I hope that everyone enjoyed the last chapter. I like writing about the sparklings. If you haven't figured out who Roddy is, it is Hot Rod. I thought it would be nice if he was the sparkling of Optimus Prime.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the story. I haven't made any plans yet to just where I will end it but for now I will keep writing. Please take a moment to comment at the end of each chapter so I know what you think.

Enjoy!

"Prowl, do you have a minute?" Tia asked him. He looked up surprised to see her. She had been back in the field for a month now and this was the first time he had seen her since she had last been in his office.

"I am rather busy right now but I can see you after I am done working. How about I come by your quarters later tonight." Prowl said.

"No I would rather come to you if you don't mind. I am sharing with another femme since we are rather cramped." She said. Prowl could see that she was nervous about something and his interest was piqued because of it.

"Okay. My shift ends in about three hours. Do you know where to find me?" He asked her.

"If you mean do I know where your quarters are then yes. I will meet you there." She replied. "Thank you my lord for seeing me."

"You are welcome Tia. I hope that I can help you." Prowl said. She nodded and walked out. Prowl speculated what was wrong before he dismissed it as he continued to deplete the pile of reports that he had to sift through and approve.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Oh Allie, they are adorable!" Kiki said as she and Starscream were visiting her and the new twins. Kiki was holding Orion as Allie was nursing Hot Rod. Starscream thought they were beautiful and there was no denying that Optimus Prime was their sire.

"They are adorable." Allie agreed with Kiki and she smiled at the little femme. Kiki returned her smile and they sat cooing over the sparklings.

"Have you and Starscream talked about having one?" Allie asked her.

"We have and we are trying but it hasn't happened yet. I guess Primus will give us one when we are ready." Kiki said. She smiled at her mate and he reached down and kissed her softly on the lips. They had been trying for several months now but they haven't had any luck yet but Kiki was remaining optimistic about their chances. Secretly though she was worried that the damage from being captured may have negative consequences. She was going to talk to Doc about it to be sure but Kiki knew that worrying would greatly reduced her chances of sparking so she tried not to dwell on it.

"Well you will have one soon enough." Allie said trying to ease the fear that she sensed in the femme. "They are a lot of work so make sure that you are ready." She smiled at Starscream and he smirked back.

"We are ready. It is just a matter of time." Starscream said.

"Good day to you." Optimus Prime walked in and saw that his mate had visitors and smiled in greeting. "Welcome Starscream and Kiki. It is good to see you." He said in welcoming.

"Good day to you Lord Prime. Your sparklings are beautiful." Starscream said as he took Hot Rod from Allie so she could rise and greet her mate.

"Yes my lord, they are beautiful. They look just like you." Kiki said shyly as she looked up at the large mech.

The door chimed and Optimus turned to answer the door. The door opened to reveal Tia standing there.

"Is Allie in?" She asked.

"Yes, Allie is entertaining visitors but you are welcome to join us." Optimus said. He had only met this femme once and he was curious about her since she had piqued Prowl's interest.

"Are you sure? I just came to see her but I can come later." Tia told the Prime.

"No, come in now please. If you need a private word we will take the sparklings for a walk." Optimus said as he stepped back and allowed her to walk through the door. Tia still hesitated but finally walked in slowly. She did not know the seeker standing next to Kiki but had heard that he had won her spark.

"Hey Tia. I didn't know that you were coming in." Allie said as she took Orion since he was fussing. She cradled the sparkling and put the blanket over him as she began to nurse him. He quickly latched on and stopped crying and Kiki laughed.

"Doesn't take them long to figure where the good stuff comes from." Optimus chuckled as he leaned down and kissed his mate. She quickly sat down so she could feed her son but then she looked over at Tia.

"Tia is everything alright? If you have Intel you may want to take it to Prowl." She said.

"No, I'll see him later. I needed to talk to you." She said and Allie understood that this was in private.

"Optimus, would you mind taking everyone for a walk since I can't leave right now?" Allie asked him.

"No, I don't mind at all. I'll put Hot Rod down for you my darling."

"Thank you." Allie said gratefully.

"Kiki how did you like your birthday gift from Starscream?" Optimus asked the petit femme.

"Oh he is beautiful! He's black and white…"

"And he is already spoiled by Kiki. She has this little berth next to ours and he sleeps every night next to Kiki's side of the berth..." Starscream kept talking as they walked out of Prime's quarters and Allie heard the muffled laughter as the door slid closed.

"Now Tia what do you need to talk to me about?" Allie asked her. Orion had switched to the other breast and Tia watched the sparkling nurse and knead at his mother's chest.

