Author's Note: Who can spot the little nod to Transformers Prime cartoon series?

Chapter 42: A Prime Problem

Rachet P.O.V

''Something's not right Rachet,'' Ironhide's gruff voice drifted across my med bay as he paced back and forth.

''How do you mean Ironhide?'' I continued busying myself with my task, performing minor superficial repairs on myself following our battle in Shanghai. I had simply not had time to address them until now. ''Something's not right with what?''

The surly mech groaned in irritation at me. ''With Prime Rachet! Or am I the only one who has noticed a change in him since Shanghai?'' Ironhide came to a standstill, his servos on his hips.

I furrowed my optical ridge at him as I raised my helm. Prime had indeed been acting in a questionable manner, acting somewhat out of character. I shook my helm. ''No Ironhide, I have noticed it too. He has been increasingly distracted and distant, especially this past week.''

''Not to mention withdrawn,'' Ironhide resumed his agitated pacing. ''He has barely spoken to anyone in the three weeks since we returned and when he does speak it is very abrupt and almost angry.'' The black mech paused. ''It's like he no longer has any patience, he's on edge. Which in and of itself is concerning because Prime has always been able to keep it together.''

I nodded my helm in agreeance. ''Well, he does have a lot on his processor 'Hide, as you well know. Perhaps it was his battle with Demolisher in Shanghai? Though brief, it was rather intense.''

Ironhide nodded. ''Yeah, or the warning, that seemed pretty grim.'' Ironhide caught my eye and repeated Demolisher's final words. ''The Fallen shall rise again?'' He shook his helm. ''Something bad seems to be coming.''

I picked my soldering iron up to continue with my repairs. ''Yeah, but Prime's faced countless foes, countless problems and not seemed to let it get to him or worry him. Why now?''

''Cuz it's got nuthin' ta do with either a those two things,'' Jazz walked up behind them Ironhide, who started and then glowered at the sudden appearance of the silver saboteur. Jazz came to stand beside Ironhide, a sad smile on dermas.

Ironhide grunted at him, ignoring how he managed to creep up on us both without noticing. ''And how would you know Jazz?''

Jazz chuckled at him, his visor flashing under the lights. ''Hide, I wouldn't be much of a saboteur an' a spy if I didn't notice shit man.''

Ironhide drew himself up to his full imposing height and turned to face Jazz, his optics darkening. ''Are you saying you KNOW what is wrong with Prime?''

Jazz nodded. ''Pretty sure I do, an' believe me when I say it ain't nuthin ta do with tha Fallen or that piece of scrap Demolisher. Give Prime more credit than that!'' Jazz's expression grew sad. ''I kinda wish it was though, would be easier for him ta deal with.''

My processor raced as I tried to connect the obscure dots Jazz had placed before us. /What on Cybertron could be messing with Prime's processor and spark that wasn't to do with the Decepticons or the huma../. I froze as a particular morning with a certain woman right here in this very med bay rushed to the fore.

''For slag's sake Jazz! I have no time for your cryptic guessing games!'' Ironhide growled at him. ''What IS wrong with Prime. Out with it!''

Jazz ex-vented softly and prepared to open his dermas.

''It's to do with Orianna, isn't it?'' I asked quietly from my workstation.

Both sets of optics turned to face me. One confused the other held a glimmer of relief within them as it appeared someone else finally realised what was going on. He nodded silently.

''What do you mean it is to do with Orianna?'' Ironhide's voice rose in frustration as he struggled to catch up. ''What has she done to Prime?'' Ironhide growled the question out. Though Ironhide liked Orianna, as far as humans went, they had both gotten off to a rocky start and it seemed as though some of that distrust was seeping back in.

Jazz raised his servos up. ''Hey man! Cool ya jets. Orianna hasn't really done anything ta Prime.'' Jazz coughed. ''Not technically.''

''Jazz..'' Ironhide growled menacingly as he took a step towards the silver bot.

I put the soldering iron down. ''Ironhide, I think what Jazz is rather inarticulately trying to divulge to you, is that Orianna has developed feelings for Prime beyond friendship.''

Ironhide stared blankly at me as Jazz flashed a broad grin. ''You got it Doc Bot!'' He tilted his helm. ''Wait? How'd ya know?''

I sighed in mild exasperation. ''Let's just say I spent a rather annoying and odd morning in here with her a few months ago. She kept asking me about Optimus which I thought was odd, seeing as she seemed to spend more time with him than anyone.'' I leant against the bench. ''She kept wanting to know about his past and what he was like when he was Orion. She also wanted to know if he could fall in love again.''

Ironhide shuttered his optics and twisted his dermas in mild repulsion as he slowly seemed to follow the thread of the conversation. ''You mean to tell me….'' He shook his helm. ''You mean to say that…''

''Orianna has fallen in love with Prime,'' Jazz supplied with a small grin that faded abruptly. ''Well, she was in love with him up until just before Shanghai.''

