Orion,” it came out harsher than Megatronus meant it to, but Orion seemed unfazed.
“As I mentioned, it took me some time to recover and I spent a good deal of that unconscious. Then...well, I had to adjust. My center of balance was different and this frame has many more functions than my old one...I was a pretty clumsy Prime for the first week or so. I can’t even tell you how many times I tripped over my pedes, accidentally activated my weapons or mask, or completely overestimated how much effort I would need to complete a task—”
“That still doesn—” Megatronus started only to be interrupted in turn.
“I also had to convince them that their plan to erase my memories of being Orion Pax had succeeded.”
The air in the room seemed to still.
“They what ?”
“They did not succeed of course. The Matrix protected me and warned me of the attempt. They wanted to make me easier to control and indoctrinate into their ideology. They wanted a blank slate of a Prime to mould into what they wanted. I decided to play along so I could act without gaining suspicion and be trusted to move without surveillance.”
So Megatronus had nearly lost him after all. It did explain why Orion could not contact him overtly once he had become Optimus.
“I had to wait for them to be convinced of my ignorance before I could risk setting up this meeting and I could not go to you myself because while they trust I don’t remember my previous life, I am still too conspicuous to move around on my own. They want to wait until my public introduction before I start ‘making appearances.’”
“Why not just comm me? Or have someone leave a note?”
“My frequency was changed in the upgrade and I knew you wouldn’t trust a note.”
It felt like they were dancing around the real issue, that the Prime would have an excuse for any question he asked, so Megatronus decided that he was done playing games. Done asking around the question instead of asking it.
“Why did you try to conceal the truth even now?” Megatronus’ anger flared, “why claim I wouldn’t want what was left of you when what was left was a still-living mech?”
He never thought he would see a Prime look so small . It was not so gratifying as he would have assumed it would be when it was Orion behind the title.
Megatronus had stomped over to the Prime when he was raving and now he was standing with Optimus’ shoulders clasped in his sevos, feeling like he was about to shake the mech until the world made sense again.
“How...” there was static in the Prime’s voice, “how could I face you when I’ve become everything you stand against? I didn’t ask for this, but it doesn’t change the fact that I can never be Orion Pax again. Better he die in a suspicious accident than become unrecognizably changed.”
Megatronus’ grip on the Primes’ shoulders tightened. It seemed that Orion was still both the smartest and dumbest bot he knew.
“How could you say that? How could you think that? In what world would I rather have you dead than right here in front of me? And don’t spew nonsense about being unrecognizable. Your name might be different, and your frame might have changed, but you are still, fundamentally, Orion Pax at Spark. You still see injustice in our world, and you still wish to see it changed. Of course I want what remains of my beloved when what remains is just...my beloved in a new form.”
Both sets of optics were damp as Optimus Prime tilted his helm as if in awe.
“Megatron—” he started, but the mech in question did not give him time to finish.
Instead, he cradled Optimus’ helm in his servos and brought their lips together.
Kissing Optimus was and wasn’t like kissing Orion. For one thing, he no longer had to bend over or pick the other mech up so he could reach. But the Prime moved his lips the same way Orion always had. There was, however, more strength in the grip Optimus had on Megatronus’ hips than he thought Orion capable of. Soon, too soon, the moment ended as they both pulled back to vent.
Again, before Optimus could speak, Megatron acted first.
“Conjux me,” Megatronus vented as he placed their forhelms together, “not just so I can be your Lord High Protector, though I will, but because I have seen what the world without you by my side looks like and I can’t bear another moment of it. I will bind my spark to yours and do it before we start our uprising, so long as my Prime is willing?”
Megatronus found that the prospect of kneeling before a Prime was not as distasteful as he had believed....so long as it was this Prime. His Prime.
Optimus had the bad form to look shocked.
“You...still want to? Even though things are so different now? Even though you’ll be the conjux of a Prime?”
“Yes, Optimus, I do. Because you’re still the same mech I fell in love with, still the same burning spark. Unless...have your feelings changed?”
“They haven’t, but with what I am...”
“You, Optumus Prime, are not the antithesis of my ideology, but its proof. You onlined as an archivist but have proven you are more than the function you were assigned.”
“Megatronus...”
His archivist, his Prime, his Conjux in all but name smiled.
“Of course I’ll conjux you, I have wanted nothing more. As soon as possible. We can worry about a formal ceremony later, when Cybertron is free.”
Megatronus pulled the other mech into an embrace, arms tight around him. He wouldn’t lie, he did miss when his lover was smaller than him and could be fully encircled in the safety of Megatronus’ arms, but the new strength he felt in the servos that now encircled him had potential.
“You’re still my archivist,” Megatronus murmured into the Prime’s neck cables, “just not so little anymore.”
Optimus pulled back then, optics lighting up.
“You should see me with my axe. We should spar sometime so I can show yo-” the Prime was cut off by what seemed to be a comm message. His face fell, “it seems...our time is up,” Optimus sighed, “I am expected back in my quarters soon and you must be long gone before the next guard rotation.”
Optimus stepped away, the Primely aura settling back into place alongside his battlemask.
Suddenly, Megatronus got an alert that he had received a comm message from a new sender.
OP: This is my new frequency. I’m transmitting your escape route now. The door will unlock six minutes after I leave.
He immediately saved the frequency to his memory and examined the provided map.
Silence hung in the air, neither of them willing to say goodbye first.
“Megatronus, I...” the Prime started, “thank you.”
The gray mech smiled, pulling Optimus in so he could press a kiss to his mask, right over where the other mech’s lips lay.
“Good luck, my Prime ,” he murmured.
With no more words needed between them, Optimus Prime left and Megatronus “escaped” shortly after. They would need to plan their meetings more carefully in the future and there was still much to be done before they could be truly free, but the world seemed so much brighter than it had just hours before when Megatronus had believed that Orion Pax was gone.
Everything had changed so quickly that everything felt unstable. However, there was one thing Megatronus knew for certain....
He was awfully fond of this new Prime.