I'm not going to take much of your time by writing author's notes, so yeah.
Again, thanks go to Crystal Prime for beta reading. And also for helping me with the sparkling's name.
Anduren - Then I've done my job in surprising readers.
anissa - I think I can make that work in a way that makes sense, but it'll have to be several chapters from now since it wouldn't make sense if Shadowstreaker randomly had visions of the past. Please don't get mad that I can't use your idea right away, but I believe I have an interesting way of using your idea, you'll just have to wait for a few chapters. Thanks for the idea :)
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro. I only take credit for my OCs.
June 24, 2012 9:46 P.M
Autobot base, outside Jasper, Nevada
The sparkling was colored silver with blue trim, and very small, being only a little taller than Miko's height. He -the sparkling looked to be both a mechling and a seekerlet judging by his small wings- looked out at us with fuchsia optics from where he sat in what we now knew was some kind of escape pod.
For five klicks we just stood and looked at the sparkling dumbfoundedly. It was after I heard Miko's phone take a picture that we were snapped from our daze.
"That's definitely scrap-book material!" She said with her usual excitement as she stood between us and the escape pod.
We Autobots shook ourselves out of our stupor after Miko said this.
Bulkhead reached down and picked Miko up. "Please Miko. For now you need to go stand with Jack and Raf, this is very important," he said, and carried Miko back to the other humans.
I heard Miko huff at the Wreckers words, but she didn't say anything in protest.
Arcee took a few steps closer to the pod. She stopped when the sparkling backed away slightly from the open door. "Hey, It's okay. We're not going to hurt you," Arcee said calmly to the sparkling in the language of Cybertron, and took a step back before crouching down to be closer to the sparkling's level.
"You pointed guns at me," the sparkling said back to Arcee in a surprisingly clear, but frightened voice.
I walked over to Arcee and followed her example by crouching. "We're sorry, we didn't know you were inside that pod," I said, keeping my voice gentle and quiet so my size didn't scare the sparkling.
The seekerlet looked at me, and tilted his helm as he studied my wings. "You have wings like my sire." He didn't sound as frightened as he did just a few micro-klicks ago as he said this.
I looked at my wings for a brief moment. "Do I? Where is your sire?" I was really hoping he wasn't going to say his sire was offline.
"He's back on our ship... he and my carrier are probably really worried about me," the sparkling said as he hung his helm.
"Why aren't you back on your ship with them?" Arcee asked gently. I could tell she was just as relieved as I was that the sparkling's creators were still online.
The silver and blue mechling looked back at Arcee and I. "My carrier and sire told me not to play in the escape pod..."
"But you did anyway didn't you?" I asked, when I got an idea of what he was going to say.
"Yes... I hit a button I wasn't supposed to," the sparkling said guiltily, and hung his helm again.
"I bet you're not going to disobey them again are you?" Arcee asked and gave the sparkling a small smile.
The sparkling didn't look up as he shook his helm. "No, I should have listened to them." The sparkling's tank rumbled faintly after he said this.
Arcee took a few steps closer to the pod and the sparkling didn't try to back away from the door this time. She couched right outside the door. "When was the last time you had any energon?" She asked.
"Two solar-cycles," the sparkling said after his tank rumbled again.
"Well, we're going to have to change that won't we?" Arcee held her servo out to the sparkling after she said this.
The sparkling accepted Arcee's servo. She picked him up and held him like a human would hold a toddler. "We need to comm the others and let them know that we found this little guy up here," Arcee said to me in English.
I nodded and comm-linked the workstation in the ops center. "Hey Ratchet, Moonracer, we have a patient the two of you need to check on that we're bringing down momentarily," I said and waited for a response.
"What? You're just watching a meteor shower, how'd one of you get injured?" Ratchet asked gruffly through the comm-link.
"I didn't say that anyone was injured. Ratch, we have a new arrival that is in need of energon..." Ratchet cut me off before I could finish speaking.
"How? Our sensors didn't detect any ships or crash landings," he was more curious than annoyed now.
"Our sensors aren't designed to detect an escape pod created for a sparkling, Ratchet," I waited for my words to sink in.
The comm-link was quiet for several micro-klicks, it was the calm voice of Optimus that spoke through the comm-link next. "Are you saying you've found a sparkling?"
I watched as Bumblebee walked over to Arcee and gave the sparkling a wave as I spoke through the comm-link. "Yes, both a mechling and a seekerlet unless my optics deceive me. His escape pod crash-landed on the top of the base after it almost hit Arcee and I."
