AN: Remember to get your final votes in. I think there might be just one last chapter; it depends on how things go as I write it, so if you haven't voted or you want to give more hugs you need to do so now. I do not think I will do a sequel, maybe some short stories that can tag along with events in this story, we will see.

64: I know the battle was long, but you got to admit that was a lot of necessary action that needed to take place. Shockwave is not 'mostly dead', he is all dead. Ain't no come-back for Shockwave, he's history. I'm sorry I have a habit of killing off your favorite characters, so hopefully this chapter will help make you feel better.

SunnySides: You read my story in three hours? Wow! You've got commitment. Thanks for the review and welcome. Also, favorite character votes are only for the characters I bring up in this story, otherwise that would be a lot of people to keep track of. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and it's time for this story to wrap up.

Chapter Summary: A time for healing

{Autobot base – Medical Bay}

The medical bay was full when Megatron entered it, carrying Soundwave in his arms. Scrap that, the medical bay was jammed and there were no free berths anywhere to be found. The Autobot medical bay was much smaller than the one on the Decepticons', having only been built with a small population in mind and not the score of mechs that occupied the base now.

Finding a place on the floor next to the nearest berth, Megatron gently put Soundwave down and then straightened up. He surveyed the wounded, taking note of which mechs were on the berths and their injuries. The majority of them being Autobots did not escape his notice and his optics briefly went to the closed room where Orion was, wondering if the processor deletion was at a point where they could risk waking him. Megatron shook his helm, better not try it until he could get a word with Knockout and by the looks of things his medic was very busy. So was Ratchet, the two bent over the frames of the Twins and working quickly.

Megatron cocked his helm to the side when he saw the cable connecting the two spark chambers together. He had heard that the Twins had a split spark, a rare occurrence, and if the damage to the their frames was as extensive beyond what he could see then connecting the two fragments was perhaps the best option. Uniting the pieces of the spark would ensure a stronger connection between the Twins and keep both of them from slipping away into the Well of Sparks, since neither of Sideswipe or Sunstreaker would want to see the other go without fighting with all their worth.

The next two berths were occupied by the Vehicons who had taken quite a beating, their fellow comrades tending to their wounds. Arcee lay on the last berth, her optics shuttered and various wires connected to her frame. Dreadwing hovered near her, optic ridges narrowed in contemplation and…was that worry? Megatron resolved to keep a better optic on his second-in-command, but for now he would not ask what was going on, there were too many other important things to do.

Like where Sparknight had been put. The femme had been in a stupor when Shockwave had been holding her, a resigned, vacant look on her faceplate that spoke more than anything else how she had given up on ever being free. The light framed seeker was so different from when Megatron had last seen her that he was not sure Sparknight could ever recover from the unspeakable abuse and trauma she had endured. Time would tell and the Decepticon warlord was certainly not going to deny anything being done that could help, but the reality of the situation was one he was sure he could accept better than Soundwave would be able to.

"My lord?" Megatron turned to see Knockout approaching him, a Vehicon had taken the medic's place at Sunstreaker.

"How are they?"

"At this stage I do not know, Lord Megatron. If things continue to improve they will live, if either one should decline than they will both die."

"And Arcee?" Megatron turned to look at the biker.

"She will live. Most of her wounds are superficial, just cut energon lines but Arachnid did deliver one blow that will take a little while to heal. Still, she is out of danger."

"Good. Have Dreadwing take her to her quarters then and Soundwave can take her place on the medical berth."

That was when Knockout noticed the telepath's position on the floor and he quickly nodded. Dreadwing took up Arcee and carried her out of the medical bay and Megatron placed Soundwave on the berth. Knockout got to work, bringing Megatron up to speed while he ran his diagnostic.

"Wheeljack and a few Vehicons are working in the training room, that's where we had the humans taken. He's examining the pods that the humans were attached in and thinks he can disconnect them without killing the humans. The three children are in there as well, I believe Raf is eager to find his father but so far he has not been identified yet." Megatron nodded, cataloging that away to be dealt with later. "He took a beating I see."

"Mostly from Shockwave I believe," Megatron said. "I have already dispatched Vehicons to retrieve the pieces of his cables that Shockwave broke off, perhaps they can be reattached."

"What became of Shockwave?" Knockout asked, getting to work on the hole in Soundwave's chassis.

"We will not be seeing him again, as I doubt there is anything left of him to be seen let alone scanned." Knockout looked up at Megatron, his optics calculating before returning to Soundwave, "And Lockdown?"

