Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers.

The Greater Good

Epilogue

November 14th, 2004

Prowl nearly tripped over himself as he suddenly stopped to avoid a near-collision with Grimlock, who was charging across his path and out of the Ark, closely followed by his fellow Dinobots.

He considered reprimanding them, but quickly decided against it. This wasn't just a result of the fact that they outweighed and outnumbered him by quite a frightening degree. It was also because Prowl simply couldn't find the resolve or effort to do so. The battles with the Decepticons had become increasingly frequent and much more violent than usual of late.

The fact that this surprised Prowl just showed how much Earth life had softened him and the other Autobots. They had become so used to winning every battle that when they actually started suffering losses, they were left dazed and confused.

The most recent battle with the Decepticons was indicative of this. They had only suffered one loss, but it was enough. For it affected Optimus Prime. And whatever affected their leader had a knock on effect on everyone under his command. During that battle, they had lost Elita One.

Prowl shook his head. It was almost too difficult to believe. Since the battle, Optimus had shut himself in his office, refusing all outside contact and relegating all of his duties to the other high ranking Autobots. He maintained that it was by no means permanent, but he simply didn't trust himself to work properly at the moment. Which Prowl could understand, even if he couldn't empathise.

It was Elita One that brought him to the repair bay; Ratchet had finished his autopsy. While not something he would have liked to do under usual circumstances, he had reportedly found something strange about the blast patterns, and had asked Prowl for permission to perform said autopsy. He didn't envy the CMO his job.

He came to a stop outside the door of the repair bay.

A deep breath through his intake valve was all he allowed himself before pushing through his reluctance and going in.

"What have you found?" Prowl asked, stepping through the doorway and hearing it hiss shut behind him.

Ratchet had his back to the bed on which Elita was laid, one hand over his optics.

"Ratchet?"

The Autobot medic slowly brought his head up to look at Prowl. "I, uh…" Ratchet just shook his head, looking back at the console. "It's… not good."

"Why? What's wrong with… what's wrong?"

Now it was the medic's turn to take a deep breath. "The blast patterns… they indicate that she was shot from behind."

Prowl nodded slowly. "Well… that's not exactly unusual. She could have been thrown… that is…"

Ratchet nodded. "That's not all. The blast patterns aren't consistent at all with any Decepticon weapon I've seen or that we know of. It's only consistent with…" He sighed and shook his head again. "…an Autobot weapon."

The second in command of the Autobots chanced a glance over at the still form of Elita One and then looked back to Ratchet. "Are you saying that an Autobot did this?"

"I'm just reporting what I've found. What you think happened is… up to you."

He nodded slowly, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. "Right… uh, thank you… Ratchet." He turned to go, but then paused at the door. "You can… you can prepare her for the funeral service now."

His only response was a mute nod.

The door slid shut behind Prowl, and he was instantly away, making a beeline for Optimus Prime's quarters. Even if he wasn't officially in charge of anything at the moment, he needed to know about this, and Prowl wanted to be the one who told him.

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Prowl gave Ultra Magnus a nod as he entered Prime's office. Few Autobots felt like talking at the moment, and Ultra Magnus was no exception. Being as close to Prime as he was, Magnus was most likely trying to be as respectful as he could while still trying to keep Optimus from falling apart.

"Prime?"

Optimus was sat at his desk, his shoulders hunched like some shadow monster. He barely moved his head up to look at his second in command.

"Yes, Prowl."

"I… need to talk to you."

Ultra Magnus stood. "Can't it wait?"

Prowl ignored him. "It's about Elita One."

"If it's about the funeral service, he doesn't need-"

"No sir," Prowl replied, giving Magnus a quick glare. He turned back to Optimus. "It's… concerning how she died."

Prime looked up. "What about it?"

"I… Ratchet found evidence that would suggest she was… killed by Autobot fire."

The Autobot leader stared at him. "What?" he replied, his voice a deadly low rumble.

"I… I said that-"

"I heard what you said!" Prime all but bellowed, almost leaping to his feet. "Elita's dead, Prowl! Isn't that enough?"

Prowl stood his ground, not moving an inch. "I understand that, but-"

"Get out."

"Prime-"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Ultra Magnus quickly moved between them, guiding Prowl out by the shoulder. As soon as they were outside, Magnus quickly pressed the close button for Prime's office door.

"What the hell did you think you were doing in there?"

"My duty."

"It's your duty to torture your commanding officer?"

