This one is for Mega-CrystalHeart-Prime

I'm very sorry for the massive delay in fulfilling requests. My computer is having overheating problems and I had to get all new fans. One of the fans is still not working and I'll have to take it somewhere to find out what the problem is. Long story short, I'm having to use Google Docs (which I'm not fond of) to write this from my pitiful Acer Chromebook. The good news is that I'm at least working on requests again.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For the sake of this request, Elita-1 and Optimus Prime were never together. So consider this canon divergent.

Also, I know I said that I planned to do only one-shots from now on, but I feel like I need to break this one up anyway, just so I have something to post. This still won't be as long as my last story.

Wheeljack released a long, sullen huff through his vents as he extinguished the last of the fires. This was the third test he'd performed on his latest invention and it was the third time he'd encountered a hiccup. The first time the device simply fell apart with the lever and buttons from the control panel coming off in his hands. The second time, sparks shot out of the top of the thing as some of the wiring ruptured for seemingly no reason. The latest attempt had the device just explode completely. It was a good thing that Inferno had been kind enough to gift Wheeljack with extra fire extinguishers. Though, he couldn't help but think that the firefighter was making fun of him just a little bit. Still, he'd already gone through three of them.

Wheeljack dropped the now empty extinguisher and plopped down at his desk. He rested his head in his hand, the lights of his audials dimming. It was times like this that his thoughts drifted to you, his long, lost older sibling. You got left behind with Elita-1's group when Wheeljack left for Earth with Optimus's team. He hadn't heard from you since. It had been a while since anyone heard anything from Elita's group or from Alpha Trion. He sure did miss you and he hoped that you were okay.

Back during the days before the war, when you and Wheeljack were only sparklings, you had been Wheeljack's main source of comfort. Your creator's stayed busy and were rarely home. You, being the oldest creation became what the humans would call a "mother figure" to young 'Jack. While most members of your family unit were deep into the scientific field, you were not yet sure what you wanted to do because as it turned out, science didn't really interest you that much. Your creators tried to get you into chemistry, metallurgy, engineering, anything that would help you to keep up your unit's traditions, but you just simply weren't interested. Eventually your creators gave up and decided that you should be allowed to choose whatever livelihood you wanted. In the meantime, you were stuck babysitting your younger sibling. Not that you minded. Wheeljack was never a bratty or disobedient kid. He was well mannered and cooperative, but he still had a knack for getting into trouble. He loved nothing more than taking his toys apart and "improving" them. Wheeljack had always been a genius and highly creative, but his lack of caution and oftentimes extreme clumsiness made for a, shall we say, explosive combination. If not for you, Wheeljack may have burned down the house ages ago.

As he got older, Wheeljack stopped trying to upgrade his toys and started working on inventions of his own design. Unfortunately his overzealous streak only got worse as he got older. He would get so involved in getting his inventions to do what he wanted that he would overlook important details… such as safety protocols. That's where you came in. Whenever Wheeljack accidently set himself on fire, you were there to put out the flames and tend to his injuries. This was almost an everyday occurance. Wheeljack would be tinkering in the garage, you'd hear the explosion and come running, fire extinguisher in hand. Then you'd patch him up with the first aid kit and help him clean up the mess he'd made before your creators came home. It was then that you realized what you wanted to do with your life.

"I want to be a medic." You told your creators. "So I can repair other bots whenever they do something stupid." You added casting a sideways glance at Wheeljack. He only stuck out his tongue at you for your teasing him. Your creators seemed satisfied with your choice. It was still science. Medical science, but still science. And while you became a medic like you wanted, Wheeljack opted for engineering.

But then the war happened and everything changed. You hardly saw each other after that. Optimus Prime wanted Wheeljack for his group and Elita-1 scooped you up for hers. You may as well have been on opposite ends of the galaxy as far as Wheeljack was concerned. When Optimus's group ended up on Earth he lost contact with you completely. Who knew if any of you and the other femmes were still functioning or not?

"Please be alive, sis." he muttered as he absent mindedly poked at a loose screw on his now utterly scrapped machine.

