Hi!!!

Sorry thsi took forever again....

but, see.... I started reading this book... and then worked on another fic that I love so much... and then... yes :) Sorry!

This phrase also has to do with astronomy... fascinating subject, really :D

And just for the record…. I don't have anything against Optimus XD He's just easy to paint as the bad guy.

Enjoy!

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"Sam." Ratchet's voice was metered with quite patience, "It's been more than a week."

"I know" Sam was staring down at the floor with rapt attention, "I just..."

"Does Bumblebee still not know?" Ratchet asked, and Sam just shook his head no. "Sam..."

"Not yet." Sam mumbled. "I can't. Not yet."

"You only have about a week left. Don't you think it's better to tell him before he just... finds out?"

"I will..." Sam hopped off the berth, "Soon."

Ratchet watched him leave, said nothing at all.

x xxxxxxxxxxxxx x

"He doesn't need to be held all the time." Sunstreaker's voice made Sideswipe pause, looking back down the hallway to see his sparkmate. He couldn't remember the last time Sunstreaker had so much as referred to Euclid, and tried to tell himself that this was progress.

Sideswipe hadn't wanted their sparkling to become some sort of ghost between, visible only to himself, but that was the way it was. The only saving grace was that Euclid barely seemed to notice anymore, that his sparklink was only truly to one bot. In a way similiar to how sparkmates were linked, sparklings had a sparklink to the bots that sparked them. Sideswipe half suspected Sunstreaker had put up guards against his own link with Euclid, and Sideswipe didn't know whether that was sparkbreaking, the abandonment of all hope, or simply better, so that Euclid would never know what he was missing.

"No... but he likes it." Sideswipe turned hopeful optics to Sunstreaker, "want to?"

"Hold him?" Sunstreaker's gaze flickered down to Euclid, who was tracing designs on Sideswipe's armor with his fingertip and babbling to himself. "...no..."

Sideswipe was too adept at hiding how crushed he was.

"Fine." He turned away, and Sunstreaker had the distinct feeling that Sideswipe was protecting Euclid from him, "have you seen Bee?"

"Rec room, why?" he followed Sideswipe out of the room.

"I have patrol now." Bee was in the rec room, watching Mirage and Hound compete for last place on a video game, "Beeee, wanna do me a favor?" Bee grinned.

"Yes!"

Sunstreaker was confused for a moment, then realized, slowly, hesitantly, the familiarity the situation must have had.

"You be good for Bee," Sideswipe pressed a kiss to Euclid's helm, "or you'll find out what a brig is."

"You always did strike me as tough love posterboy" Sam snorted, as Bee cuddled Euclid in his arms. Sideswipe stepped away; Euclid's optics darted after him, hands reaching out as he started to sniffle.

"Oh.. 's fussy today" Sideswipe crouched down, as Euclid wrapped a hand around his finger, "didn't recharge. He'll be okay." He kissed Euclid's helm, "you be good."

Sunstreaker tried not to notice how hard it was for Sideswipe to leave with him.

Sideswipe never talked about Euclid to Sunstraeker. Sunstreaker half wanted to mention him, but had the distinct impression that he'd already failed, and that Sideswipe didn't want him near the sparkling anymore, like he'd already proved how much hurt he could cause.

"So... why Bee?" he ventured, as Sideswipe trailed after him down the hallway. Sideswipe shrugged a shoulder.

"He's best at him. Him and Sam."

"Not Jazz and Hide or anyone?"

"No. Jazz plays rough." Sideswipe shook his head. "And Hide isn't attentive." The last time, Jazz had been tossing Euclid up and catching him, and while Euclid had been ecstatic, Sideswipe had had a very descriptive threat of what he was going to do to Jazz if it ever happened again. Ironhide was similarly deemed unfit, having forgotten Euclid behind when he'd left the rec room. The sparkling hadn't gone anywhere, just continued his favorite activity of trying to climb up the couch, but Sideswipe had been less than pleased.

"And no one else, then."

"No. Ratchet's always busy, I don't want Prime anywhere near him, Blue's a little too forgetful, the twins are still off somewhere and I don't trust them anyways, Red Alert's busy too, Wheeljack is near explosives all the time and he's even more busy, Mirage and Hound are always distracting each other, and that's it." He turned away, and Sunstreaker knew he was aware.

I'd never ask you, Sideswipe wasn't saying, you're the worst for him.

Part of Sideswipe's spark seemed forever dedicated to Euclid. Sunstreaker had to wonder, though, if he'd forever lost that part of Sideswipe.

Sunstreaker could understand why Sideswipe never mentioned Euclid to him.

Back in the rec room, Bee had given Euclid to Sam, having had enough of watching Jazz's video game character fall victim to the same exact sniper.

"That's the forty-second time he's gotten you" Bee sighed, taking the controlled from Jazz's hands, "you think you'd see it coming by now."