"Why is he out here by himself?" Moonracer asked worriedly through the comm-link.
Bulkhead started walking towards us with Miko on his shoulder-joint and Jack and Raf in his servos just before I spoke to the other Bots again. "He says that he had been playing inside the escape pod against both his carrier's and sire's will. He hit a button he shouldn't have according to the sparkling's own words. The sparkling also said that it's been two solar-cycles since he's had any energon," I said, as the sparkling tilted his helm curiously at the humans Bulkhead was carrying over. He looked up at Arcee and said something to her I couldn't hear.
"Bring him down to the med-bay so Moonracer and I can give him some energon and make sure he doesn't have any injuries," Ratchet said, and then closed the comm.
After Ratchet closed the comm-link, I walked over and stood next to Arcee at the same time Bulkhead arrived with our human charges.
"Whatever that thing is... It's adorable!" Miko exclaimed from Bulkhead's shoulder-joint.
"He is not a thing, he is a sparkling, the first I've seen since the end of the war," Arcee said, and smiled at the sparkling she was holding.
"Are sparklings your children?" Raf asked, as Bulkhead set him and Jack down on the ground.
"Yes they are, Raf." Arcee said, without looking away from the sparkling.
"What language are you speaking? It's interesting," the seekerlet asked Arcee curiously.
I answered the sparkling's question instead. "The planet we are on is called Earth. The species that calls this world home are named humans. They use many different languages. That particular language is called English."
"Oh no, not this again, can you please use a language we can understand?" Miko half whined. Jack and Raf seemed to agree with her judging by the looks on their faces.
"Sorry, sparkling CPU's aren't usually developed enough to download most information without help, including languages," I said to them with an apologetic shrug, and looked at Arcee. "Ratchet and Moonracer want us to bring the sparkling down to the med-bay so they can make sure he doesn't have any injuries."
Arcee nodded and glanced at the sparkling in her servos. "Our medics want to see if you were injured after that crash. Would it be okay if they made sure that you aren't?" She asked in a caring tone.
"Are they going to give me energon after?" the sparkling asked hopefully.
"Yes, they will give you energon," I answered, as all of us started walking toward the elevator.
"Then yes!" The sparkling said happily, and turned slightly in Arcee's servos to look at something off to my left. "What's that?" He asked and pointed a digit in the direction he was looking.
I glanced at where he was pointing and saw the helicopter pad had gotten his attention. "That's a helicopter pad. Humans use it for landing certain types of vehicles they use for transportation," I said, as we entered the bot-sized elevator, and pressed the button to go back down to the ground level.
"Humans can't fly?" The seekerlet asked, looking shocked by this revelation.
Arcee chuckled before answering his question. "No, humans can't fly. They have to make machines to help them travel long distances."
Jack tapped the base of my pede to get my attention. "What did the sparkling say that made Arcee laugh?" he asked, when I looked down toward him.
"The helicopter pad interested him and he asked what it was. When I told him what a helicopter pad was, and what it was used for he asked 'Humans can't fly?' in a rather shocked tone I might add," I explained with a smile.
Jack laughed after I told him what the sparkling said.
I saw Miko lean forward slightly from where she sat on Bulkhead's shoulder-joint. "What's your name?" She asked the sparkling in English despite the fact I already told her that for now he couldn't understand any other language except for the language of Cybertron.
Arcee repeated Miko's question, "What's your name?"
"Wildwing, what are all of yours?" He asked, as he looked at everyone in the elevator.
I relayed Wildwing's name and request to our human friends. "The humans' names are Jack, Miko and Raf." I pointed a digit at each of them as I told Wildwing their names. "I'm Shadowstreaker, it's nice to meet you, Wildwing," I said, and gave the silver and blue mechling a small nod.
"My name's Arcee. Welcome to Earth, Wildwing," the femme I recently discovered I had a crush on said to Wildwing.
"The name's Bulkhead, little mech." The Wrecker introduced himself.
"I'm Bumblebee," the yellow and black scout said happily.
The elevator door opened a micro-klick after we finished introductions, and we immediately headed for the med-bay.
Ratchet and Moonracer were standing on either side of one of the medical berths when we entered the med-bay, while Optimus and Prowl stood off to the side. Optimus was giving the sparkling a warm smile, while Prowl was his usual stoic self.
"This shouldn't take very long, mechling. Have a seat," Ratchet said to Wildwing in a uncharacteristically kind voice, after Optimus told Wildwing the names of everyone he hadn't met yet.
