Airachnid gave the Insecticon she was caring for a fond pat on the helm, pushing his face away when he went to lick her cheek as a thank you. She smiled at the door as it opened. She knew who it was, and she wasn't disappointed.

"You are a precious sight when you are taking care of the things that you adore. How is the little one today?"

Airachnid lifted the injured paw. It had one claw left after whatever it had gotten into a fight with had completely mauled it by the time Airachnid and her mate arrived on the scene. The only thing left to heal was his paw. "He will be walking by himself in a few days if all goes well."

"Excellent. Then I can sleep in my own berth without having to cuddle with an Insecticon."

"Oh, you love it." She waved him off as she smiled. She was enjoying this. "Don't you love cuddling up to Daddy?"

The Insecticon squealed and nuzzled both of them happily. Airachnid smiled and pushed the helm away from hers so she could look at her mate.

"See?"

The red and blue mech touched her cheek as he smiled and he drew her into a kiss. "I do..."

Airachnid squeezed her optics shut, whining loudly as she remembered her mate. Did he still love her like that? Was he even alive? Megatron had vowed to rip out his spark and eat it, but the mech was known for empty threats.

She climbed into a Decepticon escape pod and she targetted the planet the last message she had received from her former mate had come from. To her surprise, the pod was fully functional. Also to her surprise, she was knocked into stasis.

At her age, she should have known to check if the pod was a long-distance or a navigator.

To her, it was five minutes before she woke up again, but in reality, she had been travelling for years. She had crash landed on the planet she had targetted.

She climbed out of her ship and she saw a group of Autobots watching her, their arms crossed. She flinched when she saw her rival, the only other femme alive that they knew of. Then her optics found her mate's, but the way he looked away broke her spark, and she corrected herself.

Ex-mate.

"Airachnid, I see you have come to Earth..."

"In response to your call, my love..." She walked to him, growling lowly at the blue femme who gave her the same greeting.

"Enough, Arcee." He addressed Airachnid next. "I did not call you. I called Autobots." He pointed at the insignia on her chest. "And you are not one of us."

Her optics narrowed and she growled. Where was the merciful mech she knew? "So? Bots can change."

"Not you. I witnessed what had happened to you. You are incapable of change, incapable of love, incapable of-"

She interrupted him. "Just give me a chance! I'll prove you and your little mate wrong."

He glanced down at Arcee and he moved to stand between them. So Airachnid was right. She hissed up at him.

"Didn't take you long to decide you didn't love me anymore."

"I thought you were dead."

"You were wrong, and you continue to be. You can't just send me back to Megatron. I'm not going back."

One of the warriors, the biggest one, sighed and rubbed his helm. "Sir, she's not gonna budge."

"I know. Very well, Airachnid. One chance to prove that you are capable of change. If you disappoint me, or if I get reports of you misbehaving, I will have no choice but to hand you back over to your master. Do you understand?"

Airachnid grinned up at the mech. "Fully, my dear Optimus Prime."

"Aye," the Prime muttered, and he led his former mate and his current mate through the GroundBridge.

Two femmes. One mech.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead entered a bet on who Prime would end up with.

Would Bumblebee be right? Would Optimus refuse to budge from his current mate?

Or was Bulkhead going to win when (if) Optimus falls back in love with the femme he once knew?