Darkness. It was soothing. It was scary. The stars and the moon illuminated the small cardboard box enough to reveal that it was not empty. Soft whining whimpers came from the bundle of blankets within.
It began to rain, as if the sky was sobbing for the orphan laying in the alley on such a night, where the frost was creeping in and slowly strangling the life out of the grass and out of the flowers.
The rain kept the frost at bay. The rain drowned the frost, and it warmed the earth. It soothed the cries forming and the small being sunk into a deep sleep with the scent of earth, the scent of flowers, the scent of dying frost in its nose.
It was as if some other being was watching over the smaller one. It was as if it was meant to live.
Optimus stroked the fading paint on his mate's side as he watched the medic sleep soundly at last. He had watched Ratchet squirm on the berth, complaining about something Prime could not comprehend. He was worried for his mate, but he knew that the stubborn medic would not accept such concern.
"Optimus, you know I am not fully asleep, correct?" Ratchet rolled over and looked up at him with dim optics. Optimus watched him as he sighed, and he pressed a kiss to his lips. "Optimus, what is bothering you?"
"Your nightmares," Prime whispered. He rubbed the medic's chest, over his spark chamber. He felt the spark pulse under his digits.
"They should not concern you. They are mine, not yours. My burden, not yours. You have enough things to worry about. I should not be one of them." He tried to stand up, but Optimus had grabbed his wrist.
"Lay with me," he murmured as he gently pulled him back onto the berth. "Tell me what bothers you..."
He sighed and he closed his optics. "Optimus, I cannot give you children."
"I knew that. It is the war. The war will cause you to stress out and cause your body to abort anything it can that will allow you to li-"
"I mean, I cannot give you sparklings." He fixed the Prime with a look and Optimus' optics dimmed as he understood at last.
"I see now. And you believe that I want sparklings?"
"I know you do. Prime, that's all you ever talked about when we dated..." Ratchet pressed his face into his mate's chest for comfort.
"I apologize if you believed that I wanted sparklings from you. I was anxious for a family, yes, but now is hardly the time to-"
"But I want children, Prime, so badly. It's unfair that everyone else can have them, but not I. It is as though Primus is mocking me by sending the children here, day after day..."
Optimus understood completely now as he rubbed his mate's back and kissed his helm. "There are other ways to get children."
Ratchet frowned and looked up at him. "I'm not changing into a femme," he growled lowly.
Prime had to laugh. It made Ratchet blush in embarrassment, but that only made him laugh harder. "No, lovely, I knew you would not desire to change your gender. We can adopt, you know? That, as far as I know, does not require you to change your gender."
Ratchet smacked his chest, and he laughed softly as Prime pinned him under him. They wrestled for a bit, kissing and nuzzling until they stared into each other's optics, dreaming of children and of a family they both desired.
Optimus walked as a human, adjusting his leather jacket impatiently. "Three orphanages, and none with the right child."
Ratchet studied his feet as he walked, his hand bumping into Optimus' until the Prime threaded their fingers together as they sighed together.
They stopped outside an alley and Prime pulled his mate's head up so that he could look into his eyes. "Listen to me, lovely. We will find a special child that is perfect for us."
He nodded, pulling his head out of his hands. They were about to walk again when Prime heard the quiet snuffling of a tiny being.
"Ratchet, did you hear that?" Optimus grabbed his mate's shoulder.
The medic hesitated and blinked up at him. "It was probably a stray mutt with her puppies...or a rat."
"It was not a rat," Optimus protested. He walked into the alley and he pulled back bags and bags of garbage, some of them splitting open due to his frantic digging. Rotten food and empty containers spilled over Ratchet's shoes and he jumped back a bit.
"Prime, what are you doing?"
Optimus chirped, stiffening when he heard a coo and he looked slowly back at his mate before they both jumped in to root around through the garbage.
"I found it," Optimus whispered. He pulled a nearly-crushed cardboard box and he looked at Ratchet as he drew a shaky inhale before he pulled a flap back.
Blankets.
Moving blankets.
Ratchet took the box from his shaking mate and he nearly dropped it when he saw what was in it.
A human female giggled up at him. She was small, pale, and close to death, but she was giggling. Optimus adored her immediately. He drew her shaking naked body into his jacket as he zipped it back up. He gave Ratchet a pleading look, his eyes watering as they stretched wide and his lower lip protruded in a pout.
"Of course we can keep her!" Ratchet swatted his shoulder, peeking into his mate's jacket to see their new daughter. She reeked of human waste and rotting food, but her scent slowly faded as Optimus' mint-scent rubbed off on her.
"Let us return home," Optimus murmured as he held the baby against his side, against his heart, to keep her warm.
She gave a little sigh and a murmur as she fell asleep with the warmth against her cheek.
Ratchet had taken care of sobbing mechs with small wounds. He had taken care of sobbing mechs with large wounds. He had taken care of screaming femmes as they delivered sparklings. He had taken care of those crying sparklings. He had done a lot of things.
But bathing a human child as small as this one was beyond him.
Optimus was amused as he watched Ratchet struggle to hold her head and keep her still while the Prime bathed her in the soap they received from June Darby. "Do you need me to hold her, Ratchet?"
He huffed, passing the baby to Optimus. He blinked in shock when the little female blinked up at Optimus' blue eyes with her own and she went still, staring up into his eyes. She barely blinked. She was still as Ratchet wiped her clean and she let him pat her body dry. When Optimus blinked and smiled, she started to squirm again.