Arcee set Wildwing down on the floor. The mechling ran to the medical berth and jumped up on it enthusiastically.
I saw Ratchet give a rare smile as Moonracer gave Wildwing a small cube of energon while he started a medical scan of the sparkling.
"Thank you," Wildwing said to Moonracer after accepting the cube she offered him and taking a few small sips.
"You're welcome, Wildwing," the green and white femme said kindly.
Ratchet spoke a klick after he started his scan of Wildwing. "You are a bit low on energon. That will change after you finish the cube Moonracer gave you, but other than that, you're in perfect health," he said, and gestured to the workstation in the corner of the med-bay. "Would it be alright if I uploaded one of the human languages into your CPU?" Ratchet asked.
"Will it be that human language... Engl...ish?" Wildwing asked while he struggled with pronouncing the name of the human language, and gulped down the rest of his energon.
"Yes-" Ratchet didn't have time to finish speaking before Wildwing jumped off the medical berth and ran over to the workstation.
"Yay! I get to talk like a human!" After Wildwing said this, he climbed up on to the workstation without very much trouble, and starting jumping lightly in excitement.
I raised one of my optic ridges at Wildwing's exuberance and climbing ability. "I believe that's a yes, Ratchet." I said dryly.
I saw Ratchet roll his optics at my words as he walked over to the workstation and picked up a small cord off the floor that was connected to the workstation. "This is a Neural Link cable. I need to attach it to the back of your helm and it might hurt a little bit, but only for a micro-klick. Are you ready?" Ratchet asked, and gave Wildwing a curious look.
At the seekerlet's affrmative nod, Ratchet attached the cable to Wildwing's helm and typed a command into the workstation. Wildwing's optics became distant as the upload started. A few micro-klicks after Ratchet typing in his command, he detached the cable from Wildwing's helm.
"That tickled," Wildwing said in English with a smile after Ratchet detached the cable.
"You can talk like us now!" Miko said, and turned slightly so she could look the Bot who's shoulder-joint she was occupying. "Let me down Bulk', I want to talk with Wildwing while at the same level."
Bulkhead obliged Miko's request, and set her on the ground next to Jack and Raf.
As Wildwing climbed off the workstation and ran over to talk with humans in the room, Optimus gestured to Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and I to join Prowl and him.
Once we walked over to Optimus and Prowl at the wall, Ratchet and Moonracer joined us as well.
"With Wildwing's arrival there are some complications," Moonracer said, as she crossed her servos over her chestplates.
I scrunched my optic ridges in confusion and said. "But you said to Wildwing that he was in perfect health," I kept my voice low as I spoke.
"The complications aren't about Wildwing's health, but who will be his temporary care-taker or care-takers," Ratchet explained.
This confused me further. "Temporary care-taker or care-takers?" I asked Ratchet.
Moonracer answered my question instead. "Sparklings need almost constant attention, either from their creators or a temporary care-taker. And judging by how long it's been since Wildwing last had energon and how fast escape pods are designed to travel, it's a safe bet that it will at the least two mega-cycle before his actual creators arrive at Earth." Moonracer explained to me before looking at the other Bots that were on the top of the base watching the meteor shower. "Who were the first ones to speak with Wildwing?" she asked
I saw Arcee stiffen slightly out of the corner of my vision as I stiffened as well. "Why?" I asked cautiously, I had a feeling I wasn't going to like her answer.
Moonracer looked at me again. "Because when a sparkling is separated from its creators, it will almost always choose the first Cybertronian or Cybertronians that it speaks with as its temporary care-taker until being reunited with it's creators. Now, which one of you spoke with Wildwing first?" Moonracer answered my question casually and repeated her own question.
I had one thought going through my processor after she said that, 'Oh frag...' I'm certain Arcee had a similar thought going through her processor as well.
After no one had said anything for two klicks, Moonracer slowly looked back at me. "You were the first to speak with Wildwing weren't you?" There was barely contained humor hidden behind her voice.
"Both Shadow' and I were the first ones to speak with him," Arcee said quietly.
I was sure my spark would have fluttered when Arcee used a nickname for me, but I had other things I was a bit more focused on at the moment. "So... You're saying... That it's more than likely that Wildwing has chosen Arcee and I to be his temporary care-takers." I said flatly, more as a statement than a question.
I've yet to see Ratchet laugh, but the gruff medic looked to be damned close as he said in a forced even voice, "Yes..."
Bulkhead wrapped servos around the shoulder-joints of Arcee and I. "Congratulations to the temporary care-takers!" He said with a laugh.