Euclid was a very talkative sparkling, Sam had come to realize. He wasn't saying anything that made even remote sense, but seemed to believe he was, expecting a response from Sam. He babbled something, pointing at the screen and looking at Sam expectantly. The other bots weren't paying attention to them, and he clearly expected someone to reply to him.

"....yes?" Sam wasn't sure what to reply, but it seemed to please the tiny bot, as he settled into Sam's arms contentedly. The sparkling put a tiny hand on Sam's armor, said something nonsensical. "That's black." Sam said. "The color." Euclid blinked up at him, then pointed to his own arm. "And that's red. That's black again. That's red. And that's yellow." The sparkling was red, yellow and black, an undeniable testament to the bots that had sparked him. Euclid pointed again to the red metal, smiling suddenly.

"Raaaa!"

"Red." Sam corrected, "Like Sides." Euclid made a growling noise and giggled wildly. It was always amazing to Sam, that the Autobot baby was so advanced. Human babies didn't have such an incredibly rapid pace of development. Euclid was already mimicking noises, repeating the sounds from the game Sideswipe played with him.

"Grrrr-" He growled up at Sam, waving his hands like a tiger's swiping motions, "grrr!"

"Yeah, I know you like that game" Sam grinned, as Euclid put his hands over his face, then peeked out. "I see you" Euclid giggled again, putting his hands over his face again, "Where's Euclid? There you are!"

"You see?" Bee was saying to Jazz, who was glowering at the screen, "it's as easy as that."

"...for you, maybe..."

Sam looked back down; Euclid was humming, and the melody seemed familiar. "Hey, you learned that already?" Sam asked, optics wide. "That's Sides's lullaby for you. You know it?" Euclid continued humming, content.

Bee came over, kissed Sam gently. "Doesn't Jazz just suck at that game?" On the couch, Jazz growled.

"Most definitely" Sam flashed an innocent smile at him, and Jazz gave him a look of absolute death.

"Hey..." Bee said softly, reaching down to tickle Euclid, who giggled, "D'you think we'll ever have one?"

All Sam saw was the way Sideswipe no longer seemed the same, the way Sunstreaker always looked lost. The arguments and the silences, and the undeniable fact that they could never go back to exactly how they were.

"I don't know." Sam said quietly, looking down at the sparkling. "Is it beacuse of him that they fell apart? Or coincidental?"

"I don't want to believe that he's their dark energy." Bee said quietly. "I wish I didn't have to."

All Sam saw was that the world seemed to have lost one of the greatest loves he had ever seen.

x xxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

"Well, we know he hasn't changed one bit" Ratchet grumbled, yanking another wrench down from the ceiling. All of his wrenches had been hung from the ceiling, tantalizingly just out of reach.

"Maybe if you were taller..." Ironhide mused, ducking when Ratchet hurled a wrench at him.

"I'm going to kill Sides." Ratchet growled, trying to grab hold of one of the dangling wrenches. "That slagger..."

"What's happenin?" Jazz poked his head through the doorway, started snickering, "looks like a real party in here…"

"I see everyone's on task" Optimus's voice made Jazz flinch and dart away from the doorway. Ratchet said something about needing to find a ladder and disappeared into his office. "I believe I owe you an explanation, Jazz." Optimus said, and Jazz frowned, said nothing. "I chose the team based on strategy. It didn't occur to me to consider other factors, and I regret that." Jazz remained silent. "As to whether that is to blame for what has happened, I do not know. It may have been inevitable, to some degree, but whenever something that happens, self-blame is always inevitable." Jazz watched as Optimus turned to leave.

"That's something else that makes a great leader" He finally said, "it's not because

you're always right, it's because you know when you're wrong."

Optimus looked at him for a long moment.

"Someone did say that to me before. One of the greatest leaders I have ever known. I'm

not surprised to see you following in his footsteps."

"Who?" Jazz asked, and Optimus smiled.

"Prowl."

X xxxxxxxxxx x

Bee had been watching Sam ever since Sideswipe had taken Euclid back, leaving them alone in the rec room.

"Sam?" Bee ventured, "what's wrong?" Sam slouched down on the couch next to him, frowning.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Nuh-uh."

"Liar."

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Liar."

"I'm totally and completely fine, Bee!"

"Liar."

"It's nothing!"

"Liar."

"Fine!" Sam finally broke, the desperation breaking Bee's spark, "I'm not fine, okay? Everything's wrong!" Bee pulled Sam into his arms, held the shaking bot as he sobbed into Bee's chest, "It's all wrong and it's all my fault, and I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"Sam, I know you couldn't have done anything wrong. I promise."

"You can't promise that." Sam mumbled something and the audible part sounded like, "gonna hate me."

"Who's gonna hate you for it?" Bee asked. Sam turned his face into Bee's neck.

"You are" he whispered.

"Then I can promise that. There is nothing you could do that would make me hate you. I promise."

