"Stormchaser! Nova! Take the sparklings to the shelter while I hold them off!" Red Line yelled over the noise of gunfire, both his and that of the two hostile warrior class renegades who had discovered their location purely by chance. Though they were much larger than himself, Redline had better cover to protect him from their assault, and he had no plans to let the two get through to his family.
The femmes did as they were told, each scooping up a sparkling and heading down into their basement shelter. Red Alert squirmed in Nova's arms, clearly upset from the sudden breakout of chaos, small whimpers escaping his vocalizer and threatening to become something more.
Once down in the shelter the femmes carefully set the sparklings down in a small room off to the side and activated a holographic projector to disguise the entrance, making the opening appear as though it was only another section of wall. Stormchaser gently hushed her creations and gave them reassuring touches of affection before turning to address Nova.
"I need you to stay with them while I help Red Line. Come lock the door behind me, just in case. Do not open it again unless Red Line or I comm you," she quickly hugged each of the sparklings again, then turned to leave. Once out of sight of the sparklings she grabbed her sniper rifle from her subspace pack and quickly readied it. When she looked at Nova again she could see how stressed the sparking femme was; she was shaking slightly but trying to hold herself together, barely succeeding.
Stormchaser stroked her adopted creation's face. She had only known the young femme for a couple weeks, but had come to see her as another addition to her family. Seeing her in this amount of distress pained her spark.
"We'll be back dear, don't you stress."
Nova's optics were misty with tears. "I know, I just-"
There was a sudden increase in gunfire with a small explosion following, which startled both femmes.
"I have to help Red Line," Stormchaser explained quickly but calmly, "Keep the sparklings hidden. Be their strength and comfort them. I know you can do that," She managed a tight smile, which Nova attempted to return before Stormchaser exited and shut the door behind her.
Nova frantically locked all the locks and activated the makeshift last resort defense system Red Line had made. If anyone did manage to get past the door, they would be greeted with a volley of deadly laser fire.
Making her way down the long stairway, and rubbing her abdomen as she went, Nova went into the hidden room where the sparklings were huddled in a corner, looking unsure of themselves. Razor had a tear rolling down his cheek.
Nova's carrier programming kicked in and she approached the sparklings, tenderly wiping the tear away and comforting them with softly spoken words. She eased her way into a sitting position – made difficult by her very swollen abdomen – and held them close. They pressed themselves close to her, seeking shelter and relief from the femme that they had come to view as their elder sibling.
It was eerily quiet down in the shelter, despite the battle that raged on somewhere above them. In an attempt to quell the uneasiness of the moment, Nova softly sang a nursery lullaby to the sparklings.
"Will carrier and sire be okay?" Razor asked once she finished the song. Red Alert shifted his attention to Nova, waiting for the answer as well.
"Of course they will," Nova answered and gave them each an exaggerated smile, hoping she sounded convincing. What else could she possibly say to them?
It had been so long since she last had seen his face that she practically jumped into his arms with delight, almost knocking him off balance. Torque managed to catch her and wrapped his arms protectively around her, holding her close and bringing their foreheads together, then their lips in a drawn out kiss.
"You're back! You're finally back!" Nova exclaimed when they finally broke the kiss. She took a closer look at him now; his sky blue and silver armor was freshly polished and shined brilliantly, showing none of the signs of the war he helped fight when he was away stationed at one of the Autobot bases.
He said nothing in reply, only put their foreheads together again once more, his bright yellow optics gazing into her blue ones. His look said more than words ever could, and to Nova it was worth more than a million I-love-you's.
Nova blinked once and the entire scene changed. She turned around and looked all around her, but there was no sign of her beloved Torque.
"Torque?" She called out his name, and it echoed somewhere in the distance. "Torque, come back, I have some good news!" Her surroundings slowly faded into view; she was in their tiny but neat home now, searching through the rooms and hallways for Torque. He was probably playing with her again, waiting until she passed by his hiding place to come up behind her with a surprise hug attack. So she played along and took her time.
"Hmmm, he's not in the main room…" she narrated loud enough that he could probably hear well from wherever he was hiding. "Where could my bondmate possibly be?"
As she searched more of the rooms, a frown began to creep its way onto her face, and she began to worry. Once she had finished all the rooms, still with no sign of Torque, panic had struck her.
"Torque?" She asked into the silence.
Maybe he was outside on the patio.
She made her way through the house again, moving quickly and yet not getting anywhere fast. Once at the patio door, she smelled smoke.
She did not want to open the door, but she didn't have the luxury of choice as the door flung itself open to reveal a battleground of Autobots and Decepticons. Plumes of smoke rose from piles of offlined bodies scattered all over the battlefield. She tried in vain to shut the door, but it wouldn't move.
"Nova! Watch out!" Torque shouted as he suddenly appeared in the doorway, sheltering her from the gunfire. "You should get out of here! It's not safe!"
"Not without you!" Nova breathlessly shouted. "Come with me! I have to tell you-"
"Ahh!" Torque cried out as he was shot in the back. He fell forward into Nova's arms but he was too heavy for her to hold up and they both fell onto the floor.
"Torque!" Nova's terrified scream filled the air.
Torque's optics were dim and he didn't respond.
"Torque!" She tried to scream again but her voice could only manage a strained whisper.
"Torque...I'm…" Transparent blue tears of diluted energon fell down her cheeks as she looked at her bondmate. "I'm…we're...having a sparkling…"