I sighed at Bulkhead's words, I was about to speak again when Raf ran between my pedes and looked up at Optimus.
"We have a problem," Raf said to the Prime before he had stopped running.
"What is it Rafael?" Optimus asked, as he looked at Raf seriously.
Raf took a few deep breaths before answering. "Miko wanted to show Wildwing her guitar, so we brought him to the ops center and he..." He paused a moment. "He saw the support beams above the ops center and... Climbed up to them," Raf winced at his own words.
We all let Raf's words sink in for a micro-klick before Arcee and I rushed for the med-bay door with the others not far behind.
"This is an interesting way to start being temporary care-takers," Arcee said, as we entered the hallway and headed for the ops center.
I gave Arcee a sideways glance. "Agreed," I said simply.
When we entered the ops center, I saw Jack and Miko standing in the middle of the ops center while looking almost straight up. Arcee and I slid to a stop next to them and followed their gaze.
Wildwing was sitting on one of the support beams that was at least two-hundred feet above the ops center while he was kicking his pedes happily as they hung over the side. "It's really high up here!" The seekerlet said, after his optics brightened when he saw Arcee and I standing on the ground below him.
I shook my helm slightly in amazement. "How'd he even get up there?" I asked no one in particular.
"With some serious climbing skills," Jack said as the others approached.
I saw Optimus look up at the seekerlet out of the corner of my optic. "Wildwing, why are you up there?" he asked
"Because I like heights," Wildwing said, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"That may be, but you need to come down," Arcee said firmly.
Wildwing looked slightly confused by Arcee's words. "Why?" He asked.
"Because you're very high up in the air, and if you fall you could go into stasis lock or worse. So you need to come down now," I said to the mechling in a similar tone as Arcee.
The seekerlet's wings drooped slightly in sadness. "Okay," he said with a light sigh, and stood up. Wildwing looked around at the surrounding support beams to find a place where he could start climbing down, but after three klicks he hadn't moved from where he first stood up.
"You can't get down," Prowl stated matter-of-factly, as Wildwing continued to look for a place to start climbing down.
Wildwing looked down at us. "No..." He admitted after a few micro-klicks. I could tell he was embarrassed.
I sighed, "Just stay there, I'm coming up." After I said this, I stepped away from the others so I'd have room, transformed into my F-22 alt mode, and hovered up toward Wildwing.
"Hop on to my wing, and hang on," I told Wildwing once I was at his level. Wildwing complied, and once he was on my wing I hovered back down to the floor of the ops center.
Optimus and Prowl left the to go to other parts of the base after I landed on the floor of the ops center.
As Wildwing jumped off my wing and landed on the floor, Arcee walked over to stand in front of Wildwing. "I trust you won't be going up there again," she said sternly.
"I won't," Wildwing said honestly when he heard the seriousness in Arcee's voice. The silver and blue mechling looked at Miko and then back at Arcee. "Miko wanted to show me how a guitar works. Can I go watch her play?" He was asking for permission like a human child would ask their mother, which confirmed that he looked at Arcee and I as his temporary care-takers.
"Go ahead," Arcee said to Wildwing, after she gave me a look that told me she had reached the same conclusion as I had.
Wildwing looked at me for permission as well. When I nodded he ran over Miko in excitement as Jack and Raf walked towards Arcee and I.
"Why'd he ask you two for permission to go watch Miko play?" Jack asked Arcee and I, as he looked over his shoulder at Wildwing with a confused expression on his face.
"Because, Jack. Until his creators arrive at Earth, Arcee and I need to be his temporary care-takers, basically his foster parents," I said with a sigh, as I crossed my servos over my chestplates. I didn't bother with explaining any Cybertronian terms to Jack, Raf and Miko anymore, since they already learned most of them in their time at base.
Raf looked a bit surprised by this as he asked. "Wait, why do you two need to be his tempoary care-takers? Why can't Optimus or Moonracer be his temporary care-taker?"
"When sparklings are separated from their creators, they almost always pick the first Cybertronians they speak to as their temporary care-takers. In this case, Shadow' and I," Arcee explained to Jack and Raf what Moonracer had said earlier. She gave a sigh that was similar to mine.
"How long are the two of you going to be his temporary care-takers?" Jack asked.
I looked over at Wildwing as we watched Miko play a slower song so he could follow her movements, and turned back to Jack. "Arcee and I are going to be his temporary care-takers until his creators arrive. When that will be we don't know for certain, but it will be at least two mega-cycles." I said, and turned my attention back to Wildwing.
