Disclaimer; Transformers and anything else with their logo or merchandise don't belong to me. There are oc's in the story.

Thank you Kimmie98 and Autobot scoutstar for your reviews, comments and constructive criticism and thank you readers for placing my story on your favourites or alerts.

Here is the last chapter to this story.

Chapter 9

The rescue.

Spitfire lay on the empty berth but without Mirage there she felt so lonely. That night she tossed and turned and found going into recharge very difficult. This was the first night Mirage was away on a mission since they had bonded and she couldn't get her processor off him. Finally she gave up and made her way to the rec room where she would have a cube of energon. On the way she met Ironhide,

"Can't you sleep, sweetspark?" he asked,

"Nope," she replied in frustration.

He chuckled, "Is it because of the absence of your spark mate?"

Spitfire smiled at her grandfather, "You know me, grandfather, I never slept well when dad was away."

Ironhide smiled, "So you're going to and spend the night with your mum?"

Spitfire smiled at him sheepishly, "No, she's probably asleep and I don't want to disturb her," he grunted in understanding. Spitfire vented slowly, "I'm going to get a cube of energon and sit in the rec room for a while," she looked up at her grandfather who was looking down at her with a warm smile on his faceplates, "I suppose you think I'm just being silly. Mirage has been on missions since before I was born why should now be any different?"

Ironhide smiled at her sadly, many a time he'd heard those same words and the mech or femme never came back, "Come here," he said lovingly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked in the direction of the rec room with her, "There is nothing to be ashamed about worrying for your loved ones. Chromia and I still worry about each other even now and we're seasoned warriors," Spitfire smiled at Ironhide as they slowly walked to the rec room, "And while we're on the subject of worrying young femme, I do not approve of your behaviour this afternoon. It was rash and foolish,"

"Well that's a bit rich coming from you Ironhide," Chromia said as she walked gracefully up behind her spark mate. She looked at Spitfire, "But he's right, don't do it again darling," she said in a warning tone,

"I won't," she promised as she hugged her grandparents, "I'm sorry for all the worry I caused,"

"It's alright sweetspark, now why are you wondering through the base at this time of night and why is your grandfather with you? He should know better,"

"I was getting a cube of energon because I can't recharge, Mirage is away and I'm worried about him,"

"I understand," Chromia replied, "Sweetspark, try not to worry about him,"

"Yeah but he closed his bond and I can't feel him,"

"He's done that to protect himself and you," Ironhide replied,

"Oh. Does it get any easier?" she asked,

"Oh sweetspark," Chromia moaned, "Not easier, you just get used to it."

"I don't know if I ever will get used to it," Spitfire moaned as Chromia placed her hands on either side of Spitfire's faceplates, "You will Spitfire, one day you will," she encouraged her grand daughter.

They sat down together with cubes of energon in front of them and chatted together about nothing, just stuff to keep Spitfire's mind off things.

Free Runner sat among the piles of discarded metal bits she had been given to sort out by the Decepticons unaware of the three mechs speeding towards her. Her thoughts had wondered back to earlier days when her parents were both still alive and they didn't have to choose sides. It was safer there and it offered her some freedom from where she was now. She moaned softly, she had experienced first-hand the cruelty of the Cons when she witnessed her father's execution because he wouldn't choose sides. Was this to be her fate as well? Were they breaking her down so she'd eventually give in? If she had to then she would choose sides but it would be Autobot...but first she needed to escape. Free Runner had been at this job for hours and she was beginning to feel tired, so she made herself a comfortable spot among the metal piles and sat there for a while with her optics shuttered to soothe the pain from the bright lights, which continually shone down on her. It wasn't long before she was in a deep recharge.

Jazz, Mirage and Bumblebee got to the beach and disappeared silently under the cover of darkness into the water. Their aim was to enter the base through a vent in the Nemesis which would get them inside. It was the only way to do it without alerting the Decepticons and endangering the femme or Flame who could be tortured.

Nearby Springer and the aerialbots hang around in case of any trouble but so far all was going well. Bumblebee opened the vent while Jazz and Mirage kept watch on either side of the scout. When the vent was clear Bumblebee and Mirage swapped positions and the spy disappeared in front of them. He slid into the vent with great ease closely followed by Bumblebee and Jazz and slowly they crawled on all fours. Their path took them above Soundwave's quarters where they heard Laserbeak chattering to his creator,

"As quiet as you can!" Jazz whispered down his comm link. Slowly and silently they carefully crept across Soundwave's quarters,

"When are we going to do it, Soundwave?"

The communications officer turned to his creation, "When we find him," he snarled,

"He has hidden well," Laserbeak replied.

