It was dawn when Ashfire roused herself from recharge. She was pleased with the sight of Bumblebee under her and was content to bask in the warmth his chassis and field provided. As she lay there, she started to think about the night before.
It felt incredibly good and disturbing to know that Bumblebee cared so much for her. She wanted to be close to Prowl. She wanted to be here with Bumblebee, but how could she? The Autobots were content to linger on Earth and live with the humans, but if she were honest with herself, she wasn't.
She wanted to go back to Cybertron. She never saw Cybertron before the war, but she remembered all the stories Barricade and Soundwave told her about the Cybertron they loved, what they wanted to preserve. She also remembered all the hopes and dreams Deadlock had for Cybertron and that is what she wanted as well. A healthy, living Cybertron for her and her descendents; a planet full of the splendor it carried during the Golden Age, but without all the rot that had poisoned the mecha living on it.
Wasn't that something worth fighting for? And yet, the Autobots weren't. They weren't doing anything to help Cybertron or its people. They were too busy babysitting the humans to worry about their planet. And even if they did care, she still had no real place among them; no purpose.
The Autobots currently had no use for her skill set and the only other thing she could do and found enjoyable was training younglings, but there were no younglings; at least no younglings inside this faction.
A low fuel warning flashed in the femme's HUD. Pulling herself from her melancholy, Ashfire eased away from Bumblebee. It'd be awhile before Bumblebee woke up so it'd best if she went to get some energon. And since she was getting up, she might as well get some for the scout as well.
Standing by the berth, she stretched, popping several joints and letting her armor flare. When her armor settled, she walked towards the door. Halfway through the door Ashfire paused. Looking over her shoulder, she stared at the recharging mech on her berth. After a few moments she left.
In order for her to get to the rec. room, the femme had to pass by the training room. As she came close to it, she heard the unmistakable sound of blades ringing. Curious, Ashfire stopped outside the training room door.
Since she wasn't supposed to wander the base by herself, it would be wise for her to finish her energon run as quietly and discreetly as possible. However there weren't many Autobots who liked to fight with blades and the temptation to see who the combatants were was strong.
Silent as a shadow, the white femme opened the door and peered into the room. The two mechs sparring were Sideswipe and the red mech Ashfire had seen with him yesterday.
Now this was intriguing. It wouldn't hurt her to spend a few minutes watching the mechs spar.
Ashfire watched the two mechs circle each other. She was already familiar with Sideswipe's fighting style so she focused on the red mech. After a few moments of watching the strange mech, it became obvious to her that while the mech could hold his own in a fight, he favored stealth.
Now that was interesting; a Spec Ops mech here, on earth? That could be….entertaining, or dangerous, or both. Perhaps she should mention this to Prowl…
"What are you doing out here?" a high pitched voice snapped.
Ashfire glanced over her shoulder to glare at the blue and purple Arcees. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
The blue Arcee flared her armor while her purple counterpart gave the white femme a cool look. "You shouldn't be in the halls unsupervised."
The femme snorted. "So what are you going to do, report me?"
"Not if you tell me, what you were doing out here", the purple Arcee replied.
"I'm obviously watching the match." Ashfire replied her mood now soured with annoyance.
"Yes," the purple Arcee said. "But that's not the reason you came out. What were you originally doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" the blue femme snapped. "Seducing Bumblebee wasn't enough for her, so now she's gotta ruin the rest of our mechs."
Ashfire's wings arched high in anger. How dare she… "I didn't seduce Bumblebee and I haven't ruined him. There's nothing wrong with him."
"Of course there's something wrong with him," Arcee snapped as she pointed a finger at Ashfire. "You're what's wrong with him."
Engine revving, Ashfire felt her mind go blank. The next thing she knew there was a body behind hers, holding her back from the the Arcees. Glancing behind her shoulder, she was surprised to see the red mech holding her.
"Now, now, there's no need for violence here."
Ashfire hissed as she tried to free herself from the stranger's hold.
"She started it!" the blue Arcee hissed, ignoring her counterpart's attempts to pull her away. "I have half a mind to report her to Prime."
"If you did that you would have to tell everyone the reason why you were provoking her."
The violent Arcee spluttered, her armor rising in indignation. Her more peaceful sister shushed her. "Sister, let's go. There's no need to make a scene."
"But she-"
"Enough. Sister is waiting for us. Let's go." The purple Arcee began to push her counterpart down the hall and away from Ashfire.
Ashfire felt a growl bubbling in her throat, but her doorwings gave a twitch as another EM field came close.
