Hello everyone! I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long! Last chapter was a bit of a shock, eh? Prowl is, for lack of better terms for Cybertronian relations, Bolt's uncle! We'll find out how this happened later on in the story but until then, enjoy this chapter, which has lots of Terror Twin nonsense and angry, fragged off Seekers in it!
I love all of you who have been reviewing! It keeps me going!
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I do however, own Aquafire, her late trine, her Creators Skyblitz and Wildfire, Lightning Bolt and whoever else I forgot to mention.
Continue reviewing everyone! Energon goodies for everyone who does so! :3
And yes, Prowl and Jazz are sparkmates! Deal with it!
"No."
This was the answer the twins were met with each and every time they tried to ask Aquafire to join them for energon. She always had an excuse, whether it be that she had reports to do or she had patrol, there was always something that needed to be done.
"No, I have to fill out reports for Prowl," Aquafire scowled at the twins. "Go away." She shut the door in their faceplates and they groaned. The two frontliners walked off, trying to think of another strategy to get the femme to say yes. They then decided to stop and see Lightning Bolt as the young Praxian was still confined to the sick bay under Ratchet's orders, though he was allowed out from time to time to get some needed exercise. They never saw him without Aquafire or Prowl present, which was just odd to the twins.
"I have an idea!" Sideswipe giggled and looked at his scowling twin. "We've tried the direct approach but how about the indirect one?"
"What are you talking about?" He sighed.
"Ask Bolt to get energon with us and Aquafire won't be able to say no," Sunstreaker took a moment to process this and smiled wide once it registered.
"Good thinking," He smirked. They entered the med bay and were met by a delighted laugh.
"Sides! Sunny!" Sunstreaker didn't have the spark to snap at the youngling for the nickname.
"How's it going, squirt?" Sideswipe walked up and smiled at him.
"Good but it's so boring here," He complained.
"We know," Sunstreaker grumbled.
"How would you like to get energon with us tonight?" Sideswipe asked with a big grin. The youngling's optics widened and he wiggled his doorwings happily.
"Sure! Can mama come too?" This had the twins grinning even more.
"Of course she can," They answered together. Ratchet walked out of his office and gave the twins a look before shaking his helm. He wasn't even going to try to stop them this time. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker stayed with Bolt, telling him stories about their battles with the Decepticons until Aquafire arrived.
"Mama, I'm going with Sunny and Sides for energon tonight, are you coming too?" Bolt smiled at his mother. The femme felt her spark melt when he smiled and shot the twins a suspicious look, knowing they'd somehow talked him into it
"Yes," She finally responded. The twins each gave a grin as they stood up and headed towards the door.
"We'll see you tonight," Sideswipe whispered as they passed her.
"No getting out of it now," Sunstreaker smirked at her and then they were gone. Aquafire shook her helm and walked towards the youngling, a soft smile on her faceplates.
"Did Prowl visit you today?" She asked, placing a kiss on his chevron.
"Yes," He chirped, a happy smile on his face. He knew by now that Prowl was his uncle and he accepted this fact happily. He was proud to be Prowl's nephew and he made this known every chance he could. "He told me that when I finally get to leave he has lots of stuff planned!" No doubt he would start teaching the youngling how to be a great tactician like himself, not that she really minded.
"Just focus on getting better," She chuckled.
"Kay, mama," He smiled at her. Aquafire suddenly scooped him up into her arms and sat on the berth, holding him close to her chest. "Mama?"
"I love you," She whispered, nuzzling his helm softly.
"Love you too," He wrapped his small arms around her neck. "Mama, you'll never leave me, right?"
"Never," She promised, holding him as tightly as she dared.
"Will it always be the two of us? Just like you said back home on Cybertron?" Aquafire was a little hesitant to answer this.
"Why do you ask?" She wondered softly.
"I miss having a daddy," He admitted. Aquafire let out a soft vent of air and nuzzled her son softly. "But I'm not ready to have another yet."
"It'll be the two of us for as long as it takes, Bolt," She promised again. "No one will come between us, I swear."
"Good," He smiled and nuzzled into her throat. Aquafire smiled and held her youngling close, ignoring everything around them. She just wanted to focus on Bolt for now, he was all that mattered.
