ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I HEARD YOU! I'm gonna go ahead and post part one even though I am not done with part two yet. I hope you're happy, whoever you are.

This chapter is based off 'Operation Bumblebee' parts 1&2 (s2e4&5). And starts after Bumblebee has already lost his t-cog to MECH.

"Hm, it's rare to see someone this far out of town, isn't it?" asked Ratchet.

He and Raf were headed back to the base after he picked the boy up from school. They were well outside of Jasper at this point.

Raf sat up straight in Ratchet's front seat and looked out the windshield as they approached the figure walking on the side of the road.

"Yeah. But, wait..." He adjusted his glasses. "Isn't that Liliy?"

The person stopped and looked back at them. It was indeed Liliy. Ratchet slowed down and pulled to a stop off the road just past her. She went up to the passenger window. The medic rolled it down for her.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked nonchalantly as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

"I could ask you the same question," returned Ratchet. "What are you doing out here, Liliy?"

"Well, I hitched a ride into Jasper and I didn't know if anyone was in town so I figured I'd just walk to the base."

"You should have called. Someone could have come to get you."

"That would just ruin the surprise."

"Consider us surprised. Now get in so we can go." Ratchet opened his driver door.

Liliy walked around the front. At the door, she put her foot up on the running board and hesitated, staring at the seat.

"Something wrong with my seat?" Ratchet asked.

"Liliy, it is going to be ok," Raf said. "We are well out of town so the trip will be short. The sooner you get in, the sooner it will be over and you can get out."

Liliy listened to him, the corners of her mouth turning up just slightly in a small smile.

"Thank you, Rafael, for understanding."

She stepped up into Ratchet's interior and sat in the driver seat. The door shut and Ratchet pulled back onto the road.

"Well, I don't understand," groused Ratchet. "Mind explaining it to me?"

Instead of replying, Liliy seemed to space out, staring straight ahead at nothing, her hand gripping the seat belt across her chest.

"Do you mind speeding up a little, Ratchet? Liliy really hates riding inside Cybertronians." Raf explained for her. "I did some research and I believe she has some type of an anxiety disorder. Remember a while back when she got a ride into town from Bee and when we got back to base, she said she just got a little car sick. It was because of her disorder. She probably knows that there is really nothing to be worried about but at the same time it freaks her out. Do Cybertronians suffer from stuff like anxiety?"

"Well-" Ratchet started.

"Bumblebee," Liliy interrupted. "Bumblebee suffers from PTSD. Sometimes, during his recharges, he has nightmares. Arcee and Bulkhead too but they don't have them as often as Bee. I don't know about you and Optimus. I never go near your rooms."

Ratchet remained silent for several minutes.

"Yes, Rafael," he said finally. "We too feel fear and anxiety, as much as we hate to admit it."

"Just because we aren't made of the same stuff doesn't mean we are not alike," said Liliy, but it was unclear who she was actually addressing.

Romeo, Hirry, and Zulu were tasked with retrieving one of the two remaining Iacon relics that Orion had managed to decode. They bridged to a place up the road from the coordinates because they noticed that two Decepticon signals were already at the location.

Just before they got to the site, Bumblebee and Bulkhead appeared out of their own bridge. The three transformed and took to the trees for cover. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were arguing about something. Then Knock Out came racing out of the nearby cave. Bulkhead was going to go after him but then Breakdown came rushing out of the cave, his hammer ready. Bulkhead told Bumblebee to go after the sportscar Con instead. Bumblebee did, but on foot. The three watchers shared a confused look. Then Romeo took charge.

"Zulu, you stay and help Bulkhead. Hirry and I will go after the speedsters."

Romeo and Hirry transformed back to their vehicle modes and took off down the road. Bumblebee continued to chase Knock Out on foot until the sportscar Con sped up. Bumblebee grabbed a rusty old truck that happened to be on the side of the road and hopped on the back of it, riding it down the slope.

Knock Out drifted through a sharp curve ahead. Bumblebee, on the other hand, was not going to make it. He was headed straight for the cliff. Romeo sped past him to go after Knock Out. Hirry transformed right behind Bumblebee and grabbed his servo as he went over. The scout smacked the cliffside face first.

"Gotcha!" Hirry exclaimed.

"Uh, thanks," Bumblebee beeped, looking up at her.

Hirry pulled him up. Bulkhead and Zulu showed up as Bumblebee scrambled to his peds.

"Bee, are you ok?" the wrecker asked.

"I'm fine."

"So, Bumblebee, what was with that?" asked Hirry. "Why didn't you transform? Something wrong with your t-cog?"

