Okay, so the last time I updated I had two weeks left of school...well now I have none and I'm happily on my summer vacation. FINALLY. Now as for this chapter, it's broken a few "records" in my book that is. First, none of my stories have gone past twenty chapters, until now since this story is now twenty-one chapters long and will be longer. Second, this chapter is over 7000 words long, thereby making it the longest chapter I have ever written and stealing the title of the longest-chapter-ever away from chapter 10 of my story Her Passionate Road Home, that chapter being 6451 words. Yay for words, now this chapter contains the epitome of...ah I cannot say. Read on my fellow Fanfiction friends!

Chapter Twenty-One: A New Destiny

"What is your emergency?"

Megatron wasn't sure what to say, he knew he couldn't hang up but what happened when he didn't have anything to say? He needed the involvement of local law enforcement, but…oh, perhaps he should have thought this through rather than act on the spur of the moment.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

He sighed before saying into the receiver, "Yes."

"Is something wrong?"

"…I know where Mercy LeCroix is."

"…Could…could you repeat that sir?"

If Megatron could have rolled his optics he would have, "I know where Mercy LeCroix is."

"Where sir?"

"There are a few things I must make clear before I tell you where she is. First of all, she did not murder Brenna Meyers. Second, she has been kidnapped…and her kidnapper is the one who committed the murder."

"Do you have proof of this?"

"I have all the proof you could want."

"…Where is Mercy?"

"With Travis Chase," Megatron elucidated quite simply.

"Could I have your address please?"

"I live in the next house up from Mercy's."

"Alright, we'll send a unit there immediately. Thank you sir," and the person hung up.

Megatron stared at the phone for a couple seconds before putting the receiver back in its rightful place. He wasn't sure how long it would take for the police officers to arrive at the house, so he quickly assumed his human form. He thought for a second before glancing at a lock of his hair…purple just wouldn't do at the moment. Using the dark energy, he changed his hair color, making it so blonde it was almost white. He hated this human form, he felt vulnerable and weak…something he loathed being. He picked up the tape that contained the kidnapping and confession and looked at it, wishing it could provide any sort of clue as to where Travis Chase could have taken her.

The last thing the decepticon leader wanted was to walk in someplace and find Mercy harmed…or worse. Of course, if it came to be worse, he knew he'd be back in the void at any second. Megatron couldn't lose her now, not when he was so close to coming back to life, now that he was so close to having her. He set the video down and glanced out the window into a hybrid world of winter and spring. Everything was dead even though everything was coming to life…just like him. Megatron sighed, why did so many things connect to him? Mercy was only supposed to be his connection back into the living…nothing more, nothing less. Yet she was so much more.

A loud knock at the door startled Megatron from his thoughts. He figured it must have been the police and he went to the door and answered it, and sure enough an officer was standing there.

"Are you the one who telephoned just a few moments ago?"

"Yes."

"May I have your name please?"

"Slag…" Megatron thought and then said randomly, "Matt."

"Last name?"

"Curse humans and their thorn bush of names…" he realized something and had to fight back a smirk as he finally said, "Thorne."

"Is this your house Mr. Thorne?" questioned the officer.

"Yes."

"You said Mercy LeCroix was kidnapped from your home, were you home when this happened?"

"No, I got it on tape. I have surveillance cameras positioned throughout the home. I'll show you."

The officer nodded and Megatron led him into the security room where he played the tape promptly for the officer. The officer swallowed before saying, "That's certainly authentic...though, why was Mercy here? Were you hiding her?"

"She's been innocent all along; I've committed no crime in letting her come here."

"Hold on a minute," exclaimed the officer and he removed his two-way radio from his belt before speaking into it, "Rivera to dispatch, the man who called is not lying, Mercy LeCroix was definitely here…and there is extremely credible evidence that she did not commit the murder. I request back up and a full background check on this Travis Chase character, over."

"Received. Another unit is on its way, dispatch out."

The officer looked at Megatron, "Are you a close friend of Mercy's?"

