With Agent Fowler and the Dingus on their way to the right destination, thanks to the military arriving to assist Fowler in transporting the prototype, Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead arrive back at base. They were all happy that the transportation of the device was successful. Though Optimus was more concerned about Azura. He was unhappy that she had been given the okay to go through the ground bridge to help Jack and Miko. He guessed that there was some kind of convincing that had gone on, and Ratchet caved. Optimus felt that it was odd for Ratchet to even cave into that. However, he noticed straight away that Azura was not in the lobby.

Jack, Miko and Raf were here with Ratchet, but his daughter was not. Optimus guessed she was in her room, though he did not know what she would be doing. Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead had been made aware that Azura had been involved, and it was possible now that Mech has seen Azura. While they knew that they have been seen by Mech, they certainly would not want Mech to go after Azura. She was the smallest and weakest of the autobots.

"Optimus." Prime turned his head to look at Ratchet as the medic stood by the bridge controls with a guilty expression. "I deeply, deeply apologize. I know now that allowing Azura to accompany Jack and Miko was unwise."

"But it was me who even suggested that she could follow in the first place. Optimus…" Jack walked closer to the railing and placed his hands on it as Optimus looked at him. "I honestly…well…it was my suggestion. I had thought she could maybe influence the wind to…have an affect on the helicopter…"

"You wanted Azura to use her abilities on humans?" The boy looked away from Optimus as he nodded. "It is a rule that I have put on Azura as it is extremely unwise for her to use her abilities on humans. I would have assumed you would be aware of that. And she was still in training. I suspect that Azura could have blown the train from the tracks."

"She almost did. But…" Jack took a deep breath as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Whatever…I know now that I made a mistake, Optimus. I should not have suggested for her to come with us, and put her in danger."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "Indeed. It was extremely poor judgement to even want to try and stop Mech in the first place, Jack. And I am surprised that you would allow the humans to even try to help, Ratchet. I understand that the humans were wanting to fight against their own, but Fowler believes that Mech are former military personal. Meaning we need to be extra cautious in allowing the humans to deal with Mech."

Ratchet nodded slowly as he fully understood. "I understand, Optimus. It won't happen again."

"It has better not." Optimus turned to Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. "I do believe we need to be weary of Mech's presence. I am not sure if they had seen Azura on the train as the helicopter was hovering above the train when I managed to stop it. So it is imperative that we are extra vigilant while we are outside the base."

"I still cannot believe we have to watch our backs for these humans," Arcee said bluntly. She was very unimpressed that they were now dealing with a rogue group of people that could potentially pose a threat. "We are already dealing with the decepticons, that's more than enough."

"Unfortunately, evil is not just constricted to one corner of the universe, Arcee. Humans have their own history of evil, and like us, that is not something that humans like to talk about." Optimus glanced around the lobby again and looked at Ratchet. "Where is Azura? Has she retreated to her room?"

Rafael nodded. "She believes that she is going to be grounded..." Optimus was confused by the term. He has heard the word before, and he was not sure what it meant. He assumed that it was a term that humans to refer to children being punished. "So she went to her room. I think she said she was going to work on the Cybertronian letters."

Optimus softened his expression. He did not expect Azura to believe that she would be in trouble. He had already told her that he was not angry at her. Though he guessed she must have felt she was in trouble. "By the All Spark..." He rubbed the bridge between his optics. "I do hope that nothing like this happens again. I am not sure what Azura's feelings were about going, but I know that you were the one in charge, Ratchet."

"Well…she didn't seem to say whether she wanted to go or not until Jack suggested it…" Ratchet intakes heavily as he thought back on it. "Which means she probably would not have been bothered by staying…I am sorry, Optimus. I dare hope that my…poor judgement has not condemned Azura to being hunted by Mech. At the very least, she is safe here."

"And hopefully she won't be kept here for that reason too." Optimus glanced down at Miko as the girl spoke softly, but he heard her. "You know what I mean, Optimus. Personally, I thought it was silly to ask Azura to come. But Jack did have a good idea…it just was the wrong time for her to even use her power. It did almost cause the train to crash." Jack frowned at Miko, though the girl kept talking and ignoring him. "Though Azura shouldn't be locked up. She probably thinks that too."

