What Forever Means Chapter 1 Megatron, a transformers fanfic

A/N: This was meant to be a one-shot story. I don't know if it will continue, or if it should be left as it stands. I guess I will leave that up to those that review! As always, I do not own Transformers in any way, shape or form. I only claim my OC's. This story was inspired by the song "Forever" by VNV Nation. The lyrics are in italics.

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For all his power, all the strength of eons of knowledge and existence, he had finally met one enemy he could not defeat. She lay broken, dying… the red fluid of life that carried the soul of the humans leaking from her mouth and ears. He was not a medic to know the internal workings of his own kind, and had never spared a bit of processor space for the anatomy of humans.

He regretted that now. Regretted it so much that his circuits burned with it.

"Disgusting humans!" he bellowed over the radio in his rage, in his fear. "Fragile imperfect flesh things. So easy to break, to hurt. So quick to kill even your own kind. Tell me, I demand it. Tell me why you mean so much to me? What is this sickness you have infected me with? ANSWER!"

The woman strapped into his cockpit did not answer. One tiny drop of crimson blood escaped the bandage hap-hazardly wrapped around her chest, falling down against his circuits. Again he bellowed in his terror, fighting not to kick into mach speed, knowing at least that that would kill her for certain.

"Laura," he pleaded, the sound so soft as to almost be inaudible. "Laura, do not die."

I don't believe in the existence of mercy's guiding hand…
Not with all that I have witnessed, I cannot understand.
Forever burdened with the knowledge that I could have been so much more
When the truth is hard to suffer, I knew this all before.

There is no comfort in faith, the heavens still will fall.
A thousand towers rise before me and I cannot climb them all.
There is no kind of joy in this; there is no time that it can heal,
When emptiness enshadows bliss, there is nothing left to feel.

There was only once chance to save her, save this human he had taken as a pet… this human who had come to mean so much more. And as much as it infuriated him, twisted his processors to admit it, he needed the Autobot called Ratchet. The medic had extensive experience with the humans, experience Megatron had witnessed with his own optics. At the time he had thought it the height of stupidity for the Autobot to stop in the middle of a battle and tend to a wounded human.

Now it was his only hope.

His Laura… his pet human with the golden hair, with eyes that reminded him so much of the femme he had once thought to love long ago before the war. That femme had been dead for millennia now, one of the first casualties of the war that had destroyed their world. Her name was forgotten, purposefully blanked out of his memory banks. But her face, her eyes… He had thought them long forgotten, too.

Until he had found Laura. Until he had taken her for himself, kept her in a beautiful cage for his own amusement. The more time he spent with her, the more the memories resurfaced… and with them the memories of love. How he hated for that, hated her for infecting him with this disease of compassion. But he would not destroy her. On the contrary, he took care of her all the more.

"You are mine, human. MINE!" he growled again. "I have not given you permission to offline. I HAVE NOT!"

I have not abandoned hope, though I know there's nothing more.
Tired and alone, you forget what you hoped for.

I will walk this ground forever and stand guard against your name.
I will give all I can offer, I will shoulder all the blame.
I am sentry to you now, all your hopes and all your dreams.
I will hold you to the light, that's what forever means.

That one drop of blood became another and another, a steady trickle of the precious liquid. Each falling drop was another second closer to her death, and he wasn't sure what he would do if he lost her.

It was this war that was taking her away, he knew. Those foolishly idealistic Autobots and this thrice-damned war! If they would only surrender, if Prime would only take his rightful place his second-in-command, then such events like these would never happen. Why couldn't Optimus see that it was his destiny? Brothers they were, and as such they would find their fates together. It was Megatron's fate to rule. He had known it from the day of his birth.

It was Optimus's destiny to advise. If they could work together, the entire universe would unfold at their feet. Entire worlds would be spared… after they swore fealty to him, of course. But it would be a minor matter to bring them in line. What with Prime's ability to reason and negotiate and his own will to dominate, nothing could stop them.

And beloved ones like Laura would not die. All his power, his victories mattered little in the face of death. The one enemy he could not conquer.

"PRIME!" He screamed, landing before the Autobot leader.

Ironhide, Bumblebee, Prowl, Wheeljack and a host of other simpering, lackwitted Autobots stood arrayed around their leader, cannons and guns and swords all powered and ready. And Prime stood with them like a shield to the weak, as if gloating that now his brother had to come to him on bended knee and beg.

"Megatron," Optimus answered, voice slightly muffled through his battle mask. "We are here under a flag of truce—"

"I care not about your truce," he hissed, hating the mech before him. Hating him so much because Optimus could not see the truth of the universe as he could. Hating him, because some part of his spark remembered him as a brother. "Take the human from me. If she dies, I blame you."

Ratchet slowly moved forward, carefully as if expecting a sneak attack. Megatron seethed in silence, counting another falling drop of blood in the time it took Ratchet to cross over to him. When the medic saw the human, Megatron could almost feel the shifting of processors in the other, the wariness replaced with worry and determination. Laura was lifted from his grasp.

I was never what you wanted, I could never, never please.
I swallowed all our sorrow in the midst of my disease.
All my fortunes, all my gains, all the battles I have won…
Now collapsing like the rain, I stand alone, beneath the sun…

Take some solace in these words, take notice of this place.
Hollow whispers that they are, like the wind upon my face.
Sing softly in my ear and look at me with wonder.
I will try to ease your fear as the darkness pulls you under.

He could not stop himself from transforming the moment Laura was free. One hand reached outward of its own accord, eyes blazing with his fear, his anger, his disgust in himself that he could regret. Regret not standing with his brother, regret not being able to save his human pet. Regret this whole war… So many regrets piled on top of each other, threatening to crush the spark right out of his chest.

"Do it. I want you to," Ironhide spat, thinking that he reached out to harm Ratchet. "Touch him. Give me a reason to fire."

"Ironhide," Prime snapped, his optics never leaving Megatron.

Did he know, Megatron had to wonder. Did he understand the pain, the fear of knowing that very soon he could be without his Laura? It galled him, frustrated him to know that the other could see such blatant weakness as this need in him. Had Optimus been a Decepticon, he would have blown Megatron to bits for showing such weakness.

His brother only stood there, something akin to compassion blazing in his blue optics. Megatron wanted to blast that look from his face, smash him into a million parts. This was his pain. This was private, a hollow burning that only one human could fill in him.

He reached forward again, and Ratchet tensed. One finger, so delicately gentle, traced over a lock of golden hair. "Laura," he whispered, not caring who heard. "Laura, you will survive. Human, listen to me. You will survive, and I will come back for you. You are mine, and deep inside you know this. You will LIVE!"

He transformed before any other word could be spoken, leaving a group of very startled Autobots behind him. All except for Optimus, who stared after his brother with a thoughtful expression in his optics. Megatron cared not. He had given Laura over to those that had the best chance of saving her life. All that mattered was that she survived. His Laura, his light.