Basis: G1

Pairings: HoundxMirage

Okay, I lied, this chapter has like no smut in it... oh well. You'll live. (Sorry... next chapter.)


Day 5

"Hey, Mirage..." Jazz let out slowly as he approached the noble at a booth. "How ya doin'?"

"Um, okay... thanks for asking..."

"Listen," he said as he sat down across from him beside Bumblebee and muttered a sorry, only to have the minibot laugh back. "I just wanted to apologize for me acting so weird yesterday. I know it was pretty awkward... I was just frustrated about... things."

"That's alright, Jazz," he replied. "I understand." Mirage still hadn't figured out why Jazz acted weird around sparkling-talk, or even what happened to his own. I figured they'd grown up or something... If he didn't even know he had sparklings, odds are they happened long before he was an Autobot, considering he was still fairly new to the team.

"Um... Well, I better get goin', Prowl's gonna wonder why I'm not at Prime's meeting. I'll see ya later."

"Alright Jazz. And thank you."

Jazz flicked a smile as he stood up and walked out the rec room. Bumblebee scooted back over to the middle of his seat, giving Mirage a look of confusion. "What was that about?"

"Nothing, Bee. Just... stealth yesterday."

"Oh..." Bumblebee sipped his energon silently as Mirage stared off in the distance. The noble jumped out of frame when the mini-spy's pager went off, beeping frantically for the whole room to hear and stare. "Whoops..." he said to himself, jumping up. "I gotta go, catch ya later!" he called as he emptied his cube and ran out the doors.

Mirage barely had time to wave back, and continued sipping his own energon. He looked down at his abdomen, thankful that Bumblebee hadn't paid any mind to it. He rested a servo on it as he felt it tighten, no doubt from the sparkling shifting even the slightest bit, and drank his cube with the other.

All of a sudden his own pager went off, but not so loud and only two beeps. He detached it from his subsection and pressed the screen's button, finding Hound's faceplate smiling at him. "You ready?" he asked him, and Mirage nodded his helm as he smiled back.

"I'll be there in five kliks."

He switched off the pager and stood up, placing his empty cube with the other dirty ones and walked out the door with his servos laced in front of his abdomen. As he walked down the hallway, few mechs even looked at him, and if they did, it was at his faceplate to say hello. He'd casually smile back or nod or say hello in reply, walking faster to the med bay to meet up with Hound and escape this awkwardness.

He spotted Hound at the end of the next hallway and made his way towards him. "Morning," Hound said cheerfully as Mirage neared and took the noble's servo. He kissed his cheek plate as part of the greeting, happy that they'd finally be able to determine the gender and such.

The med bay doors swooshed open. "Right on time!" Ratchet called cheerily as well. He walked back inside his med bay with the two following him, and set up a monitor and the ultrasound.

"Primus," he chuckled as Mirage sat down on the berth.

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm just... surprised, I guess... Haven't used one of these since Jazz was carrying. But that was... *pfff* eons ago."

Hound chuckled and looked at the screen as Ratchet smeared the blue goop around on Mirage's lump. Mirage wanted so badly to just ask Ratchet what happened to Jazz's sparklings... why he was acting so weird. Mirage obviously wasn't there for the meeting so he only heard about the Deceptions' murderings from Hound. Did that really happen to Jazz and Prowl?

Ratchet placed the ultrasound device in the goop, moving it around slightly as he looked at the screen. A clear image of the sparkling popped up, and the three mechs' optics widened with laughter as they saw the sparkling clench and unclench his servos and shift around.

Ratchet kept looking for that little spike to determine the gender. Until a new-sparked sparkling was at least two joors old, their panel would still be developing and the spike [or no spike] would be bear to the world, just like a human. But after then, the panel would emerge and cover it, just like fully-grown mechs.

"There it is," he said, smile widening. "Do you see it?" He pointed a digit to the screen where he saw the little spike, showing them he was a mech.

"Yeah..." they both replied curiously.

After a while, Ratchet's smile dropped. "Wait..." he said slowly. "Um... That's not a spike... I think that's his servo... or foot..." He moved the ultrasound device around a bit, getting a better image of the sparkling.

All three mechs' optics grew wide as the sparkling was turned so his front faced them. "By Primus..." Ratchet said to himself, having a hard time believing what he was seeing.

Hound and Mirage's jaws dropped slightly as they saw what Ratchet saw.

No spike.

"It's... a femme..." the medic spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Sweet Cybertron..." Hound whispered.

