[FIC] Betrayal
Jun. 1st, 2024 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tfmegaratchBetrayal
Summary: After the death of the Fallen, Optimus Prime has changed. Ratchet notices.
Continuity: Bayverse (AU post-ROTF/pre-DOTM)
Characters: Ratchet, Megatron
Rating: G/everyone
Warnings: None
Notes: Happy belated birthday,heliopauseentertainments! I'm sorry this took me FOREVER.
Pre-Megatron/Ratchet - this is setup for a Bayverse AU in which they eventually get together. It's VERY pre-relationship, but relevant to this community's interests, I believe.
Yes, I know communication was the May theme. I'm only a day late, shhh.
In the three years since the death of the Fallen, Ratchet had come to three conclusions:
1. The war was over, whether the Autobots were prepared to admit it or not. The Decepticons were no longer a threat in any meaningful sense of the word.
2. The humans had plans for the Autobots that did not involve the end of the war, or a return to Cybertron. Attempting peace talks with the surviving Decepticons was so utterly out of the question no one had seriously suggested it.
3. Optimus Prime had no intention of formally ending the war, establishing any kind of peace with the remaining Decepticons, or returning to Cybertron.
The last thought hurt like a hot knife to the fuel tanks (a comparison Ratchet was, unfortunately, well-qualified to make), but it could no longer be denied. The first missed opportunity could have been coincidence, a shot taken too quickly in the heat of the moment before it registered that the Decepticon was no longer a threat, but the second, and the third –
Ratchet was better at denial than he had ever hoped to become, but even he could no longer turn a blind optic. Defeating the Decepticons had been necessary, but eradicating them like they were nothing more than rust on scrap metal as the humans seemed to want…
He’d crossed a lot of lines, over the years, and no doubt would cross more (was crossing more, in that moment, by even considering it), but this – this was too far.
And that was how he found himself here in a mostly-abandoned junkyard, signal sheltered under the corpses of long-abandoned human vehicles, wondering if he’d signed his own death certificate by making that comm call.
The shadows moved, and flickered red.
“I didn’t think you’d show up, Autobot,” Megatron rumbled.
Ratchet kept his voice steady through long years of practice. “I didn’t expect you to come. I expected one of your minions.”
Megatron’s teeth bared in what might have been a laugh or a snarl. “Do not mistake me for your Prime. I don’t hide behind my soldiers.”
There were a few responses Ratchet could have made, but in the interest of keeping his spark intact, he decided they could go unspoken. “Are you here to talk, or fight?”
“Are you?” Megatron sat down on the nearest pile of half-intact car frames. It crumpled into something approximating a seat under his weight. “You called me, Autobot. If you want to die, there’s easier ways. Get on with it. I don’t have all night.”
Ratchet almost pointed out that it wasn’t as if Megatron had anything better to do, but once again self-preservation won out. “I want this war to end.”
Megatron barked a laugh. “Is that all? You don’t ask for much, do you?”
“You can’t tell me you want it to continue.” Ratchet stared him down, as he might have an unruly patient. “Your mechs are dying. Dragging this out for another millennia gets you nothing.”
“Nothing except the knowledge I spared them from a lifetime under the tires of these humans.” Megatron leaned forward, elbows on his knees, claws catching the light from the single dim streetlight at the far end of the junkyard. “Did your Prime send you, then? He’s run out of tricks and decided his medic might talk me into surrender? Or…” He studied Ratchet, optics gleaming dangerously in the dark. “Maybe you’re bait for an ambush.”
“If Optimus were interested in talking, I wouldn’t be here,” Ratchet snapped, and regretted it, the way Megatron’s expression sharpened knowingly.
“Dissension in the ranks? Interesting. I wouldn’t have expected you’d be the one to crack.”
“I am not here to demand your surrender.” Ratchet met Megatron’s gaze without flinching. “You wouldn’t give it if I did. I want this war to end, and I want our people to return to Cybertron. As difficult as it may be for you to believe –” as difficult as it was for Ratchet to believe, as much as even standing here felt like taking a scalpel to everything he had ever put his faith in – “I’m here because I think on this, if nothing else, you and I share a common goal.”
He half expected a shot to the spark (or at least an attempt – Ratchet hadn’t survived thousands of years of war without learning a few tricks of his own). But Megatron stared at him for a long moment, optics narrowed and calculating.
“All right, Autobot. I’ll hear you out.”
In the distance, thunder rolled.
Fitting, Ratchet thought. However this ended, when word of it reached Optimus – reached the humans – there would, indeed, be a storm.
Summary: After the death of the Fallen, Optimus Prime has changed. Ratchet notices.
Continuity: Bayverse (AU post-ROTF/pre-DOTM)
Characters: Ratchet, Megatron
Rating: G/everyone
Warnings: None
Notes: Happy belated birthday,
heliopauseentertainments! I'm sorry this took me FOREVER.Pre-Megatron/Ratchet - this is setup for a Bayverse AU in which they eventually get together. It's VERY pre-relationship, but relevant to this community's interests, I believe.
In the three years since the death of the Fallen, Ratchet had come to three conclusions:
1. The war was over, whether the Autobots were prepared to admit it or not. The Decepticons were no longer a threat in any meaningful sense of the word.
2. The humans had plans for the Autobots that did not involve the end of the war, or a return to Cybertron. Attempting peace talks with the surviving Decepticons was so utterly out of the question no one had seriously suggested it.
3. Optimus Prime had no intention of formally ending the war, establishing any kind of peace with the remaining Decepticons, or returning to Cybertron.
