If I forgot to mention it, sorry, italics are comlink chatter. Oops, my bad.

Again, no sparklings in this chapter. Next chapter we'll get back to the sparklings.

Prowl was on approach to their location when he noticed that Optimus had raced away at speeds over one hundred thirty miles an hour. The three deviants gave chase, presumably to stop him. Prowl over rode security protocols to open their comlinks so he could hear them. Not that he needed to hear what they were say; he already had a good idea.

"We're slagged if we don't get him back!" Sunny shouted in a panic.

"I don't think we're going to be able to catch him!" Sides said.

"Yeah…I didn't realize Optimus could drive that fast! I've never seen him once break the speed limit on this planet and back on Cybertron." Bumblebee commented.

"Optimus this is Prowl, I'm order you to stop!"

"…"

"Frag! Get Magnus up! Recall Elita and Blurr. We may need Blurr's speed to catch him."

"Catch who? What the frag is going on?" the City Commander questioned sounding a bit groggy.

"Optimus! He's heading towards the city and heading there fast!"

"Got it."

"Ratchet, this is Prowl!"

"What happened now?" the CMO asked with a sigh over the comlink.

"Is Wheeljack and Skyfire fixed up yet?"

"I was about to discharge the…"

"Good, have them make repairs on the shuttle and get it in the air now! You get on that shuttle too. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Primus, what did the twins do now?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out. All I know is Optimus is on the loose in his alt form and we need to coral him in before he does any damage."

A long string of Cybertronian curse words sounded before Ratchet said he'd get Jack and Skyfire working on the shuttle.

"Prowl, this is Magnus. I have Elita and Blurr on an intercept course for Optimus. Blurr might have a chance but I doubt he'll cut him off before Optimus reaches the city."

"Understood," Prowl responded. "Sunny, Sides, Bumblebee…get Optimus to stop!"

"We're trying but he's not responding to our comlinks!" Bee said.

Prowl turned his sirens on and turned up the speed.

"Get in formation behind me," he ordered blasting past them. "And pray Optimus doesn't damage himself. Because if he does I'll let Elita deal with the three of you!"

Meanwhile, up ahead of them, the high grade was having an adverse affect on Optimus. It did give him a surge of energy that he was putting to good use. But it was beginning to really mess with his CPU. It was buzzing something fierce and giving him a headache.

Blurred images flashed through his processor. Faint sounds of explosions echoed through his audio receptors. Ghost readings fed his sensors as his over energized, muddled processor was having difficulty distinguishing reality from memory.

Optimus suddenly veered left, his sensors telling him that a grenade had landed in his path even though nothing was there but sand. Only he was going way to fast for such a defensive maneuver. He fought against his own weight to right himself but it was too late as his right side had already lifted off the ground.

Even though Prowl and the others were still a good distance away, they could hear the sickening sound of twisting metal. They watched helplessly as their Prime's alt form rolled and flipped numerous times before disappearing into a large dust cloud kicked up from the crash.

"RATCHET! GET OUT HERE NOW!" Prowl shouted, his spark trembling in fear.

"But the shutt…"

"Frag the shuttle…we're only twenty miles north of the base…hurry!"

"On my way!"

"I can't see a thing!" Sunny swallowed, feeling terrible and knowing no amount of punishment Prowl would give him would make him feel better if Optimus was badly damaged.

"My sensors indicate he's still online," Bumblebee informed them.

"Only one way to find out," Prowl said, coming to a sliding stop and transformed.

The others followed him and stood beside him. Quiet. Concerned. Searching for a sign of activity from their Prime in the thick dust cloud. The only sound was the grainy sand hitting their armor as their own sandy cloud drifted past them.

Prowl took a step forward and then halted at the sound of a transformation sequence. A dark massive shadow rose up in the cloud. Next sounded an all too familiar hum of a weapon charging. A moment later, Optimus emerged battle ready, weapon locked, loaded, and aimed right at them, optics flaring over his mask.

"Do nothing!" Prowl ordered trusting that Optimus would not fire on an unarmed mechanism. He never did even if it was a 'Con. Still, Prowl's spark was racing, not know what to expect or how much of Optimus was really in there!

