Glory assumed Bulldog would drag her, Updraft, and Scourge into his office as soon as they got into the base. But the tankformer instead herded Glory and Scourge into an empty room, putting his arm out to bar the way when Updraft made to follow them inside.
"You wanted to talk to him," he grumbled. "Fine. Do it now and get it over with. But I'm waiting outside, and if I hear anything that sounds suspicious, I'm coming in to split you up. Got it?"
"I'm not here to hurt him," Glory assured him. "But yes, you've made yourself perfectly clear."
Bulldog glowered, then walked out of the room. Updraft gave her a long look.
"I'll be fine," Glory assured her. "If anything happens I'll comm you, but I doubt that'll be necessary."
Updraft frowned, but nodded and stepped back, letting the door close… and leaving her alone with the mech she'd come so far to see. The mech who held the answers to her questions… if she could only ask them. At the moment they seemed lodged in her vocalizer.
Scourge folded his arms over his chest. "I know why you're here, Air Commander."
Glory's optics flickered. "You do?" Did he truly recognize her, then? Not just as the Seeker from Chaar, but as his niece?
"Yes, and the answer is no." She didn't even have time to react to that before he went on. "I'm not going back to Cybertron with you. I've found my place here, and I'm happier here than I ever was with the Decepticons of Chaar." He nodded sharply, a defiant gleam in his optics. "So I'm afraid you came all this way for nothing."
Glory actually smiled at that. Oddly, it pleased her to hear Scourge had found some measure of happiness here. While many had seen Scourge as just another lackey of Galvatron's, not much better than Cyclonus, the Sweeps had told her the truth after he'd fled Cybertron - that he'd suffered just as much abuse as the other Decepticons, and had actively plotted against Galvatron a time or two before the Battle of Chaar. And while she hadn't exactly been close to him - indeed, she and Scourge had outright ignored each other much of the time - she was glad he'd found a place he felt he belonged.
"What's the grin for?" he demanded.
"I'm not here to take you back against your will," she replied. "Like I said, I just wanted to talk. I had a few questions for you, and I was hoping you had answers."
Scourge frowned, his jagged-edged wings twitching in response. "I don't know anything useful, I swear! I've been out of the loop for cycles, I can't know anything useful to you."
"I think you're wrong," Glory replied. "But I'm not looking for military intelligence or anything of the sort. Please relax - you're so twitchy it's making ME nervous just looking at you!"
"I'm not twitchy," Scourge insisted, though his wings stilled. "What ARE you looking for anyhow? You and I never said two words to each other outside of normal duty before now."
Glory steeled herself, knowing her next words could provoke any number of reactions, few of them good. "Scourge… do you remember anything about your creation?"
His mouth dropped open in shock, then shut again. "That's a random question. But… to be honest, not a lot. I don't remember being a sparkling like you were, if that's what you're asking."
"Let me try again… what were your first memories?"
His optics dimmed out of focus as he thought on that. "Galvatron was there… Cyclonus too… and a number of Sweeps. We were in deep space, with a bunch of shrapnel and Unicron…" He flinched at the memory. "Sorry. Not a pleasant memory."
"I can imagine not." Though that did confirm one of Galvatron's more unpleasant claims - that Unicron had created him and his henchmechs. Why else would he feature so prominently in Scourge's first memories. "Anything before that?"
Scourge shook his head. "There's nothing before that."
Her spark sank into her tanks, but she pressed on anyhow. She hadn't come this far just to hit a dead end, to be told all her hopes were in vain. "You have to try… please. There has to be something more…"
"What are you getting at?" His optic shutters narrowed in suspicion. "There's something you're not telling me, Air Commander."
"Glory," she replied. "Just Glory." How much should she tell him? Would her words spark the latent memories to life, she wondered? Or would he just think she was crazy? Or crazier than he already thought her, at any rate - he probably thought she was a lunatic for flying all the way to Beta Geode just to ask him a few silly questions.
In the end, she decided to take the leap. "Do you know anything about a mech named Thundercracker?"
Scourge reached up to stroke the strip of metal mimicking a human beard as he thought. "You used to talk about him all the time. A member of your family… one that was killed at the Battle of Autobot City."
"My uncle," she confirmed, and her spark clenched slightly at the memory. "I was close to him… he was almost like a father to me. Losing him was just as bad, if not worse, than losing my parents."
He looked down at his feet, shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot. "Didn't exactly have creators I was fond of… not that I can remember, at least. So not sure I know how you feel. But… I'm sorry anyhow. Couldn't have been easy."
"It wasn't. But… I spoke with Galvatron some weeks back."
