"Well that's not good. Hopefully Star and Bee find him quick," I heard Delirium say.

"He was exposed to a deadly virus so advanced that my scanners couldn't even pick it up until now. I would guess that the Decepticons injected him with it when he was captured," the medical officer answered.

I only nodded slowly.

He'll be okay. He's a Prime, I thought as a few silent tears ran down my face.

"Hey Blue, don't worry. He'll make it through this. He's a fighter," Delirium said.

I sighed.
I hope you're right.

*Time skip brought to you by he better not fragging die!*

I stayed right by my son's side late into the night, forcing myself to stay awake.

"M-mommy," he said, waking up from the anesthesia Ratchet had given him earlier.

"Hey my little Prime. I'm right here," I said comfortingly as I gently picked him up and held him close.

"Where's d-daddy?" Orion asked weakly.

"He's...busy, but he's okay," I replied, not wanting to tell him about Optimus' current state.

"It hurts," he said as he started to cry.
"Shhh. I know, baby, I know," I said as I rocked him.

"I-I want to sleep in my r-room," Orion told me after a few minutes.

"Okay," I said, carefully standing up.

I took him to his room and grabbed his blanket before sitting on his bed. I wasn't about to let him go, so I gave him his blue blanket. My son snuggled closer to me as he continued to silently cry.

"I'm scared, m-mommy," he managed to say after a little bit.

"It's okay, my little Prime. There's no reason for you to be scared. I'm here and I won't leave your side," I told him.

"Am I...going to d-die?" Orion asked with a shaky voice.

I managed a small smile as a few silent tears ran down my face.

"No, of course not, baby," I replied.

I kept telling myself that he'd be okay, but deep down I knew that he was probably going to die. Silence flooded the room for a while before Ratchet entered.

"I thought I might find you in here," he said as he sat beside me.

"Do you have a sample of the virus? Maybe we can figure out how to detect and cure it," I said, trying to take my mind off of the moment.

"Yes. I've already started studying it," the medical officer replied.

I nodded. Ratchet put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Blue. I wish there was something I could do to help," he said.

"Thanks. It's not your fault. I know you're doing the best you can," I told him.

I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He smiled back sympathetically.

"M-mommy...I-I can't...breathe," Orion struggled to say.

I looked at Ratchet worriedly.

"Set him on the bed," the old doctor instructed.

As much as I didn't want to let him go, I did. Ratchet quickly got out his tools.

"The virus reached his spark," he said quietly.
I held my son's hand as Ratchet tried to help him.
"M-mom," Orion cried.

"I'm here, baby," I reassured him as tears now ran down my face in rivers.

I gently rubbed his head and squeezed his hand. After a few moments, my son relaxed and his light blue optics turned to gray. Ratchet sighed.

"No," I whispered as I hid my face in his bed.

I heard Ratchet pack up and leave, but I stayed put. After a while, I stood up and carried Orion outside. I knew Ratchet was following me, but I didn't try to stop him. We walked to the hill where Optimus asked me to be his sparkmate. I carefully set my son down on the grass before taking a shovel from Ratchet. Without saying anything, we both dug a hole. When we finished, I gently laid my son down with his blanket for the final time.

Ratchet and I put the dirt over him then we pushed a big boulder behind the now filled in the hole. Afterwards, I just stood and crossed my arms as I looked out across the land. A few silent tears fell down my face. I closed my optics to try to calm myself down. I felt Ratchet put a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and went back to base after a while. I went to Orion's room and broke down crying. Eventually, I fell asleep on his bed.

*Time Skip brought to you by HE FRAGGING DIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

I woke up early the next day due to nightmares. I got up with a sigh and went to the training room. I trained for a few megacycles while I waited for everybot else to get up. Optimus came in and turned the program off. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head.

"Morning," he greeted.

"Morning. I see you're back to normal," I said as I turned around and hugged him tightly.

I buried my face in his chest to try to hide the sadness.

"I have a surprise for you," he told me.
I looked up at him curiously.

"Hi mom!" a bot said as they hugged me from behind.

I was now sandwiched between them. I turned my head and was surprised at who I saw.

"Quarre!" I exclaimed happily as I let go of Optimus to hug my prodigal daughter.

"I'm so happy you finally came home, butterfly," I told her as I hugged her tightly with tears running down my face.

"I'm glad to be back. I only wish I would've listened to you the first time," she said.

"It's not your fault. Besides, you're home now," I said.

If only you could've gotten to know your little brother.

I let go of the hug and smiled at her before turning back to my sparkmate.

"How's Star?" I asked.

"Bee had to rush her home last night probably because she couldn't breathe but other than that I honestly have no idea, yesterday is pretty much a complete blank up until I saw Star helping Quarre up. We can go check on her and Bee if you want," he replied.

I nodded. Optimus led us to the medbay. When we got there, we saw Star hooked up to a few machines as she lied on the table. Of course, Bee was right by her side.

