Optimus took me into the lab and set me on the med table. He stood to the side and held my hand as Star worked, which didn't take very long. After, she gave me some energon and put my tracker back in.

"Rest today you can train and do stuff tomorrow," she said.

I've never liked just resting. I only did when I literally couldn't do anything else. Optimus picked me up again and took me to our room. He set me on the bed and adjusted the pillow so I could sit up.

"I'm glad you are home and safe," he said.

"Well, I've missed being here. I missed my family. I missed you," I told him.

I missed you more than you will ever know.
Optimus looked at me and sat beside me.

"I missed you too, but will you tell me why you left in the first place?" he asked as he grabbed my hand protectively.

"I...I thought you were....dead," I said, avoiding his gaze.

"I was scared," I added softly.
He lifted my chin so I was looking at him.

"Blue you should know that I would never leave you alone like that. You are my everything, how could I leave? I mean, you are the only one that is able to keep me sane in this Primus forsaken war. You understand and listen to me when I need it, and plus no one else is strong enough to hold me up like you do. I'm a Prime, yes, but even Primes need help sometimes," he told me, staring into my optics the whole time.

I gave a small smile and hugged him tightly, burying my face in his chest. I let the tears fall from my optics. He hugged me back.

"It's okay, I'm right here," Optimus said comfortingly.

We stayed like that for a few minutes. Even after I calmed down, I didn't want to let go. I was scared that I would lose him for good this time.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said.

I took a deep breath and nodded. We stayed like that for a few more minutes before Orion came running in.

"Mommy! Daddy!" he said happily as he jumped up onto the bed.

"Hey, my little Prime," I said, letting go of Optimus to wrap my son in a hug.

"Uncle Ratchet was telling us about a place on this planet called Canada. Can we go there?" Orion asked.

I smiled and chuckled.
"Possibly someday," I replied.

A vacation sounds nice, but we all know that's not gonna to happen anytime soon.

"He also told us about Hawaii and all the colorful creatures there!" my son said excitedly, letting go of the hug.

"Really now? And where is he getting all this information?" I asked, knowing Ratchet had never been to either of those places.

"The internet," Orion replied.

"Figures. If you go on the internet, just be careful. There are a lot of things you can't trust on there," I told him.

"Okay. I missed you, mommy," he said.

He gave me a hug again and I hugged back protectively. I smiled and closed my optics as a tears ran down my face.

"I missed you, too, my little Prime. I love you more than you'll ever know," I told him.

"I love you too, mommy. I'm gonna go play with Cascade and Remix now," he said.

I didn't want to let him go, either.
"Alright sweetie. Be good," I said, releasing the hug.

He smiled and nodded before jumping off the bed and running out.

"He didn't tell you what he plays when they play their castle game. Cascade is the knight, Remix is the dragon, and the best part is Orion is the prince," Optimus said with a chuckle as he looked at me.

I smiled and rolled my optics.

"I'm glad they can play and that they have you. Back on Cybertron, my brother and I only got to play around until we were three. Then, the Cons bombed our house, killing our parents. The only reason we survived was because we were in the basement.We managed to escape and hide until Sentinel Prime found us. He took us under his wing and put us in school. Of course, he was never around, being a Prime and all," I told him.

I sighed and looked at the bed.

"I don't even know why I told you that. I guess I wish I got to see the peaceful days of Cybertron," I said.

He smiled at me.

"You have no idea how many times I imagined a life without war. In all honesty, it would have happened too if I had never presented myself before the council back on Cybertron. I have gone back to that day so many times, and there isn't much that I regret, but that day.... I guess there will always be a part of me that wishes the Matrix of Leadership was never given to me. Though there are times that I am glad that the war went on and that I did become a Prime, for if none of it ever happened then I would have never met you," he explained.

He then kissed me gently and wrapped me in a hug. I smirked into the kiss before kissing him back more passionately. I pulled him down on top of me. I slightly cringed at the pain, but it was so worth it. He kissed back and we stayed like that for a bit. After we broke apart, Optimus sat up again and gently pulled me closer to him.

"Careful, you are still injured," he said as he kissed me again.

"Meh, it's nothing I can't handle, especially now that I'm back with you," I replied.

"I'm glad you are going to be okay, beautiful. But, be more careful next time and please don't run off like that again. I love you, I hope you know that," he said, taking my hand tightly in mine.

"Trust me, I won't ever run off again. I love you too," I replied with a smile.

"It's time for bed, beautiful, and you need to rest some more," he said as he moved to the other side.

I nodded and crawled under the covers.

"Goodnight," I heard him say quietly as he kissed my cheek.

I smiled as I closed my optics, knowing Ratchet put the kids to bed. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I woke up the next day and saw Optimus just standing in the room. I yawned and stretched as I sat up.

"Morning, beautiful. Sleep well?" he asked, sitting beside me.

I smiled and nodded, then kissed his cheek.

"Early morning wake up call! We need help at my location," Star said over the com.

I quickly got up. I cringed slightly at the pain, but dismissed it. Nothing would stop me from getting to Star. We drove off with the others and got there just in time to see Lockdown rip out Bumblebee's voice box!

"No!" I yelled as I took out my swords and attacked the Con.

"Ah, the sparkmate of Optimus and the scout's sister," Lockdown said.

"You're going to pay!" I yelled, stabbing his leg.

