Well, this was... Interesting. I felt kinda bad after hinting at Dion's role in my odd little world during the fourth chapter of 'Close Drabblings Of The Third Kind'. And dear Cheysuli-Night seemed curious, so I made myself sit down and pound this out. I'm actually fairly proud of how this turned out, I wasn't sure I'd manage to make it... coherent. At least, I think it's coherent. Tell me if it's not.

The name comes from the fact that 'Dion' is a kind of butterfly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. If I did, I assure this would be canon, not fanon.

Warnings: Character Death (sorta), reference to Unicron. And weirdness, can't forget that.

Of all the deaths Dion had thought he might die – and he had thought about it before, especially with the uprisings of late – he had never thought he would die in this bright flash of nothingness of pain. He had never thought it would hurt so much, or that he would be able to think so clearly despite the pain.

Still, it's confusing. His spark dies – he knows this with certainty, yet when he moved to rejoin the Matrix something stopped him. Like an incessant tugging on his being that would be painful if he could feel anything. It's eerie; the silence of his decimated workspace, looking down at the dying sparks of Orion and Ariel. Watching them fight to stay alive. Despising his own inability to aid the two friends he trusts above all else.

And then help arrives and he forces himself not to worry, to turn and restart his trek. Only that tugging stops him again, so he glances over his shoulder. And meets Orion's eyes. Orion isn't dead – close to it, but not dead, so Dion doesn't understand how his friend can pinpoint his position with such accuracy. After a moment, he shivers. And Orion speaks.

"Dion…"

Something shifts and it's as though the entire world is falling to pieces around him. He's being pulled back towards the other now, and the Matrix is no longer calling him home, and if he still had the ability to think he'd be confused, but he doesn't have the ability to think, so it doesn't matter.

"We're losing him!"

"Quick, seal that energon leak!"

"As soon as we can, he needs to be at the hospital. And I mean around now, people!"

It was loud and he couldn't be bothered with it. He was tired and he felt like he was fading. A dark voice chuckled, calling to him. Desperately, he pushes himself closer to the spark of his friend, his now-brother. The voice was scary and Dion didn't know what it wanted, but he knew it wasn't something he wanted. He wanted to stay here, with Orion, who was fading just like him, but being so much stronger, seemingly watching the voice warily.

Orion seemed to be trying to whisper comforting words to him, but the pain was coming back, even though he knew that was impossible since he didn't have a body. Only then Orion tells him that he does have a body, that Dion can stay in his own body, because he doesn't think he can stand to lose his best friend. That he and Ariel will be all right, but only if Dion stays.

And Dion doesn't know what to think of that. Part of him wants to stay, to comfort the two most important people in his life. But another part is aware that one body can't hold two sparks, that Orion can't safely keep them both. It worries him. And then there was the small part of him that had felt the call of the Matrix and was eager to get on with it. But that part was small, and getting smaller every moment that he didn't hear the siren's song.

"Sir, he's stable now. Is there anything else you'll need?"

"No, no, I should be fine. Just… give me a little while. I'll practically have to build a new body for these two."

"Whatever you say. Just call if you need anything."

The dark voice is fainter now, but it's still there. Pacing, watching, waiting. Telling of horrible things, of how by not going to the Matrix immediately, he's doomed both himself and Orion Pax to the service of the Great Destroyer. Orion doesn't seem to hear the words, but Dion does, and he's upset, scared. He can feel Orion's body just as much Orion himself does, knows that it is too damaged to be awakened, glad for it and guilty for being glad.

Orion presses his spark closer to his friend's, sending comforting waves, promising to not leave him behind. Promising to find a way to do the impossible.

"Welcome back, child."

"Sir? What… What happened?"

"You were attacked by the Decepticons. I'll explain more later, right now we need to wake up your friend here."

"Oh! That's Orion Pax. I'm Ariel."

"Hmm… The names don't seem to fit anymore. I'd suggest trying to find a new one."

"I think… Elita One. That sounds right."

"Well then, lets bring Orion back on and see what he thinks would be a good name for himself, Elita."

