Here I am busily trying to update all my stories before school starts (which is two weeks from this Wednesday). Bleh school, it's my senior year though, I guess I got that to look forward to. Anyway, here's chapter 24, I hope you enjoy it, this story will be ending soon.

Chapter Twenty-Four: For Eternity

He wasn't sure how much time had gone by, all he knew was that it had been well over a week, well over a week of utter and terrible torture upon his spark. Megatron wasn't sure if he had ever experienced so much pain in his life; pain that flowed from the spark and channeled through his circuits, spreading like a wildfire and a deadly disease throughout his system, making his whole chassis hurt and throb like he had just been mortally wounded on the battlefield, like he had just had his spark carved out of him and stomped upon until nothing but little shattered and broken shards remained. Had it really only been a week and a few days? It felt like an eternity had already gone by, an eternity of such pain and sorrow that Megatron's CPU was spinning from its inability to comprehend the disabling pain. He had never expected anguish and agony of this degree, but Mercy had warned him, and it was a warning he had not heeded, out of his own stubborn, selfish, and foolish pride.

Things had looked glorious when Megatron first returned to Cybertron. He was easily able to recruit Thundercracker, Thunderblast, Ransack, and Crumplezone back under his wing, though they certainly weren't good enough to conquer a planet along the rest of the universe with. So for a couple days he secretly hid, not allowing any word of his revival to reach the autobots, and while he hid he recruited more decepticon soldiers and gathered information about the autobots, planning an attack of massive proportions as he did so. And by the time he was ready, he had Skywarp, Shockwave, and after much debate and stress, Starscream, on his side as well. When Megatron had first learned that Starscream wanted to rejoin his ranks, he wasn't sure what to think. But after seeing how desperate he was for an army, and knowing that if he permitted Starscream back into his ranks that he would also acquire the services of Sideways and Soundwave as well, he decided to go for it, but he would be very cautious around the mech.

But Megatron was more than shocked to learn that Jetfire was the one who bore the title of High Commander of Cybertron and that his arched nemesis, Optimus Prime, was off building space bridges with most of the elite autobots in the far reaches of the universe. And as all this data was presented to Megatron, he realized that he couldn't have come back at a better time, a time where Cybertron was completely defenseless to his power and might.

And he had attacked.

The autobots were stunned into defeat at his presence, he had been dead for fifteen years, and to suddenly see him back again—their CPUs couldn't fathom it. And within twenty-four hours, Megatron had managed to take control over a quarter of Cybertron.

But since that battle a few days ago, Megatron had done absolutely nothing. He sat in his throne room, planning and scheming his next move, he had received word that Optimus was on his way to Cybertron, but it would still be another week or so before he arrived since he and the rest of the autobots were so far away. Megatron had been making arrangements for his next battle, to intercept the fleet of autobot ships before they could make it to Cybertron, but they had to locate them first, something Starscream was in the process of doing.

He hadn't been aware of the heartache he felt until after the battle, when the glory and thrill of victory had faded away from his circuits. When his services weren't required, Megatron sat alone in either his quarters or his throne, unmoving, expressionless, and not talking. And he would sit there and think about her, the one who had caused him to feel like this, and he hated himself for leaving her behind. He hated how much he missed her and how much he wanted her back, if only he could see her, smell her, hear her, touch her, taste her one more time, because the last time had not been enough.

Megatron had left her behind for her safety, he didn't want to run the risk of something happening to her if he had brought her here, but he couldn't stand not knowing what was happening to her on earth. What if scenarios began running like wildfire through his CPU: What if something happens to Mercy? What if she gets lost somewhere, somehow? Or what if she gets hurt and is left stranded dying somewhere? What if she falls into that river again? What if they find Travis Chase not guilty? I wanted to protect her, but how can I when I don't even know what's happening to her?

He knew he was driving himself mad, but he couldn't help it. And his troops were well-aware of his depression. Thunderblast had been the first one to try and cheer him up, offering herself for a night of exquisite pleasure, but he refused. Not only did he not want to betray Mercy, but he could hardly stomach the thought of their bodies entwining together in lustful passion, it made gears in his abdomen churn with disgust and abhorrence.