"I do not intend on keeping Azura from seeing the nature of this world. It is still her home. While she does not need the sunlight like you do, it is cruel to keep a sparkling locked away. We simply have to pick a better time and place for her to leave the base." Optimus walked out of the lobby to make his way towards the nursery. "There is no need to discuss what has happened for now. We have already had enough for the day."

No one disagreed with Optimus as it was widely accepted that they have had enough for today. Though Optimus knew that Azura definitely had enough. He did not know what she was doing right now, but he assumed she was upset. He could not hear anything through the monitor, only the sound of paper. At least she was not crying, which would make his spark hurt because she was definitely not in trouble. He did not want her to feel that way.

When he approached the door and it opened, he glanced around curiously as he did not see Azura at first. But he soon spotted her kneeling in front of her couch. She had her Stitch toy beside her, and she also had her plush unicorn, plush purple dragon and plush teddy bear sitting on the couch behind her. She was kneeling in front of the coffee table with paper spread across it. He could see the English and Cybertronian alphabet, and she was currently writing something down.

Azura glanced up as Optimus walked towards her. "Um...I am making sure that I am working on my Cybertronian, daddy. I know that you are not mad, but I imagine that I still did the wrong thing. I did use my powers on Mech after all...which means I broke the rule, and..."

"Azura, you are not in trouble." She looked at him in surprise as Optimus interrupts her gently with a soft smile. "I have spoken with Ratchet, Jack, Miko and Rafael, and they all confirmed that you did not ask to go along. It was suggested by Jack, and you simply decided to go once Ratchet said yes. It was not your fault."

"But...but I still used my powers on humans...and I almost caused the train to crash." Her optics saddened as she thought more about it. "I...I disobeyed you...so...I guess I am kind of grounding myself."

Optimus let out a soft chuckle of amusement as he lowered himself to sit by the couch and coffee table. "You are not in trouble, even though you did use your abilities. Yes, I said not to, but you did not cause any harm."

"What if I did?" Azura shook her head as she really did not want that to happen. "I couldn't forgive myself if I caused harm to Jack, Miko or Rafael...I know that I am still learning to use my powers fluidly..."

"I can understand why you feel as though you would be in trouble, Azura. I assure you that you are not. You did not use it out of spite or stupidity. You used your powers to try and help, and using the least amount of force as well. Which shows you do have control, it is just learning to control better is what you need to work on." She nodded in agreement before looking down at the paper in front of her. She was still writing down the letters, and seemed to be practicing writing the alphabet. "I am glad you are working on remembering the Cybertronian alphabet, but please don't use it as though it is your punishment. I don't want you to see learning something important like that as a punishment. We want you to enjoy it."

Azura tapped her pencil a little as she thought about. "I guess because that is what humans do...well...okay." She looked up at him with a smile. "I still planned on practicing writing the alphabet and then see if I had written it correctly...so this is technically what I am doing."

"Good." Optimus glanced down at what she has written so far, and he smiled as she had it right at the moment. "I can definitely give you guidance on it, Azura. That way you won't feel as though you are failing. It is, after all, a time for learning. You don't need to be graded on your effort here."

Azura was aware of that. She was glad that was the case, and she guessed it was because she is a sparkling they would not grade her. But if it were a Cybertronian school, then maybe it would be different. Though with that in mind, she was able to relax some more and continue working on her Cybertronian. She did not ask Optimus for help as she wanted him to let her know if she got something correct or not. Sure he won't grade her, but it would be nice to know how fast she's picked it.

Optimus watched her quietly and he had a smile on his face. Azura did not know this, but she had the alphabet correct. As she kept writing, he realized she was moving the pages to the side to keep practicing, so she wasn't looking at the letters to cheat. That was very smart of her. He knew Ratchet intended to sit her down the next day to do some proper education with her for about an hour or two. They never make sparklings study too hard when they were very young. They increase the time for education every couple years, so that way the sparklings enjoy their youth for much longer.

