I have a poll on my profile page asking a question I really want to have answered. I'm trying to get as many answers as I can, and very few people visit my profile. I've gotten literally one answer in a week, and that's sad. Please answer, and be honest about it.

I only own my OC's!

Carrier's Second Job

Tuesday, September 11, morning, third POV

Prowl sighs before sliding an omelet onto both of the yellow, butterfly print plates, then sets a plate at each of two seats, then sets two matching cups beside them.

"Morning, Prowl!"

"Good morning, Bluestreak. Good morning, Smokescreen."

"Good morning, Prowl." Smokescreen gets a cube and sits across from the girls' spots. "How do you think the girls did last night?"

Prowl sighs. "I do not know, but we will soon. I am about to go up and get them up."

"Where's Jazz?"

"He is in the shower. He must go into the base early to handle my duties." He sighs. "Now that we have both girls, and I am working, he must handle both of our jobs until we have settled them in, because I do not want to work all night with two little femmelings needing me at all hours. I will pick up my job at the base on Saturdays, but he will have to handle it during the week." He turns to the stairs. "I am getting the girls up. I will be back."

normal pov

"Mariposa. Ethereal. It is time to get up."

I sit up and grin. Even though I was up with Fixit at least twice last night because of his nausea, I'm wide awake. "Good morning, Carrier!"

Ethereal's still barely awake. I guess she's not a morning person. "Mornin', Carrier."

"What's for breakfast?"

"Omelets. They are waiting downstairs. Where is Fixit?"

Ethereal sighs. "Probably in the bathroom again. He was up and down all night…"

Carrier steps over to the bathroom. "Fixit?" He pops his head around the door. "Fix—aww." He slips into the bathroom silently.

"Carrier?" He's not usually like that. I slide off the bed carefully, smooth my light blue jersey nightgown with my right hand, and step over behind him, only to find Fixit sound asleep, leaning against the toilet with his head on the seat.

He crouches and lays a hand on his shoulder. "Fixit?"

"Huh?" He sits up and looks around. "Oh…"

Carrier smiles slightly. "Do we need to get Rosanna before going to school?"

"I think I've got it…" He shifts, moving to stand, only to lean over the toilet and purge. He sits back down and lays a hand on his forehead. "On second thought…"

"I will comm Blaster before we leave, and let Smokescreen know he has company today."

"Carrier?"

"He's got the day off, since he was technically the lead on our mission to find you." Carrier sighs. "Fixit, do you need me to comm Ratchet, or—"

"I just need a nausea tablet and some med-grade. I'll be fine."

"All right. We will be back up in twenty minutes. If you think you need Ratchet or First Aid, we will take you when we go to pick up Rosanna."

"Okay…" He sighs and lays his head back on the toilet seat.

"Girls, come on. You need to eat."

Ethereal follows me down in her matching nightgown, and we slide into our booster seats before starting in on our breakfast. I eat a little slower because of the cast on my left arm. I watch Carrier set matching vitamins beside our cups of blue-colored whole milk.

"Why's the milk blue?"

"Carrier puts our 'gon inside when we're in a hurry. It looks purple if it's strawberry milk."

"Oh. Okay."

"Blaster?"

"Ya need Rosanna?"

"Yes. Thank you. Fixit is not feeling up to work today, we need to have someone with Mariposa, and I would like to have someone to get Ethereal settled in, since I start my enforcer job today."

"Ah'll have 'er ready before 8, all righ'?"

"That will be fine. I will pick her up at 7:50. Let Optimus know that Smokescreen will be taking his day off after all, as I will need someone to stay with Fixit."

"Will do. Blaster ou'."

Ethereal taps Carrier on the leg. "Carrier?" He looks down at us to see that our plates are clear.

"Put your dishes in the sink, then we will get the two of you dressed for school."

