Author's note. This chapter was written by me and Mrs Bumblebee.
Suggestions are welcome.
Enjoy and please review.
Rad groaned slightly as he woke up, his whole body felt weird. Like someone had run it through a machine and then beaten it. He tried to move but his limbs felt oddly heavy, as though they were in a cast. He didn't like how he was feeling at all, and let out a sharp hiss.
But this didn't sound right at all, why did his voice sound so high? He opened his eyes and got the shock of his life.
He was a minicon, a small blue minicon. Rad tried to sit up so he could look himself over better but he still felt too heavy to lift himself. Soon he started to whimper and tears welled up in his eyes from the confusion and fear that built up.
His whimpering became louder and louder until he was crying, fat tears dribbling down his cheeks. But all that sound attracted someone's attention and Rad wished he'd stayed quiet when he heard a voice call.
"SkyBite, what's wrong?"
It was Megatron, leaning over him, concern written all over his face as he reached for Rad.
Rad stopped crying and stared up at the Con leader, tears falling down his cheeks as he sniffled and hiccupped.
"Were you having a nightmare?" Megatron inquired as he ran a light finger across Rad's cheek, wiping away the tears.
Rad, quickly think something up so Megatron would leave him alone soon he sniffled and nodded. Somehow getting the strength he rolled over onto his side, curled up, and closed his eyes just like any child would do when scared.
He could feel Megatron stroking his back but the Decepticon leader didn't say anything else. Apparently, he thought that Rad just needed a little comfort and then he'd go back to sleep. Well, Rad wanted him to think that so he made some noises of comfort as he snuggled down on his little cot.
He hoped that once Megatron thought he was asleep, he too would go back to his berth and go to sleep.
Megatron continued to stroke and comfort Rad for a while, almost really putting Rad back to sleep but soon stopped when he saw Rad's eyes were closed and relaxed. Rad laid there and stayed quiet as he listened to Megatron go back to his berth and laid down.
He could somehow feel Megatron's optics on him, no doubt making sure he really was settled. But when Rad didn't move, Megatron relaxed and he rolled over to sleep on his side. Soon, light snores could be heard in the room and Rad knew it was safe to move.
Slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position so he could survey the room.
He looked around some before he looked an studied over the berth he was in. Slowly, trying not to make any noise he crawled over to the side and reached up to grip the edges and slowly pulled himself up so he was standing.
The side he was on had a rather large looking drop, at least from his Sparkling optics. But as he pulled himself along, he saw that there were some boxes nearby, he could use them to get out of here. So he pulled himself over the edge and then dropped onto the boxes with a loud thump.
Rad froze from the noise and slowly looked over towards Megatron when he heard him make a snort but didn't wake. He let the breath he was holding before he climbed down and finally reached the floor.
The floor felt cold and he shivered slightly but he didn't care. He had to get out of here and back to the Autobots, they could fix him, they could turn him human again. He was sure of this fact, if the Decepticons could turn him into a Sparkling, then the Autobots could reverse the process.
And even if they couldn't, he'd rather be with them than Megatron.
So he started to hurry to the door, stopping as he came to it. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out but he needed to find a way before Megatron woke up again. He'd no idea what kind of sleeper Megatron was but he couldn't hang around.
Rad looked the door over until he looked further up and saw a scener at the top, eaning it must act like a glass door back on Earth, it opens when something moves in front of it but what could he use so it would open for him?
He considered this problem thoughtfully, glancing around the room as he did so. His optics finally rested on a long pole that he thought he could weld. At least, to his small size it was a long pole, it was probably more of a short stick to Megatron. But nonetheless, it was something he could use so he eagerly rushed over to it and grabbed it.
He picked it up, surprise at how light it was but shrugged it off as he ran back over to the door. he lifted the pole and swung side to side, trying to get the scencer to see him. Suddenly he saw the little red light on it turn green and then the doors flew open.
Suppressing the urge to squeal with triumph and joy, he dropped the pole and rushed through the doors before they could close again. He made it and after pausing for a moment, was delighted to realise that Megatron had not idea he'd just escaped from his quarters.
