Someone recently pointed out to me that the selling thing I did with Arcee was like sex trafficking, I didn't even realize it. 

There's a small conversation in this chapter about sex trafficking so please be careful reading it if it's a sensitive topic for anyone. But trust me, Megatron will make sure that couple gets what's coming to them.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Wait, hold on. Arcee and Megatron know each other?" Jack asks in confusion.

"What did buckethead mean when he said as you should be?" Bulkhead asked next.

Ratchet turns to look at them, guess it's time for them to find out, "Arcee was hesitant about telling you guys but, she's sparkmates with Megatron."

"What!?" Bulkhead asked in surprise while the kids looked confused.

"Sparkmates meaning?" Miko asks in a way that lets them know that they need to explain.

Bulkhead looks at them, "Sparkmating is like getting married for us, except is permanent and there's no breaking it. Once a bot sparkmates with another bot they're mated for life because their sparks are connected."

"The spark is like a heart for you guys, right?" Raf questions.

"Yes, and that's why it can't be broken," Ratchet responds. "The bot will also be able to feel everything the other one feels as well as see each other's thoughts, and if one bot dies there's a big chance the other one will die as well. Doesn't always happen but a majority of the time it does."

"Which explains why Arcee was close to death when Megatron was supposedly killed," Bulkhead says as he puts everything together, "How long have they been sparkmates? Does Optimus know?"

"They met and became mates before the war even started and yes Optimus does know, he was the first to find out."

"So, does this mean we can't kill Megatron since doing so could kill Arcee?" Jack asks as he begins to worry for the safety of his guardian.

"It's part of the reason why Optimus would rather try to negotiate peace rather than kill him," Ratchet responds.

