Hello and Merry Christmas! This is just a little something I wrote in the spirit of the holidays. I hope you like it. In case anyone wonders, yes, cats really do this. The kitten-esque antics in this story are based on three wonderful cats that have been in my life and the lives of my family. Their names are Nix-Nutz, Picket, and Rascal and they have always been good for a laugh and smile when the Christmas tree comes out. Enjoy!

Author's Note: In anticipation of any questions that may arise, I shall introduce the characters that will appear in this story. Autobots featured are Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, Smokescreen, Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack. All are from Transformers Prime-verse. The humans featured are Miko, Jack, Raf, June (not directly mentioned), and Agent Fowler (also not directly mentioned). The (former) Decepticons in this story are Knockout (Prime-verse) Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage (G1 or more specifically, what I've gleaned from Fan Fiction), Laserbeak (Prime-verse), and Soundwave (Prime-verse). OCs featured in the story are Starwish, Hardwire, Zipline, and Fast Track (the twinlings being teenagers mentally and in their third frames).

In regards to Soundwave, before anyone asks, in this story Soundwave is a femme. Why? Several reasons. One, Soundwave's frame is much smaller and slimmer than most Decepticon frames barring Starscream and the Vehicons. Also, in the episode where Ratchet and Wheeljack go to retrieve the relic, Soundwave acted rather ... motherly to Laserbeak in my opinion. Even to the point of leaving Wheeljack alive so as to retrieve Laserbeak more quickly. Most Decepticons wouldn't have cared if their mini-cassette got scrapped or not, at least not enough to pass up the chance of destroying an Autobot when the mini-cassette's life signal came back online. Many fans have offered theories as to why Soundwave is 'faceless' and 'voiceless' in the Prime series, well mine is that Soundwave is actually a femme who is in a mech-like frame because she was a former gladiator and the vow of silence and the mask are all to hide Soundwave's true 'gender'. As to why a femme Soundwave would be so loyal to Megatron? I have a theory on that as well, but I will leave that part up to speculation.

This story is also not 'technically' part of the Second Chances Universe. Yet. It may be, but it is so far ahead of anything I've written that I am reluctant to declare it so and then have the plot of the Second Chances story blow this one out of the water. Does that make sense?

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, Cybertronian terms, or any references made in this story. The only things I own are the plot and my OCs.

Christmas and Cyber-Kittens

Smokescreen stood on the tip of his pedes, straining to reach the top of what he was sure had been the largest tree in the entire forest of Glacier National Park. Before Bulkhead had ripped it out by the roots and transplanted it in front of their secret base that is. Miko called encouragingly, "You can do it Smokey! Just a little farther!"

From his lounging position against a nearby hangar wall, Hardwire called, "Sure you don't want me to do that, Smokescreen?"

Smokescreen grunted, making a face that Hardwire couldn't see as he continued to strive for his goal, "I … got … it!" With a final strain of his arm, he placed the shiny golden Christmas star on the very peak of the tree. Dropping back onto the flat of his pedes with a sigh of relief, he turned back to the watching crowd and spread his arms out triumphantly, "See?"

A sharp cry of warning from the watching Autobots and a painful 'plink!' on Smokescreen's helm heralded the star's fall from its precarious perch. Smokescreen rubbed his helm as he stared at the fallen ornament, "Aw…"

Mocking laughter caused the attention of the group to shift to five new arrivals on the scene. Soundwave dipped her helm silently in greeting before sternly nudging Rumble and Frenzy, who were rolling on the dusty ground laughing their after-plating off at Smokescreen's star placing failure.

Smokescreen stiffened and glared, "What are they doing here?"

Starwish immediately stepped forward, servos held up in a placating gesture, "It's okay, I invited them."

Smokescreen's mouth flopped open for a second before he sputtered, "You what? Starwish! Their 'cons!"

Starwish frowned at Smokescreen, "Former 'cons. Megatron disbanded the Decepticons, remember?"

Smokescreen shot the five 'former' Decepticons a dark look, "Still shouldn't have invited them…"

Bumblebee spoke up sternly, "Smokescreen! The war is over. But it won't stay over if everybot keeps digging it up again. How do we expect there to be a united Cybertron if we don't put forth the effort to put it all behind us? Give them a chance."

Hardwire, Starwish, and even Ratchet voiced their agreements. Smokescreen glanced around to take in everyone else's opinion. Arcee looked neutral about the idea, Bulkhead shuffled slightly with a wary expression, the humans were staying out of it, Knock Out was fussing over his finish and ignoring the conversation all together, Ultra Magnus was quietly nodding in agreement with Bumblebee, and Wheeljack was 'innocently' tinkering with one of his grenades.

Smokescreen was about to protest the insanity of inviting 'former' Decepticons to their Christmas party when an unfamiliar voice suddenly said, "What are those?" All optics shifted back to Soundwave and her brood. One of her mini-cassettes, the cyber-cat Ravage, was staring intently at the Christmas tree, helm cocked to one side and his whip-like tail swishing quietly.

Rumble and Frenzy had stopped laughing by now and Rumble rolled his optics, "It's an Christmas tree, duh. Didn't you read that stupid data package Soundwave gave us?"

