When Optimus came back, Dahlia was overjoyed. Achelois was happy for her, but she missed her bot. She kept looking at the ring more and more as each month passed. After several months had passed she finally just took it off to keep herself from looking at it. Unfortunately, that didn't work as she kept looking at her finger. So she just kept the ring on and tried to look at it less and less.

At the moment, the entire team was on a mission, looking for a Decepticon. Dahlia and Achelois had tagged along with their energon guns. Achelois could still remember the first time they had used them in front of the Autobots. It had shocked them. Bee was so proud of Raf for making them, which Achelois happily passed along that to Raf.

They were currently in the forest, walking, when they heard rustling in the bushes. A con scrambles away from something in the bushes, one that the Autobots and humans recognize as Clampdown. He was scared of something, and they were prepared for what ever it was, Achelois especially. At least, that's what she thought.

However, when the thing that scared Clampdown so badly stepped into the light, all air left her lungs, and her heart skipped a beat.

"You?" both Optimus and Bumblebee asked. Achelois didn't know what to do. She took one step back, then another before she ran and hid behind Grimlock's disguise for when they were supposed to be on a road.

Her breath was quick and erratic and she couldn't focus on anything except for the fact that her ring was glowing brightly, and that she wasn't ready to see him again. She jumped when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Dahlia. 

Dahlia wasn't prepared for the look she saw on Achelois' face. It was a mixture of terror, anger, pain, and sadness. She tried to calm down Achelois by speaking calming words to her. Eventually, Achelois' breathing calmed, as well as her thoughts. 

Closing her eyes, Achelois silently stood up. She hadn't even realized that she had fallen to the ground. She took another deep breath and put on a poker face, concealing all her emotions trapped inside and got ready to face Ratchet.

She heard Ratchet ask Bumblebee a question. "Are any of our former comrades here on Earth?"

She stepped out from behind the Grim's disguise, and walked forward as Bee replied with a "No". She scoffed.

"I think you're forgetting about your human comrades, Bee", Achelois said sharply as she stepped up next to him. Ratchet looked down, and a look of shock came across his face as he registered just who was standing before him.

"Lois", he whispered.

"You don't get to call me that anymore", Achelois growled lowly before turning around and stalking off to go to Strongarm, who welcomed Achelois on her shoulder. Achelois sat there and glared at Ratchet, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to fall.

She could hear Dahlia trying to explain to Ratchet why she was so distant, but everything that Dahlia said was not the reason why. Achelois had never actually talked to Dahlia about it because she had closed off all her emotions the best she could.

"Dahlia, you're not getting any of it right", she called, though not cruelly. She climbed down from Strongarm's shoulder and stood her ground. "I'm distant because he told me he would come back, and he never did. I waited for several weeks. And now he's here, several years after I had finally given up. And now I'm certain that he doesn't love me anymore."

"Achelois", Ratchet's voice was quiet and when she looked into his optics, all she saw was sadness. "I wanted to go back, but I had to help set up the government for Cybertron. And even then, they blamed Optimus for the war, and Cybertron's death. Eventually I was basically exiled to hunt for rogue Decepticons and so I had to leave. I couldn't use a space bridge, I had to use a ship. I've been slowly been working my way back to Earth, but it took me-"

Achelois cut him off. "Keep your excuses to yourself. I've given you multiple chances. Each time you broke my heart. But the last one hurt the worst." She furiously wiped away the tear away. "You wanna know why it hurt the worst? Because it was just after you had given me this!" She pulled the ring off her finger and showed it to him. "You left me just after you asked me to be your sparkmate! You told me you'd be back, but you never came back. So guess what? You can keep this!" She held up the ring. "I don't want it anymore."

She handed the ring to Dahlia and walked over to a tree at the back of the group and sat down against it. She brought her knees to her chin, and tried to hold back tears. She failed miserably and was soon crying quietly. She watched as there were more explanations, but she didn't listen to any of them. She watched as Clampdown tried to escape. She pulled out her gun, put on the highest setting of stun, and shot the stupid crab. He let out a surprised cry of pain, and everyone stared at her. She shrugged. "He was trying to escape. I just made it easier for you to capture him."

Ratchet stared at her most of all. "Where did you get energon blasters?"

"Raf made them", Dahlia answered, glancing at her friend. Achelois rolled her eyes and stared at the ground, wiping away any stray tears. Now she just felt numb, and not wanting to do anything. Soon, they finally got to driving back to the base, and every single Autobot she tried to get a ride with denied her. They were trying to get to talk to Ratchet and she knew it.

"Fine, I guess I'll walk", she growled.

"Lois... please?" Ratchet asked softly. Achelois sighed.

"Fine. Just don't expect me to talk."