"Very close," Megatron replied not liking all these questions.

"How long has she been here?"

"Just a couple days."

"Were you at all involved with the bombings at the prison Mercy was being held in while she was in Pennsylvania?"

Megatron decided to play dumb, "Bombings…what?"

"Er…never mind. Do you know who brought her back here to New York so quickly?"

"No, she just showed up on my doorstep."

"If charges are held against Mercy, do you realize you could face prison time for housing an escaped and alleged criminal?"

"She's not a criminal," Megatron answered, "Look, as much as I appreciate all the questions; I think Mercy's well-being is a lot more important."

"We'll do what we can when the back up unit arrives. Are you romantically involved with Mercy?"

"Do I have to answer that?"

The officer gave him a look, though Megatron knew when he conquered the universe that he would personally squish this officer. He finally sighed before replying, "No."

"I see."

Suddenly a siren blared once outside and the officer immediately turned his attention to the doorway of the security room. He made a motion for Megatron to follow him and reluctantly the decepticon leader followed the police officer over to the front door where the other officers from the back up unit were let in. There were seven officers now, all ready and eager to find out just what was going on. Officer Rivera explained what was going on to them as Megatron waited, patience growing thin. When the explanations were finally over, one of the new officers looked over to Megatron and asked, "Perhaps you should come down to the station for further questioning while we try to figure out where Travis has taken Mercy."

Megatron shook his head, "No, I'm not going anywhere until Mercy is found."

"Do you have any sort of idea where Travis could have taken her?" chimed in another officer.

The decepticon leader glanced over at him feeling like he was working with the world's biggest bunch of idiots, "Perhaps you could search his home, that seems like the most logical thing to do."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"I haven't the slightest idea."

"You said he was a student teacher in the high school?"

"Yes."

The officer who had asked that question proceeded to say, "They have papers on him, we'll check there for his address."

"Right, where is your phone located sir?"

"In the room right over there."

The officer nodded and proceeded to call over to the school since it wasn't that late and one of the secretaries or something was still bound to be there. Half a ring and then, "Pine Grove Central Academy, Lucy Donaldson speaking."

"Hello, this is Officer Lyndon of the New York State police department speaking. My fellow officers and I have every reason to believe that the recently appointed student teacher, Travis Chase, has committed a murder and kidnapping."

"Oh my gosh—

"His home address is required."

"I'll look up his file right away. Hold on a moment please."

The officer waited, twisting the phone cord around his index finger as he did so. Finally the secretary came back on the phone and said, "His home address is of a house in Florida, but I do have the address of his current residence here in New York."

"Give me that then please."

And she told him the address. The officer wrote it down as she dictated it to him, after he confirmed that he had the right address, he thanked her and then hung up the phone. While he had been on the phone, another officer called back to the station to confirm whether or not it was legal to break into Travis's home without a warrant. The station replied that it was just fine since he had kidnapped Mercy and their top priority was freeing her and bringing him…and possibly her, to justice.

One of the officer's turned to Megatron and said, "We're leaving, and we will take you down to the station for further questioning."

Megatron shook his head, "I'm going with you of course…but to Travis Chase's house."

The officer disagreed, "No, it's too dangerous for an average citizen."

Megatron glowered and hissed with utmost venom in his voice, "I'm going with you to his house."

Another of the officer's shrugged, "If he wants to die, let him."

Megatron proceeded to shoot him a nasty glare and the officer quickly added, "You can come with us, but just don't go inside until we know it's safe."

"Fair enough," Megatron finally agreed figuring he couldn't get anymore leeway from the officers.

With that settled they left the home and got in the police cars and headed towards Travis Chase's address. Since he was not allowed in the front seat, Megatron unwillingly sat in the back seat of Officer Rivera's car. He felt like the prisoner now…when he knew the only prisoner at the moment was Mercy.