"I hate to break this up but he needs his rest," Ratchet cleared his throat, ruining the moment. "I'll expect you back in a few hours to get him." Aquafire slowly set the youngling on the berth and nodded.
"I'll be back later," She kissed Bolt's chevron and left.
-X-X-X-
"So good of you to join us," Sideswipe smiled when Aquafire and Bolt took a seat at their table in the rec room.
"Finally," Sunstreaker snorted.
"You two would make fine Decepticons, you know that?" She canted her helm to the side with a light smirk. "Using my son in order to get me to say yes to getting energon with you? Very... Decepticon of you both."
"But they would never join the 'Cons!" Bolt looked at the twins with wide optics. "Right?"
"Right you are, squirt," Sideswipe smiled. Sunstreaker got up to retrieve some energon for the group and returned with three cubes of high-grade and a cube of low grade for Bolt, which was mixed with added nutrients and sweeteners for him. Sideswipe also gave him a few energon goodies as a reward for surviving so long in Ratchet's care. The youngling ate them happily as the adults talked.
"When's your next patrol?" Sunstreaker asked, sipping his cube of energon.
"Tomorrow morning," She sighed, pinching the bridge of her noseplate. Bolt let out a disappointed whine when he heard this and his doorwings drooped as well. "Don't worry, sweetspark, I'll stop by before I leave and maybe if you're good, Ratchet will let you go." This had his optics lighting up in delight.
"If that's the case, we'll watch over him," Sideswipe grinned.
"You'd have to get past Prowl," She raised an optic ridge at him.
"Easy enough," Sunstreaker smirked. Aquafire rolled her optics at this and drank her cube slowly, savoring the bitter-sweet taste of it. They continued to talk quietly, letting Bolt into the conversation when he heard a topic that interested him and before long, the youngling was fast in recharge.
"Good night," Aquafire nodded to the twins as she lifted Bolt into her arms. The two frontliners watched her leave and grinned at each other.
"We'll have to get her alone next time," Sunstreaker murmured to his twin.
"Yeah but you gotta admit the kid is cute," Sideswipe laughed. Sunstreaker said nothing to this as he finished off his cube of energon. "Well, we can ask Bolt tomorrow what Aquafire likes and we can work from there."
"Agreed," The golden warrior nodded.
-X-X-X-
"I'll see you when I get back," Aquafire murmured as she hugged a very sleepy Bolt. The youngling had made sure to recharge early so he could get up and say goodbye to his mother before she went on morning patrol.
"Be careful, mama," He mumbled hugging back.
"I always am," She smiled and kissed his helm gently. "Be good," The youngling nodded and laid back down, drifting back into recharge just as the femme left. Aquafire passed by Prowl on her way out and stopped to speak with him quickly. "Ratchet should be releasing Bolt from sick bay today," She told him. "Would you pick him up if I'm not back by the time he does so?"
"Of course," His doorwings flicked a bit as he nodded. Aquafire nodded and left to meet up with the rest of her patrol group. Prowl watched her and then went to his office, his battle computer already processing statistics and possibilities for the day. '62 percent chance of Decepticon activity,' He scowled to himself as he sat at his desk and crunched the numbers again. The chances of Aquafire's patrol going smoothly were quite high, as the Decepticons normally did not bother them this early in the day but when he added in the fact that Megatron knew she was here... the chances for a smooth patrol dropped quite a bit.
The Cassetticons had infiltrated the base all those weeks ago for a reason and Prowl now realized that it had been to gather information regarding the Seeker femme. The black and white Enforcer frowned even more as he tried to figure out exactly why they wanted the information. Yes, she was a former Decepticon but she had defected so long ago that she was no danger to Megatron and his plans; she knew nothing of them to begin with. She was a Seeker but she had no trine so he failed to see why Megatron might want her back in the ranks.
He tried to brush off the thoughts but they nagged at the back of his processor as he looked over the many reports on his desk. His lips, which were already in a thin line, became even thinner when he realized something.
The Decepticons were lacking in femmes.
