Chapter 45

"Careful," Demona watched, optics never leaving Paradox's frame. The older femme was standing up, both hands on the berth in the guest room and pale gaze concentrated on her footing. Paradox was holding still, all of her focus on remaining upright. The artificial light cast dim highlights on her newly repaired frame. Paradox's intakes slowed, and she took her first step.

It had almost been a week since their return, and almost everyone was up on their feet again. Reconstruction of the autobot base was well underway. All three of her creations were recovering, and after days spent in secret working on Paradox's ruined frame, the femme was whole again. Now she stood as tall as Demona again.

Demona smiled when Paradox wobbled, but didn't fall. Keeping one hand on the berth at all times, she began to walk laps around the room. She grew steadier with every step, though she was far from the grace Demona remembered.

On the fourth lap, Demona asked, "How does it feel?"

"Its been decades since I could stand up on my own," Paradox answered quietly, a humbled note in her voice, "hard to imagine that I took such a thing for granted all those years before..."

"We never seem to realize the value of something until its lost," Demona agreed.

Paradox stopped, leaning against the berth briefly. She was still staring down at her feet, like if she looked away they would disappear. "I have my freedom again." Her optics lifted to fix on Demona, "because of you and your family."

"You saved my son."

"You're other son saved your son."

Demona raised an optic ridge, "But you got him off the table." She asked, changing the subject, "how are the repairs holding?"

"Well." Paradox answered, "It will take some time before I can move as I used to."

"Its a start."

"Its a good start," Paradox nodded slightly, "I guess this means we'll be seeing Ironhide soon."

"Unless you want to walk around bare, yes. He's busy now with forging a new pair of wings for Sundance. After he's finished we'll see him about replacing your armor."

"How is she? I noticed that Grimlock has all but attached himself to her."

Demona vented softly, "Sundance is fine. Annoyed, but shes happy. Grimlock is about as far up her aft as he can get. Jolt hates it, but I've talked to him about it and so far he's not trying to offline anyone."

Paradox grinned at her. "An overprotective mech creator. And how does Sundance feel about having a," she paused, thinking, "I believe the humans call it a 'shotgun daddy'."

Demona laughed, "I think shes as irritated with him as she is with Grimlock half the time."

"I don't blame her." Paradox pushed away from the berth to walk some more. "And your sons? How are Flashback and Backlash?"

"Flashback is up and causing trouble again, but he's still having problems with his knee where Slag broke it." Demona vented softly, "he still won't go near the dinobots. Ratchet has given Backlash permission to leave the med bay for a few hours at a time. His recovery is going slower than we thought it would. He's still required to come back three or four times a day for a diagnostic."

"It'll be a while before Ratchet completely lets him go after he came so close to offlining." Paradox stopped in the middle of the room, straightening. "How is he handling the femme's passing?"

Demona leaned against the door frame, crossing her arms. She thought for a moment, turning inward to look at her bond with her youngest creation. The walls were up, like usual, but they weren't as fortified, and she could almost see through them. For the moment, his spark appeared calm. He was still hurting, but he wasn't sinking into the pain. She brushed his spark, quietly asking what he was doing. He responded, pushing back and telling her that he was in the med bay.

"I think he'll be alright," Demona said slowly.

"Hes young. Is she the first he lost?"

"Yes." Demona's optics lowered to Paradox's feet, "you're getting better."

"I've still got a long ways to go."


"You don't have to stay in here, mech," Hotshot said, glancing at Backlash. "Ratchet said you could leave the med bay as long as you came back."

"I'm aware," came the toneless reply. Hotshot smiled, studying the younger mech. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was glad Backlash was still there. Ratchet had given him the clear to leave the med bay a while ago, and for a moment Hotshot had been sure that Backlash would have all but ran out of the room. Yet, there he was. Sitting on a berth not far from Hotshot, with all of his attention focused on a piece of tech he'd pulled out of his subspace hours ago.

Backlash had chosen to stay in today. Hotshot wasn't sure, but he thought it might be the younger mech's way of trying to keep him company. "So," Hotshot started, "what are you working on?"

