This is the second to the last chapter. It's also the last fully written chapter, for I haven't finished the next one yet. And being as I intend to have homework tonight, I doubt it will be finished by this time tomorrow. So you'll have to wait a bit longer for the last chapter... though I suppose it shouldn't be too bad given my track record of not updating for several months... I hereby swear to finish the chapter within a week's time of this update.

Given this stories imminent end, I've been trying to decide on which story to upload next. My poll is open for a couple more days, and whichever of those stories I focus on will be in addition to another new one. But I don't want to make the mistake I made when I first came to this website; uploading stories which I enjoyed writing the beginning to, but as soon as we reach the actual conflict I loose interest.

Well, enjoy this next chapter. And again, thanks to everyone who reviewed!

~Optimus

I raced towards the city from behind it, able to see Megatron already. The fight was clearly evenly matched, but I knew that Megatron would have a one-tracked mind. I'd promised the boy that we wouldn't let Megatron get ahold of him again, and I'm not about to let that promise down.

Ignoring the cars and civilians fleeting the battle, I wove between the buildings. I quickly identified everyone's general locations as I ran, to decide exactly where I needed to be. Jazz was pestering Megatron, obviously in an attempt to distract him from the boy- who apparently still held the Allspark -but he was on the ground now, immobile. Samuel was at the edge of the building, and Megatron wasn't reeling in his attacks at all.

Still too far away, I pushed myself harder to get there before Samuel was hit. I scaled a smaller building, jumping to the next highest on my way, hoping to get high enough up to reach them. But the ascension slowed me down, and Megatron sent Samuel flying from the edge of the building.

I swung around, changing my trajection to the alley between the building they'd been atop and the one next to it. Still rather high up, I had to grab onto the walls of both as I caught Samuel, to avoid going too far.

He stared up at me in shock and terror- the same terror that he'd had when we first got him. He's a strong boy, but what Megatron's done to him is inexcusable. If I didn't know better, I'd think his eyes were fixed directly on me, despite his blindness.

"I've got you, boy." I assured him, proving I hadn't broken my promise. "Hold on." I held him tight over my armor, so he and the Allspark both remained secure as we made our descent. I couldn't just drop; we were too high up and the impact would throw him off. So I had to slide down, using the buildings to slow our descent.

A roar of rage was heard above- "PRIME" -but Samuel remained completely calm, even as Megatron threw himself down at us and threw us to the ground. He skidded across the street when we landed.

Both Megatron and I took a moment to reorientate ourselves, and I quickly put the boy down behind me as I got up. "Get out of here, Samuel." I warned him, readying for Megatron's next attack.

Now that I'm here, he can't afford to focus solely on the boy and the Allspark. But he was enraged and getting up before me, so he had time to knock me back. I held me ground and drove this fight away from Samuel, hoping to drive the Decepticons away. My men were holding their ground fairly well. The soldiers at the far end of the street were still fighting with conviction, and this battle was far from over.

We were secluded from the others now. I wanted one of the others, any of them, to come and get Samuel out of here since he obviously was unable to follow my instructions and escape. But they were all too caught up in their own fights. Is it his inability to see that keeps him there? Was there someone else that helped him run through earlier? Or is it his fear of Megatron that kept him there?

"You have no rights to keep that human, Prime. How amusing it would be to see you try." Megatron sneered at me, readying a blast. I dodged.

"No one keeps the humans. They are as independent as you and I- you know this." I argued, wondering how he even came up with the idea to keep the boy as he had. Megatron is many things, but this was unexpected even of him.

"Clearly you have never held such authority over your own soldiers, let along a lesser life form." He scoffed, blasting me again. This time it stuck, but I used the momentum against him and threw him off his feet.

I didn't answer, appalled by it all. I want to know why would he do this? Our war is over the Allspark, and yet he gets distracted by soiling the Cybertronian name more than it already is?

He got a look at Samuel behind me and tried to blast past me, but I blocked it and sent it back, shaking my head.

"It's just you and me!" I drove him back again.

"NO, IT'S JUST ME, PRIME!" He rapid fired, trying to get the upper hand and throw me. He's getting compromised, and I felt fairly confident that he got too distracted with one young, blind human.

