Optimus watched as the small group of humans left for the mess-hall. 

     He was grateful he did not have to go into more detail to explain why Vector Sigma wanted to remain with Marissa Faireborn. It wasn't a disturbing fact, at least, not to any Cybertronian or entity related to them. It would make perfect sense too any of the titans hiding in the hangar, but to any self-respecting human, it wouldn't be taken as lightly. 

     Marissa held an admirable way with words that eased those around her. Lennox was adept enough too change the subject completely as he realized dinner was being served, and the ever-tolerated Miles was enthusiastic enough about food that the deviation in topic was accepted without protest. So, chatting idly (mostly the two young women), the group filed out of their temporary housing, leaving the Autobots and two Decepticons to brood.

         "Well?" Ironhide broke the tense silence. "What does Vector Sigma want?"

         "Isn't it obvious?" Starscream huffed with an all-knowing pomp. "It's no longer connected to the Allspark, and the thing is destroyed thanks to you buffoons!"

         -: All-knowing - He is not!:- Bumblebee made his whirr of a chuckle, mocking the Seeker for his ignorance of the last shard of their precious artifact. Starscream merely glared at him with a deep scowl.

         "So, Vector Sigma wants to return to its other half?" Knockout made an educated guess. "If it could tell the Allspark was drifting from Cybertron, than it knows if the whole of it was destroyed."

         "There's a piece of it still on Earth, isn't there?" Blurr questioned excitedly.

         "It's been locked up in an Earthling base." Ratchet nodded, eyeing the two 'Cons warily. "Optimus pulled it from Megatron's obliterated spark chamber. It still holds power or else we would have kept it with us, but obviously any discharge, unlike our battle in Mission City, would only result in some unknown factor."

         "Perhaps a Cybertronian equivalent of Earth's flora." Knockout speculated. "I mean, the Allspark provides life; Vector Sigma, personality. I doubt you can filter personality into an inanimate object, but even Earth's trees have life, though they are not sentient."

     The thought wasn't too far from being possible, but the topic was quickly dropped for the more pressing matter of whether or not they should return Vector Sigma to its other half. Keeping the two separate would make the Allspark less of a weapon desired by the Decepticons now arriving on Earth (or had already arrived). Reuniting the two would make protecting both artifacts far easier in that they would be in the same place. It would also cause both pieces of the whole to be far away from the Faireborn family, and they would be less likely to be visited by any unwanted parties.

     However, refusing their very creator's own request to be reunited with the other half of his life force didn't sound at all wise. After all, Primus was all-knowing of Cybertronian kind, and loved his creations, so why would he ask someone who wouldn't do it at all? He'd surely know that, and know who he needed to find for his request to be fulfilled. 

         Optimus was forced between a rock and a hard place.

     If they could only make it home, then the reuniting of the half-entities would be a far less worrisome venture. Cybertron would be restored and the human race would be left alone, for the most part. The Prime doubted Bumblebee would simply stop all communication with Sam Witwicky. 

         That only left the impossible task of actually getting home. 

     They had no resources to build a ship big enough, or even strong enough to last the journey. Building a space bridge only left behind Cybertronian technology for the human race to exploit, and without an engineer, any course of action they could take was nothing but mere fantasy and wishful thinking.

     An impossible task, but likely the safest for the human race. No, it was definitely the safest for the human race. 

         'Wheeljack would be a strong ally in this dilemma.' Optimus decided, though did not hold on to the small lament as he straightened his thoughtful posture and observed his team. "I believe the best course of action is to reunite Vector Sigma with the Allspark. At least then there will be no need to thin the human's resources and cause both pieces to be in jeopardy in two separate locations."

         "A thoughtful idea," Knockout hummed, "but pardon my say-so, there's over 7 billion squishies on this planet and only six of us? I'm not counting the two brutes for obvious reasons." Said 'Cons glared at the cherry red racer, knowing full well the turn-coat was being highly hypocritical. "I don't think keeping both pieces separate would hinder the human's store of resources."

         "I don't think you have any right to give an opinion, Decepticon." Ironhide noted icily, only giving a challenging stare at Knockout's offended, dramatic gasp.

         "I don't say this often, but put on the brakes, Knocks." Blurr chuckled. "Prime has a point, and besides, the sooner Vector Sigma is reunited with the Allspark, the sooner we might be able to go home! No more dirt and mud?"

     With that in mind, Knockout was only mildly reluctant to agree with the plan, though he still pointed out that Marissa might still be a problem at that point.

         "If Vector Sigma is so smitten with the femme, what says it won't attempt to remain with her instead of locked up in a secure location?"

         "You really think a Cybertronian entity dedicated to creating our kind, would willingly remain with a lower life form?" Starscream huffed. "You're more of a fool than I thought."

     Optimus frowned at the idea. Knockout had a point, but circumstances being as they were, the Prime doubted that would be the case. Vector Sigma knew what he was doing, and held the benefit of the Cybertronian race in mind. So, saying exactly that, Optimus eased the medic's worries on the matter and explained that while there were many of the human race, only a select few were allowed to know of their existence. Extending those resources was unwise and dangerous if either location were to be attacked.