Now all he had to do was find their Warp Room and he could go home.
His little feet sounded heavier than normal as he made his way along a corridor but he didn't think he was making that much noise. Not enough to attract any attention at any rate.
But he was proven wrong.
"Hey who's there?" Demolisher's voice called out from down another corridor.
Rad gasped and turned to run the other direction but he bumped into something when he turned. He whimpered as he rubbed his now sore nose and looked up to find Starscream standing there and looking down at him. Rad squeaked and tried to get up and run but was picked up before he could take two steps.
"What are you doing out here?" Starscream demanded, holding Rad up to optic level.
Rad just sniffed miserably, his brilliant plan had been ruined. And what was worse, he had a smarting nose that felt like it had been flattened.
He rubbed at it, his optics watery as he stared at the stern Seeker who was examining him closely.
After looking him over Starscream noticed the sparkling looked close to bursting into tears while he rubbed his nose. He figured he had bumped into him too hard when he did and now was hurting. Starscream moved him to the crook of his arm and started trying to comfort him.
"Shh, it's alright. You're ok." He whispered as he reached up and gently rubbed Rad's nose to help sooth away the pain.
Demolisher came around the corner to find them like this.
"Starscream, what are you doing with SkyBite?" He asked as he walked over to them.
"I just found him, he was wondering out here all alone," replied Starscream as he continued comforting Rad who was calming down slightly.
Demolisher stared.
"How in Primus's name did he get out?" he questioned as Starscream rubbed the Sparkling's back.
"You'd be surprised," Starscream said with a chuckle. "I remember my younger siblings always managed to get themselves into the strangest of places and we could never work out how they did it. But we'd best take him back to Megatron now."
Rad sniffled softly as Starscream and Demolisher turned down the corridor to Megatron's quarters and headed down it. Starscream continued to try and comfort him, thinking his nose was still hurting from bumping it.
But he didn't realise that Rad was now upset because he was being taken back to Megatron. The Decepticon leader was so going to be so mad when he found out what that Rad had tried to escape. So he kept sniffing as Starscream rubbed his back and before he knew it, they were in front of Megatron's quarters.
Starscream knocked loudly and there was an oath from within.
"What?" Megatron called through the door, sounding very upset for being woke up from his recharge.
"We're sorry to wake you sir but I believe we having something of yours," Demolished replied.
Megatron actually gaped as he saw them holding Rad who was still sniffing and trying to hide his face. As Megatron dumbly accepted the little Sparkling, Starscream said.
"I found him wondering around outside, he got a bit of a bump on his nose, that's why he's upset."
Megatron cradled Rad close to his chest.
"How did you get out?" He questioned the sparkling but didn't get any reply from the upset sparkling.
Megatron looked up at Starscream and Demolisher.
"You did good on bringing him back but now we'll have to talk about how we are going to prevent this from happening again."
Demolisher frowned as he examined the door.
"He must have got this screen to open," he concluded, indicating the screen in question.
"You'd better deactivate it so he can't open it again."
"He's obviously agile enough to escape his cot," Starscream said thoughtfully as he looked at it.
"But we should be able to do something so stop that."
Megatron nodded as he listened to them give suggestions to keep Skybite from running off again.
"Very good, we'll deal with this tomorrow. For tonight I'll just keep him with me so he doesn't escape again."
The two Mechs nodded and departed, leaving Megatron alone with the little Sparkling. The Decepticon sighed heavily before going back to his berth and laying down on it, Rad held firmly against his chest. He looked down at him and said softly.
"SkyBite, what were you doing out there?"
Rad glanced up at the Con leader.
"I want..squeak...home," He whimpered.
Megatron frowned.
"This is your home now," he said quietly as Rad whimpered.
"So, you were trying to escape back to Earth, were you?" Megatron then said, it wasn't really a question.
"Yes...click...," Rad muttered back.
Megatron sighed and rubbed Skybite's back, trying to help sooth him back into recharge.
"And what would you do if you didn't land in the right area were you could get help? What would you do then?" Megatron questioned.
"I...I don't know," Rad moaned, he hadn't thought of that.
