Army Brat

Chapter Two

Optimus Primes Office, ARK, Oregon, Earth

"Those slagging glitches! If I have to repair them one more time I'm quitting!" Ratchet burst into the office without preamble, slamming the door into the wall instead of allowing it to slide open normally. He stomped into the small, crowded space as it painfully creaked closed behind him.

Jazz tilted his chair back and grinned at the medic. "Twins raising hell again, Ratch-man?"

"Like you wouldn't believe!" The grouchy ambulance crossed his arms and glared at the others. "Who in their right processor walks up to Grimlock and calls him uncultured?"

"Sideswipe," Prime immediately answered.

"Sunstreaker," Prowl chimed in.

"Tracks," added Jazz.

Ratchet growled, "You got two out of three." He looked the mechs in the room over. "Prime, you need more recharge," he snapped, "You're running low on energy. Prowl, sit up straighter. I'm going to have to realign your spinal relays if you slouch like that." His blue optics landed on Rivet. "Huh. So did Sideswipe bring you straight here?" He demanded.

"Well, uh, Chief Ratchet…" She blushed, releasing her father's hand to rub at the back of her head.

Jazz grinned and tipped a friendly wink to Rivet. "I found her in the commons, busy spell-binding every mech in sight." Ratchet's face began to contort into a rather unfriendly frown.

"That little slagger…"

"Please don't be mad at him Chief Ratchet!" The femme asked anxiously. "He was just trying to show me around. Sideswipe was very nice to me. He even got me some more energon."

"You let Sideswipe give you energon?" This, surprisingly, didn't come from Ratchet. Ironhide grabbed his daughters' shoulders and spun her around to face him. "Primus, are you feeling alright? You're not dizzy or shivering, are you?"

She leaned back. "No, dad, I'm fine." She tried to reassure him, noting how his optics flickered when she called him 'dad.' "Really, Sideswipe was a perfect gentlemech." Glancing over her shoulder at the medic, she tried to reassure him as well. "He didn't even try to kiss me again."

"Kiss you?" Ironhide asked faintly. "He kissed you?"

"Well, just on the hand…"

Ratchet snorted. "And I'm Primus!"

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to grab that little slagger around his throat and squeeze…"

Rivet turned back to the red mech, trying to appease them both at once. "Oh please no, it's fine, really! He was just trying to make me feel welcome!"

"Sounds like he was trying to feel more than that!" Her father snapped.

Prime tried not to sigh as he sat up straighter, trying to catch their attention. "Everyone, please settle down. I will speak with Sideswipe on the proper way to conduct himself around Rivet in the morning. Ratchet, did you bring the test results?"

The medic produced a thin folder from subspace. Elbowing his way to the desk between Jazz and Prowl, he opened it and laid it on the flat surface. There were three thin, transparent sheets of plastic inside and he spread them across the desk so the squiggly lines across the pages could be seen. "What are those?" Rivet asked curiously.

"Spark readings," Ratchet picked one up and peered at her through the plastic. There was a pink squiggly line that went sharply up and down across a black, straight middle line. "This one is yours," he laid it down and held up the other two, "And these are Chromia's," the blue line, "and Ironhides," the red squiggle. He motioned for her to lean closer as he laid the two adults over each other so the black lines were overlapping. "See how your parents make a distinct double line? They barely over lap – only here and here," he pointed out the purple spots where the lines were sequenced. "Now we take your spark reading and lay it over theirs." He did so, producing an astonishing image. Every other peak and valley of her spark reading followed either her mother or fathers own spark readings, varying between the two. "That, my dear, is a paternity test." Ratchet pushed the sheets towards Prowl and Prime so they could see them better. "Congratulations Ironhide, you are a father."

Rivet turned to look up at the red mech. "I can stay with you now, right? The test shows that I really am your daughter, and mom said that once I found you…"

Ironhide reached out to wrap and arm around her shoulder, pulling her against his side. "Yeah, kid, you're staying here." He confirmed, running a hand down his face and trying to rearrange his expression into happiness instead of shock.

Jazz laughed openly, smiling at the small family. "Welcome to the team, Rivet!" He clapped her on the shoulder. Prime and Prowl nodded in agreement, each standing and leaning over the desk to shake her hand and give welcomes of their own to the newest member of the Earth-bound Autobot Army.


Ironhides' Quarters, Officers Deck, ARK, Earth

My dearest Ironhide,

You always said you wanted to have a daughter someday, one that was just like me. You have to be careful what you wish for. Rivet is just like me, and like you, too. She's a fighter, a survivor, and just like you, she gets into scraps with the other soldiers almost daily. We have a tidy little fighting force here on Cybertron – Shockwave doesn't make a move without us knowing. It's been spark-breaking, hearing the news of your battles against Megatron second-hand through our spy cameras.

I miss you. I miss your smile, and your laugh and the way your jaw tightens up when you're trying not to chuckle. My spark hurts every time I think of you. Elita says its normal – we were separated so quickly after bonding that our sparks didn't have time to adjust. Primus, I wish you were here with me, or I with you. I know this war is important, but a normal life isn't too much to ask for, is it? If not for us, at least for our daughter.

