"The lab entrance is here," said Optimus, pointing to a picture of Kokular's ruins, "Shockwave said that he had a slight security program in place, so Jazz and Wheeljack," he turned towards the two Autobots, "Your skills will be needed."

After returning to the Alchemor, Optimus had called the rest of the team, plus the newly added Wheeljack, to the rec-room, where the Minicon Toolbox had pulled up a picture of the ruins of Kokular. Optimus was currently explaining the plan to the team- which Wheeljack had nicknamed 'All-Star Team' for some strange reason- and the info that they had gained from Shockwave.

"I'm surprised that Shockwave was cooperative," said Ratchet, "Promise to leave him in peace?"

"Yes," said Optimus.

"What exactly will we be expecting, Optimus?" asked Windblade, standing next to Wheeljack.

"Some guards, possibly," said Optimus, "Maybe a member of the High Council, although that does seem unlikely."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Jazz, "Let's go get our friends back!"

()

Cyberwarp stood alone in the High Council chambers, watching the camera screens in front of her. One was the entrance to the lab, another was a camera to Arcee and Bulkhead's cell- the larger Autobot was pounding on the door while Arcee sat in one corner, her helm in her arms- and the last one was with Smokescreen, his struggling form becoming less jerky and weaker.

Suddenly, the first camera had movement. Her optics widened when she saw the figures at the doorway, trying their hardest to open it without setting off the alarm. Her servo went to the alarm button, but then stopped. She looked back at the imprisoned Autobots and the tourtured Smokescreen. "No," she whispered, "No more."

Her hand pressed on the button to open the door. "There's always another way."

()

"This one?"

"No."

"This one?"

"No! Not that one-!"

Both Jazz and Wheeljack gave a small start and jumped back as the door suddenly opened. "Was that you?" asked Jazz.

"No," said Wheeljack for the umpteenth time, "I thought that was you."

"Let's just get going!" said Windblade, rushing in. Jazz and Wheeljack looked at each other before getting up and rushing in. Optimus stopped in the doorway and wondered, who had let them in?

Several guards instanly saw them, but Wheeljack swing his whip forward, slashing their guns in half before Windblade and Jazz tackled them to the ground, swiftly knocking all but one unconcious. "Alright, bucko," said Wheeljack, drawing one of his katana's and pointing it at the guard, "Where's Bulk'?"

The guard instantly said something inteligable.* "Uh... what?" asked Jazz.

"That was Ancient Iaconian," said Wheeljack, "Does anybot here speak Ancient Iaconian?"

Windblade instantly picked up the guard by his neckplates and slammed him into a nearby wall. She brought the guard down to her level and spoke in the language*, a dangerous look on her faceplates. "What did she say?" asked Ratchet to Optimus, who was the other only Ancient Iaconian speaker in the room.

"You don't want to know," Optimus said. If he had been capable of turning pale, he probably would have.

"Okay," said Jazz, "She's Batgirl now."

The guard quickly said, in regular cybertronian, sounding like a femme, "Alright! Alright! I seriously thought that would work, though."

Windblade gasped and dropped the guard. "Chromia?" she asked in shock.

The guard removed her mask and said, "Thanks for blowing my cover... Windblade?" A blue femme with red highlights stared up at Windblade with wide, bright blue optics, "Is that really you?"

"You're alive!" squealed Windblade. She helped the femme up and grabbed her in a tight hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find a way to free Bulkhead, Arcee and Smokescreen!" responded Chromia, "By the way, I think one of you guys knocked out Nauticia."

"Whoops," said Jazz, a nervous look on his faceplates. Chromia walked over to another unconcious guard and pulled off the mask, revealing a femme with a purple and yellow helm. She was, unfortunately, unconcious. "So, any ideas?" asked Chromia.

Optimus stepped forward. He unsheathed his weapon and allowed a small spark of electricity to travel down the blade and strike Nauticia, who leapt up with a loud squeal. "What the Pit- who in Cybertron-?" She looked up at Optimus and her jaw dropped. "Uh, Chromia," she said in a nervous/excited voice, "That's Optimus Prime."

Chromia looked at Optimus for a few seconds, then whirled on Windblade and said, "First you, now him? This certainly is a day for people coming back from the dead!"