Mercy was just starting to regain consciousness when suddenly the trunk popped open and she felt herself be lifted out of it. She was vaguely aware of what was going on and jumped when she heard the trunk slam shut. A man laughed and then he started walking. She could hear his footsteps as he scuffed his shoes against the ground and she felt as if she were bouncing from time to time. As she became more aware of what was going on, she remembered suddenly and harshly what was going on. She had been kidnapped…and right now Travis Chase was carrying her somewhere, she didn't know where because he still had her wrapped completely up in a blanket. Blindly she twisted herself, trying to get out of his grasp, but he held on to her tighter, and it felt like he was crushing her.

"I still have a gun," he warned suddenly.

Mercy immediately ceased her thrashing and fell limp in his arms. She listened as a door opened and he stepped forward and then the door creaked shut behind him. He set her down somewhere and then she heard him walk away. Slowly she uncovered herself from the blanket and saw that he had placed her on a couch. She sat their trembling, unsure of whether or not to make a break towards the door before Brenna's killer came back. Before she had the chance to make up her mind though, Travis came back, duct tape and rope in hand. Mercy felt her hopes sink.

Megatron was supposed to be coming. But how could he free her without showing who he really was? And above all things, just how was he supposed to find her? Mercy couldn't direct him to the house because she didn't even know where it was even though she was currently inside it. But what if he had been lying? What if he truly didn't care? What if he wasn't coming? It wasn't unlike him to lie to her. Just what reason did he have to come and rescue her anyway? She had caused him plenty of trouble and rescuing her would just be even more trouble for him. All he had to do was collect the last of the energy he needed to come back into the living…and Mercy knew it wasn't much. He had been around for so long now, she knew that it was any day now that he would be alive again and able to return to his home world and do as he please…without her. And she knew that day would kill her.

She heard Travis snap the rope threateningly and she cast her frightened gaze over to him. He smiled, "I hope you're into bondage."

Mercy closed her eyes thinking that this couldn't be true, that this should've been a really bad nightmare, but it wasn't. It was a living hell. She shook her head as a reply to Travis's statement. He frowned menacingly.

"Well you don't have a choice," he sneered as he sauntered over to her and tore her off of the couch and dragged her viciously into the bedroom.

Mercy felt tears well up in her eyes as he pinned her to the bed and mercilessly tied her arms to her torso so tightly that she couldn't move without it hurting. He used duct tape to tie her legs at her ankles and then proceeded to place a piece of tape over her mouth to keep her from shouting or speaking. Travis snickered as Mercy struggled beneath him.

"You are powerless Mercy, powerless…" he trailed off and then continued, "And you'll learn to like this."

Despite how much people had suspected her, Mercy knew she wasn't the psychopath; oh no she wasn't even close. This man, this monster was the psychopath. He killed without caring, he kidnapped without caring, and now he was going to sexually violate her without caring. He had ruined her life, she thought it had been Megatron, but no, Megatron hadn't killed her only friend, Megatron hadn't kidnapped her, and he certainly hadn't committed any unfair or abusive sexual acts against her.

He leaned closer to her, and he briefly turned to show that he still had the gun on his belt. Mercy shifted, pressing herself down into the bed. Travis noticed and growled before slapping her harshly across the face where he had hit her with the gun. Tears escaped Mercy's eyes. She wasn't sure now if they were tears of pain, tears of fear, or tears of utmost and bitter hate.

And he noticed something.

"You're not scared…" he seemed almost disappointed, as if he had been feeding off her fear, "Well, we can't have that." And he removed his gun from his belt and held the barrel right against her temple before saying with a hint of entertainment in his cynical voice, "I have a feeling that if I shot you it wouldn't kill you…heck I have a feeling you're not even human."

He traced a finger up her leg, "I'm going to get under your skin Mercy. I want to know what you are."

She shifted uncomfortably and felt fear slice completely through her as Travis traced a finger on the fly of her pants. Her eyes went wide and she tried to role over, but Travis held her where she was.

"Enough of this," he finally said after returning the gun to his belt. He leaned forward and roughly kissed Mercy's neck, nipping her metallic flesh with his sharp teeth. Mercy felt tears stream down her cheeks as she felt his rough and cold hands slide down her front and under her shirt.