Ravage stalked into their quarters snarling as he went and looked at Soundwave. Mirage watched with interest, the pair appeared to be communicating. Soundwave turned to Frenzy,

"Ravage thinks he's found Flame, follow him."

Mirage shook his head sadly, if anything serious happened to Flame Spitfire was going to be in for a rough ride. He felt sorry for his femme and wished that there was some way he could stop the pain she was about to experience, and then he wished he could be home comforting the pain away. He forgot to close his bond and a wave of comfort came back to him from Spitfire. Mirage smiled and continued on with his mission while gently closing his bond so as not to alarm his spark mate.

Jazz vented silently and looked at Bumblebee, he needed these two to stay focused, "Stay focused," Rage,

"Yeah it's easy for you to say, you're not bonded to the mech's sister," he muttered as he silently crawled above the room where Free Runner was,

"I think we have our target," Mirage told the other two. He peered through the gratings and saw the femme slumped over a pile of metal. Her signal was strong so he assumed she was still alive, "Yep, she's there,"

Mirage silently crawled over the grating and waited for Bumblebee to release it, Jazz placed it behind him so that it was out of the way and then they slid through the hole silently. The spy crept toward the sleeping femme while Bumblebee and Jazz stood on either side of the door armed. Jazz signalled to Mirage that they were ready, the blue and white spy took hold of Free Runner's arm and gently shook her,

"Wake up, femme," he whispered.

Free Runner stirred and looked around confused; she saw Jazz and was just about to blurt out his name when a hand crossed her mouth,

"Ssshhh," Mirage growled in her audio receptors, "We've come to get you out of here, be quiet, do as we say and we will get you out alive."

She nodded and slowly his hand came away from her face, she turned to face the spy to see who had spoken to her so gruffly. He saw the hollowness in her optics and believed there was no way she was going to be able to help herself. He took her arm,

"This way," he said as he guided her towards the hole in the ceiling. Suddenly her processor kicked in and when she realised she was being rescued she had an idea. Jazz was about to lift her up to the ceiling when her optics brightened,

"Wait!" she said and went to run out of the room but Jazz grabbed her arm,

"Where are you going?"

"There is someone else," she replied,

"Our directive is to rescue you," Mirage argued,

"He is in trouble," she snipped, "Please," she begged as her wings rose above her head in hope, "He's one of yours,"

Jazz vented and opened his comm. Link to Prime,

"Go ahead Jazz,"

"We found her but she wants to take another with us. Optimus Prime, I think she wants us to rescue Flame,"

"No, Flame has to come back of his own choice, I instructed you to bring back Free Runner,"

"Yes sir, Jazz out!"

Jazz looked at Free Runner, "Sorry, L'il lady, Prime wants us to rescue only you,"

"Like fun," she replied and run out of the room,

"Where is she going?" Jazz snarled and chased after her.

She lead them into a dark corridor, "I don't like where is she taking us to?" Bumblebee growled, "We're going in too deep."

Flame was curled up in the corner of his room with his arms around his legs, he heard the sound of the door opening and once again Free Runner walked in. Flame went to open his mouth in protest but stopped when Bumblebee and Jazz followed her in,

"Dad," he cried and run up to his father to hug him,

"There's no time for that, let's go" Free Runner demanded,

Flame looked at her surprised, "Go where?" he laughed.

The femme neutral rolled her optics, this mech was as thick and as stubborn as they come, "Home," she replied,

"This is my home," Flame retorted angrily,

"Not anymore, Autobot," she grabbed his arm and lead him out of the room. Jazz and Bumblebee looked at each other and then followed her. Mirage blocked her at the door and pushed her back in, "Not so fast, missy," he said and looked at Flame, "How good are you at shooting,"

"I can shoot," he replied

At that moment they heard movement in the dark corridor, "Sound the alarm," a deep voice bellowed,

"There's only two of them now, we can deal with them," another one replied.

Bumblebee and Mirage crept out of the room silently while the others quickly run back into the dark room. Free Runner looked down the corridor nervously at the sound of two grunts but she couldn't see anything. Mirage and Bumblebee slowly lowered their bodies to the floor and returned to the room where Flame was hidden,

"Let's get moving," Bumblebee said.

"Bumblebee and Mirage you take point," Jazz ordered, "Flame you're in front of me and Free Runner...," he looked at the femme neutral. She didn't carry any weapons and that made her vulnerable. Jazz vented in frustration, he didn't know if he could trust Flame at the moment, "...stay with me, femme, Flame, protect her," he barked. He looked at Bumblebee, "let's get out of here before we are discovered."