"It's missing."

Hirry looked at Zulu and then flipped down her mask to run a scan. "Oh."

"I can't believe you ruined my finish again!" Knock Out's protest floated to them.

Romeo came trudging back up the road carrying the relic in one servo while the other one was changed into a blaster and pointed at the back of the Con walking in front of him in stasis cuffs. Both of their red paint jobs were covered in scratches. There was also a blaster mark on Knock Out's door. No doubt Romeo's revenge for Tango.

Knock Out continued to rant. "When I get my servos on you, you'll-"

"Shut your trap, tin head," Hirry ordered, stepping toward him.

The Con stopped in surprise. "A femme?"

Her optics narrowed. "Yeah. What of it?"

"Uh… It's just... I thought the only femmes on the planet were Spider-legs and the two-wheeler."

"There are femmes among the Vehicons on the Nemesis."

"Tsh. They don't count. They're just-"

Hirry decked him before he could finish and he crashed to the ground, out cold.

"Nice one, Hirry," Romeo said. "But couldn't you have waited until we were back up at the cave to do that? Now we have to carry him."

Hirry just rolled her optics. Reaching down, she grabbed one of Knock Out's ankles and started dragging his body back up the road.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee shared a confused glance before looking at Romeo for an explanation.

Romeo shrugged. "Can't just leave the good doctor laying out in the open, ya know. Not in his root mode. Even we believe in being robots in disguise. By the way, Bee, who took your t-cog?"

"MECH," beeped Bumblebee, clutching his fists.

Romeo glared. "The Madam isn't going to be happy when she finds out."

"Indeed," agreed Zulu.

Bulkhead was about to ask what they meant when his comm went off.

{Bulkhead, where are you? Is Bumblebee with you?}

Bulkhead sighed. "Yes, he is, Ratchet."

{I'm sending you a ground bridge. Return to base immediately.}

"Yes, Ratchet."

A ground bridge opened nearby. The two Autobots disappeared into it.

"I guess they forgot about this." Romeo held up the relic. He looked up the road. "We better go help Hirry."

Alfa was sitting up reading while Echo recharged on their shared berth. He looked up from his datapad when he heard Echo muttering. The sleeping mech's servos twitched. Figuring it was just a bad dream, Alfa sent relaxing vibes across their bond. Echo settled down. But only for a moment. Alfa frowned. Usually that worked. He reached across the bond. Echo did not answer but Alfa felt his distress and fear. Something was wrong. He set down the datapad and moved to the berth.

"Echo, wake up." He gently shook his partner's shoulder. As he saw that he was coming online, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Alfa flinched as Echo's claws suddenly dug into his arm, but he could not look away from his partner's wide optics.

"Where are the twins?!" Echo gasped, his voice laced with static.

Oh. Oh, no. The twins were out on a mission for the Madam. If Echo was acting this way, something must've gone wrong.

"I don't know, Echo. But we can find out. Come on."

He pulled Echo up off the berth. Servo in servo, they ran down the hallway to the main hall. They were almost the Comm center when an alarm sounded. It was the alarm that only went off if a member was critically injured. Echo looked up at Alfa as a second alarm went off. Alfa squeezed his servo and headed for the receiving room. The medics were right behind them. Victor already had the coordinates set and was activating the ground bridge.

"Echo, wait!" Alfa called as Echo let go of his servo and ran ahead into the portal.

The first thing they noticed was all the energon. It was everywhere. And there was a lot of it. Too much! The second thing Alfa noticed was the other ground bridge across the way. And the battered form of Megatron disappearing into it while dragging a big, golden hammer.

The second thing Echo noticed were the twins. Golf lay face down on the ground. More than half of one wing was missing while the other was so twisted it was painful just to look at. And there was a big scorch mark in the middle of his back. Indy sat against some boulders, his servo clutching his side while energon pooled underneath him. His helm hung down with his chin against his chestplates.

Alfa had to hold Echo back to let the medics do their job. Foxtrot went to Indy while Oscar rushed to Golf. Delta and Seaser assisted them. While they worked to stop the bleeding on the twins, Leecher prepped the medbay and sent Bravo and Charlie through the portal with stretchers.

"Victor, redirect the bridge straight into the medbay," Alfa ordered through the comm as the twins were being carefully loaded up for transport.

As soon as they were all back at base, Alfa led Echo out into the hall to get him out of the medics' way.

"Alfa, Echo."

They looked down to see Liliy coming toward them. She was in her root mode.

