Chapter 36

"This place is huge," He said, leaning forward to scan vivid green eyes over the autobot base, "I mean it was big before, but now it's just..."

"Monstrous," His older friend agreed, pulling her long curling hair over one shoulder. She leaned back in the seat, hand on her belly over her growing baby. Her blue eyes turned soft, "I hope everyone's okay...it seems like every time we come here, something goes wrong."

"I've noticed," He dead panned, "Almost everyone in my family is covered in scars that came from this place. I don't know whether to say I'm glad or depressed to be back."

She snorted, "If anything, Alec and your mom will be happy. None of us have even heard from you in months, Alex. Did you just fall into a black hole or what?"

He frowned, "Sometimes it feels like it, Jo."

"I know Demona will be happy to see you, too. Alec told me that she's misses you."

"I missed all of you." He changed the subject, shifting his hands on the steering wheel to point, "that's the guest hangar, right?"

Jo held her hands up, "I have no idea. The last time I came here was twenty years ago."

He shrugged and started to head towards one of the many tall metal buildings, "They need like, signs or something because this is ridiculous."

Jo pointed at something on their right, "What about a giant red robot?"

Critter grinned when his eyes fell on Demona, who had just stepped into the sunlight. It had been a while since he had last seen her, but she hadn't changed. She was still his favorite color, red, and she still had traits of one of his favorite cars, the Charger. She and Jolt didn't update the model of their alternates like the other bots did through the years-no, they were still wearing their two-thousand-and-ten cars.

Demona's light red optics landed on Critter's old beat up Bronco, and slightly brightened. But even from this far, he could see that something was wrong. His grin faded. Jo noticed, and turned her full attention to him, "What is it?"

Demona stepped to the side so the little Bronco could slip inside. Critter parked it beside a beater that was literally falling apart. He answered Jo, "Don't cross your fingers. It looks like this time will be like all the others."

This time, she frowned.

As he pushed the door open, Demona came over and knelt with that same fluid grace he'd admired ever since he was six. He straightened, hand on the door, and looked up at her. For a moment, they both were still, looking each other over carefully to make sure both were still in one piece. Then he smiled at her, "Hi, sister."

Her expression changed. Her face plates shifted, rearranging as she smiled back in an almost exhausted manner. Her optics seemed paler than he remembered them being, and he counted a few new scars that hadn't been there before. She opened a hand and lowered it to them, "Hello, brother."

Critter allowed his smile to grow. He walked around and opened the passenger door to help Jo out, supporting her when she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He steadied her when she moved towards Demona's palm. Jo looked up at her, "Long time no see, Dem. How are you?"

Demona's optics seemed to loose light, any joy she'd felt gone in an instant. When they were both seated in her hand, she said, tone grave, "Not well, Jo."

"I thought there was a catch to all of this...what's wrong?"

"Mother and Alec has been trying to contact you both," Demona said quietly, now leaving the hangar to walk back out into the sun. She cupped her other hand over them so they wouldn't go blind, ever mindful of them, "there have been injuries."

Critter tensed, wrapping the fingers of one hand around her armor out of old habit, "Who and what kind of injuries?"

"Sundance and Ash."

His eyes widened, flying up to her face. Jo went still beside him, also staring up.

"They were taken hostage by the Hunters...when we found them, they were both on the verge of offlining."

"Oh God," Jo breathed, covering her mouth with a hand, "are they okay?"

Critter held his breath, hoping that she would say 'yes', but she was never one to lie to them, her family. Her answer seemed to shatter the atmosphere, "No."

The rest of the way into the base was quiet.

"Shark."

Shark lifted her narrowed pale blue eyes from her tray of food, which she had been eyeballing with disgust, and fixed on painfully familiar brown ones. She felt her heart squeeze when Rex sat down beside her, though not too close in an attempt to make her comfortable.

When she spoke, her voice was hoarse. She didn't know if it was from crying over their daughter or just the fact that he was actually here, right beside her again. She greeted, "Rex. So he threw you out, too, huh?"

"Yeah. He told me to go 'refuel'. Damn medic..." Rex looked down at his food. He added, "You look good."

"So do you," Shark slammed down on the urge to touch him. It had been so long since she'd seen him or even heard his voice, and her heart still ached for him like it did years ago when they split. In all honesty, it had nearly killed her to tear away from him like that. He was the first human being she'd ever come to love, considering she didn't hardly have a family growing up.