They moved silently and quickly through the base all the time keeping scanners on for Decepticons. Jazz kept a careful optic on Flame but so far he was proving to be a valuable member of the team as he silently lead Free Runner through the base to the room where they had come from. Mirage and Bumblebee guarded the doorway while Jazz jumped up into the vent and held his hand for Free Runner.

Ravage and Frenzy were making their way through the corridor towards the room where Flame was hidden, they were only seconds from the small group of Autobots when a noise disturbed them and Frenzy stopped,

"What was that?" he asked.

Ravage growled loudly and bounded towards the room where Free Runner was supposed to be working.

Mirage turned around, "We've got company! Hurry up!" he bellowed as he prepared himself for the fight and slowly pulled back beside Bumblebee, "You first," Mirage said.

Bumblebee jumped up just in time but Mirage got caught on the ground, he pulled a grenade out of his subspace, "Hey Decepticon...catch!" he said and threw it.

"Autobots," Frenzy bellowed, "Sound the alarm!"

The sirens wailed as Bumblebee lead them quickly through the ducts. The autobots were grateful for the noise the sirens and Decepticons were making, it made their escape through the ducts easier then trying to fight their way through the base. Soundwave ran up to Megatron,

"Free Runner and Flame are gone,"

Megatron narrowed his optics, "Why those sneaky good for nothing...Autobots." he growled with rage and looked at Soundwave, "Get them!" he snarled darkly, "They would have had help, find them all and bring them to me,"

Jazz called springer, "Decepticons are hot on our tails. We're coming up through the water..."Jazz sent them the coordinates, "...rendezvous at these coordinates for extraction,"

The aerial bots and springer sped across the choppy water to their rendezvous and positioned themselves around the area in case of any unwanted Decepticon activity. Bumblebee was the first one to surface through the foam on top of the waves and he was soon joined by Free Runner. She struggled spluttering and flailed about in the water. Bumblebee swam over to her and held onto her, "Relax," he said, "I've got you,"

Springer lowered a chain for Bumblebee to hang onto, he gave it to Free Runner and watched while she was lifted into the chopper and safety. The chain came back down and all the Autobots were rescued...all except for Flame who refused to take the chain.

"what are you doing?" Free Runner screamed at him,

"I'm not coming," he replied,

"Get in son," Silverbolt bellowed, "Before you get us all killed,"

Air Raid swooped down and plucked the stubborn mech out of the water,

"GO!" Jazz bellowed, "Go now!"

Optimus Prime watched the sand swirl around in the vortex created by Springer's rotor blades while he landed in front of the Ark. His arms were crossed over his chest and he had a less than pleased look on his face. Optimus Prime patiently waited for Jazz and Free Runner to walk up to him, "What happened?" he asked,

"It was my fault, Free Runner replied, "I insisted we get Flame,"

Free Runner squirmed under Prime's gaze, "You are lucky you didn't hurt," he said and then turned back to Jazz, "I want a report on my desk by the end of the day,"

"Yes sir," Jazz replied.

Prime turned back to Free Runner, "I suggest you start listening to my officers," he said.

His full attention then fell on Flame, "I see you've come to your senses," Prime said to Flame,

"I was brought to my senses," Flame replied humbly as he nodded to Free Runner, "By her,"

"Hmm, well you're very lucky," he said as he gestured for the young mech to enter.

Mirage entered his quarters to find Spitfire but she wasn't there, he assumed she would be in the rec room but she wasn't there either. Bumblebee was in there fetching a cube of light grade, Mirage went to the dispenser and picked up two cubes for himself and Spitfire,

"Don't give her that," Bumblebee said.

Mirage looked at him questioningly, "Why?"

He smirked, "Come with me," he said.

Mirage followed Bumblebee into their quarters where he found Spitfire hurling into a bowl Ratchet was holding for her, "Spitfire," he said as he plopped himself in front of her. Sunblaze got a damp cloth and wiped her face while Ratchet disposed of the contents,

"Mirage," she cried, "I'm sick,"

"I've got my suspicions about that," Ratchet replied, "Lay on the berth, sweetspark."

She lay on her parent's berth and waited patiently while Ratchet run a scan over her body stopping at her abdomen, he looked at her and smiled, "Well, my dear it seems you may be pregnant."

There were gasps of happiness and a big smile formed across her face as he helped her up. Bumblebee patted Mirage on the shoulder, "Congratulations,"

"You'll need plenty of rest in this early stage and light grade so you don't get too sick. I'll ask Prowl to make sure you have light duties from now on," he looked at Mirage, "A cube of light grade in the morning before she gets up will help her with her morning sickness and then a full grade later in the day. Congratulations both of you," Ratchet said.

"Thanks," Mirage replied as he looked at his spark mate with pride..

