Connection

This was one of those things that never crossed my mind. Not once. I only try to worry about two people, Skywarp and myself. I know that may sound a bit selfish, but it's the truth. I chose to share my life with him oh so many years ago and that was that. No second thoughts. He was a part ofmy life, my responsibilities, my ups and downs….After all, he's my bondmate, my eternal partner and that was how that was supposed to work. Skywarp was mine, and I was his. I never, ever, considered the possibility of having to share him with anybody else. The thought was quite ludicrous until recently, just this morning actually…

I had an errand to run on Cybertron. There's nothing unusual about that for me. When given the opportunity, it's just a space bridge trip away. Petty errands are something I don't complain about, most of the time at least. They give me a break from the unnecessary stress of our makeshift headquarters on Earth. My particular task at the time was to meet somebody for spare parts made of a particular alloy that could not be reproduced with our limited Earth resources. I could only ponder what they were for as I listened to my own heavy footsteps as I walked down a mostly silent metal street. War has torn up great chunks of my home and it saddens me every time I see it. There are still small pockets here and there with surviving, dimished communities. There is nothing as grand as it used to be though. The thoughts flitted through my head and I did my best not to concentrate on them to avoid certain depression. That's a hard task in itself, so much so that I concentrated hard on trying not to concentrate on them. I snapped out of it when I looked up again and realized I reached my destination.

The place was a dump. It was a boring looking drab grey building still in one piece, although the walls had dents, chips and various other marks of years of abuse. A small front window was showing off its shiny self and looked like the only thing that had been recently repaired. There was no numbers or signs to signify what kind of place this was and I took a few mental guesses as I walked in the door. Most of my guesses were wrong as my optics adjusted to the dimmer light inside. It appeared it was a residence of sorts at one time and now converted into a pseudo office space. I was in what I figured to be a main living room with some chairs, a table, a couch, and a desk with a dim glowing computer sitting on top of it in the corner. There were also a few closed doors. I assumed they led off to hallways or smaller rooms. All in all I considered what I saw to be a decent sized home. It was surely bigger than anything I lived in before. Everything was silent aside from the nearly inaudible hum of the computer. This was where I was to meet my contact and there was no sign of life. I considered making my presence known by choosing a random door to knock on when I heard footsteps. They sounded as though they were descending stairs. I listened attentively as they approached, and stopped on the other side of one of the doors. There was the sure sound of a keypad being pushed and then with a squeak of neglect the door slid open to reveal a rather tired unremarkable looking robot.

"Are you Thundercracker?" He asked, wasting no time with polite formalities as he stepped through the door. He didn't bother to close it behind him.

I nodded. "Yeah, that's me." I didn't bother asking his name. It was mostly unimportant. I was here to pick up and leave. No more.

"You're la…" he paused a moment, no doubt checking his chronometer. "…right on time."

I stared at him a moment. Apparently he was used to the lazy, dilapidated atmosphere around here, which seemed to include slackers. I was nearly going to get offended. He must have noticed my expression or read my mind since he spoke again quickly.

"Uh, sorry." He sighed. A look of caution crept onto his face as he glanced at the symbol I wore on my wings. I knew what he was thinking.

"You live here?" I broke his stare with my question. It was probably going to be an obvious answer but I was getting agitated and needed to distract him from his prying optics. I'm aware of being stared at constantly, because I represent what people have come to despise over the years. I've gotten pretty good at ignoring it though. It just took a bit of practice. Besides, if he really wanted a problem I'd have been more than happy to give it to him. I just wasn't in the mood though. He was lucky.

"Yes, home sweet home." He glanced around as if to give me a visual tour. "It's not much, but it keeps us sheltered." He waved at the couch. I guess I was supposed to take that as an invite to sit. "I'm going to need a bit more time to prepare your pick up."

