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Optimus watched the small human healer silently as he listened to the steady beeps of a machine, letting him know that Harry was still online. Ratchet had procured it from the military's med ward quite easily with his holoform.
The last few days had been a strange time for Optimus, as the gentle mech had never truly contemplated his death and just what it might do to his team. Bumblebee had immediately asked after him when the scout awoke from his healing recharge. Ratchet had told him that Bumblebee had gone silent when Bulkhead had finally told him the truth- that Prime had died, only to be brought back online by Harry. The whole team had been somber ever since he had come back to life. It touched Optimus' spark in more ways than one. It hurt to think of what he had almost done to his soldiers, soldiers who relied on him more than he had originally thought, but he was glad to note that his team respected him and enjoyed having him as a leader. However, the day when he wouldn't have Harry or Ratchet there to save him would destroy his team. Of that, the leader no longer held any doubt.
Optimus knew he had to somehow prepare the Autobots for the inevitable, but, looking down at the human that had risked his life to save him, the leader couldn't find it in himself to wall off his spark completely.
Harry looked peaceful and innocent sleeping on the giant berth that could fit even Optimus' twenty-eight foot frame. It was hard to even think of being cold and aloof towards his team when something so radiant and pure sat before his very own optics, warming his energon lines with its radiance.
Optimus didn't know what the right course of action was, so he continued to stew in his thoughts and watch over Harry.

-

"Alright, that is enough," Ratchet proclaimed one day, slamming his wrench down on the table near his medical station. "Optimus, Harry is stable, get that aft of yours off of that seat and come over here. We're going to talk about what happened."
"Everyone into the main hangar. It's time for a debrief," Ratchet broadcasted over the open Autobot channel.
Optimus frowned lightly at his medical officer, but nodded his helm in acceptance when Ratchet threw a glare his way. They needed to go over the events of the battle, even if Optimus still wasn't sure how to deal with his team just yet. He could always work on distancing himself later if he deemed it an appropriate action.
Casting one last glance at the recharging healer, Optimus vented as he stood up with a few creaks and pops of his locked joints. He had been sitting for over twenty hours, it made sense that his cold joints would protest any sudden movement.
Ignoring the pain coming from his receptors, Optimus followed the smaller mech out of his medical room, a neutral expression on his faceplates.
"Optimus!" Sam and Bumblebee both cried as they dropped their video game consoles and ran towards the startled mech. The Prime couldn't have stopped the small smile from appearing on his faceplate even if he wanted to as Bumblebee wrapped himself around his legs and Sam hugged his ankle.
Patting a quietly keening Bumblebee gently on the back between his door wings, Optimus used his other servo to offer Sam a lift.
"How are you feeling, Sam?" Optimus asked, his optics focusing in on the bandages wrapped around several different appendages on the human as he climbed into the palm of his servo.
Sam smiled and patted one of the leader's digits. "Much better now that we've finally been able to see you," he confided. "Ratchet is scarily good at keeping people away from his patients."
Optimus chuckled as he glanced at the irritated mech in question. "Yes, he is quite fiercely protective of his charges."
"I- Is it true that you actually died?" Sam asked uncertainly. "How did you come back to life?"
Optimus vented as Bumblebee started keening again. Kneeling down carefully to keep Sam steady in his hand and not knock his scout over with his knee struts, the Prime hugged Bumblebee to his chassis, resting the younger bot's helm against his spark chamber. "My spark still beats, Bumblebee. I am here."
It seemed he had vastly underestimated just how much Bumblebee depended on him. It made sense, Optimus shamefully admitted in the privacy of his own processor. He had practically raised Bumblebee when the small bot had been saved from his destroyed nursery back on Cybertron. No other bot had had the ability to protect a young, untrained mech without even his outer armor while still successfully fighting off the Decepticons.
"Yes, Sam," Optimus vented as Bumblebee quieted again. "I did not know I had offlined until Ratchet was offering me his servo." The Autobot leader noticed the rest of his team were listening to him intently. It would be easier to tell them now instead of bringing it up later. "Once Bumblebee had been sent back here, I battled both Grindor and Starscream successfully for a time. Grindor eventually opened up his guard, and I took advantage to finish him off quickly. However, I foolishly underestimated Starscream." Optimus shook his helm in self-loathing as he gently released Bumblebee and stood back up, unknowingly showing off the barren parts of his chassis where his vibrant paint job had been burned off and blackened. "By the time I turned my attention back onto him, he had charged up his newest weapon, a Gatling cannon."
Bulkhead grunted in surprise.
"For an odd 7 kliks, the cannon's beam was stopped by an unknown silvery shield of energy," Optimus continued resolutely, "but it then cracked and was forcefully dispersed. The remaining energy beam stayed its course and rained down on me. I attempted to use my gauntlets to block the beam, but it did little good. I remained online for a portion of the attack, but my CPU stopped responding until it was powering back online to find that my systems had been shut down and my spark left cold."
Silence reigned in the hangar for a few moments before Bumblebee's voice box warbled and the mech looked up at his leader and quasi-sire figure. "I'm sorry for not following your orders, Optimus," the yellow scout apologized, his door wings jittering with thinly-veiled emotion. "If I had left when you told me to, this would never have happened..."
Optimus rested his large servo on Bumblebee's shoulder plate, looking into the yellow mech's shining optics. "It is not your fault, Bumblebee. The blame lies entirely on myself. I should have gotten out of there as soon as I knew you and Sam were safe, but what you said was right. It was a good chance to hurt our enemies without putting the rest of the team at risk. However, I misjudged the tenacity of my opponents."
Optimus vented quietly and turned to look up at the hangar ceiling, quickly analyzing his memories of the battle with the two Decepticons. "I believe that I would have made the same mistake at perhaps an even worse time should it not have happened now," the Prime confessed quietly. "The fact that everyone is still online is very fortunate. I shall not make the same mistake twice, and I hope you all can also learn from me."
Optimus looked down at each and every one of his comrades and was pleased to see that they all had determined looks on their faceplates. He would not lose them to his own foolishness.