"Tell my brother he's getting better at disguising you Decepticons as Autobots. Still, he's going to have to do better than the four of you if he plans on taking me prisoner again!" Optimus growled then took off running.

"Optimus! Wait! It's us!" Sunny yelled.

"No, don't chase him," Prowl said, holding the young mech back. "Race around him, block his route and force him back this way. Whatever you do, do not draw your weapons."

"What if he fires at us?" Bumblebee asked.

"He won't. Optimus will never fire at an unarmed mechanism, Autobot or Decepticon. Do not engage him in hand to hand either, he will rip you apart. Now go! And don't slag this up."

"We won't," Sunny replied as they transformed.

"Magnus, Elita…I'm going to need the two of you. What's your ETA?"

"I'll be arriving in a few minutes with Ratchet," Magnus answered.

"I'm about ten minutes from the base," Elita answered. "Why, what's going on with Optimus."

"Not sure, but Optimus' processor has matured a bit more. Only down side…he thinks we're 'Cons."

"Why would he think that?" Magnus asked.

"He was driving a bit erratic and wrecked, maybe his CPU got jarred a bit," Prowl answered.

"Optimus never drives erratic!" Elita said in defense of her mech. "Unless something was wrong with him."

"Well…we did give him some High Grade," Bumblebee spoke softly.

"How much?!" Ratchet demanded.

"Three…"

"WHAT?! ARE YOU FRAGGIN CRAZY?!" Ratchet screamed making everyone wince and turn the volume down in their audio receptors.

"Won't he just pass out?" Sunny feebly asked.

"Not Optimus. High Grade has the opposite affect on him," Magnus answered. "In fact, he and Ironhide are the only two mechs I know who get an energy boost from high grade."

"We can use that too our advantage," Prowl suggested.

"Right, make him use up the energy until his systems crash and burn from the energy high," Ratchet said. "The burst of energy never lasts very long."

"I don't like this idea."

"That's duly noted, Elita. But what choice have we?" Prowl questioned.

"I've caught up with Bumblebee and the twins," Blurr announced.

"Excellent, you guys must force Optimus to retreat back towards us," Magnus ordered as his semi form and Ratchet's alt form pulled up to where Prowl was. The two of them transformed and stood beside Prowl. "I can handle Optimus. We've had many friendly and a couple not so friendly, wrestling matches over the eons."

"You're going to have to since we don't have Ironhide," Ratchet sighed. "And he'd turn the rest of us into scrap if we tried."

"He fired at us!" Bumblebee yelped.

"Those are warning shots, don't back down," Magnus said.

"That was too close for a warning shot! He ruined my new paint job!" Sunny whined. "Slag, I'm gonna have to buff that out later!"

"Your paint job is the least of your problems, Sunny! I'm going to rip you apart bolt by bolt when this is all over!" Elita snarled over the comlink. "And you're next Magnus if you hurt Optimus! Which I still think is a bad idea!"

"I'm more worried about what he'll do to me," the City Commander muttered to himself. Even if Magnus was bigger, they were of equal strength and Optimus was the more nimble of the two.

A few miles away, Optimus was getting slaggin pissed off! These four 'Cons were kicking up so much sand it was going to take weeks to get it out of the crevices between his armor. But he couldn't just shoot them either; they had yet to shoot at him. He was an honorable mech. An Autobot. He never took advantage of another in combat that way. It was not his way, it was the Decepticon way.

After a couple of more accurate warning shots he was able to get away from them. Yet, even as he ran, he couldn't help but feel that they were forcing him back the way he came by cutting him off from certain directions. So be it. Anything was better than standing around getting sprayed with sand.

It was then that he noticed the big beg looming in the distance. He taller than Optimus but he couldn't tell if it was his brother or not. He didn't feel the coldness of his brother's spark. It was always there whenever they battled.

However, Optimus felt…he felt something else. Something warm, kind…loving.

And it was getting closer.

"Slag! Elita get back here!" Magnus yelled when Elita-One rocketed past them. "That's an order!"

