Author's note. The wait wasn't so long this time, lol.

Suggestions are welcome.

Enjoy and please review.

Thundercracker considerate

Spike stared at up at his new guardian in shock. Thundercracker, the second Seeker of the Elita Trine had just announced that he would look after Spike and had even given him a new name, Ricochet. He wasn't sure what to think about it, it wasn't a bad name but rather a strange one.

He cuddled up on the blue Seeker's shoulder, he was still shy of all the stares. Thundercracker was holding him quite well, which surprised him. He wondered if Thundercracker had experience with Sparklings or did he just naturally know how to hold Sparklings. At least it wasn't a bad start although he was still very worried about being kept by the Decepticons.

What would happen if they ever discovered his true identity?

"There you go," Thundercracker murmured softly as he heard tentative chirps from the Sparkling. "You're alright."

"You'll make a good Creator," Ravage purred, as Soundwave lightly stroked her.

"Ravage believes you will do good job," Soundwave translated, causing Thundercracker to smile slightly.

"Thanks," he said softly. "I'll do my best."

"Won't the Autobots be mad?" Skywarp cut in as Thundercracker rubbed Ricochet's back. "I mean, they'll want him back."

"They can't have him," Megatron said tersely. "But I suppose we should tell him he is fine before they bombard us with annoying messages."

"Affirmative," Soundwave echoed, he knew that they Autobots wouldn't be happy with what his Cassettes had done.

Starscream smirked as he said to his Trine mate.

"Bring the Sparkling along, let them see that you're his guardian now."

Thundercracker shrugged, he wasn't bothered. But holding the little Sparkling carefully, he followed the others as they headed for the Communication room where they would contact Optimus Prime and his Autobots. Megatron smirked as he saw a light flashing, which meant the Autobots were already trying to call. He would enjoy this, he didn't often get a chance to gloat over his enemy, he would enjoy every moment.

Waiting for all his Mechs to be assembled behind him, he smugly typed in a few commands and waited for the connection to be made. The screen flickered for a moment before suddenly settling, showing a clear image of Optimus Prime glaring at the screen, some of his Autobots behind him.

"Megatron," Optimus said, a growl in his voice.

"Prime," Megatron greeted pleasantly, not bothering to disguise the slight glee in his voice. "How good to see you."

Before Optimus could respond, Ironhide pushed forward and snarled.

"What ya done to Orphelius, ya damn no good jackals."

"Is that his name?" Megatron said lightly. He noticed how the Autobots all shifted and frowned, that was odd.

"It's what ah call him," Ironhide said stiffly. "The little tyke didn't have a proper name when he came to us."

Spike frowned, yes he did. But then he remembered the Autobots were hiding the fact that he'd once been human, so he couldn't really complain. He was touched that all the Autobots looked so concerned about him, even more so than they normally did.

"Really?" Megatron now said as Optimus asked.

"Why did you kidnap him, Megatron? He's just a young Sparkling, no threat to you whatsoever."

"I didn't kidnap him, Laserbeak did," Megatron replied with a smirk. "She determined that you weren't a suitable guardian for him."

"Allowing him to scrub around in the dirt like a flesh creature," Starscream interjected with a sneer.

""Aw, ya bunch of pansies," Ironhide sneered before Optimus could say anything. "There ain't nothing wrong with a little bit of dirt and he was enjoying himself before that over grown turkey came swooping out of nowhere and grabbed him."

Optimus now gave them a stern look.

"Do you really think firing a missile and grabbing that Sparkling was responsible? He must have been terrified," Optimus said quietly.

Laserbeak looked a little ashamed at this but she still felt the little guy was better off with them.

"Well, you needn't worry, he's safe here and he'll be treated well," Megatron said, gesturing at Thundercracker.

"He should be with us," Optimus said quietly. "His father trusted us to take care of him and..."

"What, he isn't an orphan?" Thundercracker said in surprise.

"No, although his Femme Creator is deactivated," Optimus said gravely. "But his Sire is unable at this time to look after him, so he gave him to us."

"How?" Starscream said suspiciously. "There has been no Space Bridge activity, and we detected no Cybertronian entering Earth's atmosphere. Where did this mysterious Creator come from?"

