Hello! So I got this chapter written up pretty fast 0_o I hope you all like it!
Thanks to those who've PMed, faved, followed, read and reviewed! You're all awesome!
If you have ideas for things that could happen later in the story, no matter how big or small, please tell me! For this story to work, I'll need help coming up with things to happen in future chapters, or this story will be too short! Angst moments, family moments, humor moment, I'd like to hear it all!
Disclaimer on my prof.!
Translations:
Lolo Buggah - Crazy guy/girl (depends who you're referring to)
Enjoy and please review!
The first word that popped into Koa's mind as he stared up at the Diego Garcia base was 'big'. Yet, even that didn't best describe it: the building was a towering beast, a near impenetrable-looking fortress that was very much well lit from the outside, even in the pitch black of the night. The air was warm, holding the tang of salt that was so very similar to the breeze back in Kapaa, made Koa's heart ache.
As the boy stared up at the base, mouth slightly agape, he was vaguely aware of Sideswipe rolling up next to him, the silver plating of the mech flashing in his peripheral vision. Koa turned his head, looking up at the frontliner.
"This is your home?" The boy asked, voice filled with awe and a touch of incredulity. Sideswipe smirked, crossing his arms over his chassis.
"Yep. Yours too, for now."
Sideswipe mentally kicked himself as a flicker of sadness passed over Koa's face. Frag it, he'd forgotten about Koa's views on what 'home' exactly was...
But Koa didn't show any anger or annoyance towards the mech, only looking back to the base as he tried to play casual.
"Its so...giant."
Sideswipe managed to force himself to pretend everything was normal as well and he scoffed.
"Considering it has to hold hundreds of NEST soldiers and over a dozen-and-a-half Autobots? It kinda has to be."
Koa hummed, nodding in acceptance.
"Yeah, you've got a point there."
Both Sideswipe and Koa looked over as Optimus approached them. Sideswipe nodded respectfully, a gesture that the Prime returned before looking to Koa. Optimus smiled softly as the young human shifted a bit in unease.
"There is no need to be anxious." The Prime rumbled warmly. "I promise you will only be treated with kindness."
"Except for Ratchet the Hatchet, with his bedside manner an' all..." Sideswipe muttered. Optimus sent the shorter mech a sharp look, and Sideswipe held his servos up in surrender. "Just saying."
Optimus sighed, shaking his helm before returning his calm gaze to Koa.
"I came to ask where you would prefer to sleep for the night, until we can arrange a permanent room for you. There is a room close to William Lennox's quarters, if you would like, or there is a room close to both Bumblebee's quarters and Sideswipe's. If neither sound-"
"I'll take the room by Sideswipe and 'Bee!" Koa quickly interjected. At the surprised expressions of both Optimus and Sideswipe, the boy flushed red. "I-I, uh...I'm just more comfortable with you guys, I know you all better than Mr. Lennox. I mean, he's nice and all, but..."
Optimus nodded, saving the teen from embarrassment.
"I understand perfectly. There is already a bed there, though very few personal touches or pieces of furniture..."
The Prime's tone was apologetic, and Koa quickly shook his head.
"Don't worry, I don't need much more than a bed and some place to put my clothes. Really, I'm sure it'll be perfect."
Chuckling, Optimus inclined his helm.
"Very well. Sideswipe," Optimus looked to the frontliner. "Please escort young Koa his quarters. He is in the empty room two doors down from your own living space." Optimus looked back to Koa. "You no doubt require much rest after such a long flight."
Koa slowly nodded, shouldering his backpack. He was tired, actually. Who wouldn't be, after a fourteen hour flight? That and the time change between Diego Garcia and Hawaii together left Koa starting to feel the strain on his mind from the trying week he'd had.
"Yeah." He agreed, head bobbing in agreement. "Sleep sounds good."
Sideswipe sighed, grumbling about 'babysitting duty' as he reached down and scooped up Koa in a servo. He waited for the boy to situate himself and, once his young passenger was secure, the boy started for the base's entrance. A grimace tugged at Koa's lips at the frontliner's seeming irritation.
"Sorry."
Sideswipe looked down at Koa, both confused and surprised.
"Huh?"
"I said I'm sorry." Koa repeated. "I know there's better stuff you have to do than show a kid to their room."