Us? I thought. He turned his back to me and walked back through the door. I figured he knew I wasn't there to threaten him and trusted that I'd be willing to stay put while he got my parts in order, and since I wasn't late, they weren't ready. Strange. He didn't seem to be one for small talk either which was fine by me. I glanced at the doorway for a moment watching his form trudge back towards the stairs he came down before making the decision to sit. He once again left the door open and from my sitting angle I could see that there was a darkened hallway that ran next to the stairwell.

Sitting even for a few minutes was making me bored. There was no data pad to poke at, no bustling crowd to watch, and no clue how long I'd be waiting. I started to retreat back into my own mind to think for a while, that'd keep me busy. I looked around the room again before settling my optics on the hall. It was dark and boring, just how I was feeling, so I decided to have a stare down with it. Thundercracker versus the hallway, oh Skywarp was going to love hearing about this one, if I told him. I focused and gazed into the darkness. Only I noticed that it seemed to be staring back. Figuring it was just a figment of my imagination I blinked a few times, but it was still there. In the dark were two very faint glowing silver orbs. They moved slightly back and forth, accompanied by a light shuffling noise, but didn't come any closer. Whatever it was, it was patient and our staring game continued for a few silent minutes.

"Anybody there?" I ventured an obvious question to the dark. The orbs moved again and this time they blinked… "Don't think I can't see you." I leaned forward, squinted to get a better look. "Seriously, I do know you're there." The orbs had come slightly closer to me judging from the increased brightness, I felt no threat and didn't scan it to see what or who it was. If they wanted to show themselves and be sociable it would only take them a few more steps.

After a few more minutes of our little staring contest there were some soft footsteps and the form had decided to come closer again into the dim light to allow me a silhouette guess as to who I was dealing with. From what I could tell, I was looking at a very small robot. He was slight in frame with no immediate defining features aside from bright glowing optics. They were the silver orbs that were staring me down. Curiosity was getting the best of me and I wanted to see more of my little visitor, even if only to keep my mind occupied.

"So…" I really had no clue what to say. "…who're you?" Those optics of his still gazed at me. I must admit they were intriguing. I could see they held fear, hurt, innocence, and an overwhelming curiosity. "Why don't you come on out here? I won't hurt you."

The small figure remained still. He apparently considered my words and slowly took a few more steps until he revealed himself fully to me in the doorway. Gazing cautiously, shyly at me was something I thought I'd never see again. In front of my widened optics was a sparkling. I was at a loss for thoughts, which was rare, although not as rare as this little robot who decided to take a few more small slow steps towards me. I had seen a number of sparklings in the past but never thought much of them, aside from the question as to 'why'? Why did they exist? Cybertronians were built, rolled off the line if you will, and infused with a life spark which contained a small piece of its creator. We're not organic beings who are born and need to be raised. What you see is what you get is the best way to think of it. All we need to know to get going in life is pre-programmed. Sure you learn as you live, and need to be taught… but not like that. Somewhere probably lost in our time somebody must have been truly fascinated with organic beings having to raise and nurture their young and decided to take their own crack at it with mechanical life, and were obviously successful. The result was a sparkling, a small child-like robot that was designed to mature and grow with time. Sparklings did not have it in their programming to fend for themselves. They needed a parent figure… like humans for example. Now that I think of it, that's closest thing I could compare a sparkling to, a human child. They needed a guardian or two who would be willing to share their lives and the desire to want to experience raising young. Even for those willing to take on the job, sparklings weren't created per request; it was one of those things that just happen every great while. In the Golden Age it made them quite a sought after commodity. That was the perfect time to have a family unit, life was good and peaceful. Unfortunately that was millions of years ago. Now most were less willing to extend their hospitality to raising a young one and worry more about personal recovery.

The sparkling still continued his slow journey closer to me. A mixture of confusion and curiosity played on his gentle face. I took a moment to examine him as he approached. Aside from the fact he was a sparkling, there was truly nothing notable about his form. He was an ambiguous little thing with neither wings nor wheels. He stood slightly taller than my bent knee joint, and the smooth un-featured armor covering his body was various shades of silver, grey, and black. I offered a small smile at him as he stopped near my leg and looked up at me with his bright optics. He simply smiled in return.

