Chapter 116 - Re-communication

(APOV)

Arcee strode into the med-bay, Kae was waking up.

Her optics onlined in the darkness, and looked around. She struggled off of the berth and stared down at her hands.

ƒYou know, Ratchet spent a lot of time on your hands,ƒ Arcee whistled to the femme gently. ƒYou did change them, slightly, made them better.ƒ

"What did I do, Cee?" Kae whispered. "Why... why..." she sagged into herself.

Arcee immediately strode forward and climbed up onto the berth with her sister.

"Because your Optimus, yes he's still your Optimus," Arcee told the femme tolerantly. "Is guaranteed to be an absolute glitch from time to time. Even when you were human he was certain you would not turn your head for him."

"But he saw my spark, our sparks intertwined so many times," Kae whimpered. "He read me, he knew me..."

"He probably thinks you've changed, and you have, you're a bot now, Kae," Arcee murmured gently, cuddling the larger femme. "We don't know how much of our human Kae remains within you, that's all."

"But I'm right here," Mikaela whimpered. "I'm right here, I'm me, I'm Kae, just Kae..." She began crying softly. "The six named me Prime before you, marked my heart, my spark, why did it surprise him? He was always Optimus Prime, even as Orion. I'm Archangel Prime, I was named that in Egypt, I'm not Prime, I'm Kae..."

Arcee squirmed slightly and wound her arms around Kae, cuddling her gently.

"Am I so hideous 'Cee?" she whimpered.

"No dear-spark," Arcee murmured gently. "We'd probably be better off if you were. For Primus sake Kae, not only are you a healer, a predator and Prime, you're gorgeous. You built yourself perfectly, don't blame your potential mate for being intimidated by you." she pulled back somewhat and looked at Kae critically for a moment. "Although none of us are going to blame you for whacking him upside the helm, he is being a glitch, but we need to forgive our glitching bots, after all."

"I just..." Kae whispered.

"You know, Optimus courted Elita for a millennia," Arcee murmured gently. "She teased him, strung him along, she found it handy to have him courting her. When she found out he was Prime? She bonded him for that reason alone."

Mikaela stared at her, and Arcee smiled to hear a soft resonation of indignation from her sister's spark.

"It will work out, we have the time, now," Arcee smiled, gently cupping Kae's faceplates. "Give him time to figure out that you are truly you. Give him the time to sort his poor, overclocked processors. In his own mind he's trying to do the honourable thing. Get your rest, Kae. If worse comes to worst, we'll just have Ironhide and Ratchet knock some sense back into him." she smirked mischievously at her.

It warmed her spark when Mikaela rolled her optics slightly.

"As always, my sister, I will be guided by you in this," she murmured with a hint of the smile that was so purely Kae.

"Good," Arcee murmured, patting her cheek gently. "Now go to sleep."

Mikaela obediently laid down and offlined her optics. Arcee smiled as her spark's resonations softened into sleep mode.

(RPOV)

Ratchet watched his spark-daughter worriedly, she was laying in the med-bay still, patching up her body had been easy, it had only been her armour damaged.

If her spark had been patched up was an entirely different story.

She had onlined her holoform, and was watching herself fix the jeeps in silence. Optimus walked past the doors, looking at Kae all the while and trying to be sneaky about it.

"Come on, Kae," Ratchet stated perfunctorily, "you need to move or your armour repairs are going to rust."

"Lack of movement does not cause your armour to rust in a controlled environment," Mikaela stated tiredly.

"Come on," Ratchet stated firmly, dragging her to her feet. He began employing every trick he knew to get her out of a funk.

He wasn't entirely certain how much she remembered of yesterday.

He hoped none of it, but she and Optimus were still rather cool with each other.

"Ratchet, what are you doing?" Mikaela asked quietly, standing and looking down at him. "I'm trying to get some work done."

"Come on Kae," Ratchet stated flatly. "You might outrank me, but in this med-bay I am still your senior officer. Now come along."

Mikaela stared at him and sighed. Following.

"Now, what the scrap are you doing with your holoform?" Ratchet asked her cheerfully.

Kae rolled her optics and continued their normal chat.

(IPOV)

Ironhide watched as Optimus strode into the central, Ratchet and Kae just behind him, chatting about repairs. Chromia leaned against him gently, and Ironhide crouched down slowly, settling down on the bench. Will wandered up the steps and sat on a catwalk near his shoulder. Good man, good fighter.

"Mikaela," Optimus rumbled suddenly, turning to look at the Femme.

"Optimus?" she asked, her brow ridges raised curiously. The bot fell silent again. She frowned and canted her head to the side somewhat. "You're worrying again," she stated in a patient voice.