"Who are you- Windblade! You're alive!" Nauticia hugged Windblade and asked, "Where've you been hanging buddy?"

"Long story," said Windblade, returning the hug.

"You said you knew where Bulkhead, Arcee and Smokescreen are?" asked Ratchet.

Chromia nodded, "Follow us. By the way, sir," she saluted to Optimus, "Welcome back."

"I was not aware you were friends with Windblade," said Optimus as they hurried along.

"She vanished a little while after the War started," explained Chromia, drawing a long rod and allowing it to grow into a scythe, "We thought she had been killed by the 'Cons."

"But now we find her," said Nauticia excitedly, drawing a very big wrench from a holster on her back, (making both Wheeljack and Ratchet skip to the side nervously) "A thousand years later, still kicking, and with a new form to boot! Where'd you score the upgrade? And when the heck did Optimus Prime come back to life?" She pointed to the large Autobot in question, who sent an arc of electricity over their heads to strike down a group of guards.

"Long story on both counts," said Windblade, "I'll tell you when we have a bit of breathing room. Just don't die, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" said Chromia, swinging her scythe forward and slashing it into several automated drones. "Speaking of the mission, I think the cell's up ahead."

They turned the corner and came to a screeching stop. The large crowd of guards that were there paused with what they were doing and stopped to look at them. Wheeljack raised a tentative hand up and gave a small wave. Then the guards unfroze and started shooting at them. Optimus started deflecting the bolts and said, "Back around the corner!"

As they took shelter, Nauticia joked, "Well, that's not the elevator. Owch!" she yelped when Windblade smaked her across the helm. "I missed that," said Nauticia ruefully, rubbing her helm.

"Me too," said Windblade, smiling.

Optimus swung his sword out, unleashing a large bolt of electricity from it. When the team looked around the corner, they saw all of the guards in a crumpled heap on the floor. "Whoa," said Jazz, "Can I get one of those?"

Optimus rolled his optics as Chromia and Nauticia ran up to the cell. "Guys! You in there?" yelled Chromia, pounding on the door.

A muffled voice, which Optimus recognized as Bulkhead, responded, "Chromia! Thank the Primes! They took Smokescreen!"

"What? When?" asked Chromia, Optimus, Ratchet and Wheeljack sharing a shocked glace with each other.

"Six hours ago! He was badly hurt too! Arcee can't walk either! I can still swing though!"

"Hang on, Bulk'!" yelled Wheeljack, "We're gettin' ya outta there!"

"Jackie!" yelled Bulkhead, relief in his voice as Jazz started to work on the door, "I was worried they got you!"

"Fat chance!" said Wheeljack, laughing, "We're gettin' you and 'Cee outta there, then we're lookin' for the rookie! You're not gonna believe who else is out here with me, though!"

"Who?" asked Bulkhead as Jazz said, "Almost... there!"

As soon as the door slid open, Bulkhead tumbled out, Wheeljack quickly catching him. "You okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Peachy," said Bulkhead. Then he saw Optimus. His jaw dropped and after a little while, he gave a wide grin. "You... are impossible, Boss-bot," he said, pointing a finger at him.

Optimus smiled and gently put a servo on his shoulder. "I get that a lot," he said, "Is Arcee in there?" When Bulkhead nodded, Optimus quickly strode inside, stopping when he saw Arcee, huddled in a corner, nearly unconcious. He rushed forward, quickly gathering her up in his arms and whispering, "Arcee?"

Arcee gave a small moan and opened her optics. When she realized who was holding her, she looked up, her optics wide. "Optimus?" she whispered, her voice hoarse.

"It's me," he gently whispered.

She gave a small keen and collapsed in his arms, shuddering as sobs wracked her body, as Optimus gently comforted her and held her as Ratchet scanned her. "Deep injuries," he said, "and she's suffering from energon loss."

"Optimus." The Prime looked down at Arcee as she said, "Smokescreen... they-."

"We know," he said gently, "Bulkhead told us. We'll find him."

"Uh, Opie? You might want to see this."

Optimus stood and walked outside, still holding Arcee as Jazz said, "I have no clue what's with the Ancient Iaconian today, but a message just popped up on the consel. I don't read A.I. though."