"Don't tell me that joker's back in charge!"
"He's in prison. Shockwave leads the Decepticons. Galvatron's awaiting execution but the Autobots are dragging their feet on actually getting it over with."
Scourge relaxed a touch. "Good. Hope they hurry up and terminate him before he loses his mind entirely. But what'd he tell you that has to do with me or your uncle?"
Glory braced herself, taking in a deep vent before speaking. "He says that you were forged from my uncle's remains."
His jaw dropped, and he backed up a step as if she'd just lashed out with her blades at him. "You're kidding."
She shook her head. "Those were his words. We have no way of confirming it, of course, but… I was hoping you would know for sure."
"Slag…" He rebooted his optics a few times, shaking his own head as if trying to dislodge what he'd just heard from his audials. "That's just insane. I mean, I had to be made from something, mechs just don't appear out of thin air… but made out of another mech's dead body is… unbelievable." He gazed up at her, and guilt clouded his features. "No wonder you wanted to track me down."
"I never got to say goodbye to him," she confessed. "And Starscream abandoned him and anyone else who was badly injured in that battle out in space. We never even got a chance to lay them to rest. I… I suppose I just wanted some closure. To know what happened to him."
Scourge nodded slowly. "Well… here I am. Or here he is, however you want to think it." He spread his arms, looking down at himself. "I'm not dead, of course, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't take me back and entomb me yet."
Despite herself, she snorted out a laugh at that. "I won't. I promise." She braced herself for one more question. "Scourge… there's a chance Thundercracker was still alive when Unicron forged you. If that's the case… please. Is there anything at all you remember about him? Any sign that he could have lived on in you somehow?"
Scourge shook his head. "I'm sorry Air Co- Glory. I'm not your uncle risen out of his tomb or anything. I'm just Scourge. If you're looking for Thundercracker… he's not here."
The words were out of Updraft's mouth the moment Glory stepped out of the room: "It didn't go well."
Glory set her jaw firmly and walked toward the base's exit, waving Updraft after her. "It went perfectly well. I asked questions, I got answers. That's what I came for, isn't it?" The words came out far more clipped than she intended, but she didn't feel like taking them back now. She just wanted away from here as fast as possible.
"But you didn't get the answer you wanted," Updraft noted, striding after her.
"I got answers. That's all that matters."
"Glory, will you slow down and talk about this!" Updraft snapped. "You claimed to be an adult on the way here - act like it, for Primus' sake!"
Glory didn't stop until she'd left the base, and she pressed her hands against a column of deep blue crystal and leaned against it, trying to collect herself. Slag it all… she thought she'd prepared herself for this. She knew it was entirely possible - no, probable - that nothing remained of Thundercracker within Scourge's spark. She had told herself the whole way to be ready for disappointment. But she must have clung to hope more strongly than she realized… and learning the truth, that her uncle was well and truly gone, felt like a knife in her spark.
"Glory…" Updraft drew to a halt nearby, arm outstretched but not making contact yet. "Talk to me. What happened in there?"
She shuttered her optics, struggling to hold back her tears. "He's gone. Scourge… is just Scourge. Thundercracker died when he was created. He doesn't remember a thing about him."
Silence. Then a hand rested on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Glory. I know you were hoping…"
She shook her head. "It was stupid of me to hope. Thundercracker's been dead for years. Wishing otherwise was… childish."
"Not stupid, and not childish," Updraft assured her. "If something happened to my parents, I'd chase after any hope that they were still alive too."
Glory vented deeply, trying to rein her emotions in, tears streaming down her faceplate. Even now, years later, her grief at losing the last of her family remained, and this new hurt just served to reopen the old wounds. Not just the loss of her uncle, but Skywarp and her parents. Slag, even the loss of Megatron himself - he wasn't a member of her family, but she had looked up to him and respected him, and his death had been a blow as well.
Finally she trusted herself to not break down entirely, and she straightened up and wiped at her optics. "I'm… I'm okay. Mostly."
Updraft smiled sadly. "It's okay to not be okay. You know that."
"I do… but I'm functional at least." She glanced up at the sky. "We should get going. I'm in enough trouble with Shockwave as it is, and I'm sure your family's anxious for you to get back-"
"Wait!"
The two Seekers turned to see Scourge emerging from the base doors. The former Sweep commander hurried toward them, as if afraid they'd take to the air at any moment. And to be honest, just flying off at that moment was tempting… but Glory refrained.
"Scourge… I didn't properly thank you for answering my questions," she told him. "That was rude of me. I'm grateful to you."
"You're welcome," he replied. "But don't go yet."
