Flames. Energon blasts. Screams. Battle cries.
A glaring black mask and two pained blue eyes.
The ground shook violently again and she screamed, her little fingers reaching up toward the two mechs above her. There was a moment of hesitation before they moved away.
Something long and strong suddenly struck the wall above her and then retreated. Metal chunks began to fall and her screams grew louder, more desperate.
"Livia?"
They were quickly muffled by the debris and her screams stopped. Now she focused on breathing, her lungs shaking with effort as the meavy objects above her threatened to crush her.
Everything was dark and stared at her coldly. She couldn't help but cry, her weak attempts at pushing away the metal were in vain.
"Livia!"
Livia suddenly jerked awake, sitting up and looking straight into two red eyes.
"You were making sounds in your recharge." Megatron stated.
She looked around, noticing that she was back in the room where she had originally awoken on the Nemesis.
"Orion left you here when he finished so that you could get more sleep." Megatron explained, almost as if he had read her mind.
"And why are you here?" She demanded.
Megatron blinked. "Well, this is my berthroom."
Oh.
He straightened. "You were making sounds in your sleep. Why?"
"Why not?" Livia retorted.
Megatron frowned. "Whether you like it or not, I do take an interest in your well-being. I am your father."
Father.
The title sounded... weird, but not wrong.
"I know what it is like to have nightmares. They constantly plague me as well and Orion had informed me before of your shifting and kicking during recharge." Megatron said.
Livia looked away. She didn't need to be having this conversation with Megatron of all people. Or with anyone in fact. She could handle herself.
She felt warmth and trust spread through her, but Livia glared and turned to Megatron.
"Stop doing that!"
He leaned back slightly. "Using our bond? It is natural."
"Well, it feels like you're manipulating me, so stop." She growled.
Megatron nodded. "I will stop... If tell me about your nightmare."
"No."
"Then no."
Livia glared at Megatron and he raised an eyebrow, looking back at her with a small smirk. Livia's glare deepened, but Megatron remained unaffected.
She looked away, but a trusting feeling invaded her and Livia snarled.
"I said stop!"
"Family bonds are natural." Megatron replied. "As are nightmares."
Livia felt all her frustration and hatred toward him well up and then she shoved it at him as roughly as possible. It affected him immediately and Megatron's fist slammed into the berth, surprising the scrap out of Livia.
"I am trying my best!" He growled. "Why won't you trust me!? I care about you, you're my daughter!"
"I don't want your care!" Livia yelled back. "I want to go home!"
"THIS IS YOUR HOME!" Megatron roared.
Livia stood up and angrily kicked his upper leg, letting out a scream of frustration. "I HATE YOU!"
Calm washed over Livia so suddenly, she fell back onto her butt with a small thump. Megatron looked down at her.
Livia looked away angrily.
There was a moment of silence.
"Do you promise?" She asked.
Livia couldn't see it, but Megatron grinned victoriously.
"I do."
Which was a lie. Megatron could do the exact same thing to her, but be more subtle. She'd never know the difference between her emotions and the ones he wanted her to have.
"I die." Livia stated quietly. "I'm trapped. Under metal. And I suffocate under the pressure. There's a man calling out to me."
Megatron's eyes softened.
Lifestar died from suffocation in a metal building. Well, all the buildings on Cybertron were metal but... He was there as well. Calling out Lifestar's name.
Livia remembered her death.
Megatron looked at her more closely as Livia pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her hands. She began to tremble.
"I couldn't breath. And it was dark. There were explosions and screams, but nobody could hear me. Someone was coming, but they were going to be too late." Livia whispered, her voice sounding broken. "And I died... I died."
Megatron didn't speak for a moment. Comforting people wasn't really his specialty.
He was better at killing them.
"Why would they kill me?" Livia whispered. "What did I do wrong?"
Megatron perked up at that.
"What?"
"The one with the black face and the other with eyes like mine." Livia responded quietly, looking off into space as if she could see them before her.
"They tried to kill you?"
"Tried?"
Megatron's spark clenched with anger. All this time he had thought it was a random explosion during the fight that had collapsed Olivebranch's room.
