"Ratchet, open the gate." Optimus said, pulling into the Hanger. "Bumblebee, Arcee and I will go through. Wheeljack, Bulkhead and Smokescreen will stay behind to help you to set up all medical equipment needed to perform any kind of damage that could be done to not only, Elita, but also to an old comrade."
Ratchet looked up. He bounced around the eyes of Optimus Prime and Arcee. "Ironhide?"
"We have reason to believe that Ironhide is up there as well, and many other Autobots." Arcee explained, choking up a few of the words.
"Alright." Ratchet walked over to the lever and pulled it.
Jack walked up to Arcee. "Ironhide? Who is Ironhide?"
"I'll bring him home, and I'll show you." she smiled, and followed Optimus Prime through the portal.
On the other side of the portal, they were met with guns in their face. Blue light glowing at the end, two young eyes poked around the other side.
"Optimus Prime?" a shaky voice said.
Optimus looked at Arcee. The transformer there was obviously just a small kid. He looked back at the kid, and smiled.
"And, who might this brave young man be?" he asked smiling.
The young transformer lowered his gun. The dark air around them improved the already depressing mood. He sighed and started telling his story.
"I don't really have a name. I don't see my mommy much. The Decepticons have her. They don't know I'm here. You're not going to tell them, are you?"
"No, I'm not." Arcee said. "And neither will he."
"Good." he smiled.
"Are the Decepticons good to your mommy?"
"No." he said, matter-of-factly. "They're really mean to her. They hit and kick her. Sometimes, they'll take their knife and stab her a couple of times. They don't really feed her and her friends either, that's what I do." he smiled at this. "I go out and steal their food. I'm small enough, I can."
"I bet you're a real big help." Optimus Prime said. "Can you take us to your mommy?"
"You're not going to hurt her either, are you?" he raised his gun slightly.
"No, I came here to take your mommy, and you, and all of her friends away from here, back to my home."
"Follow me!"
"Bulkhead, I needed that!" Ratchet's voice echoed throughout the base.
Miko laughed. "That's Bulk for ya. Always getting in trouble somehow."
"Hey Ratchet," Jack asked, walking towards the large robot in front of him. "Who is Ironhide, and why does he mean so much to Arcee?"
"There's a lot I don't know about those two. But, what I do know is that they were in fact in a relationship. Ironhide joined our crew just after Optimus got back from his search. We made four or five runs, and Ironhide gained Optimus' respect and trust. He became his right hand man. After we made our decision to come to Earth, we threw one more attack on the Decepticons. We divided into two groups, one led by Optimus Prime, one led by Ironhide. They were hit harder than us, and the few that made it through told us Ironhide said to go on through, because the army would take down the ship. Which they did, but that's a different story. When Arcee came to Earth, we told her what happened, and she never lost hope that Ironhide was still out there. She never let that stop her either, and she's only fought harder since that day."
"So, Arcee has a boyfriend? Oh, I so didn't know that! We could talk boys, do all that girly stuff that I can't do with you two!" Miko smiled.
The boys stared at her.
"What? I like talking about boys just as much as anyone else!"
"Okay, Okay, jeez." Jack said.
The boy led Optimus Prime and Arcee to the back of what looked like a mountain. He signaled for them to keep down and be quiet, and he walked straight through the mountain. They shrugged, and crawled after him.
Behind the mountain, they saw hell. There was dead Autobots all over the place. It looked like a mass murder. The boy stopped and crawled up to them.
"Mom says these people are sleeping," he whispered. "They don't ever wake up. They are her friends." he smiled
This comment put Arcee into shock. If they're all dead, Ironhide could be too. She plowed ahead of Optimus Prime, and followed close behind the boy.
A few minutes later, the boy held up a hand. He signaled for them to wait, and ran through the hole in the wall ahead.
"Mommy, mommy, Optimus Prime is here!" He whispered excitedly. Pause. "Mommy?"
