"CYBERTRONIAN"

"ENGLISH"

A/N: Decided it was time for a chapter that fully focused on the three older kids. :) They don't get enough time between the three of them.

...

CHAPTER 44

"Sirius? He named you SIRIUS and you rolled with it?"

AJ was suppressing laughter towards the artist formerly known as "Max", now known as Sirius. It wouldn't have been funny if it didn't remind him of this one book he'd heard the Twins talk about from back when the humans were around. It was quite odd to think that he now had a friend named Sirius for that reason alone. "It's a right of passage thing man. You'll go through it too when you turn thirteen. Ironhide talked about wanting to give you your Cybertronian name." Sirius crossed his arms at his friend a bit, to which AJ rolled his eyes "It may seem silly, but it means a lot to them. And it will to you believe it or not. I mean, Dad named me after his OWN Father." He noted.

"Please tell me he told you my name and that it isn't cheesy?"

"He spit balled ideas while I was around, but I can't tell you. You're not supposed to know until the day you get it." Sirius shrugged his shoulders at his friend, who shared an annoyed glance with Carter "But he did have some cool ideas, I'll say that. And besides, you don't have to keep the name man, I was the first human to do it." He noted, to which AJ seemed to relax somewhat "It'll be like a codename when and if you enlist though. So either way, you're going to use it some time in your life." He explained.

AJ seemed annoyed a bit, probably because he had no idea what he'd be named eventually. But Sirius knew that AJ had nothing to worry about, Ironhide had a few really good names in mind for him. They were all particularly tough, ranging from Hardedge, Triggerblast, and Steelcage. But Optimus was talking to him about something more conventional for both humans and Cybertronians, a la Sirius. Yet Sirius personally thought it wasn't a half bad list of names that he could simply use as nicknames. "I won't lie though, it is awesome that Optimus named you after his Dad." Carter spoke up, AJ turned to his young friend, and nodded in agreement "And in a room full of people too. I mean, that has to be the biggest honor the big guy can give." He added.

"I thought he'd save that name for Matt." Sirius admitted, he leaned against the wall, and stared down the hallway, toward the door to the room his family shared "But I guess he's going to use a different constellation, or star. Who knows which he's gonna use though, he wouldn't tell me. Though I think he already has one figured out." He added.

"You know, I just realized something. It's Sirius the 'Dog' star according to Ratchet."

Sirius shot AJ a glare at this, not finding the humor in it at all. AJ carefully backed off, knowing he was crossing too far a line, and didn't want to make his friend mad at him. He knew that his time as a 'Dog' was still a very sensitive subject after all. AJ crossed his arms a bit, and leaned back slightly. "Sorry man, I know, too soon, too soon. But you know Optimus meant nothing by it." His friend nodded in agreement, Sirius knew Optimus would never mean it that way.

"I wonder what name my Dad would give me?"

"Knowing Hound? Probably something like Hunter or Tracker. Something Cybertronian-like but still human." AJ suggested, he turned to Carter, who nodded in agreement "He's like Optimus, he'd want something more normal then totally alien." He shrugged his shoulders "It just seems sort of Hound-ish though, I might be wrong. But I've met Hound a few times before you guys moved here. And he kinda gives me that vibe, don't quote me though." He added.

"I like them both, if you're right, I'd totally take either one as my name. Though I plan to take whatever he gives me anyway." Carter shrugged his shoulders, this surprised AJ a bit, but Carter smiled a little "Dad told me about the naming thing. I think it sounds cool, getting a Cybertronian name and all, you know?" He shook his head a bit "Though I bet it'll be a two name thing for me, like Sirius Pax. Let's face it, Dad wouldn't just go for 'Hunter' or 'Tracker', there'd be a surname to it." he admitted.

"Touche." Sirius replied, he nodded a bit.

