Chapter 15 - In which our story concludes

This is the last chapter, everybody! I really hope that you've enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear your overall impressions now that it's finished! This has been a ton of fun to write, but it's done now...or perhaps it is just beginning? ;)

A warning - this chapter has slash in it. If you're not a fan, you might want to skip this chapter and pretend it ended with chapter 14.

Starscream felt giddy.

The energon was nearly finished now and the main hall was littered with empty cubes and bottles. All of the energon-cakes had been consumed (at least half of them by Blitzwing, who had then thrown them back up outside to the horror of Ultra Magnus). In the mirth and celebration, Megatron had completely forgotten to poison the Autobots, and like the Decepticons they were drunk on oil and high-grade, Mixmaster and Scrapper taking turns coming up with rude limericks about what Megatron was going to do to Starscream by the end of the night. Sentinel had finally taken off his battle mask, and was singing old war songs with Lugnut and Lockdown, despite only Lockdown ever having been involved in an actual war. Nobody had noticed, either, that the two human guests, the Sumdacs, had both disappeared mysteriously, and by now were safely back at Sumdac Tower.

Blackarachnia was dancing with Optimus - it was getting late now, and Soundwave had turned to blaring out corny romantic ballads that none of the Decepticons would have been able to stand, had they been sober. Bumblebee was trying to teach Bulkhead how to dance, while Jazz and Prowl sat together in a corner, giving each other a shy kiss on the cheek now and then. Blitzwing had told all of the guests about the earth custom for the bride to throw a bouquet to the next bride-to-be, but not having any flowers big enough, Starscream had decided to throw an entire packet of energon candy. Prowl had caught it and subsequently shot a shy smile towards Jazz, much to Sentinel Prime's dismay. Thundercracker had managed to get Skywarp incredibly drunk, and the two were spinning all around the room, knocking into people in a fast dance that wasn't in time to the slow beat at all.

Starscream had been dancing with Megatron since the first song - now that he had the flier, Megatron was not in the mood to give him up, even for a dance. The seeker laid his head sleepily against his husband's shoulders, hand in hand, rocking side to side. Starscream smiled absently at the surroundings through the haze, glad that everything had gone well and for once both factions were having fun together. He nuzzled himself closer to Megatron happily, and he felt the Decepticon leader squeeze his hands tightly in return, leading Starscream in their sway to the gentle melodies.

Strange, thought the flier to himself, how happy and content he felt in the arms of the one he once despised. Stranger still to think that they were officially married now, and would lead the Decepticons together from now until they were deactivated. The large, silver arms around his waist pulled him closer, and Starscream could feel the warm spark pulsing - with his claim now firmly orbiting around it - behind the chest he was pressed against. More confident through the bubbly energon he had consumed, Starscream kissed at Megatron's neck.

He vaguely registered that something smelt a bit off in the room as he pecked at his new lover's neck, registering in the back of his processor that a curious looking orange robot was talking the head off Swindle. The arms dealer was, in fact, recharging and snoring loudly above the music, having consumed far too much oil, but this didn't seem to bother the orange robot one bit.

"When did Wreck-Gar crash the party?" Starscream laughed into Megatron's audio components. The silver mech shrugged carelessly, chuckling to himself, and turned his head to kiss Starscream on the nose. The seeker giggled, smiling lazily, and Megatron leaned his head on Starscream's. Suddenly, he noticed that Shockwave was tapping on his shoulder.

"It is all loaded up and ready for your departure, sire," Shockwave announced with a hint of a slur, not one known for holding his drink well. Megatron nodded.

"Then I leave you in charge until my…I mean, our return," he replied, smiling down at Starscream. He stopped swaying his little wife then, and gripped Starscream's hands firmly. "Optics closed," he commanded gently, and Starscream offlined his optics without a fuss this time. The flier felt himself being led forwards, away from the main hall - the noise, rude songs and chatter fading away behind him.

Megatron kissed his closed optics as a signal to open them again. When the seeker opened them, he saw a small holiday ship with the Decepticon insignia painted onto it, along with the words "Just married!!" in Blitzwing's scrawly handwriting. A tiny sign on the side marked the ship as being named "The Fear".

"Tell me, my dear…" Megatron murmured into his audios, "where would you like to go for our honeymoon?" Starscream beamed up at him, then leaned closer.

