See authors note at the bottom, it's got some bits of info. I am very sorry for the wait, but I hope it was worth it. You all know my disclaimers.
Of Femmes and Sparklings – Chapter 21 – Mother Nature
Hound looked carefully over the assembled bots. He was so pleased to be helping Jazz out today by taking a group out to observe Earth's ever changing environment. In the few weeks that he had lived there, Hound found that he loved to explore Earth's terrain. When they arrived, outside the base in their hidden valley there were multitudes of organic life, from different species of flora to fauna. And then there came the snow. Like most Cybertronian's (save for explorers), Hound had absolutely no clue what it was. Until he went on it. Cold, making crunching noises under his pedes, the powdery substance had enthralled the tracker to no end. And now he was taking this group with him to explore.
Skyfire, Perceptor, Wheeljack and Picyries were the most obvious to have signed up for it. Scientists all to the core of their sparks, they had bonded as friends in the past few weeks. Ratchet even began affectionately calling them the 'nerd squad.' Four of the other Zodiac sisters had decided to go as well. Capricornia, Gemini, Cancera and Leo-Rah were waiting to go. Beta, Delira and Quicksilver had also shown up. Among other mechs were Mirage, Maelstrom and Springer – who had come as back-up just in case.
It was a good, solid group, and Hound was smiling an easy smile as he called his fellow Autobots to attention. "Ok, I'm gonna take you guys to this place on the other side of the valley that I discovered a week ago and thought it was pretty special. It's not too far, so that the femme's don't have to feel guilty about not transforming. Ok?"
Receiving nods, Hound started off, leaving from the base's front gates and through the thin layer of snow, waving jauntily to a security camera, knowing Red Alert was on the monitors.
Reaching the entrance to a small, hidden outlet of the valley, Hound beckoned then to follow, and the bot's in the group went through and into the smaller valley, to stop and capture the view into their memory banks.
There were multitudes and multitudes of flowers and trees, sheltered from the snow by rocky overhangs that only allowed glimpses of the valley from the air. It was bright, filled with a rainbow of colour, so different from the harsher metal world of Cybertron. It was peaceful, an undisturbed piece of nature, a curiosity and rare find for Cybertronians since the beginning of the war. Seeing the other Autobots rapt faces, Hound grinned. He knew the sight would stick with them as it had for him.
"It's best if we go in small groups for this. So…Skyfire with…Gemini and Capricornia. Perceptor with Cancera and Leo-Rah. Wheeljack and Maelstrom with Picyries…and…Mirage with Delira and Quicksilver. That leaves me with Beta and Springer. Everyone good?" Hound asked expectantly, almost bouncing in excitement.
At the nods, they split up into their groups.
Mirage
He could have cursed Hound when he had announced which femmes would be with him. He did not want to be in the same vicinity with her. It wasn't the shy speed skater. No. The tiny model who was a quarter Noble named Delira, was the proverbial thorn in his side. Most of his high-class 'breeding' traditions as it were, he usually disregarded. Sparkbonding with another noble was one of them. Delira, however, didn't seem to think so.
She had made it very clear at the party last night.
She had sauntered up to him and asked him to dance, which he acquiesced to, knowing Delira was a part noble and accepted in respect. However, her words and actions made him shudder internally. She had let her hands wander over his chestplates, obviously seeing if they were compatible. 'You know, noble to noble, I think it would be great if we got together, you know? Bring some form and grace into the Autobot ranks, for we know we are far better.'
Mirage would have purged his tanks at the comment, if not for the fact his sense of decorum forbid him to purge on another being.
So, yes. He wanted to let Hound know exactly what he thought of his recommendations for the groups after the trip. Now he had to hold in his more vicious desires – such as booting Delira back to base if she even thought of touching him again.
Wandering off in an random path, Mirage was content to stroll along and be content to just look at the nature. It wasn't his cup of energon, but this scene was uncommonly exceptional.
Quicksilver was also content to just be happy to be out of base and get to know this planet. Also, because Beta had wanted her to be out and about after she had skipped the party last night. She was fine with just following Mirage around.
The same could not be said for Delira.
The pink, purple and gold femme, though quarter noble, had been raised like a full-blooded one. And ingrained in her was that she should have another noble as a partner. And Mirage was the only noble she knew of.