Azura hummed a little as she continued to work. She noticed Optimus was quiet, and she looked over at the letters she had in front of her, and she was certain that it was because she had the letters correct. And it was all becoming clearer to her too. Cybertronians was slowly starting to feel like English to her, and it was good. But she knew she still needed to keep practicing to ensure that she could read and understand it properly.

"You are already doing a fantastic job, Azura. You have picked up Cybertronian exceptionally fast. That is a very good thing. Maybe you should work on writing sentences next. You have the alphabet down correctly." She smiled and looked up at him. "But I do think I should give you a bath. Your body is still covered in dust."

"I thought I brushed it off." Azura looked down at herself and shook her right arm, and she saw specs of dust fall off. "Oh, I see...I guess I had not noticed. I guess I could use a bath." She looked down at the paper again before she intakes deeply. "Since I have done this all correctly, I think I will stop for now. Thank you, daddy." She stood up and walked over to him with her arms stretched towards him. Optimus picked her up and brought her close to him, kissing her cheek gently before he moved his finger to her chassis and began to tickle her. Azura tensed in surprise as she had not realized she could still be ticklish and she began to squirm and laugh. "Stop, daddy!"

Optimus just grinned at her as he continued to tickle her. He kept a hold of her as squirmed wildly in his hand to try and get away from his tickling. He wanted her to forget about the stress of the day and be happy again. He walked towards the bathroom and she began to cry tears as she kept laughing. All Cybertronians were ticklish, but when they had their coverings on, they cannot feel it. At least sparklings can enjoy it.

"Stop! Stop!" Azura pleaded, attempting to push Optimus's fingers away from her. "Ah! Too much tickling!"

Optimus hummed in amusement as he stopped tickling her so he could start filling the tub. She took deep intakes as she could finally relax from all of that. "Does that make your day feel better?" She nodded and covered her face with her arms as she let out some more giggles. "Good. I want you to not feel bad about today. Especially since we are nearing the end of the day."

He lowered Azura into the tub, and immediately the dust on her body washed off and turned the water orange slightly. Optimus let her body rinse off until the water drained and he put the plug in. He poured he favorite bubble bath mixed into the water, and Azura watched excitedly. She breathed in the bubble gum scent from the bubbles as they formed in the water. She gathered up a few of the bubbles in her hands and blew them from her hand. She watched the bubbles float away and gathered another handful and clapped her hands.

Optimus flinched as her clap caused some to splash onto his face, making Azura giggle. "Oops, sorry..." She giggled as Optimus smirked at her in amusement. "That was not meant to happen."

"Perhaps not, but you are lucky you did not create a big mess from that, Azura." He wiped his face with the back of his hand before he turned off the tap and grabbed a soft loofah to pour lotion onto to scrub her body gently. "Try not to create a big mess, Azura."

"I won't." Azura began to move the bubbles around and create shapes with them. She didn't try to stop Optimus from scrubbing her body either as she wanted him to clean her body. Though she could do it herself, she knew he thoroughly enjoyed bathing her. "After I have had a bath, what should we do for the rest of the day? I know it is around sundown now, but I am not ready to recharge."

"We can go back out to the lobby if you wish to spend time with the others. I know that Jack feels guilty for suggesting you to go with him, and I assume he wants to make it up to you. They only have a few hours before they go home so if you want to spend time with them…" Azura nodded quickly before Optimus had the chance to finish his sentence, and he let out a soft hum of amusement. "Then we have a plan for the last part of the day."

"Sounds great." Azura moved the bubbles gently with her hands until she formed an image of a celestial dragon and she stared at it for a few minutes, enjoying the massage as the loofah was gently scrubbed against her body. "Daddy?" She turned her head to look up at him with a curious expression. "Can I ask you something?"

"You do not need to ask for permission to ask a question, Azura." She smiled a little before looking away from him shyly. "Is it about something regarding sparklings? If it is, I will answer it as best as I can."

"Kind of. I guess I was just curious…" She lifts her hand to rub the back of her neck before taking a deep intake and exhaling deeply. "How long do…um…Cybertronians carry a sparkling for? Can you answer that using Earth's months and years so I can understand?"