"How about…somewhere private…and secluded…just for us," he said flirtatiously. "How does Mars sound?"

"It sounds perfect," grinned the Decepticon leader roguishly, pushing Starscream into the ship gently. The ship seemed a lot like the Nemesis to Starscream in its interior - dim lights, purple and black decoration, with all of their presents piled into the control room. He gave it a quick tour, though there wasn't all that much to see - a storage room full of various essentials, energon and the like, a bedroom with a berth large enough to fit the both of them and then some, and a small leisure room filled with various trinkets. Soon, Megatron had arranged all of the controls, and they were blasted off Earth, away from the reception and into space.

The Decepticon leader waited a while to make sure the ship was in order and full working condition, setting a course for Mars, then turned on the auto-pilot and went to join Starscream's exploration of the ship.

"I would have thought you'd already started opening presents by now," he teased the seeker. Starscream seemed to only just remember that they had presents, and rushed back into the control room, dragging Megatron with him to start opening presents. "You do the honours," drawled the silver mech, smiling indulgently at Starscream's glittering optics as he looked around the presents.

"From Lugnut," Starscream said, picking up the label of a small package. He ripped off the wrapping paper like a child on Christmas, then stared at the presents, confused. Megatron frowned.

"What is it?" he asked. Starscream held up a wide data pad - on it was a crude, childish drawing of Starscream and Megatron holding hands, Megatron in a top hat and Starscream in a veil. Above it was written "Mightee Leadars" in thick letters. Megatron roared with laughter at how terrible the two figures were, though he supposed it was a nice try, at least.

From Blackarachnia, a selection of paints for Starscream's lip components, which the recipient was not too impressed with. From Wreck-Gar, a toilet seat with fishes on, though, being giant alien robots, neither Megatron nor Starscream could figure out what its purpose was. From Swindle, a kit for cleaning weapons - the first gift that had actually been useful in some way. From Lockdown, a 50 percent discount on his services for the next millennium, which Megatron perhaps appreciated much more than Starscream. A card from the Elite-Guard with well-wishings in place of a gift, as agreed previously. Blitzwing had constructed an ice-cube maker based on his own schematics - although it looked a little odd, the inhabitants of The Fear agreed it might be nice to have cold energon drinks. Skywarp and Thundercracker had each contributed a rock from the moon that they'd carved with their null rays, though again, neither Megatron nor Starscream could figure out what they were meant to resemble.

Then came the presents from Astrotrain, Octane, Mixmaster, Scrapper, Soundwave and Oil-slick; all useful things like glass cubes for drinking energon from, expensive waxes and polishes, an I.O.U from the Constructicons for an extension to the underground base on Earth, a music player already loaded with Soundwave's favourite mix of songs.

Finally, last but not least, was the gift from the Autobots. Megatron insisted on opening this one, in case it was a trap, and tore the paper off much more gently and neatly than Starscream had all the other presents. To his surprise, however, it wasn't a trap or dangerous at all.

"What did they give us?" Starscream said curiously, peeking over Megatron's large shoulders.

"A cooling blanket for our berth," Megatron said quietly, looking at the purple blanket carefully. He grinned, turning to Starscream with a devilish glint in his optics. "And it's big enough for two."

Starscream smirked. "Maybe we should test it…make sure it's safe and all," he teased. Megatron bared his teeth in his most dangerous grin, then pounced for Starscream, lifting the seeker up easily in his arms. He gave him a light kiss on the lips, then picked up the blanket and draped it around his newfound lover, walking towards the bedroom.

He laid Starscream down gently on the berth, spreading the purple cooling blanket over him, then crawled in underneath alongside him. "Lovely," he murmured, snuggling closer to Starscream. For a while he was content to simply watch the seeker next to him - big, almond shaped eyes staring up at him, accompanied by a coy smile as his lover wrapped his arms around his large body. The smaller Decepticon leaned his head against Megatron's chest, tugging idly at the purple cooling blanket - neither of them would admit it, but it was definitely comfortable. Megatron growled slightly as Starscream played at the edges of it, pressing him closer so that Starscream's hands and arms were around him again, the flier's attention taken up only by his berth-mate.

