Chapter 20:
By Transformersnewfan
Thundercracker emerged from the hot shower, drying the last of the waters from his pristine chassis. He went to his berthroom and saw that his younger brother wasn't there, "Skywarp?" he called out. Nothing.
Still angry, he went to bed, figuring the pregnant Jet had gone crying to Soundwave or Ramjet. Well, for now, he decided to just get some rest. It had been a long day.
The blue Seeker woke up at around two in the morning, feeling strangely cold, and adjusted the blankets around his wings. He sighed, thinking that if he was cold, Skywarp was probably cold too. He should get up and give him an extra blanket.
"Warp?" he asked groggily. No response. He looked up and saw that the other berth was still empty. Skywarp had not returned.
"SKYWARP?!" he called out. Now he was getting worried. He sighed again, figuring he wouldn't be getting back to recharge unless he knew Skywarp was okay; he got up and looked around.
Gravechaser watched his son with a blank expression from the darker flyer's closet.
"Hey, Warp?" TC called out. He wasn't in their living room, or the wash racks, or anywhere in their quarters.
Thundercracker unlocked the door and began looking for him. He was hoping the other had just gotten up to pick at the leftovers in the kitchen, but he didn't find him there. He asked Dirge; nothing. Ramjet neither. He went to the Control Room, hoping his brother had decided to crash on the sofa. Nothing again. He knocked on Starscream and Megatron's quarters, although highly doubting he was there. The Decepticon Leader answered, "No TC," Megatron rubbed at his optics, "Haven't seen 'em. Try Soundwave."
The blue Seeker began to panic, running to the Med-Bay to see if he was there. Nobody. Finally, worried sick now, he knocked on Soundwave's door.
The Tapedeck was rather ticked off when he opened the door, "Yes?"
"I'm sorry to bother you," TC was pretty upset by now, "I can't find Skywarp."
Soundwave was cold, and knew more than he was telling, "So, you just now started looking for him?"
Thundercracker: "Do you have him?"
"No." The bigger mech let the other twist in the wind for another moment before finally showing his hand, "He filed a flight plan earlier. He's in New York."
"O-Oh," TC was relieved, then worried again, "He got there safely?"
"I just said that." When Soundwave wanted to be extra cold, he was absolutely icy.
"Um," Thundercracker bit his lower lip component, "We kinda had an argument…"
Soundwave: "I figured."
Thundercracker: "Do you know when he's coming home?"
"Monday," was all the Tapedeck would give.
"All weekend, huh?" he guessed it would be okay, but still, "You think it's okay, I mean?"
"Well, if you have to ask," Soundwave went from icy to mean, "Why did you kick him out?"
Thundercracker didn't want to answer that now, "I-I don't know…"
The Tapedeck just stared, burning a hole into the other, before the blue Seeker dragged himself back to his quarters.
TC didn't get any sleep after that. Not until Monday.
Friday morning, the Cassette twins watched their Sire work in the Control Room.
"Poor Pop," Frenzy whispered.
"That Seeker ran off with his baby," Rumble spat before approaching Soundwave, "Hey Pop? He left without your approval."
"I didn't impose any flight restrictions, Rumble," Soundwave noted, "Under thirty weeks is well within the normal range for a Seeker."
"But Mom didn't do that," the blue Cassettecon noted.
"Well, no," the Tapedeck shrugged, "It would be the other way around. I wasn't allowed in the house for a week." He tried to laugh, then seeing that his sparklings were serious, he told them, "It's alright. I'll talk to him when he returns."
The twins grumped and left.
Privately though, Soundwave wouldn't have shared his thoughts, "It's for the best," he was GLAD Skywarp was away from the Base for a few days. Something wicked was afoot, and the Tapedeck was hoping he could solve what exactly was going on before Monday.
Skywarp had flown heavily to the East Coast; the trip was much more taxing on his systems than he had calculated it to be. He had been forbidden to use his teleportation to shortcut his trip and had to do the entire five-hour flight under his own power. It was interesting though, flying with his little 'passenger'. Crystal seemed to enjoy their trip, :Momma, Crystal like fly! Crystal fly with Momma!:
It was dawn when they arrived in Brooklyn, New York. Hometown of his friend Christopher, and home of the Decepticon East Coast Division, which operated out of the abandoned Pfizer factory.
Skywarp staggered into the Base; he could barely walk now, "Motormaster?" he called out, "Dragstrip?" He looked around for them, but when he saw that no one was online yet, he just signed himself in and got a passkey for one of the spare quarters. He would explain why he was there later. He fell asleep the moment he hit the pillow.
Black Friday: 1:00 P.M.:
The human world was busy scoring deals on major electronic brands all over the country, while the Stunticons lounged around, glad they had a few days off from any missions from Megatron.
