I only own my OC's!


Returned

6:00 AM, Nemesis, Soundwave's Room, Normal POV

Soundwave wakes us up the usual way, and gets us into the tub in the corner before waking his twins and, surprisingly, putting them in with us this time. We squeal, and start splashing each other, having a sort of bots-vs-cons water battle. Once we're all clean, he takes Bee, Star, and I out before dressing Star and I in a yellow and white short sleeved T-shirt with a pink collar, pink overalls shorts with a green John Deere tractor graphic, before putting my compression sock, foot brace, compression glove, and wrist brace on, then helps us into our pink sandals. He then dresses Bee in a yellow and white short sleeved T-shirt with a blue collar, blue overalls shorts with a green John Deere tractor graphic, and blue sandals.

He then pulls Rumble and Frenzy out and dresses them in red or blue T-shirts with surfboard graphics and "Little Dudes make Big Waves", orange and either red or blue plaid shorts, white socks, and black boots with Velcro ankles.

We get our backpacks, he hooks our pacifier necklaces over our heads, and we go to the med-bay of the ship to pick up Firestorm, who's wearing a purple short sleeved T-shirt, pink overalls shorts, white socks, and purple tennis shoes; and Gremlin, who's wearing a green and purple star-print sundress with her green and purple tennis shoes.

I wave up at Breakdown. "Hi, Breaky! Hi, Scrapper!"

Breakdown crouches to me. "Be careful today, Sweetsparks. We don't need another combiner getting hurt."

"I know." I smile up at him. "I know Motormaster and the others are meanies…" I pat his arm before turning to leave. "Hang in there, Breaky. It'll get better."

At that, we all head down to Earth with the wagon and start toward the school.


He shows up, as usual, at 9:30 in the morning, and takes us back to the ship. We head to the med-bay to drop off Firestorm and Gremlin. Hook and Knockout are working on a vehicon, with Breakdown and Scrapper assisting.

"Scrapper."

"Yeah?" He looks up. "Soundwave. What did you need?"

'My berth room at 1600 hours.'

"Got it. We'll be there."


He changes us into white long sleeved t-shirts with a green John Deere tractor graphic, light pink or blue pants, socks, and our tennis shoes we came with. We start playing with the minicon twins while Soundwave watches us. "Rumble. Frenzy." The two minicons heads pop up. "Begin packing your belongings." He moves to start gathering his things and wiping his computer's memory. "Mariposa. Brightstar. Bumblebee." We look up to him. He hasn't used our real names on the Nemesis since we got our holo-paint done. "Pack new clothes in backpacks. Do not forget anything. Old clothes are clean, and are under bed with new." He loads blankets, pillows, and transfer drives, as well as towels—red, blue, purple, and my pink, Star's purple, and Bee's yellow—and the minicon's soap with seals under the caps. He grabs laundry soap—with seals—and continues to pack and clean, while Bee, Star, and I finish up and start playing with our plastic tractor toys while we watch the others—even Ravage and Laserbeak—scramble around to make it seem like no one ever lived here.


Soundwave stacks mine, Star's, and Bee's berth, and Rumble and Frenzy's berth, then shoves them under the large berth before grabbing Ravage's berth and slipping it into his subspace. "Laserbeak, return." The bird flies over and docks on his chest. "Ravage, return." The cyber-cat jumps to his shoulders and docks securely. "Rumble, return." The minicon climbs up and docks to his left arm. "Frenzy, return." He climbs and docks to his right arm. Now he looks like he did before the war, except for different colors than before.

"Soundie?" I look up to him. "What happen?"

He pulls out clean outfits and helps Star and I into pink long sleeved T-shirts with a Supergirl symbol print, yellow overalls with a Supergirl symbol on the chest, light pink socks, and Supergirl capes. He slips my foot brace back on, then slips on my pink tennis shoes before putting Star's purple ones on her. While we're getting dressed, Bee changes into a blue Superman outfit that matches mine and Star's. With his long, thin fingers, he sticks our old clothes into our backpacks before zipping them. "Get your blankies and put your backpacks on, younglings." He sighs when we set down our tractor toys. "Take your toys too." We do, and he picks me up, and sticks my pacifier in my mouth, then does the same with Bee and Star, since we're still in holoform. A tiny, holoform Ratbat winds up cradled in my arms a moment later, the little guy—now black and furry like his organic counterparts—cuddles into my chest.

