Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Deca-orn- 20 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

Danni- TF version of the word "mommy" (Though I don't think I use it in this fic, but just in case.)

Danniluk- TF version of "mother"

Opi- "daddy"

Opiluk- "father"

::Comm. link::

"Cybertronian speak."

"English speak."

((Psychic Stuffs))

Disclaimer: I have seen the term "carrying hold" all over , but I first saw it in Karategal's fic Youngling. So I'm giving her the credit for it. I don't own Transformers, however, I do own the storyline and all OCs.

Just so y'all know, from now on, "Opi" is Jazz, and "daddy" is Blaster, so that I can differentiate between them without constantly repeating their names, seeing as much of this will likely be from Sunny's POV.

-Chapter 10-

Sunburst clicked as she onlined her optics. The last thing she could remember was Sigh-sipe fighting for her. And a bond. With a familiar, yet unfamiliar mech. She gave a short huff of air as she looked around at her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of hold, but it was very big compared to the other ones she had been in. Matter a fact, it looked much like her daddy's did. How strange. Wait. Maybe this was her daddy.

"Daddy?" she called. "Daddy!"

((I am not your father. I am his brother.)) Sunburst squeaked when the voice intruded her processes. How did he do that? It felt so weird. Not painful, just weird. A smile lit her face.

"Do 'gain! Do 'gain!" she chirped.

((Do what again?)) the voice inquired. Sunburst squealed with delight. The voice in her head functioned much like a sparkbond. She could feel the amusement in it, and she could sense the comforting emotions it was sending to her. Add the emotions from the bond, and you got a really happy sparkling.

"Who you?" she asked, still giggling.

((I am Soundwave.))

"Sou'-'ave?" she tried to repeat.

((Soundwave.))

"Wave!" She could sense the mech's exasperation, but it didn't faze her. She had a new friend and a brand new word to boot! It was a happy day for her! She prodded the new sparkbond, probing its extents. She received a surge of amusement and general care. She chirped and whistled at the mech.

"Wave, when Opi come?" she asked abruptly, finally realizing that the silver mech must be injured or very busy to not be holding her right after an attack. That was the first thing that Mommy had always done after an attack: searched for Sunburst then held her close for an orn. Why wasn't Opi there when she had just survived an attack. Sunburst gave a worried click before reaching out tentatively with her bond.

/Opi?/ There was no reply. /Opiluk? Why no answer? Opi?/ She gave a distressed squeak when no reply was given.

((Your opiluk has left you in my care. Now stay still. I don't want you disturbing the recharge of my other creations.)) That was when Sunburst realized that two other bots were taking up residence in the large hold as well. They weren't easily seen because they were literally transformed into the hold wall. It was a usual thing for symbiotic creations. They transformed into the host mech so that they could gain more energy quicker by connecting directly into the mech's systems. It also kept them from being thrown around inside the hold when the mech was moving quickly or in a jerky manner. Sunburst knew this because her own daddy had four symbiotes. She loved playing with them, because they were her size. Well, Steeljaw and Ramhorn were a little bit bigger than her, but she still had fun riding around of Steel's back. Ramhorn never let her ride on his back. He said it was undig-i-fied (Though she did not know what that word meant because the mech refused to define any words for her). She couldn't wait to meet these other two mechs. As it was, she could sense the small bond that she held with them. She was going to prod those bonds when she heard the hiss of a door opening. Light attacked the dark inside the hold as the mech carrying her opened his chest compartment, and a black hand gently lifted her out.

It was a small room. At least, compared to Opi's large one. Maybe it just seemed small because there were no fun colors or pretty pictures. There was only dull gray, like Doc'er Watchit's 'bay. Maybe 'Wave could get her some red paint… The only decorations in the room was a single berth and a desk and steel chair. The desk had three piles of datapads stacked on top of it. 'Wave must have been a pretty busy mech, like Prowl had been. Long rectangular bits of metal stuck out of the walls at random spots. Looking closer, Sunburst could also see a small staircase type thing from the ground to the desk. Underneath the elevated slab of metal that served as a berth, Sunburst could see that there were two smaller berths. Her thoughts were cut short when Soundwave laid her carefully on the desk on her stomach. She pushed up onto her hands and knees to look at him as he moved.

