Author's Notes: Hello, readers! First of all, I'm not dead! Yay! Second, I have been working on this prequel to "You Will Care For Me" to celebrate 10,000 views, but I'm a little late because now it's up to 10,300 views. Sorry I took so long. Anyway, this was going to be a oneshot, but I actually wrote a 5 chapter story for this fic. I'll post the other 4 chapter over the next few days. This story will tell how our 4 sparklings from "You Will Care For Me" met each other and survived the foundling home, and tell about a certain Autobot they met long before they came to the Ark. I hope you like this first chapter and stick around for the other 4. Thank you to everyone who read my first story and made this fic possible :)

Chapter 1

Great Expectations

Bumblebee connected Terrabyte to the guest recharge berth in his room and rubbed her helm affectionately before he turned to leave. He had asked her if she wanted a story, but she had declined his offer. He figured she would. She still had trouble trusting others, and Bumblebee of all mechs understood why. He knew what those foundling homes on Cybertron were like, and he knew that Terrabyte was lucky to not be any more messed up than she already was.

It was rewarding sparkling-sitting for Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and sometimes even Red Alert. Their sparklings were so much fun. Q-Boom was lively and got excited easily. Terrabyte was quiet and didn't cause Bumblebee any trouble. Phobia was probably his favorite sparkling to watch since she was so selfless and full of questions. She was a true Autobot in the making, and even shared his love of humans and their culture.

He walked around his room quietly to ensure Terrabyte would stay in recharge. He knew she had night terrors when she slept in the twins' room, so he didn't want to make any sudden noises that might trigger such a reaction. He was almost to his desk when he heard a soft rapping on the door.

Bumblebee opened it to see that Honey Venom was there staring at him with a bored expression and holding a data pad. The lioness-former made him nervous; moreso since she got her upgrade. He smiled nonetheless and tried to be friendly.

"Hi Honey Venom," Bumblebee whispered to keep from waking Terrabyte, "Did you need something?"

"I came to give you this," Honey Venom replied in her normal speaking volume, "Jazz has ordered you to report in the morning for special ops training, and this is your schedule."

"Thank you," Bumblebee nodded and tried to close the door, but Honey Venom's foot got in the way, "Um, did you need anything else?"

"Yes, I do. How is Terrabyte?" Honey Venom asked in that prim voice that made the majority of creation want to punch her, "I trust you've managed not to kill her thus far?"

"Yes, Honey Venom, we had a lot of fun today," Bumblebee replied; slightly annoyed.

"Good. I trust you with her far more than Sunstreaker," Honey Venom admitted, though her inflection did not change, "It's a shame you didn't adopt her. Terrabyte could kill you if you stepped out of line. Not so much with Sunstreaker."

With that Honey Venom turned on her heel strut and left. Bumblebee despised that femme! Of course that wasn't news. Even as a sparkling she was irritating. For some reason even when he first met her in Ratchet's medbay he didn't like her. He didn't know why he felt so unforgiving toward a sparkling, but he couldn't help it. Something about her made him want to bathe in the wash racks after every conversation. Becoming an adult only made her worse.

Honey Venom heard Bumblebee close the door, and she smirked. That 'Bot hadn't changed one bit. It was a shame he was a minibot, otherwise they might've been friends…

6 million years ago. Altihex Foundling Home.

Today was the day. Honey Venom was officially 1 vorn old. She was no longer allowed in newspark care. She would go out into the main population of sparklings and meet the other older ones. Part of Honey Venom was excited. No more bars on her recharge slab. No more screaming crying brats waking her up during the night cycle. She would finally be treated with respect.

As she was led out into the main area by one of the caretakers she saw an adult couple going into the newspark area to inspect the newsparks for adoption. She wondered if adoption inspections were the same for older sparklings as they were for newsparks. If so then she had little to worry about. Her fabulous gold armor often attracted more than enough attention.

Pit, if she were an Autobot-spark she would already be out of here. Most of the adopters were passing Autobots. It wasn't fair! Why didn't Decepticons come through wanting newsparks? Maybe they preferred older sparklings. If so, then Honey Venom would be exactly what they were looking for.

