Agent Fowler's phone rang roughly thirty minutes after he returned to his office to work on paperwork for the day. It was as he was taking a swig of his coffee that his phone rang, the number indicating it was the main gate calling him. Replacing the mug with the receiver in his hand, he lifted it to his ear. "Fowler here."

"Sir, Daniel Witwicky is here to see Commanders Witwicky and Greer."

"I see. Let him in."

"Yes, Sir."

Replacing the phone, Fowler was on his feet and down on the ground floor before the vehicle pulled into the relatively empty bay. Dressed in simple, yet durable, work clothes suitable for any labor job, the man stepping out of the SUV was easily an older Spike, but seemed to have given into a similar diet as Agent Folwer had in his later years. He carried in one hand a yellow hard hat while in the other was several rolls of papers.

"Special Agent William Fowler," he said as he reached out his hand to shake the other man's after he had adjusted his hardhat under his arm to do so.

"Daniel Witwicky, Spike's dad. Also get called Sparkplug from time to time."

"Pleasure to meet you. So, what brings you by our humble little base?"

Moving his hardhat back into his other hand, Sparkplug held up the rolls of papers. "Ellan had asked for some information that I was privy to. Said something about needing it for a renovation project."

Fowler frowned a bit as he tried to fit those puzzle pieces together. "She has her head and hands in so much right now, I wouldn't be surprised if she's already planning for retirement after everything's done with." Then he clapped his hands together, giving them a playful rub. "Neither one of the kids are here right now. Spike's out in the field running exercises with his men while Ellan is … recuperating at another base from something that went sideways. We can wait for your son to get back in my office if you'd like."

"A cup of joe sounds good," Witwicky said as he followed Agent Folwer up the stairs to the man's office. Once the door closed he eyed the other man with a hard eye. "What happened to Stephen's daughter?"

Straight to the point, Fowler thought as he poured the man a mug and let him doctor it how he preferred. "How much do you know about what's going on?"

"I know she disappeared, only for her body to be brought back in a jar for her mother. Her and her mother's funerals were both harder to attend to than Stephen's. Then Spike mentioned that Gadget's little grease monkey had come back from the dead, her dead beat boyfriend behind her kidnapping, and that they were working together to bring down that fiasco."

Fowler nodded as he savored his sip of coffee. "Sums it up nicely."

"Doesn't explain why she's hurt."

"For everyone involved, she's recovering at another base."

"And the truth?"

"She is recovering else where; there's just elements here that caused her last mission to go south and we are trying to keep them a bit out of the loop."

Setting the rolls of papers down on the coffee table, Sparkplug sat on the couch with a heavy sigh. "Trouble follows them like flies to rot."

With a weary sigh, the Autobot scientist let his optics close for a moment's rest while he waited for his turn in the decontamination chamber. Perceptor worked through the rest of the night on what repairs he could do to Firestar, but the more he stayed around her the weaker he felt. Glancing up at Blurr, he could see that his companion was also being affected by the odd Energon. While Blurr was in the chamber, Perceptor sat beside Firestar as she twitched restlessly on the repair table. They needed a fresh supply of Energon to even hope for the repairs he had made to her structure to even begin to take effect.

A scream of intense pain shocked him out of the light recharge state he had found himself in, his optics going as wide as all the humans' that were watching around them. Firestar's body was bleeding purple fire as it hovered over the repair berth, as if something was holding her up by her shoulders. It was she that was screaming.

Blurr appeared beside Perceptor the next moment. "What's going on Perceptor? What happened to Firestar?"

With a heavy thud, Firestar landed on the repair birth, kneeling as she cycled air through her cooling systems, the flames gone except what was coming from her head like crown. Her optics, when she finally opened them, was the same purple as the flames, the same color as the odd Energon.

"This form is weak, but it will suffice."

"Firestar?" Perceptor started towards her, only to stop suddenly when she turned to look at him. "It's us, Firestar. Perceptor and Blurr. Do you recall anything after the crash?"

She stood up on the table, her fist clenched tightly as she face the pair. "Foolish creatures. Your endings shall be painful, but swifter than the traitor's."

Perceptor and Blurr braced themselves for a fight when Firestar aimed a glowing hand at the two Cybertronians, but the human's yelling that they were under attack, followed by gunfire aimed away from them distracted Firestar for a moment. A single moment was all Blurr needed.

