Chapter 120 - Returning
(OPOV)
Five days flew past as they always had, five days of exploring, catching his Kae and making her overload. Paradise.
He felt new as his Kae led him gently to the helipad, waving at Gramp as the cheerful older man landed, got out of his chopper and stretched.
"Good vacation Gramp?" Kae asked cheerfully.
"Yes indeed," the man grinned. "five days sleeping in entirely different places, just like the old days."
"You miss them?" Kae asked gently.
"Hah! Five days reminder of just why I am more than glad to live out my days with the routine of taking care of this place." Gramp snorted. "Probably not going to see you anymore, am I angel."
Mikaela onlined her holoform to catch the old man in a gentle hug.
"You never know Gramp," she murmured.
"Truth!" Gramp snorted. "Never know when you're going to pop in to say hi now you're a plane. Congratulations little girl, I'll tell Paddy you send your love when I meet him."
"You do that Gramp," Kae whispered, hugging him tightly.
"Get going you!" he commanded cheerfully. "Drop by for Easter if you've a mind, and don't forget your beginnings."
"I will," she smiled at him, offlining the holoform and reaching for Optimus.
"And you!" Gramp turned to Optimus sternly. "You take care of our baby angel!" he commanded.
"With all that I am," Optimus rumbled gravely.
"Good." Gramp beamed at him, turning and walking into the bunker without another word. His voice drifted through the thick walls. "Honey! I'm home!" he was bellowing.
"About time!" Gouge's voice shouted back. "Your dinner is five days cold!"
The sounds of the two of them laughing at each other made Optimus smile with his Kae as they integrated into one and took flight again.
(BPOV)
Bumblebee drove patiently down the highways, speeding a bit, just a bit, he couldn't help it, he liked this form, it went fast. He liked fast. He glanced up at the sky and spotted a familiar set of colours coming down from the clouds. It'd been five days, his sister was back.
::. They're back they're back they're back!.:: Bumblebee sent over the primary excitedly.
::. What are you doing, old friend, that you are warning the others to hide away?.:: Prime... Optimus rumbled over the primary with a snort.
::. You're back! My sister's back!.:: Bee sent excitedly, getting into a higher gear and racing his Prime and Big Sister to the airport. He came alongside his Prime as he pulled out of the airport gates, towing Kae in trailer form behind himself.
::. Escorting us home little brother?.:: Kae sent with a grin.
::. You gotta tell me where you went and what you saw!.:: Bee sent back cheerfully, flanking his Primes. That felt awesome, his sister and his Prime moving as one, and he was driving beside them. He quickly moved to drive behind, letting his Primes into the lane and following them into headquarters. He transformed the second the public eye couldn't see him and hurled himself on his sister the second she was free of Optimus' flight deck.
"Which reminds me, you're due for an oil change, little brother," Kae laughed, hugging him tightly. It felt completely awesome, gettin' hugged by his sister.
"So are we going back to the Cybertronian day now that Kae's a bot?" Bee demanded with a broad grin, looking at Optimus.
"You did not have to remain on earth's day cycle to begin with," Optimus rumbled with a snort.
"I'm not asking for me," Bee snorted, "We're gonna do the same cycles you do regardless, I thought you should consider all the aspects before the bet's resolved."
"Five days and you've got a pool going," Kae laughed.
"On one hand," Bee stated cheerfully, "You get five out of every twenty four hours to sleep with my sister, on the other you get three days to do whatever you want..."
The Primes looked down at him, both seeming to deliberate for a second, even though Bee couldn't pick anything up on the frequencies.
"Cybertronian," Optimus smirked the next second. "But that most certainly does not mean that we will not still adhere to the soldier's schedules."
"Which speaking of," Kae added, looking up at Optimus. "I believe I'm going to go catch a couple of hours' recharge."
"I shall join you shortly," Optimus rumbled, looking down at Bee's sister with a the gentle look in his optics that meant everything was going to be okay. Bee grinned and bounced over to his sister, catching her in a hug again.
"See you in the morning sis," he grinned.
"Where are you going?" Kae laughed.
"Gonna go collect my winnings," Bee chirped.
"Winnings nothing," Ratchet grumbled from the doorway, walking toward Optimus. Bee smirked at the medic as Ratchet shot a wink at him. "We all agreed, we pay Bee to convince you." Ratchet added, grinning, he caught Kae in a hug. "Welcome home daughter, I'll see you in the morning."
