She was hiding behind the remains of a building watching the bridge. It was just a lonely bridge with no one near even to guard. Still, she kept a careful watch; you never knew what could come at you.
Yet as she came closer to the bridge, her spark started singing more. She could only think of one reason it would, but it was crazy; a chance in several million, and she would know the numbers. The thought that he could be right through that bridge-
The sound of an engine met her audials and cut through her thoughts. A two-wheeler engine and sounded like one of small size. She should easily be able to overpower them and get the information she needed.
She watched and saw them approaching the bridge. They also seemed to have a passenger. Elita jumped out of hiding and placed herself right in front of the bridge. Her blaster was pointed at them, though she didn't have much power for more than a stunning blast, but they didn't know that. "Halt and explain yourself!"
The two-wheeler skidded to a stop, swinging so they were parallel to the bridge. The passenger, from what her quick scans showed her, was a bipedal organic inside of a pressurized environment suit. It quickly got off the two-wheeler, who transformed. When her pink-blue optics met Elita's iridescent blue, they instantly knew each other.
"Elita?" Arcee asked in disbelief.
"Arcee?" Elita lowered her blaster. Another second and the two old friends were embracing, Arcee barely reaching Elita's chassis, but that just meant that she could more easily cup her helm. It only lasted a minute, but a millennia of feelings were exchanged in it.
"I never thought we'd see you again," Arcee said, stepping back.
"I thought quite the same," Elita admitted.
The organic made a noise, pulling Elita's attention back to him. He spoke again, but Elita didn't understand.
A data packet appeared in her HUD from Arcee. "Our current comm codes, and a download of English, the language Jack's speaking," she explained.
Elita nodded and, when the download finished, looked at the organic. "Hello."
It nodded back. "Hi."
"This is Elita One, Jack," Arcee said proudly. "She was my commander when the war started, before I teamed up with Tailgate." She looked to Elita. "Elita, this is Jack. He's a human, and my partner on Team Prime."
"'Prime?'" Elita couldn't believe her audial. "You're with Optimus?"
"Yeah, only he's lost his memory, and we have to get this," Jack held up a glowing relic for Elita to see, though she still had to bend down, "to him to restore them."
"Memory loss?" Elita looked at Arcee.
"We'll explain later, but now we need to get back to Earth." She turned on her comm. "Ratchet, we have the Matrix. We're coming through." A moment of quiet. "Ratchet?" She took her servo from her comm. "Something's wrong."
The three looked at the groundbridge, as if by will they could see what was beyond.
"Well, we can't not go through, can we?" Jack said.
Arcee nodded and looked to Elita. "We could always use an extra bot on the team, if you want to come with us."
Elita stood and activated her blaster. "I'd already decided that I'd be taking this bridge off the planet. Now I have even more incentive to go."
Arcee nodded and the three started walking through; however, as they stepped into the bridge Elita felt her stabilizers start to go and she placed a servo on Arcee to steady herself.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked, looking concerned.
"What are your fuel levels running?" Arcee asked.
"About the same they have for the past several vorn, twenty percent," Elita admitted.
Arcee's optics widened. "How are you still standing here?"
"I took on a new alt mode, a simpler one; and I've been taking longer and longer stasis rests. There's not much energon left on Cybertron, and most of my current supply came from Shockwave's spacebridge."
"You are in no condition to fight, especially if it's Megatron out there." Arcee thought for a moment. "Stay back with Jack and make sure he gets out safely."
Elita gave Arcee a look, or at least the best one from this angle. "You know I am your superior officer."
"And on Team Prime I'd be your senior, so that's how I'm giving orders. I'll distract the cons while you guys get out."
"What about you, Arcee?" Jack asked.
"I'll be fine, Jack. Don't need to worry about me." She met Elita's gaze again.
Elita held it for a minute, then nodded. "Alright. Go, Arcee. We'll be right behind."
Arcee nodded back and leapt forward, transforming and speeding away. Jack looked up at Elita in concern.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, Jack, I am fine." It was taking some effort to put one pede before the other, but it seemed to take less and less as she went. The singing in her spark was growing louder and louder, and she knew he was near, getting closer.