He missed having someone to "kiss his boo boos" as the humans would put it. It was nice having someone who wouldn't lecture him and threaten to cave in his face plate every time he did something crazy with his inventions. Ratchet was hardly the motherly type. He'd become even more of a grouch lately, with the near daily battles with Megatron, he almost always had a line of bots out the door of the medbay. He was overworked and exhausted. Wheeljack usually offered to help out and so did Perceptor and Hoist on occasion. But neither he nor Perceptor were trained medics. Most of what they knew were the bare basics and whatever Ratchet told them to do. Hoist was only a general practitioner and was all but useless when it came to repairing particularly serious injuries. Poor Ratchet may as well be on his own when things got really rough.

Suddenly what was left of his invention caught fire again and Wheeljack was jolted out of his thoughts to go search for another fire extinguisher. He also commed Inferno, realizing he was probably going to need help getting the flames fully extinguished.

About a week later Wheeljack, Perceptor, Hoist, and Grapple were trying their darndest to get Wheeljack's machine up and running with no explosions, implosions, or unexplained fires. It isn't that Wheeljack didn't appreciate the help, but this endeavor was beginning to turn into a "too many cooks" sort of situation. Perceptor kept bringing everything to a halt to offer explanations no one asked for and correct Wheeljack every time he referred to a tool or part as a "whatchamacallit". Grapple kept insisting that Wheeljack's designs were mediocre and needed a more streamlined look. To which the engineer responded,

"For Primus sakes, Grapple! I just want the blasted thing to work! I don't care if it's pretty!"

This earned an indignant huff and grumble from the uptight architect.

Hoist was being strangely quiet, which was something Wheeljack was grateful for, but he was well aware of Hoist's critical glances in spite of his mask and visor. Wheeljack was only moments away from calling for a break when static erupted over his communicator. He froze and listened. The voice on the other side was garbled and kept fading in and out. Still, Wheeljack was certain that he recognized it.

"Wheeljack?" Hoist questioned. He fell silent when Wheeljack raised his hand, indicating that he was trying to listen.

"... *zzzcks* -jack… *szzscezz* Hey! Can you- *zzz* -trying to reach- *zzzch*"

It couldn't be.

" -on a Decepticon ship! I need- *bzzzrt*"

Wheeljack's audial lights flashed crazily with his growing excitement. Finally the voice came through and it was exactly who he hoped it was.

"Wheeljack, tell your crazy friends to stop shooting at me! Tell them an Autobot is on this 'Con ship! If they kill me, I'll haunt you forever, so help me!"

"Uff!" cried Perceptor as Wheeljack suddenly shoved the part he was holding into his arms.

"My word!" he said as he watched Wheeljack rush out of the lab with no explanation at all. The alarms started blaring at that moment, letting everyone know that the base was under attack.

Wheeljack ran out of the Ark to see Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Optimus and a few other Autobots firing their weapons at a medium sized Decepticon cargo ship, the kind most likely used to ship weapons or energon. Wheeljack ran up to Optimus and yanked on the Autobot leader's arm. The Prime turned an angry and startled gaze down at him.

"Wheeljack?! What-"

"Stop attacking!" Wheeljack all but screamed in the Prime's face. "My sister's on that ship!"

It took a moment for the information to sink in and Optimus was still a bit confused. Nevertheless, he gave the command to cease fire.

"But that's a Decepticon ship!" Cliffjumper protested.

"What the samhill is Wheeljack doin'?!" shouted Ironhide as the engineer ran past them and up to the steadily lowering ship.

He practically danced in place as he impatiently waited for the ship to land. The other Autobots murmured among themselves, confused as to what in the world was going on. Only Optimus stood silently as he watched the strange sight of an Autobot happily greeting a Decepticon ship.

"Prime, what is going on?" Demanded Prowl.

"I'm not sure." Optimus answered. "Wheeljack just informed me that his sister was on that ship."

This earned a collective sound of shock from the gathered Autobots.

Finally the ship landed and the gangplank rolled out to the ground. When the door slid open most of the present Autobots turned their weapons on the ship again. Optimus raised his hand, a signal to stand down. The Autobots reluctantly lowered their weapons.

That's when you began walking down the gangplank, smiling down at your brother. The moment your foot touched the sand, Wheeljack swept you up in a mighty hug.

"You're not dead!" he shouted gleefully.

"'Course I'm not dead." You scoffed in a good natured tone. "Why would I be dead, pipsqueak?"

"I just thought… We'd been gone so long…" Wheeljack's voice wavered and his optics began to water.

