I hope you read A Daughter's Gift. There's a scene in this chapter with Optimus and Elita involving the mother's day present Kacey gave Elita. You're not really going to know what the gift is unless you read it.

a/n: Hope you have your weapon of choice handy. Some violence and harsh language.

Transformer Movie News: Transformers 2 has begun shooting! SWEET!! Keep your fingers crossed for Phoenix, the ultimate Magnus fan-femme, as she wants to see the giant mech in the film. I'm just hoping for a better Optimus vs. Megatron fight where Optimus doesn't look like such a fraggin wimp! Oh yeah, for those who didn't know Megs is coming back.

Spielman

The ride from Northern Washington to Colorado Springs and my secret lab had only one, nearly disastrous, incident. At first I thought Hank drove into another truck when it rocked violently. Then I heard the loud bang from the cargo hold.

So of course, I ordered Hank to stop the truck. I couldn't risk losing my prize. And in my haste, when we exited the cab, I dropped my pulse disruptor unaware that the fall had changed the output frequency.

Needless to say, I was rather shocked and impressed at the pain it had caused. I had no idea that was even possible. Yet, I didn't have time to dwell on it. We needed to incapacitate the cargo, freeze it even more, and get it to my lab as quickly as possible before it decided to wake up again.

Since then, two exhausting days had passed without any surprises.

In those two days I was able to get the lab ready for its new occupant. I basically gave each of my security men a payoff for their help and to keep them quiet. At the same time it was made quite clear that their lives would be a living hell if they revealed any information about the abduction or the location of my lab.

The threat appeared to work. Not one of them dared to defy me for not one of them would look me in the eye when I gave them the payoff. Good. At this point anything goes.

I was well aware that I had crossed the line when I took Kacey. I can't go and take any of it back, not that I'd want to. It was best to take precautions as I moved forward with my research, my goal. I was so close now! I wasn't going to let anything get in my way.

Not even my own tiredness was going to stop me right now. I know I should at least sleep for a few hours but I'm anxious, eager to learn what I can. I was especially curious as to why my prized specimen woke up when I had the temperature settings exactly as we had them for NBE-1.

"Ah, no wonder you woke up when you did," I mused, as I adjusted the microscope's strength. "You're metal alloy is different from NBE-1. It's denser and obviously seems able to resistant extreme cold more. I'll have to do more tests to confirm that and see how resistant it is to heat as well."

While sipping some more coffee I glanced over at the monitor that displayed a close up photo of a sample from NBE-1 for confirmation. The metallic alloy of Kacey definitely had a different cell structure than that of NBE-1. And it had something else too. I quickly looked back through the microscope again.

"Wow, this is totally unbelievable. Organic cells structure!"

I focused the microscope to get a clearer image. The cells definitely had characteristics of organic cell structures even if a bit different from those on Earth. However, these same cells were inert in NBE-1which was why I never noticed them before.

"Hmm, that must be what enables you to grow. I was wondering how metal could grow. Then once mature…"

"The tools and instruments you have requested are ready, creator."

"Excellent, head to the holding chamber and I'll meet you there in a few minutes," I told RX-134 without taking my eyes off the alloy sample.

While this discovery was indeed exciting, it was irrelevant to my work. As far as I knew no metal on Earth had such components to enable it to grow. And I did not need for my creation to grow physically. I needed it to grow mentally. And to do that further examination of the subject central processor unit was required.

"Your um…guest has been strapped down with those special bindings of yours," Hank told me as I approached the chambers.

"Its core temperature is still below 123 Kelvin?" I asked peering through the thick paned plexiglass window.

"Uh, that's what the read out says on the door panel. Room temperature continues to slowly rise per your instructions. My guys continue to douse it with the liquid nitrogen."

"Thank you Hank. I'll no longer need so many of your men in my lab. Those in the chamber can leave too. I'll only need one to remain on guard to monitor the specimen when I'm not studying it. Otherwise I'm to be left alone. I do however want you to double the security at the surface. Bring in whatever artillery you deem necessary."

"Of course, Doctor. So…you plan on waking it up? Isn't that going to be dangerous?"

"No. As I discovered on accident my pulse disrupter when emitting energy at the wrong frequency inflicts pain. I have modified it, linking it to the bindings. Throw this switch to send an energy discharge to the bindings. It will not incapacitate the subject but will inflict pain upon it. And I can vary the intensity of the pain by adjusting the energy out put. These things experience pain as we do and I suspect they don't like it any more than we do. As back up, if the subject breaks its bindings the entire chamber is rigged to disperse a charge as well. Now, if you excuse me I have work to do."