"I don't think Bulldog wants us to stay," Updraft told him. "Being greeted with the business end of a gun isn't really an invitation to make yourself at home."
"That's just Bulldog being a cranky slagger," Scourge countered. "And you don't have to join up. Just… stay awhile. It's a long trip back."
Glory stared at him in disbelief. They'd just had their first civil conversation today, but that didn't exactly make them friends all of a sudden. Why was he suddenly so reluctant to see them go? She wouldn't let herself think that some latent memory of Thundercracker had finally surfaced - she had no desire to get her hopes up again just to see them come crashing down. Maybe he thought if they spent enough time here, they'd change their minds and turn in their Decepticon sigils like he had.
Or maybe he's just lonely, she thought with a stab of sympathy. It wasn't as if he'd had many friends before… but he'd come here knowing practically no one among the neutrals. And given Bulldog's ironic distrust of Decepticons in general, he probably had spent so much time and energy just trying to overcome that stigma that he hadn't had a chance to forge any real friendships. Perhaps, in light of all that, any familiar face from his past was welcome.
She said none of this aloud, only sighed. "I wish we could… but there's a lot going on back home, and as Air Commander I'm needed."
"Glory, if you go back, they're going to punish you for abandoning your post," Updraft pointed out. "Might as well make it worth it. Stay while and recover, and take a break from your duties for once."
"But-" she protested.
"Shockwave is perfectly capable of handling any possible crisis that pop up himself," she insisted. "And you need the break. If this pressure on you keeps up, you're going to crack under it."
Glory wanted to protest - there was so much going on back home, and she felt guilty being away from Polyhex and Blitzwing and Swift this long already. But she couldn't deny that Updraft had a point. And some part of her longed for a respite from the weight of the brewing conflict on Cybertron, however brief.
"One day," she said at last. "We'll rest here a day. Then we'll go back."
Scourge nodded, and Glory swore she saw his wings perk up. "I'll inform Bulldog you're going to be here a little longer then. He won't be happy about it, but I can talk some sense into him."
"Thank you, Scourge," she replied. "And… thank you for humoring my questions. I know it must have been strange having me grill you for information on a mech you never met."
He shrugged. "No less weird than some of the slag we went through under Galvatron. And it's not a problem. Just wish I could have been more help." He nodded at Updraft, then turned to go back into the base.
Updraft flashed Glory a little grin. "Well, now that that's taken care of… what's there to see around here? I know it's been a few years since you were here last, but I can't imagine this place changed all that much."
At that, Glory had to smile. "Ever seen a star dragon up close?"
"No… do I want to? Aren't they dangerous?"
"Not if you're quiet. Though if you're not up to the challenge…"
"Frag yes, I'm up to the challenge." She smirked. "Lead the way."
Glory chuckled and took to the air, leading Updraft in the direction of the star dragon nests. If she was going to face consequences for this venture, then she might as well make it worth it.
"Daddy, Soundwave's here!"
Blitzwing snarled and tossed the controller across the room, bouncing it off the viewscreen. Primus fraggit, he'd already told Decepticon Command that he wasn't telling them where Glory had gone. Were they going to keep hounding him until he spilled? Maybe sic Vortex on him? Or was Soundwave here to use less physical means of prying the info out of him? He had always wondered why the Communications Officer didn't get involved in more interrogations - he WAS a telepath…
Then he heard Echo and Stardust's voices, and he forced himself to relax a little. Soundwave wasn't here to wring Glory's location out of him. He was just here to pick up his kids from their playdate.
You're getting paranoid, he grumbled, leaving his character to die a gory death onscreen as he abandoned his game and headed to the entryway to greet the cassette carrier. Jumpin' at everything, expecting to get arrested any moment. They wouldn't dare though, right? Not when Swift needs a caretaker…
Soundwave didn't stand in the apartment's entryway - he crouched down, arms extended to let Echo and Stardust run into them. Both sparklings clung tightly to him, Echo giggling and Stardust tucking his face into his neck as if trying to burrow into his chassis. The mask and visor hid Soundwave's expression, but a soft chuckle emerged from his vocalizer and made Blitzwing freeze in his tracks. He'd never seen the blue mech exhibit THIS much emotion before - slag, he hadn't realized he could feel that much emotion.
Have kids really softened us all up that much? he wondered.
"You boys have a good time?" asked Frenzy.
"Yeah!" Echo replied. "We played games, an' watched a show, an' Blitzwing showed us a game that I'm not supposed to tell you the title of…"
Soundwave gave Blitzwing a look that could have frozen nitrogen even through the mask.
"...an' we painted Wildfire," Stardust chimed in, speaking up at last.
