I don't own Transformers Prime as the show is owned by Hasbro.

Ch. 34: Nightmares

"Four sparklings?" Magma asked.

"That's right." Phoenix smiled. "With Optimus Prime." She said with her grin even wider.

"So do we kill them?" Nemesis asked eagirly earing a swip to the back of the head. "Ouch!" He yelped rubbing at the wound and glaring at his Carrier.

"No Nemesis. We are going to take the sparklings." Magma announced.

Xxxxxx

Phoenix couldn't sleep as she was so drawn to the latest guest. Mecha's energy was positively magnetic. It was so powerful and so strong that she couldn't get enough of it as she wondered into his lab.

"Don't be shy." Mecha called out not even looking in her direction. Without hesitation she pounced at him, but he easily caught her and pinned her down.

"What are you? You're energy…it's so strong…so…beautiful." She gasped as he loomed over her.

"I have my secrets." He grinned as he leaned into her neck. He licked at her neck slowly and careful making Phoenix moan loudly and twitch all over.

"Now I get it…" She whispered outloud.

"Hmmm?" Mecha asked as he nuzzled her neck.

"I think I get why Elisa connected with Prime. Maybe his energy felt like yours." She explained.

"Oh it's quite possible given he has the Matrix of Leadership." Mecha said casually looking over her.

"Oooohhh frag…I want this!" She cried. "I want to feel like this all the time." She pleaded frantically licking at his neck and chest. His mechanical arm pushed her back making her puzzled.

"You will I can promise you that…but not yet." He stated firmly. She huffed and pushed him off of her and started to walk away. "Don't be angry Phoenix. Good things come to those who wait." He teased at her.

"Yeah well you're talking to the wrong twin." Pheonix grumbled.

Xxxx

Moonlight whimpered in pain from him broken rib. Elisa was nearly in tears herself as she felt her son's pain as she held him to her spark, trying to get the comforting sound to make him fall asleep. Optimus watched over the other three sparklings and Ratchet kept an optic out too.

"Are you sure he's going to be ok Ratchet?" Elisa asked again. She had asked him so many times already but he understood her distress. It was something that always happened with first time creators. They were paranoid about every little cut or scrap their sparkling got and of course Elisa was no different.

"As long as you give him comfort I promise you his wound will heal and tha pain will pass." He said reassuringly. She nodded her thanks and kissed the back of Moonlight's as he was finally starting to drift to sleep. Optimus could feel Moonlight's pain as well and it bothered him greatly, but thankfully when Moonlight calmed down so did Elisa so he came up to her and rubbed her shoulders.

"How are you feeling?" He whispered.

"Ok I guess." She muttered. He kissed her cheek and looked down at Moonlight who was twitching in his sleep.

"He will be fine." Prime said squeezing her shoulders. He stood up and went to Ratchet as the other three sparklings were chirping happily at the medic who was playing with them with his fingers. Neytiri kept play-biting at Ratchet's fingers while Megatronus kept looking back at his Carrier as if he knew something was wrong. Orion was jumping up and down in front of Optimus who happily picked him up and prompty received his kisses.

"If it is possible I would like to talk to you tonight about some things." Ratchet said through the com link making Prime look at him curiously.

"Of course." Prime answered back. Moonlight woke up about an hour later hungry and yowling. Elisa slowly gave him his food before he calmed down licking at his Carrier's chest in thanks. She laid him down with his siblings and Megatronous kept watch over him. Elisa nearly burst out laughing at how elegant the sparkling looked with his tingy wings tucked tight behind his back and sitting up tall and proud like a guardian. Moonlight wanted to play but Elisa kept holding him back until he fell asleep and thankfully his sibilings joined him and it was quiet. Megatronus nearly fell asleep standing up, but Elisa carefully placed him back down so that he was comfortable. She finally settled down for the night as Optimus and Ratchet went outside to chat.

"Is something wrong?" Optimus asked unsure if he was in trouble or not.

"Optimus I really think you should start courting Elisa." Ratchet spoke. Prime blinked in surprised and was unsure of what to say at the moment. "I know you care about her and it's not just from the energy. You know I can feel you through our bond so please why don't you talk to Megatron about it." Ratchet explained.