Sideswipe came to a sudden halt, staring down at the boy in shock. Then, his expression softened, a rare sight when it came to the silver mech. With a sigh, Sideswipe started moving again.
"Kid, there's no reason to be sorry, its fine. Besides, it means I can avoid my post-mission medical check-up for a little longer than usual, and that's always a good thing." Koa ducked his head to hide a smile, and Sideswipe grinned. "Oh don't you laugh at me, I'm serious! You've never seen someone with the Hatchet's bedside manner!"
Koa managed to settle down, smiling up at the mech.
"I don't like doctors and hospitals either." He confided. "When I was six I bit a doctor." he held up two fingers. "Twice."
Sideswipe was so surprised by the out-of-the-blue statement that a bark of laughter left him.
"You bit a medic twice? Frag kid, that's hilarious! I mean, not for the medic, obviously, but pit!" He laughed out. "If anyone bit Ratchet, he'd punt them through a wall!"
Koa laughed as well, his cheeks dusted a light red as he looked away, inspecting the large halls they were going down. They were empty, aside from a few stragglers.
"Yeah, well, I got better about doctors and stuff as I got older. Learned tricks and stuff so I wouldn't freak out."
"Tricks, eh?"
Koa nodded, his eyes becoming distant and almost...depressed.
"Yeah. Y'know, like imagining I'm somewhere else in the doctors office and stuff. I hate needles, but as long as I watch the nurse and know the second that I'll feel the needle entering, that...makes things easier. For years, though, I was...well, there weren't many doctors or nurses who wanted to check me over. That's why it took so long for us to get any help after that Soundwave guy attacked me."
Sideswipe adopted a somewhat confused expression. Why did the boy seem so afraid of doctors? He'd seemed fine in the hospital after Soundwave hurt him. Then again, Koa had just said that he'd found ways to get around his fear...
Sideswipe quickly decided to try and cheer the teen up.
"Its not that I don't like medical wards or needles, its just way more fun to annoy Ratchet instead of be his patient."
Koa laughed, the sadness leaving his eyes and instead replaced with amusement.
"C'mon man, that's not nice! Poor guy probably has enough to worry about without ya bein' a lolo buggah!"
"Quit calling me that!" Sideswipe huffed. "I'm not that...Whatever you called me!"
Koa only laughed more, the sound making Sideswipe grin. The mech had to admit, he liked hearing Koa laugh. It was a nice sound. He felt an odd sense of disappointment when they reached their destination, a human-sized door.
"Well, here's our stop." Sideswipe sighed, carefully setting Koa down. The mech then summoned his holoform, going to the door and opening it. "What'cha think?"
Koa hesitantly stepped through the open doorway, and Sideswipe's holoform followed. He was surprised when the boy suddenly stopped.
"Kid? What's up? Something wrong?" The boy didn't reply, and Sideswipe had to slightly sidestep around him. He looked from Koa's stunned expression to the room and then back again. "Koa?"
The boy slowly looked about the room. In the back left corner there was a bed, plain but comfortable looking. A desk was in the back right corner, and a closet in the set into the right wall beside the desk. The walls were plain.
"All this is really mine..?"
Sideswipe's expression softened, and for a moment, in his mind's eye, he could see him and Sunstreaker being brought home for the first time by Ironhide and Chromia. He and his brother had asked the same thing when they'd seen their room, which was a palace compared to their room at the youngling home.
"Yeah. At least until we assign you an Autobot guardian, then you'll move into a room connected to their living quarters, but all the rooms look the same. All the rooms are bland, if you ask me, but once you get a guardian and are permanently settled in a room, I figure you can spruce your room up, right?"
Koa hesitantly looked over.
"Won't I get in trouble if I hang stuff all over the walls?"
Sideswipe snorted.
"What? Nah. No one'll mind. If you don't believe me, you should go see Bumblebee's room." Sideswiped jabbed a thumb over his shoulder pointedly. "He's got band posters all over. He's a sparkling at heart, and Sam got him into human music a long time ago."
"Band posters?" Koa asked with a laugh, looking as though he didn't believe Sideswipe. The frontliner nodded.
"Yep. All over his walls, and he's proud of each poster he's got."
Koa laughed, shaking his head to himself as he moved to the bed, setting his the suitcase he had in his hand down on the floor beside it and his backpack on top of the luggage.