"What about the situation at hand? Is she gonna take the deal?" Raf asks and they all look to the monitor waiting for her to respond to Megatron.

~~~~~~~~~~

Arcee looks at Megatron's servo which remains extended for her to take as she thinks about the choices. If she refuses they could lose the chance to save Optimus but if she accepts then... Wait, she doesn't have to fall through with it. She could accept and get the cure for Optimus then have Bumblebee detach her and she never comes back, but...

"Alright, deal," she says as she takes his servo, she will go through with her plan.

Megatron chuckles, "Well played, my dear," he says before showing her the formula for the cure, "The chemical formula for the cure you seek." Arcee reaches for it but Megatron closes his servo, "Not yet."

"What?" Arcee asks as she starts feeling uneasy by the smirk that's plastered on his face.

"How exactly am I supposed to accomplish my goal of killing Optimus when I'm trapped here in a daydream? Once you release me from this prison, you will have the cure," Megatron says as he holds up the servo that was holding the chemical formula.

Before Arcee could make a response the world around them started to crumble. Ratchet must have got the formula and Bumblebee disconnected me.

Megatron looked around as his anger started to grow, "It was all a trick! Your teammates were watching!"

Arcee could feel herself begin to fade away as she started the process of returning to her body. "No!" Megatron shouts as he runs towards her, "Take me with you!" Arcee could feel his servo almost wrapping around her body but she disappeared before he could get a grip on her.

Arcee wakes up back in her own body to find Bumblebee standing in front of her with his guns out and Starscream making his way toward their position. She stands up and transforms her servos into her guns just as the Ground Bridge opens up behind them.

"Intruders!"

They heard Starscream shout as they backed away towards the Ground Bridge, "Allow me," Arcee says as she points her gun at Megatron before shooting. She felt a little guilty removing his life support but that's not the mech she fell in love with. She jumps back into the Ground Bridge going through to the other side where she's greeted by her team.

"So, uh," Bulkhead begins while Ratchet gets started on making the cure for Optimus, "Ratchet told us that you're sparkmates with Megatron."

Arcee looks over at Ratchet who just threw her a glance over his shoulder, "They heard your conversation with Megatron and had questions," he said before getting back to work.

Arcee looks back at the others, "Yes, we're sparkmates. We sparkmated a long time ago before the war, and before he became Megatron."

"How did you two meet?" Miko asked anxious to hear the story.

"I was traveling around Cybertron with a group of dancers. The group was owned by a mean old couple who went around taking young femmes off the streets and making them part of their group. Some of the femmes, like myself, were taken from their parents. We would perform at different clubs, bars, events, anyplace that would pay. We went to this one club to perform and he was there with his friends, at the time he was known as Megatronus, he was a gladiator and very famous for his fights."

"Cool! I didn't know you guys did gladiator fighting!" Miko said excitedly.

"Only certain bots did. Well, the couple that owned the group was always willing to sell one of us to any mech that could pay a good price."

"Like sex trafficking?" Jack asked.

"Sex trafficking?" Bulkhead asked in confusion while Bumblebee and Arcee just looked at them with confused looks.

"It's a thing we have here where people go around kidnapping girls and young women or find women that are trying to escape from a bad place and promise them a better life, then they would transport them to a place where they would be sold off for sex. It's called a sex trafficking ring, law enforcement has been trying to put an end to it for a long time," Jack explains.

"Oh. Yeah, that's pretty much what they were doing. So, when Megatronus found out that they were selling femmes he made a deal with them to buy me. I hated it at the time, but later I found out that he did it to save me, he was a really kind and gentle mech back then. I was in such disbelief when he turned into a tyrant and started a war."

"I'm sorry, but I can't see Megatron being kind or gentle," Bulkhead says and Bumblebee nods in agreement.

"Well, he was."

XXXXXX

Arcee walks out of the building with Megatronus, and his friends walk out behind them. She looks around at the city, it's nighttime and all the lights are on, the city looks beautiful. "I've had enough of the club scene for one night I'll be heading home with Arcee."

"Well, what do you know? Even the great Megatronus has desires, be careful that you don't break her," one of his friends says in a teasing manner.

Megatronus rolls his optics, "It's not that! We're gonna get some sleep."

"Sure you are."

Megatronus just ignores them as he transforms, they all laugh as they transform and drive off, "Don't mind them, they just like to tease me. I won't do anything that you don't want, just transform so we can go home." Arcee looks down at the ground as she shifts uncomfortably. Megatronus transforms back into bot mode, "Do you have a vehicle form or even know how to transform?" Arcee keeps looking at the ground as she shakes her helm.

She does know how to transform but she's hoping that if she appears to be too useless or too much of a burden then he'll let her go, she has to get away from him so she can look for her parents. "Let's go find you a vehicle form then, I'll walk with you," he says and they start walking off. Arcee looks up from the ground to look around at the city some more as they walk. "Like the city so far?" He asks and she just nods.

"Do you talk?" She just nods again, "I'm guessing only to bots you feel comfortable with."

She looks at him, "That and when I have something to say, but I don't really know what to say to you."

Megatronus was taken aback a bit by the fact that she even made a response, but he loved her voice and wanted to hear it again. "I want to be your friend, Arcee, maybe in time you can learn to trust me and maybe even share my feelings that I already have for you."

Arcee turns her attention back to the city and bots passing by, "We just met. How could you have any sort of feelings for me already?"

"Not sure, but there's something about you that makes you stand out from the other femmes."

Arcee wrapped her arms around herself as she started to feel pain in her body, "Scrap, not again."

"When was the last time you had some Energon?"

"Around two weeks ago."

"Two weeks!? Why so long? Do they hold Energon from you?"

"Only when we misbehave or try to escape. I'm the main one that tries to escape or refuse to do something they tell me to do so I'm the main one that goes without Energon."

Megatronus could feel his Energon begin to boil, he's definitely gonna look into those bots and see to it they're stopped. "Come on, I know a place where you can get some Energon. Wish I had known before we left the club or I would have gotten you some there."

"I don't much care for High-Grade Energon."

"I see, well I know a good place that sells regular Energon."

XXXXXX

"That's it, take it easy."

Arcee comes back to the present and sees Ratchet helping a cured Optimus off the berth, everyone claps and she joins in. "Please," Optimus begins, "Reserve the hero's welcome for my physician and Arcee." Everyone turns to her as they keep clapping and she smiles at them.

Reminiscing about our past together I see.

Arcee heard Megatron's voice and her spark quickened, she was hoping he didn't follow her through the patch but it looked like he did.