     Barricade and Starscream glanced toward each other. It certainly wasn't out of their character to take both artifacts if the opportunity arose, but they were heavily outnumbered and outmatched as long as the two Velocitronians remained to keep Barricade in check. Of course, Starscream could simply betray his comrade, however, the interrogator was loyal to him despite their differing views of a returning Megatron. The Seeker being unaware that this loyalty was mostly out of necessity, and that Barricade knew how to manipulate him as well as anybody else was beside the point. They both held similar goals, and that's what made them such a formidable team.

         "Barricade." The brooding Decepticon turned his helm to acknowledge Ratchet, who clearly was uncomfortable about something as he looked back to Optimus before sighing and coming to terms with whatever he was about to ask. "Would you be willing to allow me to examine your holo-generator? It would benefit us all, including Starscream-"

         "No." 

     Ratchet frowned. He knew Barricade's answer before he had even asked the question. Why Optimus suggested that the 'Con might be willing to let an Autobot examine such a useful piece of gadgetry, the yellow and red mech had little idea. Still, Ratchet attempted to reason with the other, though with minimal effort. Starscream was smirking, still sitting on the crate that was provided to him, at the small argument, clearly as amused as Barricade who was also smirking. 

         "It's a lost cause, Ratchet." Ironhide huffed. "Ain't no 'Con going to help in a mutual cause if the Autobots get an upgrade."

         "We let you have Vector Sigma, didn't we?" Starscream growled. "I think that's helpful enough. It's not like we gain anything from this."

         "Except getting rid of the annoying fleshling and that idiotic nagging on our sparks." Barricade noted. "If anything, you all owe us a favor. Starscream for keeping the three bugs from tearing your base apart, and me for deciding to bring the trinket here in the first place."

         -:You really are - Selfish- Aren't you?:- Bumblebee stepped up to fight the bigger bot, stopped only by Optimus' steady servo. 

     The Prime examined both mechs with steady blue optics. He had guessed that would be Barricade's stipulation, he just needed to know for sure. 

         "You've been given refuge here," Optimus began, "and you plan on exploiting that."

         "I think it's fair to say they already have." Blurr frowned. "Considering how much energon they've attempted to steal."

         "So, you were watching me." Barricade glared at the blue mech.

         "I'm an observant guy." Blurr antagonized the brute with a smirk and a shrug.

     Ratchet shook his helm with a sigh. It was typical Decepticon behavior, but he had hoped, like Optimus, that they could change for the better with the turn of events and the touch of Vector Sigma on their very sparks. Clearly, that was not the case, and they were too far gone to consider anything except their own gain.

         "Autobots," Starscream chuckled, staring at his newly repaired pede, "always hoping for the best in us Decepticons. When will you realize that there is no hope?"

         "The day you squish me, you funky Dorito." 

     Knockout screeched at the appearance of Marissa, Bumblebee doing a similar beep of alarm as he twirled to look for the rest of their human team. The woman was the only one to have returned, however. It was a little unsettling considering her presence had been so obvious before with Vector Sigma on her wrist. It was still there, but her ability of stealth was unexpected.

         "Is something wrong, Ms. Faireborn?" Optimus stepped lightly to face the human, who shook her head with a gentle smile.

         "Not at all! I just didn't feel comfortable around all those military folk. I said I was tired, and- Lennox is the liaison, right? He told me there were cots set up in a room here."

         "Your body does show signs of fatigue, likely from your untreated injuries." Ratchet scanned her again, then glared at the two Decepticons, who only rolled their optics.

         "It's fine, nothing a little rest won't cure. They did their best not to harm me too badly, so don't glare holes in their heads." Marissa laughed, earning confused expressions that were passed around between the Autobots and Decepticons alike. "Do you guys want to hold on to Vector Sigma while I'm taking a nap?"

     Her willingness to simply give the entity back to its creations was almost as startling as her gifted stealth. 

     Optimus, despite knowing the others would rather question the entity and further their understanding of such an ancient artifact, declined her offer, saying it was just as safe with her than with any of them. It was a true statement, the Prime noting how Marissa held the bracelet close to her as she entered the small room at the side of the hangar. 

         "This is how you Autobots have prolonged this war." Starscream muttered, still loud enough to be heard, just not by the tired human femme. "Opportunity shows itself and you refuse to take it. Even in the beginning, you've never had the bearings to use a perfectly good asset. It's why you will never be the ones to restore Cybertron."

         "It is because we have refused to use certain assets, that there is a Cybertron to restore." Optimus stated calmly, knowing if he didn't say something in return, the already short-fused Ironhide would certainly take a swing at the Seeker. "I suggest the both of you take a moment of rest as well. You have likely been on the run for longer than us since Vector Sigma revealed itself."

     With a stubborn air, and a reluctance to let their guards down even a fraction, Barricade and Starscream took up separate corners of the cramped hangar, as far from the Autobots as they could manage but also not seeming too buddy-buddy with each other. The Autobots merely stared at them for a time before going on their separate ways. 

     Ironhide cleaned the turret gun Mikaela was sure to ask to shoot again. 

     Bumblebee went to check on Sam in his alt. mode. 

     Ratchet examined Marissa's vitals and the faint energy from Vector Sigma on the computer that had been shipped with the other supplies.

     Knockout and Blurr chatted idly in their Velocitronian dialect, a string of sounds that, to anyone else, sounded like a solid, prolonged whine, though tolerable in pitch.

     Optimus noted all of what his team was occupying their time with before examining the two Decepticons. Deeming them not all that threatening, he moved to peer over his oldest friend's shoulder, inquiring of the woman's health, and how Vector Sigma might be affecting her.