Three years. That's how long it's been since I last updated "Second Chances." First off, I would like to say thank you to all my readers who continued to send notes and words of encouragement for a new chapter over that time. It always meant so much to me to know that other people out there cared about the characters I developed to wanted to read more.
I'm not sure what sparked the creative juices again, but here I am! I'm excited to say that not only do I have a long-awaited new chapter for you but there should be even more to come in the near future. I've outlined the next story arch and am itching to write it. We're finally getting that time jump I've been promising for the last three years that will bring Starfall in as a full adult! I just wish I could have come off my hiatus with a slightly more interested chapter.
In any case, without further ado I give you:
Chapter Thirty-Four: Return Debut
Sunstreaker sat at the front desk of his detailing studio. He scrolled down a data pad of figures from last lunar cycle's sale, analyzing the numbers. He was going to have order another batch of green Altihexan paint soon. A popular film star had recently changed his paint job to an emerald shade of green. As a result, Sunstreaker had seen a very noticeable increase in his clients requesting the same color.
As Sunstreaker calculated his next supply order, a shadow darkened the studio's entryway followed by a polite tap on the door's glass pane. Sunstreaker glanced up and smiled. He got up and went to the door.
"Hey, Optimus," he greeted as he unbolted the door and swung it open. The Matrix-bearer stepped inside. "You're earlier than I was expecting."
"Hello, Sunstreaker," Optimus replied. "I'm sorry if we're too early. There was less traffic on the roads than expected."
"No worries," Sunstreaker dismissed with a wave of his hand as he locked the door again behind Optimus. "I was just doing some book-keeping stuff. Nothing I'm sorry to step away from." His studio wasn't scheduled to open for another three joors but he didn't want to take any chances of someone walking in off the street while he was with Optimus and his newest client. Sunstreaker glanced down at the sparkling half hiding behind Optimus's leg.
After hearing about Starfall's recovery in the hospital, Sunstreaker had reached out to Optimus to offer his detailing services to the little seeker after he was well enough to stand a round of body work. Sunstreaker had never been a fan of fliers – especially seekers – but thinking about his old comrades' child suffering so much had made him decide to temporarily set aside his old grudges and do what he could to help. He knew how Ratchet usually let his patients leave his care. Ratchet was one of the best medics Cybertron had to offer, but once his patient was stable he usually didn't focus too much on the bot's appearance. Sunstreaker might not like seekers but he'd decided if giving the kid a new paint job might help Optimus and Ironhide, he'd offer his services to them.
"Star," Optimus said as he stepped aside to fully reveal the little seeker. "This is Sunstreaker. He fought with your father and I during the war. He runs this detailing studio. He's going to give you a new paint job."
"Hello," Starfall murmured, timidly looking up to meet Sunstreaker's gaze.
Sunstreaker had refused to meet Starfall when Optimus and Ironhide first presented him at the Victory Day party what felt like half a lifetime ago. He still vividly remembered the war and his many run ins with Megatron's air force – the worst being Starscream and his command trine. Those three psychopaths with wings had come close to killing him and Sideswipe more times than Sunstreaker could count to ever feel comfortable around seekers. Because of that he'd only ever observed Optimus and Ironhide's adopted son from a distance. He was somewhat startled by the intense shade of turquoise of Starfall's optics as he stared up at him now. They were a color many of his clients would literally spend half a fortune to be able to call their own.
"Hey, kid," Sunstreaker awkwardly greeted. He'd never been very good around sparklings and Starfall being a seeker still made Sunstreaker uneasy. For Optimus and Ironhide, though, he was willing to overlook the wings on Starfall's back for the joor or two it would take to repaint him.
"Well, let me have a look at you," Sunstreaker said, dropping to one knee in front of Starfall. "Ratchet always did leave a lot to be desired in the way of cosmetics when it came to his handiwork."
The miniature seeker hesitated a moment before timidly stepping out of Optimus's shadow closer to Sunstreaker. His optics dropped to stare at the ground in front of Sunstreaker as if suddenly unwilling to meet the mech's optics. His body language became guarded and hunched. His wings drooped and flattened against his back plates as though embarrassed.
"It's alright, Star," Optimus gently reassured. He glanced at Sunstreaker. "Starfall has become extremely self-conscious about his appearance since he left the hospital."
