Strongarm jolts awake at the feeling of their sparks connecting and bonding together, "Steeljaw!"

Steeljaw's optics snapped open when his mate called him, but he didn't break the bond, "Strongarm, I can explain."

Strongarm doesn't say anything and just looks at him. Then after a moment of awkward silence, "Well? I'm waiting."

"Strongarm, words alone can't express how sorry I am."

"Who told you to merge our sparks?"

"Your sire told me to do it."

She looks at him in surprise, "Really? What about the deal?"

"He said that he found what he was looking for. He saw how much I loved you and how I would do anything to keep you safe." He looked at her with happy yet sad optics, "Strongarm, I know I hurt you but it was against my own will. When that femme told me to end your life, I was fighting to regain control over my body. Just as I was about to strike you, I attacked my own body to keep you safe from further harm."

She puts a servo on his face, "I know. You were under her control and she made you do things, I'm not mad at you."

He closed his optics as he melted into her touch, "You have every right to be. But I'm happy you're not. I'll prove to you that you are the only femme for me."

"I was afraid she might have forced you to take her as your new mate and push me aside," she says with sadness in her optics.

"Strongarm, the first time she had me under her spell I broke free because I kept thinking of you. I thought of the hurt you would have felt if you had seen what they had planned for us. I will never take another as my mate and I will never push you off to the side, you are the light in my dark world. You are my reason to keep living. If you aren't there, I don't think my life would be worth living."

Her face tinted blue as her spark fluttered a bit, giving Steeljaw a weird sensation, "Did you really feel sick when she kissed you?"

"Yes, even though my body gave in, I couldn't stand the thought of her lips on mine. Especially since she had done the same with others before me," he could feel his stomach turning in disgust at the thought of this.

"I saw she was trying to seduce you. Did you get turned on by her when she was bare?"

"No, you are the only one that can get a reaction from me. She is nothing compared to you when you are bare."

"I can see that you fought hard, even when the witch was scratching you behind your ears you didn't give in like you did when I did it."

"As I told her, I only melt to your touches. Besides, you are the only one that can scratch me behind my ears, if I could have been able to move my body I would have bitten her servo off."

She smiles as she leans in and kisses him. Steeljaw kissed her back with as much passion as he could send through their bond as he wrapped his arms around her. They felt the bond complete and they pulled their sparks apart from each other, "Now we're completely bonded," Strongarm said with a smile.

I love you so much, Strongarm. He sent all of the love he could to her through the bond as he caressed her cheek.

I love you too, so very much.

They continued lying in each other's arms until a knock came at the door, "Just a minute!" Steeljaw calls out while helping Strongarm get her plating on then puts on his.

He goes to open the door and sees Magnus and Fixit there, they both see Strongarm awake, "You're a brake, acack, AWAKE! Thank Primus!"

"So glad to see you awake sweetie."

Strongarm slowly sat up, "I'm glad to be awake." She smiled as she remembered her other comrades, "Are the others alright? What's Metalsound's condition?"

"They're all fine. Metalsound is recovering nicely, she's resting right now. Everyone's concern was on you because you were so close to offlining."

"Yes, you crashed at one point," Fixit added.

"I did?"

"Yes, we were afraid you were gonna join the AllSpark," Fixit replied with a sad tone.

"I'm sorry for worrying everyone."

"Now let's have a look at your wounds."

"Since you're awake maybe you can get your mate to catch up on his Energon, get some sleep, and get his arm fixed up," Magnus says looking at Steeljaw.

Strongarm looked to her mate in confusion as she noticed his arm, "Steeljaw, why didn't you let Fixit fix your arm?"

"I was too worried about you and wanted to be sure you were alright."

She gently held his arm, carefully massaging it, "I know but still you should have had this looked at."

"I know."

"I'll take a look when I'm done with Strongarm," Fixit says as he looks over her wounds.

"Alright, I better go see how Bumblebee and the others are doing," Ultra Magnus replied as he left.

"Alright," they all replied.

"Your wound is starting to heal up quite nicely," Fixit says as he re-bandages the wound.

"That's good, I hope Bumblebee and Drift aren't blaming themselves," Strongarm replied thinking about the two who had attacked her against their will.

"They're both taking it pretty hard, they feel so bad about it."

"Maybe I should talk to them later when I have enough energy to stay awake," her optics already felt heavy.

"You better go back to sleep," Steeljaw says noticing that she was trying to keep her optics open.

"I think I'll do that," she replied as she closed her optics. "But make sure you get some yourself," she adds before going into recharge.

Fixit finished bandaging up her wound and looked at Steeljaw, "Now your turn."

Growling inwardly he looked to his sleeping mate before sighing, "Fine," he held out his arm to the Mini-Con. Once Fixit was done fixing the wound on his arm, Steeljaw looked at the Mini-Con's handy work for a moment. In the past, all he ever relied on was himself, only a few times did he have to rely on Shockwave; now he had Strongarm and even Ultra Magnus. "Thank you."

"No problem," the Mini-Con says as he rolls out of the room. Once Fixit was out, Steeljaw closed the door and went to lay down next to Strongarm, holding her tightly he slipped into recharge himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ultra Magnus found Drift and Bumblebee staring at the ground with Drift's Mini-Cons trying to lift their spirits but with no luck.

"What's with the sad faces?" Magnus asks as he walks up to them.

"They are still upset that they attacked Cadet Strongarm," Slipstream replied.

"We tried to get them to overcome this obstacle but sadly we aren't having any luck," Jetstorm added.

"Bumblebee, Drift, I have some news."

"What is it?" Drift asked.

"Strongarm has woken up and she's gonna be just fine. She said she doesn't want you two beating yourselves up over what happened."

"Thank the AllSpark," Bumblebee said as relief washed over him, "And Steeljaw?

"He's holding up, he's happy she's finally awake. He sparkbonded with her which is what brought her through, so we owe her life to him."

"I'm just glad she's going to be okay," Bumblebee stated.

"What about Metalsound's condition?" Slipstream asked.

"She'll be just fine as well, she's resting right now."

"That's good," Jetstorm said with relief.

"You can see her when she's feeling better."

The twins both jumped back when they heard Thunderhoof, they looked behind them to see Thunderhoof and Soundwave behind them. "How long have you been standing there?" Slipstream asked.

"I was going to check on Steeljaw," he replied, "Metalsound's sleeping right now so wait until she wakes up and is well enough to get company and you can see her."

"We will certainly go check on her when she's well enough," Bumblebee says as Thunderhoof walks off. Bumblebee and Drift followed after Thunderhoof to see Steeljaw and Strongarm while the others went on with their own business.