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Description
Title: Life Lessons
Pairing(s): Megatron/Shockwave
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: G1-series, mild violence, religious topics, slash
Notes: This takes place in NiGhT-sTaLkEr13's universe, post-war.

XXX

Ayreon didn't understand what was going on. His parents had taken him to the park to play, to socialize with other young sparklings. He enjoyed playing in the sandbox, making little clumps of sands into rows of five. It was like a little structured village of his and two other sparklings', who were just a bit older than him, decided to come play with him too.

But that was not the issue. The sparkling's attention had been pulled from the sand village he and the other sparklings had made, his focus going to his father, who had seemed to got into an argument with another mech, one that he did not recognize. But both his parents seemed to know who the mech was, being shorter than both his parents.

He had a bitter look on his face, glaring and sneering at Megatron, who looked absolutely livid. Shockwave had a hand on his arm, but he wasn't holding it. He simply laid his hand against the tense and stiff form while glaring back at the other mech.

Ayreon was curious. Megatron he had seen mad before, so that wasn't bothering him. His concern about what was going on was traced back to Shockwave. It was rare to see his mother look so vivid before though. Whatever the mech was saying, it was making the purple mech unhappy.

And he hated it when his mother was unhappy. He slowly got up from the sandbox and walked over to the scene, staying out of his parents' view so he could see and hear what was happening. He was a smart sparkling and knew his parents would stop whenever there were problems in front of him, even though Ayreon could tell they were unhappy.

"It's bots like you Cybertron doesn't need," the other growled. "Polluting society with your ways…"

Shockwave's antennae fell back in fury. He was so tempted to let go of his mate's arm and have him beat the hell out of the bigot in front of them. But Ayreon was just over in the sandbox and he refused to expose the sparkling to violence at such a young age.

They hadn't been doing anything. Shockwave and Megatron were just sitting on the bench, watching their son play completely carefree with other sparklings. All Megatron did was lean over and whisper something in his audio, his hand on his. But this mech had seen it and he did not like it. At all.

He said that they shouldn't expose sparkling to such devious behavior, to which both mechs were offended by. Of course, how Shockwave took something offensively was different than how Megatron took it.

The former tyrant had snapped back, saying the only thing "devious" he had done was think about punching the bigot in front of them hard in the jaw. Of course, that didn't settle well with the other mech and an argument became unavoidable.

Shockwave recognized this type of mech. His beliefs were all too similar to his father's. That homosexuality was wrong, that being gay was something to be ashamed of. Mechs were supposed to be with femmes and femmes were supposed to be with mechs. That was how Primus wanted it to be. It was a ridiculous belief, because Primus did not say it had to be a certain way with relationships and love. He never once said it, but people interpreted things the way they wanted to do, even if it was discriminatory and prejudice.

The mech before them had been telling him what they were was wrong. That their presence was going to influence others to think wrongly. That what he was saying was what Primus wanted. It was ludicrous, but no matter what Megatron growled and Shockwave informed him of, the mech wasn't going to change his stand point.

"The only thing Cybertron doesn't need is little shits like you running around," Megatron snarled, not caring that he was drawing attention toward himself. This mech was the type he absolutely despite – pathetic ignorant little shits like the mech standing before him. If Shockwave wasn't holding onto his arm and if he didn't care that his son was just over by the sandbox, he'd probably put the mech in his place.

But he knew very well he just couldn't beat him like that. There was law and order now. There were rules. And if those rules were broken, it could also break everything he had worked to achieve in terms of having a normal life with Shockwave.

The mech paled a bit at the deadly tone in the other's voice and swallowed, trying to brush off the deadly glare thrown in his direction. But he would not take back what he said. It was what he had been taught as a child and what he had come to believe fully. It was what he believed and knew was right.

"I am only saying what the truth is. Primus did not have it be mechs and femmes so those of the homosexual preference could spread. "

"What you are saying is nothing but pure belief," Shockwave interjected, stepping up beside his mate instead of simply being somewhat behind him. He kept his hand on the other's arm though. "You have no scientific fact or reason behind your argument nor do you have any evidence to support your claim. You base it on faith and faith alone, which is not enough to force your opinions down the throats of people who are just as ordinary as you are, except they happen to be homosexual. The only one in the wrong here is you, sir."

