Another night goes by, and Azura had been able to recharge the full night. And it seemed her internal temperature had started to cool down on it's own, which was a good sign. Azura thought of it like a high fever, as it was similar to how fevers act when they peak and start to fade away after the illness in the body is taken care of. Though despite the good signs, Azura was still receiving medicine. And Ratchet was going to stop injecting the medicine after today, and go back to the other medicine for her to ingest. Azura thought about faking it to try and keep getting the injection instead, but she didn't want to make things worse for him and Optimus.

However, Azura was not really so worried about her illness, or Optimus's recovery. She has noticed something strange about Bumblebee. She's noticed he was acting funny around her, and even though he has acted himself, there were times he simply would look at her with a strange expression. It made her uncomfortable and actively avoided him in case it was just the aftereffects of the cortical psychic patch. She guessed being in Megatron's mind was not exactly the most comfortable experience. But it was still strange regardless.

Azura was currently in her room checking her tanks as she hasn't had a chance for the time she's been sick. Jack, Miko and Raf did a good job caring for them, a and the fish were thriving. And since she was feeling better, Optimus allowed her to have time to herself in her room. And she was happy because she was able to check the water for anything new in case she had to treat the tanks.

Thankfully, the tanks were all good. But she did know she would need to check the filters to make sure they didn't need cartridge replacements yet. But she would do that another day. She was still feeling unsettled at the moment. She was lucky she wasn't sneezing much, but she did worry that she would and cause a large fire. That would not be very good at all, as she would set off the sprinkler system again. Ratchet would be less than pleased if that were to happen.

Azura hummed as she walked away from the tanks and scooped up her plush Angel toy and looked up at her berth as she thought about what she could do. She looked at her plush for a moment before looking at her TV and decided that she might watch s movie. But she wanted to grab all of her toys to snuggle with them while she watched someone. And she was honestly very excited about the idea.

Just as Azura ran over to the lounge to place the large plush onto the lounge, she turned as she heard her door open and she tensed as she saw Bumblebee walking in. "Bumblebee?" Azura's tried to not sound nervous, but Bumblebee looked at her immediately when he heard her nervousness. "Um…what are you doing?"

"I came to see how you were feeling." Bumblebee's expression was sympathetic, even though Azura did not know if she should trust him. "Since Optimus is in the med bay with Ratchet right now getting a complete system rundown, I figured I should keep you company." He looked at the large toy that Azura was holding as he was curious on what she was going to do. "Were you about to do something?"

Azura shrugged as she glanced down at the ground, while not being sure on what she should do right now. "Well…I was…" She knew it was silly of her to be nervous about Bumblebee. But there was an aura coming from him that she could sense, and it made her uncomfortable. Especially as it wasn't the same as Bee's usual aura, but it still felt familiar. "But I can do that another time…"

Bumblebee tilts his head a little as he looked at her curiously. "You don't seem like you are feeling sicker today, so you don't need to do it later if you were going to do it now." Azura shrugged as she didn't really know what to say back to him. "Well, Miko wants to teach us about basketball, and she think she can come up with a Cybertronian way of playing basketball. Maybe you want to see that. Bulkhead is very excited, because it's a different way to lob."

Azura smiled a little as that did sound like fun. "I guess that does sound like…" She gasped as she felt her nostrils twitching. "Oh, I'm going to sneeze again." She threw her toy to the side as she gasped while trying to hold back her sneeze. Bumblebee watched quietly to see if she would be okay. Azura felt her nostrils relax, and she was relieved. "I managed to stop it…" She sneezed suddenly after thinking she had relaxed, and she grimaced as ice shot out of her mouth and nostrils, hitting the ground by Bumblebee's foot. Bumblebee stepped back in surprise as part of the ice hit him as well. "Sorry I…ah…ah…not again…"

Bumblebee softened his expression as she sneezed again, releasing another burst of ice towards the ground. At least it was ice, and not fire. He watched her sneeze four more times before she coughed and rubbed her throat with a grimace. "You only released a stream of ice, Azura. You didn't hurt me. It takes a lot more ice and cold wind to affect my system. But it's still concerning that you are still sneezing randomly, and strong enough to cause this."

Azura nodded as she did believe it was worrying. "I suppose that is true…but there's not much I can do about it. I just have to keep up with the treatments, as Ratchet knows I am on the mend." She sniffled a little and picked up her toy. "You are lucky that none of you have to sneeze. It is very annoying, and it hurts my throat when elements get forced up. And even my chest…though I know it's the new system."