"Where we go?"

"Earth." Soundwave sets coordinates to the location of a low mountain range, and a portal appears. A moment later we hear a knock on the door. "Enter, quickly." The Constructicons step in quickly, with Gremlin in Scrapper's arms and a little purple backpack on her back. Hook takes Bee while Scavenger takes Star, leaving me because I'm holding Ratbat. We slip through the bridge silently, and he quickly closes it. "Soundwave to Autobot Base. I have left the Decepticons and am looking to join the Autobots. I have Mariposa, Brightstar, Bumblebee, and the Constructicons. They are defecting with me. Please bring Defensor. Mariposa needs medical attention."

While we wait, we shift back to our bot frames, and I hand the tiny, now-purple and metal, Ratbat up to Soundwave.


11:30 AM, Autobot Base Omega One, Third POV

"Optimus, we've got a high-frequency signal, with an embedded message."

The prime—as well as Elita, who's holding Fixit as Mariposa used to before he could walk—approach the comm screen. "Play the message."

"Soundwave to Autobot Base. I have left the Decepticons and am looking to join the Autobots. I have Mariposa, Brightstar, Bumblebee, and the Constructicons. They are defecting with me. Please bring Defensor. Mariposa needs medical attention."

Optimus reaches up to his comm. "Autobots, return to base."

"Wha's wrong, Prime?"

"We just got a communication from Soundwave."

"Activate the ground bridge."

By the time everyone's returned, Red Alert and the younglings are in the main room as well, and the sparkling twins are taking a nap. Optimus turns to the Protectobots, who are hovering close to Elita and Fixit. "Hot Spot, you and your team need to come with me."


?, Normal POV

Soundwave, visor still on, locks eyes with Sire as he walks through the ground bridge. He sets me down, causing Hook and Scavenger to set Bee and Star on the ground, then takes off the special hologram magnets Knockout had stuck to us, causing Sire to crouch to us. Bee and Star run to him as I limp-run behind them. "Sire!"

"Mariposa! Brightstar! Bumblebee!" He hugs the three of us before passing us off to Hot Spot, Groove, and First Aid, and standing. "Soundwave?"

He kneels and looks down, then takes off his visor and looks up to Optimus. "I am willing to do anything to pay for my crimes against you, Sir."

I gasp, and limp-run back to Soundwave, and hug him before standing between him and Sire. "If you do something to him, you do it to me too!" Yep. I just pulled a Pocahontas.

"I am not going to harm him, Sweetspark. Rise, Soundwave."

"Sir?"

"Come with us. You will be treated fairly. Scrapper?"

He hands Gremlin off to Hook and steps forward. "Yes, Sir."

"Are your intentions to defect true?"

He nods. "Yes, Sir."

Sire nods with a sincere smile. "Then come back to the base with us. Prowl will talk you through our regulations, and you will be given a room and a duty schedule."

"Thank you, Sir."

I look up between the two. "Uppy?" Soundwave nods, and carries me on his hip through the ground bridge.


12:00 PM, Autobot Base Omega One, Normal POV

Carrier looks up as we walk back through. "Soundwave? The Constructicons? What in—" She suddenly grins. "Mari! Oh, Sweetspark!" She runs over, almost dropping my minicon in her hurry to reach us.

"Stop."

"Soundwave."

He stares straight at Carrier. "Mariposa is in pain. You must be gentle."

Carrier nods and moves close at a much slower pace. He hands me off, taking Fixit instead. "What's wrong, Sweetspark?"

I turn and reach for Ratchet. "Fixie me pwease?"

He walks over to me with a gentle smile. Out the corner of my eye, I can see Soundwave hand Fixit to Streetwise, and Prowl and Red Alert lead him out of the room with Sire behind him. "What do I need to fix, Sweetspark?"