Not wasting anymore time, I quickly put on my thermal suit to protect me from the freezing temperatures within the chamber. I was anxious to get started and didn't want to wait for the temperature to rise to the desired level. I did make RX-134 wait outside until the temperature reached a suitable level for it to continue functioning.

I ordered Hank to remain after his men left. I needed someone to monitor the core temperature of the mechanism. Since I was inside the chamber I couldn't keep an eye on it myself.

Gain access to the CPU was going to take all of my concentration. And this time there was no one to stop me from disassembling any part of the specimen I deemed necessary. The trick was finding the right….

"Ah, found it," I mumbled to myself picking up the pry bar.

From experience with NBE-1, access to the CPU was through the left ear. Once I pulled the protective covering off, dismantling the inner workings of the ear wasn't a problem. Just time consuming.

"Hmm, this looks like a communicator of some sorts," I said examining the damaged mechanism. "I guess my disrupter caused more damage than I thought."

Upon further examination, the inner part of the ear was badly damaged. I seriously hoped that's all that was damaged otherwise this mechanism was potentially useless scrap. I needed it functioning in order to study it properly.

"Doctor Spielman, core temperature is rising rapidly!"

"What?" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Up five…ten…it's still climbing."

"Fucking moron," I muttered to myself not believing what I was hearing.

The core temperature can't jump up that quickly, not with all the liquid nitrogen we used to coat the mechanism. Still, I had to confirm with my own eyes so I left the chamber to read the temperature gage. The room was still heating up slowly as I had ordered.

"Shit!"

The moron was right. I don't know how, but the core temperature was indeed rising. And rising much faster than I had anticipated.

"What's it mean?"

"It means the mechanism is about to wake up," I glowered.

Optimus

I came to a slow stop in the doorway of the bedroom to see Elita sitting on the edge of our recharge bed. Her slender fingers softly caressed the engraved images of the Mother's Day gift Kacey had made for her. Slow tears rolled down her cheeks.

I sighed, recalling how Nitro and Rox came running into my office, with Prowl chasing them for being in a forbidden section of the base. They were both so upset about hurting Kacey's feelings for accidentally breaking it and begged me to do something.

When I laid optics on the piece of art Kacey had made as I held the two haves of broken marble together I was…speechless. I had never seen anything like it on Cybertron and was astonished to think one of my kind could create something so beautiful. The detail was meticulous and intricate. I could tell so much love had gone into it. So of course, I didn't hesitate to get Wheeljack to fix it.

Elita was absolutely blown away when she first saw it. She was nearly in tears over the fact that her daughter could have created something so beautiful just for her. Then after Kacey explained the representation of the images, both of us were so touched. Words could not describe the depth of emotion we felt.

My love couldn't take her optics off the beautiful art that entire night. And each night since, she always stares at it before falling into recharge.

A choked sobbed sounded softly. My already pained spark twisted into an even tighter knot as I watch Elita gently cradle the marble art so close to her chest. Her pain was mine; we both missed Kacey desperately.

I immediately rushed across the room, taking love into my arms as she broke down completely. My tears intermingled with hers.

"We mustn't give up hope," I whispered softly in her audio receptor.

"I know. I just want my little sparkling back. My arms ache to hold her. My spark aches to feel just a tiny bit of her."

"I promise you, everyone is doing everything possible to find our sparkling. The moment they do, you can be certain we'll both be going to collect our daughter."

"I just want to blast that Jim!" she growled angrily, her beautiful blue optics flaring brightly.

I chuckled, tightening my hold around her.

"You and every Autobot on this base does. Here…let me put this up."

Elita sniffled as I gently took the marble art from her arms and set it back where it belonged. My fingers caressed the engraving of the dwarf sun within the nebular, the closest way to touching my daughter right now until she is found.

Primus, I miss her so much.

"Optimus!" Elita suddenly gasped.

I whirled around to see what was wrong. Then I suddenly felt it to. It was Kacey reaching to us. There was no mistaking the familiar sensation echoing deep within my spark.

"Can you hear her?" Elita anxiously asked me.

"No, I just feel…her…fear…"

"Reach to her Optimus, your bond is strongest with her."