Skywarp woke up thinking about a couple of things: For one, as of today, he was twenty-four weeks carrying. Second, it may have just been the fresh air or the fact that he was exhausted when he got in, but it just felt as if he had one of the best night's sleep in a while. He looked around the room, and he just knew. Gravechaser had not followed him to New York.
Was the ghost confined to the Decepticon Underwater Base? Was he somehow attached to Thundercracker? Did the demon leave now? Simply because he was satisfied that he had seen the two brothers break off their friendship? "Maybe," the young Seeker shrugged. He watched and waited, but it soon became clear that the oppression and chill in the air were not present here in Brooklyn, "Maybe, Crystal," Skywarp said to his daughter-to-be, "we should stay here."
"So, Warp," Motormaster began as he watched the television, "Haven't seen YOU around here lately."
"I've been kinda busy lately," Skywarp smirked. His gestation chamber was swollen past his pedes.
Breakdown got right to the point, "Who's the Father?"
"One-night stand," the dark Seeker didn't care to go into details, "he's an actor."
"Man, Chris would've been on the floor laughing right now if he were here," Damian told him. He and James and other members of the Human Alliance Division had come to hang out in the lounge during the holiday break. Normally, Damian was the Chief Coordinator of the H.A.D., while James worked freelance in addition to his music career.
Skywarp always liked being with the two men he called Chris' 'Trine' brothers. When they would get together, it was like he could still feel his friend with them.
"I wonder what he would've said about me now," the Seeker wondered aloud.
"He would have been happy for you," Damian answered.
Flashback:
1993 Brooklyn, New York.
Skywarp was so nervous; he waited outside for Christopher as usual, but this time, he would be meeting his friend's sparkling for the first time.
When the young father emerged from the bedroom with the tiny infant, he presented her proudly.
The Seeker didn't know what to do, so Chris joked, "What's the matter, Warp? She ain't THAT ugly."
"Nah, no," Warp shook his helm, "She's beautiful, but…she's so tiny is all."
"They all start out that way," Christopher smirked.
The Seeker took the little girl into his hand; he began petting her, much like how Thundercracker would pet his petrorabbit Harvey so long ago. He was a lot like his older brother, even though he didn't know him when he had his pets. He laid her on his shoulder. The little girl drooled on him and stared into his optics. He didn't want to move; he didn't want to take his optics off her. He loved her immediately.
"Um, Chris?" his wife asked.
"I'm not gonna piss off a giant robot," the musician whispered through his teeth.
After fifteen minutes or so, Chris finally asked, "You gonna give her back?"
"No." was the Seeker's answer.
The new parents simply waited. The baby girl sleeping in his hand. Finally, Skywarp told the couple, "Why don't you two go on a date or something?"
"A date?" Chris asked, shocked.
"Sure, rekindle your relationship, or whatever humans call it," he rocked the baby, "I'll take care of her."
While his wife was a gassed at the idea of leaving her newborn daughter with the evil robot, Chris told her, "Guess we're going on a date."
"Have fun…" Skywarp told them, not intending to give their baby back anytime soon.
End of Flashback:
"Hey, where's your brother?" James asked.
Skywarp was jarred from his memories momentarily before answering, "Um, at the Base back home…we had a fight."
"The brother that would've done anything for you?" Damian gave him a sideways glare as he got some turkey leftovers.
"Damian, I don't know if you'll believe me," the dark Seeker began, "But…In the last couple of months, my brothers have said and did stuff that's scared me. And now they want me out." He didn't want to tell them about Gravechaser.
"Listen," the older of the two 'Trine' brothers began, "You just do your own thing. Chris wouldn't have let anybody push him out. When people told him he wasn't good enough, he went back and MADEthem respect him. And that's what you gotta do now, Warp. You gotta go back there and stake your claim. Show them you can't be pushed out."
"Try telling this to my brother's demon dad," Skywarp thought bitterly, "I guess so…" He wanted to change the subject, "I'm gonna visit Mrs. Williams. I'll be back later."
As soon as the carrying Jet walked out, James burst out laughing, "Dude, did you notice Skywarp's getting fat!"
Damian just sighed.
On Friday night, young Ti-Ti, the baby the Seeker had held in his hand; now a beautiful seventeen-year-old young woman took the stage at her high school's Annual Thanksgiving Recital. She chose to cover More to the Story from Broadway's Shrek the Musical. Her mother looked on proudly at her daughter.
Ti-Ti's singing: "And there's more." "More. More to the story." "What you so often read." "Isn't always so." "There's more. More to the story." "Now I know."
In the darkened auditorium, in the back of the rafters, where he used to watch her father perform, Skywarp listened, hanging on every word. He rubbed his stomach, thinking how the next time he would visit the children, he would be a Mother himself.
