Wheeljack held Dragonbreath in his arms. She had gone limp suddenly. Due to that, he had Bulkhead sweep the others into the other room so that he could have some space. But now she was coming around, slowly.

She was whining a name. She was begging for someone other than her carrier.

"Optimus...he's back..."

Wheeljack set her down slowly, biting his lip. This was getting out of hand. During the past few days, she had been fading in and out of consciousness, and then she would wake up sobbing he's back! He's back!

He decided to get answers from the only mech that he believed could help him.

Nemesis.

He had to find out why this was happening, and to do that, he had to root through his past. He prayed to Primus that Nemesis wouldn't just lock up again.

Nemesis did more than lock up. He locked Wheeljack out and told him to leave him alone, but Wheeljack was a Wrecker, and Wreckers were stubborn. Not only did they not die, they didn't exactly give up on a mission they had set their sparks on.

So he sat outside the door until Magnus blinked down at him.

"Is he not in there?"

"Oh, he is."

"Did you try the door?"

"Oh, I did."

"Did he lock you out or something?"

"You bet your bisquits he did! What is with him?"

Ultra Magnus crossed his arms. "What did you desire to know."

"I want to know what happened to him in the day-care. He's so scared of whatever is in there, and he doesn't really come in unless you escort him in or wait outside for him!"

He rubbed his helm and he sighed, staring at the wall beside Wheeljack. "It is a long and complicated story, but what happened to him is happening to Dragonbreath."

Wheeljack nodded and he let his leader take him to his quarters. He sat at Magnus' desk while he took the berth.

"He was a young one, and young ones are young enough that they can see the dead. The dead often come to extremely young ones and to the extremely old. Nemesis was a runt, and didn't have the same fight as Orion, so Deathstrike came to him. He convinced the little Nemesis that he was a Prime, and he wanted to change Cybertron for the better. Nemesis surrendered to him, and Deathstrike was breaking him down, one piece at a time. When Orion found out, he dispelled the clinging spirit with the power he had possessed when he was a Thirteen. Nemesis was never the same afterwards, and Deathstrike latched onto Megatron instead. But Prime was always on the lookout, warding off spirits, and Nemesis was jumpy at the slightest shadow."

Wheeljack stared at him for a long moment. "So...you think that Deathstrike is latching onto Dragonbreath?"
"No. We believe that Prime is taking it upon himself to latch onto Dragonbreath."

"What!? Why!?"

"Because he was not ready to die."