Disclaimer; Oc's are mine. Transformers and their characters are not.
I had fun writing this chapter with the Sunblaze and Bumblebee's offspring.
Chapter 3
Vulnerability.
The early morning peacefulness of the ark was disturbed by the sound of feet pounding on the metal floor of the Ark and the laughter of children reverberating around the corridors. Some of the older Autobots smiled at the sound while others groused. One of those Autobots who smiled was Arcee who stroked her chest lovingly where the sparkling inside her was developing nicely. Spitfire and Flame charged through the corridors of the ark with their pretend cannons, given to them by Ironhide, aimed at each other. At their young age they were still unable to access their own weapons but it was only a matter of days before their battle computers would come online for the first time and they would be able to access their weapons and then their training would start. They circled each other clicking and chattering mock threats. Spitfire aimed her cannon at her brother,
"Kapow," she whined, "I got you,"
Flame pretended to die and fell to the ground,
"Hah. I win again," she cried victoriously and blew the end of the nozzle of her mock cannon, "I...am the best," she boasted before standing over her brother.
Flame got up, "Good one sis," he said,
"Thanks Flame," she replied.
"Shall we do it again?" Spitfire asked,
"Yeah, let's do that" Flame replied with excitement.
They started their game again while they continued to make their way through the corridors. Spitfire saw a dark crevasse where she could hide; she quickly ducked in, while Flame was distracted by something or other. Flame looked up and noticed his sister had disappeared,
"Spitfire, where are you?" he called.
There was no answer,
"Spitfire, where aaaaarrrrrrreeeeeee yooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu," he called again, "Come out, come out, wherever you are. I want to play with you," he chimed playfully.
Spitfire stayed where she was sniggering as her brother walked past her hiding place. She stepped back a little bit more so her ruby optics wouldn't be seen in the dark when he looked in her direction. The mech turned away and continued walking past, his pretend cannon ready to shoot at any sign of his sister.
At the same time Optimus Prime and Prowl were walking down the corridor discussing the day that was just starting. Neither of them were really listening to the two youngsters until Spitfire let off a roar and raced up to her unsuspecting brother, but Flame was quick off the mark, he whipped around and engaged her in hand to hand combat,
"Alright you two," Prowl snipped, "That's enough, somebody is going to get hurt,"
"They're okay," Prime chimed happily, "They have to learn somehow,"
Optimus Prime noticed that the mech was quite strong and he easily overpowered Spitfire. Flame swung her around so his arm was around her neck, her hands caught in his and she was hauled to the ground, she yelped as she tumbled on a wing. He stood over her astride and placed his mock cannon in her face,
"You lose," he said victoriously.
Spitfire whined pathetically while Flame offered his hand to help her up, "That's not fair,"
"Yes it is," Prowl replied, "Flame won that one fair and square."
"Hmmmph," Spitfire sulked while she folded her arms across her chest and pouted.
Flame laughed at her, "Are you going to do that when a Decepticon attacks you?"
"No," she replied defensively.
"Good, because I'm not going to rescue you from them if your pouting." He looked up at Prime who was chuckling and then back at Spitfire, "Is your wing okay?"
"Yes it's okay," she replied.
"Come on kids I'll play with you," Prime said,
"But Optimus Prime," Prowl protested, "What about our discussion and we have to find the hole where Laserbeak found his way in,"
Optimus Prime turned to Prowl, "We'll continue with it later, I'm going to play with these two for a while," he placed his hands on both their backs and ushered them outside. Spitfire became alarmed,
"Optimus Prime we're not allowed outside without our parents," she said,
"You're with me, I'm sure your parents won't mind," he replied good naturedly,
"Wow this is awesome," Flame exclaimed, "Optimus Prime is playing with us,"
"Yeah, it is," Spitfire replied excitedly, "How about we hide and ambush him,"
"Good idea," Flame replied.
They run on ahead and hid by the entrance to the base, "Where are you two off too in such a hurry," Optimus called as he followed them quickly,
"You'll see," Flame called back.