Optimus began laughing, the rich, real laugh that Bee absolutely adored. It always made him want to burst out laughing himself.
So he did, giggling and grinning around himself. Pr... Optimus glanced down at him with a smile and leaned down, catching him in a hug.
Which felt completely awesome.
Bee looked curiously up at him regardless.
"It occurs that I have yet to thank you, old friend," Optimus rumbled gently.
"The pit for?" Bee chirped, wide eyed.
"For protecting your sister, my mate so absolutely, and allowing us to bond, =Little-brother=." Optimus smiled. Bee couldn't help it, he hurled himself onto Optimus, hugging him as best he could.
"There's no better, big brother," Bee grinned up at him. "Get some recharge, I'm gonna head back out for another few hours. Got me some scoutin' to do."
Optimus laughed softly and patted his shoulder.
Which meant that no matter what happened, everything was gonna be okay. Bee promptly transformed.
"Wait up!" General Moreshower of all humans bellowed. "Bumblebee! Catch a ride home with you?"
"Hop in General!" Bumblebee chirped gleefully, opening his door for the man. He rolled out carefully this time, there was no telling what kind of driving the General was used to.
"Aaaw," the man mumbled quietly.
"General?" Bumblebee chirped curiously.
"Here I was hoping we could make a tire squealing exit," the General stated grumpily.
"That's the ramp," Bumblebee smirked. "This is the fun part." he promptly accelerated, squealing his tires a bit for the General's amusement as they got out onto the roads.
The General was grinning as Bee made it to the highway.
"You want the short way, or the long way around?" Bee asked curiously.
"Well, I was actually kind of hoping I could ride with you for a little while," the General admitted. "I've got an appointment that I'd really rather miss because of traffic..."
"Can you do that?" Bumblebee asked in shock.
"Well, if I'm an hour late they'll forgive me. Hell, if I say that even an Auto-bot couldn't get me there on time..." the General trailed off suggestively.
Bee promptly began laughing, turning onto the highway and accelerating. Speeding a bit, just a bit...
"So how fast can you guys go anyway?" the General asked curiously.
"Er..." Bee stated worriedly.
"Not asking weapons stuff," the General snorted. "I'm just wondering how fast you guys can actually go. I used to own a Camaro, older model, but be damned if she didn't have some serious guts to her."
"So you like speed?" Bumblebee asked innocently.
"Bring it," the man grinned viciously.
"Then let's put the metal to the pedal!" Bumblebee howled, accelerating down his personal favourite strip of highway.
Deserted. Camera-less.
The General was cheering right beside his holoform.
And that was a damned good day.
(JoPOV)
Jolt synced his processors and rose from his post, the nice thing about running with the human schedules, was that even though he tended to run double of their shifts, it made for a remarkably short shift.
Unfortunately though, the end of his shift tended to mean that he'd be returning to his quarters, there was only so long a bot could stay in the central, or even skulk around the med-bay without feeling pathetic in his own processors.
So it was back to his own quarters.
The fact that he had his own quarters was a mixed blessing, he wasn't entirely fond of staying in a hangar with all the bots, it was quite difficult to get a proper recharge with other bots in the room.
Even if he trusted those bots to watch his back.
They were kind to him, certainly, but after... he stopped that process, he'd been through it enough already.
Jolt reached up and touched his chest, once again enjoying the warm, comforting feeling of being whole-sparked again.
Not branded.
It had been terrifying, of course, seeing Kae taking his brands. He'd been fully prepared to fall over himself apologizing to her, to have that sweet femme branded was the worst thing he'd... well... one of the worst things he'd ever experienced.
If Optimus had slagged him then and there he wouldn't have blamed the bot one bit.
But her body had rejected the marks, her very flesh tearing away beneath them.
He wished he was as strong as her. She'd been so scrapping tiny as a human, it had been remarkably easy to consider her to be as fragile as her body.
But she was a Prime.
It explained a lot.
And the fact that the two Primes were bound to each other now? Well, that was just incredible. They were perfect together, Optimus Prime had initially seemed somewhat cold-sparked to him, much like his Second in Command Prowl was, isolating himself until Ironhide had quietly explained the Prime's story to him.
Now that he had love, he had a bonded mate, the kindness in Optimus' spark that Ironhide had spoken of was shining through him again, and by extent through the entire unit.
It gave Jolt hope again.
Something he'd been truly missing.
"Good recharge, Jolt," Sideswipe told him with a small smile, gently touching his shoulder as they passed in the housing wing corridor.
