Bumblebee sat at his sire's pedes, who was working on reports. The little sparkling was growing bored, very quickly. He placed a servo on Optimus' pede and gained his sire's attention. Bumblebee gave a chirp. He was picked up and placed in Optimus' lap. "Bored?" Another chirp was the reply. Optimus checked the time with a sigh. "I guess I can take a break to play with you." He stood up and stepped away from the desk. And nearly tripped over one of the toys that he'd put on the floor for Bumblebee to play with. That had been completely ignored until now. He tightened his grip on his son as he reached down and gathered all of the toys, not just the one. He checked the time with a sigh of frustration. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were spending two jours (days) with Optimus and Bumblebee since they didn't have a set guardian. They were watched by who ever was available. And for the next two jours, that was him. And he wasn't looking forward to it.
Bumblebee tapped Optimus' side since his sire had completely frozen. Optimus shook his helm and gave his son a quick glance. He headed into the main room and placed his son on one of the chairs. He grabbed the half full cube of low grade Energon from the last time Bumblebee had been fed and poured it into a bottle. He sat down across from Bumblebee then held out the bottle. Tiny silver servos latched onto the bottle as the sparkling tipped it into his mouth. Optimus held the back of it to make sure that Bumblebee didn't drown himself. When Bumblebee was finished, he removed the bottle and placed it on the table. It was at the same time as the chime for the door went off. Optimus gathered Bumblebee into his arms and answered the door. Two flashes of colour ran past his pedes. One red and one yellow. "Sideswipe! Sunstreaker! You can't just run into someone's house!" Ratchet roared. Optimus stepped out of the way and Ratchet entered.
"It's fine," Optimus said. Ratchet gave him a look of slight confusion. "It's the twins." To that Ratchet nodded while Optimus shut the door. Bumblebee began to squirm to be let down. Once he was, he crawled into the other room after the twins.
"Are you sure you WANT to watch the terror twins?" Ratchet asked.
"It gives Bumblebee some one to play with. As long as the twins don't destroy anything, it's fine," Optimus replied. He watched Sideswipe dig into the small box of toys that Bumblebee had and remove a set of blocks, a thankfully less destructive thing to play with.
"Alright then. Just don't let them kill each other. Or Bumblebee," Ratchet said. He opened the door, but paused before leaving. "Don't get yourself killed either, when they destroy the house around you." Optimus smiled and gave the medic a gentle push out the door. When it slid shut, Optimus walked over to the desk he had been working at before Bumblebee had wanted his attention. He sat down, simply watching the young mechs for a moment. Bumblebee's laughter warmed his spark and a soft smile filled his face. Finally he focused back on his work.
"Come on, Sunny, don't be like that. It's not like we're gonna get in trouble," Sideswipe whined softly. He watched Optimus for a little before shifting his gaze back to his twin. "He's working."
"Yeah. But he'll look up, see we're gone, and then we'll get it," Sunstreaker hissed. His arms were folded over his chest as he glared at Sideswipe.
"Nah, he's not like Hide. I wanna look around. Let's take Bee and go. We're not leaving, just... exploring," the red twin encouraged. Sunstreaker slowly gave a nod. "Bee, follow us." The yellow sparkling crawled after them as the twins headed down a hallway.
Sideswipe tried every door as they went, each one opening. They quickly found Bumblebee's room, then a storage closet, and many more. But the one that interested them was Optimus' room. His was at the end of the hallway, shut tightly, but unlocked. Sharing a grin with his twin, Sideswipe reached up and opened the door. It slid open. All that it revealed was Optimus' berth, a larger one for his larger frame, a few empty shelves on the far wall, another desk, a chest, and another door. The second door was actually behind the chest. When the twins got closer though, they found that there was enough room for the door to swing open without hitting the chest at all.
Sunstreaker ducked behind the chest while Sideswipe climbed on top of it. Carefully, he reached out as far as he could and just manage to touch the keypad which allowed the door to open. Sunstreaker pushed the door open further and Bumblebee crawled up. "What's in there?" Sideswipe asked. Sunstreaker only replied with a shrug. He went inside and found a metal box which he pulled out. It was decorated with carved images. The top one was a femme that they recognized from Med bay. She had been there a lot. Along the sides were pictures of the metal garden the twins had seen before. The box was beautiful, but they quickly lost interest in the outside. They wanted to see what was inside. Sideswipe very gently removed the top, knowing that Optimus obviously cared about it.
Inside, was a delicate carved metal flower, the head of it was around the size of Bumblebee's helm. A thing of major beauty. Under that was a holo of the same femme as the top of the box. The twins assumed that the name carved into the projector was hers. Elita-1. There were several data-pads below that. Bumblebee reached in and grabbed a smaller hologram projector that wasn't on. Just as Sideswipe reached in to retrieve the data-pads, a shadow fell over them all. At the same time, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker slowly looked up to meet the optics of a rather unimpressed Autobot leader. They yelped as Optimus picked them up by the scruff bar at the back of their necks. Their bodies went limp in his grasp. They were placed on the berth before Optimus pulled Bumblebee into his arms. They both noticed the look on the leader's face as he caught sight of the box. It was sheer pain. Bumblebee was next to them in a moment. They watched Optimus kneel down and gently close the box before placing it back in the closet.