"He wants to know if you'll still marry him!" Will murmured softly.

"Logical question," Ironhide rumbled.

"And why is that?" Chromia asked impatiently.

Well, now was as good a time as any.

"For the same reason I'm terrified of asking you and Ratch is dithering," Ironhide rumbled good naturedly, "I knew you when you were barely more than a hatchling, and you've matured into an exquisitely beautiful Femme several thousand times better than I could ever hope to be, how do you expect a scarred and battle-worn old servant to be brave enough to ask an empress to be his, and his alone?"

Chromia gasped as Ironhide levitated a ring over his hand and extended it toward her.

Wordlessly she wound herself around him, kissing his jaw and making him smile. He gathered her close and kissed her smiling lip plates.

He looked up with a shit-eating grin.

"Your turn," he rumbled as Chromia giggled. He dipped down and pecked kisses down her neck and shoulder.

(BPOV)

Optimus shot an exasperated look at his weapons master.

"Why wouldn't I?" Kae asked softly behind him. She walked to stand beside the Prime, reaching up to cup his cheek gently.

"You outrank all of us by a wide margin, Kae," Optimus rumbled quietly, "you may have your pick of any bot or Femme. Even Megatron will wish to court you."

"So you're pulling back so that I may choose to allow Megatron to court me?" Kae asked in an exasperated tone. Bumblebee fought to hide a grin, he knew that tone all too well. That was proof in itself, his sister was really there.

Optimus just looked at her with quiet, saddened optics.

Mikaela promptly reached up and cuffed him upside the back of the helm. Bee couldn't stop the chirp of laughter that escaped him. Kae reached up and snared Optimus's hips in delicate hands, holding him lightly in place as she faced him fully.

"Do you want me to accept the courtship of another?" she asked bluntly.

"You may-"

"That's not what I asked," she interrupted him sharply. "Optimus, do you want me to accept the advances of another bot?"

Prime stared down at Bee's big sister.

"Translation," Bumblebee called out, "Kae picked you, Prime, now do you want her or not?" Optimus glanced up, startled to see the group of broadly grinning bots.

"How can I not want my soul?" he asked softly, looking back at Kae.

(OPOV)

"Then stop pushing me toward others," Kae murmured, reaching up to gently kiss his jaw, "you're stuck with me to the day you deny me at the gates."

"Never," Optimus rumbled harshly, his arms snapped up to crush her against him. "I will never leave you behind."

"Good," she murmured, burrowing herself into him. She felt so right there, all but magnetized to his frame. A pillar of strength to lean against.

"My Kae," he rumbled softly, "my beautiful, perfect Kae." he pulled back somewhat and knelt in front of her, gently catching her hand. Her armour receded and he saw it. His ring.

"You still wear it," he whispered, looking up at her in shock.

"Of course I still wear it you daft bloody bot," she laughed softly, kneeling down in front of him and pulling him tightly into a hug again. "Beneath my armour, next to my protoform and safe. I am nothing without my love."

Optimus groaned and pulled her closer.

"So are we gonna have a wedding or what?" Lennox shouted. Ratchet began howling with laughter.

"What do you think, triple wedding?" he asked Arcee with a broad grin, "We'll marry the holoforms off for the humans, what do you say?"

"About time," she said with a small smile, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"I totally called it," Will stated seriously, looking at Optimus.

"And that is?" Optimus rumbled.

"That when you told Kae Megatron will want to court her you should be wearing your helmet." Will grinned.

Ironhide began laughing again, offering a closed fist to the Major, who accepted the fist bump with a grin.

Optimus rose and pulled his Kae to her feet, she wrapped a gentle arm around his waist and smiled up at him.

"That beautiful, warm and loving smile," he murmured, reaching around to cup her face. "How I ever made it through a day without that smile is unthinkable."

"Flatterer," Kae smiled up at him gently before pulling herself up by his shoulders to kiss his jaw again.

"Hey Kae?" Will asked curiously.

"Yeah Will?" Mikaela turned to look at the Major with a gentle smile.

"What's it like?" he asked curiously.

"That's a broad spectrum question, what's what like?" she chuckled.

"Being a..." he frowned, "I want to say machine, but you're not, you're... you..."

"It's... complicated," Mikaela said after a minute's thought. "Right now, I feel... tired, but not in a human sense, I know precisely how much power I have in reserve and how much longer I can go before I absolutely need to recharge. At the same time there's no need to yawn, to have the feeling of my lungs stretching to bring more oxygen into my blood. That's just... gone. My air intakes keep my processors cool, and my fans pump air into my burners when I'm flying, but it's... it's incredible," she said softly, "There aren't enough words in the english language, it's simply incredible."

