Prologue

Past - A vorn ago

"Do you have to go!" The youngster moaned. "I'm afraid I have to Bluestreak."

Bluestreak whimpered, pressing his face further into his brother's leg, "Bluestreak…"

"I don't want you to go!" The youngling sobbed.

"Hey," His brother bent down, looking him in the eye, "I won't be gone very long. The others and I will only be working on 5 space bridges this trip."

"And how long will that take?"

"... Roughly around 4 deca-cycles."

Bluestreak proceeded to sob harder, tears streaking down his face. His brother sighed, picking him up and holding him close to his chest. Bluestreak wrapped his arms around his brother's neck, burying his face into it as well. The two stood there for several cycles while Blue's sobs died down, turning into mere hiccups. The aching in his brother's spark however, did not.

Doing his best to hold himself together, for his brothers sake, he carried Bluestreak up the stairs to the second level of the small living space they owned. It was all they could afford after their creators death.

He headed down the short hall, stopping just inside the door to Blue's room and set the youngling down on his feet. With a small sniff Blue began to collect what he wanted to bring while he stayed over at Hound's place, as he usually did while his brother was away. His brother helped him load a small case with datapads, a couple of toys, and a game that he had gotten for his fourth sparkday.

With a sigh Bluestreak closed the lid, a sign he was done. His brother scooped up Blue in one hand and the luggage in the other. Heading down the stairs he only pause to lock the door on the way out.

Despite being 8 and a half (Blue was very adamant about that) vorn old, Bluestreak was still very small for his age, an advantage for his brother as being closer to him kept Blue calmer.

"I wish you didn't have to leave again."

"It will be shorter than last time." His brother countered. All he got was a sigh.

"Can't you get another job?"

"I've been trying Blue." He sighed. They continued in silence for the rest of the trip down to the transport station.

"Thank you again for allowing Bluestreak to stay."

"Aw, it was no problem. The li'l guy's always been good, and it's only for a short while." Hound replied with a smile.

"I still think it's too long." Grumbled the youngling, shifting on his feet.

His brother knelt down in front of him, taking Blue's hands in his much larger ones. "Now I won't be gone very long."

"That's what you always say."

"Hound will take good care of you."

"That too." There was silence as the two stared at each other. "Promise me…" Bluestreak started, pausing to take a deep breath to allow the words to come out, "Promise me that this will be the last. No more space bridges. No more trips away. No more not seeing you for solar-cycles on end. Promise me that when you come back you'll stay and it'll finally be h-home again!" As much as he tried, at the end his voice quivered and he broke down, burying his face in his hands, and sobbed.

"Oh Bluestreak." Blue felt himself being picked up, only vaguely aware of the sound of shifting feet as Hound began to feel as if he were invading on a private moment. "I promise sweetspark, this will be the last." I won't let you go through this anymore. he thought.

He hugged Bluestreak tightly, holding him close to his spark. Kissing the top of his helm he set Blue back onto the ground. "You be good for Hound okay? No running off like last time."

"I didn't run off…. I walked." Hound chuckled, placing a hand on Bluestreak's shoulder. "Goodbye Blue."

He started down the front steps when Blue called out, "WAIT!" He turned around as a small form crashed into his legs, wrapping his arms around them. "I'll miss you!"

He knelt down again, "I'll miss you too."

"It feels like I'm never going to see you again."

"I promise, you will"

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Goodbye Prowl. I love you."

"I love you too." Prowl smiled.

And with that the ninja-bot transformed, heading off in the direction of the shuttle he was supposed to be on in less than 5 cycles (and Primus be damned if he had to listen to Bumblebee go on again about how the 'ninja' was always late). It took all of his will to deny his aching spark and not turn back.

"Warning: Planetary impact imminent." Teletran-1's voice was only just heard over the sound of the ship falling through the atmosphere. Optimus Prime came in looking worse for wear.

"Everyone to the stasis pods!" There was urgency in his voice. The pods opened and the bots hurried over. Half way there Bumblebee turned and shouted back, "What about you!?"

"Not until I've steered us clear of this populated sector!" Optimus shouted, grabbing hold of the manual override. The pods that the bots had gotten into closed, Bumblebee not taking his optics off of Optimus.

Prowl's spark raced. Everything was moving too fast! One cycle they were finishing work on the last space bridge, preparing to head home. The next they stumble across the All Spark. The All Spark. At first he hadn't believed it, because really… who would? But Ratchet had insisted, and after watching it activate the space bridge sending them to who knows where, Prowl was convinced. Along with the Decepticon warship, Megatron himself, and the crash-in-progress onto an unknown planet, Prowl's head was spinning. How long would they be in stasis? When would help arrive? Would help arrive? Would they even survive?

A thought that had been pushed to the back of his mind since the start of the ordeal was shoved to the front with enough force to make him gasp and cause his optics to widen. Bluestreak. Primus! He was suppose to be heading back. The last trip. The last space bridge. Prowl was suppose to be heading home. But now…. No! This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not when he was so close.

"Bluestreak…" Prowl breathed.

"What?" Bumblebee turned to the pod next to him, but the ninja-bot didn't answer.

Optimus somehow was able to direct their shuttle to a large body of water before hurrying over the the stasis pods.

"Initiating emergency stasis management."

No.

He had known the second it had happened. He could feel it in his spark. Something was wrong. He had tried to brush it off. Nothing is wrong. Prowl is okay. He'll come home. He promised.

Hound could tell something was wrong, he just didn't know what. He had tried to distract Bluestreak with a game, but that hadn't worked. He had tried other games, several toys, datapads, even a short stroll… but nothing had worked. The youngling was still pouting, as silent as ever. Very unusual for Bluestreak.

It only got worse as the solar-cycle went on. And just when Bluestreak thought he couldn't take the knots building up in the pit of his tanks anymore, he got the call. A space bridge had exploded in the last known location that the shuttle had been in. The hadn't found any bodies yet, and were unable to determine if the debris from the site was from a vehicle, but it was clear enough. Prowl and the crew were gone. A freak accident. Something no one could have seen coming. That didn't stop the tears that flowed. The sorrow. The aching in his spark for someone who was never coming home. It wouldn't stop him from shutting down. Closing off everyone close. Prowl was gone. His only family. They were all gone.

Hound tried his best to comfort Bluestreak...

... But how can you heal a broken spark?