We both looked at him then. ''Was? What happened?'' I arched an optical ridge. ''And how do YOU know so much about it?''

Jazz simply shrugged his shoulders and held his servos up. ''Hey man, I was as shocked as you both when Lennox first told me what Orianna told him..''

''WHAT?'' Ironhide shouted. ''Lennox knows about Orianna having feelings for Prime? Is he not repulsed by that notion?'' Ironhide seemed to be taking this particularly hard. /Then again, he was the one who wanted to eliminate just about every human we came across when we first landed/.

Jazz shook his helm, though he had a thoughtful expression on his face. ''Well maybe at first, he was weirded out by it but I guess, like me, he figured love is love baby.'' Jazz grinned at us both. ''It don't discriminate - unlike most people,'' he looked pointedly at Ironhide and then me, ''or bots.''

Ironhide bristled at Jazz and growled at him. I let his words sink into me. I recalled acting in a similar manner to Ironhide when I first made the connection about Orianna's feelings for Prime. It just seemed wrong, unnatural almost. I sighed out loud, drawing the attention of the two mechs. ''The heart wants what the heart wants. Or spark I guess, as the case may be.''

Jazz clapped his servos together. ''Yeah, Hatchet! you got it!'' I narrowed my optics towards him.

''And what of Prime?'' Ironhide broke back into the conversation. ''How does he feel about Orianna?'' His optics flicked from Jazz to me. ''Does HE return her feelings?'' His chest rose and fell as he cycled air through his intakes, trying to cool over heating systems as he tried to process something seemingly so unpalatable to him.

I snorted. ''Knowing what you know now Ironhide, and thinking back over Prime's demeanor this past week, what do YOU think?''

Ironhide's dermas flew open though no words came out.

Jazz sighed out loud and propped himself up against a bench. ''I know Prime cares very deeply for Orianna an', I have seen with my own optics that he became somewhat - annoyed - with Lennox when he became physical with Orianna in his presence..''

''Do I even want to know how you know this Jazz?'' my voice sounded somewhat weary.

Jazz chuckled, ''Prolly best we leave that conversation for another day.'' He winked at me. ''Jus' trust me on this.'' Once again, the silver bot sighed out loud, his voice low and filled with sadness when he next spoke. ''Trouble is, Orianna got up tha courage ta tell Prime she loved him tha day before we left fa Shanghai. Accordin' ta Lennox's account of what Orianna told him, Prime did not reciprocate her feelin's of love.''

Ironhide seemed to visibly relax and release the ''breath'' he had been holding. I simply nodded though I felt strangely sad. Though Orianna could indeed be annoying, she did not deserve to be in this situation. ''However,'' Jazz continued, ''I also saw how Prime reacted when we got back from Shanghai and Orianna refused to speak to him or even really look at him.''

Ironhide snorted. ''Well, she had no right telling Prime she loved him. I mean for pit's sake! She is a human woman! What on earth was she thinking?''

''Man, you still don't get it, do ya Hide?'' Jazz shook his helm incredulously at Ironhide. ''Have you forgotten what you an' Chromia were like when ya first fell in love an' bonded?'' Jazz snorted and I laughed in recollection. ''There wasn't much thinkin' goin' on in your helm either mate!'' Jazz grinned evilly at his friend. ''Well, ONE kind of thought was very much on ya processor.''

I laughed out loud and Ironhide stalked menacingly towards Jazz. ''Look, all I'm sayin' bruther,'' Jazz held up his servos again, ''is ya can't blame Orianna, for developin' feelin's fa Optimus. Love can be irrational and illogical.'' He shook his helm, a sorrowful expression settling on his face. ''If you could a heard how she spoke about Prime, how well she knew him, how much she cared for him,'' Jazz fixed us with a very level, serious gaze. ''I have no doubt in ma spark that what Orianna feels for Prime is real an' it's true.'' Jazz pushed off from the bench and turned his gaze from me to Ironhide. ''An' I fa one support it. Even if Prime himself doesn't fully accept or realise he does love her too.''

''Humph! You really think Prime loves a human woman?'' Ironhide shook his helm. ''You've finally fried your processor, Jazz.''

''And what if he does Ironhide?'' I faced the hulking weapon's specialist. ''What if our Prime were to develop such feelings for Orianna, or indeed already have them? After everything he has done for us, sacrificed for us, would that make you respect him any less?'' Ironhide shifted on his pedes, his optics darting around the room, anywhere but on my own. ''What is so abhorrent about our leader, and our friend, finding happiness that just so happens to be in the form of a human woman?'' Both Jazz and I stared intently at our friend.

Ironhide simply held our gaze defiantly, flicking his optics from me to Jazz. ''He is my Prime, and my oldest friend, of COURSE I wish for his happiness.'' Ironhide shook his helm as he backed up towards the door. ''But I can not believe this of Prime. He might like Orianna, even care for her, but love?'' He snorted disdainfully. ''I can not fathom such a union. It has never been heard of before. A human woman and a Cybertronian mech? A PRIME no less!'' He shook his helm again. ''It could never work. Prime is right to refuse Orianna.''

