AN: I have no idea why, but this chapter was a pain to write. It did not want to come out at all. Next chapter should be much better.
Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.
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It took a few orns and a few commissioned paintings, but Red's youngling body was finally ready. Red onlined the morning he was supposed to undergo the transfer and whistled loudly at the twins. He would normally wait until Sideswipe woke up before asking for attention, but he was excited. They had told him about the transfer. He wasn't sure if he should be excited or scared, but Sideswipe seemed excited and that was good.
"Side!" Red squeaked. When Sideswipe didn't move, Red ground his vocalizer in displeasure. "Side! Up!"
"Mmm…Red?" Sideswipe answered groggily. He forced his systems to boot up faster and rolled off his berth.
"Side, energon." Red held up his arms as Sideswipe walked over to him.
"Energon, energon," Sideswipe said. "When you get transferred, you can get your own energon."
"No. Side get energon." Red smiled.
"'Side get energon', huh?" Sideswipe stuck his fingers under Red's light sparkling armor and tickled the sensitive wiring underneath, making Red squirm and shriek with laughter.
"Some of us are still tryin' to recharge, ya know," Sunstreaker growled.
"Grumpy!" Red said as Sideswipe left the room.
"He's always grumpy this early, little Red, you know that."
"Ratch grumpy, too?"
Sideswipe laughed. "Probably. We'll find out when we go see him."
"Jack?"
"Not today, remember. Give yourself a couple of days to get used to your upgrade like Perceptor had to. Then you can go back to Wheeljack's." Sideswipe got their energon for them and helped Red hold the cube while he drank. When Red was finished he set him on the floor so he could have his own.
Red got to his feet and wandered over to the few toys Sideswipe had managed to find him or Perceptor had given him. He started stacking his blocks while Sideswipe checked his terminal.
Sunstreaker came out of the room, his optics glowing dully as the rebooted. "I hate you both," he growled. He grabbed a cube of energon and downed it.
"Sunny come with?" Red asked.
"What?"
"Sunny come with? Ratch grumpy. Sunny come yell and make Ratch not grumpy at me."
"Then he'll be grumpy at me. No thanks."
"Sunny has some stuff to do around here today, Red," Sideswipe said. "Sunny, keep an eye on the feeds from the warehouse. Some mech has been sniffing around."
"Got it."
Sideswipe left the terminal and scooped Red up in his arms. "Won't be able to do this much longer." Red whined and buried his face in Sideswipe's chest armor. "It'll be all right, Red, I promise."
"Don't b'lieve you," Red muttered.
Sideswipe left their apartment and started towards Ratchet's. "Don't believe me? Would I lie to you? To other mechs, definitely, but never to you, little Red."
"It's about time," Ratchet snarled when Sideswipe knocked on the door. He yanked it open and ushered them inside. "The sooner we get him in this upgrade, the better."
"Did you manage to get out of registering him?"
"For now, but it won't last much longer. He has to register to get an ID tag. When he chooses a name, we'll have to register him."
"We'll deal with that when it happens, I guess." Sideswipe shifted Red around to hand him to Ratchet.
Red clung to Sideswipe's arm with all his strength. "No!" Sideswipe said registering was bad. That's why he was never allowed on the terminals. If he had to get a name when he got his youngling body, he didn't want it!
"Come on, Red. You have to upgrade some time."
"No!"
"You were excited about this yesterday."
"No!"
Sideswipe cycled air slowly through his intakes. "Red, I told you on the way over here it would be okay. Why are you scared?"
"No names. Stay with you and Sunny."
"You're gonna stay with us no matter what. We won't ever let anyone take you." Sideswipe peeled Red off his arm and held him in one hand. "And when you get upgraded, we'll teach you how to defend yourself to keep people from taking you if we're ever not around. It'll be fine."
Red thought about it and whined softly, but he held his arms out to Ratchet.
Ratchet gently took Red from Sideswipe and walked into his workshop.
--
It took a few joors for Ratchet to completely transfer Red from one body to another. Sunstreaker came in at one point and sat beside Sideswipe on Ratchet's couch.
"How much longer?" he asked.
"I don't know," Sideswipe answered. "He's been in there all orn."
They didn't bother to check their chronometers when Ratchet stepped out of the shop. Without asking, Sideswipe went and got him a cube of energon. "He's recharging. Transfer went okay. His spark is holding steady and accepting the new body. His glitch is reduced by a lot in this form too. He'll be able to talk more normally now." He gulped down the cube that Sideswipe handed him.
"Thanks, Ratchet. We really owe you."
Ratchet waved his hand dismissively. "As soon as he wakes up, you can take him home. I want him resting for a few orns yet."
"You got it."
--
Red came online with irritating slowness. His reboot cycle was taking a lot longer. He stretched out his servos, trying to get used to the bigger feel of everything.
Bigger feel?
He sat bolt upright and looked himself over. His paintjob was still mostly red, but there was quite a bit of white mixed in too. And boy was he bigger. He guessed he'd be about three quarters of Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's size. He looked around finally and noticed Ratchet watching him.
"Everything working all right?" Ratchet asked.
"I think so," Red answered, testing out his new vocalizer.
"Your readings are good. I want you to take it easy for a couple of orns. Get used to how your new body is working. If anything, and I mean anything feels off, you come tell me, all right?"
Red nodded. "I'm allowed to leave now?"
"Yeah, get out of here." Ratchet smiled slightly and moved to let Red out of the room.
"Wow, Ratchet, he looks great," Sideswipe said when Red walked out.
"Excuse me, but who designed him?" Sunstreaker asked, not half as irritated as he sounded.
"Details."
Red smiled slightly.
"Get out of my quarters. Unlike some of you, I've been working all day," Ratchet said. He pointed towards the door.
"Thank you, Ratchet," Red called over his shoulder as he followed Sideswipe and Sunstreaker out. He walked between the two of them, feeling very exposed. He couldn't hide in Sideswipe's chassis anymore, but between the two bigger mechs he was at least a little out of sight. He couldn't help but look around constantly, routing more power to his optics so he didn't miss a thing.
"Relax, Red, there's nothing to see," Sideswipe said, noticing the brighter glow from Red's optics.
"No one would bother you with us anyway," Sunstreaker added.
"I can't help it," Red answered softly. "I just…I don't like it."
When they got back to their apartment, Sideswipe lead the way inside. "We have an extra surprise for you too, Red." When Red looked up at him curiously, he pointed to Sunstreaker's studio. "Recharge room of your own."
"B-but what about Sunstreaker's art stuff?" Red asked.
"Gonna keep it out here," Sunstreaker answered. "You know not to touch it, so it won't get messed up."
"And once we get you registered, we can put a terminal in there for you," Sideswipe added.
Red whined slightly, not really liking that idea. Something was really bothering him, but he couldn't figure it out. It wasn't anything wrong, really, but…
"Upgrading takes awhile to get used to, Red. You'll feel like yourself again in a couple of days. Go get some more recharge."
Maybe that would help.
