Don’t Cry

 

Don’t you cry tonight, I still love you…

Don’t cry tonight, there’s a heaven above you…

--Guns ‘n’ Roses

 

 

Megatron’s Workshop

 

Tempest is sitting in the corner, facing away from the door, idly toying with some of Megatron’s clutter but not really paying much attention to it, her thoughts faraway.

 

Megatron enters his workshop, looking for some tools. Surprised, he realizes who is inside. “Tempest? What are you doing here?”

 

Tempest turns around sharply...evidently, for once so distracted she didn’t even hear him coming. “Um...” How is she supposed to answer that question? This is his place, and she can /feel/ his presence lingering even when he is not here...it reminds her in a strange way of the Red Eclipse. And is more subtle than hanging around his quarters, where she is certain to attract attention.

 

Megatron walks over to her. “Are you looking for some metal to carve?

 

Tempest shrugs. “Not really...” She seems willing to take it if it is offered, but again, as happens so often lately, she seems to be hanging around idly, when before she was always very active, peeking into everything.

 

Megatron watches her for a while. “I am the problem, right?”

 

Tempest looks at him, her optics shimmering, and says, “It was my fault, not yours...”

 

Megatron places a hand on her shoulder. “That is nonsense, Tempest.”

 

Tempest shakes her head. “I /knew/ this was going to happen the second I woke up in the Red Eclipse...”

 

Megatron sighs, looking at her. “Do you regret what happened on our ship?”

 

Tempest thinks about that. The wonderful time they had...but now...to have to go on like this? Slowly...she nods.

 

Megatron says, “I do not.”

 

Tempest looks at him, accepting that answer, and then says quietly, “But you had something to come back to.”

 

Megatron says, “I did not know. And if the others had not found me or were not able to restore my memory, I still would not know.”

 

Tempest nods a little and says, “Maybe I should start believing what Terminator kept telling me...Terminator was not you.”  Tempest adds, very softly, “But I knew...and it didn’t stop me.”

 

Megatron rubs softly her shoulder as he answers: “Tempest, that are the rules of the Spaceways: take what you can get, tomorrow it can be to late, tomorrow you can be dead.”

 

Tempest leans back against him, obviously liking the touch. She says, “But this isn’t the Spaceways any more...”

 

Megatron nods. “And I had to make a decision,” he confirms.

 

Tempest leans forward a little, but already she’s bracing herself for the answer being a no--instinct again—

 

Megatron hesitates for a moment before he says: “I will ask Nightbird to become my wife, my... mate.”

 

Tempest had been preparing for an answer like that but for all that she was expecting it, she wasn’t truly /ready/, and for just an instant something in her optics flinches and she looks like she’s been hit--then the face wipes expressionless, the lips press together and she nods shortly.

 

It is very obvious the decision was not easy for him. “I hope you will still accept me as a friend, Tempest,” he says and whispering he adds: “I still love you...”

 

Tempest’s optics glitter...she says, “And I still love you...” Then her voice takes on a cutting note and she says, “And you love me, and /neither of it matters at all./”

 

Megatron says, “It matters in so far that we care for another.”

 

Tempest looks away from him and mumbles, “Yeah, so we can both be miserable...I didn’t go to all the trouble of finding out where Nightbird was just so you could feel lousy too...” She turns back to him, her optics flashing strongly. “You should listen to what Terminator said. He...was...not...you.” But is she spelling that out for him or for herself? Maybe both...

 

Megatron smirks a little, though it is a sad smirk. “Then he toughly refuses not to exist anymore.” He looks down.

 

Tempest’s optics shimmer sadly and she says, “You know this just makes it worse...”

 

Megatron frowns. “Damn, Tempest, I do not regret one single moment we had in the Red Eclipse. The time there belonged to the best times in my life. Damn, my favorite solution now would be to wake up the new cycle, having you both sharing my bed... darn...” He rubs his face.

 

Tempest just looks at him, again obviously struggling to understand...”I never should have gotten involved,” she says quietly, looking down at the floor. “Never should have let myself feel so much.”

