Sorry for the long hiatus. Rest assured I will not abandoned any of these stories. Now let's see what happens to Orion.

Bliss.

Orion awoke keeping his optics off, he stretched, reveling in the warmth and happiness he felt within his spark. His systems came online and did their routine scan and all reports came back normal as usual. All but one report. The seal of his spark plates was broken. Orion felt the ache and soreness that came with it. Orion found that the sensation wasn't unpleasant. It was similar to the soreness he had felt when he had spent a whole afternoon moving archives to the basement for long term storage. But this time the soreness felt nice.

Orion was in total bliss. That night had been everything and more than he had imagined. Merging sparks was the hardest part. Megatron had gently guided him. It was short lived however, due to his inexperience but wonderful nonetheless. He had fallen asleep soon after.

His spark was happy. Megatron loved him. He had chosen him over Starscream. Starscream. His optics came online now. The darkness of the unfamiliar room clashed with the bliss and light that Orion was feeling. He remembered. He was on an unfamiliar military grade warship and Iacon's square laid in ruin. His blissful unawareness was slipping.

He turned to the empty space on the berth. Where was his lover? His chronometer told him it was a little past noon. He had slept very well. He swung his legs over the side of the berth. He swayed. Regaining his balance he stood up and regarded his reflection in the mirror. Just a few scrapes but not too noticeable. Warmth flooded his face for a moment. He eyed the door leading to the washroom. His systems wanted Energon. A quickwash wouldn't hurt, he thought gauging his energy meter.

A quickwash turned into a long bath. The washroom had luxurious cleansers and polishes. Much nicer than the ones that he had been used to in Iacon. Although he had access to nice cleansers that lower castes did not have access to, Alpha had preferred to buy cleansers that were more gentle on his older armor.

Alpha. Would he be happy for him? He missed him. Thinking about his mentor made a sick, nervous feeling start to spread. The bliss he had felt in the morning was gone.

He emerged from the room into a busy corridor. The bots rushing past each other barely spared him a glance. He felt dazed. Which way was he going? He decided to turn right and assumed he was going the right way when he noticed the bots going the opposite direction had large cases of supplies.

There he was, Megatron. Standing in all his glory in the middle of a busy, chaotic bridge. He seemed to be receiving some sort of report and was listening with his optics narrowed. Orion blushed again as he caught his optic wondering up the tall, solid, strength that was Meagtron. He began to approach the three bots that were deep in discussion.

"Lord Megatron, if we strategically place soldiers on the west side off.." The robot trailed off as Orion approached. Megatron turned to see Orion standing a pace away with a concerned look on his face. He waved his hand, dismissing the other two bots.

"Orion, love. How did you sleep?" He grabbed Orion's hands and kissed them.

" I slept well, Megatron. Why were you speaking about soldiers? We aren't in a war, are we? You promised me that you weren't trying to start a war."

Megatron barely held back a scowl. He would have to have Soundwave keep surveillance on Orion at all times after this. He could not risk Orion finding out the truth. And one or two mechs were eyeing the beautiful bot in a way that, surprisingly, made him want to rip their optics out.

"My love, I am not starting a war. I wouldn't lie to you. The council is moving forward with their manipulation, and turning Cybertron against us. In the event that they should declare war on us, we must be prepared."

" Yes, but seeing us prepare for a war, and refer to our followers as soldiers would not help our image. It would make us look like terrorists. And after the events in the square yesterday, we are already in a bad position to begin with."

They began walking away from the bridge, Megatron wanted to have Orion working on unlocking and downloading as much information as he could from Iacon's archives. He hoped that this would have the additional effect of distracting Orion, while he launched the Decepticons.

" Yes, we look bad in the public's optics, but my love, when have we ever looked good? We are going against the status quo. Bots in power want us to be silenced. We must push back against that. We cannot ask our followers to fight with us and have them be helpless against the powers at be. We must give our people a fighting chance. "

Orion opened his mouth to reply but Megatron pushed on.

" We cannot in good conscience send our people out to fight the machine, to change the ways of old and not be able to defend themselves. They can end up jailed, disappeared, their families threatened, or worse yet they can be killed. I have seen death right in the face, have danced with death a million times before. I can handle death, and I can handle loss, but you my love. Can you bear the weight of a life on your Spark?"

Orion closed his mouth. He had no answer for that. Orion had never faced death before, and he would never wish it on anyone. Not even Starscream. He supposed it made sense to train their followers to fight and not be sitting astroducks.

But why, even as he opened up his connection to the archives of Iacon, his safe space, did he feel sick. Why did it feel wrong? Why did he feel like already his hands were stained in energon? How many lives could his Spark bear? It felt like his own was already too much.

Again his Spark ached for his mentor, for the feeling that he was doing the right thing, for the bliss that he had felt this morning. Would he ever feel that again? Was he making the right decision by choosing to stand by the one whom his Spark loved? Orion closed his optics for a few seconds and willed it all away.