This story was co-written with Leonixon and centers around our OCs. If you have never "The Jazz Era", then you will likely be confused through the story. This story is not a part of my series, though I use Sunburst and Dreadwing, so Cierra will not be mentioned in my Sunlight stories. It's just a cute little one-shot Leonixon and I came up with while PMing. Enjoy! :)
/Bond speak/
"English"
"Cybertronian"
It was a beautiful spring morning. The sun smiled warmly on the world as it watched the flora and fauna showed off their new lives. Birds sang cheerfully to each other, and babies took their first flights. Flowers vainly showed their new colors, and trees swayed as the wind tugged playfully on their leaves. The morning air was clear and clean, as if all pollution was gone. The ground was damp with the morning the dew that fought valiantly against the hot rays of the bright sun. All-in-all, a perfect day to start out the season.
Inside the Autobot base, the air was filled with small giggles and squeals, accented by the rumbling chuckles of a certain saboteur. The laughs originated from the washroom, where the Autobot's Third in Command was chasing a small sparkling as she slid across the slick washroom floor. Said sparkling was lucky that the water rose just enough to not scratch the red paint of her growing armor. As it was, the CMO, Ratchet, was making her youngling frame, something she was looking forward to and the rest of the base was dreading, especially with her sudden attachment to the self-proclaimed "Prank Kings". At the moment, though, Jazz was trying to catch the little juggernaut so that he could finish washing her armor and begin buffing it up. Why was he going through so much trouble this early in the morning on such a beautiful, you ask?
Well, today, Jazz was finally going to introduce his sparkling to a person who was very special to him. He had known her for a while before he had known Sunburst. He hadn't wanted to introduce his little sparklet to this person until his baby had somewhat of a grip on the English language. Who is this person, you may ask? Her name is Cierra Woods. Jazz lunged forward, snatching up his giggling little ball of energy by the scruff bar, and dumped her unceremoniously into a basin of water. Sunburst squealed happily. She had always loved water. It was just so... wet and… clear! Who wouldn't love something that was wet and clear? It boggled her little processor. Jazz grinned as he absently started scrubbing the bits of mud from his child's doorwings. His thoughts went back to when he first saw Cierra.
It seemed like yesterday when he had first met her, or heard her that is. Her singing was what made him find her. And then when she had first him. Jazz cringed from the thought of that night. His cocky attitude didn't help the meeting between human and alien. But soon they became close and Jazz had presented her with a gift that he had made himself… a "Bluetooth", or that's what the humans called it. It was an innocent gift helping Cierra and Jazz connect and speak to each other. But somehow it malfunction creating an artificial bond between them. It all worked out in the end though for the both of them. Now, Jazz couldn't possibly live without Cierra. After all, without her, who would buy all of his music?
"Opi! 'Stweaker an' Sides is takin' meh t' beach t'morruh," Sunburst informed him, dragging him from his reverie. He grinned as he lifted her from the water and started drying her off.
"Is tha' so? Why wasn' I invited?" Jazz teased.
"Cuz ya old," Sunburst answered matter-a-factly. Jazz's mouthplates fell open. This happened a lot around Sunburst, mainly because she had this innate ability to say something that would surprise even the most social 'bots.
"Now, why is tha'?" Jazz questioned, a little bit of his bitterness seeping into his tone. He was in no way old. Ironhide and Ratchet were old. Jazz was still in the prime of life. He was quite the femme magnet. Being called "old" by his own sparkling, who wasn't legitimately his (if you wanna get down to technicalities), was quite the punch in the gut.
"It's cuz 'Stweaker say only old 'bots 'as sparklin's," the red sparkling explained as Jazz started buffing her armor. All conversation ended there as Sunburst stopped paying attention to him. Low purrs rose from her engine, and her optics offlined in contentment. Jazz grinned at her look of utter pleasure. Oh, to be young and easily pleased. With his luck, she'd start demanding he use that buffer more often. Suddenly having visions of a mini-Sunstreaker, Jazz shut off the buffer and resisted the urge to chunk it across the room. He could do that later. Maybe he'd even stomp on it a few times for good measure. He didn't want to have to deal with and angry Blaster for allowing his daughter to experience the joys of being shiny.
"Well, I ain't old yet, cuz yo'r more Blaster's th'n mine," Jazz retorted with a grin. Sunburst giggled as her opiluk placed her in his hold. On instinct, she crawled to the back of the hold and curled up by his spark. "Yo'r gettin' too big fo' this, baby," Jazz told her as he strode from the washroom, closing the hatch on his hold as he walked. Sunburst squeaked indignantly.
"I no big. I small, like Opi is," she replied. Jazz scowled. Those slaggin' twins were turning his own adoptive daughter against him. Jazz silently planned his revenge as he stalked out the front entrance of the base. He activated his transformation sequence and smiled slightly at Sunburst's entertained giggles.