Bumblebee nodded as he understood. "I fully sympathize with you, Azura. It does not look like fun at all." He knelt down slowly, and Azura stepped back from him a little, even though he noticed her nervousness. "I am not sure why you are afraid of me, Azura. But I hope it isn't because of Megatron. Being in his mind was not really fun for me either."

Azura knew that he had noticed and she felt bad. "I am not really sure how to explain it, Bee. I am sorry if I am hurting you. I still love you like a big brother, and that will never go away. Maybe it is the whole thing with Megatron…" She shrugged with a light chuckle. "Still…" Azura thought more on the feeling she could sense from Bumblebee currently. "Well…no matter the reason, Bumblebee, I am sure it could also be my illness making things weirder. After all, ever since this crystal…" She points to her crystal on her chassis. "Suddenly became a part of me, I can't help but admit that things feel different. I am not sure how to explain it."

"Is this something you've told Optimus yet?" She shook her head as Bumblebee listened to her quietly. "Hmm…well…" He extended his hand to Azura and she flinched a little, though she did not back away. "Maybe we should go and see how Optimus is going. I know Bulk and I will be having a game of our version of basketball, but Optimus has been in the med bay for over an hour. I imagine you would like to know how his system is progressing."

"I can't deny that, but daddy will tell me anyway." Azura looked at her door thoughtfully for a moment before she walked over to Bee's hand and climbed in so he could pick her up. She felt him gently move her body to cradle her and look down at her. His optics seemed to change for a moment, which was another reason why she felt uncertain around him. "I guess I don't really want to watch that movie anyway. I also kind of want to hang with Jack, Miko and Raf for a little bit. Raf was going to show me his science project he is going to be starting to work on and let me help him. He's apparently doing a study on the ocean, and he needs to make something for it."

Bumblebee let out a light chuckle as he stood up and turned to walk out of the room. "Raf told me all about it before we arrived in the base when Optimus fell ill. He was very excited about it, along with another science project involving some advanced physics that he hasn't gotten to do before. He has been studying quite hard in between everything. I don't even know how he does it." Azura didn't know either. "When I was younger and had to go to get education, I hated it. I honestly acted smart just to get out of doing things. I preferred to do sports and have fun."

"I can certainly believe that. You don't seem like the type to just sit and study hard." Bumblebee shook his head with a frown. She giggled softly. "You make me laugh a lot, Bumblebee. It is actually amusing to see how similar humans and Cybertronians are in that regard. Not everyone enjoys school. But given that education is important, we do it because we have to, not because we want to." Bee nodded as he fully agreed with her. "I am glad that I am ahead."

Bumblebee chuckled at her. "You are indeed. I think you will be fine, Azura. You are very smart. I think our education will not be a problem for you at all. It is too bad there will not be any sparklings for you to hang around when the time comes, but I know you will do a marvellous job. And you will likely have Ratchet as your teacher. Oof…" He shuddered at the very thought of that. "I am not so sure if I would like that. My old teachers were bad enough, Ratchet would be way worse."

"He is not that bad, Bumblebee. Ratchet is a great autobot. I love him, I see him as an uncle really." She snorted in amusement as she thought about him. "Though grandfather might also suit him, since he is a bit like that. But he doesn't seem that old for that title." She hugged the toy a little tighter with a smile. "Too bad Cliff isn't here…I still miss him terribly. At least I know that he is smiling from wherever he is now. So…" She jumped as Bumblebee stumbled a little, making her almost let out a yelp of surprise and looked at him with wide optics to see he was holding his forehead with a grimace. "Bumblebee? Are you okay?"

Bumblebee seemed to be a little disorientated, and that worried Azura. She guessed it could be the patch aftereffects, but it was hard to tell. She was worried that he might accidently drop her, and she honestly didn't need another injury on top of her illness. His optics changed for a moment, and it was almost like the optics were changing shape. It was weird, because that was something he hasn't done. At least, not like this, and it was certainly very concerning to her.

"Sorry." Bumblebee turned his head to look at her sadly as he knew that she was nervous. "I didn't mean to scare you, Azura. My mind just felt…weird all of a sudden." She stared at him worryingly before he relaxed and straightened up. "But I am all okay now. I will not drop you, Azura." She was not convinced, and Bumblebee could tell. "I promise I will let Ratchet know if there is a concern to be worried about, Azura. I will not let it go unchecked."