A blue stain filled the air that had originally been between Perceptor and the repair berth, but Blurr soon had Firestar knocked to the ground. Unfortunately for the swift bot he was blasted away with a bolt of the purple energy that she was bleeding. Not wasting the opportunity, Perceptor had pulled out his sniper rifle, a tool he rarely used but knew how to do so with a frighteningly proficiency, took aim.

"I'm sorry, Firestar, but I will repair your damage."

The shots hit, but not their target. She had flared that energy out just in time for it to absorb the blows; but it turned her attention his way, which he was hoping for.

The shouts from the humans had become background noise at this point, the scientist more concerned about the angry femme that was slowly marching her way towards him. Again he took his shot, not surprised that the energy blocked it again.

"Perceptor, get down!"

He looked up for a moment towards the voice, it one that he had wondered if he would have ever heard again in his long life, but he quickly dove out of the way of Firestar's strike towards him. Another purple blur filled the room, taking Firestar out of his line of view as he tried to gain his bearings. Jazz, Chromia, Kup, Cosmos, and Ratchet rushed into the chamber, along with a huge group of humans that were taking the soldiers that he and Blurr had kept company with since their arrival into their custody.

Ratchet was at Blurr's side, the field medic doing his task, the others rushing between the two there and Perceptor himself.

"Nice shots," Kup said, adjusting his detonator in his mouth.

"I, um... thank you. I believe I need your help in repairing Firestar. She has corrupted Energon in her system."

Perceptor turned in time to see that Firestar was fighting a Cybertronian that he had never seen before. It looked to be femme from its frame structure, but looks could be deceiving. What worried him was the color of her optics, the same purple as Firestar's. The pair were swinging the energy around as if it were a weapon to be utilized, leaving large streaks in their wake. Eventually the new Cybertronian managed to shove Firestar back enough to gain her own feet, but then aimed her hands towards the other femme. It looked as if she was pulling the dark energy away from Firestar and into herself.

Firestar groaned in pain as the purple flames died away, both femmes crashing to the ground after the energy had died away. Chromia was at Firestar's side the next moment, the others soon following.

With Blurr back up on his feet Ratchet rushed to Elita's side as she was curled up on the ground, her form shaking uncontrollably. Kup was already there, speaking soothingly to her.

"It hurts... it burns so much..."

Ratchet closed his scanner after examining both of them. "Spike is already apprehending the humans, which Agent Fowler will no doubt be ready for back at their base. Blurr and Firestar need deeper repairs."

"What about your other companion?" Perceptor asked, watching Kup helping Elita to her feet.

"Perhaps you can help me with that back at the base," Ratchet admitted quietly.

"We also have some catching up to do," Jazz added, the relief clear in his body language.

"It appears so," Perceptor replied, watching in awe as more Autobots had made their way into the building, Ultra Magnus among them. "We had been told we were the only ones that survived the crash. That was until last night when they brought Firestar to us, badly damaged before this whole incident."

Some of the Autobots waited until the humans had left on their transports, the injured ones had already been evacuated for repairs. The enemy soldiers taken into custody and the place stripped of all valuable data and computer systems, including where there were deposits of Energon ready for the Autobots to harvest.

[]

The medical chamber was busy once more, with even more hands at the ready for the call of a part or tool that would be needed in the aid of the repairs. It allowed those curious about things to be helpful, therefore not give Ratchet or Tracks a reason to kick them out.

Perceptor was right in the middle of it with Ratchet and Tracks, aiding where he could in the repairs that were needed. Blurr had taken a nasty blow when he had tackled Firestar, internal components ending up scorched, but not beyond repair. As promised, Perceptor had focused on repairing Firestar with the actual components and tools he needed to do more than just a basic field repair. It was as he was scanning her form to check for more damage than he had already recorded that he was gifted with another surprise that day.

"The odd Energon has been drained from her systems. It's as if she was never affected by it."

"That would be Elita's doing," Kup said as he passed Tracks the tool he had requested in his repairs of Blurr.

Looking over at Ratchet as he scanned, noted, and re-scanned the femme on the repair berth with him, he nodded to himself. What Kup said made sense for what he had witnessed with his own optics.

"Any clue as to what the Energon is tainted with for it to affect us like this?"

"It is Dark Energon, the blood of Unicron," Optimus' calm voice replied from the doorway.

"Oh, Optimus Prime, Sir! It is so very good to see you again."

