Author's note: So, I'm well aware that a few chapters ago, I said we were just a couple of chapters away from the end and I had every intention of doing just that, but after the Sparkling was born, an entire avenue of possibilities opened up that I hadn't originally thought of. At this point, there sort of isn't a clear ending to the story. Sorry about that. But on a brighter note, last chapter had the most comments I have ever had and that made me so happy! You are all so amazing and all of your wonderful naming ideas. It was really hard to pick amongst them. You are all brilliant! Thank you so much for the help! Just so you know, some of those names may be used anyway. ^. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Warnings: Nothing really, except maybe language.

Word Count: 5,634

When they got to the Medbay, all of the Autobots are gathered around. They look at Sparkling anxiously, all excited to finally find a name for him. The Sparkling has long since awakened once again and is "ooh"ing and "ahhh"ing at all of the other Autobots. The Autobots part like the red seas before Moses. They all pile into the Medbay to see both Ratchet and First Aid are both quietly discussing something that they are looking at from the open contraption on his arm.

Ratchet looks up at them, his mouth opening, probably to welcome them, when he realizes that half of the base is piling into the room. All of the Autobots are there along with probably every NEST soldier that they came across on their mad dash to the Medbay. Ratchet's eyebrows pull together. The rest of the Autobots stare back at him with wide eyes, as if wondering if he's going to pull out his infamous wrench and beat them all with it. Some of them even go so far as physically leaning back as if to give them more room to run away.

"What are all of you doing here? Shouldn't you all be doing something?" Ratchet asks, annoyed. First Aid smiles kindly at them, waving a little as welcome.

"Come on, Ratchet," Arcee says, rubbing the back of her head, "don't be mad at us. We just want to be here for the Sparkling's naming. You know, most of us weren't on Cybertron when the one of the last Sparklings were born."

Bumblebee rubs the back of his head, radio turning on. "Well gosh, I didn't know you cared," he says in a young woman's voice. Arcee smiles at him.

"I do care. I wasn't old enough to remember the last naming ceremony I saw on Cybertron before I was shipped off to one of the bases just outside of our solar system," Arcee says smoothly. She doesn't sound bitter or upset. It was just a simple fact.

"Yeah," Bulkhead says, putting a hand on Wheeljack's shoulder. "We would all like to officially welcome the little guy, right Jackie?"

Wheeljack nods then looks to the chief medical officer. "Please Ratchet?"

"Please Ratchet?" The rest of the Autobots chime in, throwing in their own variations of puppy-dog eyes. The green bot groans, running a hand down his face.

Prowl appears out of the group, walking over to Ratchet. Sam watches him in silence. It appears as though the red bot is somehow different now than he was just hours before. It's like somehow knowing that Prowl's sparkmate was Jazz has changed Sam's view of the new second in command. Sam had to wonder how Prowl felt taking the job that once belonged to Jazz. Sam knew that Prowl ran a tight ship and he was quick to maintain order, but something about the little bit of time that Sam knew Jazz, the young hero had to wonder if Jazz was some kind of calming agent to the high strung officer.

But Prowl did the job with passion and dedication, perhaps how he viewed that Jazz would have wanted, but Sam didn't know. All he really knew was that Prowl didn't let it be known that he was clearly upset over the death of his sparkmate. Sam now had an even greater respect for the second in command than he originally did. Perhaps he will have to take the red bot aside and talk to him about his dream... or vision. Whatever it was.

"I would like to know why all of you are neglecting your duties?" Prowl says, looking around at the other bots and NEST soldiers with narrowed eyes. Now everyone is shrinking away.

Optimus laughs softly, shaking his head. He holds up his hands in a surrendering motion. "Peace, Prowl, Ratchet," he says smoothly. "This is something we should all share in."

"See?" Mudflap says. "Optimus gots the right idea!" Skids nods next to his twin, grinning goofily.