"Jazz!" a deep male voice called out, sounding none too happy. Jazz waited, engine idling, as the lanky black mech known as Dreadwing stalked to his side. The mech's visor, which was normally either a neutral black or a deep blue, was tinted red, and his wings were stiffly held a few inches higher than normal. Whatever had him so worked up had done a pretty good job at it. "You said Sunburst would be with me today," the jet snarled.
"Whoops. Must a' forgot. Sorry, 'Wing, but I'm intr'ducin' her t' a friend a' mine," Jazz replied in a cheery voice. Dreadwing scowled.
"No, you ain't. You're gonna hand her over so that I can take her on a flight," Dreadwing countered. Jazz was silent for a few seconds before he gave a laughing, "Naw," and gunned his engine. He shot off, leaving a seriously pissed off Dreadwing in his dust. Acting on ingrained instinct that every Ops 'bot had, Jazz cloaked his spark signal and sped away at a speed that human vehicles couldn't achieve. Sunburst was curled up in his front passenger seat, nuzzling her head into the back rest.
"Opi, 'Stweaker an' Sides say I li'lest femme. They lie?" Sunburst asked. Jazz's deep chuckles filled the car.
"Yup. Yo'r the smallest femme righ' now," Jazz confirmed. Sunburst frowned as she sat up a little more. On a creator's instinct, Jazz moved the seatbelt across her body, allowing the buckle to snap into place.
"But-but-but I no wanna be!" Sunburst whined. Jazz's laughs grew.
"Aw, baby, ya won' always be small. Ya gotta let yaself grow a li'l," he said evenly.
"So I be big?"
"Yeah, baby. Yo'll be big," Jazz agreed with a smile. "Now, I gotta let ya know a li'l bit 'bout the girl ya gonna be meetin'."
"Girrrrrl?" Sunburst repeated, sounding out the word.
"It's anotha word fo' femme," Jazz explained.
"Oooohhhh," Sunburst said in understanding.
"Yeah. Her designation is Cierra Woods," Jazz explained. "Now, she's a really sweet girl – I mean, femme – an' we share a really close bond."
Sunburst's optics widened as her processor ran through the new data. Opi didn't have any siblings, because they would be at the Autobot base, so it couldn't be a sibling bond, and Opi's creators were offline, so it couldn't be a creation bond. Opi didn't have any other creations, because Sunny would receive a sibling bond… What other bonds were there? Her optics grew brighter. A spark bond! That meant Cierra Woods was her new mommy! It only made sense! No wonder Opi refused to let D'wing take her flying! He wanted her to meet her new mommy!
Jazz grinned as he arrived at Cierra's large house. The owner of the house was standing by the front door waiting for him. She allowed him to drive into the backyard where he would be shielded from any wandering eyes and waited as he transformed. She smiled up at him, memories of their past adventures together floating through her head.
"'Sup?" he said by way of greeting. Cierra put her hands on her hips.
"I'll tell you what's up! You haven't come to visit me in forever!" she snapped, though her smile betrayed her tone. In Jazz's hold, though, a certain sparkling jumped at the angry tone of voice. Why was she so mad? Opi hadn't visited her because he had been busy with the little bundle of wires, who was still struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Did that mean her new mommy was already angry with her? Sunburst whimpered, sending her uncertainty to her opi, in hopes that he would take her back to Dreadwing. Jazz frowned and sent her back feelings of assurance and understanding.
"Well, Cierra, there's a good reason fo' tha', an' I think yo'll agree when ya find out," Jazz promised. He grinned as he opened the hatch on his hold. He crouched down to get closer to Cierra as he reached his hand into his chest cavity. Cierra's eyes widened when he pulled out a red mini-Bumblebee. Well, it had no antennae, but there were tiny door sprouting from its back.
"Jazz… what is it?" she asked hesitantly, almost dreading the answer.
"This is a sparklin', Cierra, a baby Cybertronian. Her name is Sunburst," Jazz introduced. Wide blue optics stared at her, waiting for a reply.
"And… Is she Bumblebee's baby?" she questioned.
"No, Cierra. Sunburst is mine." Cierra stared at him for a full minute before freaking out.
"A baby! You have a baby, and you didn't tell me!" she yelled. "You never told me you had a flippin' kid!" Cierra turned and started pacing. "Why wouldn't you tell me something like this? I thought we were closer than that!"
"Cia-wuh?" a small feminine voice whispered. Cierra paused in her pacing to look at the… sparkling. "Are you mah mommy?"
"You don't even know who the mother is?" Cierra demanded of Jazz. Jazz, for his part, winced and shook his head, then he nodded his head.
"Cierra, would ya let meh explain?" he asked, trying to sooth Sunburst's guilt and fears as he talked some sense into the little human before him. Cierra cocked a hip to the side, her hands were still poised on those hips, and she glared at him.
