16/07/2016 - THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED. AUTHOR'S NOTES AT BOTTOM.

"Hey, Simmons. You alright?" Lennox asked curiously as he flopped down next to the former S7 agent on the sofa in the so called 'staff room' they had formed during the search.

"Yeah, fine Lennox." He sighed, rubbing a hand across his face.

"Okay, you can't lie to me. Come on. What wrong with you?" He said, frowning at the other man.

"I just feel sort of...guilty you know."

"How come?"

"I helped...torture him. I hurt him, I watched him go through all that alone without anyone to show him an ounce of kindness."

"But you helped us find him didn't you?"

"Yeah...but-"

"But nothing. You helped us find him, and you never really felt any hatred towards him when you were doing what you did, what they all did to him. You saved his life Simmons, can't you see that. He'd be dead if you hadn't let us track the call to the base."

"I guess so." Simmons sighed, before he sat straighter, a small, hesitant smile on his face. "Thanks Lennox."

"No worries. I appreciate what you did. And I'm sure Matt is grateful to you as well."

"Matt?"

"Megatron. But he doesn't want to be called his Cybertronian name anymore. He just felt that it would be more appropriate to stick with his human identity."

"Oh, right. I guess I won't be calling him NBE-1 for a while either."

"You'd better not." Lennox glowered, thinking of the names dubbed to the Cybertronian race, the names that just seemed so cold and...laboratory rat like.

Simmons grinned at him. "Don't worry. I promise I won't."

They glanced at everyone in the room, and noticed gratefully that no one had noticed their quiet conversation.

They all looked up as Ratchet stepped out of the med-bay, an oddly happy look on his faceplates.

"Ratchet? What is it?" Mikaela asked, cocking her head to the side.

Ironhide looked slightly scared of the expression on the medic's faceplates. 'Oh Primus, make it stop.' He internally whimpered.

"He's awake."

There was silence around the room, before everyone suddenly jumped up at once. Ratchet quickly stood in front of the door, fixing them with a glare.

"If you want to see him, then wait. Optimus is in there with him."

"...And they're not arguing or trying to kill each other?" Ironhide said, looking shocked.

Everyone flinched at the clang the wrench rebounding off of his helm made, before shivering in fear at the disapproving glare on their resident medic's faceplates.

Optimus gave a small smile as he looked down at the small form curled up on his chest plates, sleeping quietly. His brother had exhausted himself after his crying fit, and had finally fallen asleep on his chest. He raised one of his large fingers and gently brushed the tear trail on one of Megatron's cheeks away.

"How's he doing?" His helm shot up and he saw Ratchet peering through the entrance to the room at him.

"He's fine, just wore himself out. He's exhausted." He rumbled, looking back down at the still form of his brother, the only movement being the rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

"I'm not surprised. He's been through a lot. He's going to need a lot of time to recover."

Optimus made a noise of agreement and sighed. "I only wish that we had been able to prevent all of this. He was making so much progress...and now..."

"Now he'll probably fear humans, and likely fear himself." Ratchet said, his optics glowing angrily with his anger at S7. "I hope that he recovers from this, I really do...he was becoming...a rather good friend."

Optimus looked up again and saw the medic looking down at the floor sadly. "We can only be here for him."

"You're right. I'm sure as hell not letting him out of my sight."

The Prime smiled lightly. "We have to stay strong, for his sake."

Or he may truly break.

Maggie tapped her fingernails on the table in front of her impatiently as she waited. She could help but be impatient, she longer to see Matt. She wanted to at least see his face. She hadn't seen him up close in over a month. And when she had last caught a glimpse of him, he had been covered in blood and his life was hanging on a thread.

She heard heavy footsteps next to her, and looked up to see Ratchet standing over her.

"You can go in if you want. But be quiet. He's asleep." She beamed up and him and jumped up eagerly, almost bouncing with the excitement of getting to see him again.

"Thank you Ratchet."

"You're welcome Ms Madsen." He smiled uncharacteristically.

She walked so quickly she was practically running over to the door to the med-bay, pushing the human sized one open quietly and carefully entering.

"Hello Maggie." Optimus greeted her. She smiled at the big rig, then catching sight of Matt lying in the Cybertronians lap as the Prime leant with his back against the wall behind him.

"Is he alright!" She exclaimed in alarm, her eyes wide as she rushed forward, her heels clicking furiously on the cement floor.

"Calm yourself Ms Madson, he is merely asleep. You must remember that this ordeal has likely thoroughly exhausted both his mind and his body."

"This is becoming to be a bit of a habit. Every time I try to see him after something bad happens, he's asleep." She smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I doubt he is doing it purposely."

"With him we never know. He's a troublemaker through and through."

"How so?" Optimus asked, his optics brightening in curiosity.

"He had a... war with a few of the guys on our apartment floor." She said, looking amused and annoyed at the same time. She smirked at the interest in the Autobot leader's optics and began to tell him about the chaotic antics that Megatron had become involved in since not long after moving in with her.

Optimus was laughing by the end of the story, imaging his brother running around like a child.

"I found out later that those strangely accurate shots actually came from him. And I think the same applied to the paintball judging by the bruises on everyone."

Optimus chuckled, and shook his head, looking down at Matt.

"Well, he'll likely have a welcome to remember when he gets back home." She smiled.

"He should enjoy that. He probably missed them during this month."

"I think he probably just missed non-violent contact." She said miserably, looking sad before she smiled again. "But he's home now."

They watched Matt sleep for a few minutes longer before Maggie walked forward and planted a kiss on Matt's forehead. "I'm going back to our apartment quickly to pack a bag alright. I'm sure he'll feel more comfortable wearing something familiar, and I sure as hell need a change of clothes. I've been wearing these since we found him." She laughed quietly before quietening.

"Look after him while I'm gone Optimus."

"I will give my life if I have to to keep him safe Ms Madsen, I can assure you of that. We all feel the same. Nothing will touch him."

She smiled again and exited the room, asking Bumblebee quietly if he could give her a ride home and staring back at the base as they drove off into the darkness of the evening.

She had seen the determination in all of their eyes, the way that they all stood as if ready for an attack, all of them armed.

Optimus was right when he had said that nothing would touch him.

Not as long as they had life running through their veins.

And affection for the most unlikely person in their hearts.

Hey guys, I know it's been one hell of a long time. Thing is, I seriously lost inspiration for writing ANY fanfiction a few years back and never really got back into it. Then I finished my GCSE's, moved onto A Levels and life is pretty nuts as a student right now. I've finished my exams now and I'm attempting to get back into writing fanfiction during the break before I start my next year. Problem is, I've pretty much forgotten how to write fanfiction. I'll do my best to continue this fic now, but excuse the crappy writing and/or short chapters in the mean time. Suggestions for what people would like to see during Megatron/Matt's recovery would also be incredibly helpful right now since it's been a long time since I've looked at this fic and I'm probably going to get a little stuck for ideas at time.

Once again guys, sorry for the long wait!