He felt more miserable than ever and started to snuggle into Megatron's armour, needing some comfort. And Megatron gave it to him, stroking him gently while rocking the little Sparkling slightly.
Megatron held Skybite closer to comfort him and smiled when he noticed he was slowly going into recharge and was soon out like a light on his chest. Megatron placed his hand over the sparkling to keep him there and warm through the night before allowing his systems to shutdown and go into recharge himself.
They both slept peacefully through the night and Megatron was the first to wake. Once he realised what was on his chest, he smiled and lightly stroked the warm Sparkling who shifted in his sleep. Megatron knew he'd have to keep a closer watch on the Skybite, but he hoped the Sparkling now knew how dangerous it was to try and escape.
Megatron laid there for a little while longer before he decided it was time to get out berth. He lifted his hand that was holding Skybite to his chest and started to gently nudge him.
"Skybite, it's time to get up." He whispered softly so is not to startle too early in the day.
"Mmm," Rad mumbled, snuggling further into Megatron's chest.
This made Megatron smile but he still knew that they both needed to get up. So he continued gently rubbing and murmuring until the Sparkling finally opened his optics. Megatron chuckled as he saw SkyBite yawn widely before saying.
"Good morning, little one."
Rad reached up to rub his eyes to help theme wake up more before looking at Megatron again. He held onto Megatron's chest armour when he slowly sat up and stood up from the berth, still holding him securely to his chest.
"Where...click...are we...click...going?" Rad asked sleepily.
"To get you a bottle, you'll be hungry now," Megatron said softly, enjoying how Skybite was clinging to him like a proper Sparkling.
"Oh," Rad clicked and just remained quiet for the rest of the walk.
Megatron made his way to the Rec Room where he found Starscream sipping a cube of Energon. The Seeker was an early riser, apparently, he enjoyed the quiet and stillness. As Megatron walked into the room, Starscream looked up and greeted them.
"Megatron."
"Do you have a bottle for him, Starscream?" Megatron asked as he approached.
Starscream grinned and nodded before he reached into his subspace and pulled out a bottle.
"And it's freshly made, I fixed it up before I came here this morning," Starscream explained as he handed it to Megatron.
"Thank you," Megatron said with a small smile before sitting down with his Sparkling.
"Here you go, SkyBite," he said gently offering the bottle with its delicious warm Energon.
Rad whined softly and turned his head away from the offering which Megatron and Starscream frowned in confusion at this.
Megatron tried to follow his mouth and make him take the bottle but Rad just moved his head again.
"Skybite," Megatron urged, trying to offer it again but Rad continued squirming.
Starscream shook his head.
"Sparklings can sometimes be funny about feeding, just keep at him."
Megatron did as Starscream suggested and continued to try and make Skybite eat. After a few minutes of the same thing Megatron stopped fighting with Skybite and snorted in frustration.
"He still refusing to eat," He hissed.
"Hmm," Starscream said, coming over now.
"Let me try something."
He began to tickle Rad's tummy, making the Sparkling squirm even more. He carried on until Rad started snorting and giggling. Megatron suddenly knew what Starscream was doing as the Sparkling began to laugh out loud, his mouth wide open.
Starscream stopped tickling him for just a few seconds and before Skybite could close his mouth Megatron stuffed the tip of the bottle into his mouth and held it firmly there.
Skybite coughed and tried to push it out but Megatron wasn't having any of that. As Skybite struggled, he accidently sucked on his bottle and his optics widened in surprise at the nice flavour. He stayed still for a few moments before taking another suck and gulp.
Megatron watched him as he took hesitant sucks and gulps before he started to relax and suck on it more. Megatron smiled and held Skybite more comfortably to his chest and so he could be comfortable to feed.
"That's better," Starscream said proudly. "One of my brothers used to be like that, unless he was starving. My Creator always did that trick to get him to feed."
"Thank you, Starscream," Megatorn said with a small smile as Skybite fed.
Skybite continued to feed from the bottle, ignoring the two Mechs that stood there and talked about. He didn't care all he did care was he wanted more of what ever this was that tasted so good.
