As Ironhide brought himself out of recharge, he found the other side of the berth empty. Still groggy, he thought for a moment about where Chromia could've been before reality set in. Chromia's spark had gone out. Along with their unborn sparkling.

So who had been in the berth with him? Optimus, Ironhide realized. The Autobot Commander had freaked out at something and Sideswipe had called. But where was Optimus?

The blanket was pushed away as Ironhide sat up. He tried to block the images of Chromia that his processor forced upon him. His spark ached, and waking up was a battle that he hated to face. But recharge was riddled with nightmares brought on by the broken bond. He was getting used to the pain that it brought, but he was sure that he would never get used to the error messages, the images, or the hope of seeing her again. But thankfully he wasn't dealing with it to such a severe degree that Optimus had to.

The fact that he wasn't ill or injured when he lost his sparkmate was the main reason that he didn't feel sick and weak all the time. His spark had been strong then. This meant that the feeling of being sick to his tank wasn't constant. He was aware of the fact that from time to time, Optimus still got that feeling. Ironhide himself did too.

He was startled from his thoughts by a crashing sound followed by voices and crying. He dragged himself to his pedes and started into the hallway.

As soon as he was in the main room, he caught sight of Sunstreaker who was covered in Energon. The stuff was just dripping off of him. Its blue colour showed Ironhide it was just regular. Ironhide sighed but couldn't help but wonder where Optimus was.

"It's all your fault!" Sunstreaker roared. He shook his servos, dislodging more Energon that stained the ground.

"No its not!" Sideswipe yelled.

"Sideswipe! Sunstreaker!" Optimus' voice made the twins, and Ironhide, jump. The Autobot leader appeared a moment later, his armour had areas coated with Energon as well. "Stop. It doesn't matter who deserves the blame." He shifted Bumblebee into a more comfortable position. The yellow sparkling was wailing as loud as he could. Ironhide was slightly relieved to see that Bumblebee was still completely yellow.

"What happened to you?" Ironhide asked. Optimus shot a slight glare at him.

"A prank. Could you land a servo please? Sunstreaker and I need to get cleaned up. No one has actually managed to refuel unfortunately," Optimus said. Ironhide gave an amused look before walking over and relieving Optimus of the sparkling. Taking that as Ironhide's acceptance, Optimus picked Sunstreaker up and headed towards the wash racks just down the hall.

Sunstreaker huffed in annoyance when Optimus placed him by the door after shutting it. "Let it go Sunstreaker," Optimus said. The yellow youngling glanced at him but returned to trying to burn a hole in the floor. "You'll be back to being bright yellow again in a few klicks."

"That's a few klicks too long. It was Sideswipe's idea! It was his fraggin' fault!" Sunstreaker shouted. He fell silent when Optimus glared at him.

"Watch your language. I don't care that it was Sideswipe's idea. Can you please not fight for the rest of the jour? Please?"

"Fine," Sunstreaker growled. The cleaning fluid began to fill the basin that was used for washing younger bots. "I can wash myself ya know."

"In. Now," Optimus stated. Not wanting to fully mess with the Autobot leader, Sunstreaker approached and allowed Optimus to pick him up and place him in the liquid. He relaxed almost instantly at the warmth the fluid provided. "I'm sure you can. But I want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

Optimus reached for a cloth and dipped in the liquid before rubbing it over Sunstreaker's helm. Blue began to stain the cloth as the Energon was wiped away. Sunstreaker couldn't help but relax further as Optimus helped clean him. It wasn't long before Sunstreaker was removed from the basin and Optimus drained the cleaning fluid. The youngling was handed a towel just before Optimus started a shower for himself. As soon as Optimus was finished, they headed back to the main room.

Bumblebee was upset about something, and on the verge of crying while Sideswipe was sitting with his arms crossed. Ironhide was grumbling something so softly that neither of the approaching Autobots could hear. Nevertheless, he wasn't paying attention to the point that was Optimus placed a servo on his shoulder; he nearly jumped out of his armour. It earned a bubbly giggle from Bumblebee, a chuckle from his sire, and full out laughs from the twins. He shot a glare at Optimus who just raised his servos in defense.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Optimus said. He walked past and pulled Bumblebee into his arms. "What happened?"

"The sla-"

"Ironhide," Optimus practically growled.

"The youngling decided that listening to me was a bad idea," Ironhide stated. Optimus just sighed.

"We're not having a good morning," Optimus said. "Did anyone get any Energon?"

"No."

"Fine. Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, can you play with Bumblebee for me?" Optimus asked. When the twins nodded, he opened the playpen for them to get to the toys inside. He put Bumblebee down just outside of it before turning to Ironhide. The black mech followed as Optimus headed out into the main room to get Energon for everyone currently at his house.

"Care to tell me about what frightened you?" Ironhide asked. Optimus shook his helm.

"It's nothing. I promise. Thank you for staying the night. And trying to watch the younglings," Optimus joked. He smiled when Ironhide shoved him.

"Hey, at least I didn't get myself covered in Energon."

"It was hard to avoid when I was trying to stop Sunstreaker from dumping both himself and Bumblebee onto the floor," Optimus said. Ironhide rolled his optics.

The rest of the day passed without incident. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker played with Bumblebee while Optimus and Ironhide either argued or joined in. Ratchet showed up later and took the twins. Ironhide left afterwards and Optimus and Bumblebee had their home to themselves again.

Bumblebee looked up at his sire with bright barrier free optics and a smile that made Optimus' spark melt. The sparkling gave a chirp as Optimus sat down beside him. "I love you Bumblebee. Now, I don't regret anything. You least of all."