Hope
Summary: They say that when a mech or femme loses their spark-mate, they die shortly afterward, but what's keeping Chromia alive after losing Ironhide?
Sarah Lennox knew all too well what Chromia was going through, she had seen it firsthand with Army wives who lost husbands to the wars in Afganistan & Iraq, and now the war against Decepticons.
Annabelle came into the room where her mother was comforting Chromia, who was still crying energon tears after finding out that her spark-mate Ironhide was killed.
"How could he? We trusted him! He trained Optimus for Primus sake!" Chromia cried out.
"I'm so sorry! I can only imagine how terrible it must be to be betrayed like that." Sarah said.
"Mommy? What's betrayed mean?" Annabelle asked, being only six years old, not knowing a lot of vocabulary words yet.
It was heartbreaking enough to tell Annabelle that Ironhide wouldn't be coming home anymore, but she still hadn't told her how he got killed.
Figuring this would be a good way to start, Sarah explained, "It's when someone you thought was on your side suddenly shows that they are against you, that they're not your friend anymore."
"Does that mean...that Hidey got killed by someone that he thought was his friend?" Anna asked as she started to sob.
"Yes." Sarah answered sadly.
She never got to meet Sentinel Prime, but she heard about him from Will the night that he met him. At first she was amazed to hear about there being another Prime and that he was Optimus' teacher. Even Annabelle got to hear about him and she wanted to meet him.
Sarah will never forget what happened before Will told them the sad news. Chromia was ordered to stay at the NEST Base due to what seemed like a virus that made her disoriented. Sarah and Annabelle were also on base to keep them safe. It all started right after the Autobots tricked the Decepticons into thinking they left and it was right before the battle began in Chicago...
"WHAT? What do you mean I have to stay behind? I'm not staying put while my mate battles Decepticons without me!" Chromia shouted as she charged up her cannons and pointed them at Ratchet.
"(Sigh!) Ironhide, please take control of your mate!" Ratchet ordered then mumbled "Femmes!"
"No! Tell him that I'll be fine, and if he doesn't let me go into battle, I'll blast holes into him!" Chromia threatened.
"I'm sorry Chromia, but Ratchet is right, you're in no condition to fight and I don't want to risk losing you because of that." Ironhide responded.
"ARGH! Not you too! I should blast both of you!" Chromia yelled.
"Calm yourself Chromia! I understand you wanting to fight in Chicago right along with us, but my scans inidicate that something is inabling your abilities for battle. I don't want to risk losing you either." said Optimus.
She could argue with Ratchet and Ironhide til they give in to her demands, but not Optimus. Chromia knew that once he spoke, there was no arguing and his first words were always final.
"Alright, I'll stay." Chromia replied.
"Good! Now I insist you follow Ratchet's orders, so that your processor makes a recovery." Optimus stated.
"I'm sorry baby, but if it makes you feel better, it won't be the same putting some caps into those Decepticons afts without you." Ironhide said.
"Aww! Thanks baby! But will you take some of them out for me?" Chromia asked.
"Of course! I'll take all of them out for you!" Ironhide answered.
"Thanks! I love you!" Chromia said, and then she kissed him.
"I love you too! Now go lay down in the berth, and when I get back, I'll join you!" Ironhide said seductively.
"Hmm! I can't wait! Now go kick some Decepticon aft!" Chromia said.
But sadly that time in the berth would never come. Sarah was sitting on the berth talking to her when suddenly Chromia clutched her spark chamber.
"Chromia, are you OK?" Sarah asked.
"Something's wrong! I can feel it!" Chromia sated, then she called out on her comlink "Hide! Where are you? Please tell me you're OK!"
But her worst fear came true when they were told the news later that evening. Chromia cried all night and has been laying in her berth the whole time.
Back in the present time...
Finally Chromia rose up from her berth.
After hugging Annabelle, Sarah said, "Chromia, good to see you get up!"
"I'm hungry!" Chromia answered.
"OK, I'll go get the cubes. Come on Anna!" Sarah said, and went to go get the energon cubes the base had in the dispensory for the Autobots.
Sarah and Annabelle got two cubes and each of them handed them to her.
"Thank you! You both are too good to me!" Chromia said as she grabbed the cubes.
"That's because you're a part of our family!" Sarah said.
Chromia looked at Sarah and smiled and asked, "You'd let me stay with you guys?"
"Of course! You're welcome in our home as long as you'd like!" Sarah said.
"What about your mate Will? Would he let me stay?" Chromia asked.
"I want you to stay! And daddy would too!" Annabelle spoke up.
"Thank you! Both of you!" Chromia said as she placed her hand on Anna.
"You're welcome. Would you like anything else?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, could you get me another cube? I'm still hungry!" Chromia asked.
"Sure." Sarah said.
But when she came back with another cube, Chromia was emptying her tanks into the oil drum beside her berth.
"Oh my! You still don't look like you're getting better. I better call Ratchet!" Sarah stated.
