I only own my OC's!


Cybertronian Form

We get up the next day and change into our school dresses before getting our energon from Carrier. Once we finish our cubes, we head upstairs for breakfast.

Once we're done eating, we head downstairs to get our school bags. "Hey, Carrier."

"Morning, Mari. Where's Nellie?"

"Already back on the elevator. Try not to argue with Kade today."

"No promises."

I roll my eyes and start for the elevator.

"Mari?"

I glance back. "I'm fine, Carrier. I'm just going to school."

"I'll take you two. We've got patrol."

"What about Cody?"

"He said he was going to walk."

I shrug. "All right. We're riding with Carrier." He gives me a look. "I'm still gettin' used to that."

"You're not alone."


school, noon

We're in Gym class, and the other kids have started playing dodgeball. Nellie and I are standing nearby, watching Cody and Frankie play. I hold up my arms to block one of the balls, when I feel something strange. It's like my body is trying to tense up for something.

Nellie turns to me. "Emily? You feel that?"

I nod. "We need ta call Momma." We run to the teacher. "Mr. White, we need to call Momma."

"Why?"

"Somethin's wrong. I don' know what."

"Who's your Mom?"

Cody turns to us. "It's Dani. She's adopting them. Em and Nell got closest to her." He sees the backs of our legs twitching and runs over. "Maybe it's because they're so far from their era."

"Cody, take them to the office and call your Dad. Stay with them until someone gets here for them."

"Yes, Sir."


office

"Em? Nell? What was that about?"

"Ratchet explained that our Cybertronian form would be revealed soon, and that we'd know when it was comin' so we could get away from the humans."

Nellie nods. "I think it's happenin'."

"Ah. Want me to call Kade?"

I shake my head. "Momma."

"But she—"

Nellie sighs. "I wan' Sire, not Carrier."

"And that's—"

I sigh. "Blades. We wan' Blades."

"What's with—"

"They mature slower than we do. Ratch says we're behind more than we should be, but he doesn't know why. We should be about the maturity level of an eight year old, but we're closer to a seven year old's." I shrug. "Besides that, we lapse into baby talk when we're scared or tired."

"I'm going to assume you're scared."

The secretary pushes the phone toward Cody. We nod and watch as he picks up the phone to call Momma. "Dani?"

"What's wrong, Cody?"

"It's Em and Nell. They're feeling…" He turns to me with a question in his eyes, causing me to shrug. "Weird. Em thinks it's related to them."

"We're on our way, Cody."

"Just keep them quiet. They should be able to handle it until we get there. I'll have Heatwave meet us in the bunker when we get home."

"Thanks." He hangs up and turns to me. "She's on her way." He walks over to us. "Blades said Heatwave would meet you in the bunker."


ten minutes later

I boost Nellie up before climbing in. "Hi, Momma. Hey, Sire."

Sire turns to us through the comm screen. "Are you okay, Sweetsparks?"

"We will be. We just need ta get home."

"You think it's happening?"

I nod. "I know it is."

"Um, Blades… what's going on?"

"They're techno-organic."

"You told me that. They're also your princesses."

"They've got a form like ours, each, but they haven't been able to reach it. We assumed that it was because they hadn't had a steady supply of energon. They could be close to reaching it. If they are, they don't need to be around the rest of the town."

"Because of your cover?"

"Because it's not easy. First transformations are hard enough for a mech or femme old enough for a vehicle mode. They're only ten—eight vorns."

"How does that—"

"One point two years less than their human age."

"Ah." She sighs. "So, we need to get them home. Is Kade off patrol?"

"I commed Heatwave. If they aren't, they will be soon."

I turn and hug the seat while Nellie hugs it from the back. "Thanks, Sire."

"Maybe you two can surprise him when he gets back to the bunker."


home, early afternoon

We stagger off the elevator and lean back against the wall. For some reason, it's getting harder to walk—to even keep my balance. Nellie and I are all but leaning on each other for support. Sire comes down with the platform and motions for us to get to our room. I shake my head and try to regain my bearings. Nellie has already fallen to her knees, and has apparently decided to stay there.

He lays a hand on Nellie, then kneels to me. "Mari, what's wrong?"

"It's hard to balance. I feel like I'm on a boat."

He smiles slightly. "I went through the same thing when I got here."

"What? Tha'—"

"I wasn't always a helicopter, Sweetspark. I had to get used to having sensors on my back. I didn't start out with doorwings like Praxians do, or with wings or rotors."