The Sparkling makes clicking noises and after a moment of all the Autobots looking down at the little monkey-bot on Sam's back with confused looks, Sam knows it's all gibberish. Wheelie, who was sitting on one of the medical berths, just perched up there so he has a good view of the room, tilts his head one way, than the other, before shaking it.

"Nothing in dat was understandable," he says. Brains appears at his flank.

"He's still a sparkling, Wheelie," Brains says, looking down at the little baby Cybertronian with bright red eyes. "He doesn't understand enough to form coherent thoughts." Wheelie rolls his eyes.

"Come on, you guys, this is suppose to be a good and happy occasion, right?" Sam asks, reaching over his shoulder to pull the Sparkling off of his back. "I can't keep carrying you on my back. You are too heavy." The Sparkling makes a happy clicking sound when Sam placed him on the floor, easily wrapping his little metal arms around Sam's pant leg. He leans back, cracking his back before the young hero reaches down and rubs the little metal head in an affectionate manner.

"Sam is right," Dustyrose says, stepping up between Jolt and Sunstreaker. "It will only take a few moments and this is the first time any of us have witnessed a naming ceremony on Earth." There are murmurs of agreement and puppy dog eyes at the second and third in command.

Ratchet holds up his hand. "Optimus has spoken. Let's take a look, shall we?" There are more murmurs of agreement. Ratchet turns to the Autobot leader. "I just sent you the file."

Optimus closes his eyes for a couple of seconds. "Give me a moment," Optimus murmurs. "Let me translated this to English for the humans." After a minute or so he opens his eyes and turns toward the far wall, allowing the blue orbs to project an image. Sam steps around to Optimus's leg to get a good look. On the wall multiple words play out in white words on a black background.

Kind.

Loving.

Loyal.

Playful.

Pouty.

Shy.

Open minded.

Peaceful.

Wide.

Extremely family oriented.

Dedicated.

Protective.

Then it fades away. Sam blinks a few times, wondering what he saw. "And that was...?"

"Words that the program assumes will be used to describe the Sparkling," Optimus says. He blinks a few times. "Here is the second part, based on who's around him and how he's going to be raised, this is how it is perceived is the most likely look he will have as a fully grown bot." Sam nods slowly, looking over his shoulder to see other NEST members whispering to one another or nodding in understanding. Sam looks back over at the projection and his breath is taken away.

The Sparkling all grown up would be roughly in between Bumblebee and Optimus's height. Closer to Optimus's. He's got long skinny limbs with barely any heavy armor other than the chest plate, the forearms, head, pelvis, knees and shins. The rest looks to be the bare minimum armor to keep him from being just exposed wires. In Sam's opinion, he's built more for speed than for constant fighting like Optimus or Ironhide would be. His doors are like wings, much like Bumblebee's and his paint is like something Sam couldn't have come up with even if he wanted to.

Up the full grown bot's left leg is blood red, opposite of the blue optic on that side, and the right leg is a bright blue, opposite of the red optic. Once it gets to the bot's pelvis it becomes a series of intricate swirls interlacing the two colors without turning it purple. This continued all the way up to his face, still cutting it up the middle separating the colors but this time it's a straight up his face. Then intricate white swirling latticework from around his duo colored optics, down his cheeks, the side of his neck and then down his shoulders in these thin, spider like swirls all connected, all the way down to his white hands. And his wing-doors are different colors. The left is blue and the right is red with white along the edges made to look like real wings. Not like butterfly wings. Like human wings. Human angel wings.

Sam looks down at the Sparkling, who was staring up at his possible future self. He turns his head to the side, making a soft whirling noise. Sam looks back up at the projection, shaking his head a bit. At first glance, Sam could see where it would be a little cliché, the angel wings being on anything. But it wasn't like that was the defining point. The entire things was just so artistically beautiful that it was hard to be nit-picky about it. Sam had to wonder if it was Jacobs that did his paint job (Sam had no clue how long it took for Cybertronians to get full size) but he was going to commit this to memory. The Sparkling was going to have this paint job, no matter what. It was so different from the usual solid colors all the other Autobots had. This was true design. A lot of time and effort would of had to be put into it.