Mirage said nothing. He stared at the screen, bright optics wide and jaw agape. Was it real? He was carrying a femme? Femmes were extremely rare, he knew... what were the odds? He laughed a little, trying to wrap his processor around the fact that he and Hound had produced that .01%-chance femme.

He was so caught up in the fact that he jumped when Hound rested a servo on his shoulder. "Are you sure that's right, Ratch?" he heard him ask.

"Yes, 99.9% sure." Ratchet paused for a moment, staring at the screen intently, scanning over every perimeter possible. "Primus... I still can't believe it... I haven't delivered a femme since before the Golden Age..." he replied, chuckling.

"I've never even seen a femme sparkling," Mirage chimed in.

"I'm not surprised... given how young you are. Which is probably another factor to take in on how you ended up sparking a femme, and Hound too as a matter of fact. That, and you being a noble and all... also quite rare."

Mirage closed his mouth as Ratchet switched off the ultrasound and stored it back in its place. "Now, tell me how many containers you've filled with the formulated energon."

"Around 30, more or less..." Hound answered.

"Good... I'd say do another 30; fill the pitcher to the top. You'll have tonight and tomorrow to do that, and the sparkling at this state will definitely add and extra kink..." he smirked. "After tomorrow your abdomen will probably be too large to interface. Understand?"

Both mechs nodded with small smirks on their faceplates.

"Fantastic," he smiled as he clapped his servos together, walking away. "I'll tell Prime the good news."


Mirage turned on the water in his wash station, feeling the warmth drizzle down his tense frame. It felt so good, especially after interfacing five times in a row right after their visit with Ratchet.

He lifted his servos so the water pressed against his wrists, reliving some of the pain where the handcuffs had been. He picked up the cleansing fluid and wash cloth, gently wiping Hound's paint marks off his chassis. He slowly circled it around his abdomen, turning so the few mechs in the room weren't able to see him.

He stopped, however, when he felt something, an awkward feeling in his chambers. He rested a servo on it, waiting, gasping as he felt it again.

*Primus,* he though, chuckling. He knew about that feeling. He waited again, gasping with a large smile as he felt it a third time.

He could almost feel those tiny pedes brushing up again his abdomen, kicking.

It filled him with joy; he couldn't wait to show Hound. He felt the little sparkling kick lightly a fourth time as he continued washing, trying to hurry so he could get out of this public area and tell Hound his discovery.

Just then Bumblebee ran over to Mirage, the startled noble noticing how chipper he seemed.

"Hey, 'Raj," he said as he stopped in front of him. Mirage tried his best to turn and hide his abdomen... Just two more cycles, he thought. Then the whole Ark would know. Don't let them find out sooner...

"Yes, Bee?"

"Well... I, um, I was just wondering..." He stuttered, trying to catch a glimpse of Mirage's torso that he seemed to be hiding from him.

"Yes, Bumblebee?" the noble repeated, sounding a little on edge towards the minibot, after the spy said nothing for a moment.

"Oh... sorry..." he muttered. "I was just, kind of noticing... your, um, your abdomen..."

Mirage's optics looked more embarrassed, gazing at the wall as he faced away from Bumblebee. "I was just wondering..." he continued slowly, quietly. "Are you... carrying?"

Mirage's optics widened at the question, as if he'd just insulted him. But he didn't know why he felt so embarrassed... he knew that carrying a sparkling would obviously draw attention to him... Why did he feel angry? Why did he have to be so paranoid... so scared? Why did he wish that everyone would leave him alone... like he regretted getting pregnant in the first place? He wondered if Ratchet was right; maybe the sparkling would be better off not existing. Those 10 astroseconds between Bumblebee asking that one question and him standing there, waiting for a response, flooding so many thoughts through Mirage's processor that he thought he would faint... thinking terrible, uncontrolled thoughts about his sparkling... if it was too late to put the little femme out of her misery before it even came upon her...

A sudden kick inside his chamber brought him back to reality. Of course he didn't regret it. That was what the official announcement was for. To let everyone know, so he didn't have to hide for the rest of his lifestream. So he'd still feel loved by all the Autobots... and not like they all were against him for having a sparkling. The mortifying thoughts of abortion left his CPU, like he hadn't even thought about them. How could he think about them? Primus... he swore to himself; how could he be so selfish...

