A/N: Heyo, we are back! This new chapter was a delight to write and I hope it is to read. We pick up right after the last chapter where we see how Cliffjumper and Bulletta find a battered Autobot team, as well, things get spicy in the romance department in this chappy! Enjoy the show

Chapter 14-Sparks

Bulletta's POV

We walked out of the portal and onto the night sky on top of the base. Cliffjumper sighing as he stretched his limbs, slight popping noises as he stretched echoed out and I cringed a little. But, as I stood here, alone with Cliffjumper, I realized this was the best chance to have that chat I wanted beforehand.

"Hey, Cliff?" I asked, he looked at me curiously, "Can I ask you something personal?"

He chuckled, "Of course, I mean we are friends aren't we?"

I smiled a little, the notion of having a new friend was sparkwarming to me.

"Right, right. Anyways, I was wondering...do you ever feel...like the world is on your shoulders? And no matter what you do, nothing relieves it and it keeps building until it explodes in destructive outbursts?"

I cringed to myself for the strange question as I watch Cliffjumper's reaction, who at first seemed surprised or shocked? And then he sighs and looking at me with a now curious but worried smile he asks.

"This is about what happened the other night, isn't it?"

I sighed and scrunched my face in disgust, "Yeah...it is."

"Bulletta, you shouldn't shove your feelings like that down, it will only destroy you and I've seen many good friends go down that path, heck, I saved my current partner from going down that path. And those I couldn't help, well, I never saw them again once they ran like mad-mechs into battlefields on suicide runs of their own volition."

He looked over the edge to the landscape, going on in my silence.

"If you ever feel like the world is about to come crashing down on you, or it's just too much for you, know that I and the rest of us are here for you. And if it is too hard for you to talk about it, write it down, always helped me."

My optics widened, "Wait, you deal with the same thing?"

He laughed, looking at me with a gleam in his optic, "Of course, no one is immune."

"Everyone has their demons I suppose." I said, my servo covering my mouth.

"I bet you even Decepticons have demons too, but that's just my personal opinion." Cliffjumper said, turning towards the elevator and waiting for me to get on.

I smiled, chuckling a little, "Well yeah, if any of the other Landers are messed up like I am, and they are because they are adventurers, than your theory will hold weight."

I jumped up next to him, activating it we slowly descended, as we did he asked.

"You believe the other Landers are like you in that sense?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Pretty much every adventurer is out there for a reason either petty or personal. Many have had hard lives and struggle with physical and mental problems. It's what pushed them out of their home, out of safety and sometimes family, into the world of consistent battle, glory and death."

"What pushed you to be an adventurer?" We reached the bottom level and stepped out.

"Several reasons, the biggest one was my duty to my goddess, Ioun. But really, I was tired of being in the same place, stuck doing the same thing. I craved more than just being a librarian and an inventor, I wanted passion and excitement in my life, and I wanted friends, a family to call my own."

Cliffjumper smiled, "Well, you got that and more right here. I just hope you keep that in mind when the darkness starts to close in."

I looked up at him hopefully, "Thank you, for everything."

He waved it off silently, but before he could say anything a sound of metal tinking on our peds alerted us to something on the ground. We finally noticed a scattering of thousands of small orbs with tiny legs and big dead optics, many of them torn apart, smashed or completely crushed.

Grabbing one, I held it up to my optic.

"What is-"

"SCRAPLET!" Cliffjumper screeched, cutting me off as he backed away in terror.

For a moment I stared at him confused, before my Atheneum informed me of what a Scraplet was. Gasping I quickly dropped it like it was the plague and backing away from the dead sea of Scraplets in front of us.

"How did they get in here!?" Cliffjumper yelled in terror and horror, staring at any of them for movement.

I thought for a moment, before I flash came across my mind.

"THE POD!" I looked to Cliff, "It was a trap, meant for us. But ...if they are dead, does that mean ours is alive?"

Cliffjumper shook his helm, "No way they could've survived!"

"Expect they did." A small voice called out, I looked down and too my left to see Sierra standing there. She looked a little out of breath but not a scratch on her. She had a sympathetic smile and turned waving her hand.

"Come on, we need a bots help to get everyone better again."