There was a loud and demanding knock at the front door.

Travis snapped his attention towards the door and decided to ignore it. There were three more knocks until a loud and commanding voice demanded from the other side of the door, "This is the police, open up the door immediately!"

"F—k," Travis exclaimed and got up from the bed. He suddenly got and idea and dragged Mercy out to the couch and proceeded to answer the front door while saying, "Oh thank God you came, this little abomination broke into my house and I just managed to restrain her—

"Save it, we already know you kidnapped her," interrupted one of the officers while he looked over at Mercy. He then turned to Travis and narrowed his eyes, "You are under arrest."

Travis backed up, "Under arrest? What proof do you have against me? I didn't do anything—

"We've got you kidnapping Mercy on tape, as well as your confession to murdering Brenna Meyers."

Travis was stunned, "What?! Where did you get a tape?"

"You have the right to be silent Mr. Chase," said the officer as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs, "Anything you say can and will be—

"F—k it!" Travis shouted as he backed up against the couch. Thinking quickly, he yanked Mercy to her feet and held her in a headlock, gun removed from his belt and aimed at Mercy's injured temple.

Megatron sighed completely frustrated. He was stuck in the back of a police car while the rest of the officers went off to rescue Mercy…no they weren't in the house to rescue her, they were in there to earn themselves a title…they were just living for the thrill of the moment, to build their reputations. Megatron wouldn't have it. The last thing he wanted was the title of hero; all he wanted to do was rescue his Mercy. But he had to get out of the cop car first…he smiled evilly as he opened a dimension gate and slipped through it, ending up outside of the car. He glanced at the front door where the officers were gathered and he knew that something was going extremely wrong. Megatron walked quietly up to the group of officers, though he couldn't see what was going on. He quickly glanced at the officers belts and noticed that they all had their guns out. Disgusted, Megatron walked away from them and headed around to the back of the house. He knew humans liked to have things called "back doors" in their homes…there was no reason for Travis to be an exception to this.

Travis threatened to shoot Mercy if the police didn't leave his house immediately. Deciding not to fool around, the police officers left the home and regrouped to their cars, only to discover that "Matt" wasn't there. Unsure of how he got out of the car, the police knew they had to make finding him one of their priorities as they called for more back up and a SWAT team. This was a hostage situation, and considering that Travis had killed before…they couldn't risk him killing again.

One of the officers immediately took charge; he ordered two of them to search the property for any sign of Matt. The rest were to keep an eye on the house and weapons ready at all times while they tried to develop a plan of attack. They weren't used to this kind of situation; in fact none of the officers had ever been through a situation like this. It was all new to them even though they had been trained for events such as this, yet there was nothing like the real thing.

Travis dragged Mercy into what looked like an office. The room lacked windows and Mercy saw why he chose this room. The room was located somewhere within the house where the light of day could not be found. He left the door to the room open though, obviously feeling invincible because a single handgun let him control the New York State police department. He smirked as he thought that, and proceeded to shove Mercy onto the desk in the room. She sat there, staring scared and blankly back at him.

"We've got time Mercy," he breathed as he locked a hand on her cheek.

She muffled the word no and tried to move away from him, but he held her where she was. Without warning he ripped the duct tape off her mouth causing tears to travel to her eyes. He laughed watching her blink her tears away before saying, "You coward, just let them flow."

She didn't say anything; she just looked away from him, too terrified to look at him. He noticed, "Look at me Mercy."

Mercy kept her gaze to the floor.

"You remember what happened to Brenna don't you?"

"I'd rather be dead than with you!" she exclaimed looking up at him finally.

He growled, "Is that so?"

