Hello! Sorry for another late post, but I made sure to extend this chapter. I also have more ideas for my other stories yet to come and if anyone needs to know, yes, I do plan on making a part two of Cracks in the Crystal Ball. Hang in there for me.
Quick summary, all fluffy Cass Cuteness until the very end… More bad dreams.
Thank you too all my readers who have continued to read my stories despite my horrid procrastinating. XD I promise to do better at making time to write (and properly edit) my stories.
Remember, don't be shy! Feel free to leave a review and comment. If you have any questions, ask away and I will get back to you with an answer as soon as I can.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any stocks, trades, or licensing from the Transformers franchise. All rights are reserved for HASBRO entertainment.
MERCY
Chapter 34
"I tried out various experiments described in treatises on physics and chemistry,
and the results were sometimes unexpected.
At times, I would be encouraged by a little unhoped-for success; at others,
I would be in the deepest despair because of accidents
and failures resulting from my inexperience."
-Marie Curie
Moments after Megatron left the room, Cass went into the living area to clean up the cubes of energon he left on the table. He needed to remind himself that his cube was actually on the opposite end of the room. Picking it up the young model scolded himself for not finishing the glass. He didn't want to waste it, but he just wasn't that fuel deficient at the moment. Maybe he would be again later, but hopefully it would be before the energon spoiled. The guilt didn't end there when he reached down to collect Steve's glass and noticed there was hardly a drop left. Perhaps that is why the taller grounder acted so strange, he was starving. Strange considering he seemed to be a battle sufficient drone, the stained scorch marks and parts of his metal was a dead giveaway. But battle drones were the ones that were being granted most of the rations, so why would Steve still be so fuel starved? Were the reserves that low at the moment?
It had been a long time since both Cass and Soundwave checked the levels in the logs. Maybe when Cass returned to his duties his Commander would allow him to overlook the rations logs and with any luck straighten them out. After all, the new ration logs were established during Starscream's brief regime. A review of the logs was now overdue.
"How selfish of a mech am I?" Cass sighed as he mindlessly began to clean the tray and Steve's cube. "I am so well fed that I can barely finish one cube, yet my brethren still struggle? Have I grown blind?"
When he was finished putting away the tray and cube in the energon cabinet, the small mech felt a little flutter in his tank. His little Mercy could feel his sadness and she swam gently to get the proper attention from Cass. "Yes my little one, I am alright." His servo trailed up and down his black plating, feeling more at ease from the life inside of him. "We should rest now. Your Sire will be back before you know it."
When the Vehicon reclaimed his place in his lover's berth, recharge found him quickly. He was more tired than he first thought. It was a very lucid rest however, not deep enough for him to dream, but enough to keep his optics closed. He was comfortable and warm until he shifted over to one side and felt something freezing under his metal. Unintentionally Cass added weight onto the cold spot and heard something hiss beneath him.
"Primus!" Awake and now alert the young model sprung to his knees, but before he could worry about anything else, he corrected his language and shyly covered his mouth. Not long after he noticed the source of the hissing shivering on the cushioning. "Laserbeak! You silly symbiote! You scared the living daylights out of me!"
A close examination of the little flier, Cass noticed a thin line of frost coating the metal down the center of her spine and over her wings. He knew it was left over condensation from high altitude, which meant Soundwave had sent Laserbeak on a mission and she just returned. The small mech didn't need to guess how she got into the room because it was a method she had implemented before. Whenever the symbiote wanted to find Cass she would lock on to his comm links and slip into a ventilation or maintenance shaft to find him.
"What are you even doing here?" The Vehicon scolded. "If you're returning from a mission, you should have returned and docked with Commander Soundwave to warm up and recharge!" Laserbeak merely responded with a rapid clicking noise as she shook over the berth, searching for sympathy. "Don't give me that sass! You know better!"
The flier was tempted to move closer, but the unfamiliar sternness in Cass's vocals encouraged her to stay put and just shake. Eventually her silent pleas reached the place in her friend's spark he kept just for her. "Oh… I'm sorry for being so snippy."