But someone had purposefully did this.
And at least one of them was an Autobot. Blue eyes.
Black face immediately reminded Megatron of Soundwave, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Soundwave was far too loyal. Besides, what would he have to gain from killing Megatron's daughter?
What would anyone have to gain?
He looked back at Livia and sent a more discreet feeling of comfort through their bond before he reached over and picked her up.
Livia's shaking ceased, but she did not stop staring off into space.
"Are you alright?" Megatron questioned.
"I don't know what's real and what's not anymore."
He breathed out slowly. "Trust me and I will show you the truth, little one."
"You're supposed to be evil." Livia whispered. "Why don't you just kill me?"
"Surely you do not want me to." Megatron stated.
She didn't respond.
"I am evil, by most standards." Megatron told her. "But I will protect what is mine. And you belong to me."
"I don't belong to anyone." Livia stated, the strength in her tone returning.
Megatron grinned. "That is what I want to hear from my offspring."
Livia looked over at him and glared. "Why are you doing this?"
"You are family." Megatron replied. "Haven't you ever yearned to be with family? To have people who will always take you in, no matter what you've done?"
Olivebranch was never family. Livia and Olivebranch could barely stand each other.
And with the Autobots? Livia felt like she didn't belong. Not with the humans, who had strange customs and foods. They were so emotional tied to their guardians that Livia would always be a third wheel.
Despite her initial dislike of the warlord, Megatron did make her feel welcome.
At home.
"Maybe." Livia answered quietly. "Maybe."
Megatron nodded, feeling smug. He always got what he wanted.
"I have work to attend to. Make yourself at home, Livia. I will return soon." Megatron told her before putting the girl down on his berth and leaving.
She looked after him and then collapsed onto the cold metal, her head in her hands as tears poured from her eyes.
"Slag." Livia whispered, punching the berth. "Why does it always have to be so complicated?"
She sat up and looked around, wiping her face.
This could be her home. Her safe haven.
But was it a lie? She didn't know. Livia almost didn't want to know the truth because the lies were so beautiful.
Why step out of the darkness when all the light does is burn your eyes?
Because the darkness was not where Livia belonged. It wasn't where anyone belonged. She didn't want to know the truth, but if the Autobots really weren't evil then Orion deserved to know.
Optimus deserved to know.
She walked to the edge and jumped down, grimacing at the hard smack of the floor against her ankles. When Livia reached the door, she realized that there was a problem.
She was far too tiny to open it.
Livia closed her eyes and searched inside herself, locating two heartbeats not in sync with her own. Orion and Megatron.
"Orion?" She prodded gently, hesitantly.
There was a moment of silence in which Livia facepalmed, feelings like an absolute fool.
"Yes, Livia?"
Livia grinned. Ahaha! Take that, suckas!
Then she cleared her throat. "Uh, could you come open this door for me? And maybe a few more?"
There was a moment before he responded again. "I have been confined to the research room, but I will attempt to talk my way out of it."
Livia nodded, even though she didn't really understand what he meant. Confined to the research room? Like... grounded?
Livia paced for a few minutes before the door opened. Her head snapped to it immediately, worried for a moment if it was Megatron. But thankfully, Orion walked through.
"Your blasters are equipped." Livia stated in surprise.
"Did you know I was armed?" Orion asked as he picked her up.
"Yes. You also have swords, but uh, why do you have them out?" She asked.
Orion frowned. "I continued to think about your suspicions, and after searching the database, I found that the reported cataclysmic events in which followed Unicron's awakening did not happen as long ago as Megatron led us to believe. To my chagrin, Megatron and Soundwave have been tracking and recording all of my research. I believe Megatron plans to use whatever he finds at those coordinates to hurt the Autobots, so I attempted to delete them. He threatened to offline me if I did not continue, but he was pulled away with news of a spacebridge opening."
Livia took a moment to let that information sink in.
She was right all along. Megatron really was deceiving them.
Orion looked at her sadly as hs continued to walk through the halls. "I am sorry."
Livia nodded. "You did nothing wrong."
He entered a room where a bunch of controls sat waiting.
"I believe it is time for us to learn the truth." Orion told her.