But finally, he was sucking on the last few mouthfuls, and started to gulp in air. The sounds he began making attracted the Mechs attention and this caused Starscream to exclaim.
"You need to dispel the air from his tanks, otherwise he might be sick."
Megatron nodded in understanding and pulled the bottle from Skybite's mouth ho whined at the loss. Megatron lifted him up to his shoulder and leaned him against it and started to gently pat his back.
Skybite screwed up his face as he felt his tanks churn but as Megatron kept patting his back, he felt air being forced back up his throat. A moment later, he let out a massive burp and felt a lot better for it. Starscream smiled, Megatron was a better Creator than he'd been expecting.
"There you go," Megatorn said softly as Skybite squirmed on his shoulder.
He moved him from his shoulder and cradled him to his chest. He reached up with his free hand and gently brushed it across his cheek.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Megatron said with a soft sigh.
"There was no need for that fuss, was there?"
Skybite glared up at him and gave a snort again him before looking away from him.
"He's got some personality," Starscream couldn't help but observe.
"You've no idea," Megatron said with a sardonic smile before asking Skybite.
"Now Skybite, do you need a nap or do you want to play?"
Skybite looked up at Megatron.
"I...click...rather go...squeak...home," He replied.
Starscream started in shock.
"He talks?" he said in disbelief.
"He remembers who he was," Megatron said with a trace of sadness in his voice. "That's why he was wondering around last night, he was trying to get back to Earth."
Starscream looked down at Skybite.
"And what would you have done then? You're not familiar with our technology and you could have very easily sent yourself to a very dangerous part of the planet," Starscream lectured the sparkling.
Skybite scowled before huffing.
"Megatron...click...already...said...click...that," he said mulishly.
"And did you take any of that in?" demanded Starscream sternly. "Messing around with things you don't know is dangerous, do not try such a stunt again."
Skybite snorted up at him and looked away.
"You're...not my...click...dad."
"No," Starscream replied back sharply. ""But for now at least, we're your guardians and you will behave for us."
Megatron stared in amazement, he'd never seen Starscream act so in charge.
Once again Skybite just gave them the silent treatment and completly ignored them. Starscream sighed before saying.
"You're not going to make this easy, are you?"
Still no reply from the stubborn and very pissed off sparkling.
"So, any suggestions for him?" Megatron asked silkily, knowing Skybite couldn't carry on with that attitude.
"You could try sitting him in the corner," suggested Starscream, thinking the same thing.
"And if he gets up and leaves it?" Megatron questioned with a raised brow.
"You put him straight back until he's been there for the required time," Starscream said before saying with a wry smile.
"Even if it takes all morning."
Megatron frowned at that.
"That's what I'm afraid of," He stated softly to himself more then to Starscream before he walked over to a corner where he and Starscream could see without any problem to put Skybite in.
He wasn't fond of the idea of his day being taken up by herding Skybite back to the same place over and over but he wanted the Sparkling to behave. He couldn't risk himself doing dangerous things like trying to escape. Besides, Skybite was lucky they were only putting him in a corner.
After a long time of chasing, putting back in the corner, and repeat Skybite soon got tired of it and finally stayed put in the corner, arms crossed over his chest and an angry pout on his face. With a very heavy sigh, Megatron finally got a good sit down, even with Starscream's help, he was very tired now. But at least now Skybite seemed to have learned his lesson and was doing as they said. And he even looked a little cute with that pout on his face.
They sat there for good while until Starscream glanced over to Megatron and nodded to let him know that he could go get Skybite from the corner now.
"Alright Skybite, you've had your time," Megatron said softly, mentally adding 'at last.'
Skybite pouted as Megatron lifted him up and carried him back to his seat. Resting the Sparkling against his chest, the Decepticon leader asked.
"Have you learned your lesson?"
SkyBite whimpered softly and sniffled before he curled up closer to Megatron's chest and buried his face into his chest plates. Megatron smiled, happy that SkyBite wanted to be close to him, even after being punished. Starscream had been right, SkyBite could learn to be a good Sparkling.
Author's note. Can Megatron and Starscream teach Skybite to be a good Sparkling? Find out next time, until then.
