Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews. As ever, they keep me going and let me know you want to read more. If you have ever noticed, Optimus Prime's palms are made up of two parts that split down the center, referenced here. These events take place before the 'Dark of the Moon' movie verse. Credit to thefallenwriter for 'guidelines for living with Cybertronians,' Ch 2 for the rule on mock battles and weapons. Onward to dealing with relationships of all levels from newly met to an old love to dealing with those you don't care about but have to endure time with.

TF TF TF TF TF TF TF TF TF TRANSFORMERS

NEST BASE, DIEGO GARCIA ISLAND

MAJOR LENNOX'S OFFICE

Major Will Lennox repressed the urge to throttle the man sitting on the other side of his desk. Experience taught him fighting was not always the first solution, or in this case, the best solution however ever tempting it might be. Instead, he sipped at his coffee, now cool from the length of time spent discussing base procedures. He winced, realizing the government liaison would switch from the official to the personal when the last file closed. 'I don't care what excuse he uses, the man is a gossiper. He is always bugging us on personal stuff about the Transformers. Bad enough he meddles in our budget but this. Maybe I should follow Ratchet's suggestion, let him watch next time Chromia and Ironhide get frisky in a public place.' How many times had he stumbled upon them by accident doing exactly that? Too many according to his therapist. Lightly blushing, Will coughed as though on his coffee before sitting the cup down on his desk. "Anything else I can assist you with?"

"A question regarding Optimus mom. What is her name? Or title? Isn't she a Prime if she is his mother? Or is it only the males?" the man tapped his stack of paper files, as though they required the information and not his own personal curiosity. His three piece suit seemed out of place on the tropical island military base as much as his frank questioning on non military matters.

"Mommymus Prime?" Will suggested with a grin. "The term is mechs instead of males and there has been a femme Prime. Her reign is in their earliest history and she was a Prime because she carried a Matrix of Leadership, not because of who her parents were. Optimus' mother doesn't have an earth designation yet and as a protected civilian, it's unlikely we will be yelling orders to her across a battlefield. Ma'am or mom will get her attention."

"So his dad was the Prime? Alpha something and other?" The man flipped through his notes on his digital reader, unable to find the name.

"Alpha Trion was not a Prime. He had possession of a Matrix but never carried it actively. Apparently it picks its bearer to a certain extent," Will began then stopped. The information he knew outdid even Sam's knowledge of the Transformers and the last person to tell would be the man sitting across his desk. He had the proper clearance but as far as Will was concerned, no need to know, or be able to repeat it to someone else. "Sentinel Prime was the Prime immediately before Optimus and no family relation."

"Is this Sentinel Prime slated for a visit later? Perhaps at Thanksgiving? Or drop in when he feels like it?" The man asked, leaning forward to rest his arm on the desk edge.

"No, he was lost on a rescue mission. Blasted off with advanced technology and never heard from again. The Autobots still grieve his loss," Will repressed a sigh, keeping his expression neutral. Sliding the chair back, he rose to his feet to end the meeting. "I'll escort you to Purchasing. I believe they are next on your review?"

"I don't remember seeing this in any of the briefings or official records, Major." He hastily threw the files into his briefcase before closing the digital reader.

"It probably isn't, not officially. Things we learned sitting around and talking with them," he shrugged, moving into the hallway to hide the smile on his face. The less the man knew the better but Will couldn't resist rubbing in not everything important existed in government files.

"Really? Usually when I and my friends talk we discuss sports and the weather, not ancient dynasty lines."

"Maybe you need higher class friends," Will muttered under his breath, holding the outer door open for the man.

AUTOBOT MEDICAL BAY

"Do I have to say it?" Ratchet grumbled, grabbing the sheared metal piece and yanking hard. The jagged metal bent but pulled free, narrowly missing slicing the energon lines underneath. Expertly he dropped it into a waiting recycling bin without looking, his optics spinning rapidly to determine the interior damage remained unchanged.

"Ow! Fine! I admit it, your bedside manner sucks energon," Ironhide grumbled, releasing the edge of the medical berth. His hands flexed, the marks barely showing on the berth where he had grabbed it to brace. Sitting upright, his black armored legs hung over the side, allowing access to the damaged upper leg plating.

