Well...I got thinking about how I said this story was almost done and decided that it was, until I realized I wanted to add something more to it. So yeah, I don't think this story is almost done anymore...I just have to think about whether or not I want to add that certain part (and so far I'm leaning towards adding it). Anyhow, here's chapter seventeen.

Chapter Seventeen: The Hiding Place

Megatron couldn't believe how happy he was just to have control over his vehicle forms again. It felt so good knowing that he had more independence now since no one had to drive him around anymore. But he couldn't figure out how he had collected so much energy so quickly. On the way over to the prison he didn't have control, at least he didn't think he did, he hadn't tried going over in one of his vehicle modes. Was it the urgent need to free Mercy that had caused him to collect so much energy so quickly? Was it the energy he had put into rescuing her? Or…was the energy collected from the emotion of just having Mercy back? Megatron hated all these questions, he wanted answers. But it seemed whenever he found out the answer to one question, it only sparked another series of questions.

"Mercy, are you asleep?" he asked in a soft tone.

"No," she replied hoarsely, as though she had been asleep.

Megatron ignored her tone and continued, "Any ideas what we could do for your disguise? I'm not into makeovers, but since you're a girl, you probably have more knowledge on that subject than I do."

"We could dye my hair a different color."

"Hair dye won't work on your hair."

"Why not?"

"You don't have human hair…your hair is metallic."

"Oh, perhaps a wig then."

"Alright," Megatron replied trying to think of where they could get a wig that would last, a…professional…wig.

"I read a book once, I can't remember what it was, but they said weight gain is the best disguise for a skinny person."

"I don't think you'll pull that off."

"I don't think so either…but I don't know, I could wear a different style of clothing that I normally don't wear, get glasses…that's all I can think of," Mercy suggested.

"Can you change your eye color?"

"Not that I know of."

"We'll have to use the ideas you gave then. I think we can pull it off, how good are you at acting?"

"It depends on the role I have to play…just what do you have in mind?" questioned Mercy.

"Talk like that Brittany person, like her friends. Act like them too, that way people won't think you're Mercy."

"I'm going to have to use a fake name."

"We'll come up with that later," Megatron answered, "Any ideas as to where we could stay when we get back?"

"Um…there's an abandoned house not far from where I live…well, lived. It's only been abandoned a year or so, it can't be in that bad of shape."

"Let's hope not," Megatron replied.

The two of them went along in silence. Megatron figured he would have to get Mercy reenrolled into the school curriculum under her fake name, which they still had yet to come up with. This was all so complicated, trying to hide Mercy. He wondered if the guards back at the prison thought Mercy was dead. However, when they failed to find any trace of her body they might suspect differently. Unless they figured her body had been blown to bits in the explosion. Megatron didn't know what the damage looked like in her cell and he wasn't about to turn around and find out either.

Megatron and Mercy had been travelling for a couple hours now, on the back roads, Megatron weaving Mercy's way home while she weaved his. The decepticon leader checked the time on his internal clock and saw it was a little past midnight. He heard Mercy yawn from where she was seated and felt her try to get as comfortable as she could in the seat. He reclined it for her and turned up the heat a bit so she could stay warm. He hadn't had a chance to examine her temperature control system, and he knew that she tended to get really cold at night.

"Thanks Megatron," she whispered.

"I'm going to be stopping soon, so try not to fall asleep."

"Stopping? Why stopping?"

"There's a hair salon up here somewhere," Megatron explained, "I remember passing it on the way down."

"Oh, to get the wig."

"Precisely, now is there a color for the wig that you would prefer?"

"I think blonde would be the safest," Mercy replied, eyes closed, "Anything else might hint at my identity."

Megatron didn't say anything and after a few more minutes of driving, he slowed down until he stopped outside a salon that was closed for the night. It was pitch black outside being the dead of night, and Megatron and Mercy were the only ones around. The restraining bar lifted over Mercy's head and his cockpit opened. The android yawned and crawled out, stumbling as she did so and nearly fell over when her feet hit the ground. She caught herself and turned around to see Megatron already transformed and looking at her with an expression of curiosity on his face. It quickly disappeared though and the decepticon leader ordered, "Stay here, if anyone should happen to come by, run and find a decent place to hide."

"As you command," she yawned and leaned against the side of the building.

Megatron glanced at her before punching a hole in the glass door and unlocking the door from the inside. He then opened the door and went inside, looking for a blonde wig. The place reeked of hairspray and nail polish…and he could identify all the chemicals that went along with them to create those smells. He glanced around and saw a few manikins with wigs on them. One wig was spiky black hair that wouldn't suit Mercy, let alone cover her hair. There was an auburn one, but that was Mercy's old hair color so it wouldn't work. His optics skipped over the red-orange wig, along with the brunette, and finally they rested on a blonde wig. Megatron walked over to it and examined it. The hair was straight and stylish, if Mercy put it on, the hair would fall just below the shoulders, but it was long enough and it would work to hide her purple locks. Megatron took the wig and walked out of the salon where Mercy now sat leaning against the side of the building, asleep.