The bird like con could only coo and pleaded for her metal to be petted with a soft whine. Cass huffed but finally gave into Laserbeak's sad cries entirely. "It's okay Laserbeak... Don't cry..." He stroked his hand down her wings a few times before a thought crossed his mind. "What do you say to a bath to help warm you up? You're already late for your rendezvous with Soundwave anyway. I can even join you if you like." A bath? A bath with Caspian? Yes! That's what the doctor should always order. With whatever energy she had left the small flyer bounced excitedly in Cass's lap, sweetly singing her excitement.
"Oh! Okay! Okay, settle down now…" Laserbeak was perhaps the best distraction Cass could ask for. Her antics at times were actually very charming and it was enough to make the lonely little drone smile. Carefully he slid off the berth with the symbiote in his arms and slowly waddled to the wash-rack. He discovered the bath by accident one night, when Cass was being more than his graceful self and slid on the wet floor. When he caught himself on the shelf with the polish bottles that he thought Megatron would never use, he activated a mechanism of some kind after pulling on a fragrance bottle. It turned out to be a disguised mechanism that converted the shower stall into a deep tub. Small enough to comfortably fit a large silver warlord, but big enough to almost submerge a teeny yet, at the moment, fat grounder.
Once it was discovered, Megatron took a little time out of his plans for universal conquest to show his lover how to operate it. All of those bottles of polish and coating were connected to different switches that controlled all sorts of neat things on the bath. The small blue bottle to the left controlled the depth of the tub by raising its base, and the red bottle to the right added steps on the outside. There were three more bottles in the center that controlled the type of solution that could fill the bath. The square magenta one was a standard cleaning solution, the round green one was also solution with a polish coating, and the other could fill it with hot oil. Cass never had a hot oil bath before, and Megatron promised to treat him to one after the sparkling was born, and even hinted that he would join in on the pleasure.
"I think just some standard solution should do for now, right?" Laserbeak clicked her wings and shivered in response. "I… Guess it doesn't matter as long as it is warm, huh?"
A couple of twists and a few pulls later the tub was set at medium deep and filled with warm standard solution. Cass eased the symbiote into the warm liquid slowly, taking care not to overwhelm her too quickly, but the moment he sat down fully Laserbeak spread her metallic wings and leapt into the depths of the bath. The grounder leaned back against the edge of the tub and enjoyed watching the sweet bird like con swim and play on the surface of the liquid. Every now and then she would quickly dive then pop back up to let hot droplets roll down her back. She had just enough space to glide over the solution's surface and happily swirled in figure eights. One more dive and she splashed Cass, making him flinch and giggle.
"Someone's feeling better." His smile widened as he reached to scratch Laserbeak behind the nape of her neck. She swam closer so he could reach, but she ended up bumping into his bump. His torso barely protruded out of the liquid and Laserbeak barely took notice of it because it never got in her way before. The Vehicon watched her with intrigue as she loitered around his black plating. She circled it curiously and even lightly tapped it with her tiny cleft landing gear. It was a gentle tap, tap, then a light scratch, and she was spooked a bit when she felt something reply beneath. Tap, tap, scratch… What was that? Cass's plating never did that before.
"What's the matter?" Cass leaned further back to let Laserbeak inch closer so she could easily explore the plating better. She crept closer again and arched her wings for another quick retreat, then tried her pattern again. Tap, tap, scratch. Right away there was another response but this time it wasn't as subtle. Tap! Tap! Tap! Poor Laserbeak nearly leapt out of the tub. There was something in there. Something was underneath Cass's paneling! It was too much to bear and the carrying mech threw his helm back laughing, his faceplate blushing both from his hysterics and the steam.
"It's okay Laserbeak! It's just a Sparkling!" He sighed after a two-minute fit. "There's a tiny life in there… Growing. And she knows you're here and is trying to say hello."
One more time Laserbeak tried to get close to the round bump. When she was close enough, she nuzzled the front of her helm against the plating. This time she lightly chirped and nibbled around the metal. Another response but this time it was gentler. Just a smooth caressing movement along the curve. It was trying to pet her, and if Cass said it was okay then Laserbeak would let it try. Once more she unfurled her wings as she wiggled on top of the metal. She curled her frame over it comfortingly and sweetly nuzzled her beak over a small seam. She nibbled and purred a little from the small life attempting to pet her, which she now accepted with open wings. Cass sighed and playfully lifted his servo over the top of Laserbeak's back and let a large droplet of solution trickle down her dark plating.