"No, sir. It's my duty to seek out the truth. Elita may have been killed by Autobot fire. I intend to find out the truth."

"Prowl…" Ultra Magnus sighed. "…don't do this. For Prime's sake, don't do this. This has hurt him enough without you adding to his pain."

The white Autobot paused for a moment. "The only reason Prime is acting this way is because the wounds are so raw. Once he's-"

"What? Gotten over it? You don't just 'get over' the death of a life mate, Prowl."

"I realise that, sir, but-"

"Prowl. I am giving you a direct order not to pursue this matter any further. Do you understand me?"

He didn't respond.

"Soldier. I asked you a question. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. Sir."

Slowly, Ultra Magnus stood back up to his full height before opening the door to Optimus' office and going back in. Prowl watched him go, his expression as emotionless as ever.

He whirled on his heel and stormed down the corridor, heading for the rec room. There, sat staring into his Energon drink, was Windcharger.

"Windcharger!"

The Minibots' head whipped up at the mention of his name.

"My office. Now. I've got some questions."

"Uh… okay."

The two made their way to Prowl's office, the strategist ignoring Windcharger's nervous looks the entire way.

Prowl didn't give a damn what the hell Ultra Magnus said. He could order him not to pursue it until he was blue in the face. But Prowl wasn't going to give up.

He owed it to Optimus Prime.

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(A/N: Well, that was more of a prologue than an epilogue, but it feels much more effective at the end of the story than it would have done at the beginning.

I'd like to thank the following for their reviews:

Shadow dragon04: Hope you enjoyed it.

Ultra Rodimus: Thanks for you reviews; I'll probably need some of that Transformers info you were offering for a future story, so hopefully the offer's still open. : )

Lady Starscream: Aside from having a seriously cool username, I'd also like to thank you for your reviews.

Master Solo: Thanks for staying on board, and thanks for the kind words.

Crystal Shekeira: Thanks for your reviews. I love your 'Lament' stories – here's hoping (read: asking) for a new addition…

Uftaki: Y'know… I'm kind of sad that I didn't use Nightbeat. It could've been this really noir 50s detective type thing… ah well. Another time, perhaps. ; )

MariaShadow: Considering that a lot of high quality G1 stuff comes from your brain to this site, I'm very much appreciative of your reviews. (P.S. More from 'Communiqué', please…)

Hhgbh: You know, it's pretty much becoming a prerequisite of my stories to have you reviewing them; cool to know I've got a fan… ; ) As always, thanks for your reviews!

K9 the First: Heh, glad to know I'm pulling in non-G1 fans as well. The more the merrier!

Tiamat1972: Glad you liked the little glimpses of the twins I put in there. While we didn't see the end result of their disappearance, be sure to check out my next G1 story, 'Desperate Measures'; they'll have a very special bit in it.

Tahalli: I hope the suspense paid off for you!

Gravion: The murder of Orion Pax, eh? Interesting concept…

Beertree: While the Kup and Hot Rod banter came out pretty naturally, thanks for the props on Prime's character. He's a very hard character to give personality to without offending someone. Thanks for reviewing!

Velvet Glove: You followed a recommendation? Cool. I haven't been able to respond to your reviews, so I'll do some of that here. At the end of 'Rebirth', Optimus tells the Nebulons they need to become 'masters' of their own fate. I took that to mean that they would stay on Nebulos, and Cerebros would be the only Transformer to stay. And, since Spike probably wouldn't have liked that little arrangement, I assume that the Headmaster and Targetmaster process isn't permanent, since they take off their suits when the plasma energy hits. So that's why Arcee and Daniel aren't, um… together.

And I hoped Ultra Magnus' real reasons are more fitting with his character, even if he did go a bit too far. ANYway, thanks for the reviews.

Fusion Blaster: I was going for a 'Lethal Weapon' feel with Kup and Hot Rod (I got that feeling from their banter in the movie), so I'm glad I got it. Thanks for reviewing!

Tieblaster: Thanks for reviewing! And… were your suspicions correct?

Docarrol: Well, you were far from wrong in your review. Hope you thought the conclusion worked.

Whatisee: Yes. Yes, he is crazy.

Uftaki: Glad to see I surprised you. Here's hoping the end result was more in character.

Also, thanks to:

Wikipedia

Seibertron dot com

Peter Cullen, for reprising his role of Optimus Prime for the new 2007 movie. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Ahem. Excuse while I put away my inner nerd.

Don't forget to review this chapter too.

Adios.)