Optimus carefully read the message, then his optics widened. "Smokescreen's location," he said. Handing Arcee to Wheeljack, he said, "Ratchet, Jazz, Nauticia, you're with me. The rest of you, get back to base with Arcee and Bulkhead. You know how to treat them?" he asked Windblade.

She nodded. "Then Autobots, roll out!"

()

The few guards that were in the room turned as the door sudenly exploded off it's hinges, blowing back and hitting one of them, before they could draw their guns, a bolt of electricity came from the shadowed doorway, striking the rest of the guards and knocking them unconcious.

Optimus, Ratchet, Jazz and Nauticia quickly ran into the room, Ratchet's optic's widening when he saw Smokescreen. "Get him out of there!" he yelled.

Jazz and Nauticia ran up to the container that held Smokescreen, Jazz rapidly typing into the consel before slamming it angrily with his servos. "This'll take too long!"

"Outta the way!" Nauticia slammed her wrench into the consel, right where a download port was. After a few buzzing moments, the generators stopped humming and the coolant started to drain. "It can do that?" asked Jazz.

"It's got everything," said Nauticia proudly as Optimus broke the glass and freed Smokescreen, "There's even a little light that goes on when I'm exaggerating!"

"RATCHET!"

The two of them jumped when Optimus yelled out, causing the old medic to run to his side. "He's not intaking," said Optimus, fear etched in his optics.

Ratchet ran a scan over the comatose Autobot. "He's still got a spark beat," said Ratchet, giving a sigh of relief, "But he has a lot of coolant in his systems. Too much. And he's been electrocuted too many times. We need to get him back to base. Be careful with him."

Optimus nodded, carefully scooping him up. "Just hang on, Smokescreen," he whispered desperately, hoping he could hear him, "Just hang on."

()

A voice penetrated the darkness. A voice that reached out to him, begging for him to hang on.

"Optimus... help me..."

()

[Alchemor- 5 hours later]

Optimus paces worriedly in front of the med-bay, often looking up to see the door still closed. Whenever that happened, he gave a sigh and kept pacing. He was worried. Not just for Bulkhead and Arcee, but for Smokescreen as well. Seeing him like that had scared him badly.

Finally, Jazz, who was sitting nearby, stood up and grasped Optimus by the shoulder plates. "Opie, stop," he scolded, "You're scaring me."

Optimus gave another sigh and said, "I'm sorry, Jazz. I'm just worried."

"They'll make it," said Jazz, patting him on the arm, "They all will."

Optimus gave a slightly unsure nod, then the door opened, allowing Ratchet to step through. "How are they?" asked Optimus.

"Bulkhead will be fine in a few days," said Ratchet, "Arcee might take a little longer due to her injured leg. Smokescreen... can I talk to you in private?"

Optimus, worry starting to fill him, nodded, and followed Ratchet to another room, letting Jazz visit Bulkhead. (Arcee having fallen asleep when they had arrived back) "Well?" asked Optimus when they were alone.

Ratchet rubbed his helm for a few moments before saying, "He's barely hanging on. He was the most injured out of the three, and there's more coolant in his systems than energon. What little energon is in his systems is too unstable. Adding any more could cause a system's failure. He's critical Optimus. But I think I know of a way to save him."

"How?" asked Optimus.

Ratchet gave a sigh and said, "We drain him. All the coolant, all the unstable energon, then pump him back up. The problem is, his spark might fail. If someone close to him held it, comforted him, then he'll probably survive. But I don't know who-."

"I'll do it."

Ratchet looked up at Optimus and asked, "You? Do you actually have that close of a bond with him?"

Optimus looked away for a few seconds, then asked, "Do you remember Darkmount, when the team was separated and Smokescreen was with me?"

"Yes..?" said Ratchet slowly, not exactly liking where this led.

"During that time..."

Dun dun DUUUUNNNNNNNN! I have to be torturous and leave you on a cliffhanger, don't I? Don't worry, Smoky will live. He's in my other story, isn't he?

* "You can't understand me, and even if you did, I wouldn't tell you!"

Windblade said something along the lines of, "I can, and you will. Or else I'll..." The rest of it is too horrifying to say and would probably raise the rating to M. I got that from Justice League by the way. There's also some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stuff. See if you can spot it!