"So…"

"It may just mean that your forms have doorwings, or some other form with sensor panels. They aid in balance and coordination."

"Oh…" I look down to Nellie before looking back to Sire. "Is there any way we can make this go faster? I hate feelin' so helpless, and Nellie…"

"Maybe… I'll have to comm Ratchet."

"If there is, tell me."

"I'm not letting you hurt yourself." I send him a pleading look. "All right, but if either of you hurt yourself, don't tell your Carrier I taught you."

"You're in EMS. Don't tell me you couldn't fix us."

He sighs. "I might have to call your teacher, if it's bad enough."

I sigh heavily. "We'll be fine."

Nellie uses Sire's leg to pull herself up. "Jus' tell us."

He sighs, but kneels to me anyway. "Just close your eyes, and tense your muscles. Then you'll do the same thing to transform once you get a vehicle mode."

I look at my arms as Nellie does the same. "Are you sure…"

"Your body will want to anyway. You're just working with it, instead of against it."

I nod and try to do what he told me to. I can feel something happening, but I don't know what. I do know that I'm getting taller. Once everything relaxes, I let my eyes open and glance up to Sire to find him smiling at us. From where I'm standing, I can't see Nellie, but I'm sure she's fine. From the look on Sire's faceplates, she's okay. "Sire?"

"Come on." He leads us into our berth room and toward our huge wall mirror. I gasp softly. "Like it?"

"It's beautiful." And it is. My frame is slender, and azure blue with glitter mixed in, and I have doorwings—as expected—on my back, and a light pink chevron on my forehead. I have a light pink star on my chest, and on both doorwings, with a pink Autobot logo on the one on my chest. "How tall do you think I am?"

"Around ten feet, I think. Dani's been explaining it to me."

I step aside to let Nellie look. Her frame is identical to mine, but a darker blue, with yellow details.

I look back up to him. "How do we change back? I want to surprise Carrier."

"Just do the same thing you did to activate this form." He sighs. "I'll go get you two some energon. You'll need to refuel. Transforming can take a lot out of a youngling your age."

We shift back. "Thanks, Sire." While we're waiting for him, we walk over to our closet. I change from my school dress into a light blue long sleeved dress, a light pink half apron, white stockings, and my light blue button shoes with white buttons. I take out my pink ribbons and tie in light blue ones, then tie on my light pink bonnet and slip it back. Nellie changes into a light pink long sleeved dress, a light blue half apron, white stockings, and her light blue button shoes with white buttons. She leaves her ribbons, and ties on a light blue bonnet.

We each walk out with a book and take our new stainless steel water bottles with pink grippers with a butterfly graphic and blue lids, and slip the pink wrist straps around our wrists before drinking half the energon inside.

Carrier runs in then. "Blades, where's—" He looks down to see us waving up at him. "Oh."

"Dani commed Chief Burns on the way to their school, so he knows they're home."

Carrier kneels to us. "What happened, Little Ones?"

Sire and I share a look. I smile slightly when he nods, and nod to Nellie. "This." We shift back into our new-found Cybertronian forms.

Carrier's chin all but hits the floor. "What in the—Mari—Saf—" We move to return to human form, only for him to stand and lay a hand on our shoulders. "You need to get used to them, Little Ones."

"I know." I smile as he looks down at me, checking my plating for any damage. He does the same with Nellie, then steps back with a smile. "Praxian frames."

"What?"

He crouches so he can look us in the—what did they call them? Oh, yeah. Optics. "Mari, Saf, you are some of the last few Praxians in existence today, and the youngest." He sighs before straightening and starting for the command center. "Blades, keep an eye on them. I want them to stay in these forms for now."

"Where are you—"

"I need to comm Optimus."


command center, heatwave's pov

I step back after setting the comm to Optimus' frequency.

"Heatwave? Have you encountered trouble?"

"No, Sir." I smile. I can't help but be proud of my youngling femmes. "Mariposa and Safire were able to reach their Cybertronian forms."

"Any difficulties?"

"None. They seem to be adapting well."

"Any discrepancies?"

"Not that I know of, but…" I sigh softly. "They're Praxian."

Another face—their medic's—appears when I mention their frame type. "How is their control?"

"I wouldn't know. They're with Blades."

"Thank you for updating us on the femmes."

"Keep me updated on their control. Bumblebee may not be Praxian, but he may be able to help them learn to control their doorwings."

"Yes, Sir."