The Autobot leader ran after the cunning twins but when he got near the entrance to the base he noticed how quiet it was and slowed down. Spitfire was on top of the entrance to the base while Flame crouched behind a rock, "I'll tell you when he is coming and you pounce on him," Flame said to his sister,
The Autobot leader could hear snickering and that was when he knew he was about to be ambushed by the rascals. A chattering came up the corridor and laughing; Optimus turned around and looked behind him to see the red and yellow Lamborghini twins. He put a finger against his mouth guard, they stopped messing around and crept up behind him,
"What's out there, Prime? Decepticons?" Sunstreaker asked as his cannon emerged from his arm,
"No, Sunblaze and Bumblebee's offspring, I think they are going to ambush me,"
They both smiled, "Would you like some help, Prime?" Sideswipe asked,
"Look, Mirage is on his way back from patrol, maybe he could tell us where they are," Sunstreaker opened his comm. Link to Mirage.
The spy picked up on the whereabouts of the twins and gave the information to Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Optimus Prime,
"Okay Optimus Prime, we will go out with the others who are leaving for patrol and creep up behind the twins, when we are in place we will call you to come out,"
"Okay," Optimus replied and then he waited for the Lamborghinis to leave.
Sunstreaker crept up behind Spitfire above the entrance while Sideswipe crept up behind Flame and waited for the naive youngsters to take action.
"Ready Optimus Prime," Sideswipe called.
The Autobot leader left the security of the ark and stepped outside, Spitfire heard the command from Flame to attack and just as she was about to jump onto Optimus Prime a yellow and black arm wrapped itself around her waist while the other one slid under her arms and pulled them behind her back. She let out a squeal before bursting into laughter as Sunstreaker playfully growled, "Got you,"
The next thing she knew Flame let out an equally high pitched squeal and the Lamborghini twins took the young adults to Optimus Prime,
"Ambush averted, sir," Sideswipe smiled.
Prime looked at the two disgruntled twins and laughed at them as they wriggled in their captors arms.
In the meantime Bumblebee and Sunblaze had woken up and they were now chatting to each other,
"You know, I've been thinking, Spitfire is going to be really vulnerable to the Decepticons if Flame joins them. They could use him to get to her," Sunblaze said as she turned to her partner,
"I have thought about that myself," Bumblebee replied, "Flame needs to understand that before he leaves,"
A pang of sadness ricocheted through Sunblaze's spark but it was soon met by comfort from Bumblebee. She stopped and turned to the scout,
"I can't bear the thought of him leaving," Sunblaze cried,
"We may not be able to stop him; he has to work this out for himself and anyway he will always be able to come back," the scout replied,
"But what if he doesn't want to?" Sunblaze asked,
"Then he is in the right place," Bumblebee said, "We can't force him to stay, Sunblaze. Once he is old enough he has to make his own choices,"
"Yeah," she sighed, "I guess you're right,"
Bumblebee rolled over so he was on his side and caressed the femme's face, "He will be alright, sweetspark and so will you," He kissed her on her cheek and all over her face and neck, "Trust me, you'll get through this," he whispered while continuing to caress her.
Sunblaze purred softly with his touch and leaned into her spark mate to kiss him back.
Flame and Spitfire made their way into the rec room with Optimus Prime who led them to a table where they could sit. He was still still chuckling at their antics while he poured their energon and got a few Autobots wondering what had been going on. He sat back at the table with Flame and Sunblaze who was giggling with excitement to tell her parents what they had been up to that morning,
"It was fun this morning, wasn't it Flame?" Spitfire said,
"Yeah, it was," he replied, "Thank you, Optimus Prime," Flame said.
Prime laughed and ruffled the mech's helm affectionately, "That's alright," he replied, "I had fun too, now I have to go and finish off my conversation with Prowl."
Spitfire watched Optimus Prime throw his energon cube into a bin and walk out of the door, and then she looked at her brother with a sadness in her optics, her red protoform wings drooped, "You know, I'm going to miss sparring with you when you leave for the Decepticons,"
Flame looked at her amused, "Who said I'm going to leave?"
