I do not own any of the Transformers characters, but please enjoy the story.

Well I don't know if I surprised anyone, but this has been a story inside of me for a long time. I hope that it was not too shocking, I did leave some hints, so please enjoy. This may be the last chapter, or I may have to draw it out a little more, so enjoy.

Optimus walked into the shallow water on the beach. In his shock he did not hear Ironhide following behind him. Ironhide hung back for a while watching his dear friend shake and tremble as Optimus knelt down on all fours and let the water wash over his hands and legs. Ironhide had heard their screams. He was aware of the attraction between them, but hearing Optimus' sudden departure greatly concerned him.

"You okay, Optimus?" Ironhide waited for Optimus to answer him. Optimus, known for picking his words carefully, just sat there in the shallow water trembling.

"I don't know, Ironhide." He finally said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Optimus glanced over his shoulder plate and looked at Ironhide. His normally bright intelligent eyes, were dulled by pain and despair.

"I hurt her." He quietly said. "But I had to get out."

Ironhide sat down on the sandy beach as Optimus pulled back on his heels.

"Where do I start?" Optimus looked up to the sky. "I don't know how many prayers I sent up to Primus the day that her ship exploded. My spark never registered her offline, and I wondered over and over that maybe something was wrong with me."

Ironhide was confused at first, but as he listened to Optimus he realized that Prime was talking about Elita. What did she have to do with Allie? Was Optimus feeling guilty that he had finally accepted her demise by letting Allie into his life? Ironhide kept still as he continued to listen.

"She's alive." That perked Ironhide's audial receptors.

"Optimus, what do you mean? Has she landed here?" Wait that can't be right. Optimus would have all of his com links turned off, and if Elita had landed on earth then she had no way of contacting Optimus.

"You could say that!" Optimus' smile held a twisted edge to it. "Allie is Elita."

Ironhide's shock was apparent, and registered all through his circuits. He tried to say something, but words would not register, so he went to his internal com system.

"How, why?"

"The ship that we saw, the one engaged with the con ship, it didn't explode. That is why we could never find any wreckage. It was caught in a worm hole. Both ships crashed together in the Realm just as Allie said. I saw everything through her memories. I saw the pain that was inflicted on them during their transformation, so much pain."

"Oh Primus, Optimus, what are you going to do?"

Optimus thought about this question over and over and then finally said, "I am going to love her. I will probably have to grovel for the rest of my life, but I just had to get out of there until I could gain control of my processor, of my entire system."

"I don't blame you, wait a minute! Mia! Chromia was on that ship. Do you think that Mia and Chromia are one and the same?"

"I don't know." Actually Optimus did know, but he felt that it should come from Allie. "You should ask her."

Both mechs sat on the beach. Time passed as the two looked up at the sky and just watched. After a while, William Lennox walked down having seen their silhouettes shadowed in the early predawn light.

"Hey guys, everything alright?" It wasn't the first time that Will found them gazing at the stars. It must have felt lonely to have to leave a home you love.

"No, everything is not alright." Optimus turned in the water so that he could face Will. "I hurt Allie real bad tonight."

Will wondered what Optimus could have done to hurt her. Out of all the mechs on the base, Will never would have guessed that Optimus would be the one to hurt her.

"What happened?" Will asked.

"Optimus found out that Allie was Elita and walked out on her."

Will had heard Ironhide and Bumblebee talk about this elusive Elita. He had heard stories of how the feisty femme was famous for being ruthless in battle, and lovingly devoted to Optimus.

"It was such a shock. What was I to do?" Optimus rubbed his face plate in his hands. " I have royally botched this.

"Give her time, Optimus. Do a lot of apologizing, and be supportive of her. Do you think that everything was roses when Sarah and I first married? It was rough the first few years, and to add to that, all the secret missions and the insecurity that both of us suffered through, it made life very difficult. Talk to her Optimus. I'm sure she will forgive you."

"I hope so because I have to go back in there and face her."

"Will's right, Optimus. Just go back and grovel, she will forgive you."

"Thanks. I'll go, but I think I'll wash the sand off me." With that, Optimus turned toward the wash rack and walked slowly back to the base.

"He's still in shock from it all." Ironhide's comment was for himself as much as Will. "This is going to be a shock for everyone when it comes out."

Optimus had just cleaned up and walked back down the corridor. He silently walked inside his quarters and headed to his berth. Optimus looked down at Allie curled up and recharging on the berth. His spark ache at the way she had curled into herself. Optimus slowly lay down because he didn't want to wake her. He felt so tired and he wanted to pull Allie to him, but was afraid she would wake up. He tried to go into recharge, but his CPU would not slow down the rushing images and he understood why the oracle had suppressed her memories. He was the one that did not even go through the transformation and he felt like he was losing his mind.

Lost in his own thoughts, Optimus did not connect the whimpers to Allie right away, but once they registered he instinctively pulled her closer. Tears started to seep between closed lids, and it broke Optimus' spark that he had done this to her. She needed him, and he walked out. There was nothing that he could say that could redeem him, and he closed his optics in despair. His arms wrapped around Allie and her whimpers ceased. The warmth permeated through both of them, and they finally fell in a deep recharge from sheer exhaustion and deep despair.

Later, much later that morning, Optimus woke to an empty bed. He quickly scanned the room and relaxed as he sensed Allie in the shower in her room. It was strange that he could feel her. The bond was intensely strong, stronger than when they had been together on Cybertron. Optimus liked it except he could still feel her sadness through it. He rolled onto his back and focused on her.

Allie could feel him. Her hands began to shake and her breathing became hitched in her throat. She had just stepped out of the shower, and was attempting to get control of herself when she felt his presence. 'I can't do this' she kept chanting over and over, but Optimus wouldn't listen to her. With a cry, Allie slammed out of her room and ran to his.

"What are you trying to do, Optimus? Leave me alone!" Optimus jumped at her tirade, and quickly scrambled off the berth to catch her.

Allie made it out the door, but Optimus caught her before she made it to the hanger.

"No!" Allie screamed. Her voice was not strong, but it still caught the attention of Bumblebee and Ironhide. Bumblebee came running, his shoulder cannon coming on line and powering to fire. Before Bumblebee could reach her, Ironhide tackled him down.

"No Bumblebee, don't interfere."

"But he's hurting her."

"Trust me Bumblebee," other mechs had gathered around to see what was transpiring in the corridor, "It's very complicated." Ironhide grunted as Bumblebee continued to struggle to get up.

"He's hurting her!"

"No he's not!"

"But Ironhide, look!" Ironhide did look at the commotion ahead of them. Optimus was trying to support Allie the best he could without causing her pain, but she kept fighting against him.

"Bumblebee, listen carefully. If you interfere, it could make the situation worse."

"What's going on?" Asked a sleepy Sunstreaker.

"Prime's having femme problems."

"No way!"

"What's going on?" Was heard again. Bumblebee again tried to get up, but Ironhide wouldn't let him. "Bee, you are going to have to trust me on this." Ironhide gritted out.

"Am I the only one blind? Can't you see, he's hurting her!"

"She's in shock, Bee. She just found out that she's Elita!"

Everyone froze.