"Good patrol, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker," Jolt replied respectfully, nodding to the twins.
"Quit that," Sideswipe snorted.
"Quit what?" Jolt asked curiously, snapping into the present somewhat.
"Quit with the respectful stuff, we are family here," Sides smiled at him. The predator held his shoulder for a long moment, each reading the other's optics. "Kae is the better at seeing another's spark," Sideswipe stated quietly. "But I have the feeling that in this moment, she would say that we need to live in the present and work for the future. Remember the past, Jolt, our lessons are in the past, but it does not do to live there."
Jolt took a long moment to sync his processors before nodding to Sideswipe.
"I don't..." he started, trailing off uncertainly.
"Not quite ready yet, huh?" Sunstreaker asked gently. "In time, young bot, in time."
"I hope so," Jolt nodded sadly. "I apologize, you should not have to deal with my morose imaginings at the beginning of your orn..."
"We stand together," Sideswipe stated gently, patting his shoulder.
"If your recharge does not go well, you are welcome to come driving with us." Sunstreaker added.
"Thank you," Jolt murmured shyly. Sideswipe gave him a gentle smile and the twins continued down the corridor.
Jolt watched the bots as they strode down the corridor for a long moment before turning into his own quarters. He surveyed them neutrally, the bare walls looking just the way they always did. He sat down on his berth and stared at them for a long moment.
He remembered a time when his spark had been much like these walls, bare, unmarked and waiting for life. But even these walls had companions in themselves.
It was lonely in here. It almost made him wish they were back at the military base, where he could hear the combined hum of the unit's sparks. His thoughts turned to Lena, he wasn't sure why his thoughts were always turning to her, even before she had touched his spark. He thought of that brief interlude fondly, she had gentle hands. And after, for a little while, he had felt like himself again.
The bot he'd been before...
He stopped that process.
At a loss of what to do, Jolt laid down on his berth, enjoying the fact that he had a berth again. It was comfy.
He stared at the ceiling now, grateful that the Major had granted him the permission to take the crosshatching tiles down.
They'd looked far too much like the grate under which he'd slept. His chronometer continued to while away the minutes, he'd been laying awake for three hours. That was normal.
What wasn't normal, and startled him enough to get a pulse of energon running through his systems was a soft sound. One two three knocks on his door.
Nobody did that. Not on his door.
"Enter?" he called out hesitantly.
Then another shock.
Lena, dressed entirely differently than she usually was, walked into his quarters somewhat, hovering uncertainly at the door.
Her armour was loose, fluffy. It looked really soft.
"Um... hey... Jolt," she murmured hesitantly. "I'm sorry if..."
"Lena?" he asked softly.
"I'm not disturbing you... am I?" she asked in a soft, vulnerable tone.
"Absolutely not," Jolt murmured gently, the tone in her voice spoke volumes, tripping his protective circuits like nothing else. She sounded scared. "Lena are you alright?"
"I'm..." she started weakly.
"Do you need medical attention?" Jolt asked worriedly, sitting up quickly and reaching for her.
"No... I..." she whispered. Jolt sampled the air and cross-checked it with Ratchet's catalogue of human scents. The scents of loneliness, stress and the after-tones of fear. Jolt took in her changed armour. 'pyjamas'. She had been sleeping.
"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have bothered you..." Lena started.
"You aren't bothering me," Jolt murmured gently. "If the truth is known I have been laying on my berth for three hours and twenty one minutes waiting for either recharge or death, whichever chooses to come first. What's wrong Lena?"
"Why are you waiting for death?" Lena asked immediately, looking up at him with shocked eyes.
"It comes eventually," Jolt shrugged wearily. "We never really know when. Sometimes it is a blessing should it come in peace. At least I would be one with the all-spark again..."
They stared at each other for a long moment.
"The truth?" the echoed each other, Jolt couldn't help but smile at her.
"I..." they both started.
"Femmes first," Jolt murmured.
"I'm lonely," Lena murmured in an ashamed tone. "I woke up lonely from the usual nightmares..."
"You get chargefrights too?" Jolt asked gently.
"I..." Lena started before her expression morphed into one he was more accustomed to on her face. "Scrap it all, just blast me if I offend you." she exploded. "Can I touch your spark again? I mean, I've never felt better before or since I touched your spark, it's the first time in years that I've ever slept so soundly, except now..." she trailed off, her face flushing with embarrassment.
Jolt onlined his holoform, walking to gently take her hands.
"You're sure you don't mind?" he asked hesitantly.
