Author's Note: Look who updated sooner! Long chapter coming up and I hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers.

"Oh, don't slam the door!" Knock Out yelled as Keira got in his alt mode and sat in the passenger's seat.

She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but anyway, Knock Out that was amazing!"

"Hmph, of course it was. Did you expect any different?" He drove off and Keira strapped in. She was surprised at how lax he suddenly was with a human touching him. The door slamming was the first time he complained since they bridged to Earth's surface.

It did take a bit of convincing for Knock Out to let her ride in his alt mode but the medic finally decided that it'd be faster if she didn't walk all the way, and so he was willing to have an organic dirty up his interior for the time being.

Talking to a driver's seat with no driver felt weird, so Keira directed her attention to the dashboard. "You should've seen that Leon guy's face when he got out of his car. You literally beat him at the last second, I think you made him cry."

"Yep."

Keira paused then narrowed her eyes. "Wait, you purposefully beat him at the last second, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"I hate to add to your already incredibly huge ego, but that's even more awesome. It's-"

"Deliciously deceitful? I'm a Decepticon, it comes with the name." She could hear the grin in his voice.

Keira laughed. She had to admit, that was the most fun she had in a while, even counting the time before she was captured.

When they got to the street race, some people were surprised to see her come out of the fastest car in town, Vince most especially. The teenager grabbed her by the shoulders and demanded to know what she was doing with 'him'.

Keira calmly told him that 'Daran' was her boyfriend and was kind enough to drive her out to the race. Vince actually looked betrayed with the false information she fed him, but all Keira cared about was finding out whether or not someone noticed she had been missing for three days.

No one did. And that didn't bother her as much as it should've.

"We going anywhere specific?" she asked as they drove along the Nevada roads at night. Keira couldn't help but feel refreshed at seeing everything again after being holed up in a dreary warship.

Part of her even thought she'd never be able to see her hometown again.

"Hm? Oh, I like to drive around before heading back. Being cooped up in a ship all day makes someone like me extremely uneasy."

Keira smiled, she knew the feeling. "Then do you mind if we pass by somewhere first?"

There was a pause before he answered. "Fine, as long as I get to drive. Where to?"

"KO Burger. Good thing I kept my wallet when you kidnapped me."

"Didn't the Vehicons already get food for you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but I'm craving for a milkshake and some fries. I promise I won't spill any food on you."

He sighed dramatically. "Very well. I suppose a good boyfriend keeps his beloved well-fed, hm?"

Keira blushed. "You heard that?"

"I had to search your internet for the exact definition but may I say you have excellent taste in men."

"I'm not going to hear the end of this anytime soon, am I?"

The medic chuckled and she felt the whole car vibrate. "So, is this supposed to be our first date, then?"

Keira groaned as Knock Out's engine roared and he drove even faster. But, she had to smile as she thought that it was nice to finally have someone to talk to like this, to have a friend. Sure, she had her old classmates and old neighborhood playmates, but she never had someone who she was really close to.

She spent a lot of her time helping out her uncle fix old cars that she ended up loving it as well. Figured that a car would end up being her friend.

But she was ok with that.

After Keira finished eating her food, they stopped by her house to get clothes for her. She couldn't be wearing the same outfit for however much longer she'd be at the Nemesis.

The door was locked and she saw no sign of her uncle. Then again, he was always away for weeks at a time. She took the spare key from under one of the old floorboards to let herself in and set to packing whatever she thought she'd need.

It was times like these when she hated the fact that her uncle had his cellphone turned off on his business trips. When she was done packing, she left a note for him saying she'd be at a friend's for a while then locked the house up once more.

Knock Out was waiting for her outside in his robot form. She didn't think it was a problem, it was still dark out and the house was out of the way enough since her uncle hated big crowds and annoying neighbors.

"You get everything?" Knock Out asked when he noticed she had a bag in her hands.

"Yeah, even some hygiene supplies, you know, because humans need to bathe."

"Whatever, anyway, Screamer just comm'd requesting me to see to some 'emergency repairs.'" He air-quoted the last part. "Best not to keep him waiting."

The medic asked for a Groundbridge and just like that, they were back on the Nemesis' bridge, with Soundwave being the only other occupant.

"Soundwave, would you have any idea what our brilliant Commander needs help with this time?" Knock Out asked, crossing his arms.

The quiet Decepticon simply pointed to Keira, who was by Knock out's pedes. The medic glanced from her to Soundwave.

"I went out for a drive and took her with me. She does technically report to me."

