I know that was an evil cliffy. I couldn't help it! I do it often, sorry. Not even the death threats I received for one cliffy I did could stop me. Hehe.

So here's one angry femme. Did she hear Ratchet? We'll find out.

Somewhere in the halls

Elita had grabbed the biggest cannon her femme frame could carry. One powerful enough to blow a hole through a blast door if necessary. She wasn't going to use on Wheeljack. She was going to use it to scare the slag out of him so he'd come out of his hiding spot!

No one messes with Optimus like that and gets away with it! She didn't even like Ratchet throwing wrenches at her sparkmate. The throwing of objects at Optimus was her right alone as his bonded femme.

And how dare the others try to interfere when she went after Wheeljack!

That just really got Elita's energon boiling! She was so mad that she couldn't even think beyond her goal of getting her two hands on Wheeljack so she could kick the slag out of his aft.

Only that feeling abruptly changed when Elita ran through the crews' quarters of the base. Her anger faded almost instantly. Her spark felt constricted. She couldn't pin point the source of what made her suddenly change. She just came to a stop, looking at the weapon she was carrying.

"What am I doing?" she quietly asked, bowing her head, optics dimming slightly.

A long, weary sigh escaped her.

The answer was obvious - she was overreacting.

Being separated from Optimus for so many long years had affected her much more than she realized. How could such a long separation not have affected her so much? She had missed him physically, emotionally, and most importantly her spark had ached terribly to not feel his presence with in her regularly.

She overreacted because of all the worrying she did while separated from her bonded. Was he ok? Did his spark ache as badly as hers? Was he even still alive? That last one bothered her the most, kept her up a lot of nights as she stared at the stars wondering if he was seeing the same stars from so far away.

She overreacted because now that she had him back in her life, she didn't want anything to happen to him. She didn't want to risk losing him. She knew she wasn't as strong as him. She'd never be able to handle it if he were lost to her. She definitely knew her spark wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Elita, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Optimus is in trouble and he needs your help. This is not a prank or a ploy. I'm sure you heard me tell everyone to back off. Now, I need you to get to the Med Bay as quickly as possible. Acknowledge me please."

Elita shuddered, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. She could feel it…she was hurting Optimus. She didn't mean to. She would never intentionally hurt him this badly.

"Elita, please, your bonded sparkmate's life is in imminent danger. Acknowledge me please!"

Elita flinched upon hearing Ratchet yelling at her. That jolt was a kick in her aft. She knew what she had to do. She quickly flipped the safety switch on for the weapon and set it on the floor. Then she ran like she never ran before.

She had to get to Optimus.

"Elita, thank Primus!" Ratchet sighed with much relief when she hurried into the Med Bay.

He didn't hesitate to lift up Optimus, who was now snuggly wrapped in a blanket. His body temperature had dropped a couple of degrees because of the slower spark rate. Ratchet was just hoping it wasn't too late.

"Here, take hold of him."

"I can't," she wept, covering her face with a shaky hand. "I don't know how to hold a sparkling."

"It's not that hard at all," he insisted.

Elita looked uncertain. It was apparent she was apprehensive about sparklings. Only Optimus didn't have time for this.

"Elita, you need to reach out to Optimus or we could lose him," Ratchet explained. "His spark feels rejected. It's a rare occurrence among our kind. But there have been a few recorded cases of a parent rejecting their sparkling. In each instance the sparkling died. Their little sparks are so sensitive when they're so young, just like Optimus is now."

"Elita, I know the idea of being a mother frightens you," Magnus said gently, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Optimus has confided this to me. But he truly believes you'd be a wonderful mother if given the opportunity."

"He told you that?" she asked.

"Yes, he did."

"Elita, Optimus still loves you," Ratchet said. "That hasn't changed. You saw how excited he got when he saw you. Just return that love."

Elita nodded that she understood. Trembling arms reached out to take Optimus from Ratchet. It felt so awkward for her but with the CMOs guidance she got the sparkling in a comfortable, cradled position in her arms.

Ratchet wisely moved away, pulling Magnus with him in order to give the femme commander some space. There was nothing the two mechs could do. This was all Elita.

Dimmed sorrowful optics slowly shifted to look up at her. The small form was too relaxed in her arms. She could feel its life force fading.

"I will never let you go," she whispered, sending every ounce of love she could muster through their spark bond.

Optimus trembled. He was afraid to feel her anger again. He didn't' like it. But as she smiled down at him and a loving warmth spread through his chest. Her love for him. And he could hear her voice even though her lips weren't moving. He eagerly accepted her warm presence and on instinct reached back.

Elita smiled through her tears. Even as a sparkling, Optimus' spark was so powerful when he expressed his emotions to her. The pure, unconditional love he had for her was overwhelming. It was at that point her audio receptors heard a familiar, spark warming sound that she wasn't quite prepared for. She had no idea sparklings could do that!

"He's purring!" she said excitedly.

"I keep forgetting you weren't around when Bumblebee and the twins were sparklings," Ratchet chuckled, running a few scans as he moved closer.

What a relief! Optimus' spark rate was returning to normal and his body temperature was slowly rising. Ratchet felt like he could finally relax for the first time all morning!

"I'll get Wheeljack, I'm sure he's in need of medical attention," Magnus told Ratchet privately. It appeared Optimus was going to be ok. Now it was time for the others to be tended to. "And I'll inform the others they can stand down."

The CMO responded with a quick nod before focusing back on Optimus.

"Does he remember anything?" Elita asked with her optics locked on Optimus.

She found his optics were bright again as they took her in. She almost wanted to laugh. Optimus was a sparkling! Pfft, only Optimus could get into such trouble.

"Initial scan indicates his cerebral processor is functioning like that of a two month old sparkling. So I doubt he remembers us. And he only recognizes you because of your spark bond." Ratchet smirked, "He probably thinks of you as a mother right now, not his sparkmate."

The 'M' word.

Elita shuddered. She hated that word. Perhaps if her own mother had been more of a role model Elita might not have fretted over the issue so much.

Soft whimpers pulled her from her inner thoughts. Ratchet was right. Optimus was picking up on her sad thoughts. Tears filled his optics and his bottom lip trembled.

"Oh hey, don't cry," she cooed, nuzzling his face with her nose and pushing aside any negative feelings within her spark. "Shh, see all better now."

"Pfft! And you said you would never be a good mother," Ratchet smiled. "You seem to be doing just fine."

"But I'm not a mother," she said worriedly. "Optimus is still my sparkmate."

"Well, until Wheeljack figures out how to change Optimus back you're going to have to play the role of mom to him."

Elita frowned. She made sure to keep her guilt to herself.

"I'm so sorry for the mess I caused," she sincerely said to Ratchet. "I hope I didn't injure anyone too badly."

"I'll live. So will the others. Besides, it was good to get everyone's spark rate going like that with no Decepticon activity lately. I'm sure even right now Ironhide and Chromia are off to their quarters for some alone time. They love that kind of stuff, gets their interfaces system revving. Crazy fraggers!"

(beep!)

Optimus started wiggling around. He wanted down. He was feeling much better now that the pretty red femme wasn't mad anymore!

"What's he doing?"

"He just wants down," Ratchet answered. "All his systems are running normal now. Why don't you take him to your quarters and I'll drop by in a little while to see how you're doing."

Up Next: Elita and Optimus.