Optimus seemed surprised by the question as it certainly was not something he had expected. "Hmm…give me a moment to think…" He had to process the calculations in his mind. He guessed she was simply curious about knowing how long she could have been within his gestational chamber if she was carried by him. "In Earth terms…we carry for longer than humans do…around sixteen to eighteen Earth months roughly is the average length. It does depend on the size of the sparkling, and the time it takes for necessary parts to be delivered to the sparkling's system."

"I see…" Azura was surprised. She didn't think it would be that long. "And what do you think Ratchet means by some kind of special procedure to ensure that…" She glanced down at her chassis and gestured to it. "Everything that I need inside me, is present and accounted for? Is he meaning surgery?" She tensed as soon as she thought of that. "Uh…I'd rather not…have surgery…"

"I am unsure by what he means, Azura. But I know it has to do with me being involved as well." He pressed his lips together as he thought about what the procedure could be. "The only way for you to even get the systems your body needs before you are too old, is for my body to deliver those to you. It has always been that way, you cannot get your system implanted into you as those parts would be rejected from your system, and potentially cause an illness."

"Right…" Azura was relieved to know she wouldn't be needing surgery. But it was still something she had on her mind. "Then…what would be the procedure? If you are needed, since you are my carrier, then…" She nibbled on her index finger thoughtfully. "I might be thinking a bit too hard, but…if we look at it from the view that your body has to deliver that parts to mine, it would mean that you would have to have connections to me to do that."

"Yes, it would seem so. However…" Optimus leaned down and kissed the top of her head gently and rubbed her gently with his thumb. "It is best that we leave the medical expertise to Ratchet. Speculating will only make you too nervous about the procedure when the time comes. I just hope it does not require me to remain in the base until it is finished…as I am often needed…"

"But there may never be a good time for it, when you think about it." Azura gathered some bubbles into her hand and blew them out of her hand again before she turned to Optimus. "I think I am done with my bath. I am going to see if Jack, Miko and Raf want to do some drawing. Maybe even a game."

Optimus picked her up out of the tub and grabbed a towel to dry her body with. She smiled as the fabric rubbed over her body. The fabric of the towel tickled her a little on her chassis and she scratched lightly before giggling as Optimus playfully wrapped the towel around her to rub her face. She pushed at his hand to push him away before he finishing drying her and drained the tub.

He lowered her to the ground, and Azura ran over out of the bathroom over to the couch to grab her Stitch toy and hugged it tightly. "Alright, I am ready!" She walked to the door and bolted out of it as soon as it opened. "Come on, daddy! You're a slowpoke!"

Optimus stepped out of the door with a grin. "You're calling me a slowpoke? I am afraid you are referring to the wrong bot." She squealed and giggled loudly as Optimus jogged after her and scooped her up from the ground. "I got you! I think you're the one who is slow."

She giggled loudly and she hugged him briefly before she began to squirm. "Put be down! I don't want to be carried." Optimus lowered her to the ground and she jumped from his hand, running down the hallway a few feet and turned to face him while jumping backwards. "You got lucky! Come and catch me!"

Optimus widened his optics slightly and shook his head in amusement. She ran down the hallway before turning right. He stood up and followed her quickly down to the corner. When he stepped into the next hallway to the right, he did not see her straight away. But he did see the leg of the Stitch sticking out from behind a group of boxes. He quickly worked out she was playing. "Azura…" He walked slowly towards her position, and he could just barely hear her giggling. "Where are you? I know you are somewhere in this hallway." He peered behind a set of barrels. "You aren't here…maybe you are over in that vent." He rubbed his chin as he stepped closer to the boxes. "What about behind these…" Optimus paused as he had not noticed the toy had been moved as Azura was not behind the boxes. "Azura?" He turned when he heard her giggling behind him, and was relieved when he saw her holding the toy and waving its feet at her. "Hmmph, I don't believe that is part of the game."

"Of course it is!" She turned and bolted down the hallway towards the lobby. "Come and get me!"

Optimus shook his head a little in amusement, turning his body completely to follow her. He did not run after her though as he knew she was running to the lobby. He had not expected her to play with him so suddenly, and he was thoroughly happy that she had decided to do so. He and Azura did not play together much as it was mostly training with her abilities and teaching her Cybertronian. Optimus realized he needed to try and get her to enjoy being a young sparkling. He knew she struggled given she thought she was matured by human standards, and that was why she didn't do the usual things sparklings would do. But she was relaxing herself more so that she would be more accepting of being a sparkling.

