Title: Transformers III The Day That Never Comes

Genre: Action/Drama/Romance

Rating: T for mild language, some strong violence, some crude and sexual humor.

Summary: With a chaotic end approaching, choices must be made that may end one war and will start a new one. Problem is, how will Earth be able to accept their possible fate?

~Chapter Nineteen~

A Serious Discussion

No one knew what in the world they could say after this entire mess. Everyone was too stunned, too uneased and too furious to even speak as they felt like they were looking at the Mech of Death right in the face. Of course, the look on Starscream's face could have been easily mistaken as such a person. He looked like he was going to blow up at any moment. He looked furious about the entire situation. It made all of the Autobots and humans feel nervous as they stared at the furious Decepticon.

"WELL? IS SOMEONE GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO ME? OR ARE YOU ALL JUST GOING TO STARE AT ME LIKE FRAGGING IDIOTS! WHY THE FRAGGING NAME OF PRIMUS ARE WE WITH THE AUTOBOTS? AND WAS THAT….!" Starscream was bellowing.

"Oh, shut up, you over-grown tin can with wings!"

Several eyes blinked and many stiffened at the very sound of someone actually had the nerve to scream and swear at Starscream, who merely blinked out of his rage and looked down. He was not the only one to have done so and everyone couldn't help but stare at Cole Keller as she sat down right on the ground, rubbing her ankle with a grimace.

"OH! Miss Cole!" Ratchet suddenly blurted out before scurrying over towards her and Starscream, who jerked and gave him a dark look for it. "Are you quite alright?"

"NO! I'M NOT FUCKING ALL RIGHT!" Cole snarled, sending him an icy look. "I FUCKING TWISTED MY ANKLE ON THAT FUCKING LANDING, TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM THAT IDIOT WHEN HE WAS GOING CRAZY!" Her head jerked towards Starscream, who looked between extremely angry, bewildered and bemused.

Grimacing, Ratchet bent down to one knee and scanned Cole's leg. He got a dark look for it but he ignored it. He looked it over for a moment before he let out a sigh and shook his head. "You will be fine, Miss Cole. We can place an ice pack on your ankle and the swelling will go down." He told her calmly.

"No, shit." Cole growled before she tried climbing to her feet, only to wince. She snapped a look at Ratchet when he used his hand to help her stand up. She did not want his help, nor did she need his help. "Don't touch me! That had been your idea of me trying to help you fix that piece of crap metal thing." She jerked her head towards Starscream, who growled, no longer amused after the insult.

"What did you say?" The Decepticon Seeker growled angrily.

Cole gave him a very cold look as she wobbled a little on her sore ankle. "What the hell do you think I said, you crazy son of a…!" She was saying.

Starscream snarled and started forward but to his sudden surprise, Groundhog and Skywarp quickly moved over and caught him by his arms and held him back. All the while, Spitfire was quick to placing herself in between him and the outrageously bold human. "Star, stop it! She doesn't know about your temper! And it wouldn't be wise to harm her anyway!" She quickly said.

Blinking a little, Starscream just looked at her before his mood turned even sourer and he yanked his arms away from his two fellow Decepticons. He sent Cole a dark look, getting one in return before he glanced around at all of the Autobots. "What the fragging pits is going on here? Why are we here with the slagging Autobots?" He demanded.

Everyone sighed, shaking their heads. They knew this was going to be very difficult even explaining. But at least, even for just a moment, Starscream seemed to have forgotten about what happened with Dawn. And hopefully, he wouldn't remember to return to the thought.

"Well…" Skywarp began, wincing when Starscream's whipped around and glared at him. "It's kind of a long story, Starscream. You see…."

"Oh, for love of…! It was Barricade's idea to bring your fragging aft to the Autobots when you were practically falling apart after what happened with Galvatron!"

Heads whirled around and saw a very annoyed looking Nemesis Strika standing in the doorway with Elita One hanging back behind her. She did not look very happy at all to see that Starscream was up and going. She didn't care either way, but it still didn't matter too much to her. She just was in a bad mood to the fact that she had to have a slagging Autobot, more or less, Elita One tailing around after her. She hated that Autobot glitch but she didn't seem to have much of a choice at all. Soundwave had made it clear that if she tried anything while he was gone, when he returned, he would rip her apart, himself.

