Chapter 110 - Casting

(RPOV)

Ratchet scanned his assistant again. She was puttering around the medical bay, her pheromones off the charts in frustration.

That was to be expected, Ratchet often felt the same way when he was left behind. The intelligence from the CIA eight days ago had been genuine, they had a location on several Decepticon insurgents, damn near the entire unit, femmes included had been dispatched. Kae was worrying properly now.

There was definitely sexual frustration there, she'd been jumpy three days in, and now it had been ten. Optimus would be a triply blessed bot if even a quarter of her libido transferred into her new body. Ratchet turned back to the spark-chamber he was working on with a small smirk, making sure it would be easily transformable when Kae was placed in it.

An hour later she was pacing again. There were more pheromones floating in the air now, exhaustion, sexual frustration, anger?

No. This was different. She was usually elbow deep in a service by now.

She'd already gone through her tai-chi and fighting sequences. Twice. This was bad.

Her energon levels were still increasing. Fast.

She reached into a jeep and pulled back, swearing.

Ratchet was at a loss as she stalked to her chair and sat, arms crossed and fuming.

"Kae?" he asked quietly.

"What's the humidity at in here?" Mikaela asked in a definitely grumpy tone.

"Um, thirty." Ratchet stated after a second.

"Then what the hell is with the static!" she burst out, "everything I bloody touch zaps me! How the hell am I supposed to work when I can't touch an engine for fear of blowing the damn thing up!? What's the atmosphere doing!? Did I get hit by lightning and just not friggen realize it?"

Ratchet snorted in amusement before almost collapsing in shock.

"Mikaela touch my hand," he stated in an icy tone.

"You got your circuitry insulated?" she asked in the same grumpy tone, reaching over and poking his finger with one of her own. Or at least, she tried. A thread of energon shot from her hand and into his, an inch away. She yanked back, shaking her hand and swearing again, in Cybertronian this time.

Ratchet wasn't faring much better. He sat heavily on his bench and stared at her, swearing in english.

::. Ratchet, you and Kae can stand down, we are finished, no-one is injured.:: Optimus sent the transmission calmly.

::. Are you done yet?.:: Ratchet asked tensely.

::. Yes-.::

::. Then get your tin afts back home, we've got a problem.:: Ratchet rumbled. He began swearing again as he watched Mikaela lapse into infuriated silence. She was drooping in her seat. His assistant never sat wilted like that unless something was horribly wrong.

Ratchet scanned his assistant again.

::. What's wrong?.:: Optimus rumbled, instantly alert.

::. Kae's producing energon.:: Ratchet snarled.

::. She's been-.::

::. Let me re-phrase that, Kae's body has begun breaking itself down and is producing more energon than it can hold. She can't touch anything without discharging it!.::

"Mikaela," Ratchet said aloud, "please, please for my sanity and yours meditate. Drop your adrenaline levels, please?"

She looked up at him with a frown then sighed.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she murmured, rising and walking toward her quarters.

"Here!" Ratchet shouted in a panic. "Don't leave to where I can't get to you!"

Mikaela spun around and was standing in front of him in seconds.

"Ratchet what's happening?" she demanded. "You're panicking, which means you have no idea how to fix something that's gone badly. Who's hurt?"

"No-one's hurt," Ratchet stated soothingly, "they're on their way home."

"Then why are you panicking?" she asked in an icily calm tone.

Ratchet looked at her warily. The last of the irritated blood drained from her face.

"That look," she whispered, staring up at him. "Ratchet you're looking at me as though I'm about to spontaneously combust. What's wrong."

"Someday," Ratchet whispered, "someday I want you to be wrong about your analysis, so that I can grin and say 'nah, you're over-reacting.' Please, please Kae, go do that trick of yours, where you get completely and unflappably calm. Buy me some time, please."

Mikaela took a deep breath and walked to sit on a comfortable bench, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Her heart rate lowered somewhat. Ratchet onlined an extra couple of processors to keep a constant scan of her vitals and to answer Optimus' frequently repeated questions. Finally Ratchet simply piped the on-going scan of Mikaela's vital signs to Optimus as he worked feverishly on her spark-chamber.

Six hours.

Mikaela hadn't moved in six hours, save to lay down. The energon building in her tissues had slowed slightly, but not much. She'd begun to glow softly. Her brain function was in high gear. That in itself had to be torture to her. So much to think about, and not being allowed to move.

Ratchet did something then that he knew only Kae would be able to heal. He shut his emotions down and worked faster, racing against time to save his spark-daughter.

"Don't do that, Ratchet," Mikaela whispered.

"Don't do what?" Ratchet asked in a flat tone.

"You've shut your emotions down, don't do that, it's bad for you."

Ratchet stared at his spark-daughter as the sound of an enormous airplane roared overhead.