Is your spark skipping a beat when you think that word? I know mine did. Elita discovered I was carrying a child and nearly had a spark attack. Alpha Trion helped design her frames, and raised her when Elita and I were away on missions. He really is a fantastic mech, Ironhide. I can't wait for you to meet him. That day will come soon, I hope.

Make sure you tuck Rivet in, and tell her that you love her. I know you do – you love younglings. It's in your circuitry. Be careful around her, sweet spark. She doesn't show it, but this war has taken its toll on her mind just as badly as any of your older soldiers.

I don't know why I'm worried. You're her father; you'll know what she needs. The organics on Devi-X call it 'paternal instinct.' I guess we have the same kind of programming.

I love you Ironhide. I always have, and I always will. Please stay safe, and come back to me soon.

Chromia

Ironhide set the datapad on the edge of his desk and tilted his chair back, hands laced behind his head. He twisted around, the relays in his back creaking, and looked at the spare berth across his room. Wheeljack had installed it a few weeks after they had woken up, when Bluestreak had sought out the older mech after one of his nightmares. It folded seamlessly out of the wall, and had a headrest magnetically attached so it wouldn't get lost. At the moment, Rivet was curled up on in, tucked tightly into a ball on her side with her back shoved against the wall. The pictures Chromia had attached to the letter often showed the young femme asleep, always tucked up in a ball with her back defended. It made it so painstakingly easy to see.

She was a child of war through and through.

The mech sighed, pulling deep drafts of cool air through his intakes. Ratchet had taken him aside after the meeting, while Rivet was speaking with Prowl and Jazz, and shown him the charts. She was partially through her youngling, or adolescence stage. A 'teenager' in human terms, much like Spike. Ironhide frowned and ran a hand over his helm. She was still a child, his child, and now he had to take up his bondmates mantle and protect her. Not that he was protesting – Chromia was right. He had always wanted to have a child with his bondmate. He just didn't want to raise one in this war. Pushing the datapad to the side, he stood and stretched his aching relays. This dilemma could wait until the morning. Right now he wanted nothing more than to recharge and dream of his long lost Chromia.


Recreation Room and Canteen, ARK, Oregon, Earth

The mechs crowded together in the rec room looked up at Ironhide expectantly as he entered. Morning rations forgotten, they left the lines at the energon dispenser in favor of pulling him farther into the room.

"Is she really your daughter, Ironhide?" Bumblebee asked excitedly, handing the old mech a cube of mid grade as he was pushed towards a table.

"Nah, can't be. Sideswipe was just pulling our leg!" Tracks insisted, trying to forget the kiss he had bestowed on her hand the night before.

"I wouldn't lie about something this serious!" The red mech protested, jostling up against Ironhide and switching the mid grade for a cube of his own home-brew. "So, Hide, is she really your kid?
Ironhide shoved the energon back into the red twins' hands. "Yes, she is." He looked back over his shoulder to see the femme hovering in the doorway, eyeing the crowded room hesitantly. Trailbreaker gave his back a hearty, congratulatory slap as everyone crowded the table and bombarded him with questions. He answered them as patiently as he could, used to the inquiring nature of many of the bases residents. The old mech rolled his optics when they asked him to reaffirm that she was his daughter for the sixth or seventh time that morning.

While the weapons specialist did his best to satiate the eager mechs curiosity, Hound seized Bumblebee's arms and tugged him towards the door. He had seen the new femme peek in, take a quick look around and then duck back out. He didn't blame her – half the crew was in here, and it had to be overwhelming for someone who had only been around a small battalion her entire life. The tracker figured that being introduced to the close knit team one at a time would be much easier for her.

The femme had moved several feet down the hall and was nervously tapping her fingers against her chin. She looked up as their heavy footsteps invaded her quiet space and dropped her twitching fingers behind her back. "Er, hello."

Hound smiled gently, pushing Bumblebee ahead of him. "Mornin'," He greeted. "I'm Hound, and this here is Bumblebee." The minibot raised his arm and wiggled his finger in greetings.

She waited a moment before responding. "I'm Rivet," she looked between the two, "Ironhides daughter."

The tracker nodded, looking her up and down. She was taller than Bee, but a bit shorter than himself. Her armor was thin and teal, like her mother, and there were a few scars visible beneath the pain on her limbs. "Welcome to Earth," he greeted. "Have you been given a tour of the base yet?"

"Yes," she answered, "Sideswipe showed me around last night."

Bumblebee bounced on his feet. "Have you explored outside of the ship?" He asked eagerly.

She shook her head. "Well, I went outside when I got off the ship but I didn't really notice anything special."

Hound beamed. "C'mon, let's go for a walk." He reached out to take her hand. "You're gonna love it here on Earth!" With Bumblebee on one side and Hound on the other, Rivet was swept down the hall to discover the new world she had landed on.


Authors Note: Wow! I really should try and keep constant updates, huh? I loved working on this chapter. It was amazingly fun to write the letter from Chromia to Ironhide. I love reviews!