Glaring, the medic scooted his stool closer while shifting his fingers to wiring solder tips. "I meant the rule about if you rehearse a mock battle, make sure the safety is on every weapon. Especially those explosive enough to create flying shrapnel. What were those humans processing?" Delving into the wiring, he began repairs. After a minute he tapped across a pain sensor to get a response.

"OW!" Ironhide yelped.

"Checking to see if you were recharging. Usually your mouth is going as fast as your cannons on complaints," Ratchet teased, soldering another connection.

"Comparing reports with Prime and Prowl. Human's excuse was he tried thinking 'out of the box," Ironhide grunted.

"They need to have an 'in body' experience and focus. Safety rules are for a reason," Ratchet said.

"Yah. Pull their head out of their..." Ironhide began.

"Hide!" Ratchet snapped, turning his head towards the human girl walking in through the double doors.

"Hi Annabelle," her guardian greeted, glad for the excuse to get away from the medic. Chromia could finish the repairs with more concern and a warmer touch. The idea of his femme's hands running across his armor as she moved towards his core made his engine rev and earned him another glare from Ratchet for shifting his leg.

"What are you doing?" She approached, not bothered by the open leg panel or the mess of wiring exposed to the air; growing up with the transformers she had seen critical damage and this was minor. One hand swung her blond ponytail off her shoulder before she clasped her hands together. Ratchet's one rule on humans allowed in the medical bay was no touching, no exceptions. Even for her.

"Anatomy lessons," Ratchet quickly said, nodding at her to stand where she was.

"That's good. Usually you are arguing with Ironhide and picking on him," she said.

"I do not!"The medic protested before concentrating back on the sealant gel being applied to the last connection.

"Medic picks on every bot. It's his nature," Ironhide agreed then winced as the pain sensor got hit again. "Fragger! Ow!"

"No swearing!" Ratchet snapped, finishing the temporary repairs. The leg under his hands moved slightly with a creak of old gears and he made a mental note to replace it later. Though not painful, it created a stiffness his system would have to compensate for later. Replacing it would make it easier for Ironhide to move and fight.

"Can he go now? It's our playtime," Annabelle asked as the medic closed the armored leg panel.

"Playtime? No high level motions for nine breems. Let the gel settle and return in..."

"I know the drill," Ironhide grunted, sliding off the berth to test his balance. The metal shard had slipped between the only gap in his plating. Not dangerous in and of itself with his armor except it lay across his main energon leg line. If that had split, it would have released energon and been a fire hazard. He still got teasing from the Egypt battle about his chest plates burning with spilled energon and this incident would not have helped his warrior image with the humans. Even if a human's misfiring of a weapon had caused the metal debris to go flying in all directions.

"Can we finish taking apart that tank? You promised to show me how to jam the turret so it can't turn like jamming a Decepticons gears," she grinned, letting the mech's thick black armored fingers curl around her to lift her up.

"After you jam the rolling treads as least three times. Target that can't move is easy to hit. Yesterday took too long and you'd been blasted. Seekers are not the only dangers in the 'Con army," he answered, striding towards the double doors with an uneven pace.

"Know who to watch the show world's dumbest with," Ratchet muttered as the doors slid shut after them.

PRIME'S WORKING OFFICE

"She was proud of herself like a youngling who rescued a cybernipper from a rooftop. Reminded me of you as a second shell," Magnus said. The large mech sat on the oversize chair behind the desk, optics scanning the waiting human size paperwork and datapads. A reminder of why the large blue and white armored mech had steadily refused any attempt at an office or desk over the vorns.

"Those seekers could have offlined her as easily as they surrendered. She risked herself to try and prevent an attack on others," Optimus answered, standing before the desk normally his. Less than a week and he would have the responsibility back as well as the headaches to go with it. His only regret was the lack of any true problems to test Magnus administrative skills. "Courage is a Prime trait."