Sauntering ahead through a rough track lined with white blossoms, Delira intentionally walked in front of Mirage and swayed her hips, imitating what she had done on the model stages on Cybertron. Sneaking a peek back, the femme found Mirage was not, in fact, paying attention. Frown marring her too-perfect features, she leaned down from the hips, feet splayed, to pick a flower. Her aft had, in the past, managed to stop mechs in their path.
Mirage just walked past, optics not deviating from the game trail they were walking. Quicksilver, not oblivious, quickly asked, "So Mirage, how did you like the library? I saw Libra take you there last night."
The blue spy was glad for the conversation and swiftly replied, "I was surprised to find I did. I thought that humans were very base and under-developed, but the playwright William Shakespeare was a pleasing diversion from the celebrations. The language, while archaic, had interesting turns of phrase and structure. And the plot was simply marvellous. Have you been in there?"
"Right after the built it. I went in with Libra. I enjoyed the fantasy novel Eragon. It was fascinating, the imagination of humans," replied Quicksilver, scanning an image of a patch of red chrysanthemums into her memory banks.
Delira pouted and growled. She didn't get any sort of attention from Mirage at all!
Prancing up behind the noble, Delira grabbed his arm and squealed, "Oh, look over there! Those flowers are the prettiest!"
Both Mirage and Quicksilver looked, but were unimpressed with the small thatch of too-bright pink flowers with obnoxious gold centres. Tugging his arm away from Delira's leech-like grasp, Mirage kept walking on, leaving a pouting and annoyed femme behind him.
Quicksilver, looking uncharacteristically smug, said "I have two words for you Delira. Epic. Fail."
Skyfire
"And as you can see here, this is a butterfly cocoon. An insect called a caterpillar makes the cocoon for itself and undergoes a stage of metamorphosis before it comes out as a butterfly. This step needs to be completed to make the wings strong," the big, gentle shuttle explained, delicately sliding his large finger out from where he had been tilting the cocoon up to show Gemini and Capricornia.
The amber visor of the younger Zodiac sister glinted as she took in the information. "Cool. So…in a way I guess…they can transform like us?"
Capricornia hummed a laugh and mentioned, "Not really. Right Skyfire?"
The scientist shook his helm happily, "Yep, that's right. With butterflies, to reach that stage, they go through only one stage of metamorphosis. Cybertronians have to go through many upgrades before we can be considered 'mature.' It is not as sudden, abrupt, nor as amazing as this," finished Skyfire, optics continually looking over the tiny cocoon, marvelling over the process that was happening inside.
Gemini grinned, not caring at all that she had been wrong. "What other organisms go through this? Do you know of any other's Skyfire?"
"Moths. Sea Urchins, in fact, go from a larvae form to full-on adulthood…but if change our topic and we have a look over here, there is a plant that has bright white lines on the blue petals. This flower wants to be pollinated…" the shuttle broke off abruptly from his explanation as he looked towards the sky, optics going wide with shock as he saw Starscream, in robot form, flying off into the distance. A pang hit his spark, for his friend that once was…who had obviously come to see him.
It had been Starscream's heel thrusters scraping on a rock ledge as she left that had Skyfire looking towards the sky and spotting her more slender red, white and blue form.
Gemini and Capricornia shared a quick glance before Gemini reached up to Skyfire's elbow, asking, "Skyfire? Are you all right?"
Shaking his helm slightly to clear it, the shuttle replied softly, "Just…thinking about an old friend. Uh, now where was I?"
"How this flower would like to be pollinated," Capricornia gestured to the blue and white flowers to the right of them. The purple femme had seen Starscream too, but said nothing, knowing it was not her place to say anything to the scientist. Gemini had been the only one to remain blissfully unaware of their Seeker visitor.
"Oh…now as I was saying, the brightness of the lines act as a 'runway' for an insect called a bee…."
Hound
Leading Springer and Beta to the back wall of the small valley, there were a few wooded glades that the tracker wanted to show his group. Hound felt particularly buoyant, relishing in the crispness of the oxygen and nitrogen laden planet, the cool grass underneath his pedes. "Ok, now we are going to have to duck through here slightly. There's a clearing big enough for the three of us through here-"
"Hound, I am here as firepower. I am not going to get some leaves in my frame – I'm just not in the mood," groused Springer, running his fingers lightly over his blaster.