Sunstreaker could understand why. He tsked disapprovingly under his intakes at what he saw. The little seeker had more welds and splotchy patches of half-regenerated color nanites than paint. Scratches and a number of still tender looking dents littered his frame. It looked like the worst of them had been hammered out, but they were still going to need buffed out before Starfall looked normal again. The most noticeable one was a small dent on the side of Starfall's cheek that gave his face a lopsided look. The wings hanging from his back were nothing more than naked panes of grey metal. The mech that had kidnapped him had definitely done a number on the kid.
Despite himself, a throb of sympathy pulsed through Sunstreaker's chest. No one that young – not even a seeker – deserved such brutal treatment. Sunstreaker fleetingly wondered how the mech that kidnapped Starfall was still alive. Ironhide was not a mech to willingly let someone who harmed his loved ones escape without retribution.
"Can… can you fix me?" a small voice brought Sunstreaker out of his thoughts. Starfall raised his optics to timidly meet Sunstreaker's gaze. "I don't want to go back to school like this."
"Of course. I'm the best detailer in all of Iacon," Sunstreaker proudly answered.
"Can you make me look as pretty as you?"
The question took Sunstreaker by surprise. He'd always been helpless to flattery and the utter sincerity of Starfall's question made Sunstreaker's engine hiccup. With a sudden certainty that startled him, Sunstreaker no longer wanted to paint Starfall just to help his old comrades – he wanted to help Starfall for his own sake.
"Without a doubt," Sunstreaker smirked. "Like I said, I'm the best detailer in Iacon."
Starfall gave Sunstreaker a self-conscious smile. The dent in his cheek gave it a crooked tilt. Sunstreaker felt the wall between him and the little seeker crumple a little. He would do what he could to help Starfall, he decided. The kid didn't seem half as bad as he was initially expecting.
"Come on," Sunstreaker said, standing from the ground and motioning Optimus and Starfall to follow him towards his consultation desk. "Let's figure out what we're going to do with you."
Optimus helped Starfall up onto one of the chairs positioned in front of Sunstreaker's desk before taking the other one himself. Sunstreaker took his own seat across from them and reached under the table to grab a thick binder. He laid it on the table between them. Opening the binder somewhere near the middle, he pushed it towards father and son. Squares of different colors filled the pages in neat little rows of three by five. "These are color samples of all the different paints I carry. You can chose anything you like. Green is a very popular base color right now."
Starfall scanned the first page of paints, his optics wider than Sunstreaker thought physically possible for a Cybertronian.
"What do you think, Star?" Optimus asked. "Would you like a different set of colors?"
Still looking slightly overwhelmed, Starfall shook his helm. "No. I liked my old paint job."
"If you'd like something close to the shade of blue you were before," Sunstreaker interjected, turning to a page towards the middle of the binder, "these are the different shades of blue I have."
Starfall leaned over the side of the table to see the different options better. "Ooo, that one!" he chirped, pointing to a color swatch of light blue in the center of the page. "That one looks like mine." He laid his arm wrist up on the page beside the swatch. Indeed, the swatch was the same shade of blue as his forearm plate. "And then that white for the rest of me," he pointed to another swatch.
Sunstreaker spun the binder back around towards him so he could read the details underneath the swatches. "'Arctic Reflection' and 'Snow Blind' from the Thunderclash Collection. That's an expensive paint job. That color line has special flecks of reflective metal in the paint to give it an extra shine."
"Oh," Starfall murmured, embarrassedly sinking back down into his seat. "Never mind. I can pick something else."
"No, no," Sunstreaker dismissed, snapping the binder closed with a flip of his wrist. "I said you could choose anything you wanted. 'Arctic Reflection' and 'Snow Blind' it is. You have good tastes, kid." And he did. Sunstreaker was starting to get excited. That paint line was slightly more difficult to apply than other paint lines and Sunstreaker relished the idea of a challenge. When he was done Starfall was going to be a walking piece of art.
"Thank you," Starfall smiled. His wings perked up a little from against his back. Sunstreaker was surprised. He'd never realized before now that seekers could move their wings so independently from their bodies, like an extension of their facial expressions. He'd always just kind of assumed their wings jutted immobile from their shoulder struts and that was that. He wondered what else seekers were capable of that he wasn't aware of.
He forced himself to focus on the matter at hand. "We'll start things off by getting Starfall in an oil bath to strip off any loose paint. Then we'll buff out any remaining dents and scratches before we start painting. What do you think?"
Optimus shrugged good-humoredly. "We'll just have to defer to your expertise in this, I think. I don't remember the last time I had a full round of body work done."
