A Very Epilogue-Like Intermission 10

Where the Story Ends

"Trying not to lose my head but I've never been this scared before, tell you what I'll do instead, lay my body down on the floor, a silhouette till the good lord comes, all we know is distance, we're close and then we run"

"Physically, she's fine. Her systems are working perfectly, the repairs are taking and the welds are setting. I don't know why she's not waking up." Ratchet said to a very anxious Optimus Prime. Ratchet was worried as well, for his patient and his old friend. Prime had been waiting for Striker to come back for a very long time and if she didn't pull through this… Well, he didn't want to think of what it would do to his leader, to all of them.

Ratchet's gaze softened as he placed a hand on Prime's shoulder. The mech didn't even move, hadn't since the medic had allowed him in. "You could do nothing for her," he said. "You had your servos full with the Fallen and you know she would have had your helm had you let him go to save her." Still, Optimus did not move and he vented. "I'll leave you, then."

Optimus, for his part, was almost wishing his kind could cry. He needed some outlet for the pain he was feeling other than Ironhide's method of destroying things. He just couldn't do that. Not that he wouldn't love to right now, but he felt the need to stay beside his femme.

And she was his. She had told him she loved him so long ago, more vorns had passed since then than he cared to count and in those, there were only a small handful of times he had seen her online and unhurt since then. He hated that he hadn't realized earlier that he did love her, hated that he hadn't the courage to tell her so long ago. He was just full of regrets and self-loathing and that was why he needed her. She always seemed to know when to distract him and when to make him face the cold, hard facts. She understood that he wasn't Primus, or what the humans called Superman. She saw his flaws and loved him for them, picked on him for them, made him forget that so many had placed him on a pedestal that was too high to fall from without serious injury or death. Worship and expected perfection like that had taken its toll and left its scars and Strikezone, his Strikezone, always seemed to know exactly how to help him.

For so long she had helped keep him together, whether it was in person with a few jokes or just the thought of her alive during those long vorns on the Ark and afterwards, when he had had to travel space in his cometary form but when she needed his help he had been nowhere to be found. He felt like a failure. "What were you thinking, Strikezone?"

I was thinking you needed help. I was thinking that if I bought you time, I upped the chances of us all living, Strikezone thought. She was awake and aware in her processor. She remembered perfectly what she had done. She was one of the few who had gone pede to pede with Megatron and lived to tell the painful tale. The Decepticon warlord wasn't the only reason she ended up in the med-bay, though. That was partly her own fault.

She could feel the changes being wrought in her systems, subroutines rewriting themselves to accommodate the other presence in her mind. She could feel her very spark changing, swelling almost, and definitely feeling better than it had in a long time. She hadn't realized just how much damage the time and distance from her sister (twin. Awesome, amazing, the thought of having her back) had created in her spark or how much constant pain she lived in until it began to right itself. The reopening and reassertion of the twin bond between her and her sister along with the on-going reintegration of her memories was enough to facilitate certain changes. It wasn't a full reformat, but it was enough to drop her into stasis lock.

She was bored though, her new codes were settling in and she decided she was done listening. The sound of her systems kicking into high gear from their previous standby had Prime, who had gotten up and was heading to the door, turning around in time to see her optics online.

Strikezone was awake.

Strikezone was smiling.

Strikezone was delusional if she thought for a second that that was enough to get her off the hook.

She groaned as she sat up and moved to get off the berth and he moved forward, catching her arm and trying to nudge her back down. "Oh, no you don't," he said. "You are staying down until Ratchet comes to check on you."

Her response was a snort and another attempt to move. "The simple fact that you think that the prospect of Ratchet's wrath is enough to keep me down, is proof that I've been away for far too long." Her voice was rougher than his when he was resurrected a day earlier, which did nothing to make him feel better about her condition.

A bright smile was his only warning before Striker was in his arms, hugging him tight. Slag, but he had missed her. Missed this. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?" he murmured into her helm.