Jack's phone rang a few micro-klicks after I spoke and he answered it. "Hey mom... Why tonight?... Alright I'll start for home now... Bye," Jack ended the brief conversation with his mother and looked up at Arcee. "Mom wants me to get home early tonight, I apparently have a dentist appointment in the morning. Can we leave right now Arcee?" He asked his guardian, as he put his phone back in his pocket.
Arcee transformed into her alt mode. "Let's go," she said, as Jack put on his helmet and climbed on.
Ratchet stepped in front of Arcee and blocked her path before she and Jack drove away.
His action made me raise an optic ridge. "Why are you stopping them from leaving?" I asked the white and red medic as he stood between Arcee and the entrance tunnel.
Ratchet looked at me and said simply. "Because you and Arcee can't leave the base until further notice."
"Jack, get off," Arcee said to the dark haired teen after Ratchet spoke. Once Jack got off Arcee's alt mode, she transformed back to her true form and looked at Ratchet with contained anger. "And why would that be?" She asked with a trace of anger in her voice despite tying to seem calm.
Moonracer went over and stood at Ratchet's side. "Wildwing is separated from his creators. If either of his temporary care-takers are away for a long period of time he will likely panic. He may seem to be fine now, but he's likely very scared. He has been separated from his creators and sitting alone in an escape pod for two solar-cycles. That was most certainly a traumatizing event for him. There is a chance that his recharge will be haunted by nightmares until he's reunited with his creators, and when that happens both of you will need to be in his presence to calm him down." She looked at Wilding sadly after she said this.
"So, if Wildwing has nightmares as you think he will and I'm the only one at base, I won't be able to calm him down until Arcee returns. That means that neither Arcee or I will be able to leave base until Wildwing's creators arrive." I spoke with frustration that Arcee and I were confined to base, but was accepting the fact of why it was necessary.
"That is unfortunately correct on all counts. Until Wildwing is reunited with his creators, you and Arcee can't leave the base." Ratchet said almost sympathetically, as he walked to the workstation.
"Well, I guess I have to make up an excuse to my mom for why you're not at home, Arcee." Jack said a bit regretfully, likely because he didn't want to lie to his mom more that he had too.
"Jack, I'm sorry..." Arcee started apologizing before Jack held up a hand.
"Don't worry about it, Arcee. It's not like you and Shadowstreaker chose to be Wildwing's temporary care-takers. I'll just tell my mom that my motorcycle needs some repairs," Jack said dismissively, knowing that we didn't have control over who Wildwing picked as his temporary care-takers.
Bumblebee walked over with Raf on his shoulder-joint. "I'm taking Raf home, if you need a ride Jack. I'll be happy to give you one," the scout said gladly, not that Jack could understand him.
"He says that he'll give you a ride home Jack. I needed to get home anyway," Raf translated for his friend and guardian, as Bumblebee set Raf on the floor so he could transform into his alt mode.
Before Jack climbed into Bee's alt mode with Raf, he looked back at us. "See you tomorrow," he said to us in farewell, and climbed into Bee's alt mode a few micro-klicks before the scout drove out of the entrance tunnel.
After they left, I looked at Wildwing and saw that his optics would droop until they were closed in exhaustion for a moment before he snapped his optics open again. He was quickly fading into recharge. "What are our recharge arrangements for Wildwing?" I asked Arcee, and nodded my helm in the direction of the mechling in need of recharge.
Arcee looked at Wildwing for a moment before looking back at me. "We don't have any recharge arrangements for him, split custody?" She asked jokingly, using the human term since Cybertronians have never had something like divorce.
I shook my helm slightly at her joke. "Alright, he'll recharge in my quarters this cycle and then he'll recharge in your quarters next cycle, agreed?" I asked. After Arcee nodded in agreement, I walked over to where Wildwing continued to try and stay online and watch Miko play her guitar and picked up the half recharging mechling.
"Hey, I was playing for him," Miko said with her hands on her hips as she looked up at me in annoyance.
I looked down at Miko. "Sorry, but if you haven't noticed, Wildwing here is struggling to stay online. He's going to need to get some recharge," I said, and started walking down the hallway toward my quarters.
"But I was watching Miko play," Wildwing tried protesting tiredly, which only proved my point that he needed recharge.
"I bet she'll play for you next cycle, Wildwing. Isn't that right, Miko?" I asked the energetic girl over my shoulder-joint.
"Of course I will!" I heard her reply happily. A micro-klick after she said this, I heard her ask someone, "Why does Shadowstreaker care if Wildwing needs recharge?" She likely asked Bulkhead this.