Sunstreaker tsked, openly eyeing Optimus up and down. "I know…"
Optimus chuckled behind his battle mask but did not raise to Sunstreaker's bait. The gold mech inwardly sighed. When was Optimus going to realize the importance of a top of the line paint job? He more than anyone else should take a stronger interest in appearance. He was the leader of their entire race. He was almost as bad as Ironhide. Sunstreaker took some solace in the fact that vorns ago he'd finally convinced Optimus to use his homemade polish for special occasions and dignitary functions. If he kept at him maybe in another couple hundred vorns he could convince Optimus to finally let him do a full round of detailing on him.
"This way," Sunstreaker said, motioning Starfall and Optimus to follow him. He led them deeper into the studio. His studio was basically two rooms – the front reception/waiting area and the back where Sunstreaker worked his magic. The back room was sectioned into areas that focused on different stages of the detailing process. Sunstreaker headed towards the back right corner of the room where a large, wide vat was recessed into the ground. Its sides came up almost to Sunstreaker's knee joints. Sunstreaker bent and undid a hidden latch to swing one of the side panels of the vat open. Viscous amber substance filled it. Its surface stood several feet below ground level where the three bots stood. It rippled with the vibrations of Sunstreaker opening the side panel.
Sunstreaker looked at Starfall. "In you go."
Starfall hesitated a moment before tentatively inching forward and staring into the cavernous vat.
"How deep is it?" Starfall asked.
"About four and a half meters. I need my clients to be fully submerged to let the oil do its work. For you, you'll probably only need to go less than halfway in to go completely under. There are levels built in to the side of the tank. You can sit on one of them while you soak."
"How long do I have to stay in there?"
Sunstreaker's first instinct was to be annoyed by Starfall's questions. But then he noticed the apprehensive gleam in the little seeker's turquoise optics. He only then remembered this was the kid's first time getting a round of bodywork done. Most bots didn't get worked on until they were pre-upgrade or older. Of course Starfall would be nervous of the unfamiliar. Sunstreaker decided to keep his patience.
"Ten, maybe fifteen klicks. Enough time for the oil to soften and strip you of any existing paint. That way I have a blank canvas to work with. Optimus and I will be here the entire time you're in there. Clients usually tell me it's their favorite part of bodywork. The oil feels really good, especially on joints and any sore spots."
"Yea?" Starfall said, perking up a bit. He glanced back into the vat of oil with new consideration. "My wings sometimes hurt when I sit or lay down too long. Ratchet and Lightningstrike said that's normal because of what happened to my wings, but I wish they'd heal faster so they wouldn't hurt so much. They don't hurt as much as they did when I first got out of the hospital, but they usually hurt more at night when one of my dads read to me before recharge."
Sunstreaker's spark squeezed uncomfortably at the seeker's words. It wasn't right for someone so young to have so much firsthand experience with pain.
"Well, then let's get you in there," Sunstreaker said, holding out a hand to Starfall. "Watch your step getting in. The oil makes the steps slippery. See the first one there?" He pointed out the step just below the surface of the vat.
Starfall latched onto his fingers and carefully stepped into the vat. He gave a soft squeal of delight as he sank onto the first step almost to his knee joints. "It's warm!"
Sunstreaker couldn't help but smile at Starfall's childish delight. "Got it warmed up for you right before you came. No one likes a cold oil bath." Starfall dipped lower and lower into the oil with each step. By the third one he was almost to his chin. At the same spot any of Sunstreaker's other clients would only be about knee-deep. Starfall was definitely one of the smallest bots Sunstreaker had ever worked on. Starfall released Sunstreaker's hand and turned back to them, playfully treading oil with his arms. His wings spread out behind him beneath the amber surface. The seeker was so small he could have used the soak tank as a pool. Some of Sunstreaker's other clients of larger frame types had to sit folded almost in half to fit in it.
"Not bad, huh?" Sunstreaker asked.
Starfall enthusiastically shook his head. "Ugh-uh!"
Sunstreaker closed the vat's side panel. "Go ahead and sit on one of the steps along the side. Make sure you're all the way in so the oil is over your helm. Optimus and I will be right here. I'll call you when it's time to get out."
"Okay!" Starfall chirped and ducked his head underneath the surface. Through the amber colored liquid Sunstreaker watched the little seeker settle himself on a step along the side of the tank.
Sunstreaker turned his attention back to Optimus. "Cute kid," he remarked. He was slightly surprised by the sincerity of his own observation.
Optimus smiled behind his battle mask – Sunstreaker could tell by the way the protomatter at the corners of his optics crinkled. "Ironhide and I are so glad to have him home."