-

"Wait, Sam, what exactly did Starscream want to do to you?" Bulkhead asked, his opticplates furrowed in confusion. He could understand catching Sam to hold him hostage, but torturing him didn't seem like Starscream's style at all. The mech was a bit... squeamish.
"Err, so you all know about those symbols I've been seeing?" Sam asked, looking at the surrounding bots suddenly very nervous.
Bulkhead nodded, concern seeping into his CPU. What had the human so distressed?
"Starscream is convinced that part of the Allspark is in me, not only because I'm seeing symbols- and I have no clue how he found that out- but he also has an Allspark shard tracker that was honing in... on my location..."
Bulkhead watched as Ratchet stiffened and quickly started scanning Sam while the distressed human tried to keep himself from flinching away in fear.
"I'm s-so sorry. I totally forgot he could track me," Sam apologized weakly, wringing his hands roughly. "I- I didn't mean to give away the location of your headquarters. I understand if- if you want me to go on the run to keep him from getting a read on my location. All my things are still basically packed, I can be out of here in-"
"Sam," Optimus cut the rambling human off firmly. "You will not be forced to travel anywhere. There has been no attack on us yet, and, thus, the discovery of our base is not certain. You have no reason to worry about that as I am sure Ratchet is already attempting to find a way to block the signal."
Ratchet nodded in confirmation, not diverting his optics from where he was already typing away on his gauntlet. Bulkhead smiled at the medical bot's behavior. Ratchet might be an aft-head sometimes, but he was one of the smartest bots the wrecker knew.