Megatron grinned, and it was not nice to see at all, "What's left of him is being escorted to a cell, I will let Soundwave decide what to do with him." The Decepticon warlord looked around the medical bay once more, "Where is Sparknight?"

Knockout sighed, "When Bumblebee brought her through the portal she went volatile. She thrashed and broke out of Bumblebee's hold but was thankfully tackled by a few Vehicons before she could do any damage to the base of herself. We cleared out a room and locked her in it, I'm hoping by the time I'm done here she will have calmed down enough to at least scan if not treat."

Megatron nodded, "How is the medical bay holding out? Do you require anything?"

"This place was not mot meant to service so many," Knockout said grimly. "All necessary parts are being used for the Twins, out of everyone they have the worst of the damage but there are some Vehicons I was only able to patch up and some I haven't even treated yet because I either have not been able to get to them yet or don't have the parts. You ask what I need? I need a full staffed medical bay, if that's not attainable then I need anything that can be salvaged from the Nemesis to aid in repairing everyone I can."

"I sent out scouts to find the Nemesis before we left for Shockwave's lair, have they not yet returned or reported in?" Knockout shook his helm, "Very well. Continue to do what you can, I will take Bumblebee and—" The Decepticon leader's helm snapped up, looking around the medical bay once again, "Where is Bumblebee? Is he guarding Sparknight?"

"No," Knockout answered. "I posted two Vehicons to keep an optic on her, I have not seen Bumblebee since he brought Sparknight in."

"I will find him."

"Before you do let me look at your shoulder, my lord." Megatron stopped and glanced at his shoulder, realizing that the broken piece from his blade was still wedged between the armor plates and a thin trail of energon had made its way down his chassis.

"It will keep for now, continue treating those who are in more need than I."

"Lord Megatron!" Knockout protested, and then he huffed as the warlord ignored him and continued walking out of the medical bay.

{Autobot base – Sparknight's quarters}

She paced, spinning around quickly and taking a fighting stance. Just as quickly though, Sparknight crumpled and scrambled back until her back was pressed against the wall and she drew her knees up her chest plate, wrapping her arms around them. She did not know this room, she did not know any of the mechs she had seen and none of that was comforting.

Sparknight had gotten use to Shockwave's lair, vaguely taking note of things but mostly just aware of anyone who came near her. Even though any encounter with Shockwave and Lockdown was likely to elicit pain, Sparknight knew them, she knew what to expect and how to act. However, everything was different here, which must mean that the rules were different, and who knows what could be used against her. She had seen quite a few mechs, the sheer number of which had overwhelmed her when the small yellow and black bot had pulled her through the ground bridge and suddenly everything had been strange and too much.

She barely remembered what had happened after that, knowing she had panicked and Shockwave never liked it when she did that. When she had finally become aware again she was in this room, alone, and most likely awaiting punishment. Would Lockdown be the one who did it?

She shivered and ducked her helm down, bringing her arms up to shield herself. The waiting part was the hardest, not knowing how long she would have to go without recharge or fuel was usually very effective in getting her to panic. Shockwave had not liked it when she panicked, but Lockdown had enjoyed it yet the reasons why escaped her for the present.

Her processor was threatening to blackout again, and she saw no reason not to fight it. Conscious or not, what did it matter? These strange mechs were going to do whatever they wanted, and she was too weak to stop them.

{Autobot base – on top}

"Here you are," Megatron said, as he stepped off the elevator pad. "I was wondering where you had vanished to. No one could knew where you had gone, not exactly a good time to vanish, little scout."

Bumblebee said nothing, continuing to look up at the sky and Megatron stepped up beside him. He turned his faceplate upwards, not needing to ask what the scout was doing, "Can you see him?"

"No," Bumblebee whispered, "but then I didn't expect to."

