Blows smoke off my hands, so, I've been on a crazy writing streak the last week for Birds, like, I've probably written somewhere in the ball park of 16,000 words, so, new chapter! (I finished 61 in TWO DAYS)
Hope you enjoy!
"Sire… Sire stop!"
Soundwave stopped, staring out into the forest he'd ended up storming through, vents ragged as he registered Rumble's voice.
He looked down, and realised his son was jogging to catch up, Ravage, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw all right behind.
He'd left them behind in his muddled emotions.
He sagged and dropped to his knees, pulling them all into a fierce embrace. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I… We can't stay there…" He admitted.
Ravage spoke up. "Why not? Why can't we stay, they're Decepticons! Like us!"
He shook his helm. "The war is over… Megatron made peace with Optimus… what is there… are those who refuse to give up fighting… and someone who… I was a fool…" He cursed himself, freeing one of his servos so he could rub his face.
They looked up at him confused. "Someone? That winged freak?! Who was that?!"
"Someone from the reality I came from… Someone vile… someone who wouldn't hesitate to hurt you for his own sick pleasure…"
They looked up at him in surprise, then back in the direction of the base. "That… that's not good… is it?" Ravage asked.
He shook his helm. "No… no… but he let slip something… he isn't the only one… the ones with the Autobots are the ones I know are good… are safe… they… they're the ones I had to…" He paused. "I'm a fool…" He lamented, clutching the side of his helm. "I'm a fool!"
His younglings flinched back at the exclamation, though Ravage held their ground. "Why? Why do you think that? Sire! What happened in that world?!"
He grimaced and then sagged, resignation falling over him. "I… I fooled myself into believing that you'd never need to know… but… she's here…"
The four exchanged looks. "Who's… she?"
He sighed. "The one… whom I fell in love with… The one I left behind to return to you…"
The silence that followed lasted only for a few moments, but it was deafeningly loud in Soundwave's helm.
"You… you moved on… from Carrier?" Laserbeak squeaked out, looking startled.
He shook his helm. "No… no… I'll always hold Shrike dear to my spark… but… when I was there… when I was human… I… my mortality truly struck me… I feared I would never become Cybertronian again… that this second chance of life would last what would feel like only moments… and… I remembered Shrike's plea… to not waste my life… and with only what I feared to be comparative moments left… I took a chance… and I was happy… she made me happy… we planned for a future life… together… and… please… I never forgot you or your carrier… but… I wanted to live…and I did…"
Ravage looked down at the forest floor before speaking. "And then… you left her… for us?"
"And for her…" He admitted. "There… there was an incident… and I realised I had no choice… I had to leave her behind… and now she's here… they said if I went… the war would never touch her… they lied… she's here… and if the one back there is any inclination… she's become at least partially Cybertronian too… I was made to fear the war crossing the divide… of being found… of her being found… losing everything I had made for myself there… I couldn't…"
"You believed returning to us to save us… would save her too?" Rumble offered.
He slowly nodded. "Forgive me… I thought our paths would never cross again… but now… I have to find her… I have to make it right…"
"What about Frenzy?"
"He's with them… that's why he's been so hesitant to reply… I'm going to try and signal to him that it's okay…"
"Frenzy, Frenzy respond."
"Sire? You feel close now… did you land?"
"Yes. Frenzy I need you to be honest with me. Are you with the Harpies."
He felt his son recoil in shock over the bond.
"What?! How?!"
"It's okay son, knowing you're with them is reassuring… I have a request for you."
"What kind of request?" His son enquired, a defensiveness to his emotions that had clung to him since they had managed to re-establish contact.
"Information, on two fronts. First, why did you not inform us about Megatron?"
"Megatronus, he's reverted his name, and… well… figured you already knew, what with the signal he sent out months ago?"
"The ship we were on was missing a communicator… second question, is Ira present?"
"They're not here… I'm with Barricade, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Kia in Barcelona?"
He paused at that. "Barricade and Bumblebee?"
"Yeah… Barricade finally spat out the truth that he was Bee's first Sire, they've been thick as thieves since."
"Ah… where is Ira then?"
"Somewhere in the Mediterranean. They left a few hours ago to fly out to meet some new Autobot arrivals, Elita-1 is the head of the new unit… Wait… Why are you asking about Ira?"