"Get in there, you little glitch!" The caretaker shouted as he roughly pushed Honey Venom the rest of the way inside.

The little gold femme stumbled and caught herself with her hands as she hit the ground. She stood up and looked around. Most of the sparklings were comparable to her height. Some were bigger, and most were broader. Many gave her a glaring look that told her they were thinking mean thoughts about her.

"Well well, looks like we have new scrap," an older mechling with green and brown armor sneered, "Hm...red optics. So, you're a 'Con, huh?"

"Yes, I am," Honey Venom said with a proper tower accent.

"Hmph! Judging from that fancy armor, you were once a rich glitch," the mechling scoffed, "Well stay away from me! I'm with the Omega Grounders, and we don't take kindly to 'Cons on our turf!"

"The Omega...Could you repeat that, please?" Honey Venom asked politely.

"Leave her alone Fissure, she's stupid!" Another mechling, this one with red and black armor and orange optics exclaimed rudely, "I feel sorry for you new scrap, so I'll give you a free lesson. The Omega Grounders is the toughest Neutral gang in the foundling home. If you're not in a gang, then you're gonna starve. Lone orphans get their stuff stolen, and they get beat up. A lot. You're a 'Con, so you need to get a 'Con gang to accept you. You're not good enough for the Grounders."

"Um...okay," Honey Venom replied timidly; suddenly feeling in over her helm, "How do I find an acceptable...gang?"

"Basically, you find the leader of a strong 'Con gang, preferably one with a lotta members, and you do whatever it takes to get them to let you in," the red and black mechling replied, "You don't say no, and you don't back down. The next time we meet it'll be as enemies. Consider this a free day. I won't go easy on you tomorrow."

Honey Venom nodded and walked away from the two imposing mechlings. She noticed there weren't any caretakers in the room with them. It was just a large dirty play area with sparklings fighting, talking, and milling around. She didn't see any toys, but then again she didn't expect to. Even at this age she knew they were lucky just to have energon.

Honey Venom looked around to see where she could explore. The door to her left was closed and she could see large shadows through the filmy glass. That must've been where the caretakers hung out. She saw there was no door to the right; just an open pathway to a large room. She went in there to see what she could see.

It was dark inside, but she could see it was rows and rows of small recharge berths. This had to be where the sparklings slept. Each berth had a name taped on with sticky labels. Fortunately for Honey Venom she was born with a processor code that allowed her to read from the moment she was sparked. She never questioned it. Many had told her that her creators must have been rich in order to afford her armor and upgrades.

She walked until she found her own berth. She noticed there was dried transmission fluid on her berth. The previous occupant was likely a berth-wetter. She grimaced, but knew it was this or nothing. She wondered who in their right processor would adopt a known berth wetter. It would take some time for her to realize adoption was not the most likely outcome for these unwanted sparklings.

The next day was the first time Honey Venom had ever been allowed outside in her life. She had never seen the sky before, or the stars. She had also never seen the corpses that were left out in the road to rust or the rubble from surrounding buildings. As she gazed upon these sights her young processor wondered how the foundling home was still standing.

She refocused herself on the task at hand after a moment of pondering. She needed a gang in order to survive. Gangs meant safety. Gangs meant energon. She had already had her first day's ration taken away that morning by an Autobot gang called the Wrecklings. She wasn't about to let that happen again.

She searched the crowd for red optics. Red optics meant Decepticons, and her gang had to be Decepticons because she was one. Decepticons meant safety and acceptance. Autobots meant no fuel and bad things happening to her.

Finally, she spotted a turquoise colored femmeling with red optics and a cannon on her helm. That sparkling could tell her where the gang leader was!

"Excuse me?" Honey Venom said politely as she approached the femmeling, "My name is Honey Venom, and I was wondering if I could speak to your gang leader?"

What happened next she didn't see coming. The turquoise sparkling punched her hard in the face plate! Honey Venom fell on her aft and looked up at the sparkling in shock.