"Yeah, Jazz. Explain," she ordered. Jazz plopped into a sitting position, causing a mini-earthquake, but Cierra ignored it. Jazz sat Sunburst in his lap, and Cierra was suddenly struck with how big this child was. The kid was a third of Jazz's height, and Cierra was sure that Sunburst was almost as tall as she was.
"Ya see, it all started a few weeks ago when a new arrival by the name a' Solarwind crash-landed in the S'hara Desert," Jazz began, and he proceeded to tell the whole tale, careful not to say specific names. He didn't want little Sunburst interrupting while he tried to explain, even if it was to repeat designations of the mechs she loved. Cierra, luckily, seemed to take it in stride, and by the end of the story, she was looking at Sunburst with a small smile on her face. Sunburst didn't notice, though, as she was too busy playing with Jazz's pointer claw.
"So, why does she think I'm her mother?" Cierra asked.
"I think she misinterpreted mah words. I said we 'ad a close bond, so Sunny thought I meant spark bond."
Cierra nodded her head in understanding and looked up at him with wide eyes. /So you've been taking care of her all this time?/ she asked through their bond. She couldn't hide the smile. /That's so sweet of you, Jazzy./
/Well, 'er brothuh's been takin' care a' her, too…/ Jazz grumbled.
/Oh? You don't like him?/ she questioned, wondering why he sounded annoyed with Sunburst's brother. Jazz got along with everyone, or so she thought. Sunburst felt the mild annoyance flitting through her opiluk's and looked up at him in curiosity. She saw that he was staring at Cierra, so she switched her gaze over to her. Nobody said anything aloud, though. /What's wrong with him? He sounds like he's a great help by the story you just told me./
/Yeah, well, he's also got an ego the size a' Mars. He's sarcastic, 'as no r'spect fo' 'is leaders, and 'e hates humans./ Sunburst looked back and forth between the two adults and decided that she now wanted some attention. The silence wasn't very nice for her. So, when Cierra rolled her eyes at Jazz and shook her head with a defeated sigh, the sparkling let out a string of clicks and chirps to grab the attention. The plan worked. Cierra looked at Sunburst with a gentle smile and walked closer.
"And who are you?" she asked in a teasing voice, trying to see if the little femme would talk to her. Sunburst trilled at the tone of voice, and Cierra's smiled grew bigger. "Aren't you the prettiest little femme I've seen!" she cooed, deciding to complement her on her stunning red armor. Cute blue optics grew brighter as Sunburst giggled at the femme, no wait… girl. Yeah. Girl. "I am Cierra. What's your name?"
"My desigaton Sunburst. Do you know my daddy, too? Or just Opi?" Sunburst twittered. Cierra looked up at Jazz for translation.
"Cierra doesn't know Blaster, sweets. She jus' knows meh," Jazz answered for her.
"Well, I know Optimus Prime–"
"Op'mus Pretty Voice!" Sunburst chirped. Cierra paused and looked up at Jazzz again, wondering if this was a normal thing in their culture with their children.
"Yeah…she does tha' s'metimes…" Jazz mumbled sheepishly.
"Whhhhyyyyy?" Cierra asked, drawing out her single word question to show her sheer confusion.
"It's how she says 'I love ya'. 'Er brothuh could explain bettuh than meh."
"So that's why you didn't say any of the Autobot's names," Cierra said in sudden understanding.
"Exactly." Jazz lifted Sunburst up and set her on her hands and knees on the ground. Sunburst gave him a withering look. "Don' give meh tha' look. I know you c'n stand up on ya own, so I ain't helpin' ya anymo'e."
"Meanie," Sunburst mumbled. She moved her weight to her feet and walked up to her hands. She pushed off the ground into an upright position. When she started tipping backwards, Jazz reached out to keep her standing.
"She's still getting' used ta balancin' 'er weight in 'er shoulders," Jazz told Cierra. Cierra smiled at Sunburst.
"I think you're doing very well. Standing already when you're so young? You have a gift," Cierra praised. Sunburst whistled happily, soaking up the praise. "So, do you know a lot of the Autobots?" Sunburst nodded enthusiastically.
"Uh-huh. Know Op'mus, an' Doc'er Watchit, an' I'onhide, an' Sides, an' 'Stweaker, an' 'Bee, an' B'uestweak, an' Jote, an'…" Sunburst paused to think. "Know Tunder… an' 'Wave–"
"Soundwave isn't an Autobot, baby femme," Jazz interrupted. Sunburst's little cheeks puffed out in indignation at the interruption.
"Who's Soundwave?" Cierra asked hesitantly. Sunburst brightened at the chance to brag about her Decepticon uncle.
"'Wave mah uncle. He teached meh t' stan', an' he 'as two 'bots with funny wings. They c'n fly!" Sunburst said, holding her arms out, just in case Cierra didn't understand what wings were. Cierra, however, found Sunburst quite amusing, and twice as cute.
"Are their wings like yours?" she asked in a teasing voice. Sunburst looked over her shoulder at her wings as they flared out in response to her mood.