So he had resorted to the only thing that he could think of to take his painful heartache away, and that was drinking. At first he only drank a little, only a couple cubes of high-grade energon that worked well in momentarily releasing him from his pain while he was awake. But soon, the pain only got worse and he began to drink more and more to try and squish it away and numb it out of his chest and body, but it wasn't working, no matter how much he drank or how drunk he got. He began dreaming about Mercy every single time he recharged, dreams that would start out so pleasant but only result in him awaking violently from a terrible, terrible nightmare.

He was so afraid that he would lose her when she was already lost, and he was terrified for her, he was terrified to sleep, and he longed for her…so much. Megatron was on the verge of insanity and isolated himself from everyone, leaving Starscream in charge while he tried to recover, but couldn't.

The decepticon leader sat at his desk, the only light in his room coming from a small, dimly lit light above his desk, as well as the holographic image he had displayed of Mercy. His optics gazed upon it for what seemed like the millionth time that day alone. Empty cubes of high-grade energon were scattered about his living office and living quarters, on the floor, on various shelves and countertops, and a half drunken one lay on his desk, waiting to be finished.

"Oh Mercy…" he breathed in his drunken stupor as he lifted a hand to touch the image, only to have it pass straight through. He slammed his fist back down on his desk, and then after a few moments, he calmly reached for the half-empty cube. Grasping it, he raised it to his lips without hesitation and drank what was left in one quick swallow, wincing as the energon burned its way down through him.

He looked over at the image of Mercy, only to feel the pain still swelling and pulsing inside of him. Bitterly he tossed the empty cube aside and reached for another one just as there was a knock on his door.

"Permission to enter sir," sounded a muffled yet raspy voice.

Megatron knew it was Starscream, but he didn't say anything as he rested his head against a fist. He knew he was leader of the decepticons and had duties to attend to, and he very well knew that he couldn't spend the rest of his days wallowing in a heartache either. At some point he knew he would have to get up and resume his life…but not now, not when his wound was still open and bleeding.

"Megatron you stubborn fool let me in this instant! I, as well as the rest of the troops, have noticed your…depressing behavior as of late and it's high time we got to the bottom of it," Starscream stated, clearly impatient, "If you don't let me in I'll break this door down."

"Enter," Megatron ushered in a muffled, unenthusiastic groan.

The door slowly hissed open, light flooded into the room, but Megatron hardly noticed it as he stared down at his desk, his face expressionless, emotionless.

"By Primus's spark…sir, I've seen you depressed before but never to this degree," Starscream stated as he walked into the room, the door closing behind him, "Just what is your malfunction this time?"

Megatron didn't say anything and Starscream pursed his lips to the side before saying, "I hate to play psychiatrist with you…but I really can't figure out what has you so depressed. You control part of Cybertron and are well on the way to controlling all of it." And the second in command waited yet again for a response from the decepticon leader, but he didn't get one. Frustrated, Starscream exclaimed, "Don't give me the silent treatment sir. I promise that whatever is discussed here I won't pass on to anyone else."

"And how can I trust you'll keep that promise?"

"You have my word sir," Starscream replied looking to the holographic image that Megatron had displayed on his desk, "Is it about her?"

Megatron's optics danced over the holographic image as he remarked, quietly, "It is."

"A stupid flesh bag has you feeling this way?!" responded the second in command shocked.

"She's the one who brought me back to life!" Megatron shouted back, obviously angry.

"So what happened to make you depressed? Clearly, as unbelievable as it is, you developed feelings for her and something didn't work out."

"I left her behind on earth."

"Why?"

"She's safer there; at least that's what I want to believe."

"Why don't you just bring her here, for your sake and ours?"

"I can't bring her here, I can't look weak in front of you and the rest of my men, I am the leader of the decepticons, I am not supposed to love."

Starscream snorted, "Whatever made you believe a foolish thing such as that?"

Megatron didn't say anything as Starscream continued, "Sure you're the heartless leader of the decepticons, but that doesn't mean you can't feel love. Heck, I'm surprised you haven't fallen in love before now. It's quite acceptable for you to take a mate Megatron, other decepticons have and they weren't scorned for their actions."