Azura ran into the lobby while she giggled. Arcee turned to her in surprise as Azura ran towards the stairs. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" Azura placed her fingers on her lips when she hushed Arcee, surprising the bots and humans as they look at her curiously. "I'm hiding! Don't tell daddy where I am! We're playing Hide and Seek."

Ratchet looked at her curiously as Azura crouched behind the stairs and sat underneath them, shuffling into the shadows to try and hide herself. He could still see her, and he was amused. "We won't say a word."

"We promise!" Bulkhead added with a grin.

Miko, Jack and Raf giggled softly before they turn back to the TV to act like they had not seen Azura. Arcee and Bumblebee had been talking before Azura showed up, and Bulkhead was watching the TV as there was a monster truck show on it. And he was thoroughly enjoying it along with Miko, while Jack and Raf just watched. Ratchet himself seemed to be working on another covering piece for Azura. It was hard to tell what part of her body it would cover, but that is what he was working on currently.

Optimus walked into the lobby, glancing around slowly to see where Azura was hiding. He spotted her blue optics beneath the staircase, but he acted as though he did not spot her as he approached the platform. "Ratchet, have you seen where Azura has run off to? I have just finished bathing her, and she has decided to hide from me."

Ratchet shook his head and side glanced Optimus. "I am afraid I have not seen her, Optimus. If she came through the lobby, we would most certainly have seen her." Optimus stopped by the staircase Azura was hiding under, and he kept himself from smirking at the leader. "Maybe she ran down another hallway."

"I guess she could have." Optimus hummed gently before he turned to Arcee and Bumblebee. "Bumblebee, you used to do this when you were a sparkling." The young bot flinched in surprise, even though he did remember hiding a lot from the older autobots who were caring for him as a sparkling. "Where would you hide if you were still a sparkling?"

Bumblebee did not really know how to respond without giving away Azura's position. But he relaxed a little. "I guess if I were still a sparkling of her size…there are plenty of vents to hide in…crates to hide inside and behind, I would also hide behind barrels, maybe even the tunnel of the ground bridge itself…under a berth…"

Optimus grinned before he leaned down and reached under the staircase. "What about under a set of stairs?" Azura shrieked as he grabbed her and she began to giggle loudly as Optimus lifts her out from underneath the stairs. "There you are, Azura." He brought her close to kiss her cheek gently. "You made a good effort. But there are not that many places to hide very well."

She giggled some more and hugged him. "I know. You saw me, my optics glow too brightly." She kissed his cheek before resting her cheek on his. "But that was fun. You're the best, daddy." Optimus's expression softened as he felt warmth in his spark from her compliment. "I love you." She looked down at Jack, Miko and Raf as they were all looking at her with smiles on their faces. They were adoring this moment. "How about we do some drawing together? We could think of a description, and we have to draw it as close as possible and then the rest have to guess it."

"Sounds like a good idea." Jack walked down the stairs to head over to her art platform. "You should pick out the paper and pens that we can use, Azura." Optimus lowered the sparkling to the platform, and she slid out of his hand to go grab some paper. Jack reached the platform and walked up the stairs to help her. "I have a few hours before I can go back, so this will definitely pass the time. Hopefully you won't need to be fed too soon."

Azura was feeling a bit peckish, but she was not starving just yet. She simply smiled at Jack. "Don't worry. I will let everyone know when I want to eat." She picked up a pack of pens and paper. She gave Jack a pile of paper before grabbing another. "Let's try to keep it tidy. We don't need Ratchet getting upset."

Ratchet rolled his optics a little, though he made no comment. Jack and Azura took the paper and pens over to the main platforms and they gathered around the lounge. They quickly got started on drawing something. And they had decided to have a time limit of two minutes to create the image, so that way they weren't stuck on one picture. Optimus watched quietly as he was pleased that she, Jack, Miko and Raf were spending time together. However, he felt extremely happy to have heard Azura call him the best and that she loved him openly. He really could not express how much he loved her.