"How are you and Ironhide hanging in there? Everything that happened couldn't have been easy on either of you." Starfall's kidnapping was still a hot topic for the evening newsfeeds. Sunstreaker still remembered when he and Sideswipe had heard about it. For the longest time everyone had thought the kid had died.
"It wasn't," Optimus tightly affirmed. "I think Ironhide still partially blames himself for what happened. He's barely let Star out of his sight since bringing him home from the hospital."
"Where is Ironhide?" Sunstreaker asked. "I'm kind of surprised he didn't come with you. I know how he likes to still play bodyguard for you."
"He had a meeting with General Airlock at the Planetary Defense Force this morning. He's planning to step down from some of his responsibilities so he can oversee more of Star's care, especially after school. He doesn't like the idea of me and him returning to our duties full time without someone to pick Star up and watch him. We briefly talked about hiring a caretaker to make sure there was always someone to watch him if both of us get caught up at work, but Ironhide ultimately refused. He doesn't want to have to trust someone else with Star's care. Star's set to return to school next deca-cycle after his last check up with Ratchet, but I think Ironhide's more anxious about it than Star is."
Sunstreaker was slightly taken aback. From his talks with Ironhide in the past – usually at Victory Day parties when everyone caught up on each other's lives from the past vorn – Sunstreaker had gotten the impression that Ironhide's role as consultant to the PDF was one of the few things that kept the old weapons specialist sane in their post-war world. Ironhide had never been a mech who liked to sit around idle. Nor had he ever really struck Sunstreaker as a mech who would willingly choose to be a sparkling's primary caregiver. He supposed it just went to show how much Ironhide had changed since the last Victory Day party.
"How's the kid doing?" Sunstreaker asked, casting a quick glance into the soak tank behind them. Starfall still sat on the step below but Sunstreaker could see him playfully swooping his arms back and forth in the oil. He was probably enjoying the feel of oil rushing across his plating. "From everything I heard on the newsfeeds, it sounded really bad there for awhile."
Optimus followed Sunstreaker's gaze into the bath and didn't immediately answer. "It was…" he finally murmured. "Star luckily doesn't remember much of anything from that orn. Ratchet calls it trauma-induced short-term amnesia. It has made it more difficult for Star to understand why he was so damaged when he woke up, though. Like I said earlier, he's been very self-conscious about his appearance since being repaired. He's anxious to go back to school and see his classmates, but at the same time he's told me as much he doesn't want anyone to see him like he is."
"That's understandable," Sunstreaker commiserated. "No one wants to go out in public half-dented with paint chipping off."
Glancing at the chronometer on the side of the room, Sunstreaker turned back to the soak tub. He unlatched the side panel and gave two gentle raps against the side of the vat. The sound reverberated through the oil. Almost immediately Starfall's helm broke the surface.
"Already?" he chirped in surprise. "It felt like I just sat down."
Sunstreaker chuckled as he motioned the sparkling to him. Starfall sounded just like some of his clients. Some of them liked the oil bath so much he had to almost drag them out of the soak tank. "Let's check you out and see how the oil worked."
Sunstreaker nodded with satisfaction as Starfall climbs the steps out of the oil and onto the grated floor near the entrance of the tank. The sparkling was naked protomatter. All his paint and color nanites had been stripped. His forearms, pedes, and pelvic plates still had a bluish tinge to indicate his protomatter's natural pigmentation. If Starfall had decided to try a different color scheme a quick coat of base paint would cover his protoform to stop his color nanites from bleeding through the new paintjob. With him choosing a paintjob similar to his frame's natural coloration his color nanites would just integrate into the paint with no discoloration.
"Looks good," Sunstreaker observed. "Let's get you dried off." He motioned Starfall to stand underneath a large industrial fan hanging from the ceiling just to the side of the soak tub. With the flick of a switch, the fan roared to life and the lingering drops of oil on Starfall's frame were blasted away through the grated flooring. Sunstreaker grabbed a soft cloth from a nearby work cart and gave the seeker a quick rub down to wipe away any remaining traces of oil. Starfall chortled as Sunstreaker worked the cloth against his side. Sunstreaker couldn't help himself but smile in response. The kid was deviously sweet.