"Alfa, Optimus is here. Please make sure he is returned to his base soon. Echo…" The look he gave her filled her with guilt. "I need you to find MECH. Even if you don't work on finding them yourself, please ensure that my orders get to the Comm center."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, his voice tight.

Liliy nodded and disappeared into the medbay.

Optimus and Arcee had already come back from scouting when Ratchet arrived at the base with Raf and Liliy.

"Look who we found on the side of the road," commented Raf as he jumped out of Ratchet's alt.

"Uh, thanks for the ride, Ratchet," Liliy said after she climbed out.

Optimus froze at the sound of her voice. It was strikingly familiar.

"I'm sorry, Optimus." The last words of the Madam of the CRC echoed through his processor.

Prime turned to look at Liliy. She looked back at him with a questioning gaze.

"Something wrong, O.P.?" she asked.

He saw it now. All of the similarities. Her red and silvery white hair, her gray clothes with hints of red. Her missing arm! Even her eyes had a red tint to them. It made more sense now too. The reason why the CRC was suddenly so interested in helping them. A bunch of questions filled his processor, but there was a more pressing matter at hand.

"Liliy, can I talk to you? Privately?"

Liliy saw the change in the Prime's gaze. Now that he had his memories back, he could see through her human guise and he recognized her. And he was, no doubt, burning with questions, things he wanted answered before he exposed her to his team.

"Sure, Optimus."

Optimus knelt and offered his servo. Liliy looked slightly surprised by the gesture but didn't hesitate to sit on his waiting palm. It was something he learned to do as Orion when they were on the Nemesis. He probably did not even realize what he was doing. Lifting her carefully, he disappeared down the hall. They entered his quarters. He set her on his berth and then sat down beside her.

"I have several questions I want to ask you," Optimus said, "but there is a more pressing matter. It involves Bumblebee."

"What is it?"

"Do you have a spare t-cog?"

Liliy stiffened. "Why? What happened?"

"Bumblebee was attacked by MECH and they took his t-cog."

"I see." Liliy was surprisingly calm. "Yes. We have some spare t-cogs."

Suddenly, a noise like a siren went off. Liliy snatched her phone out of her pocket and looked at the message.

"Optimus," she said, her voice urgent, "I need to return home immediately. There is an emergency and I'm needed in the medbay." Liliy's visor fell over her eyes and a bridge opened on the other side of the room. "If you come with me, you can get a t-cog for Bee."

Optimus nodded and stood up. Liliy was on his shoulder in an instant. Optimus went through the bridge. On the other side they met Victor.

"Keep the portal ready. Optimus needs to go back," Liliy told him as they passed.

In the main hall they met the grounder half of the surveillance team. X-ray was there too.

"X-ray, please go to the storage and get a spare t-cog for Optimus," Liliy ordered before she took off down the hall leading to the medbay.

"Is it for Bumblebee?" asked Romeo as X-ray nodded and ran off too.

"You know about it?" Optimus replied.

"Yeah. We just left Bee and Bulkhead. Hirry here had to save your scout from falling off a cliff. Also, we got the relic from the Cons." He held up the shield generator.

"You can hold onto it. By the way, what is the emergency, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Golf and Indy were sent to get the other relic."

"There was a third one?"

"Apparently, you, as Orion decoded three sets of Iacon coordinates. The spark extractor, this, and the one the twins went after."

"Do you know what it was?"

"The forge of Solus Prime."

Optimus' optics went wide.

"They were almost done excavating it when Megatron showed up. They're both alive but it was pretty bad."

"I'm sorry to hear that. And I cannot help but feel somewhat responsible."

"You are in no way responsible, Optimus Prime."

Optimus turned to look up at Alfa who had just entered the main hall. The stealth plane was several feet taller than him. His stoic expression was grimmer than usual.

"We know risks," Alfa continued. "And the twins did not go down without a fight. I saw Megatron. And I saw the battleground. He was leaking just as bad as they were."

"According to our intel," Lima suddenly interrupted, coming out of the Comm center, "while the twins may have gotten the short end of the stick, Megatron returned to the Nemesis in worse condition than when he left."

"How worse?" asked Optimus.

"Whiskey heard from Ucon," Lima said, "that Soundwave sent him straight to the medbay and he left quite a trail of dark energon in his wake."

"But I was the one who decoded-" Optimus said.

"You were suffering from memory loss and did not know better," countered Hirry before he could finish. "Also, if the Madam hears you talking like that she will kick your aft back to Cybertron."

"Liliy? But she's-"

"The Madam has put all of us on our afts more than once." X-ray rejoined them. "Kilo and Alfa included. And the bigger you are, the harder you fall, so I'd be careful if I were you. Here's your t-cog, by the way." He handed Optimus the biomech.