Soundwave dropped his arm but continued to stare. After a few rather awkward seconds, Knock Out waved him off. "As stimulating as this conversation is, I'd rather deal with Starscream sooner rather than later when he'll be more insufferable."

"What about me?" Keira asked.

The red speedster shook his head. "If Starscream sees you, he'll kill you. Stay here on the bridge with Soundwave and wait for Breakdown or I to come get you."

Seeing no point in arguing with him, Keira agreed. "Ok, I'll see you in a bit then."

Knock Out smirked. "Don't miss me too much. Next date's on me."

She blushed. "Knock Out!"

His laughter as he left was his only response.

With him out of the way, Keira turned to the other Decepticon. She swore that Soundwave hadn't moved at all since she last saw him. To her, the quiet mech seemed to be the most 'robotic' out of all them what with the way he stood there all day so stiffly, and yet seemed to tirelessly continue to work.

The swoosh of the door and the sound of heavy footsteps caught her attention. She felt a familiar warmth fill her body.

Megatron entered the room.

The tyrant immediately honed in on Keira. She gulped.

"Human, what are you doing here?" Oddly, his voice wasn't as menacing as it was the last time they spoke to one another.

"Knock Out doesn't want me near the medbay as long as Starscream is in there. He might shoot me on the spot if he saw me."

"I see."

Megatron walked over to the center of the room, passing by Keira on his way, and stood in front of another terminal. She swore that the room shook with every step he took, like his presence alone was enough to evoke fear.

The Decepticon leader turned around just enough to look at her. "You look tired, fleshling. By Earth's clock, it is the night cycle. Shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

She didn't realize how tired she actually was until he told her that. The adrenaline from the race must've faded. "Yes, Me- Lord Megatron. But Knock Out told me to wait for him or Breakdown in case-"

"If Starscream tries anything, he'll have me to answer to. Come along then, human. I shall escort you to your quarters."

Keira froze and stopped her mouth from dropping.

Did the great and powerful Decepticon leader just offer to safely bring her to her room? She almost wanted to ask him why, but better to accept his offer than suffer the consequences if she didn't comply immediately.

Besides, if there was anyone who could protect her against Starscream, it was Megatron.

She heard the tyrant speak as he passed her again. "Are you coming or not, human?"

Keira jogged to keep up with his long strides.

This was even more nerve-wracking than the first time she went on her first date with her ex-boyfriend in high school.

She didn't want to question why that was the first thing that she compared this situation to.

Once she was safely inside, she fully expected Megatron to turn around and leave without saying anything more. They didn't talk on the way over and she didn't expect that to change. Even when the Vehicons on the way saluted and greeted him with a "Lord Megatron", he barely acknowledged them.

But when she saw him still standing by her doorway, she chanced a smile at him. "Thank you, Lord Megatron. I'll just have to tell Knock Out about this tomorrow."

"No need, Soundwave will take care of it."

She nodded, not exactly sure what to say to him next. It wasn't as if she didn't want him to leave yet, it was just that-

Why hasn't he left ye?

"I see you've already been provided with… suitable provisions." Megatron said, indicating her bed.

"Yeah, but I barely got to use it with everything that's happened." She paused then quickly added, "Not that I'm complaining!"

If he was offended, he didn't show it. "Good, because you'll be spending quite a lot of time on this ship now, human. Has anyone informed you about this war, exactly?"

Keira shrugged. "I only know from what Knock Out's told me, which isn't a lot. I just know that it's you Decepticons against the Autobots fighting to reclaim your homeworld."

"And about me and Optimus Prime?"

She furrowed her brows in confusion. She didn't recognize the name, and Knock Out didn't really tell her anything about Megatron aside from the fact that he was their leader, and-

Gladiator

Keira froze and looked up at Megatron. "…You used to be a gladiator. In-

Kaon

"-Kaon." she finished.

Megatron's expression was neutral as he finally stepped away from the door to move closer to her. "Did my medic tell you that?"

Keira shook her head slowly. "No, he didn't."

That was Megatron's voice that she heard in her mind again and she couldn't help but start to panic. Keira remembered that Knock Out would tell her what he knew, but he still hadn't, and with Megatron now in front of her, with her, alone.

She knew she should be scared. This was Megatron.

Instead, she was excited. Her heart was beating faster and she felt a shiver down her spine when he spoke again.

Because damn his voice was really attractive.

"You've been hearing my voice inside your head, haven't you?" he asked, huskily.

She could only nod in response.

"And I've been hearing yours in mine." he added.

Megatron continued before she could respond, "That's how you knew how to bring me back, not because you recalled some medical examples of your kind, but because I was the one who told you. You were asking me… questions, while I was incapacitated."