He sighed. "I have a lot to explain to you all…"
Barcelona
Ratchet was just about to turn the page of his current medical textbook when someone tapped on his holoforms shoulder, surprised, he glanced over to find the rarely used holoform of Frenzy standing there, looking as pale as a ghost.
To be fair, the kid always looked a bit sickly in his holoform, but this was different.
Sitting up straighter he set the book aside. "Kid? You look terrible. What's wrong?" He asked.
Frenzy shuffled and stared at the kicks he was wearing. "I… I've been performing a lie of omission… I wish to rectify that now…"
Ratchet looked over at the youngling for a few more moments, before gesturing to the soffa on the other side of the coffee table from him. "I'm all audios kid. I won't judge."
Frenzy hesitated for a moment before taking the offered sit, already he started to fiddle with the tassels of the hoodie he was wearing. "You know why Barricade was looking after me… right?"
Ratchet nodded. "Soundwave went offline… My condolences…"
Frenzy took in a breath. "He's not offline… he just touched down on Earth about two hours ago…"
Ratchet blinked at him a few times.
"I'd known he was on his way for months… but I didn't say anything… he just wanted to grab me… and then vanish into space as quickly as he could… but…" He trailed off and gulped.
"Do you need a drink, kid? It might help steady your nerves?"
Frenzy contemplated it, he really hadn't used his holoform for much, and he certainly hadn't used it to drink anything… he'd seen the others do it, and hadn't seen the appeal of drinking something that wasn't energon… but… if it gave him something to ground himself with. "Yes… please…" He mumbled out.
Thanks to the open plan nature of the Villa's ground floor, it only took the medic a few strides to get to the kitchen, fill up a glass of water, and bring it back, offering it to the minicon, who took it after some hesitation, the younger looking holoform taking periodical sips.
"Alright… so you'd planned to just… vanish on us? Go with your online sire and I assume the rest of your siblings, and try to carve out a new life for yourselves… considering you're telling me this, something changed?"
"The ship my sire and siblings managed to find… didn't have a working communications array… they weren't aware until they arrived only two hours ago, that the war, as far as everyone here is concerned… is over…"
Ratchet slowly nodded. "So… he's with Starscream?"
Frenzy shook his helm. "No… his loyalty is to Megatronus… he's on his way to Monaco now… to see him…"
"Alright, so, do you want me to transport you there so you don't have to wait for him to come pick you up?"
"Um… no… you see… um…" He took a sip of the water, and after the initial strangeness wore off, he was thankful for it. "When my sire vanished… I know where he went… I now know where he went."
Ratchet looked at him confused. "Where'd he go?"
"Triage… he went to Triage… Ratchet… my Sire… moved on from my carrier… and fell in love… with… Ira…"
There was a long… heavy pause between the two as that information registered in the mechs processor, before he reached over to his mate. "Ironhide?"
"Ratchet? What's wrong? You feel… like a mess?"
"Ironhide listen to me closely… Soundwave is on his way to Monaco. I need you, Derrick and Megatronus to convince him to stay put for as long as possible… Whatever he says, try to take in stride… I need to alert Kia… out of the four, I think she's the Harpy we can trust most at the moment to not be motivated to commit homicide…"
He could feel the moment the severity of the situation registered for his mate. "Would knocking him unconscious work?"
"If that becomes necessary, yes."
"Understood. We'll do what we can here."
He looked back to Frenzy. "Kid… do you think you can convince your Sire, not to try and make contact with Ira?"
Frenzy flinched. "His spark is set on it… he's… he's scared… Ratchet… he heard voices… when he was in Triage…"
Something in the old medics spark seized when he heard that. "Voices…? You mean?"
"They told him… if he didn't return… if he didn't make it look like he was dead… the war would find Ira… and he wouldn't be able to protect her… he just found out she's here… the voices lied Ratchet… they lied to get my Sire to leave her… and I ain't blind… it changed her… she isn't the same femme he knew… there's parts missing… and other parts have warped into something else…"
Ratchet ran a hand through his salt and peppered hair. "This… oh Primus… this confirms our fears… We've got evidence that it wasn't just the twins who's lives before coming here were affected… Kia… what did they do to Kia?"
Frenzy shrugged. "I don't know… I just know that my Sire is desperate to find Ira…"
He rubbed his face. "Kid… you realise there's a high chance she's gonna want to hurt him… Every bit of pain she's felt since his 'death'... Primus… sit there, I need to pass this to Kia…"
Frenzy nodded, before bowing his helm in shame. "Okay… I'm sorry…"
"Don't be, kid. You did the right thing alerting me…" Ratchet assured him, patting his shoulder before getting up to go make a very loaded call.