Even though she was a rank higher than him, Nemesis Strika still would not want to provoke Soundwave. She knew him very well to be a lot stronger than her. The only reason why she was a General in the Decepticon army had been because of Obsidian. She had not gained such a title on her own, which she hated the fact to.

Starscream growled at the sight of her; all knowing that his opinion on the Decepticon Femme wasn't exactly very high. But it was mostly the fact of what she had said to him. He looked around for a moment, noting what Decepticon was there before he sharply looked at Groundhog. "What the frag happened? Who is here and why are we here?" He demanded.

"I just said…..!" Nemesis Strika snapped.

"Shut up, Nemesis Strika! I do not want to hear it from you!" The Seeker Leader snarled.

Nemesis Strika glared at him but kept her mouth shut this time. Groundhog just sighed before he began to explain everything that had been told to the Autobots. He reminded Starscream about the confrontation with Galvatron and what had happened after he ended up in Stasis Lock. He explained of how they had escaped, thanks to Soundwave and had hidden in an old oil warehouse until Barricade and Groundhog had went searching for Optimus Prime and the Autobots for help. He explained that if they had not gone to the Autobots for help, it would have been more than likely that Starscream would have been completely deactivated. He explained that it had been Soundwave's decision to trust the Autobots into saving Starscream's life and the fact that they had a truce going on.

And that only explained of why or how they were with the Autobots.

Now for how Starscream was even still alive, even after his Spark chamber ruptured like it had, Groundhog had to wince and look to Ratchet and Optimus Prime for that answer.

"Um…..I don't think I can even explain what happened with the girl."

'Slag.' Many of the Autobots thought to their selves for the reminder of what just happened with Dawn. So much for Starscream just forgetting about it like they had hoped that he would.

Starscream turned a very sour look onto Optimus, not liking the fact that he had just been saved by the Autobots but still, he hadn't exactly interrupted during the explanation. "What happened with the human girl, Prime?" He growled. "Did I just pick up All Spark energy coming from her?"

Optimus sighed as he glanced at a rather fuming pair of Chevy twins as one was holding a sleeping Dawn in his hands, close to his chest. He knew very well that it would not be wise to allow Starscream to know about Dawn's new condition. But he wasn't even sure what he could possibly say to advert the entire thing.

"Y-yes…."

Everyone blinked in surprise as all eyes went straight to Dawn. She still looked asleep but it appeared that she wasn't. She sleepily opened her eyes and looked over at Starscream, who looked rather bewildered. "Ye-yes…..that was All Spark energy." She said wearily.

"Dawn!" Sideswipe yelped in alarm that she would even say anything.

Tiredly, Dawn looked up at him and shook her head as she did her best to sit up and pat his wrist. "It's no use hiding it. They saw what happened." She looked apologetically to Optimus before turning her eyes back to Starscream, who was frowning. "It was when I was poisoned by the Energon, remember? When I was kidnapped by you and the other Decepticons and hurt because of Sideways? Optimus Prime and the Autobots used the All Spark shard to help me. And some All Spark energy is still stuck inside of me." She blinked away some of the sleepiness she was feeling away but still stared right at Starscream. "We…we figured out that….if I was anywhere near any injured Cybertronians, the All Spark energy activates."

"The problem is, the first time it happened with Arcee, you were so weak! It could have killed you the second time, Dawn!" scolded Ratchet as he glared at her. "I told you that you were not allowed in my medbay when there's injured Cybertronians in here! What were you thinking? You could have been killed!"

Dawn winced as she dipped her head into her chin, looking guiltily. She knew that she was in a lot of trouble, judging by some of the looks she was getting from the Autobots. "I…..I'm sorry, Ratchet. But…..I just…..I just felt the pull again. The energy sensed Starscream's pain. It's not like I could help it. Besides," She looked abashedly at the Seeker, himself. "I thought…..I kind of thought I still owed him my life. He did save my life after all. Saving his…..I guess, I just thought it was the right thing to do. Even though he can be a jerk, I felt like I still owed him." She stated.

