More sparkling fluff! Jazz steals the show in my belief here. Please enjoy!

Three days later…late afternoon

Elita sat back on the couch in the recreation room, the only room big enough for Dinobot and sparklings to play, watching Optimus having fun with Jazz, Ironhide, and Grimlock who finally agreed to stay in his robotic form while with the sparklings. While he would never intentionally step on the sparklings, everyone felt it'd be safer if he didn't go bouncing around in his Dino-mode. Plus, he was easier to control in his robot mode.

Prowl and Magnus had taken all the high grade out, just in case Optimus took it upon himself to help himself to some. They had a scare yesterday when he got hold of a canister and managed to get it open. Then he cried for over an hour after it was yanked from his hands just before he put it to his mouth. No one, not even Grimlock could get him to stop crying. Prowl had to recall Elita from the mission he sent her and Bumblebee on. It wasn't good for a sparkling to cry for so long.

Other than that, the past three days have been peaceful. The Autobots had settled into a nice routine which included sparkling time. The sparklings had fun with each of their sparking sitters, including Ratchet who took turn watching them. Only Wheeljack and Skyfire haven't spent time with the sparklings but then they've been busy trying to correct the situation.

Overall, everyone was quite content and happy. Both Prowl and Chromia were thoroughly enjoying being surrogate parents. Elita was too but she was very much looking forward to this sparkling time as the real thing with hers and Optimus' sparkling or sparklings.

"No Jazz! Mine!" Optimus yelled clutching the toy bot Bee gave him tight against his chest.

"Please?" Jazz asked, holding his little hands out.

Optimus pushed Jazz's hands away, shaking his head emphatically.

"Mine!" Ironhide exclaimed, yanking the toy from Optimus.

"Give it!" Optimus cried, gabbing hold of the toy bot's leg.

"Mine!" Jazz giggled grabbing hold of the bot's other leg.

Optimus growled at them both, pulling as hard as he could. At the same time Ironhide and Jazz were pulling in their directions. Well, Jazz was actually getting pulled and dragged back and forth. He didn't have Optimus' or Ironhide's strength. But he was having fun none the less.

"Optimus, that not very nice. Supposed to share," Grimlock said.

"NO! MINE!" the little mech shouted.

"Possessive, isn't he?" Chromia smiled, from her seat near Elita.

"Well, he's always been very protective of those he cares about," the femme commander responded. "So I guess he has to be a bit possessive."

"GIVE IT!" Optimus screamed and yanked as hard as he could.

The toy ended up breaking in the process. Optimus went tumbling over backwards with only a leg in his hand. Elita quickly got to her feet as Optimus sat there, staring at the leg in his hands. She knew this wasn't going to be good. And it wasn't. She winced as Optimus wailed loudly.

"I think someone is cranky and needs a recharge nap," she grinned picking up Optimus.

He only cried like this when he was tired. Kind of like the mature Optimus she loved. He wouldn't exactly cry but he'd get cranky if he was overdue for a much needed recharge. But he rarely let anyone see it, just her. Around her he could always be himself.

Optimus responded to her in his sparkling talk while holding up the leg as she walked back to the couch to sit down.

"Well, it was your own fault. But I think we can get Wheeljack to fix it," she smiled at him. "Ok?"

He nodded his head, hiccupping and crying.

"Oppy, here," Jazz said with a concerned expression, holding the remains of the toy up.

Elita giggled. Jazz couldn't get the 't' sound in Optimus' name and came up with his own. So like the Jazz they all knew and loved.

"Jazz is just too cute," Chormia chuckled softly. "Too bad he and Prowl can't procreate. That'd be one interesting sparkling."

"Yes it would. Thank you, Jazz. That was very kind of you," Elita smiled, retrieving the toy. She handed it to Optimus. "What do you say to Jazz?"

"Thanks," he sighed, hugging the toy bot and leg in his arms.

Jazz flashed his smile then crawled back to where Hide was playing. Hide immediately pancaked Jazz making the little silver mech giggle. The two wrestled around with Grimlock keeping his optics on them. He always made sure Jazz didn't get crushed too often. He seemed to understand that the tiny bot sometimes needed help.

"What's up everyone?" Sunny asked merrily as he, his brother and Bumblebee walked in. He immediately noticed the yawning sparkling curled up beside Elita on the couch. "Oh, nap time?"

She nodded, smiling, her optics on Optimus as he slowly drifted off into recharge.