Carrier helps Ethereal into her uniform as I scramble into mine as quickly as I can with my cast. He makes sure we both have shorts under the skirts, then adjusts my uniform skirt and blazer before slipping a dark pink paisley-print sling over my head. "This will help with the weight of the cast, and your note for gym is waiting on the table." He then slips my pacifier necklace over my neck and slips the scarf over it. "Your emergency kits are in your backpacks. Try not to lose them. I have already had to buy new cases, Mariposa."

"I hadta keeps Aaron from takes!"

"I know, Sweetspark, and I am not mad, but we cannot afford to replace them every week."

"Oh…"

Once we're dressed, he French braids both our hair and secures the ends with matching ties, and helps us into our matching blue and pink star print Mary Jane shoes. After that, he slips my tiara into my hair, then picks up my hands and sighs. They're all chewed up, and some of them have red marks where I made them bleed. "What happened to your hands?"

"No could use binky wifout loses wif dem."

"I understand." I watch as he puts cream on them and wraps the crayon band-aids around each finger as gently as he can. He then puts pink rhinestone-encrusted, heart-shaped earrings into our ears, then twists them gently before cleaning mine. "These are to stay in for the next five weeks, then we can change them again, okay?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Now, I want you both to be very good for Rosanna and Ms. Weaver today. Mariposa, you need to behave as well for Rosanna as you would for Fixit."

"Yes, Carrier."

He grabs our backpacks by the loops and turns for the door. "Come on. You cannot be late, and we have an extra stop today." He stops at the fridge, pulls a slip of paper off the fridge, and pins it to my blazer.

Autobot base

Blaster is waiting outside with what looks like a red-haired teenager. She's wearing a cap sleeved pink blouse, gray slacks, a gray blazer like our navy ones, and gray flats. Blaster steps over with her before crouching to her level. "Now, Ah 'spect you ta listen to the girls' teacher, and remember tha' ya are only there as a protector, though ya will be allowed ta help Mari write, as she's go' the cas' righ' now. Behave yaself, Rosie."

"I will, Carrier."

"Prowl?" Carrier turns to him. "Take care o' mah girl? She's mah baby."

"I will. You have my word. Seatbelt, Rosanna."

"Yes, Sir."

Freedom Academy Elementary

"This is your new school, Ethereal. Bluestreak will be bringing you from now on, as I have work, and Bumblebee will be picking you up. You both will have figure skating on Fridays, and Mari has her medical lessons after them, and after school on the other days. You will get to visit with the other younglings while she is in lessons, unless you develop her fire, at which point you will join her in lessons." Carrier slides out in holoform, helps me into my backpack, and takes my right hand as Ethereal slips into her backpack and takes his right hand. He leads us into the school, and to the office. After getting Rosanna her ID badge, he takes the three of us to our classroom. "Ms. Weaver?" She turns to us. "This is Marianne's twin sister Emily. We have just located her, and she is nervous about today."

"She'll be fine, Mr. Tranquilli." She leads us inside. "What happened to Marianne?"

"She was with her the other family that had abused her for a week, and he broke her arm. I plan to press charges when they find him."

She nods to Rosanna. "And who is this?"

"This is Rosanna, but we call her Rose. She is filling in for Noah today. He is sick."

"She looks…young."

"She is fifteen. She was homeschooled, and graduated early."

"She knows her job?"

"Yes."

"All right." Mrs. Weaver smiles. "We've got this. You can head on to work, Mr. Tranquilli. I've got the girls, and I'll get Emily settled in."

"Thank you."

Ethereal and I watch as Carrier leaves, then turn back to the front of the classroom as Ms. Weaver starts taking attendance.

Police Station, Third POV

Prowl pulls in and climbs out in holoform before heading inside and clocking in. "Peter. Great to see you." He shakes his hand. "How's your daughter?"

"Injured, but alive. We plan to press charges, but I would like to wait until Marianne is healed before I throw her into a child abuse trial."

"And her sister? You mentioned finding your other daughter on the phone."

"She is settled in at school, and safe with her sister."

"Good. I assume you remember where your desk is…" Prowl nods. "And this is your patrol schedule and route."