She quickly looked away from him, tears once again in her eyes. Where was Megatron now when she needed him the most? She was probably going to die now because of the stupid thing that she just said, Travis wouldn't hesitate to kill her, he didn't hesitate to kill Brenna when she refused him. It wasn't stupid though, it was true, as true as could be. Mercy just didn't want to die. Sure she despised her life but that didn't mean she didn't want to try and turn it around. Things could be different for her now; she realized who she really was from the time she spent with Megatron. She found her herself…and to have her life ripped away from her now just wasn't fair. Megatron had promised her that he would rescue her…but he wasn't there…and Mercy knew that she was on her own, despite how much her heart hurt from knowing that Megatron didn't care about her enough to rescue her a final time.

"Do you want me to kill you Mercy?"

She whimpered, "No."

"I won't kill you then…I won't unless you give me one thing."

"W-What?" she asked softly.

"You're heart."

"I…I can't."

He growled, "Why not?"

"I don't have a heart to give."

Travis looked at her like she was insane. "What kind of person are you?" he finally asked, "You'll give your heart to me even if I have to carve it out of your chest myself!"

Mercy began to cry again, "Why do you want me so bad? Why can't you torture someone else?"

"Because," he said gently, all signs of anger etched away, "I know there's something different about you, that you're hiding something. I want to know what you are…and you're just so irresistible."

He leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss but Mercy leaned away, angering Travis once again. Frustrated he balled his fist and slapped it across her face, Mercy let a small whimper escape her throat, but she didn't look back at him as she cried, hanging her head. One of these times her luck was going to run out.

And Travis was going to get his way.

Megatron found the back door, grateful to have found it knowing it was his passageway to Mercy. He didn't want to open a dimension gate into the home for the fear of being seen, instead he tried the door only to discover that is was…unlocked. Soundlessly, Megatron entered the home. He knew he had to find Mercy fast because he was unsure of how much harm Travis could inflict upon her. The last thing he wanted was Mercy beaten out of commission. She didn't deserve such a punishment…she only deserved to be left alone, to be left at peace for once, though every time she sought serenity, the world always managed to find a way to deny her.

Slipping through a room, Megatron headed down a hallway hoping that he was heading in Mercy's direction. As he passed by rooms he glanced in to see if the courageous lavender-headed girl he had come to know was inside…but she never was. Reaching the end of the hallway, Megatron turned to head back down it to search the rest of the premises when a noise emitted from the room he had just passed by caught his attention. Curious, the decepticon leader entered the room only to find a door that was slightly ajar located on the far-side of the room. Thinking it was a closet of some sort and that Travis may have shoved Mercy in there, Megatron went over to the door and opened it, only to find a staircase. Cautiously, Megatron began to climb the staircase as silently as he could, listening for any possible noises from either Mercy or Travis. When he got to the top of the stairs, he glanced around and saw that there were a few rooms. There was one room in particular though that caught Megatron's attention only because this room had its door open, and the shadows of two figures were visible against the floor. Megatron charged over to the room and stopped just outside the doorway to listen in on any possible conversation between Travis and Mercy and to hear his cue on when to make his entrance.

Mercy's keen ears picked up the sound of footsteps first. When Travis saw her looking out the door and concentrating whole-heartedly on something, he too listened only to hear the same footsteps that Mercy did. Instinctively he grabbed his gun and whispered harshly, "Somebody found us."

The girl didn't say anything and watched as Travis tore the sleeve to his shirt off and used it to gag her and prevent her from talking. The man then pulled her up from the desk that she was seated on and forced her into a small closest in the back of the room, locking her in there. Travis then waited for the person to make an appearance, and he didn't have to wait long.

Megatron showed himself, he stood right in the doorway as Travis aimed his gun at him and exclaimed, "You aren't any cop."

Megatron crossed his arms, "Congratulations on noticing, now hand over Mercy."

"Why don't I just shoot you instead?"

"Shoot me all you want," Megatron taunted, "I'll kill you."

"You can't kill me if you're dead."

"You can't kill me."

Laughing, Travis shot the gun and watched horrified as the bullet pinged off Megatron's flesh. The decepticon leader was laughing now, "You're better off just handing Mercy over to me before this gets ugly."

"W-Who are you?"

Megatron smiled evilly as he sauntered over to Travis and grabbed him by the throat. Thrusting him into a wall he snarled, "You're worst nightmare…now let Mercy go."

