Queen's Notes: Hey, guess who popped up in a big way! Turns out add hyper focusing on one character can turn into character development and backstory hinting! I pulled a few things from rps with friends, but was also trying to keep things different for this story so I'm not yonking their ideas.

Just A Stray, Just A Cover

Chapter 16

Whispers

Drift stretched as he walked out of the side tunnel/room with the medical supplies. He rolled his shoulders, to work out what tension he could out of the muscle cables in his back and right shoulder. Those C.R. Chambers were good, fixed and cleaned all the annoying small things on his frame, but some things it just could not do. That would be. another mecha, either a medic or a skilled consort would now how to work out tension. Maybe Jolt might be able to help, if he knew how to dig under armor, safely, or Crosshairs. As Hound was still in near stasis of a recharge. The trooper was getting back into his more relaxed mode down here.

Bumblebee…?

Drift shifted, looking around the main passageway, knowing the scout would be waking up soon. He never seem to need as much recharge, even the deeper rest as the rest of them.

Lucky bastard.

He also knew how much slag and shite he had been giving Bumblebee over the local months. Realistically… Bumblebee had been the one to keep them alive. Knowing where the energon was stashed and how to really shake humans off their trail or get them to lose interest.

He had done that several times in fact, enough that Drift was not sure if there were other times. As the scout had come back from a day of being missing exhausted, only to force their group to move.

Drift needed to have some time to reflect… and maybe find a way to make up everything. The sword mech had not really given much of a care to Bumblebee losing his humans in the attacks, not sure if they were alive or just missing must be harder than seeing the humans be killed.

By the Sigma, Drift at least had the horrible honor of at least seeing several of his friends truly die, but still did not know if Wing was alive, even all these centuries later.

All at once as Drift was reaching to grasp the hilt of the hidden broken sword, he became almost hyper aware of how he had not been caring for anyone. Not that much really. Even his friend Crosshairs, who Drift had watched become over stressed after the attacks. Seeing the new kind of stress when he and the others forced Crosshairs keep and care for the little human sparkling he had found. How he had seen Hound struggling with little things as well as just moving.

Stress Maybe? He had been inwardly struggling with aggression and-

There was a soft pulse against the two fingers that were touching the hidden blade. The blue and black mech stood still in the tunnel, his optics focusing on the faint marks from the crystal-mining. He wasn't really seeing it though, or much of anything for a moment. Blue optics squinted for a moment, and than Drift blinked and looked around.

None of the others were still around, and likely either still recharging or distracted with the little one. The mech turned left and walked deeper into the back, finding a side passage that led to storage. Drift scanning around before walking in and he noted some of the glyphs on the lids, touching one that had human supplies, and looked as if Crosshairs had gotten into it already. There were a few small marks from blunted talons on one edge.

Drift looked around as he tapped the lid, and then carefully opened it before continuing. He poked about, and reached for a small pack, it was wrapped in clear plastic wrap, just being enough to sit between three fingers and as Drift rolled it over to his palm and then carefully tucked it into a small pocket under the armor in the left arm.

He moved to the far back of the storage chamber, relaxing as he found a spot that Drift would not be seen easily. It took some shifting and adjusting to find just the right position to be comfortable on the ground.

Drift did not get into a meditation just yet as he pulled out his broken sword, shriving a bit as it left a now strangely... open spot on his back. Drift's armor rattled softly as he shivered again, it was a soft sound, but he could not help thinking someone who had been protecting his back was gone.

Only semi gone, there was a pulse against his palm that held the broken sword. A warm reassuring pulse of emotion, like someone's field that was so very tired and still wanted to reassure.

To anyone else seeing this, the silver hilt would seem just a tad larger than meant for someone's Drift's size. Even to Drift himself, as he clasped his hands around the shaft of the hilt, just under the guard and there was still enough space that another full hand span below his left hand.

Wing had been, was taller, with a slightly bigger frame of a flier, and needing more space for his hands. Drift shifted his grip, dropping one hand down to the end and leaving the gap between his hands, holding the Great Sword like he should for a weapon larger than he could normally handle. His optics were focused on the large gem though. The nexus point in the living blade, the crystalline spark of the sword in other words.