Soundwave opened the bottom drawer on his desk and pulled out a thin paintbrush and a cube of black paint. If the brighter red splotches were any indication, she must have had contact with lighter red paint, and non-removable, too. He could also tell that she was rather dirty from the battle earlier. That meant that she would need to be cleaned.

Joy.

Past experiences with his own creations proved that sparklings did not like baths. That meant he was going to have yet another unpleasant and embarrassing experience in that line of work. With a heavy sigh, Soundwave made his way out of his quarters and toward the washracks. If Primus had any mercy, there would be no other Decepticons in the racks to witness his torment. As he approached the room, he knew by the sound of flowing water, that he wasn't so lucky. Why, Primus? Why? He stood a little taller and decided to go down with as much dignity as possible.

All movement and words stopped when the TiC stepped into the room with the bouncing bundle of red wires. All optics were on him as he grabbed a rectangular basin that he had once used with his own creations. He sat Sunburst on a counter as he began filling the basin with cleaning solvent. Sunburst chirped and whistled in excitement. She was going to get to sit in water again! Soundwave set the basin on the counter beside her and cocked his head curiously as she crawled eagerly toward it.

"Hey, Soundwave! Who's the sparkling?" a fellow Decepticon called out.

"Yeah! Who's the femme? Or is she just yours?" This comment was followed by snickers. It was no secret among the faction that Soundwave had the ability to split his spark into sparklings. However, most mechs were smart enough not to comment or tease him about this fact. Soundwave casually lifted the sparkling into the basin as he used his mind to fry the other Decepticon's circuits. Whoops. Guess he wouldn't be joining them for the next battle.

Sunburst didn't notice the other mech falling to the ground beside her as his systems shut down in medical stasis lock so that his healing systems could take over. No, she was too busy staring at the not-clear solution. What exactly was she in? Why was it not clear like water? She dropped her wings into the substance and gave a squeak of indignation. She was in cleaning solvent! How dare they not put her in clear water after her lovely experience with the liquid! This was an outrage! She splashed in the white solution to show her displeasure.

"Nice. Another temper tantrum. You sure know how t' pick 'em," Cyclonus said, giggling a little.

"Statement: Incorrect. Sparkling dislikes solution," Soundwave replied after discovering the source of Sunburst's displeasure through their bond. He rubbed one of her door panels. His smug smile was hidden by his mask when Sunburst's squeaks of anger immediately disappeared and were replaced by purrs. She looked up at him and chirped. Perhaps she could be nice. For now.

"Wow, 'Wave. Good job. Maybe we have underestimated you," another one of comrades commented before going back to scrubbing some soot from his dented armor. Skywarp moved to the counter and bent closer to better examine the bathing sparkling.

"Her paint is too slaggin' bright," he commented. Sunburst gave an angry screech before sending a wave of cleaning solvent at Skywarp, who leapt backwards to avoid the substance that would undoubtedly cloud his vision if it got in his optics.

"Bad words! Mommy make eat solvent!" Sunburst chastised. Soundwave was a little more violent with his displeasure, though. His fist sent the jet reeling into his light blue brother.

"Order: watch language around my sparkling!" Soundwave roared.

"What the slag, Soundwave!" Skywarp exclaimed. Thundercracker's fist slammed down on his trine-mate's helm.

"Mute it, 'Warp, and get off me!" he snarled, shoving the mech off him. The black jet muttered darkly as he moved back to his own showering unit. Thundercracker stood and made his way over to the sparkling that was now playing in the solvent solution. He didn't hide his smile like Soundwave did as he knelt down to her height.

"Hello, sparklet. My designation is Thundercracker," he greeted. The red child looked over at him and smiled.

"Tunder'acker!" she chirped. Thundercracker laughed.

"How about 'TC'? Can you pronounce that better?"

"Tunder," she insisted. The mech simply smiled.

