"In literature and in life we ultimately pursue, not conclusions, but beginnings."

~Sam Tanenhaus

>>•<<

June eventually stopped struggling, watching as Arcee, Wheeljack, Jack, and Agent Fowler conversed quietly, Arcee with a digit to her audio receptor to turn on her comlink. The angry woman looked up at the warlord's face, her body twisted slightly in a painful manner, but she wasn't about to complain to him.

"If you think they're going to exchange three people for one, then you're wrong." She snaps.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Ms. Darby." Megatron replies, mouth twisted into a smirk. His sharp teeth reminded her of a shark. "Humans are rather noble when it comes to saving their own."

"Not if they're worth much less. You need to give them more than just me if you want all three of them."

"And what do you suggest? They already have many of the Iacon relics in their possession, and have no desire for a Decepticon prisoner." His red optics shined a little brighter. "If you're trying to convince me to just take you and leave, then you're going to have to try harder than that."

June glared, and she wished that Agent Fowler hadn't taken her pepper spray. Sure, she would probably die from being dropped at such a height, but zapping the 'Con in the face would be completely worth it.

"Optimus will stop you." She said confidently. "He will come here and leave you with less than you already have!"

"It's rather intriguing how much faith you put in Optimus Prime." Came the unintimidated and rather arrogant reply. "If I recall, he is the one who failed to rescue your precious children in the first place. Did you know that I defeated him on the bridge of my own ship whilst all three of them watched? Only after Jack intervened did everyone escape."

Her heart faltered slightly. "You're lying."

"I can see how you would come to such a conclusion, but unfortunately, your accusation is misplaced." Megatron sneered at her. "I have beaten Optimus Prime many times before, and it has only been with the help of his team members that he has survived this far. Tell me, Ms. Darby, why do you believe so strongly in the Prime?"

She paused. She couldn't admit to the Decepticon that she did, maybe, sort of, have a tiny crush on the noble, strong, cool, collected, and incredibly kind Autobot leader, which was part of the reason. But she believed in him because he seemed undefeatable; while many Autobots had fallen, Optimus Prime still strode proudly through the carnage, and brought victory to his team members.

He was something that she thought men lacked in. All of those things she saw in him were the things she had hoped to find in a boyfriend, and eventually husband, but after the nasty saga that was "Mr. Darby," she really had lost hope in most of the male population. Jack proved that some men out there weren't so bad, however she couldn't bring herself to trust anyone.

Except Optimus Prime.

Megatron took her silence to be a negative. "Nothing to say, Ms. Darby? Have you truly based your belief on nothing?"

"I . . . I can't put it into words." She finally admits, but in an effort to defy him further she added. "Because the reasons I believe in him transcend comprehensive thought."

This earned her a rather satisfactory pause from the Decepticon leader, as his optics narrowed and his smirk dropped into a partial snarl. "Do you think my processors are too simplistic to understand such complicated language? I know what you mean, and it only confirms my question." His fist tightened slightly against her, and she grunted softly in pain. "Don't take me for a fool, Ms. Darby."

She felt her ribcage caving in, finding it hard to breath as her lungs couldn't inflate properly. She wriggled and squirmed, tears springing to her eyes as she fought for breath. "I can't . . . Breathe . . ."

A surprised expression flickered over his faceplates before he unfurled his digits and laid his palm flat, allowing her to rest in his hand and catch her breath. His external scanners detected a slight rush of adrenaline through her body as she inhaled and exhaled for longer periods of time than usually necessary.

June stayed in that position a few more seconds than she honestly needed to, wanting to catch her breath and silently hoping that he didn't try to squish her again. All he had to do was let his awareness of his own strength slip, and he could crush her effortlessly.

The Autobots that huddled together were not aware of the events going on behind them, instead talking in hushed voices about what they should do.

::Optimus, we have five minutes to figure this out, or else he's taking June.:: Arcee snapped over the comlink after she had proposed Megatron's deal and got a negative response from Ratchet. ::And I would bet on it that he's going to use her like he did Jack, Miko, and Rafael.::

::I'm not really sure why we should even be arguing. Of course we'll go in exchange for June!:: Miko replied. ::Maybe while we're there we can kick some Decepticon tailpipe.::

"No." Jack intervened. "You don't know what it's like there, Miko. It's . . . It's not good."

Arcee looked up at her partner. "Jack, what are you talking about?"

::Jack, has Megatron hurt you, in any way?:: Optimus sounded both concerned and incredibly angry.

"That's not important right now." Jack changed the subject. "We need to come up with a plan where we can get my mom back and keep Miko and Raf out of this."

"What about you?" Arcee narrowed her optics. "You think I'm just going to let you run off again?"

::We have no time to argue.:: Optimus cut in. ::If there is a solution to this, speak up now.::

The comlink was silent for ten seconds too long.

::Look, I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to see Jack's mom get hurt. So, I'm going.:: Miko broke the silence.

::I'll go too.:: Rafael agreed.

"I can't ask you guys to do this." Jack sounded very lost and helpless. He didn't want to put Miko and Rafael through the pain and borderline torture that he had to go through. They of all people didn't deserve such a thing; he could take it now that he was used to it. But his friends? No way.