"Well, since you're always worrying..." he poked her in between the spinal plates and she laughed. This was normal. Nice to know that even after near sun-eating, world-shattering battles with supposed dead ancestors they could still joke and laugh. There was a serious matter she had to address, however. She pushed her face further into his chest plates, just feeling the warmth of his spark, fortifying herself for those words she never thought she'd be able to say, "I remember."

For a moment, Optimus was dumbfounded. He truly did not think that they would ever know her past and he was not yet convinced he had heard right. "What?"

"I remember my name."

0o0

It wasn't until much later on some aircraft carrier she hadn't bothered to catch the name of that she got her moment alone. Well, not really alone, more like she was alone with him. Honestly, they weren't alone at all, but it was quiet on the deck like she hadn't had in days. Not since the slag started rolling downhill.

Sam and Mikaela stood on the deck as well, her back against her ex-boyfriend's chest, his arms wrapped around her. One would never know that they weren't the lovers they looked like. Strikezone and Optimus were in a similar position, all four watching another beautiful sunset over the water. "Thank you, Sam. For saving my life," Optimus said suddenly, breaking the silence. Sam looked up at the mech and smiled, something familiar and familial sparking in his eyes.

"Welcome," he said. "Thank you, for believing in me." And they went back to watching the sunset as if nothing had happened as Optimus sent out his next message into space.

0o0

"How long have you known?" Optimus asked a very long time later. The sun had set and the humans had gone to bed (surprisingly, even Gabriel had found something quiet to do with himself) and most of the bots were in recharge and Diego Garcia was in their sights. But he was curious, so he broke the silence and asked the important question. Well, one of them, at least.

She pressed her face into his chest plates before answering him, "A while. Since the Ark, honestly. The stasis I dropped into wasn't just for healing. My sister- my twin, did I tell you about her? She's amazing and alive and I can't wait to- no, you asked about my memory. My sister triggered a sleeper antivirus in my memory banks and it ate away at every little wall around my memories. I've known since then, and that last bout of unconsciousness in Egypt was the last of the reintegration. I can remember it all now. I just haven't been able to tell you yet. You're gone, or I'm gone or something world-ending is happening. I just… I haven't-" she broke off in something like a sob, but not quite. Maybe a hysterical laugh was more accurate.

"Shhh. You've told me, sweetspark. I'm alive and you're alive and we're both here. Right here. We're not getting separated again," he murmured as he squeezed her tighter.

"But I'm scared. I'm not her anymore, not that same femme and I know my sister isn't either. I'm terrified that we won't be us anymore. I'm so scared that she and I won't be able to take the past and use it to make a better us," she whispered.

"You will. You are twins and anyone that shares your spark is made of the strongest stuff. You will be okay, better."

"What about us, Orion? Will we be better?"

"Of course."

"Do you promise?" she asked, her voice tiny and muffled.

"I promise. I keep my promises."

0o0

It wasn't until she hit the atmosphere that she understood the pieces of speech she had gotten earlier. That was also when she realized just what kind of situation they were in. It wasn't ideal or safe, but it worked for them. Their story started off simply enough, it seemed, with Prime sending out his account. Really, the first message had been more of a history lesson and a warning with coordinates.

"Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it had the power to create worlds and full them with life. That is how our race was born. For a time, we lived in harmony. But like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil. And so began the war. A war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it, and rebuild our home. Searching every star, every world. And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called... Earth. Be we were already too late. With the All-Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet and fate has yielded its reward- a new world to call home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting, protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage and though we are worlds apart, like us, there is more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We... are waiting."

Of course, once she got the coordinates, the direction she had instinctively gone in made so much more sense. If the Prime was there, her loyal to a fault twin would be there too. Lunar- (was she really her Lunar anymore? She's not even really sure who she is now) Strikezone called herself an Autobot so the other femme would follow her commander to the Pit and back.

Lover, something whispered, soon to be bondmate.

