Ratchet watched the interactions between the three mechs in his section of the med bay in a kind of awed silence.
He wasn't sure what had happened, but the utter stillness of the twins a breem before had been all the sign Ratchet had needed to know something had made them angry. The tense way the seek-ling had held his wings and his utter stillness for a few klicks was also a sign that something had scared him.
Whatever it was the twins had sorted it out and now the sparkling was trying his hardest to snuggle them both at the same time. The twins were making it easier by standing as close together as they could manage.
Ratchet was a little bit surprised by how naturally the twins seemed to be dealing with the seek-ling. He had known the two of them had a soft spot for sparklings- most bots did including himself- but he hadn't expected the natural talent they seemed to be displaying with the mech-ling.
So he watched the interactions with a kind of awed silence, already seeing the changes taking place in the mechs for the better.
O~O~O~
Shadowstrike was utterly relaxed pressed between the two mechs.
The bonds he shared with these bots were nothing like the one he had shared with Voldemort, and they had allowed him to explore the bonds in order to prove it. The feelings of peace-safety-content that were flowing between the three of them were as far from the constant rage-pain-suffering that had bombarded him from Voldemort as could be, and Shadowstrike appreciated it.
He appreciated that the twins were allowing him to be clingy as well. The sparkling urges were odd, but he had no desire to try and fight them- especially if the twins would allow him the positive contact he craved his entire human life, but especially as the war had progressed and he was expected to be the 'untouchable Leader of Light' with the fall of Dumbledore. It felt amazing to lean on someone else and be supported, to be able to bask in it.
Not that his friends hadn't supported him of course- they had. It was just…it was different with Sides and Sunny. His friends, no matter how they supported him, still looked to him as Leader-Protector-Tactician-Warrior. It had been habit and conditioning on both their parts, him and his friends. To be supported so utterly by the twins, by mechs he could feel were Warrior-Safety-Guardian-Protectors…and not being expected to take the lead and/or be untouchable and on guard? He added the feeling of gratitude to the bonds and was rewarded with the feeling of comfort-joy.
He could get used to this.
O~O~O~
Shadowstrike was snuggling against the both of them, utterly relaxed and projecting his feelings along the bonds that were forming between the three of them.
The twins were content to allow the sparkling to snuggle them both, pressing the sparkling between the two of them even as they met optics above the little one's head, silent words passing between them.
~He was hurt before he came to us.~ Sideswipe's voice was soft across their bond.
~He was.~ Sunstreaker agreed, the feelings rage-anger-protective flowing alongside the words even as Shadowstrike was shielded from the negative emotion. ~On purpose. Systematically.~
The rage over that swelled sharply on both their parts, settling only as Sideswipe spoke again, his voice calm and smooth as if talking about lunch or the color of the sky. ~We will destroy whoever had a hand in it. No one will hurt Strike like that again.~
Sunny's response was nonverbal but powerful as agreement-promise-protective swept over his twin. And then he smirked asking ~Strike?~
Sides hummed. ~I like it. Shadow didn't sound right. Sunny, Sides and Strike was much better.~
Sunny hummed back, absently stroking the wings beneath his servos, as his processor jumped tracks ~We'll need to teach him to deal with Jet Judo when he's older.~
Sideswipe's agreement swept over the bond, his voice serious and firm as he answered ~We will. No one will pull our little one out of the air without his permission.~ The twins were the best at it- they refused to allow their little one to get hurt that way when they could teach him to avoid it and how to throw any 'Con that tried it off before damage was caused.
It was a long way off, but the twins made the note anyway.
They would equip their little one with the best they could give him.
(Later, much later, they would laugh about the thought anyone could pull Shadowstrike out of the air without his permission. The little seeker would cause many a mech spark-attacks with the insane stunts to come. The move Strike called a 'Wronski Feint' would be a leading cause of near-stasis.)
O~O~O~
Ratchet remained a silent observer as the little sparkling slowly fell back into recharge and the twins had a silent conversation over their Bond.
Once he was sure the sparkling was sleeping he turned his attentions to the twins. "I've repaired what damages I was able." The twins' attention snapped to him as he began speaking, keeping his voice soft so he would not wake the sparkling. "I also downloaded some basics into his processor as anything he may have had before the attack was fragmented and confused and I wasn't sure what he may or may not know. There is still the matter of any mental or emotional damages, but I was able to fix most of the physical signs of damage. Cybertronians will still see hints of where the damage was done for a while yet, while humans will be able to feel the welds, and I will need to do constant checkups on the seek-ling as he grows, but for the most part the sparkling is as damage free as I could make him."
It was a good thing. The four mechs had been locked away in Ratchet's section of the med bay for a mega-cycle while Ratchet saw to the injuries of the sparkling. Ratchet was rather hopeful that the next time the sparkling woke, Sunstreaker would allow Protocol 9-8-3 to come to an end.
He was sure the other Bots were driving themselves mad trying to figure out what had caused Ratchet to lockdown his section of the med bay after telling Jolt and First Aid that Protocol 9-8-3 was in effect at this point.
It was a good thing Ratchet had such a supply of Energon in the med bay-including fuel appropriate for sparklings- otherwise they would have had to leave to go get fuel.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
TIME MEASUREMENTS:
Astrosecond: .5 seconds
Nano-klik: 1 second
Klik: 1 minute
Breem: 8 minutes
Cycle: 24 hours (one day)
Deca-cycle: 4 weeks (one month)
Mega-cycle: 96 hours (four days)
Meta-cycle: 12 months (one year)
Stellar Cycle: 6 months
Vorn: 83 years
Mega-vorn: 83,000 years (1000 vorns)
60 mega-vorns: 4,980,000years