"Some tech that overrides basic motor functions." Backlash stated simply, "I started developing it on the moon. I haven't had time to finish it until now."

Hotshot blinked. "All I caught was basic."

"It'll give a mech the ability to control someone's frame," Backlash looked at him, "but only for a while."

Hotshot stared as the words sank in. He said suddenly, "How old are you?"

Backlash answered without pause, "In human terms, a few years shy of forty."

"And you designed a tech that controls mechs." Hotshot said slowly, still trying to convince himself, "by yourself."

"Yes." Backlash paused when Hotshot feel silent. A minute passed where the older mech just stared at him. "What?"

"Thats incredible." Hotshot pointed, "thats insane. Did you start working on this before or after you made the cloaking tech your family uses?"

"...After." Backlash watched him almost carefully, "I don't see whats so impressive about it. There are others who did more at a younger age."

Hotshot sputtered, "Alright. Name three."

"Wheeljack." Backlash said, "put out some of his greatest inventions while he was in his second frame. Perceptor was a scientific prodigy. And then theres Shockwave."

Hotshot vented. "Fine. Name three more."

"Really, Hotshot?"

"Ahah! You can't! See, you're," Hotshot counted, "fourth! You're fourth!"

"Soundwave-" Backlash fell quiet when the med bay doors hissed open and Flashback all but fell inside.

Hotshot blinked at him, "Flashback? What-"

"I blew up the computer," Flashback wheezed.

Hotshot's optics widened. Backlash stared at him, a rare expression of shock on his face. Flashback leaned on the door frame, gasping like he'd just sprinted a lap around the whole base. Hotshot was the first to respond, "You what?!"

"I," Flashback straightened, "blew up the slagging computer."

"Which one?" Backlash asked.

"The one to the ground bridge." Flashback threw his hands up in the air when both of the mechs gave him a look, "What! Red Alert needed some help and everyone else was too busy-all I was supposed to do was hold something and I-pit, I don't even know how it happened! I bumped it or something!"

"You bumped it?" Backlash said, "how do you blow something up by bumping it."

"I don't fucking know! Anyway, I'm pretty sure Red Alert wants to hang my aft up on the wall, and we need help getting it back in order before it lights the whole base up! Wheeljack and some other big nerds are down there but its totally fried and they can't even figure out where to start." Flashback took a deep breath, focusing on Backlash, "we need your help, baby bro."

Hotshot looked back and forth between them. The two brothers stared back at each other before Backlash tucked his project back into his subspace and stood up. "I'll see what I can do," Backlash said, walking towards the door.

Flashback grinned at him, "You're a life saver, 'Lash."

"Just don't 'bump' anything else," Backlash muttered. His new visor slid down to cover his optics before he stepped past his brother and out into the bright hallway.

Hotshot chuckled at the look Flashback shot his brother. The older of the two snapped, "Hey!" and ran out after him.


The room was nearly packed with mechs when Backlash entered, and they were all either standing or kneeling around the smoking computer unit that controlled and gave power to the warp gate. Several of the autobots were scratching their heads, others were cursing and some were poking at the damaged circuitry cautiously.

Backlash looked past them at the computer, arcs of pale electricity dancing across the charred surface. The stink of fried wiring was thick in the air, mixing with the smoke. He looked at it just for a moment before turning narrowed optics on his brother. He repeated, voice quiet but tense, "You just bumped it."

Flashback made a wild motion with his arms, "It was an accident, I swear!"

"Backlash!" Wheeljack said, pushing through the mechs to greet them, "good to see you on your feet, youngling. Flashback says that you can help?"

"I can try," Backlash said, "I'm not making any promises."

"We'll take any help we can get," Red Alert said, shooting Flashback a sharp look. Wheeljack motioned for Backlash to follow him back to the computer. Backlash complied silently. The autobots parted down the middle to give them a clear path. Backlash stopped in front of it, between Red Alert and Prowl.

Backlash vented quietly, "Only my brother would 'accidentally' cause this much damage." Without looking up, he said, "Cut the power."

