Ace pulled off her gloves covered in blood. She could hardly recognize the face of the man, but she knew him. Her mind had shot her back in time by seven months to the bar where she had met William Lennox. This happened to be his friend, the one who had been recently engaged. She recalled the male being far too hammered to assist in the fight she and Lennox handled. He had seemed content. Now, he seemed peaceful in his eternal sleep.

"COD is asphyxiation," she said as she removed the sanitary gown.

"I thought we determined that he bled out," Rocky objected.

"No, his eyes... they had tell-tale signs," Ace stated, "Those small red patches of blood on the inside of his eyelids goes to show that small blood vessels popped due to lack of oxygen. The long gash to his chest did cause him to bleed out, yes, but his heart stopped before he was out of blood."

"Well... who gets to tell the fiancé the bad news?" he sighed, "Then again, the men said that his fiancé went missing."

Ace's mind shot back to the woman in the woods who was hung in the trees. She constantly took her ring off, had a string of lovers, and was most likely killed out of revenge due to the abusive signs on her.

What if she was going to leave her abusive lover for one who would cherish her?

"I need to speak with the military men," Ace stated firmly, "They could give me a possible lead for another case."

"Another case?" Rocky wondered, "What do you think they could have in common?"

"Nothing," was her quiet reply.

Ace left the coroner's examination room. She was sure to get three pumps of hand sanitizer on her way out as she walked a short way down the hall. It was no surprise when she found Major Lennox in one of the chairs lined up against the wall closest to the exit. Next to him was an African American male that looked more distraught then Lennox did.

Both military; possible threats; chose words carefully.

"Major Lennox," she said as she approached them. Her eyes quickly scanned over the male in full uniform. The male seemed surprised to see the woman in the coroner's office of all places. But for Ace, well, it's already been established that death seemed to be her element.

"Ace? What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.

"One of my many jobs," she stated, "Here, I am Dr. Azrael Echolyn, Unofficial Assistant Coroner to Chief Medical Examiner Rocky Marsh."

"So... What about our brother in there?" the second male asked, "It's... it's Trenton, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir, I'm afraid so," Ace nodded solemnly, "His blood was a match for your comrade. I am deeply sorry for your loss. If it's any constellation, I understand your pain completely, and I could recommend a number of therapists."

The African American shook his head in denial. He got up from his seat, hands flailing in the air as his eyes swelled with tears. Ace had never liked giving the bad news, but this time, she had to.

"Major Lennox, I'm troubled to say that I need to ask you a few questions about your fallen comrade,"

Lennox shook his head, putting up his hand for a second. He didn't look much better than his friend by any means aside from being able to accept then news more easily. He drew in a long breath, nodding shortly.

"Yeah... yeah, I can answer a few,"

"Was Trenton engaged recently? To a woman of Asian decent? Or maybe in an abusive relationship with a man she didn't love?" Ace asked, "I realize that these are rather strange questions, trust me, I do, but this could do a world of wonder."

"Uh, yeah. A Japanese girl named Hana Fukuda. She was a sweetheart, a saving grace for Trenton, you know? God, those two were so in love that it was almost painful to watch... how do you know that?"

"A woman of Asian decent was found in the woods earlier today, hung, but it was not suicide. If I'm correct, whomever wished to kill your comrade would have most likely killed Hana as well. Did Trenton ever say anything about the fact that Hana was cheating on her husband while engaged to him?"

"That was part of the plan," Lennox nodded, "Hana, well, she was in this abusive relationship with a man named Riku Fukuda. She was going to file for devoice the moment Trenton got her moved out and in with his sister until he was discharged from base. But, two days before the move was supposed to happen, Hana went missing. The next day, so did Trenton."

Ace nodded firmly to him, "Thank you, Major Lennox. Again, my deepest apologies for your loss."

She turned away from him, dragging out her phone to call Detective Travis as she walked down the hall, when the Major spoke again.

"Hey, Ace," he called down the hall, "What happened to you? I mean, you said you understand the pain... who died?"

A bittersweet smile painfully stretched Ace's lips. She shook her head of dark hair and continued walking. She looked down at her phone, making sure to dial Detective Travis and not his wife - his first one, that is. Ace held the phone up to her ear.

"Detective Travis speaking,"

"Travis, I have a name and a lead,"

Ace drew in another long breath as she sat in a corner of the library, peacefully reading page after page of her book - Blood On Blood. It was a book concerning the topics of PTSD, survivors' guilt, and newly developed fears after war. It wasn't that the twenty-two-year-old had been in a war, but she had similar symptoms from her childhood. So far, it seemed as thought her only option was to take medication for the sudden flashes of memories before her eyes. Ace, however, had a burning, passionate hate for any kind of drugs. Good or bad. Ace was so deep into the book, figuring out what was wrong in her head, that she didn't register the foot steps coming closer and closer to her until they were right in front of her.