"Empty your subspace, scrap pile!" The bad femmeling ordered.

"I...I don't have anything in my subspace," Honey Venom admitted.

"Oh, well that's too bad," The femmeling mocked her, "Because now you don't have anything to pay the medic!"

Honey Venom saw the sparkling coming in for another punch, so she grabbed the fist with both hands to keep her away! Cleaning fluid leaked from Honey Venom's optics as she tried to keep the bully away from her. She offlined her optics and felt the struggle of her eager attacker. She didn't want to see the damage the little fragger would do to her, so she just continued to lay there holding the fist in both hands; her nails digging into the protoform of her assailant.

After a few seconds, however, Honey Venom realized the femmeling wasn't pulling anymore. In fact, the sparkling's body was on top of her and not moving at all.

Before she realized what happened, she heard a mechling shout "Holy pit! She killed Keystone!"

"You fragger!" Another kid shouted as Honey Venom shoved the body away and stood up.

Honey Venom looked around bewildered, before she dared to look down at the grey and offline chassis of her attacker. She didn't mean to kill her! It was an accident! This was awful! The sparkling was dead. If the other sparklings didn't tear her apart the caretakers would. She was so slagged!

"Hey, Goldie!" a little silver and purple 'Con shouted at Honey Venom, and she cringed away from what she was sure would be an accusing rant, "Hey! Hey Goldie! Which gang are you in?"

"I, um, don't have a gang," Honey Venom admitted.

"Oh. Can I join you then? We can make our own gang," the little mechling offered, "I would be honored for you to be my leader."

This was not what Honey Venom was expecting. A sparkling wanted to form a gang around her? She could be the boss? He was seeking her protection? It was even better than she had dreamed possible! However, with this thought just as quickly came a striking realization.

"No," Honey Venom replied coldly to the sparkling, "I don't need you. I can look out for myself, and you offer me nothing. Get out of my sight before I poison you too."

The sparkling gasped and then took off running. Honey Venom allowed herself to smile. It wasn't a happy smile. Just a triumphant one. She didn't have to join a gang. She could say no, and she could back down if she felt like it. She was powerful, she realized, and she could do whatever she wanted. This playground was now her territory.

The next 2 vorns passed with a sort of sickly routine. Honey Venom became used to all the unsightly aspects of living as an orphan in Altihex. For one thing if a caretaker was in the room you didn't do anything. You didn't go near them unless your name was called for your energon ration. You didn't pick fights. You didn't even leave whatever spot you found yourself in unless you were stupid. The caretakers all carried around electric straps; a small whip-like device they used to punish unruly sparklings. It seemed like they enjoyed striking the sparklings, and considering the caretakers were all inactive Decepticons, they probably did.

Honey Venom also thought nothing of bombs going off outside. Ever since she could remember they had been there. The idea that they could all be wiped out of existence in an instant was a thought that was always in the back of their processors. It made the sparklings restless, and made the caretakers crueler than they otherwise might have been. It was a never-ending source of stress and fear.

Honey Venom also got used to the idea of being alone. She had never joined a gang because she didn't like taking orders. She also didn't like having to protect those that were weaker than herself. That wasn't the Decepticon way. The problem was that the gangs were the only source of companionship in the foundling home, so because she had no gang it also meant Honey Venom had no friends.

There was only one respite from the drudgery that was Honey Venom's life, and that was books. Oh, how she loved to read! At first it had only been for research. Honey Venom had considered starting a gang, so she scavenged for scrap metal outside and sold it to a passing Autobot soldier for credits. Once she had the credits she snuck out to find a street peddler that would sell her a book on leadership. The data pad she wound up with was called "Megatron's Manifesto". She loved it, and soon she found herself trading energon rations and scrap metal just to get more data pads to read. It was her only escape from the pit she lived in.

On this particular orn she sat quietly in the corner and read her book on the scientists that shaped modern history. The book was old, but she didn't care. The information was still fascinating. She was at the part about Starscream's murder trial when she heard a blast coming from outside. It surprised her for a moment, but then she shrugged and continued to read. Well, she did, until…

"Trigger's been blown up!" One of the sparklings shouted as he ran into the foundling home.