"If we cut the power theres a chance we'll lose the ground bridge," Prowl deadpanned, "we need it."

Backlash gave the mech a hard stare, "When the ground bridge is operational, how much energy do you think it takes to power it?"

Wheeljack piped up, "Enough to blow Galvatron's frame to pieces."

"All that energy is compacted into this computer now. Where do you think it will go when someone finds a hot spot?" Backlash turned back to the computer and said, voice leaving no room for argument, "cut the power."

Prowl motioned for another autobot to do just that with a slight frown. Backlash waited until the electricity died down before kneeling in front of the computer. He touched the scorched paneling carefully, hidden optics narrowing when he realized it was still hot. Most of the protective shell had been removed already, baring a hot mess of what used to be a complex computer system. Backlash studied it, then stated, "You've looked at it already."

"Yes," Red Alert answered, crouching down beside him, "the damage looks to be irreparable, but Flashback insisted that you had experience with this sort of thing."

"I know computers and tech, but this may be beyond my knowledge." Backlash reached inside, "you have supplies?"

"Yes," Wheeljack said, leaning over them to see what he was doing, "enough to rebuild just about any thing. The problem is that this particular computer is one of the most complex pieces of technology on base, and to completely rebuild it from the ground up would take months at best. We need the ground bridge operational as soon as possible, so repairing it is our only option."

"Why is it so important." Backlash felt the wiring then transformed a hand into a cutting torch to start gutting the computer.

Prowl stared at him, "Its our way of transportation, Backlash."

"You could drive." Backlash pointed out.

"Not as fast as we can bridge." Prowl explained.

"Point made." Backlash cut through the first layer of circuitry before tossing it.

"What are you doing?"

"Cleaning up," Backlash answered softly. "I can't see what can be salvaged until I cut through all of this mess."

"What if you damage the mother board?"

"Prowl, do you ever stop worrying about things?" Flashback asked from the other side of the room, "the only mech whose got a sharper optic than my brother is me. He's not gonna damage anything other than whats already fragged up."

"Thanks to you," Backlash muttered.

"I heard that."

Backlash shifted topics smoothly, well aware of the autobots staring at him and what he was doing, as he tore another handful of wiring out. "The damage is deep, but the majority of it seems to be minor circuitry surrounding the core." another cut. "I can clean it out and make repairs manageable, but it'll take time."

Red Alert vented quietly in relief. "Take all the time you need, Backlash. As long as it gets done."

"Do you need help?" Wheeljack asked, optics bright, "I helped build this ground bridge. I know my way around it."

Backlash paused, optics narrowing slightly as he considered. The smile dimmed on Wheeljack's face when he didn't respond right away. Backlash tried not to notice the ghost of rejection in Wheeljack's optics, choosing instead to focus on what he was doing.

The only ones that had ever asked to help him in the past were his creators. It was odd hearing the words from someone else, and he almost said no. He didn't need help. He didn't need the noise or the hovering or the presence of the mechs crowded around him. Backlash had been among the autobots for almost a month now, and he still wasn't comfortable with the lot of them. He just wanted to work alone. Wheeljack's offer to help shouldn't have effected him like this.

It took Backlash a second to realize that it wasn't the offer, but his own silent response to it that bothered him. Working his jaw, Backlash tried to wrap his processor around his sudden change in spark. He'd never cared about the autobots before. Why should he start now? Maybe its because I was wrong about them.

Backlash vented quietly, tensing marginally when Lotus' image passed through his thoughts. I was wrong about her, about the autobots...about every thing.

"I'll leave you to it, then," Wheeljack was straightening. He stopped when Backlash held up a circuit board, whole outside of the melted corners.

Without looking at the inventor, Backlash said, "I will need someone to find replacements for me as I move towards the core."

"Of course," Wheeljack said cheerfully, taking the delicate piece.

"And I'll need some sort of guidance through the process. I have studied ground bridge technology extensively, but I've never actually worked on one before."

"Sure!"

Backlash paused briefly when he felt his brother's shock through their sibling bond. He stamped down the urge to throw up his walls full force when the older mech reached through to touch his spark. 'Who the frag are you and what have you done with my baby brother.'