"No," hissed Travis, "She's mine."

Megatron tightened his grip on Travis's throat, causing him to gag, "I beg to differ. Look, you don't know who I really am, and trust me, you don't want to know."

"You're just the scum of the earth, now let me go."

"Scum of the earth…I'm not even from earth."

Travis narrowed his eyes, his face drained of any amusement whatsoever, "Oh yeah, and I'm from Mars."

Megatron allowed his human form to fall away and smirked at Travis's shocked, confused, and terrified look. He said bitterly, "You see, Travis, I am a lot more than meets the eye. Now, if you don't hand over Mercy to me…I will not hesitate to rip you from limb to limb."

The man's eyes widened and he stuttered, "She's in th-there, j-just let me g-go I swear I'll t-turn myself in."

"You better," Megatron stated in a threatening voice, "Or I'll come looking for you." And he let Travis go, watching with an amused and satisfied look on his face as Travis tore down the stairs of his home. The decepticon leader then turned to the closet where Mercy was being kept and went over to it, opening the door. Since she could not stand from the duct tape that bound her ankles, she sat on the floor, looking up at Megatron completely surprised to see him.

Without saying a word, Megatron lifted her up out of the closet and sat her on the desk where he promptly unbound her ankles and arms. As he removed the gag from her mouth, he couldn't help but to stare at her lips. He felt a gear inside him whir as he thought a small taste wouldn't hurt…he had almost kissed her the other morning. He shook his head mentally and tossed the gag aside.

"Are you alright?" he finally asked, optics roaming over her to check for any injuries.

"I'm a little banged up," she answered softly and hesitated before she threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around him and sobbing into his chest, "I didn't think you were going to come…I thought for sure he would kill me…I—

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he could. "I owe my life to you Mercy, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be getting a second chance at life. Saving yours is the least I can do."

She hugged him tighter, thrilled that he finally understood her, thrilled that he wasn't rejecting her, thrilled that he had saved her life…thrilled at everything he had done. Slowly she began to calm down and even more slowly the pain from her injuries began to subside. She was caught off guard when Megatron held her away from him a bit, cupping her face with his hand as he held her with his other arm. He gazed at her lips for another brief moment before whispering harshly, "I hate what you've done to me."

"I—

He pressed his lips to hers in a forceful and hungry kiss. Startled, Mercy gasped and snapped her head away, looking at Megatron with a face full of surprise. He chuckled briefly before he captured her lips again with his and this time Mercy didn't pull away. Blindly, Mercy slid a hand up Megatron's cockpit, causing him to growl as glimpses of ecstasy cascaded through him. Megatron pressed her against a wall, deepening the kiss, knowing that the police could wait for them.

It was so much more than lust, Megatron knew that now. And this kiss wasn't enough for him. He wanted more, he wanted no scraps of clothing in his way, he wanted to merge his spark with hers, he wanted her to be with him when he took command of the universe, and he wanted her…forever.

The kiss broke momentarily, there faces only a breath apart as Megatron whispered bitterly, "You found something in me that nobody has ever found before."

"Megatron, I—

He growled before seizing her lips again with his own, kissing her more passionately than he had the first time. Hands searched her body while hands roamed his. He pressed himself closer to her, feeling as if he wasn't close enough to her even though he couldn't get any closer. The decepticon leader pulled away briefly again to whisper, this time gently, "You found my spark."

Footsteps were heard on the stairs and both Megatron and Mercy looked to the doorway, upset that their moment had been ruined. Megatron quickly assumed his human form with blonde hair and pulled away from Mercy only to turn and see the embarrassed looks coming from the officers who had come up the stairs. Megatron smiled, not embarrassed to show off his pleasures. Mercy, on the other hand, stepped behind the decepticon leader the best that she could. Finally one of the officers cleared their throat and said, "Travis has been arrested, I'm not sure what you did to him Mr. Thorne, but you scared the sh—crap out of him, and your services are greatly appreciated, though we do not recommend you performing a stunt similar to this one again. As for you Miss Mercy, the judge has been notified and we are currently working to get all charges dropped against you. However, until the charges are dropped, that is if they are dropped, you have to come down to the station."