::Then don't ask. We'll do it anyways.:: Miko retorted. ::Ratchet, get a Groundbridge there, will ya?::

::I don't like the sound of any of this.:: The medic grumbled.

::Hurry up! We've got less than five minutes!:: Arcee cut the comlink, turning around and walking back over to Megatron. "We've accepted your terms. Miko and Raf will be Groundbridged here soon."

"I knew you could listen to reason." Megatron purred, still holding the human woman in his servo, though he had released his grip on her and now just let her sit in his palm.

June looked at her son, her eyes welling up with tears. After a moment, she looked back up at her captor. "Can I have a moment with Jack? Please?"

So many tricks could happen here, violations of their agreement, if he handed her over to the boy. But he had the spark of Optimus Prime, and no doubt would go to Megatron once the two other experiments were in his grasp. He could be an honest mech when he wanted, but that was not to say he wasn't cunning as well.

"Once I have Miko and Rafael in my possession, I suppose I can give you such a luxury." He said after a long moment of silence.

"Time with my son is not a luxury." She snarls.

"Be nice, or I may consider giving you a time limit as well."

The statement silenced her. He was willing to give her all the time in the world for Jack? That was incredibly unlike him, being so . . . Kind, she supposed was the word.

After only a few seconds a Groundbridge opened up beside them, Miko and Rafael walking through carefully, their guardians nowhere in sight. Once they had exited the bridge closed, Megatron gesturing to the portal behind him.

"To my ship, if you would so please."

Miko stuck her tongue out at him before silently following orders, Rafael following her. Jack came up in front of the warlord, extending his servo.

"My mom."

"But of course. What kind of a villain do you believe me to be?" Megatron put his palm next to Jack's, carefully tilting his servo so that the woman could slide out and onto her son's palm.

"Jack . . ." She wanted to cry, hug him, kiss him, comfort him, anything to make him feel better. He once again smiled at her.

"I'm okay mom . . . Are you?"

She nodded. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Just a little shaken." Her laugh was somewhat forced. "The milk run with Agent Fowler went a little . . . Sour, but we're both okay."

"I'm glad." His blue optics were both bright and soft, an expression of love settling on his features. "My escape plan didn't work out nearly as well either, but I will come back you again, mom. I promise."

"Come back to me alive, okay?" She walked closer to his face, and with little prompting he brought her close, allowing her to give him a slightly awkward but still overwhelmingly emotional hug. "And I'll, uh, consider ungrounding you from that stunt you pulled when the world was ending, okay?"

Jack laughed. "Okay mom. I love you."

"I love you too." He couldn't help but smile as she kissed him on the cheek. The smooth, warm metal was quite literally alien to her, but she didn't care. That was her son, and she loved him regardless.

They looked at one another with unreadable expressions for a long time before Jack finally vented, kneeling and putting his mother on the ground, spark aching as he let her go. Standing, and not wanting to say anything that would ruin the moment, he walked away from her and into the Groundbridge.

June watched him go, the group of Autobots well behind her. Letting out a sigh of longing and pain, she turned to go.

"Ah, ah, ah." Megatron broke the emotional silence, the sound of his cannon warming up making her blood run cold. "There is one little thing that you Autobots didn't uphold."

Arcee grit her teeth, unable to believe that despite getting what he wanted, Megatron still decided to play dirty. "How?! We gave you Jack, Miko, and Rafael! You have all you want!"

"I gave you five minutes to come to a conclusion." He smirked, aiming his cannon at the human woman. "You took five minutes, twenty seconds. So, June Darby is mine."

June took off in a sprint. If she could just make it to the Autobots-

"No!" Arcee screamed as the warlord fired, the blast hitting the ground right where June was running toward, dust kicking up and obscuring the carnage. He fired three more times to ensure the job was done, Arcee and Wheeljack unloading their own weapons on him.

The dust cleared, all that was left of the nurse and the ground she had stood upon was black ash and dirt, all mixed in together.

"June . . ." Agent Fowler felt something like a knife gut him and spill his innards on the ground, Arcee stopping in her assault to gape in horror at the remains.

"You monster!" She screamed again, but Megatron simply laughed.

"If I could not have her, than neither can you." He replies, lowering his weapon as Arcee knelt to the ground, picking of a handful of black remains. He felt no sympathy for her as energon tears leaked from her optics; though he was surprised, as Arcee was never one to cry. "Thank you for your cooperation in making matters go as smoothly as possible. I hope we can negotiate sometime again; you Autobots are so very reasonable." And with that, he stepped into the Groundbridge, making it disappear.

Arcee wanted to take some time to mourn, but then the cry of Insecticons brought her back to reality.

Fine, I'll take my rage out on those scrap piles first. But I will have your head, Megatron!

>>•<<

You guys may not have noticed, but I made a new cover! I am so proud of it to be honest. Also, "Conclusion" does not mean this is the end; the chapter titled "Epilogue" will signal the end. Thanks for reading guys, and I hope you enjoy the new cover!

Scene: Megatron shoots at June Darby.