Megatron sighed heavily and Starscream growled, "Oh quit acting so pathetic, Megatron! Just accept the fact that you've fallen in love and go back to earth and get your precious mate before something does happen to her. You and I both know that she's safer here where you can have her under your constant visual. You're driving yourself crazy for no reason. And if you're worried about looking weak, well, just remember that love is the greatest weakness a person can have, even you Megatron."

Megatron sat up in his chair and rested his hands on his desk. He knew he needed his Mercy…he needed her so much. And Starscream was right. He may be the leader of the decepticons but there wasn't a rule anywhere that said he couldn't love or take a mate.

"I have to get to earth," he breathed suddenly and he stood up from his desk so fast that he knocked his chair over backwards, startling Starscream.

After he regained his composure his second in command stated, "Well, I'm glad you finally came around."

"Starscream old friend, take charge of the decepticons while I am gone, I don't know when I'll be back but I'll try not to be gone too long," Megatron said hurriedly, "If you should happen to locate the autobots, notify me. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir, just try not to be gone too long, we don't need the rest of the troops growing restless."

Megatron nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you Starscream." And he opened up a dimension gate. Without bothering to hear Starscream's reply, he disappeared through it.

The poor 'con, who earned his living selling bond mate bracelets nearly had a spark attack when he saw a dimension gate open and none other than the leader of the decepticons step out. Immediately the 'con saluted his leader saying, "Megatron, what a surprise, m-may I help you sir?"

"Yes, I need a couple of bond bracelets, and make this fast, I'm in a hurry."

"You mean you…you found a mate?"

"I did not come here to discuss my love life, just show me what you have."

And hastily the mech stepped behind his counter and pulled out his finest bond bracelets, knowing that the leader of the decepticons would not settle for anything but the best. Megatron browsed over them before a set of bond bracelets caught his optic. One was just a regular platinum band, obviously meant for the male in the relationship, the other had a platinum but it was adorned with a large amethyst surrounded by black diamonds, reminding him of Mercy. The decepticon leader pointed at them, "Those are the ones I want."

The mech nodded and produced them from the case, gently placing them inside a black velvet box. Megatron watched him as he did so and then asked, "How much are they?"

The 'con told him the price, they were highly expensive, but Megatron knew that they were worth it. After purchasing the bracelets, Megatron threw in another large sum of money saying, "Take that money, and don't you dare say a word about this to anyone."

The mech nodded, "Thank you sir, and my lips are sealed."

"Good," he said as he took the black box and placed it in his subspace. He opened another dimension gate and quickly stepped through it.

Megatron ended up at Mercy's home, feeling like it had been ages since he had last laid his optics upon it. It was such a relief to see, and he could feel his spark swell with comfort and reprieve knowing that he was so close to Mercy, that he was going to see her again. He only hoped that she would forgive him, that she would be glad to see him, because it was ecstasy just to be outside her home. But when he saw a police car in the driveway he quickly assumed his human form. A little leery as to what was going on, he went to the front door and knocked, as awkward as the situation was.

A few moments later the officer answered the door, he looked Megatron over before saying, "Ah Matt, how good it is to see you again."

Megatron immediately recognized him as Officer Rivera, the same man who had questioned him about Mercy's kidnapping. A bit concerned as to why the officer was there he asked, "What's going on?"

"I take it you haven't heard."

"Heard? Heard what?"

"Well, let me start by asking this, where were you when Mercy needed you the most?"

Megatron thought quickly, "I was out of town, why? What happened to her?" It was all he could do to refrain himself from grabbing hold of the officer's neck and strangling the information out of him.

The officer decided to toy with him a bit, "Well, I hate to be the one to tell you this then, but…"

Megatron closed his eyes not wanting to hear the rest. He felt his heart explode in agony as he prepared himself to hear the words that Mercy had died. Oh if only he had taken her with him! This never would have happened…

"Mercy got really sick; she's down in a hospital in Syracuse."

"You mean, she's still alive?"