It was both one of the most beautiful and the most terrifying things about the Great Sword. It was how one could work with the Great Sword, how to learn from the knowledge it had inside the nexis, how one could tell the health of the living sword. Such as Whispering Hope had what looked like fine white cracks on the inside of the kyanite like stone, though you could not feel it anymore when he smoothed his fingers over the surface.

Whispering Hope was trying to heal, and making good progress as Drift shifting his grip on the hilt. Holding it with his right hand and running his left down the grey scale like pattern of the grip, over the nexus now pulsing with a soft light and down to what remained of the blade. The oldest part, at least as long as his forearm was that same silvery color on the outside, harden like a ship's hull plating. The only part that did not break, possibly it could not break. sort of a true demigod or Unicron having a fit at it.

The silver framed a dual core, as he knew from seeing the fresh broken end before that the same crystal like material of the nexus also ran the length of the blade, wrapped in protoform like metal and then the silver. Though near the nexus gaurd Whispering Hope had a long set of golden glyphs.

Drift rested his hand flat on the blade, lining up his fingers on one glyph, he never could read any of the simple yet somehow complex lines. The break had happened just under that one, and the blade was the dark protoform like metal from there to… just past his hand. Whispering Hope was re-growing its self, the darker metal was at a slight angle and near sharp, but now covering the inner crystal core.

He wondered if the Great Sword would be as long as it was before, or get the same silver color or it this was just a scarring. "...my friend… I wish you were still here, or just here."

The blue mech vented a sigh, still happy that Whispering Hope was recovering, but also wanting some of the once offered guidance now. He traced the glyphs again, just recognized them as apart of his sword, one almost looked like Wings' name. Another at the very bottom, in the protoform like scaring that was forming, not even rigid much but sort of looked like his new name.

Drift wondered, if only to himself, if the rest of the glyphs he could not read were other names as his gaze flicked back up to the kyanite spark of the sword. The point where the living blade drew its power off its hosts spark.

That was the terrifying part, one had to sacrifice parts of their spark to fully use a Great Sword's potential. That's where the knowledge inside came from Drift was sure, bits and parts coming from former wielder's sparks and possible just absorbed through the ever present connection.

Somewhere inside the pleasant glow of the nexus stone was a slice of Drift's own spark, maybe just that bit of the old Deadlock had been splintered off?

Whispering Hope was lowered to lay in Drift's lap, his head bowing as he rested his hand over the hilt and healing blade. As he was dimming his optics and feeling his emotions finally starting to settle for a true meditation, for a moment he felt it.

A precious moment in the time between the pluses of his spark, he felt the echo of another. It felt like the flier was leaning over him, peering over his shoulder despite there only being a stone wall behind him. Warmth of another field as hands clasped his shoulders, soundless words reassuring that he could be better like before.

Drift blinked, optics flickering as he looked up at the now darkness of the storage chamber. The lights had timed out and he suddenly became aware of a long passage of time according to an internal cromonitor. He was alone again, but...not.

There was no ghost of Wing, how ever welcoming it felt, and Whispering Hope was dormant again, the glow in the nexus stone dimmed.

Drift was very, very aware of other sparks near though. Eight other living beings were in the sheltered bolt hole and… he could sense another to the far east, but something closer north?

The swordsmech stood up, stretching before putting his broken Great Sword back into its hiding spot back under his armor on his back, making sure he could move and flex still.

Jolt was right.

There were others that needed help, they needed to find the Prime, or even the Wrecker Foreman. And even if he was not the most fond of humans...Jolt was still right that there were some of them that had been loyal for most of their lifespans to the Autobots, to his allies. They would need help too and he was fairly sure Wing would revive from the dead if he was, just to hit him if Drift did not try to help.

That flyer always seem to have soft spots for the tinier than them beings.

Drift retraced his steps from before, stepping out of the darkness of the side passage, into the semi light main tunnel. His optics bright as he found where the sounds of life where, stepping into the well lit area.

It was almost like a park, more garden to most mechs. Bumblebee was stretched out on his side in the grass that was growing happily unimpeded, he was still tired but happily chitter-talking to Crosshairs. The other mech lounging back on the scout and peering down at what his charge was showing off to him.

They were all such an odd mix.

A paratrooper that like weapon smithing, a Prime's scout, a Wrecker elder and his malformed wolf, a retired crazy old weapons officer, a front liner, a former decepticon and an itty bitty human.

At least it was not just a lost Knight of Light and Decepticon freeing slaves all alone.

