Chapter Text
If you were to tell Megatron that in a couple of , he’d be walking the Earth as the race he swore to annihilate… He’d laugh at your face, then kill you.
Yet here he was.
He was defeated not too long ago by Optimus and his subordinates.
He expected to die, but instead, his old friend showed him mercy.
… He still didn’t understand why.
It took him another to finally have the amazing thought to try and understand the reason.
So far, he wasn’t convinced.
If anything, he hated the human race even more.
So filthy and incompetent, loud and obnoxious, judgemental and…
Or rather, someone.
A human, happily dancing to… Something.
Barely cleaning the patio of their establishment.
He stopped in his tracks, and observed them, having more fun than working.
It reminded him of the Golden Age of Cybertron – where workers had still some life in them, still had something to be happy about.
After the chaos and misery he provoked for … It was impressive to be able to be this…
Happy ?
Blissfully ignorant ?
He wasn’t sure what the human was, but still, he was taken aback – in a good way.
He didn’t know how long he was observing them for – taking a seat on a nearby bench to be more comfortable and less obvious – but suffice to say, the human was very engrossed in both activities.
Megatron found it amusing – how blissfully unaware this human was of his presence.
Despite his current form, his strength as a cybertronian remained untouched.
He could easily kill them, if he wanted to.
… Though, that would defeat the whole point of his excursion.
He wondered if they were only an employee, or something more, like a manager or even the owner of the establishment.
He realised they were working alone on a very busy – if he could trust the amount of customers they had.
Just as he was about to get up to get a closer look, he was reminded that…
He didn’t possess any human currency.
He , and stood up to go get some amount of money.
He didn’t know how, but maybe he could ord- … Ask Soundwave to get him something.
He wasn’t the leader of the Decepticons anymore.
One of the conditions for his liberty and Optimus' merciful gesture was to disband the faction, and let them live however they wanted – within legalities, of course.
Most of them decided to live their life as a human, but it took Megatron some time to finally do the same.
Despite being dispersed, he was aware of everyone's outs and abouts, much to his surprise.
They always asked for his approval for starting new jobs, getting a new place to live, and so on and so forth.
Not that they weren’t offered jobs by the human governments themselves – mostly within the military.
He was quick to argue that he wasn’t their leader anymore.
That there was no need for them to ask him for guidance.
It took everyone a while to get used to this new rhythm, and most still checked up on Megatron.
Out of self preservation, habit, or worry for their leader : he had no idea.
Of course, not everyone was happy with the new change, Autobots and Decepticons alike.
Some of his own changed to a life of crime, and when he was confronted about it…
Well, they weren’t his responsibility anymore, were they ?
Their reactions amused him, the way their would fall and they seemed so close to throw a punch or two at him – but they knew better.
Everyone did.
He got out of his when he bumped into someone.
Looking down, he looked at the small figure in front of him.
The human he was observing earlier.
He was towering over them, easily a and a half taller.
They met his , unwavering, fearless.
“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going – may I help you with something ?” They spoke, holding his gaze, a slight apologetic smile on their .
“I’d like to get seated,” He replied, staring into their .
They didn’t falter, nor did their smile.
“Follow me then,” was all they said, but as they walked in a direction, Megatron caught something in the corner of his .
Someone reached out to grab the of the human.
He caught the servo before it would touch them, squeezing the .
The human groaned in pain, which caught the attention of the others, including the one he was observing earlier.
Turning around, their slight smile fell at the scene, and they seemed to think for a moment, assessing the situation, their darting between him and the human he was holding.
It didn’t take them too long to figure out what happened, however.
Their expression turned angry.
“Get out of my establishment,” They barked the order, looking at the other human, their tone cold and oh so pissed. “I see you again, I’m calling the cops,” They continued, crossing their arms. They looked at him, softening slightly. “Let them go.”
Doing as told, he immediately scurried away, holding his .
“Thank you for stopping him,” They said, their expression still somewhat harsh. “He was on thin ice, not the first incident. I just thought he’d learn his lesson…” They mumbled the last part, but it was loud enough for Megatron to hear.
Or maybe his were much more sensible than humans’.
He got seated on the terrasse, and was served a menu by them.
“Let me know when you made your choice,” They politely said, before swiftly excusing themselves to attend to other customers.
Megatron didn’t order anything.
To the human’s credit, they didn’t seem bothered or even noticed that fact.
He was content to just watch them dutifully and cheerfully work, but now that he had a closer look…
His trained noticed their body language, how sometimes they would falter or slip up.
The sun went down.
Soon, they needed to close.
Discreetly excusing himself, he stayed near.
He was definitely curious about them.
He couldn’t pinpoint the reason why yet, though.
Once they went out of the building, he followed their steps.
He was wondering how long it’ll take them to notice him.
If they ever did.
The human turned around a corner suddenly, which made him raise an .
He stopped in his tracks, quietly walking up to the alleyway.
He barely had the occasion to peek in that he was slammed against a wall, and he grunted slightly.
Not because it hurt him, but because he was taken off guard.
Immediately switching to his combative program, he looked down, throwing a punch to his aggressor, effectively knocking them a few metres away.
He was about to continue the fight, when he locked with his assailant.
He stopped himself when he realised it was the human that he was following.
A knife – that Megatron assumed they were previously holding – now laying at his , and a shocked human a few steps away, he started to piece things together.
His first questions were… Was it out of self-preservation, or did they have more of a… Malicious intent ?
Either way, he was impressed.
Not everyone was capable of taking him off guard, much less had the ability of fooling him.
He remained quiet, observing the human on the floor slowly getting back up and switching to a fighting stance.
“Why are you following me ?” They barked, accusatory. “I’ve also noticed you observe me for hours, the fuck is wrong with you ?” They continued.
He didn’t know what to say at first.
Either the human had more awareness than he thought, or he was less discreet than he wanted to be.
“I’m just a curious… Individual,” He hoped that the hesitation wasn’t perceived by them.
At the quick quirk of their , he understood that it was.
They wisely chose to not comment on it, however.
“Uh-huh. Don’t you know that curiosity killed the cat ?” They questioned, furrowing their .
It took him a moment to realise that what the human said was an expression, and was not to be taken literally.
“Are you threatening me ?” He asked after another moment of silence.
They carefully considered their options, if he could trust the way their darted around.
“Not physically. I will call the cops on you if you continue, though,” They clarified, meeting his gaze.
He had a light scoff.
As if the police would be able to do anything.
He then remembered that he was on thin ice with the Autobots, and therefore multiple governmental bodies…
And that a lot of them would love to have any excuse to put him behind bars indefinitely.
He , realising that if he wanted to understand humanity, he needed to go at it another way.
Not uttering another word, he stepped away from the alley, turning his back and walking in a random direction.
He was going to have to think about this…