She blushed as she remembered her one-sided conversations with him, which apparently weren't so one-sided after all. "I might've spoken to you, yes."

"And I responded, even telling you about my gladiator days. So now, here we are."

"…And you know why this is happening to us?"

Megatron smirked. "I had Soundwave check to be sure. It would seem, my dear, that you and I are-"

"Ack! Watch it!"

"Don't be such a sparkling, Commander. What happened to your arm anyway?" Knock Out asked as he went back to reattaching a new one, or at least trying to, with all of Starscream's whining.

"Imagine my horror, there I was, minding my own business when my arm just falls off! Clearly Megatron must've done more damage than you thought, doctor."

"This would've been much easier if I just had to reattach your old one. And you didn't keep it because…?"

Starscream let out a big sigh. "It was… beyond recovering."

Knock Out rolled his optics. Everything had to be dramatic where the seeker was concerned. Honestly, more than half of the time Starscream came into the medbay was because Megatron had done this or that to him, and the second-in-command always had to make such a fuss about it.

He wouldn't need to if he just fragging did what Megatron told him to do.

"Mm-hm. In any case, it's done and you can stop your crying. The nullray offer is still on the table if you want it."

Starscream got off the examination table and examined his new arm. "Why upgrade upon perfection, dear doctor? By the way, where is that human of yours? I've yet to thank her for bringing our master back."

Knock Out's expression was cautiously neutral as he shrugged. "Soundwave said she's in her quarters."

"Then I should pay her a visit." Starscream walked towards the door.

"Megatron's with her."

The seeker stopped. "…I see."

Knock Out sighed. "Look, forget about killing her, Starscream. We're not to harm the human anyway as per Lord Megatron's orders."

Starscream growled. "And why is that? A life for a life? Megatron's way of repaying the fleshling? He should dump her back in that little dirt town of hers and be done with her."

"I don't question his orders, I just follow them. Something you should try doing some time, hm?" Knock Out said, teasing the seeker.

Starscream snarled before waving his hand. "I appreciate the concern and the new appendage, doctor. But if I wanted advice, I wouldn't go to you for it. Now, if you excuse me, duty calls. Life as second-in-command is rather busy, you see. Something you don't understand."

"Of course, Commander, always a pleasure to patch you up." If Starscream caught the sarcasm, he didn't show it as he left the medbay.

Knock Out sighed and put his medical tools away. Soundwave had contacted him earlier saying how Megatron went and escorted the human to her quarters, something that had surprised him.

But, after what the human told him about how she was hearing Megatron's voice in her head, it wasn't at all impossible.

Knock Out had a feeling as to what was going on, but he still wanted to make sure. No need to tell the human any more rather shocking news. Finding out about giant aliens fighting a war on Earth was a lot to take in already.

The medic wanted to tell Breakdown the latest events, but the big mech was still off gathering Energon and rumored relics. And this kind of news should be told in person, not on comms.

Knock Out was about to go and recharge after having such a long day when the medbay doors opened. When no one was directly in front of him, he looked down.

It was the human.

And she looked frantic.

"Bondmates!?" she yelled.

Oh.

One thing was for certain, Megatron certainly didn't waste any time.

Where was Breakdown when you needed him?

Keira could only stare up at the tyrant, waiting for an explanation. Hoping for an explanation.

"Sometimes a Cybertronian finds someone they have a… connection with. It's not uncommon for it to happen during their first meeting. But, it is rare that it should happen between different species." the tyrant said.

"But it's happened?"

Megatron nodded. "Soundwave has researched on some cases, yes."

Keira tilted her head. "So what does that mean for me-you-uhm, us?"

"Bondmates are more in-sync with each other, they can communicate telepathically. During the war back on Cybertron, they were always paired together, it made for better teams; raids and attacks were more coordinated. And as you can imagine, that made them priorities as targets."

"You still haven't answered my question."

Megatron smirked. "Indeed. You see, human, this means you're now an asset to me. And I'll take every asset I can if it will help me. Imagine what would've happened if Knock Out picked someone other than you. We probably wouldn't be having this discussion and Starscream would've run my army to the ground."

Keira crossed her arms. "Ok, but what exactly will I be doing? I can hear your voice in my head, I can hear yours in mine. I doubt you'd want me tagging along in your battles."

"For now you'll be helping out with our energon stores, working as Soundwave's spy. Lately he's been getting reports where we ration less than what we've initially found. I imagine Starscream's been hoarding for himself, especially during my absence."

"You want me to find out if he's really been stealing, and where he's hiding the energon."