"Looks like you made a new friend." He whispered, happy to see the Symbiote already warm up to his young one to be. "In fact, you just might be Mercy's first friend. How do you like that?"
A questionable chirp followed the statement but was quickly taken into consideration. Cass says this thing's name is Mercy and a friend, and Cass's word was always the truth. So yes, Laserbeak loved the idea of being Mercy's first friend and in her mind, guardian. For a few more minutes, the Symbiote went back to cuddling and purring while her sweet Vehicon scratched the crook in her neck. But the water was beginning to cool, indicating it was time to get out of the bath and face the day again. Laserbeak whined a little when Cass shifted and set the tub to drain, but even she was ready to dry off. Cass took a dowsed cloth then quickly cleaned and polished places around his neck and helm. He did his best to clean parts of his frame the solution couldn't reach, before he stepped out to readjust the shower. The drying vent went off above the wet drone's helm and he shivered from the mixture of heat and cold. Laserbeak found a place to perch on Cass's back and latched on with the magnets in her landing gear. She rather enjoyed the stream of air lacing between her seams, until Cass teasingly tilted forward, and she got the full blast of the hot air. She hissed her irritation, but she understood that it was all just in fun.
"You should probably head back to Soundwave now." Cass hummed as he tip-toed out of the wash-racks. "He's probably worried about you now." He ignored her whines of protest and searched the room for the air vent he knew She used to slip into the room. He managed to find it above the computer station, and right out of the short mech's reach. "Oh my… Megatron is definitely going to notice that."
Laserbeak wasn't ignorant. She knew the best way to fix the vent would be to leave the way she came into the room and the screen back over the opening. But she didn't want to leave Cass, or her new friend. Even when she was attached and close to her master, she could still feel lonely sometimes, especially when Soundwave didn't have time for all of her needs. Not that he purposely ignored his symbiote, he just got lost in his work from time to time.
"Don't dawdle, Laserbeak." Cass nudged her frame gently when she began to loiter over the desk below the vent. She nudged him back in an attempt to slip his servo over her frame again. Clicking her beak, she purred sadly and pleaded for Cass to stroke her frame just a few more times. The young model gave into her non-verbal request and began to pet her with a sweet smile etched on his faceplate. "I miss you too Laserbeak. I promise, when things start to settle down, I will do my best to make more time for you. But I'm sure Soundwave is wondering where you are right now."
Before he slid his servos under the tiny flyer's wings, Cass leaned over her and kissed the top of her metal, making her shiver with glee. Then he carefully lifted her towards the vent, his thin digits tickling her underplating and encouraging her to coo in delight.
"Go on now, scoot." His digits wiggled faster until she could take no more and leapt the rest of the way through the opening of the shaft. It was an awkward fit, but the Vehicon was confident that if Laserbeak could find her way in while still frozen, she could find her way out now that she was feeling better. Using her sole data feeler she closed the screen. Then she sealed it shut using the magnetism at the end of her claspers to re-bolt it from the outside. Before Cass heard her skittering away down the vent, leaving loud clanging and clambering sounds on her path, she departed with a final chirp goodbye.
"I'll see you again soon Laserbeak." Then Cass found himself all alone again in the middle of the large living quarters. He never knew just how quiet such a large room could be until he spent enough time in it by himself. Such an empty feeling, and one he was just not used to. The tiny drone sighed and curled his arms around his torso in a full hug. His sparkling could feel the warmth surrounding its shelter and she settled into the odd embrace. As Cass began to yawn, he finally realized just how tired he still was, and fortunately for him, his little Mercy was starting to settle into a well-deserved rest as well. "How about a story before recharge? Our favorite perhaps?"