Frenzy nodded, "Yeah, even we bothered to flip through it."

Ravage swished his tail in irritation at his brother's tones and said, "Not the tree. What are those … things on it?"

Starwish piped up, "Those? Those are Christmas ornaments, we use them to decorate the tree."

Ravage nodded absently, his optics still fixed on the twinkling Christmas tree balls. During the momentary distraction, Starwish took the opportunity to lightly smack Smokescreen warningly on the arm. Finally relenting to the fact that they were going to have unwanted guests this Christmas, Smokescreen reached down and picked up the Christmas star, intending to try again.

Laserbeak suddenly launched himself off of the ground and swooped past, snatching the star out of Smokescreen's servo. With a rapid-fire series of chirps, the little Deployer flew up to the top of the tree and safely deposited the star on its peak. Landing on the star with a satisfied click, Laserbeak chittered at Smokescreen as the latter began to yell at him, "Hey! I was gonna put that up there!"

Hardwire grunted slightly as he pushed himself off of the wall and ambled forward to clamp a servo firmly on Smokescreen's shoulder, "Let it go, Smokescreen. Laserbeak was only trying to help."

Smokescreen muttered darkly about what he thought of that, but his quiet tirade was interrupted by Rumble and Frenzy ambling over to Starwish and demanding a story. All of the Autobots soon watched in fascination as Starwish managed to work her magic on the normally aggressive mini-cassettes, coaxing them into surprisingly good behavior with an action packed Christmas story.

Smokescreen shook his helm in disbelief as the other Autobots began hesitantly resumed their Christmas festivities, Wheeljack even daring to interact with Soundwave. Well, if exchanging not-so-friendly jabs at each other's fighting skill counted as 'interacting'. Still, no one had been killed, kidnapped, or beaten to scrap metal yet, so on the whole everything was going well.

He leaned against the wall and watched the goings on with a suspicious optic as he sipped his energon cube. Perhaps someone his age shouldn't have been so uptight about it, the veterans of the war seemed to be handling Soundwave's presence fairly well, but he just couldn't help it.

Knock Out suddenly seemed to materialize at his side, "Not going to join in?"

Smokescreen jumped back with a yelp of surprise, nearly dropping his energon cube in the process, "Scrap!"

Knock Out hastily backed up, "Hey, hey, hey! Don't you dare spill that on me! I gave my frame an extra coat of polish for this occasion!"

Recovering from his surprise, Smokescreen dead-panned, "Of course you did. What do you want Knock Out?"

Knock Out pointed a finger casually over Smokescreen's shoulder, "Well … I kind of thought you might want to watch the fun."

Automatically, Smokescreen started to turn around and stare, but Knock Out hastily hissed at him, "Don't stare! If he realizes he's being watched then he'll stop!"

Smokescreen furrowed his optic ridges in confusion and hesitantly obeyed Knock Out's command. Using his peripheral vision, Smokescreen scanned the area Knock Out had indicated. At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. But then, a flicker of motion caught his optic.

It was Ravage, the cyber-cat was inching along the ground, tail twitching, flexible audios moving at the slightest sound as he stalked toward the Christmas tree. What the scrap? Switching to inner comlink, Smokescreen asked, ::What is he doing?::

Knock Out innocently studied the tips of his fingers, ::No idea. I thought maybe you would know. You're the one who's participated in this Christmas thing before. Do those ornaments have some kind of hypnotic field around them?::

Smokescreen remembered all of the times the normally hyper Miko had been strangely pacified if you turned on the lights of the Christmas tree and plopped her down in front of it, ::You know what? It actually might. But it always seems to calm the humans down, not make them start hunting … what is he hunting anyway?::

Bumblebee looked in the general direction of Ravage and the cyber-cat instantly stopped stalking the tree and flopped on the ground as if in recharge. Bumblebee went back to talking to Hardwire and after a few moments, Ravage slid back onto his pedes and resumed creeping toward the tree, optics holding a noticeably crazed glint.

With a tiny frown, Smokescreen commed Ultra Magnus, ::Sir?::

Ultra Magnus responded from where he was speaking to Ratchet, ::Yes, Smokescreen?::

Smokescreen hesitated and then said, ::I think something's wrong with Ravage, sir … he's … hunting the tree or something.::

Ultra Magnus looked over at Ravage, who immediately initiated his 'recharge' routine. Ultra Magnus glanced at Smokescreen, ::He appears to be recharging to me.::

Smokescreen kept watching the cyber-cat inconspicuously, ::He only does it when he thinks no one is watching, sir.::

Raising an optic ridge, Ultra Magnus turned back to Ratchet, quietly passing on Smokescreen's information so that they could both watch Ravage in secret. Sure enough, once direct optic contact was lost, Ravage slunk to his pedes and started circling the tree with a predatory air. One by one, the other Autobots became aware of Ravage's strange behavior and began secretly watching him in puzzlement, although Hardwire had a knowing smile on his faceplates that indicated he had an idea as to what was going on.