The decepticon leader sighed, he hated to wake her, but he knew they had to get going. "Mercy," he spoke up, "Wake up."

Her eyes snapped open and she blinked a couple times before she yawned and stretched. She slowly stood and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes as she asked, "Did you get the wig?"

"Yes, come on, we need to get you some clothes now."

"Alright," she replied hoarsely.

"I'll let you sleep soon," he said handing her the wig and then transformed into his car mode.

Mercy got in and relaxed into the seat as the restraining bar came over her. She set the wig on her lap and slowly stroked her fingers through it as Megatron pulled away from the salon and back onto the road. She sighed and looked out the cockpit, tired, but unable to sleep, and bored, but unable to keep herself entertained. They drove in silence for a little while until they came upon a department store, a Wal-Mart to be precise, and pulled into the darkened and empty parking lot. He had a feeling security cameras were around, so he went invisible, cloaking both him and Mercy from the view of the cameras. Megatron circled around a couple times trying to figure out what to do. Mercy couldn't go invisible, so he couldn't bring her in the store with him, or she'd be seen and he didn't want people to know her location. He had to have her hide somewhere out of the detection of the cameras and the human eye. He got an idea and went into his jet mode.

"What are you doing?" Mercy asked as he climbed into the air.

"I'm going to put you on the roof."

"What for?"

"No one will see you up there, not even the security cameras," Megatron explained.

"I see…just don't forget about me up there," Mercy said as she felt the decepticon leader's jet form land on the roof of the Wal-Mart.

The restraining bar lifted off of Mercy and the cockpit opened seconds after the restraining bar was off. Tiredly, the android climbed out of Megatron and stood on the roof unable to see him or where he was. She heard him transform, most likely into his robot mode and she looked to that direction, not sure if she was looking at him or not.

"What size do you wear?" he asked.

"Shirts, just get a medium of everything, unless it looks small, get a large. As for pants, I'm a size six."

Megatron tightened his lips not wanting to ask this, but he knew he had to, "What about you're…undergarments?"

Mercy sighed and told him, as embarrassing as it was. At least he was thinking of the things she needed. She hadn't even thought about that, and she was almost glad he did because she wasn't going to wear the same bra, socks, and underwear everyday; she just thought that would be disgusting. Even though she was an android and couldn't really get them dirty anymore, it just didn't settle well with her. Mercy heard some glass break below her and figured that that was Megatron breaking into the store. How puzzling it would be for law enforcement tomorrow when they reviewed the security cameras only to see glass breaking by itself and clothes leaving by themselves.

The android sat down, leaning against an air-conditioning unit or a generator, she wasn't sure what it was. She sighed and cast a look up to the sky. Mercy felt His eyes looking down upon her as the store was being robbed below her. She knew He understood that nearly everything she had done had been for her own gain. And she really, really, really hoped that He would forgive her for everything wrong that she had done. She had been so selfish ever since the very beginning. Mercy felt like she had been a stuck up brat her entire life. Perhaps she had felt so sorry for herself that she felt everyone had to feel sorry for her. She shook her head. Her life had always been out of control…and it seemed that it always would be.

She had been born out of drunkenness. Her parents had been out partying during their final semester of college when her mother was conceived. Mercy remembered watching them as she grew up, how they almost always argued with one another. Her mother wanted to move to Texas for a while to be with her family, her father wanted to start his own business. Eventually he did and both he and her mother became salesmen for the company. Mercy remembered the night her mother and father tucked her into bed and convinced her they were going on a vacation for a little while and that they would be home soon, that was only a couple years ago, but it seemed like just yesterday. She recalled waking up the next morning only to walk through the house and discover that she was really alone, and there wasn't a feeling more terrible in the world than that the next few days as she realized at the age of only fourteen how hard it was to live on her own without a job and without a car…without hardly anything.

And now that Megatron had come into the picture and freed her from her loneliness, if only temporarily, she still had been so grateful for it. And she was wishing and praying that he wouldn't leave. No, she didn't want him to return wherever it was he was going only so he would run the risk of dying again. She felt attached to him, so attached to him. And she didn't want to just see him walk away; especially after all they had been through. She didn't understand how it could be so easy for him to do so, but yet she did understand. He was heartless, completely and absolutely emotionless, impassive, blank, inexpressive, cold, unaffected, detached…everything along those lines that she could think of. Mercy couldn't even begin to imagine how he could live being that way. She didn't want him to, she believed he didn't deserve to, but she had a feeling that she couldn't change that, how he felt was entirely up to him. She just didn't want him to look down upon her anymore so carelessly.

"Alright Mercy, let's go."

The android nearly jumped out of her metallic skin as she looked in the direction where she had heard the voice, "Megatron?! Give me a warning next time!"

He chuckled.

"Where are the clothes?" she asked.

"I put them in my subspace so the cameras wouldn't detect me coming up here. I'll give them to you once we get settled in that abandoned house you were talking about."

"Alright," Mercy replied standing, "Let's go."

