Optimus Prime paced around outside the medical bay, waiting. Jolt was checking his mate, Elita, in there. She was in pain when she was rushed inside.

Jolt, a blue mech, walked out. "Well, do you want the news first or do you want to see it?"

"What do you mean?" The Prime asked curiously.

A grin covered the medic's face. "Elita has had a son."

Optimus was speechless. A son? Oh my.

"Come on." The blue medic moved his hand in a motion to follow.

The Prime did. He found Elita lying on her back, holding a little grey hatchling. He sat in a chair by her bed.

"What should we call him? It has to be a good name because one day, when he's old enough, he will be a Prime as well." She murmured.

Before he could answer, the tiny mech opened his eyes…

He looked up at his sire and his mate. He heard them speaking, though he could not understand them. Then he heard a word, one word just stood out to him. "Crux" He whispered.

Optimus nodded looking at him. "Crux."

Elita grinned. "Crux."

A solar cycle (year) later, Crux had learned how to talk and how to understand what others said to him. He had been painted lime-green by a mech called Jazz. Crux had grown to be about three or four times the size he'd been when he first opened his optics, but he was still small to the other bots. And still growing.

The green mechling spent most of his time with other bots. He made them laugh and have fun. He liked fun. Everything about it. He loved the bots all around him. It was like paradise, here on Cybertron. Except for the fact that they were in a war, which Crux was still trying to learn about. Every day, less and less bots came back. He didn't know where they went or what happened to them, but they were gone like they'd never been there before. Except for memories, of course.

"Jolt, how did you become a medic?" Crux asked.

Jolt chuckled. "My leg got damaged to the point it couldn't heal in battle. I haven't even been a medic long. Became one not long before you were born."

"What's the point of the war?" He wondered.

"The point of it is the power over Cybertron. Megatron wants to rule, but that power belongs to the Primes." The blue medic answered.

"Do…do you think you'll ever have to fight again anyway?"

"I don't know. I might have to, eventually. I hope not though. It's brutal out there. Brutal and deadly. The Decepticons show no mercy. I don't think they even take prisoners, but they might. Probably to intimidate us."

"Will I ever have to fight?" The lime-green mechling asked.

"Yes. All Primes end of fighting eventually." Jolt told him. "Though, there aren't many left. Just Optimus, Sentinel, and soon, you."

"There were thirteen to start with, right?" Crux tried to remember.

"Yep. Exactly thirteen, including Primus, of course." Then the medic added, "I have to go, Crux. My shift is going to start pretty soon."

"Okay." He answered. "If you want company, comm. me."

"Will do." Jolt chuckled and walked away.

A little while later, maybe a few breems, Jolt did comm. him.

:Come here, Crux. I need someone to talk to. Maybe you could also help calm down Blurr. He just came in injured.:

:Be there in a flash, Jolt.:

He was there in just a few nanokliks. He hurried over to where the medic worked on Blurr. "Hey guys."

"That was fast." Jolt murmured, not looking up from what he was doing. "Arcee, can you give me a hand?"

Blurr had begun crying out in pain. Energon poured from several wounds in his frame.

Arcee was there in nanos. "Jolt, get the patches."

He grabbed them and handed them to her.

Not wanting to watch Blurr's suffering, he walked over to Ratchet, who had just finished cleaning up a mess he'd made.

"So, how're you doing?" He asked the yellow bot.

"I'm alright over here." He responded. "How about-"

Optimus burst through the medical bay doors. "Ratchet, Jolt, come with me. We're losing out there."

The two mechs moved towards the doors to go to the battle.

"You'll be okay, right Jolt?" He was worried for the medic. The two had a close bond and not to mention his injured leg.

The blue medic shrugged. "I don't know."

"Don't worry, I'll protect him." Ratchet rolled his eyes. "Let's go."

Before Crux could protest, the two medics had gone. He walked over to a corner of the room and sat down on the floor. Don't die…Don't die…He prayed. He stayed there, huddled in the corner for a long time.

The green mechling sat up abruptly when the medic doors burst open. An injured bot came through, dragging a dead one. Crux felt sick just at the sight of the bots' frames. The living one was in just as bad condition as the dead one's frame. Arcee looked in the direction of the noise.

"Oh no. Prowl, what happened?"

"We're losing out there. Outnumbered and outgunned. So many…dead." The mech murmured sadly, as if giving up. He gently laid down the body of the bot he had brought in. "I tried to save him, but it was too late."

"We never had enough bots to begin with. Too many joined Megatron's cause."

"I know, Arcee." Prowl nodded. "I have to go back and help them." The mech turned and walked out of the room.

"What if…Arcee, what if we lose?" Crux was afraid of the answer to his question.

"If we lose, then Cybertron will have a new ruler, Megatron." She responded. "We can't afford to lose this war."

"Do you think Ratchet and Jolt are alright?" All he felt was fear for them. Fear for all of the Autobots.

"I don't know. They could be dead. Probably injured. Just don't think about it."

He tried hard not to sob. He huddled back into the corner, hands to his head. All he could do was hope and pray.

Nearly a joor later, Crux heard voices outside the door. He couldn't understand what the bots out there were saying, the voices muffled by the door.

One voice stood out, angry and loud. "Optimus, what if he dies? The storm and the battle are too much for him. Not to mention he was already injured before the battle began!"