"Mirage?" he heard from small, quiet vocals, and turned back around to the minibot.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered after those 20 astroseconds of awkward silence. "I was just thinking... but um," he chuckled, uncovering his torso slightly as he lifted one servo up behind his helm nervously. He looked down into Bumblebee's bright, blue optics shining up at him, patiently waiting for his answer.

"Uhmm... yes, Bee. I..." he sighed. "I am."

Bumblebee said nothing, did nothing but gasp to himself with his barely-agape jaw. Mirage sank into the warm water pelting his back as he watched Bumblebee, praying that he wouldn't just run off and tell every mech on board.

No, he thought. Surely not... Bee wouldn't do that.

"Really?" Bumblebee asked after a moment, a rather wide smile spreading over his faceplate.

Mirage smiled, lips together, lightly, nodding his helm so softly it looked like he didn't even move. "Mm-hm," he let out, watching the spy's smile grew even wider.

He noticed Bumblebee's optics flicker down to his abdomen, and immediately felt intimidated once more. He shot his freed servo down so it laced with the other, covering his lump, hiding it from Bee.

He then remembered to let it go... It's only Bumblebee, he told himself. Don't be paranoid... act like he's Hound. He gently unlaced his digits, sliding them to the side of his abdomen as he watched for any passing or staring mechs. He very slowly continued until Bee could see, fluttering his optics down to look at the yellow mech's expression of excitement and curiosity smiling at the scene.

"Wow..." he heard him whisper, and saw a servo reach up to it. His smiled lessened, then reappeared as he remembered to just let it go again. He felt the small, black servo rest on his lump, watching Bee's faceplate as he chuckled almost nervously.

After a while, Mirage spoke up again, whispering. "If you hold still long enough, you can feel 'em kick."

Bumblebee looked up at the noble with both smiling lips and optics at the words. He looked back down, remaining as perfectly still and quiet as he possibly could, wanting to feel the sparkling kick so badly.

Mirage chuckled as he saw Bumblebee gasp, feeling himself how the sparkling kicked rather hard at the new touch. "Weird, isn't it?"

Bumblebee nodded with the biggest grin Mirage had ever seen. "Yeah..." he replied as he pulled his servo away. "So it's a mech? Or do you know yet?"

Mirage's pressed smile grew wider as he shook his helm slowly. Bumblebee gasped again, staring with bright, wide optics at the noble as he realized it wasn't a mech.

"No way!" he yelled, Mirage laughing as he shushed the excited minibot. He was thankful not many mechs were even in the wash room, and those who were had already turned back to their original positions.

"Sorry..." he whispered to Mirage. "But a femme? Are you kidding?"

Mirage shook his helm as he laughed again. "I'm afraid not, Bee. Ratchet checked this morning."

"Primus..." was all he said after a while.

"Prime's got a meeting scheduled in two cycles to announce it to everyone. So please... keep this to yourself...?"

"Yeah, sure Mirage, no problem... I gotta run, though. Thanks for letting me... you know, feel him..." he laughed as he turned to leave.

"You're welcome, Bee." He smiled as he waved the minibot bye, finally returning to his shower.

*So much for hurrying to Hound...* he thought. But he figured that maybe a sparkling wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.


That evening, nearly every mech aboard the Ark was gathered in the rec room.

Ratchet stood talking to Optimus as Ironhide stood behind him with a servo on the medic's hip. He tried to hold back giggles and push Ironhide away, but it never worked.

Eventually Optimus needed to start the meeting and left, Ratchet turning around to face his bondmate and glare lovingly at him. Ironhide took his servo and lead them to an empty booth, smiling.

"Thanks," he said sternly.

"No problem."

Ratchet gave Ironhide a look that made his smile disappear. "Sorry..." he muttered, making the medic laugh.

"It's fine... I guess I'm just nervous..." Ironhide grasped Ratchet's servo again and kissed it.

"Don't be... you've already lightened up about the sparkling. I've been watching you; you seem happier."

Ratchet smirked. "I hadn't realized how long it'd been since I delivered a sparkling, 'Hide... probably, three full millennia, at the minimum."

Ironhide paused for a moment, watching Ratchet's face. "And we never did get a chance to have one of our own..." he whispered, kissing Ratchet's servo again as the CMO looked up at him. He sighed, looking almost in pain, optics filled with sadness.

"I know..." he sighed in reply as his optics flickered back down to the table.

Optimus cleared his vocals and hushed everybody down. "Alright, alright," he shouted over the loud voices scattered throughout the room. "Mechs! Attention!"