"Kiss me," Starscream giggled. Megatron didn't need to be asked twice, and leaving his self control behind him, he rolled Starscream over onto his back so that he lay on top of the smaller mech, kissing him more passionately than he had allowed himself before now. Starscream laughed into the kiss, returning just as much - sucking, pulling and tugging at Megatron's lips, while their tongues danced together. Predictably, Megatron began to use his teeth after a while, nibbling and grazing the seeker's mouth roughly.

Starscream broke away first, intakes gasping for air, aided by the cooling blanket. Megatron rumbled his engines, satisfied, looking down at the enticing image before him - energon was trickling down from Starscream's smiling lips where he had pierced the metal, and he bent to lick the wound clean. From Starscream's mouth, he moved his tongue slowly down to the delicate neck laid bare before him, sucking and tugging at it, chewing, nibbling, then licking fresh wounds clean. Underneath him, the seeker writhed in the mix of pain and pleasure, clutching and clawing at his back and making adorable clicks and chirrups like a sparkling.

Suddenly though, Starscream flinched. Megatron looked up, expression darkening. "What's wrong?"

"I felt…" stuttered the seeker, "I felt something…like my spark pulsing in my chest…but…it can't…can it?"

Megatron chuckled. "Is this just an excuse to get our spark chambers open faster? Honestly, can't you be more patient?" he said wryly.

"I'm serious!" protested the seeker with a pout. Megatron smiled, then dragged a finger softly down from Starscream's mouth, down his neck, and to his cockpit, circling it a few times, causing Starscream to squirm in delight beneath his weight. He moved his torso aside slightly to give him easier access to Starscream's chest, fiddling with the mechanism that drew back the glass for a moment until it snapped back with a whirr. Megatron gasped softly.

Very faintly, but visible nonetheless, was a pale, ghostly spark, pulsing violently with Megatron's ring, a thousand times brighter and more solid in comparison, orbiting it rapidly. He laughed to himself in disbelief. "It seems you have a ghost for a spark, little wife," he murmured. Starscream bent his head up curiously, trying to see, optics growing wide at the ghostly light inside his cockpit.

"I suppose it must have been there all along," Megatron said thoughtfully, "since you have acted and stayed yourself ever since I punched you with the key. You would have been just a drone without it…but why didn't we see it before?"

"Maybe…" Starscream said softly, "maybe it didn't have an incentive to show itself before." He looked away shyly. Megatron grinned.

"Would you like to see what else we can do to it, other than make it flutter in anticipation?" he purred, rubbing closer against the seeker. Starscream laughed.

"What happened to 'I don't want you for something as disgusting as bonding', hmm?" giggled Starscream.

Megatron snorted. "Oh, come now, I was just trying to get you to say yes to me."

Starscream shoved him off playfully, pretending to look upset, before Megatron jumped back onto him once again and tickled the inside and around Starscream's spark chamber mischievously. The smaller mech gasped, both laughing at the ticklish sensation and moaning in pleasure, scraping his claws against Megatron's back while the silver Decepticon leader wrapped his arms around the small, feminine waist of his lover. Starscream arched up towards him, both becoming rougher and more vicious now, biting, scratching, pulling, tugging, whispers turning to shouts, moans turning to cries. Megatron sat up for a moment, opening his spark chamber and looking down towards the seeker's face, as if asking permission.

"I thought you'd never ask," Starscream whispered hoarsely, pulling Megatron gently back down towards him. Tenderly, delicately - almost lovingly, Megatron eased himself towards Starscream's ghostly spark, their energies almost touching now. Starscream cried out suddenly - it was with amusement that Megatron realized this was obviously the seeker's first bonding - and Megatron pulled back a little, giving Starscream time to get used to his exposed spark being so near.

"More," whined Starscream, and Megatron leaned down again, spark and ghost rubbing together now. Starscream arched up against him, legs kicking and tangling around Megatron's under the cooling blanket. "Please…"

Slowly, gently, Megatron lowered himself down completely onto his lover, torsos together, legs intertwined, spark enveloping the ghost of Starscream's life-force. Both leant their heads back, sighing in pleasure and contentment, as their pulses joined, twisting together in a frantic dance, beating a melody made for two, a duet of life and death. Almost at the same time, the new king and queen of the Decepticons felt a single thought wash over them through the ecstasy, wrapping itself around their circuits, flowing through every wire, joint and bolt, gliding over their bonded sparks…For the first time, they could admit to each other what they had hated so much for so many years.

"I love you."