Frenzy took another sip of water, and muttered out a quick profanity lidden prayer that things would go remotely well…
Gilded Falcon
A knock at the door had Wren's head popping up from where it had been resting on Optimus' shoulder. "I'll get it." She stated before anyone else got the chance, getting up it only took a few strides to reach the door and open it enough for a hand to grab her and pull her into the corridor before she could even make a noise in surprise.
Kia looked her over quickly, before all but pointing at where Wren had ended up standing, telling her to stay put before she quickly walked inside, and bodily picked Aria up off the bed, further confusing Optimus and Ira.
"Um… why have you picked me up?"
"No time, head." Kia responded, giving Aria just enough time to curl up so she didn't have her head connect with the door frame.
"Hey! Wha's goin' on?!" Ira asked.
Kia looked back to her. "It's okay Ira, me and the twins can handle this." She stated, setting Aria down so she could close the door behind them.
She then looked at the twins. "Bridge. Now."
The two glanced to each other, then nodded, relocating their holoforms to the top deck of the ship, the Captain saluting them for a moment before going back to the helm.
Kia joined them after a moment, and to say she looked upset was quite the understatement. "I just got off a call from Ratchet… But before I say anything, you two need to promise me something."
They both regarded her in confusion. "What's going on?" Wren asked.
"Is it about Ira's condition? It's about her condition. He's found something that's going to kill her… that's why you-" Aria continued, starting to work herself up before Kia grabbed her by both shoulders, causing her to pause.
"No. She's not going to die. I need you to promise me, that you won't kill someone."
"...Okay… that implies something has happened that is drastic enough for us to want to commit murder…" Aria remarked.
"Admittedly a rather low bar in some situations." Wren dead panned.
Kia sighed. "Please, just promise me you both won't fly off both literally and metaphorically on a murderous blood hunt?"
Another exchanged look before they both nodded. "I promise."
"I promise."
Kia looked between the two, scrutinising them. "Do I have your word on that?"
"Fucking hell it's bad… You have my word." Aria assured.
"And you have mine." Wren followed up.
Kia nodded. "Alright… I'll hold you to that… Ratchet called. Soundwave has arrived on Earth."
Their confusion only grew at that. "Um… Okay? That's good? Bad? Is he on his way to Megatronus now?" Aria asked, both of them expressing their confusion.
"Technically, yes… but he isn't looking for Megs… he's looking for… Ira." Kia explained.
Now they were really confused. "Ira? Why would he be lookin for Ira?"
"How does he even know Ira exists? She wasn't mentioned in any of the messages that got sent out? None of us were."
Kia sighed, this was going to be a very, very long conversation.
Ten minutes later, she was done, and had very carefully taken a few steps back from the twins. "So… that's the situation…"
A silence held for a few moments before Wren broke it. "Ira is going to be pissed…"
"Forget us murdering him! She just might!" Aria exclaimed, her concern evident.
Kia sighed. "He thought he was doing it to protect her… that's what Frenzy said at least, which is what Ratchet passed on to me."
"Well, how about we go hear it from the mech himself then?" Aria suggested, fists shaking from how hard she had them clenched at her sides.
Kia's eyes widened a bit. "Twins…" She tried to warn.
"And we have to be sure he knows to keep his mouth shut about the franchise… cause it's quite obvious he'll know all about that…" Wren added, tone strained with false nicety.
"Wren… Aria… what did I make you promise?" Kia tried to remind them.
Both grinned. "Kia, darling. You promised us not to murder him~ You never made us promise to not maim him~"
Kia glanced to the side with a wide eyed expression once she grasped fully what that meant. "Twins… please… what if Ira forgives him?" She tried.
They did seem to pause at that, each glancing to the other. "You think she would?" Aria asked.
Kia shrugged. "This is Ira we're talking about… she knows better than anyone that we all hide things, keep secrets… she may decide to give him a second chance?"
Wren frowned. "We still need to set ground rules with him…"
Kia looked out of the window closest to where their forms were visible, the twins very much at the bottom of the pile up. "You won't be taking off though… not with Ira and myself on top of you…"
They glanced over to their actual forms as well, frowning when they realised she was correct.
"Kia… would you please be so kind, as to get off us?" Aria attempted, the normal sweetness of her tone strained.