Every mech quit talking, the room filling with dead silence as they turned towards their leader on the risen platform. "Thank you. Now, you may or may not know why you're here this evening, but we've scheduled this meeting on behalf of some very important information need be shared with everyone."

A few whispers fluttered across the room as Optimus continued. "Mechs," he started slowly. "...We have an expectant."

Several gasps left the silence, Mirage facing Hound worryingly. "Don't worry," he mouthed to him, smiling slightly. Mirage slowly turned his helm back to the leader, hoping that he wouldn't have to worry.

"Ratchet has informed me that the carrier is five days along, but the sparkling has a rare feature."

By now you could hear a micro screw drop. "I am aware that many of you are thinking the sparkling is a mech... But I am pleased to announce that she is a femme."

A couple more gasps left the room, Optimus noticing a few smiles flicker on here and there. Jazz's mouth went agape as Prowl's optics widened, sighing heavily with his own optics filling with grief. He closed his jaw as he turned to Prowl, almost telepathically telling him "I told you so". Every mech knew that femmes were much weaker than mechs, the sparkling state being the weakest. Prowl looked back at Optimus, sighing quietly to himself.

The leader continued. "Now we understand the risks involved with sparklings, correct?" Several yeses escaped the crowd. "And so do our future creators."

Optimus repeated the rules and risks anyway, refreshing everyone's processors. He reminded everyone of Megatron and the killings, glancing at Mirage and Hound, at Jazz and Prowl, answering any questions anyone asked him.


Meanwhile back in the communications office, Red Alert and Blaster typed away at screens as they listened to the meeting.

"Who knew..." the boombox laughed to himself as another system warning popped up.

"Who knew what?"

"A sparklin', Red," he chirped. "A sparkling on this Ark. I'm still havin' trouble wrappin' my CPU around it."

Red Alert chuckled a bit. "I'm honestly not that surprised..."

"Why's that?"

"Well... before you were an Autobot, I imagine, Jazz and Prowl had their own sparklings."

Blaster dropped his servos from the console and clutched the stand. "You're kidding..."

"No," he said cheerily. "I'm not."

"Well... what happened to 'em?"

"Hm?"

"The sparklings... did they grow up? Or what?"

"Oh, Primus, I don't know, Blaster... rumor has it Megatron or some 'Con murdered them. I was away on Cybertron over the period they 'left'."

Blaster stroked his chin as his fifth system warning took over the screen. Huffing, he typed away at the keyboard, clearing it up.

"Besides..." Red Alert continued, Blaster looking his way. "Didn't you and Tracks try for a sparkling?"

"Pfff... Primus... that was... eons ago, Red. Back when this war was much less... evil... than it is now."

Red Alert looked over at his fellow communications director as the boombox got back to work, swiping the screen with a digit. "Well..." he started slowly. "If these creators thought it would be okay to have one now, what's stopping you?"

Blaster stopped once more and turned his helm to Red Alert, looking puzzled. After a moment, he went back to the screen, shaking his helm and chuckling. "Nah, Red... I guess... I thought I was ready back then. I still don't think I am..."

His typing slowed down as he felt Red Alert's optics piercing his outer armor. "B'sides, just because another couple is havin' a sparkling doesn't mean I still want one."

"I never said you did, Blaster. I'm just throwing out my opinions. That's all."

The boombox hummed in reply as he swiped the screen one last time before gasping.

"What is it?" pitched Red Alert, walking over to Blaster's monitor.

Blaster swore colorfully under his breath as he zoomed in on the subject and comm. linked his best spy. "It's Ravage..." he said after a while, running out the doors.


"...after she is born... sparkling-sitting... watching... playing..."

Bumblebee seemed to only pick out the words of Optimus' message that he wanted to hear. He simply couldn't wait until that sparkling was born... he'd practically be her older brother, playing with her, sparkling-sitting her, watching over her...

He jumped when his pager beeped frantically. Most of the mechs turned to him, the minibot jumping up and running out the rec room, waving bye to Optimus as he noticed he'd caught his optic.

"This is Bumblebee," he answered as he switched off the beeping and opened the link.

"Bee! Get to air duct A18, Ravage is spyin' directly over the meeting... no doubt recorded everything about anything."

"I'm on it..." He turned and ran back the other way, passing the rec room to Windcharger's quarters where duct A18 was located directly above.

"I've activated the break-in walls so he's trapped, and I don't think he knows it... But be careful; you'll have just enough time to open the right end and slip inside, but there won't be much room. If he attacks, you're pretty much toast..."