"No. They use wings t' fly. Mah wings are made fo' sensin' stuffs, cuz I a spybot. Daddy told meh so," Sunburst said smugly, automatically knowing that this human must be jealous of her spying skills, and she knew she had spy skills because her daddy told her so, and Daddy never lied.
"Can you sense me?" Cierra asked with a sly look on her face. Sunburst shook her head, openly accepting her inabilities.
"I no sense humans. They no have spawk siggals." Sunburst said idly. She studied Cierra for a few seconds before she started forward. Her footing was still awkward and she couldn't really go more than ten steps before her wings would drag her down to her skidplate. Cierra smiled as she stepped forward to help close the distance between the Cybertronian child and herself. Once they were standing across from each other, Jazz rested a hand on Sunny's back to keep her standing as she studied the human before her. "What's stwingy stuff on head?"
"My hair?" Cierra supplied, unconsciously putting a hand to her head. Sunburst clicked curiously as she studied the strange brown strings. The sparkling looked up at Jazz with a smile.
"Like 'Jaw's mane," she claimed in Cybertronian, seeing as she had not yet learned Steeljaw's name in English.
"Yeah, it is. Cierra's hair is much softuh, though," Jazz replied.
/What did she say?/ Cierra asked. She didn't hear Cybertronian very often, and to hear it spoken by the small feminine voice had thrown her for a loop.
/She said ya hair r'minded 'er of 'er brothuh's mane. 'e takes the form of a lion,/ Jazz replied evenly. Cierra nodded in understanding.
/That would be interesting to see./ She commented. Jazz grinned but focused his attention on Sunburst as she hesitantly reached a servo out to touch Cierra's fine locks. Cierra smiled gently, leaning into the child's touch as she ran a hand through her hair. Sunburst gave a delighted squeal and looked up at her opiluk excitedly.
"Soft, Opi. Soft!" she chirped. Jazz chuckled at her antics, and his grin turned into a loving smile when Cierra turned around to allow his daughter better access to her hair. Sunburst trilled joyfully as she reached out again. She clicked in intense concentration as she ran her digits through the human's hair. Cierra took it in stride, blinking whenever a stray hair would blow into her eyes.
"I had just brushed it, too," Cierra murmured with a gentle smile. "Oh, well. Ya having fun?" she asked idly, tilting her head a little to the side. Sunburst whistled in affirmation, and Cierra grinned. /She's so cute! What do the noises she makes mean?/
/It's jus' how sparklin's communicate wit' their creators—parents, I mean. It's like hum'n sparklin's cooin' or gurglin'. We c'n distinguish their emotions through the pitches of their noises,/ Jazz explained. /Plus, it makes 'em cuter./
/I agree with that./ Cierra commented as Sunburst twisted her hair around in a failing attempt at a braid. Jazz watched both of his girls with a certain warmth in his spark as they interacted. Cierra smiled up at him, feeling his happiness add onto hers. Sunburst giggled at the emotions floating into her spark from her opiluk. She sent back some of her own joy, causing the metal giant to chuckle. His joy was cut short, though, when his comm. link pinged.
::Optimus Prime to Jazz:: Jazz frowned, but opened the link.
::Wha'sup, Prime?::
::Decepticons sighted at these coordinates. You are the closest Autobot. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are nearly there, as well. Your assistance would be appreciated:: Translation: Sunny and Sides are about to take on a Decepticon, and Prime needs someone there to make sure they don't accidentally destroy a city.
::Sure, Prime. Be there in a klik. Jazz out::
"Cierra, I have t' go. 'Cons sighted not too far from 'ere. I'll be back soon, so keep a close eye on Sunburst," Jazz told his spark sibling. "Sunburst," he said, getting his daughter's attention, "obey whatever Cierra tells ya t' do, 'kay?"
"Yes, Opi," Sunburst chirped. She turned to continue playing with Cierra's hair only to find that the human was no longer standing in front of her, but was moving towards Jazz.
"Please, be careful, Jazzy," the human pleaded.
"Am I ever anythin' but?" Jazz teased. He transformed and sped away. Cierra watched as he disappeared around the house. She turned to Sunburst when the sparkling made a whining noise. Sunburst was staring after Jazz as well, but she looked more irritated than worried.
"Don't worry, Sunny. Uh, Jazz always comes back from his missions," Cierra said awkwardly, wanting to reassure the sparkling, but not really knowing how. Sunburst gave her an indecipherable look before sitting down. Cierra smiled slightly at how much the femme looked like a petulant toddler. Then again, though, that was what Sunburst was: a toddler. Cierra heaved a sigh as she sat down beside the sparkling. She was about to start a conversation when she heard the familiar roar of jet engines. Her head whipped up to examine the sky, and pure horror filled her when she saw a jet that was most definitely not human-made. Flashbacks of time spent with Starscream filled her mind.