Everyone, including the Decepticons looked surprised. Starscream being the most surprised by what she had said.

"We didn't want to tell you, Starscream," Optimus spoke up rather seriously as he looked at him. "Because we are unsure of what you would do. Like it or not, Dawn did just repair you before you could rupture and explode, destroying this entire base and many lives. She was doing what she thought was right. Now I will have to ask you, now that you know her situation, are you going to try to harm her?"

Starscream gave him a rather unsettled look before he glanced back at Dawn, who was biting her lip nervously. He only tore his burning gaze away for a moment as Sideswipe began to growl, looking at him threateningly. He growled right back but not even a second later, he looked back at Optimus Prime. "Are we your prisoners?" He growled.

Again, everyone looked surprised but Optimus shook his head immediately. "No. You are not our prisoners, as I had already told Soundwave and the rest of the Decepticons that sided with you. Like it or not, Starscream, we have a common enemy. We have the same problem as you do and that is Galvatron. We took up the offer of saving your life because of what he had done to you was not right. Now," He dipped his head down a little. "It's your decision, due to the fact that the Decepticons with you have claimed you to be their new leader. Even Soundwave has. You can either allow us to grant you asylum among us or you can leave at any time you want. But you may be hunted down by the Minicons. You did stand against Galvatron and Unicron and for that, you know as well as I do, they will not allow you to remain living and be against them." He warned him.

There was a long moments of silence as Starscream stared very hard at him before he looked over at Groundhog. "Where is Soundwave? And the others?" He growled.

Groundhog and Skywarp glanced at one another, both looking almost amused at the thought of where everyone was. But with a shrug, the Decepticon medic faintly smiled at Starscream. "Well…that's a funny story. When we came here, most of the Autobots weren't too keen about us so Optimus Prime came up with this idea that we could….well…." He was trying to find the right word for it.

"Work." Nemesis Strika growled, getting a very dark look from Starscream for speaking up again. "They called it Community Service. Soundwave and Barricade are stuck somewhere with that slagging Autobot Second in Command, Prowl in a place called Las Vegas. The very thought that Soundwave agreed to work with the fragging Autobots is a disgrace…." She was saying.

"Nemesis Strika, if I hear another word out of your fragging mouth, I'm going to rip out your voice processor! I asked Groundhog the question, not you!" snarled Starscream before he whirled around and looked back at Optimus Prime. "I want to speak to Soundwave, immediately."

"Understood." Optimus Prime said though a little cautiously. He looked around at everyone, motioning towards the doors. Of course, he had expected Ratchet to refuse to leave and get a rather dark look for it. He just shook his head as he heaved a sigh. "Ratchet, I will deal with this right now. Why don't you help Miss Cole with her twisted…" He was saying.

"I told you!" Cole spoke up sharply while inspecting her own ankle. She had mostly been ignoring the entire conversation between all of the alien robots but she wouldn't ignore this. She gave Optimus a look for even thinking about getting help. "I don't need your robot doctor looking at me! I can take care of this myself!" She growled before she stood up and wobbled towards the door, wincing the entire way.

Sighing, Optimus Prime just shook his head while Ratchet growled and followed right after her. The minute they were both out the door, Cole began yelling at the Autobot CMO for picking her up and carrying her off. He just shook his head with a sigh and looked back at Starscream who raised a metal eye ridge at him. "What?" He asked, as if he was being accused.

Starscream just shook his head as he glowered at him. "Who was that human femme? And what the frag was her problem?" He growled.

Another sigh escaped from Optimus and he began to explain the whole thing about the mysterious Department and Cole Keller's involvement. He figured that the Decepticons needed to know about the threat against all Cybertronians. Especially if they were going to stay around the base. But that was a really big if.

"Sides, are you mad at me?" Dawn asked as her big boyfriend carried her through the halls with a very sour look on his face and Sunstreaker marching right behind him, looking just as irritated. She had known that he wasn't happy about what she had just done but she couldn't possibly imagine that he would stay angry with her. He never could. But right now….she wasn't so sure.