She looked at him puzzled, "Well...you did," she replied,
"Spitfire it doesn't matter who I'm with or where I go you'll always be my sister,"
"Yeah, but you won't be here," she croaked sadly.
He looked at her and smiled while he pointed to her chest, "I'll be in here, Spitfire, we'll be joined together by our bond," he replied.
"Yeah but tomorrow we'll come of age and then you'll be gone," she croaked.
He smiled at her, "Spitfire, I have to go. It's just that...I feel more Decepticon than Autobot,"
Spitfire looked at her orange brother, sadness written all over her face, "I love you, brother. Remember that!"
"I will," he replied quietly, "And I love you but I'm not going just yet, we have to choose our vehicle forms and I'm not doing that without you, and mum and dad want me to know about the Decepticons before I go,"
"And they are absolutely right," Arcee replied to the young mech, "Joining the Decepticons is not a decision to be taken lightly," she said as she placed her hands on both their shoulders and looked at them individually,
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he replied disrespectfully and pushed her hand off his shoulder, "I've heard it all," he got up and left the table.
"Hm, well your attitude matches that of a Decepticon," she snipped as she stood up.
Spitfire looked in the direction he went in before turning back to Arcee. She noticed that Arcee was looking paler than she normally looked and stepped forward, "Are you okay Arcee?" she asked softly.
The pink femme looked at Spitfire and smiled warmly at her, "I'm fine," she replied, "I just feel a little off colour at the moment,"
"Oh well, I hope you feel better soon,"
"Thank you," she replied gracefully and walked off to find Ratchet.
Sunblaze was the next one to arrive in the rec room, "There you are," she said to Spitfire, "Where's your brother?"
Spitfire shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, he's in here somewhere,"
"Okay, well we'd better find them, it's time you two had a vehicle form now you're protoforms are fully grown."
Spitfire clapped her claws and jumped up and down and chortled with happiness; Sunblaze chuckled and went off to find her son who was now on his way back to see what had his sister so excited. She rushed up to the mech and took his hands,
"We're going to get a vehicle form," she said,
"Cool," he replied.
Spitfire looked at him with disappointment, "Aren't you pleased?" she asked.
Flame's antenna poked out of his helm, "Yes, I am," he replied.
"Then what's wrong?" she asked.
Flame looked around at the Autobots chattering and clicking excitedly, one of them placed their hand on his head and rubbed it affectionately. This wasn't him at all, he felt so out of place so...alone. He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know," he replied; however that was not true, the mech did know what was wrong and it was simple. He had enjoyed growing up as an Autobot but he was ready to leave now.
Spitfire looked at him with puzzled ruby optics, she knew what was wrong she could feel it through his bond, "Why are you lying to me, Flame? You don't have to go, you know. You could just stay here,"
"No!" he snapped, "We've been through this. I do have to leave, so get over it Spitfire and move on," with that he stormed off to the front entrance, his antenna flat against his head.
Spitfire stood in the middle of the rec room, she shuttered her optics and whined sadly,
"Hey what's the matter, little lady?" Jazz asked as he breezed in,
"Nothing!" Spitfire replied. She tried to reach her brother through their bond but he'd shut it off, "I'm okay," she replied and walked off to find her mum but she found Bumblebee instead,
"Spitfire, what's the matter?" he asked.
The young femme burst into tears, "Why does he have to leave?" she cried,
Bumblebee whined sadly and gathered the sad femme into his arms, "Why daddy? He belongs here,"
"Only he can work that out darling, all we can do is support him,"
Sunblaze saw her son leave the rec room and followed him out. She found him with his head against the side of the ark, sobbing,
"Flame," she called, "What's the matter?"
"Go away," he snapped,
"No...I won't go away,"
Flame folded his arms across his chest and turned his back on her. Sunblaze stood beside him and draped her arm across his shoulder. They both stood there for a minute while looking out over the Nevada desert silently.
"There's no shame in crying, Flame,"
"What is so wrong with me joining the Decepticons?," he cried as he turned into her chest,
Sunblaze vented quietly, "Come baby," she said, "Let's find somewhere to talk about this."