"Alright Kae," he stated in a choked voice, turning and focusing on her spark-chamber. He hooked his own neural fibres up to it and put it through it's paces, tweaking it here and there before neutralizing it.

He sat back, staring at it for a long moment.

::. Optimus, where are you?.:: Ratchet sent the transmission silently.

"I'm right here," Optimus rumbled crisply behind him, striding into the medical bay and yanking at the parachute cords still stuck to his armour. Anyone who knew the bot could hear the sheer terror beneath the calm facade. "The rest will be here shortly."

(OPOV)

"Optimus!" Mikaela shouted, sitting bolt upright with the bright, loving smile that stole his spark every time he saw it. The light flush in her cheeks drained away. She was glowing, she looked down at her hands in time to watch the first patch of skin eaten away by whatever force was converting her. She looked up at him with shock in her eyes.

Optimus lunged forward and picked her up, cradling her in his hands and surrounding her with an EM field, working to stabilize the rapidly manifesting spark. Outside of a chamber. It was all he could do to stay calm enough to follow the emergency procedures for protecting an extruded-spark.

"Kae, I'm right here Kae," he rumbled.

"Optimus, what about your mark?" she asked as light tracked it's way down her face in place of tears. "I can't feel it anymore, where did it go?" she whispered.

"I will etch it in your spark-chamber," Optimus murmured in a desperate tone. "Kae you need to stay awake."

"I thought it would burn, when you said it would hurt, I thought it would burn," she whispered, curling up slightly in his hands, sitting and looking up at him. "It's cold, I feel like I'm trapped in ice." she wrapped her arms around herself as her clothes became the only piece of her that wasn't solid or plasma state energon.

"Energon in it's solid state is cold, you will be warm soon," Optimus whispered. Mikaela looked down at the outline of her body as it began to become fuzzy.

"I'm melting?" she asked with a frown.

"Mikaela, listen to me," Optimus rumbled urgently. "I'm going to put you into your spark-chamber, you need to hold on until I'm with you. I'm going to help you take over your body. Do you understand me?"

"You gonna vaporize my clothing again?" she seemed to coalesce slightly as she looked up at him. She had that wry grin on her face.

"Yes I am," Optimus rumbled, forcing a chuckle.

"I need to integrate myself into the chamber," Mikaela stated with a frown. "Where's my chamber?" she curled her arms into herself as they began to become fuzzy again.

Ratchet carried the chamber toward them, Optimus looked at it and vented a sigh of relief. It was ready.

"It's right here my beloved," he rumbled softly.

Mikaela's form stood in his hands, turning to look at the chamber as the rest of the Auto-bots rolled in, burning rubber and transforming as though there were a fight that needed attending post haste.

"What's happening!?" Will bellowed from Bumblebee's hands. Optimus ignored him for a moment as he carefully set the last of his Mikaela's human form into the chamber. Ratchet closed it quickly as Optimus onlined an extra processor and reached to connect the neural fibres to his own so that he could join his spark-mate and help her.

Instead, he watched in shock as the unit sealed itself, Ratchet's scans showed a fully functioning, healthy sparking waiting for her body. Her mark gracefully etched itself precisely where it belonged, and the rough protoform metals polished themselves to a gleaming shine.

"She did it," Ratchet whispered, cradling his spark-daughter's soul in his hands.

"She is using minute amounts of energon," Optimus rumbled.

"Let's get her into her body then," Ironhide put in quickly. "Now, while she's strong."

Out of the corner of his optic, Optimus saw Will turn to look at Bumblebee.

"Action now, explanation later," Bumblebee said quickly, striding toward the berth where the empty body lay, pulling back the screens at Ratchet's nod. Kae hadn't seen it, none of them had. Not yet.

Optimus strode to the berth and watched as Ratchet carefully offered the loose, neutral neural fibres to the chamber. Kae reached out tentatively, and finding the neural fibres usable began integrating into them. Ratchet backed away as the protoform began to glow a brilliant white. Casting itself.

A terrified whimper tore out of his vocal processors as the metals began releasing the heat, flickers of fire and smoke rising from the body.

Ironhide's arms grasped Optimus, along with a number of other bots.

"What's happening?" Will broke the silence in a whisper.

"Kae's body is being cast," Bumblebee murmured in a terrified tone. "cast the... cast the way she's meant to be."

"I thought this was a good thing..." Will whispered.

"It hurts," Optimus rumbled in a sickened tone. "Many of us do not survive."

"If I made a mistake," Ratchet choked, Arcee quickly reached up and gave him a supporting hug. "If I left a piece un-neutralized..."

"She'll beat the scrap out of it," Bumblebee stated suddenly, in a firm voice. "My big sister never breaks her promises. She promised you, she promised us that she would return. My sister will be just fine. She's gonna be fine." he whimpered. Sideswipe and Flareup wrapped strong arms around the young bot.