Mercy glanced at Megatron before asking the officer, "Can he come to?"

"I…suppose," the officer replied, "Now let's get going—

"If you don't mind me asking," Megatron suddenly piped up, "Just what are the chances of this judge dropping the charges against Mercy?"

The officer shrugged, "There's no way of telling. Now let's go."

Megatron and Mercy glanced at each other briefly before he placed a hand on the small of her back and gently nudged her forward. They let the police lead them out of the house where a crowd had gathered, including news reporters. The officers kept the crowd back, as well as the paparazzi, knowing that Mercy did not need to be bothered by them right now. Mercy and Megatron were allowed to get into the backseat of the same police car. On the way to the police station, the decepticon leader glanced over at Mercy and saw that she was nervously fiddling with her hands. He leaned over, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and placing a hand on her hands. He then gently whispered in her ear, "Everything is going to be just fine. They're going to let you go home."

She looked over to him briefly before leaning against him, holding onto his hand firmly with both of hers. He stroked her shoulder comfortingly. The officers in the front seat ignored them, feeling awkward and thus they tried to get to the station as fast as they possibly could. It wasn't long before they arrived there, and the officers escorted Megatron and Mercy inside. And to Mercy's astonishment, she wasn't taken behind bars; they let her remain in the lobby under the watchful gaze of a few security guards. There was a bench in the lobby, where Mercy took a seat and Megatron sat down next to her. Nobody was sure how long this would take; the judge had to decide, along with the jury, and other members of the court. The girl merely rested against the decepticon leader while he wrapped a comforting arm around her.

He murmured, "What about your injuries?"

"They're not that bad, they can wait," she replied quietly.

"Still, you need repairs."

"Not right now…"

"No, not now, but when you get home."

"If I make it home."

"You'll make it; they've got to realize that you've been through enough as it is already."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"When are you leaving?"

"When I'm alive again," he whispered, "Which is…at anytime now."

She looked up at him, "Take me with you…please. I don't…I don't want you to go."

He kissed her forehead, "I know, Mercy…I know."

And that was all he said. He wasn't going to promise her anything, he couldn't, because he knew he'd just end up breaking his promise in the end. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her behind, all by herself, like her parents had. All she ever cared about either was ripped violently away from her or just walked out of her life…he didn't want to follow that trend with her, but he had to. He had so many enemies on Cybertron…there were so many that could simply crush her because she was so small, so fragile. There was no way she could defend herself from a full-size transformer, yet she had defended herself from the leader of the decepticons, and she had completely changed him.

"Curse the human race," he thought, "Those over-emotional flesh bags."

Yet, the human race was a fascinating species, with their abilities to adapt and to learn, to speak, to feel. They were a weak species, but they had accomplished so much and had been around for so long. Their technology had evolved, their knowledge evolved, and they still continued to evolve to make their species better. They only lived a hundred years, but it probably wouldn't be much longer until they could live much longer than that, like a transformer. The humans were slowly becoming more and more robotic themselves, with their artificial hearts and robotic artificial limbs, artificial limbs that now sent pulses to the nerves and brain that allowed people to feel again with that missing limb. And they had only accomplished this in the last 100,000 years; imagine what another 100,000 years could bring.

And perhaps Megatron hadn't hated the human race like he thought he had all along, perhaps he had just been jealous of their over-emotional nature, their ability to feel a rainbow of emotions unlike him.

Maybe, just maybe, finding Mercy had been part of a new destiny, a new destiny to destroy his old fate of never being able to care, to love.

It was pitch black outside and a light snow was falling, Mercy had fallen asleep, tired from all the events that had transpired that day. Megatron was awake though, watching the snow falling since he really couldn't do much else. They had been there for a few hours now, waiting for the court to come back with the decision on whether or not Mercy could go free. And finally, an officer came out from the court room and asked if Mercy would come with him.