"Hey, hey! Don't you start that now." You scolded as you produced a cloth and started wiping the cleanser from his optics. You frowned when you noticed his mask.

"What the heck is this ugly thing on your face?" you asked as you grabbed his mask and tugged at it. Wheeljack pulled away from you and covered his mask.

"It's a combat mask. Lots of us have 'em now." he said. He jerked a thumb to the group of Autobots behind him.

"It's wartime fashion, ya know. Even Optimus Prime has one now."

You glanced over your brother's head to see where he was pointing. Though you'd never seen him up close and only ever heard stories about him, it was very easy to pick out Optimus Prime from the crowd of Autobots. He stood head and shoulders above everyone else and not just in stature. He had an unexplainable presence that somehow exuded both warmth and danger. You could quite literally feel his strength from where you stood yards away. It did really weird things to your spark. Before you could think about what you were doing you offered a shy wave. Instantly a shock of embarrassment hit you. You gave your own hand a look of betrayal and horror before quickly lowering it to your side. Primus! Did you just wave to a Prime?! You were probably supposed to salute or something more formal! You don't just wave to Optimus Prime like he's some drinking buddy you passed by on the street! What were you thinking?!

"Come on an' I'll introduce ya!" Wheeljack said, causing you to come back to reality.

"Huh? Oh sure…" You mumbled.

Wheeljack began dragging you over to the group and a growing ball of anxiety welled up in your spark.

Optimus had not been certain of what to expect when Wheeljack suddenly announced that his sister was on the Decepticon ship that was invading their base. It had seemed odd that a Decepticon cargo ship of all things showed up instead of a better armed battleship. Now that he looked at it, the ship seemed a bit worse for wear as if it had already been in a battle beforehand. He was already startled by suddenly being grabbed in the middle of a fight, startled more by Wheeljack announcing that he had a sister, and startled still further when he said his sister was on the approaching ship.

But nothing could have prepared him for the shock he got when you stepped off that ship. You were beautiful, but more than that. You radiated an overwhelming sense of calm and warmth that he could feel even at his current distance from you. Optimus did not believe in love at first sight. It was a concept that only existed in fairy tales and Earth's poorly written soap operas. He knew he was not in love with you, but he very much wanted to get to know you better. When you waved at him he thought his spark was going to swell up and explode. His arm twitched and he almost waved back when it occurred to him that you may not even be waving at him. You could be waving at another 'Bot in the group that you happened to know. The last thing he wanted was to make a fool of himself in front of you.

Jazz's gaze moved from his leader to you several times before a bright smile spread across his face. He sidled up to Optimus.

"I didn't know 'Jack had a sister. Did you?" he asked in a much too casual tone.

"No. Wheeljack never mentioned her." Optimus replied distantly.

"She's a cute lil thing, ain't she?" Jazz offered.

"Indeed." Came Optimus's noncommittal reply. The Prime was oblivious to whatever Jazz was up to. He was desperately trying to stop staring at you. He kept trying to focus on Wheeljack, or the Decepticon ship, or a scraggly bit of sagebrush pushing up out of the sandy ground, but his optics always drifted back to you.

"Well she's too pretty to be a 'Con, that's for sure." Sideswipe's voice rose above the murmurs of the other Autobots.

"'Cons have femmes, too ya know." Sunstreaker pointed out.

"Strika hardly counts and Slipstream's smile is nowhere near as nice." Sideswipe countered.

"Doesn't matter anyway. As soon as she gets a look at this amazing bod of mine she'll be all over me!" Sunstreaker announced giving his brother a knowing look.

"Yeah, and as soon as she gets a taste of your less than stellar personality she'll realize that I'm clearly the better choice!" Sideswipe said with a slight shove on Sunstreaker's shoulder. This earned him a slightly rougher shove and a fight nearly broke out when Tracks spoke up.

"Please! You two have all the charm of a Skuxxoid slave trader!" he said haughtily. "A femme like her needs a mech of class. Someone to introduce her to the finer things in life."

"A mech of class?" Sideswipe scoffed.

"Says the guy that hangs out with a car thief!" Sunstreaker mocked.

Tracks bristled. "At least I have friends, you uncultured hoodlum! Besides, Raoul is a law abiding citizen now!"

"Whatever. No femme is gonna fall for a guy with that lackluster paint job of yours." Sunstreaker said, giving Tracks a disdainful look.

