WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS REFERENCES TO PAST RAPE AND A LITTLE MECH ON MECH LOVE. DO NOT READ IF THIS OFFENDS YOU! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Panic

Ultra Magnus could not believe it. He just could not believe any of it. How could Optimus reveal such a secret to another? The one secret they all had to keep to themselves and Optimus had blurted it out. He made him promise, he made him swear, that he would never tell anyone of his terrible secret. Now the young Prime had wandered back to the Magnus estate drunk, hauling an equally drunk Rodimus with him, who made a verbal confirmation that he was aware of Optimus carrying a sparkling that had nothing to do with the Magnus. Before either Perceptor or himself could get any answers, the drunken pair fell into recharge, and all he could was carry the pair in Optimus' room.

As the Magnus paced the room in a silent panic, Perceptor scanned Optimus with his tools, to make certain that his sparkling was doing OK. "Who knows who might have overheard them," he groaned, his white hands almost crushing the handle of the Magnus Hammer, "And how much does Rodimus know? Primus, what if a media mech was trailing them?"

Perceptor sighed as he looked away from his work. "I've already notified the Elite Guard to investigate what the media 'bots are printing for the coming sol. So far there is nothing to be concerned about, thus it is very likely that no one else was present when Optimus spoke of his true condition."

"But why? Why did he tell him?" demanded the Magnus, knowing he wasn't going to get the right answer, but at the same time he wanted one.

There was a period of silence, with only the sounds of Optimus and Rodimus gently venting in their sleep, and the gently hum of Perceptor's tool. The stoic scientist continued with his scans, making certain that he wouldn't neglect Rodimus. Ultra Magnus could do nothing but tighten his grip on the Magnus Hammer. He was getting reports from the Elite Guard that the media 'bots were not publishing anything negative about Optimus. It was possibly that the pair had been lucky and managed to get back to the estate without altering their attention. That still didn't excuse the fact that Optimus had told someone else about his condition. But how much had he told him? Before passing out, Rodimus had revealed that he was aware Optimus was carrying and he was aware that Ultra Magnus was not the Sire. Did he know who the true Sire was? Would Optimus actually tell him that? Did he pity Rodimus enough, that he thought he would make him feel better if he revealed his own terrible ordeal to him? He knew Optimus wanted to help Rodimus, but surely he must have known that something like this was only going to make the whole situation worse, even if he was drunk.

He started to pace the room again, for it was all he could do. He was angry. There was no other way to describe what he was feeling. He was sad, scared, worried, and unsure, but above all else he was angry. He trusted Optimus would never reveal the secret. He believed that he would never utter it to anyone, for his own safety and the safety of his unborn sparkling. Why wasn't he careful? Why did he do such a stupid thing? Why did he break his promise? Maybe Rodimus forced it out of him? No, unless it was hinted to him, Rodimus would have no reason to demand answers from Optimus. Dammit, why did he tell him? Did Optimus truly believe that by telling him his dark secret it would make young Rodimus feel any better about his own condition? All their hard work, all that covering up, was it all for nothing because Optimus got careless?

A stirring sound brought him to his senses, and he looked over to see Optimus was coming to. He briskly walked over, but halted when Perceptor raised his hand. "Patience," he demanded, "give him time to recover."

There was no time. He had to know what Optimus had said to Rodimus. He needed to know, but until Optimus was fully awakened, then he would have to wait, but already the wait had become unbearable. The young Prime groaned as he slowly opened his optics, the faint azure light flickering on gradually. He slowly raised a hand to his helm, rubbing what must have been a sore spot, and moaning as he CPU came back on line in a groggy way. He tried to sit up after a couple of heavy vents, but his movements were ceased by Perceptor. Optimus moaned again, appearing confused as to why he couldn't sit up. He muttered slurred and gibberish words, none of them making any sense to the two other mechs. He tried to sit up again but once again Perceptor stopped him.

Optimus groaned and blinked hard before opening his optics once more, squinting up at the stoic scientist who held him down. "Per-... Perceptor?" he groaned, his words sounding like dry static. Perceptor responded with a nod. Optimus groaned again as he rubbed his helm. "Was I... in recharge?" he asked, appearing confused with his surroundings.

"Calm yourself Optimus," requested Perceptor, applying a calming injection into his systems, "Make certain your systems are functioning correctly before attempting to sit up."

The young Prime hissed as he tried to sort his confused mind. He looked around until he spotted Ultra Magnus. "Oh, Ultra Magnus," he gasped, slowing raising his upper body to rest on his elbows. "Has something happened?"

It was obvious that he couldn't remember the most recent events, but that didn't stop Ultra Magnus rushing over and falling to his knees before the young Prime. "Optimus, I must know!" he blurted out in a desperate fashion, "What have you said? What did you tell Rodimus?"

Perceptor actually glared at him, and Optimus stared back at him with a lost expression. "Rodimus?" he repeated, still a little groggy. "What... did I say something to him?"

The Magnus, desperate and terrified for the young Prime's safety, suddenly gripped Optimus by the shoulders, startling the young Prime. Before Perceptor could even intervene, the Magnus started shouting out a number of frantic questions. "What did you tell Rodimus? How much does he know? Who else heard you? Why in the name of Primus did you tell him? Did you tell him who the Sire was?"

Optimus could only stare back with a confused and frightened expression. Perceptor managed to calmly push the panicked Magnus away, his optics shaped in a glare. "Ultra Magnus, please calm yourself," he pleaded with him. "He has only just awoken and his mind is still in the process of catching up."