"Do you like it?" Jacobs asks, stepping up next to Sam, grinning at him. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. "I designed the armor. I told Ratchet that there was no need to color in the armor, I would just do it. That was my final draft. Good, right?"

Sam shakes his head in awe. "Oh my god, yes. That is amazing. If you don't end up doing that, I'll kill you."

Jacobs laughs, tilting his chin up a bit proudly. "Sure thing, boss." He gives the thumbs up to First Aid, who was trying hard not to make it look obvious that he was listening in. First Aid smiles kindly down at him, giving an unsure thumbs up back. "We'll work on it," Jacobs promises. First Aid nods, looking like he wasn't all that sure what he had to work on.

Sam listens to the positive murmuring of the other occupants behind him. The Autobots are ecstatic at the entire thing. This wont be the last time that they are part of a naming ceremony. To them, this is just one of many, and if Sam had to guess, the shock has worn off and now all of them are brimming with excitement over being able to be part of so many more. This is really happening. They are saved.

"Okay, so how do we decide a name for him?" Sam asks, nodding down to the thoughtful looking Sparkling looking up at the possible older version of himself. Optimus blinks and the image is gone. The Sparkling whines softly. The leader of the Autobots smiles kindly down at the little Sparkling before finally looking at Sam to answer his question.

"Based on that, we think of a name," he says simply and Sam almost rolled his eyes at the obviousness of it.

"Okay?" Sam says, shaking his head. "Any ideas?"

"Gemrunner," Sunstreak says immediately, then smiles.

Arcee smiles at him. "Aww, cute. How about Loveplates?" Long metallic fingers come up to run along her jawline thoughtfully. "Because I love them armor plates." She laughs.

"Nice name, bad reason," Ratchet says, rolling his eyes. Skids jumps up, waving his arms around as if trying to catch their attention. Ratchet looks to be in physical pain at his next words. "What do you think, Skids?"

"Secondchance," he says, then beams. For a long moment, all anyone could do was stare. Sam is almost positive no one saw such a simple, yet nice name coming from Skids. Everyone sits there thinking about it in silence, perhaps wondering if they were all dreaming.

"That was good, actually," Ironhide admits, eyebrows raised. "How about SmokeScreen?"

Dustyrose shrugs her shoulder. "He doesn't strike me as a SmokeScreen. He strikes me more as a... uh hmm." She taps her chin. "He strikes me as a Sky. The blue like daylight and the red like dusk." There is some murmurs of agreement. Ironhide rolls his eyes.

"SmokeScreen works too."

"Breakthrough," Prowl interjects before they can start arguing. "I like that name." More murmurs of agreement. Sam smiles, he actually really likes that name.

"How about Hope?" Epps says. Will, who has been quiet this whole time, nods in agreement. There is a few more murmurs of agreement.

First Aid has been wringing his hands in front of himself nervously for a while now and finally builds up enough courage to say something. If Sam hadn't been looking right at him, he wouldn't have really noticed that the timid bot said anything.

"What was that, First Aid?" Sam says over the din, quieting it down. First Aid looks shocked that anyone noticed and looks around bashfully.

"I, um, I s-s-said... how about Amabilis...?" he squeaks, as if worried he will be struck by someone. Then, as if it somehow made his case, he adds, "It m-means loveable..."

Arcee stares with wide eyes. "That is so adorable. I really like that one." There are a lot of encouraging agreements.

"O-Or," First Aid says, a little more assuredly, a bit more relaxed, "perhaps Albus? I-It means b-b-bright." Autobots and NEST soldiers murmur thoughtfully amongst one another.

