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The next week had gone by in a tense, but calm, silence. Optimus made sure to help me in any way he could and made sure he spent plenty of time with Saoirse and Eden. There were some days where using the Holoform constantly wore him out and he would rest for the day. It was understandable. Everyone was pretty helpful, and the girls were very careful when they were around me.

The entire time, I was anxious about the arrival of Elita. Optimus said that she had been given the coordinates of our location, and by now, should have arrived on earth.

Ratchet told me on numerous occasions that if I allowed myself to stay anxious and keep my stomach unsettled, it could cause a miscarriage. He said my body was already weak, and it was only in the early stages of the pregnancy.

I tried to keep myself calm, but it was difficult.

Elita POV

The femme had already landed on earth, and was having a hard time figuring out the earth cities. She didn't know if she was in - what was it called? - Texas. She hoped she was. If it meant she could be with Optimus and just be with him...

Elita was confident she'd find Optimus! He seemed genuinely surprised that she was alive, almost terrified. Her Spark rattled in hurt and confusion at that. She thought he would have believed she was still alive. Well, at a few moments during her time in space, she had almost convinced herself that Optimus possibly perished. But once they were reunited, certainly they would be able to rekindle their romance.

Hopefully he'll want to get back together with me, she thought worriedly. But he sounded sincerely surprised I was alive...What if...

Elita shook the thought from her mind. Optimus couldn't have moved on. The feelings they shared before Cybertron's destruction couldn't have dissolved so quickly! That made Elita-1 more determined to reunite with the Prime.

Mya POV

Ironhide and Mya had been spending plenty of time together. With their feelings finally being in the open, and their relationship still in the developing stage, they wanted to get to know each other over again. And since admitting their feelings, spending time with each other had become more enjoyable, there was no more awkward tension or uncomfortable silences that hung between them.

Mya also started to notice, now that she and Ironhide were together, there was more to him than the gruff weapon specialist. It surprised Mya that Ironhide could be so generous, so kind and caring.

It was almost frightening, seeing how he truly acted. She had gotten used to the gruff, tough-guy act he always put up around the others, and silently promised herself to never mention this side of the weapon specialist to anyone else, just in case they tried to make fun of him. Mya told herself that, hopefully, this kinder side of Ironhide was just for her.

Mya felt as if nothing in the world could ruin the little word the two of them seemed to live in when they were together.

Celia POV

Celia had been keeping up with any information she could find on Desirée and the others. Her and Marli. So far, the latest information she found was that the Autobots had been in China in some sort of battle. Desirée and a few other humans had been involved in that fight.

The new information Celia had managed to gather on Desirée's new companions, was that they resided in Texas. Marli, who had been in her apartment the past few hours while she gathered information, gave her a look.

"What'd you find?" Marli asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I think we should go to Texas," Celia responded. "That's where I believe Desirée's living at the moment."

"And we're just going there to talk," Marli reminded the other woman.

"I know."

"Good." Marli brushed some hair out of her face, frowning. "What part of Texas are they staying in?"

Celia took closer look at her laptop, pursing her lips. "I think they're in Paris, Texas," she answered. "That's where her friends are from."

Celia looked at Mari expectantly. The two of them planned on finding Desirée and talking to her, but Celia held some resentment toward the woman. Marli had been the voice of reason the entire time. Despite Desirée and the others failing to save them during their imprisonment, Marli viewed the Witwicky girl as a friend, in some way. The woman tried to understand Marli's thoughts, but it was difficult. Marli's time in her imprisonment had made her difficult to read.

But she knew the older woman had some reason for thinking of Desirée as some kind of friend.

Optimus POV

The Prime hadn't activated the Holoform all day. He was thoroughly exhausted. As far as he knew, Desirée was doing OK. Cade an the others were helping watch over his family.

Even Shane had come over to help, and the Prime hadn't seen much of him lately.

Optimus was grateful to have such honorable friends as the Yeagers. The Autobots, though spending time with their significant others, made sure to help whenever they could. Ratchet always made sure to keep the Prime up-to-date on Desirée's conditions. As far as Optimus knew, Desirée's body was weak. Having survived two previous pregnancies with half-Cybertronian Sparklings, her body was still in the process of recovering. It didn't matter how many years it took for a femme's body to recover from a human pregnancy, a Cybertronian-induced pregnancy was different.

Desirée's body was in the finishing stages of recovery when she found out about the recent pregnancy. After that, her body seemed to have gone downhill.

Optimus was still surprised on how much had changed between the Autobots and the humans over the years.

It made the Prime happy, and also sad, at the amount of changes the two species had undergone. Most of Optimus's old companions had been killed, and his old human companions had moved on in life.

Sam Witwicky, the awkward human he met all those years ago, had fathered a son and was expecting to marry soon.

Lennox, Simmons, and Epps had aged significantly from their last encounter. Lennox's and Epps' offspring had gown so much as well.

Simmons had kept in touch with Sam during the years of their absence. Surprisingly, the group who knew Seymour Simmons was shocked to find out that even Simmons had a family of his own.

Every human companion who helped the Autobots in the years before had gone on with their lives...

Optimus was happy about that. Everyone was doing what they thought was necessary. But Desirée...because of the Sparkbond, she wouldn't age at all. She would outlive her family and friends. She would see them age and eventually die. It was obviously a painful subject, a horrible thought, but a human-Cybertronian bonding was something neither species had experienced before.

Optimus had noticed that humans didn't believe in any kind of life force outside of their own planet. But the universe was bigger than the humans wanted to believe.

Despite the Prime's best efforts, he tried to keep his processors from thinking about the Creators. His processors filled him with unwanted worries - what if they followed Elita to earth? What if Elita was, in some way, working with the Creators and was coming to earth to bring destruction upon mankind? What if she was completely unaware of the Creators' existence?

Optimus's Spark rattled in frustration.

Desirée POV

I had been sleeping for most of the afternoon. My stomach had settled down a little, and thanks to Cade and Shane, Saoirse and Eden were occupied with some new toys they had bought.

The girls had, very excitedly, shown me the toys Cade and Shane had bought them and I made sure to thank the two men, silently telling myself to pay off the cost of the toys to the debt I already owed the Yeager family.

A feeling washed over me, causing me to slowly wake up. It wasn't nausea, but it was a feeling that took me a minute to remember the familiarity. It was an Energon Signature. One that didn't belong to any of the Autobots living on the Yeager property.

Rubbing the exhaustion out of my eyes, I tried to make sense of what was happening, then I put two-and-two together and dread slowly filled me.

She certainly arrived quicker than I thought, I thought solemnly.

QUICKY A/N:

I HOPE THIS UPDATE WAS OK. I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO PUT UP, BUT LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK.

ANYWHO, I HAVE A FOUR-DAY WEEKEND SO I'LL BE ABLE TO UPDATE MORE FREQUENTLY THAN I WOULD ON A REGULAR SCHOOL WEEK.

I WON'T PUT UP A DISCLAIMER. YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT I OWN AND WHAT I DON'T OWN. SO, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY I HAVE TO KEEP PUTTING IT UP!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, EVERYONE! I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL DAY WITH THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHER.

STAY SNAPPY.

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.

READ, REVIEW, ENJOY!

YOURS TRULY,

~SMITHY