Kia crossed her arms. "No. You're going to stay on the ship with me and Ira and everyone else until the already agreed time for our departure. Two hours from now."
Wren grimaced. "He'll be in Monaco by then…"
"Which means that your brothers will be able to handle him, remember, Ratchet already sent Ironhide a heads up about it."
They grumbled but relented. "Fine… but the moment you're both off us, we're going."
Kia sighed. "It's hardly like I can stop you once I'm not bodily on top of you… now the big question… how the fuck do we break this to Ira?"
"What if we don't have to?"
"Aria…" Kia's tone was heavy with warning. "We can't hide something like this from her, she deserves to know the truth. And she deserves to be the one to make the decision on what to do with him." She pressed.
They both relented further at that. "Fine… fine… do you want to tell her, or us?" Wren asked.
Kia sighed. "She'll probably take it better from you two… I'll focus on damage control…"
They nodded. "Alright, fuck, this is going to be a mess…"
"It'll only be worse if we keep delaying, go."
Their holoforms blinked out and Kia rubbed her forehead. "Fuck my life…" She muttered.
The twins stepped one after the other back into their own room, finding that Ira and Optimus had put the TV on in their absence. "Um… Ira? Can we… talk with you? About something?" Aria spoke, suddenly feeling very nervous.
The red head looked over at them in confusion, before sharing that look with Optimus.
"Do you want me to go?" Optimus enquired, moving to sit up.
"Probably for the best, we'll fill you in later." Wren assured, giving his shoulder a pat as he made his way past them and out.
Once the door was closed and they knew he'd walked out of ear shot, they both sat down on the berth, facing Ira. "So… um… we have some… rather troubling news…"
The red head looked between the two with concern. "Who died…?"
Aria let out a humming sound. "Um well… it's less about who died… and who suddenly is… not… dead…"
She turned pale. "Don' tell meh yah mother's crawle' ou'a hell?!"
Wren let out a strained laugh. "Oh goodness no! That bitch is dead! And staying dead!" She cleared her throat after a moment. "No. Um… the person who… is suddenly not dead… is…" The name caught in her throat, staring into Ira's expectant gaze, she froze. "Uhh…"
Ira looked between the two as her confusion grew.
Aria was finding herself tongue tied too, but she managed to act, and very carefully, reached out and took Ira's ring finger between two of her own, and gave it the lightest squeeze.
The next few moments seemed to stretch on forever as Ira processed the meaning behind that gesture.
The moment it clicked, it felt like she'd been dumped in the icy chill of arctic waters, a tremor going through her entire holoform as the feeling of being horribly sick overwhelmed her.
Wren shuffled just a bit closer. "Ira…? Dear?" She didn't get a chance to continue, as the red head turned a look of fury upon them both.
"AN BHFUIL SEO SEO DE BHRÍ HORRID?!" She spat in her native tongue.
They both flinched back, Aria letting go like she'd been burned.
Wren tried to speak but Ira kept going. Raging in her native tongue for more than a minute before the black themed twin managed to grab her by the shoulders. "IRA! LISTEN!" Her voice boomed, causing the younger woman to freeze long enough to process what Wren wanted her to do.
Wren let out a resigned sigh, before pulling her into a tight hug. "Souma's alive… but turns out… myself and Aria weren't the only ones… who made contact with a Cybertronian before we came here…"
Ira tried to pull back enough to see them both. "... What?" She muttered, confused.
"Souma… was Soundwave… and it sounds like… he was… forced to go away…" Wren explained.
Ira was frozen in place, everything inside of her screaming. "W-where? Where is he?" She asked, a shake in her voice as her hands gripped the sheets under her with a vice like tightness.
Wren took in a breath. "He's on his way to Monaco right now… Frenzy was the one who raised the alert, apparently he found out from Fernando we're all here… and he's been trying to find you for the last few hours since he figured that out…"
She slowly blinked at them, and they could see the moment when something inside of her just…
Gave way…
"Ir'..." Aria reached out, offering comfort to their dear friend.
Ira's holoform flickered out the very moment before contact would have happened.
Aria snapped her hand back with a gasp, as each twin's head snapped around to look at the other.
"Oh no…" They chorused in despair.
There was a singular moment when neither knew how to react.
Wren snapped out of it first. "Alert Kia, I'll raise the alarm with Derick and Megs."