"A unique book choice,"

Ace was started by the rumbling voice that came from the male before her. She looked up at the familiar eyes of the stranger she'd met a week previous. She never did learn his name, and now it seemed to be a good opportunity.

"Yes, well, I like unique things," Ace said smoothly. She smiled softly, an action seemingly foreign to herself. Why was her heart racing again? What was going on with her body? What was with the heat?

A deep, shiver-inducing chuckle left his man. He seemed to speak directly from his diaphragm, an action not too common in "everyday society".

"From before, I apologize, but I never learned your name," the stranger said.

Ace glanced from him to the chair next to her, then back to him. She pat the table to indicate for him to join her. As he did, she looked over him quickly. He wore a similar outfit as he had before, on with a blue flannel this time, and a silver necklace around his neck that looked like a face of some sort. The book she had handed him was in his hand as well.

"You checked out the book," she said.

"Yes, I found that you were correct; I do enjoy constellations,"

Ace grinned at him, "Right, about my name. Well, I'm Azrael Echolyn, but I'm better known as Ace."

"Azrael? A curious name," he smiled at her. Ace felt her heart sudden spiking.

What is happening to me?

"But it does seem to fit you well. I don't think I could imagen you with another name,"

"What of you? What is your name?"

"Orion, Orion Pax,"

Ace's mind raced back seven months when she and Lennox had met at the bar.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Lennox nodded, "But... uh, you wouldn't... you wouldn't happen to know anyone named Orion Pax, would you?"

Now begged the question - did she ask him? Or did she leave it be? The inquiry of herself was pointless in the end - Ace knew herself well enough to know that her curiosity would get the better of her in the end. It would be best if she got the question out of the way.

"William Lennox, does that name ring a bell?" she wondered.

"Yes. I happen to work with Major Lennox on base," Orion nodded, "How do you know him if you don't mind my asking?"

With a soft sigh, Ace nodded. It was a fair question on how she knew the military man, and surely Orion would be aware of the murder case having to do with a fallen comrade. But what if he didn't know? Ace would hate to be the one to break that bad news to the man. He seemed sensitive in a way, and honestly, Ace didn't want to be the one that possibly broke him.

"There..." she hesitated.

"Don't be frightened," Orion smiled at her in an assuring manner, "I realize that it most likely wasn't under the best of conditions, but you have me interested."

"I don't understand," Ace raised brow, "Interested how?"

This strange but easy smile fell upon Orion's face. It wasn't unsettling or worrying, just odd. It brought a strange comfort for Ace to see him smile, and he smiled at her. Just for her.

"Your ability to pick up on the smallest of things is what first caught my attention. Then, you somehow knew the perfect subject to select for me. Now, you happen to know one of my allies. You just seem to... draw me in, I believe is the term."

A snort passed her lips, "Me? Draw you in? Now that's just illogical. I'm fairly average when it comes to these things. I pick up on details because I have had years of experience."

Orion tilted his head, "May I ask you to elaborate?"

Ace froze upon hearing the question. No one ever really wanted to get to know her beyond a professional level. Sure, there were a few who asked about how she was doing and several of the older librarians at Stellar History bought her small gifts each year for her birthday, but nothing more. A sudden warmth against her cheek brought a small wisp of a memory up.

You're disgusting! You're an anomaly! A freak! Not even a fucked up monster would want to touch you!

"Azrael?"

She blinked several times, looking at those blue eyes so similar to her own. She found that Orion was much closer than he originally was.

"Y-yes?" she whispered out as heat engulfed her cheeks and the pit of her stomach.

"I apologize if I over stepped. It was not my intention to make you uncomfortable," he spoke softly in his rumbling voice.

"No, no, you're... you're alright. I just... I don't have the best memories and, well, sometimes I get caught in them," Ace explained quickly.

"If you won't mind, I would like to ask you more about these memories," he said.

"W-what do you -"

"Miss Azrael, I would like to ask you out on something called a 'date'. It wouldn't be anything much, I should say, but -"

"Yes,"

He was a Prime, the only Prime and the last Prime that would ever be in existence or history. He was held high in the eyes of his fellow warriors, the fellow Cybertronians that were willing to lay their sparks down on the line for this planet that had become their home. He had to be the example of a mighty warrior, show selflessness, compassion, and strength in more than one way. The compassion part was never an issue for the Prime, nor was the strength, but the selflessness part, however, had come to be more difficult as of late. Optimus Prime had a problem with his processors, a string of coding that he couldn't clear out no matter how many times he tried to shake his helm of it. His problem had a name - a beautiful name at that.