Still feeling good-natured, Hound said, "All right. As long as Beta doesn't bail too."
The smaller green and white femme shook her head enthusiastically, "I want to see. Lead the way."
Leaving the Wrecker at the edge of the wooded glade, the tracker and the archer picked their way through, stopping every few seconds to admire a piece of nature. Hound was thoroughly enjoying watching the femmes face light up every few seconds as her peripheral scanners picked up a new thing, be it animal or plant. Beta created a separate memory folder just for the pictures she was taking with her optical zoom.
Reaching the promised clearing, Hound sat down on a large tree stump in the middle of the clearing, leaving Beta to stand and look upwards in awe at the sunbeams drifting down through the foliage to encase the clearing in a vibrant gold/green light. Capturing another image, Beta said, "Springer should be kicking himself at the decision to not come here."
"He should," the tracker agreed, leaning back on his arms and relaxing his muscle cables.
"I mean, I know not everybot will like nature, but I do and I think it's amazing. How these creatures evolve and adapt, and in such a short amount of time! Some of us Cybertronians cannot even begin to dream to achieve what some of these organisms do in such time. In a day, everything can change in an ecosystem," continued Hound after a pause, optics expressive. Beta had turned to listen attentively and agreed.
"Yep…hey Hound? Why does that stump have lines on it?" Beta asked.
"They tell how old a tree is. The more lines, the more years the tree existed. Judging by the species of tree and the lines, the tree before it fell was about 79 years old. A vorn, really," explained Hound.
Because they had been so still while they were talking, a young mule deer had plodded into the clearing, intent on nothing but the grass that was sought. Both Beta and Hound froze, not wanting to scare the creature away. Beta curiously scanned the animal, taking pictures of it and scanning it into her memory file. It was a young animal, for the antlers had not been fully formed.
.:It is odd that a single, young, male deer is here alone. According to the World Wide Web, this species of deer travels in herds:. Said Hound over the comm. his optics the only movement his frame made.
Both green bots watched as the deer leisurely grazed, as it seemed not to notice them, before it finally looked up, and with a snort of realisation, and trotted away.
The tracker and the archer vented in relief. It had taken much self control to keep their systems quiet and undisturbed. But it was more than worth it to see such an animal, unafraid, up close. It had been an inspiring moment for Beta, who was beginning to see why Hound loved this planet's nature.
"This is so amazing. Thanks, Hound, for taking us here," said Beta, fully sincere.
Grinning back, Hound said, "You are more than welcome. I'm glad you like nature as much as I do. You know, I'll even comm. you to come out with me on my nature walks in the morning. Sound good to you?"
"Yes. I'd love to."
Perceptor
As he walked, the scientist only barely registered the forms of the two femmes walking pleasantly in front of him around the west edge of the valley, picking their way among some large rocks. Perceptor had his processor on two things: to find out how exactly plant life converted sunlight energy into energy for life, and that he was useless as anything but a scientist.
He was. He honestly thought he was.
What was he, other than an assistant to the greats like Wheeljack, Skyfire and Ratchet? Did his experiments come to fruition? No. Only a calculated 45% of the time. Less than 50%! A fail in all the sense of the word. Was he ever appreciated? No. Huffer, ever the complaining one, had once called him 'nothing but a bucket of spare, rusty old bolts, you're that useful!'
And logical scientific thinking had led him to this conclusion: He, Perceptor, was useless. His words failed him, those beautiful, long words he loved to use he couldn't now.
So wrapped up in his miserable thoughts, he didn't notice Cancera drop back and step into place beside him.
"You're not, you know," she said softly, startling Perceptor out of his thinking.
"Pardon me, what did you say?" asked Perceptor, optics narrowing slightly suspiciously.
"I said you're not. Whatever you are thinking that is hanging over you like a dead weight…uselessness, whatever form it is in, you are not it," Cancera repeated, slightly louder than the first time.
Perceptor stopped walking from the shock of the statement, staring at Cancera incredulously. Politely, the scientist replied, "I have no idea what you are referring to. Would we like to locomote ourselves to another location?"
Cancera didn't press on, but walked after Leo-Rah, who had bounded up onto a boulder to wait for them.