She led us to the main hall, where damage was now evident and scarplet corpses were everywhere...Cenotaph is gonna have a field day if she can get at least a dozen of this little monster under her undeath control. I shuddered at the thought and pushed it aside as the bots came into view.

Each and every one of them were in the Med-Bay, and they didn't look good.

Optimus and Arcee were suffering from cold inflicted wounds, and the rest of them look like someone dropped them into the mouth of a Gibbering Mouther and then pulled them out before they were killed.

Slowly I put my digit to my Comm link to the necromancer.

"Cenotaph, you need to get here, the bots are in bad shape."

Cenotaph's POV

I rushed towards the main hall, taking note of the strange orbs destroyed across the base and the fact that the base was in itself in shambles. My spark raced erratically, it had never done that before. And my mind, it raced with thoughts, but it mostly centered around Ratchet.

I didn't know why, but the thought of him hurt angered me.

I skidded into the main hall and rounded the corner into the Med-Bay and I stopped in my tracks. My vents were heaving as I stared at the surprised looks of everyone. Bulletta and Cliffjumper with the kids were in the middle of stabilizing everyone it seemed.

Ratchet shook out of his daze once he saw my state.

"Cenotaph, is there any magic of yours that can help?" His voice was even and toned, he was in medical professional mode.

I quickly shook my helm, frowning, "No, I'm a wizard Ratchet, not a Cleric unfortunately. But, fortunately, my 'former' job does give me skills non magical that can help."

I began making rounds around the room, seeing what each bot needed in need of medical attention. Due to the fact that I am a Necromancer, I need to know medical knowledge in order to understand how my magic works, in essence I am basically a medic, though with not the wealth of knowledge that Ratchet has as an actually one.

I made sure that Optimus and Arcee's temperature steadily went up and that their systems were working correctly. With the others, I made sure leaking wounds were patched, systems working and mesh restored. Of course I didn't do this alone, that would be impossible. With the help of the kids and Bulletta and Cliffjumper we managed to stabilize everyone and get some needed Energon into all of them after fixing the leaks.

I tended to the person who insisted on being treated last, Ratchet.

His wounds weren't too terrible, but with some problematic leaks I knew he must have felt worse than he looked. As I took care of the last leak, something caught my attention.

Looking up at Ratchet I could see a strange expression written across his face.

Confusion? Curiosity? Enchantment?! I couldn't tell if it was any of those things, or all of them.

I deadpanned, "What?"

He blinked, staring at me with a stupefied expression, "I...where did you learn to do that?"

"Oh please, magic can only get you so far and before I had it, I had this." I said with a frown, moving over to grab an Energon cube and passing it to him.

He drank some of it before asking again, "I didn't think-"

"There are more things to life than magic, Ratchet." I silenced him with a low growl, I looked at the others, distracted with each other or simply asleep resting before leaning in and whispering, "Consider that your first lesson in magic, my thrall. There is more to life and life's problems than magic, you'll need more than just that to survive in this shit stain of a world, understand?"

I leaned back, his optics were wide with a flurry of emotions but he silently nodded. I grunted before taking my leave, making sure my cloak behind me smacked him good as I left in hurried steps.

For some reason my spark hurt at the idea of him only thinking I was all magic.

I wasn't a one-note character, and my magic doesn't define me.

My past does, and I'll be damned if anyone thinks less of me for it.

Ratchet's POV

I sat there in silence, watching her leave and feeling the sting of the cloak as it hit me when she turned away from me. I silently berated myself, of course, I'm such a one-track minded fool! My spark clenched in sorrow and self-hate.

I clenched my Energon tighter, as I stared at where she was.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice caught my attention.

Looking to my right I see Bulletta staring at me with a concerned expression.

"I'm fine." I said, going back to look at where she was.

I heard her scoff, "I saw that exchange, and I heard what she said."

My optics raced to meet hers, I had forgotten about Bulletta's uncanny ability to hear from a distance. My spark raced in fear as she came to sit next to me.

"So, you are her apprentice?" She asked.

I stared hard into my Energon, "...yeah…"

She crossed her legs, "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

I frowned, "Why's that?"