I shook my head, throwing him back again. "At the end of the day, one shall stand and one shall fall."

He tried to dodge me, which made him falter slightly, but he crouched in on himself and primed for another strike-back. "You still fight for the weak, Prime. THAT IS WHY YOU LOSE!"

All of the sudden, he lunged forward and struck me back. I hadn't expected his and was thrown, all the way back where I started. All the ground I'd gained was lost so quickly. And Samuel still sat there, face raised as if watching us but his head didn't move to follow any movements.

I glanced toward Megatron, already flying towards us and I knew I couldn't push him back quickly enough. There wasn't enough ground between Samuel and us this time, but he still held the Allspark.

Jazz's words came back to me. We won't be keeping the Cube through the battle, and this is it. I steeled my nerves and turned to Samuel. I can't say for sure what will happen to the rest of them, but keeping the Allspark out of Megatron's hands is more important than staying here long enough to watch him destroy everything with it.

"Samuel, put it into my chest." I insisted, readying to open my spark chamber. His expression didn't change, and he didn't move. "Hurry." I insisted. Megatron was almost upon us.

But Samuel shook his head, closing his eyes and jumping forward just as Megatron reached us. He said something I didn't catch, because in that exact moment, the Cube itself fused into Megatron's spark casing, into his spark, and overrode his systems. The pure power of it melted his protoform, and a spark-wrenching scream of pain filled the air while he grabbed at his chest.

I swung an arm out to pull Samuel out of the way just before Megatron fell forward, silent and still.

The entire street was silent and still.

The Cube was gone. The battle over. Decepticons fled, having no idea what to do now that Megatron was offline and the very object they waged war over was destroyed.

But now it's all over, and I found myself gripping Samuel with both hands, holding onto him like a lifeline just as he had the Cube.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

~Sam

After the battle was over, it didn't seem like really anything had changed. There were still people moving around, still chunks of debris everywhere, and still people shouting. Once the area was declared safe, more government people came in and took control of the situation.

"You people have a lot of explaining to do." One particularly loud man demanded of the Autobots.

"Sir, can personally vouch for them, if I need to." Lennox stepped forward.

"I don't care what you have to say. I want to know what happened here, and why you're here."

"I would be happy to speak with you, but if you'll allow some time to repair some of the damage done here and for my medical officer to look at some of my men..." Optimus spoke reasonably, still holding me as if he'd completely forgotten.

"I want you out of here and contained back at S-7, and we can take care of the rubble here." The loud man- louder than Simmons had been -demanded. "If you're really on our side, then you're going to cooperate fully. I don't want any of this getting out, so get this on a down-low as soon as possible. You, and you. Escort these aliens back to Sector Seven."

"Yessir."

"And because I don't know how to react to this, I'm going to pretend you aren't carrying that kid around like that. Put the kid down. Non-negotiable. I don't know how he fits into any of this, but I'm not dealing with that."

Optimus crouched and set me down silently, and I just stood there.

"Come here, kid." The man was obviously not willing to come closer and get me. I didn't respond. "You, come over here."

I remained where I stood. No, I hear you. But I don't want to go over there. I like these Autobots, and I don't want to leave them. It's with them that I hear the thrum, and it's with them that I am cared for. I don't really remember much of my life on Earth, back with my parents, but I know I belong here now.

"Samuel," Optimus crouched beside me. "It's alright."

I shook my head. "I don't want to go."

"It's only for a little bit. Allow the humans this much, and we'll find you again when things settle down." He insisted, touching my shoulder.

I shook my head again, and turned towards Bumblebee. My guardian. The one that sounded like he'd keep me from my former master. In reality, they all had. But I don't want to leave him especially right now. I can feel his pain from his legs, reflected in his aura. I remember laying with him that night after we landed. I don't want to be anywhere else right now. I don't want to go back into the unknown. Those humans were monsters from what I'd seen with the Cube, how can I trust them?

"Go on. It'll only be for a little bit." Optimus insisted again. "We'll be fine, and so will you. You're safe now."

I took a couple steps forward. He's just trying to avoid a scene. He wants to cooperate with the humans, to show them they are trustworthy. I don't want to ruin that, but I don't want to go.