When she and Jack exited the groundbridge, the first thing she noticed was Arcee fighting with Megatron; the second she noticed was red and blue plating, shifting to a kneeling positon from the floor; thirdly, she noticed her spark song being the strongest it'd been for vorns, millennia.
Optimus turned toward them, and she could see in an instant, Jack had been telling the truth of his memories. There was no recognition in his optics as they passed over her, drawn to Jack and the relic in his organic servo.
"Are you certain I am worthy?" he asked, a little unbelief in his voice. Clearly, even with his memories gone, he recognized what it was.
"You have no idea," Jack said, before holding up the relic and a beam of light energy came from it to hit Optimus's chestplates, which opened to reveal the Matrix of Leadership. Elita's servos came to her mouth of their own accord in seeing Optimus laid out so open.
A large clang echoing through the cavern made her look up. Megatron had grabbed Arcee and slammed her into the wall. She stepped around Jack to place herself in between Optimus and Megatron, activating her blasters to prepare to fight if needed.
Megatron finally looked toward them and saw what was happening. He dropped Arcee and charged. Elita fired a few blasts, though they didn't seem to slow him down a second. Nor did the Autobot who came charging at Megatron, easily swatted aside. Elita kept shooting until Megatron got so close she had to drop down for him to pass over her. She followed his path with her helm, and was rewarded to see Optimus catch Megatron's blade as it came down.
"Megatron," he said, his battlemask snapping into place. "Be gone!" He punched Megatron and sent him stumbling back, and Optimus followed, not letting up the attack until he had uppercut Megatron into the wall.
The other Autobots raced to Optimus's side, and as Arcee helped her up, Elita recognized Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. She drew her blasters along with the others, and heard Optimus ask "Ratchet, how did we arrive here?"
"Long story, Optimus," Ratchet answered.
A new voice came over Elita's comm, speaking English. ::Base to Arcee. We're picking up six Autobot signals. Is Prime with you?::
"And Jack," Arcee answered. "And an old friend."
They spotted Megatron crawling back up from below the platform, and fired, Elita taking care to watch for Jack behind her pedes. A groundbridge opened beside them, and she stared at it in wonder for a moment.
"It's ours!" Arcee declared.
"Autobots, fall back!" Optimus ordered as Megatron charged at them.
Arcee was first to respond, pulling Elita's arm and scooping up Jack before leading them both to the groundbridge.
Compared to the spacebridge, the groundbridge was an energon sweet, and Elita entered it to find other organics – humans – waiting for them at the bridge's exit.
"Jack!" one called, running towards him as he took the helm of his suit off. Arcee, having not let go of Elita's arm, lead her away from the bridge, as the darkest colored of the humans asked, 'Who's this."
"This is Elita, Fowler. She's a friend," Arcee explained, making Elita sit down before dashing off somewhere. The other Autobots came through and gathered around the humans, but they all turned to the bridge to see if their mission had all been in vain.
In just a few moments, Optimus walked through and the bridge closed. He retracted his mask and looked around, as if he was looking for something. The smallest human walked towards him.
"Optimus?" he asked, soft and almost fearfully.
Optimus smiled at him. "Hello, Rafael."
"The Big Guy remembers us! Woohoo!" the brightly colored human said, jumping for joy.
Optimus smiled down again, but his optics were still roaming. Arcee had returned to Elita with an energon cube, but she ignored it, making herself stand and step away from the wall.
"Optimus." She said it softly, but everyone turned to her. The bots all looked stunned, while Optimus looked almost speechless.
Carefully, he stepped toward her, and she him. Their first contact was their servos, Optimus's cupped for her digits to curl around.
"Elita," he vented softly, one servo extending to her cheek. "Is it you?"
She smiled and she could feel lubricant start to well in her optics, and for once she felt she didn't need to blink it away. "Yes, it's me."
Optimus smiled, and neither knew who moved first, all they knew is an astro-second later they were kissing, optics shut from joy. She pulled her servos from his and placed them on his face. His free one fitted around her waist, drawing her closer to him so their plating touched. And as they kissed, Elita's spark sang, but not alone. It sang a duet, one that had lost its counterpart and had now found it again.
Wow this is late. I meant to update last month, but I forgot. This fic will only update once a month, on the 20th, so that's when to look for it. I hope you enjoy.