Femme's meant sparklings and Megatron wanted more men... Yes, his own men could spark if they wished to but Prowl knew that the tyrant would not allow any weakness within the ranks and if any of his men were to be sparked, it would be disastrous to him. Logically, he could take a femme and force one of his officers or one of his stronger men, to spark with her and this thought made him wonder if the gunformer was truly that sparkless. Just the thought made Prowl want to purge his tanks. And because Aquafire was a Seeker, it made the thought of Megatron breeding her even more likely. Seekers were elegant creatures and strong too and they dominated the air when they flew. Having more Seekers meant Megatron would have more of an advantage over the Autobots...
"Prowler, ya feelin' alright?" The SIC shuttered his optics several times before he looked up into Jazz's worried visor.
"Don't call me that," He snapped. "I am fine, merely thinking."
"Think too much n' that battle computer of yer's might fry," He chuckled. "But really, wha's got ya so tense, mech? Ya didn't keep a clamp on th' bond so..." Prowl openly flinched. Jazz had felt all of his conflicting emotions over the thoughts currently rampaging through his processor...
"I was thinking about the infiltration a few weeks ago and came to some rather... disturbing conclusions," He set the datapad aside then.
"Ya ain't th' only one," Jazz cringed a bit as he sat in the chair across from Prowl's and propped his pede's up on the desk, earning a glare from his bonded. "Ole' Megsy wants Aquafire fer a reason... an' it ain't one Ah wanna think 'bout too much."
"Nor do I," The tactician sighed softly. "But it's a possibility that we cannot deny, Jazz."
"Wha' should we do?" Jazz's visor flashed a little.
"I will talk with Optimus and see if we cannot keep Aquafire under closer watch for the time being," Prowl leaned back in his chair. "If she is to go out, someone has to be with her. The Decepticons are not above kidnapping as we know and..." He paused to gather his thoughts. "I do not wish harm to come to her nor to Bolt," Jazz noticed how the name was said with such fondness and smiled at his beloved.
"Ya really have taken a likin' ta tha' youngling, huh?" Jazz chuckled softly. "Can't blame ya. Lil guy is jus' so friendly, hard ta ignore him."
"Hard to believe he is my nephew," Prowl flicked his doorwings in amusement when his mate cast him a shocked look. He'd been holding off on telling Jazz the news until he knew it was safe and now was as good a time as any.
"Really? Yer nephew?" Prowl merely nodded. "No wonder Ah'm drawn ta him," He let out a chuckle. "Kinda reminds meh o' ya."
"I fully intend to train him to be a tactician and a warrior," Prowl stated to his mate. "He's mere weeks from being upgraded into what the humans would call his 'teenage' frame and I wish to begin training him as soon as possible."
"Ah'll help as much as Ah can," Jazz smiled at him.
"Don't you have something you need to be doing?" Prowl cocked his helm to the side.
"Maybe..." He grinned as he stood and left. Prowl merely shook his head and got back to work, relieved that he was now able to focus on the reports and not the pressing matter of Aquafire's safety.
-X-X-X-
"Oh slag, what are we going to do?" Sideswipe whined, terrified as he and his brother rushed back inside the base.
"Shut up! Let me think!" Sunstreaker snapped. "Just... just calm down, alright?"
"You're just as terrified and panicked as me!" Sideswipe accused his brother. "They are gonna offline us for sure!"
"Shut up!" He hissed at the red Lamborghini. "We'll think of something now shut up!" The twins were in deep slag this time. They'd been playing outside with Bolt, a harmless game of what humans call Hide n' Seek, they'd been extremely careful not to wander too far from the Ark but Bolt had somehow wandered outside of 'safe zone' as they'd deemed it. The twins had heard a small shriek and then nothing before they rushed to investigate and found Bolt being carried off by one of Soundwave's cassette's. They were already too far out of range by the time they'd arrived and they knew pursuit was not an option at that point. Their only option was to find one of the officers or Optimus, and confess to what had happened.
"What in th' name a Cybertron are ya two doin'?" Ironhide demanded, startling the two mech's.
"Please, oh Primus, Ironhide help us!" Sideswipe begged, earning a glare from his twin.
"Wha' happened?" He asked, narrowing his optics at them.
"We... kinda lost Bolt," Sunstreaker grumbled. For a moment, the large red mech did nothing and then all Pit broke loose.
