Author's note. Big thank you to everyone who suggested a name for the Sparkling, they were all great. It's a shame I could only pick one but I enjoyed getting them.

The winner was Greta the troll; you'll see which name I picked at the end of the chapter.

Enjoy and please review.

Elita sat curled in the room she'd been shoved in, her mind in utter turmoil over the events of the last cycle. It was still difficult to comprehend that Megatron was her Sire and always had been. Even when he'd been trying to seduce her, he'd still been her father. She almost laughed as she remembered the time Megatron had told her that he felt something towards deep within his Spark.

It was the distinct echo of a bond that had never been allowed to develop because he'd never been a part of her life. But the Spark could always recognise it's offspring on a sub conscious level and that's why Megatron had felt such a strong connection to her. But not knowing why there was a connection, he assumed that it was a powerful attraction towards her and that's why he'd pursued her so thoroughly. And the end result was that he'd gone so deep that when their true relationship was revealed, he hadn't been able to cope. If only she'd just been another Femme to him, he'd have probably have been delighted not horrified.

It had worked out with Arcee because she was far too young for him to be interested and their relationship had already been more of a guardian/child. So the transition to grandfather and grandchild had been an easy one and they'd actually built up something. Megatron had seemed genuinely fond of his only connection of his off-lined daughter and maybe he was.

But that hadn't stopped him from using Arcee as a means to get at Elita's Port.

"Why?" she whispered, why had he stooped so low? Things had been going so well and he ruined it all by trying to rape her. He'd been convinced that interfacing with her would mean that they'd become lovers and perhaps even spark mates. They even had a young Femme that connected them both, her daughter who was also his granddaughter. He'd reasoned they could become a real family and the irony of it was they'd always been a family.

She sighed, it was unlikely they'd ever be a family, there was now far too much history between them. It was hard to decide what she should feel about that, she'd always harboured a desire to meet her Sire one cycle and now she'd found out he was the leader of the Decepticons, the enemy of her, Optimus and all other Autobots.

How was she ever going to explain this to Arcee?

She'd already tried the door but couldn't open it and nothing in this room would help her. Her tanks were starting to gnaw a little in hunger, however she ignored it. Despite the months of easy refuelling, she was well used to going without. The pain that was harder to ignore was the one in her Spark and a growing processor ache. She just couldn't process how her mother could have slept with Megatron, he was from Kaon and they were from Iacon. Just how had they bumped into each other and had at least a one night stand? From her memory, it was clear he hadn't raped her, it had been entirely consensual.

Her mother was dead, the obvious person to ask was Megatron himself but would he ever discuss it? He wasn't one to talk about his past, not unless it was to make a point and he hadn't taken the revelation about her origins very well. Not that she could blame him but she worried what he might have done in his rage.

And she knew that he'd done something, something to her friends but she had absolutely no idea what it could be. She only hoped whatever he'd done didn't have serious consequences.

The Ark

"R-ratchet?" Ironhide croaked as his friend continued to bend over his son. "What...what's wrong with his optics?"

"I don't know," Ratchet said grimly as he carefully examined the little Sparkling before shooting a very sharp look at his friend.

"He's your son Ironhide, there's no doubt about it."

He glanced at Chromia who was staring intently at the Sparkling before saying gently.

"You'd know if he wasn't."

"Yeah," Ironhide said dumbly, thinking of how things had been before...their son had been born. Chromia had given absolutely no indication that nothing had happened to her, she'd talked openly about her time with the Decepticons. The most that had happened was first she'd been forced to wear a skimpy outfit and occasionally forced to bath half naked with Megatron and some of his goons. But on those instances, the other Femmes had also been in the tub too.

They hadn't just interfaced together, they'd shared Sparks and she'd been completely open to him, no secrets, nothing. He knew this was his son in front of him but it was hard not to panic over those red optics. He and Chromia had no code for red optics so why did the little tyke have them.

"I'll need to take a sample of his code," Ratchet muttered, checking some readings on a monitor next to the incubator.

"It could be a mutation," Ratchet now mused. "If it is, it should just be a harmless one."

Ironhide grimaced; somehow he had a very nasty feeling that it wasn't that simple. Mutations of code happened, usually they were just tiny insignificant ones that made no real difference overall. But was it really a coincidence that his son had developed red optics after his mother was raped by a Decepticon. No, he was sure that something far more sinister was going on and whatever Ratchet discovered, he wasn't going to like it.

The Nemesis

"What's going on?" Arcee asked as Thundercracker led her, Moonracer and Ivory down into the lower levels of the Nemesis. Even though she'd been on the Nemesis for quite a while now, she hadn't been to this particular part before.

The blue Seeker hesitated before saying.

"It's nothing for you to worry about?"

"Nothing for us to worry about?" Ivory said contemptuously. "Then why are we being dragged down to this dank place?"

"Hmm," Thundercracker murmured as Arcee said. "Thunder, what's wrong?"

He sighed heavily; they were going to find out one way or another.

"The Autobots are going to attack us," he told them. "Megatron wants you all in a safe location while we repel them."

"Their attacking?" Moonracer exclaimed in shock as the other two Femmes stared. "But why?"

"I can't tell you," he said gently. "But I'll need you three to look after the others; they shouldn't be over stressed if it can be helped."

"But why would papa attack?" Arcee couldn't help but ask. "I had a great time; he shouldn't have a reason to attack."

Megatron had allowed her a cycle to rest so she'd been relaxing in Thundercracker's quarters when he'd come to take her and the others down below. Something big must have happened to provoke her father into such an action.

