Blades spent several hours in the stasis pod, Dani never leaving the room. The other bots had placed the egg inside the nest with a blanket wrapped around it, and while much of the black had rubbed off as ash, it still remained quiet and dark inside.
When Blades awoke his windshield was mostly repaired, though a few cracks remained. Though the others suggested a little longer, the helicopter refused to be away from his child any longer, and had seated himself in the nest with the egg in his hands. Dani sat on the edge of the nest, keeping him company and telling him about her trip. He would nod or give a faint smile in response to her story, but his attention was more on the egg.
Nobody really blamed him.
It had been days since the egg had been taken from him, and it still hadn't shown any signs of hatching or even any life inside...Some of them were concerned it never would. Blades still sang softly to it, tapping the shell with a finger in hopes of spurring a response from within, but the egg remained dark and still.
The helicopter bot sat with the tiny object in his hands, rocking back and forth with the egg nestled against his chestplate as he tapped. "...Please..." He whispered, "...Give me something..."
"You did everything you could, Blades..." Dani murmured. "...It's not your fault."
Blades closed his optics, "...I didn't keep a hold of it... I promised them I wouldn't let them out of my sight...! It's all my-"
"No Blades."
They all turned as Chief's stern tone caught their attention, watching him climb into the nest with the rescue bot. "Do not blame yourself for any of this. Those crooks attacked you, chased you, and hurt you and the egg. There is absolutely nothing about this that is your fault..."
"But-"
"Blades, listen to me..." Chief took in a deep breath. "...Before I...Lost my wife...Before Cody, we were going to have another child... But something happened, something out of our control, and that life, that spark, went out before we even got a chance to meet them... I blamed myself too, but I realized that sometimes things happen, and you can't do anything about them but move on..."
Blades was still for a moment. "...You think I should give up on it...?"
"No...I'm saying that you can't blame yourself for something that was out of your control...And you can't let the pain and anger eat you up either."
Blades nodded, and then rested his helm against the shell. "...If you can hear me..." He whispered. "...Give me a tap...Please...? Just one, little tap..."
The egg was still, and Blades' smile began to fade as he began to give up hope... Then it came.
Not a tap, but a crack.
Blades' optics widened and his smile returned as a visible crack appeared in the shell, white against the singed teal. "...I see you...!" He whispered.
"It's alive...!" Dani announced with a cry of relief. Taylor grabbed his wife and held her tightly as she started to tear up. "Thank goodness...!"
Everyone's attention moved to the egg as Blades held it in his hands. Each tap formed more cracks, a spiderweb of white lines across the shell's surface, and finally a piece of the shell broke off, and they saw a tiny clawed foot peek out. Blades' optics never left the egg as he picked little pieces of the shell off and assisted the sparkling, until finally the sparkling broke free completely. The shell tumbled to the bottom of the nest, leaving a tiny little shape lying in Blades' hands and covered in energon that dripped all over Blades' fingers.
"Thank Primus for miracles...!" Boulder praised as Blades hesitantly reached out with a finger to touch his child.
It took after his dino mode, which was unsurprising, considering how Blades had been stuck in that form when he was carrying it. Not much bigger than the humans, it was hardly moving, but it gave feeble squeaks, optics tightly shut.
"It's okay...!" Blades whispered, pulling them up against his chest. "Daddy's right here...I'm right here...And I'm not going anywhere...!"
The tiny bot's squeaks lessened, their little clawed fingers scratching against Blades' plating but not actually causing any damage.
"Is it a mech or a femme?" Blurr asked.
Blades didn't seem to hear, all of his focus was on the tiny life in his hands. Tears were spilling down his cheeks as he stroked his child...His child. "P-Primus, you're so little...So fragile...!" He whispered.
Chief grinned. "Let's give them a little privacy..." He murmured, and they all nodded in agreement.
"Chief..." Heatwave murmured, catching the human in question's attention. "...Was what you said true...?"
"Which part?"
"...Did you really have five children once?"
Chief smiled sadly. "...I still do...I just won't meet one of them until I'm gone."
"How do you know?"
"...It's just one of those things you just know..." Chief looked back to Blades. "...I'm just glad that we were able to save this little life..."
"Me too..."
The other bots maintained a watch over the new father and newborn, checking on them every hour or so. Blades mostly slept, the tiny cybertronian cradled in one hand.
With all that had happened to the pair, they needed the sleep.
It was Heatwave's turn when the sun began peeking over the horizon outside and lighting up the island. It was also the time when one of the rescue alarms began blaring. Heatwave grimaced, looking to Blades and finding that the helicopter was too zonked out to even hear it. The sparkling didn't seem bothered, either. He gave a sigh of relief and looked to the firepole as Kade slid down to the floor. "What's the situation?"
"Oh, you're gonna get a real kick outta this one, Partner."
The firetruck transformed into vehicle mode. "Why does that worry me?"
As the pair pulled out of the garage, a blast of cold air came rolling into the garage. Blades groaned in his sleep, pulling his wings tighter around himself.
The sparkling, however, stretched and his not-yet-colored optics fluttered open. Big, wide optics looked around, so many new and unfamiliar things to look at. But something took precedence over exploring...
Blades' optics flew open as he heard the cry, lifting his head and looking around. For a moment, the sparkling blended in with the metal of the nest, rendering him somewhat invisible, but Blades finally caught sight of him after using the cries to narrow his search.
"Hello..." he whispered, scooping up the upset infant in a hand. "Shh shh..." He stroked his child with a finger, "What's the matter?... Are you hungry?"
The sparkling didn't seem to understand the words he spoke, but something in his processor told him his assumption was correct. The only question was what to do about it? The little bot was barely bigger than an energon cube himself. Blades thought it over as he stepped out of the nest and wandered towards the storage room where they kept their energon cubes. The sparkling's cries lessened a little, but he still whimpered, optics staring up at his parent.
A solution came to mind as he entered the room, and he grabbed a smaller cube and opened it before dipping his finger into it. He pulled it back out and then held the finger out. "Here...This what you-"
He jumped a little as the sparkling latched their beak around his finger in a quick motion, licking the energon off and finally ceasing his cries. "...There we are..." He murmured, taking a seat on the floor. The sparkling's grip on his finger with his beak pinched a little, but not enough to cause Blades' discomfort.
"Blades?"
The helicopter looked up as his name was spoken, seeing Boulder walking into the room. "You weren't in the nest, so I came looking for you."
"Don't worry," Blades teased, as he dipped his finger into the cube again. "I'm still at the Firehouse..."
Boulder sighed as he took a seat beside Blades. "That's comforting... We were really worried about you."
"I know... I didn't mean to be gone like that, I just-"
"Don't worry. We understand that you weren't fully in control at the time..." Boulder looked down at the sparkling, "...I see they're a mech."
Blades grinned, "Yeah, So you can tell Blurr to cool his pistons... Haven't decided on a name yet... I wanna see more of his personality before I finalize anything." His smile faded, and he gave a sigh. "...Do you think I can do this?"
Boulder gently punched his teammate's shoulder. "You'll be great... You're already doing better than Heatwave would have."
Blades' smile reappeared, "Oh I dunno... Maybe being a parent would be good for him- N-Not that I wish what I went through on anyone!"
He continued his feeding until the sparkling refused his finger, and he lifted the tiny bot up, stroking his cheek with a finger. The little bot closed his optics and seemed to soak in the motion, even giving a purring sound.
"See? You're doing great..."
"Yeah... I guess I am..."