I knew the Wrecker would explain to Miko the roles Arcee and I had to play in Wildwing's life until he was reunited with his creators, so I didn't bother going back and answering Miko's question. I noticed that Wildwing had already fallen into recharge while in my servos.
At that moment it hit me at that I was basically this sparkling's sire until his actual creators arrived. Even though Wildwing's creators were likely going to get to Earth in only a couple of mega-cycles, that prospect was still terrifying. It was terrifying because I never planned on being responsible for the life of a child as an eighteen-year-old human, let alone a member of a different race and one of the temporary care-takers of a Cybertronian sparkling.
I brought myself out of my thoughts when I heard the door to my quarters open automatically. Once the door was open I stepped into my quarters and set Wildwing down on my berth.
Wildwing stirred slightly, but didn't online as I set him down on the berth. He just snuggled into the massive pillow I set his helm on and continued his recharge.
I turned to leave Wildwing to his recharge when I saw a stack of data pads on my desk that weren't there earlier. With a curious look on my faceplate, I walked over and grabbed the smallest data pad that was on the top of the stack and started reading it. Almost immediately I narrowed my optics in both annoyance and displeasure.
Prowl had found that I had yet to write a mission report, so he'd taken the liberty of giving me the task of writing up a report for every mission I had gone on so far... And he wanted them on his desk by morning.
'Well slag,' I thought with a sigh as I set the data pad off to the side. I took a seat at my desk so I'd just get this over with. I picked up the first data pad from the stack and started work on my reports.
It took me almost half a breem to finish each report. Prowl has unbelievably meticulous expectations when it comes to reports. By the time I had finished my last report, it was a quarter to four in the morning. That was only one and a half breems before I usually onlined for the cycle, which meant I might as well not even try and get any recharge.
I sighed as I finished off the cube of energon I had just gotten from the dispenser above my desk. I could already tell this was going to be a very long cycle. Luckily, Wildwing hadn't onlined at all after he went into recharge, which was good considering I would have been completely clueless as to how to calm down a sparkling that just had a nightmare.
"Did you just online as well?" I heard Wildwing ask. He must have onlined while I was drinking my energon. He had, after all, been recharging for almost six breems, which was the equivalent of a human sleeping for almost nine hours.
"No, I didn't get any recharge." I said, trying not to sound as tired as I was at the moment while I got out of my chair to pick up the mechling.
Wildwing tilted his helm curiously. "Why not?" He asked as I picked him up.
"Because I needed to get some stuff done before I could get recharge, and it took longer than I thought it would." I explained as we entered the hallway and started toward the ops center.
"That doesn't sound fun," Wildwing said, his sparkling logic was likely confused why anyone would put off recharge to do something that wasn't fun.
"No it wasn't fun, but I had to get it done." I said, and widened my optics slightly in shock as I saw Optimus standing in the ops center when we entered the room. It was like he never recharged.
Something out of my line of sight caught Wildwing's attention. "What's that?" he asked and pointed a digit at what had caught his optic as he had when he asked what the helicopter pad was.
I saw that it was the TV holding his curiosity. "That's called a Television. It's used for entertainment by humans," I said. When Wildwing kept his optics on it for a few more micro-klicks I asked, "Would you like me to turn it on?"
Wildwing nodded enthusiastically. In the short time he was on Earth he was curious about almost anything human-made.
I set Wildwing down on the catwalk next to the couch and turned the TV on to the Discovery Channel, making sure I didn't accidentally knock it over as I hit the power button. Wildwing looked fascinated as he watched TV. Whether he was fascinated by it was because of what was on the TV, or simply how it worked I don't know.
After I turned the TV on for Wildwing, I walked over to where Optimus stood in front of the workstation.
"You did not get any recharge," Optimus stated matter-of-factly, not even turning to look at me as I approached. Optimus had spoken without a trace of fatigue in his voice.
"No, Prowl had me write up reports about the missions I've been on so far. He wanted to know everything down to how many shots I fired in a mission. How the frag am I supposed to know that?" I spoke in a frustrated and tired tone, though still being careful not to let Wildwing hear me curse.
Optimus looked at me after I said this. "You will have to forgive Prowl. The amount of detail he requests in reports can be a bit excessive at times." The Prime said atoningly.
"Sorry, I'm a bit angry that I had to write reports instead of get recharge," I said with a sigh.
"That is understandable given the unexpected task you and Arcee have been given. Being a temporary care-taker can cause a large amount of stress," Optimus said in an understanding way, as if he had once been in the same situation as Arcee and I.