I found myself again at a loss of what to say. Judging from his maturity level he might not understand me anyways. At least he seemed friendly.

"What's your name?" I settled on what I thought would be a straight forward easy question.

He looked away from my face, to my wings, to the golden glass cockpit in my chest, down my legs and to my feet before looking back up at me. Was he sizing me up? That was my first instinctive thought before common sense took hold and I realized that he'd probably never seen anybody like me before and he was just curious.

"Do you understand me?"

"Silver." He stated in a small soft voice.

"Silver?" I looked at him quizzically. Was he stating what color he was, or was that his name?

"...yeah…Silver." He turned his optics back down to my foot, and then crouched down to get a closer look.

"Silver is your name?" I wanted a clarification.

He nodded his head quickly and vigorously but kept his attention focused on my foot.

"There something interesting down there?" I kept still wondering about his curious action.

"Looks not the same." Silver stated quite surely.

"They don't look the same?" I pressed my feet together and leaned over to see them. "They look the same to me." Taking a second glance, just to be safe, I kept them pressed together and raised them a bit so he could get a better look. "See?"

Silver shook his head. "No, not same."

Stubborn little guy. "They are very much the same." Perhaps I had a big unknown rock stuck in a joint that made a particular area look less symmetrical. I looked a third time and didn't see anything wrong.

A second head shake was my response. Maybe his logic worked in weird ways, maybe his optics were damaged, maybe he had no clue what he was talking about, maybe sometime while I was in a deep recharge Skywarp decided to paint the bottom of one a different color…but before I could think of more options he reached a small hand forward and laid it on top of my foot.

"No…." He patted the metal of my foot a few times and offered me one last slow shake of his head. "See?"

Silver had straightened himself up a bit, took his hand off my foot, and placed it on my leg for support as he lifted his own leg. I noted that he didn't seem to have issues with personal space and strangers. With his free hand he pointed at his foot. "See?"

"Oh!" Recognition struck. I couldn't help chuckling. "Yes, you're right. They're not the same." All along he had been comparing his foot to mine. Indeed they were quite different. Obviously mine was incredibly huge compared to his and consisted of two distinct sections designed to let me fly when not in jet form, while his on the other hand was quite flat with no other apparent function aside from walking. "Wait though…" I set both my feet back on the floor. "…they're sort of the same."

"No." That was his immediate response as he lowered his leg again. "Um…how?"

"Well, they're the same color." For some reason I felt the need to point out the similarity to him, maybe it was because I was used to coming to some sort of compromise with Skywarp when we had small arguments, it made both of us happy. It was a good choice on my part to mention it since Silver looked at his foot, then mine, and the stubbornness that had begun to show on his face melted away into a smile. It was a strange first conversation.

Letting out a soft giggle he patted my leg. "Okay, same color." He seemed to think a moment. "Um… what your name?"

Considering it was only his second question to me, he was all ready much more polite than my contact that was still busy upstairs. "I'm Thundercracker."

"Thunder…cracker?" Silver repeated my name.

"That's right."

He continued smiling at me and seemed pleased with himself. "Long name, Thundercracker."

Silver seemed to have something in common with Skywarp, he enjoyed stating the obvious. "Yeah, I guess so." I shrugged.

Then for some reason Silver's smile faded and he looked unsure of himself. He seemed to be entering a mental battle and didn't appear to be fully prepared. His gaze drifted to the floor and he held it there as he began to fidget slightly.

"You okay?" I hoped to get him out of the debate before it started. I was all too familiar with indecision and recognized it instantly. "Silver?" He knitted his optic ridge and laced his fingers together looking very shy. I reached out and gently patted his arm to get his attention. "Hey, what's wrong?" He let out a small gasp at my touch, he must have been truly deep in thought and I startled him. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." I quickly withdrew my hand.