She hummed, "Because, you were so interested to learn of my people, I can see why you would want to learn magic. It's a strange new field for you, something you have yet to explore, and the fact that Cenotaph is willing to teach you is something."

I finally looked to her, trying to stay calm, "And yet, I think I've already failed."

She rolled her eyes, "I may not know a lot about magic, nor trust it, but I understand that it takes time. Like everything else, time and energy have to be put into it to learn it. No one becomes a master of their craft in a day, and I think you know that deep down too."

"But, I misjudged her, I only thought of her as a way to get to magic ...I was inconsiderate."

She laughed, "I don't think you should be telling me that, Ratchet. But understand, nothing on the surface is what it seems below."

Then she walked away, I watched as she went to tend to Bumblebee.

I frowned, and went back to where Cenotaph was. I wished I could find her and say what I want to say, but my entire frame was damaged and in repair, I needed to rest and against my will, my optics offlined and I fell into recharge.

Bumblebee's POV

I sighed, rubbing the sore mesh as I rested. It had been a long day, and one I didn't ever want to repeat. I noticed Bulletta silently talking to Ratchet who seemed distraught after Cenotaph walked off and into the base. Before long she sat up with a small smile before walking up to me with a slowly growing worried smile.

"How are you doing?" She asked, coming to sit next to me and placing her servo on my own.

I restarted my voice box and tried to keep my spark calm.

"I-uh, I-I'm fine."

She raised her brow, "Really? I thought someone who faced down creatures that devour ones metal would not be doing so well, so please, don't lie to me."

I looked away from her in shame, "Sorry, I just didn't want to...add more things onto your plate."

"Right, well, I'm not the only person in the world that needs tending too. I can tell what happened today bothers you, doesn't it?" She asked, her servo clenching onto me.

I was about to deny her when I stopped. The flashes of those horrid things flashed across my sight, I could feel them crawling all over me and the horrible whirling in my audios. It felt like they were still there, still gnawing at my metal. And it felt like it would never end.

"I…" I choked out.

Bulletta wrapped her tail around and made it push my helm to face her.

Her yellow optics glowing with understanding and concern.

"Bumblebee, you said you'd be there for me but in reality I should also be there for you. And today, I failed you in that aspect, so I promise I will try my hardest to be by your side." She smiled lightly, "Because in the end, I care about you just as much as you care for me, it seems only fair."

I stared at her in surprise, I shouldn't have been surprised though. She was a tough femme, and she was the type to not take without giving back. Her will was unbreakable in this aspect and made her even more great in my optics.

My spark swelled with emotions, "I...thank you, Bulletta."

Her smile warmed even more, "No need Bee, I just...I don't want to see you hurt as well, and I want to repay what you have done for me." She was silent for a moment before realization came over her, "Hmm, it's getting late, I'm going to take the kids home, gets some rest alright?"

I nodded, "Not a problem there." I laughed a little to myself.

She chuckled, "Good."

Bulletta squeezed my servo again before standing and letting go of my servo, silently I lamented her servo leaving mine, making it feel empty and cold. It looked like she was debating something in her helm for a moment before she suddenly leaned down and…

My whole world stopped, as I felt her lips on my fore-helm.

Suddenly everything was too hot and my spark sang wildly as a rush of euphoria hit my systems. Even though it was mere seconds, it felt like hours. She did retreat back, quickly turning away and heading out of the room. I just stared at where she stood, I could still feel her on me, I brushed lightly on fore-helm and released a pent up vent of hot air, relishing in the moment for a while longer before falling into recharge.

Bulletta's POV

…

…

…

WHAT IN THE NINE HELLS DID I JUST DO!?

That was my entire thought process as I drove the children home for the night. I didn't really focus on their conversations with one another, something about meeting up back at school for something on Monday. As I dropped everyone off my cab becoming quieter, until Sierra and Rafael were left.

I pulled up to Sierra's home, "Here we are, I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked.

Sierra shook her head, "Sorry, my Mother wants me to go shopping again for new clothes and I can't get out of it, so it'll have to be Monday."

"Right, good luck." I said, Sierra hopped out and waved goodbye to Raf before I sped off.