"'Con's sighted not too far from 'ere," Jazz had said. No. No, no, no! Cierra jumped to her feet and started pulling Sunburst to her feet.
"C'mon, Sunburst! We have to hide!" Cierra exclaimed.
"Hide? Play game?" Sunburst asked, excited by the thought. Cierra looked up at the nearing jet.
"Yeah, Sunny. We're gonna hide from the big, evil jet, okay?"
"Yay! Play!" Sunburst squealed. She stumbled forward, giggling madly as Cierra led her to a small group of rocks. They didn't make it to the rocks, though, before the jet transformed in mid-air and landed with a deafening thud in front of them. The thin black mech was easily taller than Jazz by at least ten feet. Thin wings were situated on his back. His wrist guns immediately rose up, and he took aim at the human crowding his sister.
"Who are you?" Cierra demanded, stepping in front of Sunburst protectively. The black mech scowled at the squishy before him.
"My designation is Dreadwing. Now, explain why you have sparkling-napped Sunburst, and I may let you live," he threatened, allowing his targeting system to come online. Sunburst replied before Cierra could send a scathing retort, though.
"D'wing! D'wing! Cia…Cia-erra…Cia-wuh," Sunburst twittered as she tried to put the syllables together in English. "Cia-wuh Opi sistuh. Sunny love Cia-wuh. D'wing no hurt." Dreadwing blinked at the sparkling, but complied in putting his gun away.
"Okay, fleshie, why the slag did you tell my little sister you were related?" he asked in an almost exasperated tone. Sunburst gasped in horror and clicked reproachfully at him as Cierra scowled.
"Okay, first off, it's not fleshy! It's Cierra. Second off, I didn't kidnap Sunburst! I had to babysit for Jazz because he was called off due to a Decepticon sighting. Third, I didn't say anything about being related to her! She thinks I'm related because of my bond with Jazz!" Cierra immediately realized her mistake and looked up at the mech, wondering what his reaction would be to the third statement. Dreadwing crouched down to get a better look at Cierra.
"Why the slag would Jazz bond himself to a pitiful human like you? Huh. I wonder if Blaster knows about this. I've been waiting for something like this," Dreadwing murmured, more to himself than anything.
"Something like what?" Cierra snarled.
"Something that would make Blaster rethink letting Jazz take care of Sunburst. Being bonded to a pathetic squishy might just be what I need."
"Excuse me?" she snapped, her voice becoming low and dangerous. She had stood up to Ironhide before, so there was no way this mech was going to intimidate her. "Are you threatening to use me against Jazz?"
"Actually, yeah, I am," Dreadwing replied with a cocky smile. What an amusing squishy! Maybe that was why Jazz kept her around.
"How dare you! What kind of Autobot are you?" she hissed.
"The kind that hates humankind? The kind that hates fifty percent of all other Autobots? The kind that currently wants to squish you flat?" He grinned evilly at her, though it really didn't have the effect he was wanting. No wincing or shrinking back in fear. Hmm. How dull.
Sunburst watched the exchange with no small amount of bemusement. She couldn't quite understand English when it was spoken that quickly in succession, so a good seventy-five percent of all things said went straight over her processor, though her language center stored the words away to later decipher with Bluestreak's assistance. Bluestreak always helped her with this. For now, she decided to find something else to do.
"I thought Autobots liked humans!" she said in an accusatory voice.
"I'm not quite an Autobot. I work with their faction, and I live in their base, but I not really one of them."
"So a Decepticon spy?" she hissed.
"No, a neutral that leans more towards the Autobot's morals than those of the Decepticons."
While the two adults argued, Sunburst took the moment to look around at the scenery. Cia-wuh's house was pretty, and the grass was really green. The large group of trees that stood nearby were much different than the trees at the base. Sunburst could hear the singing of birds and could see the little grasshoppers that hopped past every now and again. Something colorful flitted into her line of vision, and she chirped curiously at it. As if sensing her, the pretty orange and black creature floated into the air on wings that looked familiar to her. The word appeared in her processor. She didn't know the word in English, but Sides had told her what it was in Cybertronian once.
Butterfly. That's what it was. A butterfly.
Sunburst clicked as she got to her hands and knees and started following the little butterfly as it made its way into the large group of trees. She had just reached the trees when the butterfly suddenly swooped up. Sunburst clicked sadly as when she suddenly lost sight of the butterfly. Then she heard the scampering noise by her right servo.
A squirrel! 'Streaker and Sides said that squirrels are annoying, cuz they're soo-ees-idle. She didn't know what that meant, but she knew that 'Streaker always got angry at them because they always ran out into the street. Whenever he hit one, he'd always get mad because the blood would ruin his paintjob.
Deciding that it would be wise to observe this organic specimen to discover what soo-ees-idle meant, Sunburst crawled after the squirrel to find out what it would do in her presence. The squirrel scampered around trees as Sunburst stealthily crawled after it. Most 'bots would've been seen by the prey by now, but not Sunburst. She was a spybot, and nobot could find her!