"This would." Sam sounded more broken than Bee wanted to even imagine the reason for, just wanted to protect his sparkmate and make him feel better, wanted for all the world for Sam to stop hurting. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He hid his face again, "everything was perfect and nothing was wrong and I wrecked it all," he whispered so softly Bee could barely heard him, "I'm sorry…"

"Please, Sam. Tell me what's wrong." Bee pleaded, hugging him tight. Sam didn't look up.

"I'm carrying a sparkling."

Bee's spark nearly stopped.

"A sparkling?" he managed to choke out. Sam nodded miserably, starting to sob again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"No, Sam." Bee pulled back, "no, no, no, it's not-"

"I'm sorry...."

"Sam, it's not bad." Bee insisted, kissing the top of his head, "Sam, that's great!" Sam looked up, to meet shining optics that made every word a promise, "Really? You really, really are?!"Sam nodded mutely. Bee smiled, hugging him tight again. "I can't believe it, I really, really can't!" He caught Sam's lips against his, kissing him sweet, "Oh, my Primus... I just..." he drew in a breath, but Sam could still feel the absolute joy that flooded through their bond, "boy or girl?"

Sam finally, finally smiled.

"Girl." He caught Bee's hand in his, "feel." He laid Bee's hand over his spark, and instantly, Bee's face lit up.

"I can feel her sparkbeat." Bee whispered in a sort of marveled awe, optics bright, "Primus, Sam... she's actually there!"

Sam realized that he should have known. He should have just known that Bee would have been thrilled to bits, that he would have loved Sam all the same.

Then again, Sam wondered if Sideswipe had thought the same about Sunstreaker, too.

Bee was still chattering on about the sparkling, about how he hard it would be to name her, how she would be so cute if she was the same silvery black as Sam and his own bright yellow, how he couldn't wait to finally see her.

"-and she would be just so incredibly cute and how are we supposed to pick a name, that's so hard! And how much longer? I don't want to wait a whole entire week! She- what?" he paused, noticing the way Sam was looking at him with amazement. Sam just hugged him.

"I love you, Bee."

Before long, Jazz and Ironhide came back into the rec room, discussing something that sounded like a plot to hide all the ladders in the medbay and then suspend wrenches from the ceiling. The not-twins followed, Sunstreaker silent, and Sideswipe arguing with Ironhide about stealing an already-done prank. Jazz paused, however, looking over at the other pair. Sam was reading a datapad, flicking through a list of sparkling names, Bee too distracted to read, just humming and watching Sam .

"What's got you so happy, Bee?" Jazz asked.

"You noticed?" Bee questioned, and Jazz laughed.

"Hard not to." He poked Bee gently, "tell me, tell me!"

"We-ell... I'm not sure I should..." Bee grinned, "Maybe you should have to wait to find out." "That'd wouldn't be fair!" Jazz protested, the whine making Ironhide laugh.

"I dunno, what if I told you... next week? Or, hey, what about in two weeks?"

"Bee!"

Ironhide just laughed at the pair of them; Primus only knew that Bee wouldn't be able to wait a week, either, as impatient as Jazz when it came to good news being kept secret.

"Fine, fine." None of the bots had seen Bee so happy before, certainly never before he'd been with Sam, "Sam's gonna have a sparkling!"

Ironhide didn't miss the way Sideswipe looked at Sunstreaker, like why weren't you like that? and he didn't miss the way that Sunstreaker looked away.

"Know what you should name 'em?" Jazz grinned, "Zzaj."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked, looking up.

"It's my name backwards."

"Yeah… we'll… we'll keep that in mind." Sam said, trying to keep a straight face as Bee

attempted to hide his snickering.

Ironhide and Jazz eventually wandered back out, and before long, Sunstreaker started to leave. Almost without seeming to realize, Sideswipe went to follow him, but paused by Bee and

Sam.

"Hey," he looked down at the two of them, Euclid asleep in his arms. "You guys will

love having a sparkling."

Maybe, Sam thought, maybe Euclid wasn't driving them apart. Maybe he was just holding Sideswipe together, existence perfectly aligned with something horribly inevitable.

Sam doubted he would ever truly know.

X xxxxxxxxxxxxx x

Bee had never been any good at being able to sleep when something exciting had happened. It was too distracting, and recharge didn't seem as important. Sam was deep in recharge already, and Bee put his datapad aside and tried to sleep as well.


Dark Energy: The dark energy of bots is like the theory of dark energy in space- it is what pushes galaxies apart. The dark energy between two bots is whatever is causing them to drift apart. The theory of dark energy is countered by one that time is simply running out. The dark energy of two bots, therefore, also implies that, rather, it is not something that is forcing them apart, it is merely that their time is running out. It is difficult to tell which is true.

X xxxxxxx x

Kinda a long chapter.

Please review! I love knowing what you guys thought!

Love ya,

Sunshine