"Excuse you?!" Tracks gasped, offended.

The three of them very nearly got into an actual brawl until Prowl broke them up.

Optimus overheard their argument. He should have been the one to break it up before Prowl did but all he could concentrate on was how Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Tracks were probably closer to your age. They were young and handsome while he was… well not exactly old, just… not young. He glanced down at his scratched and chipped paint job. He wasn't much of a looker either now that he thought about it… actually, why was he thinking about this?

Okay, love at first sight didn't happen. It just wasn't realistic. But Optimus knew that he was crushing on you pretty hard already and he hadn't even spoken to you yet. Wait… why was Wheeljack dragging you over here? Oh… oh no….

Optimus stiffened as you were suddenly right in front of him.

"Sis, this is the gang. That's Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Jazz, Prowl, Sideswipe…" Wheeljack introduced you to each of the Autobots present until he finally got to Optimus.

"And this is Optimus Prime." Wheeljack announced gesturing to the Autobot leader. Optimus was not one to falter in the face of adversity. He did not shirk his duty no matter how many hardships got thrown in his way. But when you cast your soft, demure gaze up at him he wanted more than anything to run straight to his office and hide under the desk, never to show his face again. He didn't though. Instead he offered his hand. You took it and his spark soared.

"Welcome to Earth." He said with a genuine smile, not taking his optics off yours for a second. "We're glad to have you with us, but what brings you here?"

You didn't like how quickly Optimus dropped your hand. It was like he wanted to end physical contact with you as soon as possible. Why was he staring at you like that? Was he sizing you up? Was he trying to figure out if you were good enough to join his group? You felt intimidated and self conscious under his gaze. You dropped your gaze from his optics and focused on his mask. You really didn't like those things. You wondered if he was handsome under there. Your frame was overheating and you panicked a little, scared that your fans would turn on. Well, you could always blame it on the desert heat if you needed to. Then you remembered that he asked you a question.

"Oh, well… long story short, Elita said that your medic needed a hand and I volunteered. I also saw it as a chance to get in touch with my little bro again. So here I am." you said with an awkward laugh. Primus, why was it so hard to talk to him?

Optimus got a faraway look in his optics before seemingly having something click in his mind.

"Ah yes, I remember now. Ratchet has been a bit overwhelmed with patients so I had Prowl try to get in contact with Cybertron in hopes of finding a medic to come to Earth. That was quite some time ago. We stopped contact when we realized that it would be more difficult to get to Earth from Cybertron now." Optimus said.

"Ah well, one of those calls got through. When I volunteered, Elita and the others snuck me onto that cargo ship. It was due to pick up some supplies from the 'Cons on Earth. It was just a matter of sneaking on board, ditching the crew, piloting the ship all by me lonesome, going through Shockwave's space bridge, and skedaddling out of 'Con territory before they figured out what was going on." You explained.

"That explains the state of the ship." Prowl noted.

"Oh yeah. Megtron wasn't too happy to have one of his ships commandeered. He and his cheering squad took a few pot shots at me before I left."

"Sis, that was dangerous!" Wheeljack shouted.

"It was worth it! I'm here now!." You said. "And don't lecture me about doing dangerous things, Mister I-Wonder-What-Rocket-Fuel-Tastes-Like."

Wheeljack's audial lights turned bright red, indicating his embarrassment.

"Aw, Sis! Didja haveta bring that up?" He moaned. "It was just that one time!"

You and the gathering of Autobots laughed, but the sound of the Prime's low, calm chuckle caught you off guard. Ok. It was pretty clear that you were crushing on Optimus pretty hard. You weren't sure how you felt about that. Was it okay? He wasn't just some soldier that you could approach anytime with no decorum. He was a Prime! Maybe you were just a little infatuated because of his title. That's probably what it was. You just needed to quell those soft feelings you were developing before you got yourself in too deep. There was no chance that a Prime was going to have time for someone like you. If only you could have seen what was going on in Prime's thoughts at that moment. You were pulled out of your own musings by your brother tugging your arm.

"Come on, an' I'll show you around!" He said excitedly. As you were dragged away, you heard Optimus call your name. You looked back over your shoulder at the Prime, who seemed to be smiling under his mask.

"Welcome to the team." He said.

*This first part seemed a little awkward to me. I hope the next part will turn out better.