-

Megatronus once more sat in his throne room, feeling undecided. Harry hadn't come back from healing Optimus yet, and Starscream had left for Saturn hours ago. He had nothing left to do on the Nemesis- considering the fact that Soundwave had already agreed to be his inside informant.
Megatronus guessed his indecision stemmed simply from the Vehicons. They were programmed to solely follow him, but he had no delusions regarding that control. The Vehicons would most-likely be easily mind-controlled by The Fallen upon his arrival. Nothing Megatronus could try would stop that. There was no known way to hinder telepathic control, as The Fallen was the only Prime to receive the honor of psychic programming. Primus had never seen fit to gift another Prime with the same abilities. It was widely believed that their Creator had seen the unstoppable power The Fallen held as a factor leading to his betrayal of the code of Primes.
If Megatronus left the Vehicons as they were, they would be another tool for The Fallen to use against the Autobots and potentially against Harry. However, he could not take them with him wherever he decided to go. Megatronus could attempt to order them to work with Orion, but he knew the Prime would not take kindly to having the warrior bots under his command. Orion had always been a firm believer in free will, something the High Council hadn't been very happy with back on Cybertron.
Gazing at a Vehicon as it passed by one of the entrances to his throne room, Megatronus' optics brightened. Perhaps leaving the vehicons there was a good idea. There was a very large amount of Vehicons on the Nemesis, and The Fallen, while mighty, was only one bot. It was improbable he could control every single bot he met at the same time. If The Fallen was focused on controlling the Vehicons, the probability of him mind-controlling the Autobots was minimal. It would be disastrous for The Fallen to learn of Harry and his capabilities through their processors. Also, if he was unable to control another bot, it would level the playing field between Megatronus and The Fallen.
As much as Megatronus hated giving his enemies tactical advantages, this one would be a curse in disguise.
The ex-gladiator smiled sinisterly, thinking of the pain he would put the bastard through before finishing him. The Fallen would pay for all he had done to Megatronus, to Orion, and to Cybertron.

-

Optimus' processor started slowly speeding up as his CPU rose from recharge. Keeping his optics offlined, the Prime tried to assess what had disturbed him. He was what humans considered a 'light sleeper', but Optimus knew this was because his battle protocols were never completely shut down rather than CPU cycles.
Audio receptors working at a hundred percent capacity, the Autobot leader was deathly still in his berth, waiting to pick up anything out of the ordinary. He never awoke due to something non-threatening.
The mech could just barely hear music coming from one of the chambers off to his left, but Optimus strained his audio finials to hear more. Bulkhead commonly turned on his radio to help lull him into recharge; his music would not have alerted Optimus' sensors.
Picking up nothing else, the large mech sat up in his berth, onlined his optics, and switched to his infrared vision to inspect his chambers.
They were empty, but something still bugged Optimus' processor.
Venting quietly and getting up from his berth, Optimus decided to check on Harry. The Prime would struggle to go back to recharge until he figured out whatever his sensors were picking up on.
Stepping into the medbay, the first thing Optimus noticed was that the silence was exactly what had alerted his battle protocols. The human machine wasn't beeping. Energon lines cooling, Optimus' optics narrowed in on where Harry lay. His heat signature was dangerously low. The Prime quickly shut off his infrared sensor as he reached the berth, kneeling down to inspect what was wrong.
Optimus instantly noticed that it was not Harry that was cold, but the imprint he had left on the berth that was. The human himself was not there. The leader vented as his throat wiring loosened. Harry was not dead.
Optimus stood back up as he worriedly wondered where the healer could have gone.
Switching his infrared sensors back on again, the blue and red mech ignored the human-shaped spot on the berth to inspect the room. There were no living beings there other than him.
Quickly stalking out of the medbay and through the main hangar, Optimus started sweeping the base. His sensors had told him something was amiss, and something was most definitely wrong. Harry had been out of commission for four Earth days. By all calculations, he would not have been able to get up and around the medbay without help of some sort.
Spark dimming in concern and fear for the small healer, Optimus was unwilling to force his battle protocols back when they started preparing him for possible danger. If the Decepticons had figured out that Harry was a source of energon and could revive the deceased, Primus knows what they would do to him.
Optimus continued his search down the Autobot hallway, determined to exhaust all possible avenues before he moved to the human part of the base. If worse came to worse, they may be able to track the special energy Harry emitted much like Starscream had done with the Allspark.
The Autobot leader's optics widened when his HUD did not pick up strong heat signals from Wheeljack in his room. The scientist wasn't there either.
Optimus' CPU flew into hyperdrive as he used his locator to find Wheeljack's position. If that mad mech had gotten it into his processor to experiment on Harry...
The Autobot leader easily locked onto his soldier's coordinates, and his tank dropped when he recognized the location. It was in the ocean, and, more specifically, the Laurentian Abyss, where they had buried Jazz. Apparently, Decepticons were not the only bots he had to worry about using Harry to re-spark lost Cybertronians.
Disregarding any thoughts except for those concerning Harry's safety, Optimus charged down the hallways leading to the ground bridge. His bulk undoubtably making a great deal of noise. Every second counted, as Harry was a human, human's breathed air, and there was no air at the bottom of the ocean.