"YA DID WHAT?" The twins flinched and shrank back. "Tha's it, c'mon," He grabbed them both and dragged them to Prime's office. "Prime, we gotta problem."
"What is it?" He looked up from his reports.
"These idiots lost Bolt," The twins tried to hide but Ironhide kept a firm grip on them.
"Lost as in you can't find him? Or lost as in... lost to the Decepticons?" Sunstreaker looked down in shame then.
"They must have been watching us," Sideswipe whispered. "We were playing a game and the next thing we knew, Bolt screamed. We went to find him and that's when we saw one of the cassette's carrying him off."
"I see," Optimus stood from his desk. "Ironhide, come with me and bring them with us," They did not question him as he led them out to the entrance of the Ark.
Aquafire knew something was wrong when she returned to the base and found Optimus and the other officers waiting along with the twins. Her spark sank when she saw no sign of her son and she quickly landed.
"Aquafire, I need you to remain as calm as possible," Optimus spoke up first.
"Where is Bolt?" She demanded, wings twitching and fluttering anxiously. "Where is my son?"
"These two let th' 'Cons get 'im," Ironhide growled, thrusting the twins forward. Aquafire let it sink in and turned angry purple optics on them.
"You let them take my son?" She hissed out, wings flared in a threatening manner. "I should rip your sparks out!" She leapt at them but was tackled to the ground by Jazz. The saboteur easily restrained the furious Seeker and stood, keeping her back from the twins.
"We are doing all that we can," Optimus assured her. "We will get him back, I promise," The soothing baritone of his voice rang through her processor and she sagged against Jazz. Her optics dimmed and her helm fell forward, almost in a defeated way.
"I'm going to go lay down," She whispered. Jazz let her go and they watched as she made her way inside.
"Perhaps we should have Ratchet look at her?" Prowl suggested, doorwings held high and stiff as always.
"That would be best," Optimus agreed. The group made their way inside again where the twins were placed in the brig for their irresponsible actions. They then alerted Ratchet to Aquafire's condition and the medic was quick to make his way towards her quarters. He punched in the override code to her door and walked in, narrowing his optics at the femme who was curled up on the berth, whimpering to herself quietly.
"Aquafire," He approached cautiously. "It's just me," The femme seemed to curl into herself even more then.
"Please, go away," She whispered. "I'll be fine."
"Like Pit you will," He growled. "We will get that youngling back, no matter what," He could tell she was beginning to doubt herself and quite possibly the rest of the Autobots. The fragile friendship she held with the twins was shattered, he knew this for a fact but right now he was more concerned about her mental state. "It's not your fault," He sat on the edge of the berth and watched as she flinched.
"I should have been here," She whispered. "If I had, this wouldn't have happened," It was just like before. She was going to keep blaming herself until she knew for a fact Bolt was safe and sound. It was a relief to know she wasn't going to attack anyone aside from the twins but even then, it would not help how she was feeling.
"You have to stop blaming yourself, it's not healthy," He huffed. "Your systems are stressed, femme, you need to take it easy."
"Ratchet, how would you feel if your youngling was in the clutches of the Decepticons?" She hissed at him.
"Much like yourself but I know when I need to calm down and think things through," He sighed. "Not everything that happens is your fault. You couldn't have known that they would pick today to do this, no one could have. We need to focus on the positive, alright? We will get him back. The twins were irresponsible by taking Bolt outside like that but they did the right thing by telling us the truth and not going off and engaging the enemy alone."
"I will not forgive them so easily," She grumbled.
"I don't expect you too," He snorted. "I want you to come to the med bay so I can keep a close optic on you," The femme sat up and scowled then. "It's for your own good," He glared at her and she shrank back.
"Fine," She grumbled. The two made their way to the med bay and Ratchet quickly ran a few scans and hooked her up to a couple of monitors just in case.
"Get some rest," He ordered. The femme rolled her optics but did as she was told and forced herself into recharge. Ratchet watched her for a few moments before he went to the meeting with the others to discuss rescue plans. He only hoped that the Decepticons knew better than to harm a Seeker's youngling, adopted or not... if he was hurt there would be Pit to pay.