"Thank you."

"Lima." Echo stood at the entrance to the hall to the medbay.

"Yes, Echo?" The lime green femme gave him his full attention.

"The Madam has issued orders to find MECH."

"One bunch of annoying squishies coming right up." Lima hurried back to the Comm center while Echo disappeared back down the hallway.

"If you find MECH, will you let us know?" Optimus requested.

"That's up to the Madam," Alfa replied.

"I should get back then."

"I'll show you out."

After Alfa bridged Optimus back to his quarters, there was a knock on the door. It was Ratchet.

"Sorry to bother you, Optimus."

"It is alright. Liliy just left."

"She did? I didn't see her in the hall."

"What is it you need, old friend?"

The medic did not notice that Prime was holding the t-cog.

"Bulkhead and Bumblebee are back. Apparently they went after a relic signal and encountered Knock Out and Breakdown. Bumblebee chased Knock Out and almost fell off a cliff but he was saved by the CRC surveillance team." He paused to glare at the floor. When he looked again, his expression was troubled. "Optimus, I was thinking. There is a way to make Bumblebee whole again... A transplant."

Optimus frowned. "But that would require a donor."

"Yes. And you need look no further than the Autobot standing before you." Ratchet put a servo over his chestplates.

"A generous offer, old friend. But your solution would merely trade one Autobot's handicap for another's. I-"

"Optimus, listen. I don't rely on my t-cog. Not like Bumblebee does. The ability to transform is virtually wasted on me. This is where I spend my days. Where my thoughts and hands are of value, not my weapons or wheels. Our team can't afford to be down one warrior in the field."

"You make a compelling case, Ratchet, but I was going to say that I already found a replacement t-cog for Bumblebee." He held up the t-cog in his servo.

Ratchet just stared. "Where did you get that?"

"From the CRC."

"What?!"

"Bumblebee needs a t-cog. So I asked if they had any spares."

"But how did you get it?"

"It… was bridged here."

"Bridged? Optimus-"

"Ratchet, we can discuss that later. Right now, there is work to be done. The sooner Bumblebee is made whole again, the better."

"But it came from them!? I-"

"You said it yourself, did you not? Our team can't afford to be down a warrior in the field."

"Yes, but-"

"Ratchet, you know that I would prefer not to have to issue orders to you concerning medical matters."

Ratchet froze, surprised. Optimus hardly ever used that tone of voice with him. He looked down at the t-cog and then back at the mech holding it. "Do you trust them?"

"Yes. I do."

Ratchet sighed and took the t-cog from his servo. "Very well, Optimus."

Exhausted, Liliy exited the medbay. She looked up to find Echo still standing outside the door where she had left him. She got up on his shoulder and laid her helm against his.

"Seems like it was just yesterday that we were here wishing that a day like this would never come." She sat up straight. "Echo, I'm sorry. This is my fault-"

Echo suddenly reached up and grabbed her off his shoulder. He didn't squeeze her but he wasn't exactly gentle as he turned her to face him. She looked at him, startled. There was so much pain in his optics.

"Madam, please. Even if you say it… It is not your fault. You did not know what was going to happen…" Closing his optics, he buried his face in her small chassis. "It's not your fault," he whispered.

Liliy hugged his helm. She could feel him trembling. Not for the first time, Liliy wished her real frame was bigger so that she could do more to comfort him. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Echo calmed down.

"Are they going to be alright?" he asked finally as he pulled her back.

"Well, they're alive. And they're stable… for now… But it is going to be a long road to recovery for them, you understand? They are going to need you."

He nodded. "May… may I see them?"

"Yes. Of course."

"I'll go with you."

They looked up to see Alfa coming toward them. Echo carefully bent over and set Liliy on her peds. Her servo lingered on his for a moment as she smiled up at him. He managed a tiny smile in return before he straightened.

Liliy watched them disappear into the medbay before she turned and headed for the main hall. She was exhausted after working for several hours to stabilize the twins and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed, but she felt bad for running out on Optimus. So, instead of heading to her room, she made her way to the Comm center.

When she entered, Liliy found Lima and Mike hard at work, scanning radio chatter and government databases from various countries, looking for MECH. Nova was there too, trying to help anyway he could, but mostly he was there to be near his brother.

Lima nodded to her when she climbed up on the console.

"Any luck?" she asked her.

"Not really. We've found bits and pieces, but nothing definite yet. I heard that the twins are stable. But how is Echo?"

