(Please see all previous disclaimers)
Megatron and Optimus were both out searching, both wanting to find the runaway femme and both hoping that they found her before their rival did. Optimus was even more worried as he knew he had driven his own sparkmate and his precious unsparked little ones away by not being as supportive as Aquaformer needed him to be. Optimus only now realized just how sensitive his mate was. She may have looked tough as nails and scary as all get out, but underneath, she was a sweet bot who needed reassurance that she was wanted, accepted and loved.
Megatron, knowing that Aquaformer was at least bonded to Prime and possibly sparked, was in desperate search of the femme, but not as a breeder. He wanted her dead as he knew that if she died, so would the Prime. Megatron sent his forces out in full to search for the wayward femme, though they all knew to handle her carefully as she wasn't a stupid femme nor was she weak. She was highly intelligent, but the possibility of her carrying meant she wouldn't be as fast as she once was. Megatron could only hope he captured the wayward femme before Optimus could find her.
Meanwhile, sensing that she was in danger though not sure from which side, as Aquaformer didn't even really trust some of her own teammates, Aquaformer carefully moved in a place that she figured no one would expect her to be – deep under the icy waters of the earth. She didn't like being in the cold water, but it was the only place that she figured she could escape, as she knew her presence would be made known if she spent too much time out of the water. She went back and forth between an ice cave that she had found and the icy waters, hoping to keep away from those who sought to harm her. She felt all alone and wasn't even sure she could comm her sparkmate. She feared rejection from him. She feared he had played her, just like previous mechs had done – strung her along and then left her out to dry when she needed them most. She just hoped she could hold out until her precious little ones were sparked. Only then would she try to willingly return.
Optimus kept getting a bad feeling in his spark. HE knew this was all his own fault, but something jagged at him, like a bad feeling that he wouldn't be able to find her before the cons did. He wasn't sure why he felt that, but he did and it made him worried. He didn't realize, at first, that some of that jagged feeling was that his mate felt rejected and unwanted. Hopefully, for Aquaformer's, he would soon realize that feeling.
Elsewhere, Starscream and his trine mates were flying far and wide over the world, knowing that they could cover more ground by flying higher in the sky. Starscream was near the northern arctic area of earth, Thundercracker had taken the equator area of earth, and Skywarp was in the frozen tundra of the southern hemisphere. All three were scanning to see if they could locate the wayward femme.
"Anything to report?" Starscream screeched over the comm.
"Nothing here" Replied Thundercracker, still scanning.
"I'm freezing my afterburners off" Skywarp replied.
"I don't care if you are. Megatron ordered us to search" Starscream bit back.
"Well, I got nothing" Skywarp reported snippily.
"You both best keep searching, Megatron will have our tail rutters if we fail" Starscream barked and soon signed off. He had no idea just how close he was to the wayward femme. Soon, though, he would figure it out, and the poor femme wouldn't have a chance.