He then did something unexpected. He brought his optics back up to mine with a look of timid hopefulness, and then slowly raised his arms up to me. I could only blink at him. Did he want me to do what I think he wanted me to do? He could easily climb up onto the couch if he desired, instead he appeared to want an invite. The invite he was looking for was for me to pick him up and put him where he wanted to go. I was a complete stranger to him, why was he so trusting of me? Did I remind him of somebody he was fond of? I was hesitant of course and one screaming thought was thinking of getting somebody else mad at me for handling their sparkling. I wondered if he belonged to my contact. There was still no movement through the open door. Silver remained with his arms up to me, noticing my hesitation, his bottom lip was quivering slightly, looking like a human child the moment before breaking into tears. I didn't know what to do. It wasn't asking a lot of me I knew… this was just odd.

If he had tears to shed I'm sure one would have fallen down his cheek when I didn't reach back for him. He let out a depressed sigh and dropped his arms to his sides. He dropped his head forward and his whole posture turned to that of defeat. I had no idea I would cause him this much trouble over something so simple. Almost without thinking, I reached out to him, his head snapping up and his optics going wide as I grasped his small frame and lifted him to the spot next to me. There didn't need to be any unnecessary depression from one so young and I hoped picking him up after the fact would make him happy.

Apparently it did the trick. There was a look of genuine amazement on his face. "Better now I hope?"

Silver's happy expression remained plastered there for a few more seconds as he looked up to me and nodded. "Better." He then looked down and a look of confusion reappeared. I was beginning to wonder about him. "Don't know…" He said quietly.

I was getting confused quickly. He was answering a question to himself that I hadn't asked, although I assumed from his foot comparison conversation that I would have an answer soon. I knew asking wouldn't hurt. "What's bothering you?"

When he looked back up at me he had the same look on his face as the moment I hesitated to pick him up. What else could he have wanted from me? He seemed so happy a moment ago. Silver nodded to himself again and without further debate on his part he scooted closer to me until he was pressed up against my arm. Not knowing how to act with this sudden affection, I stiffened, only slightly, but did not push him away. He kept pressing against my arm, seeming to want to get closer. With some reserve, I slowly lifted my arm away to give him more room. There was no hesitation as he shuffled across the now vacant space until he pressed himself against my side, bringing his legs up to his chest, and curling up into a comfortable ball. What was he thinking? I stared curiously down at him.

"Better." He stated. There was more confidence in this answer, and he had made himself right at home in the shelter of my body.

I felt somewhat awkward, yet relaxed at the same time, it helped my ease that he was very affectionate and I didn't find him intrusive. I didn't know what was going on emotionally with Silver or why I was a sparkling magnet. Silver was completely unafraid of me and I still couldn't understand why it was that he was so fond of me. I hadn't really done anything to earn his affections. Maybe some more small talk would help. What would it hurt?

Deciding on another simple question, I spoke up. "Where is your guardian?" I figured if he was missing them then that'd help explain his actions towards me.

Looking up at me sadly he held his own legs for support. "No guardian."

Uh oh. "They're not here or…" I didn't get a chance to finish.

"Don't have one, all alone." He turned a bit and wrapped an arm around me. He dug his face into my side. He was desperately seeking comfort.

Sensing his simple need and the fact I knew I had asked the wrong question to start this, I lowered my arm and cradled him gently. It was the least I could do for him. His body was so small and delicate compared to mine. Feeling the instinctive need to press further I continued. "Where did they go?"

Silver was silent a moment, I knew he was thinking of an answer. "Not want me."

"Not want you? How…" I began to feel a twinge of anger bubbling deep within my spark the moment I heard those simple words. From the exceptionally short time he decided to reach to me for comfort and come into physical contact with my body, I had starting feeling a familiar fondness of him I couldn't explain.

"I…I not the same." His face was still pressed into me, muffling his words.

