Author's Notes: This story takes place in the same quasi-continuity as my other Shattered Glass fics. I call it a quasi-continuty, as they're not intended to be a cohesive series, but all subscribe to my Prime-based Shattered Glass headcanon. They don't need to be read in any particular order, nor do they take place on a single timeline. Not that I would object to anyone setting out to read them all (hint, hint).

Hasbro owns the Transformers franchise, yada yada…

Tiny Wings
By Annie-chan

The door to the commander's quarters opened with a quiet swish. Megatron entered the main living area, treading lightly. Though he knew that normal pedefalls would hardly be enough to wake anyone recharging in the berthroom, he automatically took on a lighter step than was normal for him. It wasn't just anyone recharging on the other side of the berthroom door.

Crossing the main living area, Megatron went through that door, resetting his optics as they adjusted to the dimmer lighting on the other side.

The berth was large, as it had been built not only to accommodate his own sizeable frame, but also that of his bondmate, who, though small, had a significant wingspan.

Starscream, his bondmate, was curled up in the center of the berth, taking up only a fraction of the available space. He didn't normally recharge in such a position, but as Megatron drew closer, his optics spied what he already knew was the reason for his mate's change in routine.

In the center of the protective circle Starscream's chassis had formed, held snugly against the seeker's chestplates by his arms, was a tiny, cycle-old emberling. The diminutive creature was also curled up, instinctively adopting the position it had spent the final orns of its gestation in. Emberlings were limited in their pre-emergence growth by the size of their carrier's gestation chamber, regardless of their genetic potential for growth once emerged. The last stages of their gestation were often spent curled into tight balls, having reached the upper limit of what their carriers had the capacity for, and most emberlings habitually recharged in that position for a short while after emergence.

The Decepticon commander thought it interesting, and a little amusing, that the biggest bots could start out as the smallest emberlings. But that wasn't at the forefront of his thoughts at the moment. What he truly cared about was the seeker and seekerlet recharging on the berth in front of him.

The emberling, a femme, had emerged yestercycle. Starscream had chosen to remain in his and Megatron's shared quarters, despite Knock Out's insistence that it would be better for all involved, and safer, to come to the medbay. The lieutenant commander had wanted only Megatron present, and had ordered everyone else out of their quarters, though he had promised to comm Knock Out immediately if anything went wrong.

The emergence had been difficult, as it was the seeker's first, but was otherwise unremarkable. Megatron had summoned Knock Out to examine the emberling and the exhausted Starscream once all was finished, and the medic was happy to give them both a clean bill of health.

Starscream had been overjoyed that his emberling was a femme. Femmes were exalted in seeker society for their beauty and fertility, as well as their relative rarity compared to mechs. Starscream's carrier, the previous winglord, had been a femme, and Starscream himself commanded a fair amount of respect for being femme-born.

Megatron, though he himself regarded neither gender as more desirable than the other, had shared in his bondmate's joy. Whatever made Starscream happy made Megatron happy, and it was so rare to see a genuine smile on Starscream's faceplates since the exodus from Cybertron.

Starscream had named the femmling Sunbeam.

Megatron carefully sat on the edge of the berth, not wanting to disturb his mate and offspring. He watched them with soft optics, love swirling in his ember as he took in every detail, as well as a fierce protectiveness. He would destroy any threat to their safety without hesitation. Though such ruthlessness was at odds with his character, he would make an exception for Starscream and Sunbeam. They were fighting a war, and he would protect his family at all costs.

Sunbeam suddenly stirred in her carrier's arms, stretching her tiny limbs. Her wings, currently little more than blunt nubs on her backplates, fluttered weakly. They didn't yet possess their full range of motion, which would develop over the next several orns.

Megatron was not at all disappointed that his offspring hadn't inherited his frame type. The seekers had been almost wiped out with the destruction of Vos, their city back on Cybertron, and even now their numbers were critically low. Every new seekerlet was a blessing from Primus, one tiny step toward recovery.

Sunbeam's optics flickered online, and she immediately looked up at Megatron. She squirmed and chirped, recognizing him as her sire. Megatron reached out and gently stroked her helm with a single digit. She pressed into the touch, her chirping changing from urgent to happy, optics offlining in contentment.

It wasn't long before Starscream began to stir, roused by his offspring's vocalizations. He cycled a sigh as his optics onlined, gaze momentarily unfocused as he finished powering up.

"Hey there," Megatron said quietly, giving his mate a smile. "How are you doing?"