Prowl takes the packet from the officer. "Thank you." He flips through the packet before nodding, and slips it into a folder as he steps out to his vehicle mode.

Home, Third POV

Smokescreen slips into Mariposa's room, trying to be quiet in case the minicon he's watching is recharging. He turns to the bathroom worriedly when he hears purging, and finds Fixit with his head laying on the toilet. He crouches beside the minicon and lays a hand on his shoulder with a soft sigh. "Hey. You all right?"

Fixit groans and leans into the touch. "Not really…" He glances up to Smokescreen with a heavy sigh. "How's Mari?"

"She's fine, Fixit. She's at school with her sister…"

"But she's…okay? She's not scared?" He turns to look at Smokescreen, worry for the femmeling in his eyes. "She was crying in her sleep last night."

"She's having night terrors, Fixit. It's a part of having PTSD, and she's still…" Smokescreen's eyes widen. "Damn… I should have said something about keeping Mari home. She doesn't need to be in school while she's recovering from this…"

Fixit leans back over the toilet with a retch, and purges a mix of acid and energon. "I want Mari…"

Smokescreen runs a hand over his back. "I know, Little Guy. Just hang in there."

"Smokescreen—" He gags, but turns to Smokescreen just slightly. "Call her?" Fixit purges again, this time solely acid, before leaning back with a sob. "Please?"

"Hold on, Fixit." He pulls out his cell phone from Prowl, and dials his brother.

Prowl's POV

I groan at the sound of my phone, only about five minutes into my patrol. I pull over, pull the phone out, and glance at the screen before flipping it open. "Smokescreen, what is it? For Primus' sake, I am at work."

"Prowl? We have a situation."

"What kind of situation, Smokescreen? You are watching Fixit. If he is that sick, call Ratchet, not me."

"He wants Mari, and I just learned that she had a night terror last night."

I sigh before shaking my head. "What do you want me to do about it? I cannot pick her up during my patrol. You are allowed to get her if she needs picked up."

"That's just it, Prowl. Fixit's crying, and she doesn't need to be in school this soon after getting back to us. I can only imagine how school is going for her right now."

School, Normal POV, recess

Annabelle steps over to me with a gentle smile. "What happened to your arm?"

I look down, but smile slightly when Ethereal lays a hand on my shoulder. "I gotted 'nabbed and beated…man named Aaron broked it."

"Humph." Daniella flounces over and stops in front of us. "She's probably making that up."

"She is not."

"Did you see it, Emily?" Ethereal looks down. "You didn't, did you?"

"No, but I know he did it."

"Why are you hanging around this…princess, anyway?" She says princess like it's a bad word. "She doesn't even have the titles that I do. You could be playing with a real princess, rather than this retard."

"Oh…" I watch Emily as she balls up her fists and growls. "You did not—" She glares fire at Daniella. "Just call my sister—" She raises a hand. "A retard." She strikes Daniella across the face. "In front of me."

Daniella gasps, and raises a hand to where she'd been slapped. "Mrs. Connors!"

"Go ahead." Ethereal smirks. "I'll tell her everything you said too."

"Never mind!" She glares at me. "You need to give your sister a leash. My Daddy's gonna tell your fathers what you two did to me." She smiles evilly. "They'll probably beat you both." She flounces away.

Ethereal growls. "Primus, I just wanted to—" She kicks at the ground. "Kick that brat in the face! She has no right to treat you like that, Mari. Mari?" She sighs when she sees me looking down at her feet. "What—"

"Glass."

"What?"

"You maked-ed glass. On'a groun'."

She looks down. "Oopsies…"

I kneel and pick up the little rounded balls of still-warm—but not hot—glass. "We need to call Daddy…"

"Are you all right? She was really mean to ya."

"I's all righ' now. You's a good sissy."

"Thanks." We step into the office. "Ms. Osario? We need you to call Daddy."

"Why?"

"Sissy's powers here."

"Ah." She dials before handing me the phone.