Sideswipe laughs, catching everyone's attention. He shakes his head, trying to contain his mirth. He waves his hand around for a moment before finally controlling his giggles and saying, "Sorry. I just thought of the perfect name: Cruiser."

People boo at him, none as loud as his sparktwin brother Sunstreaker. Sam's noise twists in distaste, shaking his head. He joins in with the other's in yelling, "Denied!"

Optimus laughs, smiling around at all of his friends and family laughing and joking and having fun. This was all that Optimus wanted for his people. For his family. He looks down at the Sparkling to see him looking around with wide duo colored eyes, face lit up. He can sense their happiness. An innocent little Sparkling like his, Optimus thinks with pride, will no doubtably found a place in this happiness. And that makes him happy.

"I've thought of a name," Optimus says and all the yelling and shouting stops. Everyone looks at their leader, waiting. Bumblebee makes a soft whirling noise. "How about Nova. For new beginning. I think that's what we all need. What we all deserve." There is a long silence, as everyone thinks about the new name. Ever the follower, Bumblebee is the first to agree, making a happy tittering noise.

The Sparkling mimics the noise, drawing all eyes to him. He giggles, then says, "Op-Tu-Miss!"

"I guess that's a yes," Arcee says, smiling down at the Sparkling.

Sam pats the little head. "Do you like that? That name, huh little guy? You like Nova?" The Sparkling tilts his head, not understanding but then easily beams with a soft giggle in return when Sam smiles. "Then Nova, it is."

"So it's been decided," Prowl says, glaring at the crowd. "Now get! We got work to do! Scram!" And the room cleared out faster than Sam has ever seen. Thankfully the humans managed to get out of the way before the Autobots high-tailed it out of there. Sam dreads it, but finally turns around and lets the little metal monkey crawl up onto his back.

"I'm going to my office. I have stuff to get done that I've been neglecting," Sam says, dreading the mountain of paperwork he knows is waiting for him. And not so surprisingly, Bumblebee was quick to run out and find something to do that wasn't go with Sam back to the office.

"My fearless protector," Sam says, rolling his eyes. But even though he says that, in reality, the young hero didn't really mind. It just meant a little bit more time between him and Nova.

Hours later, Sam was making his way back to the Medbay to try and locate some pain medicine for his aching back. He hopes that Rachtet will just give them to him rather than a stern lecture about not carrying the little metal monkey around everywhere. As bad as it is for his back, Sam is starting to find comfort in knowing the little guy is close. It's a pain, but it's something that he's willing to live with.

When he gets there, he stops. Sideswipe is laid out on a medical berth with his knee propped up. First Aid is leaning over him, working diligently. It was just like in his vision. It really was a premonition! Sam didn't know what to do. He just stood there frozen, mind racing with fragmented thoughts. Nothing is coming through coherently. No, there was a thought that went through his head: Why is it that every time Sam needs to tell Bumblebee something, the damn bot is never to be found. If Sam was a paranoid man, he would be inclined to think the yellow guardian does it on purpose.

He can't get First Aid's help, he's working on Sideswipe and that goes for the latter bot. He needs to find someone. Why is it that every time Sam needs a bot, they are either busy or no where to be found? Sam can clearly recall all of the Autobots crawling out of the woodworks for Nova's naming... ceremony? It didn't really seem like a ceremony to Sam, but that wasn't the point.

Sam opens his mouth, about to bother First Aid regardless of how bad he felt stopping Sideswipe from getting the help he needed, when he realized that there was an Autobot that he knew the location of. Prowl.

Sam turns on his heel and runs out of the Medbay, forgetting about his aching back. Nova giggles on Sam's back, thinking that this was some sort of game. Sam went to a part of the base that he had never been to. It was where they stored their lost friends. It was a thing with the Cybertronians. They didn't bury their dead. They believed their souls went back to the All Spark along with their memory and became one with it while their bodies became empty husks that they could morn over. For some reason, it just always seemed wrong to come here. It was a place for the Autobots to morn their lost comrades and friends and, in Prowl's case, sparkmates.