"You've been a temporary care-taker yourself, haven't you?" I asked with a bit of surprise.
Optimus nodded. "I was, more than once in fact."
"Were you a care-taker to any Bots that I've heard of?" I asked.
Optimus smiled faintly as he said, "At one point I was Bumblebee's care-taker for more than an orbital-cycle, as well as Bulkhead's for several jours."
I raised my optic ridges in surprise. "I can see you being Bumblebee's temporary care-taker since he's young by our standards, but I've heard Bulkhead talk about Cybertron before the war. That would mean that you were his temporary care-taker long before that. Just how old are you Optimus?" I asked with genuine curiosity.
"I was beginning my one-thousandth centi-vorn when I became Bulkhead's temporary care-taker. It was another six-hundred centi-vorns before the war began and I became Bumblebee's care-taker. It has been eight-thousand three-hundred centi-vorns since Cybertron was evacuated." Optimus said in a rather off-handed manner.
My optics widened so much that I'm surprised they stayed in my helm. I know that the Thirteen were ancient before time was being measured by the rest of the Cybertronian race, but finding out that every single of your fellow Autobots were literary several million times older than you was shocking.
"Are you malfunctioning?" Optimus asked dryly. He unknowingly was quoting Prima when I first met the Thirteen.
I forced the shocked look off my faceplate. "No, I'm just shocked that compared any one of the Autobots on Earth I might as well be a new-born sparkling," I said a bit morosely.
"Humans judge others by their physical age, Shadowstreaker, it is by mental maturity that Cybertronians define others. Among humans you are young, but among Cybertronians you are the same age as we are," Optimus said, subtly complementing my maturity.
"You and everyone else at base knows that I hate complements, Optimus." I said with a slight huff. I was irritated my Optimus' complement for the simple reason that it was directed at me.
"Your unwillingness to accept complements is a sign of humility, which in itself is a sign of maturity." Optimus pointed out, much to my annoyance.
I sighed at Optimus' words and was about to speak again when I felt something small climb up my backplates and on to my helm.
Optimus' optics focused on the top of my helm and looked amused by whatever he saw as he chuckled lightly.
Wildwing's faceplate suddenly appeared upside-down in the top of my vision. "You're really tall," he said the moment he appeared in my vision.
I looked up without moving my helm. "Wildwing... Why are you on my helm?" I asked.
"Because I like heights and you said I couldn't go up to the support beams," the seekerlet said in the cheerful and happy manner he had used most of the short time he had been at base.
"Well, can you get off please?" I asked the mechling with a smile.
Wildwing tilted his helm at me, "Why?" He asked.
"Because I can't move with you on my helm," I explained patiently, and brought a servo up next to Wildwing so he could climb off my helm.
"Okay," Wildwing said, and climbed off his temporary perch and into my servo.
Once Wildwing was in my servo, I lowered him on to the catwalk next to the workstation. And not a moment too soon if you ask me, as my optics drooped involuntarily and I shook my helm to get rid of the sudden tiredness I felt. I mentally blamed Prowl and his reports for my fatigue.
"You should get a few breems of recharge to keep your systems from being sluggish for the rest of the cycle," Optimus said after he noticed my optics drooping.
I shook my helm. "I usually online for the cycle about a breem from now, so I decided not to even bother recharging this cycle." I replied.
"Your frame is not used to functioning without recharge. If you are going to put off recharge, then I recommend that you at least find an unharmful way of keeping yourself online," Optimus advised.
I took note of Optimus' words. "Showers always helped me wake in the morning as a human. Could you look after Wildwing so I can go to the washracks?" I asked, as I watched Wildwing examine the workstation curiously. He seemed to be fascinated by everything he hadn't seen before.
"Of course. I will let Wildwing know where you went so he doesn't panic," Optimus said with a nod.
I gave Optimus a grateful look and walked back down the hallway toward the washracks.
Since the washracks were much further away from the ops center than my quarters, it took me much longer to get there. By the time I reached the washracks, my optics were drooping again even as I walked. I was really going to enjoy recharging tonight.
The door to the washracks opened for me as I stepped toward it, the sight that greeted me made my optics double in size while they sizzled and sparked... Arcee in her protoform.
Only a micro-klick passed before I backtracked out of the washracks and nearly slammed my backplates against the wall outside the doorway, but it was enough time for my perspective CPU to see everything that wasn't obscured by steam.
"Man, that sight is really going to help me get over my stupid crush on Arcee," I said to myself sarcastically.