'Thats a ridiculous question. I am myself.'

'I saw what you did there! Was that GUILT I just felt in your spark?' Backlash could feel his brother's spark grinning. 'You're getting soft, 'Lash. Whats gotten into you?'

'Nothing. I'm fine.'

'Yeah, whatever. Like I'm gonna believe you didn't just ignore everyone for no slagging reason. Thats what you're supposed to be doing, 'Lash. Pretending everyone doesn't exist while you work. Thats what you always do.'

'You already told me before that I was changing,' Backlash divided his attention between his brother and Wheeljack, who was excitedly talking about all the experiments he had to go through in order to perfect the ground bridge.

'You are. I'm proud of you. Always have been, always will be.'

'Sounds like I'm not the only one going soft.'


"How many times are you going to get these things broken before you start defending yourself," Ironhide said, easing the joint of the wing in place over Sundance's shoulder plating. Recognizing the limbs, her armor shifted with a soft whir to expose a hollow in her very frame. Wiring and cables reached through the short space and connected with the wing. Ironhide set it in place, holding it in case it fell before her body could attach to it. He watched with pale optics when her feathers, oddly soft and pliable, fluffed out and shimmered.

Sundance glanced at him, "Hey. I saved your aft in the canyon, 'Hide. If it wasn't for me, you would have taken a nose dive over the edge with that 'con."

"I had everything under control."

"Bollocks." Sundance huffed. Ironhide grinned.

"You've been spending too much time with Jetfire."

"Thats ridiculous. Theres no such thing as spending too much time with Jetfire." Sundance hummed quietly, flexing the new wing when Ironhide let go. It bent and folded around her frame smoothly.

"Is that where you've been going to hide from that useless dinobot?" Ironhide asked, lifting the second wing to Sundance's back. He watched as the same process repeated-armor opening, circuitry pulling unto the wing to guide it into place. "Other than my armory?"

"Its the only place Grimlock hasn't found yet," Sundance said, flexing the other wing. When it responded to her, she abruptly unfurled them. Ironhide ducked wildly to avoid being smacked in the face. She twisted to grin toothily at him, "sorry, 'Hide."

"No you're not," Ironhide grunted, "how do they feel?" His optics traveled down the powerful frames of the limbs. They were massive, so big they couldn't stretch out to their full length. Not even inside his work room, which was one of the largest rooms in the base. He knew just by carrying them from table to table as he built them that they were heavy, and he realized just how strong the femme must be to support them so easily.

"Perfect." Sundance curved them upwards, then brought them in to rest against her sides again. "you always outdo yourself, Ironhide."

Ironhide's optics softened. He rested a hand on her shoulder, "So do you, youngling."

Sundance smiled at him before hopping down from where she'd been sitting on one of his tables. She straightened, turning to him. She opened her mouth to say something else, then closed it with an irritated vent when someone heavy stumbled on the other side of the door. Ironhide raised an optic ridge at her, "You're overgrown shadow is waiting for you."

"Don't remind me." Sundance huffed, "thanks, 'Hide."

"Get out before he breaks down the door again."

Sundance shot him a look but made her way towards the exit. The door opened, and she marched outside, "What the pit are you doing out here?! I thought I told you to quit following me around!"

Ironhide rolled his optics, turning back to what he'd been working on before the femme came in for her wings. His optics settled on unpainted armor, only half-way finished. He would have to talk to Demona or Jolt today, to get more information on his latest project.


There was nothing like the feeling of having her wings back.

Sundance carried their weight proudly, even though she'd be much more agile and fast without them. She'd waited what felt like forever for Ironhide to finish reconstructing them, and now that she was complete, all she wanted to do was fly.

So she slipped past Grimlock, avoiding his grabbing hands with practiced ease, and made her way to the doors. Grimlock grumbled something at her and stomped after her, cold pale optics raking down her new wings. He said, "What are you doing."

"Walking."

"Where."