-

Optimus stepped through a ground bridge and out into open water, immediately using his infrared sensors in an attempt to locate Wheeljack and Harry as he sank. The ground bridge had already been set to the correct coordinates, but Optimus noticed he was a bit away from where they had buried Jazz. Unfortunately, it was a common occurrence when underwater, as, while water did not dissipate energon, it could distort and shift it.
Bringing up a map of the area on his HUD and deploying his ion blaster as his pedes touched the ocean floor, Optimus silently thanked Ratchet for bullying him into fueling before he was forced to recharge. His systems had used a good deal of energon to bring him up to functioning capacity after coming back online and running with his large surface area was not the fastest way to move underwater.
Pointing his ion blaster behind him, the Prime fired a strong beam of concentrated energon, not unlike the one that nearly offlined him, to push himself forwards. The propulsion from the beam's force was just enough to get the large bot steadily moving through the water, and Optimus got a visual on the cave they had left Jazz's body in within a few kliks.
Approaching the mouth of the cave, the ex-archivist transformed his ion blaster back into a servo. His only goal was to get Harry back to safety. Wheeljack's punishment would come later, of that he was certain.
As soon as Optimus stepped into the cave, he stopped, his optics wide in surprise. Wheeljack, armed with his energon whip, was standing with his back to the Autobot leader, next to the opened semi-truck trailer that contained Jazz's remains. Harry looked to be inside of the trailer, floating and shivering. The Prime's infrared vision picked up lines of translucent colors lazily floating out of Harry's body, but the healer did not appear to be struggling for air.
Then, before Optimus could say anything over the comms to make himself known, Wheeljack whipped the human. Harry cried out in a garbled tone as another line of color began to leave him.
The energy of the Matrix of Leadership burned in the Prime's chest as he realized exactly what had been happening.
"Optimus, what in the name of Primus are you doing at Jazz's burial site?" Ratchet growled over the com channel, equally angry at being woken up and concerned for his friend.
The Autobot leader ignored the medical officer's question. "Ratchet, open a ground bridge back," he demanded grimly, attempting to tame the emotional codes firing in his body.
Stalking over to Wheeljack, Optimus expertly plucked the energon whip from his servos, stepped around the scientist, and reached into the container with a servo. The Prime, being able to see through the container easily with his sensors, gently took Harry into his servo and pulled the healer out.
Leaving his bomb specialist to reseal Jazz's tomb with nary a glance, Optimus stalked out of the cave with Harry and the energon whip in his servos. He was relieved to see a ground bridge floating near the ocean floor not ten strides away from him.
"I'm coming through," Optimus alerted Ratchet, "and Harry needs medical attention."
"Of course he does," Ratchet huffed back, irritation evident in his message. "I won't even ask why he was out of his berth."
Shutting down his infrared sensors and stepping through the ground bridge, Optimus did not reply to Ratchet and instead focused on the healer in his servo when Harry started spluttering and coughing.
Ratchet quickly took Harry, heading straight for his medbay, but it was not before Optimus caught a glimpse of several aquatic features normally only found on humans in their children's storybooks.
Pushing his curiosities aside, the Prime quickly followed his medical officer. Harry was hurt, after all. It was no time to dwell on strange features. However, Optimus did notice that they were gone along with Harry's coughing when Ratchet placed the healer back down on the berth he had been in before.
Optimus watched the wet, shivering human with a frown before he internally commanded his heating and circulatory systems to warm up his servos. Their bodies ran at a warmer internal temperature than humans' did and were not as affected by outside factors. Thus, they didn't have any conventional way to dry Harry off.
Checking the temperature of his digits with his infrared sensors, Optimus gently scooped Harry up into his servos when he saw that they were at a good degree of warmth. Delicately wrapping his digits around the healer's uninjured lower half, Optimus rested his servos on the berth. Harry shot him a grateful smile between chattering denta.
It was then that Ratchet's holoform appeared next to Harry with some human tools he must have taken from the military med ward when he went to get the original machine. The medical officer tsked at his patient's new position, but did not otherwise tell Optimus to go away.
The Prime vented softly at the averted crisis. His safety protocols were overriding his logics system. He knew that the medical officer would be very irritated with his hovering, but Optimus would not be letting Harry out of his sight until he was certain the healer was safe again. His protocols would not allow it.