Bumblebee chuckled. He knew the boombox always loved using human phrases, mainly via Spike and Carly. "Affirmative, Blaster."

He closed the line temporarily as he entered the small gunner's quarters and spotted the air duct entrance. He climbed up on the berth and jumped, clasping perfectly around the entrance and pushing the door with his helm, pulling himself up.

He immediately turned a sharp left and crawled frantically, following Blaster's orders as to where Ravage was spying.

He opened the link back up when he neared the minicon.

"Okay Blaster, I think I can see the break-in wall..." he whispered.

"Fantastic, now there should be a key pad to your right, right next to the wall. Ya see it?"

"Yeah..." he muttered, squinting as he cautiously crawled towards the wall and spotting the pad.

"Alright, enter code 1-9-8-7-7-0..." He heard the boombox ask Red Alert in the background if that was right; when he heard him tell him yes, he tapped in the code.

"You have approximately 30 nanokliks before that wall opens, Bee," Red Alert took over the link. "Are you aware of your plan?"

Bumblebee smiled as he nodded. "Of course I am." And with that, he pulled out his laser pistol, waiting four exact nanokliks until the wall slid down and a pair of bright red optics glared at him threateningly, and launched himself forward as he cut the link and the wall slid shut behind them.


The meeting still continued as if nothing was happening.

Probably because no one knew something was happening; that was the point of stealth.

Very few questions were being asked, actually, which made Mirage feel more calm. He just looked up into Hound's smiling optics, focusing on them whenever he was nervous, like now.

Prowl slid around in the corner booth to hold Jazz when Bumblebee left, stroking his upper arm and massaging his neck, resting his helm against his. He kissed it lightly whenever Jazz needed it, comforting him, almost telepathically telling him back that everything would be alright.

All of a sudden, a loud crash sounded throughout the whole ceiling, everyone pausing and looking up. Another crash echoed, making few mechs shriek in surprise.

Optimus figured out what it was. "Alright, mechs, nothing to worry about... let's finish up this meeting, shall we?"

Mirage rolled his optics in relief, Hound chuckling at him.

Jazz looked away from the ceiling and sank into Prowl's warm embrace, burying his helm in the tactician's neck.

Another small sound and faint yelp shouted from the ceiling, but few mechs paid any mind to it.


"Gaahh!" Bumblebee shouted in pain, straining as Ravage pinned him down. "Primus... s- slagger!"

Ravage snarled at his opponent spy, energon saliva drooling down onto Bumblebee's faceplate. He revealed his fangs, snapping them at Bumblebee, the minibot widening his optics as he jerked his helm away just as Ravage leaned in for the kill.

He eventually found enough strength to push the minicon off, throwing him to the floor and grasping for his pistol. He aimed it nervously at the spy, servos trembling as energon bled out of seems. Ravage snarled angrily at Bumblebee, leaping up and throwing himself at the Beetle.

Bumblebee shut his optics and turned his helm as he pulled the trigger, hearing first a loud boom then a growl of pain, a large mass hitting the floor of the air ducts, followed by silence.

He heard himself panting. He onlined one optic, wincing as he spotted Ravage on the floor, dead, a rather large hole right in the middle on his chassis, energon flowing out of it. He lowered himself and crawled towards the spy, carefully, prepared for anything unexpected, observing the offlined cat-like creature.

Blaster broke his silence by forcing open the comm. link. "Are you alright in there, Bee?" he asked, his vocals trembly. "You kinda kicked out my main camera so I lost ya in there."

"Yeah... sorry about that..." he panted. "I'm alright... neck's a little scruffed up, but nothing big," Bumblebee replied as he re-keyed the pad and kept the break-in walls open. He grabbed Ravage's back limp legs, dragging him out of the air ducts as he talked to Blaster.

"Sounds good, I'll have Ratchet look ya over. I'm proud o' ya, Bee."

The minibot scoffed. "Thanks, Blaster," was all he said, both mechs grinning cheesily to themselves.

Bumblebee finally reached Windcharger's quarters and threw Ravage down on the berth, closing the duct entrance as he jumped down. "Oh, and you're not going to believe this..." he heard Blaster speak again.

"Believe what?"

"You missed the meeting; Prime said Mirage was the carrier!"

Bumblebee paused for a moment as he walked with Ravage draped over his shoulder. "Nah," he softly replied after a minute, smiling. "I believe it."