"Allie, I need to leave the field." Tia said quietly. She looked down as she sat down on the couch next to Allie. Allie watched her as she held Orion to her.

"Tia is something wrong?" Allie asked gently.

"Nothing that I can't handle. I just need some time out of the field." Tia said as she kept looking down. Allie was tempted to read her processor but knew that it would upset the femme so she held back.

"Tia I know that we have not been close but if you need someone to talk to you know you can come to me." Allie told her. She patted her hand reassuringly.

"I can't right now but I promise that I will let you know." Tia said. Tia wanted to tell her but she needed to think things through before she let Allie know what was going on. "Thank you for understanding."

"You know you can always come to me." Allie told her. Orion had gone into recharge and he was so cute with his lip plates doing a sucking motion while he was out. Allie kissed his helm, stood up, and walked him to his crib so that he could recharge next to his twin. She laid him down and smiled as he instantly wrapped his arms around Hot Rod. Allie was glad that they would have each other. It was important to have family around you as she thought about her own brother, Jazz. She missed him at times but she knew that he would be happy for her to have a family with Optimus.

Allie turned back and walked back into the living area.

"Tia would you like to have some energon before you go?" Allie asked her. She was intensely curious about Tia and had hoped that she would talk more but Allie respected her choice not to talk. Besides it might be able to hurt someone if it was that important.

"Yes, Allie thank you. I will take one since I haven't had anything today."

They talked about the weather and some politics but then Tia was saying thank you and leaving. She left just as Optimus came back alone.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. She only said she needed some time off." Allie said thoughtfully.

"Well she may have a good reason and I'm sure she will eventually tell you." Optimus said as he kissed and nuzzled his mate lovingly. Allie shivered as she let herself be pampered by the Prime and she eventually forgot the other things she was going to say to him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Tia nervously knocked on Prowl's door. She shifted from foot to foot as she waited for him to open it and when he did she couldn't look him in the optics.

"May I come in?" She asked politely. Prowl stepped back to allow her entrance and Tia walked in. The living area of his quarters was very neat and tidy and very typical of the mech standing behind her.

"Tia would you like some high grade?" He offered her.

"No thank you. I had something at Allie's earlier." She replied.

"Please have a seat." Prowl pointed at the couch in the center of the living area with a rug in front of it. She walked over and sat down.

"Thank you." She said as Prowl took the chair next to the couch.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Prowl asked.

Tia looked down again as she took several steady breaths. "Prowl I have to get out of the field for a while." She said slowly. Tia never looked up at him and Prowl was concerned for her.

"Tia what is wrong?" He asked as he crept closer to her. She tensed as she watched him warily and Prowl frowned because he couldn't figure out why she was acting so strange.

"Prowl I'm carrying." She said quietly and Prowl blinked his optics in confusion.

"You're what?" He asked again after several moments.

"I'm carrying a sparkling." She said and this time she looked directly at him. Prowl couldn't process what was being told to him and before he realized what was happening he saw pitch blackness creep over his systems.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Ratchet, let Knockout run the infirmary. You need to rest." Doc complained to her mate. He worked too hard sometimes. "Ratchet, come on, First Aid needs his sire and I need you."

"I will be there soon."

"Doc, it's Tia. I am with Prowl and he had crashed."

"I understand. Ratchet and I will be there right away."

"We are in his quarters."

"We're on our way."

"Ratchet, Tia just commed me. She says that Prowl has crashed."

"Wonder what caused it? Okay, Knockout?" Ratchet bellowed. Knockout appeared from the office.

"Yes, Ratchet?" He replied.

"You have the infirmary. Doc and I are going to check on Prowl and then retire to our quarters." Ratchet said. He turned to head out.

"Will do. I'll keep everything just the way you like it." He said as he returned to the office to finish filing reports and updating soldier's records.

"Ratchet did she say why he crashed?" Doc asked as they walked towards the officer's quarters.

"No. He doesn't have crashes often but when he does it is usually due to his battle computer not being able to process information or reasoning it out." Ratchet said.

They had made it to Prowl's quarters and Ratchet used his medical override to open the door. Both medics immediately moved to Prowl's still form and Ratchet proceeded to open his helm and revive the tactician. Tia was sitting on the couch silent as she watched the two medics.

"Tia what happened?" Doc asked.

"We were talking. Nothing more." She said but Tia wouldn't elaborate. It was clear that something had been going on but Tia wasn't going to tell them. Doc hated dealing with Allie's agent because they were so secretive but hopefully Prowl would reveal something.

Ratchet managed to revive him as they saw his optics online.

