Ultra Magnus stood beside Ratchet, reluctance clear on his face. The medic had assured Magnus that everything would go according to plan, yet there were still doubts. Sitting nearby, on the human-sized medical bed, was Alice, and Vesper was sitting on the other medical berth, fear in her eyes. She too wondered if everything would go to plan, and she squeezed her eyes shut as Bulkhead put his servo on her shoulder. Wheeljack, Arcee and Bumblebee were standing near the Ground Bridge, all wondering if Wheeljack's plan would work.

Ultra Magnus looked at the doctor. "I am unsure if this will work. I mean, you tried everything to revive Optimus beforehand, yes?"

Ratchet nodded. "Even defibrillation, yes. But your lightning-based powers should give Optimus a higher voltage than my defibrillator." He shook his head before putting his hand on Magnus' arm (seeing as he couldn't really reach his shoulder). "Don't worry."

Ultra Magnus sighed, still not entirely doubt-free, before turning back to Optimus' comatose form. The plating moved on his fingers, revealing the conduits underneath, and Alice's eyes widened as she saw the vibrantly blue currents of electricity coursing through them. Then he gently put his fingers to Optimus' chest, and sent that electricity into the Prime.

Vesper felt her spark contract, and she had to suppress a gasp as Optimus' body convulsed. Ultra Magnus immediately jerked his fingers away, the plating sliding back over and covering the exposed conduits, and Ratchet looked over at the life support monitor to see that Optimus' spark beat was strong now. Everyone waited with bated breath to see what happened next, but Vesper could already feel Optimus coming back to consciousness, and although she said nothing, the smile that brightened her face told everyone what they needed to know: Optimus Prime had recovered.

"Is he…?" Arcee asked, her question trailing off, but she didn't need to complete it anyway. Everyone wanted to know if their leader was going to wake soon, and they promptly received their answer. The Prime groaned, and his hand slowly moved so that he was holding his forehead, his teeth grit and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Wha—?" he questioned as his hand fell to his side, and his optics – dull at present time – opened and flicked over to the relieved Autobots and Alice. "What… happened…?" he asked, his voice hoarse and crackly.

Ratchet walked over and smiled gently. "You collapsed in a cave a number of days ago, and you've been barely hanging onto life ever since," he explained, and Optimus groaned before closing his eyes again. "Epp epp epp!" Ratchet said, grabbing the Prime's shoulder and shaking lightly. "No going back to sleep!"

Optimus' optics opened yet again, and he smiled weakly up at the medic before saying, "Then help me to sit up, please." Ratchet obliged, putting one servo on the Prime's back and the other on his chest, and gently aided Optimus in sitting up.

"Thank the Allspark you're okay," Arcee breathed, and everyone else gave Optimus a relieved smile, including Vesper, although she had always believed that he would recover.

Optimus smiled in return. "I am glad to see that you are all well," he said, looking between everyone, his eyes trailing for a few seconds longer on his sparkmate. Then he looked over at Alice and his smile grew a little warmer. Optimus had a particular soft spot for the humans, and seeing one again made him feel better, knowing that they were still around and not slaves of the Decepticons. However, he also took note of the fact that their other human companions weren't around, and he asked, "Where are the children?"

Bulkhead shook his head. "At school." Then he frowned. "I think. They didn't come back last night."

Optimus seemed quite alarmed by that. "What?" he asked, not comprehending. Ratchet, however, noticed that the Prime seemed to be coming along quite well; already he had regained most of his strength. "The children did not return to base?" he asked.

Wheeljack shook his head. "Nah. They said their parents were worried about 'em." He shook his head. "That, and they were exhausted when they left." He shook his head. "In any case, I think they're fine."

Vesper looked over at him. "You should not say that, Wheeljack."

The Wrecker looked over at her. "Why not?" he asked, seeming a little confused by why she'd said such a thing. "I mean, nothing's gonna—"

Vesper scowled. "Anything could happen; the Decepticon attacks on us are getting far worse, and far more frequent." She shook her head. "The children are known associates of us, Wheeljack." She frowned, and opened her mouth to say something more, but pressed her lips together as a familiar car – June's – pulled into the base. June stepped out, and Ratchet immediately turned to her and explained the situation, gesturing over at Alice. The woman nodded and hurried over to the white-haired girl just as the Autobots' three other human companions stepped out of the car.

"Hey, you're up!" Miko exclaimed, noticing that Optimus was looking at them with a smile on his face, and the Prime nodded. Miko grinned. "Good to see!" Then she turned and waved at Bulkhead, who smiled and waved in return.

A sharp squeal resonated through the air then, and Ratchet immediately whipped around to see that Alice was cringing, tears in her eyes. June was giving her an apologetic look, and the medic found himself wondering what had happened as the nurse asked Jack to get her bag out of the car. He did so, and June pulled out some bandages and started to wrap them around Alice's ankle.

"What are you doing?" Ratchet asked, striding over and leaning down to get a better look.

June smiled, but didn't take her eyes off of her work. "Binding Alice's ankle so I can somewhat stabilise it. I'll need to take her to the hospital, however, in order to completely stabilise it."

June's words seemed to panic Alice, who started to shake her head wildly. "Please don't take me to the hospital, they'll find me!" she exclaimed. To everyone else, her words made absolutely no sense, but to Ratchet and Bumblebee they made perfect sense. June seemed taken aback as Alice tried to struggle away, but Ratchet put his hand behind her and prevented her escape.

Then he looked up at June and sighed. "It's not a good idea to take her out of the base at the moment."

"Why not?" Optimus piped up, and everyone looked over at him to see that he had a confused frown on his face. "Is she in danger?"

The medic nodded. "Yes, she is," he said. He looked over at Bee, who chirped something sadly and looked down at his pedes.

Optimus' optics widened. "Alice's parents are out to get her?" He looked over at the white haired human girl, who was miserably rubbing her shoulder. "May I ask why?"

"Because they're stupid and they gain some sort of sick satisfaction out of keeping me around and beating me," Alice growled, tears still in her eyes. Optimus was stunned into silence; he couldn't think of anything to say. Then his facial expression changed from one of shock to one of anger; he snarled and his servos clenched.

His anger was soon replaced with horror and fear as a loud explosion sounded from close by, and the entire base shook. Ratchet immediately covered June and Alice with his servos, while Bee grabbed Raf, Bulkhead grabbed Miko, and Arcee grabbed Jack. Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus looked around warily, and Optimus stood – although Ratchet noticed and protested against him doing so – before going over to Vesper, who was looking around with a fearfully knowing expression on her face.

She turned to face Optimus. "We need to leave this place."

This confused the Prime. "Why—" He cut himself off as he felt something in his spark, and he felt Vesper's fear pulse into him. In that, he also found the reason why she'd advised leaving.

The Decepticons had found them again.