"Very well. And what's your designation?"

"I Sunburst!" she replied, not even attempting the irritating word again.

"It's very nice to meet you. I hope we see each other again," he said kindly. He had always been the gentle one in the trine, though, acting more like an Autobot off the battlegrounds than a Decepticon. "Oh, and Skywarp's actually not that bad once you get to know him. He just needs to learn to think before he speaks."

"Mommy says ' 'Bots who say bad words is not smarts anuff t' say good words'," Sunburst claimed. Thundercracker chuckled.

"Perhaps with Skywarp, that is the truth," he said conspiratorially. Sunburst giggled as Thundercracker stood back up to address Soundwave. "She understands words very well."

"Affirmative. Hypothesis: she was exposed to a mech who spoke often and did not mind defining long words." Thundercracker frowned.

"Hey, Sunburst, do you know someone who likes to talk?" Thundercracker asked. Sunburst contemplated this question for a few klicks.

"B'uestweak talk lots. He teach me talk! We talk lots, and I good listen. B'ue say so," she stated.

"That makes sense. I hear Bluestreak talks–"

"B'uestweak!" Sunburst broke in happily as she continued to stare at Thundercracker with those big blue optics.

"That was strange," Cyclonus commented as he joined the slowly growing crowd around the sparkling. Two more Decepticons joined the crowd as well. Sunburst looked at the crowd warily, fear growing in her spark. One or two sets of red optics she could handle. Five? Not so much. Soundwave frowned at her and gently started washing her off with a cloth. "Hey, kiddo! I'm Cyclonus!" the helicopter introduced rather loudly with a semi-crazed laugh. Sunburst whimpered and moved away from the crowd and closer to Soundwave. Soundwave scowled and hid her with his free hand while he continued cleaning away any traces of the battle at a quicker pace. Thundercracker, also noticing her distress, shoved the three Decepticons away. The two unnamed ones were half the mech's size, so moving them was simple. Cyclonus was only a few feet shorter than the Seeker, so he had to shove rather hard for the 'copter to be moved. Soundwave didn't hesitate in taking advantage of the sudden removal of the three 'cons. He lifted Sunburst into his servos and flipped the basin over to let the dirty solution go down the drain. He grabbed a large towel and wrapped it around the trembling femme. He sent Thundercracker a thankful nod before fleeing to his quarters.

Sunburst's optics were already dimming. She was worn out by the excitement that came from meeting that many new mechs. Recharge would do her good. Plus, it would make it easier for Soundwave to paint her. He sent warm feelings through the bond, and that combined with the warmth of the fluffy towel around her was what finally lulled her into recharge. Soundwave gave a short sigh of relief as he entered his quarters. He sat down at his desk, opened the paint, and began working on his new task.

To say that Dreadwing was angry would have been an extreme understatement. Furious. Livid. Infuriated. Fuming. Enraged. How dare they! She was just a sparkling! No. Is. Dreadwing refused to believe that she was offlined. No, she was more use alive. Plus, Soundwave was last seen with her. That mech wouldn't kill her. Not when he had had his own sparklings. Right? Dreadwing sighed heavily as he continued his pacing on the beachfront.

He should have been there. Sunburst had called for him, yet he hadn't gotten there in time. He had been too busy killing a mech that had been trying to get into the communications room. He had been too busy protecting those slaggin' humans. The stupid squishies were the reason he hadn't been there. The insects couldn't defend themselves. Some of them hadn't even been armed! It was slaggin' ridiculous.

Dreadwing let out a furious roar as he onlined his plasma cannons and set multiple shots into the ocean, reveling in the resulting explosion of water and now-dead fish. He didn't care about them, though. There were plenty more on the planet. Besides, they weren't sentient, so Prime couldn't get angry. A blip on his sensitive sensors grabbed his attention. He whirled around and trained his cannons on the small Decepticon that had been trying to sneak past him. The tiny mech froze.