Decepticon that she was (had been?), Lightningstrike was not going to foolishly run onto the Autobot base, which had been stupidly easy to find, without a plan. She needed far more information to figure out how to go about it.

She got the second message, perfectly intact, as she hit the stratosphere and started burning.

"Earth. Birth place of the human race. A species much like our own. Capable of great compassion and great violence. For in our quest to protect the humans, a deeper revelation dawns. Our worlds have met before. For the last two years, an advance team of new Autobots has taken refuge here under my command. Together, we form an alliance with the humans. A secret but brave squad of soldiers. A classified strike team called NEST. We hunt for what remains of our Decepticon foes, hiding in different countries around the globe. Our races united by a history long forgotten, and a future we shall face together. I am Optimus Prime and I send this message so that our pasts will always be remembered. For in those memories, we live on."

Sentimental old fool that he was, Prime had a point. A past needs to be remembered. Most of her memories were still foggy and there was nothing she regretted more than not being able to remember her Creators' faces.

There was a new set of coordinates with the new message and they led her to a large body of liquid near a tiny landmass. The planet seemed to be comprised of H2O-water- and rock with an iron and nickel core and ridiculously light gravity. Perhaps, she could find some fun here.

By the time Lightningstrike had entered what they called the troposphere, she had already hacked the 'Internet' and was surfing for her new forms.

When she hit the water a human mile from the shore of the island which and Internet search revealed as Diego Garcia, a United States military territory, she had her ground-pounder form, at least.

She managed to slip onto the island, hacking the security system and making it ignore her. The place was deserted but she didn't have time to look around like she wanted to because she could see an aircraft carrier coming in fast.

She stood in plain sight in the middle of the runway. She took a deep intake and squared her shoulders. She could feel it in her energon lines. It was time.

0o0

Strikezone was tightly wound. She pushed out of Orion's arms and moved to the edge of the ship. There was something there, on Diego Garcia. Something that warmed her spark. Something that soothed her bond. Before she knew it, she was laughing, not even bothering to answer when Optimus asked her what was wrong.

Before she knew it, they had docked and everyone was disembarking.

Before she knew it, there were shouts of a security breach and everyone was running towards the runway.

Before she knew it, she was standing face to face with the one femme she needed more than anything else.

Striker shoved down Optimus and Ironhide's blasters as she pushed between them and stood across from the slender blue femme with a similar build and a blood red visor. In between one spark pulse and another, they were inches apart, just staring, not touching despite their closeness. "Starfall," Strikezone breathed. She could feel it in her energon lines.

"Lunarstar," she replied in the same half relieved, half stunned voice.

"Everyone," Striker said, not turning away from the familiar visor, "this is my twin. Lightningstrike."

It was time for the music to come back.

0o0

Nearly a month later, Gabriel stood under the stars on the one of the more private beaches on tiny little Diego Garcia. Unlike in Tranquility, the stars were bright and infinite and they reminded him on his little hometown in Tennessee. Something familiar in the sea of insanity his life had turned into since finding out about Wren- no, her name was Striker.

"Uncle Gabriel, what's that?" asked a small voice beside him. He looked down at his nine year old niece and his older brother Daniel behind her; he hadn't heard them come up. The little girl was pointing up, staring at something that looked like a huge comet passing overhead that Gabe knew very well wasn't really a comet.

It was more Cybertronians.

Gabe exchanged a glace with Danny (he had been just a tad bit amazed to find out that the company his brother had been working as a chemist for had actually been Diego Garcia) before he lifted the girl up to his shoulders. "Well, little Laney," he said and he could almost feel her frown- she hated nicknames of any sort because she felt that Elaine was perfectly fine for her- and thought fast on his feet. "That is what happens… When stars collide."

Uhhh... Merry Christmas? So, It's been, like, a month and I'm sort of a sucky person, but here's the last chapter of WSC. The sequel to this (also already written) is going up now under the title Black Holes Form. So. Enjoy your holidays. Happy New Year.