The sparkling just swam lightly before permanently settling in place for her own rest cycle. Cass would take the gesture as a no, but Knockout had actually discussed the importance of continuous verbal interaction between Bearer and Sparkling, even if he thought she might not be listening. After finally fixing his old datapad, Cass managed to upload all of his old and favorite stories he kept on it. His first group of brothers added both stories from Cybertron and later on from Earth. Reading them was always his favorite pastime. He particularly enjoyed the tales of the Brothers Grimm, and by the reaction he could feel from his young one, he knew she enjoyed them as well. Stories about a hero or heroine trapped in poverty or abuse, but in the end finding a reward for all of their suffering.
One thing Cass could live without in these stories was all of the gore that came with it. Thank Primus for the imaginations of human storytellers. His most recent discovery off the Earth's internet were different versions of these tails, and with Soundwave's permission the Vehicon was allowed to download them to his story pad.
Cass returned to the berth chamber and opened the drawer Megatron had cleared out for him. Since his frame started to grow the storage in his subspace began to decrease, so he needed a place to set his things aside. Megatron still didn't know that his mate-to-be had this sort of contraband, so it was a bit of a risk on Cass's part to just leave it where the warlord could find it at any time. But despite how long he had been assisting his Commander, the young model still didn't have his own storage in the Communications Bridge. There was no chance he was going to leave any of these things in his old dorm. His last couple of roommates were very nice, but not very keen on personal space, but at the time it suited Cass. He didn't always have so many personal things on his person, and anything he did have could just be sub-spaced. All in all, Cass was just very lucky all around that Megatron has still been respectful of his privacy, but he still remained cautious.
However, Cass shook these thoughts out of his head. Then he smiled to himself as he turned on his story pad and half climbed; half rolled onto the berth. As he made himself comfortable the monitor brightened and revealed a list of categories. One tab said the Grimm Tales, and another said Disney Version. He had yet to read the grim version of these stories to his sparkling and would probably hold off on them after she was born too.
"Hm?" He pretended to ponder while thumbing through the Disney list. "Shall I read Cinderella? Sleeping Beauty?" No response from his little one, because he knew what she wanted to hear, but he still felt the need to tease her a little.
"No? What about The Little Mermaid? Or Beauty and the Beast?" The last one was always a close second because it was so relatable, but no, that still wasn't the right one. "Well…? What else do we have? Hmmmmmm? Oh! What about Snow White?"
That was the one, his approval confirmed by the soft trill in his stomach. The slight movement tickled so it encouraged some laughter from the tiny Bearer, and as she again settled back into a resting position, Cass softly hummed while he caressed the bump in his plating with fondness. "I love you, my Mercy."
A lengthy pause engulfed them both where the silence was finally welcomed. Eventually, Cass's tiredness caught up with him, and he knew he needed to start the story now, or he would never get through it as he had promised. The spell of quiet that had settled around them was finally broken with four simple words. "Once upon a time…"
Cass wasn't quite sure when he fell into recharge, but he was aware that he was still in Megatron's quarters. His fluxes have been very standard like this lately and compared to what they used to be it was a very welcomed change. These new dreams were not without its own oddities. Cass would wake up in this sort of dream world that appeared to be stationary in time, but he soon discovered he had free range around the room, and later found out he could walk into the living area. Everything around him had a slight glow around it and no matter how many times the young mech tried he could not touch anything, perhaps confirming that he was experiencing a dream. It would begin the same, then it would end the same. He would walk around the berth room, then the living area, and finally the wash-racks for a few more minutes. Then he would lie back down on the berth and wake up in the same spot he settled in. He never tried to leave the room, there was never really much call for it, plus he couldn't touch the door controls anyway. But today this dream was different. As he walked around the furniture for the third time, the door to the main hall opened with a hiss.
"What?" Cass questioned, his servos reaching for his torso defensively. He waited there to see if anyone would walk in, but after a while when nothing happened, he began to curiously step towards the entrance. His confidence grew the closer he tip-toed to the dark opening, but nearly rushed back to the safety of the berth room when a violet flame flashed in the hall. It was a small flickering light, so the drone's fears diminished rather quickly. The flame danced in the hall, suspended in the air and lingering as if it was waiting for him to move closer. It looked like it had a life of its own as it swayed and crackled, giving off the idea it wasn't a threatening presence. When Cass finally got close enough to touch it the flame snuffed itself out, but then reappeared instantly to his left. He stood up right in the new direction of the flame and gasped in surprise when new flames ignited ahead of it. Creating a long conga line, and beckoning for the little drone to follow them.