"I'm afraid that's classified," Optimus said simply, knowing this would infuriate the curious Seeker.

"Why so secretive, Prime?" Megatron said with narrowed optics. "Surely there's no harm in telling us his background?"

There were several murmurs of disbelief at this, and a couple of uneasy sounds. However, Ironhide simply went.

"Ha, ya really think we're gonna trust ya with information about him? No way, you give us back our Sparkling and leave us be."

"He's our Sparkling now," Starscream sneered. "We'll raise him and if his Sire comes looking, well, he can just knock on the door."

This made the other Decepticons snigger, even Megatron cracked a smile.

Optimus glanced at Prowl, briefly imaging Sparkplug doing just that. But at that moment, Spike twisted around and started grabbing for the Autobots, his little hands opening and closing as he motioned at them.

"See, he wants to come back with us," Ironhide said smugly and quickly. "So give him back."

The Autobot leader placed a hand on his security director's shoulder, urging him to be calm by this gesture. Ironhide didn't look please but he subsided and let his Prime speak.

"Do you really believe you can properly take care of a Sparkling?" Optimus asked quietly. "Can you cope with when he's upset or throwing a tantrum?"

Spike huffed, he didn't throw tantrums. Thundercracker held him closely, catching one of his hands and stroking it.

"I can manage just fine," he said firmly. "You needn't concern yourself, Optimus Prime."

Optimus sighed heavily, causing Megatron to roll his optics.

"I don't want him getting hurt, Thundercracker," he said gravely. "He is innocent in this war, he doesn't know the difference between Autobot and Decepticon. Will you allow us to see him, assure us he is alright."

"I can," Thundercracker said stiffly as Skywarp said. "Yeah, we'll show you how much better we are than you."

"We shall see," Prowl said shrewdly. "Can you cope with his...excess?"

Spike made a noise at this and started squirming, he didn't need reminding of that. Soundwave reached over and stroked his head as Thundercracker said.

"I know what to expect and yes, I can."

Prowl eyed him but didn't say anything else. Megatron now sneered and said.

"Well if that's all Prime?"

"You're the one who called us," Optimus said in a teasing tone that always annoyed the hell out of his rival.

Megatron half sneered, half glared before closing the connection down. He turned to Thundercracker and said.

"You've got leave to take care of that brat."

He now turned to Soundwave and said.

"I want to know why Prime won't tell us anything, you will have your Cassettes investigate."

"As you command, Lord Megatron," Soundwave intoned, inclining his head.

Megatron nodded before leaving, Soundwave soon following with the twins. Ravage jumped up to rub her head against Spike before running after her master. Laserbeak too lingered for a moment to nuzzle the Sparkling and then she too flew off.

"So," Skywarp said as he and Starscream stared down at the sad Sparkling who missed his friends.

"What ya going to do with him?"

"Set up somewhere for him to sleep first," Thundercracker said, raising his new charge high up so the Sparkling was looking down at him, kicking his legs slightly.

"Then I'll probably bathe him, he's a bit dirty."

"Do you really think you can deal with, how did that Autobot put it...excess?"

"Yes, Starscream," Thundercracker said, his optics rolling slightly. "Let's go Ricochet."

"Hey, can we play with him later," Skywarp teased as the three Seekers walked out of the room. "Shame he's not a Seekerlet, we could have taught him to fly."

"We can still teach him things," Thundercracker said softly. "Like grace and good balance. And it doesn't matter if he can't fly, we can still tell him stories of Seekers."

Spike perked up at this, he already heard one good Seekerlet story and had loved it. He sighed before relaxing in Thundercracker's grip as he carried him. Maybe this wasn't so bad, as long as the Decepticons didn't discover who he was, they'd treat him alright. Thundercracker did have nice warm armour.

"Here we are," Thundercracker said softly as they finally arrived in the base's sleeping quarters.

Spike chirped curiously at the long line of doors, some spaced further apart than others. Starscream strutted past, heading for one door that was close to one door but had a sizeable amount of space between its other neighbour. It was obviously a perk of being an officer while at the same time remaining close to his trine.

Spike's reasoning proved to be right, as Thundercracker headed to the door right next to Starscream's and entered. The room appeared spacious but it was apparent that everything was carefully placed to maximise the available room. The blue Seeker gently placed Spike onto the berth before he went to rummage amongst his things.