"Of course she's alive!" the officer replied knowing that he had succeeded in convincing the poor man that the girl he loved had died, if only for ten seconds.

"Well how sick is she?"

"I don't know, sick enough to be transferred to a hospital in Syracuse."

"What hospital is she in?"

"St. Joseph's Health Center, I was here getting some of her clothes because the hospital requested them for testing or something, are you going down there?"

"Of course I'm going down there."

"Then perhaps you could take these down for me," the officer stated, handing him a bundle of clothes, "It'd save me gas money, with the prices of gas these days."

"Yeah right…if you don't mind me I'm going to go now," Megatron remarked as he walked over to his car form that was evenly parked in the driveway.

Officer Rivera watched him as he got in and buckled his seat belt before starting his engine and driving off down the road, in the direction of Syracuse. Shaking his head, the officer then locked up the residence and got behind the wheel of his squad car where he then proceeded to leave himself.

It was all Megatron could do to keep from driving over the speed limit. He was so worried about his Mercy; he wasn't even exactly sure what had happened to her to cause her to need to be in a hospital. She must have been really sick, and he betted it was from their last day together, when it was raining, and he had told her to go inside before she got sick…well, low and behold, she had gotten sick. He just hoped she wasn't too bad. But then again if she had been transferred to another hospital, it must have been bad.

"Oh if I had just taken her with me," he thought as he drove along, using the satellite technology via the internet to guide him on his way to St. Joseph's hospital, "None of this would have ever happened. But if Mercy had gotten sick I could have gotten her to a medic, not some human that will only cause her more pain and suffering."

He was just so anxious to see her again; it was like a hunger, a hunger he couldn't quench until he had her back, safe and sound, in his arms again. He couldn't wait to touch her and smell her and taste her and hold her, and this time he would have her for eternity instead of an eternity without her.

"Hang on just a little longer Mercy, I'm coming for you."

A good hour and a half had gone by before Megatron finally pulled into the parking lot of St. Joseph's Health Center. It was a relief to be there, but it was an even bigger relief to know that only concrete walls separated him from his mate now. He was so worried about her though it was all he could do to keep himself from transforming and ripping the hospital to shreds until he found his precious Mercy. Assuming his human form, Megatron quickly climbed out of his car form and half walked, half ran into the hospital.

It had been so long since they had last seen each other, or so it felt…

The automatic doors slid open for him and he unwillingly slowed his pace when he saw a Caution: Wet Floor sign standing up from the floor. He glanced around, unsure of what to do and his eyes landed on a receptionist's desk. The decepticon leader walked up to it, and the lady sitting behind the desk asked in a sweet voice, "Hello sir, may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a Mercy LeCroix."

"I'm sorry sir; visitors are not permitted into her room at this time."

Megatron felt concern and unease course through him, "Why not?"

"She's too sick to see anybody, and we don't want her illness spreading."

"Well, how sick is she?"

"I cannot disclose that information to you unless you are an immediate family member."

Megatron couldn't believe this; he had journeyed so far just to get his love back only to have this happen. He was not about to give up though, he would get to his Mercy one way or another…and he was so terrified for her now. He had to see her, before something happened, before he really did lose her.

"Look, ma'am, I'm…" he struggled for the right words to say, "Her and I are more than just friends and you may not understand, but I need to see her."

The lady pursed her lips to the side, "Well…could I have your name please? Seeing no one else has come to visit her there might be a slight chance that I can get you in, if only for five minutes, to see her."

"I would greatly appreciate that. I was sent down with some of her belongings as well."

The receptionist nodded, "Yes, Mercy's been craving her own clothes for a while now. She can't wear them yet, but it might do her some good to know she has some clothes here. Now, your name please?"

Megatron decided to use the only human name he had disguised himself as that Mercy would know, "Thor Collins."

The receptionist wrote his name down and got up from the desk saying, "Wait here, I'll be right back." And she disappeared behind a corner.

Megatron sighed heavily leaning against the countertop, "Please Primus be on my side one last time…please let me see her."

And he began one of the most excruciating waits of his life.

So, will Megatron be permitted to see Mercy? You'll have to find out in the next chapter, until then, please review!