"Comm me when their inferno develops. I may need you to send them out so I can examine them properly."

"Of course."

"Good luck."


normal pov

We run over when Carrier comes out of the command center and hug him, causing him to chuckle. "Easy, Little Ones. You're still not used to your new frames."

Nellie smiles. She tripped over a chair while we were waiting, and wound up sprawled across the downed chair. "We know."

I smile up at him. "But we love you, Carrier."

He nods. "Come on." He turns toward the berth rooms, then turns back to Blades. "You too, Blades."


heatwave's berth room

We all sit in a row on his berth. Blades turns to him. "Are we going to—"

"Yes."

"Aren't they a little old for—"

"Not really. They're only eight vorns, Blades."

Sire looks horrified as he turns back to Carrier. "You're not going to—"

"I'm not going to spark merge with a youngling, Blades. I'm a Rescue Bot, not some kind of youngling molester."

I pipe up from between the two, starting to get a little anxious. "Then, what are you doin'?"

Carrier turns to us and sighs softly. "It's well-practiced when one takes in a sparkling from the well. We're not going to hurt you."

Nellie tilts her head to the side. "Then…"

"I'm just going to open my chest plates. You can touch my spark if you want to—"

Sire pipes up. "It's actually expected of the sparkling, because they're naturally drawn to it."

"Just don't get rough. You need to be careful."

Sire nods before continuing from earlier. "Once the carrier bond is formed, I'll do the same thing."

I smile. "So… It's your way of adoptin' someone."

Carrier smiles. "Yes." He sighs. "We have to get this done while I've got some downtime. Kade's got to go back out after lunch."

Sire turns to him, confused. "What happened to Chase? He was supposed to have the afternoon patrol."

Carrier sighs. "Chief Burns said he purged early this morning, in the middle of their patrol. Boulder and Graham are working at the power plant, so it's just the two of us, and you two had the ocean patrol early this morning." He sighs. "Besides, I want you to stay with the femmes."

"Okay."

Carrier nods before turning to me and opening his chest plates. The bright azure glow pours from his chest and fills the dim room with light. It's like nothing I've seen before. I gasp softly. "Beautiful."

I reach toward it, but pull my hand back quickly when I see his optics watching me intently. "Go ahead, Little One. You won't hurt me just by touching it."

I reach forward and brush my fingertips against his spark chamber. It's warm, and inviting. I move closer and put my hands around his spark, still staring into the glow. I can't turn away from it, and I can feel the parent bond forming. I'm so focused on his spark I don't even notice when Carrier pulls me into his lap. After another minute, I pull my hands away from it and curl up against him.

He moves me back slightly. "Mari?"

"'m fine, Carrier."

He turns to the mech beside us. "Blades?" He turns to Nellie. "Come on, Saf." She nods, and climbs into his lap the second I move.

Sire nods and opens his plating. I crawl into his lap and brush a hand against his spark. After a minute I cup my hands around it as I had Carrier's. I can feel the bond form, but it doesn't form as strong as Carrier's, for some reason. After a minute, I move, and let Nellie take my place.

Once Sire closes his plating, I turn to him. "Why—"

"Sire bonds aren't as strong right away. They form slowly, over time. It'll get there."

I nod. "Thanks, Sire." I sigh softly. "Now, about Chase…"

"Has Ratchet taught you—"

"I know how to do an exam, Sire. It was the first thing I learned from the Doc."

"But you don't—"

"He's got to make them up yet."

Sire stands with me. "I'll help you, just to make sure you know what you're doing."

"Thanks, Sire."


chase's berth room

I knock on the door before leading Sire and Nellie in. We find Chase lying on his side in his berth, a blue plush blanket draped over his frame. One arm is resting over the blanket, and there's a waste can beside the berth. I can smell the purged energon, and it's all I can do to not race out of the room. "Chase?"

"I assure you I am fine, younglings." He turns to Sire.

I walk over to his berth and sit beside him, leaving Nellie standing by Sire, before laying a hand on his arm. "I'm sure, if tha' were the case, you wouldn' be curled in bed lookin' like death warmed over."

"It may just be a virus, Sweetsparks." I look up at Sire, prompting him to continue. "We get them too."

I sigh softly. "Or it could be something more—something worse. I've seen this kind of thing before…" I look down at my lap as coolant comes to my optics.

Nellie steps over and lays a hand on my arm, then finishes for me. "In Mom."

Sire lays a hand on our shoulders. "It's okay, Sweetsparks."

