A/N: I am so pathetic. Three positive reviews and I make a sequel that I never intended to make to a one shot. It's actually been a long time since I wrote the original. Enjoy, I suppose.

Take it Easy: Optimus Prime

"Ah, look. It seems Barricade has finally broken Bumblebee." Megatron chuckled. "Poor youngling always was too high strung. It's nice to see him finally relax."

"Hmph." Optimus agreed silently. As much as he hated to admit it, it was nice to see Bumblebee finally relax after years of captivity. It was a wonder Barricade didn't rust from stress.

"I remember when you broke. It was startlingly easy…"

-x-

"Prime!" Megatron yelled at the thrashing mech he had pinned down. "Stop squirming, Primus slag you!" he tried (and mostly failed to succeed in) pinning the Autobot leader with his weight.

"Why should I?" Optimus shouted back. "You had my mechs killed if they didn't submit! You didn't even give me that choice! Or my main officers! I plan on making my slavery pit for you!"

"BECAUSE WE RESPECT YOU."

That made Optimus fall still. "Say again?"

"We, being my troops and I, think too much of you to kill you. Starscream and his trine took your slagging twins, the Constructicons Ratchet and Wheeljack, Barricade has Bumblebee. Noticing a pattern there?" Megatron snapped. "Soundwave took Red Alert and Blaster, I got you."

"Shouldn't you have given us the option of death, and not my other soldiers, then?"

"Bah, and waste talent and skill like all of yours? Not in a million vorns."

"I don't…. I don't understand."

"Your foot soldiers got put down because if they wouldn't submit, then it'd be too much effort to tame them." Megatron explained, calmer now that Prime was no longer fighting against him.

"Now, for the last time. Ingest a cube of energon, please. I did not go to the effort of trying to keep you in one piece only for you to die of starvation." The proud silver mech nearly begged.

"…" Optimus took the cube gently and drained it in one gulp.

Megatron smirked.

-x-

"That was the tipping point. I didn't break then, only bent enough to see your words for what they meant." Optimus Prime corrected.

"Oh really? Then when did you really break?" Megatron grinned.

"You should remember it."

"Oh…?"

-x-

"Optimus, no matter how hard I try to convince you I won't hurt you, you still jump and flinch when I raise my hand. Why?" the silver mech asked randomly, watching Optimus sitting on the floor, while he sat in his favorite chair.

"Hard-wired programming is tough to break." Optimus replied absently, shifting to a mildly more comfortable sitting position.

"Is that also why you refuse to call me 'Master'?" the Decepticon leader asked smugly.

"Perhaps."

"Say it." Megatron ordered.

"Say what, precisely? 'It'?"

"Don't act like a sparkling. It's just a word."

"It's a word that means something, and I disagree with how you think you fit the description." The ex-Autobot leader still had not looked at Megatron, and continued reading. (Not really, he was only pretending to read. He was bust trying to come up with retaliation in the way of words.)

"I'm a good Master! I feed you properly, I give you basic rights, you have a set of rules, and appropriate punishments for when you break them! How am I not a good master?"

"Well, for one, a master should be able to make his pet call him by a proper title."

"Like what?"

"You know exactly what."

"I've forgotten. Refresh my memory."

"You are terrible at this."

"At what?"

"Trying to trick someone into saying a certain thing."

"Oh, like you're much better!"

"I bet I can make you say bitch."

"What's a bitch?"

"Exactly."

Megatron growled in rage while Optimus laughed quietly. He stopped when his so-called master stood up suddenly. Optimus eye him warily.

"What do you know about being a master anyway? Have you ever been one?"

"Well, no-"

"Are you into that kind of interfacing, cause I'll tell you right now, I'm not."

"slag no!"

"then who are you to tell your master how he should be?"

Optimus was silent. He had no reply.

Megatron sat back in his chair.

"come here, pet." He ordered quietly. Optimus went to stand. "do not stand."

Optimus crawled, humiliated, even though he knew he should have disobeyed rather than take this. To his annoyance, disobeying only occurred to him as he reached the foot of Megatron's throne-like chair.

"address me."

"megatro-" smack. Optimus was startled. He actually hit him. He hadn't hit him since before the Decepticons won by storm.

"wrong. Try again."

"m-master…"

"ah, very good, pet."

-x-

"Huh. Later than I thought. You were seriously pretending that entire time?"

"yes."

"that was a great day, I remember."

"of course, you got me to say 'Master' for the first time."

"heh. Yeah, that was the highlight of the day."

Optimus just shook his head, and followed close at the heels of his Master, Lord Megatron.