When he turned to them, any emotion had drained from his features. "Get out. Not of the house, just this room," Optimus ordered. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker scrambled down from the berth, then from the room. Optimus took a seat on his berth and ran a servo down his face as he fought back the memories and pain that tried to surface. He cycled air through his systems. He slowly stood with Bumblebee in his arms. This time, when he left his room the door was firmly in place as well as locked. There was no way he was letting the twins go through his room again.
Entering the main room, he quickly located where the twins were. They were seated together in the middle of the floor. He strode past them, put Bumblebee in the playpen Optimus had managed to set up, and turned to them. "You have a choice. I can discipline you, making all three of us miserable, or you can stay in the playpen with Bumblebee just until I finish working," Optimus said. Sunstreaker gave his twin a glare but stood and approached the Autobot leader. Optimus picked Sunstreaker up and placed him in the pen. He motioned for Sideswipe to come over, who slowly got up. He was put beside Sunstreaker. Optimus stood there, just watching them, for a while. In an attempt to ease the uncomfort surging over the bond, Sunstreaker picked up a toy and handed it over to Sideswipe. He motioned to Bumblebee. At that, Optimus walked back to his desk and started working again.
By the time Optimus finished, the twins had tired both Bumblebee and themselves out. They were all laying together, practically draped over a toy that was shaped like Optimus' Cybertronian vehicle mode. Bumblebee adored it and chose to play with it over other ones. The Commander couldn't help but smile. He picked up the twins and cradled them in his arms before taking Bumblebee into his other one. He headed towards the spare room where Bumblebee's crib, as well as an extra berth, were set up and waiting.
He tucked Bumblebee in first, kissing the tiny sparkling's helm gently. He nearly killed himself on a rattle before laying the twins down on the berth they would share for the night. He graced them each with a brief kiss, they actually snuggled into him slightly, before shutting off the lights and heading off to his own room.
Sideswipe woke up groggily and glanced around. He was beside Sunstreaker, which was normal, but he was no longer in the playpen alongside little Bumblebee. And the lights were off with a blanket covering him. Speaking of which, Sunstreaker rolled over, taking the blanket with him. But that wasn't what bothered him. It was the sounds that were coming from somewhere else in the house. Sideswipe pushed on Sunstreaker's shoulder but only received moans. With a sigh, he climbed down from the berth.
He followed the sounds to their source, Optimus Prime. The Autobot Commander was deeply in recharge but seemed like he was having a nightmare. He wasn't still and acted as if he was reaching out to try and grab something. He was moaning slightly but Sideswipe had trouble in figuring out exactly what Optimus was saying. Sideswipe knew better than to try and rouse a bot that was several times his size from a nightmare without someone else there. He looked around as he thought, trying to come up with an idea of what to do. He grinned when an idea came to him.
::Ironhide, are you awake?:: Sideswipe
::I am now youngling. What do you need? Where's Optimus?:: Ironhide
::In recharge just like Sunny and Bee. But he's having a nightmare and I don't feel like getting myself hurt:: Sideswipe
::I'm on my way. Be there soon, Hide out:: Ironhide
Sideswipe paced through the hallway, each time looking into the berthroom that he passed. He jumped badly when the door chime went off, its sound unique when compared to the chimes of other houses. He flung the door open without pause.
Ironhide swept past the youngling as he headed down the hallway, Sideswipe was barely able to keep up. At Optimus' berthroom door, Ironhide motioned for Sideswipe to wait. The black mech entered and sat on the edge of the berth, a servo gripping Optimus' shoulder. "Optimus, wake up," he said. He shook Optimus gently enough to not cause harm. At one point Optimus, by reflex, nearly smashed a servo into his friend's arm. But after a few attempts Optimus finally brought his optics back on-line. He was trembling and tears began to flow. Ironhide held him tightly and slowly Sideswipe approached.
"Are... Are you alright?" Sideswipe quietly asked. Optimus looked to him before giving a very slight nod.
"Why don't you head back to your berh and get some recharge, Sides. I'm staying here," Ironhide suggested. Sideswipe left with some reluctance leaving the two adults alone. "What did you see that scared you so badly?"
"I-I'll t-tell you l-later-r. Stay..." Optimus motioned to the berth they were on and Ironhide smiled. He'd often made room for Optimus to lay with him when the Autobot commander had been a lot younger. The request for Ironhide to recharge with him was not a strange one and Ironhide was more than willing to fufill it. Ironhide settled beside Optimus as they both slipped back into recharge themselves.