"C'mon slowpokes, there's a path up to the top of the valley. My scanners found that the rocks will hold our weight. You game?" Leo-Rah made the question sound teasing, and before her sister and the scientist could answer, she had leapt onto the path in a flash of yellow and brown, mane sensory panels on her helm flaring in excitement.
Cancera decided she couldn't let the issue go. Her unique ability – and sometimes, admittedly, a curse – was telling her to press Perceptor. That this was not a one-off. It was a problem that needed to be solved. Keeping pace with him again, Cancera said, "Hear me out. Please. What do you have to lose?"
Sighing, Perceptor reluctantly agreed. "It would be counter-productive to not listen to your way of logical thinking."
Satisfied, Cancera made sure that Leo-Rah wasn't eavesdropping, before whispering, "My innate ability and intuition is to feel what others are feeling. A sense of severe empathy, like Tauri. Only with my ability, I can feel the reasons why that bot feels that way. You may hide your internal agony very well on the outside, Perceptor, but an empath such as I can tell what you feel. You feel useless. Because you are not as successful as Wheeljack or as respected as Skyfire or as adored as Picyries is – especially after she helped to get our revenge. It is because you constantly compare yourself to others, when there is no comparison. It is because you are sensitive and feel things deeply, and every harsh word, failure or criticism builds up within your meta and comes back to haunt you."
Perceptor almost had to re-boot his processor. He felt like he was being pranked – 'Wouldn't be the first time,' he thought bitterly. But the sincerity and gravity in the smaller femmes optics almost made him feel guilty for even having that thought.
"You…that is not conclusive," protested the predominantly red mech.
"But true," murmured the grass green femme.
Not protesting the comment, Perceptor went on, "And I have only briefly communicated to you on a personal level infrequently. How on Cybertron would your being have knowledge of my emotional sub-routines?"
"I know that you are not useless, and that you have other bots that do care about you, if only you would open yourself to them," Cancera said gently.
Beginning to feel irked at the femme saboteur, Perceptor uncharacteristically snorted, "Yeah, who?"
Smirking a little at Perceptors break in character, Cancera counted off on her fingers, "Maelstrom. You practically raised the mech. I know that you went with him to see Ratchet on the day of the human booths to check to see if his bond with Megatron is still blocked and unnoticed. Without you there, he would have fallen apart. Perceptor, you are one of Maelstrom's one true friends, and his rock. I've felt it."
"Also, Skyfire and Wheeljack. They always value your contribution, even though it may not amount to scientific success, they always find ways to help prove your theories or give you ideas to make new theories. They do not feel like you are useless to them."
"Drift and Blurr. Drift, because you saw beyond his Decepticon exterior, and Blurr because he learns words from you – however seldom he may use them – and thinks you are a loyal friend and you are a decent medic because all of the times that you helped fix him up."
"I could name a few more, even Prime! Because he cares about every Autobot who pledges allegiance, regardless of whether they fight or not, if they successful all of the time or not. He cares about us because he knows that we are loyal to him…and me, Perceptor, I care. I care just as much as Prime and Elita-1 for all of those in the Autobot army. Including you," Cancera finished emphatically, her optics burning with honesty, not realising that they had stopped, and that she was standing closer to the lanky scientist.
Perceptor was hit with an overwhelming sense of ease. It was abrupt, but this was what he needed. Someone to reassure him, because he had not asked for assistance.
Smiling in thanks, Perceptor said softly, "I have an overwhelming amount of gratitude for you as of this moment. It seems that your conclusion was indeed valid, and that I give you my apologies."
"They are taken," reassured Cancera, and walked ahead, feeling so much better having helped him.
As Perceptor continued their trek to the top of the small valley, he realised his spark felt lighter. Maybe…just maybe, he could set up some parameters for testing his own emotional gauge by how he talked with other beings about sensitive subjects. And, just maybe, Cancera would be his first test subject.
Back on base – Bumblebee
The yellow scout vented exasperatedly. He thought that he had gone over this with Esperanza. That there was no pressure whatsoever to speed up their relationship, that they could still go out and have fun like they had been doing on Cybertron. Heck, he was happy with just kissing and holding hands.
And now Esperanza was avoiding him again.