Ultra Magnus pushed himself away and released a frustrated sigh. Optimus could only watch them, unsure of what was going on. Why was Ultra Magnus acting this way? It scared him to see him like this. It was like that time back on Earth when he shouted at him. What happened? What did he do? In fact when did he return to the estate? The last thing he remembered was... oh Primus, now he remembered. He looked around until he spotted Rodimus' sleeping form on a nearby couch. Oh frag, that all really happened, didn't it? The drinking, the silly songs, and stumbling back into the estate. Most of it was a blur, but he defiantly recalled the most of the events. Was that why Ultra Magnus was mad? That he came back drunk with another mech? He didn't do anything with him, at least he assumed he didn't. Some of his memories were returning but it was taking a little longer than he expected.

As he struggled to gather his thoughts, Perceptor and Ultra Magnus continued to bicker, in their bizarre little way. "What if someone had seen them?" groaned Ultra Magnus, "What if Rodimus knows who the real sire is?"

Perceptor did his best to argue back, but with someone who lacked the ability to get angry, it was quite hard. "We won't know that until Rodimus has awakened," he explained, "Until then that is all we can do."

"But what if Rodimus told someone else before coming here?" argued the Magnus.

Perceptor sighed, folding his arms in annoyance. "I doubt he could in that state," he muttered, "now please calm down. You're stressing over what could be nothing."

"But what if it IS something?" snapped Ultra Magnus, almost shouting.

The pair of them seemed to have forgotten that Optimus was wide awake. The young Prime listened to their loud conversation, and slowly started to make sense of what they were talking about. He looked back at Rodimus, and it was then that a very blurry memory suddenly became clear in his mind. He remembered that as they staggered through the main courtyard, a drunken Rodimus asked him something.

"Hey Optimus, can I ask you something?" moaned Rodimus, still drunk but still bore a clear enough mind.

Optimus looked over his shoulder at him, before slowly spinning around. They had just made it to the Magnus estate elevator and he really wanted to get inside. "What is it?" he asked, using a clumsy tone.

Rodimus leaned against a wall before asking his question. "Are you carrying?"

Since Optimus was drunk, he didn't panic when the question was asked. His mind was in such a state that his worry and concern didn't surface at all. Nothing surfaced, other than the idea to answer Rodimus' question with an honest response. "Yeah," he responded, half smiling. "How did you know?"

Rodimus shrugged. "Your chassis just seems swollen to me... plus some media bots were going on and on that you might be. Figured I might as well ask." The young mech grinned in a silly fashion as he looked over at Optimus. "I bet Ultra Magnus is looking forward to be a Sire."

Optimus groaned as he keyed in the code and stumbled into the elevator. "He's not the Sire."

Optimus broke out into a sweat as he recalled what he had told Rodimus. He told him that Ultra Magnus was not the Sire of the sparkling he was carrying that in turn was supposed to be a secret. The worst part was after that, every thing was else was a complete blurr. He couldn't remember if Rodimus had asked him, "who was the real sire" or if he himself had told him. His spark began to pulse heavily as he looked over at the sleeping mech. Oh Primus, had he told him? Did he reveal the truth? Oh frag, what had he done?

He looked over at Ultra Magnus and Perceptor, the pair of them still arguing. Did they know? Were they panicking? Was Ultra Magnus angry... at him? Well, who could blame him? All the effort, all the strings he pulled, everything he had done to keep this whole thing a secret. Oh frag, what had he done? Did he just ruin everything? He tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. What could he say? What should he say?

Just as he was about to force out a word, a new sound caught everyone's attention. Everyone looked over to see that Rodimus was beginning to stir from his drunken slumber. He was already making vain attempts to sit up, and groaned as he massaged his throbbing helm.

Before anyone could say anything, Ultra Magnus strode over towards the red mech so fast, he was a blur. Without even considering what state Rodimus was in, the Magnus grabbed him by the shoulders, and gave him a violent shake. "Rodimus Minor! What do you know of Optimus' condition? What has he told you? Has he told anyone else?" His attack of questions and the violent shaking was doing nothing but disturb the drunken red mech.

Perceptor was the next one to act, and just as fast as Ultra Magnus, he strode over and forced the Magnus to stop. Rodimus groaned as he slumped back onto the couch, still intoxicated and unable to process what was going on around him. "Ultra Magnus, please," he said loudly, in what almost sounded like a anger shout, "In this state he can tell us nothing. Calm yourself before you hurt him. As if his words possessed the power to bend those to his will, Ultra Magnus ceased shaking the red mech. For a while their was silence, minus the small groans Rodimus was making. Perceptor sighed and gently took hold of Rodimus. "I will take him to a spare room, and watch him until he is a more suitable state to talk," suggested Perceptor. "Once he has a clear mind, I will ask the necessary questions. You and Optimus Prime must rest until I require the information."

Ultra Magnus said nothing, but nodded. Perceptor excused himself, helped the drowsy Rodimus up and guided him out the room. As the Magnus watched them go, Optimus felt the air in the room grow tense. The Magnus hadn't even glanced at him, not once since Rodimus stirred. Optimus didn't know what to say. Should he apologize? Should he at least say that he didn't mean to tell Rodimus their secret? Once the other two mechs had left the room, Optimus found that it was just him and the Magnus in the room. Ultra Magnus groaned, rubbing his brow with his hand. Optimus bit his lip as his mind screamed at him to say something.

"M-... Magnus?" he squeaked, not even certain that Ultra Magnus heard him.

He got no response, but Ultra Magnus did move, but not towards him. Instead he headed towards the door, possibly back to his own room. Optimus tried to say something again, but a small feeble squeak was the only thing that passed his lips. Ultra Magnus didn't so much as look back or say anything. He just stepped out the room and closed the door behind him, leaving the young Prime all alone to wallow in self pity.