As we drove across town I remembered what Moonfall had said earlier, about Cenotaph wanting to bring Raf into the fold. I still had my doubts, but to be honest, having a human know the lay of the land here would be helpful and if we were found out, no one would suspect him, after all he's just a kid.

"Hey, Raf?" I asked, gaining the tired boys attention. "I was wondering if you could do something for me?"

Now I had his attention, a curious gleam sparkled in his eyes, "Really? What is it?"

"I need you to have an open mind."

His face furrowed into confusion, "I...don't get it."

I chuckled, "Just...when you go to sleep tonight, have an open mind, alright?"

He looked apprehensive before sighing and saying, "Sure, but why?"

"Lets just say there are some stars I'd like you to see tonight." I said, pulling up to his home.

He got out and looked at me in jeep form, "But wouldn't I need to be awake for that?"

I closed the door and chuckled, "Not the same type of stars I'm talkin about, Raf."

Then I drove away into the night, ready to hit the hay back at base and get this meeting on with. I just hope Ratchet has an open mind, and that the Decepticon Landers and Satellites are as well.

Cenotaph's POV

I rubbed my helm as an ache started to form, I was getting ready to cast the spell but then remembered I didn't tell Ratchet to open his damned, amazing, mind! GODS, I hate myself sometimes. So here I am marching back to where everyone was recovering in the Med-Bay.

I step back into a somewhat quiet Med-Bay, just the sounds of the sleep bots and machines working to help heal them and keep track of their vitals was the only sound in here. In fact, some of their sleeping poses were great blackmail.

But, that isn't my focus right now.

I turned my helm to where I left Ratchet before, to see him in recharge….

...great, just great…

Sighing, I raised the staff alighting it with a warm purple glow, slowly it surrounded Ratchet. He seemed to resist for a moment before returning to his deep sleep as he slowly lifted into the air, using the spell Telekinesis, I started walking down the halls to the sight of the ritual.

I made sure he didn't hit anything on the way to the storage room where I had set up. Finally, I made it and closed the door behind us. I floated him into the middle of the magic circle that was drawn on the floor in this room where I slowly put him on the floor, careful not to agitate his wounds.

Now I just had to wait for Bulletta.

As I waited, I simply stared at the mech on the floor.

The earlier conversation made my spark roil with emotions, mostly spite and anger, but an underlining of sadness and doubt. I sighed, trying to force away the bubbling emotions that reminded me so much of my old self, something I promised to forget about.

But...I couldn't.

Harsh snow….pain...harsh purple eyes...a flash of a bladed whip..a scream

NO, no, no, not going there, not again.

Gods, I can't believe this, this mech of all people able to make me relive a past I wish to forget. Ha….

...then he must be special…

"C-Cenotaph…?"

I gasped and blinked away my dazed optics to look at the source of the voice. There, staring up at me was Ratchet, with that same stupefied look.

He looked around before asking, "Where am I? And...what's this?" He said looking around at the magic circle.

I felt my spark suddenly surge wildly and I could feel my cooling systems kick in.

"W-When did you wake up!?" I yelled a little too loud.

He stared at me in surprise, "Uh…"

I groaned and shook my helm, "Grah, nevermind!"

"Right…" He said eyeing me, "Anyways, explain, now?" It wasn't harsh, but curious.

I huffed, straightening myself and regained my composure.

"Of course, you are sitting in the magic circle for the spell Dream, you and I as well as a couple of others are going to a secretive meeting. Where you will learn the truth, about everything that's just under the surface. You just need to keep an open mind, can you do that for me thrall?" I said with my usual smirk.

"Wait, what!?" He seemed doubly confused.

I rolled my optics, "Just...keep an open mind, alright?"

He frowned, "I...suppose I could do that for you, as repayment."

I froze, "Repayment?" I looked to him, caught off guard once more.

He looked down, a dark cloud seemed to form over him.

"I was wrong, before I mean. I shouldn't have judged before like that, it was shortsighted of myself. Autobots shouldn't judge others just by their one skill...I'm truly sorry…"

Then there was silence.

I just stared at the mech, I couldn't believe what I was hearing and yet…

Ratchet's POV

I sat there, waiting to hear her response. When I had onlined, I had noticed that I was not in the Med-Bay, then I saw the culprit is none other than Cenotaph herself. But, without her knowing I was awake, she seemed like a different person, she was more….raw I suppose, I saw emotions I never thought she had. And that reminded me horribly of my earlier mistake.

