A/N: I know I say it every chapter, but you guys are amazing! I am so humbled by all your kind comments and encouragement. As a reward and to celebrate my book signing tomorrow I'm going to give you guys a special treat. I'll offer you my sci-fi novel at 50% off the cover price. All you have to do is go to Smashwords and look for Sorrow's Fall. Use the code PS95Q at checkout to get an ebook copy for $.99. The code will only be good until Sunday Nov 18th, so hurry ^_^

Okay enough self promotion. This chapter has been on my mind since I started this fic and I hope it comes across the way I intended. Megatron is such a smug bastard. :/ My poor Oppy :(

Optimus was careful to keep his servos from tightening too much on June as her small form curled in his palm. He kept his eyes ahead keeping track of Starscream. The seeker seemed much more volatile now than ever before. He didn't want to risk June getting hurt. The Eradicons and Vehicons they passed made crude comments and outright threats. He ignored them. Any response would be the wrong response.

The pull from the matrix was there again. A deep insistent yearning that he didn't know how to fill. It had always lead him to finding what he needed before, so what was it leading him to now? Starscream slowed, his wings twitching as Soundwave appeared.

"There you are. Inform Lord Megatron that I am moving the prisoner to the bridge as requested."

Soundwave inclined his head then a picture formed on his visor. Starscream growled. "Knockout poisoned himself with some zinc laced energon. He is not my concern."

The picture zoomed in to show a tiny figure standing on top of the vial. Instinctively, Optimus clenched his servos tighter. June was shaking.

"A human? Here?" Starscream rounded on Optimus. "Where is she?! How did you get her on board?"

Optimus remained silent looking over Starscream's head. He staggered to the side, the blow to his helm dazing him for a moment. Pain flared and he vented forcefully as Starscream stabbed dagger sharp servos into his side.

"You will tell me, Prime. Or I will make you a cripple again."

"What-what could one human do here, Starscream? She is alone, without resources, without help. So why are you so afraid?"

"I am not afraid of humans."

Optimus groaned as talons curled, raking through his barely healed chassis.

"But what you say is true, she is on her own. Soundwave, have all ship sensors set to detect organic life. I will not have vermin on my ship." He yanked his servos free, leaving a fresh trail of energon.

Optimus clamped his elbow over the wound to try and stem the leak. He was careful not to look down at June. He didn't know what to do to keep her safe. They would find her at this rate and then she'd be killed. He could not allow that. He glanced around. Starscream was talking to Soundwave. The Eradicons were obviously bored, talking among themselves. No one was paying him any real attention. He opened his hand and stared. June was gone. Then he felt it, the small movements along the underside of his arm. The pain had prevented him from realizing she was crawling along his arm. What was she doing? His vents hitched as she reached the wound. He shuddered, optics closing for a moment as she reached in and touched the punctured line. His self repair systems would deal with it, but he couldn't tell her that or risk alerting the others to her presence. Then she was sliding down his leg. He watched, optics wide as she ran straight for Soundwave. He pressed his mouth shut, the urge to call out to her and stop her almost too strong to ignore. What was she thinking? She scrambled up the back of Soundwave's stabilizer and disappeared from view. Was that how she'd managed to get on the ship in the first place?

Starscream glanced over and he quickly averted his optics, afraid to give her away. He shifted away as Starscream came so close he could feel the seeker's electromagnetic field. Deep red optics bored into his own and then he was being shoved along the corridor again. He kept an optic on Soundwave as long as he could, but the information expert was already leaving. He would just have to trust that June would be careful. There was nothing he could do for her.

###

Megatron strode though his ship. He was . . . Excited wasn't quite the right term. Eager might be more like it. It was that high similar to the one he'd get before a gladiatorial bout. Optimus was in his custody. Finally! After vorn up vorn of fighting, manipulating and deceiving, he finally had the Prime in his possession. And this time there would be no reason to coddle an amnesiac, no this time he could bring his full might to bear on the one he'd once called brother.