Ironhide spotted his favorite playmate, other than Grimlock, and immediately barreled his way over. Jazz beeped for him to come back; he wasn't done playing! It was a funny thing when Ironhide or Optimus would flatten Jazz. It was down right cute and adorable when Jazz tried to pancake one of them as he always bounced right off them.

But Jazz was never discouraged. He rolled back onto his hands and knees and crawled right up onto Ironhide's head. Even though Jazz was tiny, Hide's neck couldn't support the added weight and his face smashed into the ground and Jazz tumbled off…giggling.

"Hide, no!" Sunny snapped when Hide opened his mouth to bite Jazz. The black sparkling sat down and did as he was told. He stuck his bottom lip out, brooding. "No biting…unless it's your sparkmate."

"Sunny!"

"Sorry, Chromia, I couldn't resist that line. Not like we've seen it…or anything. The biting I mean."

The femme's optics narrowed and flashed at him. Fraggin pervs!

"Now's a good time to shut up, Sunny," Sides said, pulling his twin along towards the table, both keeping an optic on Chromia. One never knew when she'd pull out her gun.

"You two having fun?" Bumblebee asked, kneeling down before the sparklings.

Ironhide blew a raspberry at Bee, making everyone laugh.

"Now he's going to pout," Chromia laughed as Hide crawled over and sat by Grimlock.

Jazz answered Bee with sparkling talk telling him all about what happened. Bumblebee, not knowing a word except 'Oppy', politely listened and nodded his head every so often. Whatever the little mech was talking about he was very animated about it with his hands moving about in the air. Then in midsentence he spotted Prowl who walked in with Magnus. Both mechs were deep in discussion about the base's security.

"Prowl!" Jazz cheered, reaching up with grabby hands.

"We can talk about it later," Magnus chuckled, shaking his head, seeing how Prowl's optics just lit up upon seeing how happy Jazz was to see him.

"You know, Prowl," Sunny started, as the black and white mech picked up Jazz. "You're ruining your reputation. I've never seen you smile so much."

Prowl shot him a deadpan look. The one Sunny usually gets just before getting dragged by his audio receptor to the brig.

"Everyone!Guesswhat!Guesswhat!" Blurr shouted excitedly from the doorway. "Th…"

WHAM!

Skyfire, Wheeljack and Ratchet all slammed into Blurr, sending the young mech crashing to the floor.

"Oh slag!" Skyfire winced.

"Frag! Sorry Blurr," Ratchet added. "We thought you would have told them by now."

"What's all the excitement about?" Magnus asked, helping Blurr up to his feet. "Tell us what?"

"We did it!" Jack beamed proudly. "We built a machine that will turn Optimus, Ironhide, and Jazz back to their mature selves!"

The room went dead silent.

The only sound was a soft warble from Jazz who didn't understand why Prowl was suddenly so sad. The black and white mech simply pulled Jazz a bit closer to his chassis. Even Chromia looked exceedingly depressed as she moved to pick up Ironhide. She knew she may never get the chance to be a mother.

It was not the reaction Wheeljack had been expecting. After all he'd worked his aft off, nearly got blown up, lost his legs, and hadn't recharged in two days! It ate at his spark that he had accidentally done this to Optimus. Even Ironhide and Jazz's accidents bothered him to the core and he'd wished he'd never seen the damn device. But still, he was expecting his efforts to be rewarded in some way.

"I'll take Optimus first," Elita said, getting to her feet with the recharging sparkling in her arms. "We do need him back. But I see no reason why Chromia and Prowl can't wait a little while longer."

"Of course," Skyfire smiled. He may have been locked in a lab for three days but he could understand why they seemed hesitant. Sparklings were a joy and a gift to have on the base. "The device is there whenever you're ready."

"Can…can we say goodbye to Optimus?" Bumblebee asked, looking a bit distraught. He really enjoyed being a sparkling sitter.

"It's not really goodbye, he'll be back," Ratchet pointed out.

"True but having sparklings on a base again has been...spark-lifting," Magnus said. "None of us have had that since Bumblebee and the twins were sparklings. It was nice to enjoy it for a short time and it's difficult to let it go."

"But we won't have to let go," Sunny pointed out. "Elita's gonna be sparking soon after she and Optimus get busy. We'll have a sparkling or two…or three running around the base soon enough."

"Sunny's right…for once," Prowl sighed. Not even Elita gave the young mech lip about his jibe. "But I would like some more time…I'll never get this chance again."