She let out a tiny squeak of alarm when the squirrel suddenly climbed up a tree. How did it do that? Why had it done that? Surely it hadn't seen Sunburst. Nobot could see Sunburst when she was sneaking! Deciding that it would be wise to attempt to follow the squirrel, Sunburst crawled over to the tree. She had to use the tree to help her stand, and she had to hold onto it tightly to keep her doorwings from pulling her down. She gazed up at the large tree and suddenly decided that it wasn't much different than her crib, which she had managed to escape on several occasions. The lowest branch was just low enough for her to reach. She gripped the branch and slowly hefted herself up. Once she was able to, she swung her leg up and straddled the branch. She then pulled herself to her knees on the branch and reached for the next branch. She kept this up until she was on the branch that the squirrel was sitting on.
"Bet 'Stweaker nevuh do this," Sunburst mumbled with a small smile. She liked knowing she would be successful at something no other 'bot had accomplished. She squeaked in alarm when the squirrel started moving down the branch. Sunburst started crawling forward at a slower pace. She clicked with only a small amount of fear as she moved down the slowly narrowing branch. She chirped irritably when the squirrel suddenly jumped to a different branch. Great! How was she supposed to get over there? Sunburst clicked as she moved forward a little more. The sound of a limb cracking made her look around curiously. What was making that noise?
Then the limb below her disappeared.
Sunburst squealed as she twisted in mid-air in an attempt to grab a branch as she fell. The branch that she had been standing on hit the ground first, then Sunburst landed. She felt the ground collapse a bit under her right foot, then pain exploded in her back when she landed on her sensory panels. She let out an electronic scream as pain shot through her body, her sensory panels being the source. Energon tears streamed down her face as she called out to Dreadwing through her bond.
/D'wing! Hurt!/ she bawled. She felt something moving around by her right foot, and she heard a weird rattling noise. Her injured sensory panels worked to figure out what the noise was, but they didn't give the information in time. She heard a hiss, then fire shot up her right pede. She screamed again and called out through all her bonds, wanting someone to come save her and make the pain go away.
/I'm coming, spitfire!/ Dreadwing assured her.
/Sunburst, I'm on my way!/ Jazz promised through the bond.
/Stay calm, baby. Jazz is coming for you,/ Blaster claimed. From Thundercracker, she received a feeling of calm and love, followed by a silent promise to save her. So Sunburst laid there in quiet sobs.
The first sign that something was strange was the strong sense of curiosity flowing from Sunburst side of the bond. Dreadwing could feel the unease filling his spark as he glanced around a little bit. Curiosity, when coming from his little sister, was usually a very, very bad sign. He had been explaining the more negative points of humanity to Cierra when the human girl had the audacity to interrupt him.
"Where's Sunburst at?" she asked, speaking his thoughts. The two looked around a little.
"I don't know, but she's really curious right now. She probably wandered off. I can find her easily," Dreadwing replied. He suddenly froze when he felt a brief flash of terror from his sister's bond, followed by utter agony.
/D'wing, hurt!/ a small voice cried out through the bond.
/I'm coming, spitfire!/ Dreadwing promised as he scooped up the human beside him. He moved toward the forest, tracing the sparkling via spark bond.
"Whoa! A little warning would be nice!" the female in his snapped as she ducked down in his clenched fist to avoid being whacked by trees.
"Silence, fleshling. This is your fault," the jet snarled as he slowed.
"My fault?" She glared at him. "If you hadn't insulted me in the first place, we wouldn't have gotten in that argument!" Dreadwing stopped and dumped the human on the ground.
"I didn't insult you! I only stated truths about your race and the unnatural bond you have with one of our own," he snapped. His visor turned black as he set it to search for spark signals.
"See? There you go again! Insulting me!" She turned away angrily and idly scanned the forest floor for a certain red sparkling. "How about this: we don't argue anymore and focus on finding you little sister?"
"Already found her," Dreadwing replied. His visor turned red, and Cierra watched in horror as the mech suddenly gripped a tree by its base and uproot the whole tree before tossing it aside. She ran forward and took in a deep breath to yell at the mech for damaging her property. Then realization struck when she put herself in his place. Her anger traded for pity as she watched the mech repeat the process of ripping up trees. She scrunched her eyebrows in worry and licked her lips. He truly loved his sister. Heck, if she were him, she would've already totaled the whole forest instead of just working in one area at a time.
"Dreadwing," she called out calmly, but stern at the same time. He didn't bother to look at her as he grabbed another tree. "Dreadwing!" she yelled louder.
"What, fleshy?" Dreadwing asked in an exasperated voice.
"Calm down. We'll find her," she told him.
"Slag yeah, we will," he stated as he went back to ripping up trees. "This is all my fault, fraggit." A weak buzz rose from the area where the lanky jet was uprooting trees. A smile graced Dreadwing's faceplates.