She stared at him with confusion in her eyes.
"I mean... I got a lot more out of you touching my spark than you did..." Jolt murmured in embarrassment.
"You mean I wasn't simply taking from you?" Lena asked shyly. Jolt smiled at her.
"No, I get a lot from it," he murmured. "You're always welcome here, Lena."
Jolt felt his spark warm as Lena stepped closer to his holoform, she looked at him critically for a moment.
"Um..." she started.
He looked at her curiously.
"I mean, the holoform is nice and all..." she started. "But it's not really... you... is it?"
"No," Jolt laughed softly, blinking the holoform out and carefully kneeling down to Lena's level. "No, this is me."
Lena smiled at him.
Jolt had to admit it. He liked that smile.
"Will you touch my spark again?" he asked softly.
"Does it make me a terrible person that I was really really hoping you'd say that?" Lena asked shyly.
"No," Jolt smiled.
Lena wrapped gentle arms around his neck, and Jolt couldn't help but enjoy the sound of her heart beating so close.
"Your berth or mine?" Jolt murmured mischievously. Lena pulled back to look at him incredulously for a moment before she began giggling.
It was absolutely infectious, the two of them were giggling like younglings as Jolt carefully picked Lena up and laid back on his berth. He thought about it for a moment and looked at Lena.
"D'you..." he started. She looked at him curiously. "D'you mind if I get rid of my armour?" he asked hesitantly.
"The way Optimus and Kae do sometimes?" Lena asked curiously.
"Pretty much," Jolt shrugged.
"Have at," Lena stated curiously. Jolt carefully set her down on his berth and rose again, crouching and shrugging out of his armour for the first time in vorns.
It felt really, really good.
He stood and looked at Lena shyly, all too aware that his joints were still a bit off-kilter here and there. He really didn't want to monopolize Ratchet's time getting everything back in it's proper place again. That was a full teardown and rebuild, and he was hesitant to ever let that happen again...
Lena was looking at him wide-eyed.
"You..." she whispered.
Jolt looked away shyly.
"You're so..." she whispered.
"I'm not really all that well..." Jolt started embarrassedly.
"You're so handsome," Lena whispered. Jolt looked at her in shock, automatically moving toward her as she hesitantly reached for him.
He laid down on his berth again, making absolutely sure that he didn't so much as squish one of her toes. Lena climbed on him, her bare hands and feet felt so soft against his metals. Jolt settled himself down on his berth and hummed his contentment as Lena stroked his spark chamber.
"How..." Lena started hesitantly.
"I think the easiest way would be if you found somewhere comfortable on my chest..." Jolt murmured unsurely.
Lena squirmed slightly and wound up in a bundle of his neural fibres.
Jolt began struggling to not gasp aloud at that.
Primus she felt good there, so soft and giving against his most sensitive metals.
"Is this okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Oh Primus I don't want to offend you," Jolt gasped.
"Oh god I'm so sorry-" Lena began, struggling to extract herself without stomping on his metals. She was squirming in his chest. Primus it felt good.
"Oh please, please don't leave," Jolt began begging. "Lena you feel so good there-"
He promptly clapped a hand over his vocal processors. Lena froze.
"I'm a glitch, I'm so sorry Lena-" Jolt started remorsefully.
"I'm not hurting you?" she asked softly. Jolt looked down at her.
"You're squirming around in the equivalent of..." he trailed off in thought. "I'm really really trying to find a phrase that's not a lie but isn't going to offend you." he stated worriedly.
"Well, we made it this far," Lena snorted. That was more the Lena he knew. "Why don't we just promise to tell each other if we've offended each other and forgive each other for being awkward our first time?"
"Oh deal," Jolt sighed happily. "Which that being the case? You're currently squirming around in the equivalent of..." he trailed off with a frown again. "Scrap. Humans don't reach into each other to find your sensitive spots the way we do."
"Erogenous zones?" Lena asked innocently.
"That's a good word," Jolt snorted. "Although Taboo wise you're currently rubbing my chest and abdomen."
"So this feels good?" Lena murmured, tracing light fingers along one of his neurals. Jolt couldn't have stopped the giggling snort if his life had depended on it. Lena began giggling as his leg twitched, stroking his neurals with light fingers.
"That tickles!" he giggled.
"Then what does this feel like?" Lena asked curiously. Her hands began kneading his neurals, which felt just so absolutely exquisite. He moaned as much and felt his spark chamber open, he reached tentatively toward Lena.