"Not the same?" I thought of the feet conversation again. "What wasn't the same?"

Sadly he answered "Me."

I needed to know what he meant so I continued softly. "What weren't you the same as?"

"Guardian." There was no anger in his answer. "Not like me this way." He held me tighter. "Body not…look or act same, says I…not want to be family."

Although he was trying his best to explain, I was trying to sort out what he meant, and softly rubbed his back to comfort him. Silver wasn't confused on what happened to him, but I was. He still amazed me in the fact he was being so open and honest on a subject that obviously pained him. He un-hid his face and continued before I could think of asking him another question.

"I wanted to be family. I had home, I was…happy." There was uncertainty in the way he said 'happy'. I could feel his body tremble. "He…he…kept telling me I not happy, not like him…I not understand why. I...I can't be like him…how I be like him? I'm only…me."

Bright silver optics bore into mine as he finished talking. "So…" Mentally arranging what I wanted to say to clarify his story wasn't going to happen so I had to speak what I thought right then and there. "…what you're saying is that you had a guardian before, and since your body wasn't the same type as his he wouldn't accept you as family? That makes no sense!" Frustration with this one was unavoidable. "You are who you are, and… he should have known that when he brought you home. You can't judge happiness or acceptance on something like that. How did he expect you to change for him?" After all, Silver didn't look like he had an alternate form. I had no clue on if he'd ever have one. My knowledge of sparkling physiology was quite limited.

Shaking my head, I figured Silver might not have understood what I was trying to say to him. I didn't even know why I was saying it to be honest. It was too much and too complicated for one so young, I knew. I was starting to feel like I'd know him a long time and he needed me to make his sadness go away. Turning my body I reached for him, carefully getting both hands around his waist and prying him from my side. He clung to my fingers as I lifted him over my lap and brought him down so he was standing on my upper legs with my hands still safely around him for support.

Our optics never broke contact. "Silver, there's nothing wrong with you. You're how you are because….that's who you are." Listening to myself spouting counseling and philosophy to this sparkling I'd just met was a bit weird. I knew I had to though, it just felt right.

A faint smile tugged at his mouth. "You…like me, Thundercracker?"

This question I was afraid to answer for some reason but couldn't stop myself. "Yeah, I like you."

"You like me since I... Silver?"

He was quite bright, he did understand what I was trying to tell him and put it back to me in the simplest words possible. Skywarp himself couldn't have done any better.

"Yes, I like you because you're Silver, and the fact our feet are the same color." I grinned at him.

From that point I knew the feet philosophy was going to be with me a long time. I realized that it meant the world to Silver and I was there at the right time to share it with him. It was a defining moment of acceptance, my acceptance of him. A moment he understood and felt that he was okay being who he was, without conforming fully to another. A thought crossed my mind. Maybe he was unconsciously testing the waters with me, a test that I passed… he was bright indeed.

Since I was holding him he felt safe enough to lift his legs and swing them. Outright giggles escaped him. We understood each other and that pleased him greatly. Having that understanding pleased me too. The sweetest smile spread across his lips. This time there was no pause when he reached his arms out to me. Where else did he want to go, I was already holding him. Following the first instinct that came to mind I pulled him close to me and allowed him to nestle himself alongside my cockpit as I embraced him. In return he wrapped his small arms around me and melted into my hold.

Strange feelings crept over me as I held him. Thoughts of him not being with a caring guardian pulled at my spark… for a brief moment, I even dared entertain the thought of snatching him up and taking him home. Skywarp would officially label me insane if I did that. What the heck would I say to him anyways? Hey, look what I brought home. Can we keep him? That'd go over well. I couldn't deny feeling something for Silver though, and it wasn't just pity, or the fact he was sweet, and I must admit cute, it was deeper and not going away… that was the worrisome part.