Just as Smokescreen was going to have out with it and call Ravage on his strange behavior, the cyber-cat's powerful back legs surged, sending him sailing through the air like a missile. Everyone abandoned the act of watching Ravage out of their peripheral vision and openly stared as the deadly former Decepticon spy, saboteur, and assassin, flew through the air, landed on the thickest branches of the tree … and started batting wildly at a bright, Autobot sized golden Christmas ball.

Smokescreen blinked uncomprehendingly as a strange sound filled the air, was Ravage … purring? Smokescreen watched as Ravage unhooked the golden ball from its tree branch, swatting it into the air with such vigor that he overbalanced and fell out of the tree with a thud, kidnapped ball in paw. Rolling to his pedes, Ravage began batting the ball around wildly, optics focused solely on his shiny prize as it rolled away in the unpredictable manner granted it by it's shape. I don't believe it … he is purring!

As the ball rolled away, Ravage suddenly stuck his hindquarters high in the air, wiggling his rump and tail with vigor before pouncing on the ball again with a sparkling-like chirp, too absorbed in his activities to notice his stunned audience.

Miko started laughing uncontrollably and snapping pictures with her phone, "See? This is proof that cats are the same no matter what planet they come from! Chi Chi and Ding Dong used to do this all the time! I am so preserving this moment!"

The laughter was infectious, and soon several of the Autobots, not to mention Rumble and Frenzy, were laughing at Ravage. The sudden burst of loud noise startled Ravage, causing him to jump ten feet up in the air and thirty feet forward so that he smacked helm first into wall of a nearby hangar. From their place next to Starwish, the twins Zipline and Fast Track leaned against each other, howling with glee as Ravage straightened up with difficulty, the cyber-cat's equilibrium thrown by the sudden crash.

When he finally regained his balance and senses, Ravage flared his armor aggressively at his laughing audience, "It isn't funny! That … that stupid ball is a secret Autobot weapon! It shut down my logic circuits! Soundwave!"

Soundwave was shaking silently, even the stoic former communications officer found herself unable to resist the humor of seeing Ravage act like a kitten again. Hearing his distressed whine over their bond, Soundwave quelled her laughter with difficulty and soothed, "I'm sorry for laughing, Ravage. But you know, it is all right to play once in a while. Are you unhurt?"

Ravage's armor flared even more as he dived under the Christmas tree to brood. From underneath the tree, Ravage hissed, "This is humiliating. I hate this stupid holiday."

Laserbeak chirped from his position on a tree branch, "I don't know, it's kind of nice not to have to fight everybody all the time. And this tree makes for a nice perch. I like the shiny lights."

Ravage growled, "Well I don't! I'm not coming out from under here until Soundwave takes us home and away from this stupid-"

Experimentally, Frenzy picked up the ball Ravage had been playing with and gave it a light toss, causing it to roll crazily across the ground, the lights from the Christmas tree glinting off of its polished surface. Ravage's optics suddenly dilated and his words cut off short as he watched the ball roll, frame trembling with suppressed excitement.

Rumble unsubspaced one of his pile drivers and lightly tapped the ground with it, sending just enough of a vibration to make the ball jump slightly. With a primal yowl, Ravage shot out from under the tree and attacked the ball again, batting at it crazily as his long suppressed youngling programming finally took over and made everything vanish except for the urge to play.

Rumble and Frenzy turned to the watching gathering of former enemies and grinned mischievously, "I love this holiday! Can we keep it going all year?"

Frenzy nodded, "Yeah! It's been vorns since we got Ravage to make a fool of himself!"

Starwish rolled her optics as she giggled, "Merry Christmas to you too, Rumble. Merry Christmas to you too."

Soundwave shook her helm silently as Ravage growled a half-sparked threat of revenge, having too much fun to really care about what a spectacle he was making. When she had first researched Christmas, she hadn't really understood why it made the humans and their Autobot friends so … happy. But looking around now, Soundwave had to admit, there really did seem to be something different in the atmosphere, something that made the aggression and violence of the previous vorns temporarily vanish from everyones' processor.

She watched from the background as Starwish told a story she called, The Nativity, listening to the descriptions of the ultimate King's humble birth in a lowly animal dwelling. The story stirred something in her spark. Happiness in the most humble of places, a gift that can never be repaid … the blessings of family and peace even in the most hopeless of times … is this what makes the human holiday of Christmas so special? Or is it something more?

Looking up at the stars, Soundwave impulsively whispered behind the safety of her sound canceling mask, "Thank you." Who she was thanking, she wasn't entirely sure. But at that moment, she had the unshakable impression that Someone was watching her and her family as her children played like they always should have been allowed to, while those she once considered enemies welcomed her to have energon with them as if they had always been friends.

Looking hastily away from the stars, Soundwave quietly allowed herself to be led to the table of Energon cubes, sidestepping as Ravage chased Laserbeak trying to get his golden ball back. Even as she tentatively tried the Energon-nog that Miko and Bulkhead had invented, the feeling did not leave. Someone was watching, Soundwave just knew it. Just like she somehow knew … that that Someone was smiling.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shown round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Merry Christmas to you all, and may your days be filled with the blessings of family and forgiveness.