"Now we're going to buff out those last few dents," Sunstreaker explained as he led Starfall and Optimus to the next station. "Go ahead and sit there." He motioned Starfall towards a padded stool with a second one just beside it. Starfall needed Optimus's help to crawl up onto it. Sunstreaker took the other. From the work table to Sunstreaker's right, the yellow mech picked up an electric buffing wheel. He eyed Starfall speculatively for a moment. Starfall was small, even for the average sparkling. He was going to have to use a smaller buffing head or he was never going to be able to work out those dents properly. Expertly twisting off the current buffing wheel he swapped it for one he usually reserved for finer detail work, Sunstreaker turned back to Starfall.
Starfall visibly shied back from him, his optics the size of hub caps.
"Is this going to hurt?" It was difficult not to hear the frightened tone in his voice.
"No," Sunstreaker said. "It might tickle a little bit, but it shouldn't hurt. Here, see?" With a flick of the switch, he turned the buffing wheel on and touched the spinning head to his own forearm plate. "There. See? No pain," he smiled reassuringly to the little seeker.
Starfall seemed to relax a little bit, but there was still a noticeable amount of apprehension in his body language. His wings lay almost flat against his back. "Ok…"
Sunstreaker rolled his stool closer to Starfall. With his free hand he tilted Starfall's chin back to better angle the buffing wheel against his dented cheek. "How about this. If this hurts at any point, you tell me and I'll stop immediately. Ok?"
Starfall cast Optimus a worried glance before hesitantly meeting Sunstreaker's gaze again. Turquoise lens seared into Sunstreaker's soul. "Ok," he softly agreed.
Pressing the buffing wheel to Starfall's cheek, Sunstreaker went to work. Starfall at first tensed on his stool at the feel of localized vibrations but almost immediately relaxed. Withing several minutes he was fighting to hold in giggles.
"See?" Sunstreaker said as he worked at the edges of Starfall's cheek. "Doesn't hurt at all."
"It tickles!" Starfall chortled.
"Told you," Sunstreaker said. Despite himself he returned the sparkling's smile. The seeker's giggles were infectious. This was a nice change from his usual brand of clients. Adults rarely allowed themselves to find such enjoyment in such things like being buffed out by the detailer.
A soft metallic pop reverberated through the room as the dent on Starfall's cheek finally returned to its natural contour.
"There we go," Sunstreaker crowed in victory. "First one done."
Within twenty clicks, Sunstreaker had Starfall buffed from helm to pede without a dent to show anywhere on him.
"Now the fun part," Sunstreaker announced as he positioned Starfall at the last work station. Optimus continued to hover, silent, out of the way, almost as if he wasn't even there. "Now we paint."
He turned on several heat lamps and unrolled a large drop cloth from the ceiling to make a three-sided tented enclosure within the open space of his work studio. Misty streaks of different colored paint sprays decorated the ground in that area as lasting reminders of previous clients he'd worked on.
"What do I have to do?" Starfall excitedly asked.
"What I need you to do," Sunstreaker said as he filled the canister of his air paint gun with snow white paint, "is stand very still with your arms straight out from your sides. The trick is to not move at all, because if you do you could smudge the paint. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yea!" Starfall enthusiastically agreed.
Sunstreaker smiled to himself as he finished the last calibrations of his paint gun. The kid was too cute. How did Ironhide and Optimus stand it day-in and day-out without dying of sucrose-induced stasis? It should be illegal for any sparkling to be so endearing. As much as he didn't' want to admit it he was warming up to the miniature seeker.
Sunstreaker worked quickly. In less than a joor and three paint refills later, Starfall stood before Sunstreaker and Optimus with a fresh coat of white and blue paint.
"Excellent work, Sunstreaker," Optimus commended as Starfall turned back and forth in front of one of the heat lamps as Sunstreaker had instructed him to do. "He looks just like his old self."
"What can I say?" Sunstreaker humbly replied, placing a hand over his spark. "I'm just a genius at what I do."
Optimus chuckled softly behind his battle mask. "You have no disagreements from me."
Sunstreaker looked Starfall up and down as the latest coat of paint cured under the heat lamps. He had really outdone himself this time. The seeker looked fantastic. The reflective chips in his new paint job gave off optic-catching gleams as he moved in the light. It reminded Sunstreaker of ice crystals shining in the sun. With sudden inspiration, Sunstreaker wondered if he himself should try a yellow and black combination from the Thunderclash collection.
A soft ping sounded through Sunstreaker's helm. He'd set a timer for Starfall's dry time. He switched off the heat lamps and knelt beside Starfall on one knee. He carefully dabbed his finger against Starfall's armor in several different places. He detected no hint of wet paint.