"I am very surprised to hear this from you Ratchet." Optimud said. "I am sorry I made it so obvious even though I hoped I wasn't." He blushed. "Yes, I do want to court Elisa, but I wouldn't even know what kind of gift to give her." Optimus sighed.

"Talk to Megatron." Ratchet smirked.

Xxxxxx

Optimus caught Megatron early in the morning before he went off for reconstruction.

"I need to ask you something." He said quickly. Megatron only nodded for him to continue. "I would like your permission to court Elisa." He finished. Megatron gritted his denta unsure how to answer at the moment.

"Are you sure?" He finally asked in a neutral voice.

"Yes." He said firmly.

"We'll talk later then." Megatron said before he went off. Optimus huffed and let out a frustrated groan. He figured Megatron might be making him wait on purpose to stress him, but he thought Megatron could be thinking about the situation too. So he went back and checked up on Elisa. She was watching Moonlight like a hawk, paying attention to every squeak and chirp he made. She smiled up at Prime as he knelt down and gently scooped up Moonlight and kissed him on the nose. The little dragon started purring against his Sire's chestplates and licked at the metal. He gently placed him back down and helped Elisa play with the sparklings as Megatronus was up to his playfulness. He kept jumping up in front of Moonlight trying to get him to play but eventually Moonlight laid down close to Elisa's chest saying he wasn't interested. They laughed when Orion pounced on him making him squeak in surprise and the roughhouse continued. With the help of Ratchet, Optimus came back and forth throughout the day and finally ended up outside the base waiting for Megatron.

"Come with me." He said and took a bridge to the crystal gardens. "I already know you are a good Sire and are more than capable to taking care of Elisa, but right now I think she's too young for this. She's too young, and too vulnerable." He finally spoke and as he did he picked up a blue crystal and caressed it as if it was made of glass.

"I had not planned to bond with her anytime soon Megatron, but I know now that I love her." He spoke up.

"Is Ratchet alright with this?"

"Of course, in fact he was the one who told me to talk to you about this." He explained.

"I am not saying this to be harsh, but my answer is no. She's not ready…frag…she's not even ready for four sparklings. She's needs some time…time to grow and get some more maturity. I know that can happen if you two raise the sparklings, but right now she cannot be courted." Megatron said looking right at the Prime. His spark sunk a little at Megatron's words, but being the only Alpha in Elisa's life he had to respect his wishes. Megatron came up to Optimus and placed a gentle servo on his shoulder. "But thank you for the formality. I sincerely do appreciate you talking to me about this." He said sincerely. Optimus nodded and held out his servo and they both respectfully shook.

Xxxx

Phoenix was getting restless.

Mecha's energy was driving her wild and she wanted him more than anything, but he was a patient dragon, but at the same time he was also impatient.

"How soon do you think we can attack?" Magma asked coming into the lab.

"Not long now." Mecha answered. "That Phoenix is very interesting." He added.

"She's done very well for me. I couldn't be more proud." Magma grinned. Mecha looked at his tribe leader, thinking carefully. "She gave me everything I needed on those decepticons. Personally I think all the info on Elisa was just a bonus." He said with a shrug.

"So why go after her if you don't care about Elisa?" Mecha asked.

"Two are better than one." He said unamused. Magma walked away without another word so he went to Phoenix.

"I need you to do something for me." Mecha whispered.

"Anything!" She exclaimed. He ran his claws down her neck and licked his fangs at the energy coming from her spark. At first he thought Phoenix's feelings were just a simple crush, but looking over her now, he knew she would be perfect.

So without hesitation he slammed a dark energon shard into her spark.

Phoenix started to scream in pain, but Mecha covered her mouth easily and pinned her down as she squirmed under his grip. It took a few minutes for the purple glow to stop, but when it finally did Phoenix was breathing hard.

"Why did you do that?!" She snarled pushing him away.

"I have a plan and I want you by my side." He said sternly.

"What is that?"

"I am taking over this tribe."

Phoenix thought for a moment about what this meant and she relized she was ok with this. All the times Magma told her to stand down and he waited when she begged him to get rid of Megatron, not to mention she could get rid of Elisa too.

