Title: Suddenly

Author: Eiseedoesit

Rating: G-PG-13 in later chapters

Genre: Family, drama

Disclaimer: Transformers and all the places and characters associated with the franchise, is not owned by me.

Summary: He knew it was only temporary. Orion was never his to keep. The Covenant warned him so, and he must never forget that. Inspired by "Suddenly" from Les Mis.

2: Childhood Heroics

"I just wanted to help." Orion mumbled, grateful that the steam from the water masked how unbearably full of moisture his optics were. When his guardian didn't reply the youngling simply stared at the mixed pool of dirty water and cleaning solvent at his mucky feet.

Alpha Trion stood above him, scrubbing away the mud and chunks of earth that got into the blue and red armor. He didn't smile or frown; his faceplates were unreadable as he washed the tell-tale signs of Orion's latest mishap.

It seemed that the young one had a tendency for the extremes. He rarely got into any trouble, being more inclined to quieter and gentler pursuits. And Alpha Trion was grateful for such a mild-mannered child. But when the mechling decided to do something bold, he did so without thinking. When the child was reckless, all his intelligence seemed to fly right out of his processor, leaving Alpha Trion to resolve the mess he created. Case in point, the incident earlier in the streets where the youngling tried to pursue a petty thief. It was a noble idea, in concept. Unfortunately his involvement only slowed the real law enforcement officers and ended with three broken shop stalls, a drunken brawl, Orion covered helm to pedal in mud, and a series of rather lovely tickets with pretty little numbers indicating the fines incurred. Fines that Alpha Trion took sole responsibility for.

"You should not have gone after him." The Archivist finally spoke. Orion hissed and flinched when his guardian wiped warm solvent against a fresh bruise, "What the thief stole from the shop owner was barely worth a servo-full of tin. It was completely irresponsible and dangerous for you to try to catch him."

"But Grandsire, you said—"

"I think we'll have to cease reading those stories to you for a while. Not after this incident."

"But grandsire!" Orion pleaded, genuinely horrified at the threat of having his stories taken away, "It's not the stories fault. Please grandsire, I'll never chase after anyone ever again."

"Next thing I know as soon as I turn my back, you'll be jumping off the Citadel trying to fly like Fell-Wing the Great."

"Grandsire, it's Fell-Wing the Brave," Orion piped up, daring to correct the master librarian, "And of course I can't fly. I'm a grounder. Like you."

"And like me you shouldn't involve yourself in another bot's duties. The law enforcers are the ones that deal with criminals, not younglings and certainly not you."

"But you said that it's good to help others, and it's bad to steal." Orion said, "But if I don't help others, that's not good. So if I don't help, then that means I'm bad. And if I let someone else steal, it means I'm letting them be bad too right?" His blue optics looked up in confusion. He sniffled and groaned, his young processor aching from the conflicting messages, "Grandsire my helm hurts."

Alpha Trion sighed. If Orion only knew a fraction of the moral dilemmas his ancestors encountered the poor child would never smile or sleep again.

"Orion, it's certainly true that it is good to help others. But I want you to be safe."

"So is being safe better than helping others?"

The question caught him off guard. Orion stared up at him patiently. The youngling sneezed, and as the foamy bubbles scattered the Archivist finally answered

"At times yes," The Alpha Trion said, "When helping others may endanger your life, sometimes it's best to save yourself."

"But that's not very nice," Orion said, his voice dropping in disappointment. He frowned as the water trickled down his faceplates, "If something bad happened grandsire, like….like if the sky was falling or…um…or if really bad mechs came to hurt us… I don't think I can save myself."

"Oh little spark, that is exactly what I'm here for," Alpha Trion said, "To read you stories, hold up the sky, and keep the bad mechs way."

"And to clean me up after I fall in mud," Orion added, he played with the bubbles, casting them into various shapes before breaking them apart with a splash.

After some time, Alpha Trion lifted Orion out of the cleaning pool onto a pile of fresh cloth. The sparkling laughed, his problems temporarily forgotten as his guardian gently scrubbed the remaining water from behind his audios. Alpha Trion smiled, thanking Primus that the child was satisfied enough with his answers to grant them both some peace.

"Wait a second."

Oh Primus, he spoke too soon.

"Grandsire, you said before that it's best to save yourself. But then later you said you've save me if something bad was gonna happen…"

"By the grace of Primus little one, you can hold your own against those in the lawyer caste." Alpha Trion laughed, hoping that Orion would be distracted long enough for him to change the subject. Unfortunately for the Archivist, the child was a ridiculously quick and focused thinker.

"Grandsire, this is serious," Orion exclaimed, a bit hurt that his guardian was taking his concerns as a joke, "So if I someone bad snatched me and it was dangerous to go after me, would you look for me or—"

"Orion, what kind of question is that?" The Archivist said, "I may be old but I'll tear out every wall in Iacon with my bare servos just to find you."

"But you said it's better to just be safe—"

"Oh little spark, sometimes the answers change. It is not only just yes or no, black or white, day or night." Alpha Trion tried to explain, "It is good to help others, but you are still very small, too young to get involved with such matters. Especially in chasing down a criminal. You could have gotten very hurt quite easily."

"I know," Orion said sheepishly, "I know…I just wanted to help."

"And I'm glad that you have that desire in you, that you're willing to help those in need," Alpha Trion said, "But it isn't time for that yet."

"Wadda you mean grandsire?"

Alpha Trion wrapped him up in a bundle of dry blankets. The sparkling peeked from the white cloths, his optics wide, shining, and innocent.

"You'll understand when you're older." The Archivist simply said, patting the child's blue helm, "Much, much older, but for now we will let it go."

"But how much older do I have to be to help?" Orion asked, "To be a hero?"

"Old," Alpha Trion said, hoping to end the argument and move on to lighter things, "At least as old as me."

"But..but that's gonna take forever! No one's as old as you grandsire!"

"Why you little sparkbite—"

The sparkling yelped and squirmed out of his guardian's hold, laughing and leaping as the once-dry bundle of cloth flew behind him. He ran out the washroom, shouting something about playing 'gladiators' with Jazz.

"Orion of house Pax, get back here this instant!" Alpha Trion called after him. The old mech vented heavily, marveling at how so much energy can be contained in something so small.

"Oh Primus, grant me grace and patience. This child will be the death of me."

TBC

A/N: Feel free to suggest what kinds of childhood experiences with Orion you'll want to read about :) Review if you can, thanks!