I did. All I got was a flurry of emotions…anger, pain, guilt…regret…fear.

'I'm here my child…I'm here…' was all I could think to say to comfort her.

'Where? It's so cold and dark, father! I'm freezing.'

Our connection was sputtering. I was losing her. She was losing her focus on me. I couldn't maintain the connection without her.

'No, Kacey…no…don't let go…'

Desperate to keep a hold of my child, I grabbed Elita's hand and dragged her down to our sparklings' room. Orion, Ariel and Leo were sitting quietly on the floor exactly how I left them a few minutes ago, their toys untouched, their sadness as deep as my love's and mine.

"Elita, sit with them, please," I said as I knelt down before them. "I want you three to do something for dada. Can you reach out to Kacey for me? Reach out with your sparks as hard as you can. Tell her how much you love her. Can you do that for dada?"

"Leo loves Kacey," my little mech seriously said to me patting his chest.

"I know you do," I smiled, caressing the top of his head. "Right now, Kacey needs your love desperately. Elita, you too. I'll be back shortly."

"But…Optimus, where are you going?"

"I may have a clue that might lead to us finding Kacey. She said she was cold…that she was freezing. I need to talk with Simmons and Keller. They may know what that means. Just whatever you do, don't give up on reaching out to Kacey. Her life may depend on it."

I was gone and running through the halls before Elita could question me further. I knew she was confused and wanted more of an explanation. All I could do was send her my love and reassurance over our bond.

Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was a clue or not. But I was a father desperately wanting to find his child. And I would do anything and everything to do just that.

"Optimus, all this worrying can't be good for you, go be with your family," Keller insisted when I entered Prowl's office where Keller and Simmons were working from. "There isn't much you can do here."

"I may have something. Kacey reached out to us."

"What?! Is she ok? Can she tell us where she is?" Keller fired off.

I had to hold up my hand to get him to stop.

"No, she didn't tell us where she was. I don't think she knows as that would have been the first thing she'd tell me. However, she did say that she was cold…that she was freezing. From what I remember after reading the reports with regards to Megatron and Sector Seven, something called liquid nitrogen was used to keep Megatron in a cryogenic state."

"And you think this might have been used on Kacey?" Keller asked.

"Yes, it would explain why she hasn't contacted us until now. Now a supply of that volume used to keep my daughter incapacitated has to be catalogued and shipped. And thus, we'd be able to track it, correct?"

"Spielman does have his own manufacturing and distribution company," Simmons mentioned. "But…"

"Right, we'll get a search warrant," Keller interrupted.

I smiled softly. The man was as eager as I was to find my daughter.

"But I doubt he'd be that stupid as to deliver any of his own products to himself even if he was using an alias," Simmons continued.

My spark sank instantly and my shoulders sagged. Simmons was probably right. Perhaps I was foolish in thinking…

"Still, it's worth a shot," Keller insisted, looking earnestly up at me, giving me the hope that I needed. "We're to leave no stone unturned. I'll get a team to investigate other liquid nitrogen distributors. If he didn't use his own he most likely used another. Simmons, where is Spielman's company?"

"Colorado Springs."

"Good, you're going there. You know exactly what to look for. I'll have the local authorities there with the search warrant ready and waiting for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Keller," I humbly said.

"Optimus, I gave my word that I would do whatever I could to find your daughter. Now, if there's an Autobot you'd like to send with Simmons they will be more than welcome to go."

"Yes, I have the perfect mech for the job," I grinned.

Bumblebee

"Sam, this isn't a good idea!" I hissed quietly, glancing nervously over my shoulder.

No one in the command center heard. No one actually knew what we were doing. They didn't even notice I had hooked up Sam's laptop to one of our computer terminals, thus giving him and Mikaela full access to the internet.

Most were busy trying to locate Dr. Spielman. Not an easy task from what I overheard Prowl telling Optimus. The human had aliases for his aliases. And he was good at moving his money around without it being traced.

"Look, it will help if we get the word out that Kacey's been kidnapped. We know this asshole didn't take Kacey by himself. One of those who helped might be afraid to come forward. They can do so anonymously on the website."

"There…it's done," Mikaela said. "I've updated Kacey's website."

"The website she doesn't even know about," I grumbled, rubbing my forehead nervously.