"Perfect," he nodded in satisfaction. "Well, what do you think?" He glanced at Optimus.
"Excellent. Now we just need the finishing touches."
As Sunstreaker stared at Optimus in confusion, the Matrix-bearer withdrew several strips of light blue enamel and a small stack of what looked like colorful metal rings from his subspace compartment.
Starfall gasped with excitement at the sight of them. "Sunstreaker, can you help put them on? Please?" The little seeker turned on the Lamborghini with endearingly large optics.
"Uh… sure." Sunstreaker took two of the enamel strips and looked them over curiously. They almost looked like decorative racing stripes. "What are these?"
"Wing stripes!" Starfall eagerly informed him. "Skyfire gave them to me. They're for my wings so I look like a real flier. They help tell different fliers apart from the ground."
"Ah," Sunstreaker nodded with sudden understanding. So they were the seeker version of racing stripes. Sunstreaker had no problem figuring out how to remove the protective backs to expose the stripes' adhesive side. He'd worked with racing stripes before. Just the deca-cycle before one of his professional racing clients had had him apply a new set. Between himself and Optimus, they had Starfall's new wing stripes applied within a few klicks.
Starfall eagerly turned to Optimus, both hands held out. As Sunstreaker watched, Optimus gently slipped half the stack of metal rings he'd produced earlier down over Starfall's hands. The rings jangled musically around Starfall's wrists as the sparkling lifted his hand to inspect Optimus's handiwork.
"What are those?" Sunstreaker asked as Optimus worked the other half of the rings onto Starfall's other hand.
"Planetary rings," Optimus explained. "They're a Vosian fashion that Star's taken a liking to. From what I saw there, almost everyone wears them. You can tell a lot about a bot just by looking at the color, material, and design of his or her rings. The Vosian representative to the High Council sent these as replacements for Star's old ones as a get-well gift . Star's old ones were damaged when Star was kidnapped. The Vosians also have planetary rings that fit over their thruster joints, but those are usually only worn for extremely special occasions. As an outsider, they were a little strange at first, but now I find planetary rings to be very elegant."
"Sparklings can trade them but adults can't," Starfall helpfully added. He shook both hands, smiling at the tinkling cascade of noise that was produced. "When we go back to Vos I'm going to trade with Cloudburst and Thunderclap so we have matching sets again."
"Interesting…" Sunstreaker murmured. He leaned close to get a better look. Starfall happily held one servo out for his inspection. Sunstreaker ran a finger along the underside of the stack of rings hanging from Starfall's wrist and listened to the wind chime-like sound. Despite himself – knowing full well this was seeker fashion and something he should immediately reject if for no other reason than principle – Sunstreaker liked them. There was an exotic elegance to them, just like Optimus said. He'd never seen anything quite like them before. And if these were only the sparkling version of them he wondered what real ones looked like. Maybe… maybe if he knew about Optimus's next dignitary trip to Vos beforehand he could arrange for Optimus to bring him back some. Just to try them out. From a purely professional stance, of course. After all, as one of Iacon's top detailers it was his job to stay on top of the latest fashion trends.
Sunstreaker forced himself out of his thoughts. "Want to see the whole finished package?" he asked Starfall. "I have a full length mirror over there."
"Yea!" Starfall chirped, his optics flashing excitedly. The nervousness and apprehension he'd initially met Sunstreaker with had seemed to vanish.
Sunstreaker led Starfall to the other side of the room and stood back beside Optimus as Starfall positioned himself in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror installed there. Starfall froze at what he saw, his expression unreadable. He didn't move or say anything for a long moment of silence.
Sensing something was wrong, Sunstreaker knelt on one knee beside the little seeker. This wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. "What's the matter, kiddo? Don't you like it? Is it not what you were hoping for? We can use a different shade of blue if you don't like this one." A mild wave of panic clenched his fuel tank. Had he done something wrong with Starfall's paintjob? He thought he'd gotten the right shade Starfall said he wanted.
Starfall sharply shook his helm and with no other warning spun away from the mirror and launched himself at Sunstreaker. Miniature arms wrapped around the gold mech's neck cables. It took Sunstreaker's startled processor a moment to realize the little seeker was hugging him.
"Thank you," Starfall murmured into Sunstreaker's chassis. "It's perfect."
A nearly overwhelming rush of affection flooded Sunstreaker's spark as he tentatively patted Starfall's back between his wings. He'd never been a touchy feely mech, even towards his own brother. Generally he tried to avoid physical contact with others for fear of scratching his finish. But somehow with Starfall he didn't mind being caught in the sparkling's embrace.