Catching sight of Soundwave he grinned. "Soundwave, is the prisoner ready?"

Soundwaved nodded and gestured to the medical bay. Optimus had spent the night in the brig under full restraint and heavy guard. It had pleasured Megatron to see him struggle every so often against the force field holding him in place. Now, he was on his way to the medical bay for the first phase of his plan. He was going to break down everything Optimus had ever believed and do so without Alpha Trion or Jazz or any of the others around to whisper things in his ear.

The bay door opened, startling Knockout who skittered to the side. He still looked unwell from his ordeal. Maybe it was time for a new medic. Shockwave had several apprentices that would do nicely. He turned to see the two tables. Optimus was already strapped down to one, blue optics flashing with unasked questions.

"Optimus . . . So good to see you." Megatron drawled.

"What is the meaning of this Megatron?"

"Oh, you'll see soon enough. You see I recently had cause to use this device to confirm the loyalty of a certain seeker. Now I'm going to use it to find out where you sent the rest of the Autobots."

He smirked at the shocked expression that was quickly covered by a glare. "I will reveal nothing to you Megatron."

"You won't have a choice. Smokescreen tried, but it did him no good either." Megatron gestured to Knockout. "Knockout, begin the procedure."

"Yes Lord Megatron."

"You will not win this Megatron. I will see to it that the Earth is safe from your machinations." How long had it been since he'd seen such pure rage on that familiar face. It was a beautiful sight.

"I think not. Once we are done here you will be calling me 'Master'."

He laid back on the table clearing his processor as Knockout attached the cables. One moment he was looking up at the ceiling the next he was looking out across the Iacon cityscape. It was untouched by the ravages of war, pristine, beautiful and empty. Stepping forward he looked around.

"Show yourself Prime. I know you are here. I should have known this was what the inside of your mind looks like."

Optimus stepped out from behind a pillar. "What do you really know of me Megatron?"

"Do you not remember our long conversations back when you were still a simple librarian coding data."

"I do remember. I remember that we once fought for the same ideals."

"Freedom! We fought for freedom, Optimus, but you lost sight of the goal long ago. Once they named you Prime you became something different. Now it is time to end this war. Show me where the others are and I might let you live long enough to watch them captured."

The scene around them flickered and for the barest moment they were at the base. "No." Optimus growled, shaking his head. "No, I will not betray my friends."

"You betrayed me." Megatron stepped closer. "You who I called brother. You choose to further your own selfish ambition over helping me end the caste system."

"I did nothing of the sort. I did not choose the name Prime like you chose the name Megatron. The title was thrust upon me by the council and then made reality by Sentinel Prime himself."

"Semantics. If you had just stuck with me, Optimus think of the things we could have accomplished. Instead of this senseless war we could have ushered in a new era on Cybertron. We could have restored the Space Bridges and reopened the trade routes. Velocitron, Junkion . . . Those could have been part of our empire, not battlegrounds."

"You know I couldn't go along with your methods Megatron. We spoke of this then. Your penchant for violent conquest goes against every circuit of my being. You poisoned our home with the dark energon just as you poisoned yourself and your followers. Instead of grasping at every means of control you should have been looking for ways to bring about peace."

"How could there be peace? If I had let you do things your way, we would still be in front of the council arguing for the abolishment of the caste system. When they sent you on the quest for the Matrix of Leadership, they were trying to buy themselves time. Well I wasn't going to let them get away with it. I knew that if you want power you must seize it with both servos and never let go."

Optimus shook his head his gaze falling to the floor. "You never understood that grasping at power like that only harms you as much as it harms others."

Megatron laughed, the sound echoing in the empty courtyard. "And you never understood why the sacrifice was necessary. I was ready to die for my right to freedom. Isn't that what you are always saying Optimus? That it is the right of every sentient being to freedom, so why do you fight me so hard when all I want is my own freedom?"