"So is getting all shot to pit. Keep your mystic mumbo jumbo about glowing blue Matrix's and all that," the larger mech waved a hand, as though dismissing it. "What she needs is reminding she is mortal, small and fragile." His square stubby fingers tapped the desktop for emphasis. "No amount of courage saves your aft in the thick of battle and those seekers taught her nothing. They surrendered, stayed a few days for repairs and we released them. All I see is potential for trouble if she tries anything like that again."

"You don't believe? That being a Prime carries its own protections?" Optimus raised an optic arch.

"I believe in what I can touch, sensor read and data input. You stick with the foretelling and light our darkest hour stuff. I'll fight and lead the charge."

"Then may I suggest you charge into your duties commander? I have a medical test to oversee." Fifteen minutes later the ancient mech smirked as he walked in the tropical sunshine towards his personal quarters instead of voluntarily confinement in his office or handling the upcoming drill on the obstacle course. Stopping before his door, he scanned the room within, detecting the softer energy signature of his mate before keying it open.

"What happened to helping Magnus?" Elita greeted him, her smile showing she was glad to see him even as her words challenged his presence there.

"His help requires another set of hands and a spare processor who cares. Lacking that, he's on his own. I have a medical test to complete," he answered.

"Test? What now?"

"Ensuring my femme's spark is powered and capable of discharging sufficient energy," he smirked, straightening to his full twenty-eight plus height, tall and imposing.

"Your femme? Since when did I become yours only? I don't remember being consulted on that." Her hands snapped to rest on her hips even as the edges of her lip plates quirked with a smile. The warrior femme didn't resist as he moved closer to wrap his arms around her. The nearness of his physical presence tingled across her systems like high grade, exciting and warm.

"When you beauty weakens their knee struts and confuses their processors. I need mechs carrying weapons not falling at your feet pads. I staked my claim and made it clear. They touch you at their own peril," he growled back, rehearsing an old conversation of theirs. "I too can be brought down." Kneeling, he kept her enclosed in his arms showing his love, having missed their playful banter.

"Is that so mech?" Her fingers shifted against his hand, their palms touching. He vented, the air flowing over his valves in surprise as her right palm cover slid open. His fingers wrapped gently around hers, the metal pieces making his palm sliding apart. The connection normally for his energon swords flared to life, awaiting input. Designed by Ironhide as a safety and installed by Ratchet, the link activated the powering of his swords. While his rifle had built in safeties to prevent any other bot from firing it, the swords were different. Any bot holding them could turn the blades on the owner. Except his deadly blades would not shift, sharpen or curve at any command but his. Contact of their hilt in his hand linked their array into his battle systems. Elita tapped this same connection, the softest trace of her coding flowing across it. Enough to be recognized and welcomed without intrusion.

"What dearest?" Optimus asked, barely remembering the last time they had interlinked.

"I need to remember," she said, leaning against him. His mass could accommodate a weight three times hers and he barely noticed. They fit together, even in their armor shapes with him kneeling and her standing.

He relaxed, allowing full access of the link into his memory files. No secret hidden, no memory too painful or personal kept from her. He waited, curious to see what she wanted. His smile began fading as nothing happened. Concern and worry flowed across his systems at they continued at the low-level transmission level. Had she been more damaged than he knew? Or had he? The link was nowhere as spectacular as a spark merge but intimate and only between them. Why wasn't she accessing it? "Elita?"

"I want to remember you as the mech I first met," she murmured, feeling his smooth armor, without scratches or mars. Distantly she noted it needed cleaning and a light waxing. "The way you feel when we are linked, without an audience knowing."

"Humans feel each other even with an audience," Optimus snorted, remembering Sam and Mikeala on Bumblebee's hood after Mission City.

"Your mom and I have been noticing that," she chuckled. "Do you know humans tell their desires by where they touch? For instance," she leaned back and let her lip plates ghost over the back of the armored hand holding hers. "This area means we're friends or greeting." She trailed soft touches up his arm plating. "I adore you, I want you." Standing on her foremost feet pads to nuzzle around his thick neck cabling, Elita felt his free hand tightening over her hip. "We belong together." Moving to his forehead plating, with the indent shape from the one attempt to use his first Prime power. "Forever, you'll be mine." The data transferring between them increased in time with his air intakes pulling in more air. Shifting to his audio, the small inner gear spun rapidly as her lips caressed around his sensitive antenna tip. "I can't live without you."