Prowl's POV

I sigh heavily when my phone beeps. "Hang on, Smokescreen, I have another call." He pushes the send button. "Peter Tranquilli."

"Daddy?"

"Mariposa?"

"Yeah… Um…sissy's got fires too, an'…an' Ella was means on playgroun'… Cans you comes gets us?"

I sigh heavily. "Your Uncle wanted me to call the school and get you out anyway because of your trauma."

"I would'a panic, bu' Sissy saveded me."

"Where was Rosanna when this happened?"

"She hadda potty…"

"All right. I will let Smokescreen know. I want you to behave for him, and let him know if he will need to call for the Protectobots once you are home."

"No gets mad at Rosie?"

"I am not, Little One. I have to go now, okay?"

"Y-yes."

"Give the phone to Ms. Osario."

Normal POV

"Y-yes, Daddy." I hand the phone up to Ms. Osario with a sigh. "Daddy wants'a speaks wif you."

"All right. Hello?"

Prowl's POV

"I am calling my brother, and telling him to come get the girls. Her psychologist wants her out of school because of her recent trauma. I just got off the phone with him, or I would have kept the girls home, as I am trying to keep them together right now."

"All right, I'll have them get ready to leave."

"Thank you." He sighs and switches the call back to the one with his brother. "Smokescreen—"

"Hold on a moment—"

Third POV, Mariposa's Bathroom

Smokescreen sighs heavily as Fixit purges again. "I've kind of got a crisis, Prowl. Fixit's really sick…"

"I can hear. Put the phone on speaker."

"All right." He does, quickly.

"Fixit?"

"I don' feel good…"

"I know. I'm going to call Hot Spot, and see if he can pick Mariposa and Ethereal up from school, so Smokescreen can stay with you, all right?"

"Uh-huh…" He moans, and lays his head on the seat. "Please?"

"I have to go so I can, okay?"

"Y-yes, Sir."

"Okay."

Prowl's POV

"Hot Spot, you are to go in and get the girls. Jazz put you on the list."

"Hold on… What happened?"

"Mariposa had a night terror last night, so Smokescreen wants them home. Fixit is sick, and he wants Mariposa. In addition to that, Mariposa said Ethereal's powers appeared."

"Frag…and you're at work?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry, I've got them, Prowl."

"Thank you. Smokescreen will be able to handle the girls, but I am sure Mariposa would benefit if you can stay for a while."

"Up to you, we're on your duty schedule right now."

"Skip it. Mariposa needs you more."

"Yes, Sir."

School

Rosanna's joined us by now, having just found us in the office. She'd been in the bathroom when everything happened. "All right, girls. You need to get ready to leave, okay? Rose, we're sending the girls home, so you'll need to call your ride, okay?"

"All right." She steps aside and pulls out her phone to call Blaster.

I nod. "Yes, Ms. Osario."

"Make sure you ask Ms. Weaver for your homework before you leave."

Ethereal nods. "Yes, Ma'am." We leave the office and head down the hall to our classroom. "Ms. Weaver?"

"Yes, girls? What's wrong?"

Ethereal sighs softly. "Mari's getting bullied over her arm and I…got my powers, so Daddy's sending someone from the base to pick us up."

I nod. "We needs our homeworks please?"

"Of course." She shuffles things around before handing us each a stack of papers. "These are your assignments. Make sure you get them done before coming back tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I hope things go better for you tomorrow, Little One."

"Me too…" I slip my pacifier into my mouth before following Ethereal to our backpacks. Once we get our stuff packed up, we step into the office with Rosanna, where we find a man with brown hair and eyes. I grin, and run over before jumping in his arms. "Nathan!"

Ethereal runs over and hugs his leg. "Hi!"

"You two ready to go?"

"Yep!"

"Good. Rose, Brice is on his way with Shane. He'll be here in a few minutes." He smiles as he leads Ethereal out by the hand while still carrying me. "We were on at base today, so we're actually able to spend the day with you, if you want?"

"Fixie's sicks again."