Sam stopped over the towering tent-like structure. While constructing it, Optimus said there was no reason to make it into a real intricate building, that it would be useless if they managed to fill it and he didn't want to focus too heavily on it while they had things that they needed to do. There was a bit of stink from the other bots but ultimately every bowed their head and let the leader do as he please when he promised to give their dead a more adequate... resting place when they could. For them, that was reasonable. So they settled fro this tent-like structure. It's a building but not something that should be suitable for the dead. All it's really doing is supplying shade from the heat. In a way, Sam can see where that wouldn't be good enough.

But thankfully, they've begun work on creating a proper final resting place for the fallen Cybertronians. Sam shakes the thoughts away. That's not what he should be focusing on. Sam makes his way inside slowly. Pods, much like the one that Nova was in surround the perimeter of the room. Most are thankfully empty, but there are a few that hold lost friends. Like Jetfire. Like Arcee's two sisters. Sam shakes his head, ducking it down, trying not to look as he makes his way over to the large red bot standing at the far side of the room in front of his sparkmate.

There are old Cybertronian markings on the pod, probably telling who it was and how they died and other stuff that Sam doesn't want to think about. He stops a few feet behind the large second in command.

"Prowl?" Sam calls out softly, not wanting to startle the older bot.

It doesn't work. Prowl's shoulders pull together and he freezes for a moment. Trying to collect himself before looking over his shoulder a bit to see Sam and the glowing eyes of Nova staring up at him.

"Sparklings should not be present in a place of death," he says softly, turning away a bit. "What do you want, Sam?"

Sam chews on his bottom lip, wondering if he was wrong for coming here. He's not all that certain about what to do when it comes to them dealing with their dead. He's not sure if it's considered disrespectful for him to be there, for Nova to be there! He had no idea. But Prowl... he sounded so lost. So sad. Sam couldn't really believe it. The bot had always seemed so strong. So focused. Sam can't believe he was holding so much hurt inside. Sam has to wonder if any of the others were unaware of Prowl's predicament, or if it was just him. Sam refuses to believe that his friends just shrugged off Prowl's grief as a tragedy of war. He refuses.

"I'm sorry, Prowl," Sam says, then pauses. What could he do? He almost said that he thought Jazz might still be somewhat alive. But it's one thing to get Bumblebee and Optimus's hopes up only to have it crushed. It's an entirely different situation to so it to Prowl. That would be worse than cruel.

A thought then occurred to Sam. Could it be that Prowl hides his pain so well, because he himself hasn't really allowed himself to feel it? They've been so busy these last few months, perhaps he hasn't had the proper time to really sit down and mourn his loss. Anyone could say that Prowl was a hard-ass and that he was a stickler for rules, but Sam had never met a more compassionate bot. He may rip a fellow bot a new one for slacking off because ultimately all that they are doing is going to eventually acclimate their race on Earth.

Prowl wants this place to become home, just as much as the rest of them. If he has to be the bad guy in the end, he will, so long as all the Autobots return home every night and are happy. Sam has to wonder if that was part of the reason Optimus made the red bot his second. Perhaps he could sense that Prowl's loyalty to the Autobots rivaled that of his own.

"It's fine," Prowl says, pulling Sam from his thoughts. The red bot turns around now, staring blankly down at the two. Nova giggles something in Cybertronian that makes Prowl turn his head slightly in confusion. He shakes his head as if to dismiss it to focus on Sam. "What can I do for you?"

Sam has to use all his will power to not look beyond the SIC at the pod behind him. The pod where he knows is Jazz's finally resting place. Or is it? Sam quickly shoves the thought away, promising to talk to Optimus and Ratchet about it later.

"Um," Sam says, blinking up at the bot.

"Um," Prowl echo's eyebrows pulling together. "Is that some kind of code or are you at a loss for words?"