"How did you do that," Ratchet demanded. He held the baby against his chest as she pouted and squeaked for food.
"Do what?" Optimus smiled as he took the baby from him and he stood, transforming back to a Cybertronian. "Let us feed her."
The bottle, Ratchet found, could be pinched between his thumb and his index finger. At least he could feed her without Optimus' help. Instead, the Prime was sorting through boxes of donated baby clothes and shoes.
"Who knew that June had a stock of clothes for infants?"
Ratchet did not answer. He held the baby in one palm, the bottle in two digits. He was thinking about how Optimus had gotten her to be still in the tub. He frowned, ignoring his mate in his concentration.
"Ratchet, she is sleeping now," Optimus said gently, touching his mate's shoulder as he took the infant from him.
"I must have zoned out," he confessed as he watched Prime lay the human baby in a Cybertronian crib. She was a speck of dust compared to the crib.
"At least we do not need June's help completely," Optimus murmured as he tucked the blankets around his new daughter.
"It's always good to know you're not completely hopeless."
Prime chuckled softly, looking back at him. His smile quickly faded. "The fact that we have a baby now does not change how much I adore you, Ratchet," he said suddenly.
"I know that," the medic scoffed. He stood beside the Prime as he watched the baby sleep. "I get mornings, you get nights."
He shot the medic a look, smiling once more. "Oh, you think I am going to take the harder job because I love you both?"
"I know you will. You hate easy jobs."
Suddenly Ratchet was against the wall, Prime's lips against his as a digit pressed against the corner of his mouth. The medic shuddered in delight.
"Do not use such strong words around the baby," he murmured. He kissed the medic then, running his servos over his body, over his hips, up his back to his shoulders, and then back down again.
Optimus woke to soft sobbing. He pulled away from his mate, chuckling softly at his worn-out expression. He would sleep deeply tonight, he knew.
He walked to the crib and he lifted the baby out. He soothed her, patting her head and back with a digit. She looked up at him as tears streaked down her cheeks and he hushed her, kissing her head.
He walked outside with her after bundling her into a blanket. He pointed out the stars to her and he sat with her in his lap, but she would not stop whimpering and crying.
He saw the sky lighten and he realized he had not slept in that time. An idea came to him and he jumped off the formation, cradling the baby against his chest as he landed. She jerked slightly, but she didn't seem completely concerned with the fact that her father had jumped off a thirty-some foot rock formation. He transformed into his semi alt mode and he tucked her into his sleeper, laying her on the mattress that Ratchet had laid in once.
She was neither impressed nor soothed, but once Optimus started to drive in circles around the base, she settled. The Prime sighed in relief, knowing that he had done something right tonight. He played soft piano music and he watched her doze off.
Ratchet came to him then, holding his pillow and his blanket as he watched the semi round the base twice. Optimus stopped for the human Ratchet to climb into the passenger seat and he buckled his mate in. He drove four more circles before Ratchet started to sleep.
The Prime monitored his mate's spark-pulse and he monitored the baby's heart-beat, impressed by the few differences between the spark and the heart. He switched the radio off, and his daughter began to stir.
She chattered a bit in gibberish, making small noises as Optimus himself began to doze off as he started to slow down.
Ratchet slumped in the seat, the baby settled back down, and Optimus parked himself in front of the base.
There they had a few moments of peace before Arcee tried to get out of the base.
The Autobot second-in-command transformed and touched Optimus' hood. He was sound asleep.
"Bulkhead, you still there? Prime fell asleep outside of the base." She tapped her digits against her arm as she waited for the army-green mech to come.
He chuckled as he walked to Optimus and he tapped the hood. "Poor Prime's exhausted." He went to lift the semi when Arcee gave a small noise of protest.
She opened the door and smiled when she saw Ratchet. "Tow them in," she said. She reached in and lifted the baby off the mattress. "Transform them manually. Have Bumblebee and Smokescreen help you."
Arcee passed the infant to Jack and June as she watched Bumblebee and Smokescreen manually transform their medic and leader, step by painful step, until they laid on the medberth.
Ratchet snored.
Optimus' servo searched for Ratchet's, and Smokescreen helped their digits weave together.
"They're pretty cute when they were sleeping," he said as he stepped back. His gaze turned to the baby. "We should call her something other than Runt or Human Pest."
"We've never called her that," Bulkhead protested.
"That's what I've been calling her," Smokescreen smiled.
Arcee laughed softly. "If Ratchet was functional when he heard that, you'd be the Helmless Predaconman."
Smokescreen made a big show of protecting his helm.
Optimus woke up several hours later in his own berth. Ratchet was holding their daughter as he rocked back and forth in the rocking chair Bulkhead helped craft. "Lovely..."
"I've named her," he said softly. "I wanted something beautiful and delicate."
He sat up and he smiled gently. "What did you pick?"
He looked up from cradling the sleeping infant and he purred quietly. "Kayla."
Optimus jerked slightly, his optics dimming.
He saw the baby, growing up and going through hard challenges, but ultimately being the victor. He saw his daughter fight for her life over obsticles he could not imagine. He saw her grow up into a beautiful young woman with long black hair and a smile glowing on her face as she hooked a finger at him.
"Come play, Daddy!"
Ratchet watched him. "Do you like it?"
Optimus walked to his daughter and he touched her helm. "I love it..."
Kayla squirmed deeper into Ratchet's arms and she curled into a ball, making the Prime and his mate smile.