They both nodded a moment later, with Aria scrambling for a moment before vaulting off the bed and into a sprint.
Wren's own holoform flickered out a moment later, as their actual form came partially back online.
Her optic flickered open under her visor just in time for her to close it again with a grunt as Ira kicked off of Kia, whom was laying atop them.
"IRA!" She bellowed desperately after the Red Kite.
But Ira didn't heed the call, already beating her wings hard to gain altitude enough that she was swiftly becoming consumed by the low hanging clouds.
A number of the Autobots were rushing out at that point, having missed what had transpired.
Aria joined her twin a few moments later, and with a combined, strained grunt, they managed to heft Kia's effectively dead weight off of their frame, the smaller Harpies frame hitting the deck with a chorus of warning creaks and groans from the wood, allowing them to push themselves up with their wings, looking up at where Ira had gone, they opened up their own broad spans and launched themselves up, actually transforming into their beast mode, grimacing through the process, knowing the better aerodynamics would give them a chance of catching up.
Monaco
"Soundwave… Explain yourself…" Megatron rumbled, not exactly fond of the fact that he'd had to squeeze out of the garage to be able to confront his formerly believed K.I.A. third in command, whom was acting uncharacteristically… antsy.
Derrick was still making his way out, and Ironhide stood at his side, expression guarded, but Megatron was no fool, he was alarmed.
Soundwave's impassive visor tilted just so, his attention going back to the former warlord. "Is it… true?"
Megatron could tell that was a loaded question, the fact that Soundwave actually spoke. "That the war is over? As far as I am concerned. Yes."
He spotted Rumble peak out from behind his Sire's leg.
His TIC's love for his family unit was commendable, he'd likely been busy trying to relocate them once he came back… from wherever he had been…
A sudden feeling of dejavu washed over Megatronus, as his optics narrowed minutely, looking over the mech who seemed to be straining to keep his attention on Megatronus and not…
The sky…
He pulled in a sharp invent before he could stop himself. "You were sent to Triage…" He stated, the words nowhere close to a question. "You were taken out by… an explosion… with your body being impossible to locate… How… how did you make it back?"
Soundwave stared at the larger mech for a long few moments before responding. "By doing something… imbecilically stupid… out of fear generated by false pretences…"
Derrick finally made himself known at that point, his optics wide behind his dark blue visor as his line of protrusions flared up. "Oh my god… I know that voice…" He mumbled.
Soundwave looked over to the newly arrived mech in shock, looking over the very obviously peacock based mech. "D… Derrick? You're here too?"
The mech slowly nodded. "I am… you… you… Souma?"
Soundwave flinched back for a moment, before nodding.
His younglings were all looking at Derrick now too, it was one thing to try and take in a mech their sire was beating the slag out of, this Derrick was a whole other deal.
Megatronus looked to the youngest of his cobbled together family unit. "Derrick… you're confirming my assumption?"
Derrick didn't answer him, too focused just staring at the mech in front of him. "Soum… Soundwave… You realise my sisters are on their way… right?"
Soundwave nodded. "Considering the greeting party we have received, I would be surprised if they weren't aware… Is Ira with them? I'll accept any punishment for my actions so long as I know that she is okay."
Megatronus, Derrick and Ironhide grimaced, they tried not to, but it was impossible not to.
Soundwave was no fool. "Oh Primus… How badly did I hurt her? How badly?!" His voice became strained, begging.
Derrick looked between Ironhide and Megatronus before stepping forwards, keeping his wings close to his sides as he took each measured step. "Soundwave… You're… death… it… broke her…" He explained, as gently as he could.
"... No…" The TIC rasped out, he took a step back, his legs shaking as they settled again.
Derrick took another step to mitigate the gained distance. "Soundwave… How long has it been since you left?" He asked.
Soundwave's helm notched to the side. "Two years at most…"
"Five… for her… it's been five years…" Derrick explained.
Rumble tapped his sire's leg. "Sire? Maybe we should just grab Frenzy and go?" He suggested.
Soundwave shook his helm. "No… no I need to make this right…" He stated, standing firm.
Derrick looked at the mech before him with an expression a mixture of grief and pained acceptance. "You can't undo the past Soundwave… you can't… you…" He trailed off, helm rolling back on his long neck to look up at the sky. "They're here…"
Behind his mask, Soundwave's jaw dropped, just as a femme that could only be Ira, his beloved Ira, landed, vents ragged and face twisted into a enraged snarl.
