After a bit of walking, Megatron and Optimus stumbled upon a decrepit, soot-covered building that had partially collapsed on one side. They approached with caution, ready to draw their weapons if necessary.

"I don't think searching a building is a good use of our time." Megatron grumbled, following Optimus towards the building with considerably less caution. He was reluctant to get sidetracked, something Optimus always seemed to do no matter the task at hand.

Optimus ignored him for a moment, his optics scanning the surroundings as he stepped over a pile of folded sheet metal. "It's the only building for miles. There has to be something here that will tell us where we are." He entered the building without waiting for Megatron's reply.

Megatron rolled his optics and reluctantly trailed after the Prime. He ducked through the doorway, then nearly ran face first into a pipe that hung down from the ceiling. He growled softly in annoyance.

"This place is a death trap." He muttered, noting all the loose paneling and leaky pipes. One wrong move could either blow the place sky high or cause the other half to collapse. "Charging headfirst into danger yet again, as usual..."

"You're one to talk." Optimus huffed, casting Megatron a slight glare before continuing forward.

Eventually, he could no longer pick his way through the rubble without the risk of disturbing the supports that were barely holding the building up. He glanced up and noticed there was another level, but it was too high for him to reach.

"Can you give me a boost?"

Megatron eyed the platform Optimus was gesturing to warily. "Are you sure that will hold you? You could cause the entire building to collapse on us."

"I'll be careful." Optimus replied, a bit of sarcasm dripping from his tone. He narrowed his optics at Megatron when the warlord didn't budge. "Well?"

Megatron groaned dramatically. He trudged over to the Prime, knelt down, and held out his hands for him to use as a step.

Optimus stepped onto the warlord's servos and waited to be boosted up, but when that didn't happen, he frowned and looked down.

"Would you quit staring at my aft and boost me up already?" He huffed, finding it irritating that Megatron was making no attempt to be subtle about it.

A sly grin spread across Megatron's face as he chuckled and boosted Optimus up to the second floor. "Like you wouldn't do the same thing if given the chance." He teased playfully.

"I find it hard to admire things when your supposed sparkmate is trying to kill you." Optimus replied dryly as he stepped away from the edge. He began to search the second floor for any clues.

Since Optimus seemed busy up there, Megatron decided to continue the search on the first floor. He backtracked through the debris and discovered another pathway which led into a different room. So far, he was finding nothing of interest.

After not hearing from Optimus in a while, he actually became rather worried about the Prime's wellbeing. Optimus must've felt the worry through their bond because he was quick to send some reassurance in return.

While he would never admit it out loud, Megatron was happy that their bond had opened back up. Feeling nothing but cold, one-sided emotions for so long had taken a heavy toll on his spark. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to receive emotions that were not his own, even if Optimus was distancing himself at the moment. All he wanted to do was make it up to the Prime. He wanted to be loved again. But that would take time.

First, he needed to fix what had been broken and allow those wounds to heal.

Upon further examination of the room he was in, Megatron found a datapad laying amongst a pile of debris. He bent down and pulled it free, brushing the dust from its surface with his digits.

It had somehow remained intact during the collapse, save for a long crack that split the screen. To his surprise, it responded rather quickly when he turned it on, the screen flickering to life within seconds. He raised an optic ridge in interest as he scrolled past pages filled with large blocks of text. None of it made sense. It was all complete nonsense. What language was this even written in?

After spending a few minutes trying to understand what the words meant, Megatron gave up and simply tucked the datapad away in his subspace. Perhaps Optimus could make sense of it. He used to be an archivist, after all.

Sighing softly, Megatron took one last glance around the room for anything of interest before heading back towards the area he had last seen Optimus in.

***

Night was beginning to fall, so Optimus decided it would be best if they stayed put and waited until morning to continue. It was better to have some shelter instead of having no shelter at all, especially since there was no telling if a storm would come or not.

Optimus was sitting by a lantern, studying the strange datapad, while Megatron tinkered with his fusion cannon across the room. It wasn't a very large room, so he was really only a few feet away from him.

Optimus frowned at the text in front of him. "I've never seen anything like this..." He murmured, breaking the hour-long silence that had been occupying the room. "Either this is some form of brand new language, or we're dealing with something ancient."

"I thought everything you dealt with in the Archives was ancient." Megatron grunted, not looking up from his cannon. "What makes this any different?"

"Those were in Cybertronian Vernacular and I learned how to read them over a long period of time. This isn't even close. Think of it like a foreign language."

"So.. not Cybertronian?"

"I'm not sure yet." Optimus replied, narrowing his optics. "Some of the characters look similar to Cybertronian characters, but the majority of them are completely foreign."

Megatron clicked his cannon back into place on his forearm and tightened it using his servo. "Well, we are in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some strange freaks hiding from the war out here."

Optimus sighed. As he went to set the datapad down in his lap, he heard a noise. His head perked up and his optics searched the darkness for any sign of movement.

"Did you hear that?" He spoke softly.

"Hear what? I didn't hear anything." Megatron grumbled, though he did lift his head to look where Optimus was looking.

A few moments passed and nothing happened. Optimus let his shoulders sag as he pressed his digits against his forehead. "Nothing. Must be my imagination." He murmured.

Megatron eyed the Prime curiously, noting his abnormal behavior. He seemed spooked by something. After a few seconds of deliberation, the warlord let out a heavy sigh and leaned back against the wall.

"Come here. I will allow you to sit by me if it makes you feel better." He said, his voice softer than usual.

Optimus blinked a few times, as if he were considering Megatron's offer, before he shifted over to the other side and settled down beside the warlord. He could feel the heat radiating off of Megatron like a furnace. It was... nice. Comforting.

Megatron glanced down at Optimus. He saw how relaxed he'd become now that he was closer, which didn't make much sense. In his spark, he felt a warm and fuzzy sensation. Despite all attempts to resist, he found himself relaxing as well. It was strange that simply being close to Optimus had such an effect on him.

He was drawn from his thoughts when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Looking down, he saw that Optimus had laid his head there. He initially growled softly, but decided he would tolerate it for now. If this was what he had to do in order to mend their relationship, he would have to endure it.

For Optimus and for himself.