"Painted Wildfire…" Frenzy repeated, then burst out laughing as the horseformer trotted up to give Soundwave an intent sniffing. The kids had evidently been hard at work while Blitzwing had been distracted by a gaming session, and was covered from nose to tail with vibrant zebra stripes of yellow and violet. If he was at all aware of his garish paint job, he gave no sign.
"Sounds like you had a blast," Rumble noted with a grin. "An' hey Swift! We ain't hung out with you in ages! We've missed you!"
Swift bent down and hugged the cassette. "You guys used to come over all the time. I miss you!"
"The boss keeps us all pretty busy nowadays," Frenzy admitted, opening his arms for a hug as well. "But next time we get a spare minute, we'll pop over an' hang out, all right? If that's okay with your parents."
Blitzwing's first reaction was to say no - maybe even "frag, no." The cassettes were bad influences, and he didn't want them teaching Swift to spy and prank. But the pleading look Swift gave him made him relent.
"Fine with me. Just don't teach her anything bad."
"What, us? Teach sweet Swift something bad? You wound us, Blitz!" Rumble gave the triple-changer his best innocent expression, which was spoiled by a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.
Soundwave released the boys and stood. "Rumble, Frenzy, take Echo and Stardust to lobby. Discussion with Blitzwing: required."
"Can I go with them?" asked Swift. "To say goodbye?"
Soundwave nodded. "Acceptable."
Swift hurried out after the cassettes and sparklings. Wildfire trotted after her, leaving colorful hoofprints and drips of paint in his wake. Blitzwing grimaced. If he got out from under Soundwave's scrutiny in one piece, he was going to have to clean up after the bodyguard.
"Blitzwing," Soundwave intoned.
"I still ain't tellin' where she's gone," Blitzwing snapped. "If you think I'm going to turn her over to you for punishment, you're a fraggin' idiot!"
Soundwave didn't so much as flinch at the insult. "Location of Glory: already known."
Blitzwing jerked, his tanks jolting as if he'd just taken a blow to the abdominal plate. High Command had caught her… or they'd somehow managed to track her… or slag, Soundwave had already read his mind and used what he'd learned to betray her…
"Source of information: Glory herself," Soundwave went on. "Air Commander: not skilled at concealing thoughts and emotions."
That was the truth - Glory had never been shy about expressing herself. "So you know… what about Shockwave?"
"Shockwave: not aware of where Air Commander has gone."
He relaxed just a little… but not much. "When're you gonna get around to tellin' him? Or have you already sent a squad out to arrest her?"
Soundwave shook his head. "No. On both counts."
"...wait, what?" Disloyalty from Soundwave himself? This was new. "Why?"
"Air Commander Glory has served the Decepticons faithfully," Soundwave explained, his usual terse and clipped way of speaking fading the longer he spoke. "Has given her all to the cause. Deserves the chance to seek out what she looks for, even if Shockwave says otherwise. I will not betray her location."
Relief swept through him… though the tension in his internals didn't relax entirely. "She's still in for it when she gets back, though. Shocks isn't gonna let her get away without punishing her."
Soundwave nodded. "Orders: disobeyed. There will be consequences. Will do my part to ensure they aren't severe." And with that, he turned to leave.
"Hang on," Blitzwing demanded. "I got one more question for you."
Soundwave turned to regard Blitzwing over one shoulder.
"Steelwing got sent out on some kind of mission… you heard from her yet?" He was fully expecting Soundwave to tell him it was classified information, but fraggit, the infiltrator was one of his few friends, and he'd be slagged if he lost anyone else right now.
Soundwave pondered the question a moment, mulling over what information could be shared and what had to be concealed. "Communication with Steelwing: re-established. Intelligence being gathered. All other information: classified."
Blitzwing nodded, feeling himself relax just a little more. "All I wanted to know anyhow. Go get your kids and go home."
Soundwave nodded, not really expecting thanks from the triple-changer anyhow. He walked out, stepping to one side to let Swift and Wildfire re-enter the apartment.
"What'd Soundwave wanna talk about, Daddy?" Swift asked.
"Just grown-up stuff," Blitzwing replied. No sense making the kid worry, not right now anyhow. "Go hit the washracks. Take your overgrown My Little Pony with ya, he needs a good scrubbing."
"But he looks so pretty right now!" Swift insisted, patting him on the flank - though the paint was still tacky and the gesture just muddled the stripes. "He wants to be pretty! Can't he stay like this awhile?"
I don't think "pretty" is a word in that dumb lug's vocabulary, Blitzwing thought with a bit of an internal smirk. Aloud he said "For tonight. But he gets a bath in the morning. And keep him off the furniture 'til the paint dries."