Megatron woke Mercy up, telling her that the officer requested that she went with him. Mercy thought for sure he was going to arrest her, but he kept the handcuffs at his side as he led her behind a door and into the court room where the judge was waiting. The judge waited until the officer left the room before he spoke, "So you're Mercy."

"Yes your honor," she replied.

"Just whose idea was it to drop the charges against you? You understand that there are plenty of charges on you…running from law enforcement, escaping from prison, creating a false identity, theft, etc." he paused and watched as Mercy looked to the floor with the most downcast look he had ever seen, "Yet you did this all just to prove that we were wrong and that you were indeed innocent."

Mercy looked up surprised and the judge continued, "You were kidnapped and beaten, threatened, and almost killed by that sick man who is now behind bars, the truly guilty person. You are a courageous and strong individual Mercy LeCroix; you did what you had to, to protect yourself from a falsehood and terrible mistake on our part. If you ever find it in your heart to forgive us Mercy, for the trouble we have caused you, we would be eternally grateful. As part of our apology, we do drop all charges against you, and hope that you accept 75,000 dollars for all the trouble we have caused you, as well as for the trouble Travis has caused you."

Mercy was shocked, "Your honor, the charges being dropped was enough for me to forgive you. I don't need the money."

"We…know what your parents did to you. You need the money."

"If you insist your honor," Mercy replied knowing that she wouldn't be able to change the judge's mind.

He nodded, "All the best to you Mercy."

"Thank you."

He banged the mallet and Mercy was free to go, the officer came back in and escorted Mercy out. Megatron stood when she came back into the room and she ran into his arms while tears streamed down her face from happiness, happiness she hadn't felt since Megatron had kissed her, "I can go home."

Megatron smiled and wrapped his arms tightly around her, "In that case, let's go home."

The officer crossed his arms…his name tag reading "Rivera" and he said, "I thought you said you weren't romantically involved with her."

"Well, I wasn't when you asked me," Megatron replied, causing Officer Rivera to shake his head.

Megatron and Mercy then left the station, and when they were out of seeing range, Megatron opened a dimension gate and he and Mercy stepped through it, back into Mercy's real home, and she was so grateful to be home.

Turning back into his robot form, Megatron pulled Mercy into his arms saying, "Not bad for your second day back…you managed to find Brenna's killer a lot sooner than what we both expected."

Mercy nodded, "Thank God. I just hope he gets what he deserves."

"If he doesn't," Megatron said, "I'll make sure he will. Now it's getting late, and you have school tomorrow."

Mercy gave him a look and he simply smiled before saying, "Let's get to bed."

She nodded, tiredly, unable to put up much of a protest because she knew how tired she was. Reluctantly, she pulled out of Megatron's embrace and started towards her bedroom when Megatron grabbed her by the hand and caused her to stop. She looked back to him, and he approached her, lifting her in his arms he carried her into her room where he laid her on the bed and settled down beside her.

He pulled her into his arms and quietly kissed her lips before breathing, "Goodnight Mercy."

"Goodnight," she whispered, falling asleep not long afterwards.

Megatron stroked his fingers through her hair gently, planning on spending the entire night just gazing at her. He knew it would be sometime tomorrow that his energy would be completely replenished and that he would really be alive again. He was going to make his leave as quickly and hopefully as painlessly as possible…perhaps tomorrow morning before Mercy even woke up. It would be so much easier for her and for him only for one reason.

Neither of them would have to say goodbye.

There, this chapter was the epitome of romance...now I have to go to bed but I don't want to because somewhere in my room is a big black giant spider and I last saw it on my bed. (shivers) I hate spiders. So creepy and yucky. Anyway, thanks to all of you guys who have been reviewing, I'd greatly appreciate more reviews, especially for this chapter because it was soooooo long. I'm going to update my other stories now...because I've been updating this one so much. But yeah, it's eleven at night and I'm tired. Night people's, leave a review on your way out.