"I'm glad you like it," Sunstreaker smiled as Starfall released him and stepped back. "I was worried there for a nano-klick I'd messed something up and made you upset."
Starfall shook his helm. "Ugh-uh. It's perfect. You were right: you really are the best detailer in all of Iacon."
Sunstreaker's spark clenched tight at Starfall's words. It was official: he liked this kid. Seeker model or not, he liked Starfall.
As Starfall turned back to his reflection and twisted himself several different directions to better admire his new paintjob, Optimus stepped up beside Sunstreaker. "Thank you so much for your hard work. What do I owe you?"
Sunstreaker shook his helm. He waved his hand in the air as though shooing away an insect. "Nothing. I offered to paint Starfall. It's my get-well gift to him." He paused a moment, weighing his next words carefully. "You know… if Starfall ever needs a touchup don't hesitate to bring him back. I can always make room for him in my schedule."
As if sensing Sunstreaker's crumbling prejudices, Optimus cast him a knowing glance. "I will keep that in mind. I doubt Star will want to go anywhere else after seeing your work."
Sunstreaker just nodded proudly, as if Optimus was only stating the obvious about his skills, but inside he was already looking forward to seeing the little seeker again.
Starfall sat in his father's cab unit. He stared out the window as the skyscrapers of Iacon sped by. Somewhere behind them, Starfall knew Ironhide followed. He felt a strange mixture of excitement and trepidation. Today was the day. Today was going to be his first day back at school in almost a lunar cycle. He was eagerly looking forward to seeing Convoy again. He hadn't seen his friend since he'd been kidnapped. After recovering in the hospital he'd been too self-conscious about his frame to let his fathers give the okay for Burnout to bring Convoy to visit. Just the thought of Convoy seeing his naked gray wings and ugly weld marks made him sick with embarrassment.
Starfall had little memories of that orn he'd been hurt. All he remembered was waiting with Convoy at the edge of the transformation lot for his father to pick them up. Everything after that was a blank. In the orns after getting his new wings his fathers had offered him explanations of what had happened, but they might as well have been telling him a story from one of his recharge tales for all he remembered himself. He knew his fathers were telling the truth because his fathers' friends from the Enforcers, Prowl and Jazz, as well as Skyfire himself, had told him similar things. A mech had kidnapped him from school and hurt his wings because he didn't like seekers. But for Starfall himself, he remembered nothing. His fathers kept saying it was good he didn't remember anything, but Starfall couldn't help but wish he remembered something from that day. It would help make everything feel more tangible. More real. A more solid explanation for why he'd woken up in the hospital with his back hurting. At least his fathers' friend Sunstreaker had helped him look normal again. If it hadn't been for Sunstreaker, he didn't think he would have willingly gotten in to his father's cab unit that morning to go to school.
As though hearing his thoughts, Optimus's disembodied voice rumbled over the sound of his engine. "Here we are."
Starfall looked out his father's windows to see the tower of District 11's Academy appear between the buildings. He unconsciously played with the stack of planetary rings on his left wrist. Optimus veered into the school's transformation lot. The transformation lot was a mass of bodies. Starfall couldn't remember seeing his school's transformation lot so full.
"Remember what we talked about this morning, Star," Optimus said as pulled in. "There are a lot of press-mechs here to see you. Don't think too much about them. Pretend they're not even here." As Optimus had warned, a number of unfamiliar, official looking bots lined the sides of transformation lot with cameras and lights.
Starfall nodded. "Okay…" He would have been lying if he said that morning's energon wasn't sitting like a heavy weight in the pit of his fuel tank. Ever since his kidnapping he'd seemed to become an even bigger focus for the evening's newsfeeds than even his father. It was disconcerting and slightly scary. He didn't like being the center of attention, and that was exactly what his fathers had warned him was probably going to happen that morning as they'd all drank their morning energon. There were people that cared about Starfall being well again, Optimus had explained. Why, Starfall didn't understand. Why did these 'minority model groups' his fathers kept talking about care about him?
"Don't worry," Optimus said as he pulled to a stop. "Your father and I are going to be right here beside you."
Starfall hesitantly undid his safety belt. He looked out his father's cab unit window to the crowd of press mechs waiting for them. He counted about two dozen of them. A crowd of parents and sparklings hovered around behind them.