At least fifteen minutes later Silver remained on my lap and engaged himself in examining my air intakes. They must have been incredibly fascinating to him, which was amusing to me. Pieces of me that have been there practically forever was something I took for granted. Amusement had plastered itself to my face as I watched him in his innocent explorations. In return I had a chance to look closely at the thin armor covering his body. Initially I thought there was nothing unique about its smooth surface but now I noticed it was seamed irregularly and there were wider gaps between plates. Considering his body was meant to grow, it made sense enough.

Sorting out what I was feeling for him was going to be difficult. I hadn't been in contact with him an hour even and I was rapidly developing a… protective sense, that was the best way to describe it. It didn't help that he had pressed himself directly over my spark either…that's where my issues were coming from. Where he rested against me there was a warm pull from within, not un-similar to that bondmates feel when they are around each other. It wasn't the powerful pull I felt around Skywarp, just similar…in a very different sort of way. He seemed oblivious to it. I knew I needed to learn more about Silver before I came to any conclusions on the possibility… now more like a probability of a connection with him. Fate has strange ways of working, I've experienced it before.

Present time struck when we heard footsteps on the stairs, my contact. It would be time to retrieve my goods and go home. Sadness was tugging at me, but I didn't let it show. Silver slowed on his inquisitive prodding and wrapped his arms around me to hug me close. Did he feel my sadness, or was he now holding me because of his own at our soon to be separation? Wrapping my arms protectively around him I kept my gaze on the open doorway.

"Sorry for the wait." The contact stepped through the door with a case under his arm. "Something got misplaced and I had…" Freezing to the spot he stood when he saw the small figure in my arms. "Silver?!"

Silver shrunk into my arms and buried his face into my chest, trying to disappear.

My contact didn't sound angry, just extremely surprised. "I was wondering where you went, you know." The tone was casual. He walked over to us. "Sorry about that, he's very…" There was a pause as he screwed up his face in thought. "…never like this." He sighed and shook his head.

"What do you mean never?" Surprise was quite evident in my voice. Holding Silver securely, I stood up.

"Silver never gets into other's business. He's relatively indifferent to what's happening most the time. He's never as bold as this." Setting the case down on a table he reached out to me wanting to have Silver returned. Guess he assumed Silver was a burden to me.

"He's no problem. He was good company while I waited."

Silver refused to budge from his hold on me as my contact came over to us and reached for his body. I found I wasn't lessening my grip either. The contact must have noticed this since he lowered his arms and backed off. Knowing he didn't want to make me mad, and the fact I was quite a bit bigger than him, he let me keep Silver for now.

"Good company?" He laughed hoarsely. "He doesn't say much."

"Yes he does."

The laughing stopped and his optics widened. "You're serious?"

"Of course! How can you say that?" My fingers without my consent stroked Silver's smooth dark helm gently. I glanced down at him, he looked scared.

"I only say it because it's the truth." His tone was quiet and sure. "He's always been reserved and said very little, and that's only when he has to. Not that he's not nice or anything, just the silent type."

"He's told me about a recent guardian… who rejected him. Is there truth to this?"

My contact sighed. "So… he did talk to you." Rubbing his chin he responded lightly. "Yes it's true." He crossed his arms and must have noticed the change of expression on my face. "I know what you're thinking, and it wasn't me. Did he tell you that it's happened more than once?"

No sound came out when I opened my mouth to respond. I only ended up shaking my head.

"Ah…well, maybe I shouldn't have said anything thing then." Shrugging he uncrossed his arms again and leaned against a chair.

Yeah, right, bet you did that on purpose. "Is there something that wrong with him?"

"Oh no, no, no… it just hasn't worked out for him." He had no problems just talking away about Silver's past like it was no big deal. "The few who have tried to bring him into their lives always have something similar to say. They say he's polite, nice, very quiet, but he never moves closer to them. He never feels like family to them…and that doesn't work if that's what you're trying to make. Don't know if it's a deliberate choice on his part or not. Definitely nothing like what he's doing now with you, aside from his silence."