Swift nodded. "Daddy… when's Mama gonna come home?"
Blitzwing opened his mouth to answer, then shut it when he realized he didn't have an answer for her. Truth be told, he'd expected her back by now - either giving up on the search for Scourge or finding him only to learn that he wasn't the mech she was looking for. He wouldn't let himself panic yet, but he couldn't help but wonder if something happened to her along the way…
"Daddy?"
"I dunno, Swift," he said at last. "But hopefully soon."
She accepted that answer and wandered off, her bodyguard at her heels. Blitzwing watched her vanish into the washracks before heading back to the viewscreen for another stab at Doom. Slaughtering digital monsters wasn't exactly the same as venting his frustration and anger on a physical target, but it helped to some degree.
Swift couldn't sleep.
Usually after a day spent in the company of the other sparklings she was tuckered out enough to drop into recharge soon after laying down. And even if she wasn't too tired, Wildfire's even venting was enough to lull her offline… even if his occasional bout of snoring woke her right back up. Tonight, though, she couldn't seem to doze off. Not even the familiar warmth of the horseformer curled up next to her or the comforting softness of Dragon helped her relax enough to sleep.
The adults seemed to think they were good at keeping things from the sparklings… or that kids were just too oblivious to pay attention to what was going on around them. But they caught on to the adults' worries and fears well enough, and even if they couldn't understand the details, they understood enough to know that something frightening was looming on the horizon. And the things they did understand - adults getting hurt and even dying, shadowy mechs making frightening speeches on the broadcasts, Shockwave and his officers holding almost-nightly meetings to discuss important matters - were enough to unsettle them.
Swift knew there was more going on than she could understand, but she knew that it was stressing her parents out. And she couldn't help but wonder if Mom being gone for the past few days didn't have something to do with it all. Had she been sent off on a secret mission to stop whatever was happening? Or had she gotten hurt and no one wanted to tell her? She didn't want to think that, not now, but after Stardust's father had never come home, she couldn't help but worry…
A yellow-and-violet-painted muzzle nosed her, and Wildfire huffed in her audial.
"I can't sleep," she murmured, patting his nose. "I guess you can't either, huh?"
Wildfire snorted. "Swift safe. Wildfire make sure."
Swift hugged him around the neck. "I know… you're a good boy." She tucked her face against his neck a moment, just taking comfort in his presence, before wriggling off the berth. "C'mon."
Wildfire nickered and cocked his head. "Where Swift going?"
"I'm gonna get a snack," she replied. "Maybe that'll help me recharge."
"Wildfire go too," the horseformer insisted. "Go with Swift."
Swift wanted to protest - she was just going to the dining area, not out of the apartment - but she kept quiet and let the drone trail after her. If Wildfire was intent on doing something - whether it was following the sparklings around or nosing apart a fight or going berserk on a perceived target - there wasn't much that could dissuade him from that.
Daddy was still in the living room, the viewscreen flickering, and she almost retreated back into her bedroom. But a loud snore ripped through the silence, and she realized he'd fallen asleep in front of his game. She tiptoed past him, Wildfire slinking along behind.
She had just opened a cabinet and started quietly poking around for her favorite energon candies when the apartment door slid open. She froze, turning toward the entryway. Was Mama home already? No, she would have announced her presence, not slipped quietly inside like this figure did. And it wasn't sleek and winged like Mama, but short and bulky…
"Get the kid," a second figure ordered, blue optics fixing on her. "We'll take the triple-changer."
"On it." The short mech took a step in her direction, hands raised. "Don't scream, kid, and we can do this painlessly…"
Swift screamed anyhow, dropping the candies at her feet. As if that were the signal he'd been waiting for Wildfire let out a scream of his own, and he leaped toward the mech menacing her. He swore, lifting a gun, but the drone slammed into his chest and knocked him to the ground.
"Swift!" That was Daddy, his voice blurred with sleep but still frantic.
"Daddy!"
"Swift, hold on-" His sentence was cut off by the CRACK of a weapon, and the impact of fists on metal rang through the apartment.
She wanted to bolt, to escape the apartment and run for help, but Wildfire and her attacker blocked her path. Instead she backed into the cabinet she'd been raiding and shut the door, peering out through the crack. Her entire frame shook as Wildfire transformed to his robot mode, scimitar drawn, slashing at the intruder beneath him…
Energon sprayed across the floor, and she gasped and shut the door the rest of the way. She huddled there in the darkness, whimpering, as curses and the sounds of two brutal struggles rang through the night.