Azura believed him on that, but that still didn't make her less comforted. He was holding her, after all. And if he was having some problems that might cause him to stumble, it was a concern he could drop her. Azura didn't particularly want anything to happen, and she looked ahead as she knew that the lobby was not far. So she thought about whether or not if she wanted him to carry her the whole way or not. She at least figured to the lobby itself was fine, as she could easily make her way to the med bay from there with no problem.

Bumblebee himself felt bad for stumbling the way he did and cause her to worry about being dropped. He would never intentionally hurt her, but he also knew she could sense something was wrong with him. And Azura wasn't exactly wrong, as Bumblebee had been noticing strange things about himself as well. And he swore he could see Megatron's face in his processor, and it was definitely worrying him that it might be an affect from the cortical psychic patch.

As Bumblebee entered the lobby, he looked over at Bulkhead who was playfully moving the lob between his hands with a smile. Azura was surprised when she noticed a hoop had been set up, and she chuckled a little. "There you are!" Bulkhead's smile widened as he looked at Azura. "How are you feeling, Azura? I bet it must be nice to feel a little better."

She nodded. "I feel okay. I still need time to fully recover, but I am okay, Bulkhead. Bumblebee told me you were going to do a Cybertronian version of basketball. I can't help but be curious about what that will look like." She giggled softly at the very idea. "But I want to go and see daddy first. I want to see how he is."

Bulkhead chuckled softly. "That doesn't surprise me. You've been doing your own thing for an hour, and you already miss your carrier." She rolled her optics as she tightened her hug on the toy. "I think that is fine though. You should go to the med bay while Bee and I start to have some fun. I think you will enjoy it more when we work out the rules of the game."

"That sounds like a good idea." Azura looked at Bee who seemed a little sad at the moment. She didn't know why he would feel that way, but she didn't ask. "You can put me down now, Bee. Thanks for bringing me to the lobby, but I am still very capable of walking." She looked down to see Jack and Raf watching from the platform. "You guys should come with me. At least I am well enough to do something else."

"I would not mind listening to Ratchet's medical assessment of Optimus. I think almost everyone would." Jack smiled as Bumblebee lowered Azura to the ground and both he and Rafael walk over to the stairs. "I would suggest all of us go, but I don't think crowding the med bay is a good idea. Plus, we all know Optimus is on the mend. He will probably be well before you. Is he able to feed you now?"

"Um, I think so," Azura responded with a shrug. "Ratchet has been feeding me…I know I have to start ingesting medicine again…so maybe Optimus can feed me as well. It's just a precaution." Azura did miss Optimus feeding her though, but that was only natural, given how much she adored her carrier. "But given I have been feeling awful over the last week, as long as my tank is full and I am not purging anymore, I don't want to try and focus on the small things."

"And thankfully, you haven't been." Arcee was leaning against the platform with an amused smirk on her face. "Sparklings tend to do that, but you are mature for you age, though that has changed some over the last few months..." Azura raised an eyebrow at her and the femme chuckled. "Alright, come on. Hopefully Ratchet and Optimus won't mind the interruption."

Azura smiled happily as she walked into the tunnel as Arcee began to follow. Jack and Raf run over to walk with her. "I guess Bulk, Bee and I…uh, hey!" Miko placed her hands on her hips. Azura looked at the girl as she was standing by a ladder that led up to a catwalk by the hoop and she had put her hands on her hips. "You and Bulkhead were supposed to be making rules, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee shrugged and looked at Miko kindly. "Optimus has done a lot for me, Miko. I also want to see his progress, because I care very deeply about him. For Azura, he is her carrier. To me, he's like a sire to me as well. He and Ratchet helped me when I was young. So you should be able to understand why I want to go with them to see how he is."

Bulkhead chuckled softly. "Don't worry, Miko. You and I can work on the rules while they are gone, and when they get back, Bumblebee can listen to the rules and throw in his ideas for them." Miko sighed as she did understand, it was just frustrating a bit to her. "I know you also want to know how the boss is doing. Though I have no doubt Optimus will be back to kicking decepticon tailpipe in no time at all."

"I know." Miko shrugged and smiled, looking at the group as they walk away from them. "Make sure you let me know how he's going! I do want to know too. Bulk and I will keep an eye on the lobby for you all."

Azura chuckled a little as they walk away from the lobby. She looked at Raf with a smile. "So what exactly is your assignment, Raf? You said it was a project about the ocean. Is it like an assignment of the different ecosystems in the ocean?"