"Heey mech!" Crosshairs called from his spot, waving as he was digging into Bumblebee's left arm cannon. Cleaning and tuning it for the black and yellow mech. "About time you woke up, get some energon."

Drift came over, noting the cans behind Bumblebee's back, settling beside his head and reaching back. There was a questioning chitter from the mech, and Drift chirped back. It seemed to take the other two aback, but after a moment he shifted closer and let Bumblebee half rest against his left leg and half brace to put less strain as Crosshairs worked.

"...hi?" A little voice greated from about Crosshairs' thigh, and Drift spotted the red hair of Amy. She gave a shy wave, but seemed happy to see him too.

"Hello little one." Drift said, and smiled. He glanced over at her caretacker and Bumblebee, "Jolt hasn't left yet has he?"

Bumblebee shook his head, a text ping coming along with a dramatic song clip. ::No, we're waiting until we're both feeling at full strength.::

Drift nodded, "That's wise, we shouldn't go back up to the surface when we're not ready."

Crosshairs arched an optic ridge as he glanced up from his work again, balancing two thin tools in his left hand and another in his right as he cleaned a delicate shifting part that helped the focus of the energy pulse. "Oh? Yea gonna go save the world with them too?"

He snorted, looking back down at the task in hand, Crosshairs could not quite hide a slight smirk though.

"Yes," Drifted nodded, giving his own smile as Bumblebee gave a relieved trill. Even despite what Drift had been doing, or not doing, the scout was still happy he was coming? "We need to head north. That's the closest spark. And then east."

"Burrt?"

"...Whispering Hope woke up. Those two are the ones we must help first." Drift said firmly, but softly as he looked away from the bright, wide blue optics that reminded him of of the Great Sword nexus stone. Focusing on sipping his energon, "They might be trying to find the bolt hole as well… maybe you were right Bumblebee, that others escaped too."

Reviews! [holy crap look at them all O,o]

Sarah: [2]
I haven't abandoned this, trust me sweetie I love it. I do agree there was not nearly as much development between humans and mecha in the movies, at least not more then a few with like Bee. This is like my jam though, because there's so much fun in seeing them learn to work with one another on and off any battle fronts, and well as the fun with the size differences. Have you seen any of my stories with Annabelle Lenox? You might like 'the Playful' [be warned for a high dose of cute].

As for Decepticons...pfft, um, not RIGHT away but there IS something planned, I just have to find the right con for it.

Yoshito22:
Here you are!

The Silvernote:
Yay! thank you so much! Also, you are not far off from what Amy's true age is. Don't forget she could have been [was] lied to about how old she is. As well as there is a lack of socializing... so she's learning from the mechs. And thank you again, Crosshairs is like a grumpy cat, as friend pointed out. Once he likes you, its great, if not pushy for attention.

Guest 1:
Hello and welcome! I will not lie, Ratchet is going to be showing up. Possibly sooner than you might think n.n and thank you for that!

Sarah:
Tiny kisses from Tinies are amazing. To sound like a cliche old cartoon, stay tuned to find out! There's a shameless boss mech type that's going to area. well two new mechs are coming as in the story.

Guest 2:
If I have my way, that 25 is not far off.. I do have two story arks I want to do, and tieing this to like Wreck en Rule and another story with Topspin.

Guest 3:
Thank you so much! as wer well planned out... um, pffft I won't lie I only half know what's going on and just recently started to toss a plot into this.

SoundlyManners:
I always read reviews, its what keeps things going in part, not to sound horrible. Its also how I try and get an upper hand on depression so to say. And you're absolutely right, small things mean the most!

Regan:
I know right? that would be awesome. I'm trying to get my writing groves back in gear, and get older stories back to life as well. Won't lie, I do love me some drama for the Crosshairs, but Drift was a pain to write for a long time. [and thank you so much, that means a not!]

Mkae:
Thank you! also, I may love tiny squeakers so don't be supersized to see Amy squeaking at a lot of things. Unfortunately I am a horrible, horrible writer that has no set update schedule, so you have time to catch up.

dracologistmaster:
thank you! hope you like this chapter!

wolfimus prime:
I'm back! kinda! the bug is back! ...kinda, but look, character development?

MissBMischeif:
I'm happy you liked the cute!

CamaroLady:
Thank you so much CamaroLady! Sorry its been a while but lets see if I can get to stay in the writing gears more.