"Same with me," Chromia said, tears in her optics. "Hide was adamant about not having sparklings. So I'm going to enjoy this for a little while longer."

"I think now would be the best time, while he's recharging," Elita insisted. In truth, she was anxious to have Optimus back to himself. She'd been longing to apologize to him ever since this thing began. "So, say a quick goodbye if you want to."

Wheeljack was a little surprised but at last understood as he watched them say goodbye to sparkling Optimus. He wasn't immune either. He did enjoy those precious few moments with Optimus. It did remind him of when Bumblebee had often snuck into his lab to wreak havoc.

"Do you understand, Grimlock?" Magnus asked, patting the big guy on the shoulder. "Wheeljack and Skyfire are going to fix Optimus."

"Optimus not broken! No need to fix!"

"Optimus is a mature mech," Elita said firmly. "He should be returned to his original state. We need him that way. He's our leader. He cannot fight Megatron this way."

"Optimus strong leader."

"Yes, but only when he's mature. We need our leader back. Understand?"

Grimlock nodded to Elita.

"Let's go…before he wakes up," the femme commander ordered.

Magnus went along with her, Jack, Skyfire, and Ratchet. He figured it was his place to be there to brief his leader. Plus, he was curious how much of this experience Optimus might remember and wanted to be there.

"Set him on that table there," Wheeljack indicated. "Try to lay him on his back."

Elita did as instructed, laying Optimus on a med-like berth in the middle of the lab. A trembling hand caressed his head affectionately. She truly enjoyed being a surrogate mother to him and was going to miss him like this. Only her desires to be a real mother drove her to follow through with this.

"We're going to put the shield up now, ok?" Skyfire asked as the femme joined them at the computer console. "It's to protect us from the energy used to change Optimus back."

"Proceed."

"First they'll change him and then they'll upload his memories from his mature self," Ratchet spoke softly to her.

"Will he remember any of his time as a sparkling?" she asked.

"We have no idea," Wheeljack answered, his hands playing across the computer console. "The simulations couldn't tell us that. Uploading his original memories will either overwrite the ones he has now or incorporate them."

"We'll find out once he wakes," Magnus said confidently.

"Energy levels at max, Skyfire," Wheeljack announced. "We're ready."

"Putting the shield up," the scientist said and instantly a soft blue force shield dropped from the ceiling, surrounding the bed Optimus lay on. "There will be a series of blinding lights so you may want to protect your optics."

"Stage one in progress," Jack said, never taking his optics on the computer monitor. The flash of white light didn't bother him as he wasn't looking directly at it. "Stage one complete. His systems have been successfully scanned. Proceeding with stage two."

Elita and Magnus watched in amazement. After each flash of light, Optimus' form was bigger than the last. He was literally growing before their very optics.

"Powering down the energy levels. He's reached his mature specifications," Wheeljack told them all.

"Lowering the shield," Skyfire said and the shield disappeared in an instant.

Ratchet, knowing what to do, moved over and quickly scanned Optimus' systems. Spark rate normal. Energon flow normal. All internal systems within normal functioning parameters.

"All systems are functioning properly," Ratchet told them without taking his optics from Optimus. "Proceed with the memory upload. I'll continue to monitor his CPU for any fluctuations."

"Any sudden spikes and we have to stop the process," Wheeljack told Skyfire.

"Got it, proceeding with the upload."

Magnus rested a reassuring hand on Elita's shoulder. She was looking rather tense. As was Magnus, he was afraid for his friend. They couldn't afford to lose Optimus now.

"Ten percent downloaded," Skyfire announced.

"CPU still functioning within normal limits," Ratchet announced.

"Forty percent."

Elita found herself clinging on tightly to Magnus' hand.

"Sixty-five percent."

"No spikes of any kind so far," Jack stated.

So far?! Were they trying to drive Elita nuts?!

"Ninety percent!"

"Ow!" Magnus grunted to himself. Elita was squeezing the life out of his fragging hand!

"Sorry," she winced, letting go.

"One hundre…"

Wheeljack's monitor suddenly blew out interrupting Skyfire. Sparks flew and the power in the room fluctuated slightly. After a few anxious moments the dimmed lights came back on to full power.

Elita immediately noticed the extremely worried look on Ratchet's face.

"What is it? What's wrong with Optimus?" she asked, hurrying to Optimus' side.

"I don't know…his CPU…it just went offline," Ratchet answered.

Oh yeah, I'm bad! Take that! I needed another cliffy in the story.