"Hello, Decepticon," Dreadwing snarled. The 'con made a gulping noise. Dreadwing was about to shoot him, when his former idea flitted through his processor. He quickly adjusted the plan and slowly let his cannons slide back into his arms. "I'm just kidding. You don't happen to know where base is, do you? I didn't have time to meet up with Screamer," Dreadwing replied.

"You think I'm gonna jus' lead an Autobot to our base?" the mech snapped in a decidedly Brooklyn accent. Dreadwing lifted his visor to show his bright red optics.

"I am no Autobot. Even if I was, why would I remain on their side when they can't even defend a sparkling?" Dreadwing asked. The mech thought about this for a few klicks.

"What about the Autobot insignias?"

"I'm on a base filled with Autobots. Wouldn't you have them, too?" Dreadwing questioned. The insignias faded and were replaced once again with the same face of Unicron that every other 'con wore with pride. The little mech smiled.

"Okay. I can give ya the coordinates if you can get me back," the Decepticon bargained. Dreadwing's response was to transform down to his Cybertronian stealth jet form and open his cockpit. The little mech scrambled up his wing and into the cockpit.

"Don't touch anything," Dreadwing warned as he took off. "Now, tell me where to go."

Jazz was seated beside Bluestreak in the medbay. Ratchet was tending to Ironhide's wounded side, Chromia was standing on the other side, and her twins were off to the side, equally out of the way. Sideswipe was in a medically induced stasis to let his processor recover. Soundwave had been rather light on the front-liner. Ratchet claimed that he had seen much worse. Prime was speaking with Jolt about Sideswipe's injuries. The silence was broken finally by Ironhide.

"I'll kill every one of them. I'll show them what happens when they steal one of our sparklings," he snarled.

"You won't be doing anything for the rest of this week, not even standing," Ratchet retorted.

"You won't keep me in here! I have to help with the hunt!" Ironhide argued.

"You won't be any help in this condition! If I have to weld you to the berth, I will," Ratchet threatened.

"My love, listen to him. I will be giving you updates every moment," Chromia promised.

"And I'll be sure t' give Soundwave s'me plasma on yo'r b'half," Jazz interjected darkly. "I'll slag ev'ry s'ngle one'a 'em. I'll get mah baby back."

"I'm certain she's just fine, Jazz," Arcee assured him.

"I know she's fine. I can still sense her. But I know she can't sense me. I can't reassure her or tell her that we're coming to retrieve her. I have no way to tell her that she won't be there for long! What if she has another nightmare! None of those slaggin' 'cons will know that she has post-traumatic stress!"

"Jazz, calm down, or I will have Jolt sedate you," Ratchet ordered. The fact that Jazz had dropped his accent showed how utterly terrified he was. "These emotions are counterproductive. We must come up with a plan." Just then, a human Ratchet recognized as Maggie Madsen ran in.

"Prime! Dreadwing just left base, and his wings had the Decepticon insignia on them, and he was sporting two Decepticon signals!" Ironhide growled.

"So, he went back to the Decepticons, and with a Decepticon passenger, too. I knew he wasn't an Autobot," the weapons specialist hissed. Jazz looked over at him, then a bright smile lit his face. He jumped up and dashed from the room, deciding that maybe Dreadwing had a good idea and that the mech was going to need as much help as possible. Jazz grinned again. This was going to be fun.

Yay! One chapter posted before the weekend! I'm on a roll, guys! Plus, my teachers have decided to be super nice to us! Now, I must warn all y'all that my mother keeps jacking my laptop, so I have to battle her every night for my laptop. Makes so mad that I could spit! Anywho, I'm also working on another. It's another sparkling one, because I'm surrounded by children lately (yay for mini-cheerleading! I got a little girl that said that though her name was Hailey, I should just call her Lucy because she lives in Narnia and her best friend is a lion. Yeah. She also told me that she couldn't cheer because her hip joint collapsed... and I thought I had a big imagination...) So I wanna write at least five chapters on that before I publish it to make sure that it's actually going to go somewhere. i don't wanna post it, then watch it die. So we'll see how that works out... And I'm babbling... Channeling Bluestreak here. Later, guys! Review, review, review! Ah! Shutting up!