I'm going to try and make the chapters longer from now on, so it may take a while for an update.
Present
"THEY WENT WHERE?"
Jack covered his ears as he heard Arcee shriek. Optimus had just finished telling the femme what had happened to Starscream and Ratchet, and she was not impressed. Starscream hadn't even been back a day and he was gone already. Jack looked over at Raf, who watched as Arcee rushed over to the ground bridge controls, and began typing in the last coordinates. Bumblebee grabbed her hands and pulled her away, "Bumblebee! Let me go!" she demanded, pounding her fists against his chest plating. The scout shook his helm. Optimus walked over to her.
"Arcee, you need to calm down."
"Calm down? You're telling me to calm down? The father of my twins is gone back in time, along with the mech who is supposed to deliver them! How can you expect..." Arcee trailed off, and began swaying. Bumblebee placed his arm around her, and lead her to the examination table, "I don't feel good," Optimus knelt down and looked into her optics.
"You need energon," he said, and Bulkhead brought over a cube. Arcee took it and began slowly drinking it, "Arcee, you can't afford to stress out. It won't be good for the twins," She sighed, and looked at him.
"Please tell me you'll find a way to get them back," she said softly. Optimus nodded his helm, and stood up.
"Bulkhead, go back to the area where the time machine went off, and bring back the machine. We will try and fix it," Bulkhead nodded, and Bumblebee activated the space bridge. Bulkhead drove through, and Miko looked at Optimus.
"Ratchet and Starscream went back in time and no one bothered to inform me?" she asked, obviously disappointed she missed the fight. Jack shook his head, and pulled out his phone.
"I'm going to call my mom. We need all the help we can get."
Bulkhead looked at the wreck of the time machine, and whistled, "Optimus, the machine is basically fried. You still want me to bring it back?"
"Yes Bulkhead. If we can fix it we can get Starscream and Ratchet back."
Bulkhead bent down, scooping all the parts into his arms. He grunted, and stood up. The ground bridge opened, and he walked through. Breakdown walked out from behind a boulder, and heard a groan. He spotted Knock Out, the medic just waking up. He walked over to him and bent down. Knock Out rubbed his helm, "Where is that Seeker? I'm gonna tear him a new aft!" he snarled, pulling himself up.
"Back in time," Breakdown said. Knock Out looked at him, "Starscream and the medic went through the time bridge," Megatron pushed himself off the ground. His optics narrowed at this statement, "And Bulkhead just took the time machine. I think the Autobots are going to try and fix it," Megatron growled, and the two turned around.
"Then we'll just have to get it back from them, won't we?" he growled, limping over to them, "I will not let Starscream get in the way of my plans again. I will kill Optimus in the past and the Decepticons will win the war! Now, get us back to the Nemesis II and find the location of the Autobot base!"
Bulkhead walked through the bridge, and dropped the parts on the ground. June was over by Arcee, her voice low so the others couldn't hear her. Jack, Raf and Miko walked over to the machine, "This...is it?" Jack asked, picking up a panel.
"It looks a lot better when it's built," Bulkhead said, as Optimus and Bumblebee walked over.
"Starscream would be able to build it," Arcee piped up. June chuckled, and handed her another cube of energon.
"You need to stay hydrated Arcee. You're almost five months along."
"Hopefully we'll get Ratchet and Starscream back before your due date," Miko said, bending down. She picked up a wire, "This is like a big puzzle," Raf was staring at the pieces.
"Optimus, is there anyway we could get a hold of the schematics Starscream drew?" he asked, looking up, "Cause I think if we had them we would be able to make it exactly as it was," Optimus looked at Bumblebee who was going through the ground bridge coordinates. Jack walked over and held out the piece of paper. Arcee was silent, and June placed a hand on her knee joint.
"Arcee, you need to be strong. For the twins," she said softly, "And you have to believe that Starscream and Ratchet are going to be fine. They have each other," Arcee looked up at her, and June say tears running down her facial plating. She placed her hand in the femme's, and Arcee closed it, "He's going to be fine. He's probably worried sick about you, and you know he wants to be here, and he would be. But Megatron," At this point, everyone was turned to her, "Megatron did this, and he's the one causing you pain. You have to think about that, but also think about how Starscream stopped him from getting through and proceeding with his plan. They're going to find a way to get back. If, God forbid, they run into Starscream from the past, maybe he could help them. He's a scientist, he could build another time machine and send them forward."
"June is right Arcee," Optimus said, "We have to believe that they will get back, and we have to help," The ground bridge activated behind them, and Bulkhead and Miko went through, "Miko will take pictures of the schematics and we will piece them together. Hopefully, we can rebuild the machine and get them back," He walked over to her, and knelt down. Optimus took her other hand, and closed it around hers, "I swear on my spark we will get them back," Arcee smiled a bit, and wiped her optics.
"Thanks guys," she cycled air, "If you don't mind, I'm going to go visit Cliff for a bit," she said, standing up, and made her way towards the ground bridge to get transported up there. Once she was gone, June turned to Optimus.
"You're not going to like what I'm going to say," she said, crossing her arms. Optimus waited, "I think Arcee is going to go into premature labor," Optimus frowned, "It means that she'll give birth early. She's showing signs, and it's most likely from stress. She needs to be kept away from anything stressful, and we need to lower her stress levels as well. If not, she could lose the twins, and we don't want that."
"We need to monitor her very closely then. Arcee is known to be...irrational," Optimus said, thinking about her up visiting Cliffjumper. June nodded.
"We want Ratchet here when she is ready to give birth. I don't know how your kind gives birth," she said, leaning back on the table, "But I'll go through Ratchet's files with Raf's help to try and understand. In the mean time, make sure Arcee drinks enough energon, and also that she gets plenty of rest. The last thing we want is for her to loose the twins."