"Well, that was interesting." Sideswipe said as he rolled out of the training room. "I think it's safe to let her go now."
"You're right." Then and only then did the red mech release Ashfire.
Sideswipe looked at his companion, completely ignoring the angry femme with them. "Do you want to find Jolt and see what fun we can get into?"
The red mech shook his head. "I think it'd be best if I acted as our guest's escort-
"I don't need an escort," Ashfire interrupted.
"…so there are no other issues with the other Autobots," the mech finished.
Sideswipe shrugged. "Suit yourself. Come find me later." The silver warrior then left to find some other mischief.
Ashfire watched Sideswipe leave before turning to growl at the stranger. "I don't need you to babysit me."
The stranger just arched an optic ridge. "I was told that you were not allowed to wander the base by yourself. It would be irresponsible of me to leave you alone; especially when it is obvious that if you are left unattended you would end up in trouble."
Ashfire growled at him.
"So I will escort you and no amount of growling will change my mind."
Ashfire glared at the red mech. The mech paid no attention to the femme's ire and with a motion of his hand he said, "After you."
Huffing, Ashfire continued her trek to the rec. room, doorwings twitching irritably as the red mech fell in step. The pair walked in silence. It wasn't until they had entered the rec. room and Ashfire had begun to fill a cube from the dispenser, that the mech said a word. "You know, I don't think we've been properly introduced."
The femme gave the mech a side glance. "Really; I apologize for my thoughtfulness."
The mech made a tsk. "Sarcasm is so unbecoming of you, or at least it would be if you were still in Senator Ratbat's company."
Cold enveloped the femme. Wearily she faced the red mech, giving him her full attention. "Have we met before?" she asked, her tone low.
"No," the mech replied his voice quiet as well. "But I used to see you quite a bit. Ratbat enjoyed showing you off."
"That he did." Ashfire turned back towards the dispenser to fill a second cube. As she filled the cube, she studied the mech with her peripheral vision. She thought back to her days as Ratbat's 'pet' and tried to place the red mech. She couldn't picture the mech specifically, but she did remember seeing another mech that had a similar build as him.
Only that mech was blue and white…
"Were you an Autobot back then…?"
"Dino," the red mech replied. "And no, I just happened to be with the 'in' crowd at the time."
"Ah." The femme filled a third cube. "You may call me Ashfire, if you wish."
"A pleasure to meet you, Ashfire," Dino said as he caught her gaze and held it. "Mecha like us are a rare breed."
Her optics brightened with understanding. She and Dino were two of a kind. His statement had confirmed her suspicion that he was Spec Ops. Not many mecha could do the things they were trained to do; very few mecha had the strength and will to become what they were to fulfill their purpose.
"We are," Ashfire agreed. She left the rec. room, Dino in step with her.
Dino escorted the femme back to her room. When they reached her door, Dino faced her. "It was nice talking with you. If you're ever in need of company, come find me," he said, the red mech took his leave.
Ashfire watched Dino until he was out of sight. While the femme was actually pleased to have met Dino, she felt a little off balance. Once again, her world had shifted and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.
Suddenly feeling exhausted the white femme entered her room, wanting nothing more than to cuddle with Bumblebee until she had to face reality again.
He limped to the command center. His mission had been successful; however he had been ambushed on the way back to base. He knew he should go to the medbay, but he had to see the sparkling. He had left her with Soundwave. He trusted the communications officer, but he had to be sure that she was safe.
He entered the command center and was… disturbingly pleased. Soundwave was cradling the small femme as he crooned an old and almost forgotten lullaby. He leaned against the door frame, listening as the song soothed his spark.
Eventually, the song came to an end and Soundwave took his attention off the recharging sparkling and turned it towards him. "Barricade: should go to medbay," the larger mech rumbled. "Little one: safe with me."
They held each others' optics for a moment, one infinite moment. Then he whispered, "Thank you."
Ice blue optics slowly came online. Prowl was comforted by the sight of Jazz still curled on his chest; exactly like he had been when Prowl went into recharge. Prowl stroked Jazz's finial, optics on the ceiling, thinking of Soundwave. There was no doubt that Barricade owed, he owed the telepath.
Ever since Barricade realized he was carrying, Soundwave had been there. The communications officer had helped Barricade through his gestation period and built the frame that housed Ashfire's spark. Soundwave had been there to watch over Ashfire when Barricade was away. He was the one that educated her.
If Soundwave hadn't been there…
Prowl huffed. It was a shame that he couldn't repay Soundwave for all that he'd done.
Happy holidays everybody, hope you enjoyed this