Bumblebee, ever the attentive mechfriend, had set up an energon lunch in his quarters where he wanted to just spend some downtime with Esperanza. And while she had initially agreed, a few hours later she had called up on the to let him know she was feeling a bit unwell and that she was going to the medbay, that she couldn't make it today. Again, like the gentlemech he was, an hour after that Bumblebee had visited the medbay to see if the champagne coloured femme was feeling better, only to be greeted by a grumpy Ratchet. The medic had wanted him to undergo a processor scan when he asked if Esperanza was feeling well, and could he see her, replying, 'Bumblebee, I know you are a young mech, but if you don't have a clue when your femmefriend is, there is a problem.'
And now he felt jilted, even though he knew it was not Esperanza's intention. Bumblebee knew that the normally playful, sweet, yet tough femme was feeling a little lost and insecure – not sure of what was going to happen next, despite his efforts to comfort her.
Knocking politely on the door to her quarters, he walked in with no assumptions as soon as the door slid aside. Esperanza was obviously not excepting him to check up on her, and let out a small noise, which sounded suspiciously like 'eep!'
"Hey. How are you feeling?" Bumblebee asked, making sure to keep his tone light.
"Good," Esper replied. Quickly. Too quickly.
"I didn't know that Ratchet moved his medbay. I think I like the decor change though, much more homey," joked the yellow mech, only half-sarcastic.
Sighing heavily, knowing there was no point in lying (again) to her mechfriend, Esperanza pleaded, "I'm sorry Bee, but these doubts just kill me-"
She was stopped by fully replying because Bee had come up to her and wrapped her fully in his arms, letting her helm bury into the cables of his neck. Soothingly stroking a shouldercrest, Bumblebee deadpanned, "You know, if 'facing makes you so nervous, why don't we just get it over with and then actually have a relationship?"
Choking and stuttering her intakes, Esperanza drew back and stared at Bumblebee in shock.
"You can't be serious."
"Actually, I've been thinking, it's just a big block between you and me. If we could just break it down, then maybe we can move forward," shrugged the scout matter-of-factly, "and besides, we've known each other for a long time, as friends, even if our more serious relationship hasn't been as long."
The champagne-coloured sharpshooter, while still in a state of surprise, mulled over the idea. If they did…interface…she would be Bee's first and he would be hers. It would be something special and their next stepping stone. But to do so under these circumstances…would it prove that they were meant for each other or that the pressure had made 'them' disintegrate totally? Pushing the less than happy thought out of her processor, she laid a gentle kiss on Bee's lipplates.
"I'm thinking about it. But, I'm so sorry I lied to you…is the invitation of lunch still open?" Esper asked sweetly.
Smiling back, the scout's mood brightened as he answered, "Of course. To the BB cafe!"
Laughing, and wrapping an arm around his waist, Esperanza followed Bumblebee out of her room and through the base, happy to spend more time with him.
Elita-1
Panting slightly, the femme commander grinned at her two closest friends as they finished off their sparring, bowing to each other in the traditional ways of circuit-su. Although they had weapons systems, most of the femmes learned this art, learning the discipline and finesse of the self-defence.
"Chromia, tighten up on your kicks, they are a bit sloppy, and Moonracer, stop losing your focus," reprimanded Elita lightly, knowing her second and third in command would have recommendations for her too.
Snorting, Chromia replied, "What about your ducks? Need to be a bit swifter there Miss 'no fear.'"
"That's Mrs. Prime 'no fear' to you Chromia. Have you and Ironhide decided on a name yet?" inquired the rose coloured femme, smirking back at her oldest friend.
"Yep," grinned Chromia, rubbing her chestplates affectionately, "and it's a fairly typical name for bots like 'Hide 'n' I. Our little mech will be called Dynamite. He's predominantly navy and black, but for the rest I'll let you both see when he comes online."
Moonracer briefly embraced the trigger-happy femme in excitement before sharing her own news, "Ratchet and I did the protoform making with Wheeljack yesterday, and we are having a little femme with a brighter shade of my colouring with a red stripe and a white chevron. Ratchet had one as a youngling, and so he wanted our little femme to have one too."