Optimus watched in horror as the body twitched, then grasped at the berth. A surge of energon, one that left the present human's hair standing on end ran down the body.

What began as pitted, dull and rough metal laid post cast, unpolished but smooth.

A second surge and she lay almost complete on the table.

Optimus stared.

She shone. A gracefully cast biped, without so much as a single rough edge on her protoform. There was so much inherent power built into her frame, and yet she looked so... delicate! An elegant, silvery hand reached up and touched her chest.

"I don't have lungs. That. Feels fricken weird." Mikaela's voice said in a bemused tone.

As quickly as it had reached a terrifying level, the tension broke. Ratchet snorted and hit a switch, the table raised itself until Mikaela was almost vertical. "Optimus, I know you're one hundred fifteen feet away to my left. Don't lie. Before I look, am I hideous?"

"Kae... you..." Optimus whispered.

"SHE'S A PRIME!I" Ironhide bellowed suddenly. "SWEET SCRAPPING PRIMUS SHE'S A PRIME!"

Optimus whipped around to stare at his weapons master before turning to look at his exquisite Kae. His optics raked her body. He froze.

Right there, cast with her body was the mark of the Primes.

"Archangel Prime," Optimus whispered. "Kae you... you're..." he trailed off, a born Prime, she outranked him now, she didn't have to settle for him, she could choose anyone.

Her optics onlined, looking up at him with the same piercing, blue green gaze that could offer the love of a lifetime and the fury of a Valkyrie. The eyes of his Kae.

"Incomplete," she murmured with a small frown, offlining her optics for a moment. They flickered back on, and she looked up at him with a confused expression in her eyes. "Something feels... something's missing..."

"Your etchings," Optimus rumbled softly, reaching out to cup her cheek, "your un-cast markings haven't been etched."

"It feels so wrong," she frowned.

"You just cast yourself..." Optimus rumbled in a worried tone.

"In for a penny," she murmured, looking up at him with a small smile before reaching up and cupping his cheek with a gentle hand. "you came back..." she stared at her hand. "Ratchet, just how big did you build me?"

"I provided the materials, you built yourself," Ratchet rumbled with a broad grin. Mikaela started to her feet and almost fell. Optimus laughed as he caught his reliant spark-mate, supporting her carefully back onto the table. She looked up at him in shock.

"The same as..." she whispered.

"I most certainly did not shrink," Optimus rumbled with a broad grin, he leaned down and lightly kissed her forehead, his spark hammering against it's chamber when she kissed him back, an infinitely gentle hand reaching up to touch his face. A light finger traced the etchings on his helm. Optimus pulled back to look at her.

"Please?" she whispered.

Optimus raised a hand and brought out the engraver that had been passed to him. He looked at his Kae with worried optics. She smiled and leaned back, her spark chamber revealing itself to him trustingly. He turned and looked at the audience with a neutral expression.

"Thus do we stand witness to the marking of Archangel Prime." Ironhide announced in proud tones. Standing straight and wrapping an arm around Chromia.

(MPOV)

Optimus turned back to look at me with remorse in his optics.

"This is the easy part, and you know it," I told him with a small smile. He reached toward me and I patiently shut down my motor reflexes. The etchings felt like tattoos. An immediate, piercing, burning sting before it flashed warmth and faded to a simple knowledge of it's presence. The completion of one triggered a flash of a dozen more, etching themselves along my frame. With every flash I flushed a tiny amount of of energon along the edges, directing the nanites to smooth away any possible rough edge.

Optimus' fingers danced idly over my spark chamber, and I was hard-pressed to not moan at it. Etchings nothing, not being able to wriggle under those gentle fingers was absolute torture. Mind, judging by the way Ratchet was fighting to not laugh...

The etchings feel like tattoos,∂ I stated blandly in common. ∂But you know damn well that if you don't stop teasing me like that I'm going to break something once we're alone, my guardian.∂

Optimus froze and stared at me in shock. The look was absolutely priceless.

Every last auto-bot standing behind him howled with laughter.

"You Primus damned, thrice blessed bastard!" Ironhide howled. Optimus smirked and began teasing my chamber with a bit more concentration, completing a last few etchings.

One was still missing.

His optics raked my body, his hand still lightly caressing my spark chamber. I did a rapid system check and carefully brought my motor-reflexes online, reaching out and running a delicate finger down his neck and across his collar struts before my fingers dug lightly through his armour to caress the living protoform metals. Optimus pulled back with a teasing grin and lightly caught my hands.

"Now try," he rumbled gently.

I took a cautious step and dimmed my optics, reading the information input rapidly and adjusting my balances carefully. I realized something.

"Just how long were you prats planning on letting me walk around stark naked?" I asked in a mild tone.

"Damn it!" Chromia complained. "You're gorgeous girl! Flaunt it!"