"She's sleeping," a voice boomed. It was a strong voice, but there was a hint of pain and suffering in it. "Is it true? Is Optimus Prime here?"
"Yes! They're right outside, I can go get them if you don't believe me."
"No, you must stay here with your mother."
"Why? She's going to wake up soon, I'll be back then."
Silence. "She may not. Not unless I can convince the Decepticons to leave her alone for a while."
Optimus Prime took a hold of this moment. He moved forward, about to go through the hole, when the door busted open. Prime ducked back down, and looked up at the room. He couldn't make out if the girl on the bed was Elita, but the booming voice was most definitely didn't tell Arcee. The one who busted through the door was a Decepticon.
"Is it true?" he asked. "Is Optimus Prime really here?"
Ironhide shoved the boy behind him, and stood in front of the girl on the bed. "That information, I'm afraid, is not available at the moment."
The Decepticon answered by punching him, and grabbing the boy. "Where is he, or I'll kill ELita and her son!"
"Ironhide, help me!" The boy yelled.
At this point in time, looking back on it, Optimus Prime was pretty proud of himself. He didn't run forward to save Elita, and he didn't allow Arcee to do the same for Ironhide. Instead, they waited a little longer, Arcee at his side. Ironhide was doubled over on the ground, and Elita cowered on the bed. The Decepticon kicked and punched Ironhide until he flopped over, where he stepped on him and peered over Elita.
"Ready," Prime said
"I knew I should've killed you when Megatron first brought us here." he said, raising a knife.
"Now!" Optimus said. He rushed through the hole in the wall, grabbing the decepticon. Arcee ran through the door, killing the other four guards standing outside. Optimus grabbed the boy, sat him down by Ironhide and his mother, and threw the Decepticon back against the wall. The other four Decepticons let go of Arcee, and backed away slowly. "Arcee, go get the three, and radio Ratchet. Tell him the situation, send Bulkhead and Wheeljack through to get Ironhide and the boy and anyother remaining Autobot that's alive. Leave the portal open, have Smokescreen come through and guard it. I'll get Elita as soon as I handle these."
Arcee nodded and got out of the way just fast enough for Prime to chase after the five.
"Cool!" the boy said. "Is this really where you live!?"
"Not really us," Jack explained. "Just the Autobots. I live with my mom somewhere else, just as Miko and Raf do."
"But you come here, and stay with the Autobots? Awesome."
"I guess it's like our second home," Raf added.
Suddenly, the boy stopped. He turned and looked at the three. "Mommy says that that place we lived in wasn't our home. That our home was far, far away, and that one day we'd see it, together. I never believed her, because nothing she said ever came true. But now it did."
"What all did she say?" Miko asked.
"She said Optimus Prime, my daddy, would find us one day, and save us. She said he promised her, and that daddy never broke his promises." he sighed. "I wish she'd get better."
"Don't worry," Miko smiled and took his giant hand in hers. "Ratchet is doing everything they can to save her. Optimus Prime won't let her get hurt, ever again."
"Promise?"
The three nodded. "Promise."
"I'm losing her!" Ratchet yelled, connecting more wires. "Optimus, push harder!"
Optimus sat at the left of Elita, pushing Energon through a tube that led directly into Elita's spark. As easy as it sounds, it was pretty darn hard, and it had Optimus Prime going as hard as he could. Bulkhead sweeped over Elita with a detector again, and again it came up blue.
"I don't understand!" Bulkhead yelled. "Why isn't this working?"
"It's the same thing that happened when I met Optimus Prime in that field. It'll stop here any moment." Just as Ratchet said moment, the line representing Elita's life signal, bounced. Then again. "Haha, see? Told you! Haha!"
As it got steadier and steadier, Optimus rolled around the table to Elitas side. There, he stood, waiting her to wake. The others left, leaving the two alone. Arcee and Ironhide had went off on a drive a while back, he wasn't as bad as Elita was. The boy left with the kids to have a tour around the base.
Elita's eyes fluttered open, and narrowed at once.
"What do you want?"