I'm at a loss for words, Sam didn't dare say. "I, uh, I wanted to let you know that..." he squints, why was he here again. Oh! Right. "I think that there is Autobots inbound for Earth."

Prowl's eyebrows rise. "Oh? I didn't get a hail from the Hive."

Sam fidgets, struggling with Nova's weight. He can't keep carrying around the little monkey but for some reason putting him down here just seemed... wrong. So he would have to endure it for a bit longer. "I know... I um, got a vision from the All Sp... uh," Sam rubs the back of his head. "Uh..."

Prowl waits a breath or two before saying, "A vision with the All Spark's power?"

"Yes! I saw six... um pods, inbound for Earth this afternoon while I was out in the field with Optimus and Bee," Sam says. "In the vision, I saw First Aid in the Medbay fixing up Sideswipe's leg and you... in here. I was just at the Medbay and saw First Aid and Sideswipe so... I came here to see you. I'm sorry."

Prowl, now fully immersed in SIC mode, shakes his head. "And you believe that means that they will be entering Earth's atmosphere soon?" Sam nods. "Alright, now, how do you know they are Autobots?"

"I saw the thread that connects sparkmates," Sam hesitates for a split second, wondering if mentioning sparkmates is taboo, but Prowl doesn't react, so Sam continues, "it's something I guess the All Spark could do, and saw one of them connect with First Aid. That's... Skydiver right?"

Prowl nods. "Skydiver is First Aid's sparkmate," he agrees. "If there really is bots coming, friend or not, we can't be too careful. I'd best get a team on standby-" He makes to take a step, only for his eyes to adapt that distant look and Sam knows that he's getting the call. Sam was right! This really was a premonition! That is so crazy. "Alright, come with me, Sam. Optimus is looking for you. It seems you were right."

Prowl transforms and pops his driver seat door open. Sam almost kissed the red bot in relief. He climbed in and Prowl drove out of the make-shift graveyard. He drives across the base to the Autobot's main hanger to meet up with Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Arcee and Sunstreaker. They were all standing around in a semi-circle, quietly chatting when Prowl pulled up with Sam and Nova inside. Sam crawls out, still carrying his metal monkey, but now in his arms and moves aside so Prowl can transform back into his bipedal mode.

Bumblebee whirls in happiness at the sight of Sam, kneeling down to get close to eye level with Sam.

"Hey, Bee, you and I have to talk about how the Autobots always seem to Houdini themselves when I'm looking for you guys," Sam says. Bumblebee tilts his head in confusion. Sam shakes his head. "Never mind, we'll talk about it later. So, this inbound group?"

"We are going to go out and receive them," Ratchet says.

Sam finally puts Nova down, rubbing his lower back, trying to ease the tinge of pain. "Can I come?"

Ratchet notices the action. "Are you in pain, Sam?"

"A bit, I'm not built to be carrying around twenty pounds of alien metal all the time. I'm not used to it yet," Sam says, smiling. He reaches down and pats the small head of the baby Cybertronian. Bumblebee and Optimus both look at Ratchet as if silently probing him with their eyes. It takes the green bot a moment but when he realizes they're staring at him, he glares at them. Optimus looks away, scratching the side of his head while Bumblebee spins around and cowers a bit, reaching up to protect his head from any possible swinging wrenches.

"I'll tell you what, Sam, once we get back, I'll riffle through our things and see if we have some low grade pain killers and see just how far along Nova is. Once he gets old enough, he has to be weaned off of a carrier's constant protection, whether they like it or not," Ratchet says, selling the tough love act. He even went so far as to stare down at the little bot. Nova turns his head to the side, making a small whirling noise.

Sam pats the little head before looking over at Optimus. "So can I go?" Optimus looks hesitant once more. His eyes flicker between Nova and Sam, probably wanting to insist that they both stay there. Sam can see him about to refuse so he says, "Optimus, they are Autobots." He nods his head very slowly to the red and blue flamed bot. "Trust me."