"I don't know why your father is attacking," Thundercracker said, raising his voice as they looked set to protest. "And that's the truth. Yes, something happened but we don't have all the details yet, we just know that Prime is mobilising against us. You all need to stay where we put you and protect the mothers and Sparklings."

The Femmes digested this as he continued to lead them along the winding corridor. Finally, Moonracer asked.

"Is Warp alright?"

"He's fine," was the reply. "He's outside with the others."

The Seekers would be on the front line, they could move so much more easily in the air than their comrades. So chances were, they would sustain the most amount of damage but they had to protect their base. And Thundercracker had a nasty feeling that this wouldn't be a one off battles, chances were it would turn into a siege. For now they had enough supplies but that would only last for so long.

It was looking very likely that they were going to experience the gnawing pains of slow starvation that had been the norm on Cybertron. With Sparklings, this was going to turn into a complete nightmare. The only thing that might help would be Soundwave cassettes, they would be able to sneak in and out collecting Energon. But anything they did collect would be small and Soundwave would demand that his mate and daughter be fed. Obviously, the cassettes could just refuel when they'd found a source before returning, however it would be the higher ups that got the most.

And what about his little ward? She'd known war all her life and had experienced hunger but it grieved him that she'd likely suffer.

"Is mama going to be there?" Arcee asked anxiously, surely she would know what was happening.

"She will be, all the Femmes are going to be there," Thundercracker replied quickly. "I'd advise you all too just power down and relax as much as possible."

"I don't like this," Moonracer muttered, slipping an arm around the younger Femme.

"Same," Arcee murmured, suddenly feeling scared. It was all this uncertainty, the unknown reason why her beloved father was on the war path. And as Moony had just said, she wasn't going to like the reason.

The Ark

"What is it?" Ironhide asked as Ratchet came over him, he'd finally finished his testing. The Medic hesitated and Ironhide felt his Spark sink, it couldn't be good news.

"He's definitely your son," Ratchet said reassuringly. "But..."

He broke off; he looked like a Mech that didn't know how to break some bad news.

"But...?" Ironhide prompted, whatever the bad news was, he'd take it.

Ratchet sighed before saying.

"You already know your son was in a delicate stage when he was born. Well, code was still being processed, activated and the like. Within Chromia, as his code was being developed, he was protected by a plug that Femmes develop after the Sparkling begins forming and this stops any more code from interfering and this includes the creators' code. However when Megatron attacked Chromia..."

"The plug was broken," Ironhide finished brokenly. "Megatron's code got to ma boy."

"That's what it looks like," Ratchet said gravely. "His code attached to the Sparkling's and has influenced it. Obviously the little ones optics were affected but right now I can't say what else might have been changed."

"That's...that's not too bad," Ironhide said slowly. He was repulsed by the idea that Megatron had violated both his mate and son but as long as their Sparkling was healthy, he could live with it.

"Ironhide," Ratchet said quietly. "That's my official diagnosis, code interference. But...there is a chance that Megatron could still use this."

"Use this?" Ironhide repeated dumbly. "What'd yah mean?"

"At a first glance, it looks like he has a Decepticon Sire," Ratchet murmured quietly but seriously. "And Chromia was a prisoner was a long time, both before and after the Sparkling's conception. She was dressed skimpily, we know there was a lot of interfacing going on...and we know how low Megatron would stoop."

"Yah saying he's got a claim on ma son?" Ironhide said complete outrage.

"I'm saying if he decides to, he could build a pretty strong case," Ratchet said grimly. "His code is within the Sparkling, she was his prisoner, he has interfaced with her..."

"He raped her," Ironhide snarled furiously, making First Aid jump and glance nervously at them. "And she was damn already pregnant then."

"I know," Ratchet told him, placing a hand on the angry Autobot's shoulder. "If things were normal, this wouldn't even be an issue but it's not. I don't want to upset you or Chromia Ironhide but there is a real possibility that Megatron will claim he is the true father and try to take your son away. He might even try to take Chromia, since the Sparkling will need his mother."

"Frag!" Ironhide exclaimed, raising a fist to punch something but Ratchet prevented him. No way was he patching up a damaged fist after working so hard to repair the old solider.

"FRAG!" he yelled, feeling like his Spark might burst with despair as Ratchet held him.

As he slumped, First Aid edged over and said.

"You really think Megatron will do that?"

"The moment he sets optics on that Sparkling, he'd been a fool not to think it," Ratchet said grimly. "How do you think Optimus will feel if Megatron declares that the Sparkling belongs to him and demands we hand him over?"

First Aid opened his mouth before closing it with a grimace. He didn't need to say what Optimus would say, their leader would be devastated and angry.

"Exactly," Ratchet stated. "Megatron is out to hurt us in deeper ways than simply fighting on the battlefield. What better way than to demand the only full Autobot Sparkling?"

"What can we do?" First Aid asked. "We can't cover up those optics...perhaps Megatron won't be interested in checking the Sparkling. He'll assume there are no issues or that there's anything of interest to him."

"Those Cassettes always seem to find out the worst information," Ratchet reminded. "We have to prepare for the worst, assume that at some point he will find out and act on it."

He shook his head. Chromia had suffered a lot of damage during the rape and that impromptu delivery had not helped matter. He'd found the mutilated plug but at the time, he'd had more important things to worry about. He hadn't even thought about the possible implications of Megatron shooting his code into a sac of developing Sparkling code.

"Ah won't let him get yah," Ironhide whispered to the sleeping Sparkling. "Ya'll just hang in there son, everything's gonna be alright."

He hesitated before murmuring.

"Dynomite."

Author's note. What happens when all the Femmes meet? Find out next time, until then.