"Outside." Sundance said, glancing at him from over her shoulder. He was watching her, something odd in his optics. She forced down a shudder when she felt his spark reach out for her. The call had only gotten stronger since the first time she'd felt it, and though it was still scary as pit to her, she knew what it meant and that she couldn't ignore it forever.

"Why outside."

"Because I said so, thats why." Sundance huffed, ducking down when he reached for her again. "Stop trying to grab me."

"No." He tried again, and Sundance darted forward. Her strong legs carried her to the doors. The moment she was outside, standing in the sunlight, she smiled. Her wings stretched outward, soaking up the warmth. She felt the ground shudder as Grimlock trotted after her, and she crouched down low before shoving off of the earth with as much force as she could muster. Her wings opened and pulled downward, lifting her higher, and she transformed mid-air into her true form.

Stretching her long neck out, Sundance ascended until she felt the winds catch beneath her feathers and lift her. Sundance shuttered her optics, spark singing as she soared.

"Hey, femme!" A cheerful voice called. Her optics snapped open and focused on Swoop as the dinobot tilted his wings and swept up to fly close beside her. "I see you got your wings back!" His optics were bright with laughter as he took in her completed frame.

"Swoop," Sundance greeted, "what have you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing important. Just trying to see how far I can push Slag before he explodes."

Sundance glared at him. "Why the pit would you do that?"

"It's a game, femme." He gave a shrug, then changed topics on her before she could say anything in response. "Those wings of yours are too big to do any thing. I bet you can't maneuver worth a frag."

Sundance's optics flashed. I KNOW he did NOT just- Her spark curled with anger at the insult. Sundance snorted, showing her dentals, "You've seen me fly."

"And you were horrible at it." He grinned.

Sundance glared at him for a second longer before adjusting her wings. She dropped right out of the air, entire body tilting down. She bent her wings and pulled into a tight spiral, spinning faster and faster every second as she plummeted. Above her, she heard Swoop's laugh. Sundance pulled out of the spin at the last second, wings exploding outward to jerk her frame upwards as she flew low over the earth. Her spaded tail left a deep gouge in the sand, sending up a spray of gold behind her as she pounded her wings downward and lifted back up. Swoop came down beside her, shouting, "That was weak! Any mech with wings could do that!"

Sundance tilted to the side, rolling past him. She ascended them, wings working hard to carry her. The hot winds whistled through her armor as she accelerated, twisting and turning into the most complicated aerials she knew as she danced across the sky. Swoop tried to catch up, but she was moving too fast, darting in and out of the clouds as she rose. The heat of the sun was hot on her frame, but it was a familiar, welcome heat. She was made for this. She was part of the sun, and it would not hurt her like it would others.

Sundance went places Swoop couldn't follow, flying so fast the air howled and screamed around her. She felt it tug and yank at her feathers, and smiled widely. Swoop was still laughing, like this was all a game to him. He stayed a ways below her, watching. His optics widened when Sundance wheeled around sharply to come back down. She plunged out of the clouds and shot past him, sending him into his own wild spiral with a surprised squawk.

Sundance kept going, the earth rushing up to meet her. Her optics were on Grimlock now as an idea formed in her processor. Her smile lifted to a grin as she focused all of her attention on the huge mech, who was watching her like she was the only thing he saw. When he realized that she was coming straight for him, the mech's optics widened and he actually took a step back. Sundance almost cackled. She came at him before he could move further away, turning her body in a skilled curve as she carved around him. The sand exploded upward, raising into a thick, moving wall as she turned tight, controlled circles around his body at high speeds.

Grimlock stumbled inside the storm of sand, wind, and red armor. He growled, then squirmed in the most ridiculous, un-king-like way possible when he was lifted off the ground. He wiggled and thrashed until she shot away. His aft hit the ground with a muffled 'boom'. Sundance rolled out across the sands before she dropped on all fours smoothly, folding her wings back down to her sides. She raised her optic ridges at Swoop when the dinobot landed beside her, "Still think I'm horrible at flying?"

He threw back his head and laughed, his entire frame shaking with the effort. "Primus, femme! You're something else!"

