Optimus rolled his optics as he walked out of the room. He wandered off to his berth room to get away from the chaos. He sat on his berth and set his helm in his servos.

They couldn't hide much longer, but he couldn't bare to have his team go back out there. Seeing the smallest teammate covered in energon and get crushed by the Decepticon leader, wasn't something he wanted to relive. He couldn't take them back out there, they weren't ready. They didn't know how to fight. They were just repair bots. He sat there for a while longer as he thought about what to do.

Optimus looked up and glared at the wall. He needed the medic to understand that. The Prime stood up and walked back to the main room. As he turned the corner his optics widened and he ducked as a wrench came flying at him. It hit the wall and clattered to the floor. The leader picked it up and was tempted to throw it at the annoying medic.

"Were you trying to hit me or someone else?" Optimus asked as he walked to the medic, who's back was to him.

"I was trying to hit whoever was talking to me a minute ago." He grumbled without moving from his work. Optimus shot a look at the other bots and Bulkhead shifted uncomfortably. The leader slammed the tool on the desk and the medic looked up slightly startled.

"Stop throwing things at people." He said firmly. Rachet scoffed and went back to work.

The leader was about to say something when they heard an explosion in the city. All optics looked out the window and widened when they saw a pillar of smoke. Prowl and Arcee ran to the window and looked out. They saw three jets in the distance fly off. A moment later a fourth one followed.

"They're looking for us." Arcee muttered as she looked at the others. The room was silent for a moment.

"Then let's prepare to meet them, and drive them out of this city." Prowl said. The others agreed with him, the exception being Optimus.

"Kid bring your key over here." Doc bot said as he finished. Sari walked over and the doctor helped her up. She looked at the damaged voice processor then up at the bot.

"Are you sure it will work?" She asked.

"I'm hoping it will....it needs to be repaired before I can put it back in." He grumbled. She found a small opening and put the key in. It glowed a little and they watched in amazement as it put itself back together. She smiled up at the doctor and Bee grinned.

~~

A half hour later they stood back as the little bot sat up. He looked at the others and hesitated. Bee looked up at his counterpart then at Optimus.

"Did it work?" The little bot asked quietly. His team cheered and Bulkhead gave him a bot crushing hug.

"Welcome back little buddy!" The green bot yelled happily.

Rachet just stared at them blankly, he felt some guilt for not being able to do the same for Bumblebee. He glanced at the young scout who rubbed the little bots helm as he was set on his peds again. The medic looked down at Raf who was staring up at him as he stood a few feet away. The boy touched his ped and smiled up at him. The medic just stared at him blankly as he thought.

"Hey Bumblebee! Maybe the key can work on you." Sari said as she smiled up at him.

The room went quiet as they watched the scout. He stared down at her then glanced at Rachet. Turning back to her, the bot crouched down and held out his servo, the girl smiled and climbed on. He stood up and walked towards the medic. Everyone watched as he walked passed the older bot and set her next to the relic. She looked up at him confused and he bent down to help Raf up. Bumblebee beeped and chirped softly as he pointed at the relic.

"He said you should try to repair the relic, so we can use it to send Megatron back to our world." Raf translated. She folded her arms and looked at him.

"Okay......what's that have to do with your voice?" She asked the bot.

"I don't think that's his main concern right now." Prowl said simply. The others looked at the scout and he pointed at the relic again.

"I'll try." She said smiling. The scout chirped happily. She found a spot and put the key in. It glowed and she turned it, but it faded quickly.

"Darn....." Sari mumbled. An explosion outside shook the windows of the base. They all looked up and saw another pillar of smoke a few blocks away.

"They're going to blow us up!" Bulkhead shouted.

"Not if they can't find us!" Doc bot snapped. Another explosion, this time closer.

"We have to get out of here." Optimus said. "Autobots transform and roll out!" He called.

"To where?" Rachet yelled. They all looked at him. "As soon as you go out there they'll see you and open fire." He snapped.

"We can go out the back." Prowl suggested. "There's more cover that way and it will be harder to find us." The Prime nodded once.

They transformed and the kids got into their guardians. Professor Sumdac got into the red truck and they drove off in a rush. They left the warehouse and drove down the street to a different parking garage, which made the best cover. Once there the humans jumped out and found a place to hide, the bots quickly transformed. There was an explosion nearby and they peaked back at the warehouse. It was perfectly fine, for now. A building across the street blew up people screamed as they ran for cover. They looked up as Starscream laughed hysterically, he had a giant cannon on his arm.

"They're going to flatten this whole city in an attempt to find us." Doc bot grumbled.

"What's the plan Boss bot?" Bee said nervously as some cars exploded and shot into the air.

Optimus didn't reply he felt conflicted between protecting his team that couldn't fight, and the people who couldn't stand up to the cons. He hesitated as more cars and buildings blew up. He watched as people ran around frantically and Starscream mocked them.

Rachet sensed the distress and confusion from the leader. The medic knew that the bravest and best bots could freeze on a battle field. Depending on the bot it was for different reasons. The medic remembered a time when their Optimus froze on the field. The poor bot had barely turned into a Prime when he was thrown into a war.

Rachet did the only thing he knew how to do. He walked up to the Prime and turned him so they were facing each other. He had to take charge.

"We'll provide the distraction! You get that thing away from him!" The medic growled. A building exploded nearby.

"I don't know! We haven't gone up against many Decepticons! I'm not even sure I can lead them into this war." The Prime said uncertainly. Another building exploded.

"Listen-" the medic started to say. The Prime ignored him as he pulled out his axe and prepared to fight. The older bot grabbed his arm.

"Listen to me!" Rachet snapped. Optimus looked at him optics wide. The medic put a servo on his shoulder and gave him a serious look.

"If you're anything like the Optimus I know, you were made to lead." He said. People screamed in the background.

"You care about this planet and those who live on it. You may feel inadequate, but I trust you to do the right thing." Rachet said sternly. The Prime stared at him for moment. Then he shook his helm as he snapped out of it and smirked. He faced the others.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus commanded. The medic smiled to himself as he transformed his servos into swords.