-

Starscream bowed lowly before a menacing figure wrapped up in chains and roots. The Decepticon second-in-command had finally managed to find and awaken The Fallen. The mech's magnificence and malevolent presence did little to hide the fact that this was indeed the traitorous Prime of old... and it was time for his glorious return to Earth.
"Master, it is I, Starscream, the Decepticon's second-in-command. I am here to release you from your bonds. A lot has happened in the time since you-"
"Cease," the ancient mech growled loudly, effectively cutting the cowardly seeker off. Starscream stared up at the fallen Prime warily.
"I know much of what has occurred since I was last free," The Fallen continued. "However, where is my disciple? It was unwise of Megatron to send you here alone."
Starscream hid his smirk expertly and lifted one servo to gesture vaguely with his digits as his gaze turned off to The Fallen's side. "I am unsure of where he is at this current time, my master. He seemed very hesitant with your revival."
Starscream took a cautious step and leaned forward to be closer to the evil being's blazing red optics. "Perhaps it is because he has failed you, Master. He let the Allspark be destroyed in front of him, by a squishy, no less," the seeker said conspiratorially.
The Fallen chuckled darkly from where he sat. "The Cube was merely a vessel," he declared. "It's power and knowledge can never be destroyed. It can only transform."
Starscream rocked back on his pedes as he looked at the ancient mech, surprised. "How is that possible..?" he asked, his voice systems failing.
The Fallen was silent for a klik as he bared his denta in a fierce smile. "It's knowledge will have been absorbed by the human child. The key to saving our race now lies within his mind."
Starscream smiled too, as the pieces all fit together in his processor. The boy did indeed have a shard of the Allspark within himself. "Well, then, let me strip the brain from his useless body," the devious seeker replied.
The ancient mech smirked viciously. "In time, Starscream. For twelve millennium, I have dreamt of my return to that wretched planet, where I, too, was once betrayed by the Primes I called my brothers. Only a Prime can defeat me, and, now, only one remains."
"Ah, Master, you mean Optimus," Starscream purred. "He tried to protect the boy, for I had the squishy captured, but, in the end, he did not survive his little 'rescue mission'."
The Fallen surged against his bonds, craning to bring his helm closer to Starscream's. His optics bore fiercely into the seeker's own. "Show me," he demanded.
The second-in-command nodded as he stepped back, tapping the side of his helm to activate a special ability of his- creating holograms.
From Starscream's optics a stream of light hit the rocky ground and his memory file of the fight between himself, Grindor, and Optimus began. It was a wonderful thing to watch- him catching the irritating Prime off guard and ending him. However, in his efforts to show off the dramatic moment the empty carcass of the Autobot leader fell to the ground, Starscream didn't manage to stop the memory file before the strange squishy hobbled over to the Prime and began emitting that strange blue light.
As memory Starscream took flight away from the battlefield, the present Starscream shut off his hologram and turned to look at The Fallen, expertly hiding his fear and unease. He had, after all, lost Optimus' body to an organic.
"That boy..," the ancient mech murmured before his optics glowed brighter, fixing themselves to stare into Starscream's very spark. "The dark-haired human is the one with the power of the Allspark; he was attempting to revive the Prime before they disappeared." The Fallen vented deeply before he chuckled. "It is good that the Matrix of Leadership is the only power that can bring a Prime back online."
"However," the giant mech growled as sharp red optics glared at Starscream, "the other human has the knowledge to retrieve the Matrix. We must make sure to capture them before the Prime is re-sparked."
"Of course, my master," Starscream bowed. "Revenge will be yours."