"Likewise, Perceptor," Optimus focused on Blurr as the blue bot was finally allowed to sit up on the berth. "As is good to see you, too, Blurr." Blurr simply nodded in greeting.

"Dark Energon you say. I would claim it to be simply myth, but," the scientist looked back at Firestar who was resting with Jazz and Chromia at her side, "having seen the effects first hand I cannot claim it to be simply fable anymore."

"Oh it gets a lot deeper than that," Jazz replied with a smirk. "Like this planet's core deep."

"So I see."

Blurr was just happy to see everyone else from the ship they had escaped on. "Perceptor and I were worried that we were the only ones left, the only ones that survived the crash here. We couldn't locate anyone and weren't allowed out to go look, but I'm glad you found us."

Prime nodded. "We have been fortunate to locate all that were involved in the crash. Ratchet, Tracks, Perceptor, how are they?"

"Blurr is fully repaired, though I recommend he go slow for once," Tracks replied, smirking a bit at Kup's chuckle.

"Firestar's repairs have been fully completed, thanks to all the extra hands involved. She just needs more rest and companionship to help her with the trauma she had endured before she came into our care before your arrival."

All optics turned towards Ratchet, who gave a long sigh. "We might have to do something drastic to counter act the Dark Energon. The Energon we have on hand isn't counteracting it like it did with Rafael when he was effected with it, and her own mix seems to bolster its effects on her."

"What about the Synth-En?" Elita asked from the table, her optics opening.

Ratchet frowned down at her. "It's still far from official use, despite your many attempts to usurp my say on the matter."

"What can I say? It's always handy it seems." Elita gave a grunt as she tried to sit up.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I'm going to puke... but I can't dislodge from here."

Perceptor and Blurr were intrigued at the inside of her torso hatch, seeing the human woman inside, despite how thin and frail she looked, before she closed it. Ratchet and Tracks were both deeply concerned, along with a good majority of the others in the room.

"This doesn't look right, Ellan. You didn't look like this last night. When was the last time you ate anything?"

"I think it was... I don't remember. Before the mining town I know. Like I said, I can't dislodge, not enough energy to do so. I was thinking that the Synth-En was different enough from all of it to give me enough of a boost to do so, so I can at least get coffee in me."

"This is foolishness on your part," Ratchet snapped. "You're only damaging yourself with all of this Dark Energon you're taking on."

Elita pushed herself up onto her feet, wavering a bit, but held a hand up to stop everyone from rushing towards her to help. Her optics; however, were focused on Ratchet. "I've sat on the sidelines for too long, Ratchet. I watched Bishop take a project I created to protect and attempt to use it for harm. I watched Megatron use that same project to destroy our last home, almost taking Optimus out with it. M.E.C.H. was still running around even after Bishop went rogue on his rouge force, and wasn't ever going to stop. I was hopeful that Autobots and the U.S. Military forces working together would help end the threat there.

"I didn't ask to find out about being able to absorb Unicron's dirty crap, I was too busy trying not to get my arm ripped off by Dreadwing turned Terrorcon to be concerned about what damaged it could do. And to be honest, I didn't even think when the crap exploded in the town when we went to first try to rescue Firestar. All I could hear in my head was her screaming in pain, so yeah, I willfully took that on to bring her back."

"This isn't about you. You don't have to do this alone." Ratchet motioned around to the others in the room with them all. "We're a team. We all work together to fight the threats that come our way."

"Yeah, and each one can do what they can. We're all cogs in a big machine. And too many times in my life I've waited for those other cogs to do things, vilified for speaking out, and for what? To still not have control over my own life and future? How dare I say anything that doesn't make everyone else happy. How dare I not continue to tow the line of lies and make those who were comfortable with those lies unhappy."

Kup stepped between the two, one hand on each of their torsos to push some distance between them. Elita's hand glowing with Dark Energon, as if she was about to use her gift to fold Ratchet into something new. Firmly he looked down at the smaller bot. "Stand down, girl. Calm it down now."

She had that defiant look in her optics he had seen plenty of times in her family line as he had watched over them; a look as if she wanted to slap the paint off of him, but he watched her reign in her anger.

Looking over that the Medic she said, "I'm sorry," before the simply walked out of the room.

Ratchet was about to follow, but looked down at Kup's hand still on his torso then back up at the old Wrecker.

"She needs to cool her head."

"She'll do something reckless. She was this way before when the virus she created was erasing her."