Ironhide was already transformed into his root form when Optimus swung his cab door open to let Starfall out. A barrage of camera flashes greeted Starfall. He instinctively shied behind Ironhide's leg. The older mech stood like a solid wall between him and the wall of press mechs. Almost subconsciously, Ironhide strayed one hand behind him to touch the side of Starfall's helm, like a silent encouragement. Starfall leaned into his father's touch. It was the only thing right now keeping him from running back to the safety of Optimus's cab unit. Once again Starfall was glad for Sunstreaker's new paintjob.
Optimus transformed to his root form and came to stand beside Ironhide with Starfall half-hiding between them.
"Prime! Prime!" the press mechs howled like a pack of rabid turbo-foxes. They'd been cordoned off to either side of the transformation lot. Several security guards kept the lines to stop them from rushing the Prime family. "Prime, a word!"
Optimus only raised his hand in polite acknowledgement to them before falling into step beside Ironhide. Together they began to walk towards the academy's front door. Starfall made sure to remain firmly positioned between them. Camera flashes tracked their progress from both sides. Starfall tried to do as Optimus had instructed and ignore them, but the diodes along his back still tingled uncomfortably under the assault of unwanted attention. Despite his fathers' reassuring presence Starfall felt slightly trapped by the bright lights and unfamiliar mechs yelling at him. He wanted to get inside away from the press's hungry gaze as soon as possible.
Near the front steps of the school stood a separate group of bots. It was a delegation of Starfall's teachers and other staff members. Heading the group stood the school administrator, Catalyst.
"Optimus Prime. Consort Ironhide," Catalyst greeted as they came within the last few paces of the school. He gripped Optimus's hand in a firm embrace which the press mechs eagerly captured from several different angles for that evening's newsfeeds. Blue optics swiveled down towards the miniature seeker sparkling. "And of course, Starfall. Please let me be the first one to formally welcome you back to school. All your teachers and classmates have been looking forward to you coming back."
Starfall mutely nodded in reply. The lights of the press's cameras were too distracting for him to find his voice.
Catalyst returned his attention to Optimus and Ironhide. "You both will be pleased to hear that in the wake of what happened to Starfall the school board has decided to overhaul the academy's security protocols to better protect not just Starfall, but all the other children at this institution as well. There will now be posted guards at all entry points of the transformation lot as well as a better network of security cameras installed around the entire perimeter of the grounds."
"Glad ta hear," Ironhide grumbled. His facial plates tightened a little around the edges as he reached down to briefly rest a hand on Starfall's helm. "Don't want any more kids gettin' hurt on school property, do we?"
Catalyst flinched at Ironhide's thinly veiled criticism. Ironhide's opinion of the administrator had changed little from his initial encounter with Catalyst when Starfall had been caught fighting and temporarily suspended.
Optimus, however, was willing to be more diplomatic. "That truly eases my spark to hear, administrator Catalyst. I applaud any changes that will result in our children being safer."
Catalyst opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by a high pitched cry from the far side of the transformation lot. "STAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
A streak of dark red suddenly appeared from the crowd of adults and students milling behind the line of press mechs and sped straight towards the Prime family. Starfall instantly recognized the voice and familiar red plating.
"Convoy!" Starfall ran to meet his friend, the two colliding in a mutual embrace. The impact momentarily knocked Starfall's ventilation system off line. Arms gripped him around his side and neck cables. Starfall was slightly surprised at the rush of emotions that washed over him as he clutched his best friend in just as tight an embrace. He squeezed the smaller mechling close to his cockpit. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed Convoy.
Starfall was distantly aware of the press mechs crazily snapping still photos and taking video footage of them. It was almost like they'd never seen two sparkling greeting each other after a long time apart.
"I did not know when you would return," Convoy said in his heavy accent as he finally pulled away from Starfall to meet his optics. The cameras continued to flash around them. Starfall ignored them. His attention was completely focused on his friend. "I was worried you would never come back. I missed you."
Starfall shook his helm. A warm rush of affection filled his spark. "I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm back now! I missed you too."
A blinding smile split Convoy's face. "I am glad. School has been boring without you." Keeping a tight grip on Starfall's hand, Convoy pulled him towards the doors of the academy. "We are starting a new section of math today. Come. I will show you what you missed."
Starfall spared his fathers a parting wave over his shoulder vent as he let Convoy excitedly pull him towards the door. The crowd of press mechs and watching parents were completely forgotten now. All that mattered was that Starfall was back and had his friend with him. Starfall couldn't say for sure why, but it felt like today was the start of something very good.
To Be Continued…
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