 

Megatron looks at her, his temper sparkle in his optics. “Be glad we had this feeling, be glad we were allowed to share this time together! And even though I will not share the bed with you anymore, I will still care for you, Tempest. I am glad that I can feel so much for you and Nightbird - it tells me I am still alive, being able to feel!”

 

Tempest snaps back, “All I’m /feeling/ right now is how cold and cruel this world is and I can’t quite bring myself to be grateful for it!” Yes, her temper is as bad as his.

 

Megatron narrows his optics. “There are already two beings in this universe who care very much for you and you call this world cold and cruel? Well, think what you want... that will not stop us from caring for you, stubborn little seeker!”

 

Tempest is startled when he retorts every bit as strongly as she did...she blinks those lidded optics, startled...maybe, maybe some of her does start to believe what he says is true. But the other half, all it can think of is that she will be alone and cold tonight. She looks away. “If that is how you know when you’re alive...then maybe I’ve been wrong all these years...maybe I died with Kilair after all.”

Tempest says it quietly, head hanging.

 

Megatron takes her carefully under the chin to lift her head a bit. He looks her straight into the optics. Lowly and intensely he says: “No, you are very much alive.” Then he kisses softly her cheek.

 

Tempest can’t help herself now...she throws her arms around him and holds him, tight...

 

Megatron holds her too. “And one day it will be you who will warm a lonely being at night,” he whispers.

 

Tempest isn’t so sure about that...will she ever come to trust someone as much as she trusted him? But right now she doesn’t argue. She says, “I hope Nightbird doesn’t get angry at me for doing this”--she means holding him--”after all I did this long before the Red Eclipse.”

 

Megatron smirks a little. “I think she knows that she can trust me.” He looks at Tempest. “You are something special - never forget that.”

 

Tempest sighs a little. She is confused by what he says. She feels she must not be special enough or she wouldn’t be taking second place to Nightbird...but she does not want to think of him as a liar either. She presses a little closer, still trying to figure out how far is too far, making sure she can keep herself under control.

 

Megatron holds her close. “Darn, I don’t want to let you go...” he whispers.

 

Tempest lets out a very soft whimper. She says nothing, hiding her face against his chest, but he can probably feel the moisture on her cheeks and guess what is happening.

 

Megatron leans his head against hers. “I... cannot take you both... that would be selfish of me... I had to decide...”

 

Tempest lifts her head, her cheeks streaked with moisture. “I...don’t...understand,” she chokes out.

 

Megatron carefully whipes the tears from her cheeks. “What don’t you understand?”

 

Tempest says, “This whole mate concept...why someone should be tied to only one other.”  Tempest rests one hand on his arm and with the other plays with the spire on her helmet...he might be able to guess she is thinking of Backfire again

 

Megatron says, “It is hard to explain... it is a promise of loyalty, of belonging to another.”

 

Tempest doesn’t seem to like that idea. “I don’t belong to anyone.” Perhaps she will never understand this.

 

Megatron smiles a bit at her. “That is one reason why I made my decision like I did... You need to be free.” He whipes away another of her tears. “I will ask Nightbird to belong to me. And if she agrees I will belong to her as well...” Is it possible that there is something wet sparkling in his optics too or is it just the light?

 

Tempest whispers, very softly, “Don’t forget about me...”

 

Megatron shakes his head. “I never will,Tempest. You will always be my friend... And sometimes you are like a mirror of myself.”

 

Tempest thinks back to the very first time she let him hold her...to the moment when she realized she liked that kind of contact. “Two of a kind,” she says softly.  Tempest admits, “That was why I was so awful to Nightbird at first...I was afraid you’d forget all about me...you were so star-struck.”

 

Megatron smirks slightly. “That is a side effect of falling in love... but it eases off after a while.”

 

Tempest manages a small smirk as she wonders if /she/ ever acted like that.

 

Megatron smiles softly. “Don’t cry anymore.”

 

Tempest can’t make that promise...but for just this moment...maybe she is going to be all right.

 

Megatron smiles a bit at her, but there is still this wet (?) shimmer in his optics…