Inner systems revving, he grabbed her closer."I need you. Our sparks as one," he rumbled, dipping his head to nuzzle her shoulder plating.

"Ugh, keep doing that...and we'll need...our recharge...berth," she moaned as he continued rubbing across her front.

"The outer door is...closed... no bot will... disturb us." He fell backwards without warning, pulling her off her feet and onto him as he settled back on the floor.

"What about... your...mom?"

"With Hubcap...they watch until ...the stars," he rumbled. His optics widened as the blaze of her spark revealed through splitting chest armor, driving thoughts of anything else away.

LAGOON BEACH

"Got to admit, it's darn pretty here," Hubcap stated, his aged vocal mixing with the sounds of the pounding surf and the cry of a distant seagull. The ancient parts grabber's optics tracked the seagull, the ship floating miles away and the faint movement of the nearby tropical palm trees. They had started meeting each evening to watch the sun set and forget their daily duties. Or in his case, the grand bot twins that were a handful. He never forgot the war and possiblity of sneak attacks.

"I have never seen such colors," she murmured, watching only the red and orange hues deepen as the sun appeared to sink into the water. She rested, half propped against Hubcap's old yellow armored form and the palm tree.

"Noticed that too. Found this explanation. Typical humans. Lot of words to say air and water," Hubcap snorted, the air blowing out through his upper vents to scatter the sand.

She opened the data packet after saving a copy in her personal files.

"The earth sunlight rays are white, traveling through the atmosphere, the colors scattered out of the beam by air molecules and airborne particles, changing the final color visible. The shorter wavelength components, including blue and green scatter more rapidly. At sunrise and sunset the path the beam must travel through the atmosphere is longer, the blue and green components disappearing almost completely. The longer orange and red wavelengths are more clearly visible. The sunlight coloring is then spread across water droplets and other relatively large particles to create the effect of spreading rays as it dips down below the horizon.

"No wonder Optimus complains about their meetings. Sunset is a sad time though. The light scattering, creating darkness," Optimus mom noted.

"Light or dark," he shrugged, careful to not move her. "Same to me. Light filters or shadow enhancements to gather the parts. Always a need for them and never thought much beyond that."

"My name means 'color of the eternal sun.' Refers to red dwarf stars actually. Suns are spectacular and fiery bright while my name references a slow, cooler type star. More common too. I tend to muse on light and the stars," she admitted.

"Been on many a planet and ain't never seen beauty like this," Hubcap smiled.

"This sunset is spectacular."

"I meant you," He rolled his head to the side, letting his neck cables loosen to stare into her optics. "Id be unhappy without your light in my life."

"You just met me," she shuttered her optics.

"Spent my life looking at something to know its value. Don't waste time on a part that is damaged or ain't usable. Take too long to pull it out, clean and inventory for the medics. Injured can't wait for you to sort the good from the bad. And what I see, I got me the best."

"Is that an offer?" She craned her head upward to look at him.

"Might be. You interested in a centuries old wreck?"

"Depends."

"On?" His system stalled, waiting for her answer.

"My youngling and his femme need me now. Are you willing to share? I may not always have time for you," she stated calmly.

"For you," his lip plates caressed across her helm once. "I'd wait until this sun became a red star."

"That takes over a million years," she protested softly.

"Good point. How about we be friends for now? Let the rest sort itself out. See what the morning brings my sunset," Hubcap suggested.

"Sunset? I like the sound of that."

"Then Sunset it is. Name fits ya sure enough. Can't keep calling ya his mom."

"Only if Optimus agrees to it. He's still Prime," she said, feeling her recharge cycle beginning.

"Prime at getting in trouble if ya ask me. How about we visit my human George? He'd like ya. Get to see more of earth that ain't cement and noise," he answered, slipping an arm around her tiny waist plates. No human or Decepticon would get close enough to her to vent her direction let alone harm her. 'A lifetime spent hauling the dead and now the most important thing is living to be with her. Primus certainly has a sense of humor,' he processed as her optics shuttered closed.

To be continued...