"Foot an' han'." I look down before giving him a sad look. "Starscream sticky hands an' feets in 'gon while we was human form… He putty us on floor an' we steppy on poikeys… We climby up the cabinet, an' he pushy us to floor—we hitty wings an' head… Den he getty burny, an' roast han's… Den he frow us back on'a fwoor. Dis time we hitty butts, an' hitty wings 'gain… Den we nappy… He kicky us in'a backs, wakey us… He claw tummies… Den he poikey all over 'roun' ouchies, den poikey han's an' chee's…" I whimper. "Den we twy be fwiends to hi' 'parkles, an' dey pushy us in'a bookshelf…desk…frow shapeys a' us…bitey us…"

"Oh, Sweetspark…"

Bee looks sad as First Aid walks over with him in his arms. "Mari nerve dis-o'der back…"

"Ah…" Ratchet sighs heavily. "I'll get to work on her. Aid, bring Bumblebee and follow me. Groove, I'll need you to bring Brightstar so I can check her over as well. Streetwise, we'll need Fixit. Hook, come with, and bring the femmeling. I need to examine her. The rest of you will be given an appointment while with Prowl." The mech sets Fixit down, and the minicon runs after us.


Ratchet sets us on the floor gently, beside the anxious minicon. "Keep the compression bandages on for a week, then I'll check your flare again. The medication should take care of it soon." He sighs. "Hook, you may take Gremlin back into the main room and join your brothers. They are downstairs in the first office."

"Yes, Sir."

"And none of that. Most of us aren't that formal here. Prowl's the only one on-base who is."

"Thanks, Ratch." I hug his leg before leading Bee, Star, and Fixit out the door into the main room, barely limping this time. We head to our room after giving the Protectobots each a hug, and start to unpack the things the now ex-Decepticon had bought us while we were in his care.


4:00 PM, Autobot Base Omega One, Normal POV

"Fixit?"

The minicon's head pops up, and he smiles at Sire. "Is it time?"

My head pops up from where Bee, Star, and I are coloring in our school-themed coloring datapads—in our normal forms, of course—with our twin sister and brother squished as close as elbow room allows. "Time for what, Fixit?"

"We are going to pick up his sparklings. Would you three like to come?"

I squeal. "Of course!" I blink when I remember Soundwave. "Where Soundie?"

He smiles. "Soundwave is getting settled in his new berth room, then he will be setting up an office."

I grin before elbowing Bee and Star. "Come on. Let's go get Fixie's sparkles."

The three of us hop off our berth—which Bee, Star, and I haven't seen for almost a week—and follow Sire and Fixit to the ground bridge. The Twinlets move to follow, causing me to shake my head. "Not right now, Little Ones. We'll be back soon."


?, Normal POV

The four of us look up at Firestar—a red femme Bee and I recognize as one of Carrier's crew—as she steps through the ground bridge cradling a slightly-older-than-a-newspark minicon in her arms. Fixit rushes forward before she's fully out of the bridge. The moment she reaches the end of the bridge, she kneels to the minicon and hands the small orange sparkling—this one with a pink fuzzy scrunchie on her arm—to her nearly desperate Carrier.

Fixit quickly yet carefully takes the tiny femmeling into his arms. The little one is awake, and looks up at her Carrier with bright blue optics. "Hey, Sweetspark…my Aurora…"

"Fixit…"

This time it's Aunt Chromia, with an identical sparkling, this one with a blue scrunchie. She kneels beside him with the mechling before easing him into Fixit's other arm. "Lightshock…"

By now, Moonracer, Glyph, and Lancer are standing there as well, each femme soldier cradling an identical sparkling. Knowing that Fixit's arms are full, I dart forward to take the last femmeling from Moonracer—she's got a purple scrunchie, and her name is Aquamarine—while Star takes the sparkling—a mech with a green scrunchie, named Wheelie—from Glyph, and Bee takes the last mech—with an orange scrunchie, named Sparkblaze—from Lancer.

We watch the femmes head back through the ground bridge before calling back for a bridge. Fixit can reunite with the others once we're out of 'Con reach.

~Clear the berth. Aid needs to check the sparklies.~

~Berth clear and waiting.~

~Thanks, D-Wave.~


4:30 PM, Autobot Base Omega One, Normal Pov

We step into the base and head toward our room, planning to lay the sparklings—who are only about two Cybertronian months old—on our berth. When we step through the door, however, we find the Protectobots there; Hot Spot standing in front of a door that connects to an empty room, First Aid standing beside the berth waiting to look them over, and the other three standing around a five-seat stroller, color coordinated perfectly with the quints.