So, I apologized.

My spark was running wild with what she could answer with, I didn't know what her reaction was going to be. Honestly, I am afraid. Especially when I awoke here, I thought she had cast a spell on me other something, but apparently not, another misconception of her, it just proves that I need to mend my thinking about her.

But, the silence seemed to drag on forever.

I looked up to her, only to see something I had never seen before.

She was...struggling. Cenotaph was staring down at me with an unsure expression that kept morphing to emotions so fast I couldn't track them. For the first time in a long time, I think, she was at a loss of words.

"Cenotaph?" I asked, trying to snap her back to reality.

She shook her helm, grasping it and turning away.

Her vents were struggling and her cooling systems were working overtime.

"...thank you…" She whispered.

"I-uh...Cenotaph, are you okay?" I asked, unsure of this strange and new behavior.

She cleared her vocalizer and turned with a small smile with a glint in her optics. The glint of appreciation.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. I've never really thought anyone was capable of...well...seeing through my surface levels." She looked away, gripping her white staff tightly.

I smiled and slowly stood, even though it was painful. I grunted through it though, Cenotaph looked back surprised and worried.

"What do you think you are doing!?" She softly yelled, I had never heard her voice so commanding yet soft before that it sent shivers down my spinal strut.

"I-I didn't want to be in the way...when you cast the spell." I said, looking at the magic circle beneath my peds.

She sighed, "You wouldn't be, besides you should be resting!"

Suddenly, I felt my leg give out under me and suddenly the world tilted forward at a rapid pass. I offlined my optics, grunting and groaning as I fell down on top of something, I could hear a demur squeak from somewhere and then, everything was still.

Slowly, I onlined my optics once more and came to sight of an eclipsed sun with the Autobot symbol that had wings on it. I was slightly confused, I had never seen such a symbol before and I would've remembered it.

Then, I felt it.

A rapid sparkbeat beneath my helm, and the warming of metal.

I looked up faster than lightning to see Cenotaph looking down at me with a surprised, embarrassed expression. Her entire faceplate was a strange purple color, as well as the rest of her protoform, her black tattoo symbols glowing faintly with a pink hue.

That's when I came to the realization….that I was laying on top of her!

"Gah!" I shouted propping myself up with my arms, I could feel my cooling systems kicking harder than before and I could swear my spark felt like it was on fire.

"I-I-I...It was an accident….Uh...I-I mean that I didn't…." I bumbled out, never finding the right words.

Then, I felt two large clawed servos wrap around my helm then violently pull me down back to where I was on her. She hummed with satisfaction, which vibrated down my entire frame and straight into my spark which hummed back in pleasure.

"A-Ah, C-C-Ceno...taph?" I shuttered out, my servos coming to rest beside her, even though that's not what they desired.

She hummed again, she leaned down and whispered into my audio.

"Consider this a reward, for being better than any other mech that's graced my presence." She growled passionately, I shudder again uncontrollable. "Come on, now my Thrall, enjoy your reward to the fullest."

One of her servos let go of my helm, and reached down grabbing my servo that shook from planting itself away from her. She guided it to her neck where her bare protoform was exposed. She released my servo just above her, I shook in apprehension before giving in and lightly touched her violet glowing protoform.

She hummed deeper into my audio, clearly it was a sensitive spot for her as she leaned into my touch.

"Keep going…" She sighed, lust dripping from her words.

Without her help, my other servo found its way to her side.

I just...offlined my optics, and just...let myself go. I let my servos dance and explore while I just enjoyed the smell and feel of her...without as much armor as the others, she was softer to the touch, something I deeply missed and enjoyed about her.

Cenotaph didn't just lay there though, her servos gilded and danced across my frame. Finding various sensitive spots through the seams of my armor. It was amazing how delicate she was, her sharp servos could easily scratch and tear me apart...though that thought was more enticing than anything else.

I gasped suddenly when she found my weakest spot, my audial fins.

"Hmm...so interesting…" She said with a delighted giggle as she watched me squirm under her touch.