Shockwave was a logical mech. He needed facts, evidence – solid proof. People basing any claim or argument off of faith was not enough for him to take into serious consideration. And that was all this mech was truly basing his distaste for homosexuality off of – faith.

The other mech's cheek brightened in anger while Megatron just smirked at him, satisfied that Shockwave had stumped him for a moment there. Just as he opened his mouth to say something else that would hopefully put the fucker in his place for good, he heard a small, timid voice call out, "Mommy? Daddy?"

All three mechs looked down, optics widening to see the sparkling stand by a tree behind his parents. Shockwave and Megatron could only remain frozen. Primus, what had their son just heard? He may have only been equivalent to the age of a two and a half year old human, but he was a smart sparkling. He may have not have fully understood the context of why this fight was happening, but even he could figure out that this bigot was thinking that they were bad people because of who they loved.

Shockwave didn't want Ayreon to be exposed to this kind of prejudice. Not now, when he was still a young sparkling. He needed to take him away from this sort of scene. But he glanced at his mate, who seemed to know what he was thinking and nodded.

He stepped away from Megatron and over to his son, bending down beside him. "Come on Ayreon… We're going home."

"Mommy…?" Ayreon noted the strangled voice his mother carried. It wasn't anything like the gentle one he normally used around him. There was a hint of anger, of lack of self control. He didn't understand it and it worried him. "Mommy?"

The other mech's optics widened in horror. These two had reproduced? Were raising a child in that type of environment? They were trying to teach them what was wrong was right. He knew they were. Or worse – they were already indoctrinating him to even be the way they were.

"You even expose an innocent sparkling like that to such corruption," he muttered under his breath, shaking his helm. He dare not say it aloud. The purple mech was no longer holding back the silver one and he appeared to be a violent one. The last thing he needed was to have such a large mech beat him into a bloody pulp.

But he had been too loud and Megatron had heard him easily. His optics widened in fury. How dare this mech even think such a disgusting, bigoted thought, let alone say it. This mech had no idea what corruption really was. He only saw certain things that way in his own narrow scope of the world.

At the moment, he didn't care his son was right there. He grabbed the mech by the throat and yanked him forward, the other gagging at the tight grip. "Listen, you fucking insect," he snarled, the mech tensing in terror at the hard and murderous look in the vermillion optics. "You have no idea what corruption really is… And the only one corrupting my son is you. You can't make anyone be like us… But, unfortunately, you can make them be ignorant and full of shit like you."

Megatron wanted to punch him when he saw the other mech try to open his mouth, but he felt a hand on his shoulder, holding him back with a firm grip. He looked back and glared at Shockwave. He wanted to stop him?! After what this bastard said?!

It was like Shockwave knew what he was thinking. "We're going home," he said, his voice harsher than usual.

It made Ayreon even more nervous, burying his face into Shockwave's shoulder. What was going on? Why were his parents so angry? Was it because this smaller mech said that they were "wrong?" What were they wrong about? He was so confused and in a way, frightened.

Megatron seemed to notice his son's anxiety and huffed, shaking his helm bitterly. He looked back at the mech and shoved him down onto the floor like the vermin he was. Truthfully the only thing that was holding him back from beating the shit out this mech was his family, was Ayreon. He wasn't about to go to jail for something like this.

"Next time you see something you may not like," he snarled, "just walk the fuck away since you have no idea if you can even fight in a little battle you started."

Then he stormed off, Shockwave following as they left the scene and towards the car. He had wanted to smash the fucker's face so badly, but he just couldn't. At least not while Ayreon was watching. Had it just been Shockwave? Possibly – the idea had been tempting.

Shockwave put Ayreon into the car, strapping him into the seat. He closed the door gently, but turned around to give his mate a hard look. Megatron just glared back. "What?" he growled.

"What were you thinking?!" he hissed, pointing at him. "Ayreon was right there! Were you planning on killing him right in front of our son?!"