I took a couple more steps forward. Someone- an unknown aura -grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

"I suggest the rest of you join us." The loud man- even louder this close -finished as he followed us toward a normal vehicle. It held no spark.

We were the head of the convoy, taking the path back the way we'd come. Behind us was another human vehicle, and then it was Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet. Bumblebee was with Ratchet, explaining the medic's overly large ambulance wagon he sported. Behind them was another human vehicle carrying the soldiers. Taking our place at the city was a new team of emergency vehicles to start cleaning up the mess.

"What's your name, kid?" The man asked me.

I ignored him. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want anything to do with humans right now. Those soldiers I might be able to handle, but I still can't forget the conditions we'd taken the Allspark out of.

"Are you deaf as well as blind?" He demanded, getting irritated with me. I turned my face towards him, feeling the vehicle get cooler with my glare. It's a physical thing, or maybe I was just getting cooler.

"Sam." I think that's the first time I've said my own name, and it still bothers me. It doesn't bother me to hear the Autobots say it anymore, but these people? My name isn't for them.

"Sam, hu? Alright. I'm Director Galloway. So what's your story? I wasn't told there was a kid involved- how old are you?"

I stayed quiet, turning my face downward again.

"So you're going to make this difficult, aren't you?" He was getting really annoyed with me. I don't really care. "Alright, so tell me, what are you hiding? Why are you protecting these aliens?"

"With all due respect," I wrinkled my nose and took the same tone I would with Starscream, "I trust them a lot more than I do you right now. I only agreed to come because Optimus didn't want to make a scene. I'm just waiting until I can ditch you and run back to them."

"Well I'm going to tell you upfront that isn't going to work." He started to drop his fake patient tone. "The less I trust those things, the less likely it's going to be I'll let you go back to them. So you better start talking. Convince me to let you go."

I glared through the darkness towards his voice, not particularly fond of his aura.

"How long have you known them?" He started again.

I leaned forward, ready to play his game. "Five days."

"Excuse me?" He was shocked. I guess I'm awful at gauging time since my only indication of night and day is how the people around me act- I can't exactly feel the sun's aura -but I'm guessing about five days.

"I've only known the Autobots for five days, but I trust them with my life. I can't tell you a whole lot about them, then, but I can tell you a lot about the Decepticons." I smirked.

"Then tell me about these 'Decepticons'. Who are they?"

"They're the ones that made me blind and killed my parents." I stated with a straight face. "Go ahead, ask who the Autobots are again."

He gave a sigh of irritation. "Who are the Autobots?"

"They're the ones that saved me from the Decepticons and gave me a family. Now ask me who the humans are." I encouraged.

"I don't have time for this-"

"Ask me."

He was silent for a minute, during which time I could only assume I was receiving my own glare. Then, "Who are the humans?"

"I honestly don't know." I gave a cheeky grin. "Do you see where I'm coming from now? Now if you'd just pull over here so I can go back with one of them..."

"Keep driving." Galloway turned away from me, letting me lean back into the backseat in peace. I get the feeling we won't be getting along. "I want this kid checked out when we get back. He's obviously undergone trauma with these aliens."

I wanted to write the aft-end of this chapter from Sam's pov, but originally I'd written the last half of the battle from his view. But that ended up not working out, being as it ruined a point I am saving for the next/last chapter. So I sort of bridged the end of the battle with what happens after. Good move? Bad move? I don't know, but it worked out better than the original version I had. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it's adequate.

The final chapter is in the works. I will tell you that I've got the meat of it worked out, all that's left is the icing. Basically, the next chapter will be a ham disguised as a cake...

I'm just going to make a small note again; if anyone is interested in beta-ing a story for me, PM me and I'll give you a bit more information on it so you know if you're actually interested or not. If you like my stories- especially the newer ones -then I guess that isn't a guarantee you'd be interested in this one, but it's a pretty good indicator. I just don't want to post any information about it here until it's actually done. I'll give the name in the last AN of the last chapter here so it feels like a Marvel movie... except not as good. (If Marvel still owned Transformers, the movies would have been great).

Thanks for reading. One chapter to go!