I glanced up and saw Optimus still staring at me. There were faint traces of amber already flickering in his optics.

I began to smile at him, then frowned as I felt a processor go offline, I did an internal scan. My energon reserves were touching the danger zones.

"Your body is cutting unnecessary programs," Optimus rumbled gently, carefully wrapping me in a steely embrace. "You can decide on your colours and secondary form after you have recharged."

I glanced at the berth and began to feel disoriented.

"Come on, Kae," Optimus murmured, "let me get you home."

He gently picked me up, as though there were no effort involved and began walking. I felt... tired. And that in itself felt strange, there was no burn of muscles, no need to yawn and stretch my lungs before closing my eyes.

I just felt low on energy. Optimus carried me through the door to his private quarters and laid me down on his berth. I looked up at him curiously.

"You have a great deal to process," he murmured gently, running gentle fingers across my cheek. "I very much doubt we are going to break anything tonight, but I did not think you would wish to wake alone."

My spark pounded against it's chamber as his voice washed over me.

"Only you know me that well," I whispered.

"May..." he rumbled hesitantly.

"Optimus, it's me," I laughed softly. "Stop beating about the bush and spit it out."

My Optimus grinned down at me. "May I do a system check on you, make sure that you are fully alright?"

I smiled and relaxed, baring my chamber to him again. Instead, he reached gentle neural fibres and connected to my interface panel, his awareness lightly brushed mine before receding, his air outlets vented a deep sigh, his spark humming relieved tones.

"Will I live?" I murmured with a half smile up at him.

"My Kae," he whispered, "you are completely, perfectly alive."

I smiled at my beloved Optimus, he leaned down and touched his lips lightly to mine before backing away.

"Go to your recharge, I will return before you wake." Optimus rumbled gently, caressing my face and body with a gentle hand.

(OPOV)

Mikaela smiled up at him, and Optimus almost collapsed to his knees.

It wasn't lost, the direct translation of that warm, loving smile he so adored. He leaned down and kissed that incredible smile.

"Go to your recharge, I will return before you wake," he told her gently, running a gentle hand down her face and side. He pulled back and watched as she squirmed to one side of the berth. The side he always left open, on his right.

Her side.

His spark pulsed with adoration, she just looked so right there. He smiled as she obediently slipped into a recharge cycle, her optics offline. He lightly waved a hand and set the lighting to night mode before quietly walking out of their quarters.

That felt absolutely right too.

He knew he was grinning like a bloody youngling, and he honestly didn't care as he walked back up the corridor. He passed a group of bedraggled soldiers as they made their way to their quarters and onlined his holoform.

"Prime!" Jacobs called out in relief, reaching out and grabbing hold of his holoform. "Optimus what happened? We've been getting reports all over the place, half of them say Mikaela's dead!"

"Mikaela is completely, and incredibly alive," Optimus stated with a gentle smile, "her spark evidently decided that it was time it had a chamber strong enough to house it."

"So she's a bot now!?" Chance asked with a broad grin. "What does she look like? Is she as pretty as she was as a human?"

Optimus stood still for a long minute, knowing he was grinning like a besotted fool.

"She is perfect," he rumbled softly, "She's resting, her body produced enough energon to cast herself and online, but not much beyond that."

"Judging by that grin alone I'm thinking she's gone from beautiful to drop-dead gorgeous," Epps grinned. Optimus looked around at the newly energized soldiers and let the necessity of behaving himself as a Prime drop for a moment.

"Oh you have absolutely no idea," he rumbled with a practically wolfish grin, "So much of her has transferred, I honestly do not believe that anything of her personality has been lost. She is still, the most beautiful creature I have ever had the honour of laying optics on."

"Only now she's big enough to shout you down face to face, instead of face to holoform?" Jacobs asked, jabbing the holoform gently in the ribs with an elbow.

"That night is burned into my processors," Optimus sighed, reaching up to cover his spark. "I will never delete that memory."

"Kinky man," Epps laughed.

"Can you blame the bot?" Chance grinned, "it's enough to make a man insanely jealous that she didn't choose me." He straightened and looked at Optimus with a mild glare. "So don't you dare hurt our baby sister, or you'll be answering to us."

Optimus straightened and snapped a sharp salute to Chance.

"I will love and protect her to the end of days," he rumbled in a firm voice.

"And that's why she chose him," Jacobs grinned, clapping a strong hand onto the holoform's shoulder. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Bull!" Epps snorted, "we'll see you in a few days when you can bear to be parted from her, just remember to give her a hug from the lot of us."

Optimus stared at the man for a long moment before bursting into a rich peal of laughter, he offlined his holoform and looked back down at the soldiers, his laughter echoing in the corridors.

Aaaaannndddd she's a bot! Finally! It only took 110 chapters to do it! :P Reviews people!