To zombleangel: I didn't think about it when I first had the idea, but as I started writing this, I thought of the Boxcar Children, too!

Thank you to all who have followed, favorited, and reviewed!

Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!


Apologize

It was a typical day at work the next day. Chromia and Arcee were still lying on their bed, but Ariel suspected they weren't asleep—at least Chromia wasn't. Ariel still didn't feel like that moment was the right time to apologize, so she left early in the day, before Ironhide was even up.

Orion was at his work station, still oblivious to the gossiping femmes around him. Ariel's control system was back online, and she worked without a break. When Alpha Trion announced that work was done for the day, Ariel sat outside in the park with Moonracer, chatting about that day's work and any other pieces of conversation that lurked around the Hall of Records. Ariel turned around and spotted Orion, just leaving the Hall of Records and making his way towards her.

She quickly excused herself and left, not wanting to turn down Orion's request again. There was already enough gossip floating around about her and Orion—she wanted it to die down, although she knew that was impossible with the prattling femmes. She risked a glance around the corner and saw a sad-looking Orion talking with Alpha Trion. She knew she shouldn't eavesdrop, but Ariel was positive she heard her name.

"Every other femme sees me and stumbles head-over-heels," Orion sighed.

"Well, she's not every-other femme," Alpha Trion replied. Ariel wasn't sure if she should feel offended or proud about that.

"I don't know how to get her to even glance at me."

"From what I've heard, she's been through a few hard losses—I wouldn't think too hard about it."

Ariel startled when she realized that Alpha Trion knew about her past, but she quickly reminded herself that he was a Prime and much wiser than he appeared. She chided herself for eavesdropping and left.

It was dark when she got back, as usual, and Ariel was determined to apologize. She hadn't thought about what to say, but she knew that her sister would understand.

When she got inside, Ironhide was at the vid-screen, flipping channels and stopping when he got to the news, "Live from Crystal City". The reporter was ranting about the Six Lasers bombings and something else.

"Ironhide, where's Chromia?" she asked, slightly worried but trying not to get too anxious.

The news switched to a picture of the bombing and the Seekers, but when it switched back to the news reporter, an alert was going off behind her. Another bot ran forward and whispered something to the news reporter, who quickly shouted into the camera, "The Seekers are coming to Six Lasers—city-wide evacuation! I repeat: city-wide evacuation!"

Ironhide sprung from the couch, then whipped around to face Ariel. "Chromia, with Arcee, said she was going to Crystal City!"

"It's just the next city over—we have to get to her!" Ariel cried. The two raced from the house, Ironhide quickly locking the door, and transformed, driving along the busy streets until they got to the deserted roads of Crystal City. The same Seekers from before were overhead, bombs at ready and preparing to fire upon the towering city.

Ariel and Ironhide fought past screaming crowds, being shoved and twisted in every direction as desperate residents tried to get out. After most of the crowd had dispersed, Chromia and Arcee were found sitting on a bench, Arcee fighting to get out of Chromia's grasp. "Stars are gonna fall! Stars are gonna fall!" she cried out.

Chromia held Arcee down and ignored her, glaring off into the distance. "She doesn't understand," she sighed. "Why should I go back?"

"Because stars are gonna fall!" Arcee wailed.

The Seekers were positioned all over the city, and Ariel gasped as she heard their missile-bombs cock, preparing to fire. "This is my fault!" Ariel cried, rushing over to her sisters and kneeling in front of Chromia. "Chromia, please! You have to get out of here!"

"Why should I?" she scoffed, stubborn as ever.

"I was wrong! You and Ironhide do belong together—I shouldn't keep you apart just because of my experiences! I know that now! Please leave with me—I'm sorry!"

Ironhide stood behind, anxiously waiting to get going. The Seeker farthest back readied his bomb, and Ironhide shouted, "They're gonna fire!"

Everyone sprang up, Chromia transforming and letting Arcee in the back just as the first missile took off. One-by-one, the Seekers fired, turning the once-glorious city into ash. They made it out and met up with a nearby crowd, a few sobbing into each other's arms.

"Did anybot else make it out, too?" an older femme cried when they had transformed and met up with the crowd.

"No, I'm-I'm sorry," Ariel stammered. "We didn't see anybot else."

The older femme looked down sadly and turned to an older mech who Ariel guessed was her husband. "I guess she didn't make it out," she said quietly. The two turned and left, and slowly, the crowd dispersed just as emergency and news crews arrived.

The group barely avoided the news crews, but just as they were about to leave, Ariel spotted Orion Pax, scanning the crowd of Crystal City residents and family coming to see if their loved ones made it. Many left disappointed. Orion ducked away after scanning the whole crowd, beginning to leave. Ariel felt terrible about leaving earlier, but he looked so sad that she felt the urge to comfort him.

"O-Orion?" she stammered. He slowly glanced in her direction, and Ariel thought she saw his face brighten up at the sight of her standing beside him.

She wasn't sure what to say to him—Ariel was afraid to upset him more. "May I ask why you're here?" she asked quietly.

"I just lost someone I care about deeply."

"Oh." Ariel stayed silent, not sure how to reply. His tone was cold, yet he seemed calm, trying to reassure himself that all would be well. "If you don't mind my asking, who did you lose?"

He didn't hesitate before telling her. "My sister. She believed that our brother could change, but—look what happened!" he exclaimed.

"Wait-you mean you know who's behind these bombings? Your brother?"

"It doesn't matter." Orion started to walk away, and Ariel rushed forward to grab his servo and stop him, but her servo only lightly brushed his.

"He needs to be stopped!" she exclaimed.

"No! He cannot be stopped by physical means! I was a fool for believing in his ideas in the beginning—I never knew it would come to this, that we could go our separate ways. His ideas of violence—they aren't right, and they won't solve anything!"

"What are your ideas?"

"I don't want to talk about them here. What about your home?"

"No, not there." Ariel didn't want to explain why they were living with Ironhide or the runaway sisters. "What about yours?"

"I suppose—we'll just have to be careful."

Ariel wanted to ask about what they should be careful of, but instead she replied, "Deal. By the way, who was your sister?"

He took a deep breath and let it out before replying, "Her name was Silverwing, but—"

"She didn't fly," Ariel finished for him. "I knew her once—she helped my sisters and me a long time ago."

"She wouldn't stand for anything unjust. She stood up to my brother and was too stubborn to leave Crystal City—she thought if she stayed, he wouldn't bomb the city."

"But that's-not what happened."

"No, it's not."

Ariel was desperate to end the sad conversation, so she said, "I'll see you tomorrow after work."

"Of course."

Chromia came up to her, Ironhide clutching her servo affectionately. This time, Ariel didn't slap their servos away. "So-changing your mind about close relationships?"

"He just needs a friend to listen—that's all."

"Mmmhmm." Chromia smirked like she knew something Ariel didn't, but Ariel simply rolled her optics. Arcee giggled and clutched Chromia's other servo.

Ariel smiled at them and turned back around. Orion was still walking away, and as she squinted into the darkness, she could almost make out—gashes?—on Orion's back. They were something that would be created by huge, sharp talons, or perhaps a sword, she thought fearfully. She shook off the terrifying thoughts of someone harming Orion and thought about tomorrow—and about Silverwing.

"Primus, make sure she knows what she's done for our family—perhaps for all of Cybertron," Ariel prayed.


Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please follow, favorite, and/or review!

Signing off, theautobotprincess.