"Shh, we were going to surprise her," Sam smiled. "You know, to make her feel better. She's like a super hero. She has a lot of fans. You should read what the little kids say about her; they adore her. My Mom and Mojo just love her."

"I still don't think this is a good idea."

"Bee, relax. We're only trying to help."

"I know you are, Sam," I sighed. "I appreciate it. I'm just not sure that sneaking behind your own Government's back about Kacey's abduction is a good idea. I distinctly heard Keller say they didn't want the public to know. Optimus agreed."

"Listen, you wanted to find Kacey, right?"

"Of course."

"And I know its not the first time you've broken any rules," he smirked up at me.

Right away I was regretting telling him any of my youngling stories. Sunny, Sides, and I were little terrors and broke every rule imaginable.

"This will work," Sam insisted.

"We should have at least told Optimus," I replied. "He might blow a gasket when he finds out."

"We'll just tell him the truth," Mikaela smiled. "It was Sam's and my idea."

My shoulders sagged as I stared down at my friends. Both were so optimistic about finding Kacey. I wish I was. All I could think about was what that fragger Spielman was doing to my future sparkmate! And at the same time I felt totally helpless not being able to find her and protect her.

"Do you really think it will help?" I asked, feeling a bit hopeful about the situation.

"Trust me," Sam smiled, patting my leg.

"Any luck, Wheeljack?"

I turned, seeing Prowl a few feet behind us with Wheeljack approaching. With my hands behind my back, I quickly signaled for Sam and Mikaela to unhook the laptop. Last thing we needed was for Prowl to find out what we were doing.

"None. I can't hack into Kacey's computer. And if neither Elita nor I can, I doubt anyone else will be able to."

"Slag, I was hoping to find out about her communications with Spielman and possibly track them. Kacey's very adept at covering her tracks. Something she learned from her mother all too well."

"Why can't your super computer do it? Doesn't it monitor all communications?" Sam asked.

I sighed in relief seeing the laptop was inside his backpack.

"Kacey, used a secure communication link," Prowl answered.

"Which means not even Teletran 2 could track it," I finished. "Kacey is way too smart for her own good sometimes."

"Well, she didn't want anyone to locate the base," Wheeljack said.

"Fact is that Spielman found it," Prowl sighed. "Either Kacey told him which…"

"No fraggin way!" I snapped angrily. "Kacey would never reveal the base's location!"

"Which is highly unlikely, or he figured it out on his own," Prowl calmly continued. "Hmm…" he mused, lazily rubbing his chin with his fingers. "There was the one night he was outside the base with Kacey. He must have done it then. It's the only logical explanation."

Prowl gave me a long look and I dropped my head, kicking myself on the inside. I shouldn't have doubted him. And I really have to be careful of my emotions with regards to Kacey. I can't have anyone finding out how I feel about her. At least, not until…

"Bumblebee!"

Oh Frag! My spark started racing. My cerebral processor froze and I went rigid at that sound of Optimus deep voice reverberating through the command center.

'For Primus sake! Relax!' I told myself.

Luckily no one noticed my reaction.

"Yes, Optimus?" I responded, keeping the tone of my voice level.

"I have a mission for you," he smiled, looking down at Simmons.

The human did not look happy when he looked over at me.

"No, no…any Autobot but him," he human groaned. "He isn't even potty trained!"

"Hmm, you wouldn't be my first choice either," I grumbled. "But if this mission has anything to do with Kacey then I'll do it. And I'll try not to lubricate on you…this time. Just don't piss me off!"

"Bumblebee, please, behave," Optimus chided.

"Of course, Sir. Sorry. When do we leave?"

"Immediately, Magnus has the shuttle all ready to go. You're going to Spielman's liquid nitrogen plant in Colorado Springs. We're hoping to find out if he had any of the stuff delivered to himself and hoping it will lead to his current location."

"Optimus, can we go too? We want to help," Sam sincerely requested.

I gave Optimus an imploring look, one I used to give him when I was a youngling whenever I really wanted something. He could never resist it then. I hoped I hadn't lost my touch after so many years had passed since I last used it.

"I don't see the harm," he smiled, patting me on the shoulder. "The more help the better. Correct Mr. Simmons?"

"Oh yeah…the more the merrier," he grumbled looking none to pleased about the situation.

"Excellent, I wish you all luck. And Bumblebee…"

"I know. I'll notify you the moment we find something, Sir."