"Crystal, that's your human cousin singing," he whispered to his sparkling, even though he could tell she was asleep at the moment.
Ti-Ti's singing: "This is by the book." "I knew it from the start." "The ogre tries to hurt you." "But I never knew they meant in the heart." "And there's more. More, more to the story." "Now I know."
The young woman finished to a standing ovation, just like her father always did.
Friday evening:
Ti-Ti's and Junior were home with their mother; now in the girl's bedroom, they were laughing and talking about the evening. They were the best of friends; just like TC and Warp always were.
Skywarp hid on their roof, as he always did. He never let the children see his faceplates.
"You sang beautiful, darling," his disembodied vocals told her.
The teens stopped talking immediately, realizing their 'angel' had come to visit.
"I knew you were there tonight," Ti-Ti smiled, "How long have you been back?"
"Just today," he liked being mysterious with them.
With Junior, he was always trying to get a look at their silent protector. He went to the window, but the Seeker's dark features blended in with the night's skies. They couldn't see him, but he could see them through their skylight.
"I missed you," Ti-Ti told him.
"Yeah, me too," Junior agreed, "you haven't been back in like, months, man."
"Six months," Skywarp agreed, "I wanted to see you guys. I've been thinking about your father a lot lately."
Ti-Ti just knew; she didn't know HOW she knew, but she just knew, that Skywarp would be leaving soon. She didn't quite know how to process this. Her angel had been with her all her life.
Junior didn't understand yet, "I always miss my dad, even though I don't remember him at all."
"I can tell you, he loved you," Skywarp whispered, "He loved you both so much." He loved them too, just as much as he already loved Crystal. But something was different this time; Skywarp was wondering if he was going to get to meet his little sparkling. Or would Gravechaser succeed in snatching him away from her? Either way, he prayed she would survive somehow.
"I know that he wishes he could have seen you guys grow up," the Seeker told them, "you've both kept his legacy alive…" He turned onto his back now, unable to sustain the kneeling posture with his heavy belly, "He's never gonna be forgotten."
He thought of something else now, "How was your finals, Ti-Ti?"
"I got a hundred!" the girl told him, "I got another one coming in January, and then graduation's in June!" She would have something her father didn't; her high school diploma. "Will you be there, Skywarp?"
Thinking now, Crystal would be around three months old by then, so it would probably be nice to take his tiny newling on her first—well, not counting this one—trans coastal flight, and the two children would probably love meeting a baby Transformer. This could be nice.
But the Seeker's thoughts went back to Thundercracker, Starscream, and Gravechaser. Would any of them let him just live and be happy with his sparkling? Three sparklings, as long as he was being honest.
"If I'm still on earth, I'll be there, Ti-Ti," he felt that was an honest answer.
"Can I have a graduating present?" she asked, smiling.
Skywarp smiled, "Anything, baby girl."
Ti-Ti asked, "I'll see your face?"
Well, he figured if he was dead by then, no harm in an empty promise, "You'll see me."
The Seeker and the teenagers spend a wonderful three days together, talking over the past, looking forward to the future, remembering their father and his friend, Christopher Williams, the one the world knew as the greatest hip-hop artist of all time.
Damian and James also visited. It was one of the best Thanksgivings everyone remembered.
But by Sunday evening, Skywarp looked out the window of his temporary quarters at the East Coast Base and knew the time was up.
BONNNNNNGGGG
A clock struck midnight on Monday morning. The holiday was over. "We should head back, Crystal," he looked out the window at the stars now. He wanted to stay; he felt so safe here; he could SLEEP here. He could have Breakdown's Bondmate Knockout deliver his sparkling. Work here in New York; have his baby in daycare during the day but spend as much time with her as possible after his shifts. And he could see Chris's children as much as he wanted, without all the United States between them. It could be so good…
Thundercracker. Starscream.
He missed them.
Skywarp was crying again; first time since his arrival. He missed his brothers, even though they hated him. And he thought about Soundwave, and the potential family he would be giving up by staying here. If he went back now, nothing would be ruined; it was just a Thanksgiving break. Staying any longer would have lasting complications though; possibly literally for his sparkling, and he was afraid of risking that. Changing doctors was always risky, especially since Soundwave knew so much more than Knockout did.
His nephews. He missed his sweet little nephews, especially little Darkwing; they used to be each other's best buddies.
He had been ignoring Thundercracker's pleas through their Trine Bond, :Come home, we love you.:
One thing he would have to contend with was, of course, Gravechaser. That was the problem. He could work things out with his brothers, but first, he needed to stand his ground against the wicked ghost.
"Damian was right," he told himself, "Christopher wouldn't have let anybody chase him out. So, neither will I."
With renewed determination, he went to the roof of the former Pfizer building turned Decepticon East Coast Base, transformed into his Jet Mode, and headed West.