Sundance shook herself out, already feeling the scratch of sand beneath her armor. She'd have to scrub herself down in the wash racks after this. With a quiet vent, she transformed and started back towards the base. A yelp left her when Grimlock came storming into her line of sight. She moved back on her toes to avoid being snatched up, but the mech was determined. She dodged the first grab, but stumbled while ducking beneath the second when she felt his spark pull at hers with more force than it ever had before.

His hands closed on her sides, tightening so she couldn't slip free. Sundance struggled, planting her toe claws against his chest plates to shove away from him, "Grimlock! Put me down!"

"No," Grimlock snarled.

Sundance froze at his tone, red optics widening. Swoop stopped laughing, eying them carefully. Grimlock took the moment of stillness to arrange Sundance so that she was all but crushed to his chest as he turned on one heel and stalked back inside.

Sundance leaned away from him as much as she could when his spark's calling started to make her light headed. She blinked when he ground out, "No one puts the king on his back."

"I've done it twice," Sundance said, twisting to look at his face. His visor was still broken, mostly because he was constantly on her aft and Ratchet didn't want him in the med bay. His optics were narrowed and cold. She paused when she felt the tension in his frame, then asked quietly, trying to ignore that she was sounding just like him, "Are you angry?"

He was silent.

Sundance vented quietly, optics narrowing. Slagging mech is impossible. I'll never understand him. She pushed against his arms, and he squeezed her back as much as he could without hurting her. Sundance glared at his arms, "Let me go."

"No."

His long legs carried them through the base within a few minutes, and before she could really even register where they were going, they were in front of his door. Sundance went rigid when she felt the pulls from his spark become almost desperate. "Pit spawned son of a..." Grinding her dentals, Sundance started to fight him again, "Mech!" Her processor spun as the door slid open and Grimlock tromped inside to drop her right on the berth.

Sundance scrambled to get her feet beneath her. His hands smacked down on the berth on either side of her, trapping her. She stilled when he leaned close, optics burning, "No one has ever put me on my back."

Sundance struggled to come up with something. He was right in her face, and part of her wanted to snarl at him for it, but there was something different in his optics and she couldn't find the words. She hissed sharply when his spark kept calling hers, becoming so strong it was painful. She finally said, "Theres a first for every thing, Grimlock."

"Only my femme is strong enough," He muttered, pride in his voice as he lifted a hand to her back and slid her closer. Sundance leaned back as far as she could without falling. Her optics widened when he said roughly, "I need you."

This is NOT happening, Sundance's intakes quickened, spark growing hot in her chest at the way he was looking at her now. She managed to respond, trying hard not to shake as her processor wrapped around what he was wanting. "You told me once that a king needed no one."

"A king needs a queen," Grimlock argued, voice softening to a harsh whisper that both, frightened her and made her spark spin wildly. "He cannot rule without a strong femme at his side."

Oh. My. Primus. This is happening. This is SO happening. Sundance stared at him, mouth open and hands clenching at the edge of the berth. His words sank in, and she realized that it was the first time he'd ever said something that wasn't an insult or a challenge to her. His words were almost...sweet. And his optics, Primus. She squeaked, "G-Grimlock?"

"Be my queen." He leaned in, frame dwarfing hers. His mouth guard slid back, showing her, for the first time, his entire face. He pressed his face into her neck, breathing in her scent. "Stay with me." She felt him bare his dentals when their sparks pulled harder at each other, having already made the choice.

Sundance fidgeted, so far out of her comfort zone she couldn't sit still. Her spark was all twisted up in an awkward, funny but almost pleasant way. She felt like she was about to crawl out of her armor, and she tried her best to shift away from him because it was all almost too much. "Are..." She swallowed thickly, "are you asking me to bond?"

He lifted his face to stare at her with clear blue optics, as pale as the frozen wasteland he now lived in. There was a certain clarity in his gaze, like he knew this was how it was supposed to go. He said, "Yes."


HO-OLY MOLEY. I went there. Grimlock went there. Just give up now, 'Dance. He doesn't take no for an answer.

Backlash's job is to make the autobots look like idiots. Just sayin'.

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

Much love! Hope you all enjoyed!