Like it says, I apologize . . . but also NAH. 

This was a plot bunny which took me hostage and wouldn't let me go until I typed it out - so, here ya go! I wish RID15 had gone this route, but oh well. I had to watch the first episode for this and I was a little apprehensive, but honestly it wasn't that bad; it was actually kinda funny. I know the series itself isn't what Prime used to be and it only gets worse from there, but the first episode cracked me up pretty good. Hope you guys like it, and enjoy!

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After joining the police force, Bumblebee had resigned himself to chasing around petty criminals - like Sideswipe - and essentially ensuring they kept the peace while Cybertron slowly recovered from the Great War. It would be a stimulating enough job, he supposed, with the occasional high-speed chase to get his engeron pumping.

He had not resigned himself to returning to Earth and getting pursued by an egotistical Chompazoid that had broken free from a max security prison ship.

The Autobot sprinted right behind Strongarm, a promising police protege he wished occasionally took no for an answer. She had clearly been under the tutelage of Ultra Magnus at some point, as he knew no other stickler for the rules - except, perhaps, for Prowl. And now, her stubbornness had earned her in just as compromising of a position as he - with Sideswipe to boot no less. He had hoped his return to Earth would not be nearly as eventful of this, though in his defense he could rarely recall a time when things didn't go to scrap on Earth. It was like Primus found it eternally funny to screw with his creations whilst they were away from home.

"Sir, what's the plan?!" Strongarm called behind her shoulder, seeing they were quickly approaching a dead end within the scrapyard.

"I-I don't know!" He shouted back in exasperation, barely able to hear the sound of a jet engine above their pede steps. When it neared, his energon stilled when he realized the whine was very specific in intonation. "That's a Cybertronian-"

Before he could finish the sentence the trio had stopped, turning their confused gazes towards the sky. Even the Chompazoid - Underbite - had stopped, not having heard such a noise from his homeworld in quite some time. Bumblebee immediately recognized the shape, Strongarm's question muffled in his audio receptors as terror flooded his systems.

With the grace of a panther the Cybertronian transformed, and with a savage yell they allowed gravity to seize them, fist coming down and slamming into Underbite's helm with an almighty clash. Bumblebee took several steps back as the final bits of the Cybertronian's armor settled into place whilst they rose to their full height, intimidating size still worthy of making even the bravest mechs leak a little transmission fluid.

"Well, well, well. It seems I've found a bee and a couple of bugs," Megatron sneered in mockery.

"Hey, that was my fight!"

The Dinobot from prior, the one who had clearly wanted to only fight Underbite, slammed into the Decepticon warlord from behind, sending both of their massive frames tumbling and the Autobots scattering.

"W-wait a second!" Sideswipe's jaw dropped. "Is that-?"

Megatron snarled, twisting and gripping the Dinobot, his muscle cables creaking as he used his immense strength to toss him across the scrapyard. The Dinobot howled as he crashed into a shelf of items, Megatron rising back to his pedes. His optics flickered back to Underbite, but he had effectively knocked the Chompazoid unconscious. Bumblebee and his unwitting compatriots had since recovered, Strongarm quick to draw her pistol whilst Sideswipe elected to hide behind both police enforcers.

Cerise optics settled on the gun, resulting in a grating laugh. "An amusing choice of weapon, little one. What do you think you are going to do with that?"

"Megatron, what are you doing on Earth?" Bumblebee demanded. "You're supposed to be in exile!"

"And you are supposed to be on Cybertron," the tyrant pointed out, snapping his attention back to the Dinobot as he regained his senses, charging at the group with a roar.

Out of nowhere a small creature burst from the rows of junk and slammed their fist into the Dinobot's helm, sending him reeling again. Bumblebee recognized the Apex Armor, and the crow of victory which came from within.

"Come on, King Con! Why do you get to have all the fun?"

"Miko?"

The armor turned, revealing the Japanese girl within. "Bumblebee?!"

"Wait," Sideswipe looked at her with a funny expression. "That's a human. What's it doing in that?"

Bumblebee was unsure which problem to address first. "Long story. How- wait, you two are working together?"

"Unfortunately," Megatron genuinely sounded annoyed.

"We're all working together," Miko supplied helpfully, putting her hands on her hips as she grinned. "The doc, Jack, Raf, Buckethead over here . . . we're a team!"

It took another full five seconds for Bumblebee to compute the words which were coming out of her mouth, realizing with a start what she meant. "Ratchet is back on Earth?"

"Yeah, he came back after the whole Unicron incident," Miko supplied helpfully, "and we've been working for this top-secret government branch ever since. And you won't believe the crazy story behind how Megs got involved-"

"Enough with the names," Megatron growled at her, a truly frightening sight, yet Miko did not even falter.

"But anyways, it seems we all got the signal from that ship, huh? Ratchet is freaking, because we're getting all sorts of Decepticon activity from this region!" The young woman looked at Bumblebee expectantly.