Fixit walks right past the stroller to First Aid and hands the sparklings to him almost hesitantly before turning to the other three. "You didn't have to get anything for me…"

"There's more than that, Fixit."

I look over at Hot Spot from where I'm handing Aquamarine to First Aid, now that the first two are lying on our berth. "What'd' ya do, Spot?"

He smirks at me as Bee and Star hand "their" sparklings off to First Aid. "Come on."

I blink, instantly knowing what the Protectobots had done, and move the minicon that's only a couple feet smaller than me. "You go first, Little One."

Hot Spot leads us into the formerly empty room—since Snowfire moved in with Ratchet and Red after the Decepticon attack at school. Inside are five minicon-sized blue cribs with color-coordinated sheets and blankets, as well as their stuffed animals, rattles, playmats, and boppies, with mobiles hanging over them, a rocking chair with the boppy I'd gotten him, five carrier car seats in their "colors", and five high chairs for when they're older. A large collection of five and nine ounce metal bottles are in a large metal box against the wall. There's a door to our left that, when checked, leads to a bathroom completely scaled to the minicon who'll be using it, with drawers that contain enough baby clothes for cover when we leave the base with them. The floors in both are a light blue carpet, and the walls have the same rainbow mural that the prepared nursery had back on Cybertron—the one they never got to use.

Fixit looks up to Hot Spot with a tearful smile. "You did all this for us?"

Hot Spot smiles. "Anything for our little sister." Fixit looks up to me, causing me to shake my head. I'd never expected this. "For Starlight, Fixit. All of you."

Fixit nods before rushing back into our room to check on the little ones who are still with First Aid. "How are my bitlets?"

"Healthy, happy…" He trails off as Aurora, full name Aurora Grace, starts to fuss. "And I think, starting to get hungry." He finishes with a chuckle.

Fixit's optics widen and he looks from the quints to their new nursery. "Um…"

I step over and lay a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay."

He looks up to me nervously. "I-I made sure to keep my supply up, but…what if it's not enough?"

I sigh softly and hug the little guy. "It's going to be all right, Little One." I smile slightly.

I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, "I'll never let you go."
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone,"
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

Don't you dare look out your window, darling.
Everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold onto this lullaby
Even when the music's gone
Gone

Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

The country song, which I'd used as a lullaby for the minicon through the entire carriage and any time he'd been upset afterwards, causes Blades to duck out of the room. I duck out behind him and look up at the mech's teary faceplates. "Hey…it's all right, Blades. They're back now."

"I know… You can't tell me you don't think about it still…"

I shake my head. "Just last week I lost it over it again. You know that. Sometimes it pops up in my mind, just like those Rescue Bots quotes used to."

He chuckles at that. "I'd almost forgot we had a series in your dimension."

I nod. "And your voice still throws me sometimes. How you sound at the beginning…asking about Cybertron HQ…and why you're the last rescue squad…" I tear up, and look around for a place to hide before shaking my head and running toward Hot Spot, who's still in my room. I throw myself in his arms as my shoulders start to shake.

"MARI!"

Hot Spot smiles beside himself. "Easy, you guys. I used to do this too, when I was a sparkling." He turns his attention to me. "Mari?" He sighs and walks over to the door to get Blades. "Shhh. It's okay." He opens the door. "Blades? You okay?"

Blades looks up before sighing heavily. "Just a flashback…"

"Ditto…" I whimper out.

"She looked like she was about to pull one of Aid's hiding tricks for a minute."

"No wan' you sees…bu' no wan' be 'lones either." I pop up and look around. "Where's Fixit?"

"In the nursery."

First Aid turns to us. "He's nursing the sparklets, so you may want to give him some time alone with them." He reaches over and rubs my back. "And we're still here, Mari."

I lean back and look at my hands before holding them up. "Only 'cause of these…tha's not easy on a sparkle, Aidie…"

"I know, Sweetspark…" He holds out his arms, and I reach for him. "Why don't we find you five a book while Fixit's bonding with his sparkles?"

Bee runs over with one of the smaller books I'd brought with me. "Aid read!"

Star squeals. "Aidie's gonna read, Twinsies!"

Aid chuckles. "All right. Go on and get on the berth."