"I know… Aid's got some medicine for him, all right."

"Good…" He sets me down and opens the door to his vehicle mode before boosting the two of us inside. "How you feels?

"I'm all right, Little One." He pulls out of the lot. "How are you two doing?"

"I'm all right…a little scared, but…"

"Now we knows you's a pwincess too!"

"Yeah!" She giggles. "I's a pwincess too!" She sighs. "But… What if I don't want to be a medic?"

"Your Carrier wouldn't force you to train with Ratchet if you don't want to. Ratchet can teach Mari, and Prowl will teach the two of you to control your fire." He sighs. "Now, what happened, Theri?"

"This one girl—"

I cut in. "Ella."

Hot Spot sighs heavily. "Your bully."

"Yep!"

Ethereal huffs. "Stop that." She sighs. "She was calling Mari a retard, and no one on the playground was listening, so I slapped her. Then she tried to tattle, so I said I would tell everything that had led to it, and she changed her mind real fast. Then…"

"Then she kick dirt and make glass. I has it wif me." I hold the handful of little glass balls—cooled now—out to Hot Spot.

"That's definitely glass." He smiles. "Maybe we can make those into beads for the two of you?"

"Really?"

"We'll have to see." He pulls up to the house. "The others are inside, and First Aid is with Fixit now."

"Good." He boosts me down, then turns back to get Ethereal as I run inside with my backpack on. "Unca Smokey, we's home!"

Uncle Smokescreen steps around the corner. "Hey, Little One. Where's Theri?"

She runs in with Hot Spot behind her. "I'm here!"

"How are you two doing?"

"I'm good. I was a little scareded at first, but now I know I's gonna be 'kay."

"Good." He crouches to me. "What about you, Kiddo? I heard you were crying last night…"

"No 'members. Knows Fixie was up lots, though…"

He sighs heavily. "Sweetheart, that's called a night terror. They happen with PTSD."

"Oh…" I look up to him nervously. "I's 'kay?"

He chuckles. "Yes, you're okay, Little One. You'll be fine. Just…make sure Fixit or Theri come get me or your Carrier when they happen next time." He sighs as his phone rings. "Hello—What?"

I can hear Carrier sigh on the other end. "Are the girls home from school yet?"

"Yes, they're home, Prowl."

"How are they doing?"

"They're fine now."

"And Fixit?"

"First Aid's up with him."

"The other Protectobots?"

"Out back working to get things set up for the girls. They're going to swim for a little while, then play outside until it's time for Mari's lessons."

"Make sure Mariposa has her back covered. Ethereal will have her lessons then as well. She will be starting with Ratchet as soon as today."

"Unca Smokey?" I tug his pants, causing him to turn to me. "Theri no wants medic teaches yet."

"Prowl, Mari just told me Theri doesn't want to be a medic yet."

"All right. We can handle that." I can hear him chuckle. "She seems more like Jazz than Mariposa does, after all."

"Except for your stage fright."

"And she is better at entertaining herself and Mariposa."

"Yeah. I'll definitely give her that!"

"Mommy has stage fright?"

He crouches to me. "Yes, but he will be all okay."

"I gets scared sometimes too, but I love performing."

"I've noticed. Your sister doesn't share that love, though."

"Yeah…" I look down for a moment before looking up to Hot Spot. "But that's otay, right? That 'stalts haves diff'rent likes?"

"Of course!" Hot Spot laughs. "Just look at us, or at the Aerials. We're all different, so we're going to like different things."

"Okay." I glance to Ethereal before turning back to him. "So it's 'kay that she no likes stage, but that I wants stage."

"Yep." He reaches down and takes my good hand. "Now, come on. We need to see about Fixit, then I want to take you and Theri outside." He smiles. "We can either go to the park, or we can take you out back."

Theri runs over, her backpack still on her back. "Can we swim?"

Hot Spot laughs. "We can do anything once the two of you are out of your school uniforms and into some play clothes."

"Mari would have to put something on her back, or we risk infection."