"Actually . . . coming here was an accident," the police officer, former scout confessed. "I found a Spacebridge in the Autobot Museum of History and got it going again. These two weren't supposed to follow," he gave Sideswipe and Strongarm a glare, "but . . . I kept getting these visions of Optimus. I think he wanted me to be here."

Megatron tilted his helm. "Fascinating. And here I thought I was the only one losing my helm."

Bumblebee's jaw dropped. "You're seeing Optimus too?!"

"Yes, and I thought it was some cruel punishment from the Allspark," the former tyrant gruffed. "Now I see it is some sort of destiny."

"Don't. Last time you went on about destiny you tried to take over two planets," Bumblebee crossed his arms, looking at the Chompazoid. "So, you're here because of these guys?"

"Yeah. Jack is investigating the crash site with Docbot right now," Miko supplied helpfully. Her eyes sparkled. "You want to get reacquainted?"

"Of course," Bumblebee felt excitement swell in his chest at the idea of reuniting with his friend - and Raf. He would get to see Raf again! "But first . . . what are we going to do about the Chomapzoid? And the Dinobot?"

"Allow me," Megatron strode forward, and with very little effort he hauled the former over one of his spiked shoulders, which Bumblebee realized had been whittled down. Indeed, he had had some cosmetic changes done, looking more like his former self than when Unicron had altered his appearance.

"Ugh . . ." the Dinobot groaned, Miko standing over him with a grin as he reverted back to his root mode. "Oh scrap," he bemoaned. "I don't have to go back to sleep, do I?"

"Protocol 13 Section 9 states prisoner's must be-"

Strongarm was interrupted by Miko. "Y'know, you remind me of my buddy Bulkhead! You wouldn't happen to know him, would ya?" She asked. "How much do you weigh? Are there any others like you that transform into dinosaurs? I bet you use a wrecking ball like a punching bag!"

Bumblebee could not help but smile. It appeared that little had changed when it came to Miko Nakadai.

"Uh . . ." the Dinobot just stared at her. "Name's Grimlock," was all he could manage, thoroughly confused by the slew of questions she had rapid-fired his way.

"Can we keep him?" Miko asked innocently.

"Well, he did help us subdue Underbite," Bumblebee mused, then corrected himself, "until Megatron finished the job, of course."

"Yeah, can I ask the question I think everybody should be asking?" Sideswipe demanded. "Why should we trust Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons? The one that started this entire war that destroyed our planet?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Sideswipe," Strongarm concurred.

Bumblebee hesitated, glancing from Miko to the warlord. "Miko has been with the Autobots for a long time," he said, watching her chest puff out in pride. "I trust her. And if she trusts Megatron . . . if Ratchet trusts Megatron-"

"A stretch," the warlord's intense stare did not waiver. "As I believe we are in mutual agreement; trust is not the word either of use would use."

"Regardless, he's not a threat. And if he's helping bag Decepticons, then I believe he's actually trying to reform," Bumblebee finished his explanation. "We don't have to trust him."

"Hey, um, not to intrude or anything," their attention was pulled towards two humans, Miko's eyes widening in surprise whilst Megatron looked like he wanted to shoot himself in the face. "But, uh, I don't think any of us have been acquainted."

"Denny," Bumblebee sighed, "Russel, it's . . . a really long story. And unfortunately, because we've revealed our existence to you, you have to be under our protection now."

"A problem we can address later," Megatron said dismissively, clearly in a hurry. "I do not want to risk Underbite waking up. Ratchet should have at least one of the stasis pods back to functioning levels."

"Right, right," the former scout sighed. "I guess we can all get reacquainted on our way to the ship . . . and get some more questions sorted out."

"Sweet!" Miko pumped her fist. "Let's get this band back together!"

>>><<<

"And here we have the ham- armband- command center!" Fixit twittered, wheeling his way to the bow of the ship, pressing a few buttons to boot up what remaining functions the ship had. Jack watched the glyphs flutter across the glitching screens, wishing he had been smart enough to avoid the Minicon when he had the chance. However, Ratchet had beaten him to the punch and asked the maintenance 'bot to give the human a tour of the ship, wanting nothing more than peace and quiet whilst he picked through the wreckage in search of a stasis pod he could actually work with.

The Alchemor had sent Hanger E's systems in a frenzy, Ratchet even more so when he realized what the ship was - a maximum security prison that was transporting some of the worst Cybertronian criminals . . . somewhere. And despite not liking the idea of exposing Megatron to some of his more fanatic followers, the medic had no choice - he was the only war build they had, and Ratchet could not reasonably expect himself to take on Decepticon prisoners.

Not to mention all communication to Cybertron had been cut off- he originally believed it was due to Earth's idiosyncratic technology, however after some tinkering he realized it was Cybertron's end which was dead. They were stranded on this planet, though unfortunately for Ratchet, Megatron could easily fly himself off and away with enough energon. Yet the former dictator remained, using the excuse that he had nowhere else to go - though Ratchet knew better.

The Deception would deny it until the day he offlined, but he had become lonely. And as much as Ratchet hated him for what he did, his medical protocols prevented him from turning down a mech in need. Their relationship had started out very rocky, and there were some points where he seriously considered kicking Megatron out or even killing him; yet something always stopped him. He supposed it was the voice of Optimus in his head, telling him that even Megatron had the ability to change.