He grunted in pain, but put his arm around my neck, keeping me in a choke hold. He put his other arm around my torso so I couldn't move my arms. His grip slowly got tighter and tighter around my neck. It was getting to the point where I had a hard time breathing. Optimus came over and slashed off Lockdown's arm, making him let go of me. I fell to my knees and breathed heavily.

I looked over and saw my sparkmate thrust his blade through Lockdown's chest as he said, "Enough!"

I got up, grabbed my sword, and stabbed it through his chest as well. I looked at Optimus and gave him a small smile. Lockdown fell and my sparkmate gave me a quick smile before shooting the bounty hunter just to be sure he was down for good. Then, he wrapped an arm around me and smiled. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder, but quickly regretted it when pain shot through the left side of my neck. I cringed and lifted my head up.

"Careful, we'll have Ratchet look you over when we get back to base," Optimus said.

I nodded slightly and looked around as much as I could without my neck hurting. The remaining Cons and Cyberwolves were retreating.

"Come on, let's get home," my sparkmate said as he took my hand.

I followed him through the portal as soon as it appeared. We went into the lab. My brother was lying on the med table and Ratchet was watching the monitor. He turned to us and gestured to the chairs. I noticed StarCatcher wasn't in the room.

As soon as I know Bee is going to be okay, I'll go find her.

Optimus turned back to me and gave me a sympathetic smile. I smiled back sadly.

"He'll be okay, right?" I asked.

"He'll live, but...he won't be able to talk for a very long time," Ratchet replied.

I nodded and let out a shaky breath.

We can make this work. We'll still be able to communicate with him.

"I'll be back," I said as I walked out.

I first went to the training room, but Star wasn't there. I decided to check Cascade's room, but she wasn't there either.

Well, the only place left is her and Bee's room.

I peeked in and saw my friend holding a pillow close to her.

"Knock, knock," I said.
She looked over to me.
"Hi," was all she said.
I walked in and sat next to her.

"Listen, I want to tell you something that somebot told me. That bot will always have a very special place in my spark. She once said that the world doesn't rest on your shoulders. I know you won't tell me what's wrong, but I know by keeping it to yourself, you're only making things worse," I quoted her.

I paused a moment before continuing.

"No one will ever blame you. No one has the power to predict the future, but we can handle whatever the universe throws at us by drawing strength from each other. The struggles in life make us stronger and strengthen our bonds with each other. We'll always be here for you, Star, anytime you need us," I added.

She turned her head to me.

"I know. Just let me try to handle it on my own and if I can no longer then I will come to you. I'm fine, promise. You don't need to worry about me, I'm just a bit tired is all," Star replied, letting go of the pillow and giving me a smile.

I sighed. I knew she was lying, but I didn't want to push her.

"Alright. Just so you know, Bee will be fine," I told her as I wrapped her in a hug.

She hugged back.

"I know, it will just be really different. You should go be with him and Optimus, I'll join you in a minute," she said.

I nodded and gave her a small smile. Then, I left and went back to the lab. I sat down next to Optimus.

"Star said she'd join us in a minute. I think both you should go talk to her, too," I told him and Ratchet.

"Didn't go well I presume?" my sparkmate asked.
I shook my head.

"I didn't want to push her, but I figured if we all talked to her, maybe one of us could get through to her," I replied.

Optimus nodded.

"She isn't going to like it, but agreed," he said as he stood up.

"I hope you are right, I'll go talk to her. Hopefully, it goes well and we can stop this mess before Bee wakes up," he added as he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.

I sighed and put my hand over my brother's. I hadn't told anyone this yet, but one time when we were kids, Bee got a sickness called Ancient Insanity. It was a disease that was pretty rare. It corroded a Cybertronian's voice box so that they were unable to talk. The only way to get rid of it was by taking decontamination showers every day for at least a quintun, or 24 Earth days. What drove me crazy the most though was that I wasn't allowed to hug him or touch anything he touched until it went completely away. I know it drove our parents crazy, too. The way he communicated with us was through writing. After a few minutes, Optimus came back and sat down beside me.

"Something is really wrong with her. She just said that the only bot she thinks would understand her would be Megatron. We need to change her mind before this ends like the first time," he said, leaning forward to rest his weight on his knees.

I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry. Star would never go to the dark side," I told him comfortingly, using a subtle Star Wars reference.

I turned my attention to Ratchet.
"You should go try talking to her," I suggested.
Ratchet sighed and walked off.

"I know, she's just never been this upset at something before. It's like she wants to be here with us helping Bee, but she's stopping herself for reasons I don't know. We all know she would be right here if something wasn't wrong. Maybe Lockdown did something we didn't see. Brainwashed maybe, or just degraded her spirits. I don't know but I sure do want to know so I can help this time around," Optimus explained.

"Everything will be okay. When Bee wakes up, he'll find a way to talk to her. If anyone can get through to her, it's him," I said, taking his hand in mine.

"Sure do wish he was around when she was little, nothing could get through that thick head of her's," he replied, holding my hand tightly with a small smile.

He gave me a kiss, then Star came in. She glared at us and I was about to say something, but she beat me to it.

"Would you guys please just leave me alone! I said I was fine and that is that! So stop bothering me, or the next bot that comes to 'talk' to me, I am throwing something at!" she yelled angrily before leaving.

Oh boy.

"And apparently nothing gets through to her still. I hope you are right BlueStreak," Optimus whispered to me.