And landing right behind her, could only have been the Mono twins, vents as equally laboured, they landed heavily, talons sinking deep into the soft grass.
Ira stepped forwards, but so did the twins, moving quickly they intercepted her, flaring their wings out to obstruct the view of the smaller Harpy. "Ira. Stop." Wren spoke, her tone laced with worry.
Ira snarled up at them, pushing at them with her wings. "Le' me through!"
They grunted from the shove, but they didn't budge, talons dug into their front lawn and sinking into the rock under it. "No." Aria responded, as they pushed back against her wings.
And then, their own wrapped around her, pulling her into a tight embrace as the side of their helm came to rest against hers. "Go inside, let us take care of this. Let us take care of you…"
They didn't see their friends' vibrant optics go wide, but they felt her tense.
Siberia 2008, Triage
In the middle of a barren, long cleared gash within an endless forest, a metal bulkhead groaned.
The opening mechanism creaked, complaining from disuse, until it gave fully, spinning open.
It opened inwards.
Blood soaked hands, one clinging to a still hot iron skillet, hit the light snow.
It was spring, the thaw was the only reason the one who opened the door wasn't swiftly buried.
But that didn't matter.
Not now.
Not as a freezing chill turned rasping, ragged breaths visible, and tears partially froze before they hit the snowy floor.
Blood soaked hands scrambled for purchase, the blood and bone chunks on the skillet being dragged off as that too moved, as legs scrambled.
"One more step child. One more step, and you are dead." A voice came from behind, a boney, claw tipped hand reaching out of the low red light tunnel.
A foot connected with that hand, as the body launched itself into the snow with a scream.
The hand retreated.
"Very well…"
The bulkhead slammed back shut behind the body.
Pale skin almost blends in with the snow as the body collapses, curling into a tight ball.
The only vibrancy is the unkempt, ratty orange hair.
The thin white gown wrapped around them flutters in a breeze that is getting stronger.
The iron skillet is regarded for a few moments, before the body uses the last of its strength to throw it, throw it as far away as possible, leaving a trail of red as it digs into the snow a ways away.
Tears continued to fall then.
The wind is getting louder, ripping what little warmth had been within the body.
They turn their head to look in the direction of the wind.
Peeking out of the snow, is a skull.
Small, pitifully small
Not a foot away, the only visible eye socket stares into her own still full ones.
That is her fate.
The body quails in fear.
The cold makes their teeth clatter against one another.
The wind is getting stronger.
And stronger.
A howling gale.
Snow whips into their face, and they accept.
They will be buried here.
They will join their brothers and sisters here, under the snow.
The experiment will finally end.
The world begins to fall away around them.
Just as something… touches them.
"Don't worry. You're safe. We've got you. We're going to take care of you."
Arms wrap around the body, something thick and warm is placed around them, cutting the wind off from the chilled flesh, but the head is left out.
The body is lifted up, off the ground, and their multi-coloured eyes meet saddened, sea green orbs.
Other bodies are moving around them, offering to take the body.
"No. No. Let us take care of them. They're our ward now."
The other bodies didn't try to fight that order.
They board a giant metal thing, and the body that picks them up, settles them into their lap.
"We have you. Do you have a name?"
The body's teeth still chattered. "I… Father… called me…Ira…"
The one holding them nodded. "We, are Aria and Wren, Arien together…" They responded. "Now, stay awake okay? We'll get you nice and warm. There's a big soft bed waiting for you in Moscow."
Ira looked up at them, nodded, and tried to stay awake.
Her body couldn't manage that request for long however… and soon, darkness consumed her waking mind.
Present
Ira hissed. "Stop… trying to fight my battles for me…" She spat out.
They sighed. "You're not in the right state of mind for this. Please… go inside."
"Nooo…" She pushed harder.
"Ira. Go inside."
"Ira. We will handle this." Wren pressed, her tone becoming firm.
Something snapped.
Orange lines light up like a lightning strike across her frame.
The twins spotted them and tried to move back, but their frame didn't move fast enough. "I!-"
"NOOO!" Ira screamed, as the orange lightning shot out across the larger Harpies in a singular moment.
A static laden cry left the Mono twins as their frame went ridgid, smoke oozing out from the seams of their frame, as they frame teetered, before crashing backwards, their limbs crashing down right after their back struck.
"ARIEN!" Was the chorus of cries from Ironhide, Megatronus and Derrick.