"No, we'll talk here," Flame insisted,
"Okay," Sunblaze replied, "The problem is Flame, many of the Autobots have experienced first hand the Decepticons wrath..." she paused a bit, "...So...would you like to tell me what has brought all of this on?"
He shrugged his shoulders while looking at the floor, "Spitfire, she keeps begging me not to go,"
"Sweetspark, Spitfire loves you and you are joined together by the special bond you share as twins. It is hurting her to think that you are going to leave and join the Decepticons,"
"Yeah well...," Flame went to make a comment about Spitfire hurting him but the truth was she wasn't and he appreciated her appeals of making him stay. It made him feel wanted and loved.
He looked at Sunblaze, "But why, why did you leave?"
Sunblaze vented gently, this was going to go somewhere where she really didn't want it to go to, "My mother was a neutral and my father was Megatron,"
He looked at her stunned, "You mean...Megatron...leader of the Decepticons?"
"That is exactly who I mean,"
His antenna popped up, "Wow...wait a minute...that means my grandfather isn't Ironhide but Megatron," he said quietly,
"No, Ironhide is your grandfather and so is Megatron," Sunblaze corrected,
"Why haven't you ever told us this?" he asked her,
"Because Megatron is a tyrant and Bumblebee and I wanted to protect you from him," Sunblaze replied darkly,
"How do you know, what if he is just misunderstood?"
Sunblaze vented again, this time with sadness, "Don't ever make the mistake of thinking Megatron is misunderstood because he isn't, he killed my mother and a whole generation. One thing you will learn when you join the Decepticons is that he expects loyalty, he will expect you to do things even if you don't agree with it."
Flame looked at her horrified, "You mean that we are the first to be born since then?" he asked,
"Yes...I do," she replied,
"Wow, that's bad," his face screwed up with puzzlement, "Why did he do that?" he asked,
"I don't know sweetspark, I spent most of my life surviving and keeping my head down. Anyway enough of this let's sort out your problem,"
Now it was Flame's turn to vent, "What can I...we do...to help you?" she asked her son,
"I don't know," he replied, "It's just I had so much fun this morning with Spitfire and Optimus Prime and the twins,"
Sunblaze smiled at him warmly and then she leaned forward and held his hand, "Listen Flame, I can't tell you what to do, it's your choice to make but whatever you do decide to do we will be here to support you,"
"But what if I get there and discover I've made a mistake?"
"You can come back," Sunblaze said, "Nobody will think any less of you,"
"I suppose," he replied.
He looked at Sunblaze, "Why else did you leave the Decepticons?"
"Because I didn't agree with them or their beliefs or ideals, and the longer I stayed there the harder it became. Look Flame, I suggest you stay here until you know for sure what you want to do,"
Flame turned around and faced Sunblaze, resolve written all over his face, "That's the problem I do know what I want to do, I want to join the Decepticons, it's me, it's who I am. I find it easier to identify with the Decepticons than I do with the Autobots," Sunblaze smiled at him weakly,
"Then you have to do what you believe is right," she replied, "But it will be hard for Spitfire, Bumblebee and myself,"
"I'll miss you all," he said as he rubbed his arms with his hands
"And we will miss you," Sunblaze replied as she hugged her son,
"Spitfire iss pushing for me to not go," he said,
"Hm, she will, she's your sister, but I can ask her to stop if you like,"
He shrugged his shoulders again, "Only if she gets too much, we kinda had fun this morning,"
"Look, Flame." Sunblaze said, "If...when you do decide to go you need to consider this, Spitfire will be vulnerable if anybody finds out that she is your twin sister. It's not beneath them to use those who we care about the most to get at us, the consequences of her being caught will be very dire for her and for you. Be very careful and watch out for Soundwave. He is very dangerous, and Death Star as well," Flame decided that just the name Death Star sounded like a Decepticon to be avoided at all cost.
"I promise that I won't mention a thing about Spitfire, even though I'm going to joint the Decepticons she will still be my sister and I love her dearly,"
"I know you do, sweetspark," she replied, "And that's why you need to protect her at all costs,"
Bumblebee walked to the entrance of the base with Spitfire, "There you are, come on slow coach," Spitfire said in a sing song way.