Sideswipe was quiet for a long moment until he reached his room. He whirled around and looked at Sunstreaker, as if asking something of him. He was only too glad that Sunny did understand and turned and walked off to let the two be alone. He watched him for a moment before he slammed his door open and marched inside, closing the door after himself. He went straight over to a large cot for him and carefully set Dawn down before beginning to pace.

"Sides….." Dawn said nervously, watching him go at it.

Glancing at her, Sides didn't say anything before he shook his head and went back to pacing in front of her. "Dawn, what were you thinking? You could have been killed! Why did you do that for that slagging Con?" He said, trying very hard to keep his voice down.

"Sides," Dawn sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry! All right! But I would have done it for you and Sunny! Or any of the Autobots….!"

"NO!" Sides immediately shouted, looking wide eyed at her; crossed between angry and scared. "No! Ratchet and Jetfire both told you and all of us that you can't use the All Spark energy! It will kill you, Dawn!"

Sighing again, Dawn shook her head and made a face at him. "It's not like I could have helped it, Sides! It was the energy, itself that made me do it! And besides, I owed Starscream…!" She tried to argue.

"You don't owe that slagging Con anything, Dawn! He's a deceiving, murdering Decepticon! You shouldn't have had to…..!" Sideswipe ranted.

"Sideswipe!" Dawn shouted over his ranting, glaring at him. She couldn't believe he was being so thick headed about it. She couldn't blame him for being this way but still! "He saved my life! He let me go when he didn't have to! I owed him my life! The least I could do was save his own life! And like I just said, it was the All Spark energy! It sensed his pain! He was dying, Sides! Even if it did give me a choice, I would have still did it!"

"It still could have killed you!" Sides argued, pain etched in his own voice. "I can't lose you, Dawn! Not because of us! Sometimes I wished that you were never pulled into this! If you were killed, it would be my fault!"

There was almost a dead silence as Dawn stared at him with bewilderment. She couldn't believe he said that. It was like he regretted coming into her life and changing it for her. It was like he…..he wished that they never met. And it really hurt. "What? Do you…..do you wish that we never met or something, Sides? Do you regret meeting me?" She asked, her voice starting to waver in pain.

Staring wide eyed at her, Sides had to take a minute to realize what she meant before he quickly shook his head and hurried over to the cot, dropping down to his knees in front of her. "No! No, of course not, Dawn! I don't…..but…..!" He was saying.

"But what?" Dawn demanded, painfully. There were tears starting to blind her vision as she looked up at him. "Sides, you're making it sound that way! It's like you wished that we never met and you became apart of my life! It's like you regret being with me! Is that it?"

Shaking his head as he brought his hands around her, Sides dipped his head closer to her, looking into her eyes. "No! I love you so much, Sunrise! I would never regret meeting you! You are everything to me! If anything happened to you, it would kill me! You are my life now! I just wished…I just wished that I would have been there sooner, when the Cons kidnapped you! I should have been there to stop you from getting hurt and having to have the All Spark shard to save your life, giving you its energy! Now…I'm so afraid that…..that you're going to die because of its raw power! What if I lose you? I can't do that, Sunrise! I just can't!" He told her painfully.

Staring at him with surprise, Dawn knew that it was just the fear and worry really starting to get to him. She couldn't stop herself from faintly smiling as she reached out and placed her hand against his warm metal. "You're not going to lose me, Sides. I'm not going anywhere." She told him softly.

Still looking painfully at her, Sides shook his head. "You can't promise me that. Jetfire and Ratchet said that every time you use that energy, it can kill you. I just…..I just…." He was saying, his head lowering a little.

Smiling softly, Dawn climbed to her feet and moved even closer to his face, leaning her head against his own forehead. She pressed her palms against his cheeks, lightly bringing his head up so she could look deeply into his beautiful glowing blue eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. I can and I will promise you that." She told him softly before she kissed his forehead, allowing the tingling sparks to overwhelm her. "I love you too, so much. And if anything were to happen to you, it would kill me too."