A small smile spread across my dermas as I continued to stare at my friend. ''Then perhaps you need to get acquainted with the Earthen saying, ''There is a first time for everything,'' Ironhide.'' Beside me Jazz laughed.

Ironhide shook his helm in protest as he turned towards the door. ''We'll see about that!'' He roughly punched the code into the doors, breaking the panel. As soon as the doors opened, he barreled through them, presumably in search of Optimus himself.

''IRONHIDE! WE NEEDED THAT!'' I barked after his retreating form, reluctantly walking towards it to assess the damage.

''You really meant what you said Rachet?'' Jazz eyed me carefully from across the room. ''About not judging Prime for finding happiness with Orianna?

I grunted as I noted what needed to be done to repair it. ''I admit I was not much unlike Ironhide when I first deduced Orianna's feelings towards Prime.'' I shrugged my shoulders. ''But then I recalled, I saw first-hand, what a positive, powerful influence Orianna has had on Optimus.''

I paused in my observations as I reflected on Prime's behaviour this past week. ''And I am seeing first-hand what the absence of that influence is doing, has done to him this past week Jazz.'' I shook my helm and grunted once more, ''I would have to say, like you, I support the notion that a human woman and a Cybertronian Mech can find love and happiness in each other.'' I raised my helm to smile at my friend who was beaming back at me, seemingly relieved he had an ally in this most unusual of circumstance. ''In fact, I can only hope that Optimus gets out of his own way and comes to that realisation before it is too late.'' I began to walk back to my work station to grab the necessary tools to start to repair Ironhide's handywork.

Jazz tilted his helm at me, a puzzled expression on his face. ''Whadda ya mean ''too late'' Rachet?''

''A broken spark, or heart, won't stay broken forever Jazz,'' I called back over my shoulder, ''it will eventually find solace and comfort in another spark or heart. One that is more receptive to what it is searching for and needs.'' I sighed out loud in that human like manner as I grabbed several tools, circuit boards and wiring. ''If Prime is not careful, he may lose Orianna to another and with her, his best – perhaps only chance – at finding happiness again.'' I leant against the bench facing Jazz.

''Then we better help him see sense Rachet. Ya know, help him along a little,'' Jazz clapped his servos together in seeming enthusiasm.

I shook my helm. ''Negative Jazz. We can not influence Prime in this. This is a decision, a choice, he must make of his own volition. He must come to this realisation himself. If I know Prime, he just has to get out of his own processor and stop searching for excuses as to why he and Orianna cannot happen.'' I pushed off from the bench and strode back over to the damaged Med Bay doors.

Jazz snorted derisively. ''Ya mean ta tell me Hatchet,'' I bristled though said nothing at the hated nickname, ''that Prime is scared?'' Jazz shook his helm. ''But Prime is not scared of anythin', why would somethin' as wonderful as bein' in love scare him? That's jus' messed up.''

''Because Jazz, when you have loved someone as deeply and for as long as Optimus loved Elita, and you lose them, the thought of loving another, being so vulnerable through your love for another, is a terrifying thought.'' I watched as comprehension seemed to dawn on Jazz's face.

''I see,'' Jazz murmured. ''I guess I never thought about it from that point a view Rachet.''

I nodded as I began to remove the damaged panel from the wall, ''Well, now you know, ya might cut him some slack about it. Prime'll get there – eventually. And when he does…''

Jazz laughed, ''Orianna won't know what hit her!''

''Precisely.'' I smirked to myself.

''That is if Ironhide doesn't put Prime off tha idea for good.'' Jazz's voice took on a tone of disappointment as he walked over to stand beside me. ''He really was against it, wasn't he?''

I nodded my helm as I tossed the useless panel to the floor. ''He was.''

''Should I try an'..''

''No, Jazz. Once again, you gotta let things run its course. Ironhide has a right to say his piece. As Prime's oldest friend and his self-appointed bodyguard, Ironhide is just looking out for Prime from his point of view.'' I glanced up at the silver bot quickly. ''Hide will come around. Like Prime, he just needs to get there himself.''

''Alright! Doctor knows best hey?!'' Jazz teased.

''He does indeed Jazz,'' I grinned at my friend. ''And I hate to burst your bubble, but our illustrious leader is afraid of more than just giving his spark to another.''

Jazz leant conspiratorially towards me, a devious look on his faceplates. ''Oh really? Do tell!''

I laughed out loud then and shook my helm as I began picking at various exposed wires, ''Sorry Jazz. That violates doctor, patient confidentiality. You'll just have to work it out for yourself.'' I sent him a teasing smirk. ''And being a special ops saboteur that shouldn't take you too long, should it now?'' At Jazz's pouting expression I laughed even harder.