"Sort of. I actually have to make a visual representation of a part of the ocean. I haven't figured out mine yet. A lot of the others have picked the Arctic, Antarctica, the Atlantic and so on." Raf seemed uncertain about his project. "I don't really know what to pick, if I am honest."

"Hmm…" Azura thought a little bit for a moment before an idea entered her mind. "What about reefs? Has anyone in your class picked them?" Raf shook his head, and that made her smile. "Then you should make your assignment about the Great Barrier Reef. Being it is a very large reef with so much in it, you could easily make your assignment about that."

Raf immediately seemed to like the idea as no one has picked it in his class. "You know what? I might just do that. The teacher was talking about reefs today at school, so that is actually perfect timing, Azura. Now I just have to figure out how I am going to make it…but I think that is going to be a lot of fun."

"Oh, it will!" Azura was excited for Raf, and she would be more than willing to help him. "I know a lot about reefs, and I am going to be more than happy to help you, Raf. It is a good thing you are going to be the only one picking the Great Barrier Reef, because that will at least make your assignment more unique. But it also puts pressure on you, in a way, since you will be the only one who has picked the largest reef in the world as your assignment."

"Yeah, no pressure at all," Raf said sarcastically with a light chuckle. "Oh, and I never got to ask, but how are your tanks? Jack taught me how to look after them while you've been really sick, and I hope we did a good job. I know how upset you were not so long ago regarding some dead fish, so I hope none of them have died because of us."

She placed her hand on Raf's shoulder with a smile. "Don't worry, Raf. You have done a fantastic job. I know if daddy can look after the tanks just fine, I have no doubt you can too. Besides, those tanks are in perfect condition, pretty much. So not much is needed to be done to them. Aside from feeding the fish, gravel cleaning, the occasional algae scrub and checking the filter. Which reminds me I need to do that."

Jack smiled at her as he listened. "If you need replacements, let me know which ones to get and both Arcee and I can head into town so we can go and grab it for you."

"Thanks, Jack. I should be alright for a bit, but there is no bad thing to have extras." Azura looked up at Arcee as the femme walked alongside them. "By the way, Arcee, I haven't actually thanked you either for going onto the warship to try and find a cure for daddy. The praise went to Bee, but you were there too. I see it as an equal achievement."

Arcee was surprised, but she was happy that Azura wanted to acknowledge her involvement in saving Optimus's life. She leaned down and scooped the sparkling up, making her giggle happily. "Thank you, Azura. Personally, I wasn't looking for praise. But I am very glad that you acknowledge that I was there to help." She hugged Azura and she hugged her back. "Though I do regret some of my actions, as I was thinking too emotionally about some things, and acted rashly. But he will be okay, that is the main thing."

"Exactly, Arcee. You don't need to feel too bad." Jack looked at the med bay doors as they got closer. "Azura wouldn't have to go through that feeling of being an orphan again. I can't imagine how that would feel a second time."

"It would feel horrible," Azura said quickly with a shudder. "I was worried about that. Especially since…well…" She turned her head to look at Arcee. She knew that Arcee had shot Megatron before she left, and a part of her did ache about that. "It doesn't matter now. I have daddy, and that is all that matters to me."

Arcee smiled and hugged the sparkling a little tighter. "At least we can celebrate you and Optimus getting better, Azura. When you and Optimus are feeling much better, maybe we should do something. Get out of the base and find somewhere to relax and have fun. What do you think about that?"

"I would love it!" Azura looked at the doors as they open, and she saw Optimus sitting on the edge of a med berth. He glanced at her briefly before refocusing on Ratchet. "Shh! We should be quiet."

Ratchet glanced at them with a slightly irritated expression before looking at Optimus and shines at light at his right optic. "Follow the light." He moved the light and Optimus quickly responded. "Good. Good." He moved the light up and Optimus's optic followed it quickly. "I wouldn't advise anything strenuous, Optimus. But it appears that your systems have fully recovered from the cybonic plague. Well done." Azura let out a cheer and Ratchet chuckled softly. "And I believe now is the time to tell you that you are now able to safely feed Azura. Now that your system has been given over twenty-four hours to purge the virus with the aid of the cure, it is now safe for her."

"Thanks to your medical expertise, old friend," Optimus said as he slid off the berth with a smile on his face. "I feel mostly myself today. I am only feeling a little tired and weak, but nothing that can't be helped."

