CHAPTER 14
Alex rested his head against the pillow he'd been given by Sparkplug, pulling the fur blankets over himself a little more. They'd found a discarded mattress in the building they'd sheltered themselves in, and thus, he slept even more soundly that night. It was old, but it was unusually soft, and durable, enough to afford comfort and allow Sunstreaker to sleep without his weight on his seats. When he came out of recharge, it was still snowing, and thus, Sunstreaker let his son continue to sleep, figuring they still weren't heading out that day. As Alex seemed to shift uneasily, Sunstreaker instinctively stroked his back, relaxing the young human, who clearly had been in the midst of a nightmare.
Sunstreaker was quiet as to stand, and move from where Alex slept, wishing for some time alone before he woke up. He peered from the window and out into the city briefly, keeping watch for any stray hunters who might pose a thread to the boy. His optics settled on a single figure in the snow. He shifted slightly, moving himself out of view, he ran over his scans of the creature. It was Decepticon, that much he knew, and as such, he carefully removed his riffle. Ready to blast the thing apart if they so much as walked in and eyed Alex.
And yet, something was off. As he came closer, and closer, the color scheme became more familiar, as did the energy signature. Sunstreaker knew the signature, and person, at once: Skyfire. The winged, red and white mech made it to the entrance before collapsing. "Skyfire!" Sunstreaker bellowed, rushing forward, and waking Alex without even meaning to "Easy, man." He noted as Skyfire attempted to lift himself, and stared up at Sunstreaker "You're safe." He noted.
"No I'm not, I'm here with you, this must be the Pit." Skyfire joked half-heartedly to which Sunstreaker grinned.
Alex was on his feet, confused by the presence of what looked to be another Autobot. He stepped forward carefully, nervously, unsure of what to do or say. "Oh yeah, probably should get this over with. Skyfire, meet my son, Alex. Alex, meet Skyfire." Sunstreaker nodded at the mech who had his one arm draped over his shoulders as he helped him in "Former Decepticon Seeker, current Autobot Seeker." He noted.
"Lotta good that does me with a clipped wing." Skyfire groaned, as he looked at Alex "Nice to meet you kid." After a moment the words sunk in, and Skyfire's optics quickly widened "Excuse me? Did you just say your son? Or am I becoming delusional?" He questioned Sunstreaker.
"Yeah, it's a long story, we'll get to it in a minute." Sunstreaker told him flatly.
Skyfire simply seemed dumbfounded that he honestly had not just been hearing things. But Sunstreaker figured he'd be getting a lot of that at base, and therefore, brushed it off. He carefully settled Skyfire against a wall, but before he could ask anything, the seeker spoke first. "How the slag do you have a human son? Seriously, who would even TRUST you with a human?" He questioned.
"Long story short, kid was owned by Soundwave, I saved him. We bonded for the last... OVER a month I guess now." Sunstreaker tried to sum up what had happened "To put it simply, somehow my spark decided to love this kid like a son. And here we are." Skyfire tilted his head, as if he was running scans to make sure this really was Sunstreaker, only to find out it was "Now it's your turn for the sharing session, Skyfire. What the frag happened to you?" He questioned.
Skyfire fell deathly quiet for a few moments, before he finally spoke. "I've been searching for some of our missing members. You included. When I was shot down by one of the Seekers, several cities over. I managed to fly for a while, but my clipped wing finally gave in here." He shrugged a bit "Looks like I'm going to be forced to scan some sort of car. Then we can all head back together." He turned his optics towards Alex calmly "So, Alex was it?" He questioned, the boy simply nodded "It's nice to meet you kid." He added.
"Nice to meet you too." Alex said, his shyness showing.
He'd never met any Autobot other then Sunstreaker before, and it was clearly showing. Skyfire grinned a little bit at him, and nodded a little. "Shy, are you?" He questioned, wondering what exactly was making the boy nervous, the boy simply nodded in response "Heh, I'm nothing to be afraid of, kid. No matter what I used to be." He noted, his smile widening "Tell me kid, where are you from?" He questioned.
"Right here in Craterville, Colorado. This is my hometown." Alex explained, much to Skyfire's surprise "I used to live in the orphanage you probably passed on the way in." He explained.
Skyfire looked at Alex then at Sunstreaker, understanding why he'd just randomly taken in the boy. Clearly, he'd already figured out that the boy was an orphan. Skyfire smiled a bit, and looked on towards the window sadly. "Must be hard to see your town like this." Alex only gave a small nod of his head in response "And please tell me that Sunshine over here is treating you well?" Sunstreaker scowled at the nickname "I'm kidding, relax Sunstreaker." He added.