She twined herself lightly around Optimus again, leaning her head against his chest. Optimus couldn't help the small smile that graced his faceplates as he pulled her a bit closer. She just felt so perfect there, standing on his right.

"I'm going to go get some recharge," she said quietly, reaching up and kissing his jaw again before gently pulling away.

"Night Kae," Will called.

"Night Will, Hide, Chrome, Arcee, Ratch, Flare, Sides, Bee, Skids, 'Flap," she smiled gently at each of them before turning toward the door and walking out on silent feet. Optimus watched her leave. Her imminent absence tempered only by the smooth, graceful way she walked.

Gorgeous.

Reality crashed in on him a second later. The thought hit him like a thunderbolt.

That gorgeous creature was his.

The backup processor promptly came in handy, keeping him upright as his primary processors promptly shut down.

Of course it decided that it was far more interested in Kae, or the conversation at hand. How did humans manage with only one processor? He had to continuously send commands to it just to keep moving. Slowly.

"How the hell does she do that?" Will asked curiously.

Get to the bench.

"Do what?" Sideswipe asked curiously.

Get to the bench.

"Walk around without making a bloody sound," Will laughed.

"It's because she's a predator and well built," Flareup said with a small smile.

Get to the bench.

"Sound follows her though," Ironhide stated with a shit-eating grin.

"Which sound?" Will asked with a grin.

Get to the bench.

"That popping and thunder," Ratchet stated blandly, "it's rather similar to the sounds that follow the Femmes here. Don't you think 'Hide?"

Finally. Sit on the bench.

"Remarkably similar," Ironhide grinned unrepentantly.

"There's nothing like the sound of processors shutting down and bots falling over to make a Femme's day," Chromia laughed as Optimus sat heavily on the bench. Goal reached, he vented a deep sigh. Will walked the catwalk and dropped down to sit on his shoulder.

"What happened to that secondary processor you were running?" Will asked, grinning as Optimus turned his head to look at him.

"Why do you think he managed to stay on his feet so long?" Ratchet asked blandly.

"Can you blame the bot?" Will laughed from his shoulder, "god, even by human standards she's bloody built." Ironhide began laughing again. "Just remember to let her know just how jealously you're going to guard her from other bots from now on," Will grinned, patting the shoulder he was sitting on. "Kae's got the right idea though, I'm gonna go grab a few winks before the chaos starts again," he jumped into the hand Optimus offered him and down to the ground.

"See you lot later," Will yawned, he froze. "That's what she meant!"

"What now?" Ratchet asked curiously.

"That she felt tired, but without the necessity to yawn. Time seems to stop for a second when you yawn," Will said cheerfully, walking across the common. "When you do something all day, everyday you take it for granted. But sometimes, you have to stop and remember precisely what it feels like. And it's the most incredible feeling." he turned around and grinned at Optimus. "Well are you gonna go hold your fiancee or not? She didn't say goodnight to you, Optimus! Twenty bucks and a beer says that gorgeous femme of yours is waiting for you."

Optimus chuckled and rose as his unit whooped and laughed.

"Oh at ease you lot," he rumbled with a snort, he began slowly striding toward the housing wing.

"That. Sounds like a brilliant idea!" Arcee called out with a laugh, promptly pulling off a shoulder plate and tossing it to Ratchet before she wheeled toward the housing wing. She whizzed past, her spark burbling with suppressed laughter and closely followed by Chromia and Flareup. They screeched to a halt and froze, grinning and gesturing the Major to listen.

There was the distinct sound of a couple of Auto-bots' processors clicking out. One fell over. Flareup punched her arms in the air victoriously.

"See you in the morning Major," Arcee chuckled, taking off down the corridor with the girls hot on her fender. Will howled with laughter as he watched their antics.

::. I do hope you intend to follow up on that promise.:: Ratchet sent over the open comm, he grunted and picked Sideswipe up, dragging him across the common under his arm behind Ironhide until the predator finally had his processors synced.

::. Oh but I do, are you coming or not?.:: Arcee called back saucily.

::. Little bit.:: Ironhide rumbled with a snort.

::. That's my Bot.:: Chromia purred. ::. Let's just bypass all the bullshit and get naked.::

Just behind him, Ironhide fell over. Optimus fought hard to keep from howling with laughter as he lifted his weapons specialist, easily bearing him to his quarters and arranging him on his berth as Chromia stood, stark naked and smirking. Optimus walked back out again, his spark reaching toward his Kae's quiet, amused presence.

::. You gonna use me Sides?.:: Flare purred.

::. Baby, the only reason I would kick you out of berth would be to interface with you on the floor.:: Sideswipe replied with a smirk.