Bumblebee wrapped his arms around Sunblaze and smiled at her, "Is everything alright?" he asked,
"I'll tell you later," she said,
"Second thoughts?" he asked,
"I'd say he's working it through," she replied.
His antenna poked up and he looked at her seriously, "Hm," Bumblebee said thoughtfully, it wasn't really what he wanted to hear and he dreaded the day they would meet on the battle field.
Spitfire and Flame stood in front of their parents with their armour in place, they had both taken on the form of a Chevrolet Spark which their parents thought was a sensible choice. Spitfire now stood at sixteen feet tall while her brother was seventeen. Both of the twins were now trying to adjust t the extra weight some of which was hanging off of Spitfire's shoulders. She moved her wings around while Bumblebee held her hands so that she could get her balance. Flame found this very amusing and stood there laughing at the femme the entire time,
"Don't laugh at me," she whined as she gingerly let go of Bumblebee's hands, "I think I have got it now, dad,"
Bumblebee let her go, the femme wobbled and fell flat on her back giving Flame more reason to laugh at her,
"I'm glad you're finding this amusing," she snipped at her brother, she held her hand up in the air, "Help me up,"
"I certainly think so," he replied as he took her hand.
Spitfire grabbed his hand and yanked it in a downward motion, the mech came crashing to the ground narrowly missing the femme. She rolled over and burst into laughter as he sat there in an undignified manner with a massive dent in his helm, "I got you back,"
"Yeah and you dented my armour, look at my helm," he snapped, "I haven't had my armour for five minutes and who damages it?...My sister."
Spitfire put her hand over her mouth and tried to stifle the laughter but she just couldn't help it,
"I'll wipe that smile off your ugly face girly, take this!"
"Hey, who are you calling ugly," she snarled as she stood up, but just as she sat up a foot slammed into her shoulder,
"Stop this now! The pair of you!" Bumblebee barked as he helped Spitfire up,
"Flame, you had no right to kick Spitfire like that,"
"Look what she did to my helm," Flame snapped at Bumblebee,
"You wouldn't stop laughing at me," Spitfire screamed at him.
Sunblaze cuffed her around the helm, "Don't you dare scream in that manner at anybody young lady."
Spitfire looked at Flame and growled at him through gritted dental plates, she turned around and stalked off toward the main entrance of the base and sat outside. The scarlet femme felt a little bit uncomfortable in her shoulder and she noticed that one of her wings weren't moving smoothly enough. She stood up and tried to wriggle it in place but it wouldn't work and finally the femme gave up.
Flame sat in the med bay while Ratchet checked the dent in his helm, "How did this happen?" he asked,
"I was just getting used to my armour and fell over," he replied,
"Hm, well that's quite some dent for just falling over, it looks like you were pulled down by some force to get a dent like that,"
"Ohhhh," Flame growled,
"Now tell me the truth," Ratchet retorted,
Flame vented, "I was laughing at Spitfire because while she was trying to get her balance, she asked me to help her up but she pulled me down instead,"
Ratchet fetched a tool he would use to remove the dent and asked the mech where Spitfire was. Flame shrugged his shoulders,
"She got in trouble with mum for screaming at me and now she's sulking somewhere,"
Spitfire heard the roar of engines overhead and looked up, there were four jets flying in formation above her. One of them caught sight of her ruby optics,
"Hey, TC, there's a Decepticon down there,"
"What?" Thundercracker asked,
"Down there, there's a Decepticon,"
Strascream overheard the conversation and banked around to look at what the other two seekers were talking about. He transformed and floated to the ground in between her and the entrance to the Decepticon base closely followed by his brothers,
"Great that's all I need!" Spitfire thought.
All of a sudden symbols flashed across her screen and she heard a loud hum. A cannon emerged from her arm and she squeaked as a visor fell in front of her face. The seekers laughed,
"Hey Screamer it seems this little femme hasn't used her weaponry yet,"
"Yeah, see that thing on the end of your arm? It's called a cannon," mocked Skywarp
Her battle computer flashed instructions across her HUD"Danger-outnumbered! Action-hide," Spitfire looked around, "Hide! Where to?" she thought. More instructions flashed across her screen, "Nowhere to hide. Evasive action necessary!"