"What're you brats yelling about?" Mangle, one of their caretakers, snapped harshly as he was forced to walk into the main room to see about the commotion.

"Forgive me, sir," The sparkling bowed low in hopes of appeasing Mangle's anger, "It's Trigger. He picked up a piece of scrap, but it turned out to be a land mine. He was killed in the explosion."

"Frag it!" Mangle cursed, "You mean there's nothing left of him?"

"No, sir," The sparkling confirmed.

Mangle growled low, and the sparkling slowly backed away in fear of the electric strap that was in Mangle's clawed hand.

"Frag it!" Mangle shouted again, "We don't even have the frame! That brat sucks up energon for 3 vorns, gets himself blown to the pit, and we don't even have the frame to sell! We're out of credits as it is! Grr...Turbo Load! You reported it, now go find any part of that fragging sparkling's body that didn't get slagged!"

Turbo Load, the sparkling, began to tremble as cleaning fluid dripped from his optics.

"But sir, I don't wanna touch dead body parts…" Turbo Load pleaded.

"Did I look like I was asking you, Turbo Rat?" Mangle growled, "Against the wall!"

Turbo Load whimpered. This was it. Another beating for disobedience. Honey Venom watched this with a critical optic. This seemed like an appropriate moment to intervene.

"Excuse me, sir?" Honey Venom approached the angry caretaker cautiously, "I would be willing to search for the remains for you."

"Good," Mangle replied gruffly, "Get out there and find something useful while I teach this good for nothing fragger a lesson!"

"Yes sir," Honey Venom replied without missing a beat.

As Honey Venom exited the building she could hear the sounds of Mangle's strap crackling against thin sparkling armor and Turbo Load's cries for mercy. She knew he was beyond saving. She had no intention of sparing a sparkling idiotic enough to disobey their adult masters. No, she wanted the scrap-finding mission so that she could collect whatever was left of Trigger. She would simply tell Mangle that there was nothing of value and keep whatever she found for herself. That was the Decepticon way.

It was a few days after the Trigger incident. Honey Venom had found a spark chamber on that scrap hunting mission, and she had pocketed the grisly treasure in her subspace and told no one. She had been reading the Manifesto again, and there was one quote from Megatron that stood out to her.

If you want to win, then you have to be willing to play a long game.

Honey Venom realized the truth in those words. She had been thinking about nothing but solitude and survival, and that approach to life was getting her nowhere. A family wasn't going to come through that door and magically adopt her. She learned long ago that older sparklings don't get to be inspected like newsparks. Adults don't want older sparklings. No, she couldn't have love, so instead she would have power. She would play a long game, and she would rule Altihex someday.

These thoughts ran through her processor, but were soon interrupted by an audial-piercing scream! At first she thought it was only a fight, but when it didn't stop she found herself curious enough to see what it was.

She saw that it was Telemetry, the oldest sparkling in the foundling home at 7 vorns old. He was clutching his chassis and screaming as if he had swallowed an electric strap! Honey Venom didn't know him very well, but for some reason she still felt obligated to check on him.

"Telemetry, are you alright?" Honey Venom asked when she approached him.

"Hurts...All the time now...Used to...AHH! Come and go...Make it stop!" Telemetry moaned in between screams.

"What is causing this?" Honey Venom asked him.

Telemetry didn't answer. He only continued to scream and clutch his chassis where his spark was located.

"Let him go," Hangar, one of the Autobot sparklings, advised, "I've seen this before. Older sparklings get this disease all the time. We don't know what it is, but it's always fatal. Now that he's always in pain they'll stop feeding him. He'll be gone in a couple orns, tops."

"I see," Honey Venom nodded in acceptance.

She turned and walked away from the suffering sparkling. There was nothing she could do, so she turned back to her book and thought up ways she could gain more power. She would need a gang, that much she had to admit to herself. It couldn't be just any gang though. She needed to choose her members carefully. She needed a powerful team that would even make the adults leak transmission fluid in fear.