::. Oh we've got a smooth talker over here!.:: Flare giggled, leaning against Sideswipe's door as the bot rolled toward her with a smirk.

::. Go on Kae.:: Arcee sent with a small laugh as Optimus finally reached the door to his quarters. They slid open to a sight that popped the first few of his processors. He onlined a couple more and looked at his Kae with a smile.

She canted her head to the side and smiled at him.

::. Did the sun come out, or did you just smile at me?.:: she asked softly, she rose and dropped the last plate of her armour, walking toward him with the smooth, predatory stride that she'd tried so vainly to hide. Her eyes looked up at him with the gentle laughter of a lover. A few more processors popped as her hands slid up his chest.

::. Are you a god?.:: she whispered, stretching to run exquisitely gentle lip plates down his neck struts.

::. No...:: Optimus rumbled. That was an interesting sensation, being breathless with absolutely no need for air...

::. Then why do I want to kneel before you?.:: she murmured, gracefully lowering herself until she was running gentle lips over his codpiece.

The last processor keeping him standing promptly popped. Mikaela chuckled softly as she shot up and supported him mid-delirium.

::. Strong, gentle, powerful, delicate...:: Optimus thoughts swam about as he struggled to sync his processors again.

::. And Prime's down for the count!.:: Ratchet chuckled over the Primary, oh right, the doors were still open behind him.

Optimus' arms snapped up to hold her close, he scooped her up as the doors closed behind them amid the laughter of his unit.

::. Shh!.:: Arcee murmured ::. We gotta hear his comeback to that!.::

Optimus set his Kae gently down on their berth, reaching up to run a gentle hand down her cheek and side.

::. This time, next year, let's be laughing together.:: Optimus rumbled softly.

Kae's optics shone as he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lip plates. He backed away and gazed down at her again, shrugging out of his armour as the lights faded.

She smiled up at him again.

"My goddess," he whispered, reaching out to stroke her body again, he laid down beside her and moaned as she twined herself around him.

"There is one thing I wish to do first," Optimus murmured, pulling her a bit more tightly into his frame. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, delicately caressing her spark chamber as she whimpered.

Her spark sang as the chamber opened.

"Optimus," she choked softly as he pinned her down, "Optimus what..."

"I am going to make you beg first," he rumbled with a small smirk as she writhed beneath him, he threaded a gentle hand into her chamber, caressing her spark. She sang under his hands, and Optimus took great care to memorize every detail of her. "My light," he rumbled into her auditory receptors, "my beloved strength and soul, does my voice still make you hot?"

"Optimus please," she gasped, arching into him all the more. He withdrew his hand and delicately began teasing her chamber again.

His fingers found a familiar mark and he froze.

His mark, etched deeply in her spark chamber's wall beside her own. He touched it again, gently caressed it before looking up at her.

She watched him with love in her eyes.

"I'd thought initially that you'd etched it the first night we were here," she murmured. "It finally dawned on me earlier that if you had known your mark had already been engraved in my spark-chamber you wouldn't have been pushing me away."

Kae freed her arms from his hands and caught his face as he made to pull away slightly.

"I do not cover it in shame of you," she snapped immediately, Optimus looked down at her and knew there was remorse in his optics. "I cover my spark chamber to keep it safe." her eyes softened, "You know that even as a human I was terrified to let my heart show."

Optimus couldn't help himself, he rumbled a low laugh and opened his spark chamber next to hers. She caressed it gently and gasped when she saw her own mark.

"From the day you chose it, to the end of time I will wear your mark," he whispered.

Wordlessly, his beautiful Kae twined herself around him, running gentle hands over every part of him that she could reach. Energon tingled lightly from her frame to his, magnetizing to him. Optimus let himself hum the resonance of a bot who knew where his blessings were, wrapping his arms around his Kae. He extended binder cables to lightly connect with her as their sparks twined around each other.

As one, they dropped back into the recharge cycle that had been rather rudely aborted so many hours ago.

(RPOV)

::. And Prime's down for the count!.:: Ratchet chuckled, lightly stroking Arcee's struts as they watched the drama across the hall.

::. Shh!.:: Arcee murmured as the doors closed ::. We gotta hear his comeback to that!.::

::. This time, next year, let's be laughing together.:: Optimus rumbled softly.

::. Oh damn!.:: Ironhide rumbled with a smirk ::. How do you compete with that?.::

::. Constructive plagiarism.:: Sideswipe grinned before he cut the feed, leaving no doubt that he was busy entertaining the fiery Femme in his quarters.

Arcee promptly began wreaking havoc with Ratchet's systems as he groaned, cutting his feed and snaring the beautiful creature that had waited for him.