"Aidie!" I run over and jump into his arms. "Why I no swims?"

He sighs heavily. "I didn't say you couldn't swim, I said we need to keep your back clean and dry so it can heal."

Uncle Smokescreen shrugs. "We can tape some plastic wrap over it before she gets into her suit, Aid. We did it for the girls' bath last night."

Aid sighs heavily. "All right, but we still need to be careful, and we'll have to watch the two closer than usual. Any sign of Mari being in pain and we get out."

"Fixie?"

"I got some stronger nausea medicine into him, and he's nursing a cube of med-grade in the living room. He'll come out with us when he's done."

"Good." I turn and run to where Aid said he is. "Fixie!"

"Mari?" His head pops up over the couch. "Mari!" He grins. "Smokescreen said you were at school."

"We pulled them out. Theri's fire developed."

"Theri's…" He turns to where Ethereal is standing beside Hot Spot. "So you're really gestalt…"

"Yeah…"

He turns away. "Then you don't need me…"

I huff, and hug him. "Still needs you. You's my mini, right?"

He smiles. "Yeah."

"Come on, Girls. I need to get you ready."

Fixit sets the cube—still half full—aside and moves to follow us. "Stay. Finish you' 'gon. Then you comes out with us."

"All right."

Uncle Smokescreen tapes plastic wrap to my back with pink duct tape before helping the two of us into matching pink gingham one piece swimsuits with skirts, strawberry prints, and pink trim at the chest with a bow, and at the skirts. He hands us each a pink towel, then sends us out the back door. Hot Spot—in holoform—picks me up the second I'm out, and looks at my arm. "Mari, don't you need a bag on that?"

"Nope." First Aid smiles over at us. "Ratchet gave her a waterproof cast. She's good."

"All right." He sets me into the water before lowering Ethereal into the water beside me. "No water wings because of the cast, so be careful, okay?" He climbs in with two life jackets—both pink on one half and purple on the other. "We got these for just that reason. We want our little sisters to be safe in the water."

I huff as Aid lifts me up so Spot can put one on me. "All right." He lets me go, and I don't sink down as far. "Oh! Yay."

"See?" He helps Ethereal into hers. "They make it easier for you to stay afloat, so you don't wear yourself out."

"Good." Ethereal doggy-paddles over to me before splashing me, causing me to turn and do the same to her. "Gotcha!"

"No, no!" She shrieks. "AAAH!"

"Can I come in?"

We turn to see Fixit's holoform at the edge of the pool wearing red trunks. "Only if you feel up to it. We won't make you if you don't want to."

He sits on the edge of the pool with a sigh. "How are you handling this? You're in the same stage I am, Hot Spot, yet…yet you're not as sick."

Hot Spot shrugs. "We've had some pretty bad mornings because of it, but we've managed. Ratchet has meds, as you've seen, and…we muddle through."

Aid sighs. "But it doesn't really help when you've got multiples, Fixit. You're going to feel worse than he does."

Fixit slides in before climbing onto Bluestreak's lounger with a heavy sigh. "Great…"

I swim over and pat his arm gently. "We're here for you, Bitty…"

Ethereal joins me. "Yeah. We love you."

"Really?"

I smile. "Really." I try to climb onto the lounger, only managing to almost flip Fixit into the water.

"HEY!"

First Aid steps over and boosts me onto it with a smile. "There you go, Little One."

"Fank you." I turn to Fixit with a smile. "We won't leave you. Ever." I reach over and take his hand. "We'll be here forevers and evers."

"Thank you, Mari." He turns to Emily. "And you too, Theri."

Ethereal swims over to us. "You're welcome, Fixie."

Base

Hot Spot steps into the base with me on his left shoulder and Ethereal on the right. We're both wearing light pink long sleeved t-shirts with doctor graphics and "Girls Can't What?", white socks, and pink, silver, and white tennis shoes, but I've got on dark pink scrubs while she's got on dark pink pants, since she's not doing medic lessons yet. "All right, I'll drop you off with Ratchet, and take Theri to Drift in the rec room."