Across from them, Pockets was helping Gears sit down, who was smiling tiredly. Rex looked up and grinned at her, "Look at you, misses James. You finally got out of that junkyard for a while, huh?"

His grin faltered when her eyes scanned over the space in front of her, before seeming to settle on him. They were still green, but no where near the crystal clear, bright green that they used to be. They were pale, clouded. Half open. Shark realized that she was completely blind.

"Thank God!" Gears started, "I don't mind staying at home with Dem, but it always takes a freaking crisis to bring the family back together. I hate the reason why we came back together, but it's good to be around everyone again."

Pockets sat down beside her, allowing Rose to hop up in his lap and start eating stuff of his tray. Gears leaned against him slightly, like she didn't quite have the strength to hold herself up. Pockets didn't mind at all. He just smiled back at her.

Shark said nothing. Her mind felt like it was going to explode from all the pressure. Between being within touching range of the only man she'd ever loved, spending the past few days staring down at her daughter who still hadn't shown any signs of a full recovery, and stressing out because of all the giant robots running around the place. Even after all this time, she couldn't bring herself to completely trust them.

So she did what she was good at. She observed. Rex was older now, with a bit of white and silver scattered throughout his wild blonde hair. His brown eyes were the same as she remembered-laughing on the outside, pained on the inside. He was a little bit taller than she remembered, but he was still just as thin and lanky.

Pockets was still the same behemoth she'd come to know when they were all very young. His hair was the same striking red, as Gears' once was, and his eyes were still clear and calm, often fixing on his daughter, Gears, or Rex. Like he was checking on them, making sure they were each okay. He smiled and laughed lightly at Rose's antics, but every time he looked at Gears, Shark could see the sharp pain in his eyes.

Gears was a shell of the woman she was when Shark had first met her. She was bent over, and she had lost weight. Her shoulders looked frail and were pulled in, and her hair, which had been wild and crazy and red, was almost completely gray now and scraped back into a tight pony tail. Her scars were a lot clearer than she remembered, and then there was her eyes...

"...I finally got a hold of Alex," Pockets said, raised a hand to wrap around his mother's, "he picked up Jo on his way out, and they're coming here."

Gears' grin broadened. She leaned further into her son, "My family...together again..."

Most of them, Shark thought bitterly. She looked behind her with narrowed eyes, in the direction of the med bay. If she wasn't so worn, she would have kicked Ratchet's ass for throwing them all out. She blinked when Demona walked inside, two humans cradled to her chest like they were the most precious things in the world.

Despite her mood, she turned back to Gears and said softly, "Demona just brought them in."

And the woman simply beamed. She tried to stand up but stumbled. Pockets was on his feet in a flash and caught her with one arm around her shoulders. Rose was tucked under his other arm like a little human football, giggling madly.

"Mom, be careful," Pockets said, "you can't just jump up like that."

She snorted, "I'm fine."

He rolled his eyes.

Shark shut herself off, staring down at her tray as Demona made her way over and the family exploded into several different conversations. Critter went straight to Gears, wrapping his arms tight around her while Jo waddled her way over to Pockets and Rose.

Rex joined in for a while, but not long after she felt his eyes on her. She couldn't help but look back, losing herself in his eyes like the very first time she'd met him. He slowly settled beside her again before reaching his hand over to her's under the table. She didn't pull away when he laced his fingers with her's.

"Flash!"

Flashback glanced over his shoulder, bright blue optics narrowing slightly when he spotted Solaris' red armor. For the first time, Flashback turned his back on his friend. He turned his optics up to his father instead, demanding, "Take me to see Sundance."

Jolt vented softly, turning to his son with worn face plates set into a frown, "I can't, Flashback."

Flashback mimicked him, huffing out in annoyance, "Why not? You and mom get to see her!"

"Flash..."

"I have to know if she's okay!" He suddenly started, making Solaris jump beside him. "Tell me, dad!"

His mech creator stared down at him. Flashback's resolve seemed to crumble beneath the weight of his stare. His voice softened, "I have to see her. I have to know."

"You will," His father said tiredly, "when the time comes."

"That's what you said yesterday!" Flashback snapped. He raised a hand to press to his spark, and lowered his optics, "I can't hardly feel her anymore...it's like she's not even here. Dad. What...what happened to her?"

Jolt seemed to sink into himself, losing the strength flashback had admired in him for so long. He said, tone defeated, "Sundance sustained a great deal of damage, sparkling."

"I know that!"

Jolt cut him a sharp look and he forced himself to calm down, pushing, "But will she make it?"