AJ looked a bit hurt that it had been mentioned to both of his friends, but not to him. Why hadn't Ironhide ever talked about it to him? Throughout his entire childhood he could have, he learned he was adopted when he was eight. He could have explained the whole thing to him in the entirety of the last three years. It hurt him in a way that Ironhide had never discussed it with him, yet he figured he could talk about it with him at some point soon. "I don't get why Dad never told me about this." AJ commented, his brow furrowed "He basically tells me everything." He added.

"Maybe he wanted it to be a surprise?" Carter questioned.

"Dad isn't a big 'surprise' person Carter. He doesn't know how to really do surprises." AJ admitted, he loved his Father, but he was right, Ironhide really wasn't the best surprise person "I love my Dad he's amazing. Especially considering he's managed to raise me alone with his short patience. But last year? He blabbed about my 'surprise party' by mistake." This earned chuckles from both of his friend "But I guess it's possible that's the case. Maybe it's the one thing he was doing his best not to let me find out until two years from now." He admitted, giving a thoughtful glance to the side.

"You know there would be no other reason man." Sirius noted, he looked at AJ with a comforting smile "Your Dad RAISED you from seven months according to mine. And he makes no secret of how much he loves you. Do you really think he'd just not care? It's like Christmas in the Human Colony to these guys." He added.

"What's Christmas?" AJ and Carter asked in unison.

Sirius rolled his eyes, mostly at himself, forgetting that both were too young to know about that. On Cybertron, the Creation Period was celebrated in its place. The supposed day that Primus first used the Allspark to create the original thirteen Transformers. It had the same idea behind it, gifts and the like, family time, and the like. "It's like The Creation Period, except the humans started it. You were too young to know about, or probably remember it." He admitted.

"How do you know about the Creation Period?"

"The Decepticons had it too, but they celebrated the 'birth' of Primus's demonic twin, Unicron instead. It was the same idea though, I mean after all, they do have families too." Sirius noted, it was true, hard to believe, but true "They didn't just randomly crawl out of the pit. Though there are a few that make me question if they did." He chuckled at his own joke, though it was only partially a joke considering how some Decepticons were "They called it The Spawning, but I heard them mocking the Autobots version, so that's how I know what it is." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Speaking of which, isn't the Creation Period coming up. Like in a month?" Sirius looked thoughtful at Carter's question, and nodded "Slag, I need to get off of this ship soon and go and get Dad something. It's probably the last gift giving one we'll celebrate. Being that we're so close to the out-of-range territory now." Carter bit his lip, cursing under his breath the slightest bit "Did you guys get your 'rents something yet?" He questioned.

"Working on it." Sirius replied.

"Uncle Optimus is going to help me buy my Dad that new Fuzor Cannon he's been dying to get. I've saved up credits for it, but they don't sell them to minors." AJ shrugged his shoulders, knowing that they'd be going soon "You guys could come with us, we're going next cycle, and I swear. Whatever you get Optimus I'll help you hide it Sirius." He noted, nearly screwing up his name.

"Sounds like a plan." Sirius nodded, Carter simply nodded in agreement.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something more when Optimus poked his head out of the quarters. He smiled, and nodded towards him. "Sirius, dinner's on the table, get it while it's fresh." He told him calmly.

Sirius turned his head towards his friends, and simply gave a nod before he jogged off towards the quarters. AJ looked at Carter, whose growling stomach pretty much guaranteed they should all be getting back home for dinner at this point. "See you tomorrow man." Carter nodded, making his way towards his Father's quarters.

AJ simply stood at that moment, and with a deep breath made his way towards Ironhide's quarters. Though he, like Carter, had his own room, he always had dinner in his Father's much larger room. He sighed a bit as he walked toward the quarters, thinking back on what they'd talked about. He knew they were right, Ironhide would never just pretend to care but not really care in the least. It was more then likely that for once, he wanted to keep it a secret. Though now that Sirius had his, he suspected they'd be talking about it any day now, there was no doubt about it now.

He just hoped that Sirius was right about it being something cool. Though something as meaningful as Sirius would have been great too. Being named something with meaning was what he hoped for most. But he figured, two years wasn't too long a wait to find out.