"Is this the first time you've had him?" Depression was a mild word to how I was feeling about Silver's recent past.

"First time? No. He's been coming back here after each unsuccessful attempt to place him. It's his home in between homes."

"Why here?"

"I'm the one who found Silver in the first place. He was huddled up against my door one day. Nobody claimed him; nobody at the time even wanted him. I decided to at least give him shelter. I don't even know he's here half the time so he's no trouble." Reaching one arm forward this time he settled on petting Silver's back a few times then withdrew. "His time'll come eventually."

The blue optics of my contact rested on Silver and I. I knew from the depths of my spark that he was hoping I was 'The One' to come along and make Silver my own since he had decided to attach himself to me in such an unusual manner. Unfortunately that still wasn't a decision I could make on my own. I figured Skywarp did have to be involved and notified that he'd be taking on a permanent parenting position, I owed him that much. Oh yeah, I'd have to ask him if that was something he was even remotely interested in. Neither of us had ever even discussed the possibility of a sparkling, not even in theory. A plan was forming itself in my head though. I couldn't mention my beloved mate to Silver or my contact…yet.

"What's your name?" Now was the time I decided some importance in finally asking.

"Lighthand." He said as he raised a dark, worn hand to me.

"Fitting."

Lighthand laughed, used to the obvious problem with his namesake. "You'd be surprised."

Not wanting to leave at all, I knew it was time to go. "Um, I guess I'd better take those parts home now." Silver looked mortified and clung to me as tight as his little body would let him.

"No go!" Desperation sounded in his voice. "Not want you to go." Once again he buried his face deep into me. "Can't go…"

If my simple, recently formed plan worked, I'd hopefully be back here very soon with Skywarp. "Sorry, Silver. I have to go…you've got to understand." I couldn't help but hug him close again and whispering softly to him. "I'm going to come back though, trust me."

Looking up at me with pleading, sad optics he reluctantly loosened his grip on me. Indeed he was well behaved. "I trust you. Promise…promise you come back?"

"I promise." Unfortunately I couldn't help nuzzling his cheek gently, he pressed into my affection. I should have been smart enough to think against it, and making that promise to him. I would only be giving up his hope if by some chance I couldn't return. Crushing his fragile psyche was not in my agenda.

Lighthand's outstretched arms took a hold of Silver and pulled him from my body as I hesitantly loosened my grip. Silver reluctantly let Lighthand cradle him; he didn't look to be getting any comfort from it.

"He'll be here for a while, right?" I raised an optic ridge at Lighthand.

Understanding that I was more than likely to come back one way or the other he nodded.

"Yes. He's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"You'll take good care of him I trust?" Now I was sounding like a worried mother.

"I always have."

I believed him on that one. He had taken good care of Silver, and was holding him close and careful now. Silver just hadn't chosen to make this place home. At least I knew it wasn't out of spite or mistreatment. It was a decision I'm sure Silver was completely unaware of making.

Turning to the table and picking up my case of parts my spark insistently wanted me to go back to Silver. Right now, there was nothing I could do about it. I had to go home first.

"Good bye, Silver." I offered him a warm smile and a wave.

Living up to Lighthand's description of him, he remained quiet as I turned to leave. I did notice though that he had a hand placed across his chest with a familiar confused look on his face. I knew for sure he was feeling the same pull I was. He was just going to have to wait, just a little longer.

With Silver in mind and spark I left Lighthand's home. Safely storing away the case, the only reason I came here in the first place, I transformed and flew back towards the space bridge. My next task was to determine what to tell Skywarp. That was sure going to be fun.

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AN:

A few simple guidelines for reading this story:

1.It is safe to consider it AU. The war has quieted down for some reason or another. This story is not a history lesson.

2. I am purposely not bringing in other major characters, unless situation calls. This is Thundercracker and Skywarp's story.

3. Please just take it as is, a story.

I do have illustrations for this story. Check out my bio/profile for links.