"What happened to your human carrier?"

I sigh and motion for Sire to leave. This is personal, between Chase, Nellie, and I. Once he's gone, we turn to Chase with a faint sigh. "Mom was pregnant with our li'l brother. He was early—too early to live. She died, and Dad blamed us, 'cause Mom had wanted another baby." I sigh softly. "If you're a carrier and bonded, you could be carrying."

He sighs softly before nodding. "To Boulder."

I run a hand over his arm. "Don' matter who to."

Nellie nods. "Tha's all we needed to hear."

I walk over to the door and let Sire back in before taking the scanner he pulls out for me. I fumble with it for a minute before I can figure out how to work it, then run the beam over his armor. "Yep."

Sire turns to me. "What?"

Nellie smiles, having seen the scan from her place behind me. "Newspark."

He glances at the screen over my shoulder. "How did you—"

"Mom was a nurse. We loved helping out when she'd assist in deliveries." Chase sighs softly, causing me to lay my hand back on his arm. "Chase? Is something—"

"I'm not sure how I will be able to patrol if I cannot even get out of my berth."

I smile gently. "It'll get better in a few days."

Nellie nods. "We'll tell Papa to give you some time."

Chase nods in thanks. "I will tell him tonight."


that night

We look up from our books when we hear the elevator, and stand to follow the officer taking something into Chase's berth room. "Papa?"

"What's…" I point to the book in his hand before grabbing the cube of low grade Carrier had filled for Chase a few minutes ago.

"The police manual from my training days, and the ten-codes we use here in town. Chase asked for it earlier." He sighs softly. "I didn't think they could get sick."

"Eh." Nellie shrugs. "You do, don't you?"

I shrug. "They're just as alive as you are."

"How are you, anyway? Dani said—"

Nellie beams. "We reached our robot forms."

I grin. "We knew, and I knew it shouldn' happen in front of everyone at school."

"Good move." He smiles at me. "I want to see them later."

"Yes, Sir."

We shift into our Cybertronian forms and follow him into Chase's berth room. I'm carrying an adult's cube of low grade carefully in both hands.

Chase is sitting on the edge of his berth when we step in. He raises an eyebrow ridge when I hand him the cube. "For the sparkling." I whisper before we turn to leave.

"Mariposa, Safire, please stay." We turn to him with the same curious look. "You may be able to explain this better than I can." He turns to Papa. "I am sparked."

Papa raises an eyebrow before turning to us, only to find us in our new cybertronian forms as we try unsuccessfully to get Chase to drink his energon.

I sigh and turn to Papa. "Both genders of their kind can carry sparklings."

Nellie nods. "When he says he's sparked, he means he's carrying."

I smile. "Carriers are naturally protective of sparklings and younglings, but Praxians and Seekers went to the extremes to protect their young."

"Understood. Anything I need to worry about?"

I shrug.

"I am capable of retrieving what I will require. If something that I cannot handle occurs, I will let you know."

Papa nods. "And what are they?"

"They are Praxian, but we are closely related to Seekers."

"What are Praxians, or Seekers?"

"Praxians normally have large sensor panels on their backs. They are usually formed by the doors of their alternate mode. Mariposa and Safire have fully praxian frames, while I am only part so, and have my sire's frame. Seekers are Vosnians, or fliers. Their wings are pointed. They are closely related to Praxians, though they no longer intermingle."

Papa nods, then sighs. "So who's the…" He turns to me with a question in his eyes.

I smile. "Sire."

"Thank you." He turns back to Chase. "Who's the Sire?"

"Boulder. We have been bonded since before we left Cybertron. He has not yet returned from the hydroelectric plant."

"Graham's going to be home in half an hour. You can tell him then." He turns to me. "Emily—Mariposa—whatever you want to go by now—just because you're tecnho-organic doesn't mean you can skip supper."

Nellie stomps her foot. "What about me?"

"You too. I expect to see you both upstairs in half an hour."

We nod together. "Yes, Sir."

"I'm sure you'll be picking up with your training now, but you need to make sure Heatwave or Blades tells one of us to call the school if you're going to miss. I don't think Chase needs to be hunting for truancies while he's carrying."

We nod again. "Yes, Sir."

I smile. "And you're right. He needs to take it easy—especially for the first and last month."

"How long…"

I smile sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. Four months."


our room

We sigh and climb into bed. It's been a long and exhausting day, and I know it's just going to get worse from here.