Cass's dreams had backfired on him before, so his hesitation would be understandable to anyone who knew his history with nightmares. Mercy remained silent and didn't offer any warnings or hint that this was somehow her idea, but there was definitely something compelling Cass to move forward. He knew halfway down the hall that he was heading for the Communications Bridge since he was not passing the med-bay, and he remembered it was the last place Megatron was called out too. Maybe his master would still be there, and he could see him. He still missed him after all.
As he walked towards one flame it disappeared, but a new one would reappear down the opposite end of the line. Ultimately, he came to a lift that opened on its own. At the entrance of the elevator, all of the flames merged together into one single light. It entered the loft and began to flutter faster; beckoning the young model to join it inside. Cass crept inside and stood next to the light cautiously.
Moments passed as the violet flame crackled in the air and danced in its stationary suspension. Nothing happened and the drone was coming very close to just leaving the loft and heading back to the living quarters. He was stopped by a random drone that stepped inside with him. Cass did not recognize this Eradicon at all. The flyer had no distinct markings on his armor or mask to indicate who he was, and Cass almost knew every Eradicon on the ship. To think the little drone didn't know this mech at all. His height over all would have been a straightforward feature to mark him with.
"Woof…" The tall flyer huffed as he closed the loft gate, obviously oblivious to Cass's presence. "That femme is crazy like a turbo fox, and sure as pit do, I love every painful and pleasurable moment of it."
It was clear that the Eradicon was talking about Arachnid, since she was currently the only femme on the ship. Cass shuttered at the images that appeared in his mind's eye and turned away to shiver in a corner. The rest of the ride down the loft was met with silence apart from the taller drone's ominous humming, and when the lift finally came to a stop the flame followed the Eradicon out into the new hallway. Cass also stepped out of the elevator to continue his journey with the flame, which split in the opposite direction of the flyer. In some way the young model was relieved. There was just something about that Eradicon that just didn't feel quite right.
Minutes later, Cass's intuition on where he was heading was correct and he was standing outside the Communications Bridge before the flame disappeared entirely. The door hissed open for another random drone to leave the room with a stack of data-pads, and he took it as an opportunity to slip inside. There he found an entire audience of all the higher officers collected together and waiting in separate groups. On the far end of the room stood both Megatron and Soundwave. Their backs were facing him at the moment as the duo toiled around the main console. There was something on the main holoscreen, but his view to it was currently blocked by the long legs retracted over Arachnid's back. Even if there was a chance the spider feme couldn't see him, Cass wanted to do his best to avoid her. In his attempt to walk around her, he charted his way around the walls of the room, he discovered Knockout and Breakdown against the farthest wall in the resting area. Breakdown was sitting in the largest chair with his mate curled in his lap. The medic was clearly exhausted as he rested his helm over the former wrecker's big blue chassis, clearly not caring if he looked unprofessional at the time.
"I want to go back to our berth so bad." Knockout sighed as he circled a well-polished servo over Breakdown's metal lazily. "I can barely keep my optics open… You might have to carry me back to our room."
"Well… About that…" The giant mech caressed his lover's back with one large servo and scratched the side of his own faceplate with his other. "We had another unexpected patient and we ran out of berths in the med-bay…"
"Did you forget we had an extra pullout in our living area again?" The red mech smiled with half lit optics and lightly snickered at how bright Breakdown's blush grew. "It's alright if the berth is full. I can rest on the spare until our new patient awakes."
Breakdown also smiled while he watched the gorgeous mech in his arms yawn through his exhaustion. "This ship does not deserve you…" He leaned forward to kiss the top of Knockout's helm and was rewarded with a soft moan in approval. The one-optic mech admired his lover so. Not just for how strong he was, but how much he had actually changed in these past few months. It wasn't that long ago that the CMO would have made a bit of a fuss when it came to the placing of drones in the med-bay, let alone in his own bed. But Breakdown always knew Knockout was a kind sparked mech under all of his vanity. It was just hard to see it when it came to his self-preservation and protection of his assistant.