He rolled his optics. "I wasn't going to do it, even if he deserved it…"

"It doesn't matter if he deserved it! There is law and order now Megatron – had you have even hit him, he could have filed for physical assault! Is that what you want?!"

But despite his anger in his mate's actions, he understood where they came from. That mech had the gall to come up to them and tell them to basically not show affection to each other. Yes, he would have liked to have hit the mech for such ignorance, but he knew better. Also, disdain for homosexuality was something he had grown up with. In a way, he was used to scrutiny, even though it was undeserved.

Megatron tensed in fury. Was he fucking serious?! He knew Shockwave hated what the mech said almost as much as he did! Now he was fucking lecturing him?! This was ridiculous; the little bastard deserved it.

Ayreon watched from his car seat as his parents seemed to be arguing with each other, making him bite his bottom lip. Just what had that mech said to make his parents so upset? What exactly had he said? He didn't really understand. All he knew was that the mech said they were wrong… because they loved each other? He didn't get it and it was bothering him, especially since it was making Megatron and Shockwave mad.

The two mechs outside stopped glaring at each other and seemed to have relaxed. At least they had made up, or that was what Ayreon figured as Megatron stroked over Shockwave's cheek. When they entered the car, Ayreon called out, "Mommy?"

Shockwave looked over at his son, giving him a soft look as Megatron started the engine. "What is it Ayreon?"

The sparkling paused for a moment, trying to form the right words. He could speak, yes, but completely and clear sentences were always hard to form. "That mech… said you were wrong."

Shockwave and Megatron glanced at each other for a moment. Yep – Ayreon had heard everything and he seemed to understand the context. Megatron nodded to Shockwave, knowing he couldn't explain it without swearing or getting angry. Hell, he was still tense and the last thing he wanted was to swear at Ayreon. Shockwave would kill him if he did.

The purple mech let out a soft breath. "Yes… He did," he said gently. He figured he may as well explain it now since the topic was now out in the open. He couldn't hide it from the sparkling forever. Not that he wanted to, but he did wish he hadn't been exposed to the issue so earlier. Nothing he could do about it now though.

"Ayreon… There are people on Cybertron that also think the same way that mech you saw earlier does. They… They think that your father and I loving each other and being with other is wrong."

He titled his helm, confused. That didn't make sense. Why would people not like his parents being together? They were happy. They loved each other. Why was that wrong? He didn't understand.

"But… why?" he asked.

His mother gave a soft gentle noise. "Because they don't understand, Ayreon," he said. "They believe that only mechs and femmes should be together. That a femme loving a femme or a mech loving a mech is wrong. Therefore, they also think your father and I are wrong."

"But… But…"

Shockwave shook his helm, knowing that the sparkling couldn't truly wrap his mind around the idea. Things like unexplained hatred were simply too much for Ayreon to comprehend and he never expected him to. At least not now while he was still so young.

"Ayreon," Megatron said, though not taking his optics off the road in front of him. "Those people? They don't matter. They understand nothing… Do you think we're wrong? Bad people?"

Well, perhaps he had been back when he was younger, but that wasn't the issue. Hell, Ayreon would never even come to know about his problems (he would make sure of it). It was about how people viewed homosexuality and how they were ignorant to think that just because two mechs were together it meant they were wrong, corrupt.

Ayreon thought about it for a moment, biting his bottom lip as he went into deep thought. Well as deep as sparklings could think. He looked between both of his parents and let out a soft "Hmph…"

His parents were perfectly normally. And they were good people. He loved them and they loved him back. There was nothing "wrong" with them. Just because they were mechs? Well, that didn't make any sense. Those other people who said things like they were wrong and stuff were stupid.

"No," he finally murmured. "You guys are good… Those other people are being… stupid."

Megatron and Shockwave glanced at each other before each gave their own form of a laugh. Then Megatron turned his attention back to the road and nodded. One day, they would explain it better to the youngling, but right now, it was all right. Ayreon understood that the mech from earlier was being a little ignorant shit. And Ayreon knew that there was nothing wrong with loving a mech, just as Megatron loved Shockwave.

He gave another laugh and smirked, his hand tightening with pride on the steering wheel. "That's my boy."