Soundwave was frozen in place, staring at Ira from behind his visor as his younglings all hid behind him.
Megatronus reached the stricken twins first, hefting up their frame even as they began to convulse, the orange lights still lashing across their shared frame, scouring scorches across their outer armour.
Ironhide held Derrick back as the younger mech cried out, his avian cry pitching high as he tried to fight himself free of the Weapons Specialists hold with no success. "ARIA! WREN! GET UP! GET UP!" He screamed.
"Kid stop! You ain't gonna be able to help them!" Ironhide barked, holding the thrashing peacock with one arm while the other went to his com-link. "Harpy down! The twins are down! Ratchet, Kia! We need you here! Now!"
His com-link lit up with panicked chatter as everybot began to react to the bulletin.
Even as this all took place, Ira stood ramrod straight, wings still out where they'd been pushing, her optics staring dead ahead into Soundwave's own.
She began to twitch, and against his better judgement, Soundwave stepped forwards, around the unfolding panic and chaos that he seemed suddenly deaf to. "Ira…? Ira… please… can you hear me?"
The side of her lip began to twitch, then her jaw, as an agonised keen left her. "I… I didn't mean it…" She warbled, lubricant trailing out from under her visor as sobs began to wrack her frame. "No… no…! Not again! Not again!" She screamed, wings trying to grip at her helm, but they were too cumbersome.
His younglings watched in trepidation and concern as their Sire pulled the smaller Harpy into an embrace as he began to sway them both.
"Shhh… My love… My love… I'm… I'm so sorry… I thought I was… I thought I was keeping you safe…" He mumbled. "I will never be able to make it up to you… But I will do everything in my power to do right by you… every cycle… I'm not going away… never again…" He paused as she stilled in his embrace, her vents calming down and her wings dropping to splay out on the ground.
He felt her press her helm into his neck, that spot she'd always loved to nuzzle into… but they weren't soft anymore… there was a hardness to them that neither was used to from the other.
He reached out to his younglings, imploring them all to be patient… to please be patient with them both.
He could feel their continued trepidation, and even as he tried to reassure them, Ira speaking took his focus.
"I's no' meh yah nee' tah ma'e i' up tah…" She mumbled.
He pulled back in the embrace and coaxed her to look up at him with a digit under her chin, the visor before him taunting him, he couldn't see her gorgeous optics like this… "What do you mean, Ira? If not you, then who?"
Her lower faceplates shifted into what he could only describe as an agonised grimace.
"Yah remember when ah gave yah tha' daffodil…? Tol' yah tah come home as soon as yah wor' was done for tha day? Af'er ah kep' tryin' tah ge' yah tah slow down all mornin'?"
He remembered it, vividly.
He'd convinced himself that if he stopped, if he took too long leaving to meet the death of his human shell… he'd have never left… he'd have doomed her out of selfishness… "Of course… I wanted to stay… I wanted so badly to stay with you… But… I couldn't…"
She pulled her helm away from his touch and looked to the ground near them for a moment, before she sighed. "Soum… Sound… Блин…" She cursed… then looked back to him. "... You were goin' tah be… a father…"
Those few words, stuck something within his spark with a force almost unmatched, he felt the world around him slow down to a finite crawl.
A father…
A father…
But then, her phrasing registered.
Were.
Past tense…
Time began to move again as she looked away again.
"I… I lost it… I… I killed it… I… I was too… weak…" She spat, the lubricant streaking down the sides of her faceplates looking like rivers now as her frame shook. "It… It was a little girl… she's buried with… your body…"
And suddenly, he could see into the past…
A vision of what must have happened, and it managed to pain his spark all the more as he grabbed her up into his arms, and hugged her. "My love… no… no… no…" He mumbled into her audio. "It wasn't your fault… I don't love you any less because of what we lost… I… I'm so sorry…" He was holding back his own sobs, even as his spark quailed in agony.
A long cracked damn burst within Ira then, the Harpy flung her helm back, and the most guttural, agonised scream left her as her wings tried to wrap around him, tried to envelop him as her cry echoed across the hills of Monaco.
In a way… it was almost a herald to the moment that light erupted from the chassis of the felled Orichionos, blinding all who were looking over them.
Clears throat So, that happened.
This is where things get... interesting~
Considering I've already written over 4,000 already of chapter 62, don't fret about too long a cliff hanger, lol.
Until then!
Moon.