That was another thing. Megatron only brought up Optimus once, and that was to say the long-deceased Prime had sent him this way. Ratchet dismissed it immediately, chalking it up to a symptom of space madness. And it must have been, because the topic had never been brought up since.

Heavy pede steps alerted him to Megatron's return, the unique clicks of the Apex Armor informing him Miko was also in tow. He paused in his welding, huffing.

"It's about ti-" he dropped the piece of equipment in his servo, his jaw dropping with it. "Bumblebee?!"

"Ratchet!" The former scout cried his name happily, racing forward to give him an embrace. "It's been far too long!"

The elder medic grunted, chuckling and lightly patting his back. "Thank the Allspark, it is good to see you! Were you sent here from Cybertron?"

His friend cringed. "Er, not exactly. We are here by complete accident," he then paused, jabbing a thumb behind him. "And seriously, Ratch? Megatron?"

"Megatron?!" Fixit squealed, suddenly wheeling behind Jack the moment he realized the tyrant was standing before them.

Red optics rolled. "I have retrieved the Chompazoid which was causing so many problems," he announced, dropping Underbite to the ground unceremoniously.

"We retrieved it," Miko said proudly, "and we found some new friends!"

Ratchet took inventory of the new Cybertronians, recognizing none of them, however he was pleased to see the Autobot emblems. One was clearly a police officer while the other . . . he suppressed a groan. They looked like a troublemaker. Then there was the large green 'bot, which he could only compare to Bulkhead.

Great. My tools are going to continue suffering abuse.

The medic did groan out loud, however, when he saw two tufts of brown hair walking out from behind the red Autobot.

"More humans?!"

"It was an accident, I swear," Bumblebee held his servos up. "And, actually, it was Sideswipe's fault first. We hadn't even been here an hour when-"

"Hey! Not like I know what they were," Sideswipe defended himself vehemently. "And I was busy trying to not get arrested."

"I see you continue to keep the best of company," Megatron snarked.

"Says the Decepticon warlord," Bumblebee quipped in return, crossing his arms.

"The stasis pod is ready," Ratchet sighed, realizing this was going to be a long day. "Megatron, if you would please."

Without protest the mech complied, picking up Underbite with little ceremony and placing him in the chamber, cryo-stasis taking over once the door was shut and Ratchet completed inputting the keycode.

"Fantastic, one of . . ." Jack looked at Fixit. "How many?"

"Couple hundred," the minicon squeaked.

"Just when we thought things were gonna get boring," Miko grinned, ever the optimist. "So, we gonna bring everybody back to base?"

"As much as I would love to, Miko, we can't displace Denny and Russel," Bumblebee gestured to the humans.

"And all of this equipment won't fit in the hanger, even if we cleared out some of the unused rooms," Ratchet frowned, looking amongst the wreckage of the Alchemor.

"You could use the scrapyard," Denny offered. "It has plenty of room, and . . . well, it is right next to the crash site. Even if these Decepticons make it pretty far, they're still in the vicinity. It'd make a perfect base of operations."

"I'm sorry, we can't ask that of you," Ratchet began.

"Nonsense! Besides, your base can't be that far, right? How did you make it here?" Denny asked.

"Groundbridge," Megatron supplied unhelpfully.

"Oh! I can build one of those here," Fixit was already on board. "That way we have multiple points of have- gravel- travel! Some of us can stay in the scrapyard and fix up the Alchemor while the others are at your base of operations!"

There was a moment of contemplation.

"I suppose that could work," Ratchet acquiesced.

"If that's the case, I want to be wherever he's not," Sideswipe jabbed a thumb at Megatron.

The former warlord flashed his sharp denta in a cruel grin. "The feeling is mutual."

Both of the younger Cybertronians flinched, yet the others appeared far from bothered. The Dinobot, Grimlock, slammed his fists together.

"Sounds like a great plan! I'm all on board!" He agreed.

"If that's the case . . ." Bumblebee smiled at his old friend shyly. "I'd like to go back to base, to see Raf."

"Of course. He will be more than thrilled to see you're back," Ratchet returned his smile, digit pressing against his helm. "Raf, if you could open a Groundbridge at these coordinates. We . . . have some things we need to sort out. And we have a surprise."

Bumblebee could not help the goofy grin on his face, his worries temporarily pushed aside as the Groundbridge opened and the memories of his days with the young human resurfaced.

An accident coming to Earth, perhaps, but it was far from a mistake.

Even if the company he kept was becoming increasingly questionable.

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Honestly the snarky humor in Prime is one of the best things about that show. Also, I like to think that the "better" Megatron gets the more sarcastic he becomes; because at this point he's old and totally done with everybody's scrap. If they weren't enemies I could 100% see him and Ratchet exchange banter back and forth endlessly (though I guess they are enemies and still do that LOL). I hope you guys liked it, and are tolerating quarantine as best as you can!