Sighing heavily, Sides cupped his hands around her, holding her close as he let his eyes flicker off for a moment. "And now…..we just have to worry about those slagging Cons doing something to you now that they know about the All Spark energy." He murmured softly.

"They're not going to do anything to me. Starscream won't let them." Dawn told him as she pressed her cheek against his forehead.

"You don't know that slagger like I do, Dawn." Sides sighed to her. "You don't know how deceiving he can be. Now that he knows, he will probably do anything to use you. He will try and hurt you."

Dawn shook her head as she pulled away from him and looked back into his glowing eyes softly. "Do you trust me?" She asked, getting a very surprised look from him. But after a few seconds, he nodded. She smiled at him as she pressed her hands under his chin to lift his head higher until his lips were right in front of hers. "Then trust my instincts. I just know that Starscream won't hurt me. I can feel it." She then pressed her lips against his mouth's rims before pulling away, still smiling.

Sighing, Sides just smiled back, but it was very faint. He still was having trouble with the thought of trusting the Decepticons. More or less, Starscream. He couldn't trust him, no matter how Dawn pleaded him to. It was all of the memories that slagger had given him. All of the other Autobots that he had killed during the war. "I will try. But I can't say that I can. Not until he really gives us a reason to trust him." He told her softly.

"That's all I ask of you, Sides." Dawn told him, smiling. "Trust me, hon-bot. I know that he won't hurt me. I just got this feeling that he won't." She then leaned her cheek against his forehead, closing her eyes.

Sides, however, looked past her small frame, a serious look on his face. 'I swear to Primus, if he does try to hurt you, I will kill him. Even if it kills me.' He thought to himself. He let out a sigh before lightly pulling away, looking back into Dawn's eyes. He felt the desperate need for something. He felt like he was suffocating over this entire situation. He knew that he couldn't lose Dawn in anyway. He had to do something that would stop this insane feeling that he felt. He couldn't fight it any more.

"Dawn, I love you so much." The Autobot Warrior told her softly, earning a soft smile. "I will face a thousand deaths before losing you. I swear. And I will do anything to protect you. As your Guardian and as the mech who loves you." He tilted his head, looking her directly into the eyes. "Dawn, I can't…hide my feelings for you. I want to tie myself to you in every way. You once said you wanted to be my Sparkmate." His eyes lowered, almost sadly. "The problem is, you aren't a Cybertronian. You don't have a Spark." He quickly looked up when Dawn gasped and looked almost terrified. He knew that she was thinking that he wanted to break ties from her. It was human thinking and it couldn't be helped. "But you have a heart! A heart I want to possess all for my own." He spoke quickly, hoping to divert the negative thoughts that were obviously in her mind. "Dawn, I want to tie myself to you in the human ways. I want to marry you like a human would."

Dawn gasped, her hands immediately flying to her mouth as she stepped back, looking at him with wide eyes. "Sides!" She cried out in surprise.

Smiling at her, Sides just nodded. "Dawn Jade Adams, in everything humanly possible, and I will swear by Primus, himself of my oath towards you, will you become my Sparkmate, my mate, my bride, my wife? Will you marry me in the human ways?"

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT STARSCREAM IS AWAKE FINALLY?" Barricade exclaimed over Soundwave's radio system, making the Communications Officer growl of how loud that he had just spoken. "WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? WHAT HAPPENED? ARE WE GOING TO LEAVE? DOES THAT MEAN WE DON'T HAVE TO WORK WITH THESE SLAGGING HUMANS? ASK HIM WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO, SOUNDWAVE! SEE IF WE CAN GET OUT OF THIS FRAGGING COMMUNITY SERVICES SLAG!"

-I CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE, BARRICADE! SHUT THE FRAG UP AND LET ME TALK, YOU SON OF A GLITCH!- Starscream bellowed from the three way conversation that Soundwave had set up the moment he spoke to the new Decepticon Leader.

Soundwave just sighed, wanting so much to shake his head, though it was nearly impossible to do in his giant SUV form. He just knew this conversation wasn't going to go so well. Especially with Barricade continuing to shout questions over the radio system set up between the three of them.