I am Broken (TFP) *Rewrite*

Chapter 11

It took a few hours for Dahlia to completely calm down. She really felt angry and heartbroken over the fact that Jack had left. And Optimus had to keep a hold of the girl to prevent her from taking it out on Rafael and Miko unintentionally. Dahlia fully appreciated the mech's patience with her. She had thought that he would be annoyed with her and he would want her to try and calm down without help. But he never once tried to make her do that. Even when Dahlia said it out loud, he refused to let her down. Not once. Dahlia and Beast were both still unsure about the kindness they were experiencing, as they have never felt any kindness before. But they definitely found themselves liking it. They were drawn to Optimus even more for his patience.

And when Raf and Miko were finally taken out of the base to be returned to their homes, Dahlia could be given a bath. And she was now currently sitting in one of the tubs, holding her knees as Optimus gently scrubbed her body. He had already rinsed the blood from her body, but was taking his time with clean her skin. The bars of soap she had were a little too small for him use, but he tried to make it work, and Dahlia did not mind. She needed the time to think.

Arcee was watching Optimus bathe the girl and she was glad that Dahlia had finally calmed down. She fully understood that Dahlia was feeling a lot of pain. None of them expected her to even bond with the humans that fast, but it seemed that Jack had been able to do that, and Dahlia had been accepting of the friendship. But Jack's fear of being here after seeing how dangerous it was to be involved was also valid. She understood that Jack wanted to leave for his own safety. But she did know it came at an expense for Dahlia.

"What did prompt you and Ratchet to leave the base this morning, anyway?" Arcee asked Optimus curiously. She knew that there would have been a reason for Ratchet and Optimus to leave the base, but she did not know what the reason could have been. "I don't imagine Ratchet would have asked about it, if he figured out what the substance on my hand was."

Optimus glanced in Arcee's direction for a moment and looked back at Dahlia. She had her back turned towards him currently, and she did not seem to be paying attention. "The reason why we left is because a drop of the dark energon must have fallen onto the broken equipment that Bulkhead had crushed yesterday. And it brought it to life." Arcee widened her optics a little as she listened, now that it was starting to make sense. "And the only one who would have brought the dark energon would have been Megatron. He was the reason why Cliffjumper's life signal came back online." The femme shivered and folded her arms, severely disliking the idea that Cliff would have been brought back to life that way. "Unfortunately, not even the dead are free from Megatron's grasp, Arcee."

The femme shivered again in disgust. "No wonder he looked...different." She shook her head with a grimace. "I admit, I have started having nightmares because of it. I tried to get some recharge last night while stuck in Jack's garage, and...well..." Arcee's expression softened and Optimus looked at the femme sympathetically. He fully understood her feeling. "The fact that Megatron disrespected a fallen autobot like that...it disgusts me. It makes me sad that Cliff was put through that."

"Take comfort knowing that Cliff would not know what has happened to his body, Arcee. The dark energon does not revive the soul within each spark. Unfortunately, his body was just a husk for Megatron's evil intentions." That did not make Arcee feel much better at all. Optimus knew that, but it was best she thought of it that way. He looked back at Dahlia and gently moved her around so he could scrub the front of her body. "We now just need to interpret the information that Miko has provided Ratchet to understand what they are planning now."

"And I have not figured it out yet." Ratchet grumbled a little as he rubbed his arm, as it was still giving him a lot of discomfort. "I apologize, but I am also trying to repair the damage to my arm at the same time. It is still aching."