"Alright, I'll leave you to get settled in I guess." Sideswipe stated, feeling somewhat awkward just standing by the doorway. "Make sure to get some recharge, tomorrow's gonna be fraggin' crazy, we have to get you introduced to the other 'bots here on the base and assign you a guardian and all sorts of stuff.." Koa nodded, and Sideswipe added, "Also, if you need anything, 'Bee is right across the hall and I'm two doors to the left. Don't go for any late night adventures, kid. if Red Alert runs into you, he'll freak and think you're a spy or that there's a security breach and that just leads to a bunch of confusion and trouble for everyone, got it?"
Koa rolled his eyes as he kicked off his shoes and flopped down onto the bed.
"Yes mother."
Sideswipe frowned.
"Yeah yeah yeah, laugh it up." He muttered. "You're worse than Sunny..."
Koa only grinned impishly, not even caring that he was still in jeans and a hoodie as he wriggled his way under the covers.
"'Night, Sideswipe."
Sideswipe sighed, but his expression softened all the same.
"'Night kid. Hope you recharge well."
Sideswipe finally reached the medbay for his post-mission at one-thirty in the morning.
Of course, Ratchet was less than please.
"Look who finally decided to show up." The medic pointed to an examination table. "Sit your aft down so we can get this over with."
"A little grumpy there, Hatchet?" Sideswipe teased.
A hollow bang echoed in the room as the smart-mouthed comment earned Sideswipe a sweat to the back of the helm with a wrench.
"Don't you get smart with me you little pit-spawn! You're lucky I'm looking you over at all- I haven't had recharge in days, and I have had it up to here! So sit still so we can both get this over with!"
"Jeez, it wasn't my idea to be late!" Sideswipe huffed as Ratchet began scanning him. "Prime had me take the kid we brought from the island to a temporary room."
Ratchet only scowled, looking half-tempted to chuck a wrench at the silver mech. Silence fell, which was unusual when Sideswipe was the one in the medbay, but the frontliner had adopted a thoughtful look. Ratchet seemed somewhat taken aback by this, but didn't interrupt (he wasn't about to break the peace and quiet that had settled). After a few minutes, Sideswipe spoke.
"Hey Ratchet...You givin' that kid we brought a check-up tomorrow?"
Ratchet appeared taken aback by the question, but slowly nodded after a moment.
"I am. Optimus wants to ensure that we know of any medications he may need that we might not know of, as well as if the boy is healthy. Why?"
Sideswipe looked supremely uncomfortable, but he felt like he had to say this. For Koa.
"Look, Koa, the kid, he's...afraid of medics and stuff. Just...Take it easy on him tomorrow, alright? Maybe ease up on that 'bedside manner' of yours?"
Ratchet paused in his work, staring at Sideswipe owlishly. He seemed to take a moment to process Sideswipe's words, then spoke slowly.
"I always attempt to be careful when it comes to younglings." A raised metal brow. "I have never seen you show such concern for a human."
Sideswipe glanced away, embarrassed.
"I'm not concerned." He scoffed. "I just feel bad for him, is all. Kid's been going through a ton of scrap thanks to that glitch-spawn, Soundwave."
Ratchet looked unconvinced, but didn't question the warrior any further.
"Fine." He stated gruffly, examining Sideswipe's optics. "I'll keep that in mind tomorrow when I look the youngling over." Satisfied with what he saw, the medic straightened and moved away, grabbing a datapad and beginning to write on it. "You're systems are strained from lack of recharge. Go get some rest, and don't you dare let me see you training for at least the next two days."
"Two days?" Sideswipe groaned. "But what the frag am I supposed to do in the meantime?"
"I don't know and, frankly, don't care as long as it doesn't involve any pranks near my medbay." A gesture towards the door. "Get out and get some rest."
Sideswipe groaned again, rolling his optics as he slid down from the examination table and left with a noticeable slouch to his backstruts.
The door slid shut behind the frontliner with a mechanical hiss, and Ratchet paused in his work, looking up to the door with an expression of interest. Sideswipe had certainly been acting...odd. He hadn't seen the frontliner act like that, never seen him show actual concern for anyone unless they were seriously hurt. It was also no secret that Sideswipe preferred the company of other 'bots to that of humans, so why did he care about the fears of the boy that had been brought to Diego Garcia?
This was food for thought, Ratchet mused, as he returned to writing on the datapad. Perhaps he would have to talk to Optimus later.