This… This hurt. Far beyond anything else. All the other things that had hurt since this had begun – however long ago that had been, he's not sure anymore, what with the slow dimming of his self, his being – were nothing compared to this. It was like trying to fit in a place far too small, only not being given a choice. Like having his spark punctured. Like… like something so far beyond that he honestly couldn't describe it, and he had always been better with words than Orion or Ariel or anyone else he had ever meet for that matter…

"Slag! What went wrong?"

"Ah… sir? Is… Is he going to be alright?"

"I don't know, child. I just don't know. This should not have happened, there's no reason for this to be happening."

"So… What do we do now?"

"Now? Now we pull a desperate last measure that we probably shouldn't."

"And what is that?"

"We see if the Matrix of Leadership has any opinion on the matter."

The voice was gone and so was the pain. The cold that had been seeping in – he hadn't even noticed, how was that? – dissipated. Something seems to chuckle in his ear and it's not scary, like the last entity, but safe instead. It doesn't speak with words, rather putting vague ideas straight into his mind, yet Dion can't seem to bring himself to be upset. There is the faint feeling of 'I can work with this' that Dion doesn't understand, but then he clicks and suddenly he's not part of Orion anymore. He's part of something else instead, something that is a part of Orion, yet still separate. Dion doesn't understand, but it doesn't matter, because Orion is coming online again, and he feels the need to be a part of this occasion, feels that this is important, somehow.

"Hello, Orion Pax. We're glad to have you back."

"Optimus. It's Optimus now."

Alpha Trion smiles, glancing at these two being who he feels he will be spending more than a little time with for the next long while.

"Optimus Prime." Ariel – a voice niggles at his mind, almost sounding like Dion, but different somehow, saying that it's Elita. Elita One. And that's when Optimus realizes that he's different, also. He's different, Ariel's different, and Dion is different. He doesn't know what to think of being Prime – doesn't know how for a moment that it is possible, but then Dion informs him that, as the last carrier of the Matrix is dead and the Matrix has chosen him, so of course he's going to be Prime.

Then he realizes that Dion isn't simply speaking into his mind anymore, but out loud. He does not look any different, except for a slight shift of his stance, as though he holds a new confidence he never had before. For a moment Elita looks confused, but then she seems to relax, basking in the knowledge that somehow, someway her trine has come of this experience alive, if not exactly the same as before. Alpha Trion nearly has a panic attack and the sudden appearance of an intangible specter in his lab. Then he notes the easy expressions on the other two and, if still confused, decides to just not think about it right now.

"So, do you need a new name as well?"

"No, I don't think I will. Dion will be just fine."

He would never have thought he would die like this, but he isn't sure this counts as dying. Briefly he runs through the knowledge held inside the Matrix, but nothing of this type has ever happened before, so he can't really say if he's dead anymore. He can't say what will happen when Optimus dies and the Matrix of Leadership is passed onto his successor, but he suspects Primus will give him a choice to either follow his friend once more or stay as the conscious awareness of the Matrix.

He doesn't know what he'll chose, because even now he can't see the future. But he decides it doesn't matter, because this was at least an interesting, if fairly harrowing, experience with dying. Somehow, Dion thinks it's just going to get worse as they try to deal with leading a newly formed, under trained army – which, he realizes, Optimus probably doesn't know about yet – but they'll come out alright in the end. After all, Orion had promised it would all work out, and if he's managed to keep it this far…

Dion could trust him a little longer.

Okay, so I'm not entirely sure it was obvious, so I'll try and clarify.

Dion is, basically, a ghost. Orion was refusing to let him pass over. When Alpha Trion tried to bring him online, it nearly destroyed both their sparks. So Alpha Trion tries to see if the Matrix will do anything to help them (this might be completely implausible, but hey.) Following the line of thought that the Matrix itself doesn't choose Primes, because it's an inanimate object, but Primus chooses through the Matrix, I sortof... made Dion become the concious, intelligent form of the Matrix. He's still Dion, hence the reason he desired to keep his name, because he needs the reminder that he's not just the Matrix. So, yeah... That's all, folks.