"Eh, Dad's okay, though he's a bit..." Sunstreaker glared in his direction as if to say 'keep quiet' "Nothing." He quickly said, skipping out on his joke "Honestly? He's a lot nicer then you guys probably give him credit for." He shrugged his shoulders "He's taken good care of me, if that's what you mean." He explained.
Skyfire chuckled, having one or two ideas of what the child's joke was going to be. Skyfire already liked the kid, he was a cute little human, as well as being friendly. Though he could definitely detect a hint of smart-aftery that would take getting used to. "I'm a good Father, as hard as it is to believe." Sunstreaker simply shrugged his own shoulders "Sides'll never let me live it down, but hey, what are you gonna do?" He questioned.
"You mean, you're actually going to admit it to the base?" Skyfire asked, surprised.
"I'm gonna have to get permission from my Father to adopt him, aren't I?" Sunstreaker admitted, grinning a bit "It'd be just a little hard to keep it a secret considering that." He explained, then looked down at Alex "Besides, the kid might not look it, but he's worth it." He winked at the boy playfully, to which Alex smiled, cheeks flushing with embarrassment "Even if he doesn't seem to think so ninety percent of the time." He noted.
"Hey!"
"Well, it's true, Alex. Or at least, you make it seem like you feel that way." Sunstreaker noted, his hands on his hip plates, he looked at Skyfire "How badly injured are you? Critical?" Skyfire shook his head "So it's just a matter of driving, I suppose. Which we can focus on once the snow finally lets up." He explained, then turned to Alex "So get comfy, we're not leaving for a while, by the looks of it." He added.
"Fine by me, I get a mattress for however long we stay." Alex teased.
"I can imagine sleeping in a Lamborghini, or any car is nothing like a mattress for you humans." Alex nodded in agreement at Skyfire's comment, it was true statement "Well, you get one, at least until the storm lets up." He stared at Susntreaker for a moment "We might be smart to start a fire in here too. I feel a storm coming, already is starting to 'Hail' as the humans call it. Even with warm clothing, he'll need some extra warmth." He noted.
Skyfire slowly removed some logs from his subspace, much to Alex's surprise. "Got these in case I rescued any humans along the way. Didn't think I'd ever need to use this, but I guess they'll come in handy anyway." Skyfire noted, he turned toward Alex who looked to be shivering "Primus, it's already getting cold for you?" Alex nodded, as Skyfire gathered the logs around, and shot a small lazer, starting a fire "Since the building is metal, it won't catch fire." He carefully kicked the front door closed as Alex huddled in front of the fire.
"I was going to get firewood later, but that works too." Sunstreaker nodded a bit, then turned to Skyfire "You're sure you weren't followed?" He questioned.
"Positive, I got lucky and lost them over New England, I believe."
Sunstreaker nodded, taking the blanket from the mattress, he wrapped it around Alex who still shivered slightly. It was only when the blanket draped around his body that Alex felt his body warm up and relax more. "That better, kid?" Sunstreaker questioned, Alex only nodded his head "Good, I got the other two in my subspace if you need them tonight." He nodded a bit, then looked at a bewildered Skyfire "What did I tell you?" He questioned.
"I'm impressed Sunstreaker." Skyfire admitted calmly.
"Yeah, well, an Autobot can't be all bad, right?" Sunstreaker questioned, staring out the window, the storm seemed to be getting really bad "Primus, that is one heckuva storm. Hope we don't get snowed in, wouldn't THAT be a pain in the tailpipe?" He groaned a bit, not liking the sound of that whatsoever.
Alex didn't either but as he looked out the window he knew they probably would be. That being said, he knew the Autobots would have no trouble getting them out. He just hoped it wouldn't get unbearably cold for him, though he knew Sunstreaker would never let that happen at the same time. "Expect the best, and prepare for the worst, that's how I see it." Skyfire admitted "We'll just have to make sure Alex stays warm as possible. This won't freeze our circuits, but it could give him frostbite." He noted.
Alex felt arms wrap around him slowly, looking up to see Sunstreaker. It added a whole other level of warmth, as his hologram was so solid. He snuggled up against Sunstreaker's holoform, feeling warm as he possibly could be. "Not letting that happen. You're sleeping in me tonight, kid. I know you like the mattress. But by tonight, it's going to get only worse. You'll need my heat on full blast." Alex nodded in agreement "For now, just relax though. You'll be okay." He nodded.
Alex only hoped that Sunstreaker was correct, he'd never been snowed in anywhere, and he didn't want to start now.
...
A/N: Figured it was time we added another 'bot to Alex's side of things. And since it's winter, I felt someone would encounter their current situation sometime. :P Reviews make my day!