"Prowl, what do you remember?" Ratchet asked.

"I was talking to Tia." He replied as suddenly he remembered what she had told him. Prowl swayed and Ratchet grabbed him.

"Whoa there, what were you discussing?" Ratchet asked as he saw Prowl's face show rare emotion that was unlike the tactician.

"Tia! Is she still here?" Prowl asked instead he looked around and found her on the couch.

"Ratchet, I am okay. I promise I won't crash again." Prowl said as he locked gazes with Tia. She looked like she was about to cry and Prowl needed the medics to leave so that he could talk to her.

"Prowl you are not exactly steady on your peds." Doc said as she took in the situation.

"I'll be fine." Prowl insisted. He was watching Tia and both medics saw the intense look that passed between the couple.

"Ratchet, I think that we are not needed here anymore." Doc said as she pulled her mate to the door. Ratchet left with Doc reluctantly. He didn't like leaving Prowl without knowing what had happened but Doc wasn't going to let him go.

"Prowl, I want you in medbay in the morning before you go to work. I want to do a follow up checkup." Ratchet said as he walked out.

"I'll be there." Said Prowl and he would but right now he needed to deal with Tia.

The medics left and Prowl stood unsteadily on his peds as he watched Tia on the couch. She sat there looking like she was about to cry and Prowl's spark went out to her. He walked to towards her and took the chair once again.

"What do you intend to do?" He finally asked and broke the silence.

"I don't know." She whispered. "The law in the Realm gives you the right to decide." She looked down in fear and pain as she told him this. Prowl pulled up the file that Allie had given him to download and he swiftly went through the laws concerning children and law. He quickly reviewed it as he watched Tia. Basically he had a choice and that would be to claim the sparkling and claim Tia as its mother or claim the sparkling and deny Tia and she would have to give the sparkling up.

Prowl was a true Praxian and that he would never hurt Tia intentionally but this was an unexpected development in his life and it was going to make things very complicated.

"Tia, what do you want?" Prowl needed to know how she felt.

"I want it but I am aware that this is not exactly ideal circumstances." She said.

"Then I will take care of you." He decided his processor made up. He had lost Jazz but he would not lose his sparkling.

"We don't love each other." She stated.

"It is no matter. We will raise this sparkling and I will protect you." Prowl said adamantly. Tia was relieved but she was also realistic. She needed his protection but what would happen after the sparkling was born and would he demand her to perform the duties of a mate? Tia couldn't shake the shiver that passed through her systems.

"I understand my lord." She whispered.

"Have you confirmed the sparkling?" Prowl asked.

"No but I know that I am carrying because I have sensed its life force." She said. Tia twiddled her fingers in her lap. Prowl noticed the nervous gesture and moved to the couch to take her hands in his. She flinched at the contact causing a painful ach in Prowl's spark.

"You will need to see Doc for a checkup. Why don't we do that in the morning when I go in for mine?" Prowl said quietly. Tia became agitated and started to get up but Prowl stopped her.

"Tia, it has to be done." Prowl told her in that same quiet voice.

"I know but it will make it real." She sobbed and Prowl pulled her to him and held her as she cried. He understood that this was not what they had planned and that she was feeling vulnerable. She may have been a warrior but she was still a femme and subject to her hormones. Prowl let her cry on his shoulder plates as she clung to him. Who knew that one time could cause so much turmoil but Prowl would stand by her and see that she was protected.

"Tia, stay with me tonight." He said into her ear.

"What? I don't know." She whispered.

"I know that we don't love each other but you are very vulnerable right now. Let me take care of you." Prowl said.

"You're claiming that I am vulnerable but yet you want me to stay with you? Why?" She asked.

"If we are going to raise this sparkling we will need to have some kind of bond." Prowl said softly.

"Not yet. I can't. This is so unexpected and I know that your bonded died." She said. "I saw the pain when we merged." She looked at him with pain filled eyes. "I can't ask you to do that when you have known love."

"Tia, I am a Praxian. I will love this sparkling no matter what but I want it to have the best chance for life. We don't have to do anything right now but I am not going to lie to you. I find that you make me feel something again after missing my Jazz. I know that it is not love but I can find a place in my life for you." Prowl held her as he whispered the words to her. "I want to protect you. Let me."

"I can't, not right now." She said but then realized that her words could be misconstrued. "I mean I can't interface right now. Once was enough and it left me confused."

"I understand." Prowl said.

"What do you want from me?" She asked.

"I just want to hold you for now." He said. She looked at him and slowly gave her consent. Prowl picked her up and carried her to his berth.