Spitfire took her cannon and aimed it at the three seekers,
"Now what do you intend to do with that?" Thundercracker asked,
"Use it!" Spitfire snarled.
They laughed at her, she placed her hand on the trigger and aimed it at the blue and red one in the middle,
"Hey look, she's serious," Skywarp said.
A long weapon emerged from Starscream's arm, "See this," he sneered, "It's called a null ray, it has the ability to stun you so you can't do anything and then we could take you back to the Decepticon base and nobody will know,"
"Mum, Dad, help!" she warbled desperately,
Bumblebee and Sunblaze immediately flew out of their quarters, Flame felt Spitfire's desperation through his bond and jumped off the berth while Ratchet was sorting out his helm,
"Hey, where are you going?" he bellowed,
"Spitfire is in trouble, she needs help," he replied.
Flame raced to the door but Ratchet moved swiftly through the med bay to the door and looked at him with piercing optics, "Get back on the berth," he growled slowly and then looked at First Aid, "Go and find Spitfire, see if she's alright,"
Bumblebee and Sunblaze armed themselves and moved slowly to the entrance of the base each leaned against the opposite wall. Bumblebee flicked his head and his visor fell over his face. Other Autobots saw the parents in battle mode and fell in behind them, among them were Jazz, Ironhide and Chromia. They assembled around the main entrance armed and their weapons aimed at the seekers,
"Move out of my way so that I can get back into the base," Spitfire snarled,
This time Skywarp laughed at her, "And what are you going to do if we don't,"
"Nothing because you are going to move out of my way," she replied dangerously,
"Hey guys, we've got company, we'd better go," Thundercracker said.
The young femme was scared and she hoped that the seekers hadn't picked that up, but they were seasoned warriors and knew fear when they saw it. She started to shake a little bit, she was green and she knew they knew it but what else could she do right now. They were in the way of her getting back to safety,
"Move out of my way!" she snarled, "Or I will use this,"
"Oh come on," Skywarp said as he stepped closer, "We ain't gonna harm you,"
"Don't come any closer," she yelled, "I will use it!"
The seekers laughed at her, "You heard her," a femme's voice snarled behind them.
Skywarp turned around to find another pair of angry ruby optics glaring at him, she was surrounded by other Autobots, all armed with their weapons aimed at them. Optimus Prime behind them all, "What is this. Hey I know you, you're Death Star's friend." he looked at Starscream, "She's Death Star's friend."
"Yeah and the femme's mother, let's get out of here," Strascream said, "Before we have the entire Autobot army on top of us,"
The three seekers took off quickly and flew in the direction of the Decepticon base,
"Danger gone! Disarm safe!"
Spitfire tried to disarm her cannon but she couldn't move her fingers, "Mum," she cried uncertainly.
Bumblebee stood behind her and placed his hands over his daughter's. "Just relax," he said, "You're safe now,"
First Aid approached the femme slowly and placed his arm on her shoulder, "It's okay now, you're quite safe," he replied softly, "They have gone,"
Ever so slowly she let go of her cannon, it whined noisily as it wound down and disappeared back into her arm. She turned to Bumblebee and snuggled into his chest, he wrapped his arms around his young daughter and walked her slowly back to their quarters. The other Autobots congratulated her on her bravery and followed her in. Bumblebee took her into their quarters where she drifted into a peaceful recharge.
Flame returned back home with Ratchet in tow, the young mech raced over to her berth and sat next to her, all the time comforting her through their bond,
Ratchet looked over at her, "First Aid told me what happened, don't worry that was a normal reaction. She got scared because she hasn't been in that situation before and she was alone. Give her this when she wakes up...," he handed Sunblaze a cube of rich energon he kept for Autobots who were suffering from shock, "...and give her time to debrief." He looked back at the sleeping femme and smiled, "She was very brave."
What will Megatron do when he finds out about Spitfire?