Ratchet shrugged in amusement at Optimus. "It might be true that I was able to administer the cure to your system, Optimus, but it was your scout who braved unknown territory to locate the cure."

Bumblebee shrugged and waved his hands as he didn't want more praise. "It wasn't just me, Ratchet. Don't forget that Arcee was there to help. If she was not there to help, things might not have gone so smoothly. I could easily be a captive of the decepticons right now."

Arcee nodded and walked over to Optimus to pass Azura over to him as she was holding out her hands towards him, wanting to be held. "Lucky for us, Megatron was still alive."

Bumblebee frowned at Arcee as Optimus took Azura. The sparkling whimpered a little as she disliked the mention of Megatron's name. "Come on, Arcee…"

Arcee rolled her optics at Bumblebee. "Yeah, I actually said that. But it is true as well, Bee."

Azura snuggled against Optimus with a smile. Ratchet smiled at the sparkling and looked at Optimus. "What matters is that you are on the mend, Optimus. Speaking of…" The medic looked back at Azura. "It is about the time to give you the medicine. And the gel for your metal burns, Azura." She quickly made a face, and the medic was amused. "It won't take long."

Azura grumbled under her intake, and she looked at Arcee. "To be fair, you don't actually know if Megatron is…is…you know…"

"She has a point." Jack was feeling sad for Azura, as he could see that Azura seemed to still be processing the fact that Megatron might be dead again. But the fact that Arcee would even take him down while he was at his most vulnerable was something he wasn't sure that Optimus would do himself. "I am not sure if you hit the mark."

Bumblebee nodded in agreement. "We didn't exactly have the time to watch." He saw that Jack didn't react to him, since the boy couldn't understand, but Raf was fully paying attention.

Arcee shrugged as she couldn't help but agree. "Bee's right. Did my best to finish Megatron's story. Though I guess…" She looked at Azura who was looking at her with sad optics. "I guess we are just going to have to wait and see if Megatron has some other miracle going for him. Just couldn't stick around long enough to see how it ended."

Azura looked at Bumblebee as the scout turned and walked out of the med bay rather suddenly. The way he did so seemed to be strange. And she noticed, for some reason, the way he walked changed slightly. She tilts her head a little, but it seemed that the others did not notice anything strange. They didn't question on it at all, especially as Ratchet was focused getting her medicine together. Azura wanted to ask what was wrong, but she didn't know if she should. She simply snuggled against Optimus as her carrier cradled her against his chassis.

Meanwhile…

Walking out of the med bay, Bumblebee looked down at his hands curiously. However, Bumblebee was not the one walking away. While he was trying to work out what was going on, he heard the voice of someone familiar and the flashes of his face. "It is a matter of time before Optimus discovers all is not right with you scout. Though it seems my little sparkling has certainly picked it up quickly. I guess that deep connection that she and I have comes from the very moment her spark was created…oh, I remember that day so well."

Bumblebee tensed and rubbed his forehead, trying to force the image of Megatron's face and hearing his voice away, thinking it was just nothing but a hallucination. "I must reclaim my body. Which means taking complete and total control of yours."

While Bumblebee was focused on trying to get rid of this voice and these images of Megatron, he had yet to realize the presence within him. Megatron himself though was actually curious to observe the sparkling. To see that she was very small, even for the age she was, at first seemed to be disappointing to him. But now he knew that there was more to her than he first realized. Something else was mixed in with her CNA and he knew it. Megatron was well educated on Cybertron's past, but he would have to go back to read the archives that he has stored on the ship.

Though while that had certainly interested him, Megatron already felt a natural feeling of being drawn to the sparkling. After all, Megatron did create her habloid spark with the help of Shockwave. The only reason why the pulse was used once, was the amount of energy it took from Megatron's body himself in order to create the sparks. And now Megatron was interested in learning more about this sparkling. If he ever got a chance to speak to her properly, he certainly will take that chance. After all, Azura is also his daughter. Not just Optimus's.

And the fact she had been sick for a whole week, Megatron realized that Bee was not lying that she was sick, but she wasn't sick with the cybonic plague. It was something else, and it seemed to be some kind of infection. Megatron could not help but think his medics would have curled the sparkling sooner than Ratchet. But when he realized he was suddenly caring a little too much, he didn't know if that should bother him or not. After all, Megatron didn't really know her. But he was able to try and get to know her through the scout while he had the chance.