"Given his trajectory and when he was put up there I would wager to say he's somewhere over the Asian continent by now." Bumblebee nodded but was silent, Megatron sighed internally as he could see he had to give yet another 'pep' talk. "You made the right choice, little scout. I know it was not an easy decision to make, that killing him would probably have been the more merciful thing to do but pulling the trigger was not the choice you should have made." Bumblebee looked at him sideways, his blue optics open and Megatron knew the scout was attentive to what he was saying, "Killing him would have been satisfying, yes, but only for a moment, and then you would have remembered the human blood you spilled. What MECH made you do, that you are not guilty of, that was against your will, those humans who died are on MECHs' hands, not yours. But killing Silas, that you would have done of your own free will and I know, Bumblebee, that it would haunt you. You would forget the degradations that man did to you, forget the shame and innocent lives lost, and only remember as you last saw him. His body broken, the blood flowing from his wounds, the pain in his eyes. That is what you would remember, and that is what would make you regret killing him." Megatron glanced back up at the sky, "The choice you did make was the right one. Having his injuries treated and then locking him up in that shuttle, pitching it into Earth's atmosphere." The Decepticon warlord looked at Bumblebee, reaching out a servo to place it on the smaller mech's shoulder, "Up there he will see Earth, every single day, but have no way of returning. He has plenty of provisions to see him through the remainder of his lifetime, the only thing he will suffer from is the loneliness."

"I condemned him to a shadow existence. Humans are social creatures, he will go mad and most likely kill himself before the year is out."

Megatron shook his helm, "Silas will last longer than that, he will make it his mission to do so. But if he does take his own life then that will be on his head, not yours. He has everything he needs up there to survive, if he needs to keep his mind from going crazy I have no doubt he has the ingenuity to do so, but bear in mind that he was already slightly mad to begin with." Seeing the look on Bumblebee's faceplate the warlord sighed externally this time, "However, should you ever feel too sorry for Silas you have only to call the shuttle down and release him."

Bumblebee exhaled, allowing the cool evening air to flow through him before he looked up at Megatron, "Let him float around a bit up there and think his situation over. Perhaps a few months or a year of solitary confinement will make him appreciate his race a bit." The scout rolled his shoulder joints, flapping his door wings, "Who knows, he may even act quite civil when I give him a call."

Ever the Autobot, Megatron thought with a grin, a much nicer version than the one he had flashed at Knockout down in the medical bay. "Come, we have to check in with the Vehicons I sent out looking for the Nemesis. Knockout and Ratchet are in need of supplies."

"And you want to take me along? Am I to always be expected to follow you about now?"

"It's the only way I can keep an optic on you, little scout," Megatron turned for the elevator pad. "Besides, this way you'll at least have something to do and won't have time to mope."

"I was not moping," Bumblebee insisted, as he stepped onto the elevator pad beside Megatron.

"If you say so, little scout."

The elevator pad descended into the base and Bumblebee twiddled his thumb joints. "Out with it, little scout."

"Is it over?"

Megatron smiled, a servo finding Bumblebee's shoulder plate and pulling him close, "Yes, Bumblebee, it's all over. Shockwave has been reduced to little pieces, Lockdown is in a cell and from the looks of things seems to have suffered a full processor hack from Soundwave, and Silas is trapped in a shuttle in Earth's orbit. It's all over."

Bumblebee shifted, "Then what happens now? You and Orion prime formed an alliance because of Shockwave, now that he's no more there's no longer a reason to stay allies is there?"

Megatron pondered that before answering, "First we get the injured fixed and then we take it from there. The Decepticons are currently without a home; at least one that is operational as I am not sure what state the Nemesis is actually in. The majority of the Autobots are recovering from the battle, and they are also without a leader as Orion has not finished the deletion process yet. I do not know what will happen with this alliance, Bumblebee, but I can tell you that I want it to continue. We have no common enemy to unite us anymore, that is true, but perhaps we may build a new alliance on stronger bonds that will be more lasting. The humans have a fascination about tomorrow, they are always talking about the hope it may bring while others say 'live for today' and 'wait and see what tomorrow brings'. So that is what we will do, little scout, we will wait and see what tomorrow brings. Until tomorrow dawns, we will continue doing as we are doing now, working together and making sure that everyone's hurts are attended to."

Hug Vote:

Bumblebee – 25

Starscream – 17

Soundwave – 11

Megatron – 11

Miko – 9

Raf – 6

Mckeown –6

Orion – 6

Knockout – 4

Dreadwing – 4

Blurr - 4

Bulkhead – 4

Roberto Esquivel(Raf's dad) – 3

Arcee – 3

Ratchet – 3

Sunstreaker – 3

Sideswipe – 3

Vehicons – 3

Wheeljack – 3

Jack – 2

Laserbeak – 2

Miko's parents – 1

Other humans who died throughout this story - 1

Favorite character vote:

Bumblebee – 10

Megatron – 8

Soundwave – 7

Knockout – 5

Blurr – 2

Arcee – 1

Wheeljack – 1

Starscream – 1

Orion Prime – 1

Silas – 1

The Twins -1

Faction vote:

Decepticons – 28

Autobots - 11