Kacey

Everything felt so cold. I couldn't move. I couldn't even see with my optics. Panicking, my first instinct was to reach out to my parents. Their response was instantaneous yet felt somewhat…distant.

However, there was no mistaking their relief at sensing me. I could feel how much they missed me and how stressed out they were at not know where I was.

My guilt overwhelmed me. I was even angry at myself for causing such despair in my parents. It pained my spark so much for doing that too them that I truly regretted ever leaving them in the first place.

Now, I was alone and afraid.

'I'm here my child…I'm here…'

'Where?' I helplessly asked. 'It's so cold and dark, father! I'm freezing.'

A familiar voice sounded, getting my attention. His words were distant and unrecognizable. But I knew that voice…

'No, Kacey…no…don't let go…'

My systems responded sluggishly when I tried to determine where the voice was coming from. The cold was persistent and felt everywhere, even to my core causing my spark to pulse much slower than normal.

Fortunately I knew a trick to heat up my systems having learned it while flying in the void of space. I was able to increase the pulse of my spark. It was a laborious process at first because of the coldness. Slowly but surely it started to work, more of my systems were coming online.

I immediately received a warning of a breach. Internal diagnostics told me my left audio receptor was missing. Frag! There went my way to call for help or signal my location. Even though it was damaged earlier I could have rerouted power to communicator from another system to at least activate my homing beacon. But with both my communicator and beacon separated from my body there was little I could do.

"No sense pretending, core temperature indicates you should be awake…Kacey."

"Who said I'm pretending, Jim," I replied. "Not all my systems are back online yet."

"Fair enough. Still, you're awake a bit prematurely."

"Sorry to disappoint you," I replied sarcastically. "Perhaps while you are waiting for my systems to come online you can tell me why you've done this?"

"Kacey, you're so young and naïve. I thought the answer was obvious."

My optics finally came online only to reveal a ceiling above me. I tried to move my head to see where I was. Something held it down. I couldn't move it nor could I move my arms or legs.

"I wouldn't move around too much if I were you," he warned.

Before I could question why, I felt a quick yet painful surge of energy flash through all my systems. I refused to cry out no matter how intense it was.

"That was the lowest setting, Kacey. Cooperate and I won't have to use it again."

"I thought we were friends!" I gritted, a lingering pain still resonating through my systems.

"Reality check kid…I lied."

"Why?"

"Because I need you to continue my work. Simmons and the others stopped me before I could achieve success. Not having access to NBE-1 set me back. I saw an opportunity when I met you and I capitalized on it."

I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe actually. But then again, I deserved my punishment. Primus does punish those for getting to complacent. I admit I was a bit cocky because I could transform. So he took my abilities away. And now I was imprisoned for being too stupid to not see Jim for who he really was.

A faint, surge of affection suddenly reverberated though my spark. I couldn't determine who it came from it was just there…the love and affection, growing stronger by the astrosecond. Then it dawned on me why I couldn't figure out which member of my family was reaching out to me. They all were.

Guilt filled my spark. Tears flowed from my optics.

How could I have done this to them?

I struggled against my restraints. I had to get back to them. For every moment they suffered was torture for them and me. I deserved to be tortured…but not them. Not them!

"I warned you to cooperate," Jim said.

I still couldn't see where he was at. But finally I determined his voice was coming from a speaker in the ceiling.

"AHH!"

My systems were suddenly jolted so hard I couldn't help but cry out.

I growled loudly through the pain and continued to struggle. The more he zapped me the angrier I got, the more I ignored the pained. Until finally, my right arm broke free! I immediately ripped off the restraint holding my head down.

"Shit! Get ready to hit the main switch!" he yelled and for the first time I saw him.

He was standing on the outside of my metallic prison room, looking in through a thick plexiglass window. Pure rage filled me as I broke free from my bonds. I was angry for him hurting me. I was angry for him betraying our friendship and taking advantage of me. Most of all, I was angry at myself for allowing it to come to this.

Once on my feet I let loose a loud roar and prepared to do what I had to do to escape.

"HIT IT!" he screamed.

Sparks of electrical energy surged up from the floor, traveling up my legs. Arc's of energy shot down from the ceiling. The pain was everywhere. I screamed and my vocal processor immediately went out. And even though the pain last only a few astroseconds, it was agonizing before I finally fell into unconsciousness.

up next: The search for Kacey continues. Our special femme makes a new friend.