"Shaken. But I think he is going to be ok. He and Alfa are with the twins now."

"It was really weird seeing Echo like that," Mike commented. "Just standing in the hall, staring at nothing."

"It's because of the bond he shares with the twins," Liliy said. "He could feel their pain and he was scared for their lives."

"We should understand that." Mike glanced over at Nova who nodded.

"Nova, do you think you could find Optimus Prime's location for me?" asked Liliy.

"Uh…" The bronze mech turned to the terminal nearest him and typed in the request. "He's out on patrol, it looks like. In the Nevada desert near their base."

"Very good. Then I'll need a ground bridge."

"But, Madam, you're-"

"I need to talk to him, Nova. Before I recharge."

"Yes, ma'am." He followed her to the receiving room.

"Are you leaving already, Madam?" asked Victor, when they entered.

"Just for a little while. Optimus and I need to discuss some things before I go back to Omega One. And I need to check on the twins again."

"And sleep at some point," Nova reminded her as he put in the coordinates and activated the bridge.

"Yes. And sleep," Liliy agreed before she disappeared into the bridge.

Optimus slammed on his brakes and transformed when a ground bridge opened on the road ahead of him. He blinked when Liliy appeared, her hololayer flickering on to hide her metal frame. She flashed him a tired smile as the portal vanished.

"We probably should not stand in the road. Someone might come along and see us."

"Yeah."

Optimus transformed back to his alt mode and opened his driver door in a silent invitation. Liliy hesitated but she was honestly too tired to care and his seat looked comfortable. She slowly climbed into the cab. The door closed as she buckled in.

"Sorry for running out on you earlier," she said as he started driving. Despite her exhaustion, her hand still tightened around the seatbelt. But it was Optimus' voice that kept her focused.

"Do not apologize," he said. "I understand that it was an emergency. I trust that the twins are going to make it?"

"They are stable for the moment."

"That is good news." Optimus was silent for a moment. "I can't help but feel that I am partially at fault for what happened."

"You and me both," she responded, much to his surprise. "But Echo told me not to blame myself."

"Alfa told me the same."

"What about Bumblebee? Did the t-cog work?"

"Ratchet was reluctant to do the surgery at first after he found out where the spare came from but I was able to convince him that it was a better option than him using his own t-cog."

"Oh Primus." Liliy facepalmed. "He really is an idiot, isn't he? What does he have against the CRC?"

"I do not know. You will have to ask him that yourself. But, yes. Bumblebee's transplant was a success."

"That's good to hear."

They lapsed into a long silence.

"You have questions for me, don't you?" Liliy asked finally, mostly to keep herself awake.

"Yes. Though, some of them were answered when I realized that you were the Madam."

"Such as?"

"Why the CRC was suddenly helping us."

"Ah, yes. I may have been behind some of those missions." Liliy got the distinct impression in the moment of silence that followed her statement that if Prime had been in his root mode he would've rolled his optics at her. "What else do you want to know?"

"I thought I had gained your trust. And yet you blocked my memories of you. Why?"

"You did. What I didn't trust was the random, off chance that you might be captured by the Decepticons and they used a cortical psychic patch on you... Or you can just say I was paranoid."

"What changed your mind?"

"You protected me, even though I was just a random stranger on the highway."

"I thought you were a human and I did not want you to be a casualty of our war. I honestly did not wish for you to get involved. You could have revealed yourself or left at any time and yet you stayed. Why?"

"I thought about leaving many times but the longer I was there, the fonder I became of all of you." Liliy smiled. "Especially the children. Besides it was so much easier to keep tabs on you when I was in the loop."

"May I ask another question?"

"Of course."

"What happen on the Nemesis?"

"You don't remember?" she asked slowly.

"No. But I was informed that you were there with me."

Liliy did her best to not let her relief show as she replied. "Maybe I'll tell you someday but I'm afraid I need to return home now."

"You aren't coming back to our base?" he asked as he pulled to a stop on the side of the road.

"Not yet. I need to check on the twins again."

"I understand." Optimus opened his door so she could climb out. He transformed as she called up a bridge home. "Liliy."

She looked up at him.

"Please let me know when you find MECH."

"Sure," she said before she disappeared but he was not convinced at all by her answer.

To be continued...

(Also as promised, Solarwave, I made a few of the CRC into femmes. Hirry gets the most screen time in this chapter but Charlie and Seaser made a brief appearance. The last femme will show up later. And I will be giving a explanation as to why Liliy just refers to them all as her 'boys' at some point too.) (edit: I went back and changed Lima to a femme as well.)

(I like reviews/comments. Thanks.)