He wanted to feel her, too.
Then, the most incredible of things, her hand reached out and ran ever so gently down his spark. Stroking him.
He reached for her nerves, feeling her mind lightly join with his as she caressed him. Jolt smiled as Lena began moaning in appreciation as he kneaded the tension from her muscles, her mind and body caressed his. She felt incredible.
Jolt lost track of the time he spent entwined with Lena, only registering it when she slipped deeply into sleep, still twined in his neurals. Jolt smiled and made very certain that she was wholly in her own body before he receded into his chamber.
He directed his body to lay a gentle, protective hand over Lena before he offlined his motor-reflexes and dropped into the best recharge he'd had in a dozen vorns.
There was a quiet knock on his door. Jolt onlined his optics curiously.
Who else would be knocking on his door?
He checked his chronometer.
Scrap! He'd slept right through the night, it was ten minutes to his duty shift, and he was usually up and there two hours ago.
The door slid open and the best of bots to appear, did.
"I'm sorry Jolt, I'm just making sure you're alright," Archangel Prime murmured gently. She glanced at Lena still sound asleep in his chest and smiled. "First time?" she asked softly.
Dumbfounded, Jolt nodded.
"Well, her duty shift doesn't begin for another six hours, and now yours doesn't either," Archangel Prime stated gently. "Just try not to be late, dear-spark, we do have duty to attend to, after all."
"Yes Prime!" Jolt whispered hoarsely in shock.
"How many times do I have to tell people to not call me that?" Kae asked in amusement. "I'm Kae. Good recharge Jolt."
Without another word, Kae retreated from his door and allowed it to close.
Jolt wouldn't have been able to keep the grin off of his face if he'd wanted to. He laid back down somewhat and made very certain to set his alarm properly this time.
Lena shifted slightly beside his spark chamber, venting a sigh.
She sounded so happy right now, curled up in his neurals sound asleep.
That felt really really good.
Four hours later she began to rouse herself, slowly at first, then coming online with a start.
"Oh my gosh I..." she started, staring around herself.
"Your shift and mine starts in two hours," Jolt told her with a smile.
"But..."
"Kae came in to make sure I was alright and changed my shift," Jolt smirked.
"She saw..." Lena choked.
"Do you want to know what she saw and said?" Jolt asked with a low laugh, sitting up carefully and cradling Lena. He onlined a holoform of Kae walking in, speaking quietly and leaving the room again.
"That's just..." Lena snorted after a long moment.
"Awesome?"
"So Kae," Lena giggled. "Remind me to thank her, will you?"
"Absolutely. Did you want me to hide you under my armour and sneak you back to your quarters?" Jolt asked innocently.
"Nah, I'm in my P.J.s'" Lena snorted. "But thanks for the offer. I'll see you in Communications?"
"Scraplet hoards couldn't keep me away," Jolt grinned.
Lena grinned up at him and lightly squirmed out of his chest. She strode to the edge of his berth and looked down.
"Well. Shit."
"I'm going to have to get one of those ladders," Jolt stated musingly. There was another knock on the door, his door was getting really popular. Lena scrambled to hide behind him.
"Enter?" he called out curiously.
Kae came back in, all the way in this time, letting the door close behind her.
"I thought I felt you waking," she smiled at him. "Lena, I know you're hiding behind Jolt, you don't have to, dear."
Lena crept out from her hiding spot curiously.
"I don't know if the two of you intend to make this a regular habit," Kae stated calmly. Jolt noted that she had one of her arms behind her back. "But I figured that in the event that you do you're probably going to need some of the accessories my Optimus and I needed while I was still human."
She promptly brought her arm out from behind her back. The ladder Optimus had had propped against his berth for her.
"If you don't decide to use it, I'd imagine we'll find another use for it, but in the meantime, it's yours to use or not, however you wish," she smiled at them.
She turned to leave again.
"Kae!?" Lena called out in a shocked tone.
"Yes Lena?" she asked mildly, half turning to look at them.
"You... you're not..." Lena started.
"I am a greatly flawed individual," Mikaela stated in amusement. "However hypocrisy is the one thing guaranteed to raise my ire. With that, why would I bother with it?"
She turned to leave and stopped.
"By the way?" she added over her shoulder. "Unfortunately gossip spreads around here faster than the plague in human history, if the ribbing gets to be too much Jolt, you have my support should you wish it." she continued out the door without another word again.
"Best. Prime. Ever." Jolt stated after a long moment. Lena nodded avidly.