"I can' stay wif you?"

"Sorry, Little One. We've got things to do today. Mari's going to be alone with Ratchet today, too."

I pout. "Awh…"

"You'll do fine, Little One." He sets me on the ground before holding the door open for me. "I'll let your Sire know you're here, and see about Bluestreak taking over with Theri after his training's over."

"Otay." I run over to Ratchet. "I's here!"

He nods, and crouches down to me. "How are you doing today, Mariposa?"

"I's otay."

"Your arm?"

"Sore, but no' too bads."

"All right, are you ready?" I nod, and he settles onto a large chair before setting me on his lap. "Okay, we will get back to your anatomy lesson, then."

I'm a little confused when Uncle Bluestreak changes Ethereal and I into matching white tank tops with pink plaid ruffles on the shoulders and red apple graphics, pink plaid shorts with ruffle cuffs, and red flip flops. "Why?"

"Your Carrier's got a surprise waiting."

Ethereal huffs. "But why you change us? We just goes home!"

"Yep, but Mari can't wear her medbay clothes home, just in case they've got energon or other stuff on them."

"Oh." Ethereal nods. "Got it."

We clamber into Bluestreak's back seat, and into our boosters before buckling in.

We run into the house and I stop in my tracks when I find Hot Spot and Streetwise standing in the kitchen. I run over and look into the living room to make sure nothing's wrong in there. "What happen?"

Sire turns to me from the couch. "Wha'?"

Hot Spot steps over to me with a smile. "Nothing's wrong, Little One."

"Then…why you here?"

"They moved into the basement while you were at your lessons, Mariposa."

I look up to Carrier. "Really?"

"Yes. I can take you down if you wish to see."

"Please?"

We step into the basement, and he takes me into a second door, close to the one we go into for training. We stop just inside the door, and I grin when I see Groove, Blades, and First Aid curled up together on top of it. "See? This is their new room. They will be out most of the day for their rescue work or duty shifts on base, same as myself and your Sire, but they will be around at night and when they are off duty, so you will get to spend more time with them."

Blades looks up with a grin. "Hey, Girls!"

Groove sighs. "Quiet, Blades. Aid's recharging!"

"Sorry…"

I share a look with Ethereal before turning to the bed. She nods, and we shift up to bot form together before climbing in as quietly as we can. Carrier smiles when he sees us curl into the three. "I will send Hot Spot down when supper is ready."

"We've got the girls until then, Prowl."

"Thank you." We watch as he leaves before turning to nuzzle into the three Protectobots—I cuddle into the sleeping Aid while Ethereal curls into Blades' side with a content smile.

"Busy day?" The two of us turn to Blades, with me moving more carefully because I'm curled into Aid, and nod. "Maybe you could slip down here sometimes…if you can't sleep…"

Groove sighs. "You know they could get into trouble if they do that, Blades."

Blades sighs heavily, but nods. "So stop being a bad influence on the younglings."

"Yep." I shift to where I can see Groove better, and smile up at him. "I's glad you's here now."

"We're not leaving you, Little Sis. I promise you that."

"Not 'til the end of time."

Our heads—at least, those of us who are awake—pop up as one. "Spot!"

"Spot?" Aid stirs before looking up. "Oh! Hi, Hot Spot!" He turns to us. "When did you two get in here?"

Blades laughs. "Around five minutes ago, you were dead to the world, Aid!" I glance away. "Mari?"

Aid pulls me in quickly, sending a little glare to Blades as he does. "She had to save her Sire a little over a month ago, and you're not helping the situation any using words like that." He turns to me, his face softening. "You okay, Little One?" I nod, but cuddle closer to him at the same time. "Spot, was I ever this bad?"

Hot Spot steps over to scoop me up, sighing as he does. "Pretty much, Aid. You kept a lot from us…"

I blink, and look between the two before turning to Ethereal. "I twy tells everyfings, bu'…some stuff hurts too bads…to shares…"

"Mariposa…" Hot Spot sighs. "Street put it well, back when Aid was taken for a while…sometimes you have to hurt to heal."