"What happened?" my sparkmate asked urgently.
"Internal bleeding," Bee replied.
A moment of silence went by before he spoke again.
"Quarre, what happened?" he asked.

I turned around and saw that my daughter only had one red optic. The other side was covered with a patch.

"Uh...that's a story for another time," she replied.
"We need to talk later," I whispered to her.

She sighed and stared at the ground. A few more moments later, Ratchet came in. He did a scan and asked how she was doing.

"I'm dying...but that's okay," she replied.

"Don't worry, death is relatively slow coming," Ratchet said.

I rolled my optics before walking over to them.

"Listen to Ratchet and Bee for once, okay?" I told Star with a small smile.

"I don't wanna," she replied before Ratchet injected more medication into her.

"Okay. Try to lighten up...Ratchet," Star said.

I gave her a small smile before walking back to my daughter.

"Come with me, Quarre. There's something I want to show you," I said.

She nodded. We left the room and I led Quarre outside to her little brother with tears running down my face. When we got to the top, she started crying too. I wrapped her in a hug and she hugged back. We just stood there, not saying a word but crying our optics out. After a few minutes, I released the hug.

"You know, this place is special," I mentioned as I wiped my optics with my hand.

"Yeah? How?" Quarre asked.

"Let's just say this is where your father and I found each other's sparks," I replied.

She managed a small smile.

"Come on, let's go home," I said after a few more minutes.

We went back to the base. Quarre followed me to the training room.

"Hey mom, could you help me learn to fight with only one optic?" she asked.

I smiled.
"Of course, butterfly," I replied.

I trained with her for a few minutes before hearing a scream.

Oh no.

Quarre looked at me worriedly. I put my weapons away and motioned for her to follow. I went to Orion's room and found the door locked. I sighed.

"Optimus," I said gently after I knocked on the door.
"Please just leave me alone," he replied.

Yeah, no. Not this time. I don't want a repeat of what happened after Star's death...or worse.

"Come on, babe. I need to talk to you," I said.
"Like you told me he was gone? No," he replied.
I sighed.

"Alright, stand back," I said as I took out a blaster and shot down the door.

I put my weapon away as I walked in. He was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. I sat down on one side of him and Quarre sat on the other side. I put my hand on his back and Quarre did the same as tears ran from my optics. I looked over at our daughter and saw that she was crying too.

"You buried him alone?" he asked.
"Well, Ratchet helped," I replied.

"Do you want to...go see?" I asked as I wiped my optics after a moment.

"No," he replied before standing up and leaving.

Quarre and I exchanged looks before we stood up and followed him to the training room. Neither of us tried to stop him. We just sat on the bench and watched him train for a bit.

"Blue, let me do this please," he said, firing another arrow.

He picked up a bow and arrows. He shot at the dummy that the kids dressed as Megatron.

"Optimus," I said as I stood up.
"Okay," I said with a sigh as I sat back down.
Why does this seem familiar, I thought.

After about half a megacycle, I stood up again and walked over to him.

"That's enough," I said calmly but sternly.
He turned to me.
"Stop!" he yelled.
"Please," he whispered after.

I took his hand before he could continue and stood there, saying nothing. Quarre came over and wrapped her dad in a hug as she started to cry softly. He stood still for a moment before pulling us both into a hug. I hugged back tightly as I let myself cry.

"I'll stop," Optimus said, kissing the top of my head.

After holding us for a little while longer, he slowly let go.

"Why don't we go check on Star? I think I heard her yell something earlier," he suggested with a small smile.

I wiped my optics and nodded. Quarre held her father's hand as I walked beside them to the medbay. When we got there, Star was trying to gnaw off a pair of stasis cuffs on her while wearing the breathing mask. I smiled, trying not to laugh. Quarre tried to keep herself from bursting out laughing, though I could still hear her, which made me smile a little bit more.

"Um..." was all Optimus was able to say.
"Too many painkillers," Ratchet stated simply.

Bee came in a moment later. I saw him smile and shake his head.

"Maybe you should sedate her," my sparkmate suggested.

"I tried that. She just yelled 'I will survive'," Ratchet replied, shaking his head.

"Kitty!" Star cheered as she looked up and smiled.

"How many painkillers did you give her exactly?" Optimus asked.

"Only a single dose but clearly that was too much," he replied.

Suddenly, the alarms went off.
Really? Now?
I ran to the main room and checked the computers.

"Decepticons?" Optimus asked as he, Quarre, Hot Shot, Ironhide, and Bee joined me.

"Nope, a ship just a mile east of here. However, the Cons might've picked it up too. Bee, stay here but go get Ratchet. Quarre, come with us," I replied.

Bee nodded before rushing off to get Ratchet, who came with his med kit a minute later. I turned to my daughter.

"You have a vehicle mode, right?" I asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Good," I said with a small smile.

I went outside and transformed. Quarre did as well and I saw that she was a jet. I smiled to myself as I waited for the others.