"You can't order me, Magnus! I out rank you! I'm not going to let you beat the slag out of Optimus. Not if I can reach him and calm him down without a fight."

Elita raced on, hearing Prowl give the order for everyone to stand down. It was obvious she wasn't giving them any choice in this matter.

She could feel Optimus tentatively reaching for her through their spark bond, curious as to whom she was. She let him feel the love and adoration she had for him. She was hoping he had matured enough to understand how much she loved him even if he couldn't remember her yet.

Her sparkmate came to a stop, putting away his weapon and retracting his mask. Elita could tell he was apprehensive. A wrong move and he'd run rather than seek confrontation. It was not cowardly of him. There wasn't a tiny spec of cowardice within Optimus' frame or spirit. It was the situation. He didn't have enough information or cause to fight any of them right now.

Yeah, that was her mech, always using his head. Even if he wasn't all there.

Braking slowly, Elita eased to a stop and transformed several yards from Optimus. His optics widened in surprise.

"You're a femme!"

"Yes, Optimus I am. More importantly…I'm your femme."

Optimus took a step back in disbelief.

"Do you remember me? I'm Elita-One…I'm your sparkmate."

"Is that you I feel?"

"Yes," she answered, taking a step closer. Optimus took two back.

"How can we be sparkmates? We only just met."

"You had an accident. Your memories are all slagged up in your processor. Those mechs you think are 'Cons…those are our friends. Look around…does this look like Cybertron?"

His brown creased. Elita moved closer, knowing he was thinking about what she told him.

"You know I'm speaking the truth," she said. "You can feel it."

"My brother was very good at only allowing me to feel what he wanted through our bond…"

"I'm not Megatron! I'm not a fraggin 'Con! I love you and would never lie to you. Nor would I ever keep anything from you."

Optimus' optic covers blinked a few times as he stared down at the rosy red femme. She was a fiery femme, just like the Elita he remembered. And she didn't hesitate to talk back to him, just like the Elita he remembered. She was even as beautiful as he remembered.

And just like that, while thinking of Elita, the flood gates opened. Optimus staggered grabbing his head. His CPU was buzzing from trying to process too much too fast. He felt as if every single memory was trying to come forth all at once.

"Elita…" he whimpered in pain, reaching for her.

"I'm here! Ratchet is coming," she wept, feeling his pain.

Elita lent her body to support his mass. Only problem was she wasn't counting on his CPU to suddenly shut down for a reboot. No way in pit could she hold him up! Nor could she move out of the way in time as he large, massive form fell.

"Optimus, you're such a lugnut!" she snapped, laying there helpless until someone lifts him up off of her.

"Really, Elita, we thought you'd be used to this position with all the interfacing and spark bonding you and Optimus do," Sunny smirked, staring down at her.

"Unless, she's the kind of them that likes to be on top," Sides commented.

"True, very true bro. Elita is a very dominating femme," Sunny said and then grinned, because he just couldn't help himself. "And she's rather enthusiastic with all the noises she makes. I guess she can't do that if she's on the bottom all the time."

"I'll show you dominating you fraggers!" she yelled as they raced off, taking advantage of the fact that she was trapped.

"Relax, Elita," Magnus grunted as he and Ratchet rolled Optimus off her and onto his back. "Prowl and Blurr are after them. Wheeljack and Skyfire even got the tracker beam working on the shuttle."

"And I'd rather you didn't go after them," Ratchet grumbled, kneeling beside Optimus. He confirmed his suspicion. Optimus' CPU was rebooting. "I've had enough of fixing the dings and dents you've caused lately."

WHACK!

"OW!" Ratchet screamed.

"Oops, my bad! I guess that's one more dent for you to fix!" she smiled.

Up next: Optimus wakes up and gets the debriefing of a lifetime as his troops are eager to share their stories about him as a sparkling! We'll find out just how much of it all he remembers. Plus, he visits with sparkling Ironhide and sparkling Jazz.

a/n: I didn't to drag out Optimus' losing his processor too far. This story is about sparklings and I needed to get back to them. So don't shoot me!