"I'll stop cussing when I get you to Ratchet," he said loudly as he yanked up another tree.
"Doc'er Watchit," a small voice repeated. "D'wing, hurt."
"I know, sparklet. Me and the squishy are gonna save ya," he replied gently. A small giggle rose from the word "squishy". Cierra silently debated whether or not she should be offended that he called her that again.
"That's Miss Squishy to you," Cierra retorted, deciding to let it slide. Dreadwing sent her an amused glance.
"Whatever you say," he snarked as he yanked up the final tree. His sensors zeroed in on his little sister as he lifted Cierra up over fallen trees and set her down beside the red sparkling. "She has some sort of organic venom in her systems…" he mumbled. He looked up abruptly, and a second later, a navy blue fighter jet flew past overhead before turning around and beginning its transformation sequence. The large Seeker landed heavily a few yards away and started making his way over to the stealth jet and the human. Cierra studied the newcomer, somehow recognizing the mech, though she'd never seen a navy blue mech before. Then it hit her.
The newcomer looked exactly like Starscream! Anger flowed through her as her mind automatically flashed through the memories of the pain the Decepticon Second in Command had inflicted on her and her friend. If this mech looked like Starscream, then there was no doubt in her mind that he was an ally to the enemy jet. However, when the mech looked down at her, that anger was suddenly replaced by fear. "Please tell me you know this Starscream-look-alike…" she called up to Dreadwing as she backed up a little.
"I'll have you know that I am larger than Starscream is, and I am in no way affiliated with the Decepticons," the newcomer snapped as he took a threatening step forward. "I don't mind stepping on annoying, accusing fleshlings, though."
"Whoa, TC! She's Jazz's, and he'll be pissed if you kill her," Dreadwing broke in. "Cierra, this is Thundercracker. He's quite a bit more… well, he's less likely to step on you than Screamer is."
"Tunder! Tunder, I hurt!" Sunburst called out in a pained voice. Cierra glanced uneasily at Tundercracker, but moved closer to him in order to stand by Sunburst.
"Her foot is stuck in the hole. I'll have to dig her out," Cierra called up to Dreadwing.
"Then hop to it, fleshling," Thundercracker snapped. Cierra growled at him as she grabbed a nearby rock and lobbed it at him. Her aim proved true as the rock bounced off his left leg.
"Ow. The pain," the Seeker said sarcastically. Cierra rolled her eyes as she grabbed a thick stick and started digging. It took a few minutes, and she had to pointedly ignore the comforting clicks and chirps that came from the huge mechs above her anytime Sunburst whimpered, but all-in-all the dirt was easy to dig through, if you didn't count the rocks she had to move. She had just pulled the child's foot when the hissing reached her ears. She heard the rattling a second too late. A head shot out of what remained of the hole, and a burning pain shot through her hand. She gave a shriek of surprise, followed closely by a cry of agony as her brain registered the pain. Black claws slammed down on the hole, and the rattling abruptly went silent. Cierra whimpered as she tried to scoot backwards.
"Cia-wuh?" Sunburst called out. Cierra whimpered again, receiving feelings of confusion and worry from Jazz's side of the sibling bond.
"Slag. Thundercracker, we need to get them to Ratchet."
"Doc'er Watchit," Sunburst piped up quietly.
"Thundercracker, take the human," Dreadwing ordered as he lifted Sunburst up, opening his hold as he did.
"No way! She's slaggin' scared of me! The world wide web says that she has to remain calm, and she can't do that in a jet that resembles Screamer!"
"I have no cockpit, and I highly doubt she knows how to ride in a hold without she moved around!" Dreadwing argued.
"Do you want her to die faster? She'll be calmer in your hold, sir!" A whimper rose from the ground.
"Fine. Whatever," Dreadwing snapped, lifting up the fragile girl. "Then comm. Jazz and tell him to get his…skidplate back to base. Blaster's gonna have my helm for this." He set Sunburst in his hold first and glared down at the girl in his other claw. "Don't move at all in there and stay the slag away from my spark." With that, he placed her inside his hold beside Sunburst. The sparkling clicked quietly as she instinctively crawled to the back of the hold, and Cierra didn't waste any time before following her.
/Cierra? What's going on?/ Jazz demanded through the bond.
/Bit…by snake…now I'm tired…and nauseous/ she replied, not really sure how to explain her feelings. She wasn't sleepy tired as much as she was completely exhausted. She felt like she had just run a ten mile marathon. She gasped when she felt the hold suddenly start moving as the sounds of a mech's transformation filled the hold. Sunburst twittered and hugged the female to her, easily sensing the human's worry.
"It okay. D'wing take us 'ome. Doc'er Watchit make all betta', an' 'Streaker an' Sides p'ay with us," Sunburst promised as she ran her digits through Cierra's hair. She whirred quietly as she studied the brown strands. "It okay. Cia-wuh be okay."
"I know, Sunny. I just feel a little nauseous," Cierra mumbled.