Solaris chose that moment to say softly, "If she fought Galvatron, then she can survive this, right? She's one of the strongest femmes here."

Jolt looked at Solaris, "If it had been about strength to begin with, she would have easily made it out with Ash, without a scratch."

"Then what happened?"

"They used our bonds with the humans against her, and that's how she fell."

Flashback raised an optic ridge, "What does that even mean?"

"It means that they used Ash to get to Sundance," Solaris whispered.

Flashback's optics widened, swinging to the taller sparkling before flying back to his father, "Is that what happened? Dad!"

Jolt was silent, looking a thousand years older than what he really was. Flashback snarled, "How could they do that! They're humans, they're not supposed to-" His rant cut off abruptly and his shoulders slouched. He vented softly and walked away, leaving his friend and his creator to head towards the 'cafeteria', where he knew his mother was. He needed her right now, and she was pulling at his spark, calling him.

Before he could take more than a few steps, Jolt stood and walked after him, lifting him up off the floor and bringing him close to his chest. Flashback leaned against his warm chest armor, opening up his spark to him so he could feel all of his fear. He eased a tiny bit when Jolt wrapped him up with his own spark, sending him feelings of peace and strength.

"Primus," Optimus vented softly when the tiny, bright red optics of Demona's youngest sparkling stared up at him, wide and sad.

"He wants his femme creator," Elita said softly, standing close by so she could watch the little one. "Where is Demona?"

"She's making sure the rest of her family arrives at base safely," Optimus answered. The deep baritone of his voice seemed to frighten little Backlash, who shied away and looked away with a fearful whirr. The tiny mech was almost a wonder to Optimus. Not one of the sparklings on base had been so afraid of him before.

Sundance had wanted him to hold her the second her optics found him for the first time, only days after her creation. And Flashback...Optimus' voice used to simply lull him to sleep. Solaris had never been afraid of him, and neither had Warhammer. Even Bumblebee, when Ratchet had carried him from the carnage of a battle back in the beginning of the war, hadn't reacted this way.

"He's afraid of you," Elita realized, shocked.

Optimus nodded, not willing to take the risk of upsetting the sparkling any further. He considered offering Backlash to Elita, but a sharp keen from the sparkling stopped any thoughts in his processor. The sparkling began to cry, the sharp screams piercing his audio receptors. He winced, bringing the little one closer to his chest in an attempt to calm him. Backlash only cried harder.

Elita panicked, "Give him to me!"

He as about do just that when the sound of screeching alloys echoed from deep inside the base. They both froze, optics wide and fixed on the hall stretched out before them. Alarmed shouts went up, then the walls seemed to shudder. His first thought was decepticons, at least until the frightened screams of the sparkling cut off, turning into happy little chirps and whistles as Backlash stumbled across his palm.

He was looking down at the little sparkling when something massive slammed into him, effortlessly knocking him flat on his aft. He suddenly found himself staring up into a blank gray face, his optics as wide and round as possible.

"Optimus!" Elita gasped.

The face was directly above his, and as he studied the thick scarring around the sockets where optics should be, thin lines of energon began to drain down the jaw. He whispered, spark clenching, "Sundance?"

The massive dragon stayed where she was, stone-still, even though there was still holes in her armor and a few cables drug beneath her body. He realized that more than half of her armor had been removed, leaving the silver skeletal protoform beneath in the open. Her horns were gone with the armor of her helm, and her back was bare of wings.

She stared at him, expression completely toneless. Little feet trotted across his chest armor, slipping on the glass of his windows, before Backlash came into view. He was chattering cheerfully, stretching tiny little hands up in an attempt to touch Sundance's face. When he couldn't reach her, he let out a round of frustrated static and jumped.

Sundance finally moved, tilting her head down slightly, nose touching her brother's open palms. He squealed happily, running his hands all up and down her nose. Optimus watched, stunned, as Sundance slowly lowered her entire head until it rested against his chest plates. Every inch she moved, Backlash grew happier, and soon he was crawling over her face, patting her metal skull, talking so fast in his sparkling language that it sounded like one big, garbled mess.

She's listening to him. Optimus blinked slowly, realization sinking through his processor, Sundance is listening to Backlash.

This chapter is all scattered to hell and everyones out of character...ugh...Glad I got some Rex and Shark in there, though. And look at that! Critters still walking and he's even driving!

Now we know where Sundance went. :3 She be lovin on her baby brother to make sure he's okay.

Sundance and her family and the story belongs to me. Transformers does not.