The last thought hurt like a hot knife to the fuel tanks (a comparison Ratchet was, unfortunately, well-qualified to make), but it could no longer be denied. The first missed opportunity could have been coincidence, a shot taken too quickly in the heat of the moment before it registered that the Decepticon was no longer a threat, but the second, and the third –
Ratchet was better at denial than he had ever hoped to become, but even he could no longer turn a blind optic. Defeating the Decepticons had been necessary, but eradicating them like they were nothing more than rust on scrap metal as the humans seemed to want…
He’d crossed a lot of lines, over the years, and no doubt would cross more (was crossing more, in that moment, by even considering it), but this – this was too far.
And that was how he found himself here in a mostly-abandoned junkyard, signal sheltered under the corpses of long-abandoned human vehicles, wondering if he’d signed his own death certificate by making that comm call.
The shadows moved, and flickered red.
“I didn’t think you’d show up, Autobot,” Megatron rumbled.
Ratchet kept his voice steady through long years of practice. “I didn’t expect you to come. I expected one of your minions.”
Megatron’s teeth bared in what might have been a laugh or a snarl. “Do not mistake me for your Prime. I don’t hide behind my soldiers.”
There were a few responses Ratchet could have made, but in the interest of keeping his spark intact, he decided they could go unspoken. “Are you here to talk, or fight?”
“Are you?” Megatron sat down on the nearest pile of half-intact car frames. It crumpled into something approximating a seat under his weight. “You called me, Autobot. If you want to die, there’s easier ways. Get on with it. I don’t have all night.”
Ratchet almost pointed out that it wasn’t as if Megatron had anything better to do, but once again self-preservation won out. “I want this war to end.”
Megatron barked a laugh. “Is that all? You don’t ask for much, do you?”
“You can’t tell me you want it to continue.” Ratchet stared him down, as he might have an unruly patient. “Your mechs are dying. Dragging this out for another millennia gets you nothing.”
“Nothing except the knowledge I spared them from a lifetime under the tires of these humans.” Megatron leaned forward, elbows on his knees, claws catching the light from the single dim streetlight at the far end of the junkyard. “Did your Prime send you, then? He’s run out of tricks and decided his medic might talk me into surrender? Or…” He studied Ratchet, optics gleaming dangerously in the dark. “Maybe you’re bait for an ambush.”
“If Optimus were interested in talking, I wouldn’t be here,” Ratchet snapped, and regretted it, the way Megatron’s expression sharpened knowingly.
“Dissension in the ranks? Interesting. I wouldn’t have expected you’d be the one to crack.”
“I am not here to demand your surrender.” Ratchet met Megatron’s gaze without flinching. “You wouldn’t give it if I did. I want this war to end, and I want our people to return to Cybertron. As difficult as it may be for you to believe –” as difficult as it was for Ratchet to believe, as much as even standing here felt like taking a scalpel to everything he had ever put his faith in – “I’m here because I think on this, if nothing else, you and I share a common goal.”
He half expected a shot to the spark (or at least an attempt – Ratchet hadn’t survived thousands of years of war without learning a few tricks of his own). But Megatron stared at him for a long moment, optics narrowed and calculating.
“All right, Autobot. I’ll hear you out.”
In the distance, thunder rolled.
Fitting, Ratchet thought. However this ended, when word of it reached Optimus – reached the humans – there would, indeed, be a storm.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-02 03:17 pm (UTC)I know relatively little about Bayverse, but this was absolutely delightful and full of intrigue. I have pulled up a chair and gotten some popcorn in hopes of seeing more. :)
Thank you so much!
no subject
Date: 2024-06-02 08:58 pm (UTC)I've got vague ideas about where I could go with this, but we'll have to see where my inspiration takes me. The potential intrigue of trying to forge a ceasefire without Optimus on board interests me very much.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-12 07:21 pm (UTC)I’m just in awe of how much angst/tension/internal conflict you’ve managed to convey into such a short fic. Ratchet has truly set his mind on this course of action, and not even Megatron’s typical grandstanding can dissuade him from trying to speak his piece. I really like how Megatron’s body language is at odds with his actual words. Megatron bitches so much but he doesn’t actually want to scare off Ratchet, he’s willing to sit down and listen hahahah. The part about him just plunking his butt down on junked cars is pretty funny, and also signals his “totally out of fucks to give” kinda mood.
It’s really interesting to see Megatron be described so, uh, sympathetically here? Ratchet is highly aware of the physical threat he poses (big long Decepticon claws, superior size and weight), and yet that doesn’t stop him from easily seeing through Megatron’s bluster. Making them meet in a creepy dark junkyard is super atmospheric.
I’m one of those people who normally wouldn’t touch Bayverse with a ten-foot pole. By god is this fic making me reconsider <3 Thanks for sharing :))))
no subject
Date: 2024-07-14 09:17 pm (UTC)Ratchet's so much fun to write, because there's potentially SO much going on under the surface with Bayverse Ratchet that we never got to see in canon. Canon doesn't really acknowledge that the situation they're in by this point in the timeline is pretty messed up, and Ratchet is a great character to focus on for that because as the medic he'd see the messed-up parts, in a way some of the other characters might not.
I'm glad that image of Megatron just parking himself on top of the junked cars worked - I had that vivid mental image while I was drafting the fic, and immediately went "oh, okay, so now I have to set this in a creepy junkyard so he can make himself a little armchair". Bayverse Megs is interesting because he's almost never the primary antagonist - there's always a bigger fish, or at least a more important one, and it makes him come off as a little bit less unsympathetic than I think the writers probably intended. So that'll be interesting to play with, too.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it (but uh, please don't feel the need to watch Bayverse for this fic, I can't have that on my conscience XD). There'll be more coming soon!