The war was finally over, but there was still the aftermath of it. The Decepticons that remained either fled the planet or surrendered to the Autobots. Surprisingly most of those who surrendered wanted to join the Autobots since they never really wanted to fight them in the first place. They only did so because of the fear of what Megatron would do to them if they didn't fight.
Meanwhile Ratchet was busy with medical treatment to injured Autobots. He wanted to repair Optimus' severed arm right away, but was insisted to aid all other Autobots first. As soon as Sarah approached him about Chromia, Optimus ordered him to go attend to her right away.
What Ratchet found out was a huge surprise and would be to everyone as well.
Will Lennox was at the NEST base catching up with his buddy Robert Epps as well as his new friends Sam Witwicky, Bumblebee, Seymour Simmons, and Carly when Sarah ran in excitedly.
"Whoa! What's going on?" Will asked
Epps, Sam, Bee, Simmons, and Carly were curious as well.
"It's Chromia, she's pregnant!" Sarah exclaimed.
"She is? Alright!" Epps shouted.
Carly had just met Chromia, despite her illness, but as soon as she remembered Chromia being Ironhide's mate, she too got excited.
Even Bee got excited and played the Kool and the Gang song "Celebrate Good Times" as everyone jumped up and down and hugged each other.
Seeing all the commotion going on, Optimus Prime looked over and wondered what was going on until Ratchet told him the news since he was calmer than the others, yet he too was happy about the news.
Sam said, "Optimus! You're not gonna believe this! But Chromia's pregnant!"
"I do believe it, Ratchet just told me the good news." Optimus answered.
"Yeah, I mean after all that has happened, this is great!" Sam says.
"You are correct Sam. Even in the grimmest of times, there is still hope." Optimus responded.
Chromia was crying tears of joy, but also a bit of sadness because Ironhide wasn't here to enjoy this moment with her.
"Well that explains your condition a lot! Congratulations!" Ratchet said to Chromia.
"Thank you! But I only wish that Ironhide were here!" Chromia said.
"Me too, but a part of him will always be with you. That is what is keeping you alive, a part of his spark will always be inside your sparkling." Ratchet stated.
"You are right, this sparkling is the greatest gift he has ever given me, and to all of us as well!" Chromia said.
"Yes it is! Well my scans indicate that you are about a month along, also I can identify what gender it is. Would you like to know at this time?" Ratchet asked.
Chromia thought about it, on one hand it would be nice to keep it a surprise, but on the other hand...it wouldn't matter if it were a mech or a femme, she'd love it no matter what, and Ironhide would have as well.
"Yes, I would like to know." Chromia answered.
So Ratchet scanned her abdomen and as soon as he was done, he said, "Congratulations! You are going to have a femme!"
Since the war had started, femmes had become so rare that any that came along was considered a blessing. But it had also become a curse since they risked getting kidnapped by Decepticons to be forced into becoming breeders. But now with the war being over, Chromia didn't have to fear that fate for her daughter.
Everyone cheered again. Optimus knew that having another femme would be beneficial to their future. He knew she could be free to bond with any mech or even a human if she wanted without the fear of becoming a breeder for the Decepticons.
After everyone calmed down from celebrating the joyous news, the humans suddenly had questions about femme pregnancies. They were shocked to learn that it only lasts two to four months. But they were even more shocked to learn that some mechs can get pregnant too, which is how Sam learned that Bumblebee is one of them.
Three Months later...
By this time, Ratchet had fixed up all the injured Autobots, including the repairs to Optimus's severed arm. Chromia also went into labor and gave birth to a beautiful femme who was all black with a bit of blue mixed in, and had Chromia's facial features.
"She's beautiful!" Sarah said to Chromia.
"Yes she is! Ironhide would think so too!" Chromia responded as she cradled her sparkling in her arms.
"What are you gonna name her?" Annabelle asked, also excited about the new edition to their family.
"Her designation will be...Ironia!" Chromia answered.
"Ironia, that's a beautiful name!" Sarah responded.
"Like a female version of Ironhide's name" Will said.
"That is why I chose it, so that she'll know who her father was." Chromia said happily as she thought of how Ironhide would be reacting if he were here.
Optimus too was pleased. In time, he and the Autobots would tell Ironia about what a great Autobot Ironhide was, but not leave out the flaws since he now knows that mistakes are what make them more human.
Meanwhile in the place where the original Primes reside, the same place Sam had ended up in when he died in Egypt, and where all the dead Autobots are...Ironhide and Jazz saw everything.
"You and Chromia did a wonderful job, she is beautiful!" Jazz said.
"Thank you Jazz. She certainly is! I only wish I could hold her." Ironhide said.
"I know, but at least we know she's in good hands." Jazz said.
"Yes she is, and not just Optimus and the other Autobots, but the humans as well." Ironhide said.
They both continued to watch as each Autobot and their human friends got a turn in holding Ironia.