#dualeader

Ambiently, from the corner of the cell, Leader-1's watchful eyes stared into Dualor's back, as if appointed by Megatron herself to be the warden of this cramped prison. There was a time when that was believable, but of course, not after the assassination attempt, and it would be a long road back to earning that trust if Leader wanted to try again. She clenched her teeth under the mask.

Dualor, claiming to be oh-so-smart, so fit to lead, so determined to defeat the Decepticons… Shouldn't she have foreseen that Leader-1 was one button press away from ridding the world of their biggest tyrant? Right now, with her back turned as if she didn't even perceive her as a threat, she was conspiring with her team on something again, and all Leader could think about was murder. Pull out a gun and shoot. Get revenge, even if it'll get her dismembered right after. No doubt the same thing Dualor wanted to do to her too. But of course, their chattering was over the private Destruction Team comm link frequencies, so she couldn't overhear to confirm her suspicions.

So absorbed in her thoughts, that she barely noticed being approached. The big hulk of black and yellow scrapmetal sat down next to her wordlessly, from which she recoiled.

"I gotta admit," Dualor broke the silence after a significant pause, "I have some respect for you, Leader-1."

"Why are you telling me this?" she snapped back. Respect? Respect!? Fattest lie ever said out loud.

"Don't interrupt," Dualor continued. Her voice was low, calm but threatening, always threatening. Or maybe it was her unrelenting look. "You nearly did my job for me there. But you're a coward, and a horrible tactician. To have Megatron wrapped around your finger like that, and to use it for a simple assassination plan? Never thought I'd say this, but you thought too small."

"You haven't been through what I've been through," Leader promptly ignored Dualor's threat, but her interjection was promptly ignored.

"I'm telling you this because it's the last chance I'll ever get to say it. If luck be on our side, we won't have to speak or see each other ever again, which I am achingly looking forward to."

What could she possibly mean by this? Could the idiot be hatching an escape plan? Because if so, why tell the one Mini-Con that she trusted the least? Leader tried to search for an answer in her optics, the visor reflection, but her head was not even facing her way. Not even the Destruction Team's way, the remaining two of them huddled over in a corner, clearly still silently discussing something between them based on the intense gesturing. Were they in on this?

Noticing Leader's stunned confusion, she elaborated: "I've disabled the powerlinx failsafes in me and my mates. If they want to use us as living weapons, then we'll be their live bombs. And they'll strap us on willingly, because if there is one thing you and me both know very well about Megatron, it's that she cannot resist the power. Clouds her judgement like a drug. As a bonus, they may even kill some Autobots for us in all of this."

"This is suicide."

"A murder-suicide."

"And your team agreed to this? You'll be killing them as well."

"It's a mission we all believe in. We're a team, after all. One of us goes down, we all go down - you cannot cope with a loss of a teammate. Not like you would know about it."

She probably thinks this hurts. It doesn't. She doesn't know how much Leader-1 has lost, how much torment she's gone through under Megatron's command. It's true that she's never been a part of a team, but it's an incredibly shallow and reductive assumption if she thinks she's never lost a bond, a friend, a village, a home, a future. She couldn't lose more if she tried.

Didn't want to lose more.

"Don't do it. It won't work, I'm telling you ahead of time. You'll kill yourself for nothing and the Decepticons will live on like nothing happened."

"That's odd, I thought you wanted us dead."

She gritted her teeth under the mask again, a bad habit. "I don't particularly care if you die or survive. I just needed you out of the picture at that moment, it was nothing personal. All I'm saying is that you're stupid if you think your plan will work."

"I'll choose for myself if I'll heed your warning or not." Which, based on the clenched fists and growing anger in her voice, translated to a total and final "no".

Before Leader-1 could stammer out more unconvincing arguments, she signalled the end of the conversation by returning to her teammates. Leader's optics followed her, as if trying to take in as much of the sight as they could before their inevitable parting. All she could theorize was that this was Dualor's way of getting a sort of closure, but on her end it only left more hanging questions and lingering feelings that she didn't want to deal with. Growing questions that tied themselves into a knot in her throat, hard to swallow words best left unsaid.

Words like "don't leave".

They didn't have much time together. Leader's words no longer held any influence over Megatron. There was nothing she could do.