It was hard to make out the sentence of another bot. He only caught a few words. "Let…fight. If…die, I die. Just…let…have to stop them. We must…can't afford…loss. Let me."

There was an obvious pain in the voice of the bot. He must be injured badly, really badly. Optimus spoke next, "You have to fight, Jolt. I don't care what Ratchet says. We have to win this war, especially this battle."

Jolt? Oh no. What if he does die? He can't…he can't.

"I can barely protect myself!" Ratchet yelled at the Prime.

"But, what would Crux think if Jolt died?"

"He would know it was for…cause." He heard the injured medic say. "He'd understand."

"It would ruin his life if you died." Ratchet told him. "You can't keep fighting like this."

"I-we have to!" This time Jolt shouted it at him. "We have to win! Not everyone is going to survive the war, you know that. Most of us had our lives ruined already anyway. I don't want to ruin Crux's, but if I die, it's for a good cause if we win." Let's get back out there and help them already!"

Crux heard the bot stalk off. "Good job, you've pissed him off, Ratchet." Optimus scowled. "He's right though. We can't stop."

He heard him leave Ratchet standing there. "That's harsh." He heard the medic spat before walking after the other two bots.

Crux got up and looked over at Arcee. She heard the whole thing as well. She looked at him. He looked at the floor.

"He can't die…" He whispered.

Arcee walked over to him and hugged him tightly, trying to cheer him up. "It'll be okay, little one."

Crux stifled a sob. "He just can't. I need him."

"Arcee, can I go back out and help them again before this battle really does turn towards hell?" Blurr asked.

"Alright." She told him.

The mech raced out of the medical bay.

Crux sighed. He squirmed out of Arcee's grasp and walked out of the medical bay. He headed towards his sire's quarters, which he shared with him and Elita. Elita wasn't there. She was in the battle too.

Crux went towards Chromia and Ironhide's quarters. Neither of them were their either. He walked back into the medical bay and sat in the same corner in the same position as before.

All he could do was wait, hope, and, yes, pray to Primus.

Another couple of joors later, there were voices in the hall again. Only this time, they were louder and there were more than before. Was the battle over? Who won?

A bunch of Autobots burst into the room. Crux only searched for Jolt.

When he spotted him, he was immediately worried and concerned. Ratchet was carrying him in. The blue medic had energon pouring out from perhaps thousands of wounds. But, jolt was still alive. He was one of the bots crying out in pain. Crux could see the steam coming off of the bot. Was Jolt struck by lightning?

He scrambled onto his feet and raced after Ratchet, who went straight through the bay. Crux realized that the yellow medic was in bad condition as well, but he was walking…actually limping, but at least he was on his feet.

He followed Ratchet to an emergency room at the back of the bay. He even followed him in. The yellow medic laid Jolt on the bed and grabbed some tools and patches. He put them on a cart next to the bed. Then he grabbed a hose-Crux had no idea why it was in there-and turned it on. Ratchet sprayed it at Jolt, obviously trying to cool down his frame.

The medic realized the door was open, but when he turned around, the first thing he saw was Crux, standing in the doorway. "How long have you been there?"

"I've followed you since you entered the bay." Crux said, coldly.

"How long have you been in the bay?" Ratchet sounded suspicious.

"Since you guys left. I heard your conversation earlier too." He responded, the upset-ish angry tone still in his voice.

"Yeah, you weren't exactly supposed to hear that." The medic murmured, guiltily. He moved around Crux and closed the door. "I told him not to fight. He wouldn't listen."

"What happened? Was it lightning, is that why he is steaming?" He finally asked.

"Yes. It blasted the shields over his spark chamber off and hit his spark. It's fried." Ratchet said, fear in his voice. "If he survives, he'll never be the same."

"I don't care what you say, Ratchet, but I'm staying here." Crux growled.

"Alright, soon-to-be Prime." Ratchet responded. He went back to hosing down Jolt.

A breem and a half later, Jolt had stopped steaming and most of his frame had cooled down. Though his spark was still burning hot and majorly damaged. But, a few groans and moans of pain still escaped the blue medic.

Crux got a better look at the full damage done to him; His voice box had a dent and some scratches on it, his spark looked like something tried to eat it because of the lightning, there were scratches on Jolt's chest, face, and limbs. Ratchet was right; Jolt would never be the same again.

The injured medic had his optics squeezed shut in pain. He was breathing heavily too. Some spots of the dark-blue paint had been scraped and showed silver underneath. Poor, poor Jolt. It was hard to see him in this condition.

"Hey, Ratchet, who won?" He finally asked.

"We did, but barely. About half of us that fought were killed. Same for the Decepticons. Half dead, half fled." Ratchet answered. "It wasn't a victory nor a loss."

Crux nodded, understanding. Then he remembered something. "All of the survivors are injured. Some horribly, like Jolt."

"Yes." Ratchet told him. "There is no perfectly undamaged bot that fought today."

They went back into silence. Ratchet went to working on Jolt. Crux felt a weird feeling inside of him. He didn't know why it was there, but it was. Calmness. How could he be calm after all that happened? Jolt was on the verge of life or death! He should be panicking, but he wasn't.

Something deep down told Crux that Jolt would be alright.