"What ya going to put him on?" Skywarp asked, apparently having nothing better to do.

"For now, I'm going to line this old storage unit," Thundercracker said softly as he started emptying said unit out. "He should be comfy in here, with plenty of warm blankets. I'll set him up next to my berth so I can keep an optic on him."

Spike chirped at this, back at the Autobot base he had a proper cot. But as long as this new DIY cot was comfortable, he wouldn't mind. As long as he wasn't passed from one Decepticon to another, he didn't trust most of them.

And urgh, imagine if he was given to Megatron what a disaster that would be. Though somehow he thought it wouldn't be too bad with Soundwave, if he let his Cassettes look after him. They actually seemed pretty caring of Sparklings, despite the fact they'd kidnapped him. Laserbeak had fussed over him and Ravage had handled him very carefully.

"Here we go, Ricochet," Thundercracker said kindly, after lining the unit with some soft blankets. He now lifted up the chirping Sparkling and placed him inside, to see how he liked it.

"This isn't so bad," Spike chirped softly to himself as he squirmed and rolled onto his side, examining his new bed.

"I think he likes it," Skywarp said as he leaned over.

"Yeah," Thundercracker said with a smile. "You know Warp, I never expected to get a Sparkling, before the War was over."

"Eh, didn't know you were feeling broody," Skywarp teased as Thundercracker lightly stroked Spike's stomach area.

"I'm not," Thundercracker said quickly as the Sparkling giggled. "But he's a fine looking Sparkling and he needs someone. I do want to be that someone, for the time being at least."

Skywarp nodded thoughtfully.

"I think you'll do great Thundercracker, you handle Starscream just fine and I reckon if you can do that, you can look after Ricochet just fine."

"Thanks," Thundercracker said with a soft chuckle.

He knelt so that he was optic level with the Sparkling and said softly.

"Well Ricochet, do you think I can do a good job?"

The Sparkling considered him for a moment before clapping his hands together in glee and laughing. This made both Seekers chuckle and Spike received a fond pat from his new guardian. Thundercracker now lifted him out of the little cot and cradled him against his shoulder.

"Let's get you clean, little one, I'll tell you a story afterwards," the blue Seeker promised as he stood with the now very happy Sparkling.

The two Seekers departed from the room and Spike couldn't wait for his bath to be over so he could hear another Sparkling tale.

Optimus's POV.

Optimus sighed as he sat down in a chair, his men were not happy about the situation with Spike. They'd all been looking forward to taking charge of the happy Sparkling for a cycle each, he'd been lighting up their base with his laughter.

But now he was with the Decepticons and they didn't look like they were going to let him go any time soon. He couldn't bear the thought of explaining to Sparkplug how they'd failed him, they'd promised the Decepticons wouldn't touch his son. The only consolation was that Thundercracker had given his word to look after Spike and the Prime knew that the Seeker was honourable.

For now, Spike would be alright.

But before he could focus on anything else, there came a sudden beeping at the console. Optimus quickly read the description, it was a message from Cybertron. Sudden hope blossomed in his chest and he activated the connection, praying that the one on the other side was his beloved.

It was.

"Optimus," Elita One said warmly, her optics glowing brilliantly as they regarded him, he could feel a grin forming behind his mask.

"Elita," he replied, their simple greeting held so much meaning that most wouldn't discern.

She wasn't alone however, there were two Younglings standing in front of her, a Mech and a Femme. As Optimus curiously regarded them, Elita smiled even more.

"This is Boomer," Elita introduced, her hand on the young Mechling was a bright red colour with some white stripes on his arms and legs.

"And this is his twin sister Starsong," she then said, her other hand on the white Femling whose armour formed a shirt behind her. This had red stripes which also snaked upwards over her chassis armour.

"Along with Nightrunner, their hoping to come to Earth and help look after your new edition," she explained softly.

Optimus smiled at her thoughtfulness before sighing slightly.

"I'm afraid there's been a complication, Elita..."

To be continued.

Author's note. Optimus explains to Elita what has happened while Spike settles down to life at the Nemesis. How does this go? Find out next time, until then.