"She'll most likely head back to the human base, get some good fuel in her smaller form, and be able to think with a clearer head." Kup turned his attention towards Optimus, who observed it all calmly beside Ultra Magnus and the rest. "Permission to go with her, sir. No doubt Witwicky has his ducks in a row from the end of the mission by now."

Optimus nodded, "Permission granted."

Stepping up to the group, Perceptor said, "Optimus, sir, if you don't mind, I would like to go with Kup. We had interacted with the humans at that base and could give our records of the events. We can even give positive identification of those involved."

Blurr zipped up beside Perceptor. "We can, we can, for absolutely sure help with identifying them. Especially after what they had done to the others there's no way we can let them get away with this if we can help prove that they were there."

"Permission granted. Ratchet, go with them."

"Thank you, Optimus," the medic replied.

Kup led a small procession of Autobots to the Ground Bridge chamber, finding Elita speaking with Arcee, who was manning the controls.

"That's... that's where we last saw him." Arcee looked over at Elita, remorseful. "Are you sure about this?"

"Do you want to come with me? To see it done?"

"To see what done?" Kup asked before Ratchet had a chance to.

"I still have fragments from Terrorcons to gather, the last one here being Cliffjumper. Just not sure about what I'll find there from the collapsed mine."

"You're not taking more in."

Elita rolled her optics at Ratchet's words. "Oh just wait until you see what I have to do later on before I really am called to my task."

"He does have a point, kiddo," Kup added.

"I'm also going to see if I can burn off some of this afterwards." Elita turned to look at the group that were following, Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead at the back of the group. "How about Arcee and I go do this thing and we'll meet any who want to watch at Jasper and I'll put on a show. Bulkhead, think you and Bee can go grab the kiddos?"

"Uh, sure E. They might like to see it."

"Great..." Elita nodded towards Arcee, who opened up the Ground Bridge for them. "We'll see you there."

The pair walked through, followed quickly by Ratchet, Kup, and Perceptor. Two of which were curious while the other wanted to make sure she didn't hurt the medic.

The sight of the mountain that had been cleaved down its peak, the bowl like shape scorched from the explosion a few years prior by this point, waited for them. They all took it in, the emotions over the loss of one of their own sinking in once more. They were fortunate to have recovered all that had escaped Cybertron on the Logikrator, but there was always the chance to lose one or more here while they battled.

"What parts that were infected were dispersed through the area from the blast." Elita said after a long look down into the cavern below. Then they watched as she looked over, it seemingly at nothing but the landscape. Elita nodded, then looked back at Arcee, reaching out her hand. "Someone wants to speak with you."

Unsure, Arcee hesitated a moment before taking Elita's hand. A small surge went through her form, her optics fizzling a bit before clearing once more. When her vision cleared she couldn't believe it.

"Cliffjumper?"

Missing one of the decorative horns from the injury he sustained before his capture and demise by Starscream's hand, Cliffjumper stood just out of reach from where the femmes were. He looked sheepish, but happy and relieved.

"Hey, Arcee. I was hoping to catch you before Elita-One did her thing."

"How do you know what's going to happen?"

"Funny thing about the Darkness, everyone talks. Whispers from others who had been infected about her taking them back to the light were all we could hear for the longest time over the screams. Screams that would quite down one or more at a time as she went around. Like I said, I was hoping to see you when she got to me."

"You didn't join the All-Spark after Starscream terminated you?"

"I was, but when Megatron did his thing it brought me out of it. Brought a whole bunch of us out of it. Now she's been sending us back. Stay strong for me, Cee, got it? Jack needs you."

Arcee could only nod, trying not to cry all over again. Elita raised her other hand towards the cavern below, thousands of trails of the purple energy flowing up into her outstretched hand. As the energy flowed into Elita, Arcee could see Cliffjumper's form fading away.

"I'll do my best, partner. See you soon."

"Not too soon."

With her task done, Elita let go of Arcee, having to reach out to hold onto one of the rocks that jutted out from the mountain side. Arcee was by her side, the others moving closer as Elita caught her breath.

"I'm good. Let's get to Jasper so I can get some of this out of my system."

Kup opened up his communicator, calling for the Ground Bridge that they would need. The group left the mountain top, the gentle breeze bringing in a warm hope that had been absent in the area for far too long.

Author's Note: I don't own the show. Thanks for reading.

Is it pretty much understood that Blurr speaks fast? Because it's rough to read if I keep the words together. I hope no one's upset that I put the spaces in.