Chapter 21

"MOMMA!"

Gears let a mile-wide grin fill her face as the happy squeal reached her. She turned from her conversation with Epps and the autobot named Jazz about decent music, and raised her arms in a 'V' as her boys entered the room, "My babies!"

Alec, although notably busted up and bandaged, carried two duffel bags on one shoulder and a messenger on the other. Little bitty Alex with his equally little bitty legs was on his shoulders and leaning forward with a thrilled expression, bouncing up and down, sporting his favorite Batman backpack.

Gears watched as her oldest, in one practiced motion, raised a arm to take Alex by the hands and carefully unwrap him from his neck to set him gently on the floor. Alex, living up to his nickname, was out of reach in half a second, sliding across the floor with the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face. He kept crying, "Momma! Momma! Momma!"

Gears left the two males and rushed to meet him, swooping down to pick up her baby. Out of old habit, she held him out and away from her first to rake her eyes down his form to make sure that no one had laid a hand on him.

But he reached and grabbed for her, and when she finally pulled him in, he wrapped every inch of his little body around her. He gave a happy squeak when she spun around once, burying her face in his soft red hair.

Alec was there a minute later, dropping the bags and wrapping his powerful arms around the both of them. He was taller and wider than Gears, taking after his father's 'power-lifter' build. He squeezed, but not enough to hurt, and put his chin on top of her head with a soft smile. Alex let loose a round of giggles as he became the 'cheese' of their little family sandwich, wiggling and climbing his way up Gears' body until his little head popped up between them. He kissed her on the cheek and freed his arms to put around both of their necks.

My boys, she thought softly, closing her eyes and letting herself sink into it, my life.

Gears freed one arm and wrapped it around Alec, heart warming as she felt a little hand playing in her hair. She let her oldest step back when she felt him tense slightly to do so.

Gears gave Alex a boost when he started to weasel his way up to her shoulders, and put a hand around a thin ankle just in case he fell. He went to work with her loose hair, running tiny fingers through it and braiding it.

She looked at Alec, lifting her free hand to touch the side of his face that wasn't bandaged, but there was a nasty bruise. It was one of the ugliest bruises she had ever seen, the point of it just outside the corner of his eye. Alec said, answering her unspoken question, "nothing's broke. But I've got stitches on my knuckles and on my face. Doc says they'll leave scars."

Gears spared him a tired smile, "you've got tough skin, like your daddy."

He grinned at her, then reached up and ruffled Alex's hair. The younger grinned back, saying, "bubba really scared them when he got angry, and they all ran like crazy chickens!"

Gears let loose a short laugh, but blinked when an amazed "whoa" echoed above her. Gears tilted her head back enough to look at him, seeing that his wide green eyes were fixed on something else. She followed his gaze to see Jazz raise a hand to wave.

"Wow! There's more of them!" Alex said excitedly. Gears half expected him to come rushing back down and prepped herself to catch him. But the child stayed right where he was, still tugging lightly through her hair. Alec sighed beside her when the boy shot off, "What's your name? Do you know Demona? Do you have any friends? Where are they?"

The autobot paused. Gears couldn't see his expression because he had that stupid visor down, but she could tell that he was surprised. He seemed to count in his head, "Jazz, yeah, yeah, and they're sleepin'."

"My names Alex!" He greeted, "but my nickname is Critter, because I can crawl really fast! And Demona's my best friend! Is she your friend, too?"

Jazz's expression softened, "yes she is."

Gears watched as the boy's smile grew, "she's really nice, huh? She's pretty too."

He switched his attention back down to Gears, staring down at her and bending so they were almost nose-to-nose. He let loose a peal of bright laughter when Gears blew in his face. He said, "Momma, where is she? I wanna see her, make sure she's okay."

Gears tried to stop it, but her expression faded anyway, and the boy saw it. His eyes saddened, "Momma, whats wrong? Did she get hurt again?"

"Yeah, baby, but..." Gears paused, searching for the right way to explain, as his eyes completely lost the glow they'd had just seconds ago, "...she's hurt inside, in her heart. Demonas having a hard time right now, and she's not...happy."

"What happened?" Alec asked. Gears glanced at him to see a look of genuine concern in his eyes as he lifted the bags again. She sighed, "we figured out who her parent is..."

Jazz shifted closer in a liquid-smooth motion. Gears sent him a look, gathering that Prime and Ratchet had probably kept their little discovery a secret. She faced her kid again, "...lets just say it's a wonder she isn't screwy in the head. He's bad news."

"So she has a mean daddy?" Alex asked quietly, hands stilling to rest on top of her head. Gears nodded, "mean is an understatement for him. Anyway, Demona is hurting because of the things he's done to her."

"That's bad," Alex told her, "a daddy shouldn't ever hurt his kid...right, momma?"

"That's right, babe," she answered with another nod. She put a hand on Alec's back to nudge him in the right direction, "let's go see if she's awake. I bet she'll be so happy to see you."

"I bet I'll be happier to see her!" Alex challenged, cheerful mood snapping back into place. Alec let Gears take one of the bags and followed her out of the room.

8D AWWWW! *grabs Alex and cuddles* YOU'RE SO CUTE!

Anyway, much love to my readers! :) You guys are awesome.

Demona, Gears and her family, and the story belong to me. Transformers does not.