"Slag! If you regurgitate your last refuel and stomach acid in my hold, so help me Primus, I will eject you from my hold and gladly watch you fall to your offlining!" Dreadwing threatened, his voice bouncing off the soft walls of the hold.
"Did you seriously just say, 'regurgitate your stomach acid'? That makes it sound so much worse than it should," Cierra moaned. A low growl reverberated around the hold, but Cierra didn't pay attention. She only heard a distressed whistle before her eyes closed, and her mind shut down.
"She's going to be fine."
"Cierra, baby, can ya hear meh?"
Jazz? Of course she could hear him. She opened her mouth to give him a sarcastic remark to find that it didn't want to cooperate with her. Instead, she let her annoyance flow freely over the bond.
"Ratchet, I c'n feel 'er through the bond," Jazz exclaimed.
"I told you she was going to be fine," Ratchet grumbled. "Blaster, touch that again, and I will reformat you into a conventional oven."
"Yo! Chill, doc bot. I ain't gonna do nothin' ta harm mah baby," a smooth voice claimed.
"Dreadwing, stop pacing like that!"
"I can do whatever the slag I want, medic!" a familiar voice snapped. There was the sound of misplaced air, followed by a resounding clang. "Primus slaggit, medic!" There was another clang.
"Don't cuss around the sparkling!" Ratchet yelled.
"She's not even online, you crazy old coot!" Another clang. "Slaggit!"
"Ratchet, perhaps it would be wise to not completely use your wrench arsenal on Dreadwing before the day is up," the cultured voice of Thundercracker interjected.
"Yeah, slagger! Keep your wrenches to yourself!" Dreadwing added. Cierra frowned. What the heck was going on? Her brows furrowed as she fought for complete control of her body. She concentrated on her eyes and let out a small gasp when they opened. Jazz was hovering over her, and his face broke into a smile when she opened her eyes.
"Ratchet, she's awake!" he said, sounding relieved. A chartreuse helm entered her line of sight.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Miss Woods," he said gruffly. A tingling feeling washed through her body. "The anti-venom has effectively destroyed the threat, so you are allowed to leave."
"Sunny? How's Sunburst?" Cierra rasped. She was so thirsty. She didn't miss how Ratchet's faceplates seemed to soften.
"Sunburst is fine. I gave her a round of nanites and an anti-virus to fight the organic venom, and I'm in the process of replacing her doorwings. She's taking her afternoon nap right now. She'll be playing and causing trouble again tomorrow morning."
"Good," Cierra breathed.
"Yes. Now out of my medbay," Ratchet replied, glaring at the many mechs standing around the medbay. Now that she was able to look around, Cierra could see that there were, indeed, a lot of bots in the bay.
/They're all 'ere fo' Sunny. She's pretty popular 'ere. Tha's Sunstreaker an' Sideswipe in the shadows. You know Thundercracker an' Bumblebee. Tha' red mech is Blaster, an' 'e's Sunny's real father. An' ya know Ratchet and Dreadwing./ Cierra looked around at all the Autobots, astounded by the sheer number of them. And these were just the ones that were off-duty and could come to see Sunny. How many more were working at the moment?
/C'mon, babe. Le's getcha home. I'll bring Sunny by again when she's better./ Jazz said as he gently lifted her into his hand.
/Okay,/ Cierra replied evenly. Jazz turned and made his way toward the exit.
"Hey, Jazz," a voice suddenly called out. The saboteur paused in his steps and turned to look at Dreadwing. The jet walked to him and looked down at the human in his hand. "Thanks, Cierra. You're not that bad, for a squishy, anyways."
"You're not so bad yourself," Cierra replied with a smile. "A little rough around the edges, but you're just a softy at spark." Jazz grinned in extreme humor as Dreadwing's faceplates darkened into a scowl. The silver saboteur transformed around his "sister" and sped away before the jet could say anything.
Jazz was tired. Prime had sent Prowl on a mission in China. Jazz really hated when Prowl went on a mission, because that meant he had to take up Prowl's responsibilities. What's wrong with that, you ask? One word:
Paperwork.
Jazz viewed paperwork as something from Unicron, it's evilness being surpassed by none, except the Screen of Doom. Jazz had spent the last joor and a half reviewing datapads and signing or tossing pads depending on their content. He was very much looking forward to offlining in his berth. He sluggishly punched in his passcode into the keypad next to his door, and he gasped when his legs were attacked by a small red blur.
"Opi!" a femme voice squealed. Jazz smiled as he lifted his sparkling up into his arms. Her brand new doorlets wiggled as she bounced excitedly in his servos. Jazz, though put off by her energy, couldn't help but feel relaxed at the love and happiness that was flowing over their bond.
"Hey, baby spark," he said breezily, his voice quieter in his exhaustion.
"Hi, Opi. We go see Cia-wuh now?"
And Jazz smiled.
Review folks. Hope y'all liked it.