Arcee had been facing away from me when the door opened, and she was beginning to turn around when I made my hasty retreat. So I actually didn't see most of the um... important bits, but that didn't make this situation any less awkward.
I could practically feel Arcee glaring at me through the wall as my cooling fans kicked into overdrive. "You should really lock the door when you or Moonracer are using the washracks." I spoke in an embarrassed voice that was just loud enough for Arcee to hear. 'Especially you' I added to myself silently.
There was a very long and awkward silence. Well, awkward on my end. Arcee was probably considering several different ways of sending me into stasis lock. The silence continued long enough for my cooling fans to deactivate before one of us spoke.
"How much did you see?" Arcee said calmly, but with a hidden tone of fury behind her voice.
I thought for a long time about my answer. Should I answer truthfully? Should I lie so she doesn't offline me? Should I just innocently reply 'See what?' and hope for the best? No, that would be a bad idea. Was there a way out of this? Did she really want to know? Or was this trick question? Like no matter what I said I was still going to be in the med-bay with life threatening injuies for mega-cycles.
I took so long in replying, that Arcee repeated her question. "What... Did you... See?" Arcee's tone was still calm, but the way she said that promised pain and suffering if I didn't answer soon.
"Well... Um... I saw... Stuff," my response was slow, sheepish and awkward, but considering the situation, I couldn't help it.
"Stuff?" Arcee asked in her eerily calm tone.
I paused, deciding whether I should back up my own answer. "Yeah... Stuff," I finally said.
Another pause, this time from Arcee. "Well what kind of... Stuff?" she asked after the short silence.
'Enough to keep me up for the next mega-cycle' I thought before I spoke. "Well ah..." My cooling fans reactivated with a vengeance as I had to recall what I had seen not too long ago. "I saw that... Part below your backplates," I said awkwardly.
Arcee paused briefly again. "Okay, how 'bout anything in the ah... Frontal region?" she asked, with a tiny trace of her own awkwardness.
Arcee's words made my cooling fans start running at a rate that might make them overheat. Oh the irony. "I had already retreated to where I currently stand before you turned around," I said truthfully. "If I hadn't, I would have glitched and be on the washrack floor right now," I added to myself silently.
"Are we in agreement that we should never speak of this moment again?" Arcee asked. I didn't need to see her to know that she had her optics narrowed dangerously as she spoke.
"Yes, yes we are," I said, and nodded my helm in agreement even though she couldn't see me.
"Good, now this is what you are going to do. You are going to step far enough away from the doorway so that the door automatically closes. I will then lock the door from in here, and you will go somewhere else until I have left the washracks, and then we will both forget this ever happened, got it?" Arcee instructed in the deathly calm tone she had used since we started our conversation.
"Got it," was my quick response just before I walked straight back the way I had come from earlier, but instead of going back to the ops center, I made a beeline for the elevator so I could go down to the Safe.
I made it to the elevator in record time and hit the button for the Safe. As the elevator started its downward journey, I was mentally beating myself up over the situation that just occurred.
'You dumbaft! All that awkwardness could have been avoided if you just went to get recharge!' I berated myself. Then again, there was no way I could have known who was in the washracks when I went to them.
'Well at least the view was nice...' I Gibbs slapped that thought out of my CPU before it could fully form. I wasn't going to be able to forget what I had seen, my CPU wouldn't let me, but I wasn't going to make a habit of recalling it. I knew that some mechs would have offlined someone to see what I just saw. Other mechs would never look at Arcee the same way if they had just been in my situation, always flashing back to what they had accidently seen, but I wasn't most mechs was I?
I was briefly interrupted when the elevator doors opened up when it reached the Safe, I quickly left the elevator and walked toward the weapons range for target practice.
I was going to pretend that I had never seen Arcee in the washracks, and hope that would be enough to quell any lingering awkwardness between us.
'Of course that will be enough...' Was the sarcastic thought I formed in response to my own words.
With that last thought, I deployed my Scatter-Blaster and started to get some target practice.
I'd call walking in on your secret crush as she's taking a shower awkward... Very awkward... Apocalyptically awkward.
Can you picture Optimus being the temporary care-taker of Bulkhead and Bumblebee? I know I can since he seems to be have the father/older brother effect on the other Bots except for Ratchet.
This chapter's credit song is... I don't know. I couldn't find a song that suited this chapter so... Just listen to something you like. On that note, does anyone listen to the songs I list? Because I choose each song so it fits how I ended each chapter.
Please be sure to leave a review and thanks for reading. I'll see you soon.