Megatron reappeared so Mercy could see him so that she could get in him without any difficulty. She got in and when she was settled, Megatron turned back invisible and took off back towards the android's town. He still wasn't so sure about returning like this. He knew he couldn't travel in his vehicle form because someone was libel to recognize him and turn in Mercy. He would have to find an alternate form when he ventured the streets, though he could just always stay invisible. Turning invisible wasn't a bad thing; it was just proving to be rather annoying right now.

He just wasn't sure about blending in with the human race.

"Mercy, wake up," came Megatron's voice.

He was flying over the town, it was just a little past 1:30am and Mercy had fallen asleep on the flight back from Wal-Mart. He knew she was tired, but he didn't know where the house was that she was talking about and he would need her directions. Megatron felt Mercy shift in his seat and thought she was waking up until he heard her sigh and she didn't move or say anything.

"Mercy, wake up!" he repeated, this time a lot louder, he was exhausted himself and didn't want to prolong sleep much longer.

"What is it?" she mumbled hoarsely as she finally came out of her slumber.

"We're back in your town, now where's that house?" Megatron inquired impatiently.

"Not far from where I live, just get to my house," Mercy said, eyes feeling glued shut.

The decepticon leader kept a growl in as he landed and transformed into his car mode. He sped to Mercy's house and stopped in front of it. Mercy forced her eyes open and looked at it. Yellow tape that said in bold capital letters POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS surrounded the property and made Mercy long to jump out of Megatron and tear the tape down so she could get back into her home. It was heartbreaking to see her home but not be able to get inside…to see her home ripped away from her…so much had happened in that house, and she missed it.

"Mercy, I'm tired, where is the house?"

"Keep driving straight, I'll tell you when to stop."

Megatron drove forward and Mercy's eyes were unwillingly pealed away from the house, her house. She sighed heavily and leaned into the seat. It had been a long night…too long for her liking. She had a feeling that the news of the bombing at the jail was all over the media now and that she was once again a missing person. She just hoped people wouldn't suspect she came back to her hometown hoping to blend in as a new person. Readjusting as someone she wasn't was going to be so hard, but if she was able to prove her innocence, then so be it.

Mercy glanced out of the cockpit and saw the house come into view and said, "That's it up there."

"Good, it's not too close to your other house."

Mercy thought the terminology Megatron had used in his last sentence was rather interesting considering her old home wasn't anybody's house anymore, and she certainly didn't own this one.

Megatron sighed as he pulled into the driveway of the home and opened his cockpit so Mercy could get out. She did, and he transformed into his robot mode as soon as she had. He glanced around, thankful that there weren't any neighbors and that they were alone. He made himself visible and placed a hand on the small of Mercy's back. "After you," he said.

She glanced at him and walked up to the door and tried it, but it was locked. Megatron sighed seeing this and walked up to the door. He pulled Mercy out of the way and with one kick the door was open and the android was looking at him in awe. Megatron went in, dragging Mercy behind him and shut the door behind her. The android groped the walls for a light switch, and she flicked one when she found it but the lights didn't come on. She figured that the electricity had been turned off here since nobody had been here to pay the bills.

Megatron, since he could see, glanced around to sum up the condition of the house. Mercy was right, besides the fact that the place was extremely dusty and there were a few cobwebs here and there, the house was in a rather decent condition. Sure it needed some tender loving care in some areas, but given a few days to fix things, the house would be alright. The people who had formally owned the house didn't leave behind any sort of furniture though, so the two of them would have to do something about the sleeping arrangements. Megatron glanced over to Mercy only to see her standing by the door with a blank look on her face.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I can't see anything," she replied.

He sighed heavily and lifted her in his arms saying, "Come on, let's find a place to sleep." He felt her snuggle into him, and he looked down at her just as she laid her head on his chest and fell asleep. The decepticon leader felt warmth swell inside his spark and spread up to his cheeks and he quickly looked down and away from Mercy when he realized he was blushing.

Megatron walked through what he guessed was the kitchen and into the living room where he found a staircase. He climbed the stairs and once up on the second floor of the home, he spotted a heavy old couch that the previous owners had obviously not cared about and left behind. Megatron claimed it immediately and plopped down on it, exhausted. He laid down, so happy to finally be able to get some rest, and he laid Mercy on top of him. The decepticon leader held her securely in his arms to make sure she wouldn't role off him onto the floor.

He stroked a hand down through her hair before he finally fell asleep.

Seventeen chapters in and still no romance, just fluff. You guys must like being tortured or something. What if I told you guys there isn't going to be romance? hears threats to stop reading the story and boos Heh...no worries, the romance is coming very soon now...and when I say very soon, I mean in (checks outline for this story) 4-5 chapters. Expect increased fluffiness though...lots of increased fluffiness...

I've noticed though that this story doesn't seem to be very popular and I spent some time (two days actually) re-editing over half of the chapters on this story and changing them in certain places. So, I was wondering if you guys could do me a huge favor and keep on reviewing as you have been and tell some of your friends (who might be interested) about this story...I know this is very selfish on my part, and please forgive me, I'm just having my doubts on this story right now. In the mean time, please do a good deed (in my opinion) and review! That's all I ask of you...XD