"A-Ah, I-gah…" I couldn't form a cohesive response, so I started searching for her weak spot.

Then, I found it.

She stopped playing with my audial fins once I began to lightly touch her shoulders and upper arms, her helm landed back on the floor as she gasped and squirmed, the lighter the touch, the bigger the response.

"Ha-ah, more…!" She growled, her optics burning with a deep lust that kept building.

Growing more bold, I leaned up pressed my lips to her shoulders.

She gasped loudly, stiffening and digging her claws into my back.

"Ah-gah...Ratchet...oof….oh, hello Bulletta."

I froze, I slowly looked to the door as my optics widened in a multitude of emotions. Horror, embarrassment, shame...and strangely excitement...at the new femme to enter the room, Bulletta who had a shocked and mortified expression etched on her face.

Cenotaph, on the other servo, was completely calm, maybe even more turned on than before with how her purple and pink glow seemed to deepen slightly.

Only now do I realize the extremely compromising pose I am, not only was I on top of her, but we were pressed closely together in every place that mattered.

Bulletta, finally came out of her reaction to only sigh and turn around.

"I didn't think this would happen here of all places, but then again, I should've known! Goddess sakes, why does this happen to me!?" She bellowed in...anger? I couldn't tell if it was that, or disappointment.

Cenotaph laughed, her purple and pink hues fading until it was barely noticeable.

"I see you tend to be the one who walks in on everyone else's fun time, eh?" Cenotaph roared in laughter as Bulletta's tail swayed annoyingly.

She roughly sighed, "Just...untangle yourselves and lets get this spell over with." Groaning to herself.

"Okay, okay, but first…" She quickly leaned up and pressed her lips to my audial fins.

I gasped loudly before pulling away and landing on my aft, my vents heaving and fans whirling, my spark pulsing in dark pleasure. She laughed, a delightful and sinister tone as she said.

"Payback's a bitch."

She dusted herself off and stood to peds, grabbing her fallen staff.

I groaned, rubbing my faceplate while sitting up, I was not about to stand again after what happened.

"Alright, Bulletta, let's get this started." Cenotaph called out, the gunslinger turned around, satisfied with the now less terrifying visage.

I was afraid to speak at the moment, but conquered my best evenly toned voice asking.

"What should I do?"

Both femme's looked to me, before looking to each other and then shrugging.

"Just...sleep." Cenotaph said with a sadistic smile as she raised her staff and a soft white glow shot off towards me hitting my in the helm.

Suddenly, the world swirled and things became hazy before I fell into a deep sleep.

Cenotaph's POV

I caught Ratchet from falling face first onto the floor, then leaned him up on the wall. Surprisingly, he had a light snore, it was quite cute in fact. I didn't really use that spell often, but the Sleep spell had it's finite uses. I smiled at him, lighting patting the side of his helm before turning to the circle, and Bulletta.

"Okay, gonna tell me how that whole situation before came about?" She asked, accusingly.

I mocked feigned innocence, "Why, Bulletta?! To whatever do you mean?"

She growled, "Are you seducing him, are you using him?!"

Now, I frowned, "Seriously, that was a happy accident, that he caused I may add. Besides...I would never use him like that, his one-of-a-kind and I am not throwing that away for anything, his simply too rare and special to get rid of."

She smirked, "Huh, sounds like you are crushing, hard."

"Pfft, says the pot to the kettle." I smirked as she suddenly became embarrassed, "Bulletta, don't try and tease me, it's not gonna work. I'll freely admit that I have a thing for him, maybe it's just physical, maybe it's more, but what I do now is that I like him. He is better than any man or woman I have ever met."

"Fine, fine. Let's just get this over with, okay?" She said walking the other side of the circle, "And just so you know, if you tell anyone and that includes him, I will gun you down, got it?!"

I laughed, "Suure."

I brought out my spellbook from my hip and placed it on the ground to the spell incantation. Memorizing it, I laid down in the center and beckoned Bulletta to do the same. I started the incantation, the words leaving my mouth without even thinking about it, my staff lifted in the air above me, spiralling with rainbow magic dancing around before I yelled out.

"SOMNIUM!"

And then, the world went techno-color.