Cass stopped to watch the two lover's entangle themselves in their arms and the little drone sighed warmly at the display. He couldn't wait until he could feel the same admiration from his lover as well. So drawn to such a show of tenderness, Cass hardly noticed that Megatron was sauntering towards the medic and his assistant.
"Breakdown," he lightly bellowed to exhibit his tone of superiority, "take Knockout back to your dorm and make sure he gets a minimum of two hours recharge. Our future is at hand, but it is not in our grasp just yet. He will need to rest as much as possible for the many other injured troops working to collect the Dark Energon."
More Dark Energon was discovered? A lot must have happened while Cass was resting. He would need to catch up with everything by talking to his Commander when he woke up. Again, the young mech didn't notice when Soundwave also emerged from behind him but was taken aback when Arachnid followed him in tow. Defensively, Cass cradled his stomach and recoiled towards the exit. He was still aware that the mean feme bot couldn't see or hear him, but he never wanted to take his chances around her at all.
"Quick note before you leave Lord Megatron." She said rather courteously. "Soundwave has discovered the source of the strange vibrations in the Earth."
The warlord nodded in reply. "Go now Breakdown. Until further notice, you are both dismissed." When Breakdown stood and bowed respectfully, Megatron turned his attention back to the feme and his Third. "What have you learned?"
"Unfortunately we are still unsure of what this flux truly is, but the source was traced back to the center of the planet. It is somehow pulsing from the Earth's core and Soundwave has recorded a brief audio. I have just listened to it and… It is a strange sound to say the lease."
"You may play the track for me now Soundwave." Megatron slightly nodded in understanding, both he and Cass watching the dark glass over the Communications Officer's faceplate. An audio line appeared across the screen. Slowly the line occasionally jumped on a pulse that was followed by a thumping like noise. The louder the thumping became, the larger the audio line spiked. It clearly sounded like a spark beat; beating steadily and pulsing like a real heart and for some reason the sound was making Cass feel ill.
"Stop Soundwave! Turn it off…!" Megatron barked, practically begging, and even startled Arachnid into a jolt. The large mech bent forward and held his helm desperately. His glowing violet optics reflecting his anguish. "I can still hear it pounding in my brain!"
Strange. Cass didn't feel the same way in his sickness. All of his pain was directed in his torso, but it was isolated in one place. Every time he heard a thump of the audio, something would throb inside of him. It struck him like an Energon mine cave-in when he realized the throbbing was centered around his Sparkling. The alleged Spark beat was hurting Mercy!
"NO!" He cried and slumped to the floor, holding onto his black plating for dear life. "Stop! Please Commander Soundwave! Stop playing the track!"
"Caspian?" The silent mech obeyed, and even pulled back the base of his mask. He could have sworn he heard his young one's voice but could not see him. Arachnid quirked her magenta optics curiously, but before she could ask whom Soundwave was talking to…
Cass awoke from his recharge in a jolt. Condensation streaked down his violet armor as he hyperventilated through his terror. He was desperate to calm himself because he was having difficulty feeling his connection to his Sparkling. His cooling vents began to slow moments later, but Cass still couldn't feel the little life inside of him. She didn't move even an inch, and the Vehicon knew it wasn't because she was recharging. He knew when she was resting because she would gently tussle every now and again.
"No!" Cass began to panic and cried over his rounded and currently lifeless midsection. "Mercy?! Mercy please! Give me a sign! Tell me you are alright!"
Nothing. The little life remained still and quiet. Panic finally set in fully, and Cass rushed to stand up off the berth, only to sit back down when a bright green vortex flashed in front of him. Soundwave emerged from the Ground Bridge; a grimace of worry etched over his lip-plates. He didn't wait for any questions or protest, and he leapt to his long-lost Sparkling's side. They both embraced each other for their own comfort, but Cass clung to his creator for the strength he desperately needed.
"Commander! Something is wrong with Mercy!" He cried horridly while Soundwave pulled him closer to his chassis and stroked his wing struts empathetically over the distort drone's frame. "She isn't moving! I can't feel Mercy!"
-END-