"Because your version of freedom means the enslavement of those who do not share your particular vision. You have trapped yourself in your own delusion, Megatron."

"My delusion? What about your's Optimus? This constant need to defy me at every turn had caused more destruction and desolation that I could have ever achieved on my own. You ejected the All Spark. You caused the destruction of Junkion. You destroyed the Omega Lock. Do we not see a pattern here, Prime? Your choices have consistently lead to death and destruction. If you had listened to me none of this would have happened."

Optimus was silent for a long moment. "True thought that may be, I could never have gone along with your methods. The deaths you caused those early days before the war, fellow Cybertronians you sacrificed for your crusade, showed me that your way would never be peaceful whether I stood up to you or not."

"And what now? You have doomed all Cybertronians to a lingering death. You have destroyed the last hope we had of restoring our planet. All over one spec of dust in a remote galaxy. You betrayed your own kind Prime. You have violated the very Covenant of the Primes. You are the one responsible for our destruction as a race. Not me. The Omega Lock was the only link we still had to the All Spark. Now it's gone and we could spend the rest of eternity searching for the All Spark and never find it."

The scene around them shifted and Megatron's eyes narrowed seeing the Great Hall. It's grand sweeping arches rivaled anything he'd seen on any planet. The wide open space glittered in the light.

"It was not our only means of locating that All Spark." Optimus spoke haltingly, as if trying to contain the information. He visibly struggled with himself and it took a moment before he spoke again. "I would not have been forced to take such drastic measure if you had not threatened earth. As always your need to control everything around you got the better of you. You had won the battle. You had the keys. You had the means to restore Cybertron so why? Why go that far?"

Megatron strode forward until he was peering down at Optimus. He let a slow smile spread across his faceplate. "To watch you break. It wasn't enough that I would be the savior of Cybertron. No, that would not have been enough. You still would have those loyal to you, just because you are a Prime. I had to make you destroy everything being a Prime stands for. Now, they will see that you are nothing. Nothing but a traitor, a genocidal maniac."

Optimus stepped back shaking his head. "No-"

"Yes. Sentinel Prime died a coward in the bowels of Cybertron, forsaking his title and duty. You took up the mantle only to continue his legacy."

The scene around them changed again and Megatron chuckled as he watched the scene unfold. Ratchet stood at the command console surrounded by the other Autobots, judging from the expression on his face he was very upset.

"He did what?!" Ratchet turned to face Optimus. "Optimus . . . We needed that."

The scene was ripped away and now they stood on an asteroid. Megatron roared with laughter. Once he was finally in control of himself he looked over spotting Optimus watching him with wary optics. It was clear to him that Optimus was fighting the cortical psychic patch but things such as he'd just seen were bleeding through the longer they talked. It was only a matter of time.

"Lets go back to that memory. I want to see the betrayal on his face, hear it in his voice again."

"No! No . . ."

Megatron smirked. That moment must be a particularly agonizing one for Optimus. "Alright have it your way, but we both know that they all feel the same way. Abandoned."

Optimus shook his head and turned his back on Megatron. "I have not abandoned anyone or anything."

"You abandoned Cybertron when you took off in the Arc, fleeing like a coward."

"You left me no choice! You told me to get off Cybertron so I did, yet you still-still came after us intent on destroying anyone with any free thought in their processor."

"I do not coerce my followers Prime. I never have. They choose to follow me because of what I represent. Freedom. What do you represent to your followers? A past that is best forgotten. The age of the Primes is over. Now begins the age of the Decepticons."

The connection was broken. Megatron sat up, smirk still firmly in place. He'd seen the stricken expression just before their connection ended. He'd succeeded. Getting up he looked over at Optimus. The blue optics were dull and he made no move to get up.

Knockout looked between the two of them, something unreadable in his optics. He must have been watching the entire exchange on the monitor.

"Knockout, have the Eradicons take our prisoner back to the brig. You and I have some things to discuss."