"I love it."

Xxxxxxx

Megatron woke with a start and hurried outside gasping for air at the pain in his spark. He slumped over breathing hard as he felt a chill go through him. Something happened to Phoenix as he started to think about what it was.

Phoenix?

He called out, but didn't expect an answer, which he didn't get. The bond was silent…the bond was cold like…

Dark Energon!

His wide optics turned and looked over the base until he settled on Elisa. Prime was close to her side as she curled up around her sparklings. He couldn't even begin to imagine what a dark energon attack could do. He hurried over to Cyclonus and Galvatron.

"Galvatron wake up!" He hissed pushing the dragon. He growled from being disturbed from his sleep, but Megatron looked nervous and that got his attention. "I just had this pain in my spark from Phoenix. The bond has gone cold from Dark energon." He said seriously. Cyclonus' eyes went wide as he listened. "Do you think this Mecha is here?" He asked.

"We heard that Mecha did experiement with dark energon, but we never knew for certain." Galvatron answered.

"I think it's time we start moving. They already know we're here, we should have left after the first attack." Megatron said quickly going over to Prime. He woke Optimus and Ratchet up and explained the situation quickly. Soon everyone was up and moving and Elisa got upset at the cluster.

"Carrier, what's going on?" She said slightly frightened.

"Elisa we have to get moving." He said quickly.

Xxxxxx

Mecha moved quickly as Phoenix watched from the other side of the room. The tribe would be sleeping peacefully for a few moments. Mecha went to Rhodius first and the dragon was still asleep when purple fire claws went right into his chest. Magma roared in anger at the pain and charged at Mecha. He turned around and gave Magma a hard swipe with his metal claws that sent him right into the wall crashing hard and making everyone wake with a shout. Mecha looked down at Rhodius' twitching body and decided to put him out of his misery quickly and the fire in his spark went out making his body turn cold.

"Traitor!" Magma shouted as he went to charge again. Mecha let out fierce roar of defiance and when he was done a purple glow surrounded him making everyone cover their eyes. When it dimmed they looked and almost everyone backed away when they saw a Mecha had transformed. He turned pitch black and his mechanical arm was flesh again, but the metal in his wings remained. His eyes were a deep purple with noticeable fangs with his mouth glowing purple. Even Predator backed away as Mecha had gotten bigger.

"Wha-what are you?" Magma gasped. Mecha grabbed him and slammed him to the ground, slowly digging his fire claws into his spark making Magma squirm under his grip.

"I'm better than you." Mecha growled. Magma screamed as claws sunk into his spark and the cold just washed over him. As his vision faded he saw Phoenix walking up with a smile on her face.

"Now who wants to help me attack the autobots?" Mecha announced.

Xxxxxx

When they heard flapping wings Optimus and Ratchet acted fast and hurried Elisa to safety as the firing started. Elisa held all four sparklings in her arms hiding as fire lit up the sky. A large black dragon with a purple glow scared her the most as the sparklings trembled in her arms. She shouted and was flung to the ground when a heatray hit her back. She looked up to see Phoenix standing over her grinning.

"You're crazy." Elisa gasped. Phoenix only grinned and charged at Elisa going for the sparklings. A harsh tail whip slammed her into a broken wall making Phoenix groan in pain and aggravation. She shook the blow off and tackled Elisa as she pushed the sparklings out of the way. There was a lot of claws and biting until Phoenix grabbed at Elisa and slammed her into a wall. She hit her head and slumped over in a daze when a terrible screech rang out. Elisa looked up in alarm to see Phoenix digging her claws into Megatronous, who was bleeding. Elisa let out a scream of pure rage that made Megatron look to see what was going on.

Elisa bit hard as her sister's neck and dragged her away from the sparklings. Optimus started to run over to help but it was already too late. Megatronous screeched again as pincher claws grabbed him. Elisa looked up to see Nemesis grinned and laughed as a groundbridge opened and he started flying towards it.

"GIVE ME BACK MY SON!" Elisa screamed as she chased Nemesis right throught the bridge and disappeared as it closed behind them.