Megatron nodded. "Starscream's already paranoid about Soundwave's abilities as the spy master and would look out for him or Laserbeak. But he'd never suspect an organic, especially one that can communicate with me directly."

Keira didn't think she had a choice in the matter. Besides, it wasn't as if she had anything better to do back at home. "Ok, I can do that."

Then she added, rather hesitantly, "So wait, as bondmates, we're what? Married?"

Megatron paused, and Keira suspected that he was checking for the definition on the internet, like she'd seen Knock Out do from time-to-time.

The tyrant laughed. Loudly.

She pretended that didn't hurt.

"You mean sparkmates? Hardly, my dear. You're an asset, and I wish to find out just how valuable you'll be. Now get some rest, you report to Soundwave tomorrow."

"Wait, how do we this communication thing then? You know, voluntarily."

"It's easier than you think."

Keira realized he had said that without moving his mouth and tried it out herself. She simply thought of him, which caused her face to heat up again.

"Oh, all right." she replied telepathically.

She smiled in her small victory and he grinned back at her before turning around and making his way out of her quarters.

"And," he spoke out loud as he was by the doorway. "I am flattered you admire my voice so much, it's been a while since I've gotten that kind of attention from a femme."

Keira didn't think the door could close any slower as she stared at it and his retreating figure.

This was going to take some getting used to.

First things first, she had to see a doctor.

"I say the big guy's explained it very well." Knock Out said, leaning on the wall as he listened to her story.

Keira chuckled nervously. "Yes, that was the best marriage proposal ever."

"Like he said, sparkmates aren't-"

"I know they're different, I was being sarcastic. But it's, I don't know, I'm sorry I'm just, I don't know." She said, massaging her forehead.

The medic sighed. "Look, bondmates are like partners, but not necessarily romantically involved. You can be sparkmates without being bondmates, and vice versa. Being sparkmates is closer to what your human marriage is."

Keira nodded slowly, trying to make sense of everything. "Ok, ok. So bondmates, are you and Breakdown like that?"

Knock Out actually frowned. "No but, I like to think that we are. We've been partners for almost as long as this war's been going on. And maybe-" Then he shook his head.

"That's a story for another time. Now, anymore questions troubling that little head of yours?"

She bit her lip before looking up at him again. "It's no secret that Megatron isn't exactly fond of humans, so why bother keeping me around? I mean, if he's just making me a little spy, I don't see how big of a use that is in this whole war."

Knock Out sighed. "Even Megatron holds some of Cybertron's traditions sacred, the connection between bondmates included. He knows how important it is and he'll warm up to you eventually, I mean, so far you've already saved his life. Plus, our energon is important. I'd rather not have Starscream hiding more for himself, so catch him for me, would you?"

Keira didn't know if it was because she was extremely tired or just extremely stupid when she went and hugged one of Knock Out's legs. The mech stopped and gaped at the human, but he didn't do anything to shake her off.

When she was done, she looked up at him. "Thank you, Knock Out."

For a lot of things.

He smiled down at her. "Let's go, human. We both need to recharge for tomorrow, I'll walk with you."

"One more thing" she added.

"Yes?"

She glanced at the floor, then back up at him. "I've been… well, I'm…"

"Spit it out."

"I've been feeling this… warmth whenever Megatron's with me. And yes I'm aware how lame that sounds. I don't know, I feel safe when he's there or my face heats up when he speaks to me-"

She stopped when the medic started laughing.

"Oh, my dear little human." Knock Out said once he'd calm down.

Keira was afraid to ask. "What?"

"It's ok to have a crush on him. I can see the appeal."

Keira's face heated up again and she coughed. "What?"

The medic only continued to grin. "You do, no sense in denying it. And since you're bondmates, the feelings have only intensified. It happens, human. Any feeling towards a bondmate gets stronger than usual, like how you felt even more determined to bring him back, and how happy you were when you did."

She gulped. "Do you think he knows?"

Knock Out shrugged. "He'll find out eventually if he hasn't already. But don't worry, your secret is safe with me… I can tell Breakdown though, right? This is just too juicy."

Keira rolled her eyes but couldn't stop herself from smiling. "All right, but only Breakdown."

Knock Out grinned mischievously as they walked out of the medbay. "You should be thankful to me for one other thing, you know."

"What's that?"

"I'm not the jealous type."

Keira could only laugh.

Author's Note: I know bondmates and sparkmates are supposed to basically be the same thing. But for the sake of this story, I'm changing it up. I got the idea from the MTMTE comics, actually: the concepts of amica endura and conjunx endura, for anyone who's curious.

Anyway, leave a review because they really do help keep me going :)