"Tired," was Starscream's answer, though he smiled back. "I couldn't be happier, though." Moving slowly, he sat up, keeping Sunbeam nestled against his chestplates. She chittered, protesting the change in position, but settled after a few klicks, still enjoying her sire's digit stroking her helm and between her wings.

"I'll get you some energon," Megatron said, reluctantly withdrawing his servo from his offspring. Starscream was still recovering from the emergence, and wouldn't be back at full strength for another cycle or two.

"Thank you," Starscream said as Megatron stood and went over to a small storage cabinet in the corner of the room. Inside were a few cubes of energon. Megatron withdrew one and inserted it into the warmer that sat on top of the cabinet.

During the few breems it took to warm the cube, Megatron heard Sunbeam's chirping grow more insistent, as well as Starscream speaking softly to her in the seeker cant. He looked over to see his mate rocking the emberling, servo stroking her backplates soothingly.

"What's wrong?" Megatron asked as he brought the now warmed cube over, feeling a twinge of nervousness. Sunbeam had not quieted, and showed no signs of doing so anytime soon.

"She's hungry," Starscream replied, still stroking her. "She needs energy."

"Then why don't you feed her?" Megatron's optic ridges arched down a bit. Emberlings needed to be given as much nourishment as they would accept. Why was Starscream hesitating?

"Because I want you to," Starscream answered.

"…oh."

Megatron felt his nervousness increase fivefold. Though a good sire was expected to participate in nourishing his offspring, and Megatron hadn't had any reason to think Starscream would give him a pass, he couldn't help but feel anxious. Not only was Sunbeam his first offspring, but he had very little experience in dealing with emberlings in general. Sires had instincts just like carriers did, but that didn't mean he was perfectly comfortable with the situation. Not yet, at least. He had every intention of fulfilling his duties to both Starscream and Sunbeam as protector and provider.

"It will strengthen the sire-bond," Starscream said, gently removing Sunbeam from his chestplates and indicating to Megatron to take her. "I want her to have a strong bond with you. She deserves nothing less."

Megatron nodded, taking his offspring, holding her delicately. She looked even smaller in his large servos, and he couldn't quell their slight shaking. Despite loving her deeply, being a creator was terrifyingly new to him. It might take a while before he was as confident in this as he was in other matters.

He shoved down his nervousness. He owed it to both Sunbeam and Starscream to be as involved a sire as he could be. He felt it would be irresponsible to not take part in caring for the new life he helped create.

Holding Sunbeam close, Megatron willed his chestplates to part, making sure the movement didn't catch her fragile frame. Then he opened his ember chamber, light spilling out of his chest as his core was bared. The swirling ball of energy shined brightly, as strong and robust as the rest of him.

Sunbeam squealed and dove forward, and for one terrifying klick Megatron thought she was going to crawl inside his ember chamber. She didn't, however, stopping just in front of it, her servos grasping the chamber's edges. Her optics offlined, her helm tilting backward, her tiny wings fanning out as much as they were able. Her chassis, not yet able to process energon, soaked up the ember's energy, the raw power of Megatron's life-force infusing her infant ember, chassis, and processor with the nourishment she needed. She purred audibly, drinking in her sire's essence with gusto.

Megatron felt his ember shiver in a kind of ecstasy, his soul rejoicing in the proximity of his offspring, a product of the mingling of his and Starscream's genetic codes. Emberlings were conceived from interfacing and ember merges, and such interactions with Starscream were a source of perfect bliss for the Decepticon commander. Sunbeam was born of their pleasure, their love. He could think of nothing so priceless and exquisite as the tiny being basking in the glow of his ember.

"Isn't she precious?" Starscream asked, echoing Megatron's thoughts. The seeker had begun to sip at the energon, and smiled at his mate over the top of the cube.

"She's perfect," Megatron said with utmost sincerity. "She takes after her carrier in every way."

"Oh, stop," Starscream scoffed, though his smile widened at the compliment. He set the cube to the side and pushed himself up onto his knees, sidling over next to Megatron, draping his arms around his mate's broad shoulders. "I can think of no mech that I would rather have as a co-creator than you," the seeker murmured into Megatron's audial, sending a pulse of love through their emberbond.

It was Megatron's turn to smile. They were bondmates, so that sentiment was all but a given, but it still felt good to hear it said aloud.

He returned the seeker's tender feelings back through the bond, his helm inclining toward his mate. "Same here, Starscream," he whispered. "Same here."

End