"I do trust you," Optimus says, shifting uncomfortably. "I just don't want to risk anything..."

Sam stares at him. "I am still the liaison, Optimus. Nova here didn't suddenly change that. The smallest, most insignificant part of the reason I want to do this is because it's my job, the rest is because they're your friends. Our comrades. Please, Optimus?"

Optimus hesitates, looking over at Bumblebee. The yellow bot turns his head inquisitively. Bumblebee slowly lowers his hands and stares back with big, bright blue eyes. After a few seconds of just staring, Optimus finally asks, "Is there anyone else who's free that can come along? Ironhide? Dustyrose?"

"Bulkhead is off this afternoon," Wheeljack offers. "He and I were just about to go off and play some uh..." He squints, trying to find the right way to translate the word into English. After a moment, being unable to, he just clicks a few times. After that, he continues, "Before I was called in to help out. I could give him a call."

Ratchet intervenes. "Good idea, but go get him. It will give me a few minutes to go and get some medicine for Sam." He doesn't wait for Optimus's approval and makes his way toward the Medbay. Wheeljack hesitates a moment, looking to Optimus. The leader nods and Wheeljack turns around and jogs off in search of his best friend. Arcee leans on one hip, tilting her head to the side.

Then after a moment of consideration, she steps closer and leans down, reaching out to touch Nova. He playfully bats at her hand when it gets close and eventually pulls away from Sam to chase her. Arcee laughs and pulls back moving to keep out of his reach. Bumblebee reaches down and picks Sam up, cradling the human in his hands protectively. Sam smiles, watching Arcee play around with Nova. He's having the time of his life, giggling and practically tripping over himself in jubilation. Arcee finally falls onto her butt and opens her arms out for the little baby bot.

Nova giggles and blabbers on in a mixture of broken English and nonsense Cybertronian. Sam, Optimus and Bumblebee watch on with pride and affection. Sunstreaker has a big smile on his face while Prowl has a curious look on his face. Arcee cradles Nova to her chest, smiling brightly down at the baby. It got Sam to thinking. Would Arcee herself be interested in a sparkling herself? Sam wondered if that was too personal to ask, but kept the thought in the forefront of his mind to mull over later. Before long Wheeljack returns with Bulkhead at his heels.

"Bulkhead, reporting for duty, Optimus," Bulkhead says, saluting to the Prime.

Optimus waves the gesture away. "Always a pleasure Bulkhead. There is no need to be so formal." Bulkhead smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sure thing, Optimus." The Prime smiles at the larger green bot, before turning and looking over at Arcee and the giggling sparkling. Nova is looking up at Arcee, clicking away at her.

Arcee laughs. "You need to learn how to speak properly, little one. No one can understand sparkling gibberish," she says affectionately, caressing his little head with her finger. It draws little giggles from him.

"Sorry about the wait," Ratchet says, walking back. He pauses to look down at Arcee and Nova, smiling faintly before his grumpy look returns and he makes his way over to Bumblebee and Sam, holding out a hand and a bottle of ibuprofen. "I ran into Will on the way to the Medbay. He had some at his bunk. It saved me some time. I told him our situation and he has agreed to look over the base until you return."

Sam pops a few pills, swallowing them dry with some difficulty, before nodding. "Got it. Thanks Ratchet."

"You're welcome. Now then," Ratchet says, nodding in greeting to Bulkhead, who smiles and waves back, before looking at Optimus. "We ready to go."

Optimus nods, still looking a little worried. "Yes. Sam, keep Nova close. Bumblebee, protect Sam and Nova until we are certain they are allies." All the bots nod in agreement. Bumblebee puts Sam down in front of him. Arcee hands Nova over to the human All Spark. Then all the Autobots transform into their alt modes. Sam climbs into the driver's side of his favorite camero and they head off. Off to greet new friends.