(See previous disclaimers)
Chestnut remained by his mate's side. Chestnut was pissed at what the seeker had done to poor Illusion, but Chestnut also knew Illusion needed love and support. I am going to kill that seeker if it's the last thing I do Chestnut thought to himself, keeping the thought away from Illusion. Chestnut knew he now had to keep his mate safe, and that included whatever may com to harm Illusion.
Meanwhile, Optimus and the others debriefed from the mission that they had just returned from. "Jazz, you found him, what did you see" Optimus asked, not 100 percent sure if he really wanted to know, but knowing he needed to.
"Yes, I did and I found his groin plating had been removed and tossed aside. It was how I knew…" Jazz replied, referring to what had happened and then discussing further details. Optimus listened as the discussion went on, careful not to allow his feelings about this or information about this get back to Mirage, as right now Mirage's reactions weren't always predictable since Mirage was sparked and Mirage was protective of his twin.
Mirage hated that his mate was hiding things from him, but there was little the Illusionist could do about it. And seeing that Optimus wasn't going to come home anytime soon, Mirage headed for the med bay where his twin was. And once at the med bay, Chestnut was the first to see the bot.
Chestnut wasn't quite sure why Mirage was here, and so Chestnut was careful about what he said and did. "Why have you returned here?" Chestnut carefully asked, wanting to know if Mirage was going to be a threat or not.
"Seems my mate is shutting me out on what they are talking about and I wanted to visit my twin" Mirage stated, his swollen abdomen revealing the real reason why he had taken time before saying yes.
"Are you… sparked?" Chestnut asked, curious.
"I am, and it is the reason Optimus guards me so closely and I have to be careful" Mirage stated. Chestnut nodded. "You've never met a sparked bot before, have you?"
Chestnut swallowed hard before answering that. Oh, he had met sparked bots, but the sparklings rarely made it and sometimes the carrier didn't make it either. "I have never met a sparked bot whose sparklings have survived" Chestnut put it bluntly.
Mirage heard the answer and took a few minutes to process it, as his sparkling addled processor took a bit more time to process things. Then it hit Mirage and he felt awful. "I…I'm sorry" Mirage stated, stunning Chestnut.
Chestnut looked to the bot. "What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything" Chestnut asked, confused.
"I…I know I didn't do anything, but I feel bad that you have never had the opportunity to see a living sparkling, as they are precious" Mirage stated.
Chestnut responded, "well if the sparking process hadn't of killed them, most probably would have died in the streets anyway."
Mirage nodded, as he had read up on where Chestnut had come from. "But now, you will get a chance, as Illusion is carrying." Chestnut wasn't sure what to say to that, as he didn't see himself as a fatherly type. "I suggest you follow Optimus around for a bit. He may open your optics to what things could be like" Mirage suggested, wanting the best for his twin and his twin's mate. Chestnut nodded, he still had much to think about, and had no idea trouble was coming for him and his mate.