Chi had no idea how long she had been out of it. As she felt her systems begin booting up several messages appeared in her HUD.
[Download human memories: Y/N]
She chose the yes option and felt everything flood back to her.
[Beginning onlining sequence…]
[Loading memories.]
[Starting systems.]
[Downloading basic operations data.]
[Downloading advanced weapons data.]
[Downloading advanced Medic data]
[Onlining sequence complete.]
She felt her optics online and she groaned. Her processor ached and her body felt heavy. She felt as if she had fallen from a great height.
"Come on femme…" Ratchet's voice drifted into her audios and she turned her head to look at him. "There we go, how are you feeling?"
"Like I was dropped from orbit." She mumbled and pushed herself into a seated position.
"Take it easy youngling." Ratchet chuckled. "You still need to let your systems calibrate."
Her optics focused on the CMO and she vented heavily.
"How long… where are the twins?" Her spark suddenly reached out to them, and she felt excited impatience as they dropped what they were doing and practically ran to the med bay.
"Coming." Ratchet laughed outright. "Your spark was in an incubator for almost a month, and then you've been in stasis lock for about a week now. They've spent every moment not on duty here in the med bay, refusing to leave your side for any longer than necessary."
"Then… it worked." Chi sagged in relief. "My… my organic body?"
Ratchet sighed then.
"In order to appease the humans and keep the information that you had been turned into a Cybertronian a secret we had to hold a memorial service." He explained gently. "As far as Earth knows, Chi died in her sleep from a sudden heart attack."
Chi nodded slowly, she hadn't even thought about how they would explain her new form. The med bay door slid open and a blur of red and yellow almost tackled her to the floor. Sideswipe was clinging to her tightly with his arms around her waist, having ended up in her lap somehow. Sunstreaker wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed their foreheads together.
"We missed you, little spark." He whispered, staring into her optics.
"And I missed you." She responded, joy radiating from her part of the bond as her arms wrapped around Sideswipe's shaking frame. "Both of you."
"We…" Sideswipe couldn't form the words he wanted to say.
"Always at a loss for words." Chi chuckled as Sunstreaker released her so that she could lean over the red twin, bringing him up so that his head was on her shoulder. "I promised that you would never lose me."
"But we almost did." He whimpered, causing her to squeeze him tighter.
"I'm right here." She soothed, bringing her hand up to gently rub his helm. "I always will be. I promise."
Sideswipe refused to move, causing Chi to look at Sunstreaker in concern.
He handled the separation worse. Sunstreaker sighed heavily. He could barely function, the only thing that kept him sane was our twin bond.
Chi's optics widened and her arms tightened around the red frontliner. He was still shaking.
"You three need to go rest, nothing strenuous until after your systems settle." Ratchet was eyeing them. "I'll make sure the appropriate parties know that you are online, Chi. And you need to choose a Cybertronian designation, the humans cannot know the truth about this."
Chi nodded and gently coaxed Sideswipe into a standing position. He didn't let go of her fully, choosing to keep a tight hold of her hand. The two of them led her to their room. She was hyperaware of how quiet the red twin was being, as well as the tight hold he had of her hand. As soon as the door was closed, she turned and pulled Sideswipe into her arms. Pressing their chests together and kissing him deeply. She knew what he needed in order to feel normal again.
"But… Ratchet said nothing strenuous…" Sideswipe muttered when she pulled back in order to nibble at his chin.
"Ratchet can go frag himself." She purred. "I need to take care of my mech."
~.~ ~.~
Chi sighed contentedly; she was pressed between the twins, and Sideswipe was drifting off into a much-needed recharge. He muttered a drowsy, I love you, before finally succumbing to his exhaustion. Chi knew that he probably hadn't been recharging all that well.
"And I love you, bonded." She whispered into his helm, specifically using his nickname for her.
"We needed this, we needed you." Sunstreaker pressed his face into her neck as Sideswipe slipped into recharge. "I needed you to be okay…"
"I am fine, my spark." She whispered back to him as her fingers tangled with Sideswipes. "You knew I was okay. Your spark is the strongest of the three…"
Sunstreaker smiled against her neck cables and she realized that they had never acknowledged that fact.
"You carry both of us." She vented calmly. "Without you we would be lost. Sideswipe and I both know that."
"I didn't think you had noticed." He sighed deeply. "Not even Ratchet has noticed that. It's why Sideswipe always takes separation so much harder."
"It's because Sideswipe's spark split from yours… isn't it?" She asked quietly, then turned her helm to nuzzle Sideswipe's as he shifted in recharge.
"It is." Sunstreaker placed his hand over her spark gently. "Do you know why I've always called you little spark?"
Chi shook her head gently.
"Your spark is smaller than Sideswipe's. But it's somehow able to hold the three of us together. Not many sparks can handle two bonds." Sunstreaker propped himself up to study Chi's face. "But Sides and I have to bond to the same femme… because our sparks are literally two halves of the same whole. Ever since we bonded, I've felt your spark be the center of it. Such a small thing can hold something so precious to us…"
Chi flushed as Sunstreaker spoke and she had to shutter her optics to hide the slight embarrassment at his words.
"So yes, while my spark is the largest, and the strongest… yours is the key to us." He finished firmly. "You balanced us and made us whole. If we lost you, we would never be the same, and that's why we get so protective over you. Why we're so scared to lose you."
Chi opened her optics and stared into Sunstreaker's. The emotion in them was so raw, and it matched the emotion that flowed to her through the bond.
"I call you little spark because of an old saying on Cybertron." He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. "The littlest spark can hold the greatest strength…"
Chi stopped his words by lifting up and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. He responded just as gently before pulling away and laying back down.
"Recharge, little spark." He whispered, offlining his optics. "We'll still be here in the morning."
Chi nodded and felt her own systems begin winding down. She slipped into recharge moments later, with only the thought of the new name she was going to choose in her mind.
Starshock.
~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Well, there we go. She's Cybertronian now guys! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Until all are one,
Chistarpax