"Oh…" I turn to Aid with a small smile. "So that means…tell Theri…"

"Tell me what?"

"'Bout how bad things was wif Aaron…"

"Oh…" She looks up to me. "I knows I's suppose' ge' Carrier when somefing happens a' nigh', bu'…"

"It's definitely recommended to get any one of us if she has another night terror." Aid stands and nods, pulling her into his arms as he does. "But…coming from someone who endured kidnapping and abuse…she'll be fine."

"Aidie…" I reach over and pat his shoulder from Hot Spot's arms. "Why you no tells me?"

Aid sighs. "It's not for little ears to hear, Little One. It's too bad…for you to hear, not to mention still too hard…to talk about…"

"Oh, Aidie…" I look up to Hot Spot for a moment before reaching down to Aid, smiling when Hot Spot shifts me to where I can hug him. "It be otays."

Hot Spot laughs as he shifts me back. "Two of a kind…" He sighs. "Come on, Prowl wants us all upstairs. We'll have energon of course, but the girls are having pork chops and mashed potatoes, so they'll need to get into their pretenders when we get upstairs."

I squeal. I love pork chops!

He sets us down on the floor—in our pretenders—once we're all up the stairs, and I run over and try to scramble into my chair as Ethereal scales her chair effortlessly. "Um… Helps?"

Carrier turns to do so. "I got her!" Streetwise darts over and boosts me up. "There you go, Little One."

"Fanks, Stweets."

"You're welcome, Sweetspark." He turns and takes a seat on the other side of the table, which is confusing until Hot Spot takes the new one beside me.

"Hi." I lean over and nuzzle into his arm with my head.

"Hey." He moves his arm, causing me to look up to him sadly. The arm winds up behind me as he pulls me a little closer. "I'm right here, Mari…"

"Why you moved?"

"So you can eat, Silly."

"Oh…" I glance down as Carrier sets a plate in front of me, and pick up my fork before starting to eat. "We gotta do homeworks, then we has chores, then it's bedtime…"

"We'll be here when you wake up, Mari."

"Good."

"Mariposa."

"Carrier." I glare up at him. "I no wanna loses them…"

"You're not going to, Sweetspark. I promise."

Carrier slips our homework folders back into our backpacks using his holoform, and zips them before returning to his normal form. "All right. If the two of you can get ready for bed without complaining, I will see if Hot Spot would come up and read your story tonight."

"Okay, Mommy!" We pull out our pajamas and change into matching gray long sleeved pajama tops with rainbow graphics and light blue pajama pants with white cloud prints, then slip on light blue cloud print robes and light blue slippers, and slip out of our room to see if we can find Hot Spot before Carrier can. We grin when we see him coming up the stairs, and jump into his arms simultaneously.

"Careful, you two. I don't want you getting hurt."

"So don't do that again?"

He chuckles as he sets us on our bed beside Fixit. "Not unless you're in 'bot form. Now…" We slip out of our robes and slippers as he slips out a book, then stand and watch him, holding hands. We still don't like the idea of being apart—we spent five years too long being apart, if you ask me. "Climb in."

We clamber into the bed, making sure Fixit's close to the edge so he can get up if he needs to purge, and smile up at Hot Spot together. "Ready!"

"Ready, Pots!"

He grins down at us before sitting on the edge of the bed. "Okay then." He opens the book and starts to read, soon winding up with one of us leaning on each knee, trying to stay awake. Before he even has the chance to finish the story we're both sound asleep on his knees.

Third POV

~Aid, Groove, I think I need some help…~

~With?~

~What happened?~

~They're recharging on my lap, and I'll wake them up if I move…~

First Aid laughs through the bond. ~We're coming, Spot.~

~Yeah, with a camera.~

~Just keep it down, Prowl wouldn't be happy if we woke them up.~