Looking at each other, grinning, all the command femmes burst into excited squeals, delighting in the fact their sparklings would be with them soon. Their laughter filled the room and Moonracer bubbled excitedly, "Can you believe it? Something we once talked about as a distant fantasy is now a reality!"
Hearing that comment, Elita was immediately rushed back as to why this sort of event was written off as a fantasy. Mood suddenly dipping, she politely excused herself away from her friends, saying she had some commander business to attend to.
Upon reaching Optimus's office, the femme commander let out a heavy sigh and entered. Smiling softly at the sight her big, hulking mate curled over the desk as he did his work, Elita sent a pulse through the bond in greeting. Helm immediately snapping up, Optimus smiled lovingly at his sparkmate.
"How are you and the sparklet doing?"
"We're fine," said Elita, coming around the desk to lean on it in front of her mate, but her expression was forlorn.
"But…?" Optimus pressed, taking her hand in his own.
"We're in war, Optimus," the rose femme continued softly, "And regardless of this truce, we will only have another three weeks of it. And once Eylam comes, we will only have two weeks with him, unhindered by war. It's just…urgh!" she huffed, banging her hand against the desk. Optimus watched as she vented heavily, struggling not to cry. Reaching forward, he drew Elita onto his lap and placed several gentle kisses upon her helm.
"Do you think it's a sign of bad parenting that we are raising a sparkling in war? Do you think it is a selfish thing if this had happened without the virus?" Elita asked sorrowfully.
Shaking his helm, the flamed blue mech replied, "No! Don't think like that, my love. It is something special between us. And…while the timing might not be right, it is not selfish to want to give another life to the world." Tenderly stroking over Elita's arms, Optimus revealed his own doubts. "And I am afraid too Elita…this is a new thing we haven't encountered before, and I am afraid of accidentally harming our sparkling. I am a large mech, I may not see him and crush him, and that is my first fear towards my sparkling."
Nuzzling into warm neckcables, Elita said, "I'm so happy I've got you Optimus. To feel you within me…"
"And I too. I don't know how I would be able to have made some decisions I did without you by my side."
Sighing again, Elita just sat there, cuddled into Optimus's side, and wouldn't mind if she could stay there the rest of her life.
Kup
Yeah, he didn't know what he was getting into, but he didn't care about Ratchet's opinion too much in that matter. He didn't know what he was getting into every time he charged into a fight either. But still, he had the bolts to come out on top, and he had the bolts now.
The femmes like this now didn't have the advantages they used to have. And Kup was all about the Autobot side having advantages. If Ratchet could successfully transfer his spark energy to Ariea's spark, and for her programming to realise it only had to make a sparkling, then Kup could safely say to the unmaker, 'Ok, I've had mah time, you can take meh if you want now.' Although he had to admit he wasn't sentimental on things like legacy, it would feel pretty damn good to know that he had offspring of his own and that he had put another femme back in commission.
Sinking his weary, age old green frame into the medical berth, Kup kept his optics offlined, seeing nothing at all, but his peripheral scanners working overtime on sensations of feeling, and his audios picking up the sounds of Ratchet as he bustled around, getting his equipment ready. They were in a private room, and only Ratchet was going to perform the procedures on him. First Aid and Aquaris were in the general medbay, checking over the last of Cybertronian equipment.
He felt as Ratchet triggered the manual release of his chestplates and spark casing. As the scuffed glass slid away, Kup didn't hesitate for a moment, pushing his spark up to prominence so Ratchet could see.
So he could see the fading light of his once proud blue spark, what was wholesome was now marked with scars of injury and torture, of emotional anguish. To see the bright flares of light that, in his quarters, would sometimes peek out around his chestplates – they were that strong. Ratchet would harvest that, by using the same device that would hold sparks in statis if their body was broken and their spark needed to be taken out.
"Hopefully, I'll see you soon, Hatchet," said Kup calmly, having finally taken his cy-gar out of his mouth, for he had heard the medic retrieve a sedative.
"You better, or else when I get to the Well of Sparks, I'll throw you into the Pit," threatened the medic, but there was no malice in his tone, but a faint trace of worry and tenseness.
Kup smirked as Ratchet injected the sedative in him, "I wouldn't expect anythin' else from you," before he offlined, leaving himself open to the medics radical and tender care.
A/N: YES I KNOW I'VE BEEN TAKING LONG