Azrael Claudia Echolyn was Optimus Prime's problem.

And he loved having her as a problem.

That human femme was like a virus in his processors and he adored it! His every responsibility, every pressure, every judgmental pair of eyes - every one of them became irrelevant when his processor shot her back into his trail of coding. This wish he had to see her more, this need inside of his chassis, and his spark pulsing when he thought of her before and during recharge; all of it had been worrying before severo.

After the first time Optimus had run into the female, the first time he saw her eyes, her wonderfully startling blue eyes, his spark hammered in his chassis. He had tried so hard to remain calm and seem human at least, but with that woman looking at him with her gentle smile, he found it becoming more difficult. He had been a coward and ran away when he got the chance. Optimus had turned himself into Ratchet.

"Optimus, you were made aware of a 'Prime's Calling', weren't you? Or told about the more specific details of a spark belonging to a Prime?"

"I'm afraid not, old friend,"

There hadn't been much time for the Prime to learn everything there was to being, well, a Prime. A war was on its way, and honestly, keeping others alive seemed much more important than learning about a possible love-life. Optimus leaned on the berth in the Cybertronian Medical Officer's lab, awaiting the explanation his oldest friend had for him. Ratchet looked apprehensively between the Data-pad held in his severo and the Prime.

"Well, this 'calling' of sorts... if what you're saying is matching to this, then... Optimus, this human female is your Destined Conjunx Endura. She was designed specifically for you."

How was that even possible? How was this female, this human female, able to be his 'Destined Conjunx Endura? Optimus didn't doubt it for a moment, he knew Primus made no mistakes when it came to a Prime's fate, but how? Anyone knew what a Conjunx Endura was - even humans did. But a 'Destined' one? That hadn't been heard of but by the Primes, supposedly.

After their second meeting, when Azrael had entered that stage of panic, he had seen an opportunity to get to know her. It was clear that this woman, destined for him, had been traumatized by some way or another just as he had. She bore secrets not even the thin files on her knew. Hidden things that Azrael most likely shouldn't even have knowledge of. He could feel an aching in his chassis different from his yearning to be near Azrael. It was the kind you felt when you'd lost someone dear to you, when love felt like it was missing.

Why was his Destined Conjunx Endura in so much pain? He was desperate to know why she was so hurt. Now, Optimus supposed he would find out tonight. He knew how he looked, dressed in a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with black jeans and his usual combat boots. His holoform's midnight blue hair was brushed back. He couldn't help but peer in a mirror when he passed by it, smoothing down his shirt.

He felt a small jolt as he received a message from Azrael. She had been kind enough to provide him with her number in order for them to remain in touch for the human tradition of a 'date'. He grinned - an action not often done - and pulled out his holoform's phone.

Azrael: Are we still set for seven?

Orion: I am able to leave now if you would like.

Azrael: What bout six-thirty?

Orion: It sounds perfect.

Optimus replaced his phone in his pocket. While on his way back to his actual body that was currently resting in its alt-mode, he heard whistling. He looked up at the elevated level where he saw William giving him a thumbs-up.

"Prime! Where are ya goin'?" Ironhide asked from the catwalk where he and Will often spent time talking together.

The Prime chuckled. He brought his fingers to his temple.

.:I have something known as a 'date' tonight:.

.:If they hurt you, I'm gonna kill 'em. Human or not:.

.:I can assure you, she will not hurt me:.

~o0o~

Ace passed back and forth around her barren apartment. She wore a long grey sweater that hung just a little above her knees. She had managed to slip on a pair of jeans from two years ago. Ace hadn't gained much weight, making it easy to remain in clothing from past years despite her height - she was lucky if she found herself eating often anymore. It was a bad habit but it was a habit sometimes necessary in her line of work. Or, in her case, lines of work. Detective Consultant, Unofficial Assistant Coroner, an investor, a mechanic, a Doctor, a therapist, and the list continues on. It was funny, really, how she did everything she did out of spite for her father.

A sudden flash of blinding light from outside the windows to Ace's apartment alerted her to a new threat. She drove behind her couch before an ear-splitting scream of sound burst through the air. Ace covered her ears desperately in fruitless attempts to block out the noise. She saw shards of glass suddenly fly by the couch, meaning that her windows were most likely blown in. Slowly, as the ringing from the blast started to slither away, smoke began to leak in through the windows. In nearly perfect sync, terrified shrieks blossomed out of the eerie silence. The kind of scream that came from true fear when he seeped into your chest. The kind of fear she had known all too well as a child. Ace's eyes widened as her mind made the deduction.

The children.