Ratchet got up, "I've got to go and see to your brother now,"

Spitfire looked up at Ratchet, "Flame is here?" she asked, "I want to see him, when can I see him?" she went to sit up but as she did the nausea came back,

"Take it easy," Mirage replied as she groaned and flopped on him, "We rescued him last night with Free Runner,"

"Free Runner, who is she?" Spitfire and Sunblaze asked,

"A very stubborn femme neutral," Bumblebee said,

Spitfire's curiosity now piqued, "Why is she stubborn?"

"You'll see," Mirage replied, "I'm sure you'll have the pleasure of meeting her."

Flame lay on a berth silently while Ratchet run a level five scan over him, he was glad to be back in the Autobot base and being there made him realise just how much he missed the Autobots and how much of a family they were. He moaned sadly and then looked up at the CMO who was now over the other side of the med bay. Ratchet turned around,

"What's the matter?" he asked.

Flame turned to him, "I missed you guys," he admitted sheepishly.

Ratchet glared at him a bit, "You know, it will take time for us to trust you," he said,

"Yes I do,"

Flame was silent for a while, "Soundwave wanted to sever my bond with Spitfire because I wouldn't kill her. That frightened me, she would have died."

Ratchet shook his head, "Not die," he said as he walked back up to Flame and handed him an enriched energon capsule, "Take this it will give your system a boost, you're a bit low." Flame took the capsule from Ratchet, "She is bonded to Mirage now but life would have been difficult for both of them. You're all clear and free to go." Ratchet said.

Flame sat up, "Oh," he replied sadly and walked to the door,

"Where are you going to?" Ratchet asked,

"To see my parents..." he replied, "...I've got some making up to do."

Ratchet smiled, "Good!" he said.

He walked silently through the corridor, mechs and femme who passed him either welcomed him back warily or ignored him. On the way he passed the training room where Spitfire was standing with two blades in her hands while Mirage was lecturing her about being careful,

"I'm okay," she insisted,

"No Spitfire, think of our sparkling," Mirage retorted impatiently,

"Sparkling?" Flame asked as he walked through the door.

Spitfire turned around and faced the familiar voice, her blades fell to the floor and she run up to her brother, "You came home," she said as she hugged him.

Mirage ambled up to the twins, "Yes I did," Flame replied, "Now what's this I hear about a sparkling,"

Mirage crossed his arms across his chest defensively, his protective creator protocols kicking in with force,

"Uhmm...," Spitfire replied suspiciously and stood next to Mirage who wrapped his arm around her waist protectively, "Yes Flame...I'm pregnant," she said as she placed a hand over her abdomen protectively. A sad expression crossed his face, Spitfire felt sorry for him, "Look...Flame...I'm sorry," she said, "It's just that...,"

"Yeah...I understand," his sad sapphire optics met Spitfire's ruby wary ones, "I joined the Decepticons, you're right to be wary,"

Spitfire looked down. She felt so guilty for treating Flame the way she did but she had a sparkling to think of now, and no matter how much she wanted him back she had to think of their offspring first. When she looked back up at him he looked uncomfortable and lonely, "Thank you," she said quietly as she tried to comfort him through their bond.

He was sure he picked up the sparkling too but it was very faint, he smiled at her one last time before leaving to return to the comfort of his his parent's quarters. Mirage placed his hands on her shoulders, "He will be okay," he assured her, "Give it time,"

Flame walked through the corridors of the base in the direction of his parent's quarters. He felt like such a stranger in the Autobot base and he wasn't sure if he could make it his home. Not yet anyway. He came to their door and he was just about to knock when the door whooshed open and he was wrapped in his mother's arms,

"Mum, dad," he cried, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left, I should have stayed,"

"Ssshhh, it's okay baby," Sunblaze soothed, "You're home...where you belong and that's all that matters."

The next morning Free Runner woke up in her quarters on her berth. The cold cave, the prospect of one day being bonded to a Decepticon for breeding purposes and the catnapping in between mammoth tasks the Decepticons gave to her seemed a million miles away. She stretched luxuriously and purred contentedly. This was the best and most comfortable recharge she'd had in eons and she really felt like she was home. The femme neutral mentally scolded herself for her stubbornness at refusing to come back sooner but it was all in the past, she had a future she could look forward to now. A future where she could live as a neutral in freedom like Optimus Prime had promised her yesterday during his chat with her. There was a knock at her door and jazz called out in his usual sing song manner. She got up and let him in, he put two cubes of energon down and walked up to her,

"Did my lady sleep well?"

"You're lady?" she asked in surprise,

"My lady," he replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to himself.

"yes...I did," she replied as she hung her arms over his shoulder, "Like a sparkling," and kissed him.

The end.