"I'll take him from you. You'll watch his spark chamber be ripped from his chest and his optics dim to nothing. You'll watch him die and be unable to help him. There's nothing you can do."

"Sire? Sire! Don't leave me! Sire!"

"I told you… I told you to be value your time with him. It's over… You've lost him."

"Prime! Be careful!"

"Optimus, get up! Optimus!"

"You're going to die… Don't lose your son yet."

Optimus sat up in alarm and looked around, finding the room dark and silent. He sighed and tried to calm down. A set of soft blue optics flicked on in the darkness and he reached out to where Bumblebee was on the berth only for his servo to brush the berth itself. It hiked up his concern further and he rushed to his pedes, feeling absolute blind terror creep into his spark to hold it hostage.

Had he failed Elita? Had he failed Bumblebee himself?

He shook the thought from his processor and reasoned that Bumblebee had probably just wandered off. The barracks had practically emptied from the time he'd fallen into recharge and the time he'd woken up. He didn't even know when he had.

"Optimus Prime, sir?" a timid voice called. Optimus turned to face the bot. He recognized the mech, for his frame type was quite similar to Prowl's, just with slight differences like the gap in ages and their colour schemes. He had spent some time with Prowl's family, and had met Smokescreen and Bluestreak, the Praxion's younger brothers.

"Yes Bluestreak?" he asked. The young mech perked up at the fact his Prime had remembered his name.

"I thought you'd be worried about where your little sparkling is. Prowl told me his name is Bumblebee. Is that right, sir? The name is so cute! Did you come up with it, or did Elita? Oh, Prowl told me not to bring Elita up around you. He said it was rude. I don't want to offend you. Oh I'm sorry sir!" Bluestreak rambled on. Optimus gently put a servo on his shoulder, stopping the mech from continuing.

"I am worried about where he is. His name is Bumblebee, and that was Elita's choice. You didn't offend me. Do you know where he is?"

"Yes! He was wandering around the barracks so I commed Prowl. He commed Jazz, so Jazz came and got him. He wanted me to tell him if you woke up," Bluestreak replied. Optimus visibly relaxed, and dropped his servo.

"Thank you. If you don't mind, I have a sparkling I need to retrieve."

"Yes sir, understood sir!"

Optimus chuckled as he gathered his datapads and left the barracks behind.

Bumblebee gave a delighted squeal when Jazz's office door opened to reveal his sire. He reached up towards the tall mech, wanting badly to be picked up. Jazz had been playing with the sparkling to distract him while Optimus slept. Of course, no one, not even Jazz or Ironhide, could get such a pleasant reaction from Bumblebee as Optimus could.

"There you are…" Optimus mumbled softly as he picked his sparkling up. "Thank you for watching him Jazz. I was worried."

"Nah, it's no big deal. He's mah little sparklet," Jazz replied with a grin. He stood and stroked Bumblebee's helm gently, pulling a happy purr from the young mech. "Almost a vorn now, ain't he?"

"A few deca-cycles, away from his first full vorn, yes." Optimus said. He settled Bumblebee close to his spark and looked down at Jazz, a suspicious expression crossing his face plates. "Why? Do you have something planned?"

"No, no, I'm just wonderin'. I don't think you could handle doin' somethin' big for 'Bee. I wasn't plannin' anythin' for him. We're in a war after all. How're ya holdin' up?" he asked. Optimus had forgotten that nearly a vorn had passed since he'd lost Elita. The pain hadn't eased over time, but he had been able to keep himself distracted from it thanks to Bumblebee and the work he had to do. The nightmares were still quite frequent, and on several occasions he had been tempted to ask either Ironhide or Ratchet to move in again, but didn't since he knew it was asking too much. They both had their own problems they had to deal with without him adding to it.

"I could be worse…" Optimus finally replied. "But I could also be better. Keeping out of the war for the time being has helped."

"You could always take a vacation if ya wanted."

"No. I've taken enough time off. It's unfair that I'm not there to fight my own brother while I continue to ask my fellow Autobots to take my place."

"Prime, you have a sparklin' to take care of! It ain't 'unfair'! If anyone needs time off, it's you!"

"I've taken my time off. This isn't up for discussion. Ratchet has agreed with me. I'm fine to continue working. In fact, if I don't work, I'm more likely to fall ill again," Optimus stated. His friend just gave up, taking comfort in the fact that his Prime was safe, fairly happy, and looking well rested.

"I have somethin' for 'Bee," he said suddenly. He started to search his desk. "From 'Hide."

"Why wouldn't he give it to Bumblebee himself once he returns?" Optimus mused. Jazz glanced up and gave a subtle shrug.

"Somethin' about a bad feelin'," he replied. Optimus tensed, his spark suddenly dropping into his pedes. The last time someone he cared about had said that, it didn't end well.

"Orion, why don't you stay? I have a bad feeling about this jour…" Elita whispered in Optimus' audio. He felt her place a delicate servo on his shoulder from behind. He looked up from the datapad he had been reading.

"I must go sweetspark. The gathering of delegates cannot be ignored. We need to keep the peace between the cities, or we will go to war. I don't want to risk that," he said just as softly. She sighed and pulled away, her servo moving to rest on her swollen chestplates, absently tapping out a rhythm on the smooth metal. The beat was tapped back to her from their unborn sparkling, making a sad smile pull at her mouth. Slowly, arms were wrapped around her chassis and she leaned into his touch.

"Something is going to go wrong Orion. Please, stay."

"I would. I would do anything for you. But this is for your protection as well as many other civilians. Stay here and I will return as soon as I can," he said. She turned in his arms to kiss him lovingly.

When she pulled away she stated, "Stay safe my love. You're a very important mech."

"For you," he replied. He pulled away slowly, tapping her chest gently. He gathered the datapads he needed and subspaced them. He kissed her helm gently.

"I think I'll lie down while you're gone…" she said suddenly. Optimus looked down at her in concern. Lately, she had begun to feel ill again and took to spend her time in their berth rather than up and about. She would get sick and be miserable, while Optimus could do nothing to help her. She had resisted his every attempt at getting her to see Ratchet. Seeing the look on his face, she smiled to dispel his unease. "If I feel any worse, I'll comm you or go straight to Ratchet."

"Should I invite Chromia over for you?"

"Please…" Elita replied. He did as told and commed the femme, getting the response that she'd be over as soon as Ironhide left.

"I'll be back soon. I love you, dearest," he said. He left their home, heading for the local transport to go to the meeting. Halfway to his first destination, he realized that he'd forgotten an important datapad. He turned back.

The house was silent when Optimus returned, besides his own quiet movements. Concerns raised; Optimus moved further inside, softly calling for Elita as he did so. There was no reply, and he began to panic. That was when he caught sight of her.

Elita was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. Energon dribbled from her mouth, slowly pooling on the ground. There were no signs of injury anywhere on her frame, but she was quite clearly in statis. That was when Optimus realized something was horribly, horribly wrong.

"Optimus. Optimus!" Jazz called frantically, trying to pull his friend from whatever crushing memory he was lost in. When Optimus did finally snap back into reality, he clawed at his chest for a moment with his free servo until Jazz forced his arm down. "Easy… It's okay… Calm down…"

"J-Jazz?" Optimus questioned weakly, his spark twisting painfully as it reached out to the broken bond. Bumblebee's fear tainted his spark further, pushing Optimus further over the edge. He was trying, but failing…

"Yeah. It's okay, Prime. Everything's fine."

"I can't… I can't do this," Optimus whispered in misery. Jazz winced and put his servo on Optimus' arm, only to wince again when